The News and Observer. VOL. XL VI. NO. 127. LEIOS ALL NORU CAROLINA HUES II IEIS All CIF&ULATION. METROPOLIS OF FLORIDA Cleanest City in the South ern States, COST OF ORANGE FREEZE MORE DESTRUCTIVE) OF PROP ERTY THAN ANY EARTH QUAKE THE WORLD HAS KNOWN » THE UNIQUE OSTRICH FARM It is a Fine Investment and is One of the Only Two Ostrich Farms in America Not in the Ostrich Trust. Jacksonville, Fla.. August 3.—(Edi torial Corespondenice.) —This is not a noted summer resort. People who visit Florida ordinarily come in the winter when its mild climate affords a delight ful change from the snow and ice of the North. Rut. though I was here when the thermometer registered 94, and it seemed hotter than at any other point, I found hy reading the state of the weather at other points that the ther mometer registered as follows in several cities: Jacksonville, 92; Raleigh, 92; Charlotte. 92; Cincinnati, 98; Kansas City, 94. Memphis. 94: New Orleans. 96; St. Louis, 96; and Vicksburg, 96. These were the points where* the thermometer registered' highest. 1 was greatly sur prised upon finding that Raleigh. Char lotte and Jacksonville registered the same, 92. In one point Jacksonville has the advantage of both Charlotte and Raleigh. While the maximum tempera ture was the same, the nvinirnuap temper ature in Jacksonville was 82. while it was 84 in Raleigh and 86 in Charlotte. One other advantage Jacksonville en joys is that it is on the noble St. John river, only fourteen miles from the At lantic ocean, and within thirty minutes hy rail of what Jacksonville people claim to be ‘‘tin* finest sea beach in the world.'’ It has nine miles of river front, and most of Ihe time enjoys a breeze: It is claimed in the advertising literature gotten up hy the hoard of trade that “Jacksonville’s mean temper ature Is seventy degrees, and is cooler in summer than Boston or Chicago.” However that may lx*, there is no doubt that the breezes from the St. John’s river moderates the heat, though its far southern situation renders its summers hot and long, and I do not believe the board of trade claims that it is a model summer resort. « Old as it is, Jacksonville is in every essential a modern city. Named for "Old Hickory” in 1822, it swears “By the Eternal” and grows younger and more energetic as it waxes strong and rejoic eth in its vitality. It has the creed ex pressed by one of its oldest and most influential citizens: “I am as young as when L came to Jacksonville as a young man.” * * * You will not find a cleaner city in the country outside of Washington city. Its cleanliness accounts for its healthful ness. the mortality averaging ten in a thousand. But its glory Is its superb system of water works and Its miles oL splendidly paved streets and sidewalks. The city owns its water supply, for which it owes .$206,060. The water weeks is supplied from artesian wells, flowing 5,000,000 gallons daily. The power house and offices are in the city, and are surrounded by a small park of tropical plants, making a very restful and lovely plaee. When first pumped up (the water comes from artesian wells 650 feet deep) there is a suggestion of sulphur in the water, but that soon passes away, leaving a pure a: ! 1 whole some supply, ample for all uses and for the fine tire department, the pride of the city. The water supply is owned by the city. I talked with some of the* leading citizens and all of them agreed that municipal ownership has proven more than satisfactory. ‘No city,” said one of them, “•light to Ik* dependent upon private corporations for its water supply any more than for its administra tion of justice. 1 have known few cities that deiKuvded upon a private company for ‘its water supply that did not have frequent disputes and much trouble. Mu nicipal ownership is the only correct thing.” I thought of this In connection with the controversy between the city fathers of Raleigh and the Raleigh Wafer Company. The people of Raleigh ought without much longer delay to avail themselves of their option ami have the city to own the wafer supply. * * * The streets of Jacksonville look as clean and bright, as a pin. In most places the paving has been done with vitrified brick, and they make a good ini press inn ami are said to give general satisfaction. A gentleman, who knows all about such things, ways the brick are laid on the sand and will last, seven years where the travefl is heavy. an ert them from digging potatoes in summer or trading with Yankees in the winter. At least, Florida has no parti sail politics. ’File Australian ballot law is in force here and it disfranchises most of the negroes and a few of the white folks. The result is that Republicans take no interest in politics, and compara tively few of tlie people take the trouble to vote. The Total vote of the Spite in a recent election was only 12,000. only a few less than were cast in Wake county. But the Democrats have polities till you can't rest a minute in the party prima ries. There is no fun and no coy test at the regular election, but enough to make up for it in the Democratic primaries. A nomination being equivalent to an election, there is a dug fight over the nominations, especially to the most im portant places, and there are not want ing well organized factions within the party, but the primaries are regulated by law and there is general acquiescence in the decree of the primary. A man rarely holts the .primary nomination. It lie does, he invites and receives political annihilation. The white people of Florida had a bitter dose of negro and carpet bag rule up to 1877. and they have not forgotten it. They are resolved to permit no appeal to tin* negro vote. Now and then an attempt is made in-some local election, hut the sentiment in favor of abiding by the white primary is too strong to permit any headway to be made. $ * * • The new Senator from Florida. Mr. Taiiferro. lives here. He has never be fore held office, though he has taken an active ino-rcsl in local politics. He had no public record except that he has been a public-spirited and successful business tnau who has been true to the Demo-' I (Continued on Second Page.) RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SUNDAY MORNING. AUGUST (i, 1899. AWQMAN MAKER OF PRESIDENTS An Interesting Chapter of History Recalled, DEATH OF MRS. SPRAGUE ROISCOEI CONK LI NO OBEYED HER NOD FROM THE GAL LERY. DAUGHTER OF SEC. SALMON P. CHASE Who Spent her Life in Trying to Place him in the White House. She Married Sprague for His In fluence. (Phil ad e 1 phi a Times.) Washington, July 21. Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague, wife of w former Governor of Rhode Island, ami tlx* daughter of tin* lnlfte Salmon P. Chase, Governor of Ohio, United States Senator and Chief Justice of the limited States Supreme Court, died at her hoim*- stead. Edge wood, in WaWliiugton’s su burbs, early this morning. She was 50 years old. For three months she had lieen suffer ing with a complication of liver and kid ney troubles, bult had consented' to medi cal treat in cut only ten days ago. She grew steadily worse and the end came a few minutes after 2 o’clock this morning. At the bedside were luer three daughters. Miss Kiltie Sprague, who lived with her mother; Miss Portia Sprague, of Narragaie>tt Pier, and Mrs. Donald,-ion, of Brooklyn, N. ’l ■ A FAMOUS WOMAN'S CAREER. Some one has staid that Kate Chase Sprague was the Mine, do Staid of America, but later years will have to furnish the perspective necessary to set a proper seal upon that likeness. Those thiit have known her in her day will always s|k;i k of her as a brilliant, am bitious. spirited and daring woman, in tense in her puriKisvs. indefatigable In her efforts. She had great personal beauty and a ready wit, an ability that enabled her to reign in the social world. She inherited much of the genius of her father, Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, which, com bined with an intimate and practical knowledge of governmental workings in the days of the war, gave her ti political jower such as probably no other wo man in this country has ever ]>osisessed. She was horn in Ohio in 1840, and was barely more than 20 when she went to Washington with her father, who was to take liis place in tin* Cabinet. Young ns she was, she bad seen service in public life. While her father was Gov ernor of Ohio'she haul' been liis confiden tial secretary, and by constant associa tion with him had taken on many of his manners and, habits of life and thought. He was- imperious and higli trmpered, ami l so Was she. His self esteem was one of liis greatest infirmi ties, and the daughter was net a step behind him. 1 >OM FSTI (’ 1N FE LICITY-. It whs 'the dream of her young life that she should some time .see her father President of the country, and. it is cer tain she subordinated many of her lift* plans to this one overpowering idea. Her beauty and her father's place in the Cabinet placed her in the front rank of society in Washington, and it was not long before illie whs using her pow er to attract the leading men of the cap ital to her. Those in public life vied tor her favor, and she accorded it In propior ti'on to their position and influence, Im mediate or prospective. For tlx* men that came to her in a marrying mood she bad no thought in those early days, and pastsed Them away with freezing imperiousness. They had no place In the plan of her campaign. The women of the capital she never heeded. She considered them as useless as the love-lorn men, and could not see how they Could ever help her to the realization of her dream. But the ene mies she then made wlere never lost to her, and surely counted against her hi the days that came. When she Was 24, however, there ap peared as a suitor for her hand, Gover nor William Sprague, of Rhode Island, He was a man of great wealth, had served with honor in the battles of the war, and there was that about him which made the young woman believe he might Ik* of great use to her. She mar ried Inn as a mere step forward in the furtherance of her ambition, and not wilt hi any thought of love, ns events wen* made to show. HER MARRIAGE A FAILURE? This marriage proved to la* the mis take of her life, and it was unit many years lw*fore she realized it. Her hus band, Governor then and Sennit or after ward, brought no addition to her power and helped her not at all in the cam paign in her father's flavor. But she was not Cast down to the point of for saking her plan, and when, after pas>- ing from the Cabinet, her father went into the Supreme Court, of the nation, then* to become its Chief Justice, she redoubled her efforts. She employed every method known to the science of polities to advance his cause. An enor mous fund was raised and a systematic corruption of the newspaper eormspou ih*nlts at Washington was attempted. The list prepared by this clever, auda cious woman, contained the names of men who should receive SIOO per week for advocating the nomination of the Chief Justice. She once boasted to the writer of this arti cle that she had the receipts of many men, whom she named, for money ac cepted in this service. In that list are the names of several ix-rsons who stand very high in wealth and political power today. But all the cumpaigining was for naught. All she could do wins id vain, and when, in 1872, her father died, with out her hopes having been realized in the slightest degree, she gave up and whatever power six* had ever had was at an. end. AMBITIOUS FOR HER FATHER. Her li in fried life had never lieen hap py. Her husband had established her in a palatial resadteaice at Canoneliet, R. 1., destined to be the scene of a great sensation in a later day. She was ex travagant in everything, and this led to a feud between her and the fnembers of h<*ersoii or per sons to emigrate to either of the islands mentioned unless they possess tlx* same hustling qualities which were found in tlx* early colonists of North America. The class of people who should come must possess the following qualifications: Nerve, manhood, determination, an inde pendent spirit. S2OO or S4OO. mid a good team. They must burn tlx* bridges be hind them and come here to stay, to make a home for themselves and their posterity. The man or men who will come here or go to either of the other islands, to sit on the seashore and sigh for the old plantation, had better remain where they are. There are millions of fertile acres in Cuba only waiting the brawn, sinew, intelligence, and enteV prise of tlx* colored |K*ople of tlx* States to turn this island, now uncultivated and poverty-stricken, by reason of the late war, into a field of plenty. Lands can be either leased or bought at reasonable prices and on reasonable terms. They are supplied with an abun dance of water and jvill produce almost any vegetable grown in the States. In addition to these, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, and sweet potatoes are grown in great abundance in Cuba. Corn and cotton are also produced here. Or anges. bananas, grapes, mangoes, lemons, limes, figs, and many other fruits are abundant. A thrifty and energetic far mer who gets a fair start in Cuba can treble liis money in one year. CUBANS ARE FRIENDLY. The kindly treatment accorded the dis tressed Cubans by tlx* Twenty-third Kansas. Eighth Illinois Volunteers, and Ninth United States Volunteer Infantry (colored) during their six months stay in tlx* province of Santiago has created a friendship between the American colored l>eople and the Cubans that will always make the former welcome visitors to tlx* island, despite the fact that there have lieen efforts on the part of some white men high in station to discourage it. I would be pleased to hear from one or two of the leading eolored men in each | of tlx* Seates who favor a partial emi- j gration of our people from the South, to the three islands referred to, to the end that we.may co-operate in an effort to induce tlx* Congress of tlx* United 1 States to make an appropriation of at least $20,000,000 for the purl wise ni‘l ing such eolored people who desire to em igrate to either Cuba, Porto Rico, or the Philippines. It must lie remembered that I am shaking only of such persons of the race as may desire to try a home in the islands above referred to as a solution of tlx* wrongs now inflicted nisni our race.i There can easily be spared from the | South 2.000.000 colored people. 2.000,000 j of wham should emigrate to Cuba, and j the remainder divided between the ofliei I two islands, or, if desirable, 1 mba has room, for them all. This would chum* I such a reduction of colored labor in tlx* South as to create a demand tor the re tention of tlx* remainder of that race in tlx* States, and it would forever set at rest the bugbear of negro domination, j as feared by Ulie Southern white. I hex, too, the news of tlx* success of the de parted 3,000,000 would ultimately result SECTION ONE —Pages 1 to 4. 'RICE FIVE CENTS. the emigration, of at least 70 per cent. _ the remaining portion of the colored people from tlx* South, and the negro problem would be solved as was the Israelitish problem ami the Protestant problem, wtiich latter resulted in the es tablishment of the early colonists in North America, from, which a goveru imiift has been founded that lias become the strongest among the family of v na tions. The intermingling of our race with that of the Cuban (both are similar) will in fuse new blood, new life, and awaken new enterprise in the pt*ople of this country tuat will make them one of tlx* strongest, most energetic, and fearless people in the world. The coming of our race to this island would! result in the foundation and establishment of one of the greatest settlements in the West Indies. Congress com Id well afford to appropriate the $20,(MX),000 for the pur pose, to save the name of our country from further shame and disgrace. . wuerica has given the Cubans $3,000,- 000. The colored American has done far more for our country than the Cubans could do in the next 500 years; yet we were turned out of bondage without a dollar, despite the fact that 200,000 of our race aided the North in saving the Union. We were loaded down with the ballot when each freeman should rath er have Iks* a given a hundred and sixty acre farm, a good team of mules, wa gons and farming utensils. This would have placed the colored man in a better position and made him able to maintain and appreciate the ballot in 1900, quite early enough to give him enfranchise ment. By 1900 the negro would own proper ty, banks, railroads, factories 1 , machine shops, packing plants and foundries, and e able to retain thereafter equal repre sentation in Congress. Having had the right and exercise of the ballot since the ..rs-t administration of General Grant, we are only able to appear at the end of thirty years with a people fairly educated, a great number of churches, a limited proportion of other property, and a single* member of the race (Mr. White, of North Carolina) to represent 10,