The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, July 05, 1922, Image 1

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

THE SUMTER WATCHMAN, Established April, 1850. CONSOLIDATED AUG. 2,1881. _ LABOR BOARD REPLIES TO COMMUNICATION OF " RAILWAY EMPLOY lisue Taken With Mr. Jewell on Several Points?Comparisons Made in Pur t chase Value of Wages Now and In 1915 Hr. B. M. Jewell, president, Rail way Employes' Dept., A.. F. of 1^., 4750 Broadway* Chicago, 111. ? Dear Sir: Tour communication of-the 17th .instant, in which the presidents of the eleven organiza tions composing your department also joined, has been duly received and most carefully considered. Your letter is to the effect that certain decisions of the railroad la bor board have been submitted to a strike \'Ote of the members of your several organizations and that, in the event the vote is affirmative, the strike will be sanctioned by you and your associate officials. ? might seem that your com munication calls for no official re sponse.* Personally, however, I have .always felt a willingness to go beyond the strict limits of my offi cial authority in the interest of railway peace, when this could be -donewithout the sacrifice of any principle or the commission of any official, impropriety. . Inasmuch as a vote in favor of a strike by the men is not to be a mere, formality, but is to be follow ed by.^a strike order % from the or ganization heads, I deem it a duty to make reply to your letter It is to be presumed that you do-not desire that the members of , your-organization shall vote for a, proposition that contains such pos sibilities of loss and detriment to themselves, upon a misunderstand ing of the action and attitude of this fcoard. It is a fact, however, that your letter doe? manifest a strikingly distorted conception ., of what the board has done and Why it'did- it. . .In the mo3t concise manner pos sible ^and without the reptition "of much detail, let me call ;attention to a few statements iir^your'letter. 1. '-Your statement that' the hoard's last decision "states openly that-pressure of circumstances was such that the -board: was'rrnable to determine just and . reasonable "wVges" is not correct. %h* decision contains no such . statement and none that can be . fairly so con . st rued. :./;The decision recites at length the abnormal economic and industrial conditions of the post-war period, and. then says: "Surrounded by such abnormal conditions, the Labor Board has cot been permitted to deal with the question of what constitutes just and. reasonable wages and; working conditions in the same undisturb ed and uncomplicated manner as would have been possible, in normal times/' . This simple recognition of dif ficulties experienced by the whole world should not be twisted into an interpretation designed to mis lead the men whose interest are most directly involved. 2. Your statement that this board says that "the establishment of just wages for railway workers must await the complete satisfaction of 0 Tnership. in the matter of rehabil itation and profits" is_ an inexcus able perversion of both the lan guage and meaning of what the board in fact said. A strike of railway employees, involving their wages, their employment and their 1 welfare, based upon such mislead ing statements of this board's senti ments and declarations, would be unjust to the men and to the pub lic. 3. The statement in the board's! decision "that labor1 can not be completely freed from the econom ic laws which likewise affect the earnings of capital" is so obviously sound that it will not be question ed anywhere this side of the king dom of the Bolsheviki. And yet, you mention this as an occasion of offense. Your construction of this as meaning "the treatment of labor as a commodity" is strained, espec ially so, in view of .the fact that the board, in the same paragraph, said: "It should be said that the labor hoard has never adopted the theory that human labor is a commodity to be bought and 30ld upon the market, and. consequently, to be reduced to starvation wages during periods of depression and unem-, ployment." 4. Your statement that the board 'failed to take into consideration the principle that eve nthe lowest paid railway employees, such as section men and laborers, should receive at least a living wage." is utterly baseless. Your continual isolation and ac centuation of the fact that a niin mum rate of 23 cents an hour. S1.84 a day. was established for section men is entirely misleading: because it overlooks or suppresses so many connected facts, among which are the following: (1) The rate for Section men ranges from 23 to 35 cents per hour: (2) A comparatively small num ber of them receive 23 cents per hour. A vast majority of them re ceive the higher wages. This is shown by the fact that the average rate per hour is 32.7. <3> Thv 23 cents rate is found on ? comparatively small number of divisions on a few roads in the south and southwest. It is not even found on the Southern and Illinois Central. ? which cut4 completely through the south. (4) Where this minimum rate is found, the cost of living is usually law, and th emen in many instances are furnished free living quarters. (5) In 1915 this class of labor received an average hourly rate of : 15- cents, and in. 1917. an average j hourly rate of 19.3 cents. (6) The hourly rate of this class 1 of employees has. therefore increas : ed under the present decision 69.4 j per cent over 1917 and 118 per cent over 1915. (7) Based upon the cost of living the purchasing power of the hourly wage of section men under the pres ent decision is 44.5 per cent greater than it. was in 1917 and 37.3 per cent greater .than in 1915. (8^ If it be said that-the 10 hour day prevailed in 191 J, and the 8 hour day now, it may likewise be said that .the man either gets the benefit of>the extra two hours for his own purposes or in many in stances he will now be permitted j to work the .two hours, since puni tive overtime has been abolished for this class of employees for the ninth and tenth hour. - (9) Even comparing the present 8 hour wage with the 10 hour wage of 1915, the purchasing power of the new wage is"9.8 per cent great er than that of 1915, and the man, has, on top of this, the gift of two hours' time for other activities. (10) It must also be clearly un derstood that the 23 cent rate will I exist only'in a territory where the Bailroad Administration, after care ful investigation, found a justifi* cation for and did .establish a lesser ! rate than paid the same classes in ? the balance of the country, which ] condition has not been disturbed i by decision of this board, j In vi&w of these facts, not a one I of which you can yourself dispute, ] there is nc ground for the fierce assaults which you make upon the action of the board in this matter. For your information. I will say that I recently made some limited investigation, personally and on the ground, of the wages of common labor in one southern state, and found the new rate for section men appreciably higher than' the rates to similar labor in other employ ments. It may also be noted just here that the average pay of section foremen under the new decision is 119.7 per' cent higher than it was in 1915. and that the purchas ing power of the section foreman's wages is 38.5 per cent higher than it was in 1315. His average hourly rate in 1915 was 23.3 cents, and under the new decision it is 51.2 cents. You do not enter into any dis cussion of the wages fixed by the board for other classes of employees but I reiterate here the statement demonstrated in the decision of the board that the purchasing power of these rates is very considerably larger than it was in 1917. just before Federal control, ^or than it was in the year you prefer to use as a base. 1915. Surely the leaders of these rail way labor organizations cannot' ex pect to win with the approval of people of the United States by a rigid, unyielding resistance to the inevitable process of readjustment which has been in progress for the past year. If the public is satisfied that the railway employees have been even more than fairly dealt with by comparison with similar la bor and in view of the conditions surrounding their work, there will be no demand that they shall be j treated as absolutely immune from ' the operation of the economic pro cesses through which everybody j else must pass. I The fact cannot be overlooked I that the policy of the leaders of j the employees seems to be to ac 1 cept no reduction, however slight. ! For example, a strike vote hs being j submitted to the stationery engi neers, firemen and oilers, whose 'wages under the new decision shows } an increase over the compensation ?they received before the war. Xot j withstanding the increased cost of j living, the increase in the pay of j these employees has been so great i as to result in the following per ? centages of increase in the purchas i ing power of tbeir wages under the J present decision over 1915. Stationary engineers 70.0 j Stationary firemen.42.1 j Engine room oilers. 42.1 Boiler room water tenders. 25.0 Coal passers (boiler room >.. 25.9 i The increase of their actual daily wage under the new decision over 1915 range*? from 100 per <-ent to 1S9.9 per cent. And yet there is submitted to them a strike ballot. It is scarcely worth while to.mul tiply those examples of the real meaning and effect of the board's i derision of which you complain, j I^et me say. before concluding. I that the members of your organiza tion have no occasion to reflect up ' on the official, representatives in j connection with the conduct of : these wage disputes before our I board. The employees have been jably and loyally represented, and, in my humble judgment, have se "Bs Just and Fear FLORENCE SHOPMEN GET ORDERS Local Officials Con strue Walkout as Optional With Men and With Union Florence, June 29.-r-Member3 of ihe Florence local of the Atlantic Coast Line railroad shop crafts union today received permission by telegraph from their head officials to quit their jobs at 10 o'clock Sat urday morning". The local chairman construed the j telegram as making the walkout optional with the local union and with the individual members. The instructions received are the first of the kind ever received here, it was stated today. Local union men j would not say today whether ! there would be a strike on Satur jday or not. The railroad officials here have received; no notification. Approximately 700 men will be af fected here if the strike comes off. WILL MAKE PAYMENT Depositors in Peoples' Bank of Greenwood to Receive Money Greenwood, June 29.?Deposi I tors of the Peoples' bank of this I city, the affairs of which were taken over by the Bank of Green I wood as liquidating agent in Jan uary. 1921, will be paid 20 per cent, of the balance of their un paid deposits tomorrow, according to announcement of the trustees of the bank today. A 40 per cent, payment of the total deposits was made on December 27. 1921. Since the payment of 40 per cent, i of the total deposits the trustees j ha.ve succeeded in spite' of unfavor I able financial conditions in col j lecting enough to make a 20 per j cent, payment-' at this time. j DEMPSEY AGREES J TO FIGHT NEGRO Accepts Challenge of Harry Wills. New York, June 29 (By the As sociated Press).?First- steps in negotiations which, it is believed, eventually will - bring Jack Demp sey and Harry Wills, negro pugi list into the ring for a titular match for the heavy weight crown were taken today when Dempsey accepted Wills* challenge. This acceptance was announced ! by the New York state boxing com ! mission. This body officially ac } knowledged receipt of the challenge and deposit of $2.500/and later is sued a proclamation stating that, unless Dempsey, before July 10, accepted under reasonable condi tions, his title would be declared forfeited as far as New York state boxing territory was involved. In accepting the challenge, Dempsey. through his manager. Jack Kearns. requested that a conference be tween the principals be held soon, so that conditions governing the proposed bout might be considered. No date for this conference was mentioned in the statement issued by the boxing commission, but it is understood that the managers of the two heavyweights will meet and arrange the necessary pre liminary details within the next week or ten days!. Rainbow Veterans I Plan For Reunion I Former Members of Famous Division to Gather at Greenwood in July Greenwood. June 29.?Prepara tions are being made here for the annual reunion of veterans of the Rainbow division living in North Carolina and South Carolina which will be held in Greenwood July 10 fand 11. A large number of mem I bers of the famous division are ex ? pected to attend. j No program has yet been an ' nounced but. according to L- A. Dugan. chairman of the reception committee, the reunion will be long remembered by every Rainbow veteran who attends. cured results that should be satis factory to them. With the degree of freindly interest that I feel in these organizations and with the recognition that I accord to their great service to their membership 1 am hopeful that they will not adopt a course that will 'surely prove dms'trous to the organiza tion and unfortunate to the men composing them. It is regrettable that such a step is contemplated at a time when the country is just entering upon an era of more stable industrial conditions that give promise of an enlarged degree of prosperity to railway employees. Very respectfully, Ben W. Hooper. Chairman. Co-William H. Johnson. J. A. Franklin. Jas. W. Kline. .1. .1 Hynes, Jas. P. Xoonan, Martin F. Ryan. K. F. Grable. B. H. Fitzgerald, Timothy Healy, V. W. Hoit. Not?Let all the ends Thou Aims't Sumter, S. C? Wgdru [GOVERNMENT WILL MOVE IN STRIP United States Rail road Labor Board Summons Heads of Unions and Execu tives to Appear in Federal Investiga tion in Chicago Tp day Chicago. June 29 (By the Asso ciated Press).?Intervention by "the federal government under the aii' j tho'rity of the transportation' ?act created to maintain the orderly jcourse of the nation's transporta {tion arteries loomed tonight as the final hope of averting the threat ened railroad strike of 400.000 shopmen, and possibly 500,000 more railroad workers. Their ultimatum to the railway executives rejected, chief execu tives of the six shop crafts unions, which have called a strike for 10 j o'clock Saturday morning, and tho ! leaders of four other unions now I polling a strike vote, prepared to | night to answer the summons of jthe United States railroad labor I board to appear in a federal 'in vestigation tomorrow. With the union heads were summoned the executives of 23 railroads, charged by the employ i ees with illegally contractingvshop work in violation of the board's orders, one of the three questions' on w-hich the shopmen have been casting, strike ballots for the last two wekes. Other railway execu tives of the 201 class roads in "the country also were asked by the board to be present. Developments of the strike sit uation came in rapid sequence to [ day. International presidents of i the . six shop unions announced {telegrams authorizing their mem bership to walk out Saturday j morning. ' ' ' The labor board immediately ! recognized a threatened interrup tion of traffic and actihgunder the \ authority of the transportation act [issued citations " tothe .,strike. I leaders to come before it?or offi i . ! cial inquiry. j The Association of Railway [Executives meeting here on other j matters considered and rejected the {union proposal of a truce pending i negotiation over wages and work f ing conditions. j The. executives declared that a j strike would be against the orders of the- labor board and against the } United States government and thus j absolved themselves from further j responsibility to the present situ j ation". ^ I Rumors of a compromise to be I submitted by the labor board at i a meeting this afternoon, had it that the railroads agree to abol ish the system of farming out work to contractors, which was one of the issues in the strike referendum and controversy in which the board has ruled concession by the carriers as a against several roads. With this ! partial victory for the unions, their leaders were said to be manifest ing a disposition to cancel tomor row's strike order and accept the wage reduction. ! The assurance that the railroads ! and employees will* abide by the law and orders of the United States Railroad Labor Board was the basis on which the Federation Labor body pinned its hopes of throttling the threatened railroad strike. MORE MEN ON STAFF 'Governor Appoints Four as Lieutenant Colonels I Columbia, June 30.?Gov. Har j vey yesterday announced the ap pointment of the following men as members of his military staff: D. L. Smith. Walterboro: Jesse S. Leopard. Central: J. L. Michie. Dar lington; J. B. Gibson, Dillon. All members are to rank as lieutenant colonels. j Irish Republicans Escape by Tunnel ! _ I i Belfast. June 30.?The republi cans in Four Courts at Dublin are ? escaping from the building by ! means of a tunnel which thev have i ; constructed for use in emergenc y. ' say*3 a Dublin message received i here this afternoon. The flight fol J lowed a tremendous explosion at I twelve thiry in the Four Courts. , Hiid was followed by a shower of j legal documents. the message I stated. -? State Police at Pennsylvania Mines Punxsutawney. Pa.. June 30.? j A detail of state police arriv ed to I day to take over the eoal strike situation, after yesterday's disor ders iii the mining district around here. The marching men were es timated to number three hundred. They destroyed the coal house scales and wrecked a motor truck carrying coal. The march w?<s fin ally broken up by troopers. There were uo casualties, aj be thy Country's, Thy God'g and g|day, July 5, 1922 0 DISCUS COAL STRIKE SITUATION ? tnvitatiohs to White House Accepted by ) All Principals. Con ! x ference Saturday I Remains More or jfejess a Mystery i & Washington. June 29.?With ! |eceptances received from all the j principals in the bituminous and i anthracite coal strikes, both on the eperators' and the miners' union feide. official Washington tonight began preparations for the Satur day conference President Harding has called to consider a possible .'?basis for resuming work in th< mine fields. Both sides having accepted, a question remains only on. two I points: first, as to the identity of the individuals who would repre j sent the employers of the union j ized bituminous field, and. second, {what would be the administration's j plan for procedure after the meet | ing assembled. At the commerce and labor de partments where officials have ) chiefly been occupied with the [strike settlement plan, it was inti mated that the union leaders and the operators would be expected to work out their own course after the conference assembled. Pres ident Harding was expected to bring the groups together but his engagements call for him to leave Washington immediately after and it was expected that Secretary ! Davis and Secretary Hoover would I represent the government in the ? immediate negotiation. Emphasis was placed behind the j assertions in semi-official discus ! sion that the government did not I expect the meeting to bring about fa strike settlement itself, but to : recommend, if possible, to asso ; ciations by those present a further j course which might be followed land which might result in settle j ment. It was considered unlikely ; that the meeting would be public. iHOUSE TO TAKE LONG VACATION Members Go Home to Enter Campaigns Washington, June SO. ? The1 I house of representatives adjourned : tonight at 9:49 o'clock until Aug just 15. thus giving members oppor jtunity to return home to l?ok after j their campaigns while the senate ? still is at work on the tariff. ! Democrats, opposing adjoiurn j ment almost solidly, forced a roll j call. The vote to quit was 171 to ; 43 with two voting "present" [ "The Democrats having voted j with their fingers crossed, I now move that the house be adjourn ed." said Representative Mondell. the Republican leader. There was a shout and a wild race to taxicabs waiting outside to rush members to outgoing j trains. j In opposing adjournment. Dem ? ocrats insisted the house ought to ; stay in session and act on Henry ; Ford's offer for lease of Muscle j Shoals. j On objection by Representative [Montague (Democrat) of Virginia, j Mr. Mondell failed to get through j a request that all members be j given five days in which to extend i their remarks in The Congression jal Record on any subject relating i to legislation. j To enable the house to clean its affairs, a technical session of the senate was held at 9 o'clock for signature of last minute bills by the senate's presiding officer. ; j Washington. June 30.?Although [two-thirds of its session was devot , ed to cleaning up conference re j ports so the house might start on its vacation, the senate made more ; rapid progress today on the tariff ; bill than it had in any single one j lof the 60 odd days the measure has j been before it. Thirty-eight [amendments to the agricultural and j fo>Ki schedule were disposed of. j this number including those re latinb to all cereals, except wheat j ? and ri^e. consideration of which J was deferred. I An outstanding feature of the j day was the victory of the Repub ! liean agricultural tariff bloc in its j fight for a duty of 20 cents a bushel j on corn, an increase of 5 cents a ' bushel over the hous*1 rate. RAILWAY STRIKE IS ON j - j All Hope of Averting Walk out of Shopmen Abandon ed j Chicago. July 1.?All hope of i j averting the nation-wide strike of | railway shopmen apparently had j vanished this morning as the hour j tor the walkout approached. The j cessation of work marks the fust I general strike of cny standard rail road union since 11 i*? railroad labor board w;<s created in 1920. ! In the old days the bad guy j frequently got shot in the fracus, but now he mere 15" ?*-'^ a shot in I the arm. Truth's." TROOPSARE READY IN WEST VIRGINIA National Guard Com panies Are Ordered Mobilized. No De tails Known. Des tination of Soldiers Not Announced Charleston, W. Va., June 29.? Company D. West Virginia Nation al Guard, comprising three officers and 50 men, was ordered mobiliz ed shortly before midnight tonight. ! A conference was in session at that hour in the governor's office, with Governor Morgan. Adjt. Gen. 1 Charnock and other state officials attending. j Both Governor Morgan and Gen eral Charnock were silent as to the cause for mobilization. At the ex ecutive office Josse V. Sullivan, sec retary to the governor, told an As sociated Press representative that "we can't tell you now; maybe there will be something later." Company C infantry unit of the National Guard, was also ordered mobilized. The men reported to the armory about 1:30 o'clock, and were at once ordered to "fall in." Their departure for the Cabin Creek district was momentarily expected. Charleston, W. Va., June 30.?A Gazette staff man, stationed a,t headquarters where Company D. machine gun unit of the National Guard is being mobolized at 1:40 o'clock this morning, said that he had reliable information that the company would entrain within the next 30 minutes. He couid not learn officially its destination but it is believed to be to the Cabin Creek district where a threatened outbreak of miners is reported. Herrin. 111.. June 29.?No addi tional bodies were recovered from the "wrecked strip mine near here today by William McCowan, coro ner of Williamson county and a squad of nine deputies, who work ,ed all day _bj-:. digging, with shovels in the earth "ar??ndT'the destroyed steam shovel mine of the South ern Illinois Coal company. It has been rumored that sev eral bodies of non-union miners were buried in the . mine as a re sult of the fighting between the striking union miners and strike breakers last week. One of the wounded strike breakers, who is in a hospital here, reported that guards at the mine buried several dead strikebreak ers last Wednesday night with the steam shovel, but Coroner McCown said that no evidence was found to substantiate tfhe report. Other developments today in the mine situation in - Williamson county were an announcement by Circuit Judge Hartzell at Marion that a grand jury investigation of the mine masscare last Thursday would begin July 10, and the first arrest in connection with the mine disorders in the district. Maintenance men at three mines of the Madison. Coal company near Carterville, who had quit work af ter being warned to leave, return ed to their posts, and deputy sher iffs arrested a union miner at Car terville in connection with the threats. Denver. Col.. June 29.?After a conference with Governor Shoup late todav. Adjutant General Ham rock announced he would immed iately ord?r mobilization of *"five or six companies of National Guard to maintain order in the coal fields. " "Keep peace at any cost" is the order Governor Shoup gave the adjutant general. -' ? ? ? PINK SILK GOWN STIRS ENTHUSIASM Garment Displayed in House of Representatives by Ford ney in Tariff Agreement Washington. June 30.?A pink silk night gown?very soft and fluffy?was displayed to the house today by Chairman Fordney of the ways and means committee to sup port his charge that home manu facturers could not compete with foreign dealers because of a low rate tariff. hTe garment al most broke up the show. Lifting it high, after he had ex hibited other wares, including a shotgun and a fiddle. Mr. Fordney shouted above the laughter that he hardly knew how to describe it. "Atta boy!" a member shouted hack. "1 suppose you gentlemen would like it better if there were some thing in it." said the veteran tariff builder, and women in the gallery joined in the laughter. The gown made in Belgium cost $13.40. the landing cost raised it to $21.69 and it was put on sale for N>w York women who like lux uric:- at ?6U. said the chairman. Belfast. July 1.?The big main line bridge, two miles -south of Drogheda has been blown up. sev ering railway communicaiton be tween Belfast and Dublin. THE TRUE SOU! "7 BEAUFORT VOTERS HEAR CANDIDATES Candidates For Gov ernor All Lay Stress Upon Questions of Taxation Beaufort, June 29.?Candidates for state offices were heard in ! Beaufort tonight, the meeting be I ing held in the court house and at j tended by about 300 voters. Cole L. Blease had come to the ! people, he said, to give them a remedy for their tax burdens. A sick man did not need a physician to tell him he was ill. The prob lem, he thought, was to cut ex | pense.s, not to find other sources of (revenue. He characterized the j tax commission and other depart I ments as useless fifth wheels in the j government. No commission form ! of government had ever been suc ' cessful. he said. j Cole L. Blease, John T. Duncan ! said, has had two terms and is ask j ing for a third and Blease, he said, j was not offering a single suggestion .?for tax reducton and could not ? point to a single thing he did while j in office to reduce taxes, j George K. Laney, of Chesterfield : again laid stress upon the state j ment that he was making the cam ; paign on his own hook. Nobody was behind him, he said, and if ! elected governor no machine or or iganization would control him. He j would be the chief executive of the state. !t Mr. Laney paid a high tribute to | Senator Neils Christensen's effort j to settle the canal question. He dened that the commsson had of j fered to sell the canal for a small ; sum as claimed by John T. Duncan j and said he would not allow state j ments embodying shady charges to J go unrefuted. If the senate had i swallowed the full program of tax j reform as set forth at the last ses | sion of the general assembly the [state levy would have been cut j down to about four mills. The peo : pie. despite the cry of tax burdens, j would see that not a school was J closed, that not an inmate of the istate hospital suffered and that the [Confederate veterans were cared Ifor. If elected governor, Mr. Lan j ey -safd,' he' would give "the Veople 'the same kind of service he has : rendered the general assembly the j last 20 years. Thomas G. McLeod told the j voters that 70 per cent, of the tax j burden on the people of Beaufort f rested directly^ on the responsibility j of the county delegation as only 30 per cent, of the taxes paid by the people of the county goes for state ? purposes. Mr. McLeod made a strenuous plea for enforcement of the law. if the crime wave is to recede. His remarks were soi applauded that at times he had to wait for the cheers to subside. ,*T can make no better governor than I have been citizen ! at home," he said. He could take j no more character into the office 'than he had shown in a private j citizen at home. Mr. McLeod 'awakened more enthusiasm here j than possibly has yet been shdwn anv candidate during the campaign. -... i STILL WILL FACE MURDER TRIAL i Mother-in-law Accuses Barn i well Man J Barnwell, June 30.?Milton Still, ja white farmer, who lives a few miles from this city, has been ar ! rested on a warrant charging him. j with the ; murder of Barnie j Diamond 18 years ago. j The arrest is said to have result jed from a difficulty between Stil* j arid his brother-in-law. Frank j Owens, about ten days ago. a* ! which time the latter shot Stil l ,'in the leg. Still had Owens ar I rested, whereupon Owens' mother, ! Mrs. M. A. Owens, divulged infer j mation which led to the arrest of I Still on the charge of murder. ' Frbm the best information avail I able, it seems that the evidence : against Still is very meager, as no ; eyewitnesses to the alleged murder ican be located. In May, 1904. the f body of Barnie Diamond was found ; lying by the Southern railway ? tracks about two miles south of ? Barnwell. and it was thought that j he had been killed by a train dur- j I ing the night. On the night of his j ! death Mrs. Owens was at the home [ i of Milton Still, her son-in-law. and ! ? now states that she heard cries \ and the sound of blows coming J ! from the house of a white woman j named Mamie Phillips, who lived I just across the railroad track from ! Still's home. Mrs. Owens, it is ? understood, charges that Diamond was killed at the Phillips' house i and his body placed on the track I hy Still in an effort to hide his al ? leged crime. ? The case will probably be j brought to trial at the October ; term of the court of general ses sions. a ^ ^ , j Strike General at Roanoke Roanoke. July 1.?It is estimat ed that about thirty-five hundred men employe I in the Norfolk Wes tern shops here, answered the strike call, while seventy-five men went out of the Virginia shops. fBROX, Established Jane 1, 188?. VOL. LIX. NO. 41 TAKE PORTION OF BUILDING Two Main Parts of Four Courts, in Dub lin Captured by the Provisional G o v ernment Forces ' London. Jane 30.?The two main parts of the Four Courts in Dublin have been captured by provisional government forces, according to ? dispatch to the Central News. Com mandant Barry and 22 men being taken prisoner. Rory O'Connpr-anfl Liam Mellowes. leaders of the re volt, are in a smaller building an<i have been summoned to surrender: Another dispatch to 44? Exchange Telegraph from Dublin says "Rory O'Connor and Liam Mellowes with 150 followers hold the rear of the Four Courts building. The artit lery firing was renewed, at -S:i5 o'clock this Friday morning. The. prisoners taken by the Free States number 33. London, June 30.?A dispatchxto The Times from Dublin timed 2:50 o'clock this (Friday) morning; says the Free Staters attacking the Four Courts are commanded and being personally led by Brigadier General Daly. After brisk artillery and machine * gun fire General Daly led his meit from the s?uthside of the Li?ey across Grafton street and the bridges. The guirfire had broken down the. fete, and so- briskly did the Free State soldiers make the ascent that they did not suffer any seri ous casualties. " " As .they crossed the coiiri yard rifle butts and rams brought down in inner doors, and as they fell the defenders pourefr a withering fire upon the attacking force. Three rebel soldiers were killed outright by gun fire, and ten others were wounded in - hand to hand fighting which ensued. - > Twenty-two of* the irregulars threw . up..their bands and s^rrssj* dered, while Rory O'Connor; vjSfth Brig.-. Gen. ^Traynor -and lernen, retreated" t? ? far corner of l^je court. -Quickly throwng up bar ricades they are now; holding the Free Staterr at bay. The dispatch to The Times adds that O'Connor has been given op portunity th surrender but has, de clared it to be his intention to fight to the death/ The Free Staters captured great quantity of rifles, machine guns and explosives. It is thottgSW that by secret means many of the original garrison have made thT^r way into the city, where they have seized Hammand's hotel in SaeS ville street turning out the jruests on five miffutes notice. ?Bubiin, June 29 (By the Asso ciated "-Press).-?The insurgent Re publican forces under Rory O'Con nor have been able to hold Poms., - Courts, for two days.against all the attacks of the %provisional govern ment. Throughout-today a slow bombardment continued and grad ually sections of the splendid edi fice were seen ^o crumble away: , Because of, the slow and delib erate methods * employed by the- , government authorities, the opera tions have been prolonged for. a much greater period than was gen erally expected, thus permitting an opportunty for those supportng the revolutionary movement: to take up positions at various points throughout the city with the object of giving aid to the men withixi;.t$? insurgent stronghold. They seized houses in various sections and en gaged in systematic sniping or bombing attempts aganist the of ficial troops. Nobody hftg been able to get out of the Four Courts, but O'Connor's Dublin brigade, comprising up wards of four thousand men, has shown activity that indicates it Is working on a prearranged plan* Last night, and today bands of ir- - regulars occupied various premises which they could hold and from which they could- do maximum damage by sniping. But every where they ra ebeng cuontered by regulars, who also are main taining many points of vantage. - . While the majority of the people in Dublin commend the action ,qf the provisional government. \ the Republicans are circulating conjfir dent statements and though O'Con nor is not supposed to be in*any-. way responsible to the De Yalera . party, it is evident from {he state ment issued by Mr. De Vaiera to day that he has that party's sym pathy. Xo accurate estimate of the cas ualties can be made, although the dead are known to number at least a score, the wounded reaching .? high figure. The casualties are by no means confined to the -invest ing and besieged forces as sniping has played a considerable part. One free state soldier was shot dead while standing at the window" in the Four Courts hotel. One man was killed and three were wound ed by snipers in Dane street. Every time gas goes up, the shoe dealers grin. Times are better. A pie hasn't as many pieces as it once had.