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THE ROME TRIBUNE. W. A. KNOWIXS. - Editor. •rrccE-NO. wn broad street, to STAIRS. TKLEMONK 78. BATES-OF SUBSCRIPTION, (DaHfF. Bxoept.Ekond»y.> One Year _.fe.OO O»e Month ...» Six Months 3.00 Q« Week -A3 Three Men the.—. <1.50 I Weekly. per yexx-1.00 Delivered by mail or by eiity carriers fuse oi chsr/e. All snheoription strictly in advance. Twa Tmhwj will appreciate newe from any community. If ata email place wfiiere it has no regular correspondent, news re pjrte of neighborhood .happenings foam any friend wiK be eratefrJly received. Comw >.ni nasionh shoold be addressed and all order*, checks, drafts, etc, made payable to „„„ THE BOMB TRIBUNE, Romb, Ga. The Rome Tribune The Official Organ of The City «f IRome, The Sheriff. The Ordinary. The County Commissioners, and publishes regularly all legal advertisemeote emanating from these officials. The Sunday Tribune will be a hummer _ Leasing .convicts again. And that will be the end o’t. Boston gets the flag. ’Twas not “Casey at the bat.” “I want to be an island and with the islands stand’’ —solo of any old scheme. It the “Mighty Caseys'” of the Bos ton club had sturck out there would be no joy there. It looks as if Mr. Luetgert were being weinerwursted by his own defense, says an exchange. Langtry, according to the Augusta Herald. has at last sinned her way into the nobility. The Atlanta Constitution seems to relish the free advertising the Macon Telegraph is giving ifr. “The season of electric fans and baseball fans is about ended,” says the Columbus Enquirer-Sun. Says the Augusta Herald “Borne no longer for health certificates and an inconvenient feature has been removed- ” We do not fear any jobbery in this convict question. Only a lobyist With the wealth of Croesus could buy up all the members of the legislature and all the newspapers in the state. The Macon News has switched off from the “poor convicts” and now pleads for the “poor motormen.” It wants the motormen enclosed in a glass front to protect them from the cold. After roasting Rome for some days the state papers are beginning to cor rect a false story. The Thomasville Time says: “Rome has abolished her sl.oo'charge for health certificates. She should never haye made it.” Editor Frank Reynold, of the Dal ton Citizen, is writing a romantic novel entitled the “Last of the Water melons.” It will have an appendix (not vermiform) entitled “Colicky Charlie.” Editor Reynolds is a bright young man. Because the legislative sub-commit tee goes on pleasant “junketing” trip, is no reason to suspect that they will recommend the state paying $581,000 for the Dade coal mines. We will sooner expect to see the state buy a crater in the moon so many are the improbabilities and the impossibilities in the way of this scheme. The Savannah News has the follow ing: Atlanta is and has been a hotbed of the microbes of the diseased cor respondence to the porthern papers, and we have no doubt that the infec tion from Atlanta is larely responsi ble for the ravings of certain yellow journals. We hope the Journal will not quit scattering chlorides and wielding the spiked paddle until the bad germs ha ve been destroyed, or at least made innocuous. A traveling medium, says the New York Tribune, who recently gave a seance in a Georgia town, began by saying: “I have been requested by some of the men present to recall the spirits of their wives who have gone before. Keep perfectly quiet, friends —in one moment they will be with you.” “John,” whispered an old wan in the audience, “gimme my hat —quick! 1 don’t mind meetin’ Molly in heaven, but I’ll be durned es I want her to resume business on earth!” Cannot Issue Bonds. The convict problem grows larger and more complicated as the Advo cates of various plans for its solution come forward. Thb Tribujse is not discussing this subject from a blind man’s standpoint. We have investigated the problem from every standpoint, read -every thing we could and talked to most of the state officials from Gov. Atkinson down aind all the members of the sub committee. We are satisfied that the legislature will pot make any very large expenditure for dispuetag of the convict problem. Attorney General Terrell informed us last week that a constitutional pro vision prohibited the state legislature from issuing bonds. If in settling the convict proble®uauy land, or property is to bq bought the money to payifor it must be raised by direct levy. This being the case the legislators are not going toexpend aipy very large amount. Several plans submitted to the legis lature on Thursday provided for toe taking oi bonds in payment. Gov. Atkinson, Principal Keeper Turner and the administration have after careful investigation outlined their plan for the settlement of the •convict problem. The Hall bill has. been submitted. While it may be amended we do not believe any radi cal change will be wade in it unless; the legislature votes to perpetuate the present lease system somewhat modified. After the furor of discus sion goes on for some time The Trib une will not be greatly surprised to see the latter done for the sake of economy, and despite the alleged threat of the governor’s veto. The legislature will, when it meets, be so hopelessly divided with each member having his pet plan that it will keep everything in great confu sion until the time for adjournment arrives when it will adopt the adminis tration’s idea, or provide for a modified lease (not hire) system, the state re taining control of the guards and per haps feeding and clothing the pris oners. A Protest, We wish to enter an emphatic pro test against this nonsensical, foolish and reprehensible style of southern journalism, and especially Georgia journalism, of bestowing the title of “colonel” promiscuously upon every man in the state. The newspapers that do this are guilty of bringing into disrepute a title that once was dignified and hon ored by heroes who deserved it. The term “Mr.” is also nearly as badly misused.. We noticed some ago in an Augusta paper that “Mr.” so and so had been tried in the police court for his third commission of some misde meanor. The fellow, it could be read, between the lines was a criminal. Let the newpapers of Georgia re form these abuses and misuses of titles. Let them print a man’s plain name without “mistering” or “colo neling.” To dub a young man as “colonel” is almost equivalent in our opinion to calling him a “jay.” Returning From Liberia, More of the negroes who went from Savannah to Liberia are returning home. They do not seem to have the courage and hardihood to go to work to develop a new country. All this goes to prove that the negroes in the south make their living easier, and fare better and are treated better than in any other part of the world. In commenting on the return Os these negroes the Savannah News says: Two more families of negroes who went to Liberia from this port on the Laurada are coming back to this country, thoroughly disheartened and disgusted. The truth probably is that they expected too much. They had an idea that they would find con ditions in Liberia something like they are here, except that the country might not be quite so much advanced. What they found was an altogether undeveloped country, with no market for wage labor. They found rich and cheap lands and great forests, [but they did not care to stay and develop them, meantime suffering privation and danger of fevers and death. The emigrants to Liberia, however, were confronted with no such obt taeles as were met with by the white people who first came to settle and build up this counti y. Savages, wild animals, fevers and the like did not drive the white men from the new country. They persevered, and built the great est free nation under the sun. We seriously fear that the Ameri can negro is not a good colonist and nation builder. He lacks the pluck and stamina necessary to the pioneer. The Meanest Man, The “meanest man in America” is probably Ray Stowe of Atlantic, la. There have been other men to whom, from time to time, this invidious distinction has attached, but Stowe has broken all records and comes 'under the wire seven laps ahead of any old thing. It appears that Stowe invited Miss THE BOMK TRIBUNE, SJLTTUBDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1897. Blanch Kraemer to accompany him to a theater where a bicycle was to be awarded to the young lady holding the wiuuwi®-ciupon. Mies Kraemer gladly aecepted the invitation and was the bmapiest girl in town when the man at the lottery wheel drew forth her number and pronouoeed her winner of the coveted prize, which was .delivered to her after toe show, and carried home the same ■ight. A few days later Stowe borrowed the wheel and refused to return it. The machine, toe -said, had been won with a ticket purchased with bis money, and therefore was rightfully his. The 1 press dispatches fail to state what toe price of admission was. but Stowe’s picayune conduct leads to the con clusion that it was a popular price affair to which he took the young lady; that the tickets were of the ten cent variety. When the case came to trial the young lady’s lawyers argued that the management specifically proposed to give the wheel to a young lady; that when the young man invited Miss Kraemer he did so with the under standing that the invitation included participation in the chance for draw ing the prize, and that for the young man to claim it would be to violate the terms on which the tickets were given out The jury took this view, and rendered a verdict in favor of the girl. It will be noted that the lawyers were of the lowa persuasion. A Ten nessean would have argued that the hooor and pleasure of Miss Kraemer’s company was cheap at any price, and that a whole wheel factory could not compensate.. her for being seen in company of such a thing as Stowe proved himself to be. Stowe ought to go on the road with a side show. There’s a fortune in it. There are thousands of people who would cheerfully pay 10 cents to see him in the congenial society of the Circassian lady, the human ostrich and the educated hog. Mem phis Commercial Appeal. GEORGIAS GREAT PROBLEM, What the Editors of the Newspapers are Saying About it, (Covington, Ga., Star) The present convict lease contract ex pires in April, 1899. Let us not renew it. It has caused more trouble and dis satisfaction than any other one thing in Georgia. The convicts should never be hired out to private parties. It is human nature that the lessees should want to make all they can out of their labor. We do not blame them for that. But it is the inhumanity of their treat ment, whicn results from this desire to make gain off their labor, that makes the lease system unpopular and objec tionable: , Another serious objection to the lease system is that the profits arising from the labor of the convicts goes into the pockets of private parties, when they should go into the state treasury—to the entire people. This can only be done by putting the convicts to work on the public high a ays of the state, or to building railroads. One of the greatest needs of the state is a better system of public roads, and the speediest and cheapest way to get good roads is to have the convicts build them. The question is not so much one of profit on the labor of the convicts, how ever, as it is one of humanity and general public interest, and we trust our legislators will consider the matter from this higher standpoint before they make a final disposition of the convicts. Mrs, Myrick's Explanation, (Americus Times-Recorder) If there is any one act we perform more religiously than any other it is to read with greed the brilliant and timely editorials which emanate from the brain and aggressive mind of Houstoun Rich ardson Harper, editor of The Rome Tribune. We had reason to believe that our ardent admiration was in a measure reciprocated, but alas? how bitter the disappointment we must en dure, for Houstoun Richardson Harper has spoken words of disapproval which go straight to our heart. He says edi torially in the Tribune of Sunday’s issue: “It sounds very silly in the Americus Times-Recorder to say that the Hall penitentiary bill means bankruptcy to Georgia What better plan has it to suggest?” But then again, at the same time when Houstoun Richardson Harper was supposed to be in Rome he seems to have been somewhere else, for the Brunswick Times in writing an account of the visiting legislative committee’s recent stay there says: “The members will be entertained for a day by Uncle Joe Mansfield on Sapelo island, and later they will go to Ossabaw island as the guests of Houit >un Richardson Harper, editor of The Rome Tribune, who represents the owners of that piece of property.” ‘ Now after reading this we take a new lease on life, for after all it seems to have been some silly sub who passed READY MADE CLOTHING I ■ ’ Fresh from the Biggest Manufacturers in the United States at Hard Time Prices. Never before in ; the history of this store have goods been bought so l ow. Our entire stock was purchased before the ad vance in prices and we propose to sell Clothing, Hals, Underwean Shirts and Hosiery Cheaper than it can be bought elsewhere. WE HIVE COME TO STAY SSKlTSSUttJfiajff suits, therefore we prefer not to advertise rather than advertise fakes- Our Entire • Stock Was Never in Better Shape. Counters and shelves loaded down with new, fresh, clean desirable goods bought right and priced right NO CUT THROAT BUSINESS IN THIS STORE. Men’s suits in all styles, colors, qualities and makes. Boys’ and Childrens’ school and dress suits in Double-brested suits, Vestee suits and Junior suits. BIGGEST STOCK OF HATS IN NORTH GEORGIA On one side of our store the shelving is filled with nothing but Hats and Caps from front to back. Full Tine of Knox and Stexson hats Our stock of Furnishing goods is the biggest and best selected in the city. Big line of Shirts Neckwear, Underwear, Hosiery, Gloves, Sus penders, £ & W. Collars and Cuffs. Manhattan Shirts and Shaw Knit Hosiery. Come to see us, your call will be appreciated and we will save you money. J. B. WATTERS <£ SON, The Leaders of Low Prices. 242 and 244 BROAD ST. - - ROME, GA. such hasty judgment on the opinion of the Times-Recorder, while the chival rous Editor Houstoun Richardson Har per was representing the owners of the marsh which they hope to unload upon the state. He was a member of the leg islative junket—of course from patri- motives only. And it is The Truth, (Savannah Press) The Rome Tribne does not believe that the taxpayers of Georgia favor a $1,000,000 separate-cell penitentiary. , The Real Vampire, Scientists affirm that only the female mosquito is fond of human'blood. Rud yard Kipling must have had this in mind when he wrote the Vampire.—Co lumbus Enquirer-Sun, The Great I Am, Not everyone who looks at the dial of a clock knows that the four I’s which are in place of the usual IV. to designate the number 4 are there because of the obstinacy of Charles V. of France. The story runs as follows: When Henry Vick carried to the Ring the first accu rate clock the king said to him that the IV. was wrong and should be changed to Illi. Vick said: ‘You are wrong, your majesty.” Whereat the king thu dered out: “I am never wrong Take it away and correct the mistake.” From that time to this day the four I’s have stood as the mark of the fourth hour. —Syracuse Standard. To Keep the South Solid, (Richmond, Dispatch) If the republican administration wishes to make the south solider than it ever was, it should keep right on ap pointing negro postmasters in this sec tion. Penitentiary Closed, The Mississippi penitentiary has this notice posted upon its gate: “No one admitted until after frost. ’ ’ Some people down there would not care if it never frosted again. —Thomas ville Times. “The woman who who can look at a hole in a newspaper without won dering what is cut out is yet to be born,” says Editor Triplett. Now what does he know about women? EAST ROME TAX PAYERS You must pay your taxes or executions will issue at once. W. M, GAMMON, Clerk. O’Neill Manufacturing Co. MANUFACTURERS OF SASH, DOORS AND BLINDS. ALL KINDS OF MILL WORK. LUMBER Lime and Cement, HAMMAR PAINTS we sell everything needed in house-build ing. Flooring, Ceiling, Moulding, Brackets, Shingles and Laths, Glass, Builders’ Pauer and Material. Contractors and Builders!’ * • * We take contracts for all kinds of build ings, large or small. O’Neill Manufacturing Company, JFlome, GrEi. Telephone 76,