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MORNING NEWS. Savannah. Ga.
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THUHSDAIY, MAY ST, 1807.
bwL ■ •
Bounty on Agricultural Export*.
The report comes from Washington that
certain of the western senators have de
cided to demand a bounty on agricultural
exports, particularly wheat. They take
the logical argument advanced by a cer
tain western political economist, that if
the republican policy of protection is to
be fastened upon the country, it should
be extended to all classes alike, and not
to the manufacturers alone. A tariff on
products which we raise for export is not.
protective in any sense of the word, hence
the only way to give the farmers the ben
efit of protection is to pay them a bounty
on the producta which they ship abroad.
This, says the western political econo
mist, would protect them in buying in a
protectionist market and selling in a free
trade market, as they now have to do.
’ When the bounty-paying on agricultural
products begins, the cotton planters will
probably see to it that they are written
clown in the list of beneficiaries, as well
as the wheat planters. They have as
much claim upon the government’s pa
ternal care as the wheat men. They are
as much entitled to a bounty of 1 or 2
tents a pound on their cotton as the
wheat men are to a bounty of 10 cents a
bushel on their wheat.
At the same time, we feel in duty bound
to tell the wheat and cotton planters that
a bounty pn their exports would not do
them any good. On the other it
rpight and most likely would, do them a
groat deal of harm. All cotton planters
of any cxperlehce know that a high and
strong market in the fall and winter has
the effect of inducing a greatly increased
acreage the next spring and a surplus of
production the following fall. If the gov
ernment were to pay a bounty of even 1
cent a pound on cotton (and the same il
lustration will apply to wheat) the increase
In acreage the following spring would be
unprecedented. The tlrst cotton crop aft
er the passage of the bounty law would
jump up to 12,000,000 or 15,000,000 bales. And
what would go with the price? Naturally
it would drop "out of sight." The drop
would amoupt to more than the bounty
paid. As a result, the foreign consumer
would get the benefit of the bounty, and
the American farmer would get—left.
American farmers are now producing
wheat and cotton for export, without the
«Jd of a bounty law. Their products are
governed by *the law of supply and de
mand. They may not be growing wealthy
at the business, but the majority of them
are probably making a little more than a
living, The cotton farmers are beginning
to diversify their crops, and are doing
fairly well. It would be the hight of folly
and bad policy to spring any such gold
brick scheme as a bounty system upon
them.
Sugar Beet Culture.
The culture of the sugar beet tn Ameri
ca, since the question Is being so aggres
sively agitated, promises to become in the
t)ear future one of the leading farming
industries. The importance and extent of
the sugar beet industry In America will,
no doubt, soon lead and outstrip the cane
sugar industry, owing to the far wider
area in which the beet can be grown, it
U desirable, therefore that the conditions
surrounding the culture of the sugar beet
should be made well known. In order that
Wherever the experiment Is tried, the
farmer may be better assured of success.
Beet growing has wellnlgh become a
•clence, says Julius Muth, United States
consul at Magdeburg, in a recent consular
report, and to it, more than anything else,
U the German farmer indebted for
his beautiful crops and large returns, as
well as the Incraaaed value of his land.
In the first place where conditions are
right for beet culture, they form an im
portant factor In the rotation of crops,
leaving the ground in a better condition
for Other crops, which follow them. The
climate, the soil and the beet itself, are
the three factors to be considered, the soil
being a fundamental condition.
It la necessary that every grower of
beets should have an tntimate knowledge
of his ground and also of the sub-so Us.
It is possible to change a poor beet soil
to a more fertile one, but the addition of
the necessary substances is generally too
expensive to permit of It. "Experience
ba* shown that of all soils a mild, deep
humous, loamy soil, with a loose, porous
sub-soil, is by far the most serviceable
for a beet field. Such a loamy soil is ten
der and end will always return good
yield. A sandy soil, with a high percen- |
tage of fine a common, marly loam ’
and a rich hi.troua, clayey toll are aho I
suitable for the bee(. stony soil Is abso
lutely unfit tor it." 1
As to cl matic conditions, they are im
rattan. r<,r< ilo lu the early lite of the
The bevt wiU not sprout in a soil
tho U mtwrature of which Is below 45 de
•rte# JF*hr., and the more quickly sprout-
ing takes place the more favorable will
be the results. After the sprouting has
once set in, the temperature should not
fall below a certain point. In Germany
the best results are attained with a tem
perature varying from 51 to 55 degrees
Fahr, in the spring, to 62 to 65 degrees in
the summer, and 60 to 62 degrees in the
early fall. In general, authorities consider
that April and May should have a mod
erately large supply of moisture, June to
August moderate, and September a small
rainfall. All other conditions being equal,
beets which have received a stronger light
will show a larger percentage of sugar.
These may be considered an average of
conditions under which the sugar beet
d3!' best. The conditions may no doubt
be varied slightly, one condition depend
ing upon another, and equally good re
sults obtained. Where the conditions
seem favorable a study of them should be
made, and a proper test given.
Wanted: A Dyy Dock.
Humbug, thy name is dry dock! This
government has spent money and time
enough on dry docks to have built a navy.
Yet it is without a dock to accommodate
its big vessels, and It will probably have
to go on spending money and time for
years to come; or until a democratic ad
ministration shall come into power and
stay in long enough to provide for the
want. The battle ship Indiana is in need
of docking. But there is not a place in
this country in which she can be taken
out of the water, and, according to the
New York Herald’s Washington corre
spondence, she may have to be sent to a
foreign country to be docked.
Yet the jingoes in congress are talking
about war!
Notwithstanding the millions spent upon
the dry docks at the Brooklyn navy yard,
they are at present worthless, and it will
take SIOO,OOO to patch them up. The new
one leaks like a sieve. It had to be
flooded the other day to prevent a general
collapse. And the one at Port Royal, or
rather on Paris Island, is no more availa
ble for the big ships. The dock itself Is
large enough for the Indiana. Indeed, she
has been in it once. However, she had
considerable trouble getting there and
getting away. The officials of the navy
the other day discussed sending the In
diana to the Paris Island dock, but gave
up the idea "on account of lack of water
in the channel.” Still, if she could get
to the dock the officials would be afraid to
put her into it, on account of "its weak
ness." The quotations are from the Her
ald’s report, which continues: "Rather
than risk a ship worth as much as the
Indiana the authorities would prefer send
ing her to a foreign port to be docked.”
This dock, which is situated behind a
mud bank, and is too weak to hold a big
war vessel, represents several barrels of
good government money. It was dedicated
to the services of the government some
years ago with a great flourish of trum
pets, and a coast defense vessel was run
into it to test It. That vessel had an easy
time of it, and the Indiana was next tried.
After considerable delay on account of
tides, mud banks and other minor details,
the big vessel went in. And when she
came out, there was some more delay, oc
casioned by similar minor details. All
this was followed by considerable talk of
dredging. It is said by authorities that
the way to the dock is shallower now than
It, was then. Since the Indiana Incident, or
rather event, the dock has had very little
if any occupation, except possibly to swell
the number of items in the appropriation
bills. Nevertheless, it seems that the
Paris Island dry dock is the best thing
in its way possessed by the government
at this time. And the battle ships of the
United States must go to some foreign
post and beg the favor of a foreign gov
ernment that they be permitted to take
a bath.
Yet the Jingoes in congress are talking
about war with a maritime nation!
Lula Hurst, now Mrs. Atkinson, the one
time Georgia magnetic wonder, has written
a book explaining the mystery of her
magnetic power. The work has created
some considerable discussion, hut there is
Just one great big difficulty about Mrs. At
kinson's alleged explanation, and that is
It does not explain anything. It shows up
the whole process Just about as clear as
mud, and gives the reader an excellent
idea of how not to do the feats that she
has accomplished. We have heard ventril
oquists explain their feats, and we have
seen the lamented Hermann explain hia
tricks, and then gone home and wondered
which was the most mysterious the trick
or the explanation. Mrl Atkinson has
thrown lots of light on the subject; In fact
so much that it Is blinding.
A duty on rice would clearly be a mat
ter of revenue. While rice Is a staple ar
ticle of consumption, the imports of It are
quite large, and its cost under any cir
cumstances is so low as to
put it within reach of all classes.
Some of the senators are realising this
and are feeling the severe comments being
made upon their efforts to protect the
eastern manufacturers to the detriment of
the southern Industries. The rice men ap
pear to have shown that th<jr still have
some strength left.
President Crespo of Venezuela has in
vited ex-President Cleveland to act as
senior counsel for that republic before the
arbitration tribunal which will determine
the true divisional line between that coun
try and British Guiana. While there are
some features of the case in the way of
it, Mr. Cleveland has the matter of ac
ceptance under advisement. Mr. Cleveland
has always been interested in the rights
of the South American republics, and it
Is gratifying to note this recognition of
hia position in the effort to secure his
services.
The Senate must have taken notice of
the fact that Florida’s twenty-two mili
tary companies are holding their annual
state encampment, before it passed that
Cuban belligerency resolution. With such
a force as that almost on the Cuban fron
; tier, barring the channel of course, there
i was no fear of an attack by Spain. The
Florida troops should remain In encamp
ment long enough now to give congress a
chance to put its final touches upon the
real status of the Cubans. Just let them
overawe the Spaniard* until the thing is
done, and by that tims the fight will ad
be knocked out of the dong
THE WEEKLY NEWS (TWO-TIMES-A-WEEK): THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1897,
PERSONAL.
—Olivier de Penne, the French painter
of animals and hunting scenes, who died
the other day at the age of slxty-flve, was
a man of extraordinary energy, and spent
much of his time in painting, hunting, and
lavish entertainment of his neighbors. For
many years he was the mainspring of
gayety at Barblzon, Mariotte, Gretz and
Montigny, all of them artists’' 1 villages.
His house was open at all hours to all
painters, and he himself Was equally ready
for serious talk, festivity, dancing or duel
ling. He appears in Robert Louis Steven
son's short essays on Fontainebleau. He
is the original of that lively portrait in
"Forest Notes” which depicts "the great,
the famous, the redoubtable Blank.”
—A correspondent of the Indianapolis
Journal tells this story of the Brazilian
minister in Washington, who is unfortu
nately blind, and has his daily papers
ready to him by a secretary, so that he is
obliged to form his impressions entirely
by sound. The other nigh*' he sat at a
club dinner by the side-’bf a well known
correspondent, and in the course of an
hour’s conversation he repeated the name
of Mr. “Tomredy” at least half a dozen
times. It was some little time before it
dawned upon the correspondent’s mind
that the minister meant Speaker Reed.
Be nor Salvador de Mendonca had never
seen the name in print and never heard it
pronounced In any other way than “Tom
redy,” and although an extremely punctil
ious gentleman he fell into what would
have been to him an unpardonable error
if he could have known It. Speaker Reed
sat near him and enjoyed the incident im
mensely.
BRIGHT BITS.
—Spoken Like a Woman.—He—Do hurry,
Molly; the train leaves in twenty min
utes.
She (absent-mindedly)—Don’t be cross,
Jack; it's such bad form to be on time.—
Truth.
—For the Good of Humanity—“Do you
know a good tonic for nervous persons,
Simpkins?”
“No; what I want to find Is a good tonic
for people who have to live with them.”
—Chicago Record.
—She—Are you sure you will like mar
ried life as well as you do your club?
He—Oh, yes.
She—And are you so awfully fond of
your club?
He—Not very.—Tit-Bits. ’
—There is not a man who ever loaned
an umbrella but will rejoice at the fact
that a man in Wilmington, Del., who stole
an umbrella, received five lashes and was
sentenced to imprisonment for three
months.—Philadelphia Record.
—Was Merely an Experiment.—“ Why are
you here?” asked the minister.
"Fer tryin’ to pick a woman's pocket,”
answered the sequestered gentleman.
“Now, my good man, you see what
greed has brought you to.”
“It wasn’t greed at all. I knowed in the
first place that there wouldn’t be nothing
worth taking, but I jist wanted to see if
I could do it.”—lndianapolis Journal.
CURRENT COMMENT.
Will Be a Backward Step.
From Louisville Courier-Journal (Dem.).
Charles Dudley Warner thinks the time
will come when newspapers will have no
advertisements. The newspapers of that
rliue will be much less interesting anti ser
viceable than those of to-day.
Should Sit on It.
From the New York Times (Dem.).
The sane and sober part of the American
people look to see Speaker Thomas B. Reed
sit on the Morgan belligerency resolution
with the full weight of his 275 pounds and
his down-east common sense. His famous
rules give him the power, his pounds and
inches give him the courage, and his sound
judgment will, we doubt not, give him the
Inclination to crush the life out of that
silly and dangerous measure before it does
any further mischief.
Nevada.
From the Chicago Tribune (Rep.).
The Tribune does not believe that a so
called state like Nevada, whose popula
tion is so much less than a congressional
ratio, should be allowed to send senators
and a representative to Washington. Con
gress should refuse those individuals seats.
There would be no “degradation" to Ne
vada in suspending the functions of state
hood for a time. The course proposed
w'ould be simply the common-sense mode
of dealing with an absurd condition of af
fairs.
Makins Him Rldlcnlon*.
From the Philadelphia Record (Dem.).
V
According to the latest version of the
President’s "Cuban policy.” he proposes
to buy the Island for SIOO,OOO. The beauti
ful simplicity of this proposed solution of :
the Cuban problem is complicated by two I
formidable preliminary difficulties. In the •
first place, who is going to furnish the
purchase monley? This question being an- :
swered, the next would be: How can a I
thing be bought which its owner declines
to sell? Does it never occur to the officious
friends of the President, who are trying
to make the country believe that he has
matured something brilliant in the line of j
"Cuban politics.” that they are merely
making the administration ridiculous by i
their absurd forecasts?
Neutral Enough Now.
New York Journal of Commerce (Ind.).
It is perfectly clear that war is the pur
pose of all the senators who supported the
Morgan resolution. All of them propose
to send men-of-war into Cuban ports. All
of them are fulsome in their laudations of
war. Cannon of Utah Joins Mills of Tex
as In upbraiding the men who are opposed
to war. Mason ridicules the idea that i
Spain would fight us, but it runs all '
through his string of jests that we shall ’
use arms in aid of Cuba. There is not the |
slightest concealment of the fact that the '
Morgan resolution is designed to aid
Cuba, to oust Spain from the West Indies,
and to do this by at least a show of force
by us. We ask. again, if we are to main
tain strict neutrality, why this resolution?
Was not Mr. Cleveland neutral enough.
Is not Mr. McKinley neutral enough?
A Political Scheme.
From the Springfield Republican (Ind.).
Dr. Albert Shaw declares that the Great
er New York charter creates a bureau
cracy worse than Russia’s, destroys all
hope of home rule by its cumbrous ma
chinery. making powerless the city gov
ernment and driving all legislation relat
ing to the great city into the hands of the
Albany assembly—“the very- thing we sup
posed we were trying to avoid. It will be
too difficult to pass measures up from
commission to commission Into the coun
cil and then through the mayor’s office.
Albany will be, as now. the most direct
route." And this Is precisely what Boss
Platt intended, and what any other boss
would desire. It is probable that a mat
ter of so great importance was never worse
managed than the charter of the new city
of New York, and the years will show
how vile the labors of politicians are.
A Postofllce Forcibly Removed.
A postoffice inspector recently sent to
investigate the condition pf some of the
postoffices in the west has made a report
to the department telling of a peculiar
condition of affairs at one of the offices in
the mining country of Montana, says the
New York Sun. Some years ago the de
partment established an office of the
fourth class for the convenience of persons
employed in neighboring mines at a hamlet
built pn the edge of one of the canons of
that state, but experienced difficulty in
getting a postmaster. The appointment
was finally accepted by an old man who
was willing to accommodate the miners.
No provision is made by the department
for fitting up fourth-class offices, and the
postmaster did not think it worth while
to purchase letter boxes and other appur
tenances. He found a worn-out tea cpddy
and placed it on a table in his cabin for
the reception of incoming and outgoing
mail. That was the postoffice. Every
miner was free to examine the letters and
papers in the caddy, and to take those ad
dressed to himself; and altogether things
were run in a very irregular way, with
a disregard for red tape shocking to the
department officials. The old man occa
sionally sent in reports about the condi
tion of the office, as required by law. One
of these showed that he was $4 in debt to
the government, and the postoffice inspec
tor was directed to visit the office to make
inquiry into the shortage. He found mat
ters as described, the tea caddy forming
the only receptacle for mail and the post
master indifferent to its disposition. He
remonstrated with the postmaster.
Mister,” said the old man, “you’ve
came all the way from Washington to in
vestigate the condition of this office,
haven’t you? Well, I’ve been trying to re
sign this place for two years, but the gov
ernment won't let me, I don’t know any
thing about that $4, and I don't care a
cuss about it, but I know that it cost a
heap sight more’n $4 to send you all the
way out here. And I suppose you’ll want
something to report about when you get
back to Washington. Just report this,”
and the rebellious postmaster struck the
tea caddy a blow that sent it out of the
window of his cabin and across the canon;
just report that this postoffice has mov
ed.”
The inspector has so reported.
One on the Clerk.
When he related the incident in confiden
tial whispers, and with a guilty blusn, to
a bosom friend the other day, Clerk Joe
Harper, the senior deputy at the police
court, really did not know that the facts
would ever appear in print, says an ex
change.
Mr. Harper recently purchased a new
spring hat at a bargain. A few weeks
later the conviction dawned on the genial
official that he must either have his han
trimmed or secure hehdgear of larger
proportions, inside measurements, the
former being plainly the more econom?-
cal proceeding. Mr. Harper applied for
and was granted leave of absence from
the office for half a day. Later, as he
was walking down the street, his eye rest
ed on a placard bearing the inscription,
“First-class hair cut, 15 cents.”
As Mr. Harper is said to have told the
story, he submitted to the tonsorial ar
tist and was entirely satisfied with both
the man and his effort. Mr. Harper ten
dered a quarter in payment and was po
litely ushered toward the entrance to the
shop. 4
“How about my change?” inquired Mr.
Harper, thinking mightily of the dime
that was due 4,;
“No change, sah.” replied the sable sex.
v>tor, bowing low. "Twenty-five cents
(S s^fl_
"What’s the meaning of that sign,
then?" demanded the deputy clerk of the
police court, just a iittle bit ruffled in
temper, as thoughts of a prosecution for
false pretenses chased one another about
his thinking mechanism. “You say
there, ’First-class hair cut, 15 cents.”
"Yes, sah,” was the accompaniment of
another humble bow. "That’s right, sah.
first-class hair cut, 15 cents; but your
hair is not first-ejass, sah.”
Her Snccesnfnl Scheme.
It was a striking couple that entered a
carriage last Wednesday in front of the
Hotel Savoy. Both were tall, of fine fig
ure and easy grace, says the New York
Herald. The man looked on the sunny
side of 50; the woman, some years young
er, was of the Juno type. Their eyes and
complexions had a dash of the Spanish
while their talk and manners were French.
“Curious history that man has had,”
remarked a h6tel lounger. “He comes of
a rlph creole family in the Ponchartraln
district of Louisiana. They were im
mensely wealthy before the war and man
aged to hold on to most of their estates.
His wife, also a creole, was educated with
the most expensive polish abroad. Though
married now for many years, they’re lov
ers yet. He war a wild young blade, duel
ing and gambling. His family tried all
means to curb him, but he broke every
bit.
“One night he was taken home paral
yzed with champagne. His old maiden
aunt had an inspiration. She hurried off
a trusted negro to New Orleans for a bur
ial casket—silver handles, satin lining.
Flowers were picked from the garden and
I she arranged the candles and cricifix.
I When the casket arrived, the paralyzed
I youth was placed carefully in it. while the
I dear old schemer staid up with ’the re
j mains.' It was some time before he re
j covered enough consciousness to grasp
the funeral outfit, but the old lady’s arti
fice did the business. It was the eye-open
er he needed. That was his last debauch.”
a
Power of the ‘‘Make.’’
I “There,” said the burglar, "I’ve got the
family plate, your wife’s jewelry, youi
spare change and your flress suit. Is there
anything else?” and he waved his revolver
quest lonlngly in the direction of the
householder, says the Boston Budget.
“There’s—there’s my bicycle,” said the
latter apprehensively.
"Where is it?" said the burglar.
"It’s down cellar,” said the household
er. "But I wish you wouldn’t take that
—really. It’s a ’Bum Hoodoo,’ you know,
and- —**
i "You ride a ‘Bum Hoodoo?" asked the
j burglar.
"You bet I do," said the householder.
"Hum,” said the burglar, as he began
I taking things out of his bag in the re
verse order in which they had gone in,
"so do I. Sorry you didn't speak of it
sooner. But it’s all right. Too bad to
have bothered you. though.” He rolled
up the empty bag and tucked it away in
hia pocket. "Bully wheel, Isn't it? Good
night, sir.”
Where W ords Fail.
"Ex-Embassador Bayard has at last
started for home,” he said, as he looked up
from his paper, according to the Chicago
Post.
"Has he?” she inquired In a perfunctory
sort of way, for she was not particularly
interested in anything in the foreign mis
sion line outside of the church.
“Yes, he has." h« repeated; and lt’»
about time, too. He’s been mighty slow
about it.”
"Oh, well." she replied apologetically,
“you musn’t forget that he has had to
drag that Mayflower log along, and I sup
pose It’s alow work for a man who isn’t
used to handling wood.”
Three times he started to say something,
but each time he gave it up, and he finally
went out into the wood.-hed and kicked the
dog. Occasionally there axe things that
' are beyond the power of expression.
Little Men
and Women
We call them little men and
little women, but they are
neither. They have ideas and
ways all their own. Fortu
nately they soon become fond
of cod-liver oil, when it is
given to them in the form of
SCOTT’S EMULSION. This
is the most valuable remedy in
existence for all the wasting
diseases of early life. The
poorly nourished, scrofulous
child; the thin, weak, fretting
child; the young child who
does not grow; all take Scott’s
Emulsion without force or
bribe. It seems as if they knew
that this meant nourishment
and growth for bones, muscles
and nerves.
Book telling more about it, free.
It won’t pay to try a substitute for
Scott’s Emulsion with the children.
They will relish the real thing.
For sale at 50c. and SI.OO, by all
druggists.
SCOTT & BOWNE, New York.
ITEMS OF INtEREST.
—ln works of mineralogy it is learned
that there is such a product
as natural coke, but so far
as known, there has but one de
posit of this'commodity been found in the
United States, and this was in the vicin
ity of Richmand, Va., says the Salt Lake
Herald. Although the deposits of coal in
Utah are immense in their proportions/ it
was never dreamed that among its com
modities of trade and commerce the state
could boast of beds of this natural coke,
but such is the case, however, and the
Herald ’ls informed that a short time ago
a vein of this coke had been discovered in
a section of the country about 140 miles
south of this city within fifteen miles
of a railroad. This deposit crops out on
the surface for some distance, and' a
twenty-five to thirty-foot tunnel has dis
closed a body of coke that is all of five feet
in width, and there is every reason to be
lieve. that with depth the size of this de
posit will increase. In quality the coke
is all that could be desired, and at the as
say afilces at which it has been tested the
statement is made that it is a pure article,
and that it is even superior to the manu-'
factured coke, as it is entirely free from
sulphur, bitumen, and that it gives out
no smoke when burned and makes less
ash than the manufactured article. The
new find, which is considered as being
among the. most valuable that has been
made in the state, is owned and controlled
by ex-Mayor R. N. Baskin and several
other Salt Lake gentlemen, who have lo
cated 640 acres in the immediate vicinity of
the discovery.
—One of Georgia's interesting figures is
E. C. Machen, whc, after promoting the
development of that state in various im
portant and usually picturesque ways, is
now proving to its citizens that there are
millions for them—and just incidentally
for him—in a new-fangled illuminant
which, according to his voluble assur
ances, will make everybody independent
of such old-fashioned sources of light as
the sun and moon, says the New York
Times. Among Mr. Machin’s claims—and
rights—to fame is the fact that he is cred
ited with having built the Macon and
Northern railroad with no other capital
than one side of bacon and a note for 555.
This, if a Georgia paper is to be trusted,
was proved in a New York court during
the course of some proceedings of the sort
which such financiering is apt to bring
about. When Mr. Machen’s attention was
called by the prosecuting attorney to the
somewhat scanty original capitalisation
of his road, he exhibited more pride than
discomfiture, and demanded admiration
for his exploit on the ground that, while
any condemned-to-future-happiness fool
could build a railroad with money, it took
a man of parts to make one out of next,
ti nothing. If the legend is true the judge
before whom the suit was brought regard
ed this explanation as objectionable and
fined the explainer SIOO for contempt of
court. Mr. Machen, so the story runs,
suggested that as he had just been con
victed of pauperism, it would be only fair
to give him forty-eight hours in which to
raise the money. The judge consented,
and before the next noon the Georgian had
received twenty-five or fifty—one number
is as credible as the other—checks for the
amount from wealthy metropolitans who
admired his audacity. Certain Georgia ra
conteurs seek to add to Mr. Machen’s
glory by asserting that it was his influence
that gave Hoke Smith a cabinet position
and induced John B. Gordon to ascend
the lecture platfornq. It is hard to be
lieve, however, that one man has done so
many and so widely diverse things.
—While in America the telephone ser
vice is still in the hands of private cor
porations, in foreign countries there is a
growing tendency to place the telephones
under public control, says an exchange.
Where this has been done it has usually
resulted in the lowering of rates. In
Switzerland, for instance, the charge for
service is $24 for first year, S2O the second,
and sl6 thereafter. In New Zealand the
rate is $24 a yean in England $35.70, and
in Germany $36. • But in Sweden, above
all countries, the cost of telephoning is
brought down to a point that excites the
wonder and envy of Americans. The pop
ulation of Stockholm ia 205,000, and every
body in moderately good circumstances
appears to have an instrument. The tel
ephone is not used for business purposes
only, but is found pretty generally in pri
vate houses, in the smallest cigar stores
and newspaper shops, and in all sale
rooms. In the bouses of well-to-do fami
lies the rooms are connected by telephone,
and the cook in the kitchen announces by
telephone to the lady of the house in the
drawing room that dinner is ready. The
steamboats on the canals are connected
to the telephonic network on land. The
central telephone exchange is a great
tower of three stories, in which 250 girls
are busily employed connecting up sub
scribers.. The average number of con
versations per weeks is 100,000. The time
required to connect up two subscribers
averages from eight to nine seconds. The
length of the conductors connected to
the central station is 10,200 miles. Th*
chief cause of the enormous spread of
the telephone in Sweden is the low tariff.
The cost to a subscriber for one telephone
is $22.50 per annum. In Stockholm the
tariff is still lower, if 400 conversations
per annum is not exceeded- In thia case
it is $15.75 per annum, 2.76 c being charged
for every additional conversation. On the
trunk lines the rates are equally reason
able. For five minutes’ conversation on
a sixty-mile line the cost is $4; from 6t>
to 150 miles, it is 8 cents; from 150 to
360 miles, it is IS’i cents;, apd for alt
greater distances, 27 cents. The installa
tion of the telephone in Stockholm was
started by a private telephone company.
In recent years the state has been con
structing trunk lines, and has already
about 4,000
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GEORGIA.
J. W. Wall, a respectable looking civil
engineer, is locked up at the police bar
racks at Atlanta, on the charge of cheat
ing and swindling. Hard times, hard
luck and no work, so he stated, made him
desperate and he passed off a few bogus
checks.
Clyde Shropshire of Rome, Ga., recent
ly vice consul of the United States at
Paris, and the leader of society in the
American colony at the French capital,
is in New York as an office clerk at a
moderate salary in his brother’s office in
Wall street.
In the superior court at Jonesboro Fri
day a suit for slander was filed by J. G.
Sears against AN* N. McConnell. Sears
alleges in his declaration that McConnell
has interfered with his domestic relations
and by false statements has induced Mrs.
Sears to leave her husband. These ac
tions, he claims, have damaged him to the
extent of $5,000.
The Hawkinsville Board of Trade has
passed resolutions urging Gov. Atkinson,
to reappoint Hon. Allen Fort on the Geor
gia railroad commission, owing to his
splendid qualifications for the place, made
so by his legal ability and his familiarity
with the duties of the office and because
of his untiring watchfulness of the inter
ests committed to his care.
The Fifth Regiment of Atlanta will soon
have a new dress uniform. The uniform
will consist of swallow-tail coat, made of
green cloth, and will be heavily decorated
with gold braid. The trousers will con
sist of green goods to match the coats
and will have white stripes for enlisted
men and gold stripes for officers. The
cap has not as yet been selected and the
committee is still debating on it.
Frank Williamson, an employe of the
Central railroad, who was working with
the bridge gang three miles from Eaton
ton, fell from the top of the bridge Satur
day. His ankle was fractured, an arm
was broken at the elbow and a hip bone
dislocated, besides several contusions. He
is in a critical condition. He fell thirty
nine feet. Williamson lives in Covington
and has a wife and five children. He was
carried to Eatonton for surgical attention.
Bryant Wadsworth, Charles Wadsworth
and John Bateman, three young men of
Taylor .county, were arraigned before Uni
ted States Commissioner Williams at Co
lumbus Friday, charged with conspiracy,
but were released, the evidence not being
sufficient to bind them over. The young
men were charged with being members
of a mob which last December surrounded
some revenue officers in Taylor county and
compelled them to surrender a quantity
of moonshine whisky they had captured.
The case of Henry White of Columbus,
under sentence to be hanged June 4, came
before the United States supreme court
at Washington Friday. Col. Carey J.
Thornton argued for the granting of a
writ of error on the ground that White’s
rights under the constitution of the
United States had been denied him. The
court refused the writ, holding that the
constitutional questions raised on the
Georgia statutes were not in conflict with
the constitution of the United States.
White’s only hope now lies in executive
clemency. It is understood that a strong
petition will be presented to Gov. At
kinson in his favor.
, Atlanta Journal: The supreme court,
in the case of Allen against Pearce, said
Saturday, Justice Fish rendering the opin
ion: “While the term ‘aged,’ as applied
to human beings, is not, for all purposes,
susceptible of precise definition, and while
it is not practicable to arbitrarily fix a
period of life at which the condition of
being aged may be said to have certainly
begun, it is safe to hold that a man 66
years old is entitled to exemption of his
property from levy and sale under that
clause of the constitution (civil code, sec
tion 5912) allowing this right to ‘every
aged or infirm person.’ This is true, al
though the applicant may be ‘a hale and
hearty man.’ ’’
Henry Reynolds, one of the best known
young men in Rome, says that Alfred E.
W estall, a young man who lived in Rome
several months and who had a great
many friends there, was the companion
of a wealthy young Englishman named
Litchfield, who was captured by cannibals
on the Santa Cruz Island, the cannibals
subsequently devouring both prisoners.
At a meeting of the promoters of the
Empire Garden Midsummer Fair Asso
ciation held at Tifton Friday, Col. C. W.
Fulwood of Tifton was chosen president,
Maj. P. Pelham of Ty Ty vice president,
Dr. J. F. Wilson of Poulan secretary
and Hon. W. H. Love treasurer. The
dates fixed for the exhibition are July 7,
8 and 9.
Harry Griggs of Macon, who is a great
admirer of fine dogs, especially of point
ers and setters of high degree, was sum
moned before Judge M. R. Freeman, city
recorder, Saturday, to answer the charge
of having violated the dog law. The ordi
nance regulating the keeping of dog on
the premises provides that each and every
dog must be tagged and a license taken
out, otherwise the owner is subject to a
fine of >5. Mr. Griggs refused to pay the
fine, and was represented by Hope Polhill,
who set up the plea that the dog ordinance
is unconstitutional. He argued that there
is nothing in the charter of 1893 providing
for the passage of such an ordinance, and
the case will be appealed and will probably
go to the supreme court as a test case.
The trial of C. B. Hueitt of Columbia,
S. C., on the charge of cheating and
swindling in having obtained a type
writer from an Atlanta firm and then sell
ing it the next day without having paid
the Georgia firm, resulted in a disagree
ment on the part of the jury, which
stood 11 to 1 in favor of conviction.
Hueitt is said to have obtained a number
of typewriters from different parts of the
country on the same plan and to have
sold them as soon as received without
paying the sellers for them. One of the
men to whom Hueitt sold a machine re
fused to surrender it, and legal action to
recover resulted in the jury standing H
to 1 in favor of having the machine re
turned to the firm that sold it, the one
vote being just sufficient to shut out the
rightful owners.
FLORIDA.
9t. Augustine Herald; A bill has been
introduced in the House providing for the
annexation to Volusia county of a strip
of land a mile in width from the southern
end of St. Johns county. Accompanying
this bill is a petition signed by twenty-one
names. The annexation proposed is,as sta
ted, one mile in width and nearly twenty
five miles in length, quite a considerable
bit of territory to relinquish at the re
quest of twenty-one persons, some of
whom are residents of the county praying
to be enlarged.
Gainesville Sun: A. W. Lewis of Yular,
who was in the city Friday, says that
there is great distress in the storm swept
section and that many have not got even
dry corn bread to eat, Some of them have
proportioned their supply of corn meal to
last only a few days longer. The grist
mills have been dividing the toll® with
these poor unfortunate. In addition to
this condition, and to add to their dis
tress, the crops have been ruined by the
caterpillars and crickets which have com
pletely destroyed whole fields of corn. Mr.
Lewis says this is not a local condition,
but exists in every part of the storm dis
trict. Mr. Lewis is preparing to leave and
others will follow his example. He .says
that many will starve to death unless re
lief is offered them.
Jacksonville Metropolis: Thomao A.
Britt, who came to this city in 1873, has
been sent to the penitentiary for a year
from Chicago for being connected with
robbing letter boxes in that city. He
claimed to have owned the Florida Union
in this city in 1876, which was not so.
What connection he had here with news
papers consisted of odd jobs at reporting
and as special correspondent for special
occasions. Through the exertions of the
late Dr. W. H. Babcock and another citi
zen of Jacksonville, he was appointed spe
cial correspondent of a Savannah paper,
which he held for a few months. He
abused his trust, however, and proved a
base ingrate, and shifted from democracy
to republicanism with the greatest ease
imaginable. Britt became so obnoxious as
a correspondent and so vascillating that
he was made the subject of one of the
most laughable spectacles in a fantastic
parade here one Fourth of July ever seen.
This and the removal of his mother anr»
stepfather, George Blum, from the
caused Britt to disappear.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
Miss Constance McCorkle, lady princi
pal of Chicora College, at Greenville, has
received notification by letter from Dr.
S. H. Chester, secretary of the executive
committee of foreign missions of the
Southern Presbyterian church, of her as
signment to the Japan mission field.
The secretary of state has issued a com
mission to Charles T. Mason of Sumter
and P. E. Blow of Knoxville, Tenn., as
corporators of the Telephone Manufactur
ing Company, which will manufacture tel
ephones at Sumter. The capital stock of
the company is $5,000, divided into 100
shares.
The warehouse at Sellers, Marion county,
was entered Tuesday night by breaking
the sash in the office. The postoffice is
kept in one corner of the waiting room.
All the drawer locks in the express and
postoffice were forced, and about sls worth
of stamps and three packages of express
matter were taken.
Gov. Ellerbee has granted a commuta
tion of sentence to D. C. Beheler, who was
convicted at the fall term, 1896, in Chester
county, of the violation of the state dis
pensary law, and sentenced to pay a fine
of S2OO or serve a period of three months
on the county chain-gang. The commuta
tion merely reduces the fine to SIOO.
The contract of $57,500 for building the
new 30,000-spindle mill at the Graniteville
junction, which is known as the Warren
Cotton Mill, has been awarded. Ground
was broken on May 3, and the work of
excavating is now |joing on with a large
force of hands. The South Carolina and
Georgia road is building a spur track
out to the mill site.
A letter has been received in Aiken from
C. A. Wood, now manager of the Hotel
Ericson in Boston, inquiring as to the
practicability of securing aid from the
citizens of Aiken toward the erection of
another hotel there, He states that he
has the promise of $50,000 in Boston, if
the citizens of Aiken will provide the
site and $25,000 cash.
The Sumter Item says the demand for
corn Is much greater now than it was
last year, and the price is advancing
daiiy. There is no trouble to sell com,
the only trouble is to get enough to sup
ply the demand. The .reduction of the
corn acreage last year is being felt, and
it is very evident that the men who are
buying corn are learning that It is not
economy to buy corn with cotton. A big
corn crop this year would mean more
solid prosperity for Sumter county than
a big crop of cotton.
President Tom Bgrrett of the Aiken
Manufacturing Company, at Bath, states
that the new mill at that place is to be
enlarged and its present capacity increased
by the addition of 300 looms and 12,000
spindles. There is room sufficient in the
mill already to accommodate the addi
tional cards and spindle®, but an addi
tional room one story high will have to
be built for the looms. There are now
15,000 spindles and 4®o 1-oorna in the mill.
When complete there will be 27,000 spin
dles and 720 looms. Work will commence
at once.
The Aiken Journal and Review has this
to say about the new mill at Bath: “Pres
ident Tom Barrett of the Aiken Manufac
turing Company, Bath, S. C., informs us
that the new mill at that place is to be
enlarged and its present capacity increas
ed by the addition of 300 looms and 12,000
spindles. There is room sufficient in the
mill already to accommodate the addi
tional cards and spindle®, but an addi
tional room, one story high, will have to
be built for the looms. We understand
this is to be built on at the western end
of the mill. There are now 15JW0 spindles
and 420 looms in the mill. When complete
there will be 27,000 spindles and uwim.
will commence at once*’-