About The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1887)
P VOLUME XII.—NUMBER 586. ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5,1*87. PRICE: $2.00 A YEAR IN ADVANCE. volunteer soldiery in that war, entitles them to this long, and unjustly withheld rec ignition, and requital. Considering the stupendous ad dition this domain has contributed to the grand aggregate of the nation’s wealth and political prestige and power, the requital is immeas urably below the deserts of the beneficiaries. The act provides that a pension of $8 a month shall be paid all surviving officers and enhsted men, including mariners, militia and volunteers of the military and naval service of the United States, who, being duly enlisted” actually served sixty days with the army or navy in Mexico or on the coast or frontier thereof, or in the war with that nation, or were actually engaged iii battle in said war and were honorably discharged, and to such other officers and soldiers and sailors as may have been personally named in any resolution of Congress for any specific service in said war, and the surviving widows of such officers and enlisted men, provided every such officer, en listed man or widow who is or may become it! years of age, or who is or may become subject to any disability of dependency equivalent to some cause prescribed or recognized by the pension laws of the United States as sufficient reason for allowance of pension, shall be en titled to the benefits of this act; but it shall A HOG-KILLING time. A Building Where Hundreds of Hogs are Killed Daily. The Fig Sticker at Work—Started on His Journey—A Prince of Pork— The Scalding Vat—Automatic Hog Scraper—The Whole Hog Saved Except the Squeal. EniToit Scnnt South: Slaughtering hogs by machinery is a young business. For twenty years pigs and cattle have been hoisted into position to facilitate throat cutting or head hem Tiering, but only seven or eight years ago was mechanical hog kill ng and scraping successfully accomplished. A visit to Chicago is certainly incomplete without going to one or more of the establish ments where hog killing by machinery goes on from early morn until the fall of night. Your correspondent went out to the town of Lake a interesting process is done by machinery, and the apparatus is one of the most wonderful ever invented. The endless chain drags the hog into the very mouth of this macb ine. He is hot and wet and smoking from his bt.”.. Fret he slides through cloths w hich britoii the water not be held to include any person not within . few hour8 afU;r he arrived in HogopolU, ami the rule of age or disability or dependency . , , . herein defined, or who incurred such disability | “ e wa8 80 interested that he went out again [BY K. H. MAUK ] “I I now their sorrows.”—Ex 3:7. Nobody saw it—the tear that fell As silent as dew in the mossy dell, Tnat trickled slow o’er the pale, wan cheek. And down on the hand that lay nerveless and weak. 8ne bad guarded it safe while another was by; She had screened It well from the watcher’s eye; She bad held It back witb a fearful s:raln— But it fell when they left ber alone wltb Pain. N body beard It—‘be low, deep sigh. From the motionless lips, so p*nia and dry— The slgb of a heart that mu fit -d Its tone. And Its anguish and bitterness never would own; For sbe covered ber agony up with a smile, And sbe Uuir.ed and she Joked—but all the while Low down in tbe dnpths that none may explore, Her spirit lay writhing, faint and sore. Nobody knew all tbe long, weary day, What sbe tried to do In her poor, weak way; Nobody knew of the plans and schemes, Tbat floated In brain like tbe airiest dreams, That ►be worked out In thought so wisely and well, Till they perfected seemed. But at last they fell; And. like many a purpose of spirit true. They failed for the lack of strength to do. Nobody knew of tbe comfort she gave Wiib a heart so feeling, unselfish and brave; Nobody knew but tbe few, lone ones Whose spirits were thrilled by her low, sweet tones, Br her comforting words and tier sympathy true. For sbe offered to them wbat she felt and knew; And she gave wltb a pity to soothe and still— Not rankle and hurt, as pity oft will. But the 8avlor saw It - tbe tear while It lay Still under tbe lid—and tie wiped It away. He beard tbe sigh that was deep and long; He took It and turned It Into a song. Tbe heart outspread, like a page He could read, Aud Its pure intention accepted as deed; And as swift as a R *yal Messenger, The comfort sbe gave ca ne hack to her. Our Defenceless Coast. while ia any manner voluntarily engaged or aiding or abetting tbe late rebellion against the authority of the United States. Section 4,717, revised statutes is repealed, so far as it relates to this act, or to pensioners under this act. The Uoyalty of Old Slaves. A rare instance of the fidelity of two colored men to their former master has just come to public attention in Wilkinson county. Before the war one of the proudest slave-owners in that section wss Col. Downing. He was the owner of large tracts of land, as well as of a number of slaves. When the troubles of 18110 came on be was the rankest secessionist in tbe country. The stiuggle left him land poor. Acre by acre he sold it off, being unable to square himself with the new order of things. At last, when all his land was gone and his family dead, he was atllicted with blindness and was in danger of being put in the county poor-house. “They must not do that with old master,” said Joe Downing. Joe and his brother 1’eter were the slaves of Col. Downing before the war, and always went under his name. While their old master was going down in the world, these two colored men were hard at work and saving money. They purchased 150 acres of rich Ian 1, built thereon a comfortable house, accumulated live stock and farming implements and had good credit at the bank here. To this home they took their old master, installed him in the best room and compelled all the peo ple around to treat him with the utmost re spect. Lately Col. Downing has been fearing that his death was approaching, and seemed to be fearful that he might be buried as a pau- the next day; this time accompanied by an ar tist friend who made the sketches presented tc your readers to day. no STIC KINO. The most interesting mat is the hog killer. He kills hogs; gets four dollars a day and goes home with no cloud on his countenance. Did you ever see him at work? If not you have missed one of the soul-stirring scenes with which Chicago abounds. He is not a big man, this pig killer, and he doesn’t look so very wicked, but he is brave and bloody and does a good work; for his keen knife is tbe dividing line between agriculture and commerce. He is the motive power that sends dollars rolling in golden streams back to the farms and starts SOUTHERN LITERATURE. • 'ind the ’enerrj weal; ness of v 1 per To ea^) his mir.u ,nn thjs 4 matter, the the coast defences of* the United States has naftr jut- tiain loads anrVflhip loads of foods on their wav to , 1 been a matter of serious concern to the think ing portion of the people for many years. It is true that our peaceful policy as a nation, our isolated position, and our freedom from the oft-recurring warlike demonstrations of Eu rope, are calculated to relieve us of apprehen sion of immediate or protracted war. Yet wars •do come, and come unpectedly sometimes to those peacefully inclined. The fable of “The Wolf and the Lamb” is no less applicable to nations than to individuals. With all the ap parently friendly disposition manifested to wards this country by the governments of Eu rope, it is certain that the universal freedom ■enjoyed here, the consequent development and unparalleled growth of this country in popula tion, wealth and political power and intiuence, is a standing menace to the stability of those -governments, exciting their envy and their fears; so that, despite their protestations of friendship they would *eize upon every favor able opportunity to cripple our commerce, check our advancement, even destroy our na tionality. < >ur coast-line, we know, extends thousands of miles and cannot be fortified as on the boundary Hues between other nations, or their shorter coast lines. But because we canno. do this; and because we are compara tively exempt from the fear of war, is not a sufficient reason for continuing our coast-line in such an utterly defenseless condition. The following call, therefore, of the execu tive committee of the Coast Defence Associa tion meets with our ready ami hearty approv al, and we trust it will be unanimously at tended by influential citizens, and speak in no uncertain voice. Should the able and distin guished persons invited attend, it will—.aid if it does the influence of this convention for good can hardly be estimated. “We, the undersigned citizens of the South Atlantic and Gulf coast seaports, regard with alarm the unprotected condition of our cities which in their present defeLceless state render them and our homes liablb to destruction or to the exaction of tribute equally as ruinous in the event of war. This feeling of alarm is in tensified by the humiliating fact that a single gunboat of any third power may take posses sion of and destroy any one of our seaport cities, while we are unable to defend or offer successful resistance. While the nation has experienced long the blessing of peace, we cannot always expect this boon, and it is im-* perative that our ports be placed in a state of defence, which would alone have a tendency to avert war. “We therefore recommend that a conven tion be held at DeFuniak Springs, Fla., a cen tral and convenient point, to convene Februa ry 8, 1887, to counsel as to the best method of $100, to be held until the old man's death, with which to pay all funeral expeuses.—Mil- ledgeville (Ga.) Chronicle. At Last! At Last! And so we are to have a cotton factory ! Well, well! and as Iiev. Jasper has said of the sun, Eufaula “do move.” But we are not surprised at it; indeed we have all along been confident that her people would in time real ize her needs and provide for them. This new enterprise, this proposed cotton factory, is the strongest element of local prosperity that could be secured. And it will induce other enterprises. The question of whether it would pay is a demonstrable one, and where the re sults are so certain as they appear from specu lative analysis there would seem to be scarcely a doubt that $100,000 can be secured for the building. But if we cannot have a $100,000 factory by all means let us have a $50,000. Then we will want a couple of boats on <mr river to run exclusively in the interest of Eu faula trade, with a free wharf for them. It needs no solicitation for the Times to put forth its endeavors in behalf of the upbuilding of EufauU, the truth being tbat we have done little else for quite a while; so we say to those who may be engaged in any work calculated to redound to the general interest, go ahead, the Times is with you and will give you all the support and encouragement that could be ask ed for. The Times loses no opportunity to say a good word for its home and its people, to which and to whom it is always ready to bid God-speed on their upward way. (live us the cotton factory !—Eufaula, Ala., Times. Tne Augusta Chronicle solves the agricultu ral problem in the South in the following: The Chronicle has said that the farmers of Georgia and the South should give attention to the mat ter of experimentation; they should be more careful in the purchase of seed; they should as far as possible, diversify their crops; they should cultivate the grasses. They need to do all these things, but they need something else—cheaper money on longer time. Make that a possibility, and diversification of crops will follow. Make that a possibility and ag- r culture, which made the South the richest country on the globe, will yield rare profits to those who engage in it. Now, then, here is a problem for Congress men who do not sleep nights, they are so anx ious to serve their constituents. Here is an opportunity for Georgia Congressmen. The solution of the problem is largely in the hands of Congress Will Congress stand idle while the greatest interest of the whole country languish.*? We shall see! The “Boys in Blue” to the “Gray.” Mayor Courtney of Charleston, S. C., has received from the Department of Massachu setts of the Grand Army of the Republic, ry o, lots*, to counsel as to tne nest method ot u f _i r> ** . . 4 ... . burins the protection of our coast, based « XrV&T' ' upon modern improvements. We recommend j ° J that his Excellency, President Cleveland, the honorable Secretary of War and the Navy, both committees ot Congress on military and naval affaire, General Gilmore and Captain Greene, of the United States army, General Newton, Hon. S. Cox, of New York, and others be invited to attend. Also the govern ors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor gia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, with four delegates at large and one from each congressional district, appoint ed by the governors of the above States, and delegates from the cities of tiie coast States. We would gladly include all the coast States, but in a country of such vast distances, each section should move in convention or other wise.” The circular is signed by wealthy and prom inent citizens of all the Southern coast cities. Among the signers are Gov. Drew, of Jack sonville, and Messrs. Adger of Charleston, Fairbanks of Ferntndina, Dunn of Bruns wick, Dismukes of St. Augustine, Bethel of Key West, 1 »rman of Apalachicola, McQuaine of Cedar Keys, Chipley of Pensacola, Cun ningham of Mobile, and Richardson of New Orleans. saytn; “The committee desires you to place the sum of 8788 in the hands of the managers of the homes for mothers, widows and daughters of the Confederate Soldiers of Charleston, S. C., in behalf of the Department of Massachu setts of the G. A. K.” The Western women are bound to have the suffrage. An Oregon paper cites the interest ing fact that out of twenty-five babies born in one county m that State last year, all but t wo are girls. Justice at Last. Congress has at last passed a bill pensioning the soldiers who served in tbe war witb Mexi co. Tbe magnificent domain added to tbe Union as a result of the gallant services of the The Houston, (Tex.,) Post says that of twen ty-four aldermen in the city of New York elev en are saloon keepers. Ililborne L. Roosevelt, who has just died in New York at the early age of .‘17, lived long enough to build the great Centennial organ ami invent the telephone switch, the electric call-beils and numerous other appliances now largely used. Quern Victoria vows that never in her long life have two men treated her more shabbily than Mr. Gladstone and Lord Randolph Churchill. It comes out now that Lord Churchill wrote his recent resignation while a guest of the Queen, and that “he actually used Windsor Castle note paper.” Dr. John C. Barron, of the New York Yacht Club, has offered General Paine $20,000 for the sloop Mayflower, of regatta fame. hungrq. The pig-sucker fession. fn fact he w.ars it—a clot of pink and carmine gore—all over his clothes, but he is not proud and attends strictly to business. So much for the pig-sticker. We leave him and s roll over to an adjacint pen where two or three men are at work ca ching pigs. The catcher is an active j oung man with a keen eye and a nervy hand. He reaches for a pig’s hind leg, slips a loop chain arguni it, a man above lets go a little lever and in a moment the omnipotent power of steam has jerked the porker to a hanging position. He is not at all comfortable and expresses his disapproval by by many a dissatisfied grunt and shrill squeal, but they all fall unheeded on the ears of the hard hearted men. Let us follow him. Not practically, do you mind, but with our eye, and with pencil in hand. After his hogship has been left hanging a moment the chain to his leg is attached to a carrier which slips along an over-hanging rail and the victim swings clear of the pen and takes one last lin gering look at his unsuspecting brothers and sisters who are so soon to follow him. He goes to his doom, for half a dozen feet away stands our friend the sticker, erect, steady on his legs, and ready for business. The doomed hog slides gently down the inclined plane, and when he reaches the executioner he is seized by the foreleg, his fat throat is pulled towards him, exposing the fatal spot over the heart, and with a quick, quiet sort of movement the keen bladed knife is driven home. The life blood spurts out, the squeal is louder and mere agonizing than ever ani then dies out in the distance, for he slides on down the inclined plane. Faster and faster the fated porkers are stuck, tbe platform is flooded in blood and the equals commingle ill one terrific squeal. The scene grows exciting, and the thirst for gore insatiable. Jab, jab, jah, goes the fatal knife, every jab a pig worth a dozen dollars and adding another two hun dred and fifty pounds to the pork supply that Chicago sends out to the waiting world. The sticker seems never in a hurry, his arm is never unnerved; his aim never untrue. Eight pigs a minute, half a thousand an hour they come and go, for nine hours a day. Where do they go? We really forgot, so interested did we become in the manipulations of the sticker’s knife. But we promised to follow the pigs, and we will. Down the in clined plane they go, jostling each other while their life blood runs down into scuppers to be converted into fertilizers, for the very land, perhaps, that was once their stamping ground. At the end of the rail stands a man who deftly from his skin, and then he is squeezed and pulled into a gauntlet of wheel?, each about a foot wide and all revolving in a direction the reverse of which the endless chain is pulling the pig. The whee’ls are set wi.h keen, sharp blades, in twos and threes, tbin and suple, and their edges so arranged that they scrape but do not cut. Through the narrow avenue of the wheels the carcass is slowly drawn. Here my friend and I were puzzled. We could not see how all sizes of hogs could go through the same narrow avenue, and one of the men explained: “You notice,” he said, “the mo’able bearings and the flexib lity of the steel blades render the apparatus self-adjustable to animals of all sizes and varying shapes. The lean pig is well scraped and the skin of the big, fat hog is not bruised or scratched. The mechanical scraper will do the work of one hundred men and turn the carcass out more uniform aud whiter than the best of hand scraping. Of course the nn chine cannot reach all parts of the carcass,” he continued. “Here and there are portions from which the hair lias not been removed, and these are attended to by band scrapers, which you will see further on.” Going on further through the establishment we come to them. The men work in pairs, one on eacli side of the bench, ar.d his hogship gets very little rest. First one pair aid then another slide it along on the bench, each clean ing his allo.ed part, until it gets to the end as nice aid white as any one could wish. At the end of tbe bench is a table over which stands a man with a peculiar looking knife. His work is to cut off the pig’s head; and the way he does it is wonderful. Grabbing the now Hair less ear of the hog, the man throws the neck into just the position which suits him, makes three slashes with his knife and the head hangs only by the threads of skin on one side of the neck. It looks to the casual observer like very simple work. Yet it is an art, and few men in the world can do the trick, and they pet seven dollars a day. Every carcass l:|iecapitated ex actly as the other. There ;. the variance c’.r >rs jJ&fl if 'T'f' the knife makes tbe shoulder f\eccs, and shout derg are worth money. The workman must cut. in a certain line, for there is only one joint through which this beheading can be si quickly and neatly accomplished. And he does it quickly. His movements are so quick that the eye can hardly follow them. The work man cuts off heads quicker than most men could cut off tails and makes a cleaner job of it. As fast as the heads fall to one side a work- A Song for the Salliqnoy by Maurice Thompson. My Dear Mr. Seal*: I am not a subscriber to your valuable paper, but occasionally pick up a copy and read it. If you will permit, I wish to say a few words in regard to Southern literature, and reply, somewhat, to Mr. Cook’s article on the same subj ct. I have no fight to make on this subject, our opinions do not dif fer, at all, but I merely wanted to say, that he omited to give mention, so far as I have seen, of one among the most refined literary talents the South has yet produced—Mr. Janies Maurice Thompson. Although, Mr. Thompson is a native of Indiana, he was rear ed in the mountain region of North Georgia. His first writings were produced in Scott’s Monthlj Magazine, of Atlanta. These were mostly poems; some, however, were prose, and ore of his best, the writer thinks, was “ Ihe Mill of God—A Prose Idyl.” In boyhood, Mr. Thompson lived on the Salliquoy—a beau tiful little river, six miles Northeast of Cal houn, Ga. 1 will quote a little poem he has written about the old home on the Salliquoy, since having moved to Indiana. Although brief, its rhythm is as sweet, and flowing, as the little Indian' named stream itself, ard breathes a spirit quite in accord with its au thors fancy of nature, and out-door sports, for no man living has written so much about na ture and loves her more.— WASHINGTON CITY. Reminiscences of Distin guished Public Men. A SONG FOR THE SALLIQUOY. “!’ seems but a dream, and It haunts like a rhyme Tnls golden memory fraught with Joy. O' »ny boyhood days In a far < ff clime Oa the hanks of tbe SiMlquuy. 1 was swift as the wind, and as wild as a hare, The birds kept no secrets from me, Aud my thoughts were as keen, and as rank as the rare— Hidden honey of the bumble-bee. Strange longings were in m-% a rhymth in my blood, I breathed but the perfume of flowers. I sw«m la the steam, a»d I ran in the wood Aud I felt every throb of the hours. Oh the fragranee of pine, and the odor of gum. No obsencr! can ever destroy. Lute a dream, aud a rhyme, on my memory they come From the hanks of the Salliquoy. I fl *d like a bird, from my home in the wood Fled far, and fled strong io my pride, Aud I found a sweet mate, and I reared me a brood, And I thought the old longings had died. But the blue bird will slug at the coming of spring, And I feel an old song in my mouth— A »ong tbat my lips are a hungry »o slog In the warm dim woods of the S juth. For it comes like a dream, and it haunts like rhyme. This memory burdened with joy, Of my boyhood davs In a far oil clime On the baaks of the Salliquoy!” Incidents Which Hare Transpired at the National Capitol. BV BEN. PERLY POORE. No. 170. ' r ' -1 IM rim iiiPCMSI .fr .-vc'' IN TIIK VAT. removes the chain from the leg of each pig in its turn and lets him drop into the scalding vat. Sometimes, not often, a pig reaches this stage of his unreturnable journey with a rem nant of life in his body. But that is his own lookout. A calculation was made; he was given so many minutes to die in, and if he doesn’t take advantage of it, why, it’s no body’s business but his own. But he is in the vat, a great tub, twenty feet long by eight wide, and along with many another fat porker he is rolled and floated around by tbe attendants until his hide becomes loose and bis skin cleaner than it ever was before. Then he is guided to the end of the tub and is floated over a big iron cradle whose arms nearly compass his staaming body. Steam once more comes into requisition; a man pulls a lever and the helpless carcass is thrown on a smooth plank platform where already re pose the brothers who have gone befere. He does not linger long, however. A man quickly places one end of an iron hook in his jaw and the other end to one of the links of an endless chain which runs along the surface of the plat form. He is yanked from his resting place and moved to his scraping. All or most of the man affixes hooks to the body, pulls a lever and steam power once more hoists the body to another overhead railroad and starts it sliding towards another oepartineiit—a department where ladies seldom go and men rarely ex cept on business. We are curious and we go despite the smell. Here we take the last look at the hog as a whole. With his throat cut, his hide scalded, his skin scraped, his hair off and his head hanging by a piece of skin, he is now going to lose t is inner self—that which was always most preci >us to him. The reader is not asked to follow us there, nor yet to watch him as lie goes through the multitude of pro cesses which lit him for the market. We will stop for an instant only at the bench where he is cut into quarters, to be scattered to the four corners of the earth. Cleavers in the hands of stalwart men do the work. At one fell stroke ham separates from side, shoulder from rib piece. No sooncx is one carcass quar tered than another drops into place. This, too, looks like easy work, but the artist when he essayed to lift a cleaver grew red in the face and laid it quietly down again. Yet, this great divider must fall each time in the same spot. There are two imaginary parallel lines between the side and the ham and between the side and the shoulder outside ot which the cleaver must not go This space between the lines is not much broader than my lead pencil, but the axe falls right there every time. In ventors have attempted to make machines which will stick pigs, cut off their heads and quarter their carcasses, but there is only one machine adjustable to the ever changing con ditions of every factory and that is the appa ratus that we call man. What song is more beautiful? And what author could write a more expressive and dearer song of his old boyhood home on the Salliquoy? I dare say, yet I may be wrong in my utterance, that Hayne or Lanier have never written anything to excel it. Another long notable poein from his pen is “A Song of the Mocking-Bird,’’ which appeared in the G:v' f iu.v soim^jnr/nths sro. j . His books in /heir success, to t ruer, a.e. “Hoosier Mosaics,” “The Witchery of Ar chery,’’ “A Tallahassee Girl,” “His Second Campaign,” “Songs of Fairweathcr,” (poems) “At Loves Extremes,” and “The Boys Book of Sports.” Of these none have reached a larger sale than “At Loves Extremes,” hav ing already had a sale of one hundred aud fifty thousand copies. His literary success, so far as financial returns go, has not been medium, but greater than that of any other writer in the West, and surpassed by only two writers of fiction in the East. Mr. Thompson is a true Southerner, as he thus sings: “I am a Southerner, I love the South, I fought for her.” President Adams and the Caucus. The first trouble between the Executive and Congress was when a caucus of Federal sena tors sent a delegation to President John Adaas to remonstrate against the nomination by him of Mr. Murray to be minister to France, and to threaten to reject it if the President did not withdraw it. Senators Bingham, Read, Sedgwick, Ross and Stockton were appointed as that commit tee, and they directed tbeir chairman to ad dress a respectful note to the President, ex pressing a wish that he would permit them to wait upon and converse with him on the sub ject of the nomination. An answer was im mediately returned that the President would be happy to receive the committee at his house, as gentlemen, at 7 o’clock tbat evening. At the appointed hour the committee waited on the President, and were ushered into the reception-room. As they entered, Mr. Adams met them at the door, saying, with some warmth, “Gentlemen, I am glad to see you, as friends and members of the Senate, but as a committee, interferin;, as I think yon are, with my executive duties, I cannot consent to receive you, and I protest against all such in terference. I have a duty to execute, and so have you. I know, and shall do, mine, and want neither your opinion nor aid in its exe cution.” Then, and not till then, did the President re quest his visitors to be seated. Senator Bing ham, chairman of the committee, said that they had not the most distant idea of interfer ing with the President’s official powers or du ties, but that it was out of pure regard and re spect for them that the interview uad been re quested; that a difference of opinion between the President and Senate npon such a meas ure would be lamented by all the friends of bis administration, and it was only to avoid this that the committee had requested the inter view. As this was an intimation that the nomina tion would be rejected, the President mani fested the bad temper of his family, and said, “Well, then, gentlemen, if you are determined to interfere in diplomatic affairs, reject Mr. Murray; you have the power to do this, and you may do it; but it is upon your owa respon sibility.” Some warm words followed; when the committee,left- c gpme w er» i ""',; I1 ii>>d wlyh' ouit.s idtikucn-a. is'h, 1 put himself in for their atteA ng to advise ompromise finally healed the PERSONAL MENTION. What the People Are Doing and Saying. Miss Susan Hale and her nephew, Mr. Phil ip Hale, have gone to Paris for the winter. The Archbishop of Paris will be the next to receive the red hat of the Cardinalate. While Henry Stanley is in Egypt he might consider propositions for civilizing S Midan. Senator Eustis thinks, so we hear, the Cleve land cabinet has too much dead wood in It. The late William Merrick, of Springfield, Mass., left $100,000 to Massachusetts chari ties. Senator-elect Iliscock, of New York, is wor .h only $400,000. He’ll feel lonesome in the Senate. Miss Clara Barton, of the Red Cross Socie ty, is going to Texas to look after the sufferers from the drought. President Cleveland is raising his own chick ens, eggs, butter and milk at Oakview, other wise “Red Top.’’ Queen Victoria’s New Year’s gifts to the poor of Windsor included 1,000 prime joints of beef and 100 .ons of coal. Redmond, M. P. t said at Kilberry, Ireland, that the Irish were ready to tight if denied re dress for their grievances. Prince Krapotkine’s new work has just been sent to the printers. It will be entitled, “In French and Russian Prisons.” Mason Iley is now the only American in the service of the Khedive of Egypt. He was for merly an officer in the Confederate navy. Mrs. Lamar showed excellent taste by ap pearing at her first State dinner in that most regal of robes, a black velvet gown. * It is said that the'Count de Lesseps is get ting to be a famous society man in Paris. He goes to a dance or a dinner every night. At a recent White House reception it is said that Mrs. Senator Stanford wore diamonds aggregating in value a round $500,000. Queen Marguerite, of Italy, is writing a book of fables, the subjects of which she has gath ered from romances of the dark ages. Gen. Charles P. Stone, the American Gener al who in recent years rendered conspicuous service in the Egyptian army, is dead. Mr. Sexton, in a speech at Glasgow, repelled the insinuation that the Parnellites had appro priated American donations to their own nse. It now turns out that Mrs. VanZandt was a species of anarchist sympathizer, and regret fully sees how she led her daughter into a tree- lore trap. At the command ot the Czar a great theatre i to b >nstructed at St. Petersburg, which will bfdevoia-,,} entirely to Russian operas aud the balet. It is said Q t cause of Bismar t? dis like ot Alexand Vattenberg v - cover. •’■atthfttoPSF. >’-.flueD^&e J “T . iio»,, lon Address lishi.-imo » him. A breach. Sixteen years ago, Mr. Thompson landed in in the State of Indiana, poor and unknown, scarcely able to hope for any future worth liv ing for. Today he is the State Geologist and chief of the department of Natural Science for the same State. This shows what pluck and energy will do, he has fought for recognition and has succeeded. And, although in a "far off clime,” he still loves the South and the scenes of his boyhood. John M. Harkins. CHA PTANOOGA SCOOPED. The City Astounded at the Recent Railroad Changes. Chattanooga is wrought up to a pitch of high excitement over the scoop of the East Tennes see system by the Richmond and Danville. Officials of the former line, state that informa tion from the controlling elements is to the effect that the headquarters of the system will be removed to Atlanta, and that the consoli dated shops will be built there, as that city is the geographical center of the new consolidat ed Bystem. The headquarters have been re tained at Knoxville in consequence of local in fluences, but now tbat the control has passed to others, the natural conditions will be carried out. The scoop leaves the Norfolk and West ern bottled up at Bristol, and already an order has been issued that all freight from the South and West should be sent via Morristown and Asheville, instead of Bristol, as heretofore. The Norfolk and Western, it is thought, will unite with the Baltimore and Ohio to build a new line through East Tennessee to make Western and Southern connections at Chatta nooga, and will hasten the building of the Tennessee Midland from Bristol to Memphis, Tennessee, a line diagonally acrosa the State. Henry A. Wise. Many good anecdotes are told by Virginians about Henry A. Wise, a very positive man in his way, who never hesitated to express his opinions with all the force of his ever-abun- dant energy. He was a great lover of horses, and he always interfered when he saw an ani mal being maltreated. One day he was riding horseback in Virginia. He wore a showy pair of yellow leggings. The roads were bad, and presently he came across a four house team stalled in the mud. The driver, a big fellow, with the strength of an ox, ilstead of throwing off some of the load and lightening the wagon, was mercilessly belaboring the horses with a big whip. Wise stood it as long as lie could, but his pity for the poor beasts was too great, and he exclaimed: “Why in don’t you throw off some of that wood? Any blankety blank fool ought to see tbat those horses can’t pull such a load out of that mud.” And for about two minutes Mr. Wise poured upon the teamster a torrent of maledictions. The team ster never flinched. He waited until the con gressman was through, then turning his head with a sidewise, contemptuous glance, he snarled: “Look ahere, Mister Yaller Legs, I know my business, and if you don’t git along from here purty durned quick, I’ll haul you off that horse and sti :k you head fo’most in that yere mud so fur down that you won’t have room to kick, much less to holler.” The team ster was large aud strong, and he meant fight. Mr. Wise saw all this, and he very discreetly passed on. The home and birthplace of Wise was tbe eastern shore of Virginia. His old residence is the most conspicuous building along the Onancock river. The river makes a horseshoe bend around an elevated piece of ground sev eral acres in extent, and on this land the house is situated. It is a stiff looking building of brick fronted by a grove of noble oaks, and flanked by a number of sharp-roofed outhous es that look like exaggerated chicken coops. The name of the place is “Only.” The natives explain the derivation of this name in a curi ous way. They say that whenever Wise was booked for a big speech he alwai s rehearsed it over and over a> am ou r . in tiie grove at a time when everybody else was in bed. His strong resonant voice rang out clearly in the night air, and some of the superstitious colored peo ple got the idea that the grove was “haunted.” They clung to this belief until they found that the noise proceeded from the orator’s rehears als. Mr. Wise greatly enjoyed his life in his quiet home, aud was much attached to his neighbors. It was in tbe same section of coun try that John Custis, connected by marriage with the Washington family, passed his last days, and left the following unique inscription on his grave: “Under this marble tomb lies the body of the Hon. John Custis, Esq., of the city of Wil liamsburg and parish of Burton, formerly of Hungar’s parish, on the Eastern Shore of Vir ginia and county of Northampton, aged 71 years, and yet lived but 7 years, which was the space of time he kept a bachelor hall at Arling ton, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Booth’s Drunken Freaks. Old play-goers here hare many anecdotes about the elder Booth. One night, as he was playing Sir Edward Mortimer, in the “Iron Chest,” it became very evident that his pota tions had been too deep; and, to the manager’s horror, he at length got off the stage into the orchestra, and commenced singin; an old Eng lish song, entitled, “The Poacher”’ the bur den of which is: It’s my delight of a shiny night, In the season of the year— Mile. McMahon, the daughter of the French ex-Fresident, who has just married the Comte de Pleunes, came near being empress of the French. It is said that the late l’rince Impe rial offered to marry her if her father would assist to restore him to the throne. to the great merriment of the audience, who bore with him very good humoredly. Having succeeding in getting him behind the scenes, he was vociferously called for, and after a parley, it was agreed he should finish the play. (in he went again, and again the manager’s fears were intense. “Finish it as quick as you can,” said lie in a whisper from the wing. (in which Sir Edward walked forward and said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have been directed by the mauager to finish this as quickly as possible, and so I’ll finish it at once—here, Wilford, catch me!” saying which, and throw ing himself into his arms, he “did the dying scene,” and the curtain was rung down amid roars of laughter. At Pittsburg one eve ling Mr. Forrest was about to play Montezuma, when Mr. Booth came in, and said he was going to support him by playing tiie Indian chief, Antenino, for which part he dressed and made up, when, instead of going on the stage, he walked out and took the cars attired as he was. In New York he was arrested, much in the same condition, and as lie refused to give any ot’ier name than that of Lucius Junius Brutus, he was sent by Justice Wymans to the obi Bridewell. In the course of the day Simpson and l’ri :e, the managers, came in search, stat ing that he had suddenly left the theatre the night before. The justice, on discovering who he was, sent an order for his release from du rance vile, and in the afternoon a cartload of provisions of various sorts, with fruit, wine, etc., were delivered, together with a letter from Junius, to the gentlemen inmates, with whom he had the honor of spending a few hours in the morning. He once played Orencko with ban feet, in sisting that it was absurd to put shoes on a slave. But the most extraordinary freak, per haps, was his performance of Richard III. on horseback, which he did at the circus, in the York road, Philadelphia. Many similar stori'-s are told of him, many of which are doubtless exaggerated, but the above freaks are undoubtedly correctly stated. -im- - ‘.he nea.t* c, p_ rest of this winter^ i*»_ of France. 3U5T‘*-a«_ 2 OS Tf Gen. Boynton, whom Mrs. Lor an accused of helping kill the General with his sharp pen, endeavors to make it appear that the doctors were to blame. Mrs. John G. Carlisle used often to say she preferred to be the wife of the Speaker rather than the wife of a Senator; but she has lately changed her mind. Mrs. Cleveland says she never feels tired from shaking hands either at the time or after wards. however great the number she thus greets consecutively. Michael Davitt, while defending Dr. Mc- Glynn, urges him to go to Rome. Henry (leorge advises him to let Rome alone. Dav- itt’s advice is the wiser. Bond and the Medium. A friend of Judge Bond, of Baltimore, Judge of the United States District Court, tells the following good story aoout him, which he lo cates at Boston in 1877. The two went to call on a medium. They were shown many won ders, and at last the Judge was told to write a list of names on a slip of paper, which being done he was instructed to run his finger down the list and stop when the accustomed rap on the table was heard. When he got to the mid dle of the list a violent blow was struck upon the table. Thereupon a long conversation en sued between tiie Judge and the materialized spirit, in which were rehearsed many astonish ing facts (most of which the Judge had inge niously managed to drop in the opening of the conversation with the medium). Finally the exhibitor suspee'ed something, and the “spir it” abruptly departed. Then the Judge fell in to a brown study, from which it was difficult to arouse him. Suddenly looking up, he said, with the most admirably assumed tone of as tonishment and conviction: “ This is the most remarkable thing I ever dreamed of. I almost doubt the power of (ffnnipotcnce to equal it.” “Ah,” says the medium, “I can show you greater things than that. ” Further conversa tion ensued in a similar strain, when Judge Bond burst out with, “But I tell you, sir, I challenge the Almighty to do such a thing. Why, sir, can you believe it? I left that gen tleman not twenty minutes ago on the steps of the Parker House!” At this the medium nat urally became furious and exclaimed: “I told you to write tbe names of dead men on that list.” “No,” replied Judge Bond with a look of child-like simplicity, “you did not; you told me to write the names of friends, and I did so. There isn’t the name of a single dead man on that list.” It is needless to add that the Judge and hia friend departed without cer emony. Rt. Hoc. Henry Campbell Bannerman, Lib eral member of Parliament, and formerly Chief Secretary for Ireland, has littered a queer prophecy about Mr. Parnell. Senator Beck will render a genuine public service in pressing for action upon his bill to prohibit members of Congress from acting as attorneys for land-grant railroads. Some Boston women are beginning to say that it gives them a headache to sit through a sermon with their bonnets on, and ask why they cannot take them off in church. Mrs. Langtry having had her say about Mrs. J. Brown Potter, it is now in order for Mrs. J. Brown Potter to have her say about Mrs. Langtry. These two women are much alike. Lieut. Emory, U. S. A., will conduct another Arctic exploration in search of the alleged pole. It is not yet announced who will con duct the exploration in search of Lieutenant Emory. The Princess Marie of Wurtemburg, whose death recently occurred, had obtained a con siderable literary reputation by contributing poems and stories to various German maga zines. The well authenticated stories of the Czar’s panic stricken and drunken condition are de clared by his ever-faithful Pall Mall Gazette to be “unmitigated trash of the vilest and silliest description.” Young Charles Dickens is coming to Amer ica next fall to give a series of readings in the principal cities. He is the editor of All the Year Round and the compiler of a capital “Dictionary of London.” In the Cuban debate in the Senate Senor Balaquer, Minister of Colonies, said that rea sons of courtesy compelled him to postpone an explanation of the progress of the negotiations for a commercial treaty with the United States. Senator Mahone introduced in the Senate a bill to provide fi r the reimbursement of the States of Maryland and Virginia for money ad vanced to the United States to aid in the erec tion of public buildings at permanent seats of the Government. The late John Worley, of Baltimore, mode the first car wheels us ad on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and was a passenger on the first carjthat was run over the road. In his boy hood he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British. Miss Matiida Johnson has just died in Lon don, 110 years oil. Eighty-nine years ago her intended husband died s'uddenly and iuie made a will giving her entire fortune to the Military Hospital and directing that “Love killed her” should be engraved on her tomb stone. Queen Marguerita of Italy is a most helpful woman. Sbe does all her own shopping and personally selects all the Christmas presente for her dependents and for the inmates of the charitable institutions under her protectorate Women will be able to understand the amount of labor this undertaking involves. The ashes of Rossini will be fetched from Paris next week by the depu.y, Mariotti who has been commanded by the kin? of Italy to convey them to Florence, there to be buried in the Santa Croce. A subscription has been started to erect a monument to the illustrion. composer, the King himself heading the with 5 000 francs. 8 e hat Mrs. Mackay paid $240 for a box at the resentation of “La Patrie” for the benefit of the flood sufferers, and went from London .1 Paris to attend it. When she got there w doctor prohibited her wearing a low-cut dre_ r so she ordered and had completed in tw«« ’ four hours a splendid directory costume velvet and satin and lace. >- Ki J
