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pAMDEN SHAKEN e Buildings Are Wrecked and a DeW' structive Fire Follows f r A TERRIFIC EXPLOSION * vevcral 1Vi"?'ms Hurt, and I*rop?'rty ! Worth Approximately One IJun- j fc, JS. dred Thousand Dollars I>estroycd j mo Result of Explosion of I'ncer- ; tain Origin in Express Ofllco. A special dispatch to The State , says as a result of the explosion of a presto-carbon tank In the Southern Express company's oflloe Thursday ! night, Friday morning found about! a half block of Camden's finest! Knolnncia nlnmiu in nuht>C fine rfllftf- ; UV10|Ui;D(7 J/IUV^ O IU mmkvwi v- .. ^ ^ | ed man probably killed, though this! could not be verified; two prominent j young men badly hurt, and live oth- j era painfully Injured. About 7:110 o'clock Thursday night a severe shock was felt all over the town and people rushed from ! their homes and places of business j to find flames already gushing from ! Walk in Brothers' establishment audi the express office and to learn th.it ! the explosion had broken the wall between the express oflice and Wat- j kins' store, causing it to fall on [ the occupants of the latter, not one of them escaping without Injury. Those in the store at the time were Willie Salmond, Andrew j Wbitaker, Charlie Watkins, Willie Watklns and Arthur Watkins. j Messrs. Whitakor and Arthur Watkins were badly hurt, while the oth- ! era escaped with severe bruises. > Had all of the mou been as badly | hurt as Messrs. Whitakor and Wat-1 . kins, it is likely that none would; have escaped.* Fortunately, however, three of the men were able to free themselves from the wreckage and ; ' get the other two out with the assistance of other men who happened to bo near at hand before the *r? i 1 l.. I nutunng was anaiue. iuu mss > > estimated at over $100,000. It is generally thought that the explosion was that of a presto-ear- J bon tank which had come to the ex-; press ofllve consigned to \V. H. Do- ' ? Louche for automobile lighting. It ; was stated by employes of the ex- j proas oillcc that the tank was some! V 4 distance from the stove, which had j little or no lire in it, and the cause j of the explosion is practically un- 1 known. ^ The explosion threw the walls on j either side in to the Watkins' Brothers and Barucho-Nettles es- I tablishment respectively. Fortu* nately, however, the express office and the Bn ruche-Nettles store had ! closed Bomo time before and only j the occupants in Watkins Brothers: were hurt. The explosion shatter-' * ed glasses throughout the city, principally on Main street, and the shock . could be distinctly felt for miles, ; " . many thinking that It was an earth- j quake. In the nearby bather shop men ] j rushed to the streets with half shav, en faces and one shoe shined to j finish their toilet at some future 1 time. x The firemen did fine work and ! f K/MtnrK ko n/liiMi 1,1'i.irl hv t lftU' I avu^u iiuiivuvMppx u i.'j ?..v -w .. , pressure of the water, succeeding in checking the fire at W. T. Smith's store and made a noble effort at j saving Bruce & Langs, but it was of x no avail. ;> During the course of fighting the !. fire W. It. DeLoach and Tom Goodale received slight injuries. Messrs. \ Andrew Whitaker and Arthur Watkins were the men most seriously hurt. Mr. Watkins was taken to tho 4 ; hotel Camden after being rescued and appeared to be resting well un? d*T tho care of two physicians and a trained nurse. The extent of the injuries of Messrs. Whitaker and | Watkins could not be ascertained, as they were too painfully hurt to he lmitfedtytcly examined. Willie Sulmoad was taken home. Willie and Charlie Watkins were able to % remain to make arrangements to open up their business Friday morning at another location. [ | SOCIETY GIHL KILLS HERSELF K Miss Ethel Norman of Grw^nslwi'O ? N. Cm Ends Hot- Life. ^ Without any provious intimation i and with no incentive other than a ^ slight remonstrance from a member } of her family about extravagant in' | dulgences, Miss Kthel Norman, aged 17, prominent in society in Greens boro, N. C., committed suicide | Wednesday afternoon by shooting I herself through the heart with a \ revolver. She enmo homo about 1 6:30 o'clock and passing her mother I in the hall went directly to her room, I where sho pressed the revolver to ( her heart and fired, death resulting J, instantly. "y Horses Hum in Stable. At Kansas City, Mo., one hundred f and forty horses were cremated Moni day night in a livery stable, which [ burned to the ground. Two of the I animals were high-class driving horsI eg, which had taken blue ribbons / at horseshows. Tho total loss was ^ about $60,000. y ffl SL SOCIETY OF GOOD CHEER j YOUNG LAD IKS FOUM ASSOC1AA TION TO VISIT SICK. The Work is Now Ilogiuning in New York, but Will Very Likely Kxteud Over the Country. The Society of Good Cheer has been chartered under the State laws ^ of New York, says a message from New York city, by a group of young women of the upper West side of 1- .iU.r aiisnnui i"N W 1 UIIS, i nt'fjv vni nvov workers aim to cheer the sick and especially the convalescent, to give a touch of joy to those lives that have been brought low through sickness, to Uiul the "stranger within *i the gates" that may be very much e in need of cheer, and to promulgate ^ cheerfulness among all classes of people. c For sometime these young ladles j, have made it a part of their every day life to visit hoarding houses, hotela, hospitals and private residenc- t es where the sick are convalescing j and by distributing dowers, hooks, magazines and good cheer, have y assisted, many people hack to rugged health and rea. life. . Miss Theora Carter, the leading v spirit among these young ladies, ? conceived the idea ot' organizing a < Society of Good Cheer to be composed of young ladies who would , devote a portion of their titno to helpfulness and cheer. t Miss Carter became sick while attending the Post Graduate classes ^ in Chicago and mapped out the work w hile convalescing. She is now . levoting her ample income and time i to the society and has inspired such . a spirit .of cheer among her young r nctaiiiiiint in Vow York th:?t mnilv have joined in the work. Miss Carter is the President of v tilt.- society and she and her coworkers are successfully creating an ? j 1 organization Hhat will isoon he a , potent factor in our national life. -j Many lodges have been formed q and others are ready for organiza- r tion. It is proposed to institute lodg- ^ es in all the centers of the country j to work with physicians in aiding j and assisting the convalescent and j to bring before the entire people j, the necessity of good cheer at all times. Already the famous Hampton Court estate of Staten Island, with its eighty acres of fine lawns and parks, lias been thrown open to the members of the society in their work. A tented city in New Mexico lias been planned for incipient consumptives and a number of New York's wealthy men will give over their yachts in the summer for several days in order that excursions may be taken along the Hudson. The society is distributing hangers' and cards among business houses with the words, "Cheerfulness is an asset." The patrons of the society include some of the leading women of the land. This society is not a charity. Those who join must give a portion of their time and, where that is impossible, they are expected to give way to others who are ready to do ' work in person. One of the aims of the society id rutuui a^i; uii'ii iw v; i1 ru i uj# their friends and acquaintances when f sick and convalescing. Many men have an idea that when they are sick it is best to be left alone, a kind of independence that does not always work out well with the other man. One of the strict rules of the society is that young ladies in visiting must go in pairs or groups and must study sanitation and hygienic rules. Sometimes just the fact that young ladies have called and left a dower and a card will aid a convalescing person to a joy?a cheer that is indeed beneficial. IIOMIl H11IIIM) DKSK. Murderous l*lot Discovered at Fort Worth Monday. By the opportune discovery Monday of a stick of dynamite, with a cap attached, which had been placed on the window sill back of the sergeant's desk at the police station at Fort Worth, Texas, it is be- , lleved thai a plot to kill one of the J throe desk sergeants was frustrnted. The explosive was so placed < that a slight movement of the desk ( would have thrown it to the floor, j It is certain that the dynamite was j sufficient to have wrecked the City { "Hall. All efforts by the police to ( discover who placed the bomb have so far failed. Furniture May Cost More. The National Furniture Manuafc- ] turers* Association, representing the \ leading furniture makers of the i country, met in annual session at i the Auditorium in Chicago a few i days ago. Statements mado by i prominent members of the association indicated that action will prob- i ably be taken looking to an ad vance of 10 per cent in the price of furniture, to take effect at the opening of the spring season in | January. BOOZE JEN MAE ind May Boycott South Carolina's Si: Dispensary Counties WOULD BE GOOD THING hould the Firms Against Whon the Dispcnwny Ilourd Fouml OverJmlgmoiits Krfuse to Ship Ant Morn Liquor Into This State, a? They Threaten 10 l>o. The Colunybla correspondent oi "he News and Court u* k?;"s "<3i> ounties wet?twenty that have o*m ry during various periods of time ?one which has had prohib.tior or forty odd years, and fifteen late y added to the dusty column wit? he probability that several of th? iret counties may be forced dry bj he different whiskey houses refus ng to ship their goods into th? >tate, is the whiskey situation ii louth Carolina. It is nil problematical yet, then s a possibility that the firms ngains vhom the commlsfdgir found over udgmeuts will boycott the Sout! Carolina trade. The dispensary winding-up com nission recently passed a resolutioi inlering the dispensary auditor no o approve the claims of a numbe >f tlrms. This matter was referre< o (lovernor Ansel, who ordered tin lispensary bourds in the six eouu ies retaining the dispensaries uild up the claims. Just how mud vus held up by the order is no mown, but the amount is ostimat >d at about $-0,000. The totn iinount held up in the dry countie ens altout $0U,000. The following are the firms naimM n the resolution jiassed by the com nission: Thomas F. McNulty, Joht \ llarbee & Co., the Jack Crnnstoi lompnny, R. Clrabfelder Co., liar et Ai. Co., William Lanahan Ai Sons lallard Distilling Company, Meyer Mtts Co., Strauss, Fritz & Co. llumenthal Ai Hickert, Cook A! lernheimer Company, and Fried am, Roller & Co. The next awards to be made by ho boards in several of the* counties ctalning the dispensaries will b< bout the tlrst of January. It has been stated that the at ornevs for the above named firms 11 several instances, have notiftec heir houses not to ship any mort ,'hiskey Into South Carolina. It is also being talked that tht olding up of the claims by the com lission of the whiskey firms doin^ usiness with the county dispensariet .'ill have the effect of causing othei .hiskey houses to "shy" at tradt >ith the dispensaries in this State Should the whiskey houses refus? o fill orders contracted for the dis tensaries in several of the wet coun ies they would very probably have ft lose, thus leaving the State prncti ally prohibition for a time at least M A\C'Hl'ItlAN LARKS. rhese Ate Being Imputed by til Oregon Woman. Manchurian larks will bo liberat ?d in Oregon next spring, and it i udieved the feathered songsters wil hrive in this cljmate. They will b ho llrst birds of the species eve nought to America. Mrs. Fred I Fisher, wife of the American consti it Niu-ehwang, Manchuria, wh reached Portland a short time ag with her husband from the Orieni lirought 15 of the birds back wit tier. The larks will be cared for thi winter by Mrs. Fisher in Portlam ind liberated next spring in Jose ihine county, Oregon. It is though Lhat by turning them out in th iprlng, after the winter has passed hey will have a better chance t thrive in their new homes. These birds, little known in Amer ca, are rated as among the fines iongsters in the world. They ar ibout the sizo of native America' arks, but are the color of the wren Flecausc of their splendid voices th Chinese keep them in cages in thei ionics. This importation is the second o Chinese birds to the Stato of Oregon The Mongolian, Denny or Chines :?h?*asant was brought to Oregoi 'roin China by the late O. N. Denny if Portland, who served as consu it Tien Tin. The game birds wer liberated there 2G years ago an< lave spread to such an extent tha .hey have become the State's great >Ht game bird. - Negro Mui'dcml at Lnnc^strr. Dave McKinoy, a negro, was sho ind killed Monday afternoon b Frank White, another negro, on th plantation ot' B. Y. Funderburk, mile south of Lancaster, S. C. Th negroes farmed together this yea find a dispute occurred over a set tlenient they were making. Afte McKlnney was shot White turned t run and as he did so MeKlnney emp tied both barrels of a shotgun int him, one shot taking effect in th leg and tho other in the hear neither of which is serious. Whil was Immediately arrested. | WHAT THE FARMER DOES TO .MAKK I'llOSPKltOl'S TIMIOS * IN THIS (aKKAT COI XTHV. During the Past \ onr He lias Made Nearly Mnt? Hillion Hollars on His Farm. ^ Most prosperous of all year* :s the place to which 190y is entitled in agriculture, declares the secre, tary of Agriculture in his thirteenth annual report, made public a few ? days ago. The value of farm products is so incomprehensibly large that it has become merely a row oT f figures. For this year it is $S,7Gu,000.BOO, a cuin of $S00,000,UO0 ovei litOS. Tho value of the products has nearlv doubled in ten ' Tho report says: "Eleven years of agriculture, beginning with a production of $t,1 4 17,000,000 and ending with $8,7 00,? 000,000! A sum of $7 0,000,000,' 000 for the period! It has paid off mortgages, it has established banks, " it has made better homes, it has 1 helped to make the farmer a citizen of the world, and it has provided him with means for improving his soil and making it more productive.' The most striking fact in tie 1 world's agriculture is the value of the corn crop for 1009, which is about $1,7 2 0,000,000. It nearly equals the value of the clothing and 1 personal adornments of 7G,000,uo0 1 people, according to the census ol ' 1900. The gold and silver coin am! 1 bullion of t hi- I'nited States are not of greater value. It has grown up 13 from the soil and out of the air in 3 120 days $lf?,000,000 a day for one crop, nearly enough for two Dread. naughts daily for peace or war. This crop exceeds in value the average s of the crops of the live preceding years by 20 per cent. Cotton is now the second crop in value, and this year's cotton crop 1 is easily the most valuable one to 1 the farmer that has boon produced. With cotton lint selling at 12.7 cents ' on the farm November 1, and with ' cotton seed selling for about $25 ' per ton, the lint and seed of this ' crop are worth about $850,000,000 to the farmer. No cotton crop since 1872 lias been sold by farmers for as high a price per pound as this one. > Third in value is wheat, worth about $125,000,000 at the farm, and this largely exceeds all previous vnl' ill's: The XiiviMnliiii' I'n fi" "I'l"" ? ?... ... ... .......... ....... I" ?' *7 almost an even dollar a bushel, a price which has not boon equalled since 18X1. This is the third wheat crop in point of size, with 7 25,000,000 bushels. The hay crop is valued at $665,000,000; oats at $400.000.OO0; potatoes at $212,000,000, and tobacco at nearly $100,000,000. Beet and cane sugar and molasses and syrup. .JFroni farm and factory, will reach the total of about $95,000,000. The barley crop Is worth $88,000,000, } flaxseed $26,000,000, and 1,000.000,000 pounds of rice $25,000,000. The production of all cereals combined is 1,711,000.01/0 bushels, an amount considerably greater then fhat for any other year, except llMiG. a It exceeds the average of the preceding five years by 8.5 per cent. The value of all cereals in 1909 nas _ never been equalled in a pr wl >us s year. It is almost exactly $2,000,000,000, or 34 per cent abov j '.he * five-year average. ? Compared with the average of the r previous five years, till principal >. crops are greater in quantity this il year, except cotton, flaxseed, nops o and cane sugar: hut without eve??... o tion every crop is worth more to I, the farmer than the live year hvh erazo. This is the y-nr of highest pro s duction for p< tntes, tobacco, d sugar, all su;<?**\ and rice; lext to the highest production for orn, t oats and all cereals. Compared with p 1908, gains in value are found all 1, along the line, the exception be!?.g 0 barley, buckwheat, rye and uiiik. The increase for cotton, lint and - seed is $1108,000,000; wheat $101,t OOW.OOO; corn $105,000,000; hay e $20,000,000; oats $22,000,000; toil bacco $18,000,000; potatoes $15,i. 000,000. e The increase in the value of farm r products this year over 1908, $869,000,000, is enough to buy a new f equipment of farm machinery for i. over G, 000,000 farms. The value e of the cereal crops to the farmer ti would pay for all of the machinery; tools and Implements of the entire 1 manufacturing industry. The valc uo of all crops, $5,700,000,00u, 1 would make a half payment on the t value of all steam railroads, accord ing to the valuation of 1 904. Secretary Wilson concludes his re view of tho production of 1909 as follows: "The agricultural product tlon of 1909 must add much to tho y prosperity of farmors. The record e is unexampled in wealth production ft and t?*lIs of abundance in quantity, o Year by year the farmer is better r and better prepared to provide the - capital and make the expenditures r needed to improve his agriculture o and to educate his children for >- farm life and work." o ? - ? e It is said that most suicides reI, gret it after swallowing the fatal e dose?just as some men do after getting married. WHAT COAL COST In Human Lives Before Reaching the Consumer. MANY MINERS KILLED Statistics Show That Over Thirty Thousand iittvo IVrislicd in the l.ast Twenty Years, Which is Lour ( Times as Many as \S err Killed ] in Lurope. 1 1 Tin* mine-rescue station represents- j olio of tlw most recent efforts mad* by tho government to reduce tin number of fatal accidents in rn nes, I and it is but one f? aturo of a gen | oral study of the causes of mint ? disasters now Icing undertaken b\ the Cieologieal Survey at tho mine accidents station in Pittsburg, Pa This humanitarian work wia started in July, 100H, by authorize Hon of congress, which appropriat ed $ 150,000 for tlits purpose, afteT four explosions in coal mines in December, 1907, costing 700 lives These disasters startled the cntir# country and led to a general inquir? into the death rates among miners in the I'nited States, Statistics gathered by the Pnited States (ieologica 1 Survey shows L'.ihi | miners killed and 4,S00 in j u red in the coal mines in IMOd, and ,12.*? killed and h.SOO injur*"1 in 1 907. '!'lie death rate for 19 01 was 4.St) for every 1.000 men employed. In 1 00S, 2. Ir?0 men were killed, or 2.00 i:i ?oery l.uon employed. a reduction of 07!? in th* number of deaths from ID07. Kuropean eonl-produejiig com.trie} | show death rates in mining as iow as 1 ill every 1.000 lie n mnloved and not more than 11 In of In i words for every man killed in Europe coal mines from two to foilr arc killed in the mines of the I'nitcd States. Since ISSmore than ! UO.OOo miners hav?> hoen killed in the I'niied States. The lower death | rate in European countries is due to the establishment of governrm nt testing stations for the investigation of problems relating to safety . in mining, including the use of ex|)losives. The principal work at the Pittsburg sation consists of testing explosives to determine their safety : when tired In the presence of explo- , sive gas or coal dust, and much progress has already boon made In this work. It is the purpose of the government to continue the tests of explosives until certain of them can ] be recommended to state mining bureaus, coal-mine owners, and miners i as reasonably safe. i Government mining engineers i thoroughly trained in the use of rescue apparatus have been assigned to the stations already establish- ' ed and are ready at a moment's notice to go to any disaster in their .district. When an explosion occurs in a coal mine, the re-establishing of the ventilating current is often delayed s veral hours, and many lives have been lost apparently because rescuers have been unable to advance beyond the area where, the mine was ventilated in order to find persons who had suffered no physical injury from the explosion, but who were slowly dying from inhalation of poisonous and iion-life-sun porting gases. With ii propnxjy e quip pod rescue corps wearing oxygen helmets many lives may be saved if the rescuers can reach the mine within two or three hours after the explosion. Such is the record at mines in foreign countries which are equipped with similar rescue apparatus has been brought into action within a few hours after the explosion. Several coal-operating companies have realized the advantage of such safety appliances and hive installed them at some place convenient to their mines. Equipped with the oxygen helmets, which permit artificial breathing, the rescuers are enabled to enter a mine at once, even though it is filled with noxious and irrespirahle gases or with smoke. ? ? DEADLY WOltK OF FIENDS. Young Widow Hound and Ilurned to Death by Tliem. At Tampa, Fin., Marie Acosta, a young Cuban widow, died Monday afternoon from frightful burns, inflicted upon her by a rejected suitor. Miguel Gomez is under arrest. Hefore she died the young woman charged Gomez with having set her afire. She declared that she hod rejected Gomez's suit, and that, with two confederates, he forcibly entered her home in West Tampa a few nights ago. She was bound hand and foot. Then the h?en saturated her clothing with gasoline and touched a lighted match to her. The unfortunate woman was found Monday, frightfully burned from head to foot, and she died at 2 p. m., after making a statement to the police. She did not recognize the men who wore with Gomez, and who aided him, she charged, In perpetrat' ing tlie awful crime. DECISIVE DEFEAT IOK rilOIIIIUTlO\ AMfvNI>MKNT TO A l,.\ll.\M.\ < ONsTl i l TIC>\. IIusIih'sn M?*n ol' su?i?* Say I'n'luro \ ?>? i>>nwitutlon;il rrohibitinn lk>e* Not lndic?(o "Wot"' Sentiment. A dispatch from Birmingham, Ala . says later returns from the State indicate that Tuesday s majori y against the prohibition constltutlonal amendment will run ahov? t >:?,000. It appears that a vote o? lot less than ll'f-.ooo was polled. :ho largest in the history of tlx? State. As the sweeping nature ?>f the d? 'eat ?>f the amendment is realised, here is a disposition in all circles o s?m? too result of its probaoh effect on future legislation in the State. Industrial leaders and business uien of Birmingham are al. ost ^ unanimous in their belief that the jfl result was a rebuke to recent d ras- M-j tic legislation and a declaration of the people of Alabama of their det? rminatlon to return to conservatism. . . . Leaders of tie; Birmingham chamber of commerce believe the election will have the effect of brlncin^ a great deal of Iv-tstern capital to Manama, which has lieen timid for | the past two or three years. loaders of tlx amendux nt t. c> s Ni were overw helmed b\ tlx- news of the result. ;x 'hev were absolute:, onhdent of vi tor> up to the last monxnit. (Jov. Comer left for Mississippi the night before on a hshing t rip. "The election determined that the men of Alabama did not wish to write into their constitution police theasurts, nor s'nrretider rights they have ex presslv res. rvrit " ? li.l <1 States Senator Johnson "IT i1o?-h not moan the rot urn of tho saloon, nor any backward stop in public. morals. "It moans that Alabama is run- . jorvafivc and not to bo shaken off hor feet by mere sentimental appoats." IIALI.HV'S COMHT. Dii'octor of VorkoM Observatory Declares will Ho No III lOlVecls. "Those are tho views of Professor Barnard and myself as to the 'rt'oct of tho earth's passing through the tnil of ilalley's comet," said Professor K. H. Frost, director of Yerkes Observatory, at William* flay, Wis., a few days ago: "Present computations by Scarie :uul by Seagrave indicate the passage of the comet between the earth ind the sun at a distance of 10,000,000 miles from the earth on May IS, at 10 p. in., Central lime. The tail always points away from tho sun, and hence toward the earth. At that time it is doubtful whether the tail will be long enough to reach the earth. "Meteors are the debris of comets. Therefore, if the end of the tail reaches to the earth a meteoric shower may reasonably bo expected. Some illumination of the sky, a little different from the ordinary, might occur. Comtintntinn iniiion^i. r v ?t?\iiv.i?vvn the earth probably passed through the toil of a enroot on June 30, IStJi, at 13,000,000 miles from the head, without any noticeable consequences. "Comets undoubtedly contain noxious Rases, compounds of carbon and nitrogen, but their destiny is so slight that no appreciable effect should be produced in our atmosphere even if we were very near the head, whleh wc shall not he." ALL WW) THAC;iC DKATIIS. Fourth of Five Brothers Killed by If is Ilrother-ln-Law . Dr. Clay Henderson, a prominent physician of Leake county, was shot and filled .Monday night by Bell Hudson, his brother-in-law, near Zion, 20 miles north of Forest, Miss. The killing occurred at the home of Hudson, but details of the tragedy are not known. Dr. Henderson is the fourth of live brothers to moot a tragic death. A few years ago Dr. Tom Henderson was shot and killed by a man named Morehead near Zion. A short time afterwards another brother was mortally wounded by the accidental discharge of a i* vulvar, ADoui a year ago a third brother (lied an a result of swallowing carbolic acid by mistake. Installs Telephone System. A dispatch from Hocky Mount, N. C., says Sunday morning the telephone train dispatching system recently ordered by the Atlantic Coast Line was put into use and all trains between Richmond and that city Sunday and Monday wtro handled by wire messages that were spoken. The telegraph wires over that division are practically dumb so far as train orders are concerned and tho telephone is handling all of tho business under the directorship or a chief dispatcher who sits at the telephone with the receiver to his car all of the time. v. y ^ ,