Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE FOES WE FACE. The Sins that Beset the End of the Century. GOD COMES BEFORE MAN, Says Dr. Talmage. The Preva lence of Blasphemy. The Sins of City Life. And the Final Judgment. This arousing discourse by Dr. Tal mage will excite interest by the man ner in which it assails some of the great evils now abroad. The subject is 'Enemies Overthrown, and the text, Psalms lxviii, 1, "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered." A procession was formed to carry the ark, or sacred box, which, though only 3 feet 9 inches in length and 4 feet 3 inches in height and depth. was the symbol of God's presence. As the leaders of the procession lifted this or namented and brilliant box by two gol den poles run through four golden rings and started for Mount Zion all the people chanted the battle hymn of my text, "Let God arise, let his ene mies be scattered." The Cameronians of Scotland. out iaged by James I, who forced upon them religious forms that were offen sive, and by the terrible persecution of Drummond, Dalziel and Turner., and by the oppressive laws of Charles I and Charles 1I, were driven to proclaim war against tyrants and went forth to fight for their religious liberty, and the mountain heather became red with car nage and at Bothwell bridge and Aird's Moss and Drumclog the battle hymn and the battle shout of those glorious old Scotchmen was the text I have chosen, "Let God arise, let his ene mies be scattered." What a whirlwind of power was Oli ver Cromwell, and how with his soldiers named the "Irosides," he went from victory to victory. Opposing enemies melted as he looked at them. He dis missed parliament as easily as a school master a school. He pointed his finger at Berkeley castle, and it was taken. He ordered Sir Ralph Hopton, the gen eral, to dismount, and he dismounted. See Cromwell marching on with his army and hear the battlecry of the "Ironsides," loud as a storm and sol emn as a deathknell. standards reeling before it .nd cavalry horses going back on their naunches, and armies flying at Marston, at Winceby Field, at Naseby, at Bridgewater and Dartmouth-"Let God arise, let his enemies be scat tered." So you see my text is not like a com plimentary and tasseled sword you sometimes see hung up in a parlor, a sword that was never in battle and only to be used on general training day, but more like some weapon carefully hung up in your home, telling its story ot battles, for my text hangs in the Scripture armory, telling of the holy wars of 3,000 years in which it has been carried, but still as keen and mighty as when David first unsheathed it. It seems to me that in the church of God, and in all styles of reformatory work, wbw.,most need now is a bat tieery. We raise our little standard and put on it the name of some man who only a few years ago began to live and in a few years will cease to live. We go into contest against the armies of iniquity, depending too much on huma agencies. We use for a battle cry the name of some brave Christian reformer, but after awhile that reform er dies or gets old or loses his courage, and then we take another battlecry, and this time perhaps we put the name of some one who betrays the cause and sells out to the enemy. What we want for a battlecry is the name of some leader who will never betray us and will never surrender, and will never die. The Methodists have gone in triumph across nation after nation with the cry, "The sword of the Lord and of Wes ley." The Presbyterians have gone from victory to victory with the cry, "The sword of the Lord and of John Knox." The Baptists have conquered millions after millions for Christ with the cry, "The sword of the Lord and of Judson." The American Episcopalians have won their mighty way with the cry, "The sword of the Lord and of Bishop M'Ilvaine." The victory is to those who put God first. But, as we want a battlecry suited to all sects of religionists and to all lands, I nominate as the battlecry of Christendom in the approaching Armageddon the words of my text, sounded before the ark as it was carried to Mount Zion, "Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered." As far as our finite mind can judge, it seems about time for God to rise. Does it not seem to you that the abom inations of this earth have gone far enough? Was there ever a time when sin was so defiant? Were there ever before so many fists lifted toward God, telling him to come on if he dare? Look at the blasphemy abroad! What towering profanity! Would it be pos sible for any one to calculate the num bers of times that the name of the Al mighay God and of Jesus Christ are every day taken irreverently on the lips? Profacie swearing is as much for bidden by the law as theft or arson or murder, yet who executes it? Profan ity is worse than theft or arson or murder, for these crimes are attacks on humanity; that is an attack on God. Years ago in a Pittsburg prison two men were talking about the Bible and Christianity, and one of them, Thomp son by name, applied to Jesus Christ a very low and villainous epithet, and as he was uttering it he fell. A physician was called, but- no help could be given. After a day lying with distended pupils palsied tongue he passed out of this world. In a cemetery in Sullivan county, in New York state, are -eight headstones in a line and all alike, and these are the facts: In 1881 diphtheria raged in the village, and a physician was remarkably successful in curing his patients. So confident did he be come that he bcotted that no case of diphtheria could stand before him and finally defied Almighty God to produce a case of diphtheria that he could not cure. His youngest child soon after took the disease and died and one child after another untill all the eight had died of diphtheria. The blasphe mer challenged Almighty God and God accepted the challenge. Do not think that because G-od has been silent in your case, 0 profane swearer. that he is dead. Is there nothing now in the peculiar feeling of your tongue or noth ing in the numbness of your brain that indicates that God may come to avenge your blasphemies or is already aveng ing them? But these eases I have no ticed, I believe, are only a few cases where there are hundreds. Families keep them quiet to avoid the horrible conspicuity. Physicians suppress them through professional confidence. It is a very, very, very long roll that con tains the names of those who died with blasphemies on their lips. Then look for a moment at the evil of drunkenness. Whether you live in or Cincinnati or Savnnuah or Boston or "n any of the cities of this land, count up the saloons on that street as eompared with the saloons five years a"o, aId see they a-re growing far out of proportion to the increase of the population. You people who are so recise and particular lest there should be some imprudence and rashness in attaeking the rum traffie will have your son some iight pitched into your front door dead drunk. or your daughter will comc home with her children because her husband has by strong drink been turned into a demoniac. The drink fiend has despoiled whole streets of good homes in all our cities. Fathers. brothers. sons on the funeral pyre of strong drink! Fasten tighter the vie tims. Stir up the flames. Pile on the corpses. More men, women and child ren for the sacrifice. Let us have whole generations on fire of evil habit. and at the sound of the cornet. flute. harp. sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer let all the people fall down and wor ship King Alcohol, or you shall be cast into the fiery furnace under some polit ical platform! I indict this evil as the regicide, the fratricide, the patricide, the matricide, the uxoricide. of the century. Yet un der what innocent and delusive and mirthful names alcoholism deceives the people! It is a "cordial." It is 'bitters." It is an "eye opener." It is an "appetizcr." It is a "digester." It is an "invigorator." It isa "settler." It is a "nightcap." Why don't they put on the right labels-"Essence of Perdition "Conscience Stu pefier," "Five Drams of Heartache," "Tears of Orphanage," "Blood of Souls," "Scabs of an Eternal Leprosy," "Venom of the Worm That Never Dies?" Only once in awhile is there anything in the title of liquors to even hint their atrocity, as in the case of "sour mash." That I see advertised all over. It is an honest name and any one can understand it. "Sour mash!" That is. it makes a man's disposition sour, and his associa tions sour, and his prospects sour, and then it is good to mash his body, and mash his soul, and mash his business. and mash his family. "Sour mash!" One honest name at last for an intoxi cant! But through lying labels of many of the apothecaries' shops, good people, who 'are only a little under tone in health and wanting some invigoration, have unwittingly .got on their tongue the fangs of this eebra that stings to death so large a ratio of the human race. Other are ruined by the common and all destructive habit of tieating cus tomers.- And it is a treat on their com ing to town, and a treat while the bar gaining progresses, and a treat when the purchase is made, and a treat as he leaves town. Others, drown their trou bles, submerge themselves with this worse trouble. Oh, the world is bat tered and bruised and blasted with this growing evil! It is more and more in trenched and fortified. - They have mil lions of dollars subscribed to marshal and advance the alcoholic forces. They nominate and elect and govern the vast majority of the office holders of this country. On their side they have en listed the mightiest political power of the centuries, aid behind them stand all the myrmidons of the nether world, satanic, Apollyonic and diabolic. It is beyond all human effort to overthrow this Bastille of decanters or capture this Gibraltar of rum jugs. And while I approve of all human agencies of re form I would utterly despair if we had nothing else. But what cheers me is that our best troops are yet 'to corhe. IOur chief artillery is in reserve. Our greatest commander has not yet fully taken the field. If all hell is on their side, all heaven is on our side. Now "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered." Then look at the impurities of these great cities. Ever and anon there are in the newspapers explosions of social life that make the story of Sodom quite respectable, "for such things," Christ says. "were more tolerable for Sodom and 'Gomorrah," than for the Chorazins and Bethsaidas of greater light. It is no unusual thing in our cities to see men in high positions with two or three families, or refined ladies willing solemnly to mzrry the very swine of society if they be wealthy. The Bible all aflame with denunciation against an impure life, but many of the American ministry uttering not one point blank word against this iniquity lest some old libertine throw up his church pew. Machinery organized in all the cities of the United States and Canada by which to put yearly in the grinding mill of this iniquity tho'usands of the unsuspect ing of the country farmhouses, one pro curess confessing in the courts that she had supplied the infernal market with 151)- victims in six months. Oh, for 500 newspapers in America to swing open the door of this lazar house of so cial corruption! Exposure must come before extirpation. 'While the city van carries the scum o this sin from the prison to the police court morning by morning it is full time, if we do not want high American life to become like that of the court of Louis XV, to put millionaire Lotharios and the Pompadours of your brownstone palaces into a van of popular indigna tion and drive them out of respectable associations. What prospect of social purification can there be as long as at summer watering-places it is usual to see as young woman of excellent rearing stand and simper and giggle and roll up her eyes side ways before one of those first class satyrs of fashionable life and on the ballroom floor join him in the dance, the maternal chaperon mean while beamiing from the window on the scene? Matches are made in heaven, they say. Not such matches, for the brimstone indicates the opposite region. But is this all? Then it is only a question of time when the last vestige of purity and home will vanish out of sight. Human arms, human pens, hu man voices, human talents, are not suf ficient. I begin to look up. I listen for artillery rumbling down the sapphire boulevards of heaven. 1 watch to see if in the morning light there be not the flash of descending scimiters. Oh. 'or God! Does it not seem time for his ap pearance? Is it not time for all lands to cry out, "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered?" I got a letter asking me if I did not think that the earth'juake in one of our cities was the Divine chastisement on that city for its sins. That letter I answered by saying that if all our American cities got all the punishment they deserve for their horrible imipuri ties the earth would long ago have cracked, opening crcxices transeontin nental and taken down all our cities so far under that the tip of our church spires would be 500 feet below the sur face. It is of the Lord's mercies that we have not been consumed. Not only are the affairs of this world so a-twist. a-jangle and racked that there seems a need of the Divine ap pearance, but there is another reason. Have you not noticed that in the his tory of this planet God turns a leaf about every 2..000 years? God turned a leaf, and this world was fitted for hu man residence. About 2.000 more years passed along, and God turned an 2,000 gnore year, assed on, and it wa the N1iity. Almo 2,000 nore years Passed by, and he will probably soon turn anutler leaf. What it lhall be I canuot say. It uay be the demoli tion of all these Ionstosictis tur pitude anld the e!stablishmnlt of righdt couSec in a1ll the carth. i1e can do it. and lewili do it. I am as confident as if it were already cxoiplished. How easily he can do it my text suggests. It does not ask God to hurl a great thunderbolt of his power. but just to rise from the throne on which he sits. Only that will be necessary. it Will be no exertion of Omnipotence. It wil be no bending or bracingr for a mi lity lift. It will be no sending down the sky of the white horse cavalry of heaven or rumbling war chariots. Ile will only rise. Now he is sitting in the majesty and patience of his reign. Ile is from his throne watching the I mustering of all the forces of blasphemy and drunkenness and impurity and fraud and Sabbath breaking..and when they have done their worst and are most sure ly organized lie will bestir himself and say: "My enemies have denied me long enough, and their cup of iniquity is full. I have given the-ni all oppor tunity for repentance. This dispensa tion of patience is ended, and the faith of the good shall be tried no longer.' And now God begins to rise. and what mountains give way under his right foot I know not; but, standing in the full radiance and grandeur of his nature, he looks. this way and that. and how his enemies are scattered! Blasphemers. white and dumb. reel down to their doom, and those who have trafficked in that which destroys the bodies and souls of men and families will fly with cut foot on the down grade of broken decan ters, and the polluters of society that did their bad work with large fortunes and big social sphere will overtake in their descent the degraded rabble of un derground city life as they tumble over the eternal precipices, and the world shall be left clear and clean for the friends of hummrnity and the worshipers of Almighty God. The last thorn plucked off, the world will be left a blooming rose on the bosom of that Christ who came to gardenize it. The earth that stood snarling with its tiger ish passion, -thrusting out its raging claws, shall lie down a lamb at the feet of the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world. And now the best thing I can wish for you, and the best thing I can wish for myself, is that we may be found his warm and undisguised and enthusias tic friends in that hour when God shall rise and his enemies shall be scattered. YARN OF THE NEW YORK'S CAT. Was Shaken Overboard by the Jar of a Big Gun. This is a war story going the rounds which, however strange it may seem, is vouched for by every jacky and several officers on the cruiser New York, and then the cat is exhibited as convincing proof. The cat is a black one called Nigger. He is young and is active in this northern climate, but on the block ade he spent much time sleeping. His favorite resting place was the forecas tle.and he was often to be seen stretch ed out on the cool side of a hatch coam ing or at the base of the forward tur ret On the n-ght of June 4, the one af ter that on which the Merrimac was sunk, the New Orleans, on the eastern end of the blockading line, opened fire at about 9:30 on what was supposed to be a Spanish torpedo boat. The New York headed in the direction of the firing immediately and also opened fire. The first shot was from one of the 8 inch guns in the forward turret, aimed pretty well forward and with but slight elevation. Of course the concussion was heavy. More than that, the shot was unexpected, and several men stand ing about the forecastle were thrown from their feet by the force of the dis charge. Now the chief beauty of the story is that no one saw just what happened to the cat at the time the gun was made to explain the matter. simply a hiatus left, and the story told when the men engaged in washing down the decks heard the plaintive cry of a cat from over the ships side. It was finally located at the foot of the port forward sea ladder. Beside this ladder hung two hand ropes.-just reaching to the surface of the water. With his claws firmly imbedded in the very end of one of them clung Nigger. the black cat. One of the sailors limbed down and lifted him out of the water and brought him up to the fore castle, where he was rubbed dry, fed, petted and wondered over until the of ficer di the deck hailed the forcastle from the bridge and wanted to know why the washing down of the deck had been stopped. That officer is one of those who vouch for the fact that Nig ger was blown overboard by the dis charge of the gun and spent eight hours in the waters of the Carribean sea hang ing at the end of a rope. LEE REDISCOVERE. A Northern Paper Scares Secretary of War Alger. Since Alger went to grow up with the country the war department has made a number of discoveries. One of these is that there is a person in the service named Fizthugh Lee, who holds the commission of major general and is in command of a corps of volunteers in Florida, and that this corps is in ex cellent condition, well-organized, well drilled, well-fed and generally in good health and ready for the field. While all this rumpus has been going on Gen eral Lee~ has been saying nothing, but quietly attending to his business. Jacksonville is not the most agreeable summer resort. Compared with Chicka mauga, for example: in miight be sup posed unhealthy. But Fitzhugh Lee seems to have had the old West Point prejudice in favor of educated military men for staff position, and he got an efiient staff assigned to him at the be ginning. As a result we havc heard so little complaint from his corps that most people had forgotten its existeince as completely as Alger had. though the material lie had to work with included some of the worst and the volunteer officers had as much to learn there as anywhere else. It will be remembered that befor'e Alger left he issued an or der for the mustering out of one-half of the volun zeers, selected upon no ascer tained system. It is this order that has brought the Seventh corps to iid. since it takes fromi it a number of regi ments just as they had been got into good serviceable condition for the cx pedition to Cuba on which they were expecting to embark with the approach of cool weather. Alger is not much on an organization, but for disorgranizingt he is the greatest secretary of war that ever has been known, and Lee could not expect to escape his devastating band entirely. It is not a part of the Alger plan that any man as competent as Fitzhugh Lee should be given an op-i portunity for effective service that woud further overwhchn the lets of TE SLVER BATTLE. Under Consumption Rather Than Overproduction. THE CAUSE OF HARD TIMES Am'ong the Cotton Mills of the United States. Such is the Opinion of Two Gold Papers. They are getting down to the facts vy degrces. Here we find the Finan eial Chronicle and the Springfield Re publican arguing just like The State or any other "Bryanite" newspaper in ac counting for the discouraging condition of the cotton manufacturing industry. Reviewing the Financial Chronicle's annual statement of the cotton growing and manufacturing industries The Re publican says: It is from under-consumption rather than over-production that the industry has been so deeply depressed. The Chronicle undertakes to prove this by showing that the consumption of cot ton by the American mills during the past five- years has ben considerably b, low the per capita rate of the pre vious half decade. .which was a period of greater prosperity and more normal consumption. And this lower per cap ita use of cotton has proceeded simul taneously with declining imports of cotton goods and increasing exports of fabrics of our own manufacture. If consumption were at the normal rate there would be work for practically all the existing cotton machinery, and the approach of better times is regarded by The Chronicle as assuring the speedy restoration of prosperity to this great industry. Meanwhile we may perti nently ask how the reduction of wages in the cotton mills is calculated to help on the restoration or increase the con sumption whose present low state is the cause of depression. What The Republican now so readi ly admits when the argument is made by the Financial Chronicle is precisely what it would not admit when the same argument was made by The State a few months ago. It is under-consumption that depresses the cotton manufactur ing business and most other great in dustries in this country. They are not producing more than the people would buy at fair prices if the people were prosperous, but they are producing more than the people can afford to buy at this time. And that is conclusive proof that the people are not, as the gold organs claim, in a prosperous con dition. All suggestions of "under-consump tion" as a reason for the paralysis of industries have been for this reason either ignored or scouted by the gold press. And wisely; because under-con sumption implies inability to buy, and inability to buy-in the face of the abounding yields from fields. mines and forests-implies the lack of money and the cruelty of our financial system. Admit general under-consumption and you admit general hard time; admit hard times and you admit the failure of the gold standard to do what was pro mised for it. Of course the gold men will now de clear, as the Financial Chronicle does, that we are on the border of better times and that the gold standard is to be vindicated at last. But they have been busily engaged in making that same declaration ever since the repeal of the Sherman law in 1893, excepting such occasions only as they were pro testing that the good times had already come. "Wait another week on the gold standard!" "Give the gold stand ard a chance!" "Gold standard pros perity is due to arrive punctually at 12 nr. on the day after election!" "Don't monkey with the gold standard when it's just about to hatch out riches for everybody!" And so on. But this sort of thing can't go on in definitely. The people can't be fooled much longer with promises. Five years is a long time. The gold standard has had five years to prove its character and its effects and it has proved that they are evil. That the evil will ever turn into good the people who were de luded in 1896 do not now believe. At the close of a successful war and with every advantage of position, the party which upholds the gold standard finds itself confronted with popular dissatis faction, distrust and the demand for "something better." Even so optimis tic a Republican organ as the New York Tribune sounds the alarm. It asks the question, "Is there any dan ger?" and answers itself thus: "We say frankly, yes. Unless the supporters' of the administration throughout the country bestir them selves and work from this time until the night of election day as they have not worked before in the last 10 years, there is grave danger that their repre sentatives will not be in the majority in the next congress, and that the sen ate will be controlled by a coalition opposed to the administiation and sound money. This is the plain truth, and it may better be told now than when it is too late." Not even a foreign war has sufficed to divert the people from their domes tic grievance. Not even in the hour of victory do they forget that they have a battle yet to fight a thousandfold more momentous to them than El Ca ney or San Juan. They are arming for it. The gold standard must surrender and evacuate its entrenehment.-Col umbia State. Fatality in Pittsburg. Capt. Geo. Adams, aged 23. and Capt. Chas. MIiller, aged 22, were in stantly killed while conducting a fire works display and reproduction of the M1anila battle at Allegheny river in front of the exposition building at Pittsburg, Pa., Thursday night. Capt. Adams was a native of New Orleans and had been engaged all summer at Atlantic city giving fireworks displays and exhibitions of deep) sea diving. from Young's pier. Capt. M1iller was a native of Asheville. N. C., where his father and mother still reside. Hilton s. Iodoform Liniment is the "nec plus ultra" of all such pret.arations in re moving soreness, and quickly healing fresh cuts and wounds, no matter how bad. It will promptly heal old sores o'f long standing. Will kill the pois on from '-Poison Ivy" or '"Poison Oak" and cure 'Dew Poison." Will counteract the poison from bites of snakes an stings of insects. It is a sure cure for sore throat. Will cure any case of sore mouth, and is a supe rior remedy for all pains and aches. Sold by druggists and dealers 25 cents a bottle. ________ Gen. Toral Insulted. A dispatch from M1adrid says when the train conv'eying Gen. Toral arrived at the station at Bojar a crowd which had gathered insisted that the general should show himself'. Upon his doing so the gathering loaded him with in sults. Gen. Toral. who is ill with fe xer, uttered a few excuses and beat a BAK'R. ALIAS BATES. Member of a Wealthy New York Fam ily Who Drifted to Brunswick. 'The .\tla nta Cnstitition StVs new. reacied I-runswick Thursday from Huntsville. Ala., that the body of Wil laii Isaker, alias lhates, a private of the First regimient. who dicd seven days ago. had been exhumed at the re quest of the father and that the dis tracted old man had discovered in tiv buried man the remains of his only son. The story went on to tell how Baker. alias Bates. had left home years ago and come to the South. His father was a Wall street capitalist and the home that Baker. alias Bates. left was one of sumptuous luxury. situated on fashionable Fifth avenue. For a long time the father searched for his unfortunate son and finally gave him up in despair. When the war broke out he watched the enlistment rolls, and one day in some manner had an intimation that his son had joined the First Regiment. lie started South on receipt of this information, but on arriving at camp discovered that the only man to fit his description had died seven days before. The body was ex humed and found to be that of his long long lost son. What was left of hin was carefully removed from its resting place and the remains carried to New York. where they will be given a burial suited to the wealth and tastes of the family to which he belonged. All this read like a romance to the people of Brunswick, and especially to the news paper fraternity, of which Baker. alias Bates. was one for months previous to his enlistment. He was a man of mag nificent physique and splendid address. When he came to Brunswick his charming manner won him a place in the hearts of the boys at once and he was given a place on the Morning Call. There he was seen nightly by the Con stitution correspondent and to the cor respondent became known, as far as the Brunswick end was concerned, the ro mance of his life. It seems that Baker alias Bates, was more attractive to wo men even than he was to men. One of the fair sex became captivated with him. Unfortunately for her, she was married. Bates knew what the result would be if he remained in the city, so when Capt. Hopkins was getting up re cruits be decided to leave. He threw away all his chances that might follow from his talents given the right direc tion and enlisted as a private in the ranks of Uncle Sam's great army. There was genuine regret around The Call office when Bates left, and of him the Messrs. Leavys, his former employ ers, said: "He was one of the best men The Call ever had and one of the most perfect gentlemen in the world." The sad ending of Bates' life in the camp at Huntsville brings sorrow to those who knew him, but they are glad that his loved ones have his body and will give it a burial befitting the man. SOUTH CAROLINA'S DEAD. Inquiry Concerning Volunteers Who Have Died Since Enlistment. It seems that pension attorneys in tend to lose no time in getting data in readiness to "pull Uncle Sam's legs." Already they are making inquiries of the authorities concerning those who have died since they enlisted into the volunteer service for the war with Spain. Adjutant and Inspector Gen. Watts has received the following letter from an attorney in regard to the matter: We understand that the following named soldiers in the Spanish-Ameri can war who enlisted from the State of South Carolina are dead. Will you kindly tell us the name of the town or city from which they enlisted. J. L. Best, company L, First regi ment. H. A. Gilbert, company -, First re giment. J. M. Kinard, company B, First re giment. -- McLeod, company -. First re giment. W. L. Mathews. company H. First regiment. WV. D. Owens, company I, First regiment. T'. Shine, company -, First regi ment. T. J. Stines, company H, First regi ment. J. S. Stukes, company -, First regi ment. G. B. Vaughn, company F, First re giment. S. W. Mathews, company H, First regiment.i G. R. Vaughn, company -. First re siment. If you know of any others who have died we will esteem it a favor if you will give us the names and sen-ice and tell us from what town or city they enlisted. We desire this information for the possible use and benefit of the heirs of said soldiers. Gen. Watts would be glad to receive any information from the relatives and friends of the names mentioned with the facts as to their death. DISEASE IS RIPE. The Spanish Soldiers in the Philipines Suffering. As a result of the meetings of the uational assembly of Filipinos, thus far held in Malolos, there is now entire confidence in the Ameri2an government on the part of the insurgent leaders. All the members of the assembly ex hibit an earnest desire that future re lations of the Filipinos with the Amer icans may be of the most friendly charac ter The condition of the Spanish prison ers is beginning to excite anxiety among the military officers here. Eleven thou sand of these prisoners are quartered in churches and other publie buildings within the narrow confines of the walled city, where most of thle Spanish people also live, wherc the American garrison necessarily is quartered, and where Gen. Otis has located his armyv headquarters. The members of the sanitary corps -are kept constantly at work elearing out the filth that constantly accumu lates. The Spaniards have not the least knowledge of the laws of sanitation. The result is a condition threatening a general outbreak of some seymotic dis eases at any mnomcnt. Typhoid fever is also increasing at an alarming rate. The authorities feel it absolutely es sential to the health of the city to get the Spanishi prisoners out of Manila at the earliest possible datc. Similar conditions are rcerted from Cavite, where the Spanish in the hands of the rebels arc suff'erine from a lack of thc nce*ssaries of life. To make matters worse the sailing of the hospital ship Rio has been repeatcdly delayed. It is now stated positively that sihe will sail Thursday. Probably by that time she will have a considerable accession STARVED TO DEATH. That Was the Fate of Some of Our Sick Soldiers. LEFT TO DIE LIKE RATS. What Surgeon Ward, of the United States Army, says of the Horrors at Camp Thomas. A Kansas City special to thc Boston Globe says: Wearing his uniform. Surgeoa Ma jor Milo B. Ward. who was in charge of the field hospital at Chickamauga, denounced the war department last night in an address at Beacon Hill Con gregational church. for the horrors at Camp Thomas. "Some one is to blame," he said. "for keeping an army of 45,000 men at a camp where all the water was unfit for a dog to drink; where there was no drainage. no proper food or mediene. and where the conditions were so un healthy that every man of the 45,000 had intestinal trouble. "Three-fourths of the army slept in little 'dog' tents. as we called them. They were five feet long and four feet high. There were no cots. The men slept on the ground. and it rained near ly all the time for six weeks. "Our division hospital was arranged to hold 200 men. but we had over 500 sick men in it. Each tent was arranged to hold six men, but we had 10 and 12 crowded in. "There were not cots enough, and sick men had to lie on litters on the wet ground sometimes for a week. The sick came in 50 and 75 at a time, and there were no cots, no medicines, no food for them, except the regular army rations issued to well men. "We had so little medicines and of so poor a variety that we actually could not prescribe for the sick men crowded in thee so close that you could not walk between the cots. "The nurses wer6detailed for nurses because they were the poorest soldiers in the camp. They nursed the sick eight hours in the day and then work ed three hours digging sinks and trenches and cleaning up the camp. -Under these conditions, what could the doctors do? The government made no provision at all to feed the sick at Camp Thomas. I make this statement boldly. ) know it will be denied, but I can prove what I say. The sick would actually have starved to death if they had depended upon the government for food. "Some did starve to death. Others were fed by the Red Cross society. The moment a man became sick he was re moved to the hospital, his rations stopped, and he was allowed 25 cents a day for commutation of rations. But he could not draw that money for a month. The consequence was that the government gave no food to hundreds of sick and d ing soldiers. "We appealed to the Red Cross so ciety and it fed the men." Dr. Ward praised the Red Cross so ciety, the woman nurses,-and the chap lains. He said that when he is mus tered out he will tell of abuses at the camp which he must not tell now. THE SPANTA RDS MUST GO.. They Must Get Out of Cuba by Decem ber 31. Officials at Washington are watching with interest the progress being made by the~ military commission at Habana in securing the evacuation of the island of Cuba. The commission has been very slow in making reports to the war department, but from the latest receiv ed it appears that the body would like to have more definite instructions as to procedure. It seems that the Spanish side has said that they could not begin the evacuation of the island until the first of November, and that it could not be completed before the 28th of Febru ary next. In view of the alarming state of the Cubans who are suffering from hunger and the inability, under the present uncertain conditions, of obtaining wvork. the President decided that he could not assent to the consumption of so much time. Therefore he caused the commission to be instructed to de mand that the evacuation by the Span iards begin not later than October 13, and that it be completed by December :31st next. What the result of this de mand will be is not yet known, but it is said that the administration is deter mined to tolerate no dilatory tactics on the part of the Spanish forces in leav ing the island, although disposed to permit reasonable indulgence. Notice has also been taken of the ex pressed purpose of the Spanish captain general to remove from the island the remains of Christopher Columbus. with part of the surmounting monument. If a monument is not a permanent fixture then it is hard to decide what is, and it is possible that attention will be called to the infraction of the terms of the protocol, although (this must be done with haste in o-'der to succeed in its object, as the removal is said to be fixed for next Tuesday. Taken from the Colon. The miost beautiful of all of the souv enirs of the great naval battle of July :3 off Santiago reached the navy depart ment Saturday from Capt. Converse, commanding the Montgomery at Guan tanamo. It is a bronze bust of Chris topher Columbus taken from the lag-0 ship Cristobal Colon which lies below the surface of the ocean 20 miles off Santiago. The navy department has offered to place in charge of the Smith sonian museum until somec permanent disposition can be made of them, all of the relies recovered from the wrecks save the captured flags which must go to the naval academy at Annapolis, so this bust will be sent to make a nucleus for what probably will prove to be one of the most interesting collections in the museum. Murder Mystery Solved. Superintendent of Police Birming hami of Bridgeport, Conn.. has issued a statement in which he announces the complete unraveling of the Yellow Mill pond murder mystery. The superin tendent says Dr. Nancy Guilford caus ed the death of Emma Gill by a crimi nal operation. asserts that the body was dismembered in a bath tub at the Guil ford house, and names Harry Oxley as an accomplice to the extent of being responsible for the condition of the girl and consenting to a criminal oper a tion. The English Sparrow. An Alabama paper gives the pestifer ous English sparrow a certiticate of use fulness. It says: "Aplanter near town told us last week that the boll worm was simply ruining his eetton patch. when the sparrow fund them out, and in three (lays there was not a mil ler nor worm to be seen. while the spar The Decline in Cotton. In an interesting article on the oettor isituation, the New Orleans Times and Democrat says the decline iii the price of the >:taple proceeds in a way that indi--aies the utter disbelief of the trade in lhe mni'thly reports of the govern miieit. Most traders seeni to think that prices must go lower still, in con. sequence of the pressure of spot cotton and the utter absence of sepeulation. Of course, this unanimity of;opinion may crerate an unwieldy short inter est. and turn the market the other way. Unfortunately, the spinner is far more independent as regards supplies than he was a year ago. and Mr. Neill's large estimate of the crop will, undoubtedly. encourage consumers to buy from hand to mouth. The situation is serious, especially for the growers of cotton in this secton of the country, for the cost of raising cotton has, this year, been enhanced by the increased cost of provi sons and the greaterexpense of cultiva tion, in consequence of a wetter season. The consensus of opinion is that no such yield as that of 1S97 98 is to be expected in the country east of the Mississippi, but it is believed by the advocates of big crop vicws that Texas will make up dhe deficiency. In that case, the pro uucer in this sec'tion may have to face a ,,eficient yield combined with a low .rice. which is a very hard combine to eat. The persiste.t decline in cotton tends to check the in;provement of trade. because nobody wants to stock up with goods on a steadily falling market. Of course, if the decline should proceed much farther, the evil will cure itself, since production will be automatically cur tailed, from the very fact that no intel ligent basis of credit will exist. It is impossible that peculiarly favored in dividuals may make both ends meet. with present prices; but the average pro ducer is fooling his time away. We are well aware that some of the profession als claim that low prices make for the prosperity of the farmer; indeed, a book in defense of that thesis was issued from the government printing office, when the high and mighty J. Sterling Morton was secretary of agriculture. But the most exhaustive comment on such deliverances may be found in old Dr. Jonson's reply to a lady who asked an explanation of some extraordinary utterance of the doctor's: 'Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance.' If the farm er's prosperity did really increase with falling prices, then it would be the part of philanthropy to wipe out values enti rely. so as to make his prosperity per fect. One of the most striking facts in the history of cotton is the extremely small difference in money value between the large and the small crops. The statistics of the last six crops are as fol lows: Bales. Value. 1897-98.. 11,199,994 $320,552,606 1896-97.. 8.757,964 321,924,834 1895-96.. 7.157,346 294,095,347 1894-95.. 9.901.251 297,037,530 1893-94..... 7,549,817 283,118,137 1892-93..... 6,700,365 284,765,512 The crop of the greatest money value, in recent years, was that of 1890-91, 8,652,597 bales, which brought $430, 380,174. The crop 1879-80, 5,761,252 bales, brought $318,482,010. which is the value, within about $2,000,000, of the monster crop of 11,199,994 bales, produced in 1897-98. So it would seem that the farmer is straining himself tb little purpose. Undoubtedly, monster crops benefit many interests, such as transportation companies and indivi duals whose compensation is by the bale; but we hardly think that the cotton producer is eaten up with a desire to labor exclusively for the interest of his fellow man. As we have repeatedly said, the producer and the consumer are more nearly face to face thanthey have ever been before. If the present crop be rushed to market, and sold at auc tion, the result may surprise everybody concerned. The speculator seem to have made up his mind to sit in the prescenium box, while the slugging match is in progress-a method of pro cedure which is entirely natural in view of , recent experience. Indeed, the speculator is just now in the mood of the man who was kicked by a mule; he is not as pretty as he was, but he knows more. Wheat as a Regular Crop. Wheat farming is not a business to be taken up one year and abandoned the next. 'The crop has a legitimate place in the rotation of mixed farming, and it should be grown every year with out reference to the selling price or even without regard to the iprobable yield of the crop. This is true in al most every portion of the country, and the Southern States are not an excep tion, for there are suitable lands to grow wheat in every State, to a greater or less extent. Forty or bhity years ago in a large part of South Carolina wheat was raised to meet the home consump tion entirely, and we do not read of the importation of flour until after the rail roads were built. This year has been exceptional for the wheat crop, botha as to yield and acreage, and we are glad to learn that the farmers are consider ing the policy of making wheat a regular crop on their farms. This is a most eneouraging sign of the times, and be tokens the achievements of diversified farming as the rule and not the excep tion in this section of the State. It is hardly necessary to argue with farmers whose tables in the last few months have been supplied with biscuits made from home grown wheat as to the de sirability of the bread or the economy in household expenses. Imported flour may be whiter and doubiUess there are brands that are just as pure, but it is an open secret that flour is often adul terated with diffierent substances, and some of them. such as white clay, are positively deleterious to health. This practice has become so common, accord ing to the Birmiingham Age Herald that a barrel of absolutely pure flour is said to be the exception, notwithstaniding the legislation of Congress on this sub ject. The remedy is home-grown wheat and home-erround flour. Killed His Brcther. News reached Greenville Saturday of a horrible homicide n Wednesday night beyond Caesari Head, when Charlie Robinson shot and killed his elder brother, Berry Robinson, at the latter's home in Transylvanie county, North Carolina. The fratricide was brought on by a quarrel over a nutme.~ grater. Charlie Robinson. who is toll gate keeper, and this summer ha~s been driving fi' the Caesr' in ead hotel, went to his brother's h ouse under the influence of whiskey' and emptied one barrel of his shotgun into his brother's heart. The shiootng was in North Carolina, in it of the State line. over three minles fromi Caesar's Head. Charlie Robinson liv es in Greenville county. South Carolina. He is now in the Transy Ivaznie county jail at Brevard, and is pir(straite over his rash deed. lie is a married man, with nine chil :iren. Berry Robinson leaves a wife biut no child. They were known to be n good terms the day of the shooting. ind the affair has caused great regret imong the mountain people. among shom the Robinsons were a prominent ~amily, Charlie being an industrious Tbe Royal Is thoI hIgbeet gr-de beklag powder knwn. Acte! tests show it goe" 00W thrd further than any ott L trzd I. POWDER Absolutely Pure ROYM. MAX1NO POwDCR CO., XEW YORK. Items of Interest. THE quarrels between Republicans in nearly every state are revealing some very interesting facts about the way in which that pious political organization has been conducted. THE Atlanta Journal is authority for the statement that more men were kil loi at the recent presidential elccion in Guatemala than were killed in our army and navy in all our fights with Spain. These Central American republics are dandies. THE transport Minnewaska. recently sailed from the wharves of Charleston, deep laden with men and munition on a trip to Porto Rico. The Minnewaska is a very large vessel. We extend con gratulations to Charleston upon this evidence of good work d one on her bar by the jetties. THE people of South Carolina have very properly endorsed Governor Eller be for another term. He deserves it. He has been the Governor of the whole people, irrespective of faction, and a. majority of the people of South Caro lina believe in him and trust him, as is shown by the vote in the primary. T HE Army and Navy Jor-nal is au thority for the report that the First South Carolina regiment will be kept in service, and that the officials are dis gusted with the petition business, and do not think it soldierly. What there is in it is not known, except that the First is at Jacksonville, and seems like ly to remain there. IT is useless to look backward and long for the former state of things that will never come again; but the course of true wisdom is to look forward, and if possible try to grasp the aim of God in these wonderful changes, and seek to be what he would have us to be in their midst and in the peril of their admin istration. Two Boston jokers the other night "held up" J. B. Schoeffel of the Tre mont Theater as he was driving along a suburban road. They did it merely for fun of course. Mr. Schoeffel entered into the spirit of the joke splendidly. Ile knocked one of the make-believe highwaymen down and horse-whipped the other until the blood came. Practi cal jokes are so enjoyable! THE President is having difficulty in getting a commission to investigate the war department. There are various reasons why men who have figured in public life prominently do not care to act'as investigators. They think tha t it is very doubtful if it will be possi ble to make such an investigation as will satisfy the country. If the bot tom facts are not reached the commis sion will be severely criticized. THE yellow fever in Santiago doesn't show any invidious distinction, but treats the so-called immunes just like it does other folks and lays them out with as little ceremony. The immune business, as it was carried out in re cruiting the "immune" regiments, was a farce. Most of them were about as immune against fever as they would be against a Winnipeg blizzard. BLANco says in a proclamation: "We have been vanquished because we are Spaniards, but there is no human pow er which -can force us to resign our glorious nationality." Well, nobody wants to. They can stick to their glorious nationality till their teeth fall out, but they were not "vanquished be cause they were Spaniards," but be cause they didn't have gumption enough to know when they were tackling the wrong fellow. A sweetheart's hugs and kisses may be something new in the mnateria medi ca, but they worked wonders in the case of-David Blum, a young'-butcher, who attempted suicide by means of illumi nating gas. The doctors in the New York hospital had given up hope of re viving him when pretty Nathalie Took er, to whom he was about to be wed. came along and brought him to consci ousness in short order: She caught David in her arms, and hugging and kissing him besought him not to die. David opened his eyes. When he saw his sweetheart he embraced her. The doctors smiled and departed. It is ex pected that the wedding will be on schedule time. Storm in the Ncrthwest. A special dispatch to the State Jour al from Lima, 0., says: A .tornado visited this city Saturday. The path f the storm was short and narrow, but its force was terrific. It came from he northeast, first leveling the barn of Jacob Boze and burying a number of persons it, the debris. 3Mr. Boze had his shoulder broken and George Had sell, seventy years of age was badly in jured. A number of horses were killed. A new house was lifted from its founda ion and deposited-in the street. TI'he uilna brewery. Limaaegg case factory, ud a niumber of adjacent buildings ere unroofed.The high school building as demolished, letting the roof and first and second floors into the cellar. oitunately school was not in session, t being Saturday. A portion of the incinnati, Hamilton and Dayton rail oad shop was unroofed and Henry Caz rell was buried in the ruins, being seri usly injured. The D~etroit. Limua and Northern re air shops were wrecked and the men oly escapeCd by taking refuge under an nine. In the western part of the own a house occupied by Willis 31c ibbon was carried 20 feet off the oundation and M1rs. 3MeKibboo was adly injured by a stove toppling over n her. The six year old son of Syd ey Walthy, playing in the yard, was. arried away by the wind and flying ebris and has not been found. The city water works buildings were un oofed and the occupants ecaped al ost by a miracle. Over ~>0 residences: ere more or less damaged and the pro erty loss will be very great. No esti ates of losses has been made at this. me. Twelve THundred Sick. Nearly L2~00 of the American troop)s t Santiago are on the sick list and en. Lawton reports SS new case~s of fever today. His report sent to the war department is as follows: Sick.. ,17; fever, 679; new cases. 88; re