The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, February 05, 1902, Image 4

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A BOLD ROBBERY. A Train Held Up on the Southern Near Branchville. SIX WHITE ME IN THE GANG. one s Wre Wo- Robbed and An other Carried 0tt' in a Wa on, Backed IUp to a Car Door at a Station. Last week we published a sho'. count of the holding up of a t rain oI the Southern lailw::w .ini Branchville,. but below 'OU Ii the testimony of those, wi: charge of t he 1 rai:. The most .-; rina - robbery that has ever 1n k in this part of *he country o )'r a last Nonday evenin,, at i." o'cl ck o the Cha rleston dvisi in out lern railway, beginning at the -mile post and being concThl-d at ihe .ni me station, in the exact spot almost I ha:, Bartow Warren; is supposed to hav held up the irain and sgn h~mded robbed th express car a fetw yers ago. The robbery was wort liy oft 1 .1 -esse Jamesgang in its palmiest days. and in all its details excels many of ti:t gang's exploits for daring and bolness. it was performed by a gang of six men according to the eye wit nesses. and the gang actually brought the train to a station, backed a wagon up to the door of the express car and unloaded the large through safe from the car, mak ing off with it. To make certain t hat the engineer of the train would go back after the detached coaches one of the men actually rode a mile. then making the engineer slow down and allow him to jump off. thus giving the men time to get away with the wagon. Only three of the men were disguised: these three had their faces blackened as if with shoe polish: the other three at tempted no disguise. Engineer Reynolds, one of the oldest and most experienced engineers on the road, came in closer contact with the robbers than anyone else, and he did not relish his hour and ten minutes spent in their company. They intro duced themselves by sending a Win chester bullet through his close fitting cap, it barely missing ploughing its way through his head. The baggagemas ter and flagman also had narrow escap es from rifle bullets as the baggage car shows. The express messenger. 3r. A. V. Hall, of Aumusta, was forced at the point of a pistoi to open his route safe and hand over the contents, which were not more than $25. The big safe he could not open anfi it was of course taken away by the robbers. The train crew particularly the engineer and the flagmen tell thrilling stories of the oc currence. THE CREW. The train was No. 11, from Charles ton to Columbia; among the passengers was H. A. Mf. Smith. Esq., of the Char leston bar. Engineer Reynolds was at the throttle, and Conductor Pat Black was in charge of the train. Mr. J. W. Butler was the baggagemaster, and the flagman was Mr. IDrayton Shirer. The two latter and the express mes senger and engineer were the only members of the crew that came in direct contact with the robbers, with the exception of the negro fireman who .iumped when things looked very squal 1v and did not turn up again until branchville was reached. 'THlE ENGINEER'S sTORY. The Columbia State says that as Egineer Reynolds climbed down from his engine cab in which were a num ber of bullet holes from rifles fired from the tender, said he was glad the trip was over. ~He is an aged man. He pulled off his cap and shofred a big bul let hole through the top. The old engineer was as cool as a cucumber on a July day, but seemed to be mad about the air hole in his cap. He said that they were skimming along after th~e stops at Pregnall's. St. Georg's and'Reevesville, and had just dthe 56-mile post at "Cattle crek Trestle" when he heard the tire man say "MIr. Reynolds, the man says stodp her." He asked who said stop her. addid not pretend to stop. Then bullets came from the tender. one go ing through his cap as stated. He said he went through the front- window to the running board and was about to jump off, but he knew that he could: not get back to his engine, and she was running fast, so when the shooting ceased he crawled back in the window and proceeded to apply the brakes. There were then two men in the cab: both had rifles and were not masked. A third was on the tender. The negro fireman had jumped when the shoot-' ing began. The men then ordered him to get down and uncouple the train. He told them lie couldn't do it.. They asked him if he did not know how and he told them he did. They then made him tell them how to do it, and they sent other men on the front of the next car back to do the work, two of the men going also. The third took his seat on the fireman's box. and told the engineer that he was staying there to keep tab on him. Hie also called the engineer by his name, saying "Mr. Reynolds, I'm afraid I come mighty near hitting you. I wouldn't hurt a hair of your head for anything: I only fired at you to scare you for you wouldn't stop. We don't want to hurt a single employe of the railroad, but we want to get the stuff froin that d--n express company." The meni ot the train uncoupled, but did not kow how to work the hooks and came back to the engineer; they then made him back a little and got the train cut off at the second-class car. Then he was ordered to go ahead. One of the men had told him to stop 200 yards from the 58-mile post depot platform; as he was slowing up one of the fellows ordered him to he ad right up to the "goat house" as the little denot there is known, using that term. '2he engi neer says when he stopped the train there was much shooting: but in about five minutes the robbers had done what they wished to do; they then told him he could go back to his train two miles down the road. One fellow re-j mained in the cab; when the engineer said he was going to Branchvilie in stead, this feilow said he supposed he wouldn't, and rode back half a mile with him to see that he didn't, getting off while the engine was still moving. The men. the engineer said. "talked like home' folks and looked like ordi nary country folks, like some men I have seen about the place.'' The fel low who rode on the tireman's seat. he says, was a short stout man withi whiskers and a moustache of dark color, the only other fellow he go; close enough to see good was a long ellow-skinned looking fellow with a black moustache and looked like what is known in the country as a "Goose Cricker." One of the men was heard by the haggagemaster to refer to Mr. Ifeynolds by his nick name. The en gineer went on back anid had his train recoupled and camne on to Branienvae. THR~ FLAGMAN. The flagman tells a graphic story of the aifair. lie says he was sit ting in the second-ela:: car at t.r'; when he felt the air-brakes go on. lie thought some air pipe had broken, and be jump ed oft and start ed toward thc' engmne looin uner. the cnars to see where the truhie way. As ie reac.ed t. e ex ress car he hecard indiscrimnate shoot n e nt on to the haggage car what he tro n:e was. Tlhe t( had his (Ioo locked. h '*t epped into tile vestii' !e of (.e next and saw 1 bree ni ass. ( Iret1l by shoot in)g ami eursin u' calling t o "Mike" aniu "Plat"t ct. the coaches loose. It was ale ward .oundthat thiey had simprly pi edI he air pipe apart, btreak ig i. is 1k ie he aid cliled to i eh mast er 10ho knew hs v lO ,! adL in . J ust then one of Ie mel pad ,(I byV ihetear dor :m he lea!t. tot hiui let hil out anIdg h)iek to 'a aioth train t ha 1 s r . i l d i - -- ww tld him to I i 1 n lea 111 ic l e..p) t ie ' or tie d gOt ;!.n Z' hnaShot Crashe3 d i br h the w I -dw ok jl.s above hlS I I lie splinters im 1s S~en we in I he mail car e agen.t if he was hurt. n n, sa 0 no: th!: n' 111 - e h is : li'ia in the dvr and ask b :f Liwdn stl di and he had told no. Then' flagmeni got back Ile baggae car and h wlets were ngO~ s) pr (m iseum aiy ihat hire ( liC h agIt ook refuge behilvl a iuri I of driiniiiers' iruIks. Several bw e e o' the car, and 'lie bullei holes ar irI here io show for h. The al'men sys T at i be nie he saw had thi r faces blkenedl. When tiey ind _,ono he eraw'xie out over the ien dtr I see mv t ihigs were in the en THE I-;(A;AGEYASTEu lat when the train stopped he had boti d(ors 01 his alr open. lie sitned 1o one 1 o look out: as lie did so 1 bul let whizzed by his head and he -iast iv slamnied his door. later closing the ol'her. lIe tells very much the same SirV as t. flagman, ut declar es he wil!' never abuse hea vv drummers' t runks again: he uttered a "God bless those trunks.' that was full of mean ing. ile could hear the men cursing and fuming outside the car as they were loading tIhe safe upon the wagon. le heard one of the men call the engineer lv hisnickname: and each other by ike and Pat. THE MESSENGER. Express Messenger Hall was at work in his car when the breakes went down. le soon heard the shooting and had according to orders from the com pany at once put out the light and was etting to the other end of the car to put that out when as lie passed the door. a pane of glass was crashed in and a hand with a pistol in it met is face, while a voice commanded him not, to move upoon pain of death. Then he was ordered to open the door. He obeyed the order, being unable to dodge the pistol and get to his shotgun nearby or to enter the car. They took his pistol emptying the chambers and giving it back to him later and made 1im open the small route safe and hand over its contents. These amounted to but little. Then they commanded him to open the large through safe. He told them be could not do this and explained that in .Charleston it had been locked and turned over to him or Columbia; that he did not even know its contents. They then made him go to the end of the car and sit down with his back to them threatening to kill him if he turned his head. The big safe was then rolled to the door and loaded on the wagon which had been backed up to the side of the car: when they left he straightened up things and notified the officers and the com pany by wire from Branchville. The wagon'was driven away, he says, In the direction of Walterboro. The cars sow the bullet holes that were fired into them. THE CONDUCTORI The conductor did not get a chance to go with the first section of his train to the 58 mile post. He was in the rear coach. and was left with that portion of the train. As soon as he found that his flagman had gone he went back immediately to flag the train that he knew was following. Messenger Hall did not see more than two men enter his car, but he says it sounded with his back turned as If there were three men in the car during the removal of the safe, and the engineer says the three men on the engine remained there after the train was cut in two. When the train came along by the .58 mile post about an hour afterward everything was griet and nothing was seen of the robbers THlE PAST HIOLD-UPS The first hold-up of the Southern passenger train at this spot was on Dc. 1. 1899, and it was the first thin of the kind In South Carolina In years. Nearly $1,.00 was secured. Bartow Warren, a young white man from the vicnity,. was arrested and tried later for this crime, the ev~dence being strong against htim. but good attorneys and popular feeling in his favor made the trial result in a mistrial. In July f last year just before the second trial vas to come on. Warren met Torn Wat son who was one of the principal wit nesses against him, and his former frind, and deliberately shot him to death turning and walking away. At h is t ime he vras out on bond for the rohtbery. Though $400 was offered by 'he state fsr his capture for the mur der,no arrest has ever been obtained. Some say that he has been seen inI Branhville several times since the' murder. but if he has none have ven tured to capture him. On Oct. 221last. after the murder, another but unsuc cessful at tempt was made to rob the express car of the train at this same spot, Capt. Carsten being held up at the point of a pistol by a lone robber. THlE SAFE FOUNXD. A telegram was received in Orange burg Tuesday saying that the safe the robbers had carried off had been found by the detectives who was working on the case. It had been thrown in the Edisto River near the place where it had been taken from the train. The same dispatch said that the blood hounds had traced the robbers in the direction of Augusta. The robbers had not opened the safe. A New omeie. The house Wednesday passed Mr. Kiber's bill to create the ofllee of in surance commissioner. Two radical changes were me~de in the original bill. The house rdfused to allow the gover nor to appoint, and prefers for the gen eral assembly to elect. The other change is as to the matter of taxes to be paid by insurance companies. The law now provides that, in addition to the regular State. county and mulni ipal taxes. the insurance companies pay a special tax of one-half of i per :ent on all premiums. Mr. Kibler pro-* posed a unifo.rm tax of 2 per cent. en all premiums instead of the regular and the special tax. But this was so amended on Mr. Moses' motion ti-at the bill now provides that there shall he no change in the manner of paying State, county and municipal taxes. but that the half of 1 per cent. on prem itums be raised to 1 per cent. This will mean a gain of ten thousand dol lars a year to the State. For the ag gregate amount of premiums is two million. tive hundred thousand dollars.! and 1 percent. would be twenty five thousand dollars. Deducting from this the twelve thousand. five hundred drllars now received fromn this special! tax and the two thousand, five hun dred dollars for the ezpe:3cs of the office, the State would be better oj hby ten thousand dollars under this bill. Frozen to Dem h. A be Wells. a negro living in Carr"l ton. Ga.. was found dead ihursday msring. having frozen to death the night before. He was supposed to have been drunk, as he was in tlhe BIENNIAL SESSIONS Of the Legilaure Tavored b- the Ecus ecf R'e:esentatiVe. THIRTEEN M.KEERS OPCSBD The 1Ii by V(ting Against It. Ninic ty-Seven 3estrh-s Yote" to Let the People l)eCide the Matter. The Ilouse Wednes(iay dispostd 41f the joint resolut i.n pr posing an am endnent to the const itut ion to provide for biennial essions. Mr. Flti. t author (f th l ii ii. (efended it in 1,0,0 the Dill received over 8 votes in the h u e (a two 1hirdIs iajri y . and 26 votesin the senate. lacking one of th'e required number in the senate. Ile declared i hat the senate offered a very limost excuse -namely 1hat judges must be selee',,d eaeh year. i e urged thaltthe matter should be submitted to the people. for thev are competent ti settle it. We need economfy. The people are clamoring for biennial ses sions. Why then not let them vote ol the quiesticn? He explained that he had opposed submitting the Sanders bill to refer the liquor question to the people because that was to be submit ted by counties. He favors submit ting 'matters to the people of the whole. State. He explained that the law is so mixed up on account of the frequent sessions of the legislature that the lawyers are confounded over it. When a man is elected To the legisla ture he wants 1o do something so bad lv, that he changes and tries to undo the work of his predecessors until the law is in confusion. A majority of the States have bien nial sessions. It is true that Georgia has repealed the biennial sessions law, but that does not mean that this State would be wise to follow their example. Who is it that opposes biennial ses sions? Those who are receiving re muneration from the annual sessions. He stated that the lawyers favor the annual sessions, while the farmers favor biennial sessions. Mr. Moses asked facetiously if law yers need the $4 per diem. Mr. Efird insisted he had referred particularly to attaches who are remunerated by coming here. Among others, he re ferred to the State printers who are benefited by annual sessions. Not the incumbent particularly, but any State printer. Mr. Etird concludesd by sum ming up his arguments. There are but six States having biennial ses sions, and there never would be of ne cessity for the governor to call extra sessions. Mr. Moses opposed the bill. He thought that the constitutional con vention had come fresh from the peo pie and It had debated this matter and had voted down biennial sessions. It is a good thing for the people's rep resentatives to meet here once a year to discuss conditions. Mr. Banks of Newherry, who had been the first to introduce a measure of this kind. made a warm and forci ble appeal in its behalf. . The people want it. he declared. Mr. Coggeshall of Darlington fav ored the bill. It is one of the most conservative and one of the most beneicial matters brought before the legislature since the constitutional convention. We have too many laws for any good purpose and yet they continue to be piled up. While other States are reducing the number and the length of the sessions. South Caro lina has reduced the necessity for long sessions, yet has by the constitution made the sessions longer than they were before. We want more perman ency, more stability and finish in our general laws that the people may know that they will remain fixed for a reasonable time. The acts are not published for two or three months and the people actually do not know for months the laws under which they are living. The question of economy must also be considered. There are many States which have lately adopt ed the plan of biennial sessions and some have gone to qtuadrennial yes smons. Mr. Lide favored the bill. His leg islative experience has been limited but he has seen enough of it to become convinced that this theory is the prop er one. Because the constitutional convention refused to adopt biennial sessions is no reason why that mnatter should not be recommitted to the peo pe. Nearly all of the States are tend ing toward less frequent sessions. There are too many demands for ap propriations. and if there were bien nial sessions there would be fewer ex traordinary expenses incurred. Mr. Ashley favored the bill. The house doesn't by the hilt declare that there shall be biennial sessions, but let the people decide whether or not there is too much legislation. He felt sure it would save tihe people *1.00,000 a year to have biennia. sessions. Col. Robinson favored the bill. Hie would never be afraid to submit ques tions to the people of A nderson county. le twitted Mr. Elird about change of base on the matter of referring ques tions to the people. Mr. Cooper offered an amendment to increase the length of each biennll session to 50 days--the limit now be ing 40 days. Mr. Prince thought that there should be no limit to the number of days. He offered, as ai substitute for Mr. Coper's amendment, a motion to strike out the sentence limiting the number of days for which the mem bers should be paid. Mr. Tatum thought that if the limit he removed the session would be ex tended to a hundred days. perhaps, and this would prohibit farmers from oming to the legislature. Mr. W. HI. Parker said that Geor ias biennial sessions ran for 60 days nd then extra sessions ran frequently for more than twice that number of ars. For this reason it is shown not to be an economical experiment. Mr. E~rd declared that the times had changed since the conditions re ferred to by Mr. Parker. which was a number of years ago. Mr. F. II. McMastcr said that the discussion of this question has already cost the State $10.000. Why not set te it once for all by referring it to the people. He saw merit in the pro positon. Mr. Hu gher Sinkler said that the constitution had becl framed by men just as able as thc members of this general assembly. This cry of being afraid of the people is an evidence of: something wrong in the inner con sciousness of s(~ocpople. lie is not afraid of his vate on any matter. The previous; question was called by' Mr. Beamguard. the limit of the number of days w:s L.ikewise 3 Ir. Freen nI's amen r)nent o limit the :umber to I daxs :for :I-reed it) 31r. Cowt."Cr's an1endment1 It, fix the limit at 5o davs. The hill as amendmno.'t passed See ond( readingr by a vote of 97 to I". The 13 wN 1ho voted to kill Ite bill w'r.' Dlirul. "Fraser. AV. . iPa rker. ieKvcc. 31oses. Pratt. sinkler. Wv. .. Tvomas. RZ. A. 'Fiompson. W~est. \Whlay. VIT liais Xoods. WIELDS PITCHFORK Tillman's Scatching Arraignment of Philippine Policy. Thr rdav's sqessi(n of the senate Wa.s entirely 'devoid Of the 1UtumuoIuIS scenes which characterizeri the sessions of the past three days. After the Philirpoine tariff measure was taken up at 2 o'clock Mr. Tillman delivered a speech. devoted almost entirely to a discussion of - the part his State took in the war for the independence of the colonies. Incidentally he re ferred occasionally to the pending bill. drawing morals. as he said, for the heneft of the majority, that they might. be applied to the present troul-le in the Philippines and to this government's treatment of the Fili pino. The South Carolina senator said he had little intention to discuss. except in an incidental way, the Philippine tarifi bill. lie desired. he said, to continue the discussion of the "very interesting historical subject" which had been brought to the attention of the senate by Mr. Money of Mississip pi. le would have something to say about the matter Thursday had not Mr. Lodge employed what he consider ed ungracious tactics. These tactics were supplemented by other Rephli can senators. he said. and "my gallant young friend from Indiana (Mr. Bev cridge) leaped into the arena and charged the minority with conspiracy and obstruction." "The Philippine tariff bill," he con tinued. "is very important from the standpoint of those who propose to pursue relentlessly and remorsely the present Philippine policy, although the senator from Utah (Mr. Rawlins) has shown that there is now over there plenty of money for the carpetbaggers to spend." Discussing the historical subject raised Thursday Mr. Tillman said: "I am glad that Massachusetts has one representative in this chamber even if South Carolina has only one" he interpolated significantly, "who stands for the principles upon which this government, was founded, those principles which constitute the true road to liberty." He then entered upon an elaborate account of the part South Carolina. took in the war for the independence of the colonies although he said he was ill prepared to do so great a subject justice. While Mr. Tillman was speaking several senators engaged in conversa tion among themselves. To this Mr. Tilman objected because of the inter ruption and he requested that those engaged to retire to the cloak rooms. For once he was. he said, making a speech for home consumption. "Of course " he said. 'the senators on the Republican side are not Inter ested. I could hardly hope to reach on such a subject the minds and hearts of the calloused majority-the commer oIaized, money-grabbing, money-lov ing majority, as such a subject is not in consonance with the miserahle, canting, damnable attitude which that party Is now assuming." By the time he had concluded this linguistic diversion Mr. Tillman had the attention of all the senators pres ent. Mr. Tillman declared it was the his tory of all conquering armies when prosecuting such a struggle as the British pressed against the revolution ary colonists, and which is n->w being carried on by the British in South A rica that they committed cruelt-ies ad trampled upon all the obligations of humanity. "And I would ask the majority in this chamber." he said, "if, in trying to force the Filipinos to accept (or government without a promIbe, they are not inviting the exasperation of the natives and a spirit of perpetual nsu rrection.' The ea'ort to treat the Filipinos as chattles, as cattle." he said, was dannable." and he charged the ma jrity side with being the "real mur derers of our troops in the Phili ppines." "But." he asserted, shaking his fin ger at the Republican side, "if we caun gag you and force down your throats a scintilla or small dose of the prin ciples which actuated the men of Mas sachusette in 1778 we will have done our duty to the country and to hu nanity." In a brief colloquy with Mr. Burton of Kansas. an allusion was made to the remark of Mr. Tillman Thursday about the burning of negroes in Kansas. Mr. Burton said that no one in Kansas was proud of commit ting murder and Mr. Tillmnan retorted, "they preferred to murder them in the Philippines." Commenting upon the sedition laws promulgated by the Philippine com mission, Mr. Tillmnan expressed doubt whether he would be allowed to go at large in the Philippines, if those laws were enforced. in this connectiou, he inquired of Mr. IHoar whether the Springfeld Republican, which he saiid. was opposed to the Republican "im peralistic policy." would under those laws, be permitted to be circulated in. the Philippines. "I decline." said Mr. THoar. "to he drawn into a discussion of Massachu setts newspapers." "if I dip into this bucket for any more light." said Mr. Tillman. laugh ingly, "I am afraid I'll not get it." "While I decline to enter upon any discussion of Massachusetts newspa pers" said Mr. Hoar, "I will say to the senator that If he wants to know my opinion of the commission's order. I will give it to him. I think it is an abominable order." " In the absence of anything speci fie," Mr. Tillman replied. 'we will bake that end of it." n conclusion Mr. Tillman said the' pending Philipine tariff bill as a prop osition to erect a tariff wall between the United States and another part of the domnestic territory was a depart ire from every principle that had brought this country to the pinnacle of greatness and ma~de it the cynostire of the eyes of the world as~ "the land of the free and the home of the brave." After an executive session the sen ate adiourned. Boston Banker Suicides. Lane B. Schonield, senior member of he firm of Schofield, Whicher & Co. bankers and brokers of Boston, com-: mit~ted suicide by shooting at his home SHALL THE CHARTER Of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company 3e Revoked? THE REPLY OF TIE COIPANY 1y 'I- Counse to the Special Message Sent to the Legislature by Attorney General Hiellinger. Several days ago'Attorney General Bellinger sent in special message to the members of the General Assembly. asking that the charter of the Vir ginia-Carr.1ina Chemical Company be revoked in this State. and stated as the main reason for so doing that the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company had just petitioned to remove its case to the Federal courts. The statement of Mr. Bellinger was nublsliihed at the time in TheNews and Courier and to-day the other side of the case was presented In a letter ad dressed to the individual members of the Ilouse and Senate. The reply is interesting and reads as follows: Columbia, S. C., Jan. 20, 1902. To the Honorable Members of the General Assembly of South Carolina. Dear Sir:-The Attorney General has addressed to the General Assem bly a special report directed against a particular named individual inter est-the Virginia-Carolina Chemical company. The party so referred to may be per mitted on its own behalf also to ad dress and -memorialize you. The public laws and statutes of South Carolina expressly invite corpo rations created by its sister States to come into the State, invest and carry on business. . To induce them to do so they are guaranteed the same rights, privileges and Immunities as are enjoyed by the citizens and corporations of South Carolina herself. (Revised Statutes of 1893, Sections 1,465 and 1,471') To her own corporations the State of South Carolina has given the right to acquire, and own real estate, and personal property, to an unlimited ex tent, Including stock in other compa nies. (Acts of 1396, Statute at Large, Volume 22, p. 99.) Accepting this invitation the Vir ginia-Carolina Chemical company en tered the State and located and ac qvired property, and carried on its business, viz, the manufacture and sale of fertilizers. In order to do so it has acquired by purchase a large amount of property: 1. Manufactories to manipulate and manufacture complete fertilizers. 2. Phosphate land to provide the phosphate rock -rom which, by proper processes, is obtained the phosphoric acid for a complete fertilizer. 3. Cotton seed oil mfill interdsts so as to provide In cotton seed meal the ingredient of nitrogen for a complete fertilizer. Much of this property was purchased from the estates of Insolvent concerns that had suspended business and whose property was Idle and unused. South Carolin~a has no mines or de posits of potash, so that ingredient has to be pu:.chased and imported from abroad. In the case o:u nitroge-n-save for its being obtainable from cotton seed meal', the marufacture of a complete fertilizer in South Carolina would be wholly at the mercy of the foreign market for nitrates. The Virginia-Carolina Chemical company has, like any prudent manu facturer, sought to insure a supply of its raw material for use in its manu factures. It has done nothing else. It has purchased only the property of parties who were willing and of fered to sell. It has driven no competitor out of the market--unless perchance by tihe fair competition of the best article at tie chleapest price. It has extended to all a fair and rea sonable credit. It has unduly pushed or pressed no one to the wall. It has simply purchased its property and carried on its business in like man ner as any person would do. The A ttorney General has instituted a proceeding in the courts to test shether the Virginia-Carolina Chemi cal company has violated tile statute of the State known as the Anti-Trust Act. The reasons he gives for stating it has violated this law is that it has purchased a large amount of property. This Is true. but what law has it violated by so doing? The State of South Carolina said to tle company: "Come and invest and do business in tis State. and you can buy and own s much property as you wish" No one Is complaining of any injury fron tile company. The former owners of the property purchased by the Virginia-Carolina Chemical company so far from com plaining are congratulating themselves n having been able to sell. The fuli value of their property has been paid to them, and thus as the property re ained in the State, the purchase roney paid to the old owners has been brought additionally Into the State for its development and taxation. The farming Interest has not been fiected by any charge for fertilizers in excess of what the cost of raw ma terial and of manufacture warrants. The property of old and insolvent ompanies which was lying idle has been again brought into operation,' and the supply of fertilizers thereby increased and renewed employment given to operatives. Therefore. tile only question can be: Because the Virginia-Carolina Chemi cal company owns so much property la it by that act alone made itself obnoxious to tile Anti-Trust statute? It has other competitors. There re some twenty-one Independent fer tilizer companies or concerns selling fertilizers in South Carolina. of which some seven are actually located and nanufactrng Ill the State. L may be the largest concern In the State. but is~ is to the advantage of te State to have a large concern in its own limite. It has very strong and wealthy coin etitors in adjoining States, who sell nd deliver within the State. At any rate. some one concern has o he the largest, and the elimination sucessively of the largest would by derees elinminate all. The Attorney General recommends that the Legislature at once pass an Act which will summarily and without a hearing prohibit the Virginia-Caro ina Chemicrl company from any long er carrying on business In the State. On this~ w bennyourtention. First-To the utilitarian point of view: What practical good will be accom plished? Will it (do any good 'to transfer to (;()rgia or North Carolina all the property and operations of the coim panvy The only market now fur South Carolina phosphate rock (it being of much lower grade than Florida or T ennessee rock) is to the local manu fact ories-especially those near Char leston, owned by the Virginia-Carolina Chemical company. This market will be destroyed. All the laborers and persons em ployed by the company in its several works will lose their employment. Inasmuch as the property of the company cannot be taken and confis cated all its factories would be closed and the supplying of fertilizers to the farmers made more difficult and Oostly. The strongest competitor in the State will have been forced out. If, in consequence, there Is any ad vance in the price of fertilizers it Is certain that advance would not go Into the pockets of the farmers. What, then, can the State gain? It would be construed as notice to all outside capital that its presence is undesirable and its investment at the risk of arbitrary destruction. It would be tantamount to saying that the State prefers that her citi zens should remain poor and her natu ral resources undeveloped, and that she does not desire them to share in the material progress of the citizens of other States. Second-To the standpoint of jus tice: If the company has violated the law let it be punished. The fact of such violation is a matter for the courts. The General Assembly makes laws; it does not try cases. Is it fair, then, to try and condemn a party without hearing him? The Attorney General has himself referred the matter to the courts. It should be left to them to decide. Lastly--The attorney general asks the General Assembly to take so extraor dinary step as the summary termina tion of all permission to the Virginia Carolina Chemical company to longer carry on business In the State. He gives as the motive for such ac tion that the company has removed the case against It to the Federal court. But this is the mere legal exercise of a constitutional right. The supreme court of our State, as well as the supreme court of the United States, has decided that the right to remove proper cases Into the Federal courts Is a constitutional one, and any Act of a legislature attempt ing to prohibit it is void. The Federal courts certainly exist for some purpose. They are created for the very purpose of trying cases involving the question of rights under the Federal Constitution. Why, then, should a party be per secuted for only exercising a constitu tional right and carrying a case for trial into the court created for that express purpose?. Should the State use its power to destroy a party for so small and trivial a reason? The Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company. By Its Counsel, Mitchell & Smith. S USPECTED. ROBBER ARRESTED He Is Identified by the Man Who Hauled the Safe. A dispatch from Branchville, under date of Jan. 30, says a man giving as his name Francis A. Allen, claiming to be from Virginia, was arrested this afternoon near Midway. He Is susc pected of being one of the express robbers. There was nothing found on the man except six watches. He laimed to have been in Charleston the night of the robbery. The ne groes working near where the safe was thrown In the river said that "two men suspected of being tramps came out of the swamp, almost in rags, and, asked them If any one had been there for the safe." They then went back to the river where the safe was left; one said to the other: Yes, John our booty is gone." It is now thought it was a gang of tramps that held-up the train and that no one in this section was connected with the robbery. The people here cannot understand the ac tion of the express officials in turning back as soon as the safe was recovered. It certainly_seems that they should have made further efforts to catch the robbers as soon as their property was recovered. If there is any truth In what the negroes say that they were wokn tthe river the morning the saf ws rfidand the robbers could hardly have been more than a halt mile away when. the safe was pulled up and might have been captured. The man arrested Thursday afternoon was Identified by the negro Carson as being one of the men In the gang Mon day night. Allen and the negro Car son were taken to Charleston Thurs day afternoon. ANOTER ARREST. A dispatch from Charleston says a United States deputy marshal Thurs day arrested Daniel Barr, on the chargo of interferring with the United States mails. He is supposed to be one of the robbers who held up the Southern railway passenger train near Branchville Monday night and rifled the express car. A warrant has been sworn out against Thomas Carson on the same charge. It is thought that Informa tion will be obtained from these men tending to the capture of the other members of the gang of highwaymen. The men were arrested at their homes near the scene of the robbery. Will Give Lower Rates. An important bill to be considered by the Legislature is the proposition to repeal the act which forbids the Southeastern Tariff association to make rates on fire Insurance risks in tis State. There has been such a bill prepared. An Insurance agent calls attention to the following changes which it Is alleged will be made by the companies if the tariff association be allowed to make rates in South Caro lina again: Aiken from 1 per cent. to .75; An derson, 1 to .75; Beaufort, 1.25 to 1; Bishopville, 2.25 to 1.50; Clio, 2.25 to 1.50: Calhoun, 2.25 to 1.50; Darlington, 1.25 to 1; Dillon, 2.25 to 1.50; Florence 1.25 to 1; Georgetown, 1 to .75; Greenville, .85 to .75; Kershaw, 2.25 to 1.50; Lancas ter, 2.25 to 1.50: Manning, 2.25 to 1.50: Newberry, 1 to .75; Orangeburg, I to .75; Port Royal. 2.25 to 1.50; Rock Hill, 1.25 to 1; Spartanburg, 1 to .75; St: Matthews, 2.25 to 1.50; HIS SPEECH. Congreeasmnir Lever's Appeal for Better Postal Service. The following is the stron, ap peal made by Mr. Lever in the House of Representatives on .Jan. 22. in ad vocacy of extending the rural free de livrv services: Mr. Chairiman. them is one item in this bill which must appeal very strongly to every member of this House representing a rural constitu ency. That portion of the bill pur posing to furnish the means for put ting into Immediate operation 1,800 rural routes, already having the favor able consideration of the Department and only awaiting the passage of this bill to go Into effect, must challenge the active support of those members whose people are now suffering from the lack of sufficient mail factilities to meet the ordinary demands of enlarg ed business and advanced civilation. Members, many of whose constiuents must go from one to eight miles for their mails, will be pardoned when they appear overanxious to see this item remain in the bill. They know what country life means and they know that nothing contrib utes so much to any monotony in cident to that life as our inability to get a daily mail at our doors, as do our friends in the towns and cities. It can hardly be possble that a majority of tae members of this House can appreciate the true situation as it exists in our Southern States. where the population is sparse, railroads not overnumberous, and roads bad. It is not strange that members represent ing city districts, where the mail is deliverd from three to nine times per day, can hardly realize or believe the assertion that many of our people, do ing large business and employing much labor, must send from three and as much as eight miles each day for their mail, furnishig a boy and conveyance, or else do without It, trusting to luck to give them a good market when they haul their produce into town. Yet this statement is true, as every Southeri member will testify. To these people, situated thus, a daily mail means something. It is a blessing. It means the Introduc tion of the world to the farmer, the introduction of the farmer to the world. It means each will better know the other, more thoroughly understand the mutually dependent relation that each bear the other, and more correctly comprehend their rights and relative duties. It means the farmer, for once In his life, will be brought in direct touch with some of the benefits of the Government, and we feel safe in assuring his deepest appreciation, for there is class more grateful' for a benefit, even if It does come as a mat ter of right and justice, than the Am erican farmer. It means the broaden ing of his vision, the sharpening of his intellect by contact with other In tellects; and his conceptions of new ideas and new' resolves. This, and much more, it means to the farmer to have a mail at his door each day In the week save Sunday. If our Southern farms are becoming depopulated and our farmers becoming townspeople, the causes are not hard to find. Bad roads, low prices, and no postal facil ities will drive a man almost anywhere. The tide of population in those sec tions which have come under my ob servation has been townward. N%ice farm cottag'es have been given up, and the former occupants are now opera tives in some nearby cotton mill, where their earnings exceed in the 'total by far their earnings on the farm, and, in addition to this, they are not troub led with miserahle roads or the equal ly miserable, in sufficient mail accom ~odations. In town he finds better wages, better roads, and more mail, and so to town he turns his steps, and valuable farming lands are left to groan and perish under the jomnt laziness and mismanagement of the or and negro. Without discussing the dangers and evils arising out of concentrated popu lations--these being known to every one-it is the duty of this Congress, to remove, as far as possible, every in fluence conducing to that condition. When we have fully understood the situation as it is, the necessity foi the appropriation in this bill foi rural--delivery purposes becomes ap parent. There is no deficiency in the general appropriation for rural free delivery, and the reason this amount is urged by this bill grows out of the fact that the fufl appropriation for this fiscal year can not be reached in time to put on the 1,800 routes now waiting to go into operation as the general appropriation for this fiscal year becomes available, and, unless this bill gives the funds, these routes will be put on in a desultory way from now until July 1, when the new ap propriation becomes available. The friends of free rural delivery, the pat rons along these 1,800 routes, whc now have the most limited mail facili ties, and the demands of business call for this appropriation, and without delay. We want the routes, and want them at once. We have been waiting all our lives for some recognition of our rights under the law, and now that there is some little chance that our waiting has not been In vain we can not submit to hope deferred. It is estimated that it costs $12.50 every 125 families to get their mail under the old arrangement, and that is a very small estimate, in my judgment. Each route of 1,800 that goes into ef fet at once -7ill serve, It Is judged, 125 families. The exact saving in actual money is easily calculated from these figures, and who more richly deserves this saving than our American farm ers. who for six years has heard the whispers of "great prosperity" but as never seen it? It Is not my in tention to enter Into any defence of the rural free delivery scheme. It needs no defence save an acquaintance with Its workings and Its develop ments. The mere statement of the fact that only five years ago there was only one route in this country, and that now there are over 6,000, erving over 4,000,000 farmers, and an estimated increase by July to ,000 routes, serving over five and a alf million people, is sufficient evi ence of its popularity and intrinsic erit, without adding to this testi mony the action of the several Con gresses past increasing each year ap propriations for this purpose and the nstinted indorsements of the Post ffice Department and the enthusias tic recommendations of two Presi ents. It is the most popular branch f the postal service today, and it de erves to be. In its marvelous develop ment it has been equaled only by the free delivery service in cities and large towns. and the time will cdine when the farmer will receive his mail once a ay, as he is entitled to receive it, and an unjust and unreasonable discrimina tion against our country folk will be swept away. Ten years ago the ser vice had few friends, and the Post Ofic department woudiakei no part in trying to give it a fair experiment. Hcw different now The Congress, the lDeparttment. and the President are on IIwi 1:nees. it. anel there are a hai n huan-ed men al oer the coun try aiertin- :!ir l:ins to its "naddyship. I urge I !s appropriation in the name of the -25.0;w Fainners who are in need of it and to wham it is due as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor. and in the name of the thir ty-odd million other farmers who, in the nature of things and as a matter of common justico. will eventually get it. night demands it. The Govern ment owes it. and the time for pay ment is here. The American farmer is slow to make demands. but when once he makes them. believing in their justness, he is not easily turned aside from them. The revolution in the method of furnishing mail to our country people must go on until each day. is brought in touch with the world. Not until then will the far mer b 'itistied' MESMERIST SUED BY GIRL. Pards Physician Incurs Endless Tromuble After Bold, Impudent Exercise of His Powers. Dr. Vial has been indicted at Paris upon the singular charge of mesmer izing a Miss Thorne, an Austrijan girl who wa.s sitting opposite him in an omnibus. The defendant admits his guilt, but pleads scientific interest as his excuse. He says that while he was riding in the omaibus with another physician theirecnvertatiorturned to hypnotism as a means of con trolling innocent peo ple for the perpetration of criminal acts. In order to convince his dcubt lng friend, Dr. Vial, having notlced the nervous disposition of a girl opposite him, wagered. that he would put her in a trance and cause her to follow them without spea-king to her. The experiment succeeded. He fastened his eyes upon Mss Thorne and she soon gave evid ence of being under mesmeric influences. - The physicians . then t' stopped the omnibus and alighted, fol loved by the girl, who dogged their steps a few paces behind. At Dr. Vail's oilice-in the presence of several .physicians, experiments wer conducted. which proved- his cobten tion. For example, when he ordered her to go stab a fruit vender across-the street' Miss Thorne seized a eife and started imme diately. It was then that Dr. Vial roused her from the trance. explaining everything, apologized and even offered to pay adiy demand.' Miss Thorne went home dazed an&i after ward, was veryill. She told her brother what had happened and he, after thrashing the doctor, sued foredam ages. The court has postponed giving judgment in the case. TOKIO WANTS DEEP HARBOR . Japan Engineer In This Caunt Gathering Information to Be tsed in M-ki vast Improvements. Yeija Nakajima, chief engineer of the city of Tokio, Japan, andp.rofessor of engineering and mechanics inAhe University of Tokio, is in this country on a tour of inspection, In an iter view he said: - "After a careful examination of your rivers, harbors and 'wharfage, I have arrived at the belief that I can, by dredging, bring big ships -utd ~o Tokio. We are about 20 miles from -Yokohama, and there will be a lot, of work to be done, but we will do it. -To kio -has about 1,500,000 inhabitants, and her interests would be g'ieater- than they are now if we bad a waterway through which big vessels could pass, to the city. Even at Yokohama yes sels must be unloaded by lighters. "The whole job-dredging andsharf building-will oost about $21,000,OO00f your money. The interest oir money is high over there and we 'would have . to borrow a great deaL. Counting in terest and all, the $21,000,000: will amount to $50,000,000 before the job ~ will be finished. But I am sure the city will do the work. American methods51 will be followed." From New York Mr. Nakajima. will go to Yale to attend the bicentennial celebration. He says that Tokiois t~o have a trolley line, and he is anxious - to become acquainted with American trolley methods. A MATHEMATICAL 'QUIZ. Will of. aMlwaukee Man Dieii s Sal1 Estate ia Most P~muing Manner. Heirs of Peter J. Gergen, whose will was filed for probate at Milwaukee, Wis., the other day, probably will be forced to resort to higher mathemat ics to ascertain the amounts to which they are respectively entitled. In its directions regarding the dis-*.. tribution of the estate, which is val used at $3,500, the will is a curtiosity. The property is to be divided among the 'widow and eight children, and the allotment to the children is made in ~. the following language: "Mary to receive for her share $200 more than the other children, Nicho las to receive $50 less than the othe children, John to receive $'70 less tha the other children, Anna to receive 30 less than the other children, Jos eph, Peter, Gabriel and Frank to re ceive an equal share, which shall be 200 less than Mary, $50 more than Nicholas. $70 more than John and $30 more than Anna-" Peter Gergen, one of the sons, was named as executor in the will. Mixed His Metaphors. A prize essay on temperance was re cently published in Liverpool, Engr land, but whoever adjudicated -the prizes must have been fond of mixed K metaphores. Here is a paragraph from the successful paper. The writerf enlarged on the evil of sending chil dren for beer, thus: "They sip some out of the jugs as they wend their way . home, thus introducing the thin end of the wedge, which is certain to spring up into a harvest of drunken ness. Think, oh, think, of these weary little ones going down life's hill over a thorny road. They are bound to float out into eternity, with no hand to shake their dying pillow. Brethren. pray for them, and help to lift them out of the quicksantds, which will burn into their very souls." It is alleged that when the author of this literary composition received a sovereign~ for his work he entered the .nearest pub li house and got "gloriously drunk." Military JMalloonina. The Swiss military authorities have determined that next year the training of military balloonists shall e sytmtcn taken in hand. The "first balloon '-o'pany to be formed is to consist of eight ouicers, 22 noncommissiOned offcers. 161 pri vates. with an establishment of nine riding and 99 draught horses and 28 vehicles.____________ LABOnh is so scarce about Fredericks burg, Va., that on many farms the farmers are tenanting their lands out on almost any terms to get them worked at all. Farm hands are in, great dengand and the highest wages. in years a heing paid.