Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m. grist, proprietor. | |itkjpbcnf jfamiln ^ttfospapti: Jfor tjjc |)romotroit of f|e political, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of f|e Soutjj. -TERMS?$3.00 A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. VOL. 19. . YORKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1873. NO. 41. * * ' U..1. irnnnn lnHsr WAD OrrPlltlv Selected fuetvw. THE OLD MAN DREAMS. O, for one hour of youthful joy ! Give back my twentieth spring! I'cLrather laugh a bright-haired boy Than reign a grey-beard king! Off with the wrinkled spoils of age! Away with learning's crown! Tear out life's wisdoui-written page, And dash its trophies down ! One moment let my life-blood stream From boyhood'.s fount of tiame! Give me one giddy, reeling dream Of life all love and fame! My listening angel heard the prayer, And calmly smiling, said, "If I but touch thy silvered hair, Thy hasty wish had sped." "But is there nothing in my track To bid thee fondly stay. While the swift seasons hurry back To find the wished-tor day?" Ah! truest soul or womanKinu: I Without thee, what were life? One bliss I cannot leave behind : . I'll take?my?precious?wife! The angel tookasapnhire pen And wrote in rainbow dew: "The man would be a boy again. And be a husband too !" "And is there nothing yet unsaid Before the change appears ? Remember and their gifts have lied With those dissolving years!" Why,yes; for memory would recall My font! paternal joys; I could not bear to leave them all! I'll take?my?girls?and?l>oys! The smiling angel dropped his pen? "Why, this will never do! The man would be a boy again, Aud be a father, too!" And so I laughed?my laughter woko The household with' its noise? And wrote my dream, when morning broke To please tlio grey-haired boys. ?ltc jjftora Seller. THE NEIGHBOR-iy-LAW. BY MRS. L. M. CHILD. ? "So you are going to live in the same building with Hetty Turnpenny," said Mrs. Lane to Mrs. Fairweather. "You will find nobody ; to envy you. If her temper does not prove too much even for your good nature, it will surprise all who know her. We lived there a year, and that is as long as anybody ever tried j it." "Poor Hetty" replied Mrs. Fairweather, "she has had much to harden her. Her moth- J er died too early for her to remember; her j father was very severe with her, and the only i lover she ever had borrowed the savings of i her years of toil and spent them in dissipation. : But Hetty, notwithstanding her sharp features, | and sharper words, certainly has a kind heart. | In the midst of her greatest poverty many ! wore the stockings she knit, and the warm i waistcoats she made, for the poor drunken lover whom she had too much sense to marry, j Then vou know she feeds and clothes her J brother's orphan child." "If you call it feeding aBd clothing," replied , Mrs. Lane. "The poor child looks cold and j pinched, and frightened all the time as if she were chased by the east wind. I used to tell Miss Turnpenny she ought to be ashamed of herself, to keep the poor little thing at work all times, without one minute to play. If she does but look at the cat, as it runs by the window, Aunt Hetty gives her a rap over the knuckles. I used to tell her she would make the girl just such another sour old crab as herself." "That must have been very improving to her disposition," replied Mrs. Fairweather, with a good-humored smile. But, in justice to poor Aunt Hetty, you should remember that she had just such a cheerless childhood herself. Flowers grow where there is sunshine." "I know you think, everybody ought to live in the sunshine," replied Mrs. Lane; "and it must be confessed that you carry it with you wherever you go. If Miss Turnpenny has a heart, I daresay you will find it out, though I never could, and I never heard of any one else that could. All the families within hearing of her tongue called her the neigh bor-in-law." Certainly the prospect was not very encouraging. for the house Mrs. Fairweather proposed to occupy was not only under the same roof with Miss Turnpenny, but the buildings had one common yard in front. The very first day she took possession of her new habitation she called on the neighbor-in-law. Aunt Hetty had taken the precaution to extinguish the fire, lest the new neighbor should want hot water, before her own wood and coal arrived. Her first salutation was "If you want any cold water, there's a pump across the street; I don't like to have my house slopped all over." "I am glad you are so.tidy, neighbor Turnpenny," replied Mrs. Fairweather. "It is extremely pleasant to have neat neighbors. I will try to keep everything bright as a new five-cent piece, for I see that pleases you. I came merely to say good morning, and to ask you if you could spare little Peggy to run up j on^ Hnu-n tl.o etnirs fnr me. while I am pettillP i my furniture in order. I will pay her ten cents an hour." Aunt Hetty began to draw up her mouth for refusal; but the promise of ten cents an hour relaxed her features at once. Little Peggy sat knitting a stocking very diligently, with a rod lying on the table beside her. She looked up with timid wistfulness, as if the I prospect of any change was like a release from i prison. When she heard consent given, a ! bright color flushed her cheeks. She was evidently of an impressible temperament, for good or evil. "Now mind and behave yourself," said Aunt Hetty; "and see that you ^ keep at work the whole time; if I hear one word of complaint, you know what you'll got when you come." The rose color subsided from Peggy's pale face, and she answered, "Yes, ma'am," very meekly. In the neighbor's house all went quite otherwise. No switch lay on the table, and in- i stead of "Mind how you do that; if you don't I'll punish you," she heard the gentle words, "Theije, dear, see how carefully you can carry that up-stairs. Why, what a nice handy little girl you arel" Under these enlivening influences Peggy ! worked like a bee. Aunt Hetty was always in the habit of saying, "Stop your noise, and mind your work." But the new friend patted her on the head and said, "What a pleasant voice the little girl has. It is like the birds in the fields. By and by you shall hear my music box." This opened wide the windows of the little shut-up heart, so that the sunshine could stream in, and the birds fly in and out carolfe ing. The happy child tuned up like a lark, as she tripped lightly up and down stairs, on - ? 1 11 J_ ot,D ! various nousenom erruuus. ijut muugu ouv took heed to observe all the directions given her, her head was all the time filled with conjectures of what sort of a thing a music box might be. She was a little afraid the kind lady would forget to show it to her. She kept to her work, however, and asked 110 questions; she only looked very curiously at everything that resembled a box. At last Mrs. Fairweather said, "I think your little feet must be tired by this time. We will rest a while, and cat some gingerbread." The child took the offered cake, with a humble little courtesy, and carefully held out her apron to prevent any crumbs from falling 011 the floor. But suddenly the apron dropped, and the crumbs were all strewn about. "Is that a little bird ?" she exclaimed,' eagerly. "Where is he? Is he in this1 room ?" The new friend smiled, and told her that was the music box ; and after a while she opened it and explained what made the sounds. Then she took out a pile of hooks i from one of the baskets of goods, and told j Peggy she might look at the pictures till she j called her. The little girl stepped forward eagerly to take them, and then drew back, as if afraid. "What is the matter ?" asked Mrs. Fairweath-: er ; "I am very willing to trust you with the i books. I keep them on purpose to amuse children." Peggy looked down with her Gnger on her lip, and answered, in a constrained voice, "Aunt Turnpenny won't like it if I play." "Don't trouble yourself about i that. I will make it all right with Aunt j Hetty," replied the friendly one. Thus as-; sured, she gave herself up to the full enjoy- j ment of the picture books ; and when she was j summoned to her work, she obeyed with a f cheerful alacrity that would have astonished her stern relative. When the labors of the j day were concluded, Mrs. Fairweather accom- j panied her home, paid all the hours she bad i been absent, and warmly praised her docility ' 1 1 1 ana diligence. "It is lucky for her that she behaved so ; well," replied Aunt Hetty; "if I had heard j any complaint, I should have given her a whipping, and sent her to bed without her supper." Poor little Peggy went to sleep that night j with a lighter heart than she had ever felt1 since she had been an orphan. Her first. thought in the morning was whether the new j neighbor would want her service during the 1 day. Her desire that it should be so soon, be- j came obvious to Aunt Hetty, and excited an j undefiued jealousy and dislike of a person who so easily made herself beloved. With-; out exactly acknowledging to herself what were her own motives, she ordered Peggy to gather all the sweepings of the kitchen and court, into a small pile, and leave it on the frontier of her neighbor's premises. Peggy ventured to ask timidly whether the wind would not blow it about, and she received a box on her ear for her impertinence. It chanced that Mrs. Fairweather, quite unintentionally, heard the words and the blow. She gave Aunt Hetty's anger time enough to cool, then, stepping out into the court, and after arranging divers little matters, she called aloud to her domestic, "Sally, how I came you to leave this pile of dirt here?" Didn't I tell you Miss Turnpenny was very j neat? Pray, make haste and sweep it up. I j wouldn't have her see it on any account. I i told her I would try to keep everything nice ! about the premises. She is so particular herself, and it is a comfort to have tidy neighbors." The girl, who had been previously instructed, smiled as she came out, with brush and dust-pau, and swept quietly away the pile that was intended as a declaration of frontier war. But another source of annoyance presented itself, which could not be quite so easily disposed of. Aunt Hetty had a cat, a lean, scrag-; gy animal that looked as if she were often j kicked and seldom fed ; Mrs. Fairweather also | had a fat, frisky little dog, always ready for a caper. He took a distaste to poverty-stricken Tab the first time he saw her, and no coaxing could induce him to alter his opinion. His name was Pink, but he was anything but a pink of behavior in his neighborly relations. Poor Tab could never set foot out of the door without being saluted with a growl, and a sharp bark, that frightened her out of her ^ 1 1 a _ il . 1 senses, ana maae ner run into me nouse, wun | her fur nil on end. If she even ventured to doze a little on her own door-step, the enemy was on the watch, and the moment her eyes closed he would wake her with a bark and a box on the ear, and on he would run. Aunt Hetty vowed she would scald him. | It was a burning shame, she said, for folks to keep dogs to worry their neighbors' cats. Mrs. Fairweather invited Tabby to dine, and made much of her, and patiently endeavored to teach her dog to eat from the same plate. But Pink steadily resolved that he would be scalded first; that he would. He could not have been more firm in his opposition if he and Tab had belonged to different sects in i Christianity. While his mistress was patting Tab on the head, and reasoning the point with j him, he would at times manifest a degree of indifference amounting to toleration ; but the moment he was left to his own free will he would give the invited guest a hearty cuff with { his paw, and send her home spitting like a | small steam engine. Aunt Hetty considered | it her own peculiar privilege to cuff the poor animal, and it was too much for her patience | to see Pink undertake to assist in making Tab I unhappy. On one of these occasions she rushed into her neighbor's apartments, and faced j Mrs. Fairweather, with one hand resting on j her hip, and the fore-finger of the other ma- j king very wrathful gesticulations. "I tell you what, madam, I won't put up j with such treatment much longer," said she; I "I'll poison that dog; you'll see if I don't; and I shan't wait long either, I can tell you. What you keep such an impudent little beast for, I don't know, unless you do it on purpose to plague your neighbors," "I am really sorry he behaves so," replied VT_? r\.T?k !" JJ11 5. JL' Uil VYCatllCi , 111 UU Jjr 1 UVl AOU "Poor Tab!" screamed Miss Turnpenny. "What do you mean by calling her poor ? Do you mean to fling it up to me that my cat don't have enough to eat ?" "I did not think of such a thing," replied Mrs. Fairweather. "I called her poor Tab because Pink plagues her so that she has no peace of her life. I agree with you, neighbor Turnpenny ; it is not right to keep a dog that disturbs the neighborhood. I am attached to poor Pink because he belongs to my son, who j lias gone to sea. I was in hopes he would soon j leave off quarreling with the cat; but if he! won't be neighborly, I will send him out into j the country to board. Sally, you will bring ! me one of the pies we baked this morning. I should like to have Miss Turnpenny taste of them." The crabbed neighbor was helped abun- j dantlv, and while she was eating the pie, the i friendly matron edged in many a kind word ' concerning little Peggy, whom she praised as ! a remarkably capable, industrious child. "1 am glad you find her so," said Aunt; Hetty; "I should get precious little work out of her it I did not keep the switch in sight." j "I manage children pretty much as the man did the donkey," replied Mrs. Fairweather. j "Not an inch would the poor beast stir, for all his master's beating and thumping. But a neighbor tied some fresh turnips to a stick, and fastened them so that they swung before the donkey's nose, and lie set off on a brisk trot, in hopes of overtaking them." Aunt Hetty, without observing how very closely the comparison applied to her own j management of Peggy, said, "That will do J very well for folks that have plenty of tur-, nips to spare." j "For the matter of that," answered Mrs. Fairweather, "whips cost something, as well as turnips; and since one makes the donkey J standstill, and the other makes him trot, it is very easy to decide which is the most economical. But, neighbor Turnpenny, since you j like niv pies so well, pray take one home with ; you. I am afraid they will mould before we j can eat them up." Aunt Hetty had come for a quarrel, and she was astonished to find herself going out with a pie. "Well, Mrs. Fairweather," said ' she, "you are a neighbor. I thank you a thousand times." Wheu she reached her own door, she hesitated for an instant, then turned , hack, pie in hand, to sny, "Neighbor Fair- ' weather, you needn't trouble yourself about. sending Pink away. It's natural you should i like the little creature, seeing he belongs to your son. I'll try to keep Tab in-doors, and i perhaps after a while they will agree much better." "I hope they will," replied the friendly matron ; "we will try them a while louger, and ; if they persist in quarreling, I will send the j dog into the country." Pink, who was sleep- : ing in a chair, stretched himself and gaped, i His kind mistress patted him on the head. I "Ah, you foolish little beast," said she, "what j is the use of plaguing poor Tab ?" "Well, I do say," observed Sally, smiling, | "youare a master woman for stopping aquar- i rel." I "I learned a good lesson when I was a little ; girl," rejoined Mrs. Fairweather. "One fros- | ty morning I was looking out of the window j into my father's barn-yard, where stood many j cows, oxen and horses, waiting to drink. It j was one of those cold, snapping mornings, when a slight thing irritates both man and beast. [ The cattle all stood very still and meek, till I one of the cows attempted to turn round. In ! making the attempt, aba happened to hit her ; next neighbor; whereupon the neighbor kick- ! ed, and hit another. In five minutes the ! whole herd were kicking and knocking each ! other with all fury. My mother laughed, and said. "See what comes of kicking when you're hit." Just so I've seen one cross word set a whole family by the ears, some frosty morn- j iug. Afterward, if my brothers or myself were j a little irritable, she would say, "Take care, j children, remember how the fight in the barn- ! yard began. Never give a kick for a hit, and i you will save yourself and others a deal of I trouble." That same afternoon the sunshiny dame j stepped into Aunt Hetty's rooms, where she ! found Peggy sewing as usual, with the eternal j switch on the table beside her. "I am obliged ; to go to Harlem on business," said she. "I j feel rather lonely without company, and I al- j ways like to have a child with me. If you; will oblige me by letting Peggy go, I will pay : her fare in the omnibus." "She has her spelling lessons to get before | night," replied Aunt Hetty. "I don't approve of folks going a-pleasuring, and neglect- ; -1 - J A ! _ _ f) ing tneir euucauon. "Neither do I," rejoined her neighbor; "but! I think there is a great deal of education that1 is not found in books. The fresh air will make Peggy grow stout and active. I proph- j esy she will do great credit to your bringing ' up." | The sugared words, and the remembrance of ] the sugared pie, touched the soft place in Mis9 | Turnpenny's heart, and shetold the astonished j Peggy that she might go and put on her best gown and bonnet. The poor child began to j think that this new neighbor was certainly j one of the good fairies she had read about in | the picture books. The excursion was enjoy-1 ed ouly as a child can enjoy the country, j The world seetus such a pleasant place, when i the fetters are off, and nature folds the young ! heart lovingly to her bosom. A flock of real j birds and two living butterflies put the little j orphan in a perfect ecstacy. She pointed to j the lields covered with dandelions, and said, "See how pretty! It looks as if the stars had | comedown to lie oil the grass." Ah! our j little stinted Peggy has poetry in her, though | Aunt Hetty never found it out. Every hu- i man soul has the germ of some flowers within j and they would open if they could only find ! sunshine.and. free air to expand theim. [ Mrs. Fairweather was a practical philoso- ! pher in her own small way. She observed ; that Miss Turnpenny really liked a pleasant \ tune ; and when Winter came she tried to per-j suade her that singing would be excellent for j Peggy's lungs, and perhaps keep her from j going into consumption. "My nephew, James Fairweather, keeps a ! singing school," said she, "and he says he will I teach her gratis. You need not feel under ! great obligation ; for her voice will lead the ! whole school, and as her ear is quick, it will ! be no trouble at all to teach her. Perhaps j you would go with us sometimes, neighbor j Turnpenny. Jt is very pleasant to hear the ; children's voices." The muscles of Aunt Hetty's mouth relaxejl ! into a smile. She accepted the invitation, and was so much pleased that she wentevery Sun- i day evening. The simple tunes, and the sweet j young voices, fell like the dew on her dried-1 up heart, and greatly aided the genial influ- j euce of her neighbor's example. The rod si-, leutly disappeared from the table. If Peggy ] was disposed to be idle, it was only necessary to say, "When you have fiuished your work,! you may go and ask whether Mrs. Fairwenth-1 er wants any errand done." Bless me, how ; the fingers flew! Auut Hetty had learned to use kind words instead of the cudgel. When Spring came Mrs. Fairweather busied herself with planting roses and vines. Miss Turnpenny readily consented that Peggy should assist, and even refused to take any pay from such a good neighbor. But she maintained her own opinion that it was a mere j waste of time to cultivate flowers. The cheer- j ful philosopher never disputed the point; but j she would sometimes say, "I have no room to ! plant this rose bush. Neighbor Turnpenny,! would you be willing to let me set it on your | side of the yard ? It will take very little | room, and will need no care." At another i time she would say, "Well, really my ground : is too full. Here is a root of lady's delight, j How bright and pert it looks. It seems a ! pity to throw it away. If you are willing, I i will let Peggy plaut it in what she calls her garden. It will grow of itself, without any care, and scatter seeds that will come up and blossom in all the chinks of the bricks. 11 love it. It is such a bright, good-natured thing." Thus, by degrees, the crabbed maid- i en found herself surrounded with flowers; and she even declared, of her own accord, that they did look pretty. One day, when Mrs. Lane called upon Mrs. i Fairweather, she found the old weed-grown ' yard bright and blooming. Tab, quite fat and sleek, was asleep in the sunshine, with : her paw upon Pink's neck, and little Peggy was singing at her work as blithe as a bird. "How cheerful you look here," said Mrs. Lane. "And so you have really taken the \ house for another year. Pray how do you I manage to get on with the neighbor-in-law ?" "I find her a very kind, obliging neighbor," j replied Mrs. Fairweather. "Well that is a miracle !" exclaimed Mrs.! Lane. "Nobody but you would have under-1 taken to thaw out Aunt Hetty's heart." "That is probably the reason wby it never was thawed," rejoined her friend. "I always told you that not having enough sunshine was j j what ailed the world. Make people happy, | and there will not be half the quarreling or a , tenth part of the wickedness there is. From this gospel of joy preached and prac-11 ticed, nobody derived so much benefit as little Peggy. Her nature, which was fast growing crooked and knotty, under the malign itifiu- j ence of constraint and fear, straightened, i budded and blossomed in the genial atrnos- J i phere of cheerful kindness. Her affections and faculties were kept in such pleasant exer-j i cise, that constant lightness of heart made her j almost handsome. The young music teacher i thought her more than handsome, for her af- j fectionate soul shone more beamingly on him j than on others; and love makes all things beautiful. When the orphan removed to her pleasant little cottage, on her wedding day, she threw her arms around the blessed missionary of sunshine, and said : "Ah! thou dear, good aunt, it is thee who has made my life Fairweather." Ipsfdkncflus ItrMhrg. A WORD WITH T^E GENERAL ASSEMBLY. We copy the following thoughtful and wellwritten article from the Aiken Tribwie, (Republican.) The members of the Legislature should ponder the subject well. Much depends upon their action. Let them heed the suggestions thrown out, curtail unnecessary expenses, and thereby reduce taxation and build up the State. With the finest climate in the world, good land, inexhaustible and unsurpassed water power, South Caroliua, should be one of the most prosperous States in the Uuion. If the Legislature and the State officials go to work earnestly and honestly, this can be effected. It is not yet too late to fulfill the promise and pledges made at the last election : i "On the 28th of OCTobcr, if we are correctly advised, the Legislature of this State will be convened, in extra session, for the purpose of taking such action in regard to the late decision of the Supreme Court, in the bond case, as jvill be most likely to secure the adjustment of the question of the State debt upon terms at once favorable to the citizens of South Carolina, and equitable to her creditors. The subject is one of profound interest to every tax payer in the commonwealth, and upon its determination will doubtless hinge much of the prosperity or adversity that may be in store for us for some years to come. But there are other, and scarcely less important, measures which demand earnest and intelligent action on the part of the General Assembly, not the least of which is the disposititiou to be made of the bill, introduced at the last session, to provide fur the exemption, for a term of years, of all capital hereafter employed in manufacturing enterprises in this State. When the proposition, contemplated by the bill to which we refer, was first made in the Legislature, and, from that time to the unfruitful eud of its discussion, we zealously advocated its adoption, because we believed that it would eventuate in unmeasured advantage to theState. Subsequentobservation haseonfirmed us in this view, and the anxiety which we then felt for the passage of the bill has beeu largely increased by watching the benefits which have flowed from similar legislation in other States, and comparing them with the losses we have suffered by the want ofsuchalaw in our own. Had the sagacious policy which prevails in Georgia, on this subject, obtained in South Carolina, there can be no reasonable doubt that many cotton manufactories would have been started this year, and much of the capital, since then diverted, would have beeu permanently invested in our midst. Gentlemen, who last winter were enthusiastic advocates of the erection of new factories in this county, have now become lukewarm on the subject. Some of them, indeed, since the recent decision of the Supreme Court, are bitterly hostile to making any further investments iu a State where taxes are likely to be largely increased, and the Legislature of which seems utterly in different to the best iuterestsof the people. "This is in striking contrast with our neighbors in Georgia, who not only exempt all manufactories from taxation for a term of years, but, in some localities, at least, pay a bonus toward the inauguration of every new enterprise of the kind. As a consequence of this policy, several factories are being erected at Columbus, which will employ rnauy thousand, spindles. At Augusta^ capacious one is approaching completion, and that city is making considerable expenditures to enlarge the canal so as to procure water power for others; whilst at Savannah, where no water power is available, steam has been successfully substituted in the establishment of manufactories. Yet Columbia, in our own State, which possesses more water power than any other point in the South, has not a single factory constructed, and it is doubtful whether one ever will be built there unless the Legislature exempts it from taxation temporarily. Looking nearer home, we see that the Langley Company has done nothing towards enlarging the capacity of their mill, whilst the Graniteville Company, which had commenced preparations for doubling the scope of their operations, suspended all work in that direction as soon as the Legislature, at its last session, decided adversely to the bill proposing to exempt manufactories from taxation. Aud now we ask the intelligent members of the Legislature whether they can afford to persist in so unwise a course ? It requires no extraordinary sagacity to perceive that the restoration to our State Credit, the reduction of our taxes and the increase of our prosperity, which would naturally follow either or both of these results, must depend chiefly on the development of our material resources and the attraction of capital to our aid. We believe that if the Legislature passes the bill, new vitality will be imparted to all our industries, and capital enough to place them in successful operation will be easily obtained. If it refuses to do so, however, a requiem for all enterprises of a manufacturing character in our State might just as well be sung at once, and the corner-stone of an imperishable monument to legislative folly be lain on the banks of the Congaree, where, in sight of the Capitol itself, the best water power in the South will flow, unutilized, out to the sea." THE ASHANTEE. Mr. Winwood Reade, in a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette, has the following: "The King is allowed to have 3,333 wives, but not to exceed that number. Some of these ladies are merely slaves, who work in the royal plantations and furnish the court with cassade and plantains; others reside in rooms luxuriously furnished, guarded by eunuchs, enjoying the delights of tobacco and palm wine in true oriental style. Intrigue with a royal wife is punished by death; the executioners torture the offender from sunrise to sunset, leading him about the town and performing fantasias upon his body with knives before the houses of all noted chieftains or strangers of distinction. Finally, they lead lrm to the presence of the King, and literally cut him to pieces before the throne. This horrible method of execution is only employed for the above mentioned offense and for the crime of murder. It is a curious custom in Ashantee, that if the condemned man crie3 out a certain word or phrase he cannot be killed ; it gives him the right of sanctuary; the executioners, therefore, steal upon their victims from behind and begin proceedings by passing a dagger through both cheeks, whereby the man is effectively gagged. When the Kiug dies, a number of lords-in-1 waiting kill themselves to serve as his escort' to the (Shadow Land. These persous are call- j ed okras, or 'souls,' and wear a peculiar gold j badge which indicates their office. At that! time also a saturnalia of blood is celebrated ; I hundreds of victims are sacrificed, and the 1 young men of the royal house ruu about the town shooting whom they please?even the j highest personages of the land. Thus the ' death of the King is a national misfortune, and that, perhaps, gives the clue to the origin ! of these extraordinary customs. The Ashantees believe in a life after death,! as we believe in the existence of land beyond ! the sea. Their Ilades or Sheol is situated underground; there this life is continued, and i becomes eternal. The king resumes his royalty, and the slave remains a slave. Death,! therefore, for them is ouly a migration, and they depart from life with equanimity. A ; woman slave, who was one of those condemned j to die, was stripped according to custom, and I i knocked on the head. Being only stunned I by the blow, she recovered her senses, and saw herself surrounded by dead bodies. She ran : i into the town, found the nobles sitting in coun-; i cil, told theui she had been to the land of the ; dead, and that she had been sent back because i she had no clothes. They must dress her fine| ly and kill her over again ; which was accori diugly done. This happened in a small king- j | dora adjoining Ashantee, the laws and customs ' ! of which are the same. i One noble who had committed some crime | offered a large ransom for his life, and finally ' his weight in gold. But the King cut off : his head and also took possession of his gold, ' : which just amounted in weight to that of the i corpse. I have myself seen a coast native of j | no great importance with a thousand pounds worth of gold upon him, and most of that, r.rtlz-1 /i.imn frnm thf> minns nf Ashantee. S'"" ",v # I Finally, as to war. The Asliantee army is j ' the nation. When the order for the march | ! is given all able-bodied men join their respec| tive companies and leave the town, carrying | with them a kind of meal as food. The wo- j j men then parade the streets, aud, if they de- j ' tcct a man skulking behind, beat him unmor-1 1 cifully. In battle the generals occupy the j ; rear, and cut down all those who retreat. If j ! the battle is lost they kill themselves. One j suicide of this kind I witnessed on the Volta. \ A battle took place between our allies and j some allies of the Ashantees. The latter were J defeated, and the Ashantee chief, who was , present, threw the insiguia of his rank into j the river and then, sitting on a barrel of pow- j I der, blew himself into the air. ? . WOMEN AS SAILORS. Cannot women be sailors as well as soldiers ? I They have made the attempt at all events. ! Early in the reign of George III., Hannah | Whitney, an Irish women, served for five years in the royal navy, and did not reveal the secret until she re-entered what may be called private life. A few years after this, a J young Yorkshire woman came up from Hull j to London, in search of her lover; he had en| listed on the man-of-war "Oxford" at Chatj ham, and she did the same, putting on sailor's clothes, and assuming the name of Charles ! Waddell. Her faithless swain deserted, and : she attempted to desert likewise. This brought on detection ; and the officers kindly gave the poor girl a little money and dismissed her. Thejnewspapers,in 1872, told of one Mrs. Cola, of Poplar, who served on board a man-of-war as a sailor, and then, on having a bit of property left to her, resumed her feminine position, and took a public house. Early in the present century, a country girl, aged fifteen, left her home, put on boy's clothes, and offered for service on board a South Sea whaler. Being refused, he apprenticed herself to a water- , man, and plied her avocation deftly. It was not until she had been upset and nearly drowned, in rowing out to "The Sir Hyde Parker," West Indiaman, that she ceased to be a "jolly young waterman," and became a domestic servant in proper femininity of apparel. There was a girl named Rebecca Ann Johnstone, who knew what it was to have a cruel father or uncle (it is not clear which.) He dressed her as a boy when she was thirteen, and apprenticed her to a collier ship. She served four years, and then ended her sea life, after receiving a severe beating from the mate for not getting up sufficiently early. Another girl aged fourteen, named Elizabeth Bowden, being left an orphan, came from a village in Cornwall, in 1807, to Truro, in search of employment. Destitute and unsuccessful, she went to Falmouth, put on boy's clothes, enlisted as a boy on board H. M. S. "Hazard," and did good service afloat as well as below for several weeks; after which the poor young thing, by the kindness of the chief officers, was enabled to resume her proper attire and avocations. One more instance: In 1815, when H. M. S. "Queen Charlotte," one hundred guns, was paid off, an African woman was found among the crew, who had served eleven years under the name of William Brown. She had become an able seaman, and captain of the fore-top, she had all the traits of a sailor, and no one had suspected her secret, which turned out to be a cruel husband, to escape from whom she had taken tn tli is lmrH nnrl unfpminine mode of life. Thus it is that, in most cases where women have become soldiers or sailors, husbands or lovers have generally had something to do in supplying a motive. Why she did it is not narrated ; but the gossiping chronicles which tell about the centenarians,speak of one Mary Hall, who was sexton of Bishop's Hill, York, and who lived to the age of one hundred and five. There was a peddler, in 1793, who was taken ill at an ale house in Worcester, and shortly before dying told his (her) story. She had been concerned in the Gordon Riots in '80; and fearing capture and punishment, had put on man's dress, and traveled the country asapeddlerfor thirteen years.?London Times. The Feet.?Of all parte of the body, there is not one which ought to be so carefully attended to as the feet. Every person knows from experience that colds and many other diseases which precede from the same, are attributable to cold feet. The feet are at such a distance from the "wheel at the cistern" of the system, that the circulation of the blood may be very easily checked in them. You see all this, and although every person of common sense should be aware of the truth of what we have stated, there is no part of | the body so much trifled with as the feet. The young and would-be genteel-footed cramp their feet into thin-soled, bone-pinching boots, in order to display neat feet, in the fashionable sense of the term. Now this is very wrong. In cold weather, boots in good, thick leather, both in soles and uppers, and large enough to give free circulation of the blood in the feet should be worn by all. They should be water-tight and warm, but not airtight. It injures the feet to wear an air-tight covering over them. India rubber shoes or boots should not be worn except in wet and slushy weather, and then taken off as soon as the exposure to it is over. No part of the body should be allowed to have a covering which entirely obstructs the passage of the carbonic acid gas from the pores of the skin outward, and the moderate passage 01 tnc air inward to the skin. There is one great evil agaiust which every person should be on the guard, and it is one which is very seldom | guarded. We mean the changing of warm for cold boots or shoes. A chauge is often ' made from thick to thin shoes without thinking of the consequences which might eusue. : It is a dangerous practice, and many an indi- ! vidual has suffered hours of illness because of it. < The Pin Machine.?This machine is one of the closest approaches that mechanics have ' made to the dexterity of the human haud. < It is about the height and size of a lady's sew- i ing machine, only much stronger. On the J side, at the back, a light belt descends from a I long shaft in the ceiling that drives all the i machines, ranged in rows on the floor. On s the left side of the machine hangs, on a peg, a 1 reel of wire that has been straightened by run- { ning through a compound system of small j rollers. The wire descends, and the end enters the machine. This is the food consumed ! i by this voracious little dwarf. He pulls it in J < and bites it off by inches, incessautly?140 11 bites to a minute. Just as he seizes each bite, a j i little hammer, with a concave face hits the j < end of the wire three times, "upsets" it to | j a head, while he grips it to a counter suuk j ? hole between his teeth. With an outward j. thrust of his tongue he then lays the t pin sideways in little groove across the rim of i t a small wheel that slowly revolves, isy tne ; external pressure of a stationary hoop these ! pins roll in their places as they are carried ! under two series of small files, three on each, j These files grow finer toward the end of the. series. They lie at a slight inclination on the pins, and a series of cams, levers and springs are made to play like lightning. Thus the pins are dropped in a little shower iu a box. Twenty-eight pounds are a day's work for one of these jerking little automatons. The machines reject crooked pins, the slightest irregularity in any of them being detected. Selecting a Wife.?We have heard of this test being applied to several girls, but j John Starkley was the man who applied it to ! the selection of a wife. The Starkleys and the jBelknaps had been friends through several generations. In the present generation there was in the Starkley family, one son, and j in the family of Belknaps there were five j daughters; and it had been arranged between j the parents that the heir of the Starkleys : should take him a wife from among the ; daughters of Belknap. John, the heir afore-! said, at the age of five and twenty, had re- j turned from his travels, when his father bade , him select from the daughters of the friendly j house the one he would have for a .wife. ' John was a dutiful son, and his heart was whole,and as the maidens were all fair to look i upon lie accepted the situatiou and determiu- J ed to master it if possible. John spent several evenings in the company j of the young ladies, and it was difficult to de- j cide which was the most charming, though his fancy rested most lingeringly upon the j youngest?not that she was the handsomest, I but she appeared the most sensible. ~ ' t j: ?i i Une day donn was invueu iu uuim-i, anu in advance of the family he made his way to j the hall and threw a broom upon the floor, directly across the passage to the dining-room. By and by the summons sounded for the meal, I John watched for the result. The eldest! daughter stepped over the broom loftily, j The second went around it. The fourth gave j it an extra kick. The fifth?and the young- i est?stooped and picked the broom up and set it carefully out of the way. And John selected the meek-eyed, fairhaired maiden who had thus stood the test, and he never had occasion tc regret the j choice. She proved to be a wife who looked well to the ways of her household, aud her heart had no lack of faith and love. Easter Offerings.?A Hampshire rector I relates the following incident: There is a certain cobbler in the village who entertains unorthodox opinions, and with whom the clerk is therefore always at variance; and the latter "gives me this curious account of his failing to obtain from the son of Crispin our Easter dues: "I have come for your Easter offering, Mr. 1 .? 1 1 n? .!_! 1..I. .Last," observed tneecciesiasucaj oraciai, iuukhig over the half-door behind which the little cobbler sits busy at work. "And what is an Easter offering, and why should I give it?" inquired the skeptic. "Well never mind that; only give it, that's all." "Won't you stop and take a bit of bacon with me, Mr. Clerk, for I am just going to have ray dinner?" "No, thank you ; I want your Easter offering." "Well, then, take a drap o' sumthin' warm, I've got some ale yonder upon the hob." The clerk could not help looking wistful, but he replied stoutly, as before, that he only wanted the Easter offering. "At least you will take a pipe," insisted the cobbler; "here is tobacco and a box of lucifers." The clerk absolutely shook his head. "Very well," observed the cobbler, with a chuckle, I have tried you with a meat offering, with a drink offering, and with a) burnt offering, and now ye will have no other sort of offering from me, I promise ye." And he kept his word. A Snake Stoky.?In Fayette county, near the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, there is a famous rattlesnake den, which has always been a source of terror and fear to those who have looked over its precincts, as j well as to those who have even heard of the | fearful revelations regarding the size and the number of the venomous reptiles which infest | this poison-stricken cavern. In number their I ? 1 .1 1 . i name is legion, ana in age, size ana aownrigni Radicalism, there are no figures or names to represent them. A short time ago two daring young men resolved to make an experiment, by way of forming some insight as regarded their numbers, and clothing themselves from head to foot in suits of thick buckskin (such as our friend Dounally uses to make his best gloves,) with large, sharp knives in haud, they sallied forth into the poison-infected region. They entered, cuttiug and slashing, the snakes rattling, hissing and striking at j their adversaries, and when those enterprising youths landed on the other side, their clothes were a sight to see ! As a snake would strike, his fangs would be deeply and i firmly implanted in the buckskin, and off would go his head by a well-directed blow by the hand and knife. By making a fair count it was found that two hundred and forty snake heads were attached to the clothes of one of1 the party, and one hundred and sixty heads firmly fastened to the other. More would have been secured, but it was not a good day for snakes. But any one who does not believe the foregoing true story, will be convinced of its entire correctness by inquiring at this office for the name of our informant.? Greenbrier (Va.) Independent. Look at the Other Side?One day, , when I was younger than I am now, I was j passing down upon the outside of Quiucy ( market, and was attracted by a basket of pine ( apples. I pointed to a very ripe, golden-1; hued pine upon the top of the lot and enquir- ] ed the price, and was on the point of purchas- i, ing, when my brother shrewdly suggested? | J "Better look at t'other side first, my boy." 11, lifted the fruit and looked, and found the |, lower lmlf rotten. ! ( Once again my brother and I were on the road in the country, tired and hungry. We came to an orchard from which the fruit had been gathered, but by the road-side a few i wiud-falls had been unnoticed by the hus-' bandmau. I picked up a large pippin, but | found the rind bruised, and discolored by de- j cay. I was about to throw it away, wheu my ! brother said?"Hold on; cut into it first." 11 cut into it and found the heart sound aud ex- j cellent. ) In my passage through life since those days . [ have often had occasion to recall my brother's admonitions. I have seen men presenting \ side fair and attractive to look upon; and j ! [ have looked upon the other side aud found j ( ihem tainted to worthlessuess. So I have met! 1 nen bowed down by evil circumstances, with i { shadows thick and dark upon them; and I \ i iave probed them to the heart, and found all j jood and sound. i _ f 8ST" The love-life of George N. Sanders is a \ ather queer story. About the year 1838 i s 3eorge fell in love with a Cincinnati lady; t cut neither she nor her parents would have \ my thing to do with him. He was not discouraged, but his method of creating an impression was certainly peculiar. He possessed ( some fancy stock, and he named a fine young 1 Adderney cow after the young lady. He had 2 ;he cow painted, moreover, and sent the pic- ( ,uro to the lady. This was a rare compliment, ? 01 ouurse j uut me jiuuug ?.?; ? 0 j offended, and retaliated by naming a Berkshire boar, belonging to her father, ''George N. Sanders." This crushed the Jove out of George's heart, and for a long time he was exceedingly sensitive against the mention of the most diminutive pig. However, he recovered after a time, and, subscribing for a New York magazine, called the Passion Flower, soon became enamored of its editor, a Miss Reed. A correspondence was promptly opened, and the lady was found to be as gushing as the bruised heart of Mr. Sanders could desire. The parties were married in due season, although up to the day of the ceremony they had never seen each other. ; ? A Nervous Passenger?The funniest ' * T 1 ? - 1 ?-x ? traveler's story 1 nave neara yet is turn ui nu old lady who was a quiet passenger on the Hudson River railroad, bound for Albany. She would persist in asking the conductor at every station "if this was Poughkeepsie?" The conductor, a "nice," gentlemanly man, would try and induce her to remain in her seat and give herself no anxiety; he would certainly iuform her at the proper time, as Poughkeepsie was some distance offyet. Bui the dear old lady, alarmed at the frequency of the stations and the rapidity with which persons were stepping off the train, moved her to rush forward and ask the conductor "if this station was not Poughkeepsie?" Assured again that it was not, and that ample notice would be given when the train reached the depot, the nervous passenger once more relapsed into a passive unconsciousness. At last Poughkeepsie was reached, and the conductor rushing into the car, hurried the old lady up by saying, "Here we are; this is Poughkeepsie; make haste and get your things; we are behind time; quicx, now." Judge of his surprise when, with the utmost complacency, this female passenger, looking over her spectacles, replied, "You don't say this is Poughkeepsie ; why, you see Maria she told me to be sure and take my pill when I got to Poughkeepsie!" The Railroad Bond Case?Opinion of Judge Mackey.?We have not had an opportunity heretofore of noticing the opinion of T..J? Af 1-in Ko aoqo rolflflnty O UUgU ITlttUttCjr UCUVC1CU IU bill, vwv to the is3ue of the bonds by the County Commissioners of York. Judge )Mackey decides that the comraisioners have the right to issue bonds for the railroad under the statute granting the charter. In his opinion, he maintains, first, that the statute differs from all other similar statutes heretofore passed, in the omission of the clause requiring any vote of the people. This being the case, it is necessary to assume that the Legislature did not coutemplate such a vote being taken. Secondly, That the county is a body corporate and the Legislature has the power to permit the County Commissioners, who control this corporation, to impose a tax for the benefit of highways. Thirdly, That the railroad is a highway, and therefore it can be aided by funds raised by taxation. Several minor points are decided. The opinion is well written and is abundantly supported by eminent authorities. We must say that the line of arguments appears conclusive. We are however opposed to this granting of railroad subsidies. We therefore trust that the Supreme Court may be more wise than we. and detect some flaw in Judge Mackey's argument.?Fairfield Herald. ? ? How to Rest.?The best mode of resting, when fatiuged, depends upon the cause of the fatigue and the condition of the person at the time. There is one thing, however, which will always rest a tired person, and that is a sponge or towel bath over the entire surface of the body, followed by a thorough rubbing and friction of the surface. Of course the temperature of the water and the vigor and amount of the rubbing must be graduated to the strength of the person. It is generally best if given by a second person. "W hen the fatigue is mental, arising from over .exertion of the brain, the muscles shou/d be called into action; as walking, horse backriding, rowing, playing ball, pitching quoits, gymnastics, etc. General muscular fatigue is quickly relieved by lying on the face and having some one to rub the back vigorously. Also, but less readily, by lying flat upon the floor, with the hands back or under the head, but the head not otherwise raised, and taking full, deep breathes. Local muscular fatigue may be relieved by rubbiug and percussing the part, or by changing position * - . /* it t S _ and bringing otner parts 01 tne Doay imu h?tion. Blushing.?Animals never blush, although monkeys redden from passion. We cannot produce blushing by any physical means; it is the mind which must be affected; and blushing is not only involuntary, but the wish to restrain it increases the tendency. While the young blush more freely than the old, infants do not blush ; women blush more than men; the blind and deaf do not escape. It is usually the face, ears and neck that redden ; the blush does not extend over the body; but certain races who go habitually nearly naked blush over their arms and chests, and even down to their waists. The limitation of blushing to exposed parts is explained by the fact that these portions of the surface have been habitually exposed to the air, light and alternations of temperature, by which the small arteries acqure the habit of readily dilating or contracting. Hindoos blush but little; the Chinese rarely blush ; the Polynesians blush freely; the young squaw of the American tribes has been seen to blush; the Kaffirs of South Africa never blush ; neither do the Australians. The King's Umbrella.?When the King of Ashantee takes the field, his presence is denoted by his state umbrella, which is always carried near him or over him by one of the other nobles of his household, the king's umbrella bearer being always a person of very high rank. The king's umbrella is of great size. It is constructed of alternate triangles of red and black velvet, and is splendidly ornamented with gold. To give an idea of the value of these umbrellas, the umbrella of a chief not of the first rank often costs $200. The loss of the king's umbrella in battle would be considered the greatest disgrace ind defeat an Ashantee army could meet with ; and in like manner the chief to lose his jmbrella in battle is considered a great dislouor for him. The chiefs all carry umbrelas varying in splendor and costliness, accorliug to the rank of their owner; but no Ashintee chief may have auy umbrella as large is the king's, or with the same arrangement )f colors, which are especially reserved for oyalty. + ^-4 S&" An Englishman writes to the New York Tribune, stating that he has at last discoverid the secret of the Yankee nasal twang. He las found that the counties of Norfolk, Sufolk, Essex, Middlessex, in England, have a lasal twang, and that the ancestors of the )eople who live in the counties, of the same lame as the above in New England, came rom those counties, and brought their twang vitli them, and their descendants have become 0 impressed with the accentuation and tone, hat they can't get rid of it. The theory is a /ery plausible one. 4 SOT Amongst the caudidates who have sac:essfully passed this year's examination at the tfaval Academy is another colored boy, Alon10 McClernan, of South Carolina. The col)red cadet Conyers, who failed to pass last lube, is to be given another chance.