Kv VOL. XXVII- NO. 339
ASHEVILLE, 5T. G. TUES DAT MOONING, SEPTEMBER 26, mi. '
PRICE FIVE CENTS
MARLY FIVE HUNDRED SOULS
HURLED INTO ETERNITY BY AN
6 EXPLOSION ON FRENCH CRUISER
v Greatest Disaster That Has Ever Befallen French Navy. Doomed Ship
Was One of the Finest Figures in Recent Naval Review. Vivid
Descriptions of Catastrophe Are Given.
Jilted.
L
CLERKS SOUTH OF
ILLINOIS
CENTRA
K7r rr - m "..
OHIO
WILL STRIKE
VESSEL COMPLETELY TORN
APART BY TERRIBLE JOLT
Ship a Mass of Buckled Plating, Inextricably
Mixed With Torn Boilers and Broken iWa
4 chinery From Stem to Stern.
PRESIDENT
y
AT RECEPTION OF
Kansas
RADICALS
A farther civartng I made of -f
Mm remains of French bat-
Ueahip Ubcta.whMemacaiinca
- ti..tt atul tore the vessel to
shreds, more dirad bodies are Vy
" Ing; discovered and the death -f
list la rapidly Increasing. .;' Al-
ready '400 are unaccounted for
, 4- and It would not be enrprlnlng
if the number readied doeb to
MO. It Ar' the wore disaster
that ha nver .occurred In Uie
f French navy, :,-;"".:
.'ft. ...... . ' -i
1
4. that there axe other within the brok
er- en hulk who can be reached.
Exactly from what cause or when
the fire broke out has not been estab.
Hshed but it Is believed that It had
mouldered for several hours. Of the
vessel's full complement, 74 2, Capt
Juarea, brother of the socialist lead'
r, and the second officer In com
mand were both ashore en leave as
well as 140 officers and men. 1 The
command of the ship devolved on the
senior lieutenant, who perished.
The flr was first discovered at 4
a. m., and. the buglee Immediately
sounded the alarm, the crew rushed
' to quarters and fought desperately
1 the spreading flames but It soon was
TOtTLON. France. Sept. 1 26. The : evident that the fire had obtained a
battleship. Libert waa- torn apart and i firm hold, v Signals of distress were
1 totally destroyed by an explosion of I flashed to the other ships and these
her magazine today. Three hundred j dlspatchd steam pinnaces and,
officers and men were killed. The
battleship Repupllque was badly dam
"nged and the' battleships Democratic
and Verlte also suffered severely from
the masses of twisted Iron and, armor
plate that were hurled upon their
This is the greatest disaster- that
has ever fallen upon th Frenon nnvy,
Mil
Unllel in the annals of the worlB's
ting ships. .The grief which pros
trates t flefet n nation' Is made
more t Intense by the nwmory of he
' M,ni kmvIaW liArA.-. . notable display
i of France's naval greatness, In which'
f th, rimmaiA h1n waa one of the flnSt
J The1 explosion which wiped out one
of France's newest end most power
' ful 'battleships' "occurred ' at- 8:BS
o'clock In the morning. It was pre
: rrted end was the Result of an out
break of fire. The ftamee spread rap
.iw (n spite of all efforts to master
them and reached the magaslnes be
fio there was time to flood them.
The magazines exploded with tre-
rnrndou" violence, sowing 'death and
dostructloh in evry direction.
' Killed May Exccd 800.
Whll the naval . authorities esti
t mate the kllkd at 0, It Is feared
i that this figure will be exceeded. It
' will be necessary to go through the
ship's muster rolls, a task of some
' days, before a full list of the victims
can be prepared. A number of men
already have been extricated alive
' from the fantastically torn , and twlst
. ed msss of wreckage which once was
t the Llberte, and the hope"ls strong
launches at full speed to assist In the
work 'of extinguishing the flames and
rescuing the men. But their services
war of little avail.
"S'ive Qui Pent."
The position of the fire made it 1m
posslble to flood the magaslns,- nev.
ertheless efforts to do so were made
d in magnitude Is almost without j and finally the commanding officer,
realising that the ship was doomed,
ordered the bugler to. sound. "Suave
attt pent (laf'nlnt' aav htmaelf who
can), and shouted to the men to Jump
for their lives.
At 8-35 the first explosion occurred.
It was followed by three others at one
minute Intervals. Then came the fa
tal terrific detonations, which shat
tered the windows of the entire city
and was heard for a radius of many
miles. The Uberte was rent asun
der; her bows were thrown high in
the air and then th vessel slowly set
tled down and in nineteen minutes
nothing was visible but the top
works. " ,
Those still on deck were hurled
skyward amid a shower of Iron and
steel The boats of the rescuers were
sunk and serious damage was done to
the Republlque, which lay at anchor
close by. Two of her decks were
stove In and one of the Wberf's ar
mor plates was hurled against her
port si da and demolished the cabin
of an, absent ensign. For a few min
utes after the final explosion an In
tense black cloud of smoke hovered
over the harbor. When It shifted a
Spoke to Largest Crowds Yes
terday That he Has Faced
During Entire Trip
WOULD LOWER TARIFF
- L'NDER CONDITIONS
Among Other Things Touched
Upon Subject of Divorce.
Giving Strong Views
(Continued on Page Four.)
KANSAS CITT, Mo Sept -IS.
President Taft arrived in Kansas City
tonight to address the National Con
servation congress. He had spent a
busy day in souheastern Kansas,
making addresses at eleven of th
prosperous towns that dot that ac
tions of the state. The president was
tired but happy over the warmth of
U reception that the progressive
Kansas had given him. ;
The crowd were the largest the
president has -Xaced 4urinarey f hi
innveis. Mr. Tan confined himself
largely to the vetoes of the woolen,
free list r-;d cotton tariff bills. He
gave his hearers to understand that
he was ready and more than willing
to sign any bills rsduclng the tariff
If the measures were founded noon
the report of the tariff board. This
board, the president said, would bs
ready to report on the woolen sche
dule ihe first of December..
t believe th present- woolen du
ties are, too high,' he exclaimed amid
applause,' and just as soon as I set
adequate information I shall recom
mend their reduction,"
Mr. Taft began the day at Cof-
feyvitl, and spoke also at Indepen
dence, Cheryvllle, Thayer, Chanute,
Humboldt, Ioja, Garnett, Ottawa.
Edgerton and Olathe.
On Marriage and Divorce
Aside from his tariff speeches the
president spoke briefly on marriage
and divorce on the prosperity of the
people of Kansas and on the trusts,.
Senate Curtis, Representative Camp
bell and former Representative
"BACKlTO THE LAND" BATTLE CRY OF
CONSERVATION CONGRESS DELEGATES
President Taft PreMctaThat This Movement Will Cain Muck Headway, in Next
Ten Yearit-Everytfung From Land to Children Will be "Conserved" if
s 'A This Notable Convention Has its Own Way, ' . ,
If Order Issued by Their Presi
dent Yesterday Is Obeyed
0
w i no Lcuer
THREE HUNDRED HAVE
. ALREADY GONE OUT
May Develop Into Sympathetic
Movement That Would In
volve Whole System
KANSAS CITT, M..v Sept, t5.
The address of President Taft fea
tured the third annual national con
servation congress In Convention H&U
here today.
Th president's speech was statis
tical in Its nature and called attention
to the urgent need of conservatlng
the farm lands. . He predicted that
th "back to th laid" movement
id be larger the aexf ten years.
Improvement of agricultural eduoa-
u,. ... it-au as solution or tut
problem j f tucrsint the food sup
won ms sou is BinntT 'iriPPeo u
its fertility under" present , tarmlnc.
method In many sections the presi
dent said her Is not of the opinion
that th time will ever com when
the United State will be unable to
feed It own people. . ' -
That the conservation movement Is
making rapid progress in this country
was made apparent wheiy represent
tatfve of a doxen states mad verbal
reports at th opening. session of the
congrers today.
.' Every delegate who. spoke brought
a' ' report of ' activity In him section
and assured -the convention that the
campaign for conservation had Just
began.
Th audience tod a heard of steps
that were' being taken to conserve
verythlng from land to children
ISven th shrimp was not forgotten.
In the Louisiana reports and the
Maryland delegation added an en-;
cou raging word when he said the ter
rapin was being cared for In his
state.
(Continued mi page seven
WA6E STANDARDIZATION
FOR EHGBEN PURPOSE
! ; 0F GENERAL CONFERENCE
I efm . essss-sanaajss-
Thirty-Seven Railroads of
Scatheat Represented
at This Meeting.
NOTHING GIVEN OUT
ATLANTA, Ga., Sept. 2S. For the
': purpose of securing a standardisation
of wages for englnemen on the thirty
seven railroads operating ' in the
Southeastern states, W. S. ' Stone,
.crand chief engineer, and Fred Bur
I L assistant grand chief? of " the
SPEEOY 0CCUPA.F ION OF
TRIPOLI DEMANDED IN
ITALY BY POPULATION
Socialists However Contend
That Government Can't
Stand the Expense
PREPARED FOR WAR
JURISDICTION AS TO PIPE
LINES TO BE SETTLED BY
II
Alleged Violations of Inter
state Commerce Laws
To Be Probed
Judge B. B. LlndNey of Denver
pleaded for better condition for the
child and deplored the movement of
boys and girls from the farms to
ward the cltr. . Other speakers were
Henry Wallace, president of the con
gres; Governor Hadlsy and 3. B.
White, a member of th executive
board-
Declaring that many farmer of
the present day have mors faith In
moon signs than In agricultural cot
t'qes and experiment stations; mors
faUh in' ordinary politicians than in
college professors and scientists, mors
faith In yKiw journals th;n In th
beet agricultural papers, ana that th
nineteenth centnry farmer was no
farmer at all. but a robber of th
soil,. Henry Wallace, president of th
Conservation congross. In hi address
strongly urged scientific farming a
fhn only menn by which the cost of
living can b reduced. In part Mr.
WaJlaoe, aald: - . j.,,- ... m
"It will be my object in this ad
dress nnt to dlscnm any phas of the
ponepnatlon movement exhaustively,
hut to 'outline briefly two drtffs of
population; Ue drirt from, the farm
to tne city, and the drift from the
city toward the land and the work
of this congress a related thereto. .
"Even bofore the dally press began
the rusad "back to th land,' f he
movement toward th land had al.
ready begun. !
' "The land hunger Is not peculiar to
any class of people nor any state.
The merchant, the banker, tne rail
road official of New York and Boa-
ton, each longs for a farm,- possibly
only aa a summer home, but t willing
th pay for It In investment, in Im
provement and cost of management.
more than It Is worth in dollars or
ever will be. He, too, is bitten with
land hunger. Many small business
men' of our cities, who cannot hope
to secure a farm and line on it, In-
Test gTeedlly 'ln acreage ln-the su
burbs. The man 1n the factory alms
to secure two or three ocros-on which
he can build himself a home.
';The growth of large cities has
ceased to bo In the business or even
In the old residence sections, and Is
entirely In the suburbs. The same
holds true abroad. If men cannot
have country life 'n the country, they
are constantly aiming to get as much
aa posslbl of th country In th city.
Vail th steam railroad tend to
concentrate population, e they have
from the bej inning, th trolley line
tend to lur th people back, toward
th country,
"Latent s the heart of nearly ev
ry man, be he man of business, ctc't
or other employe, or laboring with
hi hand, there la a yearning desire
u hav a piece of land to. 'call his
Jwn., K '
1 - Few Get Recti .. ..
Comparately few succeed and he-
torn well-to-do. , Th children of
has -few. beoeme -.-wealthy . their
grandchildren usually 1 - spend ' gaily
th fortunes they never earned; and
naturally tlje family dies out, at least
so far as fore , and power Is con
eernsd, in another generation or at
most two or three. The city uses op
men and families as It use up horses,
And this i tru not only In this but
In th older countries as Well.' AH
Ireland, for example, except Dublin,
and Belfast, ha lost population In
th last ten years, as also has nearly
all of wales and 'leotland, .
"All over th country there Is th
beginning of a great social and In
dustrlal ewaltelng. Th farmer to be
ginning to magnify his office, to cut
loos from partisan bias, to do his
own tlilnklng and act for himself. H
In paying better .salaries to hi school
teachers and Insisting that the teach
have som relation to th life on the
farm. He 1 buying his own eutomo.
biles, and paying cash for them. , He
Is beginning to realise that farm life
Is essentially different from th life
of th town. Th movement to or
ganise country life clubs Is spread
ing. Th boy and girl are organ
Islng for games, Th country church
is beginning to realize Its mission,
and In several states country preach
era are taking short courses In agri
cultural ol!ege In order that they
may teach morale end religion to
farmer in term of their dally life."
E
S. O. IS INVOLVED.
HOUSTON Tex., Sept. 25. In or
der to determine which pipe lines are
under the jurisdiction of the Inter
state commerce .commerce commls-
CHIA8SO, Swltierland. Sept 2t.
According to the latest advices re
ceived here all Italy except a section
of socialists demands the speedy oc
cupation of Tripoli. The socialists j slon and whether the rales, claaelf lea
argue that Italy Is not sufficlenUy pro-j tlons, regulations and practices of
pared to stand the heavy exDense re- ' thosit rorrnianlm whih unH it.
Vfotherhood of Locomotive Engineers quired to fitcr colonial competition, j im-i-dlrMnn nii,.t. ...,i
are -holding conference. In this city jie.ntime the Italian government 1. i J , "" " ' u ea8"'
with thirty-seven engineers, the 1 taking advantage of the present OD. ; ?' nmlnatoTy or otherwise in vio-
ehnlrman of the local brotherhoods of rmi-ti.-Ht,, t .,n.nm.M in th n.rti.i 'anon or tne interstate commerce
these roads. , mobilization of troops. The entire
While the conferences hayse been in
progress for the past three days. It
.was stated today by Mr. Stone - that
' nothing in reference to the confer --
nce will be given out for the pres
ent, but that an official statement will
be Issued at the close of the sessions.
It is declared that wage of engineers
, jln the southeast, the territory east of
' the -IlMnola 'Central railroad and
' south of th Norfolk and Western,
are fifteen to IS per cent lower thin
la other section of the country. It. Is
ialso pointed out that the wages of
Southeastern railrpads vary. In some
Instances aa much as SO per cent.
Atlanta is the headquarters for the
General Manager's association of the
southeast, of -which & Wicker-
ahem,- president of the Atlanta and
V West. Point railroad," Is chairman, and
" for that reason it la heileved this city '
'- was chosen aa the centre for th en
gineer' struggles. , j- J
fleet is ready; for. war, including the
smallest and the oldest ships; ths
coast fortifications have been strength
ened and sixty steamers have been
chartered for the transport of 15,000
soldiers, war material, aeroplanes and
dirigibles and Red Cress workers.
The contingent soldiers kept In sen
ice after their time bad expired. With
reserves called up, brings the stand
ing army to 80,000 above ' normat.
The (troops intended for Tripoli are
centered obiefy in the Naples, Sicily
and Taranto barracks. ' ,
The expeditionary force In addition
to the infantry includes four batter
tee of mountain artillery, j
. Desiring to have all regions srtd1
regiments represented In the expedi
tion th colonels had their respective
regiments drawn up and asked that
those rtedy to go -should step' for. -ward.
Invariably all the men ad
vanced, cheering " enthusiastically.
laws, a hearing was held here today
before Commissioner Lane. A. O
Cuthelm appeared as attorney for ths
commission. Ths hearing Is being held
on motion of the commission and not
as a result of any specific complaint
Attorneys for the independent com
panies frequently endeavored rmake
It appear that the Standard Oil com
pany or rts auxiliaries had been given
advantages by both the federal gov
errrment.and various, states, which
were denied to the ether companies.
Commissloher Lane will bear testi
mony on the question of rlcs rate
Involving' Houston,: BeaumonU, 'Gal
veston and New Orleans tomorrow af
ternoon, i . t .. y
, BIG WASTE IX STAMPS
' WASHINGTON, Sep, ' JS-.-four
' thousand dollar in ;
-Thirty
portage
Negress Who Is Held For
Murder, Remanded to Jail
Without Bond.
HEXDERSONV1LLB; Sept. 25.
USIVEBSin OF ALABAMA
Salary Increased from $4,
500 to $6,500 Governor
Will Wire Call.
MOBILE, Ala., Sept. IS. Dr. Oeo.
d'eath M,I"B,mVM0red' W,h AUi tn ' t0nDy- Preeldnt of the Washington
and Le university, Lexington, Va.,
was this afternoon elected president
Saturday night nar the office of
Coroner W. R. KJrk while he was
holding an inquest over the remains
of a negro found dead on the railroad,
wa given a preliminary hearing this
afternoon and bund over to Superior
court under the dharge of murder.
The woman, who H Is reported coolly
committed that deed and remained
on the porch of the house wherein bam' institution.
acfurrmA until arift mrnm . I
mended t lall without bond. president was increased from 14,000
Th remain, of Mamla BrhW ?'V. "V" y"r'
were taken to Spartanburg this raorn-
of the University of Alabama by the
board of trustees. The governor was
Instrurtcd to notify Dr. Denny at
once of his election, to urge his ae
ceptance and ascertain. If he accepts,
when he can take charge of the Ala-
The salary of the
Ing,-.
WASHINGTON, Kept, ' IS. Fore
cast; North Carolina, generally fair
Tuesday and Wednesday, except prob-
sunipa is wuteo every momn Dy tne i ably shower on th coast, -' cooler,
people of the United States. , - Wednesday; Mght variable wind.
It Is Indicated
thrt l".r. fenny may arrange to take
charge by the first of next year.
A !)''.: i "V fcf Alabama has besn
without 4 head sines th resignation
of Drf. John W. Abereromble Jun 0
last. Dr. VV. B. Saffold, a member of
the academic faculty, 1 acting presi
MEMPHIS, Tenn.. Sept 15. .If an
order Issued late today y J.. J. Cor
rigan, president of th Clerk' union
of th Illinois Central, 1 obeyed, all
member of that organisation south.
oi ins unio river win na An ia.
morrow morning. . In '. Memphis not
pnly th clerk but practically, every
mmbr of the Employes' federation
In lh local freight sheds and shop of
th Illinois Central , and Tasoo A
Mlastasippt Valley road . left thilr
desk and toola Th walk-out of th1
shopmen at Memphis is initiatory to a
general movement of organised labor
on th Illinois Central and It subsid
iary line 1 believed,
Mr. Corrigan, who has established
temporary hadiurters In Memphis,
explain th walk-cut of the clerks
aa a direct result of-the Inability of
the union official to affect an agre
hnt with th railroad,.
Representatives of th striking em--ployes
assert that the tie-up will be
comphte. 8. 8,'Norrls, general su
perintendent of the Illinois Central,
stated that by tomorrow , th .rood
would bs In a position to cope with
t,nn. tiienntihfs fr?m union
official along th line south of Mum
phi state that the order to strike was
obtysd by ths rlerk almost to a man.
A Jackson, Mlsa, eighty mn are re
ported to have quit work.. At Vleks
hurg 10 went out and at Nnt his 8,
McComb City, Tasoo City, Orsenwood,
Clarksdala and Ortenvllle, Miss., are
othef . points whore more than to pr
cent of the men are snld to have
struck. At Nw Orleans tuo men ar
out ' '
.Except at Memphis the strike did
not extend to the shopmen today.
. MOVTCMKNT STAIITCD, '
NEW ORLEANS, Sept ' J8.--Wht
I believed will be a general strike of
organised railway clerks of the Illinois
(Continued on !e Mren)
e:
TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOH
Without Apparent Provo
cation Man Shoots Doc-
tor Dead in Street .
TAKEN IN CUSTODY.
AMATEUR'S TOIC FAIL
ItllAHREO AVIATION MEET
New York Physician Was
Going to Try for His Li
cense Ticket Today.
'FREIGHT RATE REDUCED
GALVESTON. Tex., Sept.' 25.
Tracip ocean steamship today re
ducted tbe freight, rate from this port
to Liverpool, Bremen and Havre one
cent per one hundred pounds. Th
rate is now 10 cents tvthese ports.
Freight rates on the ocean liners are
nnchanged at IS cents per 100 pounds.
; The slump. J due to oompetltlon to
secure the transportation" of the un
usually largo amount of freight on the
wharves f
NASSAU BULEVARD, U t. Sept
2$. The International aviation , meet
was marted today by the tragic fall of
Dr. 3. C. Clark, of New Tork, an am
ateur, who waa to try for his license
tomorrow. He fell 2(0 feet in his
Queen Blerolt monoplane, sustaining
such Injuries that he died at 7:50 to
night in the Nassau hospital.
Vr. Clark had not Intended to fly
today In his machine, which is num
ber IS. This morning,, however, after
Ignare Semlnonk, the Russian avia
tor, had flown to Mlneola and back In
Dr. Clark' machine, the wheel wer
smashed by a bad landing and th
doctor was so concerned ovr4h ac
cident that after repair had , been
made he took th flyer up In order to
test It He had floi only 10 yards,
rising rapidly, when he seemed to lose
control and was das'1 to the turf.
A the airship crashes on thf ground
It turned over, catching the amateur
avhstor under It and crushing him.
An examination, at the hoepitafdli
closed a fracture of the skull, com
pound fracture of both arm, e'dls
located hip and numerous internal In
juries. Tomorrow . Postmaster Gen
eral Hitchcock I to fly with Gra.
hame-Whlt to Mlneola, carrying sev
eral sack of United State mall la
order o test for himself the'posetbil- -
lty of aerial man transportatron. y v
I.OVINO8T0NE, Va.. Sept. IS J'
lh presence of large crowd of peo-
i-. urn; tisd aernbld her tor court,
today Dr. J. T. Petti t, a physlchvn of
Roseland, this county.' was shot and
instantly killed by BenJ, Hubbard.
Th shooting created . : a senevtlon.
Hubbard was Immediately arrested,
and placed In jail to await a hearing.
An ancient grudge is said to hav '
been responsible for the tragedy,'
; The shooting took plsee on one of'
th principal street of th town nf''
front of a hotl. Dr. Pettlt wa walk,
tng toward the building where Hub-,
bard was sitting on the porch. . Aa
he came nearer Hubbard arose and .
without speaking a word, according
to witnesses of the crime, drew his
revolver and fired five shot at th
physician. Each of the shots took
effect In Pttlt's heed and he souk t
to th ground. Bystander ran to his .
sslstanc but when they reached him
he waa dead. Other took Hubbard i
In custody, ' '. y", .
There was no quarrel at th Mm of
the shooting and a far an I known
there had been no recent alternation '
between them. It Is reported that1:.
Hubbard shot Pettlt feeoauee of a
grudge which he had harbored .a longi
time. It seem Hubbard' father tj'
one time had o1ld Dr. Pettlt to at- ,
tend a member of the family against -Benjamin
Hubbard'o wishes,. J i
Benjsmln Hubbard, who shot and
killed Dr. J. A. Pettit at Lov4ngaton '.
thl afternoon, waa taken to h t
Lynchburg city jail tonight at 10!
o'clock for safe keeping. Six deputies
accompanied him in the eross country ;
drive to Bhlpman end two- went to'
Lynchburg with hhru A cosNwet ln-
aoest at Lovlngstmie this afternoon
fixed the crime upon Hubbard rfnd'
Immediately Judge B. " T. . Oordnn
summoned a special grand jury snd in
lees then three hours after the crime
Huhberd had been Indicted.:
Hubbard' 'refuse,' to discuss th ;
shooting but It . Is alleged, that the
trouble was due to- Dr.. Pettlt beliY'.
called to attend his wife by Hubbard's
father It months ago.; He Is enid to
hav vowed then that he would kill
tho physician, .