Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THE LARGEST Circulation of Any Ns.vspaps in the Fifth Congressional District of S. C. Fhe Ledger. SEMI-WEEKLY—PUBLIS^# TUESDAY AND FRIDAY. .. '’*' ' •. 5. WE GUARANTEE The Reliability of Every Adver* tiser Who Uses the Col umns of This Paper. A t . t Newspaper in all that the Word Implies and Devoted to the Best interests of the People of CheroKee County. ESTABLISHED FEB. 16. 1894. THROUGHOUT THE PALMETTO STATE. Items of Interest of Passing Events. ALL OVER THE STATE. ISvent. that Have Taken Place from One Kntl of the State to the Other Called from ExcImiigeH for Quick Heading by Scores of Busy People. The citizens of Yorkville have brought up the dispensary issue there again. The council has ordered an election on the subject to be held March 7, next. The governor has approved the act of the legislature requiring vestibules on the street cars in Columbia, Green ville and Sparl .nburg during cetrain months in the year. Governor McSweeney has refused to exercise clemency in the case of Eli Ktnard.who was convicted in New berry county in February of last year of burglary and larceny and sentenced to three years on the chain gang. Solicitor Sease declined to recom mend the pardon. The York Cotton Mill Company has declined to sell out to the proposed cotton mill trust. The trust proposi tion was to value the mill at $250- 000 and give the stockholders GO per cent, in bonds or preferred stock and 40 per cent, in cash for their holdings, but the York people couldn’t see it. The secretary of state Saturday is sued a commission t> the Cumden Land and Improvement company of Camden, the corporators of which are T. Edmuod Krumbhois, of Al bany, N Y.. and Albert VV. Putnam, of New York city. The capital stock is to be $100,000. In addition to the usual purposes of such an organiza tion the company secures the right to build and operate hotels, etc. Saturday marked the beginning of the fourth^ month of The* Charleston Exposition. The show is now half over, having three months of its ex istence. The next three months promise to excel in every way the three months that have passed. The prospects are bright for an increased attendance, especially at night, for “within the next few weeks there will be no more pleasant place to visit during the evening than the.Ivory City. There was a bill passed by the leg islature allowing cities and towns to grant exclusive franchises to corpora-, tious for furnishing lights and water. The bill was introduced by Mr. Whaley, of Charleston, and was in- tended to apply to that city, but by its terms it applies to all. By the provisions of the law the franchise can be granted for thirty years by a two-thirds vote of council; but in case that is obtained, their action will have to be ratified by a majority of the voters. . Friday was Daughters of the Ameri can Revolution Day at the exposition and it proved one of the most suc cessful special day celebrations held since the opening of the gates of the big fair. Rebecca Motte Chapter of Charleston acted as hostess of the oc casion, and throughout the day the I) i A. R. room in the Woman’s building was, the rendezvous for scores of prominent members of the patriotic order, not only from the various cities of this state, but from Georgia, Flori da, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and other states as well. Four young boys, from 12 to 1G years old, ran away from their homes in Greenwood. The anx'ous parents have so far failed to locate them. Two of the boys are brothers, dark skinned and dark hair; the third boy is light-haired; the fourth is very frail and has dark hair. They all wear knee pants, except one, and possibly two. It is believed they left the city on the north-bound Seaboard freight. Any information about the four boys should be sent to the chief of police of Greenwood. It will be greatly appreciated by their parents. One of Rock Htll’s colored citizens made his tax returns a few days ago, and a very amusing incident took place. The recorder was filling out the blank for him, and of course bad to ask for the necessary information. ‘‘Household effects—how much fur niture have you—pianos,organs,etc?” The darkey replied that be did not have a piano, but ‘Tvegot about $10 worth of furuiture.” They went on down the list until they came to dogs. ‘‘Any dogs?” ‘‘Yes,” came the an swer. ‘T’ve got eight dogs, and they are worth $40.” Thus he made bis tax returns. The esse of James C. Schompert vs. the Southern Railway Company was ended in the circuit court in Newberry Saturday evening with a verdict for twelve thousand $ve hun dred dollars for the plaintiff. The suit » . * 1 was for damages to the ulaintifl in the loss of a part of his foot in a col lision that happened at Belton, Feb ruary, 1901, between} the train of which the plaintiff was engineer and another train. The plaintiff was rep resented by Johnstone & Welch, of the Newberry bar, the defendant by T. P. Cothran, of Greenville. The defendant will appeal. There is at Florence an old half witted negro, named Fred, who has a queer hallucluatiou that he is presi- dent of the Atlantic Coast Line Rail road Company, and he has several times visited the general offices of the company there and made a formal de mand on Treasurer Post for money. Ou ooo occasion he was taken in cus tody by the Wilmington police and was persuaded to return to Florence, where he was told the money awaited him. Practical jokers at Florence are said to aggravate the old man’s insanity and steps are being taken to deal with the fun-makers by law. Various manufacturing enterprises in South Carolina have been very much annoyed of late by a habit the railroads have of confiscating consign ments of coal, while enroute. In cases where the factories have'been on the point of shutting down with coal on the road, the railroads have seized the coai and coolly advised the owners that they would make it good later on. The legislature has sought to put a stop to this kind of thing, by passing the following: ‘Tf any common carrier shall convert and ap propriate to its own use any property of another held by it in consignment, or in .course of transportation, it shall be liable to the.consignee, or other owner of such property, for treble the value of such oroperty.” COURT CONVENES. Kli-Ht Day Taken l r |> With Minor Caxea- Case* Nol Crossed. Court commenced yesterday morn ing at 10 o’clock with Judge Watts on the bench. Solicitor Henry and Stenographer McOaw were both pres ent and the grand and pettit jurors all answered to their names. The judge delivered an able charge to the graad jury and Solicitor Henry hand ed out a number of bills. The grand jury found true bills in the following cases: Frank Byars, murder; Perry and Gaffney, murder; Flem Wilkins, lar ceny; Hattie Young, larceny; Geo. L. Wilson, murder; Ed Ray, house breaking and larceny. Found no bill against R. G. Ray for violation of the dispensary law. The following cases were nol press ed : George Oats, forgery; H. L. Griffin, arson ; C. C. McDaniel, cheat ing and defrauding; Henry Smith, assault and battery. Flem Wilkins, colored, was tried for stealing and found guilty and sen tenced to serve 18 mouths in the state penitentiary at such work as he is able to do. Wilkins is a cripple. Cephus Thomas and Smith Robbs, two negro boys, for burglary aud lar ceny. Plead guilty aud was seuteuc- ed to six months each on the county chain gang. Wilson was arraigned and Wednes day set for bis trial. Capt. W. H. Richardson is fore man of the grand jury. .JoiittMvIlle JottlngD. (CorresDondenco of The ledger.) Jonesville, March 1The bad veather is causing the farmers to get behind with their work. Fall oats are almost entirely destroyed. The season being late for sowing, land should be prepared and fertilized well to insure good crops. I have already heard some farmers say it will pay better than to plant the land in cot ton, that the trouble now is, there is no room for anything but cotton. To see the f&rmexa hauling corn, flour, oats, and everything that grows, should warn them how to start out this year. You will hear the farmers cry ‘‘hard times” and then go to town the first of February to buy on credit. To substitute our feed supply we should plant on early variety of cane, work it well and bring it in by the last of June. We depend too much on the merchant for our living. When we decide to live at home we will do it. I think if the writers for this paper would write more on farming, and swap views, it would be more inter esting to the farmer readers. - J. N. Eison was in town today on business. Some unknown thief took some flour from Mr. W. J. Hames’ store to day. Fakmer. Mrs. Hettie Wiggins, whose home is at Eastfleld, Mecklenburg county, was found dead iu bed one morning last week. The nigl t before she was, apparently, iu the best of health. One of the family called her in the morning. On going to her room, it was found that she was dead, having expired sometime during the night. Dece&sea was about 40 years old and was a woman of many good traits of character. 1 : GAFFNEY. S. C„ TUESDAV,.MARCH 4 t 'I903 MISSIONARY WORK AMONG CELESTIALS. Thrilling Experiences of A- mericans in China. GUNNER WITH SEYMOUR. MUnlonarle« Hold Meeting)* on Board Eng- llxh Wartiliip. at Chlnklaug at Wlilcli Th-* ,, lng Storlex are Told of Tewlble Suf fering and Marrow Escapes. (Correspondence of Tbe Ledger.) Chinkiang, China, Jan. 24 —There^ is an English warship lying here In the river at Chinkiang. It hae two big yellow funnels, a black hull and a great many big and little cannon and other weapons of distinction. There are some 300 men on board. Tbe captain is a Christian, which is not by any means common for sea cap tains. A good many of tbe sailors are also Christians. Last Tuesday, and every Tuesday while in port, they invited us missionaries on board to a meeting. They met us at the wharf with one of the ship’s boats, and we were taken to tbe captain’e room, where we had tea and cake, and then afterwards a service. I watched the captain’s face during the meeting; a tine strong face. He knelt humbly during prayer, and conducted him self towards all in a very cordial and friendly way. He has seen lighting and has won distinction. He is to conduct the English meeting in our chapel next Sunday afternoo'n. It was interesting and instructive to hear the sailors tell their experiences. But what I want to tell you about now is the service we held. There were present two of the China Inland Mission workers, who had narrowly escaped from Boxers year before last, and they told their experiences. The first was Mr. Jennings, who escaped from Shanse. It was very thrilling to hear from his own lips the terrible story. They traveled about 801/ miles during the hot weather. They were early stripped of all their clothes, money, hats, etc., except just barely enough to cover nakedness. Several instances were given of remarkable answers to prayer. They had come south as far as the Ye'low river, and when they got there the boatman re fused to put them across. There were two men, several children, and several ladies in tbe party. They sat down on the river bank and waiteu for nearly two days in the open. The Mandarin had given them a little money, and so they got something to eat. Tbe next, day a courier came and said something to tbe ferryman, and at once ho said they could cross. They crossed, and went to a city on the south side, where they went to see the Mandarin. He came out and cursed them with very abusive lan guage publicly, and said if they bad arrived that morning he would have killed them, but that he bad received orders to seed them on. He also cursed Jesus and His religion. The poor sufferers were sent on as prison ers. They said not long after this Mandarin died a horrible death. They walked bare beaded in the eastern sun, drank the filthy water from the roadside, suffered abuse, two of the ladies were killed, but after more than a month they arrived at Han- kau. The other report of a narrow es cape was by Miss Watson, a most thrilling story. For six days they were cooped up iu a little haunted upper room in July, with a six-weeks- old baby iu the party, two men and two ladies. Around them day and uigat yelled and roared an >'ngr$ •mob, who had already burned their house, and were seeking them desparately. Once they piled fuel 'about tbe building to burn them out. It bad been very dry and they accus ed the foreigners of causing the drought. Just at the last, when there seemed no hope at all, it rained, a very heavy rain, and under, cover of rain and darkness they escaped to another place in tbe city, where they bid another week, and then finally escaped in disguise in the night, iu carts to a small boat waiting for them. By promising a large reward they were able to reach Haokau, after many hair-breadth escapes. Yet these historic missionaries are waiting here in Chinkiang to return inland and tell again about the love of God. A gunner on board tbe Authusa told me of bis trip with Admiral Sey mour, when they attempted to go to Peking and were driven back. He said they could have overcome al most any amouut of Boxers, but when the Chinese Imperial troops in enormous numbers began firing ou them with modern rifles it was anoth er matter. He said he saw Ir.rge numbers of Chinese women come to the bank of tbe river, throw iu their babies and then jump iu themselves. Only about a thousand strong they fought for many days iu a hostile country, surrounded by tens of thous ands of well armed soldiers and hun dreds of thousands of Boxers. Be sides this they had their sick and wounded, and had to drink the water from a stream filled with dead bodies. What a horror in war! There are many serious elements of unrest in China yet, but let us hope we will not sonu have again the terrible times of 19(X). W. E. Crocker. IN LOWER CHEROKEE. Recent Happenings ax Told by Oar Etta Jane Correspondent. , CCorreepondence of The Ledger.) Etta Jane, Feb. 28 —John F. Es tes went to Gaffney this week on business. It would be a good thing If our road authorities would put up poles along the road side near all deep and dangerous gullies. A few nights ago Mr. Rufus Estes, while hunting the Doctor for his mother, came near rid ing into a gully just beyond Mr. Davs Fowler’s. Tbe night was in tensely dark and tbe flashes of light ning blinded his horse so it couldn’t ssgJJiB^ay. There will be a good many upland ditches to clean out now since tbe almost continuous rains have been failing. Our friend Mr. Mike Sellers is building at Jonesville and will move there this fall, so we learn. He wants to try Egypt with another crop and will go at it as soon us the land will be dry enough to plow. Mike Isa bird anyway—w« can’t do without him well. The weather prophets are having tnings all their own way now. And we know no better advice to give them than to just go ahead. Gen. C Irvine Walker, commander U. C. Veterans of South Carolina, has moved to Greenwood. He is making arrangements for the South Carolina veterans to attend the Dallas, Texas, re-union. Greenwood is his post- office address. The time and piece of tbe next State re-union haven’t yet been set. Mr. Albert Kirby, of Bowlinsville, came down Thursday and took a picture of Miss Annie Miller’s school. Mr. W. G. Fowler made a trip to Gaffney this week on business. Mr. J W. Brown, of Hopewell, came over on our side of the river Thursday. Messrs. Tillman and Fly, of Ten nessee, spent the night with Mr. 8. F. Estes one night this week. Mr. Tillmac claims “Ben” as a fourth cousin. It is with regret that we learn that Mrs. glS. Hill, of Aurora, Ala., is lying very low with pneumonia at this time. She weut from this State forty-six years ago. Her husband, James Hill, was killed at Fort Donald son during tbe war. She has been a careful and appreciative reader of The Ledger for several years, in fact every since the establishment of this paper There is but little change in Mrs. Laura T. Estes’ case since our last writing. She is still suffering a good deal with her head. From what we can learn there will be a good delegation of U. C. veterans and their sons and daughters from this State who will attend the Dallas, Texas, re-union in April. With today closes the month that we are told women usually talk tbe least. And if last night was an usher of March it will come in like a lion sure enough. We had the heaviest storm ot the season last night. Rain, wind, lightning and thunder with a sprinkle of hail all at once. All com bined to complete the terror. Broad i river and the creeks will no doubt be higher than they have been lately. Farmers are wanting to sow spring oats. The earlier oat crops are so badly frozen out that they are practi cally a failure. Wheat is making but little show yet. We are told that some of our young men saw a real ghost one night last fall. They have kept it a secret and your correspondent never knew any thing of it until a few days ago. The best way to prevent seeing such things, boys, is to keep in the right path. When we get on tbe wrong road all these terrors will come up«n us. ' J. l. s. A Hon»«tMck Party. W. I. Mustin. Mrs. W. I. Mustin, Miss Mollie Mustin, Dr. W. D. King and Mrs. W. D. King, of* Pittsburg, Pa., who are visiting Col. H. A. Tripp at Blacksburg. John W. Tripp, of Co lumbia, Rev G. 0. Williams. Col. H. A. Tripp and Mrs. H. A. Tripp, of Blacksburg, all came over to the city Saturday. They rode over ou horse back. Card «f ThankH. Mr. Editor .—I wish through the columns of The Ledger to return my sincure thanks to my neighbors and friends who so kindly administered to my family during our effiictlou Jno. Weubek. 81.00 A YEAH. THROUGHOUT THE TAR HEEL STATE. From the Mountains to The Sea. NORTH CAROLINA NEWS. Interesting I terns Coucerulng Our Nelg.’)- bon* Beyond the I.ine Which May Prove Entertaining Reading for Hundred)* of Lodger Readers. Andrew Jackson, sentenced to be hanged in Lincoln county, has been granted a respite till March the 20th. Mrs. R Y. McAdon of Charlotte is suffering very much from the fracture of a bone in the arm. The injury was received by a fall while iu Char leston, S. C., several days ago. The trial of W. E. Breeese, former president of the wrecked First Na tional Bank at Asheville, is scheduled for March 5th (tomorrow). Sensa tional charges of attempted bribery have been made against him. An effort is being made to carry the Wilkes and Stanly bond cases to tbe United States Supreme Court. Since the decision of the Court of Appeals in favor of the bondholders Judge Avery, counsel for Wilkes and Stanly, counties hasdralted petitions for writs of certiorari to carry both cases to the United States Supreme Court on tbe ground, among others, of an a'leged conflict between the de cisions of the Circuit Court of Ap peals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. The amount in volved in this litigation is in excess of $200 000. The Sonthern railroad and the Southern Express Company (or rep resentatives of the same), were ar raigned before tbe mayor of Morgan- ton a few days ago for violation of a local statute prohibiting tbe delivery of liquors within the town of Morgan- ton, “not being in an unbroken pack age of not less than three gallons.” The railroad was found guilty in two cases and the express company in four cases. Fines were imposed of $250 in each case, making the aggre gate fine of the Southern $500 and of the express company $1,000. Ap peals were taken by both defendants. The statute allows the imposition of a fine of $300 for each violation. Among tbe souvenirs that Prince Henry will carry away with him upon bis departure will be several thousand American cigarettes. As an atten tion to the distinguished visitor, who, he learned, is very found of the little rolls of white, James B. Duke, of Durham, "captain of tbe tobacco in dustry” and 9 tbe president of the American Tobacco Company which has recently added Germany to its tributary trade territory and estab lished several factories there, sent 2000 cigarettes to tbe Hohenzollem for the Prince. Just below the cen tre of each cigarette is stamped tbe Prince’s crest. One thousand of the cigarettes are plain and I 000 are gold tipped. The addition that is being built to tbe Anchor Cotton Mills of Hunters ville is nearing completion. Mr. R. A. Brown, of Concord, has completed the brick work. The new mill is a two-story structure. 200 by 75 feet, witn the' engine and boiler rooms. Work on the building was commenced iu the latter part of December. This is to be a weave mill, the old mill having been making hosiery yarn only. Mr. Johnston intends now to take tbe cotton from the gin and make it into cloth ready for the coun ter. The mill is situated in one of the healthiest spots of Mecklenburg. 15 miles north of Charlotte and is owned by Col. William E Holt, J S. Spencer and C. W. Johnston. Tom Lacey was killed by a freight train near Newton on the Carolina and Northwestern railroad last Fri day evening. He was crossing the Smyre’s trestle and when be saw the train approaching be made a desper ate effort to reach the end of tbe trestle and save his life; seeing he could not, he threw himself under tbe train and was smashed to pieces. An inquest was held and a verdict in ac cordance with the above statement was rendered. The remains were in- tered io tbe cemetery at Newton. Tbe deceased was about 23 years old and lived in Marlon from infancy un til two or three years ago. He was very near sighted—a good natured. kind hearted boy, thrown upon the cold, uncharitable world at a tender age. Morven Allison, a negro of tbe Providence section of Chatham coun ty, was struck by lightning Thursday afternoou while iu the field picking cotton. Allison left hie home Thurs day about the noon hour and as be did not return, a searching party went oat to look for him. Hie charred remains were found about nine o’clock that night, lying between two cotton rows. Thursday afternoon about 2:80 o’clock there was a sharp peal of thunder, preceded by a bright flash of lightning. It must have been at this time that the negro was killed.’ Tbe clothes the negro wore were almost burned from his body. There were still burning when the body was found. The accident oc curred about one-half mile from Alli son’s home. He was said to be a good negro, attended to his own bus iness and gave no one any trouble. At Marshall in Madison county, and it is feared beyond that town, the flood'of Thursday night was a terri ble disaster. Marshall is a scene of ruin and disorder. The river tor rent; leaping the grea* wall of ma sonry ISjfeet high, that forms a dyke between the fiver and the town, in the pitch dark night, tore through the tong main street of Marshall, working fearful destruction. For a time, near midnight, the whole place seemed doomed. Water was iu nearly every house. Tbe crash of falling buildings rose above the roar of the flood. Houses moved from their foundations, toppled, swung around and floated with the torrent. Cars were moved from the track and rode, with a countless variety of debris, on the flood, Horses, cows and swine from tbe village and above it struggled in tbe torrent, amid household furniture and millions of feet of lumber. Tbe damage is es timated at from $10 000 to $50,000. MR. BLCKBURN’S VIEWS. He B’mnet* Senator Spooner for the Tlll- maii-McLar-lu Trouble. (To the Editor of The Atlanta Journal.! As a reader and admirer of your paper I desire to t}ke issue with your editorial expression that "Sena tors Tillman and McLaurin disgraced their state and the country in their sensational fisticuff in the senate chamber.” I also protest against the implica tion that places Preston Brooks in this category of disgraceful demeanor on account of his emjnently just chastisement of Charles Sumner for his brutal assault upon the South Carolinian’s uncle. If Senator Tillman was in posses sion of information going to show that his colleague had betrayed his party for official patronage, it was his duty to his party to uncover the treacherous deal. Whether guilty or not, Senator McLaurin could not afford to allow the charge of perfidy to pass, without some show of outraged innocence. Even a guilty official must protect the people who have given him his commission, so long as he is per mitted to enjoy the society of others who are true to public trust. He owes this to su abused constituency. But Senator McLaurin should have met tbe charge of corruption with a dignified privilege statement, fol lowed by a challenge under the code duello. It was unbecoming and coarse to use such language as be employed agaiust his colleague, in a representative body. More than this, it was not a lit way to meet a charge impugning personal honor. When this bitter and out-of-place language was employed, it was na tural chat every instinct of manhood should have been fired beyond con trol, in the breast of his antagonist, and tbe scene that followed was therefore to have been expected. Tillmac was forced to resent the de nunciation of McLaurin, on the spot, and while the entire affair may be depreciated, there is certainly no disgrace in giving a blow under such circumstances. Cowards frequently dodge behind traditional dignity, but Tillman is not that kind of a senator, and the south can afford to do without such. Nor is there any use in being hys terical about tbe matter. Stlch scenes occur almost every year in the national legislatures of Europe, and the United States senate is not so holy as to make them sacralegious here. According to my view, tbe disgrace, in this particular instance, falls upon Senator Snooner. who acted the Raney Sniffle in the debate that led np to the charge, and tbe president of tbe senate, whom yonr Washing ton correspondent says, harried a page to inform Senator McLaurin of what was taking place. The idea of each men talking about dignity is ridiculous hypocrisy. Theu President Roosevelt, in with drawing the invitation that he had addressed to Senator Tillman on ac count of bis being in contempt, re questing bis presence at the recep tion to Prince Henry, showed a de gree of littleness that suggests be is sadly in need of conventional train ing. Senator Tillman occupies a posi tion in gentility far above that ex hibited by Spooner and Frye—not withstanding bis fisticuff in the senate chamber. All fisticuffs are common-place, but how are gentlemen to act, in tbe face of the cowardice of legislatures iu outlawing tbe code duello, ou which traditional courtesy rests.