ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL
Copy ripht by Waidon Fawcett.
Charles P. Grandfield of Missouri, has succeeded Frank H. Hitchcock as
first assistant postmaster-general, Mr. Hitchcock having resigned to assist in
managing the Taft boom for the presidency. Mr. Grandfield was born at
Troy. Lincoln county, Missouri, in 1861, and keeps his voting residence there.
He was appointed to the postoffice department as clerk at $1,000 in August,
1885, and has risen through every grade to his present position. While in
the department he took a course in medicine at Howard university, getting
his degree of M. D. in 1889.
WHERE OUR FLEET RESTS.
MAGDALENA BAY, LOWER CALI
FORNIA, IN DREARY WASTE.
Anchorage and Strategic Facilities Ex
cellent. But Shores Desolate—
Ships to Engage in
Target Practice.
Washington.—Uncle Sara’s greatest
armada in history, numbering 53 ships
of war—39 battleships, 37 cruisers and
17 auxiliaries—is now assembled for
target practice in the magnificent port
at Magdalena bay, Lower California’s
grim harbor of tragedy and romance,
which has been leased by Mexico to
the United States for three years as a
coaling station.
Admiral Evans' fleet, which passed
aronnd the Horn, sailed from Callao on
February 29, and arrived in fine con
dition at Magdalena bay on March 12.
It was the longest lap on the eventful
voyage, a distance of 3,302 nautical
miles. There are no wireless telegraph
stations on the coast of South and
Central America, and was no commu
nication by this means. The vessels
were not heard from until they reached
the bay. The torpedo squadron will
arrive April 6. The men will there
engage in the usual spring target prac
tice.
Magdalena bay is the only deep
water harbor and perfect shelter from
storm on the long, barren coast of
Southern California. It is one of the
few great, harbors on the Pacific coast,
and compares favorably with the best
in the world. Located in the vast
solitudes of a forbidding and unpro
ductive coast, it is of such proportions
that it could handle the traffic of New
York and Liverpool without conges
tion.
The bay proper, exclusive of shal
lows. lagoons and tributary inlets, is
17 miles long and 12 miles wide in
side of the five-fathoin line, of the
depth of 30 feet, which would be safe
anchorage for the biggest ships. There
are 100 square miles of this safe an
chorage ground, ranging in depth
from 30 to 120 feet. In the village of
Magdalena there are ordinarily 25
houses and 50 inhabitants, but to-day
the place is a community.
With only one entrance, safe and
wide, but easily defended, the great
natural harbor of Lower California is
declared by naval experts to be the
finest station in the world for a naval
base. The right to use it as a coal
ing station and for the rendezvous of
the United States navy was a con
cession secured by Secretary of State
Root from the Mexican government
during his recent trip.
Should the United States acquire
Magdalena bay, as has been -ecently
proposed, she would have the facilities
for one of the greatest coaling stations
on the Pacific coast. Located at a
point between Panama and San Diego,
it might be of great strategical value.
First visited by Europeans in the
days of the Conquistador Cortes, in
various centuries the gathering place
of voyagers from the Spanish main,
galleons from the Philippines, buc
caneers from England and the Nether
lands, American filibusters and
whalers from New England ports, it
was less than 40 years ago the favored
property of a powerful Boston and
New York syndicate presided over by
Gen. John A. Logan. In the sands
southward, toward Cape San Lucas,
lie buried the surplus riches of many
a treasure ship.
In 1847 Lower California passed
into the hands of the United States.
Upon the outbreak of the Mexican
war Admiral Selfridge landed a body
of marines and two companies of New
York volunteers and took possession
of the country with but slight opposi
tion. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidal
go, however, restored the territory to
Mexico, despite the avowed intention
of President Polk and his cabinet for
its retention.
Few of the natives on the California
peninsula care to risk a journey
through the arid regions reaching
down to Magdalena bay, for thirst
marks the wilderness with skeletons
of those who have died crying for wa
ter.
Although the great hay is large
enough to accommodate all the navies
of the world and be heedless of then
presence, yet it counts an incoming
sail an event. The explanation is
thirst. For every man who has ever
visited this superb, illstarred bay has
felt the want of water.
VIOLET EYED GIRLS
EPIDEMIC OF THEM FOUND IN
SOUTHEASTERN IOWA.
Cause BafRes Explanation—Old Resi- i
dent Says Hue Comes from
Heaven—Their Possession
Excites No Comment.
Mount Pleasant. Ia.—Are violet eyes
always indicative of a beautiful face?
Is there a subtle relationship be
tween the flower-hued pigment in the
iris and whatever mystical physical
operation it. is that fashions features j
in alluring form and gives to complex
ions texture and tint of the rose
petal ?
Be that as it may. there is an epi
demic of violet eyes in Mount Pleas
ant. Whether or not it has connection
with the comeliness boasted by scores
of young women here—a boast so
worthy that when President Roosevelt
passed through last fall he exclaimed:
“I never before have seen so many
pretty women in a place this size"—is
another matter.
From the eyes of a strangely un
usual percentage of girls in this uni
versity town the hue of the violet is
reflected.
There are violet eyes of many
shades. One pair of optics may pos
sess the pale, almost colorless blue
marking the tiny harbinger of spring
dug from beneath its covering of
snow. In other instances eyes are so
deeply tinted they are thought black.
Dozens of varying shades mix in be
tween.
Violet eyes are so common here that
their possession excites no comment.
Yet it is not to be denied eyes of
Mount Pleasant girls constitute the
greatest, charm of many beautiful
faces.
Why the presence of the purple
blue pigment in the eyes of so many
daughters of the town is a problem as
■perplexing as it is unpromising of solu
tion.
“My alteution has been called fre
quently to the matter,” said Dr. W. L.
I,essenger, a prominent southeastern
Iowa surgeon. “It is exceedingly diffi
cult of explanation. The cause pioba
bly lies back several generations. But
even though it were true early settlers
of Henry county happened to have
violet eves, there must be some physi
k
cal condition here, either in the at
mosphere or in the chemical composi
tion of the soil, to preserve the dis
tinctive coloring. It is a strange
anomaly.
“It is seldom possible, in instances
of such irregularity, to advance expla
nations sure to be correct.”
Old residents declare southeastern
iowa skies are the bluest in the Mis
sissippi valley and that eyes of the
daughters of the land catch their hue i
from the heavens.
Violetest eyes of all has Miss Gladys
Garvin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S.
W. Garvin, in a town where violet
eyes are usual attractions, her eyes
are unusually attractive.
Mt. Pleasant is the seat of the Iowa
vVesleyan university. Intermingling of
college and city social interests has
given'the place the name of "Vassal
of the West.” National sorority offi
cers live here. Miss Ellen Hall is na
tional treasurer of the Alpha Xi Delta
sorority. She is president of the P. E.
C. sisterhood here, where the society
was organized.
Photographs from a local studio
substantiate Mt. Pleasant's claim to
being the home of beauty and violet
eyes. Misses Ethel Hesser, Stella Sni
der, Chassie Fraker and Mrs. Nell
Stahl Stevenson and Mrs. George
Crane are among the fairest women
of southern Iowa.
Servant Leaves $200 to Cat.
Elkton, Md.—Tiny Sims, for many
years a servant, bequeathed $1,200 to
Harmony Presbyterian church and
$200 to Mrs. Isabella P. Milton, in
whose house she died.
The income from the bequest to
Mrs. Milton is to be applied to the
maintenance of her black cat, Dixie,
and on the death of the cat the money
is to go to Harmony church.
DEATH STATISTICS FOR 1906.
White Scourge Still Claims a Large
Percentage of Victims.
Washington.—Death statistics for
1906 in 15 states, made public by the
census bureau, show that by far the
greatest scourge of the country is tu
berculosis, with an average of 159
deaths i>er 100,000 of population.
However, this is a decrease of 10 since
1905. Colorado and California were
the states with the highest mortality
records from the white plague, with
South Dakota and Michigan the two
'lowest.
The death rate for suicide appar
ently showed a large increase from
1902 to 1905, but 1906 statistics exhib
it a marked decrease, being 5,853. Of
this number 4,521 were males. The
entire number of violent deaths was
49,552—about 120.9 per 100,000. Rail
way accidents were responsible for
7,090 lives, and 183 persons were
killed in automobile accidents.
The entire death rate of the states
and cities in which statistics were
collected was 16.1 per 1,000 of popu
lation. The annual average rate dur
ing the same period for England and
Wales was 16; for Scotland, 16.9; Ire
land, 17.6; Germany, 19.9; and France,
19.6. Comparing these figures with
previous records, it appears that the
world has now reached an era of low
mortality. Several foreign countries
formerly had as high a death rate hs
25 per 1,000.
The death rate among negroes was
more than GO per cent, higher than
that for whites, in the section exam
ined, being 28.1 per 1,000.
SOUL FIGURES IN WILL.
Rich Old Land Owner Makes a Special
Bequest of It.
Washington, Pa.—The will of A. M.
Russell, late of Hickory, Mt. Pleasant
township, this county, received in the
register's office, is the most peculiar
testament ever probated in Washing
ton county. Russell was a wealthy
land owner, retiring from active work
several years ago. After disposing of
his large land interests, distributing
his wealth among his widow and sev
eral sons and daughters, the testator
provides in his instrument as follows:
"I hereby direct that my soul shall
be returned to the God who gave it,
and that my body shall he consigned
to the earth, whence it came.”
Russell then moralizes on the short
ness of life and the uncertainty of
man's existence, urging upon his
widow and children the importance of
following "the straight and narrow
path.”
The Russell estate is variously esti
mated at from $150,000 to $200,000.
Mr. Russell had for many years been
active in church and temperance work,
and gave largely of his means in the
support of charity. He was one of the
representative citizens of the county.
1
State Capital Notes
I
To Take Up Normal School Work.
State Superintendent of Instruction
J. J. Doyne has announced that he
will soon resign his position in order
to take up his work as president of
the new State Normal School of Con
way, which duties he is to enter upon
July 1. His resignation will be sub
mitted to Governor Pindall before that
time, in order that the governor may
have plenty tinie to appoint a sue- j
cessor to nil Mr. Doyne's iinexpired
term. Reports to the effect that Mr.
Doyne has already submitted his re
signation to the governor are denied
by both Mr. Doyne and Governor
Pindall. Mr. Doyne's term of office
expires November 1, 1908. His succes
sor will have about four months to
serve. Although the governor has
made no statement whatever as to
whom he will appoint in case of Mr.
Doyne's resignation, it is generally be
lieved in state house circles that
George B. Cook of Hot Springs, can
didate for state superintendent of in
struction in the present campaign, will
be chosen. His nomination to the
office is now assured, as he has no
opposition, and his consequent, elec
tion, so that in any event he will step
into the office November 1. It is not
thought that the goveror would deem
it worth while to appoint anyone else
for a short time. Mr. Doyne’s re
signation is the cause of no surprise,
as it has been known that he would
have to take up the duties of presi
dent of the new normal school July
1. Although the school building will
not be completed at that time, he
will have to commence the work of
arranging courses and school work
in order to have everything planned
by the time the school opens in the
fall.
Requisition Made For New Equipment.
Governor Pindall has filed formal
requisition with the United States
War Department for a complete new
supply of arms and ammunition for
the Arkansas National Guard. He
asks for 1,400 of the latest modeled
rifles that are now being issued by
the War Department and 25,000 rounds
of ammunition. The requisition was
made at the request of the War De
partment, the Arkansas National
Guard having just received a commun
ication from that department asking
that the governor notify the depart
ment at once as to how many guns
and how much ammunition the state
militia would need, stating that the
number of guns ordered and the
amount of ammunition wanted would
be supplied the guard at once. The
guns now held by the state guard
will be turned back to the department
when the new arms are secured. The
new gun is a Springfield weapon,
with slightly shorter barrel than the
guns now used, and with a wood base
underneath the barrel that extends
further out toward the end of the bar
rel than the present gun. The new
ammunition will be ball cartridges.
The new guns and ammunition will
be used at the annual target practice
of the Arkansas National Guard, ar
rangements for the holding of which
are now under way. The practice will
be at Fort Smith, and Adjutant. Gen
eral Paul Little is now busily engaged
in completing arrangements for secur
ing the ground and attending to other
details.
Contracting Company Enters.
The T. \V. Hunt Contracting Com
pany, incorporated under the laws of
North Carolina, has filed a copy of its
articles of agreement and incorpora
tion with the secretary of state. The
company claims to have $32,273.08
assets, and $15,862.96 liabilities. The
company will have its offices at
Searcy, and names as its agent in this
state, C. E. Hodgson.
Bondman Released.
Governor Pindall yesterday issued
a proclamation reelasing and absolv
ing J. M. Nall of Jefferson county
from the payment of $500 bond money
for tvhich he was held good by the
Jefferson county courts. The procla
mation was issued after reasons had
been advanced why Nall should not
be held for the bond.
Ball Club Incorporated.
The Argent a Baseball Association,
which will manage and operate a base
ball club in Argent a. The incorpora
tors are: W. W. Hurt, E. V. Visart,
W. H. Abington, C. G. Butler, Harry
Kahn and Henry Topf. The company
incorporates with a capital stock of
$2,500, of which $375 has been sub
scribed.
Requisition Made.
Governor Pindall Saturday made out
a requisition for George Port wood, w ho
is wanted in Greene county on a Grand
Jury indictment charging assault. He
is now said to be under arest in Liv
ingston county, Ky. The requisition pa
per will be presented to the governor
of Kentucky.
Three Pardons lesued.
To Berry Tillery, who was convicted
February 15, 1908, in the justice of
the peace court of Garland county of
assault and battery and fined $10.
To the same man, who was also con
victed on the same date and in the
same court of aggravated assault and
fined $50 and sentenced to 30 days in
jail.
To Howard Allen, wrho was convict
ed at the March term, 1905, of the
Pulaski County Circuit Court of grand
larceny, and was sentenced to five
years in the penitentiary.
Governor Acts In Assault Case.
Governor Pindall Saturday issued a
proclamation offering $300 reward for
the capture and conviction of Charles
Harris, a negro, wlio is wanted at
Brinkley on the charge of assaulting
a 14-year-old white girl. All reports re
ceived heretofore from Brinkley con
cerning the assault, which was com
mitted last Saturday night near Brink
ley, were to the effect that t^ idenU
ty of Hie negro who assaulted the
white girl was unknown. The peti
tion received by Governor Pindall ask
ing that a reward be offered sets forth
the name of Charles Harris as the
one who committed the assault.
The case is rather a notorious one
owing to the fact that the assault was
one of the boldest committed in Ar
kansas in some time. Between 9 and
10 o'clock last Saturday night a ne
gro entered the home of Mrs. Robert
Craig, living two miles west of Brink
ley. He entered h. room where Mrs.
Craig, her daughter and Miss Creasy
Jolly, the girl who was assaulted, were
sitting. Before the woman and girls
realized what had happened, he put
out the light in the room. Mrs. Craig
and the two girls started to run to
a neighbor’s house, and it was while
she was running from the Craig home
(hat the Jolly girl was overtaken by
the negro and assaulted.
Posses and gangs of infuriated citi
zens of Brink'ly and farmers of that
locality have been out ever since,
searching for the negro, but as yet
have not located him. Bloodhounds
are being used in the search.
The governor's reward was offered in
order to induce more fervor in the
search. In case the negro is captured,
however, it is very possible that the
reward will never be paid, as he will
likely be lynched the minute he is
identified by the girl, as the feeling
against the man is intense at Brink
ley.
Farmers Raise Money.
Special Agent A. V. Swaty of the
Experimental Department of the Uni
ted States Department of Agriculture,
with headquarters in the office of Com
missioner Guy B. Tucker, has just
l>ieen notified that the farmers of
Faulkner and Conway and some other
count ies have raised enough money
to pay the salary of an assistant for
Mr. Swaty in his work. Mr. Swaty
will soon appoint his assistant, who
will likely have charge of the govern
ment experimental and agricultural
work in Bogan, Yell and Pope coun
ties, while Mr. Swaty will devote the
most of his time to the work in Faulk
ner and Conway counties.
The fact that the farmers in the
state are raising money for the pur
pose of employing assistants for the
furtherance of experimental work is
significant of the unusual interest they
are taking in the work, and of the
fact that they are desirous of learning
as much as possible about latter day
farming.
Cases Appealed.
The transcript in the case of Fran
cis Briggs against the St. Louis, Iron
Mountain and Southern Railway Com
pany, on appeal from the Nevada Coun
ty Circuit Court, was filed with the
Supreme Court Saturday. The case
is one in which the plaintiff brings
suit for $1,000 damages, which it is
alleged were sustained while alight
ing from one of the defendant's trains
at a poorly lighted station platform.
The transcript in the case of the
State of Arkansas against Herbert
Coope, on appeal from the Franklin
County Circuit Court, was filed with
the Supreme Court Saturday. The de
fendant is charged with seduction. He
was fined $150 and sentenced to one
year in the penitentiary in the lower
court.
Directors Organize.
State Superintendent of Instruction
J. J. Doyne and his assistant, W. A.
Crawford, left Friday night to attend
school directors’ meetings. The form
er will attend a meeting at Warren,
in Bradley county, and Mr. Crawford
will attend a meeting at Piggott, in
Clay county.
Mr. Doyne stated that the work of
organizing school directors in the 'va
rious counties of the state was pro
gressing with unusual rapidity. Mr.
Doyne says that already the directors
of 50 counties in the state have or:
ganized.
Sues Senator Jeff Davis.
Alleging that Senator Jeff Davis has
refused to pay for 411 window and
five door screens, E. T. Burrows & Co.,
who claim to have installed the
screens, has filed a mechanic's lien on
the property to secure the payment for
them. The Burrows company states
that the screens were installed in
Senator Davis’ residence January 1,
1908, and that $125 is due on the
screens and for the labor of install
ing them.
Company [inters State.
State Auditor Avery E. Moore has
issued a license to the Texas Life In
surance Company allowing that com
pany to operate in Arkansas. The
company has its offices at Waco, Tes
It is incorporated with a capital stock
of $100,000, and has $56,000 surplus.
Pardon Granted.
Governor Pindall has granted a
pardon to James Haley, who was con
victed in Ihe Little Rock Police Court
March 5, 1908, of disturbing the peace
and who was fined $25 and sentenced
to 30 days at the countf farm.
Gather Wisdom
Wisdom will enable you to „
the most difficult problems T?0®*
quently fate itself; therefor d fr®
wisdom wherever you m,,. V e. gatIler
U.O past teach tC S®*** »
future.—-Loth. " ns for the
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Address Allen S. Olmsted,
For His "Animated Natur*-.
Goldsmith got $4,500 tor Z\ L
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2