Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About Weekly chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1866-1877 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1874)
USeeMa CbfmMe 4 Sentinel 010 SERIES—VOL Hill. ■EW SERIES—VOL XXXVIII. TKHMB. I HE DAILY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL, the oldeet wnnpftper in the Sooth, U pabHabed daily, ex cept Monday. Term* : Per year, $10; six month*, $3; three month*, $2 50. THE TRI-WEEKLY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL is pnbOflhed every Tn-*day, Thursday and Satur day. Term*: One year, $5 ; nix month*, $2 50. THE WEEKLY CHRONICLE k SENTINEL i* pnb ithl every Wedncseday. Term* : One year, $2 six months, sl. SUBSCRIPTIONS in aM canes in advance, and no pper cou Unoed after the expiration of the time paid for. BATES OF ADVERTISING IN DAILY.—AII tran sient adrertiaemenU alii be charged at the r*te of f.l p*r square for each insertion for the first wt-fk, Adv 'Ttisementa in the Tri-Weekly, to -th rds of the rates in the Daily; and in the Weekly, one-half the Daily ates. Marriage and Funeral Notices, $1 each. Hpecta Notices, $1 per square for the fir*t publication. Special rates wil: be ma !e for advertisements running for a month or longer. REMITTANCES should be male by Post Office If nej Orders or Express, If this cannot be done, j.r Portion against losste by mail may be se -ir*: i by f irwariiug a <?r*ft j>a> abie to the Proprietors of the CHtomcLi k Sestijikl, or by sen ling the money in a registered letter. ALL COMMUNICATIONS announcing candidates for office—from County Const nbie to Mein U r of Congress—will be charged for at the rate of twenty cents per line. All announcements must be paid for In advance. Address WALSH k WRIGHT, Chronicle anti .Srofiml. fftSDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 25,1874. MINOR TOPICS. Ka h day it becomes more ovideut that, with the Jlejinblican party, it is neck or nothing. They taunt swallow Grant, third term and all. With hie pliant Cabinet and the immense pat ronage at hie command, he has the intide track on all rival*, Even if he should choose to step down and out, he v.oil'll have the naming and making of the next Kadical candidate for the Presidency. The cloning hours of the Oregon Legislature seem to have been enlivened by scenes almoat as interesting as those at the adjournment of Boss Shepherd's legislative conclave. Some body stole the marble slab on the Speaker's desk, placed there to catch the gavel. A large inkstand was also taken, and it is feared that several members ruav have mistaken spittoons for perquisites. Jteiontlv a telegraph clerk in France re fused to transmit a message in these wor Is: "Third epistle of John, verses 13 and 14,” un der the law which forbids the transmission of dispatches not written in plaiu language. lie ferouce to the text indicates that the dispatch was merely an economy of words: "I have many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee; but X trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.” The New York Herald says: “Gen. Grant and Col. Mosby understand each other, and when the despairing office seeker finds himself shut out by a failure to pass the civil service reform examiners let him ge home, make a pub lic speech or two in favor of Gen. Grant for a third term, and then return to the White House and ask and ho will receive his appoint ment. To Gen. Grant the third term may be a delusion and a snare, but to Col. Mosby it ap pears as profitable in its dividends as the Credit Mobilier.” Avery ingenious counterfeit five dollar bill, purporting to be the issue of the First National of Chicago, has boon detocted. The text and signature of the bill are complete imitations of the five dollar bills of the Tradors' National of Chicago, with the words “ First National" substituted. The general appearance of the counterfeit is rather darker than the genuine and the vignettes not so well finished. The Treasury Heal is, to all appearances, perfect. Altogether we have seldom seen a counterfeit so well calculated to deceive the public. Peru is just and gracious to its women. A young lady desirous of entoring the law school at Cuzco, an institution supported by the State, wrote to the Government to inquire if her sex were a bar to her admission. The Minister of Justice promptly replied that all Peruvian citi zens should enjoy equal rights; that women woro considered by tlio law as on the same footing with men, as far as the privileges to be accorded by the Republic wore concerned: add ing that it naH a matter of peculiar pleasure to the Administration to improve the opportunity of giving publicity to such a declaration. The ladies of Washington are taking active measures to aid tho Centennial movement. At the toa party to be given in the rotundo of the Capitol on December 16 the thirteen original States are to be represented by thirteon tables, presided over by ladies clothed in the costumcß of 1776, and cups made of the pattern of those used at tho table of Benjamin Franklin will be sold as mementoes. Tho Centennial Committee, with the wives and daughters of Congressmen, will have the tea party in charge, atul poems and addresses, with music, will form features of the oceaaioH. Invitations are signed by the committee, headed with tho name of Mrs. President Grant. Tho question now is, “Shall John Chinaman vote ?" It lias been discovered in San Francis co that the revised statutes of the last Con gress have authorized the naturalization of the Chinese, and any othor of tho adult males of tho yellow races. The old law of 1802 declares that “any alien, being a freo white person,” may be admitted to become a citizen, Ac. In 1870 tho provision was extended to cover “aliens of Afrioau nativity and persons of Afri oan descent.” Tho revision uses tho words of tho law of 1802, omitting “being a free white person,” and inserts the law of 1870 about Africans. It is claimed that the law, as now standing, breaks down all barriers of race or desoeut which California has hitherto success fully opposed. The Board of Managers of the New York Cotton Exchange have adopted an amendment to tho by-laws, absolutely prohibiting betting among its members. The Floor Committee are also instructed to enforce the rule. Tho penalty is a fine not less than S3O and not over SSOO, at the discretion of the Board. A repeti tion of the offense ontailß suspension. There was an urgent necessity for some such rule as this. Tho floor of the Exchange, as well as the lobbies, preceding aud during tho recent election, was at times converted into a mere gambling saloon, to the annoyance of people doing regular busiuess. Other kinds of bet ting as well as the political kii and, however, are to be subject to the now arrangement. Whether the officers of the Exchange have the firmness to enforce it remains to be seen. A curious superstition prevails on tho Isle of Man. It is to the effect that children may be preserved from the whooping cough by being placed in the hopper of a mill. "Whooping cough," says the Manx Times, “is at the pre sent time exceedingly prevalent in the south of the island, and recently a largo number of tho children were taken to the Grenaby 31 ill. in the parish of Malew, three miles from Castle town, in order to be subjected to tho ‘charm.’ Two hoppers of the mill were crammed full of children, and as soon as they were comfortably aud safely settled, tho miller caused the wheel to revolve three times, the parents of tho chil dren being present at the time. In order to be efficacious, the ceremony must be gone through at a time when tho ministers of the district are engaged in preaching in their pulpit. For this reason about noon on Suudays is generally the time chosen for the performance of this ca rious rite.” Soma industrious statistician pretends to liavo discovered that the average weight of all hnmanitv is a round hundred pounds. In this computation is included men and women, boys and girls and babies of all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples. The same indefatigable cipherer finds out that the average weight of boys at birth is a Uttle more than seven pounds and of girls a Uttle less. There is very Uttle difference in the weight of the sexes until the twentieth year is passed, and then the boys begin to preponderate and take the lead. — Young men of 20 average 135 pounds, and voung women 110. Men are heaviest at 40 years—sav 140 pounds avoirdupois. Women increase in weight until 50, when they puU down 130. But bodily weight has nothing to do with the woman question in any of its bear ings. The relative merits of beauty and the beast will be decided by another standard. The matter of meat involved in these figures is entirely foreign to the real weight of men and women. It was at WUUamsviUe. lowa, that six young men recently went out to serenade the belle of the town. They had practiced for weeks on the violin, the flute, the majestic guitar, the soul stirring accord eon, and the plaintive banjo. They waited until late at night, so that the fair one might be wrapped in dreams when the sound of their music should break upon her ear. When they reached the house, the hour 'Wing late, they were tired, and they dis coursed their concord of sweet sounds while Sitting on the sidewalk with their feet in the gutter. They played until flowers were thrown to them from the window, and they then un dertook to rise and go jhomeward. Curiously enough, no man rose up: bat each looked at his neighbor with a countenance of silent hor ror. Then one by one they broke into sub dued blasphemy, and presently a sound of rending garments was heard, and the young men fled madly away. Next morning those who passed that nay beheld the wrecks of six pairs of trowsers adhering to the sidewalk, and felt anew respect for the inventor of tar pavements. THE BOOUB BONDS AND A CON STITUTIONAL CONTENTION. Last Saturday we published the pre sentments of the grand jury of Lincoln i county on the subject of the bogus j bonds and a Constitutional Convention. ! The grand jury of Lincoln opposes the | recognition, in any shape or form, di | rectly or indirectly, of the fraudulent bonds issued or endorsed by Bullock, and they favor the holding of a Con stitutional Convention. They instruct their Representative and Senator in the Legislature to vote for a Convention. The grand jnry of Lincoln is right in joining these two important propo sitions together. The fate of one neces sarily and inevitably involves the fate of the other. If a Convention is held the bonds will be gotten rid of forever. If the Convention is not held the bonds will eventually be paid, either in whole or in part. There is bnt one effectual bar to the operations of the Ring—that is a constitutional inhibition against the payment or recognition, under any consideration, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, of any of the bonds issued or endorsed by Rufus B. Bul lock, and which were declared invalid by the Legislature of 1871-’72. When such an inhibition becomes a part of the organic law of the State then the people may feel safe, and not until then. Any proposition looking to the payment of these spurious obligations or to a com promise with their holders must then run the gauntlet of a popular vote and can easily be defeated. Any other scheme of settlement will prove imper fect and unavailing and will leave the State constantly exposed to the assaults of the Ring. It would be better to nego tiate a compromise at once with Clews, Russell Saoe and Company than to have such a sword suspended above the heads of the people. Payment might be defeated or deferred for ten or fifteen years and then perhaps a Legisla ture could be induced to recognize this mass of fraudulent indebtedness, to gether with its immense accumulations of interest. We must have done with it at once and forever. There are bnt two ways in which a constitutional inhibition can be secured: by legislative amendment of the organic law, or by the adoption of anew or ganic law by a free parliament of the people. The futility of the first method has just been strikingly demonstrated. Two years and a half have elapsed since the Legislature of 1872 discovered and exposed these frauds, and declared that they should not be binding upon the State, yet to-day nothing stands between their recognition save a simple act of the General Assembly. A constitutional amendment prohibiting the payment of the bonds which had been disowned was proposed in the same Legislature which had declared them invalid, and was lost for want of the time necessary to get it through both Houses. The prolonga tion of the session for a week, at a cost of seven or eight thousand dollars, would have enabled the first step to be taken towards the repudiation of as many millions. But this was not done, and there was an adjournment without action. When the Legislature of 1873-74 met the Ring had rallied in such force that its power was at first thought formidable. Taking advantage of the depletion of the treasury occasioned by the thefts of Bullock and his accomplices, they en deavored to force a “compromise” by promises of immediate and liberal relief if accepted, and by threats of financial ruin if rejected. In some way they managed to have their claims sup ported by a number of the journals of the State and endorsed by several dis tinguished citizens. In the effort to crush this iniquitous scheme every other consideration was lost sight of and for gotten. The newspapers which had not been deceived by the promises oralarmed by the threats of the Ring fought the proposition vigorously and effectively. The people wero everywhere aroused to a sense of their danger. Some of the public men discovered their mistake and retracted their steps. Appeals were made to the Legislature not to sacrifice their constituents to the cormorants of Wall street. That body—composed in the main of honest and true men—de clined to act upon the compromise. It adjourned without yielding to the in solent demands of the Ring; and it ad journed also without adopting an amend ment to the Constitution which would prevent a renewal of these demands. At tho next session an amendment was of fered and adopted apparently without investigation or discussion, and a few weeks ago it was discovered that if Henry Clews’ own attorney had drawn the bill it could not have suited the bondholders better. Through the most egregious negligence the amendment did not in clude a single one of the many millions of fraudulently endorsed bonds which were left open for payment whenever a Legislature could be properly manipu lated for the purpose. The next Legis lature cannot amend this amendment. The work must be commenced dc novo. The cmendmentjto be adopted by the Leg islature just elected must also be passed by the General Assembly to be elected two years hence e’er it can come be fore the people for final ratification. There is too much at stake to risk a fur ther delay of more than two years and another election. The recognition and payment of these fraudulent obligations would come very near bankrupting the State and would certainly cause the im position of heavy aud burdensome taxa tion, which would depress and crush every species of industry and injure every class of population. We cannot afford to even risk such a direful con tingency. We mast have speedy ac tion. Our only hope lies in the as sembling of a Constitutional Convention. Such a body can decide the question at once, and from its decision when ratified by the people there can be no appeal, save to the people. Abandoning all minor issues let our people unite in the advocacy of this great measure. In its success all of us—Republicans and Democrats, white men and black men— are vitally interested. The most ac ceptable boon which the Legislature can present to its constituents is a bill permitting them to vote for or against a Constitutional Convention. It is announced that General Grant has no idea of acceding to the request of ’ the people of Louisiana, to have Mkr xiili, and his marauders removed. On the contrary, it seems highly probable that the number of troops in Louisiana and all the other Southern States will be augmented- The policy of the Admin istration is to force a third term in 1876 by means of disturbances in the Sonth, and we may depend upon it that nothing will be left nndone tending to the ac complishment of this nefarious pur pose. Our Concord Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson though defeated, made a very handsome race against the Prime Minister of England for the Rec torship of the University of Glasgow. The objection of the Tory students to Mr. Emerson —that he is a foreigner—is a singular one. We had thought that there were no nationalities in literature. THE BOGUS BONDS. “The failure of the States of Georgia and Alabama to meet their liabilities as principals or as guarantors has been al most fatal to State credit. The German cannot see how a State of the wealth of those States, and with powers of taxa tion, can fail to pay its liabilities. He fails to realize the shock of war that has so paralyzed energy and profitable pro duction in those regions. Fortunately, however, for the convenience and credit of the States, they are, with few excep tions, borrowers abroad.”— Philadel phia Inquirer. The State of Georgia has never failed to meet a single liability and her credit is as good to-day as that of almost any State in the Union. Those who think that her credit has sustained any injury have only to examine the financial col umns of a New York or Georgia paper and look at the quotations of State bonds. The State of Georgia refused to recognize bonds which had been issued without authority of law and the invalidity of which was clearly shown by a careful and protracted investigation; but this is kll she has done. She has never refused to pay a single just claim except those which she was compelled to re pudiate in 1865 at the bidding of the United States Congress. THE HERALD’S HOAX. Man is certainly the most credulous of all animals. A few days since the New York ller.ald contained a seven column account, garnished with appro priate headings, of the escape of the wild beasts from the Zoological Gardens in Central Park and the fearful slaugh ter done by them in the streets of the city. Among the killed was General Butler; among the wounded was John Morrissey. Governor Dix was repre sented as shooting down the ferocious Bengal tiger. The whole thing was absurd upon its very face. The incidents were improper in the extreme; and to prevent any probability of deception the writer concluded the article by stating that there was not a word of truth in what had been written ; that it was only a hoax, intended to show what might take place unless more care was taken to prevent the escape of the Cen tral Park monsters. One would have thought that with this moral appended no man outside of an idiotic asylum would have been deceived. No one would have imagined that the people of New York themselves would have swal lowed such a story. Strange to say it was in New York only that the hoax proved a success. There the news-boys cried the “awful news from Central Park.” The people bought the paper, read only the head lines, and went wild with terror. Especially was this the case with those whose children or other rela tives had gone to the Park. One lady declares that she paid a hack driver $25 to take her home in twenty minutes, that she might be assured of the safety of her darlings. Others rushed frantically to their houses and barred tho doors and windows in order to keep out the rhinoceros, the African lion and the boa-constrictor. When they were at last convinced that they had been the victims of a sell fear gave place to indignation, and the Herald has paid dearly for its unlucky joke. The columns of its rivals have teemed with angry letters from “the people.” “Outraged Women” “Wife and Mother” and indignant “Citizen” have heaped upon it such adjectives as disgraceful, diabolical, shameful, atro cious, cold-blooded, heartless, demo niacal, etc.; the District Attorney has been consulted to know whether Mr. James Gordon Bennett may not be sub jected to a criminal prosecution and holds the matter under advisement; and Mr. Thomas Nast has made Mr. Ben nett the subject of a caricature in Har per's Weekly, representing him as the Man who Laughs, with the legend: “Hur rah boys! Csesarism’s dead. Turn the animals in Central Park loose. Lets give ’em hell.” All of which goes to show that newspaper jokes don’t pay. A good one isn’t seen, and a poor one overwhelms you with an avalanche of inquiries or abuse. If we have received one letter making anxious inquiry for Mr. Hyack Bellyminger, Soap Floating Springs, Florida, and his condemned Asiatic Orange Cotton we have gotten at least a basketful. We solemnly warn our youthful cotemporary, the Herald, to eschew hoaxes as it would poison, or au afternoon siesta under the upas tree. REPUBLICAN HOPES. The Republican party has just sus tained a crushing defeat. The Demo cracy have gained a brilliant victory, which, if properly followed up, will enable them to complete the overthrow of the enemy two years bence, and to wrest the government of the country from a faction which has had unbroken control of it for the past fifteen years. The Republicans themselves feel the full force of their disaster and they recog nize its legitimate sequel. They have confessedly but one hope of averting the final consummation of their ruin. That hope is based upon the anticipated stu pidity and folly of their opponents.— They hope that the mistakes committed by the Democratic House of Represen tatives and by the Democratic party throughout the country between -this time and 1876 will enable them to re cover their lost ground and turn defeat into victory. Thus warned the Demo crats will be very foolish if they allow the fruits of their conquests to be snatched from them by means of their own impru dence. They must not be over-elated or intoxicated by success. On the con trary, they must be more guarded and prudent than ever. There must be neither intemperance of action or speech. The enemy’s scheme is to pro voke the Democrats—especially those of the South—into doing cr saying some thing which can be used to their disad vantage. They should be disappointed. The Southern people must not suffer themselves to be provoked to their de triment. They must submit to odious laws, animated by the hope of their speedy repeal. The Radicals expect to see the Democrats stranded on the rock of finance; to see the party divided and disintegrated by the opposing theories of inflation and specie payments; to hear inflammatory speeches upon the floor of the next House which they can exhibit to the North as evidences of anew re bellion. We must give them no such advantages over ns. It will be time enough to quarrel over the character and quantity of the circulating medium when the lives and liberties of the people have been secured from danger; it will be time enough to adopt a system of finance when we have a majority in both branches of Congress and a President who will not kill it with his veto. It will be time enough for the fiery and untamed orators to explode their rhetorical pyro technics when there is no danger of in juring friends by this species of amusement. Party spirit mnst be kept up. Party discipline must be maintain ed at every hazard. Unity of purpose and action most be preserved at every sacrifice. The game is now in our own hands, to win or loose as we may deem fit. We know what the enemy expects of us, and if we play into his hands we shall commit an act of folly for which we shall not only sustain but deserve defeat If the Republican party is not put out of power in 1876 and the Gov- AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 1874. ernment placed in the hands of the De mocracy, we shall have only ourselves to blame. A THIRD TERM. General Grant has not, by any means, given up the idea of a third term. On the contrary, he seems to be intriguing for it as energetically as if the recent elections were really the good hope which he pretends to think them. The Washington correspondent of the Louis ville Courier-Journal declares that the difficulty of managing the President is now the great concern of the Republi can managers. So far from abandoning the third term idea, he clings to it more firmly than ever. It was only the other day that, in conversation on the subject, he declared that no one could foresee what would happen in the next two years; that the White Leagues might be making war on the Government, and thus make his re-election a necessity. Believing, as he evidently does, that his only pathway to power lies through sec tional conflict, he will, of course, do all he can to bring it about by his oppres sions of the South, as he has just done in the late canvass. If this be the President’s policy the result will show to him that it will not win. There are no White Leagues in the South except in Louisiana, and they have shown very conclusively that they entertain no hostility to the Government or the negro, and were only organized to protect the people against thieves and usurpers. Neither will General Grant be able to bring on any sectional con flict. The people of the South desire none, aud will have none. They will submit to bad laws, cruelly and rigidly enforced, knowing that the day of their deliverance is near at hand. THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE. The election for Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Forty fourth Congress will not, in all proba bility, take place until a year from next December. Some of the newspapers are already discussing the qualifications of the different candidates whose friends have placed them in nomination for the position. Among the gentlemen whose names have been proposed are Messrs. Fernando Wood, of New York; N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts; D. W. Vor hees, M. C. Kerr and W. S. Holman, of Indiana. The friends of Mr. Wood think he has some claims upon the honor because he was the Democratic nominee last year against Mr. Blaine. While conceding that Mr. Wood has been an able and consistent Democrat, and has rendered valuable assistance to the party, we do not see that his be ing an unsuccessful candidate for Speaker of the Forty-third Congress entitles him to the Speakership of the Forty fourth. He doubtless knew very well that his nomination was simply a com pliment and if there could have been any mortification in defeat under such circumstances it was amply compensated by the position upon the Ways and Means Committee which he would not have obtained but for his candidacy. There are also reports con cerning Mr. Wood and the salary grab which, if true, would not render it de sirable that he should be the candi date of the Democracy. The same ob jection, it is saia, applies to air. -roii hees. Mr. Banks claims to be an inde pendent and though acting with the Democrats will hardly expect them to make him their standard bearer. Of those mentioned, Mr. Kerr seems to us the best and most available man. He is an old and experienced member, and a man of very decided talent. He has been the unwavering friend of the South, and is popular with the South ern people. His hard-money views, though financial theories should not be made a test in such an election, will win him the support of the North and East. The West seems entitled to tho position and we hope that it will be given to some man from that section. The South has two members, either of whom would do honor to the office—we allude to Messrs. Stephens, of Georgia, and La mar, of Mississippi—but we presume that neither of these desire the Speaker ship, nor would their physical infirmi ties allow them to discharge its arduous duties. However, the election is a year off, and we do not think that the Demo crats will experience any difficulty in selecting a suitable candidate from the ranks of their party. THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL, Congress failed at its last session to pass the Civil Rights bill because it reached the House of Representatives at so late a day that it required a two thirds majority td take it from the Speaker’s table and put it upon its pass age. This vote the Republicans were unable to command, and hence the bill was not sent to the President. It went over, we believe, as unfinished business and will come up at an early day in the next session. The question now is, first : what will the Radicals do with it? and, second, in the event that it does become a law what should be the policy of the Democratic party ? There can be no doubt that the Re publicans have the power to pass the bill. It was carried in the Senat9 by an overwhelming majority. Every vote in the House on the motion to suspend the rules, so as to take it from the table, showed a large—almost a two thirds—majority in its favor. The com plexion of the two houses has not been changed. The recently elected mem bers will not take their seats until De cember, 1875. Unquestionably, then, if they have the inclination to do so, the Republicans can pass the bill within two weeks after the commencement of the next session. The question then arises, will tho President give it bis sanction, or will ho interpose a veto in order to prevent it from going upon the statute book? We have never believed that the President would refuse to give it his approval. We did not see how he could veto a measure which he had persistent ly recommended to Congress, nor did we think that he would op pose the almost unanimous Republican vote upon a strictly party question, knowing the peculiar views which he has repeatedly expressed upon the exercise of the veto power. Af ter the recent disaster which his party has sustained we certainly do not think he will attempt to thwart any plan which the leaders of that party may adopt for the purpose of retreiving its shattered fortunes. If, however, contrary to these expectations he should think proper to refuse his signature to the bill, there is a Republican majority in the House and in the Senate large enough to over-ride the veto. A few members in the House kicked over the traces when this meas ure cam, up last Summer, bnt the pres ent danger is so great as to prevent any divisions this Winter, and the crack of the party whip will be promptly and cheerfully obeyed. There is, then, no doubt as to the power of the Republi cans to pass this obnoxious measure; but will they think it good policy to force it upon the people ? We believe that they will. Their party has jnst sustained a crushing re verse. The popular verdict has been I against them. They must either recover their lost ground in the next election, or else every department of government, save the judicial, will be wrested from their control. A passive policy will not answer their purposes. If they do noth ing their defeat in 1876 is inevitable. They are compelled to act and to act promptly. They must assume the ag gressive and throw their enemies upon the defensive. Their hope is in the South. The Northern people have grown incredulous concerning Kn-Klux and White League outrages. They are beginning to believe that the South ern people are not the barbarians and ruffians which they have been repre sented. They have commenced to think that the war is over, and that the whole country will thrive better by the adop tion of a just and liberal policy towards the section “lately in rebellion.” The policy of the Republicans is to destroy this belief —to convince them that in the perpetuation of the power of that party lies the only safety of the life and prop erty of the negro, the only hspe for the preservation of the Union. f Fictitious outrages will not answer ; "they wish something real. Their policy is to force the Southern people into outbreaks, into resistance to the laws. The Civil Rights bill enacted a law they think will accom plish their purpose. They know how revolting and abhorrent its features are to the Southern people. They know what mischief it would everywhere occa sion. They wish resistance offered to the enforcement of its provisions in or der that the Republican party may go into the next campaign upon a war platform. They wish to proclaim anew rebellion and array under their banner the loyal masses of the country. They wish to retain power by exciting the fears of the people for the safety of the Union. We shall not be at all surprised if they determine to use the Civil Rights bill for the accomplishment of their purposes. We shall not be at all sur prised if that bill becomes a law, either with or without the President’s consent, before the fourth of March ? Should it become a law, what will be the duty of the Southern people? Shall they, knowing the game, play into the hands of their enemies ? or shall they attempt to defeat their machinations ? We think they should refuse to be caught in the snare laid for them—that they should not enter a trap so poorly con cealed. If the bill becomes a law its enforcement should not be resisted, save iu a legal manner. There should be no outbreaks, no violence. Let us fight it as three-quarters of a century ago the Democracy of the Union fought the in famous alien and sedition laws. Let us fight it in the Courts and at thattribunal even higher than the Courts, the ballot box. But let no other species of war be waged upon it. We know that even if the Courts should fail to declare it un constitutional a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House and a Democratic President will hasten to blot it from the statute book. Our indignation should be concentrated upon the authors of the wrong and all our efforts should be di rected toward hurling them from power. By the adoption of such a policy we can turn the enemy’s guns upon their own ranks and they will fall victims to the artifice which was designed for our de struction. THE EXPORT TRADE OF CHARLES TON. The News and Courier, of Monday, mak es a detailed and very gratifying ex hibit of the increase in the export trade of Charleston. During the heaviest week of 1866 the exports of cotton were as follows : Sea Island 440 Upland 6,952 Total 7,392 For the week ending November 13th, 1874, the exports of cotton were as fol lows : Sea Island 493 Upland 34,149 .Total 34,642 This shows an increase of twenty seven thousand bales, which is a very heavy gain even after making every al lowance for the difference in the crops of the two years. We are glad to note the prosperity of Charleston, and hope soon to see her as wealthy and as thriving as any of the cities of the South. Her merchants stand among the first in the country, her commercial fa cilities are great and are used to advan tage, and there is no reason why she should not prosper. The Supreme Court has squelched the Street Railway Company of Macon. When the corporation was apparently on its last legs the City Council and the citizens came to the rescue and consented to endorse its bonds to the amount, we believe, of twenty thousand dollars. But some of the flinty-hearted tax payers opposed this loan of credit and carried the case to the Supreme Court. That tribunal has decided that the City Coun cil has no authority to make the en dorsement, the proprietor of a stable has levied on the horses of the company “for their feed,” the cars have stopped running and the corporation is appar ently “busted.” We are sorry that the road has failed, but when the legitimate business of a company fails to pay its expenses it is useless to attempt to keep it up by public contributions. The Savannah News figures it out in this way : The great Democratic States of the Union are conspicuously shown in their choice of members of Congress. For instance, we will give a few of them: Dem. Bep. Georgia 9 Texas 6 Kentucky 9 Missouri 11 2 Tennessee 7 2 0hi0... 13 7 Indiana 8 5 Totals 63 16 Democratic majority, 47. All Western and Southwestern States ! All needing more money, and determined to have it! The Savannah Advertiser says that the recent Congressional election cost Chatham county nearly nine hundred dollars. When it is remembered that four elections occur this year in the cities it is easy seen that the elective franchise is rapidly becoming a costly luxury. Among the items in the Chat ham bill of expenses is one for one hun dred and fifty meals. There were a good many officials on the ground, or else those present must have eat like boa constrictors after a twelve months’ fast. Spain has settled with England on ac count of the massacre of the English men who were among the crew of the Virginius. Now that England has shown that there is no danger in de manding justice at the hands of the Madrid Government perhaps the Wash ington Administration will display a little more vigor in its negotiations with Spain. The blood of the murdered Fry and his brave comrades still calls to Heaven for vengeance upon Burrikl and his band of butchers. St. Louis is now trying two notable experiments in the street-car line—the fireless engine and the two-story car. The last Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives was the late Jas. L. Orr, of South Carolina, who be came reconstructed aud succeeded Gov ernor Curtin as Minister to Russia, THE LOUISIANA QUESTION. A Final Letter from Mr. George Tick nor Curtis—He Differs Materially from Mr. Reverdy Johnson—Presi dent Grant’s False Position—The Ex ecutive Not Bound to Acknowledge Kellogg in 1874. New Nork, November 10, 1874. To the Editor of the Herald : When, a few weeks ago, I responded to your request to give my views of the action in the Louisiana cae, I did not write with any purpose of controversy with Mr. Reverdy Johnson or any one else. I formed my opinions upon the historical facts and upon constitutional principles which I supposed to be set tled. I had not then attentively read Mr. Johnson’s first letter; but, upon a re examination of his view of the Presi dent’s course, I am constrained to ad here to my own opinion, as expressed in my letter of October 12. Ido so with the utmost re-pect for Mr. Johnson, for whom I have the strongest personal re gard, dating back for a period of twen ty years. I do not know that the further con tinuance of this discussion, so far as I am concerned in it, can be very profit able to your readers, and I propose, therefore, to leave it with a brief restate ment of my position. Mr. Johnson concedes that the President’s original act in enforcing Judge Dure'l’s decrees in 1872, by the operation of which Kel logg became the de facto Governor of Louisiana, was illegal; but he considers that when this de facto Governor, who had no legqj title to the office, applied to the President, in 1873 and again in 1874, to be protected aDd maintained in the office by the power of the United States, the President had only to con sider that ho was the actual Governor. There is just where I have the misfor tune to differ from my excellent and dis tinguished friend. As I understand the President’s constitutional duty, when applications of this kind are made to him, he is bound to do two things; first, to receive the application and consider it; second, to decide whether the per son making the application is the lawful Governor of the State. In ordinary cases, and probably in all that are with in the intent of the Constitution, this latter inquiry will require no investiga tion and cause no delay; but it is always to be presumed that the decision that the applicant is lawfully entitled to hold the office is involved in the considera tion of his prayer, for it is clear that the Constitution never intended that any one who was not lawfully entitled to hold the office should have the aid .of the United States to maintain him in it. This, however, was no ordinary case. It was the case of a person who had be come de facto Governoi through an un lawful act performed by the very Presi dent to whom he applied for further forcible interference to enable him to keep possession; and if lam right in my proposition that the constitutional duty of the President, when an applica tion is made to him for the protection of the guarantee pledged by the Constitu tion, is to decide on tho legality of that person’s title, then I am right in saying that President Grant was bound to know officially in 1873 and 1874 that Mr. Kel logg was not the lawful Governor of Louisiana, and therefore could not have the aid he asked for. definite language of the constitu tion. Why, then, do I say that the Presi dent must always decide that the person applying as Governor is the lawful Gov ernor of the State? I assert it first upon principle; secondly upon prece dent. Upon principle it seems to me impossible to suppose that when the Constitution speaks of the Legislature of a State (when in session), or of the Governor when the Legislature is not in session, as the organ by which the State is to apply to the United States to be guaranteed against domestic violence, it means anything but the dejure Legisla ture or the de jure Governor. And in this respect this constitutional duty dif fers widely from the practice that pre- :i„ Kotnmo- recognition of de facto governments. That inter national practice is to recognize as the organ of the foreign State any power that seems for the time being to have control of the State. It is not a prac tice that is governed by fixed rules, which confine the recognition to any particular organ known to the law of the foreign State as previously under stood. The organ may be one utterly revolutionary and unknown to all the previous laws and traditions of the foreign State, and yet if it practically wields the political power of that State it may be recognized and dealt with by other nations as the representa tive of the foreign State. It is not so that the guarantee clause of our Federal Constitution deals with the States of this Union. It uses definite terms known to our republican forms of government and to our constitutional law. It names the organs through whom the State is to apply for protection against domestic violence, and conse quently, by a familiar rule of interpre tation, it excludes all other organs.— They are the Legislature aud the Gov ernor, and they are the lawful Legisla ture and the lawful Governor, because any other bodies, although assuming those official names, are just as much excluded as if thejucalled themselves a Directory, or a Council of Five Hun dred, or a Committee of Vigilance. Their right to be regarded as the organs of the State, for the purpose of obtain ing this constitutional guarantee, does not depend upon their present actual control of the State, but it depends upon their being the Legislature and the Governor; functionaries known to our Republican system, and incapable of existing in point of law excepting when they exist lawfully. For this rea son, and also for others that I have not space to detail, I think that the interna tional recognition of foreign de facto governments affords no analogy that will assist us in determining how this con stitutional duty of the United States to ward the several States of this Union is to be discharged. THE RHODE ISLAND CASE REVIEWED. As to the precedent, I understand the Rhode Island case to have decided that the President’s duty requires time to consider the legal title of a Governor be fore he responds to an application to be protected against an insurrection. Liv ing at the time of this occurrence in the neighboring State of Massachusetts, I naturally took a strong interest in the questions which it involved; and four years before those questions came be fore the Supreme Court I made myself thoroughly acquainted with the facts. I recollect them as if they had occurred last week, but I speak now from the record as well as from memory. Gov ernor King was Governor of the State under the charter. Thomas W. Dorr claimed to be Governor under a Consti tution which was (erroneously) alleged to have been regularly adopted by the people. Both governments were organ ized; both had forces in the field; each was as ranch a de facto government as the other, for the people were about equally divided iu their adherence to them. The charter government, however, was regarded out of the State, and by the President, as the “existing” govern ment, in the sense of being tae one against which the other was in insurrec tion. Now, did President Tyler receive and act upon Governor King’s applica tion to the President to put down an in surrection simply upc n the ground that Governor King was the existing or ac tual Governor ? Certainly not. He de cided that the existing Governor was also the lawful Governor, because the pretended Constitution had not been so initiated and adopted as to displace the charter as the fundamental law of the State. And when this matter after ward came before the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Webster asserted in the strongest and plainest terms that the lawfulness oi the recognized gov ernment was involved in the President’s decision. He said: “These constitutional and legal provis ions make it the indispensable duty of the President to decide, in cases of com motion, which is the lawful government of the State. He cannot avoid such de cisions. And in this case he decided, of course, that the existing government, the charter government, was the right ful government. He could not possibly have decided otherwise.” Chief Justice Taney, in pronouncing the opinion of the Court, evidently took the same view of the President’s duty, for he said : “He (the President) is to act upon the application of the Legisla ture or of the Executive, and conse quently he must determine what body of men constitute the Legislature and who is the Governor before he can act. The fact that both parties claim the right to the government cannot alter the case, for both cannot be entitled to it.— If there is armed conflict, like the one of which we are speaking, it is a case of domestic violence, and one of the parties most be in insurrection against the law- ful government. And the President must of necessity decide which is the govern ment and which is unlawfully arraved against it before he can perform the duty imposed upon him by the act of Congress.” Does this language, which I have italicized in some places in order to show its meaning, read as if the Chief Justice understood that the President is only to inquire for a de facto govern ment ? If that is true, he might in such a case as that of which the Chief Justice was speaking, recognize either of the two contending governments that were en ff a S e< l a t the moment ia an armed conflict. Indeed, Mr. Editor, until this discus sion arose I never heard it suggested that the lawfulness of the applying gov ernment is not involved iu the Presi dent’s action, or that it is not his duty to consider it before he acts. It was the very turning point on which the Rhode Island case was disposed of, and on principle it should be, in my opin ion, the turning point iu every case. I must, therefore, reaffirm my position that the President, having, by liis own unlawful act, made Kellogg the de facto Governor iu 1872, was not at liberty to recognize him in 1873 aud 1874 ns en titled to be maintained in the office by the power of the United States, in dis regard of the notorious fact that he was never elected to the office. Your obe dient servant, Geo. Ticknor Curtis. LOUISIANA AND A THIRD TERM. Editors Chronicle and Sentinel : The following views recently express ed by Vice-President Wilson—the po litical and personal friend of General Grant—may enable apologisers of the Louisiana despotism and third term as pirations to distinguish the real from the “side issues” of the late political contest, and determine wliat was the true cause of the revolution that makes the representative branch of the Forty fourth Congress overwhelmingly Demo cratic: “I don’t think that either party in Louisiana was right or entitled to the government. I’ll not assert whether there should have been anew election or not, or what was the right course to take, but there is no doubt that the matter has been a very heavy burden to the party. Another cause of defeat was the third term question, which had far more to do with the result of the elec tions than a good many people suppose. * * * * “The idea was opposed to the preju dices—and the just convictions, too— wishes, feelings and interests of tlie great mass of the people, and it is no wonder that they have thoroughly put it down. These elections have settled the third term question for the next hundred years.” Democrat. “I’LL TAKE ITi” Heavy Betting in New York on tlie Elections—Jolin Morrissey’s Gains and Losses. [From tho New York Sun.] Some of the betting before the election was solely for political effect. The late John Morrissey, for example, tried to bluff the friends of Jones in Johnson’s pool rooms by a bet of SI,OOO even, that Hayes would carry the city by 10,000 majority. He was astonished to find a taker in the person of Tom Ferris, who desired to invest some more money in the same way. Sheridan Shook bet right aud left on Dix, some say over $25,000, but this great loss was made up to him by his winnings on Jones, whom he backed heavily from the first, and on Archibaldi M. Bliss, who was elected in Williamsburg. He caught John Mor rissey heavily on Hayes, but the latter came out about even, his losses being made up by his winnings on Tilden and Wickham. James McConnell, who has the inside track for the Clerkship of the Assembly this year, went blind on Hayes, but as he was also on Tilden he uuo unscathed. in t . heavy betters in the pools were Jas. McCloud, James Kelly (who is said to have cleared $30,000), Edward Kearney, John Kenna, Thomas Lynch, John McCormack, the horseman, Charles Reed, Wm. Walsh and Reed, the partner of Morrissey iu the pool business. * The pool room proprietors made splen did profits. Iu Johnson’s pool rooms the box pools aggregated over $300,000, which, at 2} per cent, commission, gave him $7,500. In addition to this, lie sold 6,416 French pool tickets, which netted him, at 25 cents each, over $1,600. John Chamberlin, whose rooms are not so spacious, did a rushing business, but realized small profits. The winners quietly entered Johnson’s yesterday morning to have their tickets cashed. The redemption of tickets was begun at 10 o’clock, and Mr. Johnson and his clerks were kept hard at work until 1, p. m. Then Mr. Johnson went to the races. The French pools on Tilden and Dix amounted to $105,000; on Hayes and Jones, $95,000; on Wickham, Wales and Ottendorfor, SIO,OOO. on members of Congress from the city, $30,000; on va rious majorities for Hayes, $25,000; and on Jones’ majorities, $25,000. Thirty Years in a Cave. In the wilderness eight miles north west of Dingham’s Ferry, Pike county, Pennsylvania, underneath a huge rock in a small cave, six by eight feet, has lived for upwards of thirty years a hu man being named Austin Sheldon. He was born in Wales, and emigrated to this country in 1840. When he landed in New York, he had a small sum of mo ney, with which he came afoot to Pike county and purchased a single acre of wild, uncultivated scrub oak land, sit uated in Lahman township, amid a dense and dismal forest, several miles from any habitation. At the western end of this small strip of land is a small cave only about six by eight feet. Iu this cave, without any al teration or improvements, this hermit has for thirty years made his home. The hermit is nearly seventy years of age. His face has not been shaven for forty years. The sides of his face, and chin and neck, are covered with coarse gray hair, while his beard is several feet in length, and white as snow. He wears the same suit of clothes he wore twenty years ago, which are so badly rent as to render it necessary to fasten them to gether by means of twisted hickory withes. He never works, and unless obliged to go to the nearest store for ammunition, never loses sight of his cave. His mode of living is peculiar. His diet consists principally of berries and fruit during their season, while in the Winter he subsists on various kinds of wild game. His education was not neg lected during his boyhood, for he is well read and remarkably intelligent. He is a firm believer in religion, and de votes most of his time to reading the Bible and other sacred works. He is deaf and has been so for several years, rendering it necessary to communicate with him by means of writing. He has the faculty of charming birds, many of which he has secured iu this way and reared. He has never used a lamp nor candle in his cave. His bed is composed of straw scattered upon a solid rock. Shel don enjoys his peculiar mode of living, and says he expects to make this cave his final resting place. A book has just been published in Rome which gives some statistical infor mation concerning the liquidation of the property of the religions orders in that city. Up to the 22d of September last thirty-five sales had taken place of the immovable property belonging to the orders. The property of the suppressed communities, disposed of in twenty-two sales, produced 5,161,2011., or an in crease of 816,517f. over the reserve price. Thirteen sales have been held of the property of the orders not suppressed, but whose possessions have gone to the State. These realized 8,286,580f., which was also an advance of 1,802,480f. over the reserve price. In addition to the other properties, the Committee of Li quidation in Rome have also taken pos session of forty-eight libraries, two museums, two scientific cabinets, and one astronomical observatory. On the other hand, the pensions granted to mo nastics up to the 22d of September last were 2,169 iu number, representing a total sum of 1,002,232f. There were 717 pensioned priests, representing a total number of 387,400f.; 516 laymen, with a total of 142,650f.; 636 choristers, with pensions to the amount of 382,182f.; and 300 lay monks and nuns, pensioned at a cost of 9,000f. Of the whole number of these pensioners 1,233 are men and 936 are women. No statement is here giyeD, however, of the amount of pensions granted to those members who by reason of age or ill health are wholly unable to work. ' A wit is bad in age; what must it be in youth? THE NEXT STATE FAIR. What Mayor Estes Thinks About It. As the question whether Angnsta is to have the next State Fair is under agi tation, and is creating considerable in terest in onr city, it is not, too early to discuss the matter from a matter of fact view. The disposition among onr citi zens is clearly in favor of the Fair, aud as Macon and Atlanta both seem willing to accord the right of holding it next year to Augusta, there is a strong prob ability that it will take place here. A reporter of the Chronicle and Sentinel called on Mayor Estes yesterday for the purpose of obtaining his views on the subject. The following conversation en sued: Reporter—What do yon think about 'the next Fair, Mr. Estes ? Mayor Estes—l think the people of Augusta want the Fair and will have it. Whether it will be a benefit to the city or not, is another thing. Reporter—lt will cost the city a con siderable amount, will it not ? Mayor Estes—Yes, from twenty to forty thousand dollars. The buildings will have to be painted and the grounds put in thorough order, and then large amonnhr-m premiuffis 'offered. But I think any Council elected will have to yield to the wishes of the people and provide for the Fair. Atlanta and Ma con are very willing for Augusta to have it. They have had enough of it. A prominent citizen of Macon told me that the Fairs held there so far had cost that city two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I have heard that Atlanta has spent on fairs far more than she received. The population of the South being sparse the benefits to Southern cities, from fairs, are not commensurate with tlie cost, aud even at the North, where the population is dense, the benefits often do not equal the expense. The true principle would be to make the receipts of a fair pay the premiums, but if that was done, people would not become ex hibitors. It is in the power of the news papers to make the Fair cost the city forty or fifty thousand dollars. The best use for the Fair Grounds, in my opinion, is to keep them for tourna ments and reunions, such as will beheld there on tlie 16th of next month. They do as much good as fairs and cost but little. Reporter—You think it certain that the Fair will be held here ? Mayor Estes—Oh yes ! There is hard ly any doubt about that. His Honor then went on to say that the true way to induce people to come to Augusta was for the railroads centre ing here to give return tickets free to all parties who visit the cities from along the lines of these roads. He thought such a plan would benefit the roads in return freights and largely benefit the trade of the city. THE CUSTOM HOUSE. Who Pay Import Duties. A notice was published in the Chroni oue and Sentinel, yesterday, request ing all merchants in the city who im port goods to call at the Exchange and leave information as to what amount they imported, in order that the data could be furnished to Mr. Stephens to aid him in securing an appropriation from Congress for a Custom House at this place. Iu response to this notice several of our merchants furnished the desired information. There is no doub 1 , however, but that there are others who pay import duties. The following is the list made up by Captain Roswell King, Secretary of the Exchange, from the information furnished. All of the duties embraced in the list were paid tlie present year, except those returned by Messrs. Cleghorn, Herring & Cos., which were paid in 1872. If there was a Custom House here, however, this firm would pay a much larger sum than that set down below in import duties en G. Yolger &Co.—Tobacco and cigars $6,664 84 E. R. Schneider Wines, liquors, &c 10,000 00 Moore &Co—Hardware 10,000 00 J. W. Bessman Wines, liquors, &c 5,000 00 R. F. Urquhart—Hardware.. 6,000 00 J. D. & J. W. Butt—Groceries 1,000 00 F. A. Brahe &Co.—Jewelry.. 1,000 00 Warren, Wallace & Co.—lron ties 35,000 00 Ramsey, Ferris & Co.—(esti mated) 8,500 00 Bones, Brown & Co.—Hard ware 20,000 00 John B. Moore—Hardware... 4,000 00 Cleghorn, Herring & Co.—Rail road iron 10,798 08 $117,962 92 Thus it will be seen that, with all the difficulties and inconveniences to be encountered, Augusta actually pays about one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars import duties each year, as the amounts paid by merchants who failed to leave infor mation at the Exchange would swell the above total to fully that sum. If a Cus tom House was in operation here, so that the imported goods could be bonded, this total would be increased four-fold. As it is, our importers have to pay all the duties at once, and send the gold to Savannah or Charleston. The knowl edge of this deters many persons from importing, who would get nearly all their goods from Europe if Augusta had a Custom House. The Secretary of the Exchange ascer tained that the following rental is paid in Augusta by the United States Gov ernment, annually : For the post office ■ $1,200 Signal service office. 250 Other offices 432 Total $1,882 This rental would bo saved, as a matter of course, if a Government build ing was erected in Augusta. All these facts and figures were placed before Mr. Stephens by the proper committee, last evening. Olden Times. —Who among our ex travagant young ladies in these boastful times ever gave her lover, as Cleopatra did, a pearl dissolved in vinegar (or un dissolved) worth $400,000 ? Then there was a Paulina, one of the ton in Rome, who used to wear jewels when she re turned her visits worth $300,000. Cicero, who was comparatively a poor man in those times, gave $1,500,000 for his es tablishment on the Palatine; while Mes sala gave $2,000,000 fer the house of An tony. Seneca, who was only a plain philosopher, was worth $120,000,000. Tiberius left a property of nearly $120,- 000,000. Caesar and Marc Antony botli owned wonderful fortunes. Why they talk about a man’s failing in New York for $1,000,000 as if it were a big thing. Caesar, before he entered any office, when he was a young gentleman in pri vate life, owed $1,000,000, and he pur chased the friendship of Qusesor for $2,500,000. Marc Antony owed $1,500,- 000 on the Ides of March, and paid be fore the Kalends of March. This was nothing; he squandered $720,000,009 of public money. And these fellows lived well. Esopus, who was a play-actor, paid $400,000 for a single dish. Caligula spent $400,000 for a supper. Their wines were often kept for two ages, and some of them were sold for S2O an ounce.— Dishes were made of gold and silver, set with precious stones. The beds of He liogabulus were of solid silver; his tables and plates were of pure gold, and his mattresses, covered with carpets of cloth of gold, were stuffed with down from under the wing of a partridge. It took SBO,OOO a year to keep up the dig nity of a Roman Senator, and some of them spent $5,000,000 a year. And yet they talk of the extravagance of modern times. Mile. Hortense Schneider, the Paris ian queen of the opera-bouffe, was, in her youth, a working girl, and the daughter of an humble tailor of Bor deaux. She is now, at about forty years of age, living in the style of a Sultana. Her diamonds are valued at over $200,- 000; and among her other jewels of fabulous cost is cited an emerald set of surpassing splendor. Her apartments are crowded with the most elegant and expensive furniture and objels de vertu. Bronzes, and marbles, and pictures, and crystal, and Sevres porcelain, Gobelin tapestry, are scattered through her rooms in sumptuous profusion. Al though the charm of youth is forever lost to Mile. Schneider, she still has the handsomest arms and hands, the pret tiest foot, and merriest blue eyes, that flash, and sparkle, and entice, behind . the Parisian footlights. There is a German in Carbon county, Pa., who is a father of thirty-three chil dren. His wife has just rejected an ap plication of the Commissioners of Char ities to put him upon the retired list.— Brooklyn Argus. NUMBER 48. A CHAPTER ON BELLS. Big Steve and the Giant Bells of the World. “ Hear the loud alarum bells— Brazen bells! What a tale of horror now their turbulencv tells! In the startled ear of night, How they scream out theii affright! Too much horrified to speak. They can only shriek, shriok, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercv of the fire. ' In a mad expostulation with the deaf and fran tic fire.” The new fire alarm bell, which was placed in the Tower last Saturday, was struck for the first time yesterday. It gives forth a deep, sonorous sound, much like that of the original Big Steve before its voice was cracked. The sound, however, was not heard as far as was ex pected, a fact owing, no doubt, to the humidity of the atmosphere yesterday. In dry weather it will doubtless be heard a long distance. While on this subject we propose to give our readers a short chapter in re gard to the manner of making bells, to gether wi'h a few facts in relation to tho great bells of the world. The European process of casting bells is to make the mould in a depression in the sand floor of the foundry, piling up a hollow core of brick work upon a solid foundation. A fire is kept burning within the tube iu order to prevent the metal from cool ing too rapidly. The outer surface, of the core is the shape of the inner sur face of tho bell. To give the outer sur face, a cover of earthenware is fashioned to fit over the core, leaving between these a vacant space to be filled with the metal. This method is deficient m not providing proper escape for the gases which are engendered in heavy castings in the earth and which are liable to cause the metal to be porus, or, being highly inflammable, to explode with great damage. An improved process has been introduced at Meneely’s bell foundry at Troy, New York, where our present alarm boll was cast. This improvement consists in the use of perforated iron cases, tho outer one in the shape of the bell, and the inner one the core, which sets in the centre of its saucer-shaped foundation. Each of these receives a coating of loam, the outer one within, and the core around its outside ; but over the latter is first wrapped a straw rope, which, taking fire and burning slowly as the metal is poured between the two cases, leaves a free space for the bell to contract in coating, without straining. The perfora tions through the case let out the vaporp, and also serve to keep the coating of loam in its place. As the gas escapes through these holes it burns with a pale blue flame without risk, the whole ap paratus being placed above tho level of tho ground. Flanges between the two cores keep them at tho required dis tance from each other, in ofder to give the proper thickness of metal. The best proportion of the height of a bell to its greatest diameter is said, by for-, eign authorities, to boas 12 to 15. J n conformity to the laws of acoustics the number of vibrations of a bell varies in inverse ratio with its diameter or the cube root of its weight. While Big Steve appears a very mon ster of a bell in comparison with all others in our city, it is a mere infant when vhe sizes and weights of bells in the old world are taken into considera tion. Russia exceeds all other nations, in its penchant for great bells. In Mos cow alone, before the revolution, there were no less than 1,706 large bells; in a single tower there were 37. One was bo large that it required twenty-four men to ring it, and this was done by simply pulling the clapper, the bell itself being stationary. Its weight is estimated at 288,000 pounds, or about three hundred and forty times larger than Big Steve. The great bell cast by order of the Empress Anne, in 1653, was still larger, 11’nowlies'^Lrofien 1 upon* ground. It is nineteen feet high, and measures around its margin sixty-three feet eleven inches. The •value of the metal alone iu this bell is said to be over $300,000. The laige bell near the Cathedral in Moscow is the only one used on important occasions. Clarke, in his travels, says: “When it sounds a deep hollow murmer vibrates all over Moscow like the fullest tones of a vast organ or the rolling of distant thunder.” This bell is forty feet nine inches in circum ference, sixteen feet six inches thick, and weighs fifty-seven tons. The great bell which once stood in the midst of the Kremlin was placed upon a granite pedestal in 1837, and consecrated as a chapel, the aperature made by the breaking out of a large piece serving as a door. The size of the room is twenty two feet in diameter and twenty-one feet three inches in height. Pekin, China, has seven bells, each weighing 120,000 pounds. The largest bell in England is in York Minster, and weighs 27,000 pounds. It is seven feet seven inches iu diameter. Paris has a hell weighing 38,000 pounds, and Vienna one weighing 40,000 pounds. Montreal, Canada, boasts of a bell, in Notre Dame Cathedral, weighing 29,400 pounds. There are few bells of large size in the United States. Tho heaviest is the alarm bell on the City Hall in New York. It was cast in Boston, and weighs about 23,000 pounds. Its di ameter at mouth is about eight feet; its height about six feet, and thickness at the point where tho clapper strikes six and a half or seven inches. The usual weight of a fire alarm bell in a large city is from eight to eleven thousand pounds. Like Big Steve, they are always hung in a fixed position, and struck with a hammer. Bells are made of various materials. The tone of bells made of steel is said to be harsh and disagreeable. Cast steel drills made in tho form of a triangle and suspended on a building or a post are much used about mining es tablishments, instead of bells. Many recent writers contend that they are greatly superior to bells for fire alarm purposes. Bell metal is an alloy of cop per and tin in no fixed proportion, but varying from sixty-six to eighty per cent, of copper and the rest tin. But other metals are also introduced, as zinc, silver and lead. Mr. Denison, who founded the new bells for the British Houses of Parliament, thinks the use of silver is entirely imaginary, and that there is no reason for believing that it could be of any service. He condemns the use of all other metals but copper and tin, and advises that contracts for bells stipulate that the alloy shall con sist of at least twenty per cent, of tin and the remainder copper. HOMICIDE AT LEESBURG. Particulars of tlie Unfortunate Affray. [Special Telegram to the Morning News.] Thomasville, November 16.—A diffi culty occurred at Leesburg to-day, in which Mr. Edward Lee shot and killed Mr. W. H. Mims. The particulars of the unfortunate affray are about as fol lows, as near as they can be learned at this hour : The difficulty, it seems, arose first between Mims and Lee’s father. The latter, it appears, had Mr. Mims employed as an overseer, and had made some remarks about him to the neighbors which were not relished to any great extent. The consequence was that Mims met old man Lee in town this morning, and alluded to the facts already stated. The matter ended iu Mims giving Lee a se vere beating. Shortly afterwards Mr. Lee’s son attacked Mims and shot him fatally. The coroner’s jury rendered a verdict in accordance with the foregoing facts, and Lee was lodged in jail. Public sen timent seems to be in the prisoner’s fa voi-, and h will probably be released on bail to-morrow. Mr. Wilkie Collins, according to the New Yo k Times, has been indulging in a neat sample of sharp practice, which, however ingenious iu conception it may have appeared to a man “after dark,” has “no name” in the daylight of fair dealing. He had arranged with the Times for the “exclusive publication” of an original story called “The Sane Madman,” the MS. of which was for warded and set up in type. Now it is found that the identical madman was published in All the Year Round, a London periodical, in October 17 and 24, under tlie name of “Fatal Fortune.” The 'limes' conductors discovered Wil kie’s little game and published the story from the printed pages ol the English periodical, which is bad for Count Fosco, because he will receive for his “dead secret” just nothing at all, which is as much as he deserves. The sane madman had a good deal of method about him. Hon. A. H. Stephens. —We are pleased to note that Mr. Stephens’ health is much improved. He will make himself felt in Congress as in days of yore.
