Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

WT' "* "'' '-*&fckf;'^*i yfifr '? ? wwffR^^ii^j^^^;' . s lV?^?^li'^Ji- A^ .- --\. ^. V-* ~i<,^M^^B^^^BH^BBBBB8!Bi)tP^' * s WWil^?.,....,i'??..("???> '' 0 H- so?TH ^BbSEA, ^PGUST frlST' ; ,. ,_ rnm t?? ArgosjKflUcd him wi.h thn ?l r rlr,^-^wl-d^-t? 1 ? "NUMBER 457." , ' Number 457,' aver tlaco his entrant into the convict jail, had always stout] maintained his inuocenco. His. name in Thfttyaa Stephens, but this was not of e mucVSaiportaocc, either to hitnaoft or b wafdjrs, as the fact that a neat little U?dg with 1 1*. 8. 10 ' On it, li| slitchcrd on t his sleeve. In. fact, ho had been adouo ten years of penal servitude for allege embezslepient. * A man of bpleadjd pbysiqoa^witb a liqh and springy step, which even,prison disoip convicted. Many persons doubted tho justico of hi! RRIltnnoO It *?n? H?r?iiinlii ..n?/? ..... ? - >. ?>% vv>?uiuij uuvuuiuiuu 1u1 any Lowmoor prisoner to be perpetually informing the.warders, chaplain, doctor anc Governor?as ' Number 457 ' did?that h< was entirely innocent. The officials treated his assertions with indifference. What die it matter to them ? They very justly fell that they wcro not a court of criminal op peal. What seemed to exasperate Stephen: more than anything else was the idea thai f such a mean offense as robbing an employer could be laid to his charge. But by fur the most remarkable thing about tho man, at all events from tho point of view of the inmates of Her Majesty's convict establishment, was the resemblance he bore to tho prison doctor. At the time of which I write, many ycurs ago, Dr. Brand occupied ibis positiou. He was a man who does not appear to have been liked among the prisoners, although bo was popular with tho warders and high officials. He had a clear-cut, florid face, stood about five feet nine inches high, and wns of an athi.*:, c iuiio usurc. Id all respects Stephens was his living image, his almost exact counterpart, except that he was about an inch taller. The likeness between tbo two mon was almost ridioulous. It Eerved as a common subject of conversation iu a placo where there were few topics of interest, where life was an unvarying routine, unit where Nature, foi quite half the year, presented an aspect of gloom and mountainous bleakness not to be surpassed in any part of the Kingdom.* It was perhaps natural that Dr. Brand should not altogether appreciate his rcsem bianco to a convict. Surly as his mannei was to all the prisoners, to Stephens ho wa< very brutal. The latter knew tho cause and ho hated the doctor for despising him But he did not hato hira more than h< hated most of the prison warders ; not hall as much as he djtcsted tho Governor, whe scorned?so ho thought?to take groat de light in tormenting him. mi _i !_ *i- * * - x iiurc is uu piuuc iu me woriu, wucro, ll a per sen in authority wishes to exercise t petty spite, he cao do it with greater effec thuu iu a convict jail. Captain X , the Governor at thai date, was neither a good man, nor a good natured one. Ho mcdJlcd a groat dea with prison duties which ought to havt been left to the warders, and tho latter, it conscquoneo, did not like him. He was t martinet nnd a man who was culpably in dulgont to porsons who had gained his fa Tor. The best road to this end was th< adoption of a cring'ng mauncr and passivi acquiescence in tho wisdom and power o the Govornor. At a vory early period of Stephens' cap tivity, soon after his transference from i London jail, he hud reason to regard Cap tain X with feelings of strong aversion Thoro was, iu fact, a mutual repulsion be twoen tho two men, which is a dangerou State ur 111 lugs wKw on* m absolutely a the mercy of the other. la tlio wild, powerful unturo of the pris onor, Captain X recognized a spiri which would never bow before him, whicl he would havo to break, as be could no bend it. He had a theory of his own as to th best way of taming unruly subjects. Hi formula was this : 4 If they're strong, brawny fellows, wh> ought to to out working on the fields, pu them to stitohing in the tailor's shop, am vice ocrta; nothing makes them s mad as that/ No doubt was perfectly right. Afto fortnight of being coopod up in a stuff, room with fifty or sixty other oonvicts, al tiiloring, Stephens' powerful frame oravo< for oxcroisc. The Governor saw it, am was delighted. Stephens asked him to b allowed out-of-door work. The only repl Captain X gave, was : 4 Don't dictate to mo ! You'll got doubl hours to-morrow in tho shop for your insc looee!' Stephens ground his teeth together, be eaid nothing, A week more of thia disoij line made him really ill. The doctor phy TF- w" "o" " l" Pharmacopoeia?-p practice of Dr. Brand' when ho chose to thick that a patient wa 59 'sbamuiing.' The next tino Stephens had a ohanoo 0 19 seeing the governor, he complained that b< |? waa III, and that the dootor refused to sene 19 him to the prison infirmary. P ' Captain X looked at Stephcos, anc Jd thought he soemed rotHly weak onough tc f** p? oi hard, out-door exerciee--thc I Other brauch of the taming process. 'Tho doetor knows what's best for you,' be said. 4 You shan't go to the tofimary, k hut yotf shall go eoinewhero else to-morrow.' II ' Where's that, sir V asked Stephens. " 1 a 1^1 " ^ ^ drtig myflfclf along.' ' ? You'll drag yourself there, I promise r you,' replied tho govornor, coolly exasper1 ating. ' As be strode away, Stephens muttered, 5 loud enough for him to hear : 1 ' I am bound to be oveu with you for ' this some day.' This, of course, was sheer outrage and impudence, and Stephens was sevorely pun1 ished. For one thing, ho was placed in a ' punishment cell for four and twenty hours, ' which gave him the rest ho. was sorely in need of. Next day?it was toward tho end of Sep*' tcmber?no gangs wcro sent to tho fields on the moor, because there was a local f~g pre? ailing. It was igcrely a thick inist, pro1 duccd by a cloud settling on the mountain ' platoau, on which the prison is situated. 1 The jail being at least five huudred feet ' above sea level, and surrounded by rugged ' chains of hills, tho clouds blowing in from 1 the sea often enveloped the place in a dis1 mal and clammy embrace. As he lay in his cell the night before, Stephens had formed a desperate resolution. I A man of violent passions, and now grown ' heedless of consequences, he decided to risk 1 everything in nn attempt to escape. If he 1 could at tho same timo wreak vengeance on the governor, his oppressor, why, so much 1 the merrier. 1 It would bo impossible to understand what follows in this narrativo without some idea or tho contljyuruiiva uf ipo 1 of the prisou, and the plan of tho interior. All the officers' quarters were placed wilhiu iiiu seconu 01 me iwo walls wnici) guard ' the place. The houso occupied by the r governor, a commodious, but not prcten1 tious-looking edifice,stands close to the gate; ? the doctor's rooms, which he officially cn* joys whenever ho is in tho prison, arc a 5 liulc further on, on tho right-hand side of ^ the interior quadranglo. ' This, at least, was the ease before struct' ural alterations were made. The whole space in the quadrangle was graveled over. ^ The doctor's apartments were not guard1 ed ; all that anybody had to do was to step ' up to tho outer door, enter it, nud then knock at the inner door on the left, t Tho governor was not quito so easily ac cessible. There was a warder always 1 marching up and down before his ontruncc 3 ?one of the so-called Civil Guards. i If any convict, thoreforc. thouirht of cs ? capiog from the inside jail, he had two - barriers to pass ; the first was the gateway - leading out of ibis interior quadrangle, 3 where a porter was, of course, stationed. 3 The second was the great main ontrance f gate, leading through the massive and towering wall which girdled the prison. Al - this gate there was always a strong picket ? of the Civil Guard posted?men armed * with loaded rifles, who could be trusted to i. use them, too, in case of an attempted out break. a The space between the iuncr building t and the outer walls, was occupiod by some small shods for workmen, and for the rest - was bare. Here the convicts exercised t when not allowed out in the fields. The) h might bo seen any day of tho week work t iog in gangs, pulling trucks full of stones along to a part of the walls which was be e iog strengthened, or exercising under the 8 control of a couple of warders. And always that ominous 'outer circle' o 0 moo of the Civil Guard overlooked what was going on?uicn standing watohhg nl * around the convicts, at a little distance of! 0 tbeir muskets resting under their arms oi over their shouldors. Well did the jail r birds know the meaning of that ring o f armed custodians, o?cr attendaut upoi II tboin. 1 To return to Stephens. Nursing his fu 1 rious and suppressed hate, he plottei o through the wholo night. By dawn hi y plans weie matured. At six he wa roused by the boll inside his cell ringim e vigorously. h * My last day in this bolo !' ho muttcrc to himself. it What was his desicn ? It was we! h known, that, as a rulo, it was sheer madncn - for a convict to dream of breaking out froi u buu iQicrior ot the prison. Escapes somcs times did occur, but then that was whon s tbo prisooors were in the fields, or porhapo under cover of a suddenly settling wist, f ono roan might eludo the vigilanco of bid 9 guard. Such inoidonts, cron under chrI ouuistancca like that, wore rare. How would esonpo I rem the double girdlo of I stone walls?the warders in the interior > quadrangle, and the stfosig^ guard at tbo ) outer gate?be anyway possible for Stephens '( He know he had ono thing in his favor , ?tl^ was his resemblance to tbo doctor. esoape bis guarctians. ^ lie dotcrmioed to ' TCturnT^Tnct^wns^lere Occurred tho* mcnts when a uian might make a move without being seen by the warder. Surely he would have time to step ipto the portal car the doctor's room, rap aud enter. j Then?woe to tho doctor ! An exchange of garb, most likely of a compulsory char- | actcr, must take place. As if fortune favored him, on the day for the attempt, the mist I have described enveloped the mountain prison in its almost impenetrable fold. The convicts were delegated to different kinds of work within the prison. Some had to put up with the solitude of their cells. In pursuauco of the Governor's orders, Stophens was not one of these. As ho could not be drafted out on to the fields, he was set among the gang in the stone yard. IIo had become used to degradation. Yet, now that he was forced to drag a heavy cartload of stone along, yoked with villains whoso couutcnanccs betrayed them, the shame of his position iucrcased his longing to escape. And he was weak, too, tcrr'bly weak ; the work demanded of him strained every liuib, every nerve. At last, the half-past twelve bell tiuklcd, which told the men to ccr.so labor. Very soon they were marshalled iu files, and WAI*A rnnilif tn innrnli K?/*L- :**4 ? ?v.v . v..-j %vr uiuivu l/uta lUfcU i iiu luiuriur quadrangle. Wheu they arrived thero. it was the business of two warders to stand near and superintend the entry of tho conthe cells were placed. Stephens contrived, in staitiug, to bo one of the last uicu iu the file. lie knew then that when he got into the quadrangle he would bo very closo to the doctor's apartments. Dr. Brand's little surgery was irreproachable ou the score of neatness. The doctor was there now, haviug dono his work nt tho ' infirmary, and was preparing to leave tho prison, as ho usually did at midday. lie was whistling to himself, when the door opened, lie was standing with his bnck to it, and was surprised that the person, whoever it was, had not rapped. Wheeling around, he beheld himself facing his second self, but iu convict garb?the fel1 low Stephens, 'Number 457'?the mau against whom ho bore a stupid aud unreasoning grudge. There must have been souiothing of ' menace in the man's look. 'What business have you hero?' tho ' Doctor ejaculated, ficrcelv. And at the same moment he involuntarily glanced aside to seo what weapon he had within reach. Stephens saw the movement. If ho had sprung forward aud grapplod with his enemy, ho might have overpowered him ; ' but Dr. Hrand would be suro to shout, and bring all the warders in a swarui into the room. To persuade him by entreaties to ' consent to exchange dresses, would be, ho ' felt, utterly hopeless. All this whirled through his mind in a , moment. The next, lie caught a heavy glass bottle from the nearest shelf, aud ( flung it straight at the Doctor's head. The aim was perfect. The victim fell with a thud and did not rise. Stephens stood, wondering and petrified for the moP mcnt, and perhaps hulf remorseful. Then, , recollecting tho imminent danger he was I in, ho knelt down to disrobo the prostrato . man. ' Dut there was no-need, for at that mo meal he caught sight of the inner Banctum, j. and saw a coat hanging on a peg. It was ^ tho Doctor's own grcat-coat. It would completely cover the prison trousers that ho I. was obliged to wear, and a pair of thick ] boots, not of tho oomistakablo prison cut ? was under a chair. It was hard'.y a mo8 meat's work for the convict to put these ^ boots on his feet, to button very closelj around him the Doctor's great-coat, and to j open the door and walk boldly out into the quadrangle. II Apparently his abscuco had not been is discovered. No warder was in sight n Thcro wero tho two gatos to bo passed be fore escape con Id bo effected, but Stephens had somethiag else to attend to beforo ho ioc thought of escaping. mc There wasjhis account with the Gov- N. ernor to be s.-tjUed. In that strange, wild lad CSturo, embittered by sufforing. and mad- tial defied by ill-ssago, revenge seemed even on 8Wd6tor than liberty. wli Assuming as nearly as possible the pro Doetot's walk find manner, Stcpbcos saun- and tored up to thc^doorway of tho Governor's 1 nottse. The schtry saluted him, and this and gave him groat Encouragement, lie asked pub the servant wh) came to the door, if tho nar Governor was at borne! inoi 'No; bo has gone to Dovcton for the wor be nothing but madness to do so. Yet he pros hesitated, for the idea of revenge on hit I oppressor had taken deep root in his mor- at h bid imagination. gem No ; revenge must be deferred. Perhaps com some day be would get bis opportunity, bus a cc certainly it was not now. lie had bettor Ncv make good his escape. But there was the cert gate to the inucr square. That must be the passed. As he approached it, lie reuicm. o'ck bcrcd the Doctor's usual habit, and so he at o began to whistle. Mnj * Now, Mr. Day,' he said, speaking in a blc, deep tone, as like the Doctor's voiej as he rcac kucw how to assume. abse The porter emerged from tho little den, lion: gave him a quick glance, touched his hat, mad and said : indi Tou are going out very cany, uiuay, vci Doctor.' caus 'Aye. aye,' said Stephens, and the gate lioui swung open. One-half of the peril over, he the thought. As he stepped out to cross the The open space up to tbc wain doorway, be aud felt bis limbs quiver beneath biui. Weak- deli 11 oss and excitement were beginning to com tell. lie knew that ho was in full view of bore the windows of the kitchen, the back of the the Governor's house, aud some of the papi warders' room. Kvcry moment h j expee- corn ted the cry of 'Stop hiui!' would resound his through the prison. coul ( To be continued.) this ...? froc ' Scales on the Faum.?Thcro arc toul who .do not properly estimate l^e >m(Pbip'<)f being able to wdf&h /pen the aW farm whatever may bo produced thereon, ^ especially that portiou to be sold. The dealer io stock, who comes to your farm to t,ot buy, 's estimating and weighiug daily, and ^or becomes so expert that he can guess tho tirc weight of an animal within a few pounds. mci The majority of farmers cannot do this. 8 The dealer is going to buy as cheap as be was cao. Ho asks the farmer his price. The t0 ' reply it often made that he does not kuow 8001 what it is really worth; what will he pay for (,ei it. The reply is, he cannot buy and sell; ^ you must set the price. If tho farmer is 'oa' really ignoraut of its value the dealer soon acc discovers it and acts accordingly. ou Last fall I bought a flock of sheep to ' " Sun r.use early lambs. Mot having kept sheep lor vears, I was not posted: bat I raised ' ^ Jl tc fine lambs. Some buyers were looking at . ^ them, and I priced them for the whole lot; this was olaiuied to be too high. A few days ^ later the sheep were yarded, to be shorn, when a number of the lambs were weighed. \"C the The next day one of thi village butchers met me and said ho was just coming to sec me about those lambs. I told him to go rat and look them over; he spent an hour ' nai among them. You found some fine lambs? Oh, fair, he replied. The first lamb dropped was on March 20, the majority after the first of April. Now, in view of m? their age, arc they not more than fair? m"V He admitted that, for their age, they wcro very good. I asked him what somo of the best of them would weigh. Oh, about aCC forty-five pounds, ho rcpliod. I smiled, ^CI and asked him if he did not know 'any better, remarking that it was useless aU< to beat around the bush, as I was posted ou their weight, and that seventy was ^ nearer the murk than forty-five. I sot my price, and he bought them. r . uio Tho next day I met another of the village butchers and told him that I had a gl)c( wether and that, as I only wanted to keep ewes, I would sell it. I told him $5 was my ^ price, in answer to his inquiry. He said , ho would give 83 50, if a good ono, but 85 i was out of the question. He said he would \y I give 4c. pur pouud, (4J is the present at( i market price). At his figures the sheep pr was worth 84.80, at the market prico 85.40. q, This spring, in selling some grain, I gei I weighed the lust load. Tho wcicht at the i warehouse and my weight did not ngrcc; gj, 1 I showed my figures; they looked again, jQ i and found a mistake. It paid me well for |{ i weighing.? dor. Germantotcn Telegraph. M ... qji i Wallace Thompson, of Ccder Grove, S. tj, . C., aged 7G, died from cancer on the face ]( ? on the 20tb. fo A Southekn IIiotoritK.?The following sidcnt was first related by tbo writer in a rnorial address delivered in Newborn, C., many years ago. The name of the y hns never been divulged for prudenI considerations, but it has been placed record that her descendants uiay know 0 she was, and, if worthy of her, be ud to claim their descent from so heroic 1 daring a daughter of the South. The South was full of such heroines, I it is due to thcui that their deeds be dished. Tho writer trusts that the ration of this fact will causo hundreds e to be written. The 'lloys iu Grey' c not alone in glorious deeds ; their hers, wives, sisters, daughters and Hhine, thcif fcood Work* Aon Id bo icrved and handed down to posterity, n November, 18G2, news was received cadquartcrs, Kinstou, N. C., that two irals of the Federal army, one of them manding in North Carolina, would on rtaiu day pass from Morehcad City to fbcrn. It was desirable, in view of ain contemplated movements, to capture train and sccuro tho officers. At 10 >ck P. M. I received orders to proceed ucc to Trcntou, take a detail from or Ncthcrcutt's command, and if possicapturc tho train. At 2 A. M. 1 hed Trenton, to find Major Nethcicutt nt on one of his usual scouting expedi9. Awaiting his return at daylight I c myself comfortable, and was about to ilgc in a morning's nap when the clatUK IUV lb\.V V? uviww ? icd me to step to the door of the Court3c, of which I had taken possession for night, to sec what was iu the wind, sentinel ou duty had halted the rider was receiving from hiui a paper to be vcrcd immediately to the officers in maud. To my astonishment the uotc : uo address, and upon being opened blank page of a half sheet of letter cr met my eye. The rider, an elderly niryman uukuown to me, was brcathiug jaded steed, preparatory to return. Uo Id give me no other information than : About I o'clock A. M. lie was aroused n his slumbers and going to his door ud a lady ou horseback, who gave him note aud told him to take it with all UO. W 'i'^jnvvu g"* U 4a ally (^nn. crate officer be should lind on duty re, as it contained important informai. The rider was kuown to bo a good lfcdcratc and his statcuieuts were only to be relied upon. In a few moats thereafter I was iu the private room i citizen of Trcuton, and his kind wife I warming an iron for my use. Applied the seemingly blank sheet of paper, heat n enabled me too sec what I desired, a. Foster bad returned to Newborn two s sooner than anticipated, and was to re that very morning with a force, most uratcly detailed on the sheet beforo mo, an expedition having, in uiy opiniou, railroad bridge at Weldon for its objectpoint. The object of my expedition ng thus frustrated, I returned iuimcdily at full speed to Kinston, and gave the ormation procured through the intrepid ring of one of Newborn's daughters to * officer in command. Steps were unptly taken by the officer commanding ) department, and such an array ot ops was placed in front and on tho Hanks the Federal general as caused him >idly to retrace his steps. The lady's we appended to that note has never been d?her secret has bccu locked in my sast; my superior officer, respecting my iivc in desiring to keep it, only required ' pledge that the writer was worthy of idit. I am suro she never knew into ose hands, her note fell or the good it iomplished, till she beard me, several trs thereafter, relate the incident. She s sitting in front of the speaker's stand, 1 a gleaur of pride passed over her face the incident was told, aud she knew the )d work her night ride had accomplished, hen I state that she was a young lady, iderly reared, and then in the very trniug of maidenhood, her ride at mid;ht, at groat personal risk, to convey ;h useful information, can be properly predated.-*?. P. Poof, in Raleigh ChYoue. Tiie Senatorial Delegation.? ashington. July 29.?The following S. n>r, who ware requested by the Yicccsident to represent tin Senate at Gen. ant's funeral, have notihed Col. Canaduy, geunt-at-arnis, of lheir intention to atid tho funeral: Justin S. Morril, John icrmnn, John A. Logan, Matt W. Hansom, ihn J. Ingnlls, Francis W. Cockrell, Wade ampton, Joseph K. Brown and Chns. F. anderson. Tho coinmitteo has been rcicstcd by the scrgcantMt.arms to uieet in ow York at 8 o'clock on the eveniog ol e 6th of Asigust, at the Filth Avenue oU-1, where quarters havo been engaged r theiu. Tbe town of Cowpcns was thrown into a tumult of excitement last week over au abortive attempt at abduction. Mr. llcnrv Whittakftr, a youth of Cowpcus, became deeply enamored with the charms of Miss Kate Stallings, a maiden of fifteen Summers, residing in tho same burg. Hut the alliance did not uiect with the approval of Katie's relatives. Nothing daunted, however, Mr. NVhittakcr romantically Jeter' mined not to suffer the desire of his heart to bo cruelly thwarted. Arrangements were made for the nuptials at tho house of a fricud, and tho nrcseucc of a minister had been secured. Softly the -Joung lovers slipped oir from Sunday school and WtfWihful brother of tho maidoolTail notico?. " their departure aud mado pursuit. As the services were about to begin he arrived at the gate,-forbade tbe ceremony and demanded bis sister. Tho young lovers escaped out of the back door aud again lied, and were pursued. The groom defended his viuuouic, aim wun a Kimo ami oarely missed cuttiog the throat of his betrothed'e brother. A fiiend of tlie grooui. I'at Weeks, came to his assistance and with an uplifted knife held Mr. Stallings in subjection till the lovers escaped. Hut '-the best laid schemes of uiico and men gang aft aglec." lleforc the young couple could find another minister the groom was arrested for abduction. While in the clutches of the law his lady love was sent away ho knew not where, lie gave bond for his tion, but a subsequent warrant for assault and battery with intent to kill caused hiui to 'hide out.' The next day Mr. Tom Whittaker came up froui^ Trough Shoals to thrash out Stalling for the affront offered to his brother in refusing his alliance. The expedition resulted in a fine of 920 being imposed on Mr. Whittaker by Trial Justice Tanner. The most intcuse excitement stirred the town of Cownens. dividing ( j o the community into two hostile factions. No less than ten applicants for arrest warrants were made to Mr. Tanner. It is to be hoped that love will not be the cause of deep-seated hatred, and that the strife will not develop into a deadly vendetta.? Sjxtrtanbury llrrahL Deatii ok D. \V. Hettis, Jit.?Trenton, S. C., -Tuly -!f>.?Death has cast her gloomy shadow over our town and Trenton village mourns the loss of one of her most useful and beloved sons, Mr. 1?. \V. Dettis, Jr., who died at his father's home this mornisg at 7 o'clock. Mr. Dettis was a law graduate of NVashiugton and Dee 1'nivcrsity, Lexington, Ya.. and began the practice of law about eight years ago at Edgefield Court House, his native County. In a remarkably short time he became ono of the most popular and successful lawyers at the Edgefield bar. In 1SS2 lie was unanimously elected County Chairman of the Democratic Committee, which position he filled with credit to himself aud honor to the Democracy of Edgefield County up to the time of 'tis death. Many of the best citizens of the County urged him iu 188d to enter the field as a candidate for State Senator, but lie declined to give up his law practice for a pursuit less remunerative and more annoying. Edgefield has never produced a young man upon whom her iioorde looked with trreatcr nride nor of whom 3! o expected greater achievements. Hut alas ! the slender thread upon which lif? has been suspended for several weeks severed and his noble spirit took its flight to that abode where all is peace. In his death Kdgcfleld has lost a distinguished lawyer, an honored citizen and a faithful worker in the cause of Democracy. An affectionate son and a devoted brother, a kind friend, an elegant gentleman, he maintained that propriety of conduct which commanded the love, respect and udmiratiou he so-richly deserved, and with the dignity and the fortitude of eonscious rectitude he lived a life which every young man would do well to imitate. 'Ho would rather be right than to be President? rather fail than to be wrong."?Col. Register. Lynched foii Amusi.no 1119 Wife.? Atlanta, .July 21).?A dispatch to the Constitution from Hrainbridge statos that Thomas K. Brantley, a young white man, who had married the widow ot a prominent physician, was taken from jail and lynched on tho Alabama side of the river and his body riddled with bullets. He had committcd indignities upon his wile, which roused the couiunity to desperation. The competitive examination for tho , West Point appointment from tho Third District resulted in tho selcctiou of F. U. Mauldio of Pickens, with T. P. Harrison ol Milwuyuh alternate. #