Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Copyright l-'.t, by r. CHAPTER III. A FA1IILX DINNER PARTT. The dining-room at Holdenhnrst Hall was a large, sombre apartment. The floor was of oak, uneven through age. and perilously slippery, and the walls of Duteli oak panelling, relieved here and there by portraits in oils of horses and dogs. Four windows did not admit sufficient light for the room, and on the spacious hearth no tire couid be made large enough for comfort in winter. The centre was u:cupied by an enormous table, supported by legs about ten inches shorter than those with which a modern dining tabic is furnished, and round it were ranged thirty-two chairs, fifteen at either side and one at each end? cumbrous structures of oak and em bossed leather, mounted on wheels. - luueed. 1 never look at this table without recalling the ludicrous aspect presented by our friend Major Armstrong, of the Suffolk Yeomanry, when dining .with us. Major Armstrong stands six feet four, and the distance from his plate to his mouth is so great that .when he is engaged with the former it appears almost as if he were digging the ground with his fork. A large sideboard, loaded with silver, completed the furniture of the room. When 1 entered, it was at once apparent that this was a special occasion. The table was lighted by more candles, and spread somewhat more luxuriously than usual, and, infallible sign! old .lohu. our one indoor manservant. had on his yellow silk waistcoat ?a venerable and conspicuous article of his attire which 1 remembered from *" * mfonor lvnt * nnvw ho. HI)> v*l < iJl'M jnmuv. j , www umu uv. iv* vv. fore known him to wear except on Sundays?and was moving about busily between tlie sideboard aud ibe table. I disturbed m# relations iu an examination they were making of the quaintly carved mantelpiece. My fatliei at once stepped towards me. anil taking my hand iu his own, led me towards a beautiful and very elaborately dressed lady, saying: "Permit me to introduce' my son. Ernest, this lady is your autit Gertrude." Now though in the first blush of my youth I bad suffered from overmuch self-consciousness, I had flattered myself of late that I had reasoned myself out of that malady, and was as selfpossessed as a young man of nineteen need be. Vain delusion! Wnether it was the striking beauty of my aunt, the splendor of her dress ttnd jewels, or my intense surprise at Hading her a woman of a: most thirty, whom I had mentally pictured as about fifteen years older than that, I know not: but certain it is? I had never felt so awk,v\V'd aud fcolish before. I cannot quitb remember what I said, but I believe a few disconnected words escaped my lips to the effect that I was very pleased to make her acquaintance. v. My aunt noticed my confusion, and wuu aumiraoie tact enucavoreu 10 allay it. "I am sure 1 am much gratified to see you and your father," she said in a sol'c voice. "My husband has often talked to me of you both, and of his old home in England. Your house is perfectly delightful, and I long to see more of it. You must show mc all over it when you have time." Iteplyiug that nothing could give me greater pleasure, and that I would do so to-morrow if she was sufficiently rested to undertake the task, I shook hands with my uncle and felt rather more at my ease. ; My father having taken his seat at the head of the table with his sister and I on the right, and his brother on his left. John removed the covers, and dinner was 6erved. "No." said uncle San. addressing my father, "the change is not all in myself as you suggest, tLoucb of course a man's ideas modify and expand a good deal in twenty years, especially if his affairs aro extensive and he mixes much with business miuu. x'csuiveiy, 1 uetieve wnat i nave old you. that Englishmen are vastly altered from Trliat taey were when I lived among them. They are :.ot so enterprising; tlicy seem to lack go and grit, and have falien into a slow way. Everything in Er~land is depressed? capitalists alraid to invest, laborers without work to Co. Coming frci J,ondo_i to-day, we caw a man and a boy with two horses plowing a Celd. Why, the seen'; would serve for an illustration to one cf Pope's pastorals. No wonder that farming in England don't pay when you tickle and scratch the earth in such primitive fashion: And while the laborers arc killing limn in llii.l wr mill1 lr><?ieli 1 nrc orn talking about small i'arns and allotments for laborers. Bosh, my <k?ar sir. bosL! Vv'hat is wanted i.-. f<5r ai least a hundred landowners in each county to form a trust, and to employ tuoderL machinery in cultivating their aggregated lands?that is to say, a farm of tolerable size. By-tlie-by, what is the acreage of this placci" "Two thousand aeres." "A mere potato patch! I have a Vt twenty-five times as large, as good or as better than the best soil in England, arstu]Hal|j 'ALTER BLOQMFIELD j OBEET EOSXES'S So??*' within one hundred miles or Chicago ?acquired it in one deal.*' "Are the large farms in America very profitable?" asked my father. "No; the most unprofitable things in the States; still, they do pay a beggarly fifteen or twenty per cent. Nobody loses money by them." "And the laborers?of course they are paid more liberally than in England." "Liberally! What has liberality to do with a business arrangement? The laborer sells his labor for the most money he can get for it, and the capitalist sells his money for the most labor he can get for it. Midway between these antagonistic forces is found the natural rate of wages. An American laborer does better for himself than an English laborer, if that is what you mean." I observed my uncle closely while he talked to my father, lie was a tall man, slightly built, with regular fea' tures. fresh complexion, and keen, restiess eyes. His manuor was very earnest, and he had a habit of looking bard at the person to whom he was speaking. His style was too aggressive to please me, but I considered him a very clever man, and was much interested in all that he said. Personally, he -slightly resembled my father- in nthpr rpsnppts flip two nipn were absolutely different. My father was a man of few words, and his subdued manner showed that he regarded the doings of men rather as a spectator than as an actor among them. My uncle and lather continuing to talk together upon subjects in which neither my aunt nor 1 could join, it occurred to me that the lady was neglected; and I deliberated upon the expediency of opening a conversation with her. Failing to think oi anything more appropriate, I asked her how she liked England, but was so nervous in putting the question that I knocked the contents of a salt cellar into her lap. This unlucky accident afforded me an unexpected relief. My aunt accepted my apologies so gracefully, and with such charmiug good humor, that 1 was enabled from that moment to converse with her like a rational being. Looking at her somewhat more observantly than I had done before, i nouceu mat sue uau a prolusion oi brown, wavy hair, that her light blue eyes were large and expressive, her features beautiful, and her figure admirably proportioned. Altogether, I thought her the handsomest woman 1 had ever seen. "1 arrived In England less than a week ago,'' she said, "and have seen very little of your country. I like London immensely, what 1 know of it at Kensington; but I have not even visited your Museum there yet. When we return to London at the end of the week, I hope to present my introductions and eo shout ji litth* with mv sister.'' "Have you a sister in England?" asked my father, looking up. "Yes,"' said uncle Sam. answering for his wife; "didn't you know that': Mrs. Truman has a young sister who lives with us?her only relation in the world excepting we three. 1 thought I told you about her." "No,"' said iny father; "I have never heard of her. Why didn't you bring her with you to Holdenhurst?" Constance was more unset by the voyage even than. I." remarked my aunt, "and did not feel equal to coming here." "You should know Connie," said my uncle, addressing me; "she's a smart girl." I made no reply to this; hut my aunt tilled up the gap by asking if I was at liberty to return to London with them, that they might Lave the benefit of my knowledge of the metropolis. I knew of no objection to the proposal except that my knowledge of London was very limited?an objection at cnce overruled. "Taking him all rcund. I prefer old .uarsa to an:' man i ever met; not oecause he me one of his daughters and half ci" his fortune, though that is something, but because it was he who removed the English scales from lay eyes and caused me to loot at the world like r.n American." "And is Mr. Marsh dead"'" inquired my father. "Very c.eac\" said my uncle. "He has been balancing a marble colttma on his chest in Greenwood Cemetery for three years or more.*' My father and I were shocked at the levity cf vxcle Sam, and our faces must have indicated our thoughts, for aunt Gertrude remarked: "You must not mind all that try husj band says. His acts are more ChrisI tiau than his words. I cannot re| form his manner, so must apologize | for him." "Well, you see,"' said uncle Sam, continuing, "too strongly marked Christianity spoils a mau of business. I could cite several instances. After i all, what are called honest men are | merely thieves who lack the courage j of their convictions?feeble folks who i tremble at taking the shortest way to the accomplishment of their purposes. 1 know many a man In New York accounted a paragon of virtue who is as full of hypocrisy g> ever was Holdeuhurst Church oft M. Sunday. I like to deal with a man who I know will overreach me if he can, and who expects as much of mc; matters are simplified, 'and the trade moves quickly." "When you lived in England you had no such ideas. If I remember rightly, you used to road poetry, and were inclined to he moody and sentimental, as Ernest is now." "True; hut I am sorry to hear that your sou is stricken that way. Eook to him; watch him. So long as lie confines himself to reading poetry there is some hope of him; 'tis when lw? nttnmnte In write IlfietfV that V0U must put ) im into a straitjacket. j?.e1 me take Mm with me to New Tork at the end of the summer; or, bettci still, take him there yourself. A temperature low enough to freeze Tennyson's brook, and a careful daily study of market prices in Wall Street, will make a man of him inside ol three months. What do you say to that, Ernest?" "I don't know what to say, uncle, only that I should very muck like to visit America." "A good answer. You shall certainly do so: and your father with you, 1 hope. We have a brown stone house on East Thirty-Fourth street, close to Fifth Avenue, and a frame cottage at Newport. Rhode Island, both telephonically connected with my offices in the Mills Building. We have also a private railroad car, which 1 would like you to compare with those rattraps your Great Eastern Company calls carriages. Our chef is as good as can be found outside Deimonieo's. Come and stay with us, and we will feed you upon oysters, blue fish, canvas-back ducks, terrapin, CAnadiaD frogs, and sweet potatoes, won't we. Gertrude?" "Of course, we shall be very pleased indeed to see you. and will do "Till in our power to make you com for table," said my aunt. .uy iaiuer manned ins guesis; nut i noticed that he carefully avoided committing himself to cither an acceptance or a rejection of this iuvhn. tion. Before we adjourned to h* drawing-room it was arranged that i was to devote the following morni to showing my aunt over fhe house and grounds, while my father and uncle discussed a certain business matter. We were all to meet again at luncheon, and 1 was afterwards to exhibit the documents my lather and I had been at so much pains to bring to light. My uncle, having approved of these arrangements, ignited a match on the heel of his hoot, and applied the flame to a cigar, from which he proceeded to puff clouds of smoke larger and denser than I should have thought was possible to produce by such means. CHAPTER IV. DISAPPOINTMENT. There is a peculiar condition of inind incident to some persons whose correspoudeuce is small, which induces them to carefully examine the envelope of a letter addressed by a strange hand?an indescribable fascination in speculating as to who the writer may be and why he has written. It is seldom that this self-imposed douht lasts longer than is necessary to make out the writing and postmark, and then the letter is opened?a thing which would have been done l<y a busy or practical man at the instant of its* receipt. Influenced by some such feeling, I delayed to open the copper box which I had taken front the oak chest in the library, though the nature of its contents strongly excited my curiosity. An instinctive belief that the contents were valuable had taken a firm hold of my imagination, though 1 could not in any degree support such belief by an appeal to reason. The contents of both the oak chests had doubtless been examined by bygone members of my family at least as often as the property had passed from father to son, and probably with greater frequency. It is true the chests had not been opened for a quarter of a century or so: but then the lid of the copper box bore the date This 123d daye Oct.. 1071. and I could not do such violence to my credulity as to suppose that the contents had been suffered to remain sa many years unexamined?which made strongly against the presumption that they were of any value. But the strongest human hopes are oftenest iw?lv?it liniili till) tnnst IllKl.llllo fnim. datious. 1 had certainly suffered the hope to grow upon ine that it had been reserved fcr me to stake a valuable discovery: and knowing that my chances of doing anything of the sort were the most shadowy conceivable, I delayed to open the box. contenting myself for the present by carefully examining its exterior. To be continued. India-Rubber Cor?ct*. The corset, as all the world knows, ; ? au essential detail of the costume of the modern civilized woman. The apparatus, iu its present stage of evolution, has gained the wholesale contempt and detestation of all physiologists as an outrage upon the organs of respiration, circulation and digestion. Lovely woman, however, has carried her fashion a step'nearer breaking point by inventing corsets of indiarubber designed for bathing purposes. The idea of thus converting what should be a most wholesome and health-giving recreation into a field for exploiting various kinds of irrational dress could have been engendered only in the brain of a latter-day fashionable woman.?Loudon Medical Press and Circular. . _ - ? - I : COULD NOT AGREE., Coal Operators Ask for 15 Per Cent s Reduction ? H THE MINERS MAY GO ON A STRIKE '< ti The Conference Failed to Reach An ^ n Agreement and An Adjournment e Seemed to Be Imminent. ^ r i Indianapolis Special.?When the ? conference of the miners and opera- p tors of the central competitive dis- p trlct opened Tuesday W. S. Bassett, 11 an Ohio delegate, moved that the ^ scale now in effort be re-adopted The Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and wes- o tern Pennsylvania operators voted no. ? and the miners from the same States 0 yes. President Mitchell then present- c, ed the demand of the miners, and F. R L. Robbing made tho demands for " the operators of a 13 per cent, reduction In wages. He said: "Pres- a ent conditions demand a reduction in ^ wages. We ask you to arbitrate as "c to what your share of the reduction n In the price of coal shall be." ^r. ^ Robbins said he and the ones he rep- j: resented would never sign a scale unless it be a reduction In wages. p President Mitchell replied to Mr. n p Robbins, saying that for his part he knew what he was going to do. Thi3 K statement was interpreted by the convention to mean the demands of the 11 ' ?....1 J V. ? A.1I.A.A/1 t A ^ miners wuum utr auaui^u tv. ^ Tho remark was applauded by the v miners. A recess was then taken. 2 During the recess, F. L. Bobbins, * leader of the operators, said: o "It looks like a strike. The opera- b tors will make no concessions?abso- " lutely none. It is a reduction or strike." L President. Mitrhell said: '"On Mr. p Robbins' statement before the con- .. vent ion it does look like a strike." W. S. Bogle, of Indiana, made the j, closing address for the operators. The s question was then called on the adop- r tion of Mr. Robbins' resolution for a v reduction of 15 per cent in wages, y On motion of Mr. Robbins, the mattor was referred to the scale commit- 7 tee, together with tho entire question v of fixing a scale. Tho convention \ v then ;uljourned until Thursday. ii 9 Want Investigation. Washington. Special.?An investiga- ! tion of the Postofflce Department by a special committee of the House of Representatives is being urged by the minoilty members of the House com- v mittee on postoffires and post roads. " A resolution to this end, introduced in n the House January 5th last by Repre- ' sentative Hay, Democrat, of Virginia, l: was duplicated by Representative Cow- j"' herd. Democrat, of Missouri. Mr. Cow- * herd is a member of the postofflce com- f Inittee. Mr. Hay is not, and the re- 11 introduction of the resolution is re- f, parded as a move to bring the matter s I to a head in the near future. ' Naval Appropriation. Washington. Special.?After only one # session of the committee on naval af- H fairs the naval appropriation bill was , Tuesday reported to the Senate. Comparatively few changes were made in } the brll as passed by the House though j the provision for a naval training sta^ tion on the Great Lakes was ag i Incorporated in the measure. The in- " creases recommended by the Seriate aggregate $"27,000. making the total ? $97,001.73$. v n Postofflce Blown Up. ^ Washington. Sneclal.?The Postoffice 0 Department has been officlaly notified h that the postoffice at Humphreys. Ark., j, has been blown up. and the St. Louis f, division of postofflce inspectors has <( been notified to make an investigation immediately. The advices to the De- ,j partmcnt give no details of the affair, tj which press reports attribute to the dissatisfaction with the negro post- 0 master and his predecessor, also a n negro. n 1 w German Steel Interests. s< Berlin, By Cable.?After long and ( tedious negotiations the German Steel Syndicate has finally been organized. The original plan was for a syndicate i! of the entire German steel industry and was first set in motion at Frank- ^ fort-on-the-Main in the summer of ^ 19C2: but. after long haggling, this fi project was found to be impossible, h Negotiations were then begun, and now have been concluded, among 26 of the largest concerns in the country. The smaller manufacturers whose out- n put ranges from 1,000,000 to 1.500.000 . tons annually were excluded. The agreement extends to June 30, 1907. The Syndicate will begin activity at si once. p 4 d ,4 ,,cu I t] Knoxville, Tenn.. Special.?Coi. i ^ Charles Kahlo. of Indianapolis, Ind., representative of the National Associa- y tion of Manufacturers, headed by D M. Parry, killed himself in the Hotel Imperial here Tuesday. He was in the tl United States consular service under ? President Harrison end has held posi- " tions of State and trust in Indiana- 1 poiis. No reason is assigned for his | ac.t. I * Cruiser Sails for Home. ^ Philadelphia. Pa.. Special.?The new ^ Turkish cruiser Madjidia, built at q. Cramps' shipyard, sailed today for Constantinople. Cn the way down the p( Delaware river sh* stopped at Fori , p MifTln, and took aboard 100 tons oi j. ammunition. The cruiser then pro- ; ceeded to Norfolk, to be placed in com- ! mission, after which she will eave for ! H her gun trials off the Delaware capes, ci A PECULIAR SITUATION 'axes on Franchises flay Not E Available. A peculiar and somewhat alarmin ituation arose last week when tt nmptroller general examined the at nown as the franchise tax law passe t the recent session of the legislatur t was found that it cannot go into e set for one year. The act provides that every corpon ion organised under the laws of th tate to do business for profit sha :ake a report to the comptroller get ral during the month of Februar; iving the necessary statistics conceri ag its condition. Besides these, a ailroad companies, express companie treet railway companies, navigatio ompanies, water works companie ower companies, light companies. tel< hone companies, telegraph companie arlor, dining and sleeping car con anies, domestic or foreign, shall als lake reports. Corporations organized in this Stal ther than those mentioned special! hove, shall pay to the State treasun y April 1st an annual license fee < ne-half mill upon ever dollar paid i anital stock. The foreign corporatior lentioned shall pay a fee of one-ha lill on each dollar of the properl alue owned by them. The State board of assessors sha scertain the gross receipts of the: ompanies for business done in tl rate and for the fiscal year next pr< eding and this shall be taxed thr< lills on the dollar, to be paid befoi fay 1. The penalty for non-complian< ? $500 and $100 per day after the tin imit has expired. The provisions of the act do not ai ly to insurance, fraternal, beneficial < lutual protection associations or con anies. The comptroller general yesterdz ent the following: "I find that the 'act to require tl ayment of annual license fees by co orations doing business in this Sta nd reports to the comptroller genera .as approved by the governor on tl 8th of February. 1904. The ac pr< Ided in section 1 for certain repor o be made annually during the monl f February by corporations doir usiness in this btate, to the comptro ?r general, upon the filing of such r orts the corporation is required ay by the first day of April or tl rst day of May in each year, certa: apital stock or property of such co oration. The time limited in the a or the filing of these annual repor as expired for the year 1S04, and I d ire to be advised whether I can no equlre such returns to be filed for tl ear 1904. or whether I shall have i ait until February, 1905, before r uiring any reports under this ac 'here is no provision in the act statir hen it shail go into effect, and as as not approved until February 2 i will not go into effect until Marc 1." The attorney general has not y cmlered an opinion on the subject, bi : will doubtless be along the lines i (en. Jones' letter. The decision of the attorney gener ill be awaited with interest, for upc depends more than establishing tl lere validity of the act. The State hi een appropriating every year for tl jst three about $40,000 more than tl eceipts from taxes, and the approprii ions this year are about $114,000 j xcess of the estimated income fro lie ad valorem tax. So unless tl ranchise tax be declared operative, tl late will be about $100,000 behind th ear.?Columbia State. Wants Back home. Gov. Heyward recently received tl illnuMntr fnlotrro m .' lunula 1VIVOIUIU. "All my property and my people ai 1 South Carolina. Will you grant n rivilege of returning there. Answ< nmediately. (Signed) "J. B. BENNETT." The governor declined to grant tt equest. Ben Bennett is a white man. who t< ether with Burrell Thomas, was coi lcted in Hampton county in 1806. < lanslaughier. the victim being or ohn Lightsey. He was brought to th tate penitentiary to serve a life seni nee. but began to ask for pardoi rst making application to gov. tiiiei t. Senator Warren of Hampton i jrwarding one of these appiicatior ? Gov. MoSweeney said that Gov. E ^rbe had told him that he would pai on Bennett if it could be establish? h.at it was not he who struck the fati low. Many applications were receive! ne signed by all the jury, except or lan, all of the county officers, an lany prominent citizens. Affidavit ere also submitted by Preston Ugh ey. the victim's brother, and W. f rews. an eye witness, to th? effo< iat Bennett was not the actual mm erer. At last Gov. McSweeney agreed tm ' Bennett would leave the Stat?. nev< 3 return, he would pardon him, and o anuary 16. 1903. the uonvict was give is liberty. He then left for his sister ome in Georgia, about 400 miles av:a rom the scene of the crime for whic e had been convicted. Converse College Commencement. Spartanburg. Special.?The eon lencemcrtt exercises at Converse Co >go will be held on Sunday and.Mci ny. May 29 and 30. The baccalaureai erinon wll be preached by the Re )r. J. .]. Tigert. of Nashville. Tenn., istinguished and eloquent divine < he Methodist Episcopal Church. Soutl lie annual address to the two literal ocfeties will he delivered by Cc lonnett H. Young, of Louisville. Kj famous lawyer, noted for his el< uenoe and literary attainments. I tie Confederate army he played a coi pinions prtrt in the struggle of tl outh against the North. The gra< unr.g ciass numueis n lut'uiucia. New Corporations. The secretary of state last week n ?ived an application from the Pari fountain Land company of Greenvill : increase its capital stock from $10 00 to $13,600. The Horn-Bass company of Andei jn changes its name to the Morrow ass company. The capital stock i >.000. A charter was granted to the M. F lartley company of Lexington, mei intile in character. . . V 1 ' -3* % ' ? ? . .. a ; I PilMflTO IEI16S.] it * ninor Events of the Week In ? 5 l(* jj| Brief Form. m ' l- ~~ is Treasurer of Barnwell Short. II A shortagle of al $11,500 has 1- 1 t A ?_ ...?3 nt IT! 11 bCtriL 1UU11U iU buc a*A.UUHl^ v/4. M. ?-r. jJ Free, county treasurer of Barnwell 11 county. The investigation has been pros. ceecling for some time, and Mr. E. B. n Wilson of the comptroller general's office has been at work on the books. In s his, report az export he shows that ine l- ba ances due the State, the school 10 funds, the dispensary profits, etc., ,e amount to $41,245.10, while there is on ly hand in bank $27,769.68. This leaves a ir deficit of $11,475.42. It is not known yet in what particular items the shortage is existsIf Gov. Heyward sent the following let:y ter to Mr. Free: "It having been officially reported to 11 me by Hon. A. W. Jones, comptroller . ie general, under date of Feb. 29, 1904, 1 le have had a thorough examination made of the books and accounts of E. e D. Free, treasurer of Barnwell county. [e "The investigation reveals a shorjt'e age of $11,475.42. This investigation 10 covers the period of Mr. E. D. Free's incumbency as county treasurer from 1898 to 1903, and down to February 8, )r 1904. "I herewith enclose for your information the report of Mr. E. B. Wilson, iy chief clerk in this office, all of which is respectfully submitted for such acie tion as your excellency may deem J"" proper. j, "The above evidence being satisfactory to me. I, D. C. Heyward, governie or of the State of South Carolina, by virtue of the authority vested in me by sections 398 and 340 of volume 1, " civil code of laws of 1902, do hereby ie , ? __ j" suspend yuu ?U> lyuuij bicaouici VL j^, '" Barnwell county. South Carolina, such suspension to be effective and of force from the date hereof, as provided in ?e the aforaaid sections of the civil in code." r" jg- Deadly Work of Brass Tack. e- Marion, Special.?Mrs. B. B. Foxw worth is dead as the result of picking 16 a fever blister with a brass pin. She g? was apparently in good health when, a ,t small blister appeared on her lip and ig she picked it with a pin, after which $. it it festered and blood poisoning fol9. lowed. She suffered a great deal unh til death, relieved her. Mrs. Foxworth et was Miss Leola Baker, a daughter of jt Mr. B. B. Baker, and lived in the of Centenary neighborhood, about 13 miles from Marion. She was a nobleal hearted. Christian woman. Her unex- ' pected death has cast a gloom over the ls community and caused sorrow in man) ie heart*. ie s* Pal mette Briefs. in m As a result of examination by the ie comptroller general and his expert, a shortage of $11,475.42 has been dis is covered in the books of E. D. Free, county treasurer of Barnwell county, and he has been suspended by Govie ernor Heyward pending action of the grand jury. The shortage covers & re period of six years, from 1898 to 1S94,, ie and it was only after the clearest ex;r animation that the report was made, it is a coincidence that Free is the son of A. F. Free, the former treasurer of . ie that county, who died leaving a considerable shortage and against whose i- bond a suit was entered and about $7,i 500 recovered. John Myrth, a young negro 17 years ie ol' age. was struck by the Seaboard's ? |e Florida limited at Norths Monday and l" irstantly killed. He had been sent by his father to bring a wagon load of r" fertilizers and was standing in & store n a few moments. The team was standis ing on the other side of the track from the store and as Myrth heard the whisrT tie of the train he tried to cross the ''J track to stand at the horses' heads. 1 The train, however, was runnirig at full speed and he was struck by the pilot of the engine. ^ In Gray Court. Laurens county, Tuest_ day morning. George and Frank Year\ gin. children of Mrs. William Yeargin, t were playing with an old shotgun. The i"- gun wa3 discharged and Frank Yeargin was badly shot in the shoulder, t The doctors extracted a number of ?r shot, pieces of wadding and clothing u from the wound. The boys are abou$ n ten and twelve years old. Mrs. Yeargin s is a widow. There is much regret over ' T the distressing accident. It is not h known yet how serious is the boy's wounds. On Kessler's farm, near Beaufort, Saturday night about 8 o'ciock Henry j. King, colored, shot and killed his sls. ter, Lettice Williams, while carelessly handling a pistol in a small room where four women and two men had te been seated telling "dream stories." v Realizing that he had killed his sister, King rushed from the house and a has not been seen since. He is said to have greatly feared arrest. Two large heavy double-track 'cars y of the Consolidated company came toil. gether in head-on collision on the surr burban line about five miles from the " "ity of Charleston Monday morning 1" shortly after 6 o'clock, resulting in inn jury to the motorman and a passenger o fthe northbobund car. smashing the *e \?lass vestibules and otherwise damaging the cars. New Corporations. >- The secretary of state last week reis ceived an application from the Paris le Mountain Land company of Greenville ,- tc increase its capital stock from $10,- ( 000 to ?l&,bUU. A r- The Horn-Bass company of Anderr ron changes its name to the Morrowis Bass company. The capital stock is $3,000. t. A charter was granted to the M. R. - Hartley company of Lexington, mer? cantile in character. ;,v ?