Georgia Historic Newspapers

    OLI) SERIES, VOL. LXXVJII.
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NATIONAL DEBTS.
Avery able and interesting paper on
national debt* was recently read before
the British Association at Liverpool by
B. Dadley Baxter, Esq. This document,
which gives the magnitude of the debts of
the principal countries in the world and
the annual charge per head in each ba
tion, contains some carious and startling
information.
Mr. Baxter estimates—and his statistics
are probably as nearly correct as any
extant—the aggregated national debts of
Europe, Asia, Africa and America, in
1869-70, at £3,910,000,000. Os this
fabulous amount it is stated that £3,500.-
000,000 were borrowed for war purposes,
and less than £500,000,000 for worts of
peace. What a melancholy commentary
is this on the manner in which Govern
ments are administered 1 Eighty-eight
per cent..ot all the money loaned to na
tions has been expended in the destruc
tion of life and property, while only twelve
per cent, has been used to ameliorate the
condition of mankind and to promote its
material prosperity.
From Mr. Baxter’s statement it ap
pears that tho debt of Great Britain is
the largest, that of Franca stands second,
and that of the United States, including
tho .State debts, third. The total debt of
all the European nations, before tho late
war, was £2, 165,430,(XX), of which Eng
land owes about one-third. The amount
annually required to carry these debts is
£107,538,000, ot whioh 224 per oenf. falls
upon tho British Government. The an
nual per capita oharge on the population
of tho United Kingdom is 15 shillings and
9 pence, while the average charge per
head on the population of Europe is only
7 shillings. The heavy expenditures by
France and Prussia io the late war will
probably materially change these propor
tions.
The indebtedness of the United Btates,
including the State debt, is given at
£532,100,000, with a gross annual charge
of £27,280,000, or 14 shillings 2 pence per
head of population. The per capita
chargo on our people, it will be seen, is
greater than that of any European nation
excepting England, and 100 per oent.
greater than tho average per capita tax of
tho whole of Europe. Os the entire debt
of the Western Continent, the United
States debt constitutes 70 per cent., and
the charge per bead is 50 per cent, above
tho avorage of that borno by any of the
American populations.
Mr. Baxter, however, applies an addi
tional and truer test of tho burthen of
these debts upon individuals, by compar
ing tho annual chargo per head, with the
annual incomo per head, in the principal
nations. It is to bo regretted that reliable
data could not be obtained upon this sub
ject; but Mr. Baxtor has given tho matter
muoh attention, aod his estimates aro
probably very noariy oorreot. The bur
then ol national debts upon individuals,
and tho insome per head in 1869-70', are
given as follows :
Ver coni.
An dtffi dtbt
titi. Inoom* etta/g* charge
Nation. per hd, per Ad. on inc.
£. s. s. and.
United Kingdom »( ® 10 * 0.3
United Htetea (with St*'*
debit) 00 0 M 0 3.T
Runt* (with r’wny g'nteei). 7 0 18 10
France, *• " 31 0 *9 S.S
Austria 10 10 7 3 S3
German Kmplre ...19 0 39 1.0
From this comparison it will bo seen
that tho debt burthens upon individuals
10 tho United States, Great Britain, Rus
sia, Austria pod France, before the war,
were nearly tho same. In the German
Empire the debt chargo was only 1 per
ocnL, or loss thau onc-half of that of either
of the other great nations. It appears,
therefore, that each individual in the six
principal nations of the world pays about
2i per oent. of bis annual income to oarry
some national debt.
MR. TALLiSDIttHAM’g PLATFORM
The Southern people will hardly swal
low Mr. Vallaodiftham’n resolutions, so far
as they refer to the so-called Constitutional
Civil Rights bill, and the
tnatiy other infamous acts and measures
which are mw incorporated into the laws
of the land. Our people are willing to
accept and have acoeptod ip good faith
the solution of tho great questions de
cided by the arbitrament of the sword.
Slavery and secession are dead, aDd the
Southern people do not desire to re-estab
lish the one or agitate the other at this
time. We do not want to deprive any
man, no matter what his color or con
dition may be, of Lis legal rights, but
our poople cannot give their consent to
any plattorm which accepts arbitrary and
unconstitutional edicts as part and ptroel
of the organio law; Oar people, though
they may be powerless to defend them
selves, cannot give their assent to any
measure whioh assumes that Congress, or
the President with his army and navy, has
the power to invade a State, overthrow
the government, and arrest aDd imprison
its citizens. It Mr. Vailandigham means
to aooept the amendments which confer
the arbitrary power here referred to, we
cannot aoeept that portion of his platform
which marks such an extraordinary de
parture trom the time-bondred principles
of Democracy. Aad, unless we do not
understand aright the views of our peo
ple, the Georgia Democracy cannot acoept
Mr. Vallandigham's platform. We be
lieve that the ihiloviog article from the
Memphis Appeal expresses the honest con
victions of nine-tenths of tho Southern
people. It is bold, manly and truthful,
and it is always best, in matters of grave
public moment, to tell “ the truth and
nothing but the truth," in order that the
poeplc may be advised and warned of the
dangers which threaten to wipe out the
last vestige of Constitutional Government. ‘
The Appeal says:
“When we tell Northern people that
slavery is forever abolished and that our
people would no more assume public and
personal responsibilities incident to the
defunct institution, when we assent to all
tacts necessarily pertinent to this change,
when we agree to abide by issues whioh
the war determined, we have done quite
enough. Beyond this ail that ie forced
upon us is hateful. 1 here is no necessity
for any fraud in the matter, and when we
assert that the Constitutional Amend
ments, except the Thirteenth, are odious
and will be rescinded whenever a conven
tion of the States or abaolute Democratic
power in the government may render the
consummation possible, we tell the simple,
unvarnished truth. There are few, very
few, Southern people who differ from
us in this, and there arc noce,
if honest and brave, who would
have us fail to proclaim the fact. But
hold I hold! say the oautious time
servers ; don’t tell now what you would do
if you could. Call these odious measures
and K-Klux acts “ aooomplished facts,”
• and let os delude the North. Lst us
make New England happy with the assu-
ranee that we approve the civil rights and
social equality measures, and all the enot
mities dj e by Congress. And wbat
reason is assigned for the suggestion
that we should become living lies, mis
representing ourselves and the whole South
ern people? Ihe answer is, “Let us
have peace!’’ The mockery of the
horrible sentence has been illustrated
through every day and week of Grant’s
official life- We cannot, for such a
boon, utter or aet a falsehood, and re
peat it, that no measures of Radicalism
are made better or worse because they
htve been, in violation of organic law,
made part of that law, and no law or act
of that government, wrong in itself, is
made right by tamely submitting to it.
We are for the lawful repeal of unlawful
mockeries of constitutional law, and to
this extent differ from Vallandigham,
whose nerves have been unstrung by Radi
cal triumphs, and whose eves are dazed,
as age comes over him, by the dawning
splendors of a seat in the United States
Senate.”
McHAHO,I’B LAURELS.
General McMahon has at length proved
viotorious and rules Paris by military law.
The telegraph tells us at the last fight
at Pere La Chaise neither women nor
children were spared, and that executions
to the number of fifty to one hundred per
day were progressing. This ends the
Communist war, and McMahon can now
retire upon his hard earned laurels'—an
indifferent Captain against Prussians, a
hero against Frenchmen.
FOUND THE KltiHT ROAD AT LAST.
Washington journals state that Gover
nor Scott, of South Carolina, represented
to the President that no necessity existed,
which would call forth a proclamation of
martial law, but that there was a good
state of feeling among the better classes of
citizens, which would be quite sufficient to
put down the Ku-Klux. We congratulate
the Governor. lie has found the right
road at last, through the influence of pub
lic opinion, instead of by the power of the
Winchester Rifle as the best law. It is a
great pity that lie did not make this dis
covery sooner. Much a policy would have
been far better for the people and infinite
ly better both for (hi*) Republican party
and for the Government. Now we can
discern the dawn of anew era for South
Carolina.
BULLOCK ON KU-KLII.
Bullock is again trying a Ku-Klux
Schedule. Huge rewards are again of
fered. Five thousand dollars is a small
sum in ihe loyal Governor’s eyes. Per
haps the “Guv,” as one of his affectionate
satellites styles him, may find favor in the
people’s eyes. Perhaps the “Guv” will
find himself a hero before the schedule
has hem completed. While a Republi
can candidate and a Democratic candidate
for Governorship in Kentucky stump the
State in company, in the old Bourbon
style, Bullock is for the Ku-Klux pro
gramme—his “voice is still for war.”
Tho Good Book says that those who
take the sword perish by the sword, but
we suppose "the Guv” studies his Bond
Ledger more than the Bible, and is hotter
acquainted with his cash account than
with Divine Truth.
TDK KU-KLUX PARTY.
The power of secret. party caucuses in
the Republican party, is shown at every
step in their Radical record. The first
Ku-Klux in the South were Radicals—
Union Leagues, in which every member
was oath-bound—sworn to stand by each
other in all things—with their ohiefs of
tens and chiefs of fifties, and hundreds and
thousands. But it was only to the caucuses
of.the higher officers and leaders that power
was given. As it is and has been among
the people, so it is and has been in Legis
lative Halls. It is upon this hidden ma
chinery that the party leaders rely to force
through extreme, unconstitutional, revo
lutionary measures, whioh they dare not
trust to tlieir own party, in open legisla
tive session, without the previous appli
cation of the moral handcuffs and shackles
of a party caucus. This caucus is always
controlled by one or two ambitious meD.
It was so in Washington, when for three
or four years Thaddeus Btevens controlled
the legislation of the country by the ma
chinery of the caucus; it is so in Congress
now, where such fellows as Beast Butler,
“ smart ” but wholly unprincipled, direct
the oourse ot affairs. It is notably so in
Connecticut, says the Hartford Times,
where one or two politicians shape,
through caucus drill and discipline, the
action of the Republican party in the
Legislature—even to the extreme step of
overriding the Constitution of the State,
aud declaring the election of a Governor
in violation of the Constitution and the
laws. It is a circumstance calculated to
beget distrust of any political party which
is confessedly governed wholly by cau
cus. Pennsylvania is a fair sample of the
States whioh, in Radical hands, follow the
Congressional example in this matter of
caucus rule. One year ago the Legisla
ture of that State—the Radioala being in
power in that body, as here, solely by
means of their " gerrymandering ” and
“ rotten borough ” system—passed a bill,
whioh gives the party complete power of
the ballot-box in Philadelphia, and enables
them to oount votes (as they do io South
Carolina) in secret The Senate, now
DersiofUiic, recently passed a fair bill,
whioh meets tho approval of all honest
man, and requires tho votes to be counted
in the presence of the Judges of the Court
of Common Pleas, a majority of whom are
Republicans. This bill was defeated in
the House, by the Republicans, who also
refused to appoint a committee. Several
Republicans announced that they voted
against their convictions of right of the
dictation of a patty caucus. This is a
true record of the Radical party. This is
the true Ku-Klux party, North as well as
South.
A writer to the New York World, who !
pretends to know, tells how the stolen
treaty got into I'ribune hands. He says it -
will become known that “the garbled copy \
aforesaid, having been pat upon the j
market by a subaltern official, not of the j
Senate or State Department, tor several
days and refused at the best newspaper 1
offices in Washington, was finally taken at
a very modest prioe (about .half the value
of an average cart horse) by the represen-
Utive of one of your oontemporaties; and ;
that the messenger sent down after dinner
in a mysterious manoer to deliver it blun
dered with it into the Tribune agenoy, j
where his package was greedily snapped >
up by the young man in charge, although j
it was visibly addressed to the agent of i
the other journal in question ; and that
the price finally paid the unfaithful official
was but one-fifth of that whioh ho had '
covenanted with the real customer to re- j
oeive.”
Unttersitt Yisitobs. —Bullock has is
sued a proclamation appointing thefollow
ing gentlemen a special board of visitors. j
, to attend the examinations preceding the
annual commencement of the University
1 of Georgia at Athens : Gen. J. R. Lewis,
of Fulton ; Col. Beverly A, Thornton, of
Muscogee; Hon. John W. Underwood, of
°jd ’ Hon. W. g. Erwin, of Habersham ;
Hon. Benjamin Bigham, of Troup; Col
* lln8 sos Chatham, Hon. James L.
Seward, of Thomas; Hon. Arther Hood;
of Randolph ; Hon. Henry W. Hilliard, of
Richmond; Hon. Benjamin H. HilL of
Clark.
THK 0819 DEMOCRACY.
SPEECH OF HOW. o. L. YAUANDIQHAJI-
The following are the remarks of Mr.
Vallandigham, introdueng the resclurioDS
of the Ohio Democracy, which will be
found io another column:
_ These resolutions, Mr. President, suffi
ciently explain themselves. The principles
and policies which they enunciate require
the hottest censure of those only whose
hostility is siecere. Carping criticism we
both expect and contemn. For more than
two years past the bitter and bloody pas
sions of war have been gradually but
steadily aod surely dying out Continued
and irreconcilable dissent upon the new
issues necessarily born of to-day, and even
bitter personal discord among men of the
Republican party who had stood together
on the questions ot the past, inevitably
followed. The Democratic party wisely re
mained silent, or confined itself to these
Dew issues. The Republican party, hav
ing fulfilled its original missioD, was rap
idly falling into decay. Moderation, jus
tice and peace were becoming to its more
violent leaders the sentence of death.
The Administration party, into which,
since the 4th of March, 1869, it has
been wholly transferred, had begUD,
from causes thoroughly understood, to
be odious and even intolerable to the
people. Upon the issues of amnesty,
of honesty in the legislative and executive
departments, of tho tariff, of revenue and
civil service reform, of land grants to
corporations, the currency taxation, St.
Domingo, ana other similar questions, it
was certain to be condemned. Necessity
required that some deoisive movement
should be made to avert the impending
defeat. Not the statesmen, but the mere
politicians, the sycophants of the party,
the parasites clinging to and deriving
nurture solely from Executive favor, were
called into council. The Bourbons of the
present hour, the men who forget nothing,
learn nothing, resolved upon one more ap
peal to the expiring passions and prejudices
of their partisans. The war cries ot tho
past, of civil war, in fact, could Dot sgain
be inaugurated. Civil war in form, with
all its legislative and Executive machinery,
and all its political appliances, must be
revived in every State to secure, first, the
renomination and next the re-election of
General Grant.
The belligerent pronunciamcnto went
forth,tho bloody blast of the war-bugle was
again sounded. A distinguished Senator,
the confidential adviser and main support
of »Jio President, himself a consummate
partisan leader, but powerful in proportion
to the unskillf'nlDess and cowardice of his
foes, was put forth as the chief fomonter
of this new orusade ; but I say to him,
aDd to all behind him, that the hour has
now come when neither he nor they can
be permitted to provoke or to dictate is
sues for the Democratic party, or to ignore
these whioh the revolving years and chang
ing condition of the couDtry necessarily
bring forth. That which since 1868 has
been but a question of time is now upon
us. The auspicious moment, the golden
opportunity, the tide in the affaiis of men
to be taken at the flood has now, in my
deliberate judgment, reached us, when the
Democratic party of to-day,. laying aside
every weight and shaking from it the dead
body of the past, yet adhering to its an
cient principles, ean and mu9t at one
bound place itself upon the vantage grouud
of the present and defy its enemies to
battle upon the living issues of the hour.
It is the purpose of these resolutions
to establish the Democratic party of
Montgomery county openly aDd squarely
upon this firm and impregnable basis.
Tacitly and in fact we have stood
upon it for the past two years, aod
victory has steadily been ours. Confident
I am that we shall meet a prompt and very
cordial response from our brethren else
where and everywhere in this and other
States. Personally, I care not for denun
ciations or unjust criticisms from any quar
ter. Upon fullest deliberations and ample
counsel with wise and brave men of the
party, I take the responsibility with pride
and pleasure. I add, too, that as these
resolutions are the fruit of the joint labors
and counsels of the gentlemen associated
with me here at home, so also this move
ment meets their hearty conourrence. It
is cot anew departure, but a return —the
restoration of the Democratic party onoe
more to the ancient platform of progress
and reform, establishing the great fact that
that party, like everything else in nature
intended to endure, is capable of adapting
itself to the perpetual growth and change
which belong alike to the politieal and
physical world, and retain yet intact the
original principles and laws of its being.
Moreover, as to the movement here, we all
bear witness that in it there is nothing of
a merely personal character either to ad
vance or to bindor any member of the
Democratic party, and nothing except the
earnest and fixed purpose to promote, the
welfare of the whole party, and with it of
the whole country.
The Lease Not Yet a Fixed Fact.—
The Sun says the lease of the Macon and
Western Railroad, it seems, cannot yet be
regarded as a fixed fact, as the stockhold
ers have yet to pass upon the matter, and
a tremendous opposition to the ratification
is being made. The Maoon aDd Brum
wick Road is a stockholder in the Macon
and Western to tho amount of about three
quarters of a million of dollars. AH of
this stock will, very naturally, be emphati
cally opposed to a consummation of the
lease. We have also heard of several in
dividual holders of large amounts of stock
who also strenuously oppose the lease.
Basing an opinion upon the information
at band, we think we can see a very live
ly contest over the question, and it is by
no means improbable that the stockholders
may refuse to give their sanction to the
transaction. The matter before the Board
of Directors, we are informed, was han
dled with a marked degree of unanimity,
and without acrimonious discussion. The
stockholders will pass upon the matter in
a few days, and not until, then will the
question be considered as definitely settled.
A good deal of the opposition grows out
of the fact that the Maoon aod Brunswick
company, through Mr. Hazelhurs', made
a better bid than that at which the road
was leased. It is held that ten per cent,
per annum is the best that can be expeot
ed from the present oontract, while the
Maoon and Brunswick offer twelve per
eeot. It is also further claimed that the
$750,000 of stock, owned by the Maoon
and B.unswiok company, is sufficient
surety for the regular payment of the
| rental.
The Mobile Register makes a strong
j point on the Radicals. That journal says:
; “The Radicals, with all their hypocritical
talk about Ka-K!ux, cannot smother the
I fact that they themselves have murdered
j Dearly six hundred thousand negroes in
I the last ten years. The Census Bureau
i supplies the figures. The increase of the
I oolored population of the Uuited States
from 1850 to 1860 was 22.07 per cent.,
j and from 1860 to 1870, 9.35 per cent.; dif
i fetenoc, 12.72 percent. Now, the colored
! population in 1860 was 4,441,730, aud
I 12.72 per cent- of this is 564,988, which
is the decrease of the negro population
i from what it would have been if they had
let the negroes alsee. For this they are
as responsible as wicked, ambitious kings
i aro for the lives of their subjects who
j perish in the wars instigated by their am
bition. And the end is not yet.”
Card from General Gordon. 1
Atlanta Department 1
Southern Lite Insurance Cos., >
Atlanta, Ga., May 27,1871. )
I congratulate those interested in the
prosperity of the Southern Life Insurance
Company upon the acquisition of General
A. EL Colquitt, the Vioe-President, to
active and constant participation in the
management of the company at this office.
His personal attention to the business of
the company which it was expected would
begin earlier and was prevented by un
avoidable causes, dates from the first of
June next.
In this connection, it may not be amiss
to state, that notwithstanding the finan
cial piessnro upon the country, the com
pany is in a most prosperous condition—
its assets largely increasing—its invest
ments good and productive with a singular
exemption from those casualties so com
mon with moneyed organizations.
J, B. Gordon,
President,
AUGUSTA, GA„ WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 7, 1871.
RAGI READING.
When the Senate recently assembled
in executive session, our enterprising
townsman went on with a delegation of
scalawags to make another fight for a seat
in the Senate. In order to counteract
Senator Hill’s speech he published a
pamphlet, from which we make the fol
lowing extracts :
In order to show I was not the willing
and swift disunionist Hill would make me
out to be, I will present the various
anonymous letters I received, bemg bat a
few of those sent me, but aU I can lay my
hands on now :
Augusta, April 10, 1861.
Mb. Foster Blodgett :
Sir— Remarks made by you of late in
opposition to seoession and in favor of the
U. S. Government, renders it necessary
tor you to at once enter the Confederate
army or be severely dealt with. The op
position against you is of such a character
as to lead to the most fatal results. Your
rescue of that man, Thayer, has never
been forgotten or excused. He should
have been hung, and if you are not soon
in the Southern army you will share the
fate be so jastly deserved. So if you de
sire to live act promptly. “A word to the
wise is sufficient.'’ W.
Augusta, April 12,1861.
Mr. Foster Blodgett :
Sir—l wrote you two or three days ago,
telling you that you must go at once into
tho nrony. I have seen no indication of
your doing so. 1 now write to say that
you have been adjudged a traitor to the
South, and deserve death, which will be
surely inflicted upon you, but we prefer
you should go into the Southern army,
aDd perhaDS you may be killed bv some o*
your d****d Yankee friends. You have
said at the Court House that you “never
would fight against the United States.”
Now you have your ohoice either to go
into our army or be assassinated. You
will be called unon by one of our men
personally, in a day or two. Look well to
your Residence, your head. Think of your
Wife, children, mother and sister turned
out houseless aod homeles and you a corpse.
Go, Go, Go, to the army or die." “ A
word to the wise is sufficient." W.
Augusta, April 14th, ’6l.
Mr. Blodgett—l write to inform you,
although personally unacquainted, that
there is a conspiracy to to take vour life
aud destroy your property. Last night
I heard at a disreputable house some of
their plans. You are to be secretly murdered'
and fire set to your dwelling, unless you
enter tho army. Some of them were for
killing you anyhow, but it was determined
that your life would be spared if you
joined the army right off. There was
about fifteen of them. Barney Willis and
Henry Porter were the most bitter against
you. I write this as a duty, and advise
you to join at once. Please don’t say any
thing about this letter, or they might; kill
me. lam from the North, aDd the only
thing they seem to hsve against you is
your kindness to the Yankees, and your
hostility to secession.
Y ours, F.
Augusta, April 16, 1861.
Mr. • Foster Blodgett—Mr. H. J. P.
has reported that he saw you and you
promised to join. I write to say you are
watched and yonr footsteps are dogged.
You can’t fool us. So beware, for there
are over twenty of us who have taken the
most solemn oath to kill you if you do not
go into the Southern army. Now, don’t
make this public, for if you do you will
die. Os course you only know positively
one ot our party, but I assure you the re
mainder are as determined as he, and will
avenge anything that may happen to him.
•Go at once into the army as you ought,
and all will be well with tliee and thine.
■ W.
Mr. “ H. J. P. ” mentioned in the above
letter, was, undoubtedly, designed for
Henry J. Porter, mentioned in the letter
signed “F. ”
The following affidavit of Wm. H. Stal
lings, one of the staunchest and most re
spectable citizens of Augusta, attests my
Unionism, and that my life was violently
threatened by Henry J. Porter, openly
and publicly to my face :
State of Georgia,, Fulton County.
Before me, a notary public, in and for
said county, this day, came Wm. H. Stal
lings, and on oath makes the following
statement:
That he is now, and was in 1860 and
1861, a resident of Augusta, in this State;
and that in said city, in the fall of 1860,
and winter and spring of 1861, there ex
isted a highly intense feeling against any
person known to be opposed to secession.
That Foster Blodgett was, in the fall and
winter of 1860 and 1861, a known, open
Union man, and presided, in December, at
a Union meeting in the city. Much bit
terness and denunciation was directed
against Mr. Blodgett, and other Unionists,
during the winter.
After the war broke ont, and men com
menced, going into the Confederate army,
this feeling against Union men became
more heated; so that most.Union men who
could had left the city. There was a very
heavy pressure to force men into the Con
federate army, and, to my personal know
ledge, many threats were made against
Union men who decliaed or hesitated to
engage in the Confederate service.
Mr. Blodgett was, and for years had
been, a prominent politician in Augusta;
and during the spring of 1861, I have my
self seen him take from the post office
“bucket letters,” and I have read the
same, which letters threatened his life, and
to burn his property, etc., unless he en
tered the Confederate army.
In April, 1861. Mr. Blodgett and I were
walking the public streets, and met H. B.
Willis and Henry J. Porter. Porter was
a man of much influence among the rash
and violent men, and was himself a noto
rious secessionist and violent man.
They both commenced abusing us, but
especially Mr. Blodgett; and Porter and
Willis said publicly to Blodgett, that if he
did not join the Confederate army, that his
life would be taken Porter said, “ I will
kill you mysef. lam selected as a com
mittee of one, by. the vigilance committee, to
notify you that ice will kill you if you do
not volunteer. You cannot escape by leav
ing ; we will follow you, and kill you. ’ ’
Much other abusive language was used,
the general tenor of all being that
Blodgett must' join the Confederate army,
or neither himself, his family, or property
would escape violence.
Shortly after this', Mr. Blodgett entered
the Confederate army. He told me several
times before he went into the army that
he only did so to escape the violence to
himself and family, with which he was
clearly threatened. He talked with me,
showed me the anonymous letters he had
received, and advised with me about it.
I saw two of the letters at his office door
(left in the night), and read them.
I thought his life and property in dan
ger, and advised him to go. And it is my
judgment now that, if he had not gone to
the army, he would have been killed. I
advised him to go. I heard so many
threats, from many persons, against Mr.
Blodgett, for his known opinions, that I
thought his life not safe.
(Signed), William H. Stalling.
Sworn and subscribed before me, this
Ist September, 1870.
H. I. G. Williams,
Not. Pub., F.'C.
When the indictment for perjury was
pending the following testimonial was
given me, signed by some of the most
honored citizens of Augusta, of all political
shades of opinion :
State of Georgia, Richmond County.
The undersigned, citizens of Augusta,
hereby certify that they have been per
sonally acquainted with Foster Blodgett,
of said county, for many years; that they
were acquainted with the sentiments of
said Foster Blodgett in relation to seces
sion, and the motives which induced him
to enter the Confederate army; that he
was violently opposed to secession, and
exerted all his influence against it, and
entered said Confederate service solely on
account of the great odium excited against
him by the ultra secessionists and the threats
of violence uttered against him and his
property in the event of his failure to go
into said service.
(Signed),
Becj Conley, Wm. Doyls. A. Deas,
Thos. N. Philpot, Jas. R. W. Johnston,
Jas. B. Rodgers, J. Danforth, Wm. C.
Derry, G. Crawford Rhodes, Ephraim
Tweedy, George McKenney, B. H. Broad
nax, D. G. Cotting, Thos. T. Wright, J.
E. Burch, Tnos. 8. Metcalf, Wm. Shear,
David L. Roatb, Wm. P. Rhodes, Thos-
R. Rhodes, Amos P. Wiggins, Thos. S.
Skinner, W. JE. Broadnax, P. King,
John Coskery.
Worcester, Mass., May 18, D»69.
Hon. J. A. J. Oreswell, Postmaster■ Gcn
trod, Washington , £l.O. .
Dear Sir —I have jast received a letter
from Foster Blodgett, Esq., Postmaster at
Augusta, Ga., desiring me to give you a
i fall account of my expulsion from that
city by a mob, on the 9th day of Novem
ber, 1860. J bad been a resident there for
five years previous to the last, which I
spent in the North, on aoeount of ill
healtb. Having fully recovered. I left
Boston on the 31st day of October for
Augusta, via Charleston, b. C., arriving
in Augusta on the sth day of November,
where I received a cordial welcome from
numerous friends. Everything passed
pleasantly, till Friday, a. m., six o’clock,
when I received the following note :
“ Dr Thayer— -You are hereby notified
to leave the city at the earliest possible
time, or abide the consequences.”
(Signed)
Alex. Philip and J. M. Hill.
I immediately sent the note to Mr.
Blodgett, then Mayor. He called on me
at once, and assured me that I should be
protected; said he had seen the conncil
judges, and the grand jury, (the court
then being in session) ; that they all
agreed with him in using any means in his
power for my protection, and bringing the
offending parties to justice. He sent a
carriage to me at 11 o’clock, to go to court,
where an affidavit was issued, and the
parties arrested and brought into court.
They asked for lime to prepare for trial,
and were given until four p. m. I was
then oondueted back to my hotel by
fnende, where 1 remained until three p.
m., when'a carriage again came for me to
go to the Court House. Ai I stepped
upon the walk, three desperate wretohes
attacked me, and did their best to force
me into a carriage, to take me to Ham
burg, 8. C., where my fate would have
been sealed in half an hour. I was soon
rescued from the grasp of ruffians,
and taken baok to my room, Ana surroun
ded by friend", who did all in their power
to protect ms from an infuriated mob,
which soon amounted to thousands. It
is but just to say, that Mayor Blodgett did
all in his power to protect me and mine
lrom violence ; also, to disperse the mob,
and restore order.
At half-past five p. m., he camt to me,
and said bur only safety was flijlit; the
mob was getting so exasperated it was
feared they would attack the home; also,
that it was impossible to raise foce suffi-
cient to disperse the crowd and potect me
from violence. Accordingly, it. was ar
ranged that we should be taken avay pri
vately, while the crowd were hell at bay
in front by speeches from influential citi
zens. In the meantime, a carrisge was
taken to the rear of the hotel, on the hack
'street, to which I was conducted, with my
wife and daughter, and drivea rapidly
away, under the protection cf Mayor
Blodgett, who accompanied us ,en miles
into the woods, down the Savantah road,
where we arrived at eight p. m, and re
mained until one o’clock, and .ook the
cars for Savannah, where we airived at
half past seven a. in.; went direcSy to the
steamer, took our rooms, and remained
on board until w.e sailed for New fork, at
four p. in., when we again breathed free,
the first time for thirty hours, learing all
our effects behind, except the slothes
upon our persons. I would say that I had
been acquainted with Mayor Bbdgett
tor years, and alwayS knew him as a
staunch Union man, ever ready to enforce
law, and do all in his power to restore
order, and protect the lives and property
of all. It affords me pleasure to s»v, he
was the first to come to my aid, and did
not cease his efforts, until he saw us safe
without the reach of that infuriated mob.
I hope and trust the above will be all
sufficient to refute all calumnies that may
be raised against him as a disunionist. it
would afford me much pleasure to know
that he is retained Postmaster of the city
of Augusta.
Respeotfully yours,
H. R. Thayer, M. D.
Also, the following letter, from J. R.
W. Johnston, Esq., formerly ot Augusta,
certifying to my Unionism, aDd upon the
vigilance cbmmittee charge:
Atlanta, Ga., April 27,1869.
Hon. J. A. J. Oreswell, P. M. General:
Dear Sir— Understanding that the ene
mies of Republicanism in Georgia are mak
ing the most desperate efforts for the
removal of Hbn. Foster Blodgett, as Post
master at Augusta, and that, among other
calumnies and false accusations, they
charge him with being “a member of the
Vigilance Committee of Augusta, in 1860
and 1861, and cruelly treating Union men,
while he was Mayor of Augusta at that
time.” A sense of justice impels me to
give you a statement of what came under
my own observation, and I do this with
out the knowledge or solicitation of Mr.
Blodgett, but merely as an act of justice
and gratitude. I shall be brief as possible.
In 1856 I resided in Maine. Having just
entered.manhood I became an ardent Re
publican, and worked earnestly and faith
fully for the election of the first Republi
can National candidates,. Fremont and
Dayton. I came to Georgia in 1857, and
settled in Augusta. I took no part in poli
tics, and lived quietly and peaceably until
“the storm of secession began to gather,”
when it became known that I made some
political speeches in Maine m favor °f<
Fremont and Dayton. I became a marked
man, subject to the tender mercies of
those chivalric gentlemen, who, from
members of vigilance committees in 1860
and 1861, have ripened into full bloom K.
K. K.’s of 1869.
Reoeiving assurances that I was to be a
victim of their compassionate love, and
having no desire to become an appendage
to a lamp post, I called upon Mr. Blod
gett, then Mayor of the city, and stated to
him my case and claimed from him pro
tection. Having known him intimately
, for some time, he readily and cheerfully
promised me every aid in his power, and
in the course'of our conversation I urged
him to join the Vigilance Committee, be
lieving that he might there obtain insight
into their actions and aid bis Union
friends. This he positively ref used to do,
condemning in the most positive terms the
formation of such committees and his utter
abhorrence of them. He, however, said
that he would so arrange as to have a
true mah there, which' he did, and to that
information thus obtained, myself and
others are indebted for preservation to
day. I know that Mr. Blodgett was in -
strumeatal, and the hardest worker, in
getting up the last Union meeting held in
Georgia, which was held at the Court
House in Augusta, December 24, 1860.
For this aotion many parties threat
ened his life* He was in the almost
daily receipt of anonymous letters
threatening destruction of life, property,
etc. Many of his friends—true Union
men —advised him to enter the Confede
rate army, as a means of escaping the
daily persecution to which he was subject
for being a Union man. With extreme
reluctance and continual protest he yielded
to their entreaties —joined the U. S', A.—
was in no battle, resigned from the service
as soon as possible, and kept out of it.
When he was appointed Postmaster there
was no one objected thereto, until he be
came a Republican. Then all the vials of
wrath were opened, and from that day to
this he has endured persecution, stood
more abuse, been more \Mlified than any
Republican in Georgia. He stands firm.
Were ho tc-day to join the Democratic
party no man would become more popular
thart he, for he is a hard working politi
cian, of great shrewdness and of greater
ir fluence than any Republican in Georgia.
His opponents are all Democrats—or Re
publican like Bard and Bryant, who
were Democrats, before they became “so
called Republicans,” will be Democrats
sgain as soon as they find they get no
office. I hope Mr. Blodgett may be re
tained, and I believe that is the- wish of
all Republicans throughout toe State.
Very truly yours,
(Signed) . Jas. R. W. Johnston.
[communicated.]
Confederate Monument.
Editors Chronicle * Sentinel:
I see a notice in your paper, over the
signature of L. & A. H. McLaws as gen
eral agents, proposing to raise by subscrip
tion a fund to erect a monument to the
memory of the Confederate dead of (} eor .
gia, as well ae of the Confederate soldiers
of other States, who fell in our State. I
have to confess that I have not language
to express the feelings of approval that
swell in my bosom for such an effort The
names and the memory of the gallant and
noble sons of Georgia, and of other States
South who fought and fell in defense of
the rights of so just a cause, and of the
rights of all that were near and dear to
I them, should not be suffered to pas3 from
i the memory of the present; but their
! names should be placed in letters oa stone
or marble tor future generations to look
and reflect upon, and while such names
‘ should be held in saered remembrance, we
t should not leave unnoticed the names of
j those who sickened and died in tbeir ef
j forts for the Lost Cause, ihen 1 trust that
; the gentlemen who have so nobly consent
! ed to act as commLsiopers in the plaß
ning aod directing of this work will par
don me for making a suggestion. It is this,
that every county in Georgia shall be al
lowed a rock or block of marble, as may
seem best, to be piaoed in the monument,.
with the names of their dead inscribed, or
such other inscription as they may think
best, and in addition to this, that eaob
Southern State should be allowed one or
more blocks, as their number may require,
for the same object. Then the location is a
very materia! point in the consummation ot
this tribute. Tbo interest, the feelings, and
the accessibility ot the relatives and friends
should be consulted and respected in the
action of the committee in its location ;
the point nearest the centre of the State,
having the most railroad facilities coming
in from its various and extreme portions,
it does seem would give the greatest ac
commodation to those more immediately
»od nearly interested. That place is Maoon
—it has five different railroads over which
the iron teams draw the people of the
State into its fold, and I would say to our
Miliedgeville friends that I would only
give Macon the preference on account of
its accessibility. May Heaven speed its
early completion, Columbia.
Ihe Hampton Roads Controversy—
What Mr. Stephens Says.
Referring to the statements made some
days since by the Montgomery Mail of
what happened at the Hampton Roads
Conference, Mr. Stephens writes as follows
to the Atlanta Constitution:
“ I have not seen the article published
in the Montgomery Mail,'to which you
refer, and from whioh the extract quoted
by you is taken; but, in response to your
call on me for information on the subject,
I very promptly, as well as unhesitatingly,
say~chat there must be some mistake in
the new revelation. The substance ot wbat
occurred and passed on both sides at the
Hampton Roads conference is very accu
rately set forth, not only in outline, but in
detail, in the second volume of my work
on the war, to which you refer. It will
be found on pages 599 and 619, inclusive.
No proposition of the character alluded to
by the writer in the Montgomery Mail is
there mentioned, and I feel quite confident
that none such was made. Indeed, no
words were written by any one at that
conference. Neither pen nor pencil was
used by any one of the parties on the re
spective sides, for any purpose whatever
counected with the conference, during the
entire interview. So there must be a mis
take about the writing of the word
l Union .’
. What Mr. Lincoln said about the “ sine
qua non ” with him of a pledge for the
ultimate restoration of the Union, as a con
dition precedent to his entertaining or con
sidering the subject matter contemplated
by the Confederate Commissioners in ask
ing the conference, is therein also set forth
very fully in substance. No material
word or idea is omitted.
But in nothing that, was said by the
Commissioners, or either of them, was
aDy reference whatever made to their in
structions.
• I will here further state for the informa
tion of your readers, who may not have
seen my statement of the facts connected
with this celebrated conference, as well as
to its origin and objects, what transpired
at it, about which so many errors exist in
the popular mind—that the Confederate
Commissioners had no written instructions
other than what was contained in their
letter of appointment, which has been ex
tensively published North as well as
South, nor had they any verbal instruc
tions inconsistent with the letter of their
appointment.
All who wish full and accurate informa
tion upon the whole subject are referred
to the book before mentioned.
Yours, truly,
Alexander H. Stephens.
[From the Rome Courier.\
Two Hundred anS Twenty-Four Thous
and Dollars Reward.
BULLOCK feels rich.
The malignant cunning, and political
trickery of the charlatan whom the mis
fortunes of our country have placed over
us, cannot be measured. The regular
course of its mendacity flows on, reeking
with corruption and smelling high to
heaven with its infamy, but it requires an
occasional stimulant from the cruel tyrants
at Washington to heave it up in all its
astounding and alarming proportions.
Like the smouldering fires of a volcano,
the poisonous gases that exude oan tell of
the baleful elements within; but it re
quires the wrathful throe ot* the fire, giant
within to send frofia its flaming mouth the
pent up lava of its hatred.
The malignant soul of the tyraDt at
Washington has been moved to aotion,
and in obedience to its cruel mandates,
this petty creature of accidental power,
Rufus B. Bullock; has darned up the
ordinary course of tho stream of his mean
ness, and has flooded the State with its
reeking and shameless venom.
This flood of slanderous spite was poured
upon our community on the morning ot
the 23d inst., in a column proclamation,
averring and specifying sixteen different
cases of Ku-Klux outrages, and offering
in the aggregate the sum of two hundred
and twenty-iour thousand dollars —assum-
ing that each of the parties consisted of
ten men—as rewards lor tho apprehension
of the parties.
We will give so much of his specifica
tions as refer to parties in this and Chat
tooga counties. After the usual bombastic
preamble, this fellow proceeds to say :
“ I do hereby issue this my proclama
tion, offering a reward of five thousand
dollars for the arrest, with evidence to
convict, of aDy one person, and one thou
sand dollars for each additional person,
being of the disguised party, or band, or
clan, engaged in cither of the lawless pro
ceedings hereinafter recited, to-wit:
“ Who, on or about the night of the
18th of February last, came to the house
of a colored man named Dan Jack Foster,
in the county of Floyd, and after beatiDg
and maltreating, and otherwise misusing
the said Foster, did then and there take
from him such articles cf small value as
he had about his cabin.
“ Who, on the same night, visited the
house of a colored man Darned Hilliard
Johnson, in said county of Floyd, and did
then and there abuse and maltreat the
said Johnson.
“ Who, on the same night, came to the
house of a colored man named Anderson
Poullain, in said county of Flcyd, aud did
then and there take from him his gun*
and did then and there commit an out
rage upon the person of the wife of the
said Anderson Poullain.
“ Who, on the same night, came to the
•house of a oolored man named Patrick, in
the said county of Floyd, and did then and
there take from him his gun and other ar
ticles of value.
“ Who, on the sa r,e night, came to the
house of a white man named Zebe Walker,
in said countv of Floyd, and did then and
there compel him to stand out in the cold
for a considerable length of time without
his clothing.
“ Who, on or about the Dight of the 21st
of February last, came to the callaboose or
jail at Trion Factory, in Chattooga county,
and did then and there forcibly release, a
culprit from confinement therein.
“ Who, on or about the night of the 4th
of February last, came to the plantation of
Mr. Robert Foster, in said couDty of Chat
tooga, and did then and there murder a
colored man named Squire EllersoD.
“ Who, on or about the same time, came
to the plantation of Hon. Wesley Shrop
shire, in said county of Chattooga, and
'did then and there tear down am} destroy
a school house, and threaten to hang a col
ored girl, who was the teacher of said
Bchool, and did then and there cruelly
beat and maltreat a colored mad who was
charged with having built the said school
house.”
Os these charges it is unnecessary to
speak with the exception of the marder of
Sqaire Ellerson, an account of which was
given in the Courier at the time. They
are all’either false in toto, or grossly mag
nified.
Ellerson was murdered by a party on
the night of the 4th of February. He was
a Democrat —had been solicited by a gang
the night before to join a party to hunt
and kill the Kn-Klnx, and because of his
refusal it is supposed that he was killed.
W e published an account of the unfortn
nate affair at the time, but because Eller
son was a Democrat, our law-loving Gov
ernor withheld any offer of reward until
four months after; now that his master
demands a batch of Ku-Klnx outrages,
signed with the official seal of the State,
this miserable thing comes in with the
murder of a colored man, to give force to
his slanderous array of petty outrages.
The grinning corpse of the poor negro is
dragged from its grave and held up, side
by side, with the poor, shivering Zebe
Walker, whom his cruel tormentors made
“ stand out in the cold. ”
The affair of the school house, on the
plantation of lion. Wesley Shropshire, was
unfortunate to those who kßow nothing of
the facta, which are these: In the splen
did Dirt Town Valley there is a prosper
ous Female Academy—an institution built
up with great care and pride, by the ele
gant people of that community. This
Academy stands near the lands of this
same Bon. Wesley Shropshire, a man who
has strangely repudiated the honor of his
i family, and gone, like Ephraim of old, “ a
j whoring after Radical gods. ” It appears
i that, being possessed of this Radical
j itoiling, the hands of this same Ron. Wes
i ley Shropshire were turned against his
old friends and neighbors, and in order to
break down the Academy, he gave a plot
of land as close to it as he .coaid, for the
purpose of erecting a negro school.
It was to protect their oherished Acad
emy that the parties referred to by Bul
lock. and for which the magnificent re
ward of ten thousand dollars is offered,
destroyed the school house, and whipped
the negro who built it, leaving a note at the
same time for Hon. 'Wesley Shropshire,
that if he persisted in his designs to estab
lish a negro school in that close proximity
to the Academy, that they would visit
him next. No objection to his negro
school anywhere else.
Their aotion is to be regretted, but it
oan be excused ; and public sentiment says
that the greatest error was in whipping
the negro instead of Hon. Wesley Shrop
shire.
Tbo importance given to the other out
rages committed in Floyd and Chattooga
is despicable, and it those trumped up in
the other portions of the State are of the
same character, it shows with whit inge
nuity a cowardly tyrant oan make “ muoh
ado about nothing.” *
But the tyrant at Washington had made
his requisition upon our Scate for out
rages. The Ku-Klux bill must have au
object upon whioh to operate, and our Ex
press Governor was only too glad to show
his ingenuity in lying, and his truckling
subserviency to Radicalism, both at ouoo.
Kutoff.
Execution of Edward H. Ruloff, at Bing
hampton, for the Murder of Frederick
A. Myrick—History o/ the Villain and
his Crimes—The Artful Dodger Caught
at Last—The Scene at the Execution.
[From the Buffalo Courier, May 19.]
The annals of mbdern crime do not fur
nish a parallel to the history of the mur
derer, Edward H. Ruloff, who paid the
extreme penalty of outraged law at BiDg
kampton yesterday.
His proper name was Edward H. Rulof
son, being the son of a William Rulofson,
who emigrated from Connecticut to Can
ada, and from there to New Brunswick,
settling at Hammond River, near St.
Johns, where Edward was born on the 3d
day of March, 1819, just fifty-two years
before the date originally appointed for
his execution for the murder of Myrick.
His parents were of Dutch descent, and
his mother was a very devoted Christian
woman. There were four ohildren in all,
three sons and one daughter. One brother,
Ruloff Rulofson, is a highly respected lum
ber-dealer, who resides at Strattonville,
Clarion oounty, Pa., and the other, Wil
liam H. Rulofson, is a photographer in
San Francisco. Both are wealthy. Ed
ward was the bright hoy of the family.
Always f'nd of study, he was sent, at the
age of 13, to St. John’s Academy, where
he attained high honors. It is said that
at the end of three years he was graduated,
his instructors saying they could teach
him no more. For a time afterward he
taught school, and subsequently read law
in the office of Duncan Robertson, at St.
Johns, where he remained three years. In
this connection he came under a cloud,
and the story is that he was guilty of steal
ing goods; but this is denied by him, he
claiming that his troubles were caused by
his efforts to screen a friend. In 1841, it
is certain, he left St. Johns with a reputa
tion far better for ability than honesty,
and went to New York city. Here he
lived from hand to mouth for a year, and
thence made his way to Syracuse, where
he formed the acquaintance ot a canal
boat ower, named Schutt, who befriended
him, and with whom he went to the vil
lage of Dry den and started a school, in
which one of the pupils was Harriet
Scfiutt, the daughter of his benefactor.
At the close- of one term he moved to
Ithica, where he studied medicine with
Dr. Stone, a botanic physician. He paid
some attention to phrenology, but sood
gave up that study, pronouncing the
science a humbug.
He married Harriet Shutt on the 3d day
of December, 1843, though her father, who
had begun to be suspicious of him, opposed
the match. Thi3 family oppositiou, com
bined with a morbid jealousy of his wife,
was the moving cause of the tragedy sub
sequently enaoted. He suspected his wife
of improper intimacy with a Dr. Bull, and
this feeling came to be so strongly mani
fested that it was deemed best on all sides
for the pair to remove to Lansing, near
Cayuga Lake, whioh they did. Here their
life was happier, and a daughter was born,
whom Ruloff appeared to regard with
muoh affection. He had collected a large
library, was highly esteemed as a botani
cal physician, ahd was doing well in all
respects. In June, 1845, he was called
upon to precribe for the wife and child of
his brother-in-law, W. H, Schutt. They
both died suspiciously, and the rumor
'spread that he had poisoned them, but a
chemical analysis of their stomachs failed
to support the rumor.
On the evening of June 23, 1845, Ruloff
requested a lady neighbor to remain with
his wife, who was ailing, dming his own
brief absence from home. He returned
shortly, and, before the neighbor went
away, prepared some composition tea in a
cup. This was the last seen of wife or
child. The next morning Ruloff borrowed
a horse and wagon, as he said, to carry a
large chest to his uncle’s, at Moltville, ten
miles distant, where his wife and child
had gone on the previous night. He set
out with such a chest and sack, going in a
direction whioh would lead to Cayuga
Lake. On the following day he returned
and told the person from whom lie bor
rowed the wagon that his family were
away on a visit for a few weeks. His
subsequent actions and the continued ab
sence of his wife and child excited suspi
cion, and this was not allayed by contra
dictory stories told by him-as to their
whereabouts. To make along story short,
after leading his brother-in-law a wild
goose chase to the West, ostensibly in
pursuit of his wife, and several times run
ning away himself from his companion, lie
was brought to Ithaca, and lodged in jail
on a charge of murder. But as the todies
could not be found, he was tried for the
abduction of his wife only, and was sen
tenced to ten years imprisonment in Au
burn, though small doubt existed that he
had been guilty of a double murder, and
had sunk the bodies to the bottom of
Cayuga Lake. At the expiration cf his
ten years’confinement, October 28, 1856,
he was taken to Ithaca, and tried for the
murder of his child. He defended himself
witli rare ability, but was found guilty and
sentenced to be hung. The decision was
afterwards reversed by the Court of Ap
peals, anfi (he case was remitted for fur
ther proceedings. In May, 1857, he broke
jail and went to Pennsylvania. It is sup
posed that he was aided to escape by Mrs.
Jarvis, wife of the Deputy Sheriff, between
whom and himself there was a strong
friendship. Before this he became ac
quainted wffh young Jarvis, who, under
his influence, became his accomplice in the
crime for which the stern punishment was
meted oqt yesterday.
Every effort was made for his recapture,
but at he eluded all pursuit. Ac
cording t< ais own confession, shortly to
be publisned, ujdei the name of James
Nelson he occupied a Professorship in the
Alleghany College at Meadville. He re
mained but a brief time, and subsequently
perpetrated many crimes. WLib com
mitting a burglary at Warren, Pi., ho
froze his foot, and the deformity resulting
therefrom several times caused hie arrest.
He served a term for robbery in the Con
necticut State Prison, and another in Sing
Sing, for a Duchess oounty burglary,
where he was known as James Karrer.
He was also brought to Ithaca on the old
oharge, but proofaf the murder was not
forthiomißg, and be was released. Dur
ing these years his hisure time, in and out
of jail, was devoted to his work cm the
origin of laogusge, of whi«fa so much has
been said, and he justified his erimes on
the plea that they were committed for the
purpose of Mining means to further his
great end. Such is a recital of the lead
ing incidents in the life of this notorious
robber and murderer down to the date of
the crime for which he was hung.
On the night of August 16th, or rather
the Carly morning of August 17th, 1870,
two young clerks, Frederiok A. Myrick
and George S. Burroughs, sleeping in the
extensive store of Hulbert Brothers, Bing
hamton, awoke to find three men in the
room. They jumped from bed, and a
fierce figfit ensued. Two a of the burglars
ran down stairs, but Myrick clinched and
held the third, whom ha had struck on
the head with a stool. The other two
then came baok, and Burroughs saw one
of them hold Myrick while the other shot
him. Burroughs made his way ioto the
street aqd raised a load alarm. The fire
bells were rung and hundreds of citizens
turned out. The three burglars made a
ha6ty retreat, aui pursuit ths t night was
ineffectual. But in the morning the
bodies of two men were found drowned in
the Chenango river, who proved to be
young Jarvis, before mentioned, and a
man named Dexter, also a companion of
NEW SERIES, VOL. XXIV. NO. 23.
Rfcloff. They were recognized by Bur
roughs as two of the burglars. Efforts to
oapture the third resulted on tho follow
ing day io the arrest of Ruloff. He was
identified by the facts of his former char
acter and intimacy with Jarvis and Dex
ter, by a pair of shoes which were left in
the store fitting his somewhat deformed
feet, and fully by Burroughs, who recog
nised him and 6Wore definitely to him in
oourt as the man that shot Myrick-
Ruloff was tried, in the first instance,
for this crime, before Judge Hogeboom, of
the Supreme Court, January 8 of this year.
He was ably defended by Geoirge Becker.
Eeq., of Binghampton, and his own legal
i knowledge and acquaintance with the
quirks of the bar were brought into full
play, but there could be no doubt of his
guilt, and he was sentenced to be bung
March 3. An appeal was heard before a
full bench in February, and the order of
the lower oourt affirmed. Subsequently,
a stay of proceedings was granted and the
oase taken to the Court of Appeal, but
this tribunal of last resort acquiesced in
the justice of the sentence, and the only
effect of the motion was to postpone the
fatal day until the 18th of May. There
after the only hope lay in Governor -Hoff
man, and the Executive was approached
in every possible way with a view to ob
tain a pardon or commutation. The Gov
ernor gave the case, as is his wont, most
thoughtful attention, regarding the evi
dence in all its bearings, and sending a
commission of experts to report upon Die
sanity of Ruloff. Bnt those matters are
fresh in memory, and our readers well
know that tl*<* efforts in his behalf lunJo
it only more clear that there was no loop
hole of escape for the oondeinned man.
He had, however, cheated the gallows so
many times, that those conversant with
hi* career had an almost superstitions be
lief that he would never become its vic
tim, and some of the spectators of the exe
cution could scarcely believe their eyes.
Not anticipating any oliance of escape for
him, however, a reporter of the Courier,
who had received from Sheriff' Frederick
W. Martin, of Broome county, an upphiut
meut as special Deputy Sheriff, to assist in
preserving order at the hanging of Ruloff,
took the 11:20 Erie train Wednesday
night, and reached Binghampton at early
breakfast time yesterday morning.
The lovely little oity was found in a con
dition of feverish excitement. Thore had
never bofore been an execution in the
county, and now tho man was to perish by
the halter whose name had been for years
a bugbear in all tho region round about as
suggesting the most atrocious villainies.
The streois of tho towD were crowded with
wagons and pedestrians, as if the whole
countryside had poured itself into Bing
hamton, and on all hands was heard the
dreaded name of Ruloff, ooupled with
tales of how he looked, how he felt, how
ho passed the night, and speculations
whether the law was reallv strong enough
to exeoute tho decree of justioe upon this l
hardened but slippery wretch. As is
universal, we believe, on suoh oooasions.
tho prevalent feeling was that of morbid
curiosity, and very few, indeed, were tho
expressions of sympathy, though even to
Ruloff sorno kitd hearts extended pity.
By daylight the orowd began to gather
about the jail and constantly augmented
during the morning, and it numbered
several thousand people at the time of tho
exeoution, who were content to stand for '
hours and gaze at the outside of the high
briok walls which they would ordinarily
pass without a second thought, a most
singular phenomenon of human nature
always noticed upon such occasions, The
mass of peoplo were kept in admirable
order, however, by two companies of
militia and an independent battery, de
tailed for the purpose. Porhaps this
military forco was called out with some
dim idea that a rescue would be attempt
ed, as there seemed to be no end to the
superstition as to the powers of tho con
domed man.
TIIK JAIL, TIIB TARD, AND THE GALLOWS.
The jail is a square, two-story brick
building, inhabited below by the family of
the Sheriff, while some of the rooms in tho
second story are used for prisoners, the
windows being guarded by heavy iron
bars. Into the front door ot this edifice
the Courier reporter, with many others,
were admitted, at 10 a. m. In the rear
of the main building was a lower one,
filled with cells, and through it two oor
ridors passed, which opened into the yard
where the exeontion was to take place.
This enclosure was about thirty by twen
ty feet, with a wall some fourteen feet
high. In the northeast corner was the
gallows. The contrivance was very sim
ple. A hole was made through the wall
opening to a barn in the rear. Through
this aperture a stick of timber was passed,
projecting into the jail yard some three
feet. The timber was mortised at eaoh
end, and an iron pulley inserted in each
mortise, over which the rope was passed.
From the end in the jail yard hung the
noose, while to the end in the barn was
attached an iron weight weighing two
hundred and sixty-five pounds. A smaller
rope, running through into the yard and
looped to a spike in the wall, supported
this weight, -so that the Sheriff had simply
to slip it from the spike to cause the
weight to fall. The slack was three feet,
and the whole fall five feet. This method
of execution has superseded the drop in
most cases lately. As the weight of the
doomed man was but one hundred snd
seventy pounds, it was rightly judged that
the fall ot the weight mentioned would
suffice to break his neck, lie was in very
bad humor, and indulged in abundant pro
fanity. Gov. Huffman ho was particular
ly bitter against, swearing that his (Ru
loff’s) work would be remembered when
car Chief Magistrate was forgotten. All
offers of spiritual advice he unhesitating
ly rejected, his favorite expression being
that he “ didn’t want any and and friars
abont him. ” A large portion of the night
he spdnt in writing upon his mystical
work and in conversation concerning it,
manifesting his devotion in this regard up
to the last hour.
In tli* south corridor stood the coffin in
which the body was to tie placed, a pine
box stained to represent mahogany, and
plainly but neatly finished. It furnished
a convenient table for certain sacriligious
reporters, who used it freely in taking
their notes.
Access to Ituloff in his cell was denied
to members of the press, as he was not in a
state of mind to he generally interviewed.
He was taken Wednesday afternoon to a
room in the northwest corner of the main
building, where he spent his last night on
earth. It is the testimony of those who
watched with him that he did not sleep a
wink during the night.
Tuesday morning lie had an interview
of some length with with his counsel, Mr.
Becker. He said he had been treated un
justly. and misrepresented, especially in
regard to his book. When asked what
disposition he would have made of his
body, he said ha would like to have it de
cently buried, but did not care much. He
talked of the Erench war, and also dis
coursed of German philosophers who had
died violent deaths. As the interview
drew to a dose he inquired the hour, and
being informed that it was 10 o’clock,
said, “ I have three hoars more, then,”
evidently thinking he would not be hung
until 1 o’olock. lie said his friends need
not fear that- li« would lack composure at
the trying moment, and declared that he
would not have a to say to the
crowd.
At 10 minutes past 11 o’clock, Sheriff
Martin ascended to his room and told him
that the hour had arrived. 11 ul off said
that be was ready, and the preparations
wore speedily completed- The spectators,
numbering nearly one hundred, had by
this time been admitted to and nearly
filled the small yard of the jail, The ar
rangements were excellent inthis r aspect,
all being done decently and ia order- At
22 minutes past 11 the procession started
from Ruloff’s room, consisting simply of
the oopdemued man, with the Sheriff and
an assistant on each side of him, and
small police squads in front and rear.
It was at this time that our reporter
first had a view of the criminal, while
walking as it were into his grave. He saw
a man whoaa physiognomy b; no means
confirmed imaginings. They were neither
the brutal look to be expected in one who
has flinched at no toooity, nor tko indica
tions of intellectual activity to bear out
reports of his extraordinary talent. The
face, indeed, oouid not be called a striking
one. The oountenanoe was large; the
breadth between the cheek bones being
unusually great, and the forehead broad
and high. The chin was covered by heavy
grayish whiskers, somewhat unkempt.
The aspect of the man was sluggish, and
betokened a lymphatic temperament. He
was shabbily dressed in a suit of thread
bare black, patched and seamed and
wrinkled, and wore on his head a cap of
dark-blue cloth. His elbows were strap
ped to bis sides, but so as to allow him to
plaoe his hands in the pockets of his panta
loons, and he carried them there as he
slouched along, with his sleepy eyes fixed
upon the ground, aid these were not raised
for one glance of curiosity as ho passed
through the oorridor, by his own coffio,
and through the crowd in the jail yard, at
this juncture breathless with absorbing
interest. There was bo little in him to be-
token the desperado or the student, that
the general feeling of those who saw him
for the first time was. “Can this bo
Ruloff?”
At twenty-four minutes after 11 o’clock
he came under the gallows, and, without,
further ceremony, the attendants bound
his arms more tightiy and strapped hjs
legs together. During the process he stood
like a dazed man, his eyes set upon the
ground, his hands nervously tw itching In
his pockets, and'his legs quivering nnder
him. Never was a ghastlier and more
pitahle sight seeu than that of this poor
wretoh, who had not scrupled in cold
blood to take the lives of his fellow-crea
tures, standing shivering there in mortal
terror for his own, but with a terrible
struggle going on within him to appear,
composed, to achieve the last ambition of
the murderer, that of “dying game.”
At twenty-eight minutes after 11 o’clock,
the Deputy Sheriff commenced to read the
warrant for the execution. It occupied
several minutes, and of course no one pai(J
the least attention to it, all eyes being
concentrated upon the unhappy being upon
whoso dangling corpse the brilliant .sun of
May would bo shining in so brief few mo
ments. F.e maintained the same attitude
and downcast look, being Supported by
two men behind him, to whom he said
tot to voce that ho could not stand still.
The readiug (f the warrant fiuishnd,
Sheriff Martin sai l in a oloarvoioo, though
shaken by emotion : “ 1 would ask you,
Mr. Ruloff, if you have anything to say,
why shouldyou not be executed according
to the sentence of the law.” The wretched •
wan replied by shaking his bond, without
raising his cyos, and mumbling out the
words, “Nothing, sir.” Thu Sheriff waited
a few seconds as if surprised at this re
sponse, and then said : “It is now about
twenty-six minutes before the time I Lad
fixed in my mind tor von’r execution.
Have you anything to say?” lluloff simply
shook his head.
The Sheriff then stepped around to (he
left, side, and rear of the criminal, where
he could reach the fatal cerd, Ami said :
“It. is uyt your wish thou to say uuything
or that there should be any delay ?”
Again the reply'was a shr.ko of the head
in the negative. It was tfaon precisely
thirty-six minutes past 11 o’clock. In
thirty seooodti the white oap was drawn
over the. face of Ruloff, and immediately
the Sheriff unloosed the miial! rope which
held up the heavy weight. There came n
hurtling sound as the unseen weight
rushed down, at,d with a bound the body
of the doomed man rose in the air. As
the shock camo upon tho nook and the
knot of the nooso rushed to the fatal
place under the loft ear, there was hoard
from Kuloff’s throat the fearful cluck
which is almost invariably produced. His
right hand bad been withdrawn from his
pocket an instant before tho ropo was
slipped, but oven whiio rising, tho man,
already dead to all intcut, lor his ucok was
broken by tho shook, thrust it back with a
nervous, twitching action that had a
most horriblo effeot. While the hearts of
thoao inside Reckoned at the spectacle, the
outsiders divined that all was over, us il'
by instinct, and a groat shout, aroso, while
a prisoner from his cell hard by was heard
to cry, “He’s gone to glory.”
'1 he corpse hung motionless for two
minutes, when thore waß a -very slight
spasmodic action, tho least wo havo ever
seen on such au occasion. After hanging
fifteen minutes, life was pronounced ex
tinct by the physicians, but, tho body was
not taken down plaoed in tho ooffin until
thirteen and a half minutes past 12.
Through tho atrooiously bad taste of
some oeo, the remains wore exposed to the
view of tho crowd outside, who gaped up
on thorn for several hoiire. With this ex
ception, nothing can bo. said of the ar
rangements for tho oxccution, nor tho
manner in which they were carried out,
except by way of praise.
Victoria Woodiinil’s Creed and Defense.
Mrs. Ex-Dr. Woodhull, now Mrs. Blood,
writes in a card as follows :
One of the obarges made against mo is
that I lived in tho sarno house with my
former husband, Dr. Woodhuli, and iny
present husband. Colonel Blood- The
charge is> faot. Dr. Woodhull being sick,
ailing and incapable of self-support, I tell,
it my duty to myself and to human nature
that he should bo cared lor, although hia
incapacity was in no wiso attributable to
•me. My present husband, Col. Blood, not
only approves tis this charity, but co
operates in it. .1 esteom it one of the
most virtuous acts of my life. But various
editors have stigmatized mo us a living
example of immortality and uiiohastity,
My opinions and principles are Subjects
of just criticism. I put myself before the
public voluntarily. 1 know full well
that tho public will criticise mo and mv
motives and actions, in tbeir own way and
at, thoir own time. I accept the position.
1 exoept to no fair analysis and examina
tion, even if tho soalpol he a little, merci
less.
But lot him who is without sin dast his
stone. I do not intend to be made the
eoapegoat of sacrifice, to be' offered up as
a victim to sociely by those who oover up
tbo foulaessß of their lives aud the feou
ler.oe of thoir thoughts with hypocritical
mouth of fair professions, and by divert
ing public attention from their own iniqui
ty, and pointing the linger at me. 1 know
that many ot my self-appointed judges
and critios aro deeply tainted with the
vices they condemn. I live in one house
with ono who was my husband ; 1 live as
the wife with one who is my husband. 1
beliovs in spiritualism; I advooato free
love in the highest, purest sonse, as tbo
only cure for the immorality, tho deep'
damnation by which men corrupt and dis
figure God’s most holy institutions of sex
ual relations. My judges preach against
free love openly, practice it seorotly. Their
outward seoming is fair; inwardly, they
aro full of “dead men’s bones and nil
manner of unoleanliness.” For example,
I know of ono mao, a public tcaohcr of
eminopoc, who lives in concubinage with
the wife of another public teacher of al
most equal eminense. All three concur
in denouncing offenses against morality.
“ Hypocrisy is the iributo paid by vice to
virtue.” So bo it. But I dccliao to stand
up as “ the frightful example.’' T shall
make it thy business to aoalyxn some of
these linos, and will take my chances in
tbo matter ol libel suits.
1 have faith iu oritios, but 1 believe in
public justioe.
Victoria 0. Wooihihi.t,.
New York, Saturday, May 20, 1871.
The Board of Delegates of American Is
raelites held its annual session on Tuesday
and Wednesday of last week in New Fork
thirty congregations and societies being
represented. Resolutions were utMHptel,
requesting the United States Government
to use its influence with a view to cheek
the persecution of Christians in China,
appropriating five hundred dollars to the
universal alliance for an agricultural sohool
in Palestine and one hundred dollars to the
hospital at Jerusalem. The publication
committee appointed last year presented a
plan tor the formation of a Hebrew pub
lication society, whose aim is to inspire a
taste for and a knowledge of Hebrew
literature and history. A resolution was
adopted appropriating to the society, when
established, two hundred dollars from the
funds of the board, Mr, A. Hart, of
Philadelphia, presented one hundred dol
lars to the society. The publication corn l -*
mittee are Drs- Jastrow and Jacobs, of
Philadelphia, Dr. Wise, of Cincinnati,
Judge Joachimsen and Mr* Isaacs, of
New York. Mr. B. J. Hart, of Now
York, was elected President, and Judge
Joachimsen, and Mr. Wolf, of Washing-,
ton, Vice-Presidents for tho ensuing yoar.
$125,000 TS CttRKENCT TO B* ffrrfmr
bijtee.—Tho Alabama Immigrant As
-1 soeiation«will have another grand drawing
on Saturday, August sth, 1871, when
$125,000 in currency will bo distributed to
shareholders. A full explanation of the
manner ot conducting tho drawing will bo
fqund in our advertising columns, together
with certificates from the press and promi
nent citizens of Alabama, as to the char
acter and reliability of the Association.
Only 50,000 tickets are to bo sold, aod
thero arc 186 prizes. The Association has
had one drawing, whioh was carried out
in the fairest manner, as will be seoo from
the certificates. 'That drawing was a
completo sneoess, and we have no doubt
that this one will prove equally so. The
result of the first drawing can be had by
applying to the managers, Messrs. Stokes
&, Go., Montgomery, Ala.
Vbbsxuljw, May 31.—The Bishop of
Orleans, Dupanloup, will be the sucoessor
of Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, who was
assassinated by the insurgents.