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.

>1 - ii C 1~ ~Ji A44VAti~~ AAAA~v tuiberrp ~ uuiw ESTABLISHED 1865. KEWBERRY, S. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1893. PRICE $1.50 A YEAR DOWN ON STATE BAR ROOHS. Chairman Childs, of the Prohibition State Committee, Gives His Advice to His Fol lowers Not to Sign Any Petitions. Whether it Makes Tillman Mad or Not. LSpecial to News and Cou.ier.] CoLUMBIA, Feb. 7.-The Prohibi tionists have come out in a bold letter. Chairman Childs strongly advises the boycott of the dispensaries, and ad vises that petitions should not be signed. He calls the revenue derived from the,dispensaries "blood money." "The Evans idea is of necessity op posed to prohibition," he says. The paper is somewhat unexpected, and will certainly be read with genuine interest at this juncture. It reads: To the State Prohibition Executive Committee: By the action of your committee at its meeting in December last I was requested to have the draft of the prohibition bill which had been adopted by the committee brought be fore the Legislature then in session, and to give my personal attention to its proper presentation to that body. That duty I endeavored to discharge to the best of my ability, giving my almost continuous attendance on the sessions of the House and Senate and the committee until the matter was disposed of by the adoption of what is known as the Evans dis pensary law. Since then I have purposely avoided giving any pub lic expression of opinion on the subject, first, because any attempt to forecast the results to flow from the law would be to a large extent specu lative, and also because I feared that any adverse criticism which might es cape me might be viewed in the light of factious opposition to the experi ment and calculated to hinder the good which its advocates, some of them earn est and conscientious Prohibitionists, believed'would come out of it if it could be fairly tried. It seems to me proper, however, that I should express to you, as members of the committee, my convictions on the subject formed, after the excitement attending the campaign, and the anx iety of watching and counselling the movement during its progress in the Legislature have passed, and I have had time and opportunity to consider the situation. In considering the action of the Leg. islature on the subject of prohibition it should be borne in mind that the question presented to the voters of the SatIby the Prohibitionists at the pri mary. elections was a very distinct one, in this respect at least, namely,whether the legal sanction of the sale of liquors as a beverage should be withdrawn and such sale prohibited by the State. This being the fact the majority vote cast at that time can be understood in no other sense than as the expression of a demand that the traffic in intox icauts as a beverage should be ,prohib ited. To carry out this purpose your .executive committee prepared a bill which was introduced in the House by .Mr. Roper, of Marlboro. After a most determined opposition by the liquor interests and the quasi political Prohi bitionists this bill was reported favora * bly by the large special committee, composed of one member from each county, with only six dissenting votes, and after a protracted debate, in which the opposition was allowed to exhaust its arguments, almost without inter ruption fromn the friends of the mes ure, it passed the House by an unpre cedented majority.. Up to this point it is clear that the large majority of the Representatives believe that their constituents wanted the kind.of prohibitibn which was ex pressed in the Roper bill. This was legislation which would prohibit, and it was this fact which, ln my judg ment, sealed its fate with the Legisla ture. The combined elements of oppo. sition to real prohibition ultimately F proved successful in the substitution ol the Evans bill in the Senate. Its sub. sequent passage by the House was the result of a conviction in the minds oi many sincere and conscientious mem bers who had supported the Roper bil] as the proper measure that it wc .ld be impossible to secure the passage of thai bill against the determined oppositioL of the Senate and that~ it would, there fore, be better to accept the dispensary law, which had so many features irt common with the Roper bill, than tc have no legislation on the subject al the present session. IT IS A sTATE BAR. The fact, however, remains that the people that the people asked for prohi bition of the liquor traffic, and theii representatives have seen fit to give them instead a law which takes the dispensing of intoxicants as a beverage out of the hands of the citizen and places it directly and entirely undei the control of the State. Such is the law which the Prohibi tionists of the State are called on t c consider in order to determine theil future attitude and action respecting it. Are we, as Prohibitionists, dis. charging ourselves from all responsi bility for a law which was clearly i perversion of ou'r purnose as expressed in the bill which we submitted, pa. tiently to await the results of the law in the hands of those who have taker the responsibility of foisting it upon at unwilling people? Or shall we oppost it, as we would any measure which w< believe fraugbt with evil to society by making common cause with al classes of our citizens who in any law * ful way seek to render it inoperative Or shall we stand ready to aid in ex tracting whatever good may be foun< possible from its operation? In considering these questions let u~ remember that while the Act does only profess to regulate, it is claimed that a positive good is secured by it, for which Prohibitionists have been long work ing, namely, the closing of the saloon and its congener, the club room, with its barroom appendage; that underithe provisions of this Act it is really in the power of the majority who voted for prohibition to say to what extent the dispensary system shail prevail, and that the general effect of the Act will be a considerable "step" toward ulti mate prohibition. IT IS WRONG IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. Moreover ret us not forget that our prohibition movement derives whatever of force it possesses from the moral principle that the manufacture and sale of intoxicants for beverage purposes, in view of the evils which flow therefrom, is wrong in the sight of God, and fear fully demoralizing to man, and there fore any law which provides for such traffic mustof necessity be opposed pro hibition. It makes no difference wheth er the State sanctions the sale by licens ing the citizen to engage therein, or, as in the case'of this law, takes the sale into its own hands. When the State does this it compromises a principle of right and perverts the purposes of prohibi tive legislation, and both principle and consistency constrain me to condemn it. To what extent, then, do the claims above stated commend the dispensary law to the co-operation or support of pro,hibitionists? It is true that most of the provisions of the dispensary law are taken from the Roper bill without change, and that thus many of the fea tures of the bill framed by your com mittee have now the force of law, but it is also true of the dispensary law that it makes the sale of liquor as a beverage by the State practically without limita tion as to use and quantity in order that the profits therefrom, blood nioney as it is, shall go to enrich the revenue of the State and counties. It seems to me, therefore, that the duty of all true prohibitionists will be, first, to use their influence ' to prevent the establishment of dispensaries by refusing themselves and inducing oth ers to refuse to sign the petitions which are necessary to their establishment under Section 3 of the Act. The result of this course, if successful, will be to give us real prohibition-no dispensary -no legal sales of intoxicants. If the dispensary part of the Evans experiment fails to go into operation it will be because the people who are to ask for it do not choose to do so, and this was certainly contemplated by the authors of the scheme when they pro vided that the dispensers could only be appointed on "a petition signed by a majority of the freehold voters of the incorporated town or city in which the permit is to be issued." Now if these voters are not to exercise their choice in this matter, why this provision? And if they are expected to use their judgment in the gliatter, where is the occasion for Governor Tillman's recent ly published reflections on them for so doing, and his implied threat that pro hibitionists will regret their refusal to establish these dispensaries? The step toward prohibition w bich the prohibitionists can see in the dis pensary law is the possible power which it gives them to prohibit the dispensa ry, which they can do, if in sufficient nunl'bers they refrain from asking for it. HOW TO PROHIBIT--DON'T SIGN. It will then be prohibition indeTdn its fullest sense,-and that is what every true prohibitionist has been working and praying for. Can it be that Gov ernor Tillman does not credit the pro hibitionists who differ from him on this point with acting from moral principle, and that he cannot realize that they are bound to repudiate the dispensary for the same reason that they would the sale of'liquors as a beverage under any other plan, because such sale is. morally wrong? "The threatened alliance between the whiskey men and other political opponents who are bitterly opposed to the law and the prohibitionists who are in favor it" can have no application to the class of prohibitionista repre sented by our committee. The truth is, however, that the dispensary expe riment.features lai it naturally enough arouse the antagonism of so many dis tinct classes of citizens that it need not "urprise Governor Tillman or anyone else if it fails to run smoothly. The whiskey men oppose it because it breaks up their business. Many sincere patriots are horrified at the spectacle of the State becoming the successor to the business from which it has driven these citizens. Many Astute lawyers and others find in these provisions of the law a most dangerous exercise of the powers of the State and an invasion of the private rights of the citizen to engage in any business declared to be wrong; while the prohibitions who voted to have the sale of intoxicants as a beverage pro hibited are justly indignant at the leg islation which so perverted the mean ing of their demand as to miake it one for unlimited whiskey for revenue and themselves unwilling partners in the unholy traffic. If, in spits of these elements of oppo sition, the dispensary goes into opera tion it becomes the duty of prohibition ists to aid in every manner to enforce the law against violators, thus making as far as practicable the good features of the law aflective. To do this will require that our organization as a com mittee and the effective county organi zations wnich were so successful in the local campaign should be maintained and strengthened, having also in view the ecunring of such legislation in the future as shall eventually rid our State from the curse of the liquor traffic. Some plan for future operations is very desirable, and I should be glad to have from the members of the commit tee suggestions as to the methods best suited to effect our purpose. Respectfully, L. D. CHILDS, Chairman State Pro. Ex. Com. Columbia, S. C., Feb. 7, 1893. The prohibitionists in some counties, it is understood, will take chairman Childs's advice. The South Carolina Liquor Law. [Methodist Protestant.] It may be a gain to break up saloons and drinking dens. It may prevent to some extent the vile mixtures that are now sold ; it may increase the income of the State treasury, but we can hard ly think it adds to the dignity of a great State to engage in a vile busi ness, that has no modifying or redeem ing features, a business that debauches the citizen, impoverishes the home, and fills - the prison and asylum with wrecks of ruined and fallen men. It cannot be a remedy for drunkenness, it cannot decrease crime, nor the expen ses growing out of criminal jurispru dence. The State simply takes a vile business out of the hands of heartless men, whose nature has become callous to all the evil of which it is the cause, and- itself becomes the drunkard maker of the people it is bound to fos ter and protect. It is a law that puts to blush our boasted civilization, and produces a sense of shame and disgust in the mind of every man who has the best interests of the people at heart. The whiskey business cannot be con trolled by law. The only safe course to pursue is to abolish its manufacture and .sale. This is right morally, reli giously and politically. The State has no more right to debauch or impov erish the citizen than has the saloon keeper. From our point of view this law makes the State more directly a participant in the crime than the com mn license law. It places the great seal of the commonwealth upon drunkenness and every crime grow ing out of it; and says what you are or what you may become is a legitimate consequence of legal enact ment, from which there is no ap peal. 0, shame, that it must be said of our Southern sister: "A State manufactory for drunkenness and crime." THE SOUTH CAROLINA EXPERIMENT. [From The Union Signal.] There are many points in the South Carolina law which Prohibitionists would do well to consider carefully, bat it has one special advantage which alone would make it worthy of our active support, and which should make us eager to give it a fair tiial. It is that tbe licensed saloon becomes a minus factor in politics. The' good, all-round results of the elimination of the saloon from the political situation can hardly be over-estimated. So few people. realize its power In shaping the civil policy of our cities, and indeed of our nation. So few seem to understand that the saloon, represented . by its money, is the power which makes the political wheel go round... . We have no hopes that the Evans law contains the solution of the liquor problem, but we consider it to be, like the high license law, a landmark 6n the road to the Prohibition goal. Annual Meeting of Young Men. The annual meeting of the Youug Men's Christian Associations of South Carolina will be held at Columbia, Feb ruary 23, 24, 2-5 and 28, inclusive. Great preparations are being made to have this the best convention ever held in the State. Dr. WV. J. Erdman, of Asheville, N. C., the great Bible teacher of America, will have charge of the Bible study; Mr. Robert WVie densall, of New York, the first travel ing secretary of the International Com mittee, will be present; H. P. Ander son, of Atlanta, Ga., Southern Secre tary of the Committee, will have charge of the college work; W. D. Lau master, of Augusta, will take a promi nent part; also many of the leading men of our own State will attend and take part in pushing forward this great work. The music will be an attractive feature, it being in charge of Mr. Frank Whilden, of eharleston. Reduced fare on all roads in the State, has been secured, and the only expense to delegates will be their rail road fare, as entertainment will be fur nished all delegates by the Columbia people. A cordial invitation is ex tended to the young men of South Carolina to attend this convention. Pastors and Christian workers of all churches are invited. If you are a member of the Y. M. C. A., you will want to attend to represent your asso ciation, but if you are not a member you will be just as welcome. For full particulars write the State Secretary, W. M. Lewis; at Columbia, and he will gladly answer all questions. He Was Cautious. [From Truth.) Coroner-Is this man whom -you found dead on the railroad track a total stranger? Mike (who has been told to ije care ful in his statements)-No, sor; bis leg was gone entoirely. He was a partial stranger, sor. Don't waste time, money, and health, trying every new medicine you may see adveitised in the papers. If the cause of your trouble is in the blood, liver, stomach, or kidneys, take Ayer's Sarsaparilla at once, and be sure of a e.a ke no other. THE TRAIN DESPATCHER. His Work so Reaponsibic and Hieky is Yet Fascinating.-The Many Moving Trains Under His Charge Depend for Safety Upon His Comprehen sive "Picture." LNew York Sun ] "I tell you, boys, it's the most fasci nating work I ever tried, and I've been railroading for twenty-five years and taken a turn at everything from brake mrian to division superintendent." So spoke the train despatcher to a company of railroad men and the re porter. "Why," said the latter. "I thought train despatching was too risky to make the sense of responsibility comfort able?" "It may be partly that at bottom, but a train despatcher to do his work must lose sight of the awful consequences that might follow a mistake. If he didn't he'd lose his nerve every time. Why, every train or single locomotive for that matter, of the hundreds whose movements he directs, every day, is fraught with greater possibilities of disaster, involving life or property, or both, than any man can contemplate and not want to desert the respon sibility." "But how can a man put out of his mind altogether those possibilities, so that he's fit to move trains without hesitation and not get rattled?" asked the reporter. "Well, it's the same answer to that as in other cases where nerve is needed. It's the confidence that comes with experience. If you've run trains with Dut accident, why you feel you can do it again." "When the danger of catastrophe is lost sight of," resumed the despatcher, "the fascination comes in in the com plexity of the problems which present themselves every hour. How to get the most trains through, in opposite direc Lions, giving each its 'rights' over the Athers, is the sum of a despatcher's task. It isn't enough to get each train as it eomes along through safely; you've got to deal with scores at the same time, look ahead and keep them moving." "You ought to be a good chess play er," suggested the reporter. "I do pretend to play a pretty fair game, an you're right; the same facul ties that tell in chess come into play in train despatching. But with trains you're dealing with 'men' that are, when under way, out of your control for a time, so that the difficulties of the game are in one-way increased by the introduction of moving pieces. So, while you don't vividly realize the possible consequences of your moves on the steel-ruled board, the dim con sciousness you have of responsibility makes the railroad game a big one. "And it'ssomething only the human mind can grapple with. I've seen mechanical contrivances used to follow on a board the movements of trains, with the idea of checking the liability of the despatcher to 'drop a stitch' and allowing him to think of something else without losing the situation. But, after all, it's the man who must be depended on to know that the board is right. If it gets set wrong, the board of pegs only embarrasses him i'n trying to recover his 'picture,' as the boys call it. "A train despatcher has got to have a mental 'picture' of the relative posi tions at any given time of all the trains under his: hands. If that's gone, God help him! "Why, I've seen a man stand be tween two telegraph operators-dictat ing orders to one and the other as fast as he could talk many a time, without abything between his messages and disasters except the changing, but at every minute whole and exact 'picture' of all the miles of track which he runs. Suppose it is a double track with a few miles of single track between and sid ings, his mind must work like light ning to keep them going and avoid collisions. "I've seen a man standing in the operators' tower in such situations, dictating, grow suddenly white as a cloth. He bad lost his 'picture.' A moment of awful suspense, and then with a great sigh, almost a groan, of relief he would recover it. "That instant, unblurred, mental image is the peculiar faculty developed by the despatcher's business. "To give you an idea how compli cated these mental photographs may be, and how many points, any one of perhaps fatal importance, the mind must take in at once. I was at one time despatcher over a section of dou ble-track road of sixty miles. Regular trains passed a given point every four minutes. In this section was ten miles of single track, a 'hog- back,' that is a grade both ways to its middle, requir ing two locomotives to pull trains up to the highest point, when they left either of the double tracks. "WXith the regular traffic on the latter, and the locomotives coming back from the hog-back, twice th4 ordinary number, and just as likely tc cause loss to property, if not to life o1 trains, it was quick work. You muns take in, too, the presence of trains run ning under special orders to put then through. Add to that the liability t< an- emergency call for 'props' to be for warded instantly to the company' mines to guard against a threatenec cave in, and you have a good idea o the problems a train despatcher has t< grapple with. "Every once in a while a despatchei gets a realizing glimpse of -t be respon sibility placed on him by the way he i pulled up for any irregularity. His superiors must be the strictest discipli narans to guard the company againsl loses. For- an Ill,,ctratin- One wintel night I had a train which I had posi tive orders to put through. It was blocked at a certain point by a pas senger train, stalled in the snow. I could overcome the obstacle in two ways, either push the passenger train through with an extra locomotive, or take the urgent train back, switch it to another track, and go around the pas senger. The first way would take about fifteen minutes; the other perhaps an hour and a half. It was late to lose time, so I sent an order to push the passen ger out of the way. It was done, and through my other train went all right. I made the usual note of the manceuvre in my daily report to the division superintendent, and in a day or two got a message that he would like to see me. "The superintendent was one of the kind who doesn't make any fuss, but goes to the heart of the matter in hand. While speaking to me about some common place subject he reached down a volume of the Penal Codeand pointed out a section for me to read. It des cribed the offence of pu?hing passenger trains and the statutory penalty. He said: "I guess I don't need to say any thing more, do I?' I said. 'I hope not,' and went out, feeling as if I had just escaped a criminal conviction. "Passenger trains, the law provides, must be hauled, not pushed, and I haven't given any orders to violate the statute since that time. "The'n, for me, too, I count as a plea sant side of the business the chances a man has to do a kindness in the posi tion of despatcher. I remember a parti cular illustration of that, whose un pleasant sequel doesn't even destroy my satisfaction in it. "In the running of trains one even ing by P. there was a hitch which com pelled a change from the usual orders from that point for freight No. 6. The preceding train was stopped up the road near Q., so that the usual release for No. 6 to pull out and run to Q. could not be given. "But Jim Wales, the engineer of No. 6 read his orders wrong, thinking they were as usual to run to Q., and had pulled out before I knew It. One of my men came running in. 'Did you see No. 6 go out?' he said. I realized Jim's mistake, and that he had as rumed that the orders were as usual for a clear road, and I was for a moment up a stump to prevent a collision. I did, by using the wires, get the train stalled ahead of No. 6 on a siding to let No. 6 through. But that didn't clear Jim. He had pulled out from P.with out orders and that meant his discharge. I knew he had a wife and six children and I wanted to save him his job. No harm, to te sure, had been done, but it was a delicate matter to protect him from the discipline of the company. "I hadn't been in bed long that night when the girl came to my room and said two men down stairs wanted to see me. I knew who it was-Jim and his fireman. They came up. Jim said he supposed I knew about his mistaking orders. I said I did, and, being dead for sleep, let the dieciplining go with saying it was a clear case of disobeying orders. 'Who knows it?' I said. No one but the switchman who shifted the other traib, he said, knew when No. 6 passed. 'Well, then.' I said, 'don't say anything, and see what you hear.' With that I turned over. No one 'said anything,' and Jim Wales kept his place and fed his family. "It wasn't three months after (to show the ingratitude of the man) that he wrote the superintendent complain ing because I had tacked an extra five cars, in an emergency, above the limit on his locomotive. It was a niean let ter. When the surerintendent called me up on it, I told him of the way I had looked out for Jim once. He said: 'Don't you do it for another man. They won't thank you. They'll hate you instead.' But some good turns I have done in that way have not turned out so badly.'' Bishop Brooks on MutuaHlam. [Extract from a sermon delivered by the great preacher last year.J The universal blunder of this world isin thinking that there are certain per sons put into the world to govern and others to obey. Everybody is in this world to govern and everybody to obey. There are no benefactors and no beneficiaries i distinct classes. Every man is at once both benefactor and beneficiary. Every good deed you do you ought to thank your fellow man for giving you an opportunity to do, and they ought to be thankful to you for doing it. Men's dreams are after the perfect world of mutualism; men's follies may anticipate it. Men will think of it in the midst of the deepest subjection to the false conditions under which they are living now. This new life, where service is the universal law, is but the coming in of the life of God upon man, the coming into the inlets of our life of the great ocean of life that lies beyond. The man never lived on this earth so mean, so contemptible, so insignifi cant, that he was not worthy of the Itotal consecration through all his days of the most splendid being that God ever made. To Prevent the Grdp Or any other similar epidemic, the rblood and tbe whole system should be kept in a healthy condition. If you feel worn out or have "that tired feel ing'in the morning, do not be guilty of 0neglect. Give tmmediate atten tion to yourself. Take Hood's Sarsaparilla to give strength, purify the blood and prevent disease. HooD's PILLs cure liver ills, jaun dice, bilioness,m sick headache, con WAITING ON THE COUT. The Attorney General Instructs the State Treasurer to Hold on to the Railroad Property. [Special to the News and Courier.] COLUMBIA, February 7.-There were no end of conferences and consulta tions in the state House to-day, and it was all about the coup of the United State Court. Governor Tillman, At torney-General Townsend, Assistant Attorney-General Buchanan, and Chief Clerk of the Comptroller's Office Nor ton were in consultation for a long time to-day. The consultation were evidently held on the instalment plan, and whenever a new idea would occur to any of the council it would be immediately com municated to the other members. To say that Governor Tillman has got his "dander up" is putting it mildly. He has for some time had his ideas fixed and his course thoroughly outlined. The seizures that have been made have been decided upon as test cases, and the Governor proposes to hold on to the property as a bull dog would to his last piece of meat. It is a rather curi ous fact that Governor Tillman is anxiously inviting the arrest of the sheriffs who are holding the railroad property. The railroad men here are smiling to themselves and say that there are lively times ahead. Judge Simonton, they say, would hardly issue such orders as he has unless he intended to carry out his orders and hold violators of the orders in contempt of Court. The roads now involved, they say, are clearly under the protection of the Federal Courts and nothing can be done towards the payment of any money for taxes or otherwise except through order of the Court. It might be added that the only roads now interested in the fight are those in the hands of the Federal Courts. The fight is being made on a comparatively different tact. I had a mighty long wait before see ing Governor Tillman and getting him to define his position. He spoke some what more freely than was expected and with his usual vigor. He said: TILLMAN'S OWN WORDS. "We propose to see that the State of South Carolina collects her just taxes. Our present purpose is to hold all of the property on which levies have been made, and to let .Judge Simonton do his worst. This morning I telegraphed all of the sheriffs .to hold the property on which they have levied. Our idea Is.that Judge Simonton is in contempt of the State Government, and we want him to act so we can get the case to Washington as soon as possible and prove it by the United States Supreme Court. What we want is for him to arrest the sheriffs. If they are arres.ed the matter will go up in the shape of habeas corpus proceedings. If we are wrong in believing that the State has the right to collect her taxes, the sooner we'know it the better. "Judge Simonton has just been told that he has no right to interfere in cases where the amounts -are less than $2,000. We will resist tyranny or-igno rance, which ever it may be, and bring the matter to a focus and have our rights established." "But what about the point that the roads are in the hands of' the receivers, and the tax has to be paid through order of Court?" "We will whip him out on that too. All we want him to do is to take hold, or we will take a bigger hold. If he does not imprison our officers we will levy on every road in the State where the amount is under $2,000. We want to get the issue to Washington just as soon as possible, as we do not intend the cases to hang in the District Court for twelve months and go through the regular docket. We are determined to see the matter through to the end. "For the present," said Governor Tillman, "no additional levies will be made, and all subsequent action de pends on the action of the Federal Court on the 20th instant." While talking about the matter of contempt Governor Tillman remarked that if there was anyone who was in contempt of the Court it was he, as the sheriffs were merely acting under his orders, and obeying the State laws which prescribe the duties. The advices here this afternoon are that Deputy Hendricks is serving the orders of the Court, and that Sheriff Riser, of Newberry, and his copartners are still "holdihg the fort." CoLUMBIA, February 8.-Everything is in statu quo at this end of the line to-day so far as the merry war between the United States Courrt and'dovernor Tillman is concerned. There is no weakening on the part of any of the State House authorities, and tbe sheriffs are still holding on to what they have. The only symptom of the railroad tax fever to-day is that the Administration pulse is perfectly nor mal, and anxiously waiting to see what is going to be done by the Court which is guided by either "tyranny or ignoraLice." The treasurer of Anderson Co'rnty telegraphed to the Comptroller General to inquire what he should do with the property that is being held. The mess age was referred to the Attorney Gen eral, who instructed the treasurer to hold on to the property. The general opinion up here is that the next move will be for an order from the United States Courts instructing county she riffs to release the property in the hands of the United States Courts through receiverships. There seems to be a very general Imisunderstanding about the cases which are causing the conflict of an that the Richmond end Danville sys tem and the South Carolina Railway, against which the mischief-making executions were issued, have not paid any taxes. This is a mistake ; these and other roads have paid their taxes on the same basis as they did last year. It is only for the disputed part of the taxes plus the penalty that executions have been issued. The Richmond'and Danville system paid its taxes on the basis of the return it made. The State holds that it has to pay the entire amount on the basis of the assessment as made by the State board of equalization, and the present trouble is caused by the authorities trying to force the collection of these differences between the basis of pay ment and what the State contends ought to be paid. The State officials hold that the re cant decision of the United States Court in dismissing the Cebtral and Northeastern Railroad cases for want of jurisdiction, because the-amount in volved was not $2,000, establishes the right of the State to collect the differ ence in dispute without any further recourse to the law. In all cases where the amount involved is over $2,000 it will be noted that the Administration is not taking any steps,'but admits that it has no authority to act in such cases where the amount is over the $2,000 limit. It is to remembered that the merits of the right to collect this additional tax have never been decided by the United States Court. The railroads claim that the State has no constitu tional right to collect this difference, while the State by its acts contends to the contrary. The railroads have paid their taxes as usual, and the tempest is now being raised over the differ ence between that already paid by the railroads and that fixed by the State through what is called its arbitrary board of equalization. The fact that the railroads through their insolvency are in the hands of re ceivers and the Court is merely an accident so far as the present status is concerned and has nothing to do with the 'merits of the case. The railroads claim that as'long as they are in the hands of the United States Court they cannot pay out any money ex cept through its orders, and that not having received orders to- pay this difference in taxes they cannot and will not do so. As soon as the Fede ral Courts see fit to order the taxes paid the receivers will do so. The State authorities have not seen fit to ask for this difference through the Federal Courts, but instead are levying on the property in counties where the amounty was under $2,000. The Port Royal and Augusta, Port Royal and Western Carolina, and Chareston, Sumter and Northern cases are not parallel with those of the South Carolina Railway and the Richmond and Danville system, as the former had not paid any taxes at all. Governor Tillman to-day was in communication with his deputies along -the line of the Charleston, Sumter and Northern instrireting them not to ob. struct the line of travel and to give the officers every opportunity tpo settle with3 the State. THE DUTY OF A SHERIFF. An officer who has kept himsell thoroughly posted as to the duties o: sheriffs says that if he were presented with an order frong the United Statei Court to release any property he would not hesitate two minutes before hb turned the property over to the United States marshal. The sheriff was no1 under instructions of the Governor o3 anyone else, and as soon as he saw ar order from a United States Judge h4 would obey it. He says that he woulc not be surprised to see the bondsmer of sheriffs havea word or two to say, as the roads might hold the sheriffs re sponsible for delaying freights. WILL SHERIFFS BE LIABLE TO DAM AGE SUITS FOR DETAINING PEOPERTY. [Columbia Journal, 1st.] The railroad situation is still an in teresting puzzle to the public, but i is serious to the several sheriffs an< may p.love costly to them. They are it seems, literally "between the devi and the deep blue sea," and the situa tion approaches the stage when the2 must choose what master they wil serve ; whether they will 2;emain loya to the Governor and his dictates o whether tbey will pay first considers tion to their bondsmen, who are thei friends, while they avoid imprison ment themselves. Governor Tillman has told them tA obey his orders at all hazards, and ha assured them that the State will stant by them, but the question no1w arises, hasn't the Governor promise< more than lie can fulfill ? From a leading railroad man's poin of view a Journal reporter will en deavor to point out the trend of th< case as it now appears. First, then, according to the gentle man, the United States Court ha avoided the very thing that Governo Tillman sought, the arrest of the sher iffs. On the contrary, Judge Simontoi has simply advanced the time of thi answers to the charge of contempt o court, which now seems an undis puted fact, and which, if proven leaves the punishment s>lely withii the pleasure of the court. An appeal to the higher court doe not, as the Governor seems to suppose advance the tax cases which are oi the equity side of the court, but simpi: leaves the court to sustain the lowe court in its charge of contempt, and ti remand the cases to it for. settlement This can only he effected by the re lease of the property levied upon, o the continued imprisonment of the of fending sheriffs. It' is now thought that Judge Simor.; ton will, after hearing the cases, give the sheriffs twenty-four hours in which to release the property of the roads, or go to jail-a brief but positive ultimatum, and one which leaves the sheriffs to determine which master they will serve. EQUITY WITH THE PUBLIC. Consideration for the public seems to have been lost sight of-in the matter, but it is one likely to soon demand at tention. Many consignors are suffer ing while the freights are being held - by the sheritff, and suits for damages are likely to begin pouring in thick and fa-t. When this is done the bondsmen of the sheriffs. are likely to have to dance to some very discordant music. Another class of damage suits with which they are likely to have to con tend are suits that are almost sure to be brought by 'foreign roads, whose cars are now chained down to the rails in this State. Sheriff Riser, perhaps fortunately for himself, let the freight cars levied upon by him go at a very early hour after . their detention. These are some of the points which are worthy of consideration by the sheriffs, as well as the Governor, be tween now and the time of trial before Judge Simonton. This is th4 situation as it appears from a railroad attorney's view. THE STATES SIDE OF THE MATTEE. The State has its side of the contro versy also, and it presents equally as rosy a hue. A prominent State official said to-day that they would be disap pointed if Judge Simonton did not order the arrest of the several sheriffs, as that would force the matter into the United States Supreme Court where they would be greeted by "Judges - Brewer and Blatchford, who, while District Judges, are on record as hold ing that State taxes are a prior lea even upon prperty in the hands of'a receiver. This case, he said, has never been tested before, and whatever the result, . the State will have established a prece dent, and though the case.may be against. them, they will not have sub mitted to the ipse dizit of a cirenit judge without having the Supreme Court pas upon it. If theStataist0 be placed upon a parity with"'ommon creditors in the matter of the colection of its taxes, which should be a,.prior lien upon any property, then it is ens the State was in possession of that knowledge. John Thomas' Prayer In a Ighthouse. (From the Washington ?ost.I No$FoLS, February 2.-John Wil liam Thomas, assistant keeper of the Wolf Trap light station, which suc cumbed to the Ice last week, ays he -hd.n experience calculated fo'quick en his wits and open his wetrqye. Mr. Thomas was alone at the station, which is in twelve feet of water and threejniles froni the shore. It is not easy to appreciate the dread ful forebodings which filled his mind as' day after day he watched the thicken ing ice, itonscions ashe was of the great' peril which environed him, hisdistres signals unnoticed, with that vast field of ice expanding its mighty power against the piles, and gathering addi tional strength every moment as It overlapped and piled up against the doomed structure. 1 To pray in such a crisis wasa mest natural thing to do, and pray he did, long and fervently, and he feels assured that his prayers were answered, for It was not very long before he deseried in the distance the smoke of a stamer battling with the ice. Slowlyshe:pro ceeded along until, getting abreast of --- the station, she was stopped by the thick ice. Although the steamer was some half mile out toward the ship channel, the nervy keeper determined to abandon the station to its impend ing fate and make the effort to reach her. Getting upon the untried Ice he pro ceeded toward her, waving his hat to attract the'attention of those on board. When within hailing distancea he cried out lustily to the officer in command, and was told to come aboard, which he did in safety. On leaving the steamer higher up the bay for the shore he broke through the ice In eight feet of water and came near being drowned. Tradition has it that Wolf Trap de rives its name from the stranding of the British man-of-war Wolf on the bar during the Revolution. The light house is asho,re at the capes and the lenses are in Richmond. The Coldest Winter. The coldest winter the world ever knew, according to several chroniclers, occurred during the year 1485. The season was not only intensely cold, but lasted unusually long. In a large por- - tion of Middle and Western Germany the frost was so severe during the' month of May that,skaters braved the ice without the least danger, and on May 12 skates ywere generally used. On St. John's day, June 24, the win dows were frozen, and not a vestige of vegetation was to be seen anywhere. Spring was ushered in with the first day of Jane. Each person in this country sends on on an average forty-four letters every ~year. -_ _ Immigrants and returning voyagers find in Ayer's Sarsaparilla a cure for eruptions, boils, pimples, ecEema, etc., whether resulting from sea-dietan life on ship-board, or from any -te cause. Its value as a tonic and altms. tive medicine cannot be oveesmtd'