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IM> W ./HwR ißllßrOl ’ dßrH® Oil - - «llii«nfin ■ > mfcM ~~ IMKIK VOL. XIX. BILL ARP. 'What He Thinks of the Tariff Question. UNCLE SAM AND PROTECTION. “Papa, what is all this fuss in the papers flbout the tariff. What is the tariff, auy fcow?” .r “Well, my children, there is a rich old gen leman whom the people call Uncle Sam, and Ire has a big plantation and lots of land and ( i)e has a very large family of boys, most of whom are farmers. But one boy by the name of Crispin took a notion to shoo making, and Another named Vulcan took a notion to make iron, but they couldn’t make enough shoes and iron to do the farmers, and so some out siders came along and began to undersell Cris .pinqjid Vulcan, and Uncle Sam got mad •about it. Crispin was selling his shoes at $2 a pair, but these outsiders proposed to sell their’s at 81 a pair, and the other boys wanted to buy them, but Uncle Sam said: No, Crispin can’t make them at that price and thake any money, so he made the outsiders yay one dollar a pair on every pair of shoes they brought to the plantation, and he took that dollar and put it in his pocket. Then the outsiders had to ask two dollars for their iJQOes, just like Crispin was doing. You see, ijthe old man had to oversee all the boys and he paid himself for doing it out of this money. Just so he made the outside iron menjpay him six dollars a ton on every ton of iron they brought and wouldn’t al!ow|them to sell it any Cheaper than Vulcan was selling it. i Now all this money that Uncle Sam got 4rom the outsiders is called the tariff But the tanner boys have never liked it, and • tffant to trade with outsiders and get •things cheap. Uncle Sam charges these jsutsiders something on most everything (they bring and he is getting rich—very' rich, lit is now a hundred millions a year more than fie has any use for, and so the farmer boys are inching a big fuss and want the tariff reduced So that they can get their goods cheap.” “But, papa, why can’t Crispin and Vulcan •Work as cheap as the outsiders?” • ‘My children, there is where all the trouble Comes in. These outsiders get their labor at fifty cents a day, and it is barely enough to live on. Their laborers are so many that they Will work for almost nothing rather than starve. They have poor food and poor cloth ing and live in shanties, and their little chil dren nearly freeze in the winter and have a Burd time, but Crispin-and Vnicrm- pay their iiands a dollar a day, and Uncle Sam says that ;fe right, and he won’t allow any poor people to 'suffer of his plantation.” “But, papa, why don’t Crispin and Vulcan quit their business and go to farming too, and then these outsiders could* come in and sell AJteir shoes and their iron cheap to the farm ers.” “Because, my children, there arc so many farmers now they can hardly live. Crispin ppd Vulcan and all their workmen n'ow buy corn, and Hour, and meat from the farmers, Bild that helps a good deal: but if everybody was farming there would bo nobody 7 to buy from them, and these outsiders would soon tout their shoes away up to three dollars a paif, tor they would have no competition. Compe iion is a good thing k and keeps business lively :paid prosperous all round. Then there is an other reason why Crispin and Vulcan don’t quit. All their money is in tiieir business, and if they quit it they lose it. They don’t know .anything about farming, and they couldn’t ’get a start if they did.” < The world moves and so does the nation. Mr. Cleveland’s message lias shaken her up and something is going to be done. We have been brooding and fussing over this tariff question a long time but it is coming to a focus. Sir. Cleveland is the people’s president and the people demand a reduction. Wo be to the man or the party that says ‘nay.’ Ten million surplus a month is an outrage. One hundred ana twenty millions a year drawn from the people and locked up in the treasury. Uncle Bam is mean to his children, mean as a dog. Who ever beard of a father getting rich off of Jiis children after that iashian. I paid a dollar and a half for Carl’s hat and two dollars for his long plants and I’m mad about it. I could have bought them in England or Ger many for half the money. I’m writing on ’ a letter pad now that cost me twenty-five cents, and if it wasn’t for the tariff I could have bought it for fifteen. JPlague take the tariff. I want it taken off of clothing right away 7 . I’ve sold my sheep and I want it taken off of wool. Joe Brown has quit buying my corn and oats and hay for his mines, and now I want it taken off of pig-iron. I am opposed to protecting Joe Brown unless he protects me. When iron plants are planted at Cartersville, may-be I will be for protec tion, but I’ve got no infant industry 7 now. Wo have quit the infant business at my house. It 'takes these infant industries a powerful long time to get grown. I wonder if they 7 will ever '■quit sucking the bottle, or get big enough to Stand alone. When a man goes to one of these manufacturing cities, everybody is strut ting around as big as watch, and the banks are full of money, and land is worth two hundred dollars a front foot but just let congress t.dk about reducing the tariff,and they 7 scrooch up and pull asmall bot . tie from under their coat tails and go to sucking and whine out: “I’m an infant—a poor little infant—aint you gwine to protect me ? Aro you gwine to take away my pap and leave me an orfuu?” But now, in all sincerity, this tariff business has got three or four sides to it, and it don't be come any of us common folks to be concerted about it. Eorhalf a century it has perplexed 'the wisest statesmen of the nation. Weadmire Mr. Cleveland’s pluck and his unselfish patriotism, but Mr. Cleveland knows no more about the tariff than Randall or Carlisle or .Watterson or Pat Walsh or The Uokstitu tjroN, or a host of other thinking men. They have all studied it and pondered over it for years, and conscientiously differ about it. Calhoun and Clay and Webster differ ed, and so when I hear a small politician blowing his bugle horn and swearing he’ll be dogond if it ain't thus and so I’m disgusted. One time a conceited young preacher called) on Mr. Calhoun, who was very sick, and began right away to talk to : him about religion and making preparation i for death. Mr. Calhoun waved his hand for • him to go and said “he presumes to instruct ' me on a subject that I have pondered all my I life.” Let us have confidence in our statesmen, for I many 7 of them are away above party when the j welfaie of the nation is at stake. They will ■ harmonize this thing in the best way possible. I Nobody contends for free trade now. It will qpme sometime unless we lock our doors , against immigration and the ( Leap labor of | Europe, but we won’t worry about that now. i Everybody wants a reduction—everybody. The wool grower wants a reduction on every- I thing but wool. The iron men want a red.action on everything but iron, ■ and it is just so with the sugar planter, and , glass manufacturer and every other industry ; that is protected. We arc all just like An •mus ’ Ward was about the war when he said the ‘ union must be preserved even if ho had to i Sacrifice all his wife's brothers, and cousins j and uncles. There ar# a million wool growers who nr making as big a fuss over the president's raise ago as the bees make in a hire when vou want a little of their honey. There arc flity tnillions of people in the nation and fortv-nine ' millions say take a slice off of wool. There ! &re two aiiliious engaged in the iron and stee business end forty-eight millions say take a slice off of iron and so it goes al! round. Bir mingham boa ts that she can make iron at I nine dollars a ton, She is now selling it for eighteen and is protected against English iron byr. duty of six dollars and fifty cents a ton. Kednce'that duty to three dollars ami Birmingham could still make money. She says she can. Iler furnaces wouldn’t stop nor wages be reduced but little, and that little would I c wore than compensated when the laborer could buy his hat and his blankets and his woolen shirt and his coat ami his slices and his molasses cheaper than he did before. Take a slice all round off of the necessaries of life, and if need be put it on the luxuries. The case oft he sugar planter is the hardest of all, for it is buckle and tongue with him now. Sugar is cheap,very cheap, fourteen pounds to the dollar, and molasses is cheap, and yet the government collected last year fifty-six mil lions of dollars from the duty on imported sugar and molasses. Just think of it. Twice as much as was collected on iron and steel, and ton times as much as was col lected on wool—and yet there are forty-nine million people howling for cheaper sugar. Let any man put the question to himself. Sup pose you had your all invested in a sugar plan tation and you could just barely live at the present low prices, what would you think of a government that would crush you? What would you think of your member of congress who voted for such a measure ? And right there is the rub. The members ot congress aro going to stand by their constituents—and they ought to. It is going to be a political long suffering work to harmonize on any bill, especially on the eve of another presidential election. Mr. Cleveland has shown more dis regard of his personal interest., than any presi dent since the days of Andrew Jackson. Now York is the pivotal state, the key as it were, and New York is for protection, and Mr. Cleveland might have fudged and bridged over this question until the next election, but he won't fudge about anything, lie is no dodger, and he will be re elected by the biggest mugwump party that ever was known, lie will lose lots of high tariff democrats, but he will gain more from those republicans who are for tariff reform. The masses of the American people are on the free-trade line, for the masses are farmers and others who get no protection, and they arc very jealous of those who do. A farmer said to me tho other day: “Why don’t Uncle Sam pay mo ten dollars bounty on every bale of cotton 1 raise? .He pays Joe Brown six dollars and a half on every ton of pig iron, and I’m just as good as Joe Brown.” There is no sentiment about trt de. The time was when there was a thrivl. ■» wagon shop at every cross-roads in th,, country, but our people had no internal pro tection against the north, and so northern wagons came down and dried up these humble shops, and the workmen had to quit and try some other business. If a southern farmer can buy a northern wagon for sixty dollars, he will not pay his nearest nabor sixty-five. Our wives will buy smuggled lace or linen from an old Irish woman for half the regular price if they can get it. Heard a hardware merchant nsk a farmer if he wanted a bull-tongue plow for less than ten cents, and tho farmer said : “Yes J want it for a nickel if I can get it.” Some Jews have just Some to onr toffn with h big lot of clothing that they say they got from a lire, and the folks aro just flocking there to get a four dollar coat for a dollar and a half. Our regular merchants are mad about it and want protection from all such in terlopers, but they can’t get it. Everybody wants protection for binist If and his family. It is the same old prayer: ‘“Oh, Lord, bless me and my wife, my sen John and his wife—us four and no more.” Then there is the question about what to do with this internal infernal revenue. The farmer not only gets no protection or bounty on what he grows, but if he grows tobacco ho is actually charged a duty of eight cents a pound 'on it, and a good deal of it can’t be sold for much more than the tax. I don’t blame Vir ginia and North Carolina for raising a howl. Then there is tho whisky tax that nobody ob jects to. No, not even the man who drinks it, for he knows that he oughtent to do it, and is perfectly willing for everybody else to quit, and ho wouldn’t drink it himself if he was away off on a desert island where he couldn't get it. But what wo do object to is the way it is collected. Rich men only can afford to make it under the expensive regulations of the government. The common man is ruled out. He may be fifty miles from a market for hii corn—too far to haul it —but lie can’t make it into whisky. Why not let every man make it who wanlstoand let tho government collect the tax from the dealer. The revenue would be just as great and not half so expensive. Let every man have an equal chance, money or no money. Our people are utterly tired and out raged at this inquisition business—this hunting down by day and by night, with murderous weapons—this prosecution of the poor man for doing what tire government licenses the rich man to do. Well, I reckon that congress will harmonize this thing some way. I hope so. I sympa thize with them. 1 do. I'm not mad with Randall nor Carlisle, but I sympathize with them, and I do hope they will pray over this business and fix it up. One thing is certain: they must stop that surplus. It is the people's money, and if congress can’t do anything else they can give it back to the people. Ponr it back in the jug. Give it back to the states ac cording to population. Then Georgia will got about four millions a year, and that will run the legislature that sits and sets so long and hatches nothing, and it will pay all our taxes and school our children. Il will do all that and more. Bill Abp. ABOUT A DOZEN. George Dahnca hibi, of eight years, living in Columbus, Ind., was bitten by a rat last Sejiteniber, and has since had many symptoms of hydrophobia. “My son Pon has hud a great many advantages,” old General Simon Cameron is quoted as saying; “but I hud one that was worth all of them—pov erty.” Since October 20,1>81, four different crops have been gathered in succession from one plat of ground at Starke, Fla., viz.: Rutabagas, beans, corn, sweet potatoes. Eighty corn-cunning factories have been in opera tion in Maine, and over 11,000,000 cans of sweet corn have been put Up, besides large quantities of apples, bear s, tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits. it is a rid that the biggest price ever paid for a weanling colt was that paid by Arthur Caton, of Chicago, to J. V. Striker for Delphos, a son of Nat wood, and a grandson on his dam’s side of Harold, the Biro of Maud S. lie fetched at auction $3,750. Lee Hall, who commande 1 the famous Texas Rangers, or .-anise 1 by the governor of the lone star state to put down lawlessness, is a tall man, with auburn hair, a tawny moustache and Btoel-blue eyes. Ho Is considered the bravest man In Texas. A Kentucky woman w! o has seven sons all bom on Sunday, has jictltloned Governor Buckner for a pension, she says in her le'ter that she “Nover herd of 7 boys ail Bean B >rn on Sunday,” and she thinks that such r-.n unexampled feat of maternity should I e properly rewarded. Ninety-two years azo a girl and a boy lathy were born on the same day in South Hanover, Muss. They crew and thrived there, and in time married. That was slxty-two years an. Today they live right there In the same town where they have always Jived. They are Mr. and Mrs. Hira Bates. Bjg Lake, niar Csecola, Ark., is usually a large body nt water, forty miles long and eleven vide, but the long continued dry weather of the pa t summer restricted the limits of the lake to les than I two m!le«, and the v ut< r became so shallow that a man rulel.t wade from shore to sho o. TLJs water was fnirty allre with fish, which were taken In hem tn death. K jart; f.-o a Nasi vlUe ret en’tljr re drumiath which weighed poun'ia. ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1887 THE BE|GH COMBER BY WILMAM PEBRY IIROWN. During the month of Argnst, in the year 187 —, a large iron steamship was blown ashore , on a wild portion of tho eastern coast of Florida in a hurricane. She was called the Ladona, and was bound to New Orleans from New York with an assorted cargo. Slio settled down in the sand with her nose in the air, some two hundred yards from the beach. At low tide one could wade out to within thirty feet of her, the swirl of north easterly waves having formed a channel all round her bow. Tho stern had settled down in ten fathoms of water In those days, this portion of the eastern coast was very thinly settled by hunters, cow boys and a few families from other southern stati s, mostly driven from their old homes by tho resulting exigencies of the civil war. All were poor, tho hurricane had ruined their crops, so they gathered from far and near to despoil this crippled giant of tho ocean of its treasures. A party of four, known severally as Cap, Little Dave, Boy Blue and Old Moss Moore, arrived in a half famished condition about midnight on tho lagoon side of the narrow strip of laud that guards from the Atlantic surges the long series of tide'water sounds,here lining tho ocean shore for two hundred miles. A heavy rain storm of the previous night had ruined tiieir supply of hominy. As the residue of their “grub” consisted solely of a tomato can full of odorous lard, their hunger was cosily accounted for. Some other campers had their mosquito bars stretched at the boat land ing. One of our party discovered a pot of stewed onions ami potatoes by the embers of their fire. Tho appetiz.ag smell was too much for the probity of half starved mon. The pot was suireptitiously convoyed to a safe distance in the scrub and emptied quickly of its con tnets. “The interposition of that pot of souse is certainly providential,” qouth Cap, tho moralizer of the party. “It saves us a while from draw ing straws to see which of us shall be eaten first.” They stealthily returned tho pot, laughing over its owner’s probable state of mind on finding it empty in the morning. Then, shouldering tiieir bedding and a couple of empty cooking vessels, they started for tho ocean beach then about a mile distant. The moon shone brightly, and the light land breeze sweeping over the lagoon was laden with mosquitoes from the marshes. The muf fled thunder of the breakers floated oyer the sand hills with intermittent yet increasing power. At last the mighty sheen of waters and tho broad sloping avenue of the beach, swept ch an by the perpetual tides, lay before them. They wearily trod the hard, moist sand, looking for a convenient place to “spread down” for tho night. “Here, boys,” cried Little Dave, who was ahead, “dont say grub to me any more. Here’s where I camp tonight.” So saying ho threw his blanket down bisi .• a large pile of Irish potatoes and anions? Where had they come from? On that “desert shore” with nature represented mostly with barren sand and saltwater-, to find such manna in the wilderness was little short of miraculous. “You can find anything on the ocean beach,” s lid old Moss Moore, peeling an onion with his hunting knife. When one remembers that these shores re ceive, so to speak, the ilotsoin of four thous and miles of western rolling waves, such re marks arc not so very strange. Yet, of all things, potatoes and onions! “Let us pray for pickled pork next,” quoth Boy Blue, but this profane suggestion fell up on sleep deadened cars. In the morning, though, they did not get pork, Little Dave and Cap fished a half barrel of Fulton market beef out of tho breakers which, alas! on opening, proclaimed itself fit food oniy for tho buzzards sailing over the sand dunes. A mile to the south’ard lire black bow of tho Ladona projected from the sea, surrounded by a curling swarm of breakers. Strung along the sandhills were a scries of rude bivouacs, marked by sheltering arrangements of boxes and barrels, and the flapping of numerous mosquito bars. Numbers of men, singly or in groups, wandered along the bqach watching the waves for wreckage, or gathering up the potatoes and onions drifting ashore irom sev eral hundred barrels that bad been washed from the steamer’s main deck. The beach for several miles looked not un like a wholesale street in a large city during business houi-s, .suddenly divested of houses and teams, leaving men and merchandise scattered promiscuously ui> and down. Sundry cast-off hats and shoes, together with ragged shirts and pants, scattered here and there, evinced a new order of tilings for tho Beach-Combers. Ono would meet a barefooted man dad in fine cassl mere or broadcloth, with breeches rolled up, squatting over a fire, frying pan in band. In an hour old Moss Moore, arrayed in a white shirt, yellow doeskin pants and a high silk hat, was seen chasing a floating box of boots up and down amid the breakers. Out party were soon installed in a camp, sheltered from the wind by several dry goods cases, and at low tide were ready to go on board with tho rest. There were three score or more of the beach combers, divided into groups of from five to a dozen, wlio then swam and waded on board, and got out such portions of the cargo as they could, until the tide be came too high for such work. Then tho goods were thrown on the beach, into as many equal piles as there were men in tho gang. Uno man would turn his head and another one, pointing to a certain lot, would say to him: “Whose pile is this?” “John Smith’s.” John Smith would then stand by his pile until all were similarly apportioned, when each man would carry off and care for iris own plunder. Everybody was short of provisions and every one lived on tho wrecked potatoes and onions until, as Little Dave said. “Tho whole country smelled like a garlic patch.” A shrewd Ohio man saw how things were, and quietly going home, returned in a few days witli a boat load of flour, meal, coffee and bacon. That move was considered to have made his fortune then and there. Bacon sold for one pair of shoes per pound, while it took a good pair of boots to secure an equal amount of coffee. As to flour and meal, the men ! recklessly threw in whole suits of clothes, bolts ’ of jeans and calico and hats and white shirts I by the half dozen to obtain enough to last each i man for a week or two. Never since tho surrender of Lee did plain | provisions bring such fancy prices in trade throughout Dixie. The Ohio man sailed down j tho lagoon the next day with his boat loaded to j the gunnals. Some of the men laughed when ' they afterwards heard that he had capsized in ' Kowana river, and lost half cf his spoils. “Served him right for his gre< -1,” they said, ' but the man had only practiced on a small I scale what many large grain operators do on a I large scale, when they got tho chance. The first time oar greenhorns stood on tho i slippery incline of the Ladona's forward dock, i with ravenous waves surging past them shore ward, or dashing up tho main dock towards I them with an angry swash and roar, tho land behind seemed a mile away. Il was. difficult to accustom themselves to work, with this briny | uproar about their ears, even in mild weather. The goods wore hauled up thi-ongh tho for- | w ird batch. The men had to lower themselves into three feet ot water, that grow deeper to wards tho waist ot the ship, and grope, h ilt submerged, about a dark, slimy hole for what ever they might find. Afterwards they had to dive through the second hatchway to tho lower ■ hold, securing themselves by a Hue fastened to ! I the waist, with the other end held by their j mates overhead. The echoing din of tho breakers outside, the sense of weakness and , of loneliness down there amid the darkness | and tho brine, with, perhaps, unknown mon | sters of the deep hovering near, tried their I nerves severely, though practiced beach cotu- I bets made light of it all. ■ One day an agent of tho underwriters ar i rived, and announced that, as all the wrock- I ing so far done was illegal, he would take pos- I session of the goods and assume future charge .ot operations himself. He was immediately : surrounded by a clamorous mob, that soon be- ■ gait to howl for blood, or an undisturbed reeog i nition of their rights. I The country was isolated, the goods perisha ! bio, and tho beach combers desperate. The | agent concluded that di ii-retion was the better i part of valor and departed, fulminating direful threal i regarding certain forthcoming legal penalties which were never afterwards heard of by the ones threatened. The first Sunday at the wreck was saddened I by tho discovery of the body of an unknown . boy, minus an arm knawod off by sharks. The I sickening thrill that come , over one, on llml- I ing a corpse washed up irom tho sea, can i hardly be described. Death ha-, a forbidding i nearness, as though the sightless taco turned I upward toward the sky had opened its dumb I mouth and said: “It might have been thou.” I Ono oetncinbors the petition for deliverance I from sudden death, and men, otherwise god less, revoiontly bear tho unfortunate to his grave among tho sand hills, and for tho rest of the day go about subdued and reflective. Several barrels of sugar, but little dam aged by tlioir long submersion, were taken from the Ladona’s hold, and were the cause of a laughable affair. Old Moss Moore, being an old backwoods recluse, had camped by himself at a point some sixty yards in the i-oat- of the other beach-combers. One night they wore aroused from their mosquito bars by shouts from that direction, and the sound of boxes or barrels being upset. Ina minute or so old Mossy himself burst into their midst, with his long hair and undergarments flying. “Boys,” he gasped, “tin' devil himself is over that nlyin’ thunder with everything.” But while he was explaining tho deep bay of “Old Foot,” a veteran hound that had been Moss Moore’s inseparable companion for years, was heard, echoing down the marsh lying be yond the saw palmettos at tho rear of the sand dunes bordering tho beach. That familiar sound recalled the old man to his senses. “Perhaps hit’s some varmint after all,” said he. A dozen half clad men were now standing round bare-footed, and with such firearms as they conld lay their hands on. All started on masse for Old Mossy’s camp, and found, by the light of a hastily gathered torch or two, a bar rel of sugar upset ovetliislted and the sand confusedly marked by clawliko indentations, not unlike human feet. “It's a wooly devil, and blank at that," quoth Boy Blue, who loved hunting belter than eat ing any time. With many a whoop and laugh at Old Mossy’s expense, the mon scattered themselves over marsh and scrub, following Old Foot's cheering tones, who seemed io bo making it lively for the object of pursuit. In ten min utes fifty half-naked beach combers wc.ro careeoring wildly over the sand hills, like a tribe of wild Arabs. Now ami than.a shot would be fired. Filially, half a mile down the beach, the lovtor of stolen sweets was laid low by tv. - 9 shots from a party of Bahamians, one of whom owned a Winchester ami made good use of it. It was one of the black bears, then common enough in that region, but it was so lean they could hardly blame the poor brute, who, made bold by hunger, had invaded old Mossy’s sugar barrel, and tumbled it and himself over tho old fellow's bed and pern >n. Tho master, sud denly roused from slumber, fled in terror; but tho dog had courageously put the bear to flight at once. Our party continued their wrecking opera tions for a week longer, when an event oc curred that at once terminated al) desire on tho part of many to further risk themselves on board the ill-fated steamship. A heavy southeaster had blown for two days, during which no trips to tho wreck could bo made, while the heavy cable stretching from the, vessel to the shore, was half the time in visible beneath tho great green “combers,” some of which would burst upward into tow ering high masses abaft tho stump of tho fore mast and fall over the bow in thundering sheets of foam. Tho third night tho wind lulled, then shifted lightly to tho west, blow ing off shore, so that by low tide tho next day, the sea had greatly fallen, though there was considerable “dead swell on.” It was not long b fore eight or ton of the younger men were st r ing along the cable and pulled themselves on board. The sloping deck was slippery, and the port bulwarks, hitherto Intact, had given away before the two day’s battering, and in parting loose, had torn off a portion of tho iron plating of the hull, leaving a gaping holo, through which tho sea poured spasmodically, with a hollow, despairing wail. To descend into the lower hold seemed haz ardous, but Boy Blue was the first to tacitly volunteer, by iastoiiing the end of a boat hal yard round ills waist, saying: “I reckon I’m about the best swimmer,boys. If I get back all right, one of you can follow. There may I>c sharks down there, so keep tho rope taut, and when I jerk it, pull me up as though the Old Harry was below.” Boy Blue, like too many other bravo hearts, was recklos't in his langirigti at times, but the others admired bis frank audacity none the less forthat. Wo lowered him to iho second deck and as ho stood waist deep in water, with his feet on the combings of the lower hatchway, he shouted back: “Taint like a lady’s parlor below, boys, but hero goes.” And down lie sank. They kept a tight grip on the rope and peered over into the seething cavern of water. Boy Blue was nearly as good as a Bahama diver at holding his breath, but his mates grew uneasy this time over ids delay in jerking the rope. Finally It was jerked with a vengeance, nearly sending Little Dave, who held it, headlong throngh tho hatch. Then they began pulling, astonished to feel how heavy Boy Blue had grown in tho last minute or so. “He’s got a case of dry goods this time.” “Or a barrel of coal oil.” “Or one of those—” Their comments were cut short by the ap pearance of Boy Blue’s back and legs, with two dark, shiny looking arms twined round them. Then they pulled frantically, fearing too, lest the rope should break. His whole person slow’ly camo into view, hold firmly in the gra,p of other similar horrible, tenacious tentacles. The men shudderfngly realized his poril. for who has not read or heard of the octopus ? The legend of the Krakcn and Victor Hugo’s graphic description of the devil fish, flashed through Little Dave’s mind, as he beheld Boy Blue hanging insensible in that merciless, un yielding clasp. Ono of their number was the Bahamian who had shot the boor. He was a swarthy, keen eyed fellow,apparently as much at home hero . as though amid the mangoes and pineapples of I Nassau and H»n Salvador. He carried in his i belt a sponger’s knife, detached from the long pole whereon it is userl. Its heavy, two foot blade rendered it a formidable weapon. While tho rest were stating helplessly, he I drew this knife and, descending tho Iron ladder atthesidoof the hatch way, severed oneoftho hideous arms with a bold stroke, at the same ! time screaming out, “You pull em- fast!” The men hoisted away like madmen. Another arm was cut off, and they caught a I fleeting glimpse of its dull, cruel eyes and ball I like body, as the devil fish released it victim and sank sullenly from sight, It took a good ; five minutes to revive their Comrade, whoso back and logs were torn as by a blister, from the powerful suction of tho monster's claws. Boy Blue freely owned up to having received the “worst scare a fool ever got.” The Bohe mian, however, after looking at tho severed arms that bad still clung to the lad's torn under shirt, said a little scornfully. “llo’m not berry big. Heap bigger in Baha ma.” Tho southeaster had evidently blown it from the Gulf stream shoreward into tho breakers, and thence it took refuge in the hold of tlio Ladona, through the recent rent in the steam ers' side. This incident caused onr partyof four to con clude that they had had enough of wrecking for tho present, though the Bahama men still descended as though nothing had hapnened, I afli r arming themselves with sharp’ knives I for a defense against further attacks. But the • sight of those gristly tentacles, with a dark I ooze exuding from their severed extremities, and the rubber like suction cups, that enable the devil fish to cling so cruelly to its prey, effectually cured even Boy Blue,of any further desire to penetrate tho mysteries of tho La dona’s hold. The following day, therefore, found them spinning homeward over the lagoon with a fair wind, and tlioir little sail boat well loaded with the results of their two weeks’ experience as beach combers of the Florida coast. GLINIOjf CAREER. For the Constitution. As tho sun went down behind tho towering hills and lofty pines that stretch themselves along the Tallapoosa river, just west of tho village of Wedowee, a regiment ot cavalry made their appearance in the main square of the little town, halted, dismounted and stacked arms. This was on the evening of the 13th day of January, 18C4, and the people of Wedowee wore soon collect ing in groups, and with anxious faces discussed tho moaning of tho visit of the soldiery, and many speculations were indulged in as to the object they had in view. Tho people of this section of Alabama were about equally divided upon the Issues of tlie war, but those who now made up tho popula tion of Wedowee—principally women and children—seemed by mutual consent to dwell together without reference to the terrible strife,and those able to bear arms who had not joined either tlie union or tho confederate forces had taken to the mountain fastnesses— one to escape being conscripted and tints cut off from opportunity of defending their homes against the ravages of the bushwhackers, and tho other for tho reason that they still loved tho old flag and refused to lie ruled by tho government of secession. Out of these circum stances grew complications that made the section the most dangerous for either party and was cause for many a bloody tragedy. It was soon karuad Unit th', soldiers had been sent Into this territory for rho purpose ot recruiting, to enforce Hie law of conscription, to gather up deserters and overawe the element that still clung to the old flag and were op posed to disunion. Up to this time there were, what was known as “mutual men”—men who did not favor tho yankecs and yet refused to join the confed erate army. Among the latter was a brawny'mountalncer who stood six feet three inches in his stocking feet, and was rated as the strongest, tho fleet est and the bravest man of tlie section, but yet the most unassuming of them all. Ho was truly a man of peace till tho circumstances surrounding him forced him to fight, and tho killin" by confederates of his daughters con verted him into a than lit for the bloody times, and the name of Lem Clinton became a holy terror. The bushwhackers that infested this moun tain region had striven hard to enlist Clinton into their ranks, knowing that he was just the man for a leader, and in persistently refusing •to join them ho made secret enemies of them and he well knew that thoy only wanted an opportunity to kill him and then wreak their vengeance upon those who wore only safe under his watchful eye and strong arm. On the other hand, it was insisted by Iho confederates that Clinton was liable under tlie conscript law, and there wore those who made themselves diligent in trying to force him into tho service, thus placing him between two fires, all of which lie stood without flinching, and was always found defending tho weak against the depredations of the factious. The troops above mentioned took up their quarters near the little town of Wedowee and from thence would go by squads in different directions, and woo it was to tho deserter from tho confederates or tho man Hable to the con script whom they chanced to come up with. The killing of Clinton’s two young daughters was the work of one of these parties and is a part of the history ot tho war between the states. The Clintons lived in a double log house, on what is known as tlie “Fork ridge,” about equal distance between the two Tallapoosas— tho Little and tho Big Tallapoosa—and upon the night of the bloody tragedy two young girls, the mother and a small babe were the occupants of tho house. One of the girls carded the cotton into rolls while tho other stood at a spinning wheel converting tho rolls into thread. The mother sat witli her eyes upon the blazing lightwood-knot tiro that fur nished light for the apartment, knitting npofr a sock for her husband, while one foot tipped the rocker of a cradle and soothed tho babe to rest. The rain pattered upon the boards, and the roar of tho waters of tho Tallapoosa mingled with the zoon of the spinning wheel, ami save those, there had been monotonous silence fo.t some time. “Keep the coffee pot by the Are,” said the mother, “for the night is rough, and I think your father will come in.” “Yes, I’ve been thinking of him myself,” spoke the elder girl, “and I most know he'll be in tonight, for the river is up and it’s rainy too, so there’s no danger from tho raiders, and he can get a good rest under his own roof.” As the last words were uttered, the dogs be gan to bark, and they started off in a run down the path that led to the spring. “That’s him! That's him!!” spoke all in chorus. “Hang out the signal,” spoke tho mother— for It was tho custom In those days to give warning signals, which hud meanings under stood by the ‘layors-out.’ The girls dropped their work, and the mother at once busied herself heating up tlie meal that had been saved in expectation of Ids coming. In a moment more the tall form of Lem Clinton stooned as ho entered his own door, and holding In one hand tho long double-bar reled gun which ho carried, with tho other lio gave each a hug in turn, and wo leave them hero to visit the camp of tho soldiers at We dowee, and see what Is being done there. “I want twenty volunteers to follow mo to night,” said a fine calvary lieutenant, as ho buckled on his sword and walked among tlie men. “I am iboing to raid tho fork this night," continued tho lieutenant, “and I don’t want a man with mo but that it Is willing to be buried over there, it necessary, to break up that nest of what thoy call ‘mutuals'.” It was but a moment to secure tho volun teers and have everything ready for tho raid. The wat< rs of tho Tallapoosa Were bursting over every low place along its banks, and tho PRICE FIVE CENTS. rain was falling in torrents. “We’ll have to swim at the ford,” said the lieutenant. And so they did, and this was why Clinton had ventured to visit his home upon that fatal night. 110 rested at the little home, feelintf perfect security, and even tho dogs had gath cred around tho blazing hearth, and wore looking gladly upon their master, when tho sharp click of the guns of thesohliers came simultaneously with tho command of tho cal vary lieutenant. “Surrender and open your doors or we'll break them down.” The command was refused by the elder daughter, who throw herself against the door, anil at tho same time Clinton had made him self ready to sell his life as dearly as possible. The door was broken down, and instantane ous with that guns were presented at Clinton, who was standing ready to defend himsclt against tho first who should enter. “Surrender or die!” exclaimed the lieuten ant, as the mon held tlioir fingers upon th* triggers of their guns. “Die!” said Clinton. “I’ll never surren der. At this instant the daughters and mother rushed between Clinton and his pursuers and the mother was badly wounded and the tw<> girls killed instantly. As his dear ones fell upon the floor Clinton seemed to lose all reason, and rushing uponhly pursuers in the dark lio fought as a demoi brought to bay ami defeated single-handed the entire crowd, killing tho lieutenant and throb of his men and wounding six more of them by clubbing his gun. The vows that Clinton made, kneeling that night by his loved ones, lie devoted liislifbl to fulfill, and if there is more than one of that Company of men who have not subsequently' died with tlioir boots on, it is not known, anal it will be well, if there aro any, for them to' keep very quiet and be on tho watch for an; iron-grey, six-foot-three man, and keep out of' his way, for Lein Clinton still lives and hasl never made peace nor laid his gun in its rack from that day to this. »*«••• Let us follow Clinton from the graves of his loved ones, for ho has joined the bushwhackers —if that is tho proper name—and lias made an appointment to meet with thorn at tliair moot ing place. Here ho goes, over a rugged moun tain path, until at last the trail isjjlosi and ha Scrambles from peak to peak till lie stands upon a towering! crag, whoso foot, is washed by the turbid waters of the big Tallapoosa, lib has been hero licforo, for ho lashes his gun upon Ir.s shoulder and at once approached a huge grape vino that has been fastened to a moun tain oak and spliced till it roaches the waters! below, and grasping it with firm hold he eases himself over tho precipice and down, hand over hand, for twohundred feet he goes, till his feet strikes the bottom of a light battcau, and then seating himself at one end he moves down the river till lie comes to the confluence of the Big and Little Tallapoosa rivers, and there he stops, draws his battoau up in the bushes and makes Ills way a few steps into the forest, whore tho bushwhai kers are to hold tiieir meeting and formulate theit plans. Here<s a spot that nature Im fitted for a hail of socrocy. Two laigi'i nvo.s in’tig a wall on ouo side and in Irmit, with a limitless forest back in the “fork.” with towering crags • and lofty trees, that lend their shadows to it ilisinal night that makes darkness seem a tiling of substance. Fifty men, made desperate by the Buds of the times, swear allegiance to each other, and olet t Lem Clinton as their captain. “Now give mo a chaw of ’banco,” said a heary-soi, middle-aged man, who hold a guA ill his hand that was fully as long ns himself, and whoso right mime was Hiekonbother, but who was familiarly known at ‘old Hick,’ “I habit had nothing to say at tho meeting, but I voted for ottr captain, mid now mo and old ‘Betsy Baker,’ (as ho called his gun) aro ready to obey his orders and to follow him to It—l.” “1 wish he’d order you to kill that owl that’® been er ho-ho-ing over tliar for tho last two hours,” spoke up Joe Fresly. Further conversation was cut short by tho tall form of Lem Clinton arising from the log upon which he had been sitting, and chunking tke dim fire which furnished a little light for tho occasion, he cleared his throat and said: "Hoys, you all know me. I’ve not got much to say. lou all understand what we have agreed upon about the signals, but 1 will repeat to you the urgent charge already given, that no man shall leave those diggings so far but what he cun see a light when it is flashed front tho ‘terry peak,’ unless ho gets permission to do so. When you seen lightlnirningon yonder highest ]>< ak, to tho right of tho ferry landing, you must drop everything and report here at this place as soon as you can; and mind, be careful ami look out tor spies. The meeting is dismissed.” So spoke the man who had been chosen by unanimous consent, the leader of tho “layers* Out,” of thoTalla;>oosa“fork.” Lot us again visit the camp of tho soldiery at Wedowee. Throe days rations have been prepared and tlie men are ready to march at a moment’s warning. Eighty-five men aro ready and anxious to avenge tho death ot tiieir fal len comrades in the Clinton fight. The night is dark mid as the soldiers mount their horses and silo into tho Burrow’s ferry roiul and bead for tho river, tho tall form of Loin Clinton emmergod from a neighboring thicket, and with his gun at a trail, ho darts across tho road and take< a mar cut that will land him at the ferry at least an hour ahead of tho troops. Once at the ferry, he mounts up. uj>, the ragged side of the “i< rry peak.” ana it is but tlie work of a monu nt to have the whole top of tho towering peak illuminated by a lightwood fire, that had already been pre pared of rich lightwood splinters that would flash for but a moment and dying out, leavi all in darkness. The bushwaekers aro together, and led by Clinton, they take their places on either sida of tho road that is terminated by tlie river. With impassible mountains on eltfmr side, ana the river in front, there was no way for the soldiers to retreat except to rightabout, if once they were in tho gorge. “Quiet mon, let every man bo quiet, until I shall give the word “lire,” and then let every man do his duly, and Lem Clinton will do his.” Tliere was nothing now for ths bushwhackers to do but to await tlie coming the soldiery. Tho trap was set, once in the gorge the sol diers would have no way of retreat but to plunge into tho. swollen Tallapoosa, or to about face, which latter had been anticipated by Clinton and he had it arranged to close in the road and cut off retreat in that direction. It was thus that things stood when the clank of sabres announced the close approach of |he soldiers. On, on they came,uncons< ious of danger, till the head of the column had reached the river’s bank, and the officer iu command gave the word: “Halt!” The tall form of Lem Clinton sprang inte the road, and at the saino time his shrill voice was heard clear and distinct: “Fire!” And fifty bushwhackers nulled the trigger ot their guns, and above the clatter mid confusion tho voice of Lem Clinton was heard: "No quarter! Die, devils, die!” This closed tlie career of that company. Not one escaped to toll the tale, and that was the last organized military of tlie confederacy that made an attempt to invade the “fork." Habob. ♦ .. Building tones made of corn-cobs form the object of a new Italian potent. Ed Clcriei, <>f Mi lan, Is tho name of the patentee. The cobs are pressed l>y machinery Into forms similar to brick and held together by wire. They are made watat tight l>y soaking with tar. Tluoc molds are very hard and strong; their weight is less than one-third of that of hollow brick, and they can never get damp. ,