Newspaper Page Text
By E. L. RAINEY.
IS HURTING STATE'S CREDIT
LEGISLATIVE EXTRAVAGANCE IS |
BECOME A SERIOUS MATTER. |
Injuring Georgia's Credit by Appro- |
priating More Money Than Can Be
Paid. Some Check Needed. ‘
ATLANTA, GA.,— Unles some |
sort of check can be put on the ex- |
travagance of legislators who appro- |
priate money that the state can’t pay |
there is serions danger that Georgia
will ruin her splendid credit. There !
is already a deficit in the treasury of |
about one million dollars, owing to
the fact that, while the constitution!
now limits the tax levy it puts no |
limit on the legislators, who somie- |
times from a desire to make them-|
selves popular with their constitu-|
ency, generously appropriate money |
for this, that and everything. I
¥inancial Stringency.
This is a phase of the financial
situation which Governor-elect John
M. Slaton is already studying hard,
and which he will being clearly to
the attention of the incoming legis
lature and the people of the state;
In fact, it is understood that Gov.
Slaton will address his most seriou
endeavors as chief executive towards
preserving the state’s credit and put
ting its finances on a business basis.
The Tax Limit,
A few years ago, before the tax lim
it was fixed by the constitution, the
appropriations made by the legisla
ture was met by a tax levy deter
mined on by the governor and the at
torney general. If the appropria
tions were high up went the taxes,
and the appropriations were met. If
the appropriations were extravagant
the people felt it at once through
the taxes, and if the situation de
manded it properly punished their
legislators at the polls. Now, how
ever, when the legislators are extrav
agant they cannot be touched; their
constituents, generally speaking, are
not familiar with the details of the
treasury, and the resuit is that the
only thing that gets hurt is that ab-J
straction known as the state's credit
—a very real thing, yet something in‘i
which it is hard to interest the in
dividual voter. |
Some Check Needed. |
Governor Slaton, as stated, is gO
- to endeavor to bring this situa
tion so strongly to the attention of
the voters and of the assembly itself
that they will see the necessity of
putting some. check on further ex-.
travagant appropriations. If such
check is not provided the state of |
Georgia will soon get into the con
dition of a neighboring state, which
it is not necessary to name, which
is seriously in arrears without the
ability under the constitution to meet |
the debt. |
THIS THE WILSON SLATE?
These Men for the Cabinet Are Said
to Be Authoritative. No Geor
gian Is On the List.
NEW YORK.—A Washington dis
patch to the American quotes what is
claimed to be an authoritative an
nouncement of the make-up of Pres
ident Wilson’s cabinet, as follows:
William J. Bryan, secretary of
state.
Henry A. Morgenthau, of New
York, secretary of the treasury.
Representative Albert S. Burleson,
of Texas, secretary of agriculture.
Representative A. Mitchell Palmer,
of Pennsylvania, attorney general.
Josephus Daniels, of North Caro
lina, postmaster general.
Former Senator Obediah Gardner
of Maine, secretary of the interior.
Political leaders refused to com
ment on this slate. Representative
Underwood is openly supporting
Representative Henry D. Clayton of
Alabama for the attorney general
ship.
Mr. Clayton is chairman of the
house judiciary committee, and a del
egation from that committee went to
Trenton to urge Governor Wilson to
appoint him attorney general.
SHIPS TWO CARLOADS OF
GEORGIA SWEET POTATOES
Sent From Eastman to Atlanta, and
Net 60 Cents a Bushel.
EASTMAN, Ga.—That sweet pota
toes as a commercial commodity have
cotton beaten to a frazzle has been
demonstrated by Mr. Sol Herrman
of thig city.
A few days ago Mr. Herrman shipp
ed from Eastman to Atlanta two sol
id carloads of sweet potatoes contain
ing about seven hundred bushels,
which netted him about 60 cents per
bushel. Mr. Herrman states that his
potato erop average about 150 bush
els per acre and was much less expen
sive to cultivate than cotton.
John R. and J. R. Giddens, who
cultivate a large farm near the city,
shipped to Macon Friday 200 bushels
of sweet potatoes, which brought in
the neighborhood of 60 cents Der
bushel.
These two gentlemen state that if
a ready market could be obtained for
sweet potatoes at even 50 cents per
bushel the farmers would grow rich
raising potatoes. = . .
THE DAWSON NEWS.
350 PILGRIMS PERISH
ON WAY TO WORSHIP.
SUAKIMA, Egypt. Three
hundred and fifty Mphamedan
pilgrims from India to Mecca
were drowned today by a flood
whick overwhelmed the entire
caravan at its encampment
between the sacred city of Me
dina, Arabia, and the port of
Yombo, on the Red Sea.
A sudden avalanche accom
panied by torrents of water
swept dewn the mountain near
the camp, carrying away peo
ple, animals and tents. Only
fifty of the 400 pilgrims com
posing the caravan were saved.
FOR THAT REASON CONVENTION
IS VERY SLIMLY ATTENDED.
Delegates En Route to New Orleans
to Attend the Annual Meet
of Hoboes Are Detained.
NEW ORLEANS, La.—The annual
convention of ‘‘Casual, Unskilled and
Migratory Workers of America,” oth
erwise the ‘hobo convention,” will
open a three-days’ session in New
Orleans today. Jeff Davis of Chi
cago, president of the amsociation,
stated that the activity of town con
stables and police officials In Missis
sippi, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee
and oher nearby states, who have
detained delegates on vagrancy
charges, will result in greatly de
creasing the expected attendance. He
said reports received since Sunday
showed that more than 500 of the
hobo delegates are held in prisons in
the four states named.
Yesterday and last night the cre
dentials committee met in the post
office lobby, in front of the general
delivery window, and it is stated that
about 250 delegates had registereN,
Several hundred additional delegates
are expected on freight trains today
and tonight. .
Several of the “light-fingered gen
try,” who came here for the carnival
crowds and landed in prison, have
tried to secure their liberty on the
plea that they are delegates to the
convention. President Jeff Davis,
however, refused them aid and prom
ised the police to assist them in dis
tinguishing the crooks from the ho
boes.
MANY ARE FACING FAMINE
Thousands Driven Out by the Beulah
Crevasse Destitute and Helpless.
Have Lost Everything.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Famine faces
thousands of poor citizens living in
the inundated sections overflowed as
a result of the Beulah crevasse. Ac
cording to P. S. Stovall, state treas
urer of Mississippi, many of the flood
victims have been without food for
two days, and the suffering is .ap
palling.
An appeal has been sent to Con
gressman Sission at Washingion in
an effort to secure aid from the fed
eral government. !
The people of the flood-stricken
district have lost everything, and
most of them are destitute. Camping
on the hills, without shelter iff many
cases. their situation is deplorable.
Local aid has been extended, but it
is inadequate to afford even tempora
ry relief to the mass of homeless
people.
The river at Memphis reached a
stage of 39 feet today, and is rising
gradually. Weather observers say it
will continue to rise all the week,
which will put it over 40 feet.
WOMEN SCORN OFFER
FROM BIG COMMITTEE.
They Will Have Their Own Parade
in Washington March 3rd.
Washington, D. C.—Women suf
frage leaders braved raw winds to
day to have a street meeting to call
upon President Taft to grant a holi
day on March 3rd for government
clerks who want to participate in
the suffragette parade.
"he committee in charge of the
reguiar inaugural procession on
March 4th has held out the olive
branch to the suffragists by announc
ing that they might participate in
the big pageant if they will ask for
the opportunity. The women’s lead
ers scorn the suggestion and will con
fine their marchers to their own pa
rade on March 3rd.
Gold Plate Given to McKinlep by ‘
Templars Is Sold to Pawnbroker
NEW YORK.—Displayed in the
window of a Broadway pawn bro
ker's shop is a handsome 14 karat
gold plate, which bears an invitation
from the California Commandery No.
1, Knights Templar, to the late Pres
ident McKinley requesting his attend
ance at an assembly held in San
Francisco May 17, 1901. ' In one cor
ner appears a handsome enameled
insignia of the lodge, in the center of
which is a blue-white diamond of at
DAWSON, GA., FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 31, 1913.
AR ST L, W
NOTED SHARK'S CAREER ENDS
SAN JOSE JOE'S GREED BRINGS
HIM A TRAGIC DEATH.
Swallowed a Stick of Dynamite That
Was Thrown Overboard and Was
| Ripped From Stem to Stern.
LOS ANGELES, Cal.—San Jose
Joe is dead. San Joe was a shark
28 feet in length. The news of his
death was Drought to this country by
lan officer who has been many years
in the employ of the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company. The taking off
of the terror of Central America was
tragic—~for the terror.
Joe’s home port was San Jose de
Guatemala, and his cruising ground
from Champerico on the north to San
Juan del Sur on the south. All that
came to his maw on that long stretch
of coast was legitimate prey. Ac
’cording to sailors, who dreaded him,
‘any one of their number who hap
‘pened to fall overboard when the
shark was near had little chance ot‘l
ever again walking a deck. In fact,
every thing that fell within his reach :
belonged to San Jose Joe by right of
might, and it was his greediness that |
finally cost him hig life. [
It was at San Jose, the terror’s
home port. There the succulent redg
snapper abounds, and every captain
that makes a call at this place getsf
at least one mess. Some do it one
way, some another, but the captain
that unwittingly caused Joe's death[
had an original scheme all his own. |
Dynamite was what he relied on.|
He had sticks of the explosive aboard |
two inches in length and the circum- |
ference of a lead pencil. To these
2 time fuse was attached, and when |
the snappers, hundreds of them,
gathered close to his vessel after a;
meal and the leavings were dumped |
overboard he would throw one intor
the very center of the school. i
The explosion that speedily follow- |
ed caused a concussion that smnned%
the fish and caused them to float on|
top of the water as though dead.
Then it was an easy matter to put off |
from the vessel in a small boat, and |
with a net dip up as many as desired. 1
Of course, this was not very sports- |
manlike, but it was highly satisfac—f‘
tory to a lot of hungry sailors. a
1t was soon after breakfast. The|
explosive had been thrown overboard |
and all hands were waiting for re-i
sults. Suddenly there was a great|
commotion in the water, a scurrying |
of the snappers in every direction, |
and directly off the port gangway
appeared Joe, his vindictive little |
eves ‘hungrily watching the sailors]|
lining the rail. ‘
With a swish of his tail he turned |
over on his back, shot toward thel
slowly sinking piece of dynamite,?
opened his jaws and swallowed it. |
That was his death warrant. He|
hardly had got the stick down before |
it exploded. There wasn't even a|
struggle or a gasp. As 2 sailor|
would say, ‘“‘he was ripped from stem |
to stern,” and his great bulk of a
body floated on top of the water. '
TO FLING ASHES ON
WAVES IN MID-OCEAN
Captain’s Luck Left Him On Shore.
Will Ge Back to Death in
the Sea He Loved.
PHILADELPHIA. The Record
says that the ashes of Capt. Adolph
Riebman, who was cremated in Cin
cinnati last November, will be scat
tered to the wind in the middle of
the Atlantic ceean from the deck of
he North German Lloyd liner Chem
nitz, on whichk he served for many
vears, if the present master of the
vessel will comply with a request
made by the mariner’s widow. The
agents for the line, to whom Mrs.
Riebman addressed her petition, have
agreed to the odd burial provided the
master of the Chemnitz is willing.
Accoring to the letter received by
the agents from Mrs, Riebman her
Lusband not only asked her to see
that his ashes be flung into the ocean,
for which he had so great an affec
tion, but also set forth the desire in
his will. Fortune favored Captain
Riebman, she said, as long as he
continued to follow the sea, but when
he took up his residence ashore his
luck deserted him and the rest of his
life was a struggle against adversity.
His greatest pleasure was the mem
ory of his days of contentment when
serving on the Chemnitz. Accord
ingly he determined that his ashes
should go back to the scene of his
happiest hours.
least a karat in weight. The gold
tablet is enclosed in a box which
bears the sign of the order.
The plate was sold for $7OO by
Mrs. Mabel McKinley Baer, a niece of
the late president. The purchaser
was the pawn broker in whose win
dow it is displayed. It was explained
at the Baer home that there had been
several burglaries in the neighbor
hood and that with no proper place
for safe keeping it was deemed ad
visable to dispose of the plate.
AERONAUT FACES DEATH AS
BALLOON HITS MOUNTAIN
LOS ANGELES, Cal.—Tommy
McLain, an aeronaut, escaped
death miraculously when his bal
loon hit the pinnacle of Mount
Wilson, 5,000 feet up, and sent
him sprawling on the rocks be
low the crest of the mountain.
The story of his experience be
came known today.
McLain was assisting in tak
ing panoramic photographs from
a captive balloon. The Ileash
slipped 'and the balloon leaped
upward with McLain dangling in
the web. The bag struck the
side of Mount Wilson, twenty
feet below its crest, the impaet
extricating him from the ropes
that entangled him. The bal
loon continued to soar and has
not yet been found.
AN INTERESTING INCIDENT ON
THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS.
Said Lee and Davis Are Two of Four
Immortals Whose Names Will Live
in Annals of This Country.
WASHINGTON.—UncIe Jjoe Can
non stood forth on the floor of con
gress today and pronounced Robert
E. Lee and Jefferson Davis two of
the four immortals whose names will
i{ive in th> annals of this country
when thos2 of lesser luminaries like
himself shall have been forgotten.
The incident occurred during the
debate on the Lincoln memorial bill,
when Mr. Cannon is reported to have }
shaken his finger at the Washington- |
Gettysburg highway advocates and
told them ‘‘it is a profanation of that
great man’s name when it is propos
ed to use it as an argument for good
roads.”
“There are certain great charac
ters that will dwell in the history of |
the country,” said Mr. Cannon; ‘“first ,
and barely first, Washington; second, |
Lincoln: third, Lee, a great man, a |
great general, who did his duty from }
his patriotic standpoint; fourth, Jef
ferson Davis, a great man performingl
a great service forsthe republic as he |
saw his duty. l
Four Great Characters, |
“A hundred years from now the!
ordinary reader will recall this pe- |
riod and there will be in the mouths'
of the school children the names ofl
Washington, Lincoln, Grant, Lee and |
Jefferson Davis. But you will hnvei
to search the Congressional Record
and the encyclopedias to find out
about the balance of us who have
heen speakers, members of congress
in the house and senate. ‘
“Take Mr. Cannon, for instance. |
I have been speaker for eigkt years.’
They will say: i
“ ‘lt does appear that there was!
such a man from Illionis by the name
of Cannon, but IL don’t know much
about him; there was another man by
the name of Cannon in congress from
Utah, and it is said that he had sev
enteen wives.’
“T trust that the Washington mon
ument and the Lee monument, hold
ing the hallowed dust of the union |
and the confederate dead, in the full
ness of time will be connected with
the site of the proposed Lincoln mon
ument by a bridge to that great bur
ial place.” .
This is a notable utterance com
ing from Mr. Cannon on the eve of
laying down the public cares of life,
and the South, which gave him birth,
will feel better toward him for the
tribute in the long years to come.
RAISE FUNDS FOR T. WA'ISON‘
Mass Meeting at ‘LaGrange Plfilges}
Aid in Defense at His Approach- |
ing Trial in Federal Court. |
LAGRANGE, Ga.—To raise money
for the defense of Tom Watson in his
trial at Augusta and to protest
against the alleged interference of
Catholics in the public schools of the
country a large mass meeting was
held in the Troup county court house
here tonight.
The meeting was called by a peti
tion which was signed by 200 well
known citizens of this city. The
whole matter was arranged very
quickly and quietly and without the
knowledge of Tom Watson or any
Catholic forces.
Watson will be tried under an in
dictment charging him with sending
obscene matter through the mail
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ARF
FINED FIFTY DOLLARS EACRH
Smashed Property and Did Other
Pamage While Out on a Lark,
Athens, Ga.—Eleven students of
‘the University of Georgia, most of
‘them freshmen, were fined $5O each
‘today for having taken part in a
‘demonstration which resulted in the
lbreaking up of property at the Ma
jestic theatre and caused a panic at
the Colonial theatre. At the latter
place only by the closest margin were
fatalities averted.
Five other students were exoner
ated.
'HUFF TRIUMPHS OVER SPEER
| v )
| GEORGIA FEDERAL JUDGE AGAIN
| REVERSED BY HIGH COURT.
! Judge Speer's Action in Allowing At
| torneys in Huff Receivership Case
| 810,000 Fee Is Overruled.
| WASHINGTON.—W. A. Huff of
Macon will not be required to pay
[slo,ooo in counsel fees to the suc
cessors of Hall & Wimberly, attor
ineys of Macon, who fourteen years
lago had him declared insolvent and
la receiver appointed for his estate. ‘
| Judge Emory Speer approved the
laward of $lO,OOO attorney's fees
Jmade by the standing master in
!chancer,\' in his court. The circuit
| court reversed this judgment and the
| supreme court of the United States
’today declined to consider the case,
jand dismissed the petition of J. E.
’Hall and Alexander Akerman for a
lwrit of certiorari, which would have
‘brought it here for review.
Fourteen years ago Judge John I.
| Hall and Olin J. Wimberly filed in
ithe United States court at Macon a
| creditors’ bill against W. A. Hulff,
'alleging that he was insolvent, and
]that his property would not satisfy
his creditors. The case has been in
‘the courts ever since. |
. Hall & Wimberly asked to be paid
out of the funds in the hands of the
court for bringing the suit and were
awarded $lO,OOO, but Mr. Huff ap
'pealed to the circuit court, contend-
Ting he should not be required to pay
‘the fee of opposinz counsel. Judges
Shelby and Maxey, in April, 1912,
upheld his claim and reversed Judge
Speer. Judge Pardee dissented, hold
ing that Hall & Wimberly were en
titled to be paid out of the estate.
This conflict of opinion led the su
preme court to review the case.
Mr. Huff published a ' severe ar
raignment of Judge Speer a few
months ago charging that jurist with
having kept the case pending in his
court fcr the sole benefit of attor
neys. Judge Speer cited Mr. Huff
for contempt, and the contempt case
ig still pending.
Mr. Huff sgpggested that Judge
Speer ought to be impeached.
Both Judge Hall and Olin J. Wim
terly have died since the Huff es
tate was first brought into court in
August, 1899. The petition of the
cupreme court was in behalf of M. P.
Hall, J. E. Hall and B. C. Murray,
executors of Judge Hall, and Mrs.
(iin J. Winiterly.
TEACHERS PAID IN FULL
Governor Brown Draws Warrants to
Pay the Pedagogues in Full for
1912. Veterans Come Next,
Issuing two warrants, approximat
ing $203,000, the governor on Tues
day completed the payment of the
common school teachers’ past due
salaries for 1912.
The executive department has
strained every point to get the pay
ments made as eariy as possible. This
year's record is a little better than
usual and about as good as is possi
ble under the present system of fi
nancing the state's affairs.
The school teachers provided for at
last the governor will now turn his
attention to the big appropriation set
aside by the legislature for the pay
ment of confederate veterans.
The executive hopes, however, that
the veterans may be taken care of in
full by the middle of February. Ev
‘ery source of revenue will be called
iupon to get sufficient funds as soon
as possible. '
PATTEN COTTON CORNER
: CASE IS GIVEN A PUSH
Government Gets Court to Hurray
Along Its Decree.
WASHINGTON. The supreme
court today granted the request of
the department of justice for an im
mediate issue of the court’s mandate
in the Patten cotton corner case.
The madate is the official notififica
tion to the federal court of Southern
New York that he supreme court had
New York that the supreme court
holding that the indictment against
James Patten, Eugene G. Scales,
Frank B. Hayne and William P.
Brown for alleged conspiracy to cor
ner cotton did not state ah offense
under the Sherman anti-trust law.
The effect of the court’'s action
will be to put the government in
position to press the case against the
defendants. ’
Eighty Million Dollar Baby Passes
Through Geqrgia on Wav to Florida
| SAVANNAH, Ga.—Master Vinson
;\Va]sh McLean, the $30,000,000 boy,
| was in Savannah for five minutes to
| day. He would not consent to an in
| terview, so his views of the city can
'not be given in this article. The
iyoung man, who is the son of Mr.
jand Mrs. Edward B. McLean, of
| Washington, D. C., was en route to
! Palm Beach and was in a private
! car attached to train No. 85 of the
'A. C. L., which arrived at 9:30
’lo'clock this morning and left at 9:35.
DECLARE YOUNG GIRL IS
DARING HOTEL FIREBUG.
ST. LOUIS.—A jury was se
lected today to try Miss Barbara
Gladys Arnold, aged 16 years,
on the charge of having attempt
ed to set fire to Windemere ho
tel on the morning of November
B 1912,
Shortly after her arrest she
confessed to starting the fire that
burned the Berlin hotel on No
vember 1, resulting in the death
of three persons. She since has
repudiated that confession.
At the time of the Berlin ho
tel fire the girl was a nurse in
the family of “Rev. W. J. Wil
liamson, who lived at the hotel.
WOMAN SAID TO BE DAUGHTER
FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR.
Lieutenant Wier of Eighteenth Regi
| ment Is Under Arrest. Wife Is
Said to Be in Georgia Now.
CHEYENNE, Wpyo.— Lieutenant,
’J. T. Wier of the Eighteenth infantry
'is under arrest at Fort McKenzie
lcharged with theft of gowns valued
at $l,OOO from the home of Captain
J. S. Cecil, a brother officer. A]-‘
though Wier's arrest occurred two
days ago the fact was not made pub—‘
lic until he was released last night |
on $5OO bail. Mrs. Wier is visi:lngl
in }»louston"’l‘exas. It was charged
that the theft occurred while Lieu—l
tenant Wier and his wife were occu- |
pyiiig the Cecil apartments during |
the latter’s absence. Captain Cecil‘
is in Washington, where he was sum
moned to be presented with a medai
of honor for gallantry in the Phil
ippines. Wier was captain of the
1910 feootball team at West Point. ?
Gone to Atlanta.
Houston, Texas.——Mrs. Joseph L.
Wier, it is said, is not now in Hous
ton. She was arrested here while
visiting well known Houston people
about two months ago, charged with
the theft of the gowns, but was re
leased some days later owing to al
leged defective papers. When ar
rested Mrs. Wier said she had the
gowns in her possession, but destroy
ed them, and showed the police the
remnants. She said she purchased
the gowns from another person,
After her release Mrs. Wier left
Houston, saying she was going to
Atlanta, Ga. It was stated at the
time that Mrs. Wier was the daugh
ter of a former United States senator
from Georgia, but her maiden name
was not made public here.
Mrs. Wier was not Jocked up when
arrest>d here, where shc was shown
much social attention.
HE WILL BECOME i
AN UN DERTAKERf
Preacher Doesn't Believe b‘unerals‘
Should Be So Sorrowful, and :
Hopes to Dispel Cloom. 1
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.—The Rev. |
Dr. Bradford Leavitt has resigned |
his pastorate of the First Unitariani
church of this city to become an un- |
dertaker. Dr. Leavitt made this an-!
nouncement yesterday, saying that'
he had been compelled to abandoni
the ministry on account of weakness
of the eyes and that he was entering |
the undertaking profession in the
hope of ‘‘dispelling .the atmosphere
of superstition and gloom which we
‘have inherited from the heartless and
sometimes heathen methods and
ideas of the past.”
In a letter to his congregation he
explained in detail his reasons for
the change.
“There is something barbaric in
our methods of dealing with death,”
said Dr. Leavitt. ‘“The Chinese are
far more civilized in this. I am
averse to the darkening of houses
and pulling down blinds and the gen
eral morbid atmosphere that is af
fected in a house stricken by death.”
l MAD DOG BY MAIL.
l Berkley, Cal.—A mad dog in a
newly tied package arrived here by
parcel post yvesterday. ‘‘Mad” it was
labeled, and so it turned out after
the bundle had been examined by Dr.
W. A. Sawyer of the state hygiene
laboratory. Although the dog was
dead the shipment overstepped the
parcel regulations.
He will spend a month at Palm Beach
and will then return to Washington.
Master Vinson is but three years
old, but he is the heir to two fort
unes that aggregate $80,000,000.
He is a very democratic little chap,
however, and is not weighted down
with his millions,
But with all this the little fellow
is not one bit happier—even if he is
as happy—as a half hundred little
children you can see on any street
any sunny afternoon.
Y0L.31. NU. a 6
' RULER OF ASHANTEE NOW PRIS-
I ONER ON ISLAND OF MAHE.
,‘Joins Three Other Ebony Royalties
j There as Political Prisoners, Are
| Interesting Personalities.
: The Seychelle Isles, off Africa’s
Indian seaboard, have _of recent
years been turned into a political
prison for those deposed cannibal
kings whose kingdoms have, on one
’excuse and another, been added to
‘the dominions of the British crown.
‘At present there are three political
prisoners of note on the Island of
Mahe—King Kobanga of Uganda,
King Assibi of the Gold Coast, and
King Primpeh of Ashantee, says the
Last Frontier.
| Though all of these ebony royalties
t were enthusiastic patrons of the coog®
ing pot King Prempeh is by far the
l-moat notorious and the most inter
esting personality of the three, for it
was his palace at Kumasi that was
built of the skulls and surrounded
by a neat picket fence made from
!t,he leg and arm bones of the people
i he and his tribesmen had eaten.
l Owing to an error of judgment in
isolecting a British commissioner as
the piece de resistance for one of
fhis feasts an expedition was sent to
Ashantee, the country annexed to the
’Hritish empire and its ruler forcea
'to exchange his skull walled palace
in Kumasi for a four-roomed tin
roofed cottage in the outskirts of
Victoria, the capital of the Sey
chelles. Here surrounded by the
huts of th 2 chieftains who azrompa
nied him into exile he lives om the’
meager pension granted him by the
British government,
Ciad in the flaming yellow robe of
red and yellow, which is the West
African equivalent of royal ermine,
worn over a pair of very soiled paja
mas, his majesty received me on the
veranda of his little dwelling in the
presence of the constable who guards
him and who acts as interpreter
when the king’s very store of Eng
lish gives out.
Now, [ am not an entire stranger
to the ways of the Lord's anointed,
but this audience with Prempeh of
Ashantee was one of the most re
markable experiences that I can re
call. In the first place the mercury
had crept up and up until it hov
ered in the neighborhood of 136 de
grees in the shade of the house; in
the second place, the sons of the king
(he told me he had 42 in all) had
crowded into the tiny room until the
place fairly reeked with the smell
of perspiration; in-the third place,
I was at a loss what to talk to his
ma=ajesty about.
After an awkward pause during
which the king shufflel his feet un
easily and 1 wiped away rivulets of
perspiration he said something in
Ashantee to one of hig attendants,
who shortly returned wiith a tiny
tray holding a bottle of whiskey, a
syphon of lukewarm seltzer and a
couple of very dirty glasses. After
another long and uncomfortable
pause the king asked me if 1 would
not have something to drink. Tak
ing it for granted that Prempeh’s ca
pacity for drink would be as outre as.
his choice for food I poured his bee:
glass full to the brim with whiskey,
giving to myself the drink sanctiored
by civilizs tion.
| “In my ccontry,” s«2id the king.
leaning forward and speaking in the
~broken English which he had ac
quired from the government chap
']ain, “bad men sometimes try to pois
'on king, so king turns drink othe€y
'way round,” and suiting the action to
] the words he turned the tray so as te
lpla.ce before me the beer glass full
!of whiskey. I have never been quite.
‘certain whether or not there was 2
twinkle in the eye of that simple
’hearted cannibal when he litetally:
turned the table on me.
MENINGITIS IN MONTGOMERY
Epidemic of Disease Now Prevails in
Alabama City. Three Cases and
One Death Recorded So Far.
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Montgom
ery health authorities are organiz
ing a rigid quarantine against cere
bro spinal meningitis, three cases
having been found here. Only one
death has resulted from the dis
ease.
~ The police station was placed un
[der quarantine this morning when a
‘negro arrested Friday night for
irunkenness was found with a se
!‘.'ere case.” The patient is néfleved
!-‘o have come here from Birming
ham.
] Late this afternoon the entire po
' lice and detective departments were
| moved to the county jail while
?,guard was placed at the city prison
|to maintain a quarantine over the
| dozen of prisoners and patients held
i there.
; Warnings to the public, giving the
| best known protective measures, have
| been issued by the committee of pub
'lic health. :
At a meeting of the board of edu
| cation today it was decided to close
ail schools immediately upon report
iof new cases.