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SH.E WEEKLY CONSTITUTION. VOLUME XIV. TUESDAY MOKNTN'G-, NOVEMBER 15, 1881. PRICE 5 CENTS. GOSSIP OF GOTHAM. AND CONK1.INO fifth avenue. AT THE Utmt lUrin.nd Tell* of the Elections, Petti end the Events of the Week In Jfevr York City-A. $ Society Bell With o ??17.000 Bnpper- Tho Theater, Pereonels, Etc. Written for The Constitution. A SOCIETY BABE. I Xew Yobk, November 10.???The election lieing over and society having had a muss with itself,Patti having sung and rainy weath er prevailed, there is something to write about. All right. Take the election, now. Who can predicate its signilleance? Nobody, very well. Tlie stalwarts were sore and the half-breeds not strong enough in all the places they ought to have been. I.ocsl ups and downs of feeling made it troublesome for par ties. Lo! there is a republican mayor in Brooklyn???Seth Low by name???a mix ture of everything else iu every other direction and no telling wliat is going to happen before next convention. If 1 were to attempt to give an expression of the peo ple???s opinion as representing the best senti ments of tlie state of New York, it is one of satisfaction and pleasure. They are glad of it. It was a good thing in itself, because boss- ism has got a black eye and the majority lias chosen. What effect will It have on Conkling? Nobody knows. ??????Nobody knows,??? runs the old hymn, and the person referred to in that canticle a little further on is not going to tell anything about it Conkling is here. He and General Grant are inseparables. They are seen together every day. Conkling???s beard has grown fuller, and he is getting a greater girth, and the form that satire has named AjkjIIo no longer deserves that title. Neither is he so careful in his dress. Some times he wears a blue necktie, as lie is seen skirting the edges of tlie parlors of the Fifth Avenue hotel, on his way to join Grant at the Indies entrance on 23tl street. But his overcoat is old, the hat, the same Derby shajK???d unbe coming piece of headwear it was when first worn on the memorable trip be took to Men tor to meet Garfield before tlie 4tli of March. Ill health may have had something to do with it; dulled the spirit of his tastefulness and worked upon the accuracy of tlie tie of his ncckscorf, but the sign of carelessness is uj>on him. His lieard is growing longer and broad er, having lost that Vandyke point which was its distinguishing feature and he is just as gray as lie can he. Sometimes I sec him mid Grant on a side street, tlie man of si lence talking with animation and gesticulating with some show of vigor, the man of oratory silent and listening intently. I shall never forget one scene in the Baltimore and Poto mac dejiot in Washington one day last July. A tall man with gray, full white beard, down cast eyes and bowed head, looking, but, not seeing, apparently at a square of carpet just within the ladies' entrance. It was ttosooc Conkling, standing on thuDpot where Garfield -'TCtTri-.' ???* v ???'t'.ag there, at i't- moment 4i least, oblivious of the arrivul of???1 Dr. Hamilton whom hebad conic "to nieet. The doctor stood waiting for the senator with out speaking, and the little throng drew away to one side.' The president was thought to be dying and tlie spectators were touched with the spirit of tragedy to which the little scene was only a trilling hut effective entre act. ??? Conkling has changed since then, and while lie does not. convey the impression of one broken cither in spirit or heal h, he does lead one to believe that he is a little effected in both directions. Indeed he well may be. The world has not dealt kindly with him. Friends seem to have deserted him, and whether it lie so or not he seems far, far removed to-day from that magnificent, magnetic presence who sjioke in Chicago a year ago last May, beginning: ???If you ask to know whence conies ourcandidnte, we answer from Appomattox.?????? Well, to-day that man and that candidate are taking their daily walk ami talk. They walk up Fifth avenue, across town to the westward on Fifty-ninth street and down Seventh avenue to Twenty- thin!. Then Conkling tures abruptly Into >the hotel at the ladies??? entrance, on that side of the house, and General Grant stalks boldly around to tlie front door and Luffs smoke in the most companionable way in the world with anybody who stops to chat with him. Yesterday afternoon he stopped and talked long and pleasantly with General John IS. Gordon and Governor Colquitt, of Georgia, who ere now guests of the St. James hotel. The two gentlemen-are herein the interests of the Georgia Pacific railroad, and the text of General Gordon???s sermon thereon is: ???We believe there is a great south as well*as a great west, aud we propose to develop it.??? POLITICAL MATTERS. The other day society gave a ball. It was a ??? regular too-too-too affair in which the ex tremity of social culture took a hand. The caterer and decorator was there with a earte blanche. The supper cost $17,000, although there were only l,. >00 present, that being tlie nnmlier to which the attendance was restrict ed. Decorations cost as much more, and there was a card of precedence. The ball, by the wav, was given to the French and German visitors. They were the guests of the evening, and they were the starting point for precedence. ?? olonel Von Steuben was named as the most fit and descrtlesa person to lead in Mrs. John Bigelow to supper. He some way became attached in tlie capacity of escort to Mrs. Jay. The former is tlie wife of the ex- minister to France; the latter of tlie ex-min ister to Anstria. They stopped the entire pro cession anil sent the best German knickerbocker over to talk to Yon Steuben, and remonstrated with him. He objected to transferring the . charge he had; they insisted, and the entire 1 .Steuben family, with the attending suite of Germans, withdrew. It was a fair il lustration of snobbery which in New York is possible. They order such things lietter in France. It??? was a melancholy sjiec- table presented to the gaze of the nation???s honored guests from France and Germany. Tlie gang of young moneyed men who com pose??? tlie Union club and certain so-called social circles resolved themselves intern com mittee and put themselves forward as the representatives of New York society for the ostensible purpose of doing honor to the vis itors and for the real purpose of getting tlieir names in the newspapers ill connection with a good many respectable i>eople who were en ticed into the affair by the glittering pros pectus. The hall, however, was a success and a most . utter ard lamentable failure at once. It was a success because of its beauty. It was a fail ure because there was no management and ever seen in New York. Tlie music was per fect: Here the list of attractions ends. There was no management. Carriages came and went in every direction, running into each other with s???tartling frequency. The guests delivering tlieir tickets at tlie door were one by one insulted most grossly by a noisy fellow who lmd not a pleasant word for any one but his personal friends, and not a courteous word for any one at all. He stood by the door shouting orders to the guests, much asa police man orders a turbulent crowd back, and when the committee inside received complaint about it. as they did at once from numberless outraged persons, they said they knew he was not a gentleman, but he was valuable in tliat place. After passing tlie door tlie unhappy individu als who had entered found that absolutely no provision had been made for the manage ment. In this connection it is only necessary to say that no guest could at any time during the evening get a glass of water to drink. Wine could be had in abundance, of a new brand, which the proprietors found it desira ble to advertise, but which I refuse to puff at this time, but water, there was none. Kcpresentatives of every newspaper in the city were invited by the committee and were grossly insulted* after they arrived. No provision was made for them. I have sjiokca of tlie elegance of the cos tumes, and nothing but a queen???s drawing room. as described by 1-abouchen, or an as semblage of the most abandoned of the Paris ian demi-monde, could have rivaled the ele gance and indecency of many of thetoilettes. It was a thing to enjoy hugely and grieve over afterwards. imiF.BS. Dr. Bliss???yon heard of him last summer- lias been very much in town the last two days. He is going to publish an article in tiie Cen tury (.Scribner???s) on incidents of the sick room. All right; suppose we let him. John McLean, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, is at tiie Fifth Avenue. He may be i.ere on newspaper business, but if Ingalls, Gould and some more folks near to the Indianajiolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette railroad don???t find different, I am wrong. W. P. Copeland, the irrepressible teller of good stories, although some of them are very old. has been alisent from iiis desk of corres pondent???s duty in Washington, held some- how in the interests of the Eagle, of Brook lyn. He was here with the president and Windom. Patti???I had nearly forgotten her. Finan cially she is a failure; hut she can sing. Tick ets have come down from $10 to $3. What is a tumble, anyway? From a high place down to a low place, quick, ain???t it? That's what the Patti scheme means. There is going to be a new play produced at Daly???s to-night. It is called ??????Trie Passing Regiment.??? Perhaps it don???t belong to the army of plays that have failed this year in the same theater. But in itself it is too few even if a regiment, of itself is to be counted in tiie great force that preceded it. Mile. Rhea opens in Brooklyn on Monday night. She is going to make a hit. I saw her on the other side, ami my guess will go to pieces if she doesn???t win tlie trick over all of them this .year. Harry Surgeant manages her. George Alfred Townsend, Ex-Secretary Thompson, General Grant, Joe Howard, Ros- eoe Conkling, Senator Jones, Mahlon H. Chance and others were among the people much distinguished at the Fifth Avenue hotel on election night. Most of the papers of tlie country ars es tablishing oilit-es for news and business in New York. It is an illustration of the power of centralization exented by New York city. The Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Lous, Atlanta. Philadelphia and Baltimore papers are all represented. The Philadelphia Times has the largest sale ill New Vora or any of them. Robert-M&rshall manages Us interests so successfully that I hear they are going to print tlie paper here, but I don???t believe it, do'you? Ross Raymond. HARRIS???S HIATUS. THE COTTON CROP. Favorable Weather and a Marked Improvement Dur Ins the Month. Special dispatch to the Enquirer, i New York, November 4.???Special reports to Brad street???s from 879 correspondents give returns of 522 cotton producing countries, over 90 per cent of the entire crop. They snow that the wenther through- out the south since September VJth, the date of the last rejiort, lias generally been very favorable for saving the crop, nnd also for maturing such plants as were still healthy and growing. This was true, October 24th, tbe date of the mail advices. In eon- sequence, the condition of the plant and the pros pects for yield have improved. The only exception is in Texas, where there has been too much rain. This lias interfered with picking, injured the grade of unpicked cotton, and has caused many unma tured bolls to rot and drop off. Worms arc reported as having done injury to the top crop in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mis sissippi. Louisiana aud Texas, though in some parts of the latter state the reports say they have done good by stripping the leaves nnd stoppiug the growth, thus exposing the bolls to the sun, and turning the vitality of the plant to maturing the bolls. The following table shows the average prob able out-tarn of each state October 2tth: HE FOUND IT IN THE CENTER OF HIS PLATFORM. The Leader of a Gang of Conviots, Who Harder Their Guard, Expiates His Crime???A Miner Performs the Grand Trapeze Act in Fayetteville, West Virginia. North Carolina uml Virginia Per cent Below last year. 31.4 36 5 18.5 21.4 17.6 39.5 52.9 42.2 Average for the cotton belt- 30.5 last month???s report showed the condition of the crop to be 34.5 percent below that of the preceding year It will thus be seen that during the past month tlie prospect for yield has improved 4 per cent. It must tie remembered that, as a rule, the above report does not include full allowance for in crease of acreage this year, nor that this condition and prospect of yield may still Improve if the top crop and second growth started in some localities since the September rains should mature. In giv ing a definite estimate of the actual out-turn next month, these and all otherconfiictiug circumstances are to he taken iutoconsideration. Reports received this month indicate that in every state a portion of the crop is still healthy and making fruit which may mature. From North Carolina, Tennessee nnd Arkansas, however, nearly all reports are that the top crop is not likely to ma ture before frost. From Texas, also, the prospects for the top crops are reported bad, inconsequence of too mueh rain having made the plants green and sappy. From South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama. Mississippi and Louisiana reports are that in portions of the state where the plant is healthy, and where worms have not destroyed the new growth, the prospect for the top crop is fair, aud with favorable weather and frost delayed till November 10, the out-turn may be somewhat improved, though not much. If the top crop in Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee does ma ture, it will materially odd to the yield of these states. Special telegrams from General Hazen. of the sig nal service bureau, in Washington, to Bradstreet???s yesterday, calculate that the heavy rains which have generally fallen throughout the??? cotton belt since October'21th must have injured the grade of unpicked cotton, aud must for a time have put a stop to the picking and further maturing of the crop. Bradstreet's telegraphic reports mention light fr????ts in parts of Tennessee, Arkansas aud northern Texas, which will most probably kill off all second growth and destroy the chanee for top crop in those states. The following i>erccntage of each state's crop is reported still fruiting, and liable to make top crop: North Carolina. 30 per cent: South Carolina, 20: Georgia. 23: Alabama, 16; Mississippi, 20: Louisana, IS: Texas, 45: Arkansas. 25, and Tennessee, 37: the average for the entire country being 20 per cent of the crop. llsloyed by Snow. St. Louis. November 12.???Advices from Kansas ??????ob*??^d^od^isra ran ^d7'ArtStie ! decorators exhausted their powers ill draping i*> en snowing hard in western Kansas, Colorado tlie galleries and arranging tlie stage ]>arlor and New Mexico. From the Likes in ihe west to fashion. A handsome carpet covered the l???ueblo there are from six to eight inches of snow, whole of the broad sidtwalk across the hun- while from La .niata w??t raere are from eighteen i i # t ?? .i lrt i??,??n 'Tits, iiwtnrmic to wcniy inchw. 1 hi* cut** are full of snow And a tired loot front of the hall. Tut <*ostumes wind is drifting it badly. This is the heaviest were as elegant (and imniocicst) ana the scene snow storm in New Mexico and Colorado that the wag* as dazzlingly beautiful as anything Santa Fe ever encountered. Gueenesboro, November 11.???To-day Joe Harris, colored, who was tried and convicted at the September term of the court for tlie murder of E. T. Langston, a guard in the county chain-gang, was hung at this place. Though the execution was private, it attract ed a great crowd to town. They stood around the jail, trying in rain tg catch a glimpse of what was going on within the inclosure. The execution was witnessed by only Sheriff J. II. Euglish and a sufficient guard, the attending physician, Dr. J. H. Ghiesling, The Consti tution correspondent, a few relatives, and two colored ministers. Last night Harris was restless and seemed this morning to be impatient for the hour of doom to arrive. He was led out of his cell about half-past eleven o???clock. At the gallows he said tliat he had nothing to do with the murder for which lie was to die. He was sullen, and declined to answer most of the questions addressed to him. He said lie had made his peace with his God, and was not afraid to die. The colored ministers offered prayer for his soul. Sheriff English ad- ad jutted the black cap and the doomed man said good-bye to all present. At twelve o???clock und nine minutes tiie drop fell, and tlie wretcli fell with a dull thud. He struggled very little, as the neck was broken by tbe fall. In sixteen minutes Dr. Glieisling pronounced him dead. The body was allowed to hang thirteen minutes longer. It was then cut down, placed in a collin. and turned over to his relatives, who seemed to bear his punishment very resigned ly- v Among the great crowds of negroes present there was apparent great regret that the exe cution was not public. Tlie crime for which Joe Harris to-day paid the death penalty was as deliberately plotted ami as coolly executed as ever was ???an act of villainy. Harris was a well-known negro about G recnesboro. He was twen ty-two years old, and quite an apt hand at any business when he ciiose to work. But he was naturally viscious, and spent most of his time in an idle and dissipated life. Oiie day he was in a store in- Greenesboro with a negro woman who was buying some goods. She had her pocket-book lying on tlie counter, nnd Joe Harris stole a half dollar from her. She dis covered that she hud been robbed, and had Harris arrested. He was tried in the county court, convicted and sentenced to one year in the county chain-gang. He was leased to Mr. W- H. McWhorter and went to work with a lot of other negro con victs. Joe did on his farm very well for a while, but he became somewhat troublesome last spring. Ill April he, Willis Winn and Jim Allen made the plot which led to the murder of E. T. Langston, a young guard over tlie chain- gang. It appears that Langston had connected Harris and the other two convicts, and had threatened to whip them, if they did not do better. AAdinner they be*un to <:-!??* > -??? j&c*.* woes, nnd determined'to make way withthe guard. Tlie plan agreed on was for Harris to do some very bad hoeing. H e knew tliat Lang ston would come and correct him. When be did so Allen was to knock him down, and then Harris was to take tlie gun and kill him. What part Winn was to take in the execution of the plot does not appear, excejit that he was to be on hand and help if the others proved to be unequal to their bloody work. Accordingly, after dinner the convicts set about the carrying out of their scheme. Har ris hoed villainously and young Langston came up to order him to do better work. As be approached, Allen stepped be hind him and struck him with liis hog. As lie fell senseless and dropped his gun, both Allen and Harris rushed for it. Allen got it and fired a full load of buckshot into Lang ston???s head killing him instantly. The three convicts were to escape after the kil ling. Allen and Harris did so but Winn refused to go. He gave himself up and told of the whole plot, in whieh he denied having any part. Tlie statements as to Winn's connection with the plot are directly conflict ing. Harris says he was as deep into the mis chief as any of them, but lie denied all knowledge of the wicked partnership. Winn was indicted, and after a long and exciting trial, was acquitted. The fact that he did not escape probably helped him very much. Jim Allen made so good his escape that he has never yet been caught. It is thought that he was the original design er of the murder, as he was the sharpest of the convicts and had the most vicious char acter in the lot. Joe Harris was captured the day after the murder, and denied that he participated in the killing of Langston. He said that he merely escaped because he saw a good chance, and not to avoid the consequence of any crime he had committed. The trial of Harris last September was very well managed on both sides. Mr. John A. McWhorter, who prosecuted, was extremely efficient, and made the case against Harris too plain to be gainsaid. He had competent counsel and a fair trial in every respect. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. A motion for a new trial was refused, and the doomed man has lain in his cell awaiting his death at the hands of the law since Septem ber. He has steadily denied any participation in the crime except as to the plot, Even in reference to that he has made several very different statements, i n fact.Harris made four distinct and different confessions, and then denied each separately. Tlie evidence showed that, he was active in aiding in the murder, and that he and Allen lied together. There is every reason to be lieve that the plot was coolly made, and that, though not carried out strictly as it was plan ned, both Allen and Harris, if not Winn, were intent on the murder of poor Langston. Joe Harris has paid the penalty for his part of the crime, and Allen will certainly have the same price to pay if he is ever caught. Fayetteville, W. Ya., November 11.??? Ilam' Jenkins was hhnged here to-day for the murder of Winfield Saunders at Nuttal- burg on May 16th last. Both were miners and worked together, and it is supposed that Jenkins???s motive was robbery. A large crowd gathered here yesterday aud remained in town all day to witness the execution. The gallows was located so as to give a good view to the spectators assembled, numbering about 20,060 persons. The Hawks' Nest Riflemen were brought out. but no disturbance oc curred. Jenkins was baptized and made a partial confession. He was composed on tbe scaffold and died without a struggle. year? Well, I U tell you. my dearTelemaehus, why it is, and it wa.'t cost you a dollar for the informa tion. It???sberause you are trying to havea8!,200 lime out of a ?. 00 salary, and it can???t be did. Older men than you hare tried it, aud failed right along. A 3600 boardi c house and a $300 livery stable j ust exactly cuts the last coupon off your salary, and then how vlie man who makes your clothes ex pects to get an} thing out of you is more than you c-an tell him. \ ours is a very simple ease, mvdear, aud you can apply the remedies yourself and per form the necessary, operation without the presence of a eonsultin:: surgeon. ???Will it hurt???? My poor boy, you can : n vour last bottom dollar that it will hurt. It will rjiake you squirm a thousand times a day until y get out of debt, and then you will feel as though you were In paradise. Begin treat ment at once; die longer you wait the worse your case will be a::d the more you???ll dread it. A SUIT FOR A CHILD. THE RAILROADS CONTESTING FOR THE HEAVY WESTERN BUSINESS. A Talk With Colonel Cole, in Which He Telia of the Building of the Largest Elevator in the South at Memphis???His Lines to Have Good Connections???The Outlook Cheering. The Cose Ge!?? Settled Finally???An fatenstlaa rimj It will l>e remembered by the readers of The Cox- titctiox that for several years a suit lias been pend ing between Mr. Cicero Cleghom, of Chattooga county, and Dr. J. W. Janes, of Rome, involv ing the pos-ession of tlie infant child of* the late 'lion Dunlap Scott, of Floyd. Captain Scott???s second- wife was n Miss Mary Jones. She, after giving l-:. ; di to a child, died. Before her death she requested that Mrs. Janes, who was a daughter of Dr. Hillver, with whom Mrs. Scott had lived when a young lady, should hike charge of her child and bring it up :ic her own. She retained possession dnring Captain Scott???s life, and even after he had married the third time. Upon Captain Scott???s death, which occurred a few years later, Mrs. Cleghom, who was his sister, moved, through her husband, for the possession of tlie child. T hey claimed it as being next of kin, and upon the assertion of Mr. Cleghom that Captain Scott on his. death bed requested that his child should go to the care of his sister. Being unable to settle tlie matter an appeal was had to the courts, and a prolonged struggle commenced. The case c;-Med a great deal of excitement. It has been det -ded two or three times iu the lower court nnd we. letieve once for each side. Appeals were made to the supreme court upon one pretext or another and the litigation kept open. A final appeal was heard on ??? yesterday. The last judgment of the superior court con firmed the; rights of Mrs. Janes to hold the child. Mr. Cleglioru appealed from this decision, at>d his attorney, Colonel Alexander made a powerful argument before the supreme court on yestferday. At the conclusion of his argu ment the court decided that it was not necessary to hear from tlfc oilier side, but affirmed the judg ment of the court below. This settles tlie matter finally we pipsume. We understand that at the last trial in the superior court the child was put on the stand, bring then about ten years of age, and asked whether she had rather remain with Mrs Janes or go t'-> Mrs. Cleghom. She answered that she preferred, to remain with her ???mama,??? by whieh title s :e meant Mrs. Janes. THE CENSUS RETURNS. A Gratifying. Showing as to the Number of Farms Special correspondence to The Constitution. Wasiiixi vox, November 9.???Tiie returns of the tenth c enfcos make ajvery gratifying.show ing inresnf ct to the increase in the number of farms ami acreage in tlie southern states. Tlie increase in the number of small farms is especially noteworthy, although tlie number of large funns is much greater than in 1870. In Georgia, for example, in the latter year, there were-no furms under three acres in ex tent; in there were 101, 35 occupied by tlieir owne. i, 27 by persons paying rent at a fixed value in money, and 39 by persons working ' hem on shares. In 1870 there' we?- 3,257 farms between three end ten i r I?**') ttys class of. holdings tell to 3,110,??? but tlie farms of from 10 to 20 acres increased from 0,942 to 8,094???1,353 of which were cultivated by their owners, 1,031 by tenants, and 5,710 on shares. Farms of from 20 to 50 acres increased from 21,971 to 36,524, from 50 to 100 acres from 18,371 to 20.054, from 100 to 500 acres from 17,490 to 53.635, from 500 to 1.000 acres from 1,506 to to 7,017, and over 1,000 from 419 to 3,491. The larger tlie farm, as may be anticipated, the more probability that it will be cultivated by the owner. All but 237, for example, of farms of over 1,000 acres are thus occupied, and only 97 of these are worked on shares. It will be noticed, too, that the farms ranging from 100 to 500 acres each are apparently the most popular. Within tliat range are to be found more than a third of tlie farms of the state, and they may be called the representa tive farms, occupied and cultivated by tlie owners. They are the holdings of the well- to-do farmer class of Georgia. All but about 10,000 of these are under the cultivation of the owners; 0,450 of them are worked on shares, and 3,680 by tenants, who pay rent in money. The point of division between ten ant occupancies and the occupancies of own ers is in favor of from 50 to 1(H) acres. Farms of from 50 to 100 acres are occupied chiefly by the owners, although the division is very nearly in the middle, there being 14,401 owners to 11,653 tenants. Farms of from 20 to 50 acres are those chiefly sought after by tenants, and within this class will probably be found the average tenant. Of the 36,524 farms of this class, only 6,605 are occupied by their ojyners. The very smallest farms enumerated are those of course tliat are cultivated by the poorest people, and they are about evenly divided between owners and tenants. Farms in Georgia have increased from 51,759, in 1850, to 138,626. The increase from 1870 to 1880, however, was tlie most remarkable. In the former year the farms numbered 69,956, an increase of only about8,000 over 1860, when the number was 62,003. Of Georgia's immediate neigh bors, Alabama has made the most decided progress in the division ifl the large plantation into small farms. In 1850 the number of farms in Alabama was 41,964, and in 1880 it was 135,864. It will be seen from this that the ratio of increase has been a little larger than that of Georgia. It ought to be stated that General Walker attributes the increase in the number of farms to the subdivision of the large plantations of 20 and thirty years ago. It is evident from an ex amination of the census of population that the rates of increase exceeds the increase in population. Indeed, of the states of Ala bama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, Delaware is the only state where the increase of farming corresponds with the increase of population. The details of the census of the state???s enumerated correspond substantially with the details of the census of Georgia. The aver age farmer who tills his own acres owns from H??0 to 500acres; and, with the exception of Florida, much the largest number of ten ants are found occupying farms of twenty to- fifty acres. In Florida most of the farms of this class are cultivated by their owners, and even on farms of from ten to twenty acres about ss many owners a5 tenants are found. When you get to the smallest farms, those cultivated by their own ers make much the larger part. Florida???s farms have increased in number in thirty years from 4,304 to 23,438, not quite so much proportionately as the farms of Georgia, but Florida has a larger proportion of owners occn- tliese farms than any other state of .UtIw to Tclcmachu*. Burlington Hawkeye. You want to know, do you. my son. why it is that with all your management,. you can???t live on your salary, and are always in debt at the end of the pying those mentioned. H. L. N. A Good Year Tor Girls. Washington Star. It lias been frequently the subject of comment by manv people here that nearly all the babies bom to their acquaintances this year have been girls. Two out of three of General Grant's grandchildren bom since July 4 are girls, and both the grandchildren added to General Sherman???s family tlS* year are girls. Nearly all the married officers attached to a certain man-of-war now at the navy yard, have had daughters bom to them within a few months. The rapid building of the Cole lines from Macon and to Rome, and the establishment of a new sys tem of roads penetrating the west, make's anything tliat Colonel Cole has to say of the greatest interest. Especially are our people appreciative of the ample arrangements Colonel Cole is making with Memphis for the carrying of the great western trade, that con verges there. A representative of The Coxstitutiox caught Colonel Cole???s attention fora few moments bust night, and the following is the result: The reporter said: ???I understand you and your friends have been erecting a large elevator on the wharf at Memphis??? is this true???? ???Yes, sir. We have almost finished ???one of the largest elevators in the southern country???an eleva tor to accommodate all the grain that can be i>ossi- bly brought to Memphis, as well os all package freight, and the grain elevator is so arranged that it can be extended indefinitely almost. The pack age warehouse connected with the elavator is 500 feet long by 330 feet wide.??? ???When your new lines are completed through Georgia, connecting the Memphis and Charleston railroad with your Georgia system, do you expect to do ranch western busiuess???? ???Yes, sir; one of the objects of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad company in opening up the new tines through Georgia was to accommodate the western busiuess through Memphis, and over the Memphis and Charleston road into Georgia: aud with tlie steamboats and barges on tlie Mississippi river, work ing in harmony with our management of the Mem phis and Charleston road, we calculate on doing a very large western business through Memphis and over the Memphis and Charleston road into Geor- gio by our netv liues from Chattanooga to Atlanta, Macon, Brunswick, etc., and also a large western business into North Carolina through Memphis and over the Memphis and Charleston, East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia roads and Morristown exten sion, and into all the territory east of the Alleghany mountains. I think we will be in a position to compete for this business with any other rdute. Besides. our relations with the management of the St Louis, Chicago and New Or leans railroad, with connection at Grapd Junction, and with the Mobile and Ohio railroad, witli connec tion at Corinth???both on the Memphis and Charles ton railroad???are of tlie friendliest character, and we expect to cultivate this western business over the Memphis and Charleston railroad via these lines.??? ???A good deal has been said about your East Ten nessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad seeking a con nection into Texas via Memphis. Are you en couraged in that direction???? ???The outlook in that direction is very good. Mr. Gould???s management is entirely friendly to our lines, and we hope to make an arrangement with him tliat will be satisfactory to both parties. Besides which, the Memphis and Kansas City railroad is being rapidly built to Memphis, and with tliat line we will have the most friendly rela tions.??? ???Then you are satisfied that you will have good connections with the Memphis and Charleston rail road, which is a leased line of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad???? ???Yes, sir. I am entirely satisfied on that point/??? Thanksgiving Day The following proclamation was issued from the department of state to-day: By the President of the United States of America ???Proclamation: I thus long been the pious cus tom of our people, with the closing of the year, to look back upon the blessings brought to them in the changing course of the seasons, and to return solemn thanks to the all-giving source from whom they flow: and although ut this period, when a fallen leaf admonishes us that the time of our sacred duty is at' hand, our nation still lies in the shadow of a great bereavement and the mourning which has tilled our hearts still finds its sorrowful expression toward the God before whom we but lately bowed in grief and supplica tion. Yet the countless benefits which have show ered upon us during the past twelve mouths call for our fervent gratitude und make it fitting that we should rejoice with thankfulness that the Lord in his infinite mercy has most signally favored our country and our people. Peace without and pros perity within have been vouchsafed to us: no pesti lence has visited our shores; abundant privileges of freedom, which our fathers left us in their wisdom, are still our increasing heritage, and if in parts of our vast domain some afflictions have visited our brethren In their forest homes, yet even this calam ity has been tempered and in a manner sanctified by a generous compassion for the suffering whieh has been called forth throughout our land. For all these things it is meet that the voice of the nation should go up to God iu devout homage. Wherefore I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do recommend that all people ob serve Thursday, the 24th day of November, instunt, as a day of nutioual thanksgiving und prayer, by ceasing, so far as they may, from their secular la bors,and meeting in their several places for worship, there to join in ascribing honor und praise to Al mighty God, whose goodness has been so manifest in (jur history and In our lives, and in offering earnest prayer that His bounties may continue to us und to our children. Iu witness whereof I have hereunto set my. hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this the seventh day of November, in the vear of our Lord, one thousand eight hundrd ???and eighty-one, and of the independence of the United States the one hundredund sixth. By the president: Chester A. Arthcr. Jakes G. Blaine, Secretary of State. Virginia Politics. Special dispatch to The Constitution. Richmond, Va. November 9.???In view of the fact that the readjustera appear to have carried the leg islature, the democrats are manifesting considcra ble interest in the results likely to grow out of this success. This session of the legislature will be one of the most important held in the past ten years. A United States senator,all of the members of the su preme court, nearly all of the circuit judges, all of heads of the state department and many other state officials are to be chosen. It is not probable that the Hon. John F. Lewis, the readjuster candidate for lieutenant-governor, or any other republican will be elected senator. This will be given probably to Riddleberger or John E. Massey, the pres ent state auditor. Both of these have been conspicuous in the readjustcr party ever since its organization. In fact Massey was one of the pioneers in the movement. It is probable one or more prominent republicans will be given seats on the state supreme bench. Among the persons in that party most prominently mentioned in this connection, are United States District Attorney L. L. Lewis, the brother of the readjuster nominee for lieutenant governor; and Taylor, of Montgomery', who was state attorney general under the Gilbert- Walker liberal republican regime, in 18C9, The republicans will also come in for a fair share of the other state offices when distributed, as the negroes have been such an important factor to Mahone's success he cannot fail to recognize their services when the pat ronage is given out. Some of the most intelligent f the colored supporters are to be given remunerate. * offices and clerkships. R. P. Brook, the colored sec retary of the coalition republican committee, who has rendered good service to tlie readjusters in this contest, is likely to secure a good ???osi tion. He is a lawyer. All of tlie prominent republicans as well as readjusters, not already provided for, will expect to be rewarded by Mahone. The horde of office-seekers attendant upon this session of the legisla ture will probably surpass anything of the kind ever known here. While it is not believed that a re publican will be given the senatorship, that party will???have no special cauSe to complain oi the one to whom it may be given. If this prize falls to the lot of Riddleberger, Massey, or any other readjustcr, he will be in full sympathy with the administration and the national republicans on all important issues likely to come up in the next few years. BILL ARP???S CHAT. The Sheddylsms or the People and Other Topics. Written for The Constitution. The mUlenium is coining. I know it must be coming. Our folks are getting so loving and kind???so humble and so forgiving. Who would have thought that Atlanta would ever have fixed up an ovation for General Sher man? I see that the exposition has appointed a committee to receive him with an address of welcome. I suppose this is to sliowi our growing piety and sanctification, our love for our enemies, which are all Christian vir tues of a high character. It???s all right, I reckon, but Bill Fort asked me if Jefl* Davis had ever been invited to the show and i told him he had,[and that he would be ovated as soon ns he returned from Europe. Now,there is not such a great difference be tween great men, so-called,and common men, nohow. The older J grow the less fear ami reverence I have for great men. They have all got their weaknesses- and the greater the man tlie greater the weakness. A great man???s sin is a shining light andean be seen all over the country, and has a bad influence on the rising generation. A great man can make swearing or drinking or gambling or libertinism or swindling tlie government respectable. An humble citizen, who sets a good example to his own children and other people???s children, is about as great as anybody in this day and generation. I asked Jim Jones one day to go with me to the hotel to call on AIck Stephens, and says he, ???If I was to go to Crawfordville, Alek wouldent call on me, and I???ll be dog???d if I???m going to call on him. Honors arc easy.??? Lets quit running after big folks and big* things. 1 went into Billy Russell's store one day for some tobacco and he advised me not to pay too much for a brand, ???for,??? says he, ???there is just as good tobacco that hasen???t. got any name or notoriety, and I can sell it for half the money.??? My friend Colic went down to Atlanta the other day and wouldn???t go in to see the exposition. He said it wasen???t nothing but a durned old cattle show, for lie seed the pictcrs of tlie limn cows all over tiie houses- and fences and every where else. Well they can???t pay for all this printing and paint ing and gassing and blowing and hollering around without putting up the price or adul terating tlie article, and to my opinion they are doing both. Rut then tlieyo are some folks who love to be fooled and they rather pay for the brand than not. Some folks rather go to Saratoga and keep sick than to go to Cohuttah springs and gci. well. Some girls wouldn???t get married in a dress that wasent made in New York, justas though the feller who married her ex pected to sleep with the dress. Lord have mercy on us all. These modern weddings are humbugs. They are conspiracies against their friends, and the public, and the old man???s money purse. It takes about all that a young man makes now a days to keep up with the nuptial presents he has got to make. They owe money they can???t pay, but the silver but ter dish must come. The girls ought to break up the custom and print on tlieir wedding cards, ???no presents.??? Top much silverware at the start is a dangerous tiring for a young couple, for it calls for other things to corres pond, and will keep Ihe young man on a strain to keep up appearances. I knew a pair of brass 1 andirons to ruin a man thirty- years ago, and he never lias recovered from it, for they called for a fender and the fender called for a fine rug and the rug for a carpet and acarpet for curtains anil cornice, and so on and so fourth and fifth and sixth, until he got in debt and tried to sell his house to pay out and he couldent sell it, but the sheriff came along and sold it justas easy. Extravagance and trying to keep up with the nabors is the great domestic trouble in this country. It brings on financial distress and tliat causes simulation and embezzlement and bamboozlcniqpt and ends in whisky and suicide. There is no security in this life but honest industry and living wi thin one???s means. Folks who do that don???t kill themselves. That sort of a man is happy and that sort of a woman liasent got them to bo hankering after another feller. Children read too much trash now a days. There are too many boons and sensational newspapers???too much fashion and esthetics. I don???t know what that last thing is, but I know there is too much of it. But go ahead with your ex position ; that???s all right, only I wouldn???t ovate any more than is decent and dignified and in good taste. Take those man cows off the palings, for our people don???t want to be bull dozed. Avoid toadyism and esthetics and conic square down to the facts and all will be well. Don???t pay too much for the brand. 1 went into the cotton exchange the other other day to see how the tiring was done. I had an idea of betting h little just to find out how capital was exchanged for experience, but tlie feller wanted to charge ine $25 for the privi lege of betting at all, and I wouldn???t pay it, for two reasons: It was giving him too much advantage, and I dident have the money. I was willing to risk fourdollars on an even bet. There was an old gentleman sittingthere who had a mournful expression of countenance, and I asked a friend if he liadcnt lost some member of his family, and he pointed to tiie blackboard and said something about cotton and points. Another fellow came in and looked at the board with his oil eye and took a drink of water and went out without speak ing to me, though lie was an old friend. I reckon the water was better than that he hail over to his store. On Die whole I believe that spots are the best. Deal in spots if you deal at all, and pay as you go. Spot cotton, spot wheat and corn, especially for an old man. My children are all spots now, and I am glad of it. Rill Arp. FRESH. FASHION NOTES. Steele passementeries are passe. Irox-rcst is a new and fashionable shade 'of ted. Jackets ore giving to long dolmans French pelisses, circle and pompadour of Mother Hubbard cloaks. Moire nnd surah arc frequently combined in the same suit, with one or more materials and trimmings besides. Pendant pockets of white satin aud moire trimmed with Spanish lace make pretty dddtions to evening demi-toilets. , lx Paris dark gray and dark green will lie tlie popular colors for out-door costumes, and in furs the largest orders have been for natural beaver and Kamselmtka seal. Deep collars, gathered in Mother Hubbard fashion, are made of black and cream surah and trimmed with black Spanish lace; they are long enough to cover the shoulders. Cloak clasps made of Roman gold and lapis lazuii are very fashionable. The stone is oi a dark blue color, mottled with brown, and it is from this that the much-valued pigment called ultramarine is made. Bright-colored stripes and checks are again in favor, and those who rush after every novelty will at once appear in zebra garbs, showing as many different hues as the ancient costume worn by Jo seph himself. The self-colored silks that are used as foun dations to walking costumes are pulte de sole, cot ton-backed satin, Washington tallctas, the Paris 1-onvre, and cashemare de sole. Faille is again coming into favor. indistinct P*lN*r