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r THE HATTIESBURG NE EVERY INCH A NEWSPAPER VOL. II. NO. 185 HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 2, 1908 PRICE FIVE CENTS - TWO C H ILDREN CREMATED IN BURNING HOME Jhe Residence of John Thompson Destroyed and Fire Proves Holocaust. TWO ELDER CHILDREN ESCAPE FROM HOUSE Father Wa* Away at Work in Saw Mill and Knew Nothing of the Disaster-Mother and One Child Killed in Purvis Storm. The home of John Thompson was destroyed by fire at Moselle, fourteen miles north of Hattiesburg, last night, and in the fire his two youngest child ren met their death. Four children were in the house but two of the older ones made their escape. Mr. Thompson had left the house hut a little while before the fire oc curred to go to the saw mill of the W. W. Hood Company, to look after the dry kiln. In his absence the fire broke out and before he could reach his home again his two little ones had been cremated and his home de stroyed. Returning to his Jiome from the saw mill, Mr. Thompson found it in ashes, and in frantic grief he sought his children, finding two of them finally and learning from them the terrible fate of the others. SECOND DISASTER TO FAMILY. Death in fearful and heartrending form has pursued the family of Mr. Thompson during this year. At the time of the cyclone at Purvis, his wife and oldest child wereTfllted in the uw ful disaster that overtook that little city. That disaster wrecked his home and filled him with grief and the mem ory of its frightful consequences had not been tempered with time when this second visitation of fate came upon him and his remaining family. ORIGIN OF FIRE UNKNOWN. News of the last night's holocaust was received by the News by tele phone today. It is not known how the fire originated, nor has it been learned if the children who escaped from the burning home were injured. All must have been asleep when the fire started and it is probable that there was no time for the older ones to do more than rush from the building in bare time to save their own lives. Mr, Thompson had no knowledge of the fire or that any fire had occurred near his home until he returned from the mill to make the discovery of hiB great loss. COTTON REPORT OF CENSUS BUREAU SOMEWHAT BEARISH Hearst News Service. Washington, October 2.—The census bureau report issued this morning places the amount of cotton ginned up to September 25 at 2,632,000 bales against 1 ,£69,977 hales for the same date last year and 2,057,283 in 1906 and 2,355,716 in 1905. *<••>❖•>•><• * •>**«•** <5> •> •> THE DAILY NEWS ♦ * PROGNOSTICATOR. ❖ •> •> ❖ ❖ ❖ * * * ❖ •> ❖ ❖ <• « iP i ' -At > ■ '<< <''0> Washihgton, October 2.—For Missis sippi: Fair and warmer tonight and Saturday. SORSBY IS AT LARGE Believed That the Murderer is Still Hiding Somewhere in Hinds County. RUMORS OF CAPTURE COME THICK AND FAST But All of Them Prove to Be False. is liable to take shelter are being care fully watched. night and this morning. One of them wn State and Federal Officers Link Forces and Relatives of Dead Man May Join in the Search. Daily News Special. Jackson, Miss., October 2.—3 p, m.— The concensus of opinion among those interested in the apprehension of Will Sorsby is that, he is still somewhere in Hinds County, and that he is being concealed by relatives and friends. Although vigorous search has been in progress since Wednesday morning, no definite tidings have been received as to the whereabouts of the fugitive. State and federal forces are joining hands in an effort to locate the mur derer, and secret service men. have been employed to assist in the work. All of the places where the fugitive Numerous rumors were afloat last , , , , . . . rarSOTkBV Wad BSelT seen between Jackson and Clinton, . .... .. . , ' and still another report came in this , , morning that he had been captured near Pocahontas, but they proved to be merely rumors. Relatives of the dead Inspector have thus far taken no part in the hunt for Sorsby, hut it is expected that they will join in the hunt tonight. Mr. A. E. Fitzgerald, brother of the murdered inspector, returned to his home in Vicksburg this morning, but is expected in Jackson again this eve ning. i FRISCO ROAD HAS TROUBLE Citizens Along Its Lines Petition Railroad Commission For Telegraph Stations. Jackson, Miss., October 2.—Judge J. W. Buchanan, general counsel for the Frisco road with headquarters in Mem phis, has been kept busy a good deal of the time during the past several months explaining to the railroad com mission and to the people along his road that his company is not engaged in the telegraph business. His latest occupation in that capaci ty has been brought about by a peti tion from citizens of the towns of Myrtle and Blue Springs, who have made application to the commission for an order forcing the railroad peo ple to install a telegraph office at each place. Judge Buchanan frankly says that the commission has a right to force the Postal Telegraph Company to put in offices at these places, but he can not understand how or why a rai^ road company should be forced to go into the telegraph business when it doesn't want to. This is only one of the several oc casions wherein the commission has been asked to force a railroad com pany to furnish a commercial tele graph service and the Frisco seems to come in for more than its own share of the annoyance on this account, prob ably by reason of a peculiar contract arrangement of that company with the Postal whereby its agents at points SIX BOYS where there is no joint agency times take messages and relay them to Postal offices at junction points. some r i Toledo, O., October 2.—Six boys are reported to have been killed at Sugar Ridge today when a freight train the Toledo on and Central Railroad crashed into a heavily loaded excur sion train returning from the fair at Bowling Green. NEGRO SEES ROOSEVELT Coon From Ohio Says That State Will Go Democratic Unless • Taft Talks Right.' Mobile, Ala., October 2.—A special to the Register from Washington says: P. W. Chavers, editor of the Ohio Standard World, a paper for negroes | at Columbus, told President Roosevelt 1 today that Ohio is dangerously close, a nd wi R go Democratic unless the Re pu bu cans get ,j own t0 work ,, _ . ' I am supporting Taft myself," said .... , Chavers "but conditions are not good i told the President I thought Mr. Taft should make a 8tatement t „ negroes as to his attitude on the Brownsville affair and that if he did not do so, 50 per cent, of the negroes in Ohio would support Bryan and swing the state to him." i Hearst News Service. Loudon, October 2.—The concensus of opinion among leading Democrats is that Abdul Hamid would welcome a war with Bulgaria, as it would give him an opportunity to abrogate the constitution recently granted. Turkey is believed to be totally unprepared for war, both martially and financially. CHAIRMAN MACK AFTER SHELDON Hearst News Service. New York, October 2.—Chairman Mack today issued a statement giving a list of the trusts which he declares that Republican Treasurer Sheldon, of the campaign committee is connected. Many of them are capitalized at mil lions. OKLAHOMA AFTER WESTERN UNION Hearst News Service. Guthrie, Okla., October 2.—The cor porations commission today signed an order limiting telegraph companies to a charge of a flat rate of 25 cents for ten words or less sent to any point within the state. Two cents may be collected for each additional word over ten, but the company must in sert the date of filing and receipt with out extra charge. - , i ■ I . carrMi&rr jam* if. M * Vi | 1 tv Resents Wife's Decision to Cjo On the Stage. Portrait of Mrs. Estelle Leighton Major, painted by her husband, Ernest Lee Major, who is about to sue for separation on account of his wife's determination lo devote herself lo an operatic career. The lower picture, left, is Ernest Lee Major, to the right a snapshot of Mrs. Major. ^ OF MISS RUSSELL ) Daily News Special. Yazoo City, Miss., October 2.—The first of what promises to become a long list of damage suits against the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad on account of personal injuries sus tained in the Clarksdale wreck on Sep tember 14, has been filed in Yazoo County by the family of Miss Amber j Russell, one of the three passengers ' killed. The suit is for $35,000, and was brought by the father and sister of the deceased. There are four counts in the declaration filed, being largely FLEET DELAYED REACHING MANILA THIS AFTERNOON Hearst News Servtca. Manila, October 1.—The Atlantic battleship fleet is in Manila harbor. The water parade and other features of the reception have been postponed until Saturday on account of the late ness of the hour of arrival. Natives all along the coast gave the approach ing fleet the wildest welcome. C. H. Brown spent Thursday in Jackson. o 3 iv. I m J j j j | | i | \ ! \ nm «u 1 i '' i i if 11 % ■ f J •• :/ f i | I r J technical in character. The main thing is that the company failed to provide a safe track and passage for her as a passenger from Anding to Clarksdale, and that she was instant ly killed in the wreck three miles from her destination. While the attorneys for the railroad company have already made settle ent of claims with a number of the Injured'parties or their relatives, it is estimated that damage suits aggre- ! gating a quarter of a million dollars will eventually grow out of the wreck | mentioned before it is all cleared up. WILL IMPROVE THE ! I | I OHIO RIVER SOME Hearst News Service. Louisville, Ky., October 2.—When the Ohio Valley Improvement Asso ciation meets here on October 23, resolutions will be adopted calling upon congress to appropriate funds for building locks and dams that will insure a nine-foot stage on the Ohio river the year round. Such action has already been recommended by gov ernment engineers. Such improve ments, it is believed, would result in greatly increasing the freight traffic on the Ohio and the consequent sav ing of vast sujns to shippers. State Officials Will Rub Out and Start New Slate For Another Year. Daily News Special, Jackson, Miss., October 2.—Yester day was the beginning of a new fiscal year for the state government, and was a busy day in the offices of the auditor, treasurer, sion and others who have to run their routine work with reference to dates, and who have accounts to keep. The auditor's office was a particular ly busy place, as all the state officials had to he paid off for the previous month's services, which necessitated the issuance of warrants, charging o£ accounts and other red tape incident to the transaction. All the state's books and accounts had to be balanced up and a new start made The state treasury is in very good condition, and Treasurer Edwards hopes to tide over to the cotton selling period, and through to tax paying time None of the state's cotton for this year lias yet been offered for sale, al though there are a few hundred bales ginned and in compress or storage, There arc also thirty-eight bales of last years crop, grown on" CITe UiHtlay farm, which have not been disposed of, and the board of trustees express a determination to hold it until a better Hearst News Service. Boston, Mass., October 2.—The fol lowing ticket was nominated by the Democrats of Massachusetts yester Governor—James II. Vahe.v, Water , railroad commis without a deficit. He attributes this largely to the fact that he has stead fastly refused to pay out money to the state institutions for which appro priaions were made for support, until the money was meet the obligations of the institu Itions, thus keeping money in the treas uries of the various institutions. actually needed lo price can be realized than could be obtained now. day: town. Lieutenant Governor—Charles T. Barton, Melrose. Secretary of State—.Tames F. Ayl ward, Cambridge. Treasurer and Treasurer General— E. H. W. Kennedy, Pittsfield. Auditor—Simeon V. Shaw, Law- ! rence. Attorney General—John A. Thayer, Worcester. The presidential electors at large | chosen were: Richard Olney, Boston, and Janus E. Cotter, Hyde Park. : i j ; WOODVILLE WANTS PASSENGER DEPOT Daily News Special. Woodville, Miss., October 2.—Citi zens of Woodville have vigorously re newed their demand upon the railroad commission for better depot facilities at that point, the main cause of com plaint being the allegation that on ac count of a lack of side track room, the passenger and mail trains running in there are delayed from ten to thirty minutes before reaching the depot, stopping from one-fourth to one-half mile from the station. While they ask for better facilities generally, their petition is very insistent upon having better switching track and more of it. Mr. James T. Land, the capable busi ness manager of the Meridian Evening Star, was a guest of Hotel Hattiesburg for a few hours ypsterday. TO DIVIDE Plans to Turn the Waters of the Mississippi Into the Gulf at Mobile, Alabama. I j Gulf Coast Inland Waterways Assocla j t'On, of Apalachicola, Fla., asking him | *° identify himself with a movement suggested by W. P. Thompson, of Bell ingham, Wash., to divert a portion of tile waters of the Mississippi river into the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, Ala. The plan, as explained in the letter received by Mr, Camp, is to divide the waters of the Mississippi by means of a canal connecting with the Tontbig bee, "thus dividing the waters of the great river and making a now water j way, which all practical pur poses would be of greater utility than the river itself.' It is claimed that the distance from f-Wirmptris to Ne-w Orleans by the new route would he shortened at least 200 miles. The letter closes by saying: "Mr. Thompson claims that the cost would be justified and not relatively greater than the undertaking of the state of New York to enlarge its canal at a cost of $100,000,000. "He wishes to start an agitation of the subject through the press and to bring the influence of two states to bear on the government for an inves tigation and survey. "Mr. Thompson wishes to receive the opinion of representative citizens on the idea," Mr. Camp will present the matter to r 1>»? Commercial Club at its next meet | >ng, but it is probable that an effort ; W H1 be made to have Mr, Thompson | change his plans and utilize Leaf River instead of the Tomblgbee as [ originally planned. HATTIESBURG MAN INTERESTED IN PLAN Scheme Is to Use the Tombigbee, But Leaf River May Matter Will Come Up at Next Meet ing of Commercial Club. Be Substituted. Mr. H. A. Camp, president of the Hattiesburg Trust and Banking Com pany, is in receipt of a letter from the ! TAFT SAYS HE'S SAFE | : Hearst News Service. Omaha, Neb., October 2.—"I am go ing to be elected," said William H. i Taft, Republican nominee for presi dent, in a speech delivered in this city last night. "I am almost certain," he j said, "to carry Nebraska, Wisconsin, [Minnesota and the Dakotas, heretofore ; regarded as doubtful states." JOHN W. KERN MAKES ADDRESS THIS AFTERNOON Hearst News Service Birmingham, Ala., October 2.—John W. Kern, Democratic candidate for vice president, addressed a large audi ence at the Jefferson Street Theater this afternoon, being introduced by H. S. D. Mallory, candidate for governor. Mr. Kern will leave at 4 o'clock for Atlanta, delivering a rear-platform speech at Anniston, Ala., en route.