Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m:. gkist, proprietor. | ^Tt Jnbepenbent Jfamilg Ifetospaper: Jor % promotion of tjie political, Social, ^jjricnltttral anb Commercial Interests of t|e J5onf|. |TERM8?$3.00 A TEAR, IN ADVANCE. VOT,. Q4-. YORKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1878. NO. 23. ?hc ^torg idler. THE INTREPID MOTHER A TRAVELERS' TALE. The diligence from Paris to Chalone stopped one evening, just after dark, some miles beyond the little town of Rouviay, to set down an English lady and her child at a lonely roadside auberge. Mrs. Martin expected to find a carriage ready to take her to the Chateau de Senart, a distance of some leagues, whither she was repairing on a visit, but was told that it had not yet arrived. The landlady, a tall coarse-looking woman, who showed her into the vast hall that served at once as a sitting-room and kitchen, observed that the roads were so muddy and difficult at night that there was little chance of her friend arriving before the morning. "You had better, therefore," said she, "make up your miod to sleep here. We have a good room to offer you, and you'll be much more comfortable between a pair of clean, warm sheets, than knocking about our rough country, especially as jour dear child seems sickly." Mrs. Martin, though much fatigued by her journey, hesitated. A good night's rest was certainly a tempting prospect; but she felt so confident that her friends would not neglect her, that, after a moment, she replied, "I thank you, madame ; I will sit up for an hour or so ; it is not late, and the carriage may come, after all. Should it not, I shall be glad of your room, which you may prepare for me at any rate." The hostess, who seemed anxious that her guest should not remain in the great room, suggested that a fire might be made above ; but Mrs. Martin found herself so comfortable where she was?a pile of faggots was biasing on the vast hearth?that she declined at first to move. Her daughter, about five years of age, soon went to sleep in her lap, and she herself found that whilst her ears were anxiously listening for the roll of carriage wheels, her eyes occasionally closed, and slumber began to make its insidious approaches. In order to prevent herself from giving way, she endeavored to direct her attention to the objects around her. The apartment was vast, and lighted more by the glare of the fire than by the dirty candle, stuck into a filthy tin "stick," that stood on one of the long tables. Two or three huge beams stretched across half-way up the walls, leaving a space filled with flitting shadows above. From these depended a rusty gun or two, a sword, several bags, hanks of onions, cooking utensils, &c. There were very few signs that the house was much visited, though a pile of empty wine 1 ? ? ? Tkft Oaf UULWBM 1 ?l_y IU due UUI UCl . I uc lanuiuuj dui at some distance from the fire-place with her two sons, who laid their heads together and talked in whispers. Mrs. Martin began to feel uneasy. The idea entered her mind that she had fallen into a resort for robbers; and the words "C est1 elle," (it is she), which was all she heard of the whispered conversation, contiuued to alarm her. The door leading into the road was left ajar, and for a moment she felt an inclination to start up and escape on foot. But she was far from any other habitation, and if the people of the house really entertained any evil designs, her attempt would only precipitate the catastrophe. So she resolved on patience, but listened attentively for the approach of her friends. All she heard, however, was the whistling of the wind and the dashing of the rain, which had begun to fall just after her arrival. About two hours passed in this uncomfortable way. At length the door was thrust open, and a man, dripping wet, came in. She breathed more freely, for this new-comer might frustrate the evil designs of her hosts, if they entertained any. He wa3 a red-haired, jovial-faced looking man, and inspired her with confidence by the frankness of his manners. "A fine night for walking !" cried he, shaking himself like a dog who has scrambled out of a pond. "What have you to give me ? I am wet to the skin. Hope I disturb nobody. Give me a bottle of wine." The hostess, in a surly, sleepy tone, told her eldest son to serve the gentleman, and then addressing Mrs. Martin, said : "You see your friends will not come, and you are keeping us up to no purpose. You had better go to bed." <<T mill wait a lif+ln Inn or or " U7QQ the* rpnlv x niu nmv ? iiiitiv ivu^vt j ftmw v??v v|/*j | which elicited a kind of shrug of contempt. The red-haired man fiuished off his bottle of wine, and then said : "Show me a room, good woman. I shall sleep here to-night." Mrs. Martin thought as he pronounced these words he cast a protecting glance towards her, and she felt less repugnance at the idea of passing the night in that house. When, therefore, the red-haired man, after a polite bow, went up stairs, she said that as her friends had not arrived they might as well show her to a bed-room. "I thought it would come to that at last," said the landlady. "Pierre, take the lady's trunks up stairs." In a few minutes Mrs. Martin found herself alone in a spacious room, with a large fire burning on the hearth. Her first care after putting the child to bed was to examine the door. It closed only by a latch. There was no bolt inside. She looked round for something to barricade it with, and perceived a chest of drawers. Fear gave her strength. She half lifted, half pushed, it against the door. Not content with this, she seized a table, to increase the strength of her defence. The leg was broken, and when she touched it it fell with a crash to the floor. A long echo went sounding through the house, and she felt her heart sink within her. Bat the echo died away, and no one came; so she piled the fragments of the table upon the chest of drawers. Tolerably satisfied in this direction, she proceeded to examine the windows. They were all well protected with iron bars. The walls were papered, and, after a careful examination, seemed to contain no signs of a secret door. Mrs. Martin now sank down into a chair to reflect on her position. As was natural, after taking all these precautions, the idea suggested itself that it might be superfluous, and she smiled at the thought of what her friends would say when she related to them the terrors of the night. Her child was sleeping tranquilly, its rosy cheeks half buried in the pillow. The fire had blazed up a KrlrrKt whilst, fhfi nnsnnflfpd can 1UVU ( -J " die burned dimly. The room was full of pale, trembliog shadows, but she had no superstitious fears. Something positive could alone raise her alarm. She listened attentively, but could hear nothing but the howling of the wind over the roof, and the pattering of the rain against the window-panes. As her excitement diminished, the fatigue? which bad been forgotten?began again to make itself felt, and she resolved to undress and go to bed. Her heart leaped into her throat. For a moment she seemed perfectly paralyzed. She had undressed and put out the candle, when she accidentally dropped her watch. Stooping to pick it up, her eyes jfljiahintarily glanced toward the bed. A great mass of red hair, a hand, and a gleaming knife, were revealed by the light of the fire. After the first moment of terrible alarm, her presence of mind returned. She felt that she had herself cut off all means of escape by the door, and was left entirely to her own resources. Without uttering a cry, but trembling in eve ry limb, the poor woman got into bed by the side of her child. An idea?a plan?had suggested itself. It had flashed through her brain like lightning. It was the only chance left. Her bed was so disposed that the robber could only get out from beneath it by a narrow aperture at the bead, without making a noise ; and it was probable that he would choose, from prudence, this means of exit. There were no curtains in the way, so Mrs. Martin, with terrible decision and noiseless energy, made a running knot in her silk scarf, and held it poised over tbe aperture by which her enemy was to make his appearance. She had resolved to strangle him in defence of her own life and that of her child. The position was an awful one; and, probj ably, had she been able to direct her attention to the surrounding circumstances, she might have given way to her fears, and en1 - * - ' 1 T*l deavored to raise tne nouse oy screams. j.ue fire on the hearth?unattended to?had fallen abroad, and now gave only a dull, sullen light, with an occasional bright gleam. Every object in the vast apartment showed dimly and uncertainly, and seemed to be endowed with a restless motion. Now and then a mouse advanced stealthily along the floor, but, startled by some movement under the bed, went scouring back in terror to its hole. The child breathed steadily in its unconscious repose ; the mother endeavored also to imitate slumber, but the man under the bed, uneasy in his position, could not avoid occasionally making a slight noise. Mrs. Martin was occupied with only two ideas. First, she reflected on the extraordinary delusion by which she bad been led to see enemieB in the people of the house and a friend in this red-haired man ; and, secondly, it struck her that as he could fear no resistance from a woman, he might push aside the chairs that were in the way, regardless of the noise, and thus avoid the snare that was laid for him. Once even she thought, while her attention was strongly directed to one spot, he bad made his exit, and was leaning over I her; but she was deceived by a flickering shadow on the opposite wall. In reality there was no danger that he would compromise the success of his sanguinary enterprise ; the shrieks of a victim, put on his guard, might alarm the house. Have you ever stood, hour after hour, with your fishing-rod in hand, waiting with the ferocious patience of an angler for a nibble? If you have, you have some faint idea of the state of mind in which Mrs. Martin? with far other interests at stake?passed the time, until aD old clock on the chimney-piece told one hour after midnight. Another source of anxiety now presented itself?the fire had nearly burnt out. Her dizzy eyes could scarcely see the floor, as she bent with fearful attention over the head of the bed? the terrible noose hanging, like the sword of Damocles, above the gloomy aperture. "What," she thought, "if he delays his appearance until the night has completely passed away? Will it not then be impossible for me to adjust the scarf?to do the deed?to kill this assassiu?to save myself and ray child ? 0, God 1 deliver him into my hands!'" A cautious movement below?the dragging of hands and knees along the floor?a heavy, suppressed breathing?announced that the supreme moment was near at hand. Her white arms were bared to the shoulder; her hair fell wildly around her face like the mane of a lioness about to leap upon its prey ; the distended orbits of her eyes glared down 1 upon the spot where the question of life and death was soon to be decided. Time seemed immeasurably lengthened out?every second assumed the proportions of an hour. But at last, just as all lines and forme began to float before her sight through an indistinct mei dinm nf hlendid lieht and darkness, a black I mass interposed between her eyes aud the floor. Suspense being over, the time of action having arrived, every thing seemed to pass with magical rapidity. The robber thrust bis head cautiously forward. Mrs. Martin bent down. There was a half-choked cry?the sound of a knife falling on the floor ?a convulsive struggle. Pull! pull! pull! Mrs. Martin heard nothing?saw nothing but the scarf passing over the head of the bed be| tween her two naked feet. She had half thrown herself back, and, holding her scarf with both her hands, nulled with desperate energy for her life. The conflict had begun ; and one or the other must perish. The robber was a powerful man, and made furious efforts to get loose ; but in vain. Not a sound escaped from his lips?not a sound from hers. The dreadful tragedy was enacted in silence. "Well, Mother Guerard," cried a young roan, leaping out of a carriage that stopped : before the door of the auberge next morning ; j t "what news have vou for me ? Has my ! mother arrived ?" "Is it your mother?" replied the landlady, J who seemed quite good natured after her i night's rest. "There is a lady up stairs waiti iDg for some friends ; but she does not speak ' French easily, and seemed unwilling to talk. We could scarce persuade her to go to bed." "Show me the room !" cried Arthur, ruuning into the house. They soon arrived at the door, j "Mother ! mother!" cried he, but received no answer. "The door is only latched, for we have no robbers in this part of the country," said the ! landlady. But a formidable obstacle opposed their en! trance. They became alarmed especially ; when they heard the shrieks of the little girl, and burst open the door. The first object that presented itself was ! the face of the robber, violently upturned \ from beneath the bed, and with protruding I tongue and eyeballs; the next was the form of ! Mrs. Martin in the position which we left her. She was Btill pulling with both hands at the scarf, and glaring wildly at the head of the bed. The child bad thrown its arras around j her neck, and was crying ; but she paid no attention. The terror of that dreadful night had driven her mad. . Diversity of Dye Colors.?An English magazine, in an article on colors and their i ! durability in relation to dress, gives some in- \ terestiug particulars of the infiuite diversity ! | of shades. Although two thousand different' ! shades of color can readily be produced in the j dyeing of the present time, this number gives but a faint idea of effects that might be wrought by any other. Sax blue counts1 i from twenty to twenty-four shades produced , | by manufacturers in printed cottons, linen I -.-J 0III.0 cnrl a otill orrPAtpr SAriftt.V OOllld be ! ; auu ouna, aim u ovu* vM?v. . j furnished if demanded. In royal blue there : are at preseut from twenty-four to twenty- j eight varieties in the light middle shades. I Scarlet has from thirty to forty shades ; criua! sou the same number. Yellow has nearly fifty shades. The writer adds: "Scarlet, so rarely seen j in ladies' dresses, may be termed the erape! ror of colors, and is very beautiful in its light middle shades, and in certain combinations ; looks elegant in connection with a silver-gray, i j or with an olive." It is an interesting fact that all the dyes ! i with which we are now familiar are the re-! suits of comparatively recent chemical re- \ ; search. Wood was the favorite dye in early j ! times of the inhabitants of Britain, but in j the reign of Queen Elizabeth it made way for ! indigo, which is now in turn being fast sup' planted by the exquisite dyes which modern I chemistry has succeeded in extracting from I coal-tar. |Hi$ccU?iuc0U5 ftrading. FAILURE ^F THE WOMAN'S HOTEL. A PARADISE THAT EVE REFU8E8 TO ENTER BECAUSE ADAM I8N'T THERE. Mrs. A. T. Stewart, bitterly disappointed, has made up her mind, after two months' experience, that the Woman's Hotel experiment is a complete failure. She has, therefore, concluded to abandon it, and will open the edifice to the public, on or about the 5th of June, as a commercial hotel. Judge Hilton, when approached on the subject, said that Mrs. Stewart was very much grieved at the failure. She had expected grand results from the enterprise, had taken a room in the hotel for her own exclusive use, and had hoped to spend the remainder of her days in the midst of those of her sex whom her husband's philanthropy had surrounded with all the comforts of life. But after all that had been done, and after the enormous expenditures that bad been made, the women could not be brought to appreciate the hotel and patronize it in sufficient numbers to warrant running it any longer for the exclusive benefit of women. Mr. Stewart conceived the plan of the Woman's Hotel about fifteen years before his death. The more he thought of the project, the more firmly he became convinced that it could not fail of being a grand success. He consulted with his friends about it, and could find no one among them who would take any stock in his pet theory. Every one he talked to discouraged the idea, but opposition only strengthened his own opinions on the matter. He set to work to perfect a grand plan, which the hotel, as it stood when opened two months ago, accurately embodied. The building was begun in January, 1869, and took nine years to construct. It cost to build, finish and furnish just $3,700,000 It was to be the largest hotel in the world, perfectly fire-proof, and to be furnished in a style of comfort and luxury unprecedented. The lobbies and hallways were to be adorned with sculptures and paintings by the best masters, and the library was to be equal to a public library, and to contain every publication which any woman cculd desire to read. The courtyard in. the centre of the structure was to be as inviting as the science of horticulture could make such a place. In order to afford exercise during unpleasant weather, everv floor was to contain j 600 feet of promenade in the shape of continuous hallways, beautifully furnished, and made as attractive as possible. Such great care was to be taken in every detail to make the establishment thoroughly a woman's abode, that every chair on the marble floors was to be booted with rubber, so that there could be no "screeching" to pain sensitive nerves. Mr. Stewart used to go to the building every day, and as he saw it advance, he became correspondingly happy. He used to say : "That hotel will make 1,000 working women happy and independent. If it succeeds, the example will be imitated. It will be a woman's kingdom, where those of them who wish to be alone can be so. It will prove whether the sexes can live apart, and whether or not it will be better for them to do so, whether or not they will choose to." Judge Hilton, as Mr. Stewart's business manager, never believed in the enterprise. He often attempted to dissuade Mr. Stewart from the undertaking, but without success. Mr. Stewart, by his will, provided amply for the furnishing of the hotel, and for its running expenses until it should either succeed or fail. A FAILURE AS A WOMAN'S HOTEL. "Judge Hilton said: "The Woman's Hotel is a failure as a woman's hotel. There is no doubt of it. Mrs. Stewart has come to that conclusion, and the experiment will be at once discontinued. As manager of the estate it devolves upon me to save the estate from being burdened by any additional expense by turning the hotel to some profitable use. It will, therefore, be opened as a commercial hotel on or about June 5. The changes of su uttuic ccocutiai ?ic ijuw guiug wu ao lajjiu' ly as possible. A smoking-room is being fitted up, as also a billiard-room, barber shop and saloon. The furniture and all else will remain as they are, except in some important things. A freer access will be made to the court yard by surrounding it with balconies and steps so that it can be made more easily reached than now, as it will undoubtedly be the favorite lounging place of the new guests. Mr. Stewart's wishes and will have been carried out to the last letter. He intended it for the very class of women we find will not patronize it. There are S3,700,000 invested in the hotel. No return was ever expected on this. The amount was devoted to the experiment. The anuual interest on that amount, $259,000, represents the additional yearly gift which would willingly have been allowed the scheme forever if it could have been made self-sustaiuing. There is no structure like it iu the world ; none so beautiful, safe or comfortable; none wherein women could have enjoyed the material comforts of life to such advantage. Every room is differen'., from every other; the furniture and fixtuns were all designed and made especially for the Woman's Hotel. The library was vast, the works of art unsurpassed, and there were ever $300,000 worth of oil paintmgs by the best masters on the walls. The richest women in this country have no better parlors or bedrooms, and no place in the world can produce better cooking service. But it is a failure. I'll tell you why. It is very simple and very natural. I believe that you cannot get women to accept any help based on the condition of separation from the other sex. You can't run a hotel for women successfuly and keep away the men. Women will not be kept from the other sex. I am convinced that they cannot be tempted by any comforts and luxuries to stay or live away from the other sex. You can run a hotel for men exclusively?but for women you can't. I believe that the majority of women not over fifty years of age entertain some hopes of a union, and a great many over that age do ; and you cs.nnot do anything for them if you make the condition impair their chances in the least. The lailure of the Woman's Hotel will be a worldwide example too for philanthropists. It is a terrible disappointment to all interested. I am not greatly surprised at the failure. But I have done my full duty in the face of a conviction of inevitable failure. The scheme has not been understood. Some have thought the hotel was to be a working girls' home. It | was for the very class we tried to get and ; which wouldn't come. Mr. Stewart express- J ly provided that the place should be for ladies ! who earned their own living. What other : class would have appreciated such a place, j with porcelian from Pillivuyt, glassware from j Bacarat, plate-glass from St. Gobain, and I Prof. Edward Schelscher for cook ! But the ladies couldn't be coaxed to the hotel, simply because they wouldn't sacrifice male company. They would rather stay at boarding i i . ?.:.u li i i _? iluu&es, aim jjul up mm nan utu i uumo, puui fare and skimp furniture, and have their gentlemen than take the luxuries of Stewart without them. It is natural, and you can't blame them. Of course, Mr. Stewart's idea about excluding men from the Woman's Hotel was most correct. They couldn't be freely admitted without subjecting the house to gossip and eventually to scandal. The hotel had accommodations for 1,000 women, and for 1,200 to 1,400 men. It would not begin to be self supporting until it had at least 500 ! guests, and with 1,000 it would just nicely I run itself, and, perhaps, allow a general re-! duction in rates. But with all our efforts we j could not get fifty boarders. Of all the ap-! plications received we examined and accepted 250 applicants. They promised, and promised, and promised to come, but at last would back out by admitting that they would rather stay where the men were. You can't deal with women, anyhow, without a, great deal of trouble. Why, out of the handful of boarders we have, there are at least fifteen that should not be in the hotel. They don't earn their living, and are there merely out of economy. The hotel was not made for them. How they got in I don't know. But there they are. With all our advertising, and explanations, and notices, there are fifteen out of that fifty already in the hotel whom we have been doing our best to keep out. A hotel exclusively for women on an extensive scale is an impossibility. The handful of boarders is scattered all over the house. WHAT IT COST TO RUN THE HOTEL. Leaving out the 8259,000 of interest a year on the cost of the hotel, our gas costs $9,000 a year, our water 92,000, and our taxes $22,000. Our head cook costs several thousand a year, and so do hi) four assistants. Our forty colored waiters cost us $25 a month apiece and their board. It takes even now, with less than 6fty boarders, a pay-roll of 150 hands to run the establishment, more than three apiece for the guests. We can't do with less?the building is so large, and it all has to be cared for. Exclusive of interest, taxes, water and gas, it has cost over $500 a day more than we have received to run the Woman's Hotel since its opening. The women do not understand it or appreciate it or patronize it. Every day we get letters from rich sick women or traveling women, and from all kinds of women of means, who do not earn their lining, asking if they can stop at the hotel on their way through the city, or while here on business or undergoing treatment. We never intended to run a hospital, or a place where rich ladies could save money by stopping. In order to show how the place has been misunderstood, continued Judge Hilton, an application was made, a few days ago, on behalf of Clara Morris, the great actress, that she be admitted as a guest. The application was accepted, on the ground that the lady is a workingwoman, earning her living by her art. Then her hus band, Mr. Harriott, supplemented the application that these two exceptions he made in his wife's case : That her meals should be taken to her room, as she was an invalid and was compelled to eat many of her meals in a recumbent position, and that he, Mr. Harriott, should be allowed free access to her room, whenever sent for, and every evening on his way home from business. I answered that we should be very glad, indeed, to have the great actress as a guest at the Woman's Hotel, but thought Mr. Harriott's attention had not been called to the rules about male company, and said that she should be welcome as a guest under the rules. I have not received any answer to my letter. That shows how hard it is to get people to understand the real nature of an institution like ours. The structure was built so exclusively for women that the bare alteration necessary for its use by men will cost about $50,000. Everything will be ready by June 5, and I have received every evidence that the place will be well patronized from the start. As it stands it is the best hotel structure in the world. The women don't want it. We will let the general public have a trial at it." A NEW DEPARTURE. The reporter was informed that the ladies who are at present guests will be welcome to remain just as long as they choose. When the judge was asked if he was going to change the place into a "Young Men's Hotel," he said no, that he had had enough of the boarding-house business; that it would be a general hotel, conducted on a first-class style, and on business principles,furnished and all as now with the addition of billiard, smoking, and saloon rooms and barber shops. The reporter was given to understand that no material changes would be made in the rates, and the - ? Ul?? Ua frko fitawarf PTntol imuie VYUUiU piuwauijr ut, bUb k/bUffuiv &av?v?. Everything in the building dow, such as the silverware, sheet, pillow-cases, spreads, books, &c., was stamped "Woman's Hotel." These will all have to be changed and a card announcing the date of the new opening, the name of the establishment, and the terras of board, will be made public through the press in due time. Judge Hilton is reported to have said that he wouldu't take $500,000 a year to again run a woman's hotel. A great deal of weeping was done among the present lady occupants of the spendid edifice when the announcement of the change was made to them. The hotel will be conducted on the present style of the Metropolitan Hotel, retaining Prof. Edward Schelacher and two a?sistauts, as well as the remainder of the present help, aud will continue under the mar,ageraent of Mr. Henry Clair, who is general manager of all the hotel property of the Stewart estate. JEFF DAVIS IN LUCK. We hear with much satisfaction that the Court of Appeals of Mississippi has within a few days past, rendered, on a rehearing, a final judgment in favor of our honored friend, Jefferson Davis, restoring to him, in full title and interest, his fine plantation of Briersfisld, Warren county, Mississippi. The history of the legislation which has had the happy conclusion is of an interesting and even romantic character. Briersfield and Hurricane plantations, now constituting the whole island, produced by a cutoff of the Mississippi River, is a magnificent domain, which was acquired more than fifty years ago by Mr. Joseph E. Davis, the older brother of Jefferson Davis, * " ? ? k:??:?L ana tor a long lime was cumvtueu witu gicai profit. Mr. Joseph E. Davis was a gentleman of great sagacity, stroDg sense and enterprise, and became one of the wealthiest and most infloential citizens of Mississippi. When his brother Jeff, married the daughter of Gen. Taylor and resigned his commis sion in the army, Joseph E. Davis invited his brother to come to Mississippi and enter upon the life of a cotton planter. Mr. Jeff. Davis accepted the invitation, and took possession of Briersfield, which he cultivated successfully for many years. Despite his long withdrawal from the care of this estate, Mr. Davis, with the aid of his energetic and intelligent present wife, managed to administer his plantation so as to accuire a competence and reimburse his brother the full value of the place Still the formal title of the plantation reremaiued in Mr. Joseph E. Davis. When the war broke out, Mr. Joseph Davis held this property beyond the reach of the Federal government. And when the President of the defeated Confederacy became a prisoner at Fortress Monroe, Mr, Joseph Davis made a sale of his whole estate to his long chief manager, a colored man, named Montgomery, for 8300,000, payable on long time, with interest at the rate of 6 per cent. Mr. Joseph Davis then made a very complicated and abstruse will. He was a very old maD, dying shortly after, at the age of 84. His will recognized Mr. Jeff. Davis' children as legatees for the sum of 880,000, to be collected by trustees, of whom Mr. Jeff. Davis was one, and to be paid to his children when they obtained majority. The balance of his estate was bequeathed to his (Mr. Joseph E. Davis') natural children or grandchildren. As Mr. Jeff. Davis' youngest child is but 14, a long time would elapse before anything could be realized from this bequest, and as Mr. Joseph E. Davis had left evidence that his brother had paid the full value of the estate, Mr. Jeff. Davis finally, with much reluctance on account of bis great love and respect for the memory of his brother, yielded to the advice of his relatives and friends, and instituted suit to reclaim and re-establish his title to the property. All honest and good men will rejoice that this patriotio and noble gentleman and veteran has succeeded in hie suit, and that his declining years will thus be soothed and defended from the cares and humiliation of poverty and dependance.?N. 0. Picayune. NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE. THEIR VIEWS ON THE QUE8TION8 OF INVESTIGATION AND PRESIDENTIAL TITLE. The dincuesions in the recent meetings of the National Democratic Committee on the investigation of the Presidential election frauds were of much iuterest. It must be re uieiuuurcvi iuat tuc iiivcuu^ ui tuc uuiuujib^c at the time this question was attracting most attention in Washington, was purely accidental, as when the meeting which bad been called in February was postponed to May there was, of course, no anticipation on the part of any one that the House would authorize an investigation. A striking fact was developed by the interchange of views of the members. The members, speaking individually and for their different Democratic constituencies, to a very large degree concurred in the opinion that Mr. Tilden had little personal hold on either the leaders or the masses of the party, and they were practically unanimous in agreeing that it would be extremely distasteful to the party generally if there should be any attempt to conduct the investigation with any purpose to advance the personal fortunes or aspirations of Mr. Tilden. Indeed, there did not seem to be any diversity of opinion on the point that Mr. Tilden, personally, really had nothing to do with the matter now, and could not again, under any circumstances, be an important factor in any Democratic calculations. In regard to anv action bv the committee 0? ? y - 4 od the subject of the investigation the discussion was of great interest. Several members of the House of Representatives held the proxies of regular members of the committee who were unable to be present. These gentlemen, as they bad contributed to the passage of the investigation resolution, were naturally anxious that their action should receive the indorsement of the National committee, and argued with some earnestness to that effect. There were other members of the committee?some of them gentlemen of enlarged experience and of commanding influence?who were decidedly of the conviction that the National committee should say nothing on the subject. The resolution which finally passed was in the nature of a compromise, and its conservative character was due to the influence of the gentlemen just mentioned. On the point of the title by which Mr. Hayes holds the office of President the discussion was probably more lengthy than on any other branch of the subject before the committee. Senator McDonald, who represented Indiana, made a speech on this question which produced much impression. He said there could be no possible doubt of the deep and atrocious frauds and conspiracy by which tbe Presidency had been given to the Uo/I Konn /I r\ finn for? of fV?o nnlla T"T O uiau nuu unu uwn uvivauv>u c*u muv ^/uho? aav was entirely in favor of the investigation which had been ordered. He thought the frauds should be exposed, and the people made acquainted with them in all their details and all their enormity. Let them go to the country, and let the Republicans be challenged to join issue and say whether they approve of deciding a Presidential election in such manner. Thus far would he go, but no farther. He maintained that so far as the title of President Hayes was concerned it was absolutely impregnable; that no power existed in the Federal Government to assail that title; that the constitution had left the election for President and Vice-President entirely in control of the States, and all that the Federal legislative branch had to do with the matter was to count the votes sent up by the States and declare the result. The President, he said, was a co-ordinate branch of the government, and Congress could no more undertake to assail his title than he could undertake to assail theirs. He dismissed, as unworthy of consideration, the pretence that Congress could establish a tribunal, or delegate any tribunal already in existence, to pass upon the title of a President after he had been declared elected in the mode provided by the constitution. He declared that there could be no conceivable combination of circumstances under which his assent could be obtained to any proposition attacking the title of Mr. Hayes. There was but one way by which President Hayes or any other President could be reached, and that was by the constitutional method of impeachment, and the very act of a resort to impeachment was, of course, a full and complete acknowledgment of the validity of the President's title. /> p pn ??a1 mn /i/\i?_ QtJLlttLUr UaiiSUUJ, KJl HUi IU VOXv/iiua^ VUIUcided fully with the views advanced by Senator McDonald. General Ransom said that as senator he felt a delicacy in addressing himself to this subject, because in the possible contingency of an impeachment he held that it would be proper for senators to have expressed no opinion in advance on any of the collateral branches of the subject. But he desired to say that he was fixed aud immovable in the opinion that no power existed anywhere to assail or question the title by which President Hayes holds his office, and it was impossible that he could be a party to any movement looking to such end. He believed that in thus speaking he represented the voice of the South; that the South would view with distrust and alarm the indication of any pur-1 pose to reverse the verdict which placed Mr. j HayeB in the chair of the Chief Magistrate.! While this was the case he agreed that the J frauds which had been practiced should heexposed. Mr. Jonas, of Louisiana, was the only member from the South who gave expression to what might be regarded as extreme views. He favored not only the investigation, but the expulsion of Mr. Hayes from office if the frauds were proved. Petitions have been prepared in Washington to be addressed to Congress protesting against any movement to assail the President's title, as destructive to the business interests of the country. These petitions are to be scattered broadcast over the land, and particular i efforts will be made to obtain the signatures j of bankers and merchants and trades people i to them. Some of them are already in circu- J lation in Massachusetts. Mr. Jonas was asked by a member from one of the Eastern States how he could now be in favor of attacking the title of Mr. Hayes j when he had last spring, as a member of the | Louisianna Legislature, voted for a series of j resolutions not onlv recoenizine Mr. Haves i as the lawful President, but complimenting him in the most fervid strain. Mr. Priest, of Missouri, was also extreme and wild in his ideas. With the exception of him and Mr. Jonas, the only members who were not conservative in their utterances, were some of those who represent States hopefully Republican. Senator Barnum, of Connecticut, and Mr. Piere, of Massachusetts, both spoke in a discreet and conservative style, and represented that the Democrats of their States would not sanction any attempt to question the validity of Mr. Hayes' title. The point was made by one member that the frauds in the Presidential election were the only issues upon which the Democrats could fight the Congressoinal campaign. This was strongly controverted by other members, who held that chere were other vital issues upon which the contest could be fought, and successfully fought. From the Washington Republican. AFFAIRS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Neither the Government nor the people outside of the Southern States know much of the ruling policy of the whites there toward the colored people who were left in their midst at the close of the war. There does not appear to be any respect for the Constitution of the United States, and especially for the guarantees it extends to the black citizen of equal rights before the law. The Democrats of the South appear to be a law unto themselves, which, so far as it relates to the Republican, white or black, is a higher law than the Constitution or the statutes of Congress. Indeed, there is but very little recognized law in that section of the country except that which can be made to oppress and crush the freedman ' iuto the very earth. Neither do the outrages that have been, and are now being perpetrated, find their way into the newspapers, lest they shall become matters of public notoriety, examination and comment. Neither the public journals nor the courts of some of the , Southern States take any cognizance of outrages and murders if the victim is a black or white Republican. It is the purpose of the Democracy to wipe out every vestige of Re- ' publicanism, if it has to be washed out with human blood. The process is a little slow, but very sure, and the work is silently per- 1 formed, so far as the press and the judiciary , are concerned. This statement may be denied but it is nevertheless true, and susceptible of ' proof, if the witnesses dared to tell the truth and expose the real condition of things. We are in receipt of a letter which has been handed us by the party to whom it is 1 written, which tells the tale in a very humble ! and truthful manner, and which we publish below, for the reason that it is a symptom of 1 the social and political disease that now pre vails in South Carolina. It is from a colored girl to her brother in this city: Yorkville, S. Cm May 24, 1878. Dear Brother: I wrote you sometime ago, but have not got any answer. We are living in the State of South Carolina. The Democrats are very contrary and turbulent. They have gone so far as to have people punished under the pretence of sauciness. The intendant of this place had a young colored man hung up by the thumbs for sauciness, as he termed it. Iriere was an excursion from this place to Chester, recently, at which a young white boy threw a stone that struck a colored woman on the breast with such force that she is since reported as dead. The sheriff of the county made some inquiry into the matter to ascertain if the woman was saucy to the boy. This was the extent of the inquiry and the offense goes unpunished. This is the condition of things into which we are drifting. No law, no protection for the poor, helpless freedmen and their wives and children. Your eyes are not open or you would see into the matter about which we here have been asking you. You must see the Minister of England and see if that government will not help us to emigrate to Canada. We are in a perilous position. If you were here you would see and know for yourself. You must not be fooled about this matter. They (the Democrats) are holding caucusses every night. Even the females are forming clubs against us. You must watch this smoke of terrible darkness, and you may yet feel it in Washington. They (the white Democrats) are drilling at night and seem to be making preparations for war. There are none for us to speak to in this place, neither colored nor white. The poor whites are very mean now and there are many Democratic "nigs," as they are termed, among the whites. C. is very low spirited. Here is a mere glimpse behind the scenes in South Carolina, but it shows that oppression is the ruling principle of action toward the colored race in that State. It is simple, but truthful. It tells what no South Carolina journal will reveal to the world?that the whites are armed, are constantly drilling and preparing for war. What occasion is there for war preparations in South Carolina? Against whom do they propose to wage war when they are fully prepared ? Not among themselves! But be assured this forms a part of the revolution which Potter and his Democratic allies are incubating at the National Capital to oust the President and subvert the Government to their own sordid purposes. The States of South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama, though ostensibly a part of this Union, are as exclusive and secretive in their internal movements as they were during the rebellion. The people are sworn to secrecy and the press is muzzled either by fear or disloyalty, and the President is unconsciously, to all human appearance, reposing listlessly upon a volcano that is liable to disturb him by its upheavings at any day. He may or he may not learn something to his advantage if he will write to that "great and good man, Wade Hampton," for information regarding the plottings of the Democrats of his State against the validity of the Presidential title. The South, except nominally, does not appear to be any more a part and parcel of this Union now than it was in 1862. It would be well for the Administration to do a little investigation about these days. It may ascertain something that will interest it. HOW COIN IS MADE. The next process takes in the rolling-room, where the short, thick ingots are pressed between two steel rollers, again and again, till they are rolled down into long thin ribbons of metal about the thickness of a coin. The next step in the work is to draw the metal ribbons through a "drawplate," to bring them down to an exactly uniform thickness. This pulling through a narrow slit in a steel plate hardens the metal, and again and again it has to be put in the fire and brought to a light red to make it soft and pliable. This drawing and annealing brings each band of metal to just the right thickness and condition, and we go on to see the cutting-presses that stamp out the round pieces of metal called "planchets." A workman takes a ribbon of gold and inserts the end in the immense jaws of the press, and they bite, bite and bite, and the round bits of gold drop in a shower into a box below. "Tbis press," says the usher, "is cutting double-eagles ; and in the Bingle moment, by the watch, that we have been looking at it, it has cut forty-five hundred dollars' worth. The same number of cuts would make only two dollars ana twenty cents 11 maae in cop a per. The machine goes on hastily biting out the , round planchets to the end of the ribbon, and then the guide holds up the long strip full of holes, much as you have seen the dough after the cook has cut out her ginger-snaps. These perforated bars go back to the furnace to be melted over. * , "The panchets," says the guide, "after be- , ing annealed in those furnaces which you see , at the rear of the room, are taken upstairs , and most carefully weighed." None but women are employed in the t weighing-room, and so delicate are the scales ] that they will move with the weight of a ] hair. If a planchet is found too light, it is thrown aside to be remelted ; if only slightly , over the proper weight, a tiny particle is filed . off from the edge; but if the weight is much J in excess, it is to go back to the furnace. ] Nothing but perfection passes here, you see. ( Now, one final washing in acid, then in , water, and these much enduring bits of met- , al are admitted to the coining-room, there to ] receive the stamp which testifies to their , worth. | In the coining-room the planchets are first given to the milling-machine. They are laid down flat between two steel rings, and j as the rings move one draws nearer to the I other, and the planchets are squeezed and ! crowded on every side, and finding no escape i they turn up about the edges and come out at the end of the sorry little journey with a rim raised around the edge. Beyond the milling machines stand the ten coining-presses. These presses are attended by women. Watch this one near us. At her right hand is a box containing silver planchets which are to be coined into fifty-cent pieces. On that round "die," which you see in the centre of the machine, are engraved the letters and figures which are to appear on the back of the balf-dollar. Directly above the die, on the and of the rod, which works up aad down with the most exquisite accuracy, is the sunken impression of face. The woman gathers up a handful of the planchets and drops them one at a time into ?brass tube and as the lowest planchet slides from under the tube, two small steel arms spring out and grasp it and lay it on the die. ?t the same instant, the upper die descends with a quick thump, and the silver counter, itampea in a twinkling on both sides, falls into a box below. In an instant another takes its place, and thus they go on dropping under the swiftly moving rod, and turning into coins in a flash.?St. Nicholas. THE PHONOGRAPH. A correspondent of the Augusta Chronicle sketches Mr. Edison, inventor of the telephone and the phonograph, as follows: He is the fellow who has invented a sufficient variety of things in the last two years to give a weak minded man the jim-jams. His wonderful duplicating ink is well known, and many a poor railroad clerk has pseanized the genius which saved him so many tedious hours of constant copying, tie has constructed almost everything else you can name?automatic churns; improved night keys that will fit in any stage of inebriety; patent rolling-pins, with handles warranted uot to slip; spanking machines, assorted sizes; double action washboards; corsets that haven't got forty pins stuck all 'round with the point out; everything, in short, calculated to benefit suffering humanity, and the Northern papers even go so far as to assert that his latest invention is a swallow-tailed coat that can be used as a bootjack ! Edison is certain|>a genius. And yet, less than ten years Irgo he was a raw country lad from Ohio, dismissed from the telegraph office at Memphis, where he was at work, for constantly experimenting with and tangling up the wires. He wandered around Louisville and Cincinnati for some time, and finally "fetched up" in New York city, where be was so fortunate as to make the acquaintance of a party who knew the Superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Now it so happened that at this time there was an operator at the Halifax end of the Atlantic cable who piled in the dispatches to the New York office so infernally fast, that no man had been able, heretofore, to sit him out without breaking circuit and making him repeat. Edison's friend, happening to hear the Superintendent complaining of this, informed him that he knew a man he'd back against the Halifax fellow, and give him three and the deal. He was told to trot him 'round, and the next day in loafed Edison, corduroy breeches thrust in his boot legs, one suspender gone, double-barreled Cincinnati fiose, mouth like a saltpetre cave, white eyes, and a hole in a battered straw hat, through which protruded a shock of tow-colored hair. This completed the anatomy and external embellishments of the man who was to sit it out with Halifax. He was told to come in again at five o'clcck, and whaaiia had gone, the Superintendent turned, in astonishment, to his friend and asked him if that was the man he bad reference to? "Just wait," said the other, "I guess he'll fill the bill better than you think." Edison came to taw promptly at five, and was shown his po eitioo at the instrument, given a pile of tissue paper two feet thick, and told that the ball would open in about five minutes. He at once grabbed up the entire pile of paper aod carried it over to the table. "What do you want with all that pile at once?" asked the Superintendent. "Oh! I don't want to be bothered after I commence work by getting up for more," said Edison. The Superintendent shrugged his shoulders. Click! click 1 went the machine. Edison seized the pencil, and for two solid hours that incorrigible Halifax fellow poured it into him without stopping ; paper and pencil flew like lightning, and every one in the office crowded around in amazement until the last cablegram bad come in. "All done," telegraphed Halifax. "O. K.," sent Edison. Instantly the sentence came slowly over the wires, "Who-in-the-h?1are-you ?" "My name is Edison, from Ohio," was the reply. Again came the response, "Shake, old boy; you are the only man in four years who has sat me out without break - x? i1 J log circuit aDQ repealing. rruuj iuat uajr . Edison's future was assured, and he was allowed to experiment as much as he chose, until his genius finally fabricated the phonograph. ^ THE CASE OF MRS. SOTHERN. The Governor of Georgia has commuted the death sentence of Mrs. Kate Sothern, of Pickens county, (in that State,) to imprisonment in the penitentiary for ten years. As will be remembered, Mrs. Sothern killed Narcissa Cowart, in a fit of jealousy, at a dance about a year and a half ago, the particulars of which we have heretofore published. An immense pressure for commutation was brought on the Governor, and it is claimed that his decision gives the liveliest satisfaction to the people of Georgia. Since the trial of Mrs. Sothern, the case has attracted considerable attention all over the country. It became a subject of discussion in New York society, and was treated in the following manner by Jennie June, (one of the editors of Demorest's Magazine) in a recent "fashionable news letter" which she contributes to the newspaper press: The ease of Mrs. Sothern, the Georgia woman, who excited by jealousy, stabbed a woman to dearth, who for years tried to step between herself and the man who was her lover and afterwards her husband, has excited a great deal of interest among women here at the North, and many and heated have been the discussions as to the amount of criminality involved in the deed. At a recent ladies' lunch party, where the subject was discussed, it was a little curious to find how much sympathy was felt for the murderess, and how largely she was exonerated in the minds of nearly every married woman present. The argument was simply this: that the devotion of the husband since the ? ?^ ^ 1.!1K??. MAman ft k A rii a A! AO v1 YT BUI U1 n.uiiug tuo utuci nuujau ouutto *j that be deeply loved his wife, and that it was only his gallantry, his vanity, his amour propre that were enlisted on the side of her unscrupulous rival, who evidently pursued every advantage regardless of honor, decency and loyalty to her sex, or consideration for the feelings of a wife and prospective mother. For this kind of wickedness in women there is no punishment. The law does not recognize it, and the unfortunate wife is utterly at the mercy of a man who is impelled by his vanity to parade his influence over Dther women. That this wretched woman was driven to desperation there is no doubt, and so common is the cause which impelled her to the fearful act, it is surprising that terrible scenes are not more frequently enacted on this account. IS?* James Robinson, the circus rider, has gone into voluntary bankruptcy in New York, to seoure discharge from debts amounting to 512,288, contracted in 1873, when a co partner in the management of a circus in the Western States,