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PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY BY PUBLISHING CO. INCORPORATED. . a. jo.MKH, W. A. FOWXRR, PRESIDENT. OEX. MANAGER. W. A. FOWLER. EDITOR. at the post office as second-class mail matter. of subscription: tfl.ixi p fA r year; 50 cents forsix months and 25 cents for three months. notices of ten lines or less free; over ten lines 5 cents per line. editor is not responsi Die for sentiments expressed by correspondents. Articles intended for publication must be ac¬ companied by the publication, writer’s name, but not for nec¬ essarily for pro¬ tection to us. HON. LEWIS DAVIS. WRITES OF CUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. He Dialates on the Financial Question as He Finds it in Cuba. A Newsy Letter. Pinar Dei. Rio,Cuba, Dec. 3d. Your letter came duly to hand some days since, and as I was go¬ ing to leave Havana soon after I received it, I concluded to write you from a new point after I had seen more of the island. I came here three days ago, and was for two days the only American in the town. I brought with me a few head of cattle to kill on an emergency con¬ tract for the United States troops who are expected here today. I shall be here for about a week longer, and then go from here to Mantanzas or to Porto Principe. Now then as to the country and the prospects thereof : I have up to date no decided opinion about it. It is not possible for any one in the course of two months to ac¬ quire sufficient knowledge of a new country—its seasons; its climate, its people, and their habits, and customs; its products and business methods, so as to judge with some degree of correctness of the proba¬ ble success or failure of any venture or undertaking contemplated there- in. In this island,I find much that is good and much that is bad ; wheth¬ er not, the good predominates, would take any one at least a year to find out. When I came to Cuba the rainy season was in full force, and it seemed to me that it was the most accursed of all lands. It was impossible for a stranger to keep entirely well—no prudence, foresight, or temperance could ward off the acclimating sickness always in store for strangers ; but it would greatly mitigate the evils thereof. Every American who had yel¬ low fever during that period died ; and so far as I know, only those had it who were intemperate in their habits; as for myself, my health, has been exceptionally good ever since I have been in the island ; and my dear sir, no anchorite monk or hermit, buried in ancient monastaries or desert cavern, ever was more prudent and temperate in drink and diet than I. I weath¬ ered the storm in fine shape; and that the rains have ceased to fall, every day, the climate is delightful; it is still hot in the sun, but the mornings and evenings and nights, are all that one could desire. The moon and stars shine with a brilliancy and lusture that I have never seen in the states. The atmosphere is so clear and transparent, that the smallest ob¬ jects can be seen with ease, the most incredible distance, The mountains, some ten or fifteen miles distant from this place, appear to be only a mile or two. and they are covered with coffee trees which are plainly seen. In this prov¬ ince the rich farmers live in the mountains and cultivate coffee. are some large sugar planta¬ here,but not so large or so good as those in Mantanzas. However, here is grown some of the best and and highest priced tobacco in Cu¬ ba, but a great portion of the land is poor and best suited for cattle grazing purposes. Before the war there were thousands of cattle in here, but now there are none—all killed either by the Insurgents or Spaniards. They likewise destroyed all the «ugar houses, and destroyed by fire all of the cane, and left the country as near as nature would permit a waste. This is a town of 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants; K oal >' ar ticle of commerce is to- :o. The town *n~t.vVk y the haf.ds o* the insurgents, who patrol and po¬ lice it, and maintain the peace and order with negro soldiers. In fact, more than two-thirds of the private soldiers in the insurgent camps are negroes. Many of the officers are negroes ; but all of them,both black and white, are orderly and polite. They are much more orderly and subordinate than American troops. There were a great many white people in arms at the beginning of the war, but most of them have either been killed or have died of sickness. These people, both Cuban and Spaniard, are a source of wonder to me. They are the most orderly and polite people I ever saw. A civil question always brings a civil and polite answer. I have never seen a riot, or any kind of disturbance, or a drunken man, since I have been in Cuba, and yet, some of the most bloody, cruel and horrible crimes the world has ever known, have been committed in this island, by both Cuban and Spaniard in the last three years. Both sides deliberately killed their prisoners by hacking them to pie¬ ces with machetties. The Cubans could not keep pris¬ oners, for they had no place to put them and nothing to feed them on, so the only solution to such a prob¬ lem was to kill them all, and many times in their fiery madness they spared not women or children. The Spaniard has gone from here and will soon be out of the island, and it remains to be seen whether the native is bettered by his going. I think so myself, but there are many even here who think to the contrary. All of the Spaniards living here are anxious to have the island annexed to the United States, and a great many, perhaps two- thirds of the Cuban business men also desire it. But all of the offi¬ cers ; in fact all of the insurgent army—the working people and small farmers are for Free Cuba. I, also, am for “Free Cuba.” I have concluded that the United States does not need this Island or any part thereof. I fear that if she takes it, that she will have on her shoulders for¬ ever, the “old man of the moun¬ tains.” These people are not our people, and it will take a long pe¬ riod of time to bring them to our way of thinking and doing. They will continue to sleep late, work cows and oxen instead of mules, plow about a sixth of an acre a day, eat fruit, be sick, live in houses made of palm leaves, smoke cigarettes, drink wine and dress in gaudy colors. However, so far as I can see,they have also many good qualities. They receive Americans in a most cordial and hospitable manner, and are easy enough to get along with. But I would not recommend this country to Ameri¬ cans unless they could speak Span¬ ish and had enough money to live on a year. There is nothing cheap here, for everything you must pay very high, even fruit in the town with the ex¬ ception of oranges sell for about what it would in the states. There are three different kinds of money in use here; Spanish, French and in Havanna,American. There are three or four kinds of Spanish money in circulation,and it is a constant source of trouble and annoyance in keeping up with the fluctuation of the exchange. For instance an American five dollar bill is worth about $5.So in Spanish gold, and is worth now about $7.10 in Spanish silver and the same five dollar bill is worth about $50.00 in Spanish paper money, provided you can find anyone who will take it at all. The merchants buy with gold and sell for silver, and they are al¬ ways buying from the bank and exchange gold to make pur¬ chases. When I first came here a Span- Twenty Years Proof. Tutt’s Liver Pills keep the bow¬ els in natural motion and cleanse the system of all impurities An absolute cure for sick headache, dyspepsia, sour stomach, con¬ stipation and kindred diseases. “Can’t do without them” R. P. Smith, Chilesburg, Va. writes I don’t know how I could do without them. I have had Liver disease for over twenty years. Am now entirely cured. Tutt’s Liver Pills Catarrh Leads to Consumption. A Forerunner of the Mo*t| Fatal Disease. Though its offensive features are sometimes ,. almost , , unbearable, , , , , few people are aware of the danger of which Catarrh is the forerun- ner. Catarrh invariably leads to Consumption. Growing worse and worse each winter, those who rely upon the usual treatment of sprays, washes and inhaling mix¬ tures find that it is impossible to check the disease with these local applications which only reach the surface. The offensive discharge increases all the while, causing a feeling of personal defilement, and gets deeper and deeper until it is only a question of a short time until the lungs are affected. The importance of the proper treatment can therefore be readily appreciated. But no good what¬ ever can be expected from local applications, as such treatment never did cure Catarrh, and never will. ish five dollar gold piece would buy eight dollars in Spanish silver, but now the price of silver has ad¬ vanced to a point where you only get seven dollars in silver for five dollars in gold. The cause for the advance is the taking out of the country by the Spanish soldiers great quantities of silver money. It is thereby, made scarce and of course more valuable. It is the operation of the law of supply and demand. There is no such thing here as credit. The rule is pay as you go. Banks do not loan money here— it is a thing unknown in Cuba. They buy and sell exchange, do¬ mestic and foreign, and all of them are said to have an immense capital. If you do any business here that amounts to anything it will tak half of your time to count your money and figure out the trade of exchange. There is nothing more provoking to an American than the financial pol¬ icy in operation here. As a matter of commerce our paper currency is infinitely better to do business with. If you have a few thousand dol¬ lars in silver you can only take it with you in a hack, and though gold is much more convenient on account of the small bulk, still you can not lug around with you a few thousand in gold. It looks very odd to an Ameri¬ can to see a man lugging about with him in a little sack,of gold in order to do a little business. Our paper is worth more here than the gold, because it is more convenient to handle and because every dollar of American money is virtually re¬ deemable in gold. You can take an American silver dollar—while there is not so much silver in it as there is in a Spanish dollar, and get for it about $1.40 in Spanish silver. These people here, like many of our people, cannot understand why an American silver dollar is worth more than a Spanish dollar, when the Spanish dollar has more silver in it than the American. I endeavored to tell a party yesterday that the only reason was that our government received it as equivalent of the gold dollar, just as it received paper money as the equivalent of gold,and that it was the faith and confidence of the peo¬ ple of the states in the ability of the government to redeem all kinds of money in gold,which keeps all of our money at par. Everything here is about as bad¬ ly demoralized as the system of fi¬ nance. Besides myself there is only one other American in town, and the people stare at us as if we were wild animals. If we stop for a moment a crowd will collect—all anxious to see the Americanos. They express their pleasure by polite bows, and a few would venture up to shake hands. Yesterday evening an old Cubian who lived in New York 24 years ago, came to our hotel and informed us in broken English,that the governor of the town had sent him to wait on us and find out if he could be of any service to us. He also brought with him the chief of police, or rather the man who is in charge of the soldiers who do po- .. lice duty, .. and , , he said had , only , we ■‘I had such a. severe case of Catarrh I lost my hearing in one ear, and of the bone in my nose sloughed I was constantly treated with and washes, but each winter disease seemed to have a firmer on me. I had finally been de¬ incurable when I decided to S. S. S. It seemed to get right at seat of the disease, and cured me for I have had no touch Catarrh for seven years. “Mrs. Josephine Polhill, “Due West, S. C.” Those who have had the first touch of Catarrh will save endless suffering by tak¬ ing the right remedy at the outset. Others g who have for yjMt.. years sought re¬ lief and found only disappoint¬ ment in local treatment will find it wise to waste no further time on sprays, washes, inhaling mix¬ tures, etc., which are only tempo¬ rary and can not save them from Catarrh is a deep- blood disease. S. S. S. is only remedy which can reach very bottom of the disease cure it permanently. Books sent free by the Swift Specific Company, Atlanta, Ga. to ask and anything they could do for us would be done with pleasure. The old man had not spoken Eng¬ lish he told me since he arrived here 24 years ago. The U. S. Soldiers have not yet arrived. I am going now to the depot to find out about them. I will try and not write so much next time, until then, Yours truly. Louis Davis. Anent Dr. Watkins. Dr. Watkins, of Gilmer,is fixing up his fences to run for Congress. Anybody can see that. And he will make a right lively race of it, * * % too. Watkins’ bill to cut salaries 20 per cent, all along the line, from porter up to governor, met a signal defeat when it was voted upon in the House the other day. Yet there was good reason for it to pass. When cotton was selling at 10 cents a pound, these officers got no more than now. Now, that cotton is only 5 cents, it does look as if they might have accepted at least 20 per cent reduction and been thankful that it was not 50. Watkins is a philosopher, but he found himself in a hopefess minority in the Geor¬ gia legislature. The above clippings are from the Lawrenceville Herald. We are of the opinion that Dr. Watkins would put up a fine race for congress when he does announce himself. He is a good man for the place and he is a good man to keep your weather eye upon—especially you Lawrenceville boys who have Maj. Simmons and Hon. Tyler Peoples, both good men and both of whom cast admiring glances “ever and anon” at Carter Tate’s nice, fat, $5,000 job. Mrs. W. J. Clarke, McRae, Ga., writes: “For years I have rarely been, and hardly know how to keep house without Dr. M.A. Simmons Liver Medicine. It cured me of Sour Stomach and Indigestion; my hus¬ band of Dyspepsia, and from personal test regard it superior to Black Draught and Zeilin’s Liver Medecine. A Clever Piano Invention. Signor Alessio Coradir.a, an Italian pianist, is said to have in¬ vented a system of arranging piano chords so that they cannot loose the tension imparted to them or get out of tune on account of the weather. The invention affects all the chords alike and preserves their harmonic distance from each other in such a way that, though it may be possible for the whole pitch of a pianoforte to rise or to fall, it is impossible for any single note to get out of tune. The apparatus is simple, and said to be applicable to all kinds of pianos. Free Pills. Send your address to H. E. Buck- len & Co., Chicago, and get a free sample box of Dr. King’s New Life Pills. A trial will convince you of their merits. These pills are easy in action and are particu¬ larly effective in the cure of Consti¬ pation and Sick Headache. For Malaria and Liver troubles they have been proved invaluable. They are guaranteed to be pefectly free from every deleterious sub- stances and to be purely vegetable. They do not weaken by their action, but by giving tone to the stomach and bowels greatly invigorate the system. Regular size 25c. per box. Sold by E. R. Davis & Co. Drug- gist , ( you Iee , D „,l, Languid Voken Down, Indi- Debilitated, have Weak Stomach or gestion, use Dr. M. A. Stmmons Liver Medicine. Coui^f . JityT coa, Nov 20, 189S. Council met at regular monthly meeting; present, E. E. MitcheU; Mayor protein, T. S. Davis, E. L. Harris and John Mcjunkin. Min¬ utes of last meeting read and con¬ firmed. The marshal then submitted his report for the month of November, 1S9S, which was read, received and ordered recorded, as follows : No. of arrests, 4; convicted, 4. Amt. of fines imposed $S; col¬ lected and paid Treas., $4.00. Worked on street $4.00. Collect¬ ed and paid Treas., Aug., 1S9S, $5.00. No. of days worked out on streets, 33. Total amount paid Treas., $9.00. Nov. report. No. of arrests 12. No. convicted, 9. No. discharged, 2. Bound over to Superior court, 1. Amt. collected and paid Treas., $10.00. Worked out on street, $2.00. Amt. of Self’s fine remitted by the council, $21.65. Not c °b lected, $1.35. Amt. of fines im¬ posed, $35.00. No. of days worked on streets, 6. Respectfully sub¬ mitted, J. W. McClure, Marshal. The Treasurer then submitted his account as follows : Dr. Oct. 24, cash on hand, last re¬ port, $55**74 Rec’d. W. E. Acre,s fine in Sept., $5.00. Oct. 27, street tax, $1.50; Oct. 29, street tax, $1.50; Nov. 3, street tax $3.00; Nov. 11, city tax $10.; Nov. 5 street tax, $1.50; Nov. 7, show, $5.00; Nov. 14, street tax $4.50; Nov. 18, city tax $15.50; Nov. 23, street tax, city tax and fines, $24.50; Nov. 25 street tax, $1.00; Nov. 28, fines, $5.00. Total $78.00 Cr. Oct. 29, paid Dance & Kilgo approved account, $5.38; Nov. 1, paid tax assessors, $36.85 ; Nov. 2 paid J. W. McClure, acct and sal¬ ary ,$35.90; Alex Edge, lumber acct, $12.15 1 Nov. 4,paid Edwards and Simmons, $3.50; Nov. 5, paid Hogsed & Garland, $5.81 ; Henry Taylor, salary, $25.00; McClure & Rothel acct. $4.00; Nov. 15, Standard Oil Co., draft, $14.28; Nov. 23, tax receipt book, $3.25. Total $146.12. Cash on hand, $483.62. Respectfully submitted, W. M. Kilgo, Treas. On motion, ordered that a street lamp be placed on the corner of Sage and Currahee streets. On motion, it was ordered that the treasurer pay the school board the sum of two hundred dollars. The following accounts were then read and ordered paid : City of Toccoa to J. W. Mc¬ Clure Dr.$ 14.57- City of Toccoa to Edge & Co., $3.90. No other business council ad¬ journed. E. E. Mitchell, Mayor Protein. G. T. Goode, Clerk. Bucklen’s Arnica Salve. The Best Salve in the world for Cuts, Bruises, Sores, Ulcers, Salt Rheum, Fever Sores, Tetter, Chap¬ ped Hands,Chilblains, Corns, and all Skin Eruptions, and positively cures Piles, or no pay required. It is guaranteed to give perfect satis¬ faction or money refunded. Price 25 cents per box at E. R. Da Co’s Drug Store. A Chinese Mint. From The Baltimore American. A machine company of Bridge- ton, N. J., has recently furnished machinery for a mint at Chengtu, China, which is said to be of suffi¬ cient capacity to turn out 5,000 and 18,000 coins smaller than a dollar per hour. It is intended to make dollars, half dollars, twenty-five cent pieces, dimes and five cent pieces. The same company also supplies the machinery for a new mintj for making copper cash at Wuchang with a capacity of 36,- 000 cash per hour, has been opera¬ ting about two months. The Bridgeton company deliver¬ ed the machinery for the mint at Chengtu free on board at Ichang, the head of navigation of the Yang¬ tze river, where it was taken in charge by the Chinese authorities, whose treatment of it was charac¬ teristic. They left the boxes in which it was packed on the banks of the Ichang, so close to the w T ater that when a slight flood came the boxes were under water, and cov¬ ered with a muddy deposit from the river. In this state they taken to Chengtu, which journey con¬ sumed two months, When the boxes were finally opened they were caked up solidly with mud, except where the rats had dug holes and I WC H> mially put. togeth^i, 1 h« S '7? t .ifery the dies . were so badly rusted that they would have been condemned in an American mint. However, the Chinese made no objections to the imperfections in the coins, perhaps thinking that these imperfections were additional safeguards against counterfeiting. The Secret of This Opal. From The New Orleans Times-Demoerat. A New Orleans jeweler tells a rather whimsical little story at the expense of a gentleman of this city who plumes himself on his freedom from superstition. “Back in the ’Sos some time,” said the jeweler, “he bought an opal ring while on a visit to El Paso, Texas. The set¬ ting was supposed to have come from the Mexican mines, and was remarkably handsome and full of fire. It was mounted with ten small brilliants and made .really a very striking ornament; but as usual the friends of its owner were continually predicting that it would bring him bad luck. He laughed at their alarm and finally took a great deal of pride in vaunting his superiority to popular superstition. About a month ago he lost one of the brilliants and brought the ring here for repairs. ‘I’ve worn this opal for over ten years,’ he said, ‘and I’ve yet to discover that it was responsible for any misfortune. Plague take such silly notions, any¬ how.’ When I repaired the mount I examined the setting carefully, and was greatly amused to discover that it wasn’t an opal at all, but merely a piece of colored glass. Opals, by the way, are easily imi¬ tated, the current belief to the con¬ trary notwithstanding. When I told the gentleman about it, it made him so mad that he gave the ring to his negro porter.” Doctors Agree on One Thing! Ot L i i \ - The value of purity and full strength in drugs and medicines. The sound and true old saying is ; “In medicine, quality is every¬ thing.” We are very careful about the freshness and perfect condition of all the drugs we use in com¬ pounding prescriptions, and equal¬ ly careful that these are filled accu¬ rately by a skilled and competent pharmacist only. We do nothing of the “cheap” and dangerous sort in this department; but in the bus¬ iness end of our store, among the proprietary and general toilet and fancy articles we can give you some¬ thing in the way of bargains. Try us. EDGE & CO., APOTHECARIES. “REMEMBER IE NAME.” Mansion House Steam Laundry. * ■V £ f • .*• . m ' V-A I V* , “Excelsior” means, “We lead, others follow ;” this is our “trade mark,” and it has been obtained by the superior quality of work to others. As a proof of this we have twice as many agencies in the three States, namely, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, than any other twm laundries in the State. Our commissions to agents are liberal. We defy competition in quality, quantity and price. For particulars apply to A. A. GATES, Prop., nANSlON HOUSE. GREENVILLE, 5 . C. L. P. COOK, Agt., Toccoa. We Offer 'Aiiy lvinu inenttoGetYour Cas You Can Price Goods and T:, Them. 15 pcs. 7 ounce \\ at 1 ik per yard; Athens Checks at pcs Indigo Blue C: made, at 4c ; 500 j| Women and Childr«jL y’FlOCS at cost. Jeans Pan*. l)r<^| c pair, All our Wool poods that were 65c per cut to 48c; All our 50c Goods cut to 39c; All Dress Goods cut to 26c per yd. 800 yds Good Yard Wide Bleaching, worth 7c, as long as if; lasts at 4fc. Buy some now before lot is closed. We have a good line of Clothing $4.00 to $15.00 suit; will take 20 per cent less in order to move them by Jan. 1 st. Overcoats, $8.75 to $18.00 at 20percent discount. Best lot of Hosiery and Cor¬ sets in Toccoa. Everything cut. A 1 our $1.00 corsets cut to 89c, 75c corset cut to 67,0 50c corsets cut to 390,100 hose at 7c; 15c at 1005250 hose at 19c. Big Bargains on our center counter. One lot of $2.50 Rochester Niekle Lampsjat $1.60. One lot of Clauss Bread Knives worth $1.00 going at 25c for 3. Ten fine Carving sets, fine nickel steel, with stag han¬ dles, will cost you anywhere $2.50; we are closing them out at $1.00 per set, knife, fork and steel, packed in nice plush lined case ; A nice thing for Christmas gift. A few imitation Cut Glass Puff Boxes,alluminum tops, worth $1.00 going at 45c. Four el¬ egant imitation Cut Glass Tankard Pitchers, with heavy alluminum tops, at $1.25, \vorth$2.oo. Also some nice Bronze Clocks, Match Safes and other novelties. Greatest line of Linen Hand¬ kerchiefs in Toccoa. Ladies’ pure Linen, hem-stitch hand¬ kerchiefs at 8^c; others, bet¬ ter grade, at 10,12J to 20c. Gentlemen’s Pure Linen, hem stitched handkerchiefs at 15, 20 and 25c each. These goods are not cotton but pure linen. SHOES. Our stock is too large. We will sell any shoe in the house at 15 per cent off from our regular price. We have laid on our right rear counter, pairs of Ladies’ and Men’s fine shoes, worth from $1.25 to $2.50.Your choice for 98c, 980-980. Will match any $1.50 shoe in Toccoa from this lot. GROCERIES. We keep a staple line Li¬ on Brand roasted coffee, 10c pound. Fine Patent Flour, 50 lbs for $1.00. We sell Postel’s Elegant Flour. The finest in Toccoa. It will pay you to trade witn us. DANCE & KILGO CRYSTAL LENSES TRADC MARK. finality First and Always. m mm M- For Sale J. H. Vickery & Sons,