Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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AN URGENT MESSAGE Dr. Talmage's Words of Counsel to Young Men. GET CLOSE TO THE MASTER. Points Out the Dangers Which Await Unwary Feet. Warns Against Drinking, Gamb ling and Unthrifty Habits. This arousing and practical sermon by Dr. Talmage will reach many hearts and be an especial inspiration to those who are now starting in life. His text is Zechariah ii, 4, "Run, speak to this young man." There was no snow on the beard of the prophet of my text. and no crow's feet had left their nark near his eyes. Zechariah was a young man, and in a day dream he saw and heard two an gels talking about the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. One of these an gels desires that yourng Zechariah should be well inforwed about the re building of that city, its circumference aid the height of its walls, and he says to the other angel, "Run, speak to this young man." Do not walk, but run, for the message is urgent and immineut. So every young man needs to have im mediate advice ibout the dimensions, the height and the circumference of that which under God he is to build namely his own character and destiny. No slow -or laggard pace -will do. A little farther or. and counsel will be of no advantage. Swift footed must be the practical and important suggestions or they might as well never be made at alL Run at the pace of five miles the hour and speak to that young man. Run, before this year of 1898 is ended. Run, before this century is closed. Run before his character is inexprably deciAed for two worlds, this world and the Lext. How many of us have found out by long and bitter experience things that we ought to have been told before we were 25 years of age: Now I propose to tell you some thirns wlich if you will seriously and prayerfully observe vw'll make you master or the situation in which you are now placed and master of every situation in which you ever will be placed. And in order that my subject may be climacteric I begin on the outside edge of that ad vice, which will be more bud more im portant as the subject unfolds. Now, if you would be master of the situation do not expend money before you get it.. How many young men ir retrievably mortgage their future be cause of resources that are quite sure to be theirs. Have the money either in your hand or in a safety deposit or in a bank or in a United States bonds before you make purchases or go into expesive enterprises or hitch a spank ing ten'i to a glittering turnout or con tract for the building of a mansion on the Potomac or the Hudson. Do not depend on an inheritance from your father or uncle. The old may may live cn a good deal longer than you expect, and the day of your enforced payment may come before the day of his decease. You cannot depend upon rheumatism or heart failure or senility to do its w >rk. Longevity is so wonderfully improved that you cannot depend upon people dying when you thik they. ought to. They live to be septuagenarians or oe togenarians or nonagenarnans or even centenarians, and meanwhile their heir go into bankruptcy, or, tempted to for gery or misappeoriatton of trust funds or watering of railroads or mining stocks, go into the penitentiary. Neith er had you better spread yourselv out because of the 15 or 20 per cent you ex pect from an investment. Most of the 15 or 20 per cent investments are apt to pay nothing save the, privilege of being assessed to meet the obligations of the company in the affairs of which you get involved. Better get Si per cent from a government bond than be nromised la, per cent from a dividend which wil never be declared or paid only once or twice, so as to tempt you deeper in be fore the grand smash up and you re ceive, instead' of a payment of divi dends, a letter from the president and secretary of the company saying they are very sorry. If you have to wait a year or five years or ten years or most of your life time, then you had better wait rather than spend money you expect to get. Then after you get it do not spend is all. Never spend a dollar until you have 50 cents that you do not spend. In the government service in this city how many splendid women who are the daughters of men who spent all they got and then sneaked out of life to leave their daughters penniless, to be looked after by some kind senator or other friend who might solicit for them a position on small salary, but enouzh to keep them from starvation, and the poorhouse! Such men do not die, they abseond. I cannot understand how such spendthrift and reckless and im provident men dare at their decease ap pear at the door of heaven seeking ad mission, when they have left their families in the tophet of want and mendicancy. Such men do not deserve a throne and a harp and a mansion, but an everlasting poorhouse. From no disappointed or disgruntled state of mind do I give this counsel, for life has been to me a glad surprise, as it has been to most people a disappointment. I expected nothing of advantage or op portunity, and so everything has been to me a matter of pleased amazemeni, but I have seen so many men ruined for time and eternity by going into expen diture, with nothing to depend upon except anticipation, that if I had power to put all warnings into one clap of thunder I would with that startling vehemence say to all young men what John Randolph said in yonder senate chamber as he stretehod his long finger out toward some senatorial opponent and with shrill voice cried out. "Gen tiemen pay as you go." Do not say you have no chance, but remember Isaac Newton, the greatest astronomer of his day, once peddling cabbages in the street, and Martin Luther singing on the public sqtare for any pennies that he might pick up and John Bunyan mending kettles, and the late Judge Bradley of the United States supreme court, who was the son of a charcoal burner, and Turner, the painter, who was the son of a barber, and Lord Clive, who sayed India to En lang, shipped by his fathe~r to Madras as a useless boy whom he wanted to get rid of, and Prideaux, the world renown ed scholar and theologian, scouring pots and pans to work his way through col lege, and the mother of the late Wil liam E. Dodge, the philanthropist and magnificent man, keeping a thread and needle store, and Peter Cooper. who wor ked on small wages in a gluc facto ry, living to give $500,0*0 for the founding of an institute that has already educatecd thousands of the poor Bowditch. the scientist, beginning his useful learning and affluent career by reading the books that had been driven ashore from a shipwreck at Salem. There is, young man, a great financial or literary or moral or religious success awaiting you if you only know how to go up and take it. Then take it or get ready to take it. The mightier the op position the grander the triumph when you have conquered. There is a flower in Siberia that blooms only in January. the sevecest month of that cold climate. It is a star shaped flower and covered with glistening specks that look like diamonds. A Russian took some of the seeds of that flower to St. Pet ers burg and planted them. and they grew, and on the coldest day in .January they pushed back the snow and ice and burst into full bloom. They called it the "snow flower," and it makes me think of those whom the world tries to freeze out and snow under, but who in the strength of God push through and up and out and bloom in the hardest weather of the world's cold treatment, starred and radiant with a beauty given only to those who find life a struggle and turn it into a victory. Again. if you would master the situa tion. when angry do not utter a word or write a letter, but before you speak a word or write a word sing a verse of some hymn in a tune arranged in minor key and having no staccato passages. If very angry, sing two verses. If in a positive rage, sing three verses. First of all, the unhealthiest thing on earth ib to get mad, it jangles the nerves, en larges the spleen and sets the heart into a wild thumping. Many a man and many a woman has in time of such mental and physical agitation dropped dead. Not only that, but it makes ene mies out of friends, and makes enemies more virulent, and anger is partial or consummate suicide. Great attorneys. understanding this, have often won their cause by willfully throwing the opposing counsel into a rage. There is one man you must manage or one wo man you must control in order to please God and make life a success and that is yourself. There are drawbridges to every castle by which you may keep out of your nature foreign foes, but no man has a defense against himself unless it be a divine defense. Out of the millions of the human race there is only one per son who can do you permanent and ev erlasting harm, and that is the being that walks under your own hat and in your own shoes. The hardest realm that you will ever have to govern is the realm between your scalp and heel. The most. dangerous cargo a ship can carry is dynamite, and the most peril ous thing in one's nature is an explo sive temper. If your nature is hope lessly irrascible and tempestuous, then dramatize placidity. If the ship is on fire and you cannot extinguish the flames, at any rate keep down the hatches. When at some injustice in flicted upon you or some insult offered or some wrong done, the best thing fox you to say is to say nothing, and the best thing for you to write is to write nothing. If the meanness done you is unbarable, or you must express yourself or die, theh I commend a plan that I have once or twice successfully adopted. Take a sheet of paper. Date it at your home or office. Then put the wrongdoer's name at the head of the the letter page, without any prefix of "colonel" or suffix of "D. D.," and be gin with no term of courtesy, but abold and abrupt "sir." Then follow it with a statement of the wrong he has done you and of the indignation you have felt. Put into it the strongest terms of execration you can employ without being profane. Sign your name to the redhot epistle. Fold it. Envelop it. Direct it plainly to the man who has done you wrong. Carry the letter a week or two weeks, if need be, and then destroy it. In God's name, destroy it! I like what Abraham Lincoln said to one his cabinet officers. That cabinet officer had been belied and misrepre sented until in a fury he wrote a letter of arraignment to his enemy and in tersest possible phraseology told him what he thought of him. The cabinet officer read it to Mr. Lincoln and asked him how he liked it. Mr. Lincoln re plied: -"It is splendid for sarcasm and saia. I never heard anything more corolete in that direction. But do ou'think you can afford to send it?" That calam and wise and Christian in re-ogatio.n oi the president stopped the atter, and it was never sent. Young man; before you get far on in life, un less you are to be an exception among men, you will be wronged, y ou will be misinterpreted, you will be outraged. All your sense of justice will be in con flagration. Let me know how you meet that great offense and I will tell you whether your life is to be a triumph or a failure. You see; equipoise at such a time means so many things. It means self control. It means a capacity to forsee results. It means a confidence in your own integrity. It means a faith in the Lord God that he will see you through. Again, if you would be master of the situation, put the best interpretation on the character and behavior of others. Do not be looking for hypocrites in churches, or thieving among domestic Iservants, or swindlers among business men, or malfeasance in office. There is much in life to make men suspicious of others, and when that characteristic of suspicion becomes dominant a man has secured his own unhappiness, and he has become an offense in all circles, religious, commercial and political. The man who moves for a committee of investigation is generally a moral dere lict. The man who goes with his nos trils inflated, trying to discover some thing malodorous, is not a man, but a sleuthhound. The world is full of nice people, people who are doing their best - good husbands, good wives, good fathers, good mothers, good officers of thr law, good judges, good governors, good state and national legish~tors, good rulers. Does some man growl out, "That has not been my experience, and I think just the opposite?" Well, my brother, I am sorry for your afflictive circustances, and that you had an un fortunate ancestry and that you have kept such bad company and had such discouraging environment. I notice that after a man has been making a vio lent tirade against his fellow men he is on his way down, and if he live long enough lie will be asking you for a quarter of a dollar to get drink or a nights lodging. Behave yourself well, o young man. and you will find life a nleasant thing to live, and the world full of friends. and God's benediction everywhere about you. Again, if you would be master of the situation, expect nothing from good luck or haphazard or gaming advent ures. In this time, when it is estimat ed that gambling exchanges money to the amount of about $880,000,000 a day, this remark may be useful. There come times in many a man's life when he hopes to get something for which he does not give an equivalent, and there are 50 kinds of gambling. Stand aloof from all of them. Understand that the gambling spirit is a disease. and the more successful Iyou are the mnore certain you arc to go made his thousands, why does not the gaibler stop and niake a safe invest ment of what he has gained and spend the rest of his life in quiet or less haz arous style of occupation? The reason is he cannot stop. Nothing but death ever cures a confirmed gambler. Dr. Keeley's gold cure rescues the drunk rd. and there are anti-tobacco prepara tions that will arrest the victim of nico tinE, and religion can save any one ex cept a gambler. The fact is, he is irre sp)nsible. Having got the habit in him, he is no more responsible for keep ing on than a man falling from the roof of a four story house can stop at the window of the second story. Here and there you may find an instance where a gambler ha. reported or reports himself as being converted, but in that case the man was not fully under the heel of the passion. The real gambler is a through passenger to death and perdition. The only use in referring to him is in the way of prevention. He began by taking chances on a book case or a sewing machine at a church fair and ended by getting a few pennies for his last valuable in a pawnbroker's shop. The only man who gambles suc cessfully is the man who loses so fear fully at the start that he is disgusted and quits. Let him win a- the start and win again, and it means farewell to home and heaven. Most merciless of all habits! Horace Walpole says that a man drop ped down at the door of a clubhouse in London and was carried in, and the gamblers began to bet whether he was dead o: not, and when it was proposed to bleed him for his recovery the gam blers objected that it would affect the fairness of the 'bet. What noble men they must have been! But more and more ladies are becoming gamblers. They bet at the races and have prizes in social groups which are nothing but the stakes of gambling. A good way for a lady to get into the gamester's habit is by beginning with "progressive euchre." That opens the door in a fashionable way. In one of our great cities invitations were sent out for such a meeting at the card tables. The guests entered, and sat down and began. Af ter awhile the excitement ran high, and the lady who was the hostess fainted and fell under the table. The guests arose, but some one said: "Don't touch the bell! Let us finish the game. She would have done so herself and would wish us, if she spoke." The game went on for 30 minutes longer, and then a physician was called. After examina tion of the case it was found that the lady had been dead 20 minutes. As the guests lift their hands in surprise I exclaim in regard to them, What deli cate and refined and angelic woman hood! Again, if you would be master of the situation, and I name it last because it is the most important, for you know that which is last mentioned is apt to be best remembered, I charge you get into your heart and life, your conversa tion and your manners, your body, mind and soul the near 6,000-year-old religion of the Bible. Why so? Because the large majority of people quit this life before 25 years of age, and the possibi lity is that if you do not take possession of this religion, and religion does not take possession of you while you are young, you will never come into alli ance. Mrs. McKinley, the mother of our president, said to me at the White House, "I am living on borrowed time, for I am over 80 years of age." My re ply to her was the reply I make to you, "All those who are over 25 years of age are living on borrowed time, since the majority of people go out of the world before 25 years of age.". Young man, start right, and the only way to start right is to put yourself into companionship with the best friend a young man ever had-Christ the Lord. He will give you equipoise amid the rocking of life's uncertainties. He will support you in day of loss. He will direct you when you come to the forks of the road and know not which road to take. He will guide you in your home life, if you are wise enough to have a home of your own. If you live on to great prosperity, he will show you how to manage a fortune. If your earthly projects fail and you are put in finan cial striats, he will see to it that that is the best condition for your soul, and the discipline and the hardship will make you more and more of a man. If you live on to old age, he will make the evening twilight as bright as and per haps brighter than was the morning twilight, and when your work on earth is done the gates of a better world will open on expansions and enthronements and felicities which St. John describes sometimes as orchards, sometimes as shaded streets and sometimes as a crys talline river and sometimes as an orche stra with mighty instruments, blown on by lips cherubic orthrummed by fingers scraphic, and inhabitants alwaps tear less and songful and resplendent, so that the mightiest calamity of the uni verse is the portion of that one who fails to enter it. Young man, seek only elevating and improving companionship. Do not let the last scion of a noble family, a fel low with a big name, but bad habits, for he drinks and swears and is dissolute take your arm to walk down the street or spend an evening with you, either at your room or his room. Remember that sin is the most expensive thing in God's universe. I have read that Sir Brasil, the knight, tired out with the chase had a falcon on his wrist, as they did in days of falconry, when with hawks or falcons they went forth to bring down partridges or grouse or pig eons, and, being very thirsty, came toa stream struggling from a rock, and, re leasing the falcon from his wrist, he took the bugle which he carried, and, stopping the mouth-piece of his bugle with a tuft of moss, he put this extem porized cup under the water which came down drop by drop from the rock until the cup was full and then lifted it to drink, when the falcon he had released with sudden swoop dashed the cup from his hand. By the same process he filled the cup again and was about to drink when the falcon by another swoop dashed down the cup. Enraged at this inso lence and violence of the bird, he cried, "I will wring thy neck if thou doest that again." But, having filled the cup a third time and trying to drink, a third time the falcon dashed it down. Then Sir Brasil with his fist struck the bird, which fluttered and looked lovingly and reproachfully at him and dropped dead. Then Sir Brasil, look ing up to the top of the rock whence dripp'ed the water, saw a great green serpent coiled fold above fold, the venom from his mouth dropping into that from which Sir Brasil had filled his cup. Then exclaimed the knight, "What a kind thing it was for the falcon to dash down that poisoned cup, and what a sad thing that I killed him, and what a nar row escape I had!" So now there are no more certainly waters that refresh than waters that poison. This mome~nt there are thousands of- young men, un wittingly and not knowing what they do, taking into their bugle cup of earthly joy that which is deadly because it drips fiom the jaws of that old serpent the devil, and the dove of God's Spirit but again it is filled and again dashed down and again filled and again dashed down. Why not turn away and slake your thirst at the clear, bright, peren nial fountain that breaks from the Rock of Ages, a fountain so wide and so deep that all the inhabitants of earth and all the armies of heaven may stoop down and fill their chalices? PERISH IN THE FLAMES. Three People are Burned to Death in New York. A fierce fire started in the handsome house at No. 200 West Seventy-third street, New York, occupied by ,Charles H. Raymond, general agent of the Mu tu.l Life Insurance company, at an early hour Wednesday morning, which resulted in the death of three persons and the serious injury of several others. The dead: Mrs. Charles H. Raymond, 55 years of age; death resalted from compound fracture of the leg and internal inju ries. Mrs. Victoria Underwood, of Zanes ville, Ohio, sister of Mrs. Charles H. Raymond; jumped from third story window. Harriet Fee, domestic; burned to death. The injured: Charles H. Raymond, 50 years of age; shock, overcome by smoke. William Doerr, 30 years of age, con ductor. injured about the body, scalp wound. William Ferguson, 36 years of age, butler, face lacerated, overcome by smoke. The fire started in the basement, and in a few minutes the lower part of the house was enveloped in flames. There was a panic, and Mrs. Victoria Under wood, Mrs. Ray mond's younger sister, who had come here from Ohio to spend the Christmas holidays, jumped from the third story window and was killed almost instantly. William Doerr, a conductor, who had run to assist in the rescue, and who was ascending a ladder to try and save Mrs. Underwood, was struck by her body as she fell and knocked to the pavement below. He struck an iron railling that surrounded the house and was seriously injured. Mrs. Raymond, who occupied a room on the second floor, was assisted to the window by her husband and stood on the sill, panic stricken and calling for help. Two firemen went rapidly up scaling ladders, while people on the street shouted to the Raymond's not to jump. They were so eonfused and frigh tened and half suffocated that they seemed not to know what they were doing. As the firemen neared the window, Mrs. Raymond stumbled and fell. Her night dress caught on a rung of the ladder and her body whirled around as it fell to the flagged area. She was picked up unconscious and taken to Roosevelt hospital where she died to night. Harriet Fee, a domestic who had run upstairs at the first alarm to arouse the persons sleeping in the house, was un able to get to the street again and was burnedi to death. Mr. Raymond himself was rescued and was taken to Rosevelt hospital. where it was found that he was suffer ing a great deal from having inhaled fames and smoke. It is claimed by the authorities that the casualties resulted by reason of the panic. The house was supplied with fire escapes and the firemen were early at the scene. GOING TO MISSISSIPPI. Many Negroes Emigrating from Greenwood County. A dispatch from Greenwood to the Columbia State says the Negroes of that county show a decided disposition to emigrate. Several hundred are like ly to leave within a few weeks. The exodus commenced a week ago,, when two cars filled with Negro families left for lower Mississippi. Another car left Sunday night. The 100 Negroes that havi, gone went from the Saluda section and several farms there are practically tenantless. More are going from the same place One A. W.Williamns is the agent who is taking off so many of the colored population. He has taken a contract to place several hundred Negro families with the planters in Sonthern Mississippi. For several reasons he se lected Greenwood county as a good field for his business. There is no denying the fact that the Negroes in the popu lous sections of Greenwood county are badly demoralized. They are in some places still panic-stricken on account of the Phoenix trouble. They have not been molested but have the unreasoning fear of their real friends so common to ignorance. The Negroes of Saluda, Ninety-Six and Phonix will hardly make contracts for another year. The financial depression has borne heavily on the Negroes, making them more dis heartened. Tne merchants have en forced collections to the destitution of many families. Under the circum stances this exodus is expected to thin out the over-abundant Negro population of this county considerably. It is the colored renters who are getting off. As a consequence some of the best land in t e country will be~ occupied by white renters hereafter. Raided in Havana. Samuel L. Israel, of New York, afew days ago opened a little store on Obis p street in Havana for selling Americas flags and .iewelry. His wife last night appealed in tears to General Greene, saying that Iseael had been arrested and that she cannot find him. General Green sent Captain Mott to Captain General Castellanos, asking that Israel be produced and sent to General Greene. In an hour an aide-de-camrp of the captain general brought the man to the hotel Inglateria. He had been in the Furza prison. Isreat says that at 5 o'clock Tuesday a Spanish lieuten ant entered his store, tore down the flags and broke the showcase with his. sword. Loter he sent three men to ar rest Israel. He was well treated while a prisoner. General Greene has asked Captain General Castellanos to snvesti gate the matter, and the latter sai.' e would send a report to General Greene Wednesday. Mr. James M. Smith of Columbia, S C., writes: DIear Sir-It gives me great pleasure to say that the Old North State Ointment bought of you has entirely cured me of eczema when everything I had used previously failed to giye any relief. It is a great medi cine. and I would not be without it in my house. I use it for almost every thing, w,here any medicine is needed, and have gotten the best of results every time. Respectfully, NEWX COUNTY LAW. Governor Ellerbe will Approve It on January 1. CHANGES IN SOME COUNTIES The Full Text of the Bill Rat. ified by the Legislature on February I7 Last. The county government bill, which was adopted and ratified at the last ses sion of the general assembly, has not yet been signed by Gov. Ellerbe. How ever, it will be signed, and will be in force on January 1st. The original bill was aimed at the township boards of commissioners, but the act as it now stands is a patchwork of exemptions. We published a short synopsis of the law last week, but as there is such a general enquiry regarding the new law that we publish the full text of it this week: Section 1. Be it enacted by the Gen eral Assembly of South Carolina. That the office of county supervisor, as now provided by law shall continue, and the successors of the present supervisors shall be elected by the people at the next general election with a term of of fice for two years, and until their suc cessors shall be electid and qualified, and such supervisors shall receive the pay and execute the bonds as now pro vided by law, except in the counties of Barnwell, Greenville, Kershaw Marl boro, Newberry, Orangeburg 6hester, Marion and Colleton where the salaries shall be six hundrea dollars. In the county of Edgefield where the salary shall be four hundred and fifty dollars; in the county of Sumter where the sal ary shall be five hundred dollars; in the county of Greenwood, where the salary shall be seven hundred dollars; provided the supervisor shall spend his whole time on the roads and in the county; in the county of Chesterfield where the salary shall be six hundred dollars, and the board shall have no clerk; that in Abbeville the board shall have no clerk; in the county of Horry, where the sal ary shall be three hundred dollars; in the county of Saluda, where the salary of the supervisor shall be four hundred dollars and the two commissionsrs shall be allowed three dollars per diem not to exceed thiny days in any one year; and in the county of Lancaster, where the salary of the supervisor shall be three hundred dollars per annum: Sec. 2. That the governor shall before the 1st day of February, A. D., 1899, upon the recommendation of the mem beis of the general assembly from the several counties, or a majority of them, and before the first day of February of each succeeding two years thereafter, appoint two persons from each county who shall be known as the commission ers at the county, and who shall act with the supervisor in the governmental matters of the county, the said super visor and the commissioners together to constitute a board to be known as the countyeommissioners. That the counties of Lancaster Georgetown, Richland and Berkeley the appointment of said com missioners shall be made on or before the first day of April, A. J., 1898. The supervisor shall be the chairman of the board of county commissioners as to be constituted, and said board at the first meeting for organization may elect a clerk except in Abbeville, where the board shall have n. clerk, who shall re ceive such salary as shall be fixed by said board at their first meeting, the same not to exceed the sum of two hun dred dollars, except in the counties of Spartanburg, Richland and Charleston, where his salary shall not exceed three hundred dollars, and in the county of Sumter, where his salary shall be one hundred and fifty dollars, and in Pickens and Florence the clerk shall receive a sum not exceeding seventy-five dollars, and in Williamsburg not exceeding fifty dollars, and in Orangeburg, one hun dred dollars. In the counties of Lancas ter, York, Georgetown and Oconee, the salary of the clerk shall not be more than one hundred dollars, and in Dor chester, one hundred and fifty dollars per annum; each of said commissioners shall receive the sum of three dollars per day for each day actually in ser vice, not to exceed twenty-five days in each year, except in the county of Spartanburg, where the number of days shall not exceed forty, except in the county of Chesterfield, where they shall receive two dollars per day and five cents per mile for each mile trav eled in going to and returning from the meetings of 'the board at the court house, and in the county of Lancaster where they shall receive two dollars a day for their services; and in the county of Greenville said commissioners shall re ceive two Aollars per day for not exceed ing one hundred days in any one year, sad said commissioners shall upon their appointment qualify as other county office-.s and receive their commissions from the governor and secretary of state, without charge. Sec. 3. That on the first day of Feb ruary, A. D., 1899, the office of county commissioner and township commis sioner, as now provided by law, to be appointed by the governor shall be abolished, and the appointive boards of county and township commissioners are hereby devolved upon the boards as county commissioners herein provided for, to consist of the county supervisor and the two commissioners, and all claims against the counties to be valid shall be approved in writing by a ma jority of said board and entered upon their minutes: said board so constituted shall meet at the county seat at least once a month for the transaction of business; provided, that the provisions of this section shall go into effect in the counties of Lancaster, Georgetown, Richland, Oconee and Berkeley on the first day of April, 1898, and in the county of Aiken, on the first day of July, 1898. Sec. 4. The boards of county com missioners and township commissioners now appointed by the governor, after the appointment and qualification of the commissioners provided for in this act, shalcontinue in office as county boards of equalization and township boards of assessors until their successors shall be appointed, and the governor of this State is hereby authorized and empow ered every two years to appoint such boards of county assessors and town ship assessors as are now provided by law for the appointment of county com missioners and township commissioners, such boards shall serve for two years from the time of their appointment and until their successors are appointed and qualified. Their terms to be co-ter minal as now provided by law. The cairman of the special boards, of as sessors, shall be ex-officio members of the county boards of equalization. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect the special boards f assesors as now provided by law; provided that in Greenville county the tshipn easesors provided for in this act shall be township commissioners, as now constituted for Greenville county. Sec. i. That sections I and 2 of an act approved 9th of Marel, 1896. en titled 'an act to amend sewtiou 2375. 2376 and 2402 of volume 1, revised statutes of 1893." be. and the sa:ue are hereby repealed. Sec. 6. The county board of commis sioners shall have the same rights and duties with reverence to the preparation of jury lists as are now devolved by law, upon the present eounty board of com missioners. Sec. 7. The provisions of this act shall not apply to Bamberg, Barnwell, Chester, Fairfield, Hampton, Spartan burg, Kershaw and Cherokee counties. Sec. 8. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act be, and the same are hereby repealed. See. 9. Provided, the provisions of this act shall not apply to the counties of Bamberg, Barnwell, Chester, Spart anburg, Fairfield, Cherokee, Kershaw, Hampton and Beaufort. Provided far ther, that the provisions of this act shall apply to the counties of Lancas ter, Georgetown, Richland and Oconee on and after the first day of April A. D., 1898. At which time the board of county commissioners provided for in this act shall go into office in said coun ty; and in the county of Aiken on the first day of July, 1898, and in the said county the juries shall be listed and drawn by the auditor, the treasurer and the clerk of court, without extra pay, and they are hereby declared to be the board of jury commissioners for such purpose with all the powers devolved by law upon such boards, COUNTY COURT QUESTION. Legislators Beginning to Give Atten tion to This Important Matter. The Columbia correspondent of the News and Courier says there is consid erable agitation throughout the state for the establishment of county courts. The newspapers have taken up the ques tion and they generally favor the idea. Legislators who come to Columbia occa sionally are also talking about it, and there is no doubt that such a bill will be introduced, and, judging by expres sions of opinion from legislators, the measure has a good chance of passage. So far as can be ascertained, no definite plan has been arranged which will be included in the bill; but generally speaking, the idea seems to be to have a county court to meet once a month and try such cases, and dispose of them, as magistrates now have jurisdiction over. It is contended, and, perhaps, truly, that many cases are sent up to the higher court which could be dis posed of by a county court at less cost. These trivial cases cost the counties as much as those of a more serious charac ter. The advocates of the county court scheme say that the circuit judges are now .overworked, and it is a fact that the question is again being agitated of increasing the number of judicial cir cuits in the state to relieve thom of this overwork. Unless the county court bill is passed, it is very likely that a bill will be introduced in.reasing the circuits by two at least. Of course there are mE- having judicial aspira tions who would like to see the number of circuit judges increased; but aside from that, the advocates of the county court idea hold that it must be done if our courts are to be condac~,d with due deliberation in the consideration of cases by the judges. Should the cons ty courts be established, the number of magistrates in the state would be de creased. Those that remain would have only committing power. The Confederate Reunion. The Confederate reunion, which takes place in Charleston on May 10, 1899, will be a big thing. The York ville Enquirer says one thing the exec utive committee has in view, is the raising of about $25,000 in cash. It is the intention that most of this money be raised in Charleston, and all of it is to be used for the purpose of making the visiting veterans enjoy themselves. But while Charleston is willing to do her full share and more, the executive committee does not expect her to do it all. In a very large sense the reunion is a state, rather than a local affair, and it has been decided to call upon the state at large to help provide for the en tertainmient of the veterans. The nec essary organization to raise contribu tions has not yet been completed. It has only been planned. People all over the state will be asked to contribute whatever they can in the shape of corn, meat, flour, chickens, turkies, beeves, butter, eggs, etc. In fact, any and everything that is good to eat will be acceptable. To take charge of these contributions, the ladies of Charleston will soon organize a commissary de partment, and it is expected that when the time comes, all the veterans who go to Charlesion will be entertained either free of charge or at a very trifling expense to each. Orange burg county will soon be .called upon to make her share of the contributions. There will be committees, very proba bly, in each anid every section, and if Orangeburg fails to come up to expecta tions in the matter, there will be occa sion for considerable surprise. Bryan a Leader. "The popularity and prestige of W. J. Bryan shows no sign of waning," said Hon. William D. Williams, of Knoxville, state railroad commissioner elect, recently to a Columbia Record reporter. "I saw 30,000 people assembled in the streets of my town to welcome Mr. Bryan in 1896, and he would draw just as large a gathering there today. He is the greatest leader of the people since Andrew Jackson. In any assemblage of Democrats in my country the men tion of his name evokes as wild ap plause now as it did when he was a presidential nominee. That he will be nominated in 1900 I think a foregone conclusion. 'What is true in Tennessee is, I feel assured, true of every other Southern state. In every state of the South he retains the undiminished regard of the people." Bold Robbers. The Anderson correspondent of the News and Courier says one of the bold est robberies occurred there on Sunday, December 18. About 8 o'clock in the morning a gentleman passing the store of C. F. Jones & Co, saw a Negro ap proach the front window and attempt to pull down the shade. A second Ne gro was plainly to be seen on the inside of the store. The alarm was given and nearly everyone who was astir joined in the chase. It was rather unusual for Sunday morning, but all were thorough; ly excited. By afternoon two Negroes George Rice and another Negro whose name was not learned, were arrested and put in jail. The men entered the store from the rear. They had succeed d in stealing some clothing. The Aiken Journal and Review re eently got out a finely illustrated issue T AmswnMwi Makes the food more di TAXES CAN BE.REDUCED. A Reform Demanded in State Govern mental Expenditure. During every campaign for years past the masses have made earnest pleas for :eform, the reduction of taxes, and to this end a correspondingdecrease of ex penditures. In response to these de wands for reform many changes have been made in the laws, some for the better, some for the worse, but nothing has brought relief to the purse of the laboring classes. On the contrary, as times became harder more taxes have been exacted, until our people have be come restive under the pressure. Their demands appear to have been evaded. While the purchasing power of the dol lar has more than doubled, there has been no reduction of the number ex acted. It has been said nothing can be done to cheapen the government. This in duces us to examine more closely the expenditures to find, if haply we may, how the desired end can be accom plished. There is no valid reason why all good citizens in a repulic should not inform themselves as to public matters and express their judgment as to what is right and proper. They should be taken into the confidence of the pow ers that be, This is their right and they should be content with nothing less. The people are not unreasonable nor rash in their demands, when they understand the circumstances and the conditions. They do not and will not complain at a tax which is shown to be neeessaiy to an efficient administration of the State and county governments. It seems to us that some changes could be made, the tendency of which would be to reduce expenses without injury to an efficient administration. In the first place the election laws of South Carolina are cumbersome and twice as expensive as necessary. There are three supervisors of registration, when one could do the work for the same salary he now gets. There are two sets of commissioners of eleetion in each county and two sets of managers at each precient. One set of commis sioners and manages could do the work as efficiently. All this machin ery is expensive and so much is not needed. This complicated machinery has served its purpose in the past, but it is no longer necessary.-Keowee Cour ier. Scared the Boodlers. . The great city of Chicago has been having a mad fight. Under the infam ous Allen law the street car lines are seeking a fifty years' extension of their franchises and attempting to pass the ordinances by the usual boodle process. The mayor has beein making a most gal lant fight against the boodle combine and the whole city has been stirred up. They have talked freely of hanging the aldermen in case they sell out. This i~s a good way to stop a man from selling. After he has been hung he won't seli any more. The city has happily hit on the solution which must finally come. At a great mass meeting municipal ownership was proposed. The city should own her improvements. The lighting heating, water supply, tele phone and transit business should be owned by the city. And the people should enjoy all these modern conveni ences as cheaply as possible. Munici pal ownership must come. And until it does come, don't let up on hanging boodlers. Endorses the President. Hyde Park Post G. A. R. of Dau buque, Iowa, has unanimously en dorsed President McKinley's Atlanta declaration. that the time has arrived when the federal governmentshould as sist the southern States in caring for the graves of the Confederate dead. A copy of the resolutions were telegraph ed to the president at Augusta. Ga. Stevens Post 157, G. A. R. of Lititz, Pa., has endorsed the president's speech relatin: to the government caring for the graves of Confederate dead, and has requested Congressman Brosius to use his influence to bring about national egislation to carry into effect the pres dent's sentiments. Hiltons. lodoform Liniment is the "nee plus ultra" of all such preparations in re mioving soreness, and quickly healing fresh cuts and wounds, no matter how bad. It will promptly heal old sores of 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 Wants to Come Home. The Rev. P. F. Jernegan, formerly f Boston, the gold from sea water in entor, who is now in Brussels, has sent to the directors of the Eetrolyrie Marine Salts company $75,000 in cash. This is a sort of peace offerinig prelim inary to his return to the UJnited States with his family. Jernegan converted all his stock and securities into cash previous to going abroad ar~d the amount returned is near~y one-third the proceeds. Land Slide Kills Six. News is .iust received of a slide en he Chilkoot Pass in which six people were killed. Five bodies have been re overed as follows: Mrs. Iarling and two sons, of Lake inderman. Bert Johns, Juneau. Hfarry Shaw, of Skagnay. The slide occurred Deceumeer 9. WE see 't stated that the Georgia Legislature, in order to meet expenses, as resolved to conomxize in the matter f appropriations rather than to raise he rate of taxation. Such action is omendablh.. It shows wisdom, and hat the legislators of Georgia have ome consideration for the condition of he taxpayers who are doing their best o pay taxes and make both ends meet ith cotton, their money crop, at 43 ents per pound. The Newberry Voice f the People very properly asks "will outh Carolina legislators be equally as onsidernte of the taxpayers of this' tate? We shall soon know, for the ime for the convening of the Legisla are is close at hand. The people ex et the next Lesi lature to make a ood record along economic lines. and will hold the members to a strict ao POWDER PIRE licious and wholesome DEl 00.. itEW '0VO.,L "Our" President. "Mr. Mc.Kinley," says the Green ville News, "you have found the straight way to the hearts of the South ern people. Few of us voted for oa and we did not help to make you pres dent; but your speech in Atlanta has made us feel that you 'are 'our' presi dent, that we have a place in your thought and heart. We feel claser to. you than we have to any man who has occupied your oflice in forty years. When you spoke kindly and gen'erously of those poor ragged boys of ours whd fill so many lonely graves on so many hillsides and plains and in so many val I leys you touched the core of'our affec tions. We call them our 'boys.' Some of them were little beyond eikuev:Gr and went from their mother's knees to. do man's deadliest and most desperate work. Others were grizzled men who left wives and children of their own. Some of them went from stately old homes where wealth abounded; some trudged from humble cabins in the mountains or among the cotton fields. They were all ours-bone of our bone,. flesh of our flesh, heart of our heart; and they went out and died for priii-' ples we believed in and a -eause we loved in a land where we were .lream ing splendid dreams. In more than thirty years we have learned much. Some of us have learned to know that,. we made some serious mistakes, to be lieve that the war might have been avoided, to feel that if the peopleof the sections had understood each otherbet ter and respected each other's honest beliefs more than they did eventos might have taken a different course. All of us have learned to believeinlani to love this mighty union of a free"peo ple. Yet in all this time our Iovew-fon our boys in their scattered graves hai remained, strong and tender. Mayby we could have done more f~r t while they were in the field oreampM might love them less But we inwn forget what some of us knew..byobeis vation and sdme by tradiiioi-4-ow bravely and patiently theyend - fering and privation, sammer heat winter cold, scanty ration orn poor equipment and fecare on& marches and fierce fighting. never complained or faltered. "M fought without pay or theL.: They believed in and loved which was our cause. It id they were ragged, unpaid, cause. when they were wond7 1 lacked the common-oomfoitzhe est have in happier timesundn I. T, they are dead we have been uiabl&-'t; gather even their remains-a them comely and fitting that we love them and the thr m so deeply. Therefore:* president of this republic, who.. gallantly against us, tells us feels with us, that he shares zra miration for those dead; of ous'ae speaks straight to the Southern hat thrilling it to quick response. T~ whole South, Mr. Presidenti, echoes fr its heart the cheers that greeted yoi a Atlanta. We all thank you. We a19 feel, as we have never felt before, that, the gallant offcer and kindly gnt~e man who was chosen as the-ruleroffinrd country is 'ouripresident as: hegists president of eur fellow citizens. Y ui have won for yourself an abiding pia in Southern hearts." The Springfield Xepublican saystinzstA Mr. Bryan, in his recent interviewnr@ cognizes the fact that the tendenef-td ward imperialism constitutes tihe gieQ present issue in this country and adds: "The effect must be to draw party lines more closely on the annexa.tion. question and to make it the great di-. ding issue of the ilmmediate fateis. That Mr. Bryan anticiei . ighting some political battles over anperia'hsan is evident from his readiness to letithe treaty 4e ratified, thus throwing, asbe calculates, the whole question of o1nr policy into the political arena. There% can be little doubt that Mr. Bryan wilL be able to command the support bfa4 powerful party on the issue. Hein4, Mr. Cleveland are united on imperial-; ism, and while many of the old.Demo cratic papers have lurched into the? iin; perialist camp, the great -maoritydf~ Democratic senators and congressmen and the masses of the Democratic party are against the holding of vassal states, and remain loyal to ths principles of Thomas Jefferson." in commenting on the above the Atlanta Journal says. "Mr. Bryan has expressed himself with a force' which indicates his conviction that thee best thing that can be done for the country now is to save it from the threatened submersion of the principles upon which it was formed and by the. practice of which it has grown great. The subjugation of a distant people sa the adoption of a colonial policy,woul' be a wide departure from our traditions and would start us on a road that will bring us upon new pro5lems and dii-i eulties. Such a change in the theory and practice of our government, Mr.' Bryan believes, would involve serious dangers at home and he has set himself against it with all the earnestness and enthusiasm of his soul. It is easy to see that for the next twoyears and in&. the national campaign of 19001 this will be the overshadowing issue. The peo pie will be called upon to determine2 whether the government shall continue on its old jines or be veered into a wide departure from them. At present it is clear that the Demo ratic party holds the conservative side of this issue. Leaders who have dif.A. feredl as radically as Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Bryan are in perfect accord on this. subject. The Deno.:rats of both the senate and the house are practically~ unamimous against territorial etension outside of the western hemisphere and the leading Democratic newspapers with few exceptions, opposed to it. It seems certain that the contest for the old standards, the battle against the new theory, will be made by the Demo ratic party. There will be to some ex tent a new allignment. Some Demo rats will go over to the oriental expan sionists and the advocates of a colonaldk poliep, but their number, we are ca Vncey, will be far less than that of we reuits the party will gain by resisting the dangerous principle to which the Republican party will endeavor to com-; mit the country." Made aHaul. Wall Street people who like big fig ures estimate that the recent advance asecurity market values has added n t less than $25,000,000 to the person LEruI of Ndlai n K ' ful e j