The Fairfield news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1881-1900, July 06, 1887, Image 1
VOL. XLIII. WINNSBORO, S. C., WEDNESDAY. JULY 6, 1887. NO. 49.
WILKES BOOTH'S DEED.
THE ASSASSINATION* OF PRESIDENT
ABRAHAM! LINCOLN".
Andrew Johnsu.-n and Mrs. Snrralt?How j
a Regard for iieligion Might Have Saved 1
Lincoln.
(Anniston, Ala., Hot Blast.)
As the day approaches that marks the
yearly record of Lincoln's death, I find
myself dwelling npon it with more than
usual sadness, because I happen to be
amid the surroundings that framed in
the startling report when it reached me.
It is strange that this free government j
of ours, the crime, which of all others is ;
the outgrowth of despotism, should find !
development. Do extremes meet in this j
way, or may we take this strange ap- j
pearance of assassination as a symptom j
of a deep seated disease that escapes or- j
dinary seeing? Are we, after all, lifted j
above the ills of tyranny in our form of
government, or have we only shifted the
evils of oppression by one, or a few, to
that of the many? Is not the despotism I
of a majority as intolerable as that of j
one man or of a class? Our government I
has developed into one of parties, and, i
while our constitution was framed to}
protect the minority, the unwritten con- 'I
stitution of experience running through |
a century, really proclaims the fact that j
a minority has no rights which the party j
in power is bound to respect. j
It is a little singular, however, that!
our two instances 01 assassination, *
startled the civilized world, were outside
the ordinary run of politics. Booth
struck for the South, then in armed revolt,
and Guiteau killed the President
his party had elected. But these draw
no line and only illustrate the fact that
heated partisanship, uttered in words, is
sure to find active expression from the
insane. Booth's bullet had back of it
Jeff Davis's utterances, while Guiteau's
pistol, fired at Washington, was loaded j
at Utica. .
Of course Jeff Davis, nor Boscoe j
Conkling, ever dreamed of such intents, j
and were undoubtedly shocked and j
pained at the results. The fact remains, I
howtver, and should be a lesson to the ;
leaders to teach them to be more guarded
in their utterances. The wild exaggerations
as to the vital importance of
each political campaign, which we hear
from the stump and read in the press,
are dangerous, for while the masses take j
them at their true value, cranks are I
stirred into devilish activity.
We must remember, too, that for two j
thousand years, poets, orators and pa-;
triots have been singing the praises of j
the assassins?of all popular saints j
Brutus and Charlotte Cordav have been j
and are the most glorified. 'The truth is
that neither was animated by any lofty
impulse or patriotic motive, the fact being
that one was a low sort of a woman
and the other a mean man. Booth and
Guiteau were quite as good as the classic j
pair. Next to setting up a sham as a J
popular idol, the greatest difficulty is to j
pull down again and escape the conse-1
<luences-of our own folly. Good may j
come out of violence done by masses}
when they rise half starved against" op-t
pression, but there is no good in assassination.
There is a difference between
murder and war.
These thoughts, however, are not germane
to what I sat down to write. I
only seek to record some facts connected j
with the awful murder of the great and j
good President.
"When the news of President Lincoln's
t assassination startled the people I was at
nay home, on the ilac-o-chee, Ohio.
While walking along the pike near toward
the village, some two miles distant,
going for my daily mail, I met a
man on horseback, whose sad face struck
me. American farmers have the saddest
faces of all humanity, but this wore a
gloom of unusual depth. Stopping
when near me, he asked if I had heard j
tne news, ana getcmg a response m uie
negative, he continued:
"They do say at Liberty that Lincoln
TQ .
. "Dead?" I repeated.
"Yes; shot dead by a play-actor, or
cireus chap, or some "sort of fellow of
that kind"
I hurried on. I was struck by the
.. silence of the town. Life in the four
years of bloody disasters on our part,
.which were quite as bloody in our year
of victory as they were in our defeats,
had been terribly cheapened in public
estimation. The reports of thousands
left dead upon the' field, or dying in
hospitals, "were received with noisy comment,-it
is true, but yet with a certain
indifference. Here, however, was a
death that commanded grave attention,
and seemed to change the day itself from
one of noisy life to a Sabbath-like stillnessr
The shops were open but deserted,
and around the corners the people
were collected gazing at each other in
silence. Towards noon the country people
began to gather in. They came
directly from home in their ordinary
work clothes, and as returned soldiers,
stimulated by liquor, grew noisy and the
ahvPfttPTiing feeling spread, and during
the day and night, I expected to hear oi
certain obnoxious Democrats, known as
Copperheads, being mobbed and maltreated.
But we escaped all violence,
and in twenty-four hours the excitement
of that sort subsided.
Had political organizations been more
evenly divided at that time the conce.quences
would have been deplorable.
Butlhe Republican party meant then
.the American people at the North, and
popular fury was expended in denunciator
of Jeff "Davis and the rebels, as they
were called. It was generally believed
fhftfc the assassins were agents of the
Confederates, who, failing in the Held,
had resorted to murder to avenge their
Jost cause.
A year afterwards I visited a siape,
I r i firlinj in Maryland, on the route
~taijen by JBooth in his fight from the
vCapitaL The terror excited by the wrath i
of the community yet prevailed, and the
Marylanders, my' relatives included,
spcJkfc cautiously and in sz> undertone of
the. event, and such parts of it as came
xinct^r their immediate observation.
The fury of officials deprived the government
of much valuable evidence that
would have thrown considerable light on
the dark transaction, and while serving
to punish the guilty would have in a
measure protected the innocent. Secretary
Stanton, a man of violent passicnc
and, therefore, when aroused, of blind
prejudice, was aided in his insane fury
by Andrew Johnson, who had reasons
of his own for keeping alive a storm
which prevented too close a scrutiny
into his own past associations and conduct.
The men of infamous class known
as detectives, developed by the war, and
cultivated by the secretary of war and
the secretary of state, where kings and
subordinate officers, were executors under
their own law, and instead of encouraging
an opening of testimony, they j
persecuted all who were supposed to ]
know anything connected with the mur- j
t ?er of Lincoln and the attempted murder j
I
[ of Seward. In this way a poor stage
carpenter, who innocently held Booth's
horse on the night of the assassination
was sent to a living death, and poor Dr.
Ivludd, who treated the broken ankle of
Booth, never dreaming of what caused
the accident, was glad to escape the gallows
in sharing the carpenter's punishment.
Mrs. Surratt, who was found
guilty of keeping a boarding house at
Washington, was hanged?to our national
shame through all time to come.
It was death to any one known to have
seen, let alone associated with Booth,
and in this way mouths were closed in
fear, and consequently a revelation of
the facts suppressed.
This affords a key to the reasons for j
Andrew Johnson's strange, contradicto- j
ry and wild conduct on the occasion.
He out-Eeroded Herod, "which means
Stanton, in his angry denunciation of
men whom he afterwards, when in the
safety of a subsided excitement, strangely
favored. And in this we can lind the
only reasonable solution of his passing
from one extreme to tha other. On one
day he was furious in his demands to
have treason made odious by hanging
the traitors, from JefF Davis down. Not
long after he shifted to the other extreme
that favored general amnesty, and was
remarkable for an equally heated denunciation
of the Radicals at the North
who would recognize Lincoln's mild reconstruction
policy, based on forgiveness
and kind treatment.
President Johnson felt that he was the
only man in all the world who was benefited
by the death of his predecassor,
and haunting him was a fact that strangely
escaped attention at the time.. He
had not only been the boon c ^mpanion
and confidential friend of Booth in times
past, out tiie assassin s cara was iouna
in the "wrong box at Johnson's hotel,
familiarly addressed to the Vice-President,
asking for an interview on the
very day of the night on which the assassination
occurred.
Less evidence than this hanged others,
and Stanton's blind rage and Johnson's
simulated fury saved Andrew Johnson
from a punishment awarded alike to the
innocent and guilty.
Much time and ink have been wasted
over that recommendation to executive
clemency awarded Mrs. Surratt by the
court-martial that condemned her, and
an effort made to have us believe that it
was kept from the President.
The records show that this recommendation
made a part of the proceedings
upon which the" Presider : had to pass.
If this were not so the President was
guilty of .an illegal act. The fact is that
the recommendation to mercy was before
the man who not only dared not
comply with the plea, but, in his fear,
actually hurried up the execution. And
this great advocate of the constitution,
furthermore, refused to recognize the
interference of a civil tribunal that
sought to review the proceedings of a
court-martial, as it had the right to do, .
under a writ of habeas corpus.
Is it possible that Booth had the meeting
with the Vice-President for which he
asked., and if so did he tell the VicePresident
of the awful work he had in
hand? If so, it may be that Andrew ;'
Johnson took this to be the vaporings of ,
a drunkard actor?and it is very likely 1
that his strange conduct came rather
from fear than from the workings of a
guiltv ffispseieasg&i ?-?-?As*Jucge
Advocate of the Extraordi- .
nary Court of Inquiry that sought to in- J
vestigate the military conduct of General .
Bueli, I was brought in close association .
with Andrew Johnson, and what I learn
ed of him on that occasion gives me a ;
better opportunity for forming judgment '
than falls to the lot of the many who (
ascribe all his actions to high patriotic .
impulses. i
It may be that the future historian, '
weighing these facts in an impartial J
mind, will come to the same conclusion ,
that I have in regard to President Johnson.
But this is doubtful. A thought- ,
ful mind has told us that history is the ,
politics of the past and the present, and
politics mean the prejudices and current
beliefs of the people.
I have been struck in this connection
by the remarkable similarity of conduct
on the part of Johnson and that of '
Macbeth. When the murderer of that j
greatest and most perfect tragedy is
brought face to face witlr-his- awful .
crime, he fairly roars in his simulated )
wrath. The grand imagination of the ^
kingly asssassin that has given us some
of the purest expressions of philosophi- -j
cal poetry give place to the miserable
rant of a vulgar mind, Macbeth, how- \
ever, was carrying the murdered Duncan ,
on his conscience, while Johnson was
probably driven to desperation by the 2
yy ivuijv vi ^LLVUL?3VJL<5V1\/JUL viO.C*U JUL?<V?. ^
the same dreadful consequences loom- 1
ing into immediate existiince.
I would rather have been the associate }
of Booth and possessed of his dreadful
secret, if the awful choice were forced *
upon mc, and have been hanged for it, I
than to have lived through years to my j
grave haunted by the thought of that t
poor woman wringing her motherly ^
hands in abject terror upon the scaffold ,
Johnson authorized, or seeing night and j
day that bundle of woman's clothes i
swinging in the hot sun of summer, as
they covered at the end of a rope the j
agonies of death.
"While on a visit to my relatives, above* j
?4- T 1> rtrt /\ + A HrrVl/V 1
rciciiM. lUj i ucdiu ui a niiu ixcvu. j
acted as Booth's guide on the night of the ?
flight, and hunted up the man. I found ]
him a stupid fellow of about 18 or- 20, i
and I got'very little out of him. This (
little, however, was to me very signifl- i
cant, and to my mind threw a light on r
Booth's designs I had never seen sug- <
gesteJ. Tbe hovel in which the boy <
lived had been aroused after midnight ^
and a goodly sum in gold offered for a ?
gpide. The youth, with the consent oi c
his parents, dressed himself, if putting \
on a coat and pair of shoes could be j
dignified with the name, ilcunting a
mule he joined the two and undertook ?
the duty demanded of him. It was hard
work for me to drag information from j
the stolid fellow; but I learned that \
wJule one of the night riders talked non- ]
sense all the time the other said little, {
and that little was given to cursing his
broken leg and somebody for not put- (
ting out the lighis. . "I
The light business took hold of my mind
with a fascinating tenacity that I i
could not shake off. As I worked it out ]
it seeaies to me a key to the mystery
that enveloped all the"work of th& "assassin
on that 'terrible nighi, but I could
not manage the testimony. "What light
was iL.it which should have been extinguished
aid was not? The actor may j
have been haunted with Othello's soiilo- j
quy, whei'3 he says before Desucmcna's ?
death, "put out the light and then put j
out the light." But it gave no satisfac- t
tory solution to the surmises. <
Years after, while telling the late i
Richard Merrick of this mystery, the ]
eyes of that eloquent and able advocate 1
brightened. When I ended he said, I
"Your negro gave vou the key." The ]
true story of that awful crime came to <
me in my capacity as a lawyer. Booth,
the assassin, who put an end to the life
not only of an able, kind-hearted man, ?
but of all the hopes which the South had j
of an honorable and peaceful settlement <
in the way of reconstruction, had ar- <
f *
ranged with an accomplice to turn off
the gas from the theatre when he (the
accomplice) heard the report of the
pistol. This would have plunged the
theatre into midnight darkness, and in
the terrible fright and confusion the
assassin would have escaped detection.
The fellow relied on, smitten with contrition
at the enormity of the crime or
by fear, failed his chief and fled. In
stead of quietly gaining his horse, and
as quietly riding away undetected and
unsuspected, he had to face the audience
in the full glare of the footlights and
ride desperately, well knowing that the
foot of justice was on liis path.
The lights were not extinguished.
The desperate murderer, in his hasty
flight from the box, caught his spur in
the Hag of our Union that draped the
Vw?-v fail Vvvnlro liie arirl i
to death. The plot was clearly planned
and one can imagine the tumultuous
flight of that crowd, in the darkness that
was to have followed the crime. And
one can realize the desperation and
agony of Booth as he rode off into the
midnight, well knowing that he was recognized,
and that there was no spot on
earth in which he could find hiding and
safety, even ha x not his broken leg deprived
him of every advantage. The
fatal mark of Cain had been imprinted
on him in the full glare of his familiar
footlights, and that retribution which
dogs the steps of crime was but a question
of time.
The murder occurred on the night of
Good Friday, and had our good and
greatest of Presidents paused to remember
for a moment the belief of a great
majority of Christian humanity, he
would not have been exposed to the
cruelty of the assassin. But "God reigns
and the government still lives."
Don Piatt.
Mac-o-chee, Ohio, March 27, 1887.
A NIGHT WITH TRAIN ROBBERS.
A Drummer's Experience vritli Texas Outlaws.
CFrom the Atlanta Constitution.)
"Has the morning paper anything
about the crpture of those Texas train
robbers?" said a guest at the Kimball
yesterday morning to his neighbor who
was burying himself in the morning
paper.
"Guess not," was the careless reply.
"I don't see nothing about it."
"Because, you see," said the inquirer,
apologetically, "I feel a little personal
interest in those fellows. I am on my
way back there now, and hope to recognize
some of 'em when I get to the
jails where they have the suspected men
confined."
'Recognize them?" said the newspaper
reader, lowering his paper and looking
curiously at the speaker.
"Yes," he said, touching the top of
his head carelessly.
"I was on the train, and got a pretty
rough introduction to them. I don't
care to try the experience again, though,
I confess, I would be rather glad to renew
the acquaintance under" other circumstances
if I could recognize them
among the captured men." ;
The paper went down on the table, ;
and the reader and all those seated at
fcbe table were attention.
"You see," lie continued, encouraged
by the intorceiaxL attention, of the yet
breaSasHess group, "it -was in the
night, and we had all retired in the
sleeping car. After we passed San Antonio
on the "way to Fort Worth I dropped
off to sleep. The nest thing I knew
I was awakened by loud voices. I found i
the car dark and the train still. I soon
discovered by the talk that the occupants (
oi the berths just adjoining me were be- i
ing robbed. I tumbled at once to the i
situation and began to hustle to hide my
money and watch. I was just in the act I
Df slipping them under the mattress i
when I heard one of the robbers say, 1
'Kip it open,' which showed that they
were doing their work leisurely and j
thoroughly. So I concluded it was use- i
less to hide it there. I reached over by ]
the window and found a little crack just <
it the side of the bed and I shoved my 1
watch and roll of bills down there. Then
[ slipped my pants under the pillow to ]
jive the robbers a chance to go through |
;hem. There were a couple of silver !
lollars and some change in the pocket, j
Tnot oo T rli/l tWs ViATCAtrot- if
x> me that if they found so little as that .
iey would think I had more somewhere ]
slse. So I reached over and pulled a ,
oill off my roll and stuck it in the J
pocket, and settled myself as though I j
was asleep. When they came I didn't {
!wake' at first, and when I did I started ]
ip as though-just waked out of a sleep, ,
md asked what was the matter. Then \
me of them hit me whack over the head ]
.vith a revolver and told me to wake up '
md get out vour money in a hurry. I \
nadesome little show-of protest and .
*ave up my little pile in my breeches j
pockets with a good deal of grumbling. ]
the leader, who by the way was a rather ]
line looking fellow, and evidently a person
of good education, said: "Where's
;he rest of it? You're a drummer, ain't
S?ou? You drummers always have plen7
of money!' I said: 'That's where you
ire mistaken, captain. We sell the
joods, but don't collect the bills. We
lever have any money. Now, captain,'
[continued for effect, 'can't you give
ne back those two silver dollars and not
.eave me without absolutely any money?'
;Oh, we are not making change to-night,'
le answered, as he passed on to the next
rictim. As he finished up the car and
iame back he stopped at my berth again
md said: 'How do you feel now, partler
?' I answered that X felt pretty well.
Well, good night,' said he with a laugh,
I hope to meet you again.' When they
s-ent out I pulled, out my watch and roll
md found that I was only out twelve
ioib-TR and a few cents over. Most of
:lie people. on the train lost all their
noney,;watches and diamonds."
"Waild you know the men if yoa
ihouid'see them again?"
"Undoubtedly. They wore no masks
md the lights iney carried enabled me
x> see them distinctly, especially the
eader, and a fine looking fellow he was
:oo.
The gentleman whose rather startling
experiences had furnished the theme for
breakfast table gossip left shortly afterwards
for Texas, where he goes for the
purpose of identifying, if possible, the
nen now under arrest.
How Pale You Are:
Is frequently the exclamation of one lady j
:o .-mother. The fact is pot a pleasant one ]
;o have mention, .but still the act may be a (
dndly one, for it- sets the one addressed to (
linking, apprises her of the fact that she ,
.5 not in good health, and leads her to seek '
i reason therefor. Pallor U slniost always J
lttendant upon the first stages of consurap- 1
rloii. The system is enfeebled, and the !
Dlood is impoverished. Dr. Pierce's
Golden Medical Discovery" will act as a
:onic upon the system, will enrich the im- 1
poverished blocd, and restore roses to the <
:heek. (
As a matter of Interest te musical circles, ]
ays the Omaha gerald,- it must be stated :
:hat in the West a Salvation Army corps is ;
surer of three meals a day than a grand
Dpera company is. 1
A GRIZZLED STRANGER.
HE TELLS HOW HE MADE A MILE A
MINUTE OX HOKSEIJACK.
His Race Over the Devil's Track--Why He
Felt Inclined to Make Such Good Time.
(From the New York Sun.)
"I've made a mile a minute on horseback,
in the saddle."
As a grizzled stranger with a quartzite
pin made this remark, a silence fell upon
the little group of turfmen who sat in
the corridor of the Windsor Hotel, at
Denver, the other evening. The man
who had just told of driving an unrecorded
mile in 2:11 arose deliberately,
brushed the ashes off his cigar, buttoned
bis overcoat, and walked away. "I am
a liar, myself," somebody began.
"Hold on," said the stranger, "this
isn't a he. It's cold, clammy truth, and
I'll back it with money."
"Have you the papers for it?"
"No, nor the judge's affidavits. In
fact, nobody saw it except myself, but if
you will permit me to tell you the circumstances,
I'll leave it to yourself
whether it isn't a fact."
"Blaze away."
The group drew closer. Even the man
who had walked off suspended his conversation
with the hotel clerk and listened
on the quiet. The grizzled straner
removed a section of tobacco from his
mouth and began:
"This happened five years ago^ last
fall. I was living in Leadville at" the
time, but had mining interests that took
me frequently into tne outijing districts
for a radius of perhaps a dozen miles.
These trips I nearly always made on
horseback, on a tough little broncho,
hard mouthed, trained to mountain
roads, and capable of keeping up a jog
trot at a pinch for twenty hours on a
stretch. On the occasion in question I
started very early one clear, cold morning
for a claim I owned on the other
side of the divide, on the slope of what
is called Gold Mountain?vou can find it
by looking on any map. To reach it I
had to first cross Tennessee park and
then wind over a very crooked, tortuous
trail that gradually ascended to a pass
somewhere above Timber Pine. It was
not more than two miles as the crow
flies, but nine by the road, owing to the
frequent zigzagging or tacking made
necessary by the steepness of the range.
"I took things easy, and it was about
noon when I reached the claim, I had
a couple of men at work there, ate din
ner at their cabin, and then went over
fn lnnl- nt, shaft. One has no idea
how rapidly time passes underground,
where everything is dark, and when I
came up I was surprised to find that it
was nearly 4 o'clock, and the shadows of
pimons a hundred yards off had crawled
up to the winaiass. I was annoyed, too^
for there was a suggestion of snow in the
air, and the ride across Tennessee park'
in a storm?well, the less said about it
the better. So I lost no time in getting
into the saddle, and pushed rapidly
ahead toward the pass. I had to go
quite a little distance before I reached
it, and all the time the sky grew graver,
and presently a few flakes began to fall.
I urged the broncho, and finally began
the descent.
"The road beyond the pass led down
a long, straight "incline for about a quarter
of a mile. This took it to the fringes
of timber pine, and then it made a detour
of nearly two miles to get around a
spur of the range. At t?at point I
paused. The idea occurred to me that I
could make a short cut by going directly
over the spur and striking the trail on
the other side. The range was not particularly
steep at this place, but rather
a succession of rough eminences, and the
undertaking did not seem to be accompanied
by danger. A sudden raw wind
iecided me. I turned the broncho off
the road and started.
"The plan appeared the more feasi- ,
ble as I advanced. What looked like
steep ascents at a distance proved to be
gentle ones, and I was soon pretty nearly
across. The spur was well wooded
srith old pine trees, some of which had
rotted as they lay, and on the far side ;
the declivity extended down at an even ,
slope clear to the valley, where big rocks ,
md boulders looked like grains of blast- ,
ing powder, and the road like a tiny :
streak. I remember yet how, between
;he tree tops, I caught a glimpse of the
park with the Arkansas river winding ,
ihrough it, and the whole thing looking
ike some map in my old geography,
rhat was the last thing that impressed
tself on my mind before my horse staggered,
stumbled, plunged a little, and
ihen came down with a crash, first on
lis fore legs and then flat oil Ms belly, ;
lis head down hill. I can't readily de- (
scribe it? but he fell in such a way that
ny right leg, withont being crushed or <
jven much bruised, was twisted in the j
stirrup strap and caught fast.
"Eight here let me stop to explain a ,
circumstance that will enable you to un- j
lerstand the situation. Down in the ,
ralley, at the base of Gold Mountain, j
ffas a sawmill owned by George Lacy, ]
)f Leadville, and extending up from its <
fard, almost to timber line, was what is j
called a log shoot. This is simply a f
V-shaped trough, large enough to hold ,
i good-sized pine trunk, and built solidy
against the face of the mountain. Of
course it has to be straight, or nearly so
permit the logs to slide down without ?
jbstruetion, and use soon* makes the i
nside as smootn as glass, bucn a con- :
;rivance saves a great deal of hauling, ,
:or as the trees are cut, they are dragged
)ver and dumped into the trough, and
50 down to the yard like a streak of 3
ighting. In the course of time," the ,
pressure will driye the trough in pretty !
learly level to the earth. This was the
iase with the Lacy shoot. Moreover, it ,
iad not been used for about a year, and (
pine needles, dead boughs, and other .
rubbisli had in plaqes almost hidden it .
rom sight,. I was well enough acquaint- ,
id with the mountains to know, the in- ,
>tant my broncho fell, that he had (
talked into the old log shoot. I was
lot aware of it at the time, but I think
low that that headlong tumble broke
lis back then and.there, and he never
inew vrhat hurt him.
"It takes a moment for the coolest
[lead to clear itself in times of unlookedfor
peril, and long before that moment
tiad elapsed the broncho and I were on
ra? way tc the valley, going faster at.
3very breath, nothing to stop us, death
ihead, and the devil's own railroad underneath.
I was sitting almost erect in
the saddle. The leather flaps had twistsd
around and Kept my legs from rabbins:
aarainst the side of the trbnffh. bnt '
held me like bands of iron. Even "had
they not, jumping off would have been
aut of the question. I have never been
Dn a toboggan, "but I think that people
who have will understand why I bent all :
my energies to holding on. I did not
Eaint and did not get dizzy; there was a
hideous roaring in my ears, a furious
wind seemed to all of a sudden to tear
up the mountain and suck the breath
out of my mouth, but everything was
deadly clear and distinct. I could see
black. specks grow suddenly into big
pines tod then shoot past me. I could
even see the snow caught in their needles
as they, came whizzing up. Every instant,
through some clearing, I could see
the valley, in a flash, and over it all was
a sickening feeling as though the mountain
was sinking away from me, and I
was plunging out into immeasurable
space. So strong was this that even
now, standing on the solid marble floor,
I can recall the qualm and nausea as all
support seemed to give away, the earth
tip up and let me fall, fall, fall?it felt as
if forever. A mass of rock as large as
this hotel was beneath me. As I looked
it seemed to leap into the air like a bal-1
loon. There was a black line of forest
below. I shot through it as through a
tunrel, and out into the light again. I
tried to shut my eyes. It was impossible
I tried to scream. The air had
turned to stone.
"I have read that when men are about
' to die their lives reel out before them
like a panorama. Mine dida'fc. All I
could think of was the crash, the bloody
mass of man and horse lying somewhere
in the valley, and I remember I was glad
in a wild, crazy kind of w?.y that it
would be all over in an instant and that
it wouldn't hurt me. I knew we must
be nearly there. The trees and rocks
were undistinguishable, when all of a
. sudden-a black mass flew up into my
face. I felt that I was being beaten,
bruised and hurled over and over, and
then everything was still.
"When the moon was well up I came
to myself. I was lying in a snowdrift,
rubbiDg at my head and moaning. After
a longtime 1 crawled a nttie ways, ana
then fell down and cried for my very
helplessness. I must have been a little
flighty, and heaven knows hows how I
found my way to Lacy's mill, a quarter
of a mile beyond; but I did, somehow,
and they carried me in and sent for help.
You see the old timber shoot had fallen
into decay, and some distance above the
yard was a broken place that saved my
life. When we reached it the dead
broncho jumped the trough and the two
of ns went sailing and turning and
cavorting over a field of fresh snow until
we stucfk into a drift about 500 yards
away. The broncho had the worst of
it, eyen there, for he kept on going until
he a truck solid earth. I broke three
ribs and this arm in so many different
places that the doctor wanted to cut it
off and be done with it. What puzzled
the mill men most was that my legs escat>ed.
but the saddle flaps were worn to
fringe and I suppose that explains it.
From the point where I started to the
break was over two miles, and the old
hands there said logs used to make it in
less than two minntes. I had no stop
watch, but I'll back myself against any
log that ever made the trip."
THOSE BATTLE-FLAGS.
Some Pacta About the Captured Banners?
The History of the Confederate Flag.
(Washington Letter to the New York Times.)
When the captured Union flags were
found at Kichmond, there were also with
the rebel archives sent up to Washington
a collection of designs for a Confederate
flag. With the devices were letters
explaining their meaning. But in all,
over 200, there were not above half a
dozen devices without the stars. The
arrangement of the stars made infinite
variety, but through all, the mullet or
five-pointed star was retained, showing
that, desirous as the Confederates were
to get a flag unlike the "yankee" emblem,
the old feeling conld not shake oif
attachment to the stars. And in almost
every letter with a device for the flag,
reference is made to retaining the stars, '
thongh sometimes ignoring the stripes. '
One Confederate wrote: "Let the Yan- '
kees keep their ridiculous tune of 'Yankee
Doodle,' but by all that is sacred do
not let them monopolize the stars and ;
the stripes. You have fought well un- ;
der our glorious banner; could you fight ^
as well under another? Never! Change '
it, improve it, alter it as you will, but
for Heaven's sake keep the stars and
stripes!"
Another said: "Do not give up the '
stars and stripes to the North. It is
ours as fully as it is theirs. * * Keep !
the stripes, keep the azure field, and a i
star for each sovereignty in the constel- !
lauon, ana cnen cusnnguisn it dv a rea ;
cross (the Southern cross) cutting the
stripes at right angles, * * The songs :
of a nation and its flag have a prodigious '
moral influence."
One Confederate alone wrote against ;
the stars and in favor of the stripes. He !
said: "I don't like the cross. It is sig- 3
aificant of Catholic rule and Lad too '
much to do with the machinery of the (
dark ages. The old stars must, I think, \
be abandoned. They belong to the 1
aight. and besides the North will keep !
them." It is nothing with us. Let there ]
be seven stripes, one for each of the <
original States, as the thirteen were fcr '
the original States of the old CoDfedera- :
3j. Let them be vertical instead of '
horizontal." J
One writing wholly in favor of the '
stars, sent his adviee and said: "We still
have a 'star-spangled banner' which is
iear to the people from old associations;
indwe can afford to let tho Yankees
keep the stripas. We are entitled to a
'star-spangled banner,' because the best
poetry in honor of it was composed by J
i Southern man, and the incident which i
occasioned its composition occurred on
Southern soil and reflected honor on
3outhern soldiers." *
The committee of the provisional gov- ,
srnment in their report on a flag and
seal for adoption, confessed they were i
not so much attached to the old flag, and
ieclared it would be inappropriate to ]
"retain the flag of the government from '
which we have withdrawn." The design
recommended by the committee and (
adopted by the provisional government ,
was known as the "Stars and Bars." The
Onion blue in the corner had a circle ?f
seven white. Btars, to represent the seven <
Driginal seceding States. The rest of (
the flag showed three bars, red, white 1
and blue. In 1862 the Confederate gov- ;
ernment as one evidence of absolute ,
severance from the United States, decided
on a new flag. This was the y
Southern cross, finally adopted by the :
Confederate Congress in 1863, and favored
by General Beauregard. It -was ]
first, however, General Joseph E. John- .
ston's battle-flag, he having selected the .
blue spangled saltier upon a red field as ;
his battle ensign. It did not please the
Richmond Examiner, in "which it was
described as a "red field testraddled with
!i loug-iogged white cross." Probably
i,he confusion of the Eebel and Union :
colors at the first battle of ^Manassas led '
to giving up the "stars and bars" by the
former.
On looking over the flags in the war
building I find most of the Confederate
ilags of the Southern Cross device?red
field and blue cross having thirteen
stars. Now and then one shows but
eleven stars, or eight Qno has fifteen
stars. A printed catalogue of these flags
when they .were on exhibition :in the
ordnance museum gives the n amber
placed there at 540. The history of 540
in this catalogue is brief and ends the
list. "No. 540?Rebel battle flag,
f I
brought from Puchmond by Master Tad
Lincoln." President Lincoln's youngest
son was a lad of twelve years when he
went with his father on the memorable
visit to City Point, where General Grant
had his headquarters.
The ordinance museum remains in
Windsors building. Will the Hags be
returned there, and placed where the
public may see them again? I am tcld
that some time ago the secretary of war,
then General Belknap, wished to have
the Confederate flags sent to West
Point aud put in the museum there.
Strong objection was made on the ground
that this would tend to keep alive unpleasant
feelings between the cadets
from the two sections, in exultation on
[ the one side and regret on the other.
Adjutant General Townsend contended
| iiiai tue proper piace ior uie uitgs was
here in tlie war department building.
To return thein to the South would, he
I declared, when that suggestion once
came up, be a direct recognition of the
rights of the rebellious organizations.
C03JE INTO CAMP!
A Letter to the Farmers of the State from
Colonel Duncan.
By invitation the summer meeting of
the society will convene upon the grounds
of the iuter-State farmers' summer encampment
to be held at Spartanburg,
S. C., the first week in August next.
The society will hold its business meeting
on Wednesday, the 3d. The regular
programme of essays and discussions by
the society will take place on Thursday,
the 4th, this day being assigned by the
arranging committee as ihe State Agricultural
and Mechanical Society Day.
As you are aware, it has been our custom
to have a representation of three
delegates from each county. While we
wish to urge upon the members to see
to it that each county sends a delegation
at the same time we call your attention
to the fact that this is a meeting of the
society, and all members are entitled to
be present, and we hope as many will
attend, as possible.
This inter-State farmers' summer encampment
meeting has been so thoroughly
advertised that it is unnecessary :
to say more than to urge as many as
possible' to be present. It will be the
largest concourse of farmers proper that
has ever assembled for the purpose for
which this meeting is organized; it will
be fraught with various matters of ma- <
terial interest to all farmers, and it is
eminently proper, if not absolutely nec- 1
essary, that your society be fuliy repre.sented,
it being the only "simon pure" <
agricultural organization in the State
that has for its object the ciiscussion and .
development of purely agricultural sub
jects, and of matters that apply to the
farmer's every-day life.
it is true we liave the order of the
Patrons of Husbandry, under whose
auspices this farmers' inter-State encampment
is to be held. The Granges
have their social, and educational features,
which carry along with it its lady .
membership, and while we individually
think it the best and most perfect or- '
ganization in all its equipments the farmer
has ever had, yet it has failed to keep
its noia on tne ranK ana me 01 our
fairaers. .
Then we have tiie fanners' movement
organization, which has developed into
an organization whose prime object is to
look after and protect the farmers'" po- (
litical rights, to watch over and see that
such legislation as is necessary for his
interest be secured, and to take charge
of all matters of a like character, which
all will readily acknowledge to be pre- c
eminently proper. But i ,-ver before in
the htstory of our agricultural interest
has these been more need of a vitalizing |
current than at this time. Farmers are :
day by day being aroused to the fact
that they, too, must be progressive.
This is the age of less acres and a greater ;
product from them, improvements in 1
implements, in cultivation, in seeds, and
in all kinds of farm equipments; and where
will the farmers looking for this 1
vitalizing current if not in the State Agricultural
and Mechanical Society? 1
For the past twenty years, since your reorganisation
after the war, your so- *
ciety has been doing a good work, both
u the discussion of agricultural subjects c
it our summer meetings, as well as by a r
general display of things appertaining to t
our calling at our annual State fairs, and
it will be only natural, after all spas- c
iodic efforts are expended, for our s
farmers to turn to your society to in- r
quire wnat is trie news irom tiie agricnl- ^
tural watch tower. Therefore we would
again urge you to be present et the <
Spartanburg meeting. Let the members 1
in each county hold a meeting on salts- 1
day in July, and if not more than a c
delegation of three can attend, let them r
decide upon those and forward the name
co Thomas W. Holloway, Pomaria, S. *
0. We have been in the habit of mak- ing
special rates of transportation for 1
lelegates to our summer meetings, but 1
ihis is one at which there will be so large '
m attendance outside of the society that
sve are using our efforts to get unusually
low rates for all, which will be announced
at an early day.
D. P. Dixcav. President,
Union, June 27, 1S87.
Tlie Cotton Movement,
From ihe Now York Financial Chronicle's
cotton article the following figures
ire gathered relative to the movement of
foe staple during the past week:
The total receipts reached 2,ofri bales,
igainst 3,549 bales last week, 4,032 bales ,
;he previous week, and 7,599 Dales tnree
weeks since; making the total receipts
iince the 1st September, 1886, 5,187,182 i
aales, against 5,247,1S3 bales for the same r
period of 1S85-6, showing a decrease since r
September 1, 1S86, of 60,011 bales.
The exports for the week reach a total c
dI 10,072 bales, of which 3,3S5 were to -j
areat Britain, 1,500 to France, and 5,187 .
jo the rest of the continent. :1
Tho imports into continental ports r
luring the week were 50,000 bales, v
rhese figures indicate a decrease in the
jotton in sight ox 75,785 bales as com- s
pared with the same date of 1886, and {
i decrease of 59,937 bales as compared i,
nrith the corresponding date of 1885.
The receipts from the plantations, %
being the actual movement, not inclua- s
ing the overland receipts nor Southern 1
consumption, of cotton that reached the I
market through the outports for the
Reek were only 1,523 bales. The total c
receipts since the 1st of dentember are 1
5,184,374 bales,
r
"""" t
It is announced that when the Grand 1
Army of the Republic meets in St. Louis i
in the fall at least oOO resolutions will be
r-ffered condemning the President for veto- j
ing the pauper pension bill and for his con- j
nectioa with the captured liags episode. ^
There are <i few Democrats in the Grand ?
Army of the Republic, and it is likely that i
the resolutions will cause some lively de- \
bates. It is worthy of note that the an- \
nouncemcnt concerning the condemnatory (
resolutions confirms the charge that a few j
ambitious Republican leaders are trying to (
make the Grand Army of the Republic a j
huge political machine. (
Here is the Sunday school boy who, i
when asked to stand up and say his verse, 1
did it thus: "Be not overcome of evil, but 1
come it over evil with good.'' i
BRIC-A-BRAC.
a lover's compliment.
lie fondly gazed in her freckled face,
Then an arm he placed about
Her waist, and gave her a fond embrace,
And called her his pretty trout.
Into her face a red flush came
And her eyes with tears grew dim
As she said, "Why call me such a name ?"
' And she turned "her back on him.
"Oh, to praise his girl is a lover's light,"
He said, "and a lovers duty,
And I called you a pretty trout to-night
Because you are a speckled beauty."
I pelief dot flattery vhas der grease dot
makes der wheels of der world turn 'roundt.
One of the most forcible stump orators
that ever took the field is the farmer whose
plough strikes a snag.
The cheapest ridinc is to nieces vou do
not want to visit. The cheapest gocds are
those you do not want to buy.
A baby comes to us on angel's wings,
'out it hangs :he wings up in a dark clcset
when its feet touch the earth.
You can't conyiuce a young man whose
best gu'l has just said "Yes" that this country
is going to wreck and ruin.
AX AGONY OK SUSPENSE.
How's a man his choice to make,
What's a man to say or do?
Lovely girls 'round everywhere;
I don't know, I'm sure; do you?
Faces piquant and forms dainty?
He may hesitate, now mayn't lie?
Sparkling eyes and, oh, how fair,
Rosy cheeks and mouths so sweet,
Fit to make a beggar dare
Beg to guide the cunning feet?
Which, oh. which shall one then take?
A weak mind is like a microscope, which
magnifies trifling things, but cannot receive
great ones.
A greater absurdity cannot be thought of
than a morose, hard-hearted, covetous,
proud, malicious Christian.
The best teachers are those who learn
something new themselves every day, and
are not ashamed to own it.
The man who has the reputation of always
saying just what he thinks is either
8u exceedingly good actor or a fool.
Twenty thousand women of Kansas
failed to vote because, pausing to arrange
their hair and bonnets, the poiis closed before
they got there,
A book agent has had a woman arretted ;
for attacking him with a butcher-kni'e.
Don't judge her too hastily. Perhaps she
didn't know how to fire a shot-gun.
An exchange says some dreams come
L ue. It may be, but our experience goes 1
to show that it' is the kind that is never
d reamed.
AX EARLY CLOSJXG. j
Being as i', was sultry weather
The Flcwers, bent upon impiovemenl,
Came all of one scent together
To star*, an early closing movement.
When es jh and all had had their say
In speeches long, and flowery too,
They all agreed 'twould B?o?quet
To close their buds at half-p^st two.
kins! one Bee was not 0. K.,
lie found too late, unto his sorrow,
vVhen he for honey called that day
iue swjrcs vvere utuseu uuui io-murruw. 3
"I'm the leading lady o! this compapy," :he
remarked, as she took her husband by
:!ie ear. "Yes," he murmured, scaly,
"and I'm the walking gentleman." * j
"I nevali, no neva'a, have the headache, i
chappie." "Now, Oscab, of couise ]
lot; headache is a bwain-distempah, don't ]
;hew know?" ^
"I like to see some poy enjoy himself ?J1
je can, but if he vhas peaking my winlows
instead of my neighbors dot vh:s ,
leeiennt."
There are lots of people wbo m:x their 1
eiigion with business, but forget to Lur i: [
ip well. The business invariably rises to '
,hs top as a result.
The man who is ill because of being ]
iway from home is homesick, and the man ?
vho is ill at home is home sick, too. ]
Some day there will be an office that a "
awyer can't fill, and then the rest of us }
vill fight ourselves to death in order to get it. i
The boy who can claim honesty and so)riety?in
a word, unimpeachable irtegiiiy
-for his inheritance has a great estate to ^
>egin life with. i
There is one peculiarity about base ha11. 1
:rank:sm. It does not confine itself to 1
sen. When either sex get a touch of it ]
hey never recover.
"You musn'tsay 'victuals,' Johnny,'' ex- 1
ilaimed little Edith, with strident ftmpho- 1
is; "you should say 'food;' 'victuals' is 1
yy J cci: J
uui. juuitii jj.au SCCLL lli? JlCUUfcCU
victualler."
The meteorological report for the month j
>f June is as follows: Highest tempera tine
.01,5;.lowest temperaiure 53.5; monthly ?
ange 4S.0; greatest daily range 31.9; least ?
hily range 8.8; mean daily range 21.7; c
ainfall 3.97 inches. s
Gray is the fashionable color of the hour: ^
nearly all the best dresses are made in it, ^
md are often trimmed with plomb or lead 1
;eids and fringe, shining and brilliantly
V ceted like so much jet; with which latter
irnament, by the way, everything is loaded i
his season. x
HAUNTED. f
This iris-tinted shell, c
Is breathing ceaseless! v, c
With mimic surge and swell, i
The music of the sea. e
And so, deep in my heart,
TKot mn/in on nmr\ftf aIiai/ia
JL JUitb J_licfcUU cli-i l-UV/llsl.,
Rings clear while years depart, 1
The music of her voice. i
T
Current Comment. ^
Senator Beck will have a walk over for a ^
hirdterm. Speaker Carlisle has abandoned
ill though of going into the race. ^
Some Republican editors says that Cleve- .
und will not run again, it will not be
k-cossary. He can walk and beat the Rcmblican
candidate.
The recent decision of the Supreme Court *
if the United States has not prevented the
fexas court from upholding the constitu- \
locality of the stale tax on drummers. An ?
ppeal is to be made to the Supreme Cowl %
>1 the United States, and then the matter r
viil be finally settled. e
A. Boston lady, who is now teaching
chool in the South, writes to some friends
a iuassacuuseus as ioiiows: "une rarmot
.now the South by any rapid tour through
t, one must live iu its houses aud hear t
vhat the people think and feel, and under- d
tand "why they think and feel as they do. u
['he South is happier than the North;"pec- ?
>!e here are less restles>; less goaded by e
icmpetition and envy, and there is a purer t
iemocracy, fewer sociallines founded upon c
nere external advantages. The spirit of (
jrotherly love is more obvious here, and a
uueh is real love between themselves. I t
io not even exempt the colored man, for 1 a
ulieve he gets as much sympathy here as (
le does at the North." * r
Twenty divorces were recently granted 1
n one day by a Georgia court, and the peo- ?
)le are beginning to wonder whether the state
can longer point the linger of scorn at ^
mv other State because of the facility with ?
vhich the marriage tie is sundered." The
aws of Georgia leave it within the discre- <
ion of the jury to grant a total or partial c
livorce in case of cruel treatment or habit- *
iai intoxication by either party, and more ?
;ases ore brought into the courts under this
DroYision oi tae iaw man lor ah otner
causes combined. There does not seem to j
De any way of lessening tie number of di- 1
rorces until the law is changed so that some t
hing more than the discretion of the jury ?
shall be required- Detroit Free, Press. i
THE GROWTH OF THE SOUTH.
A 3IOST ENCOURAGING EXHIBIT OF
INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.
Tt iiat Has Been Done in the Sonthern
States in Three Morths?Some Statistics
Tliat Show No Sign of Palsy. t
The Chattanooga Tradesman, at Chattanooga,
has compiled by States a report
of the leading new industries and rail|
road companies organized and projected
during the three months ending June
30. The miscellaneous industries reported
in each State consist partly of
land improvement and development
companies.
ALABAMA.
Agricultural implement factories 3,
brick works Zi, breweries 2, car works 5,
c;gar and tobacco factories 4. cement
works 2, cotton mills 10, compresses 4,
car wheel works I, er giine works 3, electric
ligiiL works 5, elevators 5, furnaces
15, foundries and miicbine shops 17,
flour mil]? 3, fertilizer factory 1, grist
mills 1, ice ia stones 6, locomotive works
1, mines and quarries 19, natural gas,
oil and asphalt 11. oil mills 1, pipe
works 2, rolling mill? S, railroads 13,
sieel plants 2, street ridlwrys 10, shoe
factories 1, water works 6, wood working
establishments 47, miscellaneous 40.
FliOBTDA.
Bilck and tile works 1, cigar factories
1, cotton factories 2, compresses 1, elecJ.-'
1* *i_J- 1__ 4 T -ff c\
iTic ugnt worss i, ifcic.jzer iacwnea &,
Hour mills 1, mines and quarries 4, railroads
14, rice mills 1, saw mills 17, street
railways 2, water works 4, miscellaneous
7."
GEOBGIA.,
Agricultural implement works 6, biick
works 11, bridge woiks 1, car shops 2,
compresses 6, co-t.n and woollen mills
12, electric light works 4, foundries and
machine shops 4, furnaces 4, fertilizer
woi-ks G, flour mi'Is 1- gas works 5, grist
.ri'ls 1, ice factories 2, lime and cement
r-orks 5, mines and quarries 22, oil mills
5, railroads 9, roiling mi! s 1, street railways
15, water works 7, wood works 41,
aiisceraneous 32.
TjSNSESSEE.
Agricultural implement works 2, brick
works 12, cigar and tobacco factories 2,
cotton and woollen mills 3, electric light
works 5, fo?-allies and machine shops
! L, fumac:s 7, flour mills 6, gas works
a, grist in j i is :. ice lactones o, ume anu,
cement woriis 1, nrn6s and quarries 33,
natural gas and oil companies 17, oil
arils 2, railroads 14, rolling mills 1, steel
works 1, street railways 15, smelters 2,
wire works 4, water works 9, wood works
i9, miscellaneous 35.
XOETH CABOLIXA.
Brick works 5, cotton factories 6,
jigar and tobacco factories 13, electric
ight works 2, feiiiiizer works 2, floor
nil Is 5, gi' j c mills 7, ice factories 4,
nines 17, o ' mills 3, railroads 4, street
railways 3, water works 1, wood works
19, miscelleneous 6.
SOUTH CABOLEvA.
Brick works 3, cotton mills 13, electric
ight works 1, fertilizer works L floor
-mils 1, gas works 1, mines 5, oil mills
L, rlcs mills 1, railroads 2, stamp mills
I, tobacco factories 1, water works 4,
rood works 9, miscellaneous 5.
TCBGDTIA.
Agricultural implement factories 1,
jrick works 1, bakge works 1, cigar and
;obaeco lac Lories 3, compresses 1, cotton
mrl -nrrtrdl^n mills 4. /Estill ATI AS 1 A~Af?
ric light worKs o, floor mills 6, furnaces
Li, foundries and machine works 1, gas
rorks 4, mines and quarries 36, natural
jas and oil companies 2, potteries 1,
aiiroads 16, rollirg mills 2, steel works
J, street railways 7, water works 7, wood
yorkmg establishment .3 9, miscellaneous
53,
ARKANSAS.
Brick works 2, car shops 3, cotton
actories 4, compresses 4, distilleries 1,
'oundries and machine shops 5, flour
nills 7, furnaces 2, gas works 1, grist
nills 1, ice factories 3, lime and cement
rorks 1, mines and quarries 37, oil mills
5, railroads 20, rolling mills 1, stamp
nills and smelter 19, street railways 5,
rater works 1, wood working establishnents
23, miscellaneous 16.
KENTUCKY.
Brick yards 2, car shops 1, cigar and
obacco factories 4, distilleries 3, electric
:ght works 1, flour mills 8, foundries
md machine shops 3, gas works 1, mines
tnd quarries 12, natural gas and oil
:ompanies 21, oil mills 3, railroads 4,
.ireet railways 21, water works 1, wire
7orks 1, woollen and cotton nulls 2,
rood woiking establishments 30, miscelaneous
20.
LOUISIANA.
Cotton mills 1, compresses 4, distilleies
3, engine works 2, flour and grist
oi^s 1, foundries and machine shops 2,
uxnaces 1, ice factories 2, mines and
luanies 6, natural gas and peiroletun 2,
>11 mills 3, lice mills 5, railroads 4, sugar
nills 4, street railways 1, wood working
istablishments 10, m'.scelliineous 8.
TEXAS.
Cotton and woollen mills 10, car wheel
vorks 1, compresses 1, car shops 1, elecxic
Jight works 14, engine works 1,
oundiies and mach tie shops 12, flour
nills 18, gas works 3, grist, mills 1, ice
aetories 7, locomotive works 1. mines
nd quarries 20, natural gas and oil
sompanies 4, oil mills 5, railroads 15,
treet railways 6, smelters 2, water works
1, wire worKs 1, wood working establishments
15, miscellaneous 28.
WtST YIEGINIA.
Brick works 1, car shops; 1, cotton and
roollen mills 1. distilleries 1, foundries
ad machine shops 3, flour mills 2,
oines and quarries 13, natural oil and
,is companies 3, oil mills ]L, potteries 1,
>lpe works 1, railroads 7, street railoads
1, water works 2, -w ood working
scablishments 10, miscellaueous 6.
Tbe Women Pass tbe Better Examination*.
Of the fifty-seven clerks in the office of
lie Quartermaster General, who, up to
ntp h.'ivp hr>pn f>\-nnnnrH} for ttromotiou
tnder the new civil service rules, thirty
fere men and twenty seven women. An
:xamination of the papers shows that six
nen and two women failed to attain the
oinimum of 75 out of a possible 100.
Commissioner Oberlysaid that the women,
s a rule, passed more satisfactory examinaions
than the men, and reached higher
.verages. A fact that is regarded by the
Commission as very significant is that the
narking on efficiency by the Quarternsaser
General, made prior to the examination
md kept secret until after the result of the
ixamination had been determined, agreed
ilmost exactly with the markings of the
ixaminers. There was only one exception,
["he result is highly satisfactory to the
Commission, who regard it as a refutation
>f the charge that in these examinations
' V?m/*
avoiiusm >>UU1U tuuuw tuw 1VI
ifficiency.
Professor Baird says fishes can live to be
,.;0 years old. "We don't doubt this in the
east. They are always the largest fishes,
oo. That is the kind that .always breaks
iway from the hook at the very last mo*
nent.