Newspaper Page Text
THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
J. W. HARR'S. I Editors and Proprietor*.
W. A. MiBSCHAIKj
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
EASI.
A suit is in progress in New York for
$250,000, the estate of a late Mr. Metcalf, of
Georgia.
The cost of running the city and
county government of New York last year was
$55,588,022.
Orders have been given to put the
Uuited States ships Shenandoah and Guard,
at New York, and the Franklin, at Boston, out
of commission and to discharge such men as
have already or nearly Berved their term of
enlistment.
Building in New York, this spring, is
much less busy than usual. Some say it has
failon off one-half. No houses are projected
costing over $20,000, and one-half of the car
penters, painters and masons are said to be
idle. There is great pressure for a reduction
of wages by lengthening the day from eight to
ten hours, though some employers are willing
to pay for the extra two hours.
WES T.
A special from Kearney, Mo., gives
particulars of the killing of another detective
by the notorious James brothers. The victim
was found dead, covered with blood, in the road
four miles east of Elkhorn, Ray county. A
card crossed with blood was pinned to his coat
and inscribed, “This shall be the fate of all
Pinkerton’s detectives who come to hunt the
James brothers,” signed Jess James, Frank
James. A handkerchief in the murdered man's
pocket was marked P. K. Cole.
SOUTH.
The discovery of india rubber trees
on the upper St. Johns. Fla., is announced.
Columbus, Ga., is certain site will
receive ovor 60,000 bales of cotton this season.
St. Louis wants a shipyard, direct
trade with Brazil, and a liue of steamships
from Charleston to Bremen.
T. W. Morefield, assistant postmaster
at Birmingham, Alabama, is reported to be a
defaulter to the amount of $1,700.
The South Carolina, Alabama and
Georgia press is zealously advocating all pro
per means looking towards the encouragement
of immigration.
A reward of SSOO has been offered by
Gov. Brown for the apprehension of John L.
Anderson, for the murder of John It. Breck
inridge, at Lebanon, Tenn.
The effort among Louisville, Kv.,
colored people to celebrate the fifteenth
amendment, resulted in a sort of gencial
melee, and the procession was a failure.
W. B. Abbott, a prominent lawyer of
Louisville, Ky., was shot on Tuesday last, and
it is supposed mortally wounded, by Jno. It.
Green, a member of the firm of Morton, Galt
& Cos., bankers.
.The towboat Jay Richards capsized
twenty-five miles below New Orleans,, by Belle
Cliasse crevasse, and sunk in about eighty
feet of water. The captain, engineer aud one
laborer swam ashore. Thirteen laborers—
twelve colored and one white—were drowned.
Suit has been brought against Gen.
N. B. Forrest, late president of the Memphis
and Selma railroad, and his securities, to re
cover a hundred thousand dollars, appropri
ated to be expended within Shelby county,
Tennessee, which, it is claimed, was expended
in Mississippi in the construction of said road.
In Boyle county, Ky., a few days
since, Frank Daughtery was shot aud proba
bly fatally wounded by his son, Jno. Daught
ery, a young man twenty years old. The quar
rel was about young Daughter's attentions to
a woman in the vicinity which his father dis
approved.
Joseph Wooten, a highly respectable
young man, was stabbed and killed near Holly
Springs, Miss., Saturday, by George Yar
borough. Yarborough was arrested and placed
under $5,000 bond. Whitney Dabney was stab
bed andkilled the same day at New Albany.
Miss., by unknown person.
A special from Helena, Ark., says a
firo Monday night destroyed the grocery store
of W. C. & L. Moore, Seelig’s dry-goods store,
G. W. Holiabagli, tinware, John Kane, sad
dlery. The loss is not ascertained. The
Moores were insured for $34,000 ; Seelig. sll,-
000. in New Orleans, Philadelphia, and New
port, Ky.
A negro named Ed. Shields was con
victed in Spencer county, Ky., a few days
since, of rape of a white woman, and sen
tenced to twenty years iu the state prison.
While the sheriff and a posße was bringing the
prisoner to the Louisville jail, a band of about
forty men took Shields out of their hands and
hanged him to a cross-beam of a bridge near
by, whero the body was discovered next morn
ing.
The petition of citizens of the two
parishes of Louisiana, Caddo aud De Soto,
asking to bo annexed to Texas, has recently
been presented to the Texas legislature, Mr.
Gallaway, the gentleman who bore the peti
tion frem Shreveport, making an |exhaustive
argument in favor of the measure, by permis
sion of the house. The legislature favors the
annexation of these parishes, conditioned that
Louisiana relinquishes them to Texas without
compensation, this state undertaking to eee
that the citizens of the coded territory pay- a
proper proportion of the Louisiana state debt.
Mayor Kramor, of Little Rock, has
telegraphed to Attorney-General Williams for
aid in preserving the peace of that city in view
of the present extraordinary condition of af
fairs, and lias been answered that the officer
commanding the United States troops at Lit
tle Rock has been instructed to prevent b'.ood
fhod. The attorney-general in hie reply asks
if the people of Arkansas have not patriotism
enough to allow the question as to who shall
bold the state officos to be settled peaceably
aod lawfully, and not bring upon their state
the disgrace and ruin of civil war.
Gov. Kellogg, of La., has addressed
a circular to all the police juries iu the river
parishes, saying the exigencies are beyond all
provided means to coutrol tho threatened
overflow and advisiDg them to go to work,
build up and protect the levees iu their respec
tive parishes, promising to recommend the
next legislature to reimburse the parishes for
the money expended. The state authorities
have also advanced to the levee company
which, by the acts of the legislature creating
it, is a monopoly of levee building in Louisi
ana, thirty thousand dollars in advance of the
collections on this year’s levee fax to help
them to meet the emergency.
GENERAL.
The Ohio legislature is trying to pre
vent the sale of intoxicating liquor by ped
dlars.
The Chicago Times has bee mulucted
in SIO,OOO damages for applying the term
“ shyster" to a lawyer of that city.
Wolver, who committed suicide iu
New York some time ago, turns out to have
been in the Royal Hungarian state treasury,
and to have absconded wiih SSO 000.
According to the last report of the
New lork immigrant society, the number of
emigrants from Ireland fr.-m Slay 5, 1847, to
March 3, 1874, was 1,933,128. f n the first
quarter of this year 2,087, against 4,816 in the
corresponding quarter of 1873.
The mayor cf New Orleans has sent
the following dispatch to the principal cities:
“ Owing to the unexampled overflow of the
Mississippi river aud its low branches, by
which more than one thousand square miles of
our state are submerged, many thousands of
families are ruined in their fortunes, and are
threatened with starvation. It is beyond the
means of cur citizens who have escaped from
this great calamity to give adequate relief to
the sufferers. I have, therefore, thought
proper to give an opportunity to your citizens
to aid us. The contributions of the philan
thropic are earnestly solicited for these vic
t’.ras of the two-fold visitation of flood and
famine.”
FOREIGN.
The French government has advised
De Lesseps to keep the Suez canal open.
The cable of 1866, between London
and Valentia, has been put out of fix by a
storm.
The Carlists in the north of Spain
have organized a government with a regular
cabinet.
The Tichbourne claimant is denied a
new trial on all the points raised by his coun
sel, Kenealy.
The latest news from Fijii indicates
that events are tending strongly towards Brit
ish annexation.
The French steamer Amerique, aban
doned recently off Brest, has been picked up
by an English salvage crew, and brought into
Plymouth, England.
Livingstone’s funeral was the grand
est ever witnessed during the present genera
tion. Stanley occupied the post of honor,
leading the right-hand side of the line of pall
beareis.
News has been received of the loss
of the Chilian steamer Tiena and ninoteen
lives. It seems the vessel left Valparaiso on
the 13th, and when out at sea began to keel
over, and before she could be righted, cap
sized.
Placards are pasted np in agricultural
districts of Europe cautioning intended immi
grants to the United States, and stating on
authority of Consul Archibald, of New York,
that 40,000 hands are ready to return to Eng
land.
The steamer Amerique, from the
French trans-Atlantic line, running between
Havre and New York, was wrecked off the
French coast on tho 14th inst. All the pas
sengers and crew were saved with the single
exception of the second officer.
The announcement, is made that the
Tehuantepec railroad company have completed
a contract for the construction and equipment
of the railroad from Minitillan across the
Isthmus to Salina Cruz, a distance of 145
miles—the work to be finished by Aug. 1, 1876.
The lost steamer Amerique is said to
have leaked badly from tho time she left New
castle-on-Tyne, where she was lengthened. A
portion of her cargo was found so badly dam
aged by water on her last arrival at port, that
an inspection of the vessel was made and she
was rated down from A No. \)4 to A No. 2){.
CONGRESSIONAL,
In the senate, on the 15th, house bill
maaking appropriation for the payment of
teachers in the public schools of the District
of Columbia, and providing for a levy of a
tax to reimburse the same, was taken up and
passed... .A bill was introduced to reimburse
the State of West Virginia for moneys ex
pended in equipping militia to ai: in suppress
ing the rebellion The senate resumed con
sideration of the bill to provide for anew
election in Louisiana, and soon after ad
journed.
In the house, on the 15th, a bill
to abolish mileage to members of Congress,
and providing that they shall be paid then- ac
tual traveling expenses to and from Washing
ton once each session, was adopted—l7B to 79.
.... The approprirtion bill was discussed until
adjournment.
In the senate, on the 16th, a bill was
introduced amendatory of the Pacific railroad
act. It requires the Union Pacific railroad
company to pro rate all freights carried over
its line in connection with other railroads
A resolution was offered stating that it lias be
come tkoduty of the United Stales to rec -guize
Cuba as one of tho indepeudant nations, and
that the United States will observe strict neu
trality between the contending parties
Nothing further was done except to debate
Louisiana affairs.
In the house, on the 16th, the entire
session was consumed in the consideration of
the legislative, executive and judicial appro
priation bill.
In’the senate, on the 17fcb, the bill to
provide for the pnrehasi of bonds of the
Louisville and Portland canal came up, and
an amendment to strike out the provision,
“but the secretary of the treasury shall pay no
money, and tho secretary of war shall" not
take possession of the work until the state
of Kentucky shall cede to the United States
jurisdiction over the canal, and relinquish to
the United States the right to tax, or in any
way to change said canal during the time
the government may remain in possession
thereof,” was agreed t 0... .The Louisiana bill
furnished the subject of debate for therest of
i he session.
In the house, on the 17th, a joint
resolution was introduced to furnish rations,
forage and clothing to the people suffering
from inundation from the overflow of the
Mississippi and tributaries. It was stated that
the present inundatio i was greater than any
that had happened since 1847; that people
never were more destitute, and the number
needing aid was from ten to fifteen thousand.
Referred to the committee on militaiy affairs,
with leave to report at any time... The ap
propriation bill was discussed until the house
adjourned.
In the senate, on the 20tli, house bill
for the relief of persons suffering from the
overflow of the Mississippi river was read and
referred The judiciary committee report
ed unfavorably on the bill for the relief of
purchasers of lands sold for direct taxes in
th-i insurrectionary states. The bill was
placed on the calendar, with adverse i eport.
....The committee on military affairs re
ported a bill to equalize the bounties of sol
diers who served in the late war. It provides
that there shall be paid every discharged vol
unteer, non-commissioned officer, private sol
dier or marine, and wagoner, i icluding those
born as slaves, who served in the United States
in the war of ths rebellion, the sum of eight
and one-third dollars per month for all his
time of service between April 12, 1861, and
May 9, 1865, or, iu case of a volunteer, to the
time of muster of the volunteer organization
to which he belonged. In case of the death
of such person, payment is to be made to his
widow or any children. Any bounties hereto
fore received from the Uuited States, or any
state, are to be deducted from the allowance
hereby authorized. No bounties shall be paid
to substitutes or persons discharged as mi
nors. No attorney shall be allowed, on pai
of fine and imprisonment, to charge more
than ten dollars for prosecuting any claim un
der tho foregoing" provisions The commit
tee on privileges and elections made a report
in the case of Bykes against Spencer, for a
seat as United States senator from Alabama,
with the recommendation that Spencer retain
his seat and the committee be discharged from
furthor consideration of that subject The
-enate resumed consideration of the Louisiana
bill, which was continued until adjournment.
In the house, on the 20th, bills were
introduced to fix the compensation of the
president of the United States at $25,000 per
annum ; levying a tax of one-twentieth of one
per cent, on the sale of stocks, bonds, gold
and silver bullion, promissory notes and other
securities ; increasing the tax on the circula
tion of national banks, from one-twelfth to
one-quarter per cent, per month Resolu
tions were offered for recognition of Cuban
independence, being the same recently intro
duced in the senate by Mr. Carpenter... .A
resolution was adopted instructing the com
mittee on banking and currency to inquire
into the expediency of establishing by law a
uniform rate of interest throughout the United
States and Territories A bill was passed
for the better protection of the frontier set
tlemants of Texas against Indian and Mexican
depredations, by the construction and main
tenance of a line of telegraph from Dennison,
Texas, to Fort Sill, Indian Territory, and
thence along the northern frontier line of the
settlements, and by various military posts, to
Brownsville, and appropriationg SIOO,OOO for
that purpose The bill appropria'ing $3.-
000.000 for the centennial celebration at Phila
delphia was ma le the special order for May
sth.. . .The house disposed of five pages of
the appropriation bill and adjourned.
The Georgia Crop Outlook.
One of the editors of the Macon Tel
egraph, who was in Atlanta on the day
of the direct trade meeting, writes':
“We were at some pains to learn from
the Patrons what was the present agri
cultural outlook in Georgia, They
were all agreed as to the immense in
crease, amounting to over one hundred
per cent, in the corn and other grain
crops, and represent wheat and oats to
be unusually flourishing and forward.
Of guano, the falling off will bv fnllv
fifty per cent, of the quautity used the
past year. This undoubtedly portends
a short cotton crop, aside from the vast
diminution in the acreage of the staple.”
AATIQ.IJITIKS.
There is no song like an old eong
That we have not heard for years ;
Each simple note appears to throng
With shapes that swim in tears.
It may have been a cheerful strain.
But ’twae so long ago
That glee, grown old, ha= turned to pain,
And mirth has turned to woe.
There is no friend like an old friend,
Wlio;e life-path mates our own,
Whose dawn and noon, whose eve and end
Have known what we have known.
It may be when we read his face
We note a trace of care;
’Ti- welt that friends in life’s last grace
Kfcare sighs as smiles they share.
There is no love like an old love,
A. lost, may be, or dead,
Whose place, since she ha3 gone above,
5o other fills instead.
It is not we’ll ne’er love anew,
For life were drear if so,
Bui that first love bad roots that grew
Where others cannot grow.
There are no days like the old days,
When we, not they, were young;
When all life’s rays were golden rays
And wr mg had never stung.
Dear hi art! if now our steps could pass
Through paths of childhood’s morn,
And the dew of youth lie on the grass
Which time’s fell scythe has shorn !
Old song, old friend, old love, old days ;
Old things, yet never old ;
A stream that’s dark till sunshine plays
And changes it to gold ;
Through all winds memory’s river on,
’.Mid banks of sore regret,
But. a gleam’s on the peaks of long-rgene
That softens sadness yet.
MY WIFE'S MAID.
The series of burglaries which startled
the public in the autumn and early
winter of the year 186- was of a de
scription to alarm any household. In
each case a gang of from seven to
eleven masked men had broken into an
isolated dwelling containing an unusual
amount of silver or jewels; had intimi
dated the inmates by threatening them
with fire-arms ; mastered them, secured
them, gagged them, then quietly pro
ceeded methodically to strip the house
of all the valuables it contained. Their
intelligence of the premises was never
at fault. Secret drawers and sliding
panels, supposed to be known only to
the family, were sought and opened at
once, and safes, whether built into the
walls or exposed in closets, were equal
ly at their mercy, and easily forced by
means of drills and erunpowder.
My own position filled me with anx
iety. My house is six miles from town,
set in the center of wide grounds, re
mote from any habitation but the gard
ener’s cottage at the gate. Both my
wife and myself had inherited a large
amount of bulky family plate, and be
sides this useless metal, which never
came ont of the safe, I had several
costly services presented on the occa
sion of our marriage, three large sal
vers, etc., testimonials from societies of
which I had been an active member, to
say nothing of a complete and varied
assortment of small articles in silver
and gold. Then my wife’s possessions
were those of a princess, for she had
been the daughter of a millionaire, aud
all her life a spoiled child of fortune.
Besides plate and jewels, her house con
tained a valuable collection of statuary,
paintings and bronzes, and I was only
too conscious of having expanded a for
tune upon the surroundings of our
daily life, and was inspired with grave
doubts as to its safety. Brooding over
such thoughts, and reading the news
papers filled with speculations concern
ing these mysterious burglaries, I soon
became the victim of an exaggerated
disqui tude. Had my own wishes been
carried out every ounce of silver aud
every jewel we owned would have been
sent into town to my banke :’s, but my
wife objected, laughed at my apprehen
sions, and begged me not to worry.
But I continued to worry, and per
plexed myself with conflicting plans for
safety, aud one day while in town I
wentto the headquarters of the police
and inquired for Betts, the detective
engaged on this case.
He admitted me into his private
room. I asked for the latest news.
Had anybody been arrested ? No.
Was anybody to bo arrested? He
shrugged his shoulders. Was anybody
suspected ?
He chuckled softly to himself.
“ My dear sir,” said he, “ we suspect
everybody.”
“Then,” cried I, “arre t every
body on suspicion! Good Ged! I
cannot sleep in my bed, for something
assim sme my turn will come next. I
can’t decide what to do, Betts. My
wife won’t let the silver and diamonds
go out of the house, and this very night
I may be f wakened to find masked men
standing over me with loa led pistols,
who would rob my house under my very
eyes! ”
Betts shook his head ; mused a little
with hi3 legs crossed and his left fore
finger pressed into his cheek. “ By
the-by,” said he presently, “how many
servants have you, Mr. Powers? Please
tell me about them individually.”
I went over their names, and the de
tective chocked them off in his memo
randum-book as I gave the facts con
nected with them. 1 aunders, the but
ler, had been with us seventeen years ;
the cook, five years; coachman and
groom, seven ; aDd the chambermaid,
three—all fixtures in the household
but Marie, my wife’s maid, who had
ccine within the last four weeks.
“ Ah ! ” exclaimed Betts, “ where did
you get Marie ? she well recom
mended ? ”
“ Oh, yes, she is French, and has just
come to this country with a family by
the name of De Sturges. She was
nurse to a child who died on the pas
sage, aud was thus thrown out of em
ployment ; she advertised, and my wife"
saw her, liked her, and engaged her.”
“ You continue to like her ? ”
“ Capitally; she’s a perfect genius,
with effective magic in her fingers.”
“Did you see her former employers ?”
“ Yes ; both De Sturges and liis wife. ”
“Describe her, if you please,” said
Betts, with a keen interest which sur
prised me.
“With all my heart. Marie is small,
black eyed, blank haired, compactly
built, with remarkably neat hands and
feet. She has a ssucy, laughing face,
and her hair is short, crisp and curly. ”
“ How about her voice?”
“Very clear and ringing. She does
not speak English fluently, but under
stands every word that is said to her.”
“Now about her little ways.”
“ A thorough Frenchwoman, with a
knack of pleasing everybody. I don’t
know when I’ve seen such an artless,
good, happy little girl.”
Betts laughed uneasily, then bent his
head on his hand, his elbow resting on
his knee.
“ Mr. Powers,” said he at last, look
ing up with a peculiar flash in his eyes,
“lam going to take yon into my confi
dence, but you must be discreet or you
will ruin me. I’ve sworn to see this
thing through or resign my position.
I’m sick of this infernal foolery of call
ing myself a detective and letting Satan
reign night and day all over the city.
The newspapers drive me mad ! They
know nothing about the obstacles we
contend with, and goad us into prema
tnre steps, which cost us our reputation,
and end iu failure. I’ve been working
in the dark these nine weeks, but, by
Heavens, I believe you’ve shown me a
glimmer of light.”
Then, producing a note-book, he
opened it at well-worn leaves.
“There have been,” he began, look
ing at me with a sort of smile, “ five
great robberies within the last six
months, and each one has these special
features, characterizing it as the work
of the same hands as the other four.
“ First, the combination of seven to
eleven masked men, all adroit burg
lars; second, an isolated house is at
tacked, sure to contain ample provision
for a successful robbery; third, the
thieves know the premises; fourth, the
leader of the gang is a small man, of
active habits, with a clear, shrill voice. ”
CARTERS VILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1874.
He stopped and looked at me.
“I did not know there was a recog
nized leader,” I remarked.
He drew a large book from his desk.
“ Here,” said he, “ is the full testimony
in all five cases. Run your eye over it,
and you will see that the general facts
all coincide. The small man gives di
rections and leads everybody.”
" Probably some London cracksman.”
Betts nodded, winked, then leaned
forward, and whispered in my ear, “I
suspect it is a woman.”
“ Impossible! no woman has the
nerve.”
“A she-devil, then—something in a
woman’s form, at all events. The rest
of the gang are as free aud easy with
each other as you please, yet no one ev
er lays a finger on this little one, but
all draw bjtck to let him pass. He gives
orders, exerts himself when ingenuity
is required, but when strength is needed
he looks on while the others fall to
work.
“ You have to jump at conclusions
sometimes, and find facts to suit. As
soon as I bar! mastered the details I was
impressed by the conviction that one of
the thieves had been on the premises
before. At Mr. Stewart’s, for instance,
the safe is built into the wall, and a
false panel in the wainscot is the only
opening to it; yet the first place tho
burglars approached was that panel,
which the little fellow slid aside at once.
So I set to work looking for a suspicious
character in the house, and found all
satisfactory till I came to a French
governess who staid with them six weeks
last spring. Now, sir, in each house
entered by these masked devils there
has been during the past twelve months
some similar transient inmate. At
Warkwell’s it was a French cook, in
white cap and apron ; at the Lewises’,
the young lady’s page, a clever Buttons;
at the Pratts’, a protege of the children,
a handsome vagrant Italian boy, with a
violin. And now, Mr. Powers,” con
tinued Betts, bringing his hand down
heavily upon my knee, “I am ready to
swear that you have this dangerous in
mate under your own roof, in the charac
ter of your wife’s maid.”
I started as if 1 had been shot.
“Impossible!” I gasped; “Impossi
ble !”
“ But truly, sir, impossible ?” “ The
idea is monstrous. Marie is a sweet lit
tle girl, playful as a kitten. ’
“But, Mr. Powers, you are a man of
the world, and know that a woman is
not proved honest because she bewitches
you.”
“ But, Betts, admit that though I am
an old fool my wife is a thorough wo
man, and, as a rule, suspects all her own
sex, yet she is positively fond of Marie.”
“ Marie is a clever little puss. Wher
ever she has lived, as a man or woman,
the whole family have adored her.
Has Marie shown an interest in these
burglaries ?”
There could be no doubt of her hav
ing questioned me concerning them with
intense eagerness, and if I spoke to my
wife about any apprehensions while she
was present Marie never lost a word.
“ Does she know about your silver ?
Has she any charge of your wife’s dia
monds ?”
I started. That very morning I
had shown her my safes behind a
false book-case in my study, and. asked
her opinion whether any one could mis
trust those innocent-looking encyclope
dias, or suspect the existence of a closet
six feet square between my room and
the library. I was ashamed of my own
greenness, but made a clean breast of it
to Betts, who was good enough
to refrain from expression of his opin
ion of my discretion.
“ My word for it,” he cried, “ she has
been waiting to find out that secret, and
now she will leave vour house within
forty-eight hours. Her pretext will be
a reasonable one, and she will promise
to return, but when she does return she
will bring her gang at her heels to rob
your house for you.”
The idea of connecting our Mary
with such outrages filled me with hor
ror. I rejected it strenuously.
“ Believe or not, as you like,” lie re
turned, with a shrug, “so long as you
only follow my advice. Just out of cu
riosity, take home a little dog with you
and see if Marie does not set to work
to bewitch it at once. Then the mo
ment she speaks of leaving your house
telegraph to me.”
Our interview lasted another hour.
When I left him I went to a dog-fan
cier’s and bought a little yelping black
and-tan spaniel, and carried him homo
with me.
“Whom did you see in town?” in
quired my wife.
“ Don’t speak of it,” said 1 looking
fearfully about, as if the walls had ears,
“but I was with Betts, the detective.
You must not repeat what I say, Marie.”
“ Never, monsieur !” cried Marie.
“ The fact is,” I proceeded, sinking
my voice into a sepulchral whisper,
“that gang of masked burglars have
been traced to New Orleans, and may
be arrested by this time.”
“Then I hope, dear,” said my wife,
laughing, “that yon will again sleep
soundly in your bed. After you got up
last night for the foui tli time to prome
nade about, pistols in hand, I decided
it might be belter to eat off pewter and
wear French gilt jewelry than to lead
such a life.”
I too laughed, and stretched my legs
comfortably. “ Yes, I mean to sleep
like a Christain hereafter; besides, I
have brought home a dog.”
“ A dog !” exclaimed Marie, startled.
“Yes.” I turned and looked at her
attentively. “ Don’t you like dogs ?”
She protested vehemently that she
loved dogs better than anything in the
world.
That very day she received a letter
from Madame De Sturges, her former
mistress, asking her to come in and
pass a few hours with her before she
left for New Orleans. Marie carried
the letter to Mrs. Powers. “ Madame
wishes to talk to me about Mile.
Helene,” pleaded the girl, with tears in
her eyes. “To-morrow will be the
birthday of the pauvre ange, who lies
at the bottom of the cruel sea.”
“Poor Madame De Sturges,” ex
claimed my wife, touched at the thought
of the sorrowing mother; “you must
spend to-morrow with her, Marje. Go
in at nine o’clock and come back at'five.
Marie was grateful, and told melting
stories about the panvre ange—her
beauty, her piety, her intelligence—
aud nothing conld equal my wife’s sym
pathy, and when the girl went into
town the next morning she actually car
ried a note to Madame De Sturges,
written in my wife’s very best French.
Meanwhile I had telegraphed Marie’s
proposed movements to Betts, and now,
with some nervousness, awaited events.
The detective had warned me that she
would win the dog’s affections; that she
would leave the house, promising to re
turn, bat would not return. Two of
these predictions were already verified ;
but if Marie came back I could laugh
at his suspicions, and regard them as
futile.
Bat Marie did not retnrn at five
o’clock ; a telegram arrived in her stead
from Madame De Sturges. saving that
she had kept the girl, and would write
at length and explain. Next morning a
letter was received from that lady.
She told my wife she was ill, yet obli
ged to travel; homesick in a strange
land, without a familiar woman’s face
near her, and that she had persuaded,
almost forced, Marie to remain and set
out with her and her husband for New
Orleans that very evening. An incohe
rent, tear-blotted note from Marie ac
companied this, filled with protesta
tions of sorrow at the necessity of thus
deserting ns. She was torn by conflict
ing feelings of love toward Mrs. Powers
and her sacred dnty to the mother of
little Helene, the angel child whom she
had so dearly loved, and whose voice
she now heard calling to her from the
spirit world, bidding her remain and
comfort the lonely mother.
While my wife read this to me with
tears, I stpod aghast at Betts’ predic
tions.
I instantly telegraphed to Betts that
I would meet him at mv son-in-law’s
office at twelve o’clock, then proposed
to my wife that she should go to town
and spend a couple of days with our
daughter, and offered to drive her in
myself. We set off within an hour, and
after leaving her np town I hurried
down, eager to see the detective. It
was on the stroke of twelve when I en
tered the office, and I thought at first
that Betts had failed me, for no one was
there but a ponderous old gentleman
with gold glasses and white side
whiskers. lam not used to intrigues
and masquerades, and when I recog
nized Betts in this disguise I conld
hardly refrain from exclaiming at his
cleverness ; but his own coolness kept
me within bounds, and J sat down be
side him and began reading a paper.
Presently, with bis eyes still fastened
on his Herald, he edged toward me,
and dropped these sentences in my ear :
“ It’s all going beautifully. * * *
I followed the girl in yesterday. * *
* Went to hotel. * * * The
De Stnrgeses booked there all straight.
* * * Whole party left Jersey City
at nine o’clock last night, ticketed and
luggage checked to Washington. * *
* Slipped out of the car at Newark,
all three in men’s dress, and were back
here before midnight. * * * Met
eight fellows I know at a saloon in
street, and I can spot all eleven of ’em
this very minute. * * * They’re at
a den in street, getting ready to
play their little game somewhere to
night.”
“ At my house ?” I cried.
He shook his head.
“ Dunno,” said he looking straight
into the fire.
“Look here, Batts,” I whispered,
“ this may be fun to you, but, though
I’m no coward, it’s death to me. Why
not arrest ’em now ?”
“ Yes, just so,” he returned, irritably
—“ why not ? Where is your evidence ?
Now, Mr. Powers, just look at this mat
ter sensibly. You know as well as Ido
that half the thieves we patch get oft’
because no one will swear to their iden
tity at their examination. Now I am
anxious to make a sure thing of it for
once, and take my oath that I caught
them in the act.”
* ‘ You meau to arrest them while they
are robbing me ?”
“I <lo.”
“ All right—only I should prefer to
have the row in another man’s house.”
I saw at once that Betts’ opinion of
me had gone down to zero ; but he dis
guised his contempt, and went on to
tell me that he had dispatched one of
his men, Johnson by name, to my place
to make a reconnoissance, under pre
tense of trimming my evergreens. Up
on this man’s report, and upon two or
three o’her open questions which he did
not think it worth while to explain, de
pended his programme for to-night. If
by any possibility there was a likeli
hood of my house being entered at once,
I was to know it by dinner-time, that I
might be prepared for the burglars. I
was meantime to go home quietly, and
spend my time iu my usual manner, so
as to excite no comment among the ser
vants, and receiving no word from Betts
I was to rest satisfied, and consider my
house safe for another twenty-four
hours.
I went homo according to directions,
and set about spending ilie day in my
usual way, but the bouse was so still,
and seemed so deserted, I found it im
possible to read, even to sit quietly in a
chair, for more than five minutes at a
time. So I called the little dog, and
set out for a walk about the gardens,
feeling some curiosity to get a glimpse
of the detective, Johnson. It was a
black December afternoon, a shivering
wind in tho tree-tops, and leaden clouds
promising snow before midnight. The
bare ground was frozen lard, and a few
dead leaves eddied aboul in gusts that
rose and fell at uncertain intervals. I
heard the sound of an ax through the
somber stillness, and Jingle frisked for
ward and barked at a nan hacking at
the firs in the shrubbery I addressed
him regarding his work, ind he winked
back his appreciation cf onr mutual
sharpness; then I went on, reconnoi
tered a few minutes longer, ind aga n
turned in. The day seemed endless,
and I was glad when Saunders lit the
gas and shut out the fliivering land
scape and funeral clouds with the heavy
curtains. Dinner-time cane, and brought
with it a semblance of occupation, and
when I was half through ray meal I
suddenly remembered Jingle, and sent
for him to keep me comjany. He was
not in the house. It flailied upon me
that I had not seen him after passing
Johnson in the thicket, aid I dispatched
the coachman to call bin in ; but only
echoes i nswered the cry. He had evi
dently remained out in the grounds
with the policeman, and 1 dismissed the
subject from my mind, flushed my des
serf, and went back to m* library fire.
No word had come from Betts, hence I
was safe for to-night, at ill events, and
I breathed freer, and stritohed my legs
and dozed until ten o’cloik in compara
tive comfott. Then, rouiing myself, I
lit a lantern and went oui the door and
along the side piazzas tt speak a word
with Johnson, who, Bettsliad arranged,
was in any case to keqi watch under
the covered carriage-way.
He was not there. I dd not under
stand it. Had he got Irunk, or had
Betts taken him away ? Perhaps,- how
ever, he was still loiteriig at the edge
of the grounds; aecordilgly, I walked
out on the lawn and swing my lantern
two or three times. Tien, as it was
bitter cold and was begiming to show,
I turned in, and, finding it was almost
eleven o’clock, I ordered Saunders to
close the house and send the servants
to bed, and to bed I wentmyself.
But as soon as the light was out and
my head touched the pilhw I was fresh
ly impressed by the mytery of John
son’s disappearance, and iccordingly I
got np, opened my pistoUase, took out
two revolvers, and pnttinf them and a
sword-cane within easy reich I returned
to bed.
“ Deuce take this suspose !” I said,
as I again lay down. “ I ;ha’n’t sleep a
wink.” But after toesiri( a few times
and assuring myself I ccild not close
my eyes I fell asleep—atleast, after a
time I was awakened by i bright light
shining full in my face. * Good God !”
I cried out loud, “ thejve come to
night.” For three men, with black
cambric masks concealing their faces,
stood over me, each pointig a pistol at
my head.
“Please to get np, Mr. lowers,” said
one ©5 them, in a cool, civil way;
‘please to put on that dessing-gown
and those slippers. Youdiall not be
harmed in the least if youwill only be
quiet and obey directions” I got up
and put on dressiug-gown md slippers.
Then one of the men oaugit my arms,
drew them behind and maiaded them ;
another gagged me with on of my own
silk handkerchiefs ; and tus rendered
harmless, I was led dowietairs, where
my household, in various sages of night
attire, gagged and tied lick to back,
were awaiting me in the thing-room. I
was put into an fastened
to it by feet and hands, hen was left
alone to stare about mo Maddened,
desperate though I was, ihen I discov
ered that the sixth of the risoners was
Johnson, the detective, recognized
him with a keen sense of tie ridicnlous,
and only wished that Bits—whom I
was mentally anathematiziir with curse
not loud but deep—were 1 his place.
and tasting some of our humiliation.
Besides the three masked men who
had mastered me and brought me down,
there were five others iu the dining
room. Two were left as sentinels over
us, and the rest at once fell to work in
a way that meant business. A small
active man motioned toward the side
board. It was wheeled aside, and, step
ping forward, he pressed the sliding
panel and disclosed the closet where
the silver in daily use was kept, and the
shelves were at once stripped and the
contents piled on the table.
The bedrooms up-stairs were next
visited, the locks of drawers aud ward
robes wrenched apart, and the contents
thrown pell-mell on the floor for the
chief expert to decide on what should
be carried off. The upper rooms gut
ted, they came down with their spoils,
which they piled high before onr eyes
on the table, and then, leaving us again
alone with our sentinels, they went
through the entry into my library.
It was a dark hour. I leaned back
my head and closed my eyes, and felt
that fate was cruel to me. Only one con
solation illumined the blackness of de
spair—my wife had carried her jewels to
town with her, and I was spared the hu
miliation of telling her I had lost them
for her through my idiotic faith in
Betts. There was a long silence now,
which was followed by three muffled ex
plosions that shook the house like an
earthquake, and almost simultaneously
was heard the noise of a scuffle, and I
opened my eyes to see the room filled
with policemen, and hear pistol-shots
exehaugod, while our two sentinels were
thrown down, disarmed, and pinioned
before my eyes.
In less time than it takes me to de
scribe it the situation had been reversed,
and now r Betts, the detective, appeared
in the door at the head of his posse of
men, who brought in eight of the cap
tured burglars, two of them wounded
and bleeding profusely, while the rest
showed signs of having maintained a
stout resistance; all had lost their
masks in the melee, and disclosed sul
len and brutal visages.
“ How are yon, Mr. Powers ?” inquir
ed Betts, coming forward and releasing
me. ‘ I hope you’re not hurt. I beg
your pardon for taking possession of
your house in this way.”
“ Why did you make me think I was
safe for tonight, Betts ?”
“ Because,” he replied with a shrug,
“I discovered you were just a little up
set at the prospect, and I felt afraid of
you.” He ran his eye over the group
beside me, and when he saw Johnson he
grinned, and going up to him knocked
liis manacles off. “ You’re a pretty do
tective, you are,” said he, “to be caught
and tied up by the very fellows you
were in waiting for 1”
“Betts,” I gasped suddenly, “yon
haven’t got the little one.”
He gave a tigerish cry, and glared
from one to the other of his prisoners.
“ You are sure there was another?”
“No doubt of it,” I returned ; “any
one of these fellows is four inches taller
than the leader of the gang.”
In another moment he had set picked
men at work searching both house and
grounds; but he never succeeded in
finding even a trace of the eleventh of
the party of burglar . Not even after
the oonviction and heavy sentence of
the other ten would any one of them
confess the secret of their L adership.
I had easily identified M. and Madame
De Sturges—both swarthy and robust
Frenchmen—among them, but in spite
of all my efforts neither one could be
induced even to acknowledge they had
ever heard of such a person as Marie,
or that they had ever masqueraded un
der the respectable disguise of her em
ployers.
But when the snows melted off in the
spring one little silent witness came to
light, and told liis pitiful story against
her ; it was the dog Jingle, found dead
in the shrubbery, his throat cut and his
frozen eyes still upturned in reproach
ful agony.
THE FLOOD.
Whole Districts Inuntlnfcil—Tell Thou
sand People on the Verse of Starva
tion-Appeals for Aid.
Late New Orleans dispatches state
that the whole country from Monroe to
the mouth of Red river is under water
and that 10,000 people in tiiat district
will soon be on the verge of starvation.
Laige numbers of negroes from the
overflowed districts are flocking to that
city. Gov. Kellogg has issued a proc
lamation to officials and citizens of the
overflowed district, assuring them that
the state government has done and is
doing all that resources will allow to al
leviate the sufferings of those who have
been 'reduced to destitution by disas
terous crevasses and floods consequent
upon recent heavy rains. He stal es that
application has been made to the gen
eral government for aid, which he has
reason to believe will be promptly re
sponded to; that the mayor of New
Orleans, president of the chamber of
commerce, and a committee of distin
guished citizens, are doing all that cau
bo done to send immediate assistance to
those most in need, and that appeals
have been made to the great cities of
the north, east and west, which will,
doubtless, in due time bring generous
responses. He states that food, cloth
ing, and money will be forwarded with
out delay. He advises against send
ing the distressed population to New Or
leans, already overcrowded with unem
ployed people ; recommends the organ
ization of parish committe.es for the dis
tribution of supplies, aud that laborers
of inundated di tricts be assisted in
making their way to parishes which are
not under water, and where their ser
vices are still needed.
In conclusion, the governor says : It
may be that even out of this dire ca
lamity some good may come, through
the attention of the nation at large be
ing so painfully concentrated upon
questions of making the building and
maintenance of levees of the Missis
sippi, as also the preservation of a prop
er outlet for the river a national work.
Appeal for Aid from Got. Kellogg.
Executive Department, State of
Louisiana, New Orleans, April 17.
To President XJ. S. Grant: The un
precedented rise in the Mississippi river,
aided by violent local storms, lias
caused much disastrous overflow. Six
or seven of the largest parishes of the
state are already under water', and 10,
000 people, white and black, are with
out food or shelter and in danger of
starvation. The emergency is so great
that I feel constrained to appeal to you
directly, asking the general governthent,
if possible, to extend to these pcor peo
ple the same relief that was given in a
scarcely more disastrous calamity at
Chicago. W. P. Kellogg,
Governor or Louisiana.
THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY.
Your dispatch of this date, asking
aid for the sufferers by the disastrous
overflow of the lower Mississippi, is re
ceived. Congress is busy in session at
this time. Ido not feel authorized to
send government aid, as I did in the
case of suffering from yellow fever in
Shreveport and Memphis last summer,
or in the ease of the burning of Chicago
two years ago, without the authority of
congress. I will, however, send your
dispatch to the Louisiana delegation,
and if a resolution is passed by con
gress, authorizing it, I will exert every
authorized means to avert suffering
from the disaster which has overtaken
the citizens of Louisiana.
U. S. Grant.
Bismarck is said to have two sets of
statistics on nearly every subject. One
correct, and the other fixed to suit his
own purposes.
GENERAL BUELL.
Ills Victory Over the Comanches—Vivid
Description of the Fight.
A stock-driver from Texas furnishes
ns with the following account of Brevet
Maj-Gen. Buell’s recent fight with
the Comanches, which will be found in
teresting :
On February 2, 1874, Lieut-Col. Bu
ell, 11th United States infantry, in com
mand at Fot t Griffin, the most remote
post on the northwest frontier of Texas,
left that post in search of hostile In
dians—Comanches and Kiowas. Af
ter four days’ march, in disagreeable
weather, in the midst of a cold, sleety
ram-storm, he struck his supply camp,
which had been previously sent out..
On the following morning, a cold,
freezing, sleety day, Col. Buell" started
ont with forty men of the 10th United
States cavalry, with Capt. Lee and
Lieut. E. Turner as his junior officers.
After marching ten miles that day they
came to a boggy river, which had to be
crossed by the command. Lieut. Tur
ner rode into the river, and was thrown
from his horse, the animal stick
ing iu the mad. 110 eventually suc
ceeded in extricating hi3 horse and
reached the opposite side of the river,
mounted and rode np tho stream half a
mile, where he found safe fordiDg for
the ri st of the command, when they all
crossed. After the soldiers had ridden
all day in the rain they arrived, cold
and wit, at a camp on one of the branch
streams of the Salt Fork, where they
staid all night. It may not be out of
place to state that there was no grass or
forage for the horses. The next morn
ing at daybreak Col. Buell aroused his
command and made a march of thirty
miles, tho men riding still in their wet
clothes, and the horses being pretty
well fagged out, when he discovered
from his Ton-ka-wa Indian scouts, who
were on both his right and left flanks,
that there was danger in his immediate
vicinity. One of these Indians com
menced wheeling rapidly to the right,
wliicb was the signal agreed upon to
warn the soldiers. Col. Buell at once
moved his men in that direction at a
gallop, and in joining the Indian men
tioned discovered the edge of a preci
pice a fire burning in the valley below,
iu the Double mountain fork of tho
Brazos. Llpon a close examination, the
officers in command saw a large herd of
horses all bunched together. While
looking on at this camp Lieut. Turner
saw that the enemy had discovered
them, when ha immediately dashed his
horse over the precipice, and took the
lead towards the camp. When about
half way down the hill he found one of
Col. Buell’s Indian scouts undressing
himself—stripping for action. Before
the lieutenant had an opportunity to
pass, the Indian mounted Ins pony and
dashed on ahead. On arriving at the
foot of the hill, the Indian shonting
the Ton-ka-wa war-whoop, they both
rode towards the herd of horses, tho
Indian on the right and the lieutenant
on the left, when a strong volley of
balls and arrows passed by without hit
ting them. The Comanches then rais
ing their yell, stood their ground. The
scout rode on to a small summit of a
small hill, where he could get a good
aim, while tho lieutenant stopped
where he was, wheeled his horse to the
right, and commenced firing at the lu
dians. Tho firing beginning to be too
sharp, he dismounted and called to the
troops to hasten their steps to his sup
port. It should be understood that the
cavalry could only reach the valley iD
single file. Coi. Buell was already
there looking nfter the herd of horses,
and had sent twenty men to stop the
stampede. Capt. Lewis was in advance
of the cavalry coming down the hill,
and as soon as he reached the valley
eight men dashed by him and joined
the lieutenant, who immediately char
ged the Indians, killing five on the
spot, the balance running up the creek.
One of the latter, while running, shot
Lieut. Turner in the left side with a
steel-pointed arrow, without inflicting
any serious injury, however, it striking
some Winchester cartridges in his vest
pocket. Before the men conld reload
hcjiimself shot the Indian in the back,
who dropped flat on his face dead. A
young squaw then turned around and
tried to surrender, but was shot dead by
the lieutenant. The rest of the escap
ing Indians were all killed by the troops
on the left.
Col. Buell directed tho whole affair,
and won the esteem of officers and men
by his coolness, courage, and soldierly
abilities. The result of the fight may
be summed up as follows : Indians
killed, 11; horses captured, 64 ; two
silver-mounted saddles, two solid silver
bridles, and several very handsomely
mounted bows and quivers, and a num
ber of rifles and pistols, etc., were also
captured. One soldier was shot in the
left shoulder, and was compelled to
ride five days without surgical attend
ance. Two horses were also wounded,
A Ton-ka-wa squaw took the scalps off
of ten of the killed, and distributed
them among the victors, Lieut. Turner
getting two. The party returned to
Fort Griffin with their spoils, driving
night and day for ninety six hours.
Col. Buell distributed the stock on
the way to the Texan farmers from
whom these Fort Sill reservation In
dians had stolen them, receiving in re
turn their warmest thanks. The peo
ple of Texas are very enthusiastic in
their praise of Col. Buell, not only for
his success and energy heretofore in
putting down horse and cattle thieves,
but also for his Indian fighting.
Apache Courtship.
Even those copper-colored cut-throats,
the Apache Indians, have a touch of
delicacy and reverence in them. From
a lecture delivered in San Francisco bv
Colonel John C. Carmany, the follow
ing account of their courting customs
is taken:
Every young girl is at liberty to re
f sea suitor for her hand. The father,
mother and brother are prohibited from
interfering in her choice. Her person
is at her own disposal. After a brief
courtship the lover makes a formal pro
posal by offering so many horses.
Horses are a standard of value among
the Indians. As the squaw does all the
work, horses are accepted as an equiva
lent for her labor.
When a young warrior becomes en
amored, ho fastens his horse near the
wigwam of the squaw whose hand he
seeks, where he is left four days. If
she fails to feed and water the horse
during that time, the master is rejected,
but if she accepts his offer she grooms
and kindly cares for the horse, and then
ties him to the wigwam of her lover,
as much as to say, “I am willing to be
your slave and do your work.” At the
marriage the sages and sachems meet
together, and the bride is not nnfre
quently loaded with forty to fifty
pounds of silver and copper trinkets.
Estimates of the Cotton Crop of ’7B-4.
There is a cotton pool composed of
southern cotton-buyers, with headquar
ters at Augusta. Each member putting
$5 into the pool has a right to make
an estimate of the cotton crop for that
year, the nearest entitled to all the
money. The pool for 1873-4 has been
closed with one hundred and seventy
estimates and SBSO. Charleston, Savan
nah, New York, Macon, Rock Hill, S.
C., Mobile, Montgomery, New Orleans,
Americus and other places sent forward
estimates. Chaileston contributed twen
ty-five, Savannah thirty, Macon eight,
Rock Hill Heven, and the other points
each a smaller number. Augusta has
the largest amount of stock in the pool.
The lowest estimate made was 3,918,-
203 bales, and the highest 4,408,234,
while the average of the one hundred
and seventy-two is 4,178,383. The crop
is to be decided by the Financial and
Commercial Chronicle, of New York, of
September 4,1874.
ARKANSAS.
The “Uriuctle-Tails'’ and ‘• JlinflreD'’on
the tt ar-Path—The Sitnatljn at
Last Accounts.
A dispatoh from Little Rock rives the
following summary of the existing con
test between Baxter and Brooks, for the
control of the state governmei.t of Ar
kansas :
Col. Rose, oorumandant’of tie United
States forces, has taken possession of
the telegraph office, and opened it to
the public, relieving Gov. Baxter’s
guard. He has one company stationed
at the Ashley House, where the tele
graph office is located, and Las inter
ferred to sneb an extent uitli Gov.
Baxter’s military operations that he
can make no forward movement on the
state-house.
In consideration of this f.vot, Gov.
Baxter has sent the following dispatch
to the president:
A few dayß since, in the abs nee of
mv counsel, and at a time wholly unex
peeled, the circuit judue of th s coun
ty, a court of inferior jurisdiction, ren
dered judgment in favor of Brooks
against me for the office of governor of
this state, aud that without rotice to
me or my counsel. I was at oi.ee forci
bly put out of my office, and that with
out any pretense of a writ bein served
on me. All this was done, too, after
the supreme court of this s;ate had
twice decided that no court in tho state
had jurisdiction of the case at all, and
the legislature alone bad jurisdiction.
At once, on befog ejected from the of
fice, I took steps to restore myself, toget
possession of the office, and to carry on
the government. The people ue com
ing to my aid, and are ready to restore
me at once. In making this erganiza
tion I am obstructed by the interfer
ence of the United States troops in
displacing my guards from tho tele
graph office, and now it i3 appraliended
that there will be further in erterence.
Such interference breaks me down and
prevents any effort on my pai t to re
store thr state government, and to pro
tect the people in their rights.
I beg of you to modify any erder to
the extent of such interference, and
leave me free to act in this way to re
store law and peace as the legitimate
governor of the state. Such interfer
ence does not leave me any chance to
assert my claim to the office o ' gover
nor in the interests of peace and of
these people who are flocking here to
my support by the hundreds. I beg
of you to remove the United States
troops back to the arsenal, rnd per
mit me to restore the legitimate gov
ernment by my own forces, which I
will do promptly if the United States
will not interfere. There is an armed
insurrection against the legal state
government here, and I call upon yon
to aid iu suppressing it; but if yon
will not, then leave me free to act, and
order the United States troops without
an hour’s delay to their own grounds
and keep them out of my way. I have
been thwarted and delayed thus long,
and ejected from my office, bt cause of
the fact that I had heretofore disbanded
the militia of the state.
I make this earnest demand to repress
in urection and prevent domestic vio
lence, under my sense of duty to the
constitution and laws of the United
States, as well as the state of A kansas ;
aud I rely confidently, as I have all the
time, upon the assurance contained
in your letter of September 16, 1873,
to prevent the overthrow of my official
authority by illegal and disorderly pro
ceedings. Immediate answer is re
quested ; otherwise bloodshed may bo
the result. Elisha Baxter,
Governor of Arkansas.
The governor’s forces have Ireen in
creased several hundred. The streets
are full of armed men. Brooks has
withdrawn all his sentinels to a
point inside his barricade at the state
house. The troops of Gov. Baxter are
very eager to attack the place, and are
only prevented from doing so by the
presence of the Ua ted States troops.
Late dispatches from Washington
are more than favorable to Gov. Brooks,
and say that Baxter, in putting him
self above the law, ha3 undertaken a
task that must prove disastrous.
Civil Service Reform.
President Grant has sent the following
message to the renate and Louse of
representatives :
Herewith I transmit the report of the
civil service commissioners, authorized
by an act of congress of March 2, 1873,
and invite your special attention there
to. If sustained by congress I have no
doubt the rules can, alter the experi
ence gained, be so improved an I enfor
ced as to still more materially benefit
the public service and releivo the exe
cutive members of congress, ard heads
of departments from influences preju
dicial to good administration. The
rales, as they have heretofore lieen en
forced, have resulted beneficially, as is
shown by the opinion of members of
the cabinet and their subordinates in
the departments, and in that opinion I
concur. But the rules applicable to
officers who are to be appointed by and
with the advice and consent of the
senate, are in a great measure impracti
cable except in so far at they may be
sustained by the action of that body.
These must necessarily remain so, un
less the direct sanction of the senate
is given to the rules. I advise for the
present only such appropriations as may
be of adequate help to the work in its
present form, and would leavr to the
future to determine whether tl.e direct
sanction of congress shall be given to
the rules that may perhaps bo devised
for regulating the method of tire selec
tion of appointees, or a portion of them
who need to be confirmed by tbe sen
ate. The same amount appropriated last
year would be adequate for the ensu
ing year, but I think the public interest
would be promoted by authori :y in the
executive for allowing a small compen
sation for special service performed be
yond the nsnal office hours, tinder the
act of 1871, to persons called into the
service of the government.
U. S. Grant.
Cost of Refunding the Pnbl c Debt.
The secretary of the treuaury, incom
pliance with a resolution of the house,
reports the cost of refunding the na
tional debt into the five per cent, bonds
authorized by the act of congress July
14, 1870, and Jan. 30, 1871, etc. The
whole amount of bonds refunded is
$314,416,150, as follows : Bonds bear
ing rix per cent, interest to bonds bear
ing five per cent, interest, $300,461,150;
bonds bearing five per cent, interest,
loan of 1858, to bonds bearing five per
cent, interest funded loan of 1881,
$13,955,000. The cost thereof has been
$1,440,792. By the terms of the agree
ment with the parties contracting for
the loan they were to pay all exp nses
and to receive for their compensation
the one-half of one per cent, allowed
by law. Upon settlement with said
parties all expenses incurred by the
government were first deducted and the
balance only paid them. Tho refunds
on account of the loan of 1858 —$13,-
955 000 —and the moneys rece ved from
the Geneva awa d—Bls,soo,(oo —were
not made through any contracting
parties, and therefore no commissions
thereon were allowed. In thj adjust
ment of differences in interest between
the six per cent, bonds redeemed, and
the five per cent, bonds issued in lieu
threof, the government has re reived its
proper allowanoe.
VOL. 15-NO. 18.
SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
Killing a judge by a lawyer is called
“unprofessional” in Arkansas.
A Georgian who is to be hung in May
has had tickets of invitation printed and
mailed to his friends.
N early fifty car-loads of oysters have
just been taken across to California for
planting in the Pacific coast waters.
One of the nicest ways of oommiting
suicide, and of revenging yourself on
yom neighbor at the same time, is to
jnmp down his well.
It’s a good time to get married now,
when butter is forty-five cents per pound,
as bridal couples don’t require any solid
food for the first month.
The Sues canal appears to be doing
a good business. During the month of
Jannary 111 vessels passed through,
paying tolls to the amount of 8438,000.
People who didn’t draw anything in
the Louisville lottery will now swear off
forever, and in about six weeks will be
hunting after tickets in another drawing.
Germany has a number of experimen
tal farms, where all new theories con
nected with agriculture or cattle-raising
aro tried and their merits pronounced
upon.
Twenty thousand Dersons, it is esti
mated, have been drowned in Lake Eric
daring the present century. This is the
most formidable argument the crusaders
have yet had to combat.
The Chicago Trioune prints a poem in
which the writer wishes that she had “a
heart full of sweet yearlings." How the
persecuted author must have yearned to
fumble amoDg that compositor’s hair.
The disease known as trichina is
cansing terrible havoc among the hogs
along the Kaskaskia river in Illinois.
Not less than ten thousand hogs have
died already, and the fatality is still
unchecked.
From Cape Town it is stated that the
diamond fields are under a cloud. They
have not only suffered from floods, but
their value is depreciating, and the de
cline in price has caused commercial
embarrassment.
A magnificent gambling hell, like
that of Baden-Baden and at Homburg,
as they were when at the height of their
popularity, is talked of as one of the fu
ture attractions of Cairo. The Khedive
is said to favor the plan.
Two hundred people in a Colorado
town recently turned out in a body to
look npon a bedstead with castors, it be
ing the first ever seen in the county. The
possessor had his hat ever his left ear,
and was for a time a greater man than
the mayor.
The American "Register, of Paris, in
forms ns that dancing is going out of
fashion in Europe, and says: “If men
and women conld flirt as conveniently
and as pleasantly without its protection,
it would be given up altogether in civil
ized countries.”
The North [Carolina legislature has
passed a law which imprisons for five
years “any person who manufactures,
sells or deals in spiritoons liquors as a
drink, of any name or kind, containing
foreign properties or ingredients poison
ous tothe system.”
The rivalry for the emigrant travel to
the west, between the Erie and New
York Central railroads, is progressing
fiercely. The Central leads the fight now,
and has put down the rates to 34 from
New York to Cleveland, $5 to Chicago,
37.55 to St. Louis, $lO to Kansas City
and 314 to Omaha. This is about as
cheap as they would carry pigs, and we
fear the accommodations will not be
much better.
A fine distinction was that the preach
er of the Richmond First Baptist church
made : “My brndders,” said he, “when
you were ail slaves dar might he' been
sense for enttin’ a slice off the masr’s ba
con, or hookin’ a handful o’ corn meal,
or robbin’ de hen roost; for you all work
hard den, my brndders, and you earn it,
my brndders and sisters. But now you
is all free men dar ain’t no 'sense what
ever ; you’s all on yer own 'sponsibility. ”
The smallest postoffice in the world is
kept in a barrel, which brings from the
oulwmost rock of the mountains over
hanging the Straits of Magellan, oppo
site Terre del Frego. Every passing
ship opens it to place letters in or to
take them out. Every ship undertakes
to forward nil letters in it that it is pos
sible for them to transmit. It hangs
there by its iron chain, beaten and bat
tered by the winds and storms, but no
locked and barred office on laud is more
secure. It is not in the track of mail
robbers.
Texas is developing an inexhaustible
supply of salt. Her bayous are veri
table ' mines of wealth, if properly
worked. One of these —the Laguna
Madre—is one hundred and twenty
miles long, and from three to rix miles
broad, and not more than eighteen
inches deep. The water is rapidly
evaporated, and the salt settles in great
quantities in the bottom. The amount
of salt from this source is estimated at
10,000,000 bushels in the season, which,
it is said, can be placed on navigation
at ten cents per bushel.
It is stated that the Patrons of Hus
bandry in lowa have perfected an organ
ization for the capture of horse-thieves.
Each grange is to have “five riders,
who are, on a robbery of stock being re
ported, to mount and follow the culprits,
To this end the grange is to furnish them
with funds not less in amount than $25,
and on giving the hailing sign of the
Patron, all other granges will entertain
them free of cost, turn out to them, or
lend them fresh horses. Similar organ
izations in other states wor’d render
stealing horses a very unprofitable bus--
ness.
The smoldering of the fires in the
burnt district of Chicago continued for
a great length of time, and it was re
marked by a gentleman that he had
lighted a cigar in the ruins months af
ter the conflagration. Instances are
not rare where fires have smoldered for
years. At Singer, Nimick Sc Co.’s Shef
field steel-works, Pittsburg, an exten
sive smoldering fire, that baffles the
bes,t efforts to extinguish it, has been
discovered, dangerously near the new
ureting-house. The ground fronting
on the river has beta formed by the de
posit of cinders from the mill, and may
have been a bidden mass of fire for one
or two years. The firm lost consider
able from r fire some time since. Yari
ons other Pittsburg rolling mills have
had such fires—in one instance known
to have existed for two years, and in
another for some eight or ten months.
Rochefort,
In reference to the escape of Henri
Rochefort and his companions, the
Paris Soir says : “We learn by a let
ter from London that the escape of the
French convicts has already led to an
exchange of not s between the cabin, .s
of Versailles and St. James. Accord
ing to the information of the English
government the vessel was a French
one, fitted out by the friends of the
prisoners, and haring on board twenty
five men determined to fight if necessa
ry. The convicts to be carried off
were seventeen in number, but when
the moment arrived, only five could be
ready, he others being "engaged on a
piece of werk assigned them. The
craft in question, the English authori
ties declare, had fraudulently hoisted
the English flag, but the French author
ities believe it can prove the vessel was
equipped and prepared in a British port,
and that the government there could
not be ignorant of its destination ; also,
that as the escape took place under the
protection of the flag of England, that
oountry should be held responsible.”