The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, May 22, 1902, Image 1
VOL. XVI.
WORSE AND WORSE, [i
i
A Stream of Stene and Mud Half .
i i
a Mile Wide. L
' i
11
PARTICULARS FROM ST. HERRI!, i
j i
(
TIiouhhimIm of IV(?i?lo art* Killed | 1
on the Island* liy the luiva ;
\
That 11ii11n Down Moulttnin
stili>.
t
A dispatch from Fort do Franco 1
says the I'nited States government
tug Potomac left there for the island s
of St. Vincent where conditions are reported
to he worse. La Soufriere. on x
St. Vincent, was in full eruption May '
10. A stream of stone and mud half
a mile wide was then issuing from the t
volcano. Stones two inches in diam- (.
eter fell twelve miles awav. At ,
Kingston, iho capital of the island, *|
the ashes were two inchs deep. Seven )
hundred dead were reported Sunday, j
May 11. It Ib estimated that the to- |
tal number of deaths on St. Vincent j j.
reaches two thousand. Most of the |
victims are said to he Carib Indians. |
Seven estates on the island have been
burned to ashes, and it is authenti- j
caljy reported t hat two earthquakes
occurred. It isbelieved the submarine | y
cables at S". Vincent have been broken v
ny me disturbances. The present !,,
volcanic eruption on St. Vincent is ?
tlie lirst, since 1812. ' (
I.OOT1NO TIIK I)ICA D.
The dispatch further says the tug s
Potomac cruised along the coast of !"
Martinique. Slie encountered an inky j 1
black column of smoke which made it I
necessary for her to go live miles out r
of her course. Words fail to describe 11
the present situation at St. Pierre. A 1
small dctatchment of French troops
is making elTorts to inter the dead,
although the government seems to he
strikingly unconcerned as to what is ,
done in this direction. The looting j
of the dead has begun already. While f
coming to Fort de Fiance the Potomac j
picked up a boat containing live col- |
ored and one white man whose pockets s
were tilled with coin and jewelry, t he ^
latter evidently stripped from t he (in- r
gers of the dead. Lieutenant H. II. (]
McCormick, the commander of the .,
Potomac, arrested these men and s
turned them over to the commander (.
of the French cruiser Suchpt for pun- j
ishment. The Potomac also brought ,
a ton of supplies to Martinique. A s
famine here is imminent. The north- (1
ern sect ion of t he island is depopulat- (
cd.
IIUT FEW UODIHS FOUND. (
Strange to relate, in view of the 11
number of inhabitants of St.. Pierre I
who were swept to death by the vol- N
catdc waves from Mont l'eleo, on %
Thlirsd.l V l:lKt.. vcrv ( nrnoc !? >? .? 1
*' ?J "?" I
been found by those who are en?ra^e(l | 0
in the work of cremating the dead :l
bodies. This is due to the fact that
the most populous quarters of the
town are burled under a thick layer of
cindered lava which apparently entirely
consumed the bodies of the vie- 1
thus. Public interest centres in the 5i
stories of the survivors and in the ef- 1
forts being made to succor the rcfu- J
gees.
A woman named Laurent , who was (
employed as a servant at St. IMerrc *
in the household of M. (Jabrel, and c
who was among those taken to t he hos- 1
pital In this city, in describing her 0
experiences, said that on the day of (
the terrible disaster she heard a loud 1
report and thereupon fainted. When 1
she regained her senses, a few hours v
later, she was horribly burned, and, ^
^ glancing around, she saw two mem- 1
hers of the Gabriel family still alive 11
but they died before assistance could 1
Teach them. Mille. Laurent, although v
she lived for some time after being 51
taken to the hospital and was con- 1
scions while under the care of physi- 1
elans, filed without being able to im- )
part any additional Jnformation con- 1
corning the catastrophe. '
STKANOK SIGHTS.
The path of the volcanic torrent (
'which swept over St. Pierre is marked ,
out in a strange manner. The vicinity
(Of the shore where vessels anchored
was swept by a whirlwind of volcanic
gas, which ripped, tore and shattered
.everyt hing In its passage, but left few
traces of cinders behind. On the oth
cr hand the fort, centre and adjourning
parks of St. Pierre sire burled under
:a thick bed of cinders which consumed
everything beneath It. Thescenes
^within the dead city are strange and
grueeomo, says the dispatch. In the
section of the, city known as the Moul<egc,
Sign of lire is visible, but j
evorvtlli'ltf seems t o have rent
and scattered as though by a tornado. ,
The iron Wlsteads in t he hospitals are i
i twisted, but boar no mark of iieat. ;
':Tl)Qjl\pdclothc8 and all textiles in tlie ^
hospital simply vanished. About two \
hundred corpses have been found in ^
the streets of St. Pierre, most of them |
lying face downward. The central
quarter of the town and the fort are
buried several yards under cinders. In
the neighborhood of the creek, sev- j
eral houses were found Intact, but .
their inhabitants were all dead and ,
appeared to have been killed by light- |
nlng. Here the bodies were lying, |
sitting and reclining in curiously life- (
like attitudes. (
THE IHHA8TKU DUSCRIHKD. |
Describing the destruction of t lie Is- I
land city a correspondent says that I
last Monday week Mount Pelee poured ,
j forth a stream of molten lava 20 feet J
higty and half a mile wide. Its pro- 1
gross was appallng. Rushing down i
the dry bed of Klvlcro Itlanchc It I
reached the sea. The force of the 1m- f
" ' ftyi i ? . r .~
pact was such that Lhosea recoiled for
100 feet for miles along the western
oast. Loud detonations followed at
hurt Irregular intervals, absolutely
iw-lnsplrlng and so loud that they
.von-heard .'100 miles awa.\. At night
he volcano crater was a mass of lurid
lames which shot high up over the
maintain, while all the time the canlonading
went on. It continued at
ntervals on Tuesday and Wednesday.
)n Thursday morning it was relativcy
still. St. Pierre was as usual, early
istir and business was partly going on
ibout 7 o'clock, when a.sort of wltlrlvind
of steam, boiling mud and tire
aiddenly swept with incredible rapidly
over the city and roadstead. At
>nco the town was in a blaze. The
ire seemed to run overall. The ships
vere instantly canted over and began
imultaneously to burn and sink In t he
ea, which was then raging cauldron.
The whole destruction had taken place
vithin less titan 20 minutes of the
rupt ion.
m.'itnixo nonius,
in the destroyed city of St. Pierre,
lie work among the ruins is being
ontinucd in an unsatisfactory inanier.
savs a Port <!< l<Varliviv, t??l, in
I'hc Herald. The dead arc Ik-Iu^
turned, the pyres lab tig fed with petroeum
and tar. (Jreat lires are. kept
iur. which at night light up t he entire
si and, and which, being seen at St.
Alicia, led to the belief that Kurt de
'ranee bad burned.
Although thousands have tteeii
turned, many still remain to be creuated.
Searchers, while walking
hrough t lie ashes, often step upon
that appears to in; a charred pillar
if stone, only to learn, as It. yields
[tuesomely under foot, that it is the
runk of another unfortunate.
Some of the walls of t he houses that
till stand, crumble and fall at touch,
iomc idea of the terrible heat that#
toured down from Mont l'elee may bo
tad when it is known that the iron
oilers of t In- Prinolle sugar mills were
uultcd as though they had been put#
hrough a furnace.
T1IK ISLAND TKKMULKS.
No persons have us yet been able to
pproach within eight miles of the
lew crater of the Sonfriers volcano,
tut, judging from what can he seen
nun a considerable distance the old
like at tlie summit, of the mountain
ins disappeared. The numerous tisures
in t he mountain's sides continue
o throw out vapcr and the subteranean
murmuringsand tremblings inlieate
continued unrest. During t.he
fternoon of Monday ;i dense volume
team and smoke rose from the volano
and the whole island was covered
?y a peculiar mist. The inhalation ot
loxious vapors here is increasing I bo
pread of sickness. Starvation threatens
the poorer classes of the alllicted
list i let.
Nearly every remainingnegro hut in
Jarib county contains decayed liodies,
Ltid the horrible stench isdriving penile
away. Mutilated bodies are Lied
vith ropes and dragged to the trenches
vhere they tire buried. Sometimes
indies are cremated. The local govrntnent
is feeding and sheltering
ibout :t,ooo refugees.
DKSTUOYKl) IN TKN MINCTBS.
The correspondent of The London
rimes at Paris, M. Deiilawits, sup)led
Ills paper tliis morning witli an
iccount of the St. Pierre disaster,
.elegraphed to him by a friend from
<'ort dc France, Martinique, under
Thursday's date, by way of the island
>f Malta, it says: "For three weeks
Mount i'elee had been vomiting clouds
if smoke, but the smoke scorned so
lormal that It was permissible for
wen those were inclined to look on the
lark side not to dread a catastrophe.
\t, fort de France, where the agitaion
of Mont Pclec, attracted, as it
vent on much attention and anxiety
vhich existed gradually eied down,
May 5 a violentcruptlan of mud, hot
ishes having been mingled with water
n the crater, overwhelmed (luerin's
vorks, killing twenty-three persons,
md Llie river in the north of the
sland, now swollen by a muddy t.or ent,
noisily overflowed. On May H,
vhlle there were still deliberations gong
on at Fort de France and St.
Pierre, where the night had passed in
iriguish and ignorance, as to whether
die eruption of mud was the precursor
>f the end of tlie disaster, St. Pierre
,vas within ten minutes annihilated."
ONLV ONIC LKKT.
Margaret Stokes, the nine-year-old
jhild, who is one of the survivors of
lie Steamship Itoralma, which was
lestroyed at St. lMerro, is the only reYininlnrr
mnmUAn r\9 ? / P i'?
Iiuilllll^ I I I V / 1 I I I M ~ I v/1 (1 l(lll)li> 1)1 II VI"
;,hat lived in Brooklyn np to a few
months ago. The child's father was
Element Stokes, at one time a well to
jo merchant of Barbadoes, B. W. I.,
nit for the last few years l>ookkeepcr
'or a department store in Brooklyn,
itokes died recently and the widow
lecided to return to the home of a.
wealthy sister in Barbadoes. The
widow packed lier property and with
i faithful colored nurse, Clara King,
.vlio had been with the family in Bar>adoes,
she started on the Journey that
was to be the last undertaken by the
family.
IIiii'ihmI In n Hotel. <
Five persons wer^ 'Ji|> Vran
n the Aincrie "v b Kvangoline ^
mt, W. V'^'nas Carol, Arabian
;,uec s Wonder Book. |
>urncd. 'juidanco is earnestly
Katiawhy./100' vvi'' bo held at
dlenwoor 01y ra'Jed School Build
county, two 'unit
lire started in the, S
frame building ant.
flack, MiU..brick an , ,, ? jt
svero farmers summons 0
furors at the criminal } M -;S
were sleeping on the so T ,
means of escape was cjVA?? '
lames. It Is notknov^ ('riin,tarte(1
( grmindT
'111" - -
CONWAY, S. (
CAUGHT IN CANADA.
.
Qreon and Gaynor, Fugitives from
Savannah Kidnapped
AllD THEN ARRESTEE IN QUEEEC.
Tin* OofcuiluiitH Weir SiiiiiukIo?1
Out or City liy OtllccrN and
Woro Calient lloibrc
They Know It.
Colonel .1 olm F. (Jaynor, who for-j
felted his hail of $ 10,000 in cause of
his disappearance from Savannah, <Ja..
where ho. was indicted on a charge of
conspiracy to defraud t he United States
government and his partner, Captain
W. I), (ireene were smu^lcd out of
(Quebec Thursday t?v an American tie- }
teet ive named Itennett and live as
sistaut s.
Bennett had been In Quebec since
tlic arrival of Gavnor and (iivene and
has kept a keen watch on their movements.
Thursday morning in* was
Joined hy live others who carried out a
seemly well laid plan to capture the i
accused. About 1 I o'clock Greene was 1
coming out of the poslolllec when '
three of the men approached him and
one of them producing a document
Showed it to Greene. The latter stood
dumbfounded and asked permission to
speak to some one, but was hurried into
a eat) and rushed to lower town,
where he was placed on t he Montreal J
tug Spray.
In the meantime, Bennett and the
two ot her deleetives went to the ('hat j
eau I rontcnae, where Gaynor ami
Greene were staying. Bennett remained
outside while his comrades
went Into the lobby. At the time Colone
Gaynor was talking to t lie clerk. Hot li
men went up Immediately and invited
him outside, where Bennett was awaiting
them in a cab.
The detectives and Gaynor started
for Lower town and in a short time
Gaynor was in company wit li Greene
on the tug and with the detect vies on
the way to Montreal, or someplace
further up the river, where they can
land.
MltS. OAYNOK IX lTUSl'lT.
These proceedings occupied about
20 minutes. The hotel people notified
Colonel Gaynor's counsel of what had
occurred. The attorney general's department
and Judge Chanveau were
notitied and they in turn asked the
police to investigate Die matter.
Halt'an hour after the departure of
i,no >pray. another t ug was engaged
hv Mrs. Gaynor. She \v?nt on board
with Detective Walsh. The pursuit
of the Spray was given up at Cape
Rouge, eight miles from fheeity. The |
Spray was then almost out of sight
down the river.
Upon tile return of Mrs. Gaynor to j
t he city the lawyers In the case had a
short consultation with her, and im- ]
mediately two petitions for habeas
corpus, ordering the return of Cay nor j
and Greene to this city, were prepared,
and two orders were signed to that
elfect by Judge Andrews in tin.' superior
court. In the meantime four
members of the provincial police left
by the 1:15 Canadian I'acilie railroad
train for three Itivers with others to
secure a tug there and try to intersept
the Spray. The latter town is
1)0 miles from Quebec and just half
way between here and Montreal.
Tile petitions were sworn toby Mrs.
Gaynor, who alleges that her husband
and Greene were taken away against
their consent and without giving them
time to sec counsel or take legal measures
to prevent their arrest. Willie
the petitions were being prepared a
special train was over the Canadian
Pacific railroad and at .1:50 the chase
began. On train arc Messrs. Cannon
| and Chauvcau, attorneys In the case,
who arc bearers of the petition; high
Constable Gale and eight detectives.
WHKM Til ICY K8CAPKI).
B. I). Greene and John F. Gaynor
escaped from the Savannali federal
court several weeks ago while their
case was pending before Judge Kmory
Speer, of the (Jnltcd States court.
Both defendants had been renlesed on
bond and were quests of the DeSoto
hotel,awaiting, supposedly, the hearing
of the court.
Saturday preceding Monday, the
day set for their hearing, they left
the city, either in disguise or by a
circuitous route. Their attorney expressed
even as great surprise as did
the government when neither one of
the defendants was present in court
on Monday.
It was declared by counsel reprinting
Greene and (Jaynor that they had
either been in error as to the day set
for trial or were unavoidably detained
in New York.
The court ordered their arrest at
any cost, but the oh'- ^ v^l not t he
slightest clew tOg^^^^^^Aintll the
court was in' reisvfts
J4 -li yj n New
f vint* bin; re- i
TD??8HA. r/nor lm(' !
'K,r^cr^,Ktas
jwitjS'M1ms been made since
ASAW|*h their arrest by decoying
^ fia ji4tfross the Canadian line and
them when upon American
Their every movement has been
ii?!tcliod l?y some of the best federal
and L'liikcrton detectives in the
Mx>uut ry.
^yjnet their escape the oilicers of the
JJn>\nah court have been very active
preparation of the case tho
ncnt Uav brought.
*V. .. \
m
umi? HIM?
f
iVVtl 1
A, THURSDAY,
VOLCANOES CAUSED BY STEAM.1
j
Immense l-'oree Stored llenoulh
lOitrtli Hursts I'ortli.
l>r. (I. llurtwitf, in Lis hook, "Vol
canoes and Earthquakes," ^ivos the
following as his views of the origin of
volcanic eruptions: ,
The phenomena at tending an eruption
can leave no doubt that below
every active volcano a laitfe subterranean
cjivlty must exist iu which melted
lava accumulates. The partisans
of t he t heory w hich supposes the cart li1
to consist of a cent ral lluid mass, with
a solid shell resting upon it. aM^butej
the formation of volcanoes to rents or j
lissures in this crust, through vjhich
the lava is cast forth: but the local
development of heat i ?y chemical ac-,
Hon <>r son 10 other unknown cause, is
unite sutllclent to account for I lie existence
of liery lakes imbedded in a
solid mass, and which, though inslgniticanl
when compared with l.lie surface
of the globe, may still he la rue
enough to produce volcanic phenomena
on the grandest scale.
The cause of the reaction of sue i a
reservoir against the surface of the
earth must, in all probability., he
sought for in the expansive force of
steam: for when wafer, penetrating
throng i crevices or porous strata,!
cornea in contact with the heated
subterranean mass it is evident that
the steam t bus generated must pr si
upon the lava, and, when formed in
sutlicient <|UanHfy, ultimately foy-ce it
up the duct of the volcano. In-other
eases we may suppose a eontiuunus
column id' lava mixed with liquid
water raised to a red-hoi or wiiife-hot
temperature under the lulhionce of
pressure. A disturhanceofequirt<iriuni
may lirst bring on an eruption near
t he surface by Htc expulsion and eon- |
version into gas of the entangled j
wateY. so as to lessen pressure*.
More and more- steam would then
be liberated, bringing up with it jets
of liquid rock, and ultimately ejecting
a continuous stream of lava, lis force !
being spout, a period of rest succeeds
until the conditions for anew outhurst
(accumulation of steam and
melted rock) are old allied, and anOt her
cycle of similar changes Is,renewed.
TIIE ROUND BALE TRUST.
________ ,
Competition in tfie South l,i?ic|3 to
Destroy Cotton tiins.
A four cornered light between the i
roll lid cotton bale, the cotton gin, 1 lie
oil mills and tin* compresses has broken
out in Texas which threatens to revolutionize
the cotton ginning business
for next season and destroy the '
ginneries unless the Texas farmers'
congress, welch meets i^t ('ollogo station
duly, can take soijre&t'TS or sag- i
VW* I
gest some legislation w> protect the I
owners of gins.
The trouble is due to the Round
Rale trust, which has made itself felt
in Texas, particularly during the last ,
year. The trust got such a large share
of the cotton that, the compress coin- j
panics and cottonseed oil men began
to feel It.
Formerly, the cotton went to the
gin, which sepcrated the seed and
the lint. The seed was sold to the
oil mills and the lint, which was haled,
was subsequently taken to the
compress to have the bales pressed so
that they would occupy less room and
could be carried on vessels or railroads.
When the trust took more cotton
the gins got less, and so did the compresses
and the cottonseed oil mills.
They appealed to the owners of Kins
to make a light with the trust and
hid for the cotton, but the gin men
icfuscd to do this.
Finally, seeing that they could not
depend upon any assistance, the mill
men and the compress men determined
to go into the ginning business.
The cotton seed oil mills In Texas are
now erecting ginneries at which they
will gin the cotton free, retaining only
the seed for their mills.
i in: >? mi ij/i ?->,->? :r? <i i u now l Illy 1llg SCCU
cotton ;ilift doing the ginning as well
as the haling. In fact, all four interests,
tlio oil mills, compresses, dinners
and round hale men arc prepared to,
gin and will hid on the seed cotton
this fall. It is tbought that I he local
gins will he the worst sulTcrcrs from
this too active competition.
Col. A. I*. Itutlor Dead.
Col. Andrew Pickens I in tier of Aiken
County died Wednesday at the
fhitler home. Colonel I tutlcr wos
trickcn withparalysls of t he heart Saturday
night. He never regained consciousness.
lie was 70 years old. He
leaves two daughters, who arc married,
a son and several grandchildren.
The funeral was held tlds morning at
11 o'clock from Sweut/NfiteT Church,
near Albert.
everything illgli<>r.
There is nothing in the way of
household supplies which has not lieen
niiiur nearer oy i lie pruiwiion Oliorucd
monopolies and legislation in favor of ,
classes. The times a re supposed to oe I
good, hut the man who keeps a family
on $1,000 a year linds that it will go;
no farther than $800 would a year ago,
and its purchasing capacity is steadily
decreasing. The trusts and the tariIT
are responsible for this.
I*urdoiio<l.
George Washington an old fashioned
"white folks" negro convietcd of
rape In 1870 has been pardoned by the
governor who discovered a case of
blackmail on the part of the negro
| woman who secured Washington's ar
Ucviili
iV '22, li)<)2.
A SALUDA MYSTERY.I
An Illiterate Mulatto Preaches Ad- ,
mirably While He lo Sleep.
A TEST IN THE SCHOOL HOUSE
Ily I.ending ('Itl/.ciirt i>l* (lie ('utility
iiiiiI i In* I 'finit' In < 'oneI iisi v?*
That It Is No
I 'tike.
A Dispatch from Saluda t<> The
News and < Courier says the "Sleeping
Preacher" was here Thursday nltfht.
a lar^o crowd went out to hear this
s! r;io^c mail. "Major Perry," for that
Is the preacher's name, was in the '
charge Messrs of II. P. Poukni^hL and
.1. P. liodie, two of t his county's mOst
reli Pile eiti/ens. Perry has been living
with Mr. Iloiiknltfht. a lew miles
below this place, for twelve or fourteen
years and, with the exception of
;i few nights, he has never failed to
pleach a sermon on k'oing to sleep duriiivr
t Ids lone period.
Perry is ."> i years of a^c, of medium
size, copper colored and wears a llowintr
heard, lie was raised in lAiIriLdii
County, t?ut not b\ a llnptist preacher,
as has been said in explanation of this
st range phenomenon.
Mr. Houknight hashcen In tho community
where Perry was horn and
raised and lived until in years ago, and
emphatleally states t hat Perry did not
belong to a preacher. The. place of
Ids birth was near tin4 present town of
Itldgeway.
One of the peculiar things about
Perry's sermonizing lies in the fact j
t hat his preaching dates from tin1 time
of ids being paralyzed on tin1 left side
in 1888. lie was never known to
preach before t hen and lie has never
failed to preach a sermon every night j
since then save occasionally on
Friday night.
A test, made by your correspondent
revealed that Perry is very illiterate,
being scarcely able to spell out the
simplest words, even with book in I
hand, lie Is extremely reticent oq the
subject of Ids nightly preaching, and
if pressed will resent too close questioning.
A not tier peculiarit y not iceable
is that Perry can go to sleep surrounded
bv a curious crowd as quickly
as a babe in its mother's arms.
Thursday evening Perry's wife arranged
a bed In the school building
here and at 0. 10 the strange man undressed
and "turned In" apparently tor
the night. In lifteen minutes, amidst
the gaze and hububof the crowd, lawns
sound asleep. Four minutes later
he commenced to sing in low and i
measured tones an old hymn, beginning
"(Jome, ye that love the Lord." j
After "lining out" and singing two j
VPl'siog hn cli ivol o liiniri/l ???* !< !%? t
, I.v >> </.. ij UUillUM 'III I 11.1 I I^IIU
side and reverently repeated the Lord's
Prayer, making but one change I" " , i
viz, inserting the word "all" before
the words "our trespasses." lie followed
t,heX<ord's Prayer with an extemporaneous
petition, the logic and
language of if being as good as tliaf of
the average white preaehcr. At the
conclusion Perry turned on Ids back
and, after a moment's pause, stated
that liis text would lie found in the
12th chapter of Matthew and 28th
verse. Tills he quoted and a comparison
of the quotation with the original
shows that he repeated the words verbatim.
1 lis discourse lasted forty-live
minutes and the reading of a stenographic
report made by Mr. Tadlbck
shows a closely reasoned (with some
exceptions) ffospcl sermon, instead of
being a senseless negro harangue. few
grammatical errors were made and
many of his citations from the Hiblc
were substantially correct. At times
lie was really eloquent.
For Hie most part in; spoke in a
smooth, conversational tone, but occasionally
lie became impassioned and
made the welkin ring.
Twice during the sermon he had
something like convulsions, and when
ever soiy.cn oyoneor inese, no immediately
1(5II off speaking, his heart and
pulse ceased to heat and, except for
the strange movement of Ids muscles,
one would suppose life extinct. These
convulsions lasted but a minute and
as soon as over he would commence
his sermon just where he left olT and
in the same tone.
An examination of the eyes while
preaching showed the pupils motionless
and a bright light pi aped close to
his face while the lids were pushed
hack did not cause him to move or
Hindi.
During his preaching period It has
always been found impossible to wake,
him. Pins have been stuck into his
llcsh, burning acids have t>ccn put
about his eyes, but all to no effect,
save that he suffered from there experiments
on awaking.
Perry Is particularly severe in his
criticisms of the present-day nreach
ers. 11(5 stated that ''we are. told
there were twelve disciples or teachers,
and one of these was a devil. Hut
today I think about eleven and a
half out of twelve are devils." In
elaboration of this statement Ik; referred
to the "man-sent preacher"
and "the self-sent preacher11 and "t he
money-making preacher."
Horry mnde no gestures at all, but
when under the impression that he
was reading from some book In t he
Itible would run the tinkers of his right
hand across the bed covering as if folfowing
the lines.
He closed his sermon wit h an earnest
exhortation and when the end was
reached lay perfectly still and slept
quietly until awakened by a physician,
who closely watched him throughout.
I On being awakened he appeared
SfaiBic? ???m ?ii ? ? ?
. m
fiiylitened for t he moment. Although
lie hail ^really exerted himself several
times during his sermon, he stated
that ho did not feol tiled or at all exhausted;
yet Ids pulse heat rapidly and
his Wreath came quickly.
Whatever else may he said of the
strange "sleeping precher," the performance
Is no fake. Time after time
various cltl/.etis in this county have
Kono to Perry's home after ni^ht and
secreted themselves to detect the fake
as they supposed, hut invariably after
watching him through the cracks
in Ids house ^o to hed, and nlvln^ him
time to tfo to sleep, he would sin^r a
hymn, otter a prayer, announce Ids
text and preach a sermon, lie never
uses the same text and the body of
his discourse is always dllTerent.
lie rarely ever fails, however, to
irive the preachers "Hail Columbia."
ThcelTcot of this strange phenomenon
on a spectator cannot he Imagined.
Perry's father is said to he a white
man and he has Indian blood to him
also. This lie shows unmistakably,
as does his wife, who of late years always
accompanies him to prevent the
cruel experiments which were at lirsl
practiced by some In trying to awaken
her husband while in the midst <>f a
sermon. Men of ascicntilic turn of
mind have an Interesting subject in
"sleeping preacher,'" and Saluda < 'utility
in his person possesses one of the
mysteries of tlie new century.
FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY.
An \eromiiit I 'ell r'it'teen I Vol anil
\\ hn llnslioil to I'loeeH,
As already wired, from I'aris, Severn,
the. aeronaut, and one of ids assistants
were killed hy the explosion
of Severn's airship in making a trial
t rip Tuesday mourning, Severn had
Invited a numberof friends to witness
the ascension and his wife and relatives
were following the course of the
balloon in motor cars. Suddenly the
spectators were horrllled hy a bright
llasli of light, followed liy a loud explosion.
The balloon, which at this
time was I,f?tu) feet jiIhivc the ground,
fell rapidly, landing on the roof of a
house.
The aeronaut fell in the street and
was dashed to pieces. The bones of
Ids legs were forced through the soles
of his boots. The engineer who accompanied
Idm was burned to death.
The accident Is said to have lieeii
caused by a leakage of gas. Severn
started with t ho intention of sailing
to the military parade ground at Issy.
With an engineer named Sachet, Severn
sailed out of Ids balloon bouse
near the 1 ton leva rd do Vaugirard, In
excellent snlrits. and full of in iotlrlnnn<?
Tin' acronui put his airship through
a series of evolutions In-fore starting
In the direct ion of Jssy. There seemed
to he some hitch with the steering
gear and the rear propelling screw
turned with difficulty. Nevertheless,
after several stoppages the.airship sailed
otT, moving steadily enough through
a light breeze. Suddenly a pulT of wind
caught tlx- ship and whirled if over
the A venue 1 nimaine. The ship t urned
completely around and veered about
In a fashion showing that control ot
her had been lost.
Then, from the center of the outer
envelope, a tongue of flume darted out.
This was followed by a loud report resembling
a cannon shot and the; shl|
sank like stone, falling on the roof ol
a house, thence into some trees, and
dually reaching the Avenue Dumalnc,
almost on top of Its occupants, win
had previously lieen precipitated t<
the stone pavement. The fearfui
mangled corpses of Severo and Sachet
were conveyed to a neighboring police
station. The bodies presented a horrible
spectacle, especially that of Sachet.
The Maine which caused tire explosion
burned the engineer in a most
shocking manner. Practically not ?i
ironc of either victim was left unfractured
and both skulls were terribly
crushed.
FOR RAILROAD COMMISSIONER
A.C. JcpHOii, A Popular Citizen ol
I'loreiiee, in the lluce.
j lie Florence Times, May 12, say^
A, C. Jepson, one of the best known
veterans of the Atlantic Coast Line,
announces positively that ho will he
in (lie race for railroad commissioner,
lie has talked with his friends in Florence
and elsewhere, and has received
the greatest encouragement. Mr. Jepson
lias been forty years a practical
railroad man, and .as years creep up on
him he wants to retire from the throttle
and give the younger men a chance
to run the t rains while he runs the
railroads a little. The life of an engineer
is a hard and exacting one, and
takes him away from home too much
of the time.
Mr. .lepson came to Florence In 1881
and has been with the Coast LIne continuously
ever since, and is one of the
best men on t he line. He has served
many roads in his time,- the Louisville
and Nashville, Central of Georgia,
and Mobile and Girard anions
them, lie says that In his forty years
of service lie has novcrbeen dismissed,
suspended or reprimanded.
lie was live years In the employ of
the construction department and tin
rest of the time In the engineering,
lie is a skilled workman, and among
other employments In his life he made
percussion caps for the use of the Confederate
government, lie claims L
have made nearly half of the nutnbei
used by the army.
Since Mr. Jepson has been a citl/.ei
of Florence he has made a host o!
f pl.liwlu 1 1 ' * ' *' %
Iiiuiiun, aim aiuilUK HlgH Willi I1IS 101
low craftsmen and employers. Frorc
ids long, practical experience In rail
road work, he is regarded as a mai
who is particularly well litted for th<
position and as one who would lie ai
aaiuisltiofi to the board.
w
\
NO. 45 >.
N A PTHA EXPLODES.
A Terrible Disaster in the Railroad
Yard at Pittsburg.
TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE HURT.
The Vnlutlla fluid Hums Over 11
Wide Area, C'aumIiik Injury
and Itulu, and Klllliiu
.Many I'ceplo.
The Sheraden yard of tho Panhandle
railroad at Pittsburg, Pa., was the
scene Wednesday afternoon of one of
the most disastrous explosions and
Hrr?a I.. (?...? ...... (I.... f...
IIV..1 It lit tn.iu .->U' tlWII Mil Ill.lli y
years. At least twenty-one lives
were lost and about iiOO persons were
so badly burned I bat, according to the
judgment of physicians in attendanee,
7f> percent of them will die from the
effects of their injuries.
The cause of the catastrophe was
the explosion of a train of naphtha
ears which was being switched at the
yard, and in the switching the rear
ear telescoped thenar forward. The
leaking naphtha ignited from a switch
light, causing an explosion, which
threw the llamcs lifty feet high.
Much of the escaping1 naphtha ran
through Corks Itun to Rsplenlmrough, ,
a distance of one and one-half miles,
causing an explosion, blowing to atoms
the Sheraden Motel and the Collins
Mouse, and badly wrecking a frame
building nearby, in which were congregated
200 or more snorts from
Pittsburg and vicinity, letting on
the races, base ball, etc. Few of the
occupants of t bis building escaped injury,
many being badly luirt. Mrs.
Seymour and her daughter, of -the
Sheraden hotel, were seriously and, it
is feared, fatally Injured.
The. tirst car of naphtha exploded
almut 1.10 o'clock and the spectacle
soon attracted a large crowd on streets
lining the hills on lx>th sides of and
parallel to t he railroad. The section
ear exploded about o'clock, but it
was at 0. lf> o'clock, when three more
cars of the deadly stutT went up with
a roar tUatA eould be heard for miles,
that the work of destruction really began.
A torrent of tlame belched forth on
each side of the track, sweeping hack
tlu? terrified spectators like a charge
of artillery, and sent a shower of
llamcs over their heads, resembling
Mont Pelee on a small scale.
The scene that followed beggars do
Ncripuoii. nic successive explosions
had heated the air to such an extent
that before the third explosion many
were rendered unconscious by the extreme
heat and the gaseous fumes,
and were lielng carried away when the
. torrent of llarne swept over the excited
crowd.
There was an awful hush for a mo
meet, then followed a scene of frenzy.
Men and women, their clothing ablaze,
. their faces scorched and blistered and
their hair burned olT their heads, ran
wildly shrieking hither and thriller,
, only intent on escape from that awful
P furnace of lire. Some gave vent to
I frenzied appeals to kill thejn and put
thorn out of their misery, and little
( children, with their curly locks and
, light summer clothing, small pillars
i of lire, cried piteously as they were
swept along by the tide of burning
j humanity. The town people did all
in their power for the stricken victims
and all the Pitsburg ambulances
were Immediately dispatched to the
scene with a corps of physicians.
Many of those not seriously burned
were removed to their homes in Sheraden,
while others were sent to the
various Pittsburg hospitals, and the
dead removed to undertaking estab?
- llshmcnts in Shoradcn and vicinity
and to the Pittsburg morgue.
r The Panhandle Railroad Company
has thirty-six tracks through Shera,
den and has succeeded in keeping communication
open. The property lass
will amount to at least $1500,000. The
| list of known dead numbers twenty,
all residents of Sheradon or vicinity.
Several died last night In hospitals.
I Among them is Carl Ratings of Tipton,
Tenn., who was badly burned
about the bead. A complete list of
t h<i u/rtimrln/l o/tulrl lw* oa/??* ? *?/! !???-?
UII\ tn/uin?Vy\l VWIIMI SIUU fHA;UICU l(KI V
night. A partial list contains twenty
, names.
i The accident happened in the railroad
yards at Sheraden, where the
1'anhandlo railroad makes a turn, near
, Corks run. Banked by two high hills
hundreds of people were caught. At
tills point, which is aiwait one-fourth
of a mile from the city line, there are
thirty-three tracks. Upon these
tracks were several hundred ears.
Near the middle of these tracks about
i.4f>o'clock a heavy freight train was
l>elng made up for the west. In tills
; train were ten tank ears, containing
refined petroleum and naphtha. In >
the shifting necessary to prepare the
1 train for her Journey a switch was
. made with too much force. Five tank
cars, two of them filled with refined
>1 petroleum and two with naphtha,
, wore switched with too much force
. and one of the cars of naphtha was
, broken. Instantly the luilammablc
- by-product poured out in a stream.
The trainmen, seeing that one of tne
i cars was damaged, started to pull
r them all out of the way.
Already the men In charge of the
i switch light had made his rounds and
- the lights were burning. As the tank
1 car passed over one of the lights the
2 dropping naphtha caught on the little
i tlame and almost Instantly an explosion
followed.