Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-11
Scraps aud facts.

was an explosion. The fire spread rap
idly and was not checked until it had
destroyed fifty or more derricks. Es-
to $780, 900. First reports had it that at
least twenty men had been burned to
death; but later reports deny that there
was any loss Of life.
Governor Stone, of Pennsylvania,
has ordered the entire national guard
of the state, numbering 10000 men, into
the coal regions. The order was issued
on Monday. The mine operators had
been urging this step for several weeks,
but the governor was reluctant to take
It. The operators claim that they will
now be able to resume operations at
full capacity, the principal trouble for
sometime past having been that the
strikers were able to intimidate non
union workers. President Mitchell de-
nies that the non-union workers Will
be able to operate the mines to full ca
pacity and claims that all the troops
in the United States will not be suf-
ficient to force the union miners back
to work.
The following statement relative to
the presidents negotiations to settle
the coal strike was made public at the
White House last Monday afternoon:
Monday, October 6, Hon. Carroll D..
Wright, commissioner Of labor, went
to Philadelphia, and gave to Mr.. John
Mitchell, the following from the pres
ident: "If Mr.. Mitchell will secure
their immediate return to work Of the
miners in the anthracite regions the
president will at once appoint COM
mission to investigate thoroughly into
the matters at issue between the ope-
rators and miners, and will do all with
in his power to obtain settlement OF
those questions in. accordance with the
report of the commission Mr.. Mitch
ell has taken this matter under con-
sideration."
The bureau of nsular affairs has
given out a statement Of the commerce
of the Philippine islands by fiscal years
from the date Of the American occu-
patton to June 80, 1902, which shows
that the port Of Manila opened August
%, 1885, the general opening Of the ports
in the archipelago beginning January
1, 1899. In 1899 the total imports were
s13,113,O1O; in 1900 the total imports
were s2O,6O1, ,43O; in 1901, s3O.27s, ,4O6. and
in 1902, $32,141,S42. The increase Of but
$1,S62,436 in the imports for the fiscal
year 1902 can, it is explained, be ac-
counted for by the prevalence Of chol-
era and the strict quarantine necessi-
tated thereby. There has been a cor
responding increase in the exports from
the fiscal year 1899 to 1902. The exports
for 1899 were $12, 3S6, ,912; 1900, $19, Isl, ,O6S;
1901, s23, ,94S; 1902, $23, ,729, ,0S9.
Washington dispatch: The expenses
of the office of the First Assistant
postmaster general next year will ag-
gregate over $S1, ZOO, 900, or more than
the total annual expenditures for the
entire postal service prior to 1898. First
Assistant Postmaster General Wynne
intimates that the deficit of the postof-
flee department next year will be about
81, 900 COO, and that in another year the
department will be Self-Supporting.
The last year in which the receipts Of
the postal service exceeded the eXpen-
ditures was just before the rate of let
ter postage was reduced from three to
two cents. Officials of the postoftice
department believe that when the pos
tai service again becomes self-support-
ing congress will pass one-cent letter
rate postage law. Postmaster General
Payne is said to favor such a move.
A New Orleans telegram Of recent
date. states that steamer just arrived
at that port from Honduras. brings
news of the death of Joseph P. Benja-
min, on his plantation near Ciengolfo,
Honduras. This Joseph was brother
of Judah P. Benjamin, secretary Of
state of the Confederacy. and one Of
the most famous leaders Of the Lost
Cause. At it's close he and his brother
declared they could not live in coun-
try where the cause they loved so well
had been crushed. Judah went to Eng
land, and there became known as one
of the most brilliant lights Of the Brit
ish bar Joseph went to Central Amer
lea and bought land in Honduras.
There he acquired large coffee and
fruit plantations and became wealthy
and powerful: and there he lived to the
end of his days. The sketches Of him
.~l,1 cote fhnf = O.
tive of South Carolina, but that he
was educated at the University Of
North Carolina.
The United States geological survey
has recently issued special map form
ed by combining a number Of topo-
graphic sheets, previously published. Of
the country surrounding Norfolk, Va.
The section covered by the new map,
known as the Norfolk quadrangle, in
cludes Fort Monroe, Newport News,
Hampton Roads, Norfolk and Ports
mouth, and extends for about four
miles south of the North Carolina line;
it also covers a large area Of the Dis
NAL Swamp. 1t has been compiled
with great accuracy and minuteness
of detail, even the houses in country
districts being located on it, and is of
more than ordinary interest in indica-
ting the topographic features and the
inequalities of relief by system of
contour lines. A striking popularity
of the Dismal Swamp is clearly brought
out by the map, which shows that the
surface of the swamp stands from sew
en- to ten feet higher than the sur
rounding country, and the unusual
phenomenon of streams draining out of
a;,o.t;no. &c Tho