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OORRBSroNOKNCK.
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tion, letter* must lie accompanied by a respousi
ble name, not for publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
AH letters should be addressed to
J. 11. KSTILL, Savannah, Oa.
Was Babcock In tlie kin??
_ The card of Col. Megrue, one of the
' Icouis whisky ringsters, published in
the dispatches, exonerates (as far as the
writer's knowledge extends) Col. Han
cock from complicity in the whisky ring
frauds. The President’s private secro
iary may or may not have been mixed
up in the disgraceful business, but
Megrue’s ignorance of such complicity on
Babcock's part does not at all prove the
innocence of the latter. The attentive
reader of the Kt. Louis dispatches for the
last few days must have noticed that
more than one witness testified to seeing
letters from Babcock which unmistakably
Lmiacked of the “crooked.” The We*t
/‘o*t, Carl Hchurz's paper, had the
significant paragraph a few
Kays ago :
K’ The Washington telegrams, written in
Hypher, which are before the grand jury,
warning the distillers of this city of their
imminent danger, are based upon and
derived from a knowledge whioh at that
time but two single persons possessed.
Only Uristow and Grant knew of the
steps that were to be taken, and as we
know that those signals of warning were
not given by Bristow, they could only
hnvo come from Grant, or one in his con
fidence. The whole country, therefore,
points to the notorious Babcock, Grant’s
body-villain, false measurer and swindler
in general.
J One of the witnesses who implicated
Babcock was Mr. Alfred Bevis, of the
firm of Bevis & Frazer, and his testimony
was as follows:
T saw letters from Avery and Babcock,
giving assurance of prduiction. Joyce
gaVo them to me himself; I had one in
my possession about five hours; there was
some question about whothcr we had
protection or not, and I wanted to show
the letter to Mr. Frazor, and I went to
Joyce and got it from him; I have not the
letter now; it was about Special Agents
Brookes and lloge coming here; that was
in the fall of 1874; I think the letter was
signed “Bab;” we were shown from time
to tirao letters anti dispatches from Bab
cock and Avery; I have seen five or six
letters; they purported to give informa
tion the letters were generally signed
with initials or the first or last names, I
kfould not tell which; I think wo paid from
”h7I to 1876 as much os one hundred
thousand dollars.
f Other witnesses testified the same in
bstanoe, and while their testimony was
giver, under oath, Megrue’s statement is
simply a card, and of merely a negative
eharacier at that. Evidently there is
■omethiug more substantial than that
needeo to exonerate an official who had
already acquired no very envious noto
riety in connection with Boss Shepherd’s
W ashiugton ring.
Ramie ami Jute Production in the
South.
The opinion in gaining ground that
botli ramie and jute can be extensively
and successfully cultivated in tho South
ern States. Tho drawback to this indus
try in past years has been the trouble and
expense attending the separation of tho
'libre from the gummy substance and
green covering of the plant. What little
work of this kind has been done has been
by hand, and as well as being a very slow
process it is quite expensive. We loam
Aiow tlint this obstacle is soon to bo over
come l>y the introduction of a machine,
which, through the action of certain
acids, separates the fibre in a very neat
manner, and at a comparatively light ex
pense. In India and China, to which
countries thoso plants aro indigenous, we
are told the process of separation is done
entirely by hand, and at a cost of not
less than $l5O per ton.
Tho patentee of the machine states
.that by the now process the oost of sepa
rating will be reduced to thirty dollars
per ton. Ramie is extensively used in
the manufacture of a fabric, said to be a
lustrous staple, and excelled only by flue
silks, either in strength or durability. It
is said to be used considerably in dry
goods made to imitate silk, on aocount of
its resemblance to that fabric in many
fcrespocts. In California about one thou
sand two hundred pounds of fibre have
been produced to the acre, and it is
thought that it ean be turned out in
equal abundance in many portions of the
| South.
Callfou an Investigation ok Moli.et.
—Tho Washington Gazette publishes a
long bill of iudictment against Mullett,
late Supervising Architect. The charges
are that Mullett, Raboock, Shepherd and
Grant form a White House ring, and
have made the thing mutually profitable;
that Mullett gave Shepherd the plumb
ing, gas-fitting and roofing of public
at rates thirty per cent, higher
than better work could have been done
for hail competition been invited ; that
Mullett had an iuterest in the Vaux
{latent roof which Shepherd put on
public buildings; that through Mullett
the stone taken from the Seneca quarry
was used in the construction of the new
jail, and that it was sold by weight,
whereby the government finds itself with
a quantity of refuse stone equal to the
quantity used in the building, on its
Gbauds, and that the profits of the job
virere shared by Mullett, Henry D. Cooke
and others. Finally, that Mullett en
rJffcttihimself by all sorts of jobbery and
corrup4<\ n - The Gazette demands an in
vestigation and asserts that it has the
proofs to substantiate all its charges.
Tallahassee Floridian
remarks that Governor Stearns is said to
be on the ragged edge of anxiety. He has
suddenly woke up to the enormity of the
sin of stealing, and has actually become
a convert to the legal principle that the
receiver of stolen goods, commonly called
in polioe reports a "fence,” is a? bad as
the thief. He is heartily sick of "the
Conover letter," and we are expec.ing a
communication from him every day com
mencing "Dear Captain,” and promis
ing, if any more stolen documents come
to hia hands, to act like a gentleman and
return them, instead of procuring their
publication in a paper whose editors he
does not hesitate to say are non eompot
mentis. There are divers people knowing
to a thing or two who are in possession
of data which might be captured if the
war lasts long enough. We are not sure
but that something of the kind disap
peared about the time “ the Conover let
ter ” was stolen, and if some newspaper
whioh holds its reputation cheap should
publish it there would be a sensation in
the Stearns camp to whioh this other
theftvwould be only as a ripple.
J. H. ESTILL, PROPRIETOR,
The Freed men’s Savings Bank.
The New York Nation, in a recent
article entitled “The Winding Up of the
Freedmen’s Savings Bank,” urges upon
Congress, at its next session, the duty of
a thorough investigation into the manner
in which the affairs of the bank were
conducted while in operation and are
being wound up, now that it is defunct.
The subject, the Nation pertinently ob
serves, is not a savory one for Republi
can newspapers, and exposure of it is
not now to be expected at Republican
hands. Therefore, it says, “we earnestly
commend it to the notice of the honest
men of the Democratic party when next
winter in Congress they begin the great
work of investigating the dark places in
Republican history,” The pitiful story, as
the nation epitoniizes it, is not new. For
all that, it is worth tailing again, where
ever and whenever the politicians of the
dominant party in national politics asserts
a paramount or exclusive claim to the
undivided confidence and support of the
Worr-i voters, as the eapecial protege*
and wards of the Republican piurty. In
a matter that concerned a helpless and
ignorant class more than anything else
besides—the care and safety of their
scanty and hard-earned savings—it is
well worth while to consider how the
dominant party, in the full possession of
political power and responsibility, dealt
with ita trust. The Freadmen’s Sav
ings Bank in Washington city was char
tered in Congress in 1865, for the pur
pose of encouraging habits of frugality
among the newly enfranchised blacks,
and as the charter recites, for the exclu
sive use “of persons heretofore held in
slavery and their descendants.” 'The
trustees were charged with the duty
simply of receiving the deposits of per
sons of this class, and of investing them
in “the stocks, bonds, Treasury notes
and other securities of the United
States.” The institution was not de
signed to be money making, but charita
ble; it was a “savings bank," and so the
poor, ignorant, credulous colore 1 people
understood it. Tbe subsequent establish
ment of more than thirty branches of the
parent institution in various portions of
the South, for tho purpose of extending
its business and enlarging the line of its
operations, does not appear to have been
authorized or contemplated by the
original plan or act of incorporation,
but might have been pardoned
if tho business itself had
been confined within legitimate channels,
and the operations had been honestly
conducted. In April, 1870, however, an
amendment of the original charter was
procured which enabled the trustees to
lend upon mortgage, and to hold and im
prove real estato in Washington city.
Then began the work of wasting the
funds of the bank, the savings of its de
positors, by loaning them upon every
sort of wild-cat security. Everybody
within ths favored "ring” of speculators
and adventurers in Washington city got
loans upon such security os they pleased
to offer—upon; stock of the "Seneca Stone
Company,” of the “Metropolitan Pav
ing Company,” the "Capital Publish
ing Company,” upon furniture, upon
pictures, upon Southern plantations,
&c., &o. Then came the inevitable
and dismal denouement—the failure of
the bank and its branches, and the ruin
of the poor, ignorant, confiding and de
ceived depositors. All this is bad enough
and shameful enough, as the facte show.
But the shame does not stop here. In
stead of leaving the affairs of the insol
vent concern to be wound up and admin
istered under the general bankrupt law,
applicable to other similar and ordinary
cases, Congress, by special act of June
25, 1874, devised a special machinery for
winding up the affairs of this particular
institution, by means of commissioners
nominated by the very trustees who are
accused of having proved thus unfaithful
to their trusts. The legality, as well as
fairness of this mode of "winding up,”
the Nation vigorously calls in question.
It asks where does Congress, under the
authority given by the constitution “to
pass a uniform bankrupt law,” get the
power, in the face of and in derogation
of tho provision of that law, to create
such a "special agency for settling the
affairs of one bankrupt?” It submits this
question, along with all others suggested
by the history and failure of the bank, to
the consideration of a Democratic House
of Representatives.
Despairing of getting justice for the
depositors of the bank at the hands of
the party which established the concern
as a great boon to the freedmen and their
descendants, it almost supplioates the
Democratic party not to pass by or treat
lightly "as a passing joke” "the cheating
of tho emancipated blacks by their liber
ators aud protectors.” The most im
portant lesson of all, however, the
Nation does not improve for the benefit of
the freedmen. and that is. not to mix their
politics v>.th their business or to im
agine that those who seek to control their
votes have therefore the most solicitnde
or the most scrupulous regard for their
interest Every colored man in this city
who has been a loser by the failure of the
F’ ?edinen’s Bank has only to reflect upon
what would be the difference to himself
personally if he had deposited his earn
ings in one of the old, well-managed sav
ings banks of this city, instead of with
the political creation at Washington in
order to perceive and appreciate the
point
The outlook for the Democracy in New
Hampshire is hopeful enough to give
them renewed strength aud confidence in
working up the State campaign for 1876.
In a State which has been so evenly- di
vided in political sentiment as New
Hampshire, it is not easy to forecast the
result, but the Democratic party there
seems to be united and reasonably sure
of victory. It is probable that
it will deserve to win at least.
In questions of local importance as
well as those which reflect the broader
national issues, there must be no step
backward by the party that has pledged
. itself to reform. The patriotic and pro
gressive men among the New Hampshire
Democrats are coming to the front, and
they will make their cause worthy the
confidence of the voters of the State in
spite of the slanderous tactics of the op
position. The Democrats of that State
know that they cannot afford next year
to put forth any uncertain sound. They
are preparing for the canvass early, earn
estly, honestly and ably, and they deserve
suocess.
The maddest man in Wisconsin is John
Leigh, of Oconto. He was a candidate
for member of Assembly, and being a
conscientious man voted for his oppo
nent, who was elected by just one ma
jority.
gwmqjli llMili pews,
Conflicting Cotlon Reports.
The New York World contains the fol
lowing editorial comments on the con
flicting cotton crop reports of the Na
tional Cotton Exchange and those of the
Agricultural Bureau at Washington:
“The importance of the cotton crop of
the United States is too apparent to need
illustration. It is recognized throughout
the mercantile world. Its influence is
felt at the remotest points. All efforts
to procure correct information of its
progress and prospects are therefore to
be commended and aided. The Na
tional Cotton Exchange, having its head
quarters at New Orleans, and the Ag
ricultural Bureau at Washington, have
recently issued reports upon the
current cotton crop which are so incon
sistent, not only with each other but
with themselves, as to demonstrate that
much is yet to be done before the general
public can feel any reliance upon what
may emanate from either of these
sources. The annexed table, comprising
the estimates of the cotton crop of the
United States, based on the October and
November reports from the National
Cotton Exchange and Agricultural Bu
reau, will make clear the inconsistencies
and contradictions complained of :
Cotton Agricultural
Exchange, Bureau, Average,
bale*. bales. bales.
Oetober 3,878,000 4,*22,000 4,049,000
November 4,197,000 3,853,000 4,025,000
Averages 4,030,500 4,037,600 4,037,000
“Perhaps we have reached by this
process as fair an estimate of the current
crop as can be had by any other means.
But the authors of the two reports are
placed in an awkward position. Very
little doubt is felt on our Cotton Ex
change that the report of the National
Board for October was manipulated in the
interest of the bull party to the specula
tion which was then in progress; and it is
also bolieved that the construction which
has been put upon the November
report of the Bureau is forced and
unnatural—ignoring, perhaps, the in
creased acreage and the fact that the
increased percentages of yield take place
in sections where the greater proportion
of the crop is usually grown, and the de
creased percentages in sections where
the growth of cotton is at the best not
large. Should the November estimate of
the Agricultural Bureau prove correct,
the receipts at the ports must henceforth
show a falling off. They were on the
16th, 128,637 bales in excess of the cor
responding period last year; and, there
fore, if the crop is to be only 20,000
bales larger, the excess of 108,637 bales
must be lost in the remainder of the crop
year.”
A Southern Pacific Railroad.
We find the following editorial in the
Richmond, Va., Whig, of the 17th: “We
print to-day a communication signed
‘Richmond’ which will be read with in
terest by Southern men who appreciate
the importance of a truly Southern road
to the Pacific, and who aro properly ad
vised as to the necessity for the most earn
est and active efforts, on the part of the
representative,* oi the Goutn in Gongiuat?,
to baffle the designs of the cunning
schemers who are seeking to secure
Southern support for a Northern road
pretendedly in Southern interests.
‘Richmond’ writes with an obvious fa
miliarity with the subject he has in hand.
He knows what he is talking about, and
his reasoning is sound.
“There is great power among the po
litical and moneyed magnates of the
North, and in a contest for favorable
legislation at Washington looking to the
trade to flow along this contemplated
road, either into that section or this, it
will be no easy matter to master them.
But difficult as it may be, the Southern
Senators and Representatives in Congress
can do it if they will. They have only
to be united in their action, to be watoh
ful and cautious, to be bold and deter
mined in asserting the claims of the South,
and to listen to no proposal or promise
that is not backed by an infallible guar
antee that the trade which should be
tributary to their markets and ports must
and will be so. That guarantee can be
nothing less than such a route for the
road as will preclude the possibility of its
diversion from the South to the North.
“We are drawing very near now to the
pivot-pomt on which the great commer
cial interests of the South must turn, at
least for a long time to come. A Pacific
railroad can neither be built in a year,
nor at the cost of any small sum of
money. And if the pseudo-Southern
road to whioh ‘Richmond’ refers shall
be adopted by Congress as the road for
the South, several generations must come
and go before the Southern people can
again nave a hope for a recognition of their
rights of trade. Now is the time for our
Representatives to take their stand, and
to hold it against all the agencies, all the
influences, all the arts, and all the en
ginery of the men of the North, and for
the North who are striving to strangle
the South as they embrace her to betray
her.
"A Southern Pacific Railroad is the
great desideratum in the commerce of
the country, but better, far better, for
the South to have no road than a road to
her own rum.”
Mr. A. J. Beresford Hope, the English
gentleman who presented the statue of
Stonewall Jackson to the State of Vir
ginia, writes as follows accepting memo
rials of his "much honored and greatly
regretted friend,” Gen. JohnC. Breckin
ridge: "His name has been for years to
us a household word, and upon his arrival
in England Lady Mildred Beresford Hope
and myself sought his acquaintance and
had the pleasure of receiving him as our
guest, both here and in the country.
Personal acquaintance produced a warm
esteem and respect, and a vivid impres
sion of his eminent abilities. I have
often since then remarked that out of the
persons of distinction with whom, in the
course of my life, I have in various ways
been thrown, Gen. Breckinridge was
among those who had most irresistably
struck me with a feeling of ability and
ready power. I had looked forward to
the probability of his again, in better
times, coming to the front and devoting
his great talents to the public welfare.”
It is said that Tom Scott proposes to
soon commence running a fast passenger
train at the same high rate of speed as
his fast mail train. This train will be
run from New York to Pittsburg, 453
miles, without a single stop, carrying an
extra car loaded with coal and taking in
water as it moves, from pipes underneath
the track. It seems like a fearful ex
periment for our American roads, but we
are a daring people, and the traveling
public are generally ready to ride as fast
as anybody is willing to drive.
•
SAVANNAH, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1875.
Affairs in Georgia.
Mr, Alexander Taylor, the oldest inhabit
ant of Dougherty county, is dead. He was
born in 1791.
Tbe editor of the Albany Newt has been
munching roasting-tars raised by Dr. Ar
nold. Leaves have their time to fall, but
ro&s ting-ears in Dougherty county don’t
seem to have any particular time to ripen.
The Geneva Lamp calls the attention of
the public to five specimens of home-made
pork in that village that will weigh three
hundred pounds apiece, being only one year
old. This fact makes it possible to bring
forward another candidate for Governor.
Albany wants to be written up. We were
under the impression that that feat was
accomplished every week in the News.
Ham, of the Warrenton Clipper, turns out
to be a Good Templar. We suspected some
thing of the sort when he refused to mix
hi* urinkb (with water) daring the Macon
Fair.
The Sunny South is going to have its por
traits of distinguished men labeled here
after. Even the editor can’t tell them
apart.
Tbe gin-honse of Mr. William Spence, of
Mitchell county, was burned by an in
cendiary last week, together with seven
bade* of cotton. If this is not the twenty
fifth this aeasoD, Dr. Janes will please cor
rect ns.
Jfhe barn of Mr. Joseph, Pearce in the
•hr.., county, was also burned by an in
oeudiary together with quite a quantity of
forage.
The editor of the Genera Lamp refuses
to work in the same room with carpenters.
This is what we call class distinction. Where
is Colonel Dugas Trammell—he of the
tawny mane ?
A negro is in jail at Albany for shooting at
the engineer of the Arlington train. This
is all very well, but why can’t some colored
man be found brave enough to bring down
a milkman ?
Geneva—even the little Geneva—has
shipped fifteen thousand bales of cotton
this season. Mhat will Barnesville say to
this?
The very day that Sawyer promises to
make new developments, the Atlanta Com
monwealth ceases to come to hand. This is
very funny. Has Kimball got anything to
do with the Post Office ?
We hope Henry Grady hasn’t got enough
stuck-upedness about him to refuse to send
us a copy of his forthcoming Atlanta ro
mance.
It seems that Whidby didn’t accompany
the Okefenokee expedition. This is evi
dently providential. The alligators would
have had a fearful time in dividing him
aroun i.
Colonel Sawyer proposes to once more
take charge of the Rome Courier. This will
give him the opportunity to curry down his
Atlanta friends at leisure. We look tor
several Bevere skinning matches.
It doesn’t mane any difference in Georgia
whether a man is bald-headed or not. The
newspapers attack him all the same.
Brinkley, of Newnan, having had the
pleasure of killing his wife will probably be
swung for it. The doctors say his insanity
is not too serious to prevent his neck Irom
breaking, providing the proper arrange
ments are made.
A young lady in Johnson county is about
to sue the editor of the Darien Gazette for
breach of promise.
A dejected Marietta parent writes us that
he has been boarding three Atlanta editors
every Satui day night for four months. The
kerosene bills which he forwards are alarm
ing. We suggest that ho purchase an infe
rior brand—the kind that explodes when the
wick is lowered. By this means be will ef
fectually rid himself of several unprofitable
embryo sons-in-law.
Troup county is full of good items. Only
last week one negro killed another, and the
murderer had to be killed before he would
be arrested.
The Middle Georgia Medical Society will
meet in Barnesville on the third of next
January.
Camden county has produced a sweet
potato weighing twelve pounds. This is
carrying the cultivation of the wind colic
to a degree of excellence never before
reached in this county.
tir. U—-1 tho hwit
ductors on the Central Railroad, ha* been
ill for several days.
Wilkinson county is about to contribute
several worthy citizens to Texas ceme
teries.
The horse disease has reached Wilkinson
county.
A Baptist Institute for colored ministers
will bo held in Macon for one month, begin
ning on tho 30th inst.
Wilkinson county is burying a large crop
of grain this season.
A band of gypsies are boarding on the
suburbs of Irwinton.
A band of colored serenaders were ar
rested in Irwinton the other day and bound
over to keep the peace. This is a step in the
right direction. Now let the white sere
naders be brought to justice.
The planing mill of Messrs. Rockhill &
Cos., near Macon, was burned tho other day.
Atlanta is chock full of burglars.
Thus the Thomasville Enterprise: Captain
Miller B. Grant, an abl? engineer, well
known in this section, will enrich the col
umns of the Savannah News with accounts
from the Okefenokee expedition, while Ma
jor Sidney Herbort ornaments and perfumes
them with bouquets from the Land of Flow
ers. It will be a good season for Northern
and Western people to read the News.
Irwinton Southerner: Between eight and
nine o’clock on last Wednesday morning as
Henry, son of Mr. William Etheridge, aged
about eighteen, was on his way to Pleasant
Plains Church, when near Sandbed bridge,
a negro stepped from the bushes into the
road, seized tho bridle of the mule which
he was driring and ordered the young man
to leave the buggy, as ho wanted the mule.
Mr. Etheridge was fortunately armed and
he drew his pistol, and the negro let loose
the mule and plunged into the thick bushes
halloing “don’t shoot.” He is described as
a large muscular negro, clothed in rags and
having a desperate, starving look. Our citi
zens will do Well to look out for him.
A bloody affray occurred last Wednesday
night at Williamsville, in Pike county, be
tween two farmers, John Rogers and James
S nth, in which the latter lost his life.
From a gentleman who was present, the
Griffin Nexcs gets the following particulars
of the tragedy: Rogers and Smith and
others were congregated at a grocery in the
village, when some difficulty arose between
these two men, which soon led to blows,
whereupon Rogers drew a pocket-knife and
inflicted a ghastly wound on his opponent’s
neck, severing some of the arteries. Rog
ers then ran and was pursued by Bmith
for quite one hundred yards, when Smith
fell and died from the effects of the wound
and before assistance could reach him.
Rogers escaped to a kinsman’s house in the
neighborhood, from which place he dis
patched a messenger back to the village to
learn Smith’s condition. The messenger
arrived, and made inquiries, but was ar
rested and divulged the whereabouts of
Rogers, whereupon a posse was summoned,
and went and arrested him, but on their
return with him he managed to make his
escape, since which time nothing has been
heard of him. Both men are reported to
have been in liquor at the time.
Macon Telegraph: A most brutal assault
was made upon a young lady, near Fort
Valley, Sunday afternoon, by a negro named
John Brown, the circumstances of which
are detailed to ns as follows: Between three
and four o’clock in the afternoon the young
lady, accompanied by her father and mother
aDd a younger sister, went out for a walk.
The young laay and her little sister were
soon some distance ahead of their parents.
On their way they came to a pond where
there were some sweetgum trees, and
stopped, and were picking gum from a
tree when a negro came up and brutally
assaulted the young lady by knocking
her down, evidently with the intention of
outraging her person. The little sister be
came frightened and ran back to meet her
father, and told him that the negro was kill
ing her sister. The father ran as rapidly
as possible toward the place designated by
the little girl, and when he came in view of
it he saw the negro sitting on his prostrate
daughter and cramming mud in her mouth
to stifle her cries. Hearing the irate father
approaching, the negro released his victim
and fled; but too late. Neighbors and
friends joined in the pursuit, and
the villain was never lost sight
of until captured. He was taken to Fort
Valley and lodged in the guard house. Dur
ing the afternoon negroes began to assem
ble in Fort Valley, and it was apprehended
that they premeditated the release of the
prisoner. In order to have him the more
secure he was started to Perry, accompanied
by a marshal and a deputy sheriff. About a
mile out from Fort Valley a band of men
surrounded the buggy, led the guard away
and hung the negro to the limb of a tree
which stood near, where he remained hang
ing till about noon yesterday, when he
was cut down by the Coroner,’ and an in
quest held. So far as we are able to learn,
white and colored people of Honston county
approve the sentence. Some colored men
wno assisted in his capture were anxious to
hang him on the spot, but were opposed by
the white men. But only a little later he
paid the full penalty of the outrage he had
committed. The young lady, we are happy
to state, received no injury further than the
loss of one of her teeth from the blow struck
by the fiend when he first assailed her.
The Augusta Constitutionalist alludes to
the Monyixo News as “the Savannah pa
tter.” And this in spite of the fact that we
have a man specially employed to credit
items from our Northern and’ Western ex
changes to tnat journal.
A deaf and dumb negro was killed on the
Air-Line Railroad the other day.
The Constitution states that “Carters
ville’s blonde belie is in tbe city.” She is
evidently trying to shake the Atlanta edi
tors.
The Thomasville Enterprise remarks: Our
young friend, Mr. S. G. McLendon, who has
just returned from Savannah, where he has
been assisting his father in constructing the
Atlantic and Gulf and Charleston Railroad
connection, informs ns that the road-b and is
complete, the iron is being put down, and
that the cars will be running in a few days.
Henry Grady, of the Atlanta Herald, is a
husband and a father, and yet be talks
about a young lady’s hand fluttering in.hts.
“ Fluttering” is good. If there are not
enough bands for the “ flutterers” np that
way, ship ’em down here.
Mr. Joshua Moore, of Tattnall county,
was killed by a falling tree recently.
Mrs. Dnkes, of Macon county, was killed
the other day by trusting too much to the
mercy of a gin. Her arm was terribly man
gled, and she died in a few hours.
Fort Valley is gloating over a sixteen-inch
radish.
The colored incendiaries who were on
trial iu Stewart county have been committed
for trial. *? - t
Mr. Iverson L. Hunter has transferred
the Milledgeville Spirit of the South to Mr.
J. C. McClendon.
Stewart county is clamoring for a chain
gang.
Mr. Willingham has retired from the
Rome Courier.
Grady admits that he has “prominent
ears.” Of course we can’t attack a man
when he makes admissions like that.
The Hinesville Gazette says that Mr. J. E.
Stafford, an honest, industrious young mao,
living near Taylor’s s reek, in Liberty coun
ty, has come to the conclusion from his own
experience that there is a living in this
country. He married and began life three
years ago without a dollar. With a yearling
ox the first year he made corn enough to
support his family and a bale and a half
of cotton. Last year he bought a
mule, but finding tbe mule too
expensive, he traded him off for a
yoke of oxen. With those oxen, notwith
standing the bad seasons this year, he made
two and a half bales of cotton, sixty bushels
of rice, and corn, cane and potatoes enough
for his own use. There is wisdom in his
remark, “There’s a living in this country,”
and especially in the concluding portion,
“if you will ’only work for it.” But not
without. .
A young man named McLeod was killed
on the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, near
Dixie, recently.
The Count Johannes B’Gormanne writes
to the Macon Telegraph that ho is on his
way to “Deern’s Lake.” We’ll be “Deemed”
if we believe it. If that is profanity, turn
loose tho dogs of war.
The Thomasville Enterprise warns the
granges in that section to avoid jealousy.
The same paper has heard rumors of the
strange disappearance of Mrs. Barbara Cau
thorn, the wife of William Canthorn, a well
to-do farmer, who lives just over the line in
Pike county, near Orchard Hill. From Mr.
Wiley Cooper the News gleans the following
particulars in reference to the sad event,
which may be considered reliable: Mrß.
Barbara Canthorn is an eiderly lady,
some fifty years of age, and for some
years has been an invalid and confined
to her bed, and suffering at times
from mental derangement, superinduced
it was supposed by her other afflictions.
Last Saturday, a week ago, she was sitting
up and wag cheerful and remarked that she
had not felt so well for months, and her
family wer. ied to hope that she might soon
recover her wonted health and strength.
Soon,however,she was missed from the house
and after a time the fears of the family be
coming aroused, search for her was made
without success, and tho family by this
time becoming thoroughly alarmed,
neighbors were called in and a gen
eral search of the neighboring
woods and fields commenced, still with
out avail. Sineo that ii.ua during
last week, up to Sunday night last, the
neighborhood has been in a restless state
of excitement, and all the streams and wells
ha ve been dragged, and still no clue of the
missing lady has been found. It is needless
to say that the warst fears are entertained
that she has come to a tragic end by some
means not known and not surmised.
Atlanta Constitution : As Si was coming
up town from the Atlanta and Richmond Air-
Line depot yesterday, he indulged in a little
song all to himself. Two other negroes
passed by, and one of them shouted back :
“Pin up yer onder lip, old man, an’ stop dat
racket!” “Who yer talkin’ ter?” said Si,
stopping short and turning around. “Talkin’
to you; who yer tink I’m talkin’ to, you ole
Guinea rooster, you?” “Yer don’t
know me, do yer?” said Si. “I don’t
keer who you is; you ain’t !no
grand army ob de ’pub ic, no how!” “Look
hyar, I’m de most discourageous nigger in
dis Atlanty city, and I’ll jis take dis hyar
head and butt yer inter de forepart of Chris
mus week, 1 will.” “You’se a da—” Just
then Si took a run with head bent down, and
two seconds after there was a sick nigger in
the mud, wanting-nothing under heaven
but a doctor. And as Si went on, he re
marked over his shoulder : “I’m a bad nig
ger ; alius wus; wus bad ’fore de war; bad
all in der war; bad arter de war, and I’m de
loudes’ buttin’ mgger you eber read ’bout in
books wid de leabes all out and de kiver
lost.”
The same paper says : The West Point
passenger train yesterday evening brought
in a beautiful girl, four or five years old,
who knew nothing about her destination.
She was placed under the charge of a lady
at Montgomery, Ala., by a man. He came
on board and asked if there was any one
going to Augusta. Upon a lady responding
that she was, he asked her if she would
take charge of the little girl to Augusta,
and then put her under charge of the con
ductor of the train there. She said she
would if he would see the conductor about
it. The man was a stranger to the lady, and
left the train without giving her any money
to pay the child’s fare or supply her with food.
The child had a slip of paper upon which
was written “Place Emmie Douglass in
charge of the conductor ot the sleeping car
to Augusta, and tell him to put her under
the care of the conductor on the Charlotte,
Columbia and Augusta Railroad to Pine
House, where sbe will be met by Mrs. Lucy
R. Strother.” Conductor Jag. ty. Bell upon
his arrival here, took the child home with
him until he could find out more about her.
It is somewhat singular that a child of her
tender years should be put on a train with
out money to travel a long distance, It is
true that no conductor would put her off the
tram or see her suffer for want of food, but
it is something unusual to ship the little
cherub alone.
Macon Telegraph: There is a colored man
in Wilkinson county named Rack Bell, who
is regarded by his race as too friendly with
the whites, and they therefore look upon
him with suspicion. On several occasions,
when they havo been discovered in thieving
or other rascality, they have accused him
of playing the spy and informing against
them. Whether Rack did the things of
which he is accused we are not advised,
but it is certain that he incurred the
enmity of the other negroes, and at last
they seem to have determined that the bet
ter plan would be to put him out of the
way. About three o’clock yesterday morn
ing a party of eleven, consisting of ten
negroes and one whiteman, went to Rack’s
house for the purpose of making a sum
mary disposition of him. They got pos
session of him, gagged him, bound his
hands behind him, tied a wheelbarrow
wheel and some plow-irons, weighing
altogether about thirty pounds, around his
neck, and then took him to a bridge
over a neighboring creek. When they ar
rived upon the bridge one of the negroes
drew a pistol and attempted to shoot him
through the head. Fortunately for Rack,
the ball missed him. He had the presence
of mind, however, to drop as if he had been
shot, and his assailants, imagining him to
be dead, rolled him off the bridge into
the water, which was about ten feet
deep. By a miracle almost, bound,
gagged and loaded down as he was,
Rack managed to get astride of a sleeper,
which saved him from being drowned.
The gang of ruffians fled as soon as they
tumbled him into the water, as they be
lieved him to have been murdered by the
shot which was aimed at him-. Gagged
as he was, Rack could give no alarm, and
his hands being securely bound behind
him, he was unable to relieve his neck of
the load they had fastened there; but
by a slow and steady endeavor he man
aged to work his way to the bank of the
stream, and then made his way to the
nearest house, which he reached about
five o’clock yesterday morning, and was
released from’ the uncomfortable situation
in which the outlaws had left him. Rack
identified all the parties who were engaged
in this outrage. He went to Irwinton and
reported the names of the ten negroes, but
steadfastly refused to reveal the name of 'he
white man who took part in the Ku-Klux
outrage. Up to noon yesterday eight of the
ten negroes had been arrested and lodged
in jail at Irwinton, and there was every rea
son to believe that the other two would be
arrested before night. We hope the white
man will share the same, or even a worse
fate than the negroes. He certainly- de
serves worse at the hands of the law.
Colonel Crocker, of Fort Valley, is dead.
Colonel H. D. Capers is now residing in
Columbia, S. C.
Mr. R. R. Goetchins, of Columbus, is
dead.
Fitch calls a colored battle a “hickory
stick tournament.”
Mr. Millsaps, of Rome, was robbed of live
hundred dollars the other night. What
business has a man with live hundred dol
lars anyhow ?
The Fort Valley Mirror remarks: A singu
lar oase of somnabualism occurred in this
town on Friday night. Tittle Bobbie Wallis,
the grandson of Mr. Bland Wallis, Sr., re
tired for the night feeling a little feverish.
During his sleep he dreamed that someone
was after him with a sharp stick. He got up
and fled from the house in his night clothes,
and shaped his course directly to the swamp.
He ran far into the swamp, scratching him
self with briars and wading through the
water and getting completely wet, before he
awoke. Asa matter of course, he was very
much bewildered, and wandered about for
some time before he found the road and
reached home.
The editor of theJMilledgeville Spirit of
the South has been in Savannah recently,
and here is what he says of the News office,
especially of the young man who run s the
city department: “This model of newspa
pers—this neplus ultra of Georgia journals—
the Savannah Morning News—is all pros
perity. It is the best—not one of the best—
newspapers in Georgia. In Mr. Estill it has
an able manager. He is a progressive gen
tleman, with plenty of brain, and fine execu
tive ability. He is now building—or rather
has nearly completed—the handsomest
newspaper building South of Baltimore. It
has five stories, and is complete in every ap
pointment. Besides being very substantial,
it is exceedingly ornamental. He ex
pects to remove to it during next month.
Mr. B. H. Richardson is the übiquitous city
editor of the News. He is indefatigable
in his labors, and writes the city up from
one end to the other every day. He is not
sensational, as are a great many others we
wot of, but is made of sterner stuff. He is
a capital companion everywhere, but we
especially admire him as an excursionist.
He is not well adapted for a seacoast editor,
as he has a great aversion to oysters, fish,
etc., besides being such a strong temper
ance advocate as to refuse to take even
enough of the “native wine” to keep the salt
water miasma from permeating his constitu
tion. Mr. Richardson has recently “builded”
an elegant “Pleasure Guide” for the conven
ience of tourists aud others visiting Savan
nah. It is full and complete in the descrip
tion of the city and the pleasant resorts
near by. It is also replete with his orical
recollections and incidents of the olden time,
and of the late army operations in that sec
tion. It is invaluable to the tourist on ac
count of the amount and usefulness of the
.information it contains. The work was
written for tne Savannah, Seaboard and
Skidaway Railway, and was so highly appre
ciated by the managers of the road that
they presented Mr. Richardson with an ele
gant gold-headed cane.
Athens Watchman : Col; John W. Wof
ford has resigned his seat in the Senate, iii
consequence of the courts in his Circuit
coming on during the session of the Legis
lature. In his address to his constituents,
he has this to say regar ding annual ses
sions : “ Aside from all this, the approach
ing session of the Legislature is wholly un
important, so far as I know or believe.
Several years experience in that body has
convinced me that there is no public demand
for annual sessions of the Legislature, and
that yearly sessions of the General Assembly
is a yearly waste of the public money. In
a time of peace and quiet, when there is
nothing but ‘hard times’ to break the mo
notony of current events, an annual ex
pense of a SIOO,OOO for legislation is too
much to pay for it. For a year or so after
Gov. Bullock absconded a good deal of law
making and investigation was necessary in
order to readjust the disjointed affairs of
the State government. But all that has
been done, and for the future a session
every two years is quite as often as there
will be any call for legislation. A
little examination of the class of
work with which the last few sessions have
been engaged will satisfy any one I am
right in this. I do hope to see a move
made at the next session to change the Con
stitution in conformity to the suggestion
here made.” Cel. Woti'ord is eminently cor
rect There is no earthly use for annual ses
sions. The Constitution needs changing in
this and many other respects. Tho opponents
of a convention pretend to think it would
involve a tremondous expense. The late
Convention of North Carolina cost the State
thirty thousand dollars. Suppose ours
should cost as much—what of it? In this
one item of biennial instead of annual ses
sions of tho Legislature, it would have the
State in twenty years at least two million
dollars—as it costs from one hundred thou
sand to one hundred and twenty thousand
for each session of the Legislature. Let
the sticklers for economy put this in then
pipes and smoke it.
THE OKEFENOKEE —WITHIN AND
WITHOUT.
Sketches of Incident and Adventures
BT M. B. OB ANT (PATTXi TRANSIT), CIVIL EN
GINEER.
PART IV.
It was a clear, cold day, the sun was
just rising as we left camp on our first
exploration into the Swamp. The whole
party, with the exception of A dam. and
Brahma,' were on this expedition. The
former was too old for such hardships
and we did not require it of him. The
latter on this occasion, as previously
hinted, preferred keeping watch over the
dead Indians in the mound rather than
risk the possibility of encountering live
ones in the Swamp.
After proceeding two hundred yards
we come to the edge of the Swamp—that
is, in the thick wood, which on the east
ern side invariably intervenes between
the high pine lands on the outside, and
the prairies on the inside. This belt of
wood averages about one mile in width,
though the width varies at different
points owing to the irregular contour of
the Swamp on the outside. The larger
growth in this belt consists generally of
pine, bay, laurel, ash, gum, and
occasionally water-oaks, with the
prevailing undergrowth of cane,
hem leaf, bamboo briars and titi,
which to a greater or less extent are to
be found everywhere in the wooden por
tions of the swamp, the prairies alone
being free from them. This wooded
belt on the outside of the swamp, which
at first we considered thick and hard to
get through, with our after experience
dwindled into insignificance and was
hardly dignified with the name of
thicket. We found no difficulty in
penetrating this belt, and having walked
about three-fourths of a mile, we
suddenly emerged from the wood and
found ourselves in the prairies, which
presented a beautiful view, partially cov
ered as they then were with water. To
wards the west, in the direction in which
we were going, glimpses could be had be
tween the islands for several miles, and
towards the southeast the eye could fol
low the prairies for many miles. These
prairies extend the entire length of the
swamp on the eastern side, averaging in
width from two to four miles, and
are invariably interspersed with islands,
varying in size from one-fourth of
an acre to four or five acres in area.
These islands are generally somewhat
more elevated than the surrounding
swamps, and are usually covered with a
growth similar to that previously de
scribed, except that we here find the
Loblolly bay in addition to the trees pre
viously mentioned. Besides, the under
growth is much more dense on these
islands, and I have frequently seen it al
most impenetrable. This vigorous growth
is no doubt owing to the rich soil
and abundant moisture. The spaces
or intervals of prairie between
these islands of course vary in
shape and extent as do the islands them
selves. They are almost always con
nected, thus forming continuous strips
of prairie, sometimes wide, and again
narrow. The effect of prairie and islands
is very pleasing to the eye, and the
numerous water fowls then frequenting
them gave life and animation to the
scene. In times of high water, when
the grass is covered, these prairies have
the appearance of lakes, and no doubt
gave rise to the impression that there
were extensive lakes on the east side of
the swamp. But such is not the
case. There are no lakes except one or
two very insignificant ones, scarcely
more than ponds. There is a growth of
tall grass generally to be found on these
prairies, of which the cattle in the vicin-
ity seem very fond, and after which they
sometimes venture in for a little way.
Open spaces are to be found in these
prairies, varying from five to twenty-five
feet in diameter, frequently very deep, and
always covered with a growth of water
lilies. Treacherous holes these, and woe
unto the luckless cow, hog or other quad
ruped that falls therein, for there is no es
cape from the soft, oozy mud that underlies
and surrounds them, and which furnishes
no foothold to the struggling animal. By
Mr. Short’s timely warning we soon
learned to avoid these places. Not so,
however, with our unfortunate Boots, as
you shall soon discover. We were about
to have a practical demonstration of the
truth of the adage “that distance lends
enchantment to the view.”
We had no sooner waded into the mud
and water up to our waists, and com -
menced our struggle forward, than every
vestige of romance and admiration van
ished. The ohange was magical, and the
effect ludicrous in the extreme.
Can you imagine ten men, struggling
for dear life up to their waists in mud,
water and ice—men of all proportions,
dispositions and inclinations—not strug
gling for one hour, but for hours, with
no place to sit, stand or lean, breaking
the ice at every step—one falling head
over heels into the water, another leaving
a boot or shoe in the mud, a third getting
over his head, and every step increasing
the distance from camp and comforts? If
you can draw the picture, then yon have
a correct photograph of our party in the
prairies on this first exploration. Can
you wonder at our joint soliloquy ?
“To bog or not to bog?
That’s the question—
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind
To stand such weary tramps as these,
Or take arms against this sea of mud,
And by returning, end them.”
“Hallo, Mass Beau!” said Stepney;
“ how you fine yourself? Dis ya de Okee
fenokee for true; dis ya beats hoein’ cot
ton and diggin’ taters all hollow. Neber
spec for see such work as dis. De blessed
Lord, and how much fudder we goin ?”
“ I think we have come about a mile
and a half or two miles; but Mr. Short
knows best; he can tell you. How far,
Mr. Short?”
“Well, I reckon hits about a mile or a
leetle the big end of it that we’s been
a boggin about? Why, boy, you haint
seen nothin’ yet. Just wait till we gits
to the Double Branches. Maybe we
mout como across a bar, and if we do,
nigger, we’ll have some fun.”
“Well, boss, how far is it to the
Double Branches ? I’m fit to gin out
now.”
“Well, hit’s about a short sight and a
horn blow, or tharabouts I haint partic
lar; but you’ll know when you gitthar.”
r “A sight and a horn-blow,” ejaculated
Stipney. “How fur is dat, Mr. Short ?”•
“Well, hit’s just fur enough to blow
the head off of any nigger that
comes a projectin about me, and ef you
is sorter hankerin’ like I'll show you how
far ’hit is now.”
Stepney here changed the subject
to—
“ Well, Boss, suppose we come across
a bar, what mus Ido ? I can’t run in dis
yar place.”
“What do? Why, shoot him, of
course!”
“But, Boss, ’spose I miss him! What
den ?”
“Well, look yer, nigger, don’t bother
yourself. Ef you do shoot and miss him,
and you a-standin’ in this loblolly, he’ll
chaw you wusteran honey comb arter the
honey’s gone. You’ll be nigh unto bees
wax. Hit won’t do to fool with bars in
yar. And, strangers, take my word for
it, and the next time you come in the
swamp leave them ar pop-guns behind.
They wouldn’t raise the har on a bar’s
back. Bring double-barrels like mine—
twenty-four buckshot to a load. That’s
the way to tell it.’"
Stepney, though to a certain extent
incredulous, evidently thought it best to
acquiesce in what Mr. Short said, which
he did.
“Where is Mass Transit ?” said Orange.
“Ebery now and den I don’t see him at
all, and as for Mass Longhorn, he hab a
berry mournful spression ob face, and
eben Mass Ned look down in de mout. I
tink we all better eat some dinner. *I
know I hungry.”
Whereupon we all made for the nearest
island, and after a severe struggle with
the bushes succeeded in reaching a fallen
log, upon which we took our seats and
eagerly devoured our cold dinners —mid-
dling, biscuits and sweet potatoes —not
bad, reader, to a hungry set of men, after
such exercise as we had taken.
“Where’s Boots,” cried Jeff. “I want
to give him the scraps.”
No Boots! • Where was he ?
“Orange,” said the Colonel, “go and
look for Boots ;he can’t be far off.” In
about fifteen minutes Orange returned,
bringing Boots in his arms, who, poor
fellow, was almost frozen, having, all un
known to any of us, taken a bath among
the water-lilies, and not being able to get
out alone, had paid pretty dearly for the
fun. But we soon had him warmed up,
and I doubt not he was ready and willing
to pitch in again.
After dinner we continued our course
until the Double Branches were reached,
very much to our delight and gratifica
tion. We found this stream to be about
fifty feet wide and the current very slug
gish. The water was from five to six
feet deep and very dark in color, which
is generaily the case where the water
passes through heavy deposits of vegita
ble matter.
This stream enters the Swamp at its
northern extremity and continues its
course about midway of the Swamp, and
is evidently the channel for the waters of
Alligator and Gum Swamp creeks and
other streams that enter into the northern
part of the Swamp. As we crossed no
such stream in our route across the
Swamp through Floyd’s Island, it must
necessarily pass to the westward of the
latter and become one of the principal
tributaries of the Suwanee. We also
crossed this stream on our exploration
fiom the Hickory Hammock east, where
it is wider and deeper. Besides
wanting to see and examine this extreme
northern part of the Swamp, we were
particularly anxious to get to the Double
Branches, hoping that, by means of this
stream and others that might unite with
it, we could be able to explore the Swamp
in boats; but our examination and ac
quaintance with the Double Branches
soon set this scheme at rest, and de
monstrated its impracticability. In the
first place, the stream was tortu
ous in its course, and so filled
with logs and brush of every de
scription that no boat could navigate it.
Besides, even if it had been navigable,
there was no possible means by which to
get a boat into the stream through the
intervening Swamp, and there was no
material on this end of the Swamp fit to
make a boat from. So we had to abandon
this pet scheme at the start, and fall back
on the less agreeable mode of walking
through, or rather “bogging through,”
as Mr. Short termed it.
Having rested a while at the Double
Branches and having made a satisfactory
examination of this part of the Swamp,
at four o’clock we started to retrace our
steps, all of us being thoroughly worn
out and fatigued. This bogging and
struggling with mud and water con
tinuously for hours, brings into play
almost every muscle in the body, and
when kept up for any length of time
becomes a pretty severe punishment—at
least we thought so. Very little was said
on our return trip, though I think ail
were satisfied with this first exploration,
and each member of the party was con
vinced that there was more in it than the
name.
We did not reach camp until after
night, where we found our glorious fire
and hot supper ready, both of which, it
is hardly necessary to say, we enjoyed
hugely. Mr. Short took supper with us,
and expressed his unqualified apprecia
tion of the same by the emphatic an
nouncement that it was “bully,” and I
think it was.
I have a distinct recollection of spread
ing down my ■. lanket before the fire and
making a deposit of my weary flesh and
bones thereon; also of having filled and
lit my pipe. What transpired after
wards—that is, on the succeeding day—
will be related in my next.
ESTABLISHED 1850.
LETTER FROM SOUTH FLORIDA.
Covr-Huntinii In the St. I.uele Settlements
The Pine-Knot—Hunting Conspicuous
Deer In Florida—Gleason and His Name
sake.
[Special Correspondence of the Morning NeVs.]
\
Y
South Flobida, October 29, 1875. \
The best beef that the Savannah
market gets from Florida comes from a
beautiful and interesting region known as
the “Kissimmee Range.” Its inhabitants
are a brave, hardy race, generally of
Carolina or Georgia stock, and of that
good old kind who keep an open house
without charge. It lies between the
mysterious Lake Ochuchobee and the
St. John’s country, aud belongs, it may
be said, to the cow-kings, who chiefly
supply the Cuban cattle vessels and the
stock cars of tho Atlantic and Gulf Rail
road. I suppose you were never on a
“cow-hunt,” and I hardly think you
would understand its practical features if
I wrote them down with every sort of
explanation, for it belongs to that class
of things to be learned only by experi
ence.
COW-HUNTING
smacks of hard, dangerous riding and
monotonous whip cracking, but there are
episodes nnd scenes, characters and ad
ventures belonging to a South Florida
cow-hunt that would make an editor for
get for a time the inky odor of his sanc
tum and the disorderly piles of exchanges
that hem him in on all sides. His heart
would swell with emotions surpassing all
other rapture as he contemplated the
loveliness of semi-tropical nature, and
his perturbed mind would secure such
serenity as no other influence can give.
The very novelty of his feelings would
be relishable as he rode on and on
over a far-reaching prairie, cut into
fancy shapes by strips of hammock and
pine woods; now through seas of yellow
and blue flowers up to his horse’s ears ;
now up to his stirrups in tho shin
ing water of a crystal lake, and
anon penetrating the mossy labyrinths
of a gloomy hammock, where luxuriant
vines roof in the trees, while parasites
of gaudy colors adorn their trunks.
Hardly a minute would pass without its
diversion. Now a “bunoh” of cattle are
sighted and “held up” after an exciting
chase; here a big, old buck, with tow
ering antlers, springs up from the moist
grass, end hies away with a quivering
snort; ghostly birds are flapping lazily
up out of the stretches of saw grass,
and making off on every side.
Further on a flock of wild tur
keys trot leisurely along the cow path
ahead, or the Whirring warning of a rattle
snake is sounded and the reptile shot to
death with pistol balls, ringing bis defi
ance and striking out in all directions to
the last.
Excitement after excitement and scene
after scene, such as these, would beguile
him till the sun sets. Then comes
THE PINE-KNOT FIBE,
the matchless appetite and the supper,
after which he would lie down on his
blanket in the mild night air, too en
chanted to feel the fatigue of his day’s
ride.
A stranger traversing this section would
be astounded at the great abundance of
game. The fineness and number of its
deer are especially noteworthy. They
are hunted but little, and consequently a
fine opportunity to study their habits is
given. Of the wild animals that abound
in South Florida they are the
Possessed, as they are, of perfect sym
metry, with their extremities all bone and
sinew, they make a fine appearance in
the woods, whether moving cautiously
and nervously about as they feed, or
bounding away in wild alarm when some
thing has startled them. The young are
generally “dropped” in April, and the
does are grown at two years old. The
bucks, however, are not fully developed
before the sixth year. By a strange
provision of nature they shed
their antlers yearly, losing them
in February and March. The now ant
lers appear at once, and are covered with
a velvet-like substance in all their stages
of development to full growth, when it
disappears and leaves the horns smooth
and formidable.
DEER HUNTING.
Ordinarily the most timid of brutes,
they fly at the first suspicion of danger.
Yet, I have seen bucks turn upon hounds
and hunters with a lofty fearlessness that
entirely eclipsed the crafty fierceness of
the panther, or the grim ferocity of the
bear, which only fights when all chance
of flight is cut off. Now and then, a
buck of conspicuous size, courage and
sagacity will acquire a wide and lasting
reputation, as year after year he esoapes by
outswimming, misleading or annihilating
in open combat the various packs of
hounds that are put in pursuit of him.
As examples, I may mention the “Fillis
buck,” on the Suwannee river, and one
known as “Gleason,” on the Halpatta
hatchee. The former of these defied
several generations of dogs, and died, I
believe, of old age, after having had bags
of buckshot discharged at him. The
other was a bullet-scarred old veteran of
great size and shrewdness, so named by
the Seminoles, whose simple minds con
ceived that there was something
in the acuteness of the deer and the
“too much dam rascal” of the Dade
county manipulator, as exhibited by his
attempt to honey-fuggle them into adopt
ing him into the tribe and sending him to
represent them in the State Senate at
Tallahassee.
“GLEASON.”
Now, of all men this Gleason deserves
less to live, for of all scoundrels he is the
most unscrupulous—of all liars and
cowards the most infamous and pusil
lanimous, and the very name the Indians
had given the buck made me burn to
bring him down.
Time after time I still hunted through
his “range,” and although I saw him
frequently, he invariably outwitted me.
In the end, however, perseverance
overcame all obstacles, and one day after
shooting with both barrels of my gun,
and fighting him desperately all over a
quarter of an acre of ground with a pine
pole, I bore off his horns in triumph.
When written about, an encounter with a
wounded buck is tame enough, but the
reality is anything else. After tne vic
tory was won, and I stood with a foot on
the neck of my powerful antagonist, my
elation was only marred by a sneaking
wish that the dying beast were the land
grabbing founder of Eau Gallie himself.
* S.
The Use of Paper.—Of the 1,300,-
000,000 of human beings inhabiting the
globe, 370,000,000 have no writing mate
rial of any kind; 500,000,000 of the
Mongolian race use a paper made
from the stalks and leaves of plants;
10,000,000 use for graphic purposes
tablets of wood; 130,000,000 —the Per
sians, Hindoos, Armenians and Syrians
—have paper made from cotton, while
the remaining 300,000,000 use the ordi
nary staple. The annual consumption
by the latter number is estimated at
1,800,000,600 pounds, an average of six
pounds to the person, which has in
creased from two and a half pounds dur
ing the last fifty years. To produce
this amount of paper 200,000,000 pounds
of woolen rags, 800,000,000 pounds of
cotton rags, besides great quantities of
linen rags, straw, wood and other mate
rials are yearly consumed. The paper is
manufactured ip 3,900 mills, employing
90,000 male and 180,000 female laborers.
The proportionate amounts manufac
tured of the different kinds of paper are
stated to be —of writing paper, 300,000,-
000 pounds; of printing paper, 900,000,-
000 pounds; wall paper, 400,000,000
pounds and 200,000,000 pounds of
cartoons, blotting paper, etc.
A Parisian has sued for a separation
because his wife, though they are
wealthy, compels him to live almost
wholly on kidney beans and cabbage
soup.
LETTER FROM ST. MART’S.
St. Dfary’a aa a Winter Residence—New
Steam Kerry Boat to Fernandlna, and
Other Itema.
[Special Correspondence of the Morning News.]
St. Maby’s, November 22.
We have had a long continuation of dry
weather here. On Saturday, 20th inst.,
the thermometer went up to 82 degrees,
and the first rain for several weeks fell
here yesterday (Sunday) afternoon; and
to-day, November 22, dark, windy, and
some prospect of a northeaster, with a
gentle rain now falling.
The need of a safe, speedy and regular
iuter-oommunication between this city
aud Fernandina has long been felt, and
all efforts heretofore made to carry out
such an arrangement have been unavailing.
The prospect now, however, is |filter
ing that we are to have a steam ferry
boat to ply regularly between these two
places. A neat little craft, known among
seamen as a steam launoh, has already
arrived here, and from her appearance
giyes promise that she will perform the
det red service in a most acceptable
manner.
TSa name of the little new steam
launches Eugene, and her gentlemanly
Captain, Van Valen, will, without doubt,
do nil he can to ensure comfort and
safety and satisfaction to his passengers.
It is announced by printed hand-bills
that the Eugene will aIBO touch at
Dungeness, on Cumberland Island, whyn
necessary, for the convenience and ac
commodation of the guests of the hotel,
and other visitors to this place.
The gradual increase of Northern
visitors to St. Mary’s is very perceptible
on the return of each succeeding season.
So many invalids have been benefited by
a winter’s sojourn here that they, as well
as others, hearing of the healthful influ -
enco of our geuial climate, show their
faith by their works, and come again to
draw fresh inspiration from our in
vigorating sea bree-es.
St. Mary’s is particularly fortunate in
its wonderfully eligible natural position,
and iu its almost entire freedom from
climatic diseases. The health statistics
of this quiet little city will compare
favorably with any other place in the
wide, wide world.
Your correspondout is well acquainted
with tho medical topography of the
South. He has been a practicing physician
in one or more of the Southern States
for nearly fifty yoars. He received his
diploma from the University of Penn
sylvania, in Philadelphia, in the days of
Doctors Chapman and Physic and their
associates, and his opinion in favor of St.
Mary’s as a winter residence for invalids
seeking a mild and genial climate, will,
he thinks, have its proper influence,
especially when given most disinterest
edly, as he can truthfully say that he has
no axe to grind, through any prospective
speculation.
I do indeed take great pleasure in in
viting visitors coming South to give St.
Mary’s a trial as a winter residence, and
even tho year round with the most per
fect safety, if so desired.
St. Mary’s is situated on a peninsula.
Cumberland Island intervenes between
this city aud the Atlantic Ocean only ten
miles distant, and is a protection against
the violent gales of wind that sometimes
prevail. But even the heat of summer
hero is generally temperod by tho pre
vailing sea breeze.
I know of no place in the South that
approximates St. Mary’s so nearly as
Beaufort, iu South Carolina. Asa sea
side residence both of these places com
bine much beauty iu their respective lo
calities, aud I claim no originality for tho
expression of the opinion that the salu
brity of tho air and the general health
fulness of oach place is in some degree
aided and increased by the exhalation of
iodine from the surrounding marshes.
Although, as a general rule, my own ex
perience is hostile to the propriety of
sending confirmed phthisical patients
uway from home in search of health,
still I am ready and willing to adopt
the opinion of Dr. John Hughes
Bennett, than whom there is no
higher authority, that if such per
sons will seek a change of residence
let them “select places of quietude, of
fering no temptations to gayety, and
possessing only natural advantages of
scenery and the gentle stimulus of a clear
and cheer
ful society.” Such advantages
invitings, in an eminent degree, does St.
Mary’s hold out to the large number of
visitors annually coming South.
The usual quiet of St. Mary’s is almost
proverbial. There is no danger here of
foot passengers being run over by car
riages or drays or omnibuses, and our
grass-carpeted streets are very inviting
for tho exercise of walking, as well as for
the out-door exercise of croquet and base
ball. The siillness of our lovely nights
is now and then broken in upon by the
sweet sounds of vocal and instrumental
music in the way of a serenade, or the
more stirring and martial music of the
brass band from Fernandina.
Another inducement held out to visit-v.
ors to come to St. Mary’s is her well ap
pointed and well kept hotel. No more
home like or comfortable hotel accom -
modations can be found in these regions
than those offered by mine host of the
Spencer House, Mr. Stock well. Its quiet
ness, its neatness and order, and its well
supplied table, afford assurance of com
fort and satisfaction.
Peteb the Hebmit.
Dipllieria in the Thumbs—A
Strange Case.
Among the various freaks of this terri
ble disease, diptheria, which has made
such ravages among children in this eity
within the past few months, is one lately
developed in the case of a little daughter
of Mr. James Scull, of West Side avenue.
The child is about five years of age, and
was taken sick with diptheria about five
weeks ago. A day or two previous to the
attack she had broken the skin on the
back of both her thumbs. Dr. E. W.
Pyle, the attending physioian, found the
child had all the symptoms of diptheria
with the exception of the formation of a
membrane in the throat. But this mem
brane was formed on the back of each
thumb over the plaoes where the skin had
been abraded.
The doctor, becoming interested in
this strange freak of the disease, re
moved the diseased membranes from
the thumbs, when others immediately
succeeded in the same places. He then
examined the membrane as it appeared
on the child’s thumbs under the micros
cope, and found it to be in every parti
cular like that which in this disease
usually forms in the throat or in some of
the air passages. He took a membrane
from the throat of another little daughter
of Mr. Scull, who was then sick, and has
since died with diphtheria, and com
paring it with that taken from her
sister’s thumb found them precisely
alike. The little girl who had been the
subject of this singular development, as
the disease advanced from one stage to
another, still continued to show symp
toms of diphtheria, having paralysis of
the soft palate and lower extremities,
being unable to either move or speak for
several days. She at length began to
grow convalescent, however, and is now
nearly recovered, being again able to
walk about and talk the same as before
her sickness, while the sores on the back
of her thumbs are entirely healed up.
Dr. Pyle is of the opinion the! “ eon.
taken by the disease in this case is a
strong argument in favor of theopin
which many medical men hold: that
diphtheria is not wholly, if indeed it
chiefly, a disease of the throat and organs
of respiration. —Jersey City Everarvg
Journal.
Five years have now rolled over the
battlefield of Gravelotte; each season the
trees leaved out and amid their foliage
the uproarious birds built their nests and
sang out joyful songs, quite oblivious of
the misfortunes of the land. Amid all
their troubles the French people’s busi
ness has still jogged along. They jumped
out of Waterloo and they jumped out of
Sedan in a twinkling. Two days after
ward those battles belonged to the past
century in the French mind.
Kerosene Explosion—Six.Persons In
jured. --Trenton, N. J., r November 2\. —
A kerosene oil lamp exploded in a shoe
maker’s shop kept by Conrad Zeigler, in
this city, last evening, and injured six
persons. One of them, named George
Ashmose, will probably die. He was
taken to St. Francis Hospital, where he
now lies in a precarious condition.
Don’t let this mild spell deceive you.
If you have got jewelry to fix, have it
done now. It will be a severe winter.