About The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907 | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1882)
THE SUNNY SOUTH £he jhnmg jlouth JOHH H. mu. Editor * Proprietor. «■, B. mu. Prop'rood Cor. Editor. ■AIT B. BBTAH, (*) Associate Editor Eer. W. 1. SCOTT, torr**pon g Editor. CLUB BATES. The regular subscription price of this paper it S2.50 • pear, but we offer the following liberal terms: To three or more subscribers all tending in at the tame time the paper will be furnished one gear for . «2 00 Any one tending a club of five at 12 50 each, or a dub of eight at #2 each, will receive, an extra copy tree for one year. After forming a dub at 12 any number of names may be added at the tame rate. ATLANTA, GA., JUNE 24, 1882. A Spirited, Dramatic Poem. Who is Anno Katharine Green? The Put- Dams have just published a volume of poems written by one of that name—a name as yet unknown to fame, but entitled to no smaj] measure of it, through the merits of this book—so pronounces one of the literary ora cles—the book reviewer of the American This critic declares that the “Defence of the Bride and Other Poems, n is head and shoul- ders above the poetry of to-day; that the ballad which gives its name to the book splendidly spirited and dramatic with the ring of Scott and Macaulay in its rich.clang- ing verse, “The book ought to attract solid attention if there is any regard left for bon est authorship,” says the American. From signs in leading quarters the public is grow ing tired of its fancy for the flimsy and light —for novels like Helen’s Babies and plays like Esmeralda, and is calling for something with more strength and body in it. The craze for the “funny" will also die out. Hu mor will always be prized as the p'quant sauce of literature, but sauce loses its pi quancy when indiscriminately introduced, it betrays a low estimate of the scope and purposes of literature that nothing pleases which has not a laugh worked into it—some times incongruously enough. A return to the broad, vigorous method of Scott after the puerile carving upon cherry stones of Mr. James and his followers will be truly a ren naisance. Public Libraries—Atlanta's. The best ordered and conducted library in the United States is said to be the Athene um in Boston—the grand and stately Beacon street institution, anchored, says a poetic ad mirer “in the still waters of utter respecta bility with fine eld bouses on each side of it, and a lovely old grave yard in the rear. The same yotmg journalist declares that the Atheneum is the best place for study in this country. In the Astor Library at New York there is too much red tape; the worker kept at arm's length from his books, but in the Atheneum information accumulates. People that go there are so serenely helpful to each other. They have a department of “Notes and Questions” where you hang up your questions one day and find them an swered the next. “One is not regarded as thief to be searched going in and coming out and one may write with ink like a Christian gentleman and not be forced into using pencil like a school boy.” Of course our young city can boast nothing so stately and complete as this fine old Athe neum in the “Seat of American Culture, but Atlanta has reason to be proud of her Library, of the large, cool, elegant building the comfort and order which reigns inside, the courtesy and culture of her offleers-r-and the careful system with which they manage the large and increasing business of this pop alar institution. Looking in yesterday, we found Secretary Billups, smiling behind a pair of tall vases of roses, gladolil and lilies. Flowers also plentifully decorated the Ladies Parlor which a recent edict has separated from the Gentleman’s Reading Room, shut ting the communicating doors on all mem bers of the masculine persuasion unaccompa nied by ladies. Mr. Billups is delighted with the future prospect of the Library, which is shortly to have an addition to its shelves of several hundred new volumes—the latest and best works of science, history, fiction, poetry etc. He has had a number of very fine co coons sent to him lately, and purposes soon to let curious visitors see his silk-spinners at work in a little embowered nook to them selves. It is to be hoped his many rural friends will not let his pets starve for lack of contributions of mulberry and osage leaves. The Library will have as a benefit a grand excursion to Tallulah Falls on the new branch of railway which is just being com pleted to that picture! qae point It will, no doubt, be the largest excursion of the seaenr. Literary Characters. Since the discovery of that art which mul tiplies at will the productions of the human intellect, and spreads them over the universe in the consequent formation of libraries, a class or order of men has arisen, who appear to have derived a generic title in that of lit erary characters; a denomination which, however vague,defines the pursuits of the in dividual, and serves at times to separate him from other professions. Formed by the same habits, and influenced by the same motives, notwithstanding the difference of talents and tempers, the opposi tion of times and places, they have always preserved among themselves the most strik ing family resemblance. The literary char acter, from the objects in which it concerns itself, is of a more independent and perman ent nature than those which are perpetually modified by the change of manners, and are more distinctly national Could we describe the medical the commercial or the legal character of other ages, this portrait of an tiquity would be like a perished picture; the subject itself would have altered its position in the revolutions of society. It is not so with the literary character. The passion for study; the delight in books; the desire of solitude nod celebrity; the obstructions of life; the nature of their habits and pursuits; the triumphs and the disappointments of lit erary glory; all these are as truly described by Cicero and the younger Pliny, as by Petrarch and Erasmus, and as they have been by Hume rad Gibbon. These literary characters are partially de scribed by Johnson, not without a melan choly coloring. “To talk in private, to think in solitude, to inquire or to answer in- S uiries, is the business of a scholar. He wan- ers about the world without pomp or ter ror, rad is neither known or valued but by men like himwelL”, The Worst and the Best. In one of his most brilliant essay a Lord Ma- cauly has sought, not without success, to re lieve Machiavelli from the charge of being the most wicked of all the men who have discussed questions of political ethics. The author of the Prince he shows to have been in his private life a decent man, and in his public life a patriot, but as an author held up to the detestation of posterity, because be expressed with clearness and precision the maxims by which the politicians of his day shaped their conduct. The same searching criticism would, we suspect, if brought to bear upon all the characters prominent in history, elevate many of its bad people, and consign to a lower seat not a few of its saints. The world’s heroes have not been its best men, and we are by no means sure that its most heartily abused villians have been worse than some who have passed uncursed. There have been other warriors as reckless ly ambitious of military glory as Alexander, politicians as much given to dark and crook ed ways as Cataline, subordinates as unrelent ing in carrying out the plans of as narrow minded fanatics as Alva, revolutionists as bloodthirsty as Robespiere, partisans as ready to change sides as Arnold, and priests who valued their fealty to God no higher than did Jndas Iscariot. The surroundings of these gained them their reputation for preeminence in wickedness,quite as much as, perhaps more, than their absolute claim to such distinction. So there have been men unknown to fame who in moral purity rank ed those so commonly held up as exemplars. Abraham has doubtless been surpassed in the matter of faith by many an humble Chris tian who held firm in his trust of God goodness and iove despite an experience that was marked more by the frowns of Provi dence than by His smiles. There have been men meeker than Moses, more patient than Job, more wise than Solomon, of whose meekness, patience and wisdom little or nothing has ever been said. Indeed the vir tues that impart a true nobility to the char acter shrink away from the public gaze and exhibit their fullest development in scenes of retiracy. With fame, there comes a pas sion for praise which will be apt to affect the purity of one’s life. We do not mean to assert that the holiness of the hermit who hides away in caves and devotes his time to prayer is worthy to be compared with that strong, healthy, vigorous morality which can withstand the world’s temptations and be uucorrupted. This latter is far no bler. What we do mean to say is that along the sequestered vales of life may be found some who in the discharge of their humble duties practice more fully, and under cir cumstances of greater difficulty, the virtues of meekness, patience and charity than many of those whom fame has held up for emulation as the world’s best. * * Bottled Epidemics. The StraBBe DfsroTrries ofScl- eBtists-lh. Hhobalt- Oes- iructiom in ifa«fr Fewer. Memory or Imagination? Old people are proverbially fond of telling tales about the years gone by. The aged soldier whose campaigns have long been over is never happier than when he can get some young person to listen with bated breath while he “shoulders his crutch and shows how fields were. won. The most enjpyable part in the career of an old stager on the political boards is when amid wine and was sail he keeps a crowd in a roar of laughter at his stories of his early contests and triumphs. The old farmer delights to talk to any one who will listen of the struggles of his begin ning, and of how he has succeeded despite the many adverse circumstances that seemed set for his discouragement The aged dame too- appears almost to live over again her flirta tions and her courtships as she recounts how in the days of old her’s was the figure that men loved to watch, and hers the hand eager ly sought in the dance. But beware, oh, de lighted listener, how you accept all these anecdotes as veritable facts. The imagina tion plays sad pranks, and mixes up the real and the fancied in inextricable ways. Much of what these people relate, never occurred Long, long ago they began to speculate how such and such a thing might have happened and gradually by “fancy unto fancy linking” they came to believe that they did actually take place. Less and less able do they be come to draw the line of demarcation be tween what they have dreamed, rad what they have experienced in their waking life. Each time the story is repeated, it gathers some increment, until after a time there is but a minute nuclue? of truth to a vast nebula imaginings. The person himself cannot perceive the extent of the imposition. Nay, he would resent most warmly a hint that what he attributes to memory is really the work of imagination. Old Nestor honestly believed that what he related about the strength and virtue of the companions of his early manhood was every word true. The few old soldiers of the Revolution who were lingering here thirty years ago did not have the least idea that while they were beguiling the ears of the young with stories of the days that tried men’s souls they were to a large extent telling things fabulous. When the late Colonel Sparks in his advanced age be gan to write his delightful reminiscences of the people he had known in the long, long ago, he was at the farthest remove from any design of misrepresenting the character or actions of any one of whom he wrote. But the intermingling of fiction with fact had taken place so fully, yet so quietly that he could not seperate them. Most old people are so, rad many who do not claim to be old. We have often heard men whose memories we knew to be anything but trustworthy tell anecdotes of their early years with every minute detail when we were satisfied that for the whole there could be but the slightest basis of fact. It is common enough to hear people complain of their memories, but we never hear them complain of their imagina tions. It is however, the latter faculty that renders the former so untrustworthy as a witness. * * Arkansaw Colored Society. The other day a colored lady of standing, Mrs. Simpson, purchased a Gainsborough, and visited Mrs. Fennel. It is evident that Mrs. Simpson possessed a few airs which she wished to display over Mrs. Fennel. “My husband,” said Mrs. Simpson, “wanted me ter git a finer hat den dis, but reflecting dat de |ao bills in de bottom of de drawer was gittin sauter scarce like I concluded ter kon- tent myself wid a $5 hat.” “Wall yer was savin,” remarked Mrs. Fennel, and then,step- ping to the door, exclaimed, “Tildv, take dat 41,000 bill way from dat chile. He tore up two yesterday. Dar ain’t no sense in allow in’ chillun ter ’stroy money dat way.” Mrs. Simpson retired, realizing that her hat was a failure.—Lit:le Rock Gazette. Dr. Kcch’s idea that “vECcinatfng” with the cultivated virus of ccrscnpticn would secure in.mucity frem that fatal disease has been ridiculed by many, tut bis inference* are not at all preposterous when lccked a t in the light of rectnt sclen fic discoveries. It has been shewn by two American doctors W oed ara Foimad, (acting under the direc tion of the Aneriran beard of health) that true diptheriais CEused by the presence in the tractae of innumerable micrococci— which eventually fill tie blood of the patient and destroy all its white ccrpuEdes, causing these to lese their fcim ana burst, thus giviBg exit to a gelatinous mess pecked with freshly- hatched micrccccci, greedy to feed on their victim’s blcod. Another fact detected by Drs. Wood and Formed was that when rab bits were inoculated with diphtheritic mem brane ft cm human subjects it produced in them tubercular disease. They also rdade the discovery that in a severe ordinary sore throat micrococci are present, differing from the diphtheritic only in numbers, development and activity, so that sore threat cty be a variloid kind of diptberia. Reasoning from analogy it would seem probable teat the diphtheria gerrp, mcc fied by having passed through the blood of the rabbit is capable ot protecting those inoculated with it from real diphtheria, as the small pox virus, changed by its residence in the heifer, is capable of securing the human sul ject from a virulent attack of that loathsome Disease. Diphtheria is enough akin to consumption to warrant the speculation that it may have a similar origin and may be forestalled in a similar way. The proposed forestaller of consumption is the same Dr. Koch who first discovered that the splenic fever or anthrax—sometimes called char bon—which is such a wholesale destroyer of sheep and has proved fajgj to se many human beings in wool-growing dis tricts was due to no mysteriously delete- : Elizabeth, put under royal authority. riously it. fluence in the air, but to the pres ence in the blood end tissues of a bacillus of fungoid nature, cepable of rapid reproduc tion. He traced the various stageeof the existence of this fatal germ; and th4 great Pasteur came in with his daring investiga tions and turned the knowledge to practical account by demonstrating that these germs of the deadly anthrax cultivated in the blood of living squirrels or rats (or even in meat juices a nd blood-serum) and then introduced into the sheep by inoculation gives the animal a slight ailment only and secures him effectually from the disease even when most fatally epidemic. If it is proven however, that inocculation with cultivated virus is protective in other diseases as well as in small pox it is hardly possible that people will allow themselves to be inoculaced for diphtheria, typhoid fever etc., unless during epidemics of these diseases. But another curious fact has been demon strated by practical test. Dr. Payne, lately of the Medical College in Atlanta, who made small-pox a study, found that be could de tect the disease in itp incipiency b and could at that Stage forestall its 4 results by vaccination. Acting on this hint, our scientific investigators may one day demonstrate that other diseases may be balk ed of fatal effect by detecting them in their initial stage and introducing a counteractory agent in the shape of the germ of the same disease modified by being cultivated in the bodies of inferior animals. To forestall con sumption in this way would indeed be “taming a terror,” but, as science has shown us as great wonders as this and still opens a field of infinite possibilities there is reason to think that skepticism in the matter may be premature. Pasteur, pursuing his investigation in his little study in Paris, is following up clues that will no doubt lead to wonderful results. He is now turning his attention to the terrible and mysterious disease of hydrophobia and its human form rabies. It had hitherto been supposed that the poison existed in the saliva of the mad dog, but Pasteure has found the virus in the brain, and nervous systqm gen erally. He is experimenting upon it with dogs as the victims of the deadly inoculation. He has these in cages in his study, each in some different stage of the disease. They die in fifteen days after receiving into their brain one drop of the bottled virus. The period of the germ-incubation in the human subject is from thirty to forty days. - The violent snapping stage of the malady is pre ceded in the dog by an affectionate interval when he will lick the foot that is put to his cage; in another day or. two he will rash at you and gnaw the bars of his cage. The ob ject of Pasteur is to discover a cure for hydrophobia—a discovery which would alone insure him the highest measure of fame. To this end he is at present working diligently over his bottled germs, his powerful micros cope and his canine subjects. He thinks, so it is stated, that he has nearly arrived at the goal he seeks. V Imagination is the shadow which precedes truth. In old Persian and Arabian t)alee we read of the genii and daemons who kept plagues in vials and poisoned wind4 in bags for the distraction of their enemies. Shaks- peare pictures malignant spirits brewing dis eases and plagues, and Prospero in his island home letting loose his destructive and tor menting agents. But the reality transcends the shadow cast by the coming event. Pasteur in his Paris laboratory has at his command greater possibilities to torture and destroy than Prospero. He can let loose more terrible plagues than were dreamed of by the weird sisters of the midnight heath. “Do yon see,” he said lately to a journalist. ‘Do you see these little vials? There are a thousand of them or more. Each of them contains the virus of some terrible disease. I have enough of them to destroy all Paris and even to give birth to the most dreadful epidem ics.” “It is awful” comments one “to see what evil some future scientist may wreak upon humanity in a fit of passionate disgust with his fellow men. “Pasteur’s knowledge of secret poisons is a billion times greater than that of all the pro fessional toxocologists who lived before him; the Borgias would have paid him a thou sana fold more for half a dozen of his secrets than the French government has paid him for his incalculable services to humanity.” In view of the almost infinite power.for evil which is In the hands of the skiiied scien tist let us trust that our future discoverers in the field of chemistry and the microscope may, like Pasteur, possess good hearts rad sound brains with no cranky warp—else they may be tempted to experiment on a large scale—with fatal results. It has already been prophesied that that the time would come when one philosopher would have it in his power to destroy the whole human race. Liteiary Curiosities. Fas!ions of jr ©Men Time. A volume on this sul ject might be made very curious and entertaining, fer enr ances tors were cot less vecillatirg, and perhaps more capriciously grotesque, though with in finitely less taste thsn the present generation. Were a philosopher and an artist, as well so an antiquary, to compose such a work, much diversified entertainment and seme curious icTfst'gsticc cf tie progress of the arts aid taste would doubtless be the result. Fasbiocs have friqnently originated frem circumstances as silly as the follcwirg one. Tsaiella, daughter 0; Philip II, eedwifeof the Archduke Albert, vowed not to change her lirtc until Otter d was taken; this siege, unluckily fer her comfort, lasted three years: atd the supposed color cf the archcuchess’s linen give rite to a fathicrable color, hence called “LTtLtau,” a kind cf vbitish-yellcw- dingy. When the fair six were accustomed to be hold their lovers with hoards, the sight of a shaved oh:'r -xcited feol’Vgs cf horror and aversion. When Lcu.t Vll, to obey the in junctions cf bis bit tops, cropped his hair and shaved bis tiar<., Eleanor, his consort, found him, with this urusual appearance, very ridiculous, and set n very ccntemptible. She revenged herself as she thought proper, and the peer shaved kirg obtained a divorce. She then married the Count of Ar jou, after wards Henry II of Ergland. She had for her marriage dower the rich provinces of Poitou and Cayenne, and this was the origin of those wars which for throe hundred years ravaged France and ccst the French three millions of men. All which, probably had never occurred. had Louis VII not been s< rash as to crop bis bead and shave his bearo! In the reign el Queen Elizabeth, the beaus stuffed cut their breeches with rags, feathers aud other light matters till they brought them cut to a most enormous size. They re sembled wool-sacks, and in a public spectacle they were obliged to raise scaffolds for the seats of these ponderous beaus. To accord with this fantastical taste the ladies invented large bcop farthingales. Two lovers aside could surely have never taken one another by the band. In a preceding reign the fash ion ran on square-toes; insomuch that a pro clamation was issued that no person sbonld wear shoes above six itches square at the toes! The natron was again, in the reign of ’ In that time,” says honest John Stowe, “be was held the greatest gallant that bad the deepest ruffe and longest rapier: the offence to the eye of one and burt unto the life of tbe sub ject that come by the other; this caused her Majestie to make proclamation against them both, and to pit ce selected grave citizens at every gate to cut the ruffes, ar.d break tbe rapier points cf all passengers that exceeded a yeard in length of their rapiers.&nd anayle of a yeard in depth of their luffes.” These “grave citizens” at every gate cutting the ruffes and breaking the rapiers, must doubt less have encountered in their ludicrous em ployment some stubborn opposition; but this regulation was, in the spirit of that age, des potic and t ffectuaL Tbe reign of Charles II was tbe dominion of French fashions. In seme respiects the taste was lighter than that of former periods, but tbe moral < ffect of dress, which no doubt it has, was mucb worse. The dress of this French queen was very inflammatory; ana the nudity of tbe beauties of the portrait painter, Sir Peter Lely, has been observed. Tbe queen of Charles II. exposed ber breast and sboulders witbont even tbe gloss of tbe lightest gauze. This custom of baring the bosom was much exclaimed against by tbe authors of that age. The honest divine, Richard Baxter, wrote a preface to a book, entitled, “A just and seasonable reprehension of naked breasts and shoulders.” In 1672 a bock was published, entitled, “New instruc tions unto youth for their behavior, and also a discourse open seme innovations of habits and dressing; against powdering of hair, naked breasts, black spots, (or patebes,) and other unseemly customs.” A whimsical fashion now prevailed among the ladies, of strangely ornamenting their faces with abun dance of black patches cut into grotesque forms, such as a coach and horses,owls,rings, suns, moons, crowns, cross and crosslets. The author has prefixed two ladies’ heads; the one representing Virtue and the other Vice. Virtue is a lady modestly habited, with a black velvet hoed, rad plain white kerchief on her neck, with a border. Vice wears no handkerchief, and has a variety of fantastical patches on her face. The innovation of fashions in tbe reign of Charles II, were watched with a jealous eye by the remains of those strict puritans, who now could only pour out their bile in such solemn admonitions. They affected all possi ble plainness and sanctity. When ccurtiers wore monstrous wigs, they cut their hair short; when they adopted hats with broad plumes, they clapped on round black caps, and screwed np their pale, religions faces; and when shoe-buckles were revived, they wore strings to their shoes, At this time nothing was so monstrous as the head-dresses of the ladies in Queen Anne’s reign: they formed a kind of edifice of three stories high; and a fashionable lady of that day much re sembled the mythological figure of Cybele, the mother of the gods, with three towers on her head. A Georgia Humorist. Richard M. Johnston. EDEN BILL NIBSEBT. Dr L. A. Guild. It is cheering to witness tbe interest which many of our people are now taking in frait growing. It is one of the hopeful signs for the future of the South, and presents one of the most pleasant and remunerative fields of industry. There are many extensive nurser ies in Georgia, and all of them are now doing a large and profitable business. We have quite a number near Atlanta, and one of the mo6t complete is Eden Hill Nursery on the Flat Shoals road three miles from Atlanta, rad owned by Dr. L. A. Guild, who is giving it h is close personal attention, and is prepar ed to furnish tbe choicest trees of every vari ety of frait rad at the lowest rates. He has some seventy or eighty varieties of peaches, rad ab cut thirty varieties of apples, with a great variety of pears, cherries, plums, grapes, quinces, figs, stawberries etc. We have known the Doctor for many years and he is in every way reliable, and wherever he has lived, he has had the highest regards and warmest friendship of bis neigh bors. He gave np a large and lucrative prac tice to engage in frait culture, and has made a grand success of it He is a prominent member of the Atlanta Pomological and Georgia Horticultural Soceties, and also of the American Association of Nurserymen, and his success in turning an old rad broken farm into lucious vineyards and juicy orch ards is a practical iillustration of what can be done in Georgia. Queen Victoria has recently purchased t hree very beautifully designed tapestry pan e Is, which have been worded upon the looms o f the royal tapestry factory at Old Wind- 8 or. The subjects, each of which is woven u pen a gold-silk ground, are allegorical, “ Religion” being represented by a figure of S t. Agnes. “Hcncr” by that of Richard C ceur dt Lion, and “Purity” by Jeanue d’Arc. To tbe elder meD, and women, too, of this generation, tbe came and tbe fame of Rich ard M. Jcbcstcn is well known. We may add, is cherished in kindly and grateful re collection at bis many and admirable so cial qualities. Some of the alumni of the StaU University, who were fortunate enough to sit for a while at his feet, no doubt recall with pleasure the always gentlemanly, genial and accomplished Professor of Befits- Lettres. Many others who are still in tbe prime of vigorous manhood, can. look back without any feelirg save that of regret, to their schoolboy dayF, when near the hospitable village of Sparta “Dick Johnston,” as he was familiarly welcomed in every house hold in middle Georgia, not only drilled them in classic lore, but taught them manners, that is, how to behave at borne and abroad, bow to be mindful of the feelings and chari table of tbe frailties of others, and polished them off with the polite arts of the drawing room, and the important lesson of knowing how to preside at the head of a table and carve a turkey without scattering tbe joints on tbo floor and splashing the dressing upon tbe clothes of the guests. In tbe better days before the great trouble came upon Southern society, Dick Johnston was the favored guest at all dinner parties and the central figure about which gathered lawyers, jurors, litigants and visitors at the country taverns, when the labors of the for mer were over for the day.anti the night was given to social converse and story telling. In the ridiDgs of two of tbe judicial circuits ot Georgia there was not such a raconteur to be found, and this is saying much, when it is remembered that in the days of which we write the bench and bar of tbe State were noted for men of great culture and intel lectuality, who flavored the dry readings of tbe law with plentiful pinches of Attic salt. The young barrister with his sheep skin and saddlebags, looking for courts and clients.during a tour of tbe circuit was made to feel by the presence and example of the men with whom he was thrown, that though tbe way to fortune and eminence was ragged and far, that in the nightly symposiums of wit and humor, the toils, the struggles and disappointments of the day might be drowned. Tbe necessity which swept away the old homesteads, the landmarks of a noble race, tbe struggles for existence which scat tered many happy households, carried “Dick Johnston” to Maryland. Georgia bad no reason to be ashamed of her contribution and Maryland gained not only an honored citi zen, but an ornament to her already culti vated society. Near Baltimore he fixed his borne, and has devoted himself with quiet success to the cultivation and education of youth, varied by an occasional tour abroad for recreation and health. Always easy, open and Bffabie, there is nothing about the man to denote the student and worker be yond a slight stoop of the shoulders. Yet his life has been a busy one. In addition to the daily duties of his clasees, he has found time to prepare and deliver a series of Uctures upon the ancient and modern classics and up on several themes of art and poetry. And more than once he has given play for the bentfit of the public to his wonderful powers of humor. Now and then in the pe riodicals of the day w e find a sketch from his pen ibat deserves a place alongside of any thirg in the same vein in our mother tongue. Never approaching tbe limit of coarsenees of thought or expression, Dick Johnston can broaden the lines so as to ex plode laughter and by a delicate touch can fill the eyes with tears, at what one cannot tell One of the Placides was accustomed to illustrate this power in playing ‘ Grandfather 'Whitehead,” one of the veterans of Napo leon. Tbe audience would almost rise at the enthusiasm of the old soldier as he recounted the glories of his commander, who rapidly rose frets csrponfl to lieutenant, major, col onel, general, l’empereur, and in a moment would be stifling sobs, as he clasped his dar ling Melanie, and poured out his love in bro ken English. In the June number of Harper, Dick John ston has contributed “King William and his Armies,” a Georgia story, rich and juicy with tbe finest flavor of humor, veiling the yearning and struggles of simple, honesi hearts. It is essentially Georgian, and tbe author has produced nothing which does more credit to his {lower and his style. It recalls the best efforts of Jugde Long- street, and Dick Johnston resembles the il lustrious Georgian in more respects than that of telling a story with zest and unction. Georgia should be proud of this man. But Georgia is sometimes given to neglect of her own. Duty to himself and others made him turn his face from home and friends. It was folly too great for words, that permitted the trustees of our State University to part with a man so eminently calculated to train young Georgians to become honored and use ful men. No tribute was ever more worthily be stowed than tbe foregoing which we find in the Macon Telegraph and Messenger, and we take great pleasure in transferring it to our columns. We earnestly hope some day to see Col. Dick Johnston return to Georgia, his old native State, and become one of us again. He is still in the prime of life and the old time humor, social nature and courtly address are as marked as ever in his character. He is a brother to Col Mark Johnston cf the State Department of Edu cation and the Chairman of the recent Board of Visitors to the State University, and his friends in Georgia are legions. An electric railway is to be made in the f icturesque valley of the Branl, near Vienna, t will extend frem the railway station of tbe snlpburcns baths of Merdling to the ho tel known as the • Zwei Ratten,” near Mei erei, in tbe Hintcrbruhl, which is annually frequented by thousands cf tourists. The length will be nearly two miles. “Whom the Gods Lore Die Youug.” As fair, flower-crowned May was silently passing away, a lovely maiden was laid to rest on the picturesque bluff that overlooks the three graceful rivers that environ tbe pretty city of Rome. “Mattie West is dead,” was the meager telegram in an evening paper. Instantly the sweet face of a girlish guest at the Exposition arose before us, a pure, spiritual face that awoke tbe tenderest cords of the heart, rad haunted memory with itB gentle repose. Af terwards we said to her mother: “Mattie is the flower of your flock;” little dreaming that this unfolding blossom would so soon be transplanted to the amaranthine borders of Paradise. How pitiless death seems when budding loveliness is its sacrificial victim; and yet it is natore’8 benignest decree. To pass from earth in the glad springtime, ere the roses fade and the heart is seared by unrequiteful harvests, ere reason’s fruitless researches chills the confiding faith of childhood, and to be endearingly remembered in the tender promise of unfading youth is earth’s poetical finis; and beyond is the dawning light of the Christian’s celestial creed, that the stainless soul is heaven’s purest gemt Yet who but those who have seen the silent grave enclose their cherished idols know what agonizing grief a parent can feel? To bury our aged is the saddest law of nature, but to bury our young is its unnatural reversal, blasting our hopes and crashing our hearts. Neverthe less mourning for the dead is selfish repining. Is their removal from this life, that the wise man truly said is “full of sorrow,” an event so lamentable? The dead do not miss us; but, alas! how disconsolately we miss them. We oft deceive ourselves by saying we are weeping for tbe dead—our wounded hearts call for responsive affection, and the pall of silence is the voiceless grave’s remorseless re ply, and we mourn our own wintry desola tion, and not the peaceful sleep of our be loved. Long centuries ago the heathen poets bad felt the utter vanity of “life’s fitful fever”— that years bring infirmities rad wealth cor- rodirg cares; that even “knowledge increas- eth sorrow,” and to-day their ancient aphor ism meetly expresses our sad experience of life, for verily “Whom the gods love die young.” Mrs. E. A. B boyles. SPECIAL_MENTION. Pencil and Scissors. —The internal commerce of the United States is larger than that of ray other nation on earth. —A company that started out from Chica go in their own special palace ear are now walking home by pika. —An old negro says, “Sass is powerful good in everything but children. Dey‘ needs some other kinds of dressing.” —The child may now be born whose old age wifi look upon the American people and -ee them three hundred millions strong. —When a man gets so lazy that starvation itself won’t drive him to work, you will usually find him running for office on a labor reform ticket. —Two young farmers of Lowndes county, Ga., have recently received one thousand dollars on the sale of tbe produce of their truck farms this season. —It is surprising that such well informed papers as the Louisville Courier-Journal should say, in answer to an inquiry, that Mrs. Angusta Evans Wilson is now residing somewhere in Mississippi Mrs. Wilson lives in Mobile, Ala. —The prospects for a bountiful harvest in Europe are scarcely less encouraging than our own. ReceDt advices from London state that the situation Is highly favorable in France, Holland, Germany, and even south ern Russia. England, however, has not been quite so fortunate, the cold weather there Jately having had a more or less damaging effect on the growing plant. —Still another assassination in Ireland and not even a prospective solution of tbe prob lem presented by the condition of that un happy country yet devised. Every day that passes seems to prove that notbing but the most liberal as well as sagacious measures will answer and at the same time the events of each day seem to indicate the inevitable recurrence of the old policy of proscription and oppression. —In the city of New York, during the past year, $4 oco.ooo were expended in the cause of education, about #7.ooo,coo were spent in public amusements, and the estimated income of the more than nine thousand drinking houses was #6o,coo,cco. It is a sad commen tary on the tastes of the people of that great city that the outlay for stimulants is fifteen times greater than for education, and more than eight times that for amusement. —The wealth of Mrs. Garfield is thus summed up by a Cleveland man: She has #300,000 in government bonds, the result of the subscription. Her husband’s life was in sured for #5o,coo which she promptly received. 8he also was paid the salary of tbe President for the uncccupied first year, about $50,000, give a total of |4oo,ooo, bringing an income of # 16,00a Add to this her pension of #5000 a year, and she has a clear income of about #21,000. The real estate of her husband was worth about #3o,ooo. —A leading London critic, who lately Mrs. Langtry in “She Stoops to Conquer” writes: “I didn’t think much of her. She isn’t quite too. utterly cruel but she hardly gets above mediocrity. Her Miss Hard castle is farcical and altogether devoid of feeling. Moreover, her pronunciation was somewhat coarse for one who flutters 'in society, you know.' She looked best in her barmaid dress, displaying the slender ankles Ameri can journalists rave about. I came to the conclusion hundreds of actresses could beat her both in beauty and in talent” —Speaking of show people who are now before the public, it is said that the double headed woman is the most charming of them all. She had a liberal education, and has travelled extensively. She was born a slave on a plantation in North Carolina, but her owner took a fancy to ber, and educated her with his son. Some time ago she was en abled to buy the place, and now, when not on exhibition, lives on the plantation where she cares for her father rad other mem bers of her family. She has many friends and speaks French, Spanish, and German. She receives thirty or forty letters a day. Seme of these show people have very large salaries. The two-headed woman gets #600 a week; Captain and Mrs. Bates, #500; giants, f rom $100 to #2uo; dwarfs,according to their intelligence, np to #200; fat boys, unless very fat rad famous, rarely over $5o. —In a private letter written by a retired New York merchant the late Moses Taylor is spoken of as “the boldest, most successful most sagacious merchant of our country—an old-fashioned, upright merchant of the first class, whose character was in striking con trast with that of the tricksters in such high feather at present. He showed from the first and for more than half a century the steady courage and far-reaching enterprise which enabled him to stock the great safe which at his death is understood to have con tained one item of more than 25,000 railroad bonds cf #rcoo each (25,000,000), not folded as yon and I fold the few we have, but filed up flat, broad epen, sheet upon sheet, in great stacks.” It was stated in the daily papers soon after Mr. Taylor’s death that his estate was worth about #25,000,oca We under stand that on the ist of January last his own estimate cf its value was nearly if not quite double that amount, and he did not “mark it up.” —The Charlotte Cushman cottage at New* port has been rented for three months for #5000, which is not regarded as extravagant in Newport, the lessee having the eDjoyment of the fine works of art that were left by Miss Cushman. In this house have lived since her death the children she named rad loved as her own, rad here, too, lives yet the faithful Sallie, the colored woman who was Charlotte Cushman’s trusted maid from al most her girlhood. In Miss Cushman’s will she left this house to her nephew, with the provision that her two best friends, Miss Emma Stebbins rad Sallie the maid, should always have a home under its roof. Miss Stebbins lives abroad, bat Sallie, with that content upon her such as a well-to-do aged colored woman Invariably looks to feel still serves in the home her mistress built that she might have a place all her own in which to die. It is always a pleasant thought that Charlotte Cushman’s memory is kept green rad tenderly fostered by those whom she loved best DISTINCT PRINT
