Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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If /- ; ^ xr . . rw v i . ' _ ' ? - "4i_'r *' ' --: ? VOL. XLIIL WINNSBQRO, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1887. NO. 23. ? -- , - . 'A -__ ? ? ^ THE LAWS OF 1886. A LIST OF THE ACTS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. Xew KailroaUs. >c\v istuiKt aim ->ew nun hh<1 Towns?A Kevietv of the Work of the Legislature. Below will be found a classified list of most of the Acts passed at the recent session of the General Assembly?one hundred and forty-one in number. ^ There were twenty-four public or general Acts, five appropriation Acts and thirtyrsix Acts relating to county affairs. Besides, there were sixteen Acts relating to railroads, twelve to municipal charters, twenty-nine to miscellaneous charters, seven to stock law exemptions, two con stitutional amendments, four relating to k the sale of liquor and six of a miscellane^ ous character. ATPRBOPBIATaOXS. An Act to make appropriations for the fiscal year commencing November 1, J886, An Act to make appropriations for the payment of the per diem and mileage * and stationery certificates of the members of the General Assembly,' the salapes of the subordinate officers and emBfc ployees thereof, and for other purposes A herein named. A Joint Resolution to provide for the payment of the expenses incurred by the board of visitors of the South Carolina Military Academy in repairs of the Cita\ del buildings. W Joint Evolution relating to the serx~'w? of aft/ifnov rrp-npml in tbft rpve nue bond scrip cases. An Act to raise supplies and make apw prbpriations for the' fecal year beginning fe November 2, 1886. B STOCK LAW. B An Act to exempt ceatain portions of Colleton county from the operation of 9r the stock law. J An Act to amend Chapter XXVII of the General Statutes, relating to Uie general stocK law and fencing stock. ^ ' : An Act to exempt certain portions of Bk. Hampton county from the operation of Chapter XXVII of the General Statutes, B relating to the stock law. B'" 1 " 'XJQU<^S LICENSES. W^inAcfc to repeal an Act entitled an Act to prohibit the sale of spirituous or malt liquors within the county of Barnw#?n. ftrmmvftd Dfft^mbpr 21. 1883. ^ An Act to amend an Act entitled an Act to prohibit the sale of spirituous liquors in the town of Union, approved December 26, A. D. 1S84. Apt to submit tho question of license forihe sale of spirituous, malt or intoli^ eating liquors in Anderson and Laurens K counties to the qualified electors thereof, V and providing penalties for the violation or evasion qy attempted evasion of the prohibition 'law if a majority of said electors vote in favor thereof." An Act to authorize the sale of liquor in Berkeley and Beaufort counties. PUBLIC ACTS. An Act to amend an Act prescribing the mode of divesting the right of dower ~is. of insane married woman, ^ Joint .Resolution to extend the time I- fV?A ^rtVAO f Oft rJAAL UiC X-U^iLU Vi LXiC IwAto ivi. tug *;ov.u year commencing November 3, 1885. X An Act to provide for the formation \ of certain corporations under the general \ laws. An Act to regulate the time for collecting taxes by execution or distress. An Act to' punish the stealing of felons and fruit. An Act to create a fund to be designated "The Treasury Reserve Fona," and to provide for. the control of the f same. / An Act to regulate the issuing and service of warrants in criminal eases. An Act to amend Section 618 of the General Statutes of South Carolina, relating to the repairs of highways. An Act to amend an Act entitled '-An "if Act to amend Section 1,830 of the General Statutes, in relation to partition," approved December 26,18S5. An Act to provide for transporting person?convicted to the penitentiary by the penitentiary .guards. An Act to establish the South Carolina Agricultural Farm and Stations. Ail Act to repeal Section 1,040 and to ( amend Section' 1,042, Chapter XX, of f the General Statutes, entitled "Of the Universitv of South Carolina." f An Act to amend Sections 2,236 and 2,237 of the General Statutes in relation to juries. An Act to fix the fee for dieting prisoners in county jails. Act Act to amend Section 1,687 of the General Statutes relating to the hunting + of deer. An Act to amend Section 2,497 of the General Statutes of South Carolina in relation to set-ting lire to grass. An Act to regulate the public printing in this State.' ; ; RALLEOADS. An Act to amend Section 1,476 of the General St&?n$es, as to the running of trains on Sunday. An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act f to incorpoi-ate the Palmetto Railroad Company,' approved December 21, 1882," approved December 26. A. D. 1884. An Act tc confer certain rights upon the Port Rojai and Western Carolina Railway Company, to wit, to mortgage its corporate property and franchises, to extend its railway and to lease connecting railways - An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to incorporate tlie -olackvilie and Alston Ra\lroad Company," approved December 24, 1885. An Act to charter the Yemassee and Walterboro Railroad. An Act to amend an Act to charter the Chester and Camde. Railroad Company. An Act to change the nnme and amend thecharter of the-Chester, Greenwood and Abbeville Railroad Company. An Act to incorporate the Edisto and l ^afflteenches 'Ford Tramway Company. L' Act to amend an Act to incorporfttp. thft "NFftwberrv and XATrrens Railroad Company anil tq validate all Acts and contracts m&le in pursuance of the same. COUXTY ATFAIRS. An Aet to enlarge the boundaries of school district No. 17, Fairfield county, and make two school districts thereof. An Act to amend an Act entitled ".in Act to provide for the establishment of a new school district in the county of Darlington, to be known as the school district of the town of Timmonsviilc, ana to authorize the levy and collection of a special school tax thereon." An Act to reduce the number of trial justices in Kershaw county and make the office a salaried one. An Act to limit, the number of trial justices in certain counties in this State. An Act to prescribe and fix the amount of 'fee bond of the Probate Judge of Wiliiamsburc ccuntv. An'Act to" amend the law in relation to "county comi^is&oneis ?iiid county school commissioners. -1?^ An Act to authorize ami ve- jinr? the * j county commissioners of York count} | to submit to the qualified voters o1 j Broad River township and Bullock ! Creek township the question of trans! ferring the subscription heretofore voted : to the Georgetown and North Carolina i Nor row Gauge Railroad to any othei ' i company after a limited period. ! An Act to create a school district of ; that portion of Barnwell county lying i within the corporate limits of the town | of Barnwell. An Act to prohibit the county comi missioners of York county from granting ! aid to the outside poor except as heroin | provided. An Act to limit the number of tiiui I justices in York county, fis their terri; torial juris, iction, and to provide for ! their compensation, and to provide for i two trial j astices in the city of Spartanj burg. I An Act to authorize the town council j of Winnsboro to issue additional bonds j tor rebuilding and repairing Mount Zion i College. j An Act to authorize the county com; missioners of Ciarendon county to bori row money for building and repairing ! bridges and for the support of the poor, j An Act relating to the reassessment of j real property and the collection of taxes j in certain portions of the counties of j Charleston, Berkeley and Colleton, i An Act to create a new school district {within the township of Barnwell, in ! Barnwell county,- to be known as the "Barnwell Graded School District," and to authorize the levy and collection of a local tax therein. Joint Resolution authorizing and requiring the county school commissioner of Williamsburg county to pay to W. D. Knox his school claim. MUNICIPAL CHAPTERS. An Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the town of Kumphville, in the county of Colleton." approved December 26, A. D. 1885. An Act to alter and amend the charter of the town of Laurens. An Act to amend an Act to incorporate the town of Hampton. An Act to renew and amend the char i cer cx uu? town 01 wannsooro. | Act to amend Section 6 of an Act enr titled "An Act to incorporate the town | of Barnwell," approved -March 1,187S. An Act to oharter the to^n of Yoik! vilie. | An Act to araend the charter of the j bown of Chester, ratified and approvedj December 22,1885. An Act to amend the charter of the town of Kingstree. ! An Act to confer certain powers upon the town council of Hodges in Abbeville county. MtoOBLLAXEOrS CHARTERS. " An Act to. inpoxporate ,the Bamberg ! An Act" to rectiarter ' SjpUey's Ferry j across Big Saluda Biver in ijdgefield ! county. j An Act to charter the Bank of Green| wood. j An Act to charter the Spartanburg ' Encampment Association. An Act to incorporate the Congaree ' Construction Company. | An Act to alfer and amenlittlre^CfcCTter ! of the Young Hen's Loan' aid" Trust 1 Company oi Kock'Hiil, and to change [ the mime thereof. CONSTITUTIONAL AJDESmEEXTS. j An Act to ratify the amendment to i Article II of the Constitution of South j Carolina by adding thereto a section, to | be known as Section 4 thereof, in lieu of | Sections 4 and 5 of said Article as it now j stands. An Act to ratify the amendment to Section 14 of Article 9 of the Constitution of the State. inscEXJOAXEors. At Act to amend Section *181 of the General Statutes of the State of South Corolina, in referen :e to the salary of the Lieutenant-Governor. An Act to provide for the issue of a deficiency bond or stock to Octavius A. White, in satisfaction of the guarantee of the State oil a certain bond of the Spartanburg and Union Railroad Com-! pany. An Act to cancel the matriculation obligations of 0. J. Bond and Thos. P. Harrison to the board of visitors of the Aiilitary Academy and to define the manner in which the said board may hereafter deal with like cases. An Act to allow persons who shall have resided within this State for ten years since the war, ana who have lost their legs or arms or have been- permanently disabled in the less doinrr mili tary service, to obtain the benefits of the Act to provide artificial limbs, kc. Kain an<l the Forest?. Among the popular errors in meteorology mentioned by Professor Abbe on Friday evening at the Franklin Institute lecture is the common belief that the destruction of forests reduces the amount of the rainfall. In this he directly contributes the testimony of the Forestry Association. The Professor stated that a very slight elevation of the surface above the sea level by cosmic changes was the pro"bable cause of any changes which ha > occurred. "He did not refer to the modification or the distribution over the years of rainfall, but merely to its total amount. In this connection it may be noted that the census of the United States in the volume on Social Statistics prints a diagram of the amount of rainfall in Philadelphia for the past xisu j tfUc, acmo tJ-io x Hospital, -which sIiot/s a gradual, but general, increase in the annual precipitation, although it will ' be generally acknowledged that there lias been a great destruction of timber for hundreds of miles about the city in that time.? Philadelphia. Ledger. A Florid Speaker. Senator Daniel, of Virginia, is an | orator of the old Virginia style, intro- i duced by Patrick Henry and transmitted down through sncceeding generations. A specimen of this histrionic elocution was the opening paragraph of" a speech by Mr. ihmiel at Petersburg" during a recent political campaign: "Fellowcitizens of the old Commonwealth of Virginia: X come to you from the fair domain of the mother of statesmen and Presidents. I come from the valley of the Shenandoah, the daughter of the stars. There tiie river flows, whispering to its grassy banks the name of Lee, Lee, Lee! The rivulets, flowing down the mountain side to join the river sweeping to the sea, -whisper the name of Lee, Leo, Lee! And the northern : plains, scimid by 'the fierce' feet of the ! <*r\A nf -trf! iv lr.nk r.ri tht- bln?. overarch ing canopy of Leaven, and call to it softly the name of Lee, Lee, Lee! 1 come from the Eastern Shore, where the blue waves of old osean roll in upon the shining sand", and sun and sea and shore and breeze make glad the eye and heart, and when I ask, What are the wild waves saying? the answer comes, Lee, Lee, Lee!"?Ben. Perley Poore in the Boston Budget. Pigs pt?y beUeFthaa mines for "a steady, business l?e world over; although i>oth" le 'Salted" lifter 1'IXK BOOTS. . A Story of Interest in the Cauite of Taniperance. [ A drunken mac came staggering along village street. As lie reached a corner. be saw a group of boys watching something across the way.' He had not en: tirely lost bis sense?, so be wondered what they found so interesting. V.'ha-a-ar-yer-yer lookin' a-at?" "Well, old fellow," answered Billy Dorr, ' 'we're looking for a beauty to come out of that door over there." "A beau-tie?" "Yes, a beauty; but go on, there is no use o' lingering to see rink Boots; your old, red eyes can't see half acros? he street.*' But the rude boy was mistaken; the red eyes were not quite so blood-shot as usual, and they were looking with as much interest as the younger eyes at Pink Boots, who just then opened the door of the store opposite them and came out Pink Boots was a beautiful girl of ten years, and her hands full of liowers?roses, lilies and carnations. She walked a half dozen or more steps down the walk, and was just stepping into a handsome carriage when another little girl came in sight. For a brief moment the two children stood in strong contrast?Florence Burr, with glowing, happy face, and Celia Hunt, with her pale, distressed one. Florence was dressed in an elaborately embroidered pink cashmere and her feet were encased in beaui i?r? T?I ? mai jfcjiiin ajlu uutouucu wuw?xui xiurence was going to a tea party. She | wore also a broad-brimmed hat with nodding pink plumes. As for Ocl^a, she woro an old faded dress, sc. shai that it revealed he? bruised ankles, which were bare like her feet. An old veil 1 tied about her pinched face did duty as head protector, but no wrap covered her thin shoulders, although one was much needed this chilly day. The carriage drove aw&y "with Florence, and Celia stead gazing after it. Of course the urunken man saw the poor child, so, did the boys. The latter laughed, and Billy Dorr ssid: "I tell you it pays better to sell liquor than it does to drink it. What's vour opinion, Daddy Hunt?" " "Daddy Hunt did not answer; he stood stupidly gazing at his barefooted, weary-faced oMld. "I say, old fellow, did you buy Celia's fall outrit at the same store that Pink Boots' father bought hers?" "Shut up, now, will you? If yon don't, I'll kaoek the breath out of it. '* The drunkard snoke savacrelv and raised his hand to execute Ms threat, when suddenly ? little arm touch his, and a voice said coaxingly: "Come, father.'' The man suffered himself to be led away from the heartless group; cruel Billy dnging after them: "0 father, dear father, come home." It was a long walk to the drunkard's home. Before he reached it, he was sober. "Celia," he said, "wouldn't you like some pink boots?" "No, father, I would not wa?t themi" "Why not?" "They vouldni; correspond with my Ta^sy1"-*!*? said bitterly; "and I wouldn't wear Florence Burr's pink boots if I had silk dresses to wear with them," she added savagely. ?i?Again her father que-itipne.d: ".Why * ' j live; i "Because they were bought with money that ought to liave bought bread and meat for poor starving children and their crying mothers.5' "Who told yo^ so?" "Nobody told me, I found out for myself." "You're a strange child, Celia."' ."Yes, perhaps I am, but I love you, father." And Celia put her cold hand within her father's.* "I don't know how you can," he said, chokingly. "I guess it's because you're my father." was the innocent answer. As father and daughter entered the house, the mother arose, put the sleeping babe in its wretched cradle and said: "Come to supper." Such a supper for a family of sis! Only a part of a stale loaf of bread and some weak tea. The patient weary wife would not have been surprised at her husband had he thrown the bread across the room at the wall and hurled the teapot after it, cursing her at the same; time, | as he had done often before, but she was j surprised when he rose from the table? | just after seating himself?and said huskily, "Eat thi?miserable stuff if you can, poor tilings J i must be gone. He started for the door weak and faint, but determined. His wife followed Mm, beseeching, "Oh! don't go ont again tonight, Fred., don't; the baby is sick, and?" She said no more for with the words : "The little fellow is sick, is he?" the father went back to the cradle, stooped and kissed his infant child for the first time, and arose with tears glistening upon his" eyelashes.-1-~ "I'm not *g9ing out to drink, Man*. Do not be worried ; Til be back by nine o'clock, and if the child should get worse, 'Celia will find me at Sergeant Wright's." "What do you suppose it all means, mother?" asked Celia, as soon as the father was gone. "I don't know, child ; but perhaps it means there is a blessing coming on us all. Pray to God that it may be so." "Mother," said C^lia, ''father asked me this afternoon if X wanted pink boots. What do you think of that?" "It was a strange question, child. I'd be thankful if he'd save enough to buy you some black ones. Your feet are blue with cold." At nice o'clock a face peeped through the little curtainless window cf the kitchen. The eyes saw a desolate picture. It was this: a bare cold-looking room ; a haggard woman bending over a sick babe; a little sad-faced girl fallen asleep on the hard floor while bravely "waiting for father," and two pale-faced boys asleep on a low bed against the wall, tpon the boys' faces were traces of tears, for they were only little fellows of four and six, and had cried themselves to sleep bfr/?Oil CO 4"V? OT7 h ITXYVTT WiAWjr ?t The face moved from the windew. and the man to whom it belonged opened the door and walked in. "Wife," he said, bending down to kiss his wife's worn face for the first time in years, "I've been an idiot and a brute, and I'll not ask you to forgive me tonight. Ill wait until yon them}: God : that I am! 4bj deiia, 'you're waking, child. Florence Burr will never buy any more pink boots with the money that belongs to the little ones. I've been over to Sergeant Wright's, working hard at blacking stoves for four hoursTand while I blackened the stoves he whitened my heart a little. Guci bless him! He paid me, too, a good price and to-morrow I'm to besrin work in his tin shon. "W^ke rm I the poor little boys, Gelia, my dear little ; girL Tell them their father, and not a . unite, has come home, and brought such a supper that they'll shout for joy." The Front Kank Vapor Stove is a very boon to house-keepers. It saves time, money and trouble. See advertisement." / J , 3 I OLD VIRGINIA CHRISTMAS. i I I MEMORIES OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON IX THE DATS BEFORE THE WAR. How the Family Kept "Watch for the Day, and How They Enjoyed It When It Came. (Marlon Ilarland in the Courier-Journal.) I In the davs that are no more, the legal j Thanksgiving day was not known in J Virginia. Nor yet New Year's day, as kept by Knickerbocker burghers. The Twenty-second of February was celebrated by college orations; the Fourth of July given over to political barbecues; Christmas-time was the reservoir into which debouched the flush tide of family, social and national rejoicings. With lofty as with lowly, it was a watch-tower set on the hill, the benign light of which, like the flaming sword guarding Eden, flashed every way. Backward rays from Christmas gone met and mingled with the da-wn of Christmas coming. We began to count the days yet unfulfilled with the reddening of the rock maples. The opening of tbe chinquapin burr; the apple harvest; the fall of the leaf; the change from pucker to sugar m pulp of the persimmons?wertT waymarks, impatiently numbered,4 in the procession 01 rnontns ami wee?s toward the eliminating glory of the - year. Housekeepers commenced preparations for it in sober earnest by -the last -week of November, c~r>ecisliy in the country. The traditions oi ->nr English ancestry told mightily in modeling our habits of life. "C'HBISTjIAS IX TOWN" "was deprecated with a dasli of compassionate contempt by planters and tneir families. They kept open houses at that season with heartiness that looks to us now like bootless extravagance. The premises were set in order early in December as for royal nuptials and court banquets. Mincc-meat was already made, moistened with peach brandy in quantity and quality sufficient to season it against must and mould, then packed down in huge jars, and bladders tied over the mouths. With the first hard frost came "hog killing," providing hams, spare ribs, chimes and sausages of deliciousness inimitable, and to those who never tasted them, unimaginable. Pots of lard, "tried out" into snowy hardness, were ranged on the store-room shelves, destined to furnish hot baths for the broods of summer chickens, cooped up, and fattened on oats and mush. Pens were built for stately turkeys and pompons Muscovy ducks, and the tenants fed as regularly and. bountifully as were the children who hoped to eat them. Later on, oame cake making, never intrusted to the hand of hirelings; fruit cake, with just enough flour wrought into it to hold together the fat and liberal soul; pound cake, into whose manufacture sixteen ounces of each ingredient was righteously compounded; ginger cakes, warranted to keep for mnnflic- cmVp {irwl lpmrvn on.lrps and. irt the List davs of joyous activity, sponge cake. Tr.oldPid and. frosted into snow-balls as big as the fist7ancTo'wing tietrbuoy-{" ant being to eggs and elbow-power, with not so much as a dust of baking powders. English plum pudding was not made in every family. On the threshold of this emprise, diffident housewives and ease-loving cooks paused, dreading and drunted. Only veteran divers, plunging into the depths of ancestral recipes, brought up success and established a culinary reputation vaunted by children and children's children. As December nights grew toward their longest and December days neareil the briefest of the calendar, feather-beds were beaten for ten minutes each, by the flail-like arms of colored housemaids, under the eye of the mispress or her factotum, and provision of blankets, sheets, itc., made for temporary sleeping-places. On a rainy or snowy day, an armful of straw, fastened to the end of a pole, was thrust up the throat of every chimney to burn out the encrusting soot. Hens, incited to the full measure of their duty by arts peculiar to colored poultry keepers, yielded eggs by the hundreds for puddings and pies, with especial reserves for egg-nog. BY CHRISTMAS EVE every pantry was packed to groaning; comets of llame and a galaxy of sparks streamed from the kitchen chimney; every eligible nook held a bed; a dozen young girls with attendant gallants surrounded the drawing-room fire; the play of repartee and compliment, and the ripple of light laughter rose and ebbed to the piano accompaniment responsive to the sweep of white fingers. City guests were always bidden and al -- J._ i-t. - ,, Wtt>S UU1L1U l/U U1C JJlttIJ.UlblV.LI. V-LLLIOI/LLIOO frolic. "Company" was no trouble; hospitality was as natural and easy as breathing". But the holiday reception was the cream of welcome to the visitor. If eight bachelors slept and snicked in "the office" in the yard, and as nn?^j girls occupied the one spare chamber of the homestead, nobody felt crowded. There were plenty of feather beds and blankets, great store of linen heirlooms that required the woar of two generations to make them thin, and big fires burning all nigLit In every apartment for ventilations. Supper would bo served at 8 o'clock, perhaps later. A repast of hot iried or "smothered" chicken, stewed oysters, r I? .1 T J I OUT or live tllim UJL WiU -means, v?aaucs, hot rolls, corn bread in divers shapes, battercakes, wafers?as thin as paper, that yielded crisply to the tc?tli. and stimulated, net satisfied, appetite?damson, meion, peach, quince, strawberry and cherry preserves; home-made cakes, tea, coffee and great pitchers of. milk with all the cream left on, In spite of the luxurious abundance ?* . their menus, the Virginians of that date were seldom gormandizers. There was little tali in well-bred companies of eating and drinking. Sumptuous fare was : ' ?: --t _r i: : accepteu ao a. ptu. b ux uucj r, uauj juyxug, and even high, feasts were never' mere "feeds." If tliey lingerecl QY-e? 'their supper cm this evening'it was in enjoyment ct social converse, not of grosser creature comforts, THE PLANTATION" FIDDLER was ia liis place at the top of the long , drawing-room when the hilarious bevy fluttered hack thither. The poitly host usually led off the first set with the belle of the party, and his wife was sometimes his vis a vis. Churchly elders who had scruples about dentiug u\ general were corded into taking the rioor for this *'onee a year." As the clock struck 12, tney joined nan as in a wiae j circle and sang, "Auld Lang Syne." or, . quite as often, {CPrais$ God from "Whom all Blessings Flow." They were not ashamed to name Him to whom all praise belongs in those brave, simple days?that are no more! One more set I ?the Virginia reel, danced on Christ- [ mas night in the Mother Country to this ! time, under the name of Sir lloger de CoTerley?and the wassail bowl of eggnog was brought in. A toast to the health and happiness r,f present and ah sent friends was drunk, and the girls betoqk themselves to the cheery, crowded chambers overhead, leaving the men to spoke and" folk politics about the drawing-room hearth. Before sunrise every - sleeper on the plantation was aroused by the deafening boom of the "Chriatmae-guii." - A heavy blast o? gunpowder wasf rammed into a hollo fc'.tree and fired atrday break. Detonations of lesser force followed, from logs riddled with augerfwles and stuffed with powder, -gtms, pistols, and "pop crackers,*"" while the outcries of ? ?? -iims-gir my marsier. "unris jh&sgif' my mistis!" tmder windows and . in halls, rivaled the "baksheesh" yells of the Bedowin. Kobodv in that region, and time said "Merry Christmas," but always "Christmas Gift." The strife as to who should get it first was, with children and servants/ a claim upon the liberality of the latter speaker. What was undoubtedly the primal, significance of the greeting was Bolcann and beautiful-?nothing less thaffproclamation of the unspeakable Gift heralded by th?> angels' anthem alx)veL^jfcins of Bethlehem. y^EHOI'IDATilSSX'. -Breakfipt was not over until 10 o'clock, dinner r.^cs served at 2 or 3 o'clock iu the afternoon. Neither soup nor fish was regarded as an essential to the feast. Koast tnrkey at the head of the table was balap_ce?_by boiled tnrkey with oy.'tfer sauce at the^foot. Boast goose, midway between the fovcij_mingle<ifragrant steam with rising incense~orTbiist 'duck on the other side of the castor; chicken, lamb, roast beef and "shoat"?perhaps a sucking pig baked whole?and the inevitable boiled ham, were separated by vegetables, pi-ikles, catsups and sauces. Family silver reflected the sunshine of happy fjces; cut-glass as old answered in silvery chines the tuneful clamor of young voices. The courtly fashion of taking wine together lent individual interest to the revel. - ThVorbane host-was ever on the iooKoui ior wportniiities to sena me decantec alongK vith "Miss A., Mr. B. asks the pleasure of taking a glass of wine with you." Then the graceful lifting of,glasses, the exchange of bows across--1 the > l>oard, the complimentary phrase-frOm one, the smile of acknowledgment from the other?it is all oldfashiofied now, but it was far prettier than thfc customs that have driven them out. | "Ladies and gentlemen!" called out dear old Major A. from the head of the table in the flood-tide of the Christmas wassail, "I crave leave to offer a toast!" His plantation skirted the Appomattox river, which lies between Powhatan and Amelia counties. At his right sat his favorite neighbor, Powhatan L., wbo was betrothed to Amelia C., a Florida belle, not present to-day. "A toast!" repeated the host, rising, mantling tumbler in hand, his eyes brimming with fun and fondness. "I give you?The Appomattox! May it o -i * 1:~ cU xiun, LiJUib XUWiiiiUUi IUIU -n.iiiCJ.Ui may be forever united." THE OLD DAYS BEFORE THE "WAR. Ah! that was the sort of thing they did in the old Virginia days, before war laid thr-ir pleasant places waste: People ; watchea for chances to turn phrases jisua<i^^clv^^^WHfhpcap^u?tie^of auditors. Eleg^tcoiiver.^tion was a popular accomplishment. Now, it :is ; subsidiary to dancing, murdered by : ilirtation. < I have spoken of Christmas week. To 1 limit the festival to a single day would < have been reckoned a maiming of their chief social rite. From one manor-house ro another rolled the gladsome party, ; tarrying by appointment a day at this, i a night at that, talking, dancing, driving, walking, singing, love-making?in such innocency of delight as is possible i to none but the young. Now and then < they danced Virginia reels, quadrilles, i and cotillions (also out of fashion now,) ; on the bare oaken floor of a barn-like : parloi, furnished with uncushioned chairs and thin-legged tables; as the wide, ! rambling house in which they encamped : for a night's frolic was unpainted, win- ; dows and doors had shrunk from the ; casings, and the blaze of the Yule log i riared in drafts pouring in front all quar- ] ters. Sometimes their progress was ' made in rusty shackling chariots, lurch- 1 ing heavily through red mud two feet i deep, and over corduroy roads tha.t : would have shaken old hones from their 1 sockets. Over all and above all, they ] carried the brave, gay spirit that laughs ! at external discomfort; found every- i where gentle breeding and whole-souled ] hospitality, adorning Christmas hospi- : talitv as the flexible sprays of their own < running-cedar the wassail-bowl. 1 ? mm a. - 1 Divorce "Wanted After Fifty Years. j James M. Teagarden, almost eighty 1 years of age, filed suit in the Circuit J Clerk's office vesterday for divorce from his wife, Sarah Teagarden, who is seven- < ty-five, and with whom he has lived for 3 fifty years. To-morrow will be the fiftieth anniversary of their married life, iOa on December 26, 1S36, they were united in a little Ohio village. In 186(3 they removed here, and the aged couple < lived very quietly together, the petition ; says, until a short time ago. The trout J ble commenced by Mrs. Toagarden com- 1 pelling Mr. Teagardea to sleep on the j tirst floor "while she occupied a room on ) the floor above. She did this, he says, 5 with the avowed intention of being pro- ' tected against burglars, but he began to : suspect that at last, after fifty years of companionship, she had grevm tired of '5 him. Finally hie icsjrioions' were sub- i st^ntiated. 6ne morning Mrs. Teagar- < den left the house and never returned ^ again, and now he wants a divorce.? 1 Kansas City (Mo.) Times, liac 24. ] >Irs. June Brown Potter's Tribulations. The lion, or the lioness if you please, of the American colony in Paris is Mrs. i James Brown Potter, of New York, whe < io JLLVJ W <L ill L??V liUUiC VI ilCx lUiOiS, 1 the American Minister lUcL&ne. So t numerous have the calls upon her time i become that she has been compelled to < decline all invitations to dinners or re- j ceptions not given solely in her honor. < It has, of course, annoyed her that this | was unavoidable, but else was the f lady to do? The an thinking Parisians, i careless 6: all save their own enjoyment, ; kept thrusting honor after honor upon ] her, never pausing to think how onerous < even honors become. Then, just to j think, a French* cciaat who met Mrs. \ Potter dttring his visit to America de vote3 a whole ehaj^t? . to her in tlie book j of travels he has just published' IMrs. Potter's lirst "farewell" appearance can 1 not be postponed much longer. The Treacher do* Revolver. ?1 Middletowv Onio. December 28.? . Mrs. Hend rick son, wife of ex-Policeman Hendrickson, while showing a neighbor * List night how she would treat tramps if any molested her, took a revolver from a ' drawer and tired a shot in the air from the door. As she was returning it to the ? drawer, the weapon was again in some way 1 discharged and Mrs. Hendrickson's o-year < <>ld daughter was instantly killed. * ACT* or THE LEGISLATURE. Some Matter* of special Interest to tlie People of tlie State. The foiling Acts are among those passed at the lust session of the Legislature and all relate to matters of special interest: SUNDAY FREIGHT TWAIN'S. Section i,47o of theGeneral Statutes, in relation to running freight trains on Sunday, as amended at the recent session of the Legislature, reads as follows: "It . "u~ i r.,i 2>iiuu uu IUI wi^ittuuua ur persons to run on said day during tlie months of April, ilay, June, July and August trains laden exclusively' with vegetables and fruits, and on said day in any and every month their regular mail trains and such construction trains as maybe rendered necessary by extraordinary emergencies other than those incident to freight or passenger traffic, and such freight trains as may be in transit which can reach their destination by 6 o'clock a. m." Sec. 1,477, reading as follows, remains unchanged: "It shall be lawful for any train running by a schedule made in conformity -with the provisions of this Act, but delayed by accident or other unavoidable circumstance, to run until it reaches the point at which it is usual for it to rest on Sunday." lite ; dp. licenses ix beaufort axd berkeley. An Act to provide for the issuing of license to sell spirituous and intoxicating liquors, ale, malt and wine in Berkeley and Beaufort counties: Section* 1. That from and after the approval of this Act, it may be lawful for the county commissioners of Berkely and Beaufort counties to issue licenses for the sale of spirituous and intoxicating liquors, ale, malt and wine in their respective counties to such persons as may conform to the provisions of this Act. Sec. 2. That before issuing such lt/?*vnc^c ka LU JLUU*3t k/C recommended by six respectable freeholders of the neighborhood ill which the liquor is to be sold, and enter into a bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, -with three good sureties, for the keeping of an orderly house, and for the due observance of ail laws relating to the retailing of spirituous liquors, and must pay to the treasurer of the respective counties* to be applied to general county purposes, the sum of three hundred dollars. All licenses to expire on the 31st of December in each and every year. Sec. 3. That all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act be, and the same is hereby, repealed so far as Berkeley and JBeaufort counties are concerned, except as to the incorporated towns or villages in which the provisions of law as now existing shali remain in force. foreign* ixsu2uxce companies. An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to reguiate the admission of foreign surety companies to do business in this State," approved December 26, 188-i, so far as same affects clerks and officers of banks and banking institutions and railroad companies: Section 1. That an Act entitled "An Act to regulate'the admission of foreign surety companies to do ousiness in tms State," approved December 26,188A, be, and the same is hereby, amended by "STr.2'4. Thermovisions of this Act shall not apply to surety companies so Ear their giving surety for clerks and officers of baniis and banking institutions and railway companies is conserned. THE UNIVERSITY OF S0CTH CAROLINA. An Act to repeal Section 1,0-10 and to amend Section 1,012, Chapter XX, of the General Statutes, entitled "Of the University of South Carolina:" Section 1. That Section 1,042, in f!har>tftr XX. r>f thf? (tp7)Ptti.1 Kfi&fcnu^. sntitled "Of the University of South. Carolina," be amended so as to read as follows: "Section 1,042. Tlie tuition tees shall be forty dollars per annum, which fees shall be deposited in the State treasury and reported to the Legislature annually; and the compensation for room rent, use of library and damigcs to property shall be regulated by the board oi trustees, but shall not be less ten doliars per annum: Provided, 1'hat no tuition i'ecs shall be charged! until after the expiration of the eoilegiite year 1880-87, and that ail tuition fees in the law* department be subject to the disposal of the trustees for the payment oi the salary of the law professor: Provided, further, That the iacilty of the said University may grant beuenciary scholarships, without the payment of iny fees, to such of the compete at and leserving youths ox this State as may be unable to pay the same, and the trustees of the Si?id University shall prescribe such rules and regulations as may be proper to confine the enjoyment of :his privilege to t.iose whose necessities require it. Sec. 2. That Section 1,040 of the Gen 2ral statutes be, and the same is hereby, lepealed." A ScU<>aI-??lrl'fS Sutldc-n liliiuluc*?. A remarkable case of blindness ocjurrel at Alliens a few days since. The students o- tlio Grant University were laving a literary entertainment, and imong those who took part was a Miss lie McL'aine. "When her part on the Programme was reached the young lady stepped forward with a bright smile jegan a beautiful recitation. In the iiidst of the jjeie she was noticed to :alter aiid placed her hands over her eyes ind was led from the stage, when the A t..A ..J 1 utj> uiujjcu ciiiiw jjluu tfuulenly stricken totally l>llud. She was alien through tiiis city yesterday by her :a*ber to Cincinnati to consult an emiiciit oculist.?Chattanooga (Tcnaessee) rimes. Decidedly Wrong. Innovation is tno order of the uav, md some glorious old usages are b jing y'thci' dispensed with or so altered as to c?ork out almost a perfect transforma;ion. Thc.y have not only changed the !. ttoT" rvf iA??AnnrirtiOi i/in l\nf it'att ? ?? V-'X ^UVJiUUViULlVLi, ?' V \ bii v-f^v^ f? tij' :*f spelli ii g. The simp^eai words are being tampered with'.' And now these jrsi.j spelling reformers are trying to persuade people to spoil kiss -with one s. fee attempt will be a failure. Tlie man i svho lifts a finger, so to speal^ io shorten i kiss, v.iil bring upofc himself the hatred of the rising generation. The :endeiicy is rather to add more s's. That is, to make the kiss a yard and a half or two yards long, or as "loxig as a strong young man hold his breath. If the IdsiiuM- spell is shortened, other intringraents will be made, and the nest : thing we hear of will be that wooing : in/I /wnn rr o t>r*. o~?1 -f)>ocd rvfTmv ywAli r I.?, V*. WJ-lVcV i-i-iC3 toapsy-woopsities which make up that blissful dreaming which antedates the union of two soi. 3 with but a single thought, etc., ..'3 be removed from that jnrapturing inertness which preserves the melody of two hearts beating together in one unbroken harmony, and the whole process of love-making vrill be ; consigned to the freezing agenoy of the telephone and earned on at a disgusting fastener. i> e are "agin it," and it; ought, j lo be frowned down. 1 PEfKERTON CAUGHT THEM. ALL EIYE OF THE EXPRESS ROBBERS IX CUSTODY. A >Ia.rvelous Narmtiw of Their Detection Through the Impudence of Ringleader Wit rock in Writing the ".Jim Cnramings'' Letters. (From the Philadelph'a Times.) It is made known through the Pinkerton detectives that they have capturcd and fastened the evidence upon five men, j who were concerned in the robbery of the ' dams Express car on the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad on the night of October 25, thirty-six miles from St. Louis. The most important clue was obtainable through the "Jim Cuminings" letters to a St. Louis paper which were written by Fred Wit-rock, who, with a man named Weaver, both engaged in business in Chicago, were the principals in-the afiair. A portion of the $60,$00 stolen was recovered from the five men, from Witrock's wife and from an innocent stranger, who had in good faith undertaken to hold $4,500 for Witrock. The detectives refuse to say whether Express Messenger Frothinghaxa was concerned in the crime. UAU' TT TV 4 Cr TVAVP XIV^ ?? XX l'.io To-night the Pinkerton detective officials revealed the facts of the arrest of five men for the robbery of the Adams Express car of ?60,000 on the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad on the night of October 25. TLe men under arrest are Frederick Witrcck, who is the author of the "Jim Cummings" letters, and is claimed to be the man who perpetrated the robbery; W. W. Haight, an ex-employee of Express Company, who is supposed to have aided in planning the robbery from his knowledge of the railroad "ran;" Thomas "Weaver, a Chicago laundryman, who was with Witrock before and after the robbery; Edward Kinney, a brother-in-law of Witrock upon whose body was found a considerable portion of tlie express money, and Oscar Cook, who liid Witrock after tlie robbery, and divided the money and mailed tlie "Jim Cummin gs" letters. The detectives have turned up about $15,000 and estimate that from 81:0,000 to ?45,00 is still unaccounted for. The detectives hit on no clue to the robbers until the *'Jim Cummings" kttcr was addressed to the 3t. Louis GlobeDemocrat, and upon this they detected the criminals. First they started to find all the people who had left the service of the Express Company during the year and found W. W. Haiglit, who had been discharged for theft and who had been a messenger between St. Louis and Vinita, Indian Territory, the same run upon which was amployed Frothingham, the messenger in charge of the plundered car. Haight worked in Chicago for Witrock, who kept a coal yard, but left the city on October 27, saying that he was going to Florida. He had been very poor, but suddenly exhibited plenty of money. The next step was the discovery that "Witrockand Weaver left this city on .yctoberi'Z, -wen armed and equipped for hunting, wfiiclithev sai<? was their object in Arkansas, -whither they -were going. "Weaver returned to Chicago October 22, and after the robbery occurred the Cummings letter to the GlobeDemocrat was received and stated that he had gone to a point on the Missouri river, opposite Labadie and floated , down in a skiff. At St. Charles the de- ; tectives found that the two men answer- < ing the description of Witrock and Weaver had bought a skiff on October : 14-, but had gone up the river. USING THE MICROSCOPE. From this point the search reverted to ! the bundle which "Jim Commings:' said : in his letter he had left at the Union Depot, St. Louis, and in it were discov- 1 ered some printed ballads, on one of < which was the address 2108 Chestnut < street, but so faint at. to be only discernible under the microscope. This . was a boarding house in St. Louis kept < by Mrs. Beny, who remembered that 1 men resembling Witrock and Weaver ! \ia/\ Imr Iiaiicd nn 1Q and Weaver left on October 22, saying ; he was going to Kansas City, Witrock i ostensibly following him on tlie evening I of October 2o. j In the rooms the two men had occu- 1 pied were found two stamps correspond- 1 ing to the labels on two valises shipped : to St. Louis from St. Charles, which i proved to be the baggage of the men < who had procured the skiff at St. Charles. Then a watch was set over 1 Witrock and "Weaver's places in Chicago, : and five weeks ago & daughter and son ! of Mrs. Berry came to Chicago identified Weaver as one of the men who had , roomed at their house. Oscar Cook, a 1 close friend of Witrock, was found to ; have gene to, Kansas City, where lie i lived, c,t the house oi a woman named : Oox, but frequently left the city, his ab- i sence being invariably followed by the ; c.rvrwa<rra,ni?** r\? r\-nn v* VMV Vi UJiW ViUJ. VUiii" ? mmgs" letters. A detective ingratiated . himself with Cook and accompAaied him < to gambling houses in the guise of a < friend, Coc? aiways having plenty oi * rr.o^ey. The lookout for Witrock was '> kept up in Chicago without avail until 1 list Tuesday night, when another < "shadov,-," whom the detectives did not ; know, -jid a large man looking like < Witrock entered Witrocks residence, No. 10 JUincoln street Kinney was run- 1 ning the coal yard for him, and having 1 gone to Quincy a detective managed to i - ?w w W *3k.JUOXL^zjr OJLLLLUUXLlx* iog the return of Witrock to Chicago, aad signed by the latter s wife, Rose. "FINDING MAX AND MONEY. "When Kinney returned to Chicago he and Weaver were sees \o, cautiously en- ; tor the Witrqok House, the blincls of which T>"yre eoastantly drawn, although : lights oould be seen inside. On Friday : morning the mysterious shadow came < out of the Witrock Housex as did also ] Kinney, and, after yoking a carefid sur vey, "Witcock appeared. The ineu went 1 south on Lincoln street, showing evident ; alarm ail the vhile; and entered a liquor store kept by an Italian on Madison ' street ne?-.r Lincoln. Robert A. Pinker- 1 ton and two operatives shadowed the place until Kinney went out when they i entered and arrested Witrock after a : sharp straggle. Tha latter attempted to 1 draw a revolver, two of wliicli were found' on L'is person- He protested against the indignity, but he was searched and $110 taken from a red pocketbook found on his person. The shadow ' was searched and $4,500 was found on his person. The shadow turned out to be a young man named George. W. ' Bumham, whom Witrock Lad met in ^ Savannah, Ga. Ho explained that he had come l\orth with Witrock and had ;] Ali- 1-x?.?5- > ?- ** if" oui^owcu me iuLLer s nouse, as wixrocis , hud explained that he had shot a man in Chicago in a row and wanted to escape 'j arrest. He was afterwards released, tthen he had explained to the satisfaction of the detectives that he had no : knowledge of or connection with the ' * robbery. I) ISTRIBUTTXG THE BOODLF. When Kinney reappeared he was searched and $1,000 in loose money was found on his person, while in a belt around iiis waist was found ?4,000 addition;).!. These men were ironed and taken to the Piokerton Agency in a close carriage. A search of the Witrock house resulted in finding a skirt on ilrs. Witrock into which $1,900 was sewed in $50 notes. A bunch of money, $450 in all, was also found on her person, together with 4 carat diamond. Weaver was arrested in the coal yard about the same time, and in the basement of his house was found $3,000 in some frnit jars. The arrest of Cook and Haiglit was then ordered by telegraph. THE OUTLOOK FOK THE BOY. The Optimistic View of His Opportunities To-Day. (From the Shoe and Leather Reporter, Dec. 23.) This is a good age to be born in; the infant of to-day whose life is prolonged to the alloted term will see more wonders than any of Lis predecessors have seen, and if the world continues to progress# ) as fast as it has been progcegs^ during , the past seventy years, the opporhunKes will be before him of a fortunate career. He vrill be in a larger sphere and tinder greater responsibilities, but the more s ?" that is required of him the stronger will be his power of achievement. Men always rise to the occasion. If any wort is to be accomplished, somebody is sure to come forward and take it in hand. No matter how arduous the undertaking, if it is within the scope of human prowess its completion will not be suffered to fail. 1 It may be hindered, thwarted, misdi- jl-< reeled, but in the end it will be successful. Eivalry is the powerful motor by which great enterprises are impelled, and the zeal with which men are competing niiu uuicio lui LJJ.C xurciuusc jjincea ui tlie domain of industry and of art makes the contest for superiority intensely exciting. Everybody wants to be in it; to stay out is to be lost sight of. And so year by year multitudes' of new aspirants are entering the list^the strife for posi- ; tion is increasing^ud the results of the honorable emtilation are exceedingly beneficial. THE PESSIMISTIC VIEW. (Fr-m the Christian. Union, Dec- 23.) Taking all in all, the lot of a boy thrown entirely upon his own resources in this city is little less than hopeless. Even if permitted to live at home, the boy who is forced to go upon the streets or into the factories before he has strenfrth or efJnflfliirvn tn rln cntJi urm-lr io probably doomed to remain an unskilled workman all his life. Every year manufacturing is carried on upon a larger and larger scale, and the division of labor is becoming greater and greater. As a result of this no t only does the gulf between capitalist and labor widen, but there widens with it a gulf between skilled labor and unskilled. The boy who goes. into the factory does not learn the business, cannot lay up capital. The time was when the boy who went in at the bottom could come out at the top. Is. this possible in New York City to-day? The Uleasurement of the Year* The length of the year is sirictly 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 49 seconds -and seven-tenths of a second?the time l-e-1 && nnirp/1 fnr thfi wvnlnHnn nf f.ho forty1 -x round tlie sun. About 45 B. C., Julius Caesar, by the help of Sosigiues, an Alexandnan philosopher, came to a tolerably clear understanding of the length of a year, and decreed that every fourth year should be held to consist of 366 clays for the purpose of absorbing the odd hours. By this rather clumsy arrangement the natural time fell behind the reckoning, as, in reality, a day every fourth year is too much by 11 minutes. 10 seconds and three-tenths oi a second; so it inevitably followed that the beginning of the year moved onward ahead of the point at which it was in the days of Caesar. From the time oi the Council v:aortr a t\ ?i il- -i ^ ujl jui o-u a, u., wubu me vernas equinox fell correctly on the 21st of i March, Pope Gregory found, in 1582 A.. D.. that there had been an over-reckuning to the extent of 10 days, and that the vernal equinox fell on the 11th of March- To correct the past error, decreed that the 5th of October of that . year should be reckoned as the 15th, ind, to keep the year right in future? the overplus being 18 hours 37 minutes ind 10 seconds in a century?he ordered that every centennial year that could not be divided by four (1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200) should not be bissextile, as it otherwise-would be; thus, in short, Iropping the extra day three times every tOO'years. While in Catholic countries Lhe Gregorian style was readily adopted, it wa.s not so in rrotestant nations. In Britain it w;os not adopted until 1752, by which time the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian periods amounted to 11 days. An act of Parliament was passed dictating that the 3d of September that year should be. reckoned the 14th, and that three of every four centennial years should be leap years. 1800 not being a leap year, the new and. old styles now differ 12 days, our 1st of January being equivalent to the 13th aid style. In .Russia alone of Christian countries is the old style retained. The aid style is still retained in the Treasury lccounts of Great Britain. In old times Llic year was held to begin on the 25th if -.lurch, and this usage, or piece of miiquity, is also still observed in the . oraputations of the Chancellor of the British Exchequer. So the first day of :he financial year is the 5th of April, oeing "Old Lady Day."?Boston Journal of education. KEY. THEQ, i. CCYJLEK, D. D. fih Position?O that Wc Had a Million Dr. Cuyler's America "VV'ouI<l be Free. My temperance creed is verj^short, md my course is very straightforward. [ believe in total abstinence from mat- - ^ ing, drinking, offering, or selling any md all intoxicants. I shall fight the irinking usages of society by pulpit, pen, and tougue as long as God gives me Life ; and God's word and His gospel, and the prayers and labors of God's people, ire indispensable helps to our success. Righteous Laws demand a public conscience behind them; cur Society aims to create and quicken that conscience. I abhor all dram-dens, and am ready to joiu hands with all honest prohibitionists, of every party and sect, in all wise efforts to suppress the rum oligarchy. Bread! Bread! Chicago, December 30.?A. Times special from Albany, Texas, says: "The county judges of iite drought-stricken district arc ub mvi V.UUU uuax. x rf^ixvj counties arc* represented. They report an aggregate of 27,900 persons in actual need3~f food and clothing. They will make an official report to-morrow and publish an appeal to the Legislature and ask the en- v iorsement of the Governor. They will also v; make an appeal to charitable people for > ro '?*f " A mail TviiO talks about liimself is SQmerirn^s m fool but seldom a slanderer.