The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, July 05, 1895, Image 6
.EVENTS ALL OVKI^THE STATE. ! j
The State's Course Indechled. i t
I
Tho Administration'* is expressing 1
.satisfaction over the result of tho con(tempt
cases just heard iu Charleston,
lS. C. They say that the 'blind tiger"
people are rampant over the result of '
the cases, and that the State has reason
to feel satisfied aside from the prospect
of winning tho habeus corpus before
the Supreme Court j ^
Exactly what will be the policy of the i
Administration is not defined. On the j
spur of the moment after the imprisonment
of Constables LaFar, Wright and , n
CJanton there was talk about going 1 y
ahead and seizing everything iu sight, a
but tho expressions have toned down t
considerably since theu and the seizures t
ure not as promiscuous as they have e
been. 1
Judge Townsend, when asked what v
would be the policy of the State as to I p
tmikincr HiM/nrcu in fnlnrp mini that }n> ' t.
was not talking on tluit matter and | i
that Governor Evans, who. by the way, j h
is in New Yoak, would have to answer
such inquiries
There promises to lie a novel entnuglemeut
about, the Clanton case, as
;it is understood that Clanton has been
'sentenced to a term of imprisonment
contingent upon the return of the i
lliquor. It now transpires, so it is said,
that the internal revenue office has the
liquor in his particular case ami holds
Jit for violr.tious of the internal reveuue
laws. If this is the case Coustable
Clanton cannot return the liquor and
when his term is up and such repro- I
sentation is made to the Court it will
be satisfactory
Tracked Ity Uloodhounils.
A daring set of young robbers have
been brought to bay at Orangeburg, !
S. 0. Three or four weeks ago Mr. J. ,
\Y. 11 . Dukes, iu looking for a tin
box of small change that had been
placed in his safe, discovered that it
was missing.
'I Ink I / k c o n tuAii ! ( o< a 1 / \ tk on i I ti u i v _
x 11 v III.IUIIUK II IV/ uv 111 11 c-1 a i y
two dollars, but Mr T)ukc. kept j.? i- j
lectly quiet ami set traps to riitcb the >
thieves. They, however, neeined to i
be pretty sly, and avoided those w ho '
bad set to watch them Twice in the j
meantime has the office been eutered.
Friday night, however, about 10
o'clock someone iu Mr L. D Wolfe's j
house, just across the street from the
stable, saw a hand stealthily reach up j
and turn off the electric light iu the
office The alarm was given, aud
Policeman Wolfe and others rushed in
but the rascals had heard tbeui coming
and ran off .
The bloodhounds were immediately
put upon the trail, ami the result is
that l)an ami dim McBetli. Shelly^,
liobinson and (Jibbes, four colored ^
boys, between the ages of l'> and 20, j
are now iu jail for the series of robberies.
One of the boys crouched in 1
some corner of the lot and remained
until daylight, when he was caught. !
Gihbes, who has been for along time
in the employ of Mi Dukes, has made
a complete confession, telling how* the
previous robberies were planned and
accomplished. This boy says that it i
was his custom to slip inside wb:lo Mr.
'P(.nhua, the car diivcr, wrs lending
in the horses after the last trip at night. '
He would then conceal himself in some 1
corner until everything was qisut, and
later turn iu his companions. They
gradually, as there was no mention
made of the robberies, became I.older
and bolder until they were tit last
cane lit.
K tiled l?y bight ulng.
S. ('. Drake was killed by liuhtniu ; fl
near his home nine miles South or "
llidgewav on Saturday uftemoou. Mr. A
Drake* ?.is a prosperous farmer , a good Sl
neighbor and a true eitizeu. He was ^
the eldest son of Captain F M. L
Drake, and was taken away from be
tween his t wo children, who wei si ami
ine near him, without a secondV warn- ~
ing. (>ne of the children was t-hocked, ri
bat afterwards recovered.
-i?> t1
I)r Kirbv Uesi?ns. w
Dr. W. A. Kit bv, who was last foil
appointed one of the assistant physi- ''
cuius at the State lunatic asylum, has
terulered his resignation to Gov. Evans. J(
flov F.vans aeeeoteil the resignation.
11
writing l>r Kirby unite h flattering 11
It lit'r Ih. Kirby resigus to resume 11
the general practice of medicine, local- "
ing in Spartanburg.
^
Sudden Death at I-uinglcy. b
M. Franklin, of Luugley, S. (\, died
suddenly of heart disease Monday P
morning Me hud bought a ticket to ?
Augusta and was just about to step 11
aboard thetrnin to go to that city when 8t
he fell to the ground and expired in a M
few moments. '*
w
Killed by flighttiing. at
To:n Davi-?, ? voimg man about 20 years Ci
old, and r?< o. Edwards, atiout 25, were kill- n
eil by lightning Saturday afternoon about ' w
five nines Irotn Society Hill, Darlington "1
County, S. ("5. Th? latter leaves n wife and n
two ebildren. It npp irs that the two men
had started r>6 a tr p t>> Chesterfield County
on business, and -to| i I at tb< house of Mr. "
J XV' Kdwards, their >.i!ii n r refuge from b
th?? approaching 'It i . ! r storm While ;j
st.Hiding under a sh.-iter ad, i< ent to the
i't use in the presence oi Mr I-Mw irds and
I'tsi.iiv, the two men were k
..o.a Mr. Hdwnrds, his wifo and two ebildron n
w re severely shocked.
M mi % German nowsfi.ajsjrs severely crlti- '
cise the expenditure incurred by the Kiel
festivities. k
1 NATION'S CHARTEI
.TORY OFTHR DECLARATION Ol
INDEPENDENCE.
1 fllorlous Document That Has Bee
Neglected? Its Words Said to
Have Faded Almost Beyond
Recognition.
THE original Declaration of In
dependence, of which Ban
croft, the historian, said tha
^ it hail "received a renow
aore extended than that of any othe
Itate paper in existence," has fndei
,way beyond the possibility of res
oration. The names of the signer
o this great charter of American lib
rties are no longer legible. Afte
18 years of careless guardianship, ii
arious custody?duriug the greate
iortion of which period it wa
houghtiessly exposed to the destroy
ng influences of light, air and heed
ess handling?now when the irrepar
< 1
Jill
FAC SIMILES OF Till
ble havoc i.s done and the preciou
rehire hut become hardly more thai
blank and wrinkled sheet of paper
olicitude lor it.-- jireservutiou has be
mi to be felt, and at last it is care*
or as it should have been eared foi
ears ago.
It was iny privilege some time sinci
-a privilege then accorded to few
nd now. under the strictest prohihi
i?>u accorded to none ?to see an
:?uch this precious document, says i
riter in the Detroit Free I'res.- I
i kept locked up in a steel safe in th*
brary of the Department of State
t is spread out flat in a mahogany
ortfolio, made to slide in and out o
be safe, and over it is a sheet o
biek paper and a plate of glass. It i
ow never exposed to the light, and 1
s little exposed to tin- air as is possi
le without placing it in a vessel fron
hich the atmosphere has been ex
misted.
The document is a single sheet o
firchineut, thirty-six inches lone am
nd thirty-two inches wide, and bear
0 scrolls or decorations such as ar
en upon many of the copies that art
. common. The body of the writinj
aviug been evenly ami clearly wriltei
hen the instrument was engrossed, i
ill even, though badly faded, ant
in hardly be made out, but the sig
attires, which were written per hap:
itn a different ink ami another pen,
re faded and beyond recognition
uiny of them being wholly gone, ant
1 hers partly so. The heavy stroke o
ie pen in the .1 of John Hancock'
old autograph is still visible, bu
jat is the only line that is distinct.
The history of the origin < ' thi
jeat State paper is well known t<
iosj Americans, but is always inter
ding. The story of the varied ant
lsiistrous fortunes of the doctimen
.self during the past 118 years u lur.
m wli, and inhere told.
t
) On the 26th of Jane, 1776, a cora*
mittee, of which Thomas Jerflferson <
was Chairman, was appointed by the i
F Continental Congress, then sitting at j
Philadelphia, to draft a declaration 1
setting forth the reasons why the thir- i
teen colonieB should become indepen- i
n dent of England. Jefferson was requested
by the other members of the 1
committee to prepare the draft, and ]
this draft when presented was at onco :
approved by a majority of the commit- i
i- tee, a few verbal alterations only be- ]
i- ing suggested. On July 2d a copy of i
t this draft was laid before Congress, 1
u and, after a hot debate of three days, a
r few sentences were stricken out and l
1 the Declaration was then adopted. It j
- was at once entered upon the journal ]
s of Congress ; but the engrossed copy, i
- on parchment, was not prepared and 1
r signed until August 2. ]
u During the first twenty-four years
r of its existence the Declaration was pre
s served among the archives of the Gov
eminent at Philadelphia, and daring
- all or part of that time it was un
doubtedly rolled up, as it-showB by the J
sfi -S /i*-f#-/ y-, ~C <
J
7<>
*U>.r %
i^?<y
<^/^.^2^^'-c
^ e^yf^^t^<-3 73 cu
St^r6-^
/
l SIOXAITRE-i TO THE OECHRATJO>
s cracks in the parchment that il must ' 1
[j have beou rolloci fur n long period, ' c
, 1 find it is known that subsequent to ' r
that time it was hung up exposed to i
1 public gaze. I j
r When, in the vear ISO,), the Xa- c
ti'iunl Government was transferred to (
i> Washington, the Declaration was car- (
, ried tb-^re an I deposited in the De- t
partinent of State, where it remained v
i for forty-one years. In the year 1811 a
? u substantial building having been , fi
t erected for the use of the L'uited 1
States Patent Olliee, which had form- j I
erly been in the State Department, j g
, and the State Department being in a ' fi
; brick building, and not fire-proof, N
t Daniel Webster, S -cretary of State, !
s addressed a letter to Heury L. Elle- i ti
s worth, the Comniisiouer of Patents, d
- and requested hitu to receive the Dec tl
l claratiou and other valuable docu | t<
ments into his custody for safo keep- r
lug. This request was complied with, ; n
f aud for the next thirty-live years the b
1 I'ateut Olliee retained charge of the ! tl
s precious paper, but it was while there j o
l* it suffered its greatest injury. It was I a
hunt; up, exposed to public view, l?c [ u
^ hind tiie glass in one end of a ease of ,
1 Patent (Mtic.e models. At certain hours \ I1
s , ot the day the sun shone directly upon g
I it, and, of necessity, it gradually ! i1
- | faded. It is amazing almost beyond t p
s the power of belief that of the dozen ' c
, ! Commissioners of Patents who hud the a
, | custody of this document during , u
I I those thirty-five years, not one of them 1
f ! saw that it was being ruined, aud not g
s one of them had the forethought to j cl
t i take it out of the suulight and put it , r
away in darkness. In England ? cL . o
iteuluient of an important Stato paper lu
:> is unheard of. Magna Charts, the o
death warrant of Queen Mary and I i
I other archives in the British Museum , e
t four or five times as old as our Declara- I o
s i tion of Independence, are still kept in c
| a condition of perfect preservation. i
In 1875 Congress woke up to tl
outrage that was being perpetrat?
and appointed a commission oonsie
ing of the Secretary of the Interio
the Secretnry of the Smithsonian Ii
stitution?Professor Joseph Henryand
Ainsworth R. Spofford, tl
Librarian of Congress, "to have reso
to such means as will most effectual
restore the writing of the origin
manuscript of the Declaration of li
dependence, with the signatures a]
pended thereto." Experts were coi
ml ted by this commission, and final);
the matter was referred to ti
NT 111 l nnol A on /I o?m *r *-v f U/ti nrv/t no
lumuuiu itunucui t v/i k>viciJ\.DO<
Paving become known that the grei
Deolaxation was fading away, the pul
lie became interested in the effo:
mhde for its restoration, and the pul
lie press urged the importance <
prompt action, but years went V
>nd nothing was done. The Nation
\cademy of Sciences reported to tl
commission that portious of tl
restoration was impossible. Meai
while, in 187G George W. Ghilds,
Philadelphia, und Frank M. Ettiu;
*
J.
~*?ki
~ -&C
*7264 *rf??rt?zU3jLyz~*
: OF INDEPENDENCE.
n ohnrge of the historical depnrtmei
)f the Centennial Exposition, rt
1 nested the Government to send th
locuinent to the Exposition to li
dnced on exhibition. 'i'he Secretar
?i the interior, Hon. Ztcharia
'handler, wrote a letter to Presideu
irunt, setting forth the reasons wh
l- : ? . i . . i 1 :
iii-s request ougui noi 10 oe compile
nth, but this request was granted
nil, on its hundredth birthday, th
treat charter, faded aud scuroel
edible, returned to the place of it
>irtb, and there was exposed to th
uze of the American people, its piti
il condition a standing rebuke to th
lational Government.
in 1877, nt the close of the exposi
ion, the Common Council of I'kibi
elphia petitioned Congress for ail
bority to retain tiie Declaration am
o place it in Independence Hall. Thi
equest was refused, aud the doc.u
lent was brought back to Washington
ut upon request of Hamilton Fish
lien Secretary of State?the Seerctar
f the Interior consenting?it wa
gain returned to the State Depart
lent, where it has since remained.
While ttie Declaration was lu th
'ateut Office an excellent, photolitho
raphie copy, reduced to about hid
Is size, was made by the Governmeu
hotolithographer. Luter, a full size
opjierjdate engraving was prepared
nd the copies printed from this plat
re perfect fac-siiniles of the original
t is believed that in making this en
raving the original was serious!
atuaged by a chemical application t
estore the fainter lines; but it may h
>?iu thai if this engraving had nt
teen made there would not beau exac
opy of this most important dominion
ti existence. A framed copy of tin
ugraviug may lie seeu iu the librur
f the State Department, aud, what i
veu more interesting in a frame hi
eatb it, is shown Thomas Jefferson
ie original draft of the declaration, in
his own handwritting and with all of
his crasnre6 and interlineations just as
r it left his hand.
q! The singing of the Declaration of
_ Independence was a solemn act. The
ie singer} wero subjects of King George,'
rt and their act was treason. If the King
lv could li..ve caught them he would havo
^1 hung them every one, and this they
Q. knew ; but accordiug to tho traditions
p. that have come down to us, this knowlq.
edge did not deter certain of them
Vi from relieving the solemnity of the oo1P
casion with the natural flow of their
wit and humor. Tlio remarks attributed
to them are not exadtly nuthonlj.
ticated by history, but they are too
rt good not to be believed. It is said
that wben John Hancock affixed his bold
0I autograph he remarked : "Tho Engliehmen
will have no difficulty inreadft|
mg thatthat when Franklin signed
lt he said : "Now we must all hung toJ6
gether or we will hang separately
Q. anu max, unarms uarrou.oi uurroniou,
0I when askod why he wrote hie place of
residence, replied that thero was another
Charles Carroll aud he didu't
~ want them to hang the wrong man.
The most enthusiastic advocate of
the great measure, aud the one who
led the debate in its support was John
Adams, of Massachusetts, aud when the
Declaration was adopted he wrote to
his wife : "This will bo the most memorable
epoch in the history of America;
celebrated by descending generations
as the great anniversary festival, commemorated
as the day of deliverance
by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty,
solemnized with pomps,
shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires,
aud illuminations from one end
of the contincut to the other, from
this time forward, forever."
The First American Flag.
The first American Hag was made by
Mrs. Betsy Ross, of Philadelphia, ami
was adopted by Congress in 1777.
The house where she made the flag
still stands, and tho very window panes
out of which she watched for the coming
of General Washington and hie
Congress, to see it ns it progressed,
are kt111 preserved.
Authorities differ about the designing
of the flag. Mrs. Ross's descendants
say that she designed it herself.
alt Liongh the records give the credit to
the Father of his Country. A pamphlet
issued by some Congressmen, in
obedience to the wishes of some people
greatly interested in the flag, has
lias these lines:
"The American Congress in session
at Philadelphia, established by its
resolution of June 14, 1777,a National
flttff for the United States as follows;
'Resolved, That tbfe flag of the
thirteen United States be represented
by thirteen stripes, alternately red
ami white.
"That the Union be represented by
thirteen stars, white in a bine field,
representing a new constellation."
And then the pamphlet, in remarks
concerning the making of the first
flag, says that it was designed by
Mrs. John Ross; and afterwards redrawn
by George Washington " to a
proportion more to his liking." And
that, while drawing it, the General sat
in the back parlor of Mrs. Ross's little
house and wrote "upon a small rosewood
table."
The first time the flag was ever carried
was at the battle of Brandywino
in the fall of 1777. And the first
ship that, ever bore American colors
was the ship " Ranger," commanded,
by Paul .Tones. The Ranger was
hound for a French port, and when
, the ship came in oight the French
1 l. .. .1..1. i :i i o.:.. ?i..
MllIILt'U III | IlIKl IIJIH \> II* IUU
lirst salute ever paid to the flag by a
( foreign country. Thin was in Februury,
JS7.S. And the day was February
jV J tth. St. Valentine's Day.
. In making the tirst Mag Mrs. Ross
did the work entirely by mud, sewing
each of the long seams herself; and
) receiving the greatest praise from the
' Father of his Country for so doing.
There are now over 100 different
v (lags in the world floating over 100 Nations,
cherished by as many different
nationalities as our own?or that
waves over any more hospitable
shores.
The l)ii) Aft jr.
0
"Well, Tom, what sort 'o Fourth
did you have?"
Tom?"Are yer blind?"---Lifc.
4* - ?
'l His Husy Day.
1 Cobble?"I called on Dr. Frot>c toH
day and the aorvant said udIchh it was
y very important he couldn't see me."
? Htone?"Why not?"
j. Cobble?"He in resting up for the
'e Fourth of July."