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R SERMON I OR SUNDAY ^OQUE'NT DISCOURSE ENTITLED. HE TRAGEDY OF A QUEEN." \ iTfc? K?v. F. F. Shanron Draw* ? Tlinely "tirfaon From the Storv of Vanhti? t .Trwe Are Few Finer Exhibitions o! Sacrifice in the Hititory of Womanhood Brooklyn. X. Y.?For Ins Sunday morning sennon, in Grace M. E. Church, the pastor, the Kev. Frederick F. Shannon, had for his theme "The Tragedy of a -Queen." The text war. from Esther i: 11-12: "Bring Vashti the queen before the king iwith the crown royal, to show the people find the princes her beauty: for she was . fair to look on. But the Queen Vashti ^ refused to come at the king's command_ xnent by his chamberlains." Mr. Shannon said: "-i - ?i c .v- t?l. ?r ;a lut .VUilSULTUS Ol l!IC IWA Ul j.Auid the Xerxes of profane history. By com.jnoa consent 01 historians he was one of the most i>owerfu! nionarchs that ever lived. The pages of Herodotus are filled : .with his exploits, and Grote and Kollin, also, dwell upon his power and achievements in an interesting manner. But his .tawdry greatness is worth while onlv as it serves to set forth the heroism of Vashti. 'Already the centuries have tarnished the brilliance of his court, but not the beauty of his queen. Sihushan. the palace, exists only in mime. The hundred and four score days during which he showed the riches 01 his glorious kingdom and the feonor of his excellent majesty are less than a shadow on the dial. The white, green and blue hangings, tied with cords of purple and fine linen to silver rings in pillars of marble perished long ago. The gold and silver beds, which sat upon a Iiavemcnt of red and blue and white and Ilack marble, have had no occupants for more than 2400 years. The golden vessels, from which princes quaffed the royal wine, are all one with the golden sand grains of . the desert. Time is no respecter of persons. If i: buries the common things in V \ "oblivion, that shadow of darkness." it 4a *?1 i<-?T- Ko antntrlpa from UVTB UUt iv piuvn v.<v ?rM..e< the robes of kings, tossing them into the night also. But time cannot dull the beauty of a great soul. Time cannot quench the llame of a white life. Time cannot Btain the snow of a pure heart. And that is why Queen Vashti and the tragedy of fcer life forever hold our admiration and ^^^ etears. ^^Mhtfhaps we shall be more capable of "t|j4p^Bkfang the unfortunate queen by glanci11' monarch she opposed. Ahasueru^>ossessed the almost unlimited power of an Oriental despot. His will was supreme in everything. We find him here S'viny a least to h s lords and princes, aving conceived the idea of making war on Greece, this feast to his subjects is a tep looking to that end. Whatever he __ undertook usually came to pass. He could p a cana' through the Isthmus of Mount ' . Athos. He could build a bridge of ships cross the Hellespont. He could scourge the sea for its tempestuousness. He could bedeck the branches of a tree with jewelry ?= a rourarit for its f-uitfulness. He Could raise an army of more than 2,250,000 men. He could even shed tears when he reflected that in less than a century not one of these men would survive. Hut we have in our text one thirg this monarch could t sot do. He could not compel a helpless woman to permit Km and his drunken f . courtiers to make a toy of her beauty. He could not drag a hijh-souled queen down from the pedestal of her stainless puritv! | > Consider, in tiie fi.st place, that thelife* ?tory of V ishti reeal.s the fact that palaces bave furnished tlie actors in some of the darkest, deepest tragedies in history. When Shtkspeare wanted material from which to create his immortal dramas, with onerring vision the i.ighty master began to probe the life history of kings and queens. From their laughter and tears, from their splendor and shame, from their rise and fall, he wove a literary tapestry which is the growing wonder of men. Indeed, as we watch Shak.*!>care move his royal players over his mental chess-board, we have to exclaim, with Aeschylus,''What * shadow of a shade is human royalty!" Rising in brilliance, these royal stars set in darkness; and, usually, their darkness is made more terrible by the ominous flashings of red lightnings of remorse. After a palace an i its occupants have " passed under Sbakspeare's pen, this is the conclusion of the whole matter: TThrones are painte1 bubbles, and kings nd queens are bubble chasers! This is not saying there are no good kings and queens, because there are. It is. rather, emphasizing the fact that the happiest people arc those who are fortunate enough not to have been born under the star of Toyalty. We all know how the historian loves to ? - ? . ' , T> oweii upon me cnaracier 01 uieopaira. x>e__ _ jWfidnueHtion, she was one of the most c^ai^virtin; women of paganism. Ilescendr ?d from a long line of kings, royal blood flowed in her veins, beauty adorned her person and briDiapce sparkled in her t>r&in. When Nature called for an Egyptian queen, this fascinating Greek princess was the answer. At fourteen she was an * accomplished Unguis':, a student of history * and a skilled musician. At- nineteen she conquered that Caesar who had conquered the world. Forty-six years before the Christian era she accompanied hira to Home, where she lived in pomp and luxury until Caesar's .assassination, when she returned to Egypt. She met Mark Antony -at twenty-eight?"a period of life," according to Plutarch, "when woman's beauty is most splendid and her intellect is in full maturity." Antony summoned her to appear before him in Cilicia, charged with having assisted Cassius before tne battle --of Philipoi. Upon this imperious summons hung the destiny of that gifted Roman, and he knew it not. You know how she answered the summons?not as a craven culprit, but as the peerless queen of the south. As sh? went up the Cydnus in her royal barge, the like of which was never beheld before or since, the scene enthralled the fancy of both Plutarch and ODBKtSpeare. X1C mill wuiu mane nuiug ^ say what no other man could, had to confess, "For her own person, it beggared all description." Like a burnished throne, lier barge burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; the purple sails were so perfumed that the winds were love-sick with them; the silver oars kept stroke to the tune of flutes; she was couched in a gold pavilion like Venus, "where we see the fancy outwork nature;" dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, were standing on each side fanning her; gentlewomen, like Nereides, tended h?r. When she arrived at the city the people rushed out to see ber, leaving Antony alone in the marketi place. Like the incomparable Julius, she came, -she saw, she conquered? Antony was dazzled, bewitched, enslaved by this siren -queen. liver afterward, with the possible exception of three years, he was her slave. Not satisfied with lavishing silver and gold and precious stones and silks and woxks of art upon her, he threw whole kingdoms at her feet, as if they were so m&nv Reman forget-me-nots. He was as helpless in her power as & bird under the hypnotic spell of a snake. All the world knows how, at a critical moment in the battle oi Actium, Cleopatra, for some | unknown reason, was seen leaving with hw vessels for Egypt. This was a signal '^ febrjrAntcny to abandon the battle and ^^^TOOow h;s sorceress. For strength, she gave him weakness. For infatuation, she gave him deceit. For the sweets of love, she gave him the eggs of scorpions. For idolmtry, she gave him death. The Egyptian Delilah had clipped t?e locks of tnis Roman Samson and he wist not that bis strength was departed from him. So far this bewildering woman has only toyed with strong men. This child of the (aiace h.is held the golden bit of destiny * * I " IL * Uetween her teeth of peurl and her gok have not reined her in. But her end it coming. After betraying Antonv, she re tired within a castle, which had teen built for just such an emergency. She then sent her paramour word that she had killed herself and his grief was such that he fell upon his own sword. But he lived loni enough to discover that she had deceived him again. Dying and soaked in his own blood, he ordered his servants to carry him to her mausoleum. As the only entrance to her retreat left unbarred was a window, he was drawn up by ropes into her presence and died. And what became of her?this actor from the palace? You know the story. How she tried her charms upon Octavius Caesar and failed. How the Krospect of being carried a prisoner to otne stared her in the face and how, rather than be "led a captive princess up tli<? fanitoline Hill." she died bv her own hand. Lacking moral sense, she wore a face of brass to the end of the tragedy. Unlike the sweet-souled Vashti, Cleopatra had no veil of modesty for her face, and she asked none for her soul. Darker than Egyptian night, she has left a dark stain unon the brow of universal womanhood! Whiter than the whiteness of the dawn, Vashti, like Shelley's heroine, "clothed in virtue's adamantine eloquence, paves her path with human hearts!" Consider, also, that in studying the tragedy of Vashti, we have to reckon with her beauty, "for she was fair to look on." When some genius equal to the task of writing a history of beauty appears, men and women will find a perpetual charm in its glowing pages. It will contain a page of joy, a page of sorrow, a page of peace, a page of war. a page of love, a page of hate, a page of poetry and a page of art. But it will contain many pages developing this thought?the tragedy of beauty. But along with her beauty, Vashti possessed that other quality which lends beauty an enduring freshness and charm? modesty. Vashti owes her place in history rot so jnuch to her beauty as to her modesty. If beauty made her a queen, modestv made her a woman, which is far better. As queen, Xerxes could banish her; as woman, he was defied by her. As queen, he could arfd did dethrone; as woman, she sits upon a throne that has hearts for its cushions and centuries for its pillars. The Dubarrys, the Pompadours, the Montespans have their day and ceas' to be; but the Vashtis go on forever. The Clytemnestres, the Aspasias, the Cleopatras are meteors flashing through the darkness of eternal night; the Vashtis are golden suns burning through womanhood's endless day! Indeed, modesty is so inherent an element in the great essentials making genuine beauty that without modesty beauty is impossible. We are indebted to no human law for this truth?God has woven it into the fabric of our natures. Art critics tell us that the eighteenth century was pre-eminently the century of women, Then, we are told: "Her grace possessed the most prestige, her coquetry the most disquieting elegance and her beauty the most triumphant authority." It was the age in whicn Mme. de Pomnodour reigned in the court of Louis XV. The brushes oi Latour and Boucher have pleaded with all the eloquence of their genius and art to deifv this daring woman. She appointed ministers, she exiled those who incurred her ill will, she sentenced to the Bastile those who ran counter to her imperious wish. She was the patroness of philoso phy. art and song. Through her magic wand Versailles was touched into a dream of splendor, which has not yet vanished, Her collection of pictures, crystals, cam eos, antiques and gems was unparalleled in the kingdom. She squandered fortuues on her palaces, fetes and ball; and ther other fortunes on her tci'.et. For twenty years this butcher's daughter held her imperial sway, which was broken only by death. But when the historian tells us that it was the dream of her girlhood tc seduce the king; that her shameless prodi gality makes the cheek oi decency burn; that modesty found no hospitalitv amon.c her sensual charms, we mav^ well repeal the question of another, "Was La Pom padour beautiful, or merely pjytUy?" In stinetively drawing back as w?""tvould ir the presence of a snake, we answer. "She was neither. She was a royal harlot, pa raded in gilded shame, lacking most of al that jewel of modesty which sparkles ir the crown of true beauty." Alas for thai land whose women forsake their veils oi modesty to show the people and prince! their beauty! Consider, finally, the price Vashti paic for her modesty. For her refusal to come ' at the king's command was the immediate cause of her dethronement. Surely there are few finer exhibitions of sacrifice in the history of womenhood. We love to reac " wKa nnifa/1 nnnrorrp iritK til# vi icicauia, n uy vn>n\,u wu4...... .... gift of song, and saved Argos; of Octavia shielding the children of Cleopatra, hei i shameless rival; of Sulpicia, renouncing the pleasures of Rome to go into ex;l< with her husband; of Lucretia, who killec herself rather than live in dishonor; ol Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, urg ing them to deeds of patriotism; of Paula, leaving her palace on Mount Aventine, tc walk as an angel of charity through tii< slums of Rome, but not one of them cut shines Vashti. Nor has history given this lovely queer her dues. We read much of Lais, whc lived in the same century as Vashti, and who was a notorious courtesan; of the immoral Aspasia, who counted Socrates anfl^Pericles amcng her .ong list of ad' mirers; of the treacherous Lucilla, who ruled the eourt of Marcus Aurelius; of Agrippina, the infamous mother of still more infamous son?Nero. All of these names have been emblazoned high up in the hall of fame. But. sadly enough, the events of Vashti's life, like Sappho's songs, have been lost. And yet these few glimpses we have of her in the first and second chapters of the Book of Esther will cause people to look at her forever. She was beautiful in Shushan the palace, and 6he will be beautiful for all time. She was fair to look on five centuries before Christ, and she will be i& to look on to the last day of the wo#. It was Vashti's beauty of soul tharjiroclaimed her the forerunner of that renaissance for which the world is suffering to-dav, viz.: A genuine revival of the old-fashioned, homespun, immortal virtue of modesty! While the Bible says nothinr of the sacrifice she made, be assured that it was big ^ ??? * T to nf OArrATT vviiu jjaiii. uuiijj uiguvo vi pvi 1 vi? 0uu< 'her in. She knew the bitterness of friendless days. Like Dante, she experienced how l^asd it was to eat other's bread. But she to <4 no counsel of her expediency. Let the king's anger burn within him, let the godless court make her a laughingstock, still Vashti never faltered. She knew that beyond her Gethsemane, Ascension Mount was robed in glory. She knew, with all queenly women of like spirit, that gates of pearl would swing back to let her m. and that she would march to another coronation on high. The Mnnjr Mansions. One thing I have lesired, that will I seek after; that I, in my study; I, in my shop; I, in my parlor, kitchen or nursery; I, in my studio; I. in my lecture hall, "may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days.of my life." In our "Father's house are many mansions." The room that we spend most of our lives in, each of us at our tasks or our work tables, may be in our Father's house, too, and it is only we that can secure that it shall be.? Alexander Maclaren. Be Harable, I charge ray thoughts be humble still. And all my conduct mild: Content, my Father, with Thy will. And quiet as a child. Unite, my roving thoughts, unite In silence soft and sweet; And thou, my sou), sit gently down At thy great Sovereign's feet. -Doddridge. * " ' t ! WEST STORM SWEPT | Heavy Snows and High Winds Cause Loss of Life and Properly HALF THE CONTINENT INVOLVED 1 Most Widespread Atmospheric Disturbance in 15 Years Extends From Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans, and From the Rocky Mountains to New York?Gale and Snow in the Northwest, Electric Storms in the South and Fog in the East. Chicago, Special.?One of the most severe storms of recent years has been raging through the territory lying be:we? the Rocky Mountains and the ; Sreat Lakes since early Tuesday morning and has caused much trouble to ' street car companies, railroads and telegraphic companies. In its extent the storm was the most ; widespread of any during the last fifteen years. Counting the fog as a com, ponent part of the storm, it stretched clear from the Rocky Mountains to New York and from Winnipeg to New Orleans. The fatalities reported here as due to the storm are three men killed. They were: Alexander Steiner, a teamster, killed while unloading eoal. A coal chute was blown from its fastenings and struck him on the head, killing him Instantly. Thomas Walsh, a laborer, was struck ' by a heavy board while quartering a 1 j new building. The board cut his head nearly off. Frank Kavanaugh was killed at Muncie, Ind., by an oil derrick falling on him. At 10 o'clock Tuesday night the storm was reported as subsiding at Kansas City and at other points on a ; north and South line from that city. In Chicago and east of here the storm was. [ still raging with great viloclty, and was ; expected to continue through the night, i the center of the storm being between > Chicago and Cleveland. I Reports from Kansas City were that the storm extended from Missouri as 1 far south as Indian Territory and was | accompanied throughout its entire [ length by high winds and snow. ? In the Northwest the storm was even i more violent. In St. Paul the snow commenced to fall early Monday night and grew heavier all through the night, 1 while the wind increased until it was ; blowing fifty miles an hour. The heavy L I sr.ow and the gale worked havoc with i I the wires, and some passenger trains i ; from the Pacific coast were reported ' , as twenty-four hours over due. The ! storm reached westward from St. Paul r I until it covered almost the entire 1 Northwest. [ In the South, conditions were somewhat better, the snow in many places , being changed to a heavy rainfall, i which was preceded by thunder and lightning and followed by high winds. Nashville, Louisville, New Orleans, J Montgomery and Memphis all reported ; exceedingly heavy rains, a rapidly [ falling thermometer and terrific winds. t In the Ohio river valley the first t heavy rain in five months commenced ! falling early in the day and continued i throughout the night. The storm was appreciated by the boatmen along the ' Ohio and its tributaries, for the stage \ of water in these streams has of late , been very low. 5 The storm struck Chicago shortly af1 ter noon and increased with great i rapidity until it had assumed hurri. cane violence at 5:30 o'clock, when the r wind tore through the downtown streets at the rate of 72 miles an hour. [ It fell away after that and by 7 I o'clock had dropped to 50 miles an . hour, where It remained 'throughout , the night. In the evening the mercury dropped from 34 to 11. The late reports ? from Wisconsin are that the storm was the most severe experienced in that section of the country. Damage in the , city of Madison is estimated at $100,1 000. In Indiana the damage done by the . storm was especially heavy in the oil i fields, where fully five hundred derricks were blown down and all operations > suspended. Loss on derricks alone In | the neighborhood of Muncie, is placed at $200,OOf, and at $50,000 around Port; a?*. ; Company Asks Position. I Washington, Special.?General Wilson, chairman of the inaugural com| mittee, received a request from Lieut. C. B. Ballard, in command of Company K., Birminghar, Ala., Rifles, for a place i in the inaugural parade. His company desires to attend the ceremonies as the representative of the Third Regiment of the Alabama National Guard. Peculiar Pistol Accident. Atlanta, Special.?Max Silverman, traveling salesman for a New York house, ls^VJs^the Grady Hospital here in a serious conC?,!~*' with the paper wadding from a blan* ' cartridge * *?? ? or a o a re. a ii i? * Ill 1119 1151a IUII51 uo u ivwuiv ?. -o been accidentally shot by Sol Gn. zinsky. The accident is one of the most peculiar the -ospital authorities have had to deal with for some time. The pistol was flred at a close range, and so great was the force of the shot that the wadding from the shell went entirely through Silverman's thick clothing tore through the body and penetrated the right lung. Physicians are not yet able to tell whether the wound will prove fatal. "Tom Watson's Magaz ne." Albany, N. Y., Special.?Thomas E. Watson, of Thompson, Ga., the candidate of the People's party for President at the last election, incorporated with the Secretary of State a stock company called Tom Watson's Magazine, for the purpose of publishing and circulating a monthly literary periodical of that name. The corporation is capitalized \t $125,000, divided into J 12,500 shares. r r : 1 4 PARAGRAPHIC PERSONALS. The late George G. Vest left an estate of $150,000. Bryant B. Brooks, Governor-elect of Wyoming, was born in Massachusetts. Emperor William states that he spent $1,000,000 on theatres and operas last year. Manuel Garcia, at one time a noted singer, is living in London. He is 100 years old. A son of Cyrus W. Field was in the Tombs prison, in New York, as a common vagrant. President Hadley, of Yale University. had a hand-to-hand struggle with an alleged beggar. Vowfnn T. "Pnnn coWl *r\ hn tliA Inst lineal descendant of William Penn, has jost died at Hartford, Conn. John Barrett, who, fifteen years ago, was a reporter in San Francisco. Cal? is now; United States Minister to Panama. The African explorer. Shillings, has brought to Berlin an extraordinarily in-, teresting series of photographs of wild animals taken by themselves. Mason Trowbridge, for several years official head coach of the Yale intercollegiate debating teams, is to retire from the university at the end of the year. He is instructor in rhetoric. Don Carlos. King of Portugal, who has been visiting his royal brother, King Edward, has life insurance amounting to about $3,000,000 American money. A. De Lacey Wood, of Duluth, Wis., has started on an average of one newspaper a year for the last thirty-one years. Most of these papers are located in Wisconsin and Minnesota. General Jacob S. Coxey, of Mt. Vernon. celebrated as the leader of the "Commonwealth" army, tiled a personal petition in bankruptcy in the Unit.d States Court at Columbus, O., the other day, Odds and Eends. Queen Margherita, of Italy, has had a most magnificent railway carriage constructed for herself, which has aroused great curiosity among her son's subjects, who. It must be confessed, are not accustomed to royal luxury. Tne King is most simple in all his ways and appointments; his carriages and horses, although of the best, are always of the least conspicuous description, and the same may be said of his motors, clothes, private apartments, etc., and the Queen, of course, follows suit. Odds and Er.ds. Thoughtfulness doubles the value of a gift and often halves its cost There is nothing harder on the nerves or worse for the clothes than packing water on both shoulders. When God has buried your sins it is a sin to dig them up again, even though it be only to show them to your friends. The man who made the biggest fool of himself at election will be the first to denounce the excitement of a revival. Army Officer Found Dead. Washington, Special. ? Quartermaster Humphrey has received a telegram from the superintendent of construction at Chattanoga saying that Capt. Howard W. French, quartermaster in charge of construction at Chickamauga was found Tuesday evening near the border of the army post reservation. A subsequent telegram read: "French accldent*.!y killed himself Monday." The accounts of Capt. French are said to be in first-class shape and "r-o?i H""" hrey spoke of him in the highest terms. Cornell Experiment Station. Cornell University experiment station has issued two important bulletins on grape pests, which have been received by vineyardists in Chautuaqua County grape district. One is by Prof. Mark Vernon Slingerland and treats of grape berry moth, while the other, by Prof. Fred Johnson, discusses the grape root worm and the grape blossom buu gnat. The last named is a new enemy of grapes and was discovered by Prof. Johnston last year. For three years these two men have been studying grape pests in Chatutauqua County Dutch Wont Lend Naval Base. The Hague, By Cable.?The report that Holland will place Sabang in the Straits Settlement, 20 miles north of Malacca, at the disposition of the Russian second Pacific squadron, as reported from Tokio, In a dispatch to The London Times, is devoid of foundation. It is learned in official quarters that Holland will observe the same strict neutrality in her colonies as at home, and that neither Sabang nor any other points in the Dutch Indies will be placed either directly or Indirectly at the disposal of the belligerents. , Mothers in Doubt About Babies. The identity of two babies which* have been born in a forest near Cabeion, a small town in Santander prov - hoo tn ho cottlrvl hv a council c iu "of both. +\ Wh7?\. -.^.-^aQ^ers were taking a R*alk In therores'N the children were born?both being boys. A number of women from a neighboring village who arrived on the scene took mothers and babies home on stretchers. Unfortunately the excited women handed the infants from one to another, and in the #onfusion that followed it became impossible to distinguish one child from the other. By way of temporary arrangement each of the two mothers accepted a baby without troubling herself as to whether it was her own or not. The families of the two women have decided to hold a Joint meeting, at which efforts will be made to identify the babies by some distinguishing family characteristic. ?i A tree grows out the Court House tower at Greenwich, Ind. wonrnH^HB Some Measure* That Will Engage tha Attention of the Lawmakers. The most important problems the new legislature, wnicn couveuea ua Tuesday of this week, will have to solve will be compulsory education and the matter of raising more revenue by taxes, though of course the dispensary situation will bob up in an entirely new light and about its head already the clouds are gathering for a fine old storm. There are many other matters of minor importance, but concerning which there is more or less feeling, and altogether the session promises to be an unusually interesting and entertaining one. Two-thirds of this Legislature is entirely new blood, and is therefore largely very fresh from the people. The unexpected then is to be expected, and the end of the session may see some very important and far-reaching changes in the statute law of the State. This is not what is known as an election session, but this Legislature will nevertheless have several important positions to fill by ballot. A new Speaker is to be chosen, but so far as is known Mr. M. L. Smith, of Camden, has no opposition for re-election to this position. T. C. Hamer will also be reelected clerk of the House without opposition, it is thought. Mr. R. R. Hemphill will be opposed for clerk of the Senate by Dr. T. T. Sturkle, of Orangeburg. A new superintendent of the penitentiary is to be elected. D. J. ""Griffin will likely be re-elected without opposition, though it has been suggested that he will be opposed by Dr. Eug. ae Jarnigan, of Marion. Two new jui ges are to be elected by this legislatuv, the terms of Judge D. A. Townsend, of the seventh circuit, and Judge now tha ronlt pvnlr ing this year. Both will be candidates for re-election. Judge Townsend will have rivals in the persons of Senater D. E. Hydrick, of Spartanburg, and Senator F. P. McGowan, of Laurens. Judge Gary's opponents will be Senator Hay, of Kershaw, and J. W. Vere, of Edgefield. Several college trustees and mem bers of the penitentiary board are to be elected. COMPULSORY EDUCATION. A strong sentiment in favor of compulsory education as a complement to the child labor law has been rapidly crystalizing throughout the State the past several months. The State press generally has expressed itself in favor of such a law, and that those who are the closest to the school problem want it is shown by the resolution recently adopted here by the Joint association of county and city school superintendents. Governor Heyward, who has zealously interested himself in the. educational problems of the State, favors a compulsory education law. Some effort may be made to carry out State Superintendent of Education Martin's reeommendati n to bring the Citidel here and c nbine it with the South Carolina Col -ge as a basis of a j State university, bi. it is not thought ' that this scheme has much chance of I i.uAess. Though the South Carolina . Coriege will likely be started out on a j university career, by the Legislature i granting the trustees' recent request for an additional appropriation of $10,000 for that purpose. AS TO TAXES. The State is face to face with a serious probblem with regard to taxes. Nearly a million and a quarter is required to meet the present needs of the State government, but though there is now about $204,000,000 worth of property on the books, a five mills levy does not seem to be sufficient. The State Is running behind, the great bulk of the taxes not being collectible until the spring, The State has so far borrowed $&60,o00, and there will have to be greater revenue by about $200,000 if the State is to have any hope pf-getting 1 back to casa Dasis. me quauicumci assessment of real estate will be made next year, and If this class of property cin oe switch oii a uiCrC equitable basis there Is some hope of getting ay the additional revenue from this source. In this connection an effort will be made to get a law passed requiring market value returns instead of returns on a 60 per cent basis. By the present valuation there is in round numbers $100,000,000 worth of this class of property in the State. Of course it. Is argued that a market value return of this property would be unjust because of the ease with which personal property dodges the tax collector, and the fact that the constitution fixes 3 mills as a levy for school purposes Is also used against the advocates of a greater valuation of real estate. But it is pointed out that the greater valuation will provide enough additional school money to allow the doing away with the special school levies, which prevall'in almost every school district and that after all the real estate owners will pay out no more than they are now paying to maintain the schools. THE DISPENSARY. What will be done with the dispensary is altogether problematical. The feeling is growing steadily stronger that the system in its present condition is. a menace to good ana nonest government and has a corrupting influence on politics in all departments of the State government, but not only does the constitution forbid a return to the ,old bar system, but there Is no general desire to go back to this, the prohibition sentiment having steadily gained ground. In case the present dispensary system is wiped out it is difficult to predict whether local option?each * nnntv controlling its own whiskey traffic under dispensary regulations? or high license, with dispensary regulations, would take Its place. Another change that Is possible Is the passage of the original Brlce bill, which allows a county to vote out Its dispensary without tax to maintain prohibition and without forefeitlng Its share in the general dispensary school fund. When Cherokee county voted out Its dispensaries by such a decisive majority tncre was trembling among the dispensary coherts, but the predictions that other counties would be quick to follow suit, seem to have come from false prophets The State board has indicated a willingness to allow a community to do away with its dispensary, but this matter is tied up in an injunction and the decision week after next may State board's authority to a thing. The suggestion fron^Seimtor Tillman is that the sale of wiskey be farmed out to some respoiBble concern. but this is not likelmto prove popular. % > Many Newsy Items Gathered FrtNH all Sections. General Cotton Market Middling. Galveston, steady 6% New Orleans, easy Mobile, firm 6?4 Savannah, quiet Vk Charleston, quiet 6M? Baltimore, nominal 7.60 New York, quiet 6.85 Rrvctnn nnlot ft MS Philadelphia, quiet 7J? * Charlotte Cotton Market. These figures represent prices paid to wagons: Middling 7JG Tinges 6V4 to 1 Stains 6>6 to 6 7-l? City School Superintendents. Columbia, Special.?The second sad last session of the Association of the City School Superintendents was heldl in the parlors of Hotel Jerome Wednesday morning and the reading of papers and their discussions was reEumed at 9:30. The first topic considered was "Compulsory Education." The disciuplan was op?ed by Mr. T. C. Walton of Anderwi, who made an earnest plea for compulsory education. Interesting discussions followed, the sentiment being in favor of compuW sory education. Mr. Nathan Toms of Darlington then, read a thoughtful paper on "High School and College Coordination." The discussion that followed this paper brought out many valuable suggestions with reference to this great and important question. "The Necessity of Drill Work in Latin," was the next subject on thn programme. The discussion was opened by Mr. A. R. Banks of Lancaster, who argued forcibly in favor of Latin in the High school and of thor ougn ami wonc in mis suDjeci. "Religious Instructions in Publie Schools," was the next subject on th? programmem and was opened by Mr. E. S. Dreher in a timely discussion. A great deal of interest was manifested in statistics prepared by Mr. Drher to show the sad fact that th? children of the secular schools are not familiar with the Bible. Twenty questions were submitted to one section of the eighth grade of th? Columbia High school, consisting of 23 girls and 17 boys. The results wer? such as make manifest the need of a more definite and comprehensive study of the Sacred Scriptures. The answers given in many instances were startling and pathetic on account of their absurdity. The answers were all marked and graded; the average for the class being but little more than 50 per cent, out of a possible 100. Following kr? the questions which the graded school * children found so difficult: 1. Name the mountain on which th? ark rested. 2. Why were the Egyptians afflicted with plagues? 3. Name five of the. plagues? 4. What was the Passover? 5. State the circumstauccs under which the ten commandments wer? given to man. 6. How was Jericho captured? 7: How did Absalom meet his death? 8. What remarkable thing happened at Belshazza's feast? ' ^ 9. Who wrote aost of the Psalma? lv. Who wrote the Book of Proverbs? 11. Who went to heaven without dying? , 12. Name the last Book of the Old Testament? 13. Is the Rook of Hebrews In th? Old or tbe New Testament? 14. Name five miracles recorded I? Old Testament? 15. Five in the New Testament. 16. What was Herod's greateat, crime? 17. How was Saul of Tarsus converted.? IS. Who presided at tbe trial of Christ? 19. What was the transfiguration? 20. Have you read through the New Testament? Elected BUhop. The Rev. William T. Manning, vicar of St. Anne's Church. Trinity Parisb^ New York City, has been elected Blab* op nf the new Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Harrisburg. Pa. He is fortr years of age. is a native of England, a graduate of the University of tba South, Sewance, Tcnn., and was formerly in charge of a Church In Nashville. Tragedy at Cheraw.. Cheraw. Specia^?Cheraw bad a fatal accident as its quota of Christmas casualties. Saturday night a number of persons were in the store of Montgomery & Croxton. A party was standI ing in the rear of the store discussing the danger of pistol carrying. mr, ju. B.. Croxton in a spirit of levity, it is said, to scare the crowd, pointed his pistol behind him and fired. A negro man named Ben Perry, who was aitting on a sack back of the group and who had not been noticed, began to complain. On examination it was found that he was shot through the stomach. Every attention was given to him, but he died on Sunday morning. Capt. French's Death Accidental. Chattanooga. Tenn., Special.?An Investigating board of the seventh cavalry appointed by Colonel Pearson concluded the investigation of the cause of death of Capt. Howard W. French, who was found dead with a bullet through his heart on Tuesday. While the board refused to give out its findings until it is sent to the War Department, it is understood that accidental, killing was the verdict. h ; . , Y \y "