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WEEKLY CONSTITUTION.
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«4
TUESDAY MOKNB£€L FEBRUAliY 28, 1882.
PRICE 5 CENTS
economV is wealth
IN HANDLING COTTON AS WELL
AS IN ANYTHING JELSE,
Colonel W. T.. Barrow/. Active Brain Find, a ITew
Source of Wealth In the South—W hat he Tblnka
of Improved Kathode In Gtoning Cot
ton-Cotton Seed Oil Kill.. Etc.
Colonel TV. Borrows. o’. the '.VUlmaaiic Linen
company, no well remembered throughout the
south an the foremost friendjot our late exposition,
In New England, aud the man, perhaps, who con
tributed m»re to give it actual success than any
other, 1m- bean in the city a day or two, on his re
turn fro.n Flo: Ida.
The deep interest that Colonel narrows took In
thoaoulh and that led him to take so active a part
In the exposition was deepened by his three
months'^uy in Atlanta.
Although a young man he Is at the head of one of
the largest establishments In the world, employing
sixteen hundred hands and running 120,000 spin
dles, and making a product that is put squarely in
competition with the best products of England and
Scotland. lie has, therefore, studied the question
of cotton manufacture Tcry closely, and is thor
oughly acquainted with its needs. A representa
tive of Tiik Constitution had a talk with him on
yesterday touching the outlook for mauufacturlng
In the south, and take* the liberty of printing the
substance of what be sahl.
“Ill tiie first place,” said he, “let me say that 1
don’t desire to discourage in the slightest degree
the establishment of large cotton mills for the spin
ning and weaving ol cloth. The more you have of
them the better for the stockholders and for the
•oo th at large. I believe that they will pay, and I
would be glad to see fifty built within the coming
year. But it is so plain to any northern man that the
real basis of growth for your people is not in mills
that I look will! much more interest to another de
partment of manufacturing.
“Let us agree that cotton Is the great staple, and
that from Its handling the greatest industry of the
south must spring. I contend that there is more
money to be made, more good to be done, less risk
to be encountered, and less capital to t employed
in handling the cotton this side of the spindle tbnn
beyond it The manufacture of cotton must begin
'With the gin, and UI were coming south to-rooirow
to Invest in cotton manufacture I should put
my money In improved gins and
presses. The cleanliness and care
in the handling of this white and delicate liber are
ttic first requisites, and, of course, cleanliness and
care arc no where so necessary as at the first stage
of the game. If the lint, when it is taken from the
boll Is subjected to a process which tears aud dirties
it we see that the process is started on the wrong
pinn and must be corrected somewhere. It always
coats more to _ correct an error thau it
docs to start right, consequently we say the present
system of cotton manufacturer is started in exactly
tho wrong direction. For example, who would
buy doth of a manufacturer who allowed the fabric
to fall loom hi* loom on a dirty lloor, pack it in a
rough bugging that only partially enclosed it, pile
It on tho street iu rain and
dost, ond allow any mau who
desired it to Jab into It with a kuifo? Such a man
ufacturer would be considered crazy, and yet this
Is precisely what tlio southern •.nan does with his
cotton that requires Justus much cans in handling
as the cloth itself. There is more profit and pro
gress of reform at the gin than anywhere else.”
what is your pUn?’l , _
•toy plan would lie’this; To establish aiie\V"meth-'
od of ginning, pressingand baling cotton. For ex
ample.! would put up a large,commodious building
and would fill it with, say fifty rollerglas placed in
even rows and run by one engiuo. X would then
have a competent mechanic to watch these gins and
sco that each one was in perfect order and doiug
its perfect work. At the tail of each gin I would
put a wire cloth that would receive the lint as it
came from the gin and carry it directly to the
press without its ever touching -the floor,
or being touched by hand. 1
would have a press of new pntent that would press
the bale into compact shape, and as fast as the cot
ton came from the gin pres* uml neatly bale it, so
that not a particle of the lint would be exposed. 1
would then mark each bale with my mime and
guarantee and send it to market. I am satisfied
Unit cotton thus handled and thus marked would
bring a halt a cent per pound more than the same
quality of cottou ginned la the preseut way. Mr.
Atkinson, Mr. Gartcd and others think It would
bring a cent more, but let us say a half cent.’’
"What would such an establishment cost?”
“The fifty roller gins would cost probably S3,000;
the engine—say 1.500-horse power—§1,500; the press,
the building and all could be had for less than
S10.000. Those gins would handle 10,000 pounds of
cotton per day, or 200 pounds each. A half cent
advance ou this above Uie ordinary price would be
firs) per day as extra profit. I am certain
that Uicso gins run with precision
and in workmanlike manner would do Uie work
cheaper and better nnd make more clear money
out of them than could be mads by the ordinary
gins. Yet we know that nothing Is more profitable
• than a gin run even in the present slouchy way.
With these improved gins you could mAke more
money by selling the cotton at tho same price Uian
by ordinary ginning. But then you would have a
half cent per pound, or fifty dollars a day surplus
by the new plan. This would be three hundred
dollars a week, or say five thousand dollars for the
season—in itself a fifty per cent return on your in-
TeatmenL”
“You simply suggest then a reform in gins and
Sinning?”
“Yes. The business is profitable to the ginner as
It stands now. With fifty roller gins under intelli-
gent control, working in a clean building with the
oottou properly handled and baled, and the guar
antee of the ginner put on each, bale, the establish
ment would pay. Besides the ordinary profits of
ginning, which would give a good dividend, a
surplus of 50 per cent on the capital would be
made by reason of the increased price
which the cotton would bring.
••You don't allow for the increased speed of the
saw gins in this estimate.’
*‘Oi courae 1 do. I estimate that £0 roller gins will
do the work of. say five saw gins. The roller gins
would cost, say S25.000, while the saw gins would
cost S15.000, so that on an investment of one thou
sand dollars more you would get the same yield of
cotton per day, with less wear and tear, because the
'roller gin Is not so complicated os the saw gin.
don’t know of any investment of a like amount of
money that promises so rich and so certain a return
and that would offer an example of so much merit.
In India and in Egypt these ginning estab
lishments are common, indeed the crop is
bandied almost entirely in this way.
Tho planter in Egypt sends to England fora stand
of twenty gins and it is scut out in complete shape,
an engine, gins and everything with plans for
boose iu which to put them.”!
“Tltfse ginning establishments would bo the
nuclil from which other industries would spring?
“Why, certainly. This would he an inevitable
•onscqueucc. For example you would find near
such a gin mill, a cotton seed oil mill, that would
handle the seed turned off from the gins. Yon
would find near the mills large stock farms on
cheap seed oil mills. I remember that when I was
ahoy we had linseed mills all over New England
that were comparatively cheap. The present ma
chinery for manipulating the cotton is costly and
cuvnberous, but cs soon as the demand for cheap
machinery become- confi rmed the cheap machinery
will be offered. Even now they
are arranging to treat • cotton seed
oil with naptha by a cheap and simple process.
You need have no fear. With these gin establish
ments put up all over the cotton-growing region
there would ha cheap cotton-seed oil mills to go
with them. ALcr the scad-oil mill was cstab
Ushed the next thing tan would come would be
the yarn mill of a th •iviaud spindles that could be
put up for live or six thousiad dollars, that would
spin the lint and send the yarns to the weaving mil
that might be located in the neighboring city
where there was an abundance of skilled labor.
There it would be woven Into cloth and you would
have the entire process of manufacturing estab
lished for safe and sure dividends.”
Why does not some one start such an establish
raent?"
1 have no doubt that several will be startcdl
more or less extensive, during the season I made
an estimate for Colonel Kicks, of Mississippi, at bis
request, upon a ginning mill of 50 gins capacity,
with a press and small cotton seed oil mill at
tached. I don’t know that he will build, but
do know that he agrees with me
that tho most important reform and
progress in the manufacture of cotton rests with the
gin and the gin-house. I have heard that certain
northern spinners who are interested in showing
the southern planters how much more profitable it
would be to gin cottou properly will establish a
ginning mill upon an Improved plan somewhere in
Alabama. Y’ou may rest assured (hat very-
very large amounts ol capital will seek southern in
vestment within the next year, aud it is equally
certain that some of it will be invested in ginning
mills, which offer such heavy profits, demand so
little capital and are attended with such small
risk. One properly established and fairly-
worked would do more to establish others than
lenyears of argument. You may then have a boom
iu improved methods of glutting, compared to
which the present boom in seed oil mills will be
trifling.”
“The south must learn,” said Colonel Barrows,
“what the north has learned long ago, and that is
that it is not large factories that make the pros
perity of a section, but small industries. In the
south you cannot hope for enough capital for some
time to come to build large factories at very many
different points, and if you keep public attention
directed to these great enterprises men of small
capital will decline to invest ut all ns
they cannot raise enough to compass
one of these. On tho other hand, if
you teach them whut is true, that there is more
profit nnd less risk in small enterprises over which
the owner can exetelse a personal supervision, and
the profits of which he can handle himself, yon
may encourage small capitalists to invest in small
loeal enterprises. These will make your section
prosperous, will give you diversified industries
that will employ not only the
head of the family, but his sons and daughters
and wilt certainly bring the larger enterprises
which wilt not come without them. I am deeply
interested in the welfare of the south. I have been
met with such unexpected and unusual kindness,
and have formed many attachments.
I would bo much encouraged to see
some man of moderate capital, but of careful habits
and energy, tasc hold of this ginuing question aud
SOME THINGS
THAT A GREAT MANY PEOPLE DO
NOT SEEM TO KNOW.
The 3tiat»ko of Vaccinating the V7hole Famt y at
Once— A Determination to Gat Even — Sens
SpccSmon* of Rural Science not Gener
ally Xnovsu to the People.
establish u mill, put in improved gins, presses, os
tabllsh an oil mill, and determine to make the gin
ning and baling of cotton just as clearly, a pre
cise mid dcllnito industry ns the weav
ing of the it-iking « a!
thread. Such atnan would not only got good divi
dends upon his Investment and secure profitable
and safe business, but would be the pioneer in the
movement that would.do more to give the south
strength nnd wealth than anything that has yet
been devised."
Colonel Barrow's well known sagacity and the
snccess tnat has attended his work, gives his words
especial weight, and wo commend them to our
readers. There are hundreds of men with from five
to twenty thousand dollars in the south to-day,
looking forun investment Hint will give them a safe
business nnd pay them better returns thau plant
ing cotton or advancing money to farmeis. If they
will build such a ginning mill as be suggests, run
it upon the plan as outlined, we feel sure that the
best results will bo attained and a very important
reform started Ool.lUarrows will take pleasure in
giving detailed information to any one wishing to
engage in such business. Uf course itls unnecessary
to say that he lias no interest in the matter except
to make a suggestion that he believes will be of
public benefit.
It is proper to say that we have given the sub
stance of his conversation without his revision,
nnd he must not be held accountable for any error
that may be found in what has been written. We
have simply given his ideas and may have missed
some of his details.
THE BOSTON HERALD
And Its Schomcs fur Developing tbo South.
We had a pleasant call on yesterday from Colone
R. M. Pulsifer, one of the proprietors of the Boston
Herald. Colonel Pulsifer and his two partners in
the Herald own a railroad In Florida running from
Sanford to Apopka, a distance of about four miles.
They are now extending it eighty miles further.
They also own a large and.wc believe, acohtrolling
interest in the Marietta aud North Georgia railroad,
which is also being extended os rapidly at possible.
Colonel Pulsifer has spent the last three weeks in
an investigation of these two properties and yester
day evening left for Boston.
Of the Marietta and Noith Georgia railroad he
said:
We are very much encouraged at the outlook of
this road and the country through which it passes.
It will be a great developing ageut and prove a very
▼aluable property.”
How nearly is it completed?”
We are now running about three miles beyond
Canton. We should have been further than this
but for delays in building a bridge over the Etowah.
The work on this bridge has been washed away
three times, but it is now iu a fair way for comple
tion. We have about two hundred hands at work
aud everytning is moving forward rapidly.”
When will you reach Jasper?”
We will ran trains through to Jasper about th*
15th of May."
The work will then be pushed forward to Mur
phy?”
Yes. We have the means to finish the work and
intend to do it. I can’t tell yet when we will reach
Murphy, hut you may say that the work will be
steadily continued until that point is reached. We
have bought Iron for the road and it will be
equipped in good style, and will be able to promptly
aud comfortably handle all the trade that Is of
fered.”
You think that it will develop the country
through which it passes?”
“I am sure of it. To givo you an example. Me ssrs
Wi.liams, Black & Co., who own the Ducktown
mines, have announced that they will put fifteen
hundred men at work in the mines as soon as we
reach that point aud will give them transportation.
They hare now only enough men at work to keep
the mines from going to ruin. This is simply an
example of what will follow the road. The section
through which it passes is very rich in minetals,
woods and heavy freights that are practically locked
up now for the lack of means to carry .hem out."
Colonel Pulsifer—and by the wav he has enough
interest in Georgia now to entitle him to the appel
lation of colonel—is very much interested in the
material growth of the south, and has the fullest
Bill Arp to The Constitution.
I’m not afraid of small-pox myself for it's rota
disease that has a fancy for old folks. It lets them
alone because they have no beauty to spoil an ji be
cause old Father Time will cut ’em down anyhow
before long. Small-pox had rather feed on livelier
blood and smoother flesh, and that's why the young
folks have such a horror of it, especially good look
ing young ladies, and even married ones who
sometimes entertain a fleeting thougnt that possibly
she might be left a lone widow some of these Jays,
and a widow with a pock -marked faek would be in
appropriate. There is a tramp some four miles
from here penned up iu. a pest horse,
and my folks kept dingdonging about
it until I got some bovine or
vaccine, or whatever you call it, and sharpened up
the buadiug blade of my pruning knife, aud went
to.work on ’em from the oldest to the youngest. It
was a terrible operation—scraping the flesh down
to the bloody quick, und some of ’em had like to
have fainted just for the fun of it—and now you
see what a fix I am in, for nobody can do anything
but me, their arms are so sore, and you can’t touch
’em with a feather but what it’s “Oh, my vaccinate
—don’t touch, my vaccinate,” and so I
have to bring all the wood and water and
make the fires and do the cooking, and
I begin to perceive what a mistake it was to disable
’em all at one time. When they convalesce I’m
going to vaccinate myself in both arms and both
legs and lie up for a month to get even. Bat I’m
sorry for that poor tramp. He took the disease away
down on a railroad in Alabama and took the track
for home, and they got after him all along the line,
but he kept a moving, for it isent many folks will
take hold of that sort of a feller, and so he goT to
Rome, and they sent a police after him, but the
police could not get in seeing distance, aud the
tramp kissed his hand at ’em and walked
on, und then the Kingston folks made out
they wanted him, but they dident bad, and
so by the time he was wore out aud tired out he
sorter put on the brakes at Cartersville and we
eotched him, - He was making for Atlanta, where
he come from, and if you folks went a first-class len-
satlou just say so and we will turn him loose. We
have been moving old fences and cleaning up'he
hedge rows, and 1 thought it would be fine *6 go
aheud of the briar cutters wi tit a little fire, and the
first thing X knew it took after some broomsage fend
? ;rass and leaves and got into the woods, a:Id I
o tght it with pine tops until the smokc nearly nut
my eyes out, and while I bee ted
it off at one place it headed me
off at another and at the last I had to holler for
help and it took all bauds to stop it, aud wh :n I
got home 1 was so smutty and sweatty and played-
out they didn't recognize me aud wanted to know
where 1 come from and who 1 belonged to. There
was some old logs In the fence row that I wanted to
roll into a gully aud 1 prized at one with a nil - for
an hour trying to get it out of its bed, when one of
the darkies came along with his mule aud a glow
and he put his mule on one side and his plow ou
the other and moved ’em all in five, minutes
without a bit ol trouble. But I’m a learning
and 1 don't care who I learn from. ' I’ve
never seen anybody yet that diden’t know some
things that I Uiden’t, and there is many an old
farmer wl:o knows things lliat wise men like oro-
fessors in colleges don’t. T hey learn from observa
tion and experience. Some folks go through a long
life and observe little or nothing, and most of the
boys never stop to think but learn all they knew
from book!-. Nature Is tits next study, btjlaiuir
was a close
out .hut the
ways laid her ejp
hoys anew that'
back to him, but a cow eats ou’tv.'ard frith her
because she has no fronlgecth in her upper jaw aud
has to gum it. Homey know that some kinds of
suakes lay eggs and some don’t, but give birth to
their young. Bo they know that a cane gets its full
growth in a year, whether it is large or small, aud
the limb of a tree never gets any Higher from the
ground, no matter how high the tree grows. The
boys have seen many a whito horse, but did they
ever see a white colt? Bo they know how old the
twig is that bears the peaches, and how old the vine
that has the grapes hung on to it? Bo they know
that a hop vine winds with the course of the sun,
but a beau vine always winds theothcr way? What
timber will bear the most weight: what is the
most elastic: what will last longest in water and
what out of water; what is the best time to cut
down trees for fire wood, how many kinds of oaks
cau you count up that grow in this region and what
ar ethey specially good for; how does a bird fly
without moving a feather or flapping a wing; how
does a snake climb a tree or a brick wall; what is
the difference between a deer’s track and a hog’s
track, and how often does a buck shed his horns
and what becomes of them; which ought to he
fhelargest, the throat of a chimney or the funnel,
and ought it to be wider at the top or draw
iu. Books are a wonderful help, but
a man ought not to be satisfied to go through
life and be always on the borrow from other peo
ple’s brains. lie ought to find out some things him
self, and leave a little to posterity iu payment for
all that he has learned from others. I was down in
the piney woods not long ago and saw thousands of
little salamander hills alongside the road, and
asked a good many people about them, but nobody
1 asked had over seen one or knew anything about
them except one man, and he said they were like a
large rat with a short tail and had a pouch or pocket
on each side the neck to carry roots and bugs and
nuts in. I thought that every boy in that country
would have dug after them just for sport,
like we used to dig after a mole or a bumble bee’s
nest. But there are bigger things for boys now a
days. I reckon. Tney don’t seem to have near as
much time as we used to—time to play bull-pen and
cat and town-ball and shinny and go a seining and
coon hunting and set traps aud coops for partridges
and break the eoltsand mix up a good deal of work
with a little study besides. A boy is a young gentle
man about five years sooner than he used to be,
and I think the legislature ought to change the law
nnd set ’em free and let ’em vole at sixteen instead
of twenty-one. Well, the. do let ’em work the roads
at sixeten. and that is about the only playing they
do generally, whieh is all right, 1 reckon.
• Bill Ap.p.
in Hopkins county. Texas, and walked to Ozark in
Arkansas. W e then took the railroad and tramped
the cross ties to Little Koek. This was about two
hundred miles. From Little Rock we walked to
Siemphis on the Memphis and Little Rock railroad,
and such walking. Why Potts was no where. We
counted ties for one hundred aud Ihirtv-five
miles. Sometimes we were on trestle ’work
fifty aad one hundred feet high. And then we got
water bound just the other side of Memphis.
From Memphis we took the Memphis and Charles
ton road and w-tlked into Chattanooga., a distance
of 3J2 miles. This road had just been covered with
small stones and the walking was awful, but we
were used to hard treatmeut by that lime und got
over it all right. At Chrituuooga
we took the Western and Atlantic
railroad bed aad walked to Dalton,
where a conductor took us up and gave us the first
and only ride we had on the trip.’ We rode with
him to Marietta and then walked in to Atlanta.
We are now going home.”
“What are you going to do then?” asked the
scribe after Mrs- Martin had finished her recital.
“Stay; I’ll never leave Georgia again.
In fact, I don’t intend to go so
far from my house that I can’t
get bark before dark. Why, see here, stranger, last
December we went to Texas We had $100 in cash
and rode. Now we are dead broke and have to
walk Don’t you think we had better stay at
home?”
Just then the conductor shouted all aboard, and
the lead-sliuger skipped.
‘NEAR CARTERSVILLE.
Reply of Dr. Felton to Ex.Govcrnor Smith.
Neap. Cartersville, Ga., February 25th, 18S2.—
Editors Constitution; When I read GovernorSmith’s
rejoiuder in your columns it exeited my profound
commiseration and sympathy for him. It is humil
iating to every citizen of the state to see a former
executive and the chairman of the railroad com
mission unable or unwilling to defend his official
Integrity against charges tnat were well defined,
positive and unequivocal. If explanation had oecn
S tssible, it was eminently due to the people of
eorgin that he should establish beyond dispute
his reputation for justice, fairness and Impartiality.
Having attacked me without provocation, he
thereby challenged me to investigate his own offi
cial and political record, and he has had abundant
opportunity to establish his innocence or palliate
his errors, if it had been possible. Instead of refu
tation or explanation, he evades every i_mie, and
■by a most unnatural silence lie stands confessed to
the world as guilty of every charge I brought against
him.
I respectfully assert that it is unbecoming in me
to bandy words with a mau who holds his official
integrity so cheap as to refuse to defend it. Certain
offenses in law, after conviclioii therefor, incapaci
tate the offender for citizeuship.
A man who deals only in abuse and is unable to
vindicate himself, is not an opponent to be re
spected. Until Governor Smith can meet the oaen
issue between us, I decline any further controversy
with him on any subject.
Whenever he can meet the issue and reinstate
himself as a worthy opponent, I hold myself ready
to answer everything he can charge against my
official or political record.
In sorrow for the tarnished honor of mv state,
more titan in anger for the unprovoked attack upon
mv character, 1 decline to notice the abuse in'his
last reply.
Thanking you for the space you have given me,
I respectfully suspend this wordy controversy.
Very respectfully yourobedient servant,
William H. Felton.
A FEARFUL CALAMITY.
A Williamsport Lady Lose* Iler Life In au Effort
to Save tier Daughter.
WiLLiAMsi’oitT, February 24.—A terrible
coal oil accident occurred in this city last
evening'about lialf-past nine o’clock, through
which Mrs. Jacob J. Walters lost her life.
Mrs. Walters and her daughter were sitting at
a table near a lamp, when the oil took fire.
The daughter, in attempting to throw the
lamp out into the yard, caused her clothing
to become ignited, when the mother in
!■'.tempting to extinguish the flames also be
ante enveloped and before assistance arrived
when death came to her relief, she being con
scious almost to the last minute. The only
part of her person that escaped the flames
were her feet and a portion of her face. Both
ears were burned to crisp. The daughter’s
life was saved through the exertions of her
mother, her injuries not being of a nature,
sufficient to cause death. She is badly
burned on the side and about tbe breast. Mrs.
Walters was thirty-six years of age and leaves
a husband and three children to mourn her
terrible death.
The Rope for Gultcuu.
SL Louis Globe-Democrat.
The cap, which Is of the finest material, was
made especially for Guiteau by Gumbert. ’Uie
rope, whieh is three-fourths of an inch in diameter
and of the best workmanship, was made by Bob
Humphreys, having for its special object the en
circling of Guiteatrs neck. Bob has made all the
ropes that have ushered out of existence all St.
Louis’ murderers in the last decade.
REGULAR MOURNERS.
A PECULIAR CHARACTERISTIC
KENSINGTON FUNERALS.
The Persons who Endeavor to Gain Rides to tho
Cemeteries, Although They are Unacquainted
with the Borrowing Family—Fainter*
nnd Flower-Pet Carriers. Etc.
SPARKS OF SCIENCE.
wuu.u ..i.v. o- confidence in the investments he has made. The
•which the stock would be fed from tho cotton seed I Herald is unquestionably the most powerful paper
meal of the mill, and fertilize the lind. One Indus- ’ In New England. Its proprietors are cautious, con-
try would depend on the other, and all would I serratiTe business men, and the enterprise that
mean independence and prosperity." | they have shown in putting largo investments in
“What of the cost of the cotton seed mill?" ' the south, aud In giving it proper credit in their
“It is my imprcsrioB that we shall very soon so* columns, will hare great Influente.
MRS. POTTS’S DUPLICATE.
A Lady and Her Husband Walk from Texas to At
lanta.
Just before the West Poiut train left the city last
night, Officer Porter, of the car shed department,
upproached a Constitution representative and
said:
"In the West Point coach you will find a man and
woman who have walked all the way from Texas.
Their home Is at Palmetto, aud they are now anx
iously awaiting the departure of the train that
shall soon land them among their old friends.”
1 he statement caused Madam Potts's memorab.e
tramp to recur io the scribe’s mind,and in a second
he was searching the coach for the woman who had
muscle enough to attempt to rival
the greatest female pedestrian of mod
ern times. Sitting near the rear end
of the coach the reporter's eye detected a couple
bending over a stove nursing the heat. A glance at
them was euough to confirm his suspicion. Their
clothing was worn and soiled, and their faces and
hands gave evidence of exposure to the weather.
The mau was a large individual of about fifty
years of age. while the woman, who seemed
to be about thirty,was considerably smaller. After
satisfying himself that there were no others in the
coach who possibly could have performed the ar
duous task of counting thecross-ties between Texas
and Georgia, the reporter approached them and
said:
"Come from Texas?”
“Yes,” responded the htdy. ’
“What's your name?”
“Martin, John L. Martin.” replied the man.
"Where are you going?” asked the cedar
shaver.
“To Palmetto, our old home,” responded Mrs.
Martin.
“How did you like Texas? ’
“Not at all,” said Martin while his wife chimed
in, “Oh, Texas is the hatefullest country in the
world. They don’t have anything but greasers
and tarantulas out there."
“When did you leave Texas?”
“Seven weeks ago.
“And been traveling all ttistime? I thought
you could go to TexasYn two or three days,” said
the pencil pusher, affectiug surprise.
“So vou can if you ride,” replied Mr. Martin.
“Weil, didn't you ride?” asked the reporter.
“Not a step until we got inside of Georgia,” was
Mrs. Martins answer.
“And you walked from Texas. That’s a good
tramp.”
"Yes, we walked. We started at Sulphur Springs,
It is said sulphur and lard, when touched
here and there, keep rabbits from injuring trees.
Olive oil may oe tested by its odor when
heated in a test tube, the odor of pure olive oil
being rather agreeable, aad that oi oils substituted
for it disagreeable.
It is stated that the results of recent geolog
ical explorations made ill Russia by official direc
tion show the existence iu thatempire of phosphate
deposits sufficiently extensive to Eupplv the wants
of Europe for an indefinite period.
Few people know that in bad seasons Soney
is apt to be poisonous, This arises from the fact
that in such seasons the bees are often obliged to
gather it from poisonous flowers. Great cate
should be taken to remove all poisonous plants
from the neighborhood of the hives.
Eight silver vases have been found in a
tomb in Sweeden. aud have been bought by the
Stockholm museum. Four date from the four
teenth century, one is accredited with the twelfth
century, aud the other three are older sdll. All
bear quaint designs and have a runic inscription.
The ancients slaughtered those taken in
war. The first step towards civilization was en
slaving the captives; that may be said to have been
the origin of the employment of labor in manufac
tures. The second step was exchanging prisoners
of war, and that was the origin of international
commerce.
A great blast, which has been preparing for
nearly a year at the limestone quarry of the Glen-
don iron company, near Easton, Pa., was fired re
cently. Four tunnels, each 50 feet long, were run
into the hillside, and at their end two chambers
were built at right angles, each 8 feet long. Ten
tons of powder were used, and upon igniting the
charges 40,000 tons of rock were dislodged.
Les Mondes reports that M. Uufourcet has
in the exposed court of his house two bars of iron
planted in the earth, to each of which is fixed a
conductor of coated wire terminating iu a telepho
nic receiver. He consults the apparatus twice or
thrice every dav, aud it never fails through its in-
Philadelphia Press.
Madame, you must get out of this car
riage—it is intended only for the friends and
relatives of the family. I never permit ‘reg
ulars’ to attend funerals when I am in
•barge.”
The speaker was a well-known up-town
undertaker, who stood beside a carriage in
Kensington yesterday and spoke to come
one inside the vehicle. A streamer of black
crape fluttering from the door-bell of a neat
three-story dwelling nearby aud a long line
of carriages, preceded by a hearse, told that
a funeral was in progress. The first, second
and third carriages had been filled with
the near relatives of the deceased, and as
the fourth vehicle drove up a woman,
dressed in shabby black and with her face
closely veiled, come down the steps of the
house of mourning, and opening the carriage
door herself, got in and sank back to the far
thest corner. The action, quick as it was,
did not escape the eye of the solemn-faced
man standing ou the steps of the dwelling.
Quietly advancing to the curb-stone, and in
a voice just loud enough to be heard by the
person for whom it was iutended, he spoke.
Without a word the unwelcome occupant
alighted, drew her rusty black shawl more
closely about her shoulders and walked slowly
up the street.
“That is an annoyance peculiar to Phila
delphia,” said the undertaker to a Press re
porter who happened to be a witness of the
episode, “and is probably more of an institu
tion in Kensington than in any other section
of the city. The American custom, of expos
ing the dead to the gaze of the general public,
which has been in vogue for more than half
a century, has naturally led to abuses, of
which this is one of the most marked. I refer
to the attendance of persons at funerals who
have no possible interest in the deceased, nor
connected by the most remote tie of blood or
marriage. Not only do they mingle their
tears with those of the mourners, but they
actually force themselves into the carriages
and ride to the cemetery, there to witness
the final scene with apparently as much
emotion’as the nearest and dearest relatives.”
“regulars” and “painters.”
“There are very few funerals taking place'
north of Girard avenue aud cast of Fourth
street,” continued the speaker, as he closed
the door of another cab, “where you will not
find what we term 'regulars.’ They are an
evil tolerated simply because the solemnity of
the occasion prevents such measures being
taken as would prevent a repetition of the
annoyance. The ‘fainter,’ to use another
trade phrase, is a similar nuisance, but not
seen as frequently as her more ubiquitous
sister. The 'fainter’ swoons suddenly while
looking at the corpse, and is only revived by
copious draughts of brandy. She usually
picks out a soft chair to fall upon, and is
quite expert at assuming a graceful position.
The precise object of the ‘fainter’ I have
never thoroughly understood. Whether
to gain sympathy, or whisky,
to display an attitude, is a 'ques
tion. Of the two characters, however, the
‘regular’ is the most familiar and the most
audacious. At an ordinarily huge funeral,
say of twenty or more carriages, she is seen
most frequently. The body is laid out in the
E arlor as a general tiling, sometimes a day
efore the funeral, and is there viewed by the
relatives and friends. The neighbors usually
testify the : r esteem for tbe deceased by calling
at the house, although they may not be ac
quainted with tiie family. In many cases
this visit is expected, and it i3 looked upon as
a slight if it is not made. English people,
however, show a decided aversion to having
any one gaze on their dead, except those
very near to them, but- custom is so arbitrary
that the residents of any neighborhood, and
especially in this section of the city,
would feel insulted, if they were not al
lowed to take the last look. As I said before,
one of the outgrowths of this custom
is the regular funeral-goer. She reads, be
sides her weekly story paper of seusational
trasii, the marriages and deaths in the Ledger.
She notes carefully all the funerals that are to
take place within a reasonable distance of her
home, and appears to have an especial weak
ness for interments at the Painter street bury
ing ground. If two funerals occur in the
same day, one in the morning and one in the
afternoon, the ‘regular’ is delighted and makes
a stren uous. eflort to attend both. She dresses
herself early in the morning, and provided
with a large* handkerchief, she repairs to the
house of death. The first thing the “regular”
does is to make a mental estimate as to wheth
er the crape on the door belongs to the under
taker or to the family; to speculate as to
whether the coffin handles are solid silver or
plated; to take an inventory of the furniture,
the carpets and the probable cost of the cof-
of ‘regulars,’ who strive only to
get a ride to a grave, and 'where
their own people arc buried. These
worthies always betray themselves by carry
ing. a flower-pot, which they vainly try to
conceal in their shawls. The pot'con tains
flowers to be planted on the graves of their
own dead.”
FLOWER rOT REGULARS.
“The flower-pot regulars make a regular
picnic out of tiie oeeasiou. They take their
sewing and lunch. An old tombstone forms
a table if tbe weather is line, and seated on
tiie grass, the cronies gossip and sew to
their heart’s content. On a clear day in tho
spring time, I have seen no less than twenty
of these scandalmongers waiting at the
Palmer strogt ground for a funeral to enter,
which they follow like carrion crows in
search of horse meat.”
The suggestive, but rather inelegant, simile
was interrupted by a young man who called
the undertaker’s attention to a woman as
cending the steps, and crowding her way be
tween the persons coming out of the house.
Site was prevented from going any further by
the undertaker whispering something in her
ear.
“That woman,” said he, resuming his posi
tion at the curb-stone, “has been going to
funerals for twenty years, to my certain
knowledge. It’ she fails to get a ride site is
content to watch the house while the family
is absent. Site takes occasion to go all over
the house and examine everything. I don’t
think the woman is dishonest. She is a gen
uine female Paul Pry, umbrella and all.
Now, then, you know all about the Kensing
ton Regulars,” continued the voluble under
taker, as lie slammed to tiie door of the last
carriage and mounted tiie box with the driver,
"and I only hope that 1 may be called on
some day to bury the whole tribo in the same
grave.”
“MARGARET’S” LEGACY.
fin.
MAXING AN INVENTORY.
“She examines the quality of the shroud,
and passes judgment on the profusion or pov
erty of the tioral offers. Then she makes a
critical survey of the mourning worn by the
grief-stricken relatives, and is usually able to
tell whether it is owned or borrowed, and if
the latter, it becomes almost a duty to find
out who the owner is, and how often the
crape has done duty on similar occasious.
With an experienced ‘regular’ this is an easy
matter, and these points once settled to her
satisfaction, she opens the floodgates of her
ever-ready grief. She looks on the face of
the dead and weeps. She snivels and sobs,
aud says, ‘How natural! How very natural!
Poor, dear man; he just looks as if he was
asleep,’ and then usually turning to some
one near, she offers consolation by re
marking that ‘it is the prettiest corpse ever
I see’d in my life. So peaceful and life
like.’ It makes not a wit of difference whether
the dead man or woman is wasted to skin and
bone from a lingering disease or not, to the
‘regular’ the corpse is always ‘so natural.’
She sways to aud fro, and exhibits all the
symptoms of grief, and sobs audibly as the
clergyman pronounces a eulogy on the noble
qualities of the deceased, who might have
been in life a grinding skinflint, or consum
mate rogue. As the coffin lid is fastened on
the 'regular 1 dries her tears, aud prepares to
execute a flank movement on the undertaker.
Her plan is usually to get into a carriage the
minute it stops in front of the door as that
woman did a moment ago. Rather
than have a disturbance many under
takers permit this, and the ‘regular 1 accom
plishes her principal object, which is to get a
ride to the cemetery. She has a melancholy
mania for getting as close to the grave as
possible and crying fond enough to attract
proaeh of a storm twelve to fifteen hours before
actually arrives.
It is discovered that perfumes exert a
healthy influence on the atmosphere, converting
its oxogen into ozone. Cherry, laurel, clover, lav
ender, mint, juniper, fennel and bergamot develop
the largest quantity of ozone Flowers without
perfume do uot develop it, but the flowers of nar
cissus, mignonette, heliotrope and lhy of the valley
develop it in close vessels. Odorous flowers, culti
vated lu marshy places, would be valuable in puri
fying the air.
The interior department at Washington has
decided that Lombardy poplar, balm and cotton
wood are not timber in the meaning of the law re
lating to tree-planting. The Olympia (W. T.) Trans
cript states that a petition is now in circulation in
Eastern Washington to get the decision amended
so as to include these trees in the list of those law
ful to plant. Many have set out Lombardy poplar
In good faith, thinking that it was in compliance
with the law, and they are now in danger of losing
their claims.—Northwestern Lumberman.
The narrowest part of Behring’s Strait is
thirty six miles wide, with a depth of thirty or forty
fathoms, but is obstructed by three small islands in
the middle of the channeL After the experience
already gained by our engineers, the removal of
those islauds, aud perhaps of the rocks and reefs
along the shore which offer most impediment to
the current, would be a task of no very great diffi
culty, and considering the advantage which Pro- , _ „
fessor 8haler thinks would be derived from it, not I general attention. Then she goes home in
of extravagant cost. This artificial channel, it is j t j ie street cars and hurries off to another
iaid, would lot enough of the Japanese current * » • ■»
through to melt theiee of the Polar seas, and re- foneral where the same programme is repeat-
claim a vast empire for civilization. fid. very often we encounter on other class
A Woman Who Never Wore a Silk llat or a Kid
Glove.
Cincinnati Commercial.
The most remarkable funeral probably ever
witnessed in New Orleans took place there on
Saturday, February 11. It was the occasion
of the burial of Mrs. Margaret Haughery, “a
woman who never wore a silk hat or a kid
glove.” But no woman in the whole south
was better known titan site. The announce
ment in the New Orleans papers of her death
and burial arc headed simply “Margaret,”
yet every inhabitant of that locality and
every river man on the lower Mississippi
knew who was meant.
Margaret’s pall-bearers were the governor of
Louisiana, ex-Govcrnor Nicholls, the mayor
of New Orleans, the editor of the Picayune,
representing the press of the city, and some
of the most prominent merchants and bank
ers of New Orleans. Among those who gath
ered to do her honor were Generals Beaure
gard, Ogden and Meyer, and others of the
most distinguished men of Louisiana. The
funeral was attended by a concourse of peo
ple that could scarcely be numbered they
were so many. The archbishop of tiie dio
cese conducted the services.
Following the carriage of the pall-bearcrs
were the children of eleven orphan asylums,
white and colored, Catholic and Protestant.
These belonged to the city and immediate vi
cinity. Following them were representatives
of other asylumns and public charities, who
had come to add their blessings and respect,
to the memory of Margaret. From the church*
to the cemetery, wher* they buried her, tiie
streets and sidewalks were thronged with
mourners, men, women and children. |n the
procession were the members of one ot the
city fire companies, in citizens’ dress, the
Mississippi No. 2. Tiie dead woman had been
an honorary member of this company.
Wherever the cortege passed along the
streets, at its approach nten stopped their hur
ried walk and stood with uncevcred £heads
till it passed, as though -this had been the
burial of a king, or a person of world-wide
renown. At the church the Howard associa
tion of the city, with its Dresident at the head,
joined the procession formally and followed
it to the grave. A noteworthy and touching
incident oceured on the way to the cemetery.
The cortege passed the New Orleans stock ex
change at noon, just after the members had
aszembled, and the call was progressing. On
the instant the members suspended proceed
ings, left their room and came down to the
sidewalk. They stood there reverently, with
bared brows, till the remains of Margaret had
passed by. This was a name which had power
to still for a time even the Babel 'cries of
trade.
Who was she? A plain, humble wo man
who had been good to tho little children of
tiie poor.
Her history, as told by the steamboatman,
is an unusual and romantic one. Years and
years ago, it is said, site was a woman Catholic
sister of charity. During her benevolent
ministrations she attended through his last
illness a gentleman who became much inter-,
ested in her and iter work. There seems a
discrepancy in the account here, but tiie story
is the gentleman proposed that Margaret
honld marry him on his deatl.-bed so that
she could inherit his estate. At any rate the
marriage took place, and she was left a widow
in possession of a small property.
It was then that the work of iter life began.
Tiie business of a certain restaurant and
bake-shop along the river front had fallen into
decay. Mrs. Haughery bought this and estab
lished a cheap eating house for steamboat la
borers. She thought by means of furnishing
them wholesome food at a trifle to lure them
away from drinking dens. As one acquainted
witli the plan said; “Site gave them a roll
and a cup of coffee for 5 cents, to keep them
from spending a quarter for whisky, and they
took the roll and coffee and then spent 20
cents for whisky all the same.”
• She worked very hard with her hands her
self, for she was only an humble, uneducated
woman. But under the labors of these hard
hands, her business prospered mightily. She
had a shrewd head, and in time might hare
become one of tiie richest women in New Or
leans, had she chosen to amass wealth. But
she used her money for good, as soon as she
got it. Fast as it cante in, even so freely it
flowed out for the good of little children. She
founded and supported three orphan asylums.
The money she left maintains them still, and
will continue to do so long after the brave
hands that earned tbe wealth have turned to
dust. One of her beioved orphans became
her adopted son and finally her partner in
business. Her work will still go on, just
where she laid it down, and money will still
flow from it to the numberless noble charities
she established or aided. The same papers
that notice her funeral, contain the an
nouncement that the business of the firm of
“Margaret Haughery & Co. ’ will not he sus
pended by her death, but will continue as
heretofore.
No estimate seents ot have been made of the
amount of her aid to orphan asylums and
other charities, but it appears to have mount
ed up into tiie hundred thousands, all made
by her own work. Although a Roman Cath
olic, she made no theological discriminations
when she helped the unfortunate. The little
ones of the Protestant orphans’ home, as well
as Catholic, followed her honored remains to
the grave. One account says;
“The ladies of every denomination assem
bled by thousands, thus proving that rarely,
if ever, was such a general outpouring of re
spect and true sorrow evinced in any commu
nity at the death of a humble individual, as
was shown on Saturday.”
No more beautiful, touching story of a
plain working woman’s life has ever been
told than this.
O'
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