Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V THE NEW He was a country Senator, and when he _ took the floor TlSe eyes of fellow members slowly turned to look him o'er; His hair was long, his voice was loud, and whiskers decked his chin. His "newness" advertised itself before he could begin. He paused to gather "dignity, with handkerchief in hand. His movements were deliberate, but very far from "grand." And well they knew, from former years. about what he would say. But still they couldn't smile in quite the same old way. "I'm not a ready speaker, gentlemen," he slowly said^ ^ "Ana eloquence nas m-M.a .>t-i uuuu^n mo its lustre shod. But if you'll take my simple life, and its tv brief pages scan, I think you'll all agree that I have been $ an honest man. I represent constituents in this groat body here. And I expect to serve them faithfully from year to year." He paused in awkward silence, 'and stroked his board of gray. But still they couldn't smile in quite the same old way. IfrV ; ?. \ By Curtis I During the first two years of our experiment in raising ostriches in Dampier Land?from 1900 to 1902?we had to depend for" our supplies on the j ''pearlers" of King Sound. There are as yet no regular means of +Y?QT>cT*r?i-t;jtinr> herp* hut we had a credit account with the general store at Cossack, two hundred and ten miles down the coast, and made an arrangement with the skipper of one or another of the pearl-fishers to bring us flour, sugar and canned goods, and land them at a little log shed on the beach not far to the west of the mouth of the Fitzroy River. The distance from our inland ranch - ?fifteen or sixteen miles?is too great for signalling with rockets or guns. We could only conjecture when the i . pearler might put in there. Sometimes her visits would be a month, sometimes three months apart; and the only way to find out was for one or another of us to go down to the beach. On an evening in March I set off to ' make this trip with our one "brumby" pony. We had been having some " trouble with the black-fellows up the ^ , Fitzroy; and they had recently thrown lp; into our stockaded yard a curious hieroglyph picture, scrawled on a kanga. roo's thigh-bone, which we had no a ' great difficulty in deciphering, as a threat to kill and eat three white men in the coarse of two moons?and the p- inference was easy that we were the W three. - >' v. Dampier Land and the Fitzroy Ri\ er district all the way up to Port Darwin are now almost the only region in the world where whites are in danger from aboriginal savages. Here may Lvv.:;- still be found black tribes of the true I*? stone age, armed only with spears, "kylies" and flint axes. It is one of the last haunts of primitive savagery. Provided as we were with modern breech-loaders, we stood in no special - - fear of these blacks, and took no notice of their "compliments" on the kangaroo bone, save to keep a sharp .watch. They never showed them;. selves near our ranch. The only danc ger from them, we concluded, was that they might surprise some one of us out alone or throw their spears or kylies from the cover of a thicket. These Fitzroy and Lake Flora blacks throw a spear thirty or forty yards with considerable accuracy; and as for their kylies, or boomerangs, the distance at which . one may get a rap on -? ?-- i J * tki. tc I Uie uettu iruiu tins IJUCCI aiiaouc 10 <u- i together problematical. With all these North Australian blacks, however, the white settler has one great advantage; he can travel anywhere by night in well-nigh perfect safety?except from snakes. For owing to superstitious fears of evil , spirits, "Jacky" is generally found ly- ( ing up close by his fire during the hours of darkness. Sight or sound of anything moving about him at night affrights him, and he crouches, groveling, trembling, and muttering strange incantations. So we usually made these trips down to the coast by night?if possible, when there was moonlight. The March heat, too, is much less oppressive by night March is the first month of autumn in this southern half of the world. After descending from the plateau, my route lay through a tract of lowland flats, covered with high grass and a sparse growth of "flooded gums," the roosting-places of thousands of sulphur cockatoos and bronze pigeons'. Everywhere on these flats the sear, ripe grass came to my brumby's withers; and While ambling through it here, he broke into a bandicoot's hole and went lame. All these brumbies are addicted to shamming lameness; but I soon found that the little chap had given uis iieai luie icg <t scxiuus wrench, and was in no condition to go on. My first thought was now to go back to the ranch and lead my pony. It > would have been far better for me if I had done so. But I was already six or seven miles on my way down to the sound. "We needed to know about our supplies, and I decided to leave the pony hitched out in the grass and go on. So securing the brumby, I shouldered my gun and set off afoot, my provision for the journey being merely a "snack" of bread and cheese in a leather wallet. I had proceeded but a little way across'the green flats when the moonlit sky darkened. Clouds had risen, and soon a hollow growl of thunder burst forth. Within three minutes it was raining copiously. The downpour continued for half an * ' * MEMBER. It was his m- Idon effort, and. while he strove to' speak. His voice would sometimes quaver, and then again would squeak; He talked against monopoly and overreaching trusts? They recognized in h:s remarks the old reformers' thrusts. Ke cried against corruption, its baneful iust, and then He said they should be dealt with by true and unright men. They watched him as with fervor his form would bond and sway. But still they couldn't smile in quite the same old way. It was the old. familiar speech?they used .to call it "cant." And used to laugh within their sleeves to hear that kind of rant; Eut somehow when this new man spoke, although he was uneouth. They seemed to realize that he was deal ins wun uic ii u in. Some glanced about with furtive looks, some trembled just a bit. For well they knew those shafts at last had found a place to hit; They were, of course, ridiculous, those things he tried to say. Dut still they couldn't smile in quite the same eld way. ?Fuck. !Y BLACKFELLOWS # Vlulhall. i hour; nor did the gum trees afford much shelter, for Australian foliage has a notable tendency to turn edgewise to the sky. This mattered little, however, for the thick high grass now wet me to the skin at every step; but I felt somewhat concerned for my cartridges. Another shower, even more violent, succeeded the first, heralded by a blinding finch and a roar of thunder. In the course of a few minutes the clay flats were flooded. What was even worse a mist rose, following the showers, and it became quite impossible to keep to my course or find the gums previously seen across the lowlands. Gladly would I now have retraced my steps to the pony and returned to the ranch; but before I was really aware, I lost my way, and was hopelessly "bushed." Not to make bad worse, I sat down, with my back to a gum, to wait for daylight; and wet and uncomfortable as I was, I presently fell asleep sitting there. Day had dawned when I waked, but that dense mist still enveloped everything. Apparently the sun was up, yet for the life of me I couid not tell which was east. For an hour or more I sat there, hoping that the fog would lift, and meanwhile made a frugal breakfast off my bread and cheese. My general impression was that the sea lay to my right; and I finally set off in that direction, walking fast for an hour or two. The thick grass thinned out at last, and I came to a little creek, swollen and turbid. "It is all right, now," I thought to myself. "I will follow this creek down," for I had no doubt that it flowed into-the sound somewhere t? the westward of our supply shed. Then for fully three hours I followed that creek, expecting every minute to come out on the seashore. At last I erew auite bewildered. I could not understand it, for I knew I had come a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles. Presently the mystery was cleared. Right ahead of me I suddenly saw a broad channel of deep, swiftly flowing water, into which my wandering creek debouched. It was, it could be, nothing else than the Fitzroy river, which at its nearest point is twenty miles to the northeast of our ranch. There is no other such large stream in north west Australia. And all the time I had thought that I was going to the west! Now, at. least, I knew where I was; and as I was still determined not to give up my trip, I ate what was left of my food, and set off to follow the river to salt water. I had gone but a little way, however when I came to a deep lagoon, or arm of water, which opened back from the river. A strong current was setting into it, too strong to cross: and I followed it back and round for a mile or more, and then found that it broadened in a large pool three or four hundred yards in diameter. As I stood looking across It, I espied what looked like a log hut on the farther side: and thinking that this might be the camp of white hunters, naturalists or prospectors, I at first "cooeed" across, and then, receiving no answer, went round the pool. It proved to be a log cabin, evidently constructed by whites, but had been for some time deserted; grass and a few young oats were growing about the doorway. Except a mildewed copy of the London Times and two beef tins, there was nothing whatever indoors; and I was about to proceed when, glancing across the pool, I saw four black fellows, armed with spears and kyiies, going along the other shore, one behind another, all bent forward and moving quickly, as if tracking game. I watched them a moment; and it then occurred to me, far more suddenly than was agreeable, that I had myself passed along there but a few minutes before on my way to the hut, and that I was the game. The conviction was unmistakable, and gave me a most unpleasant thrill. I felt anything but certain as to my cartridges. But I was not long reflecting that it was best to keep those spear and kylie fellows on the farther side of the pool. So, stepping out in sight, I cocked my carbine and shouted across. All stopped short and stared at me. Then I saw one of them half-raise his hand? and all four dropped out of sight in the grass. To let them know I was armed, ag well as to try my cartridges, I took aim at the trunk of a large gum-tree over there, and fired. The well-crimped cartridge proved effective, and following the report I heard the bullet sput against the trunk of the gum. Instantly the blacks sprang to their feet with a defiant "Ooo-arrh!" and disappeared among the trees. But there had been an accent of exultant hostility in the shout which made me think there might be more to come of it.. 1 now to'ok serious thought as to what I had better do, and was not long in deciding that our ranch would be a good place for me?before they raised the whole black country! I knew the general direction of our place from the rjiver, and striking into a five-mile-an hour jc-j, I soon lelt hut and pool behind. I had not gone far. however, when I found myself growing exceedingly weary. I had not eaten much for twenty-four hours; and falHng asleep in wet clothes the previous night had been very unwise. I had felt feverish all the morning, and now headache and giddiness beset me. I kept on for an hour, however, coming at last to rocky uplands, where lay great numbers of immense boulders of mica schist. Some of these were as large as a small house. I climbed on one of them and sat down, where the drooping limbs of a gum brushed the top of it. I felt neither energy or care for what might happen. To go on seemed insupportable exertion; an unconquerable impulse to lie down came over me?and I must have dropped asleep there. The sound of low voices roused me, and raising my head off the hard rock, I saw something which instantly awoke me. j A little way back on my trail were what looked to be ten or twelve skeletons, stealing forward. These skeletons carried shields, spears and kylies, however. They were black fellows, painted according to their custom for war or a corroboree, outlining their ribs and other bones in white daub. The pendent foliage of the gum had prevented them from seeing me. I drew back the hammer of my carbine, and under other circumstances it would have been amusing, at the click, to r>ee those skeleton fellows stop short and look about them. They saw me now; but instead .of throwing their spears, they dropped in the grass and wriggled away like snakes?in dread of the white man's deadly rifle. Watching them disappear, I slid dowm from the rock and made off as fast as I could. By this time It was three o'clock of a hot and lowery afternoon; the mists had wholly lifted. My head ached very severely; but I went on for two hours or more, over sterile, rocky hills to the west of the Fitzroy. Toward ^A T A/mi 1 /I ooo fVio riror 1AW_ - cu^ 11V1 LU^OOl X V.VU1U OVU lUV I 1 T VI A\J TT lands and the clumps of lofty, flooded gums which marked its course. I was thus enabled to keep to the direction in which I knew our ranch lay. But it was evidently a long way off still; and as evening drew on, I grew quite discouraged, as much from illness and lack of strength as fear of my. pursuers. My plight, indeed, was an unenviable one. If I went on after nightfall I was almost certain to be "bushed", again, and if I lay down and fell asleep, the black fellows might steal up and spear me. But coming before long to a brook, I hit on a ruse for throwing them off my trail. I first crossed the brook, and went on for fifty or sixty paces, then came back on my own tracks and waded along the bed of the brook for a hundred yards or so, and finally emerged in a thicket of scrub and weeds on the bank. Here I determined to lie up till morning. Night set in; the moon was not yet up. Bandicoots were scurrying about, giving vent to their harsh squeaks, but otherwise nothing was stirring; and after lying there in much discomfort for some time. I lapsed first into one uneasy drowse, then another, and another, for several hours. A splashing of feet in the brook roused me at last, and I raised myself to peer out from my covert. The clouds had broken away, the moon was up; and there was my painted pursuers again, still looking for me! Little trail as I left, they had folloed on it to the brook and crossed over, but were now at a loss. For some time they stood, making signs to one another, without speaking; and anything more weird than their strange white-outlined bodies, like so many walking skeletons, I have never seen. With my gun well in hand, I lay in the thicket and watched them. After coursing about for a time, recrossing the brook qnce or twice, they moved away in the direction in which I had been travelling. Clearly, in spite of their usual dread of darkness, they were spending the night hunting me; but my ruse had bothered them. The heated air had turnecf cooler and my head felt clearer, but I judged it better to remain there till daybreak; for I looked for the black fellows to come back presently. They did not show themselves, however; and as soon as the east grew bright I set off, and in the course of half an hour reached the height of land ahead, whence I discerned the little dome shaped mountain and yellow cliffs to the west of our ranch. I had not quite shaken off the black fellows, however, for as I descended the hills, a confused distant shouting was borne to my ears, and on a bare hilltop, a mile or more to the southward, I caught sight of several of them brandishing their kylies and beating them on their shields. By way of a parting salute, I sent a bullet bumming over their heads. That was the last I saw of them. On reaching the ranch, I found my two partners in much anxiety as to my fate. One of them had just come in from a trip down to the "beach, and had led home the pony, which he had found hitched out by the trail, as I had left him. I had covered a distance of fully eighty miles, and a number of days passed before I recovered from the effects of the journey. The experience taught me never to set off again by night or day without a compass. Beyond doubt these black neighbors of ours had intended to put in execution their threat to kill and eat a white man. If they could have surprised me, they would probably have done so. None the less, I was very glad I had not found it necessary to shoot any of them, or open a deatnaccount with their tribe. Two of them have already come to our place of their own accord, and in time we shall no doubt establish friendly relations with them.?Youth's Companion. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. I Four thousand and sixty-one muscles have been observed in the body of a moth. It has been figured out that 'the British empire is sixteen times larger than all the French dominions, and forty times larger than the German empire. In 1562, the first proposal to banish music from church services -was made by the Council of Trent, on the grounds that the style of music had become too frivolous. The largest bu-llfrog ever caught in Delaware was captured at New Castle near the idle plant or tne iNauonai Tube Company by Frank Beckett. The batrachian was 17 inches long and 31-2 inches across the back. Its skin will be mounted. Lotis Newberger, an attorney of Indianapolis recently paid an angry farmer $46 for running over and killing with an automobile four hogs which were being driven along a country road. The machine was damaged to the extent of $200. Farmers occasionally receive enforced justice at the hands of reckless autoists. Our game of golf, or golf, as it was formerly called, was a popular sport in England and Scotland about the beginning of the seventeenth century. It was played by the nobility, and was the favorite pastime of Prince Henry, son of James I. Golf sticks were then called "bands," and golf balls were made of leather and stuffed with feathers. The principle of the game was practically the same then as it is now. A quaint character passed away the other day in the person of H. C. Blirm, who for more than sixty years was a member of the Shaker colony at East Canterbury, N. H., and had filled all the important offices in the community as trustee, elder and minister. He edited several Shaker periodicals, and j was widely known as a Shaker author. During his early life in the colony he learned the printer's trade, and throughout his active years he directed this branch of the community's activities. Locusts are devastating Southern Algeria. The sw%rms are so great as almost to defy imagination. It is not easy to conceive of an almost solid phalanx of insects 125 miles long by six miles wide. Unfortunately the devastation which such myriads of voracious insects must create in vegetation is not so difficult to appreciate. Whereever the host has passed nothing green exists. Even the houses are becoming uninhabitable. The Oran Province seems doomed for this year.?New York Tribune. In Nice, Italy, a system of small sewers, from 30 to 40 centimeters in diameter, has recently been introduced, and the difficulty of cleaning them has led to the use of dogs for that purpose. The dogs are trained to go through the sewers carrying a cord with which a brush can be drawn to and fro. In England electric engineers have for some time past made use of ferrets for installing cables in small tubes. The ferrets are sent through the tubes carrying strings tied to their tails. Afterward the strings are utilized to pull the electric cables into position. The Rise in the River. It is little short of astonishing to see how little water is required to float the southern river steamers, a boat loaded with perhaps a thousand bales of cotton slipping along contentedly, where a boy could wade across the stream. Not long ago, however, the Chattahoochee got too low for even her light draught commerce, and at Gunboat Shoals the steamer grounded. As the drinking water on board needed replenishing, a deckhand was sent ashore with a couple of water buckets. Just at this moment a northern traveler approached the captain of the boat and asked him how long he thought they would have to stay there. "Oh, only until that man gets back with a bucket of water to pour into the river," the captain replied. Presently the deckhand returned, and the stale water from the cooler was emptied overboard. Instantly, to the amazement of the traveller, the boat began to move. "Well, if that don't beat thunder!" he gasped. The fact was, that the boat, touching the bottom, had acted as a dam, and there was soon backed up behind her enough water to lift her over the j shoal and send her on down ;.\c : stream?Harpers Weekly. ' \ -.53 : ?; Vet. * ; Palmetto State News; | f V f ^ < Held for Death of Negro. David L. English, a salesman at | Hartsville, was taken to Union under arrest charged with being accessory to I the murder of Mose Hughes, a negro, found dead in Tiger river. A warrant also has been issued for John Richard English, a brother, charged with being implicated in the same crime. * * * Club Raided by Constables. A few days ago state constables raided the Eagle's club rooms at Greenville and seized a refrigreator | full of beer and some other drink! ables. The seizure has caused some dissat' isfaction in view cf the fact that ! other clubs of similar nature are allowed to keep 'Refreshments" for their members. The Eagles is an order similar to the Elks, and the mem! bfers will probably make some trouI ble fo* the constabulary on account of the raid. * * Dead Bridegroom Well Known. W. M. Brown, who was shot and kiled at Bessemer City, N. C., by John Kincaid, as the former with his bride cf a short time, was waiting for a train, is well known in Spartanburg county. His father is a farmer of the Cannon's Camp Ground section. The report of the homicide, it is ! said, created a great deal of comment I at Cowpens, where Brown worked in a cotton mill prior to his residence at Bessemer City. There Is a family of Browns prominent in the Cowpens section, but W. M. Brown is not a member of that family. * "Hub" Evans Tongue-Lashes Lyon. Ex-Chairman "Hub" H. Evans of the state board of Bispensary directors, in an address before the people of Newberry county announcing his candidacy for the legislature, vigorously assailed J. Fraser Lyon and Niel Christensen of the dispensary investigating committee, and gave the lie to many charges ' and insinuations which have been made against him as a director of the state dispensary. Mr. Evans' speech will ho doubt cause a great deal of comment throughout the state and in other states on account of the prominence of all the parties concerned. * * * To Build New Electric Line. Promoters of the proposed electric line from Spartanburg to Aiken via Glenn Springs are working on their plans in a quiet way and it is said that before a late date they will have an interesting announcement to make to the public. During TSe present season the need j of such a line has been manixestea in several ways, and this, it is said, J I has impressed the owners of the resort with the necessity of better facilities for transporting intended guests and has stressed the desirability of such a line as the promoters have in view. * Institute Re-Elects Faculty. A meeting of the board of com- j missioners of the Cedar Springs Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind was held the past week, at wLich the report of Superintendent N. F. Walker was submitted. The affairs of the schodT wdre. found to be in a high btate of efficiency and the good work of the school has gone forward with great success during the past twelve months. The faculty was re-elected with the exception of two members, who did not offer for their positions for another term. Miss Pattie Tomason, who was one of the two, has accepted a position with a similar school at Philadelphia, and will leave within the month for her new field of labor. Marcus Pays Death Penalty. William K. "Marcus, convicted of brutally murdering his wife on the government reservation, . Sullivan's Island, was legally executed by hanging in the Charleston county jail yard. Marcus was 42 years old, a native of Xenia, Ohio, and had deserted a wife and five children before coming to Charleston, where he committed bigamy by marrying Margaret Stone. He enlisted in the artillery corps, but was dishonorably discharged after three months' service. After leaving wife No. 2 for two years he returned last fall and on the night of April 14 secured an interview with the woman and stabbed her to death with a previously sharpened ice pick. J fh. He proteased religion &uu wcut iv ^uv > scaffold without a tremor, giving out a statement that he had repented and expected to be forgiven. Several hundred people witnessed the execution, which was the first hanging of a white man In Charleston county in fifty years. * * Heavy Rains Damage Crop. The heavy rains during the past week throughout the state have caused considerable damage to cotton, the extent of which cannot be estimated. The condition of the crop in South ? $ -1 - - v.'-:-; '.,. '.. : \ Carolina is at least 20 per cent below the same period last year. There were frequent and some very heavy rains during the week. The rainfiall was quite evenly distributed and was very generally in excess of the week's normal amount in all parts of the state. A few localities only had less than normal rainfall. The soil everywhere is saturated. Low lands and swamps have much surface water on them. Except small areto in the western central and the northwestern counties where the week's rainfall was less than an inch, the weekly amounts ranged from 1 inch to ow 5 inches. ? * t?IUi J J_ (uesiruouve jauusiurms uccuncu tu a few western and central counties, and high winds, accompanying thunderstorms did much damage to cotton and other crops. In the lower section of the state, where the rainfall has been heaviest, cotton is in the grass, but in the upper sections the crop is in better condition. * Tillman Using Pitchfork. A Columbia dispatch says: When, the democratic executive committee* mapped out a schedule for the candidates for the various state offices, including candidates for the UnitedStates senate and congress, Senator B. A. Tillman announced that he would not speak if his time was lim ited. At that time he had opposition in the personage of Colonel W. W. Lumpkin, and it was decided to have N a campaign of his own, and choose his own places of speaking. Colonel Lumpkin withdrew after attending several of the meetings, which left a clear field for the senator. Lumpkin's withdrawal, however, did not change Senator Tillman's plans, and accordingly he has been making & ' speech every day except Sunday for the last four weeks in an efTort to save the dispensary as a state Institution. +Vin conQ+nr'c Intftr vviieiuci ui uui iu& ~ ference in state issues will have the effect of electing a sufficient number of members to the general assembly ' tcyetain the state dispensary is an uncertain question, but it is safe to say that the revelations made by the legislative investigating committee ^or the past two years have developed '."0. widespread opositioru to state control " . Aof the liquor traffic, and the fight will be at least close, if indeed the Institution is not abolished by the forth- ' coming general assembly. MURDER MYSTERY CLEARED UP. Negro Now Serving Life Sentence 'i Also Slew Atlanta Policeman. The mystery surrounding the mur- ''.5 der cf Policeman R. L. Albert, who ^ was assassinated in Atlanta nine ^ years ago, has at last been solved. -1 The assassin has been located.. The assassin was a negro. His name is Jim Shephard and he is now serving a life-time sentence in the Geor. - >1 gia state penitentiary for anotie* y'Jl murder. This felon, with two murder? to rij|gj his charge, has told his story. In fact f he told it at the time it happened, but to those who kept the secret . ga On the morning of July 13, IS97, ^ Officer Albert was patroling the beat on which is the Broad street bridge. At daylight four negroes, among " j whom was Jim Shephard, were shooting craps under an arc light. The policeman saw them and ran toward them. The negroes tried to run away, but the policeman was in time to seize two of them. There was a scuffle in which the officer drew his I pistol. Shephard was one of the negroes who had not been seized. When he saw that his two pals were abou* ' to get shot he drew a pistol and fired at the officer, the bullet taking effect. Officer Albert released his held on . I his prisoners and returned the fire of Jim Shephard. There was a chase for a few yards when the negro lost his hat and the officer fell (lead upon the bridge. It will be remembered how the detectives kept tnat nat as a clew. This is the story that Jim Shephard went to his home and told on the morning of the murder. At that time ? he lived with his father and mctheion Grant street. Tim Shephard left the city that game day on the advice of his relatives, and went to Coweta county, * near Senoia, where he stopped with 3 his cousin, George Mathis. To Matthis Jim told the same story of how he fy had killed the policeman that he had * * .; told his father and mother in Atr lanta. From Coweta county Jim went to ^ Meriwether county, where he was hired by a man named Evans until 1905. In 1905 Shephard killed another negro, Jim Cofield, who was his brotherin-law. For this crime he was found - * ? in guilty End given a me ocuvcuvc ?? the penitentiary. He is now serving that sentence in the Dade coal mines. The next move will be to have Shep- <, hard brought to Atlanta from the coal mines, so that he can be tried . for the murder of Officer Albert He may then tell who were his pals on the morning that Officer Albeit was assassinated. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, told the graduating class of 1,136 members that the nation is drifting toward a great V> economic or political change. ; -jit