Newspaper Page Text
EDWIN MARTIN, Proprietor,
Devoted to Home Interests and Culture.
TWO DOLLARS A NT ear in Advancf,
VOLUME IX.
PERRY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1879.
NUMBER -2(1.
the cottage gate*
BY ETHEL LABS.
j„ the aultrj time of mowing,
When the fields ore full of hay.
Pretty Janet brings her sewing
To the gate, at the close of day.
Do yon wonder that she lingors—
Often glances down thebtue?
Do you ask me why her fingers
geem to find their work a strain?
Dore-dreams hold her in their tethor,
Lots is often (as we know)
Idle in the summer weather,
Idlest in the sunset glow.
Sow the toil of day is over;
Janet has not 1 ] ng to wait
p«r it shadow on the clover,
And a footstej at the gate.
Dow is this?—the slighted sheeting
Has been taken up anew;
Very quiet is her greeting,
Hcarcely raised those eyes of blue.
Now he leans upon the railing,
Tells her all about the hay;
Still his pains were unavriling—
Very little will she say.
If you think it strange, my reader,
Learn a lesson from the rose,
gha, from the garden's queenly leader,
Fairest flower that ever blows!
Not at once she flaunts her petals;
Firsts bud of sober green;
By-and-by the stretching sepals
Show a dash of red between.
Breezes rock her; sunbeams woe her;
Wide and wider does she start;
Opens all her crimson treasure,
Fields the fragrance at her heart.
Ah! the rose b ids will not render
All their secrets in one day!
And the maiden, shy and tender.
Is as diffident as they.
The Obstructed Track.
On a crisp night in October the wind
rustled the leaves in the woods that sur
rounded Viola Vatliek’s home.
Above the fair girl who looked out at
a small dormitory window shone count-
less «*ars; she might nave seen Boots
and Orion hud she looked up, but that
night the worlds of heaven had no at
traction for her.
Blie was listening to a strange sound
borne from the west by the nocturnal
brcez*> that chilled her cheek. I might-
have said, with propriety, a succession
of sounds, for it seemed as if a number
of person* were cording wood or moving
heavy timber not far away. Save this
noise the night was quiet, and she
could hear without interruption from
the window of her'boudoir,.
•*I believe it is in 'Gwynne’s cut,’ ”
she said at last to herself. “Perhaps
some viilain is obstructing the track for
devilish purposes. The Bed Bird will
soon be duo, and this is Ed’s trip down.”
Her face grew a trifle paler as she
spoke, and a moment later she stood
before the ancient wall-sweeper in oue
of the rooms.
The moonbeams stealing in at the
wiudow fell on the face of the dial and
■showed her it was 12 o’clock.
“Twelve,” she murmured. “What!
12 o’clock, and he whistles to me at
hal'-past 1 Mercy! What if the track
is obstructed in the cut!”
With the last words on her lips she
soon left the house.
At Hie gate she paused a moment and
listened. The sounds were still to be
heaid, ond she believed that they ema
nated from a spot in the cut near the
eattle-guard. Then she started forward
again and crossed the meadows that lay
between her home and her destination.
The stars looked down upon a little
object that glittered like silver in Vio
la's hand. It was a revolver and her
fingers held it firmly.
She was the belle of the country she
inhabited. Her father was dead, and
with her widowed mother and a little
brother of twelve, she dwelt in the
humble house won by the sweat of her
father’* brow.
A railway station called Beamout was
the only settlement near, and it was six
miles away from her home. She sel
dom went thither, for there was no so
ciety there, and she could enjoy herself
better at home.
The track of iron was the m»kiDg of
Beamout, for the road was new, and
towns were springing up all along the
line. Viola could see the cars from the
window, and often bad she sat there un
til the jlaiuing headlight of the midnight
express had appeared and disappeared.
An opening in the woods enabled her to
see the headlight a moment, and then
the lighted windows of the cars.
Did the engineer know that she was
watching—that his engine gave two
shrill shrieks as it reached the opening
—two shrieks tnat seemed to say, “Yio-
laj Viola!”
The brace of shrieks, loud and shrill,
told her who drove that engine toward
the great city on the Mississippi banks.
1’hey recalled the day, one year since,
when the first engine she ever saw store
at Beamout, scarcely a station then.
The engineer was young and handsome;
*a he saw her examining great driv
ing wheels, and looking with wonder
ment upon the mighty beauties of his
iron p«t, he leaped to the ground.
“A pretty piece of machinery," said he
to her, “and she goes like a bird.”
She blushed when she caught his eye,
find the sound of his vpico thrilled her.
Overcoming timidity, he helped her
into his cozy apartment on the engine,
and explained to her the wonderful
mechanism of this beautiful monster.—
•Then he said g„od-bye, and she saw the
train move off, and his hat waving from
the engine was the last thing she saw of
the tram as it darted around a curve.
A week later she found herself at the
engine talking to him agauf. Their
meeting seemed purely accidental, and
no doubt it was such, but I am sure the
meetings that followed were not.
By and by Ed Gordon, the engineer,
carried a picture over his heart, and oh
Viola’s bureau lay the photographic
semblance of his face.
Thus the acquaintance begun at the
station during the Bed Bird’s trial trip
over the ntw road, had ripened into
love, and two midnight shrieks told her
he was safe and driving his engine to
ward the river metropolis.
She sat at her window oft-times, witu
her lamp on the sill, and often fancied
she could see him leaning from the win
dow of his engtne, with his eyes fixed
to catch a glimpse of her, bat the train
would be swallowed up in the woods
again.
This life was excitement and joy to
Viola; but it was passing away. The
time was coming when Ed Gordon
would leave the road and accept the sus
periutendency of the company’s car
shops in a flourishing city.
But let me return to the October
night when Viola left her home to in
vestigate the sounds which seemed to
come from Gwyune’s cut.
She felt that obstructions were being
placed npou the track in that dismal
place.
Of late the company had incurred
the hatred of several persons in the vi
cinity of the station, and once or twice
the track had been tampered with, but
fortunately to no serious extent.
Tho night express generally went
through the cut with undimiuished
speed, for no obstruction hadbeeniten-
countered there, though the cattle-guard
in tae centre would assist the evil dis
posed.
Viola at last reached the cut, into
which the mellow moonbeams fell, nnd
paused. Something high and dark ob
structed the track before her, at the
very spot where the cattle-guard seemed
to be, and she held her bieath. It was
12 o’clock when she left the house, nnd
her walk occupied a number of precious
minutes. The shrieks of the Bed Bird
would soon be heard, and a moment
thereafter its headlight would flash into
cut. the
She saw more than a pile of strong
ties on the track. She saw the dark
figure of a man moving about the pyra
mids, as if contemplating his night’s
work and speculating upon tho death
and ruin It would cause. She watched
uutil she believed one man had accom
plished the diabolical deed, then she
crept forward through the shadow of
the bushes that lined the sides of the
cut, until she stood within ten feet of
him.
“l’il go back to the station, now,”
she heard him say to himself. “I can
get there before the accident, and when
it occurs, why I can run up there and
see him under the mins of his engine,
so crushed that that doll-faced girl of
his will not recognize him.”
A cru«l laugh rippled over his lips as
he stepped back from the pile of ties,
several of which he had forced into tho
guard, where they were wedged like
posts of iron. He enjoyed his own
words as he viewed the work of his mad
hands. The last words, full of devilish
triumph, still quivered on his lips when
Viola stopped from the shadows and
thrusi the muzzle of her revolver into
his face.
He startodback with a cry of horror
and mattered her name.
“This is your revenge, MorganDnke,
she said, looking sternly into his eyes.
“Now obey my commands, or there will
be a lifeless body on this track to be
mingled among the ruins of the night
express. To work at once; off with
your coat, and remove every obstruc
tion your wicked hands have placed
here.”
“The train can’t be saved now,” he
said; nnd there was joy in his tones. “It
took me one long hour to obstruct the
guard. In twenty minutes, or less, per
haps, you’ll see the Bed Bird’s head
light np the cut.”
“Villain!” she cried, “if this iraokis
not dear when I see her headlight, I’ll
drive a ballet through yonr brains. —
You know what to do. I’ll talk no long-
Covered by her revolver as he was,
Morgan Dnke, the station master, doff
ed his coat and went to work.
Viola never took his eyes from him,
and the silvery moon that rested over
the cut showed his every movement.—
He was on the pile of ties, barling them
one by oue, with the strength of a mod
em Sampson, upon the not over-wide
grade. He worked for life, for he knew
when the thundering train was due,
and a glance at the girl on the track
told him that she would sorely kill him
if he did not do her bidding.'
Once she said to Mm as he paused
for a breath before attacking the ties
wMoh he had driven into the oattls-
guard:
“I never thought this of you, Morgan
Duke- "When I rejected you I thought
you would bear it like a man.”
He replied not, hut glanced at his
watch.
“Half-past 12.” he said.
“To work!” was the stem command,
and Viola stepped forward an brought.
the levolver nearer his head.
He tagged at the ties with great
Strength, and large drops of perspira
tion stood ont on his forehead.
“I can’t get them out,” he said.
“You must wi;s the reply.
The girl’s face grew paler than ever,
and she glanced fearfully up the cut.
“Take them out.” she said suddenly,
“the train is coming; I hear it!”
The villainous station master heard
the rumbling and again turned to the
ties.
Viola watched him as woman never
watched man before. She knew that
he was doing all that could be done to
undo his wicked work, and while she
watched, her heart grew still beneath
the ramble of the express.
‘•He’ll soon call me,” she said to her
self. “There! there!”
The familiar shrieks cleft the cool
October air, but they brought no joy to
her heart. She was not at the old win
dow beside the light he loved to hail
from his engine. Perhaps she would
be the first to kiss his cold brow be
neath the stars in Gwynne’s cut. She
almost shouted for joy when she saw
the first tie drann from the guard by tlie
despairing man,
“Quick! the sledge! break the guard!”
she cried.
“God! I never thonght of that,” he
he said, and the next moment he was
shattering the long guard with' the
heavy sledge.
At that the lie was broken, and he
thrust the other ties into the long open
ing be had made.
At that moment the train rounded the
curve and dashed into the cut, and the
flashing headlight, not twenty feet
away almost blinded the eyes of the
twain.
Morgan Duke stepped from tlie track
and threw himself upon the ties, utterly
exhausted. He saw triumpluu the girl’s
eyes, and wutehed her as the train came
on.
Oh! for strength to hurl her beneath
the wheels of the thundering train.—
Her revolver had cea.se:! to cover him,-
but he could not have lilted even a
child.
The train dashed by. Viola saw her
lover’s face a moment, and an exclamu-
t ou of thankfulness welled from her
heart. He was safe, and the precious
lives that he carried westward.
“You’re a worker, Morgan Duke,” she
said to him, smiling. “Wo will sepa
rate here.”
He looked at her a moment in silence.
“Are you going to tell?” lie asked.
“Such men as you are dangerous,”
she replied.
“Then you are going to expose mu?”
“I am.”
He did not reply.
They parted forever there. Morgon
Duke was never caught by the officers
of the law, but justice afterwards over
took him. The iron wheels of a rail
way train caught him on the .track.
The company presented Viola with a
beautiful house, wkeu her husband took
charge of the car'shops.
I know she will never regret her night
in Gwyune’s Cat with her rejected lov
er.
Massacres in the South. Pacific.'—
American vessels navigating the South
Pacific would be wise to give Brooker
Island, one of the Culvadas group, a
wide berth. A Mr. B. B. Ingham un
dertook to visit Brooker Island for the
purpose of reclaiming some property
that had been seized and appropriated
by the savages. His steamer was well
equipped. He had a good crew and in
addition two Chinese and three Kanakas.
Two guns were mounted on the steamer
one of which was a nme-pounder. The na
tives received the party with great ap
parent kindness, killed two pigs injtheir
honor, invited them ashore, and three
daye afterward- massacred the whole of
them. The steamer was plundered and
dismantled. It is now reported that six
parties of shipwrecked seamen and
becbe-le-mer parties have been mur
dered within a recent period among the
islands of this group.
Selling A Cm.—The city of Altoo
na, Blair county, Pa., has 20,000 in
habitants, but there is no money in the
city treasury, and it owes a debt to the
State for corporation taxes of §£,208.10.
The State has obtlined judgment, and
has notified the authorities of the city
that unless the debt is immediately
paid, the city shall be sold to satisfy it-
Lockhaven and Sunbnry, it is reported,
are in like case with Altoona, and mast
be knocked down to the highest bid
der. This power of the State of Penn
sylvania to sell np its delinquent cities
is a peculiar one, and grows out of the
fact that the State lays taxes only on
corporations of the different sort with
in its borders..
The American Bible Society of New
York are now offering neatly printed
Bibles for twenty-five cents. To the
trade these books are sold at a reduction
of ten per cent, on the catalogue price.
The books are well printed and are a
wonder of cheapness.
was a grave blunder,.
—— ----A.
THE EXODUS TROUBLE.
The Excited Citizens of Kansas And
Missouri Think They Have Had
Enough oe It.
The excitement in Wyandotte over
the colored tronble is steadily on the
increase. The best of friends differ,
and loud and angry words aro heard on
the streets, in offices, stores, and in fact
everywhere. The action of the Belief
Committee in having Mayor Stockton
withdraw his proclamation regarding
the landing of colored fugitives has
created general dissatisfaction, as it is
considered an open instigation for all
boats to land colored immigrant paupers
on the Wyandotte shore. The majority
of the citizens deemed it necessary that
prompt action be taken in regard to
prohibiting the binding of tho colored
people on the “Durfee.” About seven
o’clock on Monday night that long ex-
pection boat reached Wyandotte. As
soon as she touched shore, as agreed
upon by a number of citizens, Capt
Nelson interviewed Capt. Kieth of the
boat, explaining to him the situat on of
affairs, stating to him the excited con
dition the people were in, and request
ing him not to land any more darkies
at. W. andotte. At first the Captain ob
jected, but after consideration conclud
ed he would not land, and therefore
dropped down the stream, and landed
about two hundred and forty passen
gers at tbe old Bigger packing house, in
Kansas City, Kansas. As may be im
agined the citizens there were very in
dignant at the proceeding, but had to
do as Wyandotte had done, accept the
situation.
Tbe class that arrived are mostly from
the Mississippi and of the same order
as the former arrivals. Four of their
number had died on their way up, and
were carried on shore to be buried in
Kansas soil. There are a few sick, but
generally they are healthy; their ideas
are much the same as these who arrived
some weeks since, and they are all af
ter the 160 acres of land and a mule
team. What Kansas City, Kansas, is
going to do with them has not been
learned, although it is stated the ne
groes will be sent southwest this morn
ing. Wyandotte will ship the balance
of her immigration over the Fort Scott
road this morning. This will clear her
of this trouble.
There were several gentlemen from a
distance yesterday in Wyandotte offer
ing advice, and no doubt kindly meant,
but in reality*only taking up the time
of the committee and doing no good,
Wyandote is small but it seems to be
the opinion that she c-an regulute her
own affairs. Send her no more negroes,
nnd she wants no more money or sym
pathy,—The citizens seemed determin
ed yesterday that their thriving little
city shall not be made a rendezvous for
colored paupers. In this they are back
boned by the entiro resident • colored
population, and therefore, after the
shipment of the immigrants this morn
ing, will need no further pecuniary as
sistance, as no more will be landed
here. If a few of the crazy loons who
keep shouting. “Bring on your col
ored people, we will help them,” etc.,
could be sent to the Ossawotamie As-
sylum, the trouble would die out iu a
few days, and would all be quiet.
Daniel L. Bussell of North Carolina,
who was elected Judge of the Superior
Court of lhas State for six years by the
republicans, without ever having gradu
ated on the legal profession, and who
was elected to the present Congress by
a coalition between the republicans and
Greenbackers in the Washington Dis
trict, was a Confederate soldier, aud
a large slaveholder at the outbreak of
the rebellion. Upon quitting the army
he changed his views, consorted with
the negroes and carpet-baggers, and was
thus accepted as a local Bepublican
leader. He belongs to a class who have
contributed largely to briDg ruin and
desolation upon what was left of the
Nouth after the civil war was over.
This small demagogue is now seeking
to secure the support of the men whom
he persecuted when he had the power,
and here is the manner which he takes
to commend himself to the Bepublicans
of the North, and to the ex-Confeder-
ates of his district, in a speech deliv
ered in the House of Bepresentatives:
“I am not afraid to say that I hope
the time will come when the poor Con
federate soldier, hobbling on his crutch
es, will be pensioned by this Govern
ment. If sny man wants to take that
np on this floor, I am ready to discuss
it, and to‘take tbe full responsibility
of what Isay.”—Kansas City Times.
If that declaration had been made by
a Demorat, how the changes would
been rung- upon it by the patri
otic party organs. But as it
comes from a Bepublican, of course it
will be passed by iu silence.
Secretary John Pinkston Sherman
says the act of 1S73 demonetizing silver of nervousness, the practice was rapeat-
A British Cavalryman suggests that
ibe art of swimming on horseback be
regularly practiced, whenever possible,
by the British cavalry, and urges as a
reason the recent loss of an entire
squadron of the Tenth Hussars while
attempting to ford the river Cabul. He
mentioned that last summer he saw a
French cavalry regiment practice
‘mounted swimming” in the Seine.
If either men or horses exhibiting signs
THE KEELY MOTOR
Almost simultaneously with the an
nouncement of the patents issued to Mr.
Edison is connection with his invention
of tbe means of practically applying the
electric light, some very remarkable ac
counts come to us from Philadelphia m
regard to the completion of tlie “Keely
motor.” These accounts—the New
York World gives three columns and a
half to the subject, and the Philadel
phia Press nearly as much more—are to
the effect that Mr. Keely has found out
how to “generate” a new “force,” which,
by the simple introduction of a quart
of water into his apparatus and the
turning of a crank, developes a power
of twenty-five thousand pounds to the
square inch. This force is represented
as being practically inexhaustable, and
it drives bullets (according to the wit
nesses) through a steel-plate and twelve
inches of pine, plack. Mr. Keely has
also “invented” in this same connec
tion, a “vibratory engine,” _wliich is
claimed to apply and render of practi
cal service his new force, and some very
wonderful things are told of this ma
chine. Mr. Keely is said to be backed
by some capitalists who are known to
have made their money by the employ
ment of known forces in a practical and
economic way. As to the unknown force
—until it should become better known
—it will perhaps he advisable for care
ful investors to wait before they com
promise themselves by investing too
heavily. There is a “vibratory force”
in fancy stocks which, like what Mr.
Keely claims for his new force, has be
fore now pulled down the strongest
honses.—Savannah News.
The New York Herald publishes in a
late issue a long letter from a corres
pondent who is engaged iu “working
up” the South. His reports about
Georgia are to the effect that the State
is rapidly improving in wealth and gen
eral prosperity; that the difficulties un
der which the white and negro both
suffer in this State are those which arise
from ignorance, and they cau only be
removed by the gradual growth of intel
ligence, and that no legislation can pos
sibly reach them. He also says that the
product of cotton in Georgia, North
Carolina aud Texas will be so much in
creased as to effectually offset any pos
sible decrease which may be occasioned
in Louisiana and Mississippi on account
of the nigro exodus from those States.
Oue of the gentlemen interviewed by said
coire6pondcnt is of the opinion that in
a few years the seed belonging to a bale
of cotton will be worth fully half as
much 'as the bale itselt, as it can he
made useful in the following manner:
“The lint left on the seed by the gin
can be used for batting. The hull for
tanning, or for the extraction of dye
stuff's. The spent hull for paper stock,
for which it is admirable. The kernel
first for oil and the residue for feed.—
There are new methods lately disclosed
for extracting every partiole of oil,
which leave the'residuum a sweet, dry
and extremely nutritious food for sheep
or cattle—more nutritious than beans;
and if the residue be fed to sheep on
the cotton field the crop of cotton will
be doubled and the clip of wool added
thereto. ”
Hear what Daniel Webster said upon
the army question:
“Quite too frequent resorts are made
to military force, and quite too much of
the substance of the people is consumed
in maintaining armies, not for defense
against foreign aggression hut’ for en
forcing obedience to domestic authori
ty. A military republic, a government
founded on mock elections and sup
ported only by the sword, is a move
ment indeed, but a retrograde and dis
astrous movement from the regular and
old fashioned monarchical systems. If
men would enjoy the blessings of re
publican government they must govern
themselves by reason, by mutual coun
sel and consultation, by a sense and
feeling of general interest and by the
acquiescence of tho minority in the will
of the majority, properly expressed;
and above all the military must be kept,
according to the language of onr bill of
rights, in strict subordination to the
civil authority. Wherever this lesson is
not both learned and practiced there
can be no political freedom. Absurd,
preposterous as it is, a scoff, and a satire
on free forms of constitutional liberty,
for frames of government to be prescrib
ed by military leaders and the right of sni
ff age to be exercised at the point of the
sword.”
Szegedin is threatened with pesti
lence, now that the floods have sub
sided. Eight thousand of the.ten thou
sand honses in that afflicted city lie
in rains. Nine hundred dead bodies
have been found under the fallen walls
of the Cathedral;fetid deposits of slime
and mnd cover the streets to the depth of
six feet, and the streets and surround
ing country are filled with decaying
casses of drowned animals. It is
hardly possible that these tMngs will
fail to breed pestilence, and the inhabit
touts are seriously in dread of an out
break of plague like that of Yetlianka.
THE ORGAN OF THE NIHILISTS. I CONCERNING DIAMONDS.
The chief Nihilist organ, wMch is 1 It is generally known that there is -in
clandestinely distributed throughout: Georgia an immense ledge, the forma-
Russia, is entitled Semla i Swaboda 1 tion commonly called “elastio sand*
(Country and Liberty), and is printed] stone,” whicb is the matrix of the dim*
in quarto form. It ctaims to hold jn- j niond. It is described by Dr. M. F.
risdietion over everybody. It warns, Stephenson, in his book, now almost
threatens and pardons right and left,
aod gives prompt and aoenrato informa
tion respecting the carrying out of its
sentences, which are those of the rev
olutionary committee. It is fonnd
everywhere. It is laid by nnseen
bamls on the master’s table, is unex
pectedly discovered among the banker’s
registers, and the Imperial Councillor
is astonished to meet with it among Ms
papers; it is slipped furtively between
tho sheets of Conservative journals—in
a word, it finds its way as if by en
chantment on the tables of the chafes
and into the private houses of rich aud
poor. It appears twice a month, and
advertises for subscribers. It mentions
the Nihilists pamphlets which have ap
peared, and informs the public that oth
ers bearing this or that title are shortly
to be published, the prices of wMch are
given’but the editor contents himself
with designating the place at which
they can be bought as the “well known
house.” On the day after Gen.
Mesentzeff was murdered the Semla i
Sicaboda appeared illustrated with a
large cartoon, in which the General was
represented as lying.in state, the first
page being occupied with a kind of
praclamation giving the reasons which
had decided the committee to jjro-
nounce the sentence of death upon
him. Three days after the secret print
ing offices in St. Petersburg were dis
covered by the Russian police a man
was assassiuated at Mosco v, but who
he was aud why he had been murdered
remained a mystery till the Semla i
Sicaboda published the fallowing notice.
“Ou the Dili of March the traitor Rein-
stein was executed iii the Moscow Ho
tel, at Moscow, Reiustein, a Polish Jew.
disclosed to the police the whereabouts
of two of the printing offices. We have
therefore killed him. The government
need not boast of having made any
great discovery. It has fonnd nothing
of any great value. The editors port
folio being seized, has certainly caused
us some inconvenience, bat as we never
sigh any of our articles the affnir has no
further importance. It will be useless
to offer gold; traitors will not be found
in our ranks. Bcinstean was only an
agent—a newspaper distributor. Wo
have at our command such considera
ble sums of money chat we can resist all
attempts at l>rib< ry. The execution of
Meseutzeg cost us 6,000 roubles,
Krapotkin nearly as much: neverthe
less, we still possess £00,000 roubles for
the accomplishment of our work.”
A Chinese Expedient.—A law aimed
at the Chinamen’s desire to remove the
bodies of their friends to their native
country for burial has been passed by
the Nevada Legislature, It forbids un
der heavy penalties the digging np of
any budy without first obtaining a per
mit from the Board of County Com-
misioners. Wishing to know what the
Chinese thought of the law, u reporter
questioned a leading Chinamen, who
said: “Well, what can do must do.
White man makee law kiznesa, China
man makee new plan—that all.”
“Hovi do you make a now plan,
John?”
"Well new law biznes3 makee some
trouble. No matter; we makee some
bizness, too.”
“What will you do?”
“Come see—me show.”
The CMnemen led the way to a shed
in the rear of his store, and pointing to
half a dozen tall eartkern jars of an oval
shape, said:
“White man raukee new law bizness,
we makse new funeral bizness. Me
company send ’em big jar. S’pose one
my man die; put him in jar, cork up,
send California, where no hab got new
law. Good bizness, hey?”
A Mouses.—The Mississippi Sun is
in favor of domesticating black snakes
for the purpose of exterminating rats
and mice aud “sick” like pestiferous
evils that disturb tbe even tenor
of home life. They are not only better
mocsers than cats, but they eat less
and. catch their own grub. Then they
are quiet, and are never seen on the top
of the barn with their baoks bumped
and the fur standing straight ont like
pins stuck in there sides, and then
give a shriek so unearthly, and differ
ent from all earthly sounds, tbat mis
taking it for anything but a caterwaul
is simply impossible.
The first engine crossed the railroad
bridge over the Missouri river at Qlas-
The Scottsboro (Ala.) Hei-ald, noting
the recent death of Capt. John Hannah,
says: He had reached the wonderful
age of 186 years, 1 mouth and six days.
He was born Feb. 13, 17£3, aud died
March 20, 1879. He served under Gen.
Washington duriDg the French war.
and obtained the rank of Captain. He
knew the great Irish-American orator
Patrick Henry when he was tnt a mere
boy in Virginia. Capt. Hannah had
never been ill until he was a century .
old, and Ms eye-sight was perfect at 1 vading their country,
the time of Ms death. ! , ... - '
ont of print, on “The Mineralogy .and
Geology of Georgia. It ex ten. Is -fan
many miles. A few splendid diamonds
were found there years age by gold*
washers, who were ignorant of what
they found. Some of theso wero out
in England and set in jewelry, but
most or them were lost. They we re of
weight from two tosix oar its, and threat
are remembered which were of large
size. One of these was broken np by
the miners to learn the cause of its lus
tre. Another was used for years by tbe
boys in plajing marbles. By far the
largest oue was lo3t by a Dr. Loyd r
who was employed to oversee the min
ers, and was one day working in the-
pit in the place of a sick hand- He-
says that about two heurs before sun
down, while engaged in raising grayel*
he picked up a stoue “which was bright
aud slimy only on one side, tbe otbetf
sides being covered with a crust of.
brown stuff. It was about the size of oc
guinea egg. He laid it out on a baulo.
under a gum tree, intending at night:
to show it to his wife and children a*
the largest of the “pretty stones” which-
had been found. Twelve years later be-
learned from experts who took-hja.de*
scription of the stone that his “guinea,
egg” was a diamond, wMch, if pure,-
must have been worth twenty-fire mil
lions of dollars.
TWO HISTORIC DIAMONDS. ..
The Koliinoor and the Mogul* ore
two of the notable diamonds of the
world. The first, as is well known, be
longs to Qneen Victoria, by the con
quest of Panjanb in Indio, who, to,
gratify a caprice of her own, haB quite*
destroyed its historic yalne. It waa
found four thousand eight hundrep^
years ago, (this date is amply verified),
and when cut by Indian lapidaries-:
weighed only one hundred eighty-si^
and a half carats. If honestly cot, It,
would have been worth thirty million,
dollars. But by taking off slabs from,
the facets of a hundred and thirty carats,
they reduced it to a value of three mil
lion. •; n
Afterwards the Queen, not being,
satisfied with the Indian cut of it,,
had the stone re-cut by Amsterdam,
jewelers, who reduced it to one h un *f
dred and ten and a half carats, and of.
course totally obliterated its bistorio.
shape. She still values it at three mil-,
lions, when, by the laws of trade, it i».
not worth half that snm. A - rough dia-.
mond generally loses one-half, of. its.,
weight by catting. This depends upon,
its form of crytalization and its freedom,
from flaws, which are common. The..
“ Mogul” diamond, the lar
gest ever found, weighed 787 carats.,
It was cut down by dishonest workmen.
to weigh only 280 carats, ■ and the stol-.
en slabs cut off were worth fartnove than,
tho stone. Tbe true worth of the atone
by the rules of trade, was $93,000,000,,
but it was thus redneed to $£,000,000.
The terrorism of the revolutionary
government established by the Nihilists
in Russia inspires the greatest alarm,
and the measures taken by the antbori-;.
ties are regarded as totally insufficient,
to cope with the evil. The revolution-,
ary propaganda is believed cMefly to
proceed from the universities and col
leges, and it is said that new restric
tions are to be imposed on young
men entering those institutions; but it
is rightly pointed out that snob a meas
ure a ould only strengthen the opposi
tion to the existing order of things,.
The true remedy, it is urged, would bo
the grant of liberal institutions to Bus-,
sia. A sticking demonstration in this,
sense took place the other day at a ban« r
quet given to the celebrated novelist
Toorgenieff. The eminent St. Peters
burg advocate, M. Spassovilch, mode a'
brilliant speech on this oocosion, i»
which proposing a toast to the youth
of Russia, he defended them against,
their accnsors. and pleaded for liberal
reforms as the best guarantees of the fu
ture welfare of the country. The
speech was warmly applauded by the
many distinguished representatives of’
tbe educated class in Russia who were
present; but it has been attached by the
government papers, who call M. Spas.,
sovitoli a “Polish Revolutionist,” and*
accuse Tourgomeff of total ignorance of*
Rresian affairs.
Chili has declared war against Peru,*
and will now fight both that country
and Bolivia. Chili will greatly im
prove the advantages she has already
acquired. A probable attack of Peru
vian ports is not at all unlikely. The '
officers of the Bolivian army, to the
number of seven hundred and fifty-seven,’
all above the grade of sub-lieutenant,'
have issued a protest against Chilian
occupation of Bolivian 6
agree to renounce fLeir
order to perfoiin their
the "
,s to avengo
.