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GEORGIA REWS Epitomized Items of Interest i ~ Gathered at Random. j gsearet Orders to Celebrate. The Fourth of July will be celebrat ed by ‘he secret orders of Atlanta at Ponce de Leon Springs. Arrangements for the celebration have already been made, and it is probable that it will be the largest Fourth of July celebra tion that has ever been held in the South, * B % Commission Urges Reformatory. Strong reference to the necessity for a state rcformatory for youthful crim inals is made by the prison commis sion in its annual report, which has just been sent to the printer. There is a measure now pending be fore the legislature providing for an investigation of the reformatory ques tion, with a view to taking some ac tion at this sesion. . i * * Slaton 1s Commuted. Governor Terrell, on recommenda tion of the prison commission, has commuted from the death penalty to life imprisonment the sentence of Jack Slaton, colored, who was convict ed of the murder of a negro woman in Wilkes county, and sentenced to die on the gallows. This case has been pending for some time and one or two respites have been granted in order to allow time for a proper consideration of the case. . W " sk New Electric Line Prcposed. The latest railroad talk is that the clectric company of Gainesville will run a line to Homer, Banks county, via White Sulphur Springs, Gillsville, Commerce to Homer. A meeting has been held at Homer and the people there are e€nthusiastic over the pros pects of securing railroad facilities. They stand willing to pledge large subgceriptions and to secure the right of way for the line, * * * Still Waiting for Their Money. Can a dead man be adjudicated a bankrupt? This is a question being freely asked by attorneys interested in the affairs of the late R. H. Plant’s estate, and an answer to this question will determine just about when the hunidreds of widows and orphans, poor people and rich will get what is com ing to :hem from the I. C. Plant’s Son Bank. : Since the ccllapse of the two banks the depesitors of the private institu .tion have waited patiently for the af fairs of the dead banker to be straight ¢ncd out by the receiver. L * * : Raided Treasury First Day. Members of the legislature, or at least some of them, swooped down upon the state treasury on the first day of the session and drew there from the sum of $2BO. Some of the members apologized to Treasurer Park for seeming eager to get their pay, but stated that they needed the mon ey. Another delegation of solons call ed at the treasury on the second day and drew two days’ pay. From now un til the close of the session there will be lively times in the treasury de partment, and the officials there will be busy paying out money and keep ing a record of it. * * * Qucta of Troops Cut Down. An order recently isued cutting Georgia's quota of soldiers from 2,209 to 1,500, and cutting the time of their presence on the Gettysburg battle field 15 to 16 days is‘the obstacle which seems now to stand in the way of the Georgia troops, and which will likely debar them from participation in the maneuvers. : Much correspondence is now going on between the adjutant general’s of fice and the different commanders in the staie and the war department at Wishington in an effort to have a contingent from the Georgia state troops present. Farmers' Institutes. | An’mterestlng and valuable meas ure that has made its appearance in the house is that by Mr. Leigh, of Cow eta, providing for the establishment and maintenance in Georgia of a sys tem of farmers’ institutes. This meas ure provides that a farmers’ instl tute shail be held in each senatorial district in the state annually, anc that the sum of $2,506 shall be appro priated in addition to the $l,OOO now guaranteed by the state university to pay the expenses of the director and the lecturers at these institutes. Thesa institutes are to last not less than two days in each senatorial district. Last year for the first time, farm ers’ institutes were held in each sen atorial district of the state. * * sk ) State Owes Teachers $60,000. ~ The $60,000 which is due the teach ;ers of Georgia by the state cannot be paid for some time yet. The governor has informed State School Commis sioner Merritt that no more payments can be made at present, as the condi tion of the treaury is very much de: pleted, and with the legislature in ses gion, it will take mneearly all the money that is coming in to meet the ‘demands of the solons. ~ On that account the teachers will ‘have to wait until the treasury gets an overplus before they get that $60,- 000, Many of the pedagogs have be gun a complaint to the sfate school commissioner, but he is powerless in the matter. If a loan is made by the state, it is likely that -the teachers will be paid, but the governor do<s not want to borow any money unless it is abso lutely r.ecessary. » No Increase in Pensions. Commissioner of Pensions Lindsay announces that it will not be neces sary for the legislature to increase the appropriation for pensions for the year 1905. This statement is regarded as significant, as it tends to show that the pension appropriations will rapidly grow less from year to year. Not that the state of Georgia will re joice over the fact, but it does not stand to reason that the old heroes who wore the gray will live much longer, and every year now will wit ness their gradual passing away. The amount needed for next year will be $85,000. Commissioner Lindsay is busy with his rolls for next year and will be engaged in getting them in shape for some time to come. * * % Corporation Tax Bill. The feature of Frday's session of the honse was the passage by a vote of 125 to 3 of a bill providing for the appointment by the comptroller gen eral of a board of state tax asses lsors. The Lill, in substance, calls for the appointment by the comptroller gen eral of three disinteftested pdrsons whose duty it shall be to assess all corporation property in the state which is ncw returned to the office of the comptroller general. The assessors shall have the power to summon wit nesses and to examine books, and the valuation which they shall place on any corporationu property shall be final and not subject to appeal It is the purpose of the bhill to ap ply only to the property in the state owned by corporations. ® & »® The Georgia Educational Association. The Georgia Educational Associa tion at its closing session in Warm Springs elected cfficers for next year as follows: G. F. Oliphant ,of Barnesville, pres ident: M. M. Park, of Milledgcviile, first vice president; Miss Ella Mitchell, of Sandersville, second vice president; M. L. Brittain, of Fulton, treasurer. E. B. Mell, of Athens, the present secretary, was elected for a térm of three years. . The time and piace of the next meeting will be selected by the exec tive committee. | ‘ The committee on legislation for the} summer school at Athens was contin ued in office. It is composed of J. C. Woodward, G. F. Oliphant and W. M. Slatcn. The educators heartily €¢ndorsed the local school taxation amendment pro posed for the constitution of Georgia. ® ¢ B Want Negro Trops Disbanded. Inspector General William G. Obe»r, Georgia state troops, in his report, just filed with Adjutant General Harris, rec ommends the mustering out of all the negro {roops in the state. He deals at length with the subject and thinks that the question should be determin ed once and for all, The mustering out of the negro trocps has been recom mended from time to time for the pas. several years, and the Georgia Officers’ Association in Sav:nnah some time ago made a similar recEmerndation. The negro troops drill fairly well, but they do not come up to the other standards of efficiency. Besides it has cost the state about $20,000 to equip these troops and it costs abcut $1,200 a year to maintain them. A bill passed by the legislature would le necessary to muster the troops, as the state law now says that there shall be a battalion of col ored troops. These 4roops, Colonel Obear says, are absolutely useless to the state as the governcr is unable to order tkem out anywhere when the services of troops are needed. * * £ County High Schools. Perhaps the most suggestive recom mendation of Governor Terrell in his message to the General Assembly was that providing for county high schools. Our educational system has never been completed. We have a common school course of seven years and a univer sity system, but between the two there is a gap of at least three years. Thousands of boys complete the rural school course and seeing nothing ahead are satisfied and begin life poorly prepared for its duties. Others have heard of the college and its val uable trainings, but find several years of preparation needed and no school in the county that can help them. lua the common school the boy learns his toois, the arts of reading, spelling, of accounting and of language. In the high schcel he gets breadth of view, technical training, cultural knowlelge. On their completing the elementary course as prescribed by the state board the pupils will enter the county high school driving in daily or on Mon day and returning home on Friday. Co operative bhoarding facilities will be provided so that board should not ex ceed $7 a month and much of this can be provided from the products of the home. English, history, agriculture, physical geography, physics will be given their proper place in the cur riculum while the classics and math ematics will retain their just relation to the whole. To establish these high schools, we must have united community effort. The state should appoint a high school commission composed of the chancel lor of the university, the state school commissioner and one representative citizen in each congressional district, to have general supervisicn and to act with the local authorities in high lschool matters. The state should set aside $250 for each county to he given to that high school matters. The' state should set aside $250 for each county to be given to that high schol, select ed by the commission, which will best meet the requirements in curriculum, equipinent, management and provisicn for boarding students from the coun try. The selected high schod! would become an accredited school-of the uni versity, subject to inspection. The plan would assure a high schoo! in each county, it would prevent loss of time in the rural schools and con cenirate the work so that it could he done suécessfully. The appropria tion would be sufficient inducement for acceptance by any progressive com munity when the prestige and added hoarding students are taken. into con gideration. It weould develop self help on the part of the communities and knit the parts of our educational Sys-- tem together, carrying out the orig inal plans of our fathers. The plan has the endorsement of the county gchool commissioners, of the teachers” association, of Dr. True of the agricul tural department at Washington and is ‘in successful operation in several of ithe states. J. S. STEWART. BEDROOM FURNITURE. The mewest wrinkle in dedroom fur nishings for summer is the use of the rrgwu tapestry canopy for the dresser and bedstead. The chief thing to recommend the tapestry canopy is its economy. Any old bedroom suite can be used as a foundation, or even a pine framework, painted white, for the dressing table and washstand. The latter iz draped with figured tap estry along the simplest lines to give the valance effect. The dressing ta ble has a crown foundation overhread, from which the tapestry falls in grace ful folds and extends to the floor. The background for the mirror is also of the tapestry, and in this frame work is set an oval beveled glass at 2 height convenient for a woman to sit when making her toilet. The en tire dressing table is envelopad in the tapestry, over which a white point d’esprit frilled dressed scarf is spread. A bedstead painted white, or a brass one, has a draped crown fasaioned to correspond with the dressing table, an< also has valances of the tapestry. White ruffled point d’esprit pillow shams and spread give the little dain ty touch and tone down the brilliance’ of the floral coloring. A slipper ot terman, upholstered and lined with ) plain sateen, which has pockets about the sides for the footwear, goes with this set. A chair which is the epitome of comfort is an addition to the set. It is called the “Thirty Winks,” “For ty Winks,” or “Fifty Winks,” accord ing to its size. It nearly envelopes ¢he occupant, as it has not only a high back, but high side pieces which extend out to the padded arms. A box couch upholstered in the tapes try, with cushions, is offered as an al ternate to the chair.—-Kansas City Star. The Unsocliable Englishman, If there are three Englishmsn and three empty railway carriages the train will leave the siation with one Englishman in each carriage. It has always been held that this proves thé unsociability of the English. It really proves their gcod feeling. They do not resent the presence of strangers in the very leasi, they wonly feel if they are in the pousition of a stranger to other people they will be lowering the tone, spoiling the manners and blasting the intellect of the other peo ple. The most social train—that is to say, the ftrain best devised in the interests of society—would consist largely of cells, made to seat one '[,erson oanly. It has often been sug gested that when.two strangers m Jet in a railway train they might become temporary acquaintances and spzak to one another. But this is absurd. ' One never wants to make the ac iquaintance of people one does not tnow.—Loadon Sphere. OVERHEARD ON THE PIER. “Is this all?”’ demanded the Cus tom House Inspector, as he finished up Binks's trunks. “Well, no,” said Binks. .“I got & new wife over in Paris -that little ! woman over there withA the pink | cheeks is she” ! YA right,? e=aid the Inspector. | “We’'ll have her aopraised. She looks i like a work of art.’—life, ‘ If he asks you, “Ain’t ft hot?” let | your answer bc a swat, with your i hammer for his grammar, and his neck | Is just the spot!