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lewis m. grist, proprietor.} |ti Inbcpcnbtn! Jamilg $ctospaper: Jfor % promotion of tfje |olitiraI, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of % Sont|. JTE?mb-pat ^T?c^"va3ce VOLUME XII. YORKVILLE, SOUTH "CAROLINA, THURSDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 15, 1866. NUMBER 3ft Stlertefc |kefrg. | i 1 AUTUMN. Tlie fields are white in the calm moonlight, Where the glittering hoar-frost shining, Gleams clear and pale as a bridal veil Of pearls 'mid emeralds twining. The leaves droop low with a crimson glow, Like hectic beauty shading With bright deceit the faces sweet Of human flowers when fading 1 The wind sweeps down from the far hill's crown, But it bears no note of gladness; A solemn spell in its moaning swell Seems waking the heart to sadness. The present drear as the autumn sere, We turn with a lonely yearning To the sunny ways of our early days, And the summer lights there burning. We wander again o'er the past's dim plain, Lone, wrecked and broken-hearted, To hind in sheaves the withered leaves Of happiness departed! We step in tears o'er the mounds of years 'Mid fanes and idols shattered, And brush the rus. of lime's thick dust From jewels lost?there scattered! Oh, never more shall that fresh, fair yore Return, save by memory's river; O'er the golden sands of those dream-lands Rolls a darkened tide forever! And like a wail of the autumn gale The spirit its vigils keeping. Sighs o'er the tomb of life's first bloom And the hope and trust there sleeping. political. LETTER OF HON. B. F. PERRTL One by one the leading men of the South are taking position squarely and publicly, against the constitutional amendment. It gives us pleasure to lay before our readers i.w? rv.11nir\rr msnlv lnftor frnm Hon. Ben It lie lunun lug ujuu.j ? jamin F. Perry : Greenville, S C , Oct 26, 1866. Chas. W. Woodward, Esq., Philadelphia: My Dear Sir :?I bad tbe pleasure of receiving your letter a few days since, expressing a kind interest in tbe condition of the Southern States, and urging that South Carolina should adopt the constitutional amendment proposed by Congress. You also expressed a wish to know my views in reference to this all absorbing political question. It has been said that a man never can be dishonored except by himself. Others may injure him and oppress him; they mayslan der him and destroy him, but tbey can co -more dishonor him and render him infamous than they can defame virtue, truth and honor. The same may be said of a people or a nation Whilst they pursue an honorable and patriotio course they cannot be disgraced by the insults, wrongs and oppressions of a stronger power, however tyrannical and exacting that power may be. The Southern people may be deprived of all political power in the Union, their prop erty may be confiscated, and their most distinguished and virtuous citizens gibbeted on the gallows, but they cannot be rendered infamous in history by any such barbarous and inhuman conduct. Such a course will only dishonor and render infamons their oppressors. 1 do not concur with you in supposing that the constitutional amendment will be adopted by three-fourths of the States. I - * mi am sure this will not oe tne case, mere are thirty-six States in the Federal Union, and this will require the adoption of the amendment by twenty-seven. The rejection of the amendment by ten States will defeat it. It is morally certain?ascertain aa any future event can be, depending on human action?that South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Kentucky?eleven States?will not dishonor themselves by adopting the proposed constitutional amendment. There are not, therefore, as you say, "Northern States enough to make the requisite number to adopt the amendment." If adopted, it must be by the aid of two recreant States of the South besides Tennessee. This cannot occur. You state that you greatly fear worse terms will be imposed on the South, if the amendment be not adopted. What security has the South that worse terms may not be imposed, if the amendment is adopted ? We have no guarantee whatever that the Southern members will be admitted to their seats in Congress, after the amendment is adopted. Nothing of the kind is intimated; and, whilst the test oath is exacted, it would be impossible for the Southern States to be represented in Congress, except by those who would dishonor and disgrace them.? We have no guarantee that Congress may not still hold the Southern States as conquered provinces, and appoint Provisional Governors over tbem. with instructions to convene "loyal" conventions, elected by universal negro suffrage, and have formed State Constitutions, by which all shall be entitled to vote and hold office, without regard to caste or color, to the exclusion of every one who has aided or countenanced the "rebellion." The first section of the constitutional amendment proposes to make citizens of all the negroes in the Southern States, without regard to moral character or attachment to Republican principles, which are required of all foreigners who become citizens, after a residence of five years in the United States. No matter bow infamous may bo the character of a negro, as a liar, a rogue and a murderer, he becomes an American citizen by this amendment, and entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizenship. But the Irishman, German and Englishman, must first satisfy the court that he is a man of good moral character, and well attached to the principles of our Government, before he can be invested with such rights and privileges. Why this preference should be given to the black man, in bis ignorance and vice, over the virtuous and intelligent white man, who comes here from a foreign land, is hard to conceive. Already South Carolina has declared, by _ L _ I I legislative enactment, that negroes snau have all the rights and privileges of white men in person and property. They may sue and be sued, purchase and dispose of property, inherit and be tried, as white men are. They are subject to no greater penal-1 ties or punishment for crime than white men I In all of the Southern States the same en-! actment has been or will be made. It would J seem that this ought to satisfy the Northern people of our purpose to protect the negro and do ample justice to him in all his rights of person and property. The right to hold offioe and vote is a political right, which belongs exclusively to every community, and to be regulated as to them shall seem proper, without interference, in any way, by any other power.? There is not a civilized community in the wnrld whprp rpstrifitinns have not been im posed od tho right of holdiDg office, voting and oxercisiDg political power. The Northern States have done so from their earliest history up to the present day. To deprive the Southern States of the same right, would be the grossest injustice and tyranny. And to consent to it, on their part, voluntary, would be self-degradation and infamy. The second section of the proposed constitutional amendment deolares that representation shall be in proportion to the num ber of voters in each State, and that if any male inhabitants over the age of twenty-one are excluded from voting for any cause whatever, they shall not be enumerated in the basis of representation. This makes it imperative on the Soathern States to give up their representation for a large portion of their population, or permit the negroes to vote. The injustice of this constitutional provision to the Southern States must be manifest to every unprejudiced mind. In all the Southern States a large propor tion of their population consists of negroes, who are utterly incapable of holding office, voting or exercising any political rights.? At the same time they exclude, by their labor, white persons, who would otherwise take their places, occupy the oountry and cultivate its lands. In the Northern States they have very few negroes, and their exclusion from voting would not seriously affect their representation in Congress. The oonsequence would be that one section of the American Union, with great wealth and a large population, would have a most inadequate influence in national legislation The proposed amendment of the Federal Constitution forces the Southern States to choose betweeo giving up their equal representation in Congress, or permitting their negroes to vote. Between these alternatives, o Southern State could hesitate for a moment to choose when the issue is forced on them. Equal representation in the national councils must be given up. You very properly say, that already the Southern States are in a minority in both houses of Congress, and a full representation for their negroes would not give them a majority of the House of Representatives. In South Carolina we have largely over a hundred thousand more negroes than white persous. If universal suffrage prevailed, the entire political power of the State would be in the hands of the negroes. They oould elect to every office in the State one -r . 1?: __J J Q 4 J Ul luuil uwu uaait;, auu ncuu ucuaiuio auu Representatives to Congress. The same state of affairs, deplorable as it would be, must likewise take place in Mississippi.?? And in all the Southern States there would be many counties in a similar condition? negroes elected to the Legislature and filling all county offices. To suppose that any Southern State would voluntarily adopt such a provision in the National Constitution, is to presume that she is insensible to her own honor, and reckless to her own safety. It may be said that Tennessee has already done so. Never was there a greater mistake. If the constitutional amendment had been submitted to the people of Tennessee, it would have been rejected by nine tenths of them. It was adopted only by a minority of her Legislature, unfairly and corruptly elected, and thoroughly debased and degraded by Nor them influence. In all communities there are unprincipled and infamous men, who seek power and notoriety by sacrificing honor and the interests of their country. Unfortunately for Tennessee the scum and dregs of society have been thrown up by the horrible civil war through which she has passed. Men have got into power in that State, accidentally and fraudulently, who are a disgrace to human nature, and who will ever remain infamous in history The same thing cannot again occur in any other Southern State. The third section of the proposed con stitutional amendment is more revolting to an honorable mind than either of the others. It is, in the true sense of the word, a Bill of attainder and ex post facto law, so repugnant to the sentiments and feelings of the framers of the Federal Constitution, that they declared no such law should ever be passed. It punishes for past offences, by one fell 6woop, tens of thousands of honorable men. The conception of suoh a Bill was never before, probably, thought of by an Englishman, or the descendant of an Englishman. It certainly was not attempt?i L._ .l _ i:~u u..i: A~mU eu uy me x^l^hsu x auiauicut iu tuu uaia* i est and bloodiest days of English tyranny, j The only incident in history analagous to j it, is the wish of Nero, that all men had j but one neck so that he could cut them off, at one blow. It proposes to ostracise and disgrace forever, not only all the leading j men of the South, but all, however humble | they may be, who have ever filled any civil j office in any of the Southern States. This section declares that no one who has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the j United States and was afterwards aiding: and abetting in the war, shall hereafter hold any office under the State or United States. The Governors of the States, the Judges, members of the Legislature, magistrates, ! constables, State and District officers, are all, forever excluded by this provision. To suppose that any Southern man would voluntarily adopt such a provision is indeed placing a very low estimate on Southern j character. The soldier who gallantly fought under the lead of his Genera!, and who would have sacrificed his own life, at auy time, for the protection of his oommandcr, is required to dishonor and disgrace him in peace. The son is required to vote the infamy of his father. The people are asked to repudiate aod disgrace those whom they have, through life, honored aod glorified in honoring. Every Southern State is required to expel from her oouncils, her Legislature, and from all publio offices, her wisest, best and moat experienced publio servants Was ever such a proposition before submitted to an intelligent, virtuous and Christian people ? How any honorable roan, who reflects on this section of the proposed amendment, and sees its bearing and consequeoces, can expect or counsel its adoption is, to my mind, incomprehensible. That any Southern man should vote for it or favor its adoption is a confession of his own dishonor and infamy. Such a man would willingly betray his country, his own household and his God. If the Southern States were so lost to all shame as to adopt this section, it is possible that young men might be found to fill all the State offioes; but they oould not represent their State in Congress or hold any office under the United States, on account of their having aided and abetted in the war. The States would still be unrepresented in Congress as long as the test oath is continued. The Constitution of the United States provides that amendments may be proposed by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, and when adopted by threetourths of the State Legislatures, shall become a part of the Federal Constitution. This clause of the Constitution evidently contemplated a full Congress when such amendments should be proposed. It was supposed that all of the states wouia Drepresented in Congress. This was the security against injudicious amendments. But the proposed amendment was adopted whilst ten States were excluded from all representation in Congress. It never could have been proposed to the State Legislatures by a full Congress, and consequently should not now be regarded by them as constitutionally submitted to the Legislatures for adoption. It should be, and will be, rejected unanimously by ten or eleven of the South ern States, and never can become a part of the Federal Constitution What will be the consequence of this rejection, is wholly immaterial to the Southern States. You say that worse terms will be enforced on us. This may be so; but we shall have the consolation of knowing that we did not voluntarily adopt them, and that amidst all the tyranny and oppression which may be heaped on us, we have maintained our honor unsullied, and never can lose our self-respect. The Southern States may be kept out of Congress. Who cares for that ? We have been out for the last twelve months, and during all that time have been improving our condition, and rapidly restoring the prosperity of our country. The Northern people are nearly equally divided. Onehalf of them are our friends, who deeply sympathize with us in our misfortunes. With this half, we constitute a large majority of the people of the United States It will bo passing strange, indeed, if onethird of the people of this Republic should continue to rule, with a rod of iron, the other two-thirds, for any length of time. That this tyranny and usurped power should continue always, isimpossible. It mustand will, have its end. The masses of the American people are honest and virtuous, however corrupt and malignant their leaders may be. The Executive Department of the National Government is with the Constitution and the equal rights of every sec? -C .L. TT_:? rri : iiuu ui iue uuiuu. jLiieic is cvcijr icaouu to believe, too, that the Judiciary Department of the Government will oppoBO its silent and peaceful power to the tyranny of Congress; and we should not despair. The fourth section of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the Federal debt and repudiates the Confederate debt, is as unnecessary as it is futile. No Southern State wishes to repudiate the one or assume the other. If, at any future time, a majority of Congress should be disposed to dishonor the nation by repudiation, this section, as a part of the Constitution would not stay their action. They could refuse, or neglcot to levy taxes or make appropriations to meet the debt as it becomes due, without violating the Constitution. And even if it did violate the Constitution, that would he no barrier to a corrupt Congress in carrying out their purpose, as we know, by the sad experience of the present Congress in disregarding and trampling on the Federal Constitution. The fifth section of the proposed amendment deolares that "Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." Here we have a power given Congress to destroy all the rights of the States, and centralize all power in the National Government. Under the pretext that some one has been deprived by State Courts of his liberty or property, they may give the United States Courts entire jurisdiction af all litigation in the State. The legislative, executive and ju diciary departments ot tnc state governments may, under this section, be entirely swallowed up by Congress, and the Ameri can Union made one grand consolidated empire. The proposed amendment was not submitted to the President for his approval, as required by the Constitution, before being submitted to the State Legislatures, and they should not, therefore, consider or regard it at all as a proposed constitutional amendment for their adoption. Eleven States were excluded from Congress when it passed, and the President never sanctioned it. But I feel well assured that Congress did not expect or wish the ratification of this amendment by the States. The people were to be made to believe that Congress j intended to reconstruct the Union. This was "a tub thrown out to the whale" to amuse them till the fall eleotiona were over. Congress does not intend to have the States reconstructed till after the Presidential j election in 1868. The Southern States j are to be kept out of' the Union till after j that period, in order to insure the radical i triumph. The objeot of the Radical leaders is to I nreoetoate the power of their party. This j t r they think they can do by negro suffrage, j and by that alone. Bat they were afraid to j put that plank in their platform at present. I It will be inserted two years hence. When Stewart proposed universal suffrage and universal amnesty," tbe leaders of the Radical party expressed their willingness to adopt it. They were willing to forego the pleasure of banging rebels and excluding Southern members, if this could be accomplished. I have thns, my dear sir, given you my viewB in reference to the constitutional amendment. Lot me conolude by assuring you that as feeble as South Carolina may be, and as "powerless" as you say she is "to protect herself," she is, nevertheless, ! able to maintain, amidst all her oppressions, her honor unsullied, and will never, voluntarily, accept her own degradation. I am, with great respect, yours, &c., B. F. PERRY. IPkHIams. Sardines?How Caught and Prepared. A correspondent of the London Times, in an article on the French fisheries, has the following: The great French sardine fishery is conduoted in a way that is quite remarkable for the extravagance it involves. The sprat fisheries on the British coast?indeed, all the net fisheries of our coasts?are carried on in the most primitive way, and with very great success. The French sardine fishery is conducted in a way altogether different from ours; it presents this anomaly ?namely, that the French made it a bait fioKnrn roniiiptnff tho nnnnnl PTnnnrlihiPfl ujug lJ) > WV|uii lug huuuwi vu|/uuviiiiui v of an enormous sum of money for a substance with which to eDtice the fish ; this substance being tho roe of the cod?a figurative whale to catoh a sprat. On the shores of the North Sea fisheries have been established solely for the purpose of providing the eggs of the codfish as bait for the sardine oatchers of Concarneau. This roe, which is prepared, costs 50 franos per barrel; each boat employed in the sadine fishery will use about 15 barrels every season, and, as there are about three thousand sardine boats on the Coast of Brittany, the money paid for bait cannot be muoh under ?100,000 per annum. The number of codfish which must be killed, or at least are killed, for tho purpose of obtaining this ground bait is therefore enormous, and if the fishery exhibitions now open in France achieve nothing more than the teaching of the men of Concarneau to catch their sardines as the British firshermen catoh their sprats,' they will indeed bo a great success. The capture and cure of the sardine is a great business in France, and especially at Conoarneau, where as many as thirteen thousand men aid in the fishery. It is not easy to obtain accurate statistics of the business done in sardines. In the first place, there is a large quantity sold fresh?that is, packed in dry salt in little baskets made of rushes, and sent wherever there is a mode of outlet. Then there is an enormous quantity sold in those familiar tins It is said that beside the quantity exported, which is largo, they are as many as 4,000,000 boxes cured in oil and prepared for the home market; then, besides these, a large number are sold loose in barrels and also pressed in barrels. T1 ?n ininannilMM Oiswltt fPlfnnQQ f V? /"* ill 13 tftlj iUlCICSLHJ^ OlgUb bV ntbUbOO bug arrival of the boats, and to seo the rush to the curiog establishments, of the men, women and children interested in the sales.? How their sabots do clatter as they prance over the stones ! The curcrs just buy from day to day what sardines they require, and no more; generally speaking, they do not, as in the Sootish herring fishery, make contracts with boats, and only one or two firms have boats of their own. When the curers are in want of a supply of fish they put up a flag at their curing establishment, and the fishermen hurry to supply them, the price varying from day to day according as the fishery has been abundant or the reverse. As soon as the boats arrive the fish are put in train for the cure by being gutted, beheaded, sorted into sizes, and washed in sea water, chiefly by women, who can earn from 12f. to 20f. a week at these curingestablishmonts. The cure is begun by drying the fish on nets or willows, generally in the open air, but sometimes from streSs of weather it must be done under cover. After being dried they are ready for the process of the pan, which is kept over a furnace, and is filled with boiling oil. Into the cauldron the fish are plunged, two rows deep, arranged on wire gratings. In this pan of oil, (the very finest olive oil,) they remain for a a brief period, till, in the judgment of the cook, they are done sufficiently. Then they are placed to drip, the drippings of oil being of course carefully collected; after which they are packed by women and girls into the nioe little clean boxes in whioh they are sold. Again they arc allowed to drip by the boxes being sloped; then each j box, by means of a tap, is filled carefully! up to its lid with pure olive oil, when it is I ready for the uext process which is the sol- j dering of the lids, or, as it may be called, ] the hermetioal sealing up of the box, a most j particular part of the process, at which the men can earn very largo wages, with this | drawback, that they have to buy all the fish ; that are spoiled. After the soldering has been accomplished, the boxes have to be boiled in a steamcheat. Those that do not bulge out after the boiling are condemned as "dead;" for when the process is thoroughly gone through the perfection of the cure is known by the bulging out of the boxes, which are of various sizes, according to the purpose for which they are designed. There are boxes ofsix nounds weight and two pounds weight, as also half aDd quarter boxes, with from about twenty-four to twelve fish in them, according to size. Little kegs are also filled with sardines cured as anchovies. The finishing process of the sardine cure is to stamp the boxes and affix the brass labels which are always found upon them. There are little incidental industries connected with the cure which may be noticed. The debris is sold for agricultural purposes, as is at home here, where the curers get a few pounds annually for their offal; then a large quantity of oil is exuded from the sprat during the process of the cure, and on the total fishery this oil is of considerable value. The "dead" fish, as we have said, are sold to the men, but the success of the cure is usually so great that the "dead" form but a very small per centage of the total number of boxes submitted to the test. Pleasing Incident. We extract the following from the New York Watchman, and take pleasure io saying that we know Captain Pitzer well; that he is still living at or near his old home in Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia, and that the incident related is an appropriate illustration, not only of bis own ezoellent character as a Christian, bat of a very large olass among the officers and soldiers of our noble army daring the war: In a book entitled "Oar Boys," by A. F. Hill, of the Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves, we find this pleasing incident. In ono of those conversations that the soldiers of both armies so frequently took, with the Potomao rolling between tbem, the following occurred. 'May we ask/ inquired the Federal soldier, 'to what regiment you belong V 'Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry.' 'You are one of its officers ?' 'Yes; I am Captain of Co. C , my name is Andrew L. Pitzer.' To repeat all the conversation that followed would be a task indeed. The war was talked of?the soldier's life was discussed. Jokes were perpetrated freely; bat one little circumstance occurred during the conversation which made an impression on my mind that time can never efface. It was as follows Ooe of our boys held up a pack of cards, and called out: 'Do you know what this is ?' Several other rebels had by this time joined the officer, who acted as spokesman, and continued to carry on the conversation. <1 cannot see what it is at this distance/ he replied. 'I'll tell you ?' said the owner. What?' 'The history of the Four Kings/ was the significant reply. 'On ! ves?that's?ves?I understand ~ ? ------ ^ ? now. Cards, I believe/ 'Yes' 'May I show you the history I read ?' asked the rebel. 'Yes, sir, if yon please/ Placing his band to his breast, the rebel officer drew fr to a side-pocket the most blessed of all books, a small Bible. Ah! what a reproach. Not that it was meant as a reproach, for it was the innocence and simplicity of a child; but to witness such an exhibition of superior morals in one upon whom we looked as being a rebel?an insurgent?was truly abasing. How J! would like to know whether he is yet living. Many, on our side, who came to the rooky brink and conversed with bim on that day of armistice have passed away forever. I do not remember who the soldier was that exhibited the paok of cards to the rebel officer; bat there is one thing I do remember, and that is, that he felt the reproof so i sensibly that, after standing for a moment gazing vacantly upon the cards as he held them in his bands, and listlessly twisting the corners be threw them over the brink, and away they went sailing and fluttering as they slowly descended to the green wa ters many a fathom below.?Lynchburg News. The Free Labor System in Northern Virginia.?A recent Washington letter to the Herald says : Residents of the adjoining counties in Virginia?Loadoun and Fairfax?make very favorable reports ot the free labor sysfom in unonfl tbnrp /inrino thn laah cpnr k>"" " *?b? ~ b J Id Fairfax county particularly, a gre&t many small plots of land have been taken up by white men from the North and freedmeo, who have been very successful the present year in raising crops, for which a ready market has beeD found in Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria While not many acres have been cultivated as before the war, still the aggregate yield has been greater, for the small plots in the hands of practical farmers have been more thoroughly cultivated. The immediate effects of the new labor system has been to increase the value of lands. Indeed to suob an extent is this the case that some of the old planters say they are amply rewarded for the loss of their slaves. One large owDer of unimproved lands, who held his land before the war at the nominal value of from $2 50 to 85 an acre, has been selling the same land since the war at from 818 to 840 per acre. He oonaidera himaelf doubly compensated for his loss of property in slavea. Another large land holder aet a lot of negroea to work clearing a tract of one thonaand or more acres, and sent between 60 and 70 corda of wood per day into Washington during last winter and spring, netting some 36 per cord, which ia clear gain, the land being worth more with out than with the wood upon it. By another year it is believed that nearly all of Fairfax and Londoun counties will be in possession of small farmers, who will cultivate tbe soil to its utmost capacity. The same state of faots holds true io regard to Montgomery and some other counties in Maryland, where the demand for real estate in small quantities has oaused a greater rise I in value than was ever dreamed possible : before. The Manufacture of Pens. Pens, in the present stage of manofao- 1 tnring art, requires a greater share of handlabor than pins. At Mr. Gillott's Birmingham (England) establishment, known as < ; the "Victoria Workn," 120,000,000 pons are made each year by maohinery, guided by 400 women and 100 men. "Thesteel," says Mr. Measom, is "procured from Shef- i held It is first out up into narrow strips, i and is carefully pickled by immersion in dilluted sulphuric acid and then reduced to I the proper thickness by being pressed | through metal rolls. In this condition it is j fit to be made into pens, and for this pur| pose it is passed into the hands of a girl i who, with a punch fitted into the screw of i > a handpress, and a corresponding bed, speedily cuts out the blank. The next process, namely, that of perforating the small hole whioh terminates the slit, and removing any superfluous steal likely to interfere with the elasticity of the pen, is also done by a woman. The incipient pens are now in a condition to have the maker's name and any ornamental device stamped upon them. For this purpose they are annealed in large quantities in a muffle, and after being cooled, they are placed under a large stamp, in which is held the device to be impressed, cut in steel; the hammer of the stamp falls, and the marking and orna mentation are complete. Up to this stage the future pen is a fiat pieoe of steel. It is then transferred to another woman who, by means of a press and dye, makes it concave if it is to be a nib, and forms the tube if it is to be a barrel pen. Hardening folIntro Rr *Vi?a r?rnr?oau n niimhor of nPflQ are put into an iron box, which is placed in a "muffle j" when the whole is of a uniform red heat, they are plunged into oil, and the superfluous oil is removed by agitation in a revolving cylinder. At this stage the pen is as brittle as glass, but the temper ing which follows imparts elasticity. After that the pens are again placed in a revolving cylinder, with pounded crucible sand, or some other outtiog substance, the abrasion of which the revolving cylinder, speedily discloses the natural color of the steel. Next follows the grinding of the nib, by submitting it to the emery wheel. The peo is then in a condition to be slit, the slitting being the most particular of the many processes of steel pen making. A chisel or wedge with a flat side is fixed to the bed of a press, and the descending screw has a corresponding chisel or cutter attaobed to it, which passes down and is most accurately 1 fitted. The pen is laid on the lower chisel, i the screw is made and the pen completed. The last stage is the coloring, brown or blue. This is,done by placing the bright steel pens in a revolving cylinder, under which is a charcoal stove, until the desired > color is arrived at. The final brilliancy is imparted by immersing them in gum lac dissolved io naphtha. Why Masons Celebrate St. John's Day. i We find in an exchange the following 1 explanation of the reason why Masons celebrate St John's day, 24th of June, and publish it for the benefit of the uninitia- 1 ted, having heard the question frequently I asked: Masonic lodges in ancient times, were < dedicated to King Solomon. Tradition in- < forms us that they were thus dedicated ' from the building of the first temple of ? Jerusalem, to the Babylonish captivity. ] ??*ma ? /-?? thn Moo jpiULLi mat umu iu iuc vuiuiug ui vug i-itosiah. they were dedicated to Zerabbabel , the builder of the second temple; and from that to the final destruction of the temple by Titos in the reign of the Emperor Vespasian, they were dedicated to St. John the j Baptist. Owing to the many massacres and disor- j ders which attended that memorable event, t Freemasonry fell very muoh into decay c Many of the lodges were broken up, and but few could meet with sufficient members j to constitute their legality. Under these E circumstances a general meeting of the craft was held in the city of Benjamin, t when it was observed that the principal g reason for the decline of Masonry was the want of a Grand Master to direct its affairs. B They therefore deputed seven of their most Q eminent members to wait upon St. John, the Evangelist, who was at that time Bish- t, op of Ephesus, to request him to take the c office of Grand Master. He returned for answer that, though well stricken in years (being upwards of ninety,) yet having been h in the early part of his life initiated into o Masonry, be would take upon himself that i( office. He did so, and completed by his t< learning what St. John the Baptist had ao- tl complished by his zeal. After his decease, p the Christian Lodges were dedicated to him w - -i o. t_i? u_.u -f .1 aua Oh. uuuu luu jjapiiEH, uuiu ui LUCUJ y beiog regarded as eminent Christian patrons h of Masonry. Since then Masons have ever h celebrated the 24th of June in commemo- aj ration of St. John the Baptist, and the 27th h of December in commemoration of St. John jc the Evangelist. b ***** a Horrible.?The French Academy of Medicine at Paris has lately brought to light a] a horrible state of affairs in regard to the a, habit of sending children to the country to rj be nursed and brought up. Every year twenty thousand babies are sent out of Paris under the care of these peasant nurses, and of that number only five thousand, is on an average, are returned to their moth- fii ers, the other fifteen thousand having died fr of cold, starvation and bad treatment. It tt is calculated that three hundred thousand el of the nurslings have perished in this way daring the last twenty years. These country women make no sornple of exchanging the babies entrusted to them, and undertake to nurse several at a time. They-write letters to the children's parents describing in patbetio language the rosy cheeks and in- ? creasing obarms of their infants, dead weeks before the epistles were indited, and receive clothing and money for the little ones for months after they have been in i;heir graves. The Payment of the Confederate Debt. The New York Tribune daily tells its readers that if the radicals are beaten in the ooming eleotion, and the President's party prevail, "the rebel debt will be deolared valid, and the tax payers will have to pay it." Its Washington correspondent is instructed to shape bis "news" so as to bolster up this theory. Accordingly the oreatnre writes on Sunday last: Very many letters are received at; the United States treasary from oitizenB ia the South enolosing Confederate money and asking if it oan be reedeemed. The basis of their impudence is their olaim that the surrender of Lee and Johnson was a treaty with the Confederacy, and that two years after the 21st of April, 1865, the date of the Appomattox surrender, these notes and bonds, issued for the support of treason, are virtually marketable, as they read, "This note is redeemable two years?and some six months?after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States." The latest application of this kind is as follows : - , . :t Greensboro. Ga., Oct 22,1866. . Hon. F. E. Spinner, United State? Treasurer : Dear Sir: Enclosed please find one 8500 note, which is payable two years after the ratification of peace between the Confederate States and the United States. I wish yon to remit me 8500 in greenbacks and take the Confederate 8500 note, as it has been rendered useless in this country by the action of the present United States Government ; and as this comes under the olanse of the Constitution, which says no private property shall be taken without just compensation, I wish you to take the bill afore said and remit me 9500 in greenbacks, jast compensation as aforesaid. Tbe United States interferred and broke up tbe existence of this fiscal institution, and required all its checks to be banded in, and in conformity to that understanding I have remitted you the 8500 note, believing ?that voa, as agent of the United States Government, will award tbe jast compensation by return mail. I might expect it in specie. If so reclaimed, please forward by express Barney Demmison, Jr. The Two Voices.?When Guttonburg the first printer, was working in his cell in the monastery of St. Aborsgot, he tells us that be heard two voices address him. Tbe one bade him desist; told him the power his invention would put in the hands of bad men to propagate their wickedness; told him how men would profane the art he had created, and how posterity would have cause to curse the man who gave it to the world. So impressed was Guttenburg with what he heard, that he took a hammer, and broke to pieces the types be bad so laboriously put together. His work of destruction was only stayed by another voice, sweet and musical, that fell on his ear, telling him to go cm, and to rejoice in bis work; that all good might be made the oause of evil, but that God would bless tbe right in the end. So to all of us still come those voices that oame /-I .. t A*-. US t_ CO ljrUU6DDUrg; idc ouc cauiug ua iu wuris, while it is called to day?to try to leave ibis world better than we foand it; and the other tempting as to give over and take oar :aee?to leave the plough in mid-farrow, ind to rest on oar oars when we should be pulling against tbe stream. Anecdote of Admiral Farragut.? fVhen Admiral Farragot was ten years of ige, his father, then an offioer of rank in be United States navy, and high in the istimation of the Government, said in hie leariog that when he (the boy) was old mough to make a oompaot and keep it, he lad a bargain to offer him. The son rose ip and asked his father to state the terms if tbe contract. The Admiral said : 'The proposal that ! intend to make is : If you will not smoke lor chew tobacco, nor drink intoxicating Irinks, nor strong wines, till you are tweny-one years of age, 1 will then give yoa 1,000.' <1 am old enough to make that bargain ow,' said the young Farragut, 'I will acept the offer,' The bargain was closed. And on tbe ataintment of young Farragut's majority the ash was handed over. The Circos.?Dan Castello's Big Show as come and gone, carrying with it more f our loose cbaDge than we could oonvenintly spare. Truth and justice require us ) state that it was a great humbug, and jat the procession and huge variegated osters comprised pretty much all that was orth seeing. We were there of oourse, nder the delusion that the last six years ad developed some novelties among the erocs of the saw-dust ring. We were disppointed. We saw the same old feats of orsemanship, and listened to the same stale ikes, familiar to our eyes and ears when a oy. The presence of soldiers, armed with mskets and bayonets, was offensive and toilly unnecessary. We are not barbarians, nd tbe presence of the numerous ladies in htendnnna was sufficient to repress any iotous tendency in a Southern audience. Cheater Standard. Artemns Ward boasts that his family i descended from the Puritins, who nobly ed from a land of dispitism to a land of eedim, where they could not only enjoy teir own religion, but prevent everybody :se from enjoyin' his. >4