Georgia Historic Newspapers

    vol. y.
THE APPEAL.
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REMOVAL !
PLANTERS WAREHOUSE !
WE now have the pleasure of informing
the planters of Randolph and adjacent
counties, that E. McDonald has erected anew,
large and Commodious Warehouse, on depot
street, south side of and near the public square.
The location being more central and near the
business part of the city, will enable us to of
fer many more inducements to the planting
public than heretofore —where we will ho
pleased to meet with onr numerous old plant
ing friends and customers besides many, many
new ones.
We havo ample arrangements for the recep
tion and
Stone of Cotton aiii Goods.
Thankful for past favors, we hope, with in
creased advantages and personal attention, to
give general satisfaction and merit a liberal
patronage. The latest published Commercial
News will at all times be at the service of our
friends and patrons.
Liberal cash advances made on cotton and
goods in store.
Consignments Solicited.
Personal attention given to the sale of
Cotton, Bagging, Ties, Salt, Guano, Thresh
ing Machines,, Cotton Gins, Wagons,
Buggies, Harness, &e., &c.
Plantation supplies furnished allows: t mar
ket, prices.
Wagon yard, well, rooms, lire places, fur
nished teamsters free.
We are looking forward with pleasure to
the speedy completion of two new Kail Hoad
thoroughfares to our city, which will doubt
less cause a great reduction in freights, there
by enhancing the value of cotton and making
our matket second to none in the interior.
Planters, look to your into est and bring
vourcottou to Cuthbcrt.
e. McDonald & co.
augß-4tn
ANDREW
Female College,
cuthbert GA.
THE exercises of this institution will l)e
resumed on Wednesday, the 20th of Sep
teuibcr next, and close on Thursday before the
last Sabbath in June.
The scholastic year will be divided into
Three Terms, beginning 20th September, Ist.
January and lstot April:
REGULAR COURSE:
I'KB TERM. PSK ANNUM.
Primary Department sl2 00 s3tioo
Preparatory “ 15 00 45 00
Collegiate “ 20 00 60,00
Diploma Fee, (paid on
graduating) $5 00
Incidentals 1 00
Hoard, Washing, Fuel
aud Lights, 18 00
Regular tuition of daughters 1 ivi' gby the
ministry—no charge.
Each hoarding pupil should he :uruished
with a Bible, Trunk, one pair of sheets, one
pair of Pillow-cases, one pair Blankets, four
Band-Towels, over shoes and umbrella.
EXTRA COURSE:
PER ANNUM.
Greek nndFreneh, each $lO 00
Tuition in Music 60 00
Use of Piano 8 00
Drawing aud Pastel 30 00
Instruction in Oi' Painting, 40 00
Calisthenics, conducted by a
lady 51’o
Singing in Classes No charge
Extra course pursued at, the option of Pa
rents and Guardians. Payments must be made
,iti October, January aud April.
Each pupil should be present, a* tho opening
of the School.
The undersigned having been elected Presi
dent of Andrew Female College, an old aud
popular Institution, seuds fraternal greetings
to the Colleges of the South, makes bis bow
t,o the public, and solicits sympathy and a lib
.eral share of patronage.
Summoned to a high and holy work —that
.of preparingthe minds and hearts of the you g
•for the ttusiuess and pleasures, joys and sor
rows of life—he will call to Ins assistance
iDie best educators of the country, and address
jtimself to the task with ail the zeal and in
dustry that he can command. Should time,
•whose verdict we woo, demonstrate ihat lie
mauuol preside with dignity and success—
it,hat, he is incapable of imparling instruction—
ilhat he is is not in the proper place—lhat A.
,F. C. does not return a substantial equivalent
to its patrons—the President, will abandon
|he enterprise and refund all damages reli
giously assessed.
’ Parents and guardians wishing to educate
girls should not forget our healthful locality,
f ((fined society, commodious and well ventila
ted buildings, beautiful grounds, magnificent
crove. aud reasonable rates.
* JOHN B McGEHEE,
President. A F. C.
Cuthbert, Ga., Aug. 16th, 1871, ts
VALUABLE LAND
FOB SALE!!
I offer for sale my Plantation lying on the Be
nevolence road, one aud a hall miles from
Cuthbert, containing
405 Acres,
known as Lots Nos. 227 and 228. There are
130 acres cleared, balance well timbered.—
Comfortable dwellings and necessary out
buildings.
Will be sold Ht a bargain.
For further particulars apply »o or address
sep29 ts W- N. WALT,.
SNUFF & TOBACCO,
BY THE JAR AND BOX
Very Low, at
ALUSCN A'SIMI’SON'b.
CUTHBERT APPEAL.
From *■ Songs of the Sierras.”
Iffy Indian Love.
BY JOAQUIN MILLER.
***** I love
A forest maiden ; she is mine ;
And on Sierra's slopes of pine,
A solitary lodge is set
Within a fringe of watered firs ;
And there my wigwam fire3 burn.
Fed by a round brown patient hand ;
That small brown faithful hand of hers
That never rests till my return.
The yellow smoke is rising yet ;
Tiptoe, and see it where you stand
Lift like a column from the land.
There arc no sea gems in her hair,
No jewels fret her dimpled hands,
And half her bronzed limbs are bare ;
But round brown arms have golden bands,
Broad, rich, and by her cunning hands
Cut from the yellow virgin ore.
And she does not desire more.
I wear the beaded wampum belt
That she has wove—the sable pelt
That she has fringed red threads around ;
And in the ntorn, when men are not,
1 wake the valley with the shot,
That brings the hr owe deer to the ground.
And she beside the lodge at noon
Sings with the wind, while baity swings
In soashell cradle by the bough—
Sing low% so like (he clover sings
With swarm of bees ; 1 bear her now,
I see her sad face through the moon
Such songs I would earth had more of such !
She lias not much to say, and she
Lifis never voice to question me
hi aught I do and that is much.
I love her for her patient trust,
And my love’s lolly fold return—
A value I have not to learn
As you at least as many must
She is not over tall or fair ;
Her breasts are curtained in her hair,
And sometimes through the silken fringe,
I see Iter bosom's wealth, like wine,
Burst through in luscious ruddy tinge—
And all its worth and wealth are mine,
I know not that one drop of blood
Os prince or chief is in her veins ;
I simply know that she is good,
And loves me with pure womanhood. '
When that is said, why, what remains ?
Greasing; Wagons.
Tito following hint to farmers
from the Scientific Press is worthy
tho attention of every one who
owns a wagon or buggy.
“Greasing buggies and wagons is
of more importance than some peo
ple imagine. Many a wheel is ru
ined by oiling 100" plentifully. A
well made wheel will endure con
stant wear for ten to twenty years
if care is taken to use the right
kind and proper amount of oil; but
if this matter is not attended to, tho
wheel will he used up in five or six
years, or may be sooner.
Lard should never be used on
a wagon, for it. will penetrate the
hub and work its way out, around
the tenons of the spokes and spoil
the wheel. Castor oil is a good
material for use on an iron axle;
just oil enough should be applied to
a spindle to give it a light coating;
this is better than more, for the
surplus put on will work out the
ends and be forced by the shoulders
and nut into the hub around outside
the boxes. To oil an axletrce, first
wipe the spindles clean with a cloth
wet with turpentine, if it won’t
wipe without it. On a buggy or
carriage, wipe and clean off the
back and front ends of the hubs,
and then apply a very small quanti
ty of castor oil, or some especially
prepared lubricator near the shoul
ders and poitr.s.”
Roses Among the Ancients.—
To enjoy the roses at meals, an
abundance of roses were shaken on
the table, so that the dishes were
completely surrounded. By an ar
tificial contrivance, roses during
meals descended on the guests from
above. Hcliogabalus, in his folly,
caused roses to shower down upon
his guests in such quantities that a
number of them being unable to ex
tricate themselves, were suffocated
in flowers. During meal times tljey
•eclincd on cushions stuffed with
rose leave, or made a couch of the
leaves themselves. The floor, too,
was strewn with roses, and in this
custom great luxury was displayed.
Cleopatra, at an enormous expense,
procured roses for a feast, which
she gave to Anthony, had them laid
two cubits thick on the floor of the
banquet room, and tlien caused nets
to be spread over the flowers, in or
der to render the footing elastic.
Heliogabalus caused not only the
banquet-rooms, but also the colo
nades that led to them to be cover
ed with roses, inteuspersecT with
lilies, hyacinths and narcissi, and
walked about upon the flowery plat
form.
To cure dyspepsia, take a now
axe, put a white hickory handle ii
it, bore a hole in the top of the han
dle, fill the hole with gum camphor,
aud seal it up. Then take the axe
and cut cord wood until the heat of
the handle dissolves the camphor.
Wc should always be careful on
whom w r e bestow our benefits, for if
we bestow them upon'the base mind
ed it is like throwing water into the
sea.
The Dubuque farmer, w r ho, in ad
dition to his profits from produce,
has made this season, nearly two
thousand dollars by the sale of hon
ey, has derived as much from beeing
as from actual doing.
Eighteen copies of the first edi
tion of the Bible ever printed are in
existence. They were printed in
Metz between the years of 1440 and
1445. Mr. James Lennox, of Naw
York, owns one of the copies, hav
ing purchased it at a cost of $3,200.
CUTHBERT, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1871.
The Chemist’s Story.
BY DR. BOSS WILSON.
lam a chemist. Many doubtless
would find it difficult to define what
the duties of a chemist are, if ask
ed. To such I say a chemist is a
collector of facts. It is the busi
ness of his life to aid in unmask
ing for the world’s benefit, the good
and evil hovering even in the air
we breathe, burrowing in the earth
we tread, mingling with the food
we eat, and swimming in what ive
drink.
Then again, the law waits on the
chemist. A human being has pass
ed suddenly away. The chemist
examines the body of the supposed
victim. The law listens hat in hand
to science. The suspected party
trembles in anticipation. The or
acles lips of the chemist move; he
names out one of a fearful list of
poisons. It is either strychnine,
prussic acid, or that deadly oil, of
bitter almonds. The law then puts
on its hat, takes the decision into
court; and hangs the prisoner.
In short, the chemist must know
the whys and wherefores of every
thing in the phenomena of life, as
tar as feeble men can know.
The composition of the ocean he
must be familiar with ; he must bo
able to name the gasses of the air,
and capable of resolving the hu
man body itself into visible vapors.
I am the occupant of this responsi
hie and important position in the
Medical College of P .
It was about eleven o’clock on a
stormy evening that I bade good
night to my student Tom Richard,
at the door of my laboratory at the
south end of the college building.
“Good night,” said Tom; “we
are going to have a fall of hydro
gen, oxygen and a trace of saline.”
Hydrogen and oxygen—in our
nomenclature, 11. O. is water.
“I hope,” I said in answer to
Tom’s playful words, “that it will
not rain before I get home.”
“O no ; it won’t rain for an hour
yet said Tom.”
“Then,” I said with a sigh, notic
ing that tho mercury in my baro
meter was falling, a sign of a vio
lent storm, “I shall certainly get
wet.”
Tom was very anxious to know
what would keep me up alter twelve
o’clock ; so I told Him I was about
to commence analyzing tho stom
ach of a Mrs. Johnson, whose hus
band now lay in I* jail, just
acros the street from the college, on
suspicion that he was the murder
er. Tom said I had worked hard
enough that day and deserved the
night to myself. lie spoke the
truth. Still I had delayed examin
ing the woman’s stomach so long
and the trial was so near at hand,
that I could not in conscience put
off the examination farther; al
though I had heard several classes
recite at the different public schools
in the morning, had delivered a lec
ture in the college proper in the af
ternoon and one in the laboratory
in the evening, besides attending
to my several duties as police sur
geon during the day.
As Tom was passing out of the
college yard, through the gate, his
head turned, bidding me good-night,
he brushed against a man standing
with his back to the college and his
face toward the prison. The street
lamp showed me that the man was
clad in the police uniform.
Re-entering my laboratory, I
took down a glass jar from a shelf,
and sat down before my sink to ex
amine it. The jar, which contained
Mrs. Johnson’s stomach, was cov
ered by a cloth, duly tied with
strings, and properly sealed with
my official seal in red wax. Break
ing through the cloth and seal, I
lilted the stomarch out with a dis
secting hook and laid it on the
white platter before me; then be
came busily engaged in applying
those tests to its contents which
we detect the presence of injurious
substances.
An hour had passed since the de
parture of young Richards. I had
carefully emptied the contents of
the stomach into a number of ba
sins and bowls. 1 had labored hard
to discover traces of poison in all
this, but had been unsuccessful.—
Joe Johnson, the suspected naan,
had been a student of mine a few
years before. I thought him a
good-hearted intelligent fellow, only
a little wild, and really began to
hope he might prove innocent;
when among the macerated food, I
came upon a small, infinitessimal
white grain. By careful manipula
tion and the use of magnifying glass
I managed to get this upon a piece
of smoked glass and examined it.
I was then certain that I had dis
covered arsenic ; but, to make the
assurance doubly sure, I determined
to apply a well known test for that
poison. Accordingly I placed in
the woman’s stomach the usual acids,
and then turned on the blow-pipe
flame, and presently there appeared
that brilliant metalic mark worthy
of Caine’s brow, w'kicli is the sign
and signet of the poison fiend.
“Yes,” I exclaimed, as I saw that
fatal blazon, “Joe Johnson is the
murderer of his wife! With the
evidence of that mark to back me,
no power can save him from the
rope !”
“Do you really think so ?” said a
calm, squeaking voice behind me.
I turned quickly and discovered
a tall, lank policeman, having red,
weak and watery eyes, standing at
my office door and staring in. Ilis
body looked as if* itirad been rolled
out long between his hands, like a
molasses candy stick. His nose
was merely an elongated fleshy plug,
and his forehead was decorated
with two streaks instead of eye
brows. He had no expression at
all in his face, and his policeman’s
hat w r as so large that it threatened
to settle down on his shoulders.
Ills uniform reassured me and I
addressed him with some impa
tience.
“My friend, I suppose I am wanted
to attend an inquest—or what is
your purpose?”
“No, Doctor, the raau ain’t dead
vet.”
“Anything in the surgical way?”
I was police surgeon as well as
coroner.
“Ho.”
“Well, then, why am I sent for
at this time of night?”
“Don’t bother, Professor; the
man ain’t dead yet; but they say
he W'ill die before morning.”
“Are doctors attending him ?”
“Oh, he’s in good hands, Profes
sor.”
“What’s the matter with him ?”
“Well,” said the official, “some
folks say he’s got so much knowl
edge into him that he can’t live un
der it,”
“Cerebral disorder, eh ?”
“What?” asked the man.
“Brain disorder, I mean ; some
thing wrong here.”
“I touched my forehead and so
did he as he said :
“Aye; and I thought I’d drop in
and tell you if you was going to the
station to-morrow to take a look
unci see if its post mortem or not.
Besides, I wanted to see where I
could always find you in case of
need.”
I bowed and attributed his visit
to a feeling of curiosity. Ho sat
on tho sink, one rubbered foot
thrown over the other, and wiped
his nose with a dirty handkerchief
several times, while his eyes wander
ed about like Christopher Columbus
after discoveries. Finally lie spoke,
like one who thought himself call
ed on to say something.
“Professor, there has been an ac
cident this afternoon ; terrible too.”
“Ah !” said I.
“Awful!” said ho.
“What w r as it?”
“Nitro-glycerine explosion up in
the iron mill—a hundred fellow
mortals busted !”
“Sad !”
“Affecting very.” Here he rub
bed his month with the back of his
hand. “Professor, what is that
nitro glycerine ?”
“It is a very dangerous article,”
I answered, happy to display my
knowledge. It has nearly twice the
destructiveness of gunpowder, but,
unlike it, does not explode on the
application of heat. A red-hot
coal dropped into it will not ex
plode it. It will freeze ; it is yel
low and greasy*. Its symbolls in
our nomenclature are C3. 115. (No3)
3, 06.”
“Y r ou don’t mean to say* so !” said
the officer interrupting me in disa
greeable tones in the very middle
of a choice extract from one of my
lecturers.
“Why, you hain’t told me how it
does go off. If fire won’t bust it,
what in—(hem) —will?”
I told, him if it w*ere pressed or
anything fell on it, it would ex
plode.
“Place it under the crusher of a
cider mill, strike it with a hammer,
let a weight on it from a heighth—.”
“Yes,” said my man, “and that
rouses its volcaner, does it ? How
does it come, Professor ?”
“In little cans —why, like these !”
said I, discovering that there was a
little can of it on the marble sink,
which I had carelessly neglected to
replace in the cellar. I then took a
little glycerine, spread it on an an
vil and struck it with a hammer.
A slight explosion and a flame burst
from the paper.
“ No, really,” said the policeman
starting back ; “ I suppose, Profes
sor, that there can would make a
mighty noise if allowed to explode
in here all at once ? ”
“It would blow the entire build
ing to atoms,” said I resuming the
analysis of Mrs. Johnson’s stomach.
“ No ! ” I heard the policeman
remark, in deliberate Yankee tones;
“ you don’t say so ? ”
The next moment I lay on my
back, a gag in my mouth, terribly
frightened and sick at heart. Over
me stood the policeman, and the
first thing that functionary did was
—looking me straight in the face—
to take off his nose ! He then rid
himself of his red eye-brows, hair,
cap, and became a determined look
ing fellow, with the eyes of a fiend
and the nose of a Roman.
“So you think,” said the meta
morphosed in the tones of a. gentle
man, “that nothing can save Joe
Johnson from the rope ? Poor fel
low ! it does look like it. But my
dear Professor, Joe Johnson is for
tunate fenough to have in me a de
voted friend, as well as brother. I
have undertaken to save him, and
he shall be saved. In order to this
end it will be necessary to remove
from the face of earth not only the
stomach of his miserable wile yon
der, but also, my dear Professor —
I’m sorry to be obliged to say it, for
I believe you were my brother’s
teacher and friend—yourself as
weft. *
I saw tlig,t he was in deadly ear
nest.
“Your death must apparently re
sult from accident—at least, so it
must seem to tho authorities. My
brother is in jail, and they will not
suspect him, and they certainly will
not suspect me.”
What terrible deed was on bis
1 brain hatching ? Was he going to
murder me ? The hard-earned
knowledge of a score of years I
would have given for power to ut
ter one single cry.
Ho took me in his arms and placed
me in a chair, and bound me to it,
and then from a side pocket he pro
cured another rope
Was it myself who was to hang
instead of Johnson?
No; yes. He placed (he line
pulley-like over an arm of the hang
ing chandelier. This was altogeth
er too slight even for one of my
slender frame. It was not to be
hanging then !
To one end of the rope lie attach
ed a weight, and raised it by pull
ing the other end from the floor.—
The loose end he secured to the
sink. Was he mad ? Did he mean
to draw me under this weight, and
send me out of the world in a nov
el way by letting it fall and dashing
my brains out ?
To the sink end he attached a
long yellow string.
Under the weight on the floor he
placed the can of nitro glycerine !
I recognized tho yellow string; it
was a fuse, and it would burn across
the marble slab - there was no hope
of its igniting any substance that
would warn my friends.
“Do you begin to see through it?”
asked Joe Johnson’s brother.
I believe I cursed him with my
eyes. I could only breathe th rough
my nostrils, and great veins were
swelling and growing hot in my
forehead. *
Drawing a match from his pocket
he lit and applied it to the fuse, that
little tyrant that gave a man an
hour to live, and killed him at the
end of it—thatPlittle irresponsible
terror that, less than merciful Prov
idence, told a man the second he
was to die if fright and horror spar
ed him to itself.
Slowly the flame crept, snako
like, around the twine.
“In an hour,” said the prisoner’s
brother, “you will be in heaven or
hell. I will watch with you for
half an hour, and tho oilier half
you will spend aione.”
He sat down some minutes in a
chair watching the flame Then he
arose and took the piece of porce
lain with the murder’s mark thereon
from the table and shook his head
gloomily.
“I am chemist enough to know it
is arsnic,” he said. “Yes, those
bright metalic eyes, a betrayer of
the guilty ! Science, thou wouldst
kill my brother ! Thou shalt save
him. Let us see in whoso hands
thou art most powerful. Here is a
man who by tliy aid, bids the pois
on spright uprise and writes in bril
liant characters a foul confession on
this piece of procelain. But be
hold, O science! It is no sooner
written than, by thy aid, the whole
confession and thy chosen servant is
annihilated. Let the good profes
sor use his chemicals; the bad broth
er only asks—a little can of nitro
glycerine.”
I heard this speech, indeed ; but
great heavens ! it was my eyes and
not my ears were busiest then; for
beneath the table covered by the
crimson cloth of which I have be
fore spoken, and which I faced, up
peared the head of the child. The
hair was rumpled, and the blue eyes
were just opened from sleep. The
intelligent forehead was wrinkled,
strangely. It was my hoy Billy.—
I was afraid he would cry “papa.”
If he did, the implacable man would
add the murder of the child to the
murder of the father.
But my boy did none of this.—
He had, I suppose, crept under the
table unknown to me, and fallen
asleep there. I tried to tell the lit
tle fellow to hide again, and wait
for the final half hour when my
tormentor could be gone. Wheth
er he understood me or not aided
by* what he heard, I did not know ;
but he quickly withdrew his little
curly head, first kissing his hand
lightly at me, and then shaking his
fist at the schemer watching so be
ligerently his dumb fire agents.
The half hour wore slowly away.
O heavens ! what agony did I suf
fer ! not for myself but for my child.
A light noise might discover his
presence ; the match might run its
tether sooner than was expected.
He might be murdered or blown to
atoms.
The fuse burned on—on. The
half hour is up !
The brother of the murderer rises
to go! Joy !
“Commit your soul to God’s
keeping,” he said. “You hold the
evidences of my brother’s guilt—
nothing can save you now !”
With that li* turned to take his
hat from off the table covered with
the crimson cloth, beneath which
was my priceless boy. Something
attracted his attention. He held
out his hands and leaned forward.
I thought he had discovered my
boy ! No! he was lifting something
in either hand—the wires of the
electric battery. 111 another instant
my boy had leaped from under the
table, and was turning the crank
fast and furiously.
The murderer’s brother was in
the power of my boy. He could
not drop the wires ; he was helpless
and motionless. How my boy cried
for help ! The old college rung
again. The prisoner’s brother ad
ded his voice to my boy’s in his ag
ony. He begged, he besceched —
all his nerves were racked —great
waves of galvanism leaped, surged,
and trembled, and jarred over every
sensitive neryc and fibre. Still my
boy was inflexible, and shouted and
turned faster. Unperceived, upon
the marble, in the track of the
I burning luse was a pool of inflaraa-
ble oil. In an instant a great length
burned away. It would last five
minutes and no more.
“Father,” shouted my boy, “if no
assistance comes, this villain must
die with us; I dare not let him
free. Help ! help ! help !”
Alas I could not answer him.
But someone else did! Thank
God ! The fuse is burnt up ! The
rope is on fire, the nitro glycerine.
The door opens; Tom Richardson
a midnight visit to the sick, has
heard the cry. lie comprehends
all, seizes the can in one hand, but
the weight descends, indeed, but
not on the death dealing oil. No,
down it goes through floor, down,
down, like an evil spirit to give
back a dull metallic echo from the
stones of the cellar beneath.
We are saved !
Joe Johnson, the prisoner, was
hung, but his brother remains un
punished by the law, for he stabbed
himself with a knife, and thus es
caped the hangman’s rope.
Another Stupendous Pro
ject.
Commodore Matthew F. Maury,
who in the years before the war
made a vast survey of the sea,
measuring its depths, tracing its
currents, and guaging the winds
that sweep over its surface, and
thereby furnishing information that
has been of immense value to navi
gators and consequently to the
whole commerce of the world, has
now come out with a project for
noting the forces at work on the
whole face of the earth, and distrib
uting the information for the bene
fit of pro luceisatid mankind in gen
eral, which desenes to rank with
the most stupendous undertaking
of this age of wonders. He pro
poses, with the aid and co-operation
of the various governments of the
world and the use of all the appli
ances of steam and electricity, to
establish a vast system of weather
and crop observations and reports,
which shall keep producers in all
lands informed of what is going on
all over the globo, so that they may
know* wherewith they are compet
ing and what their prospects are in
the markets. Now the smallest
farmer on tho bleak hills of New
England is engaged in a competition
with all the world in growing his
small crop of wheat or corn, and
yet he hardly knows what is going
on beyond the small circle of his
own horizon, nor is any ono wise
enough to tell him until after his
crops are sold, and the final reports
are made up on the year’s labor.—
Tho value of w heat at Chicago or
cotton at New Orleans depends as
well on the quantity of those staples
grown in the regions of the Baltic
and Black seas or on tho plains of
Hindoston as on that which is gath
ered in from the prairies and tho
savannas, and yet the growers have
to let them go at whatever price the
buyers may fix, based on crude esti
mates off ilse reports of the coming
supply. There is no certainty re
garding the quantity of the fruits
of the earth which are ripening for
the garners of mankind. A blight
may fall on the crops of Southern
Russia, and nothing is known of it
in the Mississippi Valley. The cot
ton crop of India may be a failure,
and the growth of Alabama goes in
to the market on the supposition
that there will be millions of bales
from over the Eastern seas seeking
purchasers in the same emporiums.
Hence prices are low when the
grower harvests the results of his
labor and high before his products
reach the consumer, and the middle
men and speculators sweep in an
enormous share of the profits. It
will be easily seen how vast is the
loss to the producing class, spring
ing out of their ignorance of what
the earth is bringing forth, and how
utterly pow'erless they are to help
themselves with no means or appli
ances for obtaining the knowledge
which they need.
The scheme of Professor Maury
proposes to supply this great defi
ciency. He believes that man has
already in his hands pow*ers and
agencies which will enable the grain
grower of the West and the cotton
planter of the South to know*, as
the season progresses, the probable
supply of the staple in which he t 6
interested, in all quarters of tho
globe, and tvhen the times of har
vest come in the different climes to
be informed with approximate pre
cision of the actual quantities sent
into the market. The benefits of
the scheme are apparent; its practi
cability is no more doubted thau
that of many other great undertak
ings which have been carried
through to success seemed to bo
when they were first projected.—
The experiment of making weather
observations which is already in
progress, gives earnest of the groat
things that may be done. It is on
ly necessary to enlarge the scale up
on which the present work is done
to proportions fitting the magnifi
cent plan of Professor Maury. Ob
servers and reporters would be em
ployed in different districts, in all
countries the telegraph and postal
systems would be utilized to convey
information to commercial centres
ar*l redistribute it, international ar
rangements would be necessary for
the exchange of reports, aud a vast
but subtle and silent machinery, set
to work all she world over gather
ing and disseminating knowledge
on important variations of the wea
ther and the condition of the grow
ing or the garnered crops. The
scheme is beneficent as it is vast,
and is worthy of the age that tun
nels mountain ranges, spans conti-
nents with iron roads, and lays tele
graph lines through the depths of
the sea.— JV. Y. World.
From tie New York Sun.
The Monster of the I¥avy.
CAPT. A. A. SEEMES REAPING THE
REWARD OF 1113 CRIMES.
More than a year ago the Sun ex
posed the iniquitous cruelties perpe
trated on board tho United States
sloop-of-war Portsmouth, under the
command of Cant. Alexander A.
Semmes, nephew of the celebrated
Admiral Ilnphseel Semmes. Admi
ral Lanman, of the South American
station, appointed a court of inqui
ry, which, after an investigation of
the charges published in The Sun,
strongly recommended that Capt.
Semmes should be tried by Court
Martial. This recommendation was
forwarded to Secretary Robeson,
who, nevertheless, for months and
months permitted it to lie in his
desk unnoticed. Finally the Ports
mouth arrived in this port, and Sec
retary Robeson’s attention was again
called to the complaints of her crew.
He then fished out the recommen
dation of the court of inquiry, and
resolved to order a court forthwith.
The court martial was accordingly
convened in the Brooklyn Navy
Yard, and has been in session with
closed doors for nearly two weeks.
One of tho principal charges
against Captain Semmes is prefer
red by Joseph King, ordinary sea
man of the Portsmouth, whose treat
ment was fully described in The
Sun, as before stated. Exasperated
and goaded by the cruelties inflicted
upon him, King left tho ship to re
turn to the United Slates as best he
could, and report to the Navy De
partment in person. lie was cap
tured and tried for desertion about
eighteen or twenty months ago.
He was sentenced to nine years im
prisonment.
Immediately on King’s arrival in
tho United States, whither he was
sent to undergo punishment, Secre
tary Robeson, to whom the facts
had been first made known through
The Sun, read the charges prefer
red against the prisoner and releas
ed him.
In a short time a multitude of
complaints against Capt. Semmes of
a similar character to those prefer
red by King began to pour iu upon
the Secretary. It was a fact well
substantiated that over otto hundred
desertions were reported while the
Portsmouth was in Rio harbor. It
was shown that disaffection had
roaehed such a pitch while on
that station that a guard rowed
around the vessel all night long,
and that the officers in charge of
the deck did duty, revolver in hand,
with orders to kill anv who at
tempted to leave tho ship without
permission.
Richard Mathews, ordinary sea
man on board the Portsmouth, also
made complaint against Capt. Sem
mes, which is embodied in the
charges on which he is now being
tried.
The case of Mathews is outra
geous and amost incredible. lie
had been guilty of a slight breach
of discipline. By order of Capt.
Semmes this man was seized and
crammed into a box 3 feet long, 18
inches wide, and 18 inches deep.
Planks cut for the purpose were
then placed over the top of the box,
and force was used to crush down
the protruding knees and head.
The planks were at length by main
force, brought down to bear upon
the sides and ends of the box.
Nails were driven into the planks,
and the living man was boxed up
under Captain Scmmes’s supervis
ion. By this same officer’s order,
he was thus kept for five dftys.
During these 120 hours the misera
ble man was never allowed to leave
his coffin. With a refined cruelty
that would not let him die and es
cape his torment he was regularly
fed through a hole six inches
square. A full-sized, vigorous man
—an American citizen—in the full
flow of health was thus caged. All
those dreadful hours, with his poor
crushed knees drawn up to his chin,
and his bruised head jammed
against the deal board, he sustained
an existence of unutterable agony.
The ordinary humanity which ex
tends to a brute the privilege of
daily liberty and exercise was want
ing here. The accumulated horrors
of five days’ unmitigated confine*
rnent had to be borne without a
hope of relief. Each limb was in a
vise. The strained and tortured
muscles could get no relaxation.
The abrased and contorted members
could receive no comforting manip
ulation. There the man lay —ham-
mered and bruised and squeezed in
to his cage, and the Captain of a
United Statos vessel of war —an of
ficer commissioned by the Go v en -
ment of the greatest republic the
world ever saw —sat, ate, slept in
his luxurious cabin for five days,
while a man possessing equal rights
of citizenship with himself, and
whom he had sworn to protect in
all his liberties as a freeman, lay
crushed up in a trunk little larger
than a salt fish box. No such mon
strous act of cruelly was ever be
fore heard of among civilized men,
Besides the cases of these men —
horrible enough in every truth to
condemn an Apache Indian to con
dign punishment —there were many
others almost equally monstrous.
A man who has sailed in the
Portsmouth under Capt. Sotnmes
declares that the men, after doing
their days work, have been led to
the quarter deck, chained in tens
together; and left there to pass the
NO. 49
subject to all the discom
forts and dangers of a tropical cli
mate. If one required to arise, or
change his position all had to follow
suit, and after a fearful night of
wailing and unrest they were all
driven next day to their posts, and
expected to perform their regular
duties.
The other officers of the Ports
mouth are spoken of in high terms
by the men for their humanity and
considerate kindness. It is to the
malicp and fury of this fiend incar
nate, Capt. A. A. Semmes, that tho
men attribute all the misery and
suffering which have made the Ports
mouth hitherto a floating hell.
VARIETY.
“Come in out of the wet,” as the
alligator said to the young nigger.
A moving scene—A game of
chess.
A water spout—A teetotal speech.
Tho American Hamburg—Ciu
cinnati.
A capital business—Lending non.
oy.
A “chest protector”—A good
padlock.
Wool gathering—Fights between
negroes.
Political pedestrianism Rum
ning for office.
The place for a picnic—Tho
Sandwich Islands.
Ihe last cup of a frolic is gener
ally the hiccup.
Ought not a hermit to call his
house a man-shun ?
M hen is a lawyer strongest ?
IV hen lie is fee blest.
Mixing in society—Taking your
grog with your friends.
What sort of ascent is a descent?
—A trip-up, for it brings you down.
Stops to Knowledge—Those in
front of the British Museum.
A good tonic for debilitated youn"
ladies—lron. A better tonic—
Ironing.
Injurious Perfume to a Beautiful
Woman— The essence of thyme.
Which of the plagues of Egypt
is most like a hat?—-Darkness
which may be felt.
Is a lamp at any time in a bad
temper?—Yes; when it is put out.
Why are books your best friends?
Because you can shut them up with
out offending them.
Iu Vienna it is forbidden to pub
lish matrimonial advertisements in
the newspapers.
Fifty young widows reside iu the
small town of Centreville, Indiana,
and it is unsafe for an unprotected
man to pass through there.
A Western editor informs a cor
respondent that the words “ No
Cards,” accompanying a marriage
notice, signify that the wedded pair
don’t play poker.
A Vermont girl who sued a false
lover for §4O for breach of promise,
gave the court this rule for reckon
ing the damages: Nine shillings per
week for “setting up,” plus the val
ue of lights and fuel.
A Warsaw reporter saw a war
among the wives and widows of
Warsaw, and remarks that of all
the wars wo ever saw, we never saw
a war like the war we saw among
the wives and widows of Warsaw.
“ Bob, where’s the state of matri
mony ?” “ It’s ono of the United
States. It is bounded by hugging
and kissing on one side,’ by babies
and cradles on the other. Its chief
products are population, broom
sticks, and staying out lateo’nights.
It was discovcrd by Adam and Eve
in trying to find a northwest passage
out of Paradise.”
A matrimonial commercial de
tective agency has been organized
in Cincinnati by seven spinsters of
mature age, who will supply infor
mation concerning any young man
in the town. Any maiden having
an offer may apply at the bureau
w'ith the full confidence of ascer
taining the exact mercantile value
of the partnership into which she
is invited.
A parson reading the funeral sefy
vices at the grave, forgot the Bex of
the deceased, and asked one of the
mourners, an Emuialder, “Is this a
brother or a sister?” “Neither/’
replied Pat, “only a cousin.”
Care of the Feet. —Concerning
this subject the Scientific American
very truly says;. “ Many aro care
less in the keeping of the feet. If
they wash them once a week they
think they are doing well. They
do not consider that the largest
pores of the system are located in
the bottom of the feet, and that the
most offensive matter is discharge
through the pores. They wear
stockiugs from the beginning to the
end of the week without change,
which become completely saturated
with offensive matter. 11l health is
generated by such treatment of the
feet The pores are uot rcpcllanta
but absorbents, and this fetid mat
ter, to a greater or less extent, is ta
ken back into the system. The feet
should be washed every day wits)
[►ure water only, as welt as tuearuy*
pits, from which an offensive odqr
is also emitted, unless daily ablution
is practiced. Stockings should npt
be worn more than a day or two at
a time. They may be worn one day,
ami then aired and sunned and wgrn
another day, if necessary.”