Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-03-04
Scraps aud faets.

raphies Of nearly fifty thousand CEN
tenarians and photographs Of 600. He
has been collecting them all his life.
He says that there are at present 4,OOO
centenarians in the United States. The
Oldest man in the world, he says. is
Manuel del Vale, a Mexican living
near San Francisco, who is 157. All
parts of the world are included In this
collection.
The rivers Of the southwest have
gotten high out Of their banks within
the past few days. A dispatch Of Fri
day from Houston, Texas, reported a
steady rise in every river Of the state.
The Brazos, Trinity, Colorado. San
Marcos, Guadalupe and Leonare were
already high out Of their banks at vari-
Gus points and cattle were being driv-
en- to places Of safety. The Mississippi
river was above the danger line at
Memphis, and the levees were showing
signs of weakening. To the Arkansas
shore across from Memphis, the dis
tance was more than q mile, and at
lower points down the river, the water
extended miles inland. Many houses
and cabins are under water.
According to q report to the state
department, vessels loaded with cotton
are frequently reported as having fire
aboard caused by the self-ignition OF
the cotton. Experts have come to the
conclusion that cotton, being of the
same composition as wood. cannot Of It
self become ignited. One of the high
est courts Of Prussia recently decided
upon an important case Of this nature
by declaring that there was no such
thing as self-ignition. Experts from
Bremen and Hamburg were asked 10
submit their opinion also. The Breslau
courts decision was "self-ignition OF
cotton" is entirely out Of the question.
according to the universally acknowl-
edged opinion Of men OF science and
experience. 1t Is popularity OF cotton
that It may conceal combustible ma
terial within it for weeks, and longer,
as was seen in this very case, for sew
eral bales of cotton that were saved
from the fire and lay In q pond for
some time during the following winter
suddenly burst into flames late in the
following spring without any cause, as
was proved by competent witnesses"
- Out Of the multitude Of tempests In
teapots at the congress Of the D. A.
r. has come a tempest large enough
for q tea kettle at least, says Wash
ington dispatch. The South Carolina
Daughters blew it up. Mrs. Fairbanks,
the president general, in her annual
address included the names Of all the
states she had visited and gave at
some length the courtesies extended to
her. But Mrs. Fairbanks spoke 20 low
that only a few tiers Of delegates heard
q word she said. Everybody applaud
ed Just the same. After it was all over
a little South Carolina woman piped
up: What did she say about the way
we all entertained her down at Charles
ton? We were so far back we couldn't
hear a word she said" She got type
written copy Of the address. South
Carolina did not appear in it. Then the
South Carolina delegates hunted up the
president general. She explained that
the typewriter had got things mixed,
and had left out a splendid" notice
Of the magnificent" courtesies extend
ed at Charleston. Notwithstanding the
explanation the South Carolina dele
gates felt hurt, and at the reception
which the president general held at
Congressional Library no daughter OF
South Carolina appeared with badge
on. Only two were there at all. A
meeting Of the delegation was held and
it was decided not to attend Mrs. Fair
banks reception.
Richard Jordon Gatling, the inven-
tor, died in New York last Thursday
Of heart failure. He had been troubled
with this ailment for about three
years; but death came without warn
ing. He was born in Hertford county,
N. c., on September IL, 1918. AS a boy
he assisted his father in perfecting a
machine for sowing cotton seed; later
he invented a machine for sowing rice,
adapted it to sowing wheat and pat
ented it. DR.. Gatling graduated at the
Ohio Medical college in 1850, but never
practiced the profession. His most
notable invention, or at least the one
which perhaps did most to make him
famous. was the Gatling gun. which he
perfected in 1862, and which is still
among the artillery equipment Of the
United States army. BY its use thou
sands of shots may be fired per minute
out Of a pepperbox cannon barrel con-
trolled by a crank arrangement. In
1866 DR.. Gatling invented a gun metal
composed of steel and aluminium. He
also invented a hemp breaking machine,
a steam plow and other machines.
Some years ago congress voted him
$40 0O0 for proof experiments in new
method Of casting cannon. It has been
said of DR.. Gatling that the horror of
war as shown by the return home of
wounded and dead soldiers early in the
invention of a gun which would take
the place of lumber Of rifles and re-
quire rrlv few men to operate it, and
that t. death-dealing machine affair
which bears his name is the result Of
this effort.
-Rumors Of hostilities in Macedonia
if not premature, are not confirmed
with adequate authority, says the New
York Tribune's London correspondent.
The efforts Of the powers to restrain
hOth Seryia and Bulgaria are increased