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THE LAST OF HER I The T xa% Oaf Hiodoo Battleship, Will S ion Be shot to Pit crs TO IMPROVE THE NAVY She Will Uofore Long He Hoinbarded by Our Own Friendly Shot and Shell to Test Up-to-date I'rojec tiles and Armor and Will Go to the 'lu nk Heap. Off Hampton Roads In April next a battleship of the famous White ! Squadron of twenty years ago will ! meet a friendly fate at the hands of the men behind the guns of our J modern Atlantic fleet. The Texas, i alwny>- a steel-sided hoodoo and long! a target for naval criticism, is to ? ' i become at last a target for Ameri rvin sninnors She will he towed like a culprit to a point off the Chesapeake's protecting capes, anchored and shot to pieces. When her bat- J tered funnel shall have disappeared beneath the great sea the final rec- j ord will he made in the naval rec- j ords of the first battleship built for the American navy, a vessel that cost the Government $2,500,000 in ! 1 802. It will be the first time in the history of our navy that a real vessel is used as a target for the big guns. Heretofore targets made or canvas have been used, but as the Texas has outlived her usefullness, high explosive projectiles will be fired agai.ist her in order that the officers may study their action against the hull and superstructure at battle ranges. Surely a fitting end for the unluckiest ship in the American Navy! For although she covered herself with glory at the battle of Santiago, she was so unfortunate in time of peace as to earn the title of "The Hoodoo." j Foreign navies for many years have used their obsolete battleships t ? o n .1A f lin rnon Ho liovo )ir>OH on lill aiiu nit l taiwvo im I X, of great benefit in determining the rel tive value of high explosive projectiles. The old query, What would happen if an irresistible force came in contact with an immovable object? has almost been answered by these tests. At a recent test in the French Navy it was discovered that when a twelve or thirteen inch projectile hits a turret such a terrific heat is developed that for twelve hours no human being could touch the point of contact. Whether men could live in a turret pounded by 12inch pojectiles is doubtful, although experiments have shown that cats and chickens have been able to withstand this terrific heat. For the past four or five years the Texas lias been little more than a boating barracks for enlisted naval men, stationed most of the time at Charleston, S. C. Ever since the Spanish war she has done nothing hut cruise up and down the Atlantic coast, taking the midshipmen on their annual practice jaunts to the New England regions, and steamin? around Hatteras in all kinds of : weather to the fall and winter manoeuvers in the tropics. She 1 as not been considered good enough for a station ship. In fact, like more than fifty other men of war that have become obsolete, she is nothing more than a pile of junk. She cor-t $2,500,000 loss than twenty years aco, hut today she would ; hardly bring $50,000. The cruiser Detroit, which cost the Government $1,233,020 twenty years ago, brought only $20,000 the other day. in short, the men-of-war of even 15 years ago are little more than junk today. And Uncle Sam has a junk pile which cost between $1 40,000,-} 000 and $150,000,000. The cruisers of the famous White Squadron that sailed the seas before the organization of the more famous fleet of the present time are all obsolete. They are worthless as fighters, useless as cruisers. The necessity for more powerful shins in the United States Navy was demonstrated by the battle between i the French and Chinese fleets in I August, 1X84, at the Pagoda An-I chorage, Min River, where the Ohin-| ese ships were sunk in half an hour. It was decided that this country should have a modern defense force as soon as possible. In 1 880 President Cleveland approved a naval appropri 'tion bill which directed the building of the Texas, a battleship; the Maine, a sister ship, and several cruisers. A prize was offered by the Secretary of the Navy for the best designs' for a battleship to cost $2,500,000 | Many naval architects competed, and ! the prize was awarded to an English- J man, a Mr. John. With the excep- j tion of the protected cruisers Charleston and Baltimore, built later, the Texas was the only vessel built on designs purchased abroad. The Texas was constructed at the Norfolk Navy Yard, being the first and only battleship ever huilt there. Work on her was so slow that although the keel was laid down in January, 1889, she was not launched until Juno, 1892, and by that tin e the plans had been altered so much that she was practically of American design. I Prom the start she showed up badly. In fact, she had such a 9 f pn series of mishaps that she became known as the greatest landgoing battleship in the world. Not only did she sink twice, once right in her dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but she used to try the patience of the authorities at Washington by violating the' navy regulations and running ashore four or five times j a year. Her weakness for exploring shoals and mud flats made it ,ook as if she should have been 1 transferred to the Coast and Geodetic Survey. However, she redeemed herself before Santiago. She was really out of date then, but her nose was * 1 1 ? A ^ ^ t > '1 fth n r* SllOVOO 1I11U LI1U tuui nun ni quitted herself nobly. But so many accidents kept recurring that the title of the Hoodoo of the Navy still clung to her. In fact, her ill luck began while she was being built. A dozen men were fatally hurt on her while she was in course of construction and two men were plunged to death from her deck. Her engines were scorched in a fire at the Richmond Iron V* orks and her propeller was broken on the first trip to the yard. In her dock trial she swamped a lumber schooner with the wash from her screw. Heeled over by the wind and the unequal weight of the pntrially set up turret, she nearly sank in her dock at Norfolk before she was completed. She was put in dry dock, and it was found that she was not strong enough to bear her own weight. She proved herself a poor steam-j or, and burned great quantities of coal. On Nov. 0, 1890, while she was lying at the Cob Dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard one of her sea j cocks became unfastened and she sank. Had the accident occurred at sea the ship would have been lost. On every one of her trial trips something happened in the nature! of a breakdown in some part of; her machinery. Either the eccentric strap got hot or her condensers failed to work or the steering gear got out of order. The loss of four anchors was among the little thin ;s that emphasized her reputation for ill luck. In Februarv, 1897, she went i ashore on the Dry Tortungas, and in the winter of the same year she grounded in Wallabout Channel. In Boston Harbor the same winter an engine in one of her launches exploded, injuring six men. Again while being drydocked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard an accident occurred which showed alleged structural weaknes which cost $125,000 to remedy. She scraped her bilge on the sill of the dock and settled down like a bag of wheat in the hncln This was in November. 1 897. It was only chance that saved tne Texas from being rammed and sent to the bottom by the Brooklyn in the battle with Admiral Cervera s fleet off Santiago on July 3, 1 SOS. Two weeks before that she had her first fight in Cuban waters and a narrow escape from a submarine mine off the Guantanamo batteries. When the Texas joined Admiral Sampson's squadron off Santiago orders were issued that if the enemy I tries to escape the ships were to close in and engage as soon as poss'ble and to sink the Spanish vessels or send them ashore. On the day of the battle the American vessels moved toward the mouth of the harbor. When the Marie Teresa started to run for it, the Iowa gave the order "Enemy's ships escaping." then signalled, "Clear for action," and gave a third order, "Close up," all in execution of Admiral Sampson's standing order. As the Brooklyn steamed in toward the mouth of the harbor, Commodore Schley, who was tor ov nl n i 11 fn hr>r com mander, Capt. Cook, that the "Close up" meant ho was to keep somewhere within 1.0O0 yards from the enemy, so as to be outside of her broadside torpedo range. Capt. Cook gave orders to port the helm, and the Brooklyn begin to turn away from the battle line and presented her stern to the hostile cruisers. The llrooklvn ran about 2,000 yards south and all but came into collision with the Texas, which saved herself by reversing her engines. A hole was thus left in the blockading line through which the enemy promptly steamed. The late Capt. Philip of the Texas in describing this incident, wrote: "Suddenly a whiff of breeze and a lull in the firing lifted the pall, and there bearing toward us and 1 across our bows, turning on her port helm, with big waves curling over her hows and great clouds of black smoak pouring from her funnels, was the Brooklyn. She looked as big as half a dozen Groat Easterns. 'Back both engines hard!' went down the tube to the astonished engineers and in a twinkling the old ship was racing against herself. Had the Brooklyn struck us then it would probably have been the end of the Texas and her half thousand men.'' Aside from this incident the share of the Texas In the fighting off Santiago was conspicious. On June 22 a shell from Santiago's iMooro plorced a six-inch hole in her how under the anchor and killed Frank Biakely, a first class apprentice. In the fighting on July 3 a shell from the Almirante Oquendo pierced the starboard bulkhead under the bridge, entered the smokestack and exploded. | For two years after the war the j Texas had a peaceful and uneven-1 tual career. On Nov. 30, 1902, however, when at target practice along tho New England coast the discharge of one of the big guns broke the recoils, with the result that the ginfoundations were shattered, water and steam pipes were crushed and lamage was done that was thought at first to be impossible to repair. However, she was repaired and as she left the drydoek she came into collision with the collier Sterling, bending many of her forward plates and putting her out of commission for another six weeks. During the next two years she ran aground no less than six times. She was hard aground at Dry Tor| tugas twice inside of three months. This trick was varied slightly a little later in the same port when she -an on a coral reef, suffering considerably from the scraping she received. On another occasion she became so firmly wedged in the mud at Newport that six tugs wero required to pull her out. The back draugh from one of her twelve-inch guns caused another bad accident on April 1 5, 1 905. And in AriHI of the following vear she was badly damaged by running into a derelict off South Carolina. Her plates were so badly twisted that she had to be dry-docked for 3ev- ! eral weeks. In addition, a collision with the Hon ting crane Hercules at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, loosened her bow and kept her out of commission for some time. In July, 1 906, the cruising day of the ill fated battleship ended, and she was t'ed up at the Charleston Navy Yard, where she became a floating house for enlisted men. The last active service of the warship ? was flag duty with the starred pennant of Rear-Admiral F. W. Dickins. U. S. X., afloat. That was in the spring of 1 906. When the fleet returned from the maneouvres off j Charleston in June, Rear-Admiral i I \D?b 1 *? 'r? \ ? * * n / ! \\r o c? rl ic ho n /lnrl i I 'IV IV J I I a V U11I 111 (UIV4 " no UIOIUIIIMVUI The Texas was then docked at Bosfinal stripping of its-hefor $eekRflu ton and came to Charleston for final stripping of its six-inch guns. But the hoodoo followed her there . ?even after she was out of commission. She narrowly escaped being blown up by a careless visitor, who was found smoking a cigarette in the powder magazine. Now it has been decided to shoot her to pieces. Early in April she will be towed from her moorings in the Navy Yard to the shoal water of the Chesapeake, where twelve and thirteen inch projectiles will soon finish her. The hoodoo of the navy will then be a hoodoo no longer. PARDON MILL STILL GRINDING. Governor RlfMise Pardons Two Life Term Prisoners. Two prisoners serving life sentences at the State penitentiary were pardoned Thursday by Governor Blease. A pardon was granted to Duncan O. Grant, a white man, formerly of the State of Florida, who was convicted in 1 906 on the charge of killing Walker Swett, in Marlboro county. There were several petitions presented to Governor Ansel for the pardon of Grant. Governor Ansel refused all petitions, and Governor B'oase acting on the old petitions and letters granted a pardon. Mary Fair, a Laurens county ne gress, was given her freedom by Governor Hlease. She was convicted in 1 Sr?7 on the charge of killing Henrietta Sullivan, and upon recommendation of the mercy of the Court, was sentenced to life imprisonment. She was refused a pardon by Governor Ansel. * SHOT WKOXG OXK FIRST. A Man Murders a tiirl and Then He Commits Suicide. Driven to desperation, .1. W. Powell, of Buchanan, Va., Monday killed his sweetheart, Miss Maude West, 18 years old. and then turned the shotgun on himself and ended his life. The double tragedy was thought to have been caused by jei'.onsv. Powell, 28 years of age, called unon Miss West Sunday night and while at the home met another young man. He was heard to make tin oats as he was leaving. While the young woman was on her way to a mail box to pos. a letter Powell, who was In hi/ling on the side of the road, jumped from a clump of hushes and opened fire on her with a shotgun. He empt'ed two loads in her body and th-m placed the weapon to his head and fired. When found both of them were dead. , Flour Sent to China. Ton thousand sacks of flour were purchased in Chicago Thursday by Otto Koenle, of New York, to be sent for the relief of the famine sufferers in China. The flour is the contribution of the subscribers of The Christian Herald. The flour will be sent to Seattle, whence it will be carried free of charge on the United States transport Huford to Chinklang. ? ? Finds a Mate. Oscar Kraus, of Pomona, Kan., the "Kansas giant," has decided that he does not want a Job on any police force, as was his ambition. Mr. . Kraus, who is seven feet, four inches I tall, has found a mate, a young lady 'of Longton, Kan., who is six feet, Ave inches tall herself. j CLASSIFIED cam Ml : For Sal??Pure King Cotton Seed at j Poultry Yard, Darlington, S. S. | For Hale?Pure King Cotton Seed at $1.00 per bushel. Address, J. J. Littlejohn, Jonesvllle, S. C. t Cabbie Plants F. O. P. Young's island, S. C. 75 cents per thousand, W. J. Nunnery, Wedgefield, 8. C. I want lw>y? In every town to sell Key Checks, Rubber Stamps, Stencils Williams, Back Bay, P. O. Box 1 22. Boston, Mass. For Halo?Fggs from pure bred White Plymouth Rocks, Flshel strain. Price $1.50 per setting of 15. K. H. Patrick, White Oak, s. c. You Can Mako Big Money selling l>ortable fence right. Every farmer seeds it. Write B. T. Stambaugh, Woodaboro, Md., for particulars. [Eleven Kentucky Jacks, twenty-one Jennets for sale. All of my own raising, with guarantee as strong as can be made. J. W. Riley, Graeey, Ky. For Salt4?Utility Rhode Island Red Cockerels, $1.50 to $2.00. Fine Cock, $5.00. One excellent Irish Pointer Dog, $50.00. W. 13. Pearson, Strother, S. C. For Sale?S. C. R. I. Reds, White and Brown Leghorns, Black I,angshang, Plymouth Rocks. Eggs lor setting, 15 for $1. M. B. Grant Darlington, S. C. Full stork Barred Plymouth Rocks. White Sherwoods and Rhode Island Red chickens and eggs for sale. Address Mrs. Mary E. Littlejohn, Jonesville, S. C. For Sale?At a bargain and on terms a plant of woodworking machinery, complete and running, with all the business it can handle. W. E. Alman, Spartanburg, S. C. S. C. Rhode Island Red and White Leghorn eggs for hatching. None better, few as good. Satisfaction guaranteed. Write for prices. Bayside Poultry Farm, Guyton, Ga. The Little Tell Tale which tells the Truth. A complete egg record of the day, the week, the month, and the year. Price 10c. Address, Mrs. M. B. Roberts, Dade City, Fla. For Sale?Eggs for hatching?Single Comb Buff Leghorn. From fine, well-mated, heavy-laying stock. $1.00 for 15; $1.75 for 30; $5.00 for 100. T. F2. Simpson, Society Hill, S. C. Girl or Woman?each locality, goon pay made acting as representative, address envelopes, fold, mail circulars, material, stamps, fu? nished free. Rex Mailing Agency. London, Ontario. For Sale?Whippoorwill Peas, $2.25 per bushel; Clay Mixed Peas, $2.20 per bushel; Ripper Mixed Peas, $2.20 per bushel. Write for prices in large quantities. F. A. Bush Co., Preston, Ga. Biopsy Cured?Shortness of breatn relieved in 2 6 to 4 8 hours. Reduces swelling in 15 to 20 days Call or write Collum Dropsy Remedy Company, Dept. O 512 A iste?l mag., Aiiatua ua. Dohhs' Single Coinl) Rhode Island Reds and "Crystal" White Orpingtons win and lay when others fail, stork and eggs for sale. Send for mating list. G. A. Dobbs, Box B. 24, Gainesville, Ga. Wanted?Men and ladies to take three months practical course. Export. management. High salaried positions guaranteed. Write for catalogue now. Charlotte Telegraph School, Charlotte, N. C. Wanted?Men to take thirty days' practical course in our machine shops and learn automobile business.' Positions secured graduates, $25 per week and up. Charlotte Auto School, Charlotte, N. C. Wanted?Bookkeepers, stenographers, clerks, write us if desiring employment. We place competent business help and are not able to supply demand. Carolina Audit & System Co., Skyscraper, Columbia. S. C. For Sale?Milch cows, registered .Jersey colors. Golden Lad, Flying Fox and st Lombert strain. Bronze Turkeys and eggs. Also eggs, R. I. Reds. White Leghorn, Rarred Plymouth Rocks and Pit Game, one dollar per doz. White callie puppies, registered. M. R. Sams, Jonesvllle, S. C. Gent* Wanted?Make big money s?L lng photo pillow topi. 25e. fcr< mid63. 25c; portraits, 35c; ollette* 30c. We produce works of ar guaranteed, lowest prices, largss studio, prompt service, credit ft* en; samples; portrait and fram* catalogue free. Hitter's Art Bte dlo, 1218 Madison. Chicago, 111. I LEE'S HEADACHE & t SAFELY. SUREI i f ' 4 !t Cures Headache and Neui J[ cause. Numerous testimonia us out in this statement. < < Read the following: j! I have been a constant suf J! years and could not get any % ' course or take morphine. I tri ^ ralgia Remedy and found peri X I heartily endorse it as the Sold Everywhere. Price 25 ; [ Manufacti BLR WELL & < ! t Charlotte ! (>oo<) Live Agents wanted In every town to sell a meritorlouu line o* medicines extensively advertiseand used by every family and h Mia Htahle An excentlonal opuo' tunity for the right pp.rties t? make good money. Write at one* for proposition to L. B. M&rti; Box 1 1 0. Richmond. Va. In order to introdnce my high gr&d? Succession Flat Dutch and W&fcfield Cabbage Plant* to :ho?e wh have not used them before I w!l rive with each flr?t order for thousand plants at a #1.25, a ?lo inr'r worth of vegetable* and flow, eed absolutely free. W. R. Har< Plant Grower. Enterprise J*. a ^ | Level Farms for Sale?In Cordon County, Northwest Georgia. Write for free list. I have sold severa' from the northern part of South Carolina, farms over here, where lands lie better, and are more productive, and can be bought for half, and less the money your lands are selling for. Health and : climate the best. T. M. Boa/. Box 38, Calhoun, Oa. I Warned?Every man, woman ? child In South Carolina to kn? that the "Alco" brand of Sap Doors and Blinds are the lr and are made only by the Angus' Lumber Company, who manufa ture everything In Lumber n." Millwork and whon*? watchword *. "Quality." Write Augusta Lurn hop nnmimnv. Augusta. Georgia for prior* *>n anj order, laxf* ? to HU Fggs?Marred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Plymouth Rocks, Rose Comb R. I. Rods. Acknowledged to be the three best general purpose fowls yet developed. Our pens are composed of the cream of last year's stock, all selected with the view of keeping up our wonderful e?g yield of the past. Our birds carried off a long string of prizes during the pa?t show so ison and we ] can give the best quality to be found. rCggs for hatching, $2.50 ^ per 15. Send in orders now for future delivery. West Raleigh Poultry Farms, B. M. Parker, Mgr. West Raleigh, N. C. < I la renins in South Georgia farm lands; 5,600 acres of fine, level j land, 8 miles from railroad; land productive and no waste; 2 0 or more houses; flowing well, 1 1 miles of fine fencing land, adapted to general farming and stock raising. Price $10 per acre. 3,100 acres located on railroad; 2,000 i acres open, balance in woods; land lies well and very produc- i five; dwelling, good barns, 50 tenant houses, 3 artesian wells, ] ginnery, etc. Cheap at the price of $20 per acre. 8 67 acres, 1 1 mile from railroad station; 6 00 acres in cultivation, balance in saw ] timber; land productive, lies well and no waste; dwelling, barns, 1 i | tenant houses, deep well with tank and gasoline engine. For quick; sale, can sell for $12.50 per acre.' If you are in the market for a fine farm and mean business, call to see us. Do not delay, as the prices we have now are sure to go higher. Address Allen & Crockett, Americus, Ga. <^uits the Race. John Keith, a white farmer living four miles west of Marion, com mitted suicide Wednesday afternoon by shooting himself through th\> head with a pistol. Mr. Keith was about 4 0 years of age and no cause can be assigned for his rash deed, as both his health and finances we?e in good shape. He is survived by three sisters and one brother. l>eatli Separates Them. At Florence, Colo., Mrs. Francis Rsper, 108 years of age, said to be the oldest woman in Colorado, died in the arms of her 111-year-old husband Thursday night from burns received when her clothing caught fire from an open grate. Mr. and Mrs. Esper has been married 91 years. * % NfURAl GA RCMEDY f^_ LY. S? EEDILY i j ralgia no matter what the 4 Is on file in our office bear ? Terer from headache for 12 4 relief until it had run its ? cd Lee s Headache and Neunanent relief. f\ best thing I have ever tried. j\ (Sgd.) H. A. Gandy, 4 nai isviiiv, >j. a c and 50c. { urcd By ? DUNN CO, I , N. C. I Manager Prank J. Shaugh-" nessy, of the Virginia League Champions, found Noah's Liniment best for Sore Muscles bruises, scratches, stilFness. One trial will convince you. Noah's Liniment penetrates. Requires but little rubbing. Here's the Proof **J havo had occasion to use Noah'* Liniment on two of my players' arms, and the result was most gratifying1. Both were Immediately relieved of soreness and able to resume throwing with Lhelr former speed. Have also used It myself, and consider It the best liniment I ever tried. It Is fine for bruises, scratches, stiffness, etc. Frank Bhaughnessy, Manager, Koanoke Cham* plons, Iloanoke, Va." Noah's Liniment Is the best remedy for Rheumatism, Sciatica, Lame Back, Stiff Joints and Muscles, Sore Throat. Colds, Strains, Sprains, Cuts, Bruises. Colic, Cramps, ?_ ckea*. Neuralgia, Toothache and all Nerve, Bone and jjif/ >j* Mneoln Ar>lioa n nrl Kit ' Tains. The Ren- | ulne has Noah's I 'EZft]SfT/i ^^TnUlm Ark on every package. 25 cts. Sold by dealers In I * | A jf a medicine. Sam- I k 1 V / 4 1 I Ml pie by mail tree* Noah Remedy Co., I uElk II Richmond. Va, I flL/1 Till fjcntle Jabs. 'Even a short man may have his long suit. It takes a good judge of whiskey Lo let it alone. It's better to be correct than it is . Lo be corrected. W./ The phonograph heads the list of shatter boxes. Among others, the county recorder i a o i? ? ?i n r\ f rl/in/1 u IO <V 111 rill \J I UV Not all politicians who study harmony are musically inclined. It is better to forgive than it is to spend a week in the hospital. Hut you can't be sued for nonpayment of a debt of gratitude. In delivering a speech be careful nor to get the wrong address. Only a fool lets people take him . In after he has found them out. \ . How far can you get from home before you become a stranger? \ n nsn-llv PMik^s his home run after ho reaches the plate. i' ? ) sta? Is such a small sum that he is sent to Jail. ? Want a Square Deal. Carrying forward his campaign for. Canadian reciprocity, President m.. i?i i _ i _ i __ _ ji _ ..A 1 i A i <iil is musing a oireci. appeal iu ^ the American farmer on that issue. V Ho declared that the impression which had gone abroad that reciprocity with the Dominion would injure the farmer was entirely without foundation, and by statistics and argument he seeks to lend actual proof to his assertions. Mr. Taft in a recent speech in Columbus, Ohio, asserted the reciprocal agreement with Canada would he a benefit rather than a detriment to the agricultural interest of this country. He said he stated this In answer to the criticism which had been directed against the measure presumably on the part of the farmer. We believe what President Taft says above is true, but still the farmer is entitle to and should have a square deal. If he is forced to sell his produce in a free market he should be given the right to buy his clothes, his shoes, his hat, and other things in a free market, :k :