SONNET
FOR
THE
CITY;
This day into itheTfielda 'fav sfcet)
s are led.
cannot txeaJ ine there ! 'Kovr'atter row
T- I..- -T4 . fCTJ!. W 'it
iter
4"1 TT
low;-
They have noft brought 'from
: ?. f da.il v T(tn d
eaven my
But'they are like a prayer too often said.
fIhave forgot their meaning, and I go
a-iFrom the colt- rubric of their gold and
snow,
'And the calm ritual, all uncomforted. "
I want the faces! faces! remote and pale,
That surge along the city streets; the flood
t Of reckless ones, haggard and spent and
:Q frail, ..
Excited, hungry! In this other moqd
'"lis not the words of the faith for which
' Iail
But to plunge in the fountain of its living
blood.
-Anna Hempstead Branch, - in Atlantic
Monthly:' '
WOOING
II, Gertrude won't you help
me peel these peaches? It's
most train time and supper
isn'tanywherenear ready."
The voice caine With a
ttieafeiiMtfv susrsrestive clink of dishes
through the screen door to where Ger
trude Woodford stood under a large
elm.
"I think the train is in," she an-
swered. entering the cool, pleasant
house in answer to her mother's call.
"For the land's sakes!" Mrs. Wood
ford turned to her handmaid and gave
an order with some asperity. Keeping
summer boarders was really the one
excitement of her dull life, eagerly
looked forward to during the long win
ter months when her daughter pursued
her musical career in the city and she
lived alone on the rugged cape.
"Small this' year, aren't they ?" she
said, watching her daughter's pretty
bent head and referring to the fruit.
"Not more so than' usual," the girl
laughed.
"Well. I don't care," Mrs. Woodford
declared. "Mr. Garst says he never
tasted sweeter peaches, and as to Mr.
Clifford"
"Who's trifling with my august ap
pellation." called a gay voice as a
young fellow swung himself on to the
piazza. "Miss Woodford, I don't know
which I shall devour first, you or the
peaches, I am so ravenous."
"1 was just going to say that your
appetite is all right, anyhow," Mrs.
Woodford laughed. "Did your cousin
come down with you?" she added.
' "Yes, Garst got as far as the ham
mock and collapsed."
"Go and call him, Gertrude. Supper
if ready," her mother said.
The girl rose and went through the
hall. Inside the door she paused,
- looked -jwith darkening eyes at .he man
who'laj' at full length in the hammock.
The slight clash of the screen as she
stepped outside4 caused him, to turn. He
sprang up at once, and came toward
her,' showing a strong, clean-shaven
face and a figure singularly muscular.
in spite of the fact that Le walked with!
a slig.'-.t limp.
"It is heavenly, here after even a day
in town," he said. "I have just been
thinking that the most marvelous
changes in our lives come when we
least fexpect them. 1 wonder if you
know whut this summer has been to
me!''"
He was looking gravely into her eyes
and the color mounted to her temples.
, "Stephen, the fish is getting cold,"
his cousin called, impatiently, and Ger
trude went quickly into the house.
In compliance with a previous prom
ise to Jack Clifford she went with him
After supper to see the sunset from a
hill near by. When they were seated
on a bowlder, watching the vast sweep
of ocean nd crimsoning sky, she
"turned "suddenly to her companion.
"Why is Mr. Garst lame?" she asked
gently.
"Well, I suppose it won't do any
iharm to tell you," Jack hesitated,
'though we never speak of it when he
jjieaem. , ms leg was crusnea in a
railway accident, trying to save the
girl td wrom he was engaged."
"Did he save her?"
'Yes."
"Then why were they not married?"
vii, sue rnrew nun over for a man
twice his age and the trifling adjunct
of $3,000,000."
Gertrude Woodford drew her breath
sharply.
"She tried to stuff it down Stephen's
throat that she was sacrificing herself
vto save her father from financial ruin
and I think he believed her," Jack
went on. "Then she attempted a pla
tonic correspondence with him after
her marriage, but he would have none
of it. All the same, I don't believe he
has ever quite forgotten her. Anyway
ne coma not do so now, even if he
iwould."
"What do you mean?"
' 'For she is come, she" is here,' as
Jean Ingelow says in 'The Letter L.' "
"Here?"
"res; at the Ocean View. I saw her
on the piazza to-night as I came up
- trom tne tram. Handsomer than pvpi
by Jove! Tall wtfman. with bronze
hair."
"Bronzed, you mean. I saw her ar
rive this morning," Gertrude said
coldly.
"The old man very considerately
'shuffled off this mortal coil' two years
'ago, leaving her complete mistress of
his millions," Jack rambled on. "My
own opinion is that this alighting next
door to where Stephen .was staying, in
the subdued attractiveness of second
mourning, is the beginning of the end.
You should have seen him start when
he saw her o.i the hotel piazza to
night." .
Gertrude rose quickly.
"How cold it is up here," she said,
. with a shiver. "Let us get back to the
bouse..Ti . '
V;A group freni the summer hotels and
voltages was standing near Mrs. Wood-
jr.
n Mfmir!!
ft H I m
o
ford'pionse, watching the sunset when
they descended. Gertrude would hare
passed onTbut Jack (Clifford detained
her. :$Jnwilling &"s she was, she had to
submit to an irroduetion jto Mrs. Ar
mitage, Stephen GarsVs former fiancee.
The latter turned to her at once with a
scrutinizing look. The girl was too
pretty not to be dangerous.
"It is beautiful here in these late
summer weeks," she drawled.
"I think it beautiful at all times. The
cape is my home,"" Gertrude answered
quietly.
"Indeed! Then you are a native. I
should hardly have though it."
A faint joior rose under the girl's
skin at the supei-cilious ione.
"Miss Woodford's forefathers settled
here over' 2(0 years ago 5" Garst broke
in quietly. "I brieve her ancestors for
six generations back are buried in the
little cemetery, at Plum Cove. Not
many oi us can go as far back as that."
Mrs. Armitag" looked quickly from
Garst to the girl beyond hiin. But
Gertrude had left the group with her
head '. eld high. She wanted none or
Garst's vindication of her family. She
had almost roached the house when he
overtook her.
"One moment," he pleaded. "I want
so much to speak io you to-night."
"I am afraid I must ask you to ex
cuse me," she said, icily.
Had Garst known that the cold, di
rect look which she sent into his eyes
was really the outcome of burning
jealousy, he would not have turned
away with so heavy a heart.
Jack Clifford had hard work to per
suade her to accompany them on the
yachting party arranged for the next
morning.
"You forget that I am a 'native.' The
summer people might object," she said,
with a bitter little smile, and Garst
set his heel Jnt. the ground as he list
ened. When they reached the wharf Ger
trude turned to Jack Clifford.
"Old Captain Lufkin is sick and
can't go, the boy tells me," she said
quickly. "I think wo had better give
up the trip."
"Miss Woodford" Jack looked at her
with mock reproach "I am pained that
you should thus undervalue my yachts
manship. Nothing but patriotic feeling
prevented my offering my expert serv
ices to Sir Thomas for Shamrock III.
Step on board the Widgeon, ladies, and
fear nothing."
But fear entered Gertrude's heart
more than once when they had left the
little harbor and she noted the darken
ing horizon.
Mrs. Armitage was sitting near
Garst, beautiful in her soft white flan
nel yachting suit. After half an hour's
sailing Gertrude crossed to where Jack
Clifford sat at the helm, thus bringing
herself on Garst's other side.
"Do put back," she whispered to
Clifford. "We are going to have a
squall, and a bad one." '
After a critical glance at the skv
Jack put tLe boat's head aronihd. But
even as he did so a cold blast, which
was as the foreboding of coming ill.
shivered over them. Gertrude drew
her breath hard. She alone knew what
the wind would be when it struck
them.
Suddenly, as if she had received a
mortal blow, the Widgeon went over-
over until her mainsail lay almost level
on the water. With a horrible hururrv
suggestive hiss the sea rose over the
combings of the hatchway.
Too terrified to scream the women
held their breath, cling for dear life to
whatever they could hold on by. Mrs.
Armitage flung herself on Garst's
shoulder.
"Stephen! Save me!"
But in that moment when death
seemed upon them he was not even
aware of her presence. His arm went
around the girl at his side and drew
her close, his lips brushing her cheek,
while her damp hair blew against his
face. Gertrude scarcely cared wheth
er it was life or death.
Then she suddenly wrenched herself
free and flung her weight upon the til
ler, put it hard to port, for Jack's ama
teur skill seemed to have deserted him.
The Widgeon came round, shuddering!
into the wind, and lay like a frightened
thing with flapping sails while the
squall raced by;
"I think we owe our lives to vou,
Miss Woodford." One of the women
from the Ocean View approached Ger
trude when they were safely landed on
the wharf, but Garst drew j.er aside.
"Sweetheart!" His voice vibrated' as
he bent over her.
Mrs. Armitage turned to look after
them, lifting an end of- her bedraggled
flannel skirt.
"Well," she said slowly, "for nerve
give me a native!" M. Louise Cum
mins, in San Francisco i alU
Five Millions For a -Fence.
The Government of New South
Wales has spent over $4,000,000 for all
kinds of means to prevent the growth
of the rabbit plague, and it has now
been decided, to fence in the whole
country with an immense wire net. .
The expense for this wire net is es
timated ot exceed $5,000,000, and it
is thought that the wire required for
this purpose can be imported from
abroad at the cost of about $150 per
mile, delivered at Sydney.
The rabbit plague is increasing from
year to year, which is best shown by
the fact that such an enormous amount
as $5,000,000, or nearly ten per cent,
of the annual revenue of the country,
is to be spent for this purpose. St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.
Xarge Crops From Small Farm.
. On eight acres of land J. F. Daniels,
of Bristol, Vt., raised, the past season,
250 bushels of onions, 2200 bunches of
small onions, 13,000 cabbages, 900
cauliflowers, 100 bushels of cucumbers,
100 bushels of turnips, 100 bushels of
table beetSj 150 bushels of green peas,
200 bushels of potatoes, and three acres
of sweet corn.
A RIOT IN ALABAMA
-.-
Bad Blood Between the Whites
and Blacks the Cause
TURPENTINE CAMPf FUSILADED
Period of Muttering- Against Whites
Ends in Night Attack on Village
of Wilmer, and Though Shooting
was General on Both Sides, an Old
White Man Was Only Person
Wounded.
Mobile, Ala., Special Sheriff Pow
ers and four deputies left Sunday
morning for the scene of race troubles
at Kilmer, 26 miles west of Mobile, on
the Mobile, Jacksonville & Kansas
City Railroad, and returned at 7
o'clock at night with four negroes,
who are charged with being implicat
ed in the attack by the negroes on the
white residents of Kilmer. The shoot
ing was begun by Cole Daniels, a
negro ex-convict and at once became
general. The white men, who were
armed, participated. The negro mob
had followed F. E. Pringle, and a ne
gro, Sam McPaston, whom Pringle
had shot and was bringing to Wilmer
for surgical attention," a distance of
six miles. A J. Ellis, an old white
man, aged 60 years, emptied his revol
ver at the negroes, and just as he fired
the last shot a negro shot him from be
hind, a load of buelfshot taking effect
in his back and left shoulder, and
when the sheriff's posse left Wilmer,
Ellis was in a dying condition. One
of Ellises' bullets struck the nejrro
Cole Daniels in the head, but he made
his escape, though a citizens' posse is
lying in wait for him.
A determined attempt was made
early Sunday morning to lynch the
negro McPaston, but cooler councel
prevailed. When the sheriff reached
Wilmer some 200 white men were as
sembled there, gathered from sur
rounding country.
It is said that there has been muter
ings among the negroes in the turpen
tine camps against the whites for the
past eight months. Everything was
quiet when Sheriff Powers and his
deputies left the scene, though it is
possible that fresh trouble may break
out again. In that event, the whites
are better able to take care of them
selves. Big Mill Advances Wages.
Lawrence, Mass., Special. Notices
were posted in all departments of the
extensive Pacific Cotton Mills here an
nouncing that on Monday, March;-19,
an advance in wages will be given.
The Pacific Mills, among the largest
in the world, employ nearly 6,000
operatives. The rate of the proposed
increase is not stated in the notices.
The advance will be greater in some
departments than in others, but it is
expected that it will average nearly
10 per cent. When the new schedule
gones into effect,1 the number .of mill
operatives in Lawrence who have had
their pay raised this year will reach
17,000. v
Shooting in South Carolina.
Columbia, S. C, Special. John
Marion Ashley, a white farmer of
Honea Path was shot and probably
fatally wounded by Policeman White,
who was endeavoring to arrest Ash
ley. The wounded man's relatives
and friends soon gathered and threat
ened to do violence to the officer. Fear
ing serious trouble, Governor Ho
ward was notified and requested to
hurry troops to the scene. Accord
ingly the Ander company, under com
mand of Lieutenant P. K. McCully,
Jr., was despatched to Honea Path by
a special train.
Latest Georgia Homicide.
Millen, Ga., Special. A shooting
affray occurred Saturday afternoon at
3 o'clock at Searboro, seven miles be
low here, in which two men were kill
ed. John Burke and Eed Aycock, both
white, quarreled over a'mule and the
quarrel ended in a row, each killing
the other with a pistol. The men
were prominent in that section and
the tragedy is deplored.
News Items..
The filling of the Bishopric of Porto
Rico is expeeted to settle the question
as to which congregation at Rome has
supervision of that island.
The New York county grand jury
has asked for instruction as 'to what
it shall do relative to campaign con
tributions by the insurance companies.
The foreign agents of the Mutual
Life Insurance Company are in revolt
against the Peabody regime.
Charles M. Schwab left Los Angeles
Cal., in what is said to be a serious
condition of health. -
Governor Pennypacker, of Pennsyl
vania, vetoed the resolution providing
for an investigation of the 'coal rail
roads, on the ground that the special
session of the Legislature had not
been called for such a purpose.
"Judge" Andrew Hamilton, the
head of the legislative bureau main
tained by the Mutual Life Insurance
Company and other big 'corporations,
returned from Europe "to face the
music. '
CONGRESSIONAL UUmua
What is Being Done Day by Day By
.the National House and Senate.
To Mark Confederate Graves.
The House passed the army appro
priation bill, also the Foraker bill
providing for the marking of the
graves of Confederate dead, buried in
the North.
Dolliver Speaks for Rate Bill.
The discussion of the railroad rate
question in the Senate was continued
by Mr. Dolliver, w7ho spoke in sup
port of the Dolliver-Hepburn bill.
He said that the bill was intended
merely to supplement the existing inter-State
commerce law and contend
ed for its validity from a constitu
tional point of view, predicting; that
government ownership of the rail
roads would be forced upon the
country if Congress did not meet tbe
present demand for regulation..
Mr. Dolliver was not questioned
and when he concluded the remain
der of the day was devoted to the bill
providing for the settlement of the
affairs of the five civilized tribes of
Indians after the termination ' of
their tribal relations.
Mr. Dolliver in his speech said he
did not agree with either Mr. Fora
ker or Mr. Bacon that the secret prac
tices have been abandoned. He did
not believe the Elkins bill adequate
for protection against these practices.
"The difficulty about rebates is no.t
in punishing voilations of the law,"
he said, "but in discovering them
and we have undertaken to amend
the law so as to cover that defect."
Returning to the question of ap
peals, Mr. Dolliver said that the pow
er the commission would exercise in
preventing recourse to courts was
about as great as the power of "my
freinds who are tiptoeing about this
chamber talking of the "'day in
court.' "
By Unanimous Consent.
Legislation by unanimous consent
and under suspension of the rules oc
cupied the attention of the House
and resulted in the passage of several
bills, some of considerable import
ance. The adoption of a resolution
of inquiry as to whether any crimi
nal prosecutions have been begun
against individuals in the Northern
Securities Company furnished the
text for a speech of criticism by Mr.
Williams, the Democratic leader.
Brief answers were made by Mr. Jen
kins, of Wisconsin, and Mr. Grosver
enor, of Ohio. Mr. Jenkins said that
the statute of limitations had run
against - any action that might be
taken in this case and that any effort
at prosecution would be useless.
Tax Off Leaf Tobacco.
The House began its session by
passing without discussion or opposi
tion a bill for the relief of tobacco
growers by permitting them to sell
leaf tobacco without paying the tax
of 6 cents a pound heretofore charged
The balance of the day was devot
ed to tariff discussion, the Indian ap
propriation bill being the vehicle to
carry the debate. Preceding this Mr.
Sherman explained the provision of
the bill.
The tariff discussion was opened
Mr. Rucker, of Missouri, who brought
forth arguments designed to sustain
the Democratic idea of tariff for
revenue only, and he closed with the
prediction that these ideas would pro
vail, with W. J. Bryan as the stand
ard bearer.
In the Senate.
The question of the enlargement of
the Medical Department occupied the
major portion of the time of the
Senate. The question arose in con
nection with the consideration of a
bill for the displacement of con
tract surgeons by physicans who
shall be given the rank of army offi
cers and the re-organization of the
medical corps. Mr. Hale criticised
the bill as an entering wedge for a
general increase of the army and said
that it was a part of a general plan
of the general staff which he charged
with a general purpose of enhancing
Vhe army's importance.
In this connection Mr. Hale said
that the general staff had prepared
plans for the invasion of China by an
American army but he added that he
did not mean to go into the subject
"for with the Secretary of State sit
ting on the lid I do not believe we are
likely to have war. ' '
Oklahoma a State.
The Senate passed a bill for the ad
mission of a new State to be called
Oklahoma and to be composed of the
Territory of Oklahoma and Indian
Territory. It wasx the House
joint statehood bill with all the pro
visions relating to Arizona and New
Mexico stricken out. The motion to
strike out was made by Mr. Burrows
and it was carried by the close vote
of 37 to 35 after having been lost by
the still closer vote of 35 to 36.
The Crisis For the Statehood Bill.
When the Senate met at 11 o'clock
Friday morning in recess session from
Thursday, Mr. Beveridge, of Indiana
chairman of the committee on Terri
tories,, continued his earnest advocacy
of the joint Statehood bill. Notwith
standing the early hour of the meet
ing the public and private galleries
were crowded and' a large number of i
Senators were in their seats. Exactly
at noon, the general debate on the
measure closed and the legislative day
of Friday, was begun. tThe debate
was then continued under the ten
minute rule. The voting on the bill
wilp begin at 4 o'clock. It is expect
ed that Senator Foraker 's, amend
ment, providing for the submission of
the joint Statehood plan for New
Mexico and Arizona to the popular
vote of these two Territories, will Jbe
adopted by a majority of between
eiarht and twelve votes.
GennanjRadical Dead.
Berlin, By coble. Eugene Richter,
radical leader in the Reichstag since
its foundation, Bismark's old oppon
ent and a long time editor of The Fre
isinnige Zeitung, died at 4 o'clock
Saturday morning. Near the close of
1904 Reichter suddenly retired, from
The Freisinnige Zietung, which ho had
founded, and at the same time ceased
to appear at the Reichstag. He was
then in feeble health and threatened
with the loss of his eye-sight.,
' Editor Shoots Down Editor.
Shreveport, La., Special L. Stuc
key, editor of The People's Demands,
was shot and killed at Cofax, La., by
A. M. Goodwin, editor of The Hali
fax Chronicle. The cause of the trag
edy was the publication of an arti
cle by Stucky which, it is alleged, was
a reflection on the character of Good
win. The shooting occurred on the
depot platform. Goodwin fired three
shots, all of which took affect, killing
Stucky almost instantly.
PROMINENT PEOPLE.
kord Curzon's-writing was said to be
very bad at Oxford.
Senator Crane, of Massachusetts, is
an expert judge of paper.
Senator Frye is said to love to visit
some of his Maine friends.
The late Associate Justice Gray, of
the Supreme Court, was very eccentric.
The' King of Spain has ordered a
supply of Irish tweeds from Ballin
roDe. Guests now invited by the King to
Windsor Castle are iuvited for two
nights.
General Nogi, of Port 'Arthur fame,
is paying the penalty of popularity at
the hands of autogtaph seekers.
Prince Edward of Wales has a col
lection of seabirds' eggs from St. Kilda
which is said to be finest in the British
Empire.
Mr. Longworth is said to be engaged
in filling his eighth scrap book with
clippings about his marriage to Miss
Roosevelt.
The Khedive of Egypt is one of the
potentates who have profited, both
morally and financially, from the pro
tection of Britain.
Maine's spokesman in the Federal
Senate, Eugene Hale, with the general
consent of his party, is now the leader
of the Republican majority.
General Joseph. Wheeler, who died
recently in Brooklyn, was born at Au
gusta. Ga., September 10, 1836. and was
graduated at West Point in 1859.
The German Emperor, the King of
Italy, the youthful King of Spain, the
Queen of Holland, the King of Bavaria,
and the King of Saxony have never
taken the trouble to be crowned.
Justice Darling, an English judge,
suggested in the course of an auto
mobile case recently that the speed
indicators of autos might well be
marked: "Fine," "Imprisonment,"
"Manslaughter," ''Murder."
LABOR NEWS NOTES.
Longshoremen in Boston, Mass.,
threaten to strike.
The collieries throughout the an
thracite region have orders to operate
at full capacity until nev; April.
Over one hundred union men went
on strike on the new Hotel Dennis
contract, at Atlantic Cky, N. J.
The Queensland (Australia) trade
unions registered under the act had a
total membership of 5278 at the end f f
1904.
Glass factories in the Steubenville,
Ohio, district wove threatened with a
temporary shut down jeeause of a lack
of employes.
The weekly wage of move than half
of the male workers of sixteen years
and over in Hungary average from
$2.0S to 4.1 C.
, The Granite Manufacturers' Associa
tion, hy a majority vote, decided to
susnenil work in the 120 shops at
Quincy. Mass.
The United States Senate sustained
the action oO the House in abolishing
the National Eight Hour law on ihe
Panama Canal:
President Palma of Cuba has vetoed
a measure passed by Congress prohib
itin;: vhe importation of foreigners to
work in tr.e porls during strikes.
The :;reat increase in the cost of liv
ing and the rise in rents in Buenos
Ayres is causing great inconvenience
and discontent among the working
classes.'
The Philadelphia (Pa.; Central La
bor Union hr.s. decided tr take up the
fight of the international unions of
Engineers and Firemen against the
Philadelphia Lager Beer Brewers' As
sociation. Out of 178.059 members, of 1054
French trade unions which made re
turns to the French Labo: Department,
as to the state of employment, 18.536,
or 10.4 per cent.r- were out of work in
November.
Whisky Shipped in Barrel of Apples.
The United States customs officials
have made an important seizure at
Newport, at the office of an express
company. A barrel supposed to con
tain apples, consigned to parties In
Maryland from Quebec, was opened
and found to contain thirty-two quarts
of sealed Canadian whisky.- A layer
of apples covered the bottles. St. Al
bans Messenger.
MflWV lilt IN MINF
l?Iin I UlL in 1HIML
1,219 Lives Snuffed Out By a
Tcrriffic CxpSosion .
ALL FRANCE IN DEEP MOURNING
Terrible Explosion in Great Coal Pits
Near Belgian Frontier Floods the
Shafts and Gallieries With Poison
ous Vapors, While it Also Disables
the Cages and Ladders, Making
Only Limited Rescue Work Possible
Gas- Still Pouring Into One Pit.
Paris, Py Cable. A dispatch from
Lens timed 1:20 o'clock Sunday nnru
in says that the' number of entomb
ed men is now "riven as 3219 and thai
the crowd around the j'its totals
A mining' catastrophe. c'f incalclable .
horror and magnitude has stricken the
great coal center of Northern France.
An explosion of fire-damp at 7 o 'clock
Saturday morning- carried death and;
destruction throughout the net work ;
of coal mines centered at Courricros.
and fire followed the explosiou, mak
ing rescue difficult, and almost im
possible. The intense excitement: and
confusion in the vicinity prevented
early estimates of tlie exact loss of.
life, but a dispatch received here at
4:30 p. m., gave 1,404 miners entomb
ed and probably lost. At S:45 o'clock
in the evening a brief dispatch from
Lille announced the total of .!.'
dead. "
SHOCK TO ALL FRANCE.
All France has . been profoninlly
shoeked by the magnitude of the dis
aster, which is said to be the greatest
in the history "of continental mining.
President Fallieres sent his secre
tary, accompanied by Minister of Pub
lic Works Clautier and Minister of the
Interior Dublier, on a special train to
the scene of the disaster.
' . . . . '
The ministerial crisis was tempo ro-
rarily forgotten. Senators and Depu
ties joining in the universal manifes
tations o sorrow.
SCENE OF THE CATASTROPE
The scene of the eastrophe is the
mountainous mining region near Lens,
in the department of Pas-de-Calias.
Here are huddled small hamlets of the
; i i i ii
mine worKers, wno' operate ine most
productive coal mines in France. The
subterranean chambers from a series
of tunnels. Six of the outlets are near
Lens, and others are at Courrieres,
Vardun, and many other points. The
output of these mines is' particularly
combustible and is largely used in the
manufacture of gas and in smelting.
About 2,000 miners work in the group
of mines and, wTith their families,
make a population of from 6,000 to
8,000 eouls.
The catastrophe took place shortly
after 1,798 men had descended into
the mine. There was a deafening- ex
plosion, which was followed by the
cages and mining,, apparatuc being
hurled from the mouth of the Courri
eres Mine. Men and bourses near by
outside the mine were either stunned
or killed. The roof of the mine office
was torn off.
Immideiately following the explo
sion flames burst from the mouth of
the pit, driving back those without
who sought to enter and dooming
those wUiin.
Wants Town Topics Excluded From
, Mails.
Washington, Special. Represent a
tive Bourke Cockran, of Now York, in
troduced a resolution requiring the
Postmaster .General'' to fxeport to .the.
House whether Town Topics is, admit
ted to the mails and whether the gov
ernment assists the publication in ' i it s
said occupation of extorting money
bv blackmail.'
Jamestown Exposition Commissioner,
Spartanburg, S. C, Special. Gover
nor D. C. Heyward has named Super
intendent Frank Evans, of this city
schools, as a member of the State
commission of -the Jamestown Expo
sition, to succeed J. Wright Nash, who
declined the place because he felt that
he was not adapted to the work. The
appointment of Prof. Evans will meet
with general approval, for he is emin
ently qualified for the task. He was
largely instrumental in getting up the
Spartanburg county exhibit at the
Charleston Exposition, which won the
first prize of $1,000.
Coast Line Increases Stock.
Richmond, Va., Special. The stock
holders of the Atlantic Coast Line
held a meeting and passed a resolution
prepared by the board of directors
authorizing the increase of the stock
of the company from $50,000,000 to
$60,000,00fJ. A number of prominent
financiers from New York, Baltimore
and Wilmington, N. C., "were present.
The meeting lasted not quite 15 min
utes. .