Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1902-02-01

MISSISSIPPI MATTERS
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NOTES OF PAST AND CURRENT EVENTS.
BY KATE MARKHAM POWER.

firearms alone? 1t is time steps were
being taken for the enforcement Of all
laws bearing on the matter of carry
ing dangerous weapons. And If we
haven't laws enough we should enact
some more (this is a good time for
such work.. There are very few
weeks that pass without recording
some serious accident from a pistol in
the hands Of parties who didn't know
it was loaded" or who pointed it in
fun" Another recreation that has re-
Gently become popular is for invisible
parties to shoot (for fun at no given
object, with the result that the bullet
finds a place in the body Of some in
a-,ant passer-by. Only last week
Fieksburg gentleman was severely in
iured by toy rife, recklessly fired by
unseen parties. The bullet lodged in
the left lung and now a large and de-
pendent family is suffering distress
and priYation, while the hard-working
father fights death in a hospital. These
things are outrageous and should be
stopped 1t was Christmas night in
New Orleans that young lady stand
ing inside the window Of a friends
home was shot Cand died from the
wound) by one of party Of gay young
men and women passing, who were
firing pistols instead of frecrackers.
The guilty party should have been
made to suffer in this instance and in
all Others
The State has been presented with
valuable gift, and one which all loyal
citizens will greatly prize. This is
portrait of our first territorial govern
or, Hon. Winthrop Sargent. The
painting is life size and is a finely
executed copy (by a New York artist
of the original portrait Of the distin-
guished Mississippian which was
painted in 1906 by Gilbert Stewart.
We are indebted for this gift to Mrs.
w. Butler Duncan (born Sargent), a
granddaughter of Winthrop Sargent.
The portrait, in its massive frame, has
an honored place in the State Library.
This brings us to say-What we have
long had in our heart to earnestly
urge-that in our new Capitol there
should be, as there is in Virginia a
portrait gallery, where the people may
see and study and honor the faces Of
the great men who have made this
State what she is Of course, it would
be impossible to secure all the por-
traits that We would wish to hang
there, and that would be entitled to
position there; but we could get a
large number, and 1t seems to the
writer that the sooner the plan is put
in motion the better it will be for the
State, for us and for all generations
that are to follow US.
The Senate and House took another
holiday last week and enjoyed an
other genuine pleasure trip, This
time they went over the much-talked-
Of new road-the Gulf & Ship Island
to Gulfport, thence to various points
Of interest along the coast. The Gulf
towns are making great fights these
days for top place on the ladder, and
each one of half a dozen considers it,
self the one and only point suitable
for the location of the deep water har-
Dor. Their efforts to bring others to
their way Of thinking are earnest and
| laudable. Not only did several of the
cities on the coast-Gulfport, Pasca-
goula, and Beauyoir, home of Jeffer-
son Davis, and others-play hostess
to these august bodies, but the honors
We're also shown them by some of the
vigorous young towns along the Gulf
& Ship Island road. That their visit
ors appreciated the trip and all that
was done for their pleasure was
proven by the fact that they left Jack
son Friday morning and did not re-
turn until Tuesday However, the
trip was instructive as we'll as pleas
ant, so the public will doubtless be sat
isfal.
The good news comes to us that
there is to be a furniture factory
| with the accompanying settlement of
workmen) located about six miles
from Durant (near Magee), and that
the factory is to be capitalized at $40,-
900. The country in this section is
well timbered with the fine woods
needed in the manufacture Of furni-
ture and the factory will doubtless be
a success. There would be many
more factories in the State than there
are now if our people understood a
fraction of the value Of the trees that
are being cut every week in every
county by renters" for firewood, etc,
or even in "deadening." Only today
the writer exclaimed in horror at
hearing a young Kinds county planter
tell he had had a lot of tremendous
walnut trees cut out of the way" on
a place he has just bought" 1t is
safe to presume that he will not cut
any more "just to get them out of the
way" Nor will he make firewood of
those already down, for a visit to the
lumber mills of Jackson assured
him that those trees would be a con
siderable help toward paying for his
place.
There was general disappointment
in political circles and among fire.
quenters Of the legislative lobby when
the great land doubtless sensationaD
penitentiary investigation was post
poned from Wednesday, the 22d, tc
Thursday, the Goth. A large number
of interested parties had gathered al
the Capital City for this special pur
pose and their disappointment was
freely expressed when, for reasons ac
knowledged good by the Legislature
the whole matter was postponed for q
week and a day.
Another matter of Statewide inter
est that is occupying the Senate's at
tention this week is the proposed home
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