Georgia weekly telegraph, journal & messenger. (Macon, Ga.) 1880-188?, December 02, 1881, Image 1

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JOUEISTAL AND MESSENGER TflE FAMILY JOURNAL—NEWS—POLITICS- LITERATURE—AGRICULTURE—DOMESTIC NEWS, Etc.—PRICE $2.00 PEB ANNUM. GEORGIA TEL APH BUILDING MACON", FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1881. VOLUME LV-NO. 48 T11E now CALL. “Corporal Green l" the orderly cned; •“Here I" was the answer, loud and clear, From the lips of the soldier who stood near, > And “Horel” was the word the next re plied. “Cyrus Drew ’."—then silence fell— This time no answer followed the call} Only his roar man had seen him fall— Killed or wounded, he could not tell. There they stood in the falling light; ■ These men of battle, with grave, dark looks, Ab plain to be read as open books, Whilo slowly gathered tho shades of night. The fern on the hillsides was splashed with blood, And down in tho corn where tho poppies grow; ; Were reddor stains than tho poppies knew; And crimson-dyed was tho river’s flood. For the too had crossed from tho other side That day in tho face of a murderous fire, That swept them down in its terrible ire, And their life blood went to color the tide. “Herbert Klino 1” At tho call thoro camo Two stalwart soldiers into the line. Bearing between them this Herbort Kline, Wounded and bleeding, to answer his name. and voioe answered “Ezra Kerri” “Here l” “HiramKerr!” but no man replied— They were brothers, these two—the sad wind sighed, And a shudder cropt through the corn field near. “Ephraim Dcnne 1” then a soldier spoke; '•Deane carried onr regiment’s colors,” ho said, “Where oar ensign was shot I loft him dead. Just after tho enemy wavered and broke. “Close to tho roadside his body lies; I passed a moment and gave him a drink; Ho murmured his mother’s name, I think, And death came with it, and closed his eyes.” ’Twos a viotory, bnt it cost us dear; For that compsny’s roll, when called at Of n’fiaudrod light, Numbered but “Here!” men that went into tho twenty that answered AUNT AGATHA’S CONVERSION. [From AU the Tear Sound ] CHAPTER I. “Whip ill” said my aunt. With kerchief pinned over her well-de veloped bust, and apron tied ronud her figure, she was engaged in manufacturing a batch of lemon-cheese cakes for which the materials had been brought into her neat little “keeping room;” and just as with sleeves tucked up (she was rather proud of her beautiful arms) she was im mersed in the mysteries of rolling, and patting, and buttering tins, and lining them with crust, glancing out of tho win dow, she had seen the immaculate car riage of Miss Tipple stopping at the door, and a gentleman banding out that spruce aud dainty little personage. Poor Betsy Ward, aunt Agatha’s only servant, had likewise taken a stealthy peep, and sbo now bustled Into the room. “Lor*, mum,” said she; “there’s Miss Tipple and a strange gentleman; let me clear away the things while you go and make yourself tidy. They can knock again, and I’ll have them away in a min ute.” “No, Betsy,” said my annt, “Miss Tip ple Knows very well that I make my own pastry and when she comes to see mo she must just take me as I am. There, open the door.” And she .complacently went on with her Tolling and’ patting. The fact is, aunt Agatha liad no great opinion of Miss Tipple. Herself, though very limited as to income, the representa tive of one of the oldest and most respect ed families in Hilderstock, slie did not consider that Miss Tipple, whose father, she remembered as a well-to-do grocer was at all lifted to equality with her by her wealth, aud ahe had not formed a very exalted estimate or Miss Tipple’s si ncerity or of her discretion, so that when she now entered tlio room, aunt Agatha, quite un disturbed by her rich and Irreproachable costume, looked at her coolly, as who should say; “I’ve taken the measuro of you, my lady, and I don’t think much of you." “Tou’d belter not come too near me, said aunt Agatha as Miss Tipple advanced, nutting out a pretty little neatly-gloved hand, “for, you see, I’m all over floar. But those that fear feathers shouldn’t go among wild fowl.” “My dear Miss Gayfer,” said Miss Tip ple, who always placed a strong emphasis on her adjectives, “you are so perfectly fresh and natural that It Is always charm ing to see you; so nnllke the artificial world which is made up of show. Lot me Introduce you to Mr. Jordan, my cou sin, our rector. I am snre you will bo de lighted with him.” My aunt acknowledged by a word or two the new rector’s salutioo, took a good look at him, and didn’t feel by any means so sure about it. He was a tall pale man, much marked with small-pox, with crisp black hair, and he spoke in a low, mellow, cooing voice, which most women found it pleasant to listen to. “I trust, Miss Gayfer,” said he, “that we shall be very good friends. I under stand that you are a recognized power in Ililde.-stock, and that your co-operation Is quite essential to success here.” “If you had said that I was pretty well known here, where I have spent my life,” said aunt Aeatha “you would have been well withiiftbe mark; as to influence, you will And that our people have, most of ’em, got a will of_tlieir own—and it’s generally wrong.” “That’s a less flattering description of my parishioners than I have had from my cousin,” said he, with a smile. “Ah, well, you’ll see. Tbo proof o fthe pudding is the eating. I don’t mean to say but what they are honest enough and good-natured. But they are shift less and willful, so that It’s very hard to help them.” “I am sure, my dear Miss Gayfer,” said Miss Tipple, “that your example andyour instructions have gone far to cure them of both these faults; and I know you will appreciate Frank, my cousin, who is the most methodical man iu the world. He has made an absolute conquest of the Blackmans and the Wilkensies, and the Wakelings." “Aye,” said auut Agalha, with a laugh, “new brooms sweep clean.” “Of one thing you may be sure, Frank," said Miss Tipple, turning to her cousin: “Miss Gayfer will always tell you what ah« thinks.” t “I certainly shan’t tell Mr. Jordan, nor anybody else, what I don’t think,” said aunt Agatha; “but all truths are not.to be told.” Presently, when the cheese cakes were finished and the apparatus dismissed, Miss Tipnle said: “You really must let my cousin see your exquisite fernery, Miss Gayfer. Toubave such perfect taste In ' all these matters, and manage them so admirably.” “It runs In the blood,” said my annt, not Insensible to the flattery. “My father was very fond of his garden, and she that comes of a hen must, scrape. But I’ve scarcely any pleasure to go into my gar den now, since Miss Payne has stuck up that abominable red brick wall at the end of it. It scorches my eyes to look upon it. Its not mncli after all,” she said, turn ing to Mr. JordaD, “but such as itls, come and see it.” She led the way up the steps which climbed Into the garden from the back door, between the dwarf yews and mag- nificcut trees of blush roses, old-lasbioued but sweet as the odors of a dream, and turning down to a little dell where dwarf ivy and periwinkle climbed over artfully disposed rocks, presented her pretty little fernery, lush and delicate in its verdure and delicious in its coolness. Mr. Jordan examined it with a critical eye. “Excellent, Miss Gayfer,” said he, stoop, ing down as he spoke to examine the soil. “But these scolo-pcndriums would do better if you would give them some saudv loam mixed with leaf mould.” “The man has got a grain of gumption In him, after all,” said my aunt’s sotto voice, but not so low as to be inaudiblo to a littltffnephow whose band she held, aud who, having a sense of humor, very per fectly succeeded in stifling.a laugh, as he caught Miss Tipple’s eye fixed on him. There was an awkward hush for a second or two, and in the pause the sound of shears was distinctly visible. My aunt gathered up her skirls with in imitable speed, and proceeded to investi gate, followed more le&surely by the cou sins, who seemed to be exchanging confi dences iu a complacent and affectionate manner, till they were startled by tho in dignant tones of my aunt’s voice exclaim ing: “Hi! youroan, wliat'are you doing there? How dare you?” On the opposite side of the garden rose the hideous red brick building which had excited my aunt’s righteous indignation. Just strangling up to reach this had been a magnificent crop of ivy, but the place thereof knew it no more, for a inau who stood there open-mouthed, with bis shears in bis hand, and with the spoils of his labor all round him, bad sheared and trimmed ft till the wall was as bare as billiard ball. My aunt had followed up her exclama tion by rushing across tho garden, seizing the intruder by the collar of his jacket, and shaking him till his teeth chattered in his bead. “Come away, Frank, come away!” said Miss Tipple, plucking the new rector’s sleeve. “The woman must be mad.” But Mr. Jordan, without heeding the injunction, with a smile on his face, strode to tiie scene of centlicl, just as my aunt, fairly out of breath, released poor Jobson iu a condition of extremejpbysicalexhaus tion and mental bewilderment. “Ob, its you, Jobson, is it?” she said, as soon as she had sufficiently recovered breath. “How dare you come trespassing here, and destroying my garden? You touch another leaf of that ivy, sir, and I'll make you smart for it, or my name is uot Agatha Gayfer.”- - There was scarcely a leaf left for him to touch; he bad done bis work com pletely. “Well,” she continued impatiently, “what do you stand there for, with your mouth open, like a drivelling idiot? Have you got nothing to say for yourself?” “Why, lord, Miss Gayfer,” said Jobson, “you right down skeer me, that you do; I han’t bad aicli a jouncing not sin’ I was tossed in a blanket. I never knowed 1 was doin’ any harm. M'S3 Payne, she said the ivy made her walls damp, and I was to come over an’ cut 1L She towld me, and I thought it was altWgbt. I never knowed I wa3 doing any barm. Why, lor, there—” “And you are such a horn fool, then, as to go and do whatever Miss Payne tells you? Don’t yon know I could have you prosecuted for trespass aud willful dam age? and I don’t know but what I shall, too. He that will needs blow In tho dust must look to fill his eyes with iu Now you go and tell Miss Payne, that if she has anything to say by way of excuse, she had tetter say it at once, or it may be too late.” “Bakes! Miss Gayfer,” begau Jobson, “I never—” “Don’t stand there, man, but go and do at I tell you.” The unhappy Jobson gathered up his tools, climbed the short ladder by which he had made his decent, drew it after him, and disappeared. “Its a most vexatious incident,” said the new rector. “Vexatious!” Interrupted my aunt with perfectly recovered composure, “its mad dening.” There was a curious contrast between the words and the tone lu which they were uttered, and the rector smiled as he said: “I hope, after the first natural ebulli tion of feeling, you will be able to accom modate your difference with this Miss Payne amicably.” “Oh, fiddle-de-dee?”said my aunt. “But there now, good-by. I shall see yon—on Sunday.” “My dear Miss Gayfer,” said Miss Tip ple, “your energy of character quite aston ishes me! I could no more have done what you did than I could write Frank’s sermon for him.” “Its just as well the world bolds a few people who have some control over them selves,” said my aunt with a langb. “That’s a remarkable woman,” said Mr. Jordan as he drove away with Miss Tipple. “A remarkably disagreeable woman,” said the lady with a little shudder. “Do yon think so?” said the new rector, and bom lapsed into silence. “Those people mean to make a match of it,” said my annt as she waited for Miss Payne. “Love and a cough, they say, can’t be hid, and any one can see she has made npherinind to marry him. A pretty dance she’ll lead him, too, poor fellow.” Miss Payne was a lady of ponderous bnild, bnt short in proportion to her bulk, with a complexion like an nncooked muf fin, and eyes In a chronic state of moisture, apt to overflow on slight provocation. She was elephantine In her movements, wheezy and faint in her voice, and lachrymose in her general views. Aunt Agalha, who had been chirping merrily, straightened herself in her chair as the click of the front gate announced the approach of this ob noxious personage. “Well!” exclaimed my aunt as she wad dled into the room. “Oh-h-hl" sobbed Miss Payne, sinking uninvited into a chair. My aunt eyed her with profound con tempt, but gave her time to recover breath before she asked: •'Well, Miss Payne, have you anything to say why I should not put this matter in the bands of a lawyer, and take pro ceeding against you for your abominable trespass.” “Miss Agatha!” gasped the offender, “I declare you frighten me, and my heart is that bad—" “Stuff!” said aunt Agatha promptly. “Only think, Miss Agatha, what’s the use of going to law with me—” “I know/’ broke in my aunt, “that whether you boll snow or pound it, you get only water; but t^put up with such an abominable outrage as this it to Invite injury. Those that make themselves sheep have no cause to complain if the wolf eats them.” “My dear Miss Agatha,”, pleaded Miss Payne. “Don’t ‘dear Miss Agatha’ me, woman,” said my aunt; “it makes ms sick.” “I declare, Miss Agatha, I’m more vexed than you can thiuk. You know damp ' makes me so miserable.” “I don’t know,” said my aunt abruptly. “It really does, and the ivy did make the wall damp.” “Then you should have told me about it, and not send people trespassing in my garden.” “I never thonght, Mis3 Agatha, Jobson was going to do so much. I told him just to trim the ivy so that it didn't make the wall damp.” “I don’t believe it,” said my aunt. “I know Jobson very well, and you told him to cut it down or he wouldn’t have done so, and you made him believe I knew all about it.” “I didn’t really. Miss Agatha, no, really, I didn’t. When I saw wbat he’d done, you might have knocked me downwith feather. I am so sorry you were aunoy- ed—” “Annoyed!” said my aunt with vehe mence. “Miss Payne, I could have skin ned you.” Poor Miss Payne gave a start of such unmistakable alarm that my aunt’s sense of the comic over-mastered hor indigna tion, and she broke into laughter after which she felt that it was quite hopeless to prolong the interview, aud she accor dingly brought it to an abrupt close, say ing: “Well, Miss Payne, it’s no nse crjing over spilt milk. I don’t forgive you yet, and it’s no use pretending I do, but I will not say anything more about this affair. But if you ever do sucli a thing again, I won’t spare you, mind that.” “Ah, now, Miss Agatha,” said the old lady, gathering spirit with this promise, “dou’t half do the thing whilo you are about it. Let us be friendly and neigh borly.” “We may come to that in time,” was the reply. “He’s a. fool that asks much; and lie’s more fool that grants it. I feel very sore about this matter. I shall tell you, ami I shall take a week and a day to get over it. And now the less that’s said about it the more likely I shall be to for get, so good-by.” Miss Payne gasped, heaved her deepest sigh, shook her underdone head and wad dled off. CHAPTER II. Aunt Agatha pronounced Mr. Jordan’s first sermon “ ery sensible.” and wonder ed what such a man could tea in that 'mincing affected little hi: of goods, Miss Tipple.” But as the weeks went by she did not hear of him quite in tho way she liked iu the cottages where she visited, and she heard of Turn a good deal more than she liked in a parson at the parish, at garden parties, archery-meetings, and social gath crings of various kinds. Not that he fail ed to visit among the humbler inhabitants oi Hilderstock, but while she beard of him as smoking his pipe with them, talking about their gardens, or their pigs anti their poultry, and otherwise rendering himself very popular, he never seemed to spea* to them of religion, or about purely professional topics. This was very different from the prac tice of the late rector, a zealous evangeli cal, whose dutiful disciple aunt Agatha had been, though in her sturdy independ ence she had sometimes ventured to ex press her doubt as to tho wisdom of pro longed exhortions in houses where the struggle for existence was hard and ex acting, for, as she would say, “you can’t make a windmill go with a pair of bel lows.” Something between tbe prolixity of his predecessor and tbe too purely mundaue converse of Mr. Jordan would have been her idea of the happy man. “I have just been telling Mrs. Grimp- son,” said he one day when he encounter ed her at tho door of a cottage, “that if she wauls her hens to lay she must vary their food a little.” ‘Don’t you think thore are some things more important than hen’s eggs you might peak to Nanny Gimpson about?” asked my aunt, lookiug him full in the face. “I’m afraid she is dreadfully ignorant, and they say parsons and souls’ waggoners.” “Do you know, Miss Gayfer,"he an swered, “ibal when 1 see that cheerful, active old lady, stricken with pain and with years, making the thinnest of liveil hood by unremitting care yet always con tented, I feel that it is forme to leant aud be silent; she is the teacher.” My aunt was silent for a second of two, and them answered: “There is a great deal in what you say, but it is a way of looking at things that ia now to me. If it is the right way, I think I have wasted a good deal of time.” “Assuredly not,” said ho, “you have carried brightness aud order into many homes, and wherever I go I find you have bec-n an influence for good. Sympathy Is the true ‘open sesame’ to a hnman heart, and in power for sympathy wo men lag far behind women.” From that time a gradual change was observed in aunt Agatha’s dealings with the poor folks whom she visited. It would have beeu difficult to say exactly wbat it was. A more frequent touch of tender ness, a greater readiness to make allow ances for the circumstances and difficul ties of each. A greater readiness to help there could not be, but there was less read iness to scold. Sometbimes, in the course of her inde fatigable rounds, she would meet with and have pleasant conversations with the rector, and would come home quite radiant with pleasure. At other times ahe only heard of him as having been the life and soul of some party, rowing Miss Tipple and her friends down the river, organizing picnics, and othor frivolities on which auut Agatha looked with scant toleration, “That mau,” she remarked one day, “might put new life in the whole pansb, and he’s becoming a mere butterfly. Its bad enough now; but wbat will it be after he gets married to that shallow, worldly- minded woman, Heaven only knows.” One day in early autnmn, as auut Agatha was moving softly among her as ters and chrysanthemums, musing prob ably of theso matters, a harsh crashing noise and a shock as of an earthquake rudely broke the current of herrefleetions. She turned in the direction from which the sound bad come, and there, where Miss Tayne’s flaunting eyesore of red brick upper story had been, was a cloud of dust, momently thinning, and leaving tbe clear blue of a bright October sky. “A good riddance of bad mbbisb,” was aunt Agatba’s brief exclamation; but then, the possibilities involved suddenly flashed upon her mind, and slie added: “Heaven forgive me! Why, the woman and that poorjiittle half-starved LucyJChalk may be juried iu those ruins!” In an instant she was rushing out of the garden, bonnet flying after her, quite un- cousclous of the amazed look of tbo butch er over tbe way, the group of milliners at Miss FIrmin’s, and the portly landlord of tbe Bed Lion, who, Ignorant as they were of wbat had transpired at the rear of aunt Agatba’s dwelling, were half amused and half curions about her deshabille and her haste. “Herel.bi!” she called to two men who were passing. “Jobson, Tvlcr, come with me to Miss Tayne’s directly. There has been on accident there; the new story has fallen in.” Hastening with them round*tbe corner of Horn Lane, she came upon Miss Tipple escorted by the rector, with whom she was gaily conversing. “My dear Miss Gayfer!” said Miss Tip ple, advancing with hereverlaatlDg wintry smile. “Wbat Is tbe matter, Miss Gavier?” ask ed Mr. Jordan. “Can I help you?” Just then a small boy came running by, and thinking be might be nseful to run errands, aunt Agatha impounded him by clutching the collar of his jacket, a piece of his ear, and a handful of his hair, hold ing him in a firm grasp while she explain ed to tho rector briefly wbat bad hap pened. “You may as well ccme,” she added, “though I don’t know you can do any thing. Better a lame foot than none.” And without parley she hurried on. Miss Tippie, who clung to the rector’s arm, and with a soft Invincibility declined either to hurry her steps or to be left be hind, so impeded his motion that aunt Agatha, with her fo’lowers, were out of sight in no time. When at last be caste up, half dragging the shrinking and reluc- taut Miss Tipple, whose strong objection to imperiling either her person or her mil- lucry quite overmastered her curiosity, sbo heard aunt Agatha’s voice ringing out from tho dusty confusion with anything but compUmentry exhortations to her re cruits, who were pausing irresolute at the entrance. “Don’t you go In, Miss Agatha—now don’t you,” shouted one of tbe men “That ain't safe, really.” “You cowardly loons,” said my aunt, “would you let the woman die without help.” “Don’t go, Frank,” said Miss Tipple, “You hoar it is not safe, and you’ll get your coat all over dust.” Mr. Jordan firmly but not ungontlj re moved her grasp. “Where there i3 danger aud distress there is the parson’s place,” he said, and in another moment lie had followed a’unt Agatha, the mon timidly imitating his ex ample, and toaving Miss Tipple alone with little Job Chalk, of whom she did not condescend to take any notice. The rickety building was a mere heap of ruins. Some village wiseacre bad su perimposed on a lath aud plaster base ment a brick upper story. This angle of tho building had fallen !n, and in its fall had dragged with it older portions of the house, so that now the timbers were slop ing in all directions, aud what had not actually fallen seemed tottering to its fall. Among those dangerous debris aunt Agatha was making her way, when some of the boldest of those who were following her started bacK with a shout of alarm. A thin bluo ami k:, followed by a bubgry, vicious-looking longue of fiaure, was ; ap- pareut, and even Mr. Jordan and aunt 1 Agalha, who were now side by side, paus' ed for an instant on seeing these evidences ol peril. Tho hesitation, which was but momentary, did not survive tho styled sound of moauing that broke upon ’the ear. But auut Agatha was no longer allow, ed to ts_m tbe command. The soft cooing voice to which she bad at times listenei with something akin to contempt could assurno the tone of command, and, strong as she was, and ‘masterful’ ts alj tho' vil lage folks said, aiint Agatha was woman lu her heart] leaning with gladness Sod submission on a stronger will than her own. “You wait here,” said Mr. Jordan, “for a few moments. I will call you if you can be of help;”'and then with a keen rapid glauco sweeping those who • were present, lie singled out a. robust young man, and in a voice that might have led soldiers on to battle, said: “Howard you come with me.” Tho young fellow olreyod as a matter of course, aud then ensued a short pause of painful suspense, Presently Howard reappeared with a flushed aod /tightened expression, but evidently putting a strong restraint upon himself. ' • “Stallybrass aud Ward, you bo to come with me. Miss Agatha, you be to waif.” But Boh Howard’s voice had not the magic of Mr. Jordan’s, and she would wait no ionger. Pushing her way through the ruins and smoko with those who had been summoned into what had been Miss Payne’s littlo parlor, she pressed her lips lightly together, and the color fled from her face as she saw the motionless form of her old enemy stretched on a conch there, and standing by the side of It the rector, blood stream ing from a wound on his head, his coat torn, and one arm hanging listlessly by his side.' Some falling bricks and Umber had struck him and had disabled tbe arm, aud lest his appearance should excite aiarm, he bad sent Bob Howard with the message for help and a strict injunction to say nothing beyond what he had been told. In a few seconds Miss Payne, moro frightened than hurt, was moved beyond the reach of peril, and was conveyed to Aunt Agatha’s cottage, accompanied by the wounded rector. Auut Agatha’s fore sight had already summoned good Dr. Holmes to the place; and hurrying as fast as his lame foot would permit, he reached the cottage almost at tbe same time as the cavalcade. Miss Tipple, indignant that her cousin should liavo deserted her for “that woman,” had uot awaited tbe Issue of tbe investigations. Dr. Holmes pronounced Mias Payne to hAve sustained a very severe shock from fright, but to be free from boldly damage. The rector’s arm was broken, hut the wound on tho head was only skin deep, and not much more serious than the tom coat. From that time, for many months, Aunt Agatha’s house became Miss Payne’s heme, and her hostess tended her with all tbe solicitudo of a daughter. A great poet has told us that “the learned eye is still the loving one,” and it so happened that iu this unwearied tendance and min istration Aunt Agatha discovered not a lew unsuspected virtues in tbe fat, wheezy, puffy old soul, and something like eenuino attachment sprung up be tween them. A very constant attendant was the Rev. Frank Jordan. Even when his arm was still very painful, and he might well have been excused had fie abstained from visi ting a parishioner who was lu no immi nent danger, his solicitude about Miss Payne was remarkable. In spite of the severity of winter snows and frosts, his arm secared by splints and bandages, he would come, and sit for a whole ten min utes with Miss Payne, and for whole hours talking with Aunt Agatha—proba bly about the patient’s symptoms. But tbe snow molted on tbe high bills, and the brooks, swollen with their muddy tribute, chattered noisily down tbe slopes, and snowdrops andjcrocoses, daffo dils aud violets bloomed again, and iu due course tbe breath of tbe blush roses In the garden was wafted into the cottage. And then people in the village said, and laughed at each other as they said it, that Miss Tipple was going to give up Barham House and to leave Hilderstock. She had indiscreetly spoken to some bosom friends of her approaching marriage with the rector, and before he chrysanthemums had opened out their ragged beauties to the next autnmn sun it became known that Mr. Jordan’s consent had never been asked for this arrangement, and that tbe parson had, with good success, asked that “remarkably disagreeable woman” tb be his bride. Miss Tipple reflected, however, with some complacency that the living was a very poor one, and that Miss Gayfer’s fortune, for all her ridiculous pride, was barely enough for her to live on In decen cy. But even in this she fell Into her be setting sin of premature talk; ior when x>or Miss Psyoe died a year or so later, t was found that be bad left tbe whole of her not inconsiderable fortune to Frank Jordan, In recognition of the great kind nesses aud services that she had received from her dear friend Agatha, bis wife. :r— ■;——: THE HUPHEJKB COVBT. Decisions Readend October 11, last Concluded. Abridged for the Telegraph and Meeeenger bp MM ft Morris, Attorney at Law, Mae on Oeorula. White vs. Moss. Complaint for land from Harris. Crawford, J.—Neither a legal nor an equitable amendment which sets out a new cause of action and requires new par ties can be made to au action of law. (a) An action of complaint for land cannot bo amended by alleging that tbe land belonged to an estate of which the plaintiff was a distributee; that the ad ministrator sold it in £1804, and bad it bought in for himself; that the present holder claims under the administrator, and knew of this sale, that the adminis trator obtained a final receipt from the plaintiff by fraudulent statements—with a prayer to set aside the sale and cancel the deeds under it. i. . (J>) A purchase by an administrator at his own sale is violabL, not void. 2. Where suit was brought iu 1880, on a cause of action which appeared by amendment to have arisen prior to June 1,1805, it must appear that the plaintiff was under some disability,.or came with, in some exception to the act of 1800} and brought suit within proper time after the same was removed. (a) Fraud in which the defendant to aft action,on its face barred by the statute, was in no way coucemed .will not operate as a relief from such bars. Judgment affirmed. Blanchard, Williams ft Co. vs. Paschal Homestead, from Talbot. Crawford, J.—L A partner may have an exemption set apart out of part nership property. The assets of a part- nership belong to the individuals compos ing the firm. The partnership is not s separate eulity whose debts must be paid before the members have title to tbe property. (a). That a severance of the partner ship property was made after levy by a creditor of the firm, and one memberthen applied for an exemption out of the part taken by him, did not affect his right to an exemption. 2. That all the partners iu a firm had drawn their capital did not, ip»o facto, cake away tbe right of one of them to a homestead. Fraud must enter into the transaction to effect that result. 3,4. One oi the issues ou an applica tion for homestead being whether the ap plicant had made a full and fair disclo sure of all his property, and it appearing that a firm of which he. was a member, and from whose assets he sought to have the exemption made, llad shortly before been in possession of a large amount of property or 'money, tha’ J burden was on the applicant to account for it. Judg ment affirmed. » Wood vs. Pierce. Equity, from Muscogee. Speer, J.—1. In 1855 a siave could not acquire title in Georgia by descent or otb erwise, nor could a valid trust be created In bis favor. M _ 2. The actof 18U>, W|#eh provided that free persons of colorf'dBuld acquire aud hold real estate In Georgia, except tn cer tain cities, and that tbe same should re main in the owner or bis or her descend ants after death, contemplated that such descendants would be free persons of col or. Therefore, where a tree person of color died in 1855 leaving an estate and no heir save a slave, the title did not vest in him; nor did it subsequently vest upon his emancipation. Judgment affirmed Cook vs. Winter et'al. Ejectment from Muscogee. Speer, J.—Where deeds purported to convey certain lands in Alabama, and also “the buildings, outhouses, water courses, water privileges and advantages to said land belonging, or which tbe said Rock Island Company may have acquired from the State of Georgia;” and where it ap peared from tbe parol testimony that lor three years the Rock Island Company had been in possession of the Alabama Iandso conveyed, which extended into the Chat tahoochee river between Georgia and Ala bama, aud also of tbe dam extending from the western bank of the nrer to the fac tory, and were manufacturing -.paper thereat. Such deeds were at least admis sible as color of title, though the mill itself was in the river, and most of tbe property in Georgia. Moses, trustee, vs. Eagle and Phenlx Manufacturing Company. Motion to enter judgment, from Muscogee. (Crawford, J., did not preside in this case.) Speer, J.—Where distinct parcels of property are levied on underone levy, and all claimed by tbe same claimant, the whole tried under one issue, and a ver dict rendered finding certain particular larcels of the property subject, the legal nteudment of such a verdict would be that tbe balance was not subject. (а) . While it might have been more regular to have reqnired the jury to have found explicitly, as to all the lota before receiving the verdict, yet where the ver dict has been returned and a judgment rendered ordering the fi. fa.,, to proceed against the parcels found subject, the [udgment could subsequently be amended by declaring the true intendment of the verdict and adjudging accordingly. (б) . That a judgment has been before the Supreme Court for review and has been affirmed will cot prevent a subse quent amendment so as to more certainly declare the effect of the verdict. Judg ment affirmed. Slade & Etheredge vs. Paschal, et’al. Complaint, from Talbot. Speer, J.—l.IfN. furnished mouey to ■ to conduct business, and the latter was to let him have goods at coot prices, and nothing was said as to interest or profits and losses, this would amount to a loan, aud would not constitute N. aud P. part ners. 2. IfP. represented toH. that he was a partner toN. and so told N. of such repre sentations, and the latter acquiesced lu them by silence or otherwise, N. would be liable as a partner, and his liability would date from the making or such rep resentations or the first credit given there under. Judgment reversed. DECISIONS RENDERED OCTOBER 18, 1881. McDonald vs. Eagle and Phenlx Manu facturing Company. Case, from Mus cogee. Jackson, J.—1. To entitle the widow of a servant to recover against a principal for the negligence of a fellow servant of that principal for the homicide of the hus band which resulted from such negligence, it must appear that the homicide amount ed to a crime iu said neglectful servant, either murder or manslaughter oi some grade. 2. A principal ia not liable for tbe neg ligence of a fellow servant in the same Ion, unless the principal himself was neg- igent iu not using ordinary diligence In selecting the fellow servant, or in retain ing him after knowledge of incompetency or negligence. Nor will the* bare fact that the servant afterwards became negli gent show—without more—negligence in tbe principal in selecting. 3. One may waive tbs special contract and sue m tort for breach of duty, U there were such special contract, and the con tract might warrant the competency and care of the fellow servant, and be then in voked to change the legal principle on 'on which the liability of the principal would turn out for the tort; but. no special contract is set out In this declaration so as to vary that general legal principle. 4. A workman engaged in the same job with two or three others, aud having the direction of it, is not a general superin tendent oi a corporation so as to bind it as such, but stands on the footing of a mere fellow servant. Judgment affirmed Boyd vs. Flournoy, McGebee A Co., at al. Exceptions to auditor’s report, from Marion. Jackson, C. J.—On a bill to marshal assets and settle an estate, a note given by Use intestate in his life time for ad vances to conduct his farm will take precedence of a debt by open account con tracted by tbe widow in connection with tbe same farm pending an application for administration which was never granted to her. J udgment affirmed. Clayton vs. May. Mortgago, from Mus cogee. Jackson, C. J. —1. The courts of Geor- ia will take judicial cognizauce of the fact that tbe city ol Columbus, Ga., is iu Muscogee county; and therefore au affida vit to foreclose a chattel mortgage which alleged the residence of thedelendantand the location of the goods to be lu the city of Columbus, Ga., sufficiently stated the venue. 2. One partner sold his interest in tbe firm to the otber, and took three notes therefor. These were secured by a chat tel mortgage, the condition of which was, in substance, that if the purchaser should pay the notes or ahouid pay off the claims against the firm (stating them) by the day specified in the notes, said notes being based on these claims, then tbe mortgage should be void; otherwise of full force and effect. The affidavit to foreclose this mortgage, which was made after tbe notes fell dus, stated, in effect, that neither mode of payment had been com plied with; that certain claims (specifying them) were due aud outstanding against the firm, and the amount of them due on the notes. It prayed foreclosure to make' tho amount of such claims, aud save the mortgagee from loss: Held, that the allegations as to an in debtedness on the notes and the amount thereof were sufficient. Judgment re versed. . Commissioner Rsom’a Keport. Washington, November 21).—Com missioner Baum, of tho Internal Revenue Department, to-day submitted his annual report to the Secretary of the Treasury lor the fiscal year ending June 30,1881. The report shows that the receipts from in terns! revenue in round numbers for the fiscal year 1870 were $113,000,000;for 1S80, $124,000,000 aud for 1881 $135/100,000. The receipts for the hrst lour mouths of the present fiscal year have been $51,000,- 000 , aud if this increase should be main tained during the remaining eight months of : tbe fiscal year, the receipts for 1882 will Jbe fully $157,000,000. Respecting the reduction of the internal revenue taxes, Commissioner Baum says a large increase in-the receipts of the government and a great redaction in the principal and interest of the public debt are causing a discussion as to the proprietary reducing the income of the government by lowering some of tbe taxes and dropping others al together.) : vio- He then calls attention to the recent ac tion of tbe National Distillers’ Associa tion iu favor or a reduction of the tax on distilled spirits, and says: “Whenever the wants of the government will allow a re duction of the internal taxation, my opin ion is that it will be wise to confine these taxes to distilled spirits, malt liquors, to bacco and its products, and to special taxes upon manufacturers and dealers in these articles, and to fix taxes at such rates as will yield the amount of reveuue necessary to be raised from these sources.” On tbe subject of the enforcement of the lews, the commissioner reports tbst iu the collection districts where frauds iu the manufacture and sale of tobacco aud spir its have been rife and where resistance to authority has prevailed there has beeu manifest improvement in public senti ment. He says that while there have been 850 illicit distilleries seized and 1,- 510 illicit distillers arrested during the last sixteen months, Illicit distilling has jy the active operations of the past five yean been reduced to a minimum, and. the illicit manufacture of tobacco bas for the most part been abandoned. In this connection tbe report says: “By maintaining a careful supervision over those districts where frauds bsva hitherto ]>revailed, having them regularly policed >y deputy collectors, I believe that a re lapse into the former condition of fraud, lawlessness and bloodshed will be pre vented.” Commissioner Raom again recommends additional legislation for the protection of tbe lives and persons of officers of the United States from tbe un lawful assaults of those who res'st their authority. He is of the opinion that there should be a law for the trial and punish ment in the courts of the United States of persons who kill or make assaults with the intent to kill officers of the United States while engaged in the performance of their lawful duties. *■» There has, the commissioner says, been already ascertained to be due tbe sum of $722,705 from seventy banks in the cities of Chicago, New Fork, Baltimore, Bos ton and Philadelphia, a considerable por tion of which lias been collected and paid into tho treasury. O'faer collectors have been instructed to examine the banks oi their respective districts in regard to tbeir liability for additional taxes. Tbe com missioner says be is satisfied that large additional sums are due the government from ibis source. The total amount of collections from tobacco for tbe year was $42,854,001. which is about $4,000,000 more than tbe receipts from the same sources last year. This amount includes taxes imposed upon im ported manufactured tobacco, snuff and cigars and special taxes paid by manufac turers. The IMS oi Arcadia. From the Courier Journal. Readers of telegraphic news perhaps noticed during last week an occasional line referring to a disturbance at the Michigan Agricultural College. From these meager details we gather that sever al of the students entered a watermelon patch, near tbe college, and appropriated some of the fruit of the earth found there in ; that tbs owner next day manifested his disapproval of such proceedings in a very emphatic manner; that one of tbe young marauders appeased him by paying himforhiamissing melons; that there upon the other students, to the number or 100, felt themselves so outraged that they compelled tbe mercenary melon man to refund tbe money; and that tbe faculty then asserted its authority, and ordered that tbe money should at once be return ed to the disconsolate fanner. Tbe stu dents reftued; twenty-five of them were suspended; the remainder then held an indignation meeting, and, eigbty-five strong, resolved to rebel and leave the col lege in a body, unless their fellows were taken back. The war raged for over a week, bnt a day or two ago a dispatch an nounced that peace had 'been declared, and that all the students bad beeu re stored to tbe college roll. No one who bas ever been a boy can read oi this affair without interest. Ar cadia is now bat a dream of tbe poets. Tbe days are long sines dead when Fan piped to the Slleni and Syivans and Fauns; when the heart was fresh, and tbs World was lair, and its fruits were free; wljenthe year was a summer,and life was an-tdyl, and the soul was a song; when between the amorous 1’bllemou aud the tender Phyllis it was all "coo” and no “bill"—neither ior opera, nor ice, nor breach of promise; a lien the gods trod the earth, and faith tilled men,aud plenty tbe land,and picket fences were net; and when the careless Corydou, coming or going, could feast himself whenever be listed upon the crimson crispness oi tbe luscious melon, without having to hustle and hump himself to get out of the way of the watchful bull-dog, or to protect his rear from the flying bird-shot. It may be but a fancy, hut we some times think that of these days there are but two remnants left- 'they are the wa- termelou and the boy, hampered, of course, by the laws and conditions of a Juggernaut system of society, but still recognizable relics of the vanished Age of Gold. There -is something about tbe water melon, lawless rover that it is, that ap peals at once to a responsive, element in man, which, though hedged about by the social restrictions of his own construction, can never be wholly eradicated. Bril liant in crimson, and green as “grow the rashes, 01” its very colors are those of the great commune and the renewing yonth of nature, while to the taste it brings a refreshing sweetness that is like a breeze from Pel ion and a draught from Feneus—a subtle flavor that is as a memory of Tempo’s vale and “The bees on the bells of thyme.” People msy net give theso sentiments definite form in their thoughts, but they are governed, by them nevertheless. Is there a man who was ever young, be he learned scholar, solid merchant or pious preacher, who can count the number of watermelons he has enjoyed without the consent of tbeir owners? And is there a mau among them all, however much he may have mended his wsys, who, away down In hia heart, has ever repented of theso delights of bis boyhood, or- ever thought that there, was anything to repent about? When he gets to a watermelon patch every mm is a freebooter, or ugl t to be, If the turmoil of the world bas not made him callous to every reminiscence of the days when “you were Bill and I was Joe.” We have even known good church members, during a camp-meeting to go on a secret scout into the elder’s melon patch while he was praying. If there is any pnblic sentiment which demands tbe punishment of a melon raider, it is a poor article of public sentiment, and decidedly too d.vs- jeptlc to thrive in this latitude. Who ever aeard of any one being punished for steal ing a watermelon ? It was tried once in Tennessee, three or four years ago. Good old Judge Frazier, of the Davidson and Rutherford circuit, was presiding; au un lucky negro was the prisoner; a very young lawyer was defending him;; twelve good men and true were iu the box. There was no doubt that the prisoner had stolen tbe melons; the proof against him was as dear as noonday. Tho attorney called no witnesses whatever, but simply arose and said ‘May it please your Honor and gentle of tbe jury, my client is charged A pension at present is very frequently what a grateful country gives a patriot for keeping ont of gunshot daring the war, and thus saving valuable life. Rsnan has rbenmatism. He is, neverthe less, busy, and tells the Itftlians that tha anti-clerical clubs have in their bands tha problem of tbe nineteenth century. The strikes have broken ont in Franoe A reward is offered for tbe best essay on the subject of how to stop such proceedings by the academy of political science. Whatxveb else may bo said about tha judiciary of the country it must be admit ted that Judge Lynch ia getting in about as much work as any other man on tbe benoh “Jnt” Keene, the stock broker, was onoe a stationery peddler in Sac Francisco. Ha saved a little money and put it in the Savage mine just as it was being “pooled,” and ha thereby cleared nearly $1,000,000. Colorado has began to rednoe native iron ore by tho nse of native coal, and tha prospect is that before long all kinds of iron manufactures will be established in the shadow of the Rocky mountains. - Manx of the stockholders of theFacifio National Bank, of Boston, have oxpresseda desire to subscribe in doe proportion to meet the present indebtedness and re-es- tablish the bank on a firm basis. Sixteen tons of fish were seized last month at Billingsgate market, London, as unfit for hnman food. The figure looks large. The whole amount of fish delivered at the market was not less than 9,GG7 tons. Wnu the Panama canal it is taming -cut as it did with the Panama railroad, tho men engaged in digging it are, many of them, digging their own graves, so deadly is the region and the soil in which they work. Because Chicago was built on a swamp some of its people call it the American Yenioe, jnst as Milwaukee has been called the Amorican Naples, Boston the Modem Athens and Cincinnati the Paris ot Amer- wlth stealing a watermeloa. He does not deny it. Bat this is a new crime lor our courts. I have stolen watermelons. my self; the chances are that your Honor has stolen watermelons; and, gentlemen, I’ll agree to set ’em np if there is a man on that jury who hasn’t stolen a watermel on I”- The: judge jerked np his head, took off his spectacles, and looked with a startled but smiling stare upon the young scamp; the jurors nudged each other and snickered; the spectators guffawed; but it is needless to say that tbe-brief argument for the defendant was a successful one with the honest jurymen. And so our sympathies have been with the boys in tbeir recent battle in Michi gan'. There is little enough of Arcadia left in these grinding times of ours. Let us stand by wbat little we have. Let us stand by our watermelon and its tradi tions; let us stand by our youth and its memories.' Littedl’s Living Age you 1682 This standard periodical has been pub lished for nearly forty years with uninter rupted success. It is a weekly magazihe, and gives over three and a quarter thou- semi well filled pages of reading matter yearly, forming four large volumes. Its frequent Isme and a triple space enable it to present, with a freshness and complete ness attempted by no otber publication, the ablest essays and reviews, the choicest serial and short stories, the most Interest ing sketches of travel and discovery, the best poetry, and tbe most valuable bio graphical, historical, scientific and politi cal information from the entire body of foreign current literature, and from the pens of the ablest writers of the day. Its pages contain the productions of such authors as Prof. Max Muller, Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, James A. Froude, Prof. Huxley, Richard A. Procter, Edward A. Freeman, Prof. Goldwin Smith, Prof. Tyndall, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Frances Power Cobbe, Francis Gallon, the Duke of Argyll, Wm. Black, Miss Thackeray, Mrs. Mutock Cralk, George ilacDonald, Mrs. Ollphant, Mrs. Alexander, Jean In- S low, R. D. Blackmore, Thomas Hardy, atthew Arnold, W. H. Mailock, W. W. Story, Tourgenieff Buskin, Tennyson, Browning, and many otber most distin guished writers or the age. (A) periodicals become more numerous, this one becomes the more valuable, as it continues to be the most thorough and satisfactory compilation of the best peri odical literature of tbe world. It fills the place of many quarterlies, monthlies and weeklies; and its readers can through its pages easily and economically keep pace with tbe work of the foremost writers and thinkers in all departments of literature, science, politics and art. Its importance to American readers is evi dent; iu fact it is well-nigh indispensable to those who would keep well informed in the best literature of the day; and hence its continued success. Tbe subscription price ($8 a year) is cheap for tbe amount of reading furnished, while the publishers make a still cheaper offer, viz: To send The Living Age aod any one of the American $4 monthlies or weeklies, a year, both postpaid, for $10.50; thus fnrnithlng to the subscriber at smalt cost tbe cream of both home aud forelgu literature. Tbe publishers also offer to send to all new subscribers for tbe year 1882, remitting before January 1st, the weekly numbers of 1881 issued after tbe receipt of their subscriptions, grata. Littell ft Co., Boston, are tbe publishers. BUIasbMTarkqrfMk. Atashaille American. The name of Conkiing has not been mentioned for about three weeks. We are quite sure we have not eeen it or beard it for at leaet that time. Blaine’s old tarkey code is wondering even now whether the boys are going to forget him. We can see him, in the mind’s eye, now standing like that same noble fowl of a rainy day, with tail drooping and feathers hanging, reflect ing upon the singular absence of us name from among the sounds which fill the air. Oh, for denunciation, anything} but terri ble oblivion. . - Th» high price of provisions in Canada an driving very many French Canadian families to the New England States. They seek manufacturing towns. Tbe London Truth says that the Popa has by no means played his last card, and that he bothers his adversaries by never showing his hand. That paper says that the clericals are going more and more into politics. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Enterprising English gentlemon hate jnst gathered thirty tons ot hnman bones from the battli field of Plovna, iu Turkey, to be shipped to England and ground into fer tilizers. *' ‘ Logo John Wsstwobth enlivens the Chi cago Tribune with reminiscences in which it appears that he is probably the only sur vivor of the battle of the Thames, fonght October 5,1813, in which the famous In dian chief Tecumseh was killed. Mil C. M. Coax says in the Kentucky lave Stock Record that the finest carriage horses he ever saw are the Russian Orlofls. They are heavier than English And Ameri can horses and are blacks and grays. Mr. Clay advises breeders to import that stock. Tax Confederate bond scheme has col lapsed in England. The leading operators there say they hope to secure the repeal of the constitutional amendment against tbe payment of the Confederate debt, so that the Southern States may be allowed to settle it. • •:*•!■- , Some Russian patriot is putting about the story that St. Petersburg is “the unheal th irst city in the world.” t No doubt it is for emperors and military governors. But aa a pest-house ior tbe people, New York, thanks to the rule of the bosses, proudly defies ail competition. Sexatos Davis, of West Virgins, will not be a candidate for rejection, his time and attention being occupied, extensively with tho railroad and mining operations in which he is engaged. Ex-Governor Matthews and Mr. Hereford will probably be aspirants for the position. Baltexobe ia beginning to learn that it should perfect iu connections with subur ban towne. Within ten miles; of that city land is still sold at farm prices. Practical and enterprising mein would like to mclnde the county within the city limits, but the farmers wish to save tolls and prevent im provements. ->v ... In Chicago there ia what is called a phil osophical society. The lady members have been discussing the American novel, and they have agreed that there wiU be no suc cess until the ideal American heroine has been created. When she is created she will probably not be found bn the platform of so-called philosophical aocieties. Ton Princess Beatrice is for the first time in her yonng life tasting'the pleasure of giving away her own earnings. She has just bestowed out of the proceeds of her “Birthday Book” $2,000 upon a childs’ hos pital in London. That this sum should be only a part of her receipts implies a large sale among the loyal Britons. Tsacxkbax’s house in Kensington Palace Gardens, London,; has just been sold. It was not only lived in but was built by the novelist, who, as befitted the limner of Queen Anne manners, reared it in red brick in the style named after that mon arch. Until lately it waq occupied by Mr Joseph Bravo, the father of the victim of the not yet forgotten Botham tragedy. Owe can get some idea of the wealth of the mines on theFacifio ooast from the fact that in 1877 there was $76,000,000 bn deposit in tbe savings banks of California Thia is tbs largest amount of money ever held by the banks of the State at one time, and its accumulation was the result of the mining prosperity that had prevailed for some time previous. The Ohio River and Lake Erie Railroad Company, ohartered the other day, has won tbe belt for energy of movement. The lOid is sixty miles in length, and within thirty-sir boors of the issue of the charter a preliminary survey was completed along the entire line. Poor companies of engin eers were stationed at intervals along the tine, and when information of the incor^ pomtion was telegraphed they began work simultaneously. That company will suc ceed. the Fewoes!—The New York Sun of last Monday in an editorial on thia subject, says: Somebody bas made a cal culation showing that the noney invested in fsnoes in the United States amounts in the aggregate to more than the national debt. These fences, moreover, moat be re newed on the average onoe in every ten years. They are growing more expensive with the scarcity of timber and the increas ing demand for lumber for more impor tant purposes. Some substitute must be found- Wire is extensively used, bnt there are serious objections to it in ail its forma ,7/ j dsiil xlw-o