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TERRIBLE AUTO EXPLOSION. Harry Richard and Little Brother Blown Up in Columbia. Columbia, Dec. 13.-The boilers of an automobile exploded yesterday afternoon, blowing little Macolm Richard, the four-year-old son of Mr. J. E. Richard, high into the air, breaking his left thigh and rendering him unconscious for many hours. Mr. Harry Richard, an older brother, who had been driving the machine, was thrown violently to the ' ground and stunned. The machine was torn literally into fragments, parts of it being thrown on the roof of the house next door and others being hurled far i into the air and lodged in trees high? er than the roof of the house and the yard in which the explosion occurred was strewn with parts of the machine. The shock of the explosion was felt three blocks away, and the detona? tion was heard as far as Main street. The machine was an old one, vi which had not been used for a num b r of years and was operated by steam engines instead of gasoline. Mr. Richard, the father of the two occupants of the machine, is a deal? er in automobiles and had this old ^ steam driven m? chine in his back? yard. It was one of the first brought tc? this city and for more than four years has been displaced by more modern machines and thrown aside. Yesterday Harry Richard thought he wouid try the old machine and put it in repair. After cleaning and in? specting it, he fired it up, and taking his little brother with him went for a j v. short spin. Everything worked satis? factorily and he returned to the yard at his home. Immediately af*er stopping the auto Mr. Richard step jj ped out and was in the act of assist? ing his little brother io alight, when, for some unaccountable reason, there ; was an explosion, which wrecked the machine and injured the two oc? cupants. . j The force of the explosion cannot be comprehended until Ihe effects of it are seen. There is not a part of ? the machine which has not been tom ? into splinters except the metal run- ; ning gear and that is so twisted and torn that it will never again be used. The large backyard in which the ex? plosion occurred is filled with rem? nants of the woodwork; in every corner are . parts of the seats, top aind : body. Everywhere are to be seen bits of leather, wood and tufts of ; hair with which the cushions were j sxuffed. Parts of this woodwork were j thrown so high and so far that they I came down on the roof of the house next door and o.her parts lodged in the branches of the high trees in the yard. The engine and other ma? chinery is nothing more than a heap of rubbish. Those who saw the explosion say that Harr$ Richard was dashed to the ground. The baby brother who was slipping down from the seat at the moment was immediately over the boilers and caught the full force of the explosion. He was thrown higher than the top of the house and ? fell in such a way that his left leg was doubled under his body and frac? tured by the fall. Mrs. Richard, the mother of the little fellow was in the house, and when she heard the explo? sion, rushed out to see her baby boy writhing in pain on the ground. The elder brother had been knocked down and stunned but soon recovered and assisted in caring for the injured baby. A physician was quickly called and the broken limb was set. Last night the little boy was in a satisfac? tory condition. Mr. Harry Richard, who was in charge of the machine, when it was blown up. is one of the most experi? enced and expert drivers in Columbia. He has been connected with the shop of his father for more than five years and has served a term of months in one of the foremost automobile works in the country. KILLED BY CHINESE. Little Girl Whose Mother Was a Na? tive of Anderson County, Clubbed to Death. Anderson. Dec. 12.-News has been received here of che clubbing to ! death of little Nellie Royal, the 10 year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Royal, independent mission? aries to China. The child was play? ing on the banks of a river near her homo at shangrhai and was clubbed to death by three Chinamen. Mrs. Royal was a Miss Sullivan of near Pelzer before her marriage, which took place in China. She has visited this city and the little girl was here about five years ago. The news of the terrible death of the child came from a paper published in Zion City, 111. ?It is noticeable a cold seldom comes on when the bowels are freely open. Neither can it stay if they are open. Kennedy's Laxative Cough Syrup tastes as pleasant as maple su? gar. Free from all opiates. Contains Honey and Tar. Conforms to the National Pure Food and Drug Law. Sold by all druggists. ELECTRICAL DEVICE. South Dakota Farmer's Son Fulls Down Electricity in Benjamin Franklin Fashion and Converts It To His Own Use. . South Dakota cities are supplied with electric light, the electricity for which is generated by the power of artesian wells j farm machinery is run by motors and turbine wheels op? erated by the gushing wells between the Missouri and James rivers, but it has been left to a South Dakota farm? er to discover that enough electricity may be taken from the air above the I buttes to furnish the power which will j run electric lights, thrashing mach [ ines and water pumps, says the New York Herald. ' Such a discovery is one of the mar? vels of the electrical world and a dream of inventors for decades, but John H. Stranhan, son of a well-to do farmer near Miller S. D., has made the discovery, and from Sully Buttes may be seen a number of tandem box kites while half way to the earth on* a No. 8 copper wire hangs a strange white box the size of a bee hive. From the copper wires which de? scend from this box enough electrical energy is secured to run the motors with which the Stranhan home is lighted; a feed grinder and threshing machine operated and a big electrical pump which pours water into the ir? rigating ditches. Young Stranhan is a graduate of an eastern polytechnical school where he went to complete his studies after graduating from the University of Ne? braska in Lincoln. Since leaving the school he has devoted much of his time to studying the Hertzian waves, the electrical waves which malve the wire! 2*3 telegraph possible. He has expcrixocxtted under the belief that it wa - possible to collect the electricity ir this air and use it for commercial purpose?. . I He nov.- declares he has perfected a c"~vice which gives him the first cu:rc-..:t ir"m t~~e r.'r about Sully Buttes anci vy a series of inductions the power is :-creased until it runs all the machinery on the Stranhan farm. Stranhan says that his scheme was successful from the start, so far as the production of an electrical cur? rent was concerned, but that the dif- 1 ficulty was in procuring- a current of sufficient potentially to be of utility in farm work. After months and : months of study and experimentation, 1 however, he says that he hit upon a simple device which answered the re? quirements and that now he is able to secure from the clouds a current' strong enough to run a 20-horse pow? er motor. He says by increasing the size of his collector he is confident that he will be able to produce cur? rents of practically unlimited power. Wofford's Endowment Fund. Spartanburg Dec. ll.-Dr. R. A. Childs, financial agent of Wofford College, has commenced the work of enyt-five thousand dollars has been subscribed in the State at large and now the college wants the citizens of the place to subscribe $40,000. The educational fund of New York has appropriated $23,000 and Andrew Carnegie $20,000. HOLD YOUR COTTON. Hie Latest Advance of President Har vie Jordan-Enormous Demand Will Absorb Every American Bale -He Says the Recent Government Estimate Was Too Much. Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 12.-Har vie Jor? dan, president of the Southern Cotton Association, in an interview today upon the recent government estimate placing the crop of the current year at practically twelve and a half mil Iron bales said : "The holders of spot cotton in the South should not become panicky over the recent esti? mate of the bureau of cotton statis? tics and the heavy slump which fol? lowed in the speculative exchanges of the country. The enormous demand for spot cotton by the mills of the world will absorb every bale of : American cotton produced this year ; before another crop can be harvested. ' There:is not now as much cotton in ; the south to gather and gin as was : the case one year ago, hence the present crop will never reach 12, 000,000 bales. If we should gin as ? much cotton in the south as we did 1 from the'big crop of 1904, the total ? crop would not exceed 12.200,000 ? bales. Every one acquainted with the situation knows that there is ho late cotton, as was the case in 1904. 1 as the top crop this year was killed ; by an unusually early frost. Grant- i ing that only So per cent of the crop : was ginned to Dec. 1 the total yield i would not exceed ll.TOO.00^ bales, s The burf-au has over estimated the Nield this vear as badly as it under- < estimated the crop a year ago. The : pennie are urged to hold their cotton firmly for good prices and the spot market can b*? fully maintained for the balance of the season." ; ARRESTED FOR G VM FLING. A Case Tba: .s -. Can ed Endless Dis cussicu oa the Streets Today. Wednesday afternoon on the com? plaint of Mr. -v. A. Bowman, a white man who gav is name as D. T. Kel? ly, was taken :' custody at the de? pot by OfiV :r ? :. Weeks, just as h? was geting ?. . .0 depart from the city. Subsequen ?y a warrant was is? sued for the arrest of Mr. Bowman himself, and the man Kelly, on an affidavit made on information and be? lief before Recorder Hurst, by Officer Weeks. The affidavit alleges that "D. T. Kelly and W. A. Bowman engaged in a game of chance or gambling with cards for gain." The warrant was served by Officer Weeks and Mr. Bow? man and Kelly were held for bail. It is said that an effort was made to keep the matter quiet, but be that as j it may, the incident was the prevailing j topic of discussion on the streets chis morning, and the greatest interest was displayed in the matter. At 12 o'clock, the hour for the Recorder's Court to convene, the court room was crowded by those who wished to hear the case tried. Recorder Hurst held that it was not a case for trial in his court, and that it would have to go up to the Court of General Sessions. He stated that he cou'?d do no more than hold a preliminary, and that as neith? er defendant had asked for a prelimi? nary hearing, he can only bind them over for trial in the higher court Until a preliminary shall be held or the case goes to trial it is impossi? ble to get an official statement of the case on its merits. . GAMBLING CASE SETTLED. Saturday afternoon the case against D. T. Keller and W. A. Bow? man, charged with gambling with cards, was heard. Both plead guilty and were fined $50 each. The fines were paid. Keller and Mr. Bowman were ar? rested on the complaint of Mr. Bow? man, who had been swindled out of $524 in a game of cards, the whole thins having- been a put up job to swindle mm. When Mr. Bow? man realized that he had been delib? erately swindled, he reported the matter to the police and asked that both Keller and himself be arrested. When Keller was first taken into custody he was defiant, but after a few days in jail he became reasonable and was anxious to get out of the scrape. At the trial Saturday he not only plead guilty, but disgorged the money he got from Mr. Bowman and paid his fine. There were, several other profes? sional gamblers mixed up in the swindling scheme, but none of them have yet been arrested . J. L. Cour teney, who was suspected of being a party to the swindle, was arrested Saturday on a charge of enticing and swindling at cards. A preliminary was held Saturday afternoon, and the following entry was made on the docket: "At the preliminary hearing no evidence was adduced making out a case and the defendant was dis? missed." GEN. SUMTER'S MONUMENT. Commission Appointed by Governor to Supervise Erection of Suitable Mark at His Grave. Columbia, Dec. 13.-The State of South Carolina will mark the grave of Gen. Thomas Sumter. Yesterday Gov. Heyward appointed Dr. J. W. Babcock, Mr. A. S. Sally, Jr., and Capt William A. Courtenay as a com? mission to carry out the provisions of the special act passed by the last gen? eral assembly, which appropriated $500 for this work. The act is as fol? lows: "Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of South Carolina, That the sum of $500 be appropriated, to be used alone or in connection with any sum that may be raised by voluntary contributions, to erect a suitable monument or mark to the grave of Gen. Thomas Sum? ter. "Sec. 2. That a commission of three citizens be appointed by the governor to take charge of the funds appropriated in section 1 hereof, and also of all voluntary contributions which may be committed to them, and they shall take charge of the inscription and erection of the monu ment. .'Sec. 3. That said funds shall be? come available upon the appointment j of said commission and payable out j ?f any funds not otherwise appropri? ated." Gen. Sumter, who was one of the Revolutionary partizans, whose mem ?ry has never been honored by the State, and his grave near Stateburg, in Sumt r county, has never been j suitably marked. His grandson. Se- ! bastian Sumter, now resides there md the family have often refused' voluntary tributes to the distinguish- I d Revolutionary hero. The commis? sion appointed by the governor will meet in a few days and organize and take steps to secure voluntary contri? butions to add to the sum appropri? ated for the monument. : ? POSTOFFICE APPROPRIATION. Congressman Lever Writes That $30, 000 Will Be Available For Use Next i'ear. The folowing letter shows that I Sumter will ha\e $30,000 to start her government bunding with next year, ?instead of only $15,000, as reported in Washington dispatches some time ago: Washington,, Dec. ll, 1906. Mr. E. I. Reardon, Secretary Chamber of Commerce, Sumter, S. C. Dear Sir: Upon the receipt of your letter of the 5 th instant, I called at the Treasury Department and talked with the suprevising architect. Mr. Taylor, about the appropriation ask? ed for, for the Sumter public build? ing. In fact I had seen him about it a few days before you wrote me-as soon as I saw the statement in 'he paper. I asked him to set out the j reason for his asking for only $15,-! 000 for Sumter for the coming fiscal year in a letter to me. He assured me that the amount asked for would be amply sufficient for the year,because it will very like? ly be six months after the site has been selected before the government can perfect its title to the property, and that the apparent smallness of the appropriation would not in any manner retard the progress of the erection of the public building. The Sundry Civil Bill for last year carried an appropriation of $15,000 for fumter, and this, together with the fifteen thousand asked for, for the coming fiscal year gives it $30, 000 to be used until the next year. I think everything is alright and I am satisfied with the explanation giv? en me by Mr. Taylor. As to the matter of getting addi? tional appropriation for the building -I shall have to looktinto this lat^r, although I fear that it will not be possible at this session to get any further amount, though it may be possible at the next session of con? gress. Very truly yours, , A. F. Lever. PERSONAL AND GENERAL. A debating club within the Young Men's Christian Association of Cleve? land has decided ten to seven that, a millionaire cannot be an honest man. General A. W. Gr eely now records his prediction that the North Pole will never be reached, on account of the drifting ice surrounding it. King John of Abyssinia has decreed that the nose of any of his subjects found taking snuff shall be cut off, while smoking and chewing tobacco forfeits life. Edward L. Frizzell, formerly of Leyden, Mass., in charge o? the bridge building for the Boston and Maine Railroad, has lived on a railroad car for twenty years. The Canadian revenue department has been examining commercial lemon extract, and finds out of 110 samples seventy-eight contained less than 1 per c?ut of lemon oii, the essential flavoring extract. Miss Ella D. Kurtz, the masterful uurse of the German hospital in Wil- j liamsburg, N. Y. has forced the resig? nation o> the entire medical staff-six young doctors. They, didn't like her, j and their peaces will be filled. j Cornelius Vanderbilt, the young i I millionaire, who in 1901 was elected a ! second lieutenant in the Twelfth Regi ! ment of the New York National lenard, J is now the senior lieutenant, and act I ing as captain. The members of the regiment snow no jealousy over this promotion, as they say it was earned by good work as a soldier. ?For chapped and cracked hands nothing is quite as good as an applica? tion of Dewitt's Witch Hazel Salve. Pat it on before going to bed, use an old pair of gloves and see what a dif? ference the morning will bring. Sold by all druggists. IT'S YOUR KIDNEYS. Don't Mistake the Cause of Your Troubles -A Suinte' Citizen Shows How to Cure Them. Many people nerer s :spe t their kid neys. If suffering from a iatne, weax or aching back they think thai it is only a muscular weakness ; when nriu?ry Loable sets in they think it will soon correct itself. An *-o it is with all the other symp? toms of kidney disorders. That is jost where the danger lies. You ir.ust cure these troubles or they l-:ad to diab?te* or B;ight*s disease. The best remedy to u?e is Doan's Kidney Pills. It cures all ills which are caused by weak or diseased kid? neys. Sumter people testify lo permanent erins. E. McCloud. r ,t 'mer. naidia;: on thc out-: skills of Sumter says: "Both ruy wife and I j used Doan's Kidney Tills procured at Dr. A. j J. China's drug store, and obtained a lot of; benefit from them. [ thought it must !><. the j climate which did not agree with us or the j water, for we never had the backache uni il we moved here some four years ago from! Pennsylvania, but wc certainh have had it! .sima-. The secretions from the kidneys nore j rregular and much too frequeni in action, i especially at nighi when our resi \sa> much disturbed, since we used Donn's Kidney Pills neit ?irr of ns has had I he backache and I t lie action of the kidneys became natural and normal and our rest i> not disturbed at, night. Dean's Kidney Pills are the best rem? edy that ever came into roy house." For sale by all dealers. Price 50 cents. Foster-Milliurn Co.. Buffalo. N. V., sole agents for the United States. Kemcmber the name-Doan's-and take no ! other. 45 [ The Kind You Have Always Bought, and which has bom in use for over 30 years, has borne the Signatare a? *y - and has been made under his per?* 'fflf j?'y sonal supervision since its infancy? ''CtfcA?M Allow no one to deceive you in this? All Counterfeits, Imitations and *c Just-as-good" are but Experiments that trifle with ? nd endanger the health of^ Infants and Children-Experience against Experiment*. What is CASTOR IA C astoria is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare-., goric, Drops and Soothing Syrups. It is Pleasant* It contains neither Opium? Morphine nor other Narcotic substance. Its age is its guarantee? It destroys Worms, and allays Feverishness? It cures Diarrhoea and Wind Colic? It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food? regulates th'v Stomach and Bowels? giving healthy and natural sleep? The Children's Panacea-The Mother's Friend? GENUINE CASTOR IA ALWAYS Sears the Signature of The Kind You Hare Always Bo In Use For Over 30 Years. THE CENTAUR COMPANY, TT MURRAY STREET. NEW YORK CITY. t Another Car Load of Co Ring up No. 30-That's tlie Daily Item's Telephone number-* when you want to place an advertisement that will bring results? W. A. BOWMAN, Pres. ABE RYTTENBERG, V. Pre* P. G. BOWMAN, Sec. & Treas. The Sumter Banking & Mercantile Company, 3Tj-rrite?r, B. C. ^?^^?Capital Stock $50,000?^???w Wholesale Grocers, Fertilize ers and Farmers' Supplies. Sole agents for the celebrated brand of Wil? cox & Gibbs Fertilizers. We are prepared to quote the vefry closest cash o?1 time prices on all lines of Groceries, Fertilizers and Farmers' Supplies, And invite your investigation before makins y OUT* arrangements for another year. Come to see us. We will save you money, and give you a hearty, courteous welcome. Sumter Banking I Mercantile Company, Masonic Building, 2d?door from the Postoffice. Sumter, S. C. AN ADVERTISEMENT PLACED IN THE ADVERTISING COLUMNS OF THE DAILY ITEM WILL BRING RESULST.