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About Savannah weekly news. (Savannah) 1894-1920 | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1897)
4 Wttldg Xlttos, * SUBSCRIPTION S? IWEEKLY NEWS, issued two times a week, on Mondays and Thurs days, one year 1.00 ITHE MORNING NEWS, every day in the year (by mail or carrier).., 10.00 THE MORNING NpWS, every day for six months (by mail or carrier. 5.00 THE MORNING NEWS, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or Tues days, Thursdays and Saturdays (by mail), one year 6.00 ADVERTISING. Display advertisements JI. 40 an inch each insertion. Discount made for contract advertising, depending on space and length of time advertisement is to run. Local and Reading Notices, 25 cents a line. Marriages, Funerals and Obituaries, SI.OO per inch. Legal Advertisements of Ordinaries, Sheriffs and other officials inserted at the rate prescribed by law. Remittances can be made by Postofflce Order, Registered Letter or Express at our risk. CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondence solicited; but to receive attention letters must be accompanied by a responsible name, not for publica tion, but as a guarantee of good faith. All letters should be addressed to MORNING NEWS. Savannah. Ga. Registered at the Postofflce In Savannah as second-class mail matter. MONDAY, JULY 26, "1807. McKinley's Watermelon. President McKinley’s seventy-eight pound Georgia watermelon, presented on Wednesday with fitting ceremonies, in cluding a speech by Congressman Livlng aton, has been the subject of comment by various, newspapers. One of the most sen sible of these which we have Seen is that of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, as fol lows: “The 78-pound watermelon sent to President McKinley is something that the atate of Georgia should be more proud of than of her gold mines. There is more wealth in the surface soil of a state that ean produce such vegetables than there is under it, and Georgia will find her profit In cultivating this branch of industry. Bhe came to this way of thinking, how ever, a number of years ago, and now the northern markets are largely supplied in the early season by Georgia vegetables and Georgia fruits. Still there Is room for b much greater development of the same industry between the Savannah and the Potomac." It Is needless to say that Georgia Is proud of her watermelon products. They have captured the couhtry. The Georgia watermelon is the standard. It is the most delightful fruit of the vine, and its fame Is as wide as the continent. The Public Ledger will please take note that we de nominate It a fruit, and not a vegetable. The cucumber and the squash may grow on vines, after the manner of the water melon, and still be vegetables; but the watermelon itself is a fruit, a most delec table and appreciated fruit, to which poets sing and epicures give reverence. As to the value of the soli which will produce such crops, our contemporary Is wealth in the sur- however. Is only one of the thousand and one products of the soil which Georgia can grow In perfection and abundance. There are no finer peaches to be had any where than Georgia produces; her straw berries are the equal of any in size, color and flavor; her grapes, pears and plums ore not surpassed by those of any other section of the country; her vegetables are perfect in every necessary characteristic. Almost any fruit or vegetable that can be produced in the temperate sone grows and thrives in Georgia. This fact is becoming snore appreciated each year, and addition al acres are being brought under cultiva tion by natives or immigrants. Still there sire thousands of acres available for culti vation, and the markets are awaiting the products. Georgia is a garden spot, and there Is room in the state for hundreds of thousands of white immigrants. To Prospective Gold Seekers. The gold fever seems to be spreading all ©ver the country. It hits reached the east, ©nd may come south. It Is stated that ti number of New Yorkers wl.l depart for the Klondike at the earliest opportunity. The tales which are being brought from the new Eldorado are very attractive, and ore well calculated to excite an Impression able mind. However, our advice to those l>ersons in the south who may harbor an idea of wooing fortune in the frozen north is, Don’t! No gold diggings that we can recall have ever been surrounded with a greater num ber of hardships and dangers. The great alkali plains which separated the argo nauts of ’49 from the object of their search were not more formidable than the barriers between civl.lxation and the Klondike gold; bvsides, there was away to go around the plains. The Alaskan diggings are “a thousand miles from anywhere," almost within the Arctic circle. The cold is in tense during the greater part of the year, tind all mining operations must be carried on under the most adverse circumstances. There is, furthermore, a prospect that the Canadian authorities will shortly be en forcing their alien labor law. passed by a recent parliament in retaliation for our •Hen labor law, thus increasing the troub<es of Americans who seek the gold fields. Where a hundred will go to the diggings, not ten will be heard from thereafter, and probably not one In the ten will have •’struck it rich." In this game of gold, there are always many, more losers than winners; and the losers are never heard from. As a contemporary puts it. "about one man in a thousand is fitted to be a pioneer," and possibly one out of a thou sand pioneers wins success. The man who sets out for the gold fields of Alaska plays against fearful odds. There is no good reason why any man should go away from thia section of the country to seek his fortune in the far, frosen north. The man possessed of the requisite qua.lficationa to win success tn the gold fields can make a fortune in Georgia without the risks which prospec tors and miners must take. There is a surer return for intelligent efforts in the soil of Georgia than there is in any gold mine ever discovered, or that ever will be discovered. Fruit raising, stock and cat tle raising, trucking and farming, are not so romantic as gold seeking, but when they are given the same amount of atten tion and hard work that must be employ ed in mining, they never fail, in Georgia, to yield profits. These lines of endeavor, however, are not the only ones which Georgia holds out to energetic persons. There are a thousand and one ways to make money, even to get rich, in this state, and the native young man who neglects these home opportunities to run off after a pot of gold at the foot of an Alaskan rainbow does himself and his state an in justice. Rucker Am An Example, President McKinley has vindicated him self, the’colored brother and the grand old party. Some persons had charged him with ingratitude, and a purpose. to give the colored brother “the marble heart,” as they say in political circles. They said he would cater to that alleged “new element” in southern republican ism, and give the offices which might have gone to the black men to white men whose friendship he wished to cultivate. Editor T. Thomas Fortune, colored, only the other day printed a lengthy and quite warm article, ,n which he roasted the ad ministration for its lack of consideration for the faithful black troops, which fought nobly in the last campaign. Now the President has proved to For tune and the world that he has been mis judged; that he is the friend of the color ed, man. He has selected one of them for office! He has chosen a negro barber for the important and profitable position of internal revenue collector of Georgia. Thus Rucker is set upon a pedestal, to be pointed to whenever anybody shall have the temerity to suggest that nothing has been done for the black man, Why should the President have chosen Georgia as the state in which to set up his shining example of the party’s love for the black race? The President knows that there is in this state a strong feel ing against the elevation of black men to important offices. In some other states— In Ohio for instance—we haVe been led to believe that this feeling does not exist so strongly; would it not. therefore, have been better for the President to give a black man a big office in Ohio? Os course neither the President, nqr Senator Hanna, nor Senator Foraker would object to hav ing a negro internal revenue collector in Ohio. Probably there would not be any objection to one in that office in Massa chusetts. But there is in Georgia a sen timent against such things. However, pro tests would probably be useless. It is said the President is fully determined to set up his example somewhere, and since Georgia Is not a McKinley state, a little humiliation for her is probably deemed to be about the proper thing. It is to be hoped, now that Rucker has been select ed, that the probabilities of negroes be ing put into big postoffices and port col lectorships have been diminished. Southern Farmers. We venture to say that the farmers of the south know very little from experience of hard times and of the bufinee « dftpres "tof of whJ< Jk said in news papers, though it is safe to assert that nine out of of them have, heard so much about the lack of prosperity that they believe their material condition is steadily growing worse, instead of better. They do not compare their material condi tion of ten years ago, or even a year ago, with that of to-day. In fact, they do not Inquire of themselves as to whether they are freeing themselves of debt or are in creasing their debts. They accept the pop ular opinion that the country Is not pros perous, and that hence they are not pros pering. If they, and many engaged in other occupations, were to scan the facts closely as to what their material condi tion was, and what it is, their talk in re spect to the hard times would have a wholly different tone. This view of the case was strongly pre sented a few days ago by a banker of Charlotte, N. C. He said that the talk of a prominent farmer, who resides a few miles from Charlotte, attracted his atten tion recently. The fftrmer was discuss ing the condition of the country with a merchant of the town. They were in the bank, and the banker overheard their con versation. The farmer declared that the times were so hard that the farmers were becoming disheartened, that the condition of the country was deplorable, and that unless times got better soon everybody would be a candidate for the poor house. The fartner had been a customer of the bank for a dozen years, and the banker had noticed that the amount he borrowed each year steadily decreased, and that he had borrowed nothing the present year. A few days after he had heard the talk of the farmer and merchant in his bank he met the farmer and engaged him in conversation. He said to him: “You have been a borrower at our bank for quite a number of years. I notice that you borrowed a smaller amount each suc ceeding year, and that you borrowed noth ing this year. Tell me, are you bet I r or worse off than you were ten years ago." The farmer, not suspecting the object of the banker, said: “I am much better off. Ten years ago I had to borrow money to make my crop. Now I have the means to make my crop and am out of debt.” The banker made another inquiry. It was this: “Run over in your mind the list of your farmer acquaintances within a ra dius of ten miles of your home, and tel) me if they are better or worse off than they were ten years ago.” The farmer said: “They are much better off." "Why then." said the banker, "did you make such an outcry about hard times In my bank a few days ago?” The farmer said he ha»l not considered how much his ma terial condition had improved during the past few years; that everybody was talk ing about the lack of prosperity and that therefore he had believed that times were bad and everybody was becoming poorer." We don’t know much about the materia) condition of the farmers in other sections of the country, but we are confident that southern farmers are more prosperous than they have been at any previous times since the war. They are practically out of debt, and to a greater extent than eter before, and to a greater extent than It was ever thought they would they are raising ; THE WEEKLY NEWS (TWO-TIMES-A-WEEK): MONDAY, JULY 26, 1897. their own fond supplies. Ten years hence they w;ll be independent virtually of the rest of the world. They will have money in bank and to invest, and they will in vest it in the south. The south then will have a marvelous growth. The business of the country is depress ed. Business men are complaining, but southern farmers have no reason to com plain, and southern business men will soon have no reason to complain if the south ern farmers continue to prosper. Mrs. Lease recently called on Gov. Leedy, so the governor says, and asked him to resign in her favor. The governor very gallantly told her that in case she could best cement and unite the opposi tion to the republican party he would sup port her cordially. To some of his friends he remarked, “She would make a good dark—here he stammered, but finally finished—” horse candiate.” There was nothing the matter with the governor’s figure of speech except the doubtfulness of its applicability. What Mrs. Lease wants is the unanimous nom ination on the first ballot. The people of Augusta will no doubt con gratulate themselves now upon the chance of escaping Judson Lyons as postmaster because of the appointment of Rucker as internal revenue collector for Georgia. The opinion will no doubt be expressed that this should be enough to appease the col ored political appetite, at least in this sec tion. Following his editorial obituary of the populist party, Thomas E. Watson now says that Senator Marion Butler ought to resign the national chairmanship in favor of Washburn or Reed. What need is there of that, when according to his first an nouncement, Butler must necessarily be "functus officio?” It is difficult to see how there can be a national chairman without a party. It is worthy of note that there has been nothing like even the expression of a de sire on the part of any Savannahians to chase that bright wlll-’o-the-wisp, Alaskan gold. The fever is carrying off many from other sections to an ice-bound grave, but Savannahians are content to remain at home and enjoy the liberal share of pros perity which is available here. The fact that the reports from the tax receivers of the state, so far as they have been heard from, show largely increased tax returns In a great majority of in stances, would make an interesting head ing for the report to the legislature of Chairman Blalock’s investigating commit tee. The committee was appointed and sent out with a view to stirring things up. It is not likely that the 'North Georgia cracker will change the color of his moun tain Juice now that Rucker will be col lector. Indeed, there has been a sugges tion that the kettle and the worm will be worked over time. BRIGHT BITS. —Carrie—For mercy's sake, turn the tie of your neck ribbon around front. Don’t yoii know that it is no longer good form to wear the bow behind? Maude—4 suppose they still make an ex ception of the beau on a tandem, don’t they?—Boston Transcript. x Crimson Here’s North Carolina a an open car window vJasrTnrown out of the window* by the shock and escaped in jury.” Mr. Crimsonbeak—How in the world do you suppose they ever managed to get the window open?—Yonkers Statesman. —Flagging a Scandal—Mrs. Wilkus— That blond woman is flirting outrageously with the gentleman who arrived to-day. Mr. Wilkus—So I observe. Mrs. Wilkus—And they say he’s married, too. Mr. Wilkus—He is. So is she. Mrs. Wilkus—The brazen hussy! Mr. Wilkus (quietly)—ln fact, they’re man and wife.—Philadelphia North Amer ican. CURRENT COMMENT. A Duty of the Hour. New York Journal of Commerce (Ind.). All newspapers and public men ought to exert themselves to allay International Ir ritation and discountenance anticipations of war. All men in responsible positions are doing this; other public men are not quiet so prudent, and too many newspapers imagine that it is “newsy” to exaggerate national irritation, and to speculate on the probabilities of war and the nature of military and naval operations. That Georgia Watermelon. From the Philadelphia Ledger (Ind.). The President need not have been so much afraid that his big Georgia water melon would bring him a fresh horde of officeseekers, if he had adopted the policy of treating them as he would the melon cut them. From the Chicago Times-Herald (Ind.). President McKinley received the largest watermelon that the state of Georgia pro duced tihs year. If he believes in reciproc ity now, how about a few plums in return? Trade With Latin America. From the Nashville American (Dem.). • —— The desire for reciprocity on the part of the United States has a queer way of man ifesting itself that renders any practical arrangement impossible. Latin America lies close to our doors. Its people buy millions of dollars’ worth of goods every year, but they will continue to buy them from Europe, where trade relations are more advantageous. They can’t buy from us because we shut out their goods, and ships going from our country to theirs would have no return cargoes. The Latin Americans, we hope, have enjoyed their visit to the United States, but the talk of establishing reciprocal trade relations, they will tell their people when they re turn, was all a farce. A Rival of Falataff. From the New York Post (Ind.). That currency message of the President’s has been so many times declared by him in a loud, firm voice to be surely going to congress the next day, and so many timeh cruelly thrust back into his desk by con gressmen who go to give him his orders, that both it and he have become a laugh ing-stock. His congressional tyrants have not the slightest regard for his sensibili ties any longer. They say to each other. "What, have we got to go and stop that message again? Well, Dingley, you go and do it to-day. Quay will do it to-mor. row." The situation is one full of delight to them. Whatever the country or the Pres ident may think of it; it Is such an agree able novelty to have a President who rivals Falstaff in the possession of a remarkable "alacrity la sinking." She Got n Job. She was as beautiful as a dream and as fresh as the dawn, says the Cleveland Leader. But Horatio Evfiringham was not in- a genial mood He had arisen with a head ache, and everything had seemed to go wrong at the store that morning. Only five minutes before the sweet young wo man entered one of the firm’s oldest cus tomers had left in anger, and declared that he would in future buy all his goods from a rival house; “Well,” said the old gentleman as she stood with downcast eyes before him. “I suppose you’ve called in answer to my ad vertisement for a typewriter, have you?” “Yes, sir,’’.she demurely replied. “I’ve already engaged one,” he went on. “Sorry you didn’t get here a little earlier. The fact is I hired the first applicant that came, for I concluded that a person who would not get here early enough to beat the others who might want the place wouldn’t be likely to be very prompt in getting around if I were to employ her.” "I should have been here earlier,” she said, “if I had not first gone to see Mr. Bullion, the banker. He also advertised for a typewriter. I am sorry now that I didn’t come here first. Then I should prob ably have beaten all the others.” While she had talked Horiatio Evering ham had taken his first good look at her, and he, too, was sorry that she had gone to see Bullion first. But there was no use regretting what had been done. He didn’t need her now; so there was nothing to do but let her go. He arose to show her out of the private office, but she hesitated. “You don’t think you’d need two type writers, do you?” she said, at last. “No,” the merchant prince replied rath er impatiently. “One can do the work very easily. Good morning.” “Well, then,” she murmured, half to her self. "I suppose I shall have to accept Mr. Bullion’s offer. I’m sorry, for I’d rather work here.” “What!” exclaimed Mr. Everingham, “you’re going to work for Bullion?” “Yes. I told him I’d come back if you didn’t want me.” “Stay here, my girl, stay here,” said the old gentleman, while beads of cold sweat stood out upon his brow. “I’ll make room for you some way. Great Caesar, what a narrow escape! Why, all my money is in Bullion’s bank!” He Whs Too Trusting. “I was a newspaper man for six weeks,” admitted the bronzed and bearded man who had just returned from twenty years’ sojourn in Mexico, according to the De troit Free Press. “But for that brief ex perience as a reporter I presume I should have lived all this time in my native city. As it is I never mention its name and my own in the same connection. I was as am bitious a scribe as ever drew a note-book and allowed myself only three years in which to own a metropolitan newspaper of my own. “One day I was stopped on the street by a young lawyer who told me to meet him that evening and get the most sensational piece of news that had been sprung since the place was found ed. I was there on the minute and he gave me elaborate details of how John Hager Smith had gained legal title to land that was then in the business center of the city and worth at least $300,000,000. The ti tle was still good and Smith’s heirs could recover every cent of its value. “The story appeared the next morning with a half column of head-lines and shook the town. In the same issue my in formant advertised for the heirs of John Hager Smith, referring them to my high ly-fqvored article. They flocked to him and his retainers made hLn rich in an in credibly brief time. Other piners denied, but my lawyer kept me going while he was raking down fat fees. Mr. Smith seemed to have more descendants than any other man of history except Adam. “But either and more experienced news- 1 paptti hoLl of the matter find IgSB' — I '*’&£!_. 10ky such Hager Smith, WH that his army heirs were inr" Impostors. There wasn’t a leaven of truth in the whole high-priced yarn. The law yer skipped, but didn’t have the grace to pay my way out of town, though he knew there were several hundred Smiths on my trail. I met him ten years later in Mexico and they tell me that he has been a crip- le ever since.” Too Emotional. If the men who become the objects of hero worship could see the evidence of the feeling they inspire they would possi bly be even more reconciled to leaving this sphere for any other, better or worse. Sometimes they do know, says the Youth’s Companion, and then need to exercise abundant charity. An American who has lived much abroad says that he was present on one occasion when a countrywoman of his own met a famous poet. She saw the object of her idolatry. She rushed forward and struck an attitude. “And is it possible,” she cried, dramati cally, "that I look upon Browning?” One feels that Dr. Johnson, in the same circumstances, would have remarked gruffly, “Don’t be a fool, madam.” Again, there are times when pathos is showered only upon tae dead. T. F. 811- leck says that on one of his holiday ex cursions he visited \ J ount Vernon, and there, in the he came upon a middle-aged lady kne<p.ng before a build ing at some distance from the monument. She was bathed in tears. Mr. Silleck walk ed up to her and asked if she were In trouble. “No, sir,” said she, “thank you very much. I am not in trouble, but my patri otic feelings overcome me when I gaze upon the tomb of the Father of His Country.” “I quite understand,” said Mr. Silleck, gently, “but, my dear madam, you have made a mistake. This is not the tomb of Washington. It is over yonder. This is the ice house.” And, drying her tears, the lady moved quietly away. ♦ . Man of Rigid Views. The play of the evening was one of those hilarious adaptations from the French, where a staid householder of ma ture years takes a night off and makes the most of it in an atmosphere of cham pagne and general revelry, says the Kan sas City Journal. As the performance progressed and the fun grew faster and more furious the other members of the party looked at the man of rigid views with considerable solicitation. How would he take it? Would he get up and go out? Might he not even rise from his seat and denounce the performance? But no; he sat there quietly enough, his face fixed in a look of frozen intentions and his eyes glar ing through his glasses at the spectacle beyond the footlights. However else he might regard the performance, he certain ly wasn’t amused. Not a ghost of a smile crossed his face. The others might laugh and nudge each other, but he sat stolidly through it all to the very fall of the cur tain. When theywere all going down the stairs one of the party had the temerity to ask him how he liked the show, and all the others waited with bated breath to hear his withering denunciation. “Why.” he pleasantly answered, “it was the funniest thing I ever saw in my life." "B-but,” stammered the astonished ques tioner. “you didn’t laugh—you didn’t even smile.” "No," answered the other, 'I didn't laugh because I was afraid I might lose some of it.” And the laughter that followed that sally was far more enjoyable than any thing the play brought forth. * Blood Humors Whether itching, burning, bleeding, scaly, crusted, pimply, or blotchy, whether simple, scrofulous, or hereditary, from infancy to age, speedily cured by warm baths with Cuticura Soap, gentle anointings with Cuticura (oint ment), the great skin cure, and mild doses of Cuticura Resolvent, greatest of blood purifiers and humor cures. k (yticura Is sold throughout the world. Pottbb Dbug aim Chbm. Cobp., Sole Props., Boston. nsy " How to Cure Every Blood Humor,” free. EAPE UIIMfIDQ Falling Hair and Baby Blem- In Wk nUIYIuTIU ishes cured by Cuncuai Boxr. ITEMS OF INTEREST. —lt is shown by the annual report of one of the largest mining companies in Colorado that since the organization of the company the average cost of produc ing $1 in gold has been 37 cents. —Monday with the ancient Greeks was the day of rest. The Persians set apart Tuesday as the day for public worship, the Assyrians Wednesday, the Egyptians Thursday, while the Moslems hold Fri day as the most sacred day of the week. —A Birmingham workingman made use of the parcel post recently to send his 3-year-cfld boy home by mail. The post office, under the rule regulating the con veyance of live animals, was obliged to accept the child, and charged 9 pence for the service. —“lt is possible,” said a well-known den tist, “for a medical man to tell more of the disposition and constitution of a per son by the teeth than by any other part of the body,” according to Answers. “The first thing that an army doctor does when a man is brought up for enlistment is to look at his teeth. If they show any signs of decay it is evident that the man’s con stitution is delicate, and his services as a soldier are immediately declined, even though he be in every other respect a perfect specimen of manhood. If the teeth showed but little signs of decay the man would be eligible for English service, but for foreign service perfectly useless. Men with irregular teeth—teeth uneven and imperfect—are declined by medical men where there are arduous duties to perform. It is said to be a sign of bodily weakness. Another peculiarity noticeable in many persons is a spotted tooth. This is a tooth covered with dark specks, and is usually found among persons of weak intellect; it is, in fact, a sign of insanity. Large teeth show braininess, more especially if they be regular. A set of perfect teeth is the surest sign of a good constitution.” —A curiosity in the way of coffins is on view in an establishment in Liverpool, where it was constructed according to the design and order of, so it is said, an ad miral of the British fleet, in view of the time when he shall follow the lofty ex ample of the gallant Tom Bowling, says ♦he London Telegraph. The prevoyant old tar is still hale and hearty, but, as a sailor never knows when the summons to enter Davy Jones’ locker may reach him, he thinks it right to see that everything un der hatches is in proper trim for that im portant occasion. Instead of the ordinary landsman’s oblong black cercueil, the ad miral’s last mooring-place is In the form of painted trim-built wherry. It ai» respects on ot an ordinary double-ended lifebotW, without, perhaps, quite as much shear as is usually found in such craft. This boat-coffin is carvel built, and seven feet long, and will be painted, like an old man-of-war, with black and white portholes. Life lines will be fixed around her, and when completed she will present a very tidy, seaworthy appearance. Two oars are to be supplied, and rudder and tiller will be duly fitted. The wood used is pine, West African ma hogany, oak and elm. The internal “get up” is to be left for the undertaking fur nisher, and will no doubt be of a fitting character. This is supposed to be the first clipper-built coffin ever constructed. —Joseph Rheinhardt of St. Louis, aged 50 years, a cook by occupation, was as good as dead for about twenty-five min utes last evening, but is now alive, and hopes of his recovery are entertained. Rheinhardt was prostrated by the heat in a boarding house on First street and St. Clair avenue, East St. Louis, says the Chicago Chronicle. His friends did all in their power to revive him, but without success. His pulse beats were very faint, and at last ceased. No motion of the heart could be detected. The patrol wagon was summoned and Rheinhardt was hurried to St. Mary’s hospital. The attending phy sician examined him and was puzzled. There was no sign of life, yet the body was very warm. Thinking there was still life in the body, the physician used all means within his power to restore the man. It was some time before the heart began to beat, Rheinhardt drew his breath in gasps for a few minutes, then he be gan to breathe regularly. The work of taking him to the hospital took about fif teen minutes, and it was fully ten minutes after he reached there before he began to breathe. Rheinhardt was prostrated by the heat in St. Louis several days ago, and was taken to the city hospital. He was discharged yesterday and went to his boarding house, in East St. Louis. The sun proved too much for his already weakened condition, and upon reaching the house he sank to the floor prostrated Some of the friends of Rheinhardt say that on several occasions when he has been ill his heart has stopped beating fo~ a remarkably long time. —The relative value of cowry money va ries. In British India and Siam about 4.000 pass for a shilling, says the Round Table. The ordinary gradation in Central and Western Africa, the true home of cowry-trading, is a s follows: Forty cow ries make a string; two and one-half strings equal a penny; fifty strings a head and ten heads, one bag. A bag of 20 000 cowries just before the founding of the Congo Free State was worth 17s ad. Eng lish money. Yet this value was not uni form. varying slightly according to local ity. Slaves and elephant tusks, however have always been settled for in bar ter, not in cowries. Prints and cotton cloth, iron spikes, and brass wire have proved the most accept able oayments for such articles of mer chandise. But with a few exceptions of this kind, which belong to export com merce, cowries have for ages furnished the money medium. Barth, the traveler, tells us that in Mumyoma, Western Afri ca. the king s revenue was reckoned at 30,000.000 shells, each male adult being as sessed so many shells poll tax, and so many for every slave and pack animal. There was no evading the tax collector, either. It was either prompt payment, or else the headsman collected a poll-tax in his fashion, and the victim’s property was confiscated. The establishment of the Con go Free State, with its railways, steam boats, trading posts and the opening up of this enormous territory to commerce on a great scale will probably, before many years, exterminate cowry currency in all but the remoter regions. Such money ceases to be of use with the coming of Civilized usages. 1 GEORGIA. Thomas C. Healy, one of Atlanta’s wealthiest citizens, is critically ill. During- the week there was shipped from the port of Darien, coastwise and foreign, 1,229,536 feet of timber and lum ber, valued at $12,400. The Baptists of Zebulon have purchased a lot nearer the business part of the town upon which they will begin at once to erect a church- to cost about $2,000. More than $50,000 has been expended in improvements of one kind and another in Hartwell during the last three years. This does not include the cotton factory, which would add many thousands more to the sum. Some of the good women of Macon have been agitating the question of having the children that are now in the houses of ill fame in the city removed to some place where they will not be subjected to the evil influences that exist there. It was rumored that the warehouse, cot ton sheds and vacant land back of the Hamilton store house at the foot of Broad street, at Rome, has been sold for $35,000. The reorganized Chattanooga, Rome and Southern railway is said to be the pur chaser. A man named Harrell stabbed his brother in the wrist during a general fight at Hall’s mill -pond, near Cecil Thurs day. The brother who did the cutting was in a difficulty with another man, and his brother tried to prevent the fight and was accidentally cut. The wound will probably maim him for life. At Athens as few nights ago vandals entered the residence of H. F. Jarrell, while the family were absent and committed a great deal of depredation. A quantity of pickles were scattered over a fine sofa; a can of kero sene was emptied over a bed; two bottles of jam were smeared over a table cloth and over two ladies’ hats, and articles of all descriptions scattered over the house. The police thus far have no clew to the guilty parties. James O. Horton, a well-known citizen of Campbell county, suddenly became a dangerous maniac Wednesday night at his horn- 1 two miles from Fairburn. Armed with a butcher knife, he attempted to kill everv saw, and for awhile kept his communal in a state of terror. , Sheriff , Adderhold, assisted by ChwufeT Milam, finally succeeded in capturing him before any harm was done. He was lodged in the county jail and will probably be sent to the asylum. FLORIDA. The fresh water bass of the St. Johns river often swallow small water snakes. Eugene Loundes has been appointed postmaster at Crescent City, and'received his commission last Friday. He will take charge of the office on Aug. 1. The Orlando Star calls at'tention to the fact that in Florida a boy of 14 and a girl of 12 years may marry, with or without a license or the consent of parents. Os the fifty odd thousand dollars collect ed in Volusia county every year for coun ty and state taxes, the railroads, land companies and telegraph company pay over one-third. Very few venomous spiders are found outside the towns of Florida. The proba bility is that most of them have come from other countries in fruit, or in furni ture, hay, etc. The young of the Florida snake bird is of a beautiful cream color. It takea to the water before it can fly, and is killed in large numbers by catfish and the large-mouthed bass. The largest shipment of flsh made from Titusville of late was that of Wednesday, when the aggregate of four flsh dealers there reached ninety-six barrels. The ship ments of Thursday were nearly as large. The rookeries of the plumed birds in Florida are nearly all deserted. The birds have been disturbed so often that they have left the old breeding places. Many species arc nearly extinct—even the white egret is becoming scarce. An ant glues together the tops of the same consistency and character as that of grasses in the Everglades, and makes a nest supported by these very much of the the wasp. This ant is very small and black. There is a woodrat in South Florida which builds a house several stories high. The floors are connected by staircases. In the center of the structure is a storeroom often filled with supplies, which seem to be common property to the whole commu nity. The large electric bug so common about electric lights along the St. Johns river spends nearly all its life in the water, where a number of them often attack fishes. It is at home in the water, in the air, and on land. The common idea that it is venomous is without foundation. An insect belonging to the same order as the dragon fly is found in the marshes of the St. Johns with mandibles as huge in proportion as those of the stag beetle, which it snaps together when excited. It has 20.000 eyes, flies only by night, and is attracted by a light. It can inflict quite a savage wound. The Mexican vulture, quite common on the borders of the Everglades during sum mer, kills large numbers of the fresh wat er terrapin. The bird watches till the terrapin comes out to make its nest, catches it by the leg.tums it over, and then picks the flesh out of the shell while the terrapin helplessly sprawls on the sand. Ocala Star: W. D. Condon, in a late visit to his timber lands on the St. Johns river, in Marlon county, slew a green soft shell sea turtle that measured two feet and seven inches across its back, from which twenty-five pounds of steak were cut, and from the remains soup enough was made to feed several dozen people two days. There were shipped to A. (t Bacon, Day tona ’ via Pala tka, from Dflayton Island, in 1 , !lurs<^ay > 2,790 pounds of fig preserves, wii h r / W ° r unflnis hed state. The fruit hi« l ™t£ repa P red for use by Mr - Bacon at his canning factory. $ The cocoanut tree is one of the most valuable of plants. Its wood furnishes beams, rafters and planks; its leaves um brellas and clothing; its fruit food, oil, intoxicants and sugar; its shells, domestic tffig SllS ’ lt3 flbers r °P es . sails and mat- J. M. Bryan of Osceola county purchas ed a flock of sheep for $350, put them on the range and took very little or no care of them for nearly two years, save to clip and sell the wool, which reimbursed him for the amount expended, and then he sold the flock for $1,200 cash. Camp Bros., who have sawed several million feet of lumber at Wade, have sold the same to a firm at Campville, who will nave it dressed for novelty sidings, ceiling, flooring, etc. The company recently made another survey of their lands near Wade, apd find that by a misunderstanding they failed to cut the timber from over 300 acres. Tampa Tribune: The 5-year-old son of S. Schwam, while in New York city some five months ago, got something in one of his ears that has given him a good deal of trouble and caused his parents considerable anxiety. The boy was tak en to a physician, who, after administer ing an anaesthetic, removed the obstruc tion. The object extracted in this man ner turned out to be a large Rhinestone, which in some mysterious manner had been introduced into the boy’s ear. The stone was cut after the style commonly seen in diamonds, and its sharp facets and angles must have caused the child Intol erable suffering. Westville Advocate: Old man Ell Wright was carried to the Asylum for the Insane on the 9th Inst. Before leaving, he had addressed a letter to Col. Chipley, requesting him to forward at once a “high top buggy and a critter.” The old man is said to be 115 years old, and has been in a state of semi-lunacy for some time. One of his hobbies was that Coi. Chipley was to send him a horse and buggy through the CQH.iI. Hie was -iofi nam/seSa ~ a fgw days ago, whetr he attempted to cut Mr. Clark and his wife, and suc ceeded in w’jundlng Mr. Clark in two places. It tvas thought best to put him under treatment. About two years ago a negro named Swain, who lived in South Dunnellon, was arrested and convicted for forging C. A. Pine’s pay checks, and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Some time previous to the arrest Swain's wife disappeared, and to all who asked about her he said he had sent her to Texas. Swain’.s little boy, after his father’s arrest, said that he (Swain) had killed his mother and burled her under the doorsteps, but no one paid any attention to the matter, and the boy drifted into Tampa recently, and told the same story there. A colored woman from Tampa arr*7ed at Dunnellon Wednesday and repeated the story the boy had told. This led to some colored meri investigat ing the matter, and resulted in the find ing of the body. Swain is among some convicts who are being worked in Citrus county. Pensacola Times: A marriage license was issued by the county judge last Mon day to William Lynch and Miss Mary West, but up to the present writ ing no marriage ceremony had bound them man and wife. Lynch was sent to the poorhouse two months ago to work out a fine on a sentence of sixty days for assault and battery. While working around the noor house he became ac quainted with Miss Mary West and a strong friendship sprang up between the two, resulting In an engagement to marry. At the expiration of his sentence, Lynch lost no time in securing a marriage license. Showing that document to Miss West as an evidence of his good Intentions, he se cured all the money she had and, coming back to the city, he invested in a hand some suit of clothes and skipped the coun ty. At this writing he has not been heard from. Miss West, who Is said to be a good woman, now mourns the loss of her money and a husband. The Bottom of the Sea. The bottom of the deep sea is, indeed, entirely screened from the warmth and light of the sun by the intervening mas* of water, says Chamber’s Journal. On land we often experience that the inter vention of clouds, which are simply steam, or divided masses of water, results in gloom and a fall of temperature. This ef fect is infinitely more intense at the bot tom of the ocean, between which and the sun there is interposed, not only for a day or two, a layer of cloud, but for ever, a volume of water often several miles thick, Even at fifteen fathoms from the surface the light is much subdued, producing more the appearance of pale moonlight than of sunlight, and experiments made with very sensitive photographic plates in the clear water of the Lake of Geneva have shown that sunlight does no’t penetrate to a greater depth there than 155 fathoms. In the ocean and in the tropics, where sun shine is most intense, no light penetrates beyond a depth of 200 fathoms. Below this all is dark. The stfn’s heat, like its light, is also cut off from the ocean depths in the same manner. A cousin of the writer iound that in the bay of Bengal there is a fall of temperature amounting to about 1 degree Fahr, for every ten fath oms from the surface that the thermom eter sinks. At 200 fathoms he has found that the thermometer stands all the year round at 55 degrees Fahr.; and at at 2,000 fathoms it constantly registeres about 35 degrees Fahr., or close upon freezing point. It is curious to note that as we rise In the air, in balloons or on moun tain slopes, the temperature falls as we rise, and the same occurs as we dive into the depths of the ocean. But In mine* the heat increases as we descend.
