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/ ir-tr-rr iT r) * >. <>-0" > - ^Slr P ;< - 7: % it l tr " ''4 | " , \i ^ r - *; ?i ,. . . - . 3E= City of Union and Suburbs Has l"fc" T"1 TT "KT T /~k.^fc.7 fTl T "M JT "1?\ f i City of Union and Suburbs Has E^HFEH"\5 I H Hi I \ I Irl I I VI ri, S Lumber Yards, Female Seminary. J.. JLJLJLj vJ ll l V/ ? 1 X XifXJLjk^# Ele'clTluV^ 1 ' = &,. ^ .. , i (Nerk of Uourt '* jPV"J 1 ' VOL. LV. NO. 28. ONION, SOOTH CAROLINA, FRIfttYf JOtT 14, 1905. #1.00 A YEAR i ^?? ? ?? ??a? i/*; . Wm. A. Nicholson i,' t Union, Soul PAY INTE 0 Time Certificat 1 NEW ORLEANS MINT. A Curious Incident?God's i esTimony. BY PAUL LINCOLN IN SUNNY SOUTH %-V . United States government buildings are the scenes of many events, the most tragic known to the weakness and mistakes of man. Each one, it might be j said, could its tales unfold, of .?? erring or unfortunate, or in * Somewise remarkable experience. Two incidents, remarkable, the one for pathos and the other for the extraordinary intervention of the elements in causing a miscarriage of justice, were enacted at the United States mint in New Orleans, notable above others. The one written hiotory?*m state chronicle would be complete i without the story of William Mumford?the other something more than tradition, for it, too, is true, though the names of the principal actors were not necessary to the relation of the incident. April 25, 1862, saw seventeen United States gunboats and a flotilla of smaller vessels riding at anchor in the river before New Orleans; the levee smoking with burning cotton, sugar, spirits and every article common i to the trade of a southern port; and in the city men (such as ? there were), women, children and negroes, in a state of the wildest alarm and confusion. Early the following morning i officers from the flagship presented to the mayor a summons to surrender. He refused. The conference took place in the mayor's office, in the city hall, the crowd surging and hooting in the streets. As the bluecoated officers sat within, suddenly through a window was hurled into their midst a ragged looking bundle, thrown by some reckless boys in the street. It proved to be the United States flag, which a barge crew had but just hoisted over the mint?one of the young fellows in a mad moment had climed the staff, torn down the flag and dragging it through the street now threw it, in a moment of inspiration, at the officer's feet. This was Mumford, a youth about eighteen years of age. > MAYOR STOOD FIRM. The mayor had sought in receiving the summons to yield over the city, to place the responsibility on the military authority in command; but the confederate general with his force evacuating the town, it devolved back on the mayor, who refused wK% either to surrender or to lower the state flag over the city hall. The consequence was inevitable. Sailors and marines, in United States uniforms, with bayonets fixed and preceded by two howitzers, were marched to St. Charles street, opposite the city hall, and an officer informed the mayor that he would haul down the flag. The latter, having mad') all the resistance possible, placed himself in front of the crowd, close to the cannon's mouth, and with folded arms stood immovable, while the state flag was pulled down and that of the United States hoisted in its place. General Benjamin F. -Butler, whose reign in New Orleans has made him such a notorious-figure in history, now received the city from the naval authorities, and with his 15,000 men took possession. It is told in New Orleans that when Farragut reported to Butler the pulling down of _ the iMMftiiaaitt & Son, Bankers, h Carolina, REST ON es of Deposit. ?i United States flag from the mint, the general's reply was: "1 will make an example of that fellow by hanging him." He was but a mere boy; carried away by the wild excitement of the time, the act was the I height of all that was foolhardy, in its madness it could only be ascribed to the irresponsibility and ignorance of youth. Yet he was arrpstpH trip/1 Kir .. .vvi kij V.VU1 until tial and duly sentenced to be hanged. He had insulted the flag, and must be made an example of. The people were horrified, and every intervention possible was attempted. The fact that the city had not surrendered at the time the flag was hoisted by the federals, or when torn down by Mumford, should have had its weight, but no plea would be heard in extenuation? the boy must oe put to a earn. He was hanged, some say on a gallows just in front of the mint. Though, if you go there, to the mint itself, you will be pointed to the space nigh up and between the two center pillars which support the front. Perhaps the gallows was constructed there. It would seem there can be no doubt "Therq," they will tell you, "between those two pillars, is where Mumford was hung!" It is the more commonly accepted belief, and when nnna vnn Vi urn Irnmim if fV.*? W44VV J VU A AC* V V rv 1IV/ TV 11 It) tllC very mint itself seems to bear the shadow of the gallows?like the mark of Cain on its frontal. He was so young, so ignorant, so pitifully the victim of the monster who sacrificed him under the merciless wheels of war. Yet sadder, even, was the fate of th.e boy's mother. Her poor brain tottered and yielded before the cruel shock, and for twenty years?longer than the span of her son's life?she wandered aimlessly, harmlessly through the streets, her gray hair and bent form, her innocent, simple look exciting only pity?the pity that goes out to those who in a dark past have suffered great and cruel wrong. As if her dimmed mind lingered the thought of her own lost child, she seemed to haunt the thoroughfares most frequented by the school children, who would whisper among themselves: "That is Mumford's mother." And if one would maybe say: "She only thinks she is," some one older would say pityingly: "Yes, children, she is Mumford's mother." They tell it so?and some of them remember. It is one of the stones every visitor to the mint is told. The other is a striking evienced of how curiously men's minds will be wrought upon by superstition, and how slight a thing can turn the carriage of justice even in the face of uncontrovertible facts. A CURIOUS INCIDENT. When a vault in one of the government offices was opened one morning it was discovered that a box which had held $26,000 in bills now contained only ashes- the money had been burned to a crisp. The bulb of an incandescent electric lamp just two feet above was broken, and the cashier claimed that he must have unwittingly left this light burning the night before, that it exploded and a spark dropping upon the paper money, it ignited and was burned up. The government sent down from Washington a lady expert, who examined the ashes under ? microscope and testified that there were only $1,200 burned t< ; make those ashes. The federa . grand jury then indicted th< > cashier for embezzlement, an< he was put on trial in the Unite< States circuit court. The govern ment made out a powerful cas? against him, beside the experl from Washington, they nac several electrical experts, all oi whose testimony was of incalculable weight, while the only testimony the defense could offer was the oath of the accused that he had left the $26,000 in the vault when he locked up the night before it was burned. The electrical experts testified in effect that it was absolutely imEossible for the money to have een burned in the way claimed, for the reason that a spark from an exploded electric bulb would go out before it could fall the distance of two feet between the lamp and the box of money. As the last expert for the government was concluding his testimony, and ha4_i?"* *?Worp finally that such -thing could not under any circumstances occur, the electric bulb three feet above tVlP illflnro'a /Innl' " * 1 ' | ?>av J O UtOIV CApIUUtJU Wltn Si I loud report, and a tiny spark floated slowly down. The eyes of all present were riveted upon it, and it is safe to say not a breath was drawn, as it settled upon the green baize covering of the desk. Slowly it caught and a tiny bit of smoke arose, but not the judge nor any of the court officials made any move to extinguish it, and as the expert whose testimony had been interrupted remained silent, and saw the baize cover begin to smolder and smoke, he nuietly picked up nis hat, although the examination was not concluded, and, without a word, left the witness stand. No one attempted tocall him back?the government had no more witnesses and was compelled to close the case with this extraordinary occurrence. TESTIMONY OF GOD. The lawyers for the aerense called upon to offer the testimony for their side were shrewd enough to respond: "Almighty God has testified in this case, and the defendant has nothing to offer in addition." And the jury promptly brought in a verdict of acquittal. This occurred some years ago, and about six months ago the ashes of the burnt bills were carried to Washington; up to this time they had been kept in the mint as assets. The cashier went free. It was proven there was but $1,200 in the ashes in the box?where were the $24,800? It had not been burned. For once, the keen, unblinking eye of the law had been dashed, and by no more than a tiny spark from an incandescent electric lamp. A BRITISH VIEW On the Future of the Russian Navy. Writing in the latter . half of March, before the Russian Baltic fleet had entered Chinese waters, Mr. Archibald S. Hurd, an English naval expert, contributes to the United Service Magazine (London) a study of the problem before Russia in hen task of building a great navy. The Muscovite Empire, Mr. Hurd believes, can never become a great naval power. Her people are a land people, and they have never acquired the "sea habit." Mere ships do not make a powerful navy. Russia, says this writer, never is, but always to be, blessed. She is always big with schemes: her friends and sycophants are continually talking of hei "might" and conjuring up phantom pictures of what she could do if she would. Just now little i is heard of the millions of mer f under arms of whom it was the > custom to boast a year or so ago but the world is asked to marve > at what the navy of Russia wil i be when it has been built up once . more. It is an idle task to an - ticipate the events of the inscrut . able future, but this form o prophecy is one of Russia's mos i valuable national assets. She is . and always has been, feared, no for what she has shown that sh can do, but on account of wha her apologists claim she could do She was thus exaggerated into i great naval and military powe at whose threats chancellerie y i trembled. It remained for the - smallest, poorest, and least "civ} ilized" of the powers to prick the t bubble which Russian agents had I industriously blown, with the ref suit that Russia's military pres tige for months past has been r sinking in the eyes of the world, and she has ceased, for the time, ; to be a naval power of any coni sequence. ! Russia, Mr. Hurd continues, i has been forced to abdicate her i naval position in the West in order to deal with the situation in i the far East. But she has never really been a maritime nation. Since the time of Peter the Great she has had a navy, "an exotic and purely political instrument." She won her naval prestige wholly by her Wars with Turkey and Sweden in the last centr \ It was a had day for Russia, ,/e are told, further; when mechanical propulsion for vessels was introduced. She has never had many born mechanics. She had a fair supply of sailors of splendid courage and magnificent hardihood, but she pos seaseu no system of education and no trades to provide the seamen of the new type, instinct with mechanical aptitude. As the years passed and the domination of physical science on board of men-of-war became more and more pronounced, the Russian deficiency became increasingly apparent. No nation without high technique can maintain a great fleet in efficiency in these days. Russia refused to face *he situation. The admiralty at St. Petersburg still looked upon the mere ships as synonymous and_a^4e?T6-' orno^ ^e most import- ( ant faotors?properly educated and v^ll-trained crews. As the demand for more seamen m men wore . called irom the fields in districts far removed from the sea. They had no love of the life, the sea was to them a force which thev did not understand and did not wish to understand, and at the same time they were lacking in intelligence and in all mechanical knowledge. They were agricultural laborers, that and nothing more. The greater the fleet became?the more rapidly ships were built in French, German, American and Russian shipyards ?the more apparent became the difficulty to obtain crews, and year by year the quality of the personnel fell. It is not suggested that the Russian sailor as been or is devoid of courage. On the contrary, he has always been brave and daring, and in the present war he has shown his metal on many occasions. But the day has passed when brute courage, unallied with an active, trained mind and mechanical skill, counted for much in naval warfare. While Russia should have been concentrating attention on the means of training men for her fleet, she was satisfied with building ships, or nrrl nr-i n nr fViom oVirnQfl ? cViirvo VI UVilllg VUU 0111)70) still more ships?under the delusion that these vessels, however inadequately manned, meant power. When we remember, also, Russia's geographical position, we can well understand her difficulties in creating a powerful navy. She had to organize four navies?one for the East, one for the Caspian Sea, one for the Bal tic, and another immured in the Black Sea by the treaty of Paris. : She had to utilize the Baltic for i the training of her main sea ' forces, and here each year the winter closed up the waters early I and failed to release them until i late in the Spring. All the 1 months which Great Britain and i the United States employ in . training were useless to the Rus1 sian admiralty. 1 The dispatch of these ships to * the East, the United Service " writer admits, was an unparal" leled event. 4 'It is the most imj; posing force which has ever passed in full fighting trim from ' West to East?indeed, the bigt gest squadron of modern ships J ; which nas sailed any ocean on a * j war-like mission." Yet Rus' ! sians will probabty never make a good sea fighters, in Mr. Hurd's r opinion. 3, The men who are available for F. M. FARR, President, T Merchants and Pit Successfully Doing Bus MM is the OLDEST Dunk i S hns a capital anil Rurp fl is the only NATION A lias paid dividends si 9 PRJ'R FOlTIt per cent B is the only Hank in lit H 9 hits IiurKlnr-Proof vat m W pays more taxes than . WE EARNESTLY SOL the Russian fleet have no technique, nor have they the mechanical aptitude, nor,again,love of the sea. They are dumb driven cattle, whose hearts are not in their work. Russia may go on building ships of war^ but these vessels are not sea power. Sea power is a weapon far less easily obtained. Russia must go I back over her whole administra-1 t.:? ? J ' nun ana remodel it; she must recognize that mechanical skill is even more essential in the personnel than brute courage, and that before her ships can be rendered fit to meet an efficient and adequately trained fleet at sea the whole character of the personnel must be raised, ^ A Woman Among Women The well-worn talk about "woman's sphere" sounds poor and empty as one recalls che, tasks to which the enaeero ntf which she made room in her heart. Editor, reformer, organizer, nurse, orator, patriot, ?and above and beyond all a matchless friend, mother and wife, ?she was a living demonatrafion of the fact that to-day in our great country a woman's field is bounded only by her powers?not by the straight fences of convention or by the high walls of prejudice. Mrs. Livermore did great deeds because she was a great woman, and fit for them. With all her multifarious occupations and her devotion to pub lie duty as it came to her, she remained woman to the core of her heart. There was no unsexing here. Toiling through a winter lecturing tour, she was capable of talking all night long with a young woman friend, teaching in a remote country village?talking as only Mrs. Livermore could talk of work and love and country and the unconquerable hope of human betterment which was her lifelong stimulus. When dawn broke in the east, she could say, smilingly. "We've had a good night!" and set forth "with cheerful semblance" for her day's work. Friendship had its just dues at her hands, and no pressure of public activity made her disloyal to its high joys. The full secret of her eloquence has never been fathomed. It was surely in part this very art of irradiating the great truths she uttered by the A'T f Ua r\A?*fiAv* r* 1 urAtvtnnlir v/A. LIIC pciovnai, wimiaiiijr imagination which was her birthright. In her speech there was no such thing as abstract truth. Freedom, temperance, purity were all alive under her touch. Vice and greed shrunk before the fire of her words. Sincerity was not merely a quality of her oratory?it was the oratory itself. What she spoke she was. She will be remembered long for what she said and what she did, but longer yet for what she was.?Youth's Companion. TKo R/\n ni\ni*I/>c iic uunu|iui ie^. Interest is one of the great romances of history?1the romance of the Bonaparte family-has been revived by the appointmenl of Charles Joseph Bonaparte oi Baltimore, as Secretary of th< Navy. t Secretary Bonaparte is a granc nephew of the great Napoleon i His grandfather was J^rorm i Bonaparte, and his grandmothei was Miss Elizabeth Patterson, o1 i Baltimore, whom Jerome marriee i during a visit to America in 1801 when his brother was First Con sul of France. _ .* _ ,v-v-i J. D. ARTHUR, Cashier. EC E " '? inters National Bank, iiness at the "Old Stand." in Union, his of $101,000, L Itnnk in Union. mountinir to JUUM00, , interest on deposits. lion inspected hy an otlleer, lit, and Safe with Timc-I<OPk. A LI, the hanks in Union combined. .ICIT YOUR BUSINESS. Napoleon was not pleased with the marriage, and to secure its dissolution he vainly sought the assistance of the Roman Catholic Church, one of whose priests had performed the ceremony. The French council of state finally decreed a divorce. Under Napoleon III. the council of state, upon an appeal by the rejected wife, recognized the validity of the marriage and the legitimacy of her sons. But when Napoleon III. died Mrs. Bonaparte sought vainly to have her grandson, Jerome Napoleon, brother of the Secretary of the Navy, recognized by the family as n mamkn. lL- " ui. tne imperial dynasty. The present heirs to the Napoleon dynasty are grandsons of the Secretary's grandfather, and his second half-cousins. Secretary Bonaparte's grandmother lived until 1879. and fought, to iVv-J?V nvHiabroad most of the time, was never an American citizen. His brother was an officer in the French army. One of his second cousins, Louis, is a majorgeneral in the Russian army, and two others are living on the reputation of their ancestors. The Secretary of the Navy is the first of his immediate family to identify himself closely with American life, instead of clinging to a hope some day of ruling over France. It is not too much to say that he is the worthiest surviving descendant of the Corsican family. But is it not curious that Napoleon's grandnephew should be at the head of the American Navy Department?? Youth's Companion. CHILDREN'S TASTE rOR READING. There is a revival of interest in the question of reading for children, as the new reading list for them, published by the Boston Public Library, shows. There was a time, some years ago, when the one requirement for children's books seemed to be abundant pictures. The text might be foolish or false; if the illustrations were taking, the book prospered with young readers. That unhappy state of , things has fortunately passed. A list of questions has recently been sent out to boys and girls in Chicago, calling for their opinions in regard to books. About three thousand replies have been received and tabulated. They show conclusively one encouraging fact. The books best liked by children are books which l "errown-uns" also roarl witV? satisfaction. "Little Women" heads the list, and "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Robinson Crusoe" and "The Count of Monte Cristo" are high in favor. "Alice in Wonderland," "The Arabian Nights," "Grimm's Fairy-Tales," and Hawthorne's "Wonder Book" testify to the perennial reign of the imagination. "Black Beauty" and "David Copperfield," "The Boys of '76," "Huckleberry Finn" and "Ivanhoe" show that there is variety of taste, and i that human interest is potent t with the child as with the parent. E It is curious to see "The Lamp5 lighter," that romantic tale of forty years ago, holding its own 1 in face of the arc-light. But a . good story defies the assaults of 3 science as of time, r In the hundred books selected E by three thousand children, it is I surely hopeful to find only a J dozen without enough literary - merit to commend them to all 'readers.?Youths Companion.