Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THE YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. The Centennial Celebration of the surrender of the British forces, com manded by Lord Cornwallis, on Oc tober 19th, 1781, occurs at York town, Virginia, upon the days embrac ed between October 13th and 21 st, 1881, inclusive, under the joint auspi ces and control of the “Congressional Commission” and the “tforktown Cen tennial Association.” The arrangment of grounds for military display, civic celebrations and visitors’ accommodations is under the control of the War Department, and superintended by Lieutenant Colonel Wm. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers, and it is understood that Major Gen eral Winfield S. Hancock will be in command of all the military forces as sembled. The following is the official programme: Thursday, October 13.—The formal opening of the Moore House (the scene of the Capitulation) and the in auguration of the Celebration by an address from the President of the As sociation. with a re-union of the de scendants of officers and soldiers of the Revolution. Friday, October 14.—Addresses by the;Hon. Carl Schurz, Frederick R. Condert and Prof. Elie Charlier. Saturday, October 15.—A Grand National Regatta, with Yorktown Cen tennial Silver Prizes to winning crew. Pyrotechnical displays and illumina tions. Sunday, October IG.—Religious ser vices in the Grand Pavilion, conduct ed by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Keane, of the Catholic Diocese of Virginia, assis ted by Archbishop Gibbons, of Mary land, and in the afternoon by the Rev. John Hall, of New York. Monday, October 17.—Anniversary of the sending of a jflag of truce by Lord Cornwallis, ask ng a cessation of hostilities; also the anniversary of the surrender of General Burgoyne, at Sar atoga ; meetings of Commercial, Finan -cial and Industrial Associations, Be nevolent organizations, etc., etc., with appropriate addresses by distinguished representative American citizens. Tuesday, October 18.—An opening address by the Chairman of the Con gressional Commission, and an address of welcome, by His Excellency, the Governor of Virginia. The laying of the corner stone of the Centennial Monument, with appropriate ceremo nies and addresses by the Grand Lodge of Masons of Virginia and invited Ma sonic Orders of the United States. Wednesday, October 19.—An ora tion by the Hon. Robt. C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts. A poem by James Barron Hope, of Virginia. An. ode, written by Paul H. Hayne, of South Carolina, and rendered by a mammoth choir and chorus under the direction of Prof. Chas. L. Siegel, of Richmond. Thursday, October 20. —Grand Mil itary Review, participated in by the citizen soldiery from all portions of the United States. Friday, October 21.—A Grand Na val Review, participated in by all class es of vessels in the United States Navy. This general programme, as outlin ed, will be so enlivened for each day’s entertainment by vocal and instru mental music and military displays, either of general parades and reviews or competitive drills, as to assure at tractiveness and novelty therein. Death of Col. R. T. Lawton.—The Halcyondale correspondent of the Sa vannah News writes under date of Au gust 25th: “It is my painful duty to state that Col. R. T. Lawton, an es teemed and trustworthy citizen of this (Seriven) county, was killed instantly about 8 o’clock this morning by the falling of a house upon him. This morning Col. Lawton, in company with Mr. John Livingston, a young man who has been with him a few weeks, went to tear down an old build ing formerly used as a mill shelter by Messrs. Jas. T. and S. T. Humphries, situated near 53 mile post, on Central Railroad. It appears that the lumber of said building belonged to Col. Law ton, and endeavoring to knock off the lumber the corner at which he was standing fell sooner than he expected and caught him under it, crushing him to the floor. Mr. Livingston states that the only words he spoite after be ing struck were, ‘The Lord have mer cy.’ Col. Lawton was an accomplish ed gentleman, an honored citizen, and one of whom naught save good can be said about. His many friends will mourn his sad fate.” The deceased gentleman was the eldest brother of Dr. Jas. S. Lawton, of The Index. He was about seventy five years of age, honored and beloved by all. Throughout a long life he bore worthily the distinguished name of his family, and crowned his days on earth with Christian virtues. He has gone to his reward in Heaven. Peace to his ashes. To his family and rela tives we offer our sincere sympathy. The Comparative Edition of the New Testament.—Our readers will find the advertisement of the publishers, Messrs. J. H. Chambers & Co., (St. Louis, Chicago and Atlanta) in our columns. The Old and New Versions are in one book in parallel pages. It is the handiest edition out. Mr. T. H. P. Bloodworth, of High Falls, Monroe county, (son of the ex cellent Representative in the Legisla ture, Hon. T. S. W. Bloodworth) is agent for this firm in Atlanta. He will give prompt attention to inquiries by mail. The firm he represents are extensive publishers and reliable. Il li I I £1 KI *<£s lEb I I Illi I i' ■■ —. Secular Editorials—Literature— » ' Domestic and Foreign Intelligence. LITERARY NOTES AND COM MENTS. An American Baptist missionary, Rev. J. N. Cushing, of the Shan mis sion,has completed and carried through the press a dictionary of the Shan lan guage, upon which he has been engag ed for thirteen years. The London Spectator thinks that the American literary manner is a pleasant one. Thanks! A Quebec publisher has issued a volume of popular songs of Canada, with all the music, and historic and literary notes. “Lives of literary men,” says a writer in the Atlantic, speaking of biogra phies, “are perhaps least interesting, for the reason that we already have the best of them in their writings; but there are of course exceptional cases of marked individualities, where a knowl edge of the man’s private life is a most useful supplement to and commentary upon his written utterances. Lives of Shelley and Byron are numerous, but we hardly feel that we know every thing about them yet. I often have a feeling, when reading memoirs, that the unfortunate subject of inquiry and discussion would decidedly object to such - dissection of his private self, if he could have a voice in the matter, and it hardly seems an excuse for tak ing the liberty with him that he can not possibly prevent our doing so. It is a consolation for being an entire nonentity that the world will not be concerned to take possesiou of and pull one to pieces after one is gone, to ascer tain judicially what manner of man one was. Our curiosity may be natu ral, but I am not sure it is quite justi fiable, to know all that can be known about dead notabilities.” A London paper says: “The great box filled with papers in Lord Beacons field’s study at Hughenden has not yet been handed into Lord Rowton’s charge, nor will it be until the admin istration of the estate is further ad vanced. The number of letters is almost incalculable. Lord Beacons field having a habit of never destroying a letter. He kept everything, and a marvellous collection it is. Lord Rowton recognizes that destruction is his first duty. Most of the letters ad dressed to a Prime Minister are of a peculiarly delicate nature. Probably a wholesale publication of the manu scripts in the large box would create a sensation throughout England scarce ly less than that of an earthquake.” The New York Independent says; “We are very glad just now to see more attention directed to our Southern writers, or rather, perhaps, to see them claiming the attention of a less sec tional audience. For this reason it pleases us to publish an article by Miss Willard on the subject. The Septem ber Scribner's Monthly (or, as we shall hereafter have to say, Century Month ly) gives an editorial discussion of the same subject, putting Mrs. Burnett and George W. Cable at the head of the list of those who have given most promise during the last five years. Os Sidney Lanier it says: ‘Sidney Lanier is a rare genius. No finer nature than his has America pro duced. His work is not popular, nor is it likely to become so, for his mind is of an unusual cast and his work is of an exceptionable character. He is a man of more varied culture, perhaps, than any one of those we have men tioned. The world of American letters will unite with us in the hope that the delicacy of his health will not interfere with the full unfolding and expression of his power.’ “We have never printed more genu ine poems than some of Mr. Lanier’s; but it is undeniable that the literary productiveness of the South is by- no means yet what may be expected, but is quite as great as could be expected where so few have had the benefit of a stimulating public-school system.” Philadelphia has an eight page Monthly printed in French. Mr. Charles D. Warner will have editorial supervision of the “American Men of Letters” series, to be issued by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. George W. Cable, of New Orleans, will write the life of William Gilmore Sims for this series. There are in existence forty-five dif ferent translations into English of Goethe’s “Faust.” Messrs. Brown & Derby, 21 Park Place, New York, the publishers of Col. Avery’s forthcoming “History of Geor gia,” have also in press, to be ready in October, “Poems and Essays,” by Charles W. Hubner, of The Christian Index, author of “Souvenirs of Luther,” “Wild Flowers;” “Cinderella;” Mod ern Communism.” The book will be an elegantly bound volume of over two ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1881. hundred pages, sold by subscription only, price one dollar. A very liberal commission to agents on early applica tion to the publishers. We have examined the prospectus and advanced sheets of “The American Encyclopedia of Agriculture” pub lished by Rand, McNally & Co., Chica ga, 111. This work is really a treasury of information, and should be in the homes of every farmer, business or pro fessional man as it contains informa tion for all. The work contains 1,100 pages profusely illustrated with elegant and accurate engravings of the more modern productions. The innumerable subjects presented, and coming from acknowledged authority .must convince every intelligent mind of the superiori ty of this valuable book. As the work is sold only by subscrip tion an excellent chance is offered to solicitors, the inducement, we under stand, being large. Mr. George W. Cable, the New Or leans novelist, is described by a Boston Post correspondent as “a man who has bright eyes and a slender form. These are the only characteristic things about his appearance. As neat in his dress as in his work, and unshaven, he is not one who would attract attention. His voice is clear but not strong, and he does his smiling with his eyes. As gentle in his manners as a lady, he has a quiet humor that fringes all his con versation, and occasionally asserts it self strongly enough to become sar casm. His affability is as great as his manners are womanly, and he would be a cheerful companion under any circumstances.” The editor of the Greensboro, Ga., Home Journal recently visited the venerable statesman and author, Hon. Alexander H. Stephens; he says: “We have known Mr. Stephens for thirty years or more, and do not recollect to have seen him in better health and spirits than now. There seems to be no abatement of his mental vigor, no cessation of mental labor. This is doubtless the solution of his wonderful preservation. With the mercury vibrating between ninety and a hun dred he was busily engaged on his n£w work for the press, in which the past and present will be reviewed, and the probable future presented. Such a book, from such a source, will be read with great interest by all classes, and be valuable to the student of history. We should not be surprised if it prove the crowning glory of the eventful life of its distinguished author.” The Independent properly ridicules the idea that obscurity is a commenda ble quality in poetry : “In his volume ‘Two Rivulets,’ Walt Whitman says that he has not shunned the charge of obscurity in hie poems ‘because hu man thought, poetry, or melody must have dim escapes and outlets—must possess a certain fluid, aerial character, akin to space itself, obscure to those of little or no imagination, but indis pensable to the highest purposes. Poetic style, when addressed to the soul is less definite form, outline, sculp ture, and becomes vista, music, half tints, and even less than half-tints.’ John Burroughs say of this in Ihe Critic: ‘I know no ampler justifi cation of a certain elusive quality there is in the highest poetry (something that refuses to be tabulated or ex plained, and that is a stumbling block to many readers) than is contain ed in these sentences.’ Which all seems to us moonshine, whether Whit man or Borroughs says it. Who are the great poets of the olden time? Homer, JEschylus, Sophocles, Virgil, and Horace; and every one of them is as limped as a sphere of Japanese crys tal. Who are the famous poets of the English language? Shakespeare, Mil ton, Dryden, Tennyson; and not one of them ever wrote a line that was ob scure and elusive. It is the writers of this century—writers of a second or seventh-rate class—that imagine that haze is more poetical than sunlight. There is a thousandfold more poetry in the day than there is in the night; and in the night the poetry is in the clear, shining stars, and the sharp-cut moon, and the flocking and flecking clouds that fleece the clean sky; and only distraction or terror in the ob scurity of the embracing fog and the black storm. This tendency in poetry to substitute sounding words,which only seem to convey a sense, instead of a sense that subordinates words, is a wretched gift ’of Swinburne’s, though he has vastly more sense to his verse than his more or less conscious imi tators. We hope the poetry of ‘dim escapes’ will soon cease to beguile ill balanced minds.” Late rains have greatly benefited the corn crop in Illinois. NOTES. The President has been removed to Long Branch. The miasmatic atmos phere he was compelled to breathe, seriously interfered with his convales cence. —Western pork will be high and scarce this year. —Two women were committed to the Insane Asylum by the Judge of the Brooklyn City Court, a few days ago, both women having become in sane by brooding over the condition of the President. —Great fires are raging in the for ests in Ontario. Many lives have been lost, and numbers of farm houses were destroyed. —The effects of the drouth in Vir ginia have been especially wide spread and ruinous. In my counties the corn and tobacco crops are burned up. Streams have run dry, preventing mills from running, and putting farmers to great difficulty in getting water even for their stock. The James River is lower than it has been for fifty years, and the tobacco crop will probably be a complete failure. —A special to the Chicago Times from Deadwood, Dakota, says: “Mar velous gold discoveries are reported from the Central Hills, thirty miles from this city. A vein four feet wide is said to contain more precious metal than quartz. It said that it runs $150,000 to the ton in the foundation. —There have been extensive labor ers’ strides in New Orleans and Mobile. —Reports from North Carolina show that the season along the coast has been good for both cotton and corn. The rest of the State has suffered dreadfully for the want of rain. Cot ton is small and shedding. High land corn is absolutely nothing, and tobac co poor beyond precedent. The latter crop may reach half an average in pounds, but will be of indifferent qual ity. In South Carolina, the region west of Columbia is reported as having suf fered most, and parties who have trav ersed it for the purpose of finding how matters actually are, report that there will be no corn, and that cotton is short twenty per cent. From East Tennessee and West Virginia come similar com plaints in relation to the drouth and the failure of the corn, tobacco and grass crops. The project of a World’s Fair seems to be having about the same experi ence in Boston that it went through with in New York. The idea was re ceived at first with some enthusiasm, particularly by those who had business reasons for being interested, and a few wealthy men promised to contribute heavily; but there has been no such general public demand for a fair as would insure success, and nothing has of late been done. The Indians in Wisconsin threaten a war against the whites. Yankton, Dakota, is to be supplied with artesian water, a large vein hav ing been struck at a depth of 450 feet. The American Iron and Steel Asso ciation propose holding a convention, which shall be a demonstration in fa vor of intelligent and equitable revis ion of the tariff laws. ♦ The English farmer seems doomed to economical ruin. All the early prospects of the harvest were promis ing, but the late rains have ruined the corn and caused enormous losses. Year after year the luck has been running against him, Nature and American competiton combining to force him back upon the soil and to exhaust his scanty store of savings. This new dis aster will increase the tendency in the English counties to abandon agricul tural pursuits, and either to seek a new occupation in the cities or to emigrate. M. Paul Bert’s lecture on education al topics in Paris a few days ago, was a violent attack on the Cath olic religion and its system of edu cation. The presence of M. Gambetta on such an occasion is considered sig nificant, particularly as after the lec ture he lauded M. Bert as one who not only had antecedents but a future. A dispatch from Tunis says Roustan, the French Minister, has taken leave of the Heir apparent prior to his depart ure for Paris. The latter expressed himself in the most friendly terms to ward France, and said that the Tuni san military authorities were at the disposal of the French commander. Parnell attended two meetings in support of Rylett, the Land League candidate for the County Tyrone. He delivered his usual violent speeches. “Kind Words” Quarterly —A Help for Teachers and Scholars.— It is announced that the Publishers of “Kind Words,” the Sunday School paper of the Southern Baptist Conven tion, will issue “Kind Words Quar terly, a help for Teachers and Schol ars,” in September, and the price will be for single copies 25 cents, for five cr more copies 20 cents. This will con tain the lessons for the fourth quarter of 1881, as they all appear in Kind Words, together with additional use ful matter. This is in accordance with a pledge made at the Convention, in Columbus, in consequence of a resolu tion adopted by that body. The same firm has recently publish ed for Dr. Wm. C. Crane and the Edi tor of “Kind Words,” two of a series of four “Kind Words Catechisms.” No. 1 is a “Bible Catechism” for youths, at 75 cents per dozen. Nos. 2 and 3 will be of an intermediate grade. No. 4 is an admirable Infant Catechism, at 50 cents per dozen. All are thoroughly Baptistic in doctrine and teaching. Nos. 1 and 4 are already published. This firm is now issuing for the Con vention, Kind Words, weekly, semi monthly and monthly, for intermediate classes, besides weekly Lesson Papers, and also the Child's Gem, a beautiful and useful Sunday School paper for Infant classes. Other issues are in contemplation. It will thus be seen that our Home Board, through these enterprising publishers, will soon be able to supply all the various needs of our Southern Sunday Schools. To Our Subscribers.—Please notice the date on the labels, affixed to your paper. If your subscription has expir ed, or is about to expire, renew your subscription. We are greatly in need of your renewal subscription. Please give this important matter your imme diate attention. Our books will soon undergo revision, and we will be obliged to discontinue sending The Index to such of our brethren as have not paid in advance; please pay the amount you may be in arrears, and include your renewal for another year from date. Don’t fail to give this dusiness your immediate at tention. The Index will greatly ap preciate your favor. Rev. F. R. Goulding died at Roswell, Ga., recently. The deceased was a Presbyterian minister, and was the author of several of the most popular juvenile books ever written by an American. Among his most widely known works were “The Young Ma rooners,” and the “Marooners’ Island,” published before the war, and read with delight by almost every school boy in the land. Bradlaugh has issued another man ifesto to the English people, announc ing his intention to go to the House of Commons at the next session of Par liament, and asking them to protect him against unlawful violence. Dr. G. A. Lofton, of St. Louis, Mo., is visiting his kindred in our State. He preached, Sabbath morning, at the First, and Sabbath night, at the Second, Baptist church, Atlanta, to large and delighted audiences. The President was removed to Long Branch, on Tuesday; and many per sons are sanguine of his recovery, but it does not seem to us that the case is yet relieved of its critical aspects. It is announced that in the approach ing Consistory at the Vatican, Mon seigneur Treppel, well known for his hostility to the French Government, will be nominated a Cardinal. The Union-line steamer Teuton struck on a rock off the Cape of Good Hope, and, getting off, sunk in deep water. Two hundred passengers were drowned and twenty-seven saved. More forest fires are reported from different parts of Algeria. It is stated that many natives have been burned in the woods of Colls, a province of Constantine. Consecration Hymn.—Rev. Charlei A. Stakely, of Elberton, contributes to The Index a beautiful “Consecration Hymn.” It will appear next week. The public debt statement for Au gust is expected to show a reduction of about $14,000,000. Bethel College, (Ky„) has conferred the title, LL.D., on G. W. Jarman, President of the Southwestern Baptist University, (Jackson, Tenn.) The mails are being systematically robbed in Texas, GEORGIA NEWB. —An artesian well is to be bored at once in Albany. —Scuppernongs are getting ripe and the crop is at: abundant one. Quitman is boasting of the finest depot building on the Savannah, Florida and Western railroad. —Brooks county has a better crop of oats than at first expected. Farmers there have >ats for sale. —The LaGrange Reporter says it is pre dicted that corn will sell in that town next year at $2.50 on time. —The prospects of the Georgia State Fair have never been so encouraging in any pre vious year as at this time. —A collision occurred on the Central road a few days ago in which an engine and one or two cars were damaged. —Property at Indian Spring has advanced fifty per cent, since the extension of the Ma con and Brunswick road began. . —Randolph county has three farmers who will make over 14 000 bushels of corn this season off of less than 250 acres of land. —The Georgia railroad will soon have new steel rails on its entire length, and the time netween Augusta and Atlanta considerably shortened. —ln some parts of Wilkes county the crops have not suffered at all for rain, while in other parts they have suffered to a very great extent. —Columbus has organized a steamboat company for the river, and subscribed $9,500. They intend to put a new light steamer on the Chattahoochee. —A meeting of the colored citizens was held at the court house, in Americus, for the nurpose of devising ways to raise money to build a school-house. - Capt. J. N. Dobbs, of Bartow county, has made this year 2 000 melons on three acres of land, and will clear about $l5O per acre. Some of them weighed fifty six pounds. —Judge Watson, of Meriwether county, will make 5 000 bushels of corn and 225 bales of cotton. A great deal of his laud will make thirty bushels of corn to the acre. —The loss of life and destruction of prop erty by the recent hurricane at Savannah and along the coast was appalling. Over one hundred lives are known to have been lost. —The most distressing accounts continue to be received from the late storm at Savan nah. The island was covered with the bodies of the dead, and devastation appears on every hand. —Within the past month corn has ad vanced from sixty-five cents to one dollar pei bushel at Atlanta, and is still rising. Flour is nine dollars a barrel, and hams six teen cents a pound. —One of the peculiarities of a Georgia camp meeting is to keep the ladies and gens tiemen separated during services. A young man was arrested near Americus recently for violating this ordinance. —The new locomotives recently received for the Atlanta and West Point railroad have paper wheels, that is, the filling of the wheels is paper, the tire and socket being of steel. These are the first that have been introduced into Georgia. —Albany News: “Sime of onr merchants do not apprehend any trouble this seas >n on account of threatened short crops and hard times. In an interview with a prominent warehouse and commission merchant yes terday, he stated that the planter customers of his firm were paying up their fall paper promptly, and he expressed no fears that it would not continue to be the case through the fall and winter.” —The contract for building the entire road from Rome to Atlanta was let by Mr. Mc- Cracken, who represents Thomas & Co., to Hill & McOechney, of Chicago. There were several bids made for the contract. The bid of Hill & McCechney for the entire line was the lowest and most satisfactory. These gentlemen will begin at once upon the work and push the line through as rapidly as pos sible. The bed of the road will be sub let in order to have the work hastened. —Columbus Times: "It is stated that the Columbus and Rome railroad will change hands again in less than ninety days, and the Richmond and Danville Railroad Com pany will be the purchasers. This will be a great benefit to Columbus, and one for which our people had ceased to hope. It will in sure us the outlet for which we have long been so anxious, and free us from the clutches of the Central Railroad Company. We trust that change will be made.” —Augusta Chionicle: “Mr. Stephens is not writing an answer to Hon. Jefferson Davis. We understand that Mr. Stephens considers several of the arguments of ex- President Davis as scholarly and convincing, especially complimenting his article on se cession. What Mr. Stephens is writing, we believe, is a political history of the United States. It is being prepared at the earnest request of the Messrs. Appleton, publishers, who were delighted with his school com ■ pendium, and were anxious that he should compile a history on an extended scale. That it will be a valuable work no one can doubt. Mr. Stephens is now hard at work with secretaries and stenographers." —Director-General Kimball, of the Inter national Cotton Exposition to be held at Atlanta, and which will unquestionably be the grandest public enterprise of the South, publishes the following appeal to the people of Georgia; “The Legislature having refused to make an appropriation for the purpose of making an exhibition of the great natural resources of the State, at the International Exposition, to be held within her own borders the last three months of this year, the responsibility of such an exhibit now rests upon you, and I cannot refrain from an effort to impress upon every individual citizen the impor tance of some action in this matter. County and local organizations may, even at this late date, be able, by prompt and united action, to make a most creditable display. “Hundreds of thousands of strangers will visit the Exposition, and never, in the his tory of the State, has there been any such opportunity to favorably present to the world the great possibilities of the State, and the advantages it offers to the employment of capital and labor. Our neighboring States have seen this, and have been prompt in the securing of space and collecting of exhibits. Will the citizens of Georgia permit this opportunity to pass ? I hope not. “I therefore urge that each county, through the proper organizations, take immediate action and determine— “l. What character of exhibits will beet illustrate the industries of your county real or possible. “2. How, and in what quantity such ex hibits can now be secured, ana properly placed. "3. Apply for and secure the space neces sary at once. “4. In addition to our effort to secure ex« hibits of natural products, I would urge the organizations referred to, to see that the manufacturing interest of every county is well represented. Also of the arts and sciences. Many persons throughout the State have private collections that they would undoubtedly loan in this emergency. The great loss to the State in not having a proper exhibit of her own may, in a great measure, be overcome by the prom pt. intelli gent action of her citizens in this matter. “The fullest information, and the most hearty co-operation may be obtained by application to this office."