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j. Vi. BURKE & CO.
SEORGIAJODRNAL& MESSENGER
. n -r AUI!- rn HO O 0
[ 'V L '' six Months 5 w)
Three Months 2 50
“ o n e Month 100
Tr.i-tt iff ll ' * Hix Months 250
" .. Three Months 1 50
J'erKhT,per Annum ~ - 300
hix Months 1 <SO
J W BURKE A CO„ Proprietors.
A- « • I* EK * K ’ ' Ediur..
m»sr* >
THE BEST IWKSIMKM.
With flush pockets from cotton at twen
• -eV en cents a pound, farmers will nat
urally be looking for investments. They
, anuot And a better one than some real
0 ,1 fertilizer. Those who tried it last
are willing to give any kind of cer
tili' ite as to its utility. Those who spent
the most money will give the strongest
certificate, too. Probably there will be
m ore money expended this way the pres
eDt year than at aDy previous period, and
we are optimist enough to belive that its
results will exceed the most sanguine cal
culation.
We have no opinion to express as to the
amcial merits of any particular bind. We
leave our readers to judge for themselves,
from our advertising columns, and their
own experience. We may mention, en
yaisant, however, that our townsman,
Mr. B. J. Gustin, is just now receiving
ome high testimonials as to the merits of
his superphosphate. A good fertilizer,
made at home, it seems to us, ought to
have the preference.
I'ERMONAL.
Hon. B. H. Hill was iu this city yester
day evening, and stopping at Brown’s
Hotel.
From the following paragraph we judge
Mr. Hill has great faith in Georgia’s future,
even if subjected to the most mischiev
ous manipulations that Radical malice
can suggest. We are glad to chronicle
these evidences of faith in the good time
ahead, by such men as Mr. Hill. We quote
from the Albany News, of yesterday :
Hkavy Land Purchase.—Messrs. R. R.
Groves & Cos., of New York, came down
alter the close of the war and bought two
of the finest plantations in Rougher y
county—the Hickory Level aud Raily
places. They paid, we believe, $150,000
for the two places, which contain 8,500
acres. Failing to make the cotton plant
ing business pay, they sold a few days ago,
to Hon. it. H. Hill onehalf interest in the
entiie estate -including seventy-live mules
10,000 Inisbels of corn, Fodder, cotton seed,
plows, harness, wagons, gins, &c. For
s4o,ooo.— Mr. Hill to have the control aud
management of the establishment.
Fkdkkaij Court at Knoxville, Ten -
nessee.—The regular term of the United
Sta’es District and Circuit Courts for the
District of East Tennessee, commenced at
Knoxville, on Monday last.
On tin* criminal docket there are yet
about one thousand cases of treason. In
most of these cases, however, no arrests
have yet been made. In the list of those
indicted are JetFDavis, Gov. Harris, Gens.
Bragg, E. Kirby Smith, Buckner, Breckin
ridge, McCown, Longstreet, Wheeler, For
rest-ill fact nearly every Confederate
General or Colonel, who commanded a
brigade or a regiment within the limits of
Fast Tennessee, at any time, during the
war.
Gold Comfort. —The Washington cor
respondence of the World gives us this bit
of information concerning certain very
distinguished colored gentlemeu of this
State, recently in that city :
The three distinguished colored nieni
(instill, Turner, ami Simms, courageously
sought admission into leading hotels, but
were refused accommodations, and had to
put up with quarters in a negro hourding
ucuse downtown in Murder Bay, near tlie
Cong bridge. They departed three days
ago. with little hope of anything being
done in their interest. It is understood
that the case of Virginia, at least, will pre
cede Georgia in the Judiciary Committee
of the Senate.
Death ok I)r. C T. Cushman.—This
gentleman, who accidentally shot himse f
on Bat unlay afternoon,died Sunday morn
ing, about nine o’clock, at his residence,
upper eml of Randolph street. As we
stated Sunday ,Jhe was examining a large
army revolver, “a self-cocker,” on which
lie had no idea ttiere was a cap. Some
how the pistol became discharged. The
ball entered his left leg just below the calf.
It ranged downward and lodged in the
ankle joint. The ball lias not been ex
tracted. He was alone at the time of the
accident in his office over Spear’s jewelry
store, but walked down stairs to procure
medical aid, and fainted while being car
ried back to his room. He was afterwards
carried to his residence. He suffered excru
ciating ngony. His nervoussystem could
not react from the debility caused by tlie
h'ss of blood aud sutfering. —Columbus
Sun, 12th.
Cotton from Memphis to Norfolk.—
Hie Huntsville (Ala) Democrat of the
tUhinst... says:
A large amount of cotton is making its
wav from Memphis via Norfolk to New
•°rk. We understand that nearly every
hastern freight train that passes Hunts
ville hears some of the rich fleece of South
ern fields bound to Norfolk. On Sunday
last an extra train of thirty-five cars, aud
on yesterday another of eighteen cars,
• aded on the same destination. The cot
l9u goes on the same train all the way to
Norfolk, without breaking bulk. We are
l»Id that it cos's no more to send cotton
from Memphis than from Huntsville to
Norfolk. The reason assigned for this ap
parent discrimination against Huntsville
ls the great competition betweeu the sev
eral railroads runninginto Memphis, each
trying to underbid the other for freight.
A Scotch Judge. —ln a note to a pas
sage in oue of the Waverly Novels, Scott
tells a story of an old Scotch judge, who,
iis an enthusiastic chess-player, was much
®ortified by the success of an ancient
friend, who invariably bea; him when
they tried their powers at the beloved
fame. After a time the humiliated chess-
P’ayer had his day of triumph. His con
lueror happened to commit murder, aud
ttie judge’s not altogether pain
■ulduty to pi ss upon him the seutenceef
law. Having in due form and with
’“‘table solemnity commended his soul to
Divine mercy, he, after a brief pause,
Ruined bis ordinary colloquial toue of
" and nodding humorously to his old
;; en d| observed: “And uoo, Janmiie, I
ln h ye’ll nlloo that 1 hae checkmated
Jouforauee.”
Joi’rnai. and Messenger. —We have
jeu waiting for some days to pass, before
a , e w °uld venture our modest little uotiee,
eo° U i * ar S e and fine a p iper as the Ma
» Journal and Messenger now is.
re,. 1 ?* Brown to be the largest paper we
uene in exchange from Georgia, aud
tv . ,I s editorials are marked with abili
the man who wields the scissors,
,J° W 8 how to use them, judging from the
made.
nrn Con ß ra tulate our friends on their
ferity, and trust it may loug cou-
Netvs, 11 Ih.
K m IIAT . Forty Acres of Land Did
qk: A —Walter L. Newbury, of
mnriH g0 ’ 0,1 koaid the Persia", last
famiiv'i "i! 11 e 0,1 hiß way to join his
1833 ■ ll J ar > 9 - He went to Chicago in
°theV '^ rC at an ear 'y among
*lti, PP J,. r ?P forty acres of land, on
•oateni'i!^ e Wellsstreet, and per
tittm nf , e . tail ? eil possession of it to the
himM ifJ, 118 c \ eath - This property cost
this Y’ loo, and 18 worth $3,500,000. And
He w? ° n , y a P art °f P's vast estate,
countv \ f ° rmerl y a resident of Oneida
to Chi« nnd was a P oor Hoy when he went
Chicago.-A. Y. Express.
SMALL farmhand immigration.
We have had something to say, hereto
fore, on this subject, but fear our land
owners are not thinking as much, and
coming to the conclusions they ought,
upon it. Everybody, almost, is strong for
immigration, but then they don’t seem
disposed to take the first step towards in
viting it. Os course neither Northern nor
foreign immigrants are coming down here
to settle unless they can get just thequan
tity of land they wish. And of course
they don’t wish to buy a whole plantation.
Well, everybody knows that, and says,
“We must divide our huge, wornout farms
into small lots, to suit purchasers.” Each
man waits for hia neighbor to begin,
though, thinking that the aforesaid neigh
bor is justin the condition to doit, and
that it is his bounden duty to do it. The
result, of course, is, that no steps are taken
at all in the matter, and as intending Im
migrants hear nothing of the inauguration
of such a policy in Georgia, they go where
it is being done.
We fear this negligence is standing
a good deal in our way towards Increas
ed population, and a consequent increas
ed prosperity We mast fill up our ran ks,
or else lag behind our neighbors in the
race. Georgia, to occupy that position to
which she is entitled by virtue of superi
ority of soil and climate, mineral deposits
and manufacturing facilities, ought to
have at least ten producers where she has
one now. She never will have them un
til the small farm system is thoroughly in
augurated. The .best way to get its
adoption made known abroad is a matter
for the consideration of those most inter
ested. We suppose the subject will be
exhaustively ventilated in the Agricultu
ral Mass Meeting at Atlanta, iu February.
It certainly is one of the most impor
tant in its bearing upon our future
that can be taken up. We look for great
results lrom the deliberations of that
meeting. We believe it will make or mar
our destiny, and therefore no delegate
should be sent there who is not fully
awake to the wants of the State, and per
fectly willing to make many sacrifices of
cherished opinions or prejudices, if shown
that they militate against the grand re
sult. Let the people of the State be put
in the right track by their representatives
at that convention, and Georgia takes, at
once, a mighty bound forward.
Since commencing this article, we find
some testimony upon the point discussed
in the Nashville Banner. We submit it,
without further argument. The Banner
is speaking of immigration to Tennessee,
and says :
Little or no immigration flows into
those counties where the soil is held by
large landed proprietors, who would al
most sooner part with the pound of flesh
nearest the heart than with a square inch
of their hallowed soil. On the other hand,
a large immigration is coming to those
counties where a different course is pur
sued, as evidence of which we quote the
following from a letter we have been per
mitted to read, from Mr. Thomas Walker,
Land Agent, in Warren county, at Mc-
Minnville, Mr. Walker says: “There
have be liteen farms purchased by
Northern immigrants, the aggregate (lum
ber contained therein is4,s2sacres. Twen
ty-two families have come and settled iu
this county, and some half dozen families
have come that have not yet purchased.
Quite a number iiave gone through to
Betsheba Springs and different parts of
ttie Cumberland Mountain. There are
several Northern men now here, looking
at homes. A great many more are coming.
Middle Tennessee will be filled to over
flowing this coining year.”
MONROE COUNTY ITEMS.
From tiie Forsyth Advertiser, of yester
day, we extract as follows:
The Oldest Inhabitant. —Mr. Zacha
riah Cham bless, aged ninety-six years, is
the oldest inhabitant of this county. He
lives on Deer Creek, about seven miles
east of Forsyth, where he settled about
fifty years ago, when this thrifty aud pop
ulous section was covered witli the primi
tive forest, and the wild deer aud Indian
roamed free over their own native hills.
Mr. Chambless is yet hale and hearty, aud
often walks several miles at a time.
Bale Day. —There was a large amount
of property sold here last Tuesday. Laud
sold at an average of live dollars per acre,
and other property in proportion. There
were a great many people in town on that
day. They looked more prosperous and
contented than they have since tlie war,
and all seemed prepared to “ pilch iu ” for
tiie crop of 1809.
An Otter.—A negro caught an otter
about a mile from town, last Wednesday.
He measured forty-four inches from tip to
tip, aud weighed seventeen pouuds. There
were niauy suggestions as to the kind of
an annual he was. Some said he was a
beaver, mink, black fox, etc. He whipped
a pack of dogs aud a negro before be was
ca itured.
Good Farming.— Mr. Charles Good
wytie, of this eouuty, planted seven acres
in cotton last year, and realized s9l 71 per
acre, without the use of guano or any ottier
kind of manure. Who can beat it? Let
every one try this year.
THE PRESIDENT'S PARDON.
A good deal of iudiguation has been ex
cited in certain quarters by the President’s
recent proclamation of pardon and am
nesty to persons engaged in the rebellion.
He has been loudly denounced for having
usurped power which belongs only to
Congress, and a resolution has already
been passed in one branch, calling on him
for the authority uuder which he claims
the right to issue such a proclamation.
We presume the President will cite, for
the information of Congress, the follow
ing section of a law enacted by Cougress
iu 1802, and signed by President Lincoln
on the 17th of July in that year:
“Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, that
the President is hereby authorized, at any
time hereafter, by proclamation, to extend
to persons who may have participated in
the existing rebellion in any State or part
thereof, pardon aud amnesty, with such
exceptions aud at such time aud on such
conditions as he may deem expedient for
the public welfare.”
It is possible that this law, or this sec
tion of it, may have beeu repealed. But
if so, Congress does not seem to have been
aware of the fact, or even that any such
law had ever been enacted.
It cannot, of course, be expected that
the public at larse should remember all
the laws that Congress may have passed ;
but it does not seem unreasonable to look
for a better memory on the part of the
members of Congress as to action which
they themselves have taken. Unless the
law" referred to has beeu repealed, the sec
tion quoted would seem to be conclusive
as to the power of the President to issue
just such a proclamation as the one in
question. — New York Times , 9th.
Iron Versus Steel. —The use of stee
instead of iron for the rails of railroads
lias not been productive of the saviug
which was first expected. The surface
of the steel rail is indeed harder, and
therefore wears tetter than iron ; butsteel
has not the tough, fibrous character of
iron, aud, in frosty weather, it breaks with
alarming ease Then, although the first
cost of steel is nearly double that of iron,
old steel rails sell for little or nothing,
while old iron rails are worth half the
price of new. Taking all these facts into
account, it is fiund cheaper to lay down
good iron n.ik than steel ones, except in
the vicinity of statious where there is a
great deal of f.-iction from the frequent
breaking up of trains, and but little rapid
movement. Experiments are, however,
being made, and with considerable suc
cess, to manufacture an iron rail with a
steel top, so as to combine the toughness
and cheapness of iron with the hard-wear
ing surface of steel. —Charleston News.
—The Superior Court is again in session,
and will probably sit about three weeks.
GEORGIA RECONSTRUCTED—WHAT THEN!
It may be that the most earnest ef
forts on the part of the friends of peace,
and law, and order, both here aud at
Washington, will fail, and that a brutal
majority in Congress may decree our ruin,
so far as they can effect it by spiteful and
wickedly foolish legislation. We are in
hope that such a direful result may be
averted, but still, it is among the strong
probabilities. Where the inspiration for
legislation is furnished by passion and not
reason, a desire te punish and not concili
ate, it is always most reasonable to expect
tiie worst. Therefore, taking counsel of
common sense, and walking in the light
of experience, we may well begin to mark
out our path, and settle our policy in the
event our worst fears are realized, and
Georgia, after beiDg dragged in, is pitch
out, neck and crop, from her place in the
“ Union.”
We know that such a step will stir up
much bad blood, and re-open many old
wounds fast healing under the influences
of quiet and a passable administration of
our State affairs. It can not fail to again
open the angry gulf that bad men, aud
still worse'legislation made to yawn so
fearfully between the two races in Geor
gia. It will revive, in all its fury, the
devil of discord, and warm into fresh
life the dastardly vermin who thrive
only in the foul atmosphere of strife and
lawlessness. It will interrupt trade, dis
organize labor, scare off capital and immi
gration, and block up every channel of
thrift and enterprise. It will cloud the
present, and blast the future, causing to
settle upon the land a pall even blacker
and gloomier than that in whose deadly
blight we gasped and fought for existence
so many long years. No man who reads
these words can question the accuracy of
the picture. It is only too true.
Granting, then, all these things as in
evitable, what will be the duty of our
people? Shall they bow their heads, aud
fold their hands, aud sink into an unman
ly apathy? Never. That would be death,
even if they could afford it. But they
cannot. There are too many mouths to
fill, too many necessities of a struggle for
actual existence to minister unto. They
must work, and work hard, to keep their
heads above water. They must toil, and
delve, aud practice self-denial to keep from
becoming paupers. They must forego
many pleasures, and all luxuries. Come
what will, the doom of toil can not be
evaded. Shall they, forgetting their past
record, glowing with such noble de
votion to country and principle, hasten
to stain it by slavish haste to kiss the
rod that smites? Shall they bless the
baud that throttles them, and make them
selves cringing, willing instruments of
its wicked, cowardly purpose? Hav
ing been true to the right in 1867-8, will
they basely surrender to the wrong in
1869? We know they will not. The men
who loathed, and despised, and battled
against reconstruction last year, will not
welcome it this. The crucible set up by
Tyranny, in its efforts to make Georgians
degrade themselves, did its work well. It
thoroughly separated the dross from the
gold, aud marked the line, deep and broad,
between the true aud the base metal. No
man’s status iu Georgia is doubtful now.
Georgia’s friends and enemies are equally
well known. We may submit, taught by
a wise philosophy and a tender regard for
the fate of those who are helpless, to fresh
wrongs, and still more galling outrages,
but we will not stoop to avert them by
unseemly concessions, or stretch out our
hands to welcome them.
The true policy of our people seems very
plain. It thrusts itself forward, so sharply
defined, aud so unmistakble, that “ the
wayfariug man, though a fool, need not
err. therein.” It is to still occupy the van
tage grouud of peace and obedience to law,
of reverence for every constitutionl obli
gation, and a purpose so clear to perform
every duty of good citizenship that honest
men everywhere canuot fail to see it. Our
actions under similar circumstances in the
past, is our best guide for the future. Its
wisdom, its honesty, and its dignity have
already been fully vindicated. It is the
path of safety, as well as duty. It has left
no sting behind, no qualms of conscience,
and no reproaches of outraged honor.
Time-servers may sneer, aud renegades
point the finger of scorn, but we can des
pise their baseness, aud laugh at their
miserable efforts to impugn our motives,
aud discredit our judgment and devotion
to principle.
So much tor our policy as members of
the body politic. As true and faithful
friends to Georgia and her material inter
ests, it is still plainer. We must march
straight on towards the goal that shines
with the light of resources developed,
waste places built up, and every natural
advantage stimulated to its highest ca
pacity for good. We must dig, aud plough,
aud hoe, with an earnest intelligence and
an unflagging zeal that shall he proof
against every seduction, aud blind to every
obstacle. We must work as no people
ever worked before, aud with an energy
that shall be deaf to all appeals for relaxa
tion. We must strive to make the earth
aud its fulln ss tributary to our grand
purpose of whining back more than
our old-time prosperity, and so making
sure of that power aud consideration our
poverty now makes impossible. We must
subsidize every agency, and make an ally
of every man who will contribute to the
grand result. We must leave hungry
greed and scheming falsehood to tight
their own pitiful battles over the carrion
of place aud plunder. We must be tillers of
the soil, real earnest workmen on the farm,
and iu thecountiug room, theofficeandthe
workshop, and not retainers and hangers
on of this “patriot” or that politician. So
shall we climb the hill of adverse fortune,
and bask at last on the genial plateau of
wealth aud independence. So shall we
rescue our captive rights, and regain our
lost liberties. So shall the ark of our safe
ty and freedom lift itself proudly and tri
umphantly out of the swelling flood, and
rest at last upon the Ararat of peace and
power, social, material, aud political.
The Flow of Currency South.—
The money article of the New York
Herald, of the Bth instant, says : “Forty
or fifty millions of dollars have gone
South, and have been, or will be, absorb
ed there. The flow of currency in that
direction, at the present time, is still go
ing on, but on a diminished scale. More
will go in the Spring in the shape of
Northern capital, which, under the temp
tation of the high price of cotton, is seek
ing investment there. Emigration has
set iu, and there wid bea strong current
iu the Spring. The revival of cotton cul
ture is a fever just now with capitalists.”
In confirmation of the foregoing, says
the Chronicle & Sentinel , we have beeu
shown Northern letters to the house of
L. & H. McLaws, of this city, authorizing
the purchase of a number of small farms,
in Middle Georgia, of two and four hun
dred acres in extent, and advising that
•‘Spring visits may be expected.”
MACON, GA- TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1869-
THE REVENUE.
The Report of Commiasioner Welle*.
The New York Sun makes the following
neat little abstract of the report of Com
missioner Welles:
The report of the Special Commissioner
of the Revenue for 1868 makes a closely
printed octavo pamphlet of over oue hun
dred pages. From the mas3 of valuable
matter it contains we extract the following
interesting items :
From July 1, 1865, to December 1, 1868,
1,000,000 natives of foreign countries have
sought a permanent home in the United
States. The specie they have brought with
them is set down at SBO per head, or sßo,'
000,000 iu all; while their value to the
country, as producers, is estimated at SSOO
per head, or $-500,000,000 iu all; making a
grand total of $580,000,000 which has been
added from this source to the wealth of
the country.
The increase of cotton manufactures
has been, since 1865, 32 per cent., aud tbe
amount of capital invested in tbe woolen
manufacture is more than three-fold now
what it was in 1860
The production of pig iron for 1868 was
1,650,000 tons, showing a steady annual
increase since 1863 of about 8 per cent.
Tbe export of petroleum for 1863 was
95,000,000 gallons.
The amouut op anthracite coal mined in .
1868 was 13,500,000 tons.
The crop of ludian corn was, in 1859,
830,000,000 bushels; in IS6B, 1,100,000,000
busheis.
The cotton crop of 186 S-9 is estimated at
2,700,000 bales.
The tobacco crop for 1867 was 250,000,000
pounds.
Two thousand five hundred miles of
new railroad was built in the United
Stales iu 1868, making tbe number of miles
now iu existence in the country over 40,-
000. The total value of merchandiseannu
ally carried over these roads is $7,273,000,-
000. Six thouand miles of new telegraph
wires have been put up during tbe past
year.
Nearly all tbe individual States materi
ally reduced their debts iu 1868.
From these and similar facts the com
missioner concludes that our national
wealth as a whole is increasing. He reck
ons. however, a number of influences ad
verse to our real prosperity. He goes into
elaborate calculations to show that while
the cost of living has increased since 1860
78 per cent., wages liave increased only
from 50 to 70 per cent. As an illustration
of tiie general principle, he shows that
the wages which, in 1860, would purchase
a barrel and a half of flour, now purchases
only a barrel and a quarter. Hence, tbe
laboring population are really not as well
off as they were.
In regard to the customs duties and in
ternal revenue taxes, the commissioner
favors a greater simplification, and a re
duction in the number of taxes imposed.
He mentions a number ot articles, such as
salt, lumber, iron aud coal, on which the
taxes anti duties should be made as light as
possible, in order to favor the industry of
tbe country.
Os tbe national finances the commis
sioner speaks at some length, and gives
figures to show that with proper economy
our national debt can be reduced by SIOO,-
009,000 before the close of tbe next fiscal
year, Jue 30, 1870.
In regard to the tariff, he advocates the
imposition of duties with a view to income
only, and severely condemns the protec
tionist policy, which lias so many advo
cates, as exceedingly detrimental to Amer
can industry. He concludes by saying :
With these feelings and convictions, be
would therefore prove untrue to bis trust
did be not here enter his most earnest pro
test against auy further general increase
of the tariff', but would, on tbe contrary,
recommend:
1. An enlargement of the free list.
2. A reduction of some rates of duty, and
as an exception an increase of a few others
with a view to the incFease of the revenue.
3. A reduction of some rates of duty
with a view to an absolute abatement on
the simple ground that the reduction of a
duty is the reduction of a tax, and that the
most efficient method of protecting home
industry is by tiie removal of obstacles in
the form of taxes.
4. The conversion to the utmost possible
extent of the present ad valorem duties
into specific, as . the only practicable
method of insuring certainty and equality
in the assessment of duties and tiie pre
vention of undervaluations, and tiie abro
gation of the privilege which enables re
turning tourists to import free of duty an
amount of goods corresponding to their
real or supposed social position.
A CURIOUS DIVORCE CASE IN ST. LOUIS.
Singular Monomania in a Married Man.
[From tiie St. Louis Republican, Jan. G.J
A curious case came to trial in the Cir
cuit Court No. 3 yesterday. It is a case
in which Elizabeth Brauer nee Lizzie
Andrea, a nice, well educated Frauco-
American young lady, with eighteen and
a half summers smiling on her placed
brow, sues fer a nullity of tiie marriage
vows pronouuced between her and Henry
Brauer, a handsome Teutonic cigar maker
of twenty-six. They were sparking for
about two years and brought the matter to
a nucleus after a year’s engagement by
getting married on November 10, 1867,
in the church of St. Michael, at tbe hands
of Father O’Brien, a Catholic priest. As
his marriage drew near Henry, who seems
to be of a nervous temperament, it is al
leged. got a little deranged in his upper
story. The dread of a plunge into the sea
of matrimony unmanned him. Hethought
tiie world aud the inhabitants thereof
were against him. He acted most strange
ly, sometimes talking fluently, flippantly
and foolishly; at other times he was sullen
aud melancholy.
The ordeal of the customary preparation
of going to confession before marriage iu
the Catholic Church was too much for
him. The ceremony of marriage was
more than he could bear, and, as he signi
fied to a witness, “Father O’Brien had
signed his death warrant.” His ride from
church, he is reported to have said, w r as to
be bis “last carriage ride.” He was afraid
everybody was going to kill, to stab, to
poison him. Even the savory dishes
served up by his afllanced he deemed to
be poisonous; but like a heroine she per
sisted iu running the venture and wed
ding him. In the early days of the mar
riage his strange mode of acting got
worse. He was frightened at every trivial
object, aud felt sure he was to be killed.
Even a conductor on one of the Bremen
cars w s in bis mind’s eye” habited in wo
man’s clothes to ass tssinate him. Every
dish or goblet handed him should be first
tasted by his new bride to assure him there
was no poison in it for him.
Even of the pills the doctor prescribed
for his malady, she had to take two before
he would take the prescribed dose. He
became so furious that he had to be placed
under arrest. From this be was taken to
the house of his father-in-iaw and tended
six weeks, then he went to a private luua
tic asylum, whence be was removed about
January 21, 1868, to the State Lunatic
Asylum at Fulton, where he remained
eight or ten weeks under care. When he
returned bis “dear Eliza refused to receive
him, and, fully c mvinced that the mar
riage was a nullity, sbe enjoyed herself at
balls aud parties. She repressed his re
proaches with vigor, aud eveu, it is alleged,
used a billet of wood and a butcher knife
to eject him from the house. The testi
mony is very voluminous, and most of it
unfit for publication.
—The Remington, Peabody, Winches
ter, Spencer, Colt and Sharpe gun facto
ries are constantly engaged in supplying
European Governments. One manufac
turing firm has just delivered 40,000 rifles
to the Danish Government and $30,000 to
the Swedish, having still a contract on
hand to furnish 15,000 of the same sort to
the Greeks. Another firm has just deliv
ered 20,000 rifles to the Cuban Govern
meat, to be used against the insurrection
ists, while still another has contracted to
make 30,000 breech-loaders for the Rus
sians.
—Ahigh-heeled Howard student, named
Alger, having amused himself on Satur
day, in Boston, by slapping an old man’s
face, had several inches of jack knife in
serted in hi3 bowels, and will probably
die therefrom.
latest from the ogeechee.
[From the Savannah Republican, January 12th. j
Sunday morning Captain Isaac Russell,
Deputy sheriff, went in a private carriage
(there no train) to the Ogeechee,
aud arrived at the military headquarters
at about one o’clock p. m. * On his arrival
he proceeded to visit the Southfield and
Haywood's plantations. He also seut out
scouts with directions to report to him any
parties they might see who were named in
the watrants in his possession. All was
quiet on Sunday. Hearing that Peter
Smith would probably be in the city, he
returned on Sunday night. Finding that
he was notin thecity, he left by the train
yesuetday morning and returned to the
military camp. He then proceeded to visit
the several plantations, aud found all
quiet. He asked where certain parties
were, and was informed that Dr. Williams
had told some parties to come to camp aud
give themselves up, and others that they
had better get out of Chatham county.
Last night Giles Jones, who had previous
ly surrendered, aud Maua Forest, who
surrendered yesterday to Col. Sweeney,
were turned over to him. When he ar«
rived at Station No. 1 he sent the prisoners
—Giles and Forest —to the city by Mr.
Sheftail, Special Deputy Sheriff. He pro
ceeded then by land to tiie city on horse
back r with one of his posse aud a small
boy. i
about eight miles from Station
rvC7T, ue discovered a negro coming from
tiie swamp on a white horse. He imme
diately turned his horseand went towards
him aud ordered him to halt, but he re
fused to stop. Mr. Barkston, a special
deputy, was ordered to arrest the negro on
the horse. The negro theu came to a halt.
Captain Russell rode up to him and asked
him what was his name. He said his
name was George Wardell, from Bryan
county. Captain Russell told him that he
did not believe him ; that lie was there as
an officer of tbe law, and if he did not give
a satisfactory accouut of himself he would
arrest him, and in tbe meantime the boy
in company with him came up and recog
nized the negro as Peter Smith. After
the boy recognized him Peter still denied
his name, aud said his name was War lell,
from Bryau county, but the boy insisted
that he kuew him and also knew his blind
horse. He then admitted that he was
Peter Smith, who is well known to be a
captain of tbe pickets, next iu command
to Solomon Farley. Capt. Russell arrested
him, brought him to the city aud lodged
him in jail.
Captain Russell has been indefatigable
in liis efforts to arrest aud bring to jus
tice the perpetrators of tiie outrages on
tiie Ogeechee, and lias labored day and
night in tiie fearless discharge of his du
ties as a public officer.
Court of Examination.—A bench of
magistrates, P. M. Russell, Jr., the com
mitting magistrate, presiding, convened
at the Court House at ten o’clock yester
day morning, for the purpose of examin
ing tiie cases of the Ogeechee prisoners,
charged with robbery, insurrection, etc.
Hon. H. R. Jackson, counsel for the
prosecution, moved a continuance of the
examination, on tbe ground that nearly
two-thirds of the witnesses for tlie State
were not iu court, aud could not possi
bly be present to day ; that the charges
against the prisoners were of a most seri
ouscharacter, and that the ends of justice
would be promoted by the postponement
of the examination for a few days, to give
time to secure the attendance of witnesses
for the defence as well as for the prosecu
tion.
J ustice Russell then granted a continu
ance until niue o'clock on Friday morn
ing next, when it is hoped none of the
witnesses will fail to be preseut.
INFLUENCE OF IRREDEEMABLE PAPER
CURRENCY ON EXPORTS.
Interesting Fuels and Figure*.
[Special Correspondence of the N. O. Picayune.)
Washington, January 3, 1869.
Hon. I). A. Wells, in bis annual report,
gives An illustration of tbe influence of an
irredeemable paper currency upon exports.
Tiie facts are furnished by a manufacturer
in one of (he middle States who, previous
to the war, had built up an extensive ex
port business iu the West Indies, Central
aud South America, of a variety of cane
seated and cane-backed furniture, suited
to warm latitudes.
T hus, on the Ist of March, 1861, gold and
currency being at par, SIOOO possessed a
purchasing power sufficient to obtain for
tiie South American importer lllj dozen
of what are known in the trade, “ordi
nary square post cane seat chairs.” About
tbe Ist of January, 1862, gold began to
command a premium, and advanced
during tbe next three years with great
rapidity. This movemeut was not, how
ever, participated iu at first to any consid
erable extent by either labor or commodi
ties, and, in consequence, the purchasing
power of gold greatly increased ; so much
so that in July, 1864, the SIOOO gold which
in 1801 bought lllj dozen chairs, then
bought 143 dozen. Under these circum
stances, as was to be expected, trade in
creased, as the foreign purchaser fouud
tiie American market by far the best for
his interest; but from July, 1864, a move
ment commenced in an exactly opposite
direction —gold receding, and labor aud
commodities advancing in very unequal
ratio.
Thus iu January, 1865, the SIOOO in gold,
which four years before had a purchasing
power of 111 j dozen chairs, and on the first
of July, 1864, of 143 dozen, then com
manded but 126 2-3 dozen in February,
1866, a still smaller number, viz: 91 j
and( zen, and ultimately obtained its tniiii
num iu January, 1867, when tbe pur
chasing power of tbe sum named was only
89 2 3 dozen. From this point the pur
chasing power has gradually increased,
and for tbe past year, 1868, has remained
at tbe rate of 102 dozen, or nine dozen less
than could be bought for the same money
in 1861.
The result has been that the foreign
purchaser now goes to France or Ger
many, while the products of American in
dustry, in the form of furniture, being no
longer available to exchange for sugar,
spices or dye wood, gold has necessarily
been substituted.
An Eccentric Cat.— Marvelous [stories
in regard to a cat owned by Mr. Edgerly
of Meredith, N. H., are told by the Con
cord Patriot. The cat wasa hunter, often
going after rabbits and catching them. If
any of the family went into the woods
Tommy would go too and seek for game,
aud if separated from the party would
climb a tree to find the direction in which
to go. He was very expert in catching
squirrels, and the boys would put him on
a stone wail while they started the game.
One afternoon Tommy caught fifteen
squirrels in this mauner. He would wait
any length of time when put down in a
place and told to stay there. One day the
cat brought a rat to Mr. E., who skinned
it, which seemed to please pussy very
much, and he was told to catch more.
Henceforth Tommy made it his sole occu
pation to catch rats and see them skinned.
The hides were fastened on the barn at the
distance of a few feet from the ground, and
thirty-seven trophies were in time dis
played there. One day Mr. E. being busy,
would not skin a rat which Tommy laid
at his feet, and drove him away rather
roughly. Thecat wentofl'iu high dudgeon,
with his back aud tail up, aud never after
would catch a rat, though other game con
titiued to suffer. Furthermore, he tore
down all tbe rat skins fastened on the
barn, to show bis resentment! This re
markable cat was killed a few months ago
by being caught in a fox trap.
New Orleans, Mobile and Chatta
nooga Railroad.— VVe have just bad the
pleasure of receiving a call from James A.
Raynor, Esq., of New York, Presidentof
the New Orleans, Mobile and Chattanoo
ga Railroad Company, aud with his call
the pleasure of learning that tbe various
contracts for tbe building of that road
from New Orleans to Mobile will be let
on the 20th of January, as advertised, so
that the actual construction of it will be
at once commenced and carried on, until
jt is completed, a3 rapidly as in these days
D f rapid railroad building this can be
<jone. — N. O. Picayune.
—D. G. Cotting, Secretary of State, is
seriously ill at Atlanta.
—The murderer of Chas. M. Rodgers, in
New York, has surrendered himself.
FAINTING at noontide.
“What* wearied with life *-^Keble.
“The «udcrowns all!" — ShaX-tptarr.
Oh, heart, my heart, why flags thy force
Thus in the middle of my course.
Midway between the sea aud source*
The stream that stagnates in its bed
Turns no man’s mill. As well, be dead
As numb and rigid. Overhead
Stands earth's overseer, the sun;
“Your work, your work ! It is not done.
The night shall take thy place anon:
Put out your light, and bid you coma
To rest within the idle tomb—
To sluggards still a house of gloom !”
Mom hears the harvest songs. 'Tis eve’s
To see when, mute, the reaper heave*
Into the wains the bursting sheaves.
The fields are to the harvest white—
The laborers only scant —the blight
May fall ere all he garnered right.
The sickle plies thy lonely lord ;
And canst thou hear his loyal word.
Nor every pulse anew be stirred ?
* “My meat and drink it is to do
My father’s will; but this I rue,
His husbandmen—behold, how few !’’
Who bear the burden and the heat,
If not the throe and bloody sweat.
And at his side in patience eat
Os His hard bread, aud share His cup
Below, they shall be summoned up
Beside Him in His joy to sup.
[l'ntnam's Magazine for January.
THE RAMIE PLANT.
[Mobile Correspondent of the Montgomery Mail. J
Meeting with Mr. Gallatin McGee upon
the cars, lie showed me a specimen of the
Ramie fibre. It is longer, whiter, atul
more substantia! than tbe Sea Island cot
ton, and brings over sixty cents per pound
in tbe market—being more valuable than
our Alabama cotton. It can be produced
iu Alabama at a less cost than cotton, aud
promises to become a most important
element in our agriculture. Mr. McGee
has seut to New Orleaus for clippings of
tbe Ramie, sufficient to stock one acre.
The success of tbis experiment, and we
iiave no doubt of its success, will induce
next year a large cultivation of this valu
able staple iu the country adjacent to
Montgomery.
The Ramie belongs to the nettle family.
It is confined to warm latitudes. There
is one variety found in Florida, and four
different varieties in China, Japan, Su
matra and Java. It is also fouud in Corea
and Japan, as far North as 36, and far
South as 10 degrees latitude. The Ramie
was first introduced into I’ranee iu 1844,
but did not succeed well on account of tbe
cold winters. It was theu introduced into
Mexico by the Belgian botanist, B. Roezl.
After being cultivated there successfully
for several years, it was taken to Louisia
na in March, 1867, where it flourished
aud increa-ed iu a wonderful mauuer,
exceeding the most sanguine expectations
of those who have engaged iu its cultiva
tion.
It is started with root cuttings, planted
three inches deep, in good, loose soil; and
can be propagated by layers, cuttings and
divisions of the root with great rapidity,
even at tiie rate of a hundred for oue. It
can be planted from tbe roots at any season
of tbe year, and need never be renewed.
Its growth is continuous and requires less
labor than cotton; nor does it require labor
so punctual as any other culture; arid it is
not subject to tiie ravages of worms or de
struction by frost. It is said not to sutler
from excess of rains, aud to withstand
drought without injury.
When in its original land, tiie plant
grows only five or six feet high ; iu the
Louisiana soil it rises to ten feet. That is
the reason why Dr. Roezl has, out of many
lands, selected tiie Southern States as the
best adapted to its culture. Already a
number of plantations are progressing in
Louisiana and Mississippi, and tbe owners
are selling to neighbors enough plauts to
recuperate their first investments, and
soon the markets of New York aud New
Orleans will be fully open to the new
textile. In tbe Spring or Fall is tbe best
time for planting.
The Renaissance Louisianaise, a French
weekly issued iu New Orleans, publishes
a letter from Mr. Albert Terry, one of tiie
most energetic aud intelligent planters of
Louisiana, which is destined to set at rest
all doubtsconcerning tiie practical culture
of tbe Ramie in tbe South. Mr. Terry
thinks, as far as his own practical expe
rience extends, that tbe Ramie, is tiie
most wonderful plant, of easy cultivation
the first year and growing of itself the
second. He sends a sample of the lint
from his first cuttings, which is declared
to be equal in quality to cotton of tbe first
picking, notwithstanding it is susceptible
of great improvement by continued culti
vation. When we reflect that tbe Ramie
i- peculiarly suited to our soil and climate,
that it is easy of cultivation aud more
productive than cotton, (for it yields from
fifteen hundred to sixteen hundred pounds
an acre, per year,) that the lint is equal iu
whiteness aud quality to that of cotton,
and far superior in strength of texture ;
that it is impervious to the attacks of the
dreaded caterpillar ; that it is in great de
mand in England, where it sells for as
much as sixty cents per pound ; and lastly,
wiien we are assured that its cultivation
requires less labor and expense than al
most any other plant, we cannot see why
it should not at least receive a fair trial at
tbe bauds of our farmers.
ANECDOTE OF THOMAS F. MARSHALL.
The Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Ken
tucky, once a prince of good fellows, was
defending a man charged with murder in
Jessamiue county, Judge Lusk presiding.
The testimony against the prisoner was
strong, and Tom struggled hard on the
cross-examination, but to little purpose,
for the old Judge was inflexible in his
determination to rule out all improper
testimony ottered on the part of the de
fence. At last Torn worked himself into
a high state of excitement, and remarked
that “Jesus Christ was convicted upon
just such rulings of the court that tried
him.”
“Clerk.” said the Judge, “enter a fine
of ten dollars against Mr. Marshall.”
“ Well, this is the first time I ever heard
of anybody being fined for abusing Pontius
Pilate,” was the quick response of Tom.
Here the Judge became very indignant,
and ordered the clerk to enter auother
fine of twenty dollars.
Tom arose with that peculiar, mirth
provoking expression that no one can
imitate, and addressed the court with as
much gravity as circumstances would
permit, as follows:
“ If your Honor pleases, as a good citi
zen, I feel bound to obey the order of this
court, and intend to do so iu this instance;
but, as I don’t happen to have thirty dol
lars about me, I shall be compelled to bor
row it of some friend, and, as I see no
one present whose confidence and friend
ship 1 have so long enjoyed as your Hon
or’s, I make no hesitation in asking the
small favor of a loan for a few days, to
square up the amount of the fines that
you have caused the clerk to enter against
me.”
This was a stumper. The judge looked
at Tom, and then at the clerk, and finally
said,
“Clerk,remit Mr. Marshall’s fines; the
State is better able to lose thirty dollars
than I am.”
Time Does It. —Time has a wonderful
power in taking the conceit oat of persons.
When a young man first emerges from the
schools and eaters upon the career of life,
it is painfully amusing to witness his self
sufficiency ; he would have all the world to
understand that he has “learned outthat
he is master of all knowledge, and can un
ravel mysteries. But 83 he grows older, he
grows wiser; he learns that he knows a
great deal less than he supposed he did;
and by the time he reaches the threescore
years, he is prepared to adopt as his own
the sentiment of John Wesley—“ When I
was young, I was sure of everything; in a
few years, having been mistaken a thous
and times, I was not half as sure of most
things as I was before. At present, lam
hardly sure of anything but what God has
revealed to mat..”
—Chicago has erected, this year, thirty
eight miles of buildings, worth $25,000,000,
and including twenty-five churches.
IXOFFKXDIKU CITIZKW MURDERED IXCOLD
BLOOD, \K VH M ADISOS AKKAXSAH.
Three Tennesseeans Taken from a Ferry
boat and “ Double-Quicked ” to Marion.
—A General Programme of Robbing and
Piumlering—More Militia Erpected. —
Outrages Along the Ouachita — A’egro
Militia backing Landings and Stores.
[From the Memphis Avalanche of the
Claytou’s loyal bloodhounds are still
murdering, plundering and outraging the
unfortunate people of Arkansas.
Only a day or two since they fell upon a
most peaceable and unoffending citizen by
the name of Dillard, as he was returning
from his place of business, and for attempt
ing to escape, murdered him in cold blood.
Yesterday a Mr. John Organ was sot dead
at Fifteen Mile Bayou, near Madison,
where they now have eight or uine hun
dred head of horses and other property,
stolen from citizens of the surrouudiug
oountry.
At Madison they broke opeu every house
and building in the place, regardless of
locks and keys, and the citizen* are fieeing
in every direction, leaving everything be
hind.
One hundred and thirty were expected
yesterday evening at Hopetield, where
they also have a large number of stoleu
horses.
VVs heard of two other men who were
shot down a day or two ago, near Madi
son. but failed to learu their names.
Yesterday the steamer Liu ton was
boarded, near Madisou, by a number of
officers and privates, who robbed the bar,
cursed the otHcers of the boat, telling them
that they were all damned Ku-Klux, and
ordering them to leave.
As the boat moved off, it was tired Into,
aud the oarkeeper barely escaped with his
life.
The citizens are reported as hiding in
the woods, aud business entirely suspend
ed.
A number of refugees arrived yesterday
evening, who were being hunted down
like dogs, and who had to tlee for their
lives.
Among the outrages committed by these
theiviug vagabonds yesterday, was the
following, upon three well known aud
respectable citizens of Hardeman county,
Tennessee—Messrs. L. M. Bray, John
Thompson and Archibald Mayfield —who
have been back of Crowley’s Uidge to
purchase laud:
They reached Mound City, from Marion,
in the afternoon, aud stepped aboard the
ferryboat to come to Memphis. Before
the little steamer left, a company of mili
tia, commanded by a man supposed to be
white, came aboard and arrested the three
gentlemen. In reply to questions, they
were informed that they must go back to
Madison at once. They were placed uu
der guard ami sent back. For nearly half
the distance, and especially on reaching
muddy places, the prisoners were com
pelled, at the point of the bayonet, to
“double-quick,” and their ears were re
galed witti choice epithets from their ne
gro custodians as “d—d rebel,” and “d—d
Ku-Klux.”
Once in Marion they were taken before
Colonel Me Wray for examination. The
white ofticer who effected the arrest finally
arrived and testified. He pronounced
Messrs. Bray, Thompson and Mayfield,
three men whom he had for some time
particularly desired to capture; said they
were Ku-Klux, and had been inciting re
sistance. Two or three negro militia,
whom the prisoners never saw before,
swore to personal knowledge of them for
two or three years, and pretended to iden
tify their horses as the property of certain
“ loyal” colored people in the county.
Unfortunately for the rascals, they
proved entirely too much. The prisoners
found no difficulty in establishing that
they had been in the (State only three
weeks, and in that immediate section sim
ply while making the trip to and from the
river. Everything sworn to by the white
officer and blacks was so eleariy shown to
be lies that the Colonel, though steeped in
infamy, was compelled toorder the release
of the prisoners, who regained the river
late in tlie evening, fortunately in time to
be ferried to Memphis.
The above are fair sample? of the out
rages daily committed by order of Gov.
Clayton on law-abiding people unfortu
nate enough to fall into their clutches.
These outrages are all in the name of
“ loyalty ’’—all designed to strengthen the
government aud illustrate the beauties of
reconstruction as ordered by Congress and
executed by carpet-baggers and scalawags,
And he who cries out against it is de
nounced by the Radical press of thecoun
try as “ rebel and traitor” to “the best
government the world ever saw.” Late
repays from parties from Camden, on the
Ouacuita, give the following particulars of
outrages committed, very recently, by the
negro militia appointed by Gov. Clayton,
the Radical Governor of Arkausas:
“In Ashley county, they robbed Mr.
Wimberly, a merchant of Petersburg, of
all his money, clothing, bed clothing,
goods, and of everything that was of any
service to him whatever; robbed Mr.
Pugh, a merchant, of Orion, of all his goods
and mouey; robbed Mr. A. W. Files, a
merchant of Hamburg, of all his goods,
caught him, and by threats induced him
to pay SI,OOO in greenbacks and SI,OOO in
gold, in order to have his life spared and
to be turned loose ; met some ladies going
to a little social dance in the country;
robbed them of their bonnets and shawls
and made them dance in the road; injured
Messrs. Files & Norris, at Marie Haliue, to
considerable extent by plundering their
warehouse. They are robbing the people
of all their corn and provisions, mules and
horses, guns aud pistols, which they
either destroy or appropriate to their own
use. They do not spare a man’s purse,
and by presenting a loaded gun or a navy
six, make him shell out the cash. The
citizens are in a state of great consterna
tion, and many are leaving their homes.
They are now going around among the
people in the county, with a document,
which they make the citizens sign, bind
ing them to protect the negro militia
which they intend organizing in said
county; those who refuse to sign they say
they intend to burn out. They are com
posed of Kansas jay-hawkers and men
from Northern Arkansas. They commit
these depredations only in the counties
declared under martial law. Neither the
lives nor the property of citizens are safe
where they are.”
At Hamburg, the militia took possession
and sacked all the stores in the town.
At Marie Saline the militia took posses
siou of the store and warehouse-landing of
Files & Norris, the Major commanding
standiugat the principal door with drawn
sword, and with revolvers in his belt,
whilst his minions plundered the prem
ises. They also took possession of goods
lying on the landing at the place, belong
ing to many different persons in the
county, aud carried whatever they wanted
away.
DESTRUCTIVE EARTHQUAKE.
Ban Francisco, January 9.—A letter
from Culima, Mexico, gives an account of
a terrible earthquake experienced in that
city on the morning of December 20. For
several days previous the volcano of Culi
ma, thirty miles from the city, exhibited
symptoms of internal commotion, sending
forth steam, accompanied by a rumbling
shaking of the earth. On the morning of
the 29th, there was a geu tie rocking of the
earth, which gradually increased in vio
lence until the walls cracked and every
thing breakable in the bouses demolished.
Vibrations lasted nearly forty minutes.
Cathedrals and warehouse brick buildings
cracked from top to bottom. The people,
startled from their sleep, rushed frantical
ly for the plaza. It is reported that sever
al persons were killed by the falling of
the National Hotel. The shock was felt a
long distance into the interior. At sever
al places the ground opened, and trees
uprooted, hills leveled, water courses
changed, and a general upheaval of eartii
took place. At the city of Manzanillo,
the Cathedra building, which had stood
the shocks of earthquakes aud storms for
uearly a century, was riven from top to
bottom, even the tiles on the roof were
broken. Some eighteen or twenty persons
were crushed by the falling walls of the
American Hotel, and three others buried
in the ruins.
—lt was rumored that Bennett had a
paralytic attack a few days ago.
—The pews in Beecher’s church, Brook
lyn, sold for $97,000 last week.
VOL. LX., NO U.
DIVORCE.
A Few malUlle* from Chicago—Xmrl) Fi»r Hun.
dred Application* During the Vear.
[From the Chicago Time*, December 'Si.
During the present year of grace two
hundred and eightv-four wives aud on *
hundred and seventy-six husbands have
filed petitions for divorce in the various
courts in tbecity. These lachrymose j>er
sons telling tlie sius of the defendants
upon their finger ends and {raving
nightly for relief, throng the courts amt
press their suits wilh overwhelming ini*
portuuity. They have been trooping up
duriug all the months aud weeks ot the
year, pouring a continuous plaint into the
ears of patieut justice, and making the
high places of chancery ring again with
the sometime touching but now rattier
wearisome tale of misplaced affection and
broken vows. This imposing procession,
graced by so largo a number of virtuous
dames and hotiorabie men, has alredv eon
sumed many years in passing a giving
point, and there are no signs of tlie be*
giuuing of the end. Fortunately, the
preseiit purpose has ouly particularly to
do with that portion of the train upon
whose banners is iuscrioed—as the year
of ho|»e or of deliverance—“lß6B.” And
there are four hundred and sixty men aud
women, all told.
The details of the year’s struggle in this
branch of litigation show tiial out of 480
suits, the whole number brought during
the year, were commenced by w ive ,
and only ITS by husbands, leaving a 1
auce of 176 in favor of the superior enter
prise of the dear creatures. In the mat
ter, too, of obtaining decrees, the wives
lead the husbands by 114 eases. 1 hey are
also ahead in another respect. Forty-one
wives were found to have committed
adultery, while the number of husbands
upon ttie same score was only thirty nine.
In regard to cruelty and drunkenness, the
husbands are, of course, greatly in the
majority, though it appears, nevertheless,
that the gentler sex has not wholly aban
doned the broomstick, and tiiat ail un
warrantable degree of inebriety has been
indulged in by some few members of that
highly esteemed organization. The pro
gtess of the divorce epidemic during the
year may also he noted with pront. Its
greatest ravages 01*011 rred in June. Roth
sexes were on the rampage about tbaL
time. Prudent persons will mark the
month as very dangerous. There were
also many victims in March and October.
In the case of March, the prevalence of
east winds probably contributed greatly as
a predisposing cause. Iu the case of Octo
ber, the excess is mainly due to the fact
that about tiiat time many person* are
making their domestic arrangements for
the winter. But these reasons do not hold
good as to the month of June. The unu
sual liability to become a victim to u di
vorce suit during that mouth must bo left
unaccounted for. During the year there
has been a i increase in the number of di
vorce suits commenced of lilt: over the
number brought iu 1867, ami an increii**
in tile number of decrees gianted of J.J2.
“UOI.W, liUl.Vli UOVK !”
Orange, near Hicks street, in Brooklyn,
presented quite u lively appearance yes
terday evening. Not only the repr* seiita
tives of Brooklyn society—nay, society
itself, was there in corpore In fact every
body that is anybody was there. I.c hunt
monde, la haut finance. Ic bant commerce,
le, haut guinqa'illerie— all the e different,
strata of modern society were pre* *nt in
full force. To do what? To battle for
virtue’s triumph ? To w restle in honora
ble combat as the heroic youth did of old
at tlie Olympian games? To compete for
the general applause of the public voice
with works of their genius or industry ?
No; what they did was merely to attend
an auction and outbid each other, if possi
ble, for a—seat. At tlje opera? or circus'*
or for another series of Jenny Lind con
certs, under tlie management of a Bnr
num? No; the auction was for scats in a
church, and thechurch where it w ; .s held
was Plymouth church, Henry Ward
Beecher’s temple of worship on Orange
street, near Hicks, in the “City of
Churches.” Through the portals of the
holy edifice, consecrated to the service of
God and not of mammon, lighted up bril
liantly, like tlie entrance to any show
house, the voice of the busy uutionecr
within arrested the attention of all passers
by. “Five, live, five—eighty do 1 hear,
eighty-five, ninety—going at two hundred
ninety, going, going—ninety five do I
hear —gone!”
There was Plymouth Church. Tlie old,
white, familiar walls, which had so often
eclioed the eloquent appeals of “Father
Beecher” shone as bright as ever under
tlie glaring light of hundreds of gas jets;
there was the organ, grand and majestic
in its appearance, but silent, as if hu-hing
Us tones in anger at the barterings beneath
it; there was Ihe chancel, but within were
only busy scribes to note down the names
of successful bidders, and the dollars and
oeutsof tlie largest bids ; there was tlie
reading desk, plainly carved of wood
brougbtall the way from the sacred Mount
of Olives, where thirty pieces of silver
purchased the treason of Judas—but it was
“hammered” not by tlie enthusiastic ex
pounder of tiie holy word, hut by the
crafty auctioneer, who called for more ami
still more pieces, no’ of silver, but of
greenbacks. And there was the congre
gation, filling every pew on tlie main Hour
of the church and in the galleries, chat
tering and laughing, and merrymaking
among themselves, some of the mule gen
der even with liieir hats on, o hers noting
od the diagram of the church the names
of the bidders and the seats they had se
cured ; and the female portion, those “dear
creatures" who never can be wit bout their
chitchat, oriticising and scrut in izi ng each
other, and “all creation ” into the bargain.
And among all and from pew to pew and
iroru aisle to aisle passed the pastor of the
church, Father Beecher, patting this one
and that on the shoulder, chatting with
the ladies, smiling benignant!y on all, and
encouraging his fiock by word, counten
ance and gesture, not to lag in their bids,
but “go it with all their might.” Bueli
was the scene enacted last evening at that
temple of God par excellence, Plymouth
Church. And the remarks which passed
occasionally between auctioneer and bid
ders were of a kind to suit the “solemni
ty” of the occasion. “Put your hands in
your pockets,gentlemen, and let’s have it,”
exclaimed he at the desk. “What is that
you have got to drink up there?” asked
aloud someone in the body of the church.
“Only Ridgewood. VV e are temperance
to-night,” replied one of the scribes, and
this sally brought down the bouse. Thus
it wenton till all the seats were disposed
of, Mr. Henry C. Bowen paying the high
est premium, $420. “Going, going—gone!”
[New York Herald.
A DF.HTRICTIVE FIKK.
Ou Saturday morning about 5 o’clock,
flames were seen to issue from tbe rear of
the three story brick building, No. 423
King street. The alarm wa~ instantly
sounded, aud our gallant fin-men were
promptly on the spot, hut before the ma
chines were at work, almost the entire
huildiDg was iu flames, and it became
apparent that "all efforts to save it would
be vain. The conflagration continued
with unabated fury being c nfiued, how
ever, to the one building, and tne roof of a
one story house adjoining, until aboutO
o’clock, when the walls fell. A portion ot
the Southern wall failing upon the ad
joining house which was only partially
burut, completely demolished it, and in a
short while the flames were entirely ex
tinguished. A young man named John
Itiley, a director of the Hope Fire Lugine
Company, who was in the disebargeot ms
duty, was injured by tbe falling wall, i «
was taken up, promptly conveyed in “
neighboring store, and his wounusc re .
We are pleased to say that the inju■
received, though of a serious nature, are
' “‘('the bulldii'g*
to Messrs John Fraser A Cos., are v.uueu uc
6(i and were Rot in
sured. >23 in which the fire
Tnebu.ld.ng - - 4 ed by Mr j ]5.
originated, Hig stocb(
McLlbof* tire) ydestroyed, was insured
which "V, of M r . Lowndes to the
amount of $1.50®, about half the value of
h Tiu?nu’i |din * N°. 421 waa occupied by
Mrs Booth as a millinery store. The
stock a portion of which was saved, was
also insured in Mr. Lowndes’ agency to
fie amount of U,000.-Charl*«on 'Jouner,
nth.