Newspaper Page Text
EUtomcle anfc Sntffnel._
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5,1877.
CROP NEW!*.
The friends of the Chbosiclh and
CossnrmoNALisT in Georgia and
South Carolina will greatly oblige us by
sending, from time to time, brief let- j
ters showing the condition of the crops. |
We would like to have a letter onoe a ;
week from every locality where the
Chronicle and Constitutionalist cir-!
calates.
The National Republican attributes
the escape of Capt. James Fobnet, of
the Marine Corps, from court martial
and military disgrace, to one potential
reason. He is the son of John W. For
ney, of the Philadelphia Pres*.
When Bosapabtb was at Bt. Helena
he predicted that Europe would become
either Cossack or Republican within an
indefinite short time. If the Turks go
on in their present ways the Cosßack
business will not cause Europe half the
trouble that Qambktta and those rest
less Frenchmen are likely to cause it.
Accommodation for Hindoo women on
the Eastern Bengal Railway is receiving
unusual attention from the company.
Hpeciul and well retired waiting rooms
are to be provided at the principal sta
tions, with screens placed across the
platforms leading from the rooms to the
reserved carriages. Sedan chairs will
be used in conveying female passengers
from the rooms to the cars, and the
present practice of reserving a particu
lar compartment by painting on the
door “Reserved for native females”
Abandoned.
Thk Prussian Government baa taken
action with reference to the cruelties of
the belligerents iu the present Tarko-
Rassian war—especially those practiced
by the Turks, which are at variance
with the usages of civilized warfare.
There is, undoubtedly, cause of com
plaint. But it is impo-isible to divest
war of cruelties and wrongs. War, at
best, is i custom more befitting beasts
than men, and more tolerable for ma
nines than rational beings. “Love your
enemies; do good to them that .hate
you,” sayetli the Scriptures. But bow
can you love your pnemies, and kill
them ?
According to an Atlanta correspon
dent of the Inter-Ocean, Judge I-och
hane, attorney for some of the holders
of the bogus bonds which Georgia has
ignored, is about to briDg the question
to an issue by a coup dr, guerre. He
loft for Chattanooga a few days since to
begin suit against the State, as tru-*< e
of the German bondholders, holding
that Georgia assumes a trust by aa act
of legislation. He proposes to levy on
so much of the property of the State as
lies in Tennessee, and thns, if possib.e,
force a suit.
A oase is in progress in North Caro
lina whicli is of interest to insurance
companies by way of information and
warning. A gentleman who had insur
ed in the Southern Underwriters' Asso
ciation demands the return of his pre
miums on the ground that they were ob
tained by falso representations. The
company published a statement that it
had a oash capital of $150,000 and no
liability, whereas it had no such capi
tal, but only a small fraotion of it and
the balance is notes of its own stock
holders, given ostensibly for their
stock, and had, besides, large liabilities,
which it had concealed.
The Chioago Times says of theoh\nge
for tho bettor in business in that city :
“It is barely a month ago that tho
country lay struggling in the throes of
what was little short of a civil war, and
it seemed for a time that chaos aud
utter ruin would be the portion of the
whole community. For four years
things had been going to pot, pieoe by
piece, and at last oame the engulfing
climax. All this was but a month ago,
yet to-day tho very face of nature seems
transformed, and the look of despair
has, as if by magic, changed into a
broad smile of prosperity. It is as if
the entire West, all of a sudden, was
revitalized.”
The destruction by a wind-storm of
the railroad bridge across the Missouri
river, from Council Bluffs to Omalin,
furnishes another illustration of tho
weakness and insecurity of the bridges
built by railroads and contractors iu
this couutry. This particular bridge
slid not happen to have any body on it
when it weut down, but that was only
a fortunate accident. Its fall might
have been as fatal as that at Ashtabula.
These accidents ought to draw the at
tention of Legislatures to the necessity
of stringent State examination of rail
road bridges by unprejudiced experts,
and the condemnation of all which are
not perfectly safe.
The State of New York ever siuce
1852 has been collecting tonuugo dues
from vessels touching at the ports of
that State, and now the Supreme Court
of the United States has decided that
the act of the Legislature imposing said
dues is clearly iu ooufliet with that pro
vision of the Federal Constitution which
prohibits any State, without the oou
eeut of Congress, from levying any duty
of tonnage or laying any imposts or
duties on imports or exports, except
what may be absolutely necessary for
executing its inspection laws. As it
costs something to keep a port in repair
for the uses of commerce, the New York
ers want to know how the cost can be
raised without levying snoh tonnage
dues on shipping, and whether the West
will agree that Congress shall consent
.thereto.
Richard Grant White has a pleasant
article in the (talary for September on
“ Americanisms.” He takes the posi
tion that moat of the so-called “ Ameri
canisms” are really of English or Euro
pean origin, and have been simply trans
planted to our shores, receiving a sort
of intensity by the way. We were edi
fled by his remarks on the Louisiana
provincialism —“ bull-doze”—a very ex
pressive and vigorous word. Mr.
Wuitk thinks it is not an “ American
ism” really, but has been borrowed from
over the water. He says doze is a time
honored English word, and is used to
express the idea of physical force.
Scott wrote all of the mottoes to his
chapters credited to “ Old Play," “Old
Song,” Ac, In one of the “ old play”
quotations from “ The Fortunes of
Nigel," one of the characters, Swash
Buckler, remarks cheerfully : “ I’ll doze
the mongrels, or in plain terms, 111 use
the private knife.” To this time-honor
ed doze has been added the intensive
participle bull.
The newspapers lately have had sev
eral reports of the recent private exhi
bitions of the Krbhet motor, and from
these it would appear that the machine
not only produces an astonishing and
unprecedented pressure to the square
inch, but that it operates a small engine.
In spite of these things intelligent per
sons will continue to regard the whole
thing as an arrant humbug. There are
several reasons why they are entitled to
do so. In the first place, the so-called
motor does nothing more now than it
did three years ago. If it is a fair aDd
honest invention it can move a locomo
tive as readily as it can operate a sta
tionary engine, and it would have proved
its value in that manner long ago. In
the next place, the metor does nothing
which could not be done by an eleotric
contrivance of some kind or by an earn
est colored man attached to a crank in
the oellar. In the last place, it is an es
t tblished law of this universe, a law es
t tblished by somebody greater than Mr.
Kkklxt, that there can be no force with
out a corresponding expenditure of fuel.
If the KeeliKT motor is not a fraud, it
transcends and defies that law. That it
must therefore be not at all what it pro
fesses to be is just about absolutely
oertaih.
THE t'SF. OF TOBACCO.
The New York Sun says a correspon
dent propounds to us a question which
it is not difficult to answer, and we are
somewhat surpri ed that a man who
seems to be iu other respects intelli
gent should ask it. This is the qnes
tioo:
Being undecided mto the presence of sny
poisonous substance in tobacco. I ask your
opinion, hoping you will oblige by answering
in your columns. Being a consumer. I will
stop its use in chewiag if your answer is in the
affirmative.
First, we will observe that of all the
forms of using tobacco the chewing of
it is the most offensive. This practice
is one no gentleman should indulge in,
for it carries in its train disgusting ne
cessities, and really renders a man unfit
for the society of people of refinement.
A tobacco chewer pollutes the place he
frequents, and outrages the society into
which he intrudes himself. The longer
he indulges in the habit, the more care
less he becomes of exhibiting its odious
incidents, until he grows to be a verita
ble nuisance, with his discolored lips
and bulging cheek, his profuse expecto
ration and offensive breath. He onght
not to be tolerated where ladies are,
oertainly; and, unless he can keep his
quid out of his mouth while in their so
ciety, he should not venture into the
company of gentlemen. There is much
excuse for the tobacco chewing of sail
ors, for pipes are not available at sea;
but no man who lives on shore, and who
pretends to the least good breeding,
should disgust people with the filthy
habit.
All forms in whioh tobacco is used
may be made offensive, and they are so
made by men who are careless, whether
they annoy people or not, and pay no
heed to the sensitive nostrils of others.
A man may so impregnate his clothing
with stale tobacco smoke as to make
himself disgusting when he goes into
oompany. This he has no right to do,
and no man of proper sense will do it.
Before entering a mixed society he will
take pains either to change his clothes
or to air those he has on; aud hewill not
suffer himself to become such a slave of
the habit that ho cannot go without his
cigar or bis pipe when they may prove
disagreeable to his neighbor. Snuff
taking, which used to be so general
among ladies and gentlemen, has for
tunately passed out of vogue, for it was
an unclean practice, though some of
tho courtiers of a former day used to
take their snuff with a degree of grace
and the management of thp snuff box
was a great art as the handling of the
eyeglasses may be made now. It is
painful to have to add that large quauti
lies of Scotch snuff ore now sold for the
disgusting and pernicious purpose of
• dipping” by women. There is no other
way of using tobacco so fatal to health
and character as this.
Now, as to the poison of tobacco.
There is in it one of tho most violent
poisons—nicotine, which produces tre
mor, palpitation of the heart, and, in
sufficient quantities, paralysis. If you
wish to find out whether tobacco has a
poison or not, blow the smoke of it on
an insect and see tho result; or try it on
a bird, and see how rapidly it succumbs
to the effect. Tobacco, however, is not
a poision that leaves important disease
of any particular organ or class of or
gans in its track; and hence it is not an
especial object of attack by physicians,
the majority of whom, indeed, use it
themselves. But that its excessive use
seriously damages the nervous system
is a fact proved beyond dispute, and
one of which large numbers of smokers
have personal experience. Tobacco is
an irritant of the nervous system, but
the body becomes accustomed to it, and
iu moderation it may be taken by many
people with slight injury, though no
man addicted to its consumption can be
said to be in perfect health from day to
day.
HEBREW.** IN EANTERN EUROPE.
If the Jews in Poland, Russia and
Roumania are as much oppressed as all
accounts represent, it may be considered
certain that ultimately an exodus will
commence that must be a general out
pouring of the crushed and persecuted
race. It is true that this work has been
going on for ages, and that those who
have practised it have uniformly prided
themselves on their Christianity, and
are eveu now invoking the sympathies
of Christian Europe in a war against
the Moslems, so that the persecution is
hereditary, and originates in religious
hatred and bigotry. But no race can
become permanently accustomed to such
injustice, aud, therefore, we look for a
Jewish exodus from Russia, Poland and
Roumania as certain, and we regard
America as the land of promise for this
ill-used race, as the only one where it is
sure of complete equality.
The influx of Jewish emigrants has
never attracted attention, beoause the
race has never come as a recognizably
distinct element. But its increase has
been marked iu a degree of material
prosperity far beyond its numbers, and
this ought to be sufficient to attract in
creased multitudes ot Hebrews from
Europe. The numbers of these people
in Eastern Europe are stated in almost
inoredible figures ; in Poland and Rus
sia alone the total being considerably
over three millions. They are also very
numerous in Bohemia, Hungary and
Roumania aud the provinces of tho
Turkish Empire. But these countries
are so remote from America that emi
gration overland to England or the Ger
man ports to take passage for this Re
public is too eipt'P s ive, aQ d thus far
we are without direet lines pf emigrant
ships to the ports of the Eastern Mcui*
terranean. The German Mennonites
who came hither from Russia migrated
from the Baltic ports, and by that route
we could reach the Polish and Russian
Jews. So many grevions burdens have
ueen laid upon them by the Russian
Government that no opposition would
be likely to be made to tho emigration
of the race to America.
The business capacity of the Jews is
too well known to need praise; but in
these countries of Eastern Europe they
are said to be extensively engaged in
mechanical occupations, and to be the
best manufacturers and skilled work
men. They were so long prohibited
from owning land that they are not far
mers. Yet, if an organized effort were
made to iuangurate a Hebrew movement
on a large scale, to some of our Western
States or Territories, the chances are
strongly in favor of its success. The
poor Jews of Poland and Russia wonld
be glad to secure the possession of land
in a free Republic which they had been
forbidden for ages to own in monarchi
cal Europe. When a suggestion of this
kind was made some years ago, in ref
erence to the persecuted Jews of Ron
mania, we were surprised to find it op
posed by the most intelligent Hebrews
of our Atlantic cities. Their reasons
were not stated, but it may be presum
ed that they related to the low preju
dices against the race, and the possible
danger of their being increased by a
rapid immigration of poor Jews from
Europe.
To all appearances the race in Eastern
Europe is desperately impoverished and
suffering, but it is quite probable that
this aspect is assumed to avoid the plun
dering to which they have been subject
ed for ages, and that in a free Republic
like ours, where equality is assured to
all, they would live in better style. Very
few Hebrews ever come hither who do
not bring with them some capital to be
gin life upon, and this fact has made
them exceedingly active and busy in
most departments of trade, and fostered
an unjust prejudice based on their re
markable prosperity. It is their capital
that gives them the advantage in trade,
to which may be added a business train
ing that is traditionary and faoultiee in
that line abnormally developed by in
heritance and the practice of genera
tions.
The Griffin News says that there is
considerable sickness, mostly fever, in
that city at present.
THE STATE OF TRADE.
The Bureau of Statistics has publish
ed its comparative statement of imports
and exports for the seven mouths end
ing with July. The vtluea given are
specie. For the entire period in this
year the exports in merchandise have in
creased over the corresponding period
last year by 810,366,403, or 321 per
cent.; the imports have increased by
835,257,381, or 12.4 per cent. The ex
oess of merchandise imported last year
was $59,300,024. This year it is bnt
$35,422,046. This change is still more
conspicuous in the trade for Jnly, when
the exports fell off slightly and the im
ports increased a little over33j per cent,
and instead of an exoess in exports of
89,236,241, which we had last y9ar, give
us this year an excess of imports of $2,-
380,767. Turning to the specie move
ment we find that while we have export
ed only 837,680,460 this year, agiinst
842,677,790 last year, we have imported
812,618,549 this year against only $6,-
320,765 last year, reduoing the excess of
exports from '836,357,025 to 825,061,911
—a difference of $11,295,114. The to
tal amount of the transactions with for
eign countries for the first seven months
of 1877 is $680,007,557. For a corres
ponding period in 1876 it was $634,198,-
319, an increase for this year, so far, of
$45,811,238, or 7.2 per cent.
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY.
The future attitude of Austro-Hungary
towards the Russo-Turkish war is ex
pected to be governed by circumstances.
Should the war oontinue for any length
of time, it is not doubted but Austro-
Hungary will be compelled to take some
part, offensive or defensive, which gives
interest to an inquiry into her military
strength. The Pall Mall Budget has
compiled some figures under this head
which convey the neoeseary instruction.
Universal compulsory servioe was intro
duced into Austria in December, 1868,
aud under its operations the annual con
tingent of recruits for the army is fixed
at 95,000 men, of which number the
western part of the Empire furnishes
55,000 and Hungary 40,000. Tho in
fantry consists of eighty regiments of
six battalions each, amounting to an ag
gregate strength of 456,080 men. Iu an
emergency Austria can plaoe in the field
sixty battalions of rifles, numbering 54,-
780 men. The oavalry oonsists of forty
one regiments, numbering 49,369. The
artillery consists of thirteen regiments
for field service, with 1,560 guns, and
twelve battalions of fortress service,
numbering 5,154 men. Including the
engjppeys and telegraph and ambulance
servioe, the total strength of the army,
when fully mobilized, amounts to 23,-
457 officers, 761,041 men, 157,582 horses,
aud 1,600 field and mountain gnns. The
Landwehr amounts to 7,615 officers and
300.469 men, of whom 269,212 are con
sidered corphatant troops.
THE DEBTS OF CITIES).
The September number of the Galaxy
contains a valuable contribution on the
interesting and almost exhaustless sub
ject of municipal indebtedness. The
author is Robert P. Porter, who has
been at great paiflP to collect informa
tion. He gives statistics showing the
debt, valuation apd annual taxation of
one hundred and thirty cities in 1876
and in 1866. The totals are as follows:
Total debt 1876 $ 644,378,663
Total debt 1866 221,312,009-
Valuation 1876 6,175,082,158
Valuation Iftfifi 3,451,619,381
Annual tax 187tt 112,711,275
Annual tax 1866 $4,060,098
Population 1876 8,570,249
Population 1866 4,919,914
The following shows the per centage
of increase in debt, valuation, taxation
and population in these oitfe# from 1806
to 1876:
Per cent.
Increase of debt 191
Increase of voluation 78
Increase of taxation 74
Increase of population 74
It will be seen that while nearly two
dollars of debt have been added to every
dollar of existing indebtedness in 1866,
the value of the proppfty has been en
hanced only about three-fourths, with
this difference, in addition, that where
as every additional dollar of debt rep
resents a real addition to the municipal
burden, the inorease in valuation is not
wholly gepnine, but iu some cases is
merely the result of charge in the
method of estimating the vaiuau^. —
Thus Detroit appears, iu the table com
piled by Mr - Roberts, as having a valu
ation of *21,373,921 in 1866, and $94,-
570,095 in 1870. The former figures
represented but thirty per emit, of the
actual cash valuation, while the latter
represented the actual valuation. We
have no doubt that there are other
cities in which the oase stands about
as it docs jn Detroit, and a reduction
in each oase would work a material
reduction in the lnoreaeu during the
decade. Mr. Porter appears to think
otherwise ; but an examination of bis
tables shows a large number of cities
iu whicti valuation during the ten
years has been subjected to a “ bal
looning ” process whioh the natural in
crease would not justify, and whioh can
only be accounted for on the hypothesis
that tho figures for 1866 were much be
low a cash basis. The acceptance of
the figures, however, the showing
as favorable as it possibly can be for
the cities, aa that Mr. Porter cannot
be aocused of a desire to present a dark
er picture than the facts warrant.
The figures show that not only has
municipal taxation since 1866 kept fully
up to the increase in wealth and popu
lation, but that iu the meantime the
per capita of indebtedness for each in
habitant has been increased from $45
to npwawm of $75, an ay e ra ß e increase
during t#*e ten years iCT eaoh family o
five of $l5O. In 1866 there Was about
sl6 of taxable property for every dollar
of indebtedness; in 1876 there was bare
ly $9 50; in ten years more, if munici
palities plunged with as headlong speed
into indebtedness as they have during
the past ten, there would, allowing for
an increase of valuation during the de
cade corresponding to that from 1866 to
1876, be lees than six dollars of proper
ty for every one of debt. This would
be the result, striking a general average.
But some cities would be infinitely
worse off than others. New York city,
for example, if it piled up debt iflith the
same relative rapidity during the com
ing ten years as it has during the past
ten, could hardly pay dollar for dollar
if all the property within its corporate
limits were put up at forced sale to meet
the indebtedness; and several other
cities would not be in much better con
dition.
There is, however, a more hopeful
side of the municipal situation. Citi
zens have become thoroughly aroused to
the necessity of curbing municipal ex
travagance, and the resalt of their
watchfulness will be apparent during
the next decade in an improvement in
the general management. Bnt each
improvement can only be effected by the
majority of citizens taking an nnabated
interest in their municipal concerns. If
that interest dies oat, and with it deter
mination to keep oat of fresh debt, it
may be set down as a certainty that citi
zens will some day rue their careless
ness, even more than they do now their
past neglect.
It is estimated that the total harvest
of wheat in Minnesota this yaar will
measure 31,000,000 bushels, and that
‘J0,000,000 bushels will be spared for ex
portation to consumers outside of the
State. The total field last year did not
exceed
The hew Hotel Dieu Hospital, in
Paris, was opened on the 13th iast.,
President MaoMahox being among the
visitors. He congratulated Mr. Free tit,
the director, upon its completion, and
complimented Mr. Die its, the architect,
but beyond those two short speeches no
addresses were made.
General Longstreet, of Gainesville, is
a candidate for the Marshalship of Geor
gia.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
ITS ENTHUSIASTIC ENDORSE
MENT BY THE PEOPLE.
Speeches By Senators Hill and Gordon.
The Atlanta Constitution, of Tuesday,
contains a full report of the proceedings
of the immense ma6s meeting of citizens
held in the Hall of Representatives on
Friday night to give expression to the
popular approval of the new Constitu
tion. Our Atlanta correspondent hav
ing furnished the readers of the News
with a brief account of Atlanta’s bril
liant and most enthusiastic ratification
demonstration, we limit our extracts to
the speeches delivered on the occasion
by Senators Hill and Gordon.
31 r. Hill,
Being first called on, spoke as follows :
Mb. President and Fellow-Citizens
Before coming to this meeting I was
informed that a great man and a distin
guished member of the Convention (Mr.
Toombs) would favor ns with some in
formation and views touching the new
Constitution, in order that we might be
able to form our opinions of its merits
more advisedly. I regret to learn that
he has been detained by his closing of
ficial duties as a member of the Conven
tion.
There are some general considerations
which determine me to say that I shall
vote to ratify the proposed Constitution,
and these I will proceed to state briefly.
If, in the science of our American sys
tem of government, any one proposition
can be regarded as fixed, settled truth,
it is this: That “all governments derive
their authority from the consent of the
governed.” If this is not true, then
nothing else in onr system is true, for
everything else—the whole system—is
built upon this proposition. From this
proposition it results that government
is not a creator, with original inherent
power to rule the people, but is a thing
created and invented with derivative
authority—is but au agency by which
and through which the people rule
themselves. It also results that those
who administer government are servants
acting under orders, and are not supe
rior beings ruling by right. He who
maintains the contrary of this is simply
a monarchist.
The whole scheme of Congressional
reconstruction was a plain, palpable aud
unmitigated violation of this fundamen
tal principle of onr American system of
government, and equally a plain, pal
pable and unmitigated violation of every
provision of the Federal Constitution
which was built upon that principle.
The Constitution under which the peo
plo of Georgia have been living for near
ly ten years was not made by their con
sent. It was made under orders from
Washington, which orders were accom
panied by the bayonet, and were execut
ed under the direct supervision of the
bayonet. The delegates who were
chosen to a convention to obey these or
ders were chosen by a constituency
which was created at Washington, anil
from which constituency the great body
of the intelligence and property was pur
posely excluded by Congress. The Con
stitution so framed was not allowed to
have effect until it was sent to Washing-*
ton and reviewed, altered and approved
by Congress, and by a Congress, too,
not a member of which waß a citizen of
Georgia. That Constitution owes its
existence and vitality to those who were
not to live under it, aud did not derive
its authority from the consent of the
people who were to be governed by it.
It thus results that the man who ap
proves that Constitution has abandoned
the fundamental system of our Ameri
can system, and, as a consequence, lias
abandoned the whole system itself, and
is an infidel in Amerioaa politics and
has become a European monarchist.
The Constitution wo are now called on
to ratify has been made by delegates
freely chosen by all our people. It has
been framed without the presence or
fear of bayonets. It will not be sent to
Washington, or anywhere else outside
of Georgia, for review, alteration or ap
proval, nor will we even atop to con
sider, or care, whether anybody outside
of Georgia will oppose it or not.
I shall, therefore, vote to ratify the
proposed Constitution, because it is our
Constitution. It will derive its authori
ty from the consent of the governed,
and from no other source. Please mark
my words. I am again stating to you
the great principles upon which alone,
as a basis, I have been writing, speak
ing and acting on this subject for ten
years, I will not offend you by discuss
ing the mortis of the provisions of the
Constitution of 1868, nor by showing
the differences between that Constitu
tion and this. My point is that the
Constitution of IBfis was, in no point of
legal sense, a Constitution at all. It
derived no authority from the oonsent
of the governed, and, therefore, had no
just authority at all. We have obeyed
that Constitution solely because it was
not within our power to resist it. That
Constitution had no origin but iu force
—no existence but by force, and no au
thority but of force. Asa helpless peo
ple we submitted to it, and as a free
people we despise and repudiate it.
Force and the works of force are en
titled to no homage, except from slaves.
The most criminal chapter in American
history—in any history—is that of re
construction, and our Northern fellow
oitizens will soon clearly see and fraukly
admit it.
So much on this point. Now, let me
call your attention briefly to the Consti
tution we are called on to ratify. I have
read this proposed Constitution only
since ten o'clock this morning. But my
chief study fqr thirty years has been onr
American constitutional system. Nothing
to me is so interesting, I have been recent
ly studying the different Constitutions of
the different States, and uotirfg their
variations and their and pro
gross with experience. I uyed but little
time, therefore, to form * 'uwb
the merits of a State Avion. I
formed my opinion of the one now pro
posed for us, acu, haying formed my
opinion, I will, as is my custom, pro
ceed to express it. It is this:
There are some things in this Consti
tution I would like to have out. There
are some things out I would like to have
in. So tuji of 'ts provisions I think the
Legislature'will and trouble in carrying
out. But this much may Uo c ai+ of,
every Constitution ever made, I have
myself some peculiar viows upon this
subject of the best Constitution for
Georgia, but I am satisfied the public is
not yet prepared for these views, and I
have not annoyed the Convention with
them. But take this Constitution as a
whole and as it is, I do not hesitate to
say that, in my opinion, it is the best
this State had, apd no one of
the thirty-eight States of our tJniou has
a better. It contains several provisions
either one of which will be worth ten
fold the whole cost of the Convention.
It contains many of the improvements
which our pr,og,r4aai?e experience has
made not only wise but hpctssi/ry. It
C ~'U a most emphatic halt to corruption
and extravagance. It orders legislative
jobbing to cease, UPd it commands legis
lative lobbyists to disperse. If there
are two opinions as to the power of the
Convention to open the Treasury, there
can be but one opinion as to the fact that
the Convention has locked the Treasury.
In the name of the long suffering, often
robbed and terribly plundered people I
thank the Convention fey this locking.
It was certainly needed. It is best to
adopt the whole as it stands and cancel
any defects by fature amendments.
Gentlemen of the Convention, you can
well afford to disregard the premature
criticisms which have unjustly assailed
yon. You have faithfully discharged
your mission. You can now return to
yonr homes, entitled to receive from
yonr constituents, as earnestly as it was
ever given, that greatest of earthly plau
dits, “Well done, good and faithful
servants !”
The Southern people have passed
through a most terrible ordeal during
the last ten years. They have been
robbed, maligned and insulted as no
people ever were. Bnt they have estab
lished their claim to wisdom by patient
ly enduring wrongs they could not re
sist, and they have secured for them
selves the very highest standard of hon
or by refusing, under all appliances, to
give to those wrongs the virtue of their
consent.
Now, our bondage has ended. We
are in full possession of our own affairs.
Our first duty is to forget the differ
ences our trials have engendered. I,
who have written and spoken with more
invective, perhaps, than any other man
daring our severe trials, desire first of
all to declare that whoever else shall re
member the wrongs and differences of
the past, I shall both discharge a duty
and find a pleasure in forgetting them.
Henceforward, he is most my brother
who most earnestly gives all his energies
to rebuild onr State.
We are permitted to begin this work
of making Georgia—what her natural
capacities entitle her to be—one of the
greatest and richest and most poweiful
of all thelStates— under the most aus
picious surroundings. Not only is the
South the most orderly and peaceful
and safest portion of the tlnion, bnt onr
Federal relations also are becoming
healthy and cordial. We are having
once more a wise, patriotic and non-sec
tional Administration of the General
Government. This the whole world
knows, but we have a great gratification
in stole for ns, when the world shall
fully learn how much the whole country
is indebted to the wisdom and firmness
of representatives for this
preservation of the peace and this re
turn ito constitutional administration.
To Wisdom and firmness, too, which
were exercised under the severest tests
to wftich representatives were ever sub
jected On every hand we are en
couraged with better prospects. Our
institutions never stood on so good a
basis. The darkness is passed. Hope
sounds, in bright notes, the dawn of a
new morning. All the indications of
nnr political skies give good promise.
Let us all wake np and make the day of
our American fature, State and Nation
al, the brightest, the happiest, the most
glorious and peaceful in the annals of
popular government.
And now, my friends of Atlanta, let
me, in conclusion, address a word to
yon. In the severe trials of the past no
people made a better record than you of
this city. Though offered the bribe of
the capital in 1868, yon refused to sup
port a Constitution dictated by a foreign
power and fastened by the bayonet. In
the late call for a Convention you were
again true to the record of unselfish
right. Now make the cap-stone for your
monument of imperishable honor by
giving this new and real Constitution a
unanimous vote of approval. What city
can then show herself to be more worthy
the capital city of our new State ?
Of one thing we may all be well as
sured. This Constitution will be ratified,
and by an overwhelming vote. The pub
lic man who puts himself in opposition
to it will have but one comfort left to
his political life. Like a man killed by
lightning, he will have the comfort of
dying without knowing what hit him.
Senator Hill was listened to with
marked attention, and as he clinched his 1
points he was vociferously applauded.
Senator Gordon
Was enthusiastically called for from all
over the house, and, npon ascending the
stand, was greeted with deafening
cheers. He said :
Ladies, Gentlemen of the Conven
tion and Fellow-Citizens— A protract
ed and very painful domestic affliction
has deprived me of such intercourse
with the members of this body and such
minute acquaintance with its labors as I
could have desired. I sat down this
morning, however, with pencil in hand
to read the Constitution and note snch
criticisms as might seem to my mind
just, and while, as my friend Mr. Hill
lias suggested, there are some minor de
tails which might have suited me better,
yet I arose from that reading and anno
tation prepared to say to you, gentle
men of tho Convention, to-night, that I
applaud your handiwork and pronounce
it good. [Applause.]
lam here to join with my fellow-oiti
zons in accepting it. lam here to unite
with them in preparing for th<j> burial of
the old, and to rejoice over thp birth of
the new government. [Applause. J
Eighteen months ago I stood at this
desk and discussed before the General
Assembly the propriety of calling this
Convention, and in my remarkrfj. then
submitted the following reasons, \vhich
l thought sufficient consideration to
justify the call. \
First, to shorten official terms. Sec
ond, to lessen Executive patroua&e,
which, I believe, is greater than that
any government in the country—Stat's
or Federal. TLirdly, that we might re-;
strain the power of the State, the coun-'
ties and municipal authorities to create
debts ad infinitum, and levy taxes'ittd
libitum, and to base your goverment lon
foundations laic with your own hanils,
whose chief cornerstone shall be justice
to all men, of all colors and creeds. <t)f
course, in the brief time allowed me,[l
can only make mention of the important
changes you haTe made in the old Coii
stitution. You have shortened ofliciwl
terms aud you have done well. FoV,
with all the objections whioh may lie
urged against tae frequency of popular
elections, it is nevertheless true that thle
rights and libeities of the people dej
mand that pnblio servants shall frev
quently be called to the bar of public
criticism and nude to feel their account
ability to the piople from whom theM
draw their power. [Applause.] I kno/W
what is said alout the corruptions/ of
popular election!. I know it is said /that
when a good mtn is in office he/ought
nob to be subjejted to the ordfeal too
often of popuhr judgment. /I know
that the best mm are not always chosen,
and that like otter passions wjhich have
their day, there s now and tmen, in all
popular governnents, a mania) for criti
cising public nen. I know that in
trigue, chicane,combinations and wire
pulling may defiat the popnfiar favorite;
but, fellow-citizins, it is better, far bet
ter, that a good man, nolw and then,
should fail of just appreciation and en
dorsement thanthat the pleople should
for a long peiitd be dep/rived of the
power to redress vronagT I may add,
that if a public servant® proves himself
worthy of great trusts, the peo
ple, as a rule, will continue them jn his
keeping.
You have lessoned the Executive pat
ronage, which I stated eighteen months
ago was greater in Georgia, in propor
tion to the offices provided by the Con
stitution, thau.iu. any State, and yon
have done widely in curtailing it. It is
a power too great to be entrusted to any
one man; yet it is the Executive’s great
est weaknesl. With reference to the
interest of the people, it is a dangerous
power; with reference to the interest of
tho Executive,it is a fatal weakness, and
I predict that no ipan in Georgia will be
more ready iso applaud your action in
thus curtailing it than he who now
wears this thorny crown and feels their
pricks in his lacerated temples.
Again, you placed an inhibition on
the power of State and municipal au
thorities to create debts, and in doing
this you have cut up by the roots the
overshadowing evils froip which you and
the people of this State have suffered,
and while if I had been a member of the
Convention I should have voted and la
bored for one exception in favor of the
people of Northeast Georgia, and -yyhile
I feel tfiat tins exception qjigh't hasel|eeD
made without impinging upon the great
principle which guided youj while I
felt that the sofltraot between the gov
ernment and the Northeast Georgia
Rnlroad might have been adhered to
with propriety, yet Ido not feel that
your failure to do so will justify opposi
tion to tho Constitution. I know some
thing of that section of our State -its
metallic wealth, its soil and ita climate.
Developed as it would bo liy the ’ com
pletion of the Marietta and North Geor
gia Railroad, it would have become the
granery of our future—a Herculean
helper in our material progress. Had
you seen fit to continue the present ar
rangement with that road, you would
have sttuej; from the now dry rocks of
these mountains' >01040131 fountains 0 *
wealth, to benefit onr whole people.
But I oome here to say that, notwith
standing your failure to make this ex
ception full and complete in favor of
that jrenjd, jrot by fhfs organic inhibition
upon the credit of the' State for any
purpose however plausible atid popular,
by biennial sessions of the General As
sembly god by other changes you have
wrought a reform whioh the mail-admin
istrations and corruptions of our finan
cial guardians at Washington have made
the crying necessities of the times.
We are poor. Alas ! how poor ! The
accumulation of debts, through this
monstrous system of lending the credit
of the Federal, Sjtate, county and mu
nicipal governments, the extravagances,
corruption aud maladministration of the
National Exchequer, the cruel, needless
contraction of the only currency known
to the lawS i n the interest of bondhold
ing power ; these evils have plunged
our people into the very depths of pov
erty ; have confiscated the estates of the
landlord, the pay of the laborer, and the
bread of the unemployed ; have dag the
graves of all enterprises and bnilt a
pyramid of coffins, which enclose the
dead relics of a great ooantry’s pros
perity. [Applause.] It was time for
you to act.
It is not necessary that I speak of
your Bill of Rights. Sufficient it is to
say that you have recognized in yonr
funda-neutal law the right of self-gov
ernment by the States and the supre
macy cf the civil law. These are the
great features of government, which, if
fully recognized by all the States and
the General Government, wonld make
onr Repnbiie 'as lasting as time; and
which are happily regarded by the pres
ent Administration, so far as I can
judge. These are Heaven appointed
seraphims, whose flaming swords are
to guard the approaches to your politi
cal paradise. [Applause.] They are
more—they constitute the very paradise
of Republican government. Those two
great privileges—self-government by
the people of the States, and the supre
macy of the civil law—are liberty’s sen
tries—they ere more—they are the life
blood, the sinews and the brain of lib
erty. They are liberty itself! [Ap
plause.] Give us these —give them to
all ti e States in their capacity as States,
and we ask no more. We can uphold
Republican government with nothing
less. We all know that it was to sus
tain these particular features which you
have incorporated in your Rill of Rights
that war has been waged against cen
tralized power. For this Ireland threat
ens ; for this Poland struck: for this
Italy organizes; for this Roumania
guards her mountain passes, and for
this Georgia, by the methods of peace,
has incorporated them anew in her or
ganic law. [Applause.] A people to be
free must be self-governed, and to self
govem we must remain united. [Ap
plause. ]
Once more, and I shall give place to
others. I know not how others may
feel, bnt as for me, it is a source of in
expressible pleasure to know that hence
forth we are to live under a Constitu
tion made by ourselves. I care not
whether it is better than the old Con
stitution. It is enough for me to know
that it is onrs—not Bullock’s, nor Blod
gett’s, nor Bryant’s. That it was made
by Georgia’s sons, inspired by Georgia
patriotism, plauted upon Georgia soil,
and is to be baptized and sanotifled by
the tears of Georgia’s daughters. [Ap
plause.] And why should not this be
so ? Why should we not love this Con
stitution, and cherish it more than the
old ? The freedom to love one’3 own is
a right proscribed by no law, human or
divine, unless it be the law of sectional
bigotry. Why, even the God-Man, who
embraced in His bonndless sympathies
all men of all nations and tribes, com
manded that His own brethern at Jeru
salem should be the first recipients of
the Gospel of Life. To love one’s own—
the product of our own brain, the work
manship of onr own hands—is a noble
sentiment. It is the inspiration of
patriotism, and without it patriotism
dies. This feeling has slumbered al
reidy too long in our midst. It has
lived, but it has languished amid the
ruins that surround us, gleaming here
and there in fitful spells over our mourn
ful history. It has lived, and if the
popular heart shall be pervaded with it
in the coming election, this Constitu
tion will be ratified by the Convention’s
unanimous constitutencv. [Applause.]
I said it was anoblesentiment. Would
that I had the power to kindle in the
hearts of these boys before me, and of
all this people, the feeling which ani
mates me, as I contemplate the day when
there shall no longer remain in Georgia
anything to remind us of Radical usur
pation or Federal intervention in the
affairs of the States. [Loud applause.]
Let that sentiment be generated here
to night. Let all cherish it. It will
give vigor to our youth, strength to our
manhood, just pride to our State, and a
sustaining self respect to our people.
[Applause.] Without it, patriotism has
no inspiration, hope languishes, industry
loses its nerve, eloquence its fire and
civilization its chiefest ornament. [Ap
plause.]
I would have you feel, my country
men, as felt the old Polish clergyman
when he beheld the women of his coun
try parading the streets, bearing in then
hands the Polish eagles and the banners
of purple and white. Looking upon
that scene, his heart stirred to its pro
foundest depths, he exclaimed, as I re
peat to-night, “My revered country ap
pears to bo rising from the grave. " Her
wounds are healed. My own eyes be
hold her; my own hands touch her, and
God Almighty auimates her with life,
and she lives again.” [Applause.]
Cultivate this feeling, young men of
Georgia. Cultivate a pride in your
State, and you shall not only contribute
to the relief of our own State, but set
an example for those of our sister States
who have not yet acted. As we sliall
soon—on the first Wednesday in De
cember-lay aside forever the last re
minder of our Bullock, and our Blod
gett. and our Bryant, so will South
Carolina and Louisiana commit to the
flames the last remembrances of their
Patterson, Packard and the peppery
Pitkin. [Loud applause.] Let us ail
unite to adopt this Constitution. Let
both colors unite. There is no reason
why they should not. The colored race
ought to unite; for the action in the Con
vention to-night in granting them all the
privileges of a higher education ought
to win them to its support. Let men of
all shades of political opinion unite.
There is no reason why they should not,
if they were born upon our soil, or are
identified with our people. Let there
be no discordant notes. Let one loud
“amen” go up from all the people.
[Applause.] Let the cannon thunder
the news throughout all our borders.
Let jbon-fires once more light up the
heavens. Let the merry bells bo rung.
Let them ring out :
Ring out I he old, ring in the new;
Ring out the false, ring in the true;
Ring out the dark, ring in the light ;
King in the law of truth and right.
[Loud applause.]
THE END OF A RAKE.
Samuel McDonald, the Notorious Profligate,
Dies at llis Hunting ltniu-li.
I Special to the Chicago Times J
Baltimore, August 21.—A private
telegram received here to-day by Dr. J.
Hanson Thomas, one of Baltimore’s
leading citizens, addressed to his son,
Raleigh C. Thomas, announces the
death, on Monday night, at his hunting
lodge, Terre Haute, of the latter’s
brother in-law, Samuel McDonald, of
Baltimore. The deceased, though only
twenty-nine years of age, had, since at
taining his majority and inheriting his
estate of $500,000, led a life extraordi
nary for its profligacy. His father was
the millionaire, Wm. McDonald, owner
of Flora Temple, and his grandfather,
Gen. McDonald, of Revolutionary fame,
and a commander of United States
forces here in the war of 1812-14. Sam
was precocious as a youth. Efforts to
educate him here and in Europe were
only partly successful, although he be
came an adept in the manly art of self
defense, and a skillful gymnast. His
twenty-first birthday was celebrated by
a magnificent entertainment at his
country seat, “Guilford,” now the
residence of A. S. Abell, of the
Baltimore Sun. Among the extrav
agant features was a fountain, from
which sprays of champagne flow
ed. The company was the elite
of Baltimore society, which offered every
attraction to the handsome young de
butant. Rejecting these, he found his
pleasures among gamblers, roughs and
prostitutes, and entered upon a career
that disgraced himself and his family.
His father having died, his pother, still
a woman of extraordinary beauty, mar
ried Mr. Do Speyes, and now resides in
Paris. United States Senator Whyte
was youug McDonald’s guardiaD, and
made every effort to reclaim him, but he
continued his vicious qourse. Finally,
in order to gratify more’ completely his
deprayod tastes, he purchased an estate
at Terre Haute, furnished it magnifi
cently, and within its walls held baccha
nalian and licentious revels. The most
beautiful women that he could obtaiu
and sporting characters were assembled
at these midnight orgies, and tho scenes
arc described as of the most revolting
character. The place soon the
home of prostitutes and 'then,- pimps,
and was the terror of the town. In 1874
he returned to Baltimore op a visit, and
while here entered Q sfiloop gftd quarreled
with Horry Amos, a sporting ohurnoter.
During the quarrel Amos was stabbed
and killed. McDonald was tried for the
murder, but, by a skillful defense by Sen
ator Whyte, was acqnitted, although ho
was believed by nearly all to have been
the murderer. Again efforts were made
to change liis life, bqt without effect.
He returned to Terre Haute and re
newed his orgies, which were illustrated
in some of the pictorials, shoeing soones
of bcautjfvfl woiueu, half nude and in
toxicated, enjoying the embraces of their
paramours. About a year ago he was
dangerously ill, and his mother returned
from Paris, The last effort wag umde
to respite dim, but without avail, as upon
recovering he renewed his licentious
revels, and surrounded himself with the
vicious and depraved of both sexes.
His mother visited him at his lodge, but
even her presence had no effect. He in
trusted her with SIOO,OOO, which she ac
cepted as a gift; but she subsequently
refused him $50,000. Apoplexy is said
to have caused his death. His princely
estate is supposed to have been almost
entirely squandered by his riotous liv
ing. The corpse will be brought hero
for burial.
TELEPHONE.
musical pounds Traverse (o Hartford and
Back to Now York.
[New York Herald .]
Thomas A. Edison, a New York elec
trician, has perfected and recently
brought oat which oarries
a long step forward the new science of
telephony. It is based on entirely novel
principles, and differs in toto from the
telephones of Professors Gray and Bell.
It wai proposed to try it between New
York and Saratoga, about two hundred
miles, a distance which even the simply
instrumental telephones have never suc
cessfully traversed. To test the practi
cability of such a feat the experiment
was tried yesterday of sending music
over a loop of wire to EJartford and
back, or 240 miles. This was done at
noon yesterday in the Western Union
building, Broadway and Dey street, un
der the supervision of Mr. E. H. John
son, an able electrician, and Mr. Down
er, manager of the central office. Sev
eral amateur singers, who had volun
teered for the occasion, sang in the end
of a tube resembling somewhabthe open
end of a clarionet, andtlie music having
traversed the 240 miles of wire was re
produced at its termination by a com
plex and ingenious contrivance in a tone
which was clearly audible anywhere
within a large room in another part of
the building. This result was so entire
ly satisfactory that it has been deter
mined to give a .concert in Saratoga, and
Signor Tagliapetro, among other vocal
ists, has been engaged to sing in this
city on that occasion.
THE WAY OF THE TB4NSUEESSOR.
Indictments Against South Carolina ftcalif
wags and Carpet-Baggers.
Columbia, S. C., August 30.—The
grand jury to-day returned true bills
for breach of trust against ex-Lieuten
ant-Governor Gleaves, ex-President of
the Senate Montgomery, ex-Governor
Moses, ex Clerk of the House Jones and
ex-Treasurer Parker, also against Clerk
of the Senate Woodruff for forgery to
the amount of 84,000 ; against one F. 8.
Jacobs for forgery for over $3,000;
against Scott, Parker and U. S. Senator
Patterson for conspiracy in the same
forgery; against Patterson for bribery
of members of the Legislature in the,
matter of the Blue Bidge Railroad and
other cases, and against Patterson. Par
ker and H. H. Kimpton, of New York,
for conspiracy to bribe legislators.
IN THE DOBRUDSCHA.
SCENES OP RUIN AND DEVASTA
TION.
A Country Favorable for General Engage
ment*—Character of the and the
People—The ttusMian Line of Attack and
Defense—Barbarity of the Circassians.
Kustendje, July 25.— The campaign
in the Dobrudseha is not particularly
attractive to any one desirous of indulg
iug in even the ordinary comforts of
civilized life, but is. perhaps, as inter
esting as either of the campaigns now
in progress along the line. The Do
brudseha ia the name given to the lower
portion of Bulgaria, between the Dan
ube and the Black Sea, and more properly
to that small peninsula between the
Tehernavoda and Kustendje Railway
and the Delta of the Danube. There is
uo section of country in the world bet
ter adapted topographically to the move
ments of large bodies of troops, and no
tract of land has been the scene of more
battles than this. Since the beginning
of history this has been a great tourna
ment field, an arena for the bloody com
bats between Romans and barbarians,
in modern times the graveyard of count
less invaders. It is completely bare of
trees; not even a bush can be found
anywhere in the country, except in the
immediate neighborhood of the small
cities. The surface is very like a great
rolling prairie, long ridges of smooth
hills with dry valleys between succeed
one another like great waves. At fre
quent intervals are little villages of
peasants’ huts, nothing more than low,
one-story mud structures, thatched with
straw and reeds, over shadowed by im
mense hay stacks, surrounded by walls
of turf aud wicker fences. These huts
are, however, very neatly whitewashed
outside and in—that is, tho better class
of them are—and are cool enough in
Summer aud always over-heated by au
immense brick stove in Winter, if it
were not for tho swarms of fleas aud
other minute pests they wonld furnish
agreeable lodgings for even a fastidious
European. A village is always found
near a good spring or else stands or
ground fairly perforated with wells, and
the tall sweeps rise above the thatched
roofs in a forest of slender poles as one
views the straggling town from a dis
tance.
Windmills at Work.
On the hillsides, near at baud, are nu
merous windmills, in constaut motion,
grinding the wheat and barley, which is
the principal food of the natives. Theso
mills are simple boxes, with a frame
work of heavy timber and sides of
wicker-work, plastered with mud, stand
ing on a pile of masonry on a rude pivot.
A long polo, fastened to a solid frame,
supported at tho ground end on a rude
wheel, serves as a lever to turn the mill
to the wind, and a little windlass, that
can be carried from one stake to another
in the circle, enables the miller to man
age his mill unassisted. Four sails of
thin ! cards revolve a clumsy shaft, with
equally rude and clumsy-toothed wheels
to move the millstoues, and the coarse
flour ground by this primitive machi
nery makes a black, heavy, but not un
wholesome bread, which satisfies tho
hunger aud indeed is almost tho only
diet of the laborers. The Dobrudseha
is one great grain field; tho whole land
scape is yellow with barley and wheat
and uncultivated spots are rarities, and
where there is no grain there are gener
ally immeuse wild flower beds. Once in
a while a few acres of wild holyhocks
along the roadside makes an agreeable
break in the monotony of the succession
of grain fields, and patches of brilliant
poppies contrast delightfully with the
dark green millet that is scarcely full
grown at this late season. The peasants
of the country are quiet, honest, peace
ful people enough, very sober and in
dustrious, suffering hardships that
would wreck an American constitution,
and toiling the whole year with scarcely
an intermission—scorched in the Sum
mer, frozen in the Winter. They dross
in Turkish costume, large bags, broad
sash, small jacket and fez, generally
bound about by a bright colored rag.
In a lea'hern flap, or pocket at the waist,
they carry long knives, pistols and flint
and steel. However, the costume varies
somewhat in different localities accord
ing to the nationality of the inhabitants,
Along the Danube there are mauy Wal
lachiuus, and they always keep their na
tional costume of white linen, with
sheepskin cloak3 and caps and sandal-'
upou their feet. Near the railway there
is a village or two of Germans, who have
not assimilated either dress or customs
of the country, and tne Tartars who are
scattered over the whole region stili
cling to the wooly cap for the men and
the loose trousers lor the women.
The Country Stripped and Desolate.
But I find myself describing the cour
try as if it had now any inhabitants—it
is, on the contrary, entirely depopulat
ed from Toultcha to Varna. After the
crossing at Galatz the Turks retired to
ward Vama, leaving small garrisons at
Medjidie, Tcfiernavoda, Hirsova and
Kustendje, and in measure as the Rus
sians advanced these garrisons retreated
also. In fact, the only time the oppos
ing forces met was at Medjidie, a cou
ple of weeks ago, when seven or eight
thousand Turks retreated in qo,od order
before three times the number of Rus
sians. It wasn’t a battle, but a hot
skirmish, lasunsr all day, and we found
1 thirty-three dead Turks on the field and
cords of accoutrements, clothing aud
cartridges, which they had, thrown away
in their hasty flight. After the with
drawal of their farces the Turks left a
, gvefit quantity of Circassians in the
country, ffith orders ta drive oft all live
stool* and compel the inhabitants to
leave their villages and go to Varna.
These Circassians uoeded only a hint to
start them in this undertaking, which,
of all others, was most suited to their
tastes, and they did effectually clear the
country of every living thing, except
cats aud don's qufi stores. The cattle,
and sheep were driven away in
immense flocks, and the peasants, on
foot mostly, for their cattle were gone,
followed after ix\ great troops, marching
along by villages and encamping at
night like Zigenner tribes. In this
neighborhood the whole region seemed
to be covered with them, and tho exo
dus lasted over a week. This of course
was done with a purpose, namely, to
prevent tho Russians from obtaining
supplies ; and the success was perfect.
Instead of finding sheep, poultry and
cattle in plenty, the Russians found de
serted barn-yards, ompty houses, burn
ing villages and trampled grain fields.
Consequently they had to depend on the
supplies brought from Braila, and while
there was not perhaps any actual suffer
ing there was a great fipal t*i discom
fort, especially among the offioers, who
depend on the sntlers for supplies. For
my own part, in my trip across from
Hirsova here I have fasted twenty-four
hours at a time, and journeyed from
sunrise to sunset in the intense heat
without a drop of water for my horse or
myself. There is always plenty of good
forage for the animals, fiowevJr, and in
this respect (fie Russians were fortunate,
for the number of horses in proportion
to the men is astonishingly great.
The Military Situation.
Briefly to describe the military situa
tion here now, I have only to say that
the whole line of the DanuliO and Black
Sea Railway is in the Landi of the Rus
sians, who found it intact and arc now
making use of it to transport stores and
troops from one wing to the other of the
army, The English company who own
the railways receive no pay for whatever
they do for the Russians, the latter con
sidering the line in reality their property
by right of capture, but by virtuo of the
precedent given by the Turks, who did
not take any measnres to prevent the
line being of service to the enemy, but
respected the property of the company,
they allow the company to run trains
and carry on local traffic as usual. Kus
tendje and Tchernavoda, the termini of
the railway, were taken without the loss
of a man, and the former town, a sea
port of considerable size, was made the
capital of Dobrudscha, and a certain
Beloserkovitz, formerly Russian Vice-
Consul at Toultcha, was called from
there, having previously been appointed
Governor of the province, and his gov
ernment was established here. In the
interim between the departure of the
Turks and the arrival of the Russians, a
space of three or four days, the town
was kept in order by the officers and
men of the English corvette Rapid,
which was stationed in the port, and no !
serious disturbances occurred. The
Bulgars stood ready to attack the Tar
tars in revenge for robberies which some
of the latter committed on the peasants,
and some murders were done and a
number were wounded, until at last the
whole population was disarmed by the
foreign authorities in power at the time,
and the arrival of the Russians, who
promulgated the order that robbery
should be punished with the nagajha or
Cossack whip and the infliction of
wounds was punishable with death,
brought about the restoration of com
plete order.
Ferocity of (he Circassians.
Of the state of the country between
here and Varna it is impossible to give
in the limits of a letter an intelligent
idea. Here in the very scene of the
atrocities constantly committed, I can
scarcely realize the horrible cruelty, and
the fiendish spirit that prompts the
butchery of innocent peasants is qnite
beyond my conception. The crowds of
peasants, numbering many thousands,
who, as I have described above, were
driven away by the Circassians toward
Varna, have had to struggle not only
against the greed of their plunderers,
but to defend themselves against bands
of Zigenners and Tartars who, in league
with the irregulars, attempt to finish
what the latter began. In a little vil
lage near here a crowd of Circassians de
manded a large sum of money to keep
them from destroying the town. Scarce
ly was the money raised and given them
tbau a band of Tartars came and de
manded a like amount, which was quite
beyond the power of the poor people to
raise. Then arose a dispute between
these bands, and peasants wero drawn
into it, and at last a melee broke out, in
which both Tartars and Circassians shot
and hacked the Bulgars, killing a num
ber and seriously wounding seven, who
were brought to Kustendje by the offi
cers of the Rapid. Since that time the
ferocity of the Circassians seems kin
dled anew. Every day several wounded
men come in from the direction of Varna,
and already thousands of peasants have
escaped and returned this far on their
way to their villages. The Russians
deal with them in a way that seems to
me eminently wise and proper. They
send all the able-bodied men aud women
into the fields to gather the crops, giv
ing them for the barley, which is now
over-ripe, one-third of the crop for the
harvesting, and for the wheat one-quar
ter of the crop. Of course the crops
claimed are harvested by their owners
and in case owners shall turn up whose
crops have been gathered other unclaim
ed fields will be given them as indem
nity. The poverty aud wretchedness of
these people is quite beyond anything I
Lave ever seen before. Some of them
have only an old skirt or a piece of
blanket to cover them; few have any
thing but what they wear. Their cattle,
clothes, money,arms,everything has been
taken from them by the Circassians and
Tartars, and only the full harvest will
keep them from starvation. Mongolia,
a little town about forty miles from hero
down the coast, in the direction of
Varna, is the theatre of frequent barba
rities, and a great mauy people have
been killed and mutilated by the Cir
cassians.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
His Old Colored ('onrliinan Denies That He
Wan Disguised in Woman’s Clothing When
Captured.
f ßaleigh (A r . 6’.) Aiews.]
Soon after the close of the civil war
in 1865, when Gens. Lee and Johnston
had surrendered to the Uuited States
forces, a good deal was said, much of it
false, iu regard to the capture of Jeffer
son Davis, President of the Confedera
cy. Soon after his capture, James H.
.Tones, a colored man who was with Mr.
Davis or his family dimug nearly the
whole time of the war iu the capacity of
coachman, and who was with him when
he was taken prisoner in Geor
gia, furnished a statement of
his capture to the Greensboro
Patriot, aud it was published at the
time. Recently a request has been made
to a gentleman of high standing in this
city to procure from James H. Jones a
statement of the whole matter, which
he has given, aud which wo are permit
ted to copy, as below. But before giv
ing the statement wo will take occasion
to say that the author is a native of this
city, and stands as high as any colored
man in the State for truth and integrity.
He is and has been for ten years captain
of the Victor Fire Company of this city,
and was, until his resignation recently,
captain of tho Raleigh Blues, a colored
volunteer company of the city. The
statement is given as briefly as possible
to be intelligible, and is as follows:
The Coachman’** Statement.
I was coachman to Hon. Jeff Davis
nearly all through the war, and was
with him at the time of his capture,
which occurred on the 10th of May,
1865, between 3 and 4 o’clock in the
morning, some fifteen or sixteen miles
from tho county site of Wilcox county,
Ga., while iu camp on the public road.
I heard the trampiug of the horses of
the Federal soldiers as they were ap
proaching the camp aud awoke Mr. Da
vis and told him the Yankees were nearly
on us. He aud his wife had been sleeping
in their tent. I went in he got up,
and by the time he got his clothes on
the soldiers were in the camp, and ten
or twelve of them were standing at his
tent door with their guns. No one
could pass in or out. Mrs. Davis and
the children had not had time to dress.
Mr. Davis went to the teut door aud
was ordered by the soldiers to surren
der. He replied that he would not;
that he would die first. At this Mrs.
Davis pressed to her husband and put
her arms around his neck, begging the
soldiers not to shoot h m, both she aud
the children crying piteously.
It has been stated that Mr. Davis had
on a hoop skirt, and was otherwise dis
guised as a woman. This is wholly false.
He was dressed in his ordinary clothing,
with cavalry boots drawn over Iris pants,
a waterproof over his tßess coat, a shawl
thrown over his shoulders, and o- u his
head a broad brim white or drab Texas
hgt. Ho had not on an article of female
wear about bis person.
The following gentlemen wero in the
camp and were captured at the same
time : Mr. Harrison, Private Secretary
to Mr. Davis ; 001. Lovett, of Texas ;
Col. Joseph Johnson, of Kentucky ; Col.
Joseph Wood (escaped next day); Mr.
William Howell, brother to Mrs. Davis,
and many others, all of whom, I doubt
not, will corroborate what I have stated
above. James H. Jones.
A HEAVE IIKAUTEO MOTHER.
A Woman and llr Five Cliildmi Walk
Eighteen Day* Through the WilderneNM.
[From the Detroit Free Press, August 25.]
Yesterday afternoon there arrived in
this city Mrs. Helena Scranton and five
children, the eldest not being yet four
teen years old, who have made a very
interesting journey within the past
month.
Mrs. Scranton, with her husband and
children, resided on a farm in Manitoba,
one hundred and thirty miles north of
the boundary line. Early in July her
; husband was taken sick, and after a
brief illness died, leaving his wife and
family and unharvested crops to get
aloDg as best she might without money.
To pay the expenses of the funeral Mrs.
Scranton secured an advance on the
growing crops, and when she had paid
the last tribute to ber dead husband had
nearly S9O in cash.
With this sum she procured a few ne
cessaries, and selecting a camp-outtit
from her household furniture, set out
with her children to traverse two hun
dred miles of wilderness, hoping with
what money she had left to buy passage
by way of the Northern Pacific Railway
and Great Lakes for herself and children
to Youngstown, Ky.
The little party wore eighteen days on
foot, camping out at night, and subsist
ing almost wholly on berries and the
product of the boy’s (the eldest child)
hunting forages. Occasionally they re
ceived assistance from settlers, and
meeting a large stage-load of passengers
on their way North received a paper
sack filled with crackers and a purse of
eight dollars in cash. They reached the
railroad in good health, and, receiving
reduced rates of fare by rail and steamer,
arrived here with thirty-eight dollars in
hand and in excellent spirits.
When it is realized that the youngest
child is not yet three years old, and that
another child is just turned five ye ats,
the success of the long tramp will be ap
preciated. Mrs. Scranton left last even
ing for Kentucky by way of Indianapo
lis, and hopes to reach her father’s
home Sunday morning, with a little
money left.
Greenwood and A Kail road.
[Spartanburg Heral/I.]
Captain S. S. Kirkland, Superintend
ent of Transportation on the Spartan
burg and Asheville Railroad, has just
returned from a railroad meeting held at
Greenwood, in Abbeville oonnty, in the
, interest of the Greenwood and Augusta
Railroad, and gives encouraging ae
conntts of the prospects of that road,
Offloers were elected and authorized to
push forward with the work of grading.
A contract has been made to secure one
hundred convicts from the State Peni
tentiary who will be put to work on the
road in a few days. This road is forty
eight miles in length, and will form a
link in the Spartanburg and Augusta
Road, leaving sixty miles from Green
wood, via LaurensvilJe to Spartanburg
to be looked after by Laurens and Spar
tanburg to secure a through line to Au
gusta. If our Laurens friends decide
to adopt the Spartanburg route to secure
connection with the Air Line Road, it
will secure beyond dovt)t the building of
the whole line from Spartanburg to Au
gusta.
Captain S. S. Kirkland, we learn, has
been tendered the position of Chief En
gineer of the Greenwood and Augusta
Road. The friends of that road will be
fortunate if they secure his services. No
better man could be found for the posi
tion. We hope he will accept it, for we
are anxious to see that road extended to
Spartanburg, and if he takes hold of the
enterprise it will inspire great faith in
its success.
Husbands who desire to keep peace in
their households know how important it
is to keep their wives in good humor.
One way of doing this, at trifling ex
pense, is to subscribe for “Andrew’s
Bazar,” price one dollar. This admira
ble household magazine is desirable as
a literary treasure; and, in addition, fur
nishes all the society and fashionable
information regarding the art of the
toilet, including cuts and patterns, with
full descriptions and directions. Send
10 cents to Cincinnati for specimen copy.
It is stated in Custom House cii cles
that the steamer England will be seized
on her arrival for complaints in sniu 0 -
gling.
THE STATE.
THE PEOPLE AND THE PAPERS.
Lieutenant-Governor Sims and lady,
of Mississippi, are on a visit to their
friends iu this State.
Atlanta furnishes six candidates for
the United States Marshalship, the last
being the present Mayor of that city.
Judge Reese made a very fine speech
at Crawfordvi lie on last Tuesday. The
subject was tho ratification of the Con
stitution.
Talbot county has gathered ten thous
and acres of fodder, and made enough
wheat to furnish the county in flour
eleven weeks.
General Toombs has gotten home from
Atlanta. His wife has been very sick
for several days, though she is at pres
ent much better.
More baby carriages roll around Dal
ton than any place in America, under
6,000 population—and the demand is
not yet supplied !
Mr. F. M. Bird, of Madison county,
has a stalk of corn seventeen feet nine
inches high, with two good ears for the
mill and a nubbin for the calf.
Last Tuesday Hon. B. H. Hill ap
peared before the Supreme Court and
made a flue argument in favor of the
Northeastern Railroad for State aid.
Mr. James T. Thweatt was elected
Tax Receiver of Muscogee county, by a
handsome majority over all competitors
at the special election ou Tuesday laßt.
Hon. Sam’l Lumpkin will address the
people of Elbert on the subject of the
now Constitution, ou Wednesday of
Court week, when Court adjourns for
dinner.
The statistics of Newton county show
the following figures: Number of polls
1,937, an increase of 207 over 1876.
Aggregate value of property $2,065,747,
a shrinkage of $25,533.
Talbotton lias four hundred and eight
hogs, aud one firm has shipped twenty
five thousand pounds of dried fruit.
The hogs are owned by sixty meu, twen
ty of whom are colored.
Col. John B. Ross, one of tho foun
ders of the city of Macon, died at his
residence in that city on Wednesday.
He had been ill for several days, but his
death was not expected. He was one of
the old landmarks.
The Board of Educationof Atlantahas
rejected the proposal of the American
Missionary Society, to retain free tho
building of the Storr School and employ
Northern teachers, but has decided to
rent, and employ teachers selected by
the board of our own people.
It is now announced that Miss Ada
Gilman, the beautiful youug actress who
created such a favorable impression in
Augusta last, season, is tho wife of
Leander P. Richardson, formerly of the
New York Tribune , now of the Hartford
Courant, the marriage having taken
place over a year ago.
A husband and wife living near Hart
well left homo Sunday evening last to
visit a neighbor, leaving three children
at home. While tbo parents were ab
sent the children got hold of a jug of
new peach brandy, and, it is supposed,
drank of the liquor freely, as, when the
father and mother returned, one of the
children had lockjaw, from which it
died, and the other two were considered
in a dangerous condition. Tho phy
sician, however, thinks ho can save the
remaining two.
Last Friday, Mr. Harrison Tcasley, of
Hart, undertook to transfer a vicious
bull from ono pasture to another, wliero
the mischievous animal would not have
tho opportunity to disturb the passers
by, as he had been doing, no bridled
the animal, and succeeded iu reaching
the new pasture, when it became excited
from some cause, and turning upon Mr.
Teasley, rushed at him and threw him.
with great violence on the g'ound,
breaking an arm and collar Bono and
otherwise injuring him.
“A Mrs. Robertson, living iu the
suburbs of Dalton, died about a week
ago from starvation. When found with
her child in an old house, she was so
far gone that nourishment failed to keep
her alive. She had previously been re
leased by the county authorities, upon
whom no blame can bo attached. Had
she applied again sho would have been
relieved. Her child, which was almost
fa mi bed, was relieved by Col. Jesse
Glenn, at whoso house it ia now living.
This is a very distressing case. The
woman was about forty-five years old.
She suffered with no disease, as fur as
we could learn.”
lIEAVKRS AT WORK.
What llayden’x Surveying Parly Saw Iu
Wyoming Territory.
[Boston Ilerald.\
In almost any stream in the mountain
ous parts of Wyoming Territory you
may find more or less beavers and bea
ver dams. But Greeu river and this
whole region, writes a member of Hay
den’s surveying party, surpasses any
place I know of as a resort for theso ani
mals, now so searco east of tho Missis
sippi. In tho rooky canyon, higher up,
this creek was thirty or forty yards
across, nor would it have been much
wider in the more open valley below
had it not been impeded. But for a
dozen miles the beavers had so dammed
it and choked it with their houses that
the water spread out to a mile or more
in width, and hundreds of dead or liv
ing trees, once far back from the mar
gin, were now standing equally far out
iu the water. Some of the dams meas
ured 100 or more feet in length, and
were built on a curve, with tlie hollow
of the curve up stream, yet so substan
tially that they were standing tho beat
ing of tho freshet with slight damage.
All along the bank of tho stream the
hillside was bare of aspens, and their
stumps, cut off close to the ground,
showed what had destroyed them.
Some of the stumps were of trees
ten or twelve inches in diameter
and seventy-five yards from the water,
yet there was no doubt that these ro
dents had felled those trees, trimmed
off tho branches, peeled away the bark,
and then drugged the log all the way to
the water to put into anew dam or re
pair an old one. Indeed, we surprised:
some of them at work. Most of the
dams tvere shorter than I have mention
ed and ran from one to another, so that
there was a network of them supporting
a growth of willows, and each enclosing
a little basin of deep, still water, in
which would rise like an island the
domed top of their home. But the
houses of many wero under tho bank,
and of others beneath the dams, as we
could sec by tho paths to them, which
showed plainly through the water. —
Wherever the willows grew closely to
tho water’s edge for some distance there
would be roads through them at fre
quent intervals, the stems gnawed off,
and the weeds trodden smooth. “Busy
as a beaver” acquires anew force when
we think how ceaseless he must work to
get his daily food, collect Winter stores,
keep his house in order, repair his dam,
and guard against enemies. We saw
none of the animals themselves. They
are rarely seen by any one, being able
to detect your approach by the jar of
tho ground, if not otherwise, and hide
themselves.
THE OI.DEN TIME.
Tlie Fire Depnrtinent Nearly Half a Century
Ago,
From some manuscripts in the hands
of one of our citizens we find that in
1839 the Augusta Fire Department con
sisted of five “sections.” Looking over
these we find that at an election hold
May Gth of that year the following of
ficers were elected :
Section No. I—M. Wagner, Captain;
Chas. M. Curtis, First Lieutenant; John
Coskory, Second Lieutenant; Robt. T.
Hyde, Secretary. The members were
John P. Greiner, J. Hookkirk. T. H.
Wyatt, R. C. Meridikh, N. H. Whillow,
C. T. Rich, W. H. Morgan, John Lorn,
Jule Rossean, A. Patterson, Jas. L.
Wray, C. Chipman, R. Riley, D. Phil
pot, Jas. M. Dye, Wm. Haines, Jr.,
Benj. Conley, A. Mclver, Jas. Costello.
Section No. 2—M. Wagner, Captain
Jos. E. Marshall,First Lientenant;Thos.
8. Baber, Second Lieutenant; Jno.
Bridges, Secretary and Treasurer. Mem
bers—R. Patten, W. Olagget, Jr., H. O.
Cook, Jas. Carswell, Fred Lamback,
F. McTeir, Robt, Nichol, J. L. Hood,
Jno. H. Lee, N. Patten, Edgar Sher
man, Jno. C. Carmichael, L. C. Gamier,
B. T. Nichols, Henry A. Richmond,
Robt. Bleakley, Bernard McGovern.
Section No. 3—Captain, M. Wagner;
First Lieutenant, Thos. Barrett; Second
Lieutenant, Jno. Davidson; E. Skinner,
Secretary. Members—John J. Cohen,
Robert Lambert, Dan’l McCormick, T.
Doonan, J. B. Hait, Edwin Snyder,
David Heard, R. B. White, J. Keenan,
Leonard Bostwick.
Section No. 4—M. Wagner, Captain;
C. J. Cook, First Lieutenant; Thomas
Hopkins, Second Lieutenant. Members
—Robert Barber, D. B. Hadley, Jesse
Kent, Hiram Aldrich, Stephen Shove,
R. F. Bush, A. P. Stultz, Uriah Slack,
'H. D. Bell, John T. Symes, John Hen
derson, John H. Neaver, James B. Cal
viD, Adrian Laßoche, Henry Salm, A.
Picqnet, H. Stallings.
Section No. 5—M. Wagner, Captain;
J. M. Hand, First Lientenant; John
Cashin, Second Lieutenant; J. Danfoith,
Secretary. Members—D. B. Edes, P.
Fleming, L. P. Dugas, Wm. Keener, E.
C. Scranton, W. H. Wayland, David
Caven, W. K. Kitchen, J. H. Hollings
worth, George McCord, J. P, Laven
tnre, A. B. Fleming, Jas. Pitman, Jno,
F. Brown, J. H. Scranton, P. A. Scran
ton, H. Huff, E. C. Tinsley.
The Hartford Courant remarks with
dignity becoming its age: “As early as
1772 we published,” etc. This is an in
stance in which age is respectable as
well as venerable.