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THE NEWS,
Box 876. Toccoa, Ga.
m
THE CLODE in ONE OP ITS CON-
VULSIVE PCRJOD3.
Something About the Earthquakes That
,, Ilavo liemuud the World In the
W undoi'fiil Volcano ot Maiint
Lo« In the Sau<)wir.li IhIhihU.
To feel the cbJ/gS very ground shaken is as if God
hiMtlt luul hi. ,h.r„.l attrilmUs.
Yet the records show that the earth does
lose its fixity, and that so often that one
might well expect t he oidiiiary people of some regions
to look u|ion it as an event in life.
Disregarding the mythical accounts of
cities swallowed up, continents sunk beneath
the waters as the lost AUiu.tis, and nations
destroyed in a day, we find in authentic his-
tory numerous instances of earthquakes so
destructive that the mind is apjiallwl at tbo
bare facts. In the great earthquake, followed
l»y tidal waves, widen desolated the Roman
empire in the year 524, it was supposed that
half a million jieople jx-rished. The coasts of
Grew, Italy aud Africa were gre.tly
changed; the sea, retiring, left the bottom
visible, then rolling backWith a great flood
it swept vessels and aea monsters far inland
—-“the fish KMiain in the elm tret* and the
anchor dragged in the garden.” The great
vartbquake in Calabria, iu 1783, destroyed at
least 100,000 people; that at Lisbon, a little
earlier, nearly as many; at least 100,000 were
destroyed in 18G8 in South and Central
America, and the recent horrors in Java,
Italy aud elsewhere are fresh in t he public
memory. Altogether it is estimated that at
least 13,000,(XXI people have been thus de-
stroyed by earthquakes since the beginning
of h.« ory.
In the reign of Ahah, 900 B. C., and in that
of Uzziali, a hundred years later, there were
considerable earthquakes; the same region
was devastated iu ,ll 11. C., I0,0t)0 persons
being killed in Palestine alone; and again in
115 A. I). the east was terribly shaken. Be-
tween the years UMO B. G. and 1842 A. D.. a
lH>ri(Hl of :i, H8 years, over <»,(XX> <iarth(iunkes
were noted in the public annals of various
countries, and with improved methods of ob¬
servation the list now exceeds 8,00'J.
; /-jg
\ ^ ^
m ... J.', m
OT *
Kf g n iinnTTiiiJ iwmt
ryX
CANNES.
Nor does any region seem entirely exempt,
though some are nearly so. While earth-
quakes of a comparatively gentle nature have
©ccurml in all countries, there is one licit
which from the earliest times has been pe-
culiarlv subject to their destructive force.
This may bo said to extend iu a direction a
little north of ivee, from Arabia to Spain,
while on ti e other s do of the gloliea -similar
bolt incudes Cabfoinia and the Sandwich
Islands. \ i some of the most volcanic
r^ji s>s U - fivo.n deof this belt; and though
thei- is (•<■: v roam i-iinnectiou Ixitween
the phenomena <■ voi -antx-s and earthquakes,
yet the a vc v of i k -iornu r does not neces-
sarilv provi iin > i> the latter. In the
•astern I-: ■ id ovi-. s li ic I many remarkable
earl Inp • • t. Besides those men-
tit i n . ; he city of Antioch has
Ofli'il I ei u, me last noted case th re
bch 1 In G : A D - Herculaneum
and P wore panirilly , destroyed, and
'
somovv .: f•• • t hoy wore completely buried,
A ; i ■ fluu t followed, though de-
•tru.'M iv« ; are recorded in 115,
in in - I :d in 5 -7 A. D. Another
era ’ - i-i'up.o-v ve qui-t was followed by
what nny be cal'cri tlio modern earthquake
perio 1. Ik sid tho many in southern Eu-
rop ' and t8e fearful destruction in Central
amt tr-ouih Ana-viva, the western part of
tbe Uoimd States was re^atedly shaken for
months, and :he town of New Madrid, Mo.,
destroyed in 1811. Over a tract extending
some 300 miles south and west from the
month of the Ohio the ground rose and fell
in waves, lakes wi re formed, fissures opened
in the earth, the bods of the rivers changed
their levels, and the Mississippi “ran up
stream” for a short time. That region still
•hows some marks of the convulsion. The
movements continued till March 12, 1812,
when they suddenly ceased, and on that day
oecurred the awful earthquake which de
Btroycd Caracas in South America.
, , _ < L-~,
-
< i
m ■gifi
m Eu
\
^v
MONACO*
All the northern and eastern parts of the
shwkJ h ?hou^T n COm ra ! iV 3 '
rrom from shocks, though N New England F d was
Lully agitated in 11.5, and the recent de-
struction of Cliarleston, S. C., is fresh in the
)*»ght IHiblic^ '*nd. -is, perceptible This was soon through followed the by central very
west But thei remarkable fact is that Cali-
forma, especially that sectiou near tho coast-.
has from the earliest times been an earth-
quake center Stranger still, the chief force
li^n d,S T^ al T«f rP ^ re <Sintcr in Monte
Jablo Often has and very about disquieting San Francisco, tremors, as that while city
Oakland, just east of the bay, has not a shiver.
For some twenty years past there has been
1 noticeable increase in the number and de-
‘
n Bw NEWS •
. -
VOL. XIV.
JSS'lMllwaJa SIS5SBS
coasts from Mexico southward. In JSS3 the
whole earthquake belt was repeatedly and
violenfly shaken, agitated. with Southern Joss Italy was re-
the of 9.000 lives;
hut the greatest havoc wns in Java. The
world stood appalled at the facts. Mountains
were sunk, fis tires wore opened in the earth,
the sea over whelmed the low lands, and at
l^st2.>,000 L rid people a<, Jdpcnfc were region*. destroyed There in that are
,
ocean were choked with lava and temperature! hot ashes
and the water heated to a high
A brief era of quiet intervened, and now we
,,ave destructive earthquakes in Italy and
«irilwi?h^ ^ ncs j 1 \^hi. t U and wntcniporary a fb U ” a Ij ° a
in tlw 'iand* wi I
hours. J
B J 1 h Cmncs nnd Monaco, which are shown
in 1 u *ovo given, are Well known to
!' ' : ts ‘,' l! ' 1 r . ; luv. lj.kra. cted by
1 ” * * 1
----------------
N ‘ x 1 ' N W IR Z3 AND RA!LS.
-------
v ' i:l Prevent Ail Imt Peaceful
Devolution# in Future.
T ■ < , vs of revolution in Mexico are prac-
tieally at an end. Do you wonder whv the
assert :cn can be made so errmhatieallvt Tt i,
Utcause railway and telegraphic J -i! ' lines have !
been stretched hie-, ‘ , 1 °‘ act oss the fair
f ta . '*® ™ P our southern neighbor. In the days
by it was quite impossible for the minis-
fw uf war to communicate with the distant
provinces of Mexico inside of a number of
days, sometimes weeks. Now it is different
Not only can lie communicate rapidly but
lines of steel rails radiate in everv direction
from the capital, and strong, throbbing loco-
motives are ready to convey troops to the
most distant places at a moment’s notice.
How different it is from the time, not so many
years ago, when couriers riding day and ni° ht
Occupied twenty days in traversin' and*the 1- the eoun-
try between the Rio Grande City of
Mexico!
But, after all, the day of revolution in
Mexico has not passed, for the peaceful revo-
lution now in progress through the agency
of the wires and railways is the most import¬
ant one in the history of t hat country.
1 lie growth of the telegraphic system of
Mexico began in 18TG. The federal wires are
•v n
-j "ft * /
/
mr:* '
■
-. _
’■/
./
%V'/ .
'
Ifh'-'iih'
ckv. FAcriECO.
t>i, 0 t , , . !!^f. n is . under the
m p."., n .,f ) r ‘. ts of which Gen. Carlos
' ’
‘nerai t<-Ie-ranhSm»n« f , . Satttrluno Islas is
° ‘ i a ^'
i> HCl i mi^ & J ^ ITe
has been sbof 5 !!° Ce n * ld ls uaaWe to
w ; Ik without erutcl 'T;!®!: Tl ls n ° fcoal al
' 3 T a B
hn . , "V' . 1 . statesr " nn
a!K ' i n ‘ r'+ f enterprise. ^ Two *
vrn]i' ^mcetyeu that it
w.- n’d ! b(> th0 telegraph ser-
V ic Thi ,Ce 1 f S . ,® come tt ’*led with
!„>•{»,vj nnc T i- » ,atter v «’ 0 °m was a
brim! -
to 1* \tar* n w ® ro aidi_
its r tiv^ ilid ? nvToI 0f l ®
, v n,] wlm, sp. “oes .i they
n r ini them It f 1 U n *
usual for a thein<v"vM mes-a-re ro ho ", transH. .
The lines * Li wo-n a terrible con-
di-ion Wlvm fm,,,*i Hr tin?wean C c na, ff 0 of ^ )e
.,L ■■ m he J. ! * ’T' P^ . !es were pros-
j' r offices were sup-
nor i' V c 1 ° pe ^ t ° 1 ' s a ^ Iece aud some
*
° had no staff at all
to nulbon-rii sneek of Th wiiKawriMh!. ex pc,,d f d
the i • l
wliob I .V !• m' ’ mun : mivnii. ‘ Iallum wi As a soon
a „ M ; n p ., , upon the reor-
: . i0l) f .b CS ?f a bout hlra
{ ov n urtin t<) *4 J f neVel "
n jivti d the - 4'ction ,f a f “ n * ui • °’ t sJ;vs A
*
writer in The Rnat on n "^ !ai B°«ting upon
YL!, 1 , '^ which the
,L,,. ^.L. ao " a> m
nesJ vn os^fidlows* hus ‘*
*ku-'i-s to wo, k , Iike a
man who ^ l ° 150
laid at:i i-. fo of V., h ° h:ld a;i ax
‘ *
lr r fc", : c ,- T i, o. ii,?, '« V..' '‘r ’** amac hn»erun
t-r nnrclrri'o.n i- i I'-'XlnlTlf 1
I i-M the ',! 1 ? f ,,bK 'T'>’ “
, jftma-i .f» p ! h bad 7 wared U ?P“ hu wand. ovc /
Wires htu! I he-1 themselves over the plams of
U,a and throu
country. L v e r'y-
where the service
felt the inspiration
of a master mind.
An esprit de corps
was created. Men
felt proud to work
iu the government
telegraph service.
Before long the
public began to find
that the govern-
ment actual!}’could
send a ^cssage to
than the^nSm
Merchants „ , m • distant . cities - , found . out . that the
mad no longer beat the wires. It was an un-
ex 5 )e< ’ tc,d <oscoxe ir, but it was made, anc. tlie
reve "’«« of the serviro began to augment
AU Mexico wus divided iuto eighteen tele-
p»Poic sonra or districts. The states were
mdu ^ to take off the federal government’s
IS? J Jands ln . son!0 -P° rtaa ^ a °J '- d d kilometers Tro “k was of pressed lines cn of
unjicrtant trunk lines. The duplex
*rstcm was introduced on important lines as
began to be brisk. Of course, being
USed * nucli for government purposes and re-
os an to the army and ite
by far the most ex¬
tensive; then, each
state has a system
of its own, each
railway lias its
system, and the
cable company ha3
a land line running
from Mexico to
vera Cruz, 'i here
ar e »‘ii]os of
. Mexico in
" lies in
a *'» andthelodera!
s y stem » w Mch con*
sis ^s °f about 9,000
miles, is in es-
pecially good
wo, * vin
^ ftrt
’
^ I
V* '4 k
\
f
Manager Islas.
Devoted to News., Politics, Agriculture and General Progress.
TOCCOA, GA., MARCH 11, 1887.
ggassass
General Manager Was fa «n alert, buslnea
e man , with an American way of doing
things , and his head shows executive capao
ity. He is one of the progressive young men
who arc pushing Mexico into the arena of go
ahead nations _J_____
A Justice on Criminal Cases.
Judge George C. Barrett, before whom are
brought many -cen.l/tUat of the great criminal fSKTSui cases in
*"* h.
an important ci iminal of intense interest,
“Nothing ,. is more fascinating,” he said, “than
arguments of keen and sagacious counsel,
1 think, too, that I can do more good to the
people in such trials than in the adjudication
of ‘ ivil eases Qnd tbo adjustment of merelv
P"*™* The law is only a plain
stat- ir-nt of the limits of good conduct In a
vivi.ized community. It is often disobeyed
because it is not understood. I have fre
queutly tried men who have committed mur-
dcr in the belief that they were acting in
S(df defense, and when I have charged the
J ur .v I have seen in their faces signs of a re*
hellion against the law as I laid it down.
“A little man who has been struck in the
face by a big one is not justified in drawing a
and shooting his assailant down. lie
must Relieve, and on reasonable grounds,
^hat f° re Ids very laM ! eivcs life is him in immediate tb e right to danger take the be-
llfe P that threatens his. The Anglo-Saxon
does not like this law and you must appeal to
his reason. After I have done this and the
j ur y have vindicated the law, I have been
merciful in visiting its effects upon the
P ldsoner * This case only serves to illustrate
the theory upon which I endeavor to try a
cr hninal cause. I want its lesson impressed
t, P on tbe community. It has been a source
ot profound satisfaction to me to watch the
e ^ ec * > °f a tidal Upon those present in the
Cf>urt room, and to see even among the low-
e f fc anfl cri,ne lovin ff classes the conviction
8 f J' v -y mace that the law is just and its ad-
mb, j s ' ! a tor.s are merciful and without mal-
^ eu ’ ""Ncw \°rk Tribune.
GERMAN MAGAZINE GUN.
Description of the Arm That lias Been
Adopted by the Kaiser’s Army,
The magazine gun is the arm of the day
the world over. The German army has just
adopted a weapon of this variety which it is
“Ea 0 o if
r$rr<
trigger pulled for magazine firing.
expected will meet all the requirements of
the most severe test. The gun is the result of
long, tireless experiments , under the powerful
patronage of the German government of the
Swiss Vetterti rifle. Its official designation
is “M’il-’84,” the title indicating the years
of its development and the fact that it em-
ploys the magazine principle. It is claimed
that the construction of this gun is such as to
avoid most of the drawbacks that have at-
tended other and more complex arms of the
same general type. With the bayonet at-
tach, d t!ds gun is five feet seven inches long,
and with magazine empty, and without
ba 3°avt, weighs ten pounds; with bayonet
«l«ven pounds nine ounces.
Among the improvements it embodies
which are worthy of note are these; It is
shorter than the old gun, and consequently
its center of gravity lies further back; this
facilitates good aim. The cartridges, after
firing, ore expelled by a spring, instead of lie-
ing jerked out by hand. The trigger pulls
easily aud there is little recoil. The maga-
zme, eonsisuug of a barrel running cartridges, parallel
with t.ie boro, contains eight
whlch a '‘° I ),,siied backward by means of a
spiral spring. As they enter the lower cham-
her of the lock a so called “spoon” lifts them
into the firing chamber, whence, as already
stated, the shells are subsequently expelled
by a special contrivance. Ordinarily the
gun is used for simple firing, and the manipu-
lations are the same in that case as for maga-
7hie flrin S- But there are times in everv
aetioa ’ of courst “- "hen the latter use of the
gun must be made, and by this method an
aimed shot can l« made in from two to three
seconds, or about half the time required
’T* 30 ? sin « Ie shooting is practiced. But
the commanding officers must be care-
fnl to see that the reserve or maga-
line cartridges are not used
fully—that they must lie reaerved for such
times as require the most rapid and destrac-
work, such as the climax of a charge, a
^
-
magazine gun at full cock.
counter charge on the part of the enemy, etc.
The magazine gun wifi doubtless show special
superiority in picket and reconnoitering duty.
Ihe furnishing of the German infantry with
the '
new gun wiil be finished in spring. Thus
as some twenty years ago with the breach-
loader, the Gta-inan will now be tho first army
ai / ra ' i ' v,: ' h t! r e ma S azni « 6 UU - The ai-my
<or r * stationed nearest the frontiers have
t<een provided first with the new gun, viz.,
t}i ° Fourth, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh, Four-
teen!:h, Fifteenth and the Garde corps. The
and Bavaida, which are pro
Z ^rm^thLoua b th?nlw
to wTb
and will be provided as the Prussian parte of
the armr.
'---- -- -
A Left Handed Forgiveness.
Julia—And so vou ami Kate have made all
B , ,
Yt.-. Lever we've made all un a^d are as
coc j ?r i- nii3 ‘ She kissed two or
t : r * : n , i h ••• br o v -. c j.p
j n , j £ whc-> " I haa 4st to kis
j ^1 T p ffL'll - u .j h lvc b leto , t be^bu?rilrcv« Weave
? as ~ ’ '
‘ : h ,
Juda-Ycs I know exactly ). how you } felt ’
, * f„ ^ feel J iust th
same.—ooscon : ai T t courier. r r
IiniEE KE1V “*
TWO OF THEM APPOINTED AND
ONE ELECTED
___
The Hon. ltnfus Dlodgett, the Hon.
Daniel B. Lucas and the Hon. Jesse
F. Finley—Incident* in their Personal
and . 1 olitical Career*.
The sudden change of front on the part of
the Republicans of New Jersey in voting for
a Democrat for United States senator was a
Rufus Blodgett, their choice, was born in
N. Nov. and is con-
frequently , m . fchoSCd ,
J^ar of bis age. He
served his time at
tbe machinist
trade > and worked
at it for some years
bl b ’ s active state.
About twenty years
a "° he wen f to Nen ’
Jersey and found .
ein P J oyroent soon
afterward with the
New Jersey South-
crn Railroad corn-
and after a
while became its superintendent. A few years
ago bo was appointed superintendent of the
New York and Long Branch Railroad com-
pany, over which the trains of the Pennsyl¬
vania and New Jersey Central railroads run by
mutual agreement. For some years Mr.
Blodgett resided at Manchester, Ocean
county, and ho represented that county in the
house of assembl}- in the years 1878, 1879 and
S' the office of ‘“.'T state yCar senator , U ° 'P from S the saiue f “'
county bv Abraham C. Havens by less than
100 majority. He took a prominent part in
legislation while in the house of assembly.
and was mainly instrumental in having the
six per cent, interest law passed. Ho was
chairman of the Democratic state committee
during the Cleveland campaign. Last.fallhe
was a candidate for governor, and, after a
bitter and bard fought contest, lie was de¬
feated by the present executive, Robert S.
Green. He lives at Long Branch.
The appointment of Hon. Jesse J. Finley
to represent Florida in the United States
senate in place of Jones, lately of Detroit,
carries us back to the old Jacksonian day*
and the Seminole war. His biography has
the flavor of pine woods and southern savan¬
nas, and his portrait adds to the many proofs
of the sturdy vigor of the men of Tennessee
who flourished in her heroic age.
J. J. Finley was born Nov. 18, 1812, in
Wilson county, Tenn., and after the usual
-V
*
j /
feri
J. T J. finley.
Returning home be studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1838, removing soon
after to Arkansas. There he was elected
to the state senate as a Whig. Domestic
affairs called him back to Tennessee, and
in 1845 he was chosen mayor of Memphis
without opposition. He raised a coni-
Pany for the Mexican war, but as the
state’s quota was full it was not accepted.
He removed soon after (in 1846) to Marianna,
west Florida. For three terms he served as
judge of the western judicial circuit, and in
1863 resigned to volunteer in the Confederate
ai 'my. He was successively made captain,
colonel of tho Sixth Florida and general of
fc be Florida brigade, serving in the Western
ar ®y* and was wounded at Risaca and Jones-
boro. After the surrender Gen. Finley re-
sumed the practice of law. Then came the stir-
ring times of reconstruction, in which he took
a very active part as a Democrat. In 1874 he
wns the Democratic candidate for congress
in the Second district, and on the face of the
returns bad a majority over Mr. Walls the
Republican candidate; but the returning
board decided against him. He promptly
can 'i cd his case to congress aud was awarded
fhe scat. In 1876 he again received a ma-
j nrit 5’- was again declared not elected, and
agr.in awai-ded the seat by the house of rep-
resentatives. Ho was re-elected to the Fortv-
congress, receiving 13,105 votes to
his opponent’s 11,953; and is now continued in
F»Wio life by promotion to the senate.
Daniel Be.iu.Ker Lucas, appointed senator
from West is ol old Democratic
His great-
grandfather was
„ l iv °, f ert c f S m . m tho a u n
, ° a 11 . n e n.t a 1
*^
da -^* £ ra!) (l-
faUier ' Daniel Bed-
"as naval
age “ t ^ at „ ^ .{ o1 ^
fat her, William
Lucas, was 3 n “ mem¬ nwiu-
ber of Congress
several times near¬
ly half a century
ago. fi S°- The Thenewsena- new sena-
tor inherits literary gifts from Daniel Bedin-
ger, who to this day lives in the minds of
thousands of Virginians as a gifted poet
“The Cossack’s Celebration," one of his bappi-
f 8 * efforts > is stiiI Quoted throughout the val-
ley of Virginia,
William Lucas, the senator’s father, was a
famous lawyer a quarter of a century n~o in
the valley of Vircinia. He was a warm
pcrs°« al friend of Andrew Jackson, and when
be wa ^ ^ congress his courage contSnporarii became a son
of P^verb among ULs
From his earliest years the boy showed
^ eat br ^htnes3 of intellect. At school he
easily took the lead of his class. It was the
same way in the University * of Virginia ** ’
IT ru>
v^S
KUFtJS BLODGETT
somewhat imper¬
fect common school
education of that
time he entered the
Campbell institute,
at Lebanon, in that
state. While pur-
suing bis studies the
Florida war broke
ou ^> aud, though
k ut 24 years old, he
raised a company
of mounted volun-
teers and com-
manded them dur-
ing the camnaispB
of ailc i' iSfJT
j p
m M
m fm
v.
senator lucas.
whence he was graduated at the age of 19.
The strong, inherited tendency toward poetry
made itself manifest early. In ltW young
Lucas published at Baltimore “The Wreath
ot - Lglantme,^ „ . „ and , Putnam’s Sons brought
qut in 1873 Mr. Lucas’ latest j>oet-
WOI 'ks in a book called -The
Maul . of Northumberland,”
which was
highly commended. Asa platform speaker
°r lecturer Mr. Lucas is very popular. His
Sfinev Sydnej college, eniw! in . C0 "\ \ trgima, me " cement in June, T of ^mpdem 1883, on
John Randolph of Roanoke, and his lecture
?!' i;i this state, about a year ago.’on
iT/”!!?* . ♦^. C ne11 th liberator,
?" * ® are perhaps
" Mr Lucas"-marri'S • n f
Brooke, r- an eminent member of the Richmond
bait Mr. Brooke’s father and uncle, twin
brothers, had lieen respectively governor of
Virginia and judge of the state court of ap-
peals in President Washington’s administra-
tion. While living in Richmond during the
war Mr. I.ucas was Miss Brooke’s enthusiastic
admirer.
THE FIRST ORCHID SHOW.
A GARDEN OF RARE AND WON¬
DERFUL BLOSSOMS.
Some Interesting Things About Orchid*.
Their Fantastic Shape, Marvelons
Coloring aud Curious Structure—Le-
{fends About Them.
New Aork had its first orchid exhibition
week. The Eden Musee, on Twenty-
third street, vras ablaze with the royal blos-
soms of this most roval plant. Very highly
was tBk exhibition appreciated, too. Orchid-
0niamacs ■ flocked 111 ull<1 out with faces indica-
tive of puro deli sbt, while hundreds of pco
ple ’ w b° had never seen an orchid, were there
to leani something about this famous Rtar of
floriculture. One who knows orchids
thoroughly is a creature to reveren-
A
\
ft!
m
SI’ECIJIEN ORCIirD.
rounds emitting long botanical names without
intermission.
The orchid (pronounced or-kid, as any dic¬
tionary will tell you) is more familiarly called
an air plant, because tbev seem to live on air.
In other words they are flora 1 adepts w’bo are
far in advance of other floral ami even of
human beings, having learned to draw sus¬
tenance from the atmosphere—a thing it is
predicted we will all one day do, when wo
have reached a more refined and spiritualized
condition.
They grow away up in tho air upon a
branch, with their roots twined around t he
limbs of trees, thus holding themselves in
position. In their native places they thrive
without care or attention; they know no such
thing as being fertilized or watered. Some¬
times they droop downward to the length of
eight or ten feet. Tlio whole family of orchids
are noted for their eccentricities. Some of
them refuse to grow at all unless hung up by
the heels, heads downward. Then they flourish
with impish exuberance, their grotesque faces
grinning defiance to everything.
They often resemble animals, reptiles, and
even man, the most conceited animal of crea¬
tion; but tbe resemblance is by no means so
striking as enthusiastic writers have painted
it. Fantastic they are in shape, to be sure,
and this adds to the interest in them.
What are orchids, anyway? says some one
not learned in the flora of the earth, as few
are. They are plants of the same great class as
Indian corn; they belong to the monocotyle¬
dons, plants with only one seed lobe, and are
all peculiar in their form and functions.
For this reason they repay all the study put
upon them. They have curious properties,
extraordinary forms and remarkable habits.
They are the luxury,’•‘which eccentrics of the gardens, and
they are a only the rich can
afford. They are gathered from every
latitude and grow unde r every climatic con-
dition. Hence, in rearing them artificially
itveral green houses arc necessary for a
colleclirm including any great variety. A
single itwhid plant has lieen known to co^t
hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
The English are great orchid collectors.
Indeed, we must admit than they aro our
teachers in orchid loro.. Their spacious
servatories and abundant leisure and means
enable them to have the best varieties, and a
large number of them.
In color they are as wonderful and varied as
inform. One flower often has many colors,
In no other flower will there be such singular
\
m % r. ®1
I mth 1 wA& %
lb . mfv ti. \ V 1 Vi
PITCHER PLANT.
manang, ; sucu 1 gionous , • tints. ^ The rainbow is
outaone by the orchid family, for they pro-
dace tints tbe rainbow knows not. Orange
so deep that oranges themselves would be
. . i^ed . so gorgeous that tbecroudaz-
zjed - P«rple far rk-lier than any king has ever
W orn ’ vivitl ieluou aui! ' varm browns » ' :u --
b , Jac and pint 0 P aleSl (n " 1 ar «rt»n like
- -*
that L of the old, old Ni,.-all. an 1 more, are
set ' u m tbe £ lovvin 3 bau ntrs the orcuius hang
cu ^ The u number u of , a flowers that will bloom at
once on a single plant is almost incredible. A
writer on the orchid sava she has seen‘J70
NO. 31 •
tial terror in those
who are uuinstruc-
ted in the forms
and peculiarities of
the plant.
Persons of this
stamp —- men and
women — were tol¬
erably plenty at the
exhibition. They
are addicted to gold
rimmed eye glasses
and un nil wise air,
and made the
TOCCOA NEWS
JO B OFF ICE
are Prepared to Print
LETTER HEADS,
BILL HEADS,
NOTE HEADS,
STATEMENTS
CIRCULARS.
LAND DEEDS,
MORTGAGE NOTE
MARRIAGE LICENSE, &C.
blossoms on a single plant in a private orchid
house in this city. And their endurance is
another miracle. A gardener in an orchid
house in Astoria, L. I., says that he exhibited
the same plant, covered with the same jdos-
soms, for five consecutive months at the
Horticultural rooms, the flowers remaining
perfect all that time,
At the exhibition, pitcher or^Jesh eating
plants are numerous, Their pitchers droop
from suspended baskets, attached by long
stems to the ends of leaves. They are mostly
natives of nfe Borneo, but most of the best
varieties hybrids, having been hybridized
by cross fertilization.
Tlieiv is a tradition that some of the orchids
bed them exhibftion sns
of in the center of the
but when one
storied to see from
which flower it
came all seemed
odorless. The Eng-
lish orchis nmscuia
carries with it a
legend. Its leaves
are marked, with a
deep, purple spot.
These spots are said
to have been causetl
by a drop of blood
which fell from the
cross at Calvary,
ami the orchid
grow' at its base.
The Mexicans be¬
lieve the orchids to
be linked with the
joys and sorrows
of human life. AU feasts aud seasons of
sorrow have their special variety of orchids
as symbols.
Among the pitcher plants are seedlings
named in honor of Charles A. Dana, “Whit*
neyiana,” in honor of Secretary Whitney, etc,
A number of orchids are indigenous in tlio
United States, but they are not generally
known. The “lady's slipper” and “Indian
moccasin flower ’ are among those which
have received names in the vernacular and
are well known.
Voudooism in Virginia.
While the, old slaveholders find it difficult
to eradicate their race notions, many of the
old colored people cherish a lingering love
and veneration for the voudooism of Africa,
and just now we have one of its high priests
or obi-men here. Ho is said to practice his
incantations just across the river in Vir¬
ginia, where he professes to relieve pain, cur¬
ing the sick, giving information concerning
stolen property and insuring affection, besides
other things. This he does by charms which
the colored people pay large sums for and
have great faith in them. Each obi-man has
a regular circuit, and the one hereabouts,
who is a tall, singular looking colored man,
is said to have amassed a handsome fortune
in pandering to the credulity of his ignorant
dupes. Some white people are also firm be¬
lievers in voudooism, and will engage in no
new enterprise of any description without
consulting an obi-man.—Boston Budget,
JAMES MONROE TROTTER
Confirmed Recorder of Deed* at Wash¬
ington.
James Monroe Trotter, appointed recorder
of deeds of tbe District of Columbia and con^
firmed by the senate aftor a hard struggle, is
a mulatto, 48 years old, a native of the south,
but reared and educated in Ohio, and fof
thirty years past a resident of Massachusetts.
There he served for some years before the
war as a teacher, and as soon as colored men
were enlisted he liecame a private in the
Fifty-fifth Massachusetts regiment, but was
made lieutenant for bravery on the field. Soon
after the war dosed he was made assistant su¬
perintendent of the registered letter depart¬
ment in the Boston postoffice and remained in
that position eight¬
een years. About
1882 he began to ad¬
vocate a division of
the colored vote on
grounds of civil ser¬
vice reform and
other issues, main¬
taining that the race
would secure more
respect in that way
than by a solid vote.
In 1S84 he openly
advocated the elec-
tion of GroverCieve-
land, resigned his
place in tho postoffice and acted as secretory
of tbe noted “Committee of One Hundred,”
in Boston, which worked in support of the
Democratic candidate. In the meantime he
had acquired a local reputation os a writer
and bad written and published a volume
entitled “Music and Musical People of the
Colored Race.” .Soon after President Cleve-
land entered on his office Frederick Douglass
resigned the office of register of deeds for the
District of Columbia, and the president, on the
10th of March, 188fi, sent in tbe name of James
C. Matthews, a colored Democrat of Albany; by"
but the senate rejected the nomination a
three-fourths majority, the reason generally
assigned 1/eing that they thought a resident
of the district should be appointed. August
1851, the day after the senate adjourned,
Mr. Cleveland again appointed Mr. Matthews
to the place and he has since served; but in
the last week of January the senate again re¬
jected him by a vote of 31 to 17. On tbe last
day of February the president sent to the
senate the name of James M. Trotter, of Hyde
Park, Massachusetts; and, as above stated,
tbe appointment excited much comment both
iu Washington and the country at large.
The office is ordinarily worth at least 88,000
a year, though in Mr. Douglass’ term an ex¬
traordinary activity iu real estate transac¬
tions brought *12.000, the aggregate of fees in one
year up to and it i3 claimed that
during Mr. Matthews’brief incuxrri»ency tue
fees amounted to f 1,500 p^r month. Botha
office is one calculated to excite much ir.ter-
est aside from the fact that tlia incumbent is 0
colored man.
Mrfc Wood’* *‘Ea«t Lynne.”
* fc 13 said tbat more than 1,000,000 copies of
<be late Mrs. Wood’s “East Lynne” were sold
in this country, for which the author never
received one cent. The same is true of some
J?’ the 000 story, Perfcmnancea wh, c h under of the a copyright play founded would on
hhvo brought her perhaps $-500,0-40.— Pubiio
Opinion.
I
J- A
^
*
*3
1 ■i S’ tt
Coryanthus SPKCiosa.
M
*' \S**
A
lipjip
moNroe trotter,