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MAIN SHEET-Part II.
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THIS SECTION CONTAINS
SPORTING and AUTOMOBILE NEWS
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ATLANTA. (iA.. Sl’N’DAV, DEC KM ME It 14, 1013.
TO
Executive Declares Any Clemency
He Extends Will Be on Merits
of Cases, and Not Just Because
of the Nearness of Christmas.
Scores Practice as Fallacy, and
Declares It Shall Not Prevail
While He Is Governor of Geor
gia—Deluged With Petitions.
Governor Slaton let it be known in
emphatic language Saturday that no
body is to have a pardon during this
Christmas season, merely because it
is the holiday time of the year.
The Governor returned from his trip
East Friday, to find that a veritable
avalanche of applications for clernen-
y had descended upon the Executive
»ffices during his absence, and a very
large percentage of them based their
arguments upon the ground that “it
is nearly Christmas” and that, there
fore, for some reason or other, the
Governor is supposed to view these
.•leniency matters a little more len
iently than ordinarily
“I do not understand why someone
-hould expect a pardon at Christmas
rime any more than at some other
time. These matters must stand or
fall upon their merits entirely.” said
the Governor.
Wil! Not Overstep Prerogative.
‘‘Here is a man convicted of mur
der. He thinks I should send him
home Christmas ‘to be with his wife
and children.’ I should like to do that
—if it can be shown that he is enti
tled to it. When, however, I am
asked to do thus and so for the per
petrator of some frightful crime 1
never hear anybody suggesting how 1
am to make up things to the family of
the victim.
“The prerogative of clemency is not
at all personal to the Governor—it is
an Executive function tnat should be
exercised with great care and dis
crimination. and absolutely as exact
justice shall seem to suggest.
“I am not going to pardon or parole
anybody simply and solely because it
is Christmas, and parties who are
coming before me limping heavily on
that crutch may well save themselves
time by noe coming.
Wiil Decide on Merits.
“This business of swamping the
Gov ernor’s office every Christmas with
clemency petitions, based upon the
more or less maudlin plea that ‘it is
Christmas* and that the Governor may
lay aside his conscience for the time
being, hi something of a nuisance—
and it (s not going to produce results
while I am Governor.
“I am giad to hear petitions for
clemency when there is real merit in
them, hut not otherwise. If there is
merit in them they are welcomed on
Christmas or the Fourth of July, or
at any other time. The time of peti
tioning makes no difference whatever,
so far as my action is concerned.”
Diogenes’OwnTown,
Cordele, Halves Its
Cotton Crop Claims
—
Refuses to Brag cf 200,000 Bales
When It Has 100,000. Even
Though it Was Misprint.
! Editor Hearst’s Bunday American,
Atlanta:
We wish to thank you very much
for the excellent write-up of our city
In yesterday’s Sunday American.
We wish, however, to call attention
to one error, which 1 am sure was
accidental.
In your article you stated that Cor
dele had 200.000 bales of cotton this
year, where you should have stated
that Cordele had 100,000 bales.
Desiring that our city have no mis
leading figures placed before the pos
sible hyme-seeker. we desire to make
this correction.
The bare facts regarding Cordele
and Crisp County are marvelous
enough and almost beyond belief.
We are receiving a great many new
citizens through correct ’publicity,
and wish to keep “on the square” as
well as “on the firing line.”
Thanking you, I am. very sincerely
yours, ,
LOUIS SPENCER DANIEL.
Secretary Cordele Chamber of Com
merce, Cordele, Oa.
Fairfax Harrison, New President
of Southern, Pleased With Con
ditions in His Territory.
IS. KEEFER IS
1ST SEEKING
i upur
‘I’m Neither Rich Nor Eccentric,’
She Declares as She Tells of
Financial Woes.
MILL REPORTS NOTEWORTHY ! HAS TWO BOOKS ON PRESS
1 Sim unity'Doctor; AtIailta ^Ut 17, Is Playwright
Salary Pa.d by Tax ^ Jq ^ piayed We( J nesday
Manufacturers in Most Lines Have
Demand for Products—Run
on Full Time.
Volunteers to Die on
Scaffold for Woman
NEW HAVEN, CONN.. Dec. 13.—
A letter was received here to-day
from W. T. S. McC. Leary, of Tole
do. in which he offers to take the
place of Mrs. Bessie Wakefield on
the scaffold if the woman is denied a
new trial, so she might return to her
children. In his letter he said:
“If thqy must hang someone, if
they will let Bessie go to her babies
and tell me what day they want me
to come there, I will close my busi
ness and come and take her place on
.the scaffold with a smile on my face,
for she tyis something to live for and
1 have not.”
Municipal Christmas
Tree for Asheville
ASHEVILLE, N. C., Dec. 13.—Ashe
ville is to have a municipal Christmas
tree this year by decision of the
Board of Aldermen. The tree is to be
a giant cedar erected on Pack Square
and will be ablaze with myriad col
ored electric bulbs. All of the city
churches will participate in the mid
winter carnival that is planned.
All of the presents placed on th-?
tree will be turned over to the As
sociated Chariteis and the Salvation
Army for distribution.
Turnverein’s Santa
To Appear on Dec. 31
The fortieth Christmas tree anni
versary” of the Atlanta Turn Verein
will be celebrated the evening of De
cember 31 at No. 26 1-2 North Pryor
street. Santa Claus will appear at 8
o’clock, and will begin distributing
presents to children under 15 years
of age.
The entertainment, as usual, will be
limited strictly to members of the or
ganization and their immediate fami
lies.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 13.—Fairfax
Harrison, the new president of the
*
Southern Railway Company, speaking
to-day of the business outlook in the
South, said:
“Conditions throughout the terri
tory traversed by Southern Railway
lines are generally favorable. The
farmers of the Southeast, except in
restricted localities where they suf
fered from drouth, have had a highly
prosperous year. The ginning reports
of the' United States Census Bureau
indicate that the cotton* crop of the
States east of the Mississippi River
will exceed that of last year, and cur
rent prices are above those of a year
Hgo.
“WHile the estimate of the total corn
crop of the United States, recently
issued by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, shows a falling
off. compared with ’ t year, of 861,-
729.000 bushels, the crop in the nine
Southeastern States traversed by the
Southern Railway is within 21,000,000
bushels as large as last year, the only
Southeastern States showing de
creased yields on account of the
drouth being Kentucky and Tennes
see.
"Other crops, including forage,
have turned out well, and. taking the
territory as a whole, 1 doubt whether
the farmers of the Southeast have
ever had a more favaaable year.
"Largely growing out of the pros
perous condition of the farmers,
wholesale and retail trade throughout
the Southeast is generally in good
condition.
"Manufacturers in most lines are
enjoying a good demand for their
products, and their establishments are
running on full time, though some
slackening of production is to be ex
pected during the holiday season. Tha
reports of cotton mill and knitting
mill development are particularly
noteworthy.”
Slayer Confesses as
Trial Is Concluded
FAF1KMOUNT, AT. VA„ Dec. 13.—
Vincenzo Angelina confessed the mur
der of Policeman James Otis Shaver,
of Monongah in the Circuit Court to
day after the State had rested its
ease. He was sentenced to life im-
ju'isonment.
Shaver was killed July 21. 1912,
while escorting Angelina's brother,
whom he had arrested, to jail. An
gelina was tried and sentenced to
hang. The West Virginia Court of
Appeals granted a new trial which
ivas concluded to-day.
Daughter Signer of
New Carnegie Trust
Special Cable to The American.
EDINBURGH. Dec. 13 —The deed
creating the Carnegie United King
dom Trust, aggregating $10,000,000,
has been deposited with the Regis
trar of Edinburgh.
It is signed by Mr. and Mr*. Car
negie, Miss Carnegie and Miss Es
telle Whitfield.
Deeds creating other Carnegie
rusts here are signed by Mr, and
Mrs. Carnegie.
Breechette Inventor
Has New Tango Gown
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Miss
Margaret Britton, "the titlan-haired
debutante,” who originated the
breechette. a comfortable walking and
riding costume for belles, ha* solved
the problem of a graceful and at the
same time convenient tango costumq.
Mias Britton’s costume is made of
chiffon, the ruffies of which are caught
together in such fashion as to give
absolute freedom for the tango steps.
Foreign Nations Now
Want Paintings Back
— %
NEW YORK, Dec. 13.—Herman
VanSlochem, a Fifth avenue art deal
er, has just arrived from Paris, bring
ing with him six priceless paintings
of Flemish, Dutch and Italian mas
ters. He said that European govern
ments and owners of private galleries
were sorry now that they had sold so
many masterpieces to collectors u
this country, and were extremely anx
ious to get them back.
"This desire on their part.” lie said,
"will cause a natural boom in the
exchange of these pictures, but as
American collectors are much richer
than those of Europe, there will be
great difficulty in taking them back
to Europe.”
Fulton Employee in
Surprise Wdding
Miss Berta Key, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. W. D. Key, of Rock Springs,
and E. L. Bryant, of Ben Hill, sur
prised their friends Saturday night
by quietly getting married at the par
sonage of the Rev. Linton Johnson,
pastor of the Rock Springs Presby
terian Church.
Mr. Bryant is an employee of Ful
ton County. They will make their
home In Atalnta.
Women of Orient
Taking Up Suffrage
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—An in
teresting feature of to-day’s session
of the Suffrage School was an ad
dress by Madame Lydia Montford, of
Syria, on "The Position of Women
in the Orient.”
Madame Montford is visiting in
America and has become greatly in
terested in the woman suffrage move
ment. She said to-day that Oriental
women were waking up and taking
part iu new departures of iho da.>
Spencer Loses Fight
To Escape Gallows
CHICAGO. Dec. 13.—Henry D.
Spencer, confessed murderer o? Mrs.
Mildred Alllson-Rexroat, the tango
teacher, will hang Friday unless the
State Supreme Court grants a writ of
supersedeas.
Judge Mazzini Slusser this after
noon at Wheaton overruled the de
fense's motions for a vacation of
judgment and a stay of execution,
and ordered that the "hammer man”
be executed. Spencer expressed no
concern when the court refused to in
tercede in his behalf. Preparations
for carrying out the verdict have al
ready begun.
Compromise Likely
For Inland Vessels
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Adoption
of a compromise amendment to the
LaFollette seamen’s bill, exempting
from its requirements as to the num
ber of lifeboats and able seamen all
vessels navigating only the upper
waters of Chesapeake Bay and sim
ilar inland waters, was the prospect
when hearings on the bill were sus
pended to-night by the House Com
mittee on Merchant Marine and Fish
eries.
The exemption will not extend,
however, to vessels going several
miles from lana
Asserts That She Pawned Jewels
to Have Her Literary Works
Published.
Mrs. David II. Keefer ’ desires it
well understood that a wrong impres
sion has been gained of her from the
publicity given her recent efforts to
elevate the sanitary conditions of
Atlanta restaurants by inspecting
their Inner workings from the role of
dishwasher.
"1 am said to be rich and eccen
tric.” Mrs. Keefer explained Saturdav.
"I am neither. Simply unfortunate.
In attempting to give the people of
Atlanta an apartment of real value, I
have become involved in financial dif
ficulties.
‘‘It is from that web I am seeking
to escape by my own efforts, unaided
by the man by tfrhose name I sun
called.
"I designed and built that apart
ment myself. I was the architect,
and tiie superintendent, and the fore
man. 1 saw every plank placed and
every stone set.
Looks to Her Books.
“The Income from that little place
will keep me nicely, I think, and u !
the meantime 1 have my two books—
‘Psalm 119.’ a Masonic work, already :
on sale at the bookstores here, and
‘Sanders Square,’ now ready for the |
press in New York.”
Mrs. Keefer, a slender, nervous lit
tle woman, spoke with evident feeling
of her books.
"I let my diamonds go to get the
money to publish ‘Psalm 119,’” soe
said, but there was no hint of a sacri
fice in her voice. "I didn’t mind let
ting them go; 1 didn’t care for them
sentimentally, and I had no desire for
display, and that’s about all jewels
are good for.
“I have a card here from Elia
Wheeler Wilcox,” she went on. taking
it from her handbag. ‘‘1 sent her i
a copy of my littl° book, and she says
some very kind things of it.”
So she did, all in the weird, strag
gly Wilcox hand that most of the
world knows.
Knows the Rockefellers.
“Oh, I’m not exactly restricted in
my friendships and acquaintances,”
Mrs. Keefer said, smiling a little. "I
know the Rockefellers and the Mc
Cormicks. and—but that’s all on one
side. Here I am, in Atlanta, plas
tered with a great deal of notoriety,
and looking for employment—looking
for employment, until the remnant of
my little fortune, in the shape of the
apartment hat I built, shall begin to
support me.”
And as to Mr. Keefer
"I condoned a previous divorce suit,
instituted in New York, to save his
purse from the lawyers, thereby prac
tically shattering the faith of the en
tire legal profession in myself.” Mrs. J
Keefer explained. "He gave it out
when we were married that I was a
‘two-million-dollar bride,’ and he used
most of what he had, and much cf
my money, makin" the display to bear
out his boast. Well, he prospered on
that sort of advertising, and now I
suppose he must be worth half a mil
lion dollars. I know' he stops at the
best hotels, has his own motor car,
and entertains lavishly.”
Mrs. Keefer snapped shut the Dig
handbag.
"And I—well, I am still Mrs. David
H. Keefer; the mime means much to
me. I have learned so much since I
have had it. 1 am not rich and eccen
tric. I am just looking for employ
ment until what is left of my little
fortune shall begin to support me.”
Physician Keeps 200 Citizens in Good
Health and Each Family Pays
Fixed Amount.
XKWBEllN, X. C., Dec. 13.—Knotts
Island, Currituck County, wlrteh Is in*
habited by about 200 persons, employs
one physician to minister to the ills and
ailments of every ‘Citizen.
This physician Is paid a salary of
something more than $1,000 and every
family is assessed according to the'
number in the household to pay the
salary. There are seasons during the
year when the lone physician has little
to do, but at other times, when some
epidemic strikes the town, he is kept
busy from morning until far Into the
night. |
Occasionally, when there are several
members of a family ill at one time, a
trained nurse is .emp'oyed, but this is a
rarity and to the credit of the doctor it j
can be said that he has remarkable
success in keeping the members of that
community free from all disease.
Author Herself Will Take Role
Miss Mildred Sault, the Atlanta jfirl who, at 17. has writ
ten a sketch to be produced in “Society Vaudeville” this week.
• /
Shoots Ex-Wife, Kills
Two Others and Self
CHICAGO, Dec. 13.—Angered be
cause his wife had divorced him three
months ago and because friends had
afterward assisted her in purchasing
a candy store whereby she could
make a living, Emanuel Hamer, a
railway mail clerk, this afternoon
shot and killed Mr. and Mrs. Leo F.
Niemann, wounded his former wife,
and then committed suicide in an
apartment building where all lived.
A corset steel deflected the bullet
fired at Mrs. Hamer, and she will re
cover.
Joliet, in War on
Vice, Cites Atlanta
Police Chief Beavers and the At
lanta vice war form the subject of a
double-column editorial in The Joliet
News, of Joliet, Ill.
The Atlanta situation is shown to |
be one of especial interest in Joliet
because of a vigorous clean-up cam
paign now being waged in that city
The News pays high tribute to Chief
Beavers and his courage.in leading
tiie war against vice in Atlanta, and
quotes extensively from ihe Chief’s
signed article on vice conditions as it
appeared in the recent special At
lanta edition of The Detective, the
Chicago publication devoted to the in
terests of the police departments of
the nation.
The News editorially also quotes
the Men and Religion bulletin on "The
Policeman ' which appeared some
time ago
Max Figman Burned
In Lamp Explosion
Max Figman, who plays the* role of
the newspaper man in "Fine Feath
ers,” suffered a j*ainful accident just
as he was preparing for his appear
ance at ihe Atlanta Theater Saturday
night when a spirit lamp in his dress
ing room exploded and covered his
face with a mass 6f burning oil.
Mr. Figman, by the quick applica
tion of a towel, extinguished the
flames oefore assistance reached him.
Physicians attended the burns, and
the actor made his appearance, not
withstanding the pain.
Boys Rescue Girls
As Dormitory Burns
RALEIGH, N. C., Dec. 13.—Fire
which destroyed the girls' dormitory
of the Industrial Christian College
at Dawson. N. C., injured several pu
pils and prompted several heroic res
cues by young men.
Miss Bessie Koonce, of Statelino,
Pa., and Earl Hooks, of Havelock, N.
C., leaped from the second story of
the wooden building and were unin
jured. Miss Mattie Bone, of Spring
Hro*>. fell down a flight of stairs and
bj&taindd broken collar bone.
Pretty Head Is Set on Career of Stage Writing
and Acting.
Miss Mildred Sault, of No. 66 St.
Charles avenue, announces, without
hesitation and without the slightest
doubt in her fair head, that she is go
ing to be a playwright when she
grows a little older and has more time
to spend in working out her career.
Already the girl is well started to
ward the fulfillment of her ambition.
Here she is only 17 years old, but with
one of the drama-children of her
brain about to be produced on the
public stage.
Miss Sault is the author of "For
the Love of Marie,” a sketch of con
siderable promise, that will have a
part in the society vaudeville of the
S. V. D. Fraternity Wednesday night.
It is not her first dramatic venture,
and certainly not her last, she de
clares.
"I have been trying to write ever
since I could handle a pen. I think,”
she said yesterday. "And it was just
as natural for me to hanker after a
writing career as it was for me to
grow up.
"But writing plays is not the only
thing. I should like to take part in
them myself, and to direct them—as
Thomas Dixon does, you know, in his
plays. I should like to write plays,
too, that have, like his, a real pur
pose.”
Altogether, there are rather vault
ing ambitions being cherished in the
heart of this pretty girl. And, deter
mined to start right, she will play the
leading role In her own sketch this
week.
The society vaudeville, to be staged
at the Grand Theater, will be held
for the benefit of the Home for t ie
Blind.
London Court Rules
Woman Is Not* Person'
Special Cable to The American.
LONDON, Dec. 13.—The appeal of
Miss Gwyneth Marjorie Bebb from
the decision of the Incorporated Law
Society barring her from admission to
the bar because of her sex was re
jected by the high court.
The court adhered to the view that
j a woman is not a "person within the
meaning of the solicitors' act of 1843.”
Would-be Doctors
In U. S, Decreasing
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Decrease
in medical schools and in their stu
dent attendance In the United States
was reported to-day by the Federal
Bureau of Education for 1913.
Figures show that there were four
teen less schools, a decrease of 1,200
students and 500 less graduates this
year than aJat.
U. S. Rushes Aid to
Texas Flood Victims
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Appeal
for aid for the destitute of the flood
ed Texas districts was made to the
Treasury Department by a relief
committee from Galveston to-day.
Hundreds of persons are starving and
dying in Texas, says the petition,
which asks the co-operation of the
revenue cutter service in bringing re
lief to the inundated area.
The department ordered the reve
nue cutter Windom, now at Galves
ton, to co-operate with the relief
committee.
BUFORD BOY DIES HERE.
Howard Thomas, the 12-year-old
son of Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Thomas, of
Buford, Ga., died Saturday* in an At
lanta private sanitarium The body
was sent to Buford.
Is Confident, He Declares, That
Smoother Pavements Will Be a
Source of Tremendous Income
to City in Business Increase.
Taxable Values Higher as a Result
of Present Improvements, and
Possible 20 Per Cent Gain He
Regards as Likely by the Plan,
By DR. GEORGE F. PAYNE.
Atlanta should have more viaducts
over the railroads, better paid school
teachers, better paid policemen, bet
ter paid firemen, more schools, wider
streets, better kept parks, but last,
and most Important, to enable her to
keep up these things she needs
provide for an improved income.
As a business proposition, Atlanta's
greatest need Is better graded streets,
with smoother pavements. The mat
ter of regrading and repaving many
of her streets is the most businesslike
proposition which now confronts us
It can <ije handled in such a manner
as to be the source of a tremendous
income to the city and enable us to
secure many other things which .ire
much needed. We should Invest, r?
far as practicable, in income-produc
ing Improvements, that we can have
other Improvements that do not pro
duce Incomes supported by such re
turns.
If we should put a large amount
into any proposition which does not
produce an income, but requires funds
to support it, it can not well be sup
ported In any way, except by an in
crease in taxation, unless by invest
ing money in better graded streets
with smoother pavements, we lr
crease the taxpaying capacity of the
property along such streets.
Many Object Lessons.
We have had so many splendid ob
ject lessons along this line that It
would seem every business man must
,feel deeply Impressed with the im
portance of such work. It has been
said that the city spent $2,500 In re
grading Forsyth street and the ad
jacent property, and that the county
bore the balance of the expense, and
that on account of these improve
ments the taxable values have been
raised in that section $1,400,000
bringing to the city of Atlanta, a year
ly Income of over $14,000.
This illustrates what a splendid
business propoiif m regrading and
smoothly paving our streets is to the
city. The doubling of values on In
street by the recent regrading is an
other illustration of the value to th»*
city of such work. We heard onr
capitalist remark, in a speech before
Council in favor of the Whitehall
street regrading, that "he would un
dertake to do the work himself If th*'
city would agree to give him half oT
its increased income resulting from
the work.” Of course, such ^ thing
would be impracticable, but it empha
sizes the business side of such a dt
velopment.
Would Bring Business.
There are many small businesses
which would come to Atlanta, but
have not the capital to rent 6tores or
Peachtree or on Whitehall streets,
and if they attempt to rent on most of
our other streets they are confronted
with rough, poorly-graded and poor
ly-paved streets. Think of the con
dition of West Peachtree and Spring
streets west of Peachtree and east of
it, and, as an illustration, take Court-
land street, between Ponce DeLeon
avenue and the Washington street
viaduct. It Is just a succession of
hills and hollows, the whole length
of it, and the belgian blocks have
been taken up and replaced again sc
many, many times that there is prob
ably not a rougher street In the whole
city. Yet this street Is 60 feet wide
and extends, with its prolongation of
Juniper street, on one end, and Wash
ington street on the other, from Pied
mont Park to Washington Heights
and should be a smooth, fine drive
way.
Besides relieving unnecessary con
gestion on Peachtree street, the;
would add to Peachtree values, as
natural feeders in the northwestern
portion of the city, which is building
up faster with homes than any othei
part of Atlanta. The whole popula-
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