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Americus Recorder. ESTABLISHED 1879. AMERICUS. GEORGIA, FRIDAY. MARCH lb, 1891. PLAY BALL! SAYS ALL GEORGIA, AND AMERICUS IS IN IT. We Hive the Material-And Everybody la Anxious for* BUrt—The Boys Are More Then Willing -And We Will Surely Have Miaj Games. Play ball! That’s what everybody In Ameri- cus says. play ball! So echoes all Georgia. The news comes from Macon, Atlanta, Augusta, Brunswlok, Ath ens, ami Savannah that the local players, and the other lovers of the great American game, are taking rig ht hold of the matter, and have already begun working with a view to organizing teams for the purpose of joining the Slate League. During the life of the old South ern League, Georgia hod by far tlio best teams in the field, and many of the players who composed it have since taken their places amoug some of the highest priced ba<e- ballists of the North and West. It is a fact worthy of notice that amoug the best and most famous players in the Georgia teams, at that time, were natives of the State, and many of them prominent busi ness men of the cities 111 which the clubs to which they bolonged were organized. < What is Americus going to do about it? That’s what the citizens here waut to know, and yesterday a re porter of The Recorder saw sev eral of the players who have de served reputations as baseballists, Many of our old players have left, but many new ones have come in, and a better team can be gotten up now than ever. Mr. O. A. Coleman is one of the best players to bo found anywhere, and if he will only spare a little of his valuable time, ho can make the movement a belter success than auyonc else. He kuows how to lead, and all are anxious for him to help in the matter. He was eeen, and is heartilyaju sympathy with the movement. Like all players lie is in love with the game, h it lie is not at a’l desirous of taking an active part In the movement. Other players were seen, such as Usury Allen, Tom Wlldraan, Har ry iioettings, John Ansiey, Charley Mize, Andy Mcl’herson. All of these are good players, and all are anxious to organize a team. But they want a mail like Mr. Coleman at the head of It. There are many other baseballists here, and every one of them seem enthused with the idea. The sea son is almost upon us, and l>y next week the boys will begin practic ing. Tlie cities above mentioned have all been agitating the question of a State League, and Americus may be considered 111 it. The people here never do things by halves. They want base ball, and if a State League is formed, our city will cer tainly be in It. Tlie Atlanta management are anxious to hear from the towns wishing to join the proposed League and a meeting will be called to or ganize and prepare for a season of enjoyment. A salary limit could be agreed upon if thought best, nnd home talent could be utilized, making it more Interesting than high-salaried players. Correspondence is solicited on tlie subject, and all letters addressed toT. \V. White, secretary, care of the Constitution, will be promptly attended to. The small boys have already be gun playing here, and the older people will start soon. Keep the movement going, and AinerlniiH will get there an she al ways does—with both feet. MEMORIAL DAY. WILL BE FITLY OBSERVED AMERICUS. | THAT NEW JAIL WILL BE READY FOR OCCUPANCY i BY FALL. Tho Ladies Leading in the Glorious Work—Their Meeting Yesterday— flHon. Charles IT. Crisp Will be the Orator. The County Commisaionera Will Have it Built as Quickly as Possible—And it Will be a Splendid One. Memorial day will be a grand suc cess in Americus. Tlie ladies of our city never forget to cons3ciate this day, and their noble work in this direction is worthy of the highest commenda tion. And their work is praised. All look upon their laborious ef forts with the highest admiration, and we know how eszeutiul in these thihgj are the splendid women of our city. Memorial day is one which it is the delight of all true-hearted men to help celebrate, and when our women lead the movement they are more than pleased to follow. April 20th is tlie date for these commemorating exercises, and tlie ladies have already begun the work of preparation. In Saturday’s Recorder appear ed a call for a meeting of the Ladies Memorial Association Monday af ternoon at 3 o’clock, in tlie Library rooms. The call was signed by Mrs. John R. Shaw, president, and Mrs. 8. A. Maxwell, secretary. Yesterday afternoon at tlie time ^mentioned, a large number of la dies met, aud the discussion of the &atter was taken up. Of course little else could be done at the first meeting, but tlie ladies moved rap idly, and practically set*led many matters. The most important of these was the selection of Hon. Charles F. Crisp, the Democratic leader, as orator of the occasion. This choice shows the great wisdom of the la dies, as a more acceptable speaker could uot have been chosen. He is a man whom all delight to hear, and now just returned from fresh triumphs it will be even more pleasing. He lias been notified of his selection, aud practically, but uot formally, accepted the Jnvita tiou. This insures tlie success of the day. The ladies meet again next Tues day afternoon, and will settle other matters which tney have in discus slon. Sol-1 Half Intoreat. Mr. (\ ,\. R e ii t 0 f tfiin place has been dealing extensively in rough and dressed lumber here and near Cordele, has sold a half interest in his mill business at tho Cordele mill to Mr. J. W. Glover. He says that he will soon retlie from tho business entirely. Opened Again. Under an order granted by Jus tice J. L. Adderton, tho citizens of East Americus went to work with willing bands and a determination on Thursday morning at seven o’clock, and a?aiu opened Lamar street, which crosses Jefiersou street in front of the old Jackson place. This has been «* street for a number of years, but the property owner* have recently decided to fence in their ground, but tho fence has been repeatedly torn away. The matter will be settled, we learn, by a high court before it will be satisfactory to both sides. A Fox Chas-. A «<irty of gentlemen, consisting Mr. Marsh Johnson, of Macon, Messrs. M. It. Council, John H. "alkerand several others, hail a Hue fox chase near Mr. Johnson's plantation on the river, yesterday morning. They succeeded in capt- ,ivc t end had a Hoe morning’s • Tho Position Defined. Sunday, the Marshall Division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Kn- gineers aud the Order of Railway Conductors held a joint session In the halls of the former. The cause of the meeting was to dually settle the matter between Ihe engineers ana tho management, which was fixed for the time several weeksago. There was no real trouble then and there is none now between tho en gineers and Mr. Mathews, hut to prevent any complications the meeting was held. A committee was appointed, who, with the sanction of the Grand Odicers, will iledne the |x sitlon of master of trains. This »ill exclude all possibility'of mistake, aud the last trouble, slight though It was, will uot be repeated. Liked Line. Lieut Wheeler captured two ne gro youths yesterday, who have been engaged in petty thieving for Unite a while. Their especial de light lias been to purloin brldli r. ins from l*ie teams hitched ii and around tho city. Complaint about tills has been heard for sev eral weeks, and yesterday Lieut. Wheeler located the work upon Lee McMichael and Dolly Dorsey, two young negroee. He caught them aud landed them in the lock up. Tlntf will he tried before Judge Pllsbury this after noon. Sumter county has long needed a new jail. The present one is a shame upon us, and is wholly inadequate to serve such a building. The Recorder has often men tioned this and often spoke for the people for a new jail. Every one has recognized that the building now used for a jail would not do for many reasons. It Is not so ar ranged as to make It very difficult for the occupants to get out, and escapes in the past have uot been infrequent. It is also impossible here to take the proper sanitary precautions, and on this account the prisoners have suffered a great deal of inconvenience. Our county officers have hem dilligent and have done the best they could, but they, as well as all others, have long since recognized the crying need of a new struct ure. The last grand jury, amoug other happy recommeudalious, came to the conclusion that a new jail must be had at once, and this was left to the county commissioners to pass upon. At a recent meeting the com missioners to»k up the recommend ation and fully concurred In the opinion that the county must have a now and better jail. They turned the matter over to Mr. J. W. Wheatley, one of their number,, who was given the work of securing bids on the work, be sides other matters connected with the start. A better choice could uot have been made to arrange those mat ters, and Mr. Wheatley has gone to work with a will. A reporter saw him yesterday, aud asked him about the work. “Bald he: “Well, as you know, a beginning has hardly been made. The commissioners passed upon the matter, and all were .heartily in fa- vorof the move. I was appointed to do some work, aud everything is progressing nicely. Of course lit tle has been done as yet, but mat ters are getting in shape, uud you can say by early winter, at the latest, Bumter will have as flue nnd well arranged jail as any county In the State. Work will be begun; In a month or two, as soon as things can be gotten in shape." So our county will soon have what she has long wanted. Then all our public buildings will com pare moBt favorably with those of any other city, nnd we will ho able to boast of the finest court house, city hall and jail to be found In this part of the State or any other. ALMOST ESCAPED. A JAIL DELIVERY PREVENTED BY GOOD WORK. ’ SUICIDED. A Glorious Clime. Vegetables are being enjoyed by many of the Americus people just now, and while a lktlo backward for tlie time of the year, they are earlier than most people arc accus tomed to. Radishes, lettuce, Kug- lish peas, etc., were on many tables Sunday, uud soon will be common dishes. Strawberries too were en joyed by many, but these wero all shipped. The early ciop ofjherries here was cut olT by tlie late cold snap. But for this native strawber ries would uow be found all arou nd. Sheriff Forrest end Deputy Lamar Make a Bonsational Diacovery—Fart of the Jail Burned—And the Prisoners Were to Have Left Last Night. A Ruta Baj?a Pyramid. Yesterday Mr. A. J. Buchanan purchased a wagon load of ruta bega turnips from Mr. Dorn, who lives uear Friendship. He built a pyramid of one hundred and eight, four feet aud u half high, twelve feet in circumference. The small est turnip weighs four and a half pounds while tlie largest pulls tlie scales to nine and a half. Mr. A. C. Bell says that tlie en tire lot is very near tlie size of his turnip, which the chickens now use as a roosting place. In the County Court. Tho Western Union Telegraph Company ghined another case in the county court yesterday. A Mr. Orchard, of Atlanta, sued for <100 for the non-delivery of a telegram some time in December last. He had no ess. at all, therefore he got left. Judge Pilsbury stated that he did Dot see why lawyers took such .uses as bus been brought be fore the court. There Is only one more case to be hoard from at tins point, that of Gun McCoIlougli, a negro, the decision of which is held up. Sheriff Forrest and Deputy Lamar esn’t be downed. Tney are two of the best officers tho county has ever bad, and but for their vigilance there would have been several prisoners less in the jail this morning. The escape was well planned and was to have taken place last night. Everything was ready, but (he afore mentioned gentlemen nipped the scheme in the bud. The work was going on In two different cells, and the jail birds thought to be at liberty to-day.. Messrs. Forrest aud Lamar ha"e special knowledge of the faults of the present jail, aud knowing of the many escapes which have taken place in the past, have made it a duty to carefully inspect every part of tho cells every two or three days. Yesterday they went through the structure again, and their careful ness prevented the escape of half a dozen of those incarcerated, As will be seen in another column six of the prisoners were carried off to a convict camp yesterday. Otto of those carried off was Lewis Moore, who was sentanced to twen ty years for rape upon a little negro girl at Plains. The cell occupied by Moore was in the northeast corner, aud with him were Andy Fletcher aud Itich- ard Hill. Fletcher was sentenced foi life and Hill was In far twenty years, found guilty of arson. This cell was the one in which the main attempt was made. After Moore aud the other ne groes were carried off" yesterday, tho sheriff and his deputy made a tour of the cells, and a thorough ex amination. Against one of the walls in this cell, was a chair over which was thrown n pair of pants in such a.mauuer as to hide part of the wall bohind. On moving this the plank9 were found to be loose, and were easily removed. Then a startling discovery was made. The Inside w as completely burned out, the logs which constitute the solid part beiug burned through end through for a distance of two feet. All that remained was the out side casing, which could be cut out In a few minutes with a pocket knife. It was an alariniugdiscovery, nnd they proceeded with the investiga tion. They found in the possession of the occupants a large spring dirk, sharp as a razor, and appearing as If mads for the purpose of cutting out. An almost full box of mntches was also found. The hnruiug had evidently been done off and on for several days. The prisoners had removed the in side planks, which was easy to do, and gradually burned out the logs. A loug string was found which explained how the dirk and match es were gotten. Borne friend had brought the articles to the jail, and they were brought up by means of the string. As nothing but the outsido plunks remained between the prisoners and liberty, it was evident that last night was meant to he the one in which to make the escape. The negroes protested innocence, saying that those who were carried oil were responsible. They stated that they begged them not to do it, and were going to inform tlie officers about it. Of course no credence was put iu their tale, and the occupants of I be cell were hestled out into another. JjJThe examination wan continued, and ill the southeast cell was found another burnt plane. This cell con tained Osborn Bullock and Lee Mc Michael, who was put In the day before for stealing buggy lines, a full account of which appeared in yesterday’s Recorder. Here the work had just been begun, and the negroes seemed to lie following the example set by the negroes in the other cell. These discoveries prevented seve ral negro criminals from being at large now, ami show not only how poor our jail is, hut that the occu pants are desperate aud will seize any means to escape. Help was certainly given them from tlie out side, nnd Jailor Pace will closely watch who come about. Those who venture around at night need not be surprised to receive a load of buckshot. Sumter county is to be congratu lated on having such officers, and their carefulness and diligence pre vented a big Jail delivery. JIM M’CORKLE TOOK MORPHINE AND DIED. ' He Passed Away Yesterday Afternoon— The Morphine Taken The Day Before —A Bad Case, Jim McCorkle is dead. That’s the news received In Americus yesterday afternoon, and which has caused so much mourn ing. Yesterday morning It was Btated that Mi. J. S. McCorkle, one of the most prominent of our young law yers, had attempted to commit sui cide the day before In Buena Vista. None who heard It had aDy idea that Ills life was in danger, and while regretting It thought that be would be back again In a day or two. But late the news was received that Jim McCorkle was dead. The people could hardly believe what they heard and mauy doubts were expressed as to the fact. But it was only too true, aud one of the brightest young lawyer* in Americus is uo more. There was a great deal ( f discus sion yesterday as to whether the death was caused by accident or was suicidal intent. The following special was received by The Re corder from Buena Vista: “McCorkle died this afternoon at 3 o'clock from an overdose of mor phine. He purchased au empty pint Mask from Max Altman yes terday at 1 o’clock, went to the cemetery, took the morphine, then placed the flask filled with water on the spot where he wished to be buried. He came back to town and fell iu the Btreet, was picked up and carried to the hotel. Three physicians attended him, but the large amount of the drug baffled tbelr skill. His remains will be buried to-moirow. Can't give the cause of tho raBh act. His wife end family are in grief." i That explains all that Is known, Mrs. Busan Williams, his mother, with Mr. Lester Williams, his half brother, left for Buena Vista, last night, at which place he will be buried to-day. His relations here were almost prostrated by the news. No cause can be assigned for the suicide, except drink. Willie a brilliant younir lawyer, ho was ad dieted to intoxicants, and this is the most plausible reason which can be given for the act. Family trouble has been mentioned, but all who know Bay that while Ills wife lived with her parents in Buena Vista, the couple were most de voted. No children arc left. The tragic deith affected his many friends here, and they now greatly grieve for him. Delightful Music. Of all the musicians of our city, tioue can excell in sweetness and elegance the performance of Dr. and Mrs. A. B. Iliakle. Dr. Hin kle performs on the violiu with technical ease and natural beauty, and Mrs. Hinkle can draw forth the most delightful touea from a piano. Bhe also sings ill a manner which would charm the most austere crit ic, aud possesses that euvled gift of an exquisite voice, which she has cultivated to a degree which ena bles her to coll through tlie most difficult arias with charming grace ana delightful expresslou. The Recorder is indebted to them for the Joy arising from hear ing through the telephoue last night both instrumental and vocal selections, aud can with the strict est truth say a sweeter aud more refreshing treat could uot havo been presented. A Preparatory Department. Dr. I. B. Hopkins, of the Btate Technological Bchool requests The Recorder to announce that ou Monday next, the 16th, a prepara tory department of this instltutlion will be opened. Applicants under sixteen years of age will be admit ted without examination, counties not now having representation being given the preference. Va cancies will be tilled In the order of the application. This i* a splen did chance for some Bumter coun ty boys. Quite An Increase. Within the past fourteen months there have been NTT arrests made by Americus policemen. This amount is more than double the number ever arrested in the same length of time betore. The lines amounted to »2,667.31. That shows we are growing, If nothing else. UNDER A NEW NAME. THE AMERICUS LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY NO MORE- And s Fstition for Incorporation la En tered—Tor tho Americus Illuminating and Power Company-New Gea Plant. The Americus Light and Power Company is a thing of the past. And the latest Is the Americus Illuminating and Power Company. A petition for the incorporation of this company was tiled In the clerk’s office yesterday. And will be found published in the columns of The Recorder. This doesn’t mean that we will have two companies furnishing light and power here. It merely means that a local syn dicate will have charge of the pres ent plants, and will run them so as to suit the people here. The petitioners mentioned in the application nre H. R. Johnson, U. B. Harrold, W. E. Murphey and J. B. Felder. The amount of capital to he em ployed, actually paid iu, shall be $100,000, with the privilege of in creasing to $200,000. They ask for the same lights granted the other compauy. However there Is one thing the new company proposes to do, and at once. That 1* to tear down the old gas plant and put up a flue one. Coal will be used to make the gas, and in every respect the plant will be equal, if not superior, to any in the South. It will be sufficiently large to supply a city of 30,000 in habitants. The bonds Htill hold good, of course, but the local compauy will have charge, aud guarantee a first- class all roumj service. Americus is to be congratulated that this step has been taken, nnd she will be given what she has never had—a service for the peo ple. Several of the petitioners were seen by a reporter, aud they say they luteud to do all this. Bald one: “Wo heartily realize- the great inconvenience the people have been put to by the poor sys tem the city has had, and we have suffered like the rest. Now that the honoholders have bought in the property, we see our chance, and are going ahead to help the- city. We will have charge and' will do our very btst. Tho new gas plant will be a splendid one, nnd the service will In every way be better." A Lucky Find. While going home from the city Monday lilght, Messrs. Chas. Mize and Ben Wheeler found a large cot ton basket in the middle of the road that contained eight full grown chickens. They have en deavored to find the owner, but have been unable to do so up to date. Mr. Mize thinks tho chick ens were stolen. The owner can have them by applying to him, proving property and paying all o >sts. A Crematory. Americus wMl probably have a crematory at an early date. Mr. Morse met the committee from the council aud the board of health yes terday afternoon, and gave them all the details they wished to know. The cost will be between $3,000 and $8,000. A quorum was not present, but all there expressed themselves as be ing in favor of the scheme. Americus is the healthiest eity to be found uow, and If such a step te taken, our health for all years to come is assured. A Close Bar-Keeper. The railroad boys tell a good one on a popular saloon keeper on Cot ton Avenue. There is a drink which Is very popular, kmwn as Cherry. It is prepared by placing a cherry ln.the glass and then pour ing the whiskey in. It Ih very smooth and palatable. Tho saloon keeper has had such a run on cherries that hie supply is almost exhausted. To meet the demand he now splits his cherries, thereby making two drinks instead of one. A bplendid Order. Few People appreciate the great benefit of the order known as the Brotherhood of Locomotive engin eer*. Yesterday, Mr. W. D. Fliat,agent of the order here, received a check from the headquarter* at Cleveland Ohio, for $3,000, to be paid to Mrs, Louisa A. Rogers. This was the amoubtof insurance due on the death of her husband, and the prompt payment shows how the order attends to business.