Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About The Rockdale banner. (Conyers, Ga.) 1888-1900 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1896)
OX. U CAPITAL. L. L «SH.SGTON >N rAW« BArHi d Heals of the the Chiefs an if j}epar« neats ' furious trail formally ten T^Vtiou t Col iiesJgaA Thursday. *f£2l£***™‘ -p a g S ume "be 15th of Alabama, next mon.h. has I ffbeeler, 0 f providing ‘the house a bill standard is fe K this' including country congressmen the salaries r/Sthe & United three-fourths States judges, the to law. ts now provided by [ ; fto „ on ways and means K t favorable of Kentucky, report on the to Evans, distilled spirits [bottling of done ' The bottling is to be Laded warehouses government under officers the ion of the spirits out intermingling o kinds, age or proof. Iprlation Bill Completed. Lai appropriation bill for the Ear I which completed begins by on the July house 1 Lon been affairs. The total Icarried naval §31,611, bv the bill is Lhich I §12,779,133 The is for the of the navy. appropria- of L increase over the amount [ill id tfhich third was millions. about twenty- Under lease one- the chief of the navy L the four new battleships and fcrpedo boats. An Important Bill, hras favorably reported to the [hnrsday from the committee Ltion and labor, agriculture Pal for the purpose of investi pose questions and recommend [ k legislation Those to representing congress as may la [o a ry. president be selected by the e recommendation of labor or¬ bs; those representing agri [three from the the national farmers’ alli twofrom grange; presenting capital from various turing industries. ian Resolutions Accepted. Lnference committee on the esolutions has arranged to re p favor of the original senate is not expressed exactly in the le conferees would prefer, but | best that can be done at this [view | manifested of the opposition in the senate. which |l |concerned, end the matter so far as con for the senate has adopted them. In the form d to, the resolutions are as Fed by the senate (the house of Itatives concurring therein), b the opinion of congress, a |r trnment of public of Spain war exists and the between [ proclaimed, gov bntamed and for some |ple by force of arms by of Cuba, and that the [States strict of America should P a neutrality between tending powers, according to i the rights of belligerents in 8 and territory of the United bived further, That the friend k the United States should tel by the president to the I government for the recogni¬ se independence of Cuba.” express the sentiment of con > “ t are n °t binding upon the Lt as would be joint resolu " kat the president will do no a s to know. ! 1>0st °fflce Bill Reported, ’resident has nominated B. J. ^rizona, ihe senate to be governor - • committee Rations on reported the postoffice /-ay A net increase of §1,352, Wo S;° the house senate, bill, being the §93,- total - • WO nAf and e estimates passed for 1897 were as by the house * estl f ated P°etal S'are - m ci > e f rV 1CreflSe hj 0 : ’ f" Qd mai1 transportation roa 1 , rail ■Won forei 8100,000; ithtit A ra A du Ctl ° f gn S 10 . mails, n ° >°00 is pos?offi e f r T ards for de of ® C6 burglars ‘ the new ’ etc - 1 bill j 3 ^ rovislona iacorpo it 110 posto ® ce estab Ls'eontW anveounf Tu shail be abo1 r aed ' dation b J:reason of any barter ' o 2° S n * St raluader f CeS made existing b J any l 6a ch postoffice [ertabhS** ssat at a ^ratT 6 consolidated b? 1 ^ 6 P ° St ' te^: Under the head of kon 5 ^ nt0 r e > street b0Xee car riers, etc lc Th ih ’ inci - -. e Benate - creases this almost §100,000 and makes ■i lump appropriation under the gen¬ eral head of free delivery service. SPANISH STRONGHOLD TAKEN. Rebels Win tbe Most Decisive Battle of the War. A special cable dispatch to the New Nork Journal from Havana says: Pinar del Rio has fallen. The strong¬ hold of the Spanish army in the west¬ ern part of the island was taken by the insurgents last Friday. There was a desperate fight and many men on both sides are killed and wounded. Only the meager news of the battle has been received from Ha¬ vana and the details cannot, at this moment, be obtained. The Cuban sympathizers have re¬ ceived information from the scene of battle. The report made to them states that Generals Antonio Maceo and Calixto Garcia were in command of the rebel forces. The hot fighting was done by the American artillerymen who came to Cuba on the Bermuda fil¬ ibustering expedition for the express purpose of working the Hotchkiss and Gatling guns brought on the steamer. Without the assistance cl the Amer¬ icans Pinar del Rio would not have fallen. It was only their deadly fire sent into the town by the Gatling aud Hotchkiss guns which saved the day for the insurgents. Pinar del Rio is situated about two thirds of the distance across tbe island at the north and in the extreme west¬ ern province. It was a city of some 20,000 inhabitants, and the Spanish had relied upon it to afford them a base for operations in Pinar del Rio during the rainy season. of The Spanish garrison consisted 4,00C men, and the attacking party of 9,000 besides the sharpshooters and other skilled men of war who came on the Bermuda. Following his usual poliev General Maceo did not hold the town. He aim ply destroyed it, and then passed out to some other place. Exactly where he is at present is not known. The news of the fall of the city was brought into Havana by mounted couriers. They must have ridden for their lives to get into the city as soon as they did, for the scene of action is close to 100 miles distant TRADE TOPICS. Dun & Co’s. Business Review for the Past Week. R. G. Dun & Co., in their weekly review of trade says: The returns of failures are somewhat disappointing. Several of magnitude were mentioned a week ago, and they have swelled the aggregate of defaulted liabilities for three weeks of March to §12,383,614, against §11,271,121 last year. A heavy failure in Texas will also swell the aggregate of failures for the past week, which includes 295 in the United States against 234 last year, and 39 in Canada, against 42 last week. No important change has occnred in tbe general condition of trade during the week, and if trades in some re speets look worse, in other respects they look better. Some failures of mag n itudehavejoccurred, which have caused much apprehension aud willingness to lend among bankers, and there have been somewhat less favorable features iu the dry goods market, but iu iron and steal conditions are slightly, and in boots and shoes considerably more hopeful. Foreign trade is a little more satisfactory, exports from New York for three weeks showing an in¬ crease over last year of 6 per cent, while imports have shown nearly the same rate of decrease. In general, the course of domestic prices tends to favor the marketing of staples abroad. Cotton had a lively rise with the covering of short-sellers; but began to decline again a week ago and has been lagging ever since. The receipts from plantations continue quite as large as in the same weeks of the last short crop year, and the stocks in sight, with the quantities known to be held by European and American mills,made up an ample supply for the rest of the crop year. MAY PROSECUTE COMMODORE. Report that She Landed Soldiers and Guns in Cuba. The collector of customs at Charles¬ ton, S. C., has informed the treasury department at Washington that an en¬ gineer on the steamer Commodore has made a statement to him that the Com¬ modore recently landed on her last trip from Charleston a lot of arms and a body of men on Cuban soil. The ves¬ sel’s papers on the trip were taken out for the coastwise service as far as Tam¬ pa, Fla., and did not permit her to touch on foreign soil. The collector says he has turned over the informa¬ tion to the United States district at¬ torney and if the engineer’s state¬ ment is corroborated by other testi¬ mony the vessel will be proceeded against for violation of the United States navigation laws. In case of conviction the Commodore is liable to forfeiture under section 4337 of the revised statues. Wages Cut In Cotton Mills. The Central cotton mills at South bridge, Mass., will reduce wages 10 per cent April 1st. The reduction wili affect 200 employes. STATE IN BRIEF. GEORGIA NEWS AND NOTES OF INTEREST. Some Things That arc Happening From Day to Day. Judgo John I. Hall will on April 15th enter actively upon his new duties as attorney of the Georgia Southern and Florida railroad. He will make his headquarters at Macon, the termi nus of tbe Georgia Southern. The Eagle and Phoenix Manufactur¬ ing Company, of Columbus, gave no¬ tice to their employes that the wages of the weavers of certain kinds of goods would be reduced, the reduction to take effect on April 6th, and iu con sequence an indignation meeting was held by the weavers iu Phoenix City which resulted in a strike. A , movement , .« . on foot » , , by publm , ,. spirited oit'zens of Mneon to raise *10,. 000 for the purpose of erecting an auditorium " m which to hold the state democratic convention ,. on June x or-., 25th. It is proposed to make the auditorium a permanent structure, and §2,000 has already been subscribed or the pur pose, The auditorium will be central ly located. The lumbermen of Georgia met at Cordele a few days ago, elected officers and^adopted by-laws. Those present represented a large part of the inter¬ estB of the state. About id per cent of the producers have signed an agree ment to a permanent organization and there is every prospect that the organ Nation will be a complete success. The association is formed on the same plan as those ot Alabama and Mississippi. * * * Governor Atkinson has not yet taken up the matter of the convict investiga tion with a view of ascertaining what he will do with the different companies that were recently investigated before him. The reason why he lias not done this, it is said, is that he is anxious to temper the wind to the shorn lamb, or iu other words, to give the lessees time to recover from large sums of money paid out before he fines them any further, for it is reported that he has pretty well settled it in his mind that some fine shall be assessed against the companies. Governor Atkinson, State School Comissioner Glenn and Hon. Patrick Walsh will take a trip to Fitzgerald colony within the next few days. Both the governor and ex-Senator Walsh are greatly interested in the immigration question, and they are going down to see how Fitzgerald is progressing, and at the same time take a trip over to Irwinville, where the superior court will then be in session, Prof. Glenn will make an address in Irwinville. The party will stay a day or two in Fitzgerald and on their return will give their impressions of the colony city of which there is so much talk, Will Go Into Camp in June. The regular annual encampment of the military companies of the state will be begun in Griffin the first part of June. The order has not as yet been issued nor a decision made on the exact date, but these arrangements will bo determined in the next ten days. The following companies throughout the state will be ordered into camp: Second regiment infantry, from Ma¬ con; Fourth regiment infantry, from Valdosta; Fifth regiment infantry, from Atlanta; First battalion, infan¬ try, Savannah, and First battalion, cavalry, headquarters at LaGrange. One-half of the troops will be in camp the first week, and the other half the second week. Tho dviision has not as yet been made. Bonds to Be Sold. About the first of June next Gov¬ ernor Atkinson will sell a batch of Georgia bonds amounting to §242,000. These bonds will be floated to retire old bonds falling due at that time. Georgia at the present time is in debt somewhere in the neighborhood of §8,000,000, but of this sum only $542, 000 falls due this year. Of this sum $300,000 will be paid in cash by the state and the remaining sum,§242,000, will be paid by floating bonds. Georgia has such a confidence in L&rself as to make a law saying that the governor shall not float bonds at all unless they are bought at par value. Her lawmakers recognizing that the credit of the state was as good as a bank, have made a law to the effect that the governor shall offer bonds for sale when ordered by the general as¬ sembly, but that he shall not sell them unless they are bought at par value. The law also says that they shall not bear over 4 per cent interest. The bonds to be issued and floated by the state this summer will be thirty year bonds, which means that they will not be due until thirty years after they pass out of the state’s hands. The last bonds sold by the state were twenty year bonds. These bonds were floated at an interest of 3J per cent. After the bonds to retire the old bonds coming due in June have been floated the state will not float anymore bonds until the year 1915. When this . year rolls ftrcuud Georgia must retire between three and four millions dol¬ lars’ worth of old bonds. This large amount will be paid by issuing bonds and by paying out of the treasury. COMMODORE REACHED CUBA. In a Fit of Anger Fireman Owen Has Made a Full Confession. Edward Owen, one of the crew of the ,, Commodore _ , hasi made a startling statement to the bpanish consul at Charleston. Owen said that all the stories about flinging the cargo of am¬ munition overboard were false. “Iu the first place,” he said, “the Commodore went to Cuba.” Three firemen, Edward Owen, John Johnson aud Edward Olsen, were “shanghaied” to Cuba. “Shanghaied” means that they were shipped for Tarn pa and not taken there, but to Cuba, 0 r in other words, were taken under false pretenses. Pay was at the rate of §30 per month and the men were paid * off last Thursday. I( tll ^ htd tLlt liev were ^ „ Cuba thev would bavS aekeil ' more _ Ho BUm , maller tlmn §500 «,,r AA would , 3 , have tempted , r , - ,, them to go ° ‘ on™ Endangered * o fihi PP d for a coasting van not cxpect to go a] but to Tampa. “We took General DeSoto,” said Owen. “He was in our boat. The ftrKQ a ^ere landed, in the province of g au ta Auna.” The firemen, he says, were promised more money to keep their mouths sliut when they should reach port, but had not been paid yet, and so he made this statement to bring the managers G f the Commodore to their senses, and jf they don’t make arrangements to snit he will tell more, Owen says they had arms and am munition on board and landed them. It took six boatloads to take the cargo, Owen had made three trips to Cuba, but for tbe first two he had been paid §1,000. He will libel the Commodore for Ms wages and the Spanish consul will no doubt, on tho part of the na tion, prosecute the Commodore for violation of the neutrality laws, COMPETl I ION DOWNED] THEM. New England Mills Will Cease Mak ing Coarse Cloth. A special from Boston, Mass., slates that New England cotton mills are U P tbe W competition in Georgia and the Carolinas and will soon cease to manufacture coarse cloths. Monday the Lawrence Manufactur¬ ing Company, of Lowell, one of the biggest plants in New England stop¬ ped making cloth entirely. The di¬ rectors decided to refund to the stock¬ holders half of the capital stock, shut down half of the mill and make noth¬ ing but hosiery. Tbis is only the first of a series. Other New England mills will very soon have to shut down. Treasurer Baker, of the Lawrence company, says that this is a crisis which has been pending for three years. He says that the low wages paid for southern mill labor is the cause of the trouble here. The cost of labor there is 30 per cent lower than it is here. Consequently the southern manufacturers have- an advantage over those of the north of from 1} to 2 cents a pound. Most of these mills are located in the CarolinaB and Georgia, although all the southern states are manufactur¬ ing cotton. Mr. Baker says that tho Lawrence Manufacturing Company never expects to return to the manu¬ facture of coarse cottons, as there is such a surplus of labor in the south as to last for a generation at least, mak¬ ing it impossible for many years to manufacture here at a profit. He says that the southern mills do not manu facture enough to supply the Ameri¬ can trade, but they make enough to control the price, and that the north¬ ern mills have to meet it and that manufacturing in the south is increas¬ ing fast enough to discourage it here for good. BOOM FOR BIRMINGHAM. A Million Dollar Steel Mill to be Erected. A New York special says: It is learn¬ ed that all the money required to erect the $1,000,000 steel plant at Birming¬ ham, Ala., has virtually been pledged by capitalists interested in Tennessee coal and iron and the Sloss companies, and in the Southern and the Louisville and Nashville roads. The erection of this mill, the first of its kind in the Birmingham district, will be begun at once. It will manufacture rails and all forms of merchant steel and all the materials used are produced in the neighborhood. Sale of the M. & B. Confirmed. Lonis F. Garrard, attorney for Ed wards & Parson, purchasers of the Macon and Birmingham roaJ, has paid into court S100,000 as final payment on the property, and the sale was con¬ firmed. Court refused to make tbe attorney reveal the name of the real purchasers of the road, and that mat¬ ter remains a mystery. INDIANA DOCKED. THE BIG STEAMER LANDED HIGH AND DRY. Everything Connected With the Dock¬ ing Worked Successfully. At just 7:30 o’clock Friday morning on a title which had been ebbing for a good hour the battleship Iudiana steamed gallantly through the caisson of the government dry dock on Paris island with fully fifteen inches to spare between her keel and the blocks. It was a glad day for the people of Port Royal, and the satisfaction de¬ picted upon the faces of the officers at the naval station was a sufficient testi¬ monial of the gratification which they experienced in the vindication of th<3 woik upon which they have labored so long and so faithfully, and upon which of late some people have attempted to cast aspersions. The docking Friday morning was a triumph for the harbor of Port Royal and for every friend of the Paris island station. The battle¬ ship was put on the blocks not only with perfect ease, but when the tide had been running out for at least an hour. On the 25th the unofficial reckoning of the water showed twenty-seven feet in the dock and Thursday there wns as much more. The Iudiana draws twenty four feet and on either of the tides mentioned it is claimed that she could have gone in with abundance of water to spare. The officers in charge, how¬ ever, doubtless knew best. They have at all events docked the Iudiana suc¬ cessfully aud that has always been the great consideration. The tide Friday morning was at its height about 6-.30 o’clock and it had been designed to run the vessel into the caisson at that hour. But when the morning came the whole harbor was enveloped in a dense shroud of mist and fog. The battleship was steered cautiously for the dock in the leading strings of four tugs. So much delay was occasioned by the fog that it was not until 7 o’clock that she cleared the caisson and iloated in the water of the dry dock. According to the official figures there were then twenty-fiv feet and eight inches of tide. This was about four inches be¬ low the normal, but it gave the battle¬ ship a good fifteen inches to spare above the blocks. The pumps were turned on as soon as everything was pronounced to be snug. At first the pumping was pur¬ posely done very slowly to give the men at work on the ship’s sides a bet¬ ter chance to work. Three hours af¬ ter the work had started there were still ten feet of water in the dock. During the forenoon many excur¬ sion parties came down to the island from Beaufort and Port Royal and the successful docking of the vessel was made the subject of many congratula¬ tions and much merry-making. It was not until late in the afternoon that the last bit of water was pumped out of the dock. At G o’clock she stood high and dry on the blocks. She rested straight on her keel and she was by actual measurement just five feet ten inches above the floor of the dock. The officers and the gentlemen offi¬ cially connected with the station or the battleship are as usual very reti¬ cent, but their satisfaction with the result of the day’s work is expressed in many ways. No one can say, of course, what the official report will be, but it is believed that it will express the conviction that the dock is in splendid condition and that it is capa¬ ble of holding any ship in the navy. The officers as yet, however, will say nothing for publication. It is an open secret that the docking could have taken place almost any day during the last week, but it was thought best to wait till the period of the highest spring tides. The officers thought that it wop '«ry important to have just as much water as possible for the first trial of the structure. KLINE HAS RESIGNED. He Will Accept a Railroad Position in Mexico. A special from Savannah, Ga., is to the effect that President Comer, of the Central of Georgia Railway company, confirms the report that General Su¬ perintendent Theo D. Kline, of the Central, has resigned for the purpose of going with the Interoceamc Rail¬ way of Mexico. He has had numbers of applications for the position, but nothing whatever has been done with regard to filling it. Central Mr. Kline will not leave the until May 1st. The officials of the Cen¬ tral all say he has been an able man¬ ager, and they dislike very much to see him go. His salary here has baen §10, 000, and the cause of his going is that a better proposition has been made him in Mexico. Virginia Republicans lor McKinley. The republican county conventions held in Virginia, Monday, to elect delegates to district conventions, so far as heard from are all favorable to McKinley. The indications are that the Ohio man has swept the state.
