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Address WALSH k WRIGHT,
CHmomct.it k BxwTntat.. Angusts. O*.
Cftroniclf ant) Sentinel.
WEDNESDAY..DECEMBER 23,1874.
MINOR TOPICS.
When Rev. De Witt Talmsge gets through
with his theatrical sensation he had better turn
his attention to a Nevada Justice lately appeal
ed to to issue a warrant for the arrest of three
card m mte men who had swindled a traveler,
but who refnsed to do so, saying that the
offense came under the head of ‘'Dispensations
of Providence,” and that he hadn't jurisdiction.
Mr. John W. Garrett was unanimously re
alected President of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad on Wednesday—his seventeenth year
in that position. An offer of increased salary
from the nominal $4,000 a year received by Mr.
Garrett, while the salaries of other railroad
Presidents of important lines range from $lO.-
000 to $40,000 a year, was declined.
The Baltimore Sun’s Washington correspond
ent says a Radical Congressman went to
Speaker Blaine on Wednesday and asked him
when tho proposed caucus of Republican mem
bers of the House was to be hold. The Speaker
replied that he bad heard nothing positive on
the Hubjeot, and remarked further that he saw
no necessity for the holding of any caucus un
less it was to act as a coroner's Jury.
California is able to produce her own dain
ties for Christmas. A journal of that State
•ays: “In about two weeks from this time the
first of the new orop of oranges will be in
market. Any citizen who chooses can hare on
his Christmas tabie oranges of the best quality
produced in this State, figs, dried and green,
raisins as good as Malagas, and the grapes of
which they are made, prunes, bananas, citrons,
soft shell almonds, sugar cane, and more than
twenty varieties of wine made in this State,
some kinds of which are destined to be fa
mous .”
Another orematiou ceremony has been suc
cessfully performed in Dresden, in tho same
oven in which the body of the wife of Sir
Charles Dilke waß lately oousnmed. No cler
gyman could be found to perform the burial
ceremony, and a brief and impressive speech
was delivered by a layman. The cremation
was perfectly snccessfful, with nothing to of
fend the senses. The impregnable logic of
the arguments of the sremationists is strength
ening the movement in favor of this mode of
disposing of the dead.
The man who was alarmed by Juan Visalia,
lu Han Francisco, tho other day, is subject to
nervous fits now. Juan, who is a barber, was
plying his vocation upon the customer men
tioned, when the man being shaved noticed
that the barber appeared hunting for some par
ticular spot on the neok. When asked his ob-
Jeot, the barber responded that he was looking
for the jugular vein, as he didn’t want to make
a deeper gash than was necessary to produae
death! Juan Visalia, ths barber, is now in a
lunatio asylum, and the man he shaved, as al
ready remarked, has nervous spells.
The dispute as to the author of ‘ All Quiet
Along the PotomacTo-uight,"has gotten into ■
the pres i again. Professor James Wood Da- (
vidson, known by bis lives of Southern writ
ers, is the one to revive the controversy, in de
nying the authorship of Mrs. Ethel Lynn
Beers, which makes the lady very irate. Now 1
let ns have a few more. “Beautiful Snow” i
has not been iij the arena for some time, and
the topic is seasonable. “Nothing to Wear,”
although by no means as suited to the weath
er, nevertheless is always ready to be contro
verted. William Allen Butler wears the laurels 1
so far; but Miss Peck is, we presume still sup- 1
ported by her friends.
Carl Vogt's old case has cropped out again,
and in a singular manner. He committed a
murder m Brussels and escaped to the United !
Htates. He was arrested hero, but could not
be returned becauso there was no extradition 1
treaty between this country and Belgium. He
was released. Now they have rearrested him ;
on the same ohargo, there having been an ex- .
tradition treaty established with a retroactive
clause having special reference to this case.
Now, as the Constitution providos that there
Bhall l>e uo ex post facto laws, and moreover
that a person once acquitted shall not be put
in peril of life a second time for the same of
fense, Vogt are they going to do about it ?
The boy Pomeroy, who delighted to murder
children, is now on trial in Boston for the death
of his last victim, the child Horace H. Miller.
Pomeroy, who is naturally called the “ Boy
Fiend ” by the Boston papers, has confessed to
two murders. The evidence was all against
him, and the only thing to be determined is i
his responsibility for his acts. Thus far the ,
defense is lamentably weak. The case of
Pomeroy is one of the moat singular on record.
His intellect is of a low order, it is true, but
there are plenty of boys uo wiser than he who 1
are not compelled apparently by irresistible :
impulse to crimes of the most terrible oharac- ,
ter—the torture of children and their murder. ,
And this boy is not yet 14 years old.
Among tho documents sent to Congress ac
companying the President’s message were let
ters from General Cushing on gpsDish affairs.
Iu one of them, written from Madrid in July
last, he says -that, according to the latest offl- '
cial estimates, the number of troops sent from i
the Peninsula to Cuba from tho year 1859 down
to the present day is 89,500, of which number
96,412 have succumbed in the field or from dis
ease, leaving only a nominal force of say 46,000,
many of whom must be invalids for the pres
ent servioe of the Government. He also notes
that a large number of muskets purchased by
the last Captain-Geueral for use iu Cuba hare
been withdrawn and ordered home for use in
the Peninsula. By this time, therefore, the
Spanish force in Cuba must be weak both in
men and anus.
Oh dear! It was'nt a pretty, cheerful thing
to do. The young ladies of Cleveland, Ohio,
have a society called “The Oarey," with a
Mother Oarey to preside, we suppose, over the ;
lovely little chickens, who indulge themselves j
in mueio, reading, recitations, tableaux and j
debates. The last matter discussed was, “Ac- j
sniped. That cremation is the best means of j
disposing of the dead.” Miss Powell was for I
burning, Miaa Hansom for burial. Miss Pow- j
ell said: “I read, the other day, that among t
the Oriental nations they press the ashes of
the cremated individual into lockets, which ;
they present to each of the mourning friends.” j
Miss Hansom said: “She was content to leave
the mortal part of life in the keeping of our
common mother, through whose tender al
chemy it may some day come back to be velvet
bloom in the violet or balm breath in the roee
leaves that drop above the grass-grown
mound.” We are sorry to say that the ques
tion upon the resolution does not appear to
have been put. The locket argument must
have gone a great way with the lady listeners,
and we incline to the opinion that the resolu
tion was carried.
Those who read that romantic episode In
English life, the Tichbome trial, may recollect
the name of Mrs. Jury. She has recently been
arrested for stealing various unconsidered odds
and ends, and was sent to jail at Macclesfield.
The manner of her getting out of durance vile
is a warning to ait prison officials against spring
locks. On Sunday night, about 6:30 o'clock,
the lock-up keeper entered the oell with her
supper. While he was remarking upon some
of the internal arrangements of her prison
house, Jury, who had shown great tact and
ability during her incarceration, embraced the
opportunity of escaping from the cell. She
aloscd the cell door, which fastens with a
spring lock, and left her jailer inside. The
screams of the lock-up keeper attracted the at
tention of the constable about the station, but
not until the prisoner had had a good start.—
The next difficulty that presented itself was
how to get without the precincts of the lock
up. For some time there have been improve
ments going on, and Mrs. Jury managed 'to
escape through a hole in a temporary door, her
bonnet being found among the debris. When
she escaped she was dressed in a black or grey
woolen costume. All her letters referring to
the Tichbome trill were of eouree left in the
bands of the polios. Unhappily, however, the
prisoner must have fallen upon evil tunes, tor
she was rssaptmred.
THE BXTKAVAGANCE OF WOMEN.
Jast about this time, when money is
tight, trade dull and times bard, people
are assigning various reasons for the
financial evils with which the country is
afflicted. Many and various causes are
given as combining to produce paralysis
of trade and industry. Bnt in all of
them one element of evil figures, viz :
The extravagance of the women. If the
women of to-day would bnt consent to
live as their grandmothers lived ; if they
were as simple in their tastes and as in
dustrious in their habits; if when not
able to afford an article they wonld go
without it; if they would insist upon
fathers and husbands living within
their means; if they were willing to
regulate their expenditures by their in
come ; if they would eschew bills and
indebtedness what a difference it
wonld make, how many families
wonld live easily aDd comfortably which
now find it so difficult to keep up ap
pearances ! All of ns know bow much
truth there is in these and similar ob
servations. We all know that the coun
try is going to the bad, and we know
too how much the women have to do
with the progress which we are making
in that direction. The men of course
have had something to do with bringing
about the present condition of affairs.
That is to say they have over-traded,
over-speculated; have attempted to make
money too rapidly. They have put their
money into all sorts of schemes. They
have embarked their meaos and their
honor in every species of wild cat enter
prise. They h.ve sought fortunes in
railroads which commenced nowhere
and ended at the same place. In geld
mines where the only gold found was in
the pockets of the credulous capitalists.
In ‘ ‘great works of internal improvement”
which benefitted only the contractors.
In banks whose only dividends went into
the pockets of defaulting cashiers. But
has not this over-trading been caused,
this mania for speculation been encour
aged, this greed of gain stimulated by
the extravagance of the women? Un
doubtedly, yes ! It is to supply them
money with which to gratify their
extravagant whims and costly notions
that the men sacrifice health and good
name in perilous ventures upon which
all the rules of business and the dictates
of commercial honesty forbade them to
enter. Tlioso who are successful are
ruined by their success. Like the win
nings of a gambler the money soon dis
appears—easy got and easy gone.—
The profits of their hazardous
schemes are soon consumed by the
extravagance of their wives and
families ; the second venture becomes a
necessity and its results furnish a veri
fication of the old adage concerning the
pitcher which goes too often to the well.
If they fail at first min only comes the
sooner and tho man is thrown helpless
and friendless upon his own resources,
with money gone, prospects blighted,
and habits of honest industry destroyed.
And all this trouble, this wretchedness
is chargeable to a great extent upon the
women ? Certainly. Do not the wisest
men of the country tell ns so ? Do not
the lecturers, the preachers and the great
moral educators who conduct tho daily
press tell us that the principal source of
our individual and national woes is the
selfishness and extravagance of the wo
men—those drones of the social hive
who work not themselves, and yet con
sume the fruits of the laborers’ industry?
It seems to us that the charge carries
with it conviction npon its face, and
that to accuse is sufficient to convict. The
average male has only to appeal to his
individual experience to satisfy him
self as to the cause of his financial em
barrassments and perplexities. The
guilty women can not escape for denial
only adds to tho enormity of their, of
fense.
It is well known that men—that is as
a general rale—have no extravagant
habits or costly tastes. Here and there
one is found who spends money upon
himself but usually all their earnings
and borrowings go to satisfy the femi
nine passion for high-priced finery. It
is well known that in the affairs of life
the men toil that the women may live at
ease; that the men are like the slaves in a
Brazilian diamond mine who receive
only the merest pittance for their labors
and accumulate wealth which they are
not allowed to enjoy. If, indeed, there
should be some incredulous reader of
this article—some doubting Thomas—
let him turn to some married man of
his acquaintance and investigate, as
closely as neighbors can investigate, his
domestic affairs, and our word for it be
will be incredulous no longer.
There, for instance, are Mr. and Mrs.
John Smith —a family of the highest
respectability, and well known to onr
citizens. Smith, let ns say, is engaged
in a business which ought to pay him a
fair profit upon his money and his la
bor, and give him a snug something at
the end of the year after all his expenses
have been paid. Yet everybody is aware ,
that Smith is saving no money; that in
stead of laying np a nest egg for a rainy
day ho is actually going in debt and
even now is said to have more paper
afloat than he can conveniently meet.
His family is not large, his establish
ment is comfortable but not handsome,
and his household expenses cannot be
very heavy. What then becomes of his
money ? Why, of course, his wife spends
it. It is true she does not go out much,
for her husband is usually detained at
his office by business in the evenings
and is unable to accompany her; she is
not usually seen in any very handsome
or costly apparel, and, indeed, there
have been hints, of old dresses done over
and sent to the dye-pot, which we shall
not here repeat But then where can
the money go unless she spends it npon
herself ? Smith cannot spend it, for
everybody knows that he is a perfect
slave to business, and that he is con
fined as closely to'his office as any galley
slave to the oar. There are those, may
be, who laugh at such stories and pro
nounced them stuff. Who declare that
Smith is one of the jolliest fellows about
town, denying himself no pleasnre
which the place affords or which money
can purchase. Who say that lie smokes
the most expensive cigars and drinks
liqnor, the character of which is fully
guaranteed by the price. That he is a
liberal and free-hearted fellow after
dark, and thinks nothing of paying
fifty dollars in order that he may treat
five or six kindred spirits to a game
supper with the usual and perfectly
necessary accompaniments. That the
pace at which he is going will soon
bring him to the end of his rope, and
that he must make an assignment or do
worse. Bnt then nobody believes these
things, and we all know what mischief
the extravagance 6f women occasions.
Evidently Mrs. Smith spends all the
money which the labor of her drndge
accumulates.
Then again, there are the Trnn
spottes. Tennspotte is another man
who is morally certain that unless the wo
men will consent to retrench there is no
hope for the country save in national
bankruptcy. ‘‘By Jove, sir, ”he says, ‘ ‘how
can the country prosper when women
pay a hundred dollars for a silk dress,
and fifty dollars for a bonnet ?” Mrs.
Tennspottk’s appearance does not indi
cate the payment of snch sums for her
costumes, bnt then everybody knows
that snch prices are common, and that
the nonproducers are eating np the
wealth of the producers. Malignant
gossip says that Tennspotte is fonder
of cards than a business man ought to
be and that he is spending a good deal
j of money in an effort to master the
mysteries of draw poker, but certainly
1 it is not that which produces snch vio
lent stricture of thepnrse. If he loses
a few hundred dollars at night by get
ting into a bad streak of lnck and not
properly estimating the valne of two
pair when brought into competition
with threes or flushes he has only had a
little manly sport, and can any one
blame him for saying next month
when Mrs. 8. asks for money for
herself and the children, “ that by
Geo bob we cannot stand such extrava
gance, and there must be more economy
practised or we will land in the work
house.” Does any reasonable person
donbt that the extravagance of the wife
is bankrupting that family ?
A hundred such instances might be
adduced, but what use is there in prov
ing a proposition which is so per
fectly self-evident? Does it not come
within the experience of every man that
the chief peril of the country is in the
luxurious tastes and costly habits of the
women ? Let ns, brothers, continue onr
warfare npon feminine extravagance.
Let ns declaim against it from the pulpit
and in the press as the great danger of
the age. Let ns show how much they
spend npon their persons and their
pleasures and charge them with the rain
which is so surely approaching. Let us
declare that the men are working hard
and living hard, that the women are
squandering all the money and commit
ting all the extravagances.
A WISE MEASURE.
We are gratified to know that the in
dications are good for the speedy passage
by Congress of a bill introduced by Mr.
Beck, of Kentucky, to prevent the hir
ing of Congressmen as attorneys in
claims and suits against the Government.
It was taken up in the House the other
day and passed without opposition,
though there were many members affect
ed by its provisions who would have
been glad to kill a measure which will
deprive them of so large a portion of
their incomes, had they not been afraid
of the wrath of constituents. For the
same reason it will hardly encounter
opposition in the Senate should it find
an active friend in that body. The law
is wise and salutary, and such legisla
tion is greatly needed. One of the na
tional scandals has been the employ
ment of Congressmen in cases against
the Government, and where they were
evidently not paid for professional ser
vices, but simply for the influence which
their position was supposed to command.
The absence of such a law has made
bribery easy and notorious, and the
salary of some members constitutes the
smallest portion of their official emolu
ments. The thanks of the country are
due Mr. Beck for putting a stop to this
scandalous practice.
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS.
The Savannah Advertiser publishes
some figures from the recent report
made by the managers of the Central
Railroad, whioh show a heavy decrease
in shipments of commercial fertilizers
by that company. During the season
of 1872-’73 over forty-seven thousand
tons were shipped by the company. For
the past season the shipments only
reached twenty-six thousand tons, a de
crease of nearly fifty per cent. The reports
of other Geoegia and Southern railways
show a proportionate decrease. There
is very convincing proof that the plant
ers have determined to cut off one prin
cipal source of their expenditures, and
that they seem disposed to go back to
the old system of using home-made
manures as far as possible. While the
lavish purchase of guano and other
commercial fertilizers tends to embarrass
the planter and for that reason should
be abandoned, there is danger in going
to the other extreme and ceasing to pur
chase altogether. We think experience
has fully proven that great benefit is de
rived from the judicious application of
the best brands of commercial manures
and that planting can not be profitably
conducted without their assistance.—
Their strength and adaptability to the
soil, their smallness of bulk and porta
bility, the ease with which they can be
employed upon the farm, render them of
great value in the changed condition of
the Southern planting and labor sys
tems. Extravagance in their nse was
wrong and doubtless did much mischief,
but their moderate use cannot well be
abandoned. Such a reaction would do
more harm than the original evil. The
planters have had an experience of eight
or nine years with these manures and
by this time shonld thoroughly under
stand their application and what par
ticular kind is best suited to the charac
ter of their laDd. They can use them
judiciously and economically and reap
handsome returns from the money which
they invest in their purchase. We think
we hazard nothing in asserting that it
pays a great deal better to cultivate ten
acres of land thoroughly and well than
to imperfectly cultivate a hundred acres.
There has been one formal entry for
the gubernatorial race, which will take
place in 1876. The Atlanta Herald an
nounces editorialy and authoritatively
that General A. H. Colquitt will be a
candidate before the Democratic Nomi
nating Convention. The General is
popular with the soldiers, the farmers
and the grangers and will be a formida
ble candidate if his early entry does not
injure his prospects. It is said that
Colonel Hardeman will also be in the
field, and that Governor Shith has no
objection to a third term. Hon. Jno.
H. James came out some time ago and
the friends of the irrepressible Huff
will probably insist npon his running.
We will certainly have a lively contest.
A great many people wonder how
members of Congress grow rich so ra
pidly on a salary of $5,000 a year. An
incident occurred in the Honse of Rep
resentatives the other day which will
throw some light on the subject. Mr.
Beck introduced a bill to punish mem
bers of the Senate and House who en
gage as counsel in snits against the
Government. It was opposed by Gen.
Butler, bnt was passed. What But
ler's interest in snch matters has been
may be judged from the official record
of 4he Supreme Court of the District of
Columbia in the Farragut prize cases.
This shows that he profited to the extent
of $87,221 by the bill for paying them.
This item solves the mystery.
General N. P, Banks recently made
a speech in Boston on the “Fnture and
Reconstruction of the South, ” He took
the position that carpet-bag rale had
been the root of all evil in the South,
and thought that perhaps some legisla
tion would be had on the subject of in
terference in political matters by Federal
officials. Gen. Banks spoke to a large
audience, and his remarks were loudly
applauded.
The people of Missouri have voted by
a small majority in favor of holding a
Convention for the purpose of remodel
ing their Constitution. How long will
Georgia continue to be a laggard in the
good work ? ,
AUGUSTA, GA, WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 23, 1874.
UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE
ENFORCEMENT ACTS.
There seems to be good reason for be
lieving that it will not be necessary for
tha Democratic Congress which meets
next December to repeal the Enforce
ment Acts, in order to get rid of these ob
noxious statutes. There is a prospect
that the courts of the country will pro
claim it a nullity before the new Con
gress assembles, and this will be much
the most satisfactory way of undoing
the work of a malignant and unscrupu
lous political faction. The Nashville
Union and American says that the dis
agreement of the Judges holding the
United States Circuit Conrt at Richmond,
in the Petersburg election case, brings
before the Supreme Court of the United
States a question substantially the same
as that involved in the case from Grant
Parish, Louisiana, already before the
same tribunal. The fifteenth amend
ment to the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, declares that “the right
of citizens of the United States to
vote, shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States,, or by any State,
on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.” It is a restric
tion npon’State legislation. But the
Enforcement Acts go much further.
They declare who may vote ; they im
pose penalties not only npon State offi
cers but upon private persons for ob
structing the exercise of the suffrage ;
they assume the right of Congress to
define and punish ordinary crimes of
violence against the colored people; they
even make it a penal offense to prevent
“any citizen” (whether belonging to the
race which the amendments were intend
ed to protect or not) “from voting at
any election. ” Justice Bradley of the
Supreme Court, in the Louisiana oase,
declared that in these particulars, or at
least in some of them, the acts were
plainly unconstitutional. “ There can
be no constitntional legislation of Con
gress,” said he, “for directly enforcing
the privileges and immunities of
eitizens of the United States by origi
nal proceedings in the courts of the
United States, where the only constitu
tional guarranty of such privileges and
immunities is that no State shall pass
any law to abridge them, where the
State has passed no laws adverse to
them, but on the contrary has passed
laws to sustain and enforce them.” In
the Petersburg case District Judge
Hughes arrived at an opinion against
the constitutionality of parts of the En
forcement Acts by a different process of
reasoning from Judge Bradley, and
declared “that any law of Congress is
unconstitutional which makes the pre
venting of a voter from voting in a State
election penal on any other account than
that of ‘race, color or previous condition
of servitude. ’ ” These casos will probably
be decided at the present term of the
Supreme Court of the United States.
RAILROAD EARNINGS.
It will be some consolation to stock
holders in Georgia Railroads who are
minus their usual and sorely needed
dividends, to know that railroads gener
ally are not paying anything at present.
If these corporations can; thrive any
where they should prosper in New Eng
land, where the oountry is thickly set
tled and both the freight and passenger
business unusually heavy. Yet in Massa
chusetts—the richest and most flourish
ing of the New England States—the
railroad men tell the same tale as their
brethren do in the North and the South.
A statement prepared by the Boston Ad
vertiser shows that the last railroad year
in Massachusetts has not been so satis
factory as its predecessors. The roads
have been forced to increase their capi
tal stock and their debt. They have
earned less in gross, and their operating
expenses have not diminished. Eighteen
roads, reported in the annual tables
both last year and this, have in
creased their capital stock by $753,000.
Seventeen roads have increased their
gross debt from $38,168,169 to
$46,892,275, being an increase of
more than twenty-two per cent.; and the
total debt of the twenty-one roads re
ported this year amounts to $48,851,207.
The net income of the Boston roads has
declined from $5,438,731 to $4,827,248.
Their expenses have increased from $16,-
818,991 to $16,872,730, and their gross
receipts have fallen from $22,257,732 to
$21,699,978. One of the causes of the
falling off in railway earnings is the
prostration of business throughout the
country. Railroads can not make money
when every one else is losing. When
the country flourishes railroads flourish,
when the people suffer railways suffer
also. In addition to this they have had
to encounter, in the South and West es
pecially, the sharp competition of new
and rival lines, built not npon individu
al capital, but with money borrowed
upon public endorsements. It is not at
all surprising, in view of the difficulties
whioh have attended their management,
that they have failed to earn dividends.
We publish in. another colnmn of the
Chronicle and Sentinel this morning
an editorial article from the New York
Journal of Commerce on the subject of
usury and usury laws. We do this be
cause it is a reply to the opinions ad
vanced by General Toombs which were
published in this paper. Onr own posi
tion on this question has been frequent
ly and positively stated. We do not care
to .engage aDy farther in its discussion.
The people are in a condition at present
which makes them disposed to favor any
change suggested, and we do not regard
the re-enactment of the usury law as at
all improbable. But while such a law
may be put npon the statute book it can
never be enforced. It will be 'a dead
letter here just as it was before repeal,
and just as it is in every State where the
Legislature attempts to regulate the
prioe of money. People will continue to
pay the rate of interest established by
the laws of trade, in spite of legislation.
The people who live in the Bank of
England, at the other end of the Geor
gia Railroad, have snch a perfect and
safe system of doing business that “yon
never hear of any failures there.” We
uev,er hear of anybody paying taxes
there either if one may jndge from the
official advertisements of delinquents.
Perhaps, however, it is by the employ
ment of snch economy that the finan
cial Gibralter keeps off the ragged edge
of bankruptcy. Maybe the safe and
simple system in vogue there is “take in
all yon can and pay nothing out.” A
little “wild speculation” in Atlanta tax
executions might prove more disastrous
than the purchase of cotton futures.
Noblesse oblige. Count Arnim says h#
cannot be guilty of the things alleged
against him because he comes of an old
and noble family, and Bis blood wonld
not allow him to do a dishonorable act
Bismarck is too sagacious a man not to
know what this kind of talk amounts to.
Crime has not been and is by no means
confined to the commonalty. The peerage
has fnmished a large proportion of the
murderers, forgers, thieves, liars and
adulterers. Count Arnim must depend
npon something besides his nobility for
acquittal. *
The Secretary of the Bowling Associa
tion of the American colleges has issued
a circular postponing indefinitely the
meeting of delegates called to-day at
Hartford.
LEE.
Personal Bkmixiscznces. Anecdotes and
Lettbes of Gen. Eobeet E. Lee. By Rev.
J. William Jones. D. D., formerly Chaplain
Army Northern Virginia and of Washington
College, Virginia. 1874. New York : D. Ap
pleton A Cos. Angus tx: Riohakds’ book
■tore.
Since the great calamity of Gen. Lee’s
death several memoirs and biographies
of him have appeared. While all of
these books have been necessarily im
parfect sketches they have all fonnd wide
circulation, so eager has been the desire
of the public to read everything concern
ing the life and achievements of the
great Virginian. After a while, when
sonrees of information now closed will
be open, when witnesses now dumb will
have spoken, when the country shall be
in a condition to judge calmly and im
partially, a Life of Lee, worthy the
name, will be written. Who the fntnre
biographer is to be we cannot undertake
to determine; but the hour will bring
the man. In the meantime the books of
which we have spoken, however incom
plete, however glaring their defects,
have their use and their valne and
we shonld welcome their publication.
The information which of them, to a
greater or less extension tain will be
found valuable hereafter, and, added to
that whioh will be furnished in the
future, will greatly lighten the labors
and facilitate the purpose of him who is
to paint a true portrait of the Confed
erate chieftain. The book before us
will prove a most important contribution
to the accomplishment of this work. It
does not pretend to be a biography, or a
sketch of the military career of Lee. As
its name imports, it is made up of per
sonal reminiscences, anecdotes and let •
ters. The writer enjoyed excep
tional advantages for preparing such
a work. Ha was the chaplain of
Washington College, of which General
Lee was President, and was thrown into
daily and intimate intercourse with him.
He was selected to prepare the volume
by tha faculty of the college and was
furnished by Mrs. Lee with many im
portant papers belonging to her hus
band. The work has been carefully per
formed and its results will everywhere
be read with interest. He has divided
his subject into many parts—too many
perhaps. One of them treats of Lee’s
military career and is made up wholly
of selected matter—extracts from speech
es and English and American books and
newspapers with most of which the
general reader is familiar, though they
are well worth preservation in a
more enduring form. The anecdotes
are numerous, most of them new and all
of them interesting. The most valuable
portions of the volume, however, are
those which contain extracts from Lee’s
correspondence. Our only regret is that
there are not more of them and we hope
to soon see the day when the whole con
tents of his letter books will be given to
the public. There is a dignity and grace,
a kindness of heart and courtesy, mani
fest in those published which will give
the world a still higher idea of the
lovableness of his character and the
nobility of his soul. They contain, too,
accounts of many transactions of which
the world was ignorant before. For in
stance, his letter to General Lonsstkeet,
written at the time the latter became,
or was preparing to become, the ally of
the oppressors of the South and the
enemies of constitutional government.
It will be remembered that after the
surrender General Lee was sincerely
anxious that the South should have
peace and quiet, in order that she might
repair the frightful ravages of four
years’ savage warfare. He, therefore,
earnestly deprecated anything like bit
terness of speech towards the North or
opposition to the policy which President
Johnson thought proper to pursue. But
he never for a moment approved the infa
mies known as the reconstruction acts
nor contemplated their sauction by the
Southern people. Soon after the termi
nation of the great struggle, when asked
to attend the “Gettysburg Identifica
tion” meeting, he wrote :
“I think it wisest not to keep open
the sores of war, but to follow the exam
ple of those nations who endeavored to
obliterate the marks of civil strife, and
to commit to oblivion the feelings it en- 1
gendered.”
When a certain distinguished orator
delivered an address at Washington Col
lege, General Lee said to the reporter
who took notes for publication, and who :
is the author of the “Reminiscences; ” 1
“It was in the main very fine; but, if ■
you propose publishing any report of it, ;
£ would suggest that you leave out all
the bitter expressions against the North ;
and the United States Government.
They will do us no good under our pres
ent circumstances, and I think all such ;
expressions undignified and unbecom
ing.”
In a letter to Governor Letcher he
says :
“The questions which for years were
in dispute between the State and Gene- ,
ral Government, and which unhappily
were not decided' by the dictates of
reason, but referred to the decision of
war, having been decided against us, it
is the part of wisdom to acquiesoe in the
result and of candor to recognize tho
fact.”
He advised all of his friends against 1
emigration, and declared that he thought
it the duty of every man to remain at
home, cease opposition to the Govern- 1
ment, accept the situation, go to work,
and “do all the good he could.” It
was a knowledge of these sentiments !
which perhaps led General Longstreet
—who had been his personal friend and
trusted Lieutenant—to suppose that he
conld be induced to follow him into the
Republican camp in 1867. From the
tenor of the letter published below it is
evident that Longstrbet had requested ,
him to write for publication a letter ad
vising the Southern whites to accept the
Sherman-Shellabaroer bill—the first
of the reconstruction acts. The follow
ing is the reply which he received :
Lexington, Va., October 29, 1867.
Oen. J. Longstreet, New Orleans, La.:
My Dear General— * * * As I
could not write such a letter as you de- ■
sired, and as you stated you would leave ,
New Orleans in a week from the time
yon wrote, I determined to delay my re
ply till my return. * * I have avoid- 1
ed all discussion of political questions ■
since the cessation of hostilities, and
have, in my own conduct, and in my
recommendations to others, endeavored
to conform to existing circumstances. I
consider this the part of wisdom as well
as of duty; but, while I think we should
act nnder the law and according to the
law imposed npon us, I cannot think
ths course pursued by the dominant :
political party the best for the interests ,
of the country, and, therefore, cannot
say so, or give it my approval. This is
the reason why I conld not comply with
the request in your letter. I am of the
opinion that all who can shonld vote for
the most intelligent, honest and con
scientious men eligible to office, irre
spective of former political opinions, who
will endeavor to make the new constitu
tions and the laws passed nnder them as
beneficial as possible to the true inter
ests, prosperity and liberty of all classes
and conditions of the people.
There are many other interesting let
ters on political and other topics in the
volume, but want of space prevents their
republication in this article.
The book is a volume of five hundred
pages, printed on fine paper and very
handsomely bound in green and gold.
It contains six exquisitely executed
steel engravings—portraits of General
Lbs, taken at different periods of his
life, of General Jackson and of Mrs.
Lxb—and a number of wood cuts. It is
published to aid in the completion of
Yalbntinb’s monument now in process
of construction. The object shonld
command itself to every Southern man
and woman, and the book itself should
find a place in every Southern home.
The “Reminiscences” can be purchased
1 in this city at Richards’ Book Store,
where an extensive and complete assort
ment of books can be fonnd. Messrs.
, Richards have a .large;'stock of every
thing pertaining to their line of busi
ness, and will give customers prompt
and courteous attention. We commend
them to the patronage of our readers.
THE DEATH OF AN “ ORGAN.’*
The telegraph brings intelligence of
the death of the Republic. The event
. was not unexpected—at least not to
those who have had occasion to study
recently the vital statistics of “organs.”
The Republic was nothing if not an or
gan. It was conceived an organ, bora
an organ, and lived an organ—if a sick
ly existence of two months may be called
life. The papers in New York whioh
professed belief in the principles of the
Republican party fell into disgrace be
cause they refused to blindly approve
everything done by their friends and to
as blindly censure every act of their op
ponents. The Times, especially, was a
piper of wealth and large circulation,
wielding great power and exer
cising an extensive influence with
in the ranks- of its party. But the
Times was not subservient enough. It
exercised the right of opposing men and
measures, even though the men were
Republicans and the measures party
measures. It even had the boldness to
criticise the acts of the Administration
and .of its head, the President. The
Times refused to be controlled to the
support of that whioh its conductors
thought unwise or unjust, and the Ad
ministration determined to establish a
more tractable journal. In pursuance
of this determination the Republic was
founded upon the eve of the recent
campaign. There was from the first no
doubt, there could be no doubt, as
to the character of the new pappr.
It gloried in its prostitution, and
wore the collar of the Administration
as a mark of honor instead of
regarding it as a badge of infamy. It
was the perfect realization of an organ.
It ground whatever tune was dictated
by its masters. It praised the Prosi-
dent and his friends in every thing they
did; it abused their opponents bitterly
and- unceasingly. It had no will, no
spirit, no soul. It saw that measures
were wrong and impolitic, and were
doing great injury to the party to which
it professed allegiance, yet it defended
them as if they had been the confession
of faith because they received the ap
proval of the Administration. The elec
tions came and it was discovered that if
it had any power at all it was only po
tent for evil. The people everywhere
pronounced against the third term which
it favored, against the warfare upon the
South which it urged and defended.
It was also discovered that the Republic
was a success as an organ, but a failure as
a newspaper. An organ is a handy thing
for a knot of politicians to have, but it is
such an expensive luxury that few men
are able to afford its possession. Accord
ingly, the money having given out, the
organ has ceased grinding, the music
has stopped and the Republic is as dead
as the deadest of all things dead—a door
nail. It died game, however, and gave
the tunes to the end which it had
been taught to play. One of the favor
ites of the Administration was the pa
thetic ballad of the “bloody shirt,” com
posed for campaign purposes by At
torney-General Williams. This was
played by the Republic vigorously and
unceasingly from the hour of its birth
to the day of its death and with as many
variations as Miss Wirt gave to “Sich a
Gittin up Stairs,” The bloody shirt was
shaken and waved in every possible and
imaginable manner—in season and out of
season, day in and day out. Even after the
people had declined to listen any longer
to the music, and had declared that
they no longer believed in bloody shirts,
the organ continued to flaunt—feebly it
may be—the sanguinary garment which
had lost even the power of protecting a
watermelon patoh in the capacity of a
scare-orow. Here is the last stave of
the doleful ditty as taken from the edi
torial columns of the organ :
The Democracy of Mississippi want
to establish the whipping post, after the
manner of sinful little Delaware. The
grand jury of Lowndes county recom
mend it, and so do the Democratic news
papers. The Meridian Mercury wishes
laws enacted “to put up the whipping
post, the pillory and stocks,” and be
lieves in “tieing up by thumbs” as
modes of punishment. There was little
necessity for whipping posts in the
South during the war, as overseers and
slave owners could whale the negroes to
their hearts’ content whenever they
chose to do so. But now this barbar
ous custom has been put an end to by
the freedom of the black race, and the
whites will not rest content until they
can secure for the former some legiti
mate mode of torture. They amused
themselves in Vicksburg by murdering
in cold blood, last week, something less
than a hundred poor negroes, but this
is a pastime they dare not indulge in
many days at a time, becaure it doesn’t
take a week to dispatch United States
guardians of the peace down there. Mis
sissippi, Georgia, Texas and Alabama
Democrats are building a platform for
their party to stand on, and it is based
on a few words full of meaning : Peon
aße—a new system of slavery ; the whip
ping post and political death to all who
oppose their accursed views—these are,
in substance, the planks to be used in
its construction.
Alas ! and alas! We shall hear such
strains no more. The harp, or more
correctly lyre, is broken, its cords un
strung and the melancholy musician has
gathered up his piteous songs and re
tired from business.
The suspension of the Republic is but
another evidence of the failure of organ
ship. A journal which is conducted in
that capacity cannot succeed. A paper
may be Bepublican in its principles or
Democratic, and it may support its
party vigorously and effectively, and be
come wealthy and prosperous and a pow
er in the land, but it cannot be the
blind slave of a clique of partisans with
out forfeiting the respect and confidence
of the public, and bringing upon itself
ruin speedy and inevitable.
The singular detection and punish
ment of the kidnappers of Charlie Ross
is one of the most curious of* the ro
mances of crime. They were hnnted
from one end of the Continent to the
other, and their pursuers were stimu
lated by the offer of immense rewards.
Yet both of the guilty parties were
killed not a great distance from the
scene of their crime by on elderly gen
tlemen who had the resolution and
steadiness of hand to bring down a cou
ple of burglars who were forcing an en
trance into his premises.
General Grant declares that in case
of 1 ‘ further trouble ” in Louisiana
“there will be somebody hurt.” This
brutal declaration is in keeping with his
conduct towards that unhappy State. He
should know that 11 somebody has been
hurt ” already in that unhappy pro
vince—that her people have been de
prived of life and liberty and despoiled
of property by men acting under hin
orders and by the usurpation which he set
up and sustained. What more an he
do ? Can he imprison a State or murder
a whole people ?
The annual meeting of the stockhold
ers of the Central Railroad took plaee
yesterday in Savannah.
ly ORTHEKN IMMIGRANTS.
Recently Judge John P. Kino, Presi
dent of tho Georgia Railroad, has re
ceived a number of letters from North
ern men making inquiries about the
condition of Georgia, the prioe of land,
the feeling of the people towards North
ern settlers, etc., with a view to settling
here npon the reoeipt of satisfactory
replies. Judge Kin* has handed us one
of these, as a fair sample of the others,
with a request that we would give it a
public answer. It is from W. H. Sibley,
a lumber merchant of Muskegon, Michi
gan. He says :
“ Will you please allow me te make
some inquiries in regard to business,
climate and other matters in your State?
My object in making these inquiries
is that myself and many others
are desirous of going South to make
a permanent home on account
of the long and extreme cold weather
we have in this Northern climate. I
should like to know if the business I am
engaged in, that of lumbering, could be
made profitable either to buy and sell
again or to manufacture. Then, again,
how would be the farming—could there
be any good plantations leased, together
with teams, implements, etc., to advan
tage ? In faot if parties from the North
shonld seek a home in the South, would
they be treated as the white people of
the South treat each other ? My object
and that of my family would be to se
cure the acquaintance and friendship of
the intelligent white people. We should
wish to enjoy the full confidence and
esteem of the good and true men and
women of the South, and unless we
could do so would not wish to make any
change. It is of the health of the cli
mate, the general business of your city
and county—especially of cotton raising
or other branches of farming—that I de
sire to be informed.
There is a good deal of information
called for by the writer. The inquiries
concerning the price of lands, the leas
ing of plantations and farming imple
ments we are unable to answer with
positiveness. We shall be pleased to
have this information furnished us for
publication by some of our planter
readers. Our impression is that land
can be obtained in Georgia in any
quantity and at almost any price. The
average price of good farming land is
from eight to ten dollars per acre—ac
cording to location—proximity to rail
roads and the supply of labor. Leases,
we think, can also be effeoted without
difficulty and upon favorable terms. Our
planters have not, as yet, fonnd much
profit in - raising cotton because they
had to start without capital, have gone in
debt to raise heavy orops of cotton whioh
they have generally been compelled to
sell at lew prices, and because they have
raised nothing but cotton, depending
upon the North and West for their corn,
baoon, hay, lard, butter, eggs and poul
try. With a properly diversified system of
agriculture there is no reason to doubt
that the culture of cotton will pay and
pay handsomely. Of the lumber busi
ness we know but little. The finest
lumber in the world, pine and live oak,
is to be found in Georgia, and timber
land is neither high nor searce. Our
best timber country is traversed by
railways, and the lumber is easily and
cheaply gotten to the seaboard. Like
any other business, wo suppose that it
pays when well and carefully managed.
The business of Augusta is as good, if
not better, than that of any city of its
size in the South. Its mercantile houses
are sound and substantial, and most of
them have been long established. It is
one of the largest interior cotton markets
and has a splendid surrounding country
from which to draw its trade. It has
unsurpassed facilities for manufacturing,
and several cotton factories are in suc
cessful operation in the city or vicinity.
With regard to the treatment which
Northern settlers, of the class Mr. Sjblet
described, will receive we have to say
that they will be welcomed and treated
as friends. The stories of unkind or
unoivil treatment of Northern by South
ern people are the fabrications of a po
litical party for political effeot. We are
anxious for Northern immigration and
have offered every inducement in our
power to secure it. The bona fid* set
tlers have no cause to complain of want
of kindness or hospitality, and if they
will but come among us they will soon
discover for themselves the truth of our
assertions. The carpet-bagger politi
cians who come with no intention to
work, whose pursuit is office holding,
and whose business is spoliation; who
live by exciting the enmity of the black
race against the whites, are looked upon
with suspicion and distrust. But no
suoh feelings are entertained for the
men who come to cast their fortunes with
us. They will receive “just the same
treatment as the Southern white people
extend to each other.”
TOOMBS ON USURY.
Reply of the Journal of Commerce.
Public attention is just now called to
this subject on account of the extraordi
nary ntterances concerning i£ by Gen.
Toombs, of Georgia. A correspondent
at Rome, in that State, has sent us what
purports to be a copy of the General’s
statement, with a request for further in
formation. We propose briefly to ex
amine the arguments by whioh General
Toombs defends this relic of the barba
rous ages.
1. He states distinctly that “it has
been condemned by the great philoso
pher, Jesus Christ.” This is the vSry re
verse of the truth. The case cited by Mr.
Toombs in proof of his assertion is the
overthrow of the money changers in the
court of the Jewish temple. The ac
count is given in the 21st of Matthew,
the 12th of Mark, and the 2d of John.
The transaction had no reference to in
terest upon money. The money chang
ers in the temple were not lenders, but
exchangers of money, ostensibly for the
convenience of those who had offerings
to make in the temple service. They
cheated the people whose coins or bul
lion they changed into such portions as
were desired, and in this sense they
were thieves; but it was their dishonesty
and sacrilege in the choice of places,
and not their business, that is con
demned, for the same epithet is applied
with especial emphasis to those who
sold oxen, sheep and doves for sacrifice,
and all “that sold and bought in the
temple” were driven out with the same
scourge of small cords which pursued
the money changers. Their dishonesty
made them especially offensive, but the
trading character of their occupation, if
they had -been ever so honest, would
have defiled the sacred place. That this
“Great Philosopher” did not regard the
taking the usury as wrong, is clearly
proved from the parable where he
likened his own kingdom to an admin
istration in which the master said to an
unfaithful servant (Matthew 25:27),
“Thou oughtest therefore to have put
my money to the exchangers (that is,
bank —Luke 19:23), and then at my
coming I should have received my own
with usury."
2. The General continues his argu
ment against permitting free trade in
money, on the ground that it “is not an
article of commerce. ” But the old Jew
ish law made no such distinction. Since
General Toombs seems to believe so
strongly in the Scripture authority (al
though he has so sadly misquoted and
applied it), we would refer him to the
whole case plainly stated in Deuterono
uny 23d, 19 20: "Thou shalt not lend
upon usury to thy brother ; usury of
money, usury of victuals, usury of any
thing that is lent upon usury. Unto s
stranger thou mayest lend upon usury.”
Most superficial thinkers who have not
examined the subject suppose that usury
in the Scriptures means the same as in
human statutes, that is, the taking, for
the loan of money, a sum in excess of a
certain established rate. But this is not
the meaning or scope of the Mosaic pro
hibition. Usury there meant the de
manding or receiving any reward or pay
ment whatever for the loan of any money
or other commodity to a brother. The
hire of a horse, or ox, or of food to a
brother Israelite, is as sternly prohib
ited as*the hire of money. Usury did
not mean an exeessive rate ef hare,
but any rate. The man who took one
penny for twenty years’ interest of a
thousand talents, violated the law as
truly as if he asked 'feent per cent” per
annum. And if he took a penny for the
hire of a team, or the loan of food, or
anything whatever that can by any possi
bility be lent, he violated the law. This
was done to promote liberality and
brotherly kindness, and to restrain the
national cupidity. That it was not be
cause the payment for the use of money,
or the hire of other property, is in itself
wrong, or even uncommendable, is seen
from the positive legislation in regard
to strangers: ‘‘Unto a stranqer thou
mayest lend upon ususy.” There is
elsewhere a strong injunction of kind
ness to strangers .under a threat of the
sorest vengeance, so that the loan of
money to a stranger upon usury was not
an aot of unkindness, as judged by the
most sacred of statutes.
3. The distinguished Georgian closed
his plea by an averment that the usury
law continued in existence in England
until about 1866, when it was abolished;
that after that “things went on from
bad to worse,” and Parliament has re
stored it.! This will be news, we think,
on both sides of the water. The usury
laws were repealed, in substance, early
in the reign of Queen Victoria (about
1840), all obligations over £lO and hav
ing not more than twelve months to ran
being exempted from their operation,
and twenty years ago they were abolish
ed altogether as related to ordinary
money transactions.
4. Asa last plea, General Toombs
adds that “ the whole theory of free
money is unsound, and is a gross op
pression, against the tyranny of which
the people ought to be protected.” This
assertion is entirely unsupported, is in
the face of all logic, and is opposed to
the plainest diotates of common sense.
It is also contradicted by all human ex
perience. What has been the invaria
ble effect of usury laws where they have
been kept on the statute book ? What
tyranny have they resisted? What
poor man have they ever protected?
There cannot be cited an instance of
their enforcement in our time anywhere,
except as a cover to the most shameless
roguery, or at any rate as an evasion of
an equitable obligation. They are a
dead letter all over tbe world, except as
an instrument of injustice in the hand
of the dishonest or fraudulent debtor.
The laws themselves tyrannize over bor
rowers, who are made to pay more for
the use of money because of these op
pressive restrictions ; but Gen. Toombs
cannot lay his hand on a case where, as
they now exist, they have been cited in
favor of the people ! If enforced iu this
State they would convict and shut up in
prison as a criminal every man who ac
commodated his poorer neighbor in a
season of pressure, and who thereby
saved him from insolvency. They vio
late the plainest principles of equity
and fair dealing, and authorize injustice
and villainy. They are not enforced, or
their necessary operation would give
them a blaoker character than any we
could paint. They have no defender
but those twin champions of ancient
wrongs, ignorance and prejudice.
THE CHARLESTON FIRE.
Destruction of the Compress—Origin
of the Fire—Three Thousand Bales
Destroyed—Loss Two Hundred Thou
sand Dollars—The Sufferers.
(dliarleston News and Courier.]
The most destructive fire known in
Charleston since the close of the war
oocurred yesterday afternoon. About
quarter past two o’clock, the new Cham
pion Cotton Press, at the corner of
Church and Cumberland streets, was
discovered to be on fire. The alarm in
stantly filled the streets with orowds of
firemen and anxious spectators, but the
intense heat and fury of the flames, with
which the whole building was in a very
few moments enveloped, kept the throng
from a near approach to the burning
press. It is definitely known that the
fire broke out in a bale of cotton which
had been hurriedly thrown from a dray
with others and as hurriedly borne to
the second story on an elevator. As
soon as it was discovered that there was
fire in the bale the young man who as
cended on the elevator with the burning
bale endeavored to whip the fire out
with his hat, and failing, gave the alarm.
Mr. B. F. McCabe, the superintendent
of the press, immediately called for
water and ordered the cessation of the
press machinery. In a few minutes all
hands were working like Trojans, carry
ing water from the neighboring wells,
but these efforts proved unavailing, and
the flames rapidly gained headway,
and with remarkable suddenness swept
over the second story, igniting the cot
ton which was stored there. The em
ployees of the press did their best to
save the cotton, but the heat became so
great that little could be done. By this
time the district fire engines were on
the spot and at work. At first, drawing
water from distant wells, they could not
accomplish much, because of their weak
streams. Soon, however, they got infor
mation of the immense supply of water
in the huge reservoir on the premises of
thejgas company, and as fast as they
could they repaired thither, and ere
many minutes several bold streams were
pouring upon the burning mass.
Great excitement now prevailed, be
cause of the apprehension that the boiler
might burst and occasion loss of life.
But brave and thoughtful men had fore
seen this danger, and at the imminent
risk of their lives had guarded against
it. Messrs. B. F. McCabe and George
Stocker, an employee of the press, and
Mr. Michael Kelly, of the firm of Miller,
Kelly & Hughes, as soon as they saw
that the press could not be saved,
rushed to the safety valve and clung to
it, one after another, until each in suc
cession, blinded with smoke and ex
hausted by the heat, had to seek fresh
air. Their work, however, had been
well done, and the boiler was safe. The
excitement now quieted down, and the
crowd, which had rapidly drawn off
from the vicinity of the press where the
boiler stood, closed around it once
more. The threatening aspect of the
conflagration at this time made it pru
dent to summon the entire Fire Depart
ment, and all the engines speedily got
to work. The flames now had complete
mastery of the press, and large volumes
of smoke ascended to the skies, and here
and there dropped burning flakes on
house-tops and into the lots and streets.
The heat grew terrific, and soon-the
buildings on the south side of Cumber
land street, caught fire, and the blaze
which came from them and from the
press united and arched the street.—
The union of the two fires made
a terrific grand spectacle, which
was viewed by thousands. The oc
cupants of the houses on the south
side of Cumberland street were much
excited in trying to save their effects,'
some of which they succeeded in carry
ing to safe places in the streets and to
St. Philip’s Church yard. The Cotton
Press and Patent Hydraulic Press ma
chinery built by Messrs. John F. Taylor
k Cos. cost $50,000, and were utterly
wrecked, and nearly three thousand
bales of cotton, with the exception of
about one hundred and twenty-five
bales, which were rolled away from the
building, were burned. The burnt cot
toh lies in a heap in the press, all scat
tered, blackened and wet, and what yes
terday forenoon was an extensive and
busy establishment is now a mass of
ruins.
It is difficult to tell exactly how much
cotton was in the press at the time of
the fire. The books are believed to
have been Raved, but last night were
not accessible for examination. Accord
ing to the best calculation that can be
made there were about 3,000 bales in
the press buildings and yards, nearly
the whole of which is lost. Among the
firms who had cotton in the press were
the following: Arthur Barnwell & Cos.,
300 bales, fully insured; Henry Card,
1,000 bales, fully insured; Wm. Fatman,
800 bales, fully insured; A. B. Mulligan,
79 bales, fully insured; C. N. Hubert,
60 bales, fully insured; C. O. Witte, 130
bales, fully insured; Street Brothers &
Cos., 492 bales, as follows: By ship James
Duncan, 238 bales; Norwegian bark
Idun, 3 bales; American bark National
Eagle, 16 bales, and British bark J. B.
Duffus, 235 bales. The cotton for the
Duffus and Idun is insured in Havre,
and the rest in American companies.
Lesesne & Wells also had cotton in the
press. Taking the quantity of cotton
destroyed as 3,000 bales, the loss on the
cotton at $65 a bale will amount to
$195,000.
(By Telegraph.)
Charleston, December 16.— Further
investigation shows that not exceeding
3,200 bales of cotton were burned in the
fire yesterday. The entire loss of Liver
pool and London and Globe Insurance
Company will not exceed $25,000.
Aaron Alpeoria Bradley is in favor of
the colored people of Georgia emigrat
ing to Florida.
NUMBER 51.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Just before the Rev. M. J. Reilly left
for Atlanta, a few days since, a hand
some gold watch was presented to him
by the Catholics of Augusta. The fol
lowing is the correspondence in refer
ence to the presentation:
Augusta, Ga., December 8,1874.
Rev. M. 1. Reilly:
Rev. ani> Very Dear Sm—With ex
treme regret we learn of your early de
parture from among us, and we hasten
to express the love and esteem entertain
ed for you by the Catholics of Augusta.
Asa souvenir of the pleasant relations
that have always existed between us as
priest and people, and in appreciation
of your Christian virtues—your zeal and
energy in every good work—we present
to you this watch; and in doing so we
need not assure you how feebly the act
expresses the great reverence and affec
tion we have for you, both as a man and
a priest. We congratulate - the Oatholios
of Atlanta upon their good fortune in
having you for their pastor; and in
parting with you we console ourselves
with the hope that we will all one day
meet where parting is no more, and to
this end we solicit your blessing and
your prayers.
R. H. May, M. O’Donnell, A. Dorr,
Wm. Mulherin, E. O’Donnell, C. Spaeth,
P. Otis, Thos. Armstrong, Peter Kee
nan, A. Mullarky, James Burk, John
Gallaher, James A. Gray J. W. Turley,
Committee.
Atlanta, Ga., December 11, 1874.
Messrs. R. IT. May, E. O'Donnell,
Jas. A. Or ay and other “Catholics of
Augusta
Gentlemen —lt is but natural to re
ciprocate kindness, to be grateful for
favors; but your beautiful expression of
kind feeling would require even more.
With sentiments of the deepest grati
tude, I thank you, representatives of the
“Catholics of Augusta” for the hand
eome, valuable watch, which you gen
erously presented me on the eve of my
departure from your midst. Handsome
as it is, and as much as I appreciate it,
it becomes almost insignificant when
compared to the sentiments contained in
your beautiful letter.
Yes, dear Catholics, you congratulate
Atlanta! In severing my connection
with you, I have had to break a strong
tie; I bave had to do violence to my
personal feelingsjand accomplish anew
act of obedience. With you did I min
gle as a youth, amongst you did I per
form the first act of my holy ministry as
a young priest, in fact, as a priest, I was
born and raised amongst you. Never a
moment of sadness, never one of regret
but a constant sunshine of gladness, of
content, of happiness and encourage
ment in the performance of duty. I
was happy with you and with God’s
grace, I shall be happy in the “Gate
City” of our noble State.
The prayers and good will of a faith
ful, grateful people are an earnest of
future good. As I have labored among
you so shall I labor amongst my new,
and to me now, dear flock, which God
has entrusted to me. For all of you
shall I ever invoke a blessing from the
Throne of Grace ; and for myself the
grace to realize your fond expectations.
May God bless you.
Gratefully, M. T. Reilly.
Messrs. R. H. May, E. O’Donnell A.
Dorr, C. Spaeth, A. Mullarky, J. W.
Turley, M. O’Donnell, P. Otis, C. Gray,
Jas. Burke, Wm. Mulherin, Thomas
Armstrong, Jno. Gallaher, Peter Keenan,
Jas. A. Gray.
How Grant's Message was Heceieyed
in Cuba.
Havana, December 16.—The message
of President Grant is generally discuss
ed without excitement by the people
who do not attach much importance to
the allusions to Spain and Cuba. The
authorities give no sign of their opinion,
but the journals have lengthy editorials,
which, while they are not considered to
reflect the sentiments of the people in
general, may suit the views of parties
they respectively represent.,, Voze
de Cuba says silence, observed on
Spanish affairs by the German Emperor
in his speech to the Keichstag is amply
compensated for in President Grant’s
message. It is a noticeable coincidence
that while the United States aspires to
supremacy in Europe, both are anxious
to meddle with the internal affairs of
Spain. Aside from the desire of these
nations to have peace in Spain her
affairs cannot interest them so much
as ourselves, and we must view their
efforts with suspicion. Russia im
posed silence on Germany. We do not
know who will make Grant silent. As
for the insurrection her%, on the strength
and duration of which the President
lays stress, it is less powerful now than
it was at the beginning, and its endu
rance fails to give it any significance.
We doubt if any power will interfere
in Spanish affairs, at least in Cuba,
but should they attempt intervention
we are prepared to repel it. The Diaro,
in an article moderate in tone, says
there is nothing in the message to
cause alarm to the most timid. The
present condition of affairs is not to be
compared with that of last year. There
has been some excitement in the gold
market over reports about the message
to which we attribute the rise of an
eight of one per cent, in premi
um. Referring to the military situation
the Diaro declares affairs have im
proved in the Eastern Department,while
they show no change since the Autumn
of 1873 in the Central Department,
owing to continuous rains and many
thousands of sick in the army. As for
rebels, only about a dozen of their
original leaders remain. Others are
dead or have left the Island. Their
army numbers from fifty to sixty thou
sand men, the larger majority of whom
are negroes and Chinamen. The leaders,
hold out for the sake of the power they
enjoy, regarding it as compensation for
their troubles. The negroes refuse to
surrender because they mistakenly be
lieve they will be reduced to their for
mer condition of slavery if they give up.
The Diaro concludes: “Foreign nations
can, but will not interfere in the inter
nal affairs of the island. If the dura
tion of a war is good reason for inter
vention, then foreign powers ought to
have interfered in the United States to
stop the war with the Indians, which has
lasted muoh longer than ours, and is not
yet ended. ”
Charlie Ross’ Abductors.
Philadelphia, December 15. The
following dispatch was received in this
city early this evening:
New York, December 15.
To Jones, Chief of Police, Philadelphia:
The waiter identifies both the dead
men positively. The other witness is
sure of one of them.
[Signed] Wm. S. Heins,
Capt. Detective Police of Philadelphia.
The witness mentioned is Peter Calla
han, who is employed in the residence
adjoining that of Mr. Ross. It will be
remembered that he saw one of the kid- '
nappers in the neighborhood of the
the house before the abduction.
The wife of Mosher, the dead burglar,
knows nothing about Charlie Ross.
The members of the Prospect Avenue
Presbyterian Church calls upon Glen
denning to continue his pastoral rela
tions with them.
Cobb has been elected Mayor of Bos
ton. The Democrats lose one Alderman
and gain seven Councilman. Newberry
port and Lowell elect Reform candidates
over the regular Republican nominee.
The average cost of the Macon police
force for the past two years was a frac
tion over $19,000, which is about SIO,OOO
less than any previous year since the
war. The Chief of Police has paid all
expenses of the jail with fines collected,
and still paid a handsome surplus into
the city treasury.
A correspondent of the Pittsburg
Leader in a racy sketch of the more
prominent members of the present Con
gress, says : Stephens does not look
quite so muoh like a ghost this session.
Decidedly he is improved. He sits up
right; calm, sweet-tempered, and pa
tient, Eotwithstanding the tumor that is
ever at its deadly work upon his thigh.
A silk hat is upon his head this open
ing day ; a purple cap will take its place
to-morrow.
A serious affray occurred in Monroe
county one night last week. The particu
lars are about as follows: The young
people had a party at the residence of
Mr. John Pritchett, and after it broke
up a man by the name of Parker and an
other named Mann, under the influence
of pop-skull whisky, had a dispute in
regard to who should play “gallant” to
a young lady. It resulted in blows and
wound up by Parker being completely
disemboweled and Mann receiving a
very ugly wound. Both parties are se
riously hurt. So much for mean whisky.