Newspaper Page Text
flCILLi DISPATCH
cr.r..~ •
Orm.A. GEORGIA.
HKHIKHSON & H AX LON, Publishers.
It is stated that the English lab-
gtiago is growing faster than any other
past or present, This is because
those who use it have a great deal to
say in this world.
Thirty or forty inmates of the Ohio
state prisou recently struck for short¬
er hours. Their demands were not
complied with, neither were they in¬
formed that their services were no
longer needed.
Lord Kitchener recently arrived at
Berber, after a camel ride of eight
hundred miles through the eastern
Soudan. He reports that everywhere
he fouud the natives exceedingly
thankful for their release from the
terrible sufterings to which they have
been subjected for many years by the
tyrannical and blood-thirsty rule of
the Dervishes, of which he fouud
abundant evidences in all directions.
The French scientists, always eager
for new liues of research, have lately
been investigating the case of the
“scorcher,” the man who is abnor¬
mally iu u hurry, with the purpose of
determining whether this testimony
is not a manifestation of a pathologi¬
cal condition. The opinion is now
advanced by some of them that a new
disease must be added to the list of
the human ailments, to be known as
“locomotor hysteria.” This is, in
brief, the case of the scorcher. It s
asserted that a condition of the mind
arises after a series of experiences
with rapid motion as a result of which
the individual afflicted cannot endure
slow progress.
In defense of dangerous sj>o; ts it is
alleged that they make men and wom¬
en courageous, give them strong nerves
and cure that tendency to think first
of one's own comfort aud safety, which,
is a cardinal evil of luxurious modes
of living. But in the last analysis
does not the courage that comes from
essaying feats of foolhardiness—
jumping hurdles aud fences at the
risk of neck and back.sailiug catboats
in ocean gales, risking the means of
subsistence for one’s self and one’s
dependeut family upon the turn of a
card—does not this courage rest upon
mere vainglory? Does it tend to pro¬
mote that other kind of courage,
which, while shrinking from any un¬
necessary exposure of life, will die or
suffer cheerfully for right and justice?
asks the New York World.
A soundless electric gnu is said to
have been bought by the British gov-
•eru'iueut. If true, this is mainly in¬
teresting as being an effective applica¬
tion of electricity to ordnance. This
tremendous new force has been used
chiefly in useful pursuits, and what
death-dealing powers it has hitherto
developed have been expended almost
exclusively on its users. The sound-
1 ess ness of the gun adds one more
terror to war and removes it one step
farther irom personal contest. The
smokeless gun was bad euougk; one
could hear its discharge and one knew
only in a geutu al way whence the bul¬
let came aud whither to run; bnt it
was better than this last invention,
which will strike a man before he
knows he is being shot at. Perhaps,
though, that is the most merciless way,
after all; for it almost takes the gum
out £he list of violent weapons and
puts it in that of merciful anesthetics
The sooner parents learn that the
skipping-rope is a dangerous play¬
thing for girls the better it will be for
the rising generation of women, thinks
the Washington Stur. Physicians
have long been advising against tbe
use of this means of juvenile exercise.
They have pointed out its dele erious
©fleet upon several of the organs of
the body, particularly the heart, and
have iu some cases traced diseases to
ita influence, Now deaths come to
give point to the physicians’ counsel.
Several fatal cases have already oc¬
curred this season. The other day in
Trenton, N, J., a six-year-ohl girl
•died after convulsions following the
use of a rope, She had strained her
heart beyond its point of endurance.
In gymnasiums careful athletic in¬
structors occasionally prescribe tbe
•kippiug-rope as an aid to the p 'oeess
of muscle-building and lung develop¬
ment. But they watch its use close¬
ly and prevent oVer-exercise of the
heart, which is culled upon for the
most active exertions when the body
io put through such violent paces
■*»
Success comes always to those who
believe in printer’s ink judiciously
OSOel. Set us have your advertise
merit.
A BOY OF RHOPSSIA.
BY FRANK LILLIE POLLACK.
ALE’S annals
state that it was
on the 23d of
March, 1896,
fi that the insur¬
£ w rection Matabele of the
C native
tribes of Rho¬
desia broke out
in the murder
< ) of all the scat¬
M tered white set¬
tlers in the dis¬
trict. One of
the first blows
struck was at
___ the Red Bird
____ __ Reef,
mine, at Brinton’s about eighty
miles east of Buluwayo. The mine
was operated by Mr. W. F. Brinton
and two Boers named Potgieter and
Gierstaat, respectively, with about
twenty Kaffir “boys” iu their service,
With Mr. Brinton was also his sou
Otto, a boy of fourteen.
There had been so little anticipation
of trouble with the natives that early
on the morning of the 23d Mr. Brinton
had ridden over to Graham’s store,
about twenty miles to the north.
Gierstaat had gone to inspect work on
another “reef” to the west, and Otto
and Rotgieter were left alone at their
little hut.
Otto was within, when he heard a
sudden dull crashing noiso at the
door. Looking quickly, he saw to his
horror that the Boer, who had been
smoking his pipe on a bench just out¬
side, had fallen on his face to the
ground, and that blood was pouring
from his head. A Kaffir knob-kerrie,
or throwing-olub, lay beside him.
As the boy rushed to bis com¬
panion’s assistance he was suddenly
confronted by a swarm of armed na¬
tives, who had stolen around the cor¬
ner of the hut. Among these were
their own miners, armed with drills
and hammers, aud the rest were
Matabele irom a neighboring kraal.
These last were in full war-gear, some
with rifles, others with shields and
assagais, and all wore white ox-tails
twisted around neck and wrist.
Otto was only a boy, but iu coun¬
tries like Rhodesia boys rapidly ac¬
quire decision and pluck beyond their
years. He saw at a glance that noth¬
ing could be done for Potgieter, and
the yelling natives were surging for¬
ward to cut off his retreat. Half a
dozen rifles were leveled at him, when
he drew his revolver, which he carried
in his belt, fired three shots straight
into the mob, and under cover of this
turned and Van for his life toward the
mine. 1
The nearest shaft was some hundred
yards away, and Otto hoped to hide
himself by retreating into the tunnels.
It was what is called an “incline
shaft,”running down at an angle of
forty-Sve degrees for about a hundred
feet, with horizontal tunnels at the
bottom. The whole swarm of natives
pursued him, firing their rifles and
throwing spears and clubs, all of
whioh weapons missed their aim—for
the Kaffirs are notoriously bad marks¬
men, though brave enough at close
fighting. Otto bad just reached the
mouth of the shaft, and waspreparing
to descend, when a straggling volley
was fired. He felt a stunning blow
on the top of the head, became un¬
conscious at once, and, dropping his
revolver, rolled headlong d'own the
shaft like a shot rabbit.
'The Matabele uttered a wild chorus
of delighted yells at his fall, and,
taking it for granted that he was dead,
did not take the trouble to go after
him, bnt proceeded to burn the hut,
mutilate Potgieter’s corpse, and do
what other damage suggested itself.
Meanwhile -Otto lay doubled up
among a heap of boulders at the bot¬
tom of the shaft, insensible and sorely
bruised. The slope of the shaft was
strewn with broken quartz, which in
his reckless tumble had supplemented
the effect of the heavy musket ball
which had grazed his skull, cutting
the scalp, but inflicting no serious in¬
jury. It was quite six hours, as he
afterward calculated, before he slowly
and painfully struggled back to con¬
sciousness, with a parching thirst and
a head that was a mass of bruises and
caked blood. For some minutes he
was unable to realize his situation;
and theu his first thought was that his
father might have returned and been
murdered by the savages. He listened,
but could hear no sound, and finally
crept up to the mouth of the shaft
and peered over.
Not a native was iu sight, but where
tbe mining hut had stood was only a
heap of ashes, sending up a pillar of
smoke into the sky. The sun was
shining brightly, aud it seemed about
two o’clock in the afternoon. With
infinite precautions Otto emerged
from the shaft, and after satisfying him¬
self that the Matabele were really gone
he went painfully down to tbe little
creek that flowed near, and drank till
his feverish thirst was appeased. He
washed the blood from his wounds,
tied a wet handkerchief around his
head, and went to look at the ruins,
Potgieter’s body was lying stripped
and horribly mutilated near where he
bad fallen. The other Boer lay not
far distant, also stripped and pierced
with many assagai wounds; but to
his infinite relief Otto coaid find no
trace of his father’s having returned.
He filled a flask with water, wrote on
a stray board with charooai, “Gone to
Cunningham's.—O. B.;” and set aut,
wounded as he was, to walk five miles
across the veldt to his nearest neigh¬
bors.
The Cunningham family lived on a
farmstead to the oast, and consisted
of seven persons—the father, the
mother, two grown sons, and three
daughters aged respectively seven¬
teen, fourteen aud ten. Besides these
there were several Kaffir servants.
The boy was still so faint and giddy
that be walked like a drunken man,
and several times fell over some
trivial obstruction by the wayside. It
took him quite four hours to cover
the distance, and the snu was setting
when the farm buildings of bis destin¬
ation appeared at last within reach.
As yet be did not dream of a whole¬
sale rising of the natives; but, fancy¬
ing that the same marauding party
might be prowling around the Cun¬
ningham plaoe, he wisely reconnoit-
ered before approaching too closely.
He could plainly see the front of the
house, and as he advanced he saw
what sent the blood to his heart in an
instant—the huge form of a Matabele
warrior with shield and assagai stand¬
ing in the doorway.
He now made sure that the Cun-
ninghams had all been murdered, and
he lay still behind a bush, debating
on his own best course. Presently
the warrior disappeared within, and
one of the girls came out bearing a
pail of water, which she emptied, and
then quietly returned to the house,
seemingly in no fear for her life, t
This aroused Otto’s astonishment.
It was not long before he saw Lotta,
the eldest girl, coming down toward
the stable, and he hastened to inter¬
cept her.
She uttered a scream at bis ghastly
and blood-stained appearance before
she recognized him.
“Why, Otto, what has happened?”
she exclaimed.
“Where are the men? What are
those Kaffirs doing at your house?”
queried Otto breathlessly.
“Some Kaffir boys came this morn¬
ing to get father and the boys to go
and look at some cattle, and they all
went away. There are five Kaffir at
the house now, with guns and spears.
Mother and the children were fright¬
ened; but I don’t think that they
would dare to do any harm to us, do
you? They say that they have been
hunting, and that they want to see
father,”
Otto felt sure that the father and
brothers had been decoyed away to be
slaughtered, but he did not hint this
belief to the girl. He pressed his
reeling head between his hands, and
tried to think.
“Did the men take their rifles?” he
asked.
“No, they left .them at the house.”
“Well, don’t 7 be frightened, but I’m
afraid the Kaffirs mean trouble. If the
men went away, of course they are
safe enough; but we had better keep
on the watch. Can you let me into
the house without those rascals seeing
me?”
“There is a window at the back,”
began the girl.
“All right! And get all the rifles
and cartridges you can find, and bring
them quietly into that back room.
Hurry up and let me in. ”
The girl ran back to the house, very
pale, but showing the nerve of a fron¬
tier training. Otto crept around to
the rear of the house, and in less than
a minute the window was raised, and
he clambered in as quietly as possible.
In tbe room where he found himself
were Mrs. Cunningham, Lotta and
one of the other girls, all consider¬
ably frightened, but cool. There were
three Winchesters and two belts of
cartridges lying on a table.
The Kaffirs were in thejnext peeped room,
and Otto stole to the door and
through a crack. There were five of
them, as Lotta had said—big, brawny
fighting men, all with assagais and
twtf with rifles, while all five wore the
same decoration of white ox-tails that
Otto had before observed.
The boy had already formulated bis
plan. He bad no doubt that these
savages were only waiting some ap¬
pointed time to fall upon the white
women and massacre them, and it was
his design to anticipate them in action.
South African women are usually
trained to handle a rifle as skil¬
fully as their husbands and
brothers, and these were no excep¬
tion to the rule. Otto explained his
scheme, and as much of his suspicions
as he thought proper; and the wom¬
en, who instinctively looked to him,
boy as be was, for leadership, pre¬
pared to assist him.
The Matabele were sitting quietly
ou the floor, their weapons across
their knees, when the closed door on
the other side of the room was sud¬
denly thrown open, and they were
confronted with the threatening muz¬
zles of three Winchesters. They had
been quite unaware of Otto’s presence
in the house, and this made the sur¬
prise the more complete. They
sprang to their feet in a flurry of as¬
tonishment, just as Otto shouted over
tbe rifle-barrel:
“Drop those weapons!”
Spears and rifles clattered upon the
floor, and the Kaffirs plainly expected
instant death. But Otto could not
bring himself to fire upon them in
cold blood, though be had no doubt
of their moral guilt. So he contin¬
ued, in the native tongue:
“Go! Get out! Don’t come back,
on, you will be shot!”
The natives filed from the door and
started out aoross the veldt without
looking back till they were some fifty
yards from the house; then they
broke into a trot and disappeared over
a bill to the eastward.
Otto and his friends were victori¬
ous; but it was certain that the na¬
tives would sooner or later return in
force to finish tbe work, which had
probably been begun by the murder of
the three male members of the family.
The house was ill adapted for de¬
fense, besides being built of wood and
therefore highly inflammable; but the
stable was a solidly built stone struc¬
ture with small windows, designed to
serve as a fortification in case of
need. Hither the three women and
the boy busied themselves in carry¬
ing all the bread and cooked meats in
the house, water, rifles, ammunition
and blankets, anxiously watching the
■while for their returning relatives or
for a fringe of Matabele spears. But
there was no sign of any approaching
life; and 1 when it became dark the
party shut themselves up in the stable
and strongly barricaded the door.
None of them, wished to sleep at
first;.but as the hours quietly wore
away the two younger girls finally
dozed off, leaving the remaining three
on guard. It was almost the pound¬
when Otto heard distinctly
ing of the hoofs of many horses.
His heart jumped, for he believed
it to be the rebels. The watchers did
not awaken the children, but all
three peered' eagerly into the dark¬
ness, with liftes cocked. The horses
stopped near the dwelling, and voices
were heard, but it was impossible to
distinguish whether they were native
or European. At last Otto heard his
name called softly in his father’s
voioe.
Joyfully he replied, and the little
party hastily unbarred the door and
came out of their fortress. Mr. Brin-
ton had heard- of the rising in other
parts late that afternoon, and collect¬
ing half a dozen horsemen, had gal¬
loped at speed to the Red Bird mine.
It had then grown dark, and it was
only after several hours of searching
for his son’s body that he stumbled
upon the message written on the
board.
No Matabele appeared that night,
and with the first dawn the whole
party set out for Buluwayo, for the
Cuuniughams had several horses
about the place. They arrived* there
late that same day without having en¬
countered any hostiles, and found the
town in a state of the wildest excite¬
ment. Volunteer companies were be¬
ing rapidly organized, and both Otto
and his father enlisted in that which
afterward became famous under the
name of “Grey’s Scouts” throughout
the disastrous war that raged for the
next six months.
It was several weeks before the fate
of the men of the Cunningham family,
came to light. Their bodies were
found by a scouting party about a
mile from the house, and they had all,
apparently been speared or clubbed
from behind. The Kaffirs at the
farmhouse were undoubtedly waiting
for the return of this murdering party
to assassinate the women, who would
certainly have fallen victims had it not
been for Otto’s resolution and pres¬
ence of mind.—The New Voice.
HOW THA SPEL IN CHIKACO.
And Tha Want Everybody Everywhar tc
Spel the Wa Tha X)o.
A dispatch from Chikago sez that
the bizniz. men thar ar in favor of
fonetik speling. Dr. E. Benjamin An-
druz, the Superintendent of the Pub-
lik Skools thar, iz in favor ov it to.
Wun bizniz man, it iz sed, wants the
word which most pepl spel “through”
to be spelt “tru,” but Dr. Andruz iz
not in favor of this bekoz he sez that
it iz not pronounsi tha wa. But the
bizniz man sez it iz pronounst just
that wa.
This queschun of fonetik speling iz
an old wun, and this iz just wun of
the objeeshuns to tbe plan, that every-
body wood spel wordz the wa he him
self pronunst them, even when he
pronounst them rong,.aud so a good
many pepl cood not 'reed what other
pepl rot. Thar iz another objeeshun
to it. If it skud ever be uzed alto-
gether, if books shud be printed this
wa and if pepl shud levn to reed this
sort of stuf, tha would not no how to
reed the books that ar printed in the
present wa, and sool the books and ol
the iibrariz that thar ar iu the world
to-da wood be simply wast paper, for
nobody cood reed them exept skolarz
wbo bad learnd the old wa of speling.
In Chikago tha propoz to chang the
speling of ten words, as an entering
wej. But why stop at ten? Why not
chang them ol at wuns and rit lik
this?—New' York Tribune.
The Value of Rice Lands.
The rice industry has in the last
fifteen years developed a section of
Louisiana which up to that time was
considered worthless. Its population
has quadrupled; its wealth increased
twenty fold. Rice lands once worth
ten to fifty cents an acre will now
average $bi>. A number of towns,
fiayne, Crowley, Mementau, Jen-
mugs anil otuers have sprung up
where a decade ago there « a wild
factories'erecTed 8
It is estimated that two-thirds of
the gross receipts from a rice farm
are profit; that is, the cost of raising
the riee is only one-third of what it
will bring. It is doubtful it any
other crop is so profitable. The Ab¬
bott brothers at Crowley received
$77,000 last year from 1000 acres
planted in riee, and Green & Shoe¬
maker, at the same place, got $75,000
from 1000 acres. A. D. McFarland,
at Jennings, made $10,500 on 300
acres, and A. M. Garrison $8682 on
220 acres.
The one possible drawback to the
industry is the probability that at tbe
present rate at which the rice crop is
increasing there will very soon be an
overproduction of the cereal and a
consequent fall in price.—New York
Sun.
Barbarous Filipino Practices.
A private letter received from on*
of tbe officers who went to Manila on
the Solace tells of the atrocities com¬
mitted on American killed and wound¬
ed soldiers by Aguinaldo’s army,
which are as horrible as those prac¬
ticed at Samoa. Said this officer:
“I went ashore at Manila and went
out to the army’s firing line. We
were close enough to see one skir¬
mish. The bodies of fhree soldiers
were brought to the rear while we
were there, and they were a ghastly
sight. The ears aud noses had been
cut off' and the heart cat out of each
one.”—Chicago Record.
| MORE COMMISSIONS ISSUED TO GEORGIANS
And They Will Be Given a Chance To Distinguish
Themselves In the Philippines.
THE STATE’S ALLOTMENT LIST HAS ABOUT BEEN COMPLETED
Lucky Ones Come From Disbanded Regiments Which Were Formed
During the War With Spain.
A Washington special says: Geor¬
gia had its innings at the white house
Tuesday and during the president’s
working hours his pen traced the
names of a number of Georgians who
may soon have an opportunity to dis¬
tinguish themselves.
In the batch of appointments to the
army that came from the white house
during the day were Cleveland Wil-
coxon, of Atlanta; Owen T. Kenan, of
Macon; W. K. Wheatley, of Americus;
Blanton Winship, of Macon and Ed
H. Almand, of Conyers, Wilcoxou aud
Kenan being given captains’ commis¬
sions, while the others were awarded
a lieutenant’s shoulder straps.
Wilcoxou and Windship were offi¬
cers in the Second Georgia, Kenan
was in the First Georgia and Wheatly
was in Ray’s immunes. These five,
with Major Spence, of the regular
army; Captain Walter Corbett, of Ma¬
con; Captain Frank Crenshaw, of
Barnesville, and Lieutenant Long-
street, of Gainesville, comprise the
Georgia list es it has been completed
to date. These men have been com¬
missioned and their commissions have
been duly signed by the president.
Georgia is to have several other ap¬
pointments, two others, and perhaps
more, but the authorities have not yet
determined, apparently, which they
shall be of those indorsed. •
It is almost certain, however, that
the lucky ones will be selected from
Captain Clarke, of Elberton, who has
been strongly indorsed for the cap¬
taincy; Captain Miller, of Augusta,
who is being urged by Colonel Dyer
and the republicans; Captain Kim¬
brough, of Griffin, and Captain Davis,
of Perry. Strong efforts are being made
to laud all these, but it is said at tbe war
department that only eleven places are
to be given Georgia in all. Of course
there are a number of other applica¬
tions and all are strongly indorsed.
The Georgia contingent has not
been able to get as much as was hoped,
but in this respect other southern
delegations are in the same boat. The
fact is that the southern senators and
congressmen were given to understand
there would be no appointments at
this time, or for some time yet, and
while this understanding was on, a
list of the specially J approved was made
out. The senators and congressmen
had to contend against this list in
finding places for their southern con-
stituents.
While this special list was based on
merit, it is perhaps natural tfiat the
administration senators and congress¬
men fouud their constituents cared for
first. The Georgia senators indorsed
a mim ber of applicants, indeed all of
those who had a good record, and the
final selection was made by the war
department presumably on merit,
However, when there are so many ap-
pHcants it is no reflection on those
wbo fai] that otherB were ^osen.
An effort has been made to distri-
buto tlj£i appo iutments geographically,
bnt in all ( , aHes the re ,. ordg made by
t be men bave been considered and os-
tensibly at least their appointment has
been based on that. Senator Bacon
and Congressmen Lewis, Livingston
and Bartlett are in Washington mak¬
ing strong efforts to land other appli¬
cants. Their chances for success are
very problematical. Judge Bartlett
has recommended besides Kenan, Win-
ship and Kimbrough, Lieutenant New-
el]> o[ the regu!al . army> f or sta ff pos i-
tion Captain Wylie, Captain Wall
and Captain Frank Curry,
The Twen ty-mnth is the regiment
that wiu be raised in Georgla an j
8Urroun ding states, and will be mus-
tered in at Fort McPherson, Atlanta.
Congressman Livingston has made
formal application to the secretary of
war for the stands of regimental colors
used by the First, Second and Third
Georgia regiments, his desire being
to have these put in the statehouse.
A DOUBTFUL LAW.
Florida’s Anti-Scalper Measure May
Be Unconstitutional.
A Tallahassee special says: It has
just been discovered that the famous
“anti-scalpers’ ” law enacted at the
recent session of the Florida legisla¬
ture for the avowed purpose of driving
railroad ticket brokers out of business
in this state, is probably unconstitu¬
tional. This statute has hitherto been
regarded as ironclad and perfectly free
from constitutional objections, but an
investigation now being made is prac¬
tically certain to precipitate a lively
battle in the Florida courts over the
validity of the law.
GOOD OIL IN MACON.
Inspector Says None But the Best Is
Sent To Central City.
Mr. Tom W. Loyless, oil inspector
at Macon, Ga., says the oil in that
city is all right, aud in every test it
ban registered 138 degrees? It is
claimed that only the best quality
oil is sent to Macon, and consumers
need have no fear. The Macon oil is
said to register 18 degrees above the
test required by the laws of Georgia,
MUCH COTTON LOST.
The Heavy Texas Floods Cause
Damage of $ 5 , 000,000
To the Crop.
The cotton exchange in Austin,Tex.,
has just completed the work of care¬
fully tabulating the losses on the cot¬
ton crop attendant upon the Brazos
river flood. They have secured data
from all the counties affected by the
flood and have compiled a'.I returns.
The result is that they find that the
loss in the Brazos bottom will repre¬
sent 200,000 bales of cotton, which
they figure out to represent $5,000,-
000 loss.
They have also figured out from
their reports from all over the cotton-
growing area of the state that the
floods in the bottom will not have
nearly the effect on the crop that was
at first expected. They now find from
their reports that the heavy rains
which produced the flood and ruined
the crops in the bottom have benefited
cotton growing on the upper lands
proportionately, so that by far the best
crop harvested in years will be pro¬
duced from the uplands this season.
NO WAR DAflAGES ALLOWED.
Important Decision Rendered In the
Case of Miss Favre.
A Washington dispatch says: The
secretary of state has sent Ambassador
Cambon, of France, an answer to the
latter’s recent letter submitting the
claim of Miss Ivan Favre for $10,000
damages attending the capture of the
French steamer Olinde Rodriguez, on
whioh she was a passenger, by the
cruiser New Orleans during the block¬
ade of San Juan.
Miss Favre’s claim recited that she
had suffered from an attack of fever
while at Charleston aud the damages
were for this and the indignities of the
detention. From the facts cited the
secretaiy states that the United States
naval authorities could not be charged
with any negligence in the circum¬
stance attending the capture.
The secretary reviews the facts in
much detail and states in the conclu¬
sion that the government is not liable
on this claim. The answer is likely
to ^tablish , , , precedent , . large
I | number of similar a claims. on The a secre¬
: tary says the French steamer was first
observed by the cruiser Yosemite on
July 5th, and that an officer of tbe
Yosemite went on board and noted in
the log of the Rodriguez that a block¬
ade of San Juan was in progress.
Miss Favre subsequently took pas¬
sage at Port Au Prince on July 13th.
On July 17th the Rodriguez was again
sighted off San Juan, whereupon she
was captured by tbe New Orleans. The
prize was taken to Charleston on July
22d and on August 5th all tbe passen¬
gers were released by court order and
turned over to the Freneb company.
Secretary Hay’s letter is accompa¬
nied by one from Attorney General
Griggs, giving facts submitted by the
United States district attorney at
Charleston bearing out in detail the
points made in tbe secretary’s letter.
He says the Ridriguez was anchored
off tbe battery in Charleston harbor,
in one of the most healthful spots
along tbe Atlantic coast. The health
officer’s letter is to the same effect.
Aside from the bearing of his decision
on the individual case; it may have a
bearing also on the claims which may
be brought forward by the owners of
the steamer Rodriguez and of the La
Fayette, which was -stopped off Ha¬
vana.
Deadly Fire In New York.
Fire in a crowded tenement in Mon¬
street early Tuesday resulted in
fatal injuries to five persons and tbe
overcoming by smoke of eight others.
There were sixteen families in the
house. It could not be determined
just bow the fire started.
JOE LEAVES WASHINGTON.
LittleGensra! Bids Goodby To Friends
, and Is Off For Manila.
General Joseph E. Wheeler left
Washington Tuesday afternoon en-
route to the Philippine islands. He
goes via Chicago, Omaha, Denver and
Salt Lake, and is scheduled to reach
San Francisco on Saturday. He will
sail for Manila on the 20th.
“I have no plans of campaign,” he.
said to an Associated Press represent- ■
ativc, “and shall not know what I am
to do until I receive my instructions
from General Otis. I should like to
have it understood,” he continued,
“that I go to the Philippines in an en-
tirely subordinate capacity.”
MANY WERE RESCUED.
Government Life Savers Do Good
Work In T xas.
The life-saving bureau at Washing-
j ing has received the follo wing telegram
from Superintendent Hutchins, at Gal-
j vestou, Tex., who, with operating a force in of life- the
savers, has been
: flooded districts: “Have rescued 542
[.people. Seven to fifteen feet, of water
, i over Some the drowned; cotton aud cane narrow plantations^ escapes.”
mauy .