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: '?DO THOU LIBERTY GREAT. INSPIRE OUR SOULS AND MAfcl^HJR LIVES IN 'PHY POSSESSION HAPPY, OR OUR DEATHS GLORIOUS IN THY CAUSE." .]??_' . ? :'. VOL. XXVII. BENNETTSVILLE, S. C., FMpAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1903. NO. 14. SAME OLD STORY People? Plt?ngt?a -toC&rtiin Beith in tho Darkness of Night. '-V SEVENTEEN CRUSHED TO DEATH And Many Others Serlon?ly Injured, ino Most iMBireatun? t?cencu Enacted Altor The Fatal trash Cami". News comes from Topeka, Kansas, of a railroad , accident on the Rock Island, California and Mexican Rail way in which seventeen persons were . killed outright and thirty-seven others were ' more or less injured. The ac cident occurred near Topeka on Tues day morning of last week. The acci dent was caused by a collision of a passenger and a freight train. It is thought that carelessness of trainmen caused the wreck. Instruct ed to meet a Special freight train at Willard, the engineer and conduotor of the ill-fated passenger noting that a freight train stood on tho sidetrack at Willard rushed through, thinking that the cars, they had seen were the ones which they had been instructed to pass. Upon seeing at Willard a freight train on tim siding, Engineer Benjamin threw open the throttle and, under the impetus of full steam the passenger train leaped into the darkness and crashed along at a rate which the passengers declare to have been fully 65 miles an hour. DETAILS OF TUE nORHOK. Ti. G. Parsons, a reporter of the Topeka State Journal, who was on the wrecked train, arrived in Topeka at 8 o'clock Wednesday morning after driving overland from tia scene of the collision. Parsons escaped with slight injuries while two persons on the seat In front of him were killed. Parsons tells the following story of thc wreck: "It was In the third car of the pas senger train, the lirst coach having J vSu^_Prece(^e^ a smo'ier ant^ ^ag *"*'gag"?'Wr? t,,at greatest loss of Hie ^oocurreij. The smoker, which was oc r^vipied by only two or three men, was ' overturned and pushed through the car. behind it, which was crowded with passengers, some standing in the aisle. The lirst warning of the pas sengers in this car was when the sud ; :?-.deft .setting of the airbrakes shut otf r?ilie.lights, leaving all in darkness. A '>)hin6ment.. later a mass of splintered ?^..;,y?op4.and iron was crowded down up . ?-' ?on them.-' No one was thrown out of , tfyeir seat by the blow. Most of those . -^frj.' the- forward end of the car were killed instantly. Thirty in the rear end of the coach, however, succeeded id- escaping from that end of the car C which was still unobstructed. No " -onejn,the front half of thc car escap ed. They"<v?re crushed down between the seats by: tilte; ver Wh^n ?-coour;, \ uoVt-j possible only uir?b living ^^.xs Were taken out by the rescu ers, who were compelled to chop holes in the side and through the door and " top of tile coach to reach them. ONLY Tl I KICK A I.I Y K. "The three rescued from this por tion- were a man, a small girl and a middle aged woman, who wete moan ing and begging to be taken out. One man, hurt internally, was removed . through the rear door within live minutes after the collision, but died almost as soon as the rescuers could lay him down. A woman died two hours later while trying to tell a physician her name. A dozen men had worked on thc place where, she seemed'to be befere she was extricat ed. "Bonnie Martin, a girl ll years of age, was pinned down between the two cars, the heavy stove resting on one foot. Her cries attracted the rescuers, and men, many of them bleeding from wounds about the face and arms, worked heroically to get her out. It took two hours of steady _^_work to relieve lier. When she was taken out sue addressed a doctor who was bending over lier as 'papa.' "The physician did not have the heart to tell her that she was an or phan, her father and mother having been killed. Mr. Martin was killed instantly and Mrs. Marlin died ten minutes after being token out of the wreck. The child was sutfering with a broken ankle, where the heavy stove fell on lier, and severe scalp contusions. She was put to sleep by a hypodermic injection to relieve the plain. "Some of the bodies found in the wreckage were so badly crushed as to be unrecognizable. Through a hole chopped in one side of the car the body of a gray-haired heavy-set man and a woman with long yellow hair were visible. Fires were built along the track at short intervals and ojr., tUe fight Of" ?Avssw ?iie rescuers, in their eagerness to remove t lie victims, chopped openings in the wrecked coaches unt il exhausted, then hand ed their axes to others. CAR CIIOFFKD AWAY. "The entire sides of the car had been chopped away when the work was completed. Occasionally the rescuers would desist upon an alarm being raised by watchers who declared that the chopping away of tho coach was letting the smoker down upon t he I victims. So terrille was the force of " the collision that the smoker left tho trucks in its backward rush, leaving the trucks still upon the track. Not a wheel In the entire passenger train seemed to be oif thc track. "The freight train fared differently. , Tho four cars immediately behind tho engine were crushed Into kindling. Dead and dying cattle littered the right of way, while many which had escaped from the cars uninjured ran about, adding to the confusion. "On the passenger train, iii the sleeper, was a young physician who walked with a crutch as the result of some spinal trouble. Ile was thrown down and slightly injured, but was tile lirst man to emerge from the sleeper and immediately began aiding tho injured. He had a portion of the chair car and the berths in the sleoper cleared and to them tho victims were carried. The physician was without Instruments or medicine, and the or.ly thing ho could do was to bind i p wounds with bandages which he made by tearing up sleeper sheets and pil ow cases, and giving the patients whiskey to deaden the pain. ."The young doctor found a fireman who was injured in the leg. An ar tery was broken, and he took. It up with a penknife and tied it with a thread, probably preventing the fire man from bleeding td death. He per formed innumerable sets of a like na ture before the arrival of the Topeka physicians." Tlie hero mentioned by Mr. Par dons waa Dr. Frank M. Bell of New x ork. CAUSED A STRIKE. 81x Painters "Were Discharged for Re fusing to Work Sundays. The Augusta Evening Herald Bays "because refusing to work on Sunday a half dozen painters were discharged, three hundred workmen, painters, plumbers, carpenters and wood-work men, who had been employed at the new tourist hotel "The Park In The Pines" at Aiken, laid down their tools yesterday afternoon and walked out leaving the contractors without work men and thus delaying the progress of the work. Tbe strike was wholly un expected and coming at the time it does, ls an almost destructive blow to the contractors and the owners of thc hotel who have made all arrangements to complete the work and open the hotel on January 15. Contractor Ong ls paying a forfeit of $60 for every day from January 1, until the completed building is turned over, to the owners, and the strike will, unless quickly raised, fall heaviest upon him. For several weekB past the force of work men employed at the hotel have been working on Sundays in order to has ten the completion of the building, and on last Sunday night tho painters who are working under Wesley Royal of Aiken held a meeting and organ ized a union, agreeing at the time net to work on Suudays on the same wage scale as during the days of the week. Yesterday the half dozen painters who organized the union, were discharged by Mr. Royal, and an indignation meeting at which were gathered the 300 workmen followed. Demands were then made that Contractor Ong not only take back to work the dis charged painters, but that he also dis charge Wesley Royal, and when this was refused, the workmen struck as one man." The authorities should stop the Sunday work if the hotel nev er gets finished. THE ALLIANCE CASE. Supremo Court Dismissed tho Appeal in Receivership Matter. The State says the celebrated Brookshire case came up in the su preme court Friday and an ord? -vas issued dismissing the appeal. Thc case is all In a ''tangle, certain members of the Farmer's alliance seek ing forttes?ap,,o?u?jmuiit v?r a receiver for the funds of the Farmers' Alliance exchange. The supreme court Friday issued the following order in the now famous Brookshire case: "The order of Judge Gary made at chambers, from which this appeal was taken, provided for the appointment of a receiver uuless the defendant cor poration entered into a bond in the penal sum of 833,000, with sufficient surety. "It is agreed by counsel on both sides that the bond provided for in the order of Judge Gary (pursuant to section 2(J5, subdivision 8, of the code of civil procedure) has been given by the defendant corporation and approv ed by the clerk of the court of com mon pleas tor Richland county with in the time required. It ls therefore tbe opinion of this court that the hearing of this appeal ls unnecessary, as the entering into tho bond on the part of the appellant vacated the order of J udge Gary in so far as the appointment of a receiver ls concerned. "It is therefore, upon motion of the appellant's attorneys ordered that the appeal herein be dismissed." Badly Burned. The Augusta Chronicle says Mrs. Charley Lane, of Powelton, Ga., was frightfully and, perhaps, fatally burn ed, at an early hour this morning. lt seems that she had arose and gone donn stairs and while waiting for breakfast had kneeled before an open tire In prayer, as was her custom. While thus engaged her clothing caught lire and she was enveloped In Hames before realizing her peril. She made an ellort to wrap some bed-cloth ing around her body, but the fire burned so fast that tho was unable to extinguish it. She ls quite young, be ing not ovct eighteen years of tige, and , has been married but a few months. . . I a I ni ly Shot. On Saturday week while Wesley Bolin, a young white man 18 years of agc, and a colored boy named Estell Fronebcrger, aged 10 years, were out bunting near smyrna, In tho western portoin of York county, the negro boy was accidentally shot in the back of the head by young Bolin, and died from the effects of thc wound. A cor oner's inquest was held over the body of Fronebcrger, Dr. W. G. White of this place being present as an expert witness. The jury rendered a verdict exonerating young Bolln from blame in tbe promises. _ Deadly Work of Dynamito. At the Los Laurelep mines, west of Guadalajara, Mexico, a large num ber of boxes of dynamite stored In a powder bouse exploded Thursday, kill ing 20 men and Injuring 40 others. Tho detonations were heard many miles away and an American mine owner, working in his mine three miles away, was killed by a falling rock that had been jarred by the con cussion. Details aro lacking but it ls reported that the dlsastor was caused by tho explosion of a dynamite cap in the powder house. An ICnjrlnoor Killed. In a collision between two freight trains on the Atlantic Coast Line at Orange Park, Fla., at 5 o'clock Friday afternoon, Engineer Tim Welsh of train No. 332 was killed. An extra freight train, southbound, ran Into the engine of No. 332, northbound, as the latter was backing into a blind Riding. Both engines were badly damaged. No one besides Welsh was injured. ANOTHER HERO GONE, Gen. John B. Gorden Hs?? Fatted Over the Eiyer. SOON FOLLOWED LONGSTREET. Ho Wan Ono or thc Best Soldt?rs of tho Civil War, and Serv ed With Gen. Lieo' to the Knd". " Lieutenant General John Brown Gordon died at his winter home near Miami, Fla., at 10:05 Saturday night. Hts fatal illness, which overtook him. last Wednesday, was congestion of the stomach and liver, following an acute attack of Indigestion, Lo which he was subject. General Gordon was Ul with this same trouble-that Is, very seriously ?so-before, but rallied. The last time be Buffered an attck lt was at New Orleans, during the reunion of tho United Confederate veterans, ol which organization he is president, and to which position he has re peatedly been elected, testifying the warmth of affection in whioh be was held throughout the South. He was very ill at the tim?, but rallied to treatment given him. It was noticed, however, how his strength was taxed st that time and attending physicians in New Orleans said that the next attack meant the death of the patient. When he became ill this week it was immediately seen that- lu; was In a dangerous condition. His strength was gone. He could not take nourish ment. Doctors Gramling and Jack sun advised marthe family .be sum moned. It was believed on Thursday night and again on Friday night that death was at band, for the stupors Into which he would fall were dis heartening to the attendants. ?'. The beginning of the end occurred Saturday afternoon, serious complicsi tionssettlng in, and by night his physi cians had abandoned all hope, as his kidneys ref use to secrete and uranie poison was very decided. His death was quiet. He fell'peacefully' to sleep and all was over. As'stated,' the cause of death was acute indigestion. Prior to the New O leans attack , he had suffered fruin the same trouble in Mississippi several months ago. At 11 o'olock Thursday morning consultation of physicians was held and it was found he was seriously, if not critically ill. His son Major Hugh Gordon, who resides at Biscayne, was with him. A telegram' was sent, to his daughter, Mrs. Burton Smith of Atlanta, calling her to bis- bedside. She was with him when he died. Gen eral Gerden grew steadily rprse until Saturday., when b? wav^ncnnsciouR mosfof theTime.' General and Mrs. Gordon had been in Florida this winter only three weeks before his death, lils health had been unusually good prior to his fatal attack. He had bought a win ter home at Bis.caync three years ago and had since been spending a portion of his winters there. A Strange ltnilrond Accident. One of the strangest railroad acci dents on record, is reported from Hammond. Ind. A hotel keeper, Chas. Stahlbohra, was driving home one night last week, and, coming to a railroad track, tried to drive bis horse across ahead of che fast freight. The engineer did not even know that he had hit anything, but kept up the speed of his engine until lie pulled Into a Btutlon lifteen mile" beyond the scene. Then he got down :> oil his I engine an i was lightly started to see Stahlbohm sitting on the cow-catcher, a whip in one hand and the end of some reins in the other. Ile shook him a few times, and when the Intel keepei came to he asked where his hat and iiorses were. \ Ie did not know that the train had made them Into soap stock. A Grafter Kscapcs. At Omaha, Neb., on Friday the trial of Senator Charles H. Dietrich for alleged bribery, lo connection with the appointment of a postmaster at Hastings, Neb., came to an abrupt end, when the United States circuit court, Judge Vandevanter presiding, held that Dietrich was not a senator at the time the alleged acts occurred. The opinion was a lengthy one and is said to be a precedent. Upon this decision, District Attorney Sum mers entered a nolle prosequl in other cases against the senator, with the_ statement that the construction placed on the law by the court pre cluded further- proceedings against either Senator Dietrich or Postmas ter Fisher, bota of whom were dis charged. Stopped tho Trnin* Five hundred striking miners pf the Merchants Coal company in Somerset county, Pa., gathered at Garrett, Saturday night and held up a special train carrying about sixty negroes to the Boseil raines of the company, on the Berlin branch of tho Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The switches were nalsed do.?n and under hut one consideration were the men willing to permit the engine and cars to be switched upon the Berlin branch. Th*s consideration was that the cars be emptied. By this time tlie negroes were in a terrible state of excitement and many of them jumped through the windows and made off. The min ers made no attempt to Injure the ne groes, bat were determined that their importation inti the Held Should not be accomplished,. To A Doctor Soldiea. A bronze statue of the" late,'Dr. Hunter McGuire, wl?o was Ge??. -Jack son's medical director, and ono of tho mast celebrated surgeons in tho south, was unveiled in tho capitol square at Richmond, Va., Thursday. The veil wius drawn by his little grandson. There was a parade, and the Howitz ers llred a salute. A largo crowd was In attendance. Judge George L. Christian, grand commander of tho Confederate veterans of the State, presented the statue to Virginia, and Gov. Montague received lt. Tho ora tion was dollvored by Maj. Holmes Conrad of Winchester,. Va.,, who served with Dr. McGuire on Gen. Jackson's staff. WORK OF THE CONSTABULARY. Chlof Constable Hammett Makes His ? ' 'y? Vii' Report to tfio Governor. Chief Constable U. B. Hammett Friday sent to the governor his report for September, Ootober and. Novem ber of last year as compared with the same months of 1902. "1 deem lt unnecessary," says Mr. Hammett, "to comment, as the fig ures show fur themselves, but I will explain that tho sales of the beer dis pensers have not-been taken into con sideration In this report for the rea son that so few reports have been re ceived J[ was not able to figure just what their sales would amount to. I have the best of reasons to believe, however, that there has been an In crease of about 30 per cent. "I will add that the constabulary force ls working smoothly and harmo niously, and I have every reason to be pleased with the situation." The salaries and total expenses of the constables for the three months in 1?03 were 815,607.96, while in 1902 the total was $13,138.93. Last year 2,676 gallons of whiskey were seised as against 2,519 gallons in 1902. The vale of-. whiskey seizure? last years was ?4,114.50, an increase of $234.85 over 1902. In 1003 853 gallons of beer valued at $407.44 were seized, while the 1902 seizures amounted to 1,544 gallons valued at $741.12. The total sales In the dispensaries during these three months in 1903 amounted to $868,724.32, an inc/ease of $112,865.38 over 1902. The in crease in the State -dispensary amounted to $90,113.29, the sales lu 190.3 being $823,075.17. A comparative statement of prosecu tions 'shows for 1902, 76 convictions, Unes 6f $6;49l,of which $1,316 was collected, and 21 offenders Rent to the chalngang, while last year there were 65 convictions, tines of $4,920, of which' $1,615 was collected, and 22 persons sent to the chain gang. This is Mr. Hammett's quarterly summary: Increase in cost of con" stabulary, $2,469.05; decrease in value of seizures, $99.83; increase in sales of county dispensaries, $112,865.38; in crease in sales of State dispensary, $90,448.29. THE MEXICAN BOLL WEEVIL. Congress Appropriates a Lur^e Sum or Money to Fight lt. The Mexican boll weevil, which was so destructive to cotton In Texas the past year, Is to be fought tb a finish. On Friday the national house of rep resentatives made available +.ho on? ? - 000 t;- -aeetthe em??g?ncy cau^u^oy the rfl'vagep ^* thc cotton boll weevil and''omer in sects and diseases affecting cotton. The measure had the support of both M des and was adopted without divis ion. Thc sum is diverted from the $500,000 appropriated last year to eiadicate the foot and mouth diseases among cattle. Mr. Burleson of Texas explained that the bill simply diverted money heretofore appropriated for another purpose and did not make a .new ap propriation. He urged ?the Import ance of the passage of the bill to the cotton growing sections, Jglvlng the history of the boll weevil aud what it has done Mr. Gillette, of Massachusetts called attention to another insect-the Egyptian moth-which had been brought to New England and which be said was equally dangerous and should receive attention with a view to extermination. Mr. Robinson of Arkansas spoke for the bill. Mr. Slayden of Texas in urg ing its passage said be hoped thc bill would not be jeopardized by amend ment. . Mr. Gardner of Michigan said he be lieved it would be establishing a bad precedent to pass the bill. ' Mr. Gillette of Massachusetts offered an amendment fur an additional ap propriation of $250,000 for the eradica tion of the Egjptian moth. The speaker sustained a point of or der against the amendment and thc bill was passed without division. It provides that t he sum made available may be expended by the secretary of agriculture in such manner as he shall deem best, in co-operation with State experiment stations and practical cot ton growers if the secretary of agrl culture shall deem lt advisable, to meet the emergency caused by the ravages of the cotton boll weevil and other Insects affecting cotton. Peculiarly Had. \ Mrs. Herbert T. Hames died at Jonesville In Union County last week after a few days sickness. This was indeed an unusually sad death. . Dr. and Mrs. Hames were married on the 30th of September last, just tliree months and three days. Mrs Hames was before her marriage Miss Fannie McCravy, daughter of Rev. and, Mrs. J. W. McCravy of Cross Keys, and lived the greater portion of her life with her uncle and aunt, Col. and Mrs. H. D. Floyd of Spartanburg. Cave J .cg Hall. Nine negro prisoners escaped from thc Wake county N. C., jail at an early hour Tuesday morning. Most of them were awaiting trial on charg es of larceny, but one was a federal prisoner, and another a prisoner awaiting trial for an alleged criminal assault on a white woman. Ho had been sent here for safe keeping. Tho escape was made by prying off a sec tion of a steel cell in the corridor and removing the bricks In the outer walls. There ta no trace of the mon. Torillo Kxploslon. Fourteen men were killed and sev eral were Injured by au explosion Wednesday at the nitro-glycerine de partment at thc National Explosive works, eight miles from Penzance, England. The whole district was en veloped tn a cloud of black smoke and nearly every window at St. Iv?s, thrte miles from the scene of the explosions were shattered hy Its terriflo force. Many windows were also smashed at Penzance. *EAMER WRECKED in Swirling, Stora-awept Sea. Fifty two People Drowned. ; ....-: NOT A WOMAN OR CHILD SAVED, I '? 1 '.' . Bnt ; lt Was Not Hie Fault of tho 7 Bravo Mon on Board, Who Tried .to.. Bayev Them. %.'?." '-Boats Swamped. ' T?e steamer :01alm of .the Seattle Victoria fleet Went down early Satur day morning midway between Smith Island and Dungeuness, in' tue Straits of Juan de Fuea. ?. ' , Every woman and child aboard the Claim perished. Within-three miles of shore and at a time when it ap peared certain the Claim had been saved'a desperate effort was made to save the women and children in the life bhrtts. They were placed In the Urst boat tb leave the ship which Captain Lawrence, a Yukon pilot, volunteered to command and which was manned by deck bands. The frail craft yent down within sight of the Claim and a second life boat filled with male passengers and in command of Second Officer Ourrin' was probably iost a few minutes later. Aboard the" Claim watchers'saw waved, sweep passengers from their hold on tho-scats and hurl them into tho waters. Though the lifeboat was righted later, diligent search' has failed to-find a trace of her. More passengers and members of thc crew were lost when a third life boat was swamped in an attempt to ISunch it. . Throe passengers were picked up by the steamer Habata who had fastened life' prtjSerVsrfc aro?nd their bodies. They had died from exposure and their bodies were brought to Seattle Saturday. The Claim was a stan neb new pas senger boat on tue Seattle-Victoria run. She left Poro Townsend for Vic toria Friday noon, facing a terrific gale. When In sight of her destina tion a huge sea overwhelmed the lit tle steamer smashing in her dead Ugh,ts, flooding her hold with water, extinguishing the fires beneath her boiler and' placing her at the merGy of a howling gale. Efforts to save the vessel being futile, the safety of the passengers, particularly- the women and children, was looked after and all who desired were put off from the steamer In the ship's boats. The headily laden boats were thrown about mildly in the choppy sea and tine aitervitnother, after succeeding In gett'ng '.'vay from, the vessel, they were el? ^swamped or capsized. The ? w . that riot . woman nor Ichilo. of ab those aboard have lived lo tell the tale. An apparent discrepancy iitnurabers from the list of .fatalities following is accountable by tfafoy"'*i% that only such children as paid hal?'' fare were enrolled in the passenger list. . In the meantiriie word had come from Vlotoiia of the vessel's predica ment and i fleet of powerful tugs were dispatched from Seatle to render assistance. The Richard Ilolicke, in command pf Captain Robert Hall, was the flrst to reach the Claim which had by this time careened partly over from their.rush of water which had put the engines out of commission. The Holyoke reached the Clalm about ll o'clock Saturday night and about 1 a. m., succeeded in getting a hawser aboard with which she started to tow the Claim to safety. The Claim took a heavy lurch and those remahir lng aboard were compelled to climb up the side to safety,. Anally reaching the roof of the pilot house. Without a moment's hesitation, the life boats were lowered and the work of rescue commenced. At this point the tug Sea Lion, Captain Hunter, arrived and her men rendered valuable assistance. Before all the struggling people had been taken off, the Claim commenced to break up and soon af terward went down. ' All possible assistance to the rescued people was given by the two ship masters and their crews and the two tugs hurried to Tort Townsend. The passengers surviving-and the remainder of the! crew;then took pasage on the Dirige, bound-for Seattle. PhyslcinnH-Wanted. The United States civil service commission announces that nri exam ination : will beheld in Spartanburg January 27-18 to fill vacancies In the position of physician in thc Philip pine service at salaries ranging from $1,200 to $'1800 per annum.- Age limit ijo to' -10' years. Persons who wish to stand the examination should ap ply tb the secretary of the local board of examiners for application blanks, whicli should be properly filled out and forwarderf'to the Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C. IOnfbi'ciiifr the Law, The Columbia State says "the un lawful dealers in liquor in Columbia probably realize by this time that their remarkable activity in the last municipal campaign has not had the desired effect-through no fault of their, friends, perhaps. The decent people of Columbia are oprosed lo the violation of any laws, and the dispen sary constables seem to bo working under men who have not permitted themselves to be bought. There has certain! v been :i remarkable change. * A Fatal Accident. A fatal accident occurred on Tues day of last week at Klngstrce. As a train was moving off from the station D. H. Parrott, of Cade's attempted to get aboard. It had been snowing heavily "all the afternoon, and lt ls supposed he missed his footing and fell between the cars, tho wheels pas sing over his body and Inflicting In juries from which he died in a few moments. No blame is attached to tho railroad. New Cofton Milln. During 1003 announced additions to southern cotton mills amounted to 817,820 spindles and 1(1,313 looms, re presenting ah investment of about $10,000,000. This is a pretty good showing for tho South. BURAL MAIL ROUTE 7. Some Interesting Figures About the Service in This St mo. , According to a special dispatch to the Greenville News from Washing ton there are 284 rural free delivery routes doing'business In the State of South Carolina. On ah average' they deliver mail tb 600 people each. It will be seen from this that about 175,roo people ?et the benefit of rural free delivery in the State. It costs just about 8600 a year to operate one of these routes, and Uncle Sam Ls, therefore, paying into the State of South Carolina alone the tidy-little sum of 9176,000 a year for a.service that is entirely for the benefit of the people. " The average route ls about 23 miles long, so that the rural car riers ot South Carolina travel in the neighborhood of 0,600 miles every day. Each route covers about eighteen square miles of territory, so that the free delivery system of South Carolina covers over 6,000 square miles br ter ritory. The people of the State have asked for 713 routes In dil. Of these 284 have been granted and 283 have been rejected. The other 146 are still pending. It will bo observed..from these figures that the people are get ting just about half as many routes as they are asking for. At the same ratio, when all the petitions have been acted upon, there will be 357 routes and as many carriers in the State. Tho figures of tho department show many Interesting things in connection with rural free delivery In South Car-" ol i na. In the first place they show that freo delivery seems to bethe uni versal desire in some districts while io others It seems to enjoy little popu larity. The Third District, represented by Wyatt Aiken, is the banner district in the State in the number of rural routes. There are now in operation within its borders. 82 rural routes. There arc also 21 petitions still pend ing and awaiting investigation by the department. The department has re fused to grant 52 routes asked for in the district. It will be seen from this that the people of that district have asked for 157 routes all told and have gotten 82, more in proportion than the State at large. The Fourth District comes second in regard to the number of routes es tablished. This is the district rep resented by Mr. Johnson. There arc GO routes in operation in the district. There are 33 petitions still pending, and there have. been 64 rejections. There have been more applications rejected in this district . than "from ?nv." or.hor.. ii\. t.hn?Rt.o*e. lu \ toe, - - - - . * - y .or 157 routes, exactly i__ num ber asked for by the people of the Third District, but they have not got '.p.n^ajrmUch ia proportion by a good iCal as the people of the third. The constituents of Mr Legar? have asked for 58 routes. They have received 10, 35 of their petitions have been turned down, and JT3 are a waft ing action. The most of these reject ed were petitioned for under the pre decessor of Mr. Legare. . Repere8eutatlve Croft has secured 18 routes for his consltuents, has 21 petitions pending, and has had 24 petitions rejected. Ho has foward?d to the department 63 petitions. The Fifth District, represented by Mr. Flnly, has 44 routes in ooeration. There are 31 petitions still pending and 31 have been rejected, making in all 10(3 routes that have been asked for by thc people of that district. In Mr. Scarborough's district there are 30 routes in operations, 5 peti tions are awaiting action, 33. have been rejected; In all, 69 routes asked for. Mr. Lever has 40 routes In opera tion in bis district, 21 petitions pend ing investigation, and there have been 44 rejections, making 150 peti tions submitted from" that district.^-?>' 1 i -i ...? They Don't Agree The Spartanburg Herald says: "There seems to be a slight differ ence of opinion or discrepancy of in formation between the esteemcd'Gaff ney Ledger and the likewise esteem-: ed Gaffney News about the small-pox situation in Gaffney. The Ledger aforesaid, answering a correspondent from Gaffney in the News and Cou rier, says that there ls no small-pox in Gaffney to amount to anything and that the statement to that effect was sensational and misleading. Whereupon the News contributes up wards of a column to the hilarity- pf the occasion, claiming that there are all kinds of smallpox In Gaffney, bed ridden, sltting-about- the- house and perambulating, the latter appearing to be the most objectionable. The public 1B invited to take its choice of these views of the situation." Hobbed of Huge Sum. Chicago must be an awfully wicked place. With persons busy in unices all about him. David? Freedman, a jeweler with ofllceson the sixteenth story of thc Masonic Templo building, was held up by two men Wednesday and robbed of 94,300 in currency, dia monds and watches. A dagger wes pointed at Freedman's heart and'.'he was threatened with instant death, he says, and forced to go down on his knees and open his safe. Tue men forced their victim to open his safe as well as the show cases containing the jewelry. Ho was then locked In a small closet used as a lavatory. No ono saw the marauders, their quick intimidation of the jeweler being fol lowed instantly by drawing down tue curtain covering the largo window looking out of the Masonic Temple rotunda._ Miss Cleveland Demi. Ruth, the eldest daughter of Ex president Cleveland, died suddenly at their home at Princetown Thursday muming. Mrs. Cleveland, whu hun been In poor health, ls prostrated by the ^bereavement of the death of hei daughter and her friends are alarmed, Her daughter's illness was nol thought to bo serious. She was about 17 years old. Mr. Cleveland Issuer] this statement: "After a brief ill ness of tonsilitis, diptherla developed Thursday and Ruth died early Fri day morning." \ . - ,' .r" ? V ^-i MHB 1 -_*f?''."? SOME STARTLING: FIGURES. li}-nchin??, Suiciden, Homicides and Defalcations Last Year. Tho lynchings reported for 1902 showed a. -decrease of twenty-nine as compared wi t b those of 1901, but the last year they have increased - again, the list stand J; IR 104 for 1903, as com pared with ninety-six in 1902. Of these lynchings, twelve occurred in the North and ninety-two in the South. .Of the victims, eighty-six were negroes, seventeen whites, and one Chinaman. One woman was lynch ed in Mississippi and one in Louis iana. The number of legal executions in 1903 was 123, as compared with 144 In 1902, 118 In 1901, and ,119 in 1900; There were seventy-seven persons hanged in thc South and forty-six in the North. Sixty-three were whites and sixty blacks. i Suicides are steadily increasing in the United States and the value of human lile steadily cheapens. The suicides of one year closely resemble those of another year in causes and methods. No speolal feature stands out conspicuously except the ease with which' the victims can obtain poison from the druggists. Poisoning Is the most common method of committing suicide, and carbolic acid ls the most common poison in use. The total number of cases reporten during the year is 8,597-5,305 med and 3,212 women-as compared with 8,291 In 1902. How steadily suicides Increase annually Is shown by the fol lowing figures: In 1899 t.iere were 5,340 cases; in 1900, 0,755; in 1901, 7,245; in 1902, 8,291, Physicians, as usual, head th? list among profes sional men, the record standing. Phy sicians, 35; minister.'), 5; lawyers, 4;. artlBts, 4; college professors, 2; actors, 1; bank o tl leia ls 12. t The record ol' embezzling, forgery, defaulting and bank-wrecking for 1903 shows a slight decrease, being ?6,502,105, as compared with $0,709 - 125 last year, The losses are distri buted as follows: Stolen by public bfllcials, ?015,170; from banks, $1,689, 752; by agents. $1,712,912: forgeries, $218,817; from loan associations, $188 288; by postal employees, $17,967; miscellaueous stcaliLgs, $2,174,153; The number or .homicides In 1903 shows a small increase, being 8,976 as compared with 8,834 io 1902, and 7, 852 in 1901. There was an increase In the number of murders by burglars, thieves and hold-up men. THE SVORY OF THE ARK. Questions llave Arisen as to Authen ticity of Voya/te. :. As-" tho case of the story of Jonah jiind bis brief but intimateacquain ) boatrtxi?"i.rk.. \V^^tvo^^\e^'SoS^ I struct a vessel having the reputed ca pacity- ot. tljtv *?.?i?:.c, ?S5sa.tt? What were its.dimensions anyway? Tuts*, questions ' baye buzzed In the head of m'ore'"th?n one "old subscriber" and .''constant reader." - The editor of the Syren- aud Shipping bas undertaken to answer these questions and allay for airtime any doubts as to whether the writer of t he story of the deluge was ignorant of the subject of ship building., "Within tbe last ten years," he says i'the general dimensions of .the .ark have"been closely followed by cargo steamship builders for deep sea and the Ameircan Great Lakes ser vice. According to the bible, the ark waa 480 feet long, 80 feet wide and 48 feet deep. -Her tonnage was 11,413, and''she had plentyof room for pairs of all the distinct species of animals that are classed hy buffon-244-and she could have accommodated 1,000 pensons and then have plenty of room f^r .the storage of supplies. In the aeventeeth century Peter Jansen,' a Hollander, built a vessel of the exact proportions of the ark, and she was successful, as records of the times show, In making money'for her own ers. * Noah; the "Father of Naval Ar chitecture," is- held lin 'profound re spect, by naval architects of today, who . know-: h.ow; Immeasurably the Phoenicians, Qreeks,and.Romans and all other shipbuilders fell short of the excellence..-of inp-.'type of the' ark as a commodious, safe and economical vessel." '.. Kn force All Laws. Theley?? 'an?'CQ?rier thinks there would be moro legal'tlarigings or few er murders In South Carolina If the machinery of' the law were as ener getically worked against murders as it is against dealers in illicit whiskey. VUndoubtedly, "says the State In re ply, "and by every proper means let tim decent citizens strive to have that done; let the pulpit and the press awaken others to their obligations to civilize society. Hut we cannot do that by condoning or excusing any infrac tion of law; we cannot sympathize with blind tigers who are hunted down because murderers are uot punished. It lsTdlfhcultr to redeem a community from a lawless state; lt cannot be done ; in a day or a month. Public sentiment, must t>e educated, and it is educating public sentim?nt iii the right direc tion when any law-particularly one that has been openly and generally violated-ls enforced." Now let Char leston act on the good advice given 1 her by the State, arid enforce the dis pensary and all other laws both In the 1 State and city courts._ * Held Him Up. A special dispatch to The State says .' Wednesday night about eight I o'clock two masked men walked Into J. S. Dickson's store near Society Hill ahd at the point of a gun made him ? unlock his safe and hand over the con tents, something over $200. Blood I hounds have been telephoned for and . a crowd ls preparing to hunt tho rob bers. Dickson.is a respectable colored mau and runs a large farm three miles from town. } i*-',_M* X Prolific Kuinlly. i Slxt>y-two years ago a. man named ' Jones moved from Kentucky to Dado : county, Miasourt, taking with him his ,. family of ten children. At a reunion j recently held at Everton, 1,910 of his J descendants wore present, and there I were a fow who weie unable to at . tend. Almost all of his descendants I have married and settled in the same - neighborhood in' southeastern Mis souri. . ' ?IN ICY SE ?I The Crew of a Vessel Was Lashed to The Maet FOR TWENTY-SIX LONG HOURS. They Fight fbr MVo on tho'Water LiOfTjred Boat AH Christmas lOve and Part' of tho Next Day. Lashed to the mast of a water-, logged vessel, with Icy waves break ing over them and a deck load of heavy timber threatening each moment to, shift and sweep .them Into tt,a .sea^ Captain O. S. Edwards and .'th* vrew of the coasting vessel' Ira Bliss held manfully to life for twenty-six hours, when they were rescued by the French bark Quevilly. For a weary month's trip to Dieppe, France, their hardships continued. They returned to Now York, as pas sengers upon the American Line steamship St. Louis last week. Sailing, from Norfolk for New York November 22, the Ira Bliss two days later met strong southwest winds aud heavy seas.- The jibsall was carried away and the waves swept over tho decks. The gale increased, now from the northwest. The vessel was sefc tiing, with eight feet of water in the hold, gaining slowly, despite efforts at the pumps. The vessel was' soon un manageable. Captain Edwards and Mate George E. Post lashed ,themselves to tim deck house, " In ' the lee of the mainmast. Waves continually broke over thorn. Tho three negroes comprising the crew,.prayi?ig-'ah? moaning, oiung\ to^.-1-'"^ wheel house, where"?1i6*r^?1rrasll6?.'. ? A big wave wrenched away the boat and one of the negroes with it. Tho captain and mate at the risk of their lives drew the negro back with a lino he had caught. Then all came to the deck house. 'That night I shall never forget, ' ' said Captain Edwards. S 'Benumbed v with cold and assailed / with the pangs 0$ hunger and thirst. " \ said Captain Edw?rds^"we. heard thc deck load starting and'ievx^oeterl-i?acTt-^c^ minute would be our last. "Groping about In the water, we found some sweet potatoes adrift. Nothing ever tasted so good. "With our few dry matches we lighted a dry cotton sheet, and through the night kept strips of the sheet lighted to attract attention. Two steamships were sighted, but they did not stop. Morning found us lashed to the maingaff, the cabin house rockiug under us, and the ne groes crying and praying. ' ''Hallcujuh! halleujahl" suddenly .wi T5ark .vTfolfr?sc..... "The bark had a cargo of petroleum and was heavily battered by the sea. Because of the petroleum we could not get a ViBvMy legs and side were frozen and the reu^.vf mv men were in bad shape. Rescue had unk ?y i. i sened the degree of our misery. r~"^ "Later the storm abated and fires were "lighted in the ship's stoves. Arriving in France we were sent to Cherbourg and shipped home on the St. Louis." NEGROES TO GET MAIL. Congressman Lievor Wants Thom toi? Re?oive Beneilt of Rural Bojlvery. A special dispatch from Washing ton to the Greenville News says until very recently the Post Olllce Depart ment bas ruled that the negroes of South Carolina were not to be con sidered os worthy of notice in the establishment of rural free delivery routes. That they ere now counted in this matter is due to the efforts of Representative Lever. In every locality where rural free delivery was applied for, the inspectors, acting . under orders fiom the Post Olllce De partment, would make an adverse-re port where there was not a certain number of white people, say about 75 per cent of tho whole population. Now, in the lower part of South Car olina there are some black belts, and the representatives from those dis tricts could get nothing but adverse reports on routes applied for in those belts. So Mr. Lever concluded to make a special trip to Washington and talk the matter over with Fourth Assistant Pastmaster General Bristow. When he got there Mi. Bristow was disposed to laughat him for bis pains, but in unmistakable terms Mr. Lever reminded tho postal official that he and his party had held up their hands in holy horror at the suffrage laws of South Carolina, and that ii they per sisted in not allowing the negro free delivery the country would bercmlndr ed that the Republicans could force thc negro down the South's throat, but would not accord him the privi lege of other citizens when lt came to getting mall; that they seemed to think the colored man flt to vote tut not to receive his practical service from the government. Mr. Bristow was too smart not to see the loglo of the position of the South Carolinian, and not to realize that his party would not look well in such a light, so now matters are being handled otherwise in South Carolina. . I m Bud for a Preacher. At Winchester, Tenn., Rev. B. A. Cherry has been found guilty of sub ornation of perjury and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Ho was charged with an attempt. r,o collect In surance for furniture alleged to have been burned but which ho really never possessed. He brought his brother Into the case under an assumed name and induced him to make a false affidavit and for this he was indicted. 3 -. Forty-three Victims. Forty-three persons have been killed, by t ho oxplosipn of the botlers on tho British cruiser Wallaroo. The Wal laroo ii a third class cruiser of 2,575 tons displacement used in the Aus tralian service. She was formerly named tho Persian. The Wallaroo, which was proceeding to Hobart, sig nalled Montagu Island, 230 miles south Of Sydney, reporting the disaster but giving no detalla.