The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, May 06, 1896, Image 1
Consolidated Aug. 2,1881.
SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1896.
Sew Series-Vol. XV. No 41
%\t llakjnra at? Swttam.
Published Every fSTednesday,
J>3\ Gr. Osteen,
SUMTER, S. C.
TERMS :
?1 50 per annum-in advance.
ADVERTISEMENT:
One Square first insertion.SI 00
Every subsequent insertion. 50
Contracts for three months, or longer will
be made at reduced rates.
All communications which subserve private
interests will be charged foras advertisements.
Obituaries and tributes of respect will be
charged for.
"A Miserable Position."
Th? Attitude of the United
States Toward Cuba-Let
Cleveland Act'
Greenville New3.
There ts wisdom in Maceo's sugges?
tion that if we wish to see the war iu
Cuba ended we should allow 20,000
improved rifles and 4,000,000 car?
tridges to be sent over to the Cubaos.
It is oa the line of General Grant's
theory of war which was that the most
merciful and humane course was to
end it as booo as possible regardless of
the coast in life or money. He belived
it wa? better to kill a hundred thousand
men in two months, and have an end
than to protract a contest over three or
four years with the same loss of life
and vastly more suffering and loss. If
there must be butchering, the quicker
and more complete it is. and the sooner
it is over the better. We doubt if
Grant's generalship or statesmanship
were admirable, but he deserves unlim?
ited admiration because he had the
nerve to apply a remedy demanded by
the situation but naturally abhorrent to
human feeling, as any desperate surgi?
cal operation is, no matter how neces?
sary. The bulldog tenacity with which be
continued his "power of attrition'7
method, swapping three lives of his
own men for one of ours, brought the
inevitable end with merciful rapidity
aud saved the south and north years of
waste and horror.
The present position of this county
toward Cuba is as mean, cowardly, con?
temptible and unsatisfactory as it could
possibly be. We have officially re?
corded io words our sympathy with the
people who are struggling for home
rule and liberty, and have officially an?
nounced by our actions that we are
afraid to help them. We have put our?
selves before the world io the shameful
attitude of meddling in the affairs of
foreigners as far as we dared. We are
in the position of a men finding a
woman threatened and eodangered by
a raffiao and contenting himself with
smooth remonstrance to the assailant
and declarations of sympathy to the
victim. We have challenged the ha?
tred of Spain and have done nothing
to deserve the gratitude or respect of
Cuba. It would have been more decent
if M?e bad pretended to ignore the war.
We have gone just so far that, self re?
spect demands that we go further.
Reports from both sides tell us that
the conditions io Cuba are horrible.
All industry is paialyzed, all property
is destroyed. The country has been
laid waste with starving, helpless and
hopeless people. Non-combatants are
being murdered on every side.
By our empty declarations of sympa?
thy and holding out hope of recogni?
tion we are encouraging the Cubans to
hope and continue the war, while we i
are preventing them from obtaioiog the
means with which they could force an
issue and result. We should do one
thing or the other-enforce our neu?
trality law3 rigidly, declare that no
sympathy or help is to be expected
from us and allow che rebellion to col?
lapse, or give such aid as will make it
quickly and completely successful. We
are urging on the war and helping each
side to destroy the other
The Greenville News has profound
respect for President Cleveland's judg?
ment. We have seen it vindicated so
many times, have seen the propriety of
his motives and the wisdom of his meth?
ods illustrated so clearly when appear?
ances indicated otherwise that we have
learned to hesitate in criticism cf his
courses. In this case, however, as in
the Armenian matter, it seems that he
owes his own eouotry and the cause of
humanity a clear, prompt and explicit
declaration of his purposes. The emer?
gency is pressing. People are starv?
ing and suffering, lives are being taken
by scores nearly every day, misery is
being accumulated for years and gen?
erations to come. Our government is
being held in a disgraceful position.
Our own honor, humanity, the blood of
brave men being constantly shed, the
?fferings of women and children,
combine to appeal to him for decisive
action. His delay is staining bis re?
cord, destroying Coba and making the
United States the object of the world's
derision. \
Lodged in the Morro.
The Co, petitor Gallantly Re?
turned the Spaniards Fire.
Habana, April 29 -The persons who
were captured oo board the American
schooner Competitor, aod those who
were taken in the water while atterop'
ing to swim at-hor*, have been lodged
in Morro Castle. They will be tried
by a naval court martial. The naval
commander is absent in Manzanillo
and Captain General Weyler, who is
impatient for the trial of the prisoners,
has requested him to delegate his au?
thority to another official in order that
the proceedings be not delayed.
Further details of the capture show
that a detachment of guerrillas captur?
ed 32 boxes of ammunition which had
already been landed and took two
prisoners, apparently Americans.
Shortly after discovering the schoon?
er, the gunboat opened fire upon her
killing three of her company. Many
others of those on board sprang into the
water and swam ashore. The fire of
the gunboat was returned by the Com?
petitor Among those who took to the
water was the leader ?a Borde, who
was captured, however, before he could
reach the shore. Thc government will
reward the commander of the Messen?
ger and his crew for the important ser?
vice they have rendered by the cap?
ture of the schooner aod her cargo.
A report has been received here that
Jose Maceo with a force oi 300 rebels
attacked the town of Cristo, near San?
tiago, but after a sharp encouuter were
repulsed with the loss of three killed.
Three of their number were also taken
prisoners.
A party cf rebels destroyed by dyna?
mite the culvert at the entry to Guan??
bana, near Matanzas.
Forts Limon8S and Matanzas have
been attacked by a body nf rebels said
to be-'e been commanded by Serafin
Sanohez. The attacks, however, were
unsuccessful, the insurgents beiug re?
pulsed and compelled to retire. Dar?
ing their retreat they set fire to the
cane fields in the vioinity which were
destroyed.
A party of 10 Habana volunteers of
the garrigon upon . the estate Las
Canas, near Boloodron, in the Matan?
zas province, while oo a foraging expe?
dition were attacked by a party of re?
bels and five of them were killed, two
were wounded and the rest disappeared.
Another detachment of 17 volunteers
were surprised by a large nunber of
rebels who had laid io ambush for them
on the Barrada farm, near Colon. The
volunteers made a heroic defense,
Sghtiug against great odds, until five
of their number were killed, when thc
rest of them retreated to Calimete.
It is ?aid that ac expedition com?
manded by the insurgent leaders
Monson and Aguirre has been captured
and a cumber of important docu?
ments seized.
Dynamite, Not Gas, Wrecked
the Palace.
Habana, April 30.-A dynamite
bomb caused the explosion io the cap?
tain general's palace yesterday, and
not a gas engine as reported. The
noise was tremendous, od caused in?
tense excitement in the palace and vi?
cinity. The general's officers rushed
about, giving orders. Even Weyler
left the room greatly excited. Only
one person was hurt slightly. The
others escaped miraculously. The
whole paiace shook by the force of tho
explosion. Clouds of dust blinded ail
persons inside, and many glass windows
were broken. The bomb destroyed the
partition wall of the principal counting
room and broke two safes. The bomb
was placed in the water closet at the
southeast corner of the palace on Mer?
caderes and Obispo streets. Tne occur?
rence is the general topic of conversa?
tion. It is believed to be the work of
laborers. The government says an?
archists did ii. The police are making
diligent, search, but no arrest has been
made yet. Strong measures, it is
said, will be adopted to prevent a repc- j
titian of similar ac's This happened
at ll a. m.
Gomez's advance is confirmed. It is
now reported he has entered Matanzas
province with a Ptroog force of 10,000
or 12,000 men, five pieces of artillery
aud pleuty of ammunition. It is pre?
sumed ao attack on the trocha, on both
side?, in combination with Maceo, will
follow, and hot fighting is expected.
News of a bloody battle near Zanja,
province of Santiago de Cuba, has been
received. Gen. Munoz tried to pre?
vent General Calixto Garcia from cross?
ing the Cauto river. Munoz organized
a stroDg land column, and ordering
gunboats to proceed up the river to co?
operate, left Manzanillo to intercept
Garcia. The latter, with Rabi's col?
umn, made a junction with the forces
of Maya Rodriguez from Camaguey.
The combined insurgent forces attacked
Munoz as he was advancing, and de?
feated him. Munoz lost over 200 kill?
ed and 400 wounded. Bat for ^e gun?
boats, Munoz's column would bav^
been destroyed. Munoz retreated to
Manzanillo and Garcia is now operat?
ing without opposition.
The Factory Labor Problem.
Greenville News.
The State and the News and
Courier both object to the recent
statement cf this newspaper that un?
less there is some remarkable change
in the situation the employment of
colored labor in Rome of the cotton
mills in this State will soon be neces
sary The News and Courier thinks
we are guided in our opinion by "lo?
cal conditions "
So we are. There are more cotton
mills, more spindles, looms and fae
lory hands employed within 50 miles
of this city than in the same area
anywhere in the South. This city
can and does claim to be the centre
of the most extensive cotton manu?
facturing district this side of the
Potomac river By a rough and hur?
ried calculation from memory we find
there are within the limits stated
about 30 manufacturing plante, in?
cluding the largest in the South, em?
ploying in the neighborhood of 14,
000 people.
We know that the labor question
is a serious one, although a large
percentage of the mill people have
been drawn from Western Norih
Carolina and Georgia One large
cotton mill in this section, recently
completed, has not yet been able to
put all its machinery in use because
the hands could not be had. The
Pelzer mill brought in 1.000 people
from Eastern North Carolina and yet
need more and there are four or five
new mills now nearing completion,
which are already beginning to look
about for labor. These are not sur?
mises of opinions These are facts.
If there is an abundance of white
labor in the lower part of the Stale,
as The News and Courier and The
State seem to think there is, those
contemporaries will earn for them?
selves the earnest thanks of manu
facturers in this section by starting
twelve or fifteen hundred men, wo?
men and children this way in the next
three months. We think we know
where to put four or five hundred of
them to morrow.
Oar contemporaries will find, we
think, if they will make some practi?
cal experiments, that the supply of
white labor available for factories is
not so great as they think it is. The
small land owners and tenants who
are doing well on the farms hesitate
to leave for the factory tewns. As
farmers and land owners find their la?
borers and tenants being drawn away
they will meet the competition be?
cause they will be forced to do it.
There is only a certain percentage of
the people who go to the /actories
who stick, for some of them find
discipline, the labor every day in the
year, and the habits of regularity irk?
some There is also a proportion of
factory laborers who go to the facto?
ries for the purpose of accumulating
cash enough to pay for tracts of land
that they may resume farming as in?
dependent owners. This constitutes
a small but steady drain on the sup?
ply of factory labor.
Of course the Greenville Xews
would prefer io see every loom and
spindle in the South under white
hands, but there is no power which
can make white people go to the fac?
tories if they do not wish to do so,
and if they do not go somebody
must keep the machinery going. On
the other hand, there ?3 the power
of the landlord and the farmer hold?
ing back the white ?abor and as the
demand for it becomes stronger that
same power will be ready to put im?
pediments in tho way of the iabur
?iroino; to the mills.
The short and long of it, so far ns
this part of the country is concerned,
is that one of three things must hap?
pen
We must have a very Inrge and
early increase of our white popula?
tion, or
The white working people must all
go into the mills, leaving all the farm
labor to be done by negroes, or
Some of the factories must be run
by negro labor
Consul G?nerai Lee.
Richmond, Va., April 20.-Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee took the oath of office
and executed his bond as consul gen?
eral to Cuba here to-day. He ex
pects to get his final instructions
from President Cleveland either Fri?
day or Saturday, and it is probable
that he will go to Habana next week.
General Lee seems to l>e in excel?
lent health. Ile says he does not
feel an}7 uneasiness on account of the
climate of the island. He thinks
that if he takes care of himself he
will be as well there as he would be
at come.
-^Wmm.
The report that Mr. J. Pierpont
Morgan has suhmitted bids for ?9,
000,000 o? bonds of the Cuban Re?
public is of the highest and most en?
couraging significance. If it is cor?
rect, it means not only that Cuban
independence is near at hand, but
also that Mr. Morgan has again pen?
etrated the inner consciousness of
tho administration and learned its
ful ure policy after the people them?
selves have failed -N Y. Mail and
Express.
Business Outlook Bright.
Baltimore, April 30.-Special re?
ports of the Manufacturer's Record
from various parts of the South,
especially from the Birmingham
region, show a very decided revival
in business interests In addition to
the steel mill projected recentiy by
the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail?
road company, the Birmingham Roll?
ing Mill company has definitely de?
cided to build a steel mill with a ca?
pacity of about 200 tons a day. At
the same place a $100,000 cotton
seed oil mili company, a $100,000
tobacco factory and a hr ge powder
mill have been organized during the
week, and negotiations are pending
looking to the building there of a
?000,000 cotton mill by northern
people.
The development of grain facili?
ties at Southern ports continues to
attract attention, and contracts have
been made for the expenditure of
?500,000, to include two new cotton
compresses, warehouses and other
interests near New Orleans, while
work has commenced at Pensacola
on transportation improvements by
the Louisville and Nashville railroad,
including a grain elevator, the aggre?
gate expenditure being about $150,
000. One of the most extensive
water powers in the South has been
capitalized at $2,000,000, with the
reported intention of large electrical
development and the transmission of
electric power in connection with
cotton mill enterprises. Gold mining
matters continue to attract attention,
and in Virginia, North Carolina and
Georgia considerable capital is being
invested in the purchase and devel?
opment of gold properties.
Among other industrial enterprises
reported for the week were the en?
largement of several cotton mills and
one or two new mills projected, a
$25.000 lumber company in Missis?
sippi, a 40-ton cotton seed oil mill in
Texas, a ?50,000 flour mill and a
?30,000 compress in the same State.
Williams to Investigate*
Habana, April 30.-United States
Consul General Williams is not official?
ly aware that any American citizens
were arrested by the Spanish authori?
ties in the capture of the expedition on
board the American schooner Compe?
titor yesterday. He will, personally
visit Captain General Weyler, how?
ever, and investigate the facts a?d take
whatever action in the matter that the
circumstances demand in the event of
his ascertaining that an American citi?
zens has been illegally taken into cus?
tody. ,
A force of rebels ?red on the Spanish
gunboat Alvardo aa she was passing
Segua. The forts near Baracoa an?
swered the fire and thc gunboat con?
tinued on her w;iy to Baracoa.
The Spanish gunboat Rel?mpago has
repulsed a force of rebels who attacked
a government convoy in the Canto
river.
A big ?ght is reported near Manzan?
illo, in the province of Santiago de
Cuba. No details have been received.
Fifty-one political prisoners were de?
ported to-day by the Spanish mail
steamer They are to be sent to the
convict establishment at Ceuta, Africa
Tell-Tale Telegrams.
Pretoria, April 30 -A great sensa
tien has been caused here by the publi?
cation of a scries of telegrams that
were entered as evidence at the trial of
the members cf the reform committee.
These telegrams, it is claip.iod here,
show beyond any doubt whatever, that
the raid of Dr. Jameson was not the
result of a desire to protect the women
and children of Johanesburg ic the
event of a rising there, as has been so
sedulously argued by certain English
newspapers, but was thc outcome cf a
carefully prearanged plan on the part
of certaiu individuals of the South
Africau company to seize a portion of
the Transvaal, a portion well-known to
be the right gold reef of witwatersrand,
on which Johanesburg is located.
Some of the telegrams were in cipher
and on their face were apparently harm?
less business messages that had passed
between different men connected with
the Johanesburg and South Africa
company. Afc the time Dr. Jame?
son and his companions were captured
by the Boers, the latter found io the
doctors bag a key for code messages.
This was taken in possession by the
authorities.- who later obtained the mes?
sage containing words corresponding
with those in the key. In certain caeee
the words in the original messages
could not be deciphered by use of the
key, and in these oases the code words
were read as of the dispatohes. The
dates of the dispatches ranged from De?
cember 7 to December 29.
Gen. R N. Richbourg, of Colum?
bia, who on short notice developed
two years ago into a most blooming
Reformer, is again a candidate for
adjutant general. It begins to look
as if Bro. Richbourg had a chronic
case.-Johnston Monitor.
Gen. Greely's Washington.
Io two articles contributed to the La?
dies' Home Journal, Geo. A. W. Gree
ly has UDdertakeo to rescue the per?
sonality of George Washington from
the fast-deepeniug mist of legend. No
previous biographer has made so care?
ful and candid a study of original docu?
ments, including especially the innu?
merable letters penned by the subject
himself. The effect of Gen. Greely's
6tudies, while they reveal many things
which have been mistakenly suppressed,
is to enhance the respect and the affec?
tion with which the most illustrious
American is regarded by his country?
men.
The aim of these researches is frank?
ly avowed to be to depict Washington
as a son, brother, guardian, neighbor,
slavy-master, and citizen, rather than
in the aspect of soldier and statesman.
TLe necessity for such a portraiture is
demonstrated by the Tact that when
American youths are questioned as to
their relative interest in Napoleon and
Washington, many are apt to prefer
the former, cn the ground that the lat?
ter, as he is described by his biogra?
phers, K although great and good, de?
void of the minor buaian defects that
would throw into relief his virile and
estimable traits, Rightly to appreciate
Washington, it is indispensable to mark
how he advanced from the environment
of the first half of the eighteenth cen?
tury toward the higher standards of the
present age. Io a word, as we ulti?
mately koow him, he is a product, cot
of birth or accident, but of growth.
To lose sight of Washiogtou's early
environment is to overlook the force of
character which enabled him to become
a great and good man in spite of it.
Gen. Greely recalls all that is meant
by the fact that his youth and early
manhood were passed in tidewater Vir?
ginia, the population of which had for
its substrata the debasing labor systems
ot indentured white servants and Afri?
can slaves. At the other extreme of
colonial social was the ruling aristo?
cracy, composed of royal officials, for?
malistic clergymen, and plauters pos?
sessed cf great estates. Washington
was born midway between these ex?
tremes-higher than Patrick Henry,
much lower than the Randolphs and
the Lees. While his progenitors did
not rank among the great iand owners,
they were not poor whites ; they might
be classed among the minor gentry. It
was by marriage that Washington be?
came what was for eighteen centuries a
Virginia plutocrat
From bis boyhood Washington was
fond of woman, but every authentic
letter of his shows that be placed them
on the highest piano. He was barely
17 when he first suffered the pangs of
unrequited love ; he was but 19 when
he courted Miss Betsy Fauntleroy and
was rejected by her; the passion of his
life came a little later, and was inspired
by a married woman, Sally Cary, the
wife of his friend, Gooroc William
Fairfax. Thc lady must have rebuked
him, yet his iast letter to her was pen?
ned only four :i;or.'ths before ho became
encased to me Widow Gusti?, -nc
richest woman in the colony. His
marriage, which took place three
months later, gave him absolute con?
trol of one-third of the Curtis patri?
mony, and the remainder of the estate
came ioto his hands as guardian.
Washington, in other words, was one
of the very few Americans who have
neither inherited nor made money, but
who have married it.
At tne time of his union to Mr?.
Oust.s Washington was an imposing
example of physical manhood, but he
was by no means ideally perfect even
from this point of view. His feet were
abnormally large ; his face bore the dis
figuring traces of small-pox, and ha
teeth were defective, owing apparently
to a fondness for sweets. The lack of
expression which was noticed in h:s j
face during the later part of irs career j
was doubt less due to his false teeth. It ;
is well known that he smiled rarely, !
bur, when he aid, his smile gave an 1
uncommon beauty to his countenance. ?
Drinking, gambling and swearing !
were as General Greely reminds us, j
the vices of eighteenth century Vir- j
ginia, and thc wonder is. not that j
Washington was sometimes chargeable I
with these vices, but that he to a Urge j
extent outgrew them. To the last he j
he had wine on his table, wher. in com- 1
mand of the OoM.inental army, he j
applied a hundred lashes to every man j
found drunk, sud in advising hts neph?
ew he says : "Refrain from drink, 1
which is a source of all evil and the j
ruin of half thc workmen of this coun- !
try.'7 In the purchase of lottery tick- !
ets Washington indulged during the
Revolutionary war, and as iate as the
arrangements made for the foundation
of the city which bears his name.
Ga ' ling in general, however, he de?
nounces in a letter to Bushrod Wash
j icgtOD, as "a vice productive of every
i possible ill " That Lee was rebuked
i with aD oath at Monmouth is uoques
j tionable, and a few other lapse? of that
i kind may be found in Washington's
early letters, but General Greely
assures us that in his later writings it
is very seldom that any stronger phrase
"than would to God" drops from his
pen.
Washington was like many other
meo in finding it difficult to live under
the same roof with a mother-in-law.
At one time he invited his wife's mother
i tc'make Mount Vernon her home, but
I in a subsequent letter, quoted by Gen.
j Greeley, he says : "I will never again
j have two women in my house, when ?
j am there myself." His own mother
also, was a trial to him in more than
? one particular. It will be remembered
J that Washington would accept no salary
i for his services to his country during
j the Revolutionary war. Ilia mother,
however, insisted that tba colony of
Virginia should settle a pension upon
her for her son's services, and it re
I quired Washington's direct interposi?
tion to thwart the unseemly move. To
make good the deficiencies in her cur
I rent accounts, she continually drew OD
him, until he was obliged to counsel
I ber to lease ber estate aod live with one
i of her children, adding that she might
j stay at Mount Vernon, provided she
j would dress for dinner,
i If love of one's fellow men constt
! tutes Christianity, Washington had it,
j but Gen. Greely can find no evidence
that be ever took commonion in his
own church, the Episcopal, or any
other. He did not hesitate to travel
on Sunday, and on that day made at
least ooo . contract. During four
months that he spent in Philadelphia,
in ,1787, be attended church but six
times; once at a Catholic mass; once
at a Quaker meeting house ; once with
the Presbyterians, and thrice with the
Episcopalians. Gen. Gieely vouches
for the fact that in several thousand
letters penned by Washington the name
of Jesus Christ never appears, and it
is absent from bis last will. Neverthe?
less, in his farewell address we read :
"Let us with caution indulge the sup?
position that morality can be maintain?
ed without religion.'' One word more.
Washington was a slaveholder ; yet be
never exported but one slave, and by
bis will freed every one that belonged
to bim, providing at the same time for
the helpless.
Gen. Greely well says that such im?
perfections as should be brought to
light in any honest biography of Wash?
ington are mainly ascribable ro the in?
fluences of .his environment, and that
the man's life, viewed as a whole, in?
culcates the sovereign importance o?
will power and right aspirations to the
development of the individual. George
Washington, if his life le inspected
from end to end, has nothing to fear
. from the microscope.
Why I Oppose Free Sliver."
Mr. Chris H. Essig is a salesman for
Eiseman & Weil. He is f-ne of the
beti kct'wn young man in the city ?t:idv
like all thoughtful salaried men, is op?
posed to the unlimited coinage r?f silver.
"I have no objection,'' said Mr.
Essig, "to the coinage of silver if the
legal ratio matches the commercial ratio
; -that ir, if 100 cents worth of silver is
put in the silver dollar, but I am alto
' gether opposed to the unlimited coinage
; of a dollar that is only worth 50 cents,
and in which I, ic common with all
other salaried men, would be paid, if
the free silver men should s-.::ce3d. I
have studied the question as far as pos
j sibie and find that the frankest silver
men admit that the workingman would
be paid the same number cf dollars,
but each dollar having only one-half of
irs prrsent purchasing power "-At?
lanta Journal.
We have written a good deal about
walnut trees in these columns We
do not know the man referred to in/
the following, but he seems to be
making a pretty goo;! thing out of
the walnut, even allowing for seme
exaggeration. Wo clip from the
Manchester (N. II ) Union, which
says : "There is a man in Virginia
who has an income of ?15,000 a
year from a farm of 1,200 acres,
which he bought twenty iive years
ago for ?1,200, and planted it with
walnuts. Every year he feils the
biggest trees, and the lumber brings
him ?100 a 1,000-foot.-Wilmigton
Star.
Why suifcr with Coughs, Colds and Ls.
Grii pe when Laxative Bromo Quinine will
cure you in one day. Does cot produce ?he
ringing io :hc bead like Sulphate of Quinine.
Put up in tablera convenient for taking
Guaranteed to cure, or money refunded.
Price, 25 Cents. For sale by A. J. China.
Nov. 20-6m.
All kinds of Sewing Machine Needles a
Sumter Music House.
Highest of all in Leavening Power.-Latest U. S. Gov't Report
Baking
Powder