The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, January 30, 1913, Image 4
BUILDING COLLAPSE
If' CIGBT PEOPLE KILLED AND FIFTEEN
ARE HURT
?
FLAMES ADD TO HORROD
Cfttustroi^e Caused by the Collapse
of a Large Department Store,
Wliich Was Densely Crowded Durrv
* >
ing a Dig Bargain Sale, In Which
Were Many Women and Children.
The work of clearing away rhe
wreckage of the Cheeves Brothers
department store, which collapseJ at
fklcKinney, Texas, Thursday, was
abandoned at midnight, the searchers
being convinced there were no
anore bodies in the ruins. LVIayor H.
) A. Finch gave out a statement placy
ing tho dead at eight. Fifteen injured
were recovered, six of whom
were seriously hurt. Tho others
were only slightly injured.
The store had been crowded during
the day by citizens and nearby
families of farmers attending a bargain
sale. According to Vernie
Oraves, the only person known to
have escaped uninjured from the
falling ruins, there were fully fifty
fjeople in the building at the time of
the catastrophe.
-Cracking of timbers and swaying
of the building were quickly followed
by the collapse. Excitement at
tending the accident was increased
by the falling of a two-story building
adjoining the department store.
Rescue work was impeded by the
lack of mechanical facilities and
practically the entire male population
of McKinney joined in fighting
the fire and searching the smouldering
ruins. News of the disaster
spread quickly and incoming interurban
lines brought scores of farmers,
who joined in the work.
Many of those in the ill-fated
? building when the collapse came
were women and children. Their
cries spurred the rescue workers in
their efforts to tear away the burned
and splintered timbers, behind
which the inmates of the building
were pinned.
Two persons reached by the rescuers
lived only a few minutes after
they were taken from the ruins. An
emergency hospital was hastily constructed
in a nearby building and
physicians from all parts of the town
rushed to the scene to render medical
aid.
Two of the dead were taken from
the debris alive, hut died within an
hour nt a sanitarium. One of these,
3Mrs. Mary Stiff, pleaded with the
firemen working in the tangled mass
above Ikt to kill her as the lire was
rapidly reaching her. She was
brought out barely alive. N. It. Presley
talked with the fireman as they
tore away the wreck, directed by the
soijnd of his voice. lie was dead
when they reached him.
I/. W. Bush, a capitalist, of Mc Kinney,
is believed . to be among
those still pinioned beneath the
.wreckage. Presley told those endeavoring
to rescue him that Bush
was on the opposite side of the counter
from him when the building fell.
^ The building adjoining the j
Cheeves Brothers establishment was
occupied by a farm implement concern.
The collapse of a wall In the
implement house threw its weight
against the corner building, and,
with a noise that jarred the town ro
its foundations, both sank into ruins.
At the harsh crackling of timbers, I
clerks and customers alike broke for
the streets. Pressed outward by the
weight of the heavy stock, the wall
of the implement store swayed, sagged
and burst through into the department
store, and in an instant
hundreds of tons of merchandise and
the wrecked and shattered building
material rained in a heap into the
department, store, Hying thirty-five
feet in the air. Jagged timber
stuck from tho mass.
After a moment, of stunned activity,
hundreds of rescuers pitched into
the ruins. Scarcely had they mounted
the heap when tongues of flame
burst through it. From all over the
city came workers and were formed
into relays by Mayor Finch. Ar one
shift became exhausted another took
its place. From the steaming ruin
bricks were hurled aside, timbers
torn out and cast into the streets
and human forms lifted from the
wreckage and hurried to hospitals.
The fire was extinguished in an
hour, but sometimes the flames
brought the volunteer fire-flghters to
the victims, who prayed for their rescuers
to hurry. N. R. Presley, a
clerk, was one of these. In interrupted
gasps ho told the flremon that
? - * ? - r? u
lie was waiting on i^osim uuon, <m
Allen, Toy., capitalist, when the
crash came.
Then Presley begged:
"Kill me, or give me a gun so I
can kill myself. I'm burning. My
right foot is burning off."
A few minutes later, when the rescuers
reached him, Presley was
dead. His right foot was burned to
a crisp.
As darkness fell, olectric lights
were strung across-the ruins.
Assistance came quickly from
nearby towns and from all parts of
the State came offers of aid. In spite
mmm
i RAILWAYS AND THJC 1'KOI'LK.
Discussed by President Finley of the
Southern.
Mr. W. W. Finley, president of the
Southern Railway Company, was one
of the speakers at the annual dinner
of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce
in the Yale University dining
I hall Thursday evening. Mr. Finley
i spoke on "State of Mind". He quoted
from a recent magazine article by
President-elect Wilson as follows:
' "Don't you think that some man
with eloquent tongue, without conscience,
who did not care for the nation,
could put this whole country
into a ilamo? Don't you know that
this country, from one end to another,
believes that something is wrong?
What an opportunity it would bo for
some man without conscience to
spring up and say: 'This is the way.
Follow mo'?and lead in paths of destruction."
Mr. Finley followed this by a quotation
from M. Gustavo Le Bon's
book entitled "The Crowd, a Study
of the Popular Mind," showing the
small part often played by reasoning
public opinion in economic truth
the ease with which it may be swayed
by affirmation and repetition.
He argued that tlieso quotations demonstrated
the wisdom of so grounding
public opinion in economic trurth
respecting the problems of the day
that mere affirmation and repetition
could not lead to the belief that
wrongs existed where they did not.
Referring to the problems relating
to transportation as among those as
to which public opinion should be
well grounded, Mr. Finley went on
to deal with the economic truths affecting
transportation from various
points of view as a basis for an intelligent
public opinion and the fair
attitude of the public mind as to the
railway system of the United States.
Pointing out that the transporation
system of the country was made up
of the country highways, the waterways,
and tho railways, each important
in its particular field, ho showed
the relative magnitude of the railway
system and its importance as a
factor in civilization, national progress
and development, and gave a
-1 -X C if. ?
passing glance at some ui tin; piuuloms
of railway management. Continuing,
ho said:
"Tho railways of the United States
give to society a transportation service
that is more comprehensive
from year to year. They perform this
service at rates of compensation that,
on the whole, are lower than those
paid for similar service in any other
country. They give employment, directly
or indirectly, to millions of
our fellow-citizens and expend such
vast sums in tho purchase of supplies
and materials that not only tho industrial
life, hut the general prosperity
of tho country, are largely dependent
upon the maintenance of
their wage-paying and purchasing
power.
"Tn return for their service to society
tho railways ask from society,
not as a favor but as a right, that
after they have been subjected to
snob regulation as will protect the
rights of the public they shall be
protected in their property rights
and shall bo permitted to enjoy such
a measure of liberty in tho management
of their affairs as is necessary
to the success of any business undertaking.
It is just as true to-day and
in tho United States as it. was 1,900
years ago in Judea that 'the laborer
is worthy of his hire'.
"This great American enterprise is
willing to be judged by the standard
nnnrincin^ Kxf All r ^ laf I n frll foil -
r 11 y |n vy wui
ed citizen, the president-elect, in his
question, 'Are you giving anything
to society when you want to take
something out of society?' "
KILLED IX HEAI)-()X CRASH.
? ?.
Five Others Hurt in Collision on Illinois
Central.
In a head-on collision on the outski
its of 'Brook Haven Sunday night,
between a freight train ana a southhound
pessenger train, known as the
Chicago and New Orleans limited, of
tho Illinois Central Railroad, two
members of the freight crew were
killed and five passengers on the
other train injured, though none, it
is thought, fatally.
The dead are: \V. D. Fredericks,
engineer, and W. Selby, brakeman,
both of McConvb City, i.Miss. The collision
is said to have been caused by
a misplaced switch.
? ?
Rescued From Icebergs.
After drifting among ice boes in
Lake Erie for twelve hours, several
residents from Pelee inland, Monday
were taken off a government man
boat by lifo savers. All of the party
were men, and all suffered moro or
less from the effects of exposure.
of the immense crowds, tho scene
was almost sflont. Men talked in
whispers. At the temporary morgues
only those looking for bodies wore
admitted.
Tho whole town appeared crushed.
Men who had narrow escapes
from death spoke of them briefly.
"There is nothing to tell," they said.
Vornie Graves, tho first fo escape,
and who Is probably the least injured,
said he heard the wall crack,
looked and saw it falling. A moment
later he remembers that ho plunged
into the street, filled with clouds of
dust.
LAST DAYSJN JAIL
AN OLD HAN TALKS PITIFULLY OF
I1IS OWN CASE
WANT TO PAY FOR CRIME
Ho Says His Hands Are Stained With
the Blood of His Oldest Boa Whom
He Slow, and He Wants to Suffer
for the Crime That lie Has Committed.
An Atlanta dispatch says "Uncle
Bob" Davis, bent and oroken, hair as
white as the driven snow, but his
hands stained crimson with the blood
of his son Hewlett, has taken his
place in "murderer's'' row", at the
convict camp near Milledgeville, Ga.
He went through Atlanta on his
way from his home in the peaceful
valley of Mill creek Wednesday
morning. There were no shackles
on his arms nor feet. "Uncle 'Bob"
is 75 years old, and carries one of
Sherman's bullets in his legs. He
wouldn't run away if he had a
chance. His hands are stained with
the blood of his son, Hewlett, his
llrst born, and he owes a debt to God
and fellow man.
"Only punishment can wipe away
my sin," Uncle Bob says. "I must
first square myself with man and
then I'll get right with the Lord.''
"Uncle Bob" killed a thing he loved.
It was a clear case of self-defense,
but "Uncle Bob" did not try
to evade the law. It was on December
11. He was killing hogs when
his son Hewlett came through the
gate. The old man ordered the boy
away from the premises. Then his
heart softened, and he asked him to
go on into the house. The son picked
up a stick, and the old man fled
into the house and went where he
had his shotgun handy. When he
came out on the porch, the son was
there. He raised the stick. There
was a sharp report. The son fell
over dead.
"Uncle Bob" had trouble with his
wife. They had lived happily on the
farm in the Mill creek valley. She'
left to go to the home of her son
and grandchildren. That was what
started tho trouble. It put murder
in the heart of the old man. At
least, that is the way he explains the
tragic occurrences.
"I would heap rather it bo I," he
said. "I loved the boy and I loved
his children. I didn't mean to kill
him. When I aimed the gun, it was
at his feet. I jest wanted ter keep
him from me. My hands are stained
with blood and I want to pay fori
what I have done. There is nothing
here for me."
"Uncle Bob" will probably spend
the balance of his days behind the
prison walls at Milledgeville. Judge
Fite sentenced him to serve five
years for manslaughter. Five years
is longer than "Uncle Bob" ever
hopes to live. The prospect of dying
behind the walls has 110 terror for
him.
"I hope I'll live to pay tho debt,"
he says.
"Uncle Hob'' was granted a new
trial by Judge Augustus Kite, in
Whitfield county, and his attorney,
George C. Glenn, believes that he
what I have done. There is nothing
second trial.
"The blood is on ray hands," Uncle
Hob said, as he was led unshackled
to prison.
He believes that by serving time
he can wash away the blood. He
wants to be alone, in confinement.
"Uncle Bob" asked that the formalities
of the law be set aside, and
that George C. Glenn, his attorney,
be allowed to take him to prison.
He leaves a wife and ten children,
with whom he lived in his mountain
home. He wants to serve out his
sentence like a man and return some
day to the hills of dear old Whitfield.
"Uncle Bob" followed Lee and
Jackson through during the stirring
days of the sixties.
There is not a man nor woman In
the country who is not willing to do
all they can for "Uncle Bob" but he
won't let them interfere.
"My hnads are stained,'' he says.
"Sorrow and tears alone can make
them white."
Wants Smoking Stopped.
Senator Tillman wants better air
In the senate chamber. With this
in view he introduced a resolution
forbidding smoking in the senate at
any time by any person. At present
the only time that senators can
smoKO on .no noor i? wnmi iuu ?*??ate
is in executive session.
? ? ?
Governor Blea.se Was Wrong.
Comptroller General Jones submitted
a statement to the house on Wednesday
that the Kuker claim nad not
been paid, as stated by the Governor
in one of his messages, and that the
information could have been gotten
from his office.
Senator Till map need not bother
himself about liis standing with the
peeplo of South Carolina. Eliminate
the floating mil/ voto, which ho
nover did control, and he has more
friends now than he ever had before
since he entered politics.
SHOULD HELP FARMERS
A NATIONAL MARKETING ASSOCIATION
NEEDED.
It Wonld Enable the Farmers to Market
Their Farm Products to Greater
Advantage.
Hon. B. F. Yoakum, Chairman of
the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad,
in the January number of the
National Monthly contributes a very
Interesting article on "A National
Marketing Association for Farm Products,"
in which ho contends that the
National Government should estabii-t
? i. 11 1 Oi
ilHii sum a. oureau ior me ueneni. 01
the producers of the country. We
reproduce Mr. Yoakum's article in
full, which is as follows:
American manufacturers, merchants,
bankers and business men in
almost every class of business have
been engaged for the past few years
in a direct and powerful concerted
effort to increase the efficiency, of
their manufacturing, merchandising
and financing by reducing the cost
of production and the cost of selling.
It was that effort, and that effort
alone, that has made the past twenty
years an era of great combinations
and trusts. The manufacturers figured
out that they could reduce the
cost of selling and distribution very
greatly if they combined scattered
plants, into one central organization
and substituted ono selling expense
for a dozen selling expenses.
Through this great era of the elimination
of necessary expense and of
the gathering of larger profits from
manufacturing, and all other lines of
organized business and labor, the
farmers of the nation, who are the
greatest producers of all, have done
almost nothing in the direction of
eliminating unnecessary expense in
selling their products.
Ten years ago the conclusion was
reached that from the way our political
affairs were shaping that the
safest way for a railroad to proceed
was to go to work with the farmer
and co-operate with him to better his
piv?l IIUII itliu ill cv t;i J puao iun- n aj iu
make him stronger, and increase his
efficiency.
Naturally organizations must proceed
at local centers. For instance,
the citrus growers of Southern California,
the apple growers of Oregon,
the truck growers of Southern Texas,
have organized into agencies for selling,
which have as their object control
over the methods of selling the
output. In a local way, these organizations
typify the aims and the
methods that will be followed in the
long run by national organizations of
farmers producing the staples of life.
. The broad and comprehensive principles
of the work of a National Producers'
Association should not be
n irunderstood. It should be clearly
sec forth and thoroughly understood
by the public that it is not the formation
of a trust to increase the present
high retail prices of food-stuff, but
that its basic is to formulate and
put into operation a system of selling
end distributing the products of the
field in such a way that they will go
as directly to the consumer as good
organization will permit and with the
least expense.
This new system of handling farm
products will not interfere with the
legitimate commission business of
the country. Commission merchants
wilt always bo necessary. They arc
an established commercial organization
and arrangements can be made
for the use of their machinery to
better advantage than other disfi**butlng
agencies.
All who have kept abreast of pubfic
affairs know that both organized
capital and labor through close relations
with the government have fared
well in securing legislation in the
Interest of both. Roth have fought
for protection, because it was to
their interest, and both have succeeded
in making it profitable. The
farmers are starting late. They have
been slow.
In a speech made to the workingmen
in New York on September 4,
Governor Wilson said:
"Men waste their energies if they
do not co-operate in a proper way,
and therefore the way in which large
bodies of workingmen are guided
and directed is of capital importance
to them in the creation of wealth."
In this phrase Governor Wilson sums
! up very concisely and concretely
what the farmors of the United
States should have done, and have
not done, for their own interest.
A labor leader was quoted in the
New York papers of the 14th of August
as saying:
"Legislation in the interests of
labor has been unprecedented ly
abundant this year.'' Ho enumerated
nineteen separate achievements
in the interest of labor during tho
last Congress.
T.ot 11s the government reports
for a moment and seo how
many hours those engaged in differ- '
ont occupations work to earn one
dollar: i
Mechanics working on plows,
hoes, harvesters and reapers, three <
hours: wagon and harness makers, S
three and one-half hours; railroad s
employees engaged in transporting <
products of tho farm to market, two j
an<J one-half hours; farmers, based 1
on farm values last year, ten hours. :
To mako this clearer, the mochan- 1
ic who works in factories making It
the plows, hoes, harvesters and oth- i
J
er Implement* that the farmers use,
to earn one dollar works three hours.
The automobile, wagon and/harness
maker for the farmers' use works
three and one-half hours. The railroad
employee who runs the trains
which haul the products of these
farmers to market works two and
one-half hours to earn one dollar.
The farmer, who does all the work
of producing:, takes all the riBk of
drought and other hazards that go
with farming, works ten hours te
earn one dollar. Is such a division
of the product of labor fair? Have
the men who these 6,500,000 farm
owners elected to represent them in
Congress given them due considersa.
t o
HO 11 I
The farmer is beginning to see
things differently. He has come to
know that there is a tremendous
waste some place between his farm
and the dinner table, and he wants
to know what can be done to cut out
that waste and give a portion of it to
him. The time is passing by when
men can satisfy the producer by
loose and reckless statements about
freight rates; about borrowing rates
on mortgages and their products
such as the German and French farmers
have. They are tired of being
told before election of tfceir own importance
to the country and what a
hard job they have. They want action,
not sympathy. They are more
interested as to how to sell their
products, and get their full share of
the final proceeds. The time
has come when we have to get down
to "brass tacks" with the farmer and
talk business with him as a business
man.
The government of the United
States has so far done nothing to improve
the marketing condition in
food products. Everything that has
boon rlnno in thiK direction has been
the result of individual effort and
not of Federal encouragement..
The% Federal Government lias
spent during the past ton years over
$100,000,000 for the advancement of
agricultural development in other
lines. It has done much to teach the
farmers how to select the best seed;
how to prepare the soil; how to cultivate
and gather crops; how to
adapt the annual crops to particular
qualities of soil; how to redeem
swamp land; how to improve wornout
and depleted farms and many
other matters that are of great interest
to the farming community,
and which taken together constitute
a great and splendid wor* that has
been carried on by the government.
In the matter of marketing, however,
which is equally vital to the
farming community from a standpoint
of larger profit, the government
has done nothing. A farmer
when he has raised his crop has performed
only half his duty; the other
half is selling, which determines his
profit for the year's work.
It is just as important for the agricultural
producer to know what the
markets are as it is for the lumberman,
the coal and ore producer, or
the manufacturer to know what his
.1,. v,r, ,, ,,
^uunn eli ? uriii in 111 v" mc&i i\?;t aiiu
what competition he must meet in
his selling.
It would be possible to organize
the entire truck growing territory
of the Southwest into zones of distribution
and to control the output
in such a way as to prevent congestion
and wasteful prices by overcrowding
the markets.
The government of tho United
States should assist the formation of
such a co-operative marketing system
by establishing ample sources or
direct information on markets and
distributing that information to the
producing communities. The time
has come when bhe government must
pay more attention to legislation for
the benefit of the farmers than it has
paid in the past.
It is the tendency of this day to
equalize the living conditions. Scientific
and efficient governmental
policy means extending equal opportunities
to the different classes of
its citizenship, and it is part of the
business of the government to study
any tendencies, methods and plans
that, will tend toward such equality
of opportunities. The government
cannot, in justice discriminate by favoring
one class more than another,
for the whole principle of unjust discrimination
is a thing hated by the
American people. The people of the
United States have rendered their
verdict setting forth the fact that every
class of citizens must be considered
on its merits and must be given
no undue advantage merely because
it contributes literally in funds to
an election campaign or controls a
substantial vote at the polls.
In reducing the high cost of selling
wo have one of the biggest questions
that must be answered in formulating
a constructive program for
the betterment of agricultural citizenship
in this nation. It is a good
basis upon which to proceed to save
ns far as possible the fifty cents on
the dollar, shown by the department
of nericnltnro nn nn linnrrnsanrv
wasteful expense in passing produces
from the producer to the consumer.
To do so will add millions to the
farmers and save much to the consumers.
There is, for instance, no sound or
even theoretical reason why the
Southwest Texas Truck Growers' Association
should not expand their
organization to include the truck
growers of Oklahoma, Arkansas and
Louisiana. This is a small trade
>.one viewed from a comprehensive
ousiness standpoint. If beans, pota:oo?,
cabbage, early corn, strawberries,
or onioua are selling In Texas
LOST WITH ALL HANDS
*
ONE 8TEAMKK SEES ANOTHER
GO TO THE BOTTOM.
Haw Large Ship Flange Beneath the
Wares in Terrific Hurricane With
All on Board.
v,
The News and Courier saps the
sinking of a large Danish steamship,
with all hands on board, off the
southwest coast of England during a
terrific hurricane ou the 26th of December,
was the scene witnessed by
Cant. K. Itee, master of the Dutch
steamship Phecda, which arrived in
port Saturday night from Hamburg
with a cargo of fertilizer material.
The name of the lost vessel is not
known, but it is believed by some of
Capt. Ree's officers that she was a
large Danish merchantman, probably
the Ivar of Copenhagen.
Capt. Reo says that on tho 25th
and 2 6th of December tho Phecda
passed through a hurricane. On tho
afternoon of tho 2 6th, about three
o'clock, tho officers of tho Phecda
sighted a big Danish tramp, which
seemed to liavo been badly damaged
by the storm, but was fighting her
way slowly through high seas.
Capt. Reo signalled to know If the
steamer was in distress and needed
assistance. Tho unknown vessel did
not request aid. Sho carried her
flag at half-mast. As tho Phecda
drew nearer tho Dane appeared to
be trying to make a turn and come
to tho leeside. The high seas washed
her decks and scattered her boats.
At about 4:15 o'clock a mountainlike
sea swept over her, and when
it passed tho vessel plunged downward
head first.
Capt. Roe thinks that tho last
high sea that broke over tho ill-fated
Dane s vent tho men from their
defies. Tho Phecda came up to the
spot where the unknown vessel was
| seen to go down and stood by until
I nearly midnight. The officers of the
1 hecda kept a sharp lookout to see
if any of tho bodies of the drowned
men could bo found, but nothing
floated afterward by which the lost
ship could be identified. Tho weather
was clear after the storm and the
moon shone brightly.
I The vessel which sank appeared to
be a steamer of about 3,000 tons,
with black hull ana smokestack.
Tho smokestacks had the sign of the
perpendicular cross. It is believed
that she was a Danish merchantman
owned in Copenhagen, probably the
Ivar. The Phecda experienced an
exceedingly rough passage, but b^ing
a very fine ship and in the hands of
able officers and seamen she weathered
the gale and is entirely seaworthy
and ready for the sea again at a
moment's notice.
at a good price, and the market in
Louisiana or other localities can be
broken, it reduces in proportion the
buyer's buying price in every section
where vegetables at that time are on
the market.
The majority of the farmers have
been prejudiced against others. They
have fought all other trade comblna
tions ana negieciea ineir own, wmen
is going to become one of tho biggest,
most beneficial and influential,
and in saying this, T am not unmindful
of the many difflcultiew and
obstacles to be overcome. The farmers
work longer hours and harder
than any other class. They live away
from town and it Is not as convenient
for them to attend co-operative
meetings and become familiar with
their advantages. They are too busy
during the day and too tired at night
to attend many meetings. They
must be informed of the co-operative
trade advantages through associations
and educational work aided
by the government.
During the last Congress two bill/*
were introduced, one by Congressman
Reall of Texas, and ono by Senator
Hoke Smith, of Georgia, neither
of which passed, for the establishment
of a market bureau under the
Agricultural Department, to bo operated
in the same general manner
as to the good roads department,
etc., to find every feasible way to inform
tho farmer on all things and
methods pertaining to marketing
form products through a system of
daily farm market bulletins during
the shipping seasons in different
coBt of boxing and packing, but the
freight rates, the express rates, the
storage rates, and selling commissions,
the different products that can
go by parcels post, the proper way
to pack: |fruit, vegetables, poultryproducts,
etc., and overy item of expense
from the farm until sold at
the markets. ^
Sooner or later such a bill will got
the attention of Congress.
They Had Free Fight.
At Cheyenne, Wyo., a riot broke
out in tho house of representatives
of the Wyoming legislature Monday
when Speaker Spratt and Speaker
Pro Tom Wood both claimed the
A txrno 1/1 A A ^ *
I iQHV w |/l VOIU9I JV \ I t I 1 t ' 11 1 ngni,
which was interrupted hv members,
took place between the two officers.
?
A letter from Columbia says Senator
E. J. Dennis, of Berkeley County,
is a candidate for Judge from the
first judicial circuit, to succeed to the
vacancy occasioned by the resignation
of Judge Robert E. Copes, and
friends are industriously pushing hid
candidacy.