Newspaper Page Text
I ' ' OIIIH ■■■■ 1 1 ■ "
The Cartersville Express.
VOL. XX.—NO. 48.
GREAT SEAL 6 F GEORGIA.
Rcminiscenses Gathered from Secre
tary Barn ell.
“Send that medicine for rheuma
tism” said an old gentleman who got
aboard the cars at Ringgold the other
day, and from his careful move
ments I inferred that he was the
sufferer, and so he was. It was not
long before I improved tho opportu
nity to talk with him, and he told
me that he had been so afflicted for
sixty years. In reply to my querry
as to his age he said in his seventy
ninth year. He has been sensitive
about his age until recently. Now,
like Talmage, he realizes that he is
younger than he'll be to-morrow.
He is “of age” as secretary for the
great State of Georgia, having al
most completed his twentydirstyear.
In 1843 he was first elected and was
re-elected for two other term-. By a
return of the democrats to power he
was out for two years, and then re
elected another term. After this he
was not in office again until 1861, at
which time he was re-elected and he
held over until the war closed. When
Sherman’s army had nearly reached
Miliedgeville, the assembly in session
at that time concluded to adjourn,
and did it more promptly than is
psual. It appeared that most of the
representatives were from “the low
er countries” by the route they de
parted. The capital was surrendered
to a party of thieves on Sunday
evening. They were treated with
marked consideration by the citizens
and in return they carried away as
relics all the watches, jewelry and
money they could find Mr. Bar
nett had gone to see a friend in “the
low country,” but not until he had
carried to his residence, the many
bills pending action by the legisla
ture with those signed oy the gov
ernor and other important docu
ments. Upon the arrival of Sher
man’s army, the secretary of state
was at once sought.. His where
abouts was huskily demanded, after
the men had been addressed as ‘"gen
tlemen” when the Irish blood of
Mrs. B. became suddenly heated, and
she replied that he had gone to es
cape his persecutors, and with tears
streaming down her face declared she
would kill the first man who insulted
her. Immediately she obtained the
respect of this party. They stopped
at her house and furnished a guard
for the premises, little dreaming that
they were protecting the only record
of Confederate Georgia legislative.
The “great” seal of the state had
been hid away by the secretary in
the darkest corner of an occupied cel
lar. In ’6l anew seal had been
adopted as the great seal, but inferior
to the old one of 1799. This old seal
had remained there until its “keep
er” had forgotten its whereabouts.
The next meeting ol the assembly
met at Macon. It will be remem
bered that the state government was
organized by chosen representatives,
and that Jenkins was governor until
it was declared a territorial govern
ment in 1867. The old great seal had
been re-ordered as legal, and the sec
retary allowed to use the seal Oi. 1361
as his office seal.
When Gen. Huger assumed, by
appointment, the office of Governor
Barnett, through the influence of
Gov. Brown, as it was important to
the state’s interests,-remained in of
fice. He told Gov. Jenkins that be
would not give up the great seal, and
determined not to do anything tnat
would compromise rightful authors
ties. He met Gen. Huger, who
treated him with courtesy and kind
ness, even after he had declined to
assign and attach the seal to an im
portant paper. Of course he was su
perseded. His old clerk continued
jn the oflice and used the seal of ’6l
to official papers. A negro legisla
ture passed resolutions repudiating
the suit of Jenkins before the supreme
court, and ordered that the great seal
he affixed. Then Mr. Barnett
thought of going to see his friends in
the low country again, but the de
mand upon him for the seal was not
made. So the native Georgian, the
honored secretary of state, has noths
ing but a noble record, a proud legacy
for his children and his childrens
children.
EDWARD B. STAHLMAN.
The reminesence of ex* Governor
Brown when on the bench, as pub
lished elsewhere, his admirable rul
ing as President of the Southern
Railway and Steamship Association
at the Atlanta meeting this week,
and the prominent part taken in
certain proceedings by the gentleman
whose name heads this article, calls
to mind certain facts in his personal
career which we dare print. They
will be read with the greater inter
est since the powerful railroad com
pany with which he is prominently
connected has decided to make At
lanta one “terminal poirP ” For
years a personal friend and admirer
of 3ir. Stahlman, we point to him as
most eminently “self-made.” His
career, like that of Governor
Brown, from a business stand point
has been marked by method with
commendable aspiration, from his
youth. . , _
Sixteen years ago, a high minded
lad, he was driving a mule and mule
to cart on the works of the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad. A little later he
walked in the office of Albert Fink,
superintendent of the Louisville and
Nashville railroad, and asked fora
situation. Mr. F. looked at the dig
nified lad with handsome face in good
clothes, and said he had no place
for him. “O, yes sir, replied
young Stahlman, surely I can do
something. Let me go down on the
road and I’ll see if I can’t find some
thing to do on the road bed, and you
can pay what my wages are worth.”
Surprised that a boy of his appear
ance should seek such a position he
consented. Some weeks afterwards,
Mr. Fink went down the road and
found young Stahlman at work in
blue denim pants and striped over
shirt. Already he had won favor
with his boss, and was named to the
superintendent as efficient to take
charge of a lot of men at another
point. In the new sphere, he more
than satisfied expectations. With
increased salary fie accumulated
means and invested in a supply store.
Besides, he had bought several suits
of fine clothes—he always wears
good clothes—when a band of rob
bers carried away his accumulations.
In conformity with the rule of the
company at that period, be presented
his bill for losses in watch and wear
ing apparel. Mr. Fink thought it
“pretty high” and suggested his
buying another outfit and sending
him the bill. Ks didn’t like the
compromise, so he declined to take
anything and quit the *road. Fortu
nately Mr. F’s. secretary had paid
the bills and was witness to the jus-
tice of the' claim. Stahlman soon af
terward secured a position with the
Southern Express Company, and his
comprehensive business capacity was
made prominent at Chattanooga, in
bringing order out of confusion in
transferring express at that point.
Then everything, even hay, was sent
express—with a much less force he by
brought order out of chaos in a
day or so. Subsequently he held
important financial positions for the
company. He had been in its ser
vice as route agent, undergoing many
hardships, (we remember now when
he was shot in the arm, seriously dis
abling it for life while in the line of
official duty), and had become dis
satisfied because of so much necessary
absence from home —be had mar
ried ere this—when approached by
Mr. M. H. Smith, general freight
agent ot the Louisville and Nashville
railroad company, as contracting
agent at Nashville. Mr. Smith re
signed afterward and Mr. Stahlman
became his successor, and he is to
day entrusted with the entire Ireight
management of that great corpora
tion. Really, while the New York
Central, and other roads are stron
ger, Mr. Stahlman has the charge
individually, of more miles (about
1400) of railway freightage than any
other agent on the continent, and his
pgy is larger than that of a congress
man. In his office at Louisville there
are three stenographic reporters and
seventeen clerks. The pressing char
acter ol his engagements was illus
trated last week by the necessity to
go on a special to Nashville, that he
could arrive at Chicago in time to
attend an important meeting there.
CARTERSVILLE, GA., FRIDAY. DECEMBER 2G , 1879.
Mr. Stahlman is a useful man to
society as well as to the business of
the country. As an active member
of the Young Mens Christian Asso
ciation, when not so deepV occupied
with business, his attriljites to a
channel of good works ihieh will
last longer than any railnad official
will serve his company. \
JOS. E. BROWN AS jJDGE.
Riding on the Western 4 Atlantic
railroad the other day in company
with a distinguished miniter, the
train darting along at from (dirty to
forty miles an hour, without) festle, I
referred to the excellence ofMb fcoad
and the conversation led tjf. a Com
ment upon the character of its Illus
trious president. Theie was i |disa
greement .between us a>nceriu|g the
merit of that gentleman Sill my
companion, “I was admitted £o the
bar In his court. He tjade in ex
tensive . reputation as ifudgj, ixid
while he was severe on atorrftysAe
gained great favor with Uo aiapOs*
Unless the case was an
he seldom ever would aW more
than one speech on a sideAad I li/n
--it was given as to time, pajy two
witnesses were allowed ffilprivdthe
same fact. The attorney,ln pri-ent*
ing anew witness, was pqufrcl to
state what additional evince jp ex
pected to prove by him Iff case
was called and the attoriiy onpther
side had neglected his iifhav
ing his case ready, it was totajpwed
a hearing during that ttrrni The
same admirable system
by him as chief executive j the
State, and it is by the same le in
business that .the traveling jiblic
are so generally and eomfiably
transported from Georgia’* epit&l,
across her northern bo)de| and
by which the citizen. wbosi pfsona)
prosperity has given ejphtis
that well known term ofcn
to his honor, “judg-m-ekt# As
judge he was quoted on mat
ous incidents, some of wh't no
existence in fact. This is an Wnce:
Judge A. R. Wright of Romfc was
told and extensively publishat the
time, was practicing in odf his
courts. He had bought a s<sking
pair of boots, Judge Browisked
him their cost, and when tSo.OO
ordered that he pay the sheiss.oo
more and they would stand I $lO.
The fine was paid promptly few
days later these same sqfcing
boots were a little too loud, t an
other $5.00 was demanded the
sheriff. The money was land
then the attorney took a seatmpt
ly pulled off his boots, and tg the
legs together, threw them a*s his
shoulder and went about biass in
his “sock feet.”
CINCINNATI SOUTH!.
The great railroad conuec Cin
cinnati and Chattanooga hajb so
far completed as to admit th3sage
of trains. Practical proof
North Georgia by the pas last
Friday of an elegant palate be
tween Chattanooga and anta,
with gilded name “Cincinnouth
ern Railway.”
—Dr. Felton has introdifl bill
to repeal section 1022 of tf * S.
statutes, which is as folio “All
crimes and offenses eommittfainst
the provisions of chaptertitle,
“crimes which are not hous
may be prosecuted either Idict
ment or information filed n at
torney.” Dr. Felton’s bilVides
that they shall only be puted
after indictment. This bill save
parties from being arrested car
ried off, by offices with thee© to
get a fee and then turn thdose.
That much of this has beeiie to
the great annoyance of innofien,
there can be no doubt.— faille
Gazette.
A gloomy desponderllow
made known his complalo a
friend saying, “Even the b*ont
sing for me.” He took fresfage
in the reply, but as a queS to
whether the birds had ceasfiing
for other people.
—Hon. Emory Speer has be
fore congress to prohibit he of
peace in the United State#* all
dress parades and concert the
Sabbath day. Good
“WHAT S MINE IS YOURS.”
How a Dixie Farmer Gets On in the
World—The Family at Home.
A Pulaski, Tenu., correspondent of
the Cincinnati Commercial pens the
following sketch:
“Did you see him ? He was com
ing out of the door of the Giles Na
tional Bank ; he had just damped a
handful of the subsidiary into his
vest pocket; he was shoving a roll of
bank notes into his pocketbook ; he
wore no coat; his jeans pantaloons
were flecked with cotton, so was his
wool hat; he had just sold three five
hundred pound baels, and had cash
ed the check. Leaving the bank he
went into the western door of the
court house. In a few minutes he
prosed out of the eastern* door. He
was folding up his tax receipt, nid
you hear him? “Bill,” he says, “I
have ju9t paid my taxes. I don’t
owe narry man on top of dirt one
cent.” He had followed Johnston in
the charge at Shiloh ; he was with
Hood in his retreat from Nashville;
he had proved himself a man of
courage; he was an affectionate hus
band, a kind father. There was a
consciousness creeping over him that
if not born a nobleman, he was to
day an independent sovereign. He
met Ills wife and daughter on the
pavement. “What did you get for
cotton, husband?” “$11„25; wasn’t
that a good price?” “Yes, we can
live on that.”
She drew him to one side. “Hus
band,” she says, “you have more
cotton to sell and pork to spare. Our
Mary is now seventeen years old, the
young men are coming to see her;
couldn’t you give her a seal-brown
merino dress, trimmed with silk?
Mrs. Rudd will fit and baste it for a
dollar and I can make it on the ma
chine, and go to Mrs. Graham’s and
get her a $5 bonnet, she never had
one, and Johnny wants a pair of
boots, and”—“Wife,” says the farm
er, “since the war we have had a
hard struggle to make a support;
You have done your part without
grumbling or complaining. Now my
head is above water; what’s mine is
yours; there is the pocketbook with
the money. Use it any way you
want to.
“Yes,” she says with a smile, “you
know full well I will not abuse any
confidence you may repose in me.”
She turned to go to the store; he went
to look after his team. He is at
home, seated in front of a roaring big
fire. The black cook is getting sup
per in the kitchen. She pauses to
smile over her red calico dress and
new calf-skin shoes. Johnny is
strutting around with his boots drawn
over his pantaloons. Mary is before
the glass trying on her bonnet. The
baby is crowing and jumping in its
father’s lap. The wife, dropping on
one knee and placing one arm around
her husband’s neck and the other
around the child’s, says, “Kiss papa,
baby.” As the tiny lips approached
the moustache she couldn’t help
pressing her own between. It was a
triangular arrangement, but papa
got the most of it.
“Early to bed and early to rise” is
his custom. It is now 9 o’clock.
Everything is still and quiet around
the farmer’s residence, and the glit
tering stars bespangle the frost-cov
ered roof that shelters one of the
happiest families in the solid south.
Anecdote of Patrick Henry.
When the celeDrated Patrick Hen
ry, of Virginia, was near the close of
life, and in feeble health, he laid his
hand on the Bible, and addressing
an old friend who was with him—
“ Here is a book,” said he, “worth
more than all ever printed ; yet it is
my misfortune never to have read it
with proper attention and feeling till
lately.” About the same time he
wrote to his daughter: “I hear it
said that the Deists have claimed me.
The thought gives me more pain
than the appellation of Tory —for I
consider religion of infinitely higher
importance than politics, and I find
much cause to reproach myself that I
have lived so long and given no de
cided and public proof of my being a
Christian.”
S. A. CUNNINGHAM
rederal Politics.
f
Uormpoadence Constitution.’
Washington, December 15.— Mr,
Stephens and Congressman Nichols
both have bills before the committee
ou public buildings and grounds.
Mr. Stephens wants a post-office
building in Augusta, and asks for
SIOO,OOO for the work. He proposes
to work for this appropriation, and
feels confident that it will be secured
in time for work to begin early in
1880.
Congressman Nichols wants a like
sum of SIOO,OOO for the erection of a
custom-house and post-office building
in the city of Brunswick. He has
many good arguments to offer in
favor of his measure and will urge it
with all vigor. I am inclined to
think that these two, and the only
measures of the kind from Georgia,
will pass the committee and be got
ten through the house and senate
with little difficulty.
DR. TELTON STICKS TO HIS FLAG.
A paragraph in my Wednesday’s
dispatch referring to Dr. Felton and
his letter has gotten me into hot
water. I said that some of the doc
tors best friends thought he was not
now so well pleased with some of the
declarations he made in it as when
he wrote them. I was promptly put
upon the witness stand by his alert
and estimable lady and questioned as
to who these “best friends” were.
As I am not in the habit of betraying
the hospitalities of private rooms and
the participants in private conversa
tions, I was sorry I could not en
lighten my anxious cross-examiner.
Asa result of tho interview, how
ever, I am now enabled by authority
to say that Dr. Felton does not regret
a word or line of his letter and that
it is his. platform on which he ex
pects to stand and make his future
record. He does not recognize aa his
friends persons who undertake to
syllable his feelings about any of his
actings or writings. He and his good
lady are the only authorities upon
JtißCit .. ••. • -
Drew’s Drawing.
The sensation in behalf of temper
ance for the past few weeks in At
lanta, induced the taking of a pledge
by about four thousand persons. Mr.
Jno. W. Drew, of New England, a
fair talkerwithout extraordinary ca
pacity is entitled to distinction as
leader in the movement. The pledge
is as follows: “For the honor of GodL
and the benefit of humanity, I pronw
ise, with divine help, that I 'tyill
never make, buy, sell, or use as a
beverage, any spirituous or malt
liquors, wine, or cider, and that I
will, in all proper ways, discourage
the manufacture, sale and use of the
same.” This “as a beverage” comes
in well. Bet the pledge be religiously
kept.
—lnnate politeness and nobility of
character show themselves in every
gesture, in every accent of the voice
and glance of the eye ; humble dress
and occupation cannot conceal therm
Vulgarity cannot put on those high
qualities, though it be clad in purple
and gold, and housed in a palace. It
is even said that a gentleman drunk
cannot so far forget himself as to im
press an observer that his instincts
are ignoble.
—lt is thought that Hon. Jno. S.
Bigby may succeed Mr. Farrow as
U. S. District Attorney. We trust
he will if he desires it. There is not
a man in the state of greater efficiency
and merit for it.
—The Griffin News, saya the Dari
en Gazette, furnishes this item:
“Three divorce suits have grown out
of the Sam Hill trial for the killing
of Jno. Simmons.”
—lt is a tact well established by unques
tionable testimony that Hall’s Hair Renewer
renews, cleanses, brightens, invigorates and
restores to its original color and lustre, faded
gray or discolored hair, cheaply, quickly and
surely. The poorest people prefer to bay it
and use it, rather than to proclaim in a man
ner more forcible than words can delineate
through blanched locks or grizzly beard, that
they are aged and passing to decay. A very
short trial will convince the most skeptical
that it do 3 eradicate the scalp diseases which
rob the hair of its color and life.— Fort Scott
{Kan.) Daily Monitor.