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The Lee County Journal 2. TISON, Editor and Publisher. Y 01.,, VIII. l DAIN bi : | .. JAPS WINAGAIN ° Skirmish in Korea Results in Defeat of Cossacks, FIRE WAS MOST GALLING At One Time the Japanese Were Forced Back, But Returned With Renewed Energy and Rlnal.ly : Forced Russians to Retire. An Associated Press dispaich from St. Petersburg says: General Kuro patkin, in his first dispatch to the em peror from the scene of war, announc ed that offensive land operations had taken place against the Japanese upon the sixth anniversary of the occupa tion of Port Arthur by the Russians. The operations took the form of a cavalry attack Monday by six compa nies of Cossacks,led personally by Gen eral Mishtchenko, against four squad " Tons of Japanese cavalry, which the general believed to be beyond Chong Ju, but which he found te be in occu pation of that town. ' Despite a cross fire which General Mishichenke cieverly directed against the ememy, he paid a tribute to their tgeracity and their bravery, the Jap anese only ceasing fire after a com bat which lasted for half an hour. Be fore tlie Russians could follow up their advarfce, three Japanese squadrons galloped toward the town, of which two squadrons entered, while the third was driven back in disorder, men and horses falling. The fire maintained on the town was so destructive that the .Japanese were unable to make an effective re turn. ' Fyr:ther Japanese reinforcements ar rived |an hour later, and, in view of the superiority of the enemy, General » Mishtchenko determined to retire, do ing so without embarrassment, al though he carried with him three kill ed and sixteen wounded. ~ General Mishtchenko's Cossacks thave been endeavoring for some days to come in contact with the Japaneso patrols, but the Ilatter refused to fight. The skirmish of Monday will have the effect of encouraging the Russians to retard as much as possible the advance of the Japanese army. General Kuropatkin’s dispatch re porting General Mishtchenko’s opera tions as published does not give the place of its origin, but it is presumed that the commander in chief ig either at Liao Yang or en route to Niu chwang, GIRL FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS. Littie One’s Lies in Court Came Near Convicting Five Mtn. At Chicago, Tuesday, a child’s testi mony reversed, saved five men from the gallows. This instanee of youth ful unreliability under oath was in the case of Willlam MeceCarthy and four Polish young men on trial for mur der, the witness being a little Italian girl, Appolonia Starosta, who first gave direct, straightforward eye-wit- LEESBURG, GA., FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 1904, ness testimony, apparently establish ing beyond question the guilt of the men and then repudiated hor own evl dence. : ; In explanation of the remarkable change of front the child deoclared that she had been instructed how to testify by the widow of the murdered man. . DANGER IN EIGHT-HOUR BILL. Representative of Anti-Boycott Asso ciation Warns Senators. “There is involved in the eight-hour bill the same dynamite with which was charged the measure repealing the Missouri compromise,” asserted Daniel Davenport, representing the Anti-boycott Association of America, in the hearing of that bill Tuesday be fore the senate committee on educa tion and labor. He suggested this for the «onsideration of the committee and declared that if the bill was en acted into law the effect of interfer Ing with the inherent right of the indi vidual would wreck the party which fostered it, CARACAS PAPER BIFFS BOWEN. Charges American Minister With Prac tice of Graft in Venezuela. Secretary Hay has received a per sonal note from Herbert W. Bowen, the American minister at Caracas, briefly locounting a recent experience with President Castro. It appears that a Caracas newspa per publisked in an,apparently official form the charge that Bowen had pock eted several hundred thousand dollars of Venezuela’s money. Bowen prompt ly sent a personal note of protest to Castro, calling on him to take action against the paper. BRYAN LOSES WILL CASE. “Sealed Letter” Excluded from Ben. nett’s Last Testament by Jury. A finding that the sealed letter by which Philo S. Bennett expressed a ~wish that $50,000 should be given tc - William J, Bryan and his family was ‘not a part of the last will of Mr. Ben ' nett, was returned by the jury Thurs 'day in the superior court at New Ha ‘ven, in the trial of Mr. Bryan’s appeal from the decision of the probate court. I SUICIDED ON THE MAINE. Chief Engineer of Battleship Sends Bullet Into His Brain, Lieutenant Commander Edgar Town - send Warburton, chief engineer of the battleship Maine, now in Pensacols, Fla., harbor, suicided in his cabin on board the vessel Friday. A bullet from a 38-calibre revolver was sent crashing through his brain, and death resulled within forty minutes after ward. No cause is known for the ac.. FLOOD OF PENSION BILLS. House Disposes of Three Hundred and Nineteen Within Two Hours. A Washington special says: Three hundred and nineteen pension bilig were passed by the house Saturday in two hours. Another hour was devoted to rapid-fire legislation by unanimous consent in which a large number of bills and other matters of minor im portance were disposed of. PAYNE APOLOGIZESI 1 Postmaster General Depre ~ cates Bristow Report. ‘ TALKS WITH COMMITTEE Mr. Payne’s lliness is of Most Serious Nature—A Member of the com mittee Comments Upon His Condition. A Washington special says: On thg request of Postmaster General Payne, Chairman McCall, Representative Hitt, Representative Richardson, of Ala bama, and Representative Bartlett, went to the Arlington hotel Saturday morning and discussed with the post master general, at his bedside, the special report imvolving members of congress in the matter of clerk hire and leases at third and fourth-class postoffices. 1 Mr. Payne has prepared a statement, which he wished to go into the rec-f ord of the committee, and which, al ter final revision, was made publie. The point-in the statement is that Mr. Payne was most positive in his pro test that the names of members should not have been sent to the house committee -on postoffices and post roads. The report in question was first submitted to the committee and the second report, with the names was sent to the capitol upon a tele phone order from the house commit tee on postoffices and post roads. - During the day Chairman McCall re ceived an explanation from the gov ernment printing office concerning the folio line at the top of each page cf the report: “Charges concerning members of congress.” This line was, it is said, -a legiti mate condensation of the substance of the titlee page, submitted by the post office committee, and is also justified by the pay resolution, which contains the word ‘“charges” in the same cou nection. The lipe was made up lin the printing office, as is the usual custom. The explanation from the public printer also contains the statement that the twenty-five advance copies were in the hands of the postoffice committee thirty hours before a cor: rection of the line was ordered. Payne is Seriously 111, Postmaster General Payne is a much sicker man than the public has been led to believe Members of the houso committee on investigation of the Bris tow report who visited him Saturdafl were shocked at his condition. One of these gentlemen said to the corre spondent of The Atlanta Constitution: “He seems to me hardly alive. I would not be surprised to learn of his death at any time.” Officials in his department are aware of the serious condition of the postmaster general, but are very loath to discuss it. The report is that his heart action ig very bad and that when he talks of business matters with those around him, which he persisis in doing, it is a sort of dazed, semi conscious, almost childish way. ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY AT ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. It is, of course, certain that Post master General Payne, will not be ia the Roosevelt gabinet should the pres: ident be re-elected. Indeed, there has already been a quiet casting about for a successor, but nobody has supposed that Mr. Payne is now in such a pre carious condition. Those who hav3a seen him express the opinion that if he does not dle in the near futuro hae will certainly be unable to ever re sume the active duties of his office. DELAY IRRITATES PANAMANS. New Republic Put Out Over Non-Pay ment of Canal Money. Great surprise is manifested in all circles at Panama over the alleged nonfulfillment by the United States of the agreement on the exchange of rat ifications of the canal treaty the Uni ted States to pay the new republic the sum of $10,000,000. It is said the de lay of the United States to make the payment has forced the government of Panama to float a loan in Neow York. : TWO NECKS ARE SAVED. Condemned Man Makes Confession in Order to Save Innocent Parties, Almost within the coilg of the hang man’s rope Peter Neidermeyer, one of the car barn bandits, made what he declared was 2 {rue confessien-16-savs two ‘other men from the gallows and one from long imprisonment, “I killed Patrick Barrett in his sa loon at 4216 Wallace street last May,” said Neidemeyer. “John Lynch and James Sammons are under sentence of death fo rthe crime and also Hugh O’Reilly who has been sentenced to the penitentiary, are innocent.” FOR HEARST TO THE LAST, South Dakota Democrats So Declare in Their State Convention. The South Dakota democratic state convention at Sioux Falls, reailirms the principles of democracy “as enun ciated by Jefferson, Jackson and Bry an,” and instructs the delegates to the St. Louis convention to support Willlam Randolph Hearst, “first, last and a]l the time for the presidential nomination,” <, POSTMASTER UNDER CHARGES. Barnes is Accused by Step-Daughter With Attempted Assault. Jesse Barnes, postmaster at Anda lugia, Ala.,, has been arrested on a warrant charging him with attempting to commit a criminal assault upon his step daughter, a girl about 14 years ola. The little gir] boldly makes thig charge. This is the second Alabama postmaster in the past two weeks to be arrested charged with attempting assanlt, EMPEROR ACTS THE MENIAL. Francis Joseph, of Austria, Washes Feet of Twelve Old Men. At Vienna, Thursday morning, Pm peror Francig Joseph observed the an cignt ceremony of washing the feet of twelve old men in the crystal hall of the Hofburg. The hall was filled with distinguished personages, includ ing members of the diplomatic corps, and cabinet ministers, military officials and court functionaries. NO. 39,