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GOVERNOR SIGNS ! REVENUEJEASURESj "CAME preserve bill also gets signature; hearings on other bills. * INCOME TAX BILL PASSES Vote Close After Two Days of Continuous Debate; Fifty-five Hour Textile Bill Passed. Columbia. Governor Cooper signed the inhehi ?nca tar and the rasoline tax acts. these being the first of the new revenue measures to become law. The governor strongly recommended the the measure in his annual message 4 and when the bills were passed by the general assembly and ratified he did not hesitate to affix his signature to them. The gasoline tax provides for two ^ents a gallon on every gallon sold or distributed in South Carolina, which, it is estimated, will bring in around $750,000 a year or maybe a little more. One-half of the money ^collected from the tax will go into the general fund and one-half to the counties for road maintenance and construction. The inheritance tax is not calculated to bring in much revenue this year m as the retroactive feature for 1921 as originally contemplated was stricken out. However, the act will bring in from $150,000 to $300,000 a year after this year, according tG estimates. These two measures are the first real important acts to be signed by the governor this year. Another measure of importance to the low country that was signed was the game preserve bill providing for a tax on all persons, firms and corporations, etc., noldlng more than 500 acres of land as game preserves. The tax is 10 cents an acre up to 20.000 acres, 25 ceil is an acre ironi zo.vvu acres iu *50,000 acres, and above 50,000 acres, 50 cents an acre. This tax 1b to remain in the county where collected. The governor heard parties interested in the university trustee bill and "the Gerald arbitration bill. He heard a number of parties interested in both measures. The chief executive is inclined to veto the trustee bill, it is understood. The Wells tax extension resolution is also in the governor's hands as are a number of other measures. The senate passed the select committee income tax bill framed largely on the lines suggested by Senator 3. ,H. McGhee of Greenwood and providing for a tax of 25 per cent of the amount paid to the federal government. The vote came after nearly Uvo days of continuous debate. In a nutshell the bill attacks all the federal statutes, rules, regulations and other enactments into the South Carolina law and provides that the tax commission shall enforce it. "Every person paying a tax to the federal government will make a copy of the return to the federal government after this year, but for 1922 only an 'affidavit is required to what was paid to the government. Every person, firm, corporation, etc., paying a tax to the federal government must pay 25 per cent of such tax to the state government. * The 55-hour textile bill was passed and returned to the house without a murmur against it. The amendments were proposed by the committee on 'commerce and manufactures in the form or a substitute dhi to etumuaie useless matters from the house bill, those promoting the measure said. 8ecaters Young. Pearce and McOee ^were named on the free conference to the J. 0. Williams cut out bill, the house refusing to adopt the senate amendment allowing spotlights to be jpsed when they were extinguished 200 yards from an approaching vehicle. Senator Miller's bill to amend the law in regard to the registration of legal instruments was sent to the house without opposition. The committee on banking and insurance returned without recommendation the bill of Senator Williams to ^prevent unlicensed foreign fire insurV ance companies or associations from doing business in the state; to pre vent persons in thf state from taking 'fire insurance on property within the state in unlicensed foreign fire insurance companies or associations. Senator Bailes' bill to require the sinking fund commission to insure school houses and school buildings against loss or damage from wind storms without additional premiums was advanced to third reading. The moving picture license tax bill was advanced to third reading with the understanding that the discussion come then The senate finance committee's amendments striking out the tax on films and substituting a direct tax on theaters ranging from $50 a theater a year to $150, according to the size of the city and the seating capacity, were adopted upon motion of Senator Pearce. Representative Foster's bill to require textile industries to pay their employes during work hours was passed and ordered enrolled for rati- j fication without objection. Representative West's bill to amend ; tho law relating to seizure and sale undQr execution, redemption and title, bv enlarging the time for redemption wfrom six months to one year, was ; passed and returned to the house \ with amendments offered by Senators ] Johnson and Young, relating to the Ademption by the judgment creditor f-om the judgment debtor, which were adopted. The hill to regulate the hunting of fovos in the state w?6 killed by the adoption of the unfavorable report made by the committee on fish, game gnd forestry. Senator Bethea's bill to regulate at* torneys* fees in cases of notes, mortgages or other indebtedness or instruments of writing was passed at the , day session and sent to the house as | amended after the senate had refused to strike out the enacting words by a vote of 21 to 15. The bill provides that in such cases only a "reasonable" fee may be taken by attorneys and if the parties cannot ugree as to a "reasonable" fee the courts can decide. The bill is framed to prevent 10 per cent collections on promissory notes, etc. An amendment of Senator Watkins, which was adopted, struck out the clause where "contracts" had already been made. The general apropriation bill of the ways and means committee was sent to third reading upon motion of Senator Gross, chairman of the finance committee. The bill is still in the hands of the finance committee, but the debate always comes on third reading in the senate. The "bad check" bill of Representatives Sheppard and Barnett was advanced to third reading with the fight to come then. Senator Harrelson moved to strike out the enacting words, but withdrew this motion to let the bill be advanced. Representative Barnwell's measure to amend the law so as to allow mechanics to sell property they have re- | paired if their services have not been | paid for within two months, instead I of 12 as at present, was advanced to third reading. Senator Yo'ijig introduced a bill to amend Act. I?*. 105, approved March 13 ,1919, entitled "An act to authorize any or all incorporated cities and i towns within the state to levy and enforce an assessment upon abutting property owners for the purpose of paying for permanent improvements on their streets and sidewalks," and to confer additional power in relation i to special assessments and to pro- I vide for, etc. The leopard measure was also sent j to the senate without further opposition. In its amended form the bill provides for an annual tax of $250 on all dealer n cotton, grain, stocks, bonds and other commodities for future delivery upon commission. The license fee will not be charged, how- , ever, when actual delivery is had. The Richland county supply bill f was also among the number of meas- f ures given their third reading and v sent to the senate while the ways c and means committee bill to require f the levying of the three mill consti- r tutional tax for school purposes was I advanced from second to third read- \ ing, both without opposition. \ Representatives M. M. Johnson of 1 Camden and F. W. Toole of Aiken in- t troduced a bill to require all transient c dealers in merchandise, selling and v delivering goods by motor trucks to pay annual license fee of $i00 for * each truck load. The various county ^ authorities, under the provisions of the bill, would be empowered to re- t duce the annual tax from $100 to $50 t on small trucks. The bill was refer- 1 red to the ways and means committee. * 8 Senator Moise's bill to fix the pow- t ers of circuit judges at chambers also * occasioned a fight, especially upon , the part of Senator Laney, who de- j clared he had been fighting just such r bills to grant default judgments at j chambers for years and intended to t continue his fight to prevent any such v law. He said this was not the time v for such acts! After the amendment proposing that default judgments be f obtained at chambers was tabled and r other amendments offered by Senator u Moise adopted so as to clarify the c present law, the bill was passed and o sent to the house. v Senator Moore's bill to amend the 1' criminal code so as to provide for the " forfeiture of weapons to municipal!- t ties where persons are convicted of v carrying concealed weapons was ad- 0 vanced to third reading. d The house refused to concur in the s amendment of the senate to the J. 0. Williams cutout bill providing for ^ the use of spotlight when the lights f are extinguished within 200 yards of ^ an approaching vehicle and the senate j insisted on the amendment. A free conference will work out the differ- Q ences in the bill. a Senator Croeson introduced a joint c resolution to authorize the sergeant- v at-arms of the senate to employ and q direct such laborers as may be needed i< during the session of the general as- <] sembly in the senate chamber. 6 P To Improve Service. t The South Carolina Railroad Com- t mission has issued orders to the At- t lantic Coast Line railroad, instruct- J ing it to install a double daily pas- a senber service on the Walterboro L branch of the Atlantic Coast Line a between Ehrhardt and Green Pond. The trains are to be operated under s ftractically the same schedule as was f in effect*prior to the operation of the J.i mixed train Bervice about a year ago. t This service, according to the order, o is to be operated for 30 days as a test A out. 'J A Milt at Gaffney Given Charter. a The secretary of state chartered li the Alma Mills. Gaffney, with a capi- n t'l stock of $600,000. The mill will s manufacture cotton yarns, cloth and other textile products and generate i steam and electric power as well as J do a farming, grain mill and general p mercantile business. W. C. Hamrick n is president and treasurer and W. C. t Hamrick. Jr.. is secretary. o The Conway Building company was u chartered with a capital stock of $10.- v 000. Henry L. Scarborough is preBi- d dent. p St. George Banker on As&ay Board. Dr. A. R. Johnston, of St. Oearge, / hanker, merchant and farmer, has been appointed a member of the assay C commission of the United States and has received his commission. There are 15 members of the commission and the appotntment comes as a pleasant surprise to Dr Johnston and to his li friends. The duties of the commis- o sion are to visit the various mints n in the country and test the money ( being coined at them. s The appointment will not interfere t with Dr. Johnston's other duties. 1 1?John Bassett Moore, United Palace In The Hague, where the cour Wales. 3?President Harding slgnln NEWS REVIEW OF nilDOCUTCUCMTC uunnui i lvliiiu Airship Roma, Bought in Italy, Is Destroyed With Loss of Thirty-Four Lives. 'ROBABLY WAS DEFECTIVE Jenate Reservatlonists Busy With the Four-Power Treaty?Movement to Postpone Soldiers' Bonus Legislation?Irish Factions in Three Months' Truce. By EDWARD W. PICKARD rHIRTY-FOUR more lives have been sacrificed to America's infatuation 'cr foreign-built airships. If we must lave these craft. Is it not about time ve relied on our own designers and onstructors for them? Unless the Inormatlon avallnbie at this writing Is nisleading, the disaster that befell the toma near Hampton Roads last week vlll be found to be. In Its causes, cora arnble to that of the ZR-2 in Engand lust August. In both cases, ap arently, there were vital defects in onstructlon of which the builders vere cognizant. So far as investigation has revealed, he fa-U of the Roma was due to the reaklng of the controls that regulated the altitude of the airship. Despite he heroic efforts of her navigators and he frantic casting overboard of all allust by the crew, the huge bnlioon lunged downward from a height of ibout 400 feet. As she crashed against he ground she broke some high tenJon electric wires and at the same nonient the big gasoline tanks burst, n the resulting explosion and fire nost of tlie victims met a mercifully nstant death. Even If. the Roma had lot struck the wires, say army air serice officials, the men caught under the essel's gas bag and steel frame would lave burned to death, for the gasoline rotn the broken tanks would have Igilted from the engines. This fact may .vert possible blame for the using of rdinnry field gas In the Roma instead f tlie nonlnfiammoble helium gas, deeloped by tlie air service. All the lelium In the country was In the Roiia's bag when she was given a trial rip late In December, but as this was ranted for a coutempiateu long tour >ver the country next summer, It was Irawn out and the ordinary gas subtltuted. Although General Mitchell, head of he United States nlr service, now in lerlln, says the Itomu was perfect, here is reason to believe that he Is mistaken. Last summer Kenneth L. toberts witnessed a demonstration light of the balloon In Italy shortly fter she had been sold to America, nd he wrote for the Saturday Eveting Post a story of that flight In rhlch he brought out these points: "hat the gas bags were old and eaky; that the Italians wanted a calm lay for the trip; that they refused to all the ship over Mount Vesuvius, aparently fearing the heat of the craer; that they preferred sailing over he ocean, the air being more quiet here; that the ship reared, bucked, umped, and was buffeted about like feather In a cyclone; that the ship ad a tendency to nose downward at high rate of si>eod. It may be this new disaster will reult In the cancellation of the order or a Zeppelin for America to he built a Germany. General Mitchell says his craft Is not under way, "l>ecau8e f the numerous difficulties between iinerlca, the entente and Germany, 'hese difficulties center on whether fKnll rmt the* IntaQt fVTW> or kUIClRQ on u 11 ftv ?. i?v utvw* v j,v u old style. If America wants the itest, the entente must permit Germany to build airships, which the Veralllws treaty forbids." p RESIDENT HARDING Informed L the senate that he could not comply with Its request for the records, ilnutes, conversations, etc., relating o the four-power treaty, because most f the conversations and discussions ,ere quite outside the conference and i-ere without record. He added: "I ;o not believe It to be compatible with lubllc Interests or consistent with the \LL NOT CLEAR IN IRELAND, )ivided Opinion Over the Effect of the Three Months' Adjournment Recently Decreed. Dublin.?General satisfaction Is felt n southern Ireland over the decision f the Ard Fhels for a three months' djoumment. at the end of which the ienple will be asked to vote on a contltutlon, as well as on the Anglo-Irish re~ty. This opinion is not unanimous, how- j States member of Permanent Court of J t opened. 2?Burmese boat crews racl gthe co-operative marketing bill. amenities of International negotiations to nttelnpt to reveal Information and confidential conversations or discussions of which no record was kept, or to submit tentative suggestions or Informal proposals, without which the arrival at desirable International understandings would be rendered unlikely If not Impossible." Mr. Harding, however, emphatically assured the senate that there were no concealed understandings and no secret exchanges of notes. But the "Irreconcilable" senators are not satisfied and Insist that ratification must be hedged about with considerable reservation. Although President Harding adhered to his position that no reservation was necessary, the foreign relations committee wus Informed that he would not object to the one offered by Senator Brandegee If It was deemed best thus to facilitate ratification. This reservation reads: "The United States understands that It assumes no obligation either legal or moral, to malntaiu the rights In relation to the Insular possessions or Insular dominions of any of the other high contracting parties and that the consent of the congress of the United States shnll be necessary to any adjustments or understandings under articles one and two by which the United States Is to be bound In any way, and that there Is no obligation either legal or moral to give suoh consent." Naturally, Senator Johnson of California was not satisfied even with this, and he offered another more drastic reservation. But the administration senators said the Brundegee resolution was as far as they would consent to go, and the "stalwarts," like Kellogg and New, didn't want to make any concessions at all. Then Senator Lodge, after conferring with the President, j offered a substitute reservation sareguardlng congressional authority over the use of armed force. This was not liked by the more rudical members. CONSIDERATION of a sales tax for financing the soldiers' bonus was given consideration by a subcommittee of the house ways arid means committee, but no conclusions have been reached. Secretary of the Treasury Mellon was called on for further advice and said he still believes bonus legislation should he postponed, but that if a bill Is to be passed he would prefer some form of tax as against the Issuance of bonds. lie said that a sales tax would mean 2,000 additional employees, but that It could be administered. Petitions In opposition to a sales tax were circulated In the house last week nnd were signed by at least seventy members. It was asserted that fully one hundred could be counted on to vote against such a tax. Meanwhile a movement Is gaining headway to postpone bonus legislation altogether until the newly appointed foreign debt commission has ascertained the chances for the payment of Interest by foreign nations and decided concerning the funding of foreign debts Into long term securities. A number of n ? K?..a tha Vo well KUUWIl 1I1CU lltivc noitcvi ure *-??tlonal Republican club to oppose the granting of a federal bonus "to any soldier who cannot show a wound or who was not disabled In the service." THE foreign debt commission mentioned above, as named by President Harding, Is made up of Secretary of State Hughes, Secretary of the Treasury Mellon, Secretary of Commerce Hoover, Senator Iteed Smoot of Utah and Representative Burton of Ohio. The fact that all five are Republicans has aroused the Ire of the Democrats and the lntter In the senate declared they would not vote for the confirmation of the appointments of Smoot and Burton. NEW pay scales for the army, navy, marine corps, coast guard, coasi and geodetic survey and public health service have been arranged by the loint congressional service Day com mission and a bill providing for them ordered favorably reported to house and senate. For the fiscal year 1923 the new rate of pay for those six services will save the government about $13,000,000, and ultimately, It Is estimated. the saving will be $28,000,000 annually. The proposed rate Is below the present basis, which was fixed In 1920, but considerably above that established In 1908. The house appropriations commitever. Many heartily Indorse the convention's gratification at the preservation of the Sinn Fein's unity, but some staunch supporters of the treaty are disappointed and Inclined to ngree with John McEntee's declnred opinion that "the agreement was clearly a republican victory." One question much discussed In some quarters Is what Is going to happen to the treaty hill now before the Imperial parliament, which It Is contended Is shattered to a great extent by the Ard Fhels' decision. Intermifirkiiiil Inerlno on ?rori? r>f IVnPP ng for entertainment of Prince of tee, In one of Its economical spasms, reduced the estimates of the Department of Commerce to the extent of $3,080,801, and those of the Department of Labor by $1,227,712. PREMIERS LLOYD GEORGE AND POINCARE met prlvntely In France Sunday for the purpose of arranging the agenda for the Genoa conference on the economic and financial regeneration of Europe. There are reports that the conference may be postponed for several weeks. Of course the European nations are exceedingly desirous that the United States shall take part In the meeting, but this grows more unlikely as.time passes. Secretary Hoover, in a Washington's birthday address In Chicago, gave what might be considered an unofficial expression of the administration's views on this matter. Without becoming too specific, he made It plain that the United States could not be expected to lend assistance to the nations of Europe until they had worked out some of their present pressing problems, Including "unbalanced budgets, overtaxed peoples, large armies and an unbearable debt, both domestic and external?all bearing their fruit of Inflation und Instability." Mr. Hoover added: "We find ourselves much torn between an earnest desire to be of service and a rightful desire to keep ourselves free from matters to which we are not a party and which we cannot remedy; participation In which, nevertheless, would undermine our strength, oqr Influence and our ability to render real service In the future." fl '"pRUCE has been agreed upon by the A quarreling Irish?Free State sup- 1 porters on one side and republicans on ? the other. Ard Fhels, the convention ? of the Sinn Fein, on Wednesday ad- c jounved for three months, at the end * of wnlch period the people of the Is- 1 land will be called on to vote on a c constitution, and also ou acceptance of I the treaty with England. No election Is to be held until after that referen- 1 duin. Mlchuel Collins announced lie would resign the chairmanship of the provisional government If In tin# three 1 months the opposition gained control ? of the Dall Elreann. His ipajority ^ now Is exceedingly slender. One thou- I sand members of the Sinn B^eln met 8 with De Valera and formally organized the republican party, and plans were laid for a campaign In every d county against the Free State and the r proposed constitution. c THE resignation of Judge Kenesaw 3' M. Landis from the federal bench of the northern Illinois district is I cause for sincere regret, except per^ J haps on the part of baseball fanMH Though often spectacular in methot^H and speech, Judge Landis was alwaj^Ej fearless, Just and Impeccably hones^H and he had an uncanny ability to gcHS at the truth and a commendabl^E tendency to ignore unimportant ted^Hjj nlcallties. If these latter qualitlf^H were shared by the lesser Judiciary (^K the region where Judge Landls hifl been exercising his activities thet^H would be less cause to complain of the ^ prevalence of crime there and of mis- p carriages of Justice. \ o Representatives of 10 railway unions and of the United Mine a Workers of America met In Chicago tl and entered into a defensive alliance, g but there will be no sympathetic raii 21 strike on April 1, when the coal miners i< are expected to quit work. The agree- p ment, moreover, does not become op- tl erative until it has been ratified by all 81 the organizations. If any of the labor ij unions embraced In the agreement "is tl made the victim of unwarranted at- a tacks, or its Integrity is Jeopardized," b ways and means will be considered, t any action to be approved by each of r the 17 organizations. An executive tl committee, composer of the chief executives of all the unions, will make R( the necessary recommendations. n ? p WHAT may develop Into a new si political party was born In Chi- h' cngo last week when several hundred pi fanners, Socialists, union labor leaders c< and others started a movement for the election to congress of men and women of the working class. At present the (j participants In this movement are g) pledged to nonpartisan political ac- ^ tlon. Radicals of many types and de- jr grees, were present at the conference, t| but I. W. W.'s were not admitted. ? ? c< The correspondent of the Freeman's di Journal writes: di "The fact tlint the lenders of both tl parties were able to rise nbove their differences and seek ground for agree- jr tnent may l>e taken, one hopes, as a Vi good augury for the future. p, "One may Imagine that Griffith and ai Collins were not convinced by nrgu- tt ment that an early election was either g? an unwise or undesirable course, and ti they had, It would seem, to sink their p, personal views for the sake and In the jc hoi?e of unity." BRIEF NEWS NOTES WHAT HAS OCCURhED DURING WEEK THROUGHOUT COUNTRY AND ABROAD EVENTS OFJMPORTANCE Gathered From All Parta Of Tha Globe And Told In Short Paragraphs Foreign? Pope Plus announced the appointment of Monslgnor John J. Swint, of Weston, W. Va., as auxiliary bishop 3f the diocese of Wheeling, W. Va. The Genoa conference will open March 15 or 23 instead of March 8, is originally planned, it Is announced t Rome, Italy, because arrangements lave not yet been completed. Lady Feodora Glelchen, unmarried laughter of the late Admiral Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, died ecently In London. It Is stated in dispatches emanat ng from Dublin that the. Irish facions have come to an agreement thereby it is hoped that peace will be established. Several persons were wounded at Belfast in a fresh outbreak of firing on the East Side, said to have resulted from a vendetta against saloon keep3rs of that section having Sinn Fein sympathies. Military guards were stationed at all the saloons in York 3treet District. Nearly 12,000 miners in the Penarroya district went on strike recently in consequence of an announcement by ihelr employers that they intended to "educe the miners' wages 25 per cent, rhe strikers' attitude so far is quiet but they express determination not :o return to work, declaring it is impossible to live on diminished wages ivhile every article of consumption is increasing in price on account of the lew customs duties, says a dispatch 'rom Madrid, Spain. Peter Veregin, head of the Russia eligious sect knovm as the Buckhobiurs recently confirmed reports that le had suggested a plan whereby the children of the colong under ten years >f age, together with the aged and in'irm, be drowned as a protest against illeged exorbitant taxation. Onc6 rid if those unable to travel, Veregin proposed that his followers abandon their 'arms and wander over the country, ireaching the coming of Christ and livng as the "vagrant working class." A London dispatch says that Amerca joined in the praises of A. J. Balcur, head of the British mission at he Washington conference in his wel:ome to the homeland, when the Amercau ambassador, George Harvey, adIressed the Pilgrims' Society dinner it which three hundred persons were present. The duke of York represent. A 1 e n? 3 iv. .it... iu iuh rvym lamuy aau uie uiners ncluded ministers of the cabinet, civil ind military leaders and official and inofficial represenatives of the Ameri:an community. It was a "personal welcome" for a great pilgrim, accordng to Lord Curzon, in contract to the ilficlal welcome accorded Mr. Balfour >y the government luncheon recently. Washington? The senate failed to decide what it vould do with the resolution of Senitor Heflin, democrat, Alabama, proriding for an investigation in alleged jolitical activities of the Federal Relerve bank of Atlanta, Ga. Burton E. Sweet, Republican mem or of the house from the third Iowa listricl. announces he will enter the Republican primaries in June as a ardidate to success Senator Kenyon, vho will become a federal circuit udge. A movement to establish a prohi>ition bureau as a separau govemnentasrency dlstinc^roman3w^Ohe ra^i enterprises or completion ana peration. To write in the proposed contract definite guarantee to produce fer-. Ilizers In their finished form at a iven annual minimum tonnage; to lpitalize the operating company which 3 to he created for the purpose of suervising the Muscle Shoals operaIons; to revise the language of the o-called farmers' clause in order to lsure the delivery of fertilizers from tie producing plant to the consumers t a profit not exceeding 8 per cent ased on the cost of manufacture, hese are the three changes that Heny Ford agrees to make in his bid for le Muscle Shoals property. President Harding has informed the 3nato that he cannot comply with its *qnest for records of the four-power ncilfc treaty negotiations because no ich records ever existed and because e considered it incompatible with the ublio interest to reveal "Informal and jnf.'dciitial conversations." A resolution designed to bring about le recall from England of Ambassaor Harvey was introduced by Represntative Ryan, republican. New York, he measure proposes a congressional lvestigation of statements made by le ambassador while abroad. Breckinridge Long, of St. Louis, reantly filed a declaration of his candiacy for United States senator on the amocratic ticket. He was formerly lird assistant secetary of state. An inquiry by the army air service ito the whole question of the military alue of lighter-than-air craft is exacted to grow out of the Roma dis3ter. Officers fo the air service said lat such an inquiry would be necesiry because loss of the Roma had enrely upset training and operating rogram for that branch of the serve. Administration leaders In the senate cleared away many of the obstacles In the pathway of the four-power Pacific treaty by indicating that they would accept without a fight a blanket reservation drafted to cover the objections of those who oppose unreserved. ratification. E>*?/srencos between the Republicans of the b^nate finance committee and the hou"e ways and means committee over tariff valuation principles were recently aired at a three hours' secret conference without any tangible con-crete result. ' The Joint congressional service pay commission completed its work recently and ordered favorably reported to the house and senate a bill providing a new basis of pay for the personnel of the army, navy, marine corps, coast guard, public health service, and the coast and geodetic survey. The measure, its framers hope, will save the government ultimately a total of $28,600,000 annually in the pay of the six services based on the present strength of each. The condition of the wheat crop during the first half of February ranged from "generally good" in the Eastern section of the country to only fair in several of the middle Western states, according to a report by the department of agriculture. Conditions in the far Wesern states were said to be favorable. The state of the winter rye crop was reported as geneally good. Investigation by a special senate committee of his charge that officials of the Atlanta Federal Reserve bank and of the federal reserve board, had been responsible for a movement to curb his attacks, was recently proIn o rnanlntlnn In iaa a i couiuuuu iuuvaiulcu ju the senate by Senator Hefltn, Demo* crat of Alabama. Domestic? Governor Lee M. Russell, in a special message to the legislature at Jackson, Miss., charged the old line fire insurance companies which withdrew from the state last year following Institution of anti-trust legislation, with fostering the $100,000 seduction suit filed against him by Miss Frances Birkhead of New Orleans, his former stenographer. The Roma, largest semi-rigid aircraft In the world, made a careening swoop down from the clouds. She shuddered as her huge bag came into contact with high-voltage electric * wires 200 feet from the earth. Then there was a deafening roar and a towering sheet of flame. The giant turned turle and, keel in the air, crashed to earth at Norfolk, Va. Thirty-four of her human cargo?army officers and a few civilians?were thrown into or about the blazing wreck?and perished. Eleven others, some of them terribly injured, survived. Of ' the survivors three were not hurt. Such is the story of the greatest disaster in the history of the American army air service. As in the case of the fatal explosion of the ZR-2 over Hullenglan, last August, the airship was one purchased from a foreign government by the United States. The ZR-2 was purchased by the navy from Great Britain. The Roma was sold to the army by Italy. Milton Drury, former cotton mill worker, of Winona, Miss., a son of Mrs. Ada Drury Converse, whose partially burned body was found near Hazlehurst, about ten days ago, is being sought by Sheriff H. E. Ramsey, of Copiah county, for questioning in connection with the crime. With the arrival of four companies of Rhode Island coast artillery at Pawtucket, following the most serious rioting of the New England cotton mill strike, the city was very quiet. Chief of Police Talbert arrested a man at Concord, N. C., suspected of being Edward F. Sands, who is wanted in connection with the willing of William Desmond Taylor, the movie director, in California. Judge Morris, in the United States district court, Wilmington, Del., recently granted a dismissal of the complaint, with costs to the petitioners, 'l for a receiver for the Columbia GraphI ophone Manufacturing company. The wife of Rev. Thomas N. Denny, Jr., aged 33, dean of New Orleans College, Delaware, Ohio, has preferred charges against him for non-support. He disappeared last July, and she thought he had suicided. When she found he was alive, she filed charges of non-support against him. The Nebraska board of education has decided that instructors in any of the Nebraska normal colleges hereafter will be refused leaves of absence to study or attend the Universities of Columbia, Chicago and Northwestern, "because it has been shown that students at these institutions smoke cigarettes, especially the women." Supreme Court Justice Mullan of New York denied application of Edith Kelly Gould for an order vacating the divorce decree obtained In Paris some time since by Frank J. Gould. The court set forth that the action had cot been brought in good faith by the actress and that "the limit of her hope is to coerce the defendant." Fifl Potter Stillraan, father of Mrs. Stillman, who has been in the lime light for some time, died in the euourbs of Richmond, where he had recently gone from New York. The Nashville, Tenn., electric light plant was recently gutted by fire, with an approximate loss of one hundred thousand dollars. Lieut. Clifford E. Smythe of Chicago wrote his father after the first trial trip of the Roma in Washington, that it would be criminal to attempt to fly the dirigible unless some Improvements were made on the vessel. Two men and a woman plotted the murder of William Desmond Taylor, Los Anegeles film director, who was shot to death Febiuary 1, according to the reputed statement of Harry M. Fields, now under arrest at Detroit, Mich. An alliance agreement has been adopted by representatives of more than two million union coal miners, railroad workers and longshoremen, declaring for "closer co-operation of our forces which will operate to more effectively protect" the union workers in wage struggles.