July 20, 1899… The Republican convention at Lexington nominated Attorney General W.S, Taylor by acclamation as its candidate for governor after Auditor Sam Stone and Judge Pratt had withdrawn from the contest. John Marshall, of Jefferson County, was selected to be the candidate for Lt. Governor. Candidate Taylor, a native of Butler County, is 46, married, and has seven children. Taylor served as circuit clerk and county judge before becoming attorney general. Some 50 of the nicest walnut logs grown in Garrard County in many years were purchased by an eastern firm for eventual shipment to Germany. Col. William Preston Johnston, president of Tulane University and son of the late Albert Sidney Johnston, died at Lexington, Virginia, on July 16. He was confidential aide to Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. He died in the same bed in which he had been born 67 years earlier. M/M B.S. Branham will leave about the first of August for Jellico, Tennessee, where he will accept a position in the office of a mining company. The editor applauds the revival of that excellent game, croquet. For a time, it seemed to have fallen out of favor, but of late is regaining its former stature and popularity and is now quite the proper game to play. Frank Sheets dropped dead near the distillery last Friday. He had been at work there, sharpening some saws, and had just started home when the sudden end came. He had suffered for some time from consumption. He was about 40 and leaves a wife and three children. Burial was in the Midway Cemetery. Col. Thomas H. Payne died at his home in Scott County Friday at age 80. He was a brother­in-law of Warren Viley of Midway. He was a Georgetown College trustee, and for many years, a prominent bank director. Burial was in Lexington. He leaves two sons and three daughters. Dust, which has hung in clouds over Midway for the past three weeks, is to be routed in the near future as the city fathers have finally decided to obtain a street sprinkler. To most people the blackberry is the product of a wild bush and few people thus know that blackberries can, and are, cultivated for profit. The wild, or volunteer, crop this year is comparatively a failure, but one grower has produced a fine crop from one acre and has another acre coming in. The berries require little cultivation. Rain fell on 11 days in June to a depth of 3.91 inches. Last year the total was 7.34 inches. The 10-year average is 2.11 inches. During the past third of a century, a deficiency of rain in June has almost without exception been made up for in July. The editor says: Midway has nearly 2,000 inhabitants; two railroads over which three companies operate; two banks; three churches, Presbyterian, Christian and Baptist, with combined membership of over 1,000; two grain elevators; three saloons; three hotels; several first class boarding houses; eight grocery stores; five dry goods stores; two drug stores; two butcher shops; two barber shops; two hardware stores; two lumber yards; three coal yards; one distillery; one furniture and undertaking establishment; one livery stable; two lawyers; five physicians; one veterinarian; an able clergy; an organized fire department; three blacksmith shops; a weekly newspaper; a first-class public school; an opera house; Masonic and I.O.O.F, lodges; one shoe store; one jewelry and repair shop; one bakery; a street sprinkler; several good private schools; a building and loan association; a tobacco re-handling warehouse; pretty girls, handsome women and gallant men; no present scandal worth mentioning; some odd characters; a manufacturing drug concern; two fire insurance agencies; several life insurance agents; one tailoring establishment; some bad boys; a few naughty girls; some expert and experienced gossips; some charming old maids, still eligible; some fascinating and handsome widows, willing to try it again; several bachelors who need only the dropping of a hat to make them say the correct thing; some widowers, more or less eligible; the most healthful climate in the state; fewer fires than any of her neighbors; a Democratic administration; a splendid social circle; and two dentists. At Gettysburg, more men were killed than in any other battle of the Civil War; 3,070 Union soldiers fell, 2,592 Confederates, for a total of 5,662. Those who died of wounds are not included. The total federal death list for the war was 359,528; the Confederate losses amounted to 133,735. The bloodiest battle of the Franco-Prussian War was at Gravelotte, fought Aug. 18, 1870; the Germans lost 4,440 killed and mortally wounded; the French much less, though no figures were kept. The total German losses in the war were 28,277 killed or died of wounds. The total French losses were greater. In an attempt to locate the grave of American hero, John Paul Jones, the following has been learned: Jones died in Paris July 18, 1782. He was buried with highest honors but apparently not in the cemetery where Lafayette lies. It is feared he was in a rented grave and was later removed to a potter’s field. July 21, 1921… Mrs. Hiram Berry died in Frankfort Saturday at the age of 82. She was the former Clarinda Jackson Cunningham and was born in Woodford in 1839. The third annual Woodford County Sunday school picnic will be held on the new Versailles High School grounds this year. Parties are being given in honor of the Rev. E.F. McConnaha, who resigns as pastor of the local Baptist church on Aug. 1. The State Highway Commission has notified the county that it will take over 10-1/2 miles of the Harrodsburg Pike as soon as the repairs now in progress are completed and the weeds are cut. This will relieve the county of heavy expense. Little James Henton Wilhoit, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Wilhoit, died of stomach trouble Sunday at the home of his grandfather, James E. Henton, on the Frankfort Pike. The Baracca Sunday school class had 97 members present last Sunday and the Philathea class had 86. The total present for Sunday school at the Baptist church was 297, a very gratifying attendance for George B. Minary, who has been superintendent of the Sunday school for 30 years. Wilbur Rowland, local agent for the Frankfort Natural Gas Co., was run down Friday on North Main Street in Versailles by an auto driver. He was on his bicycle. Dr. Stedman reports him badly but not seriously hurt. Midway’s baseball team lost for the fourth straight time Sunday. They were defeated 7-2 by Stamping Ground. They next play White Sulphur, a team which beat them 14-12 earlier.