Banks County journal. (Homer, Ga.) 1897-current, June 12, 1897, Image 1

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BANKS COUNTY JOURNAL. VOL. I. ASK STATE 10 INTERFERE. MACON, GA., CITHERS ARE AFTER THE SOUTHERN RAILROAD. CLAIM ILLEGAL CONSOLIDATION The GoTernor Is Asked to Investigate the Matter— May He Finally Carried to the Courts. A petition has been filed with Gov ernor Atkinson, of Georgia, asking him to direct the attorney general of the state to institute proceedings to break the relations between the South ern Railway, the Central of Georgia, the Georgia Southern k Florida and other lines. The petition was presented by at torneys on behalf of citizens of Macon. Th.3 names of seven individuals and firms are signed to the petition. The petition was filed a few days ago and Judge Miller of Macon, had a conference with the governor. It is alleged in the petition that the South ern controls a number of railroads in Georgia and that the control tends to defeat competition in violation of the constitution of the state. The paper is a long one and recites the history of the Southern, explaining in detail how it has grown up by the acquisition of the East Tennessee,Vir ginia ■and Georgia, the Georgia Pacific, the Central of Georgia, the Georgia Southern and Florida, the Atlanta and Florida, the Georgia Midland and Gulf, the Macon and Birmingham and other lines. All these roads have been consolidated, the petition declares, and it goes on to say that the city of Macon has now no competition and the pe titioners ask the state to go to their relief and break the relations existing between the several lines. The governor has been carefully ex amining the paper and has been get ting information about the relations existing between the different com panies. Under the Bacon act of 1893, pro ceedings can be instituted in two ways to break an illegal consolidation of railroads. The governor is empowered to direct the attorney general to bring suit for the forfeiture of charters or any party interested in the properties can go into the courts for redress. After hearing from both sides, the governor can direct the attorney gen eral to proceed in the name of the state or he may decline and leave the parties who are interested to appeal direct to the courts themselves. FIRED SOCIALIST DEPUTY. Soldiers Remove Member of French Cham ber of Deputieß. There was a dramatic incident in the chamber of deputies at Paris Saturday. During the discussion of the labor troubles at La Grand Combe, in the department of the Guard, noted for its coal mining, glass works and zinc smelting furnaces, M. Gerault Richard, a socialist deputy, referred to some of his colleagues as “police spies.” The chamber thereupon passed a vote to peremptorily expel him from the house. M. Richard, how ever, refused to leave and the pre sident of the chamber, M. Brisson, sustained the sitting and sent for the guard on duty. A moment or so later a squad of eight soldiers entered the chamber of deputies and the colonel in command placed his hand upon the shoulder of the socialist deputy, who thereupon consented to go with the officer, saying he yielded only to superior force. . MILL RECALL WEYLEB. Queen Regent of Spain Confirms Senor Canovas, the Premier. A special of Sunday from Madrid says: Tlie queen regent has confirmed Senor Canovas, the premier, in his ministerial powers, and the cabinet will remain in office with personnel and policy unchanged. All of the leading members of the senate and of the chamber of deputies who were consulted by her majesty have advised the recall of Captain General Weyler from Cuba. At a cabinet council at his residence Senqr Canovas, the premier, announc ed that the queen regent had renewed his powers and those of the cabinet in terms most flattering to him and to all his colleagues. TO INVESTIGATE WATTS’ CONDUCT Governor Ellerbe, of South Carolina, Names Members of a Court of Inquiry. Governor Ellerbe, of South Caro lina, has appointed the court of in quiry to sit in General Watts’ case. The court will meet at Columbia and take the evidence. The court consists of Brigadier Gen eral Joseph L. Stoppelbein, Summer ville, first brigade of cavalry; Colonel J. G. Wardlaw, Gafl'ney, third regi ment of infantry; Captain Henry T. Thompson, Darlington; Darlington Guards. Senator S. G. Mayfield, of Barnwell, as judge advocate general on the gov ernor’s staff, will prosecute the case. BANK PRESIDENT SUICIDES. McConnell, Accused of Crooked Transac* tlona, Puts Bulletiu His Bralu. At Ocala, Fla., Saturday afternoon, B. B. McConneir, the defaulting pres ident of the defunct Merchants’ Na tional bauk, sent a bullet crashing through his brain, dying instantly. The deed was committed at the home of his brother-in-law, W. K. McDonald, where he and his wife and mother wero taking dinner. It seems that the receiver of the Merchants’ National bank made some new developments in the hank’s busi ness that showed up very badly against McConnell. He at once com municated them to United States Com missioner D. S. Williams, who at once issued a warrant for McConnell’s ar rest. This was placed in the hands of a deputy United States marshal, who proceeded to McConnell’s residence. He learned there that the hank presi dent was at dinner at Mr. McDonald’s. When he went thither and read the warrant McConnell asked for permis sion to go up stairs and get his coat. In about two minutes the household was startled by the loud report of a pistol, and the fall of a heavy body on the floor told the talc. The officer rushed up stairs only to find McCon nell breathing his last with a big hole in the right side of his head over the ear and a smoking revolver still in his hand. TRIED TOKILL WHOLE FAMILY. Story of a Midnight Assault Supposed to Have Ended In Lynching. News has been received of a fiend ish crime which was perpetrated at Orangedale, Fla., about twenty miles from St. Augustine, in which an en deavor was made to murder a whole family. The details are meagre. The story is that a negro supposed to be Isaac Barrett, entered the home of H. J. Ilewsou, a farmer, and mur derously assaulted Mr. Hewson, his wife and seven-year-old son while they slept. All were hit on the head with a piece of scantling. The daughter, Miss Maggie, grap pled with the negro aud so bravely did she fight him that he lett the house. The son is said to be dying, but the parents may possibly recover. Later on Barrett was arrested aud the report is that a party of twelve men took the prisoner from the officers and a lynching was probably the result. CON DEM N S THE SHERI FF. Trouble at Urbana Laid at His Door, Caußing Him to Leave th© City’. A special from Urbana, Ohio, says that the city has resumed its normal condition and the scene has changed entirely. Immediately after the trouble Sher iff McLain and Captain Leonard left for Springfield. It was reported later that a mob of 150 was organizing to go to Springfield after the sheriff and such word went to Springfield, having the effect, it is said, of driving the sheriff off to Day ton. Threats of getting the body of Mitchell and burning it were freely made. Before being removed from the courthouse yard relic hunters had nearly cut the coat off the dead man. Every button was gone and even his shoes and stockings were taken off and carried away. GEORGIA DAY IN SENATE. Saturday Session the Occasion of Speeches By Bacon ami Clay. Saturday was Georgia’s day in the senate. The notable features of the tariff discussion during the day were furnished by the Georgia senators. Senator Clay delivered his maiden speech as a member of the body, and Senator Bacon spoke at length upon a feature or the tariff of special interest to Georgia. This was the lumber schedule, and in favoring the tariff on lumber as against a motion to put it on the free list, Senator Bacon took emphatic grounds against the doctrine of- free raw materials, as did Senator Olay, in the more elaborate speech in which he discussed this and other features of the tariff'measure. ASK BARRETT’S RETENTION. President McKinley Receives a Telegram from Bangkok. A cablegram from Bangkok to the Associated Press says that the Ameri cans of Siam have signed a unanimous petition asking President McKinley to retain John Barrett as United States minister to Siam. The dispatch is signed: “Hays, Bennette, committee.” PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS. Names Aro Sent t the Senate by McKinley For Confirmation. The president has sent the following nominations to the senate: Andrew Barlow, of Missouri, to be consul general to the city of Mexico. Harold S. Van Buren, of New Jer sey, to be consul at Nice, France. Carl Bailey Hurst, of the District of Columbia, now- consul at Paraguay, to be consul general at Vienna, Austria. Henry V. Morgan, of Louisiana, to be consul at Horgen, Switzerland. William W. Canada, of Indiana, to he consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico. Louis A. Pradt, of Wisconsin, to be assistant attorney general. HOMER, GA.: SATURDAY. JUNE 13. 1897. SHOT DOWN BY THE 111 LYNCHERS IN' OHIO FIRED UPON RY STATE TROOPS. TWO MEN WERE KILLED OURIGHT. slob, However, .Succeeds In Swinging Up Negro Convicted of Criminal Assault Upon a White Woman. Two men were killed and ten wound ed by a company of the Ohio National Guard at Urbana, 0., at an early hour Friday morning. The soldiers were attemping to save Charles Mitchell, the colored assailant of Airs. Eliza Gatimer, from the hands of an infuriated mob, but their efforts were unavailing. Mitchell was taken from the jail at 7:30 o’clock a. m., and hanged to a tree in the courtyard. The dead are: Harvey Bell, Urbana, instantly killed; Upton Baker, farmer north of Urlmna. The fatally wounded are: Wesley Bowen, Cable; Zaeh Wank, Urbana. Less seriously wounded: Dennis Graney, Urba; Dr. Charles Thomson, North Lewisbury; S. S. Deaton, Ur bana, serious; John McKeever, Urba na, painful; Bay McClnre, Urbana, painful. In addition to this list, it is feared that Airs. Eliza Gaumer, who was as saulted by the negro, will not recover and several of the injured are in a se rious condition. There is intense feeling against some of the officials and further complications are appre hended. One week ago Mrs. Gaumer was assaulted in daylight at her home in Urbana. She was prostrated and felt the disgrace. She requested her son to announce that she was assaulted for robbery. It was given out that Alitchell at tempted to force her to sign a cheek for SSOO. But- as Airs. Gaumer’s con dition became more serious, the facts became known. Alitchell was first held for robbery, but on last Wednes day he was arraigned for assault. Airs. Gaumer was nnable to appear in court, and the hearing was held at her home. As Alitchell entered her room, she raised up in bed and exclaimed: “The brute, hang him. How dare you face me again, you brute?” Soon after the identification on Wed nesday, there was talk of lynching. Crowds surrounded the jail that night and the sheriff aud local militia had trouble protecting the prisoner. Thurs day a grand jury was empaneled and it soon returned an indictment for criminal assault. Alitchell, disguised in a soldier’s uniform, was carried from jail into court. He waived the reading of the indictment, pleaded guilty and was promptly sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary, the limit for assault. The trial was over before 9 o’clock, when an attempt was made to take Alitchell to Columbus on the train at 10 p. m. But the crowds were about the courthouse and jail and when the carriage drove up the crowd made a rush for the jail. The militia drove the people back, but the crowd soon increased in fury as well as in numbers, so that Sheriff AlcLean and the troops had all they could do to hold the jail at that time. It was 1:35 o’clock Friday morning when the first attack was made on the jail. The soldiers opened fire on the mob and twenty volleys were poured into the advancing crowd with the re sults as above stated. The attacking party retired, hut the sight of the dead and injured infuria ted them and the crowd soon rallied. The final attack on the jail was made at 7 o’clock. The mob which had grown in num bers at the break of day, seeing the way opeu, secured a large sledge ham mer and started for the jail. The ham mer w as n&t needed, as Sheriff McLean delivered the keys and the crowd soou found Mitchell’s cell. A rope was thrown around the ne gro’s neck and was dragged out into the yard. The rope was then thrown over one of the limbs of a tree. Mitch ell was jerked up unlil his head struck the limb. His neck was broken and his body dropped to the ground. The crowd repeated the jerking several times until they were sure he was dead. AGAINST NIGHT WORK. Southern Cotton Spinners Will Meet To Curtail Output of Mills. The coming meeting of the Southern Cotton Spinners’ Association at Char lotte, N. C., is of unusual importance to the cotton mills of the south. Some measures are to be adopted to curtail the production of yarns by re ducing the hours of labor. The asso ciation hopes to stop night work in yarn mills altogether. One of the board of governors says that unless the mills now running at night agree to discontinue the prac tice, the other mills will advertise that they run only in the daytime and make a more uniform class of goods than is possible to produce at night. SHERMAN MAY RE DEPOSED. Humors Current in Washington That Mc- Kinley Will Freeze Him Out. Another cabinet rumor is afloat in Washington. It is that John Sher man is to be shoved out of the cabinet to make way for Judge Day. The prediction is freely.made that Sher man will be forced to resign before the end of the year. The rumor is to the effect also that the same crowd tbit pushed the old man out of the senate by putting him into the cabinet chair, which he did not w ant, is behind this latest move. As it is, Air. Sherman is very little consulted about matters of state. He has been entirely relieved of the Cuban diplomatic matters, these being put in the hands of Judge Day, who is in constant conference with the president. From those conferences Secretary Sherman is quietly excluded. AlcKin ley has been persuaded that it is not safe to confide anything to Sherman, whose garrulity is continually getting him into trouble. Sherman feels his position keenly but can say nothing. THREE FRIENDS LIBERATED. •Judge Decided That the Kvidence Was Insufficient. In the United States court at Jack sonville, Alonday, Judge Locke hand ed down a decision in the Three Friends’ ca.-,e, charged with violating the neutrality laws. In giving the decision Judge Locke said: “The court in examining the evidence in the case fails to find any testimony showing that the vessel was fitted out and armed within the limits of the United States. It does not show that she was loaded with arms and ammunition within fifteen or twenty miles of the sbore.” Three other cases are pending against the vessel, but they are likely to be dismissed, as the evidence is much the same as in the present case. The district attorney will await ad vices from Washington as to what fu ture action to take in the present case. ORIGINAL PACKAGE EXPLAINED. Constable Says That Bottles Sold la South Carolina Must Be Stamped. A Columbia dispatch says: The ques tion of what constitutes an original package has been disturbing all South Carolina since Judge Simonton's de cision. It was settled Alonday so far as the state authorities are concerned until, at least, the courts pass upon it. Chief Constable Bahr, of Charleston, held a conference v T ith officials in that city after which he said that unless othenvise instructed he would seize all liquors when a person attempted to open a box and sell from it one or more bottles, provided those bottles did not have upon them separate gov ernment stamps. In that case they will not be molested. According to the understanding now prevailing any number of bottles may be sold individually so long as they have separate stamps upon them. Chief Bahr states that already he has seized and dumped a considerable amount of beer in Charleston, the par ties attempting to sell it by the drink from kegs. THE TRUTH HARD TO GET. Commissioner Calhoun Says It Was Im possible to Secure Information. William J. Calhoun, who was sent to Cuba as a special commissioner to investigate the circumstances of the death in prison of Dr. Ruiz, an Amer ican citizen, reached New York on his return Monday. In a conversation,Mr. Calhoun said: “The island of Cuba is rapidly being devastated by cruel and civil war, so that in a short time it will not be worth anything to anyone. It is difficult to get at the exact situa tion there. In the first place there is severe censorship of the press and those who are naturally friendly to the Cubans hardly dare to express their views and opinions. Furthermore the adherents of both sides are exceeding ly intense. They tell their stories just as you want them to believe them. Appeal From Cubans. A special to the New York Herald from Havana says a strange appeal on behalf of the starving recontrados in Matanzas, who excited the sympathy of General Lee and Commissioner Cal houn, is made to the people of the United States. The petition is head ed: “A Petition to the People of the United States.” It is now on its way to Washington. DOCTOR SUSPECTED OF MURDER. Kilpatrick Is Thought to Have Killed Joe Spriuz and is Arrested. A telegram received Monday night announces the arrest of Dr. J. J. Kil patrick on suspicion of being the oqe who murdered Joe Sprinz, bookkeeper for Davis & Marks, merchants of Mid ville, near Savannah, on the night of May 7th last. Dr. Kilpatrick, a well known phy sician of Midville, an unmarried man, aged about 35 years, of fine intelli gence and handsome appearance, was suspected of the deed in a day or two after the murder, and he has been shadowed by a well known detective ever since. FOUGHT LUMBER SCHEDULE. WHITE PINE CAUSES POLITICAL LINES TO BE DRAWN. FAILED TO GET ON FREE LIST. Paragraph In Tariff Bill Relating to Lum ber Was the Most Stubbornly Contested, so Far. The senate Monday disposed of the lumber paragraph, which has been more stubbornly contested than any feature of the bill thus far, by defeat ing the motion of Senator Vest to place white pine on the free list—yeas 20, nays 38. The contest was mainly significant in breaking party lines which have been maintained with few exceptions during the early stages of the debate. On the final vote eight democratic senators voted against Mr. Vest’s prop osition, namely: Messrs. Bacon and Clay, of Georgia; McEnery, of Louisiana; McLaurin and Tillman, of South Carolina; Martin, of Virginia; White, of California, and Rawlins, of Utah. On the other hand, Air. Carter, republican, and Messrs. Cannon and Mantle, silver republicans, voted for the Vest motion. Following this a vote to substitute the Wilson lumber schedule was de feated—2l to 37—and the schedule was agreed to as reported. The debate preceding the vote was at times very breezy, owing to the break of political lines. The consideration of the tariff bill was resumed soon after the session opened and the discussion proceeded on the paragraph laying a duty of §2 per 1,000 feet on lumber. Mr. Allen, populist, of Nebraska, moved to substitute the provisions of the Wilson bill, which placed lumber on the free list. The senator spoke in particular against restoring white piue to the dutiable list, urging that the rates were designed to be prohibi tory against Canadian pine. There was nothing, be said, in the “clap trap argument” of American high wages, as the wages of lumber men in Cauada were on the whole higher than in the United States. .■ Mr. Berry,of Arkansas,spoke against restoring the duty on white pine. He had been appealed to by the lumber interests of his own state to support the duty, but he could not do it when it laid such heavy tribute on the agri culturitl people of the western states. Mr. Bacon, of Georgia, who sup ported the lumber duty, reminded Mr. Berry that his (Bacon’s) support was due to the fact that the duty was a revenue rather than a protective rate. • Mr. Berry responded with " a vehe ment arraignment of the bill, framed, he said, in ’the interest Of every trust and combination in the country. Mr. Caffery, of Louisiana, opposed the duty on white pine and incident ally criticised the position of Mr. Ba con, of Georgia, who, he said, favored a protective duty. This the senator from Georgia denied. Mr. Caffery announced his opposi tion to all protective duties. He fa vored the imposition of pure revenue duties. Mr. Jones, of Arkansas, character ized as absurd the claim that this country was being “flooded” byforeign manufacturers of lumber in the face of the fact that but $7,500,000 worth of lumber was imported last year against $540,000,000 consumed. APPROVED BY BUSIINELL. Ohio Governor Says the Military Did Their Duly at ITrbana. Governor Bushtell of Ohio, in a letter to the press, says: “The members of the national guard at Urbana did their duty and are entitled to the support of the state. Lamentable as the resulfs are their efforts were made to maintain the ma jesty of the law and they should be upheld by all the people.” Adjutant General Axline says: “A careful examination at Urbana fails to show the national guard’s con duct was anything but that of courage and obedience as soldiers, and when the jmblic is in full possession of all the facts, the unwarranted criticisms that have gone out to the world will be speedily corrected.” Trial of Shriver Postponed, The trial of John Shrivel - , corre spondent of The New York Mail and Express, indicted for contempt in con nection with the sugar investigation, did not begin at Washington Monday. Distvict.Attorney Davis asked and ob tained a postponement until Tuesday week on account of the absence of two important witnesses. Taylor Delk On Trial. Seven men with guns reached At lanta Monday and carried Taylor Delk and his son, Tom Delk, to Zebulon, Ga,, where the father was placed ou trial Tuesday morning for murder. Delk’s attorney sought to get a change of venue but was unsuccessful. NO. 10. FAURE IS RESERVED. French President Withholds His Views On Monetary Question. A Baris special says: It is learned from an authorized source that the let ters of credence presented to Presi dent Faure by Senator Edward O. Wolcott, of Colorado, and his col leagues of the United States monetary commission, designate them as minis ters plenipotentiary to France, Great Britain and Germany, with the mis sion in concert with the United States ambassadors to those countries to dis cuss monetary questions and come to some agreement on bimetallism. President Faure carefully avoided making a statement to them at the audience which he accorded to the commissioners at the Elysee palace on Wednesday last, which might be interpreted as a promise to take any steps in tho matter. Before the com missioners left the palace ho invited them to share his box at the race for the grand prix de Paris. No doubt the government of France is friendly to the American nation, but nothing tangible will be done beyond the expressions of sympathy and the assurance that the matter will be se riously studied. IN MEMORY OF AMERICANS. Cuban Sympathizers Hold a Housing Meeting In Washington. A large crowd gathered at the Na tional theater at Washington, D. C., Friday night to attend the Cuban meeting in memory of Americans who have sacrificed their lives for Cuba. Speeches were made by representa tives Swanson, of Virginia, and Green, of Nebraska, and others. Air. Green declared that not only should the belligerency resolution be passed by congress, but Spain should be given so many days to take her sol diers from the island. He made light of the probability of war with Spain, and said that if she declared war against the United States 3,000,000 swords would spring from their scabbards ready to figlit and the blue and gray would march together to the music of “Dixie.” Resolutions were adopted calling for a prompt recognition of Cuban bellig erency and arraigning all who make the “honor and glory of the nation and the demands of the people sub servient to the interests of the Spanish bondholders and the sugar trust.” WHITE FACED DEATH COOLY. Ascended tlic Scaffold Nonclialently Smok ing a Cigarette. With a cigarette in his mouth, Hen ry White, the murderer of Police Offi cer William Jackson, cooly descended into the yard of the Muscogee jail at Columbus, Ga., Friday to pay the death penalty for his deed. The young man was more composed than any member of the party which escorted him to the gallows. Not once did he show the white .feather during the loug hours of the last day of his confinement and at his death the culmination of his wonder ful display of nerve was reached. He made no speech—simply bade those about him “goodby.” The trap was sprung at 1:32 and at 1:42 White was pronounced dead. His neck was not broken. DURRANT HANGING POSTPONED. Judge Gives Attorneys Permission to Ap peal From Ilia Decision. A San Francisco special says: Theo dore Dnrrant will not be hanged on next Friday. His attorneys have gained for him a new lease of life for four months at least, and the condemned man made merry in his cell when he heard the cheerful news. He had become resigned to his fate, when information was received at the prison that Judge Gilbert, of the United States circuit court, had grant ed his attorneys permission to appeal to the United States supreme court from his order previously made deny ing the application for a writ of habeas corpus, UNLOADED THE GUN, But In Doing So a Young Boy Kills His Two Sisters. At Greene, la., the 15-year-old son of L. Schwartz, while attempting to unload a gun, discharged the weapon, killing his two sisters. The bullet passed through the neck of oue sister and struck the other sister just above the heart. A DAY OF SPEECHES. A Resolution Passed For tlie Benefit of South Carolina. The senate had a period of speech making Friday and as a result little progress was made on the tariff bill. A resolution aiming at a solution of the South Carolina dispensary muddle, and for which Mr. Tillman has con contended for, was passed. It reads as follows: “ Resolved, That the committee on the ju diciary be directed to consider and report, by bill or otherwise, what legislation, if any, is necessary to give full effect to the purpose of the act approved August 8, 1890, entitled ‘An net to limit the effect of the regulations of commerce between the several states and with foreign countries in certain cases.’”