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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.