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GREAT n nr' A nr FIRE war IN in A W Tllf A¥\r I Wholesale District of City is Wiped Out in Mammoth Conflagration. A LOSS OF MILLIONS Sunday Blaze Starts in Heart of Maryland’s Metropolis and Cuts a Wide Swath of Destruction. The most destructive conflagration in the history of Baltimore occurred Sunday and Sunday night, raging prac tically unchecked dur many hours, completely destroying scores of the largest houses in the wholesale dis trict, involving losses which cannot yet be accurately estimated. The fire broke out shortly before 11 o’clock Sunday morning in the whole sale dry goods store of John E. Hurst & Co., on Hopkins place, in the heart of the business district, with a series of loud explosions, which were heard in remote parts of the city and spread with fearful rapidity. • In a half hour there were a dozen big warehouses in the wholesale dry goods and notions district burning fiercely. The entire vity fire department was called out, but was utterly powerless to cheek the spread of the flames, which were aided by high winds, and by noon there were roaring fires in at least thirty big warehouses and the conflagration was steadily eating its way into successive blocks east, north, west and south. Building after building fell a prey to the flames, and apparently there was no check to the frightful sweep of destruction. On Baltimore street, the block east to Hanover, and after that tne block on the south side to Charles street, broke out in flames, the Consolidated Gas Company’s building and Oelim's Acme hall burning fiercely. Meanwhile there were stores north of Baltimore street being similarly consumed. Mullin’s hotel caught and other buildings near it. West of Lib erty street, on the south side of Bal timore, the block was doomed, and thq big Baltimore Bargain House also caught. Down in Hopkins place, where the conflagration started, Hurst’s building and other wholesale houses on both sides of the street, crumbled and fell. Spectacle of Ruin Appalling. The big dry goods house of Daniel Miller & tjons and R. M. Sutton & Co. were seen aflame and along Ger man street, east and west from the Hurst building, there were a dozen buildings burning and scores more threatened. The spectacle of ruin and destruction from any point in doomed blocks were something ing. lviass Mac, w & Kemner’s tempers hisr uig store, on Baltimore stret, succumbed to the flames and the fell with a crash that was heard squares. The Hurst building w r as tpriv *■■■ J apetrnvp't “ * ^ ea - On Hopkins place the Hopkins ings bank and the National hank were gutted by flames, across the street were the ruins John E. Hurst & Co., and next to S. Hecht, Jr., & Sons, in flames. joining was the large building by the William Hoch Importing pany, which was also destroyed. Across the street the Stanley Brown Drug Company was quickly ruins, while fronting on the street side of this block were the bury Rye Distilling Company, FATAL RIOT AT COAL CREEK. Non-Union and Union Miners Scrimmage and Four are Killed. A bloody tragedy was enacted clay in the litte mining town of Creek. Tenn.. forty miles northwest Knoxville, as the result of which lives were snuffed out and three sons wounded, one perhaps The clash was the culmination of ble between union and non-union Three of the dead men were by guards employed by the Coal Coal Company, while the fourth tim. a deputy sheriff, was killed by guaid he had gone to arrest. building occupied by Silberman & Todes, the house of Allen Sons & Co., which had hardly been completed, while next to it was the establish ment of M. Moses & Co. On the cor ner was the building occupied by the Messrs. Sugar & Shear, and^ several other smaller concerns. All of these were swallowed up in the flames, and, in fact, the whole block was nothing but a cauldron of fire. At 1:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon Mi bens’ hotel, a seven-story structure, was in flames from garret to cellar j and its great height and narrowness, j which acted as a sort of flue, convert ed the doomed building into a huge and dreadful torch. Other Cities Send Aid. Though every bit of fire fighting ap paratus in the citj was called into requisition as tne flames continued to spread the firemen realized that they had a task before them which was too great for them to combat. Tele grams for fire engines were sent to Washington and Philadelphia and about 1 o’clock six engines arrived from Washington and four Irom Phila delphia and joined in the battle with the flames. Engines from stations in Baltimore, Howard, Anne, Arundel and Hartford counties arrived as soon as possible. Water plugs in every section within a radius of half a mile from the fire were in use, and it is roughly estimat ed that there were 350 hose lines all playing at one time upon different parts of the conflagration. Owing to the great congestion of fire apparatus, the crowds of people and the general confusion, many en gines from out of town were unable to find a place where they would be of any service. At 7 o’clock Sunday night the sit uation was so desperate that Chief Hoston decided that the only thing left to do was to dynamite buildings at threatened points and thus prevent, as far as possible, a further spread of the flames. • At 3 o’clock Monday morning the fire still raged. So far as known no serious casualties were reported. Tele graph, telephone and electric wires cf all kinds were prostrated. The fire covered an area of three quarters of a mile in length by nearly a quarter of a mile in width, taking in many of the most important build ings in the city. The loss, it is be lieved, will reach $ 100 , 000 , 000 . * RUSSIANS PUNISHED BY KOREANS. Czar’s Troops Do an Overt Act in Seoul and are Promptly Squelched. cause of a disorderly incident in Seoul, capital cf Korea. One of the Russians seized a woman and an angry crowd gathered. A body of Korean . , b darmes . soon arrived . , at , the ,, scene and an encounter with the -Russians fol l0 "f ■ The gendarmes , , {ought . , well, over powering the Russians. An , insurrection . ,. , has broken , . out sixtv . • miles •1 north ,, of . „ Seoul , and , the prefect’s . , house , has been destroyed , , , by the , J peo- 1 p ] . e ____ , s M0RE fAV 0RABLE TO EUROPE. -- America Gets Decidedly 7 the Worst End in New Cuban Customs „ Duties. President Palma’s decree increasing the rates of Cuban customs m accordance with the authority given him by congress has been promul gated. The rates are considered more favor able to Europe than America. The lat ter hoped that a 30 per cent increase, which is the maximum rate allowed by congress, would have been placed cn goods which the United States manufacture in competition with Eu j rope. WAR NEWS IN WASHINGTON. Associated Press Advised of Diplomatic Rupture Between Russ and Jap. ; rrsL The Associated , . Press T”, at , ... , . i ton was informed Sunday at the ! sian embassy that the Russian govern ment has received a note from Japan announcing the discontinuance of ne gotiations and the interruption of di plomatic relations. Count Cassini, the Russian ambas sador, upon receipt of the from St. Petersburg, called upon Act ing Secretary of State Loomis and in formed him of the interruption of re lations. i 1 2 t^ ++ ^ ++ 4 ' + ‘ , ' ,, " , '' f,! '* l '‘ f+ ‘ J ' ++ ‘ , “ I ‘ ++ ' , ':I; 4* Georgia **• I M Epitomized Items of Interest Gathered at Random. Hay Leaver Thomasville. Secretary Hay left Thomasville last Saturday morning at 6 o’cock via the Atlantic Coast Line to resume his du ties in Washington. The secretary rrenounces the climate of Thomasviiie second to none in the south. His health is greatly Improved by Ills stay among the pines. * * * Sanitarium for Hawkinsvllia. A movement is on foot to establish in Hawkinsville a modern, first-class sanitarium by a certain well known physicians of Pulaski county, The sanitarium will be fitted up with elec trical and modern appliances and will prove a boon to the people of this section and to Hawkinsville. * * * Inspection Orders issued. General orders No. 2, relating to the coming annual inspection of state troops, have been issued from the of fice of Adjutant General S. W. Harris. These orders call attention to the de tail of Major F. H. French, of the Six teenth infantry, to inspect the Georgia troops, and his inspection will be made at the same time as that by "Colonel W. G. Obear, inspector general. Fruit Growers to Meet. The Fruit Growers’ Association of the state will meet in Valdosta Febru ary 18-19. It is expected that the session will be one of the largest attended in the history of the organization. Rates of one and one-third fare have been granted on all the railroads. The com mittee is already busy preparing for them and the growers are getting their orchards into first-class order for in spection. * * * Little “Georgia Magnet” Arrested. Annie Abbott, the “Georgia Mag net,” and heroine in a number of sen sational episodes, has been under ar rest in New York city, where she is appearing at a theatre in a vaudeville turn. The “Georgia Magnet” is charged with purloining jewels to the value of $12,000 from Mrs. F. C. Bay ler, of Waterbury, Conn., the home of 1 lie watches. Her manager, Theodore N Abbott, also well known in Georgia, was arrested at the same time. Beth have been released on bond. More Money is Needed. If Georgia is to have a building at the coming St. Louis exposition, such as has been proposed; considerably more money than has already been subscribed will have to be saised. This fact is developed m a report j made a day or two ago to Governor Terrell by the active members of the Georgia commission for the Louisiana Purchase exposition. This report show's tbat less tlian $ 9 - 000 has beGn Sllb " scribed so far, while nearly $30,000 is neebecl to carry out the plans in view'. ThG * subscriptions up to the present time have cofne practically altogether f iro rom ™ the tnc ysouinern .southern part part o v>- f the tne state sta.e, with the exception of one or two from middle Georgia, „ . * * * C *" *° ° em ° Crat '‘ Com ";‘.‘ . tes ' ' „ The state democratic i executive com mittee has been called by Chairman E. • rn T. -r> Brow'n a to meet , m . Atlanta . , on Mon- ,» day. , February „ , 29, ’ at il o’clock a. m. The date . , of * the meeting ... rs compara tively + . . an early , one. Two _, years ago the committee met on March 9f > a month later, and in 1900 the meeting was he]d March ir _ When asked about the date Chair man Brown „ saiu: .. “Everybody seems anxious to know when the committee prlmLy is eoina- tn fix the date for the reason' and there ap pear s to be no why the matter should not be settled without any great delay. “But my particular reason for select j n g February 29 for the meeting 'fifth of the committee is that it is the Monday in the month, a date on which it will be more convenient for most of the out-of-town members to be present, because there are usually no courts dxed f or that day.” * * # Pulaski Farmers Plant Tobacco. The culture of tobacco on a large !f ale has begun in Pu,aski count > r J ' - T ; Who !!ves a few milGS £outh of Hawkinsville, „ is now preparing * 6 to k , an °f 8 acr8s of the wee;b He as 3 ready EOvVn bis bed of the long , ariet ° a ' ■ - f/.' Jon f has mter9sted J itb him . this f experienced m a " tobacco raiser from North Carolina, who expe r “ v f y ^ es8fuI ;5 f PulaskI J .1 a ^ J ° neS Sly f nf tn f °° “ nr at “ ® y ° n .ban ! a expense , acies 01 cott ° n at " " other farmers around him also * Wants Change in Law. Governor Terrell will, in his message to the general assembly ommend that some provision be made for legislators to serve during the j terim which exists between October and June, because if there should be an extra session of the legislature, or if the governor should die between Oc t 0 ber. when the elections are held, and next June, when the general assembly meets, there would be no one to take the governor's place. The constitution of the state, in par agraph 1 , section 4. article 2, says: it Members of the general shall assembly be elected for a term of two years and shall serve until their suc cessors are elected. »> If the legislature adjourns in June and their successors elected next Oc tober, then the members of the pres ent legislature, according to the con Btitution, are out of office. If the gov ernor should die between October and June, under present conditions there would be no successor, as the presi dent of the senate would no longer be president for reason that his term as senator expired when his successor as senator was chosen at the general elec lion. * * * “Cunjer” Doctor Gave Arsenic. After making a thorough analysis of the stomach of Sarah Mann, a negre ss of Ellington, Clayton county, suspected of having been poisoned, Dr. Edgar Everhart, of the Southern College of Pharmacy, of Atlanta, has reported to the authorities there that unmistaka ble traces of arsenic had been discov ered. Charles Mann, the husband of the deceased, Boh Middlebrook and George Shaw, all negroes, have been held in the Clayton county jail awaiting the result of the investigation. The Mann woman died a few days ago under sus picious circumstances, and the coroner insisted upon an investigation and sent the body to Dr .Everhart for analysis. According to report, Mann and Mid dlebrook were suspected of having in duced Shaw, who poses as a sort of negro “conjure” doctor, to poison the Mann woman. It also seems that Shaw had been suspected of similar practice on former occasions. The story told by the negroes is that the woman was suffering from some kind of pain, and the conjure doctor gave her a drink of whisky. Her death followed in a few hours. In the qualitative analysis that followed un mistakable signs of arsenic poisoning were found, and the charge of murder against the three negroes is expected to follow. Otherwise the stomach was found to be in a normal condition. Does Not Affect Georgia. The decision of the supreme court of the United States in the case of South Dakota vs. North Carolina, where it is held that the bonds of North Carolina must bo paid by that state will have no effect on the bonds which the state of Georgia repudiated about twenty years ago. when the announcement of the de dgioil wag made it was understood that Georgia „__ coukl b i;„m \ 0 ! forced tQ a the bo nds whlch had , been repudiated by the Georgia legis lature Tnthe North Carolina case the state was owner of a majority ot the stock , n , he N , jrlh Carollna ra llroad, which stock . , . had , , been pledged , , . as security for ... bonds issued. . The people buying t the u, , bonds presented , , . - them to the ten or state , , of , South _ Dakota - , , to . , be Q used „ oor , fnr ror educatlonal , purposes, and , South „ ,, Da kota *\ 16d sait in the UnitSd Sta ® court to collect the , money f for tb the bon(ls claiming ; tbG that ^ orth they Carolina had never off!.ia^ been aS l P The p su P rome C0U H h held ld in m its its dP cl . cision that the rsilroad couId be sold to pay for the bonds, Governor Ter rell states that the decision would not apply to Georgia, because the sover eignty of the state was involved when it repudiated its bonds years ago, while the state of North Carolina own ed a controlling interest in the rail road which had issued the bonds. The bonds repudiated by Georgia were not secured by any personal property of the state. * * * A Graded Course of Study. State School Commissioner W. B. Merritt has just sent out a graded course of study for the common schools of Georgia, based upon the books recently adopted for use in the schools. The commissioner has done his work well. The course Is well graded, the requirements for each year being well balanced and the subjects properly correllated. The work for a first reader pupil is dearly outlined so that every teacher in the state will know what the pupils this grade must he studying in read in gpelling> i anguag e, writing num berg and na t ure study. Each with the corresponding work in other subjects is indicated. The course eri j tends through seven years of uim | months, in schools of shorter Hi; the time will be longer, thou the course will be tne same. It is tfia s ad justed to any and ->11 schools. Oj^ of these programs or courses of will be sent to every teacher in state to be posted on the school wan as a guide to teachers and patrons and children. If faithfully carried o; will systematize the n • work of the 5 ; idol room and the instruction of the chiu dren, so that each child will have a well rounded education as far as goes. The language, history, arithme j j tic, spelling, will writing and geography work be carried along together I There will be no neglecting of any these 0 f essential studies for any one of them or for any fad or frill. The child can thus pass easily from school to school or from teacher to teacher without loss of time or repetition of studies. It becomes a guide to each teacher in the use of the new text books and in the organization of the classes. It will enable county school commissioners to inspect the s ehools j beGer advantage and examine the I W8rk °I any grade in his several ' sc 00 s - ^ W ^1 enable the state school commissioner to prepare tests ! or Gle S ra des a ^ over the sta.a and compare the work of the several coun ties. It will bring order into the school work. It is hoped that every ; commissioner and teacher will put the new course of study into immediate operation. Following this outline course of study will come during the year a full syllaous describing in de tail the work, each subject for each grade, with touching suggestion::, sup plemental work—in short, a school room guide. This is now ng pre I pared by Mr. Merritt, and he hopes r | have it ready for use in the summer j institutes.—J. S. Stewart, of State j University. ■ j one point gained by Georgia. Supreme Court Permits Filing of Bill in Suit Against State of Tennessee. Permission to file the bill of the state of Georgia against the state ot Tennessee in regard to the alleged de struction of vegetation near Duck town, Tenn., by the fumes of the cop per furnaces located there, has been granted by the supreme court cf th«j j United States. The bill was filed at once, and with' ; in the next few months the final hear ing and the evidence will be Had and ; submitted. Since the bill was allowed ! to be filed and since the court enter tained jurisdiction, many people in Georgia consider that more than hail the victory has been won. This was the first case of the kind that has ever been considered by the supreme court, and the grounds upon which it was founded are novel in many particulars. mead Should Georgia win it will Georgia win the case, it will mear.j in that two of the largest corporations t Britain will . los. j Tennessee and Great investment of something l.ke , 2 . 000 , 000 , unless some method diff°rent from the present one of abstracting the copper from the crude ore is dis covered. Should the state lose, if will mean the loss of about 20 or 30 square miles of territory in the coun ties surrounding the location of th® furnaces. WILD DAY ON EXCHANGE. Strenuous Week at New Orleans Reaches Climax in Decline of Cotton, Friday saw the wildest scenes of the wild week in the cotton market at New Orleans. The longs were forced to take medicine, even more hitter than they have been giving the bears all the season. At the lowest levels of the day prices were 152 to 180 points lower than the highest levels, and about 3 cents lower than what cotton was sell lhg lor at lhe ilVBt 01 the week ' UNCLE SAM STRICTLY NEUTRAL. Our Asiatic Fleet Will Keep Sky of Russo* Japanese Embroqlio. A Washintgcn dispatch says: Re , g ard i ng the movements of the Ameri can Asiatic fleet, which is now in the Philippine waters, it is stated that no decision has been reached, except the irrevocable one that the fleet shall make no move which can possibly be construed as a departure from the Washington government’s policy o! complete neutrality in the Far East, CHINAMAN IN LINE OF PROMOTION. Toung ......... Muden of lln.vers.ty . of , Cal,forma _ ... | • «•<*> S*"'» u “ itorm - Samuel Sung Yung, a Chinese stu dent of the University of California has just been appointed a lieutenant d tbe university cadet regiment. Should he rise to major or higher, he will be eligible for a second lieutenancy in tim United States army. Lieutenant Yung is tb e only Chinese wearing the uni form of an officer of the Uni fc-d c- es army. i~ V.