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mmmmbmIbmwii THE TTTICE-A-WEEK TELEGRAPH FRDIAY, APRIL 12, 1907. THE MM TELECMPB PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING AND TWICE A WEEK BY THE MACON TELEGRAPH PUBLISH ING COMPANY. 563 MULBERRY STREET, MACON, GA. ter. an c sufiTfrcj r.courn are • the table ! signified ular and r irMsonou? his hosts r distaste C. R. PENDLETON, President THE TELEGRAPH IN ATLANTA. The Telegraph e « n *»• 0B at tha Kimball House and the Pied mont Hotel lit Atlanta. MR. GRAVES’ ANTI-CLIMAX. la It because of * well-founded dis trust of orators and oratory that no mere orator, however great, has ever succeeded In reaching the Presidential chair? Clay, CaJboun, Webster, Doug las, all strove to reach the prize and •were defeated by less prominent and comparatively unknown rivals. At later period Blaine, who approximated them as an orator, emulated their fate mm a candidate. For more than a. de* cade past the Democratic party has fccen dominated by an orator, who is styled "Peerless,” and who has never' tbeless twice In that time led his party to defeat. The question is suggested at this time by the absurd Graves- Bryan episode at* the Chattanooga Jef ferson banquet. Mr. John Temple Graves, of Atlanta, went to Chattanooga to deliver an address at a Jefferson banquet at which Mr. William J. Bryan was the guest of honor. Mr. Graves had pre pared a speech filled with flamboyant rodomontade and extravagant lauda tion of Cleveland, Bryan and Hearst, leading up to the apotheosis of Theo dore Roosevelt as the Ideal Democrat and reaching Its climax In an appeal to William J. Bryan to rise In the national Democratic convention and, "speaking tor a pure Democracy, and speaking for the whole plain people of this re public, should put In nomination The- odoro Roosevelt for one more undis puted term of power." Mr. Graves had procured the distri bution of his speech as prepared over the country to be released at the proper moment to do its work of electrifying the country and surrendering the Dem ocratic ark Into the keeping of Theo dore Roosevelt, the gentleman whose latest expression of Democracy Is the desire to obliterate the State lines and conduct our domestic affairs as one consolidated Government from his desk in Washington. At the critical moment when editors all over the country were holding their extra editions In leash, as it were, for the signal to let loose the tremendous voltage etored with them from the Atlanta generator and electrify the country from East to West, there came Instead the mournful Intelligence that the tonstmaster of the occasion had met Mr. Graves at the depot and muz zled him. Mr. Graves was cordially Invited to attend the banquet and speak If he would, but would Mr. Graves please eliminate his Roosevelt nomina tion pyrotechnic? Emasculated of this pyrotechnic, there was nothing left of Mr. Graves’ speech, and he declined to spenk. His scat at the banquet table became Intolerably uncomfortable and he soon departed to catch the first out going Atlanta train. Mr. Bryan learned of tho trouble, had Mr. Graves recalled and kindly Insisted on his speaking his piece as he had pre pared It. Had the incident ended with this Democrats might have enjoyed tho laugh with the rest of the country, but Mr. (Bryan, who with all his ability and brilliance, appears to have a fatal fa cility for “putting his foot In It,” could not resist the opportunity to match Mr. G raves' performance, to judge from the press report of the incident. After metaphorically patting Mr. Graves on the back and praising him for his boldness and honesty, he turned di rectly to the subject of Mr. Graves’ recommendation, we are told, and said: "As at present advised I shall not pre sent the name of Theodore Roosevelt to the national Democratic convention. Bear In mind I say as at present ad vised.” But. he continued, "If on ma ture consideration and reflection and the presentation of the arguments In the case he should be convinced that his duty lay in that direction, he would present Mr. Roosevelt's name if it ehculd be the last act of his life. He then went on to say that if any Re publican was to be selected by the Democrats to head their national ticket that man should be Senator La Fol- lette, of Wisconsin.” Such an exhibition as this Is calcu lated to fill Democrats everywhere with hopeless despair. We have presented to us the spectacle of a leader debating with himself whether he will lead his party into the enemy’s camp. A man who posing as the exponent of Jeffer- | sontan Democracy, the chief tenet of • which is that the best government is ^ that which governs least, admits the i possibility of selecting from the ene- i my for a leader the most radical ad vocate of centralization and petty In- j qulsition and restriction of individual liberty tho country has ever pro duced. A man who. twice hon- i ored and followed to defeat by South- j ern Democracy, ignored the suggestion of finding a leader for the party among ; the many loyal Southern Democra for the spoetaci; formance. Ignoring Mr. Bryan's seeming as sumption that tho Interests and for tunes of Democracy are matters solely for his personal management and de cision, what Is the country* to think of a man who wobbles as Mr. Bryan does? Only four days ago at Des Moines, Iowa, he said: "Roosevelt Is too Democratic to suit the corporations: too little Democratic to suit the Democrats. Every time he suggests the in come tax, trust restriction or rail road regulation, he antagonize*; tho corporations, while on the other hand, what has he done? He has been President five years; r.o trust magnate rests in prison cells.” If this represented his opinion four days ago what has happened in the meantime to modify it, since he can admit the possibility of proposing Roosevelt as the nominee of Democ racy? But most important of all, perhaps, Involved In Mr. BTyan’s utterance Is the waiving for himself and for Dem ocracy, as far as he can speak for It, of the "third term” objection. Have Democrats no rights or Interests sentiments that Mr. Bryan is bound to respect? THE LAW IN THE CASE. For two months and a half the Thaw trial has held the center of the stage of public events. Many Incidents and episodes have attended the trial, which, has been of record-breaking length The conduct of the case by the counsel on either side has been far from flaw less. Both sides have bungled and blundered repeatedly and befogged not only the public but befogged them selves as to the true legal bearings of the case. Jerome became Infatuated with the subject of insanity through the researches he was led into to meet the case and he took up and pursued the theory that Thaw was insane, the only valid plea the defense had to stand on. In view of the tack taken by the prosecutor, the defense practically abandoned this Its sole legal plea. They fought Jerome before? the lunacy com mission and helped to divest them selves of It almost utterly when the lunacy commission, declared Thaw sane. In the closing hours of the trial Delmas appealed to tho jury almost entirely on tho /‘unwritten law” and the "Golden Rule," neither of which aro known In the law books. At the conclusion of his address Thaw theat rically shook hands with his relatives in a congratulatory manner and strut ted out of the court room with the ‘chivalric halo” of the hero crowning his brow. The public, like Thaw, re garded the return of the verdict of acquittal as merely a formality certain to follow. But, oh, what a change when Judge Fitzgerald coolly and con cisely stated the law governing the case to the jury. No one, not even Jerome, apparently, viewed the judge as a factor of much consequence in tho case. For two months and a half he had presided over tho trial, It is true, but he had not particularly asserted himself. He gave both sides plenty of rope and let the caso take wide latitude, down to the very last utterances of the counsel in their speeches. But from the moment he took the case In his hands to com mit It to the jury there was a surprise. How painful it was to Harry Thaw and his friends is told in the press dis patches. The charge, we are told, “was a concise outline of the law and gave to the jury the alternative of rendering any one of the following four verdicts —Murder in tho first degree; murder in tho second degree; manslaughter in tho first degree, or not guilty on the ground of insanity.” Thus the only possible loophole of escape for Thaw left was the despised and neglected plea of "not guilty on the ground of insanity.” Nothing was said of the “unwritten law;” nothing of the "Gol den Rule;” the entire fanciful fabric built upon them by Delmas’ romantic rhetoric collapsed and fell into noth ingness. Ts it any wonder that Thaw lost his “debonnair” air and "sat in a dejected mood, his entire appearance denoting a nervous, apprehensive state of mind?” Whatever be the final result of the jury’s deliberations, whether it be an acquittal, a compromise verdict or a mistrial, the public is Indebted to Jus tice Fitzgerald for a great benefaction, even though it consists only in his clearly staling the law of the land re garding the crime of murder at this critical juncture, when the public mind has been so injuriously and viciously befogged on the subject. j PRECISELY WHAT HE DID DO. | "Another* ^Southern newspaper, and J one of the best of them," recently re- i marked the Columbia State, "thinks well of ex-Prcsident Grover Cleve land’s advice about moving the tarlif I issue to the front In next year’s polit ical campaign. The Norfolk Virglnlan- I Pilot’s avowed reasons for thinking j well of it are, that tariff reform is a | righteous issue, that it would be a di visive Issue for Republicans, that the Democrats couid be ’rallied’ on It, and that It’s the only Issue they have had any luck with since 1856. But the Vir ginia paper Is not ready to let up on the bad, law-breaking corporations— railroad or other. ‘A stern demand for proper revision of the tariff does not,’ It says, 'mean a truce with any of the other evils which prey upon popular rights and Interests.’ Did the Vir ginia paper read attentively Mr. Cleve- numbered 2,163. The negro population was 4.959, and the Indians nunrbeied 9.1S2. There are many Swedes in Min nesota. many foreigners without eth nologic information. The unintelli gent have little or no prejudice against the negro. The women who marry ne groes are of a class which would be put on the same level with the negro In the South. There are few negroes in Minnesota and only a small per cent of these have married white women. But the few who have will breed mon grels, and a generation or two hence the man or woman who admits he or she is from Minnesota will rest under a cloud of suspicion, and will find dif ficulty in gaining social recogntion.” Minnesota and the other States of the Northwest are literally packed with Swedes. It is to be Inferred from the above that they are ready to re ceive matrimonially-inclined negroes land's remarks about the present I from the South with open arms. Na- ’craze' for swatting the unhappy rail roads ?” To which the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot replies: ’ "Yes, we read the entire pro nunciation to and then, as is customary with this paper," expressed assent with that portion of it which our judgment approved, and drew our own deduc tions, differing from those of Mr. Cleveland, as to other current Issues. One great trouble of the times Is the tendency of men and public journals to accept everything a leader stands for simply because he represents some principle or policy which coincides with their own opinion. Some of Mr. Bryan’s propositions are sound and wholesome acoording to the Virginian- Pilot's way of thinking, while others, measured by the same standard, are neither wise nor Democratic. So, too, we endorse heartily Mr. Cleveland’s constitutional theories and his abhor rence of the legalized robbery mas querading now under the name of Tariff, but none the less we feel sure that in dealing with tho question of corporation reform, he minimizes ex isting evils and does not make suffi cient allowance for the provocations which have induced the popular senti ment he deplores. He seems to us to be as much too conservative In cer tain directions as Mr. Bryan is too radical in others. Both fall’ to draw proper distinction between the law- abiding and the lawless classes of cor porations.” That is precisely what Mr. Cleveland did do, as'' Tho Tele graph understood him. Ho ob jected to the lack of discrimination in the "delirium” of the present popu lar outcry, while admitting the exist ence of “the real iniquities of corpora tions” which called for reform. "Of course.” he concluded, "there must be some form of Government supervis ion, but it should be planned in a quiet hour, not in one of angry excitement.” What more can be desired by any just and patriotic citizen who takes time for sober reflection? In his debate with Senator Beveridge in the Reader magazine Mr. Bryan holds that race questions in the South and on the Pacific const involve prob lems that are not appreciated by the rest of the country, and that there fore the right of local self-government connected with such matters should not be taken away by the centraliza tion of Government at Washington. Mr. Bryan favors Federal laws that will supplement, not supersede, those of the States. With remarkable slsteney, however, he endorse Beveridge plan of dealing wit labor through Congressional enact ments which would take local self- government In this particular out^of WHERE MISCEGENATION IS EN COURAGED. A year or two ago the Boston Herald stated that there were about fifty mar riages a year between whites and blacks in the State.of Massachusetts. The detailed information accompanying the statement showed that all these marriages were between negro men and white women. The thoughtful reader found good reason to conclude further that these negro men were at least fairly prosperous and the women were of the lowest, poorest class of whites, and mostly foreign-born. The Telegraph suggested that Massachu setts was the place for certain ambi tious and dissastlfied negroes of the Southern’States, where such marriages are prohibited by law and where there would be no such marriages If there were no laws to prevent. It now appears that Minnesota is an even more inviting field, where negro men of the South, who are not satis fied with the women Intended for them by Providence, ma^ easily achieve the object of their desire. The following is clipped frem a recent issue of the Minneapolis Journal: A social function which is de cidedly unusual will be given Fri day night at the colored Knights of Pythias Hall, on Hennepin ave nue. near Washington avenue, when the Manassas Club, an organization composed of colored men who have married white women or who aro "keeping company” with white wo men, will give a dancing party to which club members and their wives or sweethearts will be ad mitted. The Manassas Club is unique among the social organizations of the twin cities and for several sea sons was accustomed to giving its parties In a hail near Fourth street and Eighth avenue. S. During the Eustis administration so much publicity was given the organiza tion and its social functions that the latter had been bold, since that time, in St. Paul for the most part. The ball to be given here Friday is therefore attracting more than passing interest. There are some fifteen or twenty colored men In the city, and many more in St. Paul, who have married women of Caucasian blood, while there are many colored men in each city who act as escorts of white women, and it is these men and women who attend the social functions of the Manassas Club. One of the rules of the club is that no white men shall be admitted to Its social functions. Neither are colored wo men permitted to attend. tive Americans of the Northwest as well as of the rest of the country would, however, feel better satisfied if they would take their mongrel children back to Sweden. “WILLIAIYIRANDOLPHHEARSTISM.” According to the Louisville Cour ier-Journal. it was not the Dem ocracy but Wllllerandolphhearstism that was beaten in Chicago. Still, there isn’t so much difference.— Philadelphia Press. Isn’t there? Why, then, is Hearst to have nothing to do with either the Jefferson Day dinner given to Bryan in Brooklyn on April 16 or the dinner of the National Democratic Club at the Waldorf on April 13, but is to have a “Jefferson” dinner of his own on the date last mentioned. It is slated that Hearst was invited by the (Brooklyn Democratic Club to tho Bryan dinner, but declined. Whether or not he was invited to the dinner of the National Democratic Club is not stated, but the fact that he an nounced his own dinner for the same evening would seem to Imply that he was not. The chief speaker at the Bryan-Jef- ferson dinner will of course be Mr. Bryan himself. A different order will prevail at the Hearst-Jefferson dinner, as Mr. Hearst does not speak. Those announced to speak for him are Jus tice John Ford, Justice Samuel Sea bury, John B. Moran, of Boston, and Representative Lamar, of Florida. Judge Alton B. Parker, Senator Ray- ner and other Sbuthern Democrats aro booked for the dinner of the National Democratic club. There are several varieties of Dem ocracy in these times, but it is scarcely accurate to describe "Williamrandolph hearstism” as one of them. Mr. Hearst himself has given his brand the name of the Independence League. BOOKS AS BRAIN FOOD. Some trans-Atlantic literary scient ists have been investigating books as brain food as a sequel to the scientific analysis of foods for the stomach, and the conclusion has been reached that the more the books, taking them by and large, the less the mental pabulum. A writer in the London Saturday Re view summarizes the results of his laboratory tests in the following form: Books should be taken in doses no bigger than music or pictures: they aro even harder to digest. There is more drunkenness in a book than in ail the vinyards of France. AH thoso people who read with their eyes only are fatally wasting their time. Is any good thing likely to come out of indis criminate reading any more than out of any other form of feeding indis criminately?” This writer apparently loses sight of the fact that the majority of read ers are not after “brain food” but after amusement and entertainment, and this they get, in view'of the writer’s ad mission as to the amount of Intoxica tion there is in a book. Victor L. Berger, founder of the "Socialistic Democratic party,” has de cided that for tho present his organi zation must abandon the work of prop- agandlsm In sixteen of the States of the Union, nine of those he mentions having once been included in the eleven States of the Southern Confed eracy. In other wordg, he abandons the 'South on the prinicple that It is useless to attempt to grow wheat in a desert. Yet it may be that the longer the South is a desert from the social istic standpoint the better. The Re publican party already furnishes as much paternalistic socialism as the country can stand. 1*1 Mil H i-M-i-t-'H | | | 1 H-l-l-I t | Caught on | the Wing •l-'M-M d-H-I-I“H"H-M"I I H-H-H-h By JOHN T. BOIFEUIL.LET. I notice that a petition has been filed in the Bibb County Superior Court for a renewal of the charter of the Geor gia Bar Association. The original charter was granted by this court at the April term, 1884. for twenty years. The period of time for which the associa* tion was incorporated expired about three years ago, 'but this fact was over looked until the twenty-third annual session which was held In July, 1906, when a committee, consisting of A. G, Powell, chairman; P. W. Meldrim, S, P. Gilhert, Z. D. Harrison and Orville A. Park, was appointed to petition for a renewal of the charter, also to re vise the constitution and by-laws. The name of A. G. Powell does not appear as one of the committee, or petitioners' attorneys, on the petition which has been presented to the Superior Court of Bibb County, for the reason that since his appointment last year by the association as chairman he has been elected one of the judges of the Court of Appeals. The original petitioners for the Incorporation of The Georgia 'Bar Association, in 18S4, were L. N. Whittle, of Macon: Charles C. Jones, Jr., of Augusta; Henry Jackson, of At lanta; M. H. Blandford, of Columbus; Pope Barrow, of Savannah: George A. Mercer, of Savannah; Clifford Ander son, of Macon; George N. Lester, of Marietta: Marshall J. Clarke, of At lanta; Robert ’Whitfield, of MHIedge ville; W. B. Hill, of Macon. The Judge of the Superior Court who granted the charter was T. J. Simmons. This was only twenty-three years ago, but all of these men are dead, with the ex ception of Col. George A. Mercer, of Sa vannah, and he has retired from the active practice on account of his health Some of them died at the meridian of life, but others passed away at an advanced age. After the granting of the charter Blanford and Simmons went upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Anderson and Lester became State Attorney General. Bar- row and Clarke were chosen Superior Court Judges, and the chancellorship of the University of Georgia was 'bestow ed upon Walter B. Hill. These origi nal petitioners were the first officers of the Georgia Bar Association: L. N. Whittle, president: .Waiter B. Hill, sec retary and treasurer: and Jones. Jack- son, Blandford, ©arrow and Mercer vice-presidents. Mr. Hill continued as secretary until 18S7, when he was elect ed president of the association. In 1897 Mr. J. H. Blount, Jr., of Macon, was elected secretary, and In 1S9S Mr. Orville A. Park,’ of Macon, was chosen and he has held the position ever since, a period of ten years. Macon has had five presidents, to-wit: L. N. Whittle. Clifford Anderson, Walter B. Hill. Washington Dessau and the incumbent, A. L. Miller, who was elected at the annual meeting last year. No other city *has had as many presidents, or as many secretaries. It is a rule of the association to elect a new president each year. It is my impression that no annual meeting of the association has been held in Macon since 1892. the year that the late Washington Dessau was chosen president. Not counting the honorary members, who compose a largo list, the active roll of member ship shows 415 names. The year end ing July 18, 1906, was tho banner year in the history of the association in point of new members. 116 having joined during that stated period. The Georgia Bar Association is one of the pioneer organizations of the kind in the United States. It is also one of the largest and most prosperous. It is particularly fortunate in having so efficient and zealous .secretary as Or ville A. Park, of Macon. His zeal and efficiency contributes much to the suc cess *of the association, and the mem bers are sensible of and appreiale this fact The constitution of the associa tion says: “The object of this associa tion shall he to advance the science of jurisprudence, promote the adminis tration of justice throughout the State, uphold the honor of the profession of the law, and establish cordial inter course among the members of the bar of Georgia.” Just at this particular time it may be of interest to recall to the minds of some of the readers of The Telegraph that Wm. Travers Je rome. of New York, delivered an ad dress before the association last year “Public Opinion.” He spoke of its power, some of its evils and injustices, and the duty of lawyers to it. I won der what Jerome thinks public opinion is of his management of the Thaw trial? In his address Jerome said. ‘The man who declares he is indiffer ent to public opinion, if he be not a fanatic, is too often something of a fool and a knave—a knave to lie and a fool to think you believe him.” He further remarked: “If public opinion is the greatest single force in our pub lic life, surely tho newspaper is in comparably the greatest factor in Us formation and spread.” the brave garrison was still struggling merely for the honor of Its dug went under fire in an open boat to the fort and climbing through one of its em brasures asked for Major Anderson and begged him to desist from the hopeless fight, offering to him the same terms that had been proposed before his position had been rendered so desperate. Though Wigfall had acted without authority, upon Major Anderson’s acceptance of the terms they were promptly ratified by General Beauregard. The bombardment of Fort Sumter produced intense excitement through out the country. North and South. President Lincoln called for 75 000 vol unteers and President Davis prompt ly issued a ball for volunteers. The war was on. History says that tho Confederates strengthened Fort Sum ter immediately a’nd put in a strong garrison, and until near the close of tho war it formed the main defense of Charleston. In April. 1SS3. it was un successfully bombarded by a monitor fleet under Admiral Du Pont. Still later it was subjected to a heavy Fed eral ilre from batteries erected on Morris island, and reduced to a mass of shapeless ruins; but every direct attempt to taka It from the Confed erates failed and it fell into Union hands only when Charleston was final ly abandoned by tho Confederates In February. 1S65. On April 14, 1S65 (notice how April runs in tho record of Fort Sumter), just four years after the surrender of the fort, the Union flag, the same which had been lowered In 1861. was again foramlly raised over tho dilapidated walls of Fort Sumter. represented Louisiana In the Senate with Judah P. Benjamin, Clerk O'nest- ney saw a great deal of Senator Slid !I. I refer to this because .if the historic occurrence in which Slidell and form er Senator J. M. Mason, of Virginia, figured during the Confederacy. They were appointed Confederate commis sioners to France and England. Sail ing from Charleston, they ran the blockade, and embarked at Havana on board the English mail steamer Trent. On November S 1561. CapL Wilkes, of the United States steam frigate San Jacinto, boarded this vessel, and ar rested tho commissioners, who were confined In Ft. Warren, Boston harbor. But as their capture was Informal, they were released on the reclamation of the British Government, and on January 2 1S62, sailed for England. From there they went to Paris, where through tho banker, Erlanger (who became Slidell's son-in-law) they se cured some financial aid for the Con federacy. Slidell settled In London after the close of the war. Twenty doctors in England have signed a document endorsing the use of alcohol as a medicine. Like Timo thy, they believe in taking a little for their stomach’s ache. I am at a loss to understand why this writ'ng about lawyers should have made me remember that today is the anniversary of the first hanging In Bibb County. On April 11. 182S William Fields was executed for the murder of James Abbott. His convic tion and death were almost as expe ditious as by the lynching process. He died on the gallows within ten days after the commission of his crime. Papa, who Is so many things, Is also a member of the Audubon Society, and j yet Mrs. “Nick” Longworlh is wearing spring “creation” on her head, the chief feature of which is a dead bird. Even Harry Thaw felt he was guilty when he heard from the lips of the judge what the law really is in his case. icon- j avowed the child 1 the hands of the States. If Congre.-s qualified for the place, so far ns any : can legislate for the States in the one L allusion to It Is reported, and who took it upon himself, with whatever mis taken notion of magnanimity, to coon -j case it can do it in the other, and once it begins along this line no man will be able to see the end. In other words, miscegenation Is the and steadfast object of the club. “There was r.ot a negro buck present,” disgustedly comments the Nashville American, “who was not as respectable as any of the white wenches who displayed their degrada tion. In 1900 M'nr.csota had 261.009 foreign-born white voters and 245.000 native-born white voters, and a large per cent of the latter were of foreign- born parentage. Tho negro voters Justice Fitzgerald even forgot to mention "dementia Americana” in his charge. COURT RETURNS TODAY FROM HOUSTON COUNTY The terrn of Houston Superior Court will be concluded this afternoon at Per ry. and Judge Felton and other officials will return home, preparatory to open ing the April term of 3!bb Superior Court. Monday morning at 9 o'clock, at which time the grand jury will also bold its first meetingc Tommorw Is the anniversary of the commencement of the Civil War. On the morning of April 12, 1S61, at about half past four o’clock. General Beau regard. the Confedreato commander at Charleston, commenced the bombard ment of Fort Sumter. This fort was a work built upon an artificial island near the entrance of the harbor of Charleston. S. C., which it was de signed to protect. The United States garrison, numbering 109 men and about 52 cannons, under the command of Major Robert Anderson, were occu pying Fort Sumter. A fleet of seven United Staets vessels were en route to reinforce the fort. The Confederate authorities knew this and they ordered ; Beauregard to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson re fused to comply. Several fruitless ef forts were made to get him to evacu ate. He played for time hoping for the arrival of. the Federal fleet The Confederates had constructed batter ies on Morris and Sullivan islands, and Cummlng’s Point. After due notice to Anderson. Beauregard opened fire ; on Fort Sumter, and in a short time ! serious damage was done to the fort. I The bombardment became furious, and ' the fort was set on fire. The evacua- ! tion’ of the fort was agreed upon on 1 the afternoon of the of the 13th. and on the 14th Major Anderson and his men marched out. They were allow- ! ed to salute their flag and were ac- I corded all the honors of war. They : sailed for New York. History records ’ the very remarkamle statement that j though the fort was put into a blaze by oursting shells and was reduced to .-uins no life was lost during the ter- I rific bombardment. It is related that the? only casualty occurred when the garrison saluted the flag as it was hauled down the day after the sur render. At that time one man was killed and several wounded by the bursting of a gun. In the "Story of the Confederate states.” appears the following: A striking Incident occurred just before the surrender. Louis rT. ■Wigfall, an ex-Senator of Texas, see- ] ing the fort on fire, and believing that I guess that Major T. O. Chestney. of Macon, was personally acquainted with more presidents of the United States before the Civil War than any other man now alive in Georgia. Ho knew James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lin coln, six in number. He saw all of them inaugurated, with the exception of Polk. Major Chostney’s first recol lection of Polk was towards the end of that gentleman’s administration, which closed on March 4. 1849 He saw him In a Presbyterian church in Washington. The major’s father point ed him out to him. Major Chestney not only witnessed the inauguration of President Taylor on Monday, March 5, 1849, but he attended his funeral, which occurred in less than fifteen months after he became President. On July 4, 1350. Taylor was seized with billious fever, of which he died on tho 9th at the Presidential mansion. He was the father-in-law of Jefferson Da vis. President of the Confederacy. Ma jor Chestney says he vividly recalls the funeral of “Old Rough and Ready.” During the administration of President Pierce, in 1S54, Major Chestney was appointed the private secretary of United States Senator Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and when Clay was made chairman of the committee on commerce, in 1856. he hg.d Chestney appointed clerk of the committee, which position Chestney held during the entire four years’ administration of President Buchanan. The commit tee consisted of Clement C. Clay, chairman; Judah P. Benjamin, of Lou isiana: Robert Toombs, of Georgia: Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan: Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. They were all big guns. Think of being a clerk of a committee ofGk-hich these two grand orators and patriots, Ben jamin and Toombs . were members. What an intellectual and patriotic treat it must have been to young Chestney! How he must have reveled in the feast of eloquence and partlotism! What a banquet of fervid rhetoric and glow ing speech to feed upon! In those days the Democrats were in the majority in the Senate, and the committee on com merce consisted of three Democrats qnd two Republicans. Chestney was born in Alabama, but was living then in Washington with his father, who held a Government position there, and Senator Clay being from Alabama, ap pointed young Chestney first ns hi*-* private secretary, and then clerk of his committee, as already stated. Ma jor Chestney now has in his posses sion letters which were written to him by Clay. Toombs and others of the committee. He cherishes the commu nications as relics of the golden days of oratory—when Toombs shook the Senate with the thunders of his elo quence. Chestney says he felt, away back yonder in the fifties, that the rep utation of Toombs would far outlive the man. so he preserved the letteters as a legacy frob one of the most mo mentous decades in the history of this nation—an era in which the great Georgian was a directing force and a towering genius. MaJ. Chestney attended all the great debates leading up to tho Civil War. He heard Stephen A. Douglas and John J. Crittenden and William A. Seward and Charles Sumner and Rob ert Toombs and Alfred Iverson and Judah P. Benjamin and Jefferson Davis, and many other of the master minds of that great period. He heard the splendid speeches of Benjamin and Toombs, two of his committee, on withdrawing from the Senate to unite with the Confederacy. Toombs was very menacing and defiant. I asked MaJ. Chestney yesterday which one o£ all the speakers in the matchless galaxy impressed him most. "Benja min," was his reply. “To nie he was tho most brilliant and captivating of all.” he said. Maj. Chestney left Washington in the early part of March, 1861. proceeded to Alabama and Immediately enlisted* In the Con federate army. He was on the “E. E. E." staff: that is to say, he served during the war on the staff of three generals whose names commenced* with E, to-Wit: Elzey. Early and Ewell. He was captured in April, 1865. and was kept in prison some time after the surrender, thus serving for more than four years in the causo of the Confederacy. He has In his pos session a letter of endorsement by the distinguished Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, for the position of assistant editor of the Richmond Enquirer, which was given to Maj. Chestney soon after his release as a prisoner of war. Clement C., the son of Maj. Chestney. was named after Senator j Clement C. Clay, whose private secre tary Maj. Chestney was fifty-threo years ago. I will state in conclusion, that Maj. Chestney witnessed not. only the Inauguration of five Presidents of the United States before the Civil War, but he saw Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederacy. In augurated at Richmond. DRAYMAN’S COAT USED AS CLEW BY THE SLEUTHS. Consider for a moment the person nel of the committee on commerce, of which Chestney was clerk In his early young manhood.' There was Clay, a Senator from Alabama from 1853 until he resigned fn February. 1861. to cast his destinies with the South in her struggle for constitutional liberty. Then he was chosen a Senator in the Confederate Congress. In 1S64 he went to Canada as one of the secret agents of the Confederate Government, and took part in planning tho attacks on the Northern frontier, and 1n July made some unsuccessful attempts to enter upon negotiations with President Lincoln. There was Benjamin, as true a pa triot and as brilliant an orator as tho South possessed. He was an honor to the Jewish race and a glory to his adopted Southland. In 1852 he was elected from Louisiana to the Unitetd States Senate and served continuous ly until he withdrew In February 1861, to join his State in the defense of her legal rights. On December 31. 1860, in a magnificent speech in the Senate he avowed his adhesion to the South ern cause. This great lawyer was ap pointed Attorney General in the Pro visional Government of the Southern Confederacy. Latctr he was made act ing Secretary of War. He stood high In the confidence of President Davis, and was next appointed Secretary of State, which position he held until the end of the Confederacy. Soon after the rtrrrend'-r Benjamin took up his residence In London where he reaped fame and fortune in the practice of his profession There was Toombs, one of the fore most intellects in the Senate, a blaz ing Southern light, superb in debate, a marvelous orator. He was the gen ius of secession. What Mirabeau was to the French revolution Toombs wn3 to the great American conflict. He was in the Senate from 1853 to Jan uary 23, 1861, retiring as soon as Georgia decided to secede. He was a delegate from the State at large to the convention of the seceded States which met in Montgomery on February 4, 1861. It was expected by many that Mr. Toombs would be the President '•f the Provisional Government whica was formed by the election of Jeffer son Davis. Mr. Toombs refused to allow his name to be presented by the Georgia delegation, which wanted to do so. President Davis immediately* appointed Toombs Secretary of State, but he held the office only a short while, his fiery spirit preferring to be a general on the field of battle. There was Hamlin, who was first elected to the Senate in 1S4S as a Democrat, but in 1856 Joined the Re publicans and was elected Governor of Maine, which office he resigned on be ing re-elected Senator. In I860 he was elected .Vice-President of the United States, when Lincoln was chosen President. He again served in the Senate from 1869 to 1881. There was Chandler in the Senate from Michigan from 1857 to 1875. and in 1875 appointed Secretary of the In terior by President Grant. Late Wednesday .night the report reached the police station that a halo of cotton was missing from the plat form of the Atlantic Compress Co. Early yesterday morning an old ne gro man who has a little shop on Wall street, reported to Chief Conner that when he -opened his shop he found a number of sacks of loose cotton, and t'hat the door of the shop had been broken open during the night. The chief, at that time, did not know of the report of a missing bale from tho compress, and at once putriils men to work on the find. Later, it was easy to connect the missing bale with the loose co’ton found in the shop. * Th's cotton had evidently been car ried to the shop by a drayman. It Is supposed that he was to take it to soma place wnere it cou.J be sold, but tho place w-s close 1 up, and he placed it in the shop to bide it. On the sacks was a man’s coat. In the pockets of which was tho license for the dray, some deeds to property, and other papers, and these made his cap-’ ture certain. FIRE IN MJLLEDGEVILLE DESTROYED MUCH PROPERTY MILLEDGEVILLE. Ga„ April 11.— The entire plant of the Cook Lumber Company was completely destroyed by fire last night. The origin of the fire is not known. Engineer and fireman on extra No. 38, west bound, on Geor gia Railroad discovered the fire ad gave the general alarm by blowing long and loud. This train was delayed here for two hours hauling railroad cars to places of safety. The plant of Cook Lumber Co., being right near the rail road tracks. ‘Before they got through with their job five freight cars had burned up. The loss to Cook Lumber Company Is about $25,000, partially covered by Insurance, to the amount of $11,000. Mllledgevllle has one of the most ef ficient fire de-partments of any city of its size In the State and the whole forco were on hand quickly. The firemen claim when they first arrived there was little or no water pressure and for a considerable time they could not got a steam of water strong enough to reach to the first story of a "Terrapin’s residence.” After a while the water came good and strong and the boys did good work, but too late to be of any consequence. For a while both the Georgia Rail road depot and the Miiledgevllle Oil Mills were In great danger but both escaped with small damage. HE SUITED HER. < From the New York Herald. "The man I ever wed.” she said, "Must have accomplishments. "Yes: he must play and s'ng and dance, And ride and row and fence. And take a skillful hand at bridge, A tennis racquet wield. And chase the bounding golf ball, too. Across the dewy field.” The man who won her Illy hand Was 'bald and stout and slow: He couldn't sing or dance or play. Or fence or ride or row. He didn’t care a rap for golf. And never led cotillions: But he could sign a check, you see, For half a dozen millions. C. A. CALDWELL AGAIN HEADS CHEROKEE CLUB THE ANNUAL ELECTION OF OFFI CERS WERE HELD LAST NIGHT. The annual election of officers of the Cherokee Club was held last night. Tho membership of the club was well repre sented and tho election resulted us fol lows: C. A. Caldwell, re-elected president. E. A. IVaxolbaum. vice-president, suc ceeding Morris Happ. Charles E. Campbell, re-elected secre tary and treasurer. Guerry Cabaniss. 9. R Jaques, Je^- Powell. Tate Stetson. R. H. Smith. Custis Nottingham, tv. H. Jones all compo. o the new governing board, most of the members having been re-elected. The club Is in a most flourishing con dition, and the members are seemingly more enthusiastic over its success r t _ , . ,. t a. M(l , __ i tuuiuoidaui; uvt*r i.s In view of tho fact that John Slidell j ever before In Us history.