Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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MEASURER'S VIEW OF STATE'S FINANCES. Five Mill Levy, He Says, Is Not Sufficient Bakes Some Suggestions to the Genera! Assembly?Tax Extensions Kelp Nobody?The Reason Why. The annual report of the State Treasurer of South Carolina, which has been awaited with considerable in terest, will be issued by the State printer in time for the opening of the session of the general assembly tomor row. Treasurer Jennings, in his introduc tory remarks, thus summarizes the financial condition of the State: **I have the honor 10 submit my annual report of the transactions of the treasury department of the State gov ernment for the fiscal year beginning January 1st and ending December 31st, 1902. I call attention to the fact that the appropriations made by the general assembly for the fiscal year just ended were in excess of the taxes raised by the levy of five mills by largely more than one hundred thousand dollars, oonsequentJy the governor and treas urer have been forced to borrow on she - -credit. of the State the full amount of j three hundred thousand dollars to meet current expenses and pay the July, 1902, and the January, 1903, in-1 terest on the public debt. The inter- i est, on this borrowed money will Teach about seven thousand dollars, at the most reasonable rates we were able to secure. It is a physical impossibili ty to raise an appropriation of about one million, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on a 5-mi 11 levy at the present valuation of taxable pro perty. The levy is the same how as it j was when the appropriations were only $800,000. The baneful effect cf a large appropriation upon the basis of a small levy will be seen when the facts are represented. It is a fact that if tb? same levy and the same appropria tions are made for the year as for the last, instead of provding a loan of . $300,000 as'heretofore, the legislature will have to provide for a loan of seven hundred thousand dollars to pay cur rent expenses and meet her interest debt, andthe borrowing process will have to begin early in the year. I am well aware that a higher levy is not popular, but I submit the proposition whether it is not better business man agement to raise the Jevy say a half mill fora few years, till the State can ^e?& on,a cash basis again, than to con tinue borrowing more and more every year and paying more and more inter est. It all comes out of the taxpayers at last, both principal and intrest. Another great mistake, it seems to me, is the extension of time for the pay ment of taxes, except in cases of -emergency. The average taxypayer is not benefited by an extension, only, the capitalist and the corporations that can use their money to advantage; the farmer as a general thing can pay his taxes, easier before Christmas than after, and even the railroad companies, . which pay such a large proportion of the taxes,. have the last two years nearly all paid up during the month of December upon a polite request of the treasurer,, thus lending a helping hand in cur time of need. If the gov ernor and comptroller general had ex tended the time this season, as was done in 1901 about the last of Decem ber, we would net have had funds to pay the January interest, while not a dollar would have been available for payment of our notes or their re newal, whereas by withholding such esrtension we have been able to pro vide for'the payment of the interest: and have good hope cf meeting our notes for loans at maturity, unless the general assembly extends the time; if it does, however, the prospect is that it will also have to provide for a loan for that purpose. If the 15th of December could be adopted as the time for'.closing the tax books, and the law- ^re strictly observed, all the anxfet^.ahd suspense as to where the moneyis to comefrom/to pay the ' January interest and meet, current e*r phases' jfconJa1 be arrested, and' time would also; be bad to make the treasr mrerfs! rep?ifc in'detail more fully. As it is ws-hk^e been[ Compel fed, for want of time, ^^jm'r^ad in some measure. I give the usual statements below, of this office, except extended reports of the sinking fund for reduction of Bfown.#? per ..cents, and the State permanent^ school fund, which we have hitherto' volunteered. AU the cash transactions relating to these two ac<ttun^..Jbowever> are fully set forth yj detail-in our statements of receipts ^nd - expenditures}' although not in clsssifiea form.' 11 The act of February, 1896, provides that after its approval no coupon bond of the State, payable to bearer, t nor any coupon thereof shall be consolidat ed, converted, funded or paid by the State treasurer after the expiration cf twenty years from date of maturity; attention is called to the fact that ^$125,000 of the State capitol bonds, which matured in 1871 and 1881, held by the United States for the Indian trust fund, would now be included in t ie limitation of the act of 1896, refer red to, and that the effect of such limitation upon the settlement of the claim of the State against the United States now pending should be con sidered/'?The State, 12th. Annapolis, Md., Jan. 11.- -As a re sult of a fight between Midshipman Robert A. Pearson, a member of the Fourth class from Concord, N. H., and Francis G. BlasdeP, of New York, | the, former is in the hospital with a broken jaw and Blasdel is locked up. | The affair occurred last Sunday night, | and was the result of Pearson's refusal i to be hazed by upper classmen. Vienna, January 12.?Serious differ- j ences, according to Die Zeit, have arisen between the Count and Coun tess de Lcnyay, formerly the Crown Princess Stephanie, during their stay | in the south of France. The Count: is reported to have suddenly left his wife and to have since given no in formation of his whereabouts. The nature of the alleged differences has aot developed. The highest spot inhabited by hu man beings is the Buddhist cloister of Hanie Thibet, where 21 monks live at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The .highest inhabited spot in Europe is the observatory at the summit of Mount Etna, 9,075 feet above sea level* Sensational Fire in a Canada Town. London, Ont., Jan. 9.?One of the j most disastrous fires in the history of this city occurred tonight in the im mense plant of the McClany Manufac turing Company. A boy working in the stamping department dropped a burning match into a vat of cil and with a report like a cannon the oil went up in a sheet of flame. Like a flash it spread to the ceiling of the room on the first floor and the employes rushed from the building in a panic. In this portion of the works were located the, stamping room with 100 i presses, the tin smith department, the ; Jnpaning department, the- artist de-1 j partment and the wrapping rooms! where tinware is made ready for mar ket. About five hundred men, women and boys were in the building. There was a rush for the elevator and the stairs, and in a terrible crush, scorched and smoke begrimmed, they reached the street, but none were seriously injured. The fire burned furiously for hours, the firemen being utterly unable to cope with itT~" When the first- brigade arrived the hydrants were found to be frozen and when the water was furned into the hose the pressure would not throw the stream fifty feet. The fire burned itself out. The loss is $300,000. The McClary firm is practically the only stamping firm in the dominion, and also one of the largest in America. - ?o-<i? r.mm The Cultivation of Rice. The census bulletin on agriculture in South Carolina has the following on rice culture: "The beginning of irrigation in South Carolina was contemporaneous with the introduction of rice growing, the irrigation systems being similar to those now in use. Eice was first planted in 1700, and from that time until 1861 South Carolina ranked first among the states in its production. Changed labor conditions since the war, the greater expense of mainten ance, due to the destruction of dikes, and the total loss of crops by floods, which are frequent since the deforest ation of the mountain slopes, have operated against the growth of this industry and rice culture has not made the progress here that it has in a few other states. Rice is irrigated in South Carolina by manipulating river waters through trurks built in the dikes which pro tect the lew marsh lands from the riv ers. The delta lands are selected with reference to the possibility of flooding from the rivers with fresh water at high tide, and of draining them at low tide. The reclamation of these lands necessitates the building, paral j lei with the river, of costly dikes, j capable of resisting the force of the j flood tide, and also that of the river in time of freshets. After the dikes a're. built, the field is divided into sec tions and squares by similar banks, called 'check7 banks. These squares contain from five to thirty acres each, and in turn are subdivided by ditches into beds, usually about thirty-five feet wide and extending the length of: the square. Each" of these squares has a wooden trunk with a door at each end, through which the water is admitted to the field. The trunks are from thirty to forty feet long, from three to twelve feet wide, and about sixteen inches deep and are built under the dikes on a level with the .beds of the ditches. In flooding the fields the outer door is raised and the inner closed. As the tide rises the water comes in through the trunk, pushes the field door open, and nasses through the ditches to the field. When the tide falls in the river, the pressure of the water in the field closes the in ner swinging door against the muzzle of the trunk, thus holding the water. In draining the field this method is re versed, the field dcor being raised at low tide and the outer - door dropped. The unlimited supply of fresh water and its perfect control by this system of flooding and draining, accounts for the superior quality of rice for which South Carolina is famous. -VThe practk?>or)dump3ig.the harbor dredgings'into the river above Savan nah has injured the system of drain age, causing the abandonment of a number of rice plantations along the Savannah River. On many plantations, which formerly were readily drained at low tide, pumping, is now lesrted to when the rivers are high, as the fields can not be properly drained. The pumps, which are mounted on flats or lighters, are operated by steam and shifted on the river from field to field. The suction dip is -dropped over the dike into any desired field and the water pumped into the river/ "Rice is grown inland on low, swampy lands, which are flooded from reservoirs or small streams. The cul tivation of upland or 'Providence' rice is attempted in many of (he in terior counties, but owing to the low yield and an occasional total failure the results are not satisfactory. Orangeburg County has the largest crop of upland rice, and in 1899 pro duced 2,266,162 pounds, an average yield of 3G9 pounds per acre. The irrigated crop is sure as compared with that of the uplands, the average yield per acre being much higher, and the quality of rice far superior. Tide water irrigation is generali;' practiced in Beaufort, Berkeley, Col leton, Charleston, Georgetown, and Hampton Couniies. In 1899 the rice i acreage of these counties irriagted and ' upland, was 70 per cent of the total, while the production, 40,001,664 pounds, was 86 per cent of the total rice crop of the state. The average yield per acre was 718 pounds.. The total uroduct of all other counties was 6,708,464 pounds, an average of 288 pounds per acre. It is impossible to ascertain the ex act cost of reclaiming these deltaiands. Rice irrigation was reported on 648 plantations: the average was 29,600, and the yield, 33,467,191 pounds. The average first cost per acre for prepar ing rice lands for irrigation, inclusive of cost of construction of dikes, trunks, check banks and ditches, is estimated to be ^8.68, and the sys tems in use represent a total invest ment of over $851,509. Representatives of Armour & Co., of Chicago, have been through the dry sections of Central and Northern New York asking the, creameries to name terms upon which Armour & Co. could purchase the entire butter output of this district, amounting to several million pounds per annum. THE ?O?L STRIKE COMMISSION. Goal Companies Will Present Evi dence This Week. Philadelphia, Jan. 9.?After occupy ing eight days, during which time they presented about- 150 witnesses^ the non-union men who are a party to' the arbitration agreement, closed their case today before the coal strike com mission. The coal companies will open their case tomorrow morning, and according to he plans of the ope rators, the companies will present their case in the order of the geo graphical location of their mines. The principal witness before the commission today was Lieut. Gov. J. P. S. Gobin, senior brigadier general of the National Guard of Pennsylva nia. General Gobin was in command of the Third brigade during the time the troops were on duty in the hard coal fields. He was on the stand three hours and a half, and curing most of this time was engaged in a recital of the conditions as he found them in the territory he covered. From his observations and from reports made to him by his officers, it was his opinion, he said, that an "excited state of lawlessness" existed in the regions, that disturbances were numer ous, that the presence of the troops was absolutely necessary to preserve law and order and that it was difficult to maintain the law even after all the troops in the State had been placed in the disturbed territory. After his entire brigade had been called out, the general said, the situa tion became extremely serious in sev eral parts of the strike territory, and he feared he could not cope with she situation if it grew worse. He so in formed the governor. The now famous "shoot to kill" order issued by him after his soldiers had been attacked by stones, was touched upon by Mr. Dar row. The general said it meant every word it said, and that the issuance of the order had a most salutary effect upon the communities which his soldiers covered. It had such a good effect that it was not necessary to fire one shot. The order, he further said, did not include the shooting of women and children. Mr. Darrow called his attention to the fact that the order did not except them and the witness re plied' that his men were not engaged in fighting women and children. There was considerable cross fire be tween Mr. Darrcw and the general over the right of a sentry to fire upon a man skulking about the camp of soldiers after dark. The witness final ly gave it as his judgment that a sen try has a right to shoot in guarding the men in camp. Just before the cross examination was concluded Mr. Darrow wanted to knew if he ever met certain coal ^ope rators. He was asked by Commission er Watkins the object of his questions, and Mr. Darrow replied " to show that his relations with the coal companies were much more friendly to the oper ators than to the workers." "That is not true," warmly replied the general, and the discussion *was stopped there. >a j Rev. Carl Hanser, a -Lutheran Sla.vak minister, of Freeland, -said when he was called upon to officiate at the funeral of a non-union man. in the Panther Creek valley, he experi enced the greatest difficulty in secur ing pallbearers. When the body was taken from the house. Rev. Hanser said, the strikers yelled, "Scab" and spat upon the coffin. Some of ^them made such remarks as, "It's a shame to bury a "scab,' throw him to .the dogs." Bradstreefs Weekly Review. New York, Jan. 9.?Bradstreet's tomorrow will say: The new year starts in aggressively and well. Wholesale distributive trade, it is true, notes something of the lull usual at this period of /the year, but even here the uniformity is broken by advices that salesmen already on the road are receiving good "orders for spring, and that, in com pliance with urgent instructions ship ments of spring goods are being for warded liberally. ? Among the inffius tries activity reigns, the only deter rent features being the scarcity' of cars and of fuel, limiting production of iron and steel or curtailing ship ments of lumber and grain. Prices as a whole show aggresieve strength, present levels being the highest in over two years. Corn and cotton, it is true, have weakened, but the only apparent result is that of encourag ing and expanding export trade; a movement long and anxiously awaited. Cotton goods remain firm, and it is a sellers market for print cloth. The feeling of confidence in the cotton and cotton goods trades extends also to woolen goods. Cold weather affects the movement of white pine, while the southern yellow pine movement is restricted by the scarcity of cars. A feature is the activity in hard woods, which are in demand at all leading markets. The scarcity of anthracite coal is a cause of large expense and some suffering at the east. Efforts to keep prices down to a reasonable level seem to have failed and speculators are reported in control of the situa tion. The iron and steel market is classed as quiet, but symptoms of activity are numerous. Pittsburg reports pig iron very scarce and good sales have been made at nearly top prices, while heavy engagements of steel billets, bare and structural material are also reported. Business failures reported for the week number 335 as against 346 in the like week of 1902. Twins Not Born in Same Year. A difference of about three hours in the birth of sisters has led to the strange situation of twins having birthdays on different days and differ ent years. Mr. and Mrs. John Stift 80 Sheffield avenue, are the parents of twins, and every one in the neighbor hood is commenting on the curious circumstance. One of the twins was j born at 10:30 p. m., on the last day of December, 1902, and about a hour and a half after midnight'the second | child was born. Her birthday is there fore Jan. 1, 1903.?Chicago Dispatch j to New York Sun. The largest mule on earth, a three- j year-old jennet, belnging to Michael Murray, of Hereiord, Mo., will be ex- j hibited at the World's Fair, St. Louis. | She is eighteen hands, or six feetjhigh ! at the shoulders and weighs 1,705. Hester's Cotton Statement. New Orleans, La., Jan. 9.?Secretary Hester's weekly cotton statement is sued today shows for the nine days cf January a decrease under last year of 46,000 and an increase over the same period year before last of 112,000. For the 131 days cf the resaon that have elapsed the aggregate is ahead of the same days last year 39,000 and ahead of the same time vear before last of 310,000. The amount brought into sight dur ing the past week has been 333.400 against 367,9C0 for the same seven days last year and 229,015 year before last. The movement since Sept. 1 shows i recepts at ail United States ports to j be 5,242,808 against 5,172,040 last year; overland across the Mississippi, Ohio and Potomac rivres to northern mills, and Canada 613,740 against 667,048 last year; interior stocks in excess of those held at the close of the commerical year 430,848 against 501,126 last year; southern mill tak | ings 872,500 against 781,114 last year. The total movement since Sept. 1 is 7,160,002 against 7,121,32S last year and 6,S49,576 year before last. Foreign exports for the week have been 230,806 against 223,353 last year, making the total thus far for the sea son 3,773,087 against 3,850,132 last year. The total takings of American mills, north and south and Canada, thus far for the season have been 2,018,113 against 1,955,507 last year. Stocks at the seaboard and the 29 leading southern interior centres have decrased during the week 4,807 bales against an increase during the cor responding period last season of 3,370. Including stocks left over at ports and interior towns from the last crop and the number of bales brought into sight thus far for the new crop the supply to date is 7,375,076 against 7,481,015 for the same period last year. New Two Cent Stamp. Washington, Jan. 8.?The new2-cent postage stamp with the new portrait of Washington is about ready for is sue and will- be distributed to the postofSces throughout the country in the course of the next week or ten days. The new stamp is the same color as the old 2-cent stamp, but its make-up is entirely different. The portrait of Washington is taken from one of the Stuart pictures and is three-quarters full face. It is regarded as an excel ent picture. The portrait is set in a shield-shaped medallion in about the center of the stamp. On each side of the medallion are American flags hanging in graceful folds from stand ards which appear to stand at the base of the picture. Over the medal lion are the words U. S. of A., and beneath the picture are the dates 1732-1799. The stamp is more ornametnal and artistic, it is claimed by the postoffice authorities, than any of the stamps of the old issue, and its general com position is in keeping with the style of the new issue. New Wills in Six Months. The Wool and Cotton Reporter's semi-annual statement of textile mill construction, shows that during the last six months of 1902 new textile en terprises were "begun or proposed" to the. number of 198, as compared with 257, for the first half of the year?a decrease of 59 mills: and a decrease of 4 as compared with the last half of 1901. Of the 19S new mills for the last six months, 91 were in the North and 107 in the South. Of the total of 455 for the year, 1902, 183 were in the North and 272 were in the Sonch. Pennsylvania leads all the other States in the number of new mills for the last half-year, with 26 to her credit, of which 6 are woollen, 12 knit goods and 8 "miscellaneous," (silk); South Carolina is next with 23 mills, of which 20 are cotton and 3 knit goods. North Carolina is third, with mills, of which 14 are cot ton,^, .knit goods and 1 miscellaneus. " Then follow: Virginia, 15 milh; New York and Georgia, 13 each; New Jersey, 10; Massachusetts, 9; Texas,' 8; Mississippi, 7; Rhode Island and Canada, 6 each; Tenessee, 5; Maine and Maryland, 4 each; Ala bama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Ken tucky and "Wisconsin, 3 each; Indiana and New Hampshire, 2 each; Cali fornia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mon tana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington, 1 each. As regards "cotton mills" alone, it will be noted, South Carolina easily leads all the list, with 50 per cent more new enterprises of that character than North Carolina, its nearest com petitor. To Port Royal Station. Washington, January 9.? Secretary Moody today sent a communication to the house in compliance with the pro vision of the last naval appropriation act directing him to investigate and report on the value of government property at the Port Royal naval sta tion and the practicability of its re moval to another yard. The secretary says among other things: "The property, of course, could be devoted to the purpose for which it was originally designated. It is, how ever, assumed that when the naval station at Charleston is completed the station at Port Royal will be discon tinued. There is absolutely no reason for two stations in these waters." The value of the land, the secretary says, is much less than its cost to the government and the dry dock which has cost ?518,521 has become worth less. Commercial Democrats are said to be responsible for the trouble at In dianola, Miss. It is rumored in Wash ington that the ili-treaiment of the negro woman in charge of the post office was due to the suggestions of persons who had severed their rela tions with "the Democratic party, in order to have one of their number to fill the office. The people generally did not take part in the ^trouble, and the community is being made to suffer for the acts of office-seekers, who went over to the Republicans for what they could make out of the party, and failing to get anything they proceeded to force a vacancy.?Greenville Moun taineer. Dr. B. C. Norment Dead. Darlington, January 9.--At 9 o'clock this morning Dr. B. C. Nor ment, who for nearly fifty years had administered to the sick and suf fering of this section, breathed his last, surrounded by his loved ones. D:. Norment was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on April 25, 1833. He was a graduate of Richmond Col lege and afterwards cf the University of Virginia, where he was with such men as Dr. Hunter McGnire and Dr. Joynes, of the South Carcilna College, who were cf the class cf 1853-54. He soon entered the Jefferson Medical Col | lege, Philadelphia, where he received j a diploma. Nearly half a century ago he moved to Darlington, where he entered into the active practice of his chosen pro fession. He married Miss Hannah Louise Nettles, who, with six children, one daughter and five sons, one of whom, Mr. J. E. Norment, is now on the staff of The News and Courier, sur vives him. Is Consumption Curable? Philadelphia, Jan. 9.?Dr. L. F. Flick, president of the Free Hospital for Poor Consumptives here, tonight announced that Henry Phipps, of New York, formerly a partner cf Andrew Carnegie, had contributed $300,000 for the establishment of an institution in this city for the treatment and study of consumption. The institution is to be known as "The Henry Phipps in stitute, for the study, and the treat ment and prevention of tuberculosis." It will be so endowed as to derive an income of about 830,000 to S40,0C0 annually. Dr. Flick will be director general of the institution. He has J already selected several members of j the staff. Mr. Phips and Dr. Flick ! recently returned from Europe where j they spent some time in investigating the methods of treating consumption. Dr. Flick said tonight he would in troduce the Finsen treatment now in operation at Copenhagen which is a new method of treating disease by sunlight and electric light. Three-fifths of the work on the Simplon tunnel, .(nearly twenty miles in length,} which is to afford a direct railway route between Geneva and Milan, is completed and no serious impediments to the great undertaking have been encountered. The rapidity of the progress which has been made is accounted for by the method em ployed. A small side tunnel is cut in advance of the full sized tunnel and cross passages are cut, enabling work to proceed on three or four faces of the tunnel simultaneously. The stone cuttings are carried through the smaller tunnel, which also serves as a drain. The amount of water encoun tered has not been sufficient to seri ously interfere with the work. The tunnel will be completed [in 1904^ for one track. The smaller tunnel will subsequently be enlarged to provide for a second track. It looks now as if the appropriation of $100,000 by the late Charles Broad way Rouss for a Confederate museum will not be paid. The executors of the blind millionaire decline to pony up. A Western man who is interested in what may be termed concentrated farming shows by a statement of actual experience what may be done on a ten acre lot. Here is the showing: Five hundred cnickens, value- 8150; 100 Turkeys, 8100: each acre of strawber ries, 880: one acre of potatoes, $40; one acre cf apples, pears and peaches, 8100; one acre of onions, $30; one; acre of general garden truck, $50; one acre of cabbage, $25: one acre of grapes, $50: one acre of blackberries, $50: one acre of beans, $20. Total $995. Deduct from this $100 for buy ing feed for poultry and $50 for use of land one you have left $845. Laurens, Jan. 8.?Mr. Hillary Mosely, aged 65, died last night at the county home. He was a native of this county and at the outbreak of the Civil War he promptly volunter ed enlisting with the South Carolina Guards, Company A, Third S. C, regiment. He served gallantly to the close of hostilities. He was well connected in this and Greenville counties. His health failing a few years ago he became a ward of this county. Tb<* remains were interred here this afternoon. Aiken, Jan. 7.?After Jan. 12th there is to be regular inter-urban ex press service over August-Aiken Elec tric railway betewen Augusta, Aiken and intermediate points, making two deliveries each way daily. Express cars will leave Augusta at 9.30 a. m., and 3.00 p. m., making stops at all points for receipt and delivery of freight. Mr. M. R. McAdoo, a rail way expert from Pittsbrug, Pa., who is now in Aiken, has authority from headquarters to straighten out the kinks in the trolley line, put down switches and shorten the schedule time. Mr. McAdoo has been made general manager of the Augusta street railway also. Richmond, Va., January 9.?Fire at an ealry hour this morning swept away two-thirds of the manufacturing plant cf the Virginia-Carolina Chem ical Company here, only the acid building remaining. The officers of the company would give no estimate of the loss, but it is said that there will be no interruption of the business of the company by reason of the fire and that the loss is fuliy covered by in i surance. About seventy men are j temporarily thrown out of work by the j fire. A paper manufacturing company at j Niagara Falls has succeeded in making J a good quality of soft, tough paper from cotton seed hulls, and they be- j lieve they can make a first class writ- j ing paper from the same material. | Some day they will be making good j paper from cotton stalks. New York, Jan. 10.?Crazed by the pain attending his illness of typhoid fever, Thomas A. O'Donobue, treas urer of the O'Donobue Coffee Com pany, sprang from the window of his room on the seventh floor of the Or monde Apartment House, landing on the sidewalk. He died ten minutes later. The sick man was attended by a trained nurse, whom he had sent from the room by a ruse. The attendant re appeared just as Mr. O'Donohue was about to take the plunge and sprang toward him, but was too late to prevent it. Mr. O'Donohue was 30 years of age and a millionaire. THE MIIUL BEP88T 8F THE DiSPEBSfiRY. It is Claimed That the State, m Order tc Carry on its Liquor Monopoly Successfully, Must Aiways Have Fieariy $500,000 Invested in "StGck on Hand." Columbia, January 10.?'The State board of control of the dispensary has filed its annual report. It is almost entirely statistical and deals with the business of the etablishment. The only suggestion cf the board is that it must maintain a large stock of goods. The report is very brief and to the point, outside of the tables, and reads as follows: f Columbia, January 9, 1903. To His Excellency, M. B. McSwee^ ney, Governor of South Carolina: We have the honor to submit here with a statement of the business done by the State and county dispensaries during the fiscal year ending Novem ber 30, 1902. By reference to the several state ments hereto attached you will note that "the total cost for the year of li quors, beer, wines, etc., has amounted to $1,664,870.77, and the total sales (exclusive of fresh beer?have been $2,406,243.50. The net earnings for account of the school fund for the fiscal year, which have been placed to its credit, have amounted to $123,699.57. The net profits that have accrued to and have been equally divided between the counties and towns have been $443,198.76. We have paid from our assets into the school fund one semi annual payment of $50,000 and will, within two weeks, pay $50,000 more, looking to a reduction of the school fund, as required by Act of the Gene ral Assembly, approved February 26, 1902. In addition to that we have paid the quarterly earnings as they have accrued in favor of the school ?fund for the nine months since this Act became effective, which have amounted to $92,755.91, making the total payments for the school fund for the year amount to $142,755.91. Add to this the amounts paid to towns and counties we find that our grand total of payments for the year for public purposes amounts to $585,954.67. You will note that the total net earnings of the State and county dis pensaries for the several funds above mentioned amount to $566,898.33. The Act approved February 26, 1902, re quires us to reduce the school fund to $400,000 by the first of January next, and if "school fund" is interpreted to mean "stock in hand, "we have to report that this requirement is impos sible of accomplishment if we are ex pected to meet the public demand for the various kinds of liquors, beer and wines, etc. Since the State is attempt ing to enforce a monopoly of the sale of liquors, we have felt it our duty to try as nearly as is consistent with good business principles to supply every legitimate demand for the popular brands of liquors, and if we keep in stock a reasnable supply of each kind it necesarily involves the investment of large amount of money. You can readily see that if we do not maintain our stock of these brands required by -consumers and not furnished by us will be imported from abroad for per sonal use, or by blind tigers. We have now in county dispensaries alone a stock of $406,193 05, which is not excessive for this season of the year. We have real estate, fixtures, etc., at the State dispensary in Colum bia, which cost $59,117.18 and if his amount is deducted from the maximum amount allowed by the Act referred to our total stock of merchandise and supplies would be only $340,663.88, which would be $65,312.17 less than is now in the local dispensaries, and nothing in the State dispensary from which to supply the county dispens aries. It is, therefore, our opinion, that the State cannot maintain the dis pesnary system upon a working capital of only $400,000. ~ In conclusion we are glad to-be"?bl* to report that,-judging front all ia formation coming to us, the clispen? ary system has largely increased is popularity as being the best solution of the sale of intoxicating liquors. - Respectfully submitted: L. J. Wil liams, H. H. Evans, A. F. H. Dukes. Tobacco Trust Begins Foreign War. ' The American Tobacco Trust has opened a campaign for the control of the German markets. This city, the Saxon capital, is to be the base of supplies and the headquarters from which the battle is to be waged. In anticipation of the so-called "Ameri can tobacco invasion" all ther big in dependent tobacco and cigarette manufacturers of Saxony have formed a co-operative committee for the purpose of arousing public sentiment against the American trust products and pro voking a boycott of the goods labeled with the trust trademark. Several days ago the. committee held an indig nation meeting to protest against the trust's methods and to perfect a close combination to oppose the scheme.? Dresden Cablegram to the Chicago Re cord-Herald. Rivals of the noted Ormsby 4* quads of Chicago have been born in Toledo. Mrs. Francis Spyhalski, aged 22 years, and Stanislaus Spyhalkis, aged 23 years, are the parents The " quads" are two girls and two boys, ranging in weight from three to six pounds. The boys have been named Samuel Jones and Theodore Roosevelt. Six months ago Mrs. Spyhalski became the mother of twins and about a year later of triplets. All these died. She has another child 9U months old. Pitsburg, Pa., Jan. 7.?As a result of a collision between ia passenger train and the rear end of a freight train on the Monongahela division cf the Penyslvania railroad tonight at Cochrane station, just above Duquesne, seven men are dead, one is dying and five others injured. New York, Jan. H.?Mrs. Fiorine Henry, the wife of Philip S. Henry, ajvealthy coffee merchant, and daugh ter of the late millionaire banker, Leonard Lewishon, was burned to death in a fire that almost entirely destroyed the residence of the family, at 54 East 56th street.