Newspaper Page Text
SCOTT COUNTY KICKER
VOL. XI.
BENTON, MO., MAY 4, i912
NO 22.
THE STORY OF
Having Failed to Secure a Verdict before a Jury of their
Own Selection, the Patriots may as well Unhitch.
The Kicker had a very narrow
escape in OOUrt last week It
might be compared to the es
cape of a sheep amid a hungry
pack of wolves. From the outset
I hnvp not counted on Winning
the OAM here with my enemies in
full control, but I figured that it
is ns cheap to appeal ,ik to take n
Chang of venue. All I have said
is that I would prove 11 ie 'truth
fulness of what, the Kicker has
been telling the people and this
1 ditl to the satisfaction of at
least Tour jurors of their .own se
lection. On the evening before the trial
began i met a Democrat of the
town and we talked about the
case. I Complained about the
partisan Jury, Of course he saw
nothing unusual about that and
there isnt. I said to him : "You
have known me for a long time
quite intimately. You know that
there is not a man in this com
munit.v who has a better name
for paying his debts and being
honest, truthful and a lawabid
ing citizen."
He agreed to this and I went
on: "You know what has ben
printed in the papers about me
Do you suppose I could recover
five cents in the courts of this
Bounty?"
lie grinned as he answered:
Ao. I don't believe you could"
And you call this justice'.'" 1
in slated,
And he passed on.
For the information or those
who may not be familiar with
this case I will relate, the story
In January 1011 John McWi'l
llame took charge of the office of
prosecuting attorney in this
ounty. He was considered a
good man. was my attorney, my
neighbor and my friend. I con
sidered him perfectly honest.
For many years there has been
grafting going on in this county
in the matter of public printing
but no more so than In most other
counties. Court house organs
must be supported in any county
When the officials and the busi
ness interests of the county got
together, organized a newspaper
that began to slice off the graft
in bigger chunks than ever tic
fore. I didn't like it. I dont mind
competition in the newspaper
business, but I don't want to
have to butt against a concern
that is supported by my contri
butions to the general revenue
fund. I am a citizen and a tux
payer as well as a newspaper
man.
being my attorney
lohn and
I talked it over one day. We
read the law where it lay I that
the public printing shall be let to
the bet advantage of the tax
payers, and we also read where
it said it was an offense punish
able by fine .or imprisonment, or
both for officers to profit by such
printing. In summing up bis con
clusions John said : 'If I were a
county official I don't believe I
would want any stock in a
newspaper that did the public
printing."
This was probably a year or
more before John took office.
oon after he was elected 1 be
gan to hear of the county offi
cials unloading their stock in 'the
paper. 1 thought I could see the
nand of John McWilliams at
work. He is the legal advisor of
the county court and I awaited
the February term expecting an
order to advertise for the letting
of the county printing
But It didn't happen.
Then I waited until the May
term.
Nothing doing again.
Hut a week later the financial
statement appeared in the court
house organ that had cost the
taxpayers Including me $120
the year before. Prior to the es
tablishment of the organ It cost
us tax-payers only S7.
Believing that a reminder might
help some 1 addressed an open
letter to the prosecuting attor
ney calling attention to the enor
mous expenditure of public mon
ey for public printing, and that
the law was being Ignored. 1
gave specific instances and refer
red him to the records all of
which I proved at the trial I
asked him that if the law meant
what it appeared to me to say,
why the "higher ups" ware not
prosecuted as well as the poor
and Ignorant-and offered him
ooth page of the paper for reply
I waited two weeks but there
was no reply.
Then I wrote another article
again calling attention to thote
conditions wondering wny oui
public prosecutor was sient
In the mean time John re-insured
my property and we pass
ed and re-passed as usual but
neither of us mentioned what
was appearing In the Kicker.
After waiting another two
weeks without any reply I fired
another shot.
This time the answer came
Notice was served on me to de
tach my sewer from the public
sewer.
Having received this answer a
few more shots were flred-and
then came the notice to remove
my stairs although a permit is
on record granting me the privi
lege to build them.
Now, mind yon, John McWil
ilams was not accused of dolnj;
anything wrong He had Just
taken office and had no stock in
the paper that vvas the benefic
iary of the nice plumbs that Tell
from the pie-counter. He was
only asked to go after the "high
er ups" If they were violating the
law, as I believed they were, or
quit prosecuting the poor devils.
Lets go back to February.
When in February, the court
failed to make any order to let
the printing. I thought it the
proper thing to do ,to petition the
court and the public prosecutor
and call their attention to the
extravagance of former adminis
trations. A majority of the court
and the prosecutor were new.
I discussed it with farmers and
they agreed that if I would print
the petitions they would be circu
lated, So 1 printed them am!
they were circulated early ii
March and signed by Democrats.
Republicans and 'Socialists
The petitions were sent to the
Kicker and were to be presented
to the court by attorney Miller
at the May term, Hut for some
reason he failed to do it.
No attention was paid to the
matter until after harvest when
fnrmers began to Inquire about
the petition When told that It
had not been presented they said
that they hail spent much tune in
secu ni: the signatures a lid
wanted the petit' in i resented.
Mr Miller agreed to present the
petition at the August term and
several home-owning fnrm-rs
were to come and go before the
court with him III some way
they got their dates mixed and
not enough of them came on any
date to make a showing, and
again nothing was done
In September the court met in
special session and I said to Mil
ler, "The-e farmers spent consid
erable time securing this petition
und if yoa woiit pi went it. I'll go
over and hand It to them."
I took the petition a id. as 1
stepped out I met Pearl Daugh
erty and Casper and Joe Miller,
and I said to them: I have just
started o'er to present this peti
tion to the court, but it would
have a better effect if some of
you farmers presented it "
"We'll present it." they said
and they did
Xovv. that was the straw that
broke the camel's back The very
idea of the impudent citizens and
taxpayers petitioning their rulers
for economy! Wasn't they get
ting the poor fed and housed for
181.25 a week?
They lost their heads They
couldn't see anything in that pe
tition but Hafner They raked
with a fine toothed comb to find
his signature but it wasn't there
Then they took a fit.
An inquisition was ordered and
many of those low creatures who
had the audacity to sign such a
document were brought in by -the
sheriff, his deputies, and by con
stables, and taken before the in-
quisiton ONE AT A TIME lik,;
criminals to intimidate them.
They said Hafner was too smart
to sign such a petition as that.
and that he had gotten his fol
lowers within the tolls of "the
law----that this wasn't Socialism
but Hafnertsm. and that Haf-
nerlsm bad to be stamped out.
Had the patriots not got rat
tled they could have seen that
the petition was not intended as
any reflection on the present
county court nor the prosecut
ing attorney ror it was six
months old. For instance, the
name of W. B. Finch, editor of
the Twin-City Republican, was on
it, and he had been gone six
months.
However, on attorney was dis
patched to Jefferson City to get
an "opinion" from the attorney
general to the effect that the
law did not mean what it said
concerning the letting of printing
They got the opinion all right
and published it in their news
paperbut they didn t try to in
troduce it as evidence, last week.
Soon after the inquisition ad
journed suit was filed in the
name of John McWilliams vs. The
Kicker for $12,000. The case
was tried by a jury of their own
selection last week and they
got soup I
True the case is not tdispos.nl of.
but if they could not get a ver
dict with the advantage they
had last week, they never will
get one In this county nor in
any other
Aiding and advising them were
nearly all of the lawyeis pres
ent from this and adjoining coun
ties. The Judge was very liber
aland by this I do not .mean
unfair in permitting the intro
duction of what they teemed to
think was evidence. And If a per
son had not known it, he would
have had to watch closely to dis
cover that John McWilliams WU
the plaintiff in the case The
evidence related to the "county
court and other officials and not
"particularly this plaintiff," as
alleged in the petition.
As for argument, they had none
worthy of the name. It -was a-
bout Idle same as you have seen
in their newspapers They were
careful not to nut anyone on the
stand to attempt to prove that '
A "FAIR
I was a bad man. Not a word of
that sort of testimony attempted
They wanted the jur.v to take
their word for it Kelly of t ape
Girardeau, and Collins of Caiuth-
ersvllle. yawped for two hours or
more, and it was all about what
a h 11 of a fellow Phil Hafner is
Ignorant, perhaps, of the Tact
that Phil. Hafner accept condem
nation from such a source as a
compliment.
I have been in Ilenton 24 years
and In the county longer My
life Is an open book. 1 do not
recall that even my enemies have
ever accused me of being a hypo
crlte. Why didn't Kelly and Col
lins attempt to prove some of the
statements they made about me
in what they are pleased to term
"arguments'."' I dare them to
attempt it If the case comes up
for re-trial in October. If they
can prove even a fraction of what
they said they can get a judgment
against me before any Jury
In the language of the small
boy, I DOUBLE- DARE THEM to
attempt it Editor Buck is here,
and I guess they can get editor
Rucker if they want him Then
they have the right to use such
distinguished gentlemen as Sher
iff Gober. Surveyor Warner, ex
Prosecutor Motley, and even Mr
Kelly himself. Why don't they do
it 7 Header, ask yourself. WHY 7
Why did they not put at least
ONE of their crowd on the wit
ness stand to prove that what
the Kicker hud said was untrue,
or that my reputation as an hon
est, truthful, law-abiding citizen
was not good? The petition al
leged that the Kicker had libeled
'the county court and other oifi
ciaLs." Why didn't they put "the
county court and other officials'
on the witness stand and try to
prove It? When they come urouml
apologizing for their failure to
stick me. ask them these question a
Mr. Tax-Payer,
i t
Hut "the party is leaourceful
Seeing that their prey had escap
ed, the rumor was set afloat that
all of the jurors had agreed that
Hafner was guilty, but that the
amount to be award McWilliams
could not be agreed upon. W hich
was not so
Why tills attempt to keep from
the people the truth?
There was something very re-
marKaoje auout this, l was pi es-
ent when the jury came in. and
the foreman announced distinctly
that the jury stood 8 to 4. and
that there was no hope of agree-
ment The judge dismissed them
There is no eseuse for the false
report.
But now corner a queer story
The next morning the report be
gan to circulate that all the ju-
ors were in favor of giving judg
ment against the Kicker, but
could not agree as to the amount
At first I paid no attention to
it But when the Cape, Sikeston
nnd lllmo papers came out with
the same story 1 began to search
for the facts. Let me here ac
knowledge the fairness of the
present editor of the Democrat
Mr. Lewis, and thank him for his
report of the trial. While he
said that there were but two in
my favor, yet it was no doubt the
be-st information he could get-
after the "lid" was put on
I was not on familliar terms
with any of the jurors So 1
sent a man to interview one He
returned and said that the juror
told him that 8 were for giving
McWilliams 51,000 and four were
for giving him S750.
'Did you beheve itv" I asked
'Well, that's what he told me.'
answered the man.
"Don't you know that if 8 had
been for SI, 000 and 4 for $750
they would have split the differ
ence?"
"Looks that way." he said
sees
Then I sent another man to
another juror. He reported that
the juror's memory was very bad
The juror told him that 8 stood
for $1,000 and that 4 wanted to
give McWilliams a little some
thing, but fce couldn't remember
much about it Another juror
was seen and his memory was al
so very hazy. But he could re
member, however, that all were
against Hafner.
Then I said to the man : "You
i ei.
A CASE FOR
1)
go and see Mr . He will tell
you the straight of It." What
follows is from one of the eight
opposed to me. as told to the man
I sent to Interview him :
On the first ballot R K. Griggs
and Or C, 1). Ha,- pis of Morley v,,
ted that McWilliams was not en
titleil to recover, After some dis
cussion S. W. Davis and a mer
chant from Jllmo (J, C. Drake. I
think) came to my side. And
there the Jury hung. The Jurors
opposed were C. E. Anderson, of
Fornfelt. foreman; C. P. Bondur-
ant and Ed Hutson. Commerce;
Wm. Widdows. Sam Potashnick.
and W. H. Harmon. Sikestori : I).
I, Bloom. Illmo: T J. Chrismou. i
Luaka
There Ls nothing secret 'about
the stand jurors take in such
cases Then who will explain
why the statements of the four
jurors Interviewed differed so
widely all of whom were against
the Kicker
The officials and rooters were
out in full force Many of them
sat within the rail where the
jurors could see their action and j
notice their interest in the case
To give you an idea of the
"square deal 1 got. it may sur- j
prise you to learn that the fore
man of the jur.v was a stock
holder in the Democrat Printing
Co. Another juror is a road boss
Both are good men but Demo
crats from way back Political ,
and religious prejudices are the
most stubborn of all to eradicate
It s possessor is too often uncon
scious of Its existence and mis
takes it for reason
During the trial a friend criti
cised me for not scratching a
certain juror. "You know he In
agin you." lie said. My reply !
was: "It was a choice between
him and a brother to County j
Judge Meyers." Leo Orojean of !
New Hamburg, and Mike Bollln- i
ger. 01 Oran. are certainly good
Democrats, and good home own
ing farmers They qualified as
jurors but the opposition scratch
ed them. Why?
Quite all of the jurors are con
sidered good men in the ordinary
affairs of life, but they have
their political prejudices--and m.v
offen.-e was political much as
they try to disguise and hide it
At the very outset their attor
neys tried to show that the Kick
er had a very large circulation
among the adherents of "a cer
tain political party This was
rather "raw " and the court ruled
1 1 out : but thev backel un
and
into
I cams again, and wormed it
!the case in other nrsvi Prone r I v
: tne ca.e should have been styled
j -The Ruling Towers of Scott Co.
j v. The Kicker. I have never re-
garded John McWilliams as tlie
real plaintiff in the case Not
u line can be found in any issue
of the Kicker that defames him.
Friends of the Kicker who came
to town and sized up the jury
would say to me, "Why did you
leave So-and-so on the jury? Why
didn't you scratch him?"
How could I? There were 18
jurors all selected by men inter
ested in seeing me stuck. Of the
jurors originally selected by the
county court I had no complaint
to muke But six of these were
later changed by the court he
cause of an error in location, and
one had moved When tlie circuit
court met 10 of the 124 were ex
cused and the vacancies filled by
a sheriff who refuses to speak to
me. Four of the jurors disquali
fied themselves The sheriff filled
these vacancies. 1 had to take
what was given me The other
side had the shuffle, cut and deal
yet they lost the "run of the
cards and handed me four trumps
Of the 18 men from which the
12 jurors had to be selected, but
three of them were subscribers
to the Kicker
But this case is worth all that
it is costing. It 1s doing more to
open the eyes of the people to
our system of justice than could
be pounded into them in any oth
er way The next morning after
the trial two men came Into the
Kicker office I knew neither of
them, but one was J W. Graham,
of Chaffee, a juror who had asked
to be excused. Of course his pre
judice must have been against me
for I did not know him and he
was not a readef of the paper
The other was Wm Widdows
from down about Minner. Each
TRIAL.
AN EAR-DOCTOR.
took a Copy of the Kicker. The.v
had never been In the office be
fore. You can draw your own
conclusions ns to what caused
them to come and get a copy of
tile paper My opinion is, they
concluded to Investigate' -and
that is all I ask of anyone,
Mr. Business Man, I want a
word with you, You have been
told that this is a "personal "nat
ter" and you believed it Let's
loi.k at it quaie, and nee what
tln re is In it
At this time the county fur
nlshes the road tools and mater
ial, and the Clothing and supplies
for paupers This is now pur
chased from you who "stick to
the party." and you I' accounts
are allowed by the county court
just as it used to be With print
ing when tiie newspapers were
all supporters of those In author
ity. Suppose you had investigated
carefully and became convinced
that conditions were very bad.
Suppose you began to make, these
conditions known and because
you did so. your servants in au
thority organized I company
store beside yours to run you out
Suppose that In order to main
tain this company store tliey
proceeded to furnish all the sup
plies for the county at excessive
prices. Suppose the company
store charged one dollar a pound
for nails furnished the count, v
and 810 for a pair of tiauper's
sliocs that you were seiruig for
lv Suppose that the county peld
sjr for a pauper coffin that you
could furnish for four: or -U"
for 1,000 feet of lumber that
could be bought elsewhere : -:;
Suppose that this went on to
the extent that the supplies for
the county furnished the chief
source of leveuue for the compa
ny stoie. : in i ttiat to others
sold goods at cost, or less, in or
der to run you out '
How would you like that sort
of an arrangement and you
helping T I V H)T THE BILLS '.'
Wouldn't you feel like calling on
the public prosecutor to stop It
especially if you considered him
your friend.'
In conclusion 1 want to say a
word to stockholders and friends
Of the Kicker The purpose or
this suit Is to iwatnp the paper
with court costs At the begin
ning an effort w as made to raise
a defense fund I discouraged
tlus for the reason that it would
disqualify any contributor fio:n
sitting on the jury.
There Ls no need to ' worry
about that. Developementa last
October ana iat weex convinced
me that no man ku.; tt-1 of be-
ing "a Kicker man will ever be
all
wed to sit on tm- case
I Hen
e we may as well begin to
get busy
and
arrange for defensi
tnoney,
Word came to me soon after
the trial of two substantial men
saying that they had 810 and
more if necessary, to defend tlie
Kicker There are others,
mut attend to th-s I have
Vou
my
hands full. Never again can they
hope for a better "frame up"
than they had last week
A FR0MIDABLE ARGUMENT
By Ralph Korngold
What le the must formidable
argument in tlie whole range of
Socialist phylosophy
There are many formidable ar
guments; but there Ls one which
the opponents of Socialism can
not even make a blu'f at answer
ing. it is tlie argument about the
inevitability of Socialism
Most Socialists are acquainted
with this argument
Of course, every one knows
that the worker produces a iur
plus over and above the amount
of his wages.
With its wages tlie working
class is there'o'e able to buy
back only a part of its products,
The capitalist class, leing a
small class, can not possibly con
sum.' the remainder, or use it all
up in riotous living, and must,
therefore find a foreign market
or it
Now the foreign markets of the
world are limited; in fact have
almost lUsappoaied. Most other
nations, instead ol Wing markets,
are themselves locking for mark
ets, having conditions identical
ivlth those we have in t!,e Lnited
Sin te.s.
Japan, which u.ed to be a very
profitable market, has practical
ly ceased to be one China is be
ing rapidly "mi derailed," and Will
soon supply its own wants, and
perhaps be looking for a market
itself
Now, If every nation wants to
isell and no natiou w ants to buy
because those who waut to buy
CAN NOT buy there will be ,i
universal stagnation of industry,
that is STARVATION.
Whereupon tlie nations w ill be
able to make their choL-e be
tween STARVATION OR SOCIAL
lZATlON, that is SOCIALISM,
This is ihe argument concisely
sta ted. There is no loopho e m
this argument. The oppoiieuts
ol Socialism can't get o.er it or
around it. He must face t. AND
HE is PACING A STONE WALL.
Herbert Spencer recognized tin
force of this argument, aud de
clared Socialism to Le inevitable.
John Stuart Milis recognized
the force of this argument, and
it made him a convert to Social
ism. AND AS LONG AS THIS AR
UlMENT REMAINS UNCHAL
LENGED SOCIALISM REMAINS
UNCHALLENGED.
It Is quite useless for au oppo-
nent of Socialism to try to "an
nihilate" Socialism by showing
that it will destroy the home, the
church, incentive or Individuality!
ns long as he is Unable to dis
prove the argument of the ine
vitability of Socialism,
For. ir Socialism is Lnevltab!e,
we may consider it a great pit.v
if it will do any of these things.
BUT IT DOES SOT BECOME
WY LESS INEVITABLE ON
TH VT M COUNT
Muppoflnu an astronomer were
to prove with mathematical ac
euracy thut San Francisco was
going to have another earth
quake, would von try to dispose
his statement by demonstrating
that an earthquake w as impossi
ble BECAUSE IT WOULD DE
STROY. THE HOMES AND
CHRUCHES I N HAN FRANCISCO?
Socialism Will come because the
human race may consent to
Starve for awhile and to a cer
tain degree, BUT it WILL not
CONSENT TO STARVE PER
PETUALLY AND To A DEGREE
HITHERTO UNKNOWN,
If the coming of Socialism will
destroy the home, the ehurvh in
dividuality and Incentive why,
then so much the worse for the
home, the church. Individuality
and incentive
BUT, OF COURSE IT WILL DO
NOTHING OF THE KIND EVO
LUTION DOES NOT Wokw
THAT WAV
WH T I WOK SE1DE1
'i
From the St. Louis Star,
Former Mayor Seldel taik-
about what the socialists did in
Milwaukee, and why they were
driven from power, in spite of
asting a larger vote than they
did when they gained power, ere
extremely interesting. He recite
in detail the evils fought and to a
! tree suppressed, and the pow-
it lerfui influences that were offend-r-
i ed. one after another of these
I ev Lis w ere attacked and ar rayed
Itself against the attacker s, until
the combination of hotiie ipeclal
Interests and privilege seekers -
With the aid of party voters who
.can see nothing but the party
name on the ticket the.v vote
I overwhelmed the reformers, not
withstanding their increased vote
It is interesting to note these
i various enemies created, as enum
erated by the speaker They es
! tabllshed a bureau of Efficiency
land by systematizing city work
I and introducing a modern sye-
item of accounting much reduced
the official force, cut off opportu
nities for graft, and ell the graft
hunters in town were displeased.
I They cut flown the paving eon-
tracts nearly 50 per cent ai .
i the contractors
Un tleir friends
were grieved.
The.v compelled the street
rail-
way to p
iy a ucense
he cars clean
or cars
and the
.ami keen :
powerrtu influence of that com
pany was thrown against them
They raised the assessment of
the gas company and started a
campaign for cheaper gas. and
that powerful Influence was dis-
pleased.
They liec'in a move to cut
I down telephone
rates, and the
company began to fight them
All the-e Influences combined
jwith the graft politicians of both
I parties in a war against tlie So
icialists. and won. Mr. Seldel does
I not believe that those influences
and corrupt elements Will give
.Milwaukee a better municipal
government than tlie Socialists
did In about two years we shall
know what the people of Milwau
kee think about it.
T IWNSHIF IRGANIZATION
The tentiment for tow nship or
ganization is spreading over tlie
county. During the week sever
al farmers called at the Kicker
office to inquire about it There
were also others Among the
others was Alex Kyer. of Illmo a
former Democratic justice of the
peace. When he a.sked that n
tition be tent to him for eircula
tlon l put it up to him like this:
"1 have nothing to do with the
petitions. I understand that Wil
son Cramer, of Jackson, has been
employed to prepare the petition
and it w ill likely be printed here,
don't ask me to send you a peti
tionfor it is agin the law to
petition the Scott county court
It might result in another inqui
sition, iu which the signers would
be brought before that imperial
body by the sheriff."
A sort of possum grin stole over
the countenance of my Democra
tic caller n ha said, apologetic
ally: "Now, look here; I'm cot
joking."
"Neither am I." replied the edi
tor. THE DIFFERENCE
In a lower county a fare, er re
lates this story of his three pups
w hich he named Bryan. Roosevelt
and Debs.
Some hogs jrot into the yard
and he hissed the pups on them.
True to Democratic instinct Bry
an took up a cold trail howling
and viewing with alarm. Ted
dy appeared dee-lighted, made a
big noise as he started of, but dis
oovered the end of his tall and
began to whirl in a droit, Debs
raised his head, sniffed the air
end went straight for the intru
ders without apology and they
hiked of in alarm, grunting "an
archist, anarchist!"
Very naturally the capitalist
hogs have no use for Debs. (With
:,pol;gles to John M. Cobb, of An
niston).
HWB-!"
Socialism opposes one man, or
set of man, owning thousands of
acres of land and making some
poor devils pay rant for the use
of it.
W HAT IT IS
From the Apieal to Reason.
The Denominational News Ser
vice, with offices at I East 2th
Street, New York city, has let the
cat out Of the bag. In referring
to the formation Of the men and
religion forward movement the
News Service announces: "One
million dollars is to be spent
throughout the next eleven
months to revive interest in re
ligion among the masses. J.
Plerpont Morgan and a number
of his friends in "the financial dis
trict of New York have subscrib
ed the money "
In discussing the relative
strength of the Protestant and
Catholic denominations, tlie News
Service declares that "though
rivals in spiritual matters they
are in accord upon many subjects
of mutual interest, notably upon
that of Socialism, which recent
statistics show to be making
heavy strides in the body poli
tic "
It then continues: "To big bus
iness Socialism stands for disin
tegration and a incompatible
with the precepts of religion.
Heme the Morgan religious revi
val li twofold In its object : First
to check the growth of socialism,
which big business regards as
the most dangerous foe nf social
and political order. Second, to
bring back into the fold the great
mass of the people who of lata
years haw- been steadily drift
ing away from the influence of
the churches, Tims Will the
great body of people be drafted
back Into the nrvtee of the
chur'"h To reach a mans heart
first arouse his spiritual emotion-
Then he is invulnerable t
the exhortations of the .socialist
or the business belting muck-raker."
IV SOUTHEAST MISSOURI.
Miraculous feats of Ittdurance
by stock In water during this
flood, have been reported from
every direction, but the report of
a mule remaining in swiming
water all day ami all night, be
rore being rescued, is most re
markable of ail. .t Kentucky
point, below Hickman, K y . wa
ter flooded a mound, on which
stock had been put. and they
were forced into the water, all
drowning except one mule This
i mule wou.d swim around until
exhausted, and then would hang
I his head over a log or limb of a
, tree, holding himself up in the
water unt.; rested, and then try
again , resting at intervals
I against limbs When rescued the
next morning oy rart, the muie
.v as unaoie to walk or aid him
self in getting on the raft, and
had to be snaked on With lines
When iiigh ground was reached
the mule was unable to stand,
and laid on the ground until 4
ocifx-k before he was strong
enough to walk.
j Jackson Item Adam Thoma. a
farmer of inv estiga tine turn of
inimL was in Jackson Frldaj He
has, after many experiments, dis
covered a remedy to exterminate
w ild gar.i Canada dock. und. he
think Wild onions He says the
!.,, , o wit ii.:-iiui l iiul ex
ceed 20 cents per gallon and that
two ort hree drops will kill the
plants two or three days after
applying the solution. The bulb
of the garlic becomes soft and de
cays. It seems to work the same
way on onions, but Mr Thoma
sajs lie lias not experimented
enough to make claim as to that.
But it is sure deaith to garlic. He
has not yet made his discovery
public, however, he does not want
to have it patented, as he wants
all the farmers to have free beue
iit of it
Bismark Gazette David Fipps,
a farmer near Montgomery City,
believes he has made a discovery
which will be appreciated
throughout the I'nited States.
i He has
with the use of saltpeter,
some of the largest fruit
raised
and vegatanies ever grown in
this part of tlie world. By put
ting a little saltpeter around
tlie roots of an apple tree and
washing the tree with soft soap
be has raised apples weighing
tw o pounds and six ounces each.
As an experiment he put saltpe
ter to two rows of corn and one
hundred ears weighed HiM pounds
twice ns much as average corn.
He (Uso put saltpeter around a
few bends of cabbage, pumpkins,
beets, parsnips and watermelons
One melon weighed 86 pounds one
cabbage head weighed 35 pounds
parsnip six pounds and one putn
kin 1-0 pounds.
Popular Bluff Citizen. There
heems to toe a counterfeiting es
tablishment in Popular Bluff turn
ing out a rather eA tensive sup
ply of icxd nickels, aud the pro
ducers of the phoney coins are
not in tlie least timid about us
ing them. More than 100 bum
coins were found in the slot ma
chines over the city during a sin
gle week and the use of them
rseems to be growing. It Is evi
dent that they are being manu
factured by some one in Poplar
Bluff and being used in feeding
the slot machines.
Ironton Register A surrey in
which were a lady and five young
girls, was upset in seven or eight
feet of water in the ford near
the railroad bridge. One of the
horses became entangled In the
harness and was drowned. Wal
ter Whltworth and Henry Boyd,
colored, who were near, hurried
to the aid of the ladles and, aside
from getting wet, they suffered
no Injury. It was a narrow es
cape. Wind-storms did a gieat deal
of damage In at Francois county
again last week.
