Newspaper Page Text
€arl» (CflratD IJftos.
-9 'O W
E. 11. GROUEY,
Editor, Proprietor & Publisher.
B £ A Iv E ±i Y:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1864.
A hat and blanket factory will soon be
put in operation at Montgomery, Ala.
James M. Stewart is now prepared to
clean Dice, as will be seen by his advertise
ment in this issue.
♦ » ♦ .
Tho Court House steps are yet out of
order! Will the Inferior Court ever have
them repaired '/
Gen. John 13. Clark is announced as a
candidate to represent the third district of
Missouri in the Confederate Congress.
The Yankee Soldiers on the Ropidan
have got up some base ball clubs. They
have been at that sort of game ever since
the war began.
The Columbus papers state that bacon
sold in that city week before last for $2,50
per pound. Flour had declined SSO on tho
barrel, aud $5 bills were taken at par.
A » 4 ♦ »
Col. Win. M. Browne, Aid-de-Camp to
the President, has been assigued tempora
rily to duty as chief of the conscript ser
vice in this State.
+ 4
We have just received another letter
from the “Fool Killer,” which we will
publish in our next. Look out, sharpers,
for “ squalls ! ”
Seven thousand four hundred and twen
ty bushels of suit was made at the Stato
salt works in Clarke county, Ala., from the
20th of January to the 31st of March last.
Tho Wilmington Journal says: “If we
owned tho Isles of Greece, and had them
here, wo could make a fortifhe off them by
selling them at seven dollars a pound as
hog’s lard.”
T)ne of the greatest affronts that can bo
offered u widow looking out for some gen
tleman to till the chair of her “ dear de
parted,” is to accost her as an old acquaint
ance.
The tax bill pending in Lincoln’s Con
gress occupies, two hundred and fifteen
pages of fine print. The levies are gener
ally small, the object seeming to be to touch
up every body a little.
♦ ♦ ♦
The yomig lady in this county whose
sleep was broken a short time since has
had it meu-ded. Shouldn’t be surprised if
her sleep would be again broken in less
than a year !—and then there’ll be squalls
about!
The brilliant successes of our arms at
Shreveport, La., Fort Pillow, Tenn., and
at Plymouth, N. C., will shake the nerves
of all Yankeedom. Grant’s defeat will
come next, aud paralize the wholo Yaukee
nervous system.
The London Punch once speaking of 'a
“ Swimming Society,” said : “ The mem
bers were so devoted to the cause, that af
ter dinner their heads began to sioim, but
by sticking to the wiue, they kept them*
selves above water ! ”
—-♦ 4 ♦
If there are any young ladies in this
section who would like to carry on a mat.
rimonial correspondence, with the prospect
of getting a nice young man for a husband,
they would do well to uotiee an advertise
ment of this kind in this week’s News.
llow is it, asks the Selma Mississippian,
that in Mobile, at our very doors, $5 bills
command a premium of 33$ per cent., and
yet with us many of our merchants would
have us believe that a discount to that
amount is but j ustice to them ? The small
bills have a value closely approximating
<nar, and the tradiug community should act
up to it in their pecuniary operation*.
Tho canker that is eating at the very
heart of the republic, arid threatening its
destruction, is the almost universal greed
for gain—the desire to accumulate money
and lay up wealth. It is rapidly poisoning
the fountains of the public patriotism, and
laying the foundations for the betrayal of
those great principles in which our revo
lution had its birth. Every class of socie
ty, and men of every peculiarity of charac
ter, from the boy not yet out of his teens,
to the gray-lieaded miser trembling upon
the brink of the grave —from the merchant
in his store, to the soldier in the camp, are
almost without exception more or less in
fected with this evil spirit of accumulation.
From all accounts the finances of Abo
litioudom just now are in a most glorious
state of uncertainty. Gold, the idel of the
steady old money venders cf New York,
and which they are eudeavoring to keep
the standard in opposition to the efforts of
Chase to introduce his greenbacks in that
capacity, jumps up and down unaccounta
bly—the quotations of the of
a single day varying from ten to fifteen per
cent. Chase is struggling hard to keep his
head above water. The Yankee bubble is
awfully inflated, and the explosion is not
long to be delayed.
The Governor and Comptroller General
have decided that Tax payers, in making
returns to the Receivers, shall give in their
property at its value in Confederate Treas
ury notes, on the first day of April, 1864,
without any deduction of 33$ per cent.,
which does not attach to the Treasury notes
until the second day of April, under act of
Congress to fund the currency. The larg
er the amount of property returned tho
smaller will be the rate of taxation iu our
State for 1864, so the thing is about equal.
The Militia Officers throughout Georgia
would do well to read the late Proclama
tion of Gov. Brown in regard to the de
struction of all illegal Stills now in opera
tion in this State. The Governor plainly
says that all Militia Officers who allow un
authorized parties to convert grain of any
kind into spirituous liquors will he turned
over by him to the Confederate Enrolling
Officers. Lookout, ye “Melish” of Early
county, or away you go!
Plymouth, which Gen. Hoke lately cap
tured, is a town in Washington county,
North Carolina, and situated at the mouth
of Roanoke river* which stream flows into
Albemarle Sound. It is quite an impor
tant place, being garrisoned by about 2,500
men, with stores and provisions in abun
dance. Its defences commauded the en
trance to Roanoke river. By the capture
of this post an important position has been
gained, and possession acquired of one of
the most fertile regions iu the Confederacy,
which can he easily held.
The New York Tribune regrets to learn,
that “ the state of Pres’t. Lincoln’s health
is far from satisfactory.” Perhaps he is ill
from the ill treatment which “ the State
of his adoption,” being far from satisfied,
is favoring him with. . The physiciau who
will help him to die will do “ the state ”
some service, and the ranks of states men
a relief from an incubus, and give people
droopiug in honest states of life a chance •
to revive.
The Richmond Examiner states that an
order will soon be issued from the Bureau
of Conscription commanding all persons
subject to military duty from the State of
Maryland to report, at once, to Col. B. T.
Johnston or Gen. Elzey; failing to do so,
they will be treated as alien enemies. We
hope that there is no Marylander so want
ing iu patriotism as to force the Govern
ment to the alternative of treating him as
an “alien enemy. ’
- ——4 <4 ♦
We return our thanks to a couple of
young ladies for some fine “ Boquets .” They
were made up of delicious swelling flows
ers, but wo can’t say, and tell the truth,
that they are half so sweet and beautiful
as the pretty young ladies who presented
them to us ! May they (the young ladies
and the flowers) live always, And may our
eves never be off them !
Mr. Turner, of the Eatonton Country
man, is* writing a history of his ancestors,
from which one would suppose that he
(Mr. Turner) is, or is destined to be, quite
a “ big” man. We consider such as this
very much out of “ taste.” If we had
ever been so fortunate (!) as to have had
any “big” “ kin folks,” and had wanted
it known, we think we would have tried
to have got some friend to have written
their history. We don’t belicvo, as a gen
eral thing, in “ whipping the devil 'round
the stump,” but in such cases as this we
think we would vary from our general rule.
Wonder if Mr. Turner ain’t trying to.clear
the road to get to the Legislature or Con
gress ! As we ourself have nuaspiration
fur either of. these positions, it willdoe need
less for us to have the history of our ante
cedents published! The only thing that
we ean say of our antecedents, as far back
as we cau remember, is, that the w-hole of
j them were fond of “flour doin's and chick
en fixins ,” and some on peas and potatoes!
Os course it is needless for us to say that,
in this respect, we try to keep up with the
usages of our antecedents!—though we
find it pretty hard to get these things now.
Hut we’d better stop, or else we might be
accused of what we call bad “ taste” in
Mr. Turner! So hoping that the Editor
of the Countryman may get to the Legis
lature or Congress by the time be gets
through writing the history referred to, we
will “ wind up,” for fear that we might,
unthoughtedly, write the full history of
our antecedents,’and thereupon be promo
ted to a position where we would be com
pelled to eat “ Jinger Cakes ” the balance
of our life !
We are informed by the Richmond WMg
that the Confederate Tax Collectors, in a
good many of the districts of the country,
have found it necessary to call the atten
tion of Assessors to frauds committed by
persons making returns of their produce.
This is much to be regretted, as a faithful
return of this tax is absolutely necessary
to the country, and for the additional rea
son that the agricultural interest has been
greatly favored by Congress on aceouut of
this tax. Assessors in districts where there
is reason to believe frauds have been com
mitted in returns of produce, would do
well to institute a more searching inquiry,
and whenever mistakes have been discov
ered, make a new additional assessment,
and wherever there is a taint of fraud, im
pose the penalties prescribed by the law.
Some of our planting friends are work
ing quite a “ keeu ” trick, of late, in or
der to get seven days’ work out of their
wagoners jmd teams in a week. The way
they do it is, they»work their wagoners and
stock all the week until Saturday morniDg,
on their farms, and then start off a load, of
tithes to Howard’s Landing, which place
the negroes generally get to some time dur
ing Saturday evening, and then the conse
ouence is that thev have to return home
on Sunday. This is what we call “whip
ping the devil ’round the stump.” But is
this right?” Is it christian-like? We
only ask for information !
♦ —♦—» •
Gen. WJiiting, commanding the depart
ment of Wilmington, has issued a notice
, to producers that unless provisions are
brought into market at customary hours,
and a fair chance given to buyers residing
in the cit}', the stock will be impressed for
the use of the army and navy at govern
ment prices. Good!
-
The Savannah Republican says the in
troduetion of the new currency in that city
has brought down prices very considerably.
Why the devil is it that in S. W. Georgia
prices continue to go up, in place of com
ing down, is very strange to us. We have
got to believing that the devil has got the
people of this section by the horns.
Among the last new patents eutered at
the Patent Office, Washington, D. C., is a
gas engine which is very strongly recom
mended by Benuett, of the New \ ork Her
ald. The inventor must be a shrewd wag
to obtain an endorsement from the head
quarters of such an institution as patent
vresi 'rss.
“ Patriots ” are charging as high for
things in the new currency as the old, and
in some cases higher. Their excuse is that
they don’t consider the money any better !
“ Patriotic ” people, when they make this
excuse, know that it is false, and only do
it in order to get twenty times as much for
an article as an honest person ought to ex
act. If Congress doe 3 not do something
to put down high prices, the people will
devour each other, and that without mercy.
The charge that the currency occasions
these high exactions is an absurd false
hood —it is the avarice of the human heart.
Money is now scarce and getting scarcer
every day, but the scarcer it gets the high
er the “patriotic” people pitch their prices.
The ambition of nearly every body seems
to be to make a fortune cut of the war.
Those who have fortunes are trying to dou
ble them, all in the name of “ patriotism!”
Think of the price of everything ! If the
devil don’t get these “ sharpers ” we can’t
toll the reason.
Our friend Lieut. West, the very ener
getic and faithful Enrolling Officer of this
county, seems to be having his hands full
of late, in the way of fixing up details, dc. f
for many of the u old folks” —that is, those
I)etween the age of 45 and 50. Ilia office
seems now to be the place of “ general
rendezvous” by almost everybody, for wo
havn’t seen a singl’e man in twelve months
or more who didn’t want a detail! Even
those who, at the beginning of the war,
were going to “ drink all the blood an£ cat
all the flesh ” that would be spilt in this
war, kill four or five Yankees at each shot,
and swallow down the Devil and Lincoln
at oue lick, are now beginning to “ simmer
down,” aud getting very anxious for de
tails! As for our part, we’d a great deal
rather have a good “ cock-tail ” just about
now than all the details in the Confederacy,
for it has been two or three days siaec we
have had anything to drink !
If President Davis would only give Mr.
Rhett, the Editor of the Charleston* Mer
cury, and every other South Carolinian, an
office in the Confederate Government, pro
bably he would stop his daily “ slang ” at
the President aud Mr. Khett
might thank his God if he was only half
as pure a man as President Davis ! We
can’t see any good reason why this Editor
should be continually abusing the Presi
dent and his Cabinet officers. Our opinr
ion is that if South Carolina born men
were in “ fat ” offices throughout the Con
federacy, everything would be all right
with the Mercury! We despise a people
who think they are smarter than any and
every body else, which is, and always has
beeu, the case with the “ upper ten* ” cf
South Carolina. ’
<4 ♦ ♦
We have had real Spring weather for
the past few days, mild, calmy and delight
ful—a blessing to the poor, who have had
a severe winter to contend with, and giv
ing new life and vigor to vegetation of all
kind.
The swallow to return is seen,
And Nature’s clothed egaia “ in green.”
Just such weather as this the farmer*
and planters need ; just such weather ns
this will enable them to attend to their
planting interests aud put in large crops of
such grain as the country .peeds. But such
weather as this will also bring with it a
vigorous campaign, bloody battles, and for
us, we hope, glorious victories, and perhaps
with them that independent peace which
we so dearly covet.
Gen. Hoke, who commanded our forces
in the late victorious attack on Plymouth*
N. C., is a native - of North Carolina, and
it is said that this is not the first field oa
which he has written his worth as a man,
his skill as a General, and his entire con
secration to the cause of his country.
Thanks to our friend H. D. Lanier for
several dozen eggs and a—well, dog’d if
we know what, unless it’s a “ Sassenger,”
and if it is. it’s the biggest, finest and by
long odds the sweetest ojje that ever we
ate! It made a “ mess ” for our whole
family, and enough was left to “ feed the
baby ” the balance of the week !