The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, December 24, 1902, Image 4
MAYESVILLE NEWS NOTES.
Everybody Looking Forward to a Merry
Christmas.
Mayes vi lie, Dec. 22-The ladies of
the Pres byte fian Church will give an
entertainment on Friday evening at the
High School building. The program
will consits of music, vocal and in?
strumental, and a farce comedy. A
pleasant evening's entertainment is
premised to all who attend. Admis?
sion, 25 and 10 cents.
The holiday business has commenced
and a busy week is expected in mer?
cantile lines. The sound of the fire?
crackers can be heard already and
Christmas is in the air.
The town council have been great?
ly improving ?the streets recently and
the appearance of our town is much
better as a result.
There will be a good many parties
and merry-making this week among
the young people, and wedding bells
will be heard on Christmas night.
Miss Ethel Cooper is at home for the
hoHdays.
Miss Sara I. Grant, of the Darling?
ton schools, is home for Christmas.
Mr. Lucian Strauss, who is attend?
ing the Georgia "Tech,* is at home
for a few days.
Miss Alice Cooper, who ia teaching
at Si Matthew's, arrived on Friday to
spend the holidays at home!
Mrs. E. Starnberger, of Clio, is
visiting at Mr. A. A. Strauss.
Miss. Fannie Strauss has returned
home from Clio.
AU of the teachers and students are
expected home this week to spend the
holidays. . .
Kagoofia News Notes.
Magnolia, Dec. 19.-Christmas will
soon be here and with it comes joy and
happiness, for some, disappointment
ana sorrow for others, and many now
living will never know how it came,
or whether it came at all-such is the
uncertainity of life and all that is as?
sociated with it.
Eev. J. W. Humbert, former pastor
of the M. E. Church at this place,
left for his new charge, Biege ville, yes?
terday morning, and later zn the day
Rev. Mr. Dent? oar new pastor, ar?
rived here, and is now busy moving
into his new home. He preached a
series of sermons here last summer,
and mads a fine . impression ; so he is
not exactly a stranger to us. We cer?
tainly wish him a successful year with
his new work.
There is a great deal of sickness in
and around our little town, from differ?
ent causes. . Dr. Tarrant has a most
busy time, and if a plenty of work
pleases him, he certainly ought to be
pleased.
Dr. E. F. Darby, now pf Columbia,
will return soon and resume practice
here. With two such physicians as
Drs. Darby and Tarrant, this section
is to be congratulated. Both are up
to-date physicians and very popular in
Magnolia and all the surrounding
country.
Capt D. E. Keels is holding his own
-has been ill nearly eight months.
He has certainly felt the mighty hand
of affliction.
CoL J. A. Shame has been on the
verge of pneumonia, but is out again.
Mr. Geo. W. Stokes has two very
ill children, one has typhoid fever, the
other pneumonia or suffering from
tho result of it.
Mr. W. R. Sanders' little boy, Har
v ley is very ill-has been confined to his
bed nearly five weeks.
Mr. James W. Wilson is quite sick,
and recovery doubtfuL
CoL Rhame, Dr. Tarrant and Mr.
D. P. Dennis will occupy their new
and handsome residences.
The Magnolia Graded School, under
the management of Prof. Branson and
Misses Clark and Farley, is moving
along beautifully. There is not nor has
been a ripple in the runnniog gear of
this school, and the teachers are all
that the most fastidious could wish.
There are 112 names enrolled, and
as many as 100 pupils , present in the
school rooms some days. The average
attendance is proof of the successful
management of this school, the estab?
lishment of which has considerably
increased the population of Magnolia
Hon. T. G. McLeod will conduct
his marchan tile businness in this
place next year, instead of Lyhcburg.
This is evidence that our little town is
moving to the front. Our citizens
should now go to work and have the
town incorporated, and thereby secure
better means of protecting of life and
property and bringing the guilty and
disorderly to speedy justice. Not
being incorporated is a serious draw?
back to this place, and just why it is
not corporated, is left for some one else
to explain.
Partridge hunting is now much
indulged in by the boys, young and
old men, and the birds are rapidly dis?
appearing-not killed but frightened
oil by a perfect little army of all
sorts of dogs. The champion hunters,
so to speak, are Messrs. J. F. McIn?
tosh, Jr., H. T. Toon, Lee Elilpa
trick, Henry Hickson, and old Mr.
Frank and Luther McIntosh.
Occasicral.
816 FIRE Hi KN0KV1LE.
The Loss is Now Estimated at
Half Million Dollars.
Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 22.-The
scene of this morning's half million
dollar ?re is but a mass of debris.
Brick walls of five of the six burned
structures are standing and here and
there groups of firemen are placing
streams of water on the smoking ruins.
The burned district is triangular in
form, the width of five stores on Gay
street and three on Commerce avenue,
leaving the corner building standing.
A lucky shifting of the wind was all
that saved the six-story McTeer block,
and the collapse of the Brown Hard?
ware company building gave the fire?
men their chance to stop the progress
of the flames westward. First estimates
of the loss, placing it in the neigh?
borhood of one million, were made
when the store of McTeer, Hood &
Co., wholesale clothiers; Hayne &
Hanson, wholsale boots and shoes:
Gillespie, Shields & Co., wholesale
hats, seemed doomed. These structures
were, however saved.
Three hundred people are thrown
out of employment temporarily.
Jno. D. Rockefeller has just given
another million to the Chicago Uni?
versity. New look for another raise
GOAL STRIKE COMMISSION.
Non-Union Men Te!! Stories of
Intimidation and Violence.
.Scranton, Pa., Dec. 19.-Non-union
men, some of their relatives and oth?
ers to the number of 30, appeared
before the anthracite coal commission
today and told their stories of alleged
boycotts, intimidations, dynamiting
and violence in various forms, during
the late strike. Each witness called
was a sufferer in one form or another
at the hands,* they alleged, of the
union men. Four witnesses said at?
tempts were made to blow up their
houses, many of the witnesses were
threatened with bodily harm; several
were beaten one was shot in the leg,
and every one stoned, boycotted or
hanged in effigy.
One school teacher testified having
lost his position because his father
did not strike. One man was asked
to resign from a Catholic temperance
society and another witness was ex
peUed from a local lodge of the
Ancient Order of Hibernians because
they were classed as unfair workmen.
Joseph H. Bogan, the man who was
requested to give up his membership
in the temperance society, remained
at work doing repair work and acting
as a watchman, fie wept on the wit?
ness stand as he told how they ordered
him to leave after many years of pleas?
ant associations with its members.
He said he had been stoned and other?
wise badly treated, and added that a
good clubbing would not have hurt
half as much as the action of the soci?
ety in throwing him out of the organ?
ization.
Chairman Gray asked the witness if
he remained at work so that the pumps
could be kept in good repair and thus
keep the mine from being destroyed
and he said he did. Mr. Darrow ask?
ed him how long he worked and ex?
amined him in such a way on the sub?
ject that brought the statement from
Chairman Gray that men will work 15
hours or more to help save a neigh?
bor's burning house.
James Mitchell was the man who was
expelled from the Hibernian society.
He said he worked during the strike
as a repairman and did not consider
it unfair because he did not mine any
coal. He had been a member of the
society 26 or 28 years, and at a meet?
ing one night during the strike the
question of his unfairness came up
and every member present voted to
expel him.
A Polander name Max Lasar who
did not: quit when the strike was inau?
gurated, told of how a man threw a
quart bottle of giant powder to which
a lighted fuse was attached into the
parlor of his home. He extinguished
the fuse. The powder was shown to
the commission.
Thomas Kennedy, aged 15 years,
said he worked in a drug store in Car?
bondale. Bis father was an engineer
in the employ of the Delaware and
Hudson company and did not quit
work when the strike was started.
The manager of the strike drug store,
he said was requested by a committee
from the union to discharge him, and
rather than have the store boycotted,
the druggist told the boy to quit. The
father corroborated the story, and
added that he had to keep his chil?
dren from the public schools as they
were being abused.
An Italian named Frank Fidati,
who was a striker but who was hired
by a coal operator to watch the home
of a non-union man, was shot in the
leg by Other strikers because he would
not stop protecting the man's house.
The non-union men who lived in the
house and subsequently quit work, was
next called and produced a letter writ?
ten by President T. D. Nicholls of
district No. 1 in which he stated that
the witness had quit work and was a
good union man and that, all union
men should treat him in a friendly
manner "so long as he behaved himself
accordingly.' '
John Conlin, a mine boss and presi?
dent of the school board of Plains,
near Wilkesbarre, testified that a
committee of a local union called on
him and asked that school teachers
whose relatives were working in the
mines be not reappointed as teachers.
Other witensscs testified to having
been hanged in effigy one or more
times, that grocers, butchers, milk?
men and icemen refused to serve them
because they were afraid their busi?
ness would be boycotted and that they
were severely beaten and socially os?
tracized.
The commission will meet at 9
o'clock tomorrow morning and will
adjourn at- 11.45 o'clock for the holi?
days.
THE STRIKE INVESTITION.
Testimony to Prove That Lawless?
ness Prevailed in the
Coal Fields.
Scranton, Pa., Dec. 20.-The anthra?
cite coal strike commission held its last
session of the year today and adjourn?
ed to meet in Philadelphia on Tuesday,
January 9.
The attorneys for the non-union men
today continued calling witnesses
from Lackawanaa and Luzerne coun?
ties for the purpose of proving that
violence, intimidation and boycotts
were resorted to in order to prevent
the non-union men from continuing
work.
John H. Otto says all the merchants
in Archibald, Pa., were compelled
to boycott him because he worked in
the mines. The next witness was a
boy who was forced to leave the store
be was employed in on account of his
father being a non-union man. An?
other witness testified that strikers
tried to have him forced ont of the
volunteer fire company to which he
belonged because he continued at work
as a mine engineer during the strike.
Mrs. Rhoda Snoyder of Wilkesbarre
with a baby in her arms, took the
stand and, with tears running down
her face, told of the burning of her
home by strikers. Her husband was
in the mines and could not come home
because he feared bodily harm. She
and her children were so abused that
she moved to another part of the city.
Her reception in the new section was
hostile and she decided to move to ber
mother-in-law's home. The same
night the house and ali its contents
were destroyed by fire. Her goods
were not insured. Her father-in-law
corroborated her testimony.
mine workers' attorneys in rebuttal of
evidence given by non-union men.
Before adjourning for the holidays
at noon Chairman Gray on behalf of
the commission requested all parties to
make every effort to hand in the wage
statements during the recess so that
members of the commission could
study them.
"REIC?I?RIIERS.
Seventeen Seamen Saved From
the Norwegian Bark Bayard,
Which Was Dismasted
and Sinking.
New York, December 22.-The
Prince Line steamer Neapolitan Prince,
which arrived today from Naples and
other Italian ports, brought 17 ship?
wrecked seamen picked up at sea from
the Norwegian bark Bayard, bound
from Brunswick, Ga, for London,
with a full cargo of turpentine and
rosin. The Bayard was dismasted and
in a sinking condition when the
Neapolitan Prince took off her crew on
December 17. She had experienced
terrific weather from the outset of the
voyage, tremendous seas boarding her
and straining the vessel so that she
sprang a leak. All hands were at the
pumps continually until rescued by
the Neapolitan Prince. The removal
of the Bayard's crew was attended
with great difficulty because of the
high sea.
The wreck was set on fire when it
was abandoned.
Boston, December 22.- Almost crazed
from ther sufferings, frostbitten and
helpless, ten men in a boat were pick?
ed up by the schooner Manhassett yes?
terday, forty-five miles off Highland
Light. Then for the first time it was
learned that the schooners Frank A.
Palmer and Louise B. Crary had been
in collision, and that they had been
sunk off Thatcher's Island on Wednes?
day evening. The survivors were land?
ed here today. Of the twenty-one men
that made np the two crews six were
carried down when the two vessels
sank, four died during1 the terrible
three days' drift in Massachusetts
Bay, and another became insane and
jumped overboard.
With no food or water, their clothes
frozen in solid masses, and their boat
being steadily driven before a bitter
gale out into the Atlantic, it seems re?
markable that so many survived.
THE ST?TF8*55tt8!
Governor Says There'll be No
Extension of Tax Paying Time.
The Columbia State published the
following interesting and instructing
article concerning the State's financial
condition :
South Carolina's condition is such
owing to the slowness of the collection
of taxes, that there seems to be ab?
solutely no possibility of the extension
of the time for their payment. These
extensions have been granted year af?
ter year continually causing trouble
until now the point has been reached
when an extension promises serious
consequences..
A glance at the status of the State
treasury will be interesting in this
connection.
On Jan. 1, 1902, there was due for
money borrowed in 1901 the sum of
$50,000; the appropriations for 1902
called for $1,136,000, making" a total
expense account for the year of $1.186,
ooo.
Now the^cash balance in the treas?
ury on Jan. 1, 1902, less amount ex?
pended on appropriations of 1901, was
$30,000; during 1902 about $40,000
has been collected in fees, etc., and
ther9 has been collected on the taxes
of 1902 about $700,000, leaving a
balance due of about $416,000.
There will ?e realized from the tax?
es of 1902, now in course of collection,
about $965,000.
If this sum could be paid into the
State treasury by the 31st instant it
would leave a cash balance of $549,000
with which to begin the year 1903 and
to meet the appropriations for the
coming year. When it is considered
that up to date less than $100,000 has
been received by the State treasurer
on account of the taxes of 1902 and
that the interest on the State debt
must be paid on Jan. 1 amounting to
over $150,000 and further than the limit
of $300,000 borrowed during the year to
meet the appropriations must be re- !
paid, one sees at a glance that absolute !
necessity for taxes to be gotten in and !
that the State treasury must be hard.,
pressed before the taxes of 3902 are
collected.
Already remedies are being thought
of. Some suggest a straight 6 mill
levy this year to enable the State to
catch up ; another suggests as a cure
for the future the opening of the tax
book on October 1 and closing them
on Decebmer :1 of each year, issuing
executions promptly on Dec. 1, thus
securing a .prompt settlement of taxes
and an early accounting for them by
the varins county reasurers.
In view cf the above facts, the
figures given in round numbers, there
is very little chance of the governor
and the comptroller extending the time
this year.
Gov. McSweeney says he has receiv?
ed a number of letters from auditors
and treasurers suggesting an extension
on account of the new act. He says
he has written to each of them saying
as far as he is concerned he is opposed
to any exension and he is satisfied the
comptroller holds the same view. He
considers it purely a matter of busi?
ness, something that must be met
squarely.
Columbia, Dee. 22.-The question
has been raised whether the Court
stenographers have to be commission?
ed. Heretofore they have not been,
while every other officer under Govern?
ment, no matter how insignificant his
duties may be, has to receive his com?
mission from the Governor. The ques?
tion was referred to the Attorney Gen*
eral, and Mr. Gunter has rendered
an opinion that stenographers are
sworn officers of the Court, just as
the Judge and Solicitor. They are
appointed for four years and are re?
movable only for cause. All of the pre?
sent stenographers will, therefore,
have to get their commissions, but it
will cost them nothing and add some?
what to the work the Governor and
Secretary of State have to do in that
particular. Both are daily signing a
large number of commissions, both fer
officers, dispensary boards and
THE WORK OF il NEGRO WOMAN.
Emma Wilson's institute in Sum?
ter County-Taught Herself.
Early Struggles in Slavery Days to Learn
and Results Through Aid of Her Mas?
ters-Establishment of Her
School at Mayesville.
The following is from the New York
Evening Post i
The boy'who educates himself, stu?
dying his lessons-by firelight after fol?
lowing the plough or wielding of the
axe all day is a common type of effort
Anerica. It is a heroic type, match?
ed now and again by a woman who
achieves her end over still greater
difficulties.
One of the most interesting schools
in the South is the result of such a
self-educated woman's labor. Her
story, simple, sober, but admirable,
begins in the last years of slavery.
Emma Wilson was born in bondage,
in Mayesville, South Carolina, about
five years before the civil war. Hers
was one of the cases where the bonds
were lightly worn. Her mother was
the family cook and the child played
on terms of equality with the white
children.
The first intimation that ever came
to her of the inferiority of her social
condition was on the Monday morning
when her white playmates were first
sent to school. She could not under?
stand why she was left behind and the
blunt statement that she was black
and therefore not entitled to an educa?
tion failed to satisfy her. She wept
and could not be comforted until her
favorite boy playmate ran back and
promised that he would teach her
everything he learned in school.
He kept his word as far as he was
able and the girl learned to read easy
sentences and to write the alphabet.
Newspapers were used as text books
and a smooth sand plot and a stick for
a blackboard.
The tumult of the war interrupted
the lessons and after those stormy days
were over the young girl found her?
self on a small farm with her mother
and brothers. There was a school for
freedmen's children in the. neighbor?
hood and the brothers were permitted
to attend it. The mother did not
believe in educating girls and in
I spite of entreaties the daughter was
sent out into the cotton fields. Even
this did not stifle the child's ambi?
tion. She carried scraps of neswpapers
into the field with her and conned them
over and over as she worked. It
was her fixed determination to spell
as many words as the boys who went
to school and she often stopped them
in the road when they passed by on
their way home and challenged them
to spell some especially long word
which she had mastered. A priceless
gift of Webster's blue-backed speller
helped her on her career, and when
the mother's prejudice was finally
overcome and the girl was allowed to
go to school she was ready to enter
the fourth class.
Her teachers took an interest in her
from the first day and as her progress
advanced they advised her to try to
enter a higher school. The Scotia
Seminary for Colored Girls at Con?
cord, N. C., was recommended. Af?
ter several years' hard work the neces?
sary money for traveling expenses,
books, clothing, etc., was earned, the
disapproving but kindly mother paying
the entrance fee of $15.
: Emma Wilson remained at the semi
! nary three years, a well deserved
scholarship paying her later expenses.
The desire to help her race came to
1 her in the midst of her studies and
first took the form of missionary work
in Africa. After her graduation she
went home to prepare for this work,
but all ambition in this direction left
her when she saw the condition of
her people in Mayesville. Her work
lay nearer home than the African
coast.
At the first Sunday night service af?
ter her arrival she used it to be an?
nounced that a school would open the
next morning in her mother's cabin.
Ten children came. Even this small
number was a tight fit for the cabin
kitchen and the teacher set out to find
a school building. She managed to
secure the loan of an unused gin house
bare of any furniture without win?
dows, and far from clean. Plenty of
friendly hands were stretched out to
help the new school, white hands as
well as black. The owner of the saw
mill donated a pile of boards for bench?
es and blackboards. The druggists
gave lampblack to color the black?
boards, and some one else gave a few
stick of chalk. The children brought
their own text books-any book with
English letters in it served.
When the gin house was demanded
for cotton the school had to move.
There were many moves in the next
five years. Any vacant building was
borrowed, always with the understand?
ing that it must be given up when
the owner needed it. Very often the
children would gather up their books
at night with the query. "Where's
school goin' to keep tomorrow, Miss
Emma?"
And often she would be obliged to
say: "I don't know yet, children, but
somewhere-that's sure." The school
did not always open promptly at 9
o'clock, but it never missed a day's
session.
To raise funds to support a home for
boarding pupils, Miss Wilson rented
six acres of land and with the help of
her pupils raised enough cotton to
keep the school going and to buy a
little home for herself.
In 1895 the school had grown beyond
the teacher. Help was needed to ex?
tend the work, and, leaving an as
I sistant in charge, Miss Wilson came
North to find it Since then she has
made vearly trips and has raised over
6S, OOO "for her school.
It was after her first. Northern
journey that Miss Wilson came to the
realization that her entire plan of
education would have to be altered.
The time had gone by when a mero |
literary training seemed to her either
useful or desirable. She perceived
that in educating children beyond
their growth, and giving them that
which would breed discontent without
helping them to better their condi- j
tion, she ran a risk of making danger
ous citizens. In other words, the in
dustrial training advocated by Booker
Washington replaced her old ideals of
education.
The Mayesville school is now a farm ;
school, with a superintendent from
Tuskegee, four other teachers similar?
ly trained, and 400 pupils, a propor
institution is co-edncational, and
domestic science and agriculture are
the principal studies pursued. The
boarding pupils pay a tuition of 85 a
month, and do the work of the school.
The tuition fee is rarely paid in money,
but wood, poultry, eggs, butter, etc.,
are quite as acceptable. Practically
all the food-stuff consumed is raised by
the pupils. The pupils have also made
nearly all the furniture in the scohols.
The farm is not stocked as it should
be, and the students' tables are with?
out milk and almost without butter.
This is not the hardship it would be
in the North, but the school manage?
ment is aware of the dietary value of
such food and is making a strong
effort to buy cows. Farm equipments
of various kinds is greatly needed.
One large building and four small
ones have been erected, and are owned
clear of encumbrance, with the ex?
ception of themain building. As soon
as the necessary funds are forthcom?
ing, the schctol will become an indus
tral institution. A carpenter's shop
and^furnishings have been promised by
a New York woman, and teachers al?
ready at the school are prepared to
open classes in shoemaking and other
trades as soon as the tools can be
obtained. The blacksmiths' and wheel?
wright's trades are much needed in the
neighborhood. ' '
For the little children Miss Wilson
is now in the North studying the kind?
ergarten system, and basket weaving.
The old time industries of the loom
and the dye pot are to be revived for
the girls, who besides being intsruct
ed in housekeeping and needlework
wlil be taught to weave homespuns,
and rugs of carpet ravelings, and to
make rag carpets. There is a good
market for such articles.
One of the most pressing need is a
printing press. The town has not even
a small one, and the school would be
able to earn a considerable sum with
a press, besides saving the cost of its
own printing in Sumter.
Mayes vi lie, where this colored wo- j
man's life has been dedicated to the
advancement of a race, is a village in !
Sumter County, S. C. It is the center
of a large country population of ne?
groes, a number of whom own their
little farms of five or six acres, but are
very poor. There is no public school
of colored children in the village, and
the small sum set apart by the county
school commission for the education of
negroes is given to Miss Wilson's
school. This enables her to receive
free all children who can not afford to
pay the monthly fee of 10 cents asked
of day scholars.
The eagerness of the children and
the ycung men and women of the
neighborhood to go to school is pathetic
in its intensity. One little tot came
through a howling storm and stood in
the school door dripping wet, chilled
through and weeping bitterly. Being
comforted, she sobbed out, "I ain't
eryn' 'out bein' col, ' but de rain done
wetted my book."
The influence which the school ex?
ercises over the older people of the
settlement is gratefully acknowledged
by the white people of the town and
neighboring plantations. This influ?
ence is strongest with the mothers of
the chilrden attending. These ask to
be admitted to the cooking and sew?
ing classes, and and are entertained
very often with mothers' meetings and
social afternoons.
MYSTERIOUS MURDER AT CAMDEN.
W. F. Hudson, Keeper of Wateree
Bridge. Found Dead in Bed
at the Toll Gates.
Camden, Dec. 20.-A horrible tragedy
was enacted at the Wateree River
bridge, gener?lly known as the iron
bridge, last night, and the whole
affair is so far shrouded in mystery.
Early this morning Mr. W. F.
Hudson, the toll keeper, was found
dead in his bed in a pool of blood, in
his house by the river bridge, on the
west bank of the Wateree. A bloody
trail le?ding from the great wooden
gates of the bridge, which are about
50 feet from the house, to the bed,
indicate that the shooting took place
at the gates. The large gates are
closed every night and locked, and only
a small postern is left open. The sup?
position is that the person or persons
who committed the murder came from
the east side of the river as the postern
shows marks on it, as if some one had
tried to prize it open from that side,
while a few feet off, the gate keeper's
lantern was found with blood spots on
it. The blood trail begins on the right
gate, where one spot is visble near the
ground, and leads directly to "the
'phone which is to the right of the
house door. There is blood on the
receiver, and the unfortunate man
either endeavored to 'phone or reached
for his gun, which hung over the
door.
A large pool of blood is on the mid?
dle of the floor, and young Hudson
lies in another one on his bed. His
pistol was found on the desk, but it is
not supposed that he had it with him
when he went to the gate.
Who perpetrated the norri be deed
is still an unsolved story, and no very
definite clues leading up to the detec?
tion of the murderer have been found
as yet. Robbery was apparently not
the motive as nothing was taken out
of the house and the to money was not
touched.
Messs. Craig and John Clyburn, who
passed over the bridge between ll
and 12 o'clock last night, seem to have
been the last persons who saw Hud
sou before the murder, state that h*
came out and opened the gates to
their buggy pass through.
Mr. W. F. Hudson was ahput 30
years old, single, and his position was
a very responsible one, and the best
evidence of the confidence and esteem
he enjoyed in this community was his
appointment to the sama last year.
The coroner's jury brought a verdict
to the effect ' that Che deceased had
died from a gunshot wound by ?the
hands of a person or persons unknown.
The gun was evidently held close to
the body as the entire load of shot en?
tered at the left shoulder blade in one
solid mass, and must have passed
downward.
Thomas W. Pearlstine shot and in?
stantly killed William Creech in the
home of the latter at Bamberg on Sat?
urday nightt. Pearlstine went to
Creech's house to collect a debt of
eighty cents and when Creech object?
ed to his use of profanity in the pres?
ence of his family Pearlstine drew a
pistol and shot Creech twice through
AFFAIRS IN NATIONAL CAPITAL.
Political News Gathered by Our
Regular Correspondent.
Washington, Dec. 22.-The concen?
sus of opinion, when Congress ad?
journed on Saturday, was that the
Venezuelan affair was on the highroad
to a peaceful settlement and friends of
the administration were loud in their
praises of Secretary Hay's diplomacy.
It is remarked by democratic states?
men, however, that Secretary Hay has
been the gainer by fortunate happen?
ings, rather than the director of
events. The ability of Minister Bowen
has contributed very Lirgely to the
peaceful outcome now anticipated and
the law in the case was clearly stated
some years ago by a democratic Secre?
tary of State, Mr. Olney, who, in his
dispatch of July 20, 1.895, apropos of
the Venezuelan boundary dispute,
said, "It (the Monroe Doctrine) does
not establish any general protectorate
by the United States over other Amer?
ican states. It does not relieve any
American state from its obligations ais
fixed by international law nor prevent
any European power directly interest?
ed from enforcing such obligations or'
from inflicting merited punishment for
the breach of them." If, therefore,
any particular credit ataches to Mr.
Hay in the present instance it is
because he has, according to persons ia
a position to know, restrained the
President, rather than because he has
established any new precedent or dis?
established any new precodent or dis?
played exceptional diplomatic ability.
While there was little hope on the
part of the democrats in Congress that
there would be any?effecfcual anti-trust
legislation accomplished at this ses?
sion, it was not anticipated that the
republicans would show their hand
this early. That they have done, how?
ever, and they are now flattering
themselves there is no further occa?
sion for antagonizing the corporate
interests which have always contribut?
ed so largely to republican success.
When the legislative appropriation bill
was under consideration in the House,
an amendment was attached thereto
by which $500,000 was appropriated
for the use of the Attorney General
in prosecuting the trusts under the
present law. With this liberal amount
to be distributed among the favored
attorneys of the party, the republicans
are now content. They will, they say,
ignore the representations of Mr. Knox,
who, at Pittsburg, expressly outlined
the deficiencies of the present law.
"Give the Attorney General an op?
portunity to prove his statements be?
fore amending the.law," is the slogan
of the republicans now, and they
themselves admit that there is very
little likelihood of anti-trust legislation
at the present session. With a view
to barring further anti-trast legisla?
tion in the Senate, Senator Hoar has.
given notice that he will introduce a/
trust bill, but two days after the
notice had been given it was discovered
that the venerable Senator had not
drafted his bill and was not even sure
that he would draw one. His object
is "accomplished, however. As Mr..
Hoar is chairman of the Judiciary
committee every Senator realizes thai
it would, be futile for him to offer a
trust measure which would be inevit?
ably side tracked by the unborn mea?
sure of the chairman.
The President has forwarded to the
Senate the new Cuban treaty which
allows a concession of 25 per cent from
the Dingley rates to Cuba in return
for concessions from the Cuban tariff
varying from 20 to 40 per cent, the
scale being so arranged as to give the
utmost advantage to the already over
protected manufacturers and the least
to the agriculturists of the country.
It is deemed probable that the treaty
will be ratified soon after the holidays
and that the House will pe asked to
enact such legislation as may be re?
quired to make the treaty effective.
Secretary Hay is still working on the
Colombian treaty but expects that it
will be completed when Congress re?
convenes. Under the provisions of the
convention a lump sum of $10,000,000
will be paid to Colombia to begin with
and an annual rental hereafter, the
amount of which is still to be deter?
mined. This amount constitutes the
one stumbling block to the completion
of the treaty. Colombia demands a
rental of ?500,000 per annum and secre?
tary Hay regards the amount as ex?
orbitant. Colombia's demand is
based on the claim that she now re?
ceives $250,000 from the Panama Rail?
way and other revenues which bring
the total to over $400,000.
Ex-Secretary Gage is still enedavor
ing to dictate the financial policy o'f
the nation and called at the White
House recently with Mr. John H. ,
Rhodes, the New York financier, wir>
the purpose of impressing his vie/
on the president. Meanwhile, R<*^~
sentative Fowler is pressing his j^2Jr
ed finanial bill for passage *n
House, it having been again /iv0.ra"iy
reported by Mr. Fowler's '?^mrt^
This bill will greatlv. este?d the
power of the banks en?'lin? pepito
issue currency to the of
cent of their capital -?thont depositing
United States bon?s as security *bere
for. Face to f>* Wlth the old dem0?
eratic content^ that the currency of
the country -s restricted and inelastic,
the banke^ desire to remedy these de?
fects, b?fc *n snca a way tbat tbe5
shall h*ve entire control of the elas?
ticity so ^kat ^ ma^ *3e restricted,
wb#never it suits their purposes and
tvat is the aim of Mr. Fowler's bill,
which, it will he remembered, the re?
publicans did not dare to pass the last
session because they feared the resent?
ment of the people would be expressed
at the polls.
No progress has been made on thc
Statehood bill, the whole question
having gone over until after the holi?
days by mutual consent. Meanwhile
Delegate Rodey of New Mexico is do?
ing "yeoman work" and has issued to
the editors of the conn try an exhaus?
tive appeal for support.
For some unknown reason the' House
Committee on Military Affairs has
ignored Secretary Root's recommenda- ..
tion that tLe Army Reorganization bill
gc 'nto effect only on August 10th next
and has reported the bill in such
shape that if passed it would legislate
General Miles out of office. It is not
believed, however, that the Senate
will permit such injustice and the
friends of the General are looking te
the Senate to amend the bill by ad?
ding the clause recommended by Mr.
Root.
Christmas cards, calenders and