Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CHICAGO HOTEL FIP.E CLAIMSJ4 VICTIMS Most of Unlortunates Were Suffocated. CAUGHT LIKE RATS IN TRAP. Ntt^itlistfcidinj Heroic Work of Fire men Death List Is Appalling—Many Jumped From Windows In Effort to Save Themselves. Chicago. Dec. 4—Fourteen per- eons met death in a fire at the Lin coln hotel, 176 Madison street, at 6 o’clock this morning. Several of the bodies have bene recovered. Little the bodies have been recovered. Little smoke was so dense that the persons who met their death were overcome and died before assistance could reach them. Many jumped from the fourth story windows, or tried to save them selves by climbing down the fire es capes in*the front of the building only to lose their grasp on the cold iron bars and fall to the street. No Chance For Their Lives. The persons sleeping in the rear of the building on the top floors had no chance for their lives. A narrow stair way leading to all floors of the struc ture was afire and the escape of the lodgers in the rear of the building was cut off. Firemen and policemen were not reticent in speaking of what they witnessed at the catastrophe. They condemned the building as a fire trap. Ambulances and patrol wagons from all parts of the city were called to the place, and the dead and injured were quickly attended. All but 14 of the guests at the h5- tel were out of town persons. Most of them came to Chicago to attend the international live stock show. Up to 10 o’clock last night guests were tak en in at the hotel, and in every room or place in which a cot conld be erect ed they were accommodated. The notcl was filled. Brave Firemen at Work. Sho tly'after the fire broke out the firemen rushed up the stairway into the place and begun the work of res cue. Men, women and children were carried down ladders, fire escapes and smoke-filled halls. The building is constructed with »rick, with but one stairway leading to the upper floors, and a fire escape in front of the building. E. C. Weber, the night clerk, was one of the first to discover smoke on the second floor. It is believed that the fire began in this section of the building. Weber refused to make any statement, and after he had secured possession of the register, he was tak en to central station, where he is be ing detained. The dead so far identified are: K. K. Woods, Lebanon, Ind., body at 22 Adams street. P . V. Slocum, 30 years old, Ocandia, 111., body at 22 Adams street. Samuel Yocum. T. C. Yokum, believed to be broth ers, Davenport, Iowa. Edward Turner, 30 years old, Mil waukee. John Van Flet, Richardson, Ind. N. N. Fardlek, Janesville, W4a. George Morris, Richmond, Wis. Fir e Accidentally Started. From what could be learned from persons who escaped from the build ing, it appeared that the fire was ac cidentally started, probably by drop ping a lighted cigar on the carpet in the hallway on the second floor. The smouldering fire filled the building with heavy smoke, and several were suffocated. Allen Olderf. of Milwaukee, made a perilous descent from the fourth floor by scaling the wall by means of the iron shutters. Olderf stated that he had seen at least a dozen persons on the top floor vainly endeavoring to make their way from the building ty means of the front stairway. Many Suffocated In Bed. Many of the bodies were found in the beds in ]>osition.s of slumber. Some were found' in the hallway, face down wards in positions that mutely por trayed how they had vainly endeavored to save thetr lives. Some were half clad and others wore nothing but their night clothing. It was by means of articles and let ters in the pockets of what clothing some of the dead person* wore that many indontifleations were made. F. A. Smith, proprietor of the hotol, said: Proprietor Talks of Horror. “I am certainly not to blame for this awful catastrophe. Three weeks ago the agents of this building were noti fied to place a stairway in the rear of the building, and aJso to build a fire wall around the freight elevator shaft. The contractors came and looked the building over, but nothing was done. I^st night our 70 rooms ■were all filled, and- I should say we had about 125 to 150 guests. From what I can learn the fire started in the rear of the uulldin-g In the second floor. This probably accounts for the •scape of guests who occupied front rooms on the upper floor. They had an opportunity to reach the stairway before the flames reached that part of the building, but the occupants of the rear rooms were cut off by the flames. Most of our guests last night were persons who come toq Chicago to visit the stock show and knew little of the building.” Chief Mush am, of the fire depart ment, said the smoke was so dense it was Impossible to reach the impris oned guests. Regular Fire Trap. When the firemen finally managed to make their way into the rooms the sight they saw was appalling. Men and boys lay about the floors of the rooms and hallways where they had fallen in | their eagerness to escape. "The build- , ing was one of the worst fire traps I ever saw. The floors in places had cracks in them large enough to drop a penny through and the smoke sifted through and suffocated the people.” DOLLY PRITCHARD PARDONED. Wrs Central Figure In Remarkable Criminal Case. Atlanta, Dec. 4.—Dolly Pritchard, the central figure in one of the most re markable eases in the crimina 1 annals of the state, is a free woman. She was pardoned by Governor Terrell yester day. upon recommendation of the pris on commission. The young girl was from Cherokee county and was serv ing a life sentence in the penitentiary, having ben convicted in the fall of 1900 of the crime of infanticide. In recommending that the pardon be granted the pardon board set forth the following reasons: "The evidence upon which the de fendant was convicted was wholly cir cumstantial, and, while it was suffi ciently stiong to justify the verdict of guilty, did not necessarily demand the same nor remove every doubt of her guilt.” The grand jury which indicted her, the trial jury which convicted her, the county officers of Cherokee county and several hundred citizens of that coun ty, urged tha,t executive clemency be extended, while the judge who presid ed at the trial and the assistant state's counsel—the solicitor general who rep resented the prosecution being dead— joined in this wish for pardon. While serving her sentence during the past two years she has been at the prison farm at Milledgeville. Her case has created widespread interest throughout the state, and many influ ential people interested themselves in her behalf. She was charged and convicted of killing her baby, and the evidence in the case was of a remark able character, tending to prove, if it was true, that she was a girl possessed of unusual physical endurance. NAVAL MANEUVERS. * Ships of United States Ready for Mim ic Warfare. New York. Dec. 4.—The combined squadrons of United States war ves sels which are to take the attacking part in the great naval maneuvers, have held their last communication with the shore, says a Herald dispatch from Port of Spain. They will sail at 5 o’clock this morning under easy steaming orders, for the i>oint east ward of the Windward islands, where the problem adopted for the fleet to solve will he taken up. Detailed information as to the port chosen which the attacking squadron will try to seize will he withheld until tne ships are at sea. It is said both admirals of the combined squadron have carefully worked out their plans, and high hopes are entertained that they will succeed in outwitting the home fleet. Lieutenants Brand and Winship, who have been ordered home, will sail on the steamer Grenada. MEMORIAL SERVICE. Impressive Ceremony Held For fcate Dr. Parker. London, Dec. 4.—A memorial ser vice for the late Dr. Parker was held in the City Temple this morning, it was an impressive demonstration. The Temple was filled with flowers and crowded with personal friends of the deceased and representatives of a score of religious organizations, 'rbe streets outside the building were fill ed with crowds who were unable to enter and who waited in the biting wind to see the coffin carried out for interment at Hampstead. The music included Dr. Parker’s favorite hymn and Tennsyson’s “Crossing the Bar.” Dr. Clifford and Dr. Robertson Nicoil officiated. Dr. Nicoil, who preached the funeral, said: "The Christian church has mourned one of its greatest preachers and free churchmen must feel how rich they had been and how poor they had now become.” YOUNG GIRL SAVED TRAIN. Railroad’s Substantial Recognition of Her Bravery and Quick Wit Clarksburg, W. Va., Dec. 4.—-Miss Minnie Martin, who lives on the Short Lino railroad, between here and New Martinsville, discovered a long on the track some days ago, ran back and flagged an approaching passenger train in time to prevent a wreck. She went to the postofflee todav and was given a letter from the Balti more and Ohio company, inclosing a check for $50 in recognition of her bravery and presence of mind. She is only 16 years of age and is very proud of her act. Presidential Appointments. Washington. Dec. 4.—The president sent the following nominations to the senate: Robert M. Me Wade, of Penn, sylvania, now consul, to he consul gen- eral at Canton, China; Martin A. Knapp, of New York, interstate com merce commissioner. George W. Ellis, of Kamsae, secretary of the legation at Morovia, Liberia; William Barrett, of New York, consul at Bamberg, Ba varia. Also a large number of army promotions and aroolntraents. BARNSTABLE’S PLAN. CAPE COD TOWN SOLVES THE GOOD ROADS PROBLEM. Will Expend $75,000 on Stone Ronds In n Term of Three Yearn—Debt to lie raid In Seven Annnnl Payment* of $7,500. A matter of vital Importance to the residents of Cape Cod and one which is at present holding the attention of the taxpayers In many towns is good roads. There is perhaps no section of the state where the natural conditions for the construction of roads are as poor as on the cape, says the Boston tllobe. For years experiments have been conducted along one line or another looking to ward the building of roads and their maintenance, but little success was ob tained until the state came to the res cue and began tin* construction of the state highway, so called. The method of roadbuilding as em ployed by those who began the con struction of the state highway on the cape was vastly different from that ever before tried in this region, and the work was viewed with the keenest in terest by Ihe old roadbuilders and high way surveyors. While the contribu tions received from the state each year helped materially 'to put the roads on the cape in excellent condition, the process was necessarily slow, and years would have to elapse before such roads could predominate. Most of the towns on the cape did not feel that they were able to expend the vast sums that would be required to build stone roads, and they continued to appropriate the usual amount each year as in times past, which barely kept the old roads in eonditiop. By the old method of making appropria tions for roads as employed by the towns on the cape little or no progress was made in the construction of new roads, and matters were not getting any la tter, while the demands for good roads were Increasing each year. To build stone roads required the out lay of large sums of money, which most of the towns felt they could not afford without increasing the tax rate to such a figure that it would deter per sons who might wish to take up a res idence on the cape from coining hither. The residents of the cape agreed that to promote a healthy financial growth of their respective towns good roads must be built. Ur. sperity follows good roads, and the improved financial conditions in all towns where good roads prevail can be traced directly to excellent roads. The residents of the cape likewise agreed that the time bad come for a radical change in the method of roadbuilding and their maintenance, and plans for the construction of stone roads and for the payment of the debt which would he incurred thereby were discussed from one end of the cape to the other. While the various towns were delib erating over the methods they.worn employ to build stone roads and wore formulating plans for the payment of the debt that would thereby he in curred Captain Thomas Patterson of Barnstable, who for years had hoot) making a study of stone roads, their construction, etc., presented a plan to his town which solved the problem, for that town at least, and seems likely to be adopted by other towns on the cape. In submitting his plan Captain Pat terson, to use his own words, said, "The thought that was uppermost in my mini’ was that of not raising the tax rate and also that the burden of liquidating the debt should be shared by those who will enjoy and he mate rially benefited by the adoption of the modern and progressive policy.” The plan presented by Captain Pat terson and which the town adopted was that of expending $75,000 on stone roads in a term of three years and the debt to be paid in seven annual pay ments of $7,500, the liquidation begin ning In 1004 and ending in 1010. Of the total amount to be expended on stone roads $30,000 would by spent the first year, $22,500 the second and a like amount the third year. The sum raised by taxation each year would be $13,000. The plan which Captain Patterson gave to Barnstable was put In opera tion last year and has worked to the perfect satisfaction of all. Stone roads are fast replacing the old and travel worn sandy ones in the town, and ere long the whole town will be covered with a network of roads the equal of which It will be difficult to find in the state. With the state each year building sections of the main highway along the cape and the adoption of Captain Pat terson's plan, which seems probable, by the other towns the whole of Cape Cod would within a few years he able to boast of excellent roads and set an example which It will behoove other towns to follow. Advantages of Good Roads. Good, permanent roads, made so as to be passable for a full wagon load every day in the year, would bring to the farm that was not more than ten or twelve miles from the market town all the advantages the town offers to Its own Inhabitants. This class of roads built, the drive to town with the excel lent roadsters now common on nearly every farm in the fairly well settled portions of the land need not at the outside require more than an hour’s time to make it. Money Value of Good Ronds. The difference between good and bad roads Is equivalent to the difference between profit and loss. Good roads have a money value to farmers as well ns a political and social value, and, leaving out convenience, comfort, so cial and refined Influences which good roads always enhance and looking at them only from the almighty dollar side, they are found to pay handsome dividends each year. LEARNING A LANGUAGE. It I* Coinpnrntlvvly I-tusy to A<*«ialr« m Wortilng Vocabulary. “It doesn’t require any great length of time to learn a language If one has patience,” said a man who has mas tered several languages, “and when 1 hear a man regret that he is not able to sp/uk French or German or Spanish or some other language unknown to him I cannot conceal my amusement. In nine cases out of ten I might say that tin* men who express a regret of this sort handle English very poorly if that happens to he their language. “The chances are that their vocabu laries are extremely limited, and it would prolurbly surprise them to know that despite the advantages of birth and education they could not command more than GOO or 700 words in English if their lives depended upon it. Yet they arc able to carry on intelligent con versation, and many of them may be come forcible and even axiomatic in their savings, and they plunge into dis cussions of literature, art, music and other subjects of such fine elegance and do it rather successfully too.. "Now, how long ought it to take for a man to learn GOO or 700 or even 1,000 words in any language? Certainly it ought not to take any great length of time, and from my own experience I know that it does not Of course I am not speaking now’ of mastering so that one can get the full benefit of all the refinements of speech in a particular tongue. “But I have in mind the idea of speaking intelligibly in a given lan guage and being able to understand perfectly what is said in return. I have a system which I have worked out, and it has been of vast benefit to me and has enabled me to learn a number of languages. It occurred to me while I was iu Mexico a few 7 years ago on im portant business. “I could not speak a word of Spanish and could not understand the language. I concluded that I would learn the lan guage. My plan was simply this: I made up my mind that I would not re tire at the close of any day as long as I was there without learning at least three words in Spanish, how to pro nounce them and what they meant. That would give me ninety words per month, or something over 1,000 In a year’s time.”—New Orleans Times- Democrat. Ont Fop Your Pate. A contemporary says "pate” is slang for head. It is, eh? Wherefore? Sure ly {he word is used in a trivial or de rogatory sense, as noddle, noggin, cra nium, brainpan, etc., but its origin is eminently respectable. Shakespeare says "the learned pate ducks to the golden fool.” Pope’s epigram is good: You beat your pate and fancy wit will come; Knock as you please, there's nobody at home. We have “bald pate” and “shave pate.” Why, the word is used once in the Bible, and by David, in Psalm vii, 1G, "His mischief shall return upon bis own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.” Ac- eura.ely, pate does not mean the head, but tlie crown of the head.—New York Press. A Forbidden Topic. “There is one topic* peremptorily for bidden to all well bred, to all rational, mortals,” says Emerson, “namely, their distempers. If you have not slept or if y< u have slept or if you have headache or sciatica or leprosy or thun derstroke, I beseech you by all angels to hold your peace and not pollute the morning, to which all the housemates bring serene and pleasant thoughts, by corruption and groans. Come out of the azure. Love the day.” The quotation suggests that, hard as it is to be an invalid, it may prove al most as painful to be an invalid’s friend. Love and I!(iNlne»N. "Dear.” she said during an Interval of comparative sanity, “promise me one thing.” "Anything,” he answered, with the recklessness of love. “After we have been married a rea sonable time if we decide a divorce is desirable promise that my brothers, who are struggling young lawyers, shall represent us.” — Philadelphia North American. Open Road to Fame and Fortune. “My boy,” said the old gentleman in a kindly tone, “there’s only one thing that stands between you and success.” “And what is that?” asked the youth. “If you worked as hard at working,” explained the old gentleman, “as you do at trying to find some way to avoid working, you would easily acquire both fame and fortune.” — Chicago Post The One Qualification. "What position will our friend take on tliis momentous question?” asked the graddoquent man. “Position?” echoed Senator Sor ghum abHentmindedly. “Oh, he’ll take pretty nearly any position that’s open, provided there’s a salary attached to It ’’—Washington Star. Tj'O Cool. ■•Oh. Major Blivdgore,” said girlish gusher, "they say Wvat during the war you were always cool \p action.” "Cool!" declared the major. "Why, «t»y dear girl. 1 was so cool that when 1 shivered people Insinuated that 1 was trembling,”—Baltimore Herald. Aaalated. Sarah—Mr. Rippler says that he is a confirmed /bachelor. Susie—But he didn’t say that every girl In town had assisted In confirming him. did he?—Indianapolis News. Some men take pains naturally, and some give them the same way.—Chi- eago News. LANGUAGEOF CIGARS THE TERMS USED IN THE TRADE ARE GREEK TO MOST SMOKERS. /Oiiii- Refer to Slxe. Some to Shape and Ollier* to Color—Few Tobacco laer* Know Them Apart, and They Are Much MiouNed. Whenever the average untutored to bacco lover wishes to indicate to his envious friends that he Is in possession of a cigar of the first quality, he usual ly says that he has a perfecto. By perfecto he means the best cigar ob tainable. and as a rule he applies the name to all products of the Havana factories. But In truth, declares an Intelligent writer in the Kansas City Journal, a good many cigars that never saw Havana are genuine per- fectos, and a good many made In the most famous factories of the Cuban capital are not The word, as a mat ter of fact, does not refer to the quality of a cigar at all. It is simply a term used to describe the shape. A perfecto may cost $1, and it may cost 2V& cents. There are half a dozen cigar terms thus misused by the average smoker, and there are several times as many words of the same sort whose mean ing he is utterly unable to fathom. What native, corn fed smoker, for in stance, knows the difference between a panetela and a Reina Victoria? And how many know whether there is a real difference between a maduro and an oscuro? Yet all of these terms are the common property of cigar makers all over the world. Like many cigar brand names, they are of Spanish ori gin, but the wanderings of Havana tobacco and Cuban cigars have taken them into all countries and all lan guages. The great majority of cigars are put up fifty in a box, with thirteen on the top row, twelve on the row next to the top, thirteen on the next and twelve on the bottom row. When a londres cigar is packed 100 in a box in two bundles tied with a ribbon, it becomes a Reina Victoria, which is Spanish for Queen Victoria. Early in the late queen's reign a Cuban manufacturer invented this method of packing and called the resultant bundle^ifter Great Britain’s sovereign, ’i he name has re mained ever since. Tin* word perfecto is a term indicat ing a certain shape in cigars. A per fecto is a smoke having what is gen erally called the "cigar shape”—that is to say. it is swelled near the end which is lighted and tapers gradually down the point, or head. The end of a cigar which a smoker puts iu his mouth is known among cigar makers as the head. The other end. that which is lighted, is called the tuck. When, as often happens in a perfecto, the tue!: is very small, it is called a needle tuck or feather tuck All others follow these lines more or less closely. A thin, straight cigar, with little more thickness in the middle than at the tuck, is called a panetela. The average panetela is slightly longer than a perfecto. though the matter of size has nothing to do with the shape, i’anetelas are esteemed because they bum more regularly and are usually belter because more easily made. The virtue of the perfecto is that its small er tuck lights more readily, and its more artistic curves give it greater beauty A tondros is a sort of cross between the perfecto and the panetela. It is a perfecto from the head to the thick est part, and from there on to the tm* it is betwixt and between. Usually th»* slope from the thickest part to the tuck lias a gradual curve. The tuck as a rule is as large as that of a pane tela. A pnrtegas is a cigar shaped much like a londres, except that the slope from the thickest part to the head is usually not so rounded. It is a shape not now as fashionable as it used to be. and even when cigars are genuine pnrtegas the box is seldom stamped witii tlie name. A conchas is a small blunt cigar. As a rule it is a very satisfactory smoke, and usually it lasts as long as a per fecto. This Is because that thin tuck of the latter burns down rapidly. The opera Is a very small cigar of any standard shape. It derives its name from the fact that It is designed for a short smoke between the acts, and very often It is called on eutr-acte. The brevu* is u large, clumsy cigar, good for an hour’s puffing. The largest size of all is the Napoleon. Sometimes Ha vana Napoleons are six or seven Inches in length. The blacker ones are posi tively terrifying. The better grades of cigars are usu ally made in several shapes and sizes. There may be. for Instance, the La Flor de Habana perfectos, the La Flor de Habana panetelas, the La Flor de Habana operas, the La Flor de Ha bana partegas and the La Flor de Ha bana conchas. The label is the same on all of the sizes and shapes, but on the front of the box the name of the shape is stamped. On one end of each box of cigars will be noted another word. Sometimes it is Colorado, sometimes it is claro and ut other times it is maduro. This indi cates the color of the cigars within, or, as uninformed smokers say, the “strength.” The lightest of all cigars are a yellowish brown. They are called claros. Next in order come the Colora do claros, which are a darker brown, and then come the coloradoe, which are about midway between black and yellow. After the colorados come the Colorado maduros, which are a dark brown, and then the maduros, which are well nigh black. Formerly another color was In vogue. This was the os curo, and it was a shiny black. But of late the fashion has been for light cigars, nod the word oscuro has almost dropped out of use. WOMEN AND SOCIETY. All communications to this column should be addressed to P. O. Box :i04.| A costume of mixed suiting is here shown, with a blouse waist display ing a natty vest of white peau de soin trimmed in black braid. The strapped collar is of novelty braid ov p r white, and piped with white. It has pockets arid cuffs to match and tlie strappings for the skirt are disposed between th t box plaits. The w-nst has a pos tilion back. Some of the new skirts are arranged in graduated box p.aits all around, the plaits being very narrow, and flat at the top, widening out as they de scend, and when released giving the fashionable fulness ut the feet. Soft, pliable materials are especially ap propriate for this style of skirt, and many of the models are threaded horizontially with hinds of inserting, the band passing beneath the plaits. Three or four rows of inseuin? ar ranged at regular intervals and some times forming a slight dip in front are used. The skirts are hung over five-gored foundations and tl e plaits are either secured on the under side or else they are stitched with Corticeili silk down to flounce depth and then leB to fLir*- gracefully. They are usually made with inverted plaits in back. , Miss Ethel Nance, of Ro k Hill, is spending a few days with Mrs. VV H. .Smith enroute to her h n a in Ander son. Miss EholT, of Baltimore, is visit- ir.g Mrs John Lipscomb. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Mrs Frank Laney has returned to her home in Monroe. She was ac companied by h* r sister, Mrs. Rosa R 'Undtri e. Miss Lillian Wc od sp* nt a few days this week with her sister, Mrs. Blan ton, in Shelby. Mr and Mrs. Henry Lockhart of Mitchell, Ga , are visiting at the home of Mr. Sam Clary. Mrs. Rachael Scruggs and Miss Ro-.*i hillips, of Boiling Springs, are visiting friends in the city. Miss Laura Bearden, of Glenn Springs, spent a few days in our town this week. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Mrs NuDirg. of Blaek*burg, was in town this veek shopping. Miss Ella M< Craw has gone to Buf falo to take charge of a school. Mrs. AHie Lipscomb, is in Knox ville, Tenn , where she was called to the bedside of her son Mr. W. O. Lipscomb. Miss lone Littlejohn leaves this week for Seivern, 8. C., where she goes to take charge of a school. Mrs. Fay Gaffney hss gotten up a Christmas box for the Epworth or phanage. 8he wishes specially to thank the Junior League and other donators for their kindness in h< Iping her. Mrs. 8t. John Butler, of Columbia, is visiting friends in the city. LlmeMtone Mimical Club. The public has heard very little concerning the club this session. However, it has been organized and is doing excellent work. The man agement has been given over entirely to the control of the students and quite a number seem to be deeply in terested in its behalf. They are studying the poets in connection with the musicians, rather comparing them Last Saturday evening, December fith, the regular meeting was held, the subject being Beethoven and Shakespeare. The following pro gram was well rendered: Life of Beethoven—Beulah Hower ton. Life of Shakespeare—Isabel Coooer. Six variations on a theme from Lft Molinarall by Beethoven—France* Moblev. Reading from Shakespeare—Nan Nicholson. Counterparts of Beethoven and Shakespeare—Lucre Littlejohn. Sonata, Op. 10, No. 2, by Bee thoven—Alice Dew.