North Carolina Newspapers

- r H VoLX RALEIGH, N. C.t WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1902. Ko. 81 1H) L Morning PROPITIOUS OPENING OF THE STATE CAMPAIGN Lnrse Gathering of People in All Sections to Lis ten to Able Demo cratic Speakers i nt:c campaign la which there are but "two republicans. It ts his trowed purpose to do every thing possible to secure the election of independent candidates to the legisla ture in order to brio; about bis own re election to the United States Senate. To accomplish this purpose, he delivered a carefully prepared speech to the con vention, a large portion of which was devoted to the discussion of State af fairs and to a criticism of the acts of the democratic legislatures or ltarj an creased within three years in the sum of .iJk. spteca was inienum w ewuuuj X&qOlU.DT. me Key note or too repuoncan campaign ... II North i.u..ilijr opened yesterday .i .:- in- rt f ue at.Iest epvak- r-v a.i lre J urge audi- "e.t.' ti uf the State upon n.V. h the battle of ballots : tins year. Reports re vile of The Morning Post v t. u the pcctj.le lamed r.u iu--r er ry wbere anal il.-i an attentive hearlngl !h-!r interest in the qnes-' I .ta . much ability. 'the charges which he prefers and to i .rtr :-: m ht ing able to e'emoastr.-te that if the administration t pevlu of ler.!.f the ffV f Nrt CaDa durt" :.U.on a-J Wintou audi10?.11 aK ars. subject to the In three years of democratic rule which we haTe just had, they collected ;in taxes from the people $SS0,419.77 more than the republican collected under fu sion rule for the same length of time. In order that there might be no mistake as to this charge the -Senator wrote it Into the republican platform as fol lows: "They promised to reduce taxa tion and Instead of doing so they hare legislated' so that our taxes have in- ar.d to furnish the facts and argument upon which nil republican cainpa'ga speeches this fall are to be based. 'lh!uaDrWB It Is my purpose today to take op Th Tnt Centf ttla If the eSnator has made such a thor ough investigation into the affairs of State government, as a great leader tance, Dr. Cyrus Thompson, Secretary of State turned into the State treasury as taxes on the seals for the year .1808, $100.74, while last year Colonel Grimes, from the same office paid into the treas ury as taxes on seals $636.90. During the same year (Rev. Baylus Cade, who Is now a republican candidate for judge, turned into the treasury as fees from his office as private secretary $629.S5, while Colonel Pea-rsall, the private sec retary to Governor Aycoek, turned in fees last year amounting to $1,179.90. A most ensory examination of the fig ures shows that . the charge made by Senator Pritchard that the democrats raised vast sums of money mpre than the republicans by taxing the people falls to the ground. It is a fact "which any one can see by turning to the public laws of the State and reading the revenue acta for tiie 4jeverfj years that the rat of taxation for State purposes is less under the act of 19Cd than any year since the civil war. The rate fixed iby the demo crats is twenty-one cents on the one- hundred dollars raluation of property, EhouM mat. wm .ttfiinr faf Tie rate nxea my tne fusionists was to the people he would have twenty-two and two-thirds couta on the known that this declaration is T. .... 1 ... . , . - of itt speccn ov jir. p" "1" uv - 1 " - :'- !.- wiil W jmpTd ly larty and not the democratic party . : 1. ' :..u a .iv- 5 1 l.'-'v-d to th -nn.l rei- The platform, which Senator Pritch- , - r j.ilrinent of those arJ cad pr0pared before the convention :-rt,FZ A iiiV lr mft- contains this declaration: "We in- . : a-.-t t.ot at ail to prejudice or 1 , , .... . . , - n-'hM but 10 read the sech- !Tlt th attention of the people of the , "r" . ... t- "i !rtaud the ground Srate to the clean, able, and economl-j ; 1 :'.. .Inccrsti party aks a.imlnirtratioa of our State goinernnient , . -?-:"U of cound.-nce at the iby the republican and populist parties : -. from 1S97 to 1901. and challenge a com- n.ak ii KiirkU ai fmitbfli4 panson or it with the present recaiess t v i- Sr;i ituflnngement of our affairs by the demo- - 1 e.t. special. nartr .:..-;r.:a i?ut tr wuef I be notlcevl that the years ,1895 , ..-,. r;rtvful Democratic and 1Syf, a omhted rrom thi9 t;ndor ,r:e m.f. by ex-Jud Jot comparison, although it was In 1S95 :nluced Jud?e Womack, to the United States Senate. The rea- In direct conflict with .the facts la the case. The amount of money col lected from the people by public taxes daring his three years of fusion rule amounted to $1,071,300.15, while the democrata-collected by public taxes from the people for three years which he, holds them responsible for the arum of $1, SC6.017.36, r only $194,627.21 more than was collected by the -republicans. So that the Senator's statement, both in his speech and in his platform "that our taxes have been increased within three years In the sum of $SS0,419.97" is to say the least exceedingly mislead ing. It is true that the auditor's re port shows that $880,419.97 more money pasred through the treasurer's hands during the three years which he calls democratic years than the three years which he calls fusion years, but $727,- 124.05 came from sources other than one nundrea dollars, but their act was so glaringly violative of the State con stitution that the republican Supreme Court declared it to be void and the old tax of twnrty-ono and twolthtrds cents was collected. . lntMint r-4x-h '" i.r v r darSt on state issues and N Carolina to confine their public taxes ,to which I will now call :erweea tne auminiiration 1 , . .1. 1 ... .1 i no 1 nm fim 1 examination into ine auairs oi repuuii-. o 1 iru uuu auu vui; univw vui .;.t rZ m,,. """Vi-i.ia h.T not lnTcsfltrated the fiuancialcame '1 "r.T'l! U,?L8 Affairs of the State and the conduct of Ings ,.-;-;xrc:. ii .r?.. the fusion party during the years lS03;road. ti t 3,a" "wni7 .nd 1S9G. The incluon of these years nies. a Af,.vk aJminletrattoa 1 was LronM bare .unwell his own argu- ganiri , -3 I'. L W. Ton. la well chosen and a: f the king's English, intro- i x J -Vise OniaCiC IS a Strong r . . .v i OfiT Q1 fl.ua .MiHvnal rvoimi from insurance companies, earn- of the penitentiary, taxes on rail- telephone and telegraph compan- fertllizer taxes and taxes for or ng corporations. The following ment and refuted his comparison, as tooie snows tne respective amounts coi we shall presently see. I lected under democratic -and republican T Cnn .not PnintianVi niiufi ia i niU from t Vl ft cn rV. n m P H . Kttchln, who for : . . ,., , - m i . v , , . . . , all sources and the expenditures for all 1C.. Ti mirnrpo,es for the yea 1S07 arid f 1Qn Texes-1896, $o0; 1897, - ;-.v.rl m MnltbfieM. He not i' Milin them rwubllean vears. 519o0; 189S. .... ,:T arKtxrd the national Kepub- ih ,h. fr lt lSand 1901 dS Governor's Office-1806. $518.70; 1-aj.ny 3. th parent of and friend Ji'J,,? ftllA' J897. $739.72; 1898. $029.85. r r:s h.h tariff and imperialism, states tnat lt appear from the auditor's j Insurance Companies 1896, $46, l.ti arrs imI the State admlnisira-ttat llulSo6 there wa, a surplus 333.(13; 1897. $87,214.02; 1S98, $83, ttzz'itr K'ibllcea an-f Ftiskm rule.!0f receipts over expenditures amounting .050.17. - , , L 1 wircing to those so-called 'TO Ji4..40.a3 :a deficlencr for the year) Penitentiary Earnings 1896, $140, Isuxr;: who bad become indp?nd- 1897.' amounting to $11.35.44; and a 925.33; 1S97, $134,516.38; 1S06, $94,- t:;s izl ?. -:u:ei tartr political ruin l surplus for 1S9S, amounting to oO.- 042.41. :ta';i-.'U defeat. He pleased the j m.13. and claims that there was a fut-! J tail roads 1896, $56,510.89; 1897, ; ; r Jylzoa county; he stimulated J plus in these three years of fusion rule $fli.r,4i.32; 189S, $70,598.98. ti? lv:vr.i: to v!?rous work andj amounting to $030552. j Telegraph Companies 1896, $1, iaidrtltOmlMlti It Is a -itle curious that Senator Pritchard should have begun with the year lolHi, ana it is only exphamea on 'i r. -. a.aay saw tnai not sucn 1 vi i-i ii dwrered here In aJ z --r". Tlicr wore aixrat 400 or M-. J . -a U. At water, the indep4?ndnrt ' ' f r rnare!s, was present, I - a" n'lr ' an.? darM an-l couM t : t-d .-..vl c-n speak. Many 'say t.t K.: ulu" rh and EJ Pou's ap- tvstnty iri!cated his defeat tiit - j-:,! !1 np and qalt. Mk ! IJr. T. . Uamitk r - reraT wks past It has been c-r-eraly understood that when the, ,403.29; 1897, $3,916.58: 18U8, $3,974.73 FertlHzer Taxes 1896, $46,859.42; 1697, $03,592.91; 1898, $61,887.30. Total 189G. $292,000.06; 1897, $343,. v" rnriio. 1 caq tii x. not aa The ground that the Senator is an adroit , ''I'JlT, . . w ! politician. If he had eschewed all jug- rang and manipulation or figures and ana beguu with the year 1S5K", the begin ning of fusion rule, and read from the report of Mr. William II. "Worth, the fusion treasurer of the State, he would have found and would have been obliged to have Informed the people of North Carolina, that for the year 1S05 there over re- r, ; vve Urentlon should meet. K an IC of teTO? -7' -i: r rr;-,hurl wx,ld driver . ipts amounting to $212,J33.i4. -a in !.:ra he would attempt to jyV ; :!-.- ?:i .-rt!c pirty tpa the de- L"me" ;o, tLp adaunUtratlon of the'turo 3 er .Nt: a CanI:na since its p, n i.-np.j-isible ta.k, deficit 1 ;r"Tr:y show, 4: . f ,; 1, t three years of $951,1S5.03. Dtaratlc fCnl Corporation Taxes 1S99, $3,650; 1900, ; 1901, $8,851. Fees Governor's Office 1899, $948.83; 1900, 753.35; 1901, 1,179.99. Insurance Compaanies 1899, $80, 117.45; 1900, $80,814.12; 1901, $105, 721.07. Penitentiary Earnings 1899, $84, 707.20; 1900, $195,433.02; 1901, $156,- legis-. 490.13. purse- Railroads 1899, and which 072,937.20; 1900, for the four years 1N7 and 1898. durin? the fuftiooists held the anil thrnnrh it th ae-,tmnrs or tne tate. tncre was a; tTo lonfrr. icirn Jtiftainart of expenditures over receipt ' -icon 1 o- 1 ei . amoontuis to $loS.93S According to. $4,750.60; 1901. $5,513.75. Fertilizer Tax 1899. $50,644.76; 1900. tllai the reventies of, Senator IMtchard's own figures the ex-i -J! c: .. . r the rrnu act of IftOl .rnM;tnrM inf. fnr v -''v - : :ffi.-.t to meet the expene S the years 18tO. 19U0 and 1901 amounted ! '1S0;94: 1001 ?6i,9SS.-4. ..' r - i,t..r.V. .-1 . .11 ! ;.7oo . .w- J Fees Insurance Commissioner's Offlc 1 . fa t. ".ate Tre-nurer Lacy, tDan $50UO greater than his alleged -- r pi.-t this year, nuccee-icd .Knocratie deficit for the three years xar as 1 a m v . dmocratlc mle. U V "V. - Snstor I'ntchard s nznres for tne :.zt r ;.- n an. . ... ai i.efore to ac- : a-.l K he west to the year ,how. a surplus of revenue . N- v .r-. a:: I there, upon his OTpr expenditure. It may be that he i : ;! e r ite would pay anljis tut the report of Treasurer V.. ",T ' n the f3ith n1 intes- -vvrth to the legislature of 18t)7 shows to party carry v.- of 11 inro os thfre was an : !M la WrowlDfj . deficit of $2,f577 for the fiscal :5:-t:" ,u :Lr isSS i rn .how, that wlnow -Thenaing .1 : the fiscal year IK 1 i:a th ne of the proceed the democrats had left in the Mate th. f ,n.t. n bL hand will treaitury and that there came into the ""! t pir all of the de- hands of fuslonlst Treasurer orth the ; tr.i-.rr. d- a- I shall sum of $3CA2393, and that on Noem- un.Il;.l de- r 30th, the ena 01 -i1' "Tl rr t the democratic he had on hand only o-.a. -uU ...MrpM, the prrblle i'r Tf l " 5- : . . t i' n f . rz the deavocratlc par- ' ' :-.-.,Hr- it f.-r a deficit for ' i jr:y was repoasible. i-s h-'ity of the State has t ' cnijilrtely danrf r r. n . rra the repnblican : !i fh:i rnt at Grcea- Ttf- coxir.lttce oa plat- y ::-t n;r arrred to a reo- ';' ; y u" ;I nr th reptrt!icsn par- " t:... rntitntio;inl amend s 1 . ;-:c-r:-tpnt of the negro i j " n: .t nA;i',d not countenance - 1 .!'-'l"it'Ts to ir annulment. .ir !. fr reasons personal a W,I as for other reason 7r - fearlnr the ef- a . lai .11111,1 . uui 1 1 ':' . .1 .r t.i Treasurer Iacy accord inc t Kntor Priichard's own figures. f .rwsrd with rrtvit -m f .tT.r.2S.3'J. If he had been j which SenWr'able at that time V fcTe turned over it 1 t uke at the stat con-tnnA which had been stolen by his clerk. Major W. H. Martin, tii would have turned over, to Treasurer Lacy $53.5SS.40. And yet. In the face of these figure Senator Pritchard. the great the rcpuWicaa party of. North Carolina, who dictates its policies and name, it. candidates, attempts to claim that dur ing the republican regime the receipts or the government were fj-f 1 i TtMrt to demonstrate Mo I have condude.1 that, not only perore . ,in?ctratlnn evpend dia tn Tepuoiitiii , , . bad to meet anu - 1 1 0.1 -n that this is tne to . V -r; orent .mbarrass- tati. fin.ndalcondltion of the Sten.tor Pritchard state, that It will .Arred from the table of fibres whicf h. ilbSbed with his speech that T th nocr . Tnt r:n. haH it to TerM it.lto $2S3.934.90, - ia indacine Its author h. rejhiti,vi- n.1 mm vet txf, t, d-pt the me.ntv " ' e lt till.Upfinu - V. I K j, "'na relating to this ques- aated a State ticket upon 564.50, Railroad Privilege Tax 1899, .... ; 1900 ; 1901, $10,838.29. . W. II. Martin defalcation, $16,060.04. Total 1S99, S314.207.SS; 1900, $416, 2G3.10; 1901, f 50S.52o.2S. The total for the three democratic years is $1,238,997.30. Deduct the re-, ceipts of the republican years from this and we have a malance of $287,812.33. $120,202.50 of the additional receipts whlCa the democrats are charged with arose from the sale of the bonds which they issued to pay for the debts of the penitentiary contracted under the rule of Senator Pritchard's friends. .And right here I will remark that the face value of the bonds 6old was only $110,- uuu. $144,800.00 of these additional receipts arone from the sale of the bonds by enator lritchard's treasurer, Mr. W. JI. Worth, in order to meet those eame pld debts brought over to the democratic legislature from republican misrule and mismanagement. $40,354.63 of these additional receipts arose from the receipts of the shell fish commission, otherwise known as the oyster fund. $05,250.00 of these additional receipts was obtained by the sale of the bonds issued to raise money with-which to pay for the State farm purchased for the use of the penitentiary under the management of Capt. W. H. Day. $29,499.12 of thes which Senator Pritchard ohrp-- the democrats collected from the tax I w-. -.v. u.jr me umi&a states on account or claims growing out of the opuuua war. , To this should be added $39,205.47 the Increase in the special tax for Con federate soldiers. - The remainder of the difference in the receipts between the democrats and the republicans is made up 0f numerous small items. Including the earning, of the fbantable lnstitntions, the deaf and dumb and blind, and the like. For Jn- Tfce Fasten Legacies The Senator declares that for the year 1S99 the expenditures exceeded Ihe receipts by the sum of $49,048.07. This is true, hat to whom should this de ficit be charged? The fiscal year (be gan 'December 1st, 1898, and ended Not. 30, 1S99. The fusionists were In pos sess: on of all departments of govern ment, except the legislature, which met in January 1899. Governor Russell and hie appointees retained control of the. penitentiary and other important de partments of the State -government un til 1901, wthen Governor Aycoek was inaugurated. The taxes collected for the year 1809 were those levied by the fusionists and not those levied by the legislature of 1890. But let us accept the Senator's position and hold the dem ocratic party responsible for Governor Russell's administration while the plat form of his party Is claiming credit for that same administration, and what do we find? We find from the auditor's re port that among the expenditures were $103,633.45 paid on the debts contracted by John R. Smith and Mewborne in their management-of the penitentiary. $2,200 was paid ' in interest on the State prison bonds issued for the same purpose. $792.77 was paid to the com mittee which Investigated the misman agement of the fusionists whom Senator Pritchard seeks to hold up In contrast to what he calls the extravagant admin istration of the dejlrate.- The democratic legislature was com pelled to appropriate fifty-five thousand dollars that year for the (maintenance of the penitentiary which was then under their control. In addition to this, there was paid the sum of $9,997.73 for lawyer fees employed by Governor Russell in the useless litigation which he Imposed upon the State. These sums aggregate $171,623.95. So if there was a deficiency of $4y,S3ii.ls, '$ii,t3.yo of useless expenditures were made in paying the defaults of fusionism. In that year 1899 the Democratic legislature appropriated $0,500.00 for buildings at the Confederate Soldiers' Home in Ra leigh, and paid $17,879.75 more for Con federate pensions than the fusionists did in 1897, which, added to the $171,623.95 makes a total of $200,003.70. Senator Pritchard) declares that in the year 1900 there was a deficit of $2S, lv80.77 in expenditures over receipts. This is true, but the Democrats were not to blame for it. They paid that year $8, 4S9.65 of the old penitentiary debts. They paid $2,500.00 interest on the penitentiary bonds. They paid an ap propriation of $50,000.00 for the sup port of the penitentiary, although the gross earnings that year amounted to $195,432.02. It must be remembered that the Democrats did not control the pen itentiary that year. Capt. W. II. Day, who was a prominent lieutenant of Sen ator Pritchard's at the recent State con vention at Greensboro, was superin tendent. Under democratic rule the penitentiary had reached the point of being self-sustaining, for in ls9b Treas urer Worth In his report to the legisla ture, had this to say in regard to It: "In 1896 only $5,000.00 has been used of the State's funds over and above the earnings of the convicts, and had it not been for the heavy losses by overflow in 1806, there would have been but very little assistance needed from the State for 1897 and 1898. I now suppose it will take not more than $20,000.00 an nually to meet the expenses. I think the management has been very good." Instead of $20,000.00 being sufficient, the State has paid $120,000.00 of debts for those two years, and I am informed that they ore not through with paying them yet and that one claim of several hun-dtred dollars was paid- in August, 1902. In addition to these expenses for the penitentiary, which ought not properly to be charged to the democratic admin istration, there were expended1 on ac count of legal services to lawyers em ployed by Governor Russell $9,159.33. These sums aggregate $70,148.89, where as the deficiency was only $28,2S0.77. Senator Fritchard declares that there was an excess of expenditures over re celots In the year 1901 of $77,509.18. This is- true, but we are still paying the legacies of republican and fusion mis rule. In 1901 we paid $Z,2U.)U interest on the State's prison bonds. We lost in interest on the bond sold by Treasurer Worth the sum of $5,440.00. We paid on those same old debts of the peniten tiary $792.24. We paid to the peniten tiary the shortage of W. H. Martin, amounting to $16,060.04. We paid for investigating the shellfish industry $584. 60; and then we paid the sum of, $17,- THE, PRESIDENT'S SOUTHERN TRIP Next Tuesday Will Be Spent in And About Asheville Fitchburg, Mass., Sept. 2. The follow ing is the itinerary of the president on nis southern trip: " He will leave Oyster Bay on the morn ing of September 5 for Washington, from which point his special tram will leave over the Boltimoie & Ohio at 7:30 for Wheeling, W. Va. Wheeling will be reached on the morn ing of the 6th, where 'a two-hours stop will be made. The president will arrive at Chatta nooga at 8:30 on the morning of the Til 3 -it . . 1 i j . J i uu aim win sperm tne uay on buu uruuuu the battlefield of Chickamauga. On Monday, September 8th, he will address the convention of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen at Chattanooga, and will leave at 1 p. m. for Knoxville, arriving there at 5 p. m. A two-rhours stop will be made at Knoxville. Leaving at 7 p. m. for Asheville, N. O., he will arrive there at S:30 on the morning of the 9 th of Sep tember. At 10:30 p. m. that day he will leave for Oyster Bay. CAMPBELL VS. GUDGER . Chairman Griggs Trying to Harmonize Differences Washington, Sept. 2. Spec. '..--Chairman. Griggs of the congressional com mittee desires to harmonize matters in the tenth congressional district and se cure the election of a Democratic con gressman. While he does not believe he has jurisdiction wiith reference to the appeal of Jack Campbell who is contesting Gudger's nomination he has written the fifty-four members of the committee acquainting ithem with the contents of the appeal. Should a ma jority vote to 'i'ake the matter up Mr. Griggs will call a meeting of the com mittee. State Chadrman Simmons has been informed of thl action as well as Messrs. Gudger and Campbell. The case of both Campbell and Gudger have : been presented to the' committee. Mr. Griggs desires to give Mr. Campbell the advantage ;of an appeal to the full com mittee though he himself does not be lieve that the committee has jurisdic tion. Arrivals Judge Spencer B. Adams and R. B. Glenn of Forsyth. WHEN ROOSEVELT ' VISITS ASHEVILLE . . The City Will Take Holiday and Give the President a Big Time Asheville, N. C, Sept. 2. Special. President Roosevelt will reach Asheville next Tuesday morning at 8:40 and leave at 12:03 4n the afternoon of the same day. This information was received in a telegram to Senator. Pritchard from Private Secretary Cortelyou. The pres ldent's party will -be met at 'Hot Springs by a committee from Asheville and will be takn ,to the Battery Park hotel, where he .will breakfast. He will then be driven to the auditorium, where he will maie an address. After his ad dress he wilt be driven 'over 'Bdltmore. The city will be in holiday attire for the occasion. A big arch will be erect ed in the heart of the city, through which the president's carriage will pass. Senator Pritchard has wired the war department requesting that it lend fifty flasrs to be used in the decorating. A reception committee consisting of sev eral hundred representative citizens has been appointed. The president will be attended by his military staff and pos sibly a number of ladies. There will be no hand-shaking. The reception com mittee think that on account of limited time this would be Impractical. - i $ Make Believe Fighting in the Big Game of War Battleships Supposed to $e Blown Up Come to Life Again Defenders Claim Victory New London, Sept. 2. The Blue de fenders of the army are claiming tonight a complete victory over the Red fleet of the Auranian navy. It is declared that the Brooklyn and ' Massachusetts were destroyed last night by the fire of Forts Wright, Michie and Terry and the Ala bama, Indiana and Puritan were blown up by the submarine mines off Fort Terry on Plum Island when they at tempted to enter Plum Gut early this morning. Oolonel Hesbrook at i'ort Adams claims that in the engagement off Newport today the Montgomery and Panther "were so. badly damaged that they were compelled to retire and later their men were picked up by the boats from the Kearsarge. Rear Admiral Hi?- ginson retired with the Kearsarge, Prai rie, Scorpion and Isina to Block Island, where he received reinforcements shortly before noon today. Ine new vessels were immediately christened the Massa chusetts, Brooklyn, Indiana, Alabama," Puritan, Montgomery and Panther, and another effort will be made to force a passage into Long Island sound pr to destroy the forts off Newport. The fighting of last night . and tms morning ended tie first phase of the war. Another will soon follow. De tails of the naval engagement were se cured today from the commanding offi cers of the different forts in the zone of hostilities. Shortly after 10 o'clock the Brooklyn and Massachusetts made dash for the race between .valiant Rock and Fort Michie on Gulb island. Rear Admiral Higginson had evidently counted on the unpreparedness: of th forts for an attack in three directions and the Montgomery and Panther made a dash upon Newport about one o'clock this morning. To those on shore it seemed as if the battle was over when the firing ceased about 2 o'clock but in this they were mistaken for shortly af ter 4 o'clock the Alabama, Puritan and. ndiana appeared tat . the other end of the line and attempted to pass through Plum Gut. The Auranian 3 were appar ently familtiar with the fact that the fortifications on Plum island have not yet been completed and that all the ar mament has not been installed. The huge guns on the islands have a limited line of fire and do not command the approaches in all directions. Fort Terry has, however, a complete mortar battery system and It was from ,Fort Terry that the mortars were-, thrown that did snch great damage to the Brook lyn and Massachusetts. The enemy be ing cognizant of the weakness of the frt kept just under the range of the mortaTs and at a dead angle where they could not be reached by the fire of the guns. This would have been a safe position had the deal-line been free from mines. . The dead-line had been worked out by the artillery last week and Sunday mines were planted along its path natead of in Plum Gut Itself. The officers of tha Alabama, Indiana and Puritan wj- unaware of the trap .set for them byv General MacArthur. It was their nlani :,to lie in the dead-line and deetroy the defenses of l'luni Island, lan a body, of marines and take the fwrt in ie verse. All was silont in 'Fort Terry as the enemy approached. The centaiana was given not to fire upon the enciar. but await tmur appearance over jae, mines. The Alabama and Indiana wera the first to be blown up. AppaToutly they were passing between two torpe does. It is known to. explosive expert that a mine explodin with 50 feet of ship is all that is necessary to dwttroy.lt The torpedoes off Fort Terry wer Dlanted one hundred feet annrt and aC 4:45 a. m. the Alabama and the Indiana were each blown up by he explosion of shells. Constructively all that remained of the most powerful battleships of th Auranian government whs two torn nuna resting on "the bottom of the sen. ITTe Puritan met a similar fate at i:JU p. m., but in a different m inner. She ran di rectly upon one of . the mines. From the standpoint of war game xn vessels' commandcra did not know that they had been destroyed. Unconscious of this fact, ithey opened fire upon ForC Terry and bombarded the place for sev eral minutes. The defenders acting ' upon the instructions of'the post com 1 mander made no response as they knew! that vessels were constructively blown l?o pieces. This da the account of tno battle of Plum Gut from the statements of army officers and the official report! t received at General MacArthurs head- quarters today. At first it was ffuppo ' . edthat it was the Massachusetts ln STead of the Indiana that was destroy ed btft later reports corrected this er , ror. At 7 o'clock the remaining tshlpa of the fleet answered the sJgual of Ad-, miral Iligswnson t retire to Bloclc island. , The following message was received at 7 a. m. : "Fleet headed by Kearsarge retreated southeast from Fort Michio ito theifl bese at Block Island where it now is." Rear Admiral Higginson evidently contented liimeelf with the execution of the first phase of tho war as he remain- ed qrr.etly at anchor off Block island -during the early afternoon. "Dispatch boa': Avenel, off Crebus Shoals, Bilock Island, Sept. 2. Six of Rear Admiral Higginson' wtfrsliips, representing t'iio red fleet of the hortiJe', Auranians made the first attack on tho defenses on the eastern endi of Ixnijr Island sound' just as the grey day was" struggling through, the mist this morn- hg and to the observer. .Inexpert In tho eci entitle valuation of the fcire and tmke of -the tavaginary sheila' with, whilch tho ba'ttle was fought it seems that tho'' mea of war of the en-tmy won a vic-i tory. Aboard the ships therae-lves the' officers and) men certainly think they, have won, but in tho six. month1? or wo that lt will take those to whom the tasfk fa'lls of figuring out the points scored by each 6lde, lt will be quite a job. (Ooatlnced oa Page. &V AGAINST MERGER - : Kentucky Railroad Commis sion Geards Against a Possibility Louisville, 'Sept. 2. The Kentucky state railroad commission, of which C. C. McChord of Springfield is chairman, began this morning its investigation of the alleged plans for the merger of 'the Southern and Louisville Aj Nashville railways, with a view to taking action to frustrate the consolidation if it should be attempted. A secret meeting of the board wa9 held at Sellbach's hotel in this city but none of the commissioners would discuss what transpired during the session fur ther vhan to state that Judge Alexan der Humphrey, attorney for the South ern Railway and W. L. Ma pother, chief clerk to President Milton II. Smith of the Louisville & Nashville, were pres ent at the meeting. 3 ' New Comet Discovered Consul Gudger Speaks on Conditions at Panama Asheville, N. C, Sept. 2. Special. Hon. H. A. Gudger, United States con sul general to Panama, is at home on a furlough. He was tonight Interviewed by your correspondent as to the condi tions oni the isthmus. Mr. Gudger said: "The conditions when I left Panama, while not regarded! as serious, at the same rime were uncertain and1 no one seems to be able to determine what might be the result of the civil revolu tion that is in progress there at this time. The revolution commenced three years ago and there has been spasmodic fighting on the isthmus at intervals dur ing this period. There has been more serious 'figh ting in other parts of the re public but at present all the other de partments) are practically quiet. With regard! t'o the other departmentc the United States has no immediate interest. On the isthmus, however, the republic of Colombia and the United States have what is known, as the treaty of 1843, by which it is the duty of the United States to see that transit across the isthmus, as well as the Panama Com' pany's property, is properly protected. The traffic across the isthmus is im mense, most of it being mercna;ni'fse from New York to San Francisco and vice versa. To be ready at any moment to fulfil this obligation on the part of our government we have now,; and have had for more than a year past, warships in the bay of Panama amd Colon. No, these people do not mean to interfere with traffic or transit except in so far as the one ide or tho other can receive an advantage by so dioing. Hav ing this in view, we refused to permit nue government some time ago to bom bard Colon, and only a' few weeks ago served, notice on the government of Co lombia that no fighting" would be permit ted in the berths of the ships in the bay of iPanama,-'and at the eame time refused to allow tho revolutionary ves sels which were then in the bay to bombardi Panama or to land soldiers on the Wharves of the .Panama Railway , . Sarf Jose. Cal.. Sept. 2. Director P.rM"''V. W. W. Campbfll o; the Lick Observatory " mJ judgment me anama ciraai reports: A comet was discovered by rne. proper .piace ior xne TOnsirucuon Professr .Perrine Monday morning in ! of this great highway, and the Colom fbe constellation of Perseus. Its position blan government will give the conce- was nglit ascension a nours ana i safest for bv the United! States. "Yea, all parties, both revolutionists permitted to mingle with-the two par ties without let Or hindrance. j "I hope to be able to 'be hero until after the election, nd will do so if con- r ditfcms are such as to not require my return. There is certainly nothing -'alarming In the situation at present, or I would! have been cabled. The govern ment allows ono free access to cable lines." - THREE DEPARTMENTS minutes, ana aecimatiou a cegrevs ana 5 Tntnnt Tt ia mnrin slflwlv nnrrth- west, and is oot visible without a tcb- V and government, have treated me re- jpectfuily at ail Tames, aad 1 fcava been New Arrangement ofMilitary Affairs in the Philippines "Washington, Sept. 2. Upon recom- ' mendation of General Chaffee, concurred in by General Davis, who is to be hi successor in tho Philippines; an order has been issued ..by the war department rearranging the 'Philippines Into threo departments. ., The department of Luzon is to be com- .. manded by iJen. Jamns F. Wade, and -will include all the poTtion of the Phil ippine archipelago lying north of a line passing through Mlndora straight. jThe department of Vi?ayas, to be com manded by Gen. T. J. Wint, to Include, all erf the islands south of the department of Luzon. ! The department of Mindanao, to be commanded by Brig. Gen. Samuel Sum-. ner, includes all of the remaining islands t of the Philippine archipelago. : General Chaffee has boon directed to designate the places for the location of the several department headuartTr, and ' to distrttrute staff officers and troops ac cording to the best needs of the si-rvlee. General Chaffee end General Davis also recommend that four brigade or district commands be kept up ia the Philippines. " 3 . The Seaboard Sued (Washington. Sent. 2. Max Laaam has entered emit for $10,000 damages against the Seaboard Air Line Railway for alleged false arrest and Imprison ment. I The pkufntlfi? claims that April 4, 1902, at Charleston, S. C, the defendant caused him fto bo arrested and charged whh having: forged or counterfeited a certain paper writing with an intention to defraud the railway compary, upon which chaTgo pkuntiff alleges l:e was imprisoned and was prevented from car. f rying oa big business. The charge waj . dismissed by the trial magistral