Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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LIVELY TESTIMONY; Tiie Snioot Case Brings Cut a Great Tea! of Sensational Evidence I MORMONS STILL POLYGAMSTS As the Investigation Advances It Becomes ."lore and Alore Kvident Tliat llic Clinic Art> Prettv IoU2.ll Sinner*. 1 it th* progress of the investigation before The Senate Committee to test the right i?i 3*:iator-elcvt Reed Smoot to take his teat in the United States Senate, ir. i. h testimony of a highly sensational character has been brought cut. The fa.: that polygamy is still an organic part of the doctrine and practice of th" Mormon religion has been prominent ail through the investigation. Prominent witnesses, high up iu tbe court;lis of the church, have testified with more or les? relish under the me o*questions put them, that plural marriages are still the rule of the faith, a id that many if not most of the officials of Mormonism are living in direct and flagrant violation of the laws of t'.? United States. After having Joseph H. Smith, president of the Mormon church, on the stand for nearly five hours before the * r.fm v?i- f na r>n nrivilczos and dVliUVC \ * -UI'OI V V** r... J, Sections, which is investigating the right of Reeu Smoot to sit as a senator, loth the prosecution and the defense announced that they were through Nyth him and another witness was called. Thi; was Mrs. Clara Mabel Kennedy. who told some secrets of the Mormon church which if not broken down, will prove as important as the statements by President Smith that he and other officials have been persistently cohabiting with plural wives in violation of the law. Mr. TayJer asked for a detailed s. hedulc of Mr. Smith's children born since 1?P0. and over the protest of Mr. Smith Chairman Burrows directed that the question be answered. Mr. Smith gave a list of children by the wives in the order in which he married them. T?ie list is as follows: By Julir.a?Edith and Rachael. By Sarah?Aseneth and Jaennetta. Iv Edna?Martha and one child which died. By Alice?Fielding. Jesse and Andrew. By Mary?Silas, Agnes. James and maybe Calvin. lie said he did not know the age of the last named. Chairman Burrows inquired: "How r:?ny children have you now?" Vnrtv-rwo,' "was the answer. "21 ''Uf t.'l IlilRIl in uun ......0. . arated from Mr. Johnson at the end of live years and about a year after that married .Mr. Kennedy. "Why did you separate from your husband?" Senator Foraker asked. "Well. I could not stand the pressure nnv longer." she replied. "What do you mean by 'could not stand the pressure?' " asked Chairman Burrows. "Were you not treated right ?" "No. sir. I was not." she said. "Would you have stayed if you had been treated right? It was not because you were opposed to Morman? ism?" was asked. "I am e Mormon still." she said. "Though I am not a very good one." "The prosecution called to the stand Mrs. Emma Matthews, of Marysville. Utah, mother of Mrs. Clara Mabel Kennedy. She has been a plural wife, but is not now. Mrs. Matthews said that she had had no objection to her daughter becoming Johnson's plural wife. She remembered well the marriage cf Johnson to her laughter, end fixed the date definitely at May, 1S94. It was brought out that \pcsUe Tensdale had advised her boys and 21 girls, and I am proud of every one of them." Senator Overman said that he had a pamphlet saying that Jesus Christ was I a polygamist. Turning to Mr. Smith { he asked: "Is that what your church teaches?" "No. sir," was the response. "What wo teach Is that Jesus Christ was descended through a long line of polvgainists through David and down to Abraham." With that Mr. Smith left the stand, having been the only witness in the Ave days the hearing had progressed. The prosecution then called to the stand Mrs. Clara Mabel Kennedy of Sevier county, Utah, who testified to having been married into a plural marriage e .lie manifesto of !ShO. She said the ceremony had been performed by an apostle of the Mormon t hurch. Mrs. Kennedy said she was born in Albany. 27 years ago. of Mormon parents. The family moved to Diaz. Mexico, when she was about four v?ars old, where she lived until she *as 17 years old. when she was marr.ed to James Francis Johnson, who already had one wife. Mrs. Kennedy said she met the first wife and they had "a slight interview" about joining into the family as second wife. The first wife gave her consent to the arrangement. According to arrangement Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and baby ana tne wuness drove from Diaz to Jaurez, Mex.. to be married. They remained there two weeks before the eercmoa/ was ,?erfcrmeti. "Where were you married? asked Mr. Taylor. "At the home of A. C. McDonald, the counselor to the first president of the Mate" (meaning the Mormon state), said the witness. "When?" May 19, 189C." "Who married you?" Brother Young." "Do you mean Brigham Young, the apostle?" "Yes, sir." The witness was asked by Mr. Tayler if she had seen Apostle Young before and she said she had in Diaz and .Jaurez two or three times and that she could no: be mistaken. She could not identify a picture of Young, however. Mrs. Kennedy said she lived with Mr. Johnson about five years, part of the time in the same house with the first wife and part of the time away fiom Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. She said she has two children by Mr. Johnson, {..ft, nnnr living fihp SPD against allowing her daughter to become a plural wife, on the ground that it was against the law of the Church. Mr. Merrill was temporarily recalled end questioned by Senator Dubois, who asked: "Mr. Merrill, do you still uphold j lb" doctrine of polygamy?" I "No. sir." was the reply, j "But vou practice it?" "I do." | Francis M. Lyman, ?n apostle of the Mormon Church and the prospective successor of Mr. Smith as president of the church, was the next witness. "Arc you a polygamist?" Mr. Taylor asked, and the witness replied frankly. "Yes." lie said that he had had three on.-t fhut of them two are still living. Mr. Lyman said that ho had been one of the signers of the prayer I lor amnesty, pledging himself to all that it contained. Mr. Taylor read portions of the prayer. "Did you," he asked, "interpret that to mean that you would abstain from polygamous cohabitation?" "I interpreted it to mean that I should do all that was right." "Did you think it would be right to abstain from polygamous cohabitation?" This was not answered directly at the time. Mr. Lyman finally admitted he knew that in living in polygamy he wag disobeying both the law of the land and tfte rule of his Church. He also said ia reply to one of these questions that he was not only now living in polygamous cohabitation, but that he expected to do so to the last. Mr. Hear at last took the witness in hand and brought out a succinct utatement from him. which was of a character to interest all present. "Referring to the rule of which you have spoken." Mr. Hoar said, "you understand the rule or law of the Church to be the law of God, do you not?" Mr. Lyman replied that such was his understanding. "Then you are living and intend to live in violation of the law of God and man?" "I fully intend." said Mr. Lyman, "to be true to the law of my country, to my God and 10 my obligations and convenants with my wives, and I have never done a thing that my conscience did not approve." .lans to Build Railroad. Seoul. By Cable.?The Jopune.ee are ready to start the construction of the Seoul-Wlju Railway at ence. The proposed arrangement may possibly create an issue between the French and Korean governments, as the concession was originally granted in 180b. Under the agreement the railroad is to be built only by the Korean government under F:encli enginerts with French materials. A steamer has just arrived with thousands of tons of materia 1| and construction will now be rapidly oushe l by the Japanese. Train Derailed. Murphy. N. C., Special.?The passenger on the Murphy branch of the Atlanti&tKnoxville & Northern Railway, due here at 6 o'clock Saturday evening. was derailed near H ill's Crossing, three miles south of this place. The engine and tender alone kept the track, both passenger coaches leaving the track and turning over in the ditch. The wreck was caused by a broken rail. Several persons were slightly hurt. An elderly woman by the netne of Shepherd, who lives near Franklin, this State, is the only person seriously hurt. A Million Dollar Loss. Wilkesbarre. Pa.. Special.?1'i ne Susquehanna river was falling rapidly and '-vw>,iintr itave left devasta lilt" 4 V V tion in their path from here to Sayre. Pa., a distance of i?5 miles. The river is reported clear of ice. but from Sayre to the New York State line there is another blockade. Three miles south of hero is Xantlcoke. a distance of six miles, the ice still remains in the river. There can as vet be no real estimate of damage done, though it is safe to say the loss to railroads, mines and other industries in the Yyoming valley alone will reach a million dollars. PROMINENT PEOPLE; M. Henri Cordier ." as been elected President of the Paris Geographical Society. Edward VIT. Is going to visit Home, Vienna. Paris. T,isl>on and Berlin this summer. Canon Aincer has resigned the canonrv in Bristol Cathedral, which lie lias held for the last six.eon years. The Right Rev. Thomas Fielding Scott, the lirst Bishop of ftae Episcopal Church in Oregon, was elected to that office in lST?o. Ceneral TzontohefT. the Macedonian leader. lias loft Vienna for Pari*. He will later go to London and may afterward visit the United States. The Congressional Library lias revived from Mrs. O. W. Fall, of Nashville. Tenn.. a large box containing the papers and letters of President James K. Polk. Manriee Kollinat. the French poet, who died rc-err.'iy in a private asylum, was at one time the rage in Paris, and Itis weird and gloomy lyrics were often set to music. Representative P. X. Sperry. of the Second Connecticut District, is the fatlu r of the House in point of years. He was seventy-six years old at his la- t birthday. Count Albert von Mernn, a young <?.ion of the Russian imperial house, lots entered the novitiate of the Benedictine monks, lie is the grandson of Archduke John. Former Coventor Horace F?oi?s. who was one time the popular leader of the l.rmoerats of bis State, is at prcsert living a secluded life on his farm of 1-jOO a or os, near Eklora, Iowa. The rjrand Duke Alexis Is in his fif- i ty-fourlh year. As his brother, the [ (irand Duke Vladimir, eldest sou of the Czar liberator, is practically the head of the army, so Alexis is the grand admiral of the nary. Fur Seal Once Land Animal. It is not generally known that the fur seal war once a land animal. The baby seals are actually afraid of the water, they would drown if thrown into it. and have to learn to swim by repeated effort3. When once they have been taught to swim, however, they socn forget to walk. LYNCHING IN OHIO Springfield Mob Shoots to Death 2 Negro Mho Killed An Officer SHORT WORK FOR RICH. NIXON Alter Killing the .Negro the Infuriated Mob Strung film on a Telegraph Pole and Hutilated His I);ad Body. Springfield. Ohio. Special.?At 11 o'clock the negro. Richard Dixon, was taken from the jail and shot to death in the jail yard and the body was taken from tiiere to ihe co:ner of Main street and Mountain avenue, aim hung to a telegraph pole, where the mob spent the next half hour riddling the body with bullets from several , hundred revolvers. The mob forced an i entrance to the jail by butting in the cast doors with a railroad it on. At 10:20 the niob melted rapidly and it was the general opinion that no more ( attempts would be made to force an entrance. Small groups of men. how- j ever, could be seen in the shadows of the court house, and two adjacent livery stables. At 10:43 o'clock the po- : lice were satisfied that there was nothing more to fear and they, with other officials and newspaper men. passed freely in and out of the jail. Shortly before 11 o'clock a diversion was made by a small crowd moving from the east doers around to the south entrance. The police folowed and a bluff was made at jostling them off the sieps leading up to the south entrance. The crowd at this point kept growing while yells of "hold the police." "smash the doors.'* "lynch the nigger." were made, interspersed with revolver shots. All this time the party with the heavy railroad iron was beating at the east 1 door which shortly yielded to the battering rani as did the inner lattice iron doors. The men then surged in the door, overpowered the sheriff, turnkey and handful of deputies and began the assault on the iron trusntile leading to the cells. The police from the south door was called inside to keep the mob from the cells and jn five minutes the i south door had shared the fate of the east one. In an incredible short time the jail was filled with a mob of 250 men with all the entrances and yard gates blocked by fully 2.500 men. thus making it impossible for the militia to have mevented access to the negro had it been on the scene. The heavy iron partition leading to the cell? resisted the mob effectually until the cold chisels and sledge hammers arrived, which were only two or three minutes later in arriving. The padlock tc the turnstile was broken and the mob soon filled the corridors loading to the cells. Seeing that further resistance was useless. to avoid the killing of innocent persons, the authorities consented to the demand of the mob for the right man. He wd% dragged from his cell to the jail dorfr and thence down the stone steps to a court in the jail yard. Fearing au attempt on the part of the police to rescue him the leaders formed a holow square. Some one knocked the negro to the ground and those near to him fell back four or five feet. Nine shots were fired into his prostrate body and satisfied that he was dead, a dozen men grabbed the lifeless body and with a triumphant cheer the mob surged into Columbia street and marched to Fountain avenue, one of the principal streets of the town. From here they ! marched south, to the intersection oi j Main street and a rope was tied around Dixon's neck. Two rnc-n climbed the pole and threw the rope over the topmost cross arm and drew the body about 18 feet above the street. They then descended and their work was greeted with a cheer. The fullsade then began and for 30 minutes the body wan kept swaying back and forth from the force of the rain of bullets which was poured in on it. Frequently the arms would fly up convulsively when a muscle was struck, and the mob went fairly wild with delight. Throughout It all perfect order was maintained and every one seemed in the best o fhumop, J joking with the nearest neighbor while J re-loading his revolver. Richard Dixon was shot to death for the killing of Policeman Charles Collis, who died Monday from wounds re?eived at the hands of Dixon on Sunday. Clash at Clemson College. Spartanburg. S. C., Special.?According to information received in private letters there has been another clash between the faculty and students at Clemson College. Details of the trouble are rather meagre, and the matter has been kept from the newspapers, although the affair developed several days ago. Several students were sent away from the college for a breach of discipline, and it is said to have preciptated the trouble. It is likely that if tne reports will be founded the particulars will be forthcoming within the next few days. Pastor Called Now York. Special.?The Rev.Ch-s. Martin Niles, D. D.. rector of St. r-kurr-h Os?in in C-Oll-HtldKOn. has been called to the rectorship of Trinity parish. Columbia S. C.. recently made vacant by the death of Rev. Churchill Satterlee. son of the Bishop of Washington. The Rev. Dr. Nlies has accepted the call and will begin his duties in Columbia on Palm Sunday. Irmmett Celebration. Washington. Special.?Sympathy for the people of Ireland and a declaration of the hope that she soon will be free, were the keynote of addresses made by the speakers at the celebration Saturday night of the one hundred and twenty-sixth anniversary of the birth of Robert Emmott by the T'nitcd Irish Society of the District of Columbia. Among those who made speeches were Representatives Keho, Dover, of West Virginia, and Wiley and Delegate Ro dcy, of New Mexico. SHARP TALK IN CONGRESS riembers Get Warm Over the Postoffice Investigation Hatter. That an investigation of the PostoPii-H Department by the House of Representatives v/ill result from the publication of the report involving members of Congress in that connection was indicated by every expression possible short of a vote in that body. With a whirlwind of protest the report v.as taken up by indignant members, their personal conneetion with it explained, and epithets hurled at Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Bristow. "The Bristow report was conceived in iniquity, born in sin, and has traveled its course until it has struck the public of the United States as a great attack upon a body of men as free from wrong-doing, corruption. 1 ? _ -"J no onv onnnl 1'HIUC aim lil\6Ulai?; U? I*.. J ~ number of men on the face of the earth." This was the parting shot of Representative Grosvenor, of Ohio, in paying his tribute to the report. "That document is the production of a liar and a scoundrel," shouted Representative Hill, of Connecticut, on making an explanation of his connection with certain leases. He added that he should vote to investigate himself, and also the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General. "There is nothing in any of it to impugn any improper motive or conduct upon any member of the House," was the expression of Chairman Overstreet, of the committee vlho combatted the idea of an investigation. Mr. Williams, the Democratic leader. urged an investigation of the whole Po3toflice Department, and received the hearty applause of boih j sides of the House and the galleries which had fliled during the discussion. It was soon found that the two hours which had been allotted to the subject was not going to be near enough time for the personal explanations which members were demanding the right to make, and a motion to extend the debate until four o'clock, tomorrow was carried with vim. Mr. Overstreet proposed a postponement of the discussion until Monday ' ?'? momhprs more in oruur iu vun ... time. Mr. Hay. of Virginia; Finiey. of South Carolina, and others opposed postponement. Mr. Hepburn, Republican, of Iowa, said that any investigation of the Postofflce Department would not elicit any facts not brought out by | the committee report. "I say that an investigation would elicit further facts, and that these facts have been ! suppressed," retorted William Alden Smith, amid loud applause from the floor and galleries. ! Mr. Williams said he wanted the corruption in the Postofflce Department to be investigated, not by the friends of the men who have been guilty of corruptions but by the House of Representatives. As to the Hay resolution, Mr. Williams said it did not touch the question that "somebody at the Postofflce Department has somehow included in the report the name of man after man in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, guilty of no apparent wrong, guilty of no violation of any law. guilty of no moral obliquity, guilty of nothing that bears even the lingo of criminality." "What was the motive of it?" he vigorously Inquired. "Wasn't it to give the Congress notice that the Department held something over Congress and that Congress had better let the Department alone?" he inquired. his words being drowned by applause from both sides. Mr. Hay. of Virginia, said he did not altogether agree with Mr. Williams. "I believe there ought to be an investiCption of the Postofflce Department, ?.nd along with it an investigation of these charges against members." Mr. Cooper, of Wisconsin, declared Ofooi/iont had directed it:ai z i v-oiuv-iiv the prosecution of members of his own party. Mr. Moon, of Tennessee, facing the Republican side, said: '"These thieves being yours and not ours, it is for you. not for us. to say if they shaU hare yonjr protection." Mr. Underwood, of Alabama, said thai "no man who is innocent is afraid to face such charges as these. But." he said, "if a man is guilty he ought to be required to appear before the bar of the House." Mr. Overstreet then withdrew his motion to postpone, and the House proceeded to discuss the resolution. Mr. Overstreet, referring to the recommendations made by a member of Congress, said "that there was in no instance any violation of any law whatever by any member cf Congress in making any recommendation, either for increase of clerk hire allowance or increase of rent of postolhce buildings. "The resolution proposes an investigation by five members of this body:" he said. "wherea3 a committee of seventeen members representing an equal number of States, of both parties in politics, which has already had before it in a proper way this information. has unanimously reported to the House that there is no need for further investigation." Mr. Moon, of Tennessee, insisted that there should be an investigation covering the Postoffice Department and everybody connected with it, "and whoever is guilty." he said, "whether in this House or in the Department. should be exposed. The membership of the House being accused." he said, "was entitled to vindication, as were also the Department officials, if guilty of no wrong; but." he said. "I take it that no sensible man will deny that there is anything else but crime running all over that Department." W. W. Kitchin, of North Carolina, severely criticized Oeneral Bristow and charged him with having deliberately suppressed important and material facts?"facts," he said, pounding his desk, "which could not be overlooked, and which'were suppress- j ed. in my judgment, for the purpose j of giving a false impression to the country and misleading the public." "Eristow's action." he said, "was neither courageous ucr honest, but for partisan purposes. He knew the country demanded an investigation," I -< Mr. Kitchin said. "He undertook, in my judgment, to blackmail Congress, to silence Congress, and to silence the country. It is a species of intimidation." He asked if those on the Republican side would sit still and stop the investigation and thus give the backbiters an opportuntiy to attack the character and integrity of those whom Bristow had accused. Mr. Grosvenor, of Ohio, declared the Bristow report a malicious libel on 191 members of the House. "I will resign my seat tomorrow." he said, pounding his desk, "if there is anything irregular or improper in what I did." WORLD'S FAIR TOPICS. Korea has forwarded her withdrawal from participation in the World's Fair. It has been definitely decided that Hawaii will make no exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition. A feature of the World's Fair at St. Louis will be the remarkable number of family reunions to bo held there. A Japanese Prince will be dispatched at the Mikado's order to attend the opening of the St. Louis Exposition. New York City will have its own building at the St. Louis Exposition. S'JO.OOO having been voted for that-purpose. St. Louis is making extensile preparations to preserve order on the exposition grounds during the World'? Fair. Japan lias cabled her commissioners at St. Louis that the war will not interfere with her participation in the World's Fair. J. Oswald Smith, of Hove. England, will exhibit at the St. Louis Fair a small drinking mug used by Quoou Victoria in h?r childhood days. A most interesting feature in the Manufacturers' Palace, at the St. I-ouis Fair, will be that of a machine in operation turning out collars and cult's ready to wear. * The Peruvian Government has appointed Dr. David Matto, former Minister of State, to ho Peruvian delegate to the Medical Congress at the St. Louis Exposition. The main feature of the Yalp University exhibit at the World's Fair will he a full representation of the old campus?the buildings, old fence and gates standing out in relief. A beehive coke oven in full blast dur. ii... ** ?.!?-. 1A.1- ?.t11 *1ia i 11 1111! 11 U11U ? JL* illl ? 111 UC \mxs V/A IUC exhibits presented by Kentucky. The Blue Grass State has OOUO square feet of floor space In the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy. LABOR WOWLD.~ ' Tlie Retail Clerks' Association now has locals in 015 towns and cities. South Wales coal owners claim another reduction of the colliers' wages, dating from February 14. The British Beard of Trade has found that the life of the average seaman is twenty-eight years. A New York concern has coine forward with a plan for the organiation of a union trading stamp company. Fur workers' unions are considering forming an international union. The convention will be called in Detroit. Forty-three per cent, of all employes in the Austrian l>ookbiudiug trade are women ami thirteen per cent, children. The California Slate Federation convention decided that if is against uniou principles for labor unions to go into politics. Amalgamated Meat Cutters* and Butchers' Workmen of North^America have declared against women employed in butcher shops. New York painters are seeking legislation, to be framed on lines of a Cor man law. prohibiting the use of white lead in paint for public buildings. Chicago (111.) union picture frame workers are keeping up a steady tight against the wage reductions and increased working days iu the several factories. A compromise has been fleeted in tlio question of wages in the shipbuilding trade 011 the northeast coast of England on a basis of a live per cent, reduction. ^Massachusetts State Branch of the American Federation or L.abor pians to have the laws governing the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation broadened to make the Board more of a permanent working body. NEWSY CLEANINGS. A filibustering expedition is (o leave France soon intending to seize a strip of Brazilian territory. '/lie Marbleliead (Mass.) National Bank went into liquidation after an | existence of 1U0 years. ' Two large Dunkard colonies are to be established in Northern Texas by the Santa Fe Bailroad. Eight hundred cement finisher* vroni on strike at Chicago, 111., for a wage increase of ten cents an hour. Water in the Platte River, in Western Nebraska, recently rose to the highest point in twenty-three years. Tln^tlood at Pittsburg lias receded, tin* cold wave having checked rise of rivers. Total damage about .5250,Out). Leading iron ore interests of the Superior district, failed at New York to agree on prices for rhe coiuln* season. About 5000 Chicago painters go on sirike because they cannot agree with their employers on the wage question. Mass ichusetts was paid Sl.tlll.740 by tli" < lovernment for expenses incurred in raising troops during the Civil War. More than 200O laborers in New York wont on strike because of a wage dispute with the Mason -Guilders' Association. Four more victims of the Hotel Darlington collapse in New York City were found, bringing the total of deaths up to twenty-one. Two employe.: of the War Depart' inent were recently shot by a paroled lunatic, who was disarmed by IJeiitenuut-G enera 1 Clia ffee. Traveling from New York to Macon, Go., on a Pullman car. Miss M. J. Green, of New York, was robbt.il of $2500 worth of diamonds. The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company has voted an issue of $1", uOO.Ut)'.) new stock to be used in taking ' up bonds and iu improvements. PALMETTO POINTS rnrrii vn nnirc UlVCm HI DK1EF I Death of Congressman Croft. A Washington special to The Columbia State of Friday says: Shortly after 7 o'clock Thursday morning George William Croft, representative in Congress from the second South Carolina district, died at his resilience. No. 2, Sixth street, N. E., from blood poisoning. The body was takenf South on the 9:50 train, accompanied by members of his family and a congressional delegation. The hour for the funeral will be set after the arrival of the train at Aiken. Physical exhaustion was the immediate cause of Col. Croft's death, but thi? was the result of the blood poisoning, from which he has been suffering for some time and which was brought oa I oy a small splinter la his thumb. Up to Wednesday it was thought that Col. Croft would recover. But earlyWednesday morning hope was abandoned and his sons, Theodore Croft, of Aiken, and Randall Croft, of Providence, R. I., were telegraphed for and arrived several hours after the death, of their father. Col. Croft was seized with sharp pains in his thumb about 8 weeks ago. His niece, Miss Florida Croft, who is a trained nurse, extracted the splinter, administered a hot witch hazel application and for some time % afterward the pain was eased and Col. > Croft was about tbe capuoi as usuiu. A week later, however, the pains recurred. the thumb, began to swell and Dr. Fred Thompson, of this city, was called in. Meantime Col. Croft's brother. Dr. F. W. Croft, of Aiken, was sent for and upon his arrival a consultation between himself, Dr. Thompson and Dr. L. L. Freedrich was held. The swelling was declared to be due to palmed abscess and an operation, was at once decided on. The doctors made an incision extending to the elbow in the hope of affording the patient relief. But instead a second abscess ! formed on the finger and shortly after1 ward blood poisoning set in. At his bedside when death came were Col. Croft's brother. Dr. Croft, his niece, who has nursed him devotedly from the very outset of his illness, and his cousins. Misses Mary and Matilda Croft, of this city. The death of Col. Croft has proved | a sever shock to the Southern colony I here with whom he had become well acquainted already, although serving f his first term in Congress. There were scores of his confreres from the hons?) and of friends who called to offer their condolence. Many beautiful flowers were carried South on the funeral train the sympathetic expression of friends* hero Congressman George William Croft was born in Newberry county, Decem1 ber 20th, 1846. His early education th at the common schools in Greenville; in 1863 he entered the South Carolina Military Academy at Columbia. Mr. Croft enlisted with the cadets of the academy and continued to serve until the close of the war. In 1866 and 1867 Mr. Croft attended the University of Virginia, and subsequently studied law under Governor B. F. Perry. at Greenville, and was admitted to the bar in 1869; and in 1870 he located at Aiken, where he has continuously;. practiced his profession. Mr. Croft has been prominently identified with Aiken county ever since it became a county in 1872. He has been a member of the South Carolina Senate. and served two terms in the House or Representatives. He was also twice elected president of the South Carolina J State Bar Associations. Mr. Croft was elected to the Fiftyeighth Congress from the second district In 1902, receiving 5.184 votfes, / against 247 for w. S. Dixon, RepubllI i an. J' I Mr. Croft was married to Miss Florence Ethel McMahan. of Alabama. April 17. 1873. His wife and six sons survive hira. His sons are: Theodore G. Croft, his law partner; W. MeMaho? Croft. Randall B. Croft, now in Prorf- ' dence. R. I.; Laurie and Edward Croft, students of Stfuth Carolina College, and Mason Croft. Palmetto Items. Mr. T. A. Clark, who lives near Florence, lost his dwelling house and barn by fire Saturday. The fine caught between the roof and the ceiling and as Mr. Clark was not at home had got too much headway to be stopped when Mrs. Clark had summoned help. The total loss on the dwelling was $1,500. covered by about $500 insurance. About one-third of the household goods were saved. , At a meeting of the hoard or directors of the Chiquola Manufacturing ? -! -1 I? Company, of Honea ram. neia m mw. office there Monday, it was decided to submit the question of increasing their plant from 15.000 to 40,000 spindles to a meeting of the stockholders to bo held on the 12th of April. There is no doubt that the suggestion will be adopted by the stockholders. Already mora than 85 per cent, of the money asked for has been subscribed. The Chiquola. Mill was built in 1902 and has made mor.f-y from the beginning. Charlie Lomax. a colored employe of the Pickens oil Mill, became entangled in the machinery at the mill Monday a;'t?rnoon and received injuries from which he died early next morning. Ha was a worthy negro. His home was in Creenville. The extensive and considerable task of rebuilding the three Cliftons, whose splendid mill properties ware swept away by the waters of the raging Paco'et hist June, is about concluded. For weeks and weeks past President Twitchell, of the company,* has been nraged purchasing and having install(1 the machinery equipment at each, nil'. No. 1 has not only been rebuilt (i'.h its former equipment, 23,072 spin's and 79S looms, but No. 2 has been nished and 27.776 spindles and 861 , cci3 placed in shape. The first mill i? already manufacturing cotton.