The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, November 11, 1875, Image 2
THE PICKENS SENTINEL.
* J 1 I 1 DEVOTED TO POLITICS, MORALITY, EDUCATION AND TO THE GENERAL INTEREST Otf TllE COUNTRY.
Vol. v. Pickens, s. c., Thursday, nov km ber 11, ms. no. IT
(J I
From tlio Anderson Intclligcnccr.
, ! 1 A Glance at ''Old Pickens."
j The general aspect of things about
*'Old Pickens" to day strongly con*
tra-ts with its appearance fifteen or
twenty years ago?then at the zenith
_ r\i itn nntn hplliim ni imn nn/1 iiniiin<
w 1
tanco as a country town, now all tumbled
down and abandoned.
. "Tho dividing of Pickens District
.shortly aftor the war into Pickena
nnd Oconee counties, and the consequent
removal of tho county seat,
sorVed to utterly annihilate the old
town All tho old residents, as by
one impulse and seemingly actuated
' by a determination in common to roeide
at a "conrt houso," migrated at
onco and settled exclusively in Wallialla
and New Pickens, mainly in the
latter j)laco. As a consequence, a
wonderful depreciation iu value of
town property followed and raosit, if
not (ill, tho old lots changed hands for
n inncn h'iflii A a fill mm
lot ot two acres, on which was a
good dwelling with a store room at
tached, sold for only $20. The Court
House and Jail, and nearly all the
e store houses and dwellings were torn
down and moved away, and now only
a tew weather beaton aiul desolate
houses, and most of these in the last
stages of delapidation, remain to remind
one of the former life or pro
tensions ot tho place, in (act, everything
has degenerated to s > {/rear, an
pvtfwit thsit tho ftiw rumsiiniiw lrflnns
and relies would scare ly excite the
curious interebt oftiic passing si ran gcV.
The largo hotel building is
standing vet, l?nt i.s I ist going lo ruin
nnd the absence of all the door and
window shutters and sash serves hut
to heighten tho gloominess of the
picture. Only one business sign iemains?that
of the old hotel bur,
which holds on to the wall with a
tenacious giip as if onc->iitci??us ol
the fact that the "spirits" have llown.
Tho old academy is \ ot to bo seen;
and tho town could at. mm tinnboast
of a flourishing Uig!" School,
which is an easy ami safe miervnou
when it is known that the ltev. J. L
Kennedy was ita principal. It may
bo added in this connection that
y-.ur townsman, O. II. P. Fant, Esq.
once trained the vountr idea of thin
locality "how to shoot." There was
never but ono church immediately in
the place, a neat and substantial
brick structure, which whs originally
intended for the use of the variou*
denominations, but it was used almost
exclusively by tho Presbyterians
until late years, when they abandoned
it. Very lately it has been in
corporated in a Methodist Mission <>f
^ tho South Carolina Conference, and
a strong membership lias boon already
established.
This is a remarkably healthy locality,
a fine grain growing section
+> and, ainQo the war, a considerable
quantity of cotton is raised. There
are no stores nearer than Central Sta
tion and Seneca City, on tho Air Lino
Kailroad, cacti ton miles distant; and
** tills fact together with tho natural ro
sources of tho surrounding country,
make this place a splendid opening
for n country storo. A merchant of
Seneca City, 'who, it would eeem,
was encouraged by these inducements
has very recently opened a general
f stock of goods hero and is doing a
profitable business. A store at Old
Pickens is something of a novelty,
and the "natives" bail its advent with
rojoicing. The offect is amusing and
particularly pleasing to tlio propria*.
tor.
About five families of whito people
and about as many ut negroes are
living in tho old placo at present,
none of whom, however, resided within
tho incorporation prior to tho
"bieaking up," save, per ha pi, ono
old negro man (Go 'fgo) who "belong
ged to P? Alexander 'Joro 'maueioas
V r
tion." Goorgo owns tlio hit goat pui t
^ of Old Piokous uow, nnd ono brond
smile, betokening an inward coneci
oneness of his thrift, irradiates his
sahlo features wlien ho tolls us thst
''tilings is turned 'round mightly,"
Ilo rejoiccs in his freedom nnd vo'es
tho "publikin" ticket.
To. ineditato upon tlio pa6t prosperity
of tlio i-Id town and upon I ho
character of its former citizens, is a
reflection of some interest, but it is
a melancholy retrospect. It has a
hoot it much of that feeling which
re3lllt8 from thfi f>ontpmnl?tir?n r?f
cay and ruin. There is an eloquence
in decay, but it is a sad eloquence,
and growth lias more ot vital interest
than declino, even us wo gaze with
more pleasure upon tho vcrdency of
youth tlinn upon tho dccrepancy of
declining i oars- "K
- o J ? " ^
A Gloomy Picture for the North.
Tho Augusta Constitutionalist spoalcof
a conversation had with Senator
Bayard, of Delaware, says:
All. Bayard says that tho people of
tho South liavo but a laint conception
ol tho distress at tho North, lie do..1
A 4 ?.? * !_.!-! -- ' ?
v;iuruu Lii;iLj III HIS opinion, wuoro one
man is suft'oring from poverty licro,
inon uro suftoring much moro beyond
our confines in tho loyall" States.?
Therocnn bo no question that this is
truo, and for our part, wo look for an
aggravation of tho woe, East and
West, long before tho grim winter
shall relax itn icy grasp. A gcntlo**
man in this city told us that real cs.
tine aeur contrai j/arK, JNew York,
for which ?125,000 had bocfr paid two
years a^o, less a mortgage of 35,000,
was offered him for tlio mortgage
alone. Mr. Bayard, in confirmation
of that statement, said ho had heard
it announced in New Yorlc that there
.van not a second mortgage on any
nronnrt.v ill tlm mnl fiinnlia niirJ
I I -J > "" ?VV.W|.V..U """ ? % ?
ity, which was worth the paper it was
written on. He remarked, too, that
these woro some of the results of tho
war, that made men almost, curse
themselves for being misled in 18G001.
Wo venturo to assert that this
feeling will grow as time rolls on.
Tub wav Kihto s auk Disappoint
kd.?Tho editor of the Albomorlo Times
liavo "cut their t*ye teeth'' in the
newspaper business, and now discourse
thusly:
' Happiness now?horoaftor wailing
and gnashing of teoth. Wo woro
very green when wostartod tho nowepaper
business. A gourd vino was
ripo eomparod to us. Wo aro good
and mellow now. Those who got tho
Times pay in advance. In tho mean
timo all tiio fellows who soaped us out
of a years subscription arc happy. At
least v/o hope wo. Anyhow they had
bettor bo for hcreaftor Ihoro will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. As
cold watorto a thirsty man, so Is back
pay from an oid subscriber to an odilor."
Diam nds.? Previous to Jlumboldl's
oxploration of tho Ural and
Altai ho called attention to tho pro
hablo oxisteneo of tho diamonds in
lliOHft regions, and his expedition in
1829 wan the immodiato eauso of thoir
diHCOVOi-y.
Floxiblo itacolumito is plentiful in
Spartanburg county. Whonever this
rock oceurH in tho Brazils, tho Ural
and tho East lndias, tho diamond* is
a Htoady companion, and at eomo
uiuiru uuy uuvoiupmunis may leatl lO
a discovery of tho diamond fields in
our midst. Not moft) surprising than
tho fact that in 1857, pearls of the
size of a No. 4 shot were discovered
in tho shdris of Unios (frosh water
muscles) in a stream on tho lino of
South western Spartanburg and Greon
vino couni,y.?uooiogicai Diaio ourvoy.
The Financial Clironiclo ulatoa that
tlicro lmvo boon failures to tho amount
of $131,000,000 during tho pant nino
months, of which South Carolina con tribute*.!
two and a half millions!
(iroonvillo is oxlonding hor bordors.
Survoyor Johnson has laid out twonty
tlnoo lots totwoon tho Jjaurons and
Spartanburg roads, on a commanding
ominonco, and in full viow of tho
drivo to Lowndo's llill,
From tho Now York Mercury.
Aleck Stephens^
Stephens and Randolph?Eying for
Iwcnty Years?A Congressional Reminiscence?A
Victory Over Grow.
A dispatch from Georgia prcmatu*
roly announcing that this vonorablo,
erratic gonitis was suddonly attacked
by dangerous disease, and was in a
critical condition, furnished our correspondent
tin opportunity to rclato,
from his own experience, Romo interesting
reminiscences of a remarkable
man. Aleck Stephens has been, like
Randolph of Roanoke, dying for
nearly thirty years, and yot continnml
(.lirniifjli oil tliio " ?:4
? vuftVM^M Kit Ullio II l?l\Jj illlU III (JfjllU
of bis moribund condition, to tnko nn
important and prominont part in all
the gravo public events that twenty
years sinco 1 first saw him on t.hn flnor
of tho IIoubo of Reprcsontativos at
Washington. J lis physical weaknoss
was bo marked that everybody spoko
about it, and all doubted his ability
to livo through tho session, which
ended March 4, 1875. But tho hackmen
and undertakers in tho city know
him bottor. Thoy all said that Stephens
was an impostor in the matter
of health, that for ten years previous
ho hud protended to bo dvinf. mis
/ o?
ing tho hopos of the undertakers and
cab drivers lor lucrativo ompioymcnt
at a big Congressional f'urnal, bul had
always cheated them out of it by ever
seeming to be dying, and yot never
dying. lie has thus lived on ever
since, passed through the fierce contest
over slavery, scccssion and the
v/ar, and managed so well that, although
Vico-Prcsident of the Confed
cracy and author ot tlio celebrated
manifesto that "slavery was the corner
stone of ilio new Confederation of
American States," be yet, of all Confederates,
attained tbo most popular!^
ty in tho North, and was tho lirst of
them admitted to a scat in Congress
after tho war, and treated with iho
highest regard by .Republican members,
though not acting with their
party, isnl nil these thingsaro rocont
history, and well known, lieneo they
need not he repeated here. But one
ot his eonlliets in the llousc in ante
war limo*. and in which a member
from the Stalo of How York was
personally concerned, is worth telling.
Orsamus IS. Matteson represented
tho Utica District, nnd sorved on tho
Coinmitteo on Pensions. A Mr. Tripp
ictt, a pension agent at Washington,
had compiled a volurao of tho laws
and regulations concorning ponsions,
and of decisions of courts relating
thoreto, and this hook ho was anxious
to sell to tho Government. Congrees?
man Alattoson exerted himself strenuously
in favor of Tripplett's work,
and ho carried through Congress an
appropriation for its purchaso, at a
fixed price per volume. It leaked out
subsequently that this prieo was a
trifle higher than tho retail pi ico at
which iho book sold at tho storo, and
that tho excess wont to Sir. Maitcson
I as compensation for bis labors. Charg
wo were preferred on theso facls,
and a cominitlcc appointed to investigate
thorn. Aloelt Stephons was tho
Chairman of that committee, and (Jnlusha
A Grow, of Pennsylvania, one
of tho members. Thocommittoo made
two reports, 0110 by Stephons, to expel
Malteson for corruption, tho other
oy urow, lo ccnsuro him only foi
careless conduct in allowing himsolf
to bo found out. This occurrcd in
1857. Grow was a new convcrt to
Republicanism, having clmngod ovor
from a Democrat only in the provious
Congress on the Kansas Nebraska
troubles, and ho dotcrminod to win
his spurs as ono of tho loaders of tho
now party in conducting tlio defense
ofMattoson, also a Republican. Tho
contcHt in tho ILouho rested solely
upon Stephens nnd Grow, and lh?y
were woll matched. They aro both,
when under exoitcinont, oxeoedingly
pasBionato, tho voico of cach is Bhrill
and piercing, their oratory aggressivo
and evon violent, but Alcck had tho
hoHt of it, ah lie- fought on tho sido of
honcHty against bribory. Novor did
tho most robust and powerful man
ohino brighter in dobato than Stophona
on that occasion, though tho hand of
grim death soomcd already upon him.
Tho denunciation of tho turpitudoof
Mattoson's crlmo was a burst of such
fiory oloquenco as is seldom heard in
Congross. llis litlio framo shook nervously,
and appoarcd as if falling as>>
undor, as ho turned his brilliantly
? >f-" - >
UVUIIIIN^ u U[IUII itllll. LU3UI1 iinu
pointed lii.s lunh, bony finger in crush
ing scorn at tho nccuscd. Tho Ilo*
publicans had a majority, and Banks
was Spcakor, yet all tho efforts of
Grow woroinvain. Stephens carried
tho llouso with him, and Malteson
wasoxpclled. It was one of the most
extraordinary parliamentary triumnhs
over aehioved, and will bo long re^
mombored by tboso who wero present
at tho time.
Romantic Divorce CaseTho
young wifo of tho Grand Dulco
A lexis, of llussia, son of tho Czar, has
just been divorcod by tho tribunal of
St. Petersburg. Sho was a llessian,
and in that quality has been aecepted
by tho limoross Maria Aloxandrovim
as a mni'l of honor, llcr majosty was
rapidly captivatod by her youngcountry
woman who speedily bccamo her
favorite. Another conquest of still
greater importance awaited tho young
lady in iho Muscovite .Empire. .Not
absolutely pretty, but endowed with
that grace which bowitcbes moro than
beauty, possessing a charming figure
and an incomparable elegance, she in-*
t ka fy 1 ? - '
o^jiiuu uuu j vmig vi I'll 1111 XJ UKU Willi tin
irresistiblo passion. One evening the
Empress saw enter her apartment the
maid of honor bathed in tears, who
throwing herself at her Majehtys ioei,
avowed lier love, and besought the
Czarina's consent to the marriage,
that sumo night the young huly was
put into a railway earriago, and, under
good e.-cort, conducted to the Iron
tier, whilst tho Grand Duke Alexis
received orders to rejoin his ship. But
llio Czar had reckoned without the
determination of tho two lovors. The
Prince escaped, rejoined his fiance
beyond tho Jlliino, and married her in
(I'erman territory, notwithstanding
I he parental fulminntions; and thon
left with her for Amorica. Tho ro
m&nco lasted two years, and nothing
could bend tho determination of tho
Emperor nor rostoro his son to his fas
vor, when the iniluoneo of tho Empress
boing brought to bear on his son, do
terminod the latter to accept his faths
or's conditions and it was decided
that tho Grand Duko should consont
to a divorce, rosumo his situation in
tho Russian navy, nnd an annuity
should bo sottlod on tho hcroino ol
tho romance. It was immediately
aftor that tho Princo was in London
with tlio Czar.
A Stir in tijk Brooklyn Scandal.
? Tlio belief prevails in Brooklyn
ti nt Loader will be tried on the
charge of perjury in the scandal case
and that Mrs Tilton will bo the prin
cipal witness against l<iin. Mr Beach
and Air. Fuller'ton had an interview
with District Attorney Britton on
uriaay, ana it was presumed that an
attempt was being made in behalf ol
Mr. Moulton for ilio indictment ot
Mr Beeclier on a charge ot libel.
tm m >
A man rushod breathlessly into a
lawyor's offico in St. Paul, and, approaching
tho legal luminary, excitcd
lv rnnuirUnd
UA man haH tiod a lioop to my horsch
tail. Can I do anything?'' "Yob,"
replied tho attorney; "go and untio it'
This was good advico and only cost
tho man five dollars.
Mr Bonnott's yatch won tho ocean
raco; and if Mr. Bcnnott does not inimodiatoly
print a map cither of himacli
or tlio oconn, wo shall bo forced to tho
unwolcomo conclusion that ho has forgotton
Iho rudimonta of journalism
and had hctfor ship bcforo tho mast of
an oystor bout at once.
Prosperity is a blossinirto tho tro d,
but n curso to tho evil.
Dim Voorheoa'son Jiunes is about
to csafty tho part of Hauilot on the
Terra Haute atogo.
A Story of Divorce'
It may not bo generally known,
8fiy8 the Cincinnati Enquirer, yet it is
probably true, that tho novel ot "East
Lynne," although written in England
had tho ground work ( f its story |
in a singular marriage which took
place in this city, tho notice and the
attending circumstances at tho time
being copied by alino. tovoiy paper
in tlio country. Tho mutter v;as
about a; follows: A Mr. J. M.v a
clerk in a down town house, full in
1 - * ? * '
iuvu win: si young jauy wnoae lather
was a well to do Second Street fuel's
chant, and after a propor season of
attention the couple wero married.
13'jtli soon found out that they
were not haimilv mntr>fl find nfrm? o I
?I I J 1 4%t'v* "
marriage of seven years, during
which time they had three children
two boys and a girl, thoy mutually
agreed to the husband a piying for a
bill of divorce, on the ground of in
wiiptiiuimj' ui ?.uiiij>ur. j. iiu uivorce
was granted; and the wifo went home
to her lather, who through endorsing
lost his business and all his property
Tho daughter's and his own mist'or
tunes weighed so heavily upon the
fathers mind that during a moment ot
mental alienation he took his own
mo, leaving his cmughier penniless
and ti> go through it with tho cold
charity of the world as host 6ho could
T.ic woman, a brave littlo creature
tried every way she knew how to
gain an honest livelihood?in lact>
working 60 hard giving music lessons
and doing embroidery for her old
school unites that her health gave
way; and having no money to pay
her b ai d, must beg, Rtsirvo or tro to
the poor house. To turn to the other
side of the picture, the husband, af
ter a few months release from the
marital bonds, again married, and at
tho ti ne of which wo speak had not
only the three children by the first
wife, but also an addition thereto, a
little two year old girl by the second
wile. The latter day being all, the
husband advertised for a nurse and
housekeeper, which notice reached
the eye ol the first wife, and she, in
imp ti'aiikin f r\ i 1?a
not* ( f her heart, told hira of her sad
condition and applied for the position
in h 16 household. The husband knew
not what to say; but after giving her
ample funds for all immediate wants
asked her to call again at his oftice
on the following morning promising
to consult ma wire about ttie mutter in
(lie meantime.
Prom ply as per agreement wife
No. 1 was on time, as was the liua?
hand, and from there they went to
tho residence, where the two wives
had their lirst conversation, ending
in the agreement for 'he first wife to
couio and accept tho vacant place.
which felio did, seemingly delighted
at having a peaceful home over her
head, notwithstanding the very
strange circumstances under which
such a shelter was given Necessity
demanded that the entire past should
be obliterated., and tho new hcuso
kcepor treated as any other helper;
that sho 111 neb care for tho children?
her own oil's pi ing?and tho other
child tho same as any hired nurse
would di?; that sho must eat at tho
second lablo to caro for her charges
All these things and even more litis
utility did tho poor woman show,
no.vnr l?v num. word or look nvhiliit..
7 *
ing the least evidence oi' discontent.
What, however,'must have been the
true feelings of her heart, when sco~
ing another iill tho place that she had
once tried, as she thought, so hard to
fill. Tho above is from tho files of
an old Cmcimiatti paper, but the sequel,
us told us by one conversant
?i.sv
WIIII IHU wuuiu uiuis, IN tHritligur
language than what wo have already
narrated. Whon tho cholera waa
raging in our city in 1800 the second
wife wad taken very ill with it, and
being informed by tho physician that
gho could live but a few hours at tho
most, as sho was then in a collapsed
condition,she asked that till go out
tho room, excepting hor husband and
housekeeper^ when sho told how
much 6ho dreaded leaving her child
amongst 8?rangers, rttul a dying wife
entreated them both to marry again.
The proposition was a strango one
I out uotu promised, and a few months
I afterward, when the Rccond wifo had
been dead a sullleien' length of time
not to cause remarks, the two were
again married, brought together af~
tor a cruel ^operation <>1 bo many
years and we believe are m>w living
happily together in a cozy West End
lull ao.
Atlanta, Ga , Nov. 3.?Tho
stockholders of tho Air Line Railroad
met and the following board was elected
I A. S. Huford, President,
Directors: Austell, Alexander, Maddox,
Eailo, Cannon, Clayton, McAdden,
Wilson, Southerton, Dnbarry,
Roberts, Howard.
Infidel France turns the Sabbath
into a day of grand display, festivitv
ana theatre going. The parks, tho
wine gardens, the saloons, the the litres
and street shows are all thrown
onnn on 1 li!it <tn
<Sft>
A new biographer ol' A rternus Ward
says tho genial iiunicri.st usually
wrote with one lego over tho arm of
his-chair. We had always supposed
he wrolo with :i pen or a pencil; but
to writo with ono leg over the arm of
\ r?hn ii* im tint cn /linw.nl* 00 1 s\
with otic arm over tho log of a chair.
?llurislown Herald.
Mrs. C. II. Iliuris (Carl Pretzel)
will probably enter the lecttirc field
next Summer with a humorous did'
comae on "finance."
Fifteen thousand people will go to
cull!cu wo ecu u neau'.iiui girl mar-,
ried, but if it rains on Sunday they
"ain't well."
Dio Lewis lias gone to California
to stay a year. Dio thinks that tho
air of tho Golden State wiil icvivo
liis appetite which has vegetated of
late.
"Tiiey call these flats; mum," eaid
t\ Jl lllll il> UHUtt [?UI lui IU i\ IHIIJ 111 vutstigating
the new French houses,
"cause of the kind of people who
takes 'em for homes !"'
Possutr.glory is the name of a rural
town in Bartholomew county Indiana.
It is a foretaste of paradise as a placo
t?f residence for colored brethren.?
Chicago Times.
rnm ?
A man who inquired if anybody
had soi'u anything of his litile boys
and tlion said ho was looking lor
him, s'opped at a White street g''o*
cory, yesterday, at throe o'clock a.id
talked til! ab>nt live, when he struck
out again in search of his son with a
touching exhibition of parental interest?
Danbury News.
- -? ? ? ?
IIciv'6 a iin'n who knows how to
keep a hotel. He lives in Cambridge
City. Indiana, and takes twenty oight
weekly bee id en eeveral daily papers.
A very genteel appearing young
man, wearing kid gloves and carrying
a 1 itlio and llexiblo walking stick,
thought ho would have a joke with a
rust}' and venerftblo farmer on tho
Fair Grounds Inst Tuesday afternoon.
"Halloo," said tho dandy, "aro you
ono of the judges, on hogs?" "Waal,
vans, walk riirht tin and lot inc look
j > O 1
at you," said tlio old farmer. Tliat
youth wns soon lost amid tlio crowd,
and no other judges on swino saw
b'm.?WoonsoeUet Patriot,
"Man," says Victor lingo, "was tllh
conundrum of tlio eighteenth century;
woman is tlio connnulrum of tlio nine*
< ?> \\r w i.
tccniii century. >? u rail i uur,
but we'll never give hor up?do
nover!