The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-09-21
Deadly Gasoline.

Deadly Gasoline.
By the explosion Of 40 gallons OF
gasoline in the cellar Of a grocery store
at 14444 South street Philadelphia Sun
day night, four and possibly dozen
more lives were lost. As an immediate
consequence of the explosion, the build
ingwhere it occurred and those adjoining
it on either side collapsed. Up TO 10
o'clock, four hours after the ocrHsre"cc,
four bodies had been recovered from
the ruins. The cause of the explosion
is unknown. The front Of l444 was
blown out and this was followed by the
collapse of that structure, and Nos.
1442, occupied by Morris Goldbergs
furniture store, and l446, Louis Salio-
nore's shoe store. The west wall Of
144O, occupied by L. Wangers cloth
ing store, was blown out. All the build
ings were of brick, three stories in
height. In the confusion and excite
ment following the disaster, it is as yet
impossible to secure anything like an
accurate census Of the occupants of the
buildings, bat it is stated that the upper
floors were crowded with families. hud-
died together in tenement fashion.
Coming as it did at the supper hour, 1t
is feared the loss Of life was heavy.
The list of injured will be long: After
the recovery of the four bodies, the
authorities decided to postpone the
search for additional victims until
Monday morning, thus obviating the
dangers of working upon the mass OF
debris and wreckage in the darkness.
Estimates of the number of missing
vary from is to six. The accepted
theory of the accident is that Schatten-
stein went into the cellar witha lighted
lamp, which ignited the gasoline. The
collapse of the buildings occurred with
in two minutes of the explosion, and
the occupants had little time or chance
to escape. Mrs. Goldberg snatched up
her ten months old child in her arms
and rushed from an exit, but the child
was so badly injured that it died while
being borne to hospital. The mother
escaped with only trifing injuries.
Brighter Pros ects.
There is one man in the South who
has great faith in her future. In an
interview published in the New York
Commercial Advertiser, Mr.. Richard
H. Edmonds, editor of the Manufac-
turer's Record, emphasizes very strong
ly the advantages that will come to the
South as result of the war with Spain.
The United States has gained in few
months position amongthe nations by
the late one-sided conflict that it would
have otherwise taken years to secure.
In this advanced position the South
occupies most conspicuous attitude:
Mr.. Edmonds has been persistent and
untiring laborer ii the the cause OF
Southern advancement. His present
great industrial journal Of Baltimore was
a pioneer in an unpromising field. But
for the past quarter of a century Mr..
Edmonds has presented the resources
and advantages Of the South
to the world in an intelligent,
Jealous and painstaking manner. He
has made study of the situation. He
speaks by authority. In the interview
referred to Mr.. Edmonds dwells upon
the immense resources OF the
South and shows the dossibili-
ty of the manufacture Of cotton goods
in cotton States. He puts it strongly
and asserts that this highly-favort d
section may manufacture in the not far
distant future as much cotton goods IS
all the world now does. Such condition
would mean boundless wealth for the
South; and yet it is rational claim that
cotton should be manufactured where
it grows. Locate the mills in the cot
ton fields instead Of transporting the
cotton across the continent to the
mills. With present low price Of cot
ton and the damaged crop The Times
and Democrat is glad to hold out to its
farmer friends the bright hope which
Mr.. Edmonds presents through facts
and figures that cannot be disputed.
1t would be pleasure to publish the
article entire, but have space now only
for sample paragraph Of the vigorous
and inspiring utterances of Mr.. Ed
monds: in many senses cotton isstlll
king in the world business affairs, and
the importance to our country that the
South shall maintain and strengthen
its dominating position in this staple
cannot be overestimated. do not re-
call any other instance where the pro-
duction of great staple of almost uni
versal consumption, the demand for
which must necessarily increase year
by year in proportion to the increase OF
wealth and the progress OF civilization,
is so completely controlled by one sec
tion or by one country as is the case
with the South and its cotton. "
No ''superAuous Women
The government has published a map
showing for each State in the Union
the number of unmarried men and un-
married women over twenty years Of
age. With peculiarly childlike faith
the census officials believe they know
the exact ages of all the unattached
femalef, and accordingly they are
grouped in fve-year periods. In that
particular the statistics are manifestly
untrustworthy, but apart from that tho
figures are absolute. And they are
very astonishing. They show definite
ly that the surplus woman is myth.
There is no surplus Of women. There is
a shortage of 200, 900. There are in the
United States 5. 421, 76I bachelors over
twenty years of age, and only 3, 224 494
women above that age. But
this is the least astonishing part Of the
matter. The chart shows that in abso'
lutely every State there is an excess Of
bachelors over naidens. Even in
Massachusetts,, where tradition fixes
the home of the surplus woman,