University of South Carolina Libraries
ESTABLISHED IN 1S< WHERE THE MONEY GOES. TWO MILLION OF DOLLARS SPENT EVERY YEAR. Particular* of the Expense of the State Government of South Carolina?Dots for ^Koforiners to Work On?What can be Cat Off? The following article will give the reader the particulars of the expenses of the State government of South Carolina for one year. As tlds is a year of re form and economy the people may from * these facts be able to show where a re duction in our taxes can be made. The total anionnt is nearly one million dol lars. If we add the expenses of the various county governments and the poll and school tax we will have very nearly a total of two million dollars to be raided by taxation for one year alone. We hope some one will be able to point out where a reduction in taxation can be made: governor'S office. Salary of Governor.$3,500 . Salary or Private Secretary.1.500 Salary of Messenger. 400 Contingent fund.4,000 Stationery and stamps. 250 lieutenant governor. Salary of Lieutenant Governor... .$1,000 office secretary ok state. Salarv Secretarv of State.$2,100 Salary, of Clerk.1,500 Contingent fund. 250 Stationary and stamps. 250 office comptroller-general. Salarv of Comptroller-General.. .$2,100 Salary of Clerk..-..1,500 Salary of Bookkeeper.1.500 Contingent fund.,. 300 Stationery and stamps. 250 Printin? blanks. &c,. 200 For examining the books of County Auditors and Treasurers. 000 office state treasurer. ' Salary of State Treasurer.82,100 Salary of Clerk.1,500 Salary of Bookkeeper.1,500 Salary of Boookkeeper loan Depart ment.1,500 Contingent fund. 250 Stationery and stamps.,. 250 state house AND GROUNDS. Salary of Keeper. $500 Salary of Janitor. 160 Salary of Two Watchmen. 800 Bepairing State House. 200 Improvement Stat? House Grounds 200 office attorney general. Salary of Attorney General.$2,100 Salarv of Assistant Attorney Gen eral..-..1.500 Contingent 'fund. 200 Stationery and stamps. 60 Expenses of litigation...4,000 ?TOWTci; s c'l'eki'itendent of educa tion. Salary of Superintendent of Educa tion.$2,100 Salary of Clerk.1:100 Contingent fund. 200 Stationery and Btamps. 150 Books and blauks for public schools 800 Expenses State Board Examiners.. 300 Conducting Normal Institutes... .1,500 adjutant general's office. Salary of Adjutant General.$1,500 Salary of Clerk.1,200 Salary of State Armorer..'.. 500 Salary of Ordnance Sergeant. 400 Contingent fund. 150 Stationery and stamps. 150 Expenses Adjutant General's Office.1,000 Maintaining militia.14.000 Confederate rolls. 500 judiciary department. Salary of Chief Justice.$4.000 Salary of Two Associate Justices 7000 Salary of 8 Circuit Judges.28,000 Salary of 8 Circuit Solicitors.12,500 Salary of Clerk Supreme Court. 1,000 Salary of State Reporter. 1,000 Salary of Librarian Supreme Court 800 Salary of Messenger Supreme Court. 250 .Salary, ot Attendant Supreme Court. 250 Contingent Fund Supreme Court 500 Books Supreme Court... 1,000 State librarian. Salary of State Librarian. $625 Contingent fund. 200 Stationery and stamps.... 200 Purchase Supreme Court Reports.. 450 registration and election. Salaries Supervisors Registration $7,000 Blanks for general election. 800 Books and certificates supervis ors registration. 2,000 Commissioners and managers of election for per diem and mileage 20.000 health department. Salary Health Officer, Charleston $1,$00 Salary of Health Officer Hilton Head. 800 Salarv of Health Officer. St. Hel ena. 800 Salary of Health Officer Oeroge town. 500 Salary of Keeper Lazaretto Hos pital. 400 Buildings at Port Royal. 200 State Bond of Health.3,000 Maintaining Quarantine.1,000 Repairing Keeper's buildings at quarantine station at Charles ton.2,575 penitentiary. Salarv of Superintendent.$2.100 Salary of Phvsician.1.200 Salary of Clerk.1.200 Salary of Captain of guard.1.200 Salary of Chaplain. G00 lunatic asylum. Salarv of Superintendent.93.000 Per diem and mileage of regents.. 2,000 Insurance of buildings. 3,000 Support of.70,000 Purchasing books for patients.... 50 Center building.41.110 Repairs on new building. 700 south carolina university. Salary of librarian. $500 Repairs on buildings. 1.000 Insurance on buildings. 1,000 Support of schools.. ~.15.000 Salary of assistant professor of agriculture.1,700 Col M Clover Jau 1, '8G 59. OI Salary or professor of applied mechauics. 300 Equipping department of applied mechanics. .1,200 south carolina military academy* Insurance Citadel buddings. $400 ! Support of beneficiaries.20,000 deaf. dumb and blind asylum. Support of Dumb and Blind Asylum.810,000 Insurance on buildings. 331 Drainage..".. 200 Purchasing organ. ).,200 catawba indians. Support of Catawba Indians. 8800 legislative department. Per diem, mileage and stationery certificates.$30,000 Pay officers and employees. 5,000 Contingent expenses, Senate.... 400 Contingent expenses, House ot Representatives. 000 Engrossing and enrolling depart ment. 2.500 Public priuting. 15,000 miscellaneous. Civil contingent fund.$1,500 S. C. Agricultural Society.2,500 Columbia water works. 1,000 Repairing executive mansion..... 700 Completing consolidation. 1.000 Harber master, Charleston. 1,100 State board of equalization. 1,000 Muster roll of soldiers of the Revo lution. 300 Artificial limbs.0,000 Interest, consols. 352.790 Deficiencies. 27,028 Agricultural College scrip. 11.508 Claims passed. 3,000 County Auditors' salaries. 21,000 Total amountof State taxes..$032,144. To this must be added the County .axes iland 2 mill school tax. The Agricultural Bureau has an in come from tax on guano of between $20.000 and $30.000. The people pay this tax. the guano companies adding all taxes and expenses to the selling price of their iroods. The expense of the Railroad Com mission has so .far been borne by the railroads. SHOCKING DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. I A Jealous Mail Shoots His wife, and Then Wows Ofl" His Head. New Orleans, April 23.?Early this morning Mrs. William E. Nossen was awakened by her husband, who told her that as they could not live peaceably they had better die together. At the same time he drew a revolver. Mrs. Ncsseu caught his arm, but he fired, the bullet passing through her wrist. Their thirteen-year-old son rush ed in grappled his father's arm, but the second shot took ofl" the boy's finger .and.sent tho bullotjnrto fcfo 'wife's bfea?t inflicting probably- -a'atal wound. Mrs. Nesseu ran screaming from the house, but sank uncouscious to the sidewalk. Her husbaud did not attempt to follow, but going to*, their room removed his false teeth, and placing the muzzle of the revolver in his mouth blew off the top of his head, dying almost instantly. He has frequently accused his wife of infi delity and they had many quarrels in consequence. He leaves ten children, the result of three marriages. The youngest child is 6ix mouths old. Nos sen was sixty-two years of age. His wife is fort}'. Buried in a Sand Bank. QuiNCY, III., April 22.?Eddie and Charlie Kinsmeyer, aged twelve and seven years, and Charlie Kellerbach, aged ten years, disappeared on the 4th of last September. Yesterday a man hauling sand for a foundry was loading his wagon near the river bank, and on lifting his shovel was horrified at finding that he had cut the head from a human body. Upon further ivestigatiou the bodies of three children were exhumed from the sand bank and were identified as those of the missing boys. It is thought that the boys were digging a ! cave in the sand when it caved iu and buried them alive. Kesurreoted from Death. Last week an accideut occurred in this county, the results of which are rather remarkable. Mrs. Barnwcll Akm miss ed her little girl, and after searching some tune found her in a tub of water dead. This was seme time iu the after noon. The body of the little one was taken out and carried in the house, and after night came on life asserted its sway, to the joy of the parents. Our informant states that she was quite ill on Sunday and may yet die from the effects of being in tiie water so long.? Barnesvillc (Ga.) Gazette. Kx-Pre.sident Arthur's Illness. New York, April 22.?There nre I many conflicting rumors in regard to i the illness of ex-President Arthur, but J that prevailing is that he is slowly im | proveing. Mr Sherman W. Kncvels, j his law partner, said last night: "I j have not seen Mr. Arthur lor a few days, ; but have heard from him within the last j twenty-four hours. He is gradually j improving, and I do not think his condi j lion at all serious. I believe that he has : some trouble with his kidneys, but If the j line weather continues we may hope to i see him about soon." Shad by the Thousands. Shad are more abundant in the Calaw I ba River this Spring than they have j been in twenty-live years. There is a I perfect camping ground at the Catawba j Falls, and we are informed that many j people are there night and day. Last i Sunday the traps got so full of shad that I the buzzards Hocked around the traps and ate the fish which had died in the traps by reason of the traps being .so full offish that the water did not cover them.?Chester Bulletin. April 23. EitE?. E. Van Meerbeke, of New York, who is making a tour of the county on a bicycle, passed through Spartanburg a few days ago. He averages thirty-four miles a day; JAlfG-EBTTKGr, S. C, TH1 MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS. A MOTHER TAKES POISON AND BRAINS HER FOUR CHILDREN. One Killed Outright ami None of the Vic tims Kxpected to Live?Repeated At tempts of the Demente?! Wo in an to Com mit Suicide?Says She Killed Her Chil dren to Save them from Hell. Keypobt. 2st. j., April 25.?Mrs. Fannie Smith, the wife of a fanner liv ing about seveu miles South of this place, became Insane'Friday morning, took a dose, of poison and crushed in the heads of four of her childreu with an axe. The youngest child died immediately and the others are not expected to live till morn> mg. Mrs. Smith is also very low aud will probably die. The family consists of J. Monroe Smith, the father, about tifty-five years old; the mother, who is forty-three years of age, and their live children?nineteen, eighteen, thirteen, eleven, seven and four years old respectively. The family retired rather earlier than usual, so Mrs. Smith arose about 5 o'clock in the morning and roused her husband at the same hour. Their break fast had been prepared by a colored wo man who has been in the family's ser vice for years. After eating, Mrs. Smith left her husband in the kitchen, and went out to the hen-house. Mr. Smith followed her in a few moments to a hot house, which was about one. lumdred yards away from the house. In the heu house Mrs". Smith took out of her pocKet a package of Rough on Rats, which she bought ?ud concealed over three years niro. She swallowed a large dose of the p?isou and threw the box away. On her way back to the house she picked up a large axe, which she concealed beneath her dress. Entering the house she went first to the bedchamber of the four-year-old daughter Edna, who was quietly sleep ing. She took the axe from under her dress a?d brought it down with terrible elfect on the child's head. She did this three times until she saw that the little curly head was split open. Then she left and entered the bedroom of her son Rufus, thirteen years old. She struck him three or four blows on the head with the back of her axe, which laid the side of his head open. Next she turned her attention to her eleven-year-old daughter. Bessie, whom she found on her knees praying. The child seemed to know that her turn had come, as she bad witnessed the attack on the others. She lifted up her hands imploringly and begued her mother iu a faltering voice to spare her, but this had no effect on iUMfcfrenried. woman.- for sbfejjNfgfcj^SXe ? cointr-down1' on the poor little child's head with as niucb force as at first, and a moment later her third victim was I)iug on the tioor with her skull fractur ed. A moment later she had struck Alida, another of her children. The sound of the child's voice had reached the ears of Bettic Beldo, the aired colored housekeeper, who ran to the child's assistance up stairs. Mrs. Smith had just completed her bloody work, but she was still In a frenzy ol excitement. Siie turned on the old wo man and raised her axe with the intent I of adding another victim to the list. Bettle turned and ran down stairs, pur sued by the woman, who now began to show her insanity by howling at the top of her voice. Finding that she could not overtake the colored woman, Mrs. Smith threw the blood-stained axe after her. but it struck the wall, and the col ored woman ran out of the house scream ing with terror. The insane woman picked up her fear ful weapon again and retraced her steps up the stairs to the room where her eighteen-year-old daughter was. Tins girl had seen some of the tragedy, had picked up the baby, two years old, aud lied to the apartment for safety. She bad not time to lock the door when her mother, with the axe raised above her head, was upon her. Then a fearful struggle began. The girl knew that her mother meant death, aud all her ener gies were aroused to keep the door fast until assistance would come. She threw her body against the door, while Mrs. Smith struggled to force it in. Finally the brave girl succeeded in turning the key. Then she laid down the baby and hurried away to tell her father of what had occurred, while the mother was try ing to battle down the door with the axe. The girl met her father and Bettic Beldo hastening from the hot-house to the scene of the tragedy. The husband ran up the stairs. The insane woman turned with rage and raised her weapon, but at sight of him she cowered and let it fall nervously to the lloor. Then she fell down herself and grovelled at his feet. Tears sprang into the man's eyes and trickled down his checks as he cried: "Fannie, what made you kill mv chil dred?" Without any apparent sorrow for her terrible work she answered calmly: "Why, Monroe. I was told by God to do so. and I obeyed Iiis commands." Then getting upon her knees and look I ing up into her sorrowful husband's face, she said: '?I know I did wrong, but it was the onlv thing to be done to save them from hell." ? By this Mrs. Smith meant that she j was afraid that the old homestead which |has been in the family for generations I was lo be taken away from them, in i which case the childreu would be thrown ! upon the street and feared that they would become dissolute. In one room lay the body of little Edna cold in death. In another one lay Bessie, the pretty girl that got down upon her kneeus to beg for hie. One of her eyes was cut out where the axe hit her uplifted head. Three of the. fingers of her left band are also missing. Her skull was fractured on the left side. Rufus. the thirteen-year-old boy, was lying beside his sister lu a \h>o\ of blood. JBSl^Y, APBTL 29, 18? His head, like that of Iiis sister, was split open. SHc half awoke from a sort of stupor and asked what was the matter. TwO i Of 'Jus fingers are cut off. Alida, the; remaihhig daughter, was lying in another bed, where she appeared to have been nsleep when she received the blows from the axe. Mr. < {Smith could say nothing. He was completely prostrated by the blow he re ceivedlrom his wife's actions. He beg ged todj?-left aloue with his misery. He wbuldfppeatedly ask how Ins children were, and the doctors would give him verjv^ttle encouragement. Li/J^jL^Mfta never breathed after the axe stracker. The other three child ren are in "a very low condition, and the four'doctors iyho are in attendance fear tliati they wil-.^je dead before morning. Tbevli? halfuuconsciou8, and when they rdlyT^jom- h'ieir stupor their minds wander vand. they begin to mumble in coherently. The doctors cau do noth ing for^hem at present as their skulls are all trashed in. At this writing. 10 P. M^/rthey fear that both the mother and children will die during the night. The iSofeon that Mrs. Smith took ap pears t?fhave just taken ellect upon her r * shells sinking rapidly. tie Edna was buried yesterday I moinhig. Hundreds of people gathered I around, the homestead and the road to ;the cemetery was crowded for an eighth i ota mjie with wagons. At the grave a sad. and impressive sermon was deliver ed by'the clergymau, and when the last wordsfwerc spoken and the coffin was nhout to be concealed, the father an. I his eightjeh-ycar-old daughter, Laura, gave way' tt> their feelings and threw them selves on the ground. The father called upon ..heaven to save his other children from the fate of little Edna. Kind hands placed^, the heart-broken father and claugh^r in their carriages, and they were-'iakeu home to their house of sor row. While- the funeral services were being read'.at-the grave, a far dift'erctit scene was oecurlhg tit the house. Mrs. Smith, who had- noticed the funeral leaving the houses-had sharply watched the move ments^ Mrl S\. H. W illitt,who had been left to,watch her. Noticiug him leave the .room for a moment, she jumped from her bed and made for the closet wherc^.lhe- remainder of the rat poison was stowed away. Sim intended to take anotKe^.dose tor the purpose of ending her life, but Mr. Willitt returned in time to save her. She struggled vainly to get possession of the poisou, but finally had4o?iv,e tip when o\ crpowered. It was tm second time she attempted to j finish the deadly work. During the dead , of-night/, she got up when Mr. Willitt was IHU doze and gamed the stairway. '^filf^SP?^ie. children's^bedchnmber. When she was aTscOvered and brought back. Mr. Willitt sa?l to her: ??Why, Fannie, what do you want up-stairs?" "I want to keep my children from going to hell," she answered "The devil had a hold on me last night aud now he has deserted me, so there is nothing for me to do but to finish my work and meet him in hell." "Regaining her senses again, she asked how the children were aud begged pile ously to see them. She expressed great sorrow for the deed she had done and hoped that God would forgive her. Since Frida}' morning she has not par taken of a particle of nourishment. A litte cold water is all that she asks for or will take." It was only about ten days ago that Mrs. Smith, while on u visit to her uncle, John Eastmoud, at Port Monmouth, said to his wife that if Monroe, meaning her husband, would not take her away, she would do something terrible. Mr. Smith was told of what Iiis wife had said, and asked what he Intended doing. '?Oh, 1 think I am able to take care of her," lie replied. "I always lock our door and hide the key away, so if she wanted to get out she could not." Rufus, the thirteen-year-old son who received three terrible gashes, is entirely I unconscious of what' had happened. When he awoke during the night he lifted his hand to his head and said; "O! that pains me. What did It?" He was told that a log had fallen from the barn and struck him. He appeared to be satisfiied with the explanation, for he sank back into a sort of stupor again. Bessie, the pretty eleven-year-old child who had prayed her mother not to kill her. gamed consciousness during the early morning, and the first thing she said was: "Where is mamma*'" She was told that the physicians had forbidden her to speak, but she insisted on knowing, and when told that her mother was down stairs dying, she said: -?Oh, poor mamma! 1 know she did not mean to hurt me. It was not her fault. I hope she will go where Edna is." In the next room was Lidia. the sev en-year-old daughter, who had three deep gashes in her head. Three of the lingers of her left hand were gone, and her right arm was almost oil". For a few moments at tunes she gains consciousness, and then passes oil'into a semiconscious cou dition. When asked how she felt, she said that her head pained her terribly, and when she attempted to lift her hand a cry of pain escaped from her lips. The suffering of the three poor innocent children is terrible. Prof. G. W. Holmes, Principal of the Keyport Academy, and a relative of the Smiths, said the time twelve years ago that Mrs. Smith had th?s trouble at child birth, --die received a notification from Marcus B. Tay. the lawyer at Keyport. that a mortgage of 82,000 was to he foreclosed. This completely prostrated her. as she had no money to pay off the mortgage. She had hoped to realize enongh from her strawberry crop, but as that was a failure she was completely upset, and that caused her insanity. Don't borrow your neighbor's paper. 16. PRIG EDITORS ON THE WAR PATH. A Street Fight Hut ween the Editors jit Walterboro'. Our streets were thrown into quite a state of excitement on the morning of the 10th iustant, by an encounter be tween the editor ot the Star and the senior editor of the ? Press. The facts I as related by several eye witnesses are j as follows: On the morning of the 15th inst. one day after the issue of tiie Press, at about half-past 7 o'clock in the morn ing as the senior editor of the last named paper was*on his wav to breakfast, and just as he passed the cornor of the street on which is situated the store of Messrs. Terry & Shaffer, his attentiou was arrested by someone hailing. Stop ping to listen he heard footsteps ap proaching from around the corner, and directly the editor of the Star made his appearance, each advanced toward the other, and when they got within speak ing distance the editor of the Star in quired, "Are you responsible for the article which appeard in the last week's Press?" Press answered, "I am." j Whereupon the editor of the Star struck him a blow on the shoulder with his list, which was immediately resented on the part of the editor of the Press by a blow in the face. The editor of the Star then struck his opponent on the shoulder with his walking cane, which was rcsent ,ed by a blow iu the face, as before. Again did the editor of the Star raise his cane, but beforeltho blow descended the Star's editor rolled on the ground, from which position he arose to renew the attack. Canes were now out of the question. ;uid the battle continued in regular listiculf style, and sparring con tinued for a while. The parties then came together, and the representative i of the Press was tripped. J3oth fell together, the Star's editor falling on top. which vantage ground he immediately made use of, striking two or three blows on the face of his opponent with a larije seal rinir. At this juncture the friends of the Star raised its editor up and pre vented the parties from again engaging in the listiculf.?Collctou Press. THE TERRIBLE FIRE AT STRY. Sixty-Eight Bodies Taken From the ltuiii* ?Twenty Deaths From Exposure. Vienna. April 21.?The condition of affairs ut Stry among the people Who lost their homes by the great fire is most pitiable. Most of the victims are with out food or means, and arc rendered desperate by the thought of starvation. Farmers in the vicinity have been visi ted by mobs of men, who have first de manded food, and then, if refused, stole it. Owners of farms are n3W compelled to barricade their houses as the only way to guard them from being plunder ed of food by the mob, which ou account of hunger is becoming uncontrollable. Numerous struggles for food, resulting iu bloodshed have taken place. All the public archives and registers of the city of Stry were lost in the tire. It will be necessary to ask grants of money from the Limberg Diet and* the Reichrath to rcleivc the distress of the thousands of destitute people. The search for the remains of persons who lost their lives during the conflagra tion has been proceeding as rapidly as circumstances would allow. Thus far sixty-eight bodies, charred so as to make recognition difficult, have been taken j from the ruins. There have becu twenty deaths in the lields siucc Sunday of in valids, young aud old who were taken out of towu to escape the flames. Over six hundred houses were destroyed. The Fatal Wedding Party. The fatal ending of the wedding party near Rice Station, Minn., forms one of the saddest features of the wholesale destruction of life and property wrought by the recent cyclone. The party was assembled at the residence of John Schutz, a farmer, to celebrate the wed ding of their daughter. Mamie. The ceremouy was performed about 1 o'clock by the Rev. Otistavus Smith. The after noon was spent iu social enjoyment, and at 4 o'clock the party gathered about the wedding feast. It was a happy as semblage of nearly forty persons, cele brating the bridal festivities of the favorite daughter of the house. The cyclone came, and in the space of live minutes the house was converted into kindling wood and scattered all over the farm. Of the happy party of but a few minutes before, ten were corpses and many other , were injured, several of whom will die. There was not a build ing left in which the few survivors could care for those not past help. The bride groom was killed outright, but'the bride was only injured. The neighbors who had escaped the fury of the cyclone went to the rescue, and the bodies of the dead were taken to the school house at Rice Station. An Editor's Awful Crime. Birmingham, Ala.. April 22.? Thomas W. Ellis, a young man about 2.'? years of age. who a mouth ago began to publish a sensational weekly paper called The "Hornet" a kind of niinaturc Pall Mall Gazette, late last night shot and killed Clara Ross, an inmate of the house of ill-fame. Ellis hurriedly left the house aud, proceeding to a hotel near, be surrendered himself to the officers, not, however, before be had at tempted suicide with the pistol placed at his own head. There were no witnesses to the affair. The woman was found locked in a room shot through the head. Collector Itradley Continued. Washington, April 21.?Among the confirmations made by the Senate to-day was 1). C. Bradley to be Collec tor of Revenue for South Carolina. , This case gave rise to considerable j discussion, Bradley being charged with j mooushiniug predilections. Edmunds i is said to have, led the opposition to I Bradley In person, but he had bceu I favorably reported by the Finance eom | mittee and was confirmed by 27 to 1G. it E $1.50 PEI? ANKTM. I QUESTION OF THE HOUR. CAN LEGISLATION PREVENT LABOR STRIKES? An Open Letter from Ex-President Jef ferson Davis?A Court of Arbitration Suggested as a Solution of a Diflicult Problem. Galvestox, Tex.. April 24.?The following letter from Ex-President Jef ferson Davis, of the Confederate States, to II. \V. Pope, of Marshal, Texas, in which Mr. Davis gives his views as to what legislation might be adopted to bring about harmony and unity of action between capihil and labor, lias just been made public. Beauvoir, Miss., March 2J. 1886. The Hon. H. W. Pope?My Dear Sir: Fully appreciating the compliment con veyed by your request for my views as to what legislation might be adopted to adjust the conflict now going ou between capital and labor, I "r-grot that the compliment is so little merited. The old war between capital aud labor has called forth the best intellects of Europe. It has disturbed commerce, overthrown governments, produced anarchy, and crept from the wreck without solving the problem. With us the contest is in its incipient state and happily it may be that something can be done to check its growth. Self interest and free competi tion 'for labor will, where laborers are abundant, give to the rich the power to oppress the poor. Wc cannot legislate to destroy tiie motive of self-interest, for that lies at the foundation of progress, and our efforts must, theretorc, be direc ted to unifying the interest of labor and capital as far as this may be done by the legislatures of the Stales. The present form or conllict in our country is be tween associated labor and the organiza tion employing it. It is not a sullicient answer to say that the price of labor has advanced, unless it can be shown that the profits moved pari passu with the profits of capital; for in this, as iu other things of comparative welfare, we must consider the relative improvement. The standard of comfort rises propor tionately to the increase of wealth in the country. Your idea of a Court of Ar bitration, I think, luis much to recom mend it. The organization of such a Court, so as to secure equally the confi dence of both the contending parties, would require both liberality and dis cretion, should be based on something like a co-operative principal of industri al partnership, in which the wages of employees should be measured by the profits of the corporation. If iu this manner a community of interest could l>e establised, the welfare and content ment of both would seem to be a possi ble result. "With sincere regard and best wishes for you aud yours, I am your friend, Jefferson Davis." The Work of a Fiend, Atlanta, Ga., April 22.?A wreck er placed a crosstie ou the track of the East Tennessee, Virginia aud Georgia Railroad, near Silver Creek, Tuesday night, then stepped backiu the dark and watched an approaching freight train strike it and roll dowu a ten foot embank ment. One man was instantly killed and another fatally injured. The man who was killed was Thomas Shenan who ! was lircing for his transportation from j Chattanooga to Atlanta. lie was crush j ed and cut to pieces. Letters on his I person show that he was a citizen of ! England. Jack Wright, the engineer, was so badly injured that he will die. Mise Wrinkle, tlie regular fireman, was asleep in the tender. He was not scratched. The engineer saw the ob struction just before he struck it, but was not able to stop the train. The wrecker has not been captured, A Fiendish Murder Confessed. Augusta, April 23.?Preston Valen tine, colored, who was arrested at Low moor, Virginia, and brought to Augus ta, coufessed to the murder of William Vales before the grand jury to-day. j Vales was watchman at the depot of the ; Augusta and Suinmerville Railroad, j Valentine struck him on the head with a I pick, saturated the body with oil and tiicd the buildings. After avoiding ar rest for eighteen months he was finally captured in Virginia. The murder ex cited deep indignation, and fears were entertained that Valentine would be lynched. The law will take its course. The object of the murder was robbery. The Poet Priest Dead. Louisville, Ky.. April 23.?Father j Abrain J. Ryyan, the "Poet Priest of } the South," dieil at the Franciscan Mon j aster}- at St. Bonifacius in tins city to | night. He came here a month ago from J the Catholic institution at Reading, ; near Cincinnati, lie intended to make his retreat here, and finish "The Life of ; Christ," which he had undertaken. He j became ill within a week with organic heart disease and grew steadily worse. I For several days past his mind wandered and he has talked pitifully of his cvent 1 in! life in war days and has preached to j imaginary audiences. Yesterday he passed inton comatose state, from which he never roused. _ Insane From Fright, We learn that Miss Maggie (.'Hue 1 daughter of a respectable citizen, of Ca I harms county, has become insane, and efforts are being' made to secure her ad mittance to an asylum for treatment. . The case is a sad one. Mr. Cliue owns a vicious hull, which has the liberty of a pasture, and a few days since the ynung lady was going through the pasture, I when the hull gave her chase and ran liier across the field. The animal came ' very near overtaking her. and such was the shock to her nerves experienced by ; fright over the occurrence, that her mind j gave way. It is hoped that ti.nc and 'good treatment will effect a complete : restoration of her reason.?Charlotte j Observer.