Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis jyt. grist, proprietor. | $ttbtj}citbtnf Jfamilj flttospjjcr: Jfor % promotion of % Scrcra!, Agricultural anb Cammcrcial Interests of % jSontj). | TERMS?$3.00 A TEAR, IN ADYMCE. VOL. 20. YORKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1874. NO. 52. ' ? T? A C!-..it. Ihe Jdflru ?rHet. *25 JOHN MERRILL'S SECRET. BY WILLIAM MORLEY. Among the heterogeneous crowd who were to be my shipmates in the Amphion, whaler, I was particularly attracted to a slender youth from one of the midland counties, who signed his name on the papers, John-Merrill. He was nearly my own age, I judged ; and there was an air of quiet refinement about him, strikingly in contrast with the rude, boisterous character of the majority of our associates. John was, from the first, retired and uncommunicative, though less so in his intercourse with me than with any one else. He never refnono/-) tn Vi!o onfopoHontu fhnntrh T had civen l^llCU IV AltO nii?vvv\?vtiw) ? ??? Q him my whole autobiography before we had been a fortnight at sea. One of John's eccentricities?I know not what else to call it?was that he always kept bis sea-chest locked. This is unusual in a whaler's forecastle, and always subjects the man doing it to unpleasant remarks, as implying a waut of confidence in his shipmates. It is common to say of the man who does it, that "he is either a thief himself, or else thinks the rest of us are thieves." But John Merrill only blushed, without making any ordinary reply, when such cutting insinw* uations were thrown out, as they occasionally were, in his hearing. They had no effect whatever in producing any change in his habits. As concerned his duty, he did not appear to be the stuff of which crack sailors are made. But he won upon the good opinion of the officers, even of gruff Mr. Baldwin, our chief mate, a tarry old Triton, whom current report declared to be webfboted. "I can't understand that boy," he would say. "We must ease him in, till he has eaten a few barrels of salt pork to harden his sinews." I could not tell why, but I don't think I was ever envious of ray comrade because the mate favored him in this way, while he drove me up to ray utmost capacity. Both of us were respectful and willing, and tried ? 1 1 - 1 .*4 hard to do our duty, aua, as ne expreuaeu it, "make men of ourselves." I think I felt rather elated to know that Mr. Baldwin discovered that there was tougher material in rae than in John Merrill, md worked us accordingly. But John Merrill made sure, though slow, progress in his duties, aud his sinews hardened up, as Mr. Baldwin had prophesied. Though delicate in frame, his health seemed perfect, and in some respects we had no better man among us. He was always ready to take an extra watch on the lookout, for he seemed to like being alone where he could .commune with his own thoughts. And he was soon acknowledged to be the best helmsman on board. We made our first port at Talcahuano, in Chili, after doubling Cape Horn ; and here John aud I being in the same watch, were much together on shore. But he would never stay after dark, and appeared utterly insensible to the fascinations of the Chilian brunettes. He would drink no liquor; and his example, in this respect, had a good effect upon myself. We sailed for a cruise on the coast of Peru, after a short stay in port. Among the men, shipped to fill vacancies was one known as "California Tom"?a fellow of uubounded assurance and hnpudeuce, to whom John and I both took an instinctive aversion at first acquaintance. But he found some congenial spirits on board the Amphion, as such fellows will in any ship where they may cast their fnrt.nnes We had not been long at sea before it appeared that we had some one in our circle who disdained the nice little distinctions of "mine" and "thine." Several articles had been myteriously missed by different parties, and complaints were loud and clamorous. A ship's forecastle is as unfit a place for a thief as he can well find his way iuto. As much uneasiness is caused by his presence, as by the knowledge that a powder magazine is located somewhere under the deck, without knowing exactly where. Woe to him if he is caught; for though Jack's standard of morality is, in many respects, no higher than it ought to be, he has no mercy for a pilfering shipmate. We became a ve -y unhappy family after this discovery ; for, of course, all mutual confidence was lost until it should appear who the offender was. No one was exempt from suspicion ; though the weight was equally divided between CaliforniaTora and my demure friend, John Merrill. Each had his friends, who believed the other guilty; but while the boy modestly refrained from saying any thing about it, Tom did not scruple to head his own party. "It's easy enough to see who the thief is," I heard him say one night, as he occupied the centre of a little knot of his cronies. "It's that slick faced little hypocrite that is at the w?: wheel now." "Of course 'tis," said Derby, one of Tom's supporters. "I've always thought so from the first of it. It's enough to condemn any fellow to know that he keeps his chest always locked." "What business has one man to be allowed to lock his chest anyhow ?" demanded Tom, loud enough now for all to hear. "I say, let's go and kick the lid open and see what's in it." "Sit down," said Frank Wightman, (a fine, handsome young fellow), from our side of the house ; for Tom had risen as if to carry his suggestion into effect. "Don't undertake any thing of the kiud. John Merrill isn't here to speak for himself, and no man shall break his chest open while I'm by to prevent it." "Don't you want to find out who the thief is?" asked Derby. "Of course I do; and I don't think I should have to go far for that. If there's to be a general search of chests and bunks, I'm ready to agree to it at any time; and perhaps the boy would be willing to open his in such a case. But I say it shan't be kicked open in his absence." "It's plain enough that he's the guilty one," said Tom, "when his chest is the only one locked, and?" "I don't know about that!" retorted Frank Wightman, with a significant 1????U. "A thief may fiud other places for his plunder besides hia ehest. Indeed, if he's an nld hand at.it. be would be likely to." This home thrust put an end to the discussion for the moment, for Tom as well as Derby and the rest of his gang, were afraid of Wightraau, who alone was a match for any two of them. But when John Merrill was relieved from the wheel, we told him what had occurred, and how suspicion was thickening on him. Frank asked him if he were willing to open his chest, and let us all have a look at its contents. "No," said he, quietly, "I am not williug." "But why not if you are innocent?" "I cannot say why, but I can assure you that I know nothing about the stolen things. You must either take my word for it, or, if a general search is determined upon, open my chest by force, for I shall not consent to have it done." "I believe what you say, Johu," said Frank, "and so does Bill, here, that you are entirely innocent. But there are many who don't, and there will be still more if you don't satisfy them. Perhaps you would let me, alone, overhaul it, or Bill, if that would suit you, better, eh ?" J "No, I cannot show the contents of it even to Bill. If the matter is pressed hard, I shall appeal to the captain for protection, though I dou't kuow that it would do any good." i None at all, said Wightraan and I, both at once. | "What would he do, do you think ?" "Exercise his authority and demand the I key at once, or open itUj>y force. He has ! heard about the thefts*^,.you know ; and ; I heard him tell Mr. Baldwin that, if another case was reported, be should make a geni eral search and flog the thief, if he could be j found." The boy rested his face upon his hands in thought, but made no answer. "Never mind, John," said Wightman; "don't fret about it. No harm shall come to you, anyhow. I'm satisfied of your truth, and if you still decline to show your things, you shan't be forced to, at least by anybody in this part of the ship. But think this matter over, and perhaps to-morrow you'll feel differently about it." That night, in the middle watch, I was awakened by a slight clicking noise, and saw California Tom, by the hanging lamp, steal thily opening John's chest with a key. John himself, as well as all the rest of my watch, were sleeping soundly; but I knew that he never left his key where it could be found. It was always about his person, night and day. Tom must have found a duplicate key to fit the chest. I was about to speak, and give the alarm to Wightraan and others; but, on second thought, determined to wait a moment and see the result. Tom had a bundle in one band, which appeared to be a new flannel shirt, and as the lock flew open at last, he lost no time in looking into the chest, but pushed in the bundle, relocked it, and went on deck. I considered the matter and determined to tell Frank Wightman, which I did as soon as our watch turned out. "Don't tell John," were his first words. "I hope he won't open his chest and discover it, for I want to see what kind of plot is hatching. John Merrill had the morning masthead, and went up to his post at daylight, without having had occasion to look into his chest. Tom was up and stirring soon afterwards? an unusual proceeding for him in a morning watch, off duty?and accosted Captain Sale as soon as he made his appearance above deck. Presently the order was given to call all hands and muster them up. One of the mates was sent into the forecastle to see that no one lingered, and to have all the men's kits and effects roused up to the light of day. The captain was evidently in a towering rage, for he had passed lightly over several previous reports of theft, hoping the matter would be adjusted without his interference. But Tom had lost a new shirt during the night, ana Captain Sale had lost?his patience. "I'll find it, if it's inside the ship," said he, "and I'll flog the man that stole it." Several chests and bags had been emptied of their contents in the presence of us all; for John Merrill had been called down from aloft, and stood, thoughtful and agitated, at my side. When the captain came to the locked chest, "Whose is this?" he demanded. "Mine, sir," spoke up the lad. "Give me your key." "If you'll excuse me, sir, I would like to speak a word with you?by ourselves, sir, if you please." But the captain was not in a humor to listen to any remonstrance. He swung back his heavy boot and with a single kick under the projecting edge it flew open. "There's ray shirt," exclaimed Tom, seizing the bundle that lay on top. "Enough said ! We're on the right track, now," said Captain Sale. "Take up this chest and carry it aft." And he closed the lid with a bang. "Mr. Baldwin," he contined, "strip John Merrill's back, and tie him up. It's a new thing for me to flog one of ray men, but I've sworn in this case and I'll keep my word." The poor boy overwhelmed with confusion, could hardly find a word to protest his innocence, as the mate led him aft. But Frank Wightman at this moment approached the captain respectfully, and touched him gently on the shoulder. A word was spoken; the captain relaxed his angry brows to listen to it, for Wightman was the best man in the forecastle. The two walked aft together, conversing earnestly. I kept my eye on them till Frank Wightman made a signal which I understood, when I followed. "Mr. Derrick," said the captain to the second mate, "keep every thing as it stands, with the chests forward. Don't allow a man to touch a thing, till further orders." He beckoned Frank Wightmau and myself to come below. But he did not countermand the orders he had given about lashing John up; the mate, it seems, proceeded to obey them. He Drenared the rones, but when he t _I # * ordered the boy to remove his shirt, he met with unexpected resistance. While I was relating to Captain Sale, in the forward cabin, what I had seen during the middle watch, there was a scuffle over our heads, and John Merrill, in a frenzy of excitement, rushed down the stairs and into the after cabin. "Hold on, Mr. Baldwin! Never mind what I told you, for the present!" cried the ! captain, and he followed the boy into the | sanctum, while we awaited the result. In a minute afterwards he put his head out ! at the door, with the strangest look on his face that I had ever saw mortal man wear. "Wightman, you and Bill pass John Mer! rill's chest down stairs?right into this room." We obeyed the order, and set our burden dowu at his feet. But the lad was not to be seen as we looked about us. "That'll do. You can go on deck, now? I'll talk with you again soonand the door was closed between us and the mystery. It was half an hour before Captain Sale came up, and ordered the search to be contin! ued. When he came to Tom's chest, heover' hauled it very carefully; but it was, appa! reutly, emptied to the bottom, without findI ing any stolen property. But, still uusatis! fled, he stood it up on end, thumped it heavj ily, and threw it bottom up. A false bottom ; was dislodged and fell out, followed by the various missing articles! A general cry of indignation was raised, and a strong disposition was manifested to I lynch California Tom, But Mr. Baldwin ! took upon himself the ollice of executor, this i time with a good will. "I always felt it in my heart that John Merrill was innocent," said he to Captain Sale ; "and when it came to stripping his shirt, I hadn't, somehow, any heart to do it." "I'm glad you didn't succeed in doing it," was the reply. "I couldn't have flogged him if he had been guilty?nor could you, either." "How so. sir ?" "Do you think you could lay the cat on the back of a woman f" That comical look of the captaiu's wa3 reflected, nay, multiplied tenfold, in the rough face of the old mate. "A woman !" he gasped out; "John Merrill ?" "Ay, a woman, Mr. Baldwin. Annie Car, ' roll is her uame now." "But what are vou going to do with him, sir?" "Do with him ? With her, you mean ! Put him, or put her, or it ashore, of course, I as soon as I can make a port. We must give her a state-room in the cabin, and have her , I wear such a dress as belongs to her sex." "Well?well," said Mr. Baldwin, reflectively, "I never had any thing bring rae up with I a round turn like that." Then a bright idea ! seemed to have struck him, and he demanded, triumphantly, "Where's your clothes to dress j her in ?" "She's got all her own gear in her chest, ready to wear." i "What, in John Merrills chest do you | mean ?" "Of course. Whose else should I mean? That's why he?she, I mean?always kept it locked, and was so secret about it." John Merrill stood no more watches on board the Amphion, nor went to the masthead. But Annie Carroll, a beautiful young lady, save that she wore her hair rather too much en garcon, sometimes took a turn at | the wheel when she felt iq the humor, until our ; arrival at Callao, and when her story was I known, she became the heroine, the lioness, of ! the hour. A passage home was secured for her; and she took leave of us all, with no j desire, as she confessed, to follow any further the profession of a sailor. It was the old, old story. An orphan, a harsh guardian, and an attempt to force her into marriage with one she disliked. A madcap scheme, in which she had embarked from a wayward impulse, and persisted in because she hardly knew how or when to retreat. And we were constrained to admit, when we reviewed all the circumstances, that she had very nobly sustained the double character, and preserved all the finer attributes of her sex, while she laid aside the apparel. And will it be wondered that she lost her , heart on board the Amphion ? Not to me, of course. I was but a boy in her eyes. But when I last saw John Merrill, he was Mrs. Captain Wightraan, and still claimed to be, if not the boldest seaman, the best helsman, at least of the family circle. |?i]0?naM0ttiS ftradiag. CONFEDERATE GENERALS. GENERAL STUART. General Stuart was, without doubt, capable of handling an infantry command successfully, j as he demonstrated at Chancellorsville, where he took Stonewall Jackson's place and led an t army corps in a very severe engagement; but j his special fitness was for cavalry service. His tastes were those of a horseman. Perpetual activity was a necessity of his existence, and he enjoyed nothing so much as danger. Audacity, his greatest virtue as a cavalry com- < raander, would have been his besetting sin in any other position. Inasmuch as it is the j business of the cavalry to live as constantly i as possible within gunshot of the enemy, his ( recklessness stood him in excellent stead as a < general of horse, but it is at least questionable | whether his want of caution would not have ( led to disaster if his command had been of j less mobile sort. His critics say he was vain, < and he was so, as a boy is. He liked to win ( the applause of his friends, and he liked still t better to astonish the enemy, glorying in the < thought that hisfoemen must admire his "im- j pudence," as he called it, while they dreaded | | its manifestation. He was continually doing < things of an extravagantly audacioussort, with < no other purpose, seemingly, than that of ma- ' king people stretch their eyes in wonder. He i enjoyed the admiration of the enemy far more, | I think, than he did that of his friends. This < fact was evident in the care he took to make j himself a conspicuous personage in every < place of danger. He would ride at some dis- < tancefrora his men in a skirmish, and in every ] possible way attract a dangerous attention to himself. His slouch hat and long plume marked him in every battle, and made him a 3 target for the riflemen to shoot at. In all this there was some vanity, if we choose to call it so, but it was an excellent sort of vanity . for a cavalry chief to cultivate. I cannot learn that he ever boasted of any achievement, or that his vanity was ever satisfied with the things already done. His audacity was due I think, to hissense of humor, not less than to his love of applause. He would laugh uproar- i iously over the astonishment he imagined the ] Federal officers must feel after one of his peculiarly daring or sublimely impudent performances. When, after capturing a large ] number of horses and mules on one of his raids, he seized a telegraph station and sent a j despatch to General Meigs, then quartermaster general of the United States Army, com- , plaining that he could not afford to come after j animals of so poor a quality, and urging that , officer to provide better ones for capture in future, he enjoyed the joke quite as heartily as he did the success which made it possible. GENERAL LEE. General Lee had a senteutious way of say- i ing things which made all his utterances pe- < culiarly forceful. His language was always happily chosen, and a single sentence from his < lips often left nothing more to be said. As < good an example of this as any, perhaps, was hiscorament upon the military genius of Gen. Meade. Not very long after that officer took i command of the Army of the Potomac, a skirmish occurred, and none of General Lee's staff officers being present, an acquaintance of mine was detailed as his personal aid for the day, i and I am indebted to him for the anecdote. I Some one asked our chief what he thought of the new leader on the other side, and in re- i ply Lee said, "General Meade will commit no i blunder in my front, and if I commit one he i will make haste to take advantage of it." It is 1 difficult to see what more he could have said i on the subject. i I saw him for the last time during the war, i ; at Amelia Court House, in the midst of the i j final retreat, and I shall never forget the ! i heart-broken expression his face wore, or the j still sadder tones of his voice as he gave me j the instructiou I had come to ask. The army ' I anon i?V am /ton Atn?/v*\ T f ntnn aIhao/Lt A?il_ t was l Li uciui uuiu usiuii. ? u was aiicauy c*r ' dent that we were being beaten back upon James river, and could never hope to reach 1 the Roanoke, on which stream alone there 1 might be a possibility of making a stand, i General Sheridan was harrassing our broken ' columns at every step, and destroying us by ' piece-meal. Worse than all, General Lee had < been deserted by the terrified Government in . | the moment of his supreme need, and the < ' food had been snatched from the mouths of j ; the famished troops (as is more fully explain- j 1 j ed in another chapter,) that the flight of the j president and his followers might be hastened, \ The load put thus upon Lee's shoulders was a . very heavy one for so conscientious a man as i j he to bear; and knowing, as every Southerner i j does, his habit of taking upon himself all ! j blame for whatever went awry, we caunot ] ! wonder that he was sinking under the burden. I His face was still calm, as it always was, but i I his carriage was no longer erect, as his soldiers < l -Jl ?4. rni _ * Li C ?\ i . nan oeeu useu 10 see u. inc iruuuies ui uiosu i last days had already ploughed great furrows ; iu his forehead. His eyes were red as if with weeping; his cheeks sunken and haggard ; his i | face colorless. No one who looked upon him then, as he stood there in full view of the disastrous end, can ever forget the intense agony written upon his features. And yet he was < calm, self-possessed, and deliberate. Failure i , and the sufferings of his men grieved him ] i sorely, but they could not daunt him, and his ] moral greatness was never more manifest thau I I during those last terrible days. Even in the ! final correspondence with General Grant, ] Lee's manliness and courage and ability to i I endure lie on the surface, and it is not the 1 , least honorable thing in General Grant's his- 1 tory that he showed himself capable of appre- i j ciating the character of this manly foeman, < ' as he did when he returned Lee's surrendered 1 sword, with the remark that he knew of do one so worthy as its owner to wear it. general jackson. The affection his soldiers bore him has always been an enigma. He was stern and hard as a disciplinarian, cold in his manner, unprepossessing in appearance, and utterly lacking in the apparent enthusiasm which excites enthusiasm in others. He bad never been able to win the affection of the cadets, at Lexington, and had hardly won even their respect. And yet his soldiers almost worshipped him. Perhaps it was because he was so terribly in earnest, or it may have been because he was so generally successful?for there are few things men admire more than success?but whatever the cause was, no fact could be more evident than that Stonewall Jackson was the most enthusiastically loved man, except Lee, in the Confederate service, and that he shared with Lee the generous admiration even of his foes. His strong religious bent, his devotion to a form of religion the most gloomy?for his Calvinism amounted to very little less than ? - - j kino IUUUISIIJ, ttUU 1110 UICU tancu inm vuu uiuu light"?hisstrictnessof life, and his utter lack of vivacity and humor, would have been an impassable barrier between any other man and such troops as he commanded. He was Cromwell at the head of an army composed of men of the world, and there would seem to have been nothing in common between him and them ; and yet Cromwell's psalra-siuging followers never held their chief in higher regard or heartier affection than that with which these rollicking young planters cherished their sadeyed and sober-faced leader. They even rejoiced in extreme religiosity, and held it in some sort a work of supererogation, sufficient to atone for their own worldly-mindedness. They were never more devoted to him than when transgressing the very principles upon which his life was ordered; and when any of his men indulged in dram drinking, a practice from which he always rigidly abstained, his health was sure to be the first toast given. On one occasion, a soldier who had imbibed enthusiasm with his whisky, feeling the inadequacy of the devotion shown by drinking to an absent chief, marched, canteen in hand, to Jackson's tent, and gaining admission, proposed as a sentiment, "Here's to you, General ? May I live to see you stand on the highest pinnacle of Mount Ararat, and hear you give the command, 'By the right of nations front into empires?worlds, right face!'"?From Eggleston's "A Rebel's Recollections." SOME JUGGLER'S TRICKS. Robert Houdin, the French juggler, was employed by the French government to go to Algeria on a novel mission. The Marabout priests exercised great influence over the natives, because they were enabled to perform certain feats of jugglery, which they pretended proved their divine power. These Marabouts were enemies of the French, and encouraged turbulence among the Arabs. The government thought that it might be a good stroke of policy to send Houdin through the colony performing his miracles and demonstrating to the natives that a French sorcerer was greater than an Arab sorcerer. Accordingly Houdin appeared before large audiences, beginning in the city of Algeria. At the first cf these performances he introduced a box which became heavy or light at his bidding. This box was brought by him to the footlights, ind while holding it in his hands he declared to his hearers that he possessed the power to deprive the most powerful man of his strength and restore it at will. He invited any one who thought himself strong enough to come on the stage. An Arab of middle height, but well built and muscular, came to his side with great assurance. "Are you strong?" asked Houdin, measuring him from head to foot. "0, yes," he replied, carelessly. "Are you sure that you will always remain so ?" "Quite sure." "You are mistaken," said Houdin, "for in an instant I will rob you of your strength, and you shall become as a child." The Arab smiled disdainfully. Houdin told him to lift the box. He stooped and lifted it without any effort, and said coldly? "Is that all ?" _ With an imposing gesture Houdin solemnly pronounced the words? "Behold you are weaker than a woman; now lift the box." The young Hercules grabbed the box quite confideutly, but, to his amazement, it would not budge. He vainly expended on this box a strength which would have raised an enormous weight, until at length, panting, exhausted, and red with anger, he buried his face in his hands and retired from the stage. Houdin does not explain the secret of this 3trauge trick by which he made bodies heavy or light at will, and apparently without touching them, but it was a favorite of his, and often exhibited to his fashionable Parisian audiences. At the same exhibition in Algeria, of which wo hnwp written HnnHin invitPfl one of the audience to come on the stage. A young Moor, about twenty years of age, tall, wellbuilt, and richly dressed, advanced. There was a plain table on the stage, (the space between the top and the floor being unmistakably open) which Houdin asked him to mount. When he did so, Houdin covered him with an enormous cloth cone, and instantly removing it, the Moor was gone. This trick produced a panic in the audience. Screaming, "It is the Evil One !" they clambered over the benches in terror, and rushed out of the door into the street, where, in the public place, rubbing his eyes in stupefaction and wondering how he got there, they found the young Moor. While in the interior Houdin gave an open air exibition to the wild sous of the desert. He pretended that he was invulnerable and offered to let a Marabout shoot at him. There was a great crowd, and a vindictive looking fellow came out from it and claimed to have the honor of killiug the hated Frenchman. The pistols were handed to Houdin, who called the attention to the fact that the vents were clear. The Marabout put in a fair charge of powder and drove the wad home. Among the bullets produced, Houdin chose cue which he openly put in the pistol, and it was also rammed down. By the same process the second pistol was loaded. Everybody watched with the most profound solemnity. Houdin posted himself fifteen paces from the Marabout, without evincing the slightest emotion. The Marabout immediately seized one of the pistols, and, on Houdin's giving the signal, took a deliberate aim at him. The i - ? i.l 111 1 L I pistol went on, ana tne oan appeareu oeiween i the magician's teeth. More angry than ever,; the Marabout tried to seize the pistol. "You | could not injure rae," said Houdin, "but you | shall see that my aim is more dangerous than ' yours. Look at that wall." He pulled the trigger, and on the newly whitewashed wall appeared a large patch of blood, exactly at the spot where he aimed. The Marabout went up to it, dipped his ; finger in the blood, and raising it to his mouth | convinced himself of the reality. When he j acquired this certainty his arms fell and his ! head bowed on his chest as if he were anni-; hilated. It was evident that for the moment he doubted everything, even the prophet, i Phis seemingly incomprehensible feat Houdin performed by means of prepared balls. With ; a bullet mould, and a bit of wax mixed with lamp-black, he had manufactured a very' fair immitation bullet. Another bullet of the :! same material he had filled with blood. Of j course it was by slight of hand that he changed I the bullets forced upon him by the Marabout,' i and substituted his own. An old trick enabled him to get the real bullet between his teeth while the waxen one was shattered to pieces. So with the second ball, it was shattered upon the wall, but a spot of blood was produced. When Wm. H. Seward made his tour around the world he witnessed some performance of jugglers in India which were quite surprising. He saw a man climb a bare pole sixty feet high, standing in the open air, and when he reached the top he mysteriously disappeared. After a while his feet reappeared, then his legs and body, and he ^came down. He claimed no suDeriiatural powers. How did he do it? WORDS. WRITTEN BY S. J. If words could satisfy the heart The heart would have less care; But words, like summer clouds, depart And leave but empty care. The heart, a pilgrim on the earth, Finds often when it needs, That words are as little worth As just so many weeds. A little said, and truly said, Can deeper joy impart Than scores of words that reach the head, But never reach the heart. MR. COBLEIGH'S SUSPENDERS. Mr. Cobleigh took a bath on Sunday morning. On coming from the water, refreshed and invigorated, he put ou his pants and drew the suspenders on his bare shoulders, and taking his soiled clothing in his arras adjourned to the bed-room. Here he deliberately loosened those articles while he tucked in the garments. Then he looked for his suspenders. He had carefully placed them on a chair, you know?that chair, right at the foot of the bed?and he looked there for them, as it was perfectly reasonable he should. They were not there, however. Mr. Cobleigh was surprised. He stared very hard at the chair, ( and tried manfully to keep down the rising temper. Then he looked in every corner of the room, and got down on his knees and peered under . the bed, and even looked up at the ceiling and out of the window. ? TJr* ftwnmrnrt/] f U nnn 1 AOO 11 frino flftf 11QP lie CAailJ 1L1CU LII col/ lULUHULO, uuu vvvmmvw he expected to find thearticles there, but Mr. Cobleigh wished to show to the world that ; there was no intention on his part to be unfair in this matter. He had left those suspenders on that chair, and, as they were not gifted with legs, some , one had removed them. Mr. Cobleigh was so i confident of this that he deemed it prudent to strike the stand with his fist and tell what , ought to be done to the party who took the suspenders. This he did, and then he called his wife. She came up at once. Mr. Cobleigh very briefly related the loss, because he hadn't time ( to talk much, and then proceeded to talk about nothing else. Mrs. Cobleigh carefully searched the chair, while Mr. Cobleigh stood by and grated his , teeth. Then she carefully searched the room, which so exasperated him, as he had already ; made the search, and had left the suspenders on the chair, that he tartly inquired if she supposed he bad hidden the articles. This led her to exclaim that she believed he had left them somewhere else. "Do you think I'd lie about a pair of suspenders ?" gasped he, as the awful suspicion flashed upon him. 1 Mrs. Cobleigh was not prepared to back up this proposition ; perhaps she did not consider it at all, but she was confident they had been mislaid, and said so; while Mr. Cobleigh, holding up his garments, danced around in a furious manner. Finally a compromise was made with two strips of woolen cloth with holes at the ends, and the Cobleighs went to church in no very happy state of mind. At night, when Mr. Cobleigh retired, and drew off his upper wardrobe for that purpose, a vehement exclamation attracted the attention of Mrs. Cobleigh, who, looking around, beheld a very sheepish-looking man trying to disengage a pair of suspenders from under a tight-fitting undershirt. "Well, I declare, commenced this lady. Mj ? "Will you just shut up, and go to bed?" savagely demanded Mr. Cobleigh. She did. A STORY OF THE FRENCH ZOUAVES. We recommend the following authentic story to the attention of the innumerable admirers of the French zouaves, who have won such conspicuous places id military nistury. The Arabs of Beni Shassen are great amateurs of gunpowder, and never neglect an opportunity of prowling about the French camp and offering the soldiers large sums of money for the coveted article. They pretend to be Arabs of the neighborhood, friendly to the French, and say they want powder for hunting. One day it was discovered thai the zouaves had been selling their powder. To paint the fury of the officer in command of the Arab bureau is an impossible thing, but he resolved to discover the culprits and punish them severely. An Arab in the service of the bureau went in a mysterious way in quest of powder. An old zouave brought him four cartridges and asked him twenty francs for them. The bargain was struck, but the spy immediately disclosed his official character, and brought the cartridge vender before the commander. "It is you, then," cried the officer, "coward and knave, who would have your comrades assassinated by the Beni Shassens ?" "Yes, Commandant, I did it." "You have committed a base action." "I admit it, Commandant; but with this 9ame powder that I sold I am going to blow my bruins out. That will save the trouble of a court martial, and the zouaves will not be dishonored by a public sentence." - - ? 1 .1 X _ _1. _ X \Y ith tnese woras me zouave iook. a cartridge, loaded a pistol with it, dropped a round hall in the barrel, and with superb coolness put the muzzle to his head and pulled the trigger. The weapon missed fire, and the zouave burst into a hoarse laugh. "The Judge has acquitted me," said he. "How so ?" said the Commandant. "Why, you see, Commandant, that powder I sell to the Beni Shassens is only grouud charcoal; the balls are made of clay, aud the whole done up in genuiue cartridges. You have just had a proof of it." It was true the zouave had cheated his customer, and he added with an air of triumph : i "The first time the Beni Shassens come in action, all their pieces will miss fire, and you will gain the battle?" "Then you have sold a good deal of powder?" "Rather," said the zouave, exhibiting a formidable pipe, set with gold. Though the J Arabs may be pretty sharp fellows, they are no match in cunning for the zouaves. ( Political Snubbing.?A Washington let- i ter to the Baltimore Sun says: "It is under- i stood that the carpet-bag Senators are considerably irritated over the manner in which < they have been treated of late. They allege 1 that they have not the same influence with 1 the President as the Northern Republican i Senators; that their recommendations for office are disregarded by the Executive, and i that they are continually snubbed by two or 1 three members of the Cabinet. They com- ] plain also that it has become the custom among many of their party associates in the ] Senate to deuy them the equal consideration t to which they are entitled. Their grievances were brought to the notice of the caucus, and ( a demand made that they should be recognized s as having the right to be placed on the same footing in every respect as all the other Republican Senators. They ask that a select committee shall be appointed, with power to make the fullest investigation into Southern affairs, and they claim that if this is done they will be vindicated from the charges brought against them and those with whom they affiliate. The labors of Hercules would most certainly sink into insignificance by the side of such an attempt as this. But the Republican majority in the Senate is very much dependent upon the fidelity of the carpet-baggers, and realizing this fact, the caucus was constrained to promise to take the matter into !J a! ? cuiisiueruuuu. WHY THE BUTTER DIDN'T COME. They have a new hired girl over at Keysets farm just outside of Newcastle, and on Tuesday, before starting to spend the day with a friend, Mrs. Keyser instructed the girt to whitewash the kitchen in her absence. Upon returning, Mrs. Keyser found the job completed in a very satisfactory manner. On Wednesdays Mrs. Keyser always churns, and last Wednesday when she was ready she went out, and finding that Mr. Keyser had already put the milk into the churn, began to turn the handle. This was at eight o'clock in the morning, and she turned untill ten without any signs of butter appearing. Then she called in the hired man and he turned until dinner time, when he knocked off with some very offensive language addressed to the butter which had not yet come. After dinner the hired girl took hold of the crank and turned energetically until two o'clock, when she let go, with the remark that conveyed the impression that she believed the churn to be haunted. Then Mr. Keyser came out and said he wanted to know what was the matter with the churn anyhow. It was a good enough churn if people only knew how to use it. Mr. Keyser then worked the crank until half-past three, when, as the butter had not yet come, he surrendered it again to the hired man, because he had an engagement in the village. The man ground the machine to an accompaniment of frightful imprecations. Then the Keyser children each took a turn for half an hour, then Mrs. Keyser tried her hand and when she was exhausted the hired girl, who said her prayers while she turned. But the Kuttor didn't, mmp. Whftn Kevser came home and found the churn still in action he blasted his eyes and did some other innocent swearing, and then he seized the handle and 3aid he'd make the butter come if he knocked up an earthquake in doing it. Mr. Keyser affected about 200 revolutions of the crank a minute, enough to have made any ordinary butter come from the ends of the earth; and when the perspiration began to stream from him and still the butter didn't come, he uttered one wild yell of rage and disappointment and kicked the churn over the fence. When Mrs. Keyser went to pick it up she put her nose down close to the butter-milk and took a sniff. Then she understood how it was. The girl had mixed the whitewash in the churn and left it there. A good, honest servant who knows how to churn can find a situation at Keyser's. There is a vacancy. - THE NEGRO NOT TO BE OPPRESSED. The Memphis Appeal in an article on the "Bearing of the South" since the late elections, gives expression in the following plain terms to the general sentiment of the Southern people: "An oppressive responsibility rests upon the people of the South, and they must be equal to their opportunities. Bad as are the reconstructed constitutions of tbeSoutb,and illegal as was the manner in which they were imposed upon us, they are accomplished facts. We can no more, with prudence, blot them out than could the government of Garabetta return to tKp Iowa rtf T.nnla XVT.?than Mac Mahoo could blot out Gravelotte and Sedan. Whatever we may think of the iniquity of the fourteenth amendment and of the policy of the fifteenth amendment, it is no more possible to blot out the results of these amendments than it would be to repeal the thirteenth amendment itself. In accepting Mr. Greeley in 1872, the South signed a compact with every section of the Union that the results of the war, so far as they established the political equality of all the citizens of the United States, shall not be disturbed. Should a reactionary spirit develop itself against those results, we would despair of success in the great battle of 1876, to which the present victory is a pressage. We must not oppress the negro. We must convince him that the white people of the South have the will aod the means to do better by him than the carpet bagger, who has used him, and will desert him as soon as deprived of office. We must convince the colored men that we have no hostility against them, because we consider them the ignorant dupes of their political masters, more sinned against than sinning. Let us act with justice and kindness, indicate by our treatment that those among whom they i .i-!- i?x A.:?J_ ] were com are ineir uesi menus, tiuu me uaj g of intimidation, armed intervention, and carpet-bag governments will be a thing of the past to come no more. Let it not be said two years hence that any act of the Southern people has resulted in the defeat of those measures on which their prosperity depends, or that another radical has been elected, because from her disloyalty the South could not be trusted to manage her own destinies." ? ? Archbishop Whately's Providence.? Readers of Archbishop Whately's writings will remember bis decisive condemnation of the habit of ascribing to Providence only those exceptional events which strike us as wonderful, making "providential" nearly equivalent to miraculous. Among several anecdotes of the Archbishop, contributed to Lippincott's Magazine, by T. Adolphus Trollope, is one touching this point. A packet ship sailing from New York to Liverpool was burned. Among those who escaped in a boat was a clergyman who made himself the hero of religious circles in Dublin, dilating on the wonderful mercy he had experienced. One day on the occasion of one of the general reception of the clergy, which often took place at the archiepiscopal residence, our hero was holding forth in his usual strain to a little knot gathered around in Whately's drawing-room, when the Archbishop, whose wont it was on such occasions to stroll about the room from one group to another, saying a few words here and a few words there to his guests, came up to the knot of which Mr. Thomson (we will give him that name for the nonce) was the centre. Whately listened with grave attention to the telling of: his story and to the usual comments on it, and then spoke. "Wonderful occurrence! A great and signal mercy indeed, Mr. Thomson. But I think I can cap it," said he, using an sxpression which was very common with bimtossine up his white head in the old bull-like manner, "I think I can cap it with an incident I from my own experience." Every body pricked up his ears and listened ;agerly for the passage in the Archbishop's ife which should show a yet more marvellously merciful escape than that of Mr Thomson from the burning ship. Whately continued in the most impresive manner: "Not three months ago I sailed in ;he packet from Holyhead to Kingston (the jort for Dublin)and?" A pause while Archbishop took a copious jinch of snuff, and his hearers were on the ;enter-hooks of expectation. "And by God's mercy the vessel never ;aught fire at all. Think of that, Mr. Thoralon!" .ludicrous scene in a rulrix.?a uuum German paper relates the following: "In a Bavarian town of the most pronounced Catholic orthodoxy, the priest preached lately against Old Catholics, and related such horrible things about them that his pious hearers were literally horror-sticken at Old Catholic impieties. Atlastthe preacher cried out, 'The Old Catholics are so vile that they will all be cast into the pit, and if what I say is not true, may the devil take me now ou the spot!' His excitement was terrible, and he so struck the cushion that the book fell from it. Not far from the pulpit sat an American, who had a negro servant with him, to whom he beckoned to take the book up to the priest, who, perhaps had never seen one of those sons of Ham in his life. The negro at once obeyed, and as he mounted the lowest of the pulpit steps 'L- -1? ?fa/4 liia roiati that, t.hfl lilts isitsigjr Luau u.m devil might come and take him if what he had said against the Old Catholics was not true. "Although the negro went softly, the preacher heard his footsteps, and, turning round, saw a black object solemnly, steadily, and surely approaching him. He looked at him with terror, and believing that he would be the next instant collared by his Satanic Majesty, he cried out, with trembling voice, 'It is, after all, possible that there may good people among the Old Catholics.' Turning then round to see if the object had disappeared, he saw it still steadily approaching. The perspiration burst out upon his brow, and full of despair he called out, 'There are many good people among the Old Catholics.!' Thinking that this would suffice, he turned* round, but what was his horror to find the object was close at hand. Imagining himself in the very grasp of Beelzebub, turning partly to the nfegro and partly to the congregation, he cried out, 'May the devil come and take me if all the Old Catholics are not better than we are!' The terrified priest fainted from the fright, and it was only after some time that he recovered." A bill has been introduced into the house by Mr. Trenholm, of Charleston, to Erovide for the redemption of the bills of the ank of the State. By its terms the bills aro made receivable for taxes under the following conditions: First, any person whose lands have become forfeited for non-payment of taxes may redeem the same with the bills at their face value. Second, in the cases now pending in court where tender of the bills had been made for last year's taxes, and such has been held to be legal, the holders may pay their taxes in such bills, provided they be endorsed by the judge by whom such bills may have been held to be legal. Persons holding bills who are not parties to any such . suits, and who may desire to avail themselves of the benefits of the act and get their bills approved, can come into court In all taxes to be hereafter levied the holders of the bills are at liberty to pay one-tenth of their tax in the bills.. The act further provides mat in me cases enumerated the bills shall be received only for State, and not .for county taxes, and directs the varous county toeasurers to make annnal returns of the bills of the bank recieved fcy them in accordance with the provisons of the act. "The Old Flag."?The stars and stripes became the national flag of the United States of America, by virtue of a resolution of Congress passed June 14, 1777. The use of stripes to mark the number of states on the flag cannot be clearly traced, but can be accounted for by a custom of the camp at Cambridge. The army of citizen volunteers comprised all grades of men. Very few were uniformed. It was almost impossible for the sentinels to distinguish general officers from privates. Frequently officers were placed at the outposts and held for identification until the arrival of the officer of the day. Orders were issued that the different grades of officers should be distinguished by a colored ribbon of light blue. The stars on the blue field? "a new constellation"?were suggested by the constellation Lyra, time-honored as an emblem of union. The thirteen stars with which the flag was originally adorned were to represent the number of States, and from time to time as new States have been annexed, the number of stars have been increased. An Engaging Manner.?Politeness is to man what beauty is to a woman. It creates an instantaneous impression in his behalf, while, the opposite quality exercises as quick a prejudice against him. The politician who has this advantage, easily distances all the rival candidates, for every voter he speaks with become instantly his friends. The very tones in which he asks for a pinch of snutf are often more potent than the logic of a Webster or a Clay. Polished manners have often made scoundrels successful, while the best of men, by their hardness and coldness, have done themselves incalculable injury?the shell being so rough that the world could not believe there was a precious kernel within it. Had Raleigh never flung down his cloak in the mud for the proud Elizabeth to walk on, his career in life would scarcely have been worth recording. Scores of men have been succesful in life by pleasing manners alone. A trait of character well worth cultivating, lads. Never forget the value of true civility. ? I An Aristocratic Mechanic.?Baron c?Unroi.f?.fiflnVini'n tVio Miniatflp from Austria uuuirai b<<~u?uvwiU| vuv _ to this country, exhibits an abnormal tendency to be useful as well as ornamental in his day and generation. Although a nobleman by birth, he is an excellent practical mechanic, and has learned how to build and manage almost all kinds of machinery. Instead of spending his time in listless diplomatic dawdling about Washington, he devotes much of his leisure to manual labor in large manufactories of the varied mechanical interests of our country. Recently, in Newark, New Jersey, he went to a trunk factory, where he SDeedilv learned to make trunks and traveling bags, specimens of which he sent, with many other products, to the Museum of Mechanics of Vienna. It is stated that he is extraordinarily deft and quick in learning the manual details of mechanical pursuits. We suggest the baron's example as a good one to be followed by the many "barrens" of intellect who infest the city of Washington after the Micaw ber fashion. ? How Much We Talk.?It is well that all we say is not written down?not only because some of it might be rather against us, but because there would not be room for it. A curious Frenchman has lately been making a calculation, which is that a man talks on an average three hours a day, at the rate of about twenty-nine octavo pages an hour. This would make eighty-seven pages a day, about 8'x hundred a week, which would amount to fifty-two good-sized volumes every year. And then, multiplying this by the number of years in a man's life, what a library he would have if it should all be printed ! And, too, how very little of the whole would be worth preserving, and how much he would be so glad if it had been unsaid ! ? Lending Money.?In order to make an enemy, lend a man a small sum of money for a day. Call upon him in a week for it. Wait, two months. In three months insist upon his paying you. He will get angry, denounce you, and ever after speak of you in abusive terms. We have seen this experiment tried, repeatedly, and never knew it fail.