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About Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1873)
010 SERIES VOL. LIU NEW SERIES VOL UXVII. (Cfjroninc anD £rntintl. W URM.SDA Y OCTOBER ], 1873. TERMS. THE DAILY CHRONICLE A SENTINEL, th« ol<le»t newspaper in the South, i« published daily, except Monday. Terms : Per year, *lO ; nix months, $5; three months, $2 50. TiIE TUI-WEEKLY CHRONICLE A SENTI NEL is published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Terms: One year, $5 six months, t 2 50 T IE WEEKLY CHRONICLE A SENTINEL is published every Wednesday. Terms: One year, t 2 ; six months, tl. SUBSCRIPTIONS in all cases in advance, and no paper continued after the expiration of the time paid for. I ATKS OF ADVERTISING IN DAILY.-Ail transient advertisements will be charged at the rate of i 1 per square for each insertion for the first week. Advertisements in the Tri-Weekly, two-thirds of the rates in the Daily : and in the Weekly, one-half the Daily rates. Marriage and Funeral Notices *1 each. Special Notices, *1 per square for the first publication. Special rates will bn made for advertisements running for a month or longer. REMITTANCES should he made by Post Office Money Order or Express. If this cannot be done, protection against losses by mail may be seemed by forwarding a draft payable to the Proprietors of the Cheo.nioi.b and Hkntivki.. or by sending the money in a registered letter. Address WALSH A WRIGHT, CnHowt-K A Skstinki,. Augusta. Oa._ MINOR TOPICS. Track-layers on the Texas Pacific Road ex pect to reach Lamar October Ist. The total number of persons employed in tex tile factories in England is 050,000. Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is in favor of female suffrage. An Oregon cat catches snakes and brings them to the house of its mistress alive and twined about its neck. An advance of ten cents on flour and five cents on grain freight from St. Louis east ward took effect on the 15th. In the National I’ork Packers' Convention the basis of representation was “ one repre sentative for every constituency of 50,000 hogs." Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has been incorpo rated sixty-one years, and haH just commenced lo grade its first street. Indiana thinks she is laying more railroad ties and breaking more matrimonial ones than any State in the Union this year. An Alabama boy who saved a passenger train from going into the river was rewarded with a mouth-organ and a toy wheelbarrow. 'Hie Indianapolis Journal states that the number of freight cars arriving in and depart ing from that city averages 1,400 per day. Letter boxes are now placed on the through street cars in Chicago, their contents boing re moved as each car passes the post office. Grant still aFilleyates with the St. Louis post in lister He knows which side his bread is buttered and who butters it . —-Boston Post. The hulk of the tobacco crop in Connecticut lias been harvested the last ten days. The crop is good in quality and much greater in quantity than has been expected during the season. r J lie Prince of Wales, in reply to an address from the corporation of Plymouth, said: ‘'Gen tlemen, I thank you for your kind attention.” lie got all that from Grant. Why can't he be original ? Bishop Kotteler, of Fulda, Germany, has re fused to obey a citation from the correctional police, and doclaredthal he recognizes no other chief than the Pope, and no other authority than his. Home books and pictures which Mrs. R. E. Leo has just recovered from Arlington wero Almost destroyed in eonseipience of the sinking of the canal boat on which the property was part of the cargo. The Cincinnati Commercial says: Long .Branch is no longer the National Capital. When the President has completed the circuit of Hie army reunions, he will stop for a short time in Washington City. An increase in tho rates of freight on the Wisconsin lines by tho Chicago and Northwest ern and the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroads went into effect on the Kith inst. It is causing great excitement among the farmers of Wis consin. A lady who the other day bought a barrel of cabbages in tho Georgetown market found a live hahv in it, well dressed, with a milk bottle ill itH mouth, and so protected by the manner in which tho cabbages had been arranged aB to prevent its suffocation. Governor I.eslio writes to tho Louisville Courier-Journal that he has advertised in Now York that tho Stale of Kentucky is prepared And anxious to call in all lior bonds, and that they will he promptly paid, principal and inter est, upon presentation at the treasury. This indicates a healthy financial condition for Ken lucky. Joaquin Miller has taken to riding in Hyde Park, London, with his Mexican equestrian trappings, and sports a white sombrero with cords and tasels, in the gayest cavalier fash ion. A prominent circus manager has made liim a tempting offer to ride in hiß show in his vaqnero costume, an 1 if his last book proves unremuuerative he may. A Boston dispatch tells of another “Fight of n Man with a Railroad.” An unfortunate en gineer, who had I oeu injured while on duty, sued the company for damages. For throo years and in three Courts he obtained a ver dict, and each timo the Judge set aside the verdict, until at last the persistence of the plaintiff and the pluck of the jurors has tri umphed. ami the company will bo compelled to pay over handsomely. On one occasion Jeremiah Mason went into Charles Sumner’s otlioe and found him writing an address to be delivered before a peace so- j oioty. After a light, good natured defense of! his views by Mr. Sumner, the former, rising to ) take bis leave, said: “Well. Sumner, yon may I be right but 1 should just as soon think of j joining a society for the suppression of thun- j der and lightning as a society.for the snppres- j sum of war.” The time when the British workman would I demand to be fed on turtle soup, administered 1 with a golden spoon, appears to lie near of ac- I complishwent in Now Zealand, The laboring ; classes in that remote but flourishing depend- j enev have been, for some time past, in the j custom of riding to their daily work in carriages. The practice is said to prevail in the provinces of Auckland and Cantorbary. | and a party of men employed in making hay into bales throughout the Tamaki district j habitually revel in the luxury of being convey- j awl to business in a trap with cushioned seats. J These' hav balers are said to earn seven and i ♦sixpence a day. but they are now demanding ten shillings, as they cauuot keep up a horse j and buggy upou less. Maj. Calhoun, of the Columbus Rnyuinr. i who lias lately seen for himself the condition ! of the crops from Opelika to Mobile, in Ala bama. says that it looks as if the locusts of j Egypt had swept over the land, destroying I every green thing in the cotton fields and | leaving only a few ripening bolls and the naked j etalk shrunken and parched. The very country ! and ilic faces of the people seemed to piartake of the disaster that has befallen the staple cm ! which the planters have been slepeudiug. “I will not make a bale of ootton to every twenty acres planted." cans a gentleman to him. "How much land have you in cotton?” he asked. “Six hundred and forty acres, and there is not forty bags of cotton in the lot," was the answer. "You cannot pay your hands then ?' “My bauds are discharged or rather they de serted me. and you will fintl them swelling the .number of idle freedmen who now throng Jhe streets of Montgomery." The importation of American cattle for the supply of the London market Vritli Sees has proved so successful that it may be regarded as permanently established and likely to affect the price here. An American steer, taken t» good condition from New York by steamer, | loses about fifty pounds on the voyage, but a 1 week's rest and grazing in English pasture makes up the loss and adds to his weight. As to quality, the English ajtuit the excellence of ghe America'.', beef. It seems like a undertakuig. but it is actually iu progress, and at a profit. England is really short of meat, owing to disease' among her cattle and that of other countries whence her supplies have been drawn. The price advanced so much as to in- j duce importation from this country, and now the best stock is being shipped by every steam er of the Anchor Line thatjleaves New York. Twenty-fonr head go iu every one of the thir tv-five vessels run by that line. The cost of freight and attendance is great, but yet each head yields a clear profit of from fifty to seven ty-five dollars. A company is to be formed in liew York to extend this business, and it is con uidered so likelv to be a permanent one that the Anchor Line is now building four large steamers on purpose to 'transport cattle. It is eaid the Lipe is now clearing *I.OOO a week by |his business. THE RECENT FLURRY. We do not anticipate any serious panic in business circles by reason of the re cent failures North and in particular the South has little to fear. The North, which has its great wealth in paper, the breath of the nostrils whereof is popu lar faith or public credulity, or what ever you may choose to call the thing' called credit, may and no doubt will squeal and writhe a little, but the South is just about to reap from the broad bosom of a teem ing earth a solid, substantial tan gible harvest of wealth which relies not for its real worth in solid gold, or the whimsies of Wall street, or the plots and counter plots of Washington bank parlors. For tho South, then, we anti cipate hardly a riffle on the surface, cer tainly no profound and terrible up ' heaval from the financial depths. With the North, as we have said, it is differ ent. '1 here is some groaning there and will be more, but not enough to inju riously affect us by reflex action. There is a presiding genius who kindly watches over the gold and stock gambling tribes of that country. Someone has com pared the Secretary of the Treasury to a man standing at the bunghole of a barrel of money, who turns on the tap or cuts off the supply according as the public is thirsty or no. At the wail Hand outcry of the favorites of the Administration we may rest assured the spiggot will be open wide and long enough. Plentious streams of gold and greenbacks will issue and the shrieks of the anguished proteges be changed into soft purrings and murmurs of joy. Some day, of course, this bountiful dispensation will fail. The man at the Treasury bunghole will find the thirst of the money centres too great for all the liquor in his barrel, but that day is not yet. For the present tho false and ultimate ruinous idea of putting the business interests of forty millions of people at the mercy of a single func tionary, bolds its own and seems to ap prove itself by its results. It is the de lightful ease of a spendthrift revelling on his principal, recking and caring noth ing for the inevitable hour when there will be no reserve to back his little operations. A UGUBTA— PRESENT AND FUTURE. The taxable property of the city of Augusta, as shown by the latest city digest, sums up, in round numbers, twenty millions of dollars. To be crit ically accurate, the official digest ex hibits taxable property in real estate to the amount of $10,256,979; in personal property to the amount of $8,980,537. It is tho custom of American statis cians to assume that tax digests fail by thirty three and one third per cent, in representing true wealth. This assump tion, founded upon careful observation, is taken to cover undervaluations of property, exemptions—State and Federal —and all evasions of tax laws. As re turns, particularly of persouai property, necessarily depend more or less upon the judgment or conscience of the individual citizen, there cannot be or at least there has not been as yet, any mode of testing their honesty or their accuracy. The misers secretes his gold so as to avoid even a suspicion of ownership; and the coviteous undervalue investments to hasten accumulation. To these defects, arising out of human nature itself, must be added those which spring from policy in Government opening up large fields by State ami Feilerel exemption laws— to-wit: Federal and State bonds and muni cipal bonds for loans from the citizens— and in Georgia the tools of the mechanic, household and kitchen furniture in tho sum of two hundred dollars, and other items, besides special exemptions granted for the encouragement of special industries—such as the manu facture of cottou aud wool, and iron fur naces and railroad and other corpora tions, under certain conditions or for a certain term of years. In the case of our city digest the large amount of property owned by the corporation it self—an amount in valuation more than sufficient to cover its public debt, con sisting of town common, water works, bridge franchise, mill sites and other landed property, water power, and aud public buildings, is necessarily ex cluded, aud when the digest is assumed as the true exponent of wealth and re sources, are altogether lost to sight. We may safely assume therefore that the real wealth of Augusta is nearer thirty than twenty millions of dollars. But assuming tlie city digest as the proper exponent, the digest for 1873 ex hibits marked prosperity, when a com parison with former years is made, and satisfactory evidence is displayed that while wealth has become more diffused and is no longer available iu large sums as before the war, the loss by war has not only been fully restored, but a hand some sum has augmented our ag gregate wealth. This deduction may be verified by the most casual observer in the growth and enlargement of our city limits. Our mechanics are strained to supply pressing demands. Growth has been general in all parts of the city. Never was confidence in real estate, without Vicing in any measure specula tive, so great. Reliable data prove that more than throe hundred thousand dol lars has been added iu the construction j of houses to the taxable property of the city since the Ist of April last; while the expenditure iu factory buildings in the process of construction and exempt from taxation will exceed two hnndred and fifty thousand dollars more. Rents are high simply because the demand for houses is greater than the supply. Trade lias been and is profitable and prosperous, and the stocks and sales of merchandise increase heavily, keeping pace with the receipts of cotton and other agricultural products, which are greater than at any period prior to the war. Nor is this prosperity the result of adventitious capital or of fictitious | “carpet-bag development.” Proverbally ; we are an “old fogy people.” The ac- j cumulation of wealth has been neither sudden nor inflated; but our prosperity! 1 is founded upon well known causes, j which, while bringing immediate gain j 1 to well directed energy begets with the ; sagacious an unfailing confidence for th? ; j future. These causes are: first, our ex panding railroad facilities, which are j | opening a greater area for Augusta ; enterprise, and making Augusta a mark- i j, ed railroad centre ; anil, secondly, the I , development and utilisation of a water | power which cannot fail for making the i city of Augusta a highly important ; manufacturing centre. To appreciate rightly Augusta as a railroad centre, present and prospective, a brief reference to the past history of our railroad system is necessary. In former days the whole railroad system of Georgia was confined to the bases of two competing lines, the Georgia Rail ' road and the Central Os these, the Central held almost as a monopoly the trade of the whole of Southwest Geor gia and all of Middle Georgia to Eaton- ton and Atlanta, and effectually cut off by discriminating freight tariffs an ex tensive and profitable trade, which, as the head of navigation on the Savannah before the period.which inaugurated railway transportation, Augusta had en joyed. It was in those days when the Angnsta merchant conld only play like a weaver's shuttle backwards and forwards along the line of the Georgia Railroad, or to reach interior and Upper Carolina traverse half the distance to Charleston, that the late Mr. Cuvier publicly and solemnly pronounced Augusta “ unfor tunately situated.” The sagacious Presi dent of the Central Road only saw a lit tle town located in a basin but little above the level of the sea, hemmed in by high hills and confronted by the in tervening ridges ’of the river systems of two States, which rendered every at tempt to penetrate the contiguous re gion so difficult and so costly as in his opinion to bar the construction of rail roads for the recovery of lost trade and friendly intercommunication. Now we have five trunk lines, two of which have two connecting links, forming in effect independent lines to important centres, making in all seven railway lines con centrating in the heart of our city, sup porting a large population of operatives and serving as the active, efficient agents of commerce. The dawn of this new era was the con struction of the Macon and Augusta Road. The Columbia Road, making a direct connection with Wilmington and Charlotte, came as a sequence. Then followed, as a matter of self-defense, the absorption of the Southwestern and Muscogee Roads by the Central, which resulted in the transfer of the competing point to the interior of Alabama, and virtually transferring the base of the Central Road to the city of New York. These effects, combined with the high rates for wharfage and drayage, from which no escape could be found, made the Port Royal Railroad a necessity, which gives to Augusta the benefit of a new and commodious harbor, and the competition of four competing lines to the sea, the reduction of freight tariffs to within a fraction of the rate formerly paid for wharfage and cartage in the ports of Savannah and Charleston, and the command of the four best ports—Sa vannah, Port Royal, Charleston and Wil mington—on the South Atlantic coast. The future of our railway connections is yet even more promising of good results. The completion of the Griffin and Madi son Road, and the Northeastern exten sion, may be regarded as fixed facts. Indeed it is a matter of surprise that the Georgia Railroad Company has permit ted any delay in the construction of the first mentioned road, which will secure from Middle Georgia the traffic of fifty thousand bales of cotton, with a rich lo cal trade, beside opening the way to Co lumbus and the valley of the Chattahoo chee, when all that is needed for its completion is a guaranty for the requi site iron rails. And now we have a fair prospect of securing, at comparatively small cost, two new lines in the valley of the upper Savannah in tho Hartwell and Green wood roads—penetrating without a rival, the extensive region mark ed by Atlanta and Charlotte as salient points, making direct friend ly connection with the whole interior rail way system of North Carolina, and the coal fields and copper mines of Tennes see—giving an air line to Chicago and the greatest grain fields of the West, and a shorter connection with Louisville and Cincinnati than that sought by ri val interests by way of Gunter’s Land ing ; and bringing within reach of the enterprise of Augusta merchants the lo cal trade of 146,000 inhabitants and 80,- 000 bales of cotton of the Piedmont coun try, besides making accessible the moun tain region of Western North Carolina, East Teunnesseeaud Sontliwerstern Vir ginia, xvhicli abounds in cattle, sheep, hogs, wheat, corn, hay, oats, and all that is necessary to sustain life and make living cheap ; for whose products, whether mineral or agricultural, Augusta, nearer by one hundred and fifty miles, upon the completion of these roads, can fur nish a better market than any within their reach. The second cause of unswerving faith in the future growth and prosperity of our city is that confidence which follows upon the development of our water power by the enlargement of the Augusta canal. The value of this water power as yet has not become to be appreciated by our people, who demand immediate benefit, and are impatient for quick re turns for the outlay. When it is remembered that the in creased and increasing demand for coal in metallurgy, and for steam transit by sea and by land all the world over, as well as increased and increasing use for domestic comforts in the world’s popu lation—a demand that provokes anxions, careful inquiry into the sources of sup ply,and cause' a heavy advance in price, with no promise of decline or abate ment—it is not a bold prediction to make that the use of coal in the production of at least coarser textile fabrics must cease at no dis tant day being too costly. The world’s chief reliance then must be water power—and of all water power, that like onrs, free from the interrup tions of climate and seasons. In Eng land, the annual supply of coal requisite for all purposes is placed at thirty mil lions of tons, and it is computed that for every additional person born an ad ditional ton of coal will be demanded. The cotton manufactures of England re quire every year “at least two and a half millions tons of coal, and woolen and worsted manufactures one and a quarter millions.” In all the manufactures of textilo fabrics, says the Edinburg lie view, “the disadvantage of a rise in price has been similar if not equal in amount. Manufacturers have declared that the high price of coal has been to them an equivalent to an increase of one penny to one and a halfpenny (i. e. from two to three cents) in every pound oj cotton.” Such declarations as these, com ing from so high authority as theEdiuburg Review, should teach us to estimate at a true value the extensiwe water power which we possess, situated in the midst of the cotton belt, in a temperate zone, and free from all of the drawbacks of a rigor ous climate. Nor is there great danger that we shall overestimate its economi ; cal value, at least for sometime to come. ; But it is a difficult matter to general ! ize and popularize statistics for popular ! apprehension. Nor shall we attempt | it. jit is quite as safe a mode of reasoning to present facts in the manner jof illustration]and to infer like effects i from similar causes. The water power of the Augusta canal, when the enlargement shall have been completed, will about equal that of Lowell, Massachusetts. The manu facture of cotton at Lowell employs 12,000 operatives supports 40,000 inhabi tants and manipulates for consumption that which it takes 30,000 hands to pro duce in Georgia—to-wit: One hundred thousand of bales cotton. The employ ment of the same amount of water power in Augusta in the manufacture of cotton surely will give the same result, all things being equal cheapness of living, facilities for distribution and cost of raw material. But it is conceded that Augusta possesses an advantage of twenty per cent, in the cost of manu facture, growing out of conditions of climate and proximity to raw material while the cost of living to the operative is no higher. Is not a margin of twenty per cent, sufficient to induce the em ployment of all the water power we can command ? We have endeavored to AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 1, 1573. ! place before the readers of the Chroni cle and Sentinel the operations of the ! cotton mills in and around Augusta, and accurately and in detail to exhibit the profitableness and pro gress of our cotton manufactories.— Without a single exception the ope rations of these mills demonstrate not alone by financial statements, but by the dividends actually made and paid under the most unfavorable circum stances, that there can be no more profit able investment for c:\pital employed in manufacturing cotton in any part of the United States. We challenge a compari son. When capital invested here brings such results as is being demonstrated daily to the world will our unused water power remain long unemployed, especial ly when capital so invested in our midst is free by our laws from all the burthens of taxation—State, county and munici pal ? It can not be. Every horse power which the sagacity and enterprise of our citizens will make available will be taken up and put to use so long as our factories continue to pay twenty per cent, dividends. Nor is this all; the water power of the upper Savannah, which is four or five fold greater than that of Lowell, will be brought into use: and the successful utilization of the Au gusta water power will produce in the region tributary to the Augusta market four or five times the result which have enriched Lowell—and enriched the whole State of Massachusetts. We have just confidence then in the future of Augusta so long as the ener gies of her people and the policy of her municipal government is directed to the enlargement of her area as a distribut ing railroad centre, and to the developing of her natural resources as a manufac turing centre. The prosperity of the past year is but the turn of the tide, whose flow cannot be checked so long as our people keep in remembrance that cheap bread is the foundation of pros perity, and cheap facilities for transpor tation and distribution is the life of commerce. THE NATURALIZATION LAWS. Congressman Cox recently advocated, in a speech before some Democratic club, such a change in the naturaliza tion laws as would permit foreigners to become citizens of the United States without any such period of probation as is now prescribed by the naturaliza tion laws. The argument of the Con gressman was briefly this: An Eng lishman, Irishman, German, or other foreigner, is certainly as likely to make a good citizen without probation as a nigger, and as the whole tribe of Africa has been admitted to citizenship instan taneously, the European emigrant should be allowed to become a citizen forthwith if he so desire. The argument is simple enough, and has already been mooted in other quarters to no small discomfi ture of the Republican leaders They find it hard work to account for the dis crimination their laws make in favor of the obtuse negro as against the country men of Shakspeare, Bismarck, O’Con nell and other of the world’s great lights. PAYING THE PIPER. It is intimated that Grant will recom mend in his next message the assumption of the District of Collumbia debt by the Federal Government. Some three or four years since Congress established a sort of reconstructed territorial govern ment in the District, and as a natural sequence of such a state of things, the taxes have increased out of all rea son, and a debt which it is simply impossible the people of the District should pay, has been piled up. ! The downfall of the territorial government, and the repudiation of its debt, are therefore inevitable without Con gressional intervention, and to spare his Administration two such scan dals, the President is to earnestly in voke the aid of his friends. It would never do to have it admitted by an utter downfall and failure of a government under the very shadow of the White House and Capitol that the Republican party is too ignorant of State craft, too venomous and too corrupt to establish a political system capable of lasting for even the poor period of three or four years. Moreover it would inflict a shock on Federal credit to have a district over which Congress has exclu sive jurisdiction in all cases what ever repudiate its indebtedness to the extent of some twenty millions of dollars. To avert the threatened down fall of the District government anew reconstruction is proposed, and in the matter of the District debt the panacea is to be an assumption of the same by the United States Treasury. It being clear beyond all question that the District of Columbia is the political property, so to speak, of Congress, having no voice but such as Congress gives it, and doing no act but such as Congress permits, it is per fectly evident that the General Govern ment is responsible for the District debt. Without the assent and consent of Congress there could have been no such debt, and we look therefore at no distant day to see it assumed by the General Government on the ground of that Government being by operation of law bound for the promises it has per mitted its subject aud subordinate to make. With the District debt assumed a great step is taken toward the more important assumption of the carpet-bag debts of the South. These obligations are as manifestly the obligations of Congress as the District bonds, and if one be as sumed why not the other ? Sooner or later the assumption must come, and then those who have led this part of the world such a devil’s dance must pay the piper. They may revolt at the prospect, but one fact will force them to accept the situation—it will be found cheaper to assume these reconstructed debts than to allow the general credit of the United States to suffer by their repudia tion. MORE THAN THE WORLD NEEDS. Mr. Alexander Delmar, a writer of re pute on finance and political economy, is of opinion that the world produces more breadstuff's than it really needs. Mr. Delmar was a delegate to the late Sta- j tistical Congress at St. Petersburg, and | therefore has had opportunities of be- i ing well informed. Agricultural areas i have immensely increased ; transporta tion, in spite of the reasoning of the Western Granges, has been greatly fa cilitated ; farm machinery has taken the place of laborers, and enabled quadruple work to be done. Where, one hnndred years ago, thirteeen bushels per capita were raised, there is thrown upon the market twenty at present. In 1850 there were about 15,000 miles of railway in Europe, over ODe- third of which were in Great Britain alone ; in 1855 there were 20,000 ; in 1860, 30,000 ; there are now over 70,000, of which less than one-sixth are in Great Britain. In 1850 Russia had but 311 miles of rail way; 1860 but 988 miles; in 1870 she had 6,973 miles, and now, 1873, she has fully 7,500 miles. In Russia alone the rail ways have placed within reach of the world an annual supply of nearly 2,000,- 000,000 bushels of grain, most of which was previously inaccessible. In 1851 American mowers and reapers were first exhibited in Europe; now they are to be found on almost every large farm be- ! tween the Rhine and the Vistula, and may be counted by the thousand. The j iron plow, hoe aud spade, the horse ! rake, seed-sower, threshing machine, and many other implements, are pushing their way into the remotest countries. The agricultural population of the world, divided between Europe, Asiatic Russia, East Indies, China, Australia, Northern Africa, North, Cen tral and South America, and the West India Islands, produce about eight thousand million bushels of breadstuff's, or about nineteen bushels per capita, and this Mr. Delmar considers too much. A POOR SHOWING. At the Vienna Exposition, or World’s Pair, exhibitors from the United States took but nine diplomas of honor out of the four hundred and nineteen awarded, and only four of the nine were received by individuals. The other five are con ferred on governmental institutions. The occasion of this paltry showing is not hard to find. Animated by its usual disposition to meddle in everybody’s affairs, the Federal Government put the exhibition of American products under the charge of a commissioner, and this functionary is said to have looked on his position as a reward for political services and intended to put a penny in his pocket. Some lively bargaining and trafficing as to the American section ensued. The best positions for displaying goods were sold to the high est bidder, and, under pretense of ex hibiting one phase of industry in the United States, “American bar-rooms” were plentifully interspered, the dis pensers of “national cocktails” and “smashes” paying for the privilege. As was natural, the interests of other ex hibitors were neglected, and owing to this neglect and a general feeling of dis gust at the jobbery characterizing the management of the American section, the United States made a poor show. A country so fruitful in inventions should have carried off many premiums, but, as above stated, only four honorary diplomas, out of four hundred and ninety-one awarded, came to citizens of the United States. Thanks to putting industrial interests under the sway of the politicians. THE FINANCIAL SITUATION. Now that the battle is over, and the dead have been buried and the wounded cared for, an intelligent review of the causes that lead to last week’s disaster is presented by the leading papers of the country. All seem to concur in the opinion that the bursting of the inflated bubble of the stock gamblers will prove a blessing, and that legitimate business of all kinds will be benefitted. We pre sent herewith extracts from our ex changes, all of which show confidence that no serious injury will result to the mercantile community: [New York Tribune.] The worst of the panic seems over. Aside from the great misfortune of the failure of Fisk & Hatch, following hard upon that of Jay Cooke &Cos., it has been not at all a commercial, but purely a fancy stock crash. Not a mercantile house is affected. Not a Savings Bank is troubled. General business in New York has rarely been better, and 'there is little or no alarm outside of specula tive circlues. But holders of third rate railroad stocks have suffered, and are destined to suffer. For many a concern not yet reached, there is, through the approaching Winter, a bad outlook. Fancy prices have been broken, the pub lic disposition to invest in fancy stocks is gone, even meritorious railroad en terprises will be viewed with distrust, and shaky houses may expect to spend the rest of the season in diligent under pinning. [New York Herald.] The week has been one of great ex citement in Wall street and some alarm in business eircles, but we may expect that Sunday rest and quiet will bring confidence and wise counsel. Yesterday, like the two days preceding it, was a busy day in the street. Additional fail ures were ad’ded to a list already too long, but a better feeling prevailed at the close of business, and it was gener ally believed that the panic would be confined within its proper limits—those of reckless speculation. So far the banks are not affected, except one or two, which were closely connected with the operations of the speculative brokers. The trust companies which have failed owe their downfall to similar causes, and in one case, partially at least, to defalca tion. Outside of theae these have been no failures. The mercantile interest is as safe as in the best of times. The railroads, except the wild-cat affairs which were made the basis of reckless speculation, are uninjured. Credit gen erally is unimpaired. Nothing more se rious has happened than the overthrow of a few houses which were doing a no toriously unsafe business. It was a mere financial thunderstorm, passing through Wall street and toppling over some unsafe buildings, but leaving the substantial houses in as good condition as before. Already the storm is almost past, and the sky will soon be serene and fair and the atmosphere purer and bet ter, if wise couusels prevail. There is no occasion whatever for a general panic. The real business interests of the country cannot suffer while the em barrassment is confined to the specula tors in worthless railroad bonds and the gamblers in valueless stocks. It will be a wholesome lesson to all classes of busi ness men if the storm is confined to those who courted it, and when it is over no one will regret that they who sowed the wind were compelled to reap the whirlwind. [Baltimore Gazette.] The breaking down of the stock spec ulators and of the bankers, who, as the the financial agents and promoters of new and extended lines of railroad, have absorbed a large amount of capital, though it may result for a brief season in a stringent money market, will ulti mately prove beneficial, rather than otherwise, to tlie mercantile communi ty. The country is prosperous. Busi ness is everywhere reviving, and is con ducted on a sounder basis and with more caution than it used to be ; whilst foreign demand for all our chief staples is greater now than it has been at any time since the war. There 13, therefore, no reason to apprehend any danger to such banking institntionsjas ours,which, taking no speculative risks, can no way be affected by such disasters as are con stantly endangering the solvency of the financial agents of railroads, and of the men who gamble in stocks. [Baltimore Sim.] The trouble seems to be purely finan cial, and the havoc, so far, confined to “the street” —to operators and dealers in speculative stocks. Strictly commer cial interests appear to be comparatively very little affected, although it is impos sible but that legitimate business and bnsiness men should suffer from the temporary stringency and consequent stagnation that such a state of affairs is calculated to produce. Happily, the general business of the country rests upon a sound and healthful basis, with the balance of trade just now in our favor, with specie coining in from Europe, with a foreign demand for our cereals, and an abundant supply at home of those staples of national wealth —grain and cotton. [Journal of Commerce.] In all branches of regular trade there is no sign of trouble, nor apprehension of evil to come. The season for the dis tribution of goods has opened auspi ciously, and a healthy demand from the interior has been accompanied with promptness in the usual collections. We do not regard the crash as a great calamity, we believe that it will result in far "more good than evil. Some valuable interests will suffer; a few law ful enterprises will be retarded, and some desirable improvements may be wholly abandoned. But the sharpers and idlers who have lived by mere speculation, grasping at all the availa ble funds offering for loan, paying more for the use of money than its fair market value, and diverting it from the chan nels of legitimate business to swell their own gains by employing it in hazard ous operations, will be swept out of the way with the de.bris of the ruin they have caused, and will leave the field clear for that proper enterprise which alone can advance the national pros perity. THE CASTAWAYS. I STORY OF THE BUDDINGTON PARTY. The Separation From Tyson—The Abandonment of the Polaris—Winter | ing at Littleton Island—Putting to | Sea in the Boats—The Rescue. [By Telegraph to the Tribune.] | Dundee, Scotland, September 19. j The whaling steamer Arctic, Captain Adams, has arrived at this point from Davis Straits, having on board the fol lowing men of the Polaris expedition, who were picked up by the whaler Ra venscraig, on the 20th of July, viz: Capt. S. O. Buddington, sailing mas ter; Dr. Emil Bessel, chief of the scien tific corps; Hubbard C. Chester, first mate; William Morton, second mate; Emil Schumann, chief engineer; A. A. Odell, assistant engineer; W. F. Camp bell, fireman; Nathan J. Coffin, carpen ter; Herman Siemons, Henry Hobby, Noah Hayes. The men are all well and show no marks of emaciation such as might have been expected after their terrible ex periences. The following narrative of the incidents that oocurred after the separation of the crew is gathered from conversation with several of the party: The Polaris had been leaking badly before the Istk of October, 1872, and her situation ultimately became so alarming that it was deemed advisable to make preparations to abandon her. The determination to leave the ship was arrived at on the 15th of October, at which time they were in lat. 79 degrees. Some of the crew remained aboard, while others landed on the ice, and they began to get out stores, with the inten tion of taking everything they could need for a long sojourn in those frozen regions. Between 10 and 12 o’clock at night, while this work was proceeding, a very severe gale sprang up, and the snow began to fall heavily, with strong but variable winds. Operations, how ever, were continued, and after untiring efforts the boats were got upon the ice and a large supply of provisions taken out. Suddenly the hawsers by which the ship was made fast to the ice gave way —one snapping, the other tearing its anchor from its lodgment in the ice. This was about midnight. The anchor in starting tore off a large piece from the floe, with three men upon it, and as the Polaris drove past them, they cried out in an agony of terror, “What are we to do ?” Capt. Buddington shouted back that be could do nothing for them; they had boats and provisions, aud must shift for themselves as best they could. [Note. — These three men, Sergeant Myer and two others, were saved with the Tyson party. — Ed. ] A few minutes later those on the Polaris saw a boat launched and manned by the three men making for the place where their comrades were stationed. In a short time the storm and darkness shut out every object from their view. The feelings of the men can be imagined as, with half the crew left to perish, as they supposed, in the desert of ice and snow, the ship drifted away helpless, until at last she brought up at Life Boat Cove. The prospect was now gloomy enough. There seemed to be little prospect of their remaining in the Polaris; she still leaked fearfully; and in her damaged condition Buddington had no hope of getting any further south with her. It was therefore determined to beach her, but the question was how that could be done. The wind being favorable an opening in the pack was finally dis covered and the ship was bored through under canvas. Everything apparently favored the work, but though the ship was only a few miles from shore it took twelve hours to get her close in. The next consideration was how to provide for the shelter of the men on shore. All the timbers from between decks were tom out. Provisions were deposited on the ice. The coal was removed. Every thing useful was secured. The walls of a honse were then built of heavy planks, jointed to exclude the wind, and the roof was made of sails. In such a home the long Winter was passed. Some help was received from three Esquimaux,who discovered the wrecked ship and agreed, for a few paltry presents, to convey pro visions over the ice from the vessel. They gave still more valuable aid by skins for clothing, of which the crew were greatly in need, for many of their clothes were worn out, and many more were lost when the vessel broke away on the night of the 15th. The Esquimaux had plenty, and, though they were filthy smelling garments, the castaways gladly adopted the full Esqui maux costume of fur trousers, coats, hats and boots. Through the long, dreary Winter the men kept up their spirits remarkably well. The snow fell heavily, but it served to protect their frail habitation and make it more comfortable. Their arrangements was so complete that no yisit to the ship was necessary before January 27, when they went for a sup ply of wood. Fresh water was obtained in abundance by collecting pieces of ice bergs and melting them. Toward the end of Winter Chester suggested that some means should be agreed upon to extricate the party from their perilous position. The provisions were gradual ly diminishing, and the fuel, of which only six tons had been obtained from the ship, was nearly exhausted. The Polaris was still available for materials, and it was now proposed to build two boats. A survey by Chester showed that the lining of the cabin could be used, aud this was accordingly stripped off. Anew difficulty thou arose. The planking was all pierced with nails, and how should the boat be made water-tight ? The crew all say that Chester showed himself equal to all emergencies.— With the carpenter’s help he put the planks together in so deft a manner that the difficulties which had seemed insur mountable vanished during the Spring months, with the thermometer 23 de grees below zero, and often in a blind ing drift,jtlie building of the boats went on. The' situation daily grew more discouraging, but the work was never relaxed, and the courage of the men never failed. Advancing steadily the crew were ready to depart by the end of June, determined to push south ward. Just at this moment,when every thing was in readiness, they were alarm ed by the appearance of scurvy. Hap pily, however, the attack proved slight, and a plentiful supply of walrus liver, which they obtained from the Esqui maux, enabled them to avert the dis ease. When the boats were launched they leaked a good deal, but the men deter mined to trust them, and, stowing aboard all their remaining provisions and ammunition, they said farewell to Life Boat Cove. If not perfectly tight, the boats proved themselves excellent sailors, and remarkably easy to row, and on the first day the voyagers reached Sontag Bay. After remaining there a short time to regain their strength, the party made for Hakluyt Island, where the expedition was brought to a stand-still by a tre mendous gale, which blew for three full days, with a continuous fall of snow for all* that time. Immense flocks of auks, a bird of the penguin species, were en countered hire, however, and, as the men could easily take up their guns and kill ten of them at a shot, there was a plentiful supply of fresh provisions, which were very thankfully received. Occasionally their tiny crafts were sadly beset, and it was feared they would come to grief. But they were among the ice, and there was nothing to be done but to force a passage southward at all hazards. After enduring many privations, and encountering perils from which their escape seemed almost mi raculous, they succeeded at last, through great exertions, in reaohing Cape Parry. A few miles below the Cape, at Fitz Clarence Bock, an encampment was made. Every night, when the labors of the day were over, the boats were hauled np upon the floe and everything taken out, and the only hot meal of the day was prepared. The apparatus employed in cooking was of the most primitive character. Each boat earned a quantity of rigging from the Polaris and a can of oil With these a fire was made in the bottom of an old iron bucket. Tea was the only thing that could be made with such an apparatus. They state that the privations they suffered were not se rious. The life was rough, laborious and monotonous; but though dangers occasionally presented themselves well calculated to inspire the greatest fear, no serious accident occurred, and on the 21st of June the boats reached Cape York in safety. Here they were again close beset with ice. On the 23d their troubles came to an end. A whaler was descried a few miles off, and the whole party was at once in a turmoil of excitement. A great fear seemed to take possession of them all at once that the ship might get away before they could make themselves seen, and they put forth every effort to push through the ice with the least possible delay. The vessel proved to be the Ravenscraig, of Dundee, Captain Allan. She soon saw their signals, and Captain Allan sent his crew to their assistance and took on board their effects, and one of their boats, the other being left be hind. Captain Allan treated them, they all say, in the kindest and most gener ous manner. Subsequently, in order that the whaling operations might not be interrupted, Allan shipped some of the Polaris crew on the Arctic. The latter vessel completed her season’s work earlier than had been expected, and knowing that the crew of the Polaris were anxious to return home, Captain Adams searched for the Ravenscraig, and took on board the members of the party who had been left with her, except three, who had previously been trans ferred to the Intrepid. These three were R. W. D. Bryan, astronomer and chaplain; J. B. Maucli, seaman; John W. Booth, fireman. The Intrepid is ex pected home in a few weeks. The rescued sailors say that when they were picked up they had bread enough for one month, but it is the general opinion among them that they would not have succeeded in reaching any set tlement. Chester, however, who is spoken of in the highest terms of praise by every one of his companions, has no doubt whatever that they would have got southward without any assistance. Capt. Hall was regarded as peculiarly adapted for the great enterprise under his charge, aud all lament his untimely end. As to the statement that the ship might have aided the party on the ice, all agreo that it was impossible after the Polaris broke adrift to learn even the whereabouts of those left beliiud. Every effort was made to find them, but to no avail. Capt. Markham, R. N., accompanied Capt. Adams, of the Arctic, on his whal ing voyage for the purpose of making scientific investigations in the Northern regions. He left Dundee to-day, and intends to be present at the British As sociation meeting at Bradford. THE PROSPECTS OF THE PRES ENT COTTON CROP. Editor* Chronicle and Sentinel : The papers abound every week with flattering accounts of the cotton crop in all parts of the country, and if we credit these reports we will have very little room to doubt that the present crop will amount to five millions of bales. We will notjpretend to say that these reports are all false; but we do say that a great many of them are not true. To our cer tain knowledge in many instances these reports have no foundation in fact. In Wilkes and the adjoining counties the cotton crop is represented as being un paralleled. It is true tho crop in these counties is much better than in many other sections, and yet it will, upon an average, fall Bkort of last year’s crop by half. This opinion is made up not from observations made from the road, or from horseback, but by going through the cotton and closely inspecting it. There are hundreds and thousands of acres of cotton, ranging from three to six feet high, that will not yield four hundred pounds to the acre; do, not three hundred. Every man not given to hyperboles and superlatives will concur with us in this faithful assertion. In some parts the crop is almost an entire failure. But how shall we account for these very flattering representations which are published to the world every week? It may be done in four ways: 1. There is a class of people who are fond of puffing. They are paid to do it, and the more insignificant the subject the harder they puff, like a boy with a tight oigar. It would, of course, be a miserable oversight if bis majesty, King Cotton, was not wafted aloft upon the buoyant breath of this obliging class. 2. We have another class of people who have a strong predilection to misstate ments. They are not novel writers, but they deal very largely in fiction. They have very little to do with facts. These are too unaccommodating, too dry, too prosaic, too unattractive. They want something that will produce an impres sion, that will awaken a sensation, that will thrill, that will interest. Now, upon no subject can this class gratify their mendacious propensities with greater effect than in an epistle inflated with “cotton crop puffs.” 3. Braggers furnish another source to which this overrating of the cotton crop can easily be traced. These gaseonad ers are the persons who talk and write, and it is really amazing to see to what dimensions they can swell a email affair. When their tongues and pens get fairly under way, the trammels of veracity are thrown off, their “ little patches” expand into extended plains, the actual number of bales in prospect multiply like infu soria, and a oastle is erected with not so much as an “airy foundation." 4. But, while all this is true, it cannot be denied that these exaggerated ac counts owe their origin very largely to speculators and cotton buyers generally. Their idea is to depress the price of cot ton by producing the general belief that there will be an overwhelming crop made. To whatever source, however, these reports are traceable, they are produc tive of nothing but evil to the farmer. Indeed, this extravagant way of writing and talking is fraught with great mis chief to the whole country. The manu facturing interests, enterprising men, and merchants, as well as the farmers, are deoeived by them and involved in heavy losses. The whole oonntry is upon the eve of a terrible financial crisis. Nothing but a good prioe for cotton can save one half of the farmers from bank ruptcy; and yet our prosperity is paraded before the world in the most extravagant terms. Truly “we walk in a vain show.” If the present year does not cure the people of the cotton mania, then their cases are hopeletm. Let the condition of the country be presented in its true light; whether it be prosperous or ad verse. Honesty is the best policy. £bta. BURIED ALIVE. Terrible Tragedy In Columbia County, Wla.—Four Children Entombed at Flay—Three Smothered In the Hand. [From tha Colunbia (Wis.) Democrat, Septem ber 5.] The farm and the commodious home stead of Henry Niemeyeris situated two miles from this village, on tha road to wards Hampden. Last Monday after noon Niemeyer had six bright, healthy children, all of tender ages, romping away their happy hours, as careless of impending evil as is the butterfly. Be fore evening the mortal harvester had gathered three of them. Shortly after 2 o’clock, Mrs. Niemeyer saw three of her little boys at the front gate. The youngest was crying, and she sent the sister Emma out playing with them for awhile, and to bring him in for a nap. This was the last time she ever saw three of her children alive. Thirty or forty rods from the house and three or four rods back from the highway is a little knoll which contains good sand, many loads of which have been drawn away from time to time. The excava tion which remains is trifling, however, and a passer-by would as soon suspect danger to be lurking in a doorway as in that slight depression. For merly, this had been a favorite re sort for the ohildren, but they had been forbidden to go there, and had even been punished for so doing, and had not visited the place for a long time. Doubtless they wandered down that way, and oould not resist the fasci nation that sand has for all tiny hands. That forenoon, Mr. Starkweather, with out Niemeyer’s knowledge, had sent Fred Hicks to the spot after one or more loads. Probably the cavity left was hardly of sufficient size to back a cart into. The surface is of clay loam; th rains of Saturday night had rendered i heavier than nsual, and it fell just at the time of all others, when these innocents were beneath it. Thus suddenly their play-house became their tomb. How long they remained there is not exactly known. There was an interval of some thing more than an hour between then leaving the gate and their discovery. The little boy Willie, who was taken out alive, heard teams passing at intervals along the road, but partially covered as he was, his ories were too feeble to at tract attention. Onoe Emma called, and said faintly through the sand: “Willie, where are you ?” The child answered, “Here,” as well as he could. After wards he caught the words, “Are you going home ?” Then followed fox some time a sound of sobbing and catching for breath, and then all was still. Their puny stragglings were as nothing against the great conqueror. Niemeyer was at work about the barn and house, and several times asked for the children. Presently an elder sister was sent to look for tnem. At length she went to the sand pit. Only a por tion of Willie’s hair was vissible through the clay, and his exhausted cries were hardly audible. She saw the whole dis aster in a moment, and flew back to her father. He is at the fatal spot in an instant. The casting aside of two or three kandfnlls of earth uncovers Wil lie’s head. Alive, thank God! He runs nimbly away as lie is pulled from the sand. It is the work only of a mo ment to scrape away the clay and sand to the next one. It is Otto, aged three years and five months. He will never be any older. Dead, quite dead ! In another instant the pretty face of Emma is uncovered. A single glance tells us that the spirit escaped imprisonment be fore the body did. Heartrending work it is for a father to do. Just at this juncture the mother arrives with a shov el, a movement or two of which reveals Oscar, aged one year and ten months.— It is dark to him now in the sunny fields as it was in the horrible pit. The earth has given them up ; but it is only that they may be coffined and returned to it. The father and mother may sit down by their dead babes and weep, for they can do nothing more. INSURANCE. THE QUESTION IN SAVANNAH. Meeting of the Chamber of Commerce —A Mutual Insurance Company to he Organized. The question of insurance, since the recent advance by existing companies, is exciting attention in different places. In Savannah, last Friday, a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held for the purpose of considering the feasi bility of organizing a mutual insurance company in that city. Wo clip the re port of the meeting from the Savannah News, of Saturday. The Secretary read the following let ters, whioli were listened to with marked attention by the gentlemen present ; VIEWS OP OEN. WAYNE. Savannah, September 19, 1873. To the Honorable the Chamber of Com merce, of Savannah, Ga.: Gentlemen— The recent arbitrary ad vance in tho rates of lire insurance in this city, in many cases as great as 150 per cent, over previous rates, and with out just cause, and the combination of Northern and European companies doing business in Savannah to force these rates upon our people, by the establish ment of a general committee or Board of Underwriters that excludes from their division of risks any companies offering to take them at lower rates, have drawn the earnest attention of many of our business men to this matter of lire insu rance in our midst, with a view to tho emancipation of our citizens from the bondage in which they are now held by these distant corporations, by establish ing, if practicable, a mutual organiza tion for our own protection, and more over retaining among ourselves the large profits now drawn from us to swell the coffers of companies foreign to our com munity. The more urgent is it upon our citizens to free themselves from this domination as these , recent advances upon ns are wholly unjustifiable from any causes existing in or around Savan nah, but are simply a tax upon our pockets to make good to these Northern and European companies the losses sus tained by them in Boston, Chicago and elsewhere. Impressed with the necessity of mak ing some effort to resist this attempt at wrong, these business men who have taken the matter in charge have, through one of their number, addressed me a letter with the request that I would bring the subject before the Chamber, to be thoroughly considered ns to its feasibility by a body of men in whose ability to do so, and in whose devotion to the city of Savannah they have the fullest confidence, and besides, that it be brought before our people. The plan of these geutlemeu, in brief and in general, is thus; Ist. The organization of the citizens of Savannah for mutual protection and profits against damages by fire. 2d. The guaranteed capital of the or ganization to consist of bonds, stocks and real estate, the bonds and stocks to be taken at market value, and real estate on mortgage at assessed valua tion. 3d. The dividends on bonds and stocks to be collected by the organiza tion, and paid over to 'their owners.— The rents from real estate to be collect ed by the owners as usual. 4th. Iu the event of losses to the or ganization exceeding tho amount of premiums paid in, of which there is lit tle danger, such excess of loss over re ceipts to be assessed pro rate to the stockholders and collected. Aud'if not paid to be secured by sale of bonds or stocks, and by foreclosure within thirty days after demand on the mortgages of real estate. This will be created a pledged collateral capital, without tho payment of a cent, upon which money can be raised. The premiums over and above losses being paid out in dividends to stockholders in addition to the cou pons of bonds and stocks and rents of real estate. In the letter herewith it is stated from official sources that the taxable value of real estate alone of the city amounts to $17,546,115, and from the official report of the late able Chief Fireman of the city, Captain Joseph A. Roberts, also herewith presented, wo learn that the supply of water at all times for fire pur poses is ample, and that the losses by fire during the year 1871 were as fol lows : Total number of fires 23, de stroying property to the value of $293,- 000,on which there was insurance to the amount of $165,000, of which $230,000 of loss and $121,000 of insurance was on Hodgson’s building. Believing that if the organization of such a company is practicable, that it will be a great step in the advancement of our prosperity, I submit the matter respectfully to your judgment as re quested. Henry C. Wayne, Member of the Chamberof Commerce. OTHEB SUGGESTIONS. General 11. O. Wayne: Dear Sir —ln reference to your re marks at the Chamber of Commerce, 1 beg to offer the following ideas; The merchants and business men of Savannah pay yearly a verylarge amount of money to Northern and foreign insu rance companies. Why not endeavor to at least retain a portion of this money at home ? Let an insurance company be formed that will be entirely mutual. Let the merchants take their different stocks and bonds that lie idle in their vaults, and put them up as capital of the com pany, thus making a collateral capital, which if money had to be raised by the company could be easily utilized. Upon a merchant placing $10,006 worth of se curities in the hands of the company, let the company issue him a scrip, for spy one hundred or two hundred shares of stock, as the par value of the stock might be. Now observe that as the dividends fall due upon the stocks, and interest on the bonds, they arc collected by the company and turned over to the party from whom they were obtained, and if no extraordinary bad luck follows the business, a dividend of at least ten per cent, per annum could be declared from the earnings of the company. Every stockholder becomes personally interested in the company, and would place all of his insurance with it. By this means you will observe that the commission of 15 or 20 per cent, paid by the Northern and foreign com panies to their agents hero would go in to the pockets of the stockholders, there by making their stocks and bonds pledged as the capital of the company pay them a double interest, It will be to the advantage of all stockholders to place only their best risks with the com pany, and from the manner in which Savannah is built, it is impossible for a fire of any magnitude to take place. In case of a loss being made at the outset the company can pledge their stocks and bonds to any of our banks for ninety days or four months, and in the course of that time the premiums from the policies will pay the loss. In the city of Savannah there ia at least an aggregate insurance on real es tate of #10,000,000 • the total value of the real estate in the oity being $17,- 546,115, yet when a loss is made you are compelled to go outside of your own people and city to have that loss adjust ed. These ideas may, and I think should be utilised, and having had con versations with several of our clear headed business men on the subject, and meeting with their approval, I would earnestly request that you sub mit the matter to the Chamber of Corn mere. I remain, General, very respect fully, Thos. 8. Wayne, Jr. General Wayne briefly touched upon some of the prominent features of the letters, alluding particularly to the un justifiable increase of insurance rates, and giving some information regarding the causes that compelled the three Southern insurance companies here to unite with Northern and European com panies in this arrangement. NUMBER 40. Tiie Chairman suggested that as the views of Mr. Thomas 8. Wayne, Jr., as expressed in the letter just read, were of value to the meeting, that apprecia tion of the same be evinced by inviting him to a seat upon the floor. A motion to that effect was made and carried, and a committee appointed to wait upon Mr. Wayne and escort him to the Chamber, which mission they accom plished in a few minutos. Major Henry Bryan submitted the copy of a charter recently granted by the Legislature to a mutual insurance company, such as it was proposed to or ganize, with the suggestion that it might prove valuable as a guide to the commit tee, if any should be appointed. On motion of Mr. John Nisbet, the letters were received. Mr. Nisbet remarked that the matter was not only one of great importance, but r also one of great difficulty, and he did not consider it possible for the subject to be properly handled by a largo meeting. They might consider the subject and .offer suggestions, but lie thought that it would bo necessary for a working committee to take the matter in hand and enter into all the detail* an arrangements, and submit their report for action of the Chamber. He would, therefore, move that a committee of live be appointed for this purpose. Col. E. C. Anderson, Jr., seconded the motion, and stated that there was already an effort on foot to organize a company of the character desired ; that a charter had been obtained and consid erable headway had been made ; but ef forts had been suspended during the past few months owing to the absence of many of our prominent merchants from the city. The majority of them had re turned, and he could safely say that the efforts would be resumed and had a fan prospect of success. In order that there should be no clashing of interests, lie would suggest that the committee con fer with this company with a view to ef fecting a combination, as it would not be well to attempt the organization of several companies of the same character. The Chair stated it was presumable the committee would do so. Brief remarks were subsequently made by Major Bryan, General Wayne and Mr. Nisbet. The Chair then announced as the committee Messrs. John Nisbet, Geo. W. Wylly, J.'H. Estill, Henry 0. Wayne, and Col. E. C. Anderson, Jr. Col. Anderson requested to bo ex cused, and the namo of Mr. J. G. Low was substituted. On motion, the Chamber then ad journed. TERRIFIC GALE AT THOM AH VILLE. Loss in the Town SIO,OOO The storm Cuts the Cotton Crop Short 1,000 Bales—The New Masonic Hall a Wreck—Loss of Life, Etc., Etc. The storm of last Friday was wide spread and did extensive damage. In Thomasville it was terrific, and raged during the whole morning. The Timex of Saturday reports the damage as fol lows : The splended building being erected by Messrs. Cobb & Hamil, for St. Thomas Lodge on the corner of Broad and Fletcher streets, and which would have been ready for tlio roof next week, yielded to the storm king, and fell with a crash about nine o’clock, entailing a loss on the contractors, in connection with their brick yard, that will approxi mate SJ,OOO. In this connection wc are pleased to note the generous action of the Messrs. Moore. These gentlemen are large contractors themselves and have a large force. They havo tendered their own, and all their employees’ ser vices to Messrs. Cobb Ac Hamil for ouo week, free. The storm raged with unabated fury until noou, when it gradually lul led, bringing up in the northwest, hav ing veered around from the northeast where it commenced. Biding over tho town hastily yesterday evening after the cessation of the storm, we could on ly note the general ruin that met tho eye everywhere. The kitchen of Bev. Wm. Taylor was blown down, and one woman (colored) killed in it, two small children narrowly escaping. The large dining hall at the fair grounds is a mass of ruins. Tho ladies’ reception room is partially de stroyed, whilst much of the enclosure is blown down. The stables on Mr. J. L. Finn’s lot are flat on tho ground, and we understand that Master Willie Finn made a narrow escape from tho falling ruins. We noticed the tin roofing on Mrs. Hayes’ residence, on Broad street, curled up in all kinds of fantastic shapes. The “West End House” lost a chimney. In fact, there is hardly a house and lot in town that has not suf fered more or less. Wo do not think that an over-estimate is made whe.n we. say that tho losses of the town will foot up SIO,OOO. But the most painful part is the loss of life. As stated, a negro woman was killed in tho falling building on Mr. Taylor’s lot. It is also reported that a negro was killod out at Major Taylor’s place, and also a pair of mules. There is no doubt that considerable loss of life has taken place, whilst many narrow es capes have been made. An immense tree blew down across a building on Mr. Kendrick’s place, some three miles from town, in which were six persons. It lodged on a largo bed under which three of them had taken refuge, but none of them were injured. Business was almost entirely suspend ed during tho whole of yesterday. We have had no reports from the countyy, hut the loss will doubtless prove heavy! It is thought by competent judges that the storm will cut the cotton crop of the county short 1,000 bales. The wires were down all day, so that we could get no reports by telegraph. The train from Albany reported tho storm as sweeping everything in its path. We expect to hear of serious dis asters in the next few days, from along the track of the storm. Nineteen large trees were blown across the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. A WORD TO AUGIJHTA M KRCIf ANTB. MiLLKDOEvrr.nE, Beptomber 10th, 1870. E'ditors Chronicle, and Sentinel : The cotton question is th o question just now; and on that I beg to ask a very small space in your columns to say my say. It is this: Over ten thousand bales are annually received at Milledgeville— yes, twelve thousand. Os these twelve thousand about three thousand go to New York on through rates, either via Savannah or via Charleston, as the agents of the rival roads here can make it. Now, what I want to say is this: The Georgia Railroad ships cotton from Milledgeville to Augusta at (25c.) twen ty-five cents per 100 lbs., and what I want to ask of the Augusta cotton buy ers is this: Can’t you do something to stop this exodus of cotton from Bald win, Wilkinson, Washington and Put nam ? If not, why ? Why should our cotton go by Savannah, 180 miles to sea, when we havo only 100 miles to Augus ta and 240 miles to Charleston, with an advantage of the sea difference between Savannas and Charleston in miles and insurance V Do the Augusta merchants make a proper effort for Milledgeville cotton $ As one who knows, I say they do not. Very respectfully, Jones. Spanish Adairs. Madrid, September 24.—1 tis stated that insurgent vessels have left Alicante for Cartagena. The F.poca applauds Yelverton for preventing tho bombard ment of Alicante. Nouvillas ban l>oen appointed President of the Supreme Council of War, Gen. Pavaia, Captain General of Madrid ami General Jouvelar, Captain General of Cuba vice General Pieltan, reoalled. The minister of the colonies proposes to go to Havana in person to study tho Cuban question, with a view to making important reforms. It is reported that the Spanish Gov ernment will soon address a formal com plaint to the French Government setting forth that the Carlist chieftain Leballs was permitted to pass through French territory and cross the frontier into Catalonia without hindrance, in viola tion of the obligations of neutrality. London, September 24.—A special dispatch to the Times from Alicante of a later date than tho dispatch from Madrid, denies that the insurgent ves sels have left there. It says they aro yet in the harbor, and will commence the bombardment of the city to-morrow. The London Financier says the business of tho Atlantic cables baa largely increased since the beginning of the panic in New Tork. The receipts are now estimated at 27,000 daily. Page Hi Co.’s patent rooflug and tar factory, on Clara street, New Orleans, and five adjoining buildings, were burn ed yesterday. Loss, $15,000.
