Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THK SUMTER WATCHMAN, Established April, 1850. "Be Just and Fear not-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." TB?S TRUE SOUTHRON, E?tabl?shcd Jane 12*>6 Consolidated Aug. 2,1881. SUMTER. S. C.. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7,1900. New Series-Vol. XIX. So. 28 Pnblisiei STOTT T?"ed.:ios?ay, -Bf KT. G-, Osteen, SUMTER, S. C. TERMS : {1.50 per annum-io advance. ?DYKRTIS?MBKT: Oao Square first insertion.$1 00 Brer y subsequent insertion... 50 Contracts for three months, or longer wil be made Ht reduced rates. All cornrjunieations which subserve private interests will be charged for as advertiements. Obituaries and tribute? of respects will be oharged for. THE WAR IN AFRICA. Farther Security Needed for . Costs of British Rles. London Jan, 31, 4 a. m.-It is ?ow known that the cabinet devoted mach of its discassions on Saturday io the mobilization of the fleet, until farther secarity to the home coast has been obtained by naval pre* parafions, the Eight division shall sot be sent to Sooth Africa. The mobilization of reserve war? ships, if such a coarse shall be deter? mined opon, would be of the almost importance There is nothing in the intelligence possessed by the public to cao3e the cabinet prolonged dis? cussion of this matter and the infer? ence is that the fleet may be mobil? ized as a genera! warning to other countries to keep their hands off the Transvaal qoestion, or the ministry may have definite knowledge that the neutral powers purpose to take some advantages elsewhere'while England is bo8y io Sooth Africa Ooe thing is certain. Teo thoa sand men, ail ready to go to Sooth Africa, are detained for reasons of which the public has no knowledge There is talk of 47 militia battal? ions being embodied These are all of the militia not previously warned A sharp lookout is being kept on vol unteers for the vari?os Sooth African regiments. The Daily Chronicle says : "Three suspicious characteis were rejected by headquarters in one regi? ment Monday Two were unmistak? ably of Boer origin The third, whose English was faulty, had been a German officer " The indications are that the relief of Ladysmith has been abandoned for the present aud that a concentra tion t>f the British for an invasion of the Free State is in progress In j addition to Gen Kelly Kenny's move? | ment, Gen Brabant, chief of the Cape Colonials, has arrived at Strerks troom The natives report that three Boer guns have been removed from Spy fontein to Kimberley The BoerR are apparently making a special effort to reduce the place quickly The Kim berley garrison was safe last Sunday BELIEVE BRITISH ARE WHIP? PED. Berlin, Jao 30 -Aoo rdiog to private reports received here the Cape Dutch are still joining the Boer forces The German pres3 express the belief that Great Britiao has about reached the end of her military resources and would do well to acknowledge defeat and to conclude peace. The Kraz Z-\tung, which attributes her reverses largely to the absence of compulsory military service, says: "Among the most interesting resolt? of the South African campaign is the mach denied truth that the worth cf nations is weighed io war's balance, and England is already in the midst of catastrophe 11 The Deorsobe Tagez Z itung cays it is evident that not oo!y Gen Warren, bot Geo Baller's whole force has beso defeated on the Togela This it calls "the begining of the end *' Loss Greater Than Any Brit? ish Force Has Suffered Since 1811. London, Feb 1 4 a. o -The supplemental lists of casualties fi!! two coiumc-? io nooparifti ?yp-j i ? the morn? ing papers, making 1 300 re-ported thus tar in Gen Buller** operanoo* north of -hs Togela The I)a*.!y Chronicle f stimates that the rotai exceed? 2.000 The 40 per c;:or loss r' Spion sop is greater than a:.y British .force ever suffered, excr*n* possibly at Albaera, Spain, io 1811 Toe admirai try h xs warned ali bait pay naval officers to bold themselves in readiness f>r service This, with the fact that able seamen, not tboroogly experienced, have been withdrawn from the channel F quad roo, is ^akeo to indi cate the earl? mobil-zatioc <f the reserve flaet, i'sneciailj 'A'7 division At a meeting the army and navy members of the hou-e cf commons yes? terday a resolution expressing absolute confidence io whatever the government thought necessary commanded only two vofes. Iostead of this, a resoiu'ion was adopted oalling for the immediate formation of a home defense force Lord Salisbury bas called another oabinet council, which will meet Friday or Saturday to consider the situation. Public spirits are at very iow ebb. When tbe nation bad almost resign ed itself to the fall of Ladysmith there cornea from all quarters today an indi? cation that Geo Baller will make another attempt to relieve the besieged place. If the Daily Mail's report of Geo Boiler's statement that be hoped to be io Ladysmith within a week could be implicitly relied on, oews of farther serious fighting would ba expected shortly. But the papers are loath to believe what the St James Gazette oharacteriz38 a3 "oowarrantable boast I iog," if true. Moreover, the war I office throws cold water on the dispatch this afteaoooo by issuing a statement that it bas oo news confirmatory of such a move as Geo Belier's reported speech iodioates. Yet. today's dis? patches from Ladysmith sod Cape Town give a stroog impression that there is som thing more than a rumor io ail these reports. So, while all deficite opinion mast awaic farther oews, it does cot seem at all unlikely that aoother desperate effort will be made to suecor Gen White. "The possibility of Geo Baller making another dash appears to depend greatly oo the exact position of Gen Lyttle ton's brigade. Beyond the ooderstand iog ic is oo the north side of the Tugela river, everything is a matter of supposition It will easily be seen that if Geo Lyttletoo still bold? the drifts oo the north side Gee Buller retains the opeoiogs aod might attempt another advance by way of Potgieters or some neighboring drift. But the vagueness regarding the position of Geo Lyttleton re?oives ail this ioto the purest surmise From the other columns there is oot much news of aoy kind, aod it would require something of overwheiroiog importance to detrae: from the absorb iog interest io Lady smith's dilemma. However, there are interesting' cable dispatches telling the story'of Spion kop Winston Charohiil says that Capt Thoroeycroft. who replaced the wouoded Geo Woodgate, is the hither to unnamed offner who gave the order to retire, aod fully justifies him in so doiog Churchill says the Boer losses were greater thao those of the British A dispatch from the Associated Press representative at Spearman's farm, dared Thursday, Jan 25. describing I the fight and retirement from Sp:oo kop, says : '.We filed down sadly bur in nerfeot order The King's Royal Rifles' colo oel was struck down at the moment a heliograph message ordering the retire? ment was handed him The enemy is holding thanksgiving services tonight. "The surgeoos, who ascended the hill, were allowed to remove our wounded. The scene at the top was a fearful aod terrible witness of the destructiveness of the artillery. All day our stretcher bearers w&re busy j oarryiog dowo meo " FOOD FOR SHELLS. London, Feb 1 -Acconnte of tbe battle of Spoin kop continue to filter in All testify to the terrific Boer fire Several estimates that the total losses of Gen Baller' turning move ment will amount approximately to 1.500 When reinforcements arrived the troops were much cramped on the top of Spion kop Preparations were made below to secure tbe position, guns were on the way and engineers had been ordered np to strengthen the entrenchments Coi Thorneycroft was not aware of this when he ordered the retirement, and he actually mst the artillery comnig up Gen Woodgate was wounded about 2 o'clock in the afternoon Even then he protested that he was all right and bad to be held down on the stretcher It is reported that the Boer com mander at first insisted on the release of some Boer prisoners before he would permit the English to collect their wounded A curious incident is related of the j fighting on Jan 24 One of the Lan ! casters while firing from the prone j position, had his head taken clean off ! by a sheil To the amazement of his I comrades the headless trunk quietly j rose, stood upright a few seconds J and then foil j L .ndon, Fob 2, 4 30 a --J. -Mr j Wynn harn'? remarkable declaration in j the house of commons todav thar Great ! Britain will have in a fortnight a toral j o' 213 OOO troops in South Afrija, with j 542 guns, is received wirb wonderment, j Ail af ?JU?? thorp, exempt about 18, I OOO that aro afloat Beyond comoari ; son, this H the larges* force (iroat j Britain bas ever put into the Geld. At . th" cod of the Crm.'pan war she had I scraped together 80,000 mon Wei i ?ing-on at Waterloo bad 25,000. Roughly speakine. oriiy 80,000 men are at the front. Tan thousand others have been lost and 10,000 are shut up at Ladysmith. Exoludiog these, there are 70,000 troops who have not yet been io action, ia addition to those at fea. Why so many have not yet been engaged is explained by the lack of laod trans portation and the organization .of sup plies, to wbioh Lord Roberts' is devot? ing experience and Lord Kitchener his genius for details It seems as though the weight of these masses must destroy the equilibrium wbioh now holds the Brittan forces stationary wherever they ara io ooataot with the Boer army Laok of transports and organization will not explain adequately, why wheo generals at the front request reinforce ment, they got tbem in rather small numbers Koowiedge is slowly pene traticg to London that large garrisons most be kept io Cape Colony to hold down the Cape Dutch, who, as every? one knows, outaomber the British residents 3 to 2 The war ofihe this eveoiog completes the list of the British casualties at Spioc kop by announcing the names of 215 misaiog meo of vari?os regiments, including 137 members of the Lan? cashire Fosileers. It is generally supposed Gao. Buller is maturing another attempt to reach Ladysmith. A letter appears to day from a Hanoverian officer, formerly of the Twenty-second German infantry, but now among the military advisers of the Boers, which says tba: nearly 10,000 traioed European soldiers, including quite 300 officers, are among the Boers. Referring to the military situation at Ladysmith, the officer says : "Owing to the strength of our posi? tion, on a cycle of heights, like Sedan, we cannot be brushed aside except by a relief column outnumbering us two to one Owiog to the discovery that cotton khaki u insufficient protection for troops sleeping on the South African plains, the government is starting to reclothe the forces io the field with woolen khaki and has already ordered 95 000 snits io Glasgow alone Canon Farmer, who was forced to leave Pretoria with other British clergymen, has arrived io London With reference to Charles E Macram, the former United States consul at Pretoria, Canon Farmer said to a representative of the Associated Press : "Mr Macram was one of the lagt men I saw before leaving. I told him be was taking the wroog side and did not understand American feeling His chief care seemed to be for his persooal safety, and I think it was chiefly on that account that he left in thc midst of the crisis He is not a strong man and President Kruger may have taken advantage of this "in regard to Blake's so-called volunteers, they are like Mr B ake, mostly burghers who would have been obliged'to fight any way Mr Maerum told me there were 5 000 Americans io the Transvaal, most of whom the United States was glad to get rid of " Pretoria. Caooo Farmer added, TOS prov?8?ooed for two years Ia the absence of exciting war news the nation and the newspapers have bad time to discover the otter lack of relation existing between the feeliog of tbe people aod the temper of tbe gov? ernment, as demonstrated io parlia? ment, where, instead of relieving the grave anxiety of the country by the declaration of measures it is proposed to take in behalf of the oational safety, ministers continue to demonstrate their inability to grasp the situation by heating tbe air with recriminations, self accusatory defense aod bickerings as to the degree of responsibility at? tachable to the respective departments of the government The disgost. al? most despair, noticeable on all sides, is voieed by the ultra ministerial organ. The Globe, which says : "The heart of the empire seems par? alyzed, while its extremities are in full vigor. Thus far only one statesman io the front rank bas struok the right note and that is Lord Roseberry." There will be a totai eclipse of the sun May 28tb, 1900. According to Prof Bigelow the path of the shadow will begin at sunrise over the Pacific ocean just west of Mexico, extend thence northeast over the Southern States from New Orleans to Norfolk, crossing the middle portions of the North Atlantic ocean to Portugal and termination near the northern end of the Read Sea at sunset. A fine r.Tw city hail is the latesr gift of Charles Broadway Rou-e, tho biicd millionaire of New York, to his native town. Winchester, Va. It will bo one of the handsomest structures of j its li ! t d in thc State Ir wi1! cost about $50.000, of which Mr Rouse | gave ?30 000 Tho Atlantic Coast Lamber Company h=is purchased tho G"orge'owo and Western Raiircad from Georgetown to Laoes, ar?d have also purchased two steaoK-ra t.> pi y between Georgetown aod New Y ork. A man ar Bridgeport. Conn, looking at. the crowd at tho station platform to meet Mr Bryan, paid : "A man who can get them out like this in January is a dangerous proposition to fool with in November." MOVEMENT OF BOERS AND OTHER SIGNS Indicate Anotner Advance by Buller- Free State In? vasion. London, Feb 3. 4 10 a. m.--Helio grams flashed from Ladysmith three days ago say that the Boer invest ment lines then were thinning and that the besiegers were moving in force toward the Tagela, indicating that a collision was expected there This intelligence bears out other signs" that Gen Buller purposed a fresh attack The war office reveals nothing of what bas happened in Natal With out exception the military critics regard with dismay the prospect of a renewal of the assaults unless Gen Boiler has been heavily reinforced, and there is nothing to indicate that this is the case Lord Kitchener bas been traveling from army to army in northern Cape Colony, and Gen French, by instructions, is now in Cape town consulting with Lord Roberts Large engineering con? structions are proceeding at Modder river, suggesting that Lord M et hu en s fortified camp bas been selected a3 the bass from which to invade ihe Free State. Numerous sidings, plat? forms and warehouses are being built, and a permanent railway bridge ie well .advanced German stategists assert that the topography of the country would make invasion easier from Kimberley and the district northward than from the more rugged region of Sterkstroom or Colesberg "BOBS" WANTS MORE MEN London, Feb 2.-Dispatches from several points in South Africa merely tell of desultory shell firing and tbe movements of patrols, though Cape Town mentions a rumor that Gen French has captured 800 Boers, where and when not being announc? ed. Sensational rumors are current that the militia ballot act will be put in force Feb 14th, and that Gen Lord Roberts, the commander in chief of the British forces in South Africa, has cabled for 90,000 additional men. which it is added, the government has promised to give bim, sending oO.OuO militia and volunteers, and 40 000 militia reserves It is also said that the volunteers will be mobilized forthwith. It is even asserted today, that the cabinet has specially deait with these mat ters The Gazette this evening says it is the queen's intention to confer the Victoria cross on Capts Congreve and Reed, Lieut Roberts and Corpo? ral Nurse for their attempts to save the guns at the battle of Colenso. THE MAFEKING REPORT. Lorenzo Marques, Feb 1 -A dis patch from Gaberones, dated Jan 23, describing a reconnoissance of some of Col Plumer's forces around the Boer laager southward, seems to dispose of the story that Mafeking has been relieved On that date the Rhodesians captured two Transvaal flags and drove off the Boer outposts before returning to Gaberones D0UTHIT RESIGNS. Having Been Vindicated by the Senate He Does Not Want the Place Longer. State L'quor Commissioner J B Douthic has resigned his position, the resignation to take effect immediately. His e'estioo was oonfirmed only a few days ago by the renate by a vote of 19 to 16, aod it seems that be w;is waitiog for this viDdicatio? only His letter of resignation is as follows.: To the Hooorabie Stare B >srd of Control : I hereby tender my resignation of j ; offisc of State commissioner, ai.d ask that ir be accepted a* your next meer ! tug. ? beg to say thar my resign i-noo j wouid have been banded you as sooo a>. j j ? wes vindicated ny ye,ur board bu* fer ! i rh-.- rfqeest of FO:;JO o' y>ur members j j that 1 continue un'i: y^U" meeting in j j January. At thar ti.ne I ridocaotiy j j CODS":"!red t:? oontinue until your Febru j ! arv meering, hu' my privae affvri j : demanded my attention ?nd 1 now a*k ? ! t'n.'?r you accept my resignation Since my vindication hy the senate I cannot consent to serve y-'U longer, as j y.:u knew I have only fought for p-r- | socal vindication, and my resignanoo has been at your commmaud < Ter ?:nce my viodicafioo by y<?u And since my confirmation by the senate I now consider it complete, and insist on retiring. I wouid have mado this insistance sooner but for tbe fact that owing to the uncertainty as to the action of the geoeral assembly you could cot sooner supply my plaoe with a competent mao. J. B DOUTHIT. Tbe General Assembly. j Columbia, Jan 31 -Oo Tuesday the I bouse adopted Mr Paton's r?solution locking to a constitutional amendment by which bonded cities could under take city water works, by a vote cf 104 to 10. exempting certain cities Mr Baoot secured the passage of tbe bill repealing the amendment to the primary law, by which in Charleston it was required that voters io tbe primary should have registration certificates, which prerequisite is oot required else? where io the State in State and oouoty primaries The resolution allowing a sait to be brought against tbe State by the Caro? lina National Bank for the recovery of the value of two notes, endorsee! by -Col Neal, &3 soperioteodent, was adopt ed after considerable discussion. SENATE The Appelt local option bill was killed in the Senate today by a vote of 25 to 12 Another bill of importance was discussed and also rejected, lt refer? red to the manner of assessing property for taxation The night session opened with the further consideration of the Graydon dispensary bill The Mayfield sub stitute was taken up, the pending motion being an amendment to it by Senator Henderson providing for the appointment of the board of directors by the Governor. Senator Archer offered an amend? ment that the Senate elect one mern ber of the board of directors, who shall be chairman, and the House to elect 'wo, all of whom mast be men of good moral char acter They shall serve for two years and shall receive the per diem a?d mileage of members of the Legislature, to be paid out of dis pensary fonds, and they shall meet and take their oath ten days after the approval of tbe Act He said that by having separate elections he thought there woold not be so mach chance of political influence being brought to bear. The election of a chairman by the Senate would cer tainly obviate the usual political squabble for that position His plan would create a friendly rivalry be? tween the two houses to secure the best business men The yeas and nays being demand? ed the amendment wa3 adopted by I 25 to ll Columbia, Jan 31-When the house met this morning the senate reported that it had killed Mr Hy drick's insurance bill and also the bil! relative to township boards of assessors At the instante of Dr Wyche a number of claims on which favorable reports were made were taken up and passed without the formality cf printing and going on the calendar Reports that were unfavorable or divided went over on the calendar. The house took up its third read? ing bills. There had to be u yea and nay vote on the joint resolutioo to provide for the constitotional amend? ment relative to bonding ce: *.ain cities and towns On the yea and nay vote 96 members voted for the final passage of the resolution, and Messrs Gamble and Ragsdale voted against the resolution Eighty three votes were necessary for the passage of the re8oiution, so with the 96 votes the resolution goes to the senate for agreement There was a brief discussion on Mr Robinson's little bill to recognize teachers' certificates in the various counties. It finally went through, as did all the bills down for the third reading Mr Prince of Anderson called up his prohibition bill Mr Magill wanted to recommit the bill for a definite reports This was voted down Mr DeBtubl moved to indefinitely postpone the biil and said there was no use to discuss the matter as it had been thoroughly discussed iast year A yea and nay vote was called for by Mr Williams, which resulted: Yeas 79, nays 26 The bill was ordered to its third reading, without any * amendment, and gives ail towns local boards of assessors Mr Fairey of Orangeburg again brought up hin bill relative to the burt.lng of dead swine He argued that the bili was? of much importance He read from the national bureau in support of his bili The only way to prevent the spread of the diseases of hogs is to burri or destroy the hogs The house refused to kili the bill by HU overwhelming vote The bill went to its third reading as fo?iows : That whenever any 6w5ne 6bail die from any natural couse whatever the owner of owners of such dead swine, upon notice thereof, shall immediate* ly burn or bury, or canse to be burn? ed or buried, such dead swine, and when buried it shall be put not less than three feet from the surface of the earth That the owner or owners of any dead swine who sha i 1 violate the pro? visions of the preceding shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sam not more than one hundred dol? lars or be imprisoned for a period of nut more than thirty days. The committee on railroads re? ported unfavorably on the petition of of H R Thomas to investigate the railroad commission. Tbe committee reported that it bad inquired into the matter and found oo occasion for the investigation asked for. The com? mittee found nothing in the charges. Mr Jones bad a bill to repeal the cotton seed license bil! for Clar? endon County He coald not see why Sumter and Orangebarg were eternally fighting the bill, Clarendon wanted to ru*: its own affairs. Mr Fairey said be has been here four years and this was the fifth time he had spoken against the bill. Orangeburg did not want Clarendon I to nave a wide open policy as to seed cotton Jtfr Wilson, of Sumter, thought it useless to always be kiiling the same bill He opposed this bill because of the interests of his people Mr Wiison said he had letters from Clarendon thanking him for opposing the bill The bili was killed by a decisive vote. 8ENATE The senate bas at last embodied its ideas of what the dispensary law should be in a bill to be sent to tbe house There are some details yet to be arranged, bot the maia features have beeo disposed of to far as the seoate is concerned It bas beeo remarked that the debate bas beeo characterized throughout by tbe best spirit aod ootbiog spiteful or calculated to cftend any one bas been said or dooe. As it now staods the proposed law is like this : The present- board is abolished and a board to be eleoted separately by sen? ate aod bouse, is to constitute a board of directors. The mao of good morai character, to be elected by the senate, is to be chairmao, aod the two to be elected by the noose 3re toe other members They are to get the pay of members, of the legislature. The commissioner is to be elected by the general assembly ; is to serve two years ; is to receive $3 OOO salary. He is to give a ?75,000 bond, ic rhree surety companies, each bond to be ?25,000, and is to have geoeral control of the management of the State dispen? sary. County boards are to be elected by the State board, as at present, with the ?.xception that it is to be dooe by aod with the consent of the seoate Coooty dispersers are to be elected by county boards. Constables at present serving aod to be appointed are to give a hood of ?500 for the faithful performaoce of their duty. The State board of direotors are still to fix tbe profit to be m?de by the State aod by the couoty dispensaries OD liquor sold. Aq, unfavorable report was made on the boose bill reducing the fertilizer tax Another Move in Carter Case. Washington, Feb 1.-The papers io tbe case of Capt Carter were received ac the supreme coart today The applicstioo for a writ of certiorari will have to be made Mooday The peti? tion for a writ of certiorari is present? ed by Abraham J Rose The twenty third annual meeting of the South Carolina Young Men's Christian association will convene at Greenwood on Feb 8, 9, ?0 and ll. All Christian men of the State are invited In towns where there are no associations, young men, by bringing ietters from their pastors, will receive the same courtesies us? ually extended to delegates. The levees on both sides of the Mississippi are of sufficient e^'enr. that if they were built in a single straight Hoe they would be about 1,300 miles loog, or long enough to s:rc:ch the greater parc of the distance bctwoon N !W G leans and New York. BAKING POWDER Makes the food more delicious and wholesome ROYAL BAKIWa POWDER CO., NEW YORK.