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The Semi-Weekly Journal
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Ur of tb« Sator. <5 Claka.
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THURSDAY. OCTOBER W. 1*»-
»—j 1
Now tor the colonels!
Here's •* Governor Terrell!
And two for the first iaay ol the state!
Th* Indians may be dying out. but the
one who kihed Custer seems to be rapidly
increasing.
An Ohio man beat his wife with the
family cat until the cat was dead. The
. unfel.n* wretch.
A Chicago couple have been divorced
after S 3 years of married life. They prob
ably deserved it.
Goodbye and good luek to Governor
Candler. And may he enjoy a well-earned
rest from reporters.
Let it b«* dearly understood that the
Hon. Joe H— Hall threw the first brick
in this depct row this time.
It may get so after awhile that they
E will bare to hold a legislator’s hands in
order to make him take his free pass.
Both sides are complaining about apathy
in the coming congressional elections. It
Is well to hare something to lay it to.
Several exchangee have noted the great
‘increase In divorcee among the Indiana
Now. who said the Indians eouldn t be
I civilized?
The defunct peanut trust might hare
’ known th3< it couldn't comer the product,
with so many peanut politicians in active
competition
Bulgarian brigands have captured an
other missionary and are holding him for
a ransom—but this one has been marked
f • down to 52.4Q0.
Who will be speaker of the Democratic
house of representatives? asks The Mem
phis Commercial-Appeal. One question at
a time, please.
Editor Rainey, of the Dawson News,
boasts that there are no editors In tM
Georgia penitentiary. But there are sev
eral tn the legislature.
Trolley lines are to be Introduced in
the Philippines. If we had only thought
| of this before, the combatants might have
been disposed of sooner.
Bill Dever-.- has been reconciled to the
New York Democratic state ticket. Terms
probably private—as they are not given
•at with the announcement.
-
It Is reliably stated that Governor Ter
rell will have only fifty colonels on his
staff Begins to look like Georgia has
about run out of the raw material.
The Rev. Sam Jones says Ben Tinman
and the devil are responsible for South
Carolina's dispensary law. With some
people the names are "sylnnlmons.”
Those Arkansas mobs ought to quit
tying negroes to trees wuen burning them.
Forest preservation is a more important
thing than they may have any idea of.
Another investigation is being held to
determine the food value of alcohol. We
have known people to live on It for a
week—if this will throw any light on the
subject.
The sultan of Baco.ad needn't think this
country is going to make a business of
being bullied and brow beaten just be
cause tt allowdd Divine Right Baer to do
it for so long.
——
If there Is anything tn Secretary Shaw's
idea that “prosrerity has made money
acarce.” we wou’l be willing to try hard
times for awhue. just to ease up a little.
Think it over.
The harvester combine expects to mak*
during the next ye?r a net profit of 40
ner cent on its n 00.000.000 stock. The har
vester combine «*ems to be a sort of self
reaper and binder.
Those people who are writing to Secre
tary Shaw for 94 to tide them ever till
pay-day should know that they will have
to start a bank before they can reach
Secretary Shaw's heart.
The Hon. Joe H— Hall says the purpose
of that resolution is to find out why f
new depot has not been built In Atlanta
before new. "Good oshi' eaid the wood
cock—and away he flew.
Commissioner of Agriculture Stevens
wore a jeans suit when sworn in Mon
day tor his third term. Mr. Stevens is a
great man for detail. There is nothing
like properly costuming a part.
Tt is predicted that the Texas oil wells
will soon begin to spout nothing but wa
ter. In view of the amount of water in
their Stock, this will have to be considered
somewhat in the nature of overproduction.
There is considerable talk among mem
bers of the present legislature about sell
ing the state road. But the majority of
them look at the proposition very much
like they would look down the muzzle of a
Statisticians have figured that the keep
of one dog u»ts as much aa that of *SO
hens capable of laying 000 dozen eggs
But. Just the same, more people take a
greater interest In a dog shew than a
poultry show.
President Baer has advanced the price
of anthracite 60 cents per ton. Perhaps
we win 'learn after awhile that this is
merely another one of his little philan
thropic moves: intended to prevent the
retailer from doing It.
A negro woman. IK years old. who was
living at the time of the Boston Tea Par
ty. died recently In New York. Can At
lanta beat that? asks the Atalla /Ala.)
ICrrcr. Yep Got the ark in which Noah
cruised around for awhile. Using it for a
depot.
Tnveetlgauon has shown that 90 per cent
of cigarette smoking boys had poor mem
ories, 40 per cent were untruthful. SO per
eent had bad manners and 90 per cent
were alow thinkers, while the average ef
ficiency of boys not smoking was 95 per
cent. But all this does not settle the
question. "Does cigarette smoking cause
Insanity: or does insanity came cigarette
rooking?"
GEORGIA’S DUTY TO LITTLE CHILDREN IN HER MILLS.
The time has come when the working children under twelve years of age In
the cotton mills of this state should be stopped.
About the only mechanical industry which labor of this class is employed
tn Georgia is the manufacture of cotton and tn this thousands of children below
twelve are at work-in some mills both day and night and for as many hours
as constitute a full day's labor for grown men and women in ordinary occupa
tions.
The movement for the prohibition and restriction of child labor has progressed
steadily in the last ten years and is going Irresistibly forward.
All the states outside the south which are largely interested tn the manufac
ture of eotton have laws on this subject, most of them limiting the minimum
ago of cotton mill employee to fourteen years, some of them placing it as high
as fifteen and several others as low as twelve. One state. New Hampshire,
fixes it at ten.
It is proposed to establish in Georgia the twelve year limit for labor In or
about any factory or manufacturing establishment.
. . We think this a reasonav»e restriction and one which should be made with
out delay. Few of the southern states have as yet enactel any child lauor laws,
though in several of them there are very strong movements in this direction, no
tably tn Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Alabama forbids the employment of children in mines who are below the age
of twelve and Arkansas, those who are below the age of fourteen, but neither
of these states has fixed any limit below which children may be worked in cot
ton mills. Maryland forbids the employment of children under twelve in factories
of any kind; Tennessee those below fourteen; Louisiana, boys below twelve and
girls below fourteen in factories.
South Carolina, the state which leads all others in the south In cotton
manufacturing, seems to have made up her mind to reform her present system
of child labor, for on the 21st of May. 1902. the Democratic convention represent
ing the dominant party In that state, by a vote of more than two-thlrds of its
membership declared it to be "the sense of this convention that the general as
sembly of this state should and ought to pass an rppropriate law prohibiting
the employment of children under twelve in the manufacturing establishments of
this state.” We are confident that a great majority of the Democratic party
and the people of Georgia at large desire the passage of such a law and will
Insist upon It.
The reasons for such legislation appear to us to be absolutely convincing. A
bill similar to the one Introduced in the Georgia legislature this week
was before our last general assembly. A majority of that body was-probably in
favor of it originally, but no action wa. taken upon It. either because of the
interference of other measures or by reason of the fact that during its pendency
the associated eotton manufacturers of this state gave assurances that they
would voluntarily eease to employ children under 10, if the legislature would
not make such a requirement compulsory. This promise on the part of the cot
ton mill men undoubtedly had much to do with the failure of the legislature to
take action on the subject of child labor.
This Is a matter that should not be left to the volition or discretion of em
ployers. The prohibition of sueh labor should be embodied in the permanent
policy of the state, and the present session of the legislature should not be
permitted to go by without accomplishing that result.
The agitation of this question has been going on in Georgia for several
years with the effect of convincing the public that no good reason can be given
for the continuance of the present practice.
There are many children between the ages of ten and eight employed in cot
ton mills in this state and quite a number as young as seven.
We hold it to be a self-evident proposition that children below the most ad
vanced es these ages cannot be worked In cotton mills or factories of any other
kind, without impairing their physical constitutions. endangering their moral
welfare and depriving them of the educational opportunities which the state
provides for«them.
Toil tn the cloee and lint- laden atmosphere of a cotton mill, deprivation of tne
fresh air and exercise that are essential to the welfare of a chile, lack of moral
restraint and’wholesome instruction must inevitably tend to dwarf the bodies,
minds and souls es young children.
This is not the assertion of a mere theory. A visit to cotton mills wnere
children below ten and as young as seven are at work, and there are many
such mills in Georgia, will convince the most skeptical investigator that it is
the statement of a sad truth.
There are worthless fathers and lazy mothers who impose upon their chil
dren burdens which they themselves should carry, simply because our laws
have left it possible for them to do so. Such parents are to be found In every cot
ton factory settlement in Georgia and their number is increasing.
Our government cherishes the principle that family relation should not be
interfered with for any but commanding reasons, but it also recognizes and acts
upon the principle that when the natural guardians and protectors of children
fall, or refuse, to do their duty toward their offspring, or those who are depend
ent upon them the law should interfere.
The fact that Georgia and most other southern states do not forbid child
labor is supposed by many persons to give these states great advantages for
industrial advancement But this is more of a fancied than a real advantage.
Child labor is obtainable at very small cost, it is true, but the apparent cheap
ness of labor is often delusive.
The testimony of some of the largest and most successful cotton manu
facturers in the south is to the effect that it does not pay to employ children In
the mills.
The treasurer of the Alabama City mills, who Is also treasurer of the West
Point mills, admits that child labor “is wrong both from a humanitarian and
an economic standpoint.” Abundant testimony of like character might be
advanced from men equally eminent and successful In the business of manu
facturing eotton in the south.
We do ndt believe that the prohibition of child labor would stop one spindle,
or silence one loom in Georgia, would keep out of this state one dollar that would
otherwise be invested in a cotton mill here.
We do not believe that all the men who employ child labor in this state
do so with any unworthy motives. The wages which they pay the children
in their mills go to the support of many families and they have proved in many
ways their kindly feeling and good Intentions toward their employees.
It is natural that they should see fully only one side of this question
and they are entitled to a fair consideration of what they say in defense of
the policy they are pursuing. But the facts and the arguments are against
them and cannot be changed. After looking over the question In all its bear
ings. after considering the practical workings, effects and tendencies of ths
child labor system, we are driven to the conclusion that it should not be per
mitted to extend to children below twelve years of age, and that tt is the duty
of the George legislature to pass at its present session a well considered law
to that effect.
THE WAR UPON PROFANITY. j
Os all the bad habits of men profanity ■
is ono of the aiHieat and most disgusting. •
It is also perhaps the most prevalent, i
and Is becoming still more common.
We do not wonder that several states «
have enacted laws against the use of pro- |
sane language tn public and that women |
in many communities are conducting an
organised warfare upon this vulgar vice. |
No person has a right to befoul the air
with oaths in the presence of ladies or >
gentlemen either, as for that matter. ’
The laws for the suppression of profan- j
Ity should be enforced rigidly, and ft is
the duty of all good citizens to aid this
reform.
Policemen are entirely too lax in their j
enforcement of anti-profanity statutes :
and ordinances. |
Like most citizens of this "free” country
they are apt to regard "cuasin’ ” as It is
elegantly termed by the cultured "gents”
who exhibit it as an excusable indulg- |
ence.
There may be nations which are more
addicted to gambling than we. nations
that drink more and number more drunk- .
ards; but we doubt if there is any na
tion that indulges more generously tn pro- I
fanfty, or goes to greater excesses in that '
nasty habit.
It is a very rare experience to travel on I
a railroad car which is given up to gentle- (
men (?) and fail to hear frequent oaths ;
and imprecations In the run of ordinary
conversation.
Some men cannot make the most trivial
remark without embellishing it with *n
oath or a string of them. If these ex
pletives had any meaning originally. It
would be lost by the perfunctory manner
in which they are used.
Many boys of the present day imitate
and attempt to rival coarse men in pro
fanity. These juvenile upstarts consider
it a big thing to swagger and swear and i
every man of sense and dignity who hears I
them do so eannot repress a strong de
sire to spank them soundly.
The parental rou ean haruiy find better i
provocation than such swashbuckling <
sons give.
Ar* we to degenerate still further tn
this respect? We observe that the young
ladies of several Nebraska town* have
joined in an effort at reform which should
be extended throughout the whole coun
try and would probably produce whole
some results. These young women have
decided that they will receive no atten
tions from men who notoriously use pro
fane language.
What right has such a man to expect
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1902.
. that a pure, reflned woman shall respect,
; or even tolerate him? •
We hope to see wiis crusade against the
i "cussin’ ” habit carried forward until
I every man that becomes notorious by rea
i son of his vile speech shall be a marked
■ and despised man by th* better element
j of the community in which he lives.
TOM WATSON ON “THE SOUTH.**
Hon. Thomas *E. Watson has achieved
great success on the lecture platform and
, is In demand in every part of the country.
The Atlanta Lecture association has suc
! eeeded in securing him as the opening
attraction of its season for 1892-93. He
will appear at the Grand opera house
( tonight to deliver his famous lecture on
i "The South.”
• Wherever this lecture has been heard
I it has received unstinted praise and is
ranked among the most powerful efforts
that has been delivered recently from the
rostrum.
I It Is a magnificent presentation of the
: cause of the south In the period leading up
to the war, throughout that great strug
gle, during the dark era of reconstruc-
• tion and since the deliverance of our
people from its trials and outrages.
i The lecture is in popular style, but it
comprises a vindication of our people
' that is said to be unanswerable.
HALTING DENMARK.
| The ratification of the pending treaty
for the sale of Denmark's West Indian
Islands to the United States has been
many months considered a foregone con
clusion. Our government has done its
part in the preliminaries long ago and,
according to all reports, the Danish lands
thing was ready to gives its assent as
soon as it should assemble.
Therefore the announcement a few days
ago that the treaty had failed In the
' landsthing on a tie vote, caused much
l surprise in this country and created a
] great sensation in Denmark. The vote
’ stood 82 to 32 Knd, as the treaty failed of
| a majority, tt was rejected.
| The landsthing, which is the senate, or
• upper house of the Danish rigsdag, has
, rejected the treaty for the cession of the
Danish West Indies to the United State*
by a tie vote on th* second reading of
th* treaty bill. The full house consists
of sixty-six members. The lower house,
or popular branch of the Danish parlia
ment, voted in favor of ratification in
April, but th* landsthing decided to defer
action until the qualified voter* and mem
bers es th* eolc.nial council had voted up
on th* question. When the bill cam*
back to the lower house that body took
the position that if a plebesclte were ta
k*n, all of the inhabitants of the islands
should be permitted to voti upon the
issue. This suspended action until the
next session of the parliament.
It is said that a large majority of the
people of Denmark are in favor of the
sale and the influence of the government
has been used on that side for all it is
worth, but the opposition to the measure
is very bitter.
Some ides of the degree of Its deter
mination may be gathered from the fact
that the two oldest members of the
landsthing, one about 90 and the other 93
years of age, were brought many miles
from beds which they had been unable to
leave for months in order to vote against
this measure.
It is probable that the advocates of the
transfer of St. Thomas, St John and St
Croix to the United States will have their
way before long.
These little islands are a drain upon
Denmark’s resources, and are of no prac
tical use to her and the Danish govern
ment needs the money they would bring.
The reasons for the ratification of the
treaty by Denmark are entirely practical
and the reasons against it wholly senti
mental. The practical side will win.
The islands in question are worth more
to us than to any outer nation, but we
do not rate them as high as we did thir
ty-four years ago, for the price we offer
for them now Is several million dollars be
low that which we held out then.
In IS6M an overwhelming majority of
the qualified electors of Denmark voted
for their cession to the United States and
the bargain would have been effected but
for the poa-erful opposition of Senator
Sumner, of Massachusetts. Sumner had
quarrelled with the Grant administration
and suc'jeeded in defeating this scheme
by which it set great store. But, beyond
all doubt the names of the three little
islands which have caused this hard
drawn-out contention will before long ap
pear on our big map.
BOER COLONISTS COMING.
Arrangements have been made for colon
izing three thousand Boer families in Mis
souri about sixty miles from St. Louis.
The Rev. Otto de Thompson, who was a
field colonel In the Boer army during the
South African war. Is now in Missouri in
specting the country around Monnett, and
will shortly be joined in his investigations
by Dr. Reitz, secretary of the late Trans
vaal republic, who is now in this country.
We are not surprised at this movement.
In fact, It is surprising that the emigra
tion of the Boers to the United States on
a large scale has not begun long ago. Most
of them will never feel at home in the
Transvaal country again, and they hava
received the heartiest assurances that
they would be welcome in the United
States.
A large sum of money has been raised in
this country for the purpose of assisting
this brave and unfortunate people, and
there can be no doubt that as many of
them as may desire to come here to live
will find it possible to obtain lands and
a start in the new world.
The Boers are great farmers and cattle
raisers. On the fertile but cheap lands and
the salubrious climate of the southern
states offer just such conditions and in
ducements as would appeal to and satisfy
them.
The grasses grow abundantly in most
parts of almost every southern state, and
cattle raising is bound to become a very
profitable industry in this section.
We predict that this, first Boer colony
will prove such a success that others will
follow in swift succession, and it may be
that a very large part. If not a majority,
of the Boers will In the course of twenty
years find their way to the United States,
most of them to settle In the south.
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.
New York Press.
Widows are like made-over dishes.
Being good is an awful lonesome job.
Jealousy shows no mercy even to Itself.
Intelligence supports more families than in
tellect.
When a woman smiles it is a sign she has
pretty teeth.
Silence is golden only when applied to the
other fellow.
Sleeping with a fat woman is a preventive
acainst chills.
Women are least interesting when that is
their condition.
Platonic friendship is better than love without
honorable mention.
It often takes a good round sum to square a
erooked transaction.
The average person's soul semes to He pretty
close to hie digestion.
You can be a married man many times, but
a bachelor only once.
A man's clothes are shaped to him; a woman
is shaped to her clothes.
It's a wise policeman who can point out the
next corner on 'change.
Buy a Mend’s horse and be Bold by a man.
A silent tongue makes sweet music for the
soul.
Butter would not melt tn the mouths of some
people and lye would not scorch the mouths
of others.
A man is known by the company he keeps,
and the company he keeps Is known by the
breakfast he can't eat the next morning.
After a woman has trumped her partner's
ace she says, with a sweet smile, it is always
easy to play well when you hold the cards.
FOREIGN NOTES OF INTEREST.
Two million people are attacked by malaria
every year in Italy.
After Venice, Berlin has more bridges than
any other town in Europe.
Fifty thousand persons have visited Robert
Burns' cottage at Ayr this year.
Canadian cereals will this year probably
mount uo to 300,000,000 bushels
Five hundred and two patents have been taken
out by women in Germany since 1877.
At Budapest the municipality has opened a
registry office for domestic servants.
APHORISMS.
Avarice is always poor, but poor by its
own fault.—Johnson.
Children have more need of models than of
critics. Joubert.
A man of Integrity will never listen to any
reason against conscience.—Home.
Flattery is a base coin which gains cur
rency only from our vanity.—Rochefoucauld.
The more one speaks of himself, the less
he likes to hear another talked of.—Lavater.
We cannot control the evil tongues of oth
ers, but a good life enables us to despise them.
—Cato.
Contentment with the divine will Is the best
remedy we can apply to misfortunes.—Sir W.
Temple.
It depends on education to open the gates
which lead to virtue or to vice, to happiness
or to misery.—Jane Porter.
THOUGHTS OF EVERY DAY.
Chicago JoumaL *
The selfish person is quick to accept the
generosity of others.
The world will come to appreciate your good
qualities, and if it does not, they are prefer
able to bad ones.
Honesty of purpose is a good substitute for
money in an undertaking.
Every one is liable to make a mistake; the
trouble is that too few are willing to do the
right thing and make amends.
In a lifetime of seventy years the bleed
driven by a man’s heart travels 4,292,v0#
allies.
A Heroic American Wins Honor in “Howling Samar.”
IT is very seldom indeed that the proposed award of the Congress
ional medal of honor has elicited such a chorus of praise as that
which followed the nomination of Lieutenant Kenneth P. Wil
liams, First infantry. This young officer had his chance and took it,
and now is about to receive the highest recognition known to the ser
vice for the skill and bravery he exhibited in his rescue of Major
Waller’s rear guard in the expedition across Samar, that dark and
bloody ground of the Philippine war. .
The first suggestion of the honor that was due to Williams came
from Major Waller, the men of whose missing column Williams res
cued from the floods, from starvation, and from the crooked knives
of the bolomen when all hope of ever hearing from the luckless col
umn had been given up in army circles.
In his indorsement of the nomination of
Kenneth P. Williams, General Chaffee
says:
“Not again in your military career, nor
in that of the men accompanying you on
this arduous undertaking, will conditions
likely arise that will offer you the oppor
tunity of rendering such unheard of and
never-to-be-forgotten services to your
country.”
This may be poor grammar, but it is
the very highest praise from a man who
is not given to gushing, and . Aumiral
Rodgers, commanding our Asiatic squad
ron. follows it up by saying:
“This marine detachment (Waller's
rear guard) would undoubtedly have per
ished to a man had it not been for the
indefatigable exertions of Lieutenant Wil
liams."
Before following both rescued and res
cuers into the labryinth of Samar into
which they ventured, without a clew,
with no other support than their own
manhood and courage, it is, perhaps, per
missible to express the hope that the
sluggish channels through which the
award of the honor medal must pass may
be accelerated oy a glance at this simple
tale of military skill and manly daring.
Just the ether day a medal of honor was
granted for a deed done thirty-three years
ago, At this rate Williams, though he
has extreme youth in his iavor, may not
live to wear the reward he has so worth
ily won. Without wishing to imitate our
British cousins in the extreme liberality
wan which they confer the Victoria
Cross, we might with advantage try to
emulate the speed with which they be
stow it.
How Lieut. Williams Won His Glory.
How Major Waller accomplished his
Journey of a hundred and sixty miles and
how his rear guar„ was lost and rescued
at the last possible moment is a long
story, which I can only take up at the
point wuen, thrown upon \heir own re
sources by the fauure of a native carrier
to deliver Waller's orders. Captain David
B. Porter, a chip of the old Porter block,
and Lieutenant A. S. Williams, tne only
officers remaining with the rear guard,
came together in consultation as to the
best method of saving their column, com
posed of some thirty-five men, already ex
hausted by a Journey of two weeks in the
wilderness.
It was a dreary New i ear's Eve the
gallant band had spent (three days before
the expedition was split into two col
umns), cutting its way inch by inch and
foot by foot up the jungle covered moun
tain that forms the divide of Southern
Samar. Long after midnight they gained
the crest of the mountain and fell asleep
on their axes, in the belief that their suf
fering and hardships were over, that with
the morning they would catch a glimpse
of the eea. or at least of some mountain
torrent or the great trail emblazoned on
the Spanish maps that would lead them to
Basay. the goal of the expedition. But
the morning light brought no sight of the
dancing sea, although it disclosed the pit
iful conu.don of the marines, who were
shoeless and covered with tropical sores,
chafed from wading constantly in the wa
ter, and with limbs infl&med by the thorns
and the biles of the mountain leeches,
which always fester.
There was no sight of the sea, but there
was a stream going almost due west, the
desired direction, and this they fqllowed,
carrying with them all that they could,
their rilles and a little bacon, just enough
to grease and give a taste to the wild po
tatoes upon which they had subsisted for
so many days. Suddenly the stream to
which they clung as to a life line made
a quick bend and emptied into a river
which flowed due east, the direction from
which they had come. This moment of dis
appointment tried the metal of both offi
cers and men, but if there was a thought
there certainly was not a word of despair.
At last, after looking the situation over—
the situation which became more despe
rate on closer examination and with the
passing of every minute which brought
them so much nearer starvation—Major
Waller decided there was no help for it.
His project of crossing Samar must, in
deference to the condition of his men, be
given up. The river where they stood was
the Surabao, that empties into the sea on
the east coast at Barongon, and they must
follow it.
This method of retreat, however, proved
not so easy as it first appeared. Raft after
raft was built to float the expedition down
to the sea, but from the nature of the
wood these rafts one and all sank under
the weight of a single man, and so the
weary march w’as resumed, with officers
and men wading up to their armpits in
the bed of the river, where that was possi
ble, and cutting their way along the
rocky, Jungle covered banks when the
river became a torrent in which no man
could live. It was on the following day
that the separation took place, and Major
Waller, pushing ahead with twelve of the
strongest men, after many adventures,
and, thanks to the capture of two natives
whem he induced to guide him, reached
Sojoton river and the coast.
Treachery of Native Caused Distress.
Captain Porter and Lieutenant A. S.
Williams waited for several days for the
rear guard of the marines, composed for
the most part of weak and worn out mem
bers of the column, expecting the promis
ed message from Waller which, through
the treachery or the cowardice of the na
tive to whom it was Intrusted. never
reached them. Thrown at last upon their
own resources, the young officers decided
upon a plan to save their men which has
won for them golden opinions from all in
the least acquainted with the nature ot
the obstacles by which they were con
fronted. •
Their first wish was to follow upon Wal
ler’s trail, but after looking over their
men and seeing the condition they were
in it became apparent that while the se
lected men who had gone ahead with the
commander of the expedition might possi
bly overcome the difficulties of the Jour
ney to the sea, the exhausted and for the
most part disabled members of the rear
guard certainly could not hope to do so.
Besides, the latest news received from
Waller had been that he proposed to re
turn to them, so it was decided to wait
and gather what strength they could for
the ordeal they could not escape. For, be
ing in the heart of the Island, whether
their journey was to be to the north or to
the south, to the east or to the west, they
must always pass through the wilderness
of Samar.
Two days passed and no messages came.
Owing to the shortness of the rations
upon which they were living the rest had
hardly proved an advantage. The men
of the rear guard were growing weaker
with every hour, when Captain Porter
and Lieutenant Williams decided that the
only salvation for themselves and for
their men lay in retreat along the trail
they had come by the banks ot the La
nang river. Again, very wisely as it turn
ed out, the rear guard of the marine col
umn was divided. Captain Porter and
Sergeant Quick (already a medal of honor
man for his gallantry at Guantanamo),
with six men of ths corps, the physical
elite of the rear guard, and six native
bearers, started on the back trail for
Lanang by the sea at daybreak on Jan
uary 3. Porter was determined to push
on with all possible speed, and ones the
garrison on the const ■was reached to
send back relief to Williams and for the
most part invalided men who remained
with him.
Flood Brought a Crisis.
It was decided that Porter was to blaze
his trail as clearly as possible, and that
Williams should follow it undevlatingly.
so that there might be no chance of
missing the relief that would be forth
coming within four or five days at the
latest, as they then imagined would be
the case. For the next five days Porter's
column pushed ahead night and day, and
indeed, with the torrential rains that fell
without intermission, there was no ap
parent difference between the hours of
light and of darkness.
On the evening of the fifth day they
reached the River and camped
near the clearing where the expedition
had left the boats and taken to the land
on the journey up. While they slept here
the river suddenly rose fifteen feet with
in an haul*, and the whole party had
the narrowest escape from drowning.
What food and covering they still had
was washed away. The army post at
Lanang on the sea was no more than a
day’s journey away in boats, but there
were no boats available, and the party
was starving.
Four of the eight white men, after
the night of the inundation, were found
unable to lift hand or foot. Porter and
the other men carried them for a few
hundred yards, and then, most fortunate
ly, they came out upon a clearing, where
a few wild potatoes were growing. Por
ter left his disabled men here and pushed
on through the flooded country, where the
.water had obliterated all trace of the
trail.
On the evening of the 9th this little
column experienced a crisis, and was
saved by an incident which tn other days
we would have called miraculous. The
men were now dead beat and sat looking
with blank despair at each other and over
the flooded valley through which they
had Journeyed. Suddenly upon a little
hillock rising a few feet above the uoo
they spied two wild dogs that had taken
refuge there. The men were not long In
catching, cooking and eating them, and
with the strength derived from this feast
on the afternoon of the 11th they stag
gered into the army post at Lanang with
hardly breath enough to tell Captain
Pickering the desperate straits of those
they had left behind.
It was now that Lieutenant Kenneth
Williams’ chance came to distinguish
himself and place his country under obli
gations, as General Chaffee has so well
said. His captain selected him to lead
the relief party and to save the dying
marines at any cost. On the morning of
the twelfth he set out with twenty men
in bancss (native dugouts). They fought
the current all day, but in the evening
the little flotilla was swept out to sea,
and Williams and the First infantry men
who accompanied him were with difficulty
rescued.
On the morning of the 13th Williams
tried again and was again swept out to
sea. He and his men pulled until their
hands were raw and their arms dumb,
and yet they made not an inch of head
way against the mountain floods that
swept down the Lanang valley. In the
garrison the feeling was that all the
marines would be found dead even if
WiWlams did' succeed in ascending the
river. Unaffected, however, by these
gloomy forebodings, the young lieutenant
pushed on.
On the 14th he advanced about four
miles. On the morning of the 15th he
could make no headway at all, not an
Inch, and then, providentially, in the
afternoon the floods subsided as rapidly
as they had arisen. Paddling day and
night Williams came up with the wild
potato clearing where Porter had left his
men ten days before and found them still
alive, though barely so.
Noble Work of the Rescuers.
The men of the First foot loaded the
poor fellows Into the largest banca. and
with an escort they started down the
Lanang toward the coast, while Kenneth
Williams, with the remainder of the re
lief column,, pushed on into the wilder
ness which had apparently swallowed up
the great bulk of the marines. Keeping
steadily on, almost without rest, for
he was well aware that an hour's delay
might mean the death of all the men
he was striving to rescue, forty-eight
hours later, on the afternoon of the 18th.
Kenneth Williams, of the First foot, met
A. 8. Williams, of the Marine Corps, for
the first time and under tragic circum
stances indeed.
The crisis in the dauntless retreat had
come. For thirteen days the marines had
contended with the nature of the ground,
with the almost uninterrupted rains and
with starvation. One by one the weaker
among them had fallep out and refused to
be saved. Some had gone mad and
crawled away on hands and knees, mak
ing the jungle ring with their maniacal
laughter; others had simply sat down
and refused to move. One man said,
"Lieutenant, if you want to do me a
favor you can blow my brains out. If
you can't do that, why Just go on."
In the thirteen days of struggle ten
men had succumbed, - and now the sur
vivors, about twenty in number, were
preparing to die. too, but, like good
Americans; to sell their lives dearly.
From the very first hour of the retreat
the native carriers with the rear guard
column had been unfriendly, but until a
few hours before the rescue they had
not broken out In open mutiny. They
had patiently bided their time, watching
their Intended victims growing weaker
and weaker; smiling with ill concealed
delight as they saw one poor fellow after
another throw his rifle into the river
and stagger on. When this, the last
camping place was reached, all the car
riers. with the exception of three, desert
ed the column and, wading the river,
pitched their camp on the opposite shore,
from which they viewed the tottering
remnants of the once stalwart marines
with undisguised hostility.
The natives were all sleek and fat as
seals. As long as rations had been plen
tiful they had received the same amount
of food as the white men, and when the
provisions gave out they foraged for
themselves and refused to share the
roots and tubers they found with the
marines. Williams and his men lay in a
stupor for several hours after reaching
their last camp, while the native Samar
ites them and waited as the
vultures hang upon the trail ot a wound
ed stag. At last williams pulled himself
together and asked the three remaining
carriers to cut firewood, but they only
laughed at him and repeated his request
to their comrades across the river amid
shouts of derision.
Wiluams called to his men. and as hr
did so one of the carriers stabbed him
with a knife. The brave man defended
himself as best he could and cried aloud
for assistance. In a moment Sergeant Mc-
Gaffney appeared, crawling on hands and
knees, but the sight of him was enough.
-The prestige of the white man was still
Intact, and the cowardly natives fled
across the river to join the other muti
neers.
“A mighty fine business for me and all
of us,” says McGaffney, “that they ran
away. I had seen them wrestling with
our young lieutenant and I’d drawn a
bead on them; out, bad cess to-it, 1 was
too weak to move the bolt of my rifle; so
I says. ‘lt’s up to you, McGaffney, to make
a bluff at them with yer face.’ So I stag
gered out into the opening and—the chick
ens ran.’ ”
Williams then got his men together—at
least all of them who could be made to;
understand the danger that threatened—
and they were sitting back to back and
hugging their rifles, listening to the conch
shells of the insurgents in the mountains
and the calls of their mutinous carriers,
when, just in the nick of time. Kenneth
Williams and his men of the First foot
appeared. If he had rested upon his oars
for half an hour during all that terrible
struggle against the flood this story' would
net be one of rescue, but of slaughter—
the story of Balgangiga, with its mutil
ated bodies, over again.
And because he did not rest upon his
oars for half an hour every officer and
man in the United States army and navy:
and marine corps hopes to see him wear-'
Ing the medal of honor—and soon.
howWtoonbs
DEFENDEDA SLAVE
Youth’s Companion.
Many Incidents are related illustrating
the mutual affection of master and slave
in the south, before the war. The Colum
bia State tells of such a case.
A negro man. strong and healthy, but
getting gray from years, was on trial for!
murder. He hau killed another negro and
had been lying In jail for some time,.
awaiting his trial. The testimony against
him was given by other negroes, who wit-,
nessed the killing. When the case was
called for trial by the presiding judge, an
old man rose, and in a voice deep and low,
but full of marked gentleness, said:
"Will your honor please mark mo for
the defense?”
It was General Robert Toombs. His face
was wrinkled with age, but it was large
and strong, and the lines of Intellect made
deeper wrinkles than those of age. His
white hair rolled back tn curls from a
splendid brow. His form was large and
tall and straight, although his movements
were slow with the years. His eyes still
flashed as when he stood In the senate
chamber at Washington.
The witnesses all seemed unfriendly to
ward the prisoner. In bls own statement
he claimed that killing was in self-de
fense.
General Toombs analyzed the testimony
of the eye witneses. and then concluded
thus:
"Your honor, please, and gentlemen of
the jury: A few years ago my only brother
fell wounded on the battlefield of Gettys
burg. He lay there bleeding to death, with
no friendly hand to help him. Shot and
shell were sweeping the earth all about;
him. No friend could go to him, no sur
geon dared approach him.
"My brother had a body servant, who
waited on him in camp. The negro saw
his master’s danger, and straight out into
tuat sheet of battle and flame and death
he went. A piece of shell tore the flesh
from his breast, but on he went, and gath
ering my brother in his arms, the blood
of the man mingling with the blood of th«
master, he bore him to safety and *.«.
Jim, open your collar!”
The prisoner rose and opened his snirt
in the front. Ln his breast the Jury saw
the long, jagged scars where the shell had
torn its way.
“Jim’s skin may be black,” the general
continued, "he may be a negro; but thr
man who would do what he did has a
soul too white ever to have killed a man
except In defense ot his own life."
The Jury agred with him »n« Jim was
cleared.
POINTED PARAGRAPHS.
Chicago Dally News.
The early cat realize* on the milk ticket.
Remora* is memory that has begun to f«r-
BMDt.
Mort men mistake slight applause for an
encor*.
Idle boasting is the smoke and true courage
the fire.
A man isn't always broad-minded because his
head is level.
Meet women-hatera sre floor-walkers tn de
partment stores.
One-half the world doesn't let hl* better bait
know how be live*.
Equality is a pipe dream. Fig-leaf costumes
have had their day.
When a man tells you all hl* troublM be
becomes one of yours.
When a woman cuts a man’s acquaintance she
looks daggers at him. * ;
A few reverses do not discourage the girt
who is learning to waltz.
It 1* apt to make a young man hot when his
rival caste him la the shade.
Some officeholders seem to forget the time
when they were office-seekers.
Any young man who Is in love likes to say
good night the next morning.
No dlsappolntmnt can be quit* so intolerable
as disappointment In one’s self.
As a female entertainer the' average man ie
sot in It with a cheap-looking glass.
Some people's lack of sense is more con
spicuous than their lack of dollars
A man may gush over a woman, or vice
versa, but the gushing is seldom mutual.
When a man buy* a piece of property for a
song he may regret his vocal ability greater on.
Nothing Jolts the harmony out of an orches
tra like the trombone player who gets off hi*
bass.
The man who saves up something for a rainy
day is th* one who knows enough to go in when
it 'rains.
Some men spend half their lives in making a
reputation and the other half In trying to live
it down.
It sometimes happens that a married man
dislikes to visit people who try to make him
feel at home. f
It the average man could only sell the advice
he gives away it would keep him busy looking
after hl* income.
When a man marries a grass widow don’t
present him with a lawn-mower if you would
retain hl* friendship.
CLEVER LITTLE STORIES.
Chicago Daily News.
A story is told of the late Professor Snell, of
Amherst college, which relates how he once
asked for a definition of the solar corona from
a member of his class in astronomy. The young
man, after a good deal of hesltatior? and a
dead consciousness of impending failure, plung- •
ed desperately into the statement that he did
know what the corona was but had forgotten.
The professor turned to his class with a tragic
gesture. "What an incalculable loss to sci
ence." he exclaimed with emotion, “that th*
only man who ever knew what the sun’s corona
is has forgotten!”
When Alfred Tennyson appeared in the Ox
ford theatre to receive his D. C. L degree
it is said that his disheveled hair and gener
ally negligent state provoked the undergradu
ates into greeting him with the inquiry: "Did
your mother call you early, call you early,
Alfred, dear?”
A would-be poet recently remarked at hie
club: "I have written a great number of poems,
but I do not propose to have them published
until after my death.” "Hurrah!” shouted a
chorus of Mends, raising their glasses, "here’s
long life to you, old man!”
GENERAL AND PERSONAL.
General John B. Castleman, a noted Ken
tucky horse-lover and whip, has filed in Wash
ington a proposal to carry the mails between his
borne. Pleasant Hill, and Burgin, a distance of
six miles. Provided he is awarded the con
tract he will do the work with a coach and
four er tailyho, with outriders and postillions,
in olden-day style. Only Kentucky thorough
breds will be used.
Bishop Clot, coadjutor of Bishop Grouard. of
Athabasca, has been in the frozen north for
over forty-five years, with only three or four
visits to civilization.
Telfair Enterprise: Telfair county present*
to the heme seeker advantages that cannot b*
excelled anywhere. People are finding this out
and no wonder eur lands are being peopled
with the very bvst class of cltuuM we *UU
have room.
