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- ._& r,- ;: niW m^Dm,,,--imtTH i ttukii A. .'_ - ? & v "* " % VOL. X.?New Series. UNION C. H., SOUTH CAROLINA, FEBRUARY 14, 1S70. NUMBER 7. THE GAMBETTA DUEL. How Mark Twain Distinguished Hiinbelf as the Statesman's Second. Mark Twain writes fur the February number of the Atlantic Monthly an uccouut of his participation in tliu recent duel between Uamhclta ami Fuurtou. When ho bad heard of the outbreak in the Assembly, he says that lie called ou Lianibctta, whom lie found "steeped in a profound French calm." Mr. Tivaiu, after being embraced, began the conversation : I said I supposed he would wish me to ncc as his second, and he said, "Of course. I said I must be allowed to act under a French name, so that 1 tight bo shielded ^ , from.obloquy in my country iu case of l'a"tal results, lie wiuced here, probably at the suggestion that dueling was nut regarded with respect in America. However, ne agrccu to my requirement, i ins accounts for the fact that in all the newspaper reports M. flauibetta's second was apparently a French man. First, we drew up my principal's will. I insisted upon this and stuck to my point. 1 said I had never heard of a man in his right mind going out to fight a duel without first making his will, lie said he had ucver heard of a man in his right mind doing any thing of the kind "When we had finished the will, he wished to proceed to a choice of his''last words." lie wanted to know how the following words, as a dying exclamation, struck me: "1 die for my God, for my country for freedom of speech, for progress and the universal brotherhood of man ! I objected that this would require too lingering a death ; it was a good speech for a consumptive, but uot suited to the exigencies of the field of honor. We wrangled over a good many ante-mortem outbursts, but 1 finally got him to cut his obituary down to this, which he had copied into his memoradum book, purposing to get it by hcait: "1 die that France may live." I said that this remark saemed to lack relevancy ; but he said relevancy was a matter of no consequence in last words?what you wanted was thrill. I then wrote the following note aud carried it to M. Fourtou's friend : Silt; Mr. Gauibetta accepts M. Fourtou's challenge, and authorizes me to propose JMossis-Fiquet as the place of meeting, to- J morrow morning at daybreak as the tune; and axes as the weapons. I am, .sir, with great respect, Mark. Twain. M. Fourtou's friend read this note and shuddered. Then ho turned to me and said, with a suggestion of severity in his tone : ' Have you considered, sir, what would be the inevitable result of such a meeting as this?" "Well, for instance, what would it be?" "Bloodshed !" "That's about the size of it," I said.? "Now, if it is a fair question, what was your side proposing to shed ?" I had him there; he saw he had made a blunder, so he hastened to explain it away. Ifo vii ill In* Ii'iil Sttlf iL: i*ll lrwt lliirl \r TIlPlI 1 lie added that lie and his principal would enjoy axes, and indeed prefer them, but liuch weapons were barred by the French code, and so I must change my proposal. Alter proposing (ratlingguns, rifles, navy pistols and brick-bats, Mr. Twain left the choice of weapons to the other second, who fished out ol' his vest pocket a couple of little things, which 1 carried to the light and discovered to he pistols. They were single-barrelled and silver mounted, and very dainty and pretty. I was not able to I speak for emotion. 1 silently hung one of; them on my watch chain, and returned the other. My companion in crime now tin- I rolled a postage stamp containing several ! cartridges and gave me one of them. 1 asked if ho meant to signify by this that our men were to be allowed but one shot apiece, lie replied that the French code permitted no more. I then begged him to go on and suggest a distance, for my mind was growing weak and confused under the strain which had been put upon it. lie named sixty-live yards. 1 nearly lost my patience. I said : "Sixty-five yards with these instruments? I'op gaus would bo deadlier at lilty. Consider, my friend, you and I arc banded together to destroy life, not make it eternal." j?ut with all my persuasions, all my arguments, 1 was only able to get him to reduce the distance to thirty-live yards; and even this concession he made with reluctance, ami said with a sigh : 'I wash my hands of this slaughter; on your head l?e it." There was nothing for mo hut to go homo to my own lion-heart and toll my humiliating story. When I entered M. (iambetta was laying his last lock of hair upon the 4 altar, lie sprang towards me, exclaim' ' in? : "The weapon, the weapon, Quick ! what is the weapon "This !" and I displayed that silver mountvd thing. lie caught hut one glimpse of' it, then swooned ponderously to the floor. When he came to ho snid. mournfully: "The unnatural calm to which I have subjected myself has told upon my nerves. Uutuway witli weakness ! 1 will confront inv fate like a man and n I'rcnohniaii.' lie rose tu hid feet aud assumed an atti-! tude which lor sublimity has never bceu approched by mau aud lias seldom bceu surpassed by statues. Alter a long silence he asked : ' Was nothing said about that man's family standing up with him, as an olfsot to my bulk '! Hut 110 matter; L would not stoop to make such a suggestion; if lie is not noble enough to suggest it himself he is welcome to this advantage, which uo lii)iinr:ilili> 111:111 VV1111I1I f-iL-i? " ' At what hour is the engagement to begin r "At half-past D " "Very good indeed. Ilavc you sout the fact to the newspapers ?" "Sir! If after our long and iutiuiatc friendship you can lbr a moment deem me capable of so base a treachery" "Tut tut 1 What words arc these, my dear friend ? Have L wounded yon ?? Ah, forgive me; I am overloading you with labor. Therefore go on with the other details, and drop this one from your list.? The bloody-minded Fourtou will be sure to attend to it. Or 1 myself?yes, to make certain I will drop a note to my journalistic friend, M. A'oir"? _ "Oh, come to think, you may save yo^V self the trouble ; that other second has informed M. Nuir." "Il'in ! 1 might have known it. Tt is just like that Fourtou, who always wants to make a display." At half-past 1) in the morning the procession approached the field of Plessis-Phjuet in the following order : First came our carriage?nobody in it but M. (iambctta and myself; then a carriage containing M. Fourtou and his second; then a carriage containing two poet orators who did not believe in (lod, and these had MS. funeral j orations projecting from their breast-pockets; men a carrier containing me ncaa surgeons and their cases of instruments ; then eight private carriages containing consulting ^surgeons; then a hack containing the coroner: then the two hearses; then a carriage containing the head undertakers; then a train of assistants and mutes on loot; and alter these came plodding through the fog a long procession of camp-followers, police and citizens generally. It was a noble turnout, and would have made a fine display if we had had thinner weather. 'f'liii iintituul iliut. tl?? puKli* ! masssd themselves together on the right and left of the fijld ; they there'ore bogged a delay while they should put these poor people in a place of safety. The request was granted. The police having ordered the two multitudes to take position behind the duellists, wc were once more ready.? The weather growing still more opaque, it was agreed between myself and the other second that before giving the fatal signal ' we should each deliver a loud whoop to en- ! ; able the combatants to ascertain each olh , I er'.s whereabouts. 1 now returned to my principal, and was j distressed to observe that he had lost a good deal of his spirit. I tried my best to heart- ! : en him. 1 said : ''Indeed, sir, things are ; ! not as had as they seem. Considering the j I character of the weapons, the limited uutn- I i her <if shots allowed, ?lie generous distance, I the impenetrable solidity of the log, and i the added fact that one of the combatants : is one-eyed, the other cross-eyed and nearj sighted, it soemes to 1110 that this conflict ! need not necessarily be fatal. There are i chances that both of you may survive.? i Therefore, cheer up; do not he down-heart- j cd." The speech had so good an effect that my principal immediately stretched forth his hand and said, "L am myself again ; give nic ti?c weapon." 1 laid it, all lonely and forlorn, in the ' centre of the vast solitude of his palm.? lie gazed at it and shuddered. And still mournfully contemplating it, lie murmured, | in a broken voice : "Alas ! it is not death I dread, but mutilation." I heartened him once more, and with j such success that he presently said, ".Let i the tradegy begin. .Stand at my back , do ' not desert me in this solemn hour, my Ifrioml." I gave him my promise. I now assisted him to point his pistol toward the spot j where 1 judged his adversary to he stand; ing, and cautioned him to listen well and j further guide himself by my fellow-second's ! j whoop. Then 1 propped inyselt against M. (ianibctta's hack and raised a rousing I i.ltfl. ? 99 MM ' . 1 I*. .. iiuup-cu . i. his was iiiiswrini iuiiii \ out Llio lar distance of the fug. ami 1 inline- I diatcly shouted ; ' ( )ne?two?throe?-fire Two little sounds like ! fjnt! luoko upon my car, ami in tin* same instant I was crushed to the earth under a mountain of I flesh. lJuried as 1 was, 1 was still able to j catch a faint accent from above to this effect : 1 die for . . . for . . . perdition take it, what i< it I die for? Oh, yes?I'ltANCK ! I die that France may live !" The surgeons swarmed around with their prohes in their hands and applied their | microscopes to the wlmlc area of M. (lamj Intta's person, with the happy result of finding nothing in the nature of a wound. Then a seene ensile.1 which was in every way gratifying nud inspiriting. The t\v?? gladiators fell upon each other's nc.-ks, with floods of proud and happy tears; that other second embraced ujc ; the surgeons, tho orators, the undertakers, the police, e\ crybody embraced, everybody congratulated, everybody cried, and the whole atmosphere was filled with praise and with joy unspeakable. It seemed to mo then that 1 would rather bo tbe hero of a French duel than a crowned and sceptred monarch. lnrnm.ti.ti iiai, Tillauk.?At our request the lbllowiug was furnisnhed us by Dr. J. 1*. Stevens, of Lee Co ., (ja., well known as a prominent and scientific farmer in Southwest Georgia. ?t is Tnte.v^Hig asJ i being the first effort we have heard of to test by cxpeiinient the new theory in our southern climate : k'l IV.'IK ViM'U innoli inLiHAcfn.l ? ? - I. MW ? VI J I1IUVII llltv I tov^u ill uilll lcvant's "New Theory of Tillage" and tried an experiment with it in my garden, on a plat of ground 10."> by -15 foot. L broke up the ground with a turning plough; manured in the drill uuiihruily over the plat with cotton seed compost, and then planted corn at intervals of three l'ect. The first working was done by siding with a long narrow scooter, and breaking out the middles i with a six inch round shovel plough. I i then selected three contiguous rows for tcst| ing the after culture, which, at the second ploughing, was done with the round shovel, running near enough to the corn to throw ' the dirt to the stalks. The remainder of the plat 1 ploughed out with the sweep.? Just when ike corn was "bunching" to tassel, I gave the whole plat the third working precisely similar to the preceding, and runniug near enough to thro.v the dirt up to the s*nlks of the experimental rows.' The plat received no further tillage, and when the cars of corn were fully matured, 1 counted those upon the rows that received the deep culture, and each row yielded ten cars more than cither of the three adjacent rows that received the superficial culture ; and there was no apparent difference between the size and perfection of the cars , of corn. 1 will remark that when the corn received the last ploughing we had had no | rain for ten days, and not until ten days ( thereafter, yet there was apparently no wilting of the leaves upon the rows that received the deep culture. I had another Xllnt. A!' Aoim? - * '?* M"!** 1 with which i had commenced a similar experiment, but personal illness compelled me to leave home for the remainder of the summer, and the experiment was not completed by uiy agent in charge of my business. It is my purpose to tost the experiment upon a more extended scale the present y&ir, although of course, without incurring anv material risk.?.1. 1'- S'rr.VKXS. m Southern C 'ufticntor. ]>HKK!)S (.! ' 1'ofliUV FOlt TilK SOLTII. ? 1 am often asked the question, " What breed of fowls do 1 recommend V' Before I can answer this question' I am compelled to ask another. "Be you desire a fowl lor eggs or for table use " 'flier arc some breeds that are classed as non-sitters. As they seldom manifest any desire to become mothers, no time is lost in cgg-pioduction ; and hence, duiing the year, they lay many more eggs than those breeds that are all the time getting broody and want tosit. As great layers, the Brown ! Leghorns stand at the head of the list.? They lay a white egg of over moderate size, but not as large as the Black (Spanish, while the Black Spanish chicks are very difficult to raise; tlio Brown leghorns are hardier and grow more vapidly. They are larger bodied than the llamburgs, and their j eggs will weigh more to the dozen. Their party-colored plumage, beautiful combs, and proud carriage, make them particularly attractive. For a table fowl we need something larger than the Leghorns. We need size and compactness of body; and one that will take on fat easily. These qualities wc find in the Partridge Cochin. For size of body and eggs, the Brahtnas head the list. The chicks of these breeds are hardy and very easily raised. Tlicy arc good sitters and excellent mothers. Thj Plymouth Bocks arc an excellent fowl both for eggs and table use. They are not as larire bodied as the Partridire Cochins, nor cither I lie l).uk or Light i?r:?l>mas. but they dross well, have yellow skin, flesh lender and juicy. Any of the above breeds arc well suited to our southern country. It. is time our farmers were waking up to the full appreciation ol the value of good poultry. Fowls well kept, and properly attended to. pay as well, if not better, than any other farm stock, in proportion to the money invested.?.1. 1'. II. I>it*>WN, in South/I'll Cultil'iitoi' . 0. When the train cotiveyiny General Slyerman to the South stoppedat Kettle llollow, Montgomery County, Virginia, Tccuinsch ' walked out to view the sterile aspect of the j country. Seeing an old resident standing I near, the General inquired: "What do they raise in this country, anyhow I The aforesaid Kettle Hollow man replied : I "They raise h?II here about as quick as any place you ever saw." Tho general tucked his feathers and sought refuge in (ihecariD.ta.fr. CULTURE OF TEA IN SOUTH CAROLINA. It is well known that lor many years the tea plaut has been grown in the South.? The plants flourish luxuriously in most parts of the Carolinas, ami in Georgia and Louisiana. Occasionally the leaves were picked and dried fur use, but the process was tedious and the lea strong and rank.? Last year, however, a quantity of leaves of the tea plant grown in Georgetown, S. C., were sent to importers of tea in Baltimore, and by a member of the firm were made iutoexccllcntmerchantable tea. Mr. Gillct Gill, of the firm of Martin Gillct & Co., superintended the drying, and was so encouraged by the result^' the experiment that lie is now travellii^Pthrough the South with a view to disseminating information relative to the cultivation of tea, and to . ascertaining what are the capabilities of the s most favored localities. Mr. Gill had charge ; of a tea factory in Japan, and is familiar | with the whole process of growing the plant, , i i -i ? illU Ulllt |>l I'JM 1 111^ II1CI1I JU1 market. 1 le bus already visited Charlotte, | Columbia, Augusta and lower Ccorgia, and , arrived in Charleston yesterday ou his way ( to Georgetown. < There is no doubt that the tea plant will . grow well throughout South Carolina, and j belter in this State than in Georgia. The | plant is not injured by ordinary cold weather, bearing without danger temperature as low ( as 2 dog.Fahrenheit. Such cold is au | advantage to the plant as it checks the i rapidity of development. It needs no spc- j cial care, bat Mr Gill finds that the plant . usually is not trimmed closely enough.? , The leaves used lor uiakiug tea are only . one or two and sometimes three leaves on | the extreme end ofeach limb or branch, and j the object ol'tbecultivator, therefore, should , he to keep the plant down so as to multiply < the number of branches. This, also, rcii- . dors the leaves easier to pick. The plant , can be raised form cuttings or form seed, } and requires no particular nursing, l'lants f in hot houses, free from the influences of t frost, do not bear as well as plauts in the j , open air. ) The common belief is that the nianufnc- ( turc of tea is attended with peculiar ditticullies. This is a mistake. The different . grades ol tea made in China come from the | same plant. They are, in fact, the same , tea grown in this country should have the same appearaucc as Chinese tea. The | American teaisas fragrant and invigorating, Mini ;i<5 nvmvnillu \ innrinnii ton will twiner as high a price as the Indian, Chinese, or Japanese variety. IMr. (iill is confident that the c iriug and preparation can be done with machinery of simple construction as j thoroughly and more cheaply than by hand. I The purpose is to form a company, iirtimc, for the manufacture of tea, similar to the i companies established in India, which pay i their stockholders dividends of 18 and lilt i percent. Our understanding is that Gillctt j ( iC Co. will purchase, at the rate of one dol- < lar a pound, such Carolina leaves as may i be properly picked and forwarded to ihcui ] for manufacture. I We shall await with much interest the j formal report to be made by Mr. Gill upon his return, and it is to be hoped that, in i the meantime, they who are now growing l tea plants will continue their cultivation.? | There is far less difficulty in making tea < than in growing and prepariug jute, and we i see no reason why Carolina tea should not soon he as well and favorably known as our I famous long cotton.?.Ynr.s ami Courier. \ ( Srr I t* Yoi'u 11 a it at IIomk.?The fallowing excellent suggestion L from a ; temperance lecture delivered in Maysvillc, ' Ky., but it will answer equally well for Charleston : Barkeepers in this city pay, on an average, 6- per gallon for whiskey, one gallon contains an average of sixty-five drinks, and at ten cents a drink the poor nan pays $li ">(l per gallon for his whiskey. In other words he pays c'J for the whiskey and 8-1 f?lt to a man for handing it over the bar. Make your wife your barkeeper, bend hor two dollars to buy a gallon ol whiskey for a beginning and every time you want a drink go to her and pay ten cents for it.? ]{y the time you have drank a gallon she will have $( 50, or enough money to refund the ?2 borowed of you. to pay for another gallon of liijuor and have a balance of ?2 50. She will be able to conduct future operations on her own capital, and when you become an inebriate, unable to support yourself, shunned and despised by all respectable persons, your wife will have enough money to keep you until you get ready to fill a drunkard's crave." A lady taking tea at a small company, being very fond of hot rolls' was asked to have another. ".Really, 1 cannot," she modestly replied; "I don't know how many I have eaten already." "/ do," unexpectedly cried a juvenile upstart whose mother had allowed him a s ;at at the table. "You've eaten eight; I've been counting." A Kentucky paper remarks that the look of intelligence assumed by tho young lawyer as he sits in court should be put a stop to. It is calculated to cause the presiding judge to lose confidence in hitnsJf, to make him believe he doesn't, know anything. - H g. ' A Widow Sicckssfilly Tn acino 11 Kit Stoi.kn Child.?A romance in real lite, stranger than any fiction, has recently had its denouement, ouo of the parties most interested being a resident of this eity. Tit is is a widow lady, whose name wo aro uot at liberty to make public for the present, who lias recently discovered the whereabouts of a long-lost daughter, stolou from her twenty seven y.'ars ago, when an infant. The lady, though a resident of iSprinjgtioKI for some years past, is a native of lJartiprd, Conn., aud went with her husband, after her marriage, to Western Now York, which was then a good deal of a wilderness as compared with its condition now. Her first child, a girl, was born there, and sho was ou her way to join her husband, after a temporary separation, when the infant was stolen from her during a long stage jouruey, aud she has never seen the child since, though, as noted above, she has recently discovered that she is alive and living 111 Wisconsin, where she is married and has throo children. The anguish ot the mother at losing her first-born child can be conceived but not described. A long fit of sickness followed, and after her recovery ill possible search was made for the missing babe, hut without success. Hut the mother never gave up hope of hearing of her child, and after twenty-seven years had elapsed her faith and patience have at last been rewarded. It seems she always suspected a man who carried her some fifteen miles by private conveyance to meet the stage, when on her way to join her husband, >1'stealing the child, with the intention of adopting it as his own. Sho now knows that he was the abductor, lie gave it to hi accomplice, who took it some fifty miles across the border, into Pennsylvania, where it was placed in a family, with a >uin of money sufiicicut to provide for its wants for some time. 11 is evident intention was to reclaim the child when he could do ;o without suspicion. Hut the time never mine when he dared to do it, and the little girl grew up as the adopted child of the arnily, finally married the younger brother if the master of the house, nud removed to IVisconsiu, where the family is prosperous nid happy. Commuuicutiou has been csablislicd for some months now between the mother and daughter, and photographs cxJ. - - w?i, , ?.? M -u?i. . ? ? ?? the relationship, it* any had existed Leforc. I'hey propose to have a meeting soon near the scene of their tragic parting more thau a quarter of a century ago. What a meeting it will be !?Springfield(d/oss.,) Union* Silvkr Wiu, 1 >0 foii Him.?A Washington dispatvh to a Chicago paper souio time ago stated that " 'J'reasurer (iilfillan has attempted to make Secretary Sherman's plan more successful by sending a great number of circulars to private individuals is well as to banking institutions, notifying them that silver in amounts of from 31,1)00 to 310,000 will be sent free to any adJress." Some of the Western people have not gouc deyond what was said in the dispatch and grasped what was meant to havo been said. As wittiest1 the following extract from a letter just received by tlio treasurer from tin Illinois back woodsman : ''I have seen tho plan of Secretary Sherman, also [lie plan of yours. Now I am a desorviog poor man, with a large family and no mou?y; and you say that you will send free ;o any address from 31,000 to 310,000.? I will take any amount from the lowest ligure named up to the 810.000, and will make good use of it. 1 think if you want lo give it away, give it to the deserving poor. I would, indeed, like, to be one that L'ets some of the silver dollars. So let me. it ml semi as much as possible to a needy poor man, and do a God's blessing. Enclosed you will find the piece cut out of the paper. My address is," Ac. o ? l*o i so no r s Stockiniss.?A dyer wrilc9 to a New York paper as follows: So much has been said about dyed stocking poison j ing, which remarks have been confined entirely to the medical profession, that a few words from a dyer may not be out of place. It does not appear as if any of the gontlomcn have given the matter any really practical lest in the way of chemical analysis, simply 1* lying upon mere guess-work. After many investigations the writer has concluded that in the cases where bright anni1 ine shades arc desired, acids (principally sulphuric acid) are used to devclopo and brighten the colors, and the simple cause of so much trouble lies in tho fact that the acids have not been rinsed out properly. When tho stocking arc worn, perspiration releases the acid, which causes irritation of the skin, and continued wearing naturally causes the iflamation complained of. Again, if the stockings aro (through an economical uotiou of the dyer) not properly scoured, they will crack off and color tho l'cct, which, without the acid, is perfectly harmless. In concluding, I can mlil this simple caution: Always wash them in soap and water before wearing. This will neutralize all acids in the yarn and render the objectionable colored stockings perfectly safe to wear. ? Man wants but littlo here below; but woman wants most everything she sees her neighbor have?excepting her toothbrush and youngest baby.