The standard and express. (Cartersville, Ga.) 1871-1875, April 18, 1872, Image 1

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THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS. By SMITH, WIKLE & CO.] Written for the Standard X Express.] EDUCATIONAL PAPERS. BY MIHH A. C. 8 AFFORD. mo. m. PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS. For sometime I was connected with large Female Schools at the West, whose Principals believed in public examinations; and having been year ly victimized, under protest, to a custom which had its origin in a less enlightened period of popular senti ment than the present, I take the ground, from personal observation, that those displays in girls’ schools have an injurious tendency. Against public examinations for boys I have not one word to say. They have to go forth as they grow up and contend with manly, victo rious self-con iidence amidst the roughest elements. They must lift their voices on the world’s highway, al>ove its bustling throngs, and u lit tle seasoning before hand is not amiss. For our girls a different sphere is ordained. The busy-fingered lives of most women, though they may I*3 fill ed with “cycles of thought,” are veiled and silent. The ministry by which the daughter saves her mother from fa tigue, the wife lessens the cares of her husband, the neighbor shows her kindly feeling, the thoughtful spirit breathes the blessing of her gentle presence around the sick and sorrow ful, is a quiet ministry. The work of the patient toiler for bread, whilst subjecting her to “ the grind of the | hard and actual,” usually removes her far from the places where great audiences congregate. The slender limit of woman’s bodi- j ly strength, the exquisite and easily I crushed vitality of her mental na- j ture, her refined moral organization, i seem perpetual protests against her quavering out learning, law, or gos pel, to promiscuous crowds. Why, then, during the brief period of their education, in the days when their flensibilitlts are most shrinking and tender, force girls to come for ward in public once a year and de liver lectures in miniature in answer to the questions addressed to them ? Should they, a few years later, ven ture to speak from the rostrum, keen sarcasm would be liberally darted at them, and they would be severely blamed for doing the same thing, on ly on a larger scale, which they were once taught to think very commend able. One reason that female lecturers in fest certain sections of our country and in wailing conventions pipe the wrongs of woman, (themselves work ing the worst wrong to their sex,) is that in those sections girls are accus tomed during their school-life to much of this public parade. Women argue that if, in their timid years, it wag not only considered right for them to speak, but thought positively disgraceful if they failed to do so; that surely the original thoughts of maturer age have a bet ter claim to l>o ventilated than the memorizutionH of the scliool-giri. I have seen young girls in a first examination their faces tremulous | with a kind of agonized “ stage- j fright” and aflame with blushes, I Whilst their voices came in gasps as they choked down the “ pure wo manly” in t heir natures to go through their parts. I have seen the same girls two or three seasons later walk out on a stage with perfect nonchalance and most assertive air, and recite topics or read essays in the presence of hun dreds without flinching, evidently delighted to show off their learning and charms. Said a learned man and flneorator who was present at a “splendid ex amination,” so called, in a celebrated Institute: “ Miss S ,It almost takes my breath to see the confidence of those young ladies. I have often address ed thousands, but to this day I have not acquired the utter unconcern some of them exhibit. Can’t your President see the miserable w orkings of his plan ? As somebody says, ‘ the material world, with its hardness and impudence,’ is coming on his girls, and their simple, sweet, child-nature will be lost forever.” It is not asserted that such effects follow' such exhibitions in every case, any more than that every person who has the small-pox is pitted, but tvs in nine cases out often pock-marks are left, so, the legitimate tendency of public examinations is to mar the subtile modest charm of a truly girl ish nature. It is generally admitted that these examinations are no tests of scholar ship. Often the best scholars, owing to that timidity which plays upon every fine-strung fibre of an intellectual na ture as if it were a nerve, increased by the study with which they have overworked their brains, fail almost completely, whilst a poor scholar possess; 1 of self-confidence will show off the little she does know to fine ad vantage. Again, a pupil of quick mind who has been deficient in ap- i plication will frequently cram just before an examination till her mem ory is “stuffed full of scholastic straw,” which she then draws out with the utmost readiness. Teachers are sometime's astonished at the brilliant show made by schol ars who have not been very studious. The Yankee’s explanation is perhaps true, “ It's faculty, —that’s it; them j that has it has it, and them that hasn’t—why, they’ve got to work : and not do half sc* well neither.” j And, for my part, I am not disposed to encourage a faculty to appear well on nothing, at the expense of modest merit. “Examinations are incentives to study,” urged one of my Principals. Granted, but they are amongst the owest. The fear of failure, the de sire to eclipse one’s classmates, the envy aroused if one is surpassed, are very foreign to the cultivation of that amiable, unselfish spirit which “ Seeketh not its own, is not puffed up.” The grand motive to stimulate a scholar arises out of the belief that God, who created the mind with its wondrous capabilities, expects us to improve them for Him, that some where in the distant world where one star differs from another star in glory, higher homes await those who on ' earth consecrate their intellects to him. “In the dim, daily walks of j life, the noblest impulse is God’s im j pulse, God’s reminder to the soul of something better to be obtained.” j Then, to the pupil should be held up j the desire to honor and please her i parents, to qualify herself to become jan om vment to society, and the i minor motives of obtaining good ! marks upon her school record, etc. Surely these are sufficient. For one j sluggish pupil aroused to study by I the dread of an examination, there ] are ten active ones quickened into ; feverish excitement, having the same i effect mentally as strong drink has bodily, and the knowledge thus ac- I quired is in an exceedingly ferment , ed, undesirable state. Another evil connected with these 1 things is waste of time. Weeks be fore hand everything points towards examinations, there is an unnatural strain on the faculties of the pupils, i and ghosts of lessons haunt their very dreams. lam sure there are very few teachers who would be so dis-; honorable as to “ make individual , assignment of questions and topics i i and drill the pupils on them prepar atory to examinations.” Conscien tious teachers employ no more time ' than would be necessary to review a j whole class thoroughly over the studies completed during the year,' and try to impress the understanding ! and memory not for one day only, ; hut for all life. Yet despite of every precaution the i scholars labor as for dear life, and on the day for which they have worked o hard, are hurriedly questioned on a j few topics and dismissed before they | have done even these few justice, j “Do make each girl my something I and get through,” I have heard a Principal say to a teacher wiiilst ex amining classes of twenty and thirty, on such branches as Astronomy and Chemistry, and I never knew him to give more than twenty-five minutes for recitation in the most advanced studies. Once he allowed fifteen minutes to a large and well prepared Rhetoric class to cover the ground gone over in ten months. He boasted that in his school of 210 girls, examinations could be “ finish ed up to the satisfaction of all con cerned in two and a half days.” Such things are mere shams and nuisances, cheating with the husk of education when the kernel is lost. A celebrated teacher says of exam inations, “ They tend to encourage haste rather than thoroughness. If pupils have been able to answer a few questions from different portions of the hook, it is deemed sufficient, and yet they may do this w ithout thoroughly understanding a single rule. Too much importance is at tached to the amount passed over, too little to the manner in which it has been done.” “ Ido not believe in examinations,” remarked a gentleman, “but they make a show and advertise my school, and the public like them.” If the public has such a taste, it ought not to be encouraged, but in truth the great common instinct is lightning-like in detecting anything like clap-trap, and the farce of learn j ing, while it amuses for a season, will not long be countenanced. And what a motive to present to a young girl, “ You will make such a show if you succeed!” It is the key-note to a life of folly, which it might be safe to lead did there not stretcli beyond its three-score years and ten an eternal existence where show and deception are inadmissible, llad not every parent rather that a daughter should be trained into a se rene, loving woman, with well-bal anced nature, ready to mingle with self-respect and dignity amongst the bread-winners of earth, equally ready to be the cheerful, busy, house wifely keeper of some happy home, than have her made showy, vain, so craving the stimulus of excitement i that sometimes she will fairly loathe the quiet routine of a sheltered life? “ Would you do away entirely with examinations ?” No ; I would only substitute in place of public dis plays thorough private examinations ; on the various studies, conducted on the system of writing, thequestions to be selected without reference to those in the text-books, whilst the answers can be examined by parents, and by 'competent committees, if theteaeh ! ers so elect. This written system has been adopted by a majority of the best schools in America and Europe, and has borne well the test of expe rience. In the old way, an absurd effort was often made to have it appear that every scholar knew everything in the books when, on the contrary, every teacher knows that in daily recitation some pupils ( are uniformly perfect, others only ap- I proximate to this grade, and some seldom reach it. The same thing must be expected in a review, and written examinations show what a pupil does not, as well as what she does understand. With this written method let there be combined oral reviews in some studies similar to those held in the school week after week, and let these be open to parents, and any friends of education particularly invited by the teachers. The child’s dearest in-! terests belong to the parents, and they have a right to be present. In deed, could their interest be awaken ed to the pitch of visiting a school informally and frequently, they would get a better insight into the way their children are taught and managed, than they could possibly obtain otherwise, and their presence ' would cheer the teachers and stimu- i late the pupils. Let it be distinctly understood that parents are always w’eleome in the schoolroom. But a teacher should have too much resjiect for young la dies committed to her care to drag them into unseemly publicity to the ' endangering of that retiring grace that tan no more be restored than you can bring back the blush to a withered rose, or the dew-sparkle to a long-plucked lily. Nor is it her place to “ furnish ex citement In a mild form, in place of the theatre or cirt*usnor, because she is obliged to earn her bread, forget that she has the instincts of a gentlewoman and forego her birth right. A gifted woman, who had been martyred to public examinations, once wrote a “ Teacher’s Examina tion Song,” a parody of the “ Song of the Shirt,” by Thomas Hood. A few stanzas from this will point the mor al of my essay: i *‘ With a voice piping and shrill. | Standing atone in a crowd, A woman performed that unwomanly t-.uk. Speaking in public aloud. Talk, talk, talk ! All tremulous, flushing, and faint. Questioning now with a querulous tone, And now with a weary plaint!” “Talk, talk, talk’.- M id a crowd whose gazs never flags, And t„lk, talk, talk ! ’Till the heart’s like|a hunted stag’s ! It’s oh ! to be a nun, in some cloister lonely and drear, Whose “listers’’ can speak to never a one, If thi» is woman's sphere !” “Talk, talk, talk! ’Till the tongue begins to twist! Talk, talk, talk! ’Till the eyes look out through a mist. Ask, and question, and prompt, Prompt and question anew, Until in a Cretan maze I am lost, And seek in vain for a clew.” “ Oh! men with careless hearts! Oh! men who listen and stare, ’l'is not a machine that grinds out words, A woman’t soul is there. Talk, talk, talk! All dazed, bewildered, and blind, Reaching at once with a double voice, The heart as w r ell as the mind.” “ But, why do I talk of hearts, Wlieu almost 1 loathe my own ? Would I could harden ts human flesh Change it to flinty stone, Change it to flinty stone, Because of my flushing cheek; O, God! that man should be so strong, And woman’s heart so weak!” “Talk, talk, talk! Will this task never be o’er T And what are my wages f—a breathing sport, A right to live, —no mor e. A blazing hearth, a happy home, A father, a mother dear, E’en dreams of these would my heart appease, Where but shadows fall cold and sere. So, with a voice piping and shrill, Standing alone in a crowd, A woman periormed that unwomanly task, Speaking in public aloud." HO. IT. ! CONTRAST BETWEEN CRAMMING AND TRAINING. This subject was barely touched in j the first of these papers, and it de serves a more extended notice, for many persons have no other idea o education than Is expressed by that word cramming. Quantity, not qual ity, is their test of scholarship, and pupils at the age of eight or ten years are expected to study a quantity of things, from Latin Grammar to small treatises on science, which it would be wonderful if their poor little tired i brains could receive without injury. Sometimes they are encouraged, nay, urged forward, by mistaken parents, against the better judgment of teach ers who would fain discountenance undue pressing, believing in Nature’s teaching,—“ First the blade, then the ear; then the full corn in the ear.” On the other hand, there are schools more like stuffing machines than ; aught else, whose teachers deliberate ly adopt this cramming process which represses childhood and dwarfs youth, who do not recognize as a re ligious truth that God has joined mind and body in such close union that to injudiciously force the one is |to stunt or kill the other. Many a | pupil spends her after days in “ a long, pale twilight of suffering” from ; dyspepsia or liver complaint contract i ed in the atmosphere of some intel lectual hot-bed, yclept a schoolroom. A teacher who kept a few boarding pupils boasted complacently that from early morning till late evening, With a brief interval, she pinned down said pupils to study, that after tea she set them at it again for several hours, by candle-light, herself presiding over them to see that they concentrated their attention on their books, and she roundly asserted that this was the way to make children learn—the only way. It seemed to me that she was re enacting the “ murder of the inno cents” in her school-room, and might put over its door as a suitable motto, “ Leave all hope, ye who enter here.” Oh, woman, great was your igno rance of the simplest laws of mental and physical development! Too much care cannot be taken of the health of girls during the period of their education. It has been well said that, “ as the boy is father to the man, so the girl is mother to the wo man, and the woman is mother to us all,” and no system can be too strong ly condemned which tends to send forth with half-furnished minds in feeble, nervous bodies, those who will be “ the heart of the world, and who will mould forever the natures, hab its, and lives of those to whom they belong.” In a leisure moment I lately glanc ed through an old friend, “ Dombey A Son,” wherein the immortal Diek | ens in the story of little Paul has so strongly pictured the evils ofthissys -1 tern aspracticedat “ Blimber House,” (and at hundreds ot such schools for girls and for boys, in America as well as in England,) that I transfer it in this connection as a perfect expose of all these humbugs. “Dr. Blimber’s establishment was a great liot-house, in which there w as a forcing apparatus incessantly at w T ork. All the boys blew before their time. Mental green-peas were produced at ; Christmas, and intellectual asparagus all the year round. Mathematical gooseberries (very sour ones too) more common at untimely season, and from mere sprouts of bushes, under Dr. Blimber’s cultivation. Every des cription of Greek and Latin vegetable was got off the driest twigs of boys under the frostiest circumstances. Nature was of no consequence at all. j No matter what a young gentleman was intended to bear, Dr. Blimber made him bear to pattern somehow’ or other. This was all very pleasant and ingenious, but the system of forc ing was attended with its usual disad vantages. There w r as not the right taste about the premature produc tions, and they didn’t keep well. Moreover, one young gentleman, with a swollen nose and excessively large head, w ho had “ gone through” every thing, suddenly left off blow ing one day, and remained in the establish ment a mere stalk. And people did say that the Doctor had rather over done it with Toots, and that when he began to have whiskers he left off having brains.” We pass over several paragraphs until we reach the Dr’s, daughter and CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 18, 1872. assistant, to whom his constant in struction about the little boys was, “ Bring (hem on, Cornelia, bring (hem ; on.” “ There was no light nonsense j about Miss B—. She kept her hair 1 short and crisp, and wore spectacles. I She was dry and sandy with working in the graves of deceased languages, f None of your live languages for Miss | Blimber. They must be dead—stone dead —and then Miss B dug them up like a Ghoul.” Next is the male assistant, “ whose occupation it was to bewilder the young ideas of Dr. Blimber’s young j gentlemen.” Said young gentlemen were “ prematurely full of carking 1 anxieties. They knew no rest from i the pursuit of stony-hearted verbs,< savage noun-substantives, inflexible syntactic passages, and ghosts of exer- j rises that appeared to them in nightly j visions. Under the forcing system a young gentleman usually took leave ' of his spirits in three weeks. He had | all the cares of the world on his head in three months. He conceived bitter sentiments against his parents or guardians in four; he was an old misanthrope in five ; envied a blessed refuge in the earth at six ; and at the end of the first twelve months had arrived at the conclusion from which he never afterwards departed, that all the fan cies of the poets, and lessons of the sages, were a mere collection of words and grammar, and had no other meaning in the world. But he went on blow, blow, blowing, in the Doc tor’s hot-house all the time; and the Dr’s, glory and reputation were great when he took his wintry growth home to his friends.” To this school, where “ nothing hap pened so vulgar as play,” Paul Dom bey is brought a delicate, dreamy child, and left by his father with the desire that he shall “ learn every thing.” In compliance with this ; desire he is placed under the care of Miss Blimber, whose sensibilities are shocked when she finds that he is act ually six years old and does not know his Latin Grammar. On a dark, rainy morning she brings him up to “ a cool, little sit ting-room, with some books in it, and no fire. (But Miss B—, was never cold, and never sleepy.)” “ His at tention is devoted to a little pile of new books,” which Missß—, informs him are his. “ All of ’em ma’am ?” said Paul. “ Yes,” returned Miss B—, “ and Mr. Feeder will look you out some more very soon, if you are as studious as I expect you will be, Dombey. “ Thank you ma’am,” said Paul, and then he is directed to read over all that is marked in these various books, before breakfast. “ Don’t lose time, Dombey, for you have none to spare, but go down stairs, and begin directly.” He takes his books, but, “ There are so many of them, that although Paul put one hand under the bottom book and his other hand and his chin on the top book, and hugged them all closely, the middle book slipped out before he reached the door, and then they all tumbled down on tho floor. Miss B—. said, “ Oh, Dombey, Dom bey, this is really very careless!” and piled them up afresh for him ; and this time, by dint of balancing them with great nicety, Paul got out of the room, and down a few stairs before two of them escaped again. But he held the rest so tight, that he only left one more on the first floor, and one in the passage: and when he had got the main body down into the school-room, he set off up-stairs again to collect the stragglers. Having at last collected the whole library, and climbed into his place, he fell to work.” After breakfast, he “ fol fol lowed Miss B—, up stairs. “ Now, Dombey,” said she, “ how have you got on with those books.” “ They comprised a little English, and a deal of Latin—names of things, declensions of nouns, exercises there on, and preliminary rules—a trifle of orthography, a glance at ancient his tory, a wink or two at modern ditto, a few tables, two or three weights and measures, and a little general infor mation. When poor Paul had spelt out number two, he found he had no idea of number one; fragments whereof afterwards obtruded them selves into number three, which slid ed into number four, which grafted itself on to number two. So that whether twenty Romuluses made a Remus, or hie, haec, hoc was troy weight, or a verb always agreed with an ancient Briton, or three times four was Taurus a bull, were open ques tions with him.” “ Oh, Dombey, Dombey,” said Miss B—. “ this is very shocking.” Now, she sends him away to learn his lessons one by one, “ Perfect yourself in the day’s in stalment of subject A, before you turn at all to subject B. And now take away the top book, if you please, Dombey, and return when you are master of the theme.” And thus the child was kept laboring till dinner. “It was hard work, resuming his studies, soon after dinner; and he felt giddy and confused, drowsy and dull. But all the other young gentlemen had similar sensations, and were obliged to resume their studies too, if there were any comfort in that. It w r as a wonder that the great clock in the hall never said, “ Gentlemen, w r e will resume our studies,” fbr that phrase was often enough repeated in its neighborhood. The studies went round like a mighty wheel, and the young gentlemen were always stretch ed upon it. After tea there w r ere exercises again, and preparations for next day by candle-light. And in due course there w T as bed; where, but for that resump tion of the studies w'hieh took place in dreams, were rest and sweet for getfulness.” Poor little Paul! we can almost see the childish form perched wearily at his tasks, and hear the murmurs of the other young gentlemen whose re lations “ urged on by their blind van ity and ill-considered haste,” the re doubtable Blimbers. For the parents were in fault too. “ Thus, when Dr. B— said that Paul made great pro gress, and w’as naturally clever, Mr. Dombey was more than ever bent on his being forced and crammed.” “ Such spirits as he had in the out set, Paul soon lost of course. But he retained all that was old, and strange, and thoughtful in his character: and 1 under circumstances so favorable to I the development of those tendencies, j became even more old, and strange, • and thoughtful, than before.” Days, | months, passed. “ Miss B— had al ways brought him on as vigorously las she could : and Paul had had a hard life of it,” which gradually wore ! him down until one evening “ his I head which had long been ailing j more or less, and was sometimes very heavy and painful, felt so uneasy that night that he was obliged to support J it on his hand. And yet it dropped so, that by little and little it sunk on his | friend’s knee, and rested there, as if i it had no care to lie ever lifted up j again.” After that night Paul studied no ! more. “ His liberty lasted from hour to hour, and from day to day; and i little Dombey was caressed by every one,” even by Miss Blimber, “though she was a Forcer.” They took him ! home at last, and there the gentle, loving life faded away forever. Next, “ The feathers wind their gloomy way along the streets, and come with in the sound of a church bell. In this same church, the pretty boy re ceived all that will soon be left of him on earth—a name. Alt of him that is dead, they lay there, near the per ishable substance of his mother.” The Blimbers are not all dead yet, and if their cramming system does i not always force their victims into the grave it does train up a set of priggish, obtrusive, conceited people, to add to the bores whose name is le gion, for they are many. Take in contrast to this too true fic tion, a bona fide picture of a German j school as described by an eye-witness. “ Each child is classed according to j ability and proficiency, and not age., The following are the subjects taught j to all the children in the elementary classes : Religious reading, writing and counting, mental arithmetic, writ ing to dictation, singing, grammar, j repeating prose and poetry by heart, drawing, natural history, botany and geography. Os course they are not taught all at once, but the children are brought forward in them gradu ally. By the time they are in the highest class, and about to leave the elementary school, tlieir proficiency is something surprising. Two years ago I had the pleasure of attending one of tlieir examina tions, and I must confess that, with some experience, I have never seen such proficiency ex tended so widely, and given so thor oughly and with so little appearance of cram.” “Itis an excellent feature in this teaching that it is good and brief. The children are active all the time, but not fatigued. The teaching is over at eleven o’clock in the morning, for the most part. All the rest of the day may be spent at home and in help to their parents. They go to school at seven in the morning, have one hour of religious and three hours of active secular teaching, and then school is over. The teachers are all the time fresh for work, and so are the pupils.” “ As to the instruction given in this school, I venture to say that it is of a very high order : the method strength ens the mind, imparts knowledge, and makes learning a pleasure. The way in which arithmetic is taught may be taken as a test and example. Arithmetic may be the driest and most irksome part of education. Only give children the multiplication table o learn by heart and repeat by rote, only give them long pages of figures to add and long sums in division to do, and you may fill slates and hours with dreary drudgery, sending away yourscholarsdull, stupified, worn out. The teaching of figures in the German school is all life, earnestness, eager ness, and even fun. There is no for mality in it: the master inculcates no rules, insists on no tables, does noth ng by rote. The children have to create their own rules, make their own processes, invent their own short-cuts to knowledge. To learn to reckon, the children have to count their fingers, or tell the number of children on each bench, or the num ber of panes of glass in the windows of the school-room, or the number of books on the shelves of the library, or the number of steps each can take in the length of the room. To learn to multiply is no work of memory there: it is seen to be a happy short-cut to save addi tion. Then the teacher practices the pupils in the transactions of ordinary life—imagines a purchase of apples and chestnuts, and requires the chil dren to calculate what will be the price of such a quantity, and how much change he should get back for a coin, —the whole class being called into consultation on each item of the amount, and a great deal of fun being got out of the incidents of the bar gain.” No “intellectual green fruit” is plucked under such a training, no Blimbers commit the cruel sin of un naturally stimulating an already ac tive brain. “ Treat young people like young trees, —remove all bad influences and encourage all good; give them plenty of earth and sun, freshness and dew, and then let them alone.” To do otherwise, is to be like the little child who after he had planted his seed dug them up to see if they were growing, replanted them, and when the green shoots did appear tried so hard to make them grow fast er that he killed them: all. A gentleman died recently in Buckingham county, Va., who own ed at the surrender of Generel Lee twenty-two negroes. Twelve of them left him, but the other ten remained with and worked for him until the day of his death, taking for their services just as much as he chose to give them. At his death, to show his appreciation of their service and his gratitude, he gave them his farm, on which they can all live com fortably. FINALLY SETTLED. Tnereis a point which has long vexed us, and we are gratified that it has at last been fully and satisfactorily settled by Prof. Agassiz. He says: “ I am satisfied, since I have exam ined the temocaris peircei, that trilo bites are not any more closely related to the philopods than to any other eutomostracse or to the esopods. In reality, the trilobites are like tomoea ris, a synthentic type, in which structural features of tne tetradecapo ds are combined with characters of entomostracte and other peculiarities essentially their own.” This is what we have been looking for. Agricultural Department. iOMBlU: AND MA.\IFACT!RE. I From the Plantation. Why not ? Why send our raw ma terial over railroads for a thousand miles, paying freight, insurance, prof its to middle-men, and have it re turned with a repetition of the same expenses, when, by the investment of a small amount of capital by each consumer, he can get as good products and retain in his pocket, as clear prof ' it, all that the railroad and insurance offices and mid<jle-men and manufac turers make? Under this heading our able contemporary, the “ Tennes see Agriculturist,” makes some perti : nent remarks: “We believe,” says this journal, “ that if a few enegetic, practical men in each county of our State would take hold of this matter, our com monwealth would soon be dotted all over with manufacturing establish ments. Cotton factories are not the only establishments that we need; for we have an immense amount of na tive material in our everlasting hills and forests that need to be manufac tured, and establishments lor that purpose would pay handsome divi dends. The field is large, the re ward rich ; and yet, it is scarcely occu pied. “ A general movement in the man ufacturing line would infuse new life : and energy into our people; an impe- j tus would be given to the develop ment of all our industrial pursuits; any further needed capital would flow 1 in upon us instantly in abundantly ; satisfactory quantities; immigration, j and that of the most desirable class, ’ would fill all our waste places, ana j our State would soon blossom as the ; rose. This is no overdrawn picture, I but one eminently within our reach, i and every way practical. We hope it ; may claim the attention of our peo ple, for we may sit “all the day idle” until our days are ended, and refuse to put our own hands to the handles, and we will never move one peg to ward what our greatness and pros perity would be, if we would but util ize all the forces at our command, and do what we can within our selves.” CLOVER—HOW IT ENRICHES THE LAND. From the Live-Stock Journal. We are afraid of clover. We are afraid to raise it largely; afraid to feed it extensively, especially as a main feed; and afraid to plow it un der. This is wrong, very wrong; we are constantly losing by not growing more clover. Losing in many respects. Clover, if we could only impress the fact on the general farmer, is a plant that draws from the atmosphere and enriches the land. Other plants do this; but clover more; it has to do with the most vital and important el ement in manure, nitrogen, the very thing that is the rarest and most diffi cult to obtain. It improves the soil by its roots alone, the crop is used for other purposes; this, even if a seed crop is taken. How much more ben efit then, if a whole crop is turned down, containing so much nitrogen? And you have the manure without working for it. The plant works for it for itself and for you. We get its strength from a free source, the at mosphere, the great storehouse that gathers from ail sources, but most from the negligent farmer. And you can make this plant work for you on a poor soil. A little ma nure applied on the surface will do this; and if a plenty of seed is sown there will be a thick set. Then it needs but a chance with the atmos phere, and plaster will aid this greatly. There will, with warm showers and winds, be a growth almost surprising. It will be dense, finer-stemmed, and or ivngtii, impending somewhat on the season. Cut this when it be gins to lodge, which will be about the time when the blossoms appear, and then will be avoided all rot or mildew, consequent on long, coarse lodging, and the yield will surprise you—two and a half or three tons, and such hay is not made from any other plant. And the second crop will be nearly or perhaps quite as good as the first, the past year it was better —a heavier yield—on account of the show ers. The Sandersville Georgian tells what an old farmer of that county “knows about” ground-peas, as fol lows ; We heard an old farmer, the other day, giving his experience in the cul tivation of the ground-pea. Said he, I planted an acre of good, productive land in them. They grew finely and were easy to cultivate. In the fall I turned my pork hogs, one hundred in number, upon this lot. The first day the hogs went all over the lot, as if looking for the best. I had arranged a trough in one corner of the lot near a well for the purpose of supplying them with water. After eating their fill the liogs came to the trougli for water, and near this made their beds. From the first day they commenced rooting for the peas near the trough, and thus advanced day by day, going only as far as was necessary to obtain a full supply of food. Upon this lot I fattened this one hundred hogs thor oughly. After killing my pork I turned my stock liogs upon the lot, and upon eating the remaining peas they all became fat, some of my breeding sows so much so that I fear ed they would never be of further service as such, and I converted them into pork also. He remarked that he gave his hogs no corn at all, and the consequence was his bacon and lard were too soft. A little corn should be given a short time before killing so as to harden the fat. THOmiITS FOB TUB MONTH OF APRIL. From the Southern Cultivator, “ Time and tide wait for no one.” Man may procrastinate and delay, but the forces of nature neither slum ber nor sleep—night and day they la bor incessantly, accomplishing their allotted tasks. This it is extremely important to bear in mind, at this season of the year. Time just now is exceedingly precious. Land is liable to dry off so rapidly, that difficulty may be found in getting seeds to ger minate, if not put promptly in the ground. Last season, it will be re membered, the late plantings of cot ton, in many localities, did not come up until June. Moreover, it is im portant to get the planting of cotton completed and out of the way as quickly as possible that the corn may receive its working before the cotton comes up and demands attention. A FALLIBLE CEMENT. A correspondent of the “ Scientific American” finds the followingreceipt good: * “ I have used the compound of gly cerin, oxide of lead, and red lead, for mending a large cast-iron kettle that has been fractured across the bottom by allowing water to freeze in it, with the happiest results. It takes some ; little time to dry, but turns almost as hard as stone, and is fire and water proof. For mending cracks in stone or cast-iron w are, where iron filings i cannot lx? had, I think, it is invalua-' ble. ; My method was as follows: I take litharge and red lead, equal parts, mix thoroughly and make into a paste with concentrated glycerin to ; the consistency of soft putty, fill the i crack and smear a thin layer on loth sides of the castings so as to complete ly cover the fracture. This layer can be rubbed off if necessary, when near ly dry, by an old knife or chisel. “If this will be of any service to the readers of your valuable paper they are welcome to my experience.” 1 PLANTING OF COTTON. As soon as it is warm enough—say from 10th to last of April, according ,to latitude, elevation, Ac. Cotton ■ should be planted. Roll the seed in i a little Peruvian guano, mixed with ; plaster; this will start the young plant strong and vigorous, making iit “ stretch” up well; the importance j of this at the first working every far mer knows full well. As much of the * ease and success of cotton culture de pends upon the first working being done rapidly, and at the same time well, a good cotton planter that will j distribute the seed in a straight, nar- I row drill, should be used by every ! , farmer. The “ massing” of the seed ; when sown by a planter, enables the young plants to force their way, j j should a crust have formed on the land, and the saving of hoe work is great, as the plow can run very near !to a straight line of plants. Don’t be too economical of seed—better have 1 too much than too little. Where a ; planter is not used, we prefer the old ■ method of covering with two furrows I |of a bull tongue, and knocking off, i with a hoard scooped out in the mid l die. TYPICAL TREES. For gouty people—the ache corn. For antiquarians—the date. For school-boys—the birch. For Irishmen—the och. For conjurors—the palm. For negroes—see dah. For young ladies—the mango. For farmers—the plant’in. For fashionable women—a set of firs. For dandies—the spruce. For actors—the pop’lar. For physicians—the syc-a-more. • For your wife—her will, oh. For lovers—the sigh press. For the disconsolate—the pine. For engaged people —the pear. For sewing girls—the hemlock. For boarding-house people.—’ash. Always on hand—the pawpaw. For whom was this written?—yew. ITEM FOR FARMERS. An experienced farmer says that in preparing his seed-corn, he soaked it over night in blood warm water, and in the morning poured off the water and put one gill of kersene to every bushel of the corn, in it. He declares this method a sure preventive against loss of seed by birds • lie also believe that it hastens germination and pre vents ravages by cut worms. RETURNED TO LIFE. From the New York Sunday Dispatch.] It is only within the present centu ry that the law has required, in case of murder, the finding and identifi cation of the victim. Previous to that, if a man disappeared, and his i absence could not be accounted for, | the person on whom suspicion rested j could be arrested and hanged for the j alleged crime. A most extraordina ry case, which occurred during the war between England and France at the beginning of the present century, first called particular attention to the singular law, and was ulti ! mately the cause of its being replaced I by the statute as it now stands. The ! story is substantially as follows: Two Englishmen, uncle and neph ew, took up their quarters at a wel,l j known inn in Portsmouth, close to j the pier. They were well received by tne landlord, for they had plenty of money in their possession. The uncle, whom we will call William, suggested to his companion, who shall be called Robert, in the hearing of the landlord, that they should hand their money to their ‘ host for | safe keeping. Robert objected, and proposed that they should keep it on | their persons. This was agreed to. At night they occupied the same twin ciii\l Hici r.wmo Latl irtn was an old fashioned irregular buil ding. From their bedroom the two men could enter a long passage which j ran along the end of the house to the pier. They went to their room to- ■ gether about eleven o’clock at night. I Next morning Robert entered the j landlord’s room with a hurried, anx- ! ious air, and asked the landlord i whether he knew what had become of his uncle. The landlord said he did not. At the same time he ob served to his horror that the hands of Robert were stained with blood. The landlord arose and suggested that they should go to the bed-room to gether. They did so. On entering a terrible spectacle met the landlord’s gaze. The clothes of the bed, which had evidently been occupied by two persons, were stained all over with blood. The outside pillow was satu rated with it. The floor by the bed side was stained with it. The wash basin and the stand were also bespat tered with blood. On the table lay a large jocketley or sailor’s knife, the handle and blade all bloody. Drops of blood marked the floor from the bedside to the door which opened upon the passage referred to. The landlord told Robert the ease was very suspicious, and that he must place it in the hands of the authori ties. He did forthwith. Robert was arrested. On being Searched his sh irt was found to be bloody. Blood stains were discovered in the passage from the bedroom door to the water’s edge where apparently there had been a struggle. On Robert were foudd the purse and papers of the missing man. Robert, who manifested coolness and presence of mind, told the fol lowing story : After his uncle and i himself had been in bed a short time ! the former, who lay on the outside, complained that his nose was bleed- j ing. He leaned over the side of the i bed. Presently lie got up and went j to the wash.stand. He used water i freely, but in vain. The bleeding I still continued, and so violently that i the men both became alarmed. Rob ert suggested the application of cold iron to the back of his uncle’s neck. He took his jack knife out of his pocket and applied it accordingly. In attending to his uncle his hands and shirt were stained with blood. As the bleeding still continued, William dressed himself and said he would go out at the side door and walk on the pier in the cold morning air. Before doing so he handed his pocket-book and purse to his nephew to keep un til his return. Robert fell asleep af ter his uncle left, and was astonished i when he awoke in the morning to find that he had not returned. Rob* i ert was indicted for murder. All the circumstances were against him. The I jury beleived that William had been murdered and his body carried down ;to the water and Hung in. Robert was convicted and sentenced to be hanged and he was acordingly in a few days. Two years afterward the missing man returned. He confirmed every word that his nephew had uttered in his defense. When William reached the pier on the night of the supposed murder he turned to the left, and had only gone a few paces when he was pounced upon by a press gang. He was overpowered and carried to a boat, and in an hour found himself j on board a British sloop of war in Southampton waters. The vessel was getting under way. In her he j remained for three months without a chance of writing to his friends. I Then the ship was captured by a j French frigate, and \\ illiatu spent ; twenty months in a French prison. On his release he returned to Kng- j land to find to his horror that his be loved nephew had been hanged as l his assassin. The Ripley (Tenn.) News says: “Happily for our country, politics has lost its charms for the people of the South, and the best talent of our section is engaged in the promotion and pefection of the best system of forming.” NOTICE to FARMERS! 1 Your attention is respectfully invited to the Agricultural Warehouse OF ANDERSON & WELLS, ATLANTA, - - GEORGIA, * DEALERS IN GUANOS, FiUD END GARDEN SEEDS, i FARM WAGONS, REAP RS,MOWERS WHEAT THRESHERS AND PLOWS, Ami General Agents for PENDLETON’S GUANO COMPOUND, Ca*h, SG7 per ton of 2000 lbs; credit to Nov. Ist, #75 per ton of 2000 lbs. “FARMERS’ CHOICE,” Manufactured from Night Soil, at Nashville, ! Tonn.; Cash, $45 per ton; Credit Ist Nov. SSO. ; And nil other kinds of Implements and Ma- ! chincry, which we sell as low as any house in I the South. Call and see us. til may 35 ANDERSON X WELLS. CARTERSVILLE SALE AND LIVERY S T A B L E. k r THE OLD STAND Established twenty ii years ago, it being in fifty yarda of ttiv* Bartow House, a commodious Hotel, kept hv J. T. Guthrie. I have been in the I.iverv busi ness for Fourteen Years and all I ask is, that the citizens and traveling public will give me a call, and find me anil the veritable JACK STACK at all times ready to furnish SADDLE AND HARNESS HORSES, HACKS, CARRIAGES, BUGGIES and everything necessary in a First-Class Sta ble. ami ready for trade at all hours, SWAP, SELL or BUY. jnne 30,-tf. JOE BRITT. BARTOW HOUSE, CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, J. T. Guthrie, Propritor. IS now in thorough repair, and fully prepar ed to entertain all who may call. The rooms and furniture are Wept in the neatest order, and the Tables supplied with the best the Market affords. No pains or expense will be spared to render all guests of the House comfortable. A NEAT BAR la kept, in rear of Office, where fine Wineei Brandies, Champagnes, Cigars, ete , c»n always be tout'd o*ts LA Vi SHE & HAYNES, ATLANTA, GA. Have ox hand and are receiving the finest stock of ihe latest styles of DIAMOND & GOLD JEWELRY wiii-h mro for the FALL AND WINTER TRADE Watches of tho best makers of Europe and America. AMERICAN AND FRENCH CLOCKS'; STERLING and COIN SILVER-WARE, And the best quality of SILVER PL TED GOODS, At prices to suit the times. Gold silver & steel SPECTACLES TO SUIT ALL AGES. Watches and Jewelry repaired by Competent Workmen. Also Clock and Watch Makers’ Tools and Materials. sep 13-ly IPoelcet and Table KNIVES and FOURS, SPOONS, CASTORS, RAZORS, SCISSORS, CARVERS, ETC., ETC. CROCKERY, CHINA, GLASSWARE, NOW ARRIVING DIRECT FROM EUROPE ! I Diamond Oil, AT M’BRIDE & Co’s j MERCHANTS! i Consult your Interest J Save freight and ruinous breakage by buying i from McBRIDE & CO. i READ THIS. Atlanta, March I, 1872. | We, the undersigned, commissioners for the , “ Atlanta Hospital Association,” have selected j prizes lor distribution from the splendid stock ; of Me Bride ft Cos. Ticket holders can see these j beautiful prizes at Mcßride ft Co’s store. Z. H. ORME, M. I).. 1 .1. F, VLEXAX I)KR, M. D VCom. E. S. RAY, M l). I— j We oiler real imducemeut* in Fruit Jars [ Do not buy till you see our Jars. They are the i best and cheapest in the market. nov»o—tf. AG X OY GEORGIA LOAN ft TRUST COMPANY D. W. K. PEACOCK, AGent. ARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA. OFFICE in the. Store-room of A. A SKINNER A CO.. Main Street. , Money received on Deposit. | Exchange nought and sold, j Advances made on Cotton and other l*i< duce. I dec. o-sw VOL. 18-NO. 41 The Western Antidote ! McCUTCHEON’S CHEROKEE INDIAICBITTERS. This highly valuable Icdiau Remedy it too well known, whentTer ii bat Lc«n used, to require special notice. Those who are unaoquaiuted with its wan derful operation upon the system will find it a certain remedy in all 1) sense* of the Kidneys, Bladder and Urinary Organs. It is very usefitl in Rheumatism, l.iver Com plaint, Ague-Cake Dysentery anil other complaints. It warms the stomach and bowels; cures Colic and Obstructions of the Breast; sustains excessive labor of both bo dy and mind; ottres the Biles, promotes thu Appetite, assists Digestion; prevents uu pleasant dreams and frights; strengthens the judgment; oures Nervous, Asihuietical and Hysterical Affections; removes all the dis orders of weakucs and debility ; purifies the Blood; cures Neuralgia and Dispepaia, to gether with most Diseases peculiar to Fe males. Old and young, male and I'emale, have l>»eu greatly benefilted by its use, as hundreds o. letters from all parts of the United Stataa will certify. Let those who are unac quainted with McCctuhbok'i ‘"Cherokee In dian Bitters,” before saying this is too much, try a bottle, and all who do so will unite in testifying that the half has not been told. Cherokee Indian Biltert possesses an Ener gy which seems to communicato new life to the system, and renovate the feeble, fainting powers of nature. Its operation upon the tissues of the body docs not consist in affect ing the irritability of the living fibre, but iu imparting n sound and healthy stimulus to the Vital Organs. It strengthens substantially and durably the living powers of the animal machine: is entirely innocent and harmless; may bead ministered with impunity to both sexes, and all conditions of life. There is no disease of any name or na ture, whether of young or old, male or fe male, but that it is proper to admiu : ster it, and if it be done seasonably and persover ingly it will have a good effect. It is per fectly incredible to those unacquainted with the Bitters, inerav,„ v _ . thy action is often in the worst case restor ed to the exhausted organs of the systkm ; with a degree of animation and desire for food, which is perfectly astonishing to all who perceive it. This Medicine purifies the blood, restores the tonic power of the fibres, and of the stomach and digestive organs; rouses the animal spirits, and substantially fortifies and reanimates the broken down constitutions of mankind. Indians are the most healthy of the human race. They take an abundace of physical exercise, breathe pure air, and live on sim ple diet. When sick, they use no mineral poisons, but select roots, herbs, and plants “from the great drug store of their Crea tor.” McCutoheos's “ Cherokee Ixdias Bitters” is a combination of these vegeta ble substances which render it entirely in nocent to the constitution of the most do’i cate male or female. The wonderful power which these “Bitters” are known to pos sess in curing diseases, evinces to the world that it is without a parallel in the history of medicine, and afford additional evidence that the great benefactors of the country are not always found in the temples of wealth nor the mazy walks of science, but among the hardy sons of Nature, whoso original, untutored minds, unshackled by the forms of science, are left free to pursue the dio tates of reason, truth and common sense. Since the introduction of this remedy iu o the United States, thousands have been raised from beds of affliction whose lives were despaired of by their physicians and pronounced beyond the reach of medicine MeCutcheon's “Cherokee Bitters” has driven the most popular medicines of every name, like chaff before the whirlw ind, from every city, town and village where it has been introduced, and is destined ere long to convince the world that the red man's rerti- I edies are the white man's choice. For dis eases peculiar to the female sex there is nothing better. Old and young, male and female, have all been greatly benefittedr by its use. Hundreds of certificates, from all parts of the United States, which are eu:i tled to the fullest confidence, speak of it iu the most favorable manner. These are no only from persons who have been cured by it, but also from some of the most eminent physicians and druggist who have success fully tested it in their practice, and volun tarily offer their testimonials in its favor For sale by all Dealers. SreciAL Notick.— Merchants and drug gists doing business at a distance from the railroad, when ordering my “Cherokee In dian Bitters,” will please state the depot to which they have their goods shipped, by |so doing, I can sometimes supply their wants much earlier. Address all orders to K. H. McCUTCHJEON, Marietta, Ga. Who alone is authorized to manufacture the original and genuine. oct 16 —ly