University of South Carolina Libraries
VOL. XLIII WINNSBORO, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 13,1887. ^ NO. 50. ^ THE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE. ! ITS ORIGIN, ITS PRESENT EOUIP3XEXT AND ITS WORK. |lij9!Sr An Observer's Account of Cen. S. I>. Leo's I ^ * Farmer's College?The Class-Rcom ami j f . the i'arm. j (From the News and Courier.) Agricultural and Mechanical Col- | l2ge of Mississippi, July 4.?Referring i ^ ^ to a number of notes taken in a midsummer tour of four of the most important Southern States, I do not know thai j I could select a more interesting subject! tlian the Agricultural and Mechanical, College of Mississippi. This may be) stated without discounting, in any wise, b the many places, institutions and things Bp of note along the lines of railway's which connect Charleston with the peculiarly * favored land in which. the institution j named is situated. THE COLLEGE. To begin -with, however, the term j l "Agricultural and Mechanical College," | A as applied to this College, is a misnomer, j v The mechanical department has not vet j been provided for, but may be realized j V at any time when the institution is so >. far favored by the Legislature of Mississippi. The College is, therefore, practically an agricultural institution with its , handmaidens of the mechanical arts in expectancy. Hr But whatever this institution may be it r-+7>? ir? oa/?'q] onmvnl iUtt& CttUOCU Qt owXj. - i | tural and political circles ever sincc its I establishment, seven years ago. It was cradled in opposition, strong but not fatal; it has traveled over a rough road and still survives; and it has lived down a certain class of opponents and is still I doing battle against some formidable I foes. As between the enemies of the College and its friends the lines are very j sharply drawn; and even the compara- { tive stranger, who runs, may read. TTTE TSST7ES STATED. Broadly stated, the question is one of i utility: Does it pay the taxpayer to sap-1 port the College; and, granting the ob- { * jects of the College to be fully carried j out, do the results ?arrant the State in ! w continuing its appropriations? ihe his-1 tory of the College up to the present j time carries with it the solution of every { one of these problems. Something of this history is, therefore, essential to a clear conception of the interesting situation. J Lrrs origin. From what can be learned from the F various published reports, the College owes its origin to the Act of the General Government, passed in 1862, to encourage the establishment of industrial colleges in the States. This Act, among other things, provided for the "enaow ment. support and maintenance in each | State of at least one college where the f leading ODjeut siutu uc, niwhjuo ciwuuL _, ing other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes." Mississippi's share of the agricultural land scrip fund amounted in 1S78 to $227,150, which is now in the State treasury bearing five per cent, interest. The Mississippi Legislature in 187S . divided this fund between Alcorn UniL versity (for colored youths) and the present Agricultural and Mechanical Collegoof Mississippi, giving to each ?113,570. Subsequently the Legislature expended $15,000 of this money in the purchase of lands, leaving to each of the institutions named a balance of $98,575, which yields an annual interest at five sfe percent, of about $4,928. The State ^ Legislature up to within the past year or two has appropriated the sum of $32,500 annually for the support of the institution. the buildings. To enable the State to avail itself of the Federal aid it was necessary to erect ^ tlie College buildings, and tnese were ||jx completed for occupation by the stu||E dents and professors in 18S0. These buildings are about a mile and a half ?1? west of Starkville, and occupy positions ^ on both sides of a branch of the ilobile and Ohio Eailroad. The principal buildings face the south and are iust north of the railroad and <. n the crest of a hill, to a **<-?17 v/\n /I *ic? LLLtT WsCCJLLu Cild iauiuou u . over a -well-kept la n. These buildings are: First, the academy, three stories in height, of brick, and 127 feet long by 70 feet wide. The upper story consists of six class-rooms for the use of certain professors in teaching; the second story consists of six rooms for the use of other professors, and on the first floor are the College hall or chapel and the oSices of the president, Gen. Stephen D. Lee, and the secretary, Prof. T. F. Watson, k Second, the dormitory, three stories P&- III JLieigllt, YtlblL UMULCUiti. JLO ilCK> Ck iiU-i j of 275 feet, running east and west, and two wings, each 1-iO feet in depth, extending at right angles to the main building. The first xioor contains the library, museum, a lecture room, the cammandant's quarters and a writing room. On the second floor are two large rooms, an armory and a guard room. TTio rpmftinin<r rrvirr>K nn this finor arc . chambers for the students. On the third f story are about fifty rooms, used exclusively by the students. The accommodations of the dormitory are for from 200 to 250 students. Third, the laboratory, 56 feet long by 38 "wide, a two story building, the upper story of which- contains a large lecture room, an analytical room for the stuk dents, a private work-room for the proIk fessor of chemistry, and apparatus rooms. The lower story is used principally as jy Storerooms auu muujr LLvtu. iwu.is, uscu i/^ by Prof. A. M. Meyers, vho is also tlie State chcmist of Mississippi, ft The mess hall is a two story wooden r building. On the first floor are a dining ^ hall capable of accommodating three A hundred students, kitchen and bakery, n On tie upper floor are two hails used by two rival literary societies of the Coi_ lege. There is also a hospital containing eight rooms, which are very seluom occupied. South of the railway is a plain two story brick mansion, occupied by General Lee and his family; and at various points on the grounds are residences x for the other professors. The other principal buildings are a i arm-house, a ? - > ? ~ i uauy, a uaru, su tzugmsi-uvuisv, iau luc stablea for the stock, each of -which, is entiSleS to some special description. FAiaHXG AlvD HOKXICTXTUBE. The College owns 1,762 acres of land, which is divided into cultivated fields, pastures, orchards and vegetable gardens, and ornamental grounds. There are, of the 1,762 acres, about 600 under actual cultivation in different crops. K These 600 acres are divided into the farm department and the horticultural K department, The former includes the gfe|? - ^ ?^ - % ...... .. i " . MBMB 1 gMWMCTWWW g-A O .-TCTCl | cultivation of the usual plantation crops, ] : such as corn, cotton, peas, etc. The lat-j J t-er includes all the common vegetables | and fruits. | In the farm department the student is familiarized with the planting, raising and harvesting of the large commercial crorw the actual care of the cattle on the larm, the construction and use of barns, stables, pens, and "with the practical use of all the improved agricultural machinery now in the Southern States. In the farm work is included a special course in dairy husbandry, covering the theory of breeding stock, feeding for milk, and of making and shipping milk, cream and butter. This is all reduced to practice in what is called the creamery, for the purposes of which there are maintained on the farm 200 head of cattle, pure brc*d, ^rade and native. There is also much attention paid to ensilage, the raising and curing of hay, clover, etc., all of which, it should be borne in mind, is done by "the boys" themselves. In the horticultural department there are gardens in which okra, tomatoes, cabbages, beans, Irish potatoes and fruits of all kinds arc raised. COURSE OF STUDY. The eonrse of studv prescribed for the students is made up of (1) biology, the most important branches of tvhich are fertilization and the relation of insects and plants; (2) agriculture, including the principles of stock-breeding and feeding, drainage, cultivation, curing and mar e r ji KeilLIg VI vzvps, UlljJlVVCLUGlll Ul auil ttUU manuring; (3) horticulture, fruit and vegetable culture, botany, silk culture, etc.; (4) chemistry, as applied to the analysis of soils, plants, foods, water, etc.; (5) English, course of reading in prosa and poetry, logic and mental science, with written essays monthly; (6) mathematics, all the elementary branches, up to analytical geometry, calculus and civil engineering. TEE MILITARY BRANCH. There is also the military organization of the College, with General Lee at the head of the military department, and Second Lieutenant H. C. Davis, United btates Array, as commandant of stucler ts. The students are all uniformed in ccdet gray and are divided into five companies. Practically, tlie discipline of the College is military, and the rules and regulations in this respect are of the usual military institute order. All the classes are taught company and battalion drills, dress parade, guard duty, etc. Tlie senior and junior classes are taught target practice and service of the field piece; in the junior year Upton's tactics are taught, and in the senior and junior year there are lectures given on the science iuiu. art ui <ur. The military equipment of the cadets consists of two 3-incli field pieces, 250 rifles, cartridges, etc., all of -which is furnished by the United States Government, with the exception of 100 rifles furnished by the State. LIFE OF TEE STUDENTS. The foregoing sketch of the work done at the institution gives only a dry abstract of the essential details of the life of the student. This life is, howover, one of great variety and activity. "5",V?rk nrr\T?/vrr>m?vr.f /\f fVifi. ic oil of a republic within a republic, and is divided sharply between the military and agricultural features. In fact 'these features are quite distinct, and in nowise convict with each other, the discipline U? LL1V UliC SWLUJJLig 1U UUC other. When the college boj here goes out into the field he doffs his military trappings and puts on his old clothes, old shoes, old hat, etc., just as his father does on the homestead -arm in any county in ilissisaippi. In other words he goes out to work and he does not go in holiday attire. In the morning, in the class-room or on dress parade, he is as gorgeous as you might desire. He has a fine uniform with plenty of brass buttons, ail of which he wears with the self-complacency of having paid for them by honest labor through long and dusty in summer or wet and dreary days in winter. In the afternoon you may meet him at some place, any place, on the farm and you will not know him. He wears a slouch hat, very honest old clothes and a very honest old face. Maybe he is weeding turnips or digging potatoes, or you will meet him out on some of the green pastures driving the cows, or if you peep into the cow stables you see Iiim playing the milk maid. You will meet him at any given point over all the broad acres of the farm, and in ninetynine cases out of a hundred he is doing sometning toat wm neap mm :o pay 111s expenses at the College. And this he does in a fashion that deserves a special chapter. At night, after an afternoon's work, he goes home to study and in the morning he appears again a* military chrysalis as gaudy and as happy as on the day before. CLOSE OF THE SESSION. Just no^ the College is about to close for the present year. The commencement exercises for 18S7 were opened yesterday at 11 a. m., at which time Dr. W. 31. Greer, of Erskine College, South Carolina, preached a sermon and again last night at 8.30 o'clock. These exercises are a great event in the immediate locality, and in fact are necessarily looked upon with great interest all over the State, there being representative young men here from almost every county in Mississippi and from several other States. The students in attendance munoer zi t>. Great crowds have come from the surrounding country, and, as a consequence, the College chapel was yesterday on both occasions well filled. Senator George and ex-Governor Stone are present, and Governor Lo wery and other State officers are expected at the commencement exercises proper, which open this morning, There sixteen members in the graduating class, six of whom will de liver aauxesses xo-morrow. iins liiuining and this evening the sophomores and the juniors will occupy the rostrum. Fully nine-tenths of the "addresses to be made are on agricultural subjects, which is regarded as a very significant fact as showing ihe trend of the education of the students. 5s it Really Consumption? Many a case supposed to be radical lung di;-* -ise is really one of liver complaint and indigestion, but, unless that diseased liver ca:; !:e restored to healthy action, it will so cl-.g.tiie lungs with corrupting mafter as to i-nng (.n their speedy decay, and ihen is iked we have consumption, which is sciy> uia the iun^s. iu its worst form. Xolhiug enn be more happily calculated to nip this danger in the bud than is Dr. j Pierce's "Golden-Medical Discovery." By j druggist. Stonewall Jackson's Granddaughter. ! Dr. Morrison, of Shelby, has just received from his sister, Mrs. T. 0. Jackson, a letter ; in which she states that a daughter has re! cently been born to her daughter, Mrs. i Christian, nee Miss Julia Jackson. Mr. 11 and Mrs. Christian, who were married in ': Richmond somewhat over a year ago, are > now living at San Diego, Cal. General !; Stonewall Jackson had but one child, Miss ! [ Julia, and this is his first grandchild.? s Shelby New Era. SOME BALLOON STORIES. THRILLING EXPERIENCES OF PROF. KING AND THE WISES. Tra v eiing Seventy Miles an Hour?Landing in a Wilderness?Caught in a Snow Storm Without a Valve Hope?Driven to Sea. (From the Philadelphia Times.) There are no two names better known in the annals of of American aeronautics than those of King and Wise. Professor Samuel A. King is now in his sixtieth j year. Since 1851 he has been a practical aeronaut, making his first ascension in the summer ox that year from the old Zoological Garden, in Fairmount Park. Since then he has made 2SC aerial voy ages and a great many lesser ascensions. His wife, who is a quiet, modest little woman, has made a number of ascensions with him and regards ballooning a much safer mode of traveling than carriage riding. She is afraid of horses, but doesn't mind taking a jaunt through the air a mile or so above the earth. In one of her trips she onco had a narrow escape. It was two years ago at Indianapolis. After a remarkably pleasant ascension the balloon in descending sud denly swayed when near the earth and caught in a dead tree. The sharp branch ripped the balloon open causing it to collapse, and landing the basket in which she and her husband sat in a fork of the tree, sixty feet from the earth. As quick as thought Professor King braced the basket with a rope, until he had cut the , balloon away, then, dropping another rope to some farm hands, he loosened the basket and was lowered over a limb to the earth. Neither he nor his wife received a scratch. The only time he was ever hurt was in an ascension from Augusta, Ga. When he descended the balloon caught on a dead pine and was torn. He attempted to descend Dy tne drag rope, wnen me balloon collapsed ana came down witli a crash, badly braising, bat otherwise not Hurting him. Some of his voyages, however, have been exceedingly perilous. SOME THRILLING VOYAGES. On October 14, 1878, he went up from Scranton, got caught in a windstorm and came down at Oak Station, Montgomery county, 1-40 miles from the starting point, the whole trip consuming but two hours. On October 15, 1SS1, he mad his merdbrable ascension from Chicago with Hashagen of the Signal Service Bureau. He was up nineteen hours, and descended in the Wisconsin wilderness, where he and his comrade lost their way and suffered terribly before they again came in contact with civilization. One night lie was suspended between sky and earth for 13 hours over the Maine and Canada wilderness. His experience that night was thrilling and remarkable. The ascension was made at i p. m. at Plymouth, N. H., his companion being Luther E. Holden, of the Boston -Journal. For six hours they hung over a mile above the wilderness, the balloon not losing a foot of gas or the car an ounce of ballast. When they landed next morning they came down at tiie head of a new railroad which was being constructed 250 miles below Quebec, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, over which the j had spent a portion of the night. The road was 200 miles away from any other road or civilization. They rode to Quebec on a buckboard, driven by a French Canadian. Mr. Holden always attributed their lucky descent to an interposition of Divine J Providence. in an ascension ne maae m .aLuguai., 1875, from Burlington, Iowa, lie was caught in a thunder storm, and came near being struck by lightning. The expansion of the air acted on the balloon and drove the gas from the neck on to his head, and through the open valve with terrific velocity. He had a thrilling descent through the clouds, and on reaching the earth went crashing through trees, landing twelve miles from where he ascended, having been driven back by the storm. The whole trip consumed three-quarters of an hour. AX AERIAL BRIDAL TRIP. On the Fourth of -July of the same year he took a party of seven, including two bridal couples, over Lake Erie from Cleveland. The balloon sailed over the lake to Buffalo, where it struck a back current and returned, passing Cleveland, gradually approaching the Canada shore, which it struck at Point au Pele. It then crossed a strip of Canada and 35 miles of Lake St. Clair, landing 11 miles from Port Huron at midnight, having made 430 miles in 13 hours. On another Fourth of July he took five newspaper men from Buffalo to Quinton, N. J. He crossed the Alieghenies and followed the Susquehanna as far as Havre de Grace, took a sharp turn and sailed due east across Delaware into New Jersey, the whole trip taking thirteen hours. THE WISE FAMILY. Professor Charles Wise, under whose direction the "Independence" will be sent up, is the sen of lie late Professor John Wise, Sr., who was lost while making an aerial voyage. He made his first ascension thirty-seven years ago, when but 13 years of age, at Shannandale Springs, West Virginia. He went up two and one-half miles and staid up three hours, landing sixty-six miles from the starting point, to which place he returned in an ox cart. Four years later he made an ascension from Newberryport, Mass., on the occasion of a civic celebration. The wind was blowing tonnacim onr? nffV^r vy tJJLVA uuu WMW . w ??ed to pay the price of the ascension rather than take any risks, but after cont suiting with his father he decided to make the ascension. After going up .18,000 feet very rapidly and descending still more rapidly he struck Plum Island bar. As .'.here were no inhabitants and no place to grapple the only alternative was to jump out of the car. This he did, landing safely in the sand. The balloon, lightened of its load, shot into the air and blew out to sea. The nest morning it was picked up by a whaler 600 miles away and brought into Provincetown. The whole ascent and descent occnpied one-half hour. -The sailers on the whaler, when they saw the balloon floating in the water, thovght it was an immense blubber and harpooned it. It immediately collapsed and was taken onboard, theNewberryportpapers of the previous day being found in the car. The professor has been ever since actively engaged as an aeronaut, and at various times has taken up every member of his family, having in thirty-five years made over 300 ascensions. His son, John, Jr., who will take up the "Inde pendence" to-day, made Jus first ascension at the age of 8, with his grandfather. CAUGHT IS* A SNOW STOKi?. One of the most notable ascensions that has been made was made by him, xmder the direction of his father, at Waynesbnrg, Green county, when he ? j was onty 14 years old. After wording a I half day at inflating the balloon, the sup| ply of gas gave out when the balloon ; was only half full. The balloon refused to ascend with the boy, when his father decided to do a thing*that has never before or since been attempted. He cut the lower half of the balloon off. While he was doing this some officious spectator cut the valve rope two feet beyond the boy's reach, and in the midst "of a to in cf/vrm 1-i.vpar.nlfl aprnnnnt Trent sailing into space, and beyond the clouds, hatless and coatless and without a valve cord. He was directed by his father not to | go over two miles, but beidg unable to reach the valve cord, he got caught in a | heavy sno^: storm and was driven forty miles in forty minutes. Landing where there were no means of communication, he was not heard from for two days. The excitement of the citizens was so intense that they organized a committee ; to search for and give him a reception when found. When he was found the citizens filled his hat with money. He was nearly frozen to death during the voyage, and when he descended was covered with icicles. Since then he has made 250 ascensions without an accident. TWO KE3IAKKABLE ASCEN'SIOXS. The highest ascension ever made was on September 5, 1862, by James Glaisher, F. E. S. He left the earth with 1 aeronaut Goggswell at Wolverhampton, I England, lit 1.03 p. m., and at l.o-i was ; 20,000 feet high, going np at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute. He kept on as- 1 cending until the balloon attained an altitude of 37,000 feet. Glaisher became utterly unconscious, but Coggswell J climbed up the ropes and pulled the ' valve rope with his teeth. They descended at the rate of 2,000 feet per minute until the balloon formed a parachute, when it came down easily, seven miles from the starting point. The longest and fastest balloon voyage was made on July 1, 1859, by John V?Tise, Sr., La Mountain and Oliver P. Orager, of .New lork. 'i'Jiey ieit tot. ; Louis at op. m., and landed in Jeffer- ! son county^ New York, at 2.35 p. m. the 1 next day, the distance being 1,100 miles j as the bird flies, and 1,200 miles as the j balloon flew. ^ MOUNTAIN" KOBBEKS. i Their Bloody Deeds?Travelers "Who Have " Disappeared. j In Putnam county, Tennessee, before c the war, for seventy-five years, a road < within three miles of Cookevile, leaiiing 1 from Louisville, Kentucky, through c down into Georgia and South Carolina, 1 was known as the Kentucky stock road, t and was at that time the principal high- i way for traders between tiie two sections. ] Planters, slave dealers and stock men would drive their negroes, mules, etc., down to the southern market, returning with the money from their sale. Such partices were frequently missing very mvsteriously, no trace of them ever being found. The road ran through a wild, thinly settled mountain country. The stopping places, or dwellings where a traveler could get shelter, frequently were thirty or forty miles apart, and as , recent investigations show, were kept by ' robbers and murderers of the worst de- r sc-ription, who for years followed this j business of wholesale robbery and murder. About thirty years ago a man, who is now a citizen of Cooke, found a skele- ^ ton at the entrance to a cave, licit no further investigation was ever made until , a couple of years ago, and it was left for j a stranger to make discoveries that cast in the shade all stories of like descrip- 7 tion, where the writer finds his terrible , characters only in his own brain. ' A party was organized under the lead- } ership of Mr. Ferd Kincaid to explore ( the cave where the skeleton was found ( thirty years ago. Back on the mounlain side about one-half a mile froifi one of j the notorious stopping places aescnc^ea, ( the entrance to the cave was formed. A ] hole, something like a well, going j straight down thirty-five feet, was first } passed through, and then the cave opens i into large caverns, with a downward , course under the mountain. At the bot- ; torn of the shaft the party found human , bones, and with a little digging in the debris that had accumulated at lihis point, unearthed about sixty skeletons ' of men who have beeu murdered find ^ thrown down this hole. Some skulls < were found with bullet holes through j them, others being inashed with an axe or instrument of that kind. Old citizens now living in this vicinity say that the keepers of these ckns would keep track of the travelers when they passed through with stock, and on their return they would be almost certain to disappear. The robbers were even so bold they would take the clothing find saddles and horses of their victims i;nd use them publicly. They would gei; a . man drunk, if possible, and. as whiskey < was plentiful and the custom of drinking common, it was no hard matter to do, then in their drunken stupor kill, r :>b and throw their bodies in the hole, s.nd without doubt many men, as this fearful ^ic^losnrATvmvAs. never retnrned to their homes, and anxious friends waited ?.nd watched and wondered why they returned not. Not far off, bv the side of the road , still stands a house. The walls of one 1 room are stained and spotted with human blood. Above, in the mountains, about twenty miles, was still a worse place, if possible, than this. Another case is there, and would, if investigated, repeat the sickening story. The people ire much excited over +his discovery, as many descendants of this robber gang are still living all through Putnam count,v. Bnt "dead men tell no tales." and the history of these fearful crimes 'will never be known. Mormons at Work. Charleston, S. C., July 6.?Serious trouble is feared on the banks of 'ie Savannah River near Augusta, Ga. The Rev. David Berion and Elders Spencer and Murray, Mormon missionaries, bive been preaching in that locality for some time. They have converted about irwen Irjr ~11YC laiUiUW UI 11 l w : *' iguv^wuv whites. The doctrine expounded is that all who do not adopt the faith of Mormonism and go to Utah before 1893 irill be destroyed by lire; that no marriages are in accordance with the laws of Crod except those sanctioned by the Mormon Church and that no woman can attain to absolute perfection in the future unless married in this life. Notice to leave the locality has been served on the missionaries by the more responsible citizens, but thty have refused to comply. The missionaries arc backed up by tlieir converts, and declare that they will resist /vf +V>A *A/Ytlla?AVC! f A rlnfA Jt-Llti L1 u \jx CJU^; uu^ivAj w V%A*> v them from the country. Pianos and Organs. All of the best makes. ?25 cash and balance November 1, at spot cash prices on a Piano. $10 cash and balance November 1, at spot cash prices on an Organ. Delivered, freight free, at your nearest depot. Fifteen days test trial and freight both ways if not satisfactory. Write for circulars, i N. W. TRUilP, * Columbia, S. C. * -r / THE DEADLY TORNADO. LOSSES I>" THE UNITED STATES ESTIMATED AT 8300,000,000. Tornado-Centering Regions?Frequency of Cyclores in the Mississippi Valley?1887 a Mild Tornado Tear. The terrible destruction of life and T\?ArkA-?^r? Vi*? o4> flllO COO CAT) l?J KJJ tviiitiuvto &.U ? causes much fear in several States. Recent investigations by Lieutenant John P. Finlay, signal service, United States army, rc-veal to some extent the danger in each region, which will do much to allay unnecessary alarm in the Eastern States. At the same time other regions before thought to be comparatively safe are formal to be more dansrerous than had bet? supposed. The ?&st striking result of the examination of Lieutenant Finlay's map, showing the geographical distribution of toroadoes^rom 1882 to 1886 inclusive is that they uniformly avoid extended mountain ranges. The Rocky Mountains present so insurmountable a barrier that the country lying -west of this great range is almost entirely free from the long, violent tornado tracts seen in Kansas and Missouri. It is known that ^torm centers which form west of the Rocky Mountains are imperfectly developed, and are not persistent or violent in their course until the Mississippi ealley is reached- Tornadoes fonn at an iverage distance of 453 miles southeast Df the main storm center, as shown in forty-one cases cited by Professor E. A. Sazen, of the signal service. It follows that the cold air from the foot of the Rocky Mountains, coming in the wake 3f and eastward moving storm manifesting unusually low barometer, causes iharp contrasts of temperature in Kansas ind Missouri, and these contrasts, someimee as much as fifty degrees, result in jreat tornado frequency in northwestern Missouri and northern Kansas. It is iurther shown by tlie distribution of ;omado tracts that the average of severi;y and destruction steadily lessens as the storm centers move eastward from the Mississippi valley. This waning of torlado power is gradual, but the danger ioes not entirely cease as the Atlantic ;oast is approached. The coast lines of ;he Gulf of Mexico and of the Atlantic )cean are nearly free from tornadoes, because great contrasts accompanying storm centers cannot develop, owing to iie equalizing effect of the ocean temperature and moisture. IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Ot tne total number of tornadoes reported nearly one half occur in th3 Mis rissippi valley, winch is tlie region 01 preatest violence. The lapse of time nust make this even more marked, because the records of the Eastern States :over a much longer period, while the lumber of tornadoes is less. The region >f greatest frequency is along the north md west boundary fines of Missouri, in- > jreaaiug toward the point of intersection, rhen comes northwestern Georgia ex;ending into Alabama. A very solid and jompact region of tornado development s in southern Michigan, tending toward he lower part of Lake Michigan. For a iistance of about 200 miles square, this region nearly equals that of Kansas in frequency, though it has not more than )ne-tenth its extent, and its average sererity is far less. In the Eastern State?, Jae most remarkable region next to western New York, is in the Connecticut river valley, which seems to be persistently followed by tornadoes through Connecticut and Massachusetts into New Hampshire. The open country-here :avors the development of a small tornalo with a tract about a mile or half a nile long, and from two hundred to five aundred feet in width. "Western Conlecticut and Massachusetts favor the accumulation of warm air from the southwest, which moves steadily north ward, while Pennsylvania, Virginia and western Delaware remain cool, this jausing sharp contrasts of temperature, [n southeastern Pennsylvania the bend 3f the Delaware river there is a group of tornadoes centering near Trenton, J. Southeast of Lakes Erie and Ontario ;here is also a lively region, which is an jxtenwon due to the still high contrasts af temperature common in the Mississippi valley and southeastern Michigan. En northeastern Mississippi there is a tv. o->.1-^/? nvfonoinn r\f fhfi C^&nrcrifl ind Alabama region, though not quite equaling it in frequency. LOSSES OF LIFE A2CD PKOPERTY. The value of property reported to the signal service as destroyed in 205 years pears was about $28,000,000.. Lieutenant Finlay estimates this to be about onefcenth the actual value, making the total tosses about $300,000,000. The number of deaths reported was 3,165, and the injured 5,049. These figures are doubtless much below the actual damage, because tornado in/Vin^c. tKo mo in ATllv TVlP. transmission of news is partly obstructed, and isolated regions escape report. The comparison of a number of tornadoes, with the amount of forest land by States, according to the United States census, indicates that these storms are not appreciately influenced by the presence or absence of forests. Tornadoes are caused by the persistent movement and accumulation of air masses on an immense scale. Forests and other local features of landscape have little effect. The signai service reported. 280 tornadoes for 1886, 136 for 1885, 200 for 1884, 161 for 1883, and from that time back to 1870 the number diminishes to 9. This does not represent a change in the actual number, but only indicates additional facilities for observation, due to the steadily increasing interest taken by the press and people, as well as to the organization-of a large staff of voluntary tornado reporters in 1884, under the supervision of Lieutenant Finlay. In 1885 the number of reporters had increased to 1,500 and in 1886 to 2,500. This large working force sent in an immense mas3 of very valuable information, due to the good will of the people. These reports are used in estimating a verges which will serve as foundations upon which the work can and will be carriec. forward for centuries. * By this means the danger for given regions will be so well known that tornado insurance premiums can be estimated justly, and in that manner much expenditure saved. mere is every reason to believe that if the tornado records were carried forward for several hundred years an astonishing regularity would be discovered. The statistics already show great advance in this direction. 1887 A iULD TORNADO TEAS. The number of tornadoes reported from January 1 to June 11, 1887, is 123. In 1886, for the same period, there were 216, which shows that taken yearly there are great fluctuations. The figures so far indicate 1888 is a very much milder j tornado year man ie>oo. an oiuy ine I Eastern States begin to contribute their j proportion in addition to those still due i in the \Yestern States , The most im portant deductions from the signal ser- j vicc statistics is 'diat there is no evidence I of variation in the number of tornadoes, : but only an apparent increase caused by better reportorial and press facilities. It would require a vast lapse of time to demonstrate, the theory that the cutting awav of forests affects the number and deadly violence of tornadoes. They mot- wil a -fixed characteristic of the United States, like the geological formation of the mountain ranges, and the average number may be considered as little subject to change. They seem an inevitable result of the movement of immense masses of air over comparatively level plains and on the boundaries between the temperate and torrid zones. Tornadoes occur in India and Japan, and parts of Europe where land surfaces are free from extended mountain ranges. It would be a valuable contribution to science if tlie tornadoes tliat occur in India and Japan were classified and recorded. This might lead to the further advancement of :he science of tornado prediction in ihe United States, which at present-awaits the action of Congress to carry it to a high degree of perfection, saving many lives and much valuable property. ?I:& o A>* OFFICIAL FISH STOKY. ^ ^ ?iroc irnio^ 1\v a now i/iipiaiu ~j ? Sword-Fish. (From tlie Washington Star, July 2) A bulletin of the United States Fish Commission just issued gives the following account, as described in a letter to Professor Baird, of the killing of a man by a sword-fish: "The schooner Yenus is a small vessel of about twelve tons, owned, and commanded by Franklin D. Langsford, of Lanesville, Mass., with a crew of three men, engaged in the general fisheries ofi onoct nf "\fft<ce?/?hnsetts. On Monday morning, August 9, Captain Langsford sailed from home in pursuit of swordfish. About 11 o'clock in the morning, when eight miles northeast from Halibut Point, in Ipswich Bay, a fish was seen. The captain, with. one man, taking a dory, gave chase, and soon harpooned the fish, throwing ever a buoy with a line attached to the harpoon, alter which the fish was left and they return to the vessel for dinner. About an hour later the captain, with. one man, again took his dory and went out to secure the fish. Picking up the buoy, Captain Langsford took bold of the line, pulling his boat toward the swordfish, which was quite large and not badly wounded. The line was taut as the boat slowly neared the fish, which the Captain intended to lance and thus kill it. When near the fish, but too far away to reach it with the lance, it quickly turned and rushed at and under the boat, thrusting its sword its sword up through the bottom of the boat twenty-three inches. As the fish turned and rushed toward the boat the line was suddenly slacked, causing the Captain to fall over on his back; and wlnle he was in the act of rising the sword came piercing b'.rough the boat and into his body. An this time another swordhsh was in sight near by, and the Captain, excited and anxious to secure both, raised himself up, not knowing that he was wounded. Seeing the sword, he seized it, exclaiming, 'We've got him, an way!' He lay in the bottom of the dory, holding :ast to the sword until his vessel came alongside, while the Hsu, being under the boat, could not be reaehSnnn flip CLvnlaiii said. 'I t.MTjfc J am liurfc, and quite badly." When the vessel arrived he went on board, took a few steps, and fell, never rising again. The boat and hsh were soon hoisted on board, when the sword was chopped oft to free the boat, and the iish was killed on the deck of the vessel. The fish weighed 245 pounds after its head and tail were cut off and the viscera removed; when alive it weighed something over 300 pounds. Captain Langsford survived the injury about three days, dying on Thursday, August 12 of peritonitis. The sword has been deposited in the TTnitad States Xational Museum." Fatal Celebration. Ciiestek, Pa., July 4.?Independence Day celebration here concluded to-night with an extensive display of fireworks, and during the display some person threw a lighted firecracker in the wagon which contained the stock of fireworks and an exnlnsion followed, and rockets shot through the crowd. One of them entered the mouth of Eila Van Riper, of Upland, and one side of her face was torn away. She will die. Several other persons were more or less injured. It was recently stated that Bob Ingersoll had resolved to keep his religious notions to himself. It seems this was a mistake. The Colonel is even more outspoken than before. Speaking of this matter the Kansas City Times aptly says: "Macaulay relates how all ihe good friries came to bless Byron as lie lay asleep one day in his cradle. One brought him great personal beauty, one wealth, one powerful iuleliect, one a form not excelled by Adonis. Finally, and after all these beneficent fairies had taken a last look at the sleeping cherub and departed, a deformed and malignant fairy came next and withered one of his legs to the knee. It em. ' > i.T? V.oof, Diuerea ins wnoic iuc, h>u uuuyt cned the end while his years as so many suns were yet shining upon ibe eastern hili tops. "A perfect paraphrase is furnished in the literary character of Ir.gcrsoll. He says wonderfully beautifully beautiful things. Some of his sentences are clear cut as cameos. Some as phosphorescent as the sea in the tropics. Some spun gold. Some as luminous as the west with the sun setting iu it. Some liquidly transparent as a waterfall leaping from a rook. Some a s'ring of precious stones, the glint of the diamond pervading all and dominating all; but the good fairies finally go and the bad one comes, and with her also comes blasphemy." Albion, in Erie county, Pa., has a curiosity in the shape of a elock which stands seven feet high, operated by chains and great weights, the dial bear* ' " ^ ?m-i. lZlg OiU XlCXJJiiii iiyWJLUL. tuc uuuuc ; works made of boxwood and bearings of pure ivory. It is a pectfct time-keeper j and upward of 100 years old. ?Louisa county, Va., is excited over <-A\nrmA fViuf aff^av a. -u/hite hand VllXJ iwv^ M, ,, i -u-u- _ kerchief, which had been folded four thick and laid over the face of a dead woman, had been removed, there were four distinct pictures of 'ie woman, about the size of a 25 cent piece, plainly printed on the cloth. Spirits of camphor had been applied to the* face before the lace before the handkerchief was laid on it. ?It is said that in Portland, Maine, there is a man with a false nose, a glass eye, but three fingers and one thumb, one ear, false teeth, false hair and a cork leg. For all this he is the liveliest in.iri in Portland. He walks ten miles *? " ? TT/% l>oc Tior3 every aay, rain or Mime, ~ three wives, and survives them all, and lias refused five chances to get married again, so he says, since he buried his I last wife, about a year ago. [ T. A. EDISON, THE WIZARD. i TELLING ABOUT HIS EXPERIMENTS IN SUBMARINE SIGNALING. The Captains of Vessels Seven Miles Apart Can Talk "With Each Other?In Philadelphia Buying Electrical Apparatus for His Laboratory. A smooth-faced, thick-set, youthful looking man, attired in a gray suit and accompanied by Wo handsome young women, stepped briskly up to the desk of the Continental Hotel office and registered in a plain round back-hand, "Thomas A. Edison, Orange, X. J." It was the wizard of elecricity. The young women were his wife and sister-in-law. He appeared to be enjoying the best of health, and said the stories about his being at tiie point ot aeatn wane in Florida-were without foundation. He said he had come to Philadelphia to purchase electrical apparatus for his new laboratory at Llewellen, N. J. TWO iHLLIOKS in expebbjexts. The laboratory, the erection of which has just begun, will, when finished, be as large as the University of Pennsylvania buildings and will be devoted entirely to experimenting. The machinery will be of the largest and most improved patterns, the machine shop alone beinsr 200 feet long. Mr. Edison, in speaking of the cost of experimenting, said he had expended over ?2,000,000 in experimenting, but as it was strictly in the line of his business he had found it money well invested. In speaking of his Florida trip he said he was so well pleased with the climate that he had erected a permanent laboratory on the banks of the Caloosahatchie river, where he will continue his experiments e?ery winter. He has erected a number of electric-light plants in several Florida towns, but he has not devoted much time j plants. SIGXAT/TNG UNDER WATEB. One of ins most interesting experiments was in submarine signaling, by which messages can be transmitted from ship to ship by means of steam whistles operated by keys in the same manner as telegraphic instruments. All his experiments have so far been confined to the waters of Caloosahatchie, where he has succeeded in conveying intelligible messages a distance of one mile. The principle on which he will endeavor to perfect his experiment is the remarkable facility afforded by water for transmitting sound. Divers in the ocean have heard the swish of a steamer's wheels fifteen miles away and Mr. Edison thinks he can transmit his message from ship to ship a distance of at least seven miles. What he purposes doing after he has perfected apparatus is to have the large ocean J steamers equipped with tlie steam wmstles and transmitters. Under the waterline of each steamer will be a sounder, connected with the captain's cabin by a thin thransmitting wire running through a uabe. When the captain of one vessel v. ants to signal another he will sit down to his key-board, turn the steam on his whistle, manipulate the keys and send the message out into the waves that break against the sounder. This sound will pass unbroken from wave to wave with remarkable velocity until it runs up against the sounder of some vessel or vessels which may happen to be within reach of the volume of sound. As soon as the wave containing the sound strikes the sounder on tlie Huil 01 tlie vessel or vessels within reach, the message will run over the electrical wire to the captain's cabin, where it will ring an electrical belL An attendant will then take down the message as it comes from the water, by means of telegraphic keys, as comfortably and correctly as though he were sitting in one of Jay Gould's Western Union Telegraph offices receiving news about one of Jay Gould's big deals. PASSING IX AIiOXG. After the message has been received the captain can swing his vessel around, and continue the message through seven miles of water, in the same direction, until it strikes another steamer, when the operation may be repeated until the v?Tao/;i+V) fhA nr.Afln has been crossed. It will also be useful as a means of signaling by a vessel ixl distress. r?Ir. Edison seemed confident that his experiments would meet with success, bat regrets that he cannot send the message by electricity, instead of a steamer whistle. Fears About YanderbtJt"? Grave. The fate of A. T. Stewart's remains so alarmed the friends of the late William E. Vanderbilt that a guard is still kept posted ~k,x,h- Vic Of\C\ tnm"h ^Tichf: <inr] rl:iv ti ft'juuiaw VVVV,VWW ? J ? body of well-drilled, well-armed men move a'.'out in its vicinity,011 the lookout for pillagers or ghouls. In addition to these, a system of signals or burglar alarms is added which penetrate many parts of the grounds. At stated intervals these are set off bv a man ou his six hours' tour of duty, and the rest rve rapidly assembles at a given point. At night the watch is even more vigilant. At sunset a powerful flame is lighted in the cupola, which shines out over the humble graveyard below and oH upon the waters. lLto this dome one of the detectives must go every half hour and touch another alarm, which records the fidelity of those on watch. Every 12 hours the chief enters the hnildin.cr to see from the register whether each man on duty during the night has gone his rounds at the prescribed moment. The cost of guarding the remains amounts to a small fortune each year, and it cannot but occasion some melancholy reflections in the inan who knows that just a little distance beyond this pompous mausoleum lie the re-1 mains of Commodore Vanderbilt himself, j without guard or honor, so far as the eye' ! can see, except a simple stone bearing his j name. " i The Earnings of the Railroad'. The Railroad Commissioners have just issued a statement of the earnings of the v.viroaus of the State for the month of } [iy. The shewing is a remarkably good o:.e. Of the twenty-one roads included in the ^.-.tement thirteen show au increase of j *30,593.83 and the remaining eight a de-) Ci east of ?4,112.05, making the net in-1 crease for the month ever las; year $35, iol.TS or <*.26 per cent. The largest increase of any one road is that of iiie AsheviHe and Spartunburg, which, with on]\- 20 per cent, increase in ! ; mileage, shows 79.88 per cent, increase in I | earnings over May, 1886. Of the railroads centering at Columbia, the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta shows an increase of 3 per cent.; the South Carolina Railway 1S.02, and the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta 4.35. ilie T.OUU pusteuger cai uiu 50 iw. i ;nontii, 1S86, were $129,819.40; for 1887, .$130,119.41; increase, $0,299.95. The total freight earnings for the month, 1SSG, were $20G,S84.10; for 1S87, *234, 377.44; increase, $27,093.34. The total tonnage for the month in 1886 was 119,275; for 1887, 157,-140; in' crease, 38,165. "! K>OW I AM RIGHT." General blaster Workman Powderly'a Lectnre on Temperance. Goner.il Master Workman Powderly, in the Philadelphia Journal of United Labor publishes a "temperance lecture addressed to the members of the Knights of Labors. It is entitled "The Justice of My Position," and is a reply to unfavorable criticism made by certain of his correspondents on lectures delivered by him recently in Boston and Lynn, ilass. Mr. Povrderly says: "I know I am right. I know that in refusing to even touch a drop of strong drink T TT<1^/1 om r-iorVit Tr> rofnofnar tn troot A ?* C-0 UiiU UUi AM 4V4UWU*^ WV WVUU another to that which I do not believe to be good for myself to drink I know that I am right. In not allowing a rumseller to gain admittance into the order of the Knights of Labor I know that I am right In advising our assemblies not to rent halls or meeting rooms over drinking places I know that I am right. I have done this from the day my voice was first heard in the council - " ~ halls of our order. My position on the question of temperance is right. I am determined to maintain it. and" will not alter it one jot or tittle. I know that in the organization of which I am the head there are many good men who drink, but they would be better men if they did not drink. Ten years ago I was hissed because I advised men to let strong drink alone. They threatened to rotten egg me. I have continued to advise men to be temperate, and, . /. though I have had no experience that would qualify me to render an opinion of the efficacy of a rotten egg as an ally of the rum drinker, yec I would prefer to haye my exterior decorated from summit to base S: with the rankest kind of rotten eggs rather . than to allow one drop of liquid villainy to pass my lips. "Ten years ago the cause of temperance was not so respectable as it is to-day, because there were not so many respectable men and women advocating it. It lias gained ground. It is gaining ground, and all because men and women who believe in it could not be brow beaten or frightened. Take a list of the labor societies of America and the total sum paid into the treasuries from all sources from their organization to the present time will not exceed $5,000,000. The Knights of Labor is the largest and most influential of them all, and though so much has been said concerning the vast amount of money that has been collected from the members, yet the totai sum levied and collected lor ail purposes up to me present time will not exceed $800,000. Xow let us turn to the other side. In New York alone it is estimated that not less than ?25,000 a day are spent for drink, $15,000,000 in a year. If I cared more for the praise and approbation of labor's enemies "?than I do for the interestjof labor I would remain silent, We are seeking to reform . existing evils. We must first reform ourselves." The Cotton Movement. ? 'A From the New York Financial Chronicle's cotton article the following figures are gathered relative to the movement of the staple during the past week: The total receipts reached 3,598 bales, against 2,364 bales last week, 3,549 bales ; the previous week, and 4,032, bales three weeks since; making the total receipts since the 1st September, 1886, 5,190,412 bales, against 5,260,703 bales for the same x period of 1885-6, showing a decrease since September 1, 1886, of 70,261 bales. \ The exports for the week reach a total ~ jA of 13,675 bales, of which 10,787 were to Great Britain, 209 to France, and 2,681 .-fl to the rest of the continent. W TVvo +/%fal otstMa snrmlxr nf /vtf&nn. as Wl made up by cable and telegraph, for the week is as follows: Total of Great Britain stock 831,000 bales, total of continental stocks 384,800?making a total of European stocks of 1,215,S00 bales. The total visible supply for the world is 1,808,325 bales; of this number 1,138,525 are American -"~T ?>1" and 669,800 East Indian, etc. ., The imports into continental ports during the week were 55,000 bales. These figures indicate a decrease in the cotton in sight of 45,278 bales as compared with the same date of 1886, and a decrease of 41,960 bales as compared with the corresponding date of 1885. The receipts at interior towns for the week have been 2,035 bales. Old interior stocks decreased 2,491 bales, and were 47,839 bales less than at tHe same period last year. The receipts from the plantations, being the actual movement, not including fTio n-cwland r<vwir>fs nnr Smithern consumption, of cotton that reached the market through the outports for the week were 3,598 bales. The total receipts since the 1st of September are 5,184,284 bales. The actual movement from the plantations was only 3,598 4 bales, the balance being taken from the stocks at the interior towns. Cotton in sight June 24 was 6,312,076 | being a decrease of cotton in sight as compared with last year of 116,822. The Chronicle says, in reviewing the speculation in futures dtL^-g the week: "The speculation in cotton for future delivery at this market has been feverish and unsettled in tone, -with the course of prices somewhat erratic and irregular. The reduced stocks have caused some anxiety about contracts for this crop, and August options advanced 40 points from the recent figures?namely, from 10.66. to 11.06c., but there was no considererable short interest to 'squeeze,' and prices gave way the moment buying in he active. The verv favorable reports from the growing crop prevented any material improvement in the more distant options, although it is generally admitted that the supplies will run probably .quite low in the early fall months, especially in Europe." A VEKY BK?*KK.'iT\T.T: FEATCBE Of the annual report of the Pension Bureau is not that the volume of business was greater than ever before, but that there is an unexpended balance of the appropriations for salaries and current expenses; which has been turned back into If ' the national treasury. Heretofore the business of the Pension Bureau lias been so deftly arranged that not a dollar of i he appropriation ever found its way ' - - i - ?"? -J- J3 I back to tiie place wnence it was uiawu. I It is sufficient evidence of the generosity of the Government toward the soldiers j of the Union that in the year just ended, nearly a quarter of a century after the close of the war, there were altogether 170,879 claims for pensions considered and ?5,194 original pensions were granted under the liberal laws now in force. It requires a force of nearly fifteen hundred people to transact this business, an average of neariy tiarteen tnonsana letters ana documents being received and - sent out eve.ry working day, and the amount paid for pensions now reaching the enormous annual total of seventyfour millions of dollars. This sum exceeds either the annual civil expenditures or the ordinary military and naval expenditures at the present time, as well as "the total expenditures of the United States in any year previous to the civil war. rTT!>z-v Cnv/lmr C*r\rtrrrmHrvr> nf fliA JL Aiv; oanuaj' cvaawi W*1IV**V4V** v*. Baltimore Conference of the 3L E. Church, / South, organized at "Winchester, Ya., : Wednesday. One hundred and seventy delegates reported. Rev. Dr. John S. Martin, '"Presiding Elder of the district, welcomed the convention; responded to by the Rev. Dr. S. K. Cox, of St. Paul's Church, Baltimore. j