About The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1887)
f I THE SUNNY SOUTH, ATLANTA, GA, SATURDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 12, 1887. PUBLISHED EVEBY SATURDAY. BUSINESS OFFICE 21MARIETTA ST " -'■'TT'C "editor" J. M. SEALS, Terms: T*o AoUan par Annum. On» dollar for HU Month, ’ Advertising!" . Tm isif par Lina. Seventr-five oanta par loch. n.ii.iirlhwa shook! alwajra giratba nama of tJESaSEeto which thair Papa™*™ are apt tofoUow a garafart rflSfffSu. Amour thousands of anbacnbara it is difflSlt to flndV^t^larnj£. without» c * rtJUD J^r*"^" ^«> « chmmad. TO CONTRIBUTORS. »—ii- m . plainly m poeeible oa oar Ada of the om^Tamt^poperof medio* vwifiKt. Donat rsUumsrMSS. Fold them flatly; a rolled page <a esaMeeome both to reader and printer. Letter etee pwtr to nuet preferred. It U well to write the name of the MSS. at the top of each page-, the payee should be earefoUV numbered according to their i mifrr aaowenca. The writer’s reat name and ret- i testes should be written on the MSS., aelettereare enaettmee misplaced. I] a nom dc plume is need, itthonld be written directly under the title. It must be distinctly stated whether pay ts expected for MSS. tent in. We cannot return MSS., nor be responsible for them, when tent in voluntarily, unless specially re tfi-r-r U> do so and in such cases stamps must be in doted. Thewriter should always keep a copy. Address all letter, concerning the paper aud make all bill. PMable to 3 H SKALa & ^ Atlanta. Ua Another Bridge at Cincinnati. A certificate of incorporation of the Central Bridge Company has been filed wtth the Secre tary of State at Columbus, Ohio. The object of the Company is to build a bridge across the Ohio at Newport, ex-Govemor Iloadley being one of the incorporators. It is gratifying to know that a city which has always manifested such unmistakable and keen interest in South ern development and progress, as Cincinnati has, is herself becoming so prosperous and her trade so rapidly increasing that she feels the need of additional commercial facilities. Charleston, S. C. The successive earthquake shocks which visited Charleston last summer undoubtedly damaged the city very much—possibly more than was made public, or supposed. It was thought the business of the city would be em barrassingly affected. But business has not been affected—and repairs have been steadily going on ever since. When these have been completed many buildings—residences and business tenements, will probably be in more substantial and safe condition than ever before. It will be a source of pleasure to the friends of this old and time-honored Southern sea port to know that her courage and ambition remain as high as ever, and that she will leave nothing undone calculated not only to main tain the commercial position so honorabiy won, but to advance to a still more command ing influence. Augusta, Ga. f Bound to Forge Ahead. We are gratified to observe that the cheering “booms” that are visiting our Alabama cities does not exciti) the envy or depress the ener gies of cities m yet not so favored; on the con- rrismS, / Th* Augusta Chron icle reports oi%>cf her business men as saying: “Augusta, of her own natural advantages— the river, which will soon be improved, and with her new railroad connections that are in course of construction—is bound to double her population and business and become the great inland commercial and manufacturing centre of the South.” And the Chronicle adds: “Augusta’s pros perity never was as near the zenith of its great ness as it is at present. Our people may not look for a boom, but it is nearer at hand than any realize.” The Price of Cotton Seed Advancing. A number of the wealthy planters on tie Mississippi river and its tributaries, below Memphis, have organized a co-operative cotton seed oil company for vigorously antagonizing the Standard Oil monopoly, which for many months past has been engaged in wrecking and then buying, for a mere song, the cotton seed oil mills of the country. Ample capital raised, and then planters obligated themselves to supply annually a stipulated number of tons of seed. The result is, already, according to dispatches from New Orleans, that the price of ootton seed is advancing. This is all right and gratifying, provided the planters and farmers are not tempted by the good prices and prospect of ready money to part with too many of their seed—forgetting that they are among the best of his fertilizers, whether used alone, or in the compost pile. We trust the planters will strictly contest every inch of ground with the Standard Oil monopoly Significant Movement By Tammany. Tammany Hall general committee recently passed resolutions demanding certain legisla tion of the legislature in session in Albany. One demand is that an act be passed to regu late corporations by limiting tbeir earnings to ten per cent on the sum actually invested.and to provide for the taxation of the same. This is a significant movement, considering that it originates where it does. It is in har mony with a rapidly developing public senti ment—it is just, and therefore a movement in the right direction. Yet it does not go far enough. There should be legislation—strong legislation carrying full and complete enforc ing power along with it to make it effectual— against watering, or otherwise fraudulently and fictitiously adding to it, else the capital stock will be assumed to exceed “the sum ac tually invested,” and the profits largely exceed what appears. God speed the movement. But, in addition to the above, the committee go instructed to cause to be introduced a joint resolution calling upon the Senators aud Rep resentatives in Congress to procure legislation, providing for the use of a part of the surplus in the United States Treasury, in deepening and widening the channel in the harbor of New York, and also to provide ample coast and harbor defenses. New York as the largest and most populous State in the Union, through whoso chief city by far the greater portion of our commercial business is transacted, is the proper oae to lead off in this important matter. We are glad to see that Tammany has taken hold of it, be cause Tammany’s influence will probably cause the State Legislature to take hold of it. It is a shame for the government to keep such a large surplus locked up when thejdefences and a navy are needed, and the people are wanting the employment which the construc tion of these will give them. Southern Fire Insurance Companies. While not having the proof at command we believe we are correct in stating that the Fire Insurance Companies of the South have been phenominally successful. We know of none which have been otherwise. But the success of The Southern Mutual, whose headquarters and ekclusive management are and have all the time been at Athens, Ga., has been extraordi nary. It is only recently that this company was exceedingly embarrassed by a surplus ap proximating a million, and applied to the courts to make an equitable division of it; and now, the authoritative statement is made that this great company will declare a dividend of 100 per cent, this year. As the Augusta, (Ga.,) Chronicle remarks, it is “the biggest thing in Georgia” ; and, we will add that its uniform extraordinary financial success re flects the highest credit on all concerned, offi cers and agents. Another Great Strike. On the third of last month a strike of coal handlers occurred on the large piers used by the great ocean steamers, domestic and for eign. The disaffection has become contagious, and the strike has spread until it extended from New York to Brooklyn and Jersey City, and involves not less than 50,000 laborers. The indications are that it will keep on ex tending, and that the coal handlers at the mines will also finally become participants. In New York city is a District Assembly of the K. of L. known as No. 40, to which the locals in the city are “attached.” The presi dent of the Old Dominion Steamship compa ny, whose employees were the first to strike, has caused the members of Executive Board of D. A. No. 49 to be arrested on a charge of conspiracy. These strikes occasion such commercial dis turbance as to interfere very seriously with the business of the country to the inconveni ence, if not injury, of innocent business men and consumers. Something should be done to prevent them. Their frequency and extent indicate something radically wrong somewhere —either that the handlers of money are not pay ing living wages, or that the handlers of coal are as a class becoming more turbulent. In this day of increasing school advantages, of church extensions, alledged growth of temper ance sentiment and practice, and the supposed increase of Christian influences, these disas trous business disturbances seem strange. And it seems stranger still that in view of these considerations, that intelligent public se * or enlightened patriotic legislation se methods of adjustment. ie South have cause to complain ! money, it is some satisfaction to •e are not embarrassed, and our errupted as is the business of our ends. George Eliot’s Heroines. An almost universal assent has been given to placing George Eliot in the foremost rank of the writers of fiction. She is hardly approach ed by any one of her own sex. She is not sur passed by more than one or two of the other sex, if indeed she be surpassed at all. For skill in delineating character she has been compared to Shakspeare, and has not suffered by the comparison. In artistic finish °kc is quite the equal of Thackeray; and ic richness of a humor that never runs int“ the grotesque she certainly surpasses Dick' ns. In the mean while her learning is r~ varied and as accurate as that of Macri'z.y, and her classical allusions betctyaOlftbP Jjae, scholarly attainments of f"*Swer.''In s lining and heroic incident she of course yields to Scott; but then her genius never inclined her to describe tournaments, to tell of feats performed by warriors. Most as suredly may it be predicated of her heroines that they will be regarded as among the most striking that the imagination has ever bodied forth so long as the English language shall be read. But it would be praise too extravagant to pronounce them faultless. They are imperfect in some important particulars, and these are pointed out very clearly and forcibly by a critic of her own sex, Mrs. Abba Good Wool son, in a handsome and most readable volume, which has just been issued by the Harpers nnder the title, “George Eliot and her Hero ines.” With a warm appreciation of the many excellencies of her author, Mrs. Woolson points out very plainly and, as we think, very correctly, the causes why she failed of giving to her heroines careers befitting their charac ters. It was not at all owing to a lack of in ventive power, but to her dark and cheerless conception of life, of its ends and aim. Had her genius been under the guidance of an ac tive and healthful Christian faith, Komola, Dorothea and Gwendolen would have been al most perfect creations. „ CHICAGO'S GBEAT AUDITORIUM EDIFICE. A Building Which, When Completed wllllbe Unmatched by any in America. Excavations for the foundation of a monster structure for operatio performances and the accommodation of great conventions and oth er vast concourses of people has been begun in Chicago. Its frontage and main entrance will be on Congress street, occupying the entire space between Michigan and Wabash avenues extending back nearly two hundred feet and to be eleven stories high. Originally the cap ital was 9750,000; but early in January a new directoriate was elected and an amended plan adopted, which necessitated doubling the capi tal which is now 91,600,000, to which cashsub- scriptions exceeding91,000,000have been secur ed, 9200,000 paid for the site and the work auspiciously begun. The shareholders repre sent all capitalistic and commercial interests, and all creeds and nationalities. Built as pro jected, and in accordance with the elaborately prepared plan accepted, the Chicago Auditori um will be unmatched in America, and only one similar edifice in the world—the La Scala, Milan, Italy—can boast of as large and com modious a stage, it being 70 by 120 feet, and there will be absolutely nothing lacking about its equipments. About the proscenium ope nings there will be grouped fifty-one elegantly furnished boxes. The Auditorium will be arranged upon the most effective modern plans, and will have, besides the main floor, two extensive balco nies. The perfected plans call for a seating capacity of 5,000, but will be adequate to the accommodation of 8,000, of which the main floor will seat at the lowest calculation, -‘1,000, and the balconies the remainder. A series of suites of rooms and hotel apartments, form, also, a part of the plans. The first three stories will be built of Rome kind of ornamental stone, and the remainder probably of brick with chiseled stone trim mings ; the entire frt nt elevation in the se verest plainness of art outline. The top will be flat, and will be surmounted by a huge tower, somewhat suggestive of a long square column, with a pyramidal-shaped coping. Although designed by Chicago architects of acknowledged architectural skill, the final de cision as to everything pertaining to the build ing was made by l’rof. Weir, an expert of the school of Mines, of Columbia College, New York, who speaks of it as a magnificent pro ject—one which will command more national attention and reputation than any building ever built in this country, and which will be worthy of the city and its public spirited residents. Cultivation of Jute- id that for years there has been held ’the eyes of ambitious investors an offer ize of 910,000 for the first ten bales of and prepared for market in the States at a cost which will admit of competition with the Indian article, rize is still unearned. Is Self-Examination Worth Much. We used to hear of a little book called “Ma son’s Self-knowledge,” which was vastly pop ular with school-boys who were disposed to in dulge in the moral and philosophic in getting up their “compositions.” We never read it then:—we have never read it since, and of course know nothing of what he has to say about the value of this knowledge, or the di rections he gives for attaining it. We suspect however, that under this latter head, he ex plains frequent self-examinations; rigid scruti- nizings of the motives and impulses by which we are moved. His teachings on these points, we presume, are such as moral philosophers pronounce orthodox. In the face of his direc tions however, we venture the assertion that they who think of themselves most do not al ways know themselzes best. We fear few per sons are honest even in dealing with them selves. They will not allow that it is pride, vanity, envy, jealousy or hatred or some other hateful passion that is actuating them, when, perhaps, others may be able to see clearly that they are under the influence of these feel ings. They who come to regard themselves as morally superior to the individuals around them have as a general thing reached that con clusion from self-examination. The Pharisee who returned thanks for his high attainments in virtue had doubtless made himself a sub ject of study, and his introspection had led to a most flattering estimation of his own worth. Many who are less correct of life than was this man, are quite as much mistaken about the principles by which they are controlled. One may, we suspect, best study themselves in others. He will be pretty sure to attribute a bad action of another to a bad motive, and if he be in the least candid he will not fail to ascribe a similar course of conduct on his own part to similar promptings. The old Spartans were wise, if cruel, in impressing upon their boys the baseness of intemperance by exhibi ting before them drunken slaves. This object lesson was ten fold more forcible than long homilies upon the follies of drunkenness. We may best study our own characters in the characters of those around ns. The traits in them which appear abominable in our eyes, we may be very sure will appear hateful to others in us. An examination of self conduct ed in this way may be worth very much. But the looking into his own heart by a recluse will produce little practical result that is to be counted. It is almost sure to render him proud—t’would be a wonder did it make him humble. * * Reasonable Doubts. In almost every trial of a person charged with crime, the presiding judge is at tome pains to explain to the jury what expounders of the law understand by a reasonable doubt— yet guilty people are being continually turned loose upon doubts lhat are not reasonable, and occasionally an innocent person is punished because doubts that are reasonable are not so considered. It is a most delicate question, and the wonder is not that juries sometimes err, but that they err so seldom. Men whose intellects are well trained to the weighing of evidence, and the nice balancing of fact against fact and inference against inference are rarely called upon to serve in this capacity. But cases arc not rare in which the clearest judi cial mind may well be at a loss amid a mass of conflicting testimony. In the case of Clu- verius, which has just had its melancholy ending, the men who were charged with the responsibility of finding a verdict could not -real absolutely sure then, nor can they now, that they were speaking the truth. There was room for doubts of the prisoner’s guilt and there will always be a difference of opinion as to whether or not these doubts were reasona ble. This uncertainty becomes the greater from the declarations of innocence on the part of the accused up to the very last moment. It is always a relief to a juror to be justified in the conclusion which he has reached despite some circumstances that pointed the other way, by the subsequent confession of the ac cused. But when his guiltlessness is asserted to the last, the fear may arise that the sen tence was wrong. Were, however, no one punished for crime until no other hypothesis than that of guilt could be offered, the great mass of offenders would go unpunished. Though the circumstances pointed never so clearly there would be those who would grow nervous about the danger of not reading them aright, and who would attach more impor tance to the one missing link than to the nine ty and nine that fitted well together. Nor are these always of the dull. Some men of bright intellect are more impracticable as jurors by reason of their fertility in suggesting theories than are the obtuse. But it must be confessed that in the minds both of the ignorant and of the better informed, there is a prejudice against what is called “merely circumstantial evidence.” The idea appears to exist that one word of direct testimony ought to outweigh a whole cloud of circumstances. In truth, it should be just the other way. One witness may invent a well-connected story when he wishes to swear away the liberty or life of some'toe. Two, three or a half dozen may engage in such conspiracy, and dove-tail tbeir stories so nicely that the shrewdest counsel may be unable to detect and expose their col lusion. But circumstances have no malice, nor love, and will convict or acquit unjustly only when they are misread by unreasonable men. * * A Potential Unit. As our immense natural resources become manifest, the prospective power of a recon structed, regenerated, rapidly developing South are sharply foreshadowed. Cotton was King—though shorn of a part of his power, he is none the less Kingly in character. If he has stepped down and out, and it is only to transfer the scepter to another and more pow erful potentate—imperial Iron—whose staunch and eternal ally he will be. With the allied forces of King Cotton and Imperial Iron sup ported by the irresistible burning zeal of King Coal, the all-conquering power of the South will be assured. These truths being self-evi dent, it is no wonder that the Washington, D. C. , Dost should conclude that “henceforth the South will be a potential unit among the great peoples of the world. It will divide production with the North and rapid growth with the West. Sheffield and Birmingham will be fol lowed by other hives of enterprise, and mis cellaneous manufactures and commerce will reinforce a monotonous agriculture. Immigra tion has turned thither, and no part of the world is more full of promise.” Harper’s Magazine for February Begins a new serial of “April Hopes” by W. D. Howells,and continues two others, “Narka” and ‘ ‘Springbaven. ’ ’ The paper of Dudley War ner on Areadian lands, which is profusely il lustrated, will be read with much interest, as will also those on the Navies of the Continent and Moorse-hunting. There is a fine short story by Grant Allen, and several charming poems—The Easy, 1 Chair Study and Drawer nnder the conduct respectively of George Wil liam Curtis, William Dean Howells and Charles Dudley Warner are most attractive features of this Great Monthly. Some Curious Studies. To a man with leisure and a thoughtful turn of mind there he no more fruitful theme for meditation than some of the physical devel opments of the human race. Such a man, who for several years has been a frequenter of churches and places of amusement in various parts of the country, has been giving in the Popular Science Monthly the result of his ob- sirvations. His method of procedure was to take a seat in the gallery or in the rear part of the room and look at the heads of the audiences for the purpose of ascertaining by actual count how many showed signs of baldness. He ex plained that he confined bis observations to men, for the reason that women usually wore their hats or bonnets in such places thus c jv- ering their crowns, but in case their hats were removed their hair would be combed up so as to cover any possible bald spot, or else a “switch” would hide the defect of nature. He finds that in moat of the eastern cities, fully 30 per cent, of the men over 30 years of age show unm is table signs of baldness, while nearly 20 per cent, have spots on their heads that are not only bald, but .actually polished with the gloss that is supposed to belong to extreme old age alone. He has been in the majority of churches aud theatres in all the large eastern cities, as well as in Chicago, St. Louis, and other places of the west, and has verified his »Mertion by actual count. From his observa- ’’on he finds that bald-headed men are most numerous in New York and Boston; and after these come Philadelphia, Washington, and the western towns. He finds the largest propor tion of bald-heads in Boston and the smallest in towns in the west. In Boston they are most numerous in the wealthy and aristocratic class es, and the churches and theaters attended by these classes furnish the proof of this fact. Thus, of 243 male worshipers in Trinity church, 1 were actually bald, while 46 showed indica tions of baldness; and of 80 male worshipers in King’s chapel, 38 were actually bald, while 14 were fast losing their hair. Of an audience of 120 men occupying the best seats in the Boston theater, 51 were actually bald, while 43 showed indications of baldness. At an opera at which l’atti sang there were 40 per cent, of bald heads. At one of Matthew Arnold’s lecture the proportion was the same. At an exhibition given by John L. Sullivan, the pugilist, in Boston, only twelve per cent, of the men who removed »lieir hats displayed bald heads. < If thirty men who were witnessing a performance at a dime mu seum but eight were bald, while only five had thin hair. Of forty men in a cheap theatre at Austin, Texas, thirty-two had well covered heads. At another theatre in the same town less than one fourth the men had thin hair. Complete baldness or a tendency to lose the hair in early life appears to be associated with wealth, culture and a high degree of refine ment, while the lack of these qualities is mani fested in a full suit of hair, as shown in the persons of those who attended the exhibition given by the pugilist. The observations of the contributor to the Popular Science Monthly led him to believe that the negroes in the South and the Indians in the West are the out classes that generally have the amount of hair that naturally belongs to the human race, and they owe this distinction to the fact that they have not been cultured and pampered on lux uries. As with the hair, so with the teeth. In wealthy, cultured and aristocratic circles it is rare to find an adult who does not sport false teeth. Even children lose their teeth very early in life. Dentists who practice among the “best families” state that half their youthful patrons naw^hed their first set of molar leetEl Xs to%.iielr" 'wisdom teeth, they are hardly worth saving. They exhibit marks of decay when they first appear. It is fair to pre sume that the offspring of these persons will be bald and toothless from early childhood. A distinguished foreign oculist is reported as expressing the opinion that in three or four generations more he predicts that nearly every adult in Berlin will be compelled to wear spec tacles or run the chances of being knocked over when he attempts to pilot himself over a crossing. And a Chicago paper is responsible for the statement that in many of the primary schools in that city children may be seen learn- ing the alphabet by the aid of eye-glasses. These facts are seized upon to predict that coming generations will be much more near sighted than the present. But these are not all the curious shenomena of human life. If is gravely asserted by a Chi cago paper that persons of wealth and refine ment are fast losing the power of locomotion, and establishes this startling theory after this manner: “The demand has been made in this city more than once to have all the school-houses located on streets provided with horse-car lines and to have the school buildings furnished with elevators. Many doting mothers insist that their children can not endure the fatigue of walking and of climbing stairs. It is a well known fact that hotels located near mountains have been very poorly patronized during the past few years. The wealthy and aristocratic visitors do not desire to climb mountain sides. The hotel proprietors near Mount Washington have found it necessary, in order to secure patronage, to have a railroad or steam elevator constructed from the base to the summit of the mountain. Japan now cultivates tea all over the inhab ited islands of that long strung-out empire of islands, which extend as far north as the thir ty-ninth degree of latitude—nearly as far north as Philadelphia. The Japan plant is a hardy one, and bears continuously for nearly a cen tury. A Genuine Love Story. This story was originally told by Spurgeon: A young clergyman and his bride were invited guests at a large party given by a wealthy pa rishioner. In all the freshness and elegance of the bridal wardrobe the young wife shone among the throng, distinguished by her come liness and vivacity and rich attire; and when, during the evening, her young husband drew her aside and whispered to her that she was the most beautiful woman in all the company, and that his heart was bursting with pride and love for her, she thought herself the happiest wife in the world. Ten years later the same husband and wife were guests at the same house, where there gathered a similar gay company. The wife of ten years ago wore the same dress she had worn on the previous occasion; and, of course, it bad been altered and re-made, and was old- fashioned and almost shabby. Toil and care and motherhood and pinched circumstances had taken the roses out of her cheeks and the lithe spring out of her form. She Bat apart from the crowd, careworn and pro-occupied. Her small hands, roughened with coarse toil, were ungloved, for the minister's salary was painfully small. A little apart, the ten-year husband stood and looked at his wife, and as he observed her faded dress and weary atti tude, a great sense of all her patient, loving faithfulness came over his heart. Looking up, she caught his earnest gaze and noticed that his eyes were filled with tears. She rose and went to him, her questioning eyes mutely asked for an explanation of his emotion; and when he tenderly took her hand, and placing it on his arm, led her away from the crowd, and told her how he had been thinking of her as she looked ten years before, when she was a bride, and how much more precious she was to him now, and how much more beautiful, for all her shabby dress and roughened hands, and how he appreciated all her sacrifice and patient toil for him and their children, a great wave of happiness filled her heart, and light shone in her face that gave it more than youthful beauty, and in all that company there was not so happy a couple as this husband and wife, their hearts and faces aglow from the flaming up of pure sentiment that transfigured and ennobled and glorified all the toils and privations that they had en dured. Twelve Beesons Why People Should go to Church. I have never yet asked anybody to come and hear me preach, and never expect to. Thongh, like the old minister, I should conclude that the Lord had not called me to preach unless He also called somebody to hear me. People used to go to church because they did not dare to stay at home. 1. They feared God would be angry with them if they did not join in His public wor ship. 2. They feared that this anger might bring upon them calamity in worldly affairs, or cause the withholding of some good they might oth erwise received. 3. They feared it might cause the loss of their souls. 4. Human laws used to compel church at tendance on pain of penalties people did not care to incur. 5. The rights of citizenship once depended on church relations in Massachusetts, as they do still in some parts of the world. fi. Then public opinion regarded neglect in this matter as disgraceful. None of these considerations, however, have much weight with the average citizen of Bos ton to-day. On the other hand, there are some who think that they ought not to go to church. 1. They believe that religion is all supersti tion, and belongs to an ignorant past. 2. They say that the world is to be saved by science and education. To people conscientiously convinced of these positions, I have only one thing to say. Do not make your lack of faith in the church an excuse for shirking responsibility. Iu your oxen xeay, see to it that you are as earnest in help ing the world as the church is in its xeny. And when your way is proved to be the better one, we will all walk in it together. But the great body of the people still believe that the church staDds for something worth while, and so lony as they believe that, they have no right to let laziness or self-indulgence, the morning paper, a favorite book, a drive, a nap, or a poor minister even, keep them away from church. Note the following twelve suggestions on the general subject: 1. Religion is a permanent part of human nature, and is not likely to be outgrown. 2. History proves that it is, for either good or evil, one of the mightiest of human forces. Like steam in a ship, it will urge on towards port or drive on the rocks, according as wisdom or folly is at the helm. 3. Those who thii k they hold intelligent views and right theories concerning it are the ones, above all others, who ought to be present and help guide. 4 Like all other human forces of thought and feeling—like art and science and charity— rrligion tends to incarnate itself in organiza tions and institutions. 6 The church, then, is only the outward em bodiment of this force, and is as natural as any other organization whatever. (i. The church, then, is a voluntary associa tion of men and women to help each other aud help the world in true thinking, noble feeling and right living. No other organization has thus so lofty an aim. The minister is only one of the church, and he is under no more obliga tion to help his fellow-inen than any other man either in the church or out. It is curious, then to see people criticising the minister for wbat he does or fails to do, while they feel at liberty to do nothing. 7. If, then, you believe in your minister, and help him in the common work. If you do not believe in him, get another minister, or go to another church 8. If you regard the wish for an extra nap on Sunday morning, or the fact that there are clouds in the sky, as a sufficient reason for ex cusing yourself from the common work, extend to the minister the same privilege. Let there be equality of rights, as there is of duty. Do not put the minister to the trouble of prepar ing a sermon for persons who are not present to hear it. 9. If the sermon does not hit your case on any special day, remember that theie are sev eral hundreds of others present, having gone through different experiences and having dif ferent needs. There is only one dish that has everything in it at once—that is hash, and all people do not like hash. 10. If you think the sermon preached to-day a poor one, think how much worse it might have been if you had preached it. Think, also, of a thousand other demands; what it means to address the same audience constantly; and have something fresh and brilliant all the time. , 11. The church stands for man’s ideal dream of a perfect condition of human society. It keeps alive the aspiration, the hope, and seeks to realize them. Is there so much of this ideal in the world, and in yourself, that yon can afford to neglect any agency that tends to in crease it? 12. The church stands for man’s audacious, magnificent hope of overleaping the gulf of death and entering on an immortal career. If this is a lie, it is the most magnificent lie that the human soul ever listened to. If true, it has the power to comfort, to make strong, to shield from temptation, to become the mainspring of noble living. If you can find an organization that stands for some nobler things than those join it and work with it. Until you do, find out some noble minister, and work with him for these ends. An unknown vessel collided with the steam ship Kapanda near the coast of Brazil, Janua ry 31st. The Kapanda was bound from Lon don to Australia with three hundred emigrants and immediately sank with nearly all on board. Those Horrid Women's Tailors. A dressmaker writes to a New York news paper appealing against the usurpation of dressmaking by men. Some years ago, she says, the theory was advanced in Europe that only men could fit and adapt costumes to different figures, and many American ultrafashionables who eagerly snatch at new-fangled ideas, particularly if they have the European brand, were led to suppose that only men could do their work properly. The result was a sudden influx to this country of the so-called “ladies’ tailors, and the gullible women of this country quickly caught at the bait, and the new comers flaunt ed their borrowed plumes at the expense of the poor women upon whose skill in dress making they were in a great measure depend- ent. Setting up grand establishments in houses whose rentals must have been well up in the thousands, with all their equipage on a corresponding scale, and paying immense sal aries to those whom they employ, is it any wonder that they charge so enormously as they do? Their work could be equally well done by a dressmaker off Broadway or the av enues at a much less cost. These men allow that they employ women fitters. The inevita ble result is that they must be continually changing, for a skillful fitter makes friends of the customers and is soon able to draw them to herself. If she starts businessjon a side street they follow her, and find that she will do their work in the same manner as before, if not better, at about one-third the former price. There is no detail of ladies’ tailoring or dressmaking which these accomplished modis tes of New York and not fully competent to bring to perfection; even the art of pressing which the men tailors prate so much about has been so cultivated that garments may be finished by some side street dressmakers in a manner that will defy competition. As a gen eral thing women make fine designers. They understand fully what their customers require, and cases often occur when dresses and habits got up in a well-known house of men dress makers have been taken to a side street dress maker to run the gauntlet of her criticism and be altered so as to meet the requirements of the wearer. It is absolutely appalling when one considers the prices these men receive for their work, and the imperious airs they adopt to their cus tomers. Is it not time that American women should see the folly of this? Fathers, husbands, and sons are groaning under the evil, which cer tainly must recoil upon the wrongdoer sooner or later. There are many leaders and movers in good works among the ladies .of New York. Would it not be highly praiseworthy if these same women took the initiative in the path of retrenchment, and put down the dreadful ex travagance that is robbing those of their sex who are dependent upon tbeir own exertions for life’s sustenance, bnt who, with so many usurpers on their particular premises, are in danger of finding their occupation gone? LETTERS^- r WfcePEDPLE A Beautiful Spanish Lady- Birmingham, Etc. Editor Sunnt Socm :—We were all seated at the breakfast table, at the Garlington House, a genial circle,—health, happiness and plenty beaming in every face, when some one re marked, (for the hundredth time in all proba bility) on the beauty of baby Dudley’s sweet blue eyes, when my liege lord surprised us by telling us a little incident of his sojourn Caracas, South America. He is always digni fied, and usually rather grave and silent, we gave him our best attention : “The most beautiful eyes I ever saw,” he began; (I remarked in South America), “the Catholic Church in Caracas was holding grand celebration to some of the saints, and as a procession was the principal feature of the evening, all the city gathered on the streets and squares alonfi which the procession would pass. My friend and I had scarcely taken our places on one of the beaitiful squares, when two Spanish ladies stopped nearly in front of us. They were tall, graceful, and most beau tiful. The lovely black lace mantillas, that Spanish ladies know so well how to wear, fell in artistic folds from their stately heads. I was gazing admiringly at the taller one, when she turned her head and looked me full in the face. Her eyes caught mine, and for the life i of me I could not withdraw my gaze, a! thong I felt it was very rude to be looking at strange lady in that manner. But her eyes such wonderful, such beautiful dark eyes, were full of electricity, and I felt a perfect shock pass through my fra lie. I scarcely breathed, until she drooped her long lashes, sighed, and turned quietly away. That has been many years ago, but I have never forgot ten those beautiful eyes.” Well, of course, the friends had a laugh me, but I told them my eyes were of a more heavenly tv pe, at least, and had been more successfully on the I’rofessor than even the glorious ones of the Spanish beauty. How- “Tbere are moments, I think, when the spirit re ceives Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves When tbefolds of the heart In a moment unclose Like the Innermost leaves from the heart of a rose. What a rush and roar, and a wild whirl of life is now in Alabama’s Magic City—Birming ham. The city is crowded with eager capi talists, and thousands watch the chances, day by day, for profitable investments. They come to many, and often in a few days the glittering spires ot their golden fortunes rise in the air. .Men are wild in the mad race for gold. Keen sons of trade, with eager brow, rush along the mad streets, indifferent alike to friend and foe. Real estate is the watch word, and if you hope to gain any attention y< u must make that word the subject, the be ginning, the middle, and the end of your con versation. A few ladies have joined in the mad race, and several areriding triumphantly the waves of success. My brother, whose home has been there for years, writes me to come at once and get rich, but 1 don’t think I will, for I have been all these years learning how to make short ends meet, and if I were to grow rich now, it would make me very sad to think of the immense stock of useless information I would have on hand. Nettie Loveless Kierulff. Salem, Ala. Editor Sunnt South: We received cards of invitation to the marriage of our friend, Prof. W S. Winters, of Chattanooga, to Miss Margaret Murphy, of Chicago, or Tuesday, Jan. 25, 1887, at the Palmer House, Rev. M. M. Wamboldt officiating; betrothed Sept. 0, 1871. May the choicest blessing of peace and happiness attend tbese constant hearts; may the fair Margarita blush and bloom in our sonny clime, and shine a pearly star on the breast of our Southern Winters. It seems all my young friends have decided to linger no longer on nentral ground, bnt to enter matrimony and settle the question of their happiness or misery at once. The fol lowing lines which Alice Cary puts on the lips of a bride, come often in my mind: We’re married I Oh. pray Hut our love do not fall! I have wings flattened down and hid under my veil. They are sahue as llghl—yon can never undo them, And swift In their flight—you can never pursue them And spite of sll elssptng, and spite of all bands, I can slip like s shadow, a dream from your hands Nay, call ms not cruel, and fear not to take me, f amyours for my life-time, to be what you make me— To wear my whits veil tor a sign, or a cover. As you shall be proved my lord or my lover; A cover for peace that Is dead, or a taken. Ot a bliss that can never be written or spoken.' How to Keep Healthy. A New Hampshire woman,age 80 years, when asked recently bow she had kept herself so vigorous and healthy, replied: “By never allow ing myself to fret over things I cannot help, by taking a nap and sometimes two every day of my life, by never taking my washing, ironing and baking to bed with me, and by oiling all the various wheels of a busy life with an impli cit faith that there is a brain and a heart to this great universe, and that I could trust them both.—Chicago Times. A fair face a slight form, flaxen hair, and tender bine eyes that ever looked lovingly into mine, is the portrait, that memory, a pensive Ruth, gleans from the fields of other days, and holds pityingly before my eyes. Sweet Edith Kenning was the artist and beauty of our quiet village. Gifted, with all the innocency of an angelic spirit, and loving and tender, she wore all hearts. She painted most beautifully the scenes that struck her sweet young fancy, and we watched, with pride, her mature a stately maiden. But alasthe gay charmer came and won her romantic heart. She was married and left us in our quiet homes for other scenes of a gayer nature, but scenes that were all uncongenial to her pure heart, and I knew all her bright hopes and sweet fancits would per ish with her own happy youth. Once she visited us, a stately, comely youni matron. Our fond hearts had often grieveL over the trials and disappointments that had been hers, for the want of suacess in the hand some bat unfortunote husband that had woed her from us, but when I gazed into the steady blue eyes, and noted the lines of firmness that had settled about the babyish lips, I knew she would not manner although she carried a dag ger in her heart. But, alas! for the strength of human will. A message to me one morn ing and hastening to her, I found her home demolished, her husband fled, and her sweet blue eyed baby darling cold in death. Ah ! me. Ah! me. Then the poor crushed heart >oured out its bitterness; its grief, its anguish, iut only for a time, then the firm proud na ture reasserted itself, and in a stately calm she came back to us, in our village home. We all know nothing can ever draw the cruel dag ger from her fond heart, but well, too, we know tbe queenly head, with its crown of fair silken locks will be held bravely up, the steady blue eyes will not faulter, nor the grand spirit be overcome by augbtof evil. “The clouds may rest on the presene, And sorrow on days that are gone. Bat no sight Is so utterly cheerless, That we may not look tor the dawn.” Salem, Ala. Nettie Loveless Kierulff. Fielding’s Tomb at Lisbon. Fielding’s Tomb At Lisbon is described by a resident of that city as a sarcophagus sur mounted by an urn, resting on a stone block, which stands on a rectangular base fourteen feet by eleven. The south face of the tomb bears the words: “Luget Britannia gremio non dari fovere natum,” (Britain mourns that her son is not given her to cherish in her bos om). The marble on this side is white and the inscription perfectly distinct. The long Latin inscription on »he north face is wholly legible, though somewhat weather-stained The solid masonry is as Bound as when the monument was first put up. The tomb, which is sheltered and not concealed by two fine cy press trees, is to be photographed, and the pictures will be sent to England in proof that the great novelist’s monument has suffered no neglect. Liberty, Missouri. Editor Susnt South: Your correspondent finds herself to-day in the charming village of Liberty. The time of my coming—I mean by time the character of the weather—was not propitious. The thermometer this a. m. stood at ten degrees below zero, and the wind, all day, blew in fierce, bitter gusts, and “blew as though it had blown its last.” Bnt tbe hearts of the people were propitious and never has your correspondent done better work for the Sunht South under the like circumstances. The first gentleman whom I met struck at once the key-nrte of my mission, when he made this remark: “Perhaps, madam, my supplies of reading are ample, but I will subscribe for yonr paper because it is right to encourage the literary genius of the South. There are men there of the scholarship and ability of Hugh S. Legate, and they should be brought to tbe front.” And yet he was but one of the cultur ed persons whom I met here. I said that Liberty is charming. I repeat tbe words. Nothing can be more picturesque and lovely, reposing, as it does, in a vale, sur- sounded, (save on the South,) by a high chain of hills—on the eastern extremity of which, clearly ontlined against the sky, are the majes tic buildings of William Jewell College. The village is the county seat of Clay county, has about two thousand inhabitants, and is distant fourteen miles from Kansas city. It now communicates with the latter place by one railway. It will communicate with it in a year by two addi tional railways now in process of construction. It is hence, practically, a suburb of Kansas City, and is the most beautiful of .all its su burbs. It will, unquestionably, be the place where rich gentlemen from the city will build residences and go to tbe city to transact their business. Liberty is well supplied with churches; they are the Baptist, Methodist (Southern), Presbyterian, Episcopal, Christian and Catholic. The schools are superb in finish and thoroughness of education. Wil liam Jewell College (under the control of the Baptists of Missouri), ranks as the peer of any in the West. The County Court of the county has refused to grant liquor license since February 1873, and there are no saloons in the county. The vote of the county at the November election, 18K6, was as follows: Democrats, UUCP; Republicans, 740. Liberty and the county are very healthy. There are no swamps nor other causes «f ma laria, save in a small fraction of the bottom along the Missouri river. The county is rich— is only indebted 880,000, and is now alto- zether agricultural. I heard of but one or two Georgians in the county. The people, not born here, are almost entirely from Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. One striking feature of the county is the number of broad clover fields and biue-grass pastures. The pastures around Liberty, dotted with great spreading elms, oaks and walnuts, enclosing smiling, happy-looking homes, are a delight to - the eye. So used are the good people here to the rural beauty in the midst of which they live, that they do not appear to a stranger to fully appreciate it. As soon as I arrived here, I at once heard of very pleasant circumstance in connection with our own correspondent, Bill Arp. Ycu know that 1805 and 1806 was a period of great distress in the South, and that during the lat ter year the people of the border States of the South were most gracious in tbeir benefactions to us. In 1806, this community raised 35,000 in cash, and divided it between the States of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The com mittee here having charge of Georgia’s portion —81,500—had no personal acquaintance in that State, and were in doubt as to whom to send it so that it could be sure to reach the needy there. But the members of the committee hail read all that Bill Arp had then written, ami they decided, without knowing a thing of him outside of his writings, that no man could write as funnily as he and not be an honest man! The intuition of the committee was a noble compliment to Bill Arp, and all Georgia will endorse its correctness. This incident I bad from a gentleman here who was present when the committee decided to send the 81509 to Bill Arp, and for the reason stated. We can assure Bill Arp that he has a warmtpleei in i he hearts of the people here, and should he ever visit them, they will give him a Highland welcome. My visit in Liberty was so brief that I saw but little of the fair dames, but judging of them by the gentlemen, I may well pass on both the compliment of the noble Italian city, in the Middle Ages,—that the men are honest and the women are beautiful. Marie Wright. Neosho, Missouri. Editor Sunny South : In a poem by Mrs. L. C. Curtise, the talent ed wife of the editor of the Miner and Me chanic, I clip the following: “Nestled amid encircling hills, A setting fit for each a gem, Neosho lies—her crystal rills Run down to turn her humming mills And then flow on again.” And indeed there was quite a surprise in store for me in my visit to this beautiful city. The name, even, is musical; and although it took me several days to learn to pron runce it, when once remembered cannot be forgotten. Neosho is an Indian name meaning "much water.” It is not only suggestive, but very appropriate. This city has already gained considerable notoriety by the many springs in and around it. The Great Rock spring bursts from the foot of a bluff one hundred and fifty feet above and dashes, bright and sparkling, along its rocky bed. The Merton springs are delightful. Bethesda is a famous resort for invalids, whose medicinal properties could be testified to by hundreds who have experienced its healing ef fects. There is no place more beautifu', surround ed by such natural scenery, than this. It stands twelve hundred feet abovs the sea, on the Western base of -he Ozark mountain— “Our Eden,” as the citizaus are fond of call ing it. There are many historical points of here. The Confederate Legislature, while Clayborne Jackson was Governor of Mis- souri, held its last session here. This is the home of Mr. Benton, the District Attorney who was recently suspended by I’resident Cleveland for making speeches during the re- cent election. The case is, of course, familiar to all. The people are wide-awake and progressive. The public school building, which is a mag nificent two-story brick, stands upon a hill southwest ot the square, overlooking the city! Too much praise cannot be given to the man agement of the school and the deportment of the students. Neosho has a population of 3,000. The so ciety is excellent, the people are happy, the young men chivalrous and the maidens modest aad beautiful. Marie Wright. THE BLAIR EDUCATIONAL TtTT.T. The Funds Proposed Rightly Belong to the South. When our wise statesmen remember the still impoverished state of the masses in the South, and think of the millions of dollars in corporated with sweat and toil, that are taken from the poor people to carry on the Govern ment; when they remember that the Federal authorities emancipated four million of slaves that were worth on an average five hundred dollars apiece, are the stewards of our interest, safety and prosperity not willing to have a nor- tion of the vast mm taken, refunded through any channel? Think of the thousands ofpobr little raggedorchins that must grow up iiHg- noraoce or be educated by the public school f ,9 eneral| y speaking, more than nine- ^^■HL h ?L am0 L- lU of the Uze * to ‘he South are paid by the whites. The blacks are mostlv itinerant, own hut tittle property, and elude poll-tax paying as much as possible. A census of the children of school age, in e ??JjL .toe^ahip, is taken once a year. Each ST a v pro raU "bare of the public funds. It often happens in the country that in some townships the blacks get thwetimes u “T P*. the Public funds as the whites do—the raHo r ^T£fJ tnW “ be, ? d ^ toe former in the ratio of three to one. In these country schools the amount of the public funds given toe white! the*vm?is 0,11 * ® cho ° 1 toree months in toufandriStettn^X? O, give him a chance! GVh L
