VOL. XI. NO 30.
£To Buy Your Jewelry \
v Nothing in Town to Compare Willi *S
112 the Quality that We are Giving J
s You for the Low Price Asked. S
C Quality and moderate prices mnkes a force that\
3 irresistibly draws into our store the best patronage
Cof this section. Many years here in business, always }
N with a full line of goods above suspicion; chosen C
[ with a care and judgment commensurate with its ?
\ desirability and adaptability to refine laste, rnakts \
t our store a safe place to invest. C
r Repair work done on short notice and guaran-r
\ teed, by skilled workmen. Your orders appreciated.
S RETTENRURY, >
<, DUSHORE, PA. The Jeweler
O l—* E*
• HARDWAR
No Place Like this Place
For Reliable
STOVES and RANGES,
. COAL OB WOO D
HEATERS;
ONE OP WINTER'S GREAT DELIGHTS.
House Furnishing Goods, Tools of Every
Description, Guns and Ammunition.
Bargains that bring the buyer back.
Come and test the truth of our talk.
A lot of second hand stoves and ranges for sale cheap.
We can sell you in stoves anything from a fine Jewel Base
Burner to a low priced but satisfactory cook stove.
Hot Air, Steam and Hot Water Heating and j
General Repairing, Roofing and Spouting.
The Shopbell Dry Good Co., j
313 Pine Street,
WILLIAM SPORT, PA.
Table Linen and Napkin .
Linens are like money, there nre good and there are
counterleit. We won't lake counteifeii linen ar.y more
than we would take bad money. Neither vvi 11 you when
you kno A' what you'rj getting To be sure about wh t
you'r getting in linens come here and get the kind you
wili be proudto own.
Needn't.pay much for tliein either—not an we sell them. Our linen prices are
always lair ; now tli.ey are very low considering the rise in linen.
Ladies' Suits Kid Gloves.
(ret the suit now, don't wait until the 01 course von wili want new kid gloves
last minute and have to buy in a hurry, logo with Ihe new cost We are i
Besides (lie selection is I test now ami it showing an i xeellent line of kid gloves
you wait until later the stocks will all he in a splendid range of colore for a low
picked over. Better choose the new suit price. You can't go far wroii" jf von
today while the stocks are yet complete, spend your glove money here.
Wool Dress Goods
Have you given them their share ol at fancy mixed fabrics are now at the best,
tendon ? Is the winter dress still tin- Of course you expect to find the prices
•bought V Our assortment of plai.i and right so we vyjisay nothing about them.
Corsets for All Figures Knit Underwear.
How about your underwear supplies?
Every tigure has its appropriate corset Have you everything you need ? If not
here. \\ e use the greatest care in giving ' l 't us lurnish what you want. You
the customer the right model. Some won't, find any better values than we are
brands are bent lor stout figures, others showing in either men's, ladies or chil
suit slender figures better. We know the dren's warm knit undergarments. Some
brands and we know their limitations, specially good values in Indie's Union
Ask our corset advice on these. suits.
GOOD WARM BLANKETS
either white or colored in all qualities are here and you
caniot go wrong in buying them, the prices are very reas
onable in view of the conditions ot the wool maiket.
Subscribe for the News Item
LAPORTE, SULLIVAN COUNTY PA. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, ISO 6.
Battl? of Fredericksburg.
From a Southern Viewpoint.
Dear Editor, forty-four years ago
Wednesday, the battle of Freder
burgh was fought, and as the heal
• ing influence ot time has to a great
extent dissipated the bitterness en
i gendered by the fraternal strife, we
can, without enmity, if not wholly
without prejudice, present our side
I in the struggle to the fair-minded
ie (r.
After the battle of Antictam, the '
1 i
' Confederate army retreated leisurely j
south, cautiously pursued by the j
Yankees until the Rapphannock was !
readied where they crossed in the '
face of the enemy who were then !
close behind the rear-guard. The j
morale of the army was never bet- j
ter. They had received large con- j
sigmncnts of heavy winter clothing j
i thanks to the labor and heroic sac- j
j ritice of southern women—and their
j courage was at high ebb as they dug
• into their intrench ments on the steep
; hills th:it skirted the south bank for
several miles. Thi« range of hills is
at 110 point more than a mile and a j
" half from the river and presents I
narrow and rather uneven valley. |
The ridge on the north bank is not j
quite so steep and is much closer to j
! water line. Here, along the crest of :
this ridge, the United States army
'entrenched itself for miles and was
! presumed to be in winter quarters.
They were in large masses, and their
dark blue uniforms and glistening
bayonets as they moved to their posi
tions appealed to the eye of the dis
tant specectator with terrible grand
| eur In nearly the center of this
i valley is the old town of Fredericks
j burg, a community known far and
112 near for its generosity and Christian
j piety. Everything was quiet in this
vicinity for many weeks and pickets
on both sides of the stream were be
coming friendly, when on the morn
ing of the the 12th of December the
people of thv- 'own were surprised
almost to frenzy to find the flats on
the south bank just below the city .
literally covered with Federal bay- <
! onets. They had crossed during
the night under cover of a thick fog.
No one would have tho't that the <
Confederate army on the ridge were
aware of this formidable movement. .
There was no indication of prepara- .
j tion from that quarter and the de- (
! voted people were alarmed for their
| safety. They were not long in sus- |
1 pense, however, for the United
States soldiers began to advance in
heavy masses toward the weakest
part of the Confederate position.
They were allowed to approach with
in pistol range, when suddenly the
heavy guns began to thunder and
great gaps were made in their lines
'only to be filled in until the Federal
line r -ached the top of the first
terrace and engaged the Confederates
with bayonet. The momentum of
the charge was such that the first
line was overwhelmed and broken
and the second line cooly opened
their ranks and allowed them to
pass through; they then promptly
closed like an adamantine wall and
tired volley after volley into the
heavy ranks of advancing Federals.
The men in blue fell in whole plat
toons and as they began to waver
the Confederates charged them with
the bayonet. Three times the brave
soldiers in blue charged tin? Confed
ates only to be hurled back in dis
dain. It was sheer murder to urge
soldiers to attack such a strong posi
tion defended by veterans. When
they retreated in the last repulse
(.Jen. Walton refused to train his
guns upon them, giving as reason
that he hated to kill such brave men
when they were trying to get away.
After nightfall the United States
army sullenly retired across the riv
er unmolested by a brave and gener
i ous enemy who seemed to have a
feeling of compassion for them. This
i statement may seem Don Quixotic
but 1 am in a position to know that
[it is literally true. A series of re
ligious revivals bad enthused the
Confederate army during its period
of inactivity and a Christian spirit
pervaded the ranks such as has af
fected no army since the days of l
Oliver Cromwell.
Rurnside, the Federal commander, j
[ j chagrined at his defeat, heartlessly
' I
bombarded the little town. The city
was full of non-combattants,old men,
women and children, who were com
pelled to take refuge in cellars. This
was a wanton act which even the
circumstance of being a defeated
commander cannot palliate. It is
gratifying to know that he was so
despised by the brave men under
him who clamored so for-his re
moval that the War Department re
tired him.
The Federal loss at Frederieks
; burg was something over 12,000 kill.
|ed and wouuded, the Confederate
! loss, owing to their strong position,
; was inconsiderable. The Cofneder
| ate army nnmbered 63,000 seasoned
I soldiers, while the United States
j army has been vaiiously estimated
!at from 1 10,000 to 160,000. Perhaps
' not more than half of them were en
j gaged in this battle.
William Fitzpatrick.
~ 1
Death ol D. W. Darling.
Daniel W. Darling who for •'!" 1
years had been a resident of Sones
town, uied at Dr. Koser's Sanitar
j luin at Williamsport, Sunday morn
ing at two o'clock of strangulation j
jof the bowels, fie was taken ill on |
! Tuesday of last week and his condi-;
tion soon became so serious that it 1
| was evident to the attending physi- '■
| eian that the only chance of recovery i
would be through an operation, lie
lie was taken to the hospital on
Thursday and the operation was per- 1
formed which was at first thought j
to be successful, but on Saturday j
he became worse and sank rapidly !
until the end came.
Mr. Darling was a veteran of the ;
Civil war, having served two years j
and nine mouths in the Union army,
and at the time of his deatli he was
aged 71 years, 3 months and 1 days. ;.
His Body was taken to the home of
his daughter Mrs. N. E. Weed, iui,
Williamsport, where impressive;
services were held by the Sons of ,
before being taken to
Sonestown on Tuesday where a:,
short service was conducted by Rev. ;
Stover, who took for his text these !
words, "Ye All Must Die," after J
which interment was made in the j
Sonestown cemetery.
lie is survived by a widow; two 1
sons and three daughters; two sons j 1
were killed in railroad wrecks sev- i
eral years ago. j 1
The floral tributes were many and 1
beautiful.
Michael Donovan Dead. j 1
After a lingering illness of eight
teen months, Michael Donovan of j 1
Muney Valley, fell into the sleep
that knows no waking, on Monday 1
December 10. In April of 1905 Mr.
Donovan was stricken with p.traly- (
sis since which time he had boon
practically helpless. On Saturday!,
last he suffered another stroke and j
it was then seen that the end was
near and which came early Mondayl
morning when surrounded by his!'
family he passed away.
lie was born in Ireland and camel
to America when he was IS y'ears of j
age, and for many years had been a
resident of this county.
He leaves a widow, one son Will- 1
iam of Sonestown, and four daught-; t
ers, Mrs. J. 11. Fries of this place,;
and Misses May, Celia and Katie |
Donovan, all at home. Mr. Dono- j
van was aged 63 years, 11 months!
and 15 days. The funeral was held j
Wednesday, and he was laid at rest
in Sacred Heart cemetery at this
place.
It cost Edwin S. Stewart, Repub- j |
Mean candidate for Governor, $6,194.- ,
09 to be elected at the last election, j (
as per his statement tiled in the State ,
Department atHarrisburg. Lewis!
Emery Jr., spent the snug sum of; |
$25,561.48 to run for Governor on 1 ,
the Democratic-Lincoln ticket and I,
be defeated.'
A case unique in criminal courts i|
was called for trial at Scranton be- ,
fore Judge Terry, in the Superior <
Courtroom. Alfred Rodway of!
West Scranton, is charged with man- i
slaughter. Rodway and several <
other men were in a saloon. A dis- (
pute arose over the strike of 1902, <
i and developed into a quarrel. In i
! the mixup Rodney bit William T. i
| James through the lip. Blood puis-: ■
lon ing developed and James died a i
j week later. ' <
Mails by Private Contract.
W. I). Hoyco, a Chicago p blisher,
several times a millionaire, and con
nected with many big commercial
affairs, comes forward with the prop
osition to have the Government
turn over to a syndicate of which he
is head the entire postal business of
the country. He proposes to man
age it as a private enterprise, hear
ing all the cost of mail transporta
tion, clerk hire, office rent and
everything else connected with the
business, depending upon the re
ceipts for the money to pay these
costs and afford satisfactory profits.
Mr. Boyce thinks he can cut postal
rates in two anil still make money
out of the business. He would cut
out all sinecures, such as franking
privileges for high officials,he would
make short shift of the "political
postmaster," and the mail service
: from top to bottom would be hand-
I led by men who were there because
of business efficiency, and not be
cause of political pull. He would
pay rent to the Government for all
its postoflice buildings and other
equipment and would charge it for
j all service rendered. He believes
i that the postal deficit could be wiped
| out and good profits accrue, and
i agrees to turn over to the Govern
i mint all profits above seven per
j cent, on the capital required to con
| duct the business. As the postal
| business is ail cash in advance, he
thinks $50,000,000 would be suffi
jeient. He would have a postal com
| mission appointed with full power
to regulate matters in case they
were not satisfactory.
The proposition is a revolutionary
one and not to be accepted without
due consideration. As it proposes
to cut off'the Congressman's frank,
and would rob him of a valuable po
litical asset in the appointment of
postmasters, there is no probability
that it will be accepted after consid
eration, but it may lead to discus->
-ion whereby the present postal sys
tem may be greatly improved.
It cannot be too often reiterated '
that the only social and economic
conditions which threaten the per
manence of American institutions
have their origin and growth either .
among the men who have no land
or among men who have too much.
Plie greatest security then, will
come from the multiplication of
small farms and homecrofts, and 1
the cutting up ol over-grown es-j
fates iuto small ones. Persuade j
every city worker to become a j
hoinecrofter, and threatening con-;
dit ions are attackeJ at the root, j
Tax the big estates out of existence I
or provide for their division into
small ones on the death of the ■
owners, and each of the parts, sep
arately owned, becomes a bulwark j 1
of liberty, equality and prosperity.
Compulsory Voting Law.
The poor will be well provided
for, at least until many of the resi
dents wake up, if a law suggested by
Brigadier General John A. Wiley,
of Franklin, is passed by the next
legislature. He now comes forward
with a compulsory voting law which
he wants passed by the assembly,
and under certain modifications
would doubtless remedy some evils.
"A fine of five or ten dollars, col
lectable as taxes, should be assessed
for failure to perform this duty of
citizenship," he says,"the money
togo to the county poor fund."
The great advantage of such a
law, the general asserts, would be i
that then a correct expression of the i
voters could be had on candidates i
and issues, and men knowing they 11
had to vote, would take more inter- i
est in the election than they now J:
do.
General Wiley answers the objec- ! I
tion that such a law would encroach j i
on a man's individual liberties by j,
citing the payment of taxes, service'
on jury, compulsory education and ! :
drafting for the army. He admits |<
that a great deal of time and thought I:
would be required to frame a suit-;]
able law of this kind, but thinks it ,
could be l»e doue. ' j
75C PER YEAR
BERNiCfc ITEIWS.
Ralph Mover left for Philnd- jphia
on Thursday.
Mrs. J. Connors, of Mildred, was
visiting town friends last week.
Mrs. Rex Toilers of Mildred, is
under the doctor's care.
James Bowles of Athens, spent
Saturday and Sunday with his par
ents on Sugar Ilili.
Agnes Collins of Lopez, spent Sun
day with her parents at Mildred.
There is some talk ot the County
Commissioners wanting to liold
to the old system of holding
the primaries, but we should say if
that is the new law is a good one, let
us have it; it is time that the old
system was laid away for good. Why
should the voters of Sullivan be de
prived of the new ballot law? If it
is good for the other counties it is
good enough for us. So by all means
let us have it. There is no use of the
i>eoplo sending a member to Harris
burg to make laws if we cannot get
the benefit of the laws he helps to
to make. ,
We raise our hat to the editer for
his timely article on the triennial as
sessment and iiope that the assessors
will do their duty as far as it is pos
sible for them to do so.
Our new school will be opened on
Tuesday night when the Hon. Win.
Collons of \\ illiamsport, will give a
lecture, and there will be singing
and addresses by the people. We
will try and give a full report in the
next issue.
Needn't be Over-Fastidiovs.
It is to be hoped that the exclusion
of Japanese children from the public
lie schools of San Francisco will not
create any serious international com
plications, nevertheless President
lioosevelt thought the matter of
enough importance to make it neces
j sary to send Victor L. Metcalf, Sec
retary of Commerce i>id I ibor, out
there to make an investigation.
The antipathy to Japanese chil
dren is very strongly akin to the ob
jection to the Chinese. The two
nations resemble each other more
than they do other races. The San
Franciscans may have been well
within their rights when they de
cided to eject these foreigners from
their schools, but they should re
member.that some things are lawful
that are not expedient. Japan has
been among our warmest friends for
years, the tie being more firmly ce
mented since the Russo-Jap war.
They are exceedingly sensitive peo
ple, however,and very keenly resent
anything that reflects unfavorably
upon them, especially if it be unfair.
If the San Francisco people had a
modicum of common sense they
would not exclude from their schools
children who are as cleanly and well
behaved as their own simply because
of their nationality.
Hahs -EssicK.
A pretty home wedding was sol
emnized at the home of Dr. Essieks,
of Picture Rocks, when his daugh
ter, Mary E. was married to Harry
R. Hahs of Philadelphia, on Tues
day, Dec. I, at high noon. Dr.
Barbe of (lie Lutheran church of
Hughesville, officiating. The mem
bers of the famiiies of the contract
ing parties were the only gu -sts
present. After a sumptuous wed
ding dinner, the newly married
couple left for New York, Philadel
phia and other cities. After Christ
mas Mr. and Mrs. Hahs will go to
Palm Reach, Florida, where they
will spend the winter.
Dr. E. W. Samuel of Mt. Carniel,
the defeated candidate foi Congress
in this district, has tiled his account
of expenses with Prothonotary Law
ler of Northumberland couuty. The
total of Dr. Samuel's expenses was
#3,2t>1.7:{ and is itemized as follows;
Contributions to the Northumber
land county committee, $135; Col
umbia county, $000; Montour couuty
8200; Sullivan, $200; Sullivan county
Prohibition committee, $25; postage.
$27; typwriting, #01.75; traveling
expenses, $11.57; advertising, $(!;}8.-
2<>; printing, $378.15; personal ex
penses, $100; transportation of voters
£75; dissemination ot information,
$020.70. Total, $3201.73.