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The National Metropolis.
To the Editors of The Georgia Grange :
In my last letter, I intimated my in
tention to write something about Wash
ington City affairs. I will now redeem
that pledge. And I begin by observ
ing that there has been a wonderful im
provement in the city, generally, since
I removed from that place to Columbus,
Mississippi, in 1858. The population
has nearly doubled since that time ; and
the number of buildings erected bears
a fair proportion to the increase of popu
lation. I observed, during my late
visit to Washington, whole blocks, and,
indeed, whole squares of buildings, of a
superior class, erected on lots that wei e
vacant when I left that city. The most
marked improvements are found in the
northern part of the city, though there
has been a great deal of building in-all
sections of the metropolis. Large sums
have been expended by the Government
in the enlargement of some of the pub
lic buildings, and in improving previ
ously existing ones. The Treasury
building has since been extended and
finished at great cost. Improvements
have also been made on the General
Postoffice; and also in the interior of
the Patent office. And now, new and
very expensive buildings are in course
of erection for the War and Navy De
partments, in the vicinity of the old
War Department; and, I suppose,when
they are fully completed, will cover all
the space occupied by the War Depart
ment, as well as that on which the
buildings are now being erected. When
completed, these buildings will excel, I
presume, all the Department edifices
hitherto erected. When one beholds
the many millions that have been ex
pended on Government buildings in
Washington, and the cost of those now
in course of erection, and sees the ad
mirable adaptation of those buildings
to the ends for which they were erected,
it would seem that the question of the
removal of the Capital of the nation
ought never more to be agitated.
It is worthy of note, also, that vast
improvements have been made on the
streets of the city. They have, in many'
places, been greatly improved by pro
per grading, and by excellent pave
ments. I was surprised to find how
large a portion of the streets of the city
had been paved within the last three
years. And, then, the material used
for paving, is, of itself, of a superior
order. The Nicholson pavement was
tried on many of the streets, but this
is now being supplanted by the concrete.
If the concrete should prove to be as
durable as it is claimed to be, it will
supercede all other materials for paving
in our principal cities. It certainly is
very desirable on account of the smooth
ness of the surface of the streets on
which it is used. You can scarcely im
agine a more agreeable sensation than
that which is experienced while you
are trundled along in a buggy, or car
riage, over these concrete pavements, at
the rate of twelve or fifteen miles an
hour, without seeming adequately to
realize the very rapid speed at which
you are traveling, and without experi
encing any disagreeable fatigue in the
operation. If the eccentric John Ran
dolph could now be raised from the
dead, and be permitted to revisit
Washington —the place of so many
years of his public toils—he would
hardly characterize it, at present, as “a
city of guilded poverty aud magnificent
distances.”
A large portion of the city is now
fully built up, and the long spaces of
vacant lots, so numerous in Mr. Ran
dolph’s day, are now mostly occupied
by magnificent edifices, either private
or public. Indeed, Washington has
become a beautiful city, and it is des
tined, I think, ultimately, to be one of
the most attractive cities on the conti
nent. When the question as to the
permancy of the Capital is fully settled,
persons of wealth and culture will
doubtless be attracted to the National
metropolis, from all parts of our own
country, and also from foreign coun
tries ; and will be likely to make it the
place of their permanent abode. The
high social advantages which the so
ciety of such a city always affords ; the
privilege of listening to the debaters in
Congress, and the arguments in the
Supreme Court ; and the opportunity
of hearing the lectures of the most dis
tinguished men of this country, and of
other countries, in the winter season ;
together with the salubrity of the cli
mate, and the excellent church and
school privileges which it holds out,
must make Washington, ultimately, a
great and fashionable and wealthy
city. Considerable expense and pains
have also been bestowed in grading the
grounds around the Capitol, and in
many other sections of the city belong
ing to the General Government. The
park, which formerly embraced only the
grounds surrounding the Smithsonian
Institute, is to be extended from the
river below the Washington Monument
soas to embrace the grounds surround
ing the Capitol; and a splendidboulvard,
surrounding the whole, paved with con
crete, will add to its attraction and
contribute greatly to its interest. Presi
dent Grant will find here ample con
venience for testing the speed and the
mettle of his fine horses ; and, at the
same time, enjoy the advantage of a good
airing without the inconvenience of
encountering clouds of dust, as hither
to. But the President will not be
alone in this regard. The diplomatic
corps, the secretaries of the different
departments of the Government, and
the wealthy citizens generally, who are
able to possess a “splendid tournout,”
together with their respective families
and attaches,will, doubtless, enjoy many
a “pleasant drive” around this beautiful
park. Adorned with flowers, and plants,
and shade trees, with serpentive w r alks
and bubbling fountains, and facinating
fish-pools, etc., it will also beguile the
footsteps of the toiling clerks, the
nurses with their prattling children,
and, indeed, all who can spare an hour
from the cares of business. So that
from early dawn to “dewy eve,” its
drives and walks may be expected to
present, as in panoramic vision, an
epitomy of all the world.
In my next letter, I shall say some
thing about the halls of Congress, the
Supreme Court-room, and other apart
ments in the Capitol buildings.
For the Georgia Grange.]
Artificial Irrigation.
As a means of enhancing the pro
ductability of the soil, artificial irriga
tion has but few, if any superiors,where
it is practicable. I might say this, from
the vast results of the system intro
duced and carried to a great degree of
perfection by the ancient Egyptians, in
the Valley of the Nile, where rains fell
but seldom, or more modernly, in the
Salt Lake region of North America,
where the same aridity of the summer
season prevails, and necessarily forces
the farmers to the irrigation of the
soil. But I would speak from personal
experience, in this temperate region of
vernal and summer showers, where the
swift flowing -waters, and undulating
plains afford such ample scope for a
vast extension, and far greater perfec
tion of the wonderful art. But I am
aware that the system has been, and
will still be met with the objection,
that where showers fall freely it will
not avail much ; yet experience proves
that there is an inherent, life-giving
power in running water that stimulates
the growth of vegetation surprisingly,
even during the wet seasons.
Observation by the most scrupulous
will prove this to be true, if they will
but notice the more luxuriant growth
of almost all the production of the soil
planted by the swift running waters.
We do not argue that stagnant water
benefits, but injures the growth when
allowed to stand upon it, and, even if
pure water is allowed to stand in abund
ance on the land, it then hinders the
growth, soon losing its life-giving
powers.
In the beginning of the late war, it
was my pleasure to experiment on a
small scale, having two bold running
springs that were capable of watering
several acres. The water was turned
out by means of small dams, into
ditches that wound around the base of
the higher lands. At intervals the
water was turned out of the ditch as re
quired to cover freely the lower lands.
This was done by cutting the bank on
the lower side of the stream with the
spade. It was turn on the land in the
latter part of the winter, and continued
at intervals till near manuring time;
as it was a meadow, mixed with clover,
herds grass, and timothy, all of which
growed far more luxuriently than those
parts of the same meadow, with the
richness of soil that were not irrigated.
Parts of the grass irrigated were mown
twice against mowing time.
This experiment, as well as observa
tion and historic facts, satisfies me that
were the waters of the South properly
utilized, it would aff< r I o ie of the first
means *f enriching <.ur countrv.
GEOKGM (SO®**
I have been induced to write this,
hoping that it may be of use to that
pursuit that underlies all other callings
that support the physical man. It will
cost but little labor to make a fair trial.
X.
Northern Corn not Suitable for
Seed in the South.—Mr. J. R. Max
well, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, planted
forty-eight acres of land with very
choice Lakeside, Mass., corn. The
crop proved an entire failure, or twenty
five bushels of nubbins. He remarks
that of his own white corn he could
have raised at least 750 bushels. After
various experiments he concludes that
Northern grain is not adapted to our
climate.
j|aentifie attb fiotes.
Cremation.
Scientists are now discussing the pro
priety of resorting to the ancient Greek
method of disposing of the dead by
burning,—the dictates of affection to be
satisfied by preserving the ashes in an
urn, or some other proper receptacle.
This is advocated upon the following
grounds: Ist. The decomposition into
original elements, to which all bodies
are sooner or later subject, is a slow
combustion, so that, after all, by the
action of fire nature’s work is but an
ticipated.
2. All other methods, having for their
object preservation of the remains fora
greater or less time, are at last defeated
by the untiring agencies of nature.
Burying in caves, the openings to which
were sealed up; embalming, in -which
the Egyptians so greatly excelled; of
depositing the corpse under the earth’s
surface, our usual method, encased in
wood, stone or metal, only serve to delay
but never to prevent the inevitable
change. Burials at sea are, of course,
~~
exceptional, being an unavoidable dis
position of the body, which is soon de
voured by fishes.
The social question here presents it
self, which of these various methods is
best for the survivors and the general
interest of our race ?
Besides the space occupied by ceme
teries, a matter of great importance in
crowded populations, burial under the
soil is full of danger to the living.
Hence interments within the precincts
of large cities is now forbidden. But,
wherever situated, underground burials
are polluting our water sources for our
children’s children, and occupying space
that must one day be dwelt upon or
utilized by living men. The question
of economy, all important to the masses,
also comes in here. The revival of this
ancient method would relieve us of
costly, sometimes ghastly, funerals.
The widow and orphan have too often .
surrendered their slender means to show
what they have been taught to regard
as decent respect to the memory of the
departed in a display of plumes and
scarfs and a pompous funeral ceremony
over the unconscious clay. Lastly, the
danger to the living of standing upon
damp soil, and often with uncovered
head, in inclement weather: not a few
deaths are traceable to paying this last
sad tribute of respect.
Though we are not yet prepared to
dispense with our time-honored custom
of burving our dead out of sight, the
subject has nevertheless assumed such
importance that companies are forming
in England to select suitable localities,
and to make the necessary preparations,.
for the disposal of corpses by crema
tion '.
Apple Trees.—ln 1.000 apple trees,
planted so deeply that an ordinary
spade, thrust square down will not
reach the first roots, not a single case
of bark-bursting or blighting has oc
curred.
The Soaring of Birds.
There are few persons who have not
gazed with interest and admiration upon
birds, especially of the vulture species,
as they move in ascending and descend
ing circles, floating lazily in the upper
atmosphere, apparently without the
slightest effort. Dr. Pettigrew, an
eminent naturalist, thinks, from his
investigations, that the wing during
the act of soaring assumes a spiral
form and a continuous spiral movement
coincided in by a special action of each
separate feather. That the three forces
in flight are the muscular and elastic
force of the wing, thrown,when extended,
into a spiral, the weight of the body
and the recoil of the air. These forces
act, react and combine, thus birds
traverse the serial ocean; the wild goose
drives his train along invisible tracks ;
the albatross and petrel sail through
the tempest undisturbed by its clamor,
and the condor, with his vast pinions,
floats in calm majesty over the lofty
Andes.
An explanation not altogether satis
factory, but better than no explanation
at all.
Diversity of Color.
Physiologists hastily assumed that
in the negro there was a singular net
work beneath the skin which was the
source of his blackness, and they made
this their warrant for separating him
specially from the white race; but
more acute microscopic observation has
proved the existence in all men of that
network —in the white in the temperate
zone, as well as in the black in the tor
rid. It is in man everywhere, and is
susceptible of those subtle influences
which produce different degrees of
color. It contributes to man’s comfort,
and fits him for all climates.
Those Portuguese who have been
long settled in Africa and the East In-
dies, have become perfectly black in
color; so, also, Greeks and Turks are
changing into the dusky and sable.
The Jew, whose invariable identity is
everywhere conspicuous, and w’ho is
everywhere testifying to the truth of
Scripture, as an inhabitant of all lands
( yet with a resting-place in none, repre
sents color in all degrees. In the plain
ofjthe Ganges, his skin is jet black ; in
Syria, he is of a dusky hue ; in Poland,
his hair is light and his complexion
ruddy ; on the Malabar coast, in one
colony—the older—he is black ; in the
other colony —the younger —he is com
paratively fair. “ For 1800 years,”
says Professor Owens, whose authority
none will dispute, “ that race (the Jews)
have been dispersed in different lati
tudes and climates and they have pre
served themselves distinct from inter
mixture with other races of mankind.
! There are some Jews still lingering in
the valley of the Jordan, who have
been oppressed by the successive con
querors of Syria for ages —a low race
of people —and described by trustworthy
travelers as being black as any Ethiopic
races. Others of the Jewish people,
participating in European civilization
and dwelling in the northern nations,
show instances of light complexion,
the blue eyes and fair hair of the Scan
dinavian families. The condition of
the Hebrew since their dispersion, has
not been such as to admit of much ad
mixture by the proselyetism of house
hold slaves. We are thus led to acc.oun
for the difference in color by influence of
climate, withot having to refer them to
i original or special distinctions.
Integrity.—Be and continue poor
while others around you grow rich by
’ fraud and disloyalty ; be without place
or power while others beg their way
upwards; bear the pain of disappointed
hopes while others gain their’s bv flat
. tery ; forego the gracious press of the
hand for which others cringe , and crawl.
Wrap yourself in your own virtue, and
seek a friend and your daily bread, if
vou have in such a course grown gray,
with unblenched honor, bless God and
die. — He intzelm ann.
Reasoning Power of Rats.
An American vessel, on a late voyage,
being greatly infested by these vermin,
the captain prepared a trap by balancing
a barrel head on pivots over the mouth
of a barrel half filled with water. On
the center of this barrel he fastened a
piece of pork. The tilting of the head
as soon as a rat leaped upon it, of
course threw him into the water below,
though quite a number was thus de
stroyed, after a few nights none were
found in the barrel though the bait had
disappeared. The captain, therefore,
set himself to watch, and discovered
that the animals, after a careful survey
of the premises, divided into two par
ties, one of which climbed up on one
side, and placing their fore paws over
the edge, held down that side of the
revolving platform, while the others
crossed from the opposite side, detached
the bait and removed it to the floor for
the benefit of the entire community.
Could human reason farther go?
MisrellanD.
No Moustaches.
In the London Illustrated News col
lection of “curious wills,” it appears
that in one Mr. Henry Budd declared
by his will, proved in 1862, that : “In
case mv son Edward shall wear mous
taches, then the devise hereinbefore
contained in favor of him, his appoint
ees, heirs, and assigns of my said estate
called Pepper Park, shall be void ; and
I devise the same estate to my son
William, his appointees, heirs, and
assigns. And in case my said son
William shall wear moustaches then the
devise hereinbefore contained in favor
of him, his appointees, heirs, and
assigns of my said estate called Twick
enham Park shall be void ; and I de
vise the said estate to my said son
Edward, his appointees, heirs, and
assigns.” Mr. Budd’s example was
followed in April, 1369, by Mr. Flem
ing, an appraiser and upholsterer of
Pimlico, who by his will* gave to the
different men in his emply £lO each;
but those who persisted in wearing the
moustache, £5 only.
Portrait**.
Bishop George would never have his
portrait taken. “If I were -O,” he said,
“it would be engraved and hung in
some good brother’s parlor, and by and
by the good brother would fail in busi
ness or die, and his effects would be
put up for public sale, and the voluble
auctioneer would come across- me in a
pile of household trumpery, and as he
held me suspended by thumb and fin
ger, he would cry, ‘Now, gentlemen,
here’s your chance ! your only chance !
perhops your last chance ’. to buy a
biship ! How much am I bid for a
bishop? Twelve and half cents for a
bishop! only a York shilling for a
Methodist bishop! Do I hear any
more ? Going! going ! gone ! Only
twelve and a half cents, dog cheap for a
Methodist bishop !’ ”
Change** of a Century.
The nineteenth century has witnessed
many and great discoveries.
In 1809, Fulton took out the first
patent for the invention of the steam
boat.
The first steamboat which made a
regular trip across the Atlantic ocean
was the Savannah, in 1819.
The first public application to prac
tical use of gas for illumination was
made in 1802.
In 1813, the streets of London were
for the first time lighted with gas.
In 1813, there was built in Waltham,
Massachusetts, a mill, believed to have
been the first in the wor Id which com
bined all the requirements of making
finished cloth from raw cotton.
In 1790, there were only twenty-five
postoffices in the whole country, and up
to 1837 the rates of postage were twen
ty-five cents for a letter'sent over four
hundred miles.
In 1807, wooden clocks commenced
to be made by machinery. This ushered
in the era of cheap clocks.
About the year 1833, the first railrcad
of any considerable length in the United
States was constructed.
In 1340, the first experiments in
photography were made bv Daguerre. |
About 1840, the first express busi
ness was established.
The anthracite coal business may be
said to have begun in 1820.
In 1836, the patent for the invention
of matches was granted.
In 1845, the first telegram was sent.
Steel pens were introduced for use in
1803.
The first successful trial of a reaper
took place in 1833.
In 1846, Elias Howe obtained a pa
tent for his first sewing machine.
The first successful method of mak
ing vulcanized India rubber was patent
ed in 1839.
Policy.
A celebrated statesman, who con
trived to hold office both under the gov
ernment of Queen Mary the Papist, and
Queen Elizabeth the Protestant, was
asked how he was able to keep place
under the reign of two such opposite
sovereigns. “By always imitating the
willow instead of the oak” was the re
ply. That is, casting aside the oak
like inflexibility of principle, and adopt
ing the willow-like mobility of policy,
he was able to hold his position and re
ceive emolument under both sovereigns.
It is a fact that the real policy-man
invariably sacrifices principle, integrity,
virtue, manliness, when they conflict
with selfish interest. — Maxom.
The August Newman.
The Japanese reply to the card of
Rev. Dr. Newman was sharp enough,
if intended for a retort, to puncture
the hide of a rhinoceros. As is well
well known, that Reverend personage
has been appointed by Gen. Grant in
spector of Consulates, which enables
him to travel round the world at
the expense of tax-payers. While
in Japan, he sought admission to
a criminal court but was refused, where
upon he sent in his card thus : “ Rev.
Dr. J. P. Newman, Chaplain of the
United States Senate and Special Friend
of President Grant.” In reply, the Court
expressed its great grief that there was
no person present of sufficient rank and
dignity to receive such an august Amer
ican.
Woman.
The North German Gazette published
an article the other day with the object
of warning German electors against
permitting themselves to be influenced
in the exercise of their electoral func
tions by the opinions of their wives.
“All the qualities of woman,” says the
organ of Prince Bismark, “are made
to disturb and bewilder the factors of
political life, and to bring misfortune
on the affairs of man.” The cause of
the dread of the weaker sex expressed
by the official journal, lies in the alle
gation that the women of Germany are,
in general, subject to clerical dictation.
Exercise. —Mr. Webster, who was a
great worker, used to say that "he could
do more in six hours than he could in
eight. He meant, that, by rightly
throwing in two hours of exercise in
the open air—fishing in the bay at
Marshfield, or following a trout-brook
at Boscawen —he could make the re
maining six hours of more use than all
the eight together. That system was
the secret of the Greek and Roman
physical training. Physical training
was not a thing for boys alone, but for
men, and, in Sparta, for women also.
No One Perfect.—One day you will
be pleased with a friend, and the next
day disappointed in him. It will be so
to the end ; and you must make up
your mind to it, and not quarrel unless
for very grave cause. Your friend,
you have found out, is not perfect. Nor
are you ; and you cannot expect to get
much more than you give. You must
look for much weakness, foolishness,
and vanity in human nature ; it is un
happy if you are too sharp in seeing
them. — Country Parson.
The Tongue.—The Delaware whip
ping-post is not the only relic of an
cient jurisprudence. There is a law, it
seems, in Maryland providing for the
conviction and punishment of common
scolds—or rather such offenders are
recognized by the common law still in
force in that State ; and a woman in
Baltimore has just been arrested for
malicious volubility. The punishment
is “boring a hole in the tongue.”
The German Parliament adopted a
resolution thanking the people of En
gland, for their recent public demon
strations for the endorsement of the ac
tion of the German Government in its
present conflict with the ecclesiastical
power of the Pope, and the resident
Roman Catholic clergy.