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di'MhL, IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY : *
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c]l(OAo», Old -ilalMCoAft Howe*.)
1 WILLIAM H. ROYAL,
EDITOR if PRqPR IETOR .,
C. S DuHO-E, AMuciaU Editor.
»dl *» TtiVn
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CHAS. S. DuBOSE.
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
"W A^IRiR/EISI TOISr, GhA.
Wlll practice in nil ths Couutie* of th«
NORTHERN CIRCUIT.
FRANK L. LITTLE,
Ainr®llB®Y AT !LAW»
SPARTA, GA.
tT*R«oms in Law buikling Wn 1 . of Court House.
GEO. F. PIERCE, Jr.,
AW0BKK8V AT ILAW,
SPARTA, GA.
TRooms in L»w building We*t of Court House.
T. MARKWALTERS
tABBT B WORKS,
Bioad Street near lower Market, Augusta, Ga.
' and ready for aale, large selection,
Keep ou hand a
and el*o furniohe*, to order, all sort* of
MAKHLE MONUMENTS, TOMB8TONES,
etc. etc.
All work for the country carefully boxeJ andship*
p-d. thp(, 3d if.
—
Carriage, Buggie and Waggon
REPOSITORY,
JaMES*A SCUDDAY stand, has rc-opcncd I hi* CAR¬
RIAGE SHOP, at hi# old whrre c is prtpur*
•d to •erv* hi* old friend* and patron* and th« pablic
ganarally, in every branch of his busineas, either with
N#w Work, repairing or Kcovoting of Carriage*,
Bn ggiet, Wagani, &o , at th* moat reasonable prior*
Ha ha* in his employ the well known (V*edm*n Tom
C#Im alia* Tom Thompson, aud will warrant all
work to alnnd the »o*t. Tom i* a thorough Uemo
arat, 111) > Oliit o»IIM I
H# will also do all manner of Blackamithing and
aolicit* a share of th* pwbllc patronage. VrtfH .IV
Sparta, apr 23—ly
HTanted miivvi
^igentfi
TO SELL OUR CELEBRATED *
GOLDEN FOUNTAIN PENS.
Acknowledg'd by all who Htvo «*ed them to be the
beat Pen made or aold in this country. No blottiug!
No soiled fingers ? Sifty lines Wfittan with on* pan
of ink T Will out wear any *teel peu ever made —
Bankers, merchants, teachers *»d all cl*****, on
dons them in the htgheet terms of pra!*e. five Pot boxe* up
slide boxes. Prices, two boxes 50 cents;
$l.*8ent sali*fictioiL- free of postage, and guaranteed to give
perfect ' < • i
, _ agents.
liberal commission*1 to
We preparnd give . »y energetic „ pereou
are to oommleeion
taking tl* agency of these pen*, * t^at
ba'n^Madfar H* oentr ^ PUBLISHING P~ CO.
Andrew WESTERN
oprilMO i
POLLARD, GOX & GO.,
GENERAL GROCERY AND
Commission Merchants,
mA oors 79 BROAD below the STREET, Planter*’ Hotel.)
AUGUSTA, GFA.
T/ KEP ooiwaiitly on hand a larg® ard wallaelected
■IV stock of Groocrie* of every deazripiiou, utdading
a;tiue aaNorluieut of Whiskies, Brandtaa, Wines, Slc
The interest of the firm will be represented by
ludle Henry H. Fitxpatriok of Warreu oouuiy.
May 2 6m
H. H. SASNETT & BRO.,
ISIS BROUGHTON ST. t
QA.^rA3sr3sr-A.Ta:, gka.
Will keep eouatantly on hand • Soleot Stock of
BOOTS and SHOES
BOH iTWiME tM RETAIL
The patronage of my frieuda and the public i* ear¬
nestly solicited.
wilt fill all ordera promptly for Ca*h
H H SASNETT Sl 8RO•
July #C ly
WEEKLY
\V V SWINGS
CN.J
& n
a & YEAR. ^ CV - /
_y i
vi J
It vrf
:■! iBi £ H ii to atfl'jv #
It was shortly after opening of
the great exhibition of ,1861, that I aet
sail from England for the gold fields of
New Sbbtji WaleB, with a heart brimful
of hope and expectation, and pockets,
boxes, and portmanteaus made of suffi
ciently capacious dimensions to ^qld
any amount of the precious metal (when
found,) iu addition to my somewhat
scanty wardrobe.
Well do I remember the packing of
that black leather portmanteau, and the
swallow-tailed dress coat that my mo¬
ther would - insist upon putting in, al¬
though, having a presentiment that such
articles of app «rel were not comme it font
at the gold fiields, I vigorously resisted
the measure. I also remember the many
dozen pairs of warm socks that had been
manufactured with sisterly affection and
gray worsted, by the five girls—from
Julia the eldest, aged nineteen, down to
Susan the youngest, just turned nine.
Finally, 1 have a distinct memory of
how my maiden annt, on the strength
of her sixteen stone weight, jumped
upon the aforesaid portmanteau and per¬
formed a kind of war dance thereon, so
as to enable Tom the groom and Mary
the housemaid to strap and lock it, and
how, after many tears being shed by my
father and inothe., my brothers and Ris
tors, and my maiden aunt in particular,
I was whisked away to the railway sta
Imn m order to catch the 9:45 a. m.
train for 1 -
I will not dwell on the voyager Wlr
becaase it was very much like other
voyages. Suffice it to say that in just
a hundred days we arrived in Siduey,
the capital of New South Wales, and
here I discovered that the favorite gold
field of the day win at Opliir, near Bath¬
urst, 146 miles up the country. Here
some tremendous finds hud lately been
made, and people had been turning up
nuggets like an Irishman shovels up po¬
tatoes.
In due time, after a fortnight’s weary
journey in an ox cart, which also con¬
tained my cradle, my pick and shovel,
uty tent, and other camp requisites, as
well as all my personal luggage, I arri¬
ved at found f-hp gold fields. Ofinjft (
I Opliir then a peculiar and yet
a romantic-looking place. Two hills
i both rgse„ ^qy™jd.lp,*t covered with gentle f W|h undulations, e .ky,
both thinly. timbared to their summits.
The lower slopes of these hills were
thickly dotted with digger’s tents, and
the Summe^flill ^gfeek wound right
around their base.
At the time I-reached this gold field
the diggings there were estimated to
cover an extent of 300 miles, though
eight ° months previously 1 the eXiatehoe
of gold . of Australia . 4 Ut
in any put t Was
terly unknown.
I lost no time in pitching my tent
and lns , iag out .claim; and 24 hour,
later 1 was as hard at work as the rest
of them.
My teut was pitched in close proxim¬
ity to one occupied by two strong, bur¬
ly fellows of the old convict class, or at
least such 1 set them down to be, on ac
count of the odd way in which I fancied
each of them lifted the left leg in walk
itifi, a peculiarity appertaining to most
men who have been accustomed to per¬
ambulate in leg-irons for any lengthy
period. These men were alw»y 8 ver y
civil to me, and of course I wa* same
to them ; and yet, somehow or other, I
contracted a dread of them, which I
could neither overcome nor combat;
and when »on>* t,m * 8 mte or the other of
them would stroll up, pipe in mouth/
to the edg‘‘ my pit, and ask me how
1 W a« getting on, I used to fancy that it
w»» only done to see whether I was
turning up anything good, and conse¬
quently worth robbing ; and I used to
conceal iny gold in all sorts of out-of
the-way-places to elude their suspected
designs.
Ga., 12, 1870.
1 ^ ■ *' ?T ,r ' Tr T’ r Ti j 11 1 i ~ t "^.vr
tj$t One night 1 heard a horrid revelation
dd all r..y suspicions against
these men.- And now I come to the
very subject matter of story. in* 1
my
I have said that my tent adjoined that
of my two mysterious acquaintances; in
fact, the canvass of one tent touched
that of the other ; and from my tent I
could hear the conversation they carri¬
ed on in theirs very plainly. I had never
before listened to their discourse, but
one night, just as I was retiring to bed,
I heard one say to the other ; * Yes, this
little knife did it for him; I killed the
old man with one blow, sir.*
The horrible admission staggered me,
and I felt that I must listen to the end
of the discourse now, at whatever risk
to myself; so I glued my ear to the can¬
vass in time ’ to hear his mate rejoin :
f Did you, nowY And did the fellow
resist you V
* Faith and he did,’ replied the assas¬
sin* * * He grasped me till he nearly
pressed the life out of me, and tried to
rip me up with his spur; but I drove
the kpife into him up to the hilt, and
then Cut his head off.’
* Bravo Charlie !’ cried the other ;
4 that makes the seventh old man we’ve
killed since our arrival in the colonies,
do’nt it ?’
4 No, the eighth,* was the reply; ‘dont
you remember the black fellow.’
4 Oh, aye, to be sure, right you are,’
said the other; 4 but what have you
done with the illustrious dead in this
present instance V
4 Why, I left the body in the bush,
with the exception of the legs, which
are here in the tent.’
•«—Ay conversation here ceased and was
not re in fact, a stentorian suo
ring soon told m was very int¬
probable that it would be TTir Wl 1 Hi$
night, at the least; so I crept into my
bed, not to sleep (how could I, after so
horrible a liad discovery) but to reflect upon
all that I heard.
* The eighth old man they had killed !
and one of them an unfortunate black
fellow. Oh, the wretched miscreants !’
I muttered to myself, und then my mind
wandered away, and I wondered why it
was that they always murdered old men
—how it was that their last victim tried
to rip his murderer up with a spur,*uch
an extraordinary weapon of defence, and
to W h»t cut onearjj, his victim's HjjdJpdu^ legs and bring
on
them into his ter>t. At last, however,
I did sink into a disturbed, unrefreshing
slumber, and was afflicted by a frightful
dream in which I fancied thatone of my
next door neighbors was kneeling on my
chest, aud cutting my'throat from ear
to ear.
My dream had, in fact, some slight
foundation, for I was awakened by a
rough hand shaking me by the shoulder;
and my eyes, on opening them, rested
on the rough bearded face of the very
man I had been dreaming of.
I was about to scream ‘murder !’ for
I thought that my last hour had come ;
but glancing around I saw that it was
broad daylight, and that the fellow was
merely asking me for a match to light
his pipe with. This 1 immediately gave
him, and he went away with a mutter¬
ed expression of thanks.
That day, instead of going to work,
I set out for the tent of the police com¬
missioner, and after a long walk suc¬
ceeded in reaching it. I had to wait a
very long time before I was granted an
audience ; but when I was ushered into
the presence of the dread functionary,
and told him as succinctly as possible
the circumstances of the case, and how
I had heard the rascals coufess their uu
merous crimes, and particularly their
last murder, the proofs whereof were
within their tent, the enthusiasm of the
commissiouer was fully aroused, and lie
felt r . as anxious • A* for their a - capture r aud , pun
lshment . , . myself. He suggested that
as
two policemen, disguised as diggers and
well armed, should come to my tent
that evening on the pretence of paying
me ' a visit as old acquaintances, and that
after it . was dark, . . and , the . two murder- ,
era had turned in for the night, we
should rush into their tent and secure
them.
..This was a very feasible plot, and I
heartily entered into it; so I minutely
described the position of my tent, and
to make it still more easily discovera-
1 le, promised that a bright red poeket
hundkerchief should be hanging on some
conspicuous part of it, asth ugh to dry,
and having made all these arrangements
I took my leave.
Well, I got back to my abode about
one o’clock in the afternoon, and after
a hasty meaf, not wishing to lose a whole
day, I went to my claim, and set to for
a three hours’ dig. Strange to say, I
had not been at work five minutes when
I came across a pretty little nugget, of
about the size of a walnut, and a few
minutes later picked out another as
large as a crab-apple. I was about to
pocket the latter, when I looked up and
saw one of the assassins gazing down on
me.
• Lucky find, mate V said he, with a
broad grin, that in my prejudiced mind
seemed to say, 4 Aye, but it will be mine
before long.*
4 Pretty well,’ I repli-d, brusquely,
and he walked away.
I found no more nuggets on that oc¬
casion ; and at 5 o’clock I knocked off
and made my way to my tent, where,
after a good wash, I pulled an old gin
case outside, sat down on it, lighted my
pipe, and coolly awaited the arrival of
my visitors.
I hau not to wait long. I presently
observed twostrongly framed men stroll¬
ing leisurely in my direction, as though
merely sauntering at random through
the diggings. As they came opposite
to me, one of them started, and, ad
dresiing me, exclaimed : * Hello^G^Ml
,n
where difl'^ou hail liouWffPL arid step
ping up he grasped me warmly by the
hand.
Seeing what was expected of me, I
heartily returned the pressure, s tying,
in a loud tone, *Why about three weeks.
But when did you leave Sydney? Come
in man, and briog your friend with you.
Old friends likHyoti N awd me should li
quor up before questions are asked and
answered,’ and inside we all three of us
went.
One of the two meu that we wanted
to catch was an eye und ear witness of
all this scene, but it was so naturally
enacted that no suspicions that my two
acquaintances were detectives could
have entered his head. , 4
I found that each of my visitors was
armed with a revolver aud a pair of
handcuffs. They were both strong
powerful men, and more than a match
for the others In every way. The plan,
however, to make all things certain, and
to prevent any unnecessary spilling ol
blood, was to wait until the ruffians
were in their beds and asleep, when we
were to steal in. aud try and handcuff
them before they cjuld wake up.
We had to wait many weary hours
for this time to arrive, but at ast the
snoring commenced in earnest, and this
was our signal. Handcuffs iu hand, the
detectives crept into the adjoining tent
I followed them with my revolver lev¬
eled, in case that one or both the rascals
should wake up and be too quick for
them. They aid not wake up, und th<
irons were clasped around and locked on
their wrists without their even twiuk
ling an eyelid.
But now they w^re roughly awaken
ed. and the senior oftcer said, ■ run.
Jackson and Bill Wi ton, I arrest you
for willful murder. You must both ol
you get up and come along with us. I
am Detective Sinclair, of the New South
Wales police.
1 never saw two men so struck with
consternation aud surprise as were these
two wort hies. At last one of them gasp
i-.mlaiJ'Lh'i'iDi! tcetive Sinclair: Why, U you mur must er all • be e '
a » J
. uh
• The evidences of their crime are in
this tent remember/ I said to Sinclair,
bim with my elbow* 4 Let us
IUi ^ >S0 ^ fbeir last slaugh
Cl
*p| I Be ie hint Hint was was promptly nronmflv acted irte l upon.
We seized spades aud picks, and in ten
/ / A -t v
it
{/
A h A
• " \hsjn. 5: • t 2
minutes every inch pi the ground cov
ere( * by the tent was turned over to a
y af d in depth.
No old man’s legs were found ; but
we were not to be daunted, and pro
ceeded to ransack the tent all over, still
without any old man’s legs turning up,
though we spied two fine hind legs of
a kangaroo hanging up ip an obscure
corner *
‘Well, are you satisfied ?’ asked one
of the prisoners. 1 Are you convinced
that you are on some wiid goose chase?
If so,^take these cursed irons off and be
? one *
‘No, we are not so convinced,’
svvered Sinclair, with some asperity,
‘This worthy gentlemau’ pointing to
me, * heard you confess last night to
having murdered no less than eight old
men, and such crimes will have to be
accounted for. He heard you confess,
too, to having hid the legs of your last
victim in this tent; but doubtless you
have this day removed them to some
more, He secure hiding place.’
‘ told you that, did he ? the young
dmikey,* screamed one of the accused,
with a hyena-like laugh. ‘ And so we
have, too—old men kangaroos—and
there are the legs we spoke of hanging
up in that corner ready for to-morrow’s
pic. Ah! ha ! ha ! he has brought you
on a fool’s errand, sure enough,’ and the
roars of laughter the two men indulged
in fairly shook the tent.
Both detectives looked fearfully an
uoyed, and yet they could not help
laughing. Without a word to me they
took the handcuffs off the men and rc
turned them to their pockets. Then
Sinclair said . * What will you take to
keep this matter a secret 1 You see,
through this unfortunate new chum’s
blunder, we shall get laughed off the
diggings, unless you choose to be mer
ciful. I’ll give you a £5 note out of my
own pocket if you will keep this unfor
tunate affirir dark.’
4 1 will supplement Sinj^ri Ps offer
with the largest of t gets I dug up
to-day,* I ' * ^ffng that if being
the position e general dread, Istood
worst of the trio.
4 Hang your bribes !’ was the retort,
‘ f would not give up the chance of cir
culating value so glorious a yarn for ten times
the of what you offer. However,
I will tell it as leniently as possible.—
And as for this new chum,’ turning to
me, 4 when I first came tn the colony, I
and my mate here were both of usgreen
enough to have made just as stupid a
blunder ; so 1 can’t blame him. Come,
let us sit down and have a drink all
round of real old Jamaica rum, of which
we have an unbroached keg in stock.’
The invitation was readily accepted,
and we kept it up until daybreak with
grog, songs and toasts. ’ < r
So ended the tragedy of 4 killing an
name universally bestowed r ,w J fa on " > ‘ a T"*"* large
male kangaroo. These animals, When
attacked, are very ferocious, and if they
cannot close get away, will and, are engaged at 1
short quarters, fore legs, and clasp you with theifl
th pressing you tight
h heir I?*! strong hind i e - ,r i C legs, i ie8t wl which . . is one armeh oi
Zne shaped a i Tr yl T g « no * Mi*
vur, und rip - you right down
with it, causing almost instant death,
W leu hunted with dogs, the 4 old mail’
vvil! generally, when once at bay, dis
un jviel two or three of hts canine ad
v, rsar.es before he is dragged down and
dispatched, and the human foe is some
tunes served in the same manner.
These two terrible murderers, as I
thought then., turned out to be two
i iglit good fellows ; one had been a cor
net m a crack cavalry regiment at home,
the other a curate in the church of Eng¬
land. We soon became fast friends and
partners in what turned out afterwards
to be a well-paying claim, and in the
year 1SG7 we all returned to old Eng¬
land rich men. •- '
A Singular Story.
dows sitting near the doom and front win¬
of a fashionable barber-shop re
cently. in » big arm chair, with a large
mirror in front of him and another at his
back, and a clever barber standing at
his side, scraping lather and heard from
his face with a razor that gave no un
pleasant token ol its presence, a mar,
started forward so suddenly that the bar
her, to save himeelf.coold not av.id cut
ting him an ugly gash on the chin,
‘Now. see e wnat wh«t you vnu nave haw* done. »*
sta. , mered , and expostulated the barber
a s he applied a wet towel to the wound
and then piece of sticking-plaster. ’
a
But the man had nothing tosay about
the cut. He was embarrassed. Me had
8t<irte< * f orwar ^ ^ok eegerly into the
mirror in front of him. Then hi* fW
turned to look at the street; then he
Three Dollars.
had twisted his bead around to gaze into
the glass behind him ; and at last he
had sunk back iri his chair, and exclaim
e J with an expression of weariness and'
disappointment i' -'i*
‘She has fooled me again.’ , . „
The barber’s eyes had followed those
of his customer into the mirror in front
where was reflected the ever-changing
panorama ofFourth street, and reflect-^
ed the reflection from the mirror behind* *
—into the nrirrer behind which performs;
ed exactly the same office as the mirror
in f ront.—and finally into the street,
i where were enacted in reality the.scenes
of life thus truthfully mirrored. It was ’
the same o!d scene that met tonsorial
artist’s eyes—of wealth and poverty,/
happinass and misery, purple and fine a
linen and rags, beauty and ugliness.— .;
There were carts, wagons, buggies and
carriages, gaily dressed ladies and beg
gar girls, hardfisted, soot begritnmed !•>
cart-headers, dandy clerks and flashy *
gamblers, and two or three elegantlvT
i dressed women. i
j He saw nothing remarkable in thfl
j scenes ; so he went on with Ins work,
meanwhile curiously studying the luce
^ he man : pulat« d. It was that of a man
■ of middle age, but prematurely wrink
led The eyes were cold gray, and had-* ?
a cast that gave them a slightly, and
only slightly, crossed expression ; and
there was a wildness about them, a pier
eing wildness, that the barber had not
noticed before. The man was well >
dressed, in the height of fashion really# ft
From his appearance and remarks he
had ,
dropped, he was evidently a stran
ger here from the East. Nothing fur- r *
ther of interest transpired ( *
with the
stranger on this occasion.! He paid for -
his shave and walked off. The next [
morning, however, he made his appear
a ‘>ce at the same shop, at about the
same hour.
fore humus engaged when he
^ he seated himself arid
ern n in, so wait-'
ud for hi barbers « , although 4 next was called
by two at some distance from
the window. Finally he seated himself
for a shave in his seat of the day before
and immediately fixed his eyes intently
on the mirror in front of him. His bar
ber noticed now that he was much 'Ma¬
titled and nervous, «r,d OtfflBl
guard again***-* t/on of the aoct
at tlte ^ l* revlou «. It was lucky
^br the strange customer that he was Ml
considerate, for hardly had he commenc*
®d operations with the when <.
jumped forward, razor ths
man and with painfully caught him by the
arm, a pinching grip, » '
and with his eyes glaring at somethin*
>n the mirror, said, in a hissing whisper,
* Ho you see her V Louk there ! Don’t
you see her now V
* Who V’said the startled barber as he
looked into the glass land ft*w ooly'fc V’'.
neW>#y*l» hc horse and buggy, and • po*nnt
",r on t'- mm
with ‘ Why, that woman in black velvet! Don't-'* i
that scar on her forehead.
you see ? There-—she’s gone !’
And the' man fell fell back fh hisseat ‘
pale and trembling, with a cold sweat
starting from his forehead, and an ex
pff«fpn of fright and exhaustion that.,
was painful to look upon. The barber
coulT haVe sworn, with perfect securi
ty from the pains and penalties of Der
jury, that no woman in black velvet, ri
with a scarori r.er forehead, had passed 1
on the street, or been mirrored in thrt u
glass ; but fearing to further auftate ? Ind the
man. he simply said, shaving^tis 4 Oh. yes custome? very
carefully finished made“p hfaSS
In the meanwhile he
that lie was shaving either a madman o.
an unfortunate victim of delirium tre*
mens, and that he would do it no more.
But he was spared the trouble, for be
never saw the man again. And it is like*
ly lie never would have known the his¬
tory of the case had he not mentioned
the occurrence last Saturday to a cus¬
tomer who had seen fit to philosophixe
upon the !ifescene8, disconnected, flit¬
ting, passing like a dream, arid gone for¬
ever, that the mirrors of the shop por¬
trayed. * r
This gentleman from New York star¬
ted iu surprise when he heard the stran¬
ger mentioned, and wondered that he
had been West; and, said he, * Why,
that’s my poor old friend Hairy. He’»
out of his head half the time, because a
girl that he once loved killed herself.—
She shot a ball through her forehead
info her brain. She was standing in
front of a mirror, and I believe she had
on» black vel vet party dress at the lima
Harry came in and saw her face in tbe
mirror ;»st as she shot herself. Poor feh
ow, he thinks he sees her whenever he
looks info a mirror—sensible enough at
other turn s, Nr»— married now aud set¬
tled down. They don’t have many look
mg-glasses iu their house, though_his
wife generally combs his hair for him.