j L .
VOL. VIII.
COLUMBUS, N. C.r THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 , 1903.
NO. 39.
mm
REPORT ON COTTON
Gorernment Sfefement of the Crop of
(he Past Season
A FULL RECORD OF BALES GINNED
ISM ere is no Guess , Work About the
Figures This Year, as Gin Records
Have Been Kept.
Washington, Special. The -Censu3
Bureau report on the cotton ginned
fromthe 1902, crop up, to andranqludv
ing December 13, last, is 9,311,835
bales, irrespective of shape or weight,
equal to-; 8,905,503, according to the
commercial counting. This is 90.2 per
cent, of the crop. ; : " '
The above statistics of the quantity
. of cotton ; ginned to December , 13th,
are expressed in bales as pressed at
the ginneries, irrespective of shape or
, weight. In the total of 9,311,835 bales,
there 'are 812,661 round bales aver-'
aging from 240, to 300 pounds each.
Counting such round bales as half
bales, . as, is the custom in the com
mercial community the total ginned
to December 13 is 8,905,503. The gin
ners have not yet returned their bale
weights for tnis crop, but 40 cotton
throughout the cotton States Advise
the office that they compressed an 1
actually weighed from the growth f
1902 up to December 13, 1,060,434
bales, averaging each 503.8 pounds
gross. Using this weight as the aver
age for : square bales and for round
bales 253 pounds, the . average o b
tained from the weight returns of the
home offices of the companies operat
ing such patents, the equivalent num
ber of 500-pound bales ginned- to De
cember 13th is found to.be 8,974,722.
Deducing the weight of the bagging
and ties (22 pounds per square bale),
the number of equivalent 500 pound
bales; net weight, is found to be 8,
800,758. '.'..-:.-- ' ;
By two most thorough canvasses
this season,. 32,528 ginneries, active
and idle, have been located and re-
been operated for this crop. In their
December canyass the local special
agents ascertained the quantity of
cotton ginned from the beginning of
the season to and including Decem
ber 13th, and also secured from each
of the active ginners his estimate of
the quantity of cotton to be ginned by
his establishment after December 13.
The estimate of the percentage of the
crop ginned is based on the estimates
of 626 canvassing agents, who were
instructed to confine their estimates
to the territories canvassed by them
and to the knowledge gained there
from.. One estimate, therefore, serves
as a check against the other. Accord
ing to the estimate of the ginners
10.2 per cent, of the crop remained to
be ginned after December 13,. while,
according to the estimate of the can
vassing agents the percentage was
4.8. Applying these percentages aud
the general average bale weight ob
tained from combining round aud
square bales, the crop, according to
ihe ginners, is 9,969,300 bales, and, ac
cording to the canvassing agents
9.954,106: bales of an average gross
height of 500 pounds. The Census Of
fice assumes no responsibility for the
accuracy of these estimates. This re
Port wiil be followed by a third and
final report at the end of the ginning
season, about, March 16th, which will
distribute the crop by c&unties, 'segra
sate upland and Sea Island , cottons;
and give weights of bales. In giving
ut the report, Director Merriam
said: ; - - ,
"It seems Important to again state
m connection with these statistics of
the cotton crop of 1902, that is, so far
as they relate to thebales of cotton
ginned to December 13 last; they in
volve no guess work at any point, no
estimate by anybody; and no .uncer
tainty ( of any kind; They represent the
exact number of bales of cotton that
have i passed through the ginners. All
that has been done by the Census Office
ls to make and verify .the additions.
Anybody ig at liberty to examine, the
whole process adopted "by the Census
Office in handling these returns. The
jeturns represent the ginning opera
llons of every ginning establishment
which has handled any portion of the
growth of 1902.,"
The report i3 made at a time so near
ine dose of the ginning season as to
permit a verv cinso
growth of the year, in 500.
!t seems probake thai
1? ?Lleport' t0 be' issued about
iVlftwU not show a.varia.
.tion of u ,000 bales .from the estimates
of the total crop which are submitted
from two sources' in -connection, with
the figures of cotton ginned to Decem
ber 13th. ' ...;;,v: . ; ,
;Tnis is the first time in the history
of the American cotton crop that defi
nite and exact knowledge of the sea
son s growth has been placed in pos
session of the public at so early a date,
or within a date five months as early.
The Census Office is already, perfecting
plans for more frequent reports in con
nection with, the crop of 1903. Its first
report will cover all the cotton ginned,
of the year's! growth, up to and includ
ing September 1. This portion of each
years crop is now assigned m tne com
mercial estimates to the production of
the previous year as the commercial
cotton year ends September 1.
The second report will include all
cotton ginned up to and including Oc
tober 18th, 1903, the date of the first
report for 1902, enabling an exact com
parison in. the two seasons. The third
report will cover the cotton ginned up
to and including November 18th, a pe
riod of the utmost choice to the wrow
ers and manufacturers. The fourth re
port, will represent the cotton ginned
to December 13th, The fifth will be the
final report
It will be seen that this plan con
templates practically a monthly report
during the cotton ginning season of
1903. If it shall be found that still
more frequent reports are desirable,
the Census Office will be prepared to
make them for the crop of 1904.
The ' census method of ascertaining
the annual cotton crop can be gradual
ly, extended and developed with com
paratively little increase of expense so
as to include statistics of the cotton
seed oil industry, the acreage annual
ly devoted to cotton, and the mill tak
ings and consumption of cotton, thus
making the reports a complete show
ing of the production and consumption
of domestis cotton.
The Colorado Senatorshlp.
Denver. Special. The" senatorial sit
uation in Colorado is becoming decid
edly complicated and should present
declared plans be carried out the con
test, over the selection of a successor
to Senator Henry M. Teller, which will
begin in earnest with the convening of
the Legislature on Wednesday next,
will, to say the least, be exciting and
more than likely spectacular. The
solid support of the Democratic wing
of the Legislature for Teller is still
i
maintained, while 1 the Republican
strength is parcelled among four candi
dates, of whom former Senator E. O.,,
Wolcott is the most-conspicuous.
Destructive Fire.
Olympia; Wash. Special. The build
ing occupied by the Capital Brewing
Company, as bottling works, was al
most completely demolished Saturday
night by a slide of sand from the bluff
back of the building. The bluff is
about 50 feet high and was almost per
pendicular with the side of thebuild
ing. The office building is in immedi
ate danger and the officials of the com
pany "are expecting it will be crushed
at any moment; as small slides are
constantly coming down. -
v New Railroad.
New Orleans, Special. The New Or
leans and San Francisco Railroad was
chartered here, withia capital stock of
$5,000,000. Local capitalists have be
come associated with officials of the St.
Louis & San Francisco road in the en
terprise. The object of 'the corporation
is to build a line of railroad from New
Orleans by way of Arkansas to Chi
cago. The organization, is in connec
tion with the entrance of the Frisco
into New Orleans.
: Mascdigm Acquitted.
Chicago, Special. Signor Mascagni,
the composer, was arraigned' In court
Tuesday on a charge of 1 embezzling
$5,000 from his former manager, Rich
ard Heard, of Boston. After hearing
both sides Justice Hurley immediately
dismissed the case. ? The court room
was filled with Italians who applauded
vigorously" as Mascagni. thankful and
miling; left for his hotel. 7 . ,
.;- - -""'
Fire at Toxaway .
Brevard; N. C., Special. Thursday
night the general store building and
contents belonging to Dr. Fisher, at
Toxaway, was entirely consumed by
fire. Loss $3,000. -Insurance ,$1,200,
Origin of fire unknown.
"Editress" Complimented.
There has, been no deterioration An
the Emporia Gazette since . William
Allen mite went to Idaho and left
Mrs. White to get out the paper.-
KanasvCity Star, -
OPERATORS' REPLY;
Harkle and Company Filean Answer
Before Strike . Commission
THE OWNERS TELL THEIR STORY
Their System of Dealing With Their
Employes Not Required to Trade
At Company Store; -7 " ;
Philadelphia, Special.-rThe answer
of G. B. Markle fe'Cpmpany, indepen
dent coal, operators, to the' demands of
the miners, was-made, public here Sun
day. The answer vill be submitted, to
the Anthracite Coal Strike Commis
sion, which re-assembles in this city
tomorrow. It wasfv written by John
Markle, managing partner of; the firm.
The statement says : the firm employs
about 2,400 men, and 'many of its em
ployes reside in the villages of v Free
land; about two jtn ilea distant, and
Hazleton, about seyen miles distant,
from Jeddo. The lessees, erected :and
own the improvements upon the pro
perty, including 7 breakers, stores,
shops and tenement houses. It says
the company always has maintained
two physicians for thennen, deduct
75 cents a month from the married
and 50 cents a month from the single
men therefor, and paying it over to.
the physicians without charge or
deduction. This arrangement was, not
compulsory upon the men -or families.
Stores for the v sale of general -merchandise
and of miners jsuppHes have
always been Cntaid Jipori the
property, ,,andf have i beeti7and are; An
accommodation to the men and their
families; The men have never been
required to deal there. 7
It says in September, 1897, a com
mittee of miners presented certain
demands to the. firm. Ah agreement
was-then in existence between the
company and men to settle differences
by arbitration.' The company replied
to the demands and received no furth
er communication from the miners.
Work at the mined continued unin-
terrupted 'until the latter part of 1900
when John Mitchell made his head
quarters at Hazleton and endeavored
to organize the Markle employes.
In September, 1900, another list of
grievances was furnished- the firm,
which offered to arbitrate, but the men .
struck. Between 1900 and 1902, many
requests were made for the correction
of alleged grievances which were all
taken up and considered and acted
upon, "but neither individually nor
collectively, orally j or in writing,"
says the statement! "did the y men
t make any complaint in reference to
the collecting of dues for the doctors
or the priests: nor was our -attention
called to any defect in respect to ven
tilation, or unfair treatment at the
store; nor as to the size of the cars ;
nor as to the slope cleaning; or the
docking, xyitil April, 1902; and we had
every reason to believe that, taken as
a whole; the men were entirely satis
fied with the conditions of their, em
ployment. Objection is also made that
the full 10 per cent, advance was not
given. The manner in which the ad
vance was computed was repeatedly
explained to the men and it will be
shown by the expert accountant that
it was correctly calculated."' "
The statement goes into the matter
of eviction of men from the firm's,
houses after appointment of the ar
bitration commission, and says the 12
men' evicted were-so treated because
they had been aotive ; in preventing,
men from resuming work. No attempt
was made to collect from them arrears
of rent which had accrued during "the
strike. The evicted men in 1901, it is
stated; each made net earnings rang-,
ing -from $350 to : $1,000. ' Specific de
nials are made of :the statement before
the ; commission "alleging harsh treat
ment 1 of various v individuals whose
names had been given. ....I;'.
Against American Cotton.
Paris, By Cable.-It la said that
Jules Siegfried, Richard Warrington
and Felix Meline, as well as other
deputies and ' Senators, and a number
of leading cotton manufacturers, have
formed a Colonial Cotton Association,
with' a view to resisting the American
cotton monopoly, by aiding the de
velopment of; the growing cotton in
the French 'colonies and especially in
the Soudan. .'.
AFTER THE HOLIDAY RECESS
Congress Gets Down to Work Once
flore. -
7 When the Senate reconvened Monday
after the holiday recess, few Senators
were absent. Almost immediately a
discussion began regarding the coal
situation. Mr. Lodge prefaced his intro
duction of a bill suspending for 90 days
oncoal, with the statement that in
New England there was much distress
owing to the scarcity of coal and that'
unless relief was afforded at once; a.
number of factories would have to shut
down. He was aware, he said, that
such a bill should originate in the
House of Representatives, but it was;
his desire to call the attention of the
finance committee to the" state of af
fairs. Mr. Culberson . followed with a
resolution providing for the removal of
the duty on anthracite coal and asked
for its immediate consideration. Mr.
Piatt; of Connecticut, objected, Saying
it was his understanding that there
was no duty. on anthracite coal. Mr.
Vest took exception 'to this statement
and said that the board of general ap
praisers and President Roosevelt had
decided that such a : duty, is imposed.
Mr. Vest also introduced a resolution
on the subject. x Another resolution
bearing on the subject of coal; intro
duced by Mr. Jones, of Arkansas, refer
Ing to the charge of W. R. Hearst that
there was ? an illegal combination
t among certain, railroads to control th 3
shipment of anthracite coal and calling
upon the Attorney General f or the evi
dence which It"was alleged had been
secured by him, caused a lively debate,
in which several - Republican Senators
vigorously resented what they thought
was a-reflection on the; Attorney - Gen-
iThe discussion continued until 2
o'clock, when the iresolu.tion went over
being displaced by the omnibus state
hood bill. Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota,
addressed the Senate in opposition , to
the bill t and favored single statehood
for Oklahoma and Indian Territory. At
4 o'clock the Senate adjourned;
House on Military Bill. 7
The House resumed its work TMon
dayi after a recess of 'two weeks; but
within two hours the machinery broke
down for lack of a quorum. The bill
to create a general staff in the army
was the issue. An attempt was made
to pass it under suspension, of the
rules, which" requiresNa two-thirds ma
jority of the military committee en
dorsed it, opposition developed because
of the hurried manner in which it was
proposed to pass the' bill.
When the bill was called up, Mr.
Richardson, of Tennessee, the minori
ty leader, said he did not believe such
an important measure should be con
sidered by unanimous consent and he
objected. 7' ,7
In reply to a question by ,Mr. Bart
lett, of Georgia, Mr. Hull said that the
general of the army at. present was a
myth. Mr. Hay, of Virginia, a mem
ber of the military committee, in sup
port of the bill, detailed the chaotic
condition which existed during the
Spanish war, owing to the conflict of
authority. This condition, he said,
could not exist under the pending bill.
! "I would like .to. ask," said Mr.
Steele, of Indiana, "if this bill does
not practically eliminate the lieuten
ant general from command. .The lieu
tenant general is not chief of staff un
der this bill." - r
Mr. Hay: "He could be detailed as
commander .of the army in time of
war if the President . chose to detail
him."'
7 Mr. Steele : "The ' President can : as
sign any office to the command of the
army now, subject to this title, thet
choleric, petticoat army in Washing
ton." ... -
I iMr. Hay: "Do you mean the Presi
dent is subject to that?" '
Mr, Steele : '"That is what I mean."
The roll-call resulted 108 to 59, not a
quorum. A call of he House developed
the presence of only 150 members not
a quorum, and at 2 o'clock the House
adjourned.
White Elephants Not White.
A perfect white 1 elephant is ; not
white but merely of a lighter hue than
ordinary. ' His eyes are pink, with a
yellow iris; its hide a light brownish
red, and hair. red. ,
Indecision Is the reef oh which. en
terprise is wrecked..
SUIT FOR DAHACES.
Claimed That Hany Were Kidnapped
irtd Sent to the nines.
New' York, Special. Suits have been'
brought by 22 residents of this city,
who claim that during the recent coal
strike they were decoyed to the mines
in Pennsylvania by agents of the Erie
road and of the , Pennsylvania Coal
Company. . Damages for $50,000 for
each, amounting to $1,100,000 In all,
are sued and the attorney for tne
plaintiffs consulted with an assistant
district attorney today about bringing
I the matter before the errand iurv tn h
j sworn in next Monday. The plaintiffs
claim that under pretence of doing
work for the railroad and coal com
pany they were decoyed to Hoboken,
where they were locked in a car and
carried, against their vill, to the coal
regions in" Pennsylvania and compelled
to act as strlke-Dreakenj under threats
of ."being turned over to the fury of the
miners." The men say they J finally
succeeded in making their way back
to the city, but declare that on their
way home they had narrow escapes
from being mobbed. 7 " r
An officer of the, Erie' Railroad said
that no complaint had been served as
yet on the company. He said he had
r-o doubt that the companies would be
able to successfully defend any suits
that might be brought against: them.
The company, said this officer, is al
ways extremely careful to explain to
the men the conditions under whieh
they are employed. .
7 a : -' i . . ;v'.
- Pacific Cable Opened.
Washington, Special. The following
cablegram was received at the White
House, at 2:30 this morning, dated Hon
olulu January; 1, 9!33l. m.: - 7 " 7 7
'The President, Washington: 7
; "The people of the territory of Ha
waii send" their greetings to you and
express their gratification at the inau
guration of. telegraphic communication
with the mainland. .We all believe that,
the removal of the disadvantage of
isolation will prove a strong factor in
the upbuilding of a patriotic and pro
gressive American Commonwealth in
these islands.
(Signed) HENRY E. COOPER.
7 "Secretary of Hawaii."
The President's response was as fol
lows:'. 4
White House, Washington; Jan. 2.
Henry E. Cooper, Secretary of Hawaii,
Honolulu, Hawaii: 7
"The President sends through you
to Governor Dole and the people of
Hawaii his hearty congratulations
upon, the opening of the cable. He be
lieves that it will tend to knit the
people of 7 Hawaii more closely than
ever to their fellow citizens of the
main land and-will be for the great ad- v
vantage of all our people.
(Signed) GEO. B. CORTELYOU,
"Secretary to the President."
To Fight Trust
Chattanooga, Tenn., SpecialWhole-
eale hardware dealers in this city have
recleived advices from the headquarters
of the;East Tennessee Hardware and
Implement Dealers' Association, to the
ceffct that a policy has been adopted
for! the dealers in the association to re
frain from signing the new contracts
presented . by the International Har
vester Company of America, otherwise
known as the trust A fight against the
allied concerns ha '- been " announce!
here by the local representatives of the
McCormick Company, ..who state that
they will transfer their allegiance to
another concern not in the trust.
j ' Seaboard Changes.
Norfoik, -Special. Vice President
and General Manager J. M. Barr, of
the Seaboard Air Line, refused to
confirm or deny the report that Major
F.j K. Huser, superintendent of the
secon d division, of the Seaboard,
would be named as general superin
tendent of that system; to succeed N.
D.jMaher, resigned. It is generally be
lieved, however, that : he will be ap
pointed. Major Huger and Mr. Barr
were together in conference for some
time.
, - Another Victim Dies. .
. . Hot Springs, Special. Joseph Kin
ney, the third victim of the turf ex
change explosion in mis city Christmas
eve, died from, his injuries. 'Almost
dally facts come to light of additional
injured, swelling ths list to more than
60.1 Two more victims are still In a
serious, con ditioiL R- C. Chambers, of
thej: Canadian racing circuit fame, is
considered to be out of danger.
V.