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VOLUME 1.
TOE VXFORGOTTIt.'f DEAD.
Dedicated to the Ladle ’ Memorial A teociatlon,
of Saton.nah.
Spring smiled upon the sleeping laud—
Thtk mother land of ours—
An<l gently Hung o’er brow and hand
Bright coronals of flowers.
“Arise! fair mother-land,” she cried,
“And deck once more the bed
Where leep the children of thy prtde—
The unforgotten dead!
“Son* of thy sorrow and thy pride—
Love hath no fitter nnine
For those w tio gathered at thy de
Ami battled for thv fame!
And smile, sad mother, through thy tears;
Lift up thine eyes and sec
The promise of the harveat years
They died to win for thee.”
Oh! Sleepers, when the ripened grain
Its rich abundance yields,
If we forget the toil ami pain
Which ploughed these bloody fields,
Then may the golden sheaves, which cost
Such agony and death.
Be swept away, like dead Vaves tossed,
Upon the storm-wind's Iff" 'SU
— Einilf. a Charter*.
For Thk COi rant.
Reminiscences of the Cberokees,
By HOV. J. W. H. UNDERWOOD, of Rome,
Georgia.
CHAPTER IX.
Copyrighted ]s#s. All rights reserved. J
Benjamin Cleveland was born in the
year 1710, on the Yadkin river, N. C.,
at a bend of the river called “rounda
bout.” Of bis early life but little is
known by nte. He was one of the ten
colonels who fought and defeated Fer
guson at King’s Mountain. Fergu
son’s position was a strong one, and he
was a very fine oillcer. The plan of at
tack agreed upon was this: The whole
force of Americans were to surround the
mountain and move on every side at
once in making the attack.
These ten skeleton regiments were
composed of the rillcmen and hunters
who settled eastern Tennessee and Ken
tucky. Sevier, Shelby and Cleveland,
had been trained as Indian lighters.
Just before the battle began, Col. Cleve
land drew up his men and made this
memorable address:
“My brave hoys we are about to at
tack the British troops under a skillful
and brave commander. They are well
trained, and have the advantage of us in
using the bayonet. But you will know
how to meet them. You have fought on
many a battlefield, and you will not ho
atraid to meet the foe here. If auyone
intends to run, let him leave now, for
the rest of us will light it out. I may
not have a chance to give you many or
ders, but keep your eye on me. I have
n rifle; you do as I do.”
His troops under his comm :id obeyed
him. They never quailed. Ferguson,
with his trained veterans, would charge
the men on one side of ttie mountain.
The Americans would retreat, protecting
themselves behind rocks and trees. As
Ferguson would push on down the
mountain, the troops on the other side
would rush up behind him and pour a
volley in his rear, and so the battle
raged for a time. At length, Ferguson
perceiving he was beset on every side,
formed his men into a hollow sqi are and
faced the foe on every side. The deadly
aim of those riflemen told with terrific
effect on his troops. The groans of the
wounded and dying were heard on every
hand. At length Col. Ferguson fell,
mortally wounded. A panic seized the
British troops and they surrendered.
This battle was the turning point in the
revolution.
Cornwallis continued his pursuit of
Gen. Greene through North Carolina
and Virginia, and was captured by the
American troops under Gen. Washing
ton atYorktown.
Col. Benjamin Cleveland moved to the
place heretofore mentioned. Many a
cattle thief was whipped after he was
tied to a swinging limb on the banks of
the Fugalo, by Blair and Coflee, and
many a Torv and horse thief swung from
the gallows pole on his big gate. For be
it remembered the country was not very
quiet.
The Cherokee Indians occupied all the
country west of the Tugalo river.
Many thieves and Tories took refuge
there, making incursions into the white
settlements for plunder. When they
were caught justice was dealt out to
them In a summary manner. Cleve
land was called the Governor of Tugalo,
and no delays of the law were allowed
for particular offenses.
He had two sous, John and AfTsalom
Cleveland. John went by the name of
“devil John,” to distinguish him from
preacher John Cleveland, a nephew of
“Old Roundabout.” “Pevil John” was
the father of Oen. Benjamin Cleveland,
who for rtjore than twenty years repre
sented Habersham county in
islature of Georgia. He was a man who
spoke the truth from his heart and never!
deceived his neighbor, even when it was
to bis own hurt. He loved the truth
aud hated falsehood. He commanded a
regiment as Major at the battles of Aa
tossie end Calibbee Swamp, in the war of
1812, under Generals Floyd and New
man.
It is e disgrace that the grave of John
Sevlfeehouhl remain unmarked and un-
this day. The American peo
ple should he ashamed of it.
Col. Baijamin Cleveland, “Old Round
about,” lies buried on a hillside, in an
old pine field, in the fork of Choga
aud Tugalo rivers, without anything to
mark las grave. He was an extremely
large man, weighing three hundred and
forty-nine pounds.
•Col. Benjamin Cleveland and Gen.
James R. Wyley were two grandsous of
Col. Benjamin Cleveland, of “rounda
bout.” r ßese cousins were born in the
THE CARTERSVILLE COURANT.
year 1 783, on the east bank of the Tugalo
fiver, just above the mouth of Choga
creek. Gerr. Cleveland was the son of
John Cleveland,and Gen. Wjley was the
son of Miss Cleveland, who was the first
wife of James Wyffey, of Franklin
county, Georgia. Gen. ’Cleveland’s
father died when he was an infant, and
left hfs son and two daughters rich for
that day and that section. Gen. Wyley’s
father was In moderate circumstances,
and although born in Iredell county, N.
C..he was a full-blooded Irishman. The
two were educated together, and were
bosom friends from their infiney. They
lived to a green old age, and died
universally respected. Gen. Cleveland
died poor, while Gen. Wyley left a large
estate. Both were soldiers in the Creek
war, serving under Gen. Floyd at the
battles of Antossle, Calibbee and Oth
tawalla. Gen. Wyley commanded as
Captain and Gen. Cleveland was Major
of the same regiment. Both were gal
lant soldiers. Gen. Cleveland was a
man of popular manners and address.
He served in the Legislature many years,
was a candidate for Congress in 1848,
against Howell Cobb, and ran ahead
of his ticket and his party.
At a public meeting in Habersham, a
man remarked that Cleveland was a
man who, If he had but one bushel of
corn and you were to go to him in dis
tress, he would divide with you.
A bystander contradicted it and the re
sult was a light. When that was over,
the man who contradicted, observed:
“If Cleveland had but one bushel of corn
and you were to go to him In distress, he
would give you the whole, not the half
of it.”
“Well,” said the other, “If that is what
you meant, I beg your pardon and ad
mit that you are right—l did tell the
lie.” Thereupon they shook hands and
remained friends afterward,
One of Cleveland’s friends told me the
following: Owing to a severe drought
the corn crop was cut very short in Na
coochee Valley, where Cleveland resided.
He went thirty miles to where Jarrett
and Wyley, lived for corn, for which he
paid one dollar a bushel. lie took all
they had to sell and started home with
his loaded wagons.
Wyley went with him as far as Clarks
ville. On the Toceoa mountain they met
a man with an ox-cart going to Jarrett’s
or Wyley’s to buy corn. As he saw the
wagons were loaded with corn, he asked
Wyley if lie or Jarrett had any more to
sell. He was very much disappointed by
the reply, halted his team and said he did
not know what he should do. Wyley re
marked, “If you go on to Edding’9, five
miles further, and have money you can
get the com.” “Alas,” said the man,
“I have no money.” Up to this time,
Cleveland had not spoken, lie then in
quired “llovv much corn do you want?”
‘‘Five bushels,” was the repl} r . “Drive
around, turn your wagon, come up to
the side of mine and get the corn .” The
man moved up with alacrity, and trans
ferred the five bushels to his cart. As
they drove on, Wyley asked the man’s
name.
“I don’t know,” says Cleveland.
“Where does he live?”
“I don’t know that,” was the reply,
“but I think somewhere on Ellick’s
mountain.”
No wonder ho died poor in worldly
goods, but rich in benevolence and good
deeds. He married “Argin,” the eldest
daughter of James Blair, and they lived
together titty years in great peace and
happiness. He died in 1554. She lived
five years longer.
Thomas J. Rusk, United States Sena
tor from Texas, when that State was ad
mitted to the Union, married the daugh
ter of Gen. Cleveland. A remarkable
instance of personal friendship came
under my own observation in this con
nection about the year 1843. All of
Cleveland’s property was levied on to be
sold to pay security debts; negroes, wag
ons, mules, and his home. Old Charley,
who had been his wagoner for forty
years, was among the negroes to be sold.
Cleveland could not witness the sale and
left home—went to see his children in
Texas. On the day of sale, old Charley
drove in the wagon, the six mules, with
“Nellie” in the lead. Charley’s wife
and children were in the wagon. Char
ley was put up first, and bid for himself,
“1 bid live hundred dollars for old
Charley.” The sheriff' cried the bid aud
he was knocked off. “Charge me to
Gen. James Wyley,” aud it was done.
Wyley bid it all oft' and paid for the
property.
“I asked, “What are you going to do
with it?”
“I don’t know. Cleveland has not
sail a word to me.”
In instant he called out: “You, Char
ley, drive that wagon and those mules
home; take them all back to your mas
ter’s farm.”
Turning to me, with tears in his eyes,
o*Cleveland was very good to me when I
was first married. I’ll stand by him
now.” '
This is mentioned to show that there is
in this world some pure aud disinterested
friendship, aud there have beeu some
worthy of the name of friend. Gen.
Wyley was a man of very tine sense and
judgment. He served under James and
Hezekiah Terrell as sheriff of Franklin
county for twelve years. He was never
ruled for money or complained of be
cause of failure to do his duty as au offi
cer. He was always prompt and efficient.
He was engaged in those days in lauda
ble efforts to increase commercial faeili
| ties, ne served as one of the Comrais-
I sioners of the State to improve the navi
! gation of the Savannah aud Tugalo
rivers. He was one of the company
that worked out the Unicory turnpike in
1804, leading from Walton’s ford, on the
Tugalo river, to Tellieo Plains, in Ten-
I nessee, and was connected with that road
CARTERSYILLE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1885.
as long as he lived. lie was a man of
most extraordinary judgment, of fine
manners and well read in the literature
of the day. He delighted to study the
characters of Washington and Jefferson.
He would never allow himself to be car
ried into jxditTcal life, refusing all offices
but that of sheriff. He believed every
man should pry his honest debts, and
was willing to aid lawfully in enforcing
the duty of such payment upon the un
willing—not upon those who were una
ble. He married the grand-daughter ot i
Gov. John Sevier, of Tennessee, in 1801. |
She was Sarah Hawkins Clark, daughter j
1 of William Clark, who in his early life
| became a soldier under John Sevier.
1 After he was married he settled on the
1 Tugalo river, opposite Walton’s ford,
j where he lived titty years. Gen Wyley
j died in 1854, leaving a very large nosteri
' ty in Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas, j
In all the relations of life he was one of j
nature’s noblemen. lie was a generous, j
just and honest man. This family of
Wyley’s, wherever found, spell their
name Wyly or Wyley, and all are re
lated so far as knowq.
In sight of the town of Elijay, Gilmer
county,there are more than five hundred
acres of very fertile river-bottom land.
An eccentric individual, John Alexan
der, owned about three hundred acres of
it. He was very proud of the possession.
There was one field in the fork of Elijay
and Caftecay rivers, of about one hun
dred acres, which was exceedingly rich.
Alexander had once a severe spell of
sickness, and sent for Hon. A. J. Hansell
to draw up l;ig will. JJe had disposed of
his personal estate and got to his land in
the declaration of his will. He gave part
to one, and part to another, nansell
then asked what he proposed to do with
the field in the fork (knowing his attach
ment to it). Alexander turned over in
the bed, so that Hansell should not see
his face, a favorite position with him
when he wished |,q say something im
portant.
“By God, Hansell, I’ll just keep that
piece of land myself?” “I think you
will,” said Hansell, “keep it some time
yet.” That was forty years ago, and
Alexander is yet alive, over ninety years
old.
Oae of the most indefatigable lawyers
in the time of which write was Col.
Warren Akin, of Cass county. His en
ergy never flagged. Ilis industry, prob
ity and application made him a very suc
cessful lawyer. His fidelity to his clients
was never questioned. His zeal was
fully equal to hi3 knowledge and fidelity.
He once had a witness on tlxe stand on
cross-examination, and in order to parry
the force of the damaging evidence of
the witness, who was apparently a very
artless and innocent person of no mental
capacity, Col. Akin asked: “Mr. Wit
ness, did I understand you to say, so and
so.” “No, sir,” said the witness, “I
never said that.” “Well,” said Col.
Akin, varying it a little, “did I under
stand you to say, so and so.” “I don’t
know,” said the witness, “how you un
derstood it, but I never said that.” Col.
A. went on to some other part of the ev
idence, returning after a dozen questions
to the sumo point, “Mr. Witness, did I
understand you to say, so and so.” The
witness replied, with a smile, mildly and
innocently, “I thought by this time you
would know I never said that. You
have asked me that twice before.”
“Oh, yes,” said Col. Akin, “I know,
but 1 am not smart, like you are, and it
takes me longer to find a thing out than
it does you.”
“Yes,” replied the witness, “I see you
are not smart, and I will tell you again,
I never said that, and if I must, I will
keep telling you until you do understand
and find it out.”
Col. Akin was long a prominent mem
ber of the bar of North Georgia. He
was an illustration of the success of ap
plication in any pursuit. lie was born
in the county of Elbert, in the year 1811.
Left an orphan at an early age, he was
thrown on his own resources. Manfully
he struggled with poverty. He hewed
his way to success, wit.h a broauaxe on
his shoulder, conquering all obstacles
and arrived at eminence in & profession
which knows more than any or all oth
ers, in my opinion.
As long as the Georgia reports are read
and referred to, his fame will continue
to exist. His name is in the first volume
as attorney, and in the first case, and
will be found in the fifty-ninth and six
tieth and in all the intervening volumes.
This is his monument that will endure ■
forever. He was an active and sincere '
Christian—a man of conyictions—one
who held to his own opiuions and acted
on them. He at one time represented :
Bartow county in the general assembly,
and was made Speaker of the House on
the first day of his service. He was a !
member of the Confederate Congress aqd 1
served with ability in that capacity. In 1
whatever station, his service reflected
honor on his constituents and on himself.
He was an honest man.
I omitted to mentiou in the proper
place that Col. Akiu was a member of
the Georgia State Convention in 1350,
that dratted the celebrated “Georgia
Platform.” His exemplary Christian
character was the corner stone of his
life. He was faithful to all contracts,
and intended always to act uprightly and
to do right.. I leave the task of doing
i justice to the subject to a more gifted
pen. What I have written has been in
I the line of these reminiscences.
The members of the high and honora
ble profession of lawyers have sufiered
: much from the calumny of the world.
Uulike M. D.’s, they are usually friends
| aud enjoy each other’s friendship social
! ly. Outside of the very large cities,
( their lives are full of toil and drudgery.
* Writing bills and declarations, filing an
swers, demurrers and pleas, and in ar
i guing cases, frequently endeavoring to
make the “worse appear the better rea-
j son.” They are short-lived and like
I clergymen, generally die young and
> leave but a poor estate for their families,
[f successful in a case, often after a hard
fought contest, the client thinks the at
j torney-at-law is the party under obliga
tions, believing that the small compen
sation paid is a full requittal for the sr
-1 vice rendered. When the fee happens to
be as much as a hundred dollars or more,
the client wonders how any one could
think of charging such a price for such
a service—only a dozen or so pages of
writing and a speech of one or two I
hours. They wish to pay them as any I
other laborer is paid, by the day or by i
the hour, forgetting the long days and j
nights, weeks and years of study, which
the lawyer has struggled through to ed
ucate himself for the profession, know
ing nothing of the intense application in
the office, the stqdy and preparation of j
the briefs in the ease.
After the lawyer has mastered the law r
and the facts in the ease lor hmiseir’, he
has then to impress that knowledge aud
information on the court and jurj%
which, in most eases, is a hard and diffi
cult job. If the ease is of great impor
tance the party on the other side be
comes his enemy. No matter how kind
ly the lawyer may feel, he, his sons and
his daqfthterst, sons-indaw, Kiuiolks to
the latest generation will watch for an
opportunity for a petty revenge. Let
the lawyer become a candidate and see
them rush to the polls and put in a ballot
against him, and fiow rejoiced they are
to hit hint that lick in the dark. While
this is not always the case, it is the gen
eral rule. The people learn more in the
court houses than in any other way.
They attend court and listen to the fo
rensic discussion of the law and facts in
cases, and then get more information
than in any other # \vay. Lawyers do
know and are compelled to know, if
they fully understand the profession,
more than ail others. The tfiey
have or hear in court, or read in books,
bring them in actual contact witli the
financial business and transactions of
mankind. They must study and under
stand the constitution and laws and
much of the several sciences. People, in
general, read but little. Many of them
haye but little time to read, and many of
those who have the time have not the
books. Many have no inclination to
study. Few minds become great by re
flection alone. Much more is learned by
absorption of the ideas of other men, in
the forum, than by reflection or by con
templation. In the country there is
great prejudice against lawyers. Much
of this is owing to a very mean and infa
mous fable in Webster’s spelling book,
about a lawyer and a farmer, which is
put into the hands and minds of the peo
ple when they are children as soon as
they can read. The impress is made on
the young mind and iDemory when it ie
the most impressible, an J nothing but
experience can efface it. Male and fe
male, while they are yet children, are
taught thus to believe that every lawyer
is a scoundrel. The whole fable is a
falsehood, and it is admitted to be a
fiction, as well as the pail of milk. But
it is not stated in the connection in
which it is found that it is false, and
hence the slanderous impress on the
youthful tnind. Now, I would not say
or insinuate that the farmer was not as
honest _as any other calling. They are
the most numerous class, and conse
quently there must be more honest men
among the farmers than any other class.
But it is not believed that in proportion
to their numbers there are more honest
men than there will be fonnd in other
classes, callings and professions.
(CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.)
For The Coirakt.
COUNTY EXPENSE3.
Inasmuch as our people are heavily bur
dened with big taxes, and as there is a
general complaint and great dissatisfac
tion on account of the same it behooves us
as a people to cut off all unnecessary ex
penses that tend to increase this burden.
Justice to the people demands this as
well as the common safety of our gov
ernment.
High taxes are not only oppressive to
the finances but demoralizing in their
effects to our people. Why ? Because
many seem to feel justifiable even in
perjuring themselves in making their tax
returns by giving in their property for
less than its market value in order to
avoid this unjust tax as they consider it.
Now is not this a bad state of affairs?
Yet we know that this is the case. And
that being the fact, there should be a
remedy applied at once. Nothing should
be left undone that would afford
any relief. And when we commence !
to remedy this evil, we should commence
at home, in our county first. And I will
here suggest to begin with, that we dis
pense with the Board of County Com
missioners for our county, and let this
business be placed back in the hands of
the Ordinary where it formerly was.
By doing this we can save considerable
expense, and I can see no reason why
the business would not be as well at
i tended to.
I have no objection to either of our
commissioners. I believe them to be
capable aud honest. But still I cannot
! see any good reason why we should pay
i five men to do work which one man can
do. And at the same time paying them
more than ten times the amount that it
| would cost to have the one man do it. I
| want the people to consider this matter
well, and see if it is wise iu us to do bus-.
1 iness in that way, or even justice to the
j heavy burdened tax-pavers to make such
use of their hard-earned money.
If 1 mistake not our ordinary at one
[ time told me that when he did the busi
ness of this Board of Commissioners
| that it paid him about forty dollars a
year. Now let us see the difference. I
chanced to be in the room where this
! whs in sessiou at its last meeting,
; they were discussing the question
j of the clerk’s salary, and I found that he
Uas paid three hundred dollars per an
num besides two dollars lor each day
that the board met. So, according to
that, it costs more than eight times as
much to pay the clerk alone as it did to
get the whole business done by the ordi
nary. Then can we, with any degree of
justice to ourselves, continue this un
necessary expense? lean only say for
one, I think not. Very respectfully,
W. F. Coruin.
I GEORGIA AND ITS PROSPERITY—AN
INTERESTING LETTER,
Prom City amt Country, March number.]
Between fie Oostanaula and Et wih
livers on both sides of the Western & At
lantic railroad, one will find a highly
favored region. Hills and dales, fertile
valleys and rapid running streams. Farm
ing lands which return remunerating
crops to the laborer who cultivates with
judgment and industry; streams which
pour along their waters to waste over falls
which, it utilized, w’ould supply power
sufficiently to rqn all the spindles neces
sary to work up all the cotton produced
in the South ;beds of iron, Ac., wherein
lie meta| enough to furnish rails to place
on every line of railroad in the United
States, and mines of ochre where can be
had paints enough to color every house in
this broad land. Just a little west of Car
tersville, where your correspondent now
sojourns, stands a mountain of limestone,
and daily the smoke ascend from the kilns
which produce and ship away oarloads of
the famous Ladd’s alabaster lime, as
good as this world aftords. On the east
but a short distance away, the miners
unearth tons of iron ore and manganese.
Go down the Wertern 4. Atlantic rail
road about three miles to the Etowah river
and follow the wagon road along the
banks of that beautiful stream, and in less
than five miles one will see falls which
will add up horse-powers about eleven
thousands, and over these falls the wa
ters waste away their forces day by day.
When the traveller beholds these unu
tilized bounties of nature he will expe
rience a sensation of sadness. Taking
into consideration the mines of buried
wealth, the wasting water powers, and
the delightful, equable healthy climate,
where work can go along the year
through, the question will arise, why do
not these people improve their opportu
nities and gather wealth from all the
sources which Providence has so lavish
ly scattered around them ? When he be
gins his investigation to learn the reason
why, he will soon find the answer in
that one fearful word, poverty.
The inhabitants of this delightful re
gion have no money to Invest in mining
and manufacturing enterprises. These
stores of wealth will remain unused to
au£ great extent until such time as Yan
kee antT English capital shall gather
courage to come in and purohasc and
convert.
It should not be a matter of wonder
why the Southern people do not take ac
tiveholcl of the advantages that nature
has given them on every side. Their
poverty forbids; they have to struggle
daily for subsistence, have no money to
put into buildings and machinery. Had
they the capital they lack the training,
having been raised to other pursuits. In
some localities hold young spirits have
ventured and so fur have greatly pros
pered. Such efforts cannot become gen
eral for reasons given above.
It does not require a prophetic eye of
very great power to pierce the future far
enough to venture upon a prediction of a
grand future for this portion of the State
of Georgia. The influx of population
and capital will not be much longer de
layed. Such advantages must secure at
tention. It has come to the knowledge
of the writer that English companies are
investigating quietly and cautiously the
mineral lands and will ere long take
steps to possess some of these valuable
properties.
Your tattling wanderer will now jot
down a few dots gathered hereabouts.
The deductive mind can easily therefrom
draw its own conclusions. At Carters
ville one finds a population winch in ed
ucation and refinement rank well. The
people are quite intelligent and seem im
bued with the spirit of progress. They
meet investigators kindly and easily,
readily assist them in finding localities
and are generally pleasantly disposed.
The loafer and the dude are not seen
hereabouts. Every man appears to have
something to do and is at his business
with diligence. The merchants are
wide-awake and cheerful. Some of the
stocks of goods are quite city like.
Conversing with a pleasaut old gentle
man I learned that the legal fraternity
were complaining about dull times. This
argues well for it has been said that too
much litigation has been inthepa3ta
curse to this country. A gentleman of
apparent “functions” once remarked in
my presence that “much litigation was a
sign of progress and prosperity.” The
assertion startled me and when I got a
quiet moment I began to revolve it in
ray mind and see what I could work out
of it. This solutiou came along, much
litigation means progress and prosperity
to one class of people—the lawyers. In
vestigation developed the fact that the
asserter was a prominent prosperous
member of the bar.
It does appear to me that in or near
C'artersville would be a very fine loca
tion for a large iron furnace and rolling
mill, with foundry attached. Healthy
equable climate, neither too hot nor too
; cold, labor can be used to full advantage
the year round. Good water, cheap
i lands, cheap lumber, cheap provisions,
iron ore and manganese and lime rock in
, great quantities, with coal near by,
i which can be placed here at $2 per ton.
, Two railroads already, with another to
! be completed soon, to distribute the
products. B.
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT.
To the Memory of Trof. J. G. Ryals, Jr.
State Normal School, )
Jacksonville, Ala.,
April 20th, ISSS. )
A joiut meeting of the Board of Trus
tees and the Faculty ot the Alabama
State Normal School was this day held in
the Normal Room at the College, to pay
a tribute of respect to the memory of the
deceased president of the institution,
Prof. James G. Ryals, Jr.
On motion of Mr. 11. L. Stevenson, of
the board of trustees, a committee of two,
consisting of Prof. J. Harris Chappell,
of the faculty, and Mr. James Crook, of
the trustees, was appointed to draft reso
lutions suitable to the occasion.
In pursuance of this motion the com
mittee drew up and reported the follow
ing preamble and resolutions, which
were unanimously adopted by the meet
ing:
Whereas, Almighty God has seen fit,
in His inscrutable providence, to call
from this world the noble spirit of our
beloved teacher Prof. James G. Ryals,
Jr., who for the past two years has filled
with pre-eminet ability and success the
position of president of our State Nor
mal School; therefore be it
Resolved, 1. That we are profoundly
sensible of the fact that in the death of
Prof. Ryals, one of the most brilliant in
tellectual and moral lights of the south
has gone out, and that the cause of edu
cation has suffered a great calamity and
our own sohool an irreparable loss.
Resolved, 2. That we feel deeply
thankful that our children and youth had
the inestimable privilege of sitting, even
for the brief period of two years, at the
feet of this peerless young teacher, who,
by his whole walk and conduct in life,
both in school and out, set before them a
splendid example of all that is noblest
in man’s nature and of all that is best
and highest in human life.
Resolved, 3. That while we can offer
no other outward tribute to his memory
than this expression of our esteem for
his noble qualities and grief at his un
timely death, we are assured that, by the
profound moral and intellectual impress
that he has made upon the minds of his
pupils, he has erected for himselt a mon
ument that shall last through the ages,
“ more durable than brass and higher
than the lofty seat of the pyramids.”
Resolved, 4. That in giving utterance
to the sentiments embodied in these reso
lutions we are sure that we but voice the
feelings of the entire community, upon
whose affections he had so deeply im
pressed himself. Amid the universal la
mentation that went up at his death,
nothing seemed to us so touching and sig
nificant as the tears and heart-broken sobs
of the little children of the school, to
whom he had so greatly endeared him
self by his sweet and gentle manners.
Resolved, 5. That while mi. gling our
tears with those of his grief-stricken pa
rents, brothers and sister, we offer them
the only consolations that can solace the
bereaved heart. Their loved one, in all
his relations with his fellow men, lived
as a shining examine of the highest type
of manhood. In the discharge of the
trying and responsible duties of the vo
cation which he chose for his life’s work,
he wrought earnestly, nobly and welh
Throughout his pilgrimage on earth he
kept his soul erect and aspiring towards
heaven, as befitted a being made in the
image of God. No one who believes
that it is not all of life to live nor all of
death to die can doubt for a moment that
our loss is his eternal gain, and that he
now rests Irom his labors in the bosom of
his Father and God.
Resolved, G. That out of respect for
his memory, all exercises of
the State Normal School shall be sus
pended on Monday, April 20, the day ap
pointed for the interment of his remains
at Macon, Ga., the home of his parents.
Resolved 7, That these proceedings be
published in the Jacksonville Republican
and that a copy of them he sent to his pa
rents ; and also that The Cautersville
Cocraxt and the Macon Telegraph and
Messenger be requested to copy the same.
T. Harris Chappell,/ r .
James Crook, j'
Was It Not Bight?
A passenger entered the car at a small
village on the road. She seemed a little
German woman. She was very short of
stature indeed, and a little deformed.
Her face was not attractive, for it was
not only brown from exposure, but was
also very careworn and deeply lined.
She was very plainly dressed, and might
have been called by some outlandish, and
in her hand she nad a cotton umbrella
so large as to seem out of all proportion
with the size of the owner. She seemed
like a child almost, as she quickly took
the unoccupied part of a seat; and I no
ticed that the lady already occupying the
other part gathered up the tolds of her
dress in a manner and with an air not in
the least reassuring to the new-comer,
in case she was at all sensitive. How
ever, she seemed to pay little attention
to anything about her until she reached
her destination, a mile or two beyond.
The conductor had not yet made his ap
pearance, and our little old German lady
was embarrassed, not knowing what do
with her fare, and quite unwilling to
leave the car without paying for her ride.
“Who will take my money?” she said.
“You had better not wait; the train
will start,” replied several passengers.
“But I ought to pay. I must not
leave; I will go on to the next station.”
“Quick! and never mind the money,”
was the reply of some who seemed much
amused.
“Oh, dear me! I will leave the money
here, then,” said the woman; and she
placed the fare upon a window-sill and
hurried out.
Just too late the conductor came, and
seemed quite incredulous when the mon-
NUMBER 14.
ey was pointed out. For a moment there
was a tendency among the passengers to
exchange amused glances and humorous
remarks, as though some droll mistake
I had been made. But this was quickly
followed by serious thoughtfulness and a
sort of a half-expressed appreciation,
which led me to suppose that if the occa
sion had required, there were many in
the car who would have entrusted the
good woman with whatever valuables
the\’ might have about them.
Sometimes the image of that face—
once, perhaps, as lair as any, but wrin
kled and much faded siuoc— seems to re
appear at the car window or door. The
face seems always full of confusion and
embarrassment, a it was that day in
July, but the moral beauty of the. soul of
that little German immigrant never
seems faded, and in contrast with her
conscientious purpose, rather to go to
the next station and walk back a dusty
mile or two, than to retain what justly
belonged to another, the “sharpness” of
worldly minds seems ugliness and de
formity.—S. S. Classmate.
CONVICT LAItOK.
Rome Corn ior.
We publish the following from the
Memphis Appeal, of the 2Gth inst., on
the employment of convict labor, with
our hearty endorsement, expressing, as
it does exactly, our own views upon the
subject, as heretofore explained. The
convict lease system in Georgia, as now
operated, is another one of the remnants
of the period of political jobbery and
corruption* in our State that should be
wiped out as soon as possible. Abolish
ing slavery, so-called, as it existed with
us before the war, the people have
suffered a few political jobbers and spec
ulators to establish a system of slavery’
for their private gain, and to the detri
ment of honest labor, that is a disgrace
to the civilization of the age :
The employment of convict labor to
the detriment of free labor is so mani
festly bad in policy and wrong in prin
ciple that in several of the States dis
cussion is carried on as to how convicts
can be employed so as to benefit the pub
lic without doing injustice to the laborer.
That such injustice exists is seen in our
own State. During the winter there was
much levee w’ork doing down the river,
and when tiie contractors advertised in
the West for “hands,” owing to the
trade depression, they had two men
shipped down to them where they wanted
one; and crowds of industrious fellows
were roaming everywhere in search of
work, and generally in vain. Yet all
the time convicts in Tennessee were
doing the work in the coal mines these
men would have been gratef'd for. A
way of so disposing of employment as
to give work to the criminal and deny it
to the hoi,‘.st man is so clearly wrong as
to be utterly Indefensible, Tennessee
practices it. It is time we
abuse among other necessary changes we
are making. The more the question is.
discussed in the newspapers the more
conviction extends that the best employ
ment for convict labor is road making.
Everywhere, even in old States, good
roads are wanted, such as can be trav
elled in all weather. With ready access
by good wagon roads to railway and
market, the farmer would become more
prosperous, business would increase,
lands would be settled, the population
would be enlarged, lands would increase
in value, and the general prosperity
would be promoted. In and around
Memphis we are practically testing the
road making system, and so far with
gratifying results. In Missouri the in
troduction of the same plan is strongly
advocated. In New York State the plan
of giving the labor to the criminal that
is wanted by the honest class has been
abandoned and the introduction of road
labor for the penitentiary inmates is
urged. The New York Herald is advo
cating the system. It says: “Road
making is work which never is well
enough done, because with hired labor it
is too expensiye for any but very rich
communities. Even in our richest coun
ties the principal highways are generally
bad. But convict labor at a price to be
determined by the Co3t of maintaining
the convicts, would enable any county or
town to do two or three times as much
work on its roads as now, without in
creasing expenses. The inmates of hun
dreds of village jails are utilized at road
making; why not those of the State
prisons?” There is work enough for all
of them.
WEIGHTS TO THE BUSHEL.
For tlio convenience of farmers and others
who have net the information always accessible,
we give the following table of weights to the
bushel, as adopted by the Merchants’ Exchange,
of Nashville, and in use in most of the state of
Tennessee:
LBS.! LBS.
Apples—green 50j Millet seed
dried 21; German 50
Beans—dried 60j Hungarian 43
green in hull So| Missouri 50
Barley 4*' Tennessee 50
Bran 20 Oats .32
Buckwheat SOiOnions .50
Cement 80 sets 32
Charcoal. 22 Peas—dried . .00
Coal—stone (in yard,.7o green (in hull 30
Clover seed —red 60 Peaches 5)
sapling 6 peeled 40
Corn—shelled 50 unpeeled 36
unshucked 74 j Peanuts 23
shucked 70 Potatoes—lrish 60
Flaxseed 561 (2J£ bu to the bar’l.)
Grass seed—blue. .14 Potatoes—sweet 50
orchard 14 (2)i bu to the bar’l.)
red top ... 14 Bye 56
Lan lplaster. 100 Salt 50
Lime—unslakc.d . SO ’Sorghum seed 42
slaked.. . .... 40 Timothy seed. 45
Meal—coru 50 Tomatoes 2o
Turnips 50
Wheat 60,
The Georgians that went on to Wash
ington G’ity, to offer themselves up on
the rugged altar of office are coming
home wLh their minds full of the fore
boding fear that they will be left. It is
sad that men who are prepared to serve
their country should not have the oppor
tunity of so doing. But there is plenty
of land in Georgia, and faithful farming
pays. Let “gee haw” be their battle
cry. Thus will the hard, unfeeling men
at Washington be put to eonfusion—Al
bany News and Advertiser,