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VOLUME XXXV1. LAURENS, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1921. T[N HN KILLED IN, CA_[XLOSION Terrific Explosion om Mem phis Outskirts PROPERTY DAMAGE OVER $200,000 Block of Frame Dwelllugs Leveled to the Ground and Inmnates Caught Beneath Falling Tinbers. Theory on Spontaneous Combustion Is Ad. vanced. Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 24.-Ten ne groes dead, approximately a score in jured, some -probably fatally, and pro party damage estimated at $200,000, made up the known toll tonight of an explosion of "casing head" gasoline awaiting unloading from a tank car to the plant of the Colyar Reese Coin pany in North Memphis, which let go this morning with a blast thitt wrecked a part of the oil plant, leveled a block of frame d-wellings and shook the en tire north end of the city. Of the Injured, two are vhite per sons: L. C. Scott, superintendent of the Reese plant, and L. C. Wilder, truck superintendent. Both were bad ly burned hut .physlians stated to night .they will recover. Colyar Reese, president of the oil company, attributed the explosion to spontaneous combustion, due to the contact of vapor escaping from the tank car when the metallic cap was removed preparatory to unloading the car, came in contact with the atmos phere. The tank car, which contained 8,000 gallons of casing head gasoline produced by the absorption process, was shipped here from Kelleyville, Oklahoma, Mr. Rbeese stated, and was loaded in a low temperature. When -the cap 'was' removed, according to his theory, the vapor camine in contact with much higher atmospheric conditions here and the explosion followed. It was stated that representatives of the United States bureau of explosives and experts frein the refinery from which the car was shipped will ar rive tomorrow to delinitely determine the cause of the blast. When the explosion let go a row of tenement houses along an entire block were splintered and the, occupants thrown to the street or caught under the falling ilmbers. Most of those killed outright were badly man-gled w'hile several of the Injured were so badly -burned they died soon after reaching a hos.pital. When police and firemen reached the scene the streets and alleys in the vicinity were littered with splintered timbers and torn and .twisted household goods, with the dead and injured caught in the tangled mass of wreckage. Andrw.-McKinley, the negro who was removing the dome from the tan: car when the explosion occurred, was hurled several hnd red feet through the air. 1He was badly burned and died tonight. McKinley .was quoted as anying that when h3e removed the cap, gas rose to a height of twenty feet andi formcd a pal I of hlack smoke which ignited and exploded., Almost simultaneously 1)ools of oil on the ground caug'ht fire and a sec ond explosion oceu rredl. One report was that McKinley used a chisel in attempts to remove the cap from the ear. Thnis, however, has not been verified. Mr. Reese stated that his I yestigation dlisproyedl any theory other than that 'the explosion was caused by spontaneous combiust ion. Blesidies the damage in the imme diate vicinity, window glasses within a radius of several blocks were shat tered by the concussion which 'was felt a dlistance of half a mile from the scone. Two sheds at the plant of the Colyar Reese plant were lifted bodily from their foundations. Fire which followved in the wake of the explosion, completed the wvork of destruction. The flames wore checked, however, before they spread beyond the aplintered wreckage, Mr. and Mrs. E~d. Hicka loft last week for West Point, Miss., where they wil' loin their 'parents, Mr. ang Mrs. Je (F.. Hicks, to make their hiomec there- They swere joined -the latter part of the week by Mr. oJhn Sumner who has beea associated 'In business with thonm for several years. The many friends of all of these regret to see themi innwvo Taurans, NARIROW ESCAPJ FOl ELECTIC LINEMAN Ernest Tolflson Severely Shocked While Working on Electric Lino role. Ernest Tollison, 18 years of age, lineman in the employ of the Reedy River Power Com-pany, received a se vere elotrical shock Monday afternoon while working on a pole on Caroline street at'the end of J. C. Shell & Com -pany's store and for awhile spectators who ,were attracted to the ' scene thought that he would be electrocuted. After he was taken down from the pole, however, and given medical at tention it was found that he had not been seriously burned or otherwise permanently affected, Tle wire with which he had come in contact 'was of 220 voltage, strong enough to give a severe shock but not necessarily fatal. Young Tollison was helping run a 1wire from this post to the building formerly occupied by L. B. Blackwell as a printing shop. He was safely strapped -to the cross arms of the -pol and had a flirm fout-hold w'ith his cleats when he accidentally touched the high voltage wire. The force of the charge knocked his hand loose and his body backwards, so that he was only held by the pole-straps in a limp and almost unconscious condition. Ire was able to mako enough sound, how ever, for Mr. .1. C. Shell who happened -to come out of the rear end or his store, to hear him. Mr. Shell rushed for his telephone and had the current turned off the wire. Some oie else called for the fire -wagon, and with the use of ladders and rope the young muan was brought safely to the ground. lie was carried to the store-room of the larney Electric Company and giv on miedict-1 treatment. He soon re vived and was able to walk home. Tes terday it was reported, he was feeling the 1worse for his e'xperience and re mained at home. It was found that the bottom 6f his feet- had been con siderable burned where they came In contact with a aground iwire. RURAL SCHOOLS URGED TO TRY FOB PRIZES IRural School Improvement Associa tions Should Send in Reports to Qualify for Prizes. .\liss .Minnie Wallace, who has re cently taken charge of the Rural School ImprovemenL Association work of the county, is attempting to interest the schools of the county in the state wide contest now, being carried on in the Interest of rural school improve ment. There are several prizes offered' for which the associations of the coun ty may qualify, says Miss r Wallace, and she has urged all 'the schools of the county to enter. Under the con test rules eVeIry iuprloVemeIt associa, tion is re quired to send regularly the report of tho monthly meting so .that it may be forwarded 'to the- st-ate or ganizer for credit in the contest. le sies the larger prizes, the contest providles for ta $5.00 prizo for every scltool which, sen(is inl a monthly re Port for the timute bet w ,n March 1, 1920 and 'Mat-cit , 1921. 1 lack rep~orts, states Miss Wallace, may be sent in now and rce~ivye full ecredit. Grteen l'otnd, Shiloh, Lanford, Water 1 loo an liatrksdale-Nar'nio are tihe only schools wlehcl have sent reports, aic cording to the records ini Miss Wal l.ue's oflice. Othter schools wishintg to '.ry for the prizes atre asked b~y hetr to send~ in their reports at once or wvrite her11 for Information. I Fishteries Declares Dividendi On account of -the large amount of stock held in tIs county, prtincpally by farmers, in 'the Fis-heries Produtcts Cotmpany, of Wilmilngtot, N. 0., mutch interest was attacted to tile mooting of 'lhe dlirectors held In Wilminlgton on Ji, ary 18th. According td the WVll mittgitn Dispatch, dlivldends of 10 atnd 8 :per cent wore (declared en thle cotm mont and1 p referred stock resplectively, to he p~aid either In cash or fertilizers. The statement fo" '' "o less than at yer' bsness, shiowed net roflts o Barks dale-Hammnd Miss 'Elizabeth Blarksdale, the at tractive (laughter of Mmr. and~ Mrs. W. H. .Unarksdalo, and Mr. Arthur 'iam mond, of Spat'tanburg, wem'e happily married Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the home of the bride's ipar-. onts between Gray Curt and Barks dale Station, Only a few intimate friends and relatives were present. The ceremony was performed by Rev, j)Graven L. Knight I) n) DISCREPANCY IN RETURNS OF AUTOS 2912 Registered for License Tags In Lauxens, bat Only 1926 Returned for Taation. A discrepancy of 81,241. automobiles and trucks Is rioted in scomparing the total number of licenses issued by the state highway commission during 1920, and the total number of motor vehicles returned for taxation by the people of the state as shown in the annual report of Comptroller General Suthorland, says the Columbia State. Laurens county had 2912 automo biles and motorcycles rogistered for licenses during 1920, but only 1,926 re turned for taxation, a discropancy of The comparison of these figures shows that licenses issued for auto mobiles, trucks and motorcycle to taled 94,751, and the number of au toniobiles, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles returned for taxation in the entire state was 63,510 leaving 31, 211 unaccounted for. All counties in the state are short a number of automobiles and trucks, according to the figures with the cx ception of Marion county, which re turned 142 more than was licensed, indlcatifig that some of the automobile owners may have forgotten to secure licenses. In the total number of motor vehl ele, registered by the high way com mission for the year, (renville (oun. ty leads with 6,860, and ltehland county is second with 6,1.23, whil- An derson runs -a third. In the differ enee between the number licensed and the number returned for taxation Greenville also leads with 3,001 ac cording to the figures from the high way commission and the comptroller -general. Another interesting fact brought to light is that Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper and Salu da have no motorcycles, according to the license figures The state highway commission does not license bicycles, but they are required to be returned for taxation, and taking this in consideration, the discrepancy is still larger. There are 908 motorcycles registered. $1,416,375,000 T1H1E FIRE LOSS IN UNITED STATES New York, Jan. 23.-Property worth $1,416,375,000, the equivalent of 283,275 new houses at $5,000 each or more than enough to shelter the total -popu lation of a state as large as Connecti (-it was destroyed by fire in the Uni ted Stat's in the perIod from 1915 to 1919, as shown by the (Iuinqiennial analysis of 3,500,000 adjustments made Public by tihe national board of fire uinderwriter;4 here tonight. Flectricity, the chief cause of fire loss, led with a total of $81,0S6,471 for the five years. Matches and smoking stood second with $73,47-1,348, and (he fective chi mneys came next with *56, 50,9 1 5. Other causes in their order, were: Stoves, furnmaces, hollers, and thter i' pes, $55, 133,1 81; spontaneous :ombilust ion, $149,702,88S; lightning, $39,828,489; sparks on roofs, $29.27 1, 585; and pet roleum and( its produclts $25,91 0,434. Incendiarism con tribuited $21,.596,965 to the damage, and mis cellaneous unknown causes completed the total, "RIPi VAN WINKL1E" IN SUMTER JIAIL Prisoner Sleeps TIwo Days anmd NIghia andti is llefreshe(d by 'Nap. Sumter, Jan. 22.--George W\ells, a negro of this city, has established a record for sound sleeping even for that race of good sleepers. The place was the city .guard1 house whIch Is evidently comfortable and convenient for a rest cure. Wells was empiiloyed ais deliyman for Efird's D~epartment store until he was acecusedl of taking shoes andI hiding them .behind the store, lie was then lodged in the guard house, awhere he went to sleep Monday afternoon about 0 o'clock. Truesdlay morning, not havIng stirred, the offlcers tried to wake him but to no avail. 'Dlwo .physicians werec sum muoned and they too failed to arouse him. Hie was shaken, tickled and put through many tests, but George slept on. One of his friends came forwvard, stood lis b)Ond, had him remfoved to his homne on Railroad avenue. Wed. nesday afternoon "Rip Van Winkle" arose and shook himself and appeared none the worse for the lng slumber, SECOND TERM OF GOVERNOR COOPER Associato Justico R, C. Watts Admin bIters Oath of Office to Gov. Robert A. Cooper. Columbia, Jan. 19.--The utmost sim plicity marked the inauguration yes terday of Robert A. Cooper of 1Laurens as -governor of the state of South Caro lina. The fact that he had been unop posed in the race for the office, com bined with the fact that he was enter ing on his second term tended to les sen to a certain extent the display which is sometimes shown on such occasions. Ostentation was strictly taboo, all the ceremonies incident to the occa 'ion being performed with a befit. ting dignity and reserve, all of which tended to make the inauguration tin pressive. The ceremonies were held in the hall of the house of represen tatives in the presence of the mem bers of the house of representatives and of the senate. The balcony was filled with visitors, the number of women attending being especially no ticeable. Promptly at 12:30 o'clock P. S. Wil son, Sergeant-at-arms, announced the arrival of the senate. After the mnem bers had reached the chairs reserved for them, the sergeant-at-arms an nounced the arrival of the governor elect, the lieutenant governor-elect and their esorts. lirayer iwas offered by the chaplain of the house, the Rev. R. L. Keaton. .J. T. lilies, retiring lieutenant gov ernor, who presided over the exer ci~soes, announced that It. A. Cooper was present and was ready to take the oath of ofice. The oath was ad minfistered by Justice R. C. Wtatts of Laurens. Immediately after taking the oath of oflice Govrnor Cooper delivered his inaugural address, being given the closest attention by the audience. At its conclusion, the audience broke into hearty applause. Ills entire message was devoted to a discussion of educa tion. Wilson G. Harvey Was then sworn in as lieutenant governor after which he took charge of the exercises and dissolved the general assembly. The senate at once retired to its hall, where the new lieutenant governor do livered his address. The exercises occupiled just :0 nina uites, the town clock striking one as Mr. Liles turned over to Mr. Ilarvey the gavel. Other state offlcers assuming their duties yesterday !were S. '. Carter, treasurer; W. W. Moore, adjutant and inspector general; San M. Wolfe, at torney general; W. Hranks Dove, sec retary of state; Walter M3. Duncan, comiptroller general; 1. 1larris, corn missioner of agriciltur re; .1. ESwear inogen, state surjperintenadent of educa tion; Frank W. Shealy, railroad coin missioner. Of the various olicers, only Wal ter 10. Duncan, comptroller general, aId Wilson 0. Harvey, lieutenant governor, are serving for the 11ir'st time. MORE FORl E'ASTiE UN SI'ElIEII$ Anothfier Rem it lance Forwarded to C'olunmbia For' Near* East Rtelief. Thre Advertiser made another remit - tance of $27.50) Iast week to 10. 0. Black, Columbia, chai rman for this state of thre Near Nast Relief Fund. The contribuitors were two sons of Mr. and Mr's. 'tr'nchoff, Mr'. 'and~ Mrs. Rt. B. Terry and Mr's. J. A. P. Moore, as follows: Wmn. H~enry Blenchoff. .. .. ..$10.00 Robert IF. ]Benchoff . .. .. . ...10.00 Mmrs. .J. A. P. Moore.. ........2.50 Rt. B. Terry ..............2.50 Mrs Rt. 13. Ter'ry.. .........2.50 Total ............ .....$27.50 WOMAN OF' SUI'TER DIES: FIIOM BURNS Newspapler ('atches From ireplarce anid Sets ('lothning on Fire. Sumter, Jan. 22.-Miss Sue Birowvn died at the Tuomoy hospital Fariday night from the effects of hur ns last Sunday afternoon, .whe'n the paper shre was readling caught on fire from an open flireplace and her dress caught fr'om that. Tihe flames were -puit out b~y members of the family and she was rushed -to tihe hospital from the home of her sister, Mrs. Terry, in Oswego. The funeral services will be held at Bethel church, Oswego, Sunday morn ing at 1 1 o'nclok, TWO CITY EMPOYEES REPLACED BY OTHIEIRS Street Superintendent and Night Po. Iloeman Replaced without a Hear ing er Notice of Discharge. Two more ex-soldiers were thrown out of employment Monday night by City Council when Carlisle Bolt, street overseer, and J. C. Senn, extra police man put on for night work, were dis placed without a hearing or charges being -preferred against them, and S. It. Dorroh and ex-Chief of Police Ed Blakely elected to their places. Mayor Pro-Ten Albert Dial presided at the meeting and others present were Al derimen Bishop, Moore, Smith and Ir viii. Alderman Moore, it is reliably reported, refused to vote oil the ques tion of displacing the old men an(d the mayor pro-tein was without voice in the Inatter. Mr. 1ilot, wio was placed in charge of street work when Capt. Richey went Into office, said yesterday that he was taken entirely by surprise by the annoinceriient that lie had been re moved and was ignorant of any charg es against him or any criticism of his woi k other than may be ordinarily expected. Policeman Senn, stated Chief J. T. Crews yesterday, was placed on the force as an extra man just before Ch ristm ii oni ()0 acconti of the nuimer ous11 reports of burglaries in su rrounld ing towns. The now1 man bore a good record for service, but on account of economy Chief Crews had stated that it might he advisable to take him of? -lal redlce the foi-ce, he having been added only as a temporary man. Sentiment was crystalizing yestor (lay in certain (quarters to have the ac tion of council rescinded when the new itayor goes into office. LA!I)ES REST ROOM VISITED BY MANY Nearly Every State East of the Mis sissippi Represented on Registry 1ooli. Nearly every state in the Union east of the 'MississippI besides three states west of the Mississippi were repre sented among the guests who regis tered in the (Ladies Rest Room, accord ing to the report just issued by the Business Women's Club, which spon sors the Rest R0oom. 'Tlhe only two states east of the Mississippi not rep resented on the register were Vermont and New IHampshire, while the three states fromi the West who had visitors Were T'exas, Ca.ifol-nia antd Washing toil. 'I'hio visitors from California were Itraeling by automlobie el Wd I whilO havinug their Var repaired visit ed the liest Roomii and were delighted \% ith its appoitiments. '' hey said that it compared favorably with simila., rest roomts il other cities of 'he 'iLcd 'i'weity-sevel hund-red visitors reg istered at the Hest Ioom diring 1 120, colintinues the report, an1d n o doubt! iany more took adv'ait age of the coil veiendces thert afforded buit did not plaice thir namiiiies upon0 thle register. "it has been ourt aimi to seve the public at lar-ge" says the report, "mak Iiig our1 lown anld countliy more attrac tivo to visitors and any strangers who might !iass this way. "We extenld to the business men of lie city ou sinceri(ie thankls for thelir supp)Iort dur-ing .the piast year, also for their generods contrib~utions just re celved for- this, the firlst (uar-tet- of 192 i. "It has just occurired to us t hat there imighit he othei-s aside'from those al1ready contributing who wouild be glad to hielp Pcarriy onl tihis good work and1( any conutrib~ution can be sent to out- treasureri or mali-on at any time." Bishop Kilge Better. The niews from the bedside of Bishop John11 (. Kilgo, wilt underwent, ian operaion a(11t a C harlotte hiospit al about. a week ago is enicour aginig, said Rev. P. F. Kilgo, his brothe-, whien lie was asked abiout the condition of the bishop. Bishop Kilgo was horn in Lauriens and( lie ha~s a gi-eat many fr-lends herec who ai-e strongly attached to himi andt hope that he wvill -ecovor his health again. Smnll tet (Cast. A very small11 vote was cast in the greeral elction for' may01- yesterdiay, Mr. Jno. A. Franks, of courise, receiv ing all tile votes. Mir. Franks will ver-y ;probably -be ind~uicted into office the latter part of tis week or the first of next wveek. U. S. L[ADING 1I SHIP BUILDING Lauschings In 1920 2,275,. 000 Tons GREAT BRITAIN CAME SECOND United States Lead the World in 19,20 in Gross Toniage of Merchanitmen Built, According to Figures Just Out. Great, Britain lIainked Second. New York, Jan. 2-1.-The United States led the world onl the total gross tonls of merchant. vessels laun lched in 1920 according to ligures inade puldid today by Iloyd's register of shilpilig. The total launchings in ship yards of the world amountedl to 5,861,000 gross tons, a decrease of almost 1,300, 000 from the 1919 figure, but an In crease of more than .100,000 over 1918. Tho total for the United States was 2,276,000 tons, while Great Britain was second wih2.0;5.5,000 t onis. Japan, launched 4156,000 tois last year, t de crease from 611,000 t.ols in 1919. Lloyd's points out that at the begin ning of 1920 the United States and Great Britain had on hand practical ly the same aiounlit of construction to be completed and Credits amllong yards witLh greater spced than thoso In. Great Britain in that this country exceeded England's total by 20 per cent. The decline in the total :world ton nage launched was attributed to the decline in tho American ship building program, America's launching being 1,600,000 tons less than in the previ ous year. British production showed a gain of more than 400,000 tons. Other countries launched a total of about 1,330,000 tons during 1920, or about 20,000 tons less than In 1919. In comparison with pre-war figures, the launchings in the United States were nine tImes as great as In 1913 and throughout the world there was a gain of about 75 per cent. For -the first time since the begin ning of the war Great Britain last year exceeded its 1913 figures, the gain being about. 7 per cent. Considerable gains over 1919 were shown by France, which increased the total of its launchings from 32,000 tons to 93,000 toiis last. year, IHolland fromi 1:17,000 to 18.,00 tols, and Italy fron N2,0im) to 13,000 tons. Piguires for Gerimnany .were not avail able and were not included in the I otal. I loyd's iilures show that, the Uni ted States far oitstripped the rest of Ihe world in construction of tankxer tonnage. This$ country lauiched 167, 000 gross tons of this (laiss of vessels, Great 1ritain 65.-00 ton., and other couitries 8,000 toons. Motor ship construction wvas d elared to be on the inr.a.e with a total of 1 90,000 grosas toil- of vessels fittedl w ithi intnl tAilod((:nhusti onl en gines in 1920. The total of v'essels fit ted withl turinies which were launch ed during thle year' was 1,.525,000 tons, 01' nly~i' a thllird of' the aggregate to tal. Of all the vessels l aunced last year' th irty-two swere of 1 0,000 gross tons or more. Cornupar:ativ e ilgureos were conlpilled by lhe reist ry shiowi ng the yearly outpiuts of Grieat1 BitainI an d America since 1918. lntil 1918 Great Britain was in the lead in ship construict ion, w'hen the Un ited Slates iumpl led ahead with 3,033,000 'gross tons against 1, .18,000 for Great Britain. In 1919 tho 'nitoel Stat e. prodne 1,(( 075,000 gross tons against 1,.620,000 for En:lglanid. Y'leiory Medals for F.-Sailors. The~ Commxiandanht of the Sixthl Naval 1Distrtict has authorized J. E. 11ol1t to (listib uto vic tory mledals to altl menf from Laurens011 ('ennty who serve)'d in the( Na val Reser(ive l'orce duii ng tile war. All reservists are requIestedl to hand him1 their name1l so thait medals many be deli1ver'ed thleml at an early dlato. In case of men dlischlargedl from the Re serve Forcee thle discharge papers muist he luresented. Mock Weddiig A mock wedding willl be given at FrIendship school house by Y. W. A, girls. Friday nighlt, January 28th, be ginning aut seven o'clock. Admission will hn 15 eehtsn