North Carolina Newspapers

7 V THE CHARLOTTE NEWS, JANUARY 4, 1908. : i: i f i -I S. i i 1 i decorations that are not too elaborate? SCHOOL MAIUI. Seems to iiie you will have to in vite a few more boys to even up. I wonder why it is that our ladies so often are in the minority when it conies to school : But to i turn to the question ' of amusement: It" you could get a set of "Diabalo," that would help out. Ti en to liven things up more, hide animal crackers. Provide bays and tend the hunters forth at Uu- blast from a horn. Hang up a score showing how much each "ani mal will count when the finish is blown o nthe trumpet. Award a prize Make a rosette for each to wear of crimson and wuite, and serve dough nuts, eider, nuts. and. if you don't mind the trouble, wind up with an old lashiomnl candy pull. Game for Cinch Club. I am a member of a cinch club which meets every week, and we play cards in the early part of the evening and we usually have later some sort of same or guessing contest for amuse ment, and for the winner we give some little prize. It is my turn to en tertain soon, and I am writing to you to see if you could not help me by suecestii i n s:un e thing. BELLE. This s( ii'i1 was told me recently as btdn.g most successful. I do not know what to call it, but here is the way it was done. On dainty pro grammes made from pasting white paper over the printed or address side of a fancy postcard questions like these were written: "Your favorite oc-upation?"' "What did you get for Christ mas?"' "Where are you going this sum-' 11)01'?" 'Who is your hero in life? "What is your lavonte msn, tie. All these questions had to be answer ed by using words commencing with the initials ef your name. One can imagine how fanny the result was. All answers were read aloud. For a Dutch Socin!. A Bible class of young men and women intend to give a "Dutch" social. There will be about 30 present. Can you suggest something new and oiiainal? MAX. Really. I do not see how I can pro duce anything "new and original" for a Dutch social. The decorations should le orange and blue, the souvenirs little wooden shoes or paper ones done in delft bate. Tulips should be the flower (lovely ones may be made of crepe paper; Good prints of Hol land's queen could be hung on the walls, and perhaps a series of tab leaux arranged from "The Bow of Orange Ribbon," by Robert Barr. Cof fee, sausage, rye bread, onion and beet salad could be served. Latest Style in Dancing Shoss. Plcr se tell me what is the latest St vie of dancing slippers is? STELLA. Si : v.ers should match the gown worn, and the stockings, also. Toe bows, buckles and fluffy rosettes are much in evidence, and some fancy heels are seen, but they are a fad, as are the giit shoes. Patent leathers and bronze are always in good form. Questions on any suoject pertaining to this department will cheerfully be answered, A reply will be sent by mail if stamped and addressed en velope is enclosed; otherwise answers v.'i'l appear in this column. Address Madame Merri, The News. THE RUNAWAY. Sam S. Stinson in Uncle Remus's Maga zine for January. I runnr-d away to go an' fight The redskin Injuns, jist fer spite. An" Gee! I corned an awful way, I wonder what will mother say, I bet she misses me. all right. I sor'.er miss her, too, tonight, She's awful cross, but still I might Forgive her, say, 'twas jist in fun I runned awav. Ge! Ain't it dar'r There's some- thing white! I ain't a-skeered, -that is, not quite; But still I wis.- at it was day; I'd hike fer hon: an' there I'd stay. I guess it sorter ' orvf d me right I runnci awav! If you want the family healthy, strong and active during the winter, give them Hollister's Rocky Moun tain Tea. 'Twill surely make and keep the whole family well. 3rc. Tea or Tablets. R. H. Jordan & Co. Chafing Dishes Serving Dishes Coal Vases Fire Sets Carving Sets Knives and Forks Pocket Knives Ranges u lilt cCausiand&Go Stov Dealers and Roofing Contractors. 221 South Tryon. .'PLDT OF THE -J. S. WILLIAMS i How The Long Southern Trunk Line Grew From Small Beginnings 1o Be ga Big, Modern Hustling Railroad. J. Ske iton Williams a Man or Fertile Resources And as Versatile a Writer as Thomas F. Lawson Fren zied Finance Seer. From the Baltimore News. Up went the curtain yesterday on another exciting act in the drama of the Seaboard Air Line Railway No other railroad property in the country has had a more spectacular history than this one, and the appli cation for a receivership indicates that the lover of financial melodrama is to get yet more thrills before the close of the play. The dramatis personae include some o fthe most striking figures i nthis country's fi nancial world John Skelton Will iams, knight errant of railroad-dom; Tit rm '1 C! "17 I)toti --P Am-v 4- --. n ... T n. . ' ; hi, o . i ltiijuut iviuifcun, uie lion Duke of Finance, and, lingering in the wings, if net yet on the stage, the subtle' and implacable Edward H. Karriman. What Troubles Involves. The property over which they are contesting or have battled in the past is a railroad neaily three thou sand miles long, skirting the Atlantic seaboard from Washington to Tampa, darting westward in two long divis ions to Birmingham and Montgom ery, and gridioroning with its branch es the soveriegn states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor gia, Florida and Alabama. It was in keeping with the dra matic history of the road that this application for a receivership should come o nthe first day of a new year, a year which financiers are regarding with a certain measure of foreboding. Williams the Star. John Skelton Williams has been the chief actor in the Seaboard play in the past. He was the man oi imagination who saw in a little Geor gia Railway that began nowhere and ended nowhere the great system of today an dthe still greater system of tomorrow. He was also the man of action who made the dream a real ity. This little rickety road the Sa vannah, Americus and Montgomery which may be said to have formed the nucleus of the Seaboard proper-j ty, was an unfinished project and in the hands of receivers when Mr.j Williams got hold of it. He, withj the Baltimore banking firm of Mid-! dendorf. Oliver & Co., proposed a plan for its reorganization. There j was a fight at the very start, for other interests were after it, but Mr. Williams' plans were adopted, ar.j the Georgia and Alabama Rail way vas evolved. Railroad President at Twenty-Six. Mr. Williams was made president or tne new road at the somewhat; tender age of 26. His first move! was to extend his road to Savan-j nah, but therein he ran against a! snag. It was necessary for his pur-j pose to get a tracage agreement j with the Central Railroad of Georgia! and that was bluntly refused him. Wasn't a Bluff. "I'll build a parallel line, then," he declared. That was a threat by whish later he was to hold the much more im portant Louisville and Nashville sys tem in check. The Georgia Central people took his statement for a bluff. Onfi mnrninpr tViov ivnb-o nr tn " -i5 ""j ' ' wiv I I find several thousand tons of steel j rails dumped down in close proxim-J ity to their tracks and the construc tion cf the competing road begun. An agreement was quickly reached, and the Georgia and Alabama reach ed Savannah. That he was building for the fu ture Mr. Williams now showed. By a clever move he obtained possession of a surprisingly large tract of lanu in Savannah for- his road's terminal. He had in mind thr pvtMsinn rvHho Georgia and Alabama Railway west-1 ward to Birmingham, and later to the! Mississippi river, in order to estab: lish the shortest route from the Western grain fields to the South Atlantic seaboard. The Seaboard Combination. While this talk was in the air the financial world was startled one day by the announcement that the old Seaboard Air Line, the Georgia and Alabama and the Florida Central and Peninsular railroads had been com bined under the name of the Sea board Air Line Railway. That was in 1D00. Fight With Ryan Begins. When Mr. Williams and his as sociates bought the old Seaboard Line they bought a quarrel with it. I That quarrel was one between the! former owners of the property and' Mr. Thomas F. Ryan. It developed' into a contest for the control of thei road, .an dthere were hot doings for. a while, with many verbal and legal scraps.. It is said that Mr. Ryan: spent $100,000 in litigation at that; time, but Mr. Williams defeated him' at every turn. Finally, the latter quit and sold his holdings. It was only for a time, however, as events proved. Road Gets Into Richmond. The next fight was to get into Richmond. That was no sooner won than another and bigger one was on hand. Before Mr. Williams had been fighting men somewhat of his own size; now he had to tackle a giant. The new antagonist was the Pennsyl vania Railroad and other important corporations controlling the Rich mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, and the goal sought was the entrance of the Seaboard into Washington, D. C. Mr. Williams went to the Virginia legislature an dasked for a charter to build a new-road from Richmond to Washington. "He'll never get it," said his critics. "The state of Vir ginia itself owns part of the stock of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and it won't be anxious to encourage a competitor." Williams, however, did an unprecedented thing. He went personally to the legislature and made an address to its members. He appealed to their state pride, to their love of fair play; he deter manded justice for himself as a son of the Old Dominion. His eloquence won out. But again he did not have to build the new line; the threat was enough. He was allowed to go into Washington over the existing line and the Seaboard was given an equal ownership in it with the other corporations. "Bucked"1 Pierpont Morgan. Shortly after this Mr. Williams be came known in Wall Street as the man who had "bucked" Morgan. Morgan then was the undisputed king of the financial world. Williams un dertook no less a thing than the buying up of the Louisville, and Nash ville road, with J. Pierpont Morgan as the other bidder. He failed, of course, and the roaa passed into the hands of J- P. Morgan & Co., and later the Atlantic Coast Line Rail road. The financial world looked for some punishment to be visited upon Mr. Williams for his audacity. None came, however. That gentleman an nounced that if any. discrimination was shown against, the Seaboard by the new owners of the Louisville and Nashville he would build a parallel road. Just by way of showing his sincerity the extension of the Sea board westward to Birmingham was undertaken, the East and West Rail road cf Alabama bought up. But nothing happened. The Louisville and Nashville was good, and for re laxation Mr. Williams went West and made alliances with the St. Louis and San Francisco and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific systems. Trouble for Williams and Midden dorf. But the two firms of John L. Will iams & Sons and J. William Midden dorf & Co., the latter the successor cf Middendorf, Oliver & Co., had many irons in the fire, the Louis ville and Nashville venture had been a costly one, and the financial situa tion became a bad one generally. In October, 1903, news came that the two houses were embarrassed and would have to ask extension from their creditors. Ten months later Ryan got back into Seaboard affairs with a vengeance by buying out the Middendorf-Williams holdings 140, 000 shares in all. Mr. S. Davies Warfield, president of the Continent al Trust Company, was the mediator between the two men. Messrs. Will iams and Middendorf resigned as di rectors of the Seaboard and seemed to be out of for good, just as Mr. Ryan had seemed to be out four years before that. But only a few months went by before Mr. Williams began a series of open attacks upon the manage ment of the property. Some of them seem to have been borne out by the confessions in the application for the receivership. Some of them will siili be heartily denied by the Ryan-Blalr interests. Holding Company Formed. In January, 1905, a plan was for mulated by which the stockholders wTere invited to exchange their stock for the stocks of a new holding com pany under the title of the Seaboard Company. The plan was submitted by a committee composed of promi nent financiers. On this committee was Mr. S. Davies Warfield, presi dent of the Continental Trust Com pany of this city. In May, 1905, mod ifications were made in the original plan. In July of the same year an nouncement was made that the pian had become operative and that over 82 per cent, of the stock had been exchanged under the modified plan. The Seabcard Company was then given a controlling interest in the Company's stock. . The authorized capital stoek of the Seaboard Air Line Railway has a par value of S100 and $62,504,000 has been issued. All the stock is held in a voting trust until April, 1910, the trustees being given the discretion to dissolve the. trust before that time. Has Been Paying Dividends. The incorporation of the Seaboard Company took place under the laws of New Jersey on May 15, 1905. The new concern set forth its intention of reorganizing the finances of the Seaboard Air Line Railway, and its stock has a par value of $100. In cluding the common, first preferred and second preferred stock, $50,900, 025 was issued. All classes of stock, according to the charter, have equal voting power. The Seaboard Com pany has been paying dividends of 5 per cent, a year on the first pre ferred stock. Provided Furds for Improvements. The plan of the new corporation proposed a consolidation of the Sea board Air Line Railway, the Atlanta and Birmingham Air Line Railway and the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail road Company, and in conjunction with them to provide funds for the liquidation of the system's floating debt and general improvements. The modified plans in May, 1905.. made provision for the substitution for the consolidated company of a holding company with the same amount and classes of stock. Another provision was that the proceeds of the $7,-j 625,000, of the first preferred stock.' should be used for the expenses oj the organization of the company and for making advances to die Seaboard Air Line Railway for its requirements and improvements in re: urn for votes of the railway on its mortgage obli gations. Meantime, the Railway Com pany's stockholders were to have the right to subscribe for any new7 bond issue of the Railway Company. Williams as a Literary Figure. Mr WillinmR -,ttnc 1.-0,1 thi hnldine company plan and the management , questionably, from a sentimental point of the company in a series of pic-'of view, the honor, respect and aifec turesque statements that have hardly Uion put to their credit are of infinitely a parallel in the financial history of1 more value than any service that can the country. They would have no; he performed by an ex-president, and parallel at all if it were not for thei abundantly compensate for any re effusions of Mr. Thomas Lawson. sti-aint enacted from him at their be But it should not be forjrotten t hat est. But how stands the acount in before Lawson Williams was. If lcssjtha uSi of necessities of the worka frenzied than the Bostonian. he j3j 7ay v. orld which hold us all in unyield no less vivid, as the quotation from one of his letters printed elsewhere in The News today indicates. There are more acts in the drama to come. tao 6rd.. eiaoin shrdl hr dlhrdrrhh Education In Turkey Consul Ernest L. Harris, of Smyrna, furnishes the following information relative to educational conditions in the Ottoman Empire: The ministry of" public instruction is divided into four departments, each division being respectively charged with the supervision of the schools generally, viz: (i) Primary schools, (2) higher pri mary schools, (3) preparatory schools, (4) schools of the non-Mussulman and foreign communities. The grand council of the department of public instruction, which controls the revenues apropriated for public in struction, also superintends and supers vises the following institutions: The law school, fine arts college, college for civii servants, commercial colleges, meteorological observatory, imperial museum, censor's department, and the deaf and dumb institu tion. All the government sctiooTs are sup ported by the government, the follow- taxes being appropriated for thei purpose: One-haif of one per cent, of the tithes on agricultural produce; 5 per cent, of the taxes collected on real es tate; one-third of the poor rate. At all of these schools instruction is free, whether for Ottoman or foreign sub jects. The schools of the non-Mussulman and foreign communities are supported by their respective communities. in cacn province there is a coun supervising the school therein, which reports to the grand rector of the min - istry of public instruction at Con - stantinople. The council ins under tllP ni'PSI rlonr nf two vifxmotni-o mo a Mussulman, the other a non - Mn'ssul - man, and the board is composed of an inspector-general, an inspector, and a secretary. event, wrote as touows: In everey village there is, by law, a' "The income of my whole private es piimary school at which attendance tate is .less than $6000 a year- aml 1 is obligatory for all Ottoman subjects, unless they be non-Mussulmans, who attend the schools established by their respective communities. Boys have to go to school from 6 to 11 years of age, and' girls from 1 to 11. The primai y course, which covers four ycafrs, includes reading, writing, history, the Turkish language, elements of geography, and religious instruction, according to the creed of the pupil. In towns of over 500 inhabitants there is a higher primary school. The course here also lasts for four years, and comprises Turkish grammar, letter writing, Persian and Arabic grammar, arithmetic, bookkeeping, drawing, geo metry, history, and one of the lan- guages current in that district. Here the course last two years, and flip fonovvino- snhirctc subjects are studied: ini Kisn literature, Frenca rnetoric. po- litical economy, geography, general his - 4- 1 i ; a i 1 . . curv, aigooia, ariuimei ic, geometry, drawing. 0 9 9 WV' Fifty Choice Patterns of Irnpoited and Domestic Fabrics, ranging in price from $35.00 to $40.00. Made to your measure For $25.00 Cash (INCORPORATED! - WINTER OPENING JANUARY 2. 1908 Save $5.00 on Single Course or $10.00 on Combined Course by Registering before January 5, 1908. Railroad fare paid. Shorthand, Bookkeeping, English Taught. Write today for .New Offers, Jour nal and Catalogue. . Address KING'S BUSINESS COLLEGE Charlotte, N. C. or Raleigh, N. C. if! MSIDEIT ! Does the honor or respect or even the personal affection generously acord ed by his countrymen, to one who has retired from their highest office, serve the purpose of complete acquittance on tne people's side oi tne account.' un- ing environment: Mention has already been made of the requirement by the people that the conduct and occupations of their ex- 1 presidents should be so restricted that me dignity of the position they occupy will be scrupulously maintained. This suggests without argument a reciprocal connection between the curtailment of opportunities of livelihood on one side and a reasonable obligation of indemni fication on the other. The president of the French repub lic receives an annual salary amounting to $120,000, together with $60,000 for maintenance and furnishing of his offi cial residence, and a like sum to cover the expenses of travel and entertain ment. This is decidedly in the direction of securing a dignified and unperplexed future support for its ex-president. It is hardly to be supposed that such an expenditure as this on account of our peresidential office would accord with American ideas. It is not so easy, however, to dismiss from our minds the thought that the American nation cannot afford well to disregard entirely the conditions that confront its retired presidents, nor longer to allow itself to be accessory to the pitiful in cidents that have frequently resulted from such conditions. Our national pride should be rudely touched when we read concerning Tho mas Jefferson, after his retirement 1 j? . . ; -i 110111 llie Pieiuencj. ay degrees jenerson neca-me poor man, and indeed worse than poor, since he was involved in pecuniary em barrassments. Before matters had reached this stage he had sold his lib rary to congress for $23,950." Although he expressed himself as desiring nothing from the public treas ury, he accepted pecuniary aid fur nished by private subscription, with the pathetic statement: ji ! "I have spent three times as much j money ana given my wnme me to my icoimtrymei1' anJ now they nmy come ! forward in the cniy way they can, and 1 ave' an oid servant from being turned ! like a dog OUt-Of-dOOrS." ! Jchn Quincy Adams a short time before he retired from the presi- cncy, and in contemplation of that am paying at least ,000 or that a: interest on my debt. Finally,, upon go ing out of office in one year from this tin destitute of all means cf acquiring property, it will only be by the sacrifice of that which I now possess that I shall be able to support my family." Ex-President Cleveland! ::i The Youth's Companion. ! 1 It's the came old winter goulash. Every minor league signed by the Majors is the most wonderful pl.tyer that ever spit on a mU. ACE YOU SATISFIED with your glasses? if not have nev.' cues made. Of course you want the I will make it just as you like best. ; it and vx araii :ee best results. Med 3r Lenses :; ate urices. Examination free s matched. Frames repaired, '. dr. SAM LEVI, ! ; Eycsichi Specialist. 6 East Trade St., Charlotte, N. C, ! 4' V (I i In iOg;.-;..::.:f Garnljfei.fi-...,- m -tjy , CORNER TRADE AND 1 Copyright 1907 by Hart Schaffhe.r & Mars I WifM l!!i;iL ma p mi a m I YORiCE m $100.00 Worth of Goods Given Away NUMBER 8284 DRAWS 1ST PRIZE. NUMBER 1C958 DRAWS 2ND PRIZE. NUMBER 7C44 DRAWS 3RD PRIZE. Customers holding duplicate cf above number, please call at cur store and make selection. Garibaldi, Bruns & Dixon WATCHES, DIAMONDS AND JEWELRY that will give your work m-mmit anrinaK,f,,i .n-t.s 3 rTpil JJ L f patl:?fife- lt is best service and we will be candid with . G. JarrelB REPASRERS OP ALL KINDS OF MACHINERY. CHARLOTTE, N. C. 0 25 West Fourth St. Phone No. m THIS SS N01 A ONE DAY STORE Despite the fact that we have been favored with a very heavy Christmas trade our stock is not exhausted in any line. It is our aim never to be out of anything and we constantly keep a stock of THINGS MEN WEAR that is equal to every demand. Come here today with the assurance that we can supply every detail of your wnrdrobe as well as we could a week i 1 X Perfect in Style Supreme in Quality Every Sense a Gentlemans Hat All Styles, Soft and Stiff and in Sizes and Shapes to fit all heads. Everyone Guaranteed. COLLEGE STREETS CLOTHES i MEN m m CARE i Dressing well, means wear ing clothes that are suited to your individuality. Good Clothes are not of ne cessity expensive clothes. Even our moderate priced garments are correct in style and well tailored. Good Tailoring is s.z essen tial to good clothes as good fabric both must be good. Try on one of our Suits or Overcoats and ycu'll at once appreciate what we mean when we sav. m CLOTHES FOR f.-EM WHO aim to give our customers the very you at all times. Give us a trial. it Machine Co. Bond S2.00 Mats m CARE. fa hud. 1 SftUuhno i 4. 3- i, 7 i r irfT I i- - " " TT