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1 RAY OF LIGHT
[FINALLY SHOWS
In Investigation of “Shooting Up”
of Town of Brownsville.
[four RIFLES produced
(which Were Used in the Affray an
I Only the Negro Soldiers Who Hand
led Them are Now Wanted.
A Washington dispatch says: Four
rides from Company B, Twenty-Fifth
infantry, we re used m the Browns
vilie affray, if the ordinance depart
ment of the army can substantiate re
ports sent to tho senate committee on
military affairs Monday concerning
rhe microscopic, examinations of the
thirty-three shells picked up in the
streets of the town on ihe morning
following the shooting.
All of the rifles in the possession
of the batalion at Fort Brown on
the night of August 13 were sen: to
the Springfield arsenal, and two shots
were fired from each. The shells
used were then compared with those
picked up at Brownsville, and the
officers making the tests reported that
it has been demonstrated beyond dis
pute that four guns of Battery B were
used m discharging all of the thirty
three shells. The reports were made
a part of the committee records, and
Lieutenant Hawkins ; of the ordnance
department, and O. A. Spooner, expert
inspector of gauges, used in the manu
facture of muskeis at the Springfield
arsenal, are ready to go on tho stand
to explain their reports and be cross
examined concerning them.
Two of Company B’s rifles, said to
have been used in the affray, wsre
kept in the store house under lock,
the key of which was in the posses
sion of Former Quartermaster Ser
geant Walker McCurdy, and the other
two rifles were said to have been
issued to Privates John L. Wilson and
Thomas Taylor. Senator Foraker im
mediately had subpenas issued for
Taylor and Wilson, and for the re
call of McCurdy. He also asked that
the war department be insuacted to
send for Lieutenant Laurison, who
commanded Company B at the time
of the affray. Secretary Taft, in a
letter to the committee, pointed out
that the men who did Hie shooting
may have used any guns they could
secure, and that 7 aylor and Wilson
cannot be held to be guilty because
of the showing made by the tests at
the arsenal.
No memb< rs of the Twenty-Fifth in
fantry were examined at Monday’s
session, and no direct bearing on the
shooting except that of Henry Wat
son. a private of company M . Twenty
sixth infantry. He testified that he
was left behind as a guard at the post
when the Twenty-Sixth infantry mov
ed out. and that he saw loose shells
of both the Krag ar.d Springfield type
lying about the barracks He said
that he also saw 38-caliber revolver
ammunition lying around, and that the
barracks were open so that citizen i
could secure access to this ammuni
tion. On cross-exsmination ho ad
mitted that it was always easy for
stldiers to secure extra ammunition if
they desired it
The committee took up the question
of going to Brownsville in connec
tion-with the investigation. It was de
cided that it probably will be neces
sary to visit Brownsville, but no ac
tion was taken towards fixing a time
for the trip.
GEORGIAN CAN4L ZONE JUDGE.
President Appoints Coiuinbus Attorney to
Position in Panama.
Governor Terrell has named twen
ty-five well known Georgians to at
tend the convention of the Progressive
Union of New Orleans, which meets
in that city on March 25.
The convention is to be composed
of Southern and gulf coast states and
the relation of this territory to the
new Panama canal is to be discussed
fully.
GEORGIA TROOPS IN DEMAND.
Department Wants four Batteries of Artil
lery and four Infaniry < ompanics.
A Washington dispatch says: The
governor of Georgia has been request
ed by the war department to desig
nate, from an.ong the state militia,
four butteries of heavy artillery to act
,is coast artillery reserves, and four
companies of infantry to act as nun
ports for the coast defenses at Sa
vannah.
These troops are invited to go to
Foit Screven in July and receive"in
structions.
NEARLY SCORE DROWNED
As Result of Fire in Flooded District of
Wheeling—Water Prevented
Rescue of V.ctims.
Figiiteon persons are known to
have lost tlieir lives in a fire that oc
curred Saluiday morning at lhe plant
of the Warwick Pottery company,
at Wheeling. W. Va., which is locat
ed in the flooded district.
Pecause of the water sunounding
the burned district, it was impossi
ble for the fire apparatus to reach
the scene. The firemen pressed into
service ail the aoats that could be
secured and curried the lines of hose
to the burning building by this means.
They did heroic work, and not only
fought the fire, but assisted iu res
cuing many persons.
The crew of a boat that was moor
ed across the river from the build
ing manned a yawl and rescued incut
one hundred persons
During the progress of the fire the
scene was most frightful The
screams for help of those ia ihe build
ings could be heard aj far as the
steel bridge a mile novib, where
thousands of persons unable to lend
any assistance watched the blaze.
Had the drowned persons remained
in their homes none of them would
have met death. The buildings oc
cupied by the unfortunate victim:!
ware not touched by the flames.
Heavy Flcod Loss at Pittsburg.
After three days of business stag
nation caused by a renuukably rapid
rise in. tho Moaongahe'.a, Allegheny
and Ohio rivers, which inur-drued more
than ten square miles of Pittsburg,
Pa., conditions have about assumed
their normal trend With the excep
tion of lowlands below the city, the
water has subsided to iis natural
course.
The loss In ihe D ittsburg dutrict is
estimated a!; $10,000,000. Reports
from up-river points increase the dam
age by the Rood in western Pennsyl
vania at lca*i SSOOOO.
The exact number of fatalities catis
td by the high water has not yet been
ascertained. Saturday additional re
portf cf many deaths were received
by the coroner from the surrounding
towns. However, the reports have
not as yet been verified.
Flood Pecedes at Wheeling.
At Wheeling the waters began to re
cede Saturday night, leaving the city
coveted with wreckage. The debris
is so great in some sections of the
city that it v ill be days before the
streets can b3 used.
The llood was higher than anticipat
ed. and as a result much carnage was
done. It is estimated that the dam
age sustained in Wheeling alone will
be over $3,000,000. So great has tha
damage been to local Industrial plants
that it will be weeks before they will
be able to resume operations
There is a great deal of suffering,
but prompt steps have been taken to
alleviate this.
AVIVtIINiIION EASILY SECURED.
One Line of Delense of Negro Soldiers is
Effectively Mattered.
A Washington dispatch says: Evi
dence shattering one line of defense
of the negro troops accused of shoot
ing up Brownsville, Texas, was given
Lefoia the seiate committee on mili
tary affairs by Rowland Osborn, post
quartermaster sergeant at Fort Brown,
Twenty-sixth Infantry, occupying the
barracks which were later occupied
by the Twenty-fifth (coiored).
It has been testified that the ne
gro soldiers had no possible way of
securing extra ammunition without
the knowledge of their superior of
ficers. Sergeant Osborn testified that
it is the simplest thing in the world
for soldiers to accumulate ammuni
tion for their own use; that it can
be done by men saving ammunition
they do not use on hunting trips or
at target practice. He said that this
is often done.
it bad been contended that the
shooting up of the town by the negro
soldiers was highly improbable be
cause they could not have gotten the
shells and cartridges. Sergeant Os
tern’s testimony contradicts flatly
such a defense.
WARNING GIVEN 10 NEWSPAPER
ay Postoibce Department Regarding Pub*
f.cation of a Prize Scheme.
Publishers of the Daily States, an
afternoon paper of New Orleans, has
been warned by the postoffice deparfc
ment that a schema in which prizes
were offered for identifying a man
representing the paper was plain lot
tery and that all papers containing
matter pertaining to ihe cculest would
be excluded from the mails. The rul
ing of the department, however, arriv
ed after the contest hal closed.
PUBLIC LINES
IS SUGGESTED
By Georgia's Governor-Elect to
Curb the Railroads.
MAKES SPEECH ON RATES
At Annaal Banquet of Merchants/
Manufacturers' and Shippers' As
sociation in Cincinnati.
Governor-elect Hoke Smiih of Geor
gia delivered the chief address ou
Thursday night at the annual ban
quet in Cincinnati of the Merchants',
Manufacturers’ and Shippers’ Associa
tion.
Mr. Smith discussed the transporta
tion problem and attributed the evils
of the present day to those who are
suffering from them, the business
men, as a result of their failure to
take an active part in political affairs
and demand tne passage of legislation
prohibiting the issuing of fictitious
railroad securities and preventing rail
loads from forcing the public to be
taxed to pay dividends on such wa
tered stocks and bonds.
He contended that additional pow
ers should be given ihe interstate
commerce commission and the various
state railroad commissions and de
clared that something should be done
to prevent the courts from being so
ready to block remedial legislation
with injunctions.
Taking up the situation In Cincin
nati and rates charged from that city
to the southeast, Mi. Smith declared
that Georgia will certainly extend its
railroad to reach tidewater and said
that he believed that if a tail road,
owned by cities or states, were built
between Chicago and Cincinnati, this
in connection with tho Western and
Atlantic would control such a large
volume of business that the Cincin
nati Southern, owned by Cincinnati,
but operated by the Southern railway
under a long term lease, would be
forced to terms, and that this com
tination could give suen rates from
the lakes to the South Atlantic coast
as to force all competing lines to
charge only rates representing a just
income on a fair valuation of their
assets. Mr. Smith said in pait:
“Facilities furnished and rates
charged by the railroad companies
regulate almost the entire movement
of person and property. Most men
can stay at home and avoid high pas
senger rates and poor accommoda
tions, but freight rates and facilities
enter necessarily into every avenue
cf life.
“The farmer must depend upon the
railroad company for much that he
usts to make his crop, and again he
must depend upon it to ship his crop
to the market. As the rates are high
and the facilities poor, the net profit
which comes to him from iiis labor
is lessened, and the value of his farm
decreased.
"The merchant buys his goods in
one market and frequently ships them
from his store to a distant market to
supply his customers. Freight rates
and ircight facilities rest as a con
stant burden upon his business.
'“The manufacturer gathers raw ma
terial from all over the land and ships
ike perfected product of his factory
to distant states. Freigat rates and
ireight facilities iorm a most import
ant part in defeimining whether his
efforts shall be crowned with success
or failure
“Tbe control of the railroads of the
country has passed from trained rail
road operators to bankers, who spec
ulate in railroad stocks. A notable re
sult of this condition is a withdrawal
of authority from the local manage
ment and local superintendents, the
reduction of salaries to those actually
doing the work of transportation, uid
ihe dwarfing of the power ar.d capaci
ty of the men upon whose manage
ment the public must immediately de
pend. To this, at least in part, i;< due
tne recent tendency towards a less
efficient service.”
ANTITRUST LAWS SCARE ICE MEN.
No Prices of Frozen Commodity Fixed at
Atlanta Convention.
Anti-trust legislation and the activ
ity of the muck raker caused the dele
gates to the convention of the South
ern Ice Exchange held in Atlanta to
decide against organization for the
purpose cf regulating prices.
As has been the case every year,
the question of higher prices was
thoroughly discussed, but it wa.3 de
cided that It would not be wise to
take any step3 along this line.
SOUTH CAROLINA PLAN
Of Securing Immigrants Can Be Legal
ly Folfowed Until First of
July, Say Authorities.
A Washington dispatch says; Infor
mation given out Wednesday renders
it clear that tho immigration authori
ties as one result of the several con
ferences recently held, in which the
1-iesident. Secretary Strauss, Attorney
General Bonaparte, Commissioner of
Immigration Sargent and prominent
men of tho south have participated,
will interpret the existing immigra
tion law as it was interpreted in the
South Carolina case.
The attorney general has held that
the immigrants landed at Charleston,
S. C., last November are legally in
this country. They were Induced to
come to America by authorized agents
of the state of South Carolina and
the passage money of some, at least,
of them was paid by. the state, and
of others by contributions of citi
zens.
Several other southern states have
decided to seek immigrants along the
same lines as were followed by South
Carolina, and it is understood they
will not be interfered with in tho
cairymg out of their plans prior to
the first of next July, ou which date
the act of February 20, 1907, will be
come effective. In other words, such
immigrants as present themselves to
the ports of this country before July
Ist, next, under conditions the same
as surround those who arrived at
Charleston, S. C., last November,
will be permitted to land.
Meantime Attorney General Bona
parte will examine carefully the new
immigration law and will prepare an
in-urpretation of it for tho guidance
of the administration and the south
ern states. It Is quite certain that
the states, under tho new law, will be
permitted to advertise the advantages
to immigrants of locating within their
borders, but wdiether tho state au
thorities are to bo permitted to go
to the extent of furnishing immigrants
with transportation to this country
is yet problematical.
It is the tpinion of Attorney Gen
eral Bonaparte that they will be
permitted to do so, but he expects
further to examine the law In the
iight of the decisions of the courts
and render to the president a formal
opinion on the subject before the
law shall become effective.
SCHOOLS KEOPtNED 10 JAPS
By 'Frisco Authorities in Compliance With
Premise to Roosevelt.
The San Francisco board of educa
tion, keeping its word with President
Roosevelt,Wednesday unanimously re
scinded tha resolution of last October
by which the Japanese were segregat
ed in the public schools and adopted
an alternative resolution in accord
ance with the understanding reach
ed at the Washington conference be
tween the president, Secretary Hoot,
the school board and Mayor Schmitz.
The board then sent the following
telegra*i;
‘‘At a regular meeting of the board
of education hedd this afternoou, a
resolution as agreed upon with you
was adopted unanimously. Certified
copy was given to United States Dis
trict Attorney Devlin.”
The president having telegraphed
Mayor Schmitz Tuesday that he
would direct Mr. Devlin to dismiss
the suit against the board In the
United States circuit court and the
supreme court of California as soon
as the action stated 3hould be taken
by the board, members of that body
look upon the Japanese incident as
now closed in so far as San Fran
cisco is concerned. There is, however,
it is stated, an unwritten reservation
to the effect that should the presi
dent’s reciprocal promises to the
board regarding discretionary restric
tion of coolie immigration to Cali
fornia not be carried out, the board
may feel at liberty to readopt the
resolution and again segregate Jap
anese.
WORK OF MO3 INtIOUISIANx.
Two Negroes Lynched for t hooting and
Robbing Couple of Italians.
Flint Williams and Henry Gardner,
two young negroes, were taken from
the Monroe, La., jail about 1 o’clock,
Friday morning, and hanged in the
court house square by a party of
at'out fifty men. Beth negroes con
fessed to havii g, with ,i third negro,
shot and robed the two Italians on
Monday night
Gardner also confessed to having
entered the room of Miss Jessie Bum
pus about 3 o'clock Thursdiy morn
ing.
STATES FEARER
BY RAILROADS
Is Reason of Their Willingness for
Government Control
IS ASSERTION OF BRYAN
Nebraskan Gives His Views Regarding
Conference Sought by Railway
Magnates With Roosevelt.
W illiam J. Bryan spent an hour in
Buffalo, N. Y., en routs from Beaver,
l'a., to Dinghampton Wednesday, to
till a lecture engagement. He waa
met by National Committeeman Nor
man E. Mack, who remained with
him until his departure for Binghamp
ten at g:ls o’clock on the Erie i£x-
I#ress Mr. fcryan was asked:
“What Is your opinion of the pro
posed conference between President
Roosevelt and tho railroad presi
dents?”
Mr Bryan replied: “The republican
leaders object to the doctrine, ‘With
the consent of the governed,’ in tho
Philippines, but some of them seem
to think that nothing can bo done
In the regulation of railroads with
out the consent of the railroad man
agers. The important part of that
announcement, however, is that tlie
lailroad managers want ihe supervis
ion of the railroads transferred to the
federal government, that they may
avoid state legislation, and this con
tradicts the president's theory that
the corporations favor stato rights aa
a way of avoiding federal control.
On his arrival in Binghampton he
was asked what effect the Harriman
and other Investigations would have
on the agitation in favor of govern
ment ownership or management of
railroads, and rspiled:
“The most Interesting phase of the
situation just now is the refusal of
the people to lend money freely to
tho railroads. The railroad managers
say that this is due to hostile legisla
tion, but this is a mistake. There has
been no hostile legislation of suffi
cient Severity to impair the real value
cf railroad securities whero the rail
roads have been honestly conducted,
upon an honest capitalization, if the
investing public is alarmed it is be
cause the railroad managers, in a
vain effort to terrorize the legisla
tures, have carried matters too far.
"If any oLher answer is needed for*
the hesitancy on tho part of the in
vestors tho investigations furnish it,
for the inquiries have shown to what
extent railroad stocks have been wa
tered. But what is tho alternative?
Must the government refuse to inves
tigate rotten management, for fear
the mismanaged railroad no longer
will be able to fool the public into
buying inflated securities? The soon
ei tne railroads are put on an honest
basis the more secure will the invest
ing public feel.”
MIDNIGHT WEDDING IN COURT
Man Acquitted of Murder Marries Woman
Who Was Cause of Killing.
About midnight .Tuesday in the
court room at Shreveport, La.,
where he had five minutes before been
declared not guilty of murder Lee
Brock was married to Mrs. Hattie Kel
ley, the woman in defense of whose
reputation he did the killing* which
caused the trial. The jurymen who
had acquitted him were the witnesses
and tho judge performed the cere
mony. The jury donated the license.
Brock shot I. A. Bickham last sum
mer, alleging that he cursed Mrs. Kel
ley.
RUSSIA MURDERS MVt PER (JAY.
Gruesome Record of Drumhead Court c4r
tints in tteniglited tmpire.
Statistics published in St Peters
burg regarding the drumhead court
martials show that up to March 5,
when the activity was suspended by
Premier Stolypin on account of the
opening of parliament, 764 persons
were exeucated, an average of almost
five daily.
COMER APPROVES “UNWKIfIEN LAW.”
Governor of Alabama Pardons Man Who
Killed His Daughter’s Seducer.
*‘l pardon this man because hs kill
ed a man for seducing his 16-ycar-old
aaughter. Let his civil and political
rights be restored
In these words Governor Comer of
Alabama declared himseif as an ad
vocate of the unwritten Taw when bo
if sued executive clemency to W. EL
Shill of Bibb county, sentenced to fif
teen years for the murder of a young
man named Bass.