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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. NOTICEI When in need of Corn, Hay or Feed Stuff, write J. R. REYNOLDS, Louisburg, Tenn. Send and Get a Magazine We have quite a lot of back num* bers of Watson’s Jeffersonian Maga zine, excepting May and June, 1907. Send 10c and get any back number you select. Address, THOS. E. WATSON, Thomson, Ga. Splendid Premium For 3 subscribers and $3.00 you get, for your Premium, A STORY AND A STUDY OF THE OLD SOUTH, BETHANY which was the name of the ancient church where Thomson now flourishes. Mr. Watson’s descriptions of condi tions preceding the Civil War, and during the war have been pronounced by old folks as truer to life than those found in any other book. His statement of the case for the South is considered by many the fair est and strongest that has been made. Toombs, Hill, Stephens, Yancey and Jefferson Davis appear in life-like man ner in the book. Bethany is bound in cloth and is il lustrated. Address, THOS. H. WATSON. Thomson, Ga.