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, - * ? ' # % * ' I,EWIf^LS^IT'l "" Inbtp^tttt jfmifg ittospptr: gut % |rmiwlion[ of % |olititaI, #SotiaI Igritnltoral anlr Conrntra^ Jnttmb of % ?ul?. S p^e"^c^.^A^fJ#' ' i * ' VOL. 14. YOBKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY QO, 1868. ^ JSTO^8. (Otipiual ftofttg. For Uie Yorkvllle Enquirer. SONG OF THE ~ANGEL CHILD. BY J. FORREST GOWAN. P* m * I was wand'ring in the forestIn the forest all alonePlucking flowers in my pathway, Just the sweetest ever grown; When there came from oat the wild-wood Strains of beauty?dulcet strains, 'Which?though many years have vanished ? My memory still retains. 'Twas as if an angel wandered From its starry home on high, Where the flowers do not wither, And the beautiful ne'er die: And, forgetting man were near it? With its bosom full of bliss? ? ? Sang a song, composed in heaven, In so dark a world as this. As I listened to the musicMusic sweet as ever fell 'Pon the ear of human being, Fit a demon's rage to quell? Just the sweetest little creature, Thnt .Tphnvsh ever made. Stepped oat from 'mong the thicket, And ran by me half afraid. From that moment to the presentTo the present, full of care? I have loved the world more dearly Since such beings wander here: I have read of angel-anthems, Till with joy my heart grew wild, But 'twas discord to the sweet voice Of that little angel child. Mm. THE MYSTERIOUS ORGANIST. A LEGEND OF THE RHINE. "Ktnd hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood." Years ago, at a grand old cathedral, overlooking the Rhine, there appeared a mysterious organist The great composer who had played the organ so long had suddenly died, and eveiybody, from the king to the peasant, was wondering who oould be found to fill his place, when one bright Sabbath morning as the sexton entered the Church, he saw a stranger sitting at the crape-shrouded organ. He was a tall, graceful man, with a pale but "Strikingly handsome face, great, black, melancholy eyes, and hair like the raven's wing for gloss and color sweep ing in dark waves over his shoulders. He did not yaeem to notice the sexton, but went on playing, and auch'mnsic as he drew from the instrument no words of mine can describe. The astonished listener declared that the organ seemed to have grown human?that it wailed and sighed and olamored, as if a tortured human heart was throbbing through its pipes. When the music at length ceased, the sexton hastened to the stranger and said, "Pray, who are you, sir?" "Do not ask my name," he replied. "I have heard that you are in want of an organist, and I have come here on trial." "You'll be sure to get the place," exclaimed the sexton. "Why, surpass him that's dead and gone, sir!" " "No, no; you overrate me," resumed the stranger, with a sad smile; then, as if disinclined to conversation, he turned from old Hans and began to play again. And now the music changed from a sorrowful strain to a grand old paean, and the mysterious organist, "Looking upward full of grace, Prayed, till from a bnppy place God'a glory smote hiin in tbe face." and his coutenancee seemed not unlike that of St Michael, as portrayed by Guido. Lost in the harmonies which swelled around him, he sat with his "far-seeing" eye fixed on the distant sky, a glimpse of which he caught through ^ the open window, when there was a stir about the church door, and a royal party came sweeping in. Among them might be seen a young girl with a wealth of golden hair, eyes like the violet's hue, and lips like wild cherries. This was the Princess Elizabeth, and all eyes were turned to her, as she seated herself in the velvet-cushioned pew appropriated to the court. The mysterious organist fix - " * * i XT ed his eye3 upon her and went on piayxng. no sooner bad the music reached her ears than she started as if a ghost had crossed her path. The blood faded from her cheek, her lips quivered, and her whole frame grew tremulous. At last her eyes met those of the organist, in a long, yearning look, and the melody lost its joyous notes and once more wailed, and sighed, and clamored. "By my faith," whispered the king to his daughter, "this organist has a master hand. Hark ye, he shall play at your wedding 1" The pale lips of the princess parted, but she could not speak?she was dumb with grief. Like one in a painful dream, she saw the pale man at the organ, and heard the melody which filled the vast edifice. Ay, full well she knew who he was and why the instrument seemed breathing out the ) agony of a tortured heart When the service was over, and the royal party had left the cathedral, he stole away as mysteriously as he came. He was not seen again by the sexton till the vesper hour, and then he appeared in the organ-loft and commenced his task. While he played, a veiled figure glided in and knelt near a side shrine. There she remained till the worshippers dispersed when the sexton touched her on the shoulder and said: "Madam, everybody has gone but you and me, and I wish to close the doors." "I am not ready to go yet," was the reply; "leave me?leave me!" The sexton drew back into a shady niche and watched and listened. The mysterious'organist still kept his post, but his head was bowed upon this instrument, and he could see the lone devotee. At length she rose from the aisle, and moving to the organ loft, paused beside the musician. "Bertram," she murmured. Quick as thought the. organist raised his head. There, with the light of a lamp, suspended to the arch above, falling full upon her, stood the princess who had graced the royal pew that day. The ^ court dress of velvet, with its soft ermine trimV mings, the tiara, the necklace; the bracelets, had been exchanged for a gray serge robe and a long thick veil, which was now pushed back from the fair girlish face. "Oh ! Elizabeth, Elizabeth !" exclaimed the or ganist, and he sunk at her feet and gazed wistfully into her troubled eyes. "Why are you here, Bertram?" asked the princess. "I came to bid you farewell; and .is I dared not i venture into the palace, I gained access to the cathedral by bribing the hell-ringer, and having taken the vacant scat of the dead organist, let my music breathe out the adieu I could not trust my lips to utter." A low moan was the only answer, and he continued : "You are to be married on the morrow?" "Yes," sobbed she, "Oh ! Bertram, what a trial it will be to stand at yonder altar, and take upon me the vows which will doom me to a living death!" "Think of me," rejoined the organist "Yout royal father has requested me to play at the wed ding, and I have promised to be there. If I were your equal, I could be the bridegroom instead of the organist; but a poor musician must give you up." "It is like rending soul and body asunder to part with you," said the girl. "To-night I may tell you this?tell you how fondly I love you, but in a few hours it will be a sin! Go, go, and God bless yon!" She waved him from her as if she would banish him while yet she had the power to do so, and he, how was it with him? He rose to leave her, then came back, held her to his heart in along embrace, and then, with a half-smothered farewell, left her. The next morning dawned in cloudless splendor, and at an early hour the cathedral was thrown open and the sexton began to prepare for the wedding. Flame-colored flowers nodded by the wayside?flame-colored leaves came rushing down from the trees, and lay in liaht heaps upon the ground ; and the ripe wheat waved like a golden sea, and berries dropped in red and purple clusters over the rocks along the Khine. At length the palace gates were opened, and the royal party appeared, esoorting the Princess Elizabeth to the cathedral, where the marriage was to be solemnized. It was a brave pageant; far brighter than the untwined foliage and blossoms were the turfs of plumes which floated from stately heads, and the festal robes that streamed down over the housing of the superb steeds. But the princess, mounted on a snow-white palfrey, aud clad in snow-white velvet, looked pale and sad; and when, on nearing the church, she heard a gush of organ-music, which, though jubilant in sound, struck on her ear like a funeral knell, she trembled and would have fallen to the earth had not a page supported her. A few minutes afterwards she entered the cathedral. There, with his retinue, stood the royal bride-groom, whom she had never before seen. But her glance roved from him to the organ loft, where she had expected to see the mysterious organist He was gone, and she was obliged to return the graceful bow to the king, to whom she had been betrothed from motives of policy. Mechanically she knelt at his side on the altar stone; mechanically listened to the service and made the responses. Then her husband drew her to him in convulsive embrace, and whisDercd: "Elizabeth, my queen, my wife, look up!" Trembling in every limb, she obeyed. Why did those dark eyes thrill her so? Why did that smile bring a glow on her cheek ? Ah! though the king wore the royal purple, and many a jeweled order glittered on his breast, he seemed the humble per- 1 son who had been employed to teach organ music, ' and had taught her lore of love. 1 "Elizabeth," murmured the monarch, "Bertram 1 Hoffman, the mysterious organist, and King Oscar ^ are one. Forgive my stratagem. I wished to marry you, but I would not drag you to the altar an ' unwilling bride. Your father was in the secret" \ While tears of joy rained from her blue eyes, the new-made queen returned her husband's fond kiss, ' and for once two hearts were made happy by a roy- * al marriage. GENERAL STEPHEN ELLIOTT, Whose memory is recorded in the shot-torn bat- ' dements of Sumter, gained his reputation as a sol- ' dier, not from a military training at West Point, ( Lut from an mtuitt'ro gomut) tkai ntatapod l\?o owo 1 jy act with success; history must record his name high upon the sacred roll of Honor, and no monu- 1 ment other than the ragged fortress of Sumter is needed to remind South Carolina of her cosdy sac- 1 rifice. His exploits are too splendid for my pen, 1 yet as one who was his friend, and served under him, I proffer a few incidents connected with his ' service. After the fall of Port Royal, Captain Elliott organized his company (the Beaufort Artillery) as Infantry, and resolved upon harrassing the blue coats as often as an opportunity offered. The game of confiscation was progressing finely on the : islands, and Uncle Sam's (children's) pockets were being lined with captured cotton, when behold! 1 one moonless night, the lurid glare which illuminated the sky?Elliott and a trusty squad had put 1 the torch to scores of barns, and while affrighted 1 Ethiop was telling indignant Jonathan that "Mass Steben bun up all de cotton," he and his detail were complacently regarding the wasting light that showed their work complete. The enemy had lodged upon an island which commanded an ap- 1 proach to Savannah, and Elliott concluded to visit them; a reconnoissance was made, but the Yanks suspected something, and resolved to intercept his return. Captain Elliott was returning in a fleet boat rowed by his men, (who were, many of them, ' " v * * i v,?;i ampniDsj wnen it utvnuic ucwdouij w w??? ???, the boat was hauled to the marsh, and was being emptied of the water, when hush! a barge appeared rowing in the opposite course; a brass howitzer shone in the moonlight at her bow; muskets glanced back the raj's of the tell-tale queen, and escape seemed hopeless; but a stray cloud draped the moon with its dusky mantle, and hid the boat in which was our hero and his men, and the barge glided by. As it passed, the officer in command bestowed un unflattering compliment on the laggard barge behind. "Ah!" whispered Elliott, j "another; now, men, lie close; we may not be so fortunate again ; every man to his double-barrel gun, and if they discover us, rake them and let's ( make the affair costly." The stillness was only broken by the receding strokes of the oars of the first barge, and was being still, indeed, when the regular thumps of the oars of the second was , heard. Nearer and nearer it drew, till the howitzer on its bow lifted above the marsh, the barge was skirting the shore to avoid the current, and soon its oars must toucli the hidden boat. The suspense was fearful, but again a cloud veiled the moon, and ere it escaped, the barge slid by, so near that the drops of water fell from its oars upon the persons of the men who lay quietly awaiting the issue. "Safe, thank God!" was the grateful murmur; and thus escaped he once when the enemy were nearest him. I was once preparing the howitzer, upon which I served, for inspection, and to facilitate my duty, pushed it into the water that overflowed the banks of the Savannah, but being unconscious of the proximity of the bluff, gave it another push and sent it to the bottom of the river, (a twenty-four pound gun, ammunition chest and contents). I looked vrtin enwed himself off OH J US Q1U IUU LllOliLUUii II uv k^w.i the tree, considerably confused, but remembered the Captain. I fouud him in his tent planning a torpedo ; told my story, and was entering into explanations, &c., when he jumped up and started for the gun, undressing as he went. When he reached the spot where I committed the faux pas, he was divested to good swimming costume, and dove like an otter into the swollen stream. He soon arose some distance below where the gun was, having been swept by the tide, but called for a stout rope; it was procured, and he pluDged again beneath, carrying the end of the rope, remained until he had secured it about the carriage, and again floated to the surface like a cork and struck out for the shore. We all grasped the rope, and a stout pull lodged the gun (we thought lost) on the bank ready for inspection. I saw him a few minutes later, stretched complacently at full length, with his chin supported by the left palm, figuring out a theory that afterwards was put in telling practice, namely, a torpedo. It wa? a favorite sport of General Elliott to gather terrapins from alligator holes, and his men , well remember his grotesque appearance when he once returned from such an excursion with both legs of his unmentionables filled with these hardbacks. The comrade who attended him on this excursion stated that the Captain, (his rank then) had gone into an alligator's den, turned the monster out, and appropriated the terrapins to bis own use. On one occasion, one of his friends (all men were his friends) was poking into a hole with a stick, when he discovered something rough,''said he, "Captain, I think a 'gater is in there." "I'll see, he replied, and in he went, bearing the noose of a rope. The muddy pool was no little disturbed in the short time he was out of sight; but out he came, and with the aid of some men about, unearthed the grim animal and dispatched him. Captain Elliott was prolific of ruse de guerre. A picket on Port Royal became an eyesore to him and he broke up the post in this wise. Manning a boat with trusty fellows, he bade them row toward the picket post. Before each rower was his gun. ' 'Fire,'' said he, ' 'when 1 mention the name of the Yankee General (Saxon, I think,) upon the approach of the boat. It was challenged, "Halt?who comes there?" '"Tis, me massa, heap o' man and ooman; ran away, sah; we yerree 'bout massa Saxon?" A dozen barrels belched their flames of death upon the unsuspecting picket, and a few minute later he was quietly appropriating, for himself and squad, such little nick-nacks as we "rebs" only enjoyed when thus taken. The post, of course, was abandoned; but the pools of gore showed that ' 'somebody was hurt'' Again, at the same post, the enemy became unpleasant to him. It was on the 4th of July when he thought of stirring them up. He had been ordered to fire the national salute of thirteen guns; and concluded, in so doing, to waste no powder. Away he went with his splendid battery to Port Royal Ferry; the guns of the .enemy bellowed forth the "glorious 4tb," and "Hail Columby" was strained everywhere?Elliott brought his piec<!8 to bear on the picket-house, where a company were in perfect ignorance of anything except the StarSpangled Banner, and his salute of thirteen was fired with precision, as to time and aim. As tbe last shell crashed through the house, it was too late to catch a Yank; the company had skedadii i i mil* ii m i .* J *i.l_ ~ cueo, ana JiUioic wun ms men, crosseu wiui u uma and burned the house, leaving the site an ashen pile. Pinckney Island had been occupied by the enemy. They established a company snugly, in view of permanency; but Elliott resolved to disturb their ease. A detail of the Beaufort Artillery, aj>sisted by an equal number of Captain Mickler's eompauy, commanded by their respective officers, landed near the picket. To gag and secure him tvas short work; and, while the enemy slept, were seen the dusky figures of the "rebs," surrounding , the house and cutting off escape. Then was heard Elliott's commanding voice, "Surrender I" It palsied them with terror. Some attempted to caape; some made show of fight; but the work was short aud decisive, and every man was captured, except such as were slain in the effort to escape. A heavily armed vessel blockaded St. Helena She was tended by a cutter. Elliott had seen her mtil he wearied of her picture. I saw him leave >n the cars, with his frail skiff and a half dozen TtPn. find a (Vir> tliot ?** ??? Xight came on ; sent his can on its errand of destruction towards the cutter, (the nearer of the two ressels,) and the morning sun shone upon fragments that strewed the placid bay. The crew were ill destroyed with the craft. The gunboat George Washington ventured too :lose to Chisolm's Island and grounded. Elliott had beeu idle and was "spoiling for a fight." He heard the news with gladness. All night the company marched, and daylight found his battery trained for the huge hull; the tide rose and she floated clear, and would have escaped but for the unerring aim of the gunners. In fifteen minutes from the time of the first shot, the gunboat was u mass of flame; and so rapid was the firing kept np, and deadly the aim of the battery, that she replied but twice to the attack from her heavy armament. Her massy bell and deck howitzer were irjinefarrpd to (vinm. and. until the evacuation of PocotalifcO, the bell usurped the place of the bugle. Iu the destruction of this gunboat, the most of her crew were killed by the shots from our guns or burned with the vessel. fpswllawimis ftradwg. From tlie Charleston News. THE STATE PENITENTIARY. How curious is the progress of a thought! Little more than a year ago, his Excellency Govenor Orr, in a message to an extra session of the Geneeral Assembly, wrote as follows: "There is no proper punishment, under the laws of this State, for high misdemeanors and petty felonies. None of the jails of the State are constructed for work-houses, and convicts sentenced to imprisonment spend their time in idleness. The expenses to the State is very great, and, in our impoverished condition, the people cannot well bear the heavy taxation necessary to support these convicts in idleness. There are many convicts who find themselves comfortably housed and well fed, and who, exempt from all labor, do not regard imprisonment as a punishment. They are vicious, depraved nou-producers; and the effort tp punish them is really a punishment to the honest taxpayer, whose labor, in part at least, is given to support them in indolence. The number of convicts will hereafter be greatly increased, and, if the present system of punishments be continued, the appropriations to jailors, for dieting prisoners, will be greater than the expenditures for either of the departments of the State government. To remedy all these evils, I respectively recommend that you provide for the establishment of a penitentiary, at Columbia, aud appropriate not less tban $2U,UUU to erect a wall around the penitentiary buildings, and.to make cells for convicts. Much of the labor, in erecting the necessary buildings, can be performed by the convicts themselves. If a favorable site should be selected, convenient to sufficient water power to drive all the machinery that may be requisite to carry on manufactures in wood, leather, iron, yarns and cloth, the penitentiaiy may be made nearly if not quite self-supporting. Punishments may then be imposed according to the enormity of the offence; juries will have no aversion to convicting the guilty, and convicts, while under purgation for their crimes, will be compelled to earn their clothing and subsistence." TIIE BEGINNING. On the 21st of September, 1866, seventeen days after the receipt of the above message, the Legislature appropriated $20,000 for the purpose above named. On the loth of October, Messrs. Wm. Gregg, W. R. Robertson and Archibald Cameron, Commissioners appointed by the Governor to supervise the work, met in Columbia and selected ten acres of land, at a cost of $6000, immediately on the Columbia canal, and within half a mile of the depots of the South Carolina and Columbia and Greenville Railroads. This is probably the best location in the State. Easy of access, being only three-fourths of a mile?as a bird flies?from the heart of the city, with immense beds of the best granite in the world adjacent, and water-power at hand abundant for every purpose, nature herself! thus made no small contribution to the success ( the undertaking. Major Thomas B. Leo was now employed as th architect and engineer, and in accordance with th instructions of the commissioners, visited the va rious penitentiaries of Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsy] vania, Maryland and Virginia, to obtain informs tion concerning the most approved style and ar rangement for a penal institution. On his return, another meeting of the commis sioners was held in Columbia, and it was then de termined to make such a commencement as woul< allow an extension of the plans, from time to time until five hundred male and female convicts coul< be accommodated. Before the 21st of November, Major Lee ha< commenced work, broken ground, excavated fh< foundations, and prepared to cany out his plans A store-house, blacksmiths' shop, carpenters' shop stone-cutters' shed, and five derricks were con structed, and a fence, twelve ieet High, thrown a round the premises. An inclined railway, at ai angle of about thirty-eight or forty degrees, wa constructed from the penitentiary tot to the mar gin of the canal, and so provided with machines that the caft, loaded with stone at the quarrie two miles away, and brought thither in boats, could by the touch of a lever, be discharged directly un der the derricks designed to lift the immens masses to their final bed. The 006t of stone thu obtained and transported is only about fifteen cent per ton. * Wagon transportation would have in creased the expense to $1.50 per ton. The labo of quarrying and dressing this material is perform ed almost wholly by the convicts. 4 PLAN OP THE PENITENTIARY. The plans of the arohitect contemplate a build ing five hundred feet long, fifty-eight and a hal feet wide, and forty-five and a half feet high, witl a central building projecting from the main build ing sixty feet square, the-whole to be built of gran ite and iron. There are to be 548 cells, the kitchen, laundry store-room, chapel, hospital, guard rooms, recep tion room, office, dispensary, and living rooms, be ing under the same roof. The prison is divided by a blank wall into tw< grand divisions, for male and female convicts. Th< prison for the latter is comparatively small, but it ? ? ? .1 - r.ii proportions are nasea upon toe statistics ui utue prisons. This space, however, may be readily en larged without interfering with the general plan. The prison for male convicts is divided into i north and south wing, separated by the centra building referred to. The south wing is now ii course of erection. Each wing will have five tier of cells, with fifty cells in each tier, and the whole when completed, will be surmounted by a hug< cistern containing water, forced to that point by i a turbine wheel on the river front By this mean! eveiy cell in the prison can be purified in five min utes. These cells open outward into a hall or corridor fourteen feet wide, the hall being lighted and ven tilated from two tiers of windows and a circula ventilator. The central building is separated from each win/ by a stone wall to the second story, and an iroi grating from thence extends to the roof Thi wing is divided into three stories, and subdivide* as follows: On the first floor is a grand archwa: through which railway cars may pass. It is ala vLv iuuiu wtivt oiiij cntnmce to tne pnyun, ou tw right and left of this entrance are flights of stair leading to the secoud floor; a kitchen, an apart mcnt for steam boilers which will furnish steam fo heating the building, washing, and culinary pur poses; a laundry, wash-room and store-ropm fo: supplies. On the second floor is a large hall to be used a; a chapel and general hall; an office and receptioi room for visitors, and two guard rooms. The lat ter opens into the halls around the cell blocks, ant are the only entrance thereto. On the fbird floor is the hospital, dispensary and physician's office, and a suite of apartments o five rooms for the superintendent and his aasoci ates. THE FEMALE PRISON. This department consists of three stories, divi ded as follows: u * First Floor?An archway, hall, flight of steps laundry and wash-room, kitchen with steam boilei and heating apparatus, store-room, and suite o: four rooms for the matron and her assistants. Second Floor?Two tiers of cells, thirty-six in i block, with a hall fourteen feet wide passing arounc the sides and one end. Third Floor?A tier of twelve cells, with a hal fourteen feet wide on two sides, and a room on on< end twenty-eight feet wide and fifty feet long.? This room and the hall will be u ed as a worl room for female convicts. THE WALL. The wall around the penitentiary will be twenty feet high, built of granite, four feet thick at th( base and two and ono-third feet thick at the top It will have no other entrance than that which ha.' been specified. This wall is now being rapidlj built to take the place of the present wooden fence Within this enclosure are located the work-shops adjacent to the canal, power from which will event ually be used in driving the machinery; also a sub enclosure for female convicts. CELLS. The cells for the male convicts will number fiv< hundred. There are now finished and occupied one hundred and four. They are five feet wide eight feet long, and seven feet high. The outei wall is granite, two and one-half feet thick; th< partition eighteen inches thick, of brick. The toj of the cells is of iron, covered one foot with gran ite. An iron bedstead will be so arranged in eact cell that it can be hooked up when notin use, thu; saving spaoe. Water pipes from the cistern on the roof, connect with each cell, and the sewerage wil extend to the river. The cells and building will b< heated by steam pipes. Cells for female convicts, forty-eight in number, are six and a half feet wide, eight feet long, anc seven feet high, and are built in the same mannei as those for male convicts. No females have yei been incarcerated. The roof of the whole building will be composed of iron trusses, covered with corrugated sheet iron. It will be seen, therefore, that the budding is nol more fire-proof than burglar proof. THE CONVICTS. The first convict received was on April 18, 1866, On the 14th August, less than four months after, there were upwards of one hundred. At the pres ent time there are one hundred and ninety, fullj four-fifths of whom are negroes, whose terms o1 imprisonment vary from twelve months to confinement for life. The chief crime for which these prisoners are punished is that of larceny. The next most common crime is that of assault and bat tery. The third, arson, burglary and murder. The rules adopted for the regulation of the motley crew of convicts are similar to those which ex ist in other institutions of the kind at the North The prisoners are required to maintain silence; bui when engaged in labor they are permitted to asl such necessary questions as relate thereto. Th< punishments resulting from the infraction of thes< rules are the same as those permitted in the armj and navy of the United States, and yet are only ap plied in extreme cases when it is found that then is an exhibition of willful disobedience, insubordi nation, attempt to escape, or theft from fellow con victs, which last, by the way, is a common crime The form of punishment imposed is "bucking am >f gagging, tying by tbe thumbs, and what is called the 4 'Blind March.'' The latter is peculiar to this e institution. A dozen or more convicts who have e infringed the rules, are arranged in single file, blind i* folded, and, with their hands upon each others I- shoulders, compelled to follow their leader at a r rapid pace over such broken and uneven surfaces - as are calculated to put them in constant fears of terrors yet to come. The result is that when one man tumbles down, the rest follow like a pile of - bricks, while the crushing of corns, tho barking of I shins, and the abrasion of the historic heel, is well i calculated to cause abdominal curses, not loud but i deep. The spectacle is amusing to the observer, but no fun to the culprits; and it has been found 1 to be an innocent and effectual mode of checking 3 much disobedience. The costume of the prisoners consists of a jacket t and trowsers of heavy woollen material, with late. ral broad black stripes, and a shirt of coarse cot. ton, on the back of which are printed the words * "South Carolina Panitontiarv." and thannmher of 8 the convict. * On entering the institution, the clothing of the 7 convict is taken from him, washed, numbered and 3 laid away, to be returned to him at the expiration , of his imprisonment He is then, himself, put . through a scrubbing process, and donned in the e prison garb; his hair is cropped, his cell is assigns ed, and, according to his ability or strength, he is s appointed to his proper department of labor. Some . are sent to the quarry, which is two miles distant r up the canaL These are generally the most frac tious; and with ball and chain, under guard, they perform the work of blasting and getting out the heavy masses of rock, transferring them to the . canal boats and shipping them to the foot of the f inclined plane already described, where the cars, i With their ponderous contents, arc caught up and - carried under the shed where the leveling, chip. ping and dressing is done. Others of the convicts are engaged in shoemaking; clothing is also made , in the establishment, and arrangements will prob. ably be made before long, by which the fabrics . worn by the convicts will be woven in the institution. D The food consists of bacon, soup, molasses and 1 - A V 1 I _ _ J 1 1_ 1 g corn ana wneaicn Dreaa;?Dreaa wnicn is equai in 3 all respects to that which is supplied in the best r hotels of the country, the bakery being under the . supervision of a competent baker, who is specially employed for the purpose. Coffee is a part of the x diet of those*who suffer from debility or disease, j Proper medical attendance is furnished to the 1 convicts; but thus far, the general health of the pen3 itentiary has been good. Only seven deaths have occurred; although many of the convicts when re[ ceived have been so sick and emaciated that they x were fit subjects for a hospital. At present the con3 victs are as burly a looking body of men as can bo . selected. BAtLY LABOR. The work of improvement is continually going ' on; and, as far as possible, the convicts are rcquired to build their own nest, without outside assistance. Much of the iron work is done by convicts. Nearly all of the stone cutting, the care of a large * garden, the charge of a large number of pigs and hogs, which are destined soon to become pork, and , the general police of the enclosure?all this devolves upon the convicts, and the task is well and ^ faithfully done# There is no department which is ? bines, with his skill as an engineer, an unusual amount of administrative ability. As soon as practicable, it is proposed to introduce mechanical power of various kinds, to which the adjacent water power will be applied; and it is understood that the machinery now in the State works at Greenville will bo removed to the penitentiary j for the purpose. The institution will then be in a condition to turn out implements of labor, in wood ttliU 11 IS U J UUli OUV/ll UtJLiCI VTUI& UO U?U UG puu U];vu the market for sale. It will thus soon become a self-supporting concern, p THE RESULT IN DOLLARS. Already, expenses, by reason of convict labor, have been materially reduced. This labor is daily becoming more valuable. Many of the stone-cutters are now worth $2} per day, while the average value is one dollar per day. The cost of maintaining these prisoners is only about forty-eight cents ' a day, of which fifteen cents covers the cost of subp sistence. The total outlay thus far for materials, building t apparatus, temporary structure, &c., has been j $70,901.70, but the cost to the State isubout$80,000, so that it may be safely estimated that bej tween $7000 and $8000 has been absorbed by dis> count on the State bills, in which most of the pay' ments were necessarily made. , From November 17,1866, to December 31,1867, the cost of provisions was $4,919.80, and of clothing, shoes and bedding, $3,976.74. , On July 1, 1868, the convict labor will entirely , supersede hired labor, and, with the improvements contemplated by Major Lee, the institution will j soon become a source of income to the State. r CONCLUSION. During the year 1867 there were in confinement two hundred and twenty-three prisoners, of whom ' eighteen were pardoned by the Governor, five were discharged at the expiration of their sentences, six died and three escaped. On January 15th, 1868, there remained one hundred and eighty-seven prisoners, of whom twenty-nine are whites and one hundred and fifty-eight are blacks. 1 With such an array of facts concerning this insti' tution as we have presented, there can be no ques, tion thatit is likely to become the most important of the kind in the Southern country. 1st. Its gene ' ral plan, arrangement and management are based ( upon the best models which the country affords. } 2. Its location upon the banks of a stream whose i water power is almost unlimited, affords advantaj ges for manufacturing purposes certainly not surs passed by those of any similar institution, and, therefore, the State is likely to derive benefit from this hitherto new and untried system of punish| ment, in the double sense that it; will not only be self-supporting, but will supply a want that has ^ been experienced ever since the change from the former condition of affairs. I What may be the effect of this enterprise, although penal in its objects, upon the prosperity of ' Columbia is yet to be determined. Possibly the ' development of the remarkable water-power of the Congaree River and the adjacent canal, in its application to the manufacturing purposes of the penitentiary, may direct to that locality the atten1 tion of capitalists abroad, and the consequent imr provement of that portion of the City of Columbia. P In the course of time the penitentiary itself may turn out half the wooden work, thebootsand shoes, k and implements of agriculture that are used in , South Carolina. Certainly, up to the present hour, | the most remarkable success has attended the undertaking. It is probably the cheapest structure of the kind in the United States, and bids fair to be the best I We have only to add that it is popularly known as the "Governor's Pet," and it is to ' the general supervision and direction of the Governor, that the State is indebted for this incipient " "Omnium Gatherum" of incredible wickedness and ' first-class rascality. 7 Morrissey in Congress.?The Washington - correspondent of the Chicago Tribune gossips a3 bout Morrissey in this wise : John Morrissey, of New Tork, is put upon the - rolls as banker?not a faro banker, just simply . banker. Being asked why he chose that title in1 ] stead of gambler or pugilist, by either of which he is better known, he replied that he was no coward that he had always been a gambler and alwayi would be one; that he had also been a prize fight er; that he had been in the lowest brothels in th< country; that he had been the companion of thieve.and cyprians?but that he was never in quite s< bad company as when he went into Wall-street, among the bankers and brokers. He said there was less honesty and more trickery and thieving ii Wall-street than among his former associates, and he did not want them to misunderstand him. He wanted to be taken at his worst, and had, therefore, chosen the designation of banker. From the Norfolk Journal. THE BANKRUPT LAW. TOE POLICY OP TOE LAW. Every country is subject to financial crises. These are the earthquakes of the civil and political world, and recognizing the fact, into the cause of which il is needless, for our present purposes, to enquire. These crises, of course, affect eveiybody, and, oi themselves, often destroy, suddenly, accumulated fortunes. Again, the "best laid schemes of mice and men gang aglee," and that, too, without any fault in the schemer, mice or men. A country flourishes by the energies of individuals. Debts and misfortune destroy these energies. Therefore, all States have had Bankrupt Laws. They are designed tc relieve the unfortunate man of a load of crushing debt, and to send him into the world again, with new hopes, new energies, and new credit Nearly all the States have insolvent laws. Thej are as different as the States. They only afford relief from indebtedness in the particular State. A New York insolvent law does not discharge a New York citizen from a debt due to a Virginia creditor, and vice versa. The framers of the Constitution knew this, and hence they provided for a Bankrupt Law, which should be general to all the States. There is henceforth to be no conflict oi laws upon this subject The country needed the law. It lias it It is a law, general, wise, politic, humane, and in "the veiy nick of time," and the man who can and ought to take advantage of it, j a?? :n .:? ,1 ouu uuco uut, ffuiuve WJ icgicoiu auu uc ucicuiici convinced that he had much more morbid sensi bility than high moral courage and practical good sense. THE PEOVISIONS OP THE LAW. These are too numerous to be enumerated, and they are not of public interest Suffice it to saj that they direct that any person who owes ($300) three hundred dollars, may petition the court tc be declared a bankrupt The petition must be accompanied with a full, complete and exact schedu' rof all his debts, his creditors, and their residenoe, and an inventory of his property, real or personal, in possession ^r in action. The petition, schedule and inventory must be sworn to. The rules of the Supreme Court of the United States declare that this petition, inventory and schedule shall be plainly written, without abbreviation or interlineation, and this rule ought to be most literally observed, for petitions have been denied because of the use of Do., Ditto, and " " " The most minute and exact care has to be observed'in the preparation of the necessary papers, an unprofessional man cannot properly prepare them, and those prepared by attorneys have to be amended. ^ ^ ^ ^ nothingVurthcr to do except TO APPLY FOR IIIS DISCHARGE, Which he can do in two months, if no assets come to the hands of the assignee, or if no debts arc proved against him. If assets do came to the hands of the assignee, and if debts are proved against the estate, he cannot apply until the lapse of six months. OPPOSITION TO THE DISCHARGE. Any creditor who has proved his debt can oppose the discharge either when it is regularly applied for, or before. The acts which prevent a discharge arc enumerated in the law, and may be summed up in one word?any fraud upon his creditors, either direct or indirect, and some of the acts will not only defeat the discharge, but will subject the petitioner to punishment for a misdemeanor, and if guilty he ''shall be punished by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for a term not exceeding three (3) years." ADJUDICATION OF BANKRUPTCY Takes effect as soon as the petition is properly filed. From pll debts then existing, the bankrupt is discharged, except those due as a fiduciary or public officer. after acquired property. All after acquired property?that is, all property of whatsoever degree or character acquired by any means?is the bankrupt's. This is a very wise feature, and is the very reverse of the English law. the costs!1 The law upon this point is conflicting and unintelligible. The practice of the court is to require the pre-payment of all the fees, which involves an outlay of ($50) fifty dollars. voluntary. involuntary. Deposit $50 00 Deposit $50 00 Register 1 50 Register 3 00 Clerk 5 00 Clerk. 5 00 Marshal 5 00 Marshal 1Q.00 Thus the immediate cost is $60 or $70, but the unexpended portion of the ($50) fifty dollar deposit is refunded, which will make the fund cost, on an average, about thirty dollars. the creditors Choose the assignee and have the right to examine the bankrupt, his wife, or any person suspected of knowing anything of the trade, dealings, condition and affairs of the petitioner, and if they can detect any species of fraud they defeat the petition. the assignee Stands in a position of trustee for the benefit of both creditors and bankrupt He receives the debts and the entire assets, and sets apart the exempted property. WlycJ^ is?1. That allowed by the State; 2. The arms and accoutrements of a U. S. soldier or officer; 3. The entire wearing apparel of bankrupt and family; and 4. The necessary household and kitchen furniture, and such other articles and necessaries as, having reference to the condition and circumstances, the assignee shall see fit to designate and allow. If less is allowed than the bank rupt thinks himself entitled to, he can raise the question and have it decided, upon full argument, by the court. A SPECIAL PROVISION Is, that if a petition be presented after "one year from the time that this act shall go into operation, no discharge shall be granted unless the "assets pay fifty per centum of the claims against the estate." These are the provisions which, disencumbered of phraseology and of the body of the act, most immediately concern the public; and if they will devote an hour to their consideration, they will not be without that practical knowledge with which they ought to be familiar. This knowledge and an intelligent comprehension of the necessity for, and the spirit, object, intent and scope of the Bankrupt Law, will enable them to act understandmgly and to better their fortunes, or else bear the ills they have with philosophic fortitude. JSS~In London the houses number more tl?n 350,000, and the streets, if placed in line, would extend from Liverpool to New York, and are lighted at night by 660,000 gas lamps, consuming evejy twenty-four hours about 13,000,000 cubio feet ; of gas. Of the water supply 44,383,328 gallons 9 ore used per day. The traveling public sustains - 5,000 cabs and 1,500 omnibuses, besides all the ? other sorts of vehicles which human need can resquire or human wit invent Its hungry population > devour in the course of eveiy year 1,609,090 quar, ters of wheat, 249,000 bullocks, 1,700,000 sheep, i 28,000 calves, 35,000 pigs, 10,000,000head ofgame, i 3,000,000 salmon and innumerable fish of other I sorts, and consume 43,209,000 gallons of beer, ! 200,000 gallons of spirits, and 65,900 pipes of wine. As a consequence, 2,400 doctors find employment London, finally, supports 852 churches which are presided over by 930 divines ofgreatef'or less note. It is also oomputed that the average extension of London is at the rate of two , miles of finished, buildings per day. The needuf* this rapid construction can be estimated when it is known that the railroad improvements projected, and now being constructed, will, during the present year, necessitate the removal of 20,000 dwelling houses. A majority of these are inhabited by . > the industrial classes. IMPORTANT ORDER- General Canby has reoently issued the following order in reference to Jurors and tehants: 1 L It having been represented that, owing to. certain informalities and nou-complianee with cer' tain regulations prescribed by the laws of the State, | and by militaiy orders, for drawing juries in Booth ' Carolina, such drawings have, in some oases, been 1 rendered irregular and invalid, it is ordered : 1. That juries heretofore drawn, or which, previous to the regular spring terms of the Orrcoit Courts now approaching, may be drawn for a Cir' cuit or District Court, in any Judicial District of South Carolina, whether the provisions of General Orders No. 32, or No. 89, or No. 100, of the year 1867, from these Headquarters, were regarded in | the preparation of the list from which any drawing P was made or may he made, and whether such drawing was, or may be, at a regular term of any court, or at an extra court, or by the cleric of a [ court and the sheriff of a District in the presence of a magistrate, and whether such extra ooujft or ^ drawing by the officers of any court was ordered by the Governor of the State, any Judge, Circuit I Court, or Court of Appeals, are hereby legalised; and the right of challenge as given by the said * General Orders No. 89, and the necessary draw* I ing of tales, arc hereby preserved as heretofore. r 2. At the next Spring terms of the Circuit and ' l District Courts, respectively, and whensoever there( after new jury lists are to be made for any District, juiy lists shall be prepared from the list of all male citizens therein who shall have paid taxes within the twelve months next preceding; and challenges shall be allowed in conformity with General Orders No. 89. 3. Upon the return of the venires, the presiding judge of the court shall be authorized, at the em' paneling of juries so drawn, to set aside any juror for personal unfitness by reason of intellectual or moral disqualifications; provided, that race, color , or former condition of servitude, shah not, of itself, be a ground of exclusion. 1L The Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions in South Carolina, are hereby invested , with concurrent jurisdiction with the District [ Courts, in all cases and matters of which the District Courts have jurisdiction under tho Constitu* * HHi"^e^rovMons^if the Act of the General Assembly of the State of Sonth Carolina, entitled , "An Act to amend the law in relation to tenants," [ approved December 19,1866, shall be construed to extend and apply to all oases of tenancies, whether at wQl or for a term limited by the act of the [ parries, or by operation of law, and whether such tenancies were created by parol or by written leases or contracts of letting, wherever rent shall be dne or in arrears, or wherever the tenant shall hold over after the cessation of his right of occupancy. Whenever application is made to a magistrate to remove a tenant for any cause within the intent of said Act, as hereby construed, it shall be the duty | of such magistrate, and of the sheriff or constable, to proceed under the Act herein recited, and to charge no greater fees than those therein prescribed. IV. In no criminal case where there is appeal from any other court to the Court of Appeals, shall it be necessary for the accused to appear in person before the court of Appeals, but in a case of capital felony, the Court of Appeals, at its discretion, with regard to expediency as to time and place of sentence, may order a prisoner to be brought before it How ElephXnts were Shipped to Abyssinia.?Part of the outfit of the English expedition to Abyssinia was a herd of twenty elephants?unwieldy animals at best, but uncommonly troublesome as passengers on shipboard. A Bombay paper describes the shipment: ^ * "The hoistine tackle required was of immense strength, and the hoist was formed in this way: The main yard was supported from the lower masthead by stay tackles; from the top masthead there was a strengthening tackle, and from the lower masthead to the yard there were preventers. From the fore masthead there was a tackle for hauling the hoist forward. The elephants were brought from the place jrhere they were picketed, one by one, and, on reaching the Compta's side, were fettered and placed in slings, oonsistingof the stoutest canvas, secured by thick lashings. The height to which the animals had to be hoisted before they were lowered away into the hold was some twenty or thirty feet, and a small regiment of kallasses was employed in working the lifting tackle. The operation was really an extraordinary sight, well worth witnessing, and it was curious to observe the different moods in which the unwieldy beasts submitted to it Some, when tbey found themselves suspended in mid-air, shed fceare copiously, and were affected in a remarkable manner; others became vicious, and roared and plunged about most alarmingly. "In the days of Queen Elizabeth some other remarkable ideas were entertained in England as to the anatomy of the elephant and Shakspeare says: "The elephant hath joints, but none for courting ; his legs are for necessity, not for flexure." Now nobody in these days, we suppose, holds such an opinion; but if he does, he would have had a convincing proof of his error had he witnessed the surprising agility of some of the elephants hoisted into the hold of the Compta; for they bent their legs about, and pawed and kicked with tremendous violence, and one or two managed to throw their legs behind them so as to get a footing on the oomtying of the hatchway. Fortunately no difficulty was experienced in dislodging their feet, and they were safely got down below. By about 5 o'clock, p,m., nineteen had been embarked, but the twentieth one was so vicious and 'musty' that it was determined not to take him; for he would not?'submit to be slung, and he seemed very much inclined to do as he pleased. It was said that in an. unamiable mood, on Friday, he killed one of his unfortunate attendants." > > Alleged Insanity op Mrs. Lincoln.?Private letters reoeived from Chicago state that Mrs. Lincoln is insane beyond all doubt She recently sold all the furniture in her house, and has two old men as body guard, believing she will be robbed and murdered. Her mania is for selling, and a dread lest she come to want All her friends are said to be conscious of her mental conditiflp, but think, bo long as she is harmless, her removal to a -f lunatic asylum would increase her denotement. V