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TJCS PAFER 13 OH TTLB WITH
TDOWELL & r^BESSBSSa
JL\ Advertising Agents,
THIRD * CHESTNUT STS., ST. LOUIS, MO.
dltetcw
~~
PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST
H&8 located for a short time at
DR. EDMUNDS’ GALLERY,
ELBERTON. GA.
WHERE he is prepared to execute every class
of work in his line to the satisfac
tion of all who bestow their patronage. Confi
dent of his ability to please, he cordially iuyites
a test of his skill, with the guarantee that it lie
does net pas3 a critical inspection it need not be
taken mch24.tf.
HAKES A SPECIALTY OP
Copying & Enlarging Old Pictures
j.
Fashionable Tailor,
Up-Stairs, over Swift & Arnold’s Store,
ELCERCOK, GEORGIA.
BOOTS * SHOES.
The undersigned respectfully an
> nounoes to ths people of Elberton and
surrounding country that he has opened a first
class
Boot and Shoe
SIXOF IN ELBERTON
Where he is prepared to make any style of Boot
or Shoe desired, atshortnpticeand with prompt
ness.
REPAIRING NEATLY EXECUTED.
The patronage of the public is respectfully
•elicited.
ap.29-tf (*. W. GARItECHT.
MiresjwratY.
3?. J. SIijANZSTCUST,
Saddler & Harness Maker
Is fully prepared to manufacture
HARNESS, f 5 !
vIIIIDLItnS, SADDLES,
At the ahortest notice, in the best manner, and
' on reasonable terms.
Stop at John S. Brown’s Old Stand.
# ORDERS SOLICITED.
H. K. CAIRDNER,
ELBEIiTON, GA.,
DEALER IN
HI HOODS. SEOCBRIE,
HARDWARE, CROCKERY,
BOOTS, SHOES, HATS
Notions, &o
T. M. SWIFT. MACK ARNOLD
SWIFT & ARNOLD,
(Successors to T. M. Swift,)
DEALERS IN
DRY GOODS,
GROCERIES, CROCKERY, BOOTS AND
SHOES, HARDWARE, &c.,
Public Square, EEISERTON GA.
F. A. F. UOBLETT,
maotae season,
ELBERTON, GA.
WHI oontract for work in STONE and BRICK
anywhere in Elbert county [je 16 6m
SUPERB PREMIUM ENGRAVING
FOIi 1875.
COSTING $2,000 TO ENGRAVE.
GEN. WASHINGTON S FIRST INTERVIEW
WITH HIS WIFE.
GET UP YOUR CLUBS AT ONCE.
This magnificent premium engraring it to r*-
ward those w ho get np clubs lor
PETERSON’S MAGAZINE,
for 1875. It is after an original picture by the.
celebrated artist Enninger, and represents the
first interview of Washington with the fair
•widow who afterwards became his wife, and is
known in history as Lady Washington. The
story is quite romantic. During the great French
and Indian war of 1755, Washington, then about
to proceed to the frontier, stopped for an hour’s
refreshment at the hospitable mansion known
then, as now, as the White House, in Virginia.
There he met, for the first time, the fair widow
who afterwards became his wife. Beguiled by
her charms and conversation, he remained hour
after hour, his orderly leading his horse to and
froacross the lawn. It is this incident which
tbeengraviug represents.
It is the Largest and Most Costly
We have efer offered, and can only be had of
us, as it will not be sold elsewhere. At a retail
store similar pictures are sold at from six to ten
dollars each. It is engraved in the very highest
style of the art after an original picture, and foi4
patriotic as well as ariistic reasons ought to bfl
in every home in America.
To accommodate the tens of
persons who will desire to have this
we offer it as a premium to persons
clubs for 1875.
Remember that the postage on
nxinc. and the premium will lie
<>f himi'i w:tl out additionu'MyFgjSy
the subscriber. jy9jg39g^B
Address, postpaid, f„- terms. Ac ■■■
' CHARLES J. i'ETEIjM9BBB||
306 Chestnut st., Pj^BHHB^B
THE GAZETTE.
3STew Series.
SUMMERFIELD’S SEOEET.
In tho Sacrameto Daily Union of a
recent date appears the extraordinary
statement of one Leonidas Parker, writ
ten before his death, and giving what
purports to be the true account of his
connection with the murder ofGregory
Summerheld. The latter individual
haa beo t known for many years as “The
Man with a Secret,’* and be met witn a
horrible death at the age of seventy
years, by being pushed from the plat
form of a train upon the Union Pacific
Railroad near the the north fork of the
American river, at a place called Cape
Horn. The unfertunate wretch was
huried downward a distance of over one
thousand feet upon the bristling recks
at the foot of the declivity. Parker,
who was upon the platform with Sum
merfield at the time of the catastrophe,
was twice arested and tried for the
alleged murder, but was on each occa
sion mysteriously acquitted, once by a
justice and the second time by a grand
jury . . ...
Parker was himself a distinguished
lawyer of Sacramento and was widely
respected. He always remained silent
concerning the ciscumstances of the im
puted crime, but shortly before his death
he placed in the hands of a friend a doc
ument the gist of which we give below,
the entire story taking up nearly a page
of the Union-
Referring to Gregory Summerfield,
the murdered man, Mr. Parker speaks of
him as having been one of the age, a nat
ural mathematical a profound astron
mer, and a man of excellent general lit
erary attainments. Parker had known
Summerfield for over twenty years,
their acquaintance having been formed
in Texas during the days of the repub
lic. Continuing his account, Parker
says:
“One clay toward tbo clobq, *of last
September an old man rapped at
my office door, and on invitation
came in, an.l advancing called me by
name. Perceiving that I did not at
first recognize bim he introduced him
self as Gregory Summerfield. After in
viting bim to a seat I scrutinized bis
features more closely and quickly iden
tified him as the same person whom I
bad met twenty-two years before. He
was greatly altered in appearance, but
there was the old charm of intellectual
superiority in bis conversation, and I
welcomed bim to California as an im
portant addition to her mental wealth.
“It was not many minutes before he
followed me into my back office, carefully
closed the door after bim and locked it.
We bad scarcely seated ourselves before
he incpiired of me if I had noticed any
recent articles in. the newspapers res
pectin" the discovery of the art of de
composing water so as to fit it for use
as a fuel for ordinary purposes T
“1 replied that 1 had observed noth
ing new upon the subject since the ex
periments of Agassiz and Professor
Henry, and added that, in my opinion,
the expensive mode of reduction would
always prevent its use.’’
“In a few words he then informed me
that he had made the discovery that the
art was extremely simple, and the ex
pense atteading the decomposition so
slight as be insignificant.
“Presuming that the object of his
visit to me was to procure the necessary
forms to get out a patent for the right, I
congratulated him upon his good for
tune, and was about to branch forth with
description of some of the great benefits
that must ensue to the community,
when he snddenly and somewhat unciv
illy required me to listen to what he had
to say.”
“He began with some general remarks
about the inequality of fortune among
mankind, and instanced himself
striking example of one of
who, according to all the rules
ought to be near the top
the foot of the ladder of - id; /
said lie, springing to ->
I'M 81 VC fiiei-y. 1 •
ii y o i.. i: ■ f ii '•jt'tfO
late, or < f ii.ilici
upon tbe whole hue
“Looking at- M
thought I could c*
gleam of madness
lent and awaited ■
But my scrutiny,*
been detected, arfl
to the expression®
I am neither drufl
in deep earnest itfl
am fully
to fully
the truth of
“For the
carried a .
!iis ln> ■ j
■ Mi and
JBj ‘ -->V!
.Ji
jfl
B
B
ESTABLISHED 1859.
ELBERTON, GEORGIA, JILY 21. 1875.
he observed, but disdained to notice. i
“My mind was fully made up that I
had a maniac to deal with, and 1 pre
pared to act accordingly. But | ascer
tained at once that my inmost thoughts
were read by tfcc remarkable man before
me, and seemed to be anticipated by
him in advance of tbeir expression.
“‘Perhaps,’ said I, ‘Mr. Sumtgerfiald,
vpu would oblige me by informing me
Tully of the grounds of your cWm and
the nature of your discovery.’ A
“‘That is the object of my he
replied. ‘I claim to have discovered
the key which unlocks the constituent
gases of water, and frees each from tho
embrace of the other, at a single
touch.’
“‘You mean to assert,’ I rejoined,
‘that you can make water burn itself
up?'
“‘Nothing more nor less,’ he re
sponded, ‘except this—to insist upon
the consequences of the secret if my de
mand be not at once completed with.
“ ‘ Now, suppose I fling the contents
of this small phial into the Pacific
Ocean, what would be the result? Dare
you contemplate it for an instant? I do
not assert that the entire surface cf the
sea would instantaneously bubble up
into insufferable flames; no, but from
the nucleus of a circle of which this
phial would be the center, lurid radii of
flames would gradually shoot outword,
until the blazing circumference ’would
roll in vast billows of fire, upon the ut
termost shores. Not all the dripping
! clouds of the deluge could extinguish
! it; nor all the tears of saints and augelß
could for an instant check its progress.
Onward and onwark it would swefep,
with the steady gait of destiny, until ine
continents would melt with fervent heat,
the atmosphere glare vith the ominous
conflagration, and all living creatures —
in land, and sea, and Air—perish in. one
universal catastrophe.'
“Then, sucluenly starting to his feet,
he drew himself to his full height, and
murmured solemnly, Tfeel like a God!
and recognize my fedow men but as pig
mies that I spurn beneath my feet.’
At this Parker states that he attempt
ed to reason with Summerfield upon the
absurdity of believing, that ha held in
his hands power so giighty, at which the
latter retorted with Humbold’s ‘Cosmos,’
aud the works of fain jus astronomical
writers, proving that it was not only
possible for entire planets to be des
troyed by fire, but that such terrible
events had actually occnred. This an
swer concluded, he handed Parker a
small phial, requesting him to open and
smell of its contents, the result being
that a strong odor of potassium was ob
served. At this Summerfield continued,
“Of course,’ said he, “you are familiar
with the chief characteristic of that
substance. It ignites instantly when
brought into contact with water. With
in that little globule of potassium I have
imbedded a pill of my own composition
and discovery. The moment it is liber
ated from the potassium it commences
the work of decomposing the fluid on
which it,floats. The potassium at once
ignites the liberated oxygen, and the
conflagration of this mighty globe is be
gun.”
“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘begun, if you plr*: e,
but your little pill soon evaporate* or
sinks, or melts in the surrounding s. as,
and your conflagration ends just where
it began.’
“‘But,’ sneered he, ‘the elementary
substances in that small phial recreate
themselves; they are self generating, and
when once fairly under way,
cessarily sweep onward,
in all the seas are
"Rising
pal men in San Francisoo to the extreme
importance of Snmmerfield’s discovery.
“A leading banker, a bishop, a chem
ist, two State university professors, a
physician, a judge, and two Protestant
divines were selected by me to witness
the experiment on a large scale. This
was done at a small sand hill near the
sea shore, but separated from it by a
ridge of lofty mountains, distant not
more than ten miles from San Francisco.
Every single drop of water was burned
up in less than fifteen minutes. We next
did all we could to pacify Summerfield,
and endeavored to induce him to lower
his price and bring it within the bounds
of a reasonable possibility. But without
avail. He began to grew urgent in his
demands. The sub-committee soon com
menced work among the wealthiest citi
zens of San Francisco, and by appealing
to the terrors of a few and the sympa
thies of all, succeeded in raising one
half the prescribed amount. I shall
never forget the woe begone faces of
California street during the month of
October. The outside world and the
newspapers spoke most learnedly of a
money panic—a pressure in business
and the disturbance in the New York
gold room.
“But to the initiated there was an ea
sier solution of the enigma. The pale
spectre of death looked down upon them
all, and pointed with his bony
the fiery tomb of the whole ray e , already
looming up in the distance before them.
Day after day I see the dreadful
ravages of tb;/ s secret horror; doubly
terrible since they dared not divulge it.
•buill, do v all that we could, the money
could not be obtained. The day piece
ding the last one given, Summerfield
was summoned before the committee,
and full information given bim of the
state of affairs. Obdurate, hard and
cruel he still continued. Finally a prop
osition was started that an attempt be
made to raise the other half of the mon
ey in the city of New York. To this
proppsition Summerfield ultimately
yielded, but with extreme reluctance. It
was agreed in committee that I should
accompany liim thither, and take with
me, in my own possession, evidences of
the sums subscribed here ; that a proper
appeal should be made to the leading
capitalists, scholars and'clergymen of the
metropolis; and that, when the whole
amount was raised, it ehould be paid
over to Summerfield, and a bond taken
from him never to divulge his awful se
cret to any human being.
“With this he seemed to be catisfied,
and left us to prepare foi his going the
next morning.
“As soon as he left tb6 apartment the
bishop arose and deprecated the action
that had been taken, and characterised
it as childish and absurd. He declared
that no man was safe one moment while
that diabolical wretch still lived ; that
the only security for us all was his imme
diate extirpation from the £l?e of the
earth, and that no amount of
could seal his lips or close h H s hands- It
would be no crime, he said, to deprive
him-of the means of assassinating the
whole human family, and that as for
himself, he was for dooming him to im
mediate death.
“With a unanimity that was extraor
dinary entire committee coincided.
“A great many plans were proposed,
discussed and rejected, having in view
the extermination of Summerfield. In
them all there was the want of that pro
per caution which would lull the appre
hension of an enemy : for should he for
Vol. IV.-No. 12.
HE NEVER SAW.
Two gentlemen from New York, one
of whom had been in California for
nearly a year, and the other just arrive!,
were overheard in the following conver
sation at the Sutter House, Sacramento.
The newcomer was lamenting his condi
tion, and especially two beautiful daugh
ters, who were just budding into woman
hood—when he asked the other if he had
a family.
“Yes, sir ; I have a wife and six chil
dren in New York—and I never saw one
of them.”
After this the couple sat a few mo
ments in silence, and then the interro
gator again commenced:
“Were you ever blind, sir?”
“No, sir.”
Another lapse of time.
“Did I understand you to say, sir,
that you had a wife and six children liv
ing in New York, and had never seen
one of them ?”
“Yes, sir ; I so stated it.”
Another and a long pause of silci.ee.
Then the interrogator again inquired:
“Hov\r can it be that you acver saw one
of them ?”
by, was fne response, “one of
them was V>orn after I left”
“Qu 1 ah!” and a general laugh fol
lowed.
After that the first New Yorker was
especially distinguished as the man who
had six children, and never saw one of
them.
—
TERRIBLE 00NPLI0I WITH A
PANTHER.
Mr. John K. Markill, of Norfolk, St.
Lawrence county, N. Y., returned home
late, having been detained by a storm,
and going out some time after to care for
bis team, was just in the act of opening
his stable door when ho was seized from
behind by a panther, which attempted to
grapple his throat, and he was carried to
the ground, falling on his back. So
sudden was the attack, that for a mo
ment Mr. Markill was partly stunned,
but quickly realizing his danger he at
tempted to draw his jack knife, at the
same time calling loudly for help, vln
the meantime the animal had fastened
his jaws on the side of his victim’s neck,
but owing to the heavy collar of Mr.
Markill’ft coat, which was fortunately
turned up, and a fur collar around his
neck, the asinaal’s teeth did not pene
trate the flesh, although the pressure, as
described by Mr. Markill, was such as to
almost entirely prevent his breathing.
His alarm brought to his assistance very
soon a large and ferocious dog, which at
once fastened on the throat of the for
midable foe. The animal then turned on
his new antagonist, and for a moment a
terrific battle ensued. After a prolong
ed struggle, Mr. Markill succeeded in
conquering the animal with a pichfork
and the dog’s help. The panther mcas
ured from tip of nose to tip of tail seven
feet five and a half inches, was a brown
isu color, with legs rather short, but
ti;ick anil muscular.
■
SISTER EM.
My sister Em has gjt a feller who has
been coming to see her almost every
night for some time. Night berbrs last,
just to have a little fun, I went into the
parlor and crawled under the sofa, and
waited there until he and Em had got
settled, and just as he was asking her if
he willimr to become liis dear
THE MANAOLING OP JEFFERSON DA
VIS.
We take the following from ft Ha np
ton (Va.) letter to the Springfield Re
publican :
There are some interesting characters
here who can spimyarns. I will only men
tion Captain Titlow, the sheriff, who diet
good service in the war, and now super
intends a very poor specimen of a jail
with a good whipping post, an institu
tion which ought to be extensively ro
vived. The captain, an affable gentle
man, with a keen eye, and so troubled
with rheumatism that he has to employ
a good deal of leisure in attending to it,
interested one as having been the per
sonal keeper of Mr. Jefferson Dav.s
when incarcerated in Fortress Monroe.
He was unfortunate enough to have coir
! mitted to him the painful duty of put
| ting the Confederate ex-Prcsident in
irons.
It was one of those stupid blunders
which, were it possible, should bo con
signed to oblivion, but, since that can
hardly be, it is well enough to know that
it was at the time regarded by sensible
men like Captain Titlow as a wholly un
necessary and gratuitous insult. Tho
officer in command had orders from Sec
retary Stanton to iron Mr. Davis should
any exigency require it. But there was
no such exigency.
He was secured in tho inner apart
ment of a casement, with sentries in the
gun room that opened from it, and other
Bentries outside in front and rear by
night and day.
When Captain Titlow, as ordered by
his superior officer, General , en
tered tho casemate, tho blacksmith fol
lowing him with the irons, Mr. Davis was
seated on his cot, there beiDg no furni
ture besides but a stool and a few arti
cles of tin ware.
When he glanced at tho blacksmith
and comprehended the situation, lie ex
claimed, “My God! this indignity to bo
put on me ! Not while I have life.” At
first he pleaded for opportunity to in
quire of Secretary Stanton. Then his
excitement rose to fury as he walked tho
cell, venting himself in almost incoher
ent ravings. The captain at length
calmly reminded him that as a soldier
he must be aware that, however disagree
able the duty assigned, it must be per
formed, and that, as in duty bound, he
should perform it.
“Nono but a dog would obey such or
ders,” replied Mr. Davis, emphasizing his
determination never to be manacled alive
by grasping the stool and aiming a very
vicious blow. The sentries rushed for
ward to disarm him, but were ordered
back into their places. Captain Titlow
explained that such demonstrations of
self defence were foolish and useless, and
that it would be much better for Mr.
Davis to submit to the inevitable neces
sity.
But, while receiving this advice, he
took the opportunity of grasping
musket of one of the sentries, and ir. Rie
furious endeavor to wrest it from him
quite a scuffle ensued. Tlit unded, the
captain took the precaution of clapping
his hand on his swoad hilt, as he por
ceived Mr. Davis’ eye was on it, and at
onco ordered the corporal of tho guard
to send into the casemate four of his
strongest men without side arms, as ho
feared they might get into tho wreng
possession and cause damage. They
were ordered to take the prisoner as
gently as possible and, using no unne
cessary force, to lay him upon tho cot
and there hold him down. It proved
about as much as the four could do, the
writbiugs and uphoavings of the infuri
ated man developing tho strength of a
maniac, until it culminated in sheer ex
haustion. When the unhappy aud shame
ful task was done, Mr. Davis, after lying
still awhile, raised him'self and sat on the
side of the bed. As his feet touched tho
floor, and the chain clanked, he was ut
terly overcome ; the tears burst out in a
flood.
When ho became calm he apologised
in a manly way to the captain for tbo
needless trouble he had caused him, and
they afterwards maintained mutlid rela
tions of personal esteem and Aiendli