Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m. grist, proprietor.! ||tt litbepcnknt Jfamiln ftefospapcr: Jor t|e promotion af tjje IJolitical, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of t|e Sonfj;. terms?$3.00 a year, in advance. "VOL. 18. YOEKVILLE, S. O., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1870. TSTO. 38. T * ' J P??Ana nfnn rw>netratirm allude flte ftorg idler. HALF AN HOUR WITH A MADMAN. It is not at all a pleasant thing to be locked in a room alone with a violent madman, especially if he should happen to be armed with a long sharp knife, and you yourself are altogether destitute of means of defense. Yet such was once my case; and the reader may, perhaps, be somewhat interested in learning how such an awkward adventure came to pass. In the year 1859,1 had a great deal of professional business to transact in Bermond sey, a district of South London, and had occasion to spend many hours every day among the not very pleasant streets and lanes of that locality. Not far from the old church, there is a sort of very narrow street or lane called Grange Walk. It was in summer time?I think about July or August?when one evening I received a message which made it needful for me to call in person, the next morning, at a certain house in Grange Walk. A letter and some books were to be left for me at the house of a man named Smith; and as I had some calls to make close by, it would of course cost me little time or trouble to fetch the parcel myself. Now, Grange Walk is not a very pleasant street, although it is by no means so bad as many others near to it. There are not so many dirty, half-naked children playing in the gutters, or so many untidy, slipshod women leaning at the door-ways or gossipping on the sidewalk, as in some other streets hard by; in fact, for the neighborhood, it is a very respectable street in its way. I should not have objected to pass through it at midnight; and in the day-time no one would certainly expect it to be the scene of any unpleasant adventure. Sa T thnncrht. little ahniit the matter until the ?WWW -www next morning, when having completed the other business which I had in hand, I turned my steps toward Grange Walk. The first difficulty which I experienced was in finding the house. The gentleman who had written to me was a clergyman, and, as every one knows, the clergy, in common with other professional men, often write a very bad * and indistinct hand. The gentleman in question was no exception to this rule. His letters always looked just as if he had fished a large spider out of an ink-stand, and had allowed it to crawl over a clean sheet of paper. You could just make out one or two letters in moat of the longer words; and as I was accustomed to read bad writing, and his in particular, I generally contrived, with the aid of a little guessing, to make out the sense of what he had written. In the present case the name "Smith" was pretty clear, but the number of Mr. Smith's house was no means so. It might have been intended for 11, or 21, or 17, or in feet almost anything. Still, as Grange Walk is not a very large place, I anticipated less trouble in discovering the abode of Mr. Smith than I actually experienced. The houses were old rickety affairs, many of them being built of wood ; and as most of the doors had for many years been innocent of a new coat of paint, it was no easy matter to find what the numbers were which had originally been painted on them. Besides which, by a new postal arrangement, they had all been newly renumbered, and the numbers all ran the wrong way?100 being where 4 originally was, and next to 100 came No. 98, and so on; while on most of the doors two or three very different numbers were marked iu chalk, as if the people living there had been accustomed to alter them every few days, without taking the trouble to obliterate the old ones. I saw that it was quite useless to try to unravel the difficulty myself, so I applied to some of the natives for assistance. This seemed only to make matters worse, for while one would strenuously assert that such a house bore such a number, another as stoutly maintained an opinion diametrically opposite. Then too, the name "Smith" was such a very common one, that almost every one I asked seemed to know an infinite number of persons bearing that designation, all of whom were living in or about Grange Walk; and the difficulty was to choose from among such conflicting claims the proper person?to find, not a Smith, for the street appeared full of them, but the Smith. However, alter exercising no sraau amount of patience, and calling at the houses of half a dozen gentlemen of that name, while a dozen or more of people, chiefly women, whom I had asked to direct me, were watching me from as many open doors, from whence they sometimes shouted to me across the street to try such or such a house, at last, by dint of great perseverance, I arrived at the house of him whom I believed to be the true and veritable Smith?the real Smith! Knocking with my stick at the open door of a very old wooden house of three or four stories height, I asked a dirty, slovenly woman who made her appearance after the fifth knock, whether Mr. Smith lived there. "Oh ! yes," she said, "Mr. Smith, poor man, he do live here." I stated that I wished to see him, and after hesitating a few moments, and eyeing me all over, she said, in a peculiar way, and with a sort of smile which I did not understand : "Well, sir, he lives, do Mr. Smith, on the third floor in the front room, but it's seldom he do see any one at all." "Oh! never mind that," I answered. "I'll go up and try, for I think he has something to say to me." I then ran up stairs, little noticing the look of interest with which the woman looked after me, and understanding it still less. I had supposed from the letter that Mr. Smith occupied the whole of the house; but this Smith, if the true one, was evidently only a lodger, liviner in one room, and I rather wondered that ray friend should have left the letters and books there. The front room on the third floor was very readily found, and I tapped at the door. It was opened by a tall, gaunt, but powerfully built man, whose appearance was certainly very wild?such a man as you would not care to be with in the dark. But it was broad daylight, and when he asked me, with a strange, almost augry voice, to "walk in," I certainly expected nothing more than perhaps a few rude words, if I had mistaken him for the Smith of my search. "Sit down, sir," he said. Take a chair," and he pointed to a rickety old stool quite at the other end of the room. Taking off' my hat, I did as he said, and then politely introduced the object of my visit. "Your name," I interrogated, "is, I believe, Smith, and I was informed by Mr. Marshall that you had a small parcel for me." "What's in the parcel ?" he demanded, rather than asked. "Books and papers, I believe." "Oh! aye! books," he said. "There are v books. There they are," pointing to a few old volumes lying on a chest of drawers in the corner. "You can see them there, I suppose ?" "Yes," I replied slowly. "I certainly do see some books, but surely they are not the ones which he left!" "Sir," he exclaimed, with a loud voice, "I will speak to you freely. We are alone now, and concealment is useless. I must and will speak to you." I was perfectly astonished at this speech, for I could not, for the life of me, see what he meant; but my amazement was still greater when, with angry gesticulation and a flashing eye, he rose, went to the door and locked it, putting the key in his pocket. I suppose ray i | face betrayed the wonder that I felt, for, turn; ing to me, he shouted : "Say not a word! Your hour is come !" J He then took from a drawer a large wheti stone and a long black leather case, and pull' ing his chair to the table, he placed them ; upon it and sat down, staring me full in the j face. Then, in a deliberate voice, he said : "Yes, man, your time has come. I have } had it revealed to me, long years ago, that I : should see you this day. The stars in their ' courses predicted your destiny, and this day ' it is decreed that you should be offered up a j glorious sacrifice to the powers of Heaven. I We are alone, and I tell you, truly, the star of your destiny is in a bloody house. I tell I you your destiny is fulfilled ! I say, you die ' *? -1 -i- t? j to-aay?mis ciay you uie : I raustadmit that when I saw him shut and j lock the door, I certainly did feel some apj prehension of violence. But when I saw him j sitting there, glaring upon me with fierce, blood-thirsty eyes, and talking such nonsense, j which nevertheless implied a threat, I saw at j once that I was locked in with a madman, and I he, too, evidently a dangerous one. What to ; say or do I could not tell. I am a small, i weak man, and he was very powerful; and j even had the case been reversed, every one j knows that lunatics possess an almost super! natural strength. He had the key in his | pocket, and his back was to the door. To i shout out would, I knew, be useless?no one i in the house would hear. We were three j stories above the street, so to leap from the | window was impossible; while, if I attempted ; to open the window in order to call for assisJ tance, the first movement on ray part would j probably be the signal for violence on his. I j could think of nothing feasible, and so sat in : silence, trusting to the chapter of accidents or some happy idea for deliverance from my perilous situation. Seeing that I was silent, lie paused for a few minutes, all the while steadfastly fixing j his bright eyes fiercely upon me. He then j abruptly said: "I must talk with you : I must reason and ' .it i T 1 | prove to you tne neaveniy mission wniun x nuve. I The stars themselves have given you to me by an eternal decree. Show me your hand, and I will prove it. Your hand!" "Which hand ?" I asked. "The right, the dexter hand?that hand upon which the planets have written your destiny in lines of blood. Your hand, I say!" I went over to where he sat, and very calmly held out ray right hand toward him. He took it by the tips of the fingers and looked intently upon the palm. "There ! seest thou that?" he exclaimed, pointing to a long, irregular line which ran across the palm. | " There is my destiny?clear, that all the world i may read it, and justify my deed to-day. j That is the line of life. See how it branches i off and melts away?a sure token of an early I and a bloody dissolution. My part is to offer | the sacrifice; yours is to endure. There! Sit down. When that clock strikes one you will depart, to wander among the stars!" So saying, he thrust my hand away, and I quietly went and sat down, saying nothing. He leaned back in his chair, folded his arras upon his breast, and gazed at the clock. It now wanted about fifteen minuter to one. After a silence of about five minutes, in which I was vainly racking ray brains to contrive some means of eseape, he suddenly started, and fixing his piercing eyes on me, said: "We will prepare the instruments for the sacrifice." Suiting the action to the word, he pulled the stone toward him, and openingthe leather case, took from it a frightful two-edged Spanish knife or dagger, the blade of which was, I think, certainly a foot long. He tried its edge upon a hair, and although it appeared to me j to be as sharp as a razor, he began to rub it j ! carefully upon the stone. His words and the | sight of the horrible glittering knife, and the I knowledge of his maniac purpose, fully I awakened me to a sense of my danger. I j could do nothing, for he was watching like a j cat ray every movement. But I might gain time at least, and I resolved to do so. Often j before I had experienced the powerful influI ence of a fluent tongue?the "Golden mouth," I as the Greeks of old termed it; and now the fear of death nerved me to exert myself to the j very utmost. Turning with as much calmness as I could to him, I said : "And what do you propose to do ? How j are you going to carry out the decree of the j stars?" "You see this knife?" he asked, leaving off I his task, and pointing the ugly blade toward I me. "When the clock strikes one, I shall , sever your head from your body with this, and i i -.1 ? *! LI? J T -L_ll 1 4.- . I i men wiiu yuur uiuuu x simu uajjki^c uijogij., and after that I shall place your head on that j : shelf for me to divine by, and cast away your j body?the gross, material part of humanity? j into the street!" No words can tell the fearful wildness of his expression, as he uttered these words, i With an effort, I replied as calmly as I could: "Yes, all that is true; but, as a learned man, 11 should like to discuss with you various sub| jects, as I shall need knowledge when I reach I the stars. I should like also to understand ' fully the modus operandi of your proceedings. Let me ask you a few questions." i I had some slight knowledge of palmistry, necromancy and astrology?follies which I j saw had turned the unhappy madman's brain, : and I had what was perhaps better, the power ! of language. So I entered into a great disi cussion, always appearing to bow to his supej rior knowledge. He replied, and although j his speech was very incoherent, he must have | received a very good education. But for my j peril I should have been interested in his case. 11 then said that I had three very important! statements to make, the justice of which he would at once perceive. ! "Firstly," I said, "I had a friend waiting i below for me. The horoscope had declared j that that friend should be present at my ira| molation. We must not fight against the ; stars. Should I, or should I not, go and fetch ! him ; or would he ?" j He arose and went to the window and opened it, causing me, with all the cunning of madness, to move to the other side of the j room. He then asked my friend's name, and , looking down, called upon him several times, j but of course without receiving any answer, j Then carefully shutting the window, he said : i "I see the head of a man at the door-way ; it must be your friend. Is he deaf?" "Slightly deaf," I replied. ; "No," he said. "I see it all. I must go ! down and fetch him. You must not leave the ! room until your disembodied spirit soars toward the stars of heaven. He must come up. i I will lock you in, and fetch him myself." This looked a little promising, and so, thinki ing that if he once left the room I might find ? l.nnn lilrvi nut until nsjc'stnnnA nrrivpd iX Yi UJ IU uuu UUW ?w.v.?UVw H. ... ; 11 mustered courage to enunciate ray other | propositions. "Secondly," I said, "we ought to ascertain I the exact height of this window from the j pavement, and as a line if let down would j stretch in some minute degree, it is necessary : to obtain a long piece of wire for that purpose, ! so as to be mathematically correct. Have you any wire here ?" "No," he answered, "but there is a shop very near, and I can get some when I go for your friend." j "Thirdly," I continued, "it will be easy for i you to cast my body down, on account of its j specific gravity; but if we both go down, I ; should like to know whether, by the attraction I of the stars, you could not raise it from the j pavement up to the window. Shall we deI scend and see ?" For a moment he seemed vastly pleased , ! with this notion, but suddenly the idea of my ' possible escape seemed to come before him,, ! and he exclaimed : "No; that would only waste time, and delay ! the bloody sacrifice," and he glanced fiendish-1 ly upon me, and then at the open knife ; "no. j i When all is over I will carry your body down, and then see if the attraction of the head and the influence of the stars will attract1 it in an upward direction. No, you shall I never leave this place in the body. But I I i must go myself for your friend and the wire? . they are necessary ! Help me." So saying, he pointed to a long bench which ran all along one side of the room. By his rJiroptinn nnH Assistance I tupped it toward the j door. "That bench," he said, "is stronger than any lock. Once, when I lost the key, I used I it for fastening the door. Now, as soon as I j have locked you in, you plant the bench j against the door, and then, if you do it prop' erly, no power on earth can open it again." My heart leaped within me, for I saw at a ' glance that the door opened inward, j My j?y at the discovery was so great that j he certainly must have perceived it, had I not i turned away to hide my face. He then took j a large hammer and a few long nails, and pro: ceeded to nail up the window most securely. I This was not altogether according to my views, | but ray courage returned when, carefully I placing the long knife in his breast pocket, he | said : "That clock is a good deal fast, but you have still about five minutes to live. Wait here, till I return." He then took out the knife once more, tried its edge, looked at me with a fearful expres! sion of ferocity, returned it to his pocket, and then, with a fiendish laugh, left the room, i double locking the door. I With all the cunning of madness, it is really j wonderful how he overlooked the obvious fact i of the door opening inwardly. No sooner had he fastened it, however, than he cried from the outside: "You are safe?yes, safe! Thro^ the two bolts, and put the bench to the door." I You can imagine that I did so with the ' speed of lightning. The door was secure. I | was, as he said, safe. On my knees I offered I up a few words of heartfelt thanksgiving to God, and was about to begin further action, for I thought he had gone, when I heard him laughing loudly outside, and repeating: No power on earth, no devil?no, only the influence of the stars could open that door now. The victim of destiny cannot escape." That same instant I heard him fitting the key to the door. He had forgotten something; j but though he turned the lock, the door, of [ course, did not open. The whole truth seemed now, for the first time, to flash like lightning I upon his mind. He was perfectly wild, and raging with fury "Open, open, I say! I command!" he cried, at the highest pitch of his voice, while, like a i oftnflrtfl Knoof in if o norro roro Viimsplf wifh I I Oiivagg Ul/UOl 1X4 1 to uv l/UA\y|i Iiavu all his force against the frail door. The upper bolt flew off with his violence, but, as he had himself said, the bench, which reached the middle of the door, was stronger than any lock. The door was impregnable. With the quickness of thought I drove a few of the nails which he had left into the frame-work of the door, and thus doubly secured my position. The nejtt thing was to raise an alarm. It was impossible for me to open the window, so with the hammer I broke several panes and the frame-work, and then shouted aloud. Strange to say, when wanted, a policeman was at hand. I called to him, and explained as well as I could my position. A mob began to assemble, as a matter of course, and in a few moments a strong body of police were in possession of the house. Meanwhile the wretched lunatic was raging and blaspheming in an awful fashion. When he saw the police, he drew his knife and rushed upon them. Fortunately they were prepared, and only one of them received a slieht wound in the arm. i The madman was soon overpowered and se-! cured, although not without a desperate and almostsuperhuraan struggle. I then removed the bench from the door. The police pushed from without. The long nails gave way, and I was free! I shall never forget that adventure. The madman was shortly after confined in an asylum from which he had cunningly contrived to escape, a few weeks before. IpscrUiwrottis Reading. From the Greenville Enterprise. GENERAL F. J. MOSES* CARD. Editor of the Enterjrise: I have seen the card of General Moses, giving general denial of the charges made against him, and I will | be obliged to you for the use of your columns j | for a brief reply. On the floor of the Moses Convention, his j friends freely admitted his over-issue of "pay I certificates," but alleged by way of commendai tion as well as apology that they were issued to refugees from the ku-klux. Can it be that [ when General Moses was a member of that Convention and a prominent candidate before j it, that he was not aware of the ground taken for him by those who represented his interest i on its floor? Doubtless General Moses is the j only man on earth who can make out a list of! j those to whom these certificates have been is| sued, and if he had done this and shown that only real employes and ku-klux sufferers received them, the apology would have been susj tained so far as it amounts to anything. Gen. Moses will hardly say that there were any j ku-klux sufferers in Anderson, Beaufort, Edge' field or Richland counties, nor that the nu, mnrnno "now r?nH i fiptl tpa" hnwlrpH t.limiiorh t.hfi , |/W.J VV4 v*t*vMVw ? ? ?? ~"0" j i banks and brokers' offices of Columbia and | Charleston were issued either to this unfortu- j natc class of people or to the employes. Col. J Merrill fixes the date of the last Act of vio- j lence as the 9th of September, 1871. At this time the General Assembly had not met, and ' the certificates generally bear date in Februa- j ry and March and later in 1872?had they J been issued a year sooner there would have , been less contradiction of General Moses' apol' ?gy- Again, the General may not be fully j accredited as a wituess in this matter, but his j statements against himself are competent. He I admitted to Judge Orr a "little extravagance" 1 i in the issue of "pay certificates," and did not! pretend to have done so for the ku-klux suf-; ferers, but told the Judge by way of apology i that he (Moses) was fighting the Governor | who had the bonds, and the Treasurer who , j had the Treasury at his back. Now, here are i two confessions, each good; but is the evi- j j dence worth anything? Suppose it were true that all the "pay cer-! I tificates" over drawn were really issued to ku-! , klux sufferers, we may accept that as a con-1 j fession of fraud in the public officer, and ask 1 j by what law the State Treasury became the ; I charity fund of the Speaker of the House of | j Representatives? The apology simply dem-j j onstrates the shamelessness of the apologist. ' When most of these pay-certificates were ! i issued, as is alleged, for the benefit of the ku-! ! klux sufferers, the General Assembly was in 1 ! session, and it was the proper power to make : j appropriation for their relief, but very bad I ' for General Moses. A year previous was the j time that these poor people needed help, and ; j during that year help came from another | | source than his pay certificates, his expensive arms or his "Arms Force Fund." F. J. Moses, Jr., has not yet, I believe, attempted to explain the ten thousand dollars drawn by him from the armed force fund, as shown by the sworn statement of Treasurer Parker. The real consideration of this little sum must remain a secret in thesacred breasts J of the Speaker of the House, the Governor > and the Treasurer, unless they choose to re-! veal it; but the facts which Pie known indicate strongly that its revelation will not be creditable. Let us look at them. It was drawn on the 24th of January and 2nd of February, 1872, just after the failure, after a bitter struggle, of the impeachment movement in that branch of the General Assembly over which General Moses presided. It was drawn, too, at a time when the Treasurer had placarded on the railing of his desk, "No ! Money at a time when there were no fuuds ; to pay the General Assembly; no funds to pay the Solicitors and Judges of the State. It was drawn from the "armed force fund" when no such organization existed, and none such had existed for more than a year. I shall not. st.nn to enouire who Mooney and Leggett are, or what branch of the armed j force they represented; but if it is rot antiRepublican to make such enquiries, I would like to know, for the curiosity of the thing, what was the consideration of those ten thousand dollars. Speaker Moses' hand writing is well known, and there are gentlemen of character who have seen his receipt for one thousand dollars, for services rendered in the passage of the Validating Bill of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad. Mr. Speaker Moses will hardly have the temerity to deny receiving this money, and that he subsequently received ten thousand dollars more, from the same road, for his valuable aid in the passage of the Act to promote the consolidation of the Blue Ridge and Greenville & Columbia Railroads. If he wants the proofs, and wants them legally produced, the Courts are open to him, at the expense of the State ; and this proposition has been publicly made since June last. I have looked with interest for some explanation of the Roberts' arms trancaction. Gen. Mhom ftnv. Scott and Treasurer Parker can doubtless explain how something over one hundred thousand dollars were lost on the way to the "Roberts' Arms Company." The last two are not candidates, but every true Republican will await with interest the General's explanation. I am, very respectfully, Wm. E. Earle. + ?+ GENERAL MOSES EXPLAJNS. In Charleston, last week, Gen. F. J. Moses, the candidate for Governor of the "Regular" Republicans, made a speech, and thus explained sundry charges which have been preferred against him: Mr. Moses was then received with a perfect ovation of cheers, and made a spirited and effective speech. He repeated the pledges of the regular Republican party, and promised their faithful fulfillment in the event of his election, and he then proceeded to make an answer to the charges which had been brought against him, He said that if he were there as an individual he would not open his lips in explanation or denial; but as the candidate of the Repuclican party, he believed it a duty which he owed to the party and the people to meet and refute those charges. He said, first, 'I - * -1-1 1- l - * -1 1 nnfl, fV,Q mail UlbUUUgll UC I1UU UCCU UUHUCWU IT It 11 bliv State Government since 1868, he had never been in such a position as to have control of one dollar of its finances. Those finances were managed by regularly constituted boards, the financial board, the land commission board, the sinking fund commissioners. His name was to be found among none of them, and he declared, upon his responsibility and honor as a man, that there had never during his official life been an occasion when one dollar of the State money had to pass through his hands, directly or indirectly. For many months, however, all the little dogs of the party?Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart?had been barking at him, and on that day a little paper in Charleston had propounded a terrible string of questions for him to answer that evening. He would not shrink from answering all those questions, and he challenges that paper to search the record for themselves and ascertain if his answer was in the least degree false or equivocal. He then read from the Charleston Republican the first question, which was as follows: "In the first place, we desire to ask the gentleman if be will make affidavit to the denial he published in the Columbia papers a few days ago, in refutation in general of the charges urged against him, and which article was copied in the Charleston press. Empty ? . i nri _ t_ ii l _ statements win not ao. w not me peupie want is proof, and not proof from questionable sources." He said he agreed with the editor of the paper that what the people wanted was proof, and proof from unquestionable sources, but it was the first time he had ever heard of a person arraigned upon any charge being asked to make an affidavit that he was not guilty. It was not his duty to prove a negative, but what the people wanted and what he demanded was the affidavits of those who brought the charges. The second question, which he also read to the audience, was as follows: ''Secondly. Will the gentleman explain, and furnish by proof, his innocence of the following, in reference to the Roberts Arms Company and the American Metallic Ammunition Company." It is charged that, "in the case of the Roberts Arms Company, though the company received but $2500 the account was made out against the State for 844,250. The contract, which was for the alteration of five thousand Springfield rifles to breech-loaders, was made on the part of the State of South Carolina by F. J. Moses, Jr., as Adjutant and Inspector-General. Thousands upon thousands of dollars more were spirited from the State in these arms transactions, all of which appear clearly chargeable to F. j. Moses, and, perhaps, R. K. Scott." In reply to this charge he said thai when it was first made in the report of the joint, special financial investigating committee, he had risen in his place in the Assembly and made his defence. He had then demanded that the Assembly should, if they believed him guilty, take immediate steps to investigate his conduct. That defense had been at the time published in the Charleston daily papers, and even they had done him the justice to say that the charge, so far as he was concerned, had been cleared away. The writer of the committee's report had afterward admitted the 6ame thing in the General Assembly. He then procceeded with a repetition of the explanations which were to the effect that he had been ordered by the Governor to make contracts for the alteration of 10,000 guns ; that he had absolutely nothing to do with the transaction but make the contracts, the financial agent being directed to pay the bills; that he contracted for the alteration of 5000 at 38.85 panh. and for 5000 at nine dollars each ; that the sum total of all the contracts which he made for the State was 8123,000; that the the amount charged on the financial agent's books on those accounts was 8206,000, but that he had no more connection with or responsibility for those payments than any private citizen, and that the vouchers, contracts and proofs of those assertions were on the file both in the Treasurer's office and the Adjutant General's office, where any citizen of the State had a right to go and examine them, and test the truth of nis assertions. The next question was as follows: "Thirdly. We want to know something about that 811,000 on the armed force question. Will Mr. Moses explain this? Will he tell the people that it was a draft cashed by certain parties, (we know who,) for certain services rendered ? No dodging of this. Let it bring into disrepute whom it may, give us the facts backed by incontrovertible proof. The people demand it! They have a right to know." In reply to this he said that the opinion seemed to be current that the armed force fund had something to do with the AdjutantGeneral's office because it was for military purposes ; but the fact was that nobody had anything to do with the drafts upon that fund but the Governor. As to the eleven thousand dollars of the armed force fund which were charged to him between November, 1871, and June, 1872, it had nothing to do with any transactions during that period, and was not paid out at that time. That money was paid to him for legitimate military expenses and for the use of the Adjutant-General's department in the summer of 1871, fully one year ago. The Governor at that time gave him two warrants upon the State Treasury; one for 'i ?i xi_ _ ?ii five thousand aouars, nnu uw umei iur sia thousand dollars, but there was no money in the Treasury to pay the warrants and they had to be discounted. They were accordingly discounted, and last winter, when there was money in the Treasury, the parties who held them brought them forward, and they were charged on the Treasury books as though they had been paid out at that time and to him. For all those facts the proofs were or, file in the Treasurer's and Adjutant-General's office; they were such proofs as a public officer had a right to offer. If those proofs were not sufficient, he could only say that no citizen of the State was safe from the charges of malicious or envious persons. In reply to the charge of issuing fraudulent nay certificates, he fell back on the report of Treasurer Parker, and declared that that document would prove conclusively that the charge was untrue; and he took occasion pub" ? i .1 . _.i_ _ j. __ iiciy to orana tne men who muue it ?? im?raous liars. He also demanded them to produce the evidence upon which their assertions were based, and show to the people of South Carolina whether he had been issuing fraudulent pay certificates, or whether his accusers had been lying. As has already been said by an eloquent speaker: "Let tne dead past bury its dead." Let us look forward to new havens of rest, and let us take up this poor old State, strip from its person the elements of discord that have gathered there in the past, and carry her forward on a newer and higher plan of civilization. No matter what part the white people take in this contest; whether they fold their arms in apathy, or come forward and help us, I pledge you that their rights and liberties shall never be impugned or infringed upon by our administration. My fellow-citizens, do as you think best. All that I can do is to beg, to conjure you to take part and help us to redeem our beloved State. Let us all so act that, when the day of election is over, we may all perform our personal and official duties, remembering that we have no people in South Carolina who have the right to be our enemies. We spoke in earnest when we adopted this platform under which we propose to march. It contains no bid for votes?no delusive promises. We intend to carry it out, no matter what errors it may force us to acknowledge. By the living God, as long as there is a spot in this old State to stand upon, the Republican party ? ---a wIaA^amivi i?i rvnrfinn. win carry uui liiul piauuiju m j |;i*i vivular. We propose to rescue these lands that have been purchased for the homeless. We propose to lift from our shoulders that infernal bonded debt under which we have been laboring so long and so heavily. We propose to do away with the financial agent in the city ! of New York?to do away with credit in New York. We will seek for credit and respect in the hearts of our own people, by showing them that the money they pay into the coffers of the State is properly expended. Doing this we shall no longer find it necessary to go to northern climes to seek credit. We intend to have the strictest system of economy in South Carolina, and to learn lessons from the experience through which we have gone. I trust in God that when the news of the election is wafted throughout the country, the Northern, Western and Eastern States will find that there exists such a state of feeling between the two races in this State that reconstruction will never be needed. [Great cheering.] From the Chester Reporter, 12th Instant. THE CHESTER COUNTY RADICALS. The Radical County Convention for the nomination of county officers and members of the Legislature met in the Court House on last Saturday morning at 10 o'clock, and continued in session till the pitying shades of J night came down upon the disgusting brutality of the scene. The convention was composed of forty-eight delegates from the various voting precincts of the county. Just before they moved into the Court House to begin business, a spirited dog fight took place on the side-walk in front of that building. We did not realize at the time how prophetic this was of the proceedings of the day. John Lee, County Chairman, called the meeting to order, and explained very briefly its object. The first business, he said, was to elect a "prominent" chairman. Judge Mackey's name was proposed for the position. He was elected without opposition, and declared by John Lee to be the "prominent" chairman of the convention. On taking the chair, the Judge addressed the convention in some very sensible and pertinent remarks. He told them that the ship of State was now among the rocks and that the pirates were plunderdering her from deck to keel, and that it was their duty to come to the rescue by electing honest and capable men to take the place of the present corrupt crew. He also told them that from the best information he could get there were twelve hundred candidates for the oWen nnsiHnns thev had at their disposal; w.w, ? J J that there must consequently be eleven hundred and eighty-nine disappointed aspirants, and that they must be prepared to surrender their individual preferences and sustain whoever might be the nominees of the convention. The nomination of sheriff was first gone into. It had been arranged in caucus that B. G. Yocum should have this office in compensation for his fealty to the party, and as a reward for the galantry displayed in commanding the militia in the New Hope campaign by telegraphic despatches from Columbia. He, therefore, received forty-five out of forty-eight votes cast. Sancho Sanders was one of the three who voted for another nominee. Sancho has sat in the House of Representatives with Yocum. The nomination of a Clerk of the Court was next in order. The contest between the friends of C. C. Macoy, Esq., and W. M. McDonald was sharp, pungent and threatening. The lie flew around as if the floor of a radical convention was its native heath. But nobody was hurt. On a ballot being taken, Mr. Macoy received thir* J--i?J J..I? ty-three votes ana was aecmreu uuiy uuimnated. John Dickey, Esq., and Dublin Walker, present incumbents, were re-nominated for the offices of Probate Judge and County School Commissioner respectively. For Coroner, Yocum nominated Mr. H. C. Brawley, on the ground that the office was one that did not pay anything, and that they, might therefore, afford to give it to one not in affiliation with their party. Julius Stevenson, colored, was also nominated. The ballot showed fortyseven for Stevenson and one for Brawley. This is tatamount to electing no corojer; for Stevenson can never give the bond, and if he did, could never discharge the duties of his office. Nominations for members ot tne ijegis' lature were next in order. After several balj lotings, attended with the utmost disorder , and confusion, John Lilley, Charles Sims and Prince Young, all colored, and all totalI ly incompetent and unfit for the position, j j were put forward as the nominees of the Re! publican party for the House of Representa-; j tives from Chester county. This is the kind j ! of reform "the party" proposes to inaugurate j "within its own lines." The ticket is in every I respect a worse one than that elected in 1870. i County Commissioners were next to be nora-! inated. For these positions every delegate in the convention, who had not already got something, became a candidate. The Chairman in feeling terms congratulated them on their patriotic willingness to serve their country, and invited the six candidates who considered themselves the most capable to step to the front. The whole body moved simultaneously forward. A ballot was then gone into, and as no one came near receiving a majority of votes, it was moved that James Reid, Madison Pendergrass and Burrell Hemphill, the two last colored, who had received the highest number of votes, should be declared nominated by acclamation. The motion prevailed. The Republicans themselves are disgusted with these nominations. The business of selecting candidates having been concluded, Judge Mackey offered a series of resolutions endorsing the nominees of the Regular State ticket, pledging the party to suspend the payment of interest on all the bonds of the State, to repudiate all the bonds that have been fraudulently issued, and to do all in their power to bear Grant and Wilson on to victory. Yocum here arose and began to chatechise the Judge as to certain statements he had made in regard to the contemplated action of the State Executive Committee. Crimination and recrimination followed each other in rapid and violent succession. The excitement raged high. Things looked as if somebody was bound to be hurt. Finally the confusion became so great that the Chairman abruptly adjourned the meeting without putting the resolutions to a vote. We have made no effort to give even a faint idea of the shameless indecencies that characterized the day's proceedings. Language would be inadequate to convey to the minds of those who were not present any conception of the scene. The like of it has never been witnessed in this county, and tor the sake of humanity we trust the like may never be seen again. "Bill Validate," a correspondent of the Charleston Republican, furnishes the following additional particulars in regard to the scenes enacted at the v;hester Radical nomina UUg VUUYCUUU11 "At the close of the nominations, the irrepressible Judge T. J. Mackey left the chair, took the floor and offered resolutions pledging the Convention and nominees to the support of "The Regular Republican State ticket." After the reading of these resolutions, Colonel Yocum arose and refused to be thus pledged, stating that he had heard a committee, composed of members of "The Regular Republican State Central Committee," had been sent to Washington to demand of the National Executive Republican Committee and President Grant the removal of United States District Attorney D. T. Corbin, Colonel Lewis Merrill, U. S. A., commanding the post of Yorkville, and Col. W. H. Brown, U. S. A.,! commanding the post of Chester, and to I threaten that if these gentlemen were not removed, they would turn over the vote of the i State to Greeley and Brown. Yocum referred to the signal and meritorious services performed by all those gentlemen in sustaining the enforcement acts, by prosecuting the ku-klux and arresting and I bringing to trial those cowardly night riders. I They, he said, were the men who had given to the colored people protection and safety. He firmlv believed that the county of Chester was largely in favor of Grant, and that no petty spite would make the people turn from the man that had extended a protecting hand in their behalf. He, (Yocum) considered it a high-handed movement on the part of the State Central Committee to make such demands and threats to gratify the vaulting ambition of a few designing political tricksters, and he awaited the action of that dictatorial committee before he would entertain the consideration of the resolution. Yocum was loudly cheered. Judge Mackey now arose to his work, like the professional shoulder-hitter on his second wind, and berated the carpet'baggers, the military, &c., slashing away in his usual high moral buncombe style on the corrupt carpet-bag administration. At this point, Colonel Yocum asked Judge Mackey if he considered Governor Scott one of the corrupt officials? To which the reckless judge responded in his deepest toned bass, "I do 1" Then,sir, said Colonel Yocum, "why were you found on the floor of the House of Representatives lobbying against the impeachment of the man whom you know to be corrupt, while I was advocating and voting for imnoanhmcnf 9" Thp lllftcrp. t.akftn flhflfik mo llU|;WMVit>liVU 1/ .v.... by this direct question, replied "that he had been employed by Governor Scott as a lawyer, to defend him." To which the Colonel remarked "that he had heard of mean, low, petty-fogging, shyster lawyers, who would stoop to anything for a fee, but he had never heard of a professional lawyer so low and mean as to accept a fee for begging and bribing members of a Legislature to vote for corrupt measures, and in support of retaining openly corrupt men in office." At this juncture the Convention began to see the Judge's little game of "brag and bluff," and called out for Yocum to "go on!" "give it to him!" "say some more!" "bring out the truth, Yocum !" hurrah for Yocum ! Ac., the discomfitted "lawyer" in the meantime gathering up his still-born resolutions, his old tile, his gold-headed bludgeon, Ac., while a cloud of anger darkened his Mephistophelian brow. Making his way toward the door the thunder tones of the double bass were heard to rumble out, "We will have another Convention to nominate a Sheriff!" and like the ghost of Banquo the dark-browed Judge "stalked out the portals" of the court house, bearing a huge load of disappointment and disgust. The Convention soon after adjourned, the band playing "Cast that shadow from thy brow." The delegates, in their enthusiasm over their escape from the Judge's trap, seized hold of Yocum and actually carried him out on their shoulders to manifest their approval of his exposition of "Woodcock's little game;" and to a late hour in the evening they amused themselves discussing the "merits" of the forensic champion of "The Regular Republican party." The Stereotyped Smile.?Beware of a man or woman with a fixed smile. Trust the most hideous scowler before the being who goes about with an angelic grin carefully exhibited to all eyes under any and every circumstance. It is not natural to smile perpetually, and no one ever assumes a mask without being conscious of a necessity for concealment. Don't misunderstand me. There are young women, and a few old men, who break ?. ;_i ?--1 - ?l il i. rpi out iuiu u smut) wueuovor uiey sjok. jl nest; are not the people I mean. The smile of which I warned you is a motionless, hypocritical, fixed expression, which I have seen worn during a silent three hours' journey by rail,! without the slightest alteration?that sort of smile whioh most misguided lady artists present upon their canvas when they delineate martyrs, saints and angels. The portrait of a lady has a different smile?the fashion-plate simper?which, though semi-idiotic, is not uungeruuo. iciovuo ? - r to the chronic smile as "so sweet;" and any one capable of holding the muscles of the face under control, is generally able to squeal sweetly, to move quietly, and to use choice language, measured tones, in moments of the greatest excitement, and so can always place a better man or woman at a great disadvantage, and appear injured and innocent when actually most guilty. Mark Twain's Revolvers.?I was armed to the teeth with a pitiful little Smith & Wesson's seven shooter, which carried a ball like a homeopathic pill, and it took the whole seven to make a dose for an adult. But I thought it was grand. It appears to be a dangerous weapon. It only had one fault?you could not hit anything with it One of our "conductors" practiced awhile on a cow with it, and as long as she stood still and behaved herself, she was safe; but as soon as she went to moving about, and he got to shooting at other things, she came to grief. The secretary had a small sized Colt's revolver strapped around for protection against the Indians, and to guard against accidents he carried it un j n u? mi . ueuigc jjciuio nuo uioiuhhj iuiraidable. George Bemis was our fellow-traveler. We had never seen him before. He wore in his belt an original "Allen" revolver, such as irreverent people called a "pepperbox." Simply drawing the trigger back cocked and fired the pistol. As the trigger came back, the hammer would begin to rise and the barrel turn over, and presently down ; would drop the hammer, ana away would speed the ball. To aim along the turning I barrel, and hit the thing aimed at, was a feat which was probably never done with an "Allen" in the world, B./c George's was a reliable weapon, nevertheless, because, as one of the stage-drivers afterwards said, "If she did not get what she went after, she would fetch something else." And so she did. She went after the deuce of spades nailed against a tree, once, and fetched a mule standing about thirty yards to the left of it Bemis did not want the mule; but the owner came out with a double-barreled shot-gun and persuaded him to buy it any how. It was a cheerful weapon?the "Allen." Sometimes all its six barrels would go off at once, and there was no safety in all the region round about it, but behind it How to Make Youbself Unhappy.? In the first place, if you want to make yourself miserable, be selfish. Think all the time of yourself and your things. Don't care about <l! 1_- tt ?..!!_ c anyiniug mat;, xittvu uu lcviuiga iur ?uj vuo but yourself. Never think of enjoying the satisfaction of seeing others happy, but rather, if you see a smiling face, be jealous lest another should enjoy what you have not. Envy ever one who is better off in any respect than yourself; think unkindly toward them and speak lightly of them. Be constantly afraid lest some one should encroach upon your rights; be watchful against it, and if any one comes near your things snap at him like a mad dog. Contend earnestly for everything that is your own, though it may not be worth a pin ; for you "rights are just as much concerned as if it were a pound of gold. Never yield a point Ee very sensitive, and take everything that is said to you in playfulness in the most serious manner. Jealous of your friends, lest they should not think enough of you; and if at any time they should seem to neglect you, put the worst construction upon their conduct you can. Good-Bye.?It is a hard word to speak. Some may laugh that it should be; but let them laugh. Icy hearts are never kind. It is a word that has choked many an utterance, and started many a tear. The hand is clasped, the word spoken, we part, and we are out upon the ocean of time?we go to meet again, God only knows where. It may be soon; it may be never. Take care that your "good bye" be not a cold one?it may be the last one that you can give. Ere you meet your friends again death's cold hand may have closed his eyes and hushed his lips forever. Ah I he may have died thinking you loved him not. A train, itmav be a lone senaration. Friends *"B" 1 J ~ ~~ ?o ?1( f? crowd onward and give their hand. How do you detect in each good-bye the love that lingers there; and how do you bear away with you the memory of these parting words many, many days. We must often separate. Tear not yourself away with a careless boldness that defies all love, but make your last words linger?give the heart its full utterance?and if tears fall, what of it? Tears are not unmanly. A Rich Widow Marries Her Nightwatchman.?A few months ago, Nicholas Moore, a well-known Harlem builder, who had amassed about $300,000, died, leaving the property to his wife, an attractive widow of forty. The late Mr. Moore had in his employ a nightwatchman?John Hughes?whom he had paid $8 a week. He was an awkward, overgrown fellow, uncouth and unattractive in every way. Shortly after the builder's death, Mrs. Moore was often seen walking with Hughes late at night, accompanying him in his round of duties. This was attributed to her anxiety for the safety of her houses. At length the widow sold a block of houses for $186,000 and started for Manhattanville, accompanied by Hughes, and there the nuptials of the pair were celebrated. They are spending their honeymoon at the residence of tne bride, on Twenty-second street, and another man watches the property.?New York Paper. Mr. Tomlinson's Character.?The Nation, a paper of the highest character, published in New York, thus speaks of Mr. Tomlinson, the "Bolters'" candidate for Governor of South Carolina. The opinion of the editor is based upon a long personal acquaintance: "There is, indeed, no State in which Mr. Tomlinson would not be a useful citizen, so far as integrity, ability and honesty go to make a citizen useful, and in him could ne be elected, South Carolina would have, for the first time since the war, a creditable Governor, sagacious and honorable. We do not know that he has any chance of election. But it is certain that he ought to get the vote of all South Carolinians who have spoken a word of detestation against the true carpetbagger, while at the same time expressing a willingness to welcome honest Northerners into the State," Reducing the Number of Office Holders.?When the new internal revenue law comes into effect, October 1st, besides reducing the taxes, the number of collectors and assessors of internal revenue is also to be reduced. There are now 230 of these officials, and the force is reduced to eighty, nearly two-thirds of the force being thus discharged. The Department at Washington is already making preparations for the contemplated redaction, and in view of it several officials are said to have already presented their resignations. The country always receives with pleasure everything that tends to reduce Government expenditures and consequently lighten taxation. I?" The Louisville papers tell a curious story about a negro woman who was bitten by a dog thirty years ago, and has been subject to convulsive fits about twice a month ever since. She is perfectly harmless, but ' when the fit is on she lies on the floor doubled up like a hoop, and barks for twenty minutes together. Her bark cannot be distinguished from that of a dog.