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Mississippi State News -O School Fund Distribution State Superintendent Whitfield last week gave out the figures for the regular June distribution of the common school fund. The figures are made up by counties and by separate school districts, showing the exact amount of the school The money apportioned to each, figures are as follows: COUNTIES. $4,810.151 Lowndes ..$5,915.98 3,037.711.Madison ... 6,617.89 5,344.491 Marion . Adams Alcorn Amite Attala Benton Bolivar 3,911.69 6,071.451 Marshall .. 7,284.42 3,246.941Monroe .... 9,029.72 8,335.831 Montgomery 3,983.86 Calhoun .. 4,124.881Neshoba ... 3,407.83 Carroll ... 5,877.46| Newton Chickasaw. 4,309.601 Noxubee Choctaw .. 3,694.52 Oktibbeha . 4,983.62 Claiborne . 5,340.50| Panola .... 6,720.98 . 5,234.561Pearl Itlver. 1,136.82 . 4,691.63 4,863.78 . 8,931.07 Clarke Clay .. Coahoma .. 6,528.96 Copiah ... 7,288.39 Covington . 3,623.01 DeSoto ... 5,974.12 Franklin .. 3,912.35 Greene .. Grenada .. 3,109.88 Hancock . . 2,478.90 Harrison . 2,574.90 Hinds . Holmes . .. 8,984.69 Issaquena . ,2,656.35 Itawamba . 3,289.31 Jackson . . 3,600.73 Jasper .. . 4,380.46 Jefferson Jones . Kemper Perry . Pike .. Pontotoc Prentiss Quitman .. 1,649.95 Rahkin .... 5,274.95 3,511.12 Sharkey ... 3,285.34 Simpson ... Smith .... Sunflower .. 5,246.48 Tallahatchie 6,553.47 5,655.30 iippah _ 3.546.87 Tishomingo 2,323.97 Tunica .... 3,809.06 4,130.18 . 2,408.72 . 5,290.80 . 5,025.34 . 4,002.40 1,946.57 Scott 3,840.84 3,885.20 9,716.32 'rate . 4,679.72] Uni,on . . 3,862.031 Warren ... 6,348.87 . 5,155.781 Washington 9,162.14 Lafayette . 5,186.891 Wayne _ 3,246.28 Lauderdale 8,745.011 Webster Lawrence . 4,061.32 Wilkinson . 5,302.76 Leake .... 4,699.59 Winston ... 4,698.93 Lee . 4,775.72 Yalobusha . 4,336.09 Leflore ... 4,918.08 Yazoo Lincoln ... 5,421.94| SCHOOL DISTRICTS. .$1,060.29 Lexington .$ 425.73 291.32 Lumberton' 372.10 406.52 Macon . ...- 516.44 756.78 Moss Point. 453.54 286.02 M'Comb City 1,078.56 213.19 154.93 Meridian .. 3,614.40 Mt. Olive .. 186.05 Natchez ... 2,460.37 Nettleton .. New Albany Newton .... Norfleld ... Okolona ... Ora . Osyka . Oxford .... Ocean Sp'gs Como. 229.08 j I'earlhaven Corinth . . 1,151.39 P. Christian Crys. Sp'gs 248.95 Pontotoc .. 463.47 Poplarvllle 65.56 Port Gibson 662.10 Sardis _ 1-78.77 Scranton .. 686.60 Shannon .. 195.98 Scooba .... 320.45IStarkvll!e 3,270.77 10,108.95 Aberdeen Ackerman Amory ... B. St. Louis Batesville . Biloxi -1,910.81 B. Chitto . Bolton .... Brandon . . 185.39 Brookliaven Brooksvtjle Canton ... Carrollton Charleston Clarksdale Columbia . Coffeevllle Collins ... Columbus . 3,464.77 Magnolia .. McHenry .. 170.82 144.34 017.08 130.43 753.47 227.10 241.67 251.60 180.71 78.79 166.18 235.71 416.46 143.67 103.63 472.74 69.52 200.61 442.29 316.48 119.84 607.81 216.51 305..89 490.61 409.84 467.45 272.78 150.30 503.19 338.34 62.90 660.73 95.34 241.67 . 2.905.29 915.02 164.20 833.59 889.20 284.04 581.32 525.711 Yazoo City . 1,507.00 Durant ... Edwards .. Elllsvllle . Enterprise Fayette ... Forest ... Gioster ... Gulfport .. 410.50|Summit ... Greenville . 2,157.12[Terry . Greenwood Grenada . Handsboro Hattiesburg 971.301 Vicksburg Hazelhurst 340.981 Water Valley Hickory .. 130.431 Waveland .. Holly Sp'gs 702.49| Wesson ... luka . 262.861 West 1'olnt. Indianola . 127.79] WoodviUe . Jackson .. 1,994.241 Winona ... Kosciusko Laurel ... 1,024.93| The annual appropriation for the common schools is $1,250,000, two thinls of which is distributed in January and the remainder in June. The amount of the June distribu tion is $416,666.66. 616.421 Tupelo .... . 611.781 Utica '. 242.991Verona .... Working Roads by Contract. Leflore county has adopted the new road law and will henceforth work her roads by contract. Free Delivery Routes. Much regret is felt in Mississippi over the fact that the postal scandal in Washington will cause an aban donment of the establishment of rural free delivery routes. Switchman Lost an Arm. Sam Miley, a Mobile & Ohio switchman, had his left arm cut off at Meridian last week while making a coupling. Mr. Miley is a young married man with a wife and two children. If— Copious showers have visited sev eral sections of the State during the past week, and prospects continue good for a normal yield of cot ton in the hill counties. Corn is also doing well, and if Mississippi escapes a summer drouth the yield will be better than for several years. Ciaiborne County Leads. Claiborne is the only county in the State having a thorough high school system in its country schools, and a term covering a period of eight and one-half months, system is conducted on a plan in all respects similar to that of a separate school district. I hope to see the day when every county in Mississippi will have a school system equal to that of Clai borne county," said Prof. Hardy of the A. and M. College, last week. "The plan is doing more for the ad vancement of the county than any single factor in its development, and its effects are plainly discern ible among the masses. It means an educated citizenship of the high est class, and the expense is small as compared with the magnificent results achieved. The » for the by Deed for a Child. A very unusual deed was filed in Hinds county in the chancery clerk's office last week. The property con veyed in the instrument is a child from a divorced woman to her hus band, and the instrument is drawn up with all the formality of a con veyance of realty or chattel proper ty. The deputy clerk was at a loss for some time to determine in what book to record the instrument, but it was finally decided to place it in the chattel book. The acknowl edgment of the divorced woman was made before the chancery clerk of Leflore county, and the introductory is as follows; Having separated and been di vorced from my husband, E. M. Harris, and believing that the best interests of my minor son by the said E. M. Harris would be greatly promoted by committing him dur ing his minority to the custody, care, support and maintenance of his father, who is amply able and desir ous of having the care, custody and support of said child, and is a suit able and proper person to raise and provide for him, I hereby voluntar ily give over and surrender said child, Walter Ellis Harris, to the custody, care, maintenance and support of his said father, E. M. Harris, and hereby relinquish unto him during the minority of the child all right or claim to the care, custody, support and* maintenance of said child, which I now' or may hereafter have. The said E. M. Harris promises that on proper oc casions I may visit said child, but I do not make this a condition in this gift. In the opening clause of the above the words, "and desiring to soon marry another man," have been struck put. The instrument is headed, "Deed of Gift. A Remarkable Claim. The mtfst remarkable claim ever submitted to a railroad corporation is on file with one of the claim agents of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley road, whose territory covers the southern part of the State. According to the statement made in the claim, an old lady living at Hamburg, in Franklin county, owns a flock of geese, w'hich strayed out on the track recently, and when a freight train came along they flew into a large briar patch near the track. The old lady claims that the geese lost twelve pounds of feathers before they got out of the briar patch, and she wants recompense therefor at the rate of 50 cents per pound. • ; >> Pushing to the Front. Even the president of the United States cannot check Southern prog ress and advancement. Though he undertook to put a crimp in the on ward march of Indianola by depriv ing her citizens of postal facilities, he has failed. The Sunflower town is rapidly pushing to the front in an industrial way. A cotton compress, new oil mill and a number of lesser enterprises are being built, and the new railroad—the construction of which through the county is contem plated—will undoubtedly be given a liberal support. Bond Election at Greenville. On the 24th of this month there will be an election held to vote $50, 000 of bonds for street paving pur poses. From the outlook there is little doubt but the bonds will carry and the streets be paved before bad weather sets in. Grading Begun. From Ellisville comes the report that the contractors have begun work on the grade of the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City, which is to go into that town. It is stated that trains on this line will probably be running to both Ellisville and Laurel by December 1. • Boasting of Candidates. Calhoun and Leake counties are contesting the honor of having the greatest number of county candi dates. The former has 87 # and the latter 96. Although 'these are in the lead, so far as can be as certained, yet there are a number of other inland counties where the de sire for office is nearly an fully de* veloped. BEGINNING TO BOOM. Mississippi's Era of Prosperity Be MARVELOUS RESOURCES OF WEALTH _ coming Plainly Manifest. Yiel«lH Only to the Lout Star State la Cotton Production—Her Lumber and Manufacturing Intercut* Coming Rapidly to the Front—Won ful Influx of Capital. essentially an agricultural State, and , the greatest sources of her present wealth are her soil and timber sup piy. But she offers today advantages as a manufacturing State that are being eagerly seized by her owa citi- | zens, who are rapidly awakening to the fact that foreign investors are al ready in the field and threatening to pre-empt it. Some idea of the extent and variety of the industries of the State may be had by glancing at the census fig ures of 1900, although the most mar velous period of development in all the history of the State is now ia progress, dating back to about the beginning of 1900. Accordnig to the industries figures of the census of 1900, Mississippi ranked among the sisterhood of States as follows: i Henry Yerger, in Commercial Appeal. In the past Mississippi has been The State in Statistics. Second in cotton ginning. Fourth in cotton oil products. Fourth ia turpentine and rosin prod ucts. Thirteenth in lumber and timber products. Eighteenth in gross agricultural products. Seventeenth in cotton goods put out. Twenty-eighth in planing mill prod ucts. Forty-second in flour and grist mill products. In population the State stands ia the twentieth place. Prominence of Ginning. Cotton ginning naturally occupies first place, cotton being the principal crop of the State. In cotton ginning she is behind Texas only, whose area is many times larger than Mississippi. Cotton oil products and turpentine and rosin come next, the State being well to the front in cotton production and piae lumber output. During the three years since the census report was made there has been the most ex traordinary increase in both the cot-' ton oil and lumber business of the State, and while no data has been compiled to show the exact extent of the increase in these two great indus tries, the report of Secretary of State Power, recently made public, throws some light on the question. According to Secretary Power's re port thirty-four cotton oil mills have been chartered in the State since Janu ary 1, 1901, with an aggregate author ized capital of $2,255,000. Nearly all of these mills are known to have been established and are in operation. In 1900, according to the census figures, there were forty-one oil mills in op eration, with an aggregate capital in vested of $3,711,930. Lumber Manufacturing. More marvelous still is the growth of the lumber business since the cen sus figures were compiled. According to Secretary Power's report, there have been eighty-two lumber compa nies chartered to do business in the State, with an aggregate capital au thorized of $3,370,000. All but a few of the most recently chartered mills are now in operation, and the others are preparing to organize. The tre mendous showing is unparalleled, and it is doubtful if there is any other State in the Unioq that can make a similar showing. In 1890 the census figures gave the State 844 establishments, with com bined capital of $17,337,538. In cottpn goods manufacturing the census figures fail absolutely to give any adequate idea of what Mississippi is now doing in the development of this important industry. The number of working establishments fell off from nine in 1890 to six in 1900, but the capital and the value of products both show increase in 1900 over 1890. The amount of capital invested in cot ton manufacturing in 1900 is given at $2,209,749, and the value of products at $1,472,835. Secretary of State Power's report shows that since the census figures were compiled nine cotton factories have been chartered to do business, with an aggregate capital of $773,000. Several of these have organized and are in operation. Since the census figures were com piled nearly all of the mills in the State have increased their capital stock and greatly enlarged the capaci ties of their several plants. The greatest drawback to this in dustry has heretofore been the diffi culty of obtaining skilled labor to suc cessfully operate the mills and com pete with New England concerns. This difficulty has at last been surmounted by the establishment at the Starkville Agricultural and Mechanical College of the magnificently equipped textile school for training operators in all the branches of textile manufactur to to to an ing. These three leading industries will serve to give some idea of the amazing development of the State now in pro gress, and which shows no present signs of abating. Along with the rapid increase in lumber business the number of plan ing mills 1 b steadily increasing. And the State does a considerable busi ness in the manufacture of brick and tiling, to which the soli is peculiarly suited in nearly every section. There are a great variety of lesser indus tries springing up about which there are no statistics compiled, but for want of the capital and the skilled labor Mississippi is but just beginning the development of her manufacturing resources. There are numerous small factories for manufacturing furniture, trunks, wagons, carriages and the like, and the possibilities in these indus tries may be said to be unlimited. Soil and Timber Wealth. la The area of the State of Mississippi is 47,750 square miles, or, in round numbers, thirty millions of acres. There is an absurd impression abroad that the surface of Mississippi is fiat and that her soil is marshy, and that malaria is the chief product. On'the contrary, the greater portion , 0 ; gtate is high, rolling country that frequently rises to the dignity G f hills. The great Mississippi delta, which lies between the Mississippi river and the Yazoo river, is lower | than the balance of the State and to i 8 swampy in parts; but in it the swamps have just disappeared with to the gradual settlement of the country and clearing away of the forests of cypress and oak. The geographical divisions of the soil are known as the Northwestern prairie region, oace called the "gran a ry of Mississippi;" the Yellow Loam region, the Central Prairie region, the Lo ng Leaf Pine region and the Great Delta region. There is also what is known as the Bluff Formation, which i s a range of high land commencing at the Tennessee line, in DeSoto county, and running southwest, following the bend of the Yazoo river, but several miles to the east of that stream, un til it comes into the Mississippi river at Vicksburg. Here It widens out con siderably and follows the banks of the Mississippi to the Louisiana line. In these grand geographical divis ions is comprised every variety of soil. The alluvial land of the delta is now world-famous as outrivaling The delta |the famous Nile valley, was characterized by the great Pren tiss as the "cornucopia of the world." Its productive power seems unbound The crops of the delta are cot ton and corn, and the soil is so pe culiarly suited to the former that it is doubtful if any other land on earth can equal it for cottoa production. A report of the United States De partment of Agriculture thus com pares the annual crop values of im proved lands in Mississippi and other States: ed. Per Acre ..$ 12.21 Mississippi Illinois .. Indiana .. Iowa _ Now, when it is considered that much of the hill and sandy lands of the State are far less productive than this "Nile valley of America," an idea may be given of its marvelous fertility. The delta also produces an average of thirty bushels of Indian corn per acre, hay of the finest quality, Irish and sweet potatoes at a net profit of $30 per acre, and all fruits that grow in semi-tropical countries. The prairie region produces "every crop known to the Southern soil and climate except the orange, oace characterized as the "corn and meat surplus" section of the State. In addition to its numerous crops, more diversified, perhaps, than other sections, it has become the great cen ter of Mississippi's stock industry. The immense cotton fields of other years have been laid off into meadows and pastures for horses, mules, cattle and hogs of the finest blood and breed. The lumber region of the State, in the great long leaf piae country, which comprises practically the entire south ern section of the State south of the Alabama & Vicksburg railroad, is a mine of wealth that is of incalcula ble value, that the standing timber of the State amounts to more than seventy-five billions of feet, and that if one tree was planted for every one cut down Mississippi could manufacture up wards of three huidred millions of feet of lumber every year and still possess a perpetuity in her lumber wealth. At Gulfport and Pascagoula ships may be seen every day loading thou sands of feet of yellow pine lumber for export to foreign markets, and more than a thousand saw mills are constantly cutting deeper and deeper into the forests. 7.81 8.23 6.85 of It was ia It has been estimated ' to the at ing Truck Farming Forging Ahead. It has oily been of recent years that Mississippi farmers have turned their attention to trucking, but this Industry has grown to extraordinary proportions, and is gradually spreading all over the State. The possibilities of the State in the direction of inten sified farmiig are just beginning to be understopd, and of late the rail roads of the State have turned their attention to this industry, sions have been run into the Sfcf.e to bring prospectors from other sec tions, and specialists on horticulture have been employed to instruct the farmers. forts truokiig has become a leading industry along the Illinois Central and the Mobile & Ohio railroads. The crops are chiefly tomatoes, strawber ries, potatoes, beans and asparagus. The railroads foster this industry, and satisfactory rates for shipment to for eign markets are given, and plenty of shipping facilities are provided. Na merous trucking organizations or so cieties have been formed, with a view to improving products and generally to promote the industry. On the gulf coast the oyster indus try has grown to considerable pro portions, and the last legislature passed a special law protecting and encouraging the business, factories are in operation that pay splendid dividends. One concern has an annual sale of $500,000 of product Rapid Influx of Capital. A tremendous influx of capital into the State is now in progress and has Excur the of and any as As a result of these ef Canning been for the past four years. Bom* startling figures on this subject were recently compiled by Secretary of State Power from the corporation records of his department. The fig ures are comparative. For example, the amount of capital stock incorpo rated in four years prior to October 1, 1899, aggregated only 125,644,000, while for the two years from that date to October 1, 1901, the aggregate amount of capital was $26,430,000. Thus these two years more than doub led the four previous years. Since the first day of October, 1901, the figures are still more s From that date up to the 18th 1903, a period of less than twenty months, the aggregate of capital in corporated reached the enormous fig ure of $46,612,450. Under the Mississippi statute it costs from $50 to $300 to obtain a charter and the cost depends upon the amount of capital stock author ized. Mississippi is but just entering upon her period of development. All of her industries have long since passed the experimental stage and are in the market to compete with the best and to demand recognition. The State has no debt, or an in. significant one. She has just paid out in cash over a million dollars to build a new capital and not a bond was issued to secure a dollar of this fund. Her people everywhere are pros pering and are contented, and she in vites investors and homeseekers to come and help in her upbuilding. Factory Exemptions. For the eicouragement of factories the State offers liberal tax exemp tions. The statutory provisions cre ating factory exemptions are as fol lows: "All permanent factories or plants of the kind hereinafter named which shall hereinafter be established in this State before the first day of Janu ary, 1906, shall be exempt from all State, county and municipal taxation for a period of ten years, towit: All permanent factories for working of cotton, jute, ramie, wool, silk, furs or metals; all permanent pork-packing and cold storage factories or plants, where the amount of capital invested shall not be less than $10,000; all per manent factories for manufacturing machinery, implements, or articles of use in a finished state and ready for conSumer's use without additional pro cess of labor; all permanent factories for making wagons, carriages, buggies, clothing or shoes, complete; all per manent factories for making barrels or boxes complete, whether coopered or loose, ready for transportation; all permanent additions or extensions, costing not less than $10,000, here inafter made before the flrBt day of January, 1906, to any permanent fac tory or plant hereinafter established under the provisions of this act." titling, of May, Two College Boys. Two college boys left home with just money enough to take them through college, after which they must depend entirely upon their own efforts. They attacked the collegiate problem successfully, passed the graduation, received their diplomas from the faculty, also commendatory letters to a large ship-building firm with which they desired employment. Ushered into the waiting room of the head of the firm, the first was given an audience. He presented his let ters. "What can you do?" asked the man of millions. "I should like some sort of a clerk ship." "Well, sir, I will take your name and address, and should we have any thing of the kind open, will corre spond with you." As he passed out he remarked to his waiting companion, "You can go ia and 'leave your address,'" The other presented himself and his papers. "What can you do?" was the reply. "I can do anything that a green hand can do, sir," was the reply. The mandate touched the bell, which called a superintendent. ' "Have you anything to put a man to work at?" "We want a man to sort scrap- * iron," replied the superintendent. And the college graduate went to sorting scrap-iron. One week passed and the president, meeting the superintendent, asked: "How is the new man getting on?" "Oh," said the boss, "he did hia work so well, and never watched the clock, that I put him over the gang." Ia one year this man had reached ' the head of a department and an ad visory position with the management at a salary represented by four fig ures, while his whilom companion was "clerk" in a livery stable, wash ing harness and carriages.—Normal Instructor. Bible Truths. That the truths of the Bible have the power of awakening an intense moral feeling in > man under every variety of character, learned or ig norant, civilized or savage; that they make bad men good, and seid a pulse of healthful feeling through all the domestic, civil and social relations; that they teach men to love right, to hate wrong, and to seek each other's welfare, as the children of one com mon Parent; that they control the baleful passions of the human heart, and thus make men proficient in the science of self-government; and, fin ally, that they teach him to aspire after a conformity to a Being of in finite holiness, and fill him with hopes infinitely more purifying, more ex alted, more suited to his nature than any other which this world has ever known, are facts as incontrovertible as the law® of philosophy, or the dem onstrations of mathematics.—Way land. -