. 0 r, EN. JD. A. WEBSTER. Editor and Proprietor. VOLUME Ti. A Weekly Paper Devoted to Temperance, Literature and Politic. ORANGEBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1875. NUMBER TIMELY TOPICS. Ti IK freedman's Hank ?il Washington I lins commenced pay ?nj: to depositors the j twenty per cont, dividend decided on some weeks ?go. 1 Ci KN. C?ARFIKI.b says that ho intends to move a repeal of thc law incrcai*ing tho postage upon newspapers as soon as con gress as.-e.nd dos. RUSSIA'S part in our exhibition next year may he eainparativoly small, hut it will he interesting all t?ic same. IL will consist ut' products which cannot he du plicated hy any other country, Cor they ure to he conti nod to those which aro pe culiar to her soil ami climate. Til KY have recently had thc seventh annual cat show in tho Crystal Kalace, London. Thc highest priced cat was val ued hy its owner at $50,000. hilt itdidn't got thc first prize. "Tommy Dodd," aged nine years, valued at $?l)t> was thc win ner. There were over live hundred cats exhibited._ TjlKcily of Merlin has but one steam fire engine, thc rest liebig old-fashioned hand machines, and tho water supply is inadequate. Recently an immense new hotel was humed, ami water wits brought in barrels and pumped feebly to thc sec ond story whore there was no lire. At length a heavy rain extinguished thc Hames. WASHINGTON dispatches assert that thc' Commissioner ol' Internal Kovcnue wi!! not recommend any increase ol' tax ation this winter. Tho receipts on wins ky, etc., during the last year haye licen larger than in any year, except 1870, since thc laxes were first imposed, and at thc increased rate they will he still further augmented during the current fiscal year* C'OKKKK drinkers will plea.se remember that tlic crop reports do not holdout any comforting assurances. A falling oil' lias been reported all around. Ol' ?dil Java there is a considerable falling oil". Kio shows a still moro marked diminution, though lhere is some coll?e of thc pre vious crop loft over. Tho islands near Java show a decrease ol' abolit fifty per cont, in production. lr is a significant fact that tho grain trade ol' New York has fallen off this year 18,772,510 bushels as compared with last year, while the delivery at Baltiinorc is greater than las! ?asl. Philadelphia also shows a gain. When our southern rail way system is made what it ought to he, Charleston, Kort Royal and Savannah will export moro grain, Hour and meat than any other Atlantic cities. PKOIM.K who write letters will find in struction in the facts shown in thc report of the dead letter office last year. Some :*?,<; H?,7H7 letters went astray, mainly through carelessness in directing. There was taken out of these letters thc aston ishingly largo sum of $8,500,000. All of ' this was returned to its owners with the . exception of $400,000, which remains as 1 a profit to thc l'ost-oifiec Department. 1 FITZROY, believed to have been (thiel in thc organization ol' thc whiskey ring 1 at St. Louis, went into court Tuesday, I and, to the dismay (d' his counsel, pleaded 1 guilty to all the counts in the indictment 1 against himself. Thorpe, a late store- j keeper, also threw himself bil the mercy of thc court. This action in considered at St. Louis as the most significant epi sode in thc downfall of the once formid able underground organization. -tr-rr A COMPARATIVE analysis of the public debt statement published shows a d? rense in legal tenders during thc last month of $705,000, and in fractional cur rency of SI02,000. Tho Treasury h?l ame increased nearly ?11,000,00(1. Thc live-twenties of 1S(>2 have disappeared from fho interest bearing debt, having boen absorneij by the new fives. The $10,000,000 of 186-1 bonds called in, leave but about $12,000,000'of tlie new lives not taken. There Aro about $9,000,000 of thc now 'ills still outstanding, and they will IK; called in before thc. loth in-t. SAY- an Hug]?sh paper: A sample of condensed milk, weighing about ono liun hundred pounds, was exhibited at thc rooins.pl' the Society of Arts, and an in teresting experiment made I hereon. This mammpivtk piece of "ko! ?lied fluid was prepared by*Hnokc r's ?process. lt had been cxposcirto the action of tho :.i< lor four years and three inrnltlis, ye I ils n u ali ty. was so excellent that in a few minuter il was resolved, by churning, into good fresh butter. This.trial was only one of a series made at thc iiiterna ional Exhibit ion, South Kensin-ton. and elsewhere/ in each case the same satis factory result was obtained. Kl'ILlMXU ??" T?IK HAND UV KI.I/.A COOK. 'Tis \v<-ll ln Hie sam!. " 'Tis ginni tnspeak in Irleniily guise Ami southe, wiicre'er we ititi ; Fair s|Hrctisboulil bimi lite hiiiiuui ininti, Ami 1.ive lin); man to mau. but slop uni at ide gentle wonls; I .el sheep-and sonic of the very best at thal. He lind declared, in his wrath, that he would shout the first stray dog he found prowling around his premises. Un this evening, hy chance, he had been carrying his gun (rom the house to the barn, when the canine intruder appeared, Aye, and in tho bani he had been taking the skin from a valuable sheep which had been killed anti mangled with tigerish ferocity. Sn, when he saw ' he strange dog eoiu ing through his shod, he brought the gun to his shoulder, and, willi quick sure aim, (ired. The deg gave si leap and a howl, and having whittkcd around in ii circle, two or three times, he bounded oil in a tangent, yelping painfully, and was soou lost to sight. "Hallo! what's to pay now, Welton?" "Ah-is that you, Front?" " Yes. been shoolill' soiiiethin,' ai nt ye?" " I've- shot a dug. I i bink.'' " Ve e s. I seed him scoot i ll oil' It was Bracken's, 1 reckon." liefere thc fanner could make any fur ther remark, bis wife called to him from the pnrch, and he went in. Very shortly afterward a hoy and a girl callie out through the shed, as the dog had came. Down hack ol' Wei ton's farm, distant hall a mile, or sn, was a saw and grist mill, with quite a little settlement around it ; and people having occasion to go on font from that sect inn to tho farms on thc hill could cut oft* a lung dis tance hy missing Welton's lot. The lxiy and girl were children nf Mr. Blackett. When they reached linnie they were met by a scene nf dire confu sion. Old Carin, thc grand old New foundland (lng thc loving anti thc loved -the true ?ind the faithful-had come home shut through I bc head, and was lying, The children threw themselves, upon their shaggy mate, and wept and moaned in agony. .Mr. Blackett arrived justas the dog breathed his last. One of thc older boys stood by with a lighted lantern-for it :iad grown tillite dark now-and the larmer saw what bad happened. "Who did this.''' he asked, groan ingly. "John Welton did it," said Tom Frost, coming upai that moment. " He's been losin hiiet:j?, ah' a gUCSS he's gut kind o' wrathv." "But my dog never killed a sheep never! He's been retired to care, for sheen, flow carno he down there?" " Ile went over to the mill with Sis and nie." said thc younger boy, sobbing as he spoke; "and he was running on ahead of us toward home. I heard a gun just before ive pot to Mr. Welton's, but oh! I didn't think he could have shot poor (.'ario!" Mr. Blackett was fairly beside him self. Tn say lie was angry would not express it. Ile loved that doc-il had been thc chief pei ol' his household fur yeats. was not a man in tin* habit of using profane language, but on thc present occasion a fierce oath escaped liim; and in that frame of mind-liter ally boding with lint wrath and indigna tion-he ssliir ted for Wclton'ft. John,Welton and Pete;' Bracket! had been neighbors, from their earliest days, and they had be n friends, tun. Between tthc two families there had been a bond of love and good will, and a spirit of fraternal kindness and regard- had marked their intercourse. Both the farmers were hard-working men, witli strong feelings and positive characterist ics. They belonged to thc same religious society, and sympathised in politics. They hail bad warm discussions; but never yet a direct falling out. Of the two, Welton was the more intellectual, and, perhaps, a little more tinged with pride 1 hiiii was Iiis neighbor. But the; were both hearty men, enjoying life for the gund it gave I hem. Mr. Welton entered his kitchen, and stood the empty gun up behind Ihr door, "What's thc mat ter, John ;" his wife asked. ay she wiw his troubled face. "Fm afraid I've clone a liad Hiing?" lie replied regretfully. " 1 fear I have ?hot Bracken's dog." "Oh, John!" " But I didn't know whose dog it was. I saw lum coining out from thc shed-it was too dark to see more than that it was a dog. I only thought of the sheep I had lost, and I fired." " I am sorry, John. O, how Mrs. Brackctl and thc children will feel. They set everything hy old Carlo. But you ?.an ex putin it." Yes-I can explain it." Half an hour later Mr. Welton was going to his barn with a lighted lantern in his hand. Ile was thinking of the re cent unfortunate occurrence, and was sorely worried and perplexed. What would his neighbor say? He hoped there might bc no trouble. He was reflecting thus when Mr. Brackett ap peared before him, coining up quickly j and stopping with an augrv stump of thc foot. Now there may be a volume of electric influence even in the stamp of a foot, and there was such an influence in the stamp which Blackett gave; and Welton felt it, and braced himself against it. There was, moreover, ntl atmosuherc exhaling from the presence of thc irate man at once repcllant i.nd aggravating. "John Welton! you have shot my dog !" The words were hissed forth hot Iv. V Ves," sahl Welton, icily. " How dared you do it'?" " I dare shoot any dog that conies prowling around my buildings,especially when I have had my sheep killed by them." " But my ?log never troubled your sheep, and you know it." '. I low should 1 know it?" " You know that he never did hann tc a sheep. It wasn't in his nature. It wa.' a mean, cowardly act, and (an oath) you shall suffer for it*!" " Brackett, you don't know to-whom you arc talking." "Oho!" (another oath) "We'll lim out! We'll see! Don't put on airs John Welton. Von ain't a saint. I'l have satisfaction, if I have to take it oui of your hide !" '. Peter, you'd better go home and coo off. Von arc making yourself ridicu lons." > Now, really, this was the u uk indes cul ol' all. Not all the mad wor.ls o Blackett put together were so hard a this single sentence: ami John Weltoi put all the bitter sarcasm of the com maud into it. Braekctt burst forth into a torrent o invectives, ami then turned away. Half an hour later John Welton ac knowlcdged to himself that be had no done exactly right. Had he, in the out set-in answer to Bracket t's first out hurst-told the simple truth-that lu had shot the dog by mistake; that lu was sorry ; and that he was willing to di anything in his |>owcr to make amend -had he done this, his neighbor wouh probably have softened at once. Bul i was too late now. The blow had heel struck ; lu- had been grossly insulted and he would not hack down. Mr. Blackett was not so much reflet live. Ile only felt his wrath, which li nursed to keep it wann. That cvenin he hitched his horse to a joli-wagon an went down to thc village after a ham ol' flour. Having transacted'bis stor business, he called ti poi) Laban L'cppci a lawyer, to whom he narrated the fact of the shooting of his dog. Pepper was a man anxious for fee; He hail no sympathy or soul above tba " Von say your dog was in compan with two of your children ?" " Yes." "And this passage over Mr. Welton laud, and through his shed, has bee freely yielded by him as a right of wa to his neighbors ?" " Yes sir, ever since I can remember. " Then, my dear sir, Welton is clear! liable, if you will come wi h me, v will step into Mr. Garfield's and have suit commenced at once." Mr. Garfield was thc trial justice. All this happened on Friday cvenin On Saturday it had become noise abroad in .thc fanning district that the was not 'only serious trouble bet wei neighbors Welton anil Brackett but th; they were going IjD law about it. On Sunday morning John Welt? tobi his wife ho would not attend chute She could go if she liked. She had i need to ask her husband why he won not go out. She knew he was unliapri and thal he could not bear to meet 1 obi neighbor ju the' house of (?od wh the dark cloud was upon him. Nor il she wish to meet either Mr.or Mrs. Bra< ett. So they both stayed at home. Peter Bracket! was even more misc able than John Welton, though perha he dill not know it. He held in ch companionship thc very worst demon mancan embrace-the demon ofwral ful vengeance; and in order to maint; himself at thc strain to which he bad : his feelings, he was obliged to nurse t monster. Ile did col attend church that ilay, nor did bis wife. Two or tin times during the calm, beautiful S; bath, as he glanced over toward neighbor's dwelling, he found Ililli* beginn ing to wish that lie had not gone see John Welton in such a heal of aug but he put thc wish- away, and nun back his wrath. On .Monday, toward noon, tho eon* hie caine np from thc village, and read John Welton an imposinglegaldoeuinc li was a summons issued by Wm. . '. Brother Welton, have you the heart ami courage to do this'.'" The farmer arose and took two lince turns across the floor; and filially he said : " I will do it ! " On thc following day. towards thc middle of the forenoon. Peter Bracken stood in his door-yard with his head hen.. Ile was thinking whether he should harness Iiis horse and be oil' be fore dinner, or whether he would wait until afternoon. He could not work : he cou?d 'nt even put his mind lo ordinary eho?os. ' I wonder," he said to himself. " how the trial will come out! I s'posc Welton 'Il l ire old Whitman to- take his case. Of Mill rsc tho office ll he crowded. 'I mn Frost .-ays it's noised everywhere, ami that evervbody'll he there. Plague take it! I wish--" His meditations were interrupted h^ approaching steps, and on looking up bc beheld neighbor Welton. ''Good morning, Peter." IJrackett gasped, and finally answered: "Good morning," though rather crust ily. Welton went on, frankly and pleas antly : " You will go to the village to-day? ' " I s'posc so." " I have been summoned by .lustici Garfield to he there, also; hut really Peter, I don't want to go. One of u; will be enough. (iarlield is a fair man anil when he knows the fads he will suddenly "(), p.-haw !" cried Bracken. with stamp of his foot. " Why dont you sp j it oin as it was ? Say 1 minn down o i you so like a hornet thal you hadn't chance to think. I was a blamed lind ! 1 that's what I was." J "Ahil I was another, Poler; ii' I hadn't been I should have (old you thc truth ?it once, instead ol' Haring up. Hut wi- will understand it now. loueiuisec the .1 ustiee-" "Justice he hanged!- .lohn- Dang it all! what's the use: There i-Let's cn 1 it so !" From lier window Mrs. Blackett hail seen the two men come together, and sin trembled for tho result, liv and by she saw her husband, as though Hushed and excited, putout los hand. Mercy! wa: he going to strike his neighborV She was ready to cry out-with affright-thc erv was almost upon her lips-when she beheld a scene that called forth rejoicing instead. Ac ! this was what she saw: She saw those two strong men grasp one another by thc hand, and she saw big, bright liars rolling down their checks: and sin1 knew thai the fearful storm was passed, and that the warm sunshine of luve and tranquility would come again. Arsenic Katers. Al a meeting of thc (?crinan natural philosophers in Vienna. Dr. Knap)) in troduced two arsenic caters from Styria: the one ate .30 grammes of yellow sul phuret ol'arsenic, thc other .10 grammes ol' arsenic acid in sight of the assembly. In his lecture on th?' arsenic eaters Dr. Knapp said, among other things: ''It is difficult tn give any certain particulars as to thc increase in number of arsenic caters. 1 have convinced myself that theil' exist many of them in Upper Styria, and also in Middle Sly ria . very many stable hoys, hostlers, wood cutters, and forest?is, arc known to inc as arsenic eaters ; even Hie female sex is addicted to thc practice. Many began already at seventeen or eighteen years of age lo lake arsenic, and continued il to a great agc. Most arsenic caters keep the mat ter secret, so that it is impossible to give accurate statistics. They all assign as their motive for indulging in the habit that it prevents illness: furthers their wisli to look rosy and healthy ; that it is a remedy against difficulty of breathing; and assists the digestion of indigestible food. A poacher in Upper Styria, who made experiments in my presence of eat ing arsenic,. tobi mc lie bail acquired courage by the habit, 'flic appear;.ncc of thc arsenic eaters in all cases knorrit to mc is healthy and robust. I think only robust persons can become accus tomed to the practice. Some of them al'..lin a great agc. Thus ?ii /.ching I saw a charcoal burner, upward of 7(1, still strong mid hearty, who, I was told, had taken arsenic for more than forty years. I heard, too, of a chamois hunter et!..81, who had long been us"cd to cat arsenic. I never observed an arsenic cachexy in those addicted to thc habit. It certainly happened once that such an arsenic eater (a leather dresser's appren tice in Bigist, l.Xt??), while intoxicated took too much, thereby poisoning him self severely. According to his own ac count he had taken a piece a- large as a hean. 1 lc entirely recovered, however, and ate arsenic af terward, hut more care fully. As far as my observations extend, white arsenic, namely arsenic ac'nl. As. 1)3 (also called flowers of arsenic), and 1 he yellow arsenic, As. S3, (orpiment), arc taken, and that taken ina dry stale, alone; or on bread. The (lose is of trott rsc very small al first, and is gradually in creased, thc largest quantity eaten in my presence by thc poacher in Zeiring being fourteen grammes. A certain Matthew Schober, in I.?gist, atc seven and one-half grammes before me on the 17th of April, ISC;"). The intervals, too, at which ar senic is taken vary-every fortnight, every week, twice or three times a week. But all doubt as to thc existence ol ar senic caters is now removed hy the pres ent experiments." -There is an old lady living in thc town of Zebulon, (?a., who is famous foi an implicit belief in thc truth of every story she tells, without reference to thc impressions she created upon the minds of healers. Shelia! lately lost a cow, and in tel I'm g her neighbor where it was found, said : "You know them pu ll ki ns o'ours.' Well, the vines of theni punk ins they glowed, right itcroat our creek, and they growed so thick and so heavy you could cross on 'cir. just like on a lot. My husband he walked acrost them punkin vines, thiiikin' lo hunt our cow, when he hecred siinthin a ehawinpin an' a chawmpin around him, and he listened to heer what it was, when what do you think? lb' spied one cf them thar piinkins what growed on them vines. :and thar he foui d that our cow had bit inter it on one side, and had gone so fur into it lie ce.,ld:;'l see her tail, but lound ber eulin' her way thro' the other side.-' RUSSIAN IxiUTKritny?.-In I8fiu lins si.i had. one hundred foundries and ma chine shops, and only fifty-two of which were provided with steam. Al tlx.' present time there arc three hundred and sixty-two of these establishments, seven ty-nine ol' which are exclusively occu pied wiih the manufacture of agricultu ral implements. Statistics aie to ham! concerning one hundred and seventy nine .-hops only; t!< 'KC employ 'l(i,f>28 workmen. Ju ISit8 there were two hun dred and twenty-two locomotives made in Ihissia; last year tuc number was i seyen hundred and ninety-eight. A large number of English workmen are employed in Russian engineering shops, but titcy complain of heine: treated us naturalized Russian*subjects; that is to say, their personal rights and liberties are bul little respected. - During a clerical conference the fol owing conversation was heard between Iwo news boys: " I say, .lim, what', thc meaning of so many ministers bein? here altogether?" " Why, answoroi .lim, scornfully, "they ni ways meei omi a j ear to swap sermons " FACTS AX? FAXCIES. -Tho Punch man notice? thal the bald-headed meir comb their head- with towels. - Help somebody woree ort" than your self, ?ind you will feel better ort' than you fancied. -Children should be taught th,x fre quent use of good, strong, expressive words-words that mean exactly what they should express in their proper placer. -" My faith," says Dc Quiney, " is that a great niau may he an infidel, by a rare possibility, hut au intellect ol the highest order must build upon Christianity." I know nut wliv my path should he at time. So straightly hedged, so strangely harrell before, I only kunu find could keep wide tlc' dour, Ibu I can trust. -Young wollum ure advised to .-< t good examples, because young men are always following them. -That writer does the most that gives thc reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time. -ThelMilwaukee Sentinel remarks that 'limes will continue bani as lone: as the ?'J.iino a year inan strives to appear as a 810,000. " - Now put padlocks on your coal-bin doors and graft small powder inagazints into your woodpiles-St' /.unix Globe Denwerat. - lt was observed of a decease.lilaw vcr that he had left hut few elicits; to which a lady remarked that "he had but few causes." -" Jimmy, give us the con- ol' vcr ap ple, will ye?" (Johnny, still eating), " You don't want this, it's a cooking ap ple. I never give a feller a cooking ap plc." - 1 wo hundred and sixty-three years ago Sir Henry Walton said in a letter to a friend: " An ambassador is au honest man sent to lie abroad (or thc good of the commonwealth." -" Bless you." said doini Henry, with tears in his eves, "she takes ber own hair off so easy that perhaps she doesn't know how it hurts to have minc pulled out."-/logion Journal. - bondon Fun-Old party (who st:1 tu iliers, conies in for some ipceacuanidi) "Oh. if you p-plensc, young in-v in,l W-WUlit some ip-ip-ip-ip-" Festive assistant (ired bv recent reminiscence)- - "Hurrah!" -When ti man has been ' ird at work in an obscure way for yea- 1 at length achieves soeces*, ?i?t'-tei!... . . - qHailitancos insult him by offering con gratulations on his "luck." - Hinton TraiisM't/tf, - Loan your motley, deposit your earnings, intrust your wraith as you may hut he sure it i-i not loaned to a "last" borrower, deposited with a "spl rgy" banker or intrusted to a "magnificent and princely" acquaintance. - At an elegant wenn nc: ol recent dale at Lock po rf a very decided position was taken hy the parents Of thc bride in relation to lue custom of wedding gift-*. On one corner of the note of invitation was significantly engraven, "no pres ents." -The reason why a woman requires a large wallet for lite transportation of a twenty-five cent sh i ti plaster i.? as deeply wrapped in mystery as the reason why a dog always turns around three times when he gets up after a nap. - It is the curious logic of sin that its fruit should be no greater than its seed; hut acorns swell lo oaks, and grains to granaries full; ?ml grains of sin grow harvests of the death that deathless spirits know.-Jay. -They do things rather " fast" down in Boston, sometimes. A certificate of marriage was issued in that city a few days ago, to a woman only eighteen years old, who had been married twice before. -An exchange a rt?) rd s thc etymolo gical information that the aboriginal lille of Niagara was " .Awn inga rah ;" which closely accords with the pronunci ation of the world hy the modern Klig lis.li tourist.-Avrit) )ork World. -" Pa, I guess our man Ralph is a good Christ ni n." "How so, my boy?" "Why', pa, I read in thc bible thal the wicked -hall not live out half his days, and Ibilph says he bas lived out ever since he was a little hov." - Moimi Holyoke seminary has sup plied one hundred and fifteen wives for loreign missionaries, the last two grad uating elasses furnishing eighteen ; hut it is impossible to say whether or not .Mount Holyoke bas done well until the missionaries express themselves. -"Tin- first step toward wealth." -ays an exchange, " is thc choice ol' a good wife." " And the first step toward securing a good wife is the possession of good wealth'" .-.ays another. Ihre ive have one of those good rub s .vi.ich works prettily both ways. - ff all thc gold in tile worM were welded into one solid cubic block, one side of thc cubic would measure only twenty-three feet, lt ins': much ?.?' a lump, to be sure, hut we should like to play with it a ?lay or two.- ?Ui? do /.'. pref?. -Dr.. A. W: Saxe recently described before thc California academy of sciences a colossal tree, oin- of a grove discovered in Santa < 'lara county. Its circumference, as actually measured six fee? from Ibo ground, was bul a few inch. - less ?han one hu min d ami fill y feel ; as ov er one hundred feel of the' hq? l ad fallen, it was impossible lo determine thc exact height, though this was probably a'>ou.t three hundred feet! This tree, even in that, laud of vegetable wonders, stands, chief over all, although thc oi lier l ives ill the grove are said to be of immense ??i'?wib