University of South Carolina Libraries
4141 VOL. XV. __MANNING, S. C., WEDNESDAY, APRIL11190NO5. PORTO RICO BILL Passes the United States Senate by a Maj-rity of Nine. IT WAS A NOTABLE DAY. Senator Mason Futnished Argu ment and Amusement. Sena. tor Wolcott Accused Sena tor cf Speaking Falsely. Tuesday of last week was a notable day in the United States Senate. It brought to a close the sharpest and most prolon&ed debate upon any meas ure since those discussed during the memorble "war congress," two years ago. At 4 o'clock Tues-lay afternoon the votes were begun upon the Porto Rican tariff and the civil government bill and the pending amendments, and in less than an hour later the measure, about which there nas been so much contention in and out of congress, was passed by a majority of 9, the final vote being 40 to 31. Only committee amendments were adopted. The par ticularly notable speeches of the day were delivered by Mr. Mason of 11li nois, in opposition to the measure, and by Mr. Foraker of Ohio, who .eplied to a brief speech by Mr. Wellington of Maryland. It was the Ohio senator's desire to clear up any misunderstand ing or uiisinformation coneering the bill. Mr. Mason spoke in favorof the reso lution of Mr. Wellington, which offers independence to the Filipinos. and against the bill poposed by Mr. Spooner of Wisconsin, conferring au thority upon the president to govern the Philippines until congress should otherwise do it. Incidentally he op posed the tariff proposed to be placed on Puerto Rican products. He was op posed to holding the Philippines, "be cause under the law of nations we have not title and never can have complete title except by conquest of the inhabi tants. I do not wish the 9,000 000 Filipinos for citizens I do not wish them for slaves. If we govern them they must either be citizen or serf Whether they labor ae our citizens and equals before the law or whether they labor as our political slaves, their labor competes with the labor of our country, and I am opposed to that. I am for expansion. I voted for the annexation of Hawaii, but would never have sent 65,M00 men there to compel them to accept our tag. In other wordt, I am against taking any territory by con quest against a friendly people, and against taking any territory that brings a cheap labs of labor in free and open competition with the class of men and women who da the labor in this coun try. He declared that if it was treason to oppose a war of conquest, te lift un just taxation, to confer upon a strug gling peop:e the blessings of lib-rty, to protect the laboring men -and women sof this country, then he was guilty. He said that only by amending the consti tution could a tariff be levied agaiust the people of part of the United States to prevent their trading with the rest of the Unittd States. 'I beg you," he appealed, "to cont the cost of auch an amendment." Speaking of the fever of war which he said wasupon the admin istration. Mr Mason said: "Bus as -we approach the hour when we must again appeal to 'the judgment of 70,000), cou) people and the Ares under the pots of patronage are burning low and the dangers of disappearing postoffices ap pear to us like a hideo..s nightmare, the hour of convalescence approaches, and we shout to the laboring people of the county, 'No, no. It is a mistake.' We have sacrificed the money and the lives of the people; we have abanduned the faith with the fathers for laud, but we will abandon it all rathe~r than for sake the political partisan doctrine; and we are saying on both sides of this chamber-those who have believed in the permanent government of thePhilip pine ialand.,-that if our permanent sovereignty there means the taking into this oqntry, in competition with our labor, products of the people there, we will abandon this kind of expansion." Discussing the powers of congress un der the constitution as interpreted in the light of the provisions of the pen ding bill, Mr. Mason said "The con stittution says you cannot make a title of nobility, but we apply that only to the States you understand. The dis tinguishe senator from New York (Depew) can be the Duke of Ponee, and not violate the constitution; the dis tinguished senator from Indiana (Beveridge) the prince of Puerto Rico; and the distinguished lawyer who sought to defend this bill upon an un constitutional ground (Spooner) can at least demand the tittle of the lord chief high duke of the checker board somewhere in the Philippines, that they may sit in judgment upon the laws and upon the people. (Laughter). Does the constitution say you cannot make a title of nobility? Yes. Doies it go to the outside territory ? No. Then you can make titles of nobility then --God help the usan who in November plays that game." Mr. Culberson of Texas then spoke. It was his first speechb in the senate. He characterised the bill as 'indefen sible, morally, economically and con stit utionally." The order for 15 minute speeches or les,. then went into effect. Mr. Clay of Georgia was the first speaker.. He pointed out alleged inconsistencies of the suporters of the pending bill. The origina' measure was diametrically opposed in its provisions to the pend ing bill, pro.viding as it did for a ter ritorial form of government. .It was also in keeping with the president's message for the president had not only declared for free trade, but he had also taken a position for a territorial form of government. "We have been told," said Mr. Clay "that the president has changed his mind, but as for myself the president can have but one atti tude." He recognised no message from the p.resident that was not ifficial, and -therefore regarded the president fa vorable to free trade with Puerto Rico regardless of the assurances of sena tors and the speaker of the house. Hoar, the E.pnhliean party was making such rapid transormations that he did not feel jastiled in accept ing Mr. Depe w's egxeetion to get on the band wagon. Indeed, it did not re main in one place long enouth to per mit one to get aboard if so disposed Mr. Teller entered his protest against the pending bill. He would vote against it, because the United States ought to treat the people of Puerio Rico as it was proposed to treat those of Cuba. He believed congresq had ample power to legiblate for the Parto Ricans under the Paris treaty. "If we had.a colony," he said, "we could give its people either a tardff or free trade." Mr. Wellington of Maryland. opposed the pending measure, although he said he has stood ready to support the first bill presented t- the senate upon the subject. That bill he recarded as just and constitutional. "But," he said, "the legislative monstrosity now be fore us trangresses every principle of national honor, patriotism, good faith and justice. I am compelled therefore to part from my colleagues on the Re publican majority and vote against this bill." Mr. Foraker explained that the changes made in the bill had been ex plained again and again. The necessity for the measure was beyond quibble. "Did that necessity," inquired Mr. Tillman,% change the political status of the people of Puerto Rico from citizens of the United States to citizens of Puerto Rico?" "No," answered Mr. Foraker. "That was not the reason. The reason for that change was the opposition of Democratic senators. They maintained that the conferring of citizenship of the United States upon the people of the island was a practical extension of the constitution over the island." The bill was then reported to the senate, the amendments were agreed to and on an aye and no vote it was passed by a vote of 40 to 31, a majority of nine. Following is the detailed vote on the bill: Yeas-Allison, Baker, Bard, Carter, Chandler, Clark, (Wyo ); Cullom, De boe, Depew, Fairbanks, Foraker. Fos ter, Frye, Gallinger, Gear, Htnna, Hansbrorigh, Hawley, Jones, (Nev.); Kean, Kyle, Lodge, McBride, Mc Comas, McMillan, Penrose, Perkins, Platt. (Conn.); Pltt, (N. Y ); Pritch ard, Quarles, Ross, Scott, Sewell, Shoup, Spooner. Stewart, Thurston, Wetmore and Wolott-40. Na) s--Allen, Bacon, Bate, Berry,. (Montans). Clav. Cockrell, Culberson, Daniel, Davis (Rep ). Harrison, Heit feld, Jones (Arkansas), Kenney, Lind say, Mchaurin, Martin, Mason (Rp ). Money Morgan. Nelson (Rep ) Pe:ttus. Proctor (Rep ). Simon (Rep ). Sullivan, Taliaferro, Tillman, Turley, Vest, Wel ligton (Rep )-31. Just b. fore the senate adjourned a sensatioLal episode occurred, in which Mr. Wolcott of Colorado accused Mr Lodie of Massachusetts of uttering that whieh was "unqualifiedly false." The difficulty arose over an effort made by Mr. Lodge to have the Spooner bill made the unfiihed business This involved the displacement of the Qua) case, and the friends of the forwer senator from Pennsylvania made things exceedingly lively for half an hour. A REMARKA BLE CASE. List of Articles Taken Out of a Man's Stomach-. The surgeons of the Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore had a remarkable stomach ease on Thursday. A young man was placed on the operating table, and before he had left it his stomach had been emptied, through the abdomi nal wall, of the following articles of diet: One pocket knife. Two screw eyes. One small staple. Twenty-five grains of ground glass. Eleven pins. Forty-nine tacks. Seventy-two nails, iron and wire, measuring from one to one and one half inches in length. Nineteen wire nails four inches long, with large heads. Seven knife blades-one about three quarters of an inch wide. Nine horseshoe nails, four inches long. light screws, two and one-half inches long,.ac hanwt Four brass wthcanwt catches and stays, Twelve and one-half feet of three eighths inch iron chain. The young man, Arthur Shutt by name, who will survive the experience. had extreme difficulty, when he entered the hospital, in persuading the sur geons that his stomach carried any such load. His earnestness, however, and growing symptoms of nausea, finally in duced them to operate. From the medical standpoint interest centers entirely in the ability of the human stomach to carry such an extraordinary burden, but Shutt's own stor-y possesses exceptional qaalities. He was an ama teur "magician," and had considerabk success owing to his cleverness in palm ing. In hi's performances the young man was foolish enough to contend that he made no use of coat sleeves or other parts of his clothing in making objects disappear. Some medical students, be fore whom he exhibited, doubting his alleged supernatural power, proposed that he perform while stripped of his clothing. Stiutt madly assented. Brought to bay in the nude, the "ma gician" found that he had but one al ternative ..o confessing that his art was merely alight of-hand. That was to palm the obj.cts handed to him into his mouth and swallow them. He chose the alternative, and by skilful work sueceeded in swallowing~ the en tire mass of junk without affording the spectators the slightest suspicion of its whereabouts He gained their enthusi astie applause as being a second Hiedd mann. This was dorne a wee k ago 8at urday, and it is extraordinary that Shurt was not inconvenienced enough by the stomnachacbe to be driven to the hospital until the next Tuesday, and then it took two days for him to coa vince the surgeons that they were not being imposed upon. The list of arf tiles listed above was carried in his stomach, therefore, fire day s. Shutt se..ns a remarkable fellow, even if his claims to supernatural powers be de id-Enrinefield Renpublican ALMOST A RUCUSS. Two Kentucky Representatives Face Each Other in the House. A SPICED WORDY DUEL. Republican's Second Thought Probably Prevented Serious Tiouble. The Blue Grass Election Law. There was an exciting scene in the house Wednesday as the climax of a discussion of the Kentucky situation when Mr. Wheeler, a Kentucky Demo crat, and Mr. Pugh, a Kentucky Re publican, faced each other from oppo site sides of the main aisle and indul ged in a wordy duel. Mr. Pugh charged Mr. Wheeler with misrepresenting cer tain facts. He was laboring under great excitement. Mr. Wheeler showed admirable temper and though quick to resent the fancied insult awaited the disclaimer of Mr. Pugh. There was an air of suppressed excitement through out the debate. It was the first time the subject had been broached in the house and intense interest was mani fested. The fencing was sharp and brilliant. The following is the inci dent in detail: Mr. Bkreing of Kentucky, who fol lowed with a general political speech, aroused general interest by discussing the Kentucky situation. Holding the light of civilization before the world as the United States were doing, were we. he asked, willing to see the torch of liberty extincuished at the birthplace ot Abraham Lincoln and the home of Henry Clay. So far as the Goebel election law of that State was concerned, he said, the people of Kentucky would be glad to change places with Puerto Rico or Hawaii. They were not asking for federal interference, they were ask ing simply for a fair election law. He gave notice that if necessary to get rid of the Goebel law he wuld ask for the passage of the federal election law. "I will not appeal on behalf of the colored race or of the Republican par ty," said he, 'but for a general election law which will enable the federal courts to reach out and determine the validity and constitutionality of the election laws of the several States." Mr. Wheeler of Kentucky replied in a fiery speech. He admitted that the situation was humiliating to every Kentuckian but had hoped that it would not be ventilated here. He eu logised the Goebel election law. He would not contend that the dominant party bad not taken advantage of its power in districting the State. It had done so, following the tactics of the domiant party in most of the States rhe threat of a federal election law, he said, was used to terrorize the Dem ocrats. Mr. Boreing disclaimed any intention of theatening the Democrats, but said the law must be re pealed. "It will never be repealed," retorted Mr. Wheeler. Continuing, Mr. Wheeler said that "all the fuss was being kicked up in Kentucky by fellows who were trying te hold office in defiance of the courts whose mandates they refused to obey." Mr. Wheeler thea became involved in the controversy with Mr. Pugh. "The election commission did not declare Taylor governor of Kentucky," said Mr. Wheeler. "They said that on the face of the returns he had the ma jority. but that it bore such unmistak able evidence of fraud that if they had the right they would go behind it and kick him out, as the legielature did." "I1 do know that some of them tried to pave the way for the contest." re plied Mr. Pugh, hotly, "that was after. wards, waged on partisan lines in the legislature to the disgrace of our com monwealth and to the disgrace of you as a citizen thereof. (Applause on the Republican side.) "That is the gentleman's opinion," retorted Mr. Wheeler sarcastically. "I would rather be disgraced, Mr. Chair man, at any time by taking my lot with the Democrats of Kentucky t..an to be identified with the men who took the life of Gov. Goebel of that State." (Applause on the Democratic side ) "Are you quite certain that the men who took the life of Goebel could not e carried to your own ranks rather than to the Republican Darty in Ken tucky?" asked M1r. Pugh, livid with excitement, amid dernsive laughter on the Democratic side. "Nobody believes that," shouted some one on the Democratic side. 'Do you say nobody believes that?" asked Mr. Pugh, facing the Democratic side. "Was not a more bitter contest waged against Mr. Goebel in that State by his own party than was waged in the Republican ranks? Was he not de nounced more from every stump in the State of Kentucky by Democrats than by Republicans?" Mr. Wheeler-That is true, Mr Chairman. (Applause on the Repub lican side ) It has been the fate of every great man who was true te the interest of the people, to incur the im placable hostility of hirelings an~d cor ruptionists, it matters not where he has been. (A pplause on the Democrat ic side ) And the worst element of the Democratic party did assail him, but thank God he reeeived 192 OQI) votes, 303,000 more votes than were ever given to a Democratic candidate for governor in Kentucky before. That shows whethe-r or not he was close to the pe ople of the State of Kentucky. Mr. Pugh-How many votes did Gov. Tay lor receive? Mr. Wheeler-That is a question that nobouy but the Repubilican leader. and God Almighty wili ever kno4, in my opinion. I dccline to be interrupt d further. Mr. P'ugh-If you will only state the truth. Mr. Wheeler-The gentleman cer tainly does not mean to insituate that I tate any thing else. Mr. Puen continuing-If you will state the facts. Yes I do state that when you state that the Kentucky elee tion law is identical with the Ohio election law, that you utterly misrepre sent that law. Mr. Wheeler-I say it is similar in .1 anta aneddentical inmany. Da I understand the gentleman to say my statemlent is false? Mr. Pugh--If you mean that to be true, I say .peaking advisedly, I will use a milder term and say that you greatly misrepresent facts. I do not say you intentionally do it. and I must attribute it to a lack of knowledge. Mr. Whecer-I want the gentleman to be a little more careful in what he says in this matter. I do not care to have the gentleman insulting in his re marks. I hope it is not so intended. Mr. Pugh-Surely you do not take it in that way. It is not so intended. Mr. Wheeler-I did not think so. Having accepted Mr. Pugh's dis claimer, Mr. Wheeler then reviewed the history of the whole controversy, step by step, and declared his readiness to abide by the decision of the court of last resort in the gubernatorial issue. In conclusion Mr. Wheeler assured the members who had crowded about during the excitement and the packed galleries that there would be no blood shed in Kentucky. THE JANITOR SKIPPED. The Custom House Liquor Case 3 tomes Interesting. The Special Agent of the Treasury Department that was sent to Charles ton to investigate the charge that con traband liquor was stored in the United States custom house, has been doing his duty faithfully.- In fact so faith fully that James O'Brien, the janitor of the custom house resigned and skip ped for parts unknown. He will be carried back to Charleston and forced to tell what he knows about the stor ing of liquors in the custom house. This decision has been reached and O'Brien will be arrested, if the depart ment of justice can place its hands upon him. In order to arrest him, the de partment has sent out instructions to postmasters, rcquiring them to report to the department the whereabouts of O'Brien if he can be located by the postoffice address. The authorities seem determined to find O'Brien and make him cast additional light on the violation af the custour house rules and regulations, which 0 Brien has as sumed, it is said, for the protection of those high in authority. The inves tigation is proceeding and Special Agent Macatee, assisted by the dis tric& attorneys, will soon reach the bot. tom of the case, when his report will be forwaided to Secretary Gage and an important and interesting announce ment can be expected. That is a remarkable state of affairs developed in the Charleston custom house by the search of the building b the State constables and the United .'rates inspector says. the Auderson %Ail. Plenty of evidence wai found which pointed to the fact that the custom bouse was being used as a wareheuze by "blind tigers"' to store their liquor in, and it points irresisti bly to the concalsion that the collec tor of the port and other officials there were leading themselves to the "blind tigers" to aid them in violating a law of the State. It is a shameful piese of business and reffcts anything but credit on these officials. Charleston has been notorious for her disregard of a law of the State but it almost stag grs belief that high oficials, sworn officers of the United States govern ment, should attempt to screen law breakers. And what a "toney" official the government has there in the per son of that fellow who has to have fif teen gallons .of rum every three weeks for bathing pur:'oes. It isas much as most men can affored to pay the water rents for bathing purposes but this fellow can afford to bathe in rum at $5 or $6 a gallon. His carcass must be a precious one. The United States government ought to have a thorough cleansing out of that Augean stable. But will it do it? We shall see. Why He Left. A dispatch from Athens, Ga., says the experts appointed to examine the Athens Exchange bank have completed their investigations of the books of the bank and Gond Benedict, the cashier who disappeared several months ago, over $11.000 short. It will be remem bered that the last seen of Benedict was at Greenville, S. C. An hour or so after he arrived there on Tuesday afternoon. May 23 last, he walked out of the Mansion house, where he had registered, as if to go to a livery stable to make arrangements for a team to carry him to a neighboring cotton mill. This was the last seen of him. His two brothers went to Greenville and made a two week's search for him in that and neighboring counties. It was not known then that the cashier was short and his brothers rejeicted sugges tions of the kind wit h scorn and indig nation. All aorta of wild stories em bracing supposed dlews were circulated from day to day. For almost two solid weeks the newspapers in this State and Georgia contained leading articles con cerning the disappearance. Then thae brothers gave up the search and people settled down to the theory that first suggested itself-that Benedict had run away because he was short. A Bad Record A short time ago Attorney General Bellinger compiled a statement show ing for the past seven years the number of cases in wthich the charge of murder was presented, the number tritd. the number of defendants dis missed and the number found guilty of murdetr. Here is the table, and it is interesting in view of the re tarks of Judee Benet in the court at Columbia on the subject of homicides 'and the detestable practice of carrying concealed weapons: Dis Yar. Charged. mi-d. Tried. Guilty 1893. .'. 134 23 111 35 1894...141 44 97 45 1895......24 27 177 66 187...-..27. : 30 217 69i 1898.....24 48 216 1o61 1599.... 21 35 1b6 1031 TotaL. .1408 252 1,156 476 Why the People Like Him. The Savannah Press says: "General Weaver is endeavoring to induce Colo nel Brian to drop the 16 to 1 idea, but he might as well try to stop Niagara Fails." Commenting on the above the Augusta Chrenicle says: "That is just what the people like about William J. Bryan. He is honest and ho has the coma of his aanvictions." AN UGLY CASE. The Awful Cruelties Practiced in Our Phosphate Mines. AN EARNEST APPEAL Facts About a System That the Legislature Will Doubtless Be Asked to Abolish by Act. The system of labor in the phosphate territory in this State, which has often in past years given rise to complaints of vigorous character, and has brought to light many ugly crimes, is the sub ject of another exposure, the particular case being that of the murder which the governor had, the sheriff of Colle ton couity to investigate recently. The State says Thursday the following was received by the governor from the Italian consular agent at Charleston: To His Excellency, Gov. M. B. Mc S weeney, Columbia, S. C. Dear Sir: In accordance with a re quest of the Hon. G. Branchi, consul general of Italy in New York, I have the honor to hand your excellency an affidavit sworn to before him in New York city on March 30th ult. by a la borer recently escaped from the phos phate mines of Pon Pon, S. C. This laborer above stated was work ing with the contractor Catello Pizza, who is the same party of whom I had occasion t.o complain to your excellen cy in my letter of March 10th ult. I pray your excellency that you will take whatever steps you deem necessary to alleviate the sufferings of these hu man beings who are so unfortunate to be working under such tyranous con tractors. I am very anxious to transmit to the consul general in New York the result of the investigation of the liomicide committed on Feo. 26ih ult., at this pho.phate camp made by the sheriff of Colleton county by your direction, and I pray your excellency to send me a copy of the sheriff's report. I have the honor to be, Your most obedient servant, G. Sattil, Consular Acent of Ltaly. The affidavit referred to reads as fol lows: I, undersicned, Nicola di Benedetto, a native of Ro,,easieura, (ia) actuall3 iving at New York, 73 Uiulberry street, being duly sworn, makes oath and de ulares as follows: On November 8th ul. I contracted with Catello Pizzo to go to South Car oina and work on the phosphate mines. I was at work at piece work Pizzo assured me that 1 could make $2 a day We arrived at Charleston Nov 1th, and went straight to Pen Pon. It was not long before I discovered that the work was so hard that we could arely make 30 cents a day, that is jst as much as Catello charged us for board. He used to take the checks from the company, get them cashed and give us an account from which it appeared that we were always in debt with him. So we had to work for nothing. We were housed in a wooden shanty. Pizso had seven or eight guards, all armed with guns, pistols and knives. If we complained of any thing we were beaten with sticks and threatened with death. At night the guards stood before the door of the house with arms to prevent any of us from getting away. It was nothing but imprisonment. In the daytime the guards were always on the works to prevent escapes. If any of us got sick we were forced to work under penalty of beina; beaten. I do net remember on what day, one of the men, I do not know his name. said that he was sick; in fact he had the fever and could not stand on his feet. Ocie of the guards, Demenico, came to order him to the works- A dispute arose and without the slight est provocation the guard, Demenico, shot at the man and killed him in stantly. That happened in my presence and the presence of many others. The guard was spirited away by Catello Piso. who was present at the shooting. The guard tried to excuse himself by saying that he had orde'rs to shoot any body who refused to work. Unable to stand the suffering any longer, 1 ran away during the night, eluding the vigilance of the guards, on the 26th 27th of February. I walked all the way here employing 28 days in the journey. Some times I was able to steal a ride on freight trains. Cross mark of Nicola di Benedetto. Sworn at New York this day March 0th, 1900, before me, G. Branchi, Consul General of Italy. President Frank Q. O'Neill of the Hi hernia Trust an4 saving bank of Charleston has written the following letter to the governor: Dear Sir: I understand the Italian consul, Mr. Settil, is urging von to take steps to prevent, as far as you are able, the inhuman treatment that has in the past characterised the methods eployed in the phosphate digging sec tion of the State. Personally I know something of these methods, which are~ a disgracze to the' iiii tion oIf the country. I trust yO ou ill be able to see your way, by I. gidlation or other vise, to change the pr esent syst em and to aid t he Italian cnsul in his very praiseworthy object of benelitting his coju'irywen. With my regards, I am Yours mrily, F. Q. O'Neill. A Queer Murderer. Tfhunday Fred Kettlehake drove to the carb in front of a saloon in Vir ginia avenue, near Washington street, Idianapolis, Ind., lited a Winchester rile to his shoulder and fired into a roup of men entering the saloon. The hots went wild except one, which struck Lewis Kraus in the back of the head. Kettlehake then drove to North Liberty street -called Fred Sinion, at groceryman, outside emptied a load from the gun into Simon's abdomen. he wonnd is fatal BICYCLE STEALING. Judge Benet Deals With It As With Horse Stealing. Judge Benet, presiding in the court of sessions, Wednesday made an exam ple of a bicycle thief, and had some thing to say about this particular crime which is now becoming so frequent that will doubtless tend to deter crimi vals from stealing bicycles-the horse that I most every business man now uses in his daily work. Tobe Foster, an ex convict, a strap ping young negro with a forbidding countenance, a short time ago carried away two bicycles from the lobby of an office building, stealing one late at night. He took the machines into the country and sold them. Two indict ments were handed out against him, the wheels having been recovered. The grand jury returned a true bill in each case. Wednesday afternoon he was placed in the dock and entered a plea of guilty in the first case. He was ordered to stand and receive his sentence. "Tobe, you say you took the bi cycle?" asked Judge Benet. "Yes, air." "Can you ride a bicycle?" "Yes, sir." "Did you ride this bicycle away?" Tobe said he had done so. "Where did you carry it?" "About four miles into the country." "Did you sell it?" "kes, sir." "For how much?" "I almost gave it away." Judge Benet paused and then he ad dressed some remarks to the prisoner that are applicable to all such cases. He told him that the stealing of a bi cycle in this age was a more heinous offense than the stealing of flour or some other commodity of like value; it was the theft of that upon whieh the thief could ride away. It was close akin to the stealing of a horse-the same principle was involved, and this offense was regarded not so long ago as heinous enough to warrant hanging. Bicycles had to be left here and there in the run of business. No man could .fford to have a guard stand by every time he left his bicycle; bicycles were not to be nursed like babies. The crime was such therefore as to merit ,evere pucishment, not only for the wffence itself, but in order to deter others from committing like offenses. Ile then sentenced Foster to term of three years on the chaingang or in the pentitentiary. LEter Foster entered a plea of guilty in the second case against him, and was given an additienal sen tence of two years, thus sending him up for a period of five years. There was a murmur of approval throughout the court room.-Columbia tate. DEWEY A DEXOCRAT. At Least That It What He Said Thuusday. Admiral and Mrs. Dewey arrived at Philadelphia Thusday afternoon and attended the second concert in aid of the families of the soldiers and sailors who have lost their lives in the Philip pines. This is Admiral Dewey's fihst visit to Philadelphia since his return from the Philippines. The box c cupied by the admiral and his wife at the concert was decorated with the national colors. In various parts of the accademny were stationed details from the League island navy yard, sail ors from the receiving ship Richmond and veteran jackies from the naval home, all in dress uniform, in honor of the head of the navy. A number of young society women attired as Red Cross nurses sold programmes. On returning to the hotel the admiral gave an interview to a dozen newspaper men. He said he was glad to receive the reporters, but adied that he had nothing to say. At this moment Mrs. De wey joined her husband in the recep tion room, and after introducing her, he said: ''Mrs. Dewey will talk," to which she replied, with a smile, that "The admiral has a mind of his own; he thinks for himself." "Are you correctly reported to be a Democrat?" the admiral was asked, and after a moment's hesitation he replied: "Yes, I think I can answer that; yes, I am a Democrat." "If the Republicans nominate Mc Kinley and the Democrats name Bryan for the presidency, would you run in dependently?" "I wont answer that." "The Democratic convention of Pennsylvania has just endorsed Bryan for the presidency1" was suggested by one reporter, to which the admiral re plied: "Pennsylvania usually goes Republi can, doesn't it?" Several questions in quick succession as to any conference between him and Grover Cleveland, Wtu. C. Whitney, or any other political men of prominence were ans *ered with the same phrase, "I came here to attend the concert." One reporter asked the admiral who would manage his campaign if he en tered one, and he laughingly replied: "I don't know. How would you like the job? I would probably need a bright young man." Changed It to Suit. Senator B. veridge sent out his speech on the Porto Rican tariff prior to the date upon which it was to be de livered, and when the time came did not make the speech. He subsequent ly mads another, in which there were important changes from the original speech sent out The Democrats in indiana have the original speech, how ever, and propose to use it in the camt paign to show what were the senator's real sentiments and how he was oblige:i to abridge them a: the dictation of the admiinistration. Bryan the Man. The New York Journal Thursday telegraphed Gov. MoSweener as fol lows: "Will you kindly wire The Journal today at its expense your opinion of Dewey's announcement and what effect it will have on De~mocratic convention." The gover nor's ans~ver was: "Doa't think Dewey's candidacy anmounts to anything serious. Bryan will undoub t ly receiv~es the unanimous support of aln onther States." ATTZMPT AT ASSASSINATION. AnAnckist Shoots at the Prias of Wales. - A sensational attempt to assassinate the Prince of Wales was made at a rail road station at Brussels, Belgium Wed nesday by Sipido, a young anarchist, who fired two shots, but the prince escaped unharmed. The wouldbe assas sin was immediately arrested. The train bearing the prince was just pulling'out of the northern railway station at 3:35 when Sipido jumped upon the foot of the prince's saloon car, aimed his re volver at his royal highness and fired twice. Hearing the shots the station master rushed to the scene and knocked down Sipido's arm as the latter pre pared to fire a third shot, while by standers rushed up and threw them selves on the prince's assaliant. In the confusion, another man, who was inno cent, was seized, roughly handled and beaten. Intense excitement prevailed for the moment as it was feared that the prince had been hit, the shots having been fired almost point-blank. The railway carriage door was hastily thrown open, and great relief was felt when the prince himself appeared at the window unhurt. Both the prince and princess, however, had a very nar row escape. The policeman on duty took Sipido in charge. The latter ap peared proud of his exploit and seemed quite calm. Sipido told the authori ties that he lived on the Rae de la Forge, at Saint Gilles, two miles south of Brussels. After the Prince of Wales had ascertained that the man who fired the shots had bean arrested he declared himself and the princess uninjured and the train immediately started. An eye witness days that the train was already in motion, and when the en gineer heard the pistol he shut off steam, applied the brakes and stopped the train. As the train restarted after Sipido's arrest, the public loudly cheered the prince, who acknowledged the demonstration from the.car window. The prince appeared qaite unaffected by the incident. He asked whether the revolver was loaded, and on being in formed in the affirmative, smiled and begged that the culprit might not be treated too severely. When examined by the station officials Sipido declared he intended to kill the Prince of Wales that he did not regret his action and that he was ready to do it again if given a chance to do so. Subsequently he declared he wanted to kill the prince "because he caused thousands of men to be slaughtered in South Africa." The would-be assassin is a tinsmith, a resident of Brussels, 16 years of age. His pockets were found to be fall of anarchist literature. He has a round, boyish face, black eyes and dark hair. At the examination before the magis trate it was ascertained that he had purchased a penny ticket in order to reach the departure platform, where he walked up and down quite a while, while the prince was promenading. An examination of Sipiod's revolver showed that four chambers had been discharged but that two of the cartridges had missed fire. The weapon is of the cheapest six- chambered description. Doctors and Pharmacists. The commencement exercises of the South Carolina Medical college were held Tuesday night at the Academy of Music, Charleston, in the presence of a crowded. house. Forty-three young men graduated in medicine and seven in pharmacy. The gradgates are a parnicularly bright set of physicians and druggists. Five of the graduating class in medicine were thrown on the examination and were not allowed to graduate. The following were the graduates in medicine: W. B. R. Ackerman, R. L. Anderson, J. A. Ball, W. H. Breland, A. H. Brown, A. W. Burnet, J. F. Carroway, A. Coward, J. 8. DesPortes, E. M. Dibble, J. D. Dolan, C. H. Do Rant, B. A. Elzas, S. B. Fishburne, J. W. Floyd, J. P Galvin, L. L Gregory, J. T. H sy, Jr., W. C. Hemmingway, D. J. Hy drick, L. H. Jennings, A. K. Johnson, P. B. Kell, L. Keiley, F. M. Lander, W. L. Linder, John Lyons, H. L. Ly nab, J. S. Matthews, Willham Masyck, P. V. Mikell, J. W. Nance, Mr. L Parler, G. M. Pate, Phil Priolean, T. M. Rivers, J. T. H. Turen. A. C. Wild hagen, W. C. Twitty, M. Smathers, B. F. Sloan, J. J. Dominick, J. W. Doug lass. The first six honor men were: J. A. Ball, first; A. Coward, second; E. M. Dibble, third; John Lyons, fourth; M1. L. Parler, fifth; J. J. Domninick, sixth. The graduates in pharmacy were: J. E. Arant, G. A. Devineau, R. T. Good ale, J. B. Hyde, Jr., L Little, S B. Mitchell, F. Sawyer, J. Van Landing ham, J. M1. Green, M. D., W. S. Lynch, M1. D., 8. F. McGregor. Mr. Mitchell and Mr. McGregor came out first and second respectively. The Stokes Free Delivery Bill. The Nashville Amierican says: The bill providing for.the free delivery of mail along star routes introduced into the House by Congressman J. W. Stokes, of South Carolina, deserves favorable consideration. The bill makes it the duty of mail carrires on star routes to aeliver free of charge to the persons addressed any mail entrusted c> the care of the carriers by postmas ters. It also requires that carriers must take up and place in the post office mail given thenm by persons along te route. The only requirement of the persons who wish to take advantage of the act is to put up boxes in a con venient place and to give the postmas ter instsuetions as to the proper mail box at which they desire their mail de posited. The Second Assistant Post master General. Mr. Shallen berger, warmly indorses the bill, and in Mr. Stokes' own State, South Carolina, the Psoffiee Department has tried the ex periment of advertiseing for contracts, rith and without providone that een trators should deliver the main free along their routes wherever farmers should erect boxes, and the difference in the cost for the improved service for he entire Saste was j ound to be only 6,600O. The passage of the bill would e a boon to every farmer in the couo-1 cry. It would bring them in closer ouch with the outer world and its adfairs, and would be a benefit all ound- The only objection raised to its passage, that it would inaerfere with the pleasure farmers tak~e in going ftr the mal, 18 tnn puerile to warat liE IS A CANDIDATE Dewey Has Rescinded His Adio of.Last'.September. WANTS..TO BE.PRESIDENT. He Says Nothing About His Po1 tics But Announces Him self In the New York World. A special to the New York World from Washington says: Admiral Dewey authorizes The World to announce to the American people that after natuze reflection and in response to the esra est entreaties from all parts of the country, his former decision not under any circumstances to ran for the preui dency is rescinded. A World correspondent saw the . miral at his home at 6 o'clock last eva. ning. Admiral Dewey said: "I realise that time has arrived when I mast de fnitely define my position. "When I arrived in this country la's September I said then that nothing. would indce me to be a eandidate fer the presidency. "Since then, however, I have had the leisure and inclination to study the matter and have reached a diferent conclusion, inasmuch as so many ass=x ances have come to me from my cosa trymen that I would be acceptable as a candidate for this great offie. If the American people want me for this high office I shall be only two willing .te serve them. "It is the highest honor in she gif9 of this nation; what citisen would re fase it? "Since studying this subject I an convinced that the o5ce of president is not such a very difficult one to All, his daties being mainly to execute the laws of congress. "Should I be chosen for this exalted position I would execute laws of ou. gress as faithfully as I bave alwavs e* coated the orders of my saperiors. Admiral Dewey did not state what party's nomination he would acoept The reporter asked: "On what platform will you stand". And the admiral replied: "I think I have said enough at tis time, and possibly too mach." SUICWDES 1GaZaALU. China Head the List With ight Ea. dred Thousanda Year. Though the aspects of suicide vary from year to year, says the Chisg Tribune, there can be little doubt thah self-murder is gradually increasing in the United States. From 1890 to 1895, the number recorded each year was be. tween 5,000 and 6.000; from 1895 to 1900 the figares were between 6 00 and 6,500 Dr. Jastin Herold, of New York, states the Tribune, has writtens book in which he gives the details of, 3,431 suiaides in that city in a givet period. The Germans head he list. Those born in the'United States come next. The other nationalities in the list come in the following order: Re sians, French, Austrians, Itaiins, Swedes, Norwegians, English, Scotek and Irish. It is somewhat ramiarkable that Dr. Herold in his book nowhere discusses the proneness of his own pro-. fession to self-murder. The number of physicians who commit suicide evary yearis larger than that of all other pres fessional persons combined. "The total number of persons sommttingsui cide every year.in the United Sses seemts large, but in proportion to paps lation it is smaller than the number in Eagland, France, Germany, Scas dinavia, Russia or any of the northera. European countries. The. southera countries, for some mysterious reasel, cling to life more tenaciously, perhapt because with them life is not is aet se strenuous and difficult. The couatry, however where the value of life is least considered is China. Tnue R1ev. Job.a Graham, of the Cnina Inland Mission, states in the Missionary Review of the World that in the provinceof !a-Naa, where he is located, having a papiala tion of 5,000,000, the average number of suicides is 1,000 a month.- Dr.. William Park, an expert on this sub jeot, says that in the whole of Jhina there are over 800,000 deaths by sauieide each year, of which one foarth are ea mitted by the use of opia as a pa son." A Family Tragedy. A sensational family drama wa re cently enacted in Vienna, Austria. A man, formerly a factory owner, named Dominic Lang, poisoned himself and four daughters. The eldest was 26 years old and the youngest 16. The eldest died at once and the three others suffered severe internal injuries, from which they are not likely to recover. The daughters drank prussi aid alto gether after the father had raised his glass to his lips. In the house a note was found entitled "Oar last wish." In this was written, "We recommend our last earthly possessions our two dogs to the care of a friend of the family. The course of the tragedy is believed to lie in the fact that Lang reestly lost his fortune. Auditorium Barned. The big auditorium in.Kansas City, Mo., where the Demiocratie conventuom was to meet on July deb, was totally destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoos. Osly the foundations are lefs. Tea dwellings were gutted. The Central Presbyterian church was ruined. The loss on the hall is $ 150,000 and on the other buildings $200,00D. Ten mia utes after the fire started wealthy ciii sens began raising funds to rebusid the auditorium and $25,000 was guickly raised. L ia believed the fall anosat will be raised shortly. Compliments Tifmn The Atlanta Journal says it has never been an admirer of Ben Tillman, but it ianot refu~se him its compliment upon the superb manner in which he squashed the strutting litle Spooner, of Wiseen siu last Monday. TIhe little boy the :alf run over was the perf'iction of corn aosure and self-assurance as compared ith Spooner after T?ilnaaa had daged 1im faur or five times.