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PAGE TWELVE
WORK STOPPED ON SOUTHERN
IMPROVEMENT.
Chattanooga, Tenn., Sept. s.—The
Southern Railway has ordered Con
tractor W. J. Oliver to stop work on
all extensions and improvements in
this section. The Stevenson exten
sion, a line about forty miles long,
which is being constructed by W. J
Oliver & Co. for the Southern Rail
way, is the largest contract affected.
Five sub-contractors have been at
work, employing about 350 laborers,
of which number about fifty were
skilled laborers. The contractors are
H. H. Thrasher & Co., Yandell Bros.
& Co., J. H. Edwards & Co., H. Kreiss
& Sons, and Frank Maloney & Co.
The Phoenix Bridge Co., of Pittsburg,
which had the contract for the erec
tion of the steel superstructure for
the bridges of the extension, sus
pended work Monday, after erecting
a bridge over Battle Creek and pre
paring for work on the bridge over
Sequatchie river. The action of the
bridge company was in response to
orders received from the headquar
ters of the company, which was in
turn ordered to suspend work by the
Southern Railway.
The Stevenson extension represents
an outlay of about $4,000,000, and if
ths work was pushed to completion
•suld be entirely finished within
eighteen months. The excavation ii>
the tunnel through Lookout Mountain
has been completed and the tunnel
is now ready for walling.
In addition to the work on the
Stevenson extension, the Southern
Railway has been engaged in double
tracking for a distance of seventeen
miles in the vicinity of Ooltewah.
This work also is being done by W.
J. Oliver & Co under the direction
of the resident engineer of the road
at Knoxville, Term. A force of sev
eral hundred men have been employed
on this part of the work. The double
trackage was started about a year
age, and is nearing completion.
The action of the Southern Rail
way is considered by many to be a
“bluff” to stem off the tide of ad
verse railroad legislation. For what
time the work is to be suspended is
purely a matter of conjecture. It
is generally believed that it will be
of short duration, dependent upon the
outcome of whatever its purpose. A
gentleman who is a close student of
railroad affairs, considered the move
of the Southern Railway to be of
more far-reaching effect, stating his
belief that the Morgan interests are
acting thus as a political move and
that the work will not be resumed
for about eighteen months. Another
advanced the theory that it was a
move on the part of the Morgan in
terests to force down the stock of
the Southern and tributary lines for
financial purposes.
The Central of Georgia and the
Georgia Southern and Florida Rail
roads. which are said to have been
controlled by the Southern Railway,
have been the only other roads so
far which have suspended improve
ment work. —Atlanta Georgian.
FIFTY THOUSAND TROOPS TO
BE THROWN INTO MOROCCO.
Tangier, Sept. B.—The British le
gation here has received, by courier,
Raisuli’e ultimate terms for the re
lease of Caid Sir Harry Mac Lean.
Raisuli demands British protection
for himself and his apointment as
president of the district from Te
tuan to Laiishe and an indemnity.
Paris, Sept. B.—The Madrid corres
pondent of The Echo de Paris says
it is reported in military circles that
France has proposed to Spain to send
a Franco-Spanish army of 56,000 men
to occupy the Moroccan ports, and
to go as far as Fez, if necessary. The
correspondent says it is stated that
Premier Maura and General Martil
egui, chief of the headquarters staff,
are opposed to this plan, but that
the minister of war, General Primo
Rivera, supports it.
The Eclair’s Madrid correspondent
says that Great Britain’s influence
contributed to a modification of
Spain’s attitude toward Morocco, per
suading her to co-operate effectively
with French action, and to conform
to her rights and obligations as recog
nized by the treaty of Algeciras.
The correspondent at Madrid of The
Matin says it is believed Spain will
decide to send 5.000 infantry and
500 cavalrv to occupy Tangier and
establish a police force there.
CLUBS IN GEORGIA.
In Georgia it must be decided that
a club is not a public place before it
will be permitted to pay a tax and
establish loekers. The great outcry
made over the discovery that the bill
taxing loekers might prove a loop
hole through which the prohibition
law would be evaded, is hardly jus
tified, according to the author of the
prohibition measure, Hon. Seaborn
Wright, of Rome. “It is for the
courts to decide whether a club is a
public place,” savs Mr. Wright. “If n
club is not a public place then,” says
Mr. Wright, “liquor can be kept in
a club room, or locker, upon payment
of the SSOO tax; if a club is a pub
lic place, then liquor cannot be kept.
It is for the courts to decide whether
a club is a public place.”
Therefore, everything will depend
upon the construction of the courts
as to what constitutes a club. Is a
club a public or a private place? It
would seem that such would be de
termined entirely in accordance with
the conduct of the club. A club, fre
quented by a small number, not pri
marily for drinking purposes, might
be considered a private place, but
a so-called club formed for drinking
purposes and frequented largelv be
cause of the lockers, would certain
ly not be a private place, and th
courts of Georgia would, no doubt,
so hold and break up any, if so or
ganized. We can conceive of grent
abuses growing out of the organiza
tion of such clubs. Clubs organized
in order to secure such lockers would
be an unmitigated evil, even where
prohibition did not prevail. Thev
would have manv of the evils of sa
loons. Clubs, however, where the
locker feature is entirely incidental,
and which are not flagrant induce
ments to intemperance, are. of
course, far less ohipcrionable. The
judges of the state of Georgia, there
fore, have in their hands, by thoir
opinions as to what constitutes a
private place, a weapon to prevent the
clubs of that state from becoming
mere drinking places. Georgia has
reflected the general feeling of the
South against saloons. Os course,
prohibition will not prevent all
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
drinking. It will greatly reduce it,
however, and it will prohibit the sa
loon, which has been the source of
so much evil. We cannot imagine
that even locker clubs at their worst
would be as dangerous as the saloons,
and with the above explanation of
the law by the author, and the reason
able interpretation to be placed upon
it, which may be expected from the
Georgia judiciary, it is evident that
the club feature haa none of the dan
gers which have been predicted. It
would be well for other states, how
ever, in considering prohibitory meas
ures, to avoid ambiguous language on
this point.—Knoxville Sentinel.
CENTRAL GETS OFF LIGHT IN
ARBITRATION.
An increase of only $751,659.30 was
secured by the state in the tax arbi
tration on the franchise of the Cen
tral of Georgia Railroad, which con
cluded at 1: 30 o ’clock Thursday aft
ernoon.
The fight.was only on the franchise
of the road, as the assesssment on the
physical property was accepted with
out dispute. The Central returned
its 1,070.78 miles of road and other
physical properties in the state at
$13,522,667. Comptroller General
Wright assessed it at $16,808,744, an
increase ©f $3,288,067, which was ac
cepted.
The franchise was returned at $3.-
301,173, and Comptroller Wright as
sessed it at $13,159,376, an increase
of $9,556,203. On this assessment
the Central made a fight.
The franchise value was fixofl bv
the road in its return at $3,084 per
mile, and the umpire. Judge A. L.
Mliler. fixed it at $3,785 per mile,
making the total franchise value
$4,052,832.20. As stated above, this
is an increase of only $751,659.30 over
the original return. The award was
concurred in by Alex Smith, arbi
trator for the road, but Commission'' •
Stevens could not be seen to aseen
tain whether or not the award suites
him.
Inasmuch as Attorney General
Hart put the issue raised by Presi
dent Hanson, of political influences
depreciating the value of rail
road property up to the board it is
interesting to know just how much
that question weighed in the award.
HOW GEN. TOOMRq DEFENDED
A SLAVE.
Many incidents are related illus
trating the mutual affection of mas
ter and slave in the South before the
war. The Columbia State tells of
such a case.
A negro man, strfing and healthy,
but getting gray from years, was on
trial for murder. He had killed an
other negro and had been lying in
jail for some time, awaiting his trial.
The testimony against him was given
bv other negroes, who witnessed the
killing. When the case was called
for trial by the presiding judge, an
old man rose, and in a voice deep and
low, but full of marked gentleness,
said:
“Will your honor please mark me
for the defense?”
It was General Robert Toombs. Jlis
face was wrinkled with age, but it
was large and strong, and the lines
of intellect made deeper wrinkles
than those of age. His white hair
rolled back in curls from a splendid
brow. His form was large and tall
and straight, although his movements
were slow with the years. His eyes
still flashed as when he stood in the
senate chamber at Washington.
The witnesses all seemed unfriend
ly toward the prisoner. In his own
statement he claimed that the killing
was in self-defense.
General Toombs analyzed the tes
timony of the eye witnesses, and then
concluded thus:
“Your honor, please, and gentle
men of the jury: A few years ago
my only brother fell wounded on the
battlefield of Gettysburg. He lay
there bleeding to dath, with no friend
ly hand to help him. Shot and shell
were sweeping the earth all about
him. No friend could go to him, no
surgeon dared approach him.'
“My brother had a body servant,
who waited on him in camp. The ne
gro saw his master’s danger, and
straight out into that sheet of battle
and flame and- death he went. A
piece of shell tore the flesh from his
breast, but on he went, and gathering
my brother in his arms, the blood of
the man mingling with the blood of
the master, he bore him to safety and
life. Jim, open your collar!”
The prisoner rose and opened his
shirt in the front. On his breast the
jury saw the long, jagged scara where
the shell had torn its way.
“Jim’s skin may be black,” the
general continued, “he may be a ne
gro; but the man who would do what
he did has a soul too white ever to
have killed a man except in defense
of his own life.”
The jury agreed with him and Jim
was cleared.
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