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OCILLA DISPATCH. OCILLA, GEORGIA. IRWIN COUNTY PUBLISHING CO., Proprietors. And now It appears from records found In Pekin that the Chinese dis¬ covered America. They made about as much use of it as they did of gun¬ powder or the mariner’s compass. A Brooklyn woman who was charged with horsewhipping her husband ad¬ mitted the truth of the accusation In court, and added: “I only did what any woman would do.” Docs this explain the meek air of some Brooklyn hus¬ bands? The London Daily Mall says that the days of the banjo are numbered in England, and that that instrument will Boon be Included in the same category with the mouth organ and the accor¬ dion. The zither Is growing in popu¬ larity, and will probably be the favor¬ ite instrument during the winter. Spectacular science astonishes the multitude and wins their money. The philosopher patiently studies the laws of nature, and modestly announces his discoveries. Then the scientific pres tidigitateur goes into partnership with the promoter. Soon after “the pub¬ lic” acquires some new stocks and some experience. Scarcely a day passes during the hunting season that the news reports do not tell of one or more persons shot for game by careless hunters, but sel¬ dom or never is there any mention that the gunners have been arrested. Is It not time to make an example of some of these people, by way of teaching others to exercise a little prudence? It seems fair to assume, from recent reports of wild animal experts, that the giraffe will before long be known only in nursery books and dusty rec¬ ords of science, for he seems to be rapidly approaching extinction. Once this animal was abundant in South Africa, but he has been pursued by hunters until he Is now very rarely met with. In one of the school buildings in Grand Rapids, Mich., there was a plan proposed, some eight years ago, to have a savings bank, in which chil¬ dren might deposit their pennies. It .was a great success, and lately was introduced into other schools, until at present there are 500 such banks, with several thousand depositors, whose savings amount to over $1700. Lord Pauncefote in refurnishing and decorating the interior of the British Embassy, at Washington, pays Ameri¬ can upholstery and decorative wall¬ papers the compliment of using them in preference to those of British manu¬ facture. He is reported as saying that the American goods are better in quali¬ ty and cost less than British goods of a similar kind. He thinks there is no doubt that in this line of manufac¬ tures the United States leads the world. This Is indeed a remarkable compliment to be paid by the Ambas¬ sador of one great industrial nation to the manufacturing genius of another. Miss Alice Frencli-Octave Thanet- j at a recent meeting of the club women - at Lincoln, Neb., sounded the praises of the “modern man,” claiming that he is generally unappreciated. Miss French believes that the modern man Is doing his unobtrusive best in every walk of life, and that the modern woman is doing liers. That she is a good wife, a good mother, a good friend and neighbor. Again, that “the modern man” is under fire from his own familiar friends; li; is attacked by extremists on both sides, and yet, harassed, worried, goaded, he doggedly fights on with a jest instead of a groan, and never suspects that he is either a hero or a martyr. The news from the universities and colleges all over the United States tells of an activity in the higher education most encouraging to every lover of progress. Our institutions of learning have made remarkable advances in this generation, and in faculties, in students and in every provision for the purposes for which they were founded they are going far beyond their previous achievements, Rich streams of benefaction have poured In upon them. The number of new buildings, the establishment of new professional chairs, the enlargement of the legions of tutors and instructors, the swelling of the classes and other signs and proofs of an American lib¬ erality toward the upper schools of culture, give cause for rejoicing to every intelligent patriot. BILL ARP’S LETTER Barlow Man Discourses Upon the Greatest of holidays. CELEBRATED IN REMOTE TIMES Story of That Good Old Soul, St. Nicholas, Who Is Generally Known as Santa Claus. Christmas has come again. It is our annual milestone and the miles get shorter and shorter sb anno domini rolls on. Times keep shrinking and the view of eternity expands as we draw near the line. Like the Sabbath, Christmas was designed, ordained, established for our good,our rest and pleasure. In the north temperate zone it comes about midwinter, when the weather is hard and cold and summer fruits and flowers have gone and the birds have migrated and nature has gone to sleep and the earth is wrapped in its blank¬ ets of snow and ice. It comes like the school hoys’ recess and brings good cheer and brightens up the family hearthstone. Christmas never wears out nor be¬ comes old or stale, or as a back num¬ ber. Year after year a new generation is ready to receive it and herald its coming with a glad and happy wel¬ come. Blessings on the holy fathers who established the Christmas holi¬ days and on the good men who for sixteen centuries have preserved it for us and our children. All Christian people have observed it with happy greetings, except the old Puritans, and I don’t know whether they were Christians or not. They condemned everything that gave pleasure. observed the Christmas was first by Boman Catholic church at Jerusalem and Rome. Later on the Church of England took it up. and so did the Protestants of Germany and other countries, for the birth of the Saviour was one event that all Christians could celebrate with gratitude and joy. In Raphael’? great painting of the na tivity a shepherd is seen at the door playing on a bagpipe. The Tyrolese of Italy come down from the mount¬ ains to the valleys on Christmas eve. They come caroling sweet songs and playing on musical instruments, and can be heard for miles around as the hills and vales echoed with their har¬ mony, and so music always accompa¬ nies the Christmas festivities. Ever¬ greens, too, must have a part in the ceremonies, for they have for ages been used as symbols of immortality. Vic¬ tors returning from the wars were crowned with them. The sacred poets write of the green bay tree and the cedars of Lebanon. For centuries the churches and tem¬ ples have been decorated with them. All lovers of nature give welcome to them in midwinter, for they bring good cheer when there is no other sign of living vegetation. The deep green holly with its red waxen berries, the rosemary, the laurel, the ivy and the mistletoe harmonize with the poetic sentiments of our better nature. lu the good old English times girls and boys wore wreaths and chaplets of evergreen during the Christmas meet¬ ings at night, and a kiss stolen from n lassie with a rosemary wreath on her brow was considered innocent, and was called “a kiss under the rose,” and love whispered under a mistletoe crown was too pure to be lost or be¬ trayed. Afar back in the centuries there was a good old man named Nicholas. He lived in the third century and was so good and kind and generous that when he died the church sainted him, and ever since then he has been call ed St. Nicholas, and he is called the patron saint of Russia. His German name is Santa Claus. The Russians say that St. Nicholas, when he was only a man, was very rich, and on cHristmas nights he would disguise himself and go around among the poor people and slip in while they were asleep and put a purse of gold in every young girl’s stocking, if she was j n ] ove 01 . engaged to bo married. The gold was to buy her wedding outfit. He also left a little present for ev¬ ery little child in the family. Didn’t he have fun? I think I would like that. And so it- is said that from him came the custom of hanging up stock¬ ings and waiting for old Santa Claus to come down the chimney with his pretty things lor the children. It is said that in Bavaria there was an¬ other good man named Knight Ru¬ pert, who, while he lived, did the same kind of thiugB, for he, too, hunt¬ ed up the poor aud left presents while they were asleep, but did not leave an ythiug for bad boys. He was not their friend, and if he lived over here now I don’t reckon a cigarette boy would get anything from him. We are in the midst of our family Christmas now. We could not get all the far away children here at one time, but we will have them all during the holidays. New York city and San au tonio got here together, and we are daily expecting Florida and Mexico. What I want now is an addition to the family mansion. I want a sky scraper flat for New York, an Alamo annex for Texas, an adobe cottage for Mexico, a sanitarium wing for the Florida doctor, and a few extra apart¬ ments for kindred aud friends. That is my idea of the paternal mansion of a numerous and interesting family who have long been multiplying and re¬ plenishing according to Scripture. We want plenty of room for children and grandchildren. It is pleasant to see them gather here, for they come bring¬ ing love aud finding more, “stealing and giving sweet odor,” as Shakes¬ peare sayR of the sweet! south wind that breathes upon a bank of violets. It is the little things of life that make it happy—the small, sweet courtesies. What a sweet, expressive little poem is that which Miss Julia Fletcher wrote sixty years ago: “Lit¬ tle drops of water; little grains of sand.” It will last as loug as our language and is like a pebble dropped into a pool. Its influence, like the circling waves, lias gone out into thou¬ sands of little hearts and reached the shoro.” “Mary had a little lamb” is another that will never die. Wadsworth, the poet, says: "lhe best portion ot a good many lives are by little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” One of the world’s greatest teachers said: “May every -oul that touches mine Got therefrom sore good— Some little grace, one kindly thought, Ono hit of courage tor the darkening sky, One gleam ot faith to bravo the fils ot Life, One glimpse of brighter skies beyond the mists.” About SOO years ago an old poet wrote: ‘Count that day lost if the descending sun Sees from thy hand no worthy action done. ” What a good maxim is that to steer byl Do some good thing every day or count the day lost. Cheer somebody, help somebody, make some child happy, speak kindly to some poor old man or woman or negro, cr yet to a dog, and see how thankfully he wags his tail. Christmas is a good time to make good resolves, and all the next year a good time to keep them. Four hundred years ago one Thomas Tusser wrote: “Christmas comes but once a year, Now let us play and have good cheor.” —Bill Ann in Atlanta Constitution, Big Newspaper Men Arrive. Joseph Fulitzer, proprietor of The New York World, and A. C. Harms worth, proprietor of The Daily Mail, of Lomion, were passengers on board the steamer Teutonio, which arrived at New York Thursday from Liverpool. NEWSY GLEANINGS. Louisville, Ivy., fins a vice crusade. An anti-Nancbu rebellion has brok¬ en out in Kwang-Tung, China. A serious landslide lias occurred in Heligoland, engulfing thirty houses. Ail available British mounted infan¬ try has been ordered to South Africa. A seat on the New York Stock Ex¬ change was sold a few- days ago for $17,500. Professor G. W. Tyrrell has discov¬ ered rich forests on the so-called bar¬ ren lands of Northern Canada. The Freneh Government has ordered cases of Chinese loot sent to Presi¬ dent Loubet embargoed at Marseilles. There is a penny famine in *he West, and the Phila elpliia ) ant is working overtime in an effort to meet the de¬ mand. , ■" American competition has forced the syndicate controlling the gas pipe and boiler pipe industry in Germany to cut prices. a he State Department has been in¬ formed of the death of Henry Morris Hunt, United States Consul to An¬ tigua, W. I. The distribution of the surplus ap¬ ples of New England to the people of Boston w-ho eould not buy them was a decided success. Recent sales of real estate in Galves¬ ton, Texas, show that current property values are held at only about one-half the figures prevailing prior to the storm. General Wilson. Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., proposes to establish an elab¬ orate system of searchlights as a part of the defences of Ne- - York Harbor, costing $150,000 for the purchase and installation. Early in the new year competitive plans will be invited for the physical design of the new capital of the Aus¬ tralian federation. The intention is to make it one of the most artistic cities in the world. PROMINENT PEOPLE. o , T - r .„ .„ 1 . .. ,, ’ ‘ J to is Dr. OH° Norrtensklold . ... s Antarctic . . expedmon will leave Norway in Au Consn 1 Gooanow, .»t Siian^hai. lias 'absence ^ of 1 be l ope h.i, -ent lornitr rnrm , r 1 Pr ...... „i, w t er^loiiareTRc^r 88 ^ The late Sir Arthur Sullivan left an “Sr" ail ° f widri, \wrM~TMeroln\intil Geneinl 1 ltiol.i, until rerentlj recently Pres!- Lie dent of Pern, has form ally retired from public life because of the result of tiie Peruvian elections. Prince Gustavus Adolphus, eldest son of the Grown Prince of Sweden and Norway, is ill with dip theria. The statement that General Horace Porter, (lie United Slates Ambasr lor at Paris, intends resigning is an ab¬ solute fabrication. Ur. Matzon, professor of law of the University of Copenhagen, las been appointed to represent Denmark in the International Court of Arbitrate, at The Hague. Major Estcrbazy is a ragged pauper, living on charity, in a London slum. His wife is selling her furniture, sil¬ ver and clothes in Pads to feed their five children. Thomas A. Edison’s middle name is Alva people. which is little known to most He is of Dutch origin and the founder of the American family, in John Edison, came to this country 1737, and became a banker in New York City. ' Thomas B. Reed made his maiden speech before the United States Su preme Court, at Washington, a few days ago, in an admiralty case from California. He was ooidially wel corned by the members of the court, who were his Intimate friends. WHITE WEDS BLACK Mulatto Girl and White Man Are Arrested on Serious Charge. COUPLE ADMITS BEING MARRIED Ceremony Is Alleged to Have Been Performed By a Justice In Atlanta, Ga. Charles Johnson, a white man, and Eleanor Moody, a mulatto girl, were arrested in Atlanta, Ga., Thursday morning on the charge of having violated the state law by getting mar¬ ried. Johnson admits the charge, and makes a statement which would indi¬ cate that the man is either a degener¬ ate or a lunatic.^ The woman says she married the white man because he worried her so, and that was the only way to get rid of him. Johnson and the woman arrived in Atlanta from Rome. They went at once to the courthouse, where the man secured a marriage license. In a cab they drove to the residences of two ministers, both of whom refused to perform any such unlawful ceremony. The couple finally went to the office of Justice Oook, so they stated, and were married. Johnson shows a mar¬ riage certificate issued with Justice Cook’s signature to it, and the name of J. M. McAfee as a witness. It is presumed that Justice Cook, if he per¬ formed the ceremony, supposed John¬ son to be a man with negro blood in bis veins. After the marriage the couple rode to the depot in a cab and it was there that the officers got wind of the affair and arrested them. Johnson’s home is in Rome, Ga., and he is said to belong to one of the best families in that city. He has traveled a great deal, and is a stock trader by trade. His last business venture in Rome was a skating riak. Johnson is about thirty years of age and the woman about twenty. To a reporter of The Constitution the man stated that he married the mulatto girl because he loved her, and it was nobody’s business. He said be intended to take her to Cuba, where such marriages are not socially barred. He claims not to have known that he had violated the law of Georgia. The woman says she told Johnson that he was getting into trouble, but be vowed that no trouble would come. Johnson sent for a reporter and handed him a manuscript which he said was a sketch of his life which he wanted published. It was a lot of allusions to his love for the negro race, which were unfit for publication. WOMAN WRECKS SALOON. Ardent Member of xv. c. T. u. Destroys Costly I'roi»«rf.y of Grog: Shop. Miss Carrie Nation, president of the Barber county W. C. T. IT., entered a hotel barroom at Wichita, Kan., Thursday and with a stone destroyed a $300 painting of Cleopatra at the bath and a mirror valued at $100. She was placed under urrost and afterward appealed to the governor, who was in the city, ' but he refused to act in any way. She broke mirrors at Kiowa, Kan., in two saloons some months ago. She declares there is no law under which she can be prosecuted. Mrs. Nation Thursday night issued a manifesto “to the friends of temper ance everywhere ” in which she ao knowledges there was “method in the apparent madness.” “I came to the governor’s home town,” she continues,, “to destroy the finest saloon in it, hoping thus to at tract public attention to the flagrant violation of a Kansas law under the very eye of the chief executive of the The damage to the JniBhed saloon wiSx is hard to secured from the world’s fair build . and blocks of it shat g many are tered. The painting of “Cleopatra” cost Mr. Noble, its author,nine months’ painting it rented aud was still saloon! his property, being by the « ha8 be f 8eaa ne "Jy alt the fairs , from Canada to the guff. EDUCATORS ASSEMBLE. Delegates of Southern Association Gather In Force At liiohinoxirl. The delegates to . llie Southern Edu catioual Association, which held its opening session in Richmond, Va., Thursday, were slow to assemble. When the association was called to order'tliere were about 500 delegates a!! o£tbe 1 £ ^ ^ ' ' ^ a, .T Morgan addresses of welcome were delivered by Governor laylor, Mayor 9- a y lo L State Superintendent of In struction , outhall aud City Superin tendent Fox, and several responses were mane. HUNTINGTON WILL PROBATED. Value of Real r.ntate in San Francisco la placed at sso.ooo. The will of Collis P. Huntington was admitted to probate at San Fran cisco Thursday. The only property belonging to the estate of the deceased in that city consisted of a mortgage interest in real property to the value 0 f $50,000. Aside from this there was no personal property of any descrip tfig mansion ou California street 8tandi “ iu the nama of the widow. OBJECTIONS RAISED. Chinese Officials Kick on Reduc¬ tion of Forts and Maintaining of Legation Guards. Advices from Pekin state that Li Hung Chang and Prince Ohing, the Chinese peace commissioners, have heard from Emperor KwangSu. Prince Ching called on the former for con¬ sultation, remaining over an hour. The court objects strenuously to re¬ ducing the forts, and also to allowing permanent legation guards, which it seems to think could he made suffi¬ ciently large, at any time, it was de¬ sired to menace the court itself. After the conference it was decided to hold further communication with the court before seeing the ministers. The Chinese newspapers in Shang¬ hai object to the proposed peace treaty. The Universal Gazette con¬ siders that the princes and officials who are to be punished should be named. It is questionable whether General Tuug Fu Hsiang is included among those punishable, and so far as Prince Tuan is concerned, it is well known that the Chinese peace commissioners have been instructed not to consent to any punishment of any person of royal blood exceeding imprisonment. The officials of the state department at Washington are unwilling to ven¬ ture a guess as to the length of time that will be consumed by the Chinese government in consideration of the note. The last article of the noto notified the Chinese government that the oc¬ cupation of Chi Li and Pekin may continue until the Chinese govern¬ ment has complied with the terms of the noto. It may be stated, however, that the United States is not bound or affeoted by this condition. Our occupancy from a military point of view has terminated, and there is no disposition to renew it. As for the other powers, it is expeoted that the main obstacle they will encounter in withdrawing under this condition will be found in the difficulty in obtaining satisfactory guarantees upon the Chinese promise to pay indemnities. Some of the native journals hold ihat the presence of permanent lega¬ tion guards will render the emperor’s return impossible, because those would be a menace to the court. “China,” says one of them, “would be powerless to suppress risings, be¬ cause she is prohibited from increasing her military strength, and the powers, therefore, would lenew hostilities again and the people would be mowed dn*Ti like hemr> " * SHORT ON MILLS. Textile Factory Construction be creased Considerably During the Past Year. The American Wool and Cotton Reporter _ (Boston), m its issue of , Thursday reviews textile mill construe tiou in the present year, saying that returns for the last six months do not show up as large as in the last six mon - hs o£ , the ,, year. Th The depression , • that was felt in the manufacturing business during the summer and fall months acted as a damper to the rush to build mills, particularly cotton mills that was noticed the first half of the year, when all records in mill building were broken. During the first half of the year the number of new mills entered upon was 307, and during the last six months the number was 224, a loss of over 25 P er ceut - over '-be firBt balf y ear - H the 221 projected 144 are devoted to the manufacture of cotton, 14 to wool, 51 to knit goons, 16 miscellane ous purposes, such as silk and linen manufacturing, and for bleaching and dyeing. During the year 531 mills kave passed under the review of The Reporter, an increase of 232 over the 2 «9 reported for the year 1899, and an increase of 209 over the 262 recorded for the year 1898. This shows the fact that the United States is becora ing the largest producer of textile fab rics m the world. Very noticeable is the great increase in the number of mills making fine goods, especially in the cotton manufacturing business, partially caused on/the by the situation in China, cutting demand from %Vo°n£mber of knitting mills con tlle l»W»t 011 record ‘ Near, y » U of these mills are <1 evoted , tp cotton ho siery and underwear. Compilation of returns on new en terprises shows Georgia leads, with 43 mills. North Carolina comes seoond with 41, although the latter has al¬ ways been in the lead in the construc¬ tion of new mills, it being the largest cotton manufacturing state in the south. South Carolina reports 33; Alabama 16; Virginia 12; Pennsylva nia 11; Tennessee 10; Mississippi and Xexas g each; Massachusetts 7; New York 6; New Jersey 4; Louisiana 3; California, Maine, New Hampshire 2 eac h and Arkansas, Florida, Marv land Missouri, Ohio and Oregon one each _ Turks Assault British Diplomat. „ Some Turkish soldiers nave ___ grossly , assaulted and maltreated the British charge d’affaires. Mr. DeBunsen, and other members of the embassy, in the vicinity of the powder magazine at Makrikin. Martial Law Proclaimed, Advices from Capetown, South Afri¬ ca, state that martial law has been proclaimed in the districts of Beau tort, west and Carnarvon, A HORRIBLE STORY Forty-Nine School Children Re¬ ported Drowned In Inwa. WERE SKATING AND ICE BROKE Details are Lacking, But Con¬ firmation Is Received From Various Sources. A telephone message received in DesMoines from Washington, Iowa, says that fifty-one school children were skating on the river near Foster, Iowa, near White Cheer, when the ice gave way and forty-nine were drowned. No confirmation of the story or details could bo obtained. Telephone messages by wav of Os kaloosa and Ottumwa say the report of the drowning of forty-nine school chil¬ dren at What Cheer is true. The chil¬ dren were skating on a pond near the fair grounds and the accident occurred about 9 o’clock in the evening. It was stated that the children had been skating on a pond near the fair grounds. There were only a few es¬ capes. The tragedy occurred at about 9 o’clock Thursday night. Beyond this no particulars were known in Os kaloosa. Through the office of a telephone company at Iudianapolis it was learn¬ ed from the Oskaloosa office thni the Ottawa olfice had learned of the ru¬ mor of the drowning of forty-nine children as true. No particulars could be got. WOMAN FOULLY MURDERED. Wife of Bibb County, Ga., Farmer Found With Her Head Split Open and Crushed. Mr. Dave Birdsong, living in Rut¬ land district, Bibb county, Ga., be¬ tween Sofkee and Rutland station, re¬ turned home from a bird hunt Wednes¬ day morning, and found his wife lying on her bed, her head split and crush¬ ed with an axe. From her dress pocket was missing a purse, in which she had $22. From. a chair in the room was missing a nice s a.ck coat, sometimes worn by Mr. Birdsong. A negro boy who had worked for Mr. Birdsong for about two weeks was also missing. He had on the night before told Mr. Birdsong a falsehood to decoy him uwa y from tbe ilouae ' Posses are scouring the country in search of the boy, who gave his name as John Battle and said his home was on the Georgia road. The coroner’s inquest g developed no factsthat would aut orjz ea conviction, unless the strange conduct of the negro should perchance fix the guilt on him. T be verdict did not state who was- 8U ^ Mr. e °^? Birdsong - , , is a prominent . , farmer . and is a brother of Messrs. Merritt and Nat Birdsong of Macon. He has several neighbors within a few hundred yards of him. The body of his wife was cold when he found it. The feet were resting on the floor and the head was on the bed. She bad just returned from a neigh bor’s, where she carried some Christ mas delicacies. The glass dish and plate were in her cold hand when she was found. Neither had fallen. On the window were blood stains and ou the mantel were several bloody finger print. Behind the dooi sat the axe, which usually was kept at the woodpile in the back yard. The back door was open. From this leads a skirt of woods, and it is thougnt that the woods furnished the avenue of es cape of the assassin. Mrs. Birdsong was known to have received $75 in money Saturday night and she always carried a purse. It is thought that to get this was the motive for the murder. When her body was raised the brains poured out of a big gash in the back of her head, j Mrs. Birdsong was fifty-two years of age. She was a Miss Leweliyn Cane and was reared within a short distance of where she was slain. Her father ^ * ml “ U ' ter - Sh ° ^ tW ° ren. HAWAIIAN'S WANT DAMAGES. Will Aslc Fay For Property Destroyed During Flagrue Outbreak. It is expected that Governor Dole of Hawaii will make a recommendation to the Hawaiian legislature, which meets in February, for the settlement of claims of Chinese and Japane e, growing out of the destruction of their property at Honolulu at the time of the bubonic plague outbreak. Jlow Doers Celebrated Christmas. According to advices the Boers cele¬ brated Christmas in the district be¬ tween Standerton and Iugogo by more or less determined attacks upon every British garrison along the lines of communication. TRAGEDY AT A DANCE. Kentuckians ICnjCaee In Brawl and Unn» Are Used 1‘romlicmiugly, Frank Davis, “Buck” Chadwell, Es tepp Morgan and Richard Davis quar¬ relled at a dance at Walnut Hills, fif¬ teen miles from Middlesburg, Ky., and a pitched battle ensued. Fifty shots were fired. Frank’ Davis was killed. Morgan aud Dick Davis were woundeu mortally and Chadwell was. wounded slightly.