The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, April 01, 1903, Image 4
WEDNESDAY, APRIL !, 1903.
The Sumter Watcnman was toundec
ja 1850 and the True Southron in 1866.
The Watchman and Southron now has
the combined circulation and influence
of both of the old papers, and is mani?
festly the best advertising medium in
8sm ter.
The effort of Comptroller ' General
Jones to force the building and loan
associations to pay taxes on the mort?
gages they hold 'should he resisted in
and oqtof the courts, for it would be
not only a double tax. but an injust
tax. The building and loan associa?
tions are purely mutual affairs and in
reality .never have a dollar of paid up
capital stock, for as fast as the mem?
bers pay in their monthly assessments
the receipts are paid out to the several
members in. turn. The bonds and
mortgages are taken not to secure the
repayment of the total of the sums
loaned, but the payment of the regular
assessments, as they become due. If
a share holder borrows money from
the associaaion and builds a house
with it, he pays taxes on the house.
The association should not be forced
to pay taxes on the mortgage at all,
not to say the face value, for the maker
of this mortgage, who is already pay
ing taxes on his house, may have al?
ready paid into the association three
fourths the face value of the mortgage
before he borrowed money in his turn.
The day the final payment is made
to the associai on the mortgage is con
celled and as a taxable "credit" ceases
to exist. Why then should the State
force a mutual assocation to pay taxes
on the face of all "credits" when this
credit in reality is largely the property
of the maker of the' mortgage, who is
paying taxes on the real property?
A court martal in the English Army
must be a serious affair, otherwise
Gen. Macdonald would not have com?
mitted sucide to escape it. American
officers on the Phillippines, commit
murder, steal, torture natives in the
most barbarous^manner, live immoral
and vicious lives and still face court
martial with neVer a tremor or fear.
They go through the form of trial with
brazen and unblushing effrontery and
stand pat to be whitewahsed. Later
they are promoted and given * wider
latitude and greater opportunities.
Admiral Dewey has killed his chance
of hobnobbing with the Kaiser, a la
Bob Evans, if he should ever go to
Germany on a naval junket.
If the people of Charleston can keep
Dr. Cram out of the Custom House by
appealing to the court they should lose
no time in seeking the only means of
relief now possible.
Now that it has reached the point
that railroad traffic can be blocked for
several hours and the business of
hundreds of people interfered with to
suit the convenience of a son of a rail?
road president out on a pleasure trip, it
is time for the people to demand
government ownership of the railroads.
Shameful to relate, but nevertheless
true, serious and corrupt abuses are
beginning to creep into this State's
pension system. There seems to be a
regular scramble to get on the
pension rolls and the deserters, con?
scripts, bombproof men and others
who shirked honorable service in the
war, are the mest clamorous for pen?
sions. The really deserving among
the needy old soldiers ore being crowd?
ed out and the pittance they receive
is not sufficient to do them much good.
In this county a conscientious effort
has been made to keep the undeserv?
ing off the rolls, but, even here, it is
said the rolls contain names that have
no right there.
The farmers' meeting to be held in
the Court House on April 15th should
be attended by as many farmers as
possible. The time will be well spent
for the addresses by Profs. Spillman
and Newman cannot fail to be inter?
esting and beneficial. The object of
the meeting is to arouse interest in
the cultivation of grasses and forage
plants.
No Negroes There.
The papers for the past week have
been full of the accounts of a Unitarian
club banquet in New York pt which
two negros were guests. That didn't
cause much comment in itself, but
the fact that two members of the
Southern and General Education Board
-Mr. William H. Baldwin and W.
Walter H. Page-are said to have been
present has opened the door for a vigor?
ous attack upon the work of these
beards.-Raleigh News and Observer.
As soon as we saw this story in print
we wrote to a prominent member of
the Southern Education Board to know
if it was true, and here is his reply :
"I learn from sources absolutely
reliable that no negroes were present
at the dinner, but that after the din?
ner one solitary negro came in to listen
to the speeches. ' '
The Southern Education Board is
trying to help the cause of popular
education in the south and has done
a splendid work in that direction. We
suggest to esteemed Southern contem?
poraries that when they haer evil re?
ports concerning the board they take
the trouble to investigate and ascertain
if the report be trae before passing
judgment.-Richmond Tim?s Dispatch.
OUR NEW SCHOOL BONDS.
The new School Building bonds
offered for sale by the City Board pf
Education ought to sell very readily.
The rate of interest they bear is 4 per
cent and under the Act of the Legisla?
ture authorizing their issue they are
made non-taxable for any purpose by
state, county or municipality. They
will therefore be worth from 6 to 8 per
cent., or more, according to rate of
taxation prevailing at the purchaser's
home. They are straight 20-year bonds
-there is no option reserved for re?
demption at any shorter period than
the twenty years, which is always an
attractive feature to bond buyers.
But the chief attraction will be the
security upon which the issue is based,
which makes them "gilt-edged" and
absolutely safe so far as human fore?
sight can perceive.
The City of Sumter and the School
District of the same name cover pre?
cisely the same territory. But they
are two separate and distinct muni?
cipal corporations, and both exercise
the taxing power within the limits pre?
scribed by the laws of the state. The
constitution provides that where two
political divisions or municipal corpor?
ations cover the same territory their
combined power to issue bonds . shall
not exceed fifteen per cent of taxable
property within such territory. .
The assessed value of our property
on the tax books is one and a-half mil?
lion dollars. Three millions would be
a low estimate of actual values. There
is a steady, healthy increase of popu?
lation and property without any boom
or bluster. The census of 1900 gave us
5,673 people. A conservative estimate
of present population is 7,000. New
buildings are going up in all directions ;
price of real estate has steadily ad?
vanced and finds ready sale at figures
that were considered unreasonably
large a year ago.
The bonded debt of the school Dis?
trict is only $31,000 including the pre?
sent issue of $15,000. The bonded city
debt is $26,000 making a combined
total of $57,000.
The value of public property pri?
marily subject to the bonded debts is
not less th?n $95,000. Of this value at
least $45,000 is, and will be represented
in school property including the new
building, for erection of which the
money derived from the bonds will be
exclusively applied. Besides this
security in real estate, the interest
and principal is further secured by a
special tax levy. Our laws require that
a sinking fund shall be provided with
all bond issues, so that they shall
not be reissued, but shall be paid at
maturity. It ought not to be neces?
sary to send these bonds out of the
state for sale. They will be worth
more to resident purchasers than to
purchasers elsewhere, because of their
exemption from all taxation in South
Carolina.
THE FREELAND DIVORCE SUIT.
Court Refuses to Annul the Hasty
Marriage.
Deception no Bar to the Legality of a
Marriage.
Points from a decision by Mr. Jus?
tice McLean :
"That he was a fine-looking man, and
above all very honorable and honest
looking; that he went to church re?
gularly every Sunday during his woo?
ing, seemed to be religious and seemed
to be of very high character, and that
in the view of a near relative of the
plaintiff he was a man of very pro
possessing appearance, looked like a
thorough gentleman" and man of the
world who had plenty of means to sup?
port himself and also a wife, are only
showings of the sort upon which, truly,
according to learned and even high
ecclesiastical authority the world's
people commonly act, but which can?
not be counted as proofs in the courts
which might render precarious many a
union now respected were they once to
begin opening wedlock because of
deceit through plausibility and hypo?
crisy."
That deception is no b,ar to the
legality of a marriage is the gist of
Justice McLean's decision yesterday in
the suit of Eliza H. Wiekes Freeland
to annul her marriage with "Captain"
Albert N. Freeland.
Mrs. Freeland is a daughter of the
late Van Wyck Wiekes, of Brooklyn,
and a relative of Augustus Van Wyck
and ex-Mayor Van Wyck.
Mrs. Freeland is now living in East
Orange, and in her affidavit told of
her romantic meeting with Freeland
on a transatlantic liner. It was a case
of love at first sight. Freeland call?
ed himself "Captain Foster," it is
alleged.
He was a persistent suitor, and Miss
Wicks consented to a wedding as soon
as practicable after the ship had dock?
ed in New York.
Had it been possible "Captain Fos?
ter" would have insisted upon a marri?
age while on the ship.
The "captain" was a dashing wooer.
He represented himself to be a bachelor
of Les Angeles, without martial or
other incumbrances, in receipt of a
large income, and was apparently a
man of the world of most pleasing ap?
pearance. He not only posed as a
capitalist, but as a churchman of de?
vout habits.
ja As soon as the ship reached port,
Miss Wiekes and her persistent suitor
were married in Garee Church, Octo?
ber 16, 1901.
Within a short time after the mar?
riage Freeland disappeared. About
the same time Albert E. Wiekes,
brother of the bride, discovered that
this brother-in-law was "Captain"
Albert N. Freeland and tnat his wife
had but recently died in Sumter, S.
C., and that Freeland had grown chil
dren living there.
In his decision Justice McLean said
that the assertion by a man that he
was unmarried while in fact he was a
widower with grown children did not
establish a legal impediment to anoth?
er marriage.-N. Y. American,
March 31.
THE MISSISSIPPI FL000.
Levee Breaks and Kazoo Delta
Flooded.
CREVASSE NEAR GREENVILLE.
Conditions on the Lower Missis?
sippi Give Cause for Concern
Peeling of Depression Exists.
Greenville, Miss., March 27.-A
volume of water 16 feet deep is pouring
steadily through a crevasse in the
levee five miles south of here and is
flooding thousands of acres of the finest
farming land in the celebrated Yazoo
delta.
The break in the levee occurred at ll
o'clock this morning and the roar of
the rushing waters can easily be heard
in Greenville. Only 200 feet of the
embankment gave way at first, and a
mighty effort was made by hundreds of
laborers in charge of the government
engineers to check the rushing flood by
cribbing and sacking, but it was soon
apparent that it was beyond human
power sucessfully to combat the resist?
less fury of the current. An hour later
it was seen that the ends of the levee
on either side of the crevass were melt- j
ing fast, the force of the current cut?
ting the embankment away as though
it were built of sand.
Tonight the backwater has reached
this city, but it is believed there is no
danger here from the flood, as the
water will pass rapidly to the south?
ward.
Maj. John M. Sears, who has charge
of the government office here in . the
absence of Capt Potter, of the Third
levee district, who is ill, in an inter?
view tonight stated that the break is
unquestionably the worst in the history
of the levee system. He says the en?
tire delta south as far as Vicksburg
will be inundated and the fine farm?
ing lands in Washington, Bolivar and
Sharkey counties will be under water
for more than two weeks.
This is the first break to be report?
ed on the Mississippi side since the
present rise began. Reports from the
interior are very meagre, but it is
believed the people were fully prepared
for a break, and the loss of life, if
any, will be reduced to a minimum.
Another break on the Mississippi
side is reported in the Albemarle levee,
in lower Issaquena county, but in?
formation from there is that the dam?
age from this break will not be heavy.
Break Above New Orleans.
New Orleans, March 27.-Interest in
the flood situation here today center?
ed in the break at Hymelia, near Lucy,
La., 40 miles above the city, and the
disastrous crevasse reported south of
Greenville. Cotton men felt especial
concern with respect to the latter and
the announcement in private dispatch?
es, which were circulate on the floor
of the cotton exchange, that 100,000
acres of the richest delta land would
probably go under water created a feel?
ing of depression. While this/break
will doubtless cause a decline in the
river in the vicinity of Greenville and
for a considerable distance south, re?
lieving the strain on the Louisiana
levees in the fifth district, it is furth?
er unfortunate that the water which
goes through must inevitably return to
the Mississippi through the Yazoo,
thus prolonging the period of high
water south of that point.
The day's developments at Hymelia
gave much encouragement. Through
the cooperation of the La Fourche
levee board the railroads affected,
the government engineers and the
planters, large quantities of material
and forces of men were gottten to the
scene soon after- daylight. Under ex?
perienced crevasse fighters 700 laborers
were put to work early in the forenoon
and a line, of cribbing begun from
either side of the break. Tonight's
advices received to the effect that all
the cribbing that had been driven dur?
ing the day was holding, owing to the
excellent batture, and that if the
work is not hindered by wind and
rain sacking is likely to begin tomor?
row and the break will be closed by
Sunday. The upper end of the break
is holding and the wash from the
lower end is slow. The width of the
crevass?e is between 150 and 200 feet.
A large area of land is alrready sub?
merged, but if the efforts of the forces
at work are successful the water will
quickly drain off. The crevasse is in
the heart of one of the richest sugar
districts of Louisiana.
Waters Have Covered Thousands of
Acres of Fine Delta Lands-No Cor?
rect Estimate of the Damage Can
be Made.
Greenville, Miss., March 27.-The
backwater from the Lagrange crevasse
is slowly rising and nearly all of the
city is submerged. Business is
paralyzed and people are moving about
the streets in the southern section in
skiffs. The rise in the last twenty
four hours is two inches. The sensa?
tional reports sent out from here that
the city is in danger of destruction are
highly exaggerated, and the facts do
not warrant any such statement.
Rumors of great loss of life are
absolutely without foundation so far
as is known here. Relief parties with
boats have been at work rescuing peo?
ple in the path of the flood and the
refugees are brought here.
It was said this afternoon that the
mayor had instructed the city engi?
neer to cut the protection levee in the
northern part of the city, as it is be?
lieved it will be the means of letting
the water out through Fish Lake. The
country beyond the lake is much low?
er than tho city and if the levee is cut
it will stop tho rise in Greenville and
carry off much of the water now in
the city.
All trains left here this afternoon
promptly on schedule time. The shut
down of the electric light plant is
serious inconvenience to the people
and lanterns in skiffs may be seen
throughout the town at night.
The flood situation outside of Green?
ville remains practically unchanged.
The waters have covered thousands of
acres of the fine delta farms and are
sweeping south to Vicksburg. The
,loss will be heavy, but it is impossible
to give anything like a correct estimate
of the damage wrought by the flood.
TWO NEIT????STEIS"
ON THE HUDSON.
Novitiate of Society of Jesus and
and House of the Holy Cross
Order.
N. Y. Herald, March 24.
Two great new religious houses on
the banks of the Hudson River will
give a touch of Old World color to the
region about Poughkeepsie next sum?
mer. These two large buildings will
be the new novitiate of the Society of
Jesus, at St. Andrew's, on the east
side of the river, and the new monas?
tery of the Order of the Holy Cross,
at West Park, directly opposite, on the
west bank.
The former is already completed and
is now occupied by the novices of the
famous society of teachers and preach?
ers formerly located at Frederick,
Md., while the latter has not yet ad?
vanced far enough toward completion
to render it fit for occupancy.
The Jesuit novitiate is built on a
high hill, at the very foot of which is
the great river. It is 3C0 feet long,
with a depth of 183 feet. It is built of
Harvard brick, with limestone trim?
mings, and is four stones high. The
style is Colonial. The long line of the
facade is broken midway by a project?
ing portion, the massive white col?
umns of which run up the three entire
stories.
There is one feature in the intern?
al arrangements which is worthy of
special notice. Accommodations have
been made for other persons than
thoset who wear the cassock to spend
some days in prayer and seclusion. In
Catholic countries it is growing to
be a general custom for men who seek
and require more than the usual piety
that is availble in ordinary life to
engage for some days at a time in what
is called a retreat, in order to pray,
to meditate and to lay plans for future
spiritul improvement.
In the present conditions at St.
Andrews those who desire to seek such
retirement for a time will find every?
thing requisite for their reception, as
the purpose was kept in view in the
construction of the novitiate. The
rooms for these prospective retreatants
make part of the house, but at the
same time are cut off from the portion
occupied by the community, an ar?
rangement which will conduce to the
greater personal comfort of both.
On a rocky ledge which overhangs the
river on the opposite bank of the
stream, at a place called West Park
stands the new .'monastery of the
Order of the Holy Cross, now making
its home at Westminister, Md. The
building stands on a side hill, so that
the floor of the basement is on a level
with the ground to the east, but the
ceiling of the basement is on a level
with the ground toward the west. The
structure rests on solid rock.
The Order of the Holy Cross is a re?
ligious community consisting at the
present time exclusively of priests of
the Protestant Episcopal Church,
though the time may come when lay?
men may be included in the order.
The community had its origin in this
city in 1886. The first member to
; take the vows was the present superior
of the order, the Rev. James O. S.
Huntingdon, son of the Bishop of Cen?
tral New' York. He was professed by
the late Bishop Horatio Potter No?
vember 25, 1884. The order at present
consists of five professed members
the Revs. James O. S. Huntington,
Sturges Allen, Shirley Carter Hugh
son, Frederick Herbert Sill and Wil?
liam Francis Mayo.
A Growing Evil.
We find the following in a special
from Lancaster to the News and
Courier :
"The court of general session was
held last week. The solicitor, J. K.
Henry, did one thing which attracted
public attention. He arose from his
seat and stated that he was going to
nol pros an indictment against a negro
where the evidence might be sufficient
for conviction, on the ground that the
prosecution had been started with a
bad motive, "on the ground that it
was done to force him to pay a debt.
Mr. Henry made quite a speech at the
time, and said that he had observed a
growing evil, not only in this county,
but in other counties in this circuit,
and that was that good men, so re?
garded, were using t?he criminal law
to collect debts, and that they were
compounding felonies to this end and
making themselves thereby as-guilty
as the felons against whom they had
started prosecution. Mr. Henry stated
that he believed that good men in
some instances were thoughtlessly doing
this, and he gave warning by public
announcement that the pursuit of this
practice had to be stopped."
The evil which Solicitor Henry has
found in Lancaster exists in other
parts of the State and seems to be grow?
ing, iuere is an increasing tendency
to use the criminal law in the collec?
tion of debts, and it is becoming a
very great evil. Of course there are
people who will not pay debts unless
forced to do so, and sometimes it seems
that the only way to reach them is
through the criminal court. For that
class of people there can be no sym?
pathy of course, but the practice that
has sprung up is a very dangerous one
and frequently leads to abuses.
We are glad Solicitor Henry has had
the courage to speak out on this subject
and it is to be hoped that his example
will be followed by others.-Anderson
Mail.
Ten years ago James R. Keeno had
lost a great fortune in a contest with
Jay Gould and was a bankrupt. Now
he is said to be worth from 85,000,000
to $2"), 000,000. Nowadays he has an
elegant suite of rooms in the Waldorf
I Astoria Hotel from which hu conducts
j his speculations.
j Keene married Miss Sarah Dainger
I field (the daughter of a Virginian who
had gone to California to visit her
, brother,' Judge William P. Dainegr
field, of the United States Circuit
Court ), and where she met Mr. Keene.
Governor Odell is going to the St.
Louis fair in great shape. His per?
sonal escort will consist of an entire
regiment and the State of New York
will foot a bill for 850,000
Hagood News Items.
This writer was a bit hasty last week
in saying that the Hessian fly was not
troubling the small grain in this com?
munity for while that statement was
true yet the plant louse is abroad and
doing much damage. Just after writ- :
ing you we went out into the oat
patch, where a few days before soda
had been applied, and found a small.
spot where the plants were puny, j
dwarfed and red. No lice were seen
but upon examination a great many
dead flies, in appearance somewhat .
like the house fly, were found adher- !
ing to the blades of the plant. Whether j
they have anything to do with the louse
(they certainly appear where the lice
are) or whether they were killed by
the soda or what effect it had on the
lice if there were any of them there
the writer is unable to say. The same
little hairy black and red worm of
which mention was made in your
columns last summer in connection
with the cotton louse, was noticed,
and notwithstading some high in
authority, disagreed with us we are of
opinion that they are enemies of the
whole louse family. As stated last sum?
mer when found in the lousy cotton we
began to kill them. The thought direct?
ly suggested, itself that they might
be our friends and upon close observa?
tion it was found that they were in?
deed eating the louse eggs. When
they had multiplied exceedingly the
louse disappeared. \They may have
done evil to counterbalance this good
but certainly not with us. Now, Mr.
Editor, we have gone to some length
in discussing this matter, but surely
it is of such importance as to be given
a place in the columns of your most
excellent paper. Will not some one
who has the time, (ours is all taken
up at present, look into the matter
closely and report the result?
Mr. Robt. E. Atkinson came near
sustaining serious if not fatal injury
the other day through the bursting
of a rifle, the broken piece striking
him at the bridge of the nose and
passing out through the brim o?: his
hat. As it was, he sustained only a
slight bruise, but had he been struck
squarely in the forehead it would
most surely have been crushed. For
the benefit of all let it be said that
they be careful how they load shells
with nitro powder.
That aged and highly respected
citizen, T. 0. Sanders, Sr., whose
warm heart and sympathetic nature
have carried him to the sick poor,
white and colored alike, is now pros?
trated himself with little chance of
recovery. At his departing the world
will seem lonelier, colder to many,
whose hearts will be heavy, whose
6yes will then be no strangers to the
bitter brine of sorrow.
Corn planting is the order of the day
now.
The young men here have organizda
baseball team.
Some folks here are expecting to
"jump the brom" soon. It will be the
affair of the season. Hagood.
Hagood, March 30.
Senator McLaurin Will Return to
South Carolina.
Special to The State.
Washington, March 31.-John L.
McLaurin, ex-senator from South
Carolina, has decided to return to
the State and resume the practice of
law. McLaurin has been in New York
for some time past in the hope of
establishing himself there, but his
schemes have failed and he will go
south again. It is not known whether
Mr. McLaurin will reside in Bennetts
ville, his*former home, or not, but his
friends here are inclined to think that
he may establifh himself in the upper
part of the State, probably in Green?
ville.
The idea that he may again enter
politics is not considered improbable.
New cases of yellow fever have been
reported from several villages in
Yucatan, causing great alarm. It was
said a short time ago that the disease
had ran its course, but it is now tak?
ing a new hold and covering a wide
field.
Pisgah News and Comment.
Pisgah, March 30.-Notwithstanding
the long wet weather the farmers are
fairly np with their work. Corn
planting, is about over, and the pre?
paration for planting cotton, or more
precisely and accurately speaking, the
planting of cotton seed, will now go
forward.
Yesterday we had a rain storm all
day, and the ground is thoroughly
wet: so plowing is delayed sometime.
The Hessian fly, or whatever is the
name of the pest, is playing havoc
with the oats. Acres of fine oats are*
dead and what bid fair to be the finest
crop we have had for years? will be
the poorest if this thing keeps on.
Possibly, the warm winter has had
something to do with it. Several have^
tried to stop the flies by putting soda
arid cerealite on the oats, but I see as
yet no cessation of the ravishers.
Rev. J. C. Crouch spent several days
here last week visiting friends. From
here he weet to Orangeburg to visit*
his son, Prof. Crouch.
Miss Maggie Myers, and Mr. Conrad
Folk of Providence attended services
at Pisgah last preaching day. Miss
Maggie has many friends here who are
always glad to see her.
Pisgah Church will soon commence
to repair its church building. The ?,
demand for shingles here is way be?
yond the supply, and any good shingle
getter can get steady and remunerative
employment heie for sometime to
come. Building and repairing is going
on all the time. ,
The health of this section is very
good. A few cases of grippe is about
the sum of the sick list. "
Mr. Hugh H. Evans has been quite*
sick with it, but is better.
Considerable tobacco will be set out
here. If the raisers can only realize
what they now hope for they will be a
well to do people, but in the face of
the advice from leading tobacconists
not to plant much as the stock on hand
is large and a big crop will sell at low
prices, the fable in Webster's blue
spelling book of the girl with the pail
of milk on her heackwill be very ap?
plicable to our friends next fall.
Your Easter Suit.
Let us show you our line of clothing.
It will pay you to get our prices before
purchasing.
IpsHI?HS?RTi
SH?
m
INSURED
CUOTWINO
The same kinds we have always sold
you.
J. R?TTiNBER6 & SONS. '
J? JP R, I Li
Wednesday l?t and 2d Thursday
On these two days our Spring Millinery Reception compli?
mentary to the ladies will be held, at which will be shown for
the coming season, all of the latest New York and Paris styles
in Hats and Bonnets. This will be the most favorable oppor?
tunity yet offered to see real Art in Millinery, besides a beauti?
ful and up-to-date line of DRESS FABEICS, TRIM?
MINGS AND FINE FOOTWEAR.
The Sumter Dry Goods Co.
Is one of the things you need to aid you *
to enjoy* the spring weather. We can
supply it. A large stock of new styles
opened today. Prices right-$1.25 to $5.
Our;iLow?Priee?Leader at I$1.24 Can't Be;
Beat.
H. G. ?STEEN & CO.
Yery truly yours,
?. HA
March 24.
L
16 W. Liberty Stree*