Newspaper Page Text
4
THE SUNNY SOUTH, ATLANTA, GA.. SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 17, 1887
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY
BUSINESS OFFICE 21 MARIETTA 8T
TTT“EDITOR.
4, M. VEALS,
Terms:
two Miff per Annum. One dollar for Six Months.
Advertising i
tm ovnts pet LlnA Seventy-five cent* per Inch.
^“Subscribers ehonld always give the name-of
Bte paatoffloe to which their papers are sent. Senone
•elan end tnaenraciee are apt to follow a diBregara
at thla role. Among thousand* of enbecnoers it is
tUBoult to find a particular name without a certain
knowledge of the poetoffice addreee. . .
If eon wish your paper discontinued or ohaegea,
' Inaa a nrrd to this office and not to travelm*
, and name both office*.
TO COWTBIBUTOBS.
Writ* « plainly as Possible on one ride of the
rrTr - and use paper Of medium weight. Do not
roll ttowr MSS. fold them fatly; a rolled pope is
trowbteeome both to reader and printer. Letter site
vZwriemoet preferred. It la welt to write the name
of Me MSS. at the top of each page', the paver
r e~,M 6s oarsefully numbered according to their
rmtar sequence. The writer’s real name and res
idence Should be written on the MSS.. ™
romutimee misplaced. If a note, de plume it used,
U should be written directly under the Me. It mitet
ae distinctly stated whether pay le expected for
MBS. lent in. .
we cannot return MSB., nor be responsible for
- i when tent in voluntarily, unless specially re-
t to do so and in such cases stamps must be
The writer should always keep a copy-
. all letters concerning the paper and make
all bills payable to } Q gJ , AUJ g co „
Read the Yellow Supplement.
You never had such an oppor
tunity to secure a valuable pres
ent. Out of 2,000 you can hard
ly miss. Read the extraordinary
array. Over $3,000 in money.
Send for supplements and blanks.
BY A TEXAS LADY.
Two Splendid New Stories for
January.
We have in hand two magnificient serial
stories from two of the most brilliant story
writers in the South which will be commenced
early in January. The first is
“KATHLEEN IIOUGTO,”
Bv Mrs. Julian Phifer Truitt, of Texas.
This lady is recognized as one of the most
graceful and /entertaining writers in the South
and this story which has been read by a num
ber of distinguished scholars and other com
petent critics is pronounced by all to be one
of the finest productions of the timss. Don’t
fail to begin with the opening chapters. The
other story is entitled
“CASTE CURSED;
—011,—
The Tortures of a Young Bride.
A Strange Story of New Orleans.”
By J. H. PRINCE.
This is one of the most thrilling stories ever
published. See the opening chapters early in
January, 1888.
Imperialism.
The New York Star objects to a government
telegraph ByBtem as having a tendency to Im
perialism. Well, says the Memphis, Tenn.,
Scimitar, suppose it will. Who can hesitate
between the imperialism of Uncle Sam and
the imperialism of Jay Gould?
The Jasper Monument.
Savannah is preparing for a big event on
the twenty-second of next February, that
being the day when the monument to Sergeant
Jasper will be unveiled. A committee of ar
rangements, consisting of one hundred mem
bers, representing all professions and avoca
tions, has been appointed.
A Grand Commercial Union.
It is said that an effort will he made, under
the leadership of Representative Townsend, of
Illinois, at the present session oi Congress, to
organize North and South, and Central Amer
ica, into a strong commercial union. It is im
possible to over-estimate the advantages to all
concerned, of the consummation of such a
movement.
Nothing Like It Ever Known Before.
A correspondent writing from Tobacco Port,
Tenn., says: “The most excessive drouth
known in the history of this country has just
ended. We had two inches of snow on the
27th of November, preceded and succeeded by
a three days rain, all of which has produced a
superabundance of cold mud, and is producing
pneumonia all through the country. Taking
it all in all, we have had an unusual year-
nothing like it remembered by our oldest peo
ple.”
The Chicago Tribune states that fiiteen years
ago Chicago did not import a pound of tea,
but now that city is the largest market in the
United States for Japan tea. This tea comes
from Yokohama over one of the three follow
ing routes: To San Francisco, thence over
the Union Pacific Railroad; to Tacoma, thesce
over the Northern Pacific Railroad; to Van
couver, thence by the Canadian Pacific Rail
road. Tea ia brought to Chicago by these
routes cheaper than te New York by the Suez
canal and the Atlantic ocean.
Bailroad Bonds as a Security.
A great many people complain about tight
money markets making it impossible to get
money on railroad bonds for railroad construc
tion. A St. Louis bank president tells how
railroad bonds have been rendered a very un
certain security. “Formerly a railroad bond,’’
he says, “was a first lien on something actual,
aud when a man bought it he did so confident
in the knowledge that he had security for
every cent he had advanced. Now it is quite
different. The railroad-wreckers aud the
United States courts have changed all this.
They apply for and appoint, respectively, a re
ceiver, and the latter undertakes the manage
ment of the property. There is no money on
hand to pay expenses, and receiver’s certifi
cates are issued, which, on the order of the
Court, are constituted first liens, ahead of the
first mortgage bonds. The holders of the lat
ter are fortunate if they finally receive half of
the face of their bonds and the same propor
tion of the defaulted interest. This will ex
plain why it ia so difficult to get money on
railroad bonds. It would be better for the
country if we could get back to the old-time
policy.”
Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
A recent visitor to Charlotte Harbor, Flor
ida, has the following to say about it in a
Northern journal:
“Here the sportsman may enjoy the finest
hunting grounds on the continent, and the
world affords no better fishing than is fonnd
on any part of this bay. Oysters, clams, lob
sters, and the other kinds of food obtained
from the sea, are here inexhaustible.
“The beaches of all the islands are strewn
with beautiful shells, and there is not a day in
the vear when a sea bath may not be enjoyed.
The ever-blowing trade winds give to this fa
vored region, a climate as much superior to
Jacksonville as that surpasses New York.
“The tourist will soon be able to make quick
trips from this point to Mexico, Central Amer
ica, and the West Indies in fine ocean steam
ers, and then capitalists will not be slow to
build attractive hotels where their guests can
obtain more winter pleasure and comfort than
is to be found at any other place in Florida.
“Being the terminus of the Florida Southern
Railroad, having the only good harbor on the
coast, and enj eying a climate as much supe
rior to the northern portions of the State, we
predict that Charlotte Harbor will ultimately
become the greatest winter resort in Amer
ica.”
Booth’s Favorite Parts.
An actor who has played with Edwin Booth
says, “His favorite parts are Hamlet and logo,
and also a part in an old play, Venice Pre
served. He does not like Lear so much, be
cause he is not physically strong enough to
stand its requirements. There was but one
Lear and that was Forrest. Why, he used to
think he was Lear before he died, so often had
he played it, and such a second nature had it
become.” A gentleman who saw Booth play
Lear during his late Western tour, and who
writes as though he were competent to criti
cise, says he has seen Forrest in this charac
ter several times, and adds:
“He was an actor of splendid intelligence,
and was more closely identified with this part
than with any other he assumed. But he
never produced a dramatic illusion so pain hil
ly complete as that created by Edwin Booth.
His realism has no touch of Zolaism. It is not
of the flesh, but of the spirit. His art is so
delicate that it touches the senses like the per
fume of a violet; while Forrest and Salvini
and McCulloch oppressed the senses like the
heavy odor of the tuberose. Booth’s Hamlet,
superb as it is, has conspicuous defects. Its
music is too much in one key. Besides, he is
too old for the part. His Brutus fails to em
body the creation which Shakspeare evidently
intended to be the perfectest type of manhood.
Even his logo has traces of stage traditional-
iam which native genius has not quite over
come. But in the mad old Iving he might just
ly and fittingly repeat what Forrest said of
himself: ‘I play Hamlet, I play Othello, I
play Jack Cade, but I am Lear’.”
Men Bulers Not Lovable.
The portraits left us of the first Napoleon,
by those who had opportunities of knowing
his private character, do not present him as a
person capabie of inspiring love. Indeed,
Madame De Remusat, who saw much of him
off parade, describes him as little better than
a Bluebeard; full of petty and ugly vices. The
hand of a loving sister could not paint the
great Frederic as lovable; and Carlyle, with
the strongest will to present his favorite hero
at his best, has not succeeded in making him
appear other than a hateful tyrant.
What is said of these may with truth be said
of nearly all those who have been eminent for
their ability to rule. The very qualities that
fitted them to inspire fear, enforce obedience
and command homage, forbade them to enlist
the affections of those whom they ruled.
Writers under the influence of biographical
zeal sometimes assert the contrary. They
mistake the slavish sycophancy with which
the possessors of power are often served for
genuine affection. They whose favor can
bring honor, and whose displeasure can bring
shame or suffering, will rarely lack adulation.
They may never know how much of the atten
tion which they receive is prompted by inter
ested motives, but they are not far wrong if
they regard it all with suspicion.
As a matter of fact, rulers are always dis
trustful, always place a low estimate on hu
man nature, and address themselves to the
lower rather than the higher instincts of those
whom they wish to govern. They suppress
(if they ever feel) any promptings of benevo
lence, and never allow themselves the pleas
ure of wishing any one good, save as it may
redound to their own aggrandizement. Never
loving, themselves, and not trusting love as a
sure motive of obedience, it is by no means
wonderful that they are never loved.
* *
Miss Murfree’s Fictures of Mountain
People.
Governor John C. Brown, of Tennessee, is
reported as doubting the faithfulness of Miss
Murfree’s (Charles Egbert Craddock) por
trayal of the dialect of the mountain people of
Tennessee, as given in her stories and novels.
When asked his opinion, in an interview in
New York, of the faithfulness of these pictures
of mountain people, Gov. Brown is reported
to have said: “ Miss Murfree gives a great
deal of lingo in her stories that the mountain
people never dreamed of using, and in that
respect she does them great injustice. I have
been from one end of the State to the other,
and have lived there many years, but have
never heard any such talk.”
Miss Murfree has no doubt exercised the li
cense assumed by romancers and put in the
mouth of the mountain people of Tennessee a
lingo which would be as new to them as it
was to the readers of her stories and novels.
The truth is, as Gov. Brown intimates, the
people who inhabit the mountain districts of
Tennessee possess a much higher intelligence
than Miss Murfree’s writing would lead others
to believe. Once in a while, and that at wide
intervals, you may stumble upon a man ameng
the mountains whose ignorant eccentricities
may give plausibility to some of Miss Mur
free’s characters; but just such people may be
found in more favorable localities. Besides,
we should remember that “one Bwallow does
not make a summer." Miss Murfree’s ac
quaintance with the mountain people was too
limited to authorize her to portray their pecu
liarities of speech, and the consequence is she
has had to rely for information touching these
people upon writers whose knowledge was
scarcely better than her own, and upon story
tellers who make a point of exaggerating even
what they assume to be the peculiarities of
rural people. Her pictures of characters
among the mountaineers, therefore, partake
more of the nature of caricature than of a
faithful portrayal of the peculiarities exhibited
by such people.
Who does not know that the typical South
erner of antebellum days, as portrayed by
writers wno professed to depict that whereof
they knew, is as veritable a myth as was ever
coined by the most fertile imagination? This
same character is still kept up by writers cf
the present day who wish to sneer at South
ern people. The same perversion of peculiar
ities, especially of speech, may be as justly
said of the typical Yankee character of mod
ern story-writers. This exaggeration of the
ignorance and idiosyncracies of rural people ia
not a new thing under the sun. It furnishes
amusement for a class of readers who enjoy
that kind of pabulum; hut it is that sort of
amusement which the fable represent* the
boj s as erjoj ing at the expense of the frogs.
An Impracticable Scheme.
The creed of pessimists is gloomy enough
when put in its mildest form, but when pre
sented as Mr. Cotter Morrison presents it in
his “Essay towards the Religon of the Fu
ture,” the blackness of its gloom is appalling.
The bad of heart says he, cannot be reformed-
labor spent in that direction is all in vain.
The only rational plan is to efface them from
the earth. This should be effected in part by
killing them out after they have been bora,
but chiefly by not allowing them to be bora.
The good should marry the good, the bad with
the bad—no mixed ones should be allowed;
and as the bad will have “to be killed out, the
world of mankind will eventually become
wholly good.
This plan lacks only one thing of being ad
mirable, and that is that it is altogether im
practicable. Men are not divided into the two
clearly defined classes of the good and bad.
In the very best there is something of evil; in
the worst there is something of good. Human
wisdom cannot separate them. In the effort
much wheat will be pulled up with the tares.
It is the ordering of Providence that those in
whom the vir uous inclinations dominate the
vicious, and those in whom the vicious inclin
ations dominate the virtuous, should grow up
together. Beiug thus, society does not come
up to a Utopian standard. Constant vigilance
and unremitting effort are Dtcessary to pre
vent those who cherish dangerous theories
from putting them into ruinous practice.
Those who want to render the world better,
and are so conceited &3 to believe they know
how to do so, meet with many discourage
ments. But we suspect that things are better
than they would be, could they who propose
to bring them to an ideal perfection by their
processes of selection, carry out their pro
gramme. God so directs that there are al
ways good people enough to hold the bad in
check, although it often seems that it is going
to be otherwise. We sometimes tremble lest
the evil-disposed shall get so far the ascen
dency that society will be overthrown, and
the happiness of the race wrecked. Human
wisdom does not ward off these dangers; but
an over ruling Providence never allows them
to befall. # „
The New Yorker says: Not far from 25,000
women disport themselves at matinees in New
York on Saturdays, and very interesting audi
ences, to philosophical observers, they make.
New York is a matinee city, and a matinee au
dience could be told from an evening gather
ing if you were to meet them in the Fiji Is
lands. Your matinee people, in the first place,
are almost all of them feminine. In the sec
ond place, they are all in taylor gowns.
One goes to the theatre in the evening to see
dress. In the afternoon there is none to see.
You can tell the Fifth avenue belles in the
boxes, so far as gowns go, from the East side
shop girls who look down from the gallery.
Evening dress was never so various, daylight
toilets were never so uniform before. Slender
figure, clean cut face, bright eyes, trim fitting
dark gown, chic braided jackets, bangs less
Huffily voluminous than lastyear, dark gloves,
characterize every woman under thirty in the
house; and how curiously out of place, as if
they had stayed in from last year, those two
girls in the balcony look who have added to
the well-bred, faultlessly monotonous dress
decorum of the theatre a garden of chrysanthe
mums each, growing in the lapels of their tai
lor coats.
A matinee is curiously restrained, cautious
ly dignified as to Its dress, but women who
have bf en shopping carry their bundles, school
girls drop in with books on their arm and the
pencil marks not washed off their cuffs, and
people who want to indulge more or less openly
in caramels.
It is the fault of some educated people that
they occasionally express themselves in an in
comprehensible manner. Thus Renan, in ene
of his late essays, tells us: “In human pur
suits it Is equally wrong to have no ideal and
to believe one’s ideal susceptible of immediate
attainment.” This bit of oracular wisdom is
matched by a sentence from an essay by Mies
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, in which she says:
“You can make no greater mistake in life than
to imagine yourself an original person, except
not to imagine yourself an original person.”
English and American Courts.
The Chicago Tribune, commenting upon the
assertion of the Chicago anarchistB that they
were denied a fair .trial, after their case had
“drawn its slow length along” through nearly
a year and a half, shows what would have
been the course with these criminals in an
English court, as follows :
“From the outset an English Judge, instead
of sitting is a mere moderator, as Judge Gary
was required to do, would have taken charge
of the case and directed all the proceedings
with a view to determine the actual question
of guilt or innocence in the shortest possible
time. From beginning to end the various pro
ceedings here took weeks and months, where
days only would have been required in Eng
land. The jury secured, the Judge, instead
of subsiding into a mere moferator with the
attorneys playmg the chief part, would have
continued to govern and direct the trial with
a viewco avoid all delay, exclude superfluous
testimony, and determine the question of guilt
or innocence without loss of time. The count
less opportunities allowed here to break the
force of testimony, befog the jury, and take
advantage of technicalities wonld not be tol
erated in England.
“A verdict once rendered in an English
court a new trial can be secured only by show
ing manifest error or proving the discovery of
new testimony. An appeal can be had only
where the Judge himself thinks a new or
doubtful question is involved. Of such ap
peals there have been perhaps two in the last
two years. In a very important case or one
involving new questions the Judge will call
one or more of his brethren to sit with him at
the first trial, and unless the Judges disagree
thei e is no chance for an appeal to a higher
conrt. Contrast this course with the appeals
and rehearings which in the anarchist case oc
cupied over a year! Once convicted in Eng
land after a speedy trial, the anarchists would
have been denied any farther hearings, and
after a passing chance to invoke a pardoning
power rarely exercised they would have been
called to pay the penalty of their crime. They
would have been tried, condemned, and exe
cuted in less time than it took Judge Gary to
get a jury and fairly begin the first hearing.
While in custody they wonld have had few
jail privileges, held no semi-public receptions,
and none of them could have escaped the gal
lows by suicide."
This statement is a striking commentary on
the law’s delays in this country. The crimi
nal law was originally intended as much to
I revent as to punish crime, and that can be
most effectually accomplished by prompt and
decisive action, like that in which the law is
administered by English courts. “No other
country in the world,” the Tribune confesses,
“wonld have allowed the anarchists such op
portunities for defense as they were awarded
here. The Illinois system of jury trial is cal
culated to raise every doubt possible in favor
of a defendant and to make conviction ex
tremely difficult It could hardly be made
more liberal and lenient without abandoning
the idea of justice and conceding that accused
criminals should be tried by their associates
or persons prejudiced against the law and in
favor of the crime committed. No ofher conn
try would have given them a trial so liberal,
so careful and prolonged, and with every pos-
aible chance in their favor.” Let every man
have every reasonable chance to establish his
innocence of a crime with which he may be
charged, but when he is found guilty let the
punishment be certain and speedy. In this
way the law and the courts become a terror
to evil-doers.
PEESOML MENTION.
What the People Are Doing
and Saying.
Mr. Dana duz “mugwump” out of the In
dian languages in which he is proficient.
Ludwig Bireav, the German tragedian, will
sa : l for New York in February, and will return
home in April.
The Shah of Persia has received an ele
phant. handsomely caparisoned, as a gift from
Lord Dufferin, Governor General of India.
Mrs. Mary E. Daw, a wealthy lady of Do
ver, N. H., qualified as a voter recently and
cast her ballot for school commissioner,
Hon. George Bancroft is at present in fair
heallh, but his friends regretfully observe that
he has aged alarmingly during the past year
or two.
The desk in the Senate chamber which was
long used by Hoscoe Conkling will be occupied
by Senator fcilliam E. Chandler during the
coming session.
Rev. Irving E. Lowry, pastor of a colored
Methodist church, in Aiken, S. C., is the
author of a volume just published, entitled
“Consecrated Talent.”
Wheeling Gaunt, a wealthy colored man of
Yellow Springs, O., has bequeathed his prop
erty, amounting to between §40,000 and §50,-
000, to Wiiberforce University.
Owen Shelly, of Keene, N. H., is 01 years
old, and his wife one year his junior. They
were married sixty-seven years ago, and have
lived together very happily ever s nee.
Tnomas Jessop, the English “steel-king” of
Sheffield, is dead. He wa3 engaged in the
manufacture of crucible steel for sixty years,
and was founder of the Jessop Hospital for
Women at Sheffield.
People remark about the queer design of the
house that Justice Gray of the Supreme Court
is building in Washington. But he answers
them all that he is buiidiDg it to suit himself
and his magnificent library.
Andrew D. White, who was for nineteen
years President of Cornell University, is only
55, and in his dress, general appearance and
manner bears more resemblance to a success
ful business man than to a retired scholar.
John Good, the New York manufacturer,
has jrst been created a Count by his holiness
Pope Leo XIII., in recognition of his life-long
devotion to the chnrch and his munificent
gifts to religious and charitable institutions.
Col. Williams, in his history of the negro
troops in the late war, says there were 178,075
of the black soldiers enrolled in the volunteer
army of the United States, and of this num
ber 30.847 die^d in the service of their country.
Word has tome of the death of Emile Marco
de Saint-Hilaire. He was a page of Napoleon
Bonaparte, alfd his mother was a maid of
honor to Quedn Hortense. He wrote some in
teresting volumes of reminiscences of the first
empire.
The grave of Thomas H. Marshall, the fa
mous Kentucky orator and wit, is in an open
field not far from Versailles. It is uncared
for, and the mound has been rooted up by
hogs. The stone at the head of the grave is
small and insignificant.
Prof. S. P. Langley, the newly-elected sec
retary of the Smithsonian Institution, has
gone to Allegheny, Pa., to resign his position
with the observatory there and close up his
affairs. lie will, however, still continue cer
tain special work at the observatory.
It is said that the Astors have never been rob
bed, either by a sneak thief or a burglar,although
their houses contain very tempting rches.
They pay §1,000 a year for a special guard of
their houses, considering it better to take this
course than to run the risk of robbery.
R. R. Cable, cf Chicago, President of the
Rock Island Road, known as the man who
“routed Vanderbilt,” is a typical Westerner
in appearance, a tali, broad-shouldered man,
with firm face adorned by a moustache and
short chin beard now nearly white, keen eyes
and quick, df c 'sive speech.
Representative S. S. Cox is reported as hav
ing said to an interviewer in Washington: “If
you want to know what is going to be done
about the tariff, ask somebody else, for I
haven’t the slightest idea. If you want to
know what I think ought to be done, read
some of my old tariff speeches.”
Hon. Amos J. Cummings, Congressman-
elect from"t£f Sixth New York district! sev
ered his connection with the Evening Sun as
its editor Tuesday, and was given a banquet
at the Hotel Bartholdi by its staff at night.
He had declined a number of other dinners,
but could not refuse the compliments of his
associates.
Gen. Nathan Goff, who is a Representative
from West, Virginia, was, during the war, the
youngest Union General, having commanded
a brigade at the age of 25. He has been so
lucky in mining speculations that he is con
sidered a mascot by his friends. Gen. Goff is
only 45 years old, and martial in bearing,
though one of the largest members of the
House.
Little Col. Fellows is to be seen every night
op town in the Hoffman House or about the
Democratic clubs, surrounded by Democrats
who flatter and congratulate him until a smile
reaching clear across his moon-shaped face
has become literally stereotyped on his fea
tures. The Colonel’s favorite buiton-hoie
decoration is a red pink, and he is as rarely
without it as without his smile.
Uncle Ike Branham, who went to California
in 1840, died recently near San Jose. The old
man was a great lover of field sports, and at
his request, made just before he died, the
coffin was placed in his hunting wagon and
drawn to his grave by his own ponies. Twen
ty men who had crossed the plains with him
in 1840 were pall bearers, and fi ie hundred
carriages followed in the procession.
Thomas Nast was in Kansas City recently,
and was annoyed by the rudeness of the ele
vator boy, and said as much. On a later visit
the boy was all politeness, and asked Mr. Nast
for his unique autograph. Mr. Nast drew him
a hasty pen find ink sketch of himself bowing
deferentially to the elevator boy, and wrote
under the drawing: “Those who elevate
others must be polite themselves.”
The Richmond State annonnees the receipt,
by Governor Lee, of §1,000 from General J.’
A. Early for the Lee Monument Fund, and
says: “This is not the General’s first dona
tion. He is always ready and willing to do
his psrt in honoring the heroes of the past.”
The Stuart monument, which marks the spot
where the General fell, will be dedicated next
spring, and Governor Fitz Lee will deliver the
address.
A correspondent of the Augusta Chronicle
writing of Judge McGowan says: “Associate
Judge McGowan’s nnanimons re-election to
tbe Supreme Bench is a fitting compliment to
one of the ablest and best men in all South
Carolina. As a General in the Southern army
he was brave and gallant, and as a jurist he is
equal to the great men who occupied the
bench in the good old days when wisdom and
purity were characteristic of alt who were thus
honored in the old Palmetto State."
Bismarck is the busiest man in Germany.
He remains at his desk nightly til! two o’clock,
and even during his “vacation” in Kissingen
attended to his affairs until long after mid
night. Daring his night work he occasionally
takes a little “green corn” soup, which agrees
well with him, but avoids wine. His servants,
and even some officials of rank, have to sit up
as long as he does to attend to his dispatches,
etc. He gets up at 10:30. When he under
takes a journey he is accompanied by eight
detectives and an officer.
William K. Vanderbilt has been one of the
largest purchasers of the late King of Bavaria’s
effects. Ijfe has helped himseif to the works
of art, andlchosen a whole suite of royal fur
niture, bedides offering a large price for one
of the rdfa/i residences, but at that trade the
government rebelled and told Mr. American
there was a limit to even its greed. What the
buyer of ail this luxury intends to do with it
is nobody’* affair, but it seems that having
more spare cash than he knows what to do
with, is a mighty good thing for bankrupt Ba
varia.
Counsellor William H. Shock is one of the
old timers in the Davy. The gallant sailor is
getting rapidly into the sere and yellow leaf,
though none of his official friends could tell to
day just how old he really is, for that is one
subject upon which tbe Commodore is not
talkative. There is a sort of hazy tradition
that he saw service in the Mexican war, but
tbe sagacious gentleman has generally had
sufficient influence to keep himself in a cozy
corner of the Navy Department building in
Washington, where he has been Chief of En
gineering for a comber of years. He is the
nattiest looking, best dressed aud most cere
monious old gentleman in the department, and
it requires more circumlocution to reach him
officially than to interview President Cleve
land.
CORRESPONDENCE-
Condensed, well and plainly written letters,
newsy or descriptive, or both, will be wel
comed, and published as soon as possible
after they reach us. Give ail the best and
strongest points; be bright, attractive and en
tertaining.
Harper’s Ferry, W. V.
A Historic Old Town.
Editor Sunny South - - Your correspondent
made a short visit to this busy little city that
seems to have sprung into new life. A short
sketch of this historical place may interest
your readers.
Washington selected Harper’s Ferry for the
site of the first great National Armory, and it
was here the interchange system, which
saved millions to the Government and revolu
tionized machinery, was invented by Fore
man Moore of the Armory. It was here Jef
ferson wrote his famous “Notes on Virginia,”
and justly styled it the “Switzerland of Amer
ica. Here John Brown made his disastrous raid
which was the commencement of the end of
slavery. Through the Gap in the Blue Ridge
the contending armies passed aud repassed,
fighting through the streets until scarcely a
chapter chronologically of the history of the
war appears without some mention of a skir
mish or fight at Harper’s Ferry. And so the
war closed and the sun of peace shone cut in
all its glory. Few towns south of the Potomac
could show more ruins or scars of war, with a
scenery so grand that an average of lOO.COO
visitors stop each year to admire it; a climate
better than any other location in the land, an
hour and a half by rail from Washington and
two and a half from Baltimore, we might well
say in earnest, as Gov. Knott did of Duluth,
in jest, “It is the center of the universe.”
With the best of railroad and canal facilities,
North, South, East and West, with water clear
and pure, food cheap and plentiful, where
homes can be purchased or rented at very
moderate rates of A. Spencer & Co., and the
largest paper mills in the world are being
built, and the first are nearing completion,
telephone and telegraph communication with
all towns and cities, a bank being organized,
building associations chartered and organized,
brick-yards, plaining-mills, machine shops,
etc., in course of organization, it certainly
seems as if the silver lining to clouds which
have hitherto obscured her prosperty, are
rapidly widening out over the hornzon as the
harbinger of a bright and prosperous future.
Real estate is commencing to change hands
with a fixed value of 100 per cent, higher than
six months ago, and with every probability of
being 300 per cent, higher a year hence. Lots
that could have been bought in April for §50,
00 feet by 132, are now selling at from §100 to
§150 cash, with every prospect of gorng up to
§400 by mil summer; already several have
been sold to Washington purchasers to build
summer cottages od; and why not—when for
less than the cost of a summer’s board bill at
any of the monntain resorts, you cau buy a
lot and build and owd your own cottage, where
the actual co.U of the best of food for your
family, with ample servants, will not exceed
§12.00 per month for each grown person, and
for good food without servants, not §7.00.
Nothing can now stay the pi ogress of the
town. The energetic men from Little Dela--
ware gave it its start, and soon a rival city to
Birmingham of Alabama, Roanoke of Virgi
nia, will be standing where the Great Father
of his Country marked out the spot for the
first armory of the Nation, and the skilled
Scotch armorers commenced their work for
the New Rspublic in humble log huts. This
is no fancy picture, but a real prosperity.
Marie Wright.
Yorkville, S. C.
Its Beautiful Location—Improve
ments Needed—Prohibition a
Failure—Schools, Etc.
Editor Sunny South : In the Palmetto
State are to be fonnd but few if any towns
that surpass that of Yorkville in beauty of lo
cation or for healthfulness. Its beautifully
level streets are all densely shaded by trees
set on either side, whiih in the summer gives
it quite a sylvan appearance, and almost ren
ders the carrying of an umbrella or parasol a
useless luxury.
But while nature with the assistance of man
has done much, it yet remains for man to fur
ther assist nature and make this most eligibly
located town a favorite summer resort, which
most people concur iu believing it would be if
some energetic men, with p.enty of capital,
wonld endeavor tc make it such. With a com
paratively small outlay we could have splen
did waterworks, which are badly needes here;
and various other needed improvements could
be made as easily and at as small cost as in
almost any town in all of South Carolina.
All of the roads leading out of town are
with the exception of about half a mile on
ore—unexceptionaliy level, and afford to those
who are so inclined an excellent opportunity
of indulging in pleasant afternoon drives of &
few miles into the countrv in order to “breathe
the pure czone aud sniff the sweet odors of
flowers,” as well as to view the beauties of
nature.
At present there is only one railroad throngh
here, but ere six more months roll round we
expect the C. C. & C. road to be completed
through here and the traffic of the town mate
rially increased.
One of the many needed improvements of
our town is a tine public school instead of the
numerous private ones that we are now blessed
with. A great many of our young people go
off to attend schools at other towns annually;
but others, who are not able to go to the ex
pense of going off to school, are compelled to
content themselves with only a meagre educa
tion. All know too well the advantage of a
good graded school for me to attempt to tell
how much we need one in onr midst.
There is only one paper printed here, but it
has the reputation of being the best gotten up
and best printed country paper in the whole
State; and, with the exception of its corre
spondents, only one person besides the edi
tor’s family are connected with it. All, from
the foreman down to the “devil,” are sons of
tbe editor.
Prohibition here, as in most so-called “dry
towns,” is to a certain extern a failure, as
most all who desire a “wee drop cf the critter”
usually succeed in obtaining it. Yet, consid
ering all this, we know that prohibition does
do good. Speaking of the liquor traffic in the
United States, some one has said: “Only a
little more than half a century ago almost
everybody drank, and dram-selling itself was
not considered disreputable; but to-day nearly
all, with comparatively few exceptions, who
constitute the moial classes are never seen in
side a saloon.” A. L. Goldau.
Dec. 7th, 1887.
The Crown Prince of Germany.
Dr. Gerhardt, the private phisician of the
Crown Prince ot Cermany, long ago discover
ed the tumor on the left vocal chord, and told
him it must be excised, but “Unser Fritz” de
clined to have the operation performed. Dr.
Wegener was called in, and agreed with Dr.
Gerhardt. Both of these eminent specialists
were set aside to get tee opinion of Dr. Mr-rell
MackeDZ e, and tie fact remains that if Dr.
Gerhardt’s adv.ee had been taken in the first
place the Crown Prince would have been re
lieved to-day, if not oured. This is the opin
ion of Drs. Von Bergmann, Frankel, Hahn,
Hering, Wiggera and other specialists.
Letter from Mississippi.
Madison County Fair—Full Barns and
Fat Stock—Thanksgivingr
Montesquien says: “Happy the people
whose annals are tiresome.” A paradoxical
philosopher carrying to the uttermost length
this aphorism, says : “Happy the people whose
annals are vacant.” I add, unhappy the per
son who writes the annals of either class—
tiresome or vacant.
There is as much monotony connected with
the history of certain times and places, as
there is in the life of nearly all mortals. I
often think, with interest, of the reason that
a Frenchman gave for committing suicide, a
few years since : The ennui connected with
dressing and undressing, eatiDg and sleeping,
and going through with the regular routine of
life, was too much to be endured,so he decided
to try the realities of another existence, think
ing, probably, a change of programme would
be instituted.
This part of the world has been for months
past in a perfectly quiescent state, which usu
ally argues stagnation, but in this case not so
much that, as contentment—the outcome of
prosperity. DuriDg the past year God has
smiled upon the efforts of the farmer; well-
Hlled barns and numerous bales of cotton tes
tify to the abundance of the harvest. The cat
tle and horses on the extensive stock farms
through the country are in a fine condition,
presenting living evidences of the richness of
the fields and pastures. The merchants in all
the adjacent towns show beaming faces of
suave good humor, the result of brisk trade
stimulated by the circulation of that which
makes everything move. “The smell of all
cash,” as Vespasian thought, “is good” in
more ways and for more purposes than one.
Madison county rejoices yearly in a fair,
which is quite the pride of its citizens, and
which is gaining an enviable reputation other
wise than local. It is far superior to the State
Fair held at Jackson. Each department of in
dustry and art is finely represented; the qual
ity of the exhibits first-class, the diversity
great, the taste and judgment displayed of the
highest excellence.
The people throughout the cou T try take a
vivid interest in religious and educational
matters as is shown by the churches and
school houses which are constantly being
built, added to and beautified.
November winds with their weird and sol
emn refrains have brought to us, amid the
falling leaves, another Thanksgiving, which
should be observed in this bountiful and bless
ed year of our Lord 1887, with heartfelt, sin
cere gratitude. In these drear and wintry
daj 8 one’s mind naturally turns in moralizing
or philosophizing channels, to dreams of fu
turity here or hereafter, or reminiscences sad
or tender, as the mood may be. Chancellor
Lipscomb says, “Gentle inusings are auxila-
ries to mental growth like dreaming atnight.”
Living in a quiet country place is calculated
to make one mystically thoughtful, if not in
tellectually strong. Being debarred to a great
extent, the society of humans, and having
books for companions is conducive to rever
ies and trains of reasoning which are not
always of the healthiest or happiest character,
especially if the outgrowth of a literary tem
perament, which latter, we have been wisely
told, “is usually hurtful if not fatal to the
equable development of nature. It jars on
the quiet virtues; it never breathes the fia-
gran.e of lowly violets nor seeks its image in
tbe dewdrop on the humble blade of grass.
Often it weans one’s heart from home, from
domestic tenderness, and from the hidden
paths where the guardian angels of God most
love to walk by our side.” Without doubt
the true philosophy of life lies in the cultiva
tion of “that spirit which the forest of Arden
quickened in the Duke who found—
‘Tongues in trees, books in the running
brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in everything."
B. K.
Leonardstown, Maryland.
A Beautiful, Quiet, Cultured Mary
land City.
Editor Sunny South: This city has a his
tory of extreme interest; an interest which
dates from the first settlement of the State—
being the oldest city in Maryland. It was
named for Leonard Calvert (Lord Baltimore).
Leonardtown is the metropolis of the Wes
tern Shore, and is the capital of St. Mary’s
couuty. It is most admirably situated in re
gard to health. The people are hospitable
and always attentive and courteous to stran
gers.
As to business, the citizens are wide awake
and full of energy and enterprise. The popu
lation is about 1,000, and there is a steady in
crease. Two sprightly papers, the Enterpiise,
edited by Mr. Enoch Able, an able man, with
the abil ty to run the best paper in the State.
The Beacon is the second paper, and does
ercdiitothe city.
Mr. N. F. Moore has a fine hotel. He is the
right man in the right place. His guests are
made comfortable, and he is deservedly popu
lar.
Excellent educational facilities are offered
in a well conducted school.
Your correspondent had the pleasure of
meeting all the dignitaries of the city.
Hon. Joseph F. Morgan is the clerk of the
court.
Coi. D. C. Hammell, J. Frank Ford and Mr.
R. C. Combs are the leading lawyers.
Hod. J. P. Crane is judge of the Circuit
Court, and lives at California, a small place
near Leonards own.
Among the distinguished visitors at court
were, Hon. J. R. Colton, the senator from St.
Mary’s county; Col. R. H. Garner, R. P. Cole,
D. E. Graves and J. P. Greenwell from St.
demon’s Bay.
Hon. James T. M. Raley is the recorder of
deeds, a true Southern gentleman.
J. W. Johnson has the handsomest store in
the city.
The social circles compare favorably with
any in the State. The refinement and culture
found here is noticeable in every one you
meet. Taking ail in all Leonardstown is a
charming and attractive place. M. R. W.
Troy, Mississ ? ppi.
An Institution of Learning Establish
ed in an Abandoned Cotton Field.
Editor Sunny South: Troy is a small
town only five years old, and yet it bids fair
to become as widely known as any town in
the State. While our lands are not so fertile
and onr pine forests not so extensive as in
other parts of our State, the farmers are usu
ally very well rewarded for their labors, and
those who wish to build can find lumber con
venient. We have no factories, though it
seems that cotton yarn might be manufactured
to advantage at any of our neighboring rail
road towns
There is considerable excitement in this sec
tion now about railroads. Tbe Kansas City
road has just been completed from Memphis
to Birmingham, and the Gulf & Ship Island
road is being constructed from Middleton,
Tenn., to Mississippi City; but none of them
seem to have any notion of coming to Troy.
Yet, although she has no railroad nearer
than ten miles, no factories, no minerals and
no picturesque scenery (except red hills, cot
ton fields and oak forests), she is more
wealthy, according to Solomon, than many
towns that can boast of millionaires; for, if she
has not rubies and precious stones, she has
the power of imparting that which is “more to
be desired.” Sae has the honor of being the
seat of the Mississippi Normal, an institution
of learning built by the individual enterprise
of its present principal, Prof. H. B. Aber-
nethy. It was founded in 1882 on the present
site of Troy, which was then an abandoned
cotton field. It was the first Independent
Normal (if you don’t know what that is, write
and find oui) ever established in this State,
and has been the most successful, for it now
numbers its pupils by the hundred, and they
hail from six different States.
Troy is the outgrowth of the school, and iB
composed of the best people the country af
fords. No whiskey or other intoxicating drink
can be legally sold here, and the physical and
moral health of the people is of the very best.
December, 1887. Priam.
There is a chain of prairie dog towns along
tbe Texas and Pacific railroad for a distance of
100 miles, some of the villages covering five
acres of ground. Hnnters say it is almost im
possible to kill one of the dogs and get his
body, so quickly does he dive into his hole at
the explosion of a gun. Deluging their holes
with water wifi not diive them out.
The doctrine that who hinders the increase
of population prolongs the existence of the
human race ought to be received with special
favor by those who are pursuing occupations
inimical to human life. Few liquor sellers,
we suspect, ever heard of Dr. Malthus; but
they are putting into practical operation the
inevitable induction from his teaching.
Col. Mapleson, the great operatic manager,
has a soprano now, called Niquito, who, he
says, was “bora in Virginia, in the southern
part of North America,” and was “stolen by
the Indians of Niagara” in her youth. She
must be older than any other woman on the
operatic stage by at least half a century. The
Colonel should try some other advertising
dodge.
Railroads, telegraphs, and above all, the
cheap newspaper have almost effaced the peo
ple who used to till their fields, gather their
crops, and rear their offspring without any
knowledge or care about what was going on in
the busy world. Now the man is fortunate
who is not kept in a state of perpetual agita
tion and excitement by our frequently re
curring county, State and national elections.
It is said that the heart of the great Napo
leon was eaten by rats and that the gland pre
served as the one which had once pulsated in
the breast of the world’s most terrible soldier,
was really that of a sheep. If this was so,
there was in the mischance a stroke of the
gravest irony. In truth, the imagination sup
plies all that makes the limb of a dead warrior
any more worthy of reverence than a limb of
a dead sheep.
During the last hundred years, France has
been three times a Republ’c, twice an Empire
and once a Constitutional Monarchy. What
the next phase of her history will be, no one
can predict. Amid these changes, that ambi
tious, brave and intelligent people have suf
fered fearfully, but have not through suffering
become greatly more capable of self-govern
ment. The prospects of a settled rule in that
fair land are not at all encouraging.
The probabilities are now that the oldest
daughter of Queen Victoria, who ranks in the
British aristocracy as the Princess Iloyal, will
never be Empress of Germany. The chance
hangs on which may die the sooner, the old
Emperor who is slowly dying of age, or his
son who is slowly dying of cancer. Should
the former go first, the Princess, who has been
little talked of since her marriage tnirty years
ago, may be for a short time the first lady of
Europe.
No human superstition has survived with
less abatement or been more costly than re
gard for the bodies of the dead. Centuries ago
the old dwellers along the Nile expended fully
half their energies in erecting monuments to
the memories of the deceased. People of this
day go not to this extreme, yet no small pro
portion of wealth ia expended in laying out
and beautifying cemeteries, and erecting am-
bitiojua shafts npon which epitaphs of ques
tionable truthfuless are inscribed.
Fargeon will not take rank among the great
English novelists; but he can plan a good
story and tell it in an interesting manner.
His “Miser Farebrother,” which is now run
ning as a serial in the columns of Harper's
Weekly, keeps the curiosity of the reader
keenly aroused despite its improbability as a
whole. The extreme wickedness of his bad
people and the child-like simplicity of his good
ones are quite in the style of the old romances
which have now gone out of fashion.
Senator Brown said that he didn’t think he
had been defeated, inasmuch ss he was not a
candidate for a position on the Board of Edu
cation for Atlanta.
“I have served on the board over ten years
without compensation, and the discharge of
conscientious duties has subjected me more or
less to criticism duiiug the time. I have not
been an applicant for the place in some years,
for the reason that I didn’t desire it. There
was nothing to be gained by a seat on the
board, and the only reason why I have served
heretofore has been that the place was ten
dered wiihout my solicitation and with almost
general unanimity. I am not at all upset by
my non re-election. Iu fact, I was completely
ignorant of the fact that there was to be an
election for the piace.”
The Senator expressed regret that Mr. Ham
mond was not re-elected, declaring that he
was, perhaps, the most valuable member on
the board. In dismissing the subject, he said
that perhaps it was well that the young men
had secured representation on the board.
In the death of Judge Wm. M. Lowry,
whicli occurred in this city on Thursday even
ing the 8th inst., the Editor of this paper has
lost a warm personal friend. In our finite
minds it seems wrong that so pure, so good,
so cheerful and so lovable a man should ever
be removed from the world. He was a living
illustration of all that was noble in humani
ty and a shining landmark to his countrymen.
Our heart is deeply touched by his death and
it is sad indeed to think that his ever cheerful
face will be seen among us no more. We copy
the following beautiful tribute from the morn
ing Constitution:
If any man’s character was ever compre
hended in a siDgle word, Colonel Lowry’s may
be summed up in ihe wore—Gentleness.
Manly in all that required manliness—firm
in all that needed firmness—forcible where
iorce was necessary—he was gentle in all
things. There was nothing in his life of the
torrent whicli tears through obstruction and
frets its way by force—but rather the ample
and glistening stream that beautifies tbe
meadow through which it glides, and fructi
fies it* far-reaching banks. So gentle was be
and kindly in ail relations, that his memory,
even in death, is lit with a smile which breaks
throngh a tear!
A man of crystal integrity, of high charac
ter, of unerring business sagacity, he amassed
a fortune by the slow but sure process in
which wealth is earned, not wrested, and
comes to bless and honor him to whom it is
given, stained with neither the curse or mis
fortune of those from whom it comes. Happy
was his life and peaci ful. Beloved of all this
people, and loving them in turi—leaning on
the strong arm of his sod, who took, in loving
trust his work before it fell unfinished from
his har 5s, with his wife at his side, his daugh
ters holding their homes as his own, and
grandchildren growing up to call him blessed.
With ail this hie was very dear to him. in
his man’s breast he wore a woman’s heart and
the love of friends and kindred made him
happier far than ail the treasures of his vanlts.
But sweet as life was to him, death had no
terrors. In his long and gentle life there was
neither stffig nor reproach, and he drew near
to the end wi hout fear or shrinking. With
unfailing Bmile and untroubled eyes, he met
the King of Terrors face to face, and
“Sustained and sootlied
By an unfaltering trust, approached his grave
Lite one 'h» r wraooed the drapery of his couoh
About him and lata aown to pleasant dreams!”