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' -r.'.: T If.the v shouk f p&jDeJ&nsy Hundreds of Miles of Peninsula Lands Might Be Held and Tilled Indefinitely by Hostile Hands. The bill for the fortification of the mouth of the Chesapeake Ilay, which has been agitated for several years, will in all probability be passed ,by Congress at this session, and thus the government will be able to guard f one of the most important points olnn.fr t Vin A 1 o n Ho Pnoof | *? tuv ntlUlltlU The building of a fort on Cape Henry, directly at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, will give protection to an even more valuable section ov the country than the huge Panama Canal, which is also to be fortified. While the canal will represent a cast outlay of money, and will be Immensely valuable to this nation in ^ the event of war with either a European or Asiatic country, the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay once entered, would give to the enemy easy access to not only the capital of the nation, but th/e cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia, to say nothing of Annapolis and the Naval Academy and the cities of Norfolk, Newport News and ^ the great shipyards and coal piers representing millions of dollars in Hampton Roads. Although there is a modern fortification at Fortress Monro-e, and, to a great extent, ships of a foreign navy could he prevented from entering the inner Hampton Roads were they to steam in straight from sea, ^ yet should ships get pass Cape Henry it would be possible for them to steam up the Bay toward Baltimore without getting within range of the guns at Monroe. Cape Henry, as will ho shown, is the key to the Chespe-ake Bay. Un^ less it is fortified in the most thorough manner it will be vulnerable and an open invitation to an invasion that would be difficult to repel. The possibility -of the United States being invaded must, of course, be considered from two main standpoints. First, in connection with the vulnerability of our coast lino defenses, and secondly, a<, to the forces cent against us. At the outset it may be said that t no one power could effect a wide-1 ^ spread or permanent invasion, but it may be reasonably feared that one | of several large powers might gain control of one or more of our 1mpotant strategic positions and inflict tgreat punishment before this nation i could place itself in a condition to drive, out the enemy. As to vulnerability, we may scan the situation from Maine to Texas, and then from Texas on the Pacific fhA northernmost edee of our country, find, though seeing several CANT BE FOUND ? * SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN CAUGHT AND LYNCHED. Slayer of J. P. Bouknight, Who Es^ raped in Night Clothes, Has Not Been Seen Since. The body of J. Pink Bouknlght, the farmer of the Shady Grove section of the Dut6h Fork of Lexington county, who was shot and killed at an early hour Wednesday morning while heading a posse of "white caps," by Will Collins, a negro, was laid to rest at Shady Grove church j Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock, in Uh/tect ~r . ' u.'. , .r 1J 4Z1SM _ ^:|liii&iij&i$iil iiiliilii iliiiiiiii /.. !i!Sji. ?.:-..?:I.!".*:.:i:--jij.-i:Ol::.-:K-::: fvfo,>;^>^'*^%\*,p^v\w;?;?5V.'> v'-v.vv.-.*?V , . .?: . . : . ?..... II >*V A' "<- .' : : && T '- - v I Ife' 'Jfrte of JDf>opos,ecf JTojr>? points at which a hostile power might seek to gain a foothold, no part of our entire coast line presents, In the hands of the enemy, such an opportunity for destuction of great cities as does the Chesapeake Bay, whose geoprapliical nature is peculiarly favorable to baffling aggressiveness and continued occupancy. It may confidently be said that the power controling that body of water .*'1 also ccuticl, or render absolutely useless to this nation, the entire peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean and Deleware River, as well as many mi'es of peninsula land on the western side of the Bay. At no other part of our eoast line could the transportation of troop3 and munitions of war be so effectually hampered, while, conversely, no other part of our coast involves the preservation of so many strategic advantages and facilities for the speedy transportation by land and water of an army as would lie afforded us by the control of the Chesapeake, the key to which is the entrance formed by Cape Henry and Cape Charles, whose natural advantages for resisting a hostile fleet lies on the south sid'3, which is washed by the main ship channel whose width abreast of faiift U/inrir T ItrliOi nnco lo louo V? o i vu J/Vy AiVIU J I V/UUV 1 kj I Vy Ou tlldlA three statute miles between five fathom lines. Cape H?enry is the natural Gibraltar of the United States and should he made impregnable and impassable, the necessity for which (obtains because iti s the key to our most important of all strategic situations, and because, with the proper fortifiJ cation of this point, fewer battleships ' in the event of war would be here re! quired to aid in repelling the enemys , | fleet. This means not only protection to invaluable facilities at the ports of the Chesapeake, the preserva tion to our own and closure to a hostile fleet of the finest harbor, as well as the most important base of operations we possess, but a virtual increase in the size and strength of our navy and its scope and effectiveness at other ports of our great coast linA. The ports of New York, Boston ana I Galveston, representing, as they do, h the extreme poles or outlets of our j ] commercial conditions as well as \ strategic advantages and untoil val-J nations of property, lie almost within t gunshot of the ocean and would re- i quire, in addition to their present de- ( \ fenses, all the reinforcement they f could iget from our "dogs of war." i Some idea of the strategic value t of the Chepapeake Ray for operaton ; in case of war may be gleaned from i the fact that within its entrance i there are 700 miles of water naviga- t the presence of a large congregation t of friends and relatives. Will Col- t Mne, who did the* shooting, has i either .been killed and his body "V thrown in the river, or he has sue- * ceeded in making good his escape, ac- * -cording to the most reliable infor- t mation obtainable from that section. (r ? - - ? - * i. _ .? il ir_ ^ Tne nrsi news or me aeam ui mr. ^ Bouknlght reached Lexington Wed- j nesday morning, when Coroner Clark received a telephone message stating, in effect th<at J, P. Bouk- * night was dead and requesting the c officer to come over and hold an in- t quest. No particulars were given, V and, attaching but little importance r to the message on account of its o meagreness, the coroner instructed r Magistrate Lorick of Irmo, who lives v not far from the scene, to hold the n Inquest. c Nothing of the real seriousness of s 1ISMlS _ was/km ? ?? ? :< m . :: - :: ;v::, 3v':l v'^s .\ . M 'M ::-':-.x:::..: x-f: :' v::;::. . . <.: . : :.. <.< : : <:#>. : : : : : : : : : : " ' ' JSS .-i-.' ' " ; > : ..>/ ": . .f. > ?'\ ; v% x'':.y > ;J'-- .' >>' ' ' ': . * i* ' ^ ' ! .> *$$$ . ;:-U W>. ' Wm > ft? S-V^UUf &=" ' 5 :J;- . " ... <v? 1WS' :'V/. : '. i-.'v.v.1-46' * spiiiiiiiii >,,g W &o-^*>'' H g(|g0gg?ggtggBBttttMiHHaaMMi ble for vessels of 17 or 3 8 foot draft; 550 miles of which are navigable for vessels of 20 feet draft; 425 miles for ships drawing 25 feet, and nearly 4 00 miles which may be traversed by ships of 3 0 feet draft. The 17 or 18 foot channelway admits a small naval fry, such as torpedo boats and destroyers, gun boats and other vessels of light draft. The 2 0-foot depth will accommodate second and third class cruisers and many troop and supply ships. The 25-foot depth will admit of navigation by all second-class battle ships, first class cruisers, scout and troop ships, and in fact all auxiliary craft of a navy; while nearly 4 00 miles of the Chesapeake and its tributaries may be penetrated by warships of the Dreadnaught type clear up to Baltimore. What a scope for the enemy's fleet and what a national disaster to us? the transportation of troops and munitions of war, through the Chesapeake and the proposed Inland Waterway cut off; the deprivation of a great proportion of the nation's facilities for docking and repairing, with the lost of the most central of all coaling stations. Deprived of this central base of operations, the ships of our navy would be driven to seek facilities, fuel and shelter in either extreme northern or southern port*. Not only could a hostile fleet with impunity pass Dortress iMonroe, but a hundred?five hundred?troopships of the "tramp" class and eggsshell construction could with equal safety pass up the Bay under cover of night or during weather the least hazy or misty. What gunnery or what marksmanship could contest the passage of battleships at a distance of twelve and one-half miles, or even troopships when favored with darkness or during the day by haze or mist? 'Baltimore, Norfolk and Newport News are accessible, as far as channel accommodations are concerned, to vessels of the Dreadnought type, while the York River may be entered ,wenty-t.wo miles; the Rappahannock, thirty: the Potomac, thrty-flve, and the Patuxent River twentymiles by illips of the same class, to say nothng of the streams which empty into the eastern side of the Bay; while Vnnapolis may be approached with n a mile or two and the improvenents at the Academy, and for which he government has spent millions he situation w.as learned, until he return of Deputy Sheriff Miller, vho was early on the grounds Vednesday. After making an inestigation, Mr. Miller was not able o give any of the particulars of the ragedy, further than that I3ouklight had been shot in the stomach vith a shotgun while making an efort to enter the home of Will Col-' ins through a window. Opinion is divided as to the thereabouts of the negro who esaped after shooting Mr. Bouknight, i nit the majority believe th^t he was :llled and his body thrown into the < Iver. Others declare that the groans ?f the dying man so frustrated the ' ?arty that their attention was dlerted from the negro and that he nade his escape. One of Collins' i hildren was shot In the hack, It Is < aid. Collins' wife it is said, makes < r*L X J>mi PEir$$A ?mr\ \ >$&L <? \ rVh K, \Xrfh !v K^rU /* Y \/s 35 VfOtf#w jy-o^roz/f^j ;?5;t*s*s;|5iii;;|s3*|sj?5Ss|:^;s|5is|r;:-5j?;5H;2;S;i*5s;sSsS;s?sr|r?issjt3j5:irrrS^ iMMMi ;i; be utterly demolished. The James, York, Rappahannock, Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, navigable for distances varying from forty to one hundred miles inland by many large vessels of war, form the four main peninsulas on the western side of the Chesapeake, whose width at the narrowest parts, from channel to channel, ranges from six to nineteen miles. Battleships operating as the first ( and last named (first above Yorktown and secondly from Patuxent River or Bay) points could, without co-operation of other vessels in con- 1 tigious channels, command the two peninsulas formed by the James and 1 York and the Patuxent River and Bay, and the co-operative fire of 1 ships carrying long-range guns, lo- 1 cabed in our rivers as above outlined, 1 would thoroughly rake across the i three peninsulas lying between the j Patuxent and York Rivers. The total length of peninsulas ] commanded by the enemy's fire (addinig eight miles for inland , range) would be, respectively, , twenty-nine and one-hair, thirty-two ( thirty-eight, thirty-one and twenty- , six miles, or a total command of j one hundred and fifty-six and one- , half miles of these peninsula*. Only reasonable possibilities of strategic disaster are here dealt with, ( while it is not altogether inconceiv- ; able that vessels of the enemy, cay- f rying high-power guns, might pen- { etrate the Potomac and other rivers F much farther than has been indicated. In possession of the peninsulas of ( the Chesapeake, and the landing of s a large army, the enemy's position for Hank maneuvering would be most f advantageous, and the (American s army sent to repel them might find i itself between the enemy's force on j land and the "dead lines" across the f peninsulas which would be raked s by the hostile ships in our rivers. r With such a disaster to our present t standing (army confronting us, who n can say what devastation might not ( r lw* un'Aiio l^ t ai? h n f of f.oor!n o;1- n i./v? n i VIU^II i i/i u iidt pi i HI/ f^i\. im~ ?i vantages gained by the invading p nation? Who can confidently deny a the possildlty of not only Baltimore g and Washington, hut the cities of h New York, Boston, Philadelphia and e in fact all the ports of the Atlantic e S-eobard being laid under the ban of tl heavy reprisals?pending the period s< the statement that she told him to J, shoot, believing that she, together ai with her two children, would all be d killed. She gathered her children e< in her arms and managed to make b; her escape in the darkness. r< The verdict of the jury of inquest ei ni was in effect, that the deceased came to his death by a gunshot wound in the hands of parties unknown to the jury. The wounded man was carried to the home of his brother-In- d, law, Mr. Fulmer, where a convey- w nnce was secured to carry him home, n hut he died on the way. The de- tc ceased was a brother-in-law to Joe. c; Fulmer, whose l>arn was burned a few weeks ago, the burning of which 0j was laid to the negro. g( The killing occurred on the plan- ai tation of Rhett Younginer, for whom T\ Collins worked. The tragedy has fr cast a gloom over the entire section, st -^laajxrij V * msz &|WOv ' ' w ?~A \^TSS OPJRBOPOSZDjTMrS ni r'/l DF7 Pffr/wW ^ I of army training of raw material? The likelihood of any one nation landing a force sufficient for widespread or permanent invasion, is of course renvote, but it is readily conceivable that in the first stages of hostilities, suddenly precipitated, our own land forces might suffer an overwhelming distaster, while concerted invasion by several powers at this point, would seriously endanger the cities, defenses and facilities of the entire Atlantic and Gulf coast line. The formation of these western peninsulas by the James, York, Rappahannock, Roto mac and Patuxent rivers, hut a few miles between them, presents a startlingly vulnerable point of atack and possible invasion; for here, the enemy, under perfect shelter from storms, could make a demonstration of landing on either peninsula,necessitating the concentra Lion of our forces at such point, while lie could, at his pleasure, shift his portion either northwardly or southwardly, land his forces and inarch against the real point of attack and create ruin and devastaton while our army would be forced by Lhe hostile ships in our rivers to nake a long detour to meet them. Under such circumstances it becomes aparent that a large army of \mericans would be required to deend each peninsula; else we might isk ourselves i wun me main strength of our army drawn to d? end a feigned point of attack, if '"Jew Yoik, Philadelphia, Baltimore >r the National Capitol would be ;a fe? Should it be thought necessary for urther protection of the bay, to uppiomienl the fortification at Cape Ienry by additional defense, an isand fort might be built in 14 or 15 eet of water, north by west and ix and one-half miles off Cape Ileny. This would give to the fort at he latter place command over the orthern channel at an extreme ange of three and one-half miles; inking the entrance to that channel ractioally impossible to such ships 1 s could, in the absence of resistance, r o through. Several submerged ulks to the existing shoals would ( ffectually close this entrance to .he nemy's ships. In like manner could i?9 channel on the south side be amewhat constricted. ? , P. Rouknight was 52 yt,ars of age nd leaves a wife and several chil ren. Tie was prominent in the 1 immunity and numbered his friends 0 y the score. Deputy Sheriff Miller 1 ^turned to the scene to make furth- ^ r investigation, but no trace of the 1 cgro could be found. ? * Refused to Grant Pardon. r A mother's pitiful plea was turned ^ own by Governor Dlease Thursday n hen he refused to pardon G. V. s ingham, the young Georgetown doc>r, who, with W. B. Avant, his i 080 friend, was convicted at the fall c mi of court in 1909 of the killing p f young Mrs. Bingham, and each t mtenced to a term of three years b ad a half in the state penitentiary, oth Bingham and Avant escaped om the officers of the law and are u 111 at largo. 1 o SUPPORTS TAFT ? Finer Preside it Relief eh F&mt Taft Fwr Repoblicai Nominee. MAY AID IN CAMPAIGN . ^ i At Cardinal Gibbons' Celebration Ilk llaltimore the Two Presidents Met?Roosevelt Will Not Consider Taking the Nomination Himself for President in 1012. President Taft, in his candidacy for the presidential nomination in i n < n 211 i ii. . ^ nr. i i;m<u, win receive uie umiuainieu endorsement of former President Roose volt, which will be uttered just as certainly as it was In the last campaign. This is the best political news Mr. Taft has received in many months, and it comes to him in a manner that leaves no doubt as to its authenticity. The information that Mr. Roosevelt, under no circumstances, will allow his name to be presented to a national convention was received sever:;! days ago, but it did not become known until Tuesday night. That Col Roosevelt feels that the Taft administration should be continued was brought out as a result of the meeting between the two at the Cardinal Gibbons jubilee at Baltimore. Whether the former president will enter the campaign, as an active worker, will be watched with interest. It is not expected to prove pleasing to Republicans, who have made no secret of their desire to bring Col. Roosevelt forward as a formidable rival for the 15)12 nomination. Many of these Republicans, no dou.bt, will refuse to abandon hope until Col. Roosevelt himself, in a quoted statement, announces his position and thus breaks the silence concerning the administration, which he has maintained since landing in New York on his return from Africa. The information that iMr. Roosevelt would he found allied with tho president rather than against him, was brought directly to Mr. Taft from 'Mr. Roosevelt by a mutual friend high in official life, who was connected with both the Roosevelt and Taft administrations in a capacity that enabled him to igtain and retain the confidences in fact, the warm personal friendship of both men. The meeting at Baltimore between the two was only incidental to the Cardinal Gibbons jubilee, but it -awakened the political interest of men high in public life. They met first in the reception room in the 5th regiment -armory, where the Jubilee celebration was held. They talked together and shook hands with old friends, they chatted, laughed and behaved just as they used to do when Mr. Roosevelt was in the White Houso and Mr. Taft w-as secretary of war. They carried the spirit of friendliness up to the platform and, sitting side by side, they conversed in undertones through much of the afternoon. Mr. Roosevelt reached Baltimore 1 R /\ oml mac n; o UCIUI C l 11 V7 j'l rniviv. ui, Hinw it (to u ?*? vins for him at the armory. "Hello, Mr. President,** said ho in tho high pitched voice that Washinigtonians know well. "I'm glad to see you. I want to inquire about Mrs. Taft." "Hello, Theodore," replied tho president. "How are you' * Shortly after, Mr. Roosevelt was taken aside by the president. The two men were together about ten minutes, beyond ear range of any other person. Afterwards it was said they "talked about Mrs. T.affc's health." The president invited the colonel to come to Washington on June 19 to be his guest in the White House at his silver wedding anniversary. Mr. Roosevelt said he would try to manage it. As he had to return immediately to New York, he was not tho president's guest Tuesday nlight. The president arrived in Washington at 7 o'clock. After he had shaken hands with tho cardinal, the resident put out his hand to tho olonel. "Goodbye, Teddy," said he. rhen ho leaned forward and said something. They both laughed and ho meeting was over. ? ? < DORS SOME GOOD. Hie Torrid Weather Kills tho Cotton Boll Weevil. A dispatch from Tallalah, I>a., le o the effect that the torrid weather if the past week has .been effective a _ m av n putting a Dig per cent, ui \nv treaded cotton boll weevils out of mslness. The tests conducted by ihe Delta, loll Weevil Labratory, under the llrectlon of G. D. Smith of the Unitd States Bureau of entomology, inlicatea that the bug has sustained its uost serious setback since its invaion of that territory. Of the weevils placed in hibern&tng catges last fall half of one per cent ?nly have emerged against 1 1-2 >er cent last season, showing that he per cent surviving is consideraly smaller. ; * A man who is indiscreet in hfa Iterances is like a postcard?every* ne can read him. . A ^ || J