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VOL.C. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARYXX,19 FLOOD RISING in - Pans, Bat k d the Wefst Has Beew Passed. FRAC ASKS CREDT More Than a Hundred Thousand Eefugees Being Cared for by the Govermeint and the unber i* 9elng Increased by the Hundreds Every Hour of the Day. The flood at Paris. France. con tinues. A dispatch from that city on Thursday night says another day has passed. but the inexorable tide still creeps slowly higher, each inch of water widely extendiag the area of destruction. desolation and ruin. Although the barometer Is rising rapidly. and bright Snsae Thurs day succeeded the raging storms, a Ieelng of conssernation. bordering on panic. prevailed when the authori ties, who the day before promised the marimum of the food for Thurs day. announced that this would not be reach untl Friday morning. The city counsel at a stormy ses sion Thursday night charged M. Lep Ine, prefect of Paris. with withhold ing the true gravity of the situa tion. The prefect defended his at tidade by saying that he was govern ed by the necessity of not undbly alarming the people. In the .meantime what Is happen Ing is enough to strike terror to the hearts of all. The very crust ot the city seems ready to sink into the iooded subterranean labyrinth be nesth. Every hour drains are burst Ing in new localities., causing a sub sidence of the street or - bulgng them up feet above their normal level, while the overflow of surfad water. from the river is transform fog the inundated districts Into for midable lakes and the streets inz. canals. In ths Bercy quarter the wace- is six feet deep in the streets. and t he entire left bank of the Sein from above the Islands to Au TeuUl. cors prising the law court institute. the fashionable St. Germaine district. the foreign -office, the chamber of deputies, and the Champs do Mars i submerged under from one to 10 ,feet of water. Some of the 4eputies left the Palace Bourbon Thursdw night in row boats, others o2 the backs' of attendants, the wails of the Inaulides station are cru z and both that strocture and the wins of the foreign office opposite 'are danger of collapse. The streas sur rounding the St. Laare station have - sunk three feet. and the altuaLon there is regarded as desperata. It ia also teared that the founoation of the two big neighboring depart ment stores are being undermiae. The overflow of the broken sewers Into the flooded basements. menac ing the health of the occupanta a~sd the smell of sewage is already per mesting the buildings. Soldiers ar' working desperately by the aid of torehes, disentangling drift-wood above the Solferino and Henry IV bides, while large forces of men are still engaged In building dams to divert the course of the water. There was a further shut-down of electric light plants Thursday night. leaving the city in seiu-akness. The relief Is proceeding bravely, none being refused food or shelter. Arch bishop 'Amiette has ordered prayers in the churches and a conlection tak en up for the victims. In spite of the crippled water sup ply the authorities gay that the re servirs are Intact and that there is no danger of a famine If the wa ter is husbanded carefully and .con fned strictly to drinking purpose.. At the same time a warnin is again Issued that the water should be boil ed The situation below Paris is be coming appreciably worse. The stretch' of water which engulf Bo2lone, Neuill. Punteaux. Severe. Masos-afttte. Lepocq. and Poissy. is widening rapidly while farther be low the swollen Olse is pouring in new torrents over the Pontoise see tion. The weather everywhere through out France has ameliorated and It I beleved that the worst of the fioo' Is past. No Americans are reporte Injured. The artists and student' for the most part live in the Latin quarter, which -Is on high ground. and the richer Americans generally reside In the neighborhood of the Rue de L'Etolle, the highest portlir of the city. The boulevard life of the gay Par islan has been suddenly silencedC Most of the music halls remain opon but they are deserted. A hushe-' multitude sits in front of the boule vard cafes. At a special meeting a few night ago the board of health drew up In structions for the prevention of an epidemie. The board especianIy In slts that none of the flooded house. must be re-occupied until they hav*~ been thoroughly disinfected, and the bedding and clothing, which have been contaminated by flood water. burned. The board announced that there were 304.000 cubic meters in the reservoIrs. enough for several days and therefore there was little fear of a water famine. All omnibuses, .treet cars and other heavy traffic on the bridges were stopped Thursday night. PFre 'jier Bryand declared that persons who boarded up provisions in the affeced places with the Intention of reselling them at a profit, would be drastically dealth with. The residence of United States Ambassador Bacon has become un tenable and the family has removed to the Mercedes hotel. Th Bed Cross society, which has SHOT BY CAR-BREAKERl' HIS OWN PISTOL THE WEAPON USED ON HIM. Desperate Struggle Against Heavy Odds-Special Officer of Southern Railway at Columbia. A dispatch from Columbia says Special Oficer S. H. Boyer. employ ed by the Southern railway there. was shot and seriously wounded a few nights ago at the Royster yards. some two miles below the city, while attempting to arrest two negroes who had broken into a box car. At the Columbia hospital it was said that he could hardly recover. Mr. Boyer was on duty at the Roy ston freight yards, when he discov ered two negroes taking a quantity of goods from a freight car on a siding. He advanced closely on the thieves before he made any attempt to protect himself in case the ne groes attacked him, and did not have time to draw his pistol when the negroes discovered him and over powered him. In the struggle that ensued one of the negroes. wrench ed Mr. Boyer's pistol from his hand &ad shot him. the&ball entering his shoulder and coursing downward and lodging In his body. Bloodhounds were secured from the penitentiary and placed on the trail of the thieves. An unveri led report to police headquarters later said that one of the negroes had been captured but had escaped again. Mr. Boyer is well knevn in Colum bia. at one time being a member of the police force. He resigned some ten years ago and has been In the employ of the railroad since. He lives with his family at 2018 Gads den street. DOCTOR GAVE MAN POISON. He Was Asked by the Patient to . aamns Deady Drug. A dispatch from Budapest, Hun Pria. saya a senw*lonal murder harge. Involving the ever intricate roblem as to the right of a doctor to kill an Incurable patient, Is ab sorbIng public attention there. The accused man is Dr. Joseph ekete of Rosinjo. Hungary. He dmits having given poison to a pa dent at the latter's request. The victim has endured appalling ufering fos ten years, and, his alady being without remedy and Probably likely to entail many more Fears of torture, the doctor admin stered poison wth the full consent )f the family, who were assembled Lt the bedside. A nursemaid had been listening, tt the door, and on her evidence Dr. ~'ekete found himself charged with e capital offense. The case is without precedent in b courts there, but with public pIon wholly In favor of the pris Der It is not likely that he will be severely punished. LETNGTON MAN'S CLOSE CALL. bunty Scbool Superintemdent Mar tin Come Near Losing Life. County Superintendent of Edu cation A. D. Martin of Lexington. came very near losing his life a few days ago. while attempting to ross Wateree creek in the Dutch Pork. Mr. Martin was on his way ~rom Chapin to Spring Hill, and was not aware of the depth of the creek hich was considerably swollen by the heavy rains of a few days ago. ad before he had gone very fa Into the stream the current carried the horse and buggy down, and Mr. artin had to swim to the shore. He rushed to a house nearby and told of his experience, and two young men went to the creek to save the horse. The horse and buggy were found some distance down the stream, and by heroic work the ani mal was cut loose from the buggy and brought to the bank in safety. The buggy was a complete wreck. and Mr. Martin -went to Lexington horseback. arriving there about 6:30. This is said to be a very treacherous tream, others having had similar ,xperences. The heaviest rain of the season 'eli in Lexington Friday morning. rcompaned by lightning, and re -'rts form all over the county in lcate that the streams are rising.* Many Unslved Murders. Thirty-seven unsolved murders in twelv, months was the record of ew York for 1909. Seven more have been added in the first three weeks of the new year, according toI a report just Issued by the police lepartent received a substantial check from Ambassador Bacon. established soup kitchena for the destitute at a hun Ired points. Thursday afternoon Mr. Bacon called upon Fereign Minister Pnchon and Informally tendered the sympathy of the Aemirican govern ment and people. J. Pierpont Morgan has cabled from New York tendering $20.000 if outside contributions to their relief would be accepted. The foundations of the National Porcelain factory at Saveres are sinking. Thursday Paris resembled a be lagured city. The government of Ithe municipality has placed the mili tary barracks and pubhlic school buid Ings at the disposition of the refugees who already number, it is estimated. more than 103).000. Fifteen thou sand laborers of the city are out of work, and though subscriptions are pouring in, the government has ieclded to ask parliament for an additional credit to, be used in relief work. Every minute Thursday brought a ntale of disaster. ACCUSED OF LOBBYING RE1"RESENTATIVE WICKERSHAM SAYS MAJOR RICHARDSON Threatened Him for Accusing Him of Lobbying for Special Interests and for a $7,500 Job. Scrambling at Washington for ad vantages in matters of Alaskan leg islation has culminated in a demand by Delegate James Wickersham that Secretary of War Dickinson to order out of Washington. back to Alaska or to military duty. Major W. P. Richardson. chairman of the Alas ka Road Commission. whom he charges with exerting too much in fluence upon congressional commit tees. While the Alaskan legislative council bill was before the senate committee on territories. Delegate Wickersham charged that Major Richardson was in Washington claiming to be the adviser of the administration on all matters relat ing to Alaska; that he was in fact lobbying in behalf of special inter ests, mentioning among others the Guggenheim interests. and endeav >ring to perpetuate himself as chair man of the road commission and at the same time legislate himself in to the office of Commissioner of the Interior, an oMce created by the Alaskan legislative council bill, at a salary of $7,500 a year. In his letter to the secretary of war, Mr. Wickersham says that he was met by Major Richardson as he :ame from the committee room and In an angry tone threatened by the LrMy offcer for what he had said to he committee. Speaking of this en unter Mr. Wickersham says: "He said that only his position s an officer In the army and my position as a delegate in congress protected me. I shall perform my luty as a delegate from Alaska with >ut fear of assault from Major Rich irdson. but I most earnestly protest against being threatened in the capi :ol by an officer in the army for taring to perform such duty. "It is bad enough to have him obbying around the corridors in an ifort to fmpose himself as a part f a military legislature upon a elpless and law-abiding American cmmunity In time of peace. to in re-ise his own salary and evade his luties in the army. without having im threatening the representative f those people for perfomring his ongressIonal duties. and I protest gainst his violence and insolence." WHITE LIGHTS GOT HIM. miam Filgate. of Savan=h, Begs New York Judge to Shoot Him. Police Magistrate Breen. of New Mork city, was considerably surprl* d a few days ago when a well dress d person on being arraigned, asked hat he be either shot or thrown the river. The prisoner said he as William Fllgate, of Savannah. a., who went to New York four oths ago with $1.100 in cash and was arrested before daylight that lay for begging on the streets. "Its absinthe and wrhiskey," said he young man; "I came up here to nake my fortune. but I tarried around the white lights too long d I went down pretty quick. I ad $3S left yesterday morning: 1 tad a good time and last night I as broke and had no place to sleep. asked a man for a Quarter, and when he called me a beggar I struck im. Judge. I don't want to go to 'ail. I'd rather have you shoot me )r throw me Into the river." Further examination of the young an was postponed until later so hat his identity might be verified. HAIR BALL IN HER STOMACH it Served There as a Sort of Pin and Needle Cushion. Surgeons operating on a woman atient at the St. Lawrence State Kospital for the Insane at Ogdens urg a few days ago took from her stomach a ball cf hair weighing 3 1-4 pounds. It had to be cut into three pieces to be taken out. Many pins and needles were found imbed ded in the mass. The doctors thought the woman had a tumor. It is supposed she was in the habit of pulling hair fron: the mattress of her bed and swallow ing It. Dealt Blow With Axe. A dispatch from Winston-Salem, . C., says news reached there a few lays ago of a probably fatal fight near Vade Mecum Springs. Stokes county, in which, ft is alleged. Will N.n crushed Robert Cook's skull with an axe. The story goes that both men struggled for possession of the weap~on and finally Niten got it and ended the battle. Dr. R~ H. Mooreield, who attended Cook, ..'ys his recovery is doubtftul. Niten is said to have escaped. The men fought over an old grudge. The Smallest Man. A message from Putnam. Conn.. sas Reuben Steere. whom Barnum. the circus magnate, called the small est man In the world, is dying of pneumonia at his home near there. He is now seventy-two years old. Steere weights fifty-five pounds. and is forty-seven inches tall. He mar ried Miss Annie Myer, another Lill putian, In !887. Had a Great Time. The legislature took Wednesday off to make a trip to the Citadel. t'e special carrying over 40 mem hers of the legislature, members of their families and friends, leaving ov-r the Coast Line early Wednes day morning. Then on Friday they we..... to Clemuon. BIG SWINDLE Iasurance Policies Secured on Men Vir tually in Grave THEIR WORK EXPOSED Men of Athletic Butild Were Ex amined in Lien of Real Ap plications-Insurane People Have Trouble on Their Hands That is INmzzling. "I believe this investigation now under way will unearth the biggest swindle in the insurance life ever exposed west of New York." said State Insurance Commissioner Bell, of Kentucky, a few days ago as he took up the case of Walter S. Rider, a teamster, at Louisville. Ky., who died January 4. and whose body was exhumed by the coroner on the re quest of certain Insurance compa nies. The death certificate Indicat ed that Rider died of intestinal trouble, but is is reported that the autopsy showed a large portion of the lung eaten away, supposedly by tuberculosis. Commissioner Bell has taken up the case upon the request of certain life Insurance companies in Indiana and Tennessee. who are saad to be large losers by reason of the "grave yard" swindle. These companies. which it is alleged have already paid $10,000 on policies issued in the Rider case, are excluded :rom busi ness in Kentucky, yet it is said have carried on a large business in Ken tucky through an agency at New Albany, Ind.. across the river from Louisville. The scheme worked on the companies is to a certaia extent an old one, the company issuing the policy to men virtually in the shad ow of the grave, after having ex mined a man of athletic build who was represented as the applicant. Local insurance men refuse to say anything regarding the matter, for the reason that they wish to re cover policies now outstanding with the "dummies" involved in the swin dle. Rider. it is alleged, carried insur a.nce aggregating $16.000. but none f his relatives is named as bene iciary. Mrs. Mary Quill, sister, and James R. Rider. brother, made affi iavits several days ago to the effect that they believed their brother came to his death by poisoning a'-ii that he was a victim of fou! play. rhe family communicated with the Independent Life Insurance Company f Nashville, Tenn., and the matter was taken up in Louisville later by a representative of that company nd three Indiana companies. Up n these representations Acting Cor ner Dacher ordered the body ex umed and the autopsy held in the resence of several physicians. fter discovering the lesion in the ung, the stomach was turned over o the chemists for analysis. Rider as a teamster and received $10 per eek. DYNAMIITE KILLS ONE. ~xplosion in North Carolina Court House Fatal. By the accidental discharge of a stick of dynamite in the county court ouse at Bryson City. N. C., Thurs ay night, Omar ConLey was 'in stantly killed, Barrett Banks lost both eyes and was otherwise injur d, and Lee Francis, registrar of .leeds. of Swain county, was fatally injured. Conley and Banks were thawing ynamite on the radiator of the reg istrar's office in preparation for a, fishing trip. One of the sticks of; ynamite. it is said, fell to the floor and exploded with such force as to hatter the doors and windows of the office and seriously damaging the entire west end of the court ouse. Many valuable county records and legal papers were destroyed. Reg istrar Francis was working at his 'Iesk when the explosion occurred. Late advices state that he and Banks have little chance -for recovery. DOUBLE INIQUITY. Counterfeiters and White IDave Traffickers. Secret service men are working n a case of counterfeiting in Eliza beth, N. J., which was disclosed by the police In a raid upon an allegedi disorderly house. The place ha.l ben under suspicion for some time and when Chief of Police Tenney and his men broke through th'e doo they were surprised to discover a complete counterfeiting plant and other essentials for the coining of spurious coins. More than ilO half dollars were confiscated. Locked in an upper room two young women were found. They declared they had been brought from New York !ar immoral purposes. PasqL'ele Lebano and two companions were placed un der arrest. They were the keepers of the resort. The Call for Help. A&n appeal to America to aid the sufferers from the French floods has been sent to New York by the muni cipality of Paris. The appeal is as follows: "We are doing all we can for the homeless and destitute. ThA firemen and Red Cross are working like heroes. but we need help. The suffering in Paris is terrible. We would ask that America help us with money to buIld shelters for our home less and to provide provisions and clothing. We also need bread and WICKED TRUSTS Responsible for Living Being So 1-C Higher Than Was THE PEOPLE FLEECED D~r. A. Selwyn-Brown, Wall Street Expert, Shows That Hugh Monopo lies Have Piled Up Surplus Boost ing the Cost of Necessaries to the Injnry of the Public. One of the most remarkable fea tures in the last year's commercial transactions was the pronounced in crease in the prices of commodities. Each month reports and statistical tables are published to show the av erage price cnanges during the month, says Dr. Arthur Selwyn Brown, in the Atlanta Journal. Bradstreets' tables show that since 1S96 prices of all commodities have increased over 62 per cent. The American price index number for January 1. 1910. Is the highest ever recorded. It surpassee the previous high record-that published en March 1. 1907-by 11 per ceat. January's index ne;;ber is 11.7 per cent higher than the number for January 1. 1909. These price change Indicators con lusiv-y show that the prices of both raw and manufactured articles in the United States have increased 61 per cent since 1S96. and that prices are at this moment higher 1ll around than they have ever been before. As a result of this it costs is 61 per cent more to live today han it did in 1S96, and prospects &re that prices during 1910 will ad ance even more rapidly tha-n they lid during the past three years. The worst feature of this question s that wages and salaries do not Ldvance at the same rate as prices nd living costs. Statistics show hat wages in skilled trades In the =stern states have advanced only 5 per cent in the last ten years. In he same period the wages of un killed laborers, who are not as ;sted in obtaining advances in pay y labor unions have, !n many In itances, Increased less than -IS per ent. Salaries of many men and women loing light work, and of most peo )!e who are employed in offices, have ot increased at all In the past ten ~ears. What has caused this unsatis actory state of things? The explanation for the increase n prices is probably that no single actor like gold production is respon hible. ' nere are a large number of ircumstances contributing to the ad ances. It would appear that the provemIent In education, and inven Ions, better methods of transporta Ion, more skillful banking, wider peculation, the large Increase in ex hanges dealing with raw material', nd more than anything else. prt. bly, the growing tendency of the ;reat trusts to advance the costs of he raw materials and goods which ;hey control are important factors. No country in the world is so argely in the hands .of trusts and )ther combinations of producers. anufacturers and transportation orporations as the United States. and in no other counrtry in the world iave prices and the cost of living ad .anced so much as in America. Trusts control the products of the rarms, the mines, the mills, the ~ulbic utilities of the large cities. he banks, the shipping companies nd railroads. Thtey, to a large ex :ent, work in unison with each oth r, and are always striving to get he last cent from the public that >atronies their business concerns. Financial reports published by some of the larger trusts plainly llustrate the truth of the old aphor sm that "It is an Ill wind that blows nobody good." While the people are suffering rrom the high prices of the neces sities of life the trusts are increas ing their operations ia all directions. nd are earning greater profits every year. Statistics relating to the busIness operations of United States Steel. Standard Oil, the tobacco, dry goods. fruit and other trusts, as well as the express and railroad corporations during the past six years. show that their accumulated surpluses have been Immense. Last year was one >f the most prosperous they expe rienced. It may be truly said that what the people have lost the trusts have gaind by the increase in commodity prices. .any causes appear to hare con tributed to the rising prices. The trusts take unfair advantage of con ditions, and by securing high tariffs. by rebating, monopolizIng of raw products. the manufacturing indur tries. the banks. retail :,tores and the transportation systems, secure unreasonable profits. By these means they impose upon the helpl-ssnes5 at the weak.* Wonderful Invention. The first line of trolleyless elec tric cars in the United States will be started at Newark. N. J., this summer. Twenty cars supplied with current from storage batteries will be operated over about eIght miles of track. If the new storage sys tem is successful there it will prob ably be adopted by the corporaitoni which controls most of the street cars in that section of New Jersey. Starting Young. Athough she is less than seven een yea:rs old. Florence Kneipp. of Newark. N. J.. is under arrest charged with bigamy. The police sa that she has admitted marriages PROVES A SUCCESS EDISON'S NEW STORAGE BAT TERY RUNS A STREET CAR. Edison Estimates That the Cost of Driving the New Car Will be One Cent a Mile. What seemed in every way a suc cessful test of a street car equipped with the new Edison storage bat tery was made on the Orange Valley & Pasaic electric railway at West Orange. N. J., recently. Thomas E. Edison himself could not witness the test, but his elec trical expert assistant. Ralph H. Beach. was on board the car with street car men from all over the country. Tho test was under th.e auspices of the public service cor poration. and T. S. Adams. master mechanic of that organization. was motorman. The car. which was specially con structed for the new batteries, L3 24 feet long and carries 30 pas seagers. One-half the weight of an ordiaary car of the same size, it rides on a single track and Is pro pelled by a straight drive. It is equipped with 210 c-' ls, arranged under the seats on both sides. o' these cells 200 are for propulsion and 10 for lighting. wtih a total force of 50 horse-power. Edison estimates that the cost of driving the new car will be one cent a mile. If the test satisfies the ex perts, the problem of cables and over head wires will be solved for city traction companies, as the new car generates its own power. Mr. Edison believes that the stor age battery will revolutionize auto mobile as well as street car traffic. 'ot electric machines only will profit by It, for the apparatus should sup plant gasoline motors as well. ENGINE STRIKES WAGON. rwo Mules Killed. Driver Hurt and Wagon Demolished. An engine on the Atlantic Coast LAne struck a ' -am of Mr. E. Albert duldrow's .. ne Mount Hope Cem 9tery crossing near Florence Thurs lay afternoon about 2 o'clock, kill Lng the two mules instantly. demol ishing the wagon completely, cut ring off the leg of the negro driver )f the team and seriously injuring witchman Wilson. The engine. which was a switcher, was carrying & carload of coal to the Jersey's Dreek pumping statior, and was running extra, with Engineer Her >ert Rowell at the throttle. The mules he.d gotten almost en clerly across the track wxen the ngine struck them. The mules were rolled along the track for about a undred yards. and were killed -.ut right. The wagon was scattered, in arts, for twice that distance, and t was a most miraculous thing that ilson, the switchman, was not In 3tantly killed, as he was sitting on he front of the engine when it itruck the mules and wagon. The negro driver and Wilson were laced aboard of the engine and hur ied back to the city for medical treatment. At this time the driver' s in a precarious condition, and it s doubtful if he will survive. NSEL SUSPENDS MAGISTRATE. . Lester Gault Confesses to Bet ting on Game of Ch~ance. Governor Ansel Friday suspende I Magistrate D. Lester Gault of Kel ton. Union county, "for betting a fe'w times on a game of chance" last Fourth of Jr.ly, in spite or splendid affdavits from leading peopie of Lnion county that Mr. Gault is 't sober and industrious mazz anad a onscientious and effcient magistr.ite and that they had never heaid of his~ ambling. Gault's own affdavit the Governor sadly discovcrs, co. fesses that "he did bet a few times., and this being a violation of the law, .he Governor decapitated him.. The affdavits in Mr. Gault's favor are from the mayor of his hom-3 town. J. W. Smith; H. C. Little. eight years a member of the legislature from Union county: J. H. Bartles. county treasurer: J. G. Long. sheriff W. W. Johnson. judge of probate. " Negro Breaks Up Court. A dispatch from Washington. Ga.. says noticing the unusual ap pearance of the face of Cy Pullard. a negro arraigned before him on a misdemeanor charge Judge William Wynne of this county asked the coun ty physician to examine him. 'Smalpox," said the physician I m mediately. Hardly had the words benCf spoken when juidge. court of ficrs, spectators. all made for doors and windows. leavin~g the negro in complee possession of the court room. An immune omcor later took him to jail whe're he is the sole prisoner. Death Hand to steal Hlii.. Death in a viole nt form was fought off four times by Joseph Ro vale. of Connersville. lad., during his 61 years of life. only to find him napping. this week, when he was found dead in i'ed. When a young man he fell on a pitchfork, each prong entering bis body. His skull was fractured in a fight and in his last accident he was run down by a train. Premier Mobbed. Following the election of PremIer Asquith, the premier was mobbed in London by militanlt suffragettes. The women in a body charged time after time in their attempts to reach the minister and there were several lively skirmishes with the police. Mr. Asquith was conveyed to a place of j.afety. COPPER TRUST FORMED 1A3ALGAIMATED COMPANY AB SORBS SMALLER ONES. New Corporation to Control Cop per Output of Country and Influ ence Market of the World. A dispatch from New York says preliminary steps were taken a few days ago to effect the long-looked for merger of the principal coppe,' producers of the country into one gigantic corporation. In Wall street another billion-dollar compa.y was frequently mentioned, but the more conservative believed final capitili zation would be closer to $500,000. 000. The Anaconda Copper Mining Com pany officially announced that at a meeting of the board of directors a few days ago it had been decided to call a special meeting of the stockholders in Anaconda. Mont., on March 23, to pass on a proposal to increase the capital stock from $30. 000,000 to $150.000.^(0. "for the purpose of acquiring the prope-".y of other companies located in the Butte district." The Amalgamated Copper Company owns 55 per cent of the Anaconda stock. Following the merger of the Butte properities. which include the Amal gamated Copper Company and Its various holdings, namely Anacon da Copper Company, Boston & Mon tana. Butte & Boston. Washington. Trenton and other subsidaries. and the North Butte and Butte coalition. it is expected that the new Anaconda with is increased capital of $150. 000.000 will merge with the Guggen heim. Haggin and other copper in terests, thus effecting a corporation which will not only control the cop per output of the United States but will influence the copper market of the world. Concerning the plan to merge the various copper properties in the Butte district, the Amalgamated Cop per Company, in a statement issued, says: "The reasons for proposed Increase in stock involve consideration of dif dcult and complicated legal ques Lions as well as those relating to the economical and efficient management f busin.-ss operations of the dicer nt companies. "Some of the operating features which have been considered in favor f the proposed transaction are eco omies which will result from work ing all the mines In accordance with i general system of development, thus relieving owners from necessity f maintaining numerous expensive surface and underground plants necessary under present conditions )f separate ownership. "The Anaconda Company. because )f Its size and its location. is re garded as the logical company to be come the purchaser of properties of the other co'mpanies, and the step taken to call a special meeting wa-I the first toward submitting the mat ter to stockholders of different com panies for their consideration." MANY WIVES DESERTED. Said to be Due to the Increased Cost of Living. At Pittsburg, Pa.. deserted wives in great numbers have appeared at the central police station within the pas' few days. asking aid in the location of their mates. On Tuesday eight weeping women told their stories and one man re versed the tale by asking the police to find his wife. A few days ago five more women appealed to the defectives and Capt. William El more is authority for the statement that a wav-e of wife desertion is sweeping over the city. About half of the disrupted coup les are childless and the other half have large families. The childless couples, after an investigation, were shown to be the better off, but couples with large families found the struggle of life was hard. Capt. Elmore believes that the increased cost of living has some thing to do with the desertions. FOUND CLASPED IN DEATH Young Couple Whose Parents Ob jected to M1arriage. Because of parental oppos~tion to marriage on account of their youth. Vernon Barr. aged 16. and Lina Amner. aged 14. killed themselves Thursday. They were found near onroe, Iowa, clasped in each other's arms, sitting upright in Barr's bug y. in which they were riding hom from a dance. On the gir!'s lap rest-d a CUp) partly filled wtih strych ni se. They both had drank of this. Their horse proceeded on his way and stopped at the gate of the girl's nome. Tukled the Wrong Woman. Rosa MUller, colored, who resides btwen Ten Mile and Charleston. h-ard! some- one in her house lae on.' night recently and she sec'ured a st gu and went to invssgate The burglar ran into the yard ani began "sassing" Rosa. who shot hin: in the calf of the leg. The thief proved to be Hienry Lawrence, a no torious negro character. He wa; captured. The wound Is not se rious. Four Killed in Wreck Four men were killed a'id three others were seriously injured Thurs day when a freight train on the Chapauqua branch of the Pennsyl vania rail . d jumped the track about a mile north of Titusrille. Pa. The dead are': William P. Pastorious. signalman. Titusville: Fred Warrend, conductor, Oil City; V. H. Hughes. brakeman. Buffalo: Mitchell Wal 1.ce frman. Bnffalo. WILL WORK THE And Paythe & ovefrmet a Big Cash Rey aly for the Prege OPENS OFFICIAL EYES A Seattle Man Shows How the Gor ernment May Make Two Million Dollars Per One Hundred Acres for Alsakan Coal lands Against $10 Per Acre Trus tWould Give. A new and somewhat sensational factor suddenly appeared Wednes day in Washington to add Intensity to the already suff!ciently excited situation over the Alaska coal lands, on the eve of the beginning of the Ballinger - Pinchot investigation. which largely concerns that ques tion. John E. Ballaine, of Seattle, said to be the largest individual property owner in Alaska, made a proposition In writing to the senate committee on territories, of which Senator Beveridge of Indiana Is chairman. offering to the government a royalty of fifty cents a ton of coal mined, for the lease of 5.000 acres of some of the choicest coal lands in Alaska, in the Katalla and Mat ansuka districts. Such a tonnage royalty would net the government, Mr. Ballaine claims, amounts as high as $2,000,000 per hundred acres. This proposal contemplates a radi cal departure from past practices in the government's disposal of the Alaska coal lands. and It comes avowedly Lo do battle with another proposition, designed to permit the sale or lease of such lands at a rate of $10 per acre. It Is said that the general features of the plan have the approval of officials high in the administration and of influential members of both houses of congress. Including some of the prominent insurgent Republicans, and delegate Wickersham. of Alaska. Mr. Balline, In his letter to Sena tor Beveridge. offers to enter into a bond of $1,000,000 with the gov ernment for the performance of his part of the agreement, which he pro poses, and he makes the charge that 'other Interests" have now at work In Washington a lobby, "Meded by a former U. S. Senator" in support of the bill referred to above, under whose provisions, he declared, the government would extend an uncon litional guarantee to a railroad or railroads which these interests pur pose to build in Alskaa, and would rirtually donate to them at $10 per acre one or more tracts of 5,000 acres each to be selected by them. Mr. Ballalne asks congress to au thorize the head of a department to be designated to enter Into a lease with a coal company to be organix ad by him, for 5,000 acres of Man taska coal land under all the pro visions for regulation and against monopolistic control of prices as stipulated in the bill recently Intro duced by Senator Nelson in con formity with recommendations of Secretary Ballinger's annual report. This coal company would pay the nited States and Alaska a royalty of 50 cents a ton for the coal as mined. Mr. Ballaine states in his proposal that veins averaging a total thickness of twenty feet would Yield, according to standard measurements, a total in excess of 100 million tons from the 5,000 acres, making a roy alty of $50.000,000 for this compar atively small aren. MUST WORK ON F AR Lexington, Ky., Woman Makes a Norel Will. A novel solution of the problem of keeping not only boys, but the girls on the farm, Is disclosed In the wil of Mrs. Arthursa Eppersou, of Lexington. Ky., which was filed in the probate court there a few days ago. The last codicil of the instru ment provides for the division of .a large estate equally among her chil diren, with the reservation ''that if any of my children marry or qu't working on the farm, or or my real estate before five years si~all hay? pired after my death, he or she shall forfeit all interest in my estate when final disposition is made except the amount of $1." Accused Himself Falsely. At Denver. Col., John Pressly Bar ret, who claimed he was wanted in Memphis, Tenn., on a murder charge. was arrested charged with passing a forged check for $15. Thursday night word was received from Mem phis that Barrett had been tried and acquitted in Memphis on the charge of killing Frank Smith. When confronted with this infor mnation Barrett admitted he told the story, hoping thereby to escape pros ecution on the charge of passing fraudulent checks. Stealing by WVholesale. Did Finicher, colored, pleade-' guilty a fe~w days ago of stealing a arload of merchandise at Creen ville last June and was sentencedi to nye years in thr penitentiary. The negro stole 40 boxes of tobacco. a tub of lard, a crate of grape juice. 12 flour sifters and other articles amounting to $500. He sold th'e goods to a merchant at the Corolln a mills. How to Lower Prices. Representative Sabath, a Demo way to lower prices on foodstucs way to ower prices on foodst uifs Is to place them on the free list for importation from foreign countries. He has introduced a bill to accom plsh this.