THE CHATHAM RECORD H. A. LONDON, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR ' Terms of Subscription $1.50 Per Year Strictly in Advance THE CHATHAM REGOftD Rates of Advertising One Squire, one insertion $1.00 One Square, two insertions $UjQ One Square, one month $2Q For Larger Advertisements Liberal Contracts Witt bo made. VOL. xxxiv. PITTSBORO, CHATHAM COUNTY, N. C, FEBRUARY 21, 1912. NO. 28. BRIEF NEWS NOTES FOR THE BUSY MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK TOLD IN CONDENSED FORM. WORLD'S NEWS EPITOMIZED Complete Review of Happenings of Greatest Interest From AH Parts of World. Southern. Patriotism was the keynote struck by the Southeastern Division of the Ad Men's Club of America at its ses sion in Atlanta. About two hundred men, interested in publicity, from the Rio Grande to the Atlantic coast, as sembled for the meeting. They did not talk about themselves. They talked about what they had done, might do and would do for their par ticular city and section and gave their fellows the benefit of their advice. Thomas E. Basham of Louisville, Ky., declared that every city in the South should appropriate a' fund , for : adver tising itself and its ' resources. He held that every city in the South is worthy of advertising. Throughout the entire program the note re sounded. . That he murdered Gov. William Goebel of Kentucky, in cold blood, at Frankfort ,in January, 1900, was the dying declaration of James Gilbert, ex-feudist of Breathitt county, Ken tucky, who was fatally wounded in a pistol fight with a bartender, at Hel ena, Ark. The name of James Gil bert did not appear in the proceed ings of the (joebel trial and persons who, were in close touch with the Frank tragedy were not impressed with the Gilbert confession. Mann Hamilton, a negro, identified by Mrs. John Bell as the man who attacked her at her home near Stark ville, Miss., and after clubbing her about the head with an iron bar, threw her into a well, was hanged by a mob near Starkville. Mrs. Bell is probably fatally wounded. She was found in the well, which con tained only several feet of water, by her 10-year-old son when he return ed from school. Posses were imme diately organized .and Hamilton was captured. Shorn of its "injunction feature," and delayed in taking effect, the Erickmann-Osborne-Carlisle anti-rac-bill law was accepted by the house of representatives of the-South Carolina legislature, and was. ordered enrolled as an act, the senate having passed it in amended form. The bill now goes to the governor for approval. The fight on the racing bill eliminat ed the provision making violation of the law a common nuisance abatable by injunction proceedings.- The Rock Hill plan of cotton re duction was indorsed by the South ern Merchants' convention at their meeting in Atlanta. The convention deemed it unwise to encourage the production of a large crop in 1912, because another bumper crop would certainly sell for a very low price, which, in turn, would cause general and serious demoralization in busi ness. Another 16,000,000-bale crop of cotton will bankrupt half the farm ers in the state and and hundreds of merchants, said a speaker. General. Twenty-five thousand dollars in cur rency was stolen from a taxicab in the heart of the New York business district by progressive highwaymen, who sprang into the vehicle and over powered W. F. Smith and Frank War dell, messengers of the East River National bank at 680 Broadway. Both messengers were badly injured and the robbers escaped with the money, $15,000 in five dollar bills and $10,000 in one hundred dollar bills. The United States government ar rested in cities from New York to Savannah to Denver at least forty one, almost all of the fifty-four men indicted in the dynamite conspiracy cases. It took into custody within a few hours practically the entire offi cial staff of the International Asso ciation of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, including the chief officers, the members of the executive board and about twenty business agents and former business agents. These in cluded Frank M. Ryan, the president; John T. Butler of Buffalo, N. Y., the first vice president, and Herbert S. Hookin, the second vice president, and successor to J. J. McNamara as secretary-treasurer. For the first time in twenty-seven years Seneca Lake near Elmira, N. Y., is frozen over completely, the last gap of open water having been closed People along the lake are feeding the wild ducks. Andrew Carnegie is confined to his home in New York City with a severe cold. Chicago Methodist preachers decid ed to appeal to President Taft to im prove alleged vice conditions at Washington, D. C, after hearing an address by Dr. Wilbur F. Crafts. Doc tor Crafts said conditions in Wash ington were a disgrace to the nation. Dr. Peter Spahn, leader of the Clerical-Center party, who was elected president of the German reichstag, gave notice that he would resign be cause he refuses to be associated with a Socialist vice president. A verdict of acquittal was returned !n the cases of railroad contractors ried for peonage at London, Ky. MAN "Edward B. Alsop, 75 years old, a wealthy retired Pittsburg steel man ufacturer, and Miss Effie Pope Hill, 19 years old, of Washington, Ga., were married in Trinity church, New York City, with the bridegroom's two grown sons, Haiold and Edward Al sop, students at Harvard, as witness es. The wedding was originally to have been on March 13, but the young bride herself decided to hasten the ceremony. Mr. Alsop met Miss Hill in Washington, D. C, about two years ago. The Chinese national assembly unanimously elected Yuan Shi Kai president of the republic and then de cided that the provsiion capital shall be Nanking. Dr. Sun Yat Sen's res ignation of the presidency of the Chi nese republic was accepted by the national assembly on condition that both he and the present cabinet hold office until tho new president and cabinet take over their duties. The national assembly afterwards passed a resolution paying great tribute to Doctor Sun. The fundamental cause of the tex til strike at Lawrence, Mass., is the high cost of living, in the opinion of Governor Foss. in a letter to Rep resentative Oscar W. Underwood, the Democratic leader of the Federal house of representatives, Governor, Foss urges the immediate removal of the duties from foodstuffs and 'other; necessaries1 of. life The letter . says, in. part: "Back of whatever local causes there may be for this strike, the fundamental cause is the high cost of living." Promising the new state a "golden rule" administration, George W. P. Hunt was inaugurated as governor of Arizona, accompanfed by a num ber of newly elected state officials and a few close friends, Governor Hunt, who began life in Arizona 25 years ago as a waiter In a small min ing camp restaurant, walked to the capitol, about a mile from the cen ter of that city, where the ceremonies took place. Governor Hunt is a Mis sourian, and 50 years old. Reduction of boll weevils in the cotton belt during 1911 undoubtedly had an important bearing on the pro duction of the record cotton crop, in the opinion of W. D. -Hunter 'of the bureau of entomology. In a report on the movement of the Mexican cot ton boll weevil, . Mr. Hunter says : "During 1911 the boll weevil was greatly reduced in numbers through out its entire range. This resulted from a combination of climatic influ. ences extending over a period of three years. Franklin MacVeagh, secretary of the treasury, firing an administration pre-convention campaign gun at Lan sing, Mich., at the annual diner of the Zach Chandler Republican club, where, he was the guest of honor, came eout flatly with the expressed belief that Col. Theodore Roosevelt "would not and with his make-up, ould not run against Taft," for the Republican presidential nomination this year. Secretary MacVeagh con fined his confidence to the present contest. Washington. Adj Gen. Fred C. Ainsworth, who was relieved of his office on charges assumed to be those of conduct prej udicial to good order and discipline, was placed on the retired list on his own application. This precludes the possibility of a courtmartial. Presi dent Taft approved General Ains worth's application because of the of ficer's thirty-seven years of service. ' "Foolish stories" about American intervention, circulated in Mexico, through erorneous press dispatches, have aroused so much feeling throughout the troubled southern re public and so endangered the safety of American residents there, that the state department issued a circular to its diplomatic and consular repre lar representatives in Mexico, deny ing all such stories and reiterating expressions of good will and sincer: est friendship for Mexico. Comptroller of the Currency Mur ray announced that he would strict ly enforce the law which holds di rectors of national banks liable for losses sustained through loans in ex cess of legal amounts. He instruct ed national bank examiners, when such losses are discovered in future, to request the board of directors of the institution affected to pass a res olution setting for the names of the directors responsible for the excess loan. Publication of the names and ad dresses of the 900,000 pensioners now on the Federal pension rolls, feeding on the bounty of the government, is provided for in a bill offered by Sen ator Bryan of Florida, and adopted by the senate pension committee as an amendment to the Smoot substitute for the dollar-a-day pension bill. A howl of protest will now go up from a large group of these pensioners. For years the demand that the list should be made public has been met with the most subborn opposition. Alleged political influence of Maj. Beecher B. Ray, the army paymaster, who is dcelared to have enjoyed fre quent changes of station and immun ity from various troubles because of the influence of President Taft, was again a subject of investigation be fore the house. Paymaster General Whipple testified that Major Ray has established a record in the service for frequent changes in 'station. In thir teen years he had been successively tationed at 18 points; whereas, he average assignment of a paymas ar at any station is between three nd four years. TO ARGUE THE RATES AGAIN MR. BICKETT HAS GONE TO WASHINGTON TO APPEAR FOR NORTH CAROLINA. IS THE OLD MATTER AGAIN State Wins Freight Rate Case Before Commissioners It is a Matter That Especially Concerns Merchants of Winston and Durham. Raleigh. Attorney-General Thomas W. Bickett left for Washington where he appears before the Interstate Commerce Commission upon the cele brated freight rate reduction cases begun years ago against the Norfolk and Western . particularly, the .road, that enters the state and affects the merchants' of this state. Since, that warfare' began, there has been registered' a substantial "re duction, on ..a ton 6i "coal, though it is only ten cents. .-t.WinstonrSalem merchants and Durham men began the fight several years ago and had a hearing before the Interstate Com merce Commission. That body also went against the road and it ap pealed to the higher courts. It comes .back, to the Commerce Com mission again, the former action of the Norfolk and Western having been for annulment of the order of the commissions. Mr. Bickett will represent North Carolina in this case. He was not attorney general when the case was started, but has since come into it and is making a great fight for the state and its dealers. The warfare ag'.inst the rate is made upon a car riage from Cincinnati to Lynchburg and then to Durham in the one in stance, and from Cincinnati to Roa noke, then to Winston-Salem in the other. The injustice of the whole thing has been shown to be the grossest. North Carolina New Enterprises. The following charters were issued by the secretary of state: Theo. Buerbaum & Co., of Salisbury; gen eral merchandise; authoried capital, $50,000, with ,$10,000 paid in by R D. Eames, Theo. Buerbaum and M. D. Buerbaum. Standard Insurance Co., of Charlotte; to carry on the business of insuring against loss by fire, etc.; authoried capital, $100,000, with $50, 000 paid in by George Stephens, W. H. Wood, Harvey Lambeth, P. C. Whitlock, A. P. Feltz, T. C. Guthrie, C. O. Kuester, Ernest Ellison, John W. Todd, J. E. Davis, E. V. Patter son and A. Jones Yorke. People's capital, $10,000, with $9,000 paid in. A Fatal Wreck Was Averted. A probably serious, if not fatal, wreck was averted on the Glenwood trestle of the Norfolk Southern rail road when the train from Norfolk collided with a switch engine stand ing on the main track. As a result of this mishap many passengers were severely jolted and bruised, while the conductor, Captain P. E. Furr, suffer ed a wrenched neck. Mrs. Furr and little child were also more or less bruised, the extent of which is not known. Judge Whedbee was one of the passengers and he was badly shaken up and received several small cuts. Serious Burns Prove Fatal. Following the fatal burns sustain ed a few days ago, Margaret, the 2-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ru fus Dorsett, died at their home on Rowan Avenue, in Spencer. It was found that the child had inhaled the flames, which burned its clothing off while playing In front of an open fire. The neck, chest and limbs were burn ed to a" crisp to say nothing of inter nal burns. A severe shock also fol lowed the accident. Murderer Gets Twelve Years. At Carthage, Clyde McDonald, col ored, was sentenced to 12 years in the penitentiary for killing Sinclair, a negro, at'Keyser last December. Sues Street Car Company. Damages in the sum of $20,000 are asked from the Charlotte Electric Railway Company by Mrs. Annie Mc Clure, who says she sustained serious injuries November 5, 1910, when the motorman started the car which she had boarded in Seversville, before she had taken her seat. She fell in the aisle, sustaining' bruises on an arm and leg. No bones were broken. She contends that she has been per manently injured, and has suffered great mental and physical anguish to the extent of $20,000. A Bottle of Whiskey Explodes. A near-serious explosion occurred in Spencer and a well-known young man had a narrow escape from being burned to death, a bottle of whiskey exploded in his pocket, while seated near an open fire, causing his cloth ing to ignite. All was serene until the whiskey became heated by the fire. The explosion caused consterna tion in the home for a short time and it required heroic efforts on the part of several friends to put out the flames before the clothing was burn ed from the body of the young man. FARM DEMONSTRATION WORK A Number of Government Experts Talk to the Farmers of Wilson County About Farm Work. Wilson. Quite a number of intelli gent farmers met in the mayor's court room to hear Messrs. C. R. Hudson, C. B. Williams and Prof. I. O. Schaub, who are in the employ of the govern ment, discuss farming. The meeting was presided over .by Mr. Offie Parker, who was recently placed in charge of the farmers' co operative work of Wilson county un der the plait; between the county and the ,Unitedi States governments whereby the expense of carrying on the work is shared.' . About fifty plats of ground in dif ferent sections will be put in culti vation and Mr. Parker will visit them often to see that the instruc tions as to cultivation are faithfully carried out. The day was given over to discus sion of raising of corn, the necessity of preparing a good seed bed, deep breaking of the land, etc. ' Mr. Williams discussed seed selec tion and seed cultivation, and the ne cessity for improving .the'- seed on the farms. Mr. Schaub, in charge of the boys' corn growing contests explained that work, and also the "tomato clubs" for the girls, who contemplate putting up canned Foods for the fam ily. Mr. Hudson gave a history of the work in the South for the past eight years and the good that it has accomplished. He talked of soil im provement, good seed and better methods in agriculture, rotation of crops, etc. He says -that the Agri cultural Department of the United States is spending annually $25,000 in this state and that North Carolina is spending at least $3,000 annually to advance farmers' co-operative work. The Governor Pardons Two. Charles Houston of -Mecklenburg county received from Governor Kitch in a commutation of v sentence so that his service of 4 years sentence from November 1910 for manslaughter ter minated, this being on the reommen dation of the solicitor and the attor ney for the prosecution. A pardon is granted by Governor Kitchin for Charles Warren, who has been serv ing since August, 1910, on a 5-year sentence for attempted criminal as sault. This action is taken on rec ommendation of the solicitor, judge, attorney for the prosecution and a large number of people, who, have be come convinced, especially by reason of developments as to the character of the prosecutrix, that Warren was not guilty of criminal assault. Political Situation Warming Up. The Mecklenburg county political situation continues to warm up and talk of different candidates for spe cific offices increases. The names of Messrs. E. R. Preston, W. C. Max well and Plummer Stewart wer men tioned, here and there, as suitable men for the state senate in the event that Mr. H. N. Pharr, the incumbent, does not again make the race. The name of Mr. F. R. McNinch has al ready been placed before the public and while Mr. McNinch has not ex pressed himself on the subject it is believed that he will become a candi date if assured of support. Another Railroad Is Planned. It is learned on good authority that there is a possibility of a railroad be ing built from Littleton in the north ern end of Halifax county to Hamil ton, Marion county, touching Brink leyville, Enfield, Scotland Neck, Pal myra. In conversation with Mr. A. Paul Kitchin, this writer was told that a gentleman was at Scotland Neck looking into the advisability of such a road. He told Mr. Kitchin that while he did not represent any of the big railroad systems, yet there was plenty of private promoters hav ing built several short lines in Vir ginia last year. Company In Shape To Mobilize. Pursuant to . general orders from the War Department Captain Sidney Chambers of the Durham military company, has his company in shape to mobilize at Fort Glenn, and thence to the Mexican, frontier, should the War Department find this necessary. Goes Forward Agriculturally. Speakers from the national and state departments of agriculture will be in Forsyth county within the next two weeks and a decided interest is evinced in the interesting programs prepared for the meetings. This sec tion has always been noted for its corn crops, but in recent years, along with the advent of scientific study of soil and general farming topics, For syth has leaped forward greatly. North Carolina farmers have never developed their corn fields to the fullest extent, generally speaking. Little Girl Burned To Death. The 3-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John James, a prominent farm er of Durham county, was burned to death several , days ago at the home near Greers mill. The little girl was playing in the fire with strips of pa per and her dress became ignited. Her four-year-old brother, with extra ordinary presence of mind for one so young, dashed a bucket of water over her. In spite of hi sbrave e' forts to extinguish the flames, tLc burns were so severe that death re suited a few hours afterwards. SAVE OUR FORESTS NORTH CAROLINA FORESTRY AS SOCIATION TO SOON MEET IN RALEIGH. THE PROGRAMME IN PART Meeting is to Be Xn Important Onr and There Will Be Addresses Made By Men Thoroughly Informed on Forest Protection. Raleigh. The ' North Carolina For estry Association is to hold its sec ond annual convention in Raleigh in a few days, the meetings to be prob ably held in the rooms of the Ral eigh Chamber of Commerce. Many prominent men have been invited to address the meeting on the various phases of forestry t this' promising a most interesting and instructive ses sion. . ; - , The following is the program in part": Opening' Prayer Rev. Charles E. Maddry. Address of Welcome Gov. W. W. Kitchin. Response. . Address of the President Dr. D H. Hill. Reports of Secretary and Treas urer. Appointment of Committees. Co-operative Fire Protection for North Carolina Mr.' J. G. Peters, U. S. Forest Service. Enforcing the Present Forest Fire Laws: Hon. J. R. Young, Insurance Commissioner. The Railroad's Part in Fire Pre vention Col. W. W. Finley, Presi dent Southern Railway. What Improvements in the Forest Fire Laws Would be Advisable? At torney General T. W. Bickett. The Value of Local Forestry Asso ciations Mr. M. V. Richards, Land and Industrial Agent, Southern Rail way. The Southern Pine Beetle and Its Control Dr. A. D. Hopkins, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. Fire Protection in the Sand Hills Mr. Leonard Tufts, Pinehurst, N. C. The State Charters New Railroad. Raleigh. The Yadkin River Rail road Company, with principal office at North Wilkesboro and with $225, 000 capital, was chartered for the construction of 45 miles of railroad from Boone in Watauga county to North Wilkesboro .in Wilkes county. The directors named in the charter for the first year are: C. H. Cowles, Wilkesboro; W. J. and G. M. Gandin, of Pennsylvania; J. T. Henderson and H. C. London, of Lenoir, and T. B. Finley, of North Wilkesboro. The road will traverse Watauga and Wilkes counties, opening up a rich erritory. Will Be Candidate For Reelection. Hamlet. The term of office ot Postmaster E. C. Terry, of this place expires the first of this month, and as usual with office holders he is a candidate for re-appointment. He is opposed by Loreno Medlin, an attor ney of Hamlet, and there are several either recpetive candidates. Mr. Med lin has quite a. long list of signers to his application for the appointment and Mr. Terry also has many friends. Mr. Terry has had the office for twelve years and feels that now the office has gotten into a class that will pay a good income that he should have a reappointment. Urged To Diversify Crops. Raleigh. Mr. J. A. Brown, of Co lumbus county, spent a day here, con ferring with the officers of the Ral eigh Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants' Association, having these bodies adopt resolutions urging farm ers of this section and throughout, the state to diversify crops next season to a far greater degree than ever before and reduce cotton production. Both organizations will do this at once putting their stamp of approval on what has come to be known as the Rock Hill plan for reducing the cot ton acreage and bringing up the. acre age of other crops cultivated. Held On Two Serious Charges. Durham. Luther Williams, a whiti .employe of the Durham hosiery mills, was sent to jail without bail by Re corder Graham on the dual charge of burglary and criminal assault, the penalty for either of which is1 death in the electric chair Williams broke into the home of A. S. Tyndall, a night watchman of the hosiery mills, on the night - of February 3 and as saulted the 13-year-old daughter of the night watchman. Williams has a wife and several small children and lived next door to Mr. . Tyndall. Laymen's Convention Has Closed. Winston-Salem. The laymen's mis sionary convention which was held at Winston-Salem came fo a close with addresses by the Rev. J. O. Re vis, of Columbia, S. C, and J. Camp bell White, of New York. Meetings for both men and women were held in the afternoon. At the. morning session addresses, were made by Dr. Paul Des Chweinitz, Bethlehem, Pa., on how to make missions interesting to men, W. E. Dougherty, of New York, on features of the educational policy of the laymen's movement. LAND 0E THE LONG LEAF PINE A Column of Short Paragraphs That . Were Collected With Very Much Care by the Editor. Murphy. Deputy Collector R. F Henry and Deputy Marshal T. V. Shope destroyed two large illicit dis tilleries on Beaver Dam creek. The stills were running. The men made their escape. Raleigh. State ' Superintendent J. Y. Joyner left for Salisbury, where he met with the district superintend ents of public instruction and the city superintendents. They discussed mat ters largely among themselves. Reidsville. The local tobacco mar ket had another good week. Total sales were 217,139 pounds, bringing $28,499.88, or an average of $13.12. Prices are firm on all grades and sellers are highly pleased with re turns. Linville Falls. The famous Grass lands farm, up the river four miles from Linville Falls, has been sold and will be divided up. This beautiful place, one of the show places of the mountains, has had a rather tragic history. Lenoir. Many new buildings are being erected in Lenoir at the present time and many more have recently been completed. Eusiness conditions are looking upward in almost every line and the prospect for a busy year is evident on every hand. Winston-Salem. Fire completely gutted the fine two-story stone and brick department store of Rosen bacher & Bro., with a loss probably exceeding $50,000. Firemen fought valiantly and prevented a spread of the flames to adjoining buildings. The origin of .the blaze is not known. Greensboro. E. W. Tilley, a white man of Surry county, under sentence of 30 years for the murder of A. Jolly, was brought here by Sheriff Haynes of Surry and carried to Raleigh to begin the service of his long term. Tilley is a man of splendid physique and apparently will make a good man for the state. Newbern. With the ground cover ed with snow and the temperature only two' degrees above zero, New bern was visited by two fires. The water pressure was extremely low, as is usual in this city during cold weather and the firemen were handi capped in fighting the flames. The loss is estimated at $5,000. Kinston. News was received In Kinston of the death of Mr. Bryant Parker of Jones county. While driv ing along the Trenton road Mr. Hen ry Gray of Jones county discovered the body of a man covered in snow by the roadside. After digging away the snow he discovered the body to be that of Mr. Bryant Parker, frozen stiff and lifeless. Gastonia. As successor to. the late George A. Gray, Mr. L. L. Jenkins, of Asheville, a large stockholder, was elected president of the Gray mill Mr. Thomas L. Craig was elected vice-president, and Mr. J. H. Separk and J. L. Gray the latter a son of the deceased were re-elected secretary-treasurer and superintendent re spectively. Winston-Salem. The friendly suit of the city of Winston vs. the Wa chovia Bank and Trust Company, wherein the" plaintiff was suing to compel the defendant to comply with the contract to take $160,000 of the city bonds recently voted, was decid ed in favor of .the city after it had been argued before Judge Frank A. Daniels in the superior court. Salisbury. Jim Bradshaw, colored, was convicted of manslaughter, in Rowan superior court and sentenced to 12 months on the county roads. Bradshaw shot and killed Mollie Hyde at a colored festival in west ern Rowan several weeks ago, the de fendant's gun, which he had secured for an assault on another, was dis charged in a scuffle, killing the wo man. " Raleigh. Commissions were issued for the officers of Troop A, North Car olina National Guard, the cavalry company just organized at Lincoln ton, for which the War Department is to furnish the equipment', other than. horses, at a cost of about $6,000.. The officers are: W. A. Fair, captain; J. O. Shuford, first, and R. S. Rhine hardt, Jr., second lieutenant. The equipment is expected to arrive about April 1. - Raleigh. New uses are being con stantly found for Raleigh's big Audi torium, and it is proving its right to be regarded as perhaps Raleigh's greatest feature for publicity, and its greatest paying asset. The latest call is for the use of the Auditorium as a banquet hall. High Point The Hill brothers, whose trial for the shooting- of their father on the 3rd inst., came off in the recorder's court, were bound over to superior court under a bond of $2,000 each. In default of meeting their bond, they were taken to Greensboro jail by the local police. Raleigh. Detective Harvey Byrd, who was so seriously shot by acci dent in December, was here on his return from the Eastern section of the state where he has just finished a raid that resulted in catching eigh teen tigers. Raleigh. Comrade Bryan Muck, of Pitt county, died at the Soldiers' Home, where he has been for the past five years. He was 71 years old and was a member of the Fourth Regi ment North Carolina troops and lost an arm in that service. He also served one while in the Third Regi ment of the cavalry. OFFERS AN INSULT TO THIS COUNTRY SrtAVE SITUATION PRECIPITATED . IN BY ACTION OF COLOMBIAN MINISTER. MAKES PROFOUND SENSATION Smarting Under the Panama Canal Zone Differences thu South Ameri can Republic's Representative Takes a Rash Step Toward United States. Washington. A grave diplomatic lituation between the United States and Colombia has been precipitated by the publication of a letter which Senor Pedro Nel Ospina, the Colom bian Minister, has written to Acting Secretary Huntington Wilson of the State Department suggesting 'that it might be "inopportune" for Secretary Knox to visit Colombia during his projected tour of Central America. The Colombian minister, first draw ing attention to the fact that the views are his own. and, not officially those of his government, seriously criticises the United States for not submitting to arbitration the differ ences with Colombia growing out of this government's acquisition of the Panama canal zone. Inasmuch as the letter, admittedly, is the personal expression of the min ister, written without having com municated with his government, it was received at the State Depart ment in the nature of a personal in sult to this government. No action has been taken and no official would comment on It for the present, but the incident is known to have stirred officials of the United States to such an extent that the re call of the Colombian minister is ex pected as a matter of course. At pres ent, however, the United States is dis posed to wait until Senor Ospina re ceives the instructions he has asked for. Are Hiding the Real Situation. Mexico City. Emilio Vasquez Go mez, declared that he would accept the provisional presidency in case the rebels succeeded in forcing President Madero from the national palace. This declaration has gone far toward convincing unofficial residents of the capital that a general rebellion is in progress. Mexican officials, however, continue to characterize as local dis orders every insurrection in the country. Although rebels now are operating in eighteen states the De partment of Interior countiues to give out news denying trouble in a great part of these. Lubricating Oils Prey to Flames. Philadelphia. Half a million gallons of lubricating oils were destroyed by flames which raged for more than tewlve hours in the works of the At lantic Refining Company at Point Breeze in the southern section of this city. When the flames finally died out for lack of further fuel, the still house, receiving works and pump house, together with numerous build ings and large tanks, had been de stroyed. Loss about $80,000. Situation in Manchuria Acute. Nanking! The situation in Man thuria has become much more acute 3ince Kang Yu West, leader of the reform movement in 1898 and grand head of the Empire Reform Associa tion, has thrown his lot with the new regime. The latter, according to a dispatch from Tien Teih, ' refuses to give up his office. The ' Manchuria Prince Su is financing a movement to establish a constitutional monarchy in Manchuria. To Develop Potash Resources. Washington. To develop more thoroughly the fertilizer and potash resources of the United States, Secre tary of Agriculture Wilson has order ed the establishment at Reno, Nev., of a government laboratory where natural material supposed to contain potash will be examined without cost. Those sending samples must prepay transportation charges, however. A Jerseyite May Be Appointed. Washington. Mahlon Pitney Chan cellor of the state of New Jersey, member of Congress for two terms, a lawyer and jurist of thirty years' practice, looms up as the man whom President Taft will appoint to the Su preme Court bench to succeed the late Associate Justice John M. Harlan. Among friends of the President, It was reported as practically certain that -Chancellor Pitney would be ap pointed and the nomination, according to excellent authority, will be sent to the Senate in the near future. Pinchot Is Now For Roosevelt. Washington. GIfford Pinchot, 'in a signed statement, made public, an nounces that he has withdrawn his support from Senator LaFollette'8 presidential candidacy and that he will hereafter advocate the nomina tion of Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Pinchot declares that the events, of the last month have made it apparent that Senator LaFollette's candidacy will neither hold the progressive Re publicans together as a fighting force, nor prevent the nomination of a "re actionary Republican."