The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, February 07, 1879, Image 1
VOL. X.?New Series. UNION C. II., SOUTH CAROLINA, FEBRUARY 7* 1879. NUMBER 6. '
" ' j.-1 i. ' ' " - L1J -J?1 111?LJ?*->i? - ! -J-J' - J- -i ' ;w<yifw?ww??? www I-.. - ? ??
if' *0M ?? *"D..T.C04 MO Ll? CULTI* | rcdcr. ?J ?r?V ?hl. " ?' ?
K - T JhJLli'H
The crops are about housed, and notwith*
standing we havo peace and plenty, we are
not satisfied. Nobody has any money and
everybody ie in debt. Tho laborer says ho
* eannot work for loss that his labor is worth
hs much "now as it ever was, yet bo can buy
more with ptfe day's wages thnn he ever
.* could wfch^N), and tho query is, What is
the land ojWer to do ? Farmers must era*
ploy labor iu the same ratio they get for
their produots ; for instance, half bushel of I
corn or three pounds of baoon always pai<i
for a days workj and if it will not do it
11 ta?W' "-'oat oome to a itand still.?
, ~QgBftg_^mm^l?jheijpaBnot_pay the pri
SRMEL wmtnd to the "kdhr
*> ulecUet negro" that will benefit the land or
{ it* owner. Therefore, I would say, audit
I . your aeoonnts before the beginning of anoth'
.V' er year, and if tho products obtained have
cost moro than their market value, change
your system at once. I hare arrived at the
conclusion that thn bast tenants I can have
aro four-legged ones, that will work day
nnd night, and chargo nothing, only to be
well fed and cared for. I belong to that
class of faruiors who make farming their
occupation aud study, and the remedy for
our evils is in a change of plan rather than
a change of occupation, theroforc have no
9* idea of abandoning the ship ; for if alio goes
down,**11 other occupations sink with it.
Many precious lives have been frotted out
in the vnin attempt to farm with demoralized
froe labor, on a credit or borrowed capital,
to find cucli year plantations going to
ruin, and debts still more aunoying. Now,
instead of looking to the hoe and the plow
for all moncv croDS. let us trv pmss cultum
?J # t ' ~ - -J O
and stock raising, which requires very littie
labor, eaves old fields from washing, improves
land, gives sure crops and large profits.
Why not learn a lesson from old father
Abraham '( He would not have thought of
employing men, at fifty cents per day and
rations, to chop an hundred acre field of
cotton; ho would have tured his cattle on
it to eat the grass, and employed his time
and talents to a less perplexing and more
remunerating branch of agriculture. Think
of it, brother farmers. Will not money
from plants that will grow twenty years
without the uso of the hoe or plow, be as
acceptable as that derived from wearing
out oar already impoverished lands I The
farmer who raises grass, stock and provisions,
needs but few work animals ; his expenses
for labor are also small, while his income
and independence is about as suro as
the certainty that rain will fall and grass
grow. But they say we cannot grow grass
here ; when the truth is, trying to keep it
cfraui crowinc. has nearly hrnlcen t.hn last
0 O' V
eio of us, and the cry is, everybody in debt
and no monov.
Now, brother farmers, I am raising grass
and clover here iu Johnston county, North
Carolina, and I am pleasod with my success
so far. The post season, I seeded twentyfivo
acres on the road in grass and clover,
and I also planted a row of elms, two hundred
yards, from my dweelling to the store
and lot. The season was exceedingly hot
and dry, and strange to say, mi.ny persons
passing by, found out that some of the grass
died (and they knew it would?this is not
a grass country), and nobody found out that
two-thirds of the ohm di:d, and that this
was not a tree country. Somebody said, in
a swearing way, that I would have to sue
a neighbor for trespassing on my grass field,
for ho saw him pull up a bunch of broom
ttraw in one of thorn. Now does that poraoa
know that half of tho cotton fiolds in
North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia,
would have paid bettor in broom sedge
Ahaa ia cultivation. Now let us assume
y, itaat one-halt ot too land id cotton would
make half a balo or 600 pounds of soed
cotton, at 2} cents, $16.00
Mow 200 pounds guano, at 2}
cents ptr pound $5.00
Picking ouf600 pounds at 60
cents per cwt 8.00
Quarter of 600 pounds for rent,
150 pounds at 21 per cwt 8.76
(ginning and bagging 2.00 $13.76
$13.75 $1.25
We have now one dollar and twentyfive
cents to prepara the land, plant it, and cultivate
it, and taking into consideration the
more ootton made the less the prioe, would
It not be more profitable to have bad half
of it M broom tedge f I sent off a four hundred
pound bale of wool which brought one
hundred dollars. I also sent off a four
hundred pound balo of ootton, made on one
acre which brought thirty dollars?the
wool cost me the least to make it Statistics
show that in the South during tho last
^ three years, wool has paid 60 per oent. for
P growing, while eotton has not paid 6 per
sent; but somebody says, what it everybody
foos to raising gross and rtoek, what then ?
ITith the same propriety might be asked,
If everybody goes to Heaven what will become
of the devil t
We have the brain, and it is as necessary
to work it as it is to work the muscle, for
, as intelligent applioation is used and loss
actual labor, greater prosperity is found.?
We must think more, and as an aid to
better thinking, mu9t read more, and
V -k? our farms onr constant study. Qo,
fouod correct, bo an advocate of a higher
education for the farmer. Tho struggle to
accumulate money swiftly by raising expensive
crops on extensive aroas by inforh,r labor,
is an inevitable failure. A* the rather
hard up old "colored lady" said when she
wont to tho commissary for rations, "If I
don't get no meat, but ah I the God-blessod
freedom I has." So with grass /ethncrs.
If 'hey don't handle much uionoy, there is
a blessed quantity of comfort and peaco of
Inind in it?tho wind works it, the air
foods it, the dows and rains water it, and
the stock gathers and manures it. Now,
in couclusion, I would advise farmers to
prove on pspe^Uiat -gq|in cannot he raised
for its selling^nce, that no animal ran bo
raised on the farm for its market value; yet
we find that those who pursue that course
do not houso their crops in barns covered
in mortgage deeds, nor live from year to
y^yr tho slave of necessity. Therefore
burst these bonds that bind jou, and arise
to freedom and independence. Look only
to your fields and your energies for your
supplies. If you are in debt, surrender
your property ; don't undertake to borrow
money at twenty percent, until you learn to
make four per cent, on that you havo already
got invested. I heard a conversation
the other day between a farmer and a
shrewd mechanic, which is worthy of noto.
The mechanic contended he could not take
less for the buggy without selling the material
for less than it cost him ; the farmer
could not pay for it without taking less for
his produce than it cost him to make it;
therofore no trade. Deny youjselvcs and
get out of debt, then wo will bo the happiest
pooplc under tho sun.?A. .T. IIeatii
in Southern Planter and Farmer.
Too Much Land.?Wo knew a farmer
who, ton years ago, ownod one hundred and
fifty acres, and was doing well; ho now
owns five hundred, and is worse off than
before. And why 1?Because this large
farm is a great bill of expenso to hiui; he
cannot afford to keep it up in good condition,
and it hangs a millstone of caro about
his neck. Ilis wife and children, both
sons and daughters, are obliged to work
hard to keep the great machine running.?
Wo presume his boys deolnra they will
Iaiiva hnmn no tlino --A ^1.1 '
v?<w mvhiw us uiu uiu cuuu^u y anu
the girls say thoy will die before they will
marry.farmers. Neither sons nor daughters
are educated as they dcscrvo to bo;
they cannot be spared for this from work
on tho big farm. Now wo declare thnt
such a farm is a eurse to its possessor and
his family, and an injury to the whole agricultural
interest, if that man wants to
savo himself and his household, ho should
sell at least ono half of his land, improve
the remainder to make it more productive,
releaso his children from bondage, and try
to make his home u comfort. He will live
longer, lay up as good a proporty, and will
train up a more intelligent and a happier
family.?American Agriculturist.
Caubaoe Worm Remedy.?I will give
you a sure remedy for tho cabbage worm :
Make a strong solution of lime water, pour
it over tho cabbage in the evening; if the
lime-water is made strong there will be no
live worms left that tho water touches.?
Last full I had a nice patch of cabbage in
tested with the worms. After trying all
other rcmcdios I could think of, I resorted
to the lime-water, and to toll the truth, expected
to find my cabbage cooked next
morning, but I was agreeably disappointed
next morning to fiud tho cabbago greon and
bright, and the worms laying all over the
patch dead as a door-nail.
.0.
Incendiary Wasps.?Wasps used to
bo considered dangerous only on account
of tho excellent fucilities they possess for
carryiug on warfare, but it has been developed
that they aro dangerous in another
way. An exchango has discovered that
the frequent mysterious burning of haystacks
and farmers' buildings has led to the
discovery that they are set on fire by wasps'
nests, and that the nests are iguited by
spontaneous combustion. This is said to
be produced by the chemical action of tho
wax in contact with the paper-like substanco
of which tho nest is composed, a comparatively
small excess of oxygen boing suffi
cicut to make it burst forth iu a blazo.?
Therefore it remains for our citizens to seek
and destroy thoso infernal machines.
Chamomile.?A decoction of the leaves
of oommon chamomile will destroy every
species of insect, and nothing contributes
so much to the health of a garden as a
number of ohamomilo plants dispersed
through it. No green house or hot-houso
should ever be without it, in a green or
drieded state; either the stalks or flowers
will answer. It is a singular fact that if a
plant is drooping and apparently dying in
nine cases out of ten it will reoover if you
plant chamomile near it.
The immense number of worthless "cur
dogt" to bo found in all parts of Virginia
is a disgrace to the people of tho State and
a burden upon every productive interest.
Let us all work together to romove it?
Start a rebellion in every county.?So.
Planter and Parmer.
natifi LlSUAi
One very important lesson that the result
of the Zar has taught the Southern peoplethat
white meo are capable of earning^
their bread by manual labor in the field as
well as the negro. Numbers of worthy
young men, reduced to the sltersstivs of
work or want, have resolutely taken hold
of the plow or heo, and have lesricd what
it is to do a day's work iu all weai her with
the best hand in the field. To-< ay many
of these mon are independent; ti toy have'
learn jd to work ; more, they hav> learned
to manngo their farms successfully; and
having learned this they are matters of the ,
situation by natural right and result The/
half work, or hardly that;?and it is found
too that labor does not debase the character
of a true man or disfigure his manly
form?that work is healthful and a wonderful
developer of muscle, strength, and appetite.
All this was known indeed to many a
white man iu the South beforo Cuffee's
nm.innin.ttinn tV\r itioncn..Jn -r ~e 1 -
r , .uoumiuua VI IIIUIJ Ul AUglo
Saxon descent were used to daily labor
in the field beforo the war. And it was
men of this class, who, at Appomattox, laying
their weapons to rust on the field of
carnage, returned to their desolated homes
and went at onco to brighten the plow in
the field of labor, that taught tho men of
softer muscle who hesitated awhile that
they eould work too, if they would but try.
Examplo is contagious, and the action of
Lee's veterans, who returned to their hpmcs
in April '65, and starting de novo, sulfcoeded
in making a fair crop, inspired many
an idle young man to attempt the same thing
the following year, and the effort uiado in
general brought success. Every year.since
then has addqd more and more to the number
of Southern farmers who aro at the
same time their own overseer and laborer.
Thus it came to be generally kn^wn that
the white man ran no extraordinary risk
at labor in tho open field at any season anywhero
in the Southern country. And
this white labor has been gradually snpercceding
colored labor, till now wo should
not be surprised if the number of the former
who toil daily on tho farm does not exceed
tho number of the latter. We do not
mean that the while man is generally found
ax kmltng ) ??
prefer to farm on their own hook, and we
find thorn to be the most successful and the
most thrifty of all farmers.
The success of white labor in the South
will therefore no longer bo a questionable
one. Alter thirteen years' test the problem
is answered in the affirmativo, never
more, we trust, to bo subject to doubt.?
Let none now say ho cannot farm because
he is a white man. He can it ho will but
try.?Rural Mcxsrr.ger.
A Mother's Influence.?It is hard
tor a young mother who has not yet overcome
the wayward tendencies of her ova
youthful n?turo, to realize the iufluouco she
exerts over her little ones. She is continually
surrounded by critical imitators, who
copy both her morals and her manners. As
the mother is,so are hersons and daughters.
If a family of children are blessed with an
intelligent mother, who is dainty and r<6ned
in her manners, and does not consider it
necessary to be one woman in tho parlor
and an entirely different person in hertveryday
life, but who is a true mother, and
always a tender, charming woman, you will
invariably see her habits of speech and
pleasant manners repeated in her children.
Great rough men, and noisy active boys will
always tone down their voices, and strive
to stay quietly, and to bo more mannerly,
when she stops to give them a kind word
or a pleasant smile, for a true mother will
nover fail to do all the kind and pleasant
things she can that will in any way help to
lift up and cheer thoso whose lives are shaded
with toil and care. The mother of today
rules tho world of to-morrow. Think
of it when you arc tempted to be fretful and
impatient, and guard well your hct? treasures.
Benjamin Hunter, the Philadelphia murderer,
left nn estate valued at $40,COO. His
expenses since he undertook to collect the
debt due him from John M. Arnstrong
with a hatchet, have amounted to about
$15,000. After deducting all this hitfamily
will bo left in very fair circumstances. It
seems from this that tho incentive t? murder
Armstrong was one of revonge and
greed rather than necessity. Dr. Andrews,
who assisted at the execution of Hustor in
a medical capacity, says that the story of
the attempted suicide was greatly exageratcd,
and that the wretch would bavo
died from terror and cowardice if h? had
not boon strangled promptly by Sheriff
Calhoun's patent choking apparatus.
Children are quick to percievo the standard
of integrity held by those arout^l
them, and to catch the prevailing tone of m4*
ral feeling. When they hear injustice condoomed
in large thing9 and paliated in small
ones; when thoir own childish depredations
aro treated with levity, or Dossed over with
indifferenoo ; when deoeitful practices are
tolerable and simply troublesomo habits punished,
it is not strange that they learn to
measure the gnilt of dishonesty only by the
, material less or annoyance entailed.
An Act to provost Unjust DisMsa'nstion
by Common Carrion.
Be it enacted by the Sonata and House
of Representative* of tbe State of Bouth
Carolina, now met-and sitting in General
Assembly, and bv tbe authority of tbe same:
Section 1. Tb?t railroad corporations,
and all other obirtercd ormoan'?* acting
as common carriers within the limits of
this State shall eharge for tbe handling and
storage of goodq, wares and other p.^p^rty,
and for the oarriage of freight and ; avengers,
snob rates only asareroasonnbie.
Sec. 2. That no charge for tho carriage
nuobTOo within the meaning of this act
which is in excess of the usual and established
charge made by the same corporation
or combination of corporations for the carriage
of tbe like kiud, class and quantity of
freight for any greater distance over their
line or lines in the same direction: Provided,
That if such corporation or combinations of
corporations can show a greater necessary
expense to itself, or to themselves, for the
carriage of goods, merchandise or property
over the shorter distauce than that which is
incurred lor like carriage over tho lougcr
distance, a proper proportion of such excess
of necessary expense shull be deemed a reasonable
additional charge. In the construction of
this section the sum charged or received
for the transportation of freight shall include
all terminal charges, and tho road of
a Corporation shall include all the road in
use by such corporation, whether owned or
operated under a contract or lease, "liut
nothing in this s jction shall bo construed
so as to requfre any corporation or combination
of corporations to regulate their
charges fdt shorter distances by their pro.portion
oi* through freight bcyoud their
line or lines."
Sec. 3. No railroad corporation or other
chartered company doing business as common
carriers within the limits of this Stato
shall charge, demand or reccivo from auy
Eerson, company or corporation for the
auling, storage, loading or unloading or
transportation of freight, or for any other
service, a greater sum thnu it shall at the
same time charge, demand or receive from
auy other persou, company or corporation
for a lilte service, upon like conditions, and
UuvhSf"llie Same circumstances; aud all
concessions of rates, rebates, drawbacks
aud contracts for special rates shall be open
co and allowed all persons, companies aud
corporations alike, at the same rate per
tou per mile and by the car-load, upon like
conditions and under similar circumstances;
and ary discrimination which violates the
spirit and meaning of this section shall be
deemed unjust and unreasonable.
Sec. 4. That any railroad corporation or
other chartered company acting as common
carriers within the limits of this State,
which shall for itself, or for itself and other
chartered companies acting in combination,
with it, chargo or receive any sum which
is unreasonable within the meaning of this
act, shall forfeit anil pay to the person,
company or corporation paying such overcharge
twice the amount so charged in excess
of reasonable rates, to be recovered by
action in tho proper courts of this State:
Provided, That the action bo commenced
within one year from the accrual of the
right of action.
Approved December 24, 1878.
An Act to rcquiro all Clerks of Courts
Sheriffs and Trial Justices to make
monthly Reports of all Licenses, Fines
and Penalties collected by them to the
Auditor and Treasurer of their several
Counties:
lit it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the State of South
Carolina, now met and sitting in General
Assembly, and by the authority of the
same:
Section 1. That all clerks of courts,
sheriffs and trial justices be, and they arc
hereby, required, on the first Wednesday in
every month or within ten days thereafter
to mnko, in writing, to tho respective auditors
and treasurers of their several counties,
a full and accurate statement of all moneys
collected by them on account of licenses,
fines, penalties or forfeitures during the
past month; and, in default, thereof, upon
conviction theroof, shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisonment
in the oommon jail Dot exceeding
two months, or both, at the discretion
of the Court.
Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent
with this sot aro hereby repealed.
Approved December 23,1878.
An Act to amend an Act to prevent Fishing
with Nets in the fresh water Streams of
this State at certain seasons of the veac?
he it enarted, <fec., That thi titlo of saiu
aot be so amended as to read as follows :
"An Act to prevent the oapture and destruction
ot fish in tho fresh water streams
of this State at certain eeasoas of tho year,"
and that then tho firstscciion of tho said aot
be so aniendod as that it shall road : "That it
shall not be lawful for any person in tho
Countiesof Horry, Marion, Darlington, Clarendon,
Chesterfield, Georgetown, Marlboro'
Williatnsborg, Richland and Chester to fish
| with nets or gigs, or set traps, or shoot fish
with any triad of gan iu any of the tjreeh
water rivers, ereelca, lakes or other stream*
t in arM counties between the let tiny orjiay ^
and the 1st day of September in any yeav
hereafkor."
Approved Pofomber 23,1873.
HARD tfcxTK&S w ,
After all, this has not been an exce~
tionully hard winter. In this city we have
had the severest cold known for twenty
seven years, that is to say since the metnor*
ab'o season of 1860-51; and at the North
it uas been blowy, snowy and frecsy for
two or three week*. No doubt, if we had
not had the sure authority of the record to
appeal to, the oluust iokfcbUanfe would hav*? - ..
insisted that it is the worst and coWcstr
season within the memory of man. Put the
uses of the oldest inhabitant as a meteorological
register are exhausted. He is "played
out," as it were. Ho is no longer an authority
as to the past, or a prophet as to tho
future. The thermometer has superseded
him for one purpose, aud Old Probabilities
for the other. In fact, it was always kuowir
to observing people that the oldest inhabitant
was a delusive authority as to the
meteorology of past times. Horace Walpolo,
in ono of his letters, remarks on the ten
aency 01 people always to nun tno current
season the worst, or tho best, as the caso
might bo, that ever was kuown; to say that
the winter in question was the coldest, or
the summer the hottest, or that the frost
came later in the spriug or earlier in tho
autumn-than in any lortncr year; yettheso
same persous, ho remarks, could not, for
the lite of them, tell what kind of weather
it was tho las* mouth, or eveo the last,
week.
The prcscut winter, so far, has eertaiuly
been cold and tempestuous, but it is not
half over yet, at least at the North, and it
may turn out in the eud to be more thaa
usually mild. In New Orleans it has, in
fact, been exceptionally cold, and as our
winter is nearly over, wc arc justiGcd by
the record in saying that it is ono of l hocoldest
and stormiest known during this
generation. Hut in tho North aud Northwest
they have two months of winter beforo
them.^md those two months may ho relatively
warm. Even the great cold of tho
last two weeks ha? been many times exceeded
?uotably in 1972-73, when hundreds or
persons in Iowa and Wisconsin-aud Miuncsotti
perished In the tremendous snow
storms of December aud January ; when a
score or more of school childrcu with their
teacher were frozen to death in a suowod-up
school house, and a stage coach was caught
in a driving tempest, and the horses, driver,,
and eight passengers, many days attcrward
were found turned to blocks of ice.
The Kansas Journal, of January 2Gth,.
185G, contained tho following: "On tho
night of the 24th of December, 1855, tho
Missouri River at this place was frozen
over. If is now nearly five weeks that
tho river has been a highway for teams of
borses, mules and oxen. We put this fact
on record for coming years. We liavo
now had near seven woeks of hard freezing
wcathor?a fact unparalleled in the history
of this country. People will hereafter
refer to the long, cold winter of 1855-56."
On Febuary 2, the Journal had tho following
: "The cold of the past few weeks has
been general. From every part of America
?from Halifax to Cuba we havo accounts
?and it is everywhere spoken of as tho
coldest ever known. At Memphis tho
citizens arc putting up their ice, a circumstance
unknown before. Tho floating ico
bus reached the mouth of the Mississippi?
j a fact unheard of, even to tradition. Tho
Brazos River, in Texas, is frozen sufficiently
hard for the ciossing of teams. In Cuba
they have a real Northern winter. At St.
Paul, Minnesota, tho thermometer has been
41 degrees below zero." The issue of tho
9th February contained this statement:?
"On Sunday and Monday, 3d and 4th, the
thermometer stood 28 and 30 degrees
bolow zero." In thoissuo of March 1 is
found tbe following: "Tho rive at this
place broke up on Monday morntng last.
tho 25th of February, 1850, having been
closod sixty days."
In comparison with this the present
winter has been rather tropical than otherwise.?N.
O. Picayune.
' ?
A Definition of an Editor.?We
have soon many definitions of many names,
words and phrases, but the following of an
editor, given by Josh Billings, is about the
best we ever yet encountered :
An editor is a male being whose business
is tonavigate a nuzo paper. He writes
editorials, grinds out poetry, inserts dcths
and weddings, sorts out manuskripts keops
a waste basket, blows up tbo "devil," steals
matter, files other peoples' battles, sells his
papers for two dollars and fifty cents a year,
takes white beans and apple sass for pay,
sun !. l- ?;? ? * *?"
ww nuii uo Rau ii/j rozcB a inrpG lamuyj
works 19 hours out ov every 24, knows no
Sunday, gits dammed bi everybody, and
ouoe in a while wbipt bi sumbody, lives
poor, dies middle aged, nnd often broken
hearted, leaves no money, is rewarded for
a life ov toil with a abort but free obituary
puff in the nuzpapers.
T.:?. 1?i ??* *
uiuin \su muu ovinu hi win'si. nnmcna ino
maturity of the crop, Prof. Johnston says
the same is true of nenrly all onr cultivated
crops.