Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, July 04, 1878, Image 1
lewis m. gbist, proprietor. | fittoptiibtnl Jamilg ffcfospajjtr: Jor % |)romatioit of % political, Social, ^griraltnral aitb Commercial interests of fjjt Sonfji. TERMS?$3.00 A YEAR, IN ADVANCE.
VOL 24 YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1878. NO.
^sis
?hr J>torn
OVERBOARD IN LAKE MICHIGAN
?
I think the captain of the old fore-and
aft Kate Fox was one of the meanest met
who ever trod the deck of a lake craft. H(
was in the grain trade between Chicago and
Buffalo. His craft wa9 a good sailer, and the
owners fine fellows, and many an officer in hit
place would have won respect where he re
ceived nothing but hate. I had heard him
spoken of, with bitter curses, by men who had
sailed with him, and I finally heard so much
about him that I determined to make one trip
with him, and find out whether he was man oi
devil. His name was John West, and wt
never had a nor'wester that some man was not
ready to sing out:
"All hands on deck for mourning badges?
Capt. West is killing another sailor!"
I laid off1 in Chicago on purpose to catch
him. When his vessel was about loaded he
began hunting around for a crew, and 1 go)
in his way. He was as pleasant as a May
morning, and as he sent me aboard, he said :
"Please tell the cook to have rice pudding,
roast cbickeu8 and custard pies for diuner,
and tell him to hand you out some of my
Havana cigars."
I told the cook what the captain had said,
but the long nosed young man looked at me
with a sorrowful expression in his potato-colored
eyes and put me off with some very bad
corned beef and some half-cooked slices ol
turnip.
We were ready to sail about 5 o'clock in
the afternoon. The crew dropped aboard one
by one, and a most wretched set they were.
Some were landsmen, some were greenhorns,
and only one who knew enough to pass over
the tack of the maingaff-topsail was a Swede
called Nick.
"Not a very trim gang, I'll admit," said
Captain West to me, as he saw me scanning
the crowd, "but I'm a worker, the mate is a
worker, and you and Nick shall be third and
fourth mates. Did the cook hand you those
cigars ?"
I replied that the cook didn't, and the conversation
ended there. The captain walked
about with a kind smile on his face, and the
mate was liberal with his plug tobaoco, and I
made up ray mind before we were out of the
river that the boys bad lied outrageously
about Captain West.
- We were towed out to a fair breeze, and the
?ug had scarcely let go of us before old Satan
made his presence known. Under orders
from the mate, we were getting the jibs on
her, when the captain rushed at me in a furious
manner, and cried out:
"You iufernal mutineer, didn't I order you
to loose the maingaff-topsail ?"
He hadn't given any such order, but I did
not stop to argue the point. I was half-way
to the crosstrees before be could shut his mouth
but he stopped me there by shouting :
"Hal more mutinv! Down with vou?
down here and man the throat halyards of
the foresail 1"
I came down. 1 thought of the lesson in
the spelling book reading: "Now we go up?
now we go down," and I felt that I could go
up and come down as long as he could give
orders.
We had just got the foresail up when the
mate yelled at me :
"Why in Davy Jones' memory haven't you
shaken out the maingaff-topsail ?"
There was a good reason why, but I didn't
wait to tell him. The captain yelled at me
as I sprang into the shrouds, threw a belaying-piu
at me as I went up, aud threatened to
shoot me for mutiny as I came dowu, but my
work was performed, aud I lent a hand at the
peak halyards of the mainsail. We were all
of half an hour getting sail on her, and every
minute the captain was cursing aud threatening.
He cuffed the men right and left, including
the Swede, and my head would have
cornein for a rap if he could have reached it.
It was plain enough now that Captain West
was the worst kind of a bully, and that he
had fully earned the meui reputation that he
carried among sailors. We were in for the
trip, however, and must get along the best
way we could. That was ray argument, but
the Swede couldn't get over the cuff on the
ear. The more he thought of it the more
sullen he became, and as we stood away on
our course he said to me :
"If that old demon puts his hands on me
again, I'll give him the point of my knife."
At sundown everything was ship shape, and
the Fox going ahead finely. Three of the
crew became seasick, and were kicked into
the forecastle by the wrathful captain, who
knew when he shipped them, that they had
never crossed the lake. There were sigus in
the heavens plain enough for Nick and me
that we were in for a boisterous night, and we
could not help feeling anxious, as we knew
the worthlessuess of the crew.
The old man seemed to feel better natured
after supper. He came aft to the wheel,
smoking a cigar, aud after watching the compass
for a few minutes, perhaps hoping to
catch me a point off, he growled out :
"Well, how do you like being third mate?"
"First rate," I answered, "I think I was
lucky to secure a berth. I wish I had found
the Fox earlier in the season.
* He didn't exactly know how to take it, but
finally said:
||g "Well, I always try to do the fair thing
affli by the boys. How does the weather look to
W you?"
"We will have lots of wind before raidnight,
sir."
"It does look that way," he mused, as he
glanced around, and he went forward aud
posted a man on the lookout, sent the Swede
aft, and turnec the rest of the crew in, sayfug
to them :
"Tumble down there into that fo' castle,
you pack of swine, and wheu you are called
on to turn out you want to come up like bolts
of greased lightning."
A8 we were then holding, everything was
drawing finely. The Fox was loaded just
deep euough to ride steady, and there was no
need to lift a hand till the wind blew fresher.
The captain sauntered up and down for
a while, and then went below and sat down to
a book. He was taking the first half of the
night for his watch, and the three of us on
deck were all he could depend on.
Nick relieved me at ten o'clock, and I
crept forward and found the lookout asleep.
I had no sooner roused him than he became
terribly seasick, aud while he curled down behind
the bulwarks I took his place. There
was now a smart sea running, and but few
frv ka coon T morla r%n ronnrf tn the
JJgUUS IV WO 9CWII. A UIWV1V .v^v.v ?? ...v
Captain, as the wind held steady, but at
eleven o'clock there came a change. The
wind began to haul and freshen, and it was
plain that we must get some of the canvas ofl
of her. I had gone forward to see if I could
not rouse up the sick lookout, when Captain
West came on deck. The instant his head
appeared above the cabin roof he yelled out:
"Why in blazes didn't you call me, you
infernal mutineer, you !"
This speech was directed at the Swede, who
could make no reply. Not a minute should
be lost in calling all hands to shorten sail,
but the Captain siood there aud cursed and
swore. As I hurried aft the lookout followed
me part way. I reached the quarter just
as the Captain rushed at the Swede to strike
him. Nick left the wheel aud ran forward,
pulling his sheath-knife as he passed me. It
all happened in fifteen seconds, and I never
could remember the details. As the two men
passed me, one seemingly bent on killing the
other, I followed them. Nick swung himself
into the weather shrouds of the foremast, as
: if he would climb up, and the Captain followed
and seized him. I must have also
1 j leaped upon the rail, for when the schooner,
left to steer herself, broached to and shipped
a sea, we all went overboard together. I remember
of hearing a jell of alarm from the
i mate, who was coming up the companion way,
j and a shriek from the lookout, and then there
was ten feet of water above me.
j The gale had come with a burst, and the
'! Fox was badly caught. The sea which knock!
i ed us overboard swept the decks, held her
j down for a moment, and just as I rose to the
1 i surface her masts went over with a crash.
.' But for that she must have capsized. The
k I big hull loomed up not over twenty feet away
I as I got the water out of sy eyes. I struck
' out to reach her chains, but at the second ]
stroke was buried four feet under the curl of
a wave, keeled end over end, and fought my
way up to find myself alongside of Captain
| West, and the schooner way to leeward, and
! driving faster than I could swim.
"Save me! Save me!" screamed the Cap
; tain, as I bumped against him.
' There was wreck all arouud us, and as we
1 reached out for something to float us, both
J seized the big cover of the main hatch. It
was big enough to float six men. I felt pretty
safe as I got my hand into one of the iron
' rings, and then sought for a rope to use as a
' life-line. The foremast, with all its cordage,
was just ahead of us, and hut the Captain's
. alarm, five minutes' work would have lashed
us to the float. While hanging to a ring he
suddenly screamed out:
"Kill him ! Kill him! He's going to stab
! me!"
The captain was to windward of me, and
| as I looked up I saw that Nick, the Swede,
was close upon him. The sailor was floating
' in a perpeudicular position, as if treading
water. Both arms were raised, and in the
right gleamed the sheath-knife. To avoid
the threatened blow the old man made an effort
to climb upon the float. A wave broke
over us, turned the cover end over end, and
when we got above the foam again I was to
windward. Nick was floating at my right
hand and about ten feet away, and 1 called
r. Kim tn rpn^K thfl float, and save himself.
So far as I could discern he did not move a
hand to reach us. The knife still gleamed in
his right hand, and his breast and shoulders
were above water as he floated along with us.
We had parted company with the debris, the
ship was out of sight, aod the only hope was
to hang to the ring.
Captain West acted like a lunatic. He
shouted at me, at Nick, and at the waves
around us, and in his efforts to crawl upon the
float he ended us over again. He no sooner
found Nick close upon him than he let go his
hold on the float, and I thought he was gone,
but after about ten seconds he rose up beside
me aod screamed, "Keep him away?keep
him away!"
It was little I could do to soothe him, with
the waves burying us every minute and the
float seeking to end over with every sea, but
I added my efforts to his and got him upon
the cover. He lay at full length diagonally
across it, one of his outstretched arras holding
to a ring, and after I had worked around
to his head the cover rode with the waves.
The gale now blew steadily, sweeping us
out to sea, and the night cleared up so that I
could see about us. Nick maintained his position,
and though I shouted at him repeatedI
ly he made no reply. As we were down in
| the trough he was on the crest, and as we |
* ?? 1?
were on the crest l couin see nis wniie race
and shining knife below. Thus we rode till
daylight came. The last hour had beeu easy
riding. I had spoken to the captain very
often, but he would not auswer except by a
groan. As day broke the sight of his face
gave me an awful shock. It was blue-white.
His eyes were open and glassy, his teeth set,
and his lips were covered with foam. He was
looking over my shoulder to windward as I
sought to rouse him, and in the dull gray of
the morning he sighted Nick following in our
wake. He blew the foam from his blue lips
into my face as he uttered a scream of terror,
and next instant he let go of the ring
and rolled off the cover like dead weight. He
was out of sight in an instant. I turned to
look for Nick, and there he was, riding the
same as during the night. I saw at the first
glance that he was dead. Eyes and mouth
were closed, his loug hair was matted around
his face, and the knife was held aloft with an
iron grip. It is strauge why he did not sink,
but he floated as buoyautly as if he had a life
i preserver under bis arms. Up and down, up
and down I went with the long waves, and he
followed as if attached by a i,ne.
It was nearly noon before a vessel came
J near me. I had seen a dozen of them since
daylight, but they were too far away to hear
a shout. The sea was still heavy, and it was
only after a good deal of trouble that the
schooner Quickstep got me aboard. Nick
was there, too, but the sailors refused to touch
; the corpse. It bumped agaiust the schooner
, as the boat was hauled up to the davits, and j
! as she stood off on her course again the up
! raised arms aud gleaming knife were waved !
j as if in menace.?M. Quad, in Dei-riot Free \
! Press.
wmm
A Billion.?Some curious statements and
"! calculations lately appeared in the London
: Times correspondence as to the popular noj
tion of high numbers, such as millions, billions
and trillions. Mr. Bessemer said that
j he did not think any clear conception of a
billiou could be formed. Other correspondents
give the following facts : A single thickuess
of sovereigns spread over the floor of a
I room 71 feet 6 inches square is almost exact !
j ly one million. If, instead of being neatly j
j laid in rows, the sovereigns are placed as close- j
J ly as possible, a milliou will just cover the ;
j floor of a room 67 feet 6 inches square. Mr. j
; M. Hawkins Johnson writes: "The difficulty !
I of comprehending the idea of a billion is j
i scarcely so great as Mr. Bessemer would have I
i us suppose. A shot one-tenth of an inch in !
! diameter is an idea readil) grasped. It would j
; take exactly one million such shots to make a
| ball ter inches in diameter, and a billion of i
| such sh its would make a globe 83 feet 4 iuch;
es in diameter, which, although it may be ;
: called large, is not beyond ordinary compre- '
j hension." Mr. Lockwood writes: "In addi-1
: tion to Mr. Bessemer's dissection of a billion,!
it may be mentioned that fifteen persons may j
, dine together a billion times without twice i
I sitting in the same relative position.
II The Communistic Scare.?For the past!
j few months much excitement has prevailed j
11 in several of the Northern and Western cities, \
. on account of the Communistic feeling thought
to nprtffldp the working classes. It was feared i
i j by some that a repetition of last summer's
scenes, only on a larger scale, would be enact*!
1 ed ; but as yet the active members of the i
i I leagues have confined themselves to talk and ;
I ; bluster. There was a procession and picnic
| of Communists on Sunday at Chicago. About
i j five thousand men marched in line, beariug
i an occasional red flag. Other banners at the j
gathering bore such mottoes as, "No masters, ;
I no slaves;" "All for each, each for all;"
,; "Down with privileged classes;" "Down with j
I monopolies;" "Liberty, equality, fraternity [
J "Free man ;" "Free labor ;" "Land belongs j
; to society;" "No rich, no poor, but all alike." I
! A large majority of those in the procession ;
, were of the lowest class of foreigners in the ;
; j city, who did not understand the English lan
j guage. The police and military were held in
i I readiness at headquarters, but their services
II were not required.
I frtlisccUancous Reading.
THE PENITENTIARY CONTROVERSY.
We published, last week, the reply of Mr.
I Earle to a statement m-ide by a Columbia
correspondent as to the management of the
Penitentiary, published in the preceding issue.
Siuce the appearance of Mr. Earle's reply
to that statement, the following, on the
Bame subject, has appeared in. the Columbia
Phcenix:
Superintendent's Office,
South Carolina Penitentiary,
June 24th, 1878.
Mr. Editor: I have just read in the Journal
of Commerce, of this date, a communication
from Mr. Thompson Earle, Chairman of
the Penitentiary Board of Directors, which
is calculated, where the parties and facts are
unknown, to create a most unjust opinion of
my character and capacity. Contrary to my
inclination, I feel that it is due to myself and
to ray friends, to declare the falsity of the
slanderous charges which Mr. Earle has, lor
his own personal ends, seen fit to make against
me. I do not propose to traverse the whole
of his vindictive statements, but merely to denounce
them as false. The means are provided
by law for my removal from office, if
the tithe of Earle's allegations are true; and
the fact that he has failed to make a case
against me is presumptive evidence that he is
only animated by a desire to injure me in
public estimation bv resorting to the newspapers.
When the present board were elected
in March last, I was informed by many citizens,
who will attest the statement that Earle
has made to them, to the effect that be was to
succeed to my office aB Superintendent, and
that he made promise to many as subordinates.
He spoke of me aud my authority in
the most contemptuous manner to the guards
and employes, who were alone responsible to
me, and pursued a course in every way calculated
to injure the discipline and morals of
the institution. He has from the first assumed
the powers of the full board aud of
the Superintendent, but as he has been obeyed
by no one, little real damage has been
done. As the presiding officer of the board,
his lawful authority has never been questionkn
rv> a Kill- Kiq in'Orrli 1 q p OQQIimnf lAIl nf Mil.
CU UJ UIC| VUb 1110 illbguiui uouuiuj/vivu ?/i %m%M
thority, which can only be exercised by a
quorum of the Directors, and his personal
orders to my subordinates, never have been
and never will he recognized by me or by ray
successor, if he has a proper estimate of his
own rights and responsibilities.
Mr. Earle h\s a desk in a vacant store on
Main street, in this city, and at this point be
has gathered together such of the guards as
have chosen to feel unkindly towards me in
consequence of my having discharged them
for cause. It is obvious that by condemning
my action he had hoped to secure from them
some data affecting ray official integrity or
efficiency. To their credit be it said, however,
that, with one or two exceptions he could
obtain no satisfaction. One of the guards so
influenced was induced to sign a series of
charges against the captain of the guard, stating
that he had allowed convicts to have the
freedom of the city at night, and that he had
sent provisions from the penitentiary to the
citizens. The charges were prepared by a
person to whom Earle had promised the position
of captain of the guard. This person,
I was informed by the guard, had prevailed
on him to sign the DaDer, although he repeat
ed 1 y told him and Mr. Earle that he knew
nothing to report against the captain. He
admitted signing the paper, but said he did
not read or know its contents, and that he
signed it only to rid himself of importunity.
Tliese charges were submitted to the Board
by Mr. Earle. The same person drew up the
charges against me, which found a ready signer.
The charges were presented to the Board,
and the only facts which were established
were such as were admitted by me and openly
known by the ways and means committee,
and members of the General Assembly, and
to any one who cared to observe the fact that
I enjoyed the official perquisite of supplying
my family with fire-wood and vegetables and
my personal rations. This indulgence was
granted to me by both of the preceding Boards
of Directors?one of which was appointed by
Gov. Hampton. A member of each Board
appeared before the Directors in support of
my statement, and if any other charge is
made against me I am prepared to meet my
accusers face to face. I have had occasion
for all the self-control I could command in
conducting official relations with the Chairman
of our present Board, who, while he possessed
no important powers which any Director
does not possess, was the official channel
of all communication to and from the Board.
I sincerely regret this public exhibition of
personal ditterences, ana l will mane no comment
on Mr. Earle's estimate of my capacity,
for I do not think it would interest the public
any more than ray opinion of his grammar.
Theodore W. Parmele.
Columbia, S. C., June 25,1878.
Editors Phcenix: A portion of the card of
T. \V. Parmele, which appeared in the Reg
ister of this date, I regard as too low and
vulgar for .a gentleman to notice. His statement
that 1 am influenced by personal reasons
is absolutely false. 1 have advocated
the appointment of a prominent gentleman
of this State for the position of Superintendent.
In proof of which I respectfully refer
you to A. G. Shields, one of the Directors of
the South Carolina Penitentiary. In proof of
the falsity of the balance of his charges I refer
you to the certificates of Messrs. W. Rose,
H. B. Roberts and S. Green.
Thompson Earle.
I hereby certify that I was, until recently,
a guard at the South Carolina Penitentiary,
and that so much of Parmele's communication
as refers to charges against Capt. Reis,
were made by me alone, without any influence
or dictation by others. I certify further,
that the statement in Parmele's communication
that I was influenced in my action
by Gen. Earle or other, is without any foundation
in fact, and that the assertion that I
made such statement to Parmele or other, is
false. I still further certify, that I had no
acquaintance or communication, direct or indirect,
with Gen. Earle previous to the preparation
and signing of the charges, and that
I signed the same with a full knowledge of
what I was doing, and without any meutal
reservation whatever. William Kose.
I hereby certify that so much of Col. Parmele's
communication as refers to me, in relation
to promises made by Gen. Earle, is entirely
false. It is true I have been, and am
now, au aspirant for the Chief of the Guard
at the South Carolina Penitentiary, and that
I am recommended for the position by the
former Board of Directors, by other personal
friends and by a written communication from
his Excellency the Governor. Upon Parmele's
refusal to give me the position I
sought, and for which I was recommended, I
declined to take anything less. In this connection,
I will further certify that I have
tried and found it impossible to carry on work
by convict labor on account of instruction
given by Purmele and Reis. S. Green.
I hereby certify that I was formerly a guard
at the South Carolina Penitentiary under the
present management, and I am the guard referred
to in Parmele's communication as a
ready signer, and that the charges against
Parmele were prompted by me without any
influence by others. I further certify that
the charges are true, and the paper was pre!
pared by my instigation, and I signed the
same without any mental reservation.
H. B. Roberts.
opium^eatin g.
rrs PLEASURES?THE TERRIBLE SUFFERING
IT ENTAILS.
The first dose of opium, upon a healthy or1
ganization is a new and remarkable revela-!
tion. When taken in a proper quantity its
primary effect upon the nervous system is not
: to produce-sleep. The first sensation is a corj
dial radiation from the epigostrum of an inj
describable warmth, or glow, accompanied
I by a change in the mental condition so corai
plex as to totally defy description. Opium
| stimulates all the faculties of the mind, but
especially the reflective and imaginative. It
is peculiarly a picture-graving, castle-huilding
agent, and among its most singular effects
is that of confounding the real and the ideal
to the degree thai; the person using the drug
accepts the structures of the imagination as
present realities. Opium is the most complex
substance known to pharmacopoeia, and its
effects upon the human system are correspondingly
diverse. It not only soothes irritation
and mental anxiety, but it imparts a sense
of peace, a calmness under difficulty, and a
self reliance in danger which is only equalled
by the sensation which it bestows of primeval
health of body and elasticity of spirits. It
siDgs in the ear of the wretched victim a song
so seductively sweet that there is no waking
to a sense of danger until too late. The fact
that it is the most powerful anodyne known
to medicine accoQists for the deceptive sensations
of health and strength it imparts to
the user, at the same time that it is working
out functional and structural changes of the
most startling character.
The pleasurable effects of a single dose
generally continue from four to eight hours,,
when the reaction from the stimulus of the
drug results in a stupid sleep, often thronged
with dreams which, with Borne mental organizations,
consist in succession of stupendous
scenes and situation. Upon awakening the
body is bathed with perspiration, the mind iB
confused, a deep sense of dejection and fatigue,
with considerable disturbance of all the
secretory organs, ensues, which may not fully
disappear for many hours, but which may be
temporarily concealed by a second dose.
I Tf mnot ko vamomkova/) ikflf flpfintl nf
XL UUUOb HO 1LUILUJUL1LU uumv uuu mvviwm wi
opium is to lock up the great excretory organs
of the body, and throw the whole task of
eliminating effete matter from the system upon
the skiu. Thus the bowels cf the opium eater
constantly are constipated, the kidneys fail
to secrete the proper proportion of fluid, the
liver is inactive, and all the poisonous matter
which it should filter from the blood, and
which is the bowels' proper purgative, must
be gotten rid of by the pores of the skin. No
auodyne less powerful than opium could successfully
conceal such dire disturbances of these
most essential functions.
So loug as the previous forces are not materially
diminished by the heavy drafts made
upon them the pleasurable sensations derived
from opium may coutinue. But the time
soon comes when an opium eater finds that
his system fails to respond to the exciting
power, and instinct aud analogy both teach
him that the dose must be increased. Nor is
this step dictated by the desire of enjoyment
alone. The syHiem'demauds'a'cbnstauTly increasing
stimulus to enable it to meet the
new requirements aud discharge the ahnor
mal functions which are created by opium.
At length, after a longer or shorter period,
during which all suggestions of danger are
dulled, symptoms appear which alarm even
those most ignorant or unsuspicious of the
impending evil. The tremendous effects
wrought upon the system during so loug a
period can no longer be wholly concealed. A
more appalling discourse cannot be easily pic
lured than that which reveals the nunerto
unconscious dreamer that he has involuntarily
rivited upon himself the chains of a most
terrible, and, perhaps, hopeless slavery. The
enlightenment does not proceed from clearly
defined symptoms of disturbance, which seldom
appear at this stage. It is rather in the
nature of an undefiued but dreadful, foreboding,
an instinctive, shuddering suggestion of
something dimly pictured upon the consciousness,
and assuming outlines more distinct and
proportions more appalling. The narcotic
having hitherto successful)' veiled the changes
vhicb it worked, now, when it has fixed a
grasp of iron upon every nerve and tissue,
conveys the first hint of danger in the form
of a suspicion, rapidly ripening into conviction,
that all is wrong with the organs and
functions most essential to life.
In most cases the first impulse following
this awakening is to renounce the cause of
the evil without delay. The moment this
is attempted the eyes of the sufferer are fully
opened to his condition. He finds now an
ample cause for all the vague, terrifying suggestions,
dimly hinted during his waking moments
and reflected in solemn colors upon
the substance of his dreams.
" . 1 1
Speedily tallowing the omission 01 me usu&i
stated dose, the patient experiences a sudden
and indefinable sensation, as if of the failure of
those vital powers moot essential to life.
This is accompanied by a, restlessness and nervous
iiritation so acute as to amount to actual
torture, with alternate hot and cold flushes
and profuse perspiration which drenches
the entire body. This is speedily followed by
the feeling of a peculiar, congested or cordial
tightness about the epigastrium, with a now
perceptible cerebral excitement similar to
that immediately preceding the stage of delirium
in fever.
At this point the patient experiences the
only coudition resembling sleep which, if his
habit has been of a year or two duration, he
cau hope to enjoy again for at least a fortnightThis
will appear strange enough to the unini.
tiated ; total absence of sleep for a period of
fourteen consecutive days being almost beI
yond the limits of belief. But I wish to be
understood, with literal exactness, that even in
a habit of comparatively short standing the
patient will, if he endures h s sufferings to the
end, be wholly s.nd utterly without sleep for
at least a week, and more probably for 2
weeks. But this period cf wakefulness is
ushered in by short periods of deep stupor
| quickly following the first nyraptoms of congestion
and excitement of the brain which I
| have mentioned. The patient is never in any
sense refreshed by this slsep, but wakens
from each recurrence with more drenching
perspirations, with an increasing confusion of
the mind, with a more tormenting restlessness
j and a growing horror and hopelessness of his
condition. Within about twenty-four hours
these brief periods of unconsciousness disappear
entirely. They are succeeded by symp
toins of the most agonizing gastric disturbance,
which are rapidly exacerbated until the simplest
food causes distress exceeding that experienced
in the worst cases of gastritis. The
peculiar sensation of tightness about the
stomach has now passed into an unintermitting
sensation of corrosion of that organ which
soon becomes a source of the most excruciaj
ting anguish. An acrid discharge from the
bowels now supervenes, speedily becoming
an active diarrhoea, which continues through
the entire period occupied by a cure.
??
Man's Ac;e.?Few men die of age. Almost
all die of disappointment, passion, mental
or bodily toil, or accident. The passions
kill men even suddenly. The common expression,
choktd with passion hs.s little exaggeration
in it; for even though not suddenly fatal,
strong passions shorten life. Strong bodied
men often die young?weak men live longer
than the strong, for the strong use their
strength and the weak have none to use. The
latter take care of themselves, the former do
not. As it is with the body, so it is with the
mind and temper, the strong are apt to break,
or like the candle to run ; the weak burn out.
The inferior animals which live, in general,
regular and temperate lives, have generally
their prescribed terra of years. The horse
lives twenty-five years; the ox fifteen or
* - . ?l . i
twenty; tne lion anout twenty ; tne uog ten
or twelve ; the rabbit eight; the guinea-pig six
or seven years. These numbers all bear a
similar proportion to the time the animal
takes to grow its full size. But man, of the
animals, is one that seldom comes up to this
average. He ought to live a hundred years,
according to thi* physiological law, for five
times twenty are one hundred ; but instead of
that he scarcely reaches, on an average, four
times his growing period ; the cat six times ;
and the rabbit even eight times the standard
of measurement. The reason is obvious?
roan is not only most irregular and the roost i
intemperate, but the most laborious and hard
worked of all animals. He is also the most
irritable of all animals; and there is no reason
to believe, though we cannot tell what an <
animal secretly feels, that more than any other
animal man cherishes wrath to keep it warm,
and consumes himself with the fire of his
own secret reflections.
A FOING^MACHINE. 1
i
SUCCE88FUI, EXPERIMENTS WITH A NEWLY-IN
VENTED J.IR-8HIP.
The first open-air exhibition of a new flying
machine, invented by Prof. C. F. Ritchell, :
was given at Hartford, recently, and proved
a success. The following description of the j
air-ship, an account of the second ascension, (
we find in the New York Sun: The flying '
machine is all clumsiness above, and all light* (
ness and grace below. The lifting power is (
afforded by a horizontally placed cylinder of ,
"gossamer-cloth," fine linen coated with India
rubber, twenty-five feet in length and thirteen |
in diameter, weighing only sixty-six pounds |
and charged with hydrogen gas, which is made ]
by the usual process, from iron turnings and ,
sulphuric acid. Broad worsted bands extend |
over that aud down to a rod of mandrel- <
drawn brans tubing, nickel-plated, one and '
one-half inches in diameter, and twenty-three ,
feet long. From that rod the machine is sus- |
pended by slender cords. The after portion (
of the machine is, at the base, a parallelogram |
of rods two feet wide and five and one-half '
Inner frnm tshinK rioD IpncrfKtriflA PlirtTP^
rods eighteen inches high in the centre, and
drawn near together at the top. All these
rods are in reality hollow tubes of mandreldrawn
brass, light and very strong. Above
the apex of this form rises a cog-edged steel
wheel, eleven inches in diameter, with doublehandles,
so geared to a four bladed fan moving
horizontally, directly beneath, that the
operator can give the fan 2,000 revolutions
per minute. The four blades of the fan are
of white holly, each having a superficial area
of about fifty square inches, and the extreme
diameter of this revolving fan is twenty-four
inches. The blades are set at a slight angle,
like those of the screw of a propeller. Just
behind the wheel is a very small seat, upon
which the operator perches. His feet rest
upon two light treadles, above and in front of
the fan. From the front of this form spring
other carrying" at ibelr extremity a vertically-working
revolving fan, like that beneath
the operator's seat, except that it is but
twenty two inches in diameter. It is so geared
to the main or horizontal fan that it may be
operated or not, at the pleasure of the driver
of the machine, and can be made to turn
from one side to the other, so as to deflect the
course of the machine in the air. This fan
will make 2,800 revolutions per minute while j
the other is making 2,000. All its movements {
are controlled by the operator's feet. When ,
he presses the left treadle he throws it into {
gear, when he presses with the toe of the right j
foot it turns to the left, and a slight pressure (
of the heel whirls it over to the right. He f
can also reverse the action of his main fan, (
so that when it whirls one way be goes down, t
and when its course is reversed he mounts in
the air.
That this is not merely a claim has i
been clearly demonstrated. Then the weight
of the operator and machine, and the lifting
power of the gas cylinder have been se nice- .
ly adjusted that they were exactly balanced. 1
Six pounds have been added to the weight of J
the machine and the working of the horizon- |
tal fan has caused the aparatus to rise and !
continue to ascend as long as the lifting pow- 1
er of the machinery was exerted. The weight, (
normally of the machine, and rod from which y
it is suspended, is forty-eight pounds. This, ?
then, gives 114 pounds as the weight of the *
entire apparatus. The operator, Mark Quin- j
lan, who went up on Wednesday and again
on yesterday, weighs ninety-six pounds, and I
to balance him and the dead weight against (
the lifting power of the gas, he had to carry 1
along with him about nine pounds of shot 1
and stones. .. i
The second exhibition was given in the afternoon.
The weather was far from favora- 4
ble. The wind came in quite sharp gUBts, and 1
there were threatenings of a coming storm. !
Nevertheless, the ascent was made. Little 1
Quinlan, even if he does only weigh ninety- ?
six pounds, has confidence and nerve enough !
to go up in a gale. Sometime was spent in J
getting the weight and lifting power so neatly
balanced as to show that the machine could (
exert a lifting power of its own. When this ]
had been effected to Prof. Ritchel's satisfac- ^
tion, the apparatus rested quetly on the grass,
but could be lifted or set back with the light 1
pressure of one finger. Then the word was (
given "Go." Quinlan began turning the s
wheel, the horizontal fan revolved with a 1
noise like a buzz-saw, and the machine darted '
up almost vertically to a height of about two
hundred feet. There a strong, steady current
of wind setting toward the southwest was en- 1
countered, and the machine was swept away J
by it, broadside on to the spectators. Then 1
the operator was seen throwing his vertical *
fan into gear, and by its aid the serial ship *
turned around, pointing its head in whatever 1
direction he chose to give it. All this was I
the work of but a few seconds. Although
O.uinlan could move the apparatus about, he 1
cuuld not make any headway against the 1
strong wind. Reversing the motion of his I
horizontal fan, he descended apparently about 8
one hundred feet to get out of the current,
but, finding that impracticable, reascended to
a much greater height than he had at first
reached. Still he was swept off toward New
Haven, and after a little time went out of
Bight. He had vanished behind a distant hill,
and for a while it was supposed he had alighted.
Then he was again sighted, far away
aud not less than one thousand feet above the
earth. The cylinder of the machine looked
no larger than an orange. At length he disappeared
altogether.
At 61 o'clock, having been up battling
with the wind very nearly an hour, he descended
safely at Newington, and at ten
o'clock was back in Hartford. He said that
one time be was eight or ten miles away from
his startiDg-point, but by tacking and working
between the gusts of wind, won his way
back as far as Newington, only five miles
from Hartford. He says the working of the
machine is so easy that he could continue it
four consecutive hours, without fatigue, in a
quiet atmosphere. .8
? ? 8
IST Washington's female lawyer, Mrs. Belva i
Lockwood, who by her persistent knocking at f
the doors of Congress for admission to the
Supreme Court has become somewhat famous,
has two important cases pending before that
court, which she is debared from pleading on
account of her sex. One of a Cherokee Indian
claim iuvolving 83,000,000. Mrs. Lockwood
is now in the fifth year of her practice,
and has all the business she can attend to.
When she began, her property consisted of a
few feet of real estate in a cemetery; now she
is worth 820,000, and her practice brings her
a yearly income about five times as large as
the salary of a clerk in the treasury department.
She is a widow, nearly 50 years of
age and very attractive.
+. ? t
LIBERIA HEARD FROM.
A gentleman residing in Aberdeen, Miss.,
having business in the upper or northern portion
of the county, and learning that Sam.
White, who, in company with bis family and
quite a number of colored people, left for
Liberia sometime in December last, had returned,
took occasion to interview Sam, and
hear what he had to say of the new country
of "milk and honey." Sam said that on leav
'M I / "VT
lug fte toot tne cars at uxoiona ior new i
York City; to reach New York it cost him
8164. There the Liberian Emigration Society
took them in hand and sent them to Liberia
free of charge. Their voyage was continuous,
not touching land until they arrived
at their destination. On arriving they were
furnished tents and food by the society for
six months, the fare being rather rough. He
said the natives look about like our home
darkies; the men are very large and the women
small. They are not more than half civilized,
and wear uo clothing save a fore-apron
made of calico. Their food consists principally
of cosote, a kind of plant that grows
there similar to the sweet potato, which they
cultivate with a hoe, they having no horses.
Their bouses consist of a small tbatch with
dirt floors. There are several tribes?about
seven, among the inhabitants, each tribe governed
by a king, similar to the mode of our
A.merican Indians. The entire republic is
governed by a President. There is but one
tribe among them that speaks the English
i --J .1 : t>L_
ianguage, ana mey very impeneutiy. ? u?
women are bought and sold as wives, their
beauty regulating the price. The climate is
rery hot, varying but little with the seasons.
The soil is a rich, dark, sandy loam. Rice
ind coffee are the principal staples?coffee
peing the only article raised from which they
:an realize. It bears about a pound to the
push and about 8,000 bushes to the acre.
They have but two seasons?six months rain
ind six months dry. The water is clear, but
lalt?even the atmosphere is so salt that a
piece of iron hung up will rust in twenty-four
lours. The brush is so thick that it is impossible
to get about until paths have been
:ut out. The climate is very unhealthy, especially
for Americans. Fevers are frequent
ind fatal. If you get sick, the native decors
will give you brush tea, which kills eight
>ut of every ten Americans. The country is
'ull of insects, the most troublesome being a
)ug resembling a large ant, and travels very
apidly, called the racer. They go into the
touses at night, after a rain, and give a perlon
no rest, their bite being both poisonous
ind painful. There are no horses, except in
he interior of the country, where they also
lave small cows which give about a pint of
nilk per day. But few hogs are raised there,
itoirm fn tl\o ennr/?itv nf nnH fllA fflW
ihat are raised never go 150 pounds. Bacon
lells for twenty-five cents a pound ; coffee
iwenty cents; flour twelve cents; calico twen,y-five
cents per yard. Labor is worth thirty
:ents per day. The town, at which Sam
itopped, the capital of the Republic, has
ibout 13,000 inhabitants, represented by all
lations?the Portugese predominating. They
lave both colored and white merchants. The
principal traffic is rum. Colored people who
ire meditating a change of home, would do
veil to confer with Sam before further prepiration.
Sam seems to have acted the wise
jart by leaving before bis money gave out,
itherwise he would have been a fixture there
'or all time, where, he says, not one in every
ifty who goes from this country are satisfied
o stay under any circumstances.
KATE SOUTHERN.
L MATTER OF-FACT ACCOUNT OF THE CRIME
FOR WHICH SHE IS SUFFERING.
We give in this paper the evidence elicited
n the rauch-talked-of trial of Kate Southern,
[t differs as much as light and darkness from
he sensational accounts we have been readng
in certain correspondence. There is nothngin
the scenes, the surroundings nor the inlidents
to glean a tithe of romance. The
vhole was a fight between two women, while
jallant Bob Southern and the rest looked
in. They were all very ignorant people.
Sate and her sister both centered on "Sis"
Uowart. There is no evidence that the men
iresent tried to part the combatants, nor
lees there appear to have been such a scene as
he sentimental writers picture of Bob with
jistol in band forcing Kate's way through a
:rowd. All that was the imagination of a
'ancy sketcher. Kate Southern is not pretty,
iven. She is of medium height, about 20
rears of age, and hes dark brown hair, and
he twang of a North Georgia cracker. She
s very ignorant, can hardly read and write,
ind Bob is worse educated than she. Kate
s passably good-looking, and wears imitation
et. She says the witnesses swore lies against
ler; that she acted in self-defence ; that she
:annot dance, and that night at her father's
,vas the "fust time she ever seed a reel run."
she is now on the plantation of Col. Smith, in
Washington county, and will be employed in
he household, cooking and washing for the
:onvicts who work on the plantation. The
lix month "baby" is sick?teething?and that
iow requires most of her time. She says no
nouey has been sent her from the North.
3er health is bad.
Her 16-year old sister, sentenced to two
rears as an accessory to Kate's crime, has
ieen in Col. Smith's house as a servant. She
s handsome, and has been taught to read and
vrite by her kind mistress. On her father's
arm she worked in the field and drove an ox
0 the plough. Her sentence has proved a
ilessing.
Bob Southern is nothing but a strong, goodooking
animal?a common, ignorant boor.
3e is now a guard of convicts on the same
ilantation. The woman Kate killed was on
1 par with the rest.
On reading this evidence one. feels utterly
lisgusted with the amount of sentimental
waddle that has been expended on the case,
tfot a scintilla can be obtained to excite a
ingle expression of admiration. Why, the
>arties surrendered themselves to get the regard,
and the understanding was that Kate's
nother was to get $50 of the money. Where
iven a fertile fancy would extract anything of
l romance from an atrocious crime we canlot
imagine.
We do not believe there is a single woman,
10 matter how warm and sympathetic her
ieart mav be. who. after reading this sworn
estimouy will sign a petition for Kate Southsrn's
pardon. Governor Colquitt did right.
He weighed the evidence carefully, and dismayed
both justice and humanity in his de:ision.
A crime has been committed, a wonan
killed another in her father's house, after
he had been received kindly by her paen
ts?and then demands of the authorities
hat she shall go free, is preposterous. If such
in act were pardoned, the doing so would be
i mockery of law. Crime already has too
nuch license because the statutes are not ettorced.?
Columbus (Go.) Enquirer y
HOW TO ACT IN CASE OF FIRE.
Better than all elaborate costly apparatus
for extinguishing fires are constant care and
watchfulness, and quick and intelligent action
on the part of those who first discover
a fire in progress. The fire which at its heginning,
could be smothered out with a pocket
handkerchief or dashed out with a bucket
of water, neglected a few hours lays in waste
millions of dollars' worth of property. If
there is any time in which a person should he
cool and calm, in perfect command of himself.
it is when he discovers a fire that threat
ens life and property. The first thing to do
is to learn precisely where it is; the second,
consider the chances of extinguishing it. Of
course, in cities an alarm should be at once
sent out, but, at the same time, a vigorous
effort should be made to put out the fire
with the means at hand; for sometimes what ,
the fire engine is unable to accomplish when
it reaches the scene can be done by one or
two persons who act promptly before the
flames have timo to gain a headway.
First, then, do not be alarmed on account
of smoke. Frequently there is a great deal of
smoke before the fire has made much pro- .
gress. Remember that one can pass through
smoke by keeping his bead near the floor, or
by enveloping it in a wet woolen cloth. On
entering a room to fight down a fire single
handed, keep the door closed behind if possible.
A pail of water and a tin dipper, in
the hands of a resolute Derson. can be made to
work a miracle at the beginning. If the fire
has progressed too far to admit of this coarse,
and it is nesessary to depend entirely on outside
help, then see to it that every door
and window is closed. By so doing, where
there is a fire engine in the neighborhood, it
will often be possible to confine the fire to
one room. Every person who stops at a hotel
should take special pains before retiring
to note the location of the stairways, so that
in case of an alarm he can find his way out
even though ihe halls are filled with smoke.
Never leave a room where there is an alarm
of fire without first securing a wet towel, or
if possible a wet sponge or piece of woolen
through which to breathe. If escape by the
stairs is cut off, seek an outside window and
stay there till help comes. Above all things
be cool and have your wits about you. When
a lady's dress takes fire, let be; fall on the
floor at once and call for help, in the meantime
reaching for some rug or woolen cloth
with which to smother the flames. There is
nothing new in this advice. It has been repeated
in one form or another hundreds of
times; but it will bear repeating thousands
of ti mes. ?American Builder.
Wooden Money.?From the reign of
Henry I. down to the period of the establishment
of the Bank of England, a portion
of the money of England was fabricated out
of wood. This instrument was called an exchange
tally, and by virtue of it the holder
was entitled to receive from the crown the
value inscribed thereon. It really consisted
of one-half of a four-sided rod or staff, on
whinh whpn in it* AntirA ntfttA t.hA anm it nnr.
ported to represent was carved in transverse
notches, varying in width for thousands, hundreds,
scores, pounds, shillings and pence.
These signs were for the unlearned; for the
advantage of those who could read, the sum
was written in ink on the two opposite sides
of the staff, and finally, with a knife and
mallet the Htaff itofllf was split in tan lnnrritnH
inaliy.One half, called the tally or check,
was given to the person for whose service it
was intended ; the other half, called the counter
tally, was laid up in safe-keeping until
its corresponding tally should be bought in
by the person who had last given its value
for it. Its intrinsic value was, of course only
that of wood of which it was composed, but
by representation it denoted large sums. It
was a current token of real money, and served
actually to distribute it from man to man
by this exchange. From this primitive tally
was derived the exchequer bill, first introduc
ed in 1696 by Mr. Montague, the chancelor
of the exchequer. The word "bill," too, was
no doubt obtained from the Norman-French
word, bille, which means a staff. Bank post
bills and bills of exchange in our own day
came from the same base, and soldiers are
said at this hour to be "billeted," because
they tendered wooden "billies" or tallies to
the victuallers upon whom they were quartered.
In olden times officers of the army
who were taken into the king's own pay were
said to be put on the staff?that is, they were
paid with exchequer tallies or wooden money.
4 ? ?
What Voices Indicate.?There are light,
quick, surface voices, that involuntarily seem
to utter the slang, "I won't do to tie to." The
man's words may assure you of his strength
of purpose and reliability, yet his tone contradicts
his speech.
Then, there are low, deep, strong voices,
where the words seem ground out as if the
man owed humanity a grudge, and meant to
pay it some day. That man's opponent may
tremble and his friends may trust his strength
of purpose and ability to act.
There is the coarse, boisterous, dictatorial
tone, invariably adopted by vulgar persons,
who have not sufficient cultivation to understand
their own insignificance.
There is the incredulous tone, that is full of
a covert sneer, or a secret "you can't-dupeme-sir"
intonation.
Then there is the whining, beseeching voice,
that says "sycophant" as plainly as if it uttered
the word. It cajoles and flatters you ;
its words say : "I love you ; I admire you ;
you are everything that you should be."
Then there is the tender, musical, compassionate
voice, that sometimes goes with sharp
features (aB they indicate merely intensity of
feeling) and sometimes with blunt features,
but always with genuine benevolence.
If you are full of affectation and preteuce,
your voice proclaims it.
If you are full of honesty, strength and
purpose, your voice proclaims it.
If you are cold and calm and firm and consistent,
or fickle and foolish and deceptious,
your voice will be equally truth-telling.
You cannot change your voice from a natural
to an unnatural tone, without its being
known that you are doing so.
? ? S
B6?" A census has been taken in Madras,
British India, to determine the loss of life occasioned
by the famine. The conclusion
reached by the authorities is that a little more
than half a million persons have perished
from starvation out of a population of two
millions, and this in spite of the fact that the
greatest exertions were made, both by the
government and individuals to give relief to
the sufferers. These are the facts representing
a single district. A calculation based on
these estimates that "the total losses in South
India will not be far short of six millions."
It is to be feared that few persons in this land
of plenty have realized the horrors of the
dearth from which India has suffered. It is
fearful to think that six millions of persons,
not less than a seventh of the entire population
of the United States, should have perished
for want of food in this age of the
world.
To lend a man "a quarter" politely, requires
considerable coolness and self-control.
To be slow and ceremonious about it implies
distrust; to slap down the coin with a "bang"
indicates irritation, while to search all your
pockets in succession, conveys the impression
that you will be left penniless by the transaction.
A smiling, quiet promptness marks the
gentleman in this crisis.