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THE FORT MILL TIMES. J 16TH YEAR FORT MILL, S. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1908 NO. 46 9 M " 11 ? -- MANY KILLED 1 c And Much Property Destroyed by a Destructive Cyclone. SWEEPS TEXAS TOWN Two Known to Bo Dend ud Many Fatalities Aro Feared?Buildings Flattened nnd Wire Lines Prostrated?Tornado Visito Mississippi Wiping Out Three Towns, Destroying Iiife and Property in Many Places. Tyler, Texas, was swept by the most disastrous tornado i its history before daylight Friday. Coming from the southwest, the storm swept over the main residence quarter of the city, leaving a trail of doath and devastation. The known dead are C. A. Francis, agent of the Dallas News, and his wife and baby and a negro, Mose Lee. Francis's body was found a hundred yards from his wrecked home. The body of his child was found in the street. Mrs. Francis was in the wreckage of the building. Six seriously Injured persons are reported. They are Irwin Franklin and his wife and four children. One of the children may die. The Franklins were caught in the wreckage of their home. Wires are down in all directions from Tyler, but reports from farmers are that fnrm houses along the lines were blown down. It Is impossible to ascertain the loss of life in rural regions, but it is known the tornado swept everything elean for a distance of five miles. Three miles from the town the wind demolished the home of Irwin Franklin, severely wounding Franklin and his wife and four children. The tornado tore a path through Tyler 100 feet wide. Buildings, telephone and electric light poles were laid flat in the Btorni's path, while great damage was dona in other parts of the city. CYCLONH IN MISSISSIPPI. Six People Killed uud Three Knell Towns Demolished. A dispatch from Meridan says 3 mall towns were practically demolished by a tornado Friday. Reporta of the number of the killed range from six to ten, with the smaller number probably correct. Mossville, Service and Soao are the towns destroyed. They are all in Jones County and all are very small being merely a handful of scattered dwellings. The tornado struck them about noon, and in most instances is reported to have carried buildings in its path completely ofT the lots on which they stood. Nearby fields were covered with wreckage, and the branches of several trees were littered with small household articles. L. S. Norrison, a resident of Mossville, said that, he was out of doors during the blow and was compelled to grasp a wire fence to keep from being blown away. He said the dead at Mossville nre Alexander Windham and wife, negroes. Near the town he said four white persons had been killed, a man and his wife and their two children, whncn nnntou hn H M nnt Innrn Tho seriously injured at Mossville are J. W. Robinson, Mr. and Mis. VVni. Campbell and Minnie Campbell. Near Service one child of Ike Ho! loway is reported doad and also an unknown negro. The tornado was accompanied by a torrent of rein, which caused a sudden rise in the creeks and washed away several bridges. YOUNG MAN SLAIN. There Was No Immediate Provocation, Hut Old Grudge. A. J. Cline, a young lumber dealer, formerly of Hristol, Va., was shot and instantly killed by Luke banner, sixty years old and a wealthy merchant at Banner Elk. N. C. There was no immedinte provocation for the killing, but. it is said, was the result of an old grudge. Cline, it is nlleged, was shot down without warning. Banner escaped on horseback, and is still nt large, though he was o ao u I n t o r no'i r Vfnniavnmu honvllv armed and fleeing. A posse is in pursuit. * STEPPED ON LIVE WIRE. And Itoth Horse ami l.ml Were Instantly Killrd. At Thompson. t?a.. Willie Richards the eighteen year old son of John H. Richards of that county, was killed in a most, horrible manner Thursday afternoon. The electric wire leading from the electric plant to the Smith Manufacturing Company (ell to the ground, and was still on the ground when young Richards came up the road, and the horse's (eel struck the live wire, killing both the horse and rider Instantly. _ * FAKE WHISKEY FIRMS Whiskey Was Bought From Houses That Never Has Existed. ARvuiarkabltt Testimony ? to Dispensary Creditor* Brought Out at the Hearing in Columbia On Thursday. It having been established before the dispensary commission that the address given as headquarters of the alleged liquor firm of Belair Distilling Company is in a fashionable residence of Baltimore, it was brought out at the hearing Thursday that the address given at the Washington brunch of the Belair concern was the same address of Richard & Co., 480 Pennsylvania avenue. From letter heads of both concerns it was shown that J. S. Richard, a member of the firm of Richard & Co., was also president of the 13elair concern, and then it was shown that Richard is a brother-in-law of M. M. Goodman, the agent of Ullrnau & Co., who is now under bond on churges of conspiracy to defraud the State. The Delair Company, it appeared, began to do business with the dispensary after 1905, when Ullman & Co. were put on the blacklist by the Hay committee. It was then stated by Mr. Felder that Goodman had put in bids for Ullman & Co., tlio Anchor bistllllng Company, Strauss & Co.. Richard & Co., the Commonwealth Distilling Company and the Belair Distilling Company, all of which got suciness from the dispensary, and all of which according to Mr. Felder, belonged to the "Ullman family." It was shown that Goodman In 1903 had put in a bid as president of the Commonwealth Company, though in his recent testimony he said he left the Commonwealth Company before that year. The old dispensary law prohibited one concern putting in more than one bid. The commission passed a judgment finding that on account of overcharges the Belair concern was indebted to the State in the sum of $ 10,492 to which is to be applied the amount of the claim. $6,386.41. Rut if the Belair concern is a fake concern what is the judgment worth? To show that it is a fake concern, Felder said no record of its charter could be found in any State; there was no response to a notice sent by registered mails no one had appeared for the concern and the house could not bo found in Baltimore by a collection agency. During the investigation Mr. byon suspected that the iioiaii LUULCI 11 n ao a. pi j ui Flelschman & Co. He was 011 the track, but did not get the game. Evidence was also produced to show that J. W. Kelly & Co., and King & Co., both of Chattanooga, was oue and the same concern and both had put In bids on Silver Spring corn liquor at prices 2 0 per cent, higher than Kelly & Co. had charged other customers outside the State. The claim of King & Co. amounts to $6,395. * SAME OLD STORY. Nine Men Killed in n Mine Explosion in Kentucky. Nine men are dead and one in a dying condition as the resmt of an explosion of gas In the White Mine it South Carolton three miles north of Central, Ky. Ten men were at work in a shaft 180 feet deep in a room apart from the rest of the mine ind three more were in a different >art of the mine. Suddenly they heard a terrific explosion and all vote hailed to the ground. Recov;ing, they rushed to the rescue of their companions, only to find the room filled with fallen coal, and t bear the cries of the dying. FORAKKit BEATEN IN OHIO. Roosevelt's Man Friday Cleans Him I'p All Over Stntc. The net result of the Republican primaries held throughout Ohio was for \Vn>. If. Taft. Four delegates it large and 22 district delegates to the National Convention in Chicago md a delegate to the State Convention to be held March 3, which will be unanimously in his favor, were elected. Actual voting for delegates to the Stat? Convention was carried >n in but thirty-five out of the total if 88 counties in the State. The Taft delegates in 52 counties having no opposition, thelu name were simoly certified as having been elected. I*001t, YKT RICH. A Wealthy Man I(ios in a Hovel Willi #ino,ooo. John McMillan, aged R. (lied in a hovel on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tenn. Thursday. For years h? lived in apparent poverty. After his death It was discovered that he was worth $150,000, which he carried with him in a basket. 4 i i Six Hunted to I tenth. I Lawrence Ilaake's wife and sit i children, ranging from a new Itori ? Infant to a girl of 13 years of age were burned to death Wednesday li i Mieir shack at New Liskard, north o 1 Cobalt, Cauad'a. _ ' LYON FLINGS LIE At Editor Koestor of the Columbia Evening Record WHILE HE IS IN COURT1 A a Witness, Whera H* Had Rwn Summoned by the Attorney-General to Give His Reasons for Asserting That the Attorney General Has Been Trying to Convict in Dispensary Cases with Bought Testimony. During the session of the dlspen- . sary commission Thursday after- 1 noon. Attorney General Lyon de- ' nouneed Mr. George It. Koester, edl- : tor and manager of the Columbia Record, as "A most infamous and dirty liar." Mr. Koester, who was present, asked for the protection of 1 the Court, and arose from his chair. The situation was tense and Commissioner Patton also arose as if to step 1 between Lyon and Koester. Mr. Lyon 1 warned Mr. Koester not to approach ( and dramatically told him he (Lyons) 1 walked the streets of Columbia and was personally responsible for what 1 he said. The incident grew out of an edi- c torial in the Record Wednesday nftorial in the Record Thursday af- 1 brought into the room while the com- 1 mission was in session and the at tention of Mr. Lyon was called to the editorial. Mr. Lyon had Just come into the room. He at once re- quested the commission to summon 1 Mr. Koester. This was agreed to, 1 and Mr. Stevenson, drew up the sum- |T mous, which was signed by Mr. Mc- f Sweon. The marshal of the commis-|' slon was given the paper and within a half hour or so returned with Mr. Koester, who had come very willing- ' ly. He was examined under oath by ' Mr. Stevenson, the regular counsel 11 for the commission. Mr. Koester Questioned. The ofllcial record Is In substance s as follows: ' Q. Mr. Koester, the attention of r the commission has been drawn to this paragraph in this afternoon's I daily paper as follows: s "The llecord has been asked why it assails Attorney General Lyou and 1 seeks to hamper his attempts to have e "grafters" punished. The insinuu- 4 tlon in the question is that the Record is in sympathy with the "grafters." The insinuation is too contemptible to notice. g "Explanation of the Record's attt- c tude toward Mr. Lyon is wanted. It f is easy to give. If there has been a graft the Record, as much as Mr. I Lyon or anybody else, wants it ex- a posed and the guilty punished, but the methods employed to bring about that desired result should bo clean d and honorable and command respect, q It is Mr. Lyon's methods to which the Record objects. Wherever the Anglo-Saxon civilazatlon has spread t a common maxim of its Courts has \ been that it is better for a thousand r guilty men to escape than that one innocent man should be pnnished. "Similar in spirit is the Record's ( belef that it is better that all dispensary grafters should escape than that an attempt shonld be made to | secure convictions with bought, testi- ? mony. And that is* the game Mr. c Lyon has been playing first as a member of the investigating committee and now as Attorney General. If there were no political phase to the matter he could not hope to secure conviction with bought testimony, and it is only the political phase of the case that beeps his attempts to | buy testimony from meeting the universal execration they d -serve." The commission wishes to know ^ who Is responsible for the editorial jf department of your paper. A. I am. L Q. The commission being partly i charged with getting this testimony.) and the work which Mr. Lyon has : done in that line being through the commission, the commission want* i to know what information you have about the purchase of testimony? j A. Nothing but what has been published. Q. Does what has been published justify the charge that they are buying testimony? A. Well, all this Is very sudden. I have not got it at my fingers' end. but Mr. Hermann, who is the president of the Augusta Brewing Company, testified that he (had paid rebates or commissions and that an order was passed by the old investigating committee ordering payment of his claim, which I believe j was the first and the only one paid up 10 mm unit'. Q. Let us got that straight, That , was when Mr. Lyon and another com| mittee was investigating the dispensary. Those who composed that committee, I believe, were Mr. Lyon, Mr. 1 Hlease, Mr. C'hristensen, Mr. Spivey, ' and some others. Those gentVmen ' you charge, together with Mr Lyon, ' with having purchased testimonv. ' j Is that the basts of your charge: ''of the purchase of testimony? A. ' i That is. offered to purchase testimony, yes. , Q. That is the basis of your charge, that the old investigating committee ljdid that? A. That they offered an in. .ducement for getting testimony. i | Q. I want to know this; what f ' evidence nave you that there has been ' | a purchase of testimony since the or in any way anything you Bald about myself, I want to make this statement as having been very active In tho prosecution of these claims before the commission, that not the slightest inducement has been held out to any niun to come hero and furnish eveldnce. Tho commission passed a rule requiring all claimants to produce their books and produce tho representative that conducted the negotiations with the South Carolina dispensary, which related to these sales. And when their books are produced and their agents are produced and examinations are made, the commission then, without offering any reward, taking these ' claims as they present themselves in 1 the books, making deductions as they | did iu tho Paul Jones claim of the amounts that their books show to ganization of this commission? A. 1 don't say there has been a purchase. ? Q. Do you mean to Bay there has been an effort to do so? A. I mean to say. if 1 bo correctly posted, that 1 I have got a right to infer that If ' parties to whom claims were due, or who allege that amounts are owing to them by the dispensary, will come 1 forward uiul give testimony that 1 there claims will be paid. There was 1 a report iu the paper this morning of a claim paid on yesterday. Is that the publication you refer to, the publication in the State this ! morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. Then you state that all you * base your charge on is what was * published in the paper? A. As to this 1 present commission. ' Q. Is there any publication that ' you base your charge on A. No. ' Q. The publication in the State this 1 morning? A. Yes. ' Q. With reference to the Paul 1 Jones Company? A. Yes. The first 1 claim said to be paid was the Paul 1 Jones Company, which was of exces- ' sivo volume, but on account of mat ! ter behind it, it is stated that the payment of the claim was ordered ( immediately after obtaining testi- { mony by them. 5 Q. How do you conuect Mr. Lvon with that action? A. I don't know t lhat I rightly connected him with 1 that action; but at the same time. I 1 considered him as adviser of the ' commission. 1 Q. You don't hold him responsi- ( jle for the action of the commission I n aujudicating the Paul .Tones * claims? A. Not directly. * Q. Or that this charge that he is f purchasing testimony at the present t itne is based on that'J I understand rou to say that the only basis of our charge at the present time is i 'rom this article in the State. Now. r on admit that you cannot hold him 1 ssponsible for that. Then you have J 10 basis foi* the charge thnt he is low purchasing testimony? A. No. I lir, I can't say that I draw that in- ? erence. , * Mr. Pat ton: * q. Is that the only boui-co of lnbrmation you have, what you saw in p lie State? A. That is all I based my cl irticlo on. a Q. You stated that you had infor- i nation about to-day. Is what you c iaw in the State to-day all the in- \ ormation you have? A. That was t ill. t Q. Answer by question? A. Yes, said, except ns to the old coiumis- f ion. r Q. You have no further informa- a ion of the purchase of testimony, lYPPht wlinl nnnpnrfl in t hn A c s'o, sir. Mr. Lyon Enters Discussion. Attorney General Lyon: (, I wish to make a statement in re- ' ;ard to this matter. I regret, ex- n eedngly, that it becomes necessary x or me take any action or to notice r inything that may be said or done 0 >y this creature-(pointing his finger it Mr. Koester.) Mr. Koester If this be a legal proceeding, 1 ' lesiro that that gentleman bo reluired to use proper language. Mr. Lyon: , I wish to say that as far as shown bis afternoon that the man that ^ vrote that article in the record is a ' nost infamous and dirty liar. Mr. Koester: I ask for the protection of the c Jourt. Mr. Lyon: I will be on the streets of Colum- ' >ia, and you need no protection. 1 ' ay, Mr. Chairman, that I regret ex- 1 leedingly that 1 have to notice that ) harge. It has come to my notice hat ho has written and published ' u his paper a tissue of infamous and v icurrilous l^es. I have not seen tit ' o notice them, and I would not have s loticed this now, but it comes before 11 his commission in an official way. I c limply wish to say that he has prov- 8 ;n himself a self-convicted, infam>us liar. And I want to say to you, itr, (Indicating Mr. Koester,) that I im personally responsible for what I * my, and 1 dare you to resent it. Mr. Koester: Now. Mr. Chairman, in regard to his matter. I have nothing further f o say in regard to this editorial fur- < her than to sn.v that I did not mean i o charge any personal dishonesty on i he part of any one of the present t :ommission. It seemed to me a mat- t er of policy that an editor had a t ight to criticise and condemn. If s t was the policy of the commission t o withhold the payment of claims 1 until parties came forward and gave < estimony implicating others, that it < ivas a wrong policy. I stated it and itatu it again. Mr. Pat ton: Who said that was the policy of the commission? A. I in- ' ferred it from the action of the commission. , , Mr. Patton: And furthermore we passed judgment yesterday on a claim and nothing was said about , that and a half a dozen today. Mr. Koester: I was not aware of that when I wrote that article. I distinctly disavow the intimation of any disrespect against any member of the commission. It was a matter of public policy, and if that was the policy of the commission that a claim would not be paid unless parties came forward and implicated the officials, then that was a wrong policy. One member of this commission I have known for years. Mr. Henderson, and T would not for the world say anything against Mr. Henderson personally. Col. Fehlcr .Makes Statement. Col. Felder: Without indicating the policy of jour paper or resenting -A rK > L>e overcharges, purging the claims ( is the evidence demanded, have glv- < 211 judgment for tho balance. I am icquninting you with that because . under your statement you say you want to be perfectly fair, not only to :he commission but to all tho parties 8 it interest. 1 Mr. Koester: I must absolutely ilsavow any intention to reflect igainst. any member of the commission. 1 Mr. Stevenson: Mr. Chairman', 1 here is another suggestion I would e ike to make. Mr. Koester" states x hat it was tho policy of tho comnission he was criticising when he nade (his charge about tho Attorney 1 3eneral. This commission would ' irefcr to have the criticism made 1 igninst it in its own proper person ' iiid not against the Attorney General * ind I would like to ask Mr. Koester ( i few questions. 1 Stevenson (Jut-Minns Witness. ' Q. Mr. Koester, the member of the 1 nvestigating committee to whom you v eferrer, it was the realizing of Mr. ' iermann's account you referred to in our paper? A. Yes. Q. Do you mean to charge Mr. lay, Mr. Mease, Mr. Chrtstensen, Mr. ^ >pivey and Mr. Gaston with buying ividence? A. I don't remember who oted for it or anything of the sort. Q. Mr. Christensen and Mr. Lyon | vero then on the committee? A. I Ircw the inference from tho fart that ( ill claims were held up and ordered * lot paid, but that when Mr. Hermann ' ame and testified that he had done 1 vrong, immediately on his doing hat his claim was ordered paid the '' irst. one. Q. This cricicism was directed 1 irst. at the old investigating comnitt.ee and secondly as this conimision and tneir actions? A. Yes. Q. But Mr. Lyon was made the ; ole target? Mr. Patton: There is another in- n imation made by you. That this " ommiseion is being handled by tho Attorney General; if you were here, !l is the other newspaper men are, you trould know that this commission is " lot handled by the Attorney General s ir by anybody else. Col. Felder: Although Mr. Her- v nann came here and made the full- r st statement in regard to this mater this commission has not ordered u lis claim paid. ' Mr. Koester: I did not refer to 1 vhat this commission had done. ^ At tho conclusion of this Incident nenibers of the commission assured dr. Koester in the kindest way that te had been laboring under a mis- 1 ipprehension in regard to the pro edure of the commission, and that hey invited the fullest scrutiny of heir official acts in regard to these A laims; that their sessions were open I o the public in considering these c natters and that newspaper men were p velcome to attend and that others 'I tad attended constantly. Mr. Koester v vas informed that the commission i vould be glad to have him present s o see for himself what the comrois- a ion was doing. With theso assur- a inces the matter was closed and the v :ommission took up other matters, i idjourning soon afterwards. * g s MANY VICTIMS c t >f Hydrophobia Heing Treated in New York City. n The New York health authorities P idmit that there are at least fifty ases of hydrophobia being treated ; n New York. There has been an i inusual number of cases of this dis- (1 jase in the city for the last two years md while just at present there seems o be a smaller number than usual dnce the outbreak of the epidemic, s here are many more cases than were 0 (Down at any time previous to the j ipldemlc which has been on for two s years. c v FI'SIIjADK OF S\()\VHAM,S f ! r Causes the Death of an Old .Man in | s New York. v In New York on Wednesday boys c returning from school snowballed an 1 old man who tottered along Green- ? wich street. He sank down on the t steps of an old houso beneath a fusllade of snowballs. His tormentors were preparing more missiles when a policeman appeared and it was learned that the man was dead. He was recognized as Thomas Thomas, once a wealthy man of good famil; whose fortune was swept away years < ago. ' ; Mysterious Shooting. Frank Ilrettrell, a young real es-1 tate operator, was shot and killed in ! the apartments of his sister in thej: St. Georgo hotel. Brooklyn,, under circumstances which have caused the polico and Coroner Brewer to Instl-: i ,tute the strlckest investigation. jj WAS NOT REPEALED. The Senate Voted to Repeai Lelr Law and Then Changed, rhw Seunta Drill lie* to Follow thf House find Kills tlia Richards Lien Law Rill. The State Senate by a vote of ter :o seventeen passed a bill on Wedasdny repealing the lien law. The following was the vote: Against repeal: Bass, Bates, Bivjns, Black, Clifton, Graydon, Holliay, Laney, Otts, Smith?10. For repeal: Appelt, Brooks, Car>enter, Chrlstensen. Crouch, Earle, fillrd, Gibson, Hardin, Harvey, Johnson, Kclley, Mauldln, McKelthan, Rogers Ravsnr Tnnin?i t Tho Hydrlch bill, prohibiting the nortgaging of crops until they wore ip, was then taken up and killed by i vote of 16 to 17. Lieutenant Gov>rnor McLeod giving tho deciding rote against tho bill. Tho I.ien Law Stands. On Thursday tho State Senate tilled tho Itlohards Loin law bill, laving first voted down all amendments to carry out tho provlsons of ho Hydrick House bill, which was tilled by the Senate Thursday. The Crouch Senate bill similar to the ticliards bill has also been killed. Thus tho Senate declines to follow he House with result that the session vill close with absolutely no change n tho present law. DERELICT SCHOONER Vhlch is Hound for the Port of Missing Ships. Somewhere out on the Atlantic, roasting wintry seas and with some f her canvas set, is the four-masted chooner Edward J. Berwind, abanloncd and beating up the tracks for ho Port of Missing Ships. She was sighted at sea on Februiry 7, by Captain Scott, of the steainir Marnvel, now in New York, from iranada. Tho schooner's decks were awash, nd there was evidence that the crew tad left In haste. It is possible that hey were picked up by passing craft. When sighted the schooner was bout 4 70 miles east of Charleston, 1. C., and although water-logged, was tiaking about two knots and heading .way from (ho shore. Her storm foresail was set and the uizzen under two reefs. Her head ails had been carried away, and the panker was in ribbons. Towing vns not feasible on account of the otigh weather. The Berwind is likely to prove an igly menace for navigation for she s under fair headway and running hrough the nights without a light iisplayed. I.NFIKMAKY Bllifi IWSSKl). louse Kndorses Brooks Measure and Sends it on To Governor. In the House Tuesday night Mr feldell called up the bill of Senator Irooks to establish an infirmary for Confederate veterans, the bill having ieen passed over on third reading "usday morning. The fight which vas made on the bill on second readng was at onco renewed when Mr. lellers moved to recommit tho bill, nd the ayes and noes were called nd bv a vote of 4 7 to 55 the motion I'as lost. Tho bill was then passed is the bill has already passed the ienate it becomes a law upon the Ignaturc of the Governor. The 1)111 arries an appropriation of $12,000 o establish an Infirmary on the Walace land adjoining the State Hosplal for tho Insane. A commission to uanage tho Institntion is to he apiointed. ACCIDENT ON A CRUlSElt. :iie St. Louis Enters San Francisco After an Explosion. A dispatch from San Francisco ays the big cruiser St. Ixiuis went nit through the Golden Gate leaving n her wake a hospital ward full ot raided and burned sailors and slgnf if a rigid governmental nvestlgation vheh may explain why a warship, resh from dry dock and the work oi eparing, could have an almost fata" iccldent in her boiler room on the ive of target practice. Just as she vas about to leave the harbor, some >f the boiler tubes blew out, filling he engine room with a cloud oi iteam and scalding terribly four o' .lie men who were at work there. KILLED IN WRECK. VIisundcrsfundiiig of Signals Caused the Death of Two. Tn a head-on collision between the dierr.v tree accommodation train ind a freight train on the Cresson and Clearfield division* about a mile and a half-from Cresson, Pa., two were fatally injured, six were slightly hurt, three locomotives were demolished aud two baggage cars and four loaded steel cars were wrecked A misunderstanding of signals. It h said, was responsible for the arcl dent, ^ : ' " .... . SERIOUS CHARGE. 11 i Senator Blease Said to Havo Rap- . resented a Liquor House. ' AN AFFIDAVIT READ. t Mr. L. \V. Barker Swears Tlut S. J. Lanahnii Told Him That He Had > Employed Senator Hlen.se to Ho- . present His Firm Before the State . Hoard of Control.?Ulen.se Head nil Aflldavit from l.analiau Denying It. Testimony which the Legislative Investigating committee of 1 906 declined to bring out was developed by me commission to wind up the affairs of the State dispensary at Columbia on Thursday when Messrs. Lewis ',V. Parker and Ellison A Smyth were put on the stand and related a conversation with Mr. S. J. Lanalian. of Paltimore, in 1905, i in regard to the employment of a "prominent politician" to represent the Lanalian Arm before the State board of control. Mr. Parker said that Lanalian in a prior conversation, when Capt. Smyth was not present hail said that lion. Coleman L. I lllease was the agent referred to. It. is understood that Mr. Please, who is now and lias for four years been State Senator from Newberry, and who was candidate for Governor year before last, has an affidavit from \Ir. Lanahn.il denying that Mr. Lanahun made the statement attributed to him. Ho said that he had read it during Hie eampalgn last summer on the stump at Union, and that It was published at that time, lie showed the original affidavit, which lie has kept pinned in his inside pocket. Those familiar with the dispensary investigations will recall that two years ago the Legislative committee to Investigate the dispensary summoned Mr. Parker to appear and lie realted In substance the conversation with Mr. Lanalian, but when pressed by Mr. Lyon to give the name of the prominent politician he declined to do so. As Mr. Parker challenged the power of the conunitto to make him answer, a case 011 habeas corpus proceedings was brought in the Supreme Court and the Court decided that the committee had the authority to require Mr. Parker to answer Its questions. Hut tlio commit tee decided not to exert its authority and Mr. Parker did not answer the question. It lias boon common knowledge, however, that the suppressed name of the alleged agent of .I.anahan was that of Senator Please, and this knowledge evidently reached Senator Please himself, as he took the precaution to get an affidavit from Lanahun, and it is fortunate that lie did. since Mr. Lanahan died about two weeks ago. The commission to wind up the State dispensary had already summoned Mr. I.anahan. When they testified Thursday Mr. Parker and Capt Smyth made it plain a that they did so unwillingly and on- , ly yielded to the recognized authority of the commission, which has tho same authority as the Legislative committee as decided by the Supreme Court. It is not worth while to say who Messrs. Parker and Smyth are; they are the leading two cotton mill men in South Carolina, and their characters and reputations need no bolstering. The fiunnhnn Affidavit. Following is the affidavit read by Senator Blouse at the campaign meeting in Union on August 71, 1906. State of Maryland, City of Baltimore.?Personally came before me Samuel J. I.anahan, who, being, duly sworn, says that he never told Lewis W. Parker, or any other person, that Cole L. Blease was in his employ to look after his interest in the whiskey business In South Carolina, and sir a matter of fact, he did not. have U01G Li. mease sso <mii |iut> t-u. Augustus W. Bradford, (Notary Seal) Notary Public. Mr. Blenso also read at the llr.iou meeting affidavits from Jodie M. Itawlinson. John Black, Jos. B. Wylie, II II Kvans, John Bell Towill and \j. W. Boykin, dated either August J, 11)06, or August 4, 190G, and each of which stated that during the affiant's term of service as director of the State dispensary "Cole I,. Blease neither directly or indirectly solicited business or asked that purchases be made from Samuel J. Uanahnn or any other person engaged in selling whiskey or other articles to the State dispensary. * MADK A (?OOI> IIAlIi. Five Cracksmen Itoli a .Missouri Bank of Big Sum. At Rirhhill Mo., robbers dynamited the Farmers and Mechanics bank at 12:30 o'clock Saturday morning, demolishing the building and entering the vaults which they looted of $23.000, There were five of the bandits. When last, seen they were riding north at breakneck speed. Citizens of the town heard the terrific explosion and hurried to the scene. When they saw the bank in ruins a posse was immediately organized aad pursuit started at once.