Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, June 28, 1877, Image 1

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lewis m. grist, proprietor.j ||it $nkpmhitt Jfantilg ftetospger: .for % |)rotnotion of f|t political, Social, ^griraltnral anb Commercial Interests of t|e Son% |terms?$3.00 a tear, in advance. VOL. 23. YORKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JTJJSTE 28. 1877. 3STO. 26. ihe JFtstg PRECEPT AND PRICTICET BY AMY SKELTON. All quiet; the coals crackling in a gossippy sort of way behind the bars of the grate; the pussy-cat purring sleepily on the velvet hearthrug; the clock ticking, like silver drops of water, upon the mantelself; and Mrs. Ives' needle glancing in and out of her work like a small ray of lightning. The children were all tucked snugly up in bed, for Mr. Julius Ives liked to be quiet when he came home from business, and Mrs. Ives was the most devoted and obedient of conjugal partners. It was an exquisitely neat room?a room where the sweet home element predominated in every nook and corner?a room to which the tired business man might look forward all day, as a haven of rest and peace. The clock struck eight; pussy stretched herself drowsily before the fire, and Mr. Ives laid down the paper with a preparatory "Ahero!" "And now, Melissa," he said, authoritativek. lv. "vou mav brine me the tradesmen's bills." I ~J 9 J ~ O % I Poor Mrs. Ives started in her chair as if a cannon-ball bad thundered ominiously into the silence of the cosy little apartment. How much she dreaded the weekly recurrence of this domestic ukase, was only known to herself! It was the skeleton in her closet?the one embittering element of her happy honae life?the hauntiug ghost that no diplomacy had yet enabled her to exercise ! Yet, like a well-trained wife, as she was, she brought the tiDy packet of bills, and sat down meekly at her husband's side. She was a pretty woman, tall and graceful, with straight, regular features, rosy cheeks, and soft wistful eyes, that looked like brown velvet; a womau whose hands always were white and delicate, and whose dresses always seemed to fit by magic. Nor was Mr. Julius Ives a disagreeahle specimen of mankind to look upon. He was large, and finely-formed, with dark hair, strongly disposed to curl at the ends, and bright black eyes. Yet, nevertheless, there if r _ _? i: _ wns a certain curve in iur. xves upper up that savoured somewhat of the imperative mood. "Butter again ! That's five pounds we've used within the week," moaned Mr. Ives, checking off the various items of the grocer's bill with the little gold pencil that hung at his watch chain. "My dear, does Bridget grease the kitchen pans with butter?" Mrs. Ives' cheek glowed. "Now, Julius, what is the use of talking in that sarcastic sort of way? You don't seem to reflect that a family like ours cannot subsist on air?and you like to have all the cooking very rich, you know." "Rich! I should think so. Ham?codfish. By the way, Melissa, Jones says they only buy meat three times a week?have it cold every other day. Jones' wife knows how to economize. I suppose you haven't the least idea of what becomes of the joints after they leave the table." "I have no doubt of Bridget's perfect honesty, Julrus." "Oh! no?of course not. But I do think, Melissa, it is a wife's duty to pay some sort of attention to her husband'3 pocket." "Our bills are not disproportionately large, Julius." "They must be, my dear?they must be. Positively it's enough to frighten one, just to run over these items in the house keeping ac counts! Sugar?raisins?oil?oysters! Me* lissa, do I keep a restaurant ? If not, where do all these things go !" Mrs. Ives was sileut. "Bread?steaks?joint?two tons of coal! Upon my word !" Still Mrs. Ives maintained complete taci luruiiy. "Melissa," said her husbaod, placing the 'bills rather emphatically on the table, "we 'must turn over a new leaf?we must, positively. Can't you retrench ?" "How ?" "In a thousand ways, my dear. Why, my mother never spent half the money you contrive to spend, and there were twelve of us." "Your mother lived on a farm, Julius. The milk, butter, cheese, and vegetables were from her farm and dairy?that meat and poultry were within her own barn-yard and pasture. I do not think it fair to institute a comparison between her expenses and mine." "Oh, that's the way you women all talk," said Mr. Ives, impatiently. "All I know is that there must be a screw loose somewhere. You must economize!" "But, Julius " "My love, don't you see I'm just lighting ? ? T nnnoK nnn omnl^Q tphmi TTi U i nij a uwbi v/uu oiuuov ?<vw imj i mind is iu any way disturbed, Suppose we dismiss the subject. I am quite sure that I have stated my wishes on the subject with sufficient distinctness!" Mrs. Ives bit her coral lip, and sewed away vigorously at her work. But if her thoughts co?Tld have descended in a shower bath of words on Mr. Julius Ives' devoted head, how they would have started him from the calm complacency of his mood. ' Yes, I'll economize," thought Mrs. Melissa, vindictively dragging the thread through the seams. "Why will a man relinquish his dignity so far as to interfere in matters he caunot possibly understand. I wonder if he thinks nine people can live on a pint of milk and two baked potatoes a day? I wonder if he knows that I make all the puddings and pies, and give out the tea and coffee, and superintend everything myself. He might know it, if he would take the trouble to inquire, instead of indulging in such sweeping denunciations. I wonder if he ever suspects that I trim my own bonnets, and my own dresses, aud make the little oues' clothes, to save unnecessary outlay. It's almost enough to make a woman wish she had uever got married." But then Melissa thought of the rosy little ones fast asleep up stairs, and concluded, on the whole, there were some sunbeams in her lot. * * * * * "Hallo, Elmer! Why, surely this isn't VTAtl ?" ;vu "Well, I don't know whom else it can be," ^ " coolly remarked the handsome, bronzed-looking gentlemau, who had lounged into Mr. Ives' office; "and I've brought Harry Lamarque with me?you remember him don't you ?" "Remember him?I should think so. And we haven't met before since our college days. Well, I declare, this is a curious coincidence! You'll both of you promise to come and dine with me to day at five, won't you? Come? I'm sure you haven't any other engagement, and I'll introduce you to my wife." "I'll come," said Elmer, promptly ; "and I'll engage to bring Lamarque with me." "But you are not going?" "I must?I've no end of business to transact; but we'll have a regular chat at dinner, old boy !" Melissa had hardly despatched her little band of chubby-faced children to school that morning, when the office boy came knocking at the door with a note. "From Mr. Ives, ma'am?there ain't no answer." The note ran as follows: "I shall brin^ two old college-mates, Elmer and Lamarque, to dinner. Let it be on the table punctually at five. Your affectionate Junius." Mrs. Ives folded up the note and deposited it in her desk, with a comical smile hovering around her mouth. "Economy is the order of the day," she thought It was a bleak day, toward the end of November, with a raw wind, and sky overcast with leaden clouds; and Mr. Ives' nose was decidedly tiuged with blue, as he ushered his two shivering guests into the drawing-room. "Walk in, gentlemen?walk in and warm yourselves," he said, with hospitable fervor, rubbing his hands. But, contrary to all his expectations?contrary to the usual domestic arrangements prevailing in that household, the polished grate ! presented no glowing surface of flame?the : air was damp and chilly as that of a mausoleum. Julius bit his lip, and repressed the rather demonstrative expression that was rising to his tongue. "Be seated, gentlemen; 1 will rectify this mistake immediately," he said, leaving the room. "How is this ? No fire and the room like an ice-well 1" was his petulant exclamation, as he met his wife in the hall." "Coal is thirty shillings a ton, Julius?it is necessary for us to economize," returned Melissa. demurely. - "Send the maid this minute to kindle a fire," said Julius, with his teeth chattering. "And?my dear, you are surely not going into i the room in that faded, old dress ?" "Of course, I am. My best silk is beginning to wear; and as I can't afford another, I must be as economical as possible." Julius Ives made a queer grimace; be didn't at all like the operation of "swallowing his own words." And Melissa walked iuto the presence of his friends, faded old dress and all. "Five o'clock?isn't dinner nearly ready ?" asked Mr. Ives, consulting his chronometer with a sort of warning glance at his wife. Melissa rose, and the same instant dinner was announced. Now Mrs. Ives was a capital housekeeper, who possessed the faculty of getting up tempting dinners on the shortest possible notice; so that Julius naturally expected a repast suitable to the occasion. What was his dismay on beholding the cold, hacked joint of yesterday, flanked by a few potatoes! There was no sparkling wine?nothing but beer, and no visible dessert. Elmer and Lamarque took the seats designated to them, and with polite unconsciousness; but Julius Ives looked as black as a thunder-cloud. "Melissa?what does this mean ?" he whispered. "Does what mean, ray love ?" asked Melissa, with a face of the most innocent astonishment in the world. Just at that moment, the six little Ives all burst into the room, all shabby and patched, like so raauy candidates for cold victuals. As a general thing, Julius was passing proud of his pretty, well-dressed children ; now parental complacency was at a discount, and he stamped his foot impatiently. "Go and get dressed, my dears," he said, sternly. "What on earth does nurse mean by allowing you to come down stairs in this outlandish manner?" "We are drethed, papa!" lisped out Master July, with the boldness of conscious rectitude. "Mamma laid out the clothes for uth?she thays it ith econ?econ " Mr. Julius Ives hurried and hustled the little ones out of the room, without waiting for any farther explanations. "Melissa," he said, earnestly, drawing his wife aside in the how-window, "what is the matter? Are you crazy ?" "Not crazy, love," returned Melissa, sweetly, "only endeavoring to follow the illustrious example of Mrs. Joues, and 'retrench.' " "But, my dear " "Pardon me, Julius?you said that my extravagant housekeeping was 'wasting you out of house and home.' I think that, after this, you will hardly venture to make that accusation a second time." "My dear, I?I was a fool," said Julius, with a choking sensation under the bow of his cravat. "I won't interfere in housekeeping affairs again, I promise you. I'm quite convinced that I know nothing whatever about the subject. Hereafter I will leave it in your hands." j "Entirely, and without interference ?" asked Mrs. Ives, doubtfully. "Entirely, and without interference," returned Mr. Ives, decisively. Mrs. Ives turned to her puzzled guests. "Gentlemen, will you walk into the other room ?" she asked, with a calm, self-possession that rather astonished them. As she spoke, the folding-doors were thrown back, revealing an elegant little apartment beyond. Julius walked to the head of a second dinner-table with a most whimsical face. There were delicate roast fowls, and a ham ; while savoury plates were ranged in tempting proximity. The glass and silver were all in a glitter?the wines were bright; and a dainty little desert was neatly arranged on the beaufet. Julius Ives'whole countenance bad cleared up with magical promptitude. He turned round, and gave his wife a hearty kiss before he began to carve the chickens ! What Messrs. Elmerand Lamarque thought just then is not on record; but when Melissa came in, subsequently to the after-dinner cigars, bright and smiling in her "best silk," with the little Ives clustered around her, as fresh and rosy as so many pink and white daises, they must assuredly have concluded that Julius knew what he was about when he ?t.A??nn rvifK kr?r krnwn j liuirnuu UiaL jncnj nuiuaui if i in aiw uiviiu j eyes and coral-red mouth! And before the evening was out, Mr. Ives fancied that his domestic discomfiture was too | good a joke to keep to himself; and so he confided the whole story to his friends. "Ofcourse Mrs. Ives was right," said Elmer. "To be sure she was," assented Lamarque. "I tell you what, Jule, you made a donkey of yourself that time!" Nor did Mr. Ives venture to deny the selfevident tact. From that day to this he has never said a word, good, bad, or indifferent, against the house-keeping bills! MADAME GARBETTA. One night Madame Garbetta, the wife of Monsieur Garbetta, found in her husband's pocket a little pink note?a perfumed note? written in a woman's hand, and not too well ! spelt, which requested him to meet some un; known fair one at the corner of a certain square as the evening bells chimed six. Madame Garhetta said nothing, but that evening she took a cab, and, closely veiled ! and hooded, was driven to the spot indicated in the note. There she saw Monsieur Garbetta meet a very pretty young lady and give ! her his arm. The next morning Madame Garbetta made | a confidante of her maid while she was dressj ing her hair. The maid replied that it was certainly very I wrong of monsieur, but that all men were i alike when one knew them, and that madame j would do better to keep her discovery from monsieur. However, madame did not accept this sage advice. That very night the maid heard her scream: "You will kill me!" and the next | morning madame showed her a black mark I about her neck, and told her that monsieur | had been so greatly angered by her reproachj es that he had choked her with his hands. Again the maid advised her mistress to be ! quiet and say no more, but it was evident that unpleasant scenes frequently occurred. Madame often told Lucille, the maid, that she was really in fear of her life. One morning madame was ill, strangely ill?seriously, it Beemed to Lucille. Monsieur, probably repenting his late un- 1 kindness, the girl then thought, remained in the room with her, and was all attention. Tea had been brought up; a cup of it had stood by the bedside. "Give me some tea, Carl. I am dying of thirst," said the lady. The husband lifted the cup to her lips. She , emptied it, save the dregs. "How kind he is," she said. "He has been , giving me those refreshing drinks all night." Monsieur thereupon whispered to Lucille, < in a low tone : 1 "I fear my wife is wandering in her mind. 1 I have not given her anything to drink be- | fore. A doctor must be sent for." ^ Soon after he went out to call one, and the . lady begged to be left alone that she might sleep. An hour afterward the doctor came. * Lucille conducted him to her lady's room. 1 There a sight met his eyes that horrified them 1 both. Half aud half out of the low French ( bed lay the dead body of Madame Garbetta, ( who had evidently expired in awful agony, j On the floor near her was a crumpled piece of paper, and a pencf.l. ThAo* the dnntor d.d nnt see. but Lucille 1 did. Even at this terrible moment, her intense natural love of order, cultivated during fifteen years of waiting-maid life, prompted her to pick them up and put them in her pocket. Also, while the doctor bent over the rigid form, which he replaced in bed, she put the empty cup, which yet stood upon a chair, into a little cupboard. These actions were quite mechanical. "She is dead," said the doctor, "and her death does not seem to me to have been a natural one. I should say that it was death by poison. We must investigate the matter. Call Monsieur Garbetta. Monsier Garbetta was summoned. At the terrible news that met him he swooned away. Lucille remembered very well the screams she had heard, and the black mark upon her lady's neck, also the story of the woman he had met at the corner of the square. At the inquest she told all this. The tea-cup was produced and in the dregs was found arsenic enough to kill a man. A post-mortem examination was made, and the medical men decided that Madame Garbetta had come to her death by arsenical poisoning. Mr. Garbetta was at once arrested, and on his trial an apothecary was called who attested that the prisoner, who was well known to him by sight as well as by name, had, only a few days before, purchased of him a packet of arsenic to kill mice with. Monsieur Garbetta acknowledged the unpleasant scenes which had occurred, but declared they were altogether his wife's fault. That he had endeavored to soothe her. That * she tried to choke herself with her handKer- J chief. He had given her tea from a cup like the one produced, but the tea was brought from the kitchen, and he knew nothing of its composition. There had been none in the room at night. He had bought the arsenic because his wife had found mice in the drawer which held her finest laces, and at her request. But who believes the story of one accused ? The trial brought forth what seemed positive j proof of Monsieur Garbetta's guilt, and he was condemned to death. j Lucille, who had loved her mistress, actually rejoiced over the fact. She had done all 1 she could to bring "him to justice; she was ? glad that she had done so. As the days of 1 his imprisonment ilew on she felt no pity for } him. As that dawned on which he was to die, she resolved, if possible, to see him hung, j She had a friend within the prison, and easily obtained permission to gratify her terrible wish. 1 "One who could kill my dear mistress is < but a dog," she said ; "I shall be happy to see c him meet a dog's death." c So she passed on to the spot where the , black gallows could be seeu. She wore the i ' * 1 i . l ? -1 1 _ J 1 cap or ner class, a sairi snorter man a muy a would have been, and a dainty polonaise. This skirt was a black silk one she had worn on the morning of madaine's death. She bad put it on because the handsome young doctor was expected, if the truth must be told. In its pocket was a handkerchief edged with lace. ! The unhappy man was led out. "I am glad to see him," she whispered to a neighbor. "I lived with Madame Garbetta. I know how he used her." The wretched gentleman, standing before those who had come to see him die, swore that be was guiltless of his wife's death. She murmured "Liar." Then the last act came. Lucille looked at it as a scene of some merry play. "Good," she said. "Justice is sometimes done." And as she spoke she thrust her hand into her pocket, and pulled out her handkerchief. With it emerged two things more?a piece of paper and a lead pencil. Since she picked them up from the floor of Madame Garbetta's room, Lucille had not remembered them. Now the incident flashed upon her mind. She saw her mistress's handwriting, and spread the paper open before her eyes. There were a crowd of words written upon it. They were these: "I find that I am too weak to rise. I cannot call loud enough to be heard. I shall die before any one comes, won spare me to wrue mis. x I cannot go before Him a liar. "I liavo poisoned myself. My husband was 1 unfaithful to me. I did not care to livo; and, in j my rage, I revenged myself by casting suspicion upon him. I liavo planned so well that he must < be accused of my death. Now I repent. May ( God grant it is not too late. May Ho forgive me. I swear before Ilim this is the truth. l Rosink Garuktta." , Lucille uttered a scream and flew away | iuto the prison. It was long before she found one to whom to tell her tale, and then it was quite useless. Monsieur Garhetta had gone * to meet his wife?only his senseless body lay J in its coffin, its reproachful eyes glaring blind- ] ly at the sky. i For years after a poor, demented creature ( wandered about the town?a woman who had been pretty once, and was not yet old. She was quite harmless, but she often terrified strangers by stopping them in the street and ' saying, in a fierce whisper: i "I tell you Monsieur must not be hung. ] Monsieur is innocent. Madame declares it." ] It is Lucille, Madame Garbetta's waiting- ] maid. , The National Capitol.?The corner , stone of the capitol was laid by Washington, ( on the 18th day of September, 1793. The 1 building was opened for the meeting of Congrees November 18th, 1800. Enlargement ( j and new dome completed in 1867. The edi- ' j fice fronts the east, is 751 feet long, 848 feet 1 wide, and covers 3^ acres; c<;?Tt yards 3* j acres; in all 7 acres. The predominant ma- j terial of the exterior is white marble. The dome is of cast iron, 135-4 feet in largest di- 1 ameter, and 287i feet high, surmounted by a 1 statue efLiberty 19J feet high. The interior of the dome forms a remarkable circular j chamber, or rotunda, 8G feet in diameter, 180 , ; feet high. One thousand gas-gets, Hashed by j electricity, illuminate the interior by night. The walls of the rotunda are adorned with * historical paintings hy eminent artists. The 1 Senate Chamber, House of Representatives, 1 Supreme Court rooms, and other apartments, < ; are splendidly decorated. The halls are lined } i with polished marbles from every State in the Union. Frescoes, paintings and sculptures ( abound. The front porticoes are supported . by one hundred Corinthian columns of white ' marble. The cost of the building was thir- ' teen million of dollars. < finding. f Original.] ELI DOOKINS' COURTSHIP. Nature seems to have so designed, thai whilst some men are "born to luck," othen ire the mere tools with which fortune sports There lives are not peculiarly miserable ,* bul constantly something is transpiring in theii listory, which is to them, for the moment )oth ridiculous and mortifying, and to othen ,hese events are exquisitely ludicrous. Tc ;his unfortunate class of the human familj jelonged Eli Dockins. When and where Eli ived, it makes no sort of difference to the eader. It is enough to know that he did ive, and for any thing that we know to the contrary, he is still alive. If this, however, it lie case be is an old man, and no doubt lucfi 8 still against him. It is Baid of a certain noted character, that le was noted for doing and saying every thing le did and said, different from every body slse. As an appropriate misnomer the name Sandy Andy was given him. Between Hanly Andy and Eli Dockins there seems to have sxisted this resemblance, that whilst the orraer said and did every thing awkwardly, ivery thing turned out awkwardly to the atter. Eli had a good face, a symmetrical form, ipen countenance, dignified movement, good iddress, excellent moral character, and dressed leat and becoming. He was poor, but not >oorer than the majority of those in the comnunity in which be resided. To say that he vas destitute of common sense, or without noral culture, would be at variance with the acts of the case. Eli's advice with regard o the every day affairs of life was treated with is much, if not more respect, than those ol lis own age in his neighborhood. At school le made commendable progress in his studies. lo much so, and so extensive were his attainnents in literature, that he was, when he eached the years of manhood, selected by lis neighbors to teach their children. In the :apacity of a school teacher he spent a coniderable portion of his early manhood, with iredit to himself and to the general satisfacion of his employers. Notwithstanding all that was favorable in md about Eli, he was the child of misfortune. >Iot in the sense that he suffered great pain, ir met with heavy losses, or had done any nfaraous deed. Such was not the case; for vhilst everything with him turned out differtut from what it does with other men, Eli's :onscience was as easy as the conscience ol nost men, and his life as free from actual ni8ery. Like most young men, Eli Dockins began ;o think of the girls when he arrived at the period which intervenes between gawkish joyhood and mature manhood. His extreme nodesty and the fear of doing some ludicrous ict, or saying some silly thing, prevented him roin thinking seriously of marrying until he lad nearly reached -his twenty-third year. He had been teaching school in the neigh jorhood for nearly eighteen months, and ivery thing was moving along in the comnunity very smoothly, so far as Eli was con:erned. It is true that there were a number ^ 1 rnn nrVinil fr fKc )I guuu jutiea iu viituiatiuu buiuug.jv.uv >> immunity respecting him ; but these iu nc vay affected Eli's standing in the neighboriond. The truth is, more than one family in hecomraunity would have been very glad tc lave taken Eli Dockins into their number, Several mothers were anxious that Eli would liscover the charms of their daughters. Eli was literally tortured by repeated inviations to visit his patrons. The object ol hese invitations to visit, many a man* with ar less sense than Eli Dockins, would have liscovered in a moment. Eli either remained u profound ignorance of bis popularity, or lis excessive modesty and bad luck in other espects prevented him from improving hie ipportunities. In the neighborhood in which Eli was eaching school, there resided a well-to-do, de:ent family. At this day and time it would >e called a poor family, and still the family vas, although making no sort of pretentions o wealth or any thing of the kind, really well >ff in the world. It was a poor family, ac jording to modern notions, Decause every nemberofthe family worked, and?it maters not where the inconsistency lies?the amily to-day would be regarded rich, because t had an abundance of everything required ;o build up wasting humanity, and had also noney to lend. The father and mother of this inassuming, lut happy family, so far as mortals can be lappy, were in the prime of life, and rejoicing n one less than half a score of healthy chilIren. The oldest was a son, broad shoulderad and muscular. The second was a girl, low just passing through her seventeenth summer. She was neither fair as a lily, not irowu as a bun; but hale and healthy. Hei ayes sparkled with wit, and her voice was as ilear as the lark's. No dyspepsia, no neural gia, darkened her cheeks with a frown, 01 poisoned her tongue with bitterness. There tvere some things which a modern belle can lo which she could not do, and she could dc some things which a modern belle would nol ;ry to do. She could card and spin ; cook ind wash ; milk the cows and churn ; make a lew coat and patch an old one; and in a pinch hoe the garden, and feed the calves and pigs. There were some things this maid had lever heard of. She did not know any thing ibout taking snuff or painting the cheeks. Eli Dockins saw this girl. His heart was noved, and the first impulse of his nature was ;o woo her and wed her. He was in earnest, [t was the first time in his life that he had ;ver seriously contemplated marrying. Week ifter week, month after month, passed be ;ween forming the resolve and the attempt to jut it into execution. The purpose, however, emained firm in his mind. Spring passed iway. Summer had come and was passing iway. About the middle of July a vacation occurred in Eli Dockins' school. Now he determined to devote his leisure hours to what had aeen the dream of months. Day after day was let apart for making the first move. Strange nconsistencies were brought prominently to ;iew?at least Eli Dockins felt the effects ol jmotions apparently irreconciliable. At last, ifter days spent in contradictory resolutions, Eli Dockins fixed himself up, and in good earnest set out on foot to visit the object ol ais affections. It was only a short distance, i)ut he set out soon after noon. Some times, an the way,he would stop and think?devising something to talk about when he would ar' rive at the house. More than once, he came ; very Dear giving way to his modesty and returning. On the way, it so happened that there was ^ a fine peach tree loaded with the most luscious , fruit. Eli stopped, took out his knife, peeled and eat peaches for a long time?more to . while away time than anything else. Final. ly, filling his pockets with peaches, he set out, in a kind of half run and half walk, like a | man goiDg to do a thing which he knows he , ought to do, and yet does not want to do. In r a few moments he reached the premises. The I family saw him, and he was most kindly welb corned by every individual on the place. The ^ father talked about crops and schools, and } the mother and her grown daughter talked J about any and every thing that they thought . would interest their visitor. The little ones played, a sort of half bold and half shy. In those olden days a "school master" was , no ordinary man. He exercised far more in) fluence in his community than a circuit judge , of the present day does. He not only taught the children for twelve months in the year? , from Monday morning to Saturday at twelve ( o'clock?except the Tuesday of the county court, and the Friday and Saturday before the ( administration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ; but he drew all the wills, all the land deeds, and any other instrument of wriI J' Al?X 3:?i1 I nog m&i any luuiviuuai m iuo uumuiuuivj might need. This accounts, in part, for the respect which was shown Eli Dockins. The main reason, however, was that the father and mother had no objection to an arrangement that would make Eli their son-in-law. Night came on, supper was eaten, and at an hour, perhaps later than usual, the family retired. Eli was , made to feel easy before bed-time. This was a grand achievement. To him it was a perfect success, although he had said nothing to the object he came to visit, except in the back and forth conversation of the family. Eli slept soundly, and woke up in the morning satis&ed with himself and cheered with the bright prospects before him. With a feeling of self-satisfaction, which can be easier imagined than described, the idea occurred to him that the days of his bad luck and misfortunes were passed and gone. No event had thus far transpired to present him in a ludicrous aspect, and with a consciousness of in' nocency, he believed that for once in his life he would give no one a cause to laugh, nor to himself ground for mortiBcation. Some one of the Greek philosophers said no [ man ought to say he was happy until he died. 1 M 1 1 1 - * ' - - 1 L fossiDiy tie meant mat some eveui iuigiu, ai any time, occur, which would mar any one's happiness. This seems to have been the case 1 with Eli Dockins. Whether he was born to * bad luck or not, one thing is sure, he was of1 ten very unlucky. ! In order to understand what followed dur1 ing this eventful visit of Eli Dockins, a knowl1 edge of the premises is necessary. The house ' was an unpretending structure, perhaps thirty-five or forty feet long by twenty-five feet wide; two stories high, with what was at that ' day called a back shed. A partition divided the lower story into two apartments. The larger of these was the family sitting room ; the smaller the company bed room. The ! family slept above stairs and in the back ' sheds. Eli Dockins was put in the company room. 1 A rail fence enclosed the dwelling house, 1 kitchen and smoke house, and at the same ; time separated these from the barn, stables and corn crib. The front gate stood facing the door of the dwelling house, which stood ^ north and south. The kitchen stood east and west, at the north end of the dwelling house, and some ten or fifteen paces nearer the front 1 yard fence. The kitchen door faced the road leading from the front gate to the door of the dwelling house. We should have mentioned that among the planters or mat period, it was uui cuaiumary to have a dining room. On all ordiuary oc' casions the family took their meals in the kitchen. When they bad company, the sitting room was used as a dining-room. It so happened that the family which Eli 1 Dockins was visiting, had in the yard a pet pig, or if we are to name it in accordance with its size, a pet hog. This pig was not very particular where it went, and as the sequel will show, less particular what it did. 1 It claimed the right to go into the house and 1 through the house. Usually, it did no mis' chief and was a great favorite with the whole 1 family, and especially with that member which had so inflamed the heart of Eli Docki ins. i As it was not a busy season of the year, the [ family did not rise until about sun up. The mother and daughter went to the kitchen to prepare an extra breakfast. The father and i son went to the stable to feed and care for the i stock. The smaller members crawled out, ' one at a time. Some sat down on the steps, ' and others went out into the yard and en> gaged in play. Soon the plates began to rattle, on the table "V ri -1-?-- 1 i.U-4. ID the Slttiog-room. Jlill JJOCKillS &uew mat i breakfast would soon be ready. He prepared i to get up. Now arrived the hour of his mis1 fortunes. A thoughtless little member of the ' family, or the pet hog, opened the door of the : room in which Eli was. It matters not how k or by whom the door was opened ; it is enough i to know that it was opened, and the vile hog, I although desiguing no harm to any one, enI tered. ' Eli Dockins' clothing was lying upon a a chair, in his room. On the evening before, 1 after satisfying his appetite with peaches, he 1 had filled his pockets. These he designed for a particular member of the family; but as yet no good opportunity had been presented to do with them as he desirned. The moment " the hog entered his room, its nasal organ i I ?..~Ut flonn* rtf tlin npiiplipg Tt. wna not. uauglib buc anvui w* v?v ^vwvxvw. ,.wv MWW i long in finding where they were stored away. Finding them, with the greed which makes a > bog hoggish, it seized peaches, pockets and all in its mouth and made for a safe retreat. No one, except poor Eli Dockins, knew what had taken place. Poor fellow 1 There he lay ; his pants and coat gone. "What will I i do?" he thought with himself, i There are thousands of men with far less i mind and no modesty, who could have workf ed themselves out of the difficulty with comi parative ease. Not so with Eli Dockins. In , a difficulty, he never got out of it only by I getting into a worse one. Determined to do F something, he adopted the worst course he , could. Leaping from bed like a crazy man, , he stuck his head out of his room door to see ; if any one of the family was in sight. See j ing do one be made a dash for the front door and leaped out. Just at this moment the good woman of the house and her daughter were coming from the kitchen?one with a large plate of bread, the other with a dish of fried meat Eli Dockins, in his night clothes, goaded on by a modesty which knew no moderation, having leaped out of the door, ran with all his might down the path leading to the front gate, jumped the fence and took to the woods. The family thought, as any one else would have thought, that he was crazy, and it was not until after a considerable time that the origin of the difficulty was discovered. Poor Eli married, but not the girl he first loved. His coat and pants were sent to him, but the vile hog had ruined them. For a number of years after this sad affair, Eli Dockins became nervous on the sight of a hog. ? ? Correspondence of the News and Courier. THE STATE CAPITOL. At the State House, the heads of departments, together with their assistants, have been quite busily engaged in the labor of setI tino- thintrs to ricrhts erenerallv in the -various offices, and in getting acquainted with the books and other details of their respective duties. A commendable activity prevails in this quarter, but nothing of news is evolved therefrom for the benefit of the outside world. The Governor's office is never without one or more visitors of both races and sexes bent upon all manner of business?sometimes of the most trifling nature, and these sit patiently in the ante-room hour after hour awaiting their turn with much the air of so many hapless convicts awaiting execution, and not a few apparently getting "a turn" before their time comes. The Governor's private secretary, Mr. Wade H. Manning, occupies the little pigeon-bole of a room partitioned off from the ante room for the use of such offices, and upon him falls the chief burden of state. All applications to see the Governor are made direct to him, and to him falls the duty of considering such applications, and, if approved, of obtaining the much desired audience. No situation in South Carolina requires such an immense .reserved fund of politeness and courtesy in the incumbent to enable him to give satisfaction; but Mr. Manning seems possessed of such a fund, and none are turned away with a rough answer. To the banker, who desires to advise the Governor upon his financial policy ; to the applicant for a trial justiceship in the backwoods ; and to Dinah who wishes to secure "the Gubner's influence to keep her ole man from gitting drunk and beating of her," to all these, and to many thousands more bent upon many thousand divers errands, Mr. Manning exhibits the same unruffled countenance, and only counsels all to wait and he'll see what he can do. A flaring card, bearing the legend, "No admittance, except upon business," stares at the visitor from the panel of his (Mr. Manning's) door, but no visitor ever stares at it. For all practicable purposes it might as well U-* 4<?fko tna 1! Q*TQi?tT rnln Kqa lfa py. UC IU1 UCU LU bUO ntill J V/ I J l UIV IIUO tvw va ception, and every visitor considers himself the exception in this case, and with the less hesitation that every man, woman and child who chances to read the sign, excuses him or herself on the ground that he or she is certainly "on business." Clearly, "private" secretary is a misnomer; the unfortunate gentleman who answers to that title so many hundreds of times in the course of a day, is the most public secretary in life. I must not omit to mention Billy Rose in this connection. Billy is the private secretary's private secretary and the Governor's messenger, and the Governor himself is not half so important a personage as is Mr. Rose, in Mr. Rose's own eyes. This old colored man is a character in his way, and is well and favorably known by all who visit his kingdom, the ante-room. Uncle Billy was an attache of the State Democratic executive committee during the dark days of quo warranto and aliunde proceedings, and the puffing effects of all the hard words he heard in that capacity and in those days may be seen in his every movement. Moreover, Bil ly's history extends back into tbe days or "The Lost Cause," when upon one of the bloodiest fields of the war the old man, then \ a servant, knelt by the side of his dying master and received his last sad messages to his far-off family and friends?that soldier was 1 Gen. Maxcy Gregg, and Billy now wears a beautiful gold watch which is the most sacred , thing to him in the world, given into his hands 1 as a present from the great soldier who died ! that day at Billy's side. When Gov. Cham- 1 berlaiu's private secretary turned over the great seal of State to Governor Hampton's 1 private secretary, uncle Billy was present, and ] to him Governor Chamberlain's old colored ] messenger "Wash," another character well 1 known about Columbia, turned over the coal 1 scuttle, the insignia of his humble office, and 1 Billy was thereby inaugurated into bis present ' high estate. In the Secretary of State's office the usual j routine work is in progress, somewhat varied at present with copying and assorting the . acts passed by the recent Legislature, though on seeond thought it may be doubted if such 1 work can be assorted under fewer heads than J of the acts themselves. In the office of the comptroller-general the 1 Big Bonanza is at present on the boards again, positively its last appearance for one year. The first series of claims passed by the ' commission is now being rapidly paid up, and the lucky owner of sound warrants flit from the comptroller's to the treasurer's office in ! happy succession, making much work neces- ! sary in both departments. The superintendent of education and the adjutant and inspector general are also hard at work. A visit to the Supreme Court room showed j Judge Willard occupying his new seat, the middle one of three on the bench. Judge , Mclver occupied the one on his right, looking j as dignified and as much at home as if he bad , kn/>n t'Krtrri araiaoH" there nnft hurl never ' U&CU Ul/iU UUU A MIUUU VKVl V| MMM MWV. ..V. v. left it for a moment since his advent. Wright's seat is vacant?even more so, if possible, than ( when he used to occupy it; and the chair ( where he so often sat when syruptitiously im- | peached on divers never-to-be forgotten occa- ( sions?now stretches out its empty arms for j his probable Democratic successor. ? ? + Boyhood's Diseases.?-The various diseases which attack boyhood are worthy of study. When a man is sick he just takes to his bed and says no more about it. If he is very sick j he is calm, placid and tractable. He takes i his medicine without a murmur and sips his 1 chicken broth with becoming gratitude. If he { is only a little sick he is harder to take care i of than half a menagerie. He can do more f grumbling and find more fault without cause i than the most ambitious hypochondriac could < hope to put into a life time. But a boy is ? generally taken with alarming, if not fatal ( symptoms, at about half past eight a. m., when < school opens at nine. The tona motner ^ looks at his tongue, feels of bis head to see if ( it is not bursting with fever, and then tells g her husband to drop in at the doctors on his g way down town and ask him to hurry up lest ( he be too late. At exactly nine o'clock the ] boy's pulse grows steadier and there is a i calmer look in his eyes. The extreme lassi- g tude which betokens typhoid has passed off, g and by the time the boys in his class are wishing that they had been smart enough to have some kind of fever, he is sitting by the 1 river brink and putting a worm on the ItQQk, i Boyhood is peculiar, i CIRCULAR* STATE OP SOUTH CAROLINA, ) Office of State Sup't of Education-, } Columbia, June 14,1877. J The General Assembly at its recent session appropriated $100,000, exclusive of the poll tax, for the support of the Free Common Schools for this fiscal year. The amount to which your county is entitled is $ A heavy penalty having been imposed for the non-payment of the poll tax, it is believed that the amount derived from this source will be much larger than in any previous year. The law provides that the poll tax shall be retained by the County Treasurers, and that it shall be expended for school purposes in the township in which it is collected. If the schools in your county have been closed this year, I would advise you to open them as soon as possible, and to keep tbem opened until the above mentioned amount and the amount (as nearly as you ce? estimate it) to be derived from the poll ta.x are exhausted. If, however, the indebtedness for work done during this fiscal year is equal to the amount to which your county is entitled, the schools should be closed at once. You will please re -I _ _ _i l_ port promptly to tms omce wnetner me scnooia are open or not, as it is my desire to visit those counties in which the schools are in op* eration. In advance of the publication of the Acts passed at the recent session of the General Assembly, I will call to yoar attention the following summary of the amendments to the school law: 1. Teachers' certificates and all claims against the Free School Fund must be sworn to by persons presenting the claims. All trustees are authorized and required to admin* ister oaths, free of charge, to persons by whom such claims are presented. 2. The same person cannot act as Trustee and Teacher of a public school. 3. The law authorizing the levy of a District School tax has been repealed. 4. The compensation allowed to County School Commissioners is three (3) dollars a day for the time actually employed, provided the number of days in each and every year for which said compensation shall be allowed shall, in no case, exceed one hundred days, except in the county of Charleston, where the number of days shall not exceed one hundred and fifty. The following communication, announcing the regulations prescribed by the Comptroller-General for the payment of County School ? Commissioners, is published for your ioforma tiuu STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, ) Office of the Comptroller-General, \ Columbia, Jane 10,1877. J Hon. H. S. Thompson. Superintendent of Education. Sir: There is some doubt as to the amount of compensation School Commissioners may be entitled to from the beginning of this fiscal year to the 7th of J.nne instant. I deem it proper to say for your information, that I propose to apply the appropriation for the pay of those officers from the beginning of this fiscal year, as directed by the "Act to reduce and fix the salaries of certain officers," Section 8, approved June 7,1877. In doing this, I will require each County School Commissioner applying for a warrant to submit t an itemized account of his services, showing the number of days employed, and the character of the work upon which he was employed. This account must be sworn to before some one legally qualified to administer an oath, and come to ..^0, my office with your official approval. Respectfully, JOHNSON HAGOOD, Comptroller-General. This is the year in which the Trustees are required to make, or to have made, an enumeration of all children between the ages of six and sixteen years. The District School tax having been abolished, there is no fund from which the Trustees can be paid for this work. They are, however, earnestly requested to make the enumeration. The work is not onerous, and it is of the utmost importance that it should be done. Without the information thus obtained, it will be impossible for the Legislature, at the regular session, to make a correct estimate upon which to base the appropriation tor tree schools tor the next year. At five cents per capita, which has heretofore been allowed for this enumeration, the expense of making it, assuming that the school population is about what it was in 1875, would be nearly $12,000. The saving of this amount will surely be, to all Trustees .who really desire to promote the interests of the public schools, sufficient inducement to perform this important work without pay. Permit me to call your attention to the importance of having men of intelligence and high character on your Boards of Examiners and Boards of Trustees. The efficiency of the public school system must depend greatly upon the manner in which these boards are organized. "Partisan instruction in the schools" is forbidden, and. the best guarantee which you can give that this wise provision of the law will be enforced, will be the selection of competent per3on8 for Examiners and Trustees. I suggest, wherever it is practicable, that both races and both political parties be represented on these boards. Many of the school officers, and especially the Trustees, are notoriously incompetent. To retain them will reflect great discredit upon the School Commissionsre, and will be a wrong to the people of the State. It is my intention to request the Circuit Judges to instruct the Grand Juries to investigate the management of the public schools in the different counties, and I shall ask that the courts use their authority to remove all school officers who, through ignorance or neglect, fail to discharge their duties. Ah soon as possible after the closing of the schools, you will please send to this office all reports which you are required to make. Delay on the part of any one Commissioner, will retard the preparation of my report There will be no meeting this year of the Board of Education, no appropriation having been made to pay the mileage of members. School officers should bear in mind that the money appropriated for this year, cannot be used to meet deficiencies for previous years. Commissions issued since December 14, 1876, and not signed by His Excellency Governor Hampton, are not valid. In such cases, the School Commissioners must send their bonds, approved by the County Commissioners, to the Secretary of State, who will issue the commissions. Very respectfully, Hugh S, Thompson, State Superintendent of Education. Social Life.?Any great movement for good in social life begins at home. It begins with fathers and mothers. The first and highest duty is to make home, cheerful and ittractive. Husband and wife ffiust do this 'or each other. Without this their mutual iffection will dry up. If they have children, t is their duty to make home sweet and previous to them. Children with good hcmea leldom go to the bad. Girls who have learn- / vd to trust their mother, in their whole round )f thought, seldom get talked about. Boys who are made to feel the strength of a fath;r's and the tenderness of a mother's love. leldom run wild. Their natural love of fun md mischief does not bind them over to the levil's service, Pleasant, cheerful and bright lomes, then, are the great demand. They nay be poor, but they can still be pleasant ind attractive and good. The heart and ipirit are more than furniture and dwelling. |@-The cheerfhl are.tbe busy. When troujle knocks at your doofcor rings the bell he sill generally retire if you send him word yon ire engaged.