340 



GEORGIA. 



ing to the stringency in money affairs it was 

 postponed until May, 1894. By the addition of 

 West End the population of the city was in- 

 creased to 120,000 according to the estimate of 

 an Atlanta newspaper. 



Augusta. An exposition was opened in Au- 

 gusta in December, which was well attended and 

 highly successful. It was estimated that 30,000 

 visitors were present on the 12th. 



The Cotton Spinners' Southern Association 

 was organized in Augusta, Dec. 13. It was re- 

 solved to make it a permanent organization as 

 soon as the number of 200,000 spindles shall be 

 subscribed. The principal work proposed by 

 the association is the arranging of freight rates. 

 Weekly reports will be circulated regarding 

 sales, output, and prices of yarns. 



Crawfordville. A statue of Alexander H. 

 Stephens was unveiled May 24 at his grave at 

 Crawfordville, his home and birthplace, in the 

 presence of a large gathering of Georgians and 

 amid great enthusiasm. 



Brunswick. Yellow fever broke out in this 

 city in August, and the Mayor issued a procla- 

 mation advising all who could to leave the city, 

 and free passes over the railroads were furnished 

 to many otherwise not able to go. Refugees left 

 in large numbers. Most of the cities of the State 

 were quarantined against them, but Atlanta al- 

 lowed free entrance, though precautions were 

 taken to detect and isolate any possible cases of 

 the disease. It was estimated that 1,QOO citizens 

 of Brunswick were there at the time trains were 

 stopped running from the infected city. The 

 stoppage of business caused great distress among 

 those left behind, and help was freely sent from 

 other cities. Four thousand people were de- 

 pendent on the supplies thus received. 



Storms. A cyclone swept over Greenville, La 

 Grange, and other towns in western Georgia, on 

 the evening of March 3. Eighteen persons were 

 reported killed, and a great number injured. 

 Three fourths of Greenville was devastated, and 

 the little villages of Piedmont and Odessa were 

 almost completely destroyed. The storm of Aug. 

 27 and 28, that swept the southern Atlantic 

 coast and caused great loss of life and property, 

 was very severe at Savannah and on the Sea 

 Islands, though its greatest fury was spent on 

 the South Carolina coast. In Tybee roads and 

 Savannah river large vessels were blown across 

 the marshes and landed on the islands. At 

 Savannah the streets were impassable from the 

 debris. Twelve barks and barkentines that were 

 anchored at quarantine station were blown upon 

 the marsh, and some of them were carried across 

 the marshes to an island 2 miles from the station. 

 One vessel at Tybee was completely capsized, 

 and 3 of the clubhouses on the island were blown 

 down. Others were flooded, and the people 

 sought shelter wherever they could. The ruin 

 at quarantine was complete. Nothing was left 

 standing where one of the finest stations on the 

 south Atlantic was, except the doctors' house. 



The "City of Savannah,'' a steamer of the 

 Boston line, was wrecked and thrown ashore on 

 Hunting island. The number of lives lost in 

 Savannah was estimated at 40 to 50. 



Legislative Session. The annual session of 

 the Legislature began Oct. 25, and ended Dec. 13, 

 having lasted fifty days. More than 1,300 bills 



and resolutions were acted upon. The most im- 

 portant measure of the session was a bill to create 

 State banks of issue, called the Veach or Calvin- 

 Veach bill. The general plan and purpose of 

 the bill was thus described by Mr. Veach, its 

 author: All the capital stock of the bank must 

 be fully paid in lawful currency or coin of the 

 United States. One half of this must be de- 

 posited in the vaults of the bank as a fund for 

 the redemption of bills, and can be used for no 

 other purpose, under penalty of imprisonment in 

 the Penitentiary. The other half shall be in- 

 vested in United States, State, county, and mu- 

 nicipal bonds worth not less than par of their face 

 value. These bonds are deposited with the State 

 Treasurer as security for the bills of the bank. 

 On the money so deposited in the vaults of the 

 bank, and the bonds deposited with the State, 

 such bank is allowed to issue and circulate bills 

 to an amount equal to 3 times the fund required 

 to be kept on deposit in the vaults of the bank. 



A law was passed to do away, if possible, with 

 mob violence and lynching. It authorizes any 

 sheriff who may have reason to believe that vio- 

 lence of that character is contemplated to sum- 

 mon a posse of citizens, who must respond or be 

 punished for a misdemeanor. It is also made a 

 misdemeanor for a sheriff to fail to call & posse. 

 together in such an emergency ; and these citi- 

 zens so responding are authorized to carry 

 weapons for the purposes of duty. To partici- 

 pate in a mob, or to band together for the pur- 

 pose of inflicting punishment upon any citizen 

 of the State is made a felony, punishable by one 

 to twenty years in prison ; and should death re- 

 sult from the violence of the mob, each partici- 

 pator is subject to indictment for murder. 



A large number of convicts will be released 

 from prison by the operation of a law providing 

 that the Governor may order the release of any 

 convict who has served what would now be the 

 maximum sentence for his crime. 



Two important bills for constitutional amend- 

 ments provide that the General Assembly shall 

 meet in June, instead of November, and for the 

 increase of the supreme bench from 3 justices 

 to 5. These proposed amendments are to be 

 submitted to the people at the next general 

 election. 



Several bills relating to schools were passed, 

 among them one reducing school boards from 

 5 to 3, and paying the members a regular salary ; 

 one abolishing monthly teachers' institutes, 

 leaving the annual sessions as before ; one pro- 

 viding for coeducation in the Normal School at 

 Athens a measure which was strongly opposed 

 but finally passed ; and one providing for pay- 

 ment of the school tax directly to the treasury. 

 In 1892 the schools received but $209,391.62 

 from the poll tax, while there were at least 

 400,000 voters, with 285,000 polls returned. By 

 the new law, all money belonging to the com- 

 mon-school fund, beginning with the taxes for 

 the year 1894, including poll tax and specific 

 taxes, is to be paid direct into the State treasury. 



Four of the bills passed concerned the State 

 militia. The first was for the reorganization of the 

 Governor's staff. The next is for the reorgani- 

 zation of the State militia itself. The third per- 

 mits the Governor to appoint second lieutenants 

 of volunteers from first-merit graduates of State 



