The banner of the South. (Augusta, Ga.) 1868-1870, July 25, 1868, Page 7, Image 7

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. rxti/seven ! Ninety-seven voted for its a ; olition ; its continuance was affirmed by double that number ! ! ! And Ireland is told to look for redress f her grievances to Westminster—to the British Parliament ! Ireland is told she is fairly and effectually represented in a Legislature where a tremendous majority ot members vote on a purely Iri s h subject— vote that the Irish, who } a ve long been robbed and wronged, Jhall be forever plundered and oppressed. Thus draws “the Irish Session of Par liament” to a close, and this is the result of its labors for our native land. It has ordered that the Ensanguined L ,nce shall be uplifted in perpetuity over the heads of the people; it has confirmed the landlords’ power of life aud death, or exile, over them and theirs; it has decreed that a vampire Establishment <.■11311 suck their blood, and oppress them, by every art of oppression, by lies, slan ders, calumny, open plunder, and fierce coercion Thus has the British Parliament la bored for Ireland. FLOWERS. The origin of the red rose has been va riously explained. According to heathen mythology, Venus, being wounded by its thorns, her blood flowed upon the flower, and changed it to red. Spencer says: ‘•White as the native rose before the change, Which Genius’ blood did in her leaves impress.” Another poet has it, that Eve, while strolling in the bowers of Eden, observed an opening rose, of purest white; and, that, stooping to kiss it, “Straight it drew From beauty’s lips the vermeil hue.” The Gentian, an American wild flower, of exquisite beauty, blossoms late in the season, when nearly all the other flowers are gone. Bryant speaks of it very pret tily: "Thou comest not when violets lean O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen; Thou waitest late aud com’st alone, When woods are bare and birds are flown.” The woodbine is a favorite with the poets, and is regarded as an emblem of fidelity, Milton places it in Paradise, and Shakspeare makes Oberon say : ‘I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows: Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.” The mistletoe was the sacred plant of the Druids, and much used in all their rites. The Wallflower derives its name from a habit of springing up among old ruins, and is esteemed as an emblem of fidelity in misfortune. The English Daisy, the emblem of love, is the Scotch gowan. Wordsworth, Burns, and Montgomery, have dedicated poems to it. The Sunflower is usually looked upon as a vulgar plant, but is blessed with a classic origin. Ivy is the emblem of woman’s con stancy. Dickens says: “Creeping where no plant is seen, A dainty thing is an ivy green,” The Dandelion is the emblem of co quetry. Though a very common and humble flower, it has been smiled upon by Tom Moore, and even Ralph Waldo Emerson. Os the Violet, Shakspeare says: “Violet is for faithfulness, Which in me shall abide; Hoping that likewise from your heart, You will not let it slide.” [Exchange. The Negro Patient. —‘‘Julius, is you l etter this morning ?” “No, 1 was better Yesterday, but I’se got ober dat.” “Am Sere no hopes ob your discovery "} dscovery ob what ?” “Your discovery b'om the convalescence what am fetching V uon your back.” “Pat depends, sah, ■ togeddah on the prognostication which iniphfies the disease; should dey continu ity fatually, de doctor tinks Pse a goner. S lould dey not continuate fatally, he - 'pes dis culled indiwidual won’t die dis Put, as 1 said afore, dat all de ; uds on the prognostics, and till deso lie t< > a head, dere am no tellin whedder ‘ " pussun will cum to a discontinuation r oddervvise.’’ As the above case is perfectly clear as “■ s > need not intend to mar its trans » !e ‘ iC y by any remarks of our own. An Alleviation. —The London Re. • remembers to have once heard a - lorite preacher, in a bitter, frosty, unuary, make the following announce ■ t: “ There will be a baptizing in this 1 ice on Thursday evening. It would be p-1 u 1 thing it the Lord should appear : t e clouds of heaven, and you should ; shut out of the kingdom! Repent and 30 baptized in the name of the Lord Je ns’ The water will be warmed! Now ■ ttie accepted time, now is the day of salvotion!” specimen copies of The Banner of the "i tii sent free to auv address. [Selected.] The Dying Magdalene. Pale and wasted--slowly dying—on a weary couch Os pain, Naught of sound to soothe her anguish but the falling of the rain; Naught of sight around, about her, through the vista dim and long, Save a hundred prostrate like her for a life of sin and wrong; And the hands are clasped together, and the heavy eyelids fall, And in the midnight darkness, that Las wrapt and shrouded all, She has cast aside the fetters that have bound her to despair, And the wan lips faintly murmur in an agony of prayer: •Jesus Saviour, Thou wert slaughtered for the ransom of Thy fold, Thou didst bow Thee, sorrow-laden, ’neath a weight of wo untold; There was never human passiou like that single one of thine, Then have pity, O, have pity! on this erring heart of mine; Thou didst promise love and pardon to the poor re pentant soul That would burst the galling bondage of sin’s weari some control; I have sinned and I have Buffered, and I come to Thee at last, On the brink of the Hereafter, craving pardon for the past. In the flush ot youthful beauty, I forsook the narrow way, And forgot the gentle mother who had taught me how to pray; All unnoticed were her warnings—all unheeded fell her tears, Unremembered the devotion and the watchfulness of years; 1 For the demon that I worshipped fed the altar flame of pride, Driving on my reckless spirit through the madly flow ing tide— Never thinking, never caring, that the faithless water rolls, Unrelenting in its fury, over lost Immortal souls. But an echo ever followed of the happy long ago, Os the purity unsullied that I ne’er again might know, And I lost the happy spirit that was mine in days of yore, And I sang the gleeful ballads of my native land no more, For the mem’ry of my birthplace, and the beauty of its streams, Long departed, half forgotten, came to visit me in dreams; Mother, thou wert ever with me, in my sky the guiding star, Oh! how could Ibe light-hearted, when my thoughts had strayed so far, Then my day of triumph darkened, and I walked the world alone, Broken-hearted and forsaken, on its bitter mercies thrown, Till at length the blessed shelter of these friendly walls drew near, For I saw the Cross above them, and I knew my rest was here, As I sank upon the threshold, from my soul arose a prayer, And I felt my spirit lifted from the blackness of des pair; There was never wretch more sinful, more abandoned, Lord, than I Then have mercy, O, have mercy! I have wandered here to die. Then the voice grew low and husky, and the pallid hands unclasped, Holding by the frailest tenure the poor Crucifix they grasped, And upon the marble forehead, there was set a seal so fair, That the Angels came and wondered to behold such beauty there; As they wafted alleluias, through the silence cf the night, All around the poor departed wreathed a coronal of light, And as back, on swiftest footsteps, through the Lden paths thoy'trod, Who shall say they did not bear her to the mercy seat of God ? Fidelia. [Correspondence of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.] A HOLIDAY TOUR. THE LONDON TIME S. London, June 13. To the writer abroad, the London Time*, and its office, are always objects of interest, and your readers may, perhaps, like to know something of this great newspaper, which stands at the head of the press of Europe. In the heart of the old city of London, near St. Paul’s Church and the Thames, are “Printing House Square” and “Play House Yard,” the former a small open space about fifty feet square, the latter a narrow street a few yards to the north; access being gained to both through some of the smallest, most crooked, and dingiest streets of the metropolis. Here, in a dozen, or more, low, ancient-looking* houses, covering,•perhaps, an acre and a half, is published the Time*, the pub lishing office being on Play House Yard, the office for receiving advertisements on one side of Printing House Square, the manager’s offices on another, and the editors’ rooms on a third. The place is a quiet one, secluded from the bustle and noise of the traffic of the great London streets, and none of the buildings make any pretensions, or give, beyond one or two modest signs, any indications of the important business transacted within. On January 13, 1785, Mr. John Walter, of London, published the first number of the ‘* Daily Universal Regis terwhich was printed by what was known as the logographic system, in which types containing syllables and words were employed instead of single letters. This system, being not found to answer, was soon disused. Mr. Walter determined to change the name of his newspaper, and, on January 1, 1788, issued the first number of the Times , a four page sheet, a little larger than the first number of the Public Ledger , and containing four columns on each page. It w T as, of course, printed on the old-fash ioned hand presses. It had many rivals to contend with, and gained but slowly in circulation, having at the start, and until 1803, a sale of 1,000 copies, whilst the London Morning Post issued 4,500. During this year, Mr. Walter gave up the paper to his son, in whose hands it advanced to a high place in journalism, its start being gained by enterprise in gathering news in Napoleon’s wars. On November 2, 1814, the Times was first printed by steam power, using the first English steam printing press, constructed by M. Konig, and capable of working oft' 1,200 copies per hour. By successive improvements, this capacity wasincreased, and, in 1815, there were 4,200 copies per hour printed. The powerful articles contributed by Edward Sterling to the Times, gained it the well known name of The Thunderer.” During this period it gradually increased its size, adding a fifth, and then a sixth column, to each page, and on January 19, 1829, it issued its first double number of eight pages. In 1841, a memorable event happened in the history of the paper. It used its great power to defeat and expose a scheme organized by a public company to defraud, by forgery, all the influential bankers of Europe. This brought upon the proprie tors a long and vexatious action for libel, involving them iu heavy expense. Final ly, the jury found the charge true, hut gave a verdict of only one farthing damages. This trial was one of the great events of the time, and subscriptions were set on foot iu all parts of Europe to reim burse the proprietors for their immense outlay iu defending the action, hut this being firmly declined, the money was expended in founding “Times Scholar ships at Oxford, Cambridge, and other schools, and marble tablets commemo rating the event were set up in the Royal Exchange, in Printing House Square, and other places, lliese were the greatest honors ever given to an European news paper. Subsequently, the paper came into the hands of Mr. John Walter, grandson of its founder. In 1815, the limes established an overland express from India, for the conveyance of news. In 1848, it first used rotary printing ma chines, those of Applegath, and, in 1852, its average daily circulation was 36,000, whilst ot the number of November 19, 1852, issued after the death of the Duke of Wellington, and containing his biogra phy, 56,000 copies were sold. In 1854, Dr. Russell was employed as special correspondent in the Crimea, and wrote the letters that made him famous. During this period, the Times began issuing triple and quadruple sheets, papers of twelve and 16 pages. In 1858, Mr. Hoe’s American printing machine w T as first used to print the Times. In 1861, the daily circulation had increased to 54,000 copies, over 18,000,000 copies being issued during the year. At this time the Times began occasionally issuing quadruple sheets of twenty pages to ac commodate its business, and on June 22 1861, it issued a sextuple sheet of twenty four pages, containing, besides the read ing matter, 4,076 different advertise ments, quite an increase over its modest number of 150, fifty years before, in 1811. In 1867, the Times began printing with the Walter self-feeding press, patented the year before, and claimed to be the fastest and most economical printing machine in the world. The present circulation of the Times is from 63,000 to 68,000 daily, the ordinary issue being a sixteen page newspaper, whilst sometimes it is increased to a twenty page newspaper. I his is a brief history of the paper, and 1 now will pass on to an account of its present condition, and of the office at Rrinting House Square. The Times is in an era of great prosperity, and the endeavor in the establishment is to issue a newspaper which will at once be a model of correct typography, excellent printing, and tho purest English. It is considered that the care bestowed in the Times Office upon the diction of its lead ing articles has contributed more than anything else to preserve the purity of the English language. The staff of “leader” writers is large, and upon it are the best newspaper writers in England, where an Editor’s ambition is to be employed by the Times. Unlike the custom in America, the object at the lone* Office is to pre serve the impersonality of the paper. Y hat it contains, is said by the paper itself, and not by any individual, and, for that reason, its opinions and statements go before the world with all the weight the newspaper can give them. Its editors never write. They forecast, day by day, the policy of the paper; suggest subjects to the leader writers; sit in judgment upon their articles when writ ten; and decide what shall or shall not go into the paper. Its correspondents, in England and abroad, receive but one instruction, and that is to send accurate and impartial accounts of transpiring events, at the earliest moment, written in such a manner as to interest the readers. To conduct this establishment, a large force is of course required. It prints every day from 1,700 to 3,000 adver tisements, and on extraordinary occa sions, even more. It also prints twenty to thirty columns of reading matter. To perform the mechanical part of the work, 400 persons are employed at Printing House Square, whilst probably as many more are attached to the paper in literary positions. With reference to advertise ments, as the paper is always receiving niore than it can print, it promises early insertions to none but the poor people who want places, and a few other urgent classes. No one who eoines after twelve o clock on any day with his advertise ment, can hope for an insertion in the next day’s paper, whilst generally the advertisers do not see their advertise ments printed until two or three days, or sometimes as many weeks, after they are handed over the couuter. They have to wait their turn, and such is the anxiety to get them in the dimes, that the Eng lish public submit patiently to delays that the American public would never tolerate. The lowest charge is for “wants,” in which case, each advertiser is allowed three lines for a half crown, about 60 cents, gold. For all others, the regular rate is a shilling a line, 24 cents, gold, hut no advertisement is taken for less than four shillings, whilst long advertisements are charged more in proportion, the rate, after the first fifty lines, being two shillings a line. The cheapest rates are allowed to public charities and similar classes, but nothing extra is charged for favorite positions in the paper. In the mornings, when the people flock to the limes office to hand in their ad vertisements, Printing House Square is a place of tne greatest bustle and activity, but in the afternoons it is comparatively deserted. . The advertising pages are made up in a regular order, beginning with the births on the first columns of the first page, and the “agonies,” as “per sonals are called, on the second column, and closing with the auction notices, of which, alone, in the paper of June 6th, there were twenty-five columns. There are no headings to the advertising columns, each department coming unan nounced on the heels of its predecessor, and this course, by bringing “washing taken in immediately ahead of the aris tocratic “tutors,” I am told, has caused great complaint among that class of the English community, as they regard their characters as soiled by the juxtaposition. The office for the receipt of advertise ments is conducted by eleven persons, and is devoted to that business exclusively, the publication office being a separate building. The reading matter is fur nished by the editorial, reportorial, and corresponding staffs, there being, besides, 22 law reporters, 19 Parliamentary re porters, 12 police reporters, and an in definite number of miscellaneous writers, known as “penny-a-liners” in London, at least 100 correspondents in various parts ot Great Britain, and some 40 corres pondents in other parts of the world. Os the J arlianientary reporters, 16 are pho nographers, two make summaries of the debates in the Houses, and one directs the force. To set up the types, there are lot* compositors employed, 60 laborin o * by day, and 70 at night, whilst 11 fore men and assistants direct their move ments. I wenty-four persons are required, to read proofs, and three arc employed merely to *‘pull” the proofs. The adver tisements are set up during the day, and the reading matter at night, the adver tising pages being made up from 5 to 7 o'clock in the evening. Reading matter is received until daylight, and afterwards, and the reading pages are rarely put to press before 4 o’clock, A. M., whilst leading articles are frequently written on Ikarliamentary debates and other events happening after, midnight, and appear in print the following morning. England is different in its habits from the United States, and very early newspaper issues are not demanded. In all this work, the greatest care is taken to guard against mistakes, and every line printed is read over by proof readers four or five differ ent times. Ten stereotypers prepare the plates for the printing machines, by the papier mache process, now in use in the Public Ledger office, and in other leading news paper offices in the United States, and these machines are now run continuously from about eight o’clock in the evening until seven the next morning, besides work during the day upon “second editions.” Sixteen firemen and engineers attend the engines and boilers, six men prepare the paper, before printing, ninety are employed on the presses, and seven . . er the paper to the news-agents after it is piinted. No carriers are employed, as m the Lnited States, but the whole edition is sold out to news agents, the number ot copies printed being no more than the sum total of their orders, which have to be handed in by 2 o’clock P M on the previous day. The wholesale price of the Times is 2 id. per copy (about44cents gold); the retoil price, 3d. (6 cents gold). For the benefit of the employees, there are estab lished in the office a saving fund, a sick fund, and a co-operative restaurant, man aged by five persons, at which all the employees get their food and drink at wholesale cost prices. This is known familiarly as “The Canteen.” Stability and comfort are great objects in Printing House Square. The apartments, dingy without, are clean and spacious withiu, and faithful laborers remain there a life time, bequeathing their places to their sons. Many now in the place have* worked there five-and-twenty years, and two in particular, still hale and hearty, have been in the office, respectively, 45 and 55 years. Father and son work side by side, and all seem to regard the place and its directors with the greatest affection. To print the Times , seventy tons weight of paper, and two tons of printing ink are used every week, whilst the average weight of the daily issue of the paper is from 11 to 12 tons. The ma chines upon which this large edition is printed are the best of their kind. There are two ten-cylinder Hoe presses, and two eight-cylinder Applegath machines; the aggregate actual work done by them being 52,000 impressions an hour, 16,000 from each of the former, aud 10,000 from each ot the latter. Besides these, there is now in use, the Walter Printing Press, which is a self-feeder, and managed by a man and two hoys, prints a large share of the advertising pages of the Times. Its capacity is from 22,000 to 24,000 im pressions an hour, and it produces in that time from 11,000 to 12,000 perfect sheets, printed on both sides, and ready for the reader. This machine is somewhat similar to the American Bullock Press. It prints from a large roll of paper, containing 2,500 to 3,000 sheets, cuts them apart after printing, and then delivers them, by a double motion, into two piles. It has been pronounced a success by competent judges here, and will probably revolu tionize the printing business in Eng land, on account of its great capacity, and the cheapness with which it is operated. This wonderful machine was invented and constructed by Mr. John C. MacDonald, one of the leading men of Printing House Square, and has been named by him the “Walter Printing Press,” in honor of the proprietor of the Times. He spent six years of constant, anxious labor, in building and perfecting it. There is little more to say of this great newspaper. It circulates not only throughout Great Britain, but all over the world. Its policy in the treatment of public affairs is not a fixed one, but is governed by expediency. Towards America, its former course of severe criticism has been changed to one of great friendliness, and it judges us now with far more candor and generosity than tne majority ot its London contempora ries, besides paying great attention to the collection of American intelligence. W ho directs its course or controls its opinions, however, is a sealed book. The editor is invisible, nor are the writers known, except by hearsay. It tries to draw an impenetrable veil over the indi viduality of all connected with it, aud what tiiis or that writer may say is buried in the great mass of leaders, news, and other matters which the Times presents to the world on its sixteen or twenty broad pages every week-day morning. C. <♦ * > A friend of ours, suspecting one ofghis neigh borV negroes of stealing his turkeys, went into the field andjaccusedHlie nc^ro thTd^T^l' fa matter of course, denied it, and protested in his innocence. He'jsaid he carried a rence rail home with him, and when lie threw it down, it had nine turkeys up ,!n it, but he couldn’t account for their being oil the rail. It is said by the uegro’s master that he can steal the mo lasses out of a ginger cake. We want him to keep away from our turkey roost with his fence rail.— Exchange. 7