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**TUKPAY, JANUAKY 8, 1878.
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CORREMPOKOENUB.
• * ■orrenjxmdence solicited ; but to receive atten
tion, letters mu*t be accompanied by a re.pon.i
hie name, not for publication, but a* a guarantee
°f good faith.
All letter, .hould be arldresaecl to
J. H. KSTILL, Savannah, Ga.
The Reet-nt Pretended Nitj Disburse
ment* to te Investigated.
It is stated in Washington dispatches
that the well known determination of the
Appropriations Committee to make a
sharp and general reduction of govern
ment expense* has produced a profound
sensation among department officials.
Nothing in the plan of retrenchment,
however, seems to have created so much
comment as the determination of the
committee not to appropriate a dollar to
oover the late unusual expenditures by
the Secretary of the Navy. This decision
lias, it is said, raised a breeze in the Navy
Department itself aDd has brought out a
theory of the cause of these expenditures
which is both new and in some respects
plausible. It is said that if the commit
tee adheres to its purpose it will create a
sensation, and that the recent apparently
lavish expenditures for the navy have
been more show than reality; that but
little monoy has been expended in fact,
and that, for instance, at Brooklyn old
wooden ships have been fitted for sea
service with apparently great expense,
while very little money was used and the
vessels are known in some cases to be
hardly seaworthy. Further, that the fleet
has been supplied from stores already on
hand and paid for. In short, it is asserted
that the whole of the recent revamping
of the navy is a sham, and that a close
examination will show that it must have
been done with the purpose of procuring
largo appropriation* to cover previous and
irregular expenditures. Three members
of the Cabinet have declared to friends
that they kuow nothing in our foreign
relations which would call for the ap
parent activity in the navy, and navy
officers have, from time to time, let fall
in conversation facts which show that the
ostentatious outfit of ships has been done
with the most parsimonious economy,
and with regard, apparently, only to put
ting a largo paper force in commission,
and not to making the refitted ships
sound and formidable. The Appropria
lions Committee will make haste to look
into this matter, aud the investigation
promises to be thorough.
An Independent Radical Candidate
for Governor.
The Columbus Times learns that Judge
James Johnson, who will be remembered
as the Provisional Governor of Georgia
under President Johnson, has announced
himself as an independent candidate for
Governor ou the platform of principles
embodied in Grant’s Des Moines speech
aud message to Congress. Mr. Johnson
was n “Union-auyhow” man in 1800, and,
while ho took no active part ou the Union
side during tl war, was a very
jßftaJ.ons saniawag during the reign
of llullook, by whom he was ap
pointed Judge of the Superior Courts of
the Ohattahoocheo Circuit! By his an
announciug himself at this timo as
an independent candidate for Gov
ernor on the Grant platform he no
doubt expects to concentrate the
Radical vote, revive the forlorn hope of
that uiougrel faction,aud at the same time
plaoo himself in position to take advan
tago of any schism that may occur
in the ranks of the Democracy. While
there should bo no cause of appre
hension from Mr. Johnson's self-nomi
nation, it is perhaps fortunate that he
did not longer delay the announcement
of his Gubernatorial aspirations. It may
serve as a warning to the marplots of the
Democracy to coase their personal hick
erings, their incessant prancing out of
new candidates, aud induce them to wnit
the calm, sober judgment of the people
in the matter of nominating the next
Governor of Georgia.
The Chookkd Down South—Seabch
iNii Fob It in the Mountains. —While
Grant’s revenue officers have been very
successful in shariug the profits of illicit
distilling in St. Louis, Chicago, Mil
waukee and other large Northern aud
Western cities, these vigilant patriots
have always experienced great difficulty
in suppressing the small illicit distillers
in the mountains of Virginia, North and
South Carolina, aud Tennessee. There
has been a standing offer for a long time
of S3OO for each capture of one of these
stills. About two months ago, as we
learn from a dispatch, Major Jacob Wag
ner was sont southward with twelve men,
fitted out for active service. They were
well mounted and armed, and without
uniforms to embarrass them in their
work. The party has seized about
twenty-five stills per month, at an aver
age cost of $25 for each still. A dispatch
was received from Major Gordon to-day,
dated at Greensboro, S. C., in which he
states that he has just come in, bringing
fifteen distillers under arrest. On his last
trip he destroyed ten stills and 10,000
gallons of mash, and seized large quanti
ties of high wines and grain.
Ethebio Force and Elect luciTy. — Mr.
Houston, Professor of Physics at the
Central High School of Philadelphia, has
communicated to the press of that city
some observations on the so-called
, “elheric force” of Mr. Edison. He is of
I opinion that no new force has been dis
covered, and that the phenomena relied
Ipon to demonstrate the existence of a
ew force can be accounted for without
oing beyond what is already known of
tne operations of electricity. Phenomena
which to Mr. Edison were irreconcilable
with the presumption that the force in
operation was electricity all find in Mr.
Houston's view “a satisfactory explana
tion by the presence of induced electrical
currents.”
From this criticism, says the Herald, it
would appear that Mr. Edison simply got
lost in the scientific dust he made, and,
arriving at a well-known cross-road from
anew direction, did not recognize where
he was. His apparatus was so arranged
that an electrical current moved in each
direction, separated by a time so infinite
ly little as to be inappreciable to sense.
The result of this double ourrent was an
electrical equilibrium, and this
um accounted for the fact that
did not respond to the tests for electricity,
which were all tests for a direct current
onlj.
Vi'he rice production of the Cape Fear
listrict of North Carolina, which was
about 200,000 bushels before the war, is
now barely 10,000 bushels, and diminish
ing. The tobacco crop in the northern
belt of the State is the largest since <the
J. H. ESTILI,, ‘^PKiETOR,
The President and the Whisky Rings.
Considerable comment, says a Wash
in gt<ft dispatch to the Boston Post , has
been indulged in by prominent Congress
men and politicians generally upon what
is styled the gloom in which President
Grant seems to be enveloped on account
of the developments in the crooked whisky
cases. It is remarked that he betrays
moroseness, and appears to he in a frame
of mind to be more desirous than ever
that no guilty man shall escape. Atten
tion is also called to the fact that public
interest has been somewhat distracted
from the school question, which was ex
pected to absorb all other subjects, by
the startling and damaging discoveries
already made in the whisky cases, and
which have turned all eyes toward the
White House. The action of the admin
istration in dismissing General Hender
son from the position of assistant govern
ment counsel at St. Louis is almost uni
versally condemned as unwise and im
proper, while Henderson is commended
by some for his boldness and firmness in
this matter, which, together with his
similar record in the Johnson impeach
ment trial in the Senate, are regarded as
evidences of real consistency in the man.
The Post charitably acquits Gen. Grant
of anything like direct complicity in the
whisky frauds. It says: “The people do
not charge him with that. Mr. Hender
son did not charge him with it, but with
just what was too palpable to need any
proof; that, by his system of patronage,
by liis habit of granting what his favo
rites asked withont questioning the
reasons, he did unwittingly, yet through
a perversion of his official functions, aid
this guilty combination in its nefarious
transactions and help it t<f hide from
justice. It may not have been a crime
that he permitted himself to be used as a
pliant tool in this business, but it was a
grievous fault, and one that can only be
atoned for by seeing that his edict is ful
filled to the letter, ‘Let no guilty man
escape.’ It is not probable that he will
pardon Joyce, or do anything else so pre
posterous in the present state of public
opinion. It is quite bad enough that the
President of the United States should be
so blinded by good fellowship, good din
ners and handsome gifts as to choose
Joyce and the other criminals for his
intimate friends.”
The Customs Resources und the Tax
ation Policy.
Up to the close of business on Friday,
the customs receipts since the 30th of
June last aggregated $75,195,280. A
Washington dispatch says it is
estimated at the department that
the receipts for the first six months
of the fiscal year ending 31st instant will
be about $78,000,000. This will be from
two to three million dollars less than for
the corresponding period last year. The
fact that there is a large falling off despite
the increased imports levied at the lust ses
sion shows that had it not been for the
additional dutios the revenues would have
been seriously impaired. From tho pres
ent outlook it is scarcely to be expected
lAud the shi wi'iqg Sec the'i part .aiy .cmujJJih
will bo any better, although the Centen
teunial may be the means of giving some
little impotus to trade. The Secretary of the
Treasury clearly foresees that the govern
ment will certainly be crippled in its
finances, unless in the event that the ap
propriations are cut down very largely,
or additional imposts are levied. He
does not hesitate to recommend the reim
position of the duty on tea and coffee,
but be is perfectly well aware that be can
hope for no relief from that quarter.
There can be nothing more certain for the
future than that the Democratic House
will, on the eve of the Presidential elec
tion, never put suoh a weapon in the
hands of their antagonists as would be
the cry that they had increased the taxes.
It would not matter that such increase
would be sololy due to Republican mis
management and extravagance; the peo
ple would look only at the effect and not
at the cause. The Democrats thoroughly
realize this, and therefore importers and
trades-people in their calculations for the
future can, with perfect safety, throw
entirely out of consideration any possi
ble increase of taxes. There is but one
method by which the receipts aud ex
penditures will be made to approximate—
the cutting down of the appropriations.
Prospect of an Indian M ar.
Colonel Houston, commanding Fort
Stephenson, Dakota Territory, has re
ported to the War Department that an
Indian from Sitting Bull’s camp has in
formed him that tho Sioux are preparing
to commit depredations. It is probable,
says the New York Sun, that this infor
mation is correct. We kuow that army
officers stationed at Dakota anticipate
trouble with the Sioux, and it is not im
probable that we may soon be involved in
an expensive and bloody war with the
Indiaus of the Northwest. If it comes,
the fact that General Crook, whose Ari
zona experiences in Indian warfare will
staud him in good stead, is in command
of that department, is an assurance
that it will bo ably conducted on our
side; but notwithstanding this, it
will inevitably entail a vast expendi
ture, which the people will have to pay,
and in all probability a terrible sacrifice
of life along the frontier. The war with
the Seiniuoles in Florida, a weak tribe
compared with the Sioux nation, lasted
seven years, at an expense to the United
States of about $10,000,000, and a loss of
1,466 lives. A war with the Sioux at this
time would be a great calamity to the
country, though it would open fine op
portunities for the kind of contractors
who find favor under the existing admin
istration; but if it should occur, it would
only be the legitimate result of Grant's
Indian policy, which, as we have often
shown, amounts in practice to hiring the
Indians to keep the peace, and then
cheating them out of their promised pay.
Our Canadian neighbors never have any
trouble with their Indians, among whom
are some of the most war-like Sioux on
the continent; for the simple reason that
they deal honestly with them, and keep
their agreements in good faith.
The National Organization to secure
the Religious Amendments to the Con
stitution of the United States, proposes
articles to compel the States to maintain
Sabbath laws, to require the reading of
the Bible in the public schools, to defend
the judicial oath and other Christian
featurpLf the government, and to secure
suitable y<#igious acknowledgments in all
the new State constitutions. These be
ing exactly in the line of Mr. Blaine’s
projects <or amendment, the Washington
Gazette thinks he would do well to attach
himself to -the posterior extremity of
this organisation.
Another Political Nostrum.
A Mr. William J. Fowler, editor of the
Rural New Yorker, has written an open
letter to Hon. A. H. Stephens, and pub
lished it in the New York World, in
which he proposes to save the country
from the evils of negro suffrage, by giving
the ballot to the women in the Southern
States “with an intelligence qualification
to exclude those unfitted for political
rights.” By this plan the writer thinks
the vote of the intelligent white women
of the South would neutralize the igno
rant negro vote, which he recognizes as
one of the greatest dangers now threaten
ing the Republic, although he admits that
he, as a Republican partizan, favored its
infliction upon the South. He admits
that by giving the ballot to the negro his
party have adulterated the political life
of the nation, and to the extent of that
adulteration debased and degraded the
body politic; but he maintains that the
addition of the women as voters
would neutralize the evil, as their vote
would outnumber the negro vote, the
“intelligence qualification” having the
effect of shutting out the vote of the ne
gro women.
The proposition is utterly absurd and
only worthy of notice as showing to what
reckless expedients fanaticism will re
sort in the vain hope of remedying its
own malignant folly. This man Fowler
argues well against the demoral
izing infiuence ot negro suffrage,
so lawlessly and ruthlessly forced upon
the people of the South. To it he attri
butes the misrule, corruption and out
rage that has sprung from the Radical
reconstruction policy, and now to get rid
of it would still further unsettle and de
moralize society, would carry the corrupt
ing influence of higher law politics to our
homes and firesides. The writer ought
to know that the true women of the South
are not of the class to embrace his theory
of saving the country from the impend
ing dangers which he so much dreads.
And he should know that even if his
scheme was acceptable to the people of
the South, that it is utterly impracticable
and unreliable. He should know
that his “intelligence qualification,” as
he calls it, would offer no bar to the flood
of ignorance that would swell the tide of
negro suffrage. He ought to know
that his “intelligence clause” could only
stand the assaults of demagoguery till it
was thought by someone down in New
England that the votes of the colored sis
ters of the South would be useful. The
howl would go up for equality of rights,
and the result would be an increase of
the evil of ignorant, degraded negro suff
rage, with all the demoralizing and dis
gusting features of female suff rage super
added.
Mr. Fowler, as a Radical reconstrnc
tionist and negro suffragist, has done
about all he can do for his country and
civilization in this line, and it is only to
be regretted that the experiences of the
past are not sufficiently impressive to
teach him and such as him that the best
thing they can do in the future is to
simply mind their own business.
The Two-Thirds Rule.
Our Atlanta contemporaries who seem
to imagine they have or ought to have
things all their own way, and who will
announce to the people the Democratic
candidate for Governor at the next elec
tion, so soon as they have settled the
matter between themselves, are still
fighting against the two-thirds rule. In
its last issue the Constitution levels a
broadside from the Cincinnati 'Enquirer
against the “time-honored usage” of the
Democratic party, from which, as a sam
ple of the argument, we give the closing
paragraph as printed in the Constitution.
The editor says :
“The wedding occurred promptly at
the hour named this evening at the ele
gant residence of Judge Davis, upon the
eastern edge of the city, in whose spa
cious, richly furnished parlors a brilliant
company had assembled. The bride en
tered, leaning on the arm of her father,
and Mrs. Davis on the arm of Justice
Swayne. The bride is a brunette, of
pleasing form, rather abov£> the medium
height, with a face which, though not
beautiful, may be called handsome in
feature and of charming expression.”
In the belief that the maintenance of
the two-thirds rule would be a means of
preserving the unity and harmony of
the party, especially when nominations
are contested by several aspirants, we
have felt inclined to adhere to it now,
when there is a probability of a warm
personal contest for the nomination for
Governor. We have believed and still
believe that the all important object of
a nominating convention is to unite the
largest number of those whom the people
have delegated to represent them in the
support of the candidate presented for
their suffrages. While a mere majority
may be obtained for one candidate,
strong minorities may be uncompromis
ingly opposed to the nominee, thus en
dangering his success. Besides, in
warmly contested canvasses for nomina
tion, the opposition often assumes a
personal character which even the para
mount interests of party fail to reconcile.
In such cases the two-thirds rule is a safe
resort. It is a means of compromise,
and becomes a pledge of party fealty
and strength. But in a case like the one
above stated we see no particular
reason for strenuously adhering to the
rule. In such a case, when the fate of
only the two candidates for matrimony
is involved, we are perfectly willing to
waive all arbitrary rules, and to permit
the parties to arrive at an unanimous
agreement in their own way. We submit
that the case, as stated, does not make
a point in support of the argument
against the two-thirds rule.
The Steamship Stonewall Jackson.—
It was announced a few days since in a Bos
ton dispatch that the ship Stonewall Jack
son had made a success''l trial trip.
Mr. D. D. Kelly, the weL-anown ship
builder of East Boston, who is the builder
of this vessel, has addressed a communi
cation to the Boston Post, in which, in
response to inquiries, he furnishes the
reasons why be named her’ the Stonewall
Jackson. He says:
“The political hunters for place have
for a long time prevented that union and
harmony of sentiment between the North
and South which should at all times pre
vail, and have |done much against true
patriotism and the interests of the mer
chants, mechanics and laborers of our
common country. Jackson was one of
the truly loved men of old Virginia. His
faults, if any, must be forgotten by every
true American, by the shining brightness
of his noble character as a man. lam
by birth and sentiment a son of old
Massachusetts, and could anything be
more appropriate than for our people to
extend the hand of true fellowship in
1876 to the old mother of Presidents,
Virginia ? You will please excuse this
long note, for the Stonewall Jackson is
my last ship. I commenced with the
Old Hickory, and end with the Stone
wall.”
SAVANNAH, SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1876.
Secretary Bristow and the Whisky
Ring.
It seems that the amount of lying con
nected with the whisky frauds is about
equal to the amount of money stolen
from the government. The lying, like
the stealing, is confined to the members
of the whisky ring and their organs, and
as they are all loyal Radicals, the honors
are tolerably even. It seems that there
are two factions—one sympathis
ing with Grant and Babcoek, and
the other with Secretary Bristow.
While the latter are making at least a
show of honest effort to expose the whis
ky frauds and to bring the culprits to
justice, the former, as it seems, are re
sorting to the most unscrupulous false
hoods in their efforts to screen them
selves and implicate the Secretary. We
yesterday published from the Chicago
Inter-Ocean, what purported to be
a proposition from Gen. Babcock to
go before a Congressional investigating
committee with a full confession of his
connection with the whisky frauds, and
an exposure of transactions equally crimi
nating Secretary Bristow. As the Inter-
Ocean is a most unscrupulous Radical
sheet, and is known to be in the interest
of Babcock and his ring confederates,
we gave the article only for what
it was worth. It is now asserted that
the article of the Inter-Ocean is a tissue
of falsehood throughout. Babcock de
nies that he authorized the statements of
the writer. A special to the Baltimore
Sun says General Babcock called on the
Secretary on Monday morning and very
positively assured him that he had made
no such as that attributed to
him by the Chicago paper. The dispatch
further says:
“General Babcock is equally emphatic
in denying the other part of the story, to
the effect that he was to receive pardon
on condition of making a ‘full breast of
it’ before a Congressional committee of
investigation. The editor of the paper
in which the publication appeared tele
graphed here this afternoon that the
article was inserted without his knowl
edge. So far as General Babcock is con
cerned he has preserved the most im
plicit silence on the subject, with the
single exception of what he has said to
the President. It is very true that he
does not cherish the warmest affection
for the Secretary of the Treasury, any
more than do several other of the special
friends of the President, but he has let
no sign escape him, and he will not until
his trial is over.”
Harper’s Weekly and the Third Term,
Mr. Curtis, who has the credit of writ
ing the leaders in Harper's Weekly.
seems to be still troubled by the dread of
a third term, or rather of President
Grant’s renomination. He gives good
reasons: In the first place, President
Grant has never explicitly declared his
determination not to accept a renomina
tion. He is still “in the hands of his
friends;” and his friends are as evasive as
he is. The other day, General Sharpe,
Surveyor of the port at New York
made a speech at a public dinner
which he said: “I can tel)-you— and
I know what I am Sfying—that General
Grant has but one thing more, but
. dfirtre to be gratified, to
make the cup of his glory full.
It is no personal hope or desire ; he has
but one single thought—l know it my
self—and that is that his own administra
tion may be succeeded by a Republican
administration.” This speech is far from
satisfactory to the Journal of Civilization.
It thinks that if General Sharpe knew or
thought General Grant would not accept
the nomination he would have said so in
plain terms. As it is he has left the
question open. If the President is not
re-nominated, he and his friends can say
they never expected or hoped for it ; if
he is, then he and they will have said
nothing inconsistent with his candidacy.
The same article also calls attention to
the fact that the President is the second
choice of the whole “Grant group,” Mor
ton, Conkling, and the rest of that school
of politicians. If Mr. Morton cannot se
cure the nomination his backers will sup
port Grant, and the same may be said of
Mr. Conkling’s following.
In view of these things, Mr. Curtis
calls on the opponents of a third term to
speak out; advises that no man be sent
as a delegate to a State Convention whose
views are not decided and pronounced
upon the subject; and suggests that the
Republican press declare that it will not
advocate or assist in the re-election of
General Grant, however regularly re
nominated.
It is many years since Captain John
Symines, the author of the theory known
under the title of “Symmes's Hole,”
died, but it seems that his son inherited
his belief, and recently in an Ohio lecture
he explained to some of the present
generation the long shelved idea. Capt.
Symmes lived and died in the belief that
the earth was hollow, its crust being
about one thousand miles thick and that
it was possible to sail into the interior
space by the way of the open sea at the
North Pole. He held that this interior
surface was inhabited, and gave an inge
nious explanation of the manner in which
heat and light were imparted. His son,
who recently gave renewed publicity to
this theory, spoke with sorrow of the fact
that the Polaris turned back when within
one day's sail of the open sea. Doubt
less few will consider it worth the while
to spend much money to prove the cor
rectness or falsity of the “Symmes's
Hole” idea, but such things tickle the
imagination into dreaming of the possi
bilities of that expanse beyond the ken
of dwellers on the upper crust of the
earth, and if the many explorers’of the
North will settle the nature of that warm
northern ocean the world will be much
obliged to them. The carpet-bag tramps
who at present infest the South are
especially interested in this matter, as
judging from the signs of the times the
day is not far distant when they will be
looking for Symmes's Hole or some other
place to which they may emigrate.
It seems that our ambitious chieftains
who went out to assume control of the
Khedive’s army are about to find their
time and military talents put to some
use. Most of them sought and obtained
their positions under the impression that
they had got a soft thing. But when
they have to march off to the mountains
and fastnesses of Abyssinia to avenge the
late Egyptian slaughter committed there,
they will no longer feel that they are
eating the Viceroy’s bread of idleness.
They will begin to realize that they are
earning their money excellently well. Be
sides this, the Abyssinian troops are un
der the leadership of an American offi
cer, Colonel Routh, who will make an
able fight • with his hardy troops. The
Arnerico-Egyptian Generals will be given
opportunity to earn their money.
Affairs in Georgia.
The presence of eggnogg in the mails has
somewhat delayed the Georgia papers.
Hence the lack of news in this depart
ment.
The Comptroller General says he regards
Mr. A. J. Strickland, of Tierce countv, as
one of the very best tax-collectors in the
State, anu says his insolvent list is the
smallest of any of the counties. The in
solvent list alluded to is only three dollars
and thiriy-six cents.
Mr. John McCall, of Liberty countv, is
dead.
Mr. Frank Roberson, of Wayne countv,
who was recently thrown from his horse
and ipjv.red, has since died.
An attempt was made ia Macon the other
night to assassinate and rob Mr. G. B. Rob
erts.
*
Macon had a regular April thunderstorm
the other day.
An Augusta lad of unsound mind, named
John Haley, shot young David Callahan in •
the head the other day.
A negro man was killed on the Perry
branch road the other day, while attempting
to jump from the train. ’
An incendiary fire burned the crib ot Mr.
J. T. Redding, of Monroe county together
with five hundred bushels of cor.., one night
last week.
We regret exceedingly to learn of the
death of Mrs. L. C. Slade, of Eatonton, and
we tender to oui Jd-time friend, her hus
band, our since rest sympathy. She was a
most am able and accon nlished lady, aud a
devoted wife.
A negro cutting scrap'd worwid in Macon
on Saturday bight. :V, V
An inoffensive negro boy was stabbed and
killed on Friday night, in Augusta, by a
white boy. The latter is in jail.
In Effingham county, on Christmas, an
egg-nogged father tied two of his little
children to a ferocious dog, and endeavored
to set the latter upon a hog. The latter—
more humane than the dog of a father
refused toyun alter the hog, though usually
very quick to do so, and thus saved two in
nocent children from injury and probably
loss of life.
A train on the Air-Lint Road rushed
through a funeral procession near Atlanta
the other day, happily without doing any
damage.
The Atlanta Constitution says that the
next semi-annual meeting of the State Ag
ricultural Society will be held at Brunswick
on the Bth day of January, 187 G, and will
remain in session for three days. The
meeting is made up of three delegates
from each county society in the State, and
there are generally from’2so to 300 delegates
in attendance. Dr. Pendleton says that his
report upon the operations of the experi
mental farm will be the most interesting
one he has yet made. It will be a detail of
the experiments of the past year to ascer
tain the cost of production of cotton
and the cereals, considered with respect
to the three elements which enter most
prominently into their production, viz:
food, labor and fertilizers. This will be
alone worth the trip to Brunswiok, aud is a
subject which our farmers need to discuss.
Prof. Wm. Leßoy Broun, lato of the Uni
versity of Georgia, but now of the Vander
bilt University, Nashville, has been written
to and it is thought will consent to deliver
an interesting address to the society upon
some subject germain to and valuable in
their calling. Altogether, the meeting
promises to be an interesting one.
Some lively Christmas customer in Atlanta
endeavored to blow up a house of prostitu
tion in that city on the 25th.
The Constitution says that the Governor
has entered upon the
ann uff n i o "Tffe"” General Assembly,
ihe forthcoming document will be shorter
tha n some of its predecessors, but will be
Jpjked for with quite as much interest.
J ne main point, tfle public naturally sup
poses, will be the Treasury affairs, aud upon
this subject there is very great interest
manifested. The accompanying documents
i to the message will also be quite interesting
to the public. While preparing his message
the Governor will attend to only such other
matters as may absolutely claim prompt at
tention. Hence there will boa dearth of
news in the department for some days.
Mr. Joe Kennington, > of Columbus, is
dead.
Mr. Wommack, of Muscogee county, killed
a one-year old hug the other day that
weighed 513 pou/idb .llUiltx
Mrs. John Gilleland, of Athens, is dead.
It is said that a negro made upon Gen.
S. P. Myrick’s Sumter plantation, on five
eights ot an acre, 198 gallons of syrup, re
serving 3,Ct10 stalks for seed, for which he
was offered seventy-five cents per gallon,
two wagon loads of good forage and six
bushels of corn, planted between rows. This
statement is vouched for by the General
himself.
Mr. Robert C. Lumpkin, a son of the late
Judge Joseph Henry Lumpkin, of Athens,
is dead.
Dr. D. W. Johnson, of Columbus, was se
riously, but not painfully cut ou Monday by'
Mr. J. T. Holland. The Columbus papers
do not contain any- particulars of the affair.
Mr. D. B. Gawley, of Columbus, is dead.
General Longstreet’s dwelling in Gaines
ville is nearly completed.
A negro woman in Jackson county was
found frozen to death the other day.
A young man named John Morris, of
Langley, S. C., laughed himself to death
near Augusta the other day, rupturing a
blood vessel.
A telegram to the Atlanta Herald from
Rome, on the 27th, says that Solomon Net
tles, an old citizen, while in the act of cross
ing the railroad near the junction, just
above the city, was a little ahead of the out
going train, and was struck by the engine
and instantly killed. No blame is attached
to the engineer.
Mr. E. Bennett Chamberlain is the new
Librarian in Atlanta.
An express robber has been elected in At
lanta.
The Augusta Chi onicle says that ou last
Saturday, about three o’clock, as two little
girls, one aged seven and the other four,
children of Mr. John Byrnes, were walking
along the pavement- on the south side of
Broad street, between Marbury and McKin
nie streets, near their father’s store, in that
city, they were attacked by a cow. The ani
mal picked up the oldest child on her horns
aud ran out into the street with her. For
tunately, two young men, Messrs. James
Davis and Joseph Brislehan, saw what was
taking place, and immediately running out
into the street, rescued the little girl from
the infuriated cow. She was carried into her
mother. It was then discovered that she
had been seriously injured, the horns of the
cow having inflicted a painful wound on her
person. A phys ician was at once sum
moned and the wound dressed. She was do
ing very well yesterday afternoon. It is
supposed that the cow was excited by the
noise of fire crackers in the sireet, as she
always had been a very gen“ animal pre
viously. The cow was st ing on the
pavement waiting to get in, 'er owner’s
yard when the little giris app, ffied her.
Macon Telegraph: The colored First Bap
tist Church is singularly unhappy in the
way of getting up disturbances. We have
had occasion several times to notice riotous
conduct on the part of its members, and
had hoped that we should have no more of
the same sort. But on Sunday night
another fight occurred inside the church.
The police were summoned and were
promptly on the spot, but the offenders
made their escape through the windows and
the officers did not ascertain who they were.
No arrests have been made. We think the
authorities will soon find it necessary to
station a detachment of police in that
church to suppress riots.
The Atlanta Constitution says that there is
a well defined rumor prevailing in high
circles that Governor Smith has fully made
up his intentions with reference to the
troubles connected with the late administra
tion of the State Treasury. Suits against
the sureties upon the bonds of ex-Treasurer
Jones, it is said, will be instituted at an
early day, and doubtless before the Legis
lature assembles. It is understood that all
the necessary data and facts are being ar
ranged for the attorney who may represent
the State, and that all those named upon
the bonds will be included in the
suit. T 1 it step will probably be
to deman \.ie amount claimed to be
due tho State from the ex-Treasurer,
which will, of course, be refused
upon the plea of the said ex-Treaanrer that
such amounts are not due. Then the suits
will follow. Grant and Nutting promise to
be the defendants in the most interesting
suit. They claim that they were only tem
porary bondsmen, and that therefore the
filing of the second bond discharged them
from all obligations. The Governor insists
that no notice of this was given at the pro
per time or to the proper officers, and that
they are bound for the full amount of the
bond. This question of liability will be the
main issue and promises to be hotly con
tested, It is said that Grant and Nutting
hold a letter from ex-Treasurer Jones, in
which the latter admits to them the fact
that they were only to be deemed his tem
porary bondsmen. The reader will readily
see the point in all these matters by remem
bering by the tax digest showing the sec
ond bond was $70,000 short of the required
amount. The Governor is extremely reti
cent r-pon these matters and refuses to say
yea or nay to any inquiries, but we deem the
fact th. > suits will goon be instituted
against the sureties to be beyond peradven
tore.
Waynesboro has received 5,031 bales of
cotton this season.
Mr. Alexander Murphy, of Burke county,
is dead.
The Count Johannes B’Gonuanne, late of
Irope, Grope, Urope and Norwegia, but now
of Talbot county*is sending oranges to lug
friends. To all appearance, he lias no
friends in Savannah.
A telegram from Sparta, to the Macon
Telegraph, dat.ed the 28th, says that David
Dickson. Jr., was killed by his brother,
James Dickson, the night before. It is
thought that David was asleep when Jam9s
attacked him with an auger and beat his
head to a jelly. Whisky is supposed to be
the cause. David and James Dickson are
nephews of Mr. David Dickson.
In our editorial columns yesterdav, under
the head of “Still Another Official Scandal,”
allusion is made to “a man uarned Stone.”
This is no other than the notorious A. W.
Stone, who used to hold office in Georgia
and bum around Savannah. Bryant, with
all his taste for newspaper literature, isn’t
half as lucky as Stone.
We are more than rejoiced to hear that
Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta
Herald, is convalescing.
The Augusta Chronicle says: We regret to
learn that the health of Hon. Alexander H.
Stephens, instead of improving, as we had
hoped, is growing worse. A gentleman just
from Liberty Hall informs us that he is
oonfined to his bed and threatened with
pneumonia. We sincerely trust that these
apprehensions may not be realized, and
that Mr. Stephens may be spared for many
years to his State and his people. The
country needs his true heart and vigorous
brain in the tfee 4Ufe
trust that the threatened blow may be
averted
Rome celebrated Christmas by nearly
having a riot between whites and blacks.
The Macon Telegraph says that Judge
James W. Green died suddenly at his resi
dence in Upson county last Friday evening.
He had been in his usual health "up to the
time of his attack, and was sitting in his
house, when he called his wife to him. Be
fore she reached him he fell from the chair
and expired instantly. The cause of his
death is supposed to have been heart dis
ease. The deceased was very well known to
the bar. He was formerly a Superior Court
Judge, having been appointed to that posi
tion by Bullock.
Waynesboro has gone through the trying
ordeal of a calico soiree.
A negro woman, while dancing in Fort
Valley on Christmas day, was shot through
the head aud instantly killed.
Hero is an Augusta item: The latest
fraud is a man who makes a regular busi
ness of deserting his wife and children
among strangers. The latter usually give
them money and needed articles, after re
ceiving which the family joins the husband,
and they repeat the game in some other
place.
A negro was drowned near Rome recently
while endeavoring to ford a stream.
Wo haven’t got room for the details of
Christmas accidents in Atlanta.
Col. Hewitt, lato of Catoosa, will take
charge of the old National Hotel in Atlanta.
Tho express robber recently arrested in
Atlanta has been discharged.
The Atlanta Herald says that Dr. Har
rison, of the First Methodist Church, has
perhaps the largest private library in the
State, if not in the South. It contains
threo thousand volumes—some of them
very rare works.
“Colonel” Victor Hugo Sturm, whose re
cent marriage to Mrs. Eppie B. Castlen, of
Macon, created some remark, is in San
Francisco, in the commission business.
The Atlanta Herald says that the Hon. B.
H. HifJ Will appear as counsel for ex -Treas
urer Jone. 7 v He says “the reputation of
Jack Jones reputat I 3g'sf-gef&ia:-”
It is said that will apply to"
the Legislature for perm.ssion to be heard
before that body by counsel. There is pre
cedent for the granting of such a request.
The Augusta Chronicle says there is uo
valid reason why Georgia should not be one
of the greatest sheep raising countries of
the world. Its climate corresponds to that
of Spain aud Australia, and land is exceed
ingly cheap. Yet the census during the last
five years shows a loss of over one hundred
thousand sheep, which is almost entirely
owing to the country being overrun by dogs.
The whole sheep husbandry of the State is
crippled by the presence of over ninety
thousand dogs, which, during last year,
killed over twenty-eight thousand sheep.
The Atlanta Constitution is apprised by
what appear to be reliable rumors that the
action to be taken by the Governor in the
matter of the unsettled accounts of ex-
Treasurer Jones will not be deferred beyond
the coming week, at farthest. The amount
claimed upon tho suits to be instituted at
this time we understand to be SIIO,OOO, but
whether this is the maximum amount con
sidered to be due from Captain Jones, wo
are unable, from present information, to
state. The best impression, however, is
that this amount is exclusive of tho $150,-
000 of bonds which it is alleged have been
twice paid. The parties sued will be Capt.
Jones and all the sureties whose names
are subscribed to the two official bonds
given by him and now on file in
the executive office. Upon the first of
these are the names of John Jones, John T.
Grant and C. A. Nutting, and upon the sec
ond are the names of John Jones, John A.
Jones, Seaborn Jones, Batt Jones, A. R.
Jones, James D. Waddell, James M. Russell,
and Henry L. Benning (since deceased).
Each bond is for the sum of $200,000. The
report is that the Governor has determined,
with advice of counsel, to |begin these suits
in tho counties of Bibb and Cobb. Tfie suit
upon the first bond will be brought in Bibb
county, in which is the residence of C. A.
Nutting, one of the sureties. The suit upon
the second will be brought in Cobb couuty,
where James D. Waddell, one of the sure
ties, resides.
Poetess in the Newnan Star on the Brink
ley wife murder insanity case; I believe that
he was sober, and know that he was not
insane; though he were, then it would be
unjust to turn him out again. And even if
they should, my sentiments I will give: I
don’t believe our citizens will let the villian
live. My feelings were aroused when Brink
ley killed his wife; if she was anything to
me, I myself would take his life. Where
there is a will there is a way, I never knew
it to fail; before this time, I would have
tried to break in jail.
Augusta Constitutionalist : In a modest
dwelling on Reynolds street, we found lying
on a bed, yesterday an old man in whom
the flame of life was still flickering, but the
chances appeared to be the Door old man
had not many hours left to spend on this
earth. He was conscious, and gave intelli
gent signs and words to those around him
of his family, who were standing near his
bed. His name is Jacob Whailey, and from
an examination of the records and conver
sation with him, it would appear that he was
horn in 1770, winch would make him just
one hundred and five years of age. He was
born in Barnwell District, South Carolina,
and until 1858 carried on the active duties of
a farmer. In that year he came to Augus
ta, and has resided here continuously ever
since. He was a soldier in the war of 1812,
and was stationed on Coles Island. His teeth
have been remarkably good. He has nsed
tobacco and liquors sparingly. For the past
two weeks he has suffered from dropsy, and
for two days has been unable to take any
nourishment.
Augusta Chronicle: Some time since it
became Governor Smith’s duty to remove
State Treasurer Jones and to appoint some
one to discharge the duties of the office
until the Legislature could elect his suc
cessor. The Governor filled the vacancy
by the appointment of Hon. J. W. Renfroe,
at that time assistant to the Comptroller-
General. Mr. Renfroe promptly gave the
very large bond required, and has ever
since been in charge of the finances of
the State. He is a candidate for
the position, and his name will be pre
sented to the General Assembly next
January. We hope that he will be elected,
for we feel confident that a better man for
the place cannot be found. As we before
stated, he has been an assistant to the
Comptoller Genera! for the past three years,
and while discharging the cfutieg of that im
portant position to the entire satisfaction of
the Governor, the Legislature and the
people, he also obtained a perfect
knowledge of the workings of the
Treasury Department. The books of the
Comptroller’s office are similar to those
which have been, or which should have
been, kept by the Treasurer, and, conse
quently, Mr. Renfroe is perfectly familiar
with all the practical details of the position
for which he is an applicant. It is mani
festly to the interest of the tax payers of
the State that at this important juncture an
experienced hand should take hold
of the tangled threads of the
Treasury. Mr. Renfroe is also a
staunch Democrat, and deserves well of
his party. He did much to keep his county
(Washington) firm in the faith, and repre
sented it worthily for two years in the Gen
eral Assembly. He is exceedingly popular
in Middle Georgia, and we leel assured that
he will not only receive the vote but the
hearty support of every member from this
section of the State. We have little doubt
of his election by a handsome majority, and
may congratulate the people of Georgia in
advance upon securing the services of so
competent and faithful an official in one of
the most important departments of the
State government.
The same paper has this: An editorial
writer of the Macon Telegraph and Messen
ger denies, “on the very best authority,”
that Governor Smith will not serve again if
nominated. The writer, who corresponds
for his paper from Atlanta, goes on to say
that Governor Smith is no candidate, in the
ordinary sense of the word, and would scorn
to degrade his high office by entering the
canvass and urging his personal claims be
fore the people. But while he leaves the
matter to the unbiased decision of an
intelligent constituency, it is both
E remature and false" to say that
e would decline a renoniination.
The opponents of Governor Smith, taking
their cue from the opposition to General
Grant, are pressing the third term as a sal
ient objection to his continuance in office.
But his friends answer the argument by the
statement that Georgia has already created
a precedent in the repeated elections of
Governor Browu to the chair of State, and,
moreover, declare that the Governor has
not served two terms, but only one and a
fraction. “The general opinion is, that un
der the operation of the two-tbirds rule,
should it, contrary to the custom of the par
ty siuce the war, be adopted, Governor
Smith’s prospects of a re-nomination
are perhaps the best of all others. Some
oven sav he has gained so much of late as
to stand an excellent chance even by a ma
jority vote.” The language quoted above
is evidently used by one who has, as he ex
plains, the highest authority for what he
asserts. That authority is, of course,
Governor Smith himself. Whatever doubt
there may have been ou the' subject before
there certainly can be none now. Governor
Smith has said that he will run if nomi
nated, and, in the ordinary acceptation of
the ternis a candidate for the position. For
ourselves we have never doubted that he
would he in the field, and we were inclined to
think the statements that Governor Smith
won v not run woubi pruvo to bo mistakes.
Hi? j ." ids mi: press his claims actively,
and v-o* nail fib greatly inn lakesoiF hr Swi
ne t jpprter the convention with a strong fol
lowing. He has many friends, and it will
be very foolish in his opponents to under
estimate his strength. As to' the two
thirds rule, we believe this rule will be
adopted. If it is not, its rejection inay
cause divisions in the party that would
prove fatal to the nominee. Those who are
most opposed to the rule will hesitato to>
insist upon its abrogation in the face of
such a risk. Our own opinion is that the
next session of the Legislature will have
much to do with answering the question :
Who will be Governor of Georgia?
Florida Affairs.
Swepson is coming to the surface. Where
is Littlefield?
Holland’s equity of redemption doesn’t
seem to amount to much.
H. S. Harmon, the negro who was recently
indicted for forging scrip in Alachua county,
is writing advisory letters to his race. Har
mon is a bad egg.
Rev. Father Allard, a Catholic priest, for
merly of Bt. Hyacinthe, Canada, (tied in
Key West recently.
Judge Wright, of the Jefferson Academy
at Monticello, pretends to want a bell. We
thought there were belles enough around
Monticello.
Mr. George D. Morris, formerly of Monti
cello, died in Texas recently.
The municipal election in Monticello
comes off ou the 10th of January.
A movement is on foot to organize a Dem
ocratic club in Jacksonville. We trust it
may be successful.
A Jacksonville man is the happy recipient
of a postal card from his wife containing
fourteen hundred words and no postscript.
Jacksonville has been indulging in tho
luxury that is supposed to lurk in the sport
of bear-baiting.
Tampa wants mail steamship connection
with Pensacola.
Walls, negro, declines a reuomination to
Congress. Walls evidently wants to take
time by the fetlock.
McLin, ot the Sentinel, who deserted jfrom
"frftU-Uonf'oderatb army, and who was beaten
in the~~strc?C4&of Tallahassee by Judge
Cocke, is engagotTSfiMingmg some very
choico epithets at the MoTrirtjiiTrJ^itws.
Captain John Padget, of JaoksnnorKfcatv
is dead.
Florida Agriculturist : Through Mr. Geo.
E. Sawyer, of Sanford, we have received a
fine sugar-loaf pineapple, kindly presented
to us by Mr. Bosley, of Orange county. This
fruit has attracted much attention in the
city. We are informod that Mr. Bosley has
grown them this year weighing oight pounds,
and that he is now preparing some for the
Fair that has three apples on one stalk.
Palatka is pining for a tinner.
The Florida Agriculturist says that the
Lake George, Eustis and Gulf Railroad, to
connect the interior of Sumter couuty with
Lake George, on the St. John’s river,
is steadily progressing. Major Drake
has succeeded in procuring a number
of convicts from the penitentiary, who are
now working on it. This line will open
some of tho best lands in the State, which
are fast filling up with a fine class of immi
grants. It will bring the lake region of that
and Orange county within twenty-four
hours’ communication with Jacksonville,
whereas at present it takes three days. A
large number of orange grovos in that sec
tion are now coming into bearing, and an
outlet like this is much required. We re
commend this line to tho notice of capital
ists as one that must eventually turn out
profitable. Large tracts of State lands can
be bought in this region at one dollar per
acre, which will be worth from ten dollars
to twenty-five dollars per acre as soon as
tho road is completed. Now is tho time for
wealthy men to take hold and make it a
success. The present managers are enter
prising, intelligent men, and will not flinch
from what they have begun. Still, they re
quire help, which we would gladly see ex
tended them.
Joey Brown was in Palatka the other day.
Captain Edward Dexter was drowned at
Key West the other day.
It is estimated that the imports of Key
West for the last two months amount to
$235,000. The exports for the same period
amount to $261,000.
The Palatka Herald says that a gentle
man who has no land interest on the upper
lakes says that tho lands on Lake Harris
are the best that he has seen in East Flor*
ida. The scenery is unusually beautiful and
attractive. Frost seldom, if ever, injures
the sugar cane ; it tassels, and grows fifteen
feet in height. Lake Harris connects with
Lakes Griffin and Hustus. The timber
around the lakes is tall aud stately. Fine
fish in abundance abound in their waters.
The section is healthy and is rapidly filling
up with new settlers, and will in a few years
become one of the most interesting settle
ments in the country.
Tourists to Florida should remember that
pickpockets travel on the cars the same as
other people.
Robberies are not at all infrequent in Key
West. ■
Five young ladies of Key West took the
black veil tho other day.
Stearns has been hopping around Jack
sonville lately.
General Sanford has just returned from
Europe.
The Key West Dispatch (Rad.) thinks the
Jacksonville Union won’t work with Cheney
behind the curtain.
The Democratic Executive Commit
tee of Jefferson county met the
other day and passed reso
lutions to the effect that the State Execu
tive Committee call a convention of the
Democracy of the State at an early day, for
the purpose of a thorough reorganization
of the party, tho selection of delegates to
the National Nominating Convention, and
the nomination of candidates for State
officers; and that the State Convention
should be held sufficiently early in 1876 to
enable the nominees of the party to thor
oughly canvass every county in the State.
The Jacksonville Press unfeelingly re
marks: We state again that the dispatches
appearing in the Daily Union are not those
known as the Associated Press dispatches,
as published in the Savannah News and
other leading papers. They are inferior in
every respect, and cost about one-third of
the money. The Associated Press dicpatches,
as we are informed by Mr. John Coyne, the
operator and agent at this city, are not in
the habit of failing from once to twice
weekly. Our resignation hag not been t aken
. nor our jealousy aroused. We only desire to
correct false impressions. The Associated
Press dispatches are only furnished to news
papers by the Western Union Telegraph
Company.
Under the head of “Stearns and Grant,”
the Jacksonville Press gays ; “There is one
striking point of similarity between the two
great men above mentioned, and that is the
pertinacity with which they cling to their
favorites and bmt-licks. Nothing can shake
Grant’s confidence in the honesty of the
crooked whisky General Babcock, and noth
ing can weaken the faith entertained by
Stearns in the integrity of LeCain, of Ocala,
the man of many indictments. We have
been informed that a petition for his remo
val, numerously signed by the leading citi
zens of Marion county, of both parties, sent
to the Governor, has been totally unnoticed.
Sell-ns possesses the one virtue of adher
ence to his henchmen. He is, however, ex
ceedingly unfortunate in his selection of
subordinates.
The same paper says that the
ed fox chase came off at lamonia, in Leon
county, on Friday last, and was a grand af
fair. Sixty riders and fifteen dogs were
present from adjoining neighborhoods, in
cluding Thomas county, in Georgia. Judge
Hopkins took the first and third prizes for
dogs, Charley Davis, of lamonia, took the
second prize, and John Pearce, of Tallahas
see, took the brush.
ESTABLISHED 1850’
at Where is Purman? The Radical papers
e bragging that the Republicans and car
pet-baggers, white and black, are united.
We want to hoar from Purman and Conover.
Keep, of the Live Oak Times, seems to be
badly disappointed that the Rev. Hicks
wasn't present at the recent term of the
court at that place. Koop evidently wanted
to have some fun out of that libel suit.
Five w agon-loads of emigrants from Ala
bama passed through Live Oak the other
day, on their way to East Florida.
The tramp has reached Pensacola.
Twenty steam vessels are plying on the
St. John’s river, and it is said they all seem
to be doing a good business.
Judge Rice, of Suwannee county, is the
fortunate proprietor of two beautiful cash
mere goats.
What is Stearns going to do with the Netc
South ? Buy it ?
Thus the Cedar Keys Joui'nal: How would
the following slate suit the Democratic
voters of Florida: For Governor, Colonel
J. J. Daniels; for Lieutenant Governor, Mr.
George F. Drow; for Congress, Ist District,
Colonel R. H. M. Davidson; 2d District,
Colonel Wilk Call; for the Senate to succeed
Conover, General Robert Bullock.
The Jacksonville Press says that the
British schooner Chas. Bovey, drawing
eleven feet four inches, is ashore near
Dame’s Point Light House, below Jackson
ville, but can be got oil soon without injury,
it h thought.
Mr. Isaac Stone, of St. Augustine, is dead.
The Tallahassee Floridian says that the
gin-house and grist mill of Mr. Thomas J.
Roberts, near Centerville, in Leon county,
were burned on Thursday night, 17tb inst.
Hube -'£§a heavy, there her e
gin-house ab.mt Hurt
grist mill was 'attached to th. ginvhonse
and was burnod at the same time. The lire
oocurred at about one o’olock in the morn
ing, and this leads to the conclusion that
it was incendiary. The building only was
insured.
Thus Keep, of the Live Oak Times: Many
inquiries have been made in regard to our
Hicks slander suit, and in answor we say
that we wore ready with our witnesses
during court, but tho cowardly braggart
failed to put in an appearance. He dreaded
to have the matter come before a court
where both sides would be fairly beard, for
he well knows that the thin coat of white
wash he now wears would have been scraped
off and he would stand before the world in a
dirty suit of black. We agreed that the
suit'should be put over to the next term of
the court, and we hope that some plan may
bo devised to compel bis attondanco. Miss
Georgiana Mitchell, the colored damsel
from Tallahassee, was much disappointed at
not meeting tho Reverend gentloman.
Tho same paper says : The wrecking
steamer B. & J. Baker arrived on Saturday
from Key West, whore she has been sta
tioned for the last two or three months.
When the wrecking steamer came by the
Lizzie Baker Sunday both of her decks
and tho sides wore gone, nothing remaining
except the hull and machinery. She loft
Monday for a point eight miles this side of
Savannah to wreck a vessel there, but will
be ready to return within a week.
Mr. J. B. 0. Drew, of Jacksonville, hag
returned with liia bride.
The Tallahasseo Floridian says : “Mr. S.
K. Cusseaux, of Wakulla county, living
about fifteen miles from Tallahassee in a
southwest direction, brought us in last week
a sweet potato of the Indian yam variety,
which pulled down the scales at twelve and
a quarter pounds. It measures 25i nches in
length and 18 inches around. It is simply a
monster. Several of our Western visitors
have called in to see it, aud wo.ro hardly
prepared to believe it a genuine potato.
Mr. Cussoaux gatherod tbroo hundred bush
els of these potatoes from a single acre of
ground.
The editor of the Live Oak Times has lost
a cow.
The same papor says that the plaintiffs in
ejectment in the United States Court, in the
case of Huertas and Huertas against Colo &
Mays, having taken a non suit in conse
"'Tjfjgrice of the ruling of Judge Fraser that
the surveyTTfS4“ by Charles F. Smith, under
the order of the
plaiutifl obtained on an older
the dijtf un
to
1 1 <' c 1
Court of the United States, renaeraPHHNf
by which the validity of the grant to Huer
tas was recognized and confirmed. Huertas
claims under a Spanish grant, aud by the
provisions of the acts of Congress on the
subject, it is necessary that a survey should
be made under the auspices of the United
States Court in order to ascertain the lands
granted and separate them from the public
domain. We learn that when the new sur
vey is completed and confirmed actions of
ejectment will again be instituted.
The Live Oak Times\ says that Suwannee
county can boast of having within her bor
ders the largest establishment for the pro
duction of naval stores in the world, viz :
The Eagle Turpentine and Naval Stores
Works, George 0. liixford & Cos., proprie
tors. They now have one hundred and
eighty-two hands employed. Of this num
ber a large force are boxing pine trees for
turpentine, and more than a half million
boxes will be cut in new trees this season,
which, with the trees boxed Bince July, 1873,
will make nearly two million boxes. In con.
nection with their distilleries, which
are located at Rixford, four miles north
from Live Oak, they have a largo store,
cooper’s shops, blacksmith shop, grist
mill, etc. They have resident agents in
Liverpool, Londou and Paris, as well as in
Boston, New York and Savannah. The tur
pentine and fine rosin made by this compa
ny, find a quick sale with that class of con
sumers desiring the best material. In ad
dition to the above, there are several other
producers of naval stores in our county,
amoDg them the establishment of Major
Wyse, in our town, and the new works of
Buff, Jones & Cos., lately established at Pad
dock, anew town about five miles south
from Live Oak. Our county contains the
very best naval store timber, and in addition
to our superior agricultural lands, is bound
to lead the world in the production of naval
atones,
Monticello Constitution: There are so
many rich specimens of absurdity and ras
cality commingled in the courts of our Con
go-Dogberrys, under the Radical adminis
tration of the laws in Florida, that we let
most of them pass without notice, but now
and then wo caunot resist the temptation to
hand some of them down to posterity
through our columns. One of the despised
class of poor white men, utterly beneath the
notice of his magisterial dignity, owned a
pair of steers that a distinguished ‘'justice”
had long cast his coyetous eyes upon.
Wo say distinguished, for many of his
former acts liaye been given by us to the
world, and excited laughter and indigna
tion, and as an endorsement of them he has
recently been reappointed to office by the
Governor. The young man was charged
with the commission of a crime, and upon
an examination was released upon his
personal bond. Some time afterwards he
was notified by the Squire aforesaid that
the Governor had sent down word that the
bond must be settled up, and if the young
man did not have the money, the Souire
would take the steers, make the matter all
right, and the case would never be heard of
again. The young man objected, but was
told that resistance would be useless, and
♦hat an attachment would be made upon
tbe steers next day if they were not sur
rendered. The animals now graze in the
Squire’s pasture!
Jacksonville Press -. The opinion of the
Supreme Court of the United States in the
railroad case has just come to hand. We
find it in the Pt/oridmn. The court stops
the gale of the road by Anderson & Cos., and
the other Pensacola and Georgia bondhold
ers, under the decree which they got in the
United States Circuit Court. The court
decides that the trustees of the Internal
Improvement Fund have the right to sell
the road, under the decree which they have
got in Duval Circuit Court, to colleot the
balance due op the sale of the road in 1869.
(This amour,t ia about *600,000.) That
the trustees are not bound to pay the
money to be raised by the sale to the
bondholders, but may invest it in other
bonds named in the law. This is an open
ing for finepickings by the Radical carpet
bag ring. The court further decides that as
the State Supreme Judges advised Governor
Reed that the law which authorized the
bonds was not contrary to the constitution,
such opinion must be regarded as con
clusive, unless (the case which is now be
fore the State Supreme Court has this point
in it) the State Supreme Court otherwise
decides. Holland is left out in the cold; his
title is not treated as having any force
against the State. He is also enjoined from
asserting possession, etc. The right of the
State to get the road put in possession of
somebody for its security is also provided,
and when the proper officer or person comes,
the court says it will order its Receiver to
turn over the property,
Jacksonville Press a The hatches of the
schooner Florida were taken off yesterday,
preparations having been made for a fire
should the letting in of fresh air occasion,
as was generally thought, a breaking out in
dames of the smothered car so
hay. At first, on opening the
gas, etc., coming fro. . the hold .vere over
powering, and Cp.‘v.n Gilmore descend
ing too soon to the condition
of the vessel, wasJßg/erpowered by the
fumes and was Muled out in pearly an
insensible eonditiJPi After a little while
the men were enable*, to get at work on the
cargo which wa blig rapidly removed—all
the hay forffanhafTo some two hundred bar
rels of been taken out—until
shortly after , when smoke was ob
served coming up the forward hatch, the
draft of air from the main hatch to that un
doubtedly kindling the smouldering ele
ment* anew. The hatches were at
once put down, and the Florida
was towed to a shallow place on the
opposite side of the river, where, late
last night, the steamer Islander was pour
ing steam into her through a rubber hose
inserted in a hole cut in the vessel’s deck.
As the Florida has everything fastened
down air-tight it is generally believed that
the steam will kill out the as yet barely
started tiro If the hatches are not taken off
too soon. So far the vessel is not injured in
any material degree, if at all, but the cargo
ill be of but little value. There is no in
surance on the vessel, but the cargo is partly
insured, we understand. The sails, etc., of
the vessel were removed before towing her
over.
Valedictory address of Col. B. F. Wardlaw,
retiring Master of the Florida State Grange,
r itrona of Husbandry : Worthy Patrons of
the Florida State Grange—My term of office
expires with this session of the Grange. I
am about to vacate the Master’s chair for
niy successor, a position which I have held
for tho p.ist two years with mingled feelings
of pleasure and pain. With pleasure—in
the proud consciousness that I have been
ongaged in so noble a cause ; pained—that
though I have labored faithfully and fear
lessly without allowing myself to be swerv
ed in the slightest degree from duty by
any influence whatever, though I have
fallen far short of accomplishing what
might have been done by one more expe
rienced. But I did my utmost. My whole
soul hag been interested in the cause, and
though I may have committed many errors,
peradvonturo (for who would not?) they
nave been errors of the head and not of the
heart. My earnest desire is that I may be
followed by one far more competent, and
who will be much more successful in hurry
ing on the grand and glorious results which
await our noble order. In thus taking leave
of my brothers and sisters, I cannot find
words to express the gratitude of my heart,
the thanks for their warm and cordial sup
port, their kind indulgence, their charitablo
forbearance, as well as tbeir generous aid
in all my feeble efforts. To those who have
so warmly solicited mo, both in person and
by letter, to permit my name to bo used for
re-election, I thank' them kindly, and
though I most respectfully decline (as I do
not desire the honor,) still I am none the
less under obligations to my friends for
their kind approval and distinguished com
pliments, but to all I distinctly and most
unequivocally say I could not accept though
unanimously re-elected. Then, once again
permit me to tender my most cordial and
heartfelt acknowledgments, with an earnest
future continued prosperity.
VfAKlNfei TT* THE WROtfL
TANARUS" 7"
How a Party of Mm el* Frightened a
“ Snoozer.”
[From tho Territorial Enterprise.]
An evening or two since some of tha
employes of the Ophir Company found
an intoxicated man sleeping off his over
allowance of “tarantula juice” among the
shavings in one of the temporary sheds
near the works. They had some trouble
in getting the fellow aroused, and more
in trying to make him comprehend
where he was, or rather that he was not
iu a place where he legitimately be
onged.
It was determined by the men who
found the boozy party that they would
give him such a fright that he would
never again venture within a mile of the
works. Therefore, they told their man
that they had positive orders to kill any
person found lurking about the works
after dark. They said it was a thing
they did not like to do, but the works had
lately been destroyed by fire, and the
company were not in a humor to take any
more chances —their orders were impera
tive.
The man tried to beg off, saying that
he did not know how he came into the
shed, and swearing by all that was good
and bad he meant no harm, but all would
not do.
lie was seized and dragged some
distance up the hill toward the Masonic
Cemetery, to a place in the open country,
where five or six rifled cannon, belonging
to the Novada Artillery, have been stand
ing since the day of the fire. Two stout
men then seized the trembling “snoozer,”
and placing bis head in front of tho
muzzle of one of the guns, told him he
had but three minutes to live, as they
were about to blow his head off.
Again the man begged for meroy, say
ing that he had only taken a drop tor
much apd got into the shed he knew not
how, but certainly without any evil in
tention. V
Said a man who had taken his place at'
the breech of the gun, and was taking
some matches from his vest pocket: “If
_you have any word to leave for a wife, an
or mother, or
'Native, you will do well to make'known
your wishes.”
“I reckon I hain’t got airy wife, or old
father or mother, or anybody else as cares
a chaw of tobacker about me.”
“Well, but have you no dying wish, no
dying request?”
“Wall, now you talk. Mout I make a
request?”
“You may, and be quick about it
(lighting a match), as when I apply this
match to the touch-hole of this gun, off
goes y our head. You have a request to
make?”
“Stranger, I hev.”
“Out with it, then. We
with you all night when there nfIQJ
other fire-bugs prowling about tHB
works. ”
‘‘l kin hev my last request, then ?”
“You can.”
“You won’t go back on me ?”
“No.”
“Whatever I ax you’ll grant?”
“Don 11 say so ? Let’s hear your dy
ing request, or dab goes a match ‘into this
powder, and off goes your head !”
“Well, then, as I have your word as a
gentleman, my last and only desire is that
you il put me at the other end of the gun
before yer stick that match intnr its
touch-hole.”
“Too thin,” oried all hands. *Trood,
but too thin. You can’t get off that
way.”
“Qh, ho,” said the snoozer, “you go
back on yer word, do yer? Yer don’t
know who I am, I reckon. You don’t
know you’ve picked up Bill Slicer, from
the Muddy Fork of the Mohican.” And
suddenly shaking himself free of the hold
of the men who held his arms, he reached
down into the top of his right boot and
brought out a revolver nearly as larj- as
a Gatling gun.
“Oh, ho,” oocking the formidable
shooting iron, “go back on your word ?
Go back on my dyin’ request. Now I
know the kind of men I’ve got to deal
with—infernal liars and murderers.”
Half this speech had not been con
cluded—indeed, the pistol had hardly
clicked—before there was a wild scatter
ing of the little party of practical jokers.
They ran behind tho groups of cannon,
bounded over the cemetery fence toward
the shelter of the tombstones, and, in
short, rolled and tumbled in all direc
tions.
“Oh, ho !” cried Old Bill, “why don’t
yer stand by yer gun? Oome out of yer.
holes! You’ve got a bigger gun nor I
hev, but I’ve got the most shots, and I’ll
give yer a fair fight and die game ! Wall,
here’B some for you at random !” and Old
Bill let off a couple of shots among tbe
cannon and tombstones.
The jokers were mighty glad when
their old snoozer ceased to rage about the
spot, and took his way, mutteringly,
toward the distant lights of the town.
In a Lion’s Den.— Poor old Lee Belk,
who lost his life here on Saturday at tho
hands of Beason brothers, had been in
numerous tight places during his eventful
and chequered life. The younger Rob
inson, who was managing the show which
was here on Saturday, related the partic
ulars of a frightful scrape old Lee got
into once during the term of several years
he traveled with his father’s show. It
was in Texas. Lee had got into trouble
with a body of Texas ruffians who had
come to the show at, we think, Austin.
Furious with anger and whisky, they set
upon him with revolver and bowie knife.
The case was hopeless but in flight and
successfully eluding pursuit. Luckily he
escaped the first onset and threw them
off the track for a moment. He could
hear their howls and vengeful threats.
Time was precious, and a desperate deed
for safety had to be done quickly. Ho
approached the keeper of the lion’s cage,
and, upon peril of his life, bade him de
liver him instantly the key. Belk un
locked the door and entered, seeking the
safety inside the lion’s den he well know
was not outside. The ruse successfully
threw them off the scent. He rode in
the lion’s cage seventeen miles, u:; and the
noble brute —nobler than the bu; a
brutes who pursued—treated him w ith
kind indifference. It is doubtless the
only instance on record wherein mortal
sought and obtained safety from his in
furiate fellows by taking refuge in a lion’s
den.— Meriden (Miss.) Meroury,
Geo. L. Ruffin, a colored lawyer, has
been elected a member of the Boston
Common Council. He is the first citizen
of African descent who has ever been
elected to a municipal office in that city.