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SCHOOL SUPPLIES ?RUINING THE STATE. Seem to Detract too Much From Educational Fands. Wheo HOD. J J. MoMahao entered gibe office of state superintendent of eduoat oo, fae began to investigate rumors that the State was being Hooded with maps aod charts sold at an Eextravagant price, sod in large quan tities. There was ooo chart ia particular which represented the cost of $37.50, equivalent to the ordinary salary of a public school teacher for a month and a half. His investigation led him to write the county beards, urging them to check the sale of these charts. As the teachers' associations of Salada and Kershaw coon ties have recently adopted resolutions disapprov ing, of buying these charts in such great quantities, Mr. MsMahan was yesterday approached in regard to the matter. Io February.a communication io The - State from York ville called attention to the indiscriminate purchase of charts in York county, and that Mr. Mc Maban in endeavoring to check the . sale **was after Mr. Mayfield " Mr. MoMahau at the time denied that he was after Mr. Mayfield," and stated zn a card in The State that he was trying to prevent further purchases. He has sines been making inquiry and compiling figures from the several counties of 6 State. He said in his statement, that from the reports of the county suprintendents of education of the majority of the coa a ties of the State and from incomplete reports appearing in the last annual report of the state suprintendent of education, it appears that between $57,000 and 58,000 of public money has been invested io charts, and like apparatus, chiefly the mathematical charts sold by W. W. Tutwiler as manager of the E. O. Evans Co., of Chicago. The chart selia for $37.50, and consequent ly cuts off at least a month's teaching in tho school ra which it is purchased. To indicate the extravagance of the principio io some counties, it may be 72'.rtcd that in Sumter county this item is reported as about $4,200 ; io Florence about $4,000 ; the proceeds of the three mill tex in the latter J esaoty being between. 10,000 and $21,000 Io o district io Fiore nee where there were ' four schools, the -county superintendent reports, that the total school fund apportioned was $380.60, and that of this $376 waa spent for charts, leaving $4 60 to run the schools. IQ another district the expenditure is reported as exceeding tho .apportion en t. It Horry county where the three mill tax rakes something between < $4,000 and $5.000, the amount spent tor charts according to the item io the state superintendent's annual report is over $4,000, and it is oar re ntl y report el lo have exceeded $5,000. This is raore than was paid for the employment ' i of teachers, and their schools would have been closed but for the dispensary i supplementary fund. Thc counties that bought, spent usually about $2,000 for these charts, ; 'ice expeoditure ranging from aboGt $1.000 to $3.000 Io Fairfield no permission to canvass, was granted; likewise in Chester, Superintendent W. D. Kook saying that they had experience of ' tbe danger of turning ; kose agents upon the school trustees.7' Mir MeMahao learning of the damage being done, exerted himself to stop further perchases. The county board of Abbeville reported that they vere in session considering the question wheo they received bis letter of warsieg and they refused to permit tbe agents to canvass the ooaaty. Anderson county has also jost been reached by the agents, and permission was ref asea* In Spartan borg and GreenTtlie the canvass bad begun bot the expressions of the state superintendent bad become known tn the county, aod the s geo ts had become unable to sell and abandoned che field In Lin eas ter permission was granted after the waroicg He stated farther that in some counties the agents bad received permission to canvass. Whether or not this woold render the contraots invalid, he could not say, sod the attorney geoeral bas oot jet expressed an opioion. The charts were sold OD contract* to be nude payable upon delivery of the goods These contracts were, as a rote, negotiated and dis counted immediately open their being accepted. He was asked if be censured the state boftrd of education for giving the agents permission to canvass the State. He said that be felt diffident in regard to pai sing judgment upon those who were in a measure his superiors in office, but he tboaght that the? bad aoted unwisely in permitting the agents to come into the Stats and market the chart at such a erice. Hindsight is better than fore sight,'' aod the state board probably had no idea to what extent the charts wc aid find sale, He theo explained the connection of the state board with the matter. When a concern of this kind desires to come into the State, it must obtain permis sion from the state board ; theo the ageots eau enter no county without permission from the county board. These grants of permission are not nec essarily recommend a tic a nor are they binding ca tbe school trastees.-The State. SOME FACTS ABOUT SCHOOL SUPPLIES. Extravagance Seems to Have Been Extraordinary. CARELESSNESS OP TRUSTEES The attorney general is expected to day to deliver an opinion on the validity of warrants issued in pay-' ment of the purchase of school sup plies, when the coutracts are dated a year ahead. He is preparing this I opinion at the request ^f Air. W. H. Barton, superintendent of education of Greenville county. This is an other develpment bf Superintendent McMahan's investigation into the extravagant purchase of, the arith metical charts sold by B 0. Evans & Co. Mr. Barton's reason for askicg for this opinion is that some of the school trustees, in purchasing the charts, have contracted for part of the amount out of the school lands of next year, for the iaw says that no school shall exceed its funds for the year in incurring any ex penses in expenditures The question involved is whether they can con tract upon the funds of a year in advance. Assistant Attorney General C. P. Townsend expressed an opinion on this question on April 2, 1898. The opinion is on file in the State super intendent's office and reads as fol lows : "Your request has had my atten tion The law prohibits the making of contracts for this year in excess of the funds of the year, but it does not prohibit the making of contracts to take efifeGt during next year, provided they are not in excess of the funds for that year." Mr. Mc Manan thinks that this would give the trustees the right to expend the faods.of not only one, but of several years in advance, and that, too, when they had nothing to guide them as to the amount of fonds for those years. Mr. McMahan has on file many letters on this subject. Some of them are very severe in their criti cism of tbe ageat8 making the sales, charging them with deception and fraud Following is the rule of the state board, adopted in 1897, which relates to the purchase of school supplies : "No school supplies shall be pur chased by school officers for use in the public schools of any county in the State, except such as are aa-, thorned by the state board to be so d. The vendors of ali such sup plies authorized to be sold by this board shall enter into a written contract with this board, in which the prices of the supplies shall be stated, and copies of the supplies shall be placed in the office of the state superintendent of education, and the supplies sold to the schools shall at all times conform to the sam j pies, and the prices shall not exceed 1 the prices, agreed on The county j board may allow or disallow such 1 supplies, or any of them, to be sold in their counties Incase they per mit the ame to be sold, they shall give the vendor a written permission to offer the same to the trustees of their coooties, tbe prices of the sop plies to be named in the written permission, leaving the parchase, or not, of each supplies to the good judgment of the boards of trustees In case the trustees purchase any ol such supplies, they may give a warrant against the school fond of their district in payment therefor, but in no case shall the county superintendent of educatioo counter sign or endorse aoy soch warraot uotii t e supplies have been deliver ed ; the county superintendent shall bold ali such warrants-in his posses sion until the delivery of the sup plies is made. All persons purchas ing any such warrants before the same has been countersigned by the county superintendent of ducation, do so at their own risk. While this rule does not say so specifically, still it wouid be inferred that the state board intended for the county board to take action in meet ing, and not for the individual mern bers to pass upon the application for permission to canvass, lt appears from letters received by Mr McMa han, that the agents have not done so They have not appeared before the board in session, but have in some counties, at least, obtained per mission from the members separately. A great deal of irregularity as to sales are reported by the trastees One trustee writes that an agent came to bim with a piece of paper which the agent read, as the trastee did not have bis spectacles. The letter says that the paper purported to be a recommends tion that the state superintendent of education allow the trustees to re ceive free copies of certain publica tions. The trustee signed the paper, as did the other trustees, and it now developed they signed a contract for the purchase of charts. A trustee io York county writes that the charts were ordered as they were represented to be printed oo doth When the charts arrived they were printed oo paper, were cheap io finish and in no way oK o specifications. The county superintendent of Marion states that agents over there soid many charts ander faise pretenses. He re fused payment of warrants aggregating $675, ss they were given fraudulently His lotter states thaUhe general i-ger.:, S3 Mr. W. W. Tutwilcr. agreed that the deduction was proper, and ho had authorized his agents to conduct busi ness in no such way. Mr. W. W. . Bright, county superintendent of Picken?, writes Mr. McMaban a letter which is a type of these from other counties He says among ether things : "When I took charge of the office and ran over the financial standing of the districts, I saw, as I understand the law, the prospect of running some of the noboois was out of the question. I notifiod the treasurer not to pay said claims (charts). My predecessor told me the charts were in the depot, and that be would attend to delivering them. It is alleged that the agents told the trustees that the charts would be paid for out of the general fund, aod that they would actually cost them nothing. Also .hat they would be paid for out of che dispensary fund, etc. 1 haye not beard of a single case where the trustees met to purchase, but that- the agent bunted them up, and if they were obstinate a pecuniary gain was offered, it is also alleged. There is no record I can find of their having per mission to sell in this office." From many counties in the State similar letters have been received ; all goiog to show that the trustees were evidently ignorant of their duties and that the agents were well aware of the fact.-The State. A Marrow Escape. Thankful words written by Mrs. Ada E Hart, of Groton, S. D. ''Was taken with a bad cold which settled os my lungs ; cough set in and finally terminated in Consomption. Four doctors gave me up, saying I could live but a short time. I gave myself up to my SaviourJ determined if I could not stay with my friends on earth, I would meet my absent ones above. My husband was advised to get Dr. King's New Discovery for Consumption, Coughs and Colds. I gave it a trial, took in all eightbot ties. It has cured me, and thank God I am aved and now a well and healthy -woman." Trial bottles free at J. F. W. DeLorme's Drug Store. Kegular giza 50c and $1. Guaranteed or price retarded. 1 STATE BOARD AUTHOR IZED PURCHASE. Mr. Mayfield was Opposed to Act diving the Board the Authority. Special to The State. Greenville, March 16.-The publica tion referring to the extravagant purchase of school charts was shown to Hon. W. D Mayfield, former superin tendent of edocatioo, and he talked freely about the matter. It seems that Mr. Mayfield did not favor the purchase of charts, but yielded to tbe wishes, of the state board of education. Up to the passage of a law in 1897 authorizing the purchase, Mr. Mayfield refused to allow the purchase, but the act gave the board authority two years ago and the canvass begun soon after. Mr. Mayfield referred to section 25, rules and regulations of the board, wbiob states the purchase of supplies must be by the trustees after permission from the state and county boards. Mr. Mayfield said that the charts were examined and approved by the committee on supplies, which consists nf the five educators oe the board, who recommended the adoption of the charts, one so arithmetical chart, call ed the Evana chart costing $37 50, another a language chart for 22.50, and alco a readiog chart for $10, both the latter sold by the Franklin pub lishing company at a combined price of 27. Io regard to the failure of the obarts to come op to sample, Mr. Mayfield said that was the work of unscrupulous and unreliable agents. He left this -fte rn ooo for Colombia. The canvass of this county bad just begun when Superintendent MoMabao's warning arrived and the sales were stooped No warrants have been paid. FIRE DOWN AT CLAFLIN. Orangeburg. Maroh 17.-Fire last night, between 9 and 10 o'clock, destroyed several buildings on the ground of Olafiin university, among them being the barns and contents and the printing building, where the Clafiio University Bulletin was issued by the students. At one time, when it was found that the waterworks did not give sufficient pressure to force water to the buming buildings, it was feared the fire would spread and possibly reaeh the State's property in the adjoining lot. But the splendid discipline under whioh everything moves at Ciafiin averted this calamity. A buoket brigade was quickly organ ized, and splendid work was done by men and womeo. "Uncle Joe," the steamer, got under steam by this time and put ic some of his good work, completely obacging the aspect of things. Slight damage was done to the State's property, and the lesses at Claflin are probably fully oovored by insurance Boston, March 16.-Go). A. A. Pope, of ibis city and Hartford, in an interview to-day confirmed the report that a bicycle combine is being formed and that options on many big plants have been requested. He said that Mr. Spalding, acting member for r. number of bankers, under advice of abie counsel, is endeavoriog to brio/? the manufacturers together. NO EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY. CHARITABLE ORGANIZA TIONS TO BE ASSESSED. Comptroller General Derham has brought to light a question of con siderable importance and one which may entail unexpected hardship upon some of the charitable institutions in Columbia His attention was called to the fact that some such institutions were not paying taxes in conformance with the constitution, among them the Y. M. C A , the Masonic temple organ ization, the Ursuline convent and the Presbyterian College for Women. Yesterday he communicated with Auditor W. H Squier, telling him that this property must be assessed for taxation for this year and for back taxes. He instructed Auditor Squier that "when any doubt exists as to the right of any association or society to exemption, under this article and section, charge them on the additional duplicate of 1898, with taxes 1898 and any years past due and unpaid, informing this office, as provided in acts of 1898, page 727." The section of the constitution referred to provides that "There shall be exempted from taxation all county, township and municipal property, used exclusively for public purposes and not for revenue, and the property of all schools, colleges and institu tions of learning, all charitable insti tutions in the nature of asylums for the infirm, deaf and dumb, blind, idiotic and indigent persons, except where the profits of such institutions are applied to private uses ; all pub lic libraries, churches, parsonages and burying grounds, but property of associations and societies, al though connected with benevolent objects, shall not be exempt from State, county or municipal taxation j Provided, That as to real estate this exemption shall not extend beyond the buildings and premises actually occupied by such schools, colleges, institutions of learning, asylums, libraries, churches, parsonages and burial grounds, although connected with charitable objects.''-The State, March 15. Constipation prerents tbe body from rid ding itself of waste matter. De Witt's Lit tle Early Risers will remove tbe trouble and care Sick Headache, Biliousness, Inactive Liver and clear the Complexion. Small, sogar coated, don't gripe or canse nausea. Sugbson-Ligon Co. Paper novels, SOO new titles, many of them never before issued ia cheap form. H. 6. us teen & Co. Raleigh, N C., March lr.-Small pox continues to spread in this Stats. Up to to-night its appearaoce bas been reported in 20 counties of the state The latest oases reported are from Guil ford, Moore and Warren. Little Kock, Ark., March 16 - Members of the legislature were panic stricken to day when it was announced that physicians had diag nosed the illness of Senator Lank ford as smallpox. After a half hour's debate the house voted to vaccinate all its members. "Better Be Wise Than Rich." Wise people are also rich when they know a perfect remedy for all annoying dis eases of the blood, kidneys, liver and bowels* It is Hood*s Sarsaparilla, which is perfect in its action. It so regulates the entire sys tem as to bring vigorous health. It never disappoints. Goitre- " For 42 years I had goitre, or swellings on my neck, which was dis couraging and troublesome. Rheumatism also annoyed me. Hood's Sarsaparilla cured me completely and the swelling has entirely disappeard. A lady in Michigan saw my previous testimonial and used Hood's and was entirely cured of the same trouble. She thanked me for recommend ing it." MRS. ANNA SUTHERLAND, 406 Lovel Street, Kalamazoo, Mich. Poor Hearth - M Had. poor health for years, pains in shoulders, back and hips, with constant headache, nervousness and no appetite. sed Hood's Sarsaparilla, gained strength and can work hard all day; eat heartily and sleep well. I took it be cause it helped my husband." MRS. ELIZABETH J. GIPFELS, Moose Lake, Minn. Makes Weak Strong-M would give $5 a bottle for Hood's Sarsaparilla if I could not get it for less. It is the best spring medicine. It makes the weak strong." ALBERT A. JAGNOW, Douglastown, N. Y. Hood's PHI cnre liver lils; non-Irritating and only cathartic to take with Hood's Sarsaparilla. ."_y,,,,, iMMHMBMM.M ?lirrr-? ll I IM Mi 11 Bl IM ll lill ll OSBORNE'S Answin, < a. Actual Business. Ko Text Books. Short time. Cheap board. Send for Catalogue. CURES WHERE ALL ELoE FAILS. :st Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. Dae t*; ia time. Sold by druggists. iLANT LIFE, to be vig orous and healthv, must have Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen. These essential elements are to plants, what bread, meat and water are to man Crops flourish on soils well supplied with Potash. ' Our pamphlets tell how to buy and apply fertilizers, and are free to all. GERHAN KALI WORKS, 03 Nassau St., New York. OR MEN, FREE SEND NO MONEY. My new revised scientific work treating on ever? weakness and disease pe culiar to men ia just from the press. Every man, no matter what his occupation or position in life, will find this work unlike anything ever published. It is of vita! interest to the married or unmarried; to the healthy and strong or to the weak and broken-down. While the edition lasts I will send a copy securely sealed in a plain wrapper, post* age prepaid, to everyman whr writes for it. This edition is limited and those desiring a copy must write promptly. Address B. M. Boss, M. Pub lishing Department D. 175 Clark St., E. Cor. Monroe. Chicago, Illinois. Mm WAiwjEi>r qpHE MANAGEMENT of the Equitable I Life Assurance Society in this territory is desirous of securing tbs services of a man of character and ability to represent its inter ests, with Sumter as headquarters. The right man will be thoroughly educated in the science of Lite insuraoce and the art of suc cessful soliciting. There is no business or profession, not requiring capital, which is more, remunerative than a life agency con ducted with energy and ability. Correspond ence with men who desire to secure employ ment, and are ambitious to attain prominence in the profession, ia invited. W. J. RODDEY, Manager, March 23-tf Rock Hill, S. C. Tie Land ail Most Complete EstaMMMt M Geo. S. Hacker & Son, -MANUFACTURERS OF DOORSj SASH, BLINDS, Moulding & Building Material. office and Warerooms, Kingj opposite Can non Street, CHARLESTON, S. C. Pnrckase our make, which we gu rante superior to any sold South, and thereby pave money. Window and Fancy Glass a Specialty October 16-o WAR! WAR! WAR! But the "White" is vitcori ous. We are now selling sew ing machines from ten dollars up. We have a few machines that are slightly used that we will sell cheap. We also have a nice line of Organs that we will sell on easy terms. We are hea'd quarters for Sewing Machines and supplies. Old machines taken in exchange for new ones. MT. B. RMIHLE, illa nager, Sumter Hosie House, SUMTER, S. C. 75 SQ* RAINCOAT _A KJIGlXaR tS.HO lUTOTKOOV "^""jlUklJ OSH JOB S2.75. Send No Money. 2SS dto state your hrijht sad weight, stat number of inches around body at brcaat taken over vest under coat cletta up under arms, and we will send you tbis coat b> express, C 0. . Lt. nubjiTt io ti nm i na! en-, examina and try it on at your nearest ex press office and if found exactly as represented and the most won derful value you aver saw or heard of and equal to any coatyou can buy for 5.00. pay th exprMS aaaat oar . pt al off -rorie , fS. *. and express charges. THIii MACKINTOSH is latest 1899 stvle. ma*le from heavy waUrproor, tan color, rennin DurisCotartCloth; extra long, double breasted, Sager ve vet collar, fancy plaid lining, waterproof .ewed, strapped and cemented seams, suitable for both raia or carcoar, and iruarari teed greatest Tala ever offered i by us or any other house. For Frea Cloth Sample of Men's Mackintoshes up to *3.0>. and Made-to-Measure Suits md Overcoats at from .00 to 110.00, write tor Ira SEVRV^OEBUCK & CO., CH1CACO, ILL S%, ?k S K e V *oT't > r U ),.-*dltor.) 1 Fire Insurance Agency, ESTABLISHED 1866. Represent, among otber Companies : LIVERPOOL k LONDON & GLOBE, NORTH BRITISH & MERCANTILE HOME, of New York. UNDERWRITERS' AGENCY, N. Y. LANCASTER INSURANCE CO. Capita] represented $75,000,000. Feb 28 VHv BBHTOB WATCHMAN, Established April. 18S0. "Be Just and Fear not-Let al! the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE THEE SOUTHRON, Established Jone. I3fc6 Consolidated Aug. 2,1881. SUMTER. S. G., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22.1899. New Series-Yoi. XVIII. No. 34