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VOL. XVIII. MANNING, S. C., WEDNESDAY. APRIL 20,1904. NO.31 TERRIBLE ACCIDENT. In the Stern Turrent of the Huge Battleship Missiouri. TWENTY-KINE MEN ARE KILLED Twelve Inch Gun, One of the Fines' in the United States Navy, Expleded After Three Rounds. A cispatch from Pensacola, Fla., says b3 the explosion of 2.000 pounds of powder in the after 12-iach turrent and in the handling room of the battleship Missouri, Capt. Wm. S. Cowles caminanding, 29 me n were instantly kill.d and five injured, two of whom will die. The Missouri was on the target range with the Texas and Brooklyn at practice about noon, Wednesday when a charge of powder in the 12 inch left hand gun exploded, ignited from gases, and dropping below ignit ed four charges of powder in the handling room and all exploded, and only one man of the entire turret and handling crew survives. But for the prompt and aeiclent work of Capt. Cowles in flooding the handling room and magazine with water, one of the magazines would have been exploded and the ship would have been destroyed. Capt. Cowles, completely overcome with the disaster, referred all news paper men to Lieut. Hammer, the, ordinance officer. The latter gave out a statement of the explosion and its probable cause. According to him, about noon after the first pointer of the after 12-inch piece had fired his string and the second pointer had fired the third shot of his string the charge ignited. The fourth shot was being loaded and from all indications the first half of the charge had been rammed home and the second section was being rammed home, when the gasses from the shot previously fired or portions of the cloth cover ignited the powder. The breech was open and a dull thud gave notice of so.nething unusual. No loud report was made, but flames were seen to leap frorr. every portion of the turret. A few seconds later another explo sion somewhat more fierce occurred. This was in the handling room below where 1,600 pounds of powder, or four charges, ready to be hoisted above, had ignited. Fire quarters were sound ed and every man of the ship respond ed and the nagazine and handling rooms were 1i.doded with water. In less thaa five seconds after the first explosion, two streams of water were being pl;ayed into the rooms and when voluntet-rs were called for, every man of the s'ip responded, eager to go into the rurrets and rescue the crew. Capt. Cowl s' gave his commands and but for *is presence of mind to gether with ,he officers of the ship, the Missouri ould'have gone down. The second explosion occurrei near one of the m:.gazines and so hot was the fire that the brasswork of the magazines w.s melted. Smoke and the fumes of he burned powder made it almost im')ossible to enter either the turret or handling room, but officers and men with bankerchiefs over their faces made efforts to rescue the men inside. Leading the rescuing party was Capt. Cowles. The otlicers endeavored to keep him from going below, as men fell unconscious as they entered and had to be pulkcd out by thei: comrades, but unheedir g their advice the comn manding oilicer rushed below follow ed by Lieut. Hammer, the ordinance ofiicer, and Lieut. Cleland and Davis. Capt. Cowles caught up a dying blue jacket in his arms and staggered to the deck with him. The bluejacket with two otters from the handling room h~ad criawled partly from their place of duty when they had been overcome. Before the fumes of the burning powder had left the turret, otficers and men were lifting out the dying and dead men. Three minutes after the explosion all were on deck and the surgeons! from the Missouri, Texas and Brook lyn were attending to thcse not dead. The 25 men of the turret were found lying in a heap. They had started for the exit when the first explosion oc curred and had just reached .there when the more terrible explosion in the handling room occurred, which. burned and strangled them to death. Lieut. Davidson. the ofiicer in charge of the turret, had evidently given some command to tne men as he was oni top of the heap of men, having fallen there after he had al-! lowed them to pass him to get out of the turret. The bodies were hardly recogniza able, the terrible and quick fire having burned clothing from the bodies of the men and the fiesh hung from them in shreds. The faces were mutilated by the smoke and flames. Only one man was breathing when the turret crew was rescued and he died a moment after he reached deck. WHO THE OFFICERS WERE. A dispatch from Washington says~ both Midshipmen Neumann and Ward are understood to have been engaged to oe married. It is said that M1 id-i shipmnan Neumfann was to be married! to the sister of Midshipman Ward. The two midshipmen were classmates and intimate friends. At their re quest they were assigned to the same ship. Lieut. Wmn. C. Davidson is a native: of Indiana a ad was appointed from South Dakota. He was assigned to the Missouri when she went into com mission and was serving as a turret otficer. His w ife, Mrs. Juliet L. David son, resides i1 Baltimore. Lieut. Ern- st A. Weichart (junior '~rade) was at :ached to the Cleveland, Sit is assumed at the navy depart mec'lt that he was aboard the Missouri at the time of the disaster as an um pire during target practice. His father J. F. Weichart, is a resident .> Danbury, Co n Lieut. (Grit ley was a son of the late 20pt. Gridle -, who commanded the flagship of Admiral Dewey when he sailed into M milla bay and fought the Spanish ships. His mother lives at Erie, Pa. Midshipman Thomas Ward. Jr. was a son of Gen. Thomas Ward, wh recently retired from the active list ii thi adjutant general's tice in the United States army. le was ap pointed from New York. Midshipman Wm. E. T. Neumant was a native of California. Hi: mother is living at Honolulu. Wanted at Kansas. Governor Heyward has received letter from Gen. H. C. Corbin, tai commander of the Atlantic divisior tating that it is desired that semi ,f the troops of the state participatE in the joint field movements to bc held at that point in September. Th< letter states that it is impossible tc invite all of the militia of each stat in this division, that the quota fror this state would be about 1019. al though if a larger number be furnish ed it is requested that the depart ment be notified and perhaps arrange ments can te made. Under the ap oortionment however not over 18.00C of this division can participate, the pay being for 15 days. As some of .he companies cannot be absent for >ver 7 days and in this way perhaps more can go. The movements are to be made under the act of 1903. sec ioes 15 and 21 and the department ,ishes to know how many can attend, transportation and pay to be furnish :d. the number of days the companies can be present and whether Septem ber 5 or 12 would be the most suitable date for the encampment. As there is plenty of time the governor will not answer the request at once but will look into the matter. Sad Fate of a Diver. It is practically certain the diver imprisoned under seventy feet of wa ter at the bottom of the Jersey City reservoir is dead, yet men at the pumps on the raft are still pumping way with a forlorn hope that they tre giving him the breath of life. Lhe efforts of rescuers, including four ivers and other experts, aided by scores of landsmen, to save one man's ife, have been ceaseless for the t irty hours that the unfortunate man has een lying on his back with one foot caught between the huge lead and wooden ball and iron flange of the b'g exhaust pipe. This ball valve had >een lowered over the mouth of the ,xhaust pipe to act as a stopper. It id not fit exactly, but etablished a powerful current, which sucked the liver's foot into a crevice and held iim fast. He was trying to repair :he leak wl'en he was caught. Since 2 ),clock Tuesday afternoon no signals have come from him. Fell to Her Death. After chatting merrily with the ether girls in the shirtwaist factory Lt No. 29 Willet street New York, Pauline Seder. a pretty young girl, twenty-five years old, walked to the pen window during the lunch hour Lnd sat on the sill. A moment later ser body, crushed and- bleeding, was round on the sidewalk. The skull had Deen crushed, and death was instan eneous. Although none of them could say whether she had jumped or fallen, the girl's friends believe she died a nuicide from the fact that she told ome of them she did not want to live ny longer, as all of her sisters were narried and she saw no prospect of narriage for herself. Thbe girl's sis ~er. Mrs. David Freedman, with .hom she lived at No. 340 Eist Eigth street, 'said Miss Seder had lenty of admirers, and she was con ~inced the death was accidental. Forfeited their Bail. The Columbia Record says the coun y of Richland is richer by $1 000 by e order of Judge Gary Thursday norning. The case against John Hays .nd J. H. Rice will be remembered as he second pickpacket affair during ast fair week. Hays and Rice were rrested on a street car while endear iring to rob Mr. Newham and were first committed to jail in default of 1,000 bond each. This was after ards reduced to $500 each and this was deposited in actual cash by the en's friends the two men being re eased. When the case was called at his term of court neither was pre ent. Solicitor Thurmond made mo tion for a forfeit of the cash to the ounty and this morning Judge Gary issued the formal order requiring the lerk of court to turn over the money o the county treasurer. Kill Oat the Rats. Here is a farmer's mode for ridding is premises of rats and mice: "II ou will sprinkle sulphur on your barn loor and through your corn as you ather it, there will not be a rat noi mouse bother it. I have done this sever l years and have never been bothered with rats or mice. I have some old :orn in my crib at present and not a rat nor mouse can be found. In stack ing hay or oats, sprinkle on the ground and little through each load and my word for it, rats or mice can't stay there. A pound1 will be suffcient to preserve a large barn of corn, and it is good for stock and will not hurt the corn for bread. Stolen Fortune in Stamps. With the arrest of Eddie Fay, Post offce Inspector James E. Stuart thinks the mysteery as to the identity of the men who some months ago rob bed the Chicago postoffce of $74,000 in stamps, has been fully cleared up. Inspector Stuart said that he was surt Fay planned the whole affair and pro: fited most by it. Fay is now in jai. at Superior, Wis., and is to be triec for robbing the postoflice there. O0 the others implicated in the robber) "Liud" Howlihan is in the peniten tiary at Raleigh, N. C., "Ton Turke" and "Australian Mac" arn now at large, and "Jo" Hopkins it dead, having been killed by "D~an' Kipley in a ight over a woman. Killed by an Editor. Will Hawkins, son* of Jerr2 Hawkins, of Hail county, died Thurs day at his home in Lawson, Olsa homa, as t-he result ot wounds indlietec by the editor of the newspaper at tha place in a difticulty. The body wil arrive in Gainesville on Friday and b' buried here. Mr. Hawkins was sergeant-at-arms in the territory as sembly at Lawson, and a gentlemar of prominence. The shouting cam about because of certain things pub lished by the editor and said to re ilec upon Mr. Hakins. ONE MAN'S IDEA. Capt. Petty Gives His Reaso - for the N merous Murders. THAT TAKE P.LACE IN OUR STATE ie Thinks it S arted During Recon struction rimes and Has Grown Worse S i n c e That Time. The fact that 222 homicides were committed in South Carolina during the year 1903, has been published. Capt. Charles Petty, of Spartanburg, S. C., was asked the other da.y what in his opinion were the causes leading to such a record. He replied: Our own citizens were less shocked by the bloody record than those of other States, for we had by degrees got accustomed to homicide. It did not appear to be a phenomenal record, even to our law-abiding. conservative citizens. They understood how it was brought about. It would be well for people outside of the State to learn that this record is only the log ical result of many years' infraction of law. "Thee organization of the Union league, principally among negroes, four or five years after Appomattox, was the first step. It required little time for these organizations to learn the power of the mob. and they under stood that courts would not hurt them for any outrages committed. "The second step was the organiza tion of the Kuklux Klans, the object of which was to check and repress the lawlessness and violence of the lea guers. After striking terror to the negroes and some of the white natives who were united with them, they ex tended their power and struck down some innocent men and began to turn against each other. "Just then, when good citizens were shocked and uneasy day and night, the United States government brought its strong arm to bear on the situation and the klans scattered like thin mist before a driving wind. "Then came a few years of the darkest political history that any State ever made. rgnorant negroes from rice fields and plan.tations, call ing themselves a legislature, inaugar ated a system of robbery and financial fraud that has no parallel. "The white people endured all that. but not without protest. They open ly held conventions and begged the carpetbag government to hold up. But it was too late. "The State government, like the Kuklux. had become unmanageable. They would not listen to reason or argument. Their only idea was that so long as there was a dolla-r to steal it was their privilege to grab it. This high handed rapine and robbery under the name of the law was a third step in this downward course. "Then came the famous campaign of S76, when Wade Hampton was elected governor. After the election an open boast was made as to the use of tissue ballots. It was considered a big joke for minors to vote. "All this seemed well enough until a few years later when the same methods used against the carpet-bag government were used in our primary elections. It was evident that men who had been familiar with election frauds from their youth would exer cise the same methods in closely con tested elections that concerned only the white people. It came to passI that election laws had to be made rig id showing that our pe -ple could nct trust each other. "With the inauguration of the Hampton government came a better' understanding between the t wo races, for Hampton was the governor of all the people. Thecn followed Ihugh S. Thompson, now living in New York,; and Gen. Johnson Hlagood, good and able men, who earnestly desired and labored for the welfare of the whole State. "During their admini-tration law lessness was not encouraged. Lynch ing was not advised in public or pri vate. They sought to enforce the law impartially and to preserve good or "For ten years or longer il looked as if the State would retrace the downward steps she had made from 1868S so 1870, and that tihe white peo pie would get back to the good old fashion of conducting elections fairly ad haiga high regard for human life, Iwas a hopeful period. 'But for various reasons there was* unrest among the people of the State. They had lost confidence in them selves and everything. It was then that a sharp, shrewd man, understand ing well their condition, took advan-! tage of the situation and assumed leadership. "The famous campaign of 1890 be gan'when the former administrations, from 1876 to 1890 were abused for in compentcy, dishonesty and every pos sible political crime. The people, be ing greatly dissatisied with their ti nancial condition, began to look on; Benjaman Rt. TIillman as the Moses who was to lead thlemn out of tile wil derness. "Never was a man so much praised and idolized in this State as he was. The people followed him withl a wild and unreasonable zeal. They repudi ated IHampton, Thompson and hlun dreds of other true and good men be cause they were thus instructed. The0 andaching 0f tihe campaign of 180adsubsequent ones wvas that all who were opp:.sed to the Tillman moement were enemies, moccasins, (ogs fobr all these epithlets were used b their leader. It was publicly taughit that a negro had nio political rihts that a white man was bound to respect. Lynching wvas the proper punishment for a certain crime and whenl done for a misdemeanor, or for no ci me, the perpetrators were not punished. It was only one step from killing a negtro to ki;!ing a white man. So it has comue to pass in a most logical wayth cnt wvhite~ men are shot down w ith imounity these days. "It ha got to be that there is not 'much respect of color in the killing' business. All one has to prove or swear to is that some one scowled at him or that he had at some time threanerl him. Once sure of his witness. lie may shoot. "While the people are taught by their leaders that it is no harm to kill a negro suspected of crime or a white I man who has made threats, this hom icide mania will not stop. There are thousands of good conservative peo ple who do not believe in it. but their ( voice is powerless against the tide which has been set rolling for the last ten years. "Some of the jurors are always in sympathy with this sentiment which has led to the reckless taking of life, and it is impossible to find 12 men who will convict for murder. Espec ially is this the case when the accused belongs to the party in control, and S which has had much to do in the elec- a tion of judges. Men who are good s and true under ordinary circum stances cannot stand the pressure of the church and partisan politic when 0 brought to bear in trials for murder. 1i "So South Carolina scored 222 b homicides last year. Our people r have been years working up to that record. It will be a decade or two li before we can retrace our steps and b get back on a high plane, where hu man life is sacred and the man who t takes it wantonly is considered a felon. "But just now, 'then oie of our leading politicians preaches the shot- Is4 gun policy for negroes at every public, a meeting to which he is invited, in this State and abroad these homicides f] will continue. The old proverb, 'Like i, priest like people,' is as true as the f3 other. p "But South Carolina will rise one s1 day and free herself from this charge ? of wanton killing. The disgrace does ti not attach to the State, but to those' b men of power and influence who hold murderers up to honorable men, and b give them great ovations when ac- 1 quitted and elect them to high and h honorable offices. The State of South tl Carolina is not disgraced by the bloody a record. "-New York Sun. a WEATHER AND CROPS. n ti Section Director Bauer's Report for We, k Ending Wednesday. J tl The following is Section Director tl Bauer's weekly climate and crop re port for the week ending the 11th: a The week ending 8 a. in., April s1 11th, had a mean temperature of about 58 degrees which is nearly 3 de frees below normal, due to cool weather at the beginning and the b ;lose, and warm during the middle of e the week. The lowest temperature along the coast ranged from 40 de- a grees at Charleston to 31 degrees at Conway, with an extreme minimum for the week of 28 degrees at Liberty, ti Pickens county. Thin ice was noted geaerally on the morning of the 4th, and light to heavy to killing frost on the 5th. The frost was very damag- c ing at places, killing, or seriously in uring peaches, figs. plums, corn and E garden truck. In many localities S1 ruit escaped serious injury, and in he commercial peach orchards of the 'ridge" section, it is estimated that three-fourths of a full crop remains. ci Apples and cherries suffered only sl light injury, although some corres ondents report both destroyed. Corn and white potatoes were nipped, the ri atter killed in places. The frost was ot destructive in the commercial b ruck raising districts, except to cu ubers that will have to be replant- t' d, and was also ruinous to straw erries in the interior that were left eposed. Timely frost warning made t t practicable to cover a large part of he strawberry crop. Rains fell on the 6th, 7Zth, 8th and th, but the weeks rainfall was comin aratively light, averaging less than aa uarter of an inch. Scattered locali ies had amounts ranging from half to ver an inch. The rainfall was entire- b y insufficient along the coast where k roughty conditions prevail, and in the t orth central counties were the ground t s becoming too hard to plow. A gen ral rain would prove very beneficial. Farm work made very rapid prog- e ess. and the preparation of lands is well advanced. Planting operations were confined largely to corn, rice and g sea-island cotton, although some up and cotton had been planted in all Id parts of the State. The soil is in ex- b >ellent tilth, but the temperature has1 :een too low for a favorable germnina- a con of cotton. - Corn planting is nearly finished in he eastern half, and is well ad vanced in the western parts. Consid-- E rable is up to fairly good stands, with Id xeptions where worms and birdsc ave been destructive, ncessitatingn onsiderable replanting. Some corn as received its first cultivation. Rice planting made uninterrupted progress. Lands have been prepared for tobacco, but none will be trans- ' planted until the moisture conditions u are more favorable. The acreage will ~ be much less than last year. Plants t are plentiful in beds. b Wheat and oata continue to im t4 prove slowly, but, with few excep tions, are in good condition. Ship ments of early vegetables are heavy, nd truck i00ks very fine, but will soon need rain to prevent deteriora ion. Apple and cherry trees are now in i full bloom in the northwestern coun-j ties. Served Him Right. Sam Hlunnicutt, a young white man was tried before the mayor of RockC Hill Monday morning on eight seper- e ate charges, the most serious of which was grossly indecent conduct in the j presence of a number of ladies. Het was convicted on each of the counts e and was ti.aed $200 or 240 days on tne! county chaingang. it is understood that Ilunnicutt will appeal to the cir cuit court. Disaster in British Navy. d The British torpcdo boat destroyed, a Teaser, which ran ashore during the. naval manocuvers off Porstmnouth Thursday night, has been towed otT r and docked. During a sham battle a during the night the Teaser's officers Y were dazzled by the searchlights and the boat ran at full speed into a sea r wals. All of Lie crew we -e saved. Plot Failed, a Pete Dodson, one of five negroes a who failed in a plot to escape from r the prison at Nashville, Tenn., on l Monday committed suicide by cutting a is throat1 GHOST STORIES. eculiar Conduct of Some Restless Spirits from the Other World. EROST REVEALS BURIED CITY. ome Spooks That Stoned a House. Strange Reappearance of a Young Woman in :Maine Haunted Spot. Coadepec, a little villag in the tate of Michoacan, Mexico, has al 'ays had a reputation for gl- sts an,] >irits, In the past year, especially, ihabitants of the air or t'he streams r the graves of the many dead that e buried a'l about the village have Ben wandering about like a colony of !ckless night owls. They hav not been the least shy, ke ordinary gbrsts, for they bav! een seen by hundreds. In fact, there hardly an inhabitant of the placs 2at has not made an acquaintance ith some spirit or other from th st. Jose Miranda of all the peopl. ems to ha' e profited most by their quaintance. One night several eeks ago t s he was coming home 'om a neigliboring village a ghost all white, its gray cowl falling back ,om its shoulders leaving its head ex >sed to v-ew, met him. It wa; anding between him and the moon. hich was shining brightly through ie hollow sockets of its eyes and a llet hole in its skull. It stood still and pointed with one >ny hand toward the mountains. :oranda was unable to move, but the rse, as soon as it caught sight of ie ghost made for the village as fast it could run. A week later Miranda was riding ong this same rcad when the ghost .et him in the same place. This me it seized the animal by the bri e with one hand and pointed with ie other in the direction of the hills. ise thought he had better humor le ghost, and turning round went in ie direction indicated. In about a quarter of an hour they rived at the foothills. The ghost opped and pointed to a huge stone the foot of a tall tree and then im ediately disappeared. It was two weeks before Miranda uld persuade any person to go with m to the sp:t, which he had mark by a cross. He succeded at last in rsuading an Indian and a mission *y from Mexico City to accompany m. When they got to the place they ied to move the big stone, but could )t. They then dug under one side it and let it roll down the hill. After about an hour's work they me upon a circle of skulls, stone ces and relics of a long past, age. xamination showed that the big one had carved upon its surface a gantic hand and that the Circle of ulls, as the place is now called, was trt of the remains of a great ancient ty which had been buried by land ides. At N'asonville, in the town ot Bur lville, R. I.. there was a iarge house hich had for some time been bom rded with showers of stones. The ope of the wrought-up village, af r weekis of careful investigation and any conferences with their neigh rs, are at a iuss to explain where ie stones could have come fr'm. They had all heard the b'mbard ent often, and as many as fi-ty men. omen and children had su:.rounded ie house, looked behind ev ry tree id stone wail within a hundred Lrds, and had even scoured a distant rove~ of trees; but they ha]i never en able to catch a glimpse of any .nd of bemng either flesh or :2 spirit, at could nave been suso cted o: rowing stones. Finally, the owner of the house of red a reward of $23 for the solution the mystery. Then the bombard ent ceased. Many people ar ied that a human 1.seing was at the ttom of tae whole affair, contend ig that ghosts.wo.uld not stop their vilment simply because a price had] een set on t heir apprehension. "But if i1. 'i'n't ghosts,'' asks ont: tan who isn't afraid of being callet. bughouse," what then is it?" The North Woods Cemetery, a:; aies street and York road, Phila lphia, was the scene of much ex tement among the residents of than sighborhood. Many people declaredi at they had seen spooks. The supposed ghost appeared regu ,y as soon as darkness fell, and ith an uncanny motion of walking pon air, flitted fromone gravestone another. There was no conven onal groans or clanking of chains, it its appearance was so uncanny as draw crowds of awe stricken people ight after night. A horseman named Edward Hogan waited the spook's arrival, and when appeared ran toward it. T1ue ghost roved to be the reilection~f an asceto ne lamp. The light reflected on a .rge polished granite monument. wa:, istributed about as the gasolene ickered and gave the appearance of ghostly moving picture. About two milcs from the village of anton, Me., is a cosy, old-fashioned arm house which is located directly pposite a graveyard, with no other ouse in sight. From the window of is little house nothing can be seen cept the graveyard with its gleam ig stones. and the bills and moun ins rouind about. The family that has been occupying be house moved out not long ago, eclaring that they could not stand it ny longer, that they were welinigh istracted by the demonstrations. 7hen they atold their story a former sident, who now livcs in Eartford, nnounced that he had known for ears that the place was haunted. Hie ad not told any one for fear of the diule of his neighbors. The demonstrations were not only the house, but in the barn and round the premises. Regularly every ight at 12 o'clock a team of horses .ashes from the direction of the vii ge, rumbles over the littie bridge t a slashing gait, and then disap ears. It never reac-hes the house. Instead, ghostly voices address the members of the family who have the temerity to live there, the voices coming from all parts of the house, but never so clearly that they can be located. On one memorable night a member of the family went to the barn just at dusk without a lantern. A figure stood at the corner of the building, and he ran to learn what the straggler wanted about the the place. The igure silently and mysteriously melted into the shadows and was gone. The foundation of the sto y was laid seventy-five ys ago. At that time a young wor.-",, handsoae and apparently happy, was betrot ied to marry.a neighboring farmer. One evening she went into the vii lage and later that night she was found dying by the roadside i2 front of the house. She was buried in the little private burial ground, and the general opinion seems to be it is her unquiet spirit which is disturbing' the peace of the dwellers in the old house. Two districts in Ulster, Ireland, are in a state of great excitement owing to supposed supernatural visita tions. In County Cavan no one stirs out after dark, and the pc ople are said to be in a state of terror, as for weeks past the most uneartbiy sounds have been heard every night. In the farmhouse of a man named Thompson in County T3 rone, stones and bricks have been hu -led through the windows, and churn,;, milk pans and other utensils have disappeared from the dairy, although the doors have been locked and strict watch kept. A college story that is of ten told at Harvard is cited sometimes as show ing the effect of an apparition upon the one who beholds it. The story is of a youth who took it into his wise head to endeavor to con vert an infield companion of his by appearing as a ghost before him. He acc. rdingly dressed himself up in the usual ghost attire, having previously extracted the ball from a pistol which always lay near the head of his friend's bed. Upon first awakening and seeing the apparition, Brown, the youth who was to be frightened, very coolly looked his companion, the ghost, in the face and said: "I know you; this is a good joke; you see I am tot alarmed. Now you may vanish." The gnost stood still. "Go on now," said Brown. "That is enough. I shall become angry. Get out of here." Still the ghost did not move. "By ," burst forth Brown, "if you don't get. out of here in three minutes I'll stow you." He waited tie time stated, deliber ately leveled his pistol and fired. When he saw that the immovable fig ure stood stock still Brown uttered a shriek of fright, became convulsed and soon afterward died. The very moment be believed it to be a ghost his human nature gave way. In Columbus, Ga., the Fortune Hole, a place where the city carts dump its garbage, was infested by negroes who would search there for articles which they might be able to use, but which had been discarded by the people of the town. But .the "ha'nts" are on the place now, and no colored man will go within blocks of it. The old pine coffin which contained the body of Cnarley Sparks a negro murderer who was hanged, had been thrown into the hole. His mother bought him another coffin, and when the colored undertaker refused to take the old pine one in exchange, she dumped it into Fortune Htole. A little negro boy secured a piece of tbe Sparks coffin and, congratulat ing himself upon having such a fine piece of kind'ing, carried it home. As soon as his mother found out that it was a piece of a cotfin. she had it thrown into the river, and ever since has resorted to divers vocdoo methods to conjure the evil spirits; away from her house. A Great Country. The latest census bulletin estimates tbe increase in the population of the United States since 1900 it 4,000,000, giving the country a present enumnera tion of 80,000.000 souls. The London Spectator makes interesti ng comment on this growth. The Sp 3ctator says: "A population of 80,000,000 of whom 70,000,000 are white men and most of them of exceptional energy and in telligence, speaking the English language and living urder Anglo Saxon institutions, is a tremendous fact. If the union, as we trust and believe she will, escapes internal con vulsions, she must rise in the next quarter of a century--that is, before middle-aged men alive today are very old men-to a position of power and influence to which history hardly affords a parallel.'' Taylor's Opinion of a Candidate. The Hon. Bob Toylor, of Tennes see, describes the man who aspires for public o tlice as follows: ''Every hon est man who runs for oflice is a candi date for trouble, for the fruits of po litical victory turn to ashes on his lips. To me there is nothing in this world so pathetic as a candidate. H~e is like a mariner without a- compass, drifting on the tempest tossed waves of uncertainty between the smiling Icliffs of hope and the frowning crags of fear. He is a talking petition and a living prayer. He is a pack-horse of public sentiment. He is the drom edary of politics; and even if he reaches the goal of his ambition, he will soon feel the beak of the vulture in his heart arnd the fang of the ser pent in his soul." E Found His Match. E . P. McDonald, member of a prc minent family in Birmingham, was shot and killed in a street fight on Monday night by Alex Lawson, an emplye of the L. & N. road. Lawson was badly wo;unded. McDonald had previously killed two men. Killed Them All. Hlenry McDaniel, colored, went to the house of his father-in-law, Rev. IA. B. Flood, at Delhi, La., on Mon day and calling his wife to the door shot her dead. He then killed moth er-in-law and ended by killing him self. SENATOR TILLMAN'S VIEWS. Says Judge Parker is Unobjection able to Him as a Candidate. Senator Tillman is reported as fol lows by the Washington correspon dent of Ti; News and Courrier: "South Carolina will, in my judg ment, send an uninstructed delegation to the St. Louis convention." said Senator Tillman. "I have not talked politics for the past eight weeks," continued Senator Tillman, "but I am pretty well assured that Demo 3rats of South Carolina are not com mitted to Mr. Hearst or any other andidate. In my judgment we will end an uninstructed delegation to smell around for the strongest and best available candidate, who is not :ominated by either the Cleveland or the Bryan element in the party. All we want to know about a man is whether he is a straight Democrat and has always voted the party ticket." "Understand, I am speaking for myself alone," added Senator Till= man. "For I have not been able to follow the political situation during the past eight weeks." "How does South Carolina regard Judge Parker as an available candidate for president?" asked the repor ter. "Judge Parker is not objectionable to me, so far as I am personally con 3erned," replied Senator Tillman. "My views regarding our party's nominee have not changed during my forced absence from the senate. Eight weeks ago, before I was taken ill and :ompelled to undergo a series of opera tion in my throat, I then stated that [ would be in favor of any clean, con servative man upon whom all the fac ions in the party might unite. We have got to put aside Clevelandism nd Bryanism for it is impossible to produce a satisfactory mixture of these two conflicting elements. "I am not worrying my head secur ing a declaration from Judge Parker is to his position on political issues. [t is perhaps fortunate that he is without a record on the issues which nave heretofore divided the Democra tic party, and it is perhaps fortunate for the party, and also an element of strength to Judge Parker, that he is not required to do any at this stage of the proceedings." The managers of Mr. Hearst insist on placing South Carolina in the Hearst colum," remarked the report er. "I cannot prevent Mr. Hearst's managers from making claim to South Carolina, but I am in a measure fa miliar with the sentiment of our peo ple regarding a candidate, and we ex pect to go to the convention and vote for the man we :hink has a chance of winning. In my judgment our pres - nt prospec's are bright, and I believe that if we can unite our efforts in be alf of a safe, practical candidate, who is not directly identified with either the Cleveland or the Bryan wings of the party, we can elect him." This is the first political statement made by Senator Tillman since his angerous illness. He returntd to Washington from his home in Edge teld and was given a cordial greeting in the senate by his associates on both sides of the chamber. The Deadly Parlor Rifle. The Spartanburg Herald says Thurs ay afternoon about 1 o'clock Mrs. C. D. West was accidentily shot by an leven-year-old negro boy named Gewis Thornton, while she was walk ng along in St. Paul's street. Thorn ton and several other little negroes were in a grove near t he old Union epot, some twenty or thirty yards from the sidewalk, shooting' at birds with a parlor rifle. Thornton was the Lad with the gun. Mrs. West, who ives on Park avenue, started to visit her sister, Mrs. J. H. O'Dell on Pine treet. Walking along in St. Paul's street, she was suddenly struck in the back of the heiad by a bullet. The negro boy had fred the rifle and the bullet sped wide of its mark and hit the lady. The ball struck just at the base of the brain, behind the left ear and entered the flsh. Medical aid wais quickly summoned. It is not thought that Mrs. West is dangerous ly injured, although the bullet has not been extracted. She stood the h ck and nervous excitment remark ably well. The negro boys disappar d immediately after the occurrence. The Thornton boy had not been ar rested up to last night. The shooting was purely accidental. The Law in Charleston. The Greenville News, the editor of which knows Chiarleston pretty thor oughly from hil experience there as a reporter, says: "The congressional party which v .1 arrive in Charleston Thursday w '.i Mr. George Legare will be met* ' a committee which is compossed ,. men whose names have always been foremost in society and State, and by others whose names have been identified with violations of the dispensary law. This might lead to the impression that the old so cial lines in Charleston have been blotted out, it likewise proves that Congressman Legare is a very smooth politician." And it also helps to an un derstanding of the failure of Charles ton juries to convict violators of the ispesary law. When men who hab itually violate a law are put foward as representative citizens of their com munity we need not expect juries to send them to jail.-The State. A Great Discovery. A dispatch from Washington says a iscovery which may prove to be the most beneficial to mankind since that af chloroform has been made by the scientists of the Department of Agri ulture and will probably be placed at the disposal of physicians and health ,icers of the country within the next few months. By its use it is regarded as probable that tyhoid fever and chol ara will become things of the past, and >nly the malarial mosquito and the erms that affect mankind and the ower animals by being introduced into the blood through other channels than water will be left for science to ind the remedy of the preventive. If ihe discovery proves to be all that it is expected the germ of tyhoid will be simple thing to kill, and all vegeta ble germs that are harmful to man sind will be at the mercy of the chem cal that has been found to be their mot deadly enemy. AN AWFUL 'DIS ASTER. A Russian Battleship Sinks W:h Six Hu-dred of Her Crew. THE SHIP TOUCHED A XINE The Russian Squadron Had Gone Out from Port Arthur to Meet Ja panese Fleet, and Was Returning. A dispatch from Port Arthur to the Czar says: "The Petropaviovsk struck a mine, which blew her up and she turned turtle. Our squadron was under Golden Hill. The Japanese squadron was approaching. Vice Ad miral Makaroff evidently was lost. Grand Duke Cyril was saved. He is siightly injured. Capt. Jakovleff was saved, though severely injured, as were five officers and 32 men, all more or less injured. The enemy's fleet has disappeared. . Rear Admiral Prince Ouktolsky has assumed command of the fleet." Another dispatch from Viceroy Al exieff to the Czar says: "According to reports from the commandant at Port Arthur, the battle ships and cruisers went out to meet the enemy, but in consequence of the enemy re ceiving reinforcements, making his total strength thirty vessels, our squadron returned t) the roaistead, whereupon the Petropavlovsk struck a mine, resulting in her destruction. Grand Duke Cyril, who was on board, was saved. He was slightly injured. The whole squadron then re-entered the port. The Japanese are now off Cape Liao-Sban. No reports have been received from the acting com mander of the fleet up to the time tlns - dispatch was sent." DETAILS OF THE-DISASTEE. A dispatch from St. Petersbarg says: The awful disaster to the bat tie ship Petropavolvsk at Port Arthurg with the loss of almost her entire t crew of over six hundred men and the, death of Vice Admiral Makaroff, has been a terrific blow. It would have fallen less heavily if the ship and the commander-in-chief of the fleet had.'. been lost in battle, but to be the re sult of another accident, following:; upon the heels of a succession of tragedies of which the Port Arthur: fleet has been the victim, has created. something like consternation. "Reverses we can endure," said a prominent Russian, "but to have-the Petropavlovsk meet the fate of the Yenesei and the Boyarin is heart breaking." Besides, it has just-e -zt come known that the battle ship-Pot tava, several weeks ago, had a hole rammed in her by the battle ship-Se-;'; vostopol while the latter was manoev- x uring in the harbor of Port Arthur. The day has been one of intense ex citement in St. Petersburg. The first inkling of the catastrophe leaked out on account of a telegram to Grand Duke Vladimir, from his son, Grand Duke Boris, announcing the lossi;: the Petropavlovsk and the wounding of Grand Duke Cyril, who was first officer. The Grand Duchess Vladimir was almost frantic on the receipt of the telegram, being convinced that the message was only a precursor of worse news, as it was signed by Grand Duke Boris, instead of by the aide to Grand Duke Cyril, Lieut Von Kube. Lieut. Von Kube had gone down with - the ship. ANOTHER BOAT SUNK. Rear Admiral Prince .Ouktomsky wired from Port Arthur Thursday that the Bezstrashni one of th3 Bus sian torpedo boat destroyers sent out during the night to reconnoiter, be came separated from the rest of the feet, owing to the bad weather pre vailing, was surrounded by Japanese torpedo boat destroyes and was sunk in the fight. Five men wvere saved. Admiral Ouktomsky adds: -"I have taken command provisionally of the fleet since the disaster to the Petro pavlovsk. During some manoeuver ing of the battleship squadron the Eobieda struck against a mine amidships on the starboard side. She was able to regain port by herself. No one on board of her was killed or wounded." THE JAFs LURED TwEP. A dispatch from Chefoo says it has been learned from Japanese source here that the attack on the Russian Port Arthur fleet of Thursday morn ing was planned and put into- effect - in the following ma.nner: At day light the Japanese torpedo boats made a demonstration before the port and i at the same time laid mines across the outer entrance to tha harbor. They then retired and joined the main squadron. The squadron then ad vanced and as it drew near the Bus sian ships were seen coming out. The battleship Petropavlovsk struck one of the mines laid by the Japanese tor pedo boats and was destroyed. Goes for Cleveland. In the House of Representatives Thursday Mr. Cochran, Dsmocrat* of Missouri, attacked ex-President Cleve land for forcing his financial policies on the country which, he said, were at variance with those of the majori ty of voters, and said that Mr. Cleve lad' abtryway of doing so was a menace to constitutional government. Mr. Cleveland was a man "whose friendship means destruction, whose touch means paralysis and whose sup prt means dishonor." The ex-presi dent had been exiled "never again-to reinstate himself in the confidence of his countrymen." He said that now the country was returning to patriot ism and sanity, he would commend to those in charge of the booms of cer tain men seeking the Democratic nomination to bear in mind that one of the most circuitous routes possible or imaginable was a certificate of good character from Mr. Cleveland, "late Republican president of the United States." Named the Man. During the scssion of the house on Tuesday Representative Bartlett of Georgia, in the course of a speech, said he knew who would be nominated for president by the democrats. Upon being as.ked by a republican member who it would be, he answei-ed: "Judge Parker of New York." Theannounce ment elicited considerable applause from tie democratic side,