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THE DARK DAYSI Tillman Tells the Story of the de Ica Strugles of 1875 se B1 IN SOUTH CAROLINA W -i An Address Delivered by Senator to Tillman at the Red Shirt Reunion R 01 at Anderson. S. C.. on Augus =' r in the Presence of Several Thou- w g4 sand Enthusiastic People. o b The Hamburg Riot. Judge Aldrich told you last night r that he could tell more about the d Hamburg riot than I could because a he would not have to criminate him elf. As for that I have nothing to , conceal about the Hamburg riot. I told the Republicans in the senate k that we had to shoot negroes to get t relief from the galling tyranny to which we had been subjected and. while my utterances were used in the Republican campaign book for 1900. 1 think my very boldness and the frankness with which I explain ed conditions did more to enlighten and disarm the fanatics than any thing else I could have said. Even Senator Hoar was so Impressed that I he became my warm personal friend. Because of the potent influence in arousing the white men of the State r to their duty. I shall give you the I story of the Hamburg riot in full. 2 not dealing at this time with the < two Ned Tennant riots and the - Ellenton riot. The third of these disturbances or riots occurred in Hamburg in July. I876. and this tragic episode in the struggle for white supremacy caused more widespread comment through out the north and was more far reaching in its influence upon the fortunes of the white people of South Carolina than anything of the kind which ever occurred in the State. Congress appointed an investigation committee to take testimony and the bloody shirt was waved by the northern press and politicians &rom one end of the country to the other. The two preceding disturbances. of which I have spoken. while causing great ezcltement and uneasiness. had resulted in no blood shed other than the wounding of two negroes. near Dr. XcKie's. but the Hamburg riot caused the death of seven ne groes and one white man, while two negroes and another white man were seriously wounded. The cause of the trouble, as in the two Ned Tennant riots, was the ne gro militia. The town of Hamburg. opposite the city of Augusta. and thirteen miles below where T was born and reared and was then i ing. had been a prosperous mart of trade between 1840 and 1860. At one time it had a population of be tween 3.000 and 4.000 and did an -- Immense business with the South Carolina planters . Owing to its liability to overflow by the Savannah iver it had begun to decline and at the time of which I write It was occupied almost entirely by negroes. The white population consisted of a ' few families. The number of stores was smail. The negro population in 1876 probably numbered 1.200 and It had become an harbor of refuge for all of the cow thieves. cotton thieves, house burners, and other types ofs criminals among the negroes. Owing to the fact that the municipal government was com posed of negroec. the town marshal was a negro. Gen. Prince R. Rivers. an ex-Union soldier, commander of the negro militia. State Senator from Aiken county and Trial Justice, lived there and the negroes were exceed ingly insolent and It was dangerous for white men to go through the .~town unless they were well armed. . A negro militia company of about one hundred men had been organz ed in this lawless den and one Docic Adams was captain. On the after noon of the 4th of July. 1876. this co'mpany was drilling and parading on Main street and as was usual a very large proportion of the negra population were admirinx upecta tors. A yotung man, Thomas But ler, whose father lvei on the !iAh bill two miles away. :eturai'-ng home * from Augusta whither he had bet.nl ,on business found the street bloakod| by the negro militia company. Ta-e militia were marching "ceompaniy front" and the line extended from sidewalk to sidewalk. As young| Butler approached. instead of throw-| ing his raeS Into "'column of fours" i or "'column of platoons" or wheel-| jng them out of the way. Dock Adams gave the order to "'charge bayonets"~ with the view no doubt of showing olE before the assembled negroes and te compel the young< white man to turn his horse aroundi and flee. But he was not of that kind, and knowing he had a righti to the highway, as the approaching1 line of leveled bayonets came for ward he stopped his buggy and< * reached for his pistol, cocked it andi shouted. "'I'Il shoot the first man< who sticks a bayonet in my horre." 1 He was alone and there were more1 than 100 negroes with Springfield rifles and gleaming bayonets and sev eral hundred others looking on. Hei knew and the negroes knew that they could butcher him with great1 ease, but they felt certain he would I kill one or more of them before t It could be done. The captaint shouted "halti' and opened the I sasso that Butler could pass and in a little while dismissed his com- I' peny and went to Gen. Prince Riv-s ers and swore out a warrant hearg-t ing young Butler with interfering a with his company at drill. Butler o went on home and told his father 11 what had happened. and Mr. Robert s Butler. whose plantation lay above Hamburg and who had a great deal d of trouble with negro thieves and b was in every way a very pugnacious t man, hurried to :the trial justice si and swore out a warrant for Adams o0 for obstructing the highway. t The trial wast set for the succeed. ' ior Saturday. July .8 The incident W was noisad about all over the coun- a ties of Edgefield and Alken in a very w' little while. It had been the set- of tied purpose of the leading white h men of Edge~eld to seize the Arst W Per them to provoke a riot and the eh the negroes a lesson, as It was do nerally believed that nothing but ed oodshed and a good deal of it could of well answer the purpose of re- m: eming the State from negro and st( rpet bag rule. Mr. Robert Butler th, nt to Edgefneld ior Gen. M. C. Tb utler to defend his son and prose- be te Adams at the tria!. Col. A. in Butler. the captain of the Sweet- b ater Sabre club. summoned our gi; impany to meet at Summer Hill. fr ree miles from Hamburg at 12 dc clock. It was our purpose to at- wl nd the trial to see that younc. til utler had protection and. if any nc ;portunity offered. to set the ball 1o lling, and if one cid not offer- in e were to make one. We did not ac > in uniform and were expressly pa rdered to leave our rifles and car- w ines so that when assembled we tv ere only armed with pistols. Va- NM ous schemes were presented and bi i-cussed but nothing definite was cc rranged except that we would go w ) Hamburg in a body at 4 o'clock. tt be time for the trial and see what fe -ould turn up. The fact. however. oo hat we had assembled was made a nown to Prince Rivers and when ir he company reached Hamburg we -ere informed that the trial had l een postponed and it appeared s Dr a while that all of our trouble a nd pains as well as the scherr.s t re had formulated would cOme to s4 aught. Dock Adams had assembled t< its company in the armory of the j oibiey building, a two-story brick s tructure on the corner of Main and f: tiver streets,. General Rivers had 1 lisappeared from town. '-here was much talking and plan king among the leaders, the two But- b ers and others of the leading citi- s :ens. At about 5 o'clock it was de- a :ided that the demand should be nade of Doc?: Adamms to surrender b its guns, and notice to that effee. P was sent him by Gen. M. C. Butler v with the further Information that 2e had shown that the guns were t menace to peace and good order iad that the whites having lost a!: s patience were resolved to put an f nd to his outrageous and insoler' nondudt. When the demand was made he promptly and peremptorial ly refused. He was then told that we would take them. When the ;nn was about half an hour h!gh t the little band of white men. num 1 hering about seventy in all. of whom forty-five belonged to the Sw'-et- j water Sabre Club. rode down Main I treet tewards the armory and I wheeling into a cross street we ap- I nroached the river ard hal'ted In the street which was o-nlpied by the trestle of the C. C. and A rail road. now the Southern rai!Aay. The Sibley building was on the southwest corner of the square. We dismounted in regular cavalry fash ion and linked bridles. All of the disengaged men lined up. Then the order came. "All men having car bines or rifles step five paces to the front." Only Ave responded. It was now shown how great a mistake had been made In ordering the rifles left at home. The purpose of that order is easy to understand. We did not wish It to appear that we had come to Hamburg with malice aforethought, but merely as specta tors at the Butler trial. Events had shaped themselves so that the pur pose of compelling the surrender of the arms by the negroes once formed there was no time to make new pre parations. Sixty white men (the others were detailed to take care of the horses) were about to attack 100 negroes who were armed with the most approved army rifles, had plenty of ammunition, and were for tified so to speak in a brick tort. while the whites had shot -guns and nistols. But the difference in the blood and the color of the skin far more than made up the odds in the irmament. The five men to whom the duty was assigned of opening the attack were Henry Getsen. Dan lap Phinney. McKie Meriwether. Thos. Settles and Demitrious Myers. I '.:1 always remember with sad ness an incident which took place just at this time. Yo'ung McKie Mer iwether. belonging to the sabre viub, but his father did not. The older man. Joseph Meriwether, it will be remembered, was the manager of Shaw's Mill two years before, who had manipulated that box and chang ed the negro majority into a white majority. He had heard of the trial and had brought his Wincester rifle with him. When the elder I Meriwether joined the squad, which was to take posItion behind the I abutment of the railroad bridge. ' diagonally in front of the Sibley building and some seventy-five yaras away, his son. :-very handsom young man, about 25 years of age, rame running towards him and un buckling the pistol as he ran, he handed the two pistols to hIs fath er and saId. "Iere, papa, take these and let me have the rifle." The exchange was made and the elder I :an took his place In the ranks, while the younger, along with the >ther four, stepped off. at a lively pace towards the end of the bridge. They marched in full view of the regroes who could see them from r :he windows of t'ne Sibley building. ~ Thbe rest of the men were deployed n the other two sides of the square, being on the north and east sIdes >f the Sibley building, which had no indows on those sides. In fact. I md no windows at all except on the ~ront towards the river. As a be onged to the first set of fours, I was detailed along with Pierce But er and James McKie and one othe" whose name I forget, and placed in l osition at the northwest corner of c he square directly in the rear of he Sibley build.!ng. The square, t will state, was a small one, with ides probably seventy-five yards , ong. The entrance to the second' tory of the Sibley building where he negroes were in hiding. was by pair of steps running up on the s4 utside from Main street to a land- W a in front of the door on the west 0: ide. o The sun was just setting when or- h< ers were given to the squad at the le ridge abutment to begin firing on 'i ,e building. The other whites were t :ationed up and down the sidewalks w t the northern and eastern sides of te e square. while the western side A as left unguarded. As both sides ed ere using breech-loadIng guns not- 0 ithstanding only five white men te ere doing any shooting, the fusiladd "', shots was very rapId. The armory Iat td ive w-iadows and the negroes Jde ere firing from these, but most of .S !y were squatted below the win- s w sills and their guns were elevat- f as there was little or no signs E where the bullets went. The v Lrks of the bullets on the sand I ine window sills are still to be seen c ugh filled up level with cement- I e noise of the battle, if it may I termed one, was of course heard s Augusta and soon a considerable J dy of men gathered on the Geor- 2 L bank. but as some stray bullets I >n the negroes' rides at the win- i ws gave them notice that they re in danger. they very soon re- I ed out of sight. However, it was long after dark before men be- I aging to the military organizations Augusta and others began to pour ross the bridge with arms to take .rt in the fray. The square on hich the Sibley building stood had ,o or three other stories on the ain street side. The old bank :ilding was on the southeastein orner and there were several small ooden shanties on other parts of e square. As soon as darkneas 11 the whites began to search all these buildings and very shortly negio man was discovered in hid g. He was dragged out whi!. Lualling at the top of his voice trough fright. He was shot by )me one who in the excitement ad anger forgot himself and iough not seriously wounded his :reams and cries resopnded so as >be heard for half a mile around. ust about this time we were all ocked and enraged by the news -om the bridge abutment that Mc :ie .leiwether. the brave young ian whose exchange of arms with is father. I have mentioncd. had een killed. There has aiways been :)me mystery about his death. H^' long with the other four riflen. ad been firing at the windows when is brain was pierced by a bail which utered at the top of his head. It as never known whether he was hot from above by some one who rossed the bridge or was struck oy , ball from the armory which hit ome piece of iron of iron and glanc d downward. If the white men ere determined when they began hat bloody business, this sad and inexpected death added ten-fold fury o their feelings. The men who vere holding the horses had hitched hem all by this time in a vacant ot and without orders from anyone tnd apparently without plan they oined In. As soon as it was en irely dark the negroes in the armory ,ook advantage of the opportunity o make their escape down the steps >f which I have spoken and to fee ip the river. Some of theme were oo much frightened to make this ttempt and sought concealment in he cellar and other hiding places in he stores. Some of them ripped ip the floors and hid under them. rhe whites from Augusta brought wer at Gen. Butler's request a imall piece of artillery which was oaded with pieces of iron (no regu ar balls were available) and fired >ff in the front of the Sibley build ng. After two discharges there was 2o further firing from the negroes ,. all who could had fled and the own was deserted. The square which was entirely surrounded by :his time was searched thoroughly. Every nook and corner of every building was examined by the whites who broke in the doors with axes. Prisoners to the number of some thirty or forty men were captured and as soon as taken were placed uder guard on River street some 75 yards above the wagon bridge. About S:30 o'clock after a period >f intense darkness the moon rose ind began to cast its lurid light over :he strange and unaccustomed scene. rhe number of whites had increas d Immensely by this time and the searching parties worked northward 'rom the Sibley building, which had seen the first one taken and thor >ughly searched. Two negroes who iad reascns to know that their lives would not be spared if captured. :ed to make their escape by jump-. ng over the fence on the north side >f the square and running down the street towards the trestle. The first :o do t'iis was Jim Cook, the town narshall. who had in the years of regro rule, clubbed a great number >f white men and in every way ii ustrated his brutal and fiendish hate f the whites as well as the delight re took In degrading them. As he prang over the fence the squad o which I belonged was the first o fire. We all fired once at him. le ran down the center of the street owards the railroad trestle towards he moon so that it was vasy to see he whole performance. White men rere standing or sitting on both ides of the street and as he ran etween thesie they fired at him, 'the ronder being that as ti'e street was arrow the bullets 'did not wound ir kill the white men opposle. It1 eemed as though Cook was bound o escape as he had nearly reached he trestle and none of the pistol ullets appeared to have taken ef ect. Fear lent speed to his flight und the crack of the pistols, some orty or fifty of which must have een fired at him, sounded like so many pop-guns. Suddenly the loud eprot of a shotgun rang out and :ook tumbled in a heap almost turn ag a somersault. Pierce Butler and ,bearing that it was Cook that had een killed, had the curiosity to ave our posts and walk down to rhere' he was lying and as the shad ws made it somewhat doubtful, i'irce' struck a match and being ery familiar with Cook's face, re arke-d with satisfaction, "Yes, it's' ook." This negro was more hated y the whites of the surrounding muntry than any other individual of rie race. A large part of his face ad bee'n torn away by the buckshot ich had laid him low after all of eo pistol balls had missed their ark. A while afterwards when the arhing parties had worked their ar throu~gh the different buildings i the square another negro jumped o"r the fence at the same spot, but Shad no time to run. Pierce But r and I, who had remained together te entire night. were standing on e back steps of Lipfield's store. ating for him to bring us some wa r from the well. Two men from uusta. whose names I never learn .but who wore the uniform of the Inch Rifies, had just obtained wa rand were standing on the side ik. The negro leaped the fence the roar of the store. but fell ad almost instantly. The Owo ri men had tbrda'n their guns.-which ioulders and fired with deadly ef !ct. This was one of the negro A illitiamen The moon by this time -as getting high in the heavens, and must have been nearly eleven U 'clock. The searchin-g was ended y breaking in the front door of ,ouis Schiller's store. which was al o his residence. Schiller was a low ew. who had joined the negroes. nd had been given office by them. taving held the position of couty uditor until the county of Aiken vas set apart. We wanted to hang tim as the resentment against white calawags was intense. He had been >orn and raised in Hamburg and iad really sold himself to the ne .roes. We did not find him in the iouse, but learned afterwards that 1 he poor wretch escaped us by climb ng through a trap door which led )ut on the roof and that he was ying behind a parapet on top of rhe house while execrations agalust .is aame and the purpose to swing hin was being expressed by the white men below. All of the work being practically finished the whites began to disperse and those from Augusta to retrace their steps across the bridge. Gen. Butler and Col. Butler had very quietly departed some time before. without leaving any orders and the mob. If it may be called such. rapidly thinned out. About th!s time Jas. Lanham. my neighbor. and Jas. McKie. who had been on the post with me a great part of the night, and both first cousins of young Meriwether. who had been killed, came to where a group of us were standing. One of them asked the question as to wheth er it was not a dear piece of work for us to lose one of our best men and have only two negroes dead and another wounded. It was agreed that we could not have a story like that go out as a record of the night's work. Lantham said to me. "I have no balls in my pistol and no cartridg es." I told hi: that I had only shot once at Cook an had five balls left. We exchanged pistols and be and Mc Kie soon found others of their way of thinking. The party made their way to the place where the negro prisoners were held and Henry Get son, who lived two miles from Ham burg and who knew all the negroes in the town and neighborhood, was asked to designate those of the meanest character and n~. worthy -f death. As fast as he would se lect from among the prisoners those he thought ought to be killed-all militiamen-they were taken off a little ways down the street and shot. After five had been thus dealt with the little squad of white men who were still remaining in town seemed satisfied and it was decided that the rest of the negroes. some 25 or 30 in number, should be allowed to go. The permission was given and they were told to go up the street and you may depend on it that they were not slow to move. When they had got about 50 yards away the crowd fired a volley over their heads, but I could not see that it added anything to the speed which they were making. If young Meri wether bad act lost his life!I do not think any of these last negroes would have been killed, but the purpose of our visit to Hamburg was to strike terror and the next morning (Sunday), when the negroes who ~ad fled to the swamps returned geome of them never did return, but kept on going) the ghastly sight which met their gaze of seven dead megroes lying starir and stiff cer tainly had its effect. One of those doomed to die es ewped in a rather curious way. Whether it was that the white men awere sick of the bloody work or something else. I do not know. Be ing the last of the doomed men. they either aimed badly or some of. them did not fire at all at the word' of command. When the shots rang out this negro fell as though dead and as soon as the whites went away he crawled into the high weeds which were near the road and thus escaped with only a wound in his thigh. He was afterwards the star witness against us and the means of getting the rmer of some of the men who were there. His name was Pomp Curry and by a strange coinci dence he was the boy who, when I went to tchool at Liberty Hill in 1861 and 1862 and boarded with Mr. Kiah Edwards, made our fires. brought wood, blacked shoes. etc. He disappeared, whether by death or fright. I do not know. After the election of 1 876 I never heard of him again. It was now after midnight and the moon high in the heavons looked down peacefully on the deserted town and dead negroes, whose lives had treen ofrered up as a sacrinice to the fanatical teachings and fiend ish hate of those who sought to sub stitute the rule of the African for that of the Caucasion in South Car olina. The party with which I left Ham burg was the last to leave the place. We got our horses and when we ap proached the outskirts of the town we stopped at the famous Spout Spring. whose waters gushed from the bluffs back ..! S'e town. In the better days of the town this spring had been provided with granite coping' and cover and was always a place for travelers to slake their thirst as they camue in or to guard against it as they were leaving, the roads leading through a dry and sandy region. The names of the men in the party, as I remember, were: H1-nry Getsen, chief of our drum head court martial. Milledge Hone, who lived two miles below me. James Lanhan, Gus Glover. Joe Mays. Sam Mays. Henry Simpston, John Swearingen. Dunlap Phinney, William Cook and myself. Many of these are dead. When we had drank and washed. John Swearingen stepped up cn the bank behind the sprng and seizing the post upon upon which was nailed a notice, Five dollars fine for dipping any uclean vessel in this sprinug."' broke it off at the ~ground and threw it into the middle of the road, saying with an oath, that Jim Cook would ever arrest another white man for irinkiig at that spring. This was an allusion to an incident f the preceding year when Rev. Ialen Padgett, who was carrying rotten to Augusta. having no cup iad stopped at the spring and drank tnd had been arrested by Cook andt uried before the town council. haged with haing broken the or [nanc.e of the town because having trank frogm the spring he had dip- 2 ed a uncean esse In t. e ILLS OF THE SOUTH SED OVER TWO AND HALF MIL- P LiON BALES OF COTTON. ast Year. Being an Increase of i Three Hundred and Sixty-six Thousand Baes Supplementing his report on the otton crop for 1908-'09. as Issued t n August 31. Secretary Hester of he New Orleans cotton exchange 'uesday made a detailed report on :he crops of the different States c Ls follows: Alabama. 1.428.000. against 1, [71.000 last year. Arkansas. 1.052.000. against 787. )00. Florida. 75.000. against 60.000. Georgia 2.118.000. against 1. )64.000. Louisiana 485.000. against 673. 000. Mississippi 1,673.000. against 1. 496.000. North Carolina 747.000. against 689.000. South Carolina 1.298.000, against 1,226,000. Tennessee 426.000, against 335. 000. Texas 3.819,000. against 2.221. 000. Oklahoma 740.000, against 950. 000. Total crop 13.825.000. against 11, 572.000 last year. He puts the spindles in the South at 11.255.787. including old, Idle and not complete. against 10.661. 208 last year. an Increase of 594. 479. Referring to the consumption by American mills. Mr. Hester says that North and South they have a .eason of unparalleled activity. In no past year. he states, have they consumed ao much cotton, and phe nomenal as the extent of business has been. it has not reached the lim!t of their capacities. The money value of the past com mercial crop, he states. is In round figures $683.794.000. showing that while the number of bales market ed was 2.243.000 bales more than last year. the increase in money re -eived was but $11.509.000. equiva lent to $5.11 per bale for the ex eess. and yet Mr. Hester contends that considering all circumstances if ever a crop was sold at a good round price it was the one under review. In the South Mr. Hester makes the consumption 366.596 more than last -ear and 120.765 over the year before last. Twenty-one new mills are building In the Southern States. and including additions to old estab lishments. 10.000 new looms and 511.294 new spindles are under way. The increase in the number of mills over last year has been eight, mak ing a total of 841. The year's consum o. on has been divided as follows: State Consumption. Increase Alabama .......251.871 46.261 Arkansas . . . . 6,038 2.190 Georgia .. . ....556.119 74,757 Kentucky . . . . 36.290 1.694 Louisiana .. . 17.244 3.331 Mississippi . . . 48,691 3.529 Missouri .. .. ..14.826 6.449 North Carolina . 759,295 130.4--4 South Carolina . 700.352 75.806 Tennessee .. .. 69.211 9.154 Texas .. .. ....42.456 8.675 Oklahoma . . . . 2.568 954 Virginia .. .. ..77912 3.382 Total ......2.559.873 366.596 In conclusion Mr. nester says the facts concerning this remarkable year in cotton consumption speaks for themselves, but it is safe to say that had they been estimates I estead of plain unvarnished truths, even extremists would have been just!ifed in classing them as exaggerations. In the South, he says. "We have brushed 2.600.000 bales closely dur lung the past year and this close on the heels of the panic, with 215 otit of a total of 786 active mills from one to two months late in getting under headway. Most of the new not complete spindles will be In 'working order before the coming years close and with these on the4 basis of the 1904-05 consumption pe. spindle, the capacity of the South ern mills will be somethlng like 2.800.000 to 2.900.000." FEMALE COLLEGE BtRNE. The Pride of the Methodist in the State Laid Low. The Columbia Female College. the pride of the Methodist of the State, was destroyed by fire at half past two o'clock Thursday morning. It was totally destroyed. It Is sup-I posed the fire was caused by de fective electric wires. The plant was valued at $250.000 and was insured for seventy-five thousand dollars. There was ten thousand more on the equipment. The property was bonded for sixty thousand and twenty odd thousand more in floating debt. Liquidation would leave nothing but bare ruins and grounds, but arrangements are going right ahead for the rebuilding and opening for the present session in the Colonial hotel property, the former plant of the college. The trustees are calledl to meet next Tuesday. was found guilty and fined fie dol [ars. This had been a momentous and trnuous day's work. We were all tred but more than satisfied with :he result. When we reached Henry 3ten's house he asked us to sop nd eat some watermelons, which re very gladly did. and as all of the >thrs except Horne lived further ap th, road than myself, we kept empany as we wended our way tomward. The first streaks of dawn rere reddening the east when I eached my mother's, where I had eft my wife. My mother was taken I a short time afterwards and died he latter part of August. Most of C he men who had organized and car-'f ed out this program lived in Edge eld county, but a few were citi ens of Aiken living along the Edse STATE POLITICS ROBABLE CANDIDATES NAMED C FOR SOME OFFICES. he Dispensary Being on the Wane, I Few Local Option Candidates Are to Be Found. Mr. W. P. Calhoun. writing to he Augusta Chronicle from Colum ia. says while he was in that city! day or so recently, he heard the it of the political wireless tele raphy and the messages indicated oming events in the State campaign if next year. The forces are being trranged and allotment made for ifilce, or persons are putting them elves in line. From the messages received, it wems to be a certainty that Mr. C. Featherstone. a good man and a -onsistent prohibitionist, will be the ,andidate of the Anti-Saloon League or governor next year. He is the ogical candidate for that position, and it will be a very hard mattter ror any of the others to side-track him. But, there are Messrs. J. G. Richards and Mendel L. Smith. both of Car.iden. S. C.. who have beev siding on the Anti-Saloon League water wagon. and who expect remu neration of some kind for their valu able services in the cause, no doubt. It was gathered from the afore said wireless messages that Mr. Men del L. Smith will be a candidate for Attorney General, opposing Mr. J. Fraser Lyon. the present encumbent. provided he offers for re-election. and it is presumed that he will. Mr. Smith is a very brainy man and a good lawyer. He has been speaking for prohibition for the Anti-Saloon League during this summer, it was thought as a training for the gov ernorship race next year. Mr. Lyon, the present attorney general, has quite a strong following and the race between the two men will be quite interesting. The messages failed to state what the Anti-Saloon League would do w.ith Mr. John G. Richards. who has been quite prominent in the pro hibition field for some years past. Possibly be is slated for congress., as it would, it seems, be useless for him to oppose Mr. Featherstone for the support of the league for gov ernor. Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Richards were formally dispensary advocates., but they have seen the error of their was on the decline in popularity while the Anti-Saloon League seems to be popular. That has caused, it seems, many to change front. So far there seems to be only one name mentioned in connection with the race for governor as a lo cal option or Democratic platform. the Anti-Saloon League really amounting in this State to a sepa rate and distinct party whicb places prohibition over and above all prin ways. It looks as if the dispensary ciples of Democracy. The man men tioned as the real Democratic can didate is Mr. Richard I. Manning. of Sumter. S. C. But. I; is argued that he has recently accepted a life trus teeship of Clemson College under the will of Mr. Clemson and that he can not become a candidate for gover nor. Regardless of that claim, if he enters the race, many think that he will be easily elected governor on a local option platform. Hie is a good man, true and upright. DANGERS OF WESTERN CORN. Its Use May be the Cause of Pella gra in the South. The Augusta Herald very wisely sums up the matter of Western corn and its results as a food for man and beast. The Herald says it is not in corn that dosiger lurks, but in Western corn. The reason for this is clear. Western corn does not fully mature before the season ends. Frost falls upon it before the kernels are hardened and the cob is dry. In this condition it is gathered and housed or stacked. It then goes through a process of fermentation which produces the chemical chang es that convert a healthy food for man or beast into a subtle poison. Fed to horses it gives them blind staggers and thousands of horses and mules are killed by it every year. Esten by men it produces pellr.gra. Fortunateiy a simple preventative wll avoid all risks in this matter. That is to use only Southern grown corn either for mnaking corn bread or to feed to the horses. And an Atlanta case may show that grits ground in the North should also be excluded. Let our farmers ponder this matter, and raise corn enough for all our needs. Pellagra Is be coming entirely too frequent in the South.* COTTON HARVESTER. To Be Tried at Bennettavi!Ie in a Very Short Time. Mr. Augus Campbell. representing Mr. Theodore H. Price. of New York. was in Benne-ttsville~ Wednesday for the purpos'- of se-curing a field of cotton to be uised In the demonstra tion of a cotton harv ester. M r.j Campb.e-ll foiud what he wanted, and has purchased one hundred acres from Ex-Snator John L. .t-.:Laurin. The cotton on this field will remain unpicked until the latter part of this month, or the first of October. when Mr. Price and associates will go there and the demonstration will be made. Mr. Campbell is the in entor of this machine, and Mr. Price and others are interested in pro noting and backing the proposition he inventor is a native of Canada. :hou:h he lived for a number o! ears in Texas. Railroad King Dead. E. H. Harriman. the railroad Cing of America. died at his home in: 'rden. New Yorict. on Thursday. :le was about extyatwo years of There seems to be a determination.f 'n the part of some of Peary'st rends to try and make it appear hat he and not Cook was the Erst' > discover the North Pole. But I re do not believe that the little I: WILL OPEN ON TIME F OLUMBIA FEMALE COLLEGE CARES FOR PUPILS. eople of All Denominations Aid Institution in Effort to Reopen. Dr. Watson's Statement. Undaunted by the terrible disaster of the splendid college plant in shes. with insurance for scarcely >ne-half the value of the plant and hat hypothecated by obligations, the oard of trustees of Columbia col ege met at noon Friday and per ected plans for opening the college >romptly on time September 23. Mr. . H. Hyatt. in behalf of the Colo ila hotel, proposed to lease that .np o-date building with all its equip nent to the college for the ensuing e rear. His proposition was accepted h Lt once. a The college will open on time and y In quarters unequaled In comfort ; and convenience. The Colonia hotel is one of the c most beautiful and comfortable re- ; sort hotels in the South. It is the original Columbia college property. located in the heart of the residental section of Columbla, and has been enlarged and remodeled at great ex pense as a tourist hoted. Almost I every room is connected with a pri vate bath and has long distance tel ephone through the central ofce. It is elegantly furnished throughout and is luxurious in all its appoint ments. Its arrangern-ent for a hotel 3 is unique with an exceptionally large I "exchan;e'' running straight through from the front entrance to the din ing hall: writing rooms, sun-parlor. recreation rooms. etc.. all of which readily lend themselves to the pur pose of a college. The trustees are fortunate in be lug able to secure such quarters. Instead of the discomfort and incon venience usually attendant upon such disasters as that the college has suffered. the work of the college will be on under circumstances of comfort and elegance that leave nothing to be desired by the most fastidious. The only fear of the col college management now is that they may not be able to accommodate all the pupils who have applied, but ad ditional rooms will be secured as becomes necessary. The trustees are determined to re build upon the site of the burned building and have already called an architect into consultation for that purpose. It is a diMcult task before them as they intend in rebuilding to enlarge and beautify the plant. They have faith, though, in the expressions of loyalty. aympathy and help they have received from citizens of Columbia and from all over the State. All alonr Columbia has shown her interest in the college,. and the board expresses appreciation of this. Expressions of sympathy and ten ders of asistance were received from the Carlisle FItting school at Bam berg, from Dr. S. C. Mitchel, presi dent of the University of South Carolina. from Lander college and from Park View hotel at William ston. The board passed resolutions of appreciation and thanks for all these expressions of sympathy and instructed te secretary. Rev. A. N. Brunson to make suitable response. The management of the college feel that in spite of the terrible dis aster, really the brightest day in all the history of the college b dawn ing. They feel the inspiration of the thousands of Methodists and their friends throughotu the State rally ing to the support of the institution as never before. They believe in the 'greatness of this mission of Co lumbia college to the young women of the South, and they call upon the citizens of Columbia, the Methodist people of the State and the friends of education to come to their assis tance that out of the present ruin there may rise a new and better equipped college to carry on its great mission 'intrammeled by debt. The following were the trustees present at the meeting: Dr. E. 0. Watsoi, president; Rev. A. N. Brun son, secretary; Rev. Messrs. J1. E. Rushton. H. B. Browne and W. B. Wharton. and Messrs. F. H. Hyatt. L. S. Welling. Geo. H. Bates. Ed ward Ehrllch. Dr. W. J. Murray and P. A. Hodges. * The Cost of a Boy. Somebody has figured out that the average boy who is dependent upon his Darer-ts for a livelhood until he reaches the age of twenty-one years cost them tour thousand dollars. On this basis of calculaticn a brood, for instance, of six boys would represent an outlay of twenty-four thousand dollars by the time they got away from the home roost. The question arises does it pay to raise boys and are there no other crops that would prove more profit.able? If a boy turns out to be a cigarette fiend with a breath like a turkey buzzard and a laugh that would make the untutored donkey feel perfectly at home in his society and with an un trammeled and unconquerable desire to avoid work, It is safe to say that that his pare.nts might have invested their four thousand dollars at a: much better advantage. But if the boy grows up to manhood with the lesson well learned that wealth and I success grow only on bushes wateret by the sweat of one's brow, the pas . ents need not begrudge whatever they have spent on him. for he will * a 'eurcee of Increasing pride and i Jroy t. their hearts. and when they a e.-w old and their ihands tremb'e ~ and their legs wabble -rnd their ste"' b is slow and t:rering they have two at rvng arms to lean upon and he' p ; htm over ail the rough places th-a t lie in their twilight path. .p I! all work and no play is bad h for the children in the home, as it b ertainly Is. It is also true that all h, play and no work Is just as harm- e: 'ul. In many homes while the mother t rears herself out in doing the en ire household work the daughter is Liways well dressed and spends her n< ime in idleness. And while the si ather toils hard throughout the day cl he son struts around with a cigar- s tte In his mouth and his hands:s n his pockets, to develop into a h rst-class loafer. Such a condition ft bad to both parents and childron 1i4 OLLOWED COOK ioond Time an American Has Reached THE NORTH POLE ensages heceived From New Foundland Tell of Persiaent Ex plorer's Final Suces One Year After Brooklyn Rivars-Scentffe World Stunned at Reports. From St. Johns, New Foundiand. ymes the message that Commodere eary has just telegraphed the gov rnor of New Foundland by %ire s from India Harbor. Labrador. nouncing he has discovered the orth Pole and congratulating New oundland on Its part in this di overy. seeing that the captain and rew of Pecry's steamer are New 'oundlanders. New York. Sept. 6.-Peary has ucceeded. 'Indian Harbor. via Cape Ray. s. F.. Sept- 6.-To the Associated >ress. New York: "Stars and Stripes naUed to North 3ole. (Signed) "Peary." "Indian Harbor. via Cape Ray, N. ., Sept. 6.-Rerbert L. Bridgman, 3rooklyn, N. Y.: "Pole reached. Roosevelt safe. (Signed) 44peary.tv "Indian Harbor, via Cape Ray. N. F.. Sept. 6.-To the New York rimes, New York: "I have the pole, April 6. Ex pect arrive Chateau bay Sept. 7. secure control. Wire for me there and arrange expedite tranwissoan big story. (Signed) "Peary." South Harpswell. Me., Sept. 6. Commander Robert E. Peary an nounced his success in discovering the North Pole to his wife, who is sumering at Eagle Island. as fol lows: "Indian Harbor. Via Csap Ray, "September 6, 1909. "Mrs. R. E. Peary. South Harpswefl, Me. "Have made good at last. I have the old pole. Am well. Love. Will wire again from Chateau. (Signed) - "Bert." 11 reply Mrs. Peary sent the fol lowing dispatch: "South Harpswell Me. 'Sepgember 6. 1909. "Commander R. E. Peary. Steamer Roosevelt. Chateau Bay. "All well. Best love. God bless you. Harry home. (Signed) "Jo.' Peary has succeeded. From out of the Arctic darkness there~ were dashed a few days ago these messages which stunned the scientific world and thrilled the heart of every layman. From the bleak coast of Labrador Peary age to the world the news that he had attained his goal in the Far North, while at the same moment in far off Denmark Dr. Frederick A. Cook of Brooklyn was being dined and lion ized by royalty for the same achieve ment. Stop It, Mr. Taft. The utterances of one or two gov ernment officials anent the conserva tion of national resources creates a feeling of uncertainty and even anxi ety. According to the statement of Mr. Pinchot the Interests seem to to be In the saddle again, and will be allowed to gobble up all the valu able public lany Jaying around loose. In fact. It Is stated that Mr. Gallinger, secretary of the interior, who use to be the attorney for the land grabbers trust, Is praying right Into the hands of his old employer and granted them the prvilege to take what they wanted In the shape of public lands. It is due to the public, especially to all who live in the so-called drrigation States. that that suspense be relieved. For years It has been a constant struggle between the people and the great corporations which have grown enormously rich tecause of the prac tical monopoly they have enjoyed. eand the present public mood is not tolerant of further monopolistic usurpation of public rights. The progress of the State. in which Ir rlgation Is largely followed will be eoked and their prosperity crip pled If a few men manage to get pos sesion of and control the water sup rly. Mr. Taft should stop this raid t once, and kick his secretary of the interior out of the office he now old. He Found Out. One of our exchanges tells of an >id German who had a boy of whom ae was very proud, and decided to ld out the trend of his mind. He giopted a novel method by which to est him. Hie slipped Into the boy's om one morning and placed on ~is table a bsottle of whiskey, a lible and a silver dollar. "'Now.'' aid he. "when dot boy comes in If e takes dot dollar he's going to e a beeznis man: if he takes dot W 'e be's going to be a preacher: -atakes dot whiskey he's no good. ud going to be a drunkard." Then e hild behind a door to see which Is son would choose. In came the oy whistling. He ran up to the able. picked up the Bible and put :under his arm, then snatched up de bottle, took two or three drinks. cked up the dollar and put It In Is pocket. and went out smackiet is lips. The Dutchman poked his ead out from behind the door anc' claimed: "Mfein Got, he Is going >be a polititclan." The State of Iowa. Michigan. Mis isota. Missouri. Nebraska. Wiscon n. Indiana and Illinois have re .tly forbidden the manufacture or Ie. or both, of cigaretts. The rea 'as involved in this Western pro bition of cigarette smoking springs om physiological~and business con dration. Moreal reasons and