Georgia Historic Newspapers

    CHRONICLE & SENTINEL,
ByT W. & W. S. JONES.
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this city.
Extraordinary Correspondence.
As a part of the history of the times we copy
from the National Intelligencer the following
extraordinary correspondence. Gen. Shields,
it will be recollected, has been elected to the
United States Senate, to succeed Judge
Breese, whom he defeated before the Illinois
Legislature. It was in this canvass the contro
versy originated, and whatever may be its ter
mination it iS very apparent General S. has
thus far gained no laurels; on the contrary he
has lowered himself in the estimation of every
right thinking man. He was a law student in
Judge Breesk’s office.
Washington, Feb. 23, 1849.
Sir On ray return to this country from Mexico,
broken in constitution, feeble in health, and still suf
fering under the effects of wounds, you were the only
man in the city of Washington who received me with
coldness and unkindness. When this city honored
me with a public dinner, which was generously in
tended as a compliment not only to me but to my
State, you were the only man who declined to attend
that dinner. You went further. You propagated a
report here in Washington, and circulated it after
wards in Illinois, that 1 was ineligible to the office of
Senator; and this, 100, after 1 had poured out my
blood like water in the battle fields of my country. —
You published an article in the St. Louis Republican
charging me with ineligibility —doing that which I
thought no man in these United States would have
been mean enough to do in my case, even if it had
been true. You, however, did this, knowing it to be
untrue. On this subject I have simply to say, that
had I been defeated by you on that ground, I had
sworn in my heart that you never should have profi
ted by you-success; and, depend upon it, I would
have kept that vow, regardless of consequences.—
That, however, is now past, and the vow is cancelled
by your defeat. Why I address you now is simply
this; —
In 1840 you gave me something in the shape of a
final certificate of naturalization in Effingham court.
You knew at that time that I was naturalized by
law, and by the naturalization of my father while I
was a minor. I told you the circumstances, and, as
I then talked of going to Canada in case of war, you
offered to give me a certificate which would simplify
the proof iif case of difficulty. Now, 1 w’ish you to
give me a letter acknowledging these facts. 1 write
you a private letter for that purple. I should have
sent a friend at once and imperatively demanded such
a letter, but I felt that in disgracing you 1 would die
grace the State that made you and myself Senators; |
and I also wished to give you an opportunity to make
this acknowledgement quietly. If, however, you
persist in your couise of injustice towards me, and re
fuse this request, I here give you fair warning—let
the consequences fall on your own head —I shall hold
myself acquitted both before God and man for the
course I shall feel bound to puisue towards you.—
Your obedient servant, Jas. Shields.
Hon. Sidney Breese.
Gen. Shields begins his letter by referring to the
wounds he received in Mexico. This allusion seems
quite unnecessary. The whole country, and particu
larly the piople of Illinois, are familiar with the fact
that he bears honorable scars upon his poison. For
these wounds he has already received a liberal si; re
of sympathy from his grateful countrymen. Howev
er, l am not disposed to cavil at this part of his letter.
It is a matter of taste that does not concern me.
I deny most positively that I treated Gen. Shields
with “ coldness and unkindness” on his return from
Mexico. Immediately on his arrival in this city, I
called ro pay my respects to him, and not finding him
at home, left ray card, as is the custom. A few days
after this, I met Gen. Shields, when his manner to
wards me was so cold and repulsive that I saw all
familiar intercouue was at an end, and of course I did
not attend the dinner given to him. I repeat that I
did not treat Gen. Shields with “ coldness and
unkindness,” for I entertained, at that time, none
other than the most friendly feelings towards him;
and I confidently appeal to the whole history up to
this time of our personal professional and political in
tercourse, to support this declaration. As tc’his eligi
bility to the office of Senator, I can only sky that I
“propagated” no“repjit,” here or elsewhere, in re
lation to it. In conversation upon the subject, I sta
ted to a friend a fact, which the record of the Effing
ham circuit court will establish, and “ blood,” no mat
ter where or how “ poured out,” cannot alter that re
cord, or change the constitution of the United States.
The assertion of Gen. Shields, tba I charged him with
“ ineligibility ” in an article in the St. Louis Repub
lican, not only is not true, but is without any color of
truth. 1 positively a. sert, and defy contradiction,
that I did not write, nor cause to be written, nor know
until after its publication that it had been writtei,
that, or any other article, for that or any other paper,
in relation to this subject.
Not the least so of the many remarkable passages
of this letter of Gen. Shields, is the following: “On |
this subject, I have simply to say, that, had I been
defeated by you on this ground, (the ground of ineli
gibility,) I had sworn in rny heart that you never
should have profited by your success; and, depend
upon it, I would have kept my vow, regardless of
consequences,” Certainly, it is fortunate for the he- *
nor of the country that ths rash “vow” has been
“ cancelled” by my defeat! General Shields sub
mits bis pretensions to a seat in the Senate to a Dem
ocratic caucus of the Illinois Legislature, and agrees
expressly or by the clearest implication, that he will
abide their decision ; and yet it appears that, at this
very moment, “ he had sworn in his heart to defeat
the will of the pai.y, if it had pronounced in favor of
his most prominent competitor; and, in order to ac
complish his purpose, he determines to perpetrate an
assassination ; for such is the obvious import of this
language. Such a design, and such a deed, are re
volting to the American character. They are wor
thy only of the most infamous age of Italian crime.—
If our political contests are to be mingled with, or fol
ded by, personal violence, how long will our elec
tive system endure? Without fuuher comment, I
submit this extraordinary passage to the consideration
of candid men, Christians and patriots, who love and
respect the laws and institutions of our country, and
desire to guard and defend them against all violation.
Gen. Shields says: “In lS4olgave him some
jhing in the shape of a final certificate of naturali
zation” which was “to simplify the prrof in case of
difficulty.” The naturalization laws do not recog
nize “something” or anything “in the shape of a
final certificate,” to simplify proof in case of difficul
ty,” or for any other purpose. How, then, could I,
a circuit judge, have given him any such paper ?
The statement has no tact, legal provision, or proba
bility, to support it. The truth is, no such cenificate
was ever given by me. He may, or may not, have
procured a copy of his record of his naturalization un
der the seal of the court, and that is the only certifi
cate I could have any connexion with, directly or in
directly. The first and only knowledge I ever had
of Gen. Shield’s father, either in connexion with his
citizenship or in any other connexion. I derived in an
article published in the St. Louis Republican; a short
time subsequent to the election of Senator. And I
have yet to see or near ofany man in Illinois or e!se
where, who knew that Lis fa.her was even a resident
of this country. General Shields says, I knew that
he (being a minor at tae time) was naturalized by the
naturalization of his father, because he “told me of
the circumstancee.
Suppose he did tell me so, (which I positively deny,)
does that make it so ? Even though his assertion
might convince me of the fact, a bundle of certificates
from me, no matter how strong, would be of no le- 1
value. If it be true that his father was in this coun
try, and naturalized, is it possible that Gen. Shields
should know the fact, and not know the State and
county where it occurred ? When authentic copies
of those naturalization papers, if they exist, could be
so easily procured, is it not strange that he should at
tempt to extort frpm me by menace, a statement,
which if obtained, could have no legal bearing upon
the subject.
What the “consequences” are against which Gen,
Shields give me “ fainwarning” if I persist in what
no sane man will call I am equally igno
rant of and indifferent to. One thing is certain.be
they what they may, I have not given nor shall I
oive him any “statemert” ofthe character required,
iilher “quietly” or upon iiupemire demand ”
In conclusion, I will state that I hare netlher pro
ved nor desired lha necessity that has impelled me
to make this communication. I respectfully submit
it under the full conviction that it is called for by the
circumstances. Sidney Breesls,
Washington , Feb. 26, 1849.
The publication of the letter with Judge B’t.
caustic comments was so overwhelming to
Gen. S., that he attempted the following ex
planation:
Washington, Feb. 28, 1849.
It is with much reluctance I feel compelled to in
trude upon the notice of the public a statement explan- *
atory of a private 1 ta addressed by me a few days
ago to the Hon. Sidney Breese, and published by him
with comments, in the Intelligencer of this day. The
facts are these; Mr. Breese has been for many
months engaged industriously in disseminating the
moit injerions reports concerning me, the only osten
sible motive being that my friends had brought me
forward as his competitor for election to the Senate of
the United States. I had been, ever since my visit
to this city last summer, cognizant of h% efforts, un
ceasing, unremitting, and : eckless to blast my charac
ter and rob me of the only wealth to which I can lay
claim—a reputation, thank God, without a blot. Im
mediately upon my arrival here I wrote him the let
ter he has published, accusing him of his baseness.
That letter, written under the influence of no ordinary
emotions, was couched in language, which, under
other circumstances, I would not have used; and,
upon reflection, and by the advice of my friends, I
authorized two honorable Senators, formally to with
draw it. Mr. Breese declined to yield it up, and the
use he made of it, shows by what motives he was ac
tuated.
That portion of my letter which he has distorted
into a threat of assassination, 1 shall briefly notice.
The means he used to prevent my election were of
such a nature that the competition between ns became
a personal struggle, and, aa his triumph would have
been an endorsement of bis calumnies, my character
and position were involved in the issue. I deter
mined. therefore, as intimated in my letter to render
such a triumph unavailing, by a thorough exposure of
his character and conduct, thus turning into a moral
pillory the position of Senator of the United States,
which he would have acquired by the vilest misrep
resentations. The interpretation he has put upon this
threat —that is, that I had avowed toassa sinate him —
is so absurd that it would be Equally preposterous on
my part to repudiate such a meaning. That any
sane man could have believed I would have assassi
nated Mr. Breese, I have no apprehension. That Mr.
Breese ever dreamed of such a thing, is totally im
possible.
For the controversy in which Mr. Breese would
have involved me on other matters, I have no relish.
I do not think myself warranted, except as in the
case ot the above statement, for self defence, in thrust
in g my personal concerns on the notice of the public,
besides that, the course Mr. Breeds has pursued in re
lation to my letter, disentitles him to that considera
tion which might induce me under other circumstan
ces to reply to his remarks. James Shields.
Straight from California. —The New
Haven Journal furnishes its share of Califor
nia news in the following :
“We are able, through the politeness of a
friend in this city, to present to our readersthe
following extract from a letter of a friend and
college classmate, now at San Francisco, dated
November 18. The writer is the Rev. C. C.
Lyman, a graduate of the class of ’37, who,
soon after his settlement in the Ministry, lost
his health, anu made a voyage to ihe Pacific.
He was there when the gold mines were dis
covered, and going to them, he is reported to
have gathered in the short time of six weeks,
some SISOO in gold. We place more reliance
on this letter than anything we have seen.
“The immense gold deposite iu the Sierra
Nevada has been the prominent object of
thought in California the last six months, and
it will be for years. I have visited several dif
ferent parts of it.
“It is everywhere extremely rich. Its length
along the Sierra has been explored some four
hundred miles, and rich diggings have been ac
tively worked. At a moderate estimate proba
bly four or five milfoils of dollars, at sl9 an
ounce, Troy, have already been taken out since
the workings were commenced, about nine
months ago, most of it within the last four
months As the exploration proceeds the re
sults become richer and richer; from four to
six thousand people have probably been
digging; and an average day’s work for the
whole would hardly fall short of an ounce.
Five, six or ten onneesare not uncommon days
works, and some individuals have taken out
two, three, four and even ten or more pounds
of gold in a single day.
“I design, at my earliest leisure, to write a
pretty full description of the placer, and its geo
logical associations. Suffice it to say, that the
rocks of the Sierra Nevada range are primitive
and metamorphic, and that the gold occurs, so
far as I have observed, solely in one geological
position, and that thestrata of drift ordiluvium,
in places where the diggings have been carried
on, varies in half afoot to several feet in thick
ness. The richest excavations have been in
the bottom of dry ravines, though gold is found
on the slopes, and even on the summit of the
bills. Single pieces have been reported as
weighing fifteen and twenty pounds, hut the
largest I have seen is one at present in my
keeping. It weighs between six and seven
pounds Troy, being composed of a large pro
portion in bulk of quartz rock with metallic
gold interspersed ; —the weight of the gold
amounting probably to two and a half or three
pounds.”
Savannah Still Onward. —We publish
this morning a comparative statement of the
exports of Cotton and Rice from the port of
Savannah, to foreign ports, for the month of
February, 1848 and 1849, the gratifying fact
that notwithstanding the commercial distress
that has prevailed in other countries to a degree
to become oppressive to all classes of society,
that the efforts of that class of our fellew citi
zens engaged in commercial pursuits, have
been blessed with almost unparalleled' success
during the past year; and that our seaboard,
as well as many others in our country, pre
sents no falling off in the amount of business
compared with the returns of other ye irs. The
quantity of Upland Cotton shipped from the
port of Savannah for the month of February
1849 exceeds the amount shipped for the cor
responding month of 1848, by 6,321,563, lbs.,
of Sea Islands 252,744 lbs., and of Rice 672
casks, and the aggregate value of the exports
of February, 1849, exceeds that of same lime
1848, by 362,054. With such developments
before us, who is there that calls himself a
Georgian and can refuse all the aid in his pow
er to render the only seaport in his State, what
she is destined to be, the greatest commercial
city in the South.— Savh. Gear.
The Southern Cultivator. —We are
indebted to the publishers, for the January and
February numbers of this excellent paper,
and for their promptness in granting our re
quest for aa exchange, they will accept our
thanks. On a perusal of the numbers before
us, we feel constrained to call the attention of
our country friends to the importance of
sustaining, by subscribing to it at once. The
subjects discussed a e of the greatest value to
every Southern farmer. It appears to be de
voted altogether to Southern Agriculture its
contributors being mostly practical farmers,
who through its columns distribute a vast a
mount of useful and practical information ;
touching the cultivation of cotton, corn, oats,
potatoes, and everything in which the Southern
producer should feel the liveliest interest.—
No farmer in the South should be without a
work of this kind, and the locality of the
Southern Cultivator, together with the low
price at which it is published, should ensure it
a general circulation, The price is only one
dollar per year. Any person can see the work
at this office. —Grenada Republican.
Paper Mill in Alabama. —The Tuscaloosa
Monitor of the Ist inst. says:
We are happy to announce the completion
of tne paper manufacturing establishment,
which has been for some time in progress of
construction near our landing, and the actual
commeucemement of its regular operation.
This event will be regarded by our citizens
with high satisfaction, not only because of its
real importance to our local prosperity, but on
account of the additional liveliness which it
gives to the business aspect of the place.
The working of the machinery leaves noth
ing, so far as we can judge, to be desired ; and
the general appearance of the establishment re
flects credit upon its superintendent, Mr. R. S.
Kirk.
Chronicle tmQ sentinel.
AUGUSTA, G-A :
THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 8, ’49.
Bnild up your own State.
The recent annexation of Texas and Cali
fornia has operated, and is likely to operate,
disastrously on the old planting States, by
withdrawing from them the two most impor
tant elements of prosperity ; namely; Popula
tion and Capital. Nothing can make an ade
quate recompense to a State for the loss of its
citizens, and the loss of their capital, but the
acquisition from another source of new citizens
and of more capital. It is inconceivable how
a community or a State can long prosper,
whilst constantly exporting its citizen*, their
laborers and property, and receiving nothing
in return. When a commonwealth exports
emigrants to the West, it receives no equiva
lent whatever. It not only diminishes its abili
ty to build and support railroads, churches and
schools ; but it taxes its exhausted lands which
are left, to plant new colonies, maintain terri
torial governments, drive back the Indian sava
ges and raise up powerful competitors and ri
vals in producing its own staples on better
soils. This policy is neither just, nor humane,
nor patriotic, nor profitable. It is a war against
civilization —a war against man’s intellectual
and moral improvement. It diminishes at once
the value of human life, the value of human
labor, and the value of every thing that mental
and physical labor call into existence. God
has made man a social being; and it is moral
ly impossible that any one family can achieve
so much of good works, or enjoy so much of
happiness alone in the world, or nearly so, as
it can in a community of many families. It is
the peculiar isolation of the life of the hunter,
and that of the poor husbandman who exhausts,
as he tills the earth, which prevents their rapid
advancement in civilization. They are neces
sarily kept under their respective systems of
obtaining a livelihood, at too great distance
one from another. There is very little collision
of thought, and intellect becomes stationary
or moves in a narrow circle. No new and
valuable discoveries are made. The rudest
arts remain without change or improvement
from generation to generation. Society never
advances, unless the impulse comes from with
out, and moyes it forward even against its re
sistance.
Thirty-four years ago, at th.e close of the last
war with England, DeWit Clinton strongly
urged upon the people of the State of New
York the policy of improving and aggrandiz
ing that Commonwealth. For a time the
“ Buck-tail” or Locofoco party, successfully op
posed the great statesman; but at length the
Common School and Erie Canal—the build
ing-up policy—prevailed.
Under the shortsighted and erroneous policy
of Thomas Ritchie, Virginia, which had great
er natural resources than New York, adopted
the theory which seeks distinction by export
ing citizens, slaves and other capital to form
new States. By this the mother of States has
been remorselessly stript of her property,
her physical strength, and her moral power.
From being the first State in the Union, Vir
ginia has been made the fourth by the rnis-gov
ernment of an unwise policy. Instead of be
ing built up as she truly and well deserved to
be, she has been depopulated, and pailially
desolated for the supposed benefit of abscond
ing children. In 1830 the “ Ancient Domin
ion” had twenty-one delegates in the House
of Representatives. But under the depopu
liting policy of Virginia statesmanship, the
census oflß4o deprived her of six representa
tions in Congress. The census of 1850 will
probably take two more away from her, and
one from South Carolina.
There is no escape from the righteous judg
ment of Heaven, which takes away the “ ten
talents” from those that hide them in the
ground, and gives them to such as make a pro
. per use of the gifts of Providence. Instead of
exporting citizens and capital, we look with
confidence to see both flow into this State.
Its agriculture, its commerce, its cities, its vil
lages, its common schools, its manufactures, its
colleges, its churches, its railroads and its peo
ple must all be built up here, and no where else.
Why should we waste our time in a bootless
controversy at home about what is to be, in
the far off land of and California?
How much more land have we in our own
State, than is well cultivated, or likely to be,
during the life-lime of any one now living ?
Let us first decide the question; how we can
best improve all the water power in-the State ;
and how soonest double and treble its popula
tion, its wealth and its power in the Federal
Union.
Interesting to Southern Wheat Growers
and Millers.
The following paragraph is taken from the
last Albany Evening Journal :
“At the late term of the Circuit Court held in
Syracuse, at which Judsre Allen presided, an ac
tion was brought by John D. Norton to recover the
value of 1900 bushels of Wheat taken by Jason C.
Woodruff to flour for the plaintiff, at bis mill in Sa-
Hna. The case turned upm the question whether
there was an actual change of title in the property
upon the deliveiy of the wheat. Woodruff agreed
to return one barrel of superfine flour for every 4
36-60 bushels of wheat delivered to him. This cause
has been tried once before, when the plaintiffs recov
ered ; and an appeal was taken to the Supreme
Court and to the Appeals. The verdict of the Jury in
the present trial was as before *for the Plaintiffs,
damages $2,566.57.
In the first place, the wheat grower should un
derstand that he must raise perfectly chan
wheat if he expects a Georgia miller ever to
give him a barrel of superfine flour for four and
ninesixteenths bushels of grain. On the other
hand, the miller will see how perfect must be his
machinery to give 196 lbs. of superfine flour for
270 of wheat, and make money by “grinding it.
We learn that it has been customary at the
South to give some six bushels of wheat for a
barrel of flour, i. t. 360 lbs. of grain for 196 of
superfine flour.
In working up wool filled with burrs, the
loss is still greater, as we will illustrate by com
paring Northern and Southern prices and pro
ducts at no distant day
Tlie New Cabinet.
The nominations for the new Cabinet were
transmitted to the Senate on Tuesday, which
is said to be constituted thus :
J. M. Clayton of Del., Secretary of State.
W. M. Meredith of Pa., Treasury.
Thus. Ewing, Ohio, Home Departtaent.
G. W. Crawford, Ga., War Deportment.
W. B. Preston, Va M Navy Department.
Jacob Collamer, Vt., Postmaster General.
Reverdy Johnson, Md., Attorney General.
Against a Cabinet thus composed, a majori
ty being from slaveholding States, with Genl.
Taylor at the head of affairs, the Agitators at
the South will find it difficult, we think, to
make much headway in their efforts to get up
an excitement, on the slavery question. The
people of the South have too much confidence
in the honesty and sterling patriotism of the
President, and his devotion to the rights of the
South in common with the interests [of the
whole country, to suffer themselves to be lash
ed into a frenzied excitement when nothing is
to be accomplished thereby. In Georgia espe
cially there can be no motive for agitation, save
the hope of making political capital or to grati
fy individual aspirations for notoriety. A
Southern President is already installed —our
members of Congress for the next session
elected, and as our Legislature will assemble
one month before Congress, and can if they
choose take the subject of Southern rights un
der consideration, —nothing is to be gained
by agitation—while it may serve to embarrass
the adjustment of the question by the now ad
ministration.
British Census.
What the United States began to do sixty years
ago Great Britain has just thought of doing, namely,
numbering the people. A census of the whole British
empire is to be taken in 1851. Orders have been
sent to all the colonies to make preparations for this
labor, that it may be executed on a systematic and
uniform plan throughout the British dominions in
every part of the globe. This is the first time that a
complete census of the British empire has been deter
mined upon by the Government, although no country
has produced so many wi iters upon the subject of
population as Great Britain. On the other hand, the
United States have produced fewer writers on the
theory of papulation than Great Britain, Prance, or
Germany, yet our country has furnisked more im
portant statistical facts upon this subject than all Eu
rope combined.— National Intelligencer.
Our U. S. statistics of “ population ” may
be equal to the French Official Tables; but in
regard to rural affairs, the consumption of
breadstuff's and provisions, and a variety of
other useful matters, we are a long way behind
France in our statistics. Our tables fail to ex
hibit the number of births, deaths, and mar
riages ; they fail to show the number of horses,
and that of mules, cows and goals. They show
not the number of acres of wheat, corn, cotton,
tobacco, or of any other crop. They give us
no information as to the number of fleeces of
wool. We learn, however, that whilst France
had 39,000,000 of sheep in 1840, the whole of
our thirty States contained only half that nunr
her.
Our statistics are extremely defective in re
lation to the productive industry of the coun
try. Not only are the Tables imperfect, but
the manner in which the census has been ta
ken in most of the States, was such that no one
familiar with the process, had any confidence
in the correctness of the information given by
the marshals. We look to the next Congress
and a Whig Administration, to render the U.
States census of 1850, far more particular and
reliable than any which has preceded it.
Cheese-Making in Virginia.
Mr. Robt, M. Marshall, of Happy Creek
Va. gives an interesting account of his dairy
operations in the March number of the Albany
Cultivator. Some of his statements are worthy
of attention in this quarter, where we have the
best market in the world for cheese, and any
quantity of land and cows with which to pro
duce this agricultural staple.
Mr. M. has found the business of making
cheese so profitable that be has established three
dairies for that purpose. His dairymen, and
utensils were procured in the State of New
York. His cows cost him an average $11.48
each. Two of his dairies contain each 40
cows; the other 63. During the season for
making cheese each averages about 2 \ lbs. of
cheese a day. In this market such cheese
would be worth by the ton about eight cents a
pound ; giving an average product of 20 cents
a day each, or S2O for 100 cows. Allowing
cheese to be made 150 days in a season, the
product in cheese would be S3OOO. A good
cow will give milk at least 250 days in the
course of {a year. Hence butter can be made
100 days in a season ; and not a little pork out
of the butter-milk.
Mr. Marshall keeps his cows in barns or
stables much of the time which have basement
cellars for storing and saying all the manure
from his stock. He says : “ Our cows are
considered by the northern dairymen who have
seen them, as fairly averaging in point of size
and appearance, the dairies of the North-”
There is many a planter in Georgia who
might easily get up a dairy of 50 or 100
cows; and he would find it a profitable appen
dage to his present farming establishment.
Too Much Politics. —The fact is North Carolina
has heretofore been too much of a “ political” State.
The warfare carried on by the two parties has kept
them too busy to think of any thing else—they have
had no time to consult the public good. But a bright
er day is dawning upon our destiny, and in a Yew
years we hope to see our people among the wealthiest,
most enterprising, and most intelligent of the Union.
—Mountain Banner.
The old North State is not the only one
where too much attention is paid to pohtics;
or perhaps it would be nearer the mark to say
that too little attention is paid to the advance*
ment of mechanical and agricultural industry.
The latter are not exciting enough to suit the
taste of the majority, who dictate to the press
the kind of mental food which is most agreea
ble. The manufacture of leather, boots and
shoes, cotton yarn, nails, axes, plows, hoes,
knives and forks, tea cups and saucers, in
volves no political rights, and hence such mat
ters are regarded as of no account. We think
everything of rights and nothing of duties.
The Mississippi.— The anxiety of the citi
zens of New Orleans and the lower Mississippi,
was rather increasing than abating at the last
dates, in consequence of the threatening height
of the river.
Prosperous Business. —The receipts on the
Charleston Rail Road for Freight and passen
gers, during the month of February, amount
to one hundred and one thousand dollars.
Minister to Berlin,
The nomination of ex-Senator Hanegan as
Minister to Berlin by President Polk at the '
last moment of his official service, to reward a
not very faithful partizan, is worthy of the cha
racter of one who wrote the Kane letter. It
would have been hardly more discreditable had 1
the now ex-President undertaken to appoint
every subordinate officer under his successor.
ISditorlal Discourtesy*
The Macon Telegraph copies the gross per
sonal attack made by name, on one of the Edi
tors of this Journal, by the Constitutionalist,
and thus calls attention to the article :
“Read the eloquent and truthful article, entitled
“ Mr. Calhoun’s assailants and their motives,” co
pied into another column from the Augusta Constitu
tionalist.”
Having endorsed the charges of the Consti
tutionalist as a “truthful article the Telegraph
can do no less, in common fairness, than to
copy our answer to those charges, and call the
attention of his readers to their refutation.
“ A perusal of General Taylor’s answers to the
various salutatory addresses made to him, during hia
triumphal passage from Baton Rouge to Washington,
has inspired us with additional respact for his intel
lectual powers. They are in every instance, char
acterized by good taste, kind feeling, modesty and
felicity of expression, ami seem, every where, to have
elicited the most enthusiastic feelings.”— Lynchburg
Virginian.
President Taylor’s remarkable command of
the English language lias been ascribed to the
talent and education of Maj. Bliss. But as the
latter gentleman was not along to suggest or
indite “Old Zack’s” impromptu replies to all
sorts of compliments and speeches, and as
these replies are most admirable in their way,
perhaps his opponents will now admit that he
wrote his military despatches, which elicited so
much commendation in Europe, as well as at
home.
Our Business Citizens.
—About visiting New York, are referred to the
advertisement of Messrs. Taber & Bagley.
proprietors of that well known establishment,
the American Hotel. This hotel is second to
none in point of location and the style in
which it is kept by the enterprising lessees.
Mr. Fillmore and his Clerks. —The Al
bany Evening Journal contains a correspon
dence between Mr. Fillmore and his Clerks
in the Comptroller’s Department at Albany, iu
which the clerks express their admiration of
Mr. F. as a public man, and thank him most
cordially for the uniform kindness and cordial
ity which have characterised his intercourse
with them in the administration of the office of
Comptroller. Mr. F. made a happy and appro
priate reply.
Nearly all of these gentlemen were demo
crats, whom Mr. F. with his usual liberality,
retained in their places,although Whigs equally
worthy of appointment were by no means
scarce in the State of N. York.
The Biography of DeWitt Clinton is an
nounced as in press at Buffalo, and the author
ship is attributed to Geo. W. Clinton, son of
the distinguished deceased. No gentleman in
Western New York wields a more classic
and graceful pen than G. W. C., a son of the
“immortal Clinton.”
Completion of the State. Road. —The
Dalton Eagle expresses the conviction that the
Stale road will not be completed to Chatta
nooga by the Ist of October next, the time
generally designated. We hope the Eagle's
opinion may prove incorrect, yet vve fear the
expectations of the friends of the road will not
be realized on the Ist of October.
Green Superior Court has been adjourn
ed by his Honor Judge Meriwether to the
sth Monday in April next.
The Northerner. —The N. Y. Commercial
ofFriday afternoon, says: The fine steamship
Northerner, Captain Budd, took her departure
yesterday al.ernoon at 3 o’clock for Chagres,
with about one hundred and fifVy passengers
for California; a large concourse of people
were assembled on the wharves to see them
take their departure.
Scotch Pig Iron.— We learn from the Glas
gow Annual Report on the iron trade, that the
exports of Scotch pig iron to this country were
last year ninety odd thousand tons; or more
than double that sent to all other countries what*
ever —that whilst the exports to this market in
1846 were but 13,918 tons, under the operations
of the Polk Tariff they have run up to 90,235
tons in 1848.
If we had no iron ore in this country ; no
food for laborers that might dig and melt it;
and no wood nor coal for fuel; then there
would be some sense in going to Scotland for
pig iron.
Dry Dock at Brooklyn. —The Dry Dock
at the U. S. Navy Yard, Brooklyn, will be fin
ished by the Ist of July, 1850. It is 307 feet
long. 98 wide, with 26 feet water to the mitre
sills. The cost of its construction is estimated
at $1,450,000.
An Elegant Car—The Charleston Cour
ier of yesterday, contains the following notice
of a passenger car recently furnished for the
Charleston Rail Road.
“We bad the pleasure of being present
yesterday to witness the trial of a Car, con
structed on new principles, recently built for
the South Carolina railroad at their workshops.
It is sixty feet long, runs upon sixteen wheels,
and is so constructed that the weight instead of
being upon the axles, is thrown upon trans
verse pieces equi-distant from the axles, sup
ported by gulta percha springs; the conse
quence is that all jarring is prevented, and it
runs as smoothly as a carriage over a Macad
amized turnpike.
Another great advantage which it has over
the old fashioned cars is. that in the event of
an axle breaking, it can be readily removed out
of the way, and the car proceed on its journey
without detention. The material of which it
is composed is taken from our own forests—
the seats, with moveable backs, being made of
our native sycamore, the grain of which pre
sents a most beautiful appearance, and is highly
polished. The interior of the car is in admira
ble keeping with the outward appearance, be
ing elegantly fitted up, the seats cushioned with
crimson figured plush, presenting a most gorge
ous appearance. .
At each end is an apartment for ladies, luxu
riously furnished, and having all the appliances
necessary for comfortand convenience, and it
fully shows what can be done at home, as it is
unquestionably unsurpassed, if equalled by
any Car upon any Northern Road.
In 1835, only thirteen years ago, there were
not 0000 white inhabitants between Lake Mich
igan and the Pacific ocean! Now there are
nearly 1,000,000. ere are
BtT % ftlagnrtlc ®elcgraplj.
Transmitted for the Chronicle dk Sentinel.
New Yorlt Market.
Baltimore, March 7, 4 o’clock 11.I 1 . M.— ln the
New York market to day, the sales ofCottoo amount
to four hundred bales. Yesterday, sales of one thou
sand. Prices unchanged. Other things the same.
The Cabinet.
Same as before reported, except Johnson of Mary
land, is to be Attorney General ; Collaincr, of
Vermont, Post Master General; Preston, Navy;
Ewing, Home Department.
?r|p The above despatch came through from
Baltimore, in two hours, and we hope to re
ceive them more regularly hereafter than for
the past week or ten days has been the case.
Owing to some experiments making on the
line, we did not receive our Charleston or Sa
vannah despatches last night.
From the charleston Courier of yesterday—By
Telegraph,
From Washington*
Our Washington correspondent states that
the President received a number of addresses
yesterday from City Delegations. The crowd
at the White House was immense.
Jacob Collamer of Vermont, has been nomi.
nated Post Master General, and Mr. Ewing for
the Home Department.
The Senate Committees are ordered to be
elected by ballot this day. Mr Walker’s reso
lution to refer Gen. Shields’ credentials to the
judiciary committee was discussed, but Gen.
Shield’s was finally admitted to his seat.
Suspension Bridges. —The successful en
terprise of throwing a bridge over the Niagara
river, below the falls, has suggested several
others of like character, in the West. Accor
ding to the Cincinnati Gazette—
It is proposed to bridge the Ohio river, be
tween Cincinnati and Coviugion on the Ken
tucky side, Mr. Charles Ellett, Jr. the distin
guished Engineer, has written a letter declaring
its practicability, and the lower House of the
Ohio Legislature has passed a bill incorpora
tinga company to build the bridge.
JVfr. Ellett says in his letter, that it is entirely
practicable “ to span the whole breadth of the
river with a single arch, which will not im
pair the navigation in the least, at a cost of
$300,000,
The gigantic arch is to be 120 feet above the
centre of the river, at low water—the towers
for the suspension of the wire cables 230 feet
high—twenty cables tour inches in diameter,
capable of sustaining a weight of 7,000 tons.
The bridge at Wheeling is to be ninety two
feet above low water mark—-the bridge con
templated across the Mississippi at St. Louis is
to have an elevation of forty-five feet above
the higbestfreshels—but this bridge is proposed
at 120 feet above low water mark, or fifty feet
above the great flood of 1832.
Passage of the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad Bill. —An engrossed bill authoriz
ing a subscription, for the State, to the Vir
ginia and Tennessee Railroad Company, was
taken up as the order of the day. The ryder
submitted to the bill by Mr. Dorman, as well as
various propositions to amend the ryder, &c.,
were all voted down, and under the operation
of the previous question, the Bill passed in pre
cisely the same form it assumed when rejected
a few days since, by the decisive vote of ayes
76 to noes 54.
We congratulate the People of Virginia on
this auspicious result, and hail the passage of
this bill as the harbinger of a better day for the
good old Commonwealth. —Richmond Times,
3 d inst.
Something New.—Mr. Joseph Harris, Jr.,
of Boston, has invented and patented a box
and axle, which requires no oil and almost en
tirely escapes friction. The working model
has been turned 1008 revolutions in a minute,
equal to 120 miles an hour, without producing
perceptible heat, and without the use of any
oil. The mechanism is somewhat after the
manner of that discovered by Ezekiel in his
vision, a wheel in the middle of a wheel,” or
rather six wheels in the middle of one. The
box is about five inches in diameter and the
axle three inches, and in the space between
them are disposed, at equal distances, six anti
friction rollers which are kept in their places
by teeth at both their ends, playing in corres
ponding circles of teeth in both the box and
axle. There is no bearing upon these teeth,
which are cut in the anti-friction curve. The
bearing is entirely upon the smooth portion of
the rollers between the teeth. The only ser
vice of the teeth is to prevent the possibility of
the rollers getting out of place.
Emigration.—lt appears from the annua) re
port of the Commissioners of Emigration, that
180,176 emigrants arrived at Few York during
the year 1848, of whom 98,081 were from Ire
land, 51,973 from Germany, and from other
countries, 39,142.
Paris no longer France.—According to
the London correspondent of the National In
telligencer, it will no longer do for those who
want to know what is doing in France, to look
at Paris and Paris only. He states that a bene
ficial change is now going on, and that it will
be very much accelerated by the present posi
tion towards each other of the President, the
Ministers and the National Assembly, The
provinces, he adds, are making head against
the dominion of Paris and the time is rapidly
coming when the Government which wishes to
be strong in France, must look to the provinces
for the means of becoming so.
Brig. Gen. Riley.—We learn by letter that
the United Stales transport ship lowa, 47 days
from New York, arrived at Rio Janeiro on the
25th of December. Brigadier General Bennett
Riley and staff, and the officers and men of
three companies of the 2d Infantry were on
board, bound to California, and all well. The
lowa was to sail Dec. 30th for San Francisco,
and would stop at Valparaiso and Monterey.—
The voyage thus far has been prosperous, and
but one man died on the passage from New
York.— N. Y. Express.
London, Feb. B.—The average number of
daily emigrants arriving in Dublin, from vari
ous parts of Ireland, and setting out from the
port of Liverpool to the United States, is esti
mated at from 1500 to 2,000. They all take out
with them feather beds, articles of furniture,
and some small capital. It is a fact which will
hardly be credited, but which is nevertheless
unquestionably true, that such is now the dire
destitution among the upper classes in the
West of Ireland, that three magistrates in the
county of Mayo, are receiving out-door relief
for themselves and their families from three dif
ferent parish Unions.— Correspondence of the
Journal of Commerce.
Norfolk. Va., Feh. 28th — Heavy Storm-
Wharves Inundated, Sfc. —city has been
visited with a most severe storm, which com
menced on Sunday last, and continued until
Tuesday, doing much damage. The wharves
were overflowed, and a number of buildings
were blown down by tho heavy wind prevail
ing. Many vessels have been compelled to
put back. The steamer Sea Gull was lying .
to, preparing to proceed on her voyage on
Tuesday. Serious damages have been expe
rienced.
The Late Snow Storm. —Some of our old
friends, long residents in Nova Scotia, and who
are now fast verging on three score and ten,
have informed us that since 1798 we have not
had such a snow storm as that of the past weeit.
Fifty-one years ago the drifts were so high that
a tunnel was cut through a snow bank at Fort
Needham, sufficiently large to admit the pas
sage (of sleighs and wagons.— Halifax, Nova
Scotian, 31st.