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EST ABLISHED 1799.1 Sff-R Augusta Constitutionalist DAILY $6 par year TRI-WEEKLY $4 44 WEEKLY S2 44 44 Cheaf ast and Beat Political, Local aafcl General News Paper in the •Southern States. BY TELE6BAFH • —TO THE— CONSTITUTIONALIST. Associated Press Dispatches. FROM WASHINGTON. GRANT’S BULL AGAINST THE COMET. The Troops in Washington—Crooked Electors—Mad Wells’ Damning Let ters—The Commission Plodding Along. Washington, February 3. —The trans fer of troops hence to Fortress Monroe has been countermanded. Before the Powers and Privileges Committee, Daniel W. Downes, elector for Wisconsin, did not think examining Surgeou of the Pension Office disquali fied him. He held that position when elected and when he voted for Hayes. The official fee is two dollars in each case. Maddox produced the letter ad dressed to Hon. J. It. West sealed aud another addressed to himself. They were in an envelope addressed to by Judge A. Walker, and had been in the custody of Jack Wharton, Adjutant Generalbf Louisiana under Kellogg, .The committee sent for Sena tor West, who will his letter in the presence o{ the committee. . “New Orleans, November, 20, 187 G. “J. H. Maddoj : “Dear Sir— Understandingthe politi cal condition of matters here from as sociation with both political parties, and a friend of the President, a Gov ernment officer, would it not be con sidered a part of your to go at once to Washington with as little de lay as possible, and place before the President the condition and the pend ing daugeis of the situation. Should you conclude upon prompt action in the premises, allow me to commend you to Senator West, who is my friend, aud witli whom you will freely commu nicate request. Yours, very|truly. “J. Madison Wells. Senator West appeared, and at the regret of the committee opened the letter addressed to him and immedi ately withdrew. “New Orleans, Nov. 21. “My Dear Senator—l regret much not seeing you when here. I wanted to say much to you which would be at least imprudent to put oc, paper. I trust, however, to meet you in Wash- J ington as soon as the canvass is over which is now upon U3. Our du ties, as returning officers, have aug mented the magnitude of the destiny of the two great parties—may I say the nation. I fully comprehend the situation, as well as my duty to the greatest living general, U. S. Grant; and not, with my consent, shall this oppressed people be governed by his paroled prisoners, aided by their white livered cowardsof the North. Let me, my esteemed sir, warn you of the danger. Millions have been sent here and wiil be used in the interest of Tilden, aud unless some counter movement is made it will be impossible for me or auy other individual to arrest its productive re sults. The gentleman presenting this letter is fully aware of the moves, and, if you allow, will communicate freely. See our friends and act promptly or the result will be disastrous. A hint to the wise. Strictly private aud confi dential. Yours, very truly, “J. Madison Wells. “To J. R. West, Washington, D. C.” Washington, February 3.—The Elec toral Commission Court allowed coun sel to iile evidence. The question of its reception will be decided hereafter. Two hours are allowed for discussion whether the Commission shall contiue itself to the matter laid before it by the President of the Senate. Iu the preliminary struggle (he Re publicans argue to eoutine the Demo crats to enlarge the scope of investiga tion. In the Senate, during the morning hour, a number Y>f bills of a private character were repoited from various committees ami placed on the calendar. Col. Henry J. Hunt has been ordered to join his regiment at Charleston. South Carolina. It is alleged that Jacob Yon Herder, Republican elector of Michigan, is not a citizen of the United States. He has been summoned by the Powers and Privileges Committee. Nothing of interest. Most of the day was consumed in Committee of the Whole on the Legislative, Judicial and Executive Appropriation bill, which was passed. The Preffden ,’s fiuaicial message was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. Recess until 10 o’clock Monday. In the Senate the Post Office bill was reported, appropriating a quarter of a iniliicu to enable the Postmaster Gen eral to obtain proper facilities from great trunk railroads for postal rail way service. Recess to 10 o’clock Monday. Confirmation Mrs. Sumner, post mistress, Sherman, Texas. The vote in the House, on increasing the President’s salary to $50,000 was, yeas, 47 ; nays, 126. The salaries of Senators and Representatives remain unchanged. President's Message. Washington, February 3,1877. To the Senate and House of Representa tives : By the act of Congress, approved January 14, 1875, to provide for the re sumption of specie payment, the first of January, 1879, is fixed as the date when such resumption is to begin. It may not be desirable to fix an earlier date when it shall actually become obligatory upon the Government to redeem its outstanding legal tender notes in coin on presentation; but it is certainly most desirable, and will prove most beneficial to every pe cuniary interest of the country, to hasten the day when the paper circula tion of the country and the gold coin shall have equal values. At a later day, if currency and coin should retain ffljc -Augusta Constitutionalist equal values.it might become advisable to authorizaor direct resumption. 1 be lieve time has come when by a simple act of the legislative blanch of the Government this most desirable result can be attained. lam strength ened in this view by the course trade has taken in the last two years and by the strength of the credit of the United States at home and abroad. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1876, the exports of the United States exceeded the imports by $120,213,but our exports include $40,569,622 of specie and bul lion in excess of imports of the same commodities. For the six months of the present fiscal year, from July Ist., 1876, to Januaryjlst., 1877, the excess of exports over imports amounted to $107,544,869, and the imports of specie and bullion exceeded the exports of the precious metal by $6,192,147. In the same time the actual excess of exports over imports for the six months, exclusive of specie and bullion amounted to 113,737,040 dol lars, showing. for the time being, the accumulation of specie and bullion in the country amounting to more than six millions of dollars. In addition to the national products of these metals for the same period, a total increase of gold and silver for the six months is not far short of sixty millions of dollars. It is very evidc it that unless this great increase of the precious metals can be utilized at hoi e in such a way as to make it in some manner remunerative to the holders, it must seek a foreign market as surely as would any other product of the soil or the manu factory. Auy legislation which will keep coin and bullion at home will, in my judgment, soon bring about practi cal resumption, and will add the coin or the country to the circulating me dium, thus securing a healthy inflation of a sound currency to the great ad vantage of every egitimate business interest. The act to provide for the resurnp sion of specie payment, authorized the Secretary oT the Treasuryto issue bonds of either ot the descriptions named iu the act of Congress, approved July 4, 1870, entitled an act to authorize the re funding or the national debt for not less than par in gold, with the present value of four aud a half per cent, bonds. In the markets of the world they could be exchanged at par for gold, thus strengthening the Treasury to meet re sumption and to keep the excessof coin over demand. Pending its permanent use as a circulating medium at homo all that would further be required would be to reduce the volume of legal notes in circulation, and to accomplish this I would suggest an act authoiiz ing the Secretary of the Treasury to issue four percent, bonds with forty years to run before maturity, to be ex changed for legal tender notes whenever presented in sums of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof; the whole amount or such bonds, how ever, not to exceed $150,000,006, To Increase the home demand for such bonds, I would recommend that they be available for deposit in the Uuited States Treasury for banking purposes, under the various provisions of law re lating to national banks. I would suggest further, that national banks be required to retain a certain per cent, of the coin interest received by them from the bonds deposited with the Tr-asurtxy to secure theif circu lation. I would also recommend the repeal of the third section of the joint resolution Tor the issue of silver coin, approved July 22, 1876. limiting the subsidiary coiu and fractional currency to $50,000,000. I am satisfied that if Congress will enact some such law as will accomplish the end suggested, they will give a relief to the country instant in its effects, and for which they will receive the gratitude of the whole people. U. S. Grant. Executive Mansion, Feb. 3, 1877. The Commission Adjourned to 10 a. m. Monday—Six Hundred Printers Dis charged. The Privileges and Elections Com mittee examined T. j. Leicester, Presi dent of the Hinds county Board of Registers. Leicester had furuishec duplicate keys to the ballot boxes to fifteen persons. Don’t know that they were used; supposed the idea was to take out Republican and put iu Demo cratic ballots. Senator West on opening the letter said he had never seen it before and recognized it as Weils’ handwriting, and he recognized Wells all through the letter. Maddox continued and told Gov. Wells that he had not delivered the letter to West. Wells jumped up and said he was delighted, that the let ter had been troubling him ever since he wrote it. Howe’s Louisiana Committee con tinued Littlefield’s cross -examination. Nothing was elicited beyond elabora tions. In the Electoral Commission, Me.- rick, Evans, O’Conor and Matthews each spoke on the admission of evi dence, when the Commission adj >urn ed to 10 o’clock a. m., Monday, when a decision on this point wiil be reached. The Public Printer has discharged six hundred hands and suspended Congressional printing, except the Record. His funds are exhausted, and it is a misdemeanor to contract debts. Governor Wells wili tell his story Mondaj'. Argument of Democratic and Repub lican Counsel on the Florida Issue— The Commission Adjourns to Mon day. The Commission was called to order by Judge Clifford, the Presiding Jus tice. After a few remarks by the Presid ing Justice, as to the order of pro cedure to be observed, to the effect that, in his view, it would be in order for the Democratic counsel to present in a brief the reason why the Hayes and Wheeler electoral certificate should not be received, and that the Republi can counsel might follow with reasons why the Tilden and Hendricks certifi cate ought not to be received. O’Conor, of the Democratic counsel, arose and proceeded to address the Commission. He said he would ad dress himself to what seemed most pertinent in the Florida case, and would offer proof why the first certificate (Hayes aud Wheeler) should not be counted. Evarts, of the counsel for the Hayes and Wheeler electors, said that if the order of procedure suggested bv the presiding Justice should be followed, it was the fiist intimation the counsel on bis side had had of it, and they would not be prepared to go on to-day The Presiding Justice stated that his remarks were iu the nature of a sug gestion, and did not embody a ruling of the Commission. O’Conor, after a few preliminary re marks as to what he thought should be the method of procedure, read a brief setting forth wbat he thought ought to be submited as evidence. lie said that on December sixth last the electors for Hayes and Wheeler and for Tilden and Hendricks met and cast their votes, and transmitted the same to the seat of Government. Both sets of electors com plied with the requirements of law. A writ of quo warranto was servedj on the Hayes electors on that dav before tney canvassed the vote, which even tuated in a judgment against them and in favor of the Tilden and Hendricks electors on the 27th day of January, 1877. He then reviewed the action of the courts of Florida, and of the Leg islature ordering a re-canvass of the votes, and said the Canvassing Board, without warrant, threw out the whole of the returns from Manatee county, and a part of the returns from Hamil ton, Jackson and Monroe counties. In conclusion he referred to the ineligibili ty of Humphreys, one of the Hayes electors, who was a United States ship ping commissioner. Judge Black, of the Democratic counsel, arose to make a suggestion as to the method of procedure. He be lieved that he had the right to sug gest what evidence should be presented and to speak on that point. The presiding Justice said no evi dence was before the Commission. After a colloquy between the coun sel and members or the Commission, Senator Thurman asked the Hayes and Wheeler counsel what objection there could be to receiving all the evi dence suggested by Mr. O’Conor, sub ject to objections. Mr. Erarts briefly gave his reasons for objecting to the method of intro ducing evidence proposed by the op posing counsel. Judge Black insisted upon it, that the evidence suggested by Mr. O’Con or, had already been taken by the two Houses of Congress. Committees were sent to Florida; took evidence, had it printed, and made it a part of this case. That taken by the House |was submitted to the House after a fierce struggle, filibustering lasting half the night. He could not conceive any thing more unjust than to compel them to submit evideuce piecemeal. Wheu a party flies a bill in a court of equity, he may put in all the evidence he chooses, and the same Is true of the party filing an answer. The evideuce cannot be rejected, but must be ac cepted as a part of the record. While Judge Black was speaking, two special artists on the spot were busily engaged sketching the scene. The Presiding Justice said Judge Black had exhausted the fifteen min utes allowed him. Justice Miller moved that the coun sel on either side have two hours in which to discuss the objection of Mr. Evarts, as to whether any other evi dence than that laid before the two Houses of Congress by the President pro tempore ot the Senate should be re ceived by the Commission. Senator Thurman thought the argu ment ought to go further and embrace the admisibility of testimony taken by either of the two Houses. The ques tion should not be narrowed down to the papers presented from Florida by the President jjro tempore of the Senate to the Houses of Congress. Representative Garfield desired the motion of Justice Miller to be enlarged so as to embrace au argument as to the scope of the power of the Com mission iu the premises. Representative Hoar stituu* ror Justice Milled Wp< / q amended by Mr Garfield, b it, and Justice Field renewed iff*' The prosiding Justice put the ques tion on Justice Field’s substitute, and it was lost. The motion of Justice Miller, as amended, was then adopted. Evarts suggested that each side have three hours, instead of two, and the Commission accepted the sugges tion. Evarts suggested that counsel have more time to prepare their arguments, aud the Commission took a recess until 12:30 p. m. Ou reassembling the Commission agreed to hear one of the counsel ou each side to-day, aud two others on Monday. Mr. O’Conor said he presumed the three houis allowed each side might be divided among counsel as they might agree, aud the presiding officer said that was the understanding. Judge Black asked if he might make some general remarks, and let Mr. Merrick go into the details of the case. The Commission finally decided that three couLsel might speak, provided they did not exceed three hours. Mr. Merrick, of Washington, opened tiie discussion for the Democratic side. He considered it clearly the duty of the Commission to go to the root of the difficulty by regarding, as it must, he thought, regard, the testimony of the House Committee on Florida as evi dence in the case. He read from the Act creating the Commission to show that its powers were ample for the pur pose, and argued that every considera tion of law and of equity required them to inquire into the action of the Re turning Board, tainted, as it palpably was, with fraud. He cited the quo warranto case of Drew vs. Stearns, and others, in support of his view. He was followed by Mr. Stanley Mat thews for the Republicans, who main tained, substantially, that the act of any board constituted by law. or hav ing apparently legal title, could not be set aside after ouster, aud this upon the ground of public policy. Mr. E W. Stoughton followed, also for the Republicans. He spoke to the question of the equity of the acts of the Governor of Florida, and denied the right of the Commission to go be hind the returns of the State Board of Canvassers. It is expected that on Monday morn ing Mr. Evarts will finish for the Re publicans and Mr. J. Black or Mr. Chas. O’Conor for the Democrats on 'the question of what in the shape of testimony is before the Commission, if any is properly before it, and what are the powers of the Commission in the premises. The Commission cannot possibly have Florida in condition to submit its action on it to the House in joint session before Wednesday after noon. Merrick then opened the argument. Wells Requests an Examination. J. Madison Wells submitted to the Committee on Privileges and Powers the following letter : “The testimony of J. H. Maddox having been taken by the committee in reference to alleged conversations be tween bim aud myself, and certain let ters having been produced, I most re spectfully insist that my testimony in relation to those matters should be taken without delay. I feel that it is due to me that what I may desire to say on that subject should be known to the commiftee immediately, and that the facis should go to the country with those letters. “There is nothing in connection with my conduct as a member of the Re turning Board, or as au individual, AUGUSTA. GA.. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1877. touching the subject under considera tion, which I desire to withhold. On the contrary, I am anxious that the whole of these facts shall be known. I also desire to be interrogated in rela tion to the matters testified to by the witness Littlefield, affeetiog me, and I most respectfully protest against fur ther delay in the matter of my examin ation. [Signed] “J. Madison Wells.” The Committee decided to examine Mr. Wells on Monday next. The Committee of Powers and Priv ileges have three unwilling witnesses, who, it has transpired, must substan tiate Littlefield and Maddox. It is very cloudy weather with the Louisiana Returning Board. MR. STEPHENS’ HEALTH. He is Visited by the President —He Realizes His Condition—His Views on the Political Situation. Washington, February 3, midnight.— Hon. Alexander H. Stephens’ condi tion to-day has been more quiet, but he is gradually growing weak. At five o’clock this p. m., President Grant and his son Ulysses called to pay their respects to Georgia’s grea* Commoner. As the President entered’ his room Mr. Stephens spoke in a clear and distinct tone saying, “How do you do, Gen. Grant ?” The President, stepping to his bed side and taking him by the hand, which he had extended from under the cover with some difficulty, said, “How are you, Mr. Stephens?” to which Mr. Stephens replied : “I am sinking, Gen eral. My physicians do not admit tbit, I know ; but I know that I am sinking and will not be here many days longer.” Mr. Stephens then asked after the health of Mrs. Grant, and, observing Lieutenant Grant, reached out his baud, and calling him by name, said he was glad to see him. He then asked the President if all the members of his family were with him, to which the President replied, “All, save my youngest son, who is at College.” The conversation here turned upon the political condition of the country, wheu Mr. Stephens remarked, “I feel that the crisis has passed. I have f*!t deeply for my country, for I desired that the succession to the Presidency should be a peaceable one.” To this the President replied, “Yes, I have felt confident that it would -be since the passage of the bill creating the Commission.” Mr. Stephens then remarked, “We have all made mistakes in our time.” “Yes,” said Geo. Grant, presuming Mr. Stephens alluded to his remark to tiffs effect in his late annual message to Congress, “and but four weeks more aud we shall be scattered. lam anxi ous for the hour to come that shall re lieve me of the anxieties and responsi bilities of my position.” At this point the President r**sf' to take leave of Mr. Stephens, and, taking him warmly by the hand, assured him that lie would call and see him again, aud hoped that when he did so that he would find him better. Mrs. Coleman, the daughter late Senator Johu J. Crittenden, or Kentucky, was present. FROM NEW \ORK. “Busted”--FligLt of for Russia [ Compound Acid Pfiospfiate. Compound Acid ' f tir M ‘“oiling man, has gone iuto voluntary bankruptcy, liabilities nearly a quarter of a million. August Quack, of Quack & Burger, cotton brokers, is reported to have fled after losing the firm’s money in unfor tunate speculations. Over a quarter of million pounds of powder for Russia arrived over the Erie Railroad within a week. Eight more car loads are expected. Hon. David E. Butler. Editor Constitutionalist : The ques tion as to who shall succeed Hon. Ben jamin H. Hill as Representative in the Congress of tiie Uuited States, from the Ninth District, is very naturally one of deep concern to every good and intelligent citizen. Never more strong ly than now has the determination ol the people manifested itseff to put into offices of trust and honor the very best men only—men who are the living em bodiment of the now spirit of the South, aud who, understanding thor oughly the necessities and wishes of their constituency, have the ability aud firmness to maintain the people’s cause. The man’s personal worth must stamp him as fit for the people’s confidence. He must speak for the masses, and be one of them iu heart, in soul and in every purpose. With such men in Con gress—with integrity and honesty, and unbaudable truth aud sincere aims to take the place of the mere politician— what shall prevent us from being, what we ought to be, the most prosperous, powerful and happy people on earth? These thoughts, the spirit of which I believe lies in the breast of every true man, brings me to the consideration of the claims of the man, above all men, best fitted by nature and circumstances to represent the masses of the Ninth District iu the next Congress. I refer to the worthy, universally esteemed, distinguished Georgian, Hon. David E. Butler, of Morgan. Almost everybody iu the State knows him. He has been called to fill many positions of high honor and trust, yet never seeking office. He is one of the rare men whom the office seeks, il lustrating a virtue of the times as unique as it is commendable. His life has been an eventful one, crowded with duty, brightened by the love and the confidence of his neighbors, and filling many high offices of responsibility that demand executive ability and faultless experience. In talent, honesty, purity of charac ter and patriotism, fie has no superiors. Many or our . best people wish Col. Butler to succeed Mr. Hill, honestly believing him to be the best represen tative man that the people of this Dis trict can sen! to Washington; that he is nearer to the great heart of the peo ple; that his manly and consistent course, his Christian rectitude, his em inent administrative qualities, and his hearty soul-wedded affinity with the farming and social relations of the masses, have endeared him to every good citizen of the globe, and that Georgia could not have a fairer repre sentative of its new-born energies, its necessities and its triumphs, at the Capital of the Union, thaa the plain, unassuming, gentle-hearted and clever brained farmer, David E. Butler. The Ninth could hoaor herself in having him. The Constitutionalist is the medium of communication with a large section of our District. Numbers of our peo ple read, support and value it, because of its many excellencies. Hence the privilege of presenting the claims of Hon. D. E. Butler through your columns is asked by yours respectfully, Franklin. j GLASS THAT WON’T SMASH. uNAILS DRIVEN WITH LIMP CHIM NEYS AND TUMBLERS. i How the De La Bastie Process Has Been Developed in Brooklyn. IN. Y. World.| A little over a year ago attention i waa drawn in America to the fact that Mods. A. de la Bastie was producing ,toughened glass at his glass foundry, near Paris, by means of a process the I details of which he did not at first make public. A number of specimens were brought to this country and ex periments were made with them. The gejuineness of the specimens was at first doubted, so incredible did the results of these experiments seem to many. It was thought they were of some substance resembling glass, which could be thrown around the room, dashed against the floor, jumped on, and knocked about generally. It was argued that in the nature of things, and in the light of the experience of many generations of mankind, when you dropped a chjnk of iron weighing two or three pounds on a sheet of glass a quarter of an inch thick the glass would break, and that, therefore, when you dropped such a chunk on such a sheet of what M. de la Bastie offered as glass, and it did not break, you were justified in thinking that it was not glass. No hypothesis of what the substance might be was offered by the skeptics, but the existence of some plausible scheme for the conversion of dollars into francs was suspected, and the gen eral public looked with some little curiosity for the time when proposi tions for the embarkation of American capital should be made. Scientists, however, were a number of them convinced that a valuable pro cess had been discovered. Among others, Prof. Egleston and Prof. Chan dler experimented carefully with the Do La Bastie glass, and found that while it was not adapted to the manu facture of anvils and hammers, it was really very different from ordinary glass. Still the number of specimens at hand was so small that they were forced to wait before formulating the difference, or deciding to remodel the similes of the world. In December, 1875, the first patent on the process of producing the glass was taken out in France, and it was then fouud that the process consisted in annealing the glass by plunging it into a bath of oil or oily substance. A reissue of the patent was obtained in 1876, and care was taken to obtain pat ents not ouly in Fiance, but in Eng land, Germany, Austria, France, Bel gium, Russia, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the United States. No proposition to American capital ists was made, but, on the contrary, M. Ernest de la Chapelle, a cousin of the patentee, came to this country, and in January, 1876, started a Jouudry in Brooklyn, in which he began the manu facture of glassware under the patent. The works were unfortunately de stroyed by fire in June last, and much of the result of his labor was lost. Iu the latter part of September, however,, he was ngaiu under way, and although he lost one season by the fire he now has the business of manufacturing iu full operation. a vnsit to t i-J - "idrv, which is in _ jj-i.Dption, - --•* *sl“°° • " “ 36.00 factured In esu?fi$ I< Yho same mififtier as all glassware, and is subjected to the toughening process afterwards. This process is apparently a simple one. As only one kind of goods is as yet manufactured for sale, that is lamp chimneys, there is no variety in the process. A workman, having in his hand a pole about eight feet long, with a knob on the end of the size of a lamp burner, fits a chimney on the knob and plunges it into the flame of a furnace. He withdraws it twice or thrice, that it may not heat too quick ly, turning the pole rapidly the while, and when the glass reaches a red heat quickly shoots it into oue of a dozen small baths fixed on a revolving table, and seizes another chimney. A boy keeps the revolving table al ways in position, and as the chimneys come around to him, having been the proper time in the bath, he takes them out to bo dried, sorted, cleaned and packed. “The bath lias to be of just the right temperature,” explained the foreman. “When we first began making chim neys it was found that they were very liable to explode, and after experiment ing for a considerable time we found that it was because the bath was too hot or too cold. In either case the process of auneaiing is imperfect. Now we find that by working these tables at just the rate at which they are now running the baths are kept at the right temperature by the immersion of the red-hot glass.” “Is the explosion dangerous?” “Oh ! no. The glass simply shatters. There is no force to make missiles of the particles. But we have obviated that now.” “What is in the bath ?” “Oil or tallow. Any greasy sub will do. The proportions of material that we use we have determined by ex periment. At first we used linseed oil. Then we mixed in mutton tallow, and found that it was an improvement aud we used for a while equal proportions of each. Then, one day we happened to be short of the oil, and we used more of tho tallow than of the oil, and fouud that it was just as good. Then we tried all tallow, and found it equally good.” M. de Chapelle is very confident that he is engaged in a business that has a great future before it. He applied sev eral tests to his goods to show the re porter their quality, and smiled com placently at the triumphant manner in which they bade defiance to the rules of natural philosophy. “This,” said he, taking a handsome chimney In his hand, “is as good a chimney as is made anywhere iu the United States—except hero. You see the workmanship aud material are both beautiful. And here,” taking up another precisely similar in appear ance, “is one of the same kind that has been treated by our process.” Placing them on burning lamps, side by side, he waited until they were thor oughly heated, and taking a wet brush he sprinkled water on each. That which he had treated by the Do La Bastie process was not affected, but the other cracked instantly. “That is the great test of a chimney,” he explained. “Nine out of ten that break, break by the sudden change of temperature, produced either by drafts of cold air or by moisture. And that test my chimneys stand perfectly. As to knocking them around, this is not so much of a test”—dashing one on the floor “because chimneys don’t get knocked around so much.” “Still, that might be considered a se vere test,” suggested the reporter, pick ing up the uninjured chimney. “Do you think so ?” said M. la Cha pelle, smiling. “Here, Jean,” calling to a young Frenchman, “Drive a few nails with one of the chimneys.” The workman picked up a handful of French nails aud one of the chim neys that lay near him and began driving the nails one by one into solid pine planking. “That is merely a trick,” explained the proprietor. “Very likely, my chim neys would not all stand such a test. But what will you ? A lamp chimney is not made to drive nails. Glass is not wrought iron. The test of a chimney U to subject it to a sudden change of temperature, and you have seen how they stand that test. It does not so much enhance the value of a lamp chimney to be able to jump on it with out breaking it.” And he suited the action to the word. "But it does en hance its value to make it capable of standing sudden cold or moisture.” “ I have begun with the manufacture of a single article,” he explained “be cause I wanted first to be able to make oue thing perfectly before making other thiugs. Aud I have, I think, ac complished that. I have sold already about $150,000 worth of my goods, and, as evidence of the success I have had in their manufacture, I will show you letters from some of my cus tomers.” A number of these letters were shown, highly laudatory In their na ture. Among them was one from Mr. Butler, the President of the Sixth Ave nue Railroad Company, on which line the chimneys have been used for a con siderable length of time, and one from Mr. Chaffaugeon, a manufacturer in Hoboken, who uses a large number of lamps iu his factory. Mr. Chaffangeon wrote that while there was formerly a breakage of six or seven chimneys a night in his factory, there had only been six broken iu the twenty-one days that he had been using the new chim neys. “What is the comparative cost of your chimneys?” asked the reporter. “It’s a little difficult to reduce it to a percentage, as the difference differs in the different kinds of goods. But the average excess of the cost of mine over ordinary chimneys I should think was about sixty per cent. But of course if they out-last a dozen ordinary ones they are tho cheapest. “I have been experimenting on other goods,” said he, “and I have some sam ples that I have made here as well as some that M. Muzard has just brought over from France. He has lately been at our factory in Belgium and comes direct from the one in France, which is used mostly for experimenting, and brings some new processes.” M. Muzard hereupon produced a number of tumblers, plates and finger glasses, which ho recklessly clashed together much after the fashion of the coffee-and-cake saloon waiter, and finished up by dashing the whole lot on the floor some ten feet away from him. They rebounded and rolled in all directions, but not one was broken, He jumped on them and they did not crack, aud taking them up one by one, he threw several on the floor with his whole strength, but failed to damage them. “Why not make pots and kettles, or policemen’s clubs, or artificial checks for life insurance agents and inexpe rienced newspaper men, or anything of that kind?” asked the reporter. “Pots aud kettles, perhaps,” said M. la Chapelle. “But I say nothing of that at present 1 wish to make per fectly whatever I offer for sale, and I am ouly now coming to the table crockery. Kitchen utensils must be very strong. My glass is not steel, see!” And he threw a small plate against the brick wall. I shattered into a thousand pieces. “The philosophy of tl\e toughening process is very simple,” he explained. “If you take an ordinary piece of glass and scratch it with a diamond it will snap easily. The reason is that you have cut through the outside shell, which is very hard. You will notice that our lamp chimneys are rather thick. We find that while it does not answer any good purpose to have them very thick, it does not do to have them thin. The process we put our glass through simply thickens tho hard shell. You will notice that the fragments of a broken chimney of our make, while they are tougher than ordinary frag ments of glass, are not nearly as tough as a complete chimney. This harden ing of the glass or thickening of the hard surface also decreases its con ducting properties. Ordinary glass is a poor conductor, but our glass is a much poorer one. It is an easy matter for us to treat any piece of glass by our process, whether it bo cut or blown glass, and the effect is the same. We can treat the most fragile wine glass so as to make it much stronger, but of course, beißg so thin, such a glass w’ould still be very liable to breakage. But one of tho most valuable applica tions of the pateut I conceive to be the toughGniDg of window glass and vault cover and sky-light glass.” And he took out a pane of corrugat ed glass three-eighths of an inch thick and about eight inches by twenty-four Leaning it up against 'his desk, he dropped a five-pound iron weight from a height of about three feet on the ob lique surface, and the weight bounded off. “Professor Chandler found,” he said, “that a sheet of the prepared glass similar to one of ordinary glass that would be broken by the fall of a pound weight one foot, would stand the fall of tho same weight five feet without breaking.” The application of this invention seems almost endless. It has been found that photographers’ piates are equally sensitive to the sun’s rays af terbeing subjected to the De La B 18- tie process, and no one who has suf fered from the loss of a “negative,” will fail to see the importance of this fact. How the proverbial queen of tho kitchen will regard the introduction of unbreakable glassware is problemati cal. to say the least, but to the long suffering head of tho household along vista of economy opens at once. FROM MOBILE. Decision in a Railroad Suit. Mobile, February 3. The United States Circuit court, for the fifth cir cuit, and southern district of Alabama, Hon. John Bruce presiding, has ren dered a decree affirming the title of Morris Ketchum as trustee under the fit st mortgage of the Mobile and Ohio railroad comyany. The opinion is very elaborate and will be published in a few days. Hawkinsville Dispatch : On Sunday evening last a man was killed near Du bois (Station No. 14), in Dodge county. As related to us, the circumstances at tending the killing justify the act. The man is represented to have been a des perate character. An inquest was held, and the verdict of the jury was that the man came to his death at the hands of an unknown persoQ, BEECHER’S FRIEND PALMER. ANTECEDENTS. AFFINITIEB. BE LIEFS, AND REPUTATION. Magnetic Doctor, Communist, and Itinerant Preacher—Exhorting Ne groes to Arson—What Chamberlain and Elliott Think of Him-His Wife a Witness for Beecher. * IN. Y. Sun.l On last Saturday evening the breth ren of the Clerical Union met at Henry Ward Beecher’s house, and Frederick A. Palmer came also. He was intro duced to the Plymouth pastor as a pious preacher who had been laboring among the negroes of the South, and had many thrilling experiences of cruelty and oppression to narrate. The glib Palmer left the impression ou Beecher that he had been denied an op portunity to tell the story of the poor negro’s sufferings. He further en listed Beecher’s regard by reminding him that his wife, Elizabeth La Pierre Palmer, had testified for him in Tilton against Beecher. The result was an in vitation to lecture before Beecher’s flock. The lecture was announced from his pulpit on Sunday. On Friday evening the pastor was in his seat as usual. Brother John Wins low went to his side and spoke to him a few momenta earnestly, evidently put ting a flea in his ear about his new acquaintance. A look of surprise spread over face, and has tily taking up his slouch hat and his heavy cape, he called to Mr. Halliday to take charge of the meeting, and hurried out. It was afterwards ex plained that he went to intercept Dr. Palmer, and to keep him away from the meeting ; but, on learning that the magnotio physician’s lecture was fuller of figures or speech than matters or fact, he deemed it best to let him go ahead. Accordingly, when he returned to the lecture room with Dr. Palmer, he introduced him, saying that the wis dom of a speech ou the topic announced at this exciting time had been ques tioned ; but, a3 Dr. Palmer had come expecting to speak, the invitation would not be withdrawn. Palmer is six feet two or three inches tall, as straight as an Indian, has black hair and eyes, black, curling moustache and imperial, and in dress is a pink of neatness. His words fall melodiously from his lips. He spoke from a pile of manuscript, in turning which he used both hands in a graceful sweep of the pages, taking care to show glossy cuffs fastened with white buttons, and a lit tle finger delicately tinged with gold. From hie first utterance, “I stand to night in the witness box of the uni verse, willing and not afraid to tell what I know,” his audience expected a thrilling story of midnight marauders dismembering negroes in lonely swamp3 ; but the speaker went on to simply depict the evils of tho institu tion of slavery, describing the master with wife and beautiful daughters liv ing in luxury off the earnings of the poor drudges who worked among the cotton and the cane. This was his strain for the first half hour. At length he reached modern times. He said that he could tell of his own hairbreadth escapes ; how his life had been almost providentially saved ; how his wire had warned him of the assas sin’s pistol; how they had clasped hands at night In the shadow of a magnolia tree ana prayed God to de liver them from the hr nd of the mur derer. But he didn’t tell these thiugs any more specifically. He rattled on with glib tongue until he was at the end of the manuscript. Then he dropped into poetry, and closed. He hadn’t given his audience a single fact, and his only allusion to the present condition of thiugs in the South was the remark that ho would not pause to recount his experiences in Columbia, where he was a member of the only legislative body proper. At the close of the meeting, which Mr. J. B. Murray, at a reporter’s re quest, asked the tearful brother Shear man if the speaker was not the hus band of Mrs. Palmer, the witness, Brother Shearman, said, “Yes;” but when a reporter asked him the same question, he said, “You will please ex cuse me,” and darted off, after request ing Mr. Murray not to repeat what he had told him. It isn’t often that lecturer and sudi ence are so perfectly suited to each other. As the “doctor” himself would say, the conditions were harmonious. Ha is a Plymouth Church sort of a r uan. Three years ago he was doing busi ness in this city as a “magnetic physi cian.” He still retains the title, prac tices more or less among the unfor tunate negroes of his neighborhood, aud is the patentee of “Palmer’s Escu lapian Magnetic Remedies.” His ca reer in New York was not uneventful. He won the affections of his landlady, a Mrs. La Pierre, otherwise Daniels. A few days after obtaining a divorce from her former husband she became Mrs. Palmer. A clairvoyant, bealiQg medi um, and patentee of a stocking-sus pender, she is beat remembered here abouts as the fluent witness for the defence in the Beecher case. She tes tified that she had seen Tilton and Mrs. Woodhall kiss each other; had seen them sitting on a sofa together, his arm around her waist, and heard a conversation to the effect that Tilton was to head the Spiritualist movement in this country, aud that the Golden Age and Mrs. Woodhull’s paper were to be co isolidated as an organ fo * that , purpose. She told Mr. Beach, on cross examination, that she was a spiritual medium, and that while he had been speakLig she saw the spirit of a young lady hoveriug about his head. She claimed to be able to see the acts peo ple have committed during their lives, as they were photographed on their souls ; she was enabled to read as clearly what is written on the soul of a mao or woman as Mr. Beach could read the page of a book. Mrs. Palmer’s testimouy was pronounced false by both Tilton and Mrs. Woodhuil. In the early winter of 1874, Palmer was a member of the Workingmen’s Committee of Safety. He did not per sonally take part, however, in the (so called) Tompkins square riot. About two years ago Mr. J. H. Key ser, the historical plumber, invested $5,000 in South Carolina real estate, aud shortly after installed Palmer as agent. It is understood in Aiken that ttie property has since been transferred to Palmer. His principal employments trotn the first seem to have been har ranguing the negroes and writing cock and-bull stories of intimidation for Northern Republican consumption. One of his neighbors, a lawyer of Intel ligence and character, has furnished this account of him : At one time he was a temperance lecturer. Now, from the regularity with which he drives his wife up every day to an Aiken beer saloon, it may fairly be presumed that he has seen the error of hia course aud repented. SIX DOLLARS A YEAR He is a strong believer in spiiiiualism ani is ouu of the free-love school in | theory and pructice. I am told that 3ome years ago he went to Florida, and married the daughter of a wealthy man, but, finding out after his mar riage, and after he had got possession P °? orty ’ that was not his affinity, he separated from her. went North again, and met his present wife, i. aimer is also an advocate of woman aDd ia the Secretary of the United Party, a communistic associa tion, the object of which is to redistri bute accumulated and accumulating wealth by a system of graduated taxa tion, charging from one-quarter per cent, on estates between two and ten thousand dollars to fifty per cent, on aeonSV “i 008 ° r over; P r °Perty under S4UUU to be exempt from taxation In conversation with gentlemen here Palmer has announced his belief that he is in part the son of Christ. He behexes in a kind of transmigration, and iuforraed one gentleman that Na poleon Bonaparte was formerly Esau He said the reason, why he came to South Carolina and allied himself with the Republican party was, that the ne be more oaail Y impressed with his views, more easily unified, and that through them he hoped to get into Position, and make this State the first field for putting in operation the theories of the “United Party.” Though not a preacher by profession and refused admission into his pulpit by a colored Radical minister of his town he goes all over the country and knowing the superstitious and reli gious impressibility of the people, has continually been preaching to them under tho guise of a minister of tho gospel, all his theories of freo love spiritualism and oomtnuuism. filling their ignorant hearts with discontent and evil imaginings. Is it to be won dered at that, with such harangues however cunningly and warily made’ Aiken county, heretofore entirely free rom such disgiaces, should, since this Palmers advent, have had over thirty gin houses, barns aud private dwell ings burnt down by negro incendiaries 9 One prominent Republican said to me to-day that he believed Palmar to be a lunatic ; that Chamberlain had confessed fears as to his vicious influ ence, and that Elliott had said he was demoralizing the ignorant classes with his revolutionary doctrines. Another said . ‘He is a firebrand and an incen diary creature in this community.” As to any danger to his own life his accounts are gross and willful misre presentations. I aimer says he has never used aoy anguage or done anything that could be called incendiary. At the Radical County Convention he said, in the hear ing or many gentlemen, that any colored man who voted the Democratic ticket should be tied to the whipping post and whipped, or words to that effect. Another respectable and respected citizen of Aiken writes : The evil which such men as Fred A. Palmer do umong the ignorant and im pressionable negro population cannot be realized by tnose not intimately ac quainted with affairs at the South, io-day a young negro man informed me that he was at a meeting held at 1 aimer farm last summer, when some forty or fifty blacks were present— mostly members of the negro militia company—and not another white man ou the ground. Palmer urged them to t esort to tho torch, and burn down houses and barns, if their political lights were interfered with bv tho whites. Parson Talmage on the Doctors. Cicero said there was nothing ia which men so approached the gods as in the cure of other men. God has honored this profession all the way through, from the days when the good Samaritan worked kindness and health with his hellebore and politics, down to last week’s autopsy. The profession is a noble one. The doctors for cen turies have honored God and fought back death with their keen scalpels It one would see what tho doctors have done for madmen, for one example, let us look two centuries back into dungeons, cold, clammy, rotten with prisoners chained to the walls, filthy, uattod and abandoned—and now turn to our Bloomiugdale, rich as a palace curtaiued, carpeted aud sofaed, and luxurious enough for priuces. There was a time wheo Jenner was derided, and when small wits caricatured him riding on a cow and circulated the re ! P°rt that as the result of his opera ' tiops horns had actually growu out on j the foreheads of innocent people, and I that other innocent people had be- I come so demented as always to bo obliged to chew cuds. And then j chloroform, that heaven descended ! mercy of God—it was Sir James Y. Simpson who gave us that. Blessed bo ! God for that wet sponge or phial by means of which we may have a clinic in a nursery. Alas for battlefields without chloroform! The soldier-boy, after a few breathings from that magic spoDge, forgets his gunshot wound and|bis shattered limbs, and dreams under the knife, of peace and home and heaven. The child wakes up from an operation which, unaided, human Dature could not bear, and says ‘Father, what.s the matter, what’s’ Doctor been here for?’ Doctors now in the courtroom with unerring chemi cal analysis; doctors understanding aud praiticiug hygiene, so that now we read, as in a dream, the tales writ ten upon those monuments in ancient cities, which tell of the plague and of merciful visitors stumbling across the graves of those they came to save. What have the doctors not done for longevity? From the time of Adam the span of life diminished until it measured thirty and forty and then fifty years. But in the sixteenth cen- I tury medical science came in, and i then the longevity rose again, and now the average of life is forty years, and it will be fifty aud sixty and seventy. The time is not far distant when a man will have no right to die before nine ! ty, and perhaps the centennial babv will not bo exceptional in living to ono j hundred yeara THE ICE. The Thaw at St. Louis—Breaking a Bridge. St. Louis, February 3.—The ice burst before noon. Navigation, after fifty six days’suspension, has been resumed. N > damage. Logansport, Ikd., February 3.—A span of the railroad bridge crossing the Wabash at this point has been swept away by ice. Anew mill is being moved to Thom son. About one dozen suicides have oc curred in Atlanta within the past two years. Corn sold at five cents a grain in Gainesville the past week,