University of South Carolina Libraries
VOL. XXII MANNING, S. C. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1907 NO.5 MERCHANT SHOTI Down in His Store Near Martin's Station S. C. A NEGRO ARRESTED. Bill Rhodes, Four Years a Cu'stomer, and Behind on -His Account, Is Held on Suspicion, and Barely Es caped Lynching-The Wounded Man Carried to the Augusta Hos Pal. Mr. C. B. Ellis, a merchant living on the C. and W. C. Railroad, three mies from Martin Station in Barn well County, was shot down in his store on Wednesday evening at half past seven o'clock, by a would-be as sassin, who after firing his double barreled shot gun turned and ran. The wounded man was carried to the City Hospital in Augusta, Ga., Thursday morning and although he was badly hurt his wound is not con sidered fatal. Bill Rhodes, colored, was arrested at his home by a posse of infuriated white-men. two hours after the shoot ing occurred and carried to Barn well where he is being held on sus picion by the authorities. There seems to be little doubt of his guilt The shot was fired while Mr. Ellis stood behind a counter near the cen ter of . the store, balancing cash. Tracks opposite a side door, showed where the would-be murderer crouched down by the edge of the I veranda, and fired through the open- I ing. Almost the entire load of No.J 8 bird shot took effect, lacerating the merchant's chest, tearing, his face and temporarily blinding both eyes. Mrs. Ellis, who was in the family I residence about three hundred yards away, ran when she heard the shot, and found her husband lying- prone on the floor, behind the counter, in a semi-conscious condition. She quick ly gave the alarm and in less than an,' hour one hundred armed men, had come to the scene of the shooting. The would-be assassin's motive had evidently not been robbery, as fifty silver dollars were left scattered on top of the desk when the woundedi man staggered backward and fell. Suspicion fell on Bill Rhodes, who was known to have been trading with 1 Mr. Ellis four years, and who owed him for provisions bought on credit. The posse proceeded to his home. and found a double-barreled shotgun that showed signs of having been re cently fired one time, but Rhodes de dlared that he had shot at a hawk. C Only the efforts of the two broth . ers of the wounded man, who were among the posse, prevented violence, and, had not they urged the men to ~ wait some more possitive proof of the negro's guilt, he would in all proba bility have been now swinging from E a limb. He was taken to the Barn well county jail, and is being closely '3 *watched. t A peculiar feature of the affair was that Mr. T. B. Ellis, of North Augus ta, a brother of the man who was ~ shot, suspected Bill Rhodes imme diately upon hearing of the affair I and expressed his suspicions to the ~ member's of his family. He had not t even heard the particulars of the I shooting, but knew that Rhodes had I been slow in settling his accounts. KILLED FOR HIS MONEY . The Tictims Body Was Found Near His Home.t Mr. Luke Bradford was murdered at Octagona, Marengo county, Ala. several days ago, and his body was found almost entirely devoured by birds of prey. The report reached Thomasville Thursday afternoon by the nephew of the dead man, Tom Bradford, who states that a negro, while out 'pos sum hunting, found a trunk near Bradford's esidence, which had been ~ forcibly opened and rifled. He went to the Bradford home, and findng no one there, reported to the neighborr the finding of the trunk which led 1i to the investigation. After a diligent search of severa i hours, the party found the badily mu tilated body of Mr. Bradford lying in a gully about 250 yards from hi house. It had evidently been dragg- i ed there in a blanket by the partier: committing the murder. The hody was identified, although the face was badly mutilated, and one of the arms was entirely missing. Mr. Bradford was an aged bache lor, a pr'ominent farmer, and was supposed to have a large amount of money at his home. It was undoubt edly for the purpose of robbery that the old man was killed. BRUTALLY MURDERED. Prominent Young Man of Georgia . Is Foully Slain. A. H. Berry. about 30 years of age. of Rome. Ga.. was found dead in his room at a hotel at Norfolk. Va., on Thursday afternoon. His head was crushed in as he had been struck by some blunt instrument and his throat was cut from ear to ear. probably with a razor. As his money and other valuables are missing. robbery is supposed to have been the motive of the crime. The murdered man was not known in Norfolk. He had heen there for the past two weeks visiting the Jamestown Exposition. and. appar ently was a man of means. A dispatch from Rome. Ga.. says his family is promnent there and the young man was very popular in that city. Berry left Rome about three ..eks a for a trip to the north.1 BANKS FAILED Because of the Great Fhurry Among Wall Street Gamblers. The Trouble Caused by the Banks Loaning Money on Watered Stocks and Hot Air. New York has Leen having a taste of high finance for the last ten days. Some of he bubbles on which Wall street flourishes exploded and as a consequence a number of small banks whch had loaned money on the bub bles went to the wall. The larger banks and trust companies were sav ed by Morgan and Rockefeller ad vancing them large sums. President Roosevelt's Man Friday. Courtelyou, also went to the aid of he gamblers and helped them out f the trouble There was great ex itement for several days. The institutions which closed its oors Friday, with the sums due de ositors, were: The United States Exchange Bank, ~Iarem, . $600,00 0. International Trust Company, bout $100,000. The Borough Bank, of Brooklyn, 4,000,000.. The Brooklyn Bank, $2,300,000. The Williamsburg Trust Company, 3rooklyn, $7,500,000. The First National Bank, of rooklyn, $3,500,000. The First National Bank, of Brook yn, the Williamsburg Trust Com )any, and the International Trust .ompany were allied institutions. ione of these companies had any mportant business connection with he larger banks which are represen ative of the city's financial affairs. 'everal large trust companies had :one up before Friday. WANTED A HUSBAND. 1 Ld Her Big Son Answered the Ad vertisement. All the fashionables in Burlington, . J., an old and aristocratic town, re laughing at the reconire whichi matronly widow, who lives on Fed ral street, there, forced upon her elf. '% The widow. although well-known, best described by this "personal," thich' she placed in a Philadelphia t ewspaper. "A lady of mature age, but look t 2g young and feeling so: a tall londe, imposing and griceful. and t the same time well-to-do, desires > marry. Address, -" - The lady, who is no older that she eels, chose her affinity from the1' riters of the many letters she re eived. Quickly an interview was rranged-she, wearing a bunch of 1 1lies-of-the-valey in her corsage. as to wait at the Pennsylvania rail oad station; he, with a red, redi ose in his coat lapel, was to arrive n the 9.37 a. m. New York .express ast bound Friday. The widow, looking extremely 'outhful and handsome, waited at e station: the express stopped; rom a car dropped her stalwart son. "Hello, mother," he cried, "what re you doing here?" Next instant he saw the bunch of ilies-of-the-valley: she, the rose het ore. She blushed far redder than t e rose and was seized with an op ortune fit of coughing, which could t hide her confusion, however. "I--I got-off to--to get a paper" ammered her son, who is about 3 years old, a gay young fellow, ployed In Philadelphia. He rushed to the newsstand grab ed a paper, and scrambled aboard he last coach as the express pulled ut. His mother tore the li-lies from er cossage. threw them on the plat rm and ground them beneath her, "I will die a widow,'' she has since aid to intimate, "confidential" fe aale friends. DARING ROBBERY i a Freight Train Crew On a Cal ifornia Roa. Three armed men Friday nheld ip a freight train within five miles f Los Angeles. Cal.. wounded one ft the train crew, robbed themi of 125 and two watches and made thel: 'scape.I The train was a suburban freight bound for New Alhambra. It is be ieved the robbers boarded it before started from the yards. The engi jeers fireman and brakemen were c the cab) when their assailants ~limbed over the box cars and cover d them with revolvers and ordered hem to throw up their hands. While one of their number remain d in the oil tank, extending a re ;olver in either hand. the two ac omplices searched Fireman Mat :hew Brady, Engineer Ward Haines tud Brakeman J. W. Woodsman, raking all their money and the watches carried by Brady and Haines Brady objected at first to raising his hands and afterwards lowered them. One of the men on :he oil tank fired. the bullet striking the fireman in one of his hands. Near Dolville the engineer was or dered to slow down and the men. one after another, jumped fromj the engine and dissapeared in the dark n ess. KILLED) BY REE STING. Man After B('inl Stung Lind Ouly am Few Minutes. At Canton. S. D.. last week a inan ho was stung or the temple by a ommon honey bee died in fifteen minutes af..rwards in convulsions. Physicians gave it as their opinion that the sting penetrated the brain throuh the knitted part of the skull. WHISKEY FIGHT. The Present Liquor Law Will Nol Be Changed at THE NEXT SESSION Of the Legislature Is the Opinion of Many Members of the General As sembly Who Have Been Interview ed on the Subject. State and Coun ty Dspensary Advocates Will Stand Together It Is Thought. A letter from Columbia to the Florence Times says the most ab sorbing political topic in this state just at this time is whether the com ing legislature will abolish the coun ty dispensary system and vote the State dry throughout. Now the be lief seems to prevail generally over the state that the legislature slicceeds this will enact a state prohibition law, but talks your correspondent has had wth many members of the legislature and with local political leadrs from many sections of the state visiting Columbia confirms the opinion held by many close observers that the present legislature will, with Gov. Ansel, support the present law. It is recognized that there are many small defects in the present ounty option law, and it is likely that Gov. Ansel will recommend a aumber of changes to cure this, but it seems almost certain that the sys em as a whole will be continued. There is no doubt that the .pro hibitionists will make a determined ight to wipe out the county option ;ystem, and there are indications that -hey feel hopeful of winning. But .hey know that in order to win they nust have the support of the old tate dispensary adherents. That ,ome of the dispensary people will ote with them there is no reason to loubt. Among other dispensary eaders John G. Richards has an ounced his intention of joining the rohibitionists. There is no way of telling accu 'ately haw many of the state dispen ary members will vote with the pro ibitionists but there is good reason ,o believe that a majority of them ill vote to sustain the county op ion scheme. Two of the most influential and Lble men in the present legislature enator LeGrand Walker of George own and chairman of the house, rags and means committee, J. A. 3anks, of Orangeburg, state dispen ary leaders, have recently expressed hemselves as determined to support he county system next spring. Mr. R. H. Welsh. who as the law artner of ex-attorney General Bel inger, has been In close touch with he state dispensary faction through he litigation that has been waged ver the subject the past few years, d who had been making frequent rips to various parts of the state n futherance of this litigation, is mong those who are confidently of he opinion that the county system -ill not be abolished next Spring. "The prohibitionists are relying on he State dispensary people to help hem carry prohibition, said Mr. Vesh. "but in my judgment they re going to wake sadly mistaken ~hen the vote is taken. I have talk d to a large number of State dispen ary people, members of the legisla ure. and I think I am safe in saying hat they will almost without ex ~eption vote with the county dis )ensary advocates next spring, which s the logical thing to expect of hem. They do not believe the whole tate is ripe for prohibition and es )ecially are they against enacting such law without machinery to enforce t. They lined up with the prohibi ;ionists generally last session but hat was due partly to pique and art to a desire to choke off the :ounty dispensary people. In my judgment the prohibitionists ost their last chance to get prohibi ion last session, so far as the pre ent Legislature is concerned, when hey refused to join forces with the ;tate dispensary people. The talk t that time about fear of the dispen iry people throwing down the pro jlitioists in the Senate and thus ~ontinuinlg the state dispensary sys em was all b)osh. The prohibitionlists had an easy rictory in their hands if they had had iudgment enough to use it. The State aspensary people will not vote with them again as a whole and in opin ion prohibition will b~e defeated in the legislature next spring by a big ger majority than for years. Now that the fight between the State dispensary advocates and those favoring the county system is over and the county adv'ocates have won. the State dispensary people in the ourse of a year have been able to get rid of the smarting of defeat, and they are going to line up with the county option people almost to a man simply because they believe that the county system is much wiser at this time than prohibition, although maL'v of the State dispensary advo cates are practical prohibitionists and would like to see liquor banished from the State entirely." RUNAWAY BOY KILLED). Cleveland Youth~ Who Ran Away With Auto Meets Death. At Chicago Andrian Sibson, aged '. who ran away from his home in Cleveland, Ohio, with an automobile, g~iven him by his father, was killed by his machine, which skidded and smashed against the curb on Michi gan boulevard. Five of his compan ion were injured. MARTIN'S NEW PLAN. State Superintendent Would Have State Board Pass on Teachers. Too Much Politics, He Says, in the Awards as Made at Present by the County Boards. State Superintendent of Education I Martin will ask the Legislature at its coming session to. so change the school law with regard to teachers' examinations throughout the State as to have those examing papers passed up by a member of the State! board of education at Columbia 'In stead of by the county boards of education. By this method Mr. Martin hopes to entirely divorce these examina tions from politics. "You will readily see that it is practically impossible to keep these examinations from politics," said Mr. Martin. "To keep this or that dis trict solid for him in the coming election it is a strong temptation to a county superintendent to have him-' self and his board favor the daughter of the influential man of that district. We had no end of trouble with our scholarship examinations for the State colleges until Ihad the law changed in such a way as to have the paper passed upon by the col lege faculties by numbers. Every time there was an examination this office, would be flooded with com plaints of partially and favoritism. "In order to raise money with which to pay a member of the coun ty board to pass upon these papers, my idea is to have each applicant for a teacher's certificate charged a fee of one dollar fo.r the privilege of standing the examination. This would not only obviate the necessity of making extra appropriation, but would free these examinations from a large number of negroes, who crowd upon every examination for, the purpose .of practicing and in the hope that they might strike an easy examination some time that will af ford them the opportunity they seek of getting a certificate. "It is to fit in with just such plans as this that I am so insistent I be consulted when the Governor makes an appointment in the State board. Do you suppose for one moment that ex-Governor J. C. Sheppard, whom Gov. Ansel tried to get on the board recently would be available for such work as passing upon a tedious lot of teacher's examination papers for a per diem of $4? I say nothing to, his discredit when I say I doubt when he is competent to pass upon such papers. It is not in his line to do it. if "On the other hand. he probably I would not hesitate, to pass upon the C claims of Mr. Bailey's coeducational ( institute over there in his territory.( to be placed on the list of accredited ( olleges of the State whose gradbuat-( es are not required to stand teach- I er's examination. . He would probab- I ly argue that it's in Edgefield and I has a lot of fine buildings, and, of( :ourse, it should go on the list. In a short time the barrier would be I broken down entirely." I M~.r. Martin added in answer to all question that at the end of his pre- I sent term he intended to take a sixj( months' trip abroad in order to round1 :ut his education. JAPAN GETTING READY To Engage in War With the United States. "When Japan gets on her feet fi- I ancially. she will get after the Unit ed States. This talk of traditional friendship is amusing in the Orient." This statement was made at Seat- 1 te by Captain Harry Struve, master mariner, soldier, and former member f the legislature, who has just re turned from the .Orient. Captaini Stuve is now 'an English subject, hay ing made oath of allegiance after he bad been captured by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese war for piloting a ship containinag contrahand j and aid was refused him by Henry Miller. United States consul general. The Br'itish compelled Japan to re-t lease him. Captain Struve. who saw* all of the Russo-Japanese war as a soldier of fortune, says that Japan is now fortifying herself in the Orient and is only awaiting financial strength to declare her mastery of the Pacific. .The United States gov ernment has leased the dry dock owned by the Russian government at Vladivostock. says Captain Struve, and he expects the Japanese will not be particnlarly pleased with this de- I velopment. MAN KILLED) BY RAT. 1 it Bit Him on the Toe at G;reenville Last Week. At Grieenville Joe Swinney a negro i driver' for the Southern Expr'ess Co., died Thursday night under peculiar i1 circumstances. One night about a week ago, while the negr'o was as leep, a rat chewed off a portion of one 1 of his toes. The wound was neglect ed. Inflamation set in and blood poison developed. The leg was am putated, hut the poisoning bad pro gressed too far. The negro died. THEY SWUNG HDL. Aused Himself by Insulting White Gir'ls Over Telephone. at Vanveleet. Miss., by a small crowd of men thought to hail from Okolona.! who was a recent arrival from In daiana was accused of calling up white girls on the telephone and an noying them. The town authorities used a decoy message to get Sykes. but before he could be overtaken he had escaped. An all-night chase ended when the posse captured the negro after a brief figh in which shots were exchanged. HEAVY SALES. Large Increase Is Shown In the Dispensary Business. The Sales Now Amount To Over Seven Hundred and Fifty Thous and Dollars. The statement of the condition of the county dispensaries for the quar ter ending Sept. 30, as prepared by the dispensary auditor, Mr. W. B. West, is a most interecting document. It shows the total amount of sales, the breakerage and the net profits from the 97 county dispensaries. With the exception of Berkeley ounty's report as to profits, the table is complete. The figures show that for the last quarter the sales In creased $100,000, the figures for quarter ending June 30 being $647. 477.91. The net profits increased about $34,000 for the same period, the juarter ending June 30 showing ag regate profits of $106,792.02. This3 money is divided among the cities tnd towns, and in some county a part is to be used for road and school >urposes as ordered in the Carey .othran act. Following is a statement of pro its and number of dispensaries: ,ounty and No >f dispensaries. Net profits. tbbeville (1).........$ 75,453.57 Liken (5)........ . 4.,235.57H Barnwell (10).. ....8,058.69 3amberg (5).. .. .. .. 3,785.64 3eaufort (5).. .......6,062.52 erkeley (4)........ harleston (14).. .....27,519.04 Thester (1) ........ 11,680.91 hesterfield (2) . ..... 4,888.38 31arendon (1).. .... 3,298.10 olleton (3). ....... 3,085.31 )orcrester (3) . . .... 3,154.26 airfield (2).. .......5,312.76 lorence (2).. .......13,111.47 eorgetown (1) ...... 14,046.55 [ampton (5).. ...... 3,685.35 Eershaw (2) ...... 6,738.18 .aurens (2).. .........-7,245.92 ,ee (1).. ........ 4,392.56 ,exington (4) . ..... 3,182.13 rangeburg (6).. .....11,610.34 tichland (12).. .. ....30,765.91 umter (3).. .. .. .. 13,575.19 Villiamsburg (3) .... .. 7,167.13 Total (97).... .. ..$204,055.49 Sales and Breakage. a bbeville. . .. $ 78.00 $24,928.17 1 iken. . .... 207.84 23,587.11 2 arnwell 487.15 37,325.15 a amberg. 106.25 18,132.37 C eaufort 143.88 23,187.8 0 r erkeley 161.22 16,613.52 b Tharleston . 193.50 108.430.81 Y Thester 145.88 26,928.77 P hesterfield . 273.91 25,650.31 s larendon. . 88.64 14,095.83 d orchster. . 60.74 14,650.11 s 'airfield . . . . 135.75 15.42IJ.6 'lorence . . . . 336.89 39,162,97 Ia ~eorgetown .. 68.74 37.447.35 11 ~ershaw ...123.57 23,187.73 d ~aurens .... 228.65 30,905.77 1< ee. . .......179.59 15,603.07 a exington.. 61.65 14,934.35 h; rangeburg .. 275.14 4-4,527.25 s ichland . ... 715.55 104,821.951h umter .... 10 0.8 0 38,568.34 a illiamsburg 106.35 27,023.41 .t Total1s . .. . $4,493.90 753,546.08 t HON. JEFF DAVIS resident Roosevelt Pays Tribute to s the South's Chief. In a speech at Vicksburg, Miss., st week President Roosevelt said. "It is, indeed, an honor for me to e today the guest of Vicksburg and f Mississippi, and I was inexpress bly touched by the greeting over the ~reat arch of cotton bales which aid: 'Mississippi greets 'the Presi ent.' I should not be fit to be Presi- 1 ent at all if I did not with all my ight and main, with all my heart. nd brain, seek to be in the full nse the President of Mississippi, e President of every state in the ~nion, the city forever memorable of e conflicts in which victor and van uished alike showed such splendid urage, such splendid fealty to the ight as it was given to each. "Even before the civil war Mis issippi's sons had shown that they' :new how to fight. It was from icksburg that a company of that mous Mississippi regiment which von the undying renown in the Mex- h an war, under the gallant leader- S hip of its colonel, who afterward Ir became the favorite son, not only of r .1ississippi, but of all the South, Jef- t erson Davis, came. "Think how fortunate we are as I nation that it is possible for the e 'resident of the nation to come here s oday to be conducted through your ' Lational park by the surviving lieu- a enant-general of the Confederate f ry. and to feel that every instance f heroism recorded by the monu- a nents alike to the union and "Confed rate dead on that battlefie1d is a ubject for just pride to every citi :en of this nation, no matter where e lives." FELL UNDER CARS. ravelinig Salesman Met Instant and Horrible Death. At Selnma, Ala.. on Wednesday af- Ii :ernoonl of last week in attempting to )oard a moving trolley car in fronti') f the Arcadia hotel on Broad street, ti . K. Meadows, traveling salesman or the Southern Drug Co., of St. I Louis, fell between two cars and was instantly killed. Stopping to talk to a friend, the car started off and, run ning to catch it, he either stumbled< r lost his hold just as he got to the noving cars. The body was badly mangled, practically every bone from th wat down being broken. 1 DONE AT LAST. The Completion of a Great Rail road Engineering Feat GOES OUT IN THE SEA Some Seventy-Five Miles-The Line Passes Through Dense Swamps and Across Open Sea on Concrete Arches and Bridges, Constructed Under Difficulties, Connects Key West, Fla., With the Main Land. The completion of the great bridge t New York over Hell Gate, which is to connect the Pennsylvania with the N'ew England railroads, will form like a link in an unbroken line of ailroad communication between New England and Key West, the souther nost city in the United States. The yther link in the line is being con ;tructed from a point near Miami, Fla., 81 miles inland, across 75 miles )f sea and finally terminating at Key Nest. After the links are completed it rill be possible to run direct from Kew England to Havana, Cuba, with )ut changing cars, as the trains will >e conveyed in unbroken packages tcross the strait from Key West to -avana In view of the fact that the anama region is sure to cause a oom in trade, there is every rea on to believe that the new through ine will make Key West one of the 'reat shipping stations on the At antic Seaboard. The rilroad line that is being con tructed from the coast of Florida Lcross the Key West coral islands ill be one of the wonders of the ge. It will be 156 'niles in length. ounting that it begins in the wamps of Florida, and is costing 100,000 a mile for construction. enry M. Flager is promoter of the me. All the viaducts are built of re nforced concrete. The railrond will se on a line 30 feet above low water aark. It is found that the highest vaves on the coast are z5 feet and he islands serve to break the high st sea. The engineers are counting n this to prevent any washouts or ashovers. The longest of the viaducts over pen sea is nearly seven miles. It is xcated near Long Key. At present ,500 men are employed In this work lone. The viaduct consists of I86 oncrete arches. Of these 75 are al eady complete. It will take 286,000 arrels of cement, 177,000. cubic ards of sand. 612,000 lineal feet of iling and 5.700 tons of re-inforcing teel rods to complete this one via uct, not to speak of the amount for ie other 68 miles being built under imilar conditions. The support of every one of the rces rests on 28 pIles driven deep ito coraline limestone which forms he bed of the sea. After the pile rivers have passed a cofferdam is wered from a catamaran into place round the piles. Then the concreting egins, after the frames have been et. The thick shell of concrete is acked on the inside by crushed rock d other ballast. In the coral reefs le water varies in depth from 13 20 feet. Under normal conditions ie tide flows at the rate of four iiles an hour., The 156 miles of constructive work etween Miami and Key West pre ents practicallIy every problem nown to railroad engineers. From [iami, for a distance, the road passes trough heavy mangrove swamps, here there was too much water to se whleelbarrows and not enough to pork a dredge. This difficulty was vercome by specially designed redges The islands in the sea are of limes tone formation, and in addition to eing solid, they .furnish excellent allast. At the present time more tan 3,000 men are crowded on the ab. They are operating nine stern heel boats, three tugs, 100 barges nd lighters, 28 launches and up rard of 50 pile drivers, concrete iixers, derricks, pump barges and redges. POISONED HIMSELF ecause of the Death of Her Father and Brother. After grieving over the death of er father for a year, Miss Pauline impson, a wealthy and prominent esident of McKeesport, Pa., com iited suicide by swallowing the con ets of a bottle of carbolic acid. Two years ago her brother was illed in a railroad accident at Cin innatti. Just a year James Simp on, superintendnt of the National 'ube Co., came home from his office,! d fell dead at his daughter's feet rom heart failure. Miss Simpson became very morose fter her father's death, and fre uently expressed to her friends her rtention of ending her own life. CAUSED A PANIC. t Bullet Fired Into Audience at a Picture Show. -Sometime ago a bullet fired from he stage into the audience at a mov-! ng picture show at Wilson, N. C.. it Miss Hattie Rice in the arm, and. >assed through Victor Brown's hat. Che views represented a battle be ween Indians and cowboys, and to nake the thing realistic guns were ired behind the screen.1 In some way a solid bullet was nixed in with the supply of blanks. Lad in the thick of the fight a bullet ame whistling through the audience Vter the excitement had somewhat! ;ubsided, Miss Rice was removed ;o a hospital, where it was found hat he injuries were slight. BALOON RACING. Eighty Hundred and Eighty Miles Longest Distance Made. The German Balloon Wins the Race With the French Balloon a Close Second. With the balloon racing recorn7 broken, the second international cup competition,* which started from St. Louis on Monday of last week, end ed Wednesday, October 23. with the German balloon Pommerin winning first prize for the longest flight. The finish of the race was so close, however,. that the French contestant, "L'Isle of France," which descended ot 1:10 o'clock Wednesday after noon at Hubertsville, N. J., a few miles from the Atlantic coast may possibly' be declared winner after official measurements are completed. The Pommern landed at 9 o'clock Wednesday forenoon at Asbury Park, N. J., apparently a few miles further from St. Louis han Hubertsville. Another German balloon, the Duesseldorf, stands third in the race. American entries finished fourth, fifth and eighth, while a thrid Ger man balloon entered fell far short of the others. The Pommern was pilot ed by Oscar Ebesloche, aidedT by H. H. Clayton, while Alfred Leblanc and Edgar W. Mix sailed the L'Isle of France. The unofficial estimated air line flight of the Pommern is 880 miles and that of the L'Isle of France Is 875 miles. The Duesseldorf, third, landed near Dover, Delaware, is es imated to have covered 790 miles. Only the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean stopped the flight of the Pom mern. The balloon could have re mained in the air many hours longer, and probably would have added sev eral hundred miles to her record but for the expanse of water ahead. While losing the distance record and the cup, the French team sailing L'Islc of France gained the world's record for duration of flight. Starting from St. Louis at 4.11 p. m. (central time,) they landed Wed nesday at 1.10 p. m. (eastern time,) making their time in the air forty five hours minus one minute. The previous record was forty-one hours and five minutes, held by Countt De La Valux, of France. Aside from posession of the cup the Ger rans won a acsh prize of $2,500 also, given by James Gordon Bennett. LONG AIR VOYAGE. Experience of One of the .Hen Who HIade It. Prof. S. H. Clayton, who accom panied Oscar Erbsloeh in the German balloon, Pommern, said that tha voy age from St. Louis had taken exactly forty hours, less five minutes, ac cording to the time they had record ed -"We were over Philadelphia one morning at sunrise," he said, "and we stayed there at an altitude of ten thousand feet for about an hour. This was the highest altitude reached by us on the trip. We kept moving up and down over the city, as we were desirous of finding an air cur rent that would carry us northward. Onr ambition was to reach New York City, and we are very sorry we were unable to realize. We had enough provisions and sufficient gas to take a further journey of- 500 or 600 miles. "The trip was exceedingly pleasant in every way. There was no rain throughout, and scarcely any cloudy weather. The bright moonlight nights were delightful. 'A funny incident occurred near Easton, Pa. We were very uncer-I tain as to our whereabouts and want ed to find out our exact position. So we descended to about 500 feet fromt the ground, and seeing a woman standing in front of a farm house, shouted to her, asking what place it was. The woman gave one startled look into the air, and then with a shriek rushed into the house and slammed the door behind her. Even the chickens and pigs on the farm seemed to be excited over our com commotion in the barn yard. We ing, and there appeared to be quite a kept on for about two miles at the t same altitude, and then spied a far mer, who in response to our inquir ies, told us where we were. ThenC we ascended to a higher altitude and continued out voyage." The balloon made a very graceful landing at Bradley Park. Mr. Erbs loeli and his companion, Henry H. Clayton, said the were in excellent shape. The balloon was absolutely undamaged In any way. The ball loonists said that they had had a fine1 trip and figured that they had tra veled 1,048 miles in 40 hours, or anI average of something over 26 milesI an hour for the entire distance. GINNERS REPORT. F Shows a Falling Off of Nearly One Million Bales. - The census bureau Friday made public the result of the reports of its special agents on the quantity of cotton of this year's crop, ginned up to October is. showing 4,0S9,336 bales as compared with 4.931,621 bales ginned to the same~ time last year. In these figures sixty-nine coun-j ties are represented and these coun-I ties ast year gave a total of 320.123! b~al es. --' Unrepresented counties distributed as follows: Alabama, 10; Arkansas. 5; Florida. 6; Georgia, 5: Louisiana. 9 :MSississippi. 17; Oklahoma, 5: South Carolina. 1; Tennessee, 3; Texas, 8. The total reported is the output of 22, 796 ginneries as compared with 26,125 for last year.. Figures by States will not be giv en out until the reports are received from a of the counties in each State. SEVERE SHOCK. Destructive Earthquake Visits the Peninsular of Calabria. TERRIBLE DISASTER. Many Villages and Towns Destroyed or Badly Damaged by the Terrible Convulsion of Nature-There Was Some Loss of Life, But Not As Great As Was At First Reported From Rome. A dispatch from Catanzaro, Italy; say a violent earthquake was record ed there at half past nine o'clock Thursday .morning. The prisoners in the Catanzaro Jail were awakened by the shock. They rushed to the window and beat upon the bars, screaming to be let Dut, but the jail guards had already ed. Many of the villages that were destroyed by the earthquake of 1905 and since reconstructed, have been destroyed a second time, and & num ber of persons are buried In the ruins. The details received regarding the earthquake In every way tend to show that the damage done was much more extended than at first estimated but that the loss of life has not been rreat. The lowest estimates place the iumber of killed at about twenty and the highest at about 120, but up t& this evening there is nothing to show that the last' figures mentioned are orrect. Nothing definite will be known on the subject until the ruins ire cleared' away. Details of the eathquake show that the shocks were especially severe In southern end of the Calabrian pen insula, but throughout Calabria -there were scenes of desolation and de pair. The first shock was a tremendous ne and was followed by two others f longer duration, which entirely lestroyed two villages and reduced nany houses in several others -to a nass of ruins. The first shock fortunately brought he entire population of the villages nto the open, and many succeeded in making their escape to the hills >r open plains, which accounts for the smallness of the list of fatilities. To add to the desolation caused )y the earthquake, it was raining in orrents, which greatly increased the uffering amoung the homeless peo le. Many persons were buried in he ruins, and at Sinopli and Stilario ore lives are said to have been lost. anie prevailed everywhere. Rocello, Jonica, Reggio, Cosanza, aracdio, Cittanova, Palmi, Marina d other towns also suffered fromY he shocks, but none severely. The cathedral of Torre Di Gerace ras thrown down as was also an an ~ient tower which had withstood all he Calabrian earthquakes for cen uries past. Half the houses In the ilage of Geraoe are in ruins, and Imilar conditions prevail in a num er of other points in Calabria. During the confusion caused by the lrst shock, the prisoners in the jail t Catanzaro mutined, and were only ubdued with great difficulty. The emale prisoners were particularly larmed, screaming and shouting and ~eating the doors until the whole lace was in a terrible uproar. The rison officials did everything possi le to calm the inmates, but panicts roke out afresh every time an earth lock was experienced. As soon as ossible detatchmlents of troops with elief trains were hurried to the ene of the disaster, and did every ing they could to assist the fjeople, ho had fled from their homes. BITTEN BY RATTLER. ketter Advising Dealer of Danger Was Delayed in Mail. The sending of a boxed rattle ake to a Brooklyn dealer in birds, ptiles and animals, and leaving to e mall, which sometimes are tar , the conveyance of a letter telling f the venomous character of the ntents of the box, came near re ulting in the death of Harry Hayle i Brooklyn recently. A large box was delivered to his tore A tag showed that it came rm Peter Jackson, of Norwich, Fla. ole knew that Jackson was a deal r in snakes, but it had never been oyle's custom to have venomous eptiles in his establishment, and he jought L~lose in the box were harm ess and proceeded to show them to rf. Jos. Edwards, of Philadelpia Opening Hoyle took hold of a large ag. As soon as he loosened the tring holdinlg the top of the bag a )rown head darted at him and the angs of the snake embedded them ,elevs at the top of his index finger. Hfoyle, after much difficulty, man ged to get the snake bac in the ag. By that time his hand was bad i swollen and he started for the ospital . The hand was lanced and auterized A letter from Jackson, who sent ie snakes, arrived at Boyle's store .n hour after he had been bitten. in hich was explained the contents of e box Hoyle recovered HANGED HISELF. )eputy Sheriff Found Suspended Sfrom Tree at Sister's Door. Made insane when a prisoner ~truck him over the head with his andcuffed arms, William C.. Free ichs, a former deputy sheriff, banged timself from a tree in front of the ouse of his brother-in-law, at New haven, Conn. He was forty-tw-o rears of age.