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THE LEE COUNTY JOURNAL
YOL. X.
Which Swept Many Islands ia the
South Pacific,
Disaster O:curs on Society, Tahiti and
Adiacent Groups and Was the Most
Frightful Ever Recorded.
The San Francisco Evening Post
says that 10,000 persons perished
during the storm on Tahiti and adja
cent islands, several of which, its
account says, have disappeared, 1t
places the damage at $5,000,000. These
reports have not been confirmed by
the officers of the steamer Mariposa,
which brought the news of the dis
aster from Papeiti, Island of Tahiti.
A dispatch from Hapeiti says: The
most destructive cyclone ever experi
enced in the Society and Tuamotu
Islands occurred on February 7 and
8. The damage in Tahiti is estimated
at $1,000,000, and presumably a similar
amount of property was destroyed on
the Tuamotu Islands.
The city of Papeiti was inundated,
and about seventy-five buildings de
stroyed, including the American con
sulate and the French government
building. The shipping in the harbor
of Papeiti escaped injury, owing to
the direction of the wind, but fears
are entertained for vessels which were
cruising near the Tuamotu Islands.
aged, on the Island of Tahiti. Bread
fruit, banana, cocoanut and plantain
trees were blown down in great num
bers, which will result in hardships
to the natives and materially affects
commerce during the next two or
three years.
The French gunboat Zeelee has
gone to the Tuamotu Islands with
supplies of food and fresh water. The
British consul has appealed to his
government for aid for 500 British sub
jects. Some Americans have wistain
ed heavy losses and probably there
will be a few instances of utter desti
tution. The Americans are hopeful of
securing help from the United States.
Money and food is required.
The cyclone or hurricane, reached
the velocity of 120 miles an hour. It
struck the islands about midnight on
February 7, and continued until about
4 o'clock on the next afternocon. The
island of Anaa, Tuamotu group, is be
-lieved to have been the center of the
storm.
GENERAL SCHOFILD PASSES AWAY.
Oid War Horse Dies Suddenly at Winter
Home in St. Augustine.
Lieut. Gen. John M. Schofield,
United States army, retired, died in
St. Augustine, Fla., Sunday night. He
was attacked with cerebral hemor
rhage and quickly succumbed. His
wife and young daughter were with
him. He was 74 years of age.
General Schofield was secretary ot
war during 1868-69, and his career was
marked by a continuous service in
the army irom the time he entered
West Point in 1849 until he retired
September 29, 1895, with the rank
of lieutenant general, the highest mil
itary honor then permitted by law of
congress. His command of the army
extended from 1888 to 1895. Since his
retirement from the army he has made
frequent visits to Washington, though
he made it a practice each year to
spend his winter in Florida and the
summer in the east.
. HANGING WITNESSED BY GOVERNOR.
Negro at Shreveport Pays Penalty for Mure
der of White Girl.
Charles Coleman, the negro who out
raged and murdered Margaret Lear,
near Shreveport, La., was legally ex
ecuted in the parish jail. No excite
ment attended the execution, public
feeling having subsided since the con
viction of Coleman. Governor Blanch
ard arrived during the morning, and
shortly afterwards signed the death
warrant,
OBDURATE MR. CROMWELL
Still Worries Senator Morgan in Hear
ing Before Committee-=Senator
~ Taliaferro Intervenes.
A Washington dispatch says: The
lctter from Willliam Nelson Cromwell
to the late Secretary Hay, dated in
1898, was taken up Friday by Senator
Morgan in the examination of Mr.
Cromwell before the senate commit
tee investigating canal affairs.
The period covered by the letter
was when the Panama Canal company
was seeking a prolongation of its con
cessions in the isthmus. The letter
referred to an enclosure and Crom
well repeatedly declined to state the
nature of the inclesure or to discuss
the correspondence in any manner.
lixtraordinary political conditions in
Bogoto were referred to in a letter,
and Morgan asked concerning this ref
erence and when the witness declined
to discuss, the senator asked whether
the witness felt that he was obliged
to conceal any actions that were
against the interests of the United
States. :
“I refuse to answer such hypothset
ical and impertinent questions,” said
Mr. Cromwell.
“l am compelled by the attitude of
this committee to accept your un
usual and indecent replies,” replied
Mr. Morgan.
“They are no more unusual or in
decent than your questions,” asserted
the witiiess.
Senator Taliaferro of Florida inter
rued and demanded to know where
in the question was indecent, and the
witness said the indecency was in
the assumption that he had been em
ployed to do anything against the in
terests of the United States. Mr. Tal
iaferro then demanded that the wit
ness be instructed not to make in
sulting replies. |
Chairman Millard said he thought
the character of the reply by the wit
ness was uncalled for, and Senator
Kittredge suggested that the questions
should be couched in different lan
guage. ‘“T'his is not the first time I
have noticed an inclination on the
part of the witness to insult his in
terogators,” said Mr. Taliaferro.
Mr. Morgan said he entertained no
resentment of insults from the wit
ness; that he had too much self-re
spect for that. He counselled his col
leagues not to concern themselves in
his behalf.
QUESTION OF CHASTIIY IRRELEVANT.
Judge Bars Such Testimony in the Hasty
Trial at Gaffney.
The trial of George Hasty was con
' tinued in Gaffney, S. ~ Friday. Miss
Bishop, one of the women of the
“Nothing But Money Company,”’ tes
tified and in the main her testimony
corrchorated that of Miss Sheridan,
who, with Miss Bishop, was an eye
witness.
The defense was allowed to put up
one Strickland, to attack the chastity
of the ladies, asking as to their con
duct as ladies in Gastonia, his homg,
where the women appeared a short
time before the tragedy. ‘l'he court
ruled that the case was being tried
on a legal basis and not a moral one
and that all this about the conduct
of the women was irrelevant. He took
the same pcsition on all other witness
es put up by the defense to attack the
character of the women.
CHARGED wny POISONING WIFE.
Coroner’s Verdict Resultsin Arrest of Hus
band of Two Weeks.
Reason Handley, a young man liv
ing on the plantation of J. B. Jones,
near Ocilla, Ga., was arrested Friday,
charged with having poisoned his wife.
She died Thursday under peculiar cir
cumstances and on investigation it is
said that it was shown he bought
stryclinine under the name of Willis.
The coroner’s jury returned a ver
dict of murder by. poisoring. The
woman’s stomach was forwarded to
the state chemist. The couple had
been married only two weeks.
Costly Elevator fire in Buffalo.
The Wheeler elevator, Buffalo, N.
Y., was destroyed by fire Friday night.
The loss on the building and its con
tents is estimated at $175,000.
LEESBURG, GA., FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1906.
Wide Path of D:struction is Cut in
Center of the City.
VICTIMS BY THE SCORE
Many Large Buildings Totally Demol=
ishzd and Loss of Life ald Prop
erty Damage is Fearfuls
Information reached Mobile, Ala,
Saturday morning at two o'clock
by telephone, all telegraph
wires being down, that a destructive
tornado visited Meridian, Miss.,, at
$:3O o'clock Friday evening, killing
twenty-one white persons and over a
hundred cclored people and damaging
property to the extent of $1,500,000.
There are also scores seriously in
iured through being caught in the
wreckage of houses. The tornado
caught the city on the southwest and
traveled to the northeast, expending
itself in two suburbs where many ne
groes were killed and injured, a whole
tenement district being wiped out.
Two large wholesale stores, several
smaller ones, parts of tne principal
hotel, the electric lighting plant and
all the small property between the
Mobile and Ohio railroad and the busi
ness part of the city were badly dam
aged.
Twenty men were caught in one res
taurant and several were killed. T'wo
stories of the Young Men’s Christian
Association building were wrecked
and other buildings suffered in ths
upper scories.
The negro tenement district north
of the city was demolished, and the
acbris caught fire, threatening a new
danger, but the local departmert, with
the help o hundreds of citizens, over
came this after a hard fight. They
were assited by a torrential rain foi
lowing the tornado.
The city was ph}nged into darkness,
and the full extent of the disaster
was not at first realized. The known
path ¢f the storm was about six hun
cied feet wide and one mile in length.
A long Tstance message from J.
D. Breaux, sarvice man of the Cum
berland Telephone Company at Me
ridian, Miss., gives complete details of
the cyclone, as follows:
“During a heavy rainstorm at 6:30
o'clock a stormeloud developed in the
ssuth and moved on the city, striking
Front street, the business center, with
full force. The wind was probabiy
blowing 75 miles an hour. The cy
clone passed over in about two min
vtes, and, during that period, three
or four whole squares were devastat
ed. A conservative estimate places
the number of buildings blown down
at between thirty and forly. Among
the heaviest losers are the Meyer &
Neville Hardware company, Tom Lyle
& Co., wholesale dry goods and gro
ccries: the ‘New Orleans and North
eastern railrcad freight depot and oth
er buildings, the names of which are
ncl obtainable at this hour. 'The Mo
bile and Ohio depet is safe as well
25 the SouTrern hotel, but the Grand
Avenue hotel was considerably dam
aged. The guests in the latler build
ing escaped and no one was injured.”
A nessage received from the tele
graph operator at Tcemsuba, Miss.,
four miles north of Meridian, who had
just returned from the scene of the
dizaster, was to the effect that up
vards of one hundred persons were
killed, and that the property loss was
enormous. He stated all buildings be
tween Front stret and the railroad
tracks were demclished, and calls for
a large force of workmen to assist
in removing bodies from debris were
being made.
Major Gillett’s Resignation Accepted,
The president, Friday, decided to ae
cept the resignation of Major Cassius
Gillette, engineer corps, U. 8. A, and
the secretary of war accordingly has
written Major Gillette a letter accept
ing his resignation. :
OLD FIGHT 1S RENEWED.
Northern Congressmen Will Again Op-
pose Bonus for Southern Fast
Mail Train.
Report is current that the special
appropriation or bonus offered by the
government for the running of the
fust mail train to the south, wouid
}ave opposition when the subject is
Lionght up in eougress. Many north
ern republicans in congress are back
o. this opposition and while they want
to cat out the fast mail service to
the soutli,they want to take the money
saved in this way and make il pas
sibie for more fast trains to the west.
It was also learned that some of the
seuthern suembers of congress had
Lean enlisted by the opposition for
the doing away with the fast mail
train to the south, although they were
rot made aware that the money savad
in *his way would be used for the
ruonning of fast trains to the west.
So far as the railroads are concern
c¢d, officials state that while the bo
nus for this fast service is §200,090,
the reilroalds hardly more than pay
exnenses Lecause of the heavy fines
which are imposed whenever this fast
train, No. 97, is late. These heavy
fines, together with the great cost of
nmiaintaining an average speed of 52
n:iles and running at times up to S 0
and more rmiles an hour, eats up this
200,000 bonus, while as the fast mail
has the right of way of all other
trains, regular passenger trains have
te be sidetracked and held, and in thisg
wav the regular schedu.es are inter
fered with and the railroads lose.
Dut whether the railroads gain or
losc, there is no doubt about the peo
ple of the south winning by this fast
nmail train, which has done much for
ceveloping the business interests of
the cocuth, and to which the peopls
Lave onecome so accustomea that the
vater of withdrawing it would mean a
terrible blow at the commercial cir
cles of all Diaxie. For New Orleans
this fast mail train means the savinz
of twenty-four hours, and for other
cities to the north of New Orleana
in this same proportion.
Besides this matter of the Imail,
veiy inany southerners would not ne
able to get their morning papers pub
lished in southern cities until in the
afternoon r the next day. The sav
ing of twenty-four hours in the mat
tar of mail orders in these present
conditions I:eans much to almost ov
ery line of business. It mcans that
crdars can be received and sent out
the same Jay, wiile with the with
d:iowal of the *“Midnight Mail,” as the
train is known, wculd make this im
pocsikle, and would in most cases
mean a deiay of two davs to the per
son seading in the mail order. As ‘t
is the rapidity with which these mail
ord2rs may be ¢ent to business houses
awd filled is responsible for the tre
mendens zrowth of this just kind of
Lisiness, the injury which would re
snit 1m the taking off of the fast mail
woula he lLard to even estimate, |
FREE SEEDS ARE ELIMINATED,
llouse Committ<e on Agriculture Cuts Cut
. lsual Appropriation. .
A Washington speciai says: Over
tLe snlid opposition of the southern
members, the house committee on ag
riculture Wednesds: struck from the
zcgricultural apprepriation bill all pro
vigion for purchase of seed for free
distribution. “I'his action came as o
climax to a nard fight which south
ern members made to retain the ap
prronriation en the ground that it fur
rished one cf the few direct benefits
the farmers of the country receive
from the government treasury. TFor
a number of years a fight has been
made against this free se2d proviso,
led usually by men representing city
digtricts, but hereiofore the agricultu
-lal eccmmittee has always included the
item in the aprropriation bill and th 2
coponents have been unable to strike
it out in the housge. Now it has been
siricken by the comn:iittee, however,
the friends of the appropriation will
find it extremely diflicult to secure it 3
insertion when the bill reaches the
house. This wear the department of
agriculture made the usual estimate
of $252,000 for the purchase of seed
for congressional distribution. The
subcommittee cut this to $242,000 by
a vote of 8 to 7. 'The full committee
struck it cntirely. ;
NO. 37.
NEGROES’ JONAH
Colored Citizens Mobbed and Terch
Applied to Their Homes.
RIOTERS HARD TO CURB
Shooting of a White Man by Two Ne
groes Precipitated Trouble--Eight
Companies of Tro: ps on Scene.:
A riot and race war which began in
Springfield, Ohio, Tuesday right as
a result of the shooting of M. M. Da
vis, a railroad man, by Ladd anil
Dean, colored, was continued Wiednes
day night, cight companies of troovs
called out to assist the local officials
.in preserving order not being able Lo
prevent the destruction of two houses
aad the partial demolition of a dozen
or wmiore others at the hands of the
mob.
Up to midnight Wednesday night
no casualties had cccurred, and the
riot Lad consisted mainly of march
ing mobs, which either set fire to or
stioned the houces of negroes.
''he “Flickers’ Nest,”” which is in
havited by negrces, and which fig
ured in the Dixon mob and subso
gnent race wars two years ago, was
assailed and several attempts made
to. fivre it, but as it was guarded by
militiamen, the effort failed.
feveral negroes who had been chas
el by the whites from the negro quar
ter of the city, made their way to
the city building, which was in charge
of the solldiers. Colonel C. S. Ammel
of the fourth regiment arrived Wed
nesday evening and assumed com
mand of the troops, relieving Captain
Horace keifer, who had been in com
mana.
The first place visited was the home
of George Miller at York ana Harri
son streets. When the assault began
from the rear of the home, Miller ran
in nis bar 2 feet and without coat or
hat and escaped from his pursuers by
goeing to the city hall, where he found
shelter with the troops. Coal oil was
applied to liis house, which was soon
a mass of flames, and was quickly
destroyed.
From DMiller’s the mob went to the
kemes of John I.ogan and Neah Jln
graham, a double frame on Yook
street, and the torch was applied fol
icwing the escape .of the occupants a
few minutes before. The house was
practically destroyed. The militia
g:ve chase to some of the rioters, and
at Jentral avenue pursued them at
the point of the bayonet. Even while
this was going on, some of the mem
bers of the mob who wera at a safo
dislonce from the soldiers continued
te <tone the houses of negroes.
The house of John Scurry, a negro
rreacher, was stoned, and the family
fled terror-stricken from it. ‘'he mob
then set fire to it, but the prompt ar
rival of the militia prevented its de
elrustinn. The homes of Reaben
Campbell and Charles Fillmore on
Central avenue, were riddled with
gtones and at this point a Loy, whose
rame is not known, was shot in the
irz. The militia have devoted their
attention to the control of the larger
crowds, leaving the police to look
oiter the smaller end of the rict. Pro
miscuous and random shooting was
a fenture Wednesday night, and added
to the geneval terror. Two negro wo
men whe jumped from the second
gtories of Iteir homes when assailed
Ly the mol were seriously hurt, ani
were taken to the hoszpital.
Mauy negroes are fleeing from the
city, going to Columbus, Dayton, Xenia
and Urbana.
i e
THOUGHT HE HAD KILLED MAN.
After Being a Fugitive tor Thirty Years Ne=
gro is Fined Qonly $lO.
Louis Dankey, a nezro, thought he
killed another negro with a club thir
ty years ago and fled. being a fugi
tive all these years. A few days ago
Le was arrosted in Montgomery, Ala.,
and on trial Wecnesday it was dis
csvered that the man he hit was not
killed. He was let off wita a fine of
$lO, atter Leing thirty vears in fear.