Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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

i.ewis m. grist, proprietor.) A" JJttbqjmbtitt Jfamilg ^ttfospapcri Jjor % ^jrcmofiari of f(jt political, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of % jJonfjj. |terms?$3.00 a year, in advance. VOL. 18. YORKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1879. __ NO.44. Ike Jforg Seller. I THE SECRET CLOSET."; ^ J In the year 18?, John Smith (I use ficti-j tious names) was indicted for the wilful rhur-, der of Henry Thompson. The case was one ! of a most extraordinary nature, and the interest excited by it was almost unparalleled. The accused was a gentleman of considerable property, residing upon his own estate. A person, supposed to be an entire stranger to him, had, late in a summer's day, requested and obtained hospitality for the' night. He had, it was supposed, after taking some light refreshment, retired to bed in perfect health, rpnnpstinor t.n he awakened at an early hour ~1 t the following morning. When the servant appointed to call him entered his room for that purpose, he was found there perfectly dead ; and from the appearance of the body it was obvious that he had been so for many hours. There was not the slightest mark of violence upon his person, and the countenance retained the same expression it had borne during life. Days and weeks passed on, and little further was discovered. In the meantime rumor had not been idle. Suspicions were vague, indeed, and undefined, and were at first whispered, and afterward boldly expressed. The precise object of these suspicions was not indicated ; some implicated one person, some another; but they all pointed to Smith, the master of the house, as concerned in the death of the stranger; and, in fine, the magistrates were induced to commit Mr. Smith to jail to take his trial for the wilfal murder of Henry Thompson. As it was deemed essential to the attainment of justice to keep secret the examination of the witnesses who were produced before the magistrates, all the information of which the public were in possession before the trial took place was that which I have here ~ -* f a: .1. narrated. Such was the siaie 01 miugs me morning of the trial. The counsel for the presecution opened his case to the jury in a manner that indicated very little expectation of a conviction. He began by imploring them to divest their minds of all that they heard before they came into ^ the box; he entreated them to attend to the evidence, and judge from that alone. . It would be proved beyond the possibility of a doubt that the deceased died by poison? poison of the most subtle nature, most active in its operation, and possessing the wonderful and dreadful quality of leaving no external mark or token by which its presence could be detected. The ingredients of which it was composed were of so sedative a nature that, instead of the body on which it had been used exhibiting any contortions, or marks of suffering, it left upon the features nothing but the calm and placid quiet of repose. The prisoner's family consisted only of himself, a housekeeper, and one man-servant. The man-servant slept in an outhouse adjoining the stable, and did so on the night of Thompson's death. The prisoner slept at one end of the house and the housekeeper at the other, and the deceased had been put into a room adjoining the housekeeper's. It would be proved by a person who happened to be passing by the house the night in question, about three hours after midnight, that he had been induced to remain and watch, C?I- ~ ~ UJo a ffanfinn Q *" niter! hv t.hft flir lrVLLf U<ftYlU? uio ctkwuiwvu ~J - _ , cumstance, then very unusual, of a light moving about the house at that late hour. That person would state most positively that he could distinctly see a figure, holding a light, go from the room in which the prisoner slept to the housekeeper's room ; that two persons then came out of the housekeeper's room,aud the light disappeared for a minute. Whether the two persons went into Thompson's room he could not see, as the window of that room looked another way; but in about a minute they returned, passing quite along the house to Smith's room again; and in about five minutes the light was extinguished, and he saw it no more. Such was the evidence upon which the magistrates had committed Smith; and, singularly enough, since his committal the housekeeper had been missing, nor could any trace of her be discovered. Within the last week, the witness who saw the light had been more particularly examined, and in order to refresh his memory, he lio/i Koon T?loppd at. dark in the very spot where he had stood on that night, and another person was placed with him. The whole scene, as he had described it, was acted over again ; but it was utterly impossible, from the cause above mentioned to assert, when the light disappeared, whether the parties had gone into Thompson's room. As if, however, to throw still deeper mystery over this extraordinary transaction, the witness persisted in adding a new feature to his former statement; that after the person had returned with the light into Smith's room, and before it was extinguished, he had twice perceived some dark object to intervene between the light and the window, almost as large as the surface of the window itself, and which he described by saying it appeared as if a door had been placed before the light. Now in Smith's room there was nothing which could account for this appearance; his bed was in a different part, and there was neither cupboard nor press in the room, which, but for the bed, was entirely empty, the room in which he dressed being at a distance neyond. He would state only one fact more, (said the learned counsel,) and having done his duty, it would be for the jury to do theirs. Within a few days there had been found, in the prisoner's house, the stopper of a small bottle of a very singular appearance; it was apparently not of English manufacture, and was described by the medical men as being used by chemists to preserve those liquids which are most likely to lose their virtue by exposure to the air. To whom it belonged, or to what use it had been applied, there was no evidence to show. Such was the address of the counsel for the prosecution; and during its delivery I had i earnestly watched the countenance of the ! prisoner, who had listened too with deep at- j tention. Twice only did I perceive that it j produced in him theslightest emotion. When j the disappearance of the housekeeper was! mentioned, a smile, as of scorn, passed over 1 his lip ; and the notice of the discovery of the ; stopper obviously excited an interest, and, I thought, an apprehension ; but it quickly subsubsided. I need not detail the evidence that was given for the prosecution ; it amounted in substance to that which the counsel stated, nor was it varied in any particular. The stopper was produced and proved to be found in the house; but no attempt was made to j trace it to the prisoner's possession, or even | knowledge. When the case was closed, the learned judge, I addressing the counsel for the prosecution, J said he thought there was hardly sufficient | * 1'. 1.1 evidence to call upon the prisoner ior nis ue-1 fense; and if the jury were of that opinion J they would at once stop the case. Upon this | observation from the judge, the jury turned j round for a moment, and then intimated their j acquiescence in his lordship's views of the evidence. The counsel folded up their briefs, | and a verdict of acquittal was about to be taken, when the prisoner addressed the court, j He urged the judge to permit him to state his case to the jury, and to call his housekeeper, with so much earnestness, and was seconded so strongly by his counsel, that Lord Mans- j field, though very much against his inclina-' tion, and contrary to his usual habit, gave way, and yielded to the request. The prisoner then addressed the jury, and entreated their patience for a short time. He repeated to them that he never could feel satisfied to be acquitted merely because the evidence was not conclusive, and pledged himself in a very short time, by the few observations he should make, to obtain their verdict upon much higher grounds?upon the impossibility of his being guilty of the dreadful crime. Of the stopper which had been found, he disowned all knowledge; declared most solemnly that he had never seen it before it was produced in court; and he asked, could the fact of its being found in his house only a ? i 11. ./? ) _ i j few days ago, wnen nunureus ox peouie uuu been there, produce upon an impartial mind even a momentary prejudice against him ? One fact, and only one, has been proved, to which it was possible for him to give an answer?the fact of his having gone to the bedroom of his housekeeper on the night in question. He had been subject for many years of his life to sudden fits of illness; he had been seized with one on that occasion, and had gone to her to procure her assistance to light a fire. She had returned with him to his room for that purpose, he having waited for a minute in the passage while she put on her clothes, which would account for the momentary disappearance of the light; and after she had remained in his room for a few minutes, finding himself better, he had dismissed her, and retired again to bed, from which he had not risen when he was informed of the death of his guest. It had been said that, after his committal to prison, his housekeeper had disappeared. He avowed that, finding his enemies determined, if possible, to accomplish his ruin, he had thought it probable they might tamper with his servant; he had, therefore, kept her out of the way; but for what purpose ? Not tomrevent her testimony being A * a.1 given ; lor sne was now unuer me care ui ms solicitor, and would instantly appear for the purpose of confirming, as far as she was concerned, the statement which he had just made. Such was the prisoner's address, which produced a powerful effect. It was delivered in a firm and impressive manner, and its simplicity and artlessness gave it an appearance of truth. The housekeeper was then put into the box and examined by the counsel for the prisoner. According to the custom, at that time almost universal, of excluding witnesses from conrt until their testimony was required, she had been kept at a house near at hand, and had not heard a single word of the trial. There was nothing remarkable in her manner or appearance; she might be about thirty-five or a little more, with regular, though not agreeable features, and an air perfectly free from embarrassment. She repeated, almost in the prisoner's own words, the story he had told of his having called her up, and her having accompanied him to his room, adding that, after leaving him, she had retired to her own room, and had been awakened by the man-servant in the morning with an account of the traveler's death. She had uow to undergo a cross-examination ; and I may as well state here that which though not known to me till afterward, will assist the reader in understanding the following scene. The counsel for the prosecution had, in his own mind, attached considerable importance to the circumstances mentioned by the witness who saw the light; that while the prisoner and the housekeeper were in the room of the former, something like a door had intervened between the candle and the window, which was totally irreconcilable with the appearance of the room when examined, and he half persuaded himself that there must be a secret closet which had escaped the search of the officers of justice, the opening of which would account for the appearance alluded to, and the existence of which might discover the property which had so mysteriously disappeared. His object, therefore, was to obtain from the housekeeper (the only person except the prisoner who could give any clue to this) such information as he could get, without alarming her by any direct inquiry on the subject, which, as she could not b dp seeing its importance, would have led her at once to a positive denial. He knew, moreover, that as she had not been in court, she could not know how much or how little the inquiry had brought to light; and by himself treating the matter as immaterial, he might lead her to consider it so, also, and by that means unsuspectedly j draw forth all she knew. After some unimportant questions, he asked her in a tone and manner calculated rather to awaken confidence than to distrust: "During the time you were in Mr. Smith's room, you stated that the candle stood on the table, in the centre of the room ?" "Yes." "Was the closet, or cupboard, or whatever you call it, opened once, or twice, while it stood there?" A pause; no answer. "I will call it to your recollection. After Mr. Smith had taken the medicine out of the closet, did he shut the door, or did it remain open ?" "He shut it." "Then it was opened again for the purpose of replacing the bottle, was it?" "It was." "Do you recollect how long it was open the last time?" "Not above a minute." "The door when open would be exactly between the light and the wiudow, would it not?" "It would." nni/1 llm nlncnf n.'Qo J. lUIgCL ?11CL11C1 jiiu oaiu uim wuuvu mw . ou the right or left-hand side of the winlow?" "The left." "Would the door of the closet make any noise in opening ?" "None." "Can you speak positively as to the fact ? Have you ever opened it yourself, or seen Mr. Smith open it ?" "I never opened it myself." "Did you never keep the keys ?" "Never." "Who did ?" "Mr. Smith always." At this moment the witness chanced to turn her eyes toward the spot where the prisoner stood, aud the effect was almost electrical. A cold, damp sweat stood upon his brow ; his face had lost all its color ; he appeared a living image of death. She no sooner saw him than she shrieked and fainted. The consequence of her answers flashed across her mind. <-? ' i i ?t- ii i.i_ j. : 3 i one naa ueeu BU muruuguijr ueueiveu uy the manner of the advocate and by the little importance he had seemed to attach to her statement, that-she had been led on, by one question to another, till she had told him all he wanted to know. During the interval, occasioned by her illness, as to the proceedings, the solicitor for the prosecution left the court. It was between four and five o'clock when the judge resumed his seat upon the bench, the prisoner his station at the bar, and the housekeeper hers in the witness box ; the court in the interval had remained crowded with spectators, scarce one of whom had left his place, lest, during his absence, it should be seized by some one else. [ The cross-examining counsel then addressed the witness : "I have a very few more questions to ask you; but beware that you answer i them truly, for your own life depends upon a thread. Do you know this stopper?" 1 "I do." "To whom does it belong ?" asked the solic! itor. "To Mr. Smith." "When did yon see it last ?" "On the night of Mr. Thompson's death." At this moment the solicitor for the prosecution entered the court, bringing with him upon a tray, a watch, two money bags, a jewel case, a pocket-book, and a bottle of the same manufacture as the stopper, and having no I cork in it; some other articles there were in | it not material to ray story. The tray was ! i placed upon the table in sight of the prisoner and the witness, and from that moment not a doubt remained in the mind of any man of the guilt of the prisoner. A few words will bring my tale to a close, j The house where the murder had been committed was between nine and ten miles distant. The solicitor, as soon as the cross-examination had discovered the existence of the closet, and its situation, had set off on horseback. with two sheriff's officers, and after pulling down part of the wall of the house, had detected his place of concealment. The search was well rewarded; the whole of the property belonging to Mr. Thompson was there, amounting in value to several thousand pounds, and to leave no doubt, a bottle was discovered, which the medical men instantly pronounced to contain the very identical poison which had caused the death of the unfortunate Thompson. The result is too obvious to need explanation. The case presents the perhaps unparalleled instance of a man accused of murder so defending himself as to induce the judge and jury to concur in a verdict of acquittal, but who, persisting in calling a witness to prove his innocence, was, upon the testimony of that very witness, convicted and executed. Ipgceltaiuousi fttading. THE REMOVAL OF AUDITOR GARY. Columbia, S. C., October 17,1872. Hon. Edwin F. Gary, Columbia, S. C. Sir : I have just received from his Excellency Robert K. Scott, Governor, a commuMiAA^Snn ^ina/tfin/v mo fo Qfionmo fVlO lltlM f\f uiuatiuu UlltAsblUg IUU KU (M4UIUV vnv uuviw w* State Auditor in accordance with the provisions of an Act entitled "An Act to abolish the office of State Auditor, and confer the duties of the office upon the Comptroller-General," approved March 13,1872. I, therefore, take this opportunity to notify you that I this day assume the duties heretofore devolving upon you as State Auditor, and request that you will at once turn over to this office all the books and papers of your office. I have notified the proper officers of the various counties that they will in future be governed by orders issuing from this office. Very respectfully, J. L. NEAGLE, Comptroller-General. Office of Auditor of State, Columbia, S. C., October 18th, 1872. Hon. J. L. Neagle, Comptroller-General, Columbia. S. C. Sir : In reply to your communication of the 17th instant, I would say that I do not acknowledge the authority of the Governor to turn over the duties of this office to any one, without first removing me from office; and I hereby notify you not to interfere in any manner with such duties. I shall this day notify all officers whose duties are subordinate to this office, to ignore any order emanating from any other source. Very respectfully, EDWIN F. GARY, State Auditor. Columbia, S. C., October 17, 1872. Hon. Edwin F. Gary, State Auditor S. G. Sir : Under provisions of an Act entitled "An Act to abolish the office of State Auditor, and confer the duties of his office upon the Comptroller-General," approved March 13, 1872, it is my duty to notify you that your position as State officer ceases by limitation of law ; and I have, in accordance therewith, notified the Hon. J. L. Neagle, ComptrollerGeneral, to take charge of the office formerly under your control. Personally, I regret the abolition of the office, and take great pleasure in testifying to the ability with which you have conducted the duties of State Auditor, and the correction of errors committed under the administration of previous officers. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, R. K. SCOTT, Governor. Office of Auditor of State, Columbia, S. C., October 17th, 1872. His Excellency, R. K. Scott, Governor of South C"nrnlrvtn Dear Sir: In reply to your communication of this day, I have the honor to say that I do not construe the Act to which you refer in the same manner as yourself; and desire to say that I cannot submit to such a construction, as I think the interests of the State will be jeopardized by my vacation of the office at this time. If you desire my removal, it lays iu your power to effect this; although I would suggest to your Excellency that matters are in such a state as to render it impolitic to do so. I shall continue to conduct the affairs of this office until my term enpires by law, unless removed by yourself. EDWIN F. GARY, State Auditor. Columbia, S. C., October 21,1872. Hon. Edwin F. Gary, Columbia, S. C. Sir: On the 17th instant, I addressed you a communication, notifying you that your position as a State officer ceased by limitation of law, and directing you to turn over the office of State Auditor to the charge of the Comptroller-General, under provisions of an Act entitled "An Act to abolish the office of State Auditor, and confer the duties of his office upon the Comptroller-General," approved March 13,1872, which you to decline to do, claiming that you could not submit to such a construction of the law, and stated that the only manner the State Auditor's office could be transferred to the control of the Comptroller-General was by your removal, and the appointment of the Comptroller-General as State Auditor. The opinion of the Attorney-General being clear that the office of State Auditor stands abolished by law after the late general election, (the 16th instant,) butto avoid the complication of a law suit, which would involve the loss of time in arriving at a decision, and would thereby defeat the intention of the Legislature, I have this day caused your removal to be made. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, ROBERT K. SCOTT, Governor. Office of Auditor of State, Columbia, S. C., October 22, 1872. T-r. T-I 17 r? v cr 11 n CV.WA his nxceiiency, n. n. ocuu, yj uv?w? Carolina. Governor : I have the honor to acknowlI edge the receipt of your communication of the I 21st instant, notifying me that I have been ! removed from the office of Auditor of State, j and that you have appointed Dr. J. L. Nea1 gle to succeed me. Very respectfully, EDWIN F. GARY, Late State Auditor. To the Citizens of South Carolina. Columbia, S. C., October 21,1872. For the information of the public and for the purpose of warning the tax-payers of this State against a scheme which has been gotten up by certain State officials, by which certain men are to make a large amount of money by defrauding the people, I wish to address to you a few words. A little more than one year ago I was appointed to the position of Auditor of State, and since that time I have endeavored to do my duty in that connection to the best of my jndgraent. How far I have succeeded remains for the people to decide. The first action, which, out of my regular course of duties, I deemed it incumbent upon me to take, was the prevention of the circulation of flip "RIiip Ridorf? scriD. This. I was re vw- W. O- A - ? - peatedly told by the Governor, some one was going to do; but after waiting until almost too late, I learned that the action of the Govnor was simply for the purpose of forcing John J. Patterson, the President of the company, to pay certain claims which he held against the road, in the shape of a note of the company, which he procured in a way not likely to add to the reputation of an honest man. Waiting, as I have heretofore said, until almost too late, for some one to take this matter into the courts, I finally instituted the necessary proceedings, with the sanction of the Governor. After proceedings had been commenced and the usual necessary inducements been offered his Excellency, an effort was made by himself and others interested, to induce me to withdraw the suit. $10,000 in cash was offered me by one party the day that the case came into court; and an indirect offer of $25,000 in scrip was subsequently made by another party, in case I would consent to withdraw the suit. This, I, of course, refused; and the matter has been a bone of contention between us ever since. An effort was made soon after the adjourn ment of the Legislature, and continued for some two or three months, to induce me to levy a special tax to pay the interest upon the entire bonded debt of the State, legal and illegal, to be collected immediately. This I refused, although an inducement of $20,000 in cash was offered me, to either levy the tax or resign my position for the purpose of allowing Dr. Neagle to make this levy; and, at the same time, I was informed that Gov. Scott had promised Dr. Neagle to remove me, in case I refused to make the levy. I again declined to comply with their wishes. Now, a second effort has been made to force me to levy a tax to pay the interest upon the fraudulent debt of the State, and to include a levy of three mills upon the dollar to redeem $450,000 of the Blue Ridge Scrip?one-quarter of the eutire issue?which has, by decision of his Honor Judge A. J. Willard, of the Supreme Court, been decided unconstitutional and invalid. Now, while I deem it the duty of every good citizen to pay all just and lawful taxes, I do not consider it his duty to pay every tax that may be imposed by unscrupulous men, who chance to be in power. Nor do I consider it the duty of any officer who, through the force of circumstances, happens to be the appointee of such men, to blindly follow their riintefinn without: reimrd t.n richt or wroner. So thinking, and acting as I consider it the duty of a good officer and an honest man, I have again refused to comply with their wishes; and I have this day received an order removing me from office. It is but just to myself to add, that I was informed by his Excellency the Governor that I might retain the office, {>rovided I would make tne levy. His Excelency, while insisting upon the levy of these taxes, informed me that he knew the money, if collected, would not be applied to the purpose for which it was levied, but that was none of our business ; that it was our duty to levy the tax; and he based his argument upon the ground that mauy outstanding claims were now held against the State, (of which he is the possessor to the amount of 840,000, as he himself informed me,) and that the Treasurer would have no funds to pay them. His only other argument was, that he had publicly pledged his word to Henry Clews & Co., that the tax would be levied, and that, should it not be, he would stand before the people in the light of inconmtency. This scheme is, as I have said, no new movement ; but while Auditor of the State, I succeeded in preventing its consummation. Being no longer in such position, I am powerless to protect your interests, and I now leave it to you to say, shall this plot be carried out, and you be subjected to pay this enormous tax, amounting to twenty mills for State, and, in this county, five and one-half mills for county?two and one-half times the tax of last year? or will you unite in a determined effort to prevent the continuance of the frauds which have impoverished the people and disgraced the State ? To bring such an effort to a successful issue, I pledge, for my own part, my mcst hearty cooperation. EDWIN F. GARY, Late State Auditor. JUDGE MACKEY'S CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY OF CHESTER, OCTOBER 21, 1872. Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: At the commencement of the present term, which was beerun on the 1st Monday of Sep teraber, and thence adjourned to this day, I charged and admonished you generally upon your powers, your duties and responsibilities. I then took occasion to refer to the causes that led the government of the United States to intervene with its military and judicial power for the protection of American citizens in this State, in the free exercisi of their unquestionable civil rights. I need say nothing further to vindicate that intervention. It was timely, merciful, and just. I shall now charge specially upon the matters to which it is your bounden duty to immediately give your most diligent attention. Gentlemen of the grand jury, you are watchmen, stationed to survey the whole county, and by your action to check, and bring to merited punishment, all who dare invade any right of person or property. You are the eye of the law. Nay more you are the right arm of the law. You can bar or unbar the gates of justice. If you fail, then all the agencies that the law provides for the protection of society must also fail, and the court itself is made the paralyzed spectator of the triumph of crime. I shall now point your attention to events which transpired in this county about eighteen months ago; and which demanded, but never received, the consideration of this court; and which being in their nature then exclusively within the jurisdiction of the State, have not been acted on by the Federal courts. In the month of March, 1871, a number of citizens of the State were slain by a fire of musketry and pistols on the public highways in this county. They were slain in an armed collision between two organized forces, and some were slaughtered, it is currently alleged and generally believed, while flying for their lives from the scene of conflict. The bodies of several citizens, who were thus slain, lay for some time unburied, and the blood of some of them may yet be seen sprinkled on the rails of fences that skirt the roadside. The court is bound to take judicial notice of these terrible facts?for they have passed into the history of the times; and justice, which has long slumbered here, should now awake and requite with condign punishment the guilty doers of those deeds of blood. - - 111 .1 11 JNo inquest was ever neia upon tne aeaa bodies of the men who thus died violent deaths. The county, itjis true, was without a coroner? the law, therefore, devolved the duty upon the nearest magistrate, but he criminally failed to perform it. That no inquest was held in such a case is not the least startling and significant fact connected with the event of which I speak. At or about the same period, public officers in the county, duly elected and qualified pursuant to law, were threatened with death or great bodily harm, unless they resigned their offices, in obedience to the orders of a band of unknown conspirators, who made their lawless demands in written communications, which bore various ghastly symbols of terror, and in public notices, which the conspirators, unrestrained by the fear of the law, and unabashed by manly shame, nailed upon the door of this I court house, as if to insult and defy public justice in her chosen temple. Gentlemen of the grand jury, this also was a great crime. It was a crime which in its very nature strikes at the existence of government itself. If bold, bad men can thus work their will, then the foundations of organized society must soon be upheaved. The citizen elected tr. TMiklis>rtffi/io ronroapntq in his nffinial snhore. --i - -r 1 the sovereignty and will of the people; and by the people alone can he be justly deprived of the franchise with which he is invested. If he violates the trust reposed in him, either by malfeasance or misfeasance, by committing or omitting an act which the law prohibits or enjoins, he must be held responsible in the courts established by the people to remedy all public and private wrongs. These remedies were not evoked to correct real or supposed evil; but officers were compelled by these deadly menaces to surrender their commissions bearing the broad seal of the State. This was the law of the strong hand. This court cannot be silent, nor unconcerned or inactive knowing these things: for they are known to all men. No! gentlemen of the grand jury, better would it be, than for this court to sanction or tolerate bucu cnniea uo these, that the solid walls of the building in which we now sit, should crumble around us and bury judge and jury in their ruins! Justice would then indeed be silent; but it would be a silence without shame; and the good citizen, and the weak and the oppressed might yet hope to see her temple erected again, and hear her voice raised, and behold her powerful arm bared in the defense of right. It will be your instant duty, gentlemen of the grand jury, to make a most rigid inquisition into these matters, and to bring to swift punishment those audacious violators of the laws of the land. In performing this duty, to which you are bound by your solemn oaths, you will exhaust, if necessary, all the resources that the law places at your disposal. This court stands ready to aid you with all its power; and I now appeal to you to do your duty with the spirit of men who can be neither subdued by fear nor bent by favor. MEN WANTED. The great want in every aee is men. God, through nature, supplies all else; and he supplies men too, if they did not destroy themselves by their own vices, and would properly develop their own powers. "Good God ! how scarce men are," said Napoleon in Italy, when nobody appeared to contest the field with him. And so it is in every country and age. There is no branch of business, no profession, callini? ftf npnnnflfinn in which a live, enerpetic. well-informed, determined mm^may not command any position, obtain w^s, and receive honors. When Daniel Webster was about to enter upon tho study of law, they told him the profession was already full. "There is room enough," he re; iied, "up there," pointing up, and meaning ' hat for the higher class and better qualified there was always a demand. It is just so to-day. There is a little million of poor lawyers, poor preachers, poor editors, poor printers, poor mechanics, and poor farmers; and some of them complain of hard times and want of employment; but it would be difficult to find one well qualified, who has not had a hundred calls for his services. Those who have nothing to do, are the ones who never should have anything to do, for they are not fit for it. They either have no knowledge of the business, or are not willing to work at it. The world is full of people who complain that they have not had a chance in life. If they had desired the chance they would have made it, for nobody has chances except what they make. The bad and good luck, so much talked of, is all nonsense; the fellow who has pluck never lacks luck?he makes luck. The human will is supreme against everything but God. There is nothing on this earth or any other earth that human will may not control and form to its own liking; but to accomplish anything it must be persistent and determined. Then it will overcome all things. If there are mountains in the way it will cast them into the sea; if there are clouds in the heavens, it will brush them away; if there are wild lightnings in the track it will catch and curb and bridle them. There is nobody who has life before him, who can't be what he wants to be and is willing to labor to be. But it is not the fellow that whines at the corner of the street for ten hour's pay for eight hour's work, that is to come to anything. That class don't want to work at all. Hire them at eight hours to-day, and they will want to work but six to-morrow ; and the third day they will have the gout or something else, and can do nothing. It is the one who says "I conquer or die," that never dies till he has conquered. So in education, it is the man who has no mind to educate, that sucks his paws and whines that he would have been something or somebody if he had possessed the benefits of learning. The man who wants education can always get it He educates himself. This talk of Daniel Webster among the gutter rats, who are like diamonds in the sand, and would glisten to the dazzling of the world if they could have opportunity, is all nonsense. Every man finds his level, and has his opportunities to become all that his capacity will permit. Let young men get rid of these delusions?these nightmares that rest upon their brains like paralysis and death. The world is before them?its pleasures, honors and wealth. Anything in it will be theirs if they make themselves worthy of it and are willing to work for it. There is no time to grumble, none to lament; take off your coat, roll up your sleeves, and go in for what you want, and what you really deserve you will obtain.?Merrimac Journal. A Dog that is Worth Something.?A. B. Newman, assistant light-keeper at Mount Desert, is the owner of a fine Newfoundland dog, of whom we are told the following anecdote: On Sunday, the 15th ult., Mr. Newman's little boy, nine years old, strayed away and was missing for about two hours. The mother went out of doors and called to him, when the dog, in response, ran up the shore with the boy's wet cap in his mouth, and sig nified by his actions tnat ne aesirea ner to follow hira. The mother, alarmed, called the father, who was sleeping in the house, and they followed the dog as quickly as possible. Down by the shore, on a rock, the little boy was lying insensible, his clothes wet, as if he had been dragged from the water. After long efforts, in which the dog rendered all the assistance he could in his mute way, the boy was resuscitated, and afterwards told his story. He was on the beach gathering shells when a large wave came in and carried him off in the under tow. The dog jumped in after him, but the wave prevented him from reaching the boy for some minutes. He seized him by the leg of his trowsers and tried to drag him ashore, but the cloth tore in his teeth ; and the boy said that he had an indistinct recollection of the dog coming down below the surface for him again; and that was the last thing he was conscious of. It seems that the dog had dragged the child up on the rock out of the reach of the waves, and had tried to re-' store hiiu. When he heard the mother's call he took the cap to inform her, as well as he could, of the affair, and hasten assistance.? Portland Press. GREELEY AND BROWN. THE LIBERAL ELECTORAL TICKET FOR SOUTH CAROLINA. To the People of South Carolina: On the 5th of November the people of South Carolina. in nnmmnn with the DeODle of all the United States, will be called upon to elect a President and Vice-President, to serve for the ensuing four years. The course that has been pursued by the present administration has been so subversive of all local self government, and hostile to the rights and liberties of the citizen, as to have excited the greatest apprehensions for the safety of our free institutions, and has aroused the intelligent and conservative masses of the nation to a united and determined effort to rescue, if possible, the government from the hands of its present audacious and unscrupulous rulers, and bring it back to its constitutional bearings. More than this?so alarming and widespread has been the growth of corruption in high places as to have tainted all the fountains of public justice, and so reckless the use of corrupt instrumentalities by public officials as to undermine every principle of honor and honesty in the breasts of the people, and prepare the way for the rapid and almost sure decay of all public virtue. To arrest the spread of these evil and dangerous tendencies, and to save to the people the substance as well as the form of a consti* ' * * -t-.il? - ? /\^ oil ol n nnoa on/1 [UUODQil r6pU UHUj U1C UUi^cuo vi an viaoou? muu parties have organized a holy, firm and indestructible alliance in behalf of purity in government and sympathy and reconciliation between sections. The cardinal principles of this movement were promulgated from Cincinnati on the first of last May, and solemnly ratified by the Democracy of the whole Union in general convention at Baltimore on the 9th of July. Horace Greeley, of New York, and B. , Gratz Brown, of Missouri, chosen as the standard bearers of this cause, have been hailed with patriotic enthusiasm by the friends of law, order and well-regulated liberty throughout the entire land. The principles which have been emblazoned upon our banner in the hopeful words of our illustrious candidate cannot die, but must and will survive even defeat, if defeat were possible. South Carolina, recognizing this as the only movement in the present crisis calculated to overthrow a monstrous centralization, and to secure to the present generation the bless| ings of a just and free government, has, thro' a convention of her people, recorded her adhesion and pledged her support to the movement. While we are not permitted to speak the language of assured victory to our people in this State, it is, nevertheless, our solemn duty to adjure them by their enlightened love of country and their devotion to its institutions, to summon to their aid that highest fortitude in man. of fidelity to principles, even in the i midst of disaster, and, rallying around our colors, give to our candidates a manly, a generous and a united support. Animated by the foregoing sentiments, and profoundly sensible of the responsibility devolved upon them, and to insure the action which is recommended, the State Central executive committees of the Democratic and Liberal Republican parties, after a joint conference, have determined, under the auspices of the. undersigned representing this State in the national executive committee of the two parties, to present to the people of South Carolina and invoke their suffrages for the following ticket of electors: For the State at Large?M. P. O'Connor, of Charleston; W.H. Wallace, of Union; S. A. Pearce, of Richland. First District?W. W. Walker, of Georgetown. Second District?Johnson Hagood, of Barnwell. Third District?Simeon Fair, of Newberry. Fourth District?W. R. Robertson, of Fairfield. Thos. Y. Simons, National Dem. Executive Committee. S. A. Pearce, National Lib. Rep. Ex. Committee. FIGHTING THE LOCUSTS IN UTAH. The Latter Day Saints, with their intense 1 - ? - * i ? i following of tbe Mosaic law, nave uoi ueeu exempt from the ancient scourges of that period. The locust, with "a garden of Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness," makes a periodical visit to the Mormon farmers, and reminds them of the old times when the chosen of the Lord brought a like visitation on the obdurate Egyptians. The flights of these ravenous destroyers were thus described to me by an eye-witness and a fellow-traveler: "I was called out one morning," he began, "while stopping at one of these settlements we have just left behind, by my farmer host. The locusts were coming, he said, and all hands were engaged in endeavoring to save the cornfields. A man who had ridden in great haste from a district some twenty miles east, reported that the morcets were at work, and might be expected at our place next j morning. I hurried out and found every man, woman and child in the place fortifying their crop against the invader. Some were digging ditches and turning the waters of the nearest stream into the dyke, while others were piling up dry brushwood, ready to be ignited when the enemy approached. Again, others brought a sort of draught machine on the ground, fitted with revolving fans, the wind of which was supposed to be able to check the flight of the locusts. And the utmost dismay and consternation prevailed. "The day passed in the utmost activity. No lady in the village was disengaged. She felt the danger, and, at the same time, a certain inability to combat with what the superstitious regarded (and all Mormons are superstitious,) as a visitation from the Lord. "About noon the next day they perceived a dark cloud in the east, and they knew thatii the moment of trial was at hand. I could give no idea of the number or voracity of the locusts. .Every blade ot grass, every ear 01 corn, every weed and leaf of verdure, disappeared like stubble in the fire before these terrible gourmands. From about the height of five feet to the ground the air was dense with their masses. They flew in our faces like hail, filled our pockets, and were piled in heaps about our feet. The women and children and men formed a rank before the cornfield and endeavored to beat them back, but although the slain were piled up many feet high, the locusts never wavered a moment, but pressed on, eating and dying and rotting in disgusting charnel heaps. The water courses were full of them, and the survivors crossed the stream over the dead bodies of their vanguard. The dry brush was lighted and burned fiercely, fed by clouds of the destroying armies; but in a few hours the throng extinguished the flame and crowded on over the cinders to the doomed cornfields. The hogs and chickens were let loose on the destroyer, but they soon grew satiated with the feast, and still the locusts pressed on. And when at last the despairing farmers withdrew and gave up the fignt, all that night the locusts fell on their roofs like hailstones, and crawled in through every nook and crevice in their dwellings. "The next morning when they arose at daylight to inspect the extent of their damages, a woful sight presented itself. The country was indeed a waste; months of hard labor and hopes of a handsome return from the crops had faded away as the blade of grass before the locusts; not a trace remained to indicate that the seed had ever been planted, or that a grand tract of swaying grain glistened in the sunbeams on the morning before. But patiently the work was recommenced, while the locusts passed on their westward course of desolation. The Indians had a rich feast To the red man's palate, a toast of locusts is a delicious treat This insect has a decided dislike to sage brush, and although it considers it a crood shelter for its young, still it will not devour a leaf of that pungent shrub."? Correspondence San Francisco Bulletin. AN ALLY FOR COTTON. The cable informs us that the jute crop of India has been destroyed by a cyclone. In India jutehas taken the place of cotton as an agricultural product. India exports yearly 825,000,000 worth of jute in a raw and manufactured state. The importations of raw and manufactured jute by the United States in 1871, amounted to $5,362,988. For some strange reason, jute has not become to any extent one of our agricultural products.? Much of the land on which cotton grows is suitable for the cultivation of jute. It is raised for about one-eighth the cost of cotton, and at present sells for one quarter of its price?a f>rofit of one hundred per cent Its jield is arger than that of cotton. In India jute is driving out cotton as a product There is no possibility of its being cultivated at the South in the place of cotton, but there is a gretit feasibility of its being accepted by southern planters as an ally for that great staple, and an ally, supplying in some respects, what it lacks as a great industry. A writer in the "Agricultural Report" for 1871 very truly says that if the planters of the Cotton States divert "from the cultivation of cotton a force sufficient to produce half a million bales of jute, that crop will be nearly a f?lpn.r flpnnisitinn. and will save a large out lay for freight, bale-cloth and compression of cotton." He further adds that its cultivation "will save several millions (of dollars) sent out of the cotton States every year to purchase gunny cloth," and that "jute would supply the female labor of the South, which retires from the cotton fields under the system of free labor." The "hands" might be employed in picking it when driven from the fields by inclement weather. The South could manufacture as well as grow the article, and have it leave their hands only in a manufactured state. The writer from whom we have before quoted, says that "the simple machinery used in Kentucky for spinning and weaving hemp might be applied to jute. We hope to hear soon that some of our large planters have taken steps to add the culture of jute to that of cotton, thereby subserving their own interests as well as inaugurating an important branch of industry for the Southern States.?New York South, An Old-Fashioned Mother. ?Thank God, some of us have an old-fashioned mother?not a woman of the period, enameled and painted, whose white, jeweled hands have never felt the clasp of baby fingers, but a dear, old-fashioned, sweet-voiced mother, with eyes in whose depths the love-light shone, and brown hair threaded with silver lying upon her faded cheek. Those dear hands, worn with toil, which guided our tottering steps in childhood and smoothed our pillow in sicknana * Rlaaao/1 ia fVio momnrv nf nn nlH-fftflh. ioned mother. It floats to us now like the beautiful perfume of some woodland blossoms. The music of other voices may be lost, but the entrancing memory of her voice will echo in our souls forever. Other faces will fade away and be forgotten, but hers will shine on until the light of Heaven's portals shall glorify our own. When in the fitful pauses or busy life our feet wander back to the old homestead, and, crossing the well-worn threshold, stand once more in the low, quiet room, so hallowed U.? MMnnnn AA Urxn* in/? rtKlMloll uy uui picociitc, uun tuo i^uug vi vuuuiou innocence and dependence comes over us! And we kneel down in the sunshine streaming through the western window, just where long years ago we knelt by our mother's knee, lisping, "Our Father." How many times, when the tempter lured us on, has the memory of those sacred hours, that mother's word, her faith and prayers, 6aved us from plunging into the deep abyss of sin! Years have filled great drifts between her and us, but they have not hidden from our sight the glory of her pure, unselfish love. I ' > VJt }; A Good Cellar.?When the cellar is dug the foundation of the wall should be dug about a foot deeper than the cellar. This should be filled up with gravel or broken stone. Build up the wall on this, using good lime mortar between the stones or brick. When w ithin two or three feet of the surface of the ground, care should be taken not to let any one stone or brick go through from side to side, as it would be liable to conduct the frost through. It would be better to build the wall up in two distinct layers, leaving & small air chamber in the centre, which will effectually keep out the frost In putting the windows in, put glass m both sides of the sash, there being an air chamber in the centre; it will also check the frost In making the drain, make it as low as the bottom of the * ? *11 1 1 11 Al _ L-A wall, which win De one loot oeiow me ootr torn of the cellar, and we will guarantee that you will always have a dry cellar, let the weather be as it may; whereas, if the cellar wall be built on a level with the bottom of the cellar, the water will, in a rainy season, soak through into your cellar. The Enjoying of Life.?It is singular to what an extent people believe happiness depends on not being obliged to work. Girls are considered well married if their husbands are wealthy, and boys considered provided for, if enough can be left them for support, and enough surplus for them to play "business" with. Bosh! Honest, hearty, contented labor is the only source of happiness, as well as the guarantee of life. The gloom of misanthropy is not only a great destroyer of happiness we might have, but it tends to destroy life itself. Idleness and luxury induce premature decay much faster than many trades regarded as the most exhaustive and fatal to longevity. Labor, in general, instead of shortening the term of life, actually increases it. It is the lack of occupation that actually destroys so many of the wealthy, who have nothing to do but play the part of drones, and, like them, make a speedy exit, while the busy bee fills out its day of usefulness and honor. Man's Insignificance.?As the trials of life thicken, and the dreams of other days fade one by one into the deep vista of disappointed hope, the heart grows weary of the struggle, and we begin to realize our insignificance. Those who have climbed to the pinnacle of fame or revel in luxury and wealth, go to the grave at last with the poor mendicant who begs by the wayside, and like him, are soon forgotten. Generation after generation, says an eloquent writer, have felt as we feel, and their fellows were as active in life as ours are now. They passed away as a vapor, while nature wore the same aspect of beauty as when the Creator commanded her to be. And so it shall be when we are gone. The heavens will be as bright over their graves as they are now around our path. The world will have the same attractions for offspring yet unborn that it had once for ourselves, and that it has now for our children.