Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i / 1 ' - ???? lewis m. grist, proprietor, j f^n Jubfjifnitfnf Jfamiln |tetos paper: Jfor % |lromotioit of t|t .political, burial, ^.gricnltural anh Cammertial Interests of % j&ontji. |terms-$2.50 a year, in advance. VOL. 25. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1879. ' NO. 37. ?.?? ???^^MM m mm mitt. . NORA'S OIL-WELL. BY SOPHIE SWETT. [St. Nicholas for September.] "If ye'd only consint to sell the place to Patsy Flannigan, an' buy a share in the big oil-well, we'dl>e like the king an' queen on their thrones; you wid a trailin' silk gown an' a raale gold chain, an' me wid a gold watch an' a fine span o' horses. For there's niver an end o' the oil is in that well, so they all says." "0, Teddy, there may be niver a drop of oil there at all, at all! Just look at the three derricks forninst the river, all in a row, atowerin' up so grand in the air, an' it's nnmnin' ?n' nnmnin' rwrv fchev was. an' niv r""*t? ? i 1? j - -v ? . er so much as a drap! What if this one would b8 the same, an' our money would all be gone, and the place that fairther an' mother worked so hard for, an' that's so snug, an' comfortaole for Patsy, and the baby, and the pigs, and bins, and us all! Jist look how plisant it do be, Teddy, wid baby makin' dirt-pies in the sunshine, and the chicks fightin* so quare over the worms, an' the dear lit tie pigs squealin' so musical! O, Teddy, I couldn't niver do it?niver!" And Nora shook her red head so decidedly that Teddy was almost convinced that it was of no use to tease her. Teddy, and Nora, and Patsy, and the babv, and the pigs, and chickens, lived in a little town on the Alleghany River, away out in Western Pennsylvania. You might find the . town on the map?if I should tell you "its name. It lies in a little hollow that seems to have been scooped out of the high hills, aud the bills shut out the sun rays, so that it seems almost dreary, and gray, and cloudy, there; and then there is the smoke from the great iron mills to make the air thick. The hills are full of treasures; vast stores of iron and coal which they kept, fast locked up, for nobody knows how many years, before man's curious skill burrowed in, and found them. Now, queer little avenues?just tall enough for a man to stand upright in, and wide enough for drays, drawn by patient donkeys, to travel in?lead into, and sometimes through?the hills. And men with Sickaxes and spades dig away there, in the earts of the hills, in darkness and grime, sometimes all their lives long; and, with the little lamps which they wear in their caps, casting a faint, weird light over their blackened faces and Bgures, they make one think of gnomes, in a fairy-tale, who wait upon some Prince of Darkness. The mines have drawn together a little colony of people from the old countries?English and Welsh, and Irish they are, principally, though there is a sprinkling of Germans and Belgians. T^hey live, for the most part, in little houses of log and piaster, provided by the iron company, or the coal company; but, now and then, one, with more means or more enterprise than the others, has bought a little lot of land and built himself a frame house. Terence Con' elly bad been one of the enterprising ones; He had bought two acres of land on the hillside, above Sugar Creek, and built a comfortable little house, and a pig sty and a henhouse as well, and had a garden, with "pra ties" and cabbages. The land was very ster' ile, and the vegetables never amounted to much ; but still it was a pleasure to Terence, when he came out of the darkness and gloom of the mine, to see "green things growing." But there came a day when poor Terence did not come out of the mine. A mass of rock and ore had faUeh in and killed him. His wife was heart broken, and went into a rapid decline, living less than a year after her husband's death. Teddy, Nora, Patsy, and the baby were all alone, on the little place, which their father and mother had worked so hard for, and taken such pleasure and pride in. Teddy was fourteen, and Nora a little more than a year younger; Patsy was ten, and the baby three. The Conelly children were regarded as especially intelligent by their neighbors, and Nora, in particular, was always said to be "far wiser than her years." They had always been sent carefully to school, aud though neither of them "took to books," particularly?unless Teddy's great liking for pirate stories might be regarded as indicative of a literary turn?and never had "got the burr out from under their tongues," and their native shrewdness had probably been somewhat sharpened. ^ At all events they had shouldered their responsibilities, and managed their affairs, without aid from any body." Small affairs they were, to be sure. When the expenses of their mother's illness and burial were paid, the last cent of Terence Connelly's little hoard of savings was gone; and as they had been obliged to scrimp and save, for a long time, to buy the little comforts necessary for their mother in her illness, the children were almost entirely destitute of clothing ; the home was their own ; but in some way they must be fed and clothed. Teddy found a situation in the mill, but the pay was so small, and there were intervals when he had no work. Nora took in washing and ironing, and, now and th'en she found a day's work at cleaning and sweeping. It was too hard for her, of course, but she never complained. At first, people gave them something, but when it began to be seen how self-helpful they were, the aid was gradually transferred to the more destitute,?and they were plenty. Moreover, the Uonellys tried to hide their want, a3 raucn as others displayed theirs. Nora had a sturdy little pride about her, inherited from both father and mother. And. they had been taught to be scrupulously neat; so there never was the look of poverty about their house which filth and squalor give. They did not keep their pig under the bed, nor the hens in the sitting-room, like many of their countrymen. And people said: "How well those Conelly children do take care of themselves! They don't seem to want anything." But many a time Nora went to bed hungry, after her hard day's work, and she patched the children's clothes and her own until it was hard to tell which was the original fabric and which the patch ; but patches did not matter much if they were only comfortable, and mere not obliged to ask charity of anybody ; so Nora thought. Neither did she mind the hard work, nor the hunger, if she could only keep the little home, and the little flock together, and be independent?just as her father and mother wnnlH Virvp \vishi>H "Mnra's nnlv fr>ar was that her strength would fail her; she had a t sharp pain in her side, sometimes, and her face, that had alv.ays been chubby and rosy before her mother died, grew so wan and pinched that, but for her little snub nose, which turned up just as decidedly as ever, her friends would scarely have known her. But she was not in the least discouraged. They had lived through the long, cold winter, and now spring had come; the days would be warm and long, now; they could raise a few vegetables, which would help along, and Teddy could catch fish in the river?which, though tbey did taste of petroleum, were, still, not bad eating. But Teddy was getting into a way that grieved Nora sorely. One of the mill-men had lent him papers and *+ books full of stories that seemed to have turned his head completely. He was no longer willing to plod along at his daily labor. He wanted to become rich, all at once, and have wonderful adventures. The oil excitement was strong in the town just then. In all the region around, oil had been found for several years, but within the borders of this little town the first oil had been struck a year before, and the people had gone wild over it. In the cold winter nights, Teddy had often been employed to keep the fires burning, along the pipe lines, which ran over the hills,?conveying oil from the wells to the great tanks near the railroad, where it was kept ready for transportation. These fires were to keep the oil from freezing, and several men were employed together, And then stories of wonderful oil-wells were told, which aroused Teddy's imagination j to the highest pitch. All the oil which had been struck was near the northern border of the town, miles away from their home, and it cost from two to three thousand dollars for the necessary apparatus to "bore for oil." All Teddy's story papers did not give him the faintest idea how he was to become the proprietor of an oil-well. Now, an enterprising Irishman, thinking he had discovered indications in his barren pasture, was raising money to "bore," by aellincr shares in the nrnsneotive well. And. as if luck did mean to befriend them, Teddy thought Patsy Flannigan was seized, just at this juncture, with a desire to buy their place. To be sure lie offered less than it cost, but what was any place worth, now, that had no signs of oil about it, Teddy would like to know. And he gave Nora no peace, coaxing and arguing, getting angry and shedding tears, by turns, and refusing to listen for a moment to poor Nora's suggestions that "there might not be a drap at all, at all, in Danny Cregan's well, and then, with the bit of place gone, and no money, what would become of them ?" On this particular evening, Teddy was very much vexed and disturbed in his mind. After he had pictured the prospective good fortune in such an attractive way, for Nora to be entirely unmoved, and throw cold water on all his hopes and plans, was too much for Teddy's temper. He arose from the doorstep, where they were sitting, and sirode off, knocking over the baby, kicking at the cat, and throwing a stone at the chickens. Poor Nora's heart was full almost to bursting; she did so hate to go against Teddy ! She was naturally yielding, and she "loved Teddy so much." Besides, as he said, she was younger and only a girl! "Maybe he do be right," she said to herself, faltering in her resolution. "It's afther gettiu' worun out both of us is, with the harud woruk, an' the little till ate, an' may be sickness before us?an' the poor bye's heart so set on the oil-well! But then it do be so much like ganibliu'! An' Danny Cregan not quite right in his head, they all says, an' the last woruds the mother says bein', 'Howld fast to the bit place, Nora. Don't be afther lettin' anybody take it away from yez!' It don't be for the likes of us to make forchins. We must be contint wid kapin' the roof over our heads, and the bit an' sup in our mouths. The saints be good till us !? but Teddy'll niver be contint till he sells the place and buys a pairt of the oil well that Danny Cregan hasn't at all, at all!" And with this melancholy conclusion Nora's tears fell thick and fast. But a voice at the gate made her wipe them away quickly. Teddy had come back. Nora was afraid he had gone "across the river." They had a "first cousin" living on the other side, and once, lately, when Teddy had got angry with her, he had gone over there, and stayed two or three days, neglecting his work ; and there were wild boys there, who led him into mischief. Nora was happy to find that he had not gone. Perhaps he had come back to tell her that he was sorry for getting angry with her. "Niver a bye had a better heart inside iv him than Teddy had?before the oil favur tuk him," Nora w?9 always saying. But Teddy hadn't come back to say that he was sorry. "It's now or niver?will ye sell the place to Patsy Flanigan an' make yer forchin ?'' he culled. "Misthfer McDonald is afther giving his consint, an' the papers is all ready for signin'.'" Mr. McDonald was their guardian, but he was a hard working mau, with a large tamiiy, and troubled himself very little about his wards. '"Deed, thin, he would consint till anythin' !" said Nora. "Teddy, we'll niver make a forchin in Danny Cregan's oil-well! Don't you belave it, dear. Don't let him desave you, wid his blarneyin' tongue. Don't ask me to sell the roof over our heads, an' be afther turnin' the childer and all intill the street. An' where would we go ag'in we got the fine forchin, if ye are sure of it? O, Teddy, ye used to think a dale of me an' the childer, an' now ye won't be afther breakin' our hearuts?" "It's you that has the blarneyin' tongue! L'ave oft', now, an' tell me, for good and all, will ye give yer consiDt ?" "No, niver !" said Nora, firmly, though sadly. Teddy went off, calling out angry words that almost broke poor Nora's heart. But the recollection of her mother's words kept her resolution strong. "I will 'howld fast to the home, and take good care of them all,' as the mother said ; and may be Teddy'U be afther forgivin' me, some day,'' sue said over ana over agaiu iu herself. "But if Danny Cregan do be afther strikin' oil, Teddy'll never forgive me, sure." And poor little Nora's tears fell fast, and her heart was torn by doubts whether, after all, it might not have been better to consent. She was suddenly aroused from her sad reflections by the sound of footsteps. Two men | were coming around the corner of the house; they must have fcorae across the fields, as there was no road in that direction ; but strangers were not uncommon in town, now that the oil excitement w;as raging; they came from Petrolia, and Oil City, and even from Pittsburg, almost every day. So Nora was not surprised. One of these men was flashily dressed, with a gold chain, like a cable, and a large diamond pin. Men who had struck oil usually dressed like that. Nora recognized them as "oil men," at once. They looked rather curiously about the little place. Then one of them advanced toward her. "Good evening, little girl," he said, affably, j "We were told that we should find a washerwoman here." "I do be the washerwoman ?" And Nora arose and made a little courtesy, as her mother had taught her to do. "You look rather small for a washerwoman. I Isn't it pretty hard for you ?" ??T ?ato ninnnt' -fXr if " Qnirl ^Inrn Rimnlv. X gVtfO UiVUUJ IVi ?V| uwivi *' V- ?J - J "And this is a lonesome, out-of-the way ' place. Don't you ever wish that you lived i down by the river, where the other Irish people live ?" "The hit of a place do be our owu?we likes it, sir," said Nora. "Never thiuk of selling it, do you ? I know a man who would give you a good price for it; then you wont have to work so hard." "Patsy Flannigan, sir ? He offered to give us three hundred dollars for it." "Three hundred dollars ! I?that is, this gentleman who wants it will give you a thoui sand dollars!" A thousand dollars! If they had all that money, Teddy might have his share in i Danny Cregan's well, and there would still be enough left to buy them a house to live in !?though it wouldn't be the dear old place. And while she was thinking, Nora's shrewd wits gathered themselves together. Why did these unknown men want so much to buy the little place, that was so far from the river and the railroad ? And this oil man seemed so ! eager and interested ! He examined the soil, picked up stones and lobked at them. Could it be?oil ! It was very unlikely; no oil had : been found near, that she knew of; but still it was strange, i "I don't think we do be wautin' to sell, sir." "Who looks after you ??who is your guardian ?" asked the man ; and Nora told him. i Then he wanted to know where Mr. McDonald lived, and went away, hurriedly. But they seemed to remember themselves and came back to say that Nora would find some clothes which they wanted washed, at the hotel. After they had gone, Nora felt restless and uneasy. At one moment she was afraid that 1 she ought to have taken the thousand dollars ; the next moment she would feel afraid that they would see Mr. McDonald, and bind him to a bargain which she could not break. Very soon she decided that, as there was yet an hour before dark, she would go down to the hotel and get the washing, and then go to see Mr. Staynes, who lived near the hotel, and tell him her difficulties. Mr. Staynes was the superintendent of the iron company. Her father had been in his employ when he was killed, and he had always taken an interest | in them. He was a man full of business cares, but JNora was sure of a kindly bearing. .tie had the reputation of being a shrewd but perfectly honest man ; she kjiew that his counsel would be wise and safe. She met him as she was going in at his gate. "O, little NoraConelly! Well, what is it?" he said, good-naturedly. "Two men do be afther wantin' to buy the place for a thousand dollars. Will we take it, sir V "So they've been after you already, have they ? I've just been to see McDonald about you, and I was going up to your place, the first thing in the morning. They've struck oil on the Ramsdell place?"?got a great flow ; only about an hour ago." "It do be a good ways from us, sir, an' the hill between," eaid Nora. "Yes, but the oil seems to follow a certain track; it runs due east; and you are directly on the track. And there are other signs in your direction. You will probably be offered a good deal more than a thousand dollars for the place to-morr<5w. But there have been so many failures lately where oil had been expected, that nobody will be likely to offer you a great price. I made McDonald an . offer which he is disposed to accept, but be will leave the decision to you, who are wise enough to manage your own affairs. I will put down a well on your place at my own expense. If there is oil you shall pay me for ray outlay, and give me one-tenth of the profits. If there is no oil, the loss will be entirely my own." "Oh! an' the bit place ud still be our own whativer way it happened!" cried Nora, joyfully. Poor little Nora had known the realities of hunger and cold, and had become very practical. The possibility of becoming rich was too vague and unreal for her imagination to grasp; it seemed like one of Teddy's wonderful stories ; while the possibility of being without a shelter,?if they lost their little place,? and colder and hungrier than they had ever seemed a ratural one. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude to Mr. Staynes, although with that gentleman it was only a business transaction, by which he hoped to make money; the only things for which she had reason to feel grateful to him were that he was not taking an unfair advantage, as he might have done, and that he did feel honestly anxious that.they might be benefited at the same time with himself. Teddy ought to be consulted, but there was no time to lose, and Nora said "Yes" for both of them ; she felt sure that Teddy would be delighted with the project, and she earnestly hoped that he would come home that night that she might tell him of it. .but mue?ten?eleven o cioca came, ana no Teddy. Before noon the next day boring operation had commenced, and still no Teddy! The Conelly place was thronged by a curious crowd. Right in the midst of Teddy's potato-patch they were sinking the well. They seemed to think no more of "praties" than of so many weeds, though the heart of little Patsy?who had weeded them faithfully?burned, within him at the sight. It was a sad time for the pigs and chickens. The pig-pen and hen-coop were almost buried under the timbers, and pipes, and screws, and wheels and all the wonderful apparatus that was to force her treasure from the unwilling earth; the pigs squealed their remonstrances unceasingly, and the chicks scattered in every direction pursued by their mammas, with unavailing clucks. The big rooster alone seemed to take a cheerful view of the proceedings. He cocked his head, first on-one side and then on the other, and inspected the operations, while they bored, nAnntA/1 ^/\ TJamo f h n f aim uuicu, uutu it occiucu tu nuia tnai must have bored nearly through the earih. And, when the great tall derrick was set up, the rooster flew upon it, to an astonishing height, and uttered an exultant cock-a-doodle-doo! that was re-echoed from all the hills around. And the result proved that he was a knowing rooster. For, a few moments after that, there was a "spurt" into the air, of a dark-green liquid, from which proceeded an odor like the concentrated essence of all the bad kerosene lamps#that you ever smelled! This was one of the wonderful wells. The oil did not wait to be pumped; it burst up into the air like a fountain, to the height of seven or eight feet! There was a great excitement. It seemed as if two-thirds of the people in the country assembled there in less than half an hour. Nora's delight had a great drawback. Teddy was not tlfere. In all this time she had not heard from him. He had gone, at first, to their cousin, but bad become angry with him for saying, when he told the story of his grievance, that Nora was right; and he had gone away from there, nobody knew where. And Nora was anxious about him. She could not look at the wonderful fountain of oil for watching for him. Surely, when everybody was rushing there, he would hear what had happened if he were anywhere near! And, at last, toward night-fall when the excitement was subsiding a little, she espied, on the edge of the crowd, a way-worn and tattered pilgrim who looked like Teddy. Nora rushed to meet him, and gave him a prodigal son's greeting: she put both arms around his neck and cried for joy. "0 Teddy, where were ye!" "I've been after seekin' my forchiu," said Teddy sharae-facedly. "And it's our own place is the forchin after all 1" cried Nora. Why they didn't all go wild with joy and excitement, I don't know. Teddy had tramped almost to Pittsburg, finding small jobs by the way, but had, at length, been seized by homesickness?or a return of common sense? . and taken up his homeward way. The oil did not flow for a very great while : the wonderful wells never do. But before the flow ceased there was a snug little fortune invested for Teddy, and Nora, and Patsy, and the baby, that would keep them from poverty all their days. And Nora is no longer a washerwoman ; she goes to school and so does ! Teddy, who, I am glad to say, has given up ' reading pirate stories, and louging for advenI tures, and is try ing to learn how to be a good and useful man. But Nora is still known as the "wisest" of the Conelly children. And she is "so generous and forebearing that she has never once said : .?? 1 "0, Teddy, what if I'd consinted to sell our home?"?not even when Teddy came home one day and told her that Danny Cregau's well "had not a drap of oil intil it at all, at all!" ' IlliscdtaMttjs ftadittfl. APrER APPOMATTOX. AN INTERESTING TALK WITH GEN. R. E. LEE. When the array of Gen. Sherman was making its famous homeward march to Washington, it rested for a few days in the fallen Capital of the fallen Confederacy. While there a Federal chaplain visited Gen. Robert E. Lee, and had an interesting conversation with him, and this conversation now sees print, for the first time, in the Cincinnati Commercial. The writer sajs: Accompanied by lien, lieary, aiterwaras Governor Geary, of Pennsylvania, and provided with a letter from General Hazen, who knew General Lee at West Point, I was admitted to the presence of the illustrious commander. General Lee was erect and handsome. His easy smile and simplicity of manner did not speak of disaster. He was very positive in his convictions, but in our long talk always weighed every sentence. President Lincoln's assassination was uppermost in all our minds. General Lee said : "The death of that eminent citizen has filled me with horror. If there were blemishes in his character, his life exhibited some splendid and rare virtues. He was one of the most extraordinary men that ever lived in our country. His heart was grand and large. He was constitutionally pensive. Had he been spared, the South would be treated with honorable propriety and with a gallant generosity ; that good will and friendliness would have marked his treatment of the people of the South." General Lee now adverted to the character of Grant, of whom hespqke in the most friendly words and terms. He ascribed to him the possession of the noblest attributes of American manhood ; that he possessed all the requisites and talents for the organization of armies. "I wish," said General Lee, "to do simple justice to General Grant, when I say that, his treatment of the Arrav of Northern Virginia is without a parallel in the history of the civilized world. When my poor soldiers, with famished faces, had neither food nor raiment, it was then that General Grant immediately issued the humane order that forty thousand rations should be furnished to the impoverised troops. And that was not all of his magnanimity. I was giving directions to one of my staff-officers, when making out the list of things to be surrendered, to include the horses. At that'moment General Grant, who seemed to be paying no attention to what was transpiring, quickly said : "No, no, General Lee, not a horse?not one?keep them all. Your people will need them for.the spring crops!" It was a scene never to be forgotten to watch iLee's manner, when with a spirit of chivalry equal bo his skilly and gallantry, he told, with moistened eyes, this and many other instances'of the magnanimity so nobly displayed by his illustrious rival. I asked him who was the greatest of the Federal generals. "Indeed, sir, I have no hesitation in saying General Grant. Both as a gentleman and an organizer of victorious war, General Grant hath excelled all your most noted soldiers. Ht. his exhibited more real greatness of mind, more consummate prudence from the outset and more heroic bravery than any one on your side." *The conversation turned to General Sherman, of whom bespoke as follows; "As a strategist and commander of men Sherman has displayed the highest order of military genius. Throughout his recent campaign, when he had to pass through an unknown country, cross rivers, support his troops, etc., he certainly exhibited a singleness of purpose, a fertility of resource, which wins him a high place among the famous soldiers of history. He seems to be cool without apa thy, cautious without being dilatory, patient without being dispirited, personally brave, but never rash. Judged by Napoleon's test, 'Who did all that?'he is, in my opinion, among the most successful of the Federal officers who have played a prominent part in the history of the war." In the course of conversation, he spoke of Sheridan as a most brilliant and magnetic commander. WHY THE CONFEDERACY PROVED A FAILURE. To the question : "What was the cause of the failure of the South ?" the General smilingly said : "I am not a very good extemporaneous speaker, nor am i a very good extemporaneous answerer of questions. The most conspicuous reason was the superiority in men and in the resources of the North. The United States had all the advantages?a land of boundless wealth, cities secure from the horrors of civil war, and a constant stream of emigrants to fill up the depleted ranks of your armies. The numbers against us were enormous. The population of the South was never more than seven millions. With five to one against them the Southerners performed a mighty work and made a gigantic step towards their luuepeuueuue. "Another cause lay in the vanity of many of ouf people. The first battles of the war being favorable to us, the South was wild with confidence and the whole country was thrown into a ferment of excitement. It was doubtful, indeed, whether one in a thousand of our people supposed for a moment that there was any doubt of an immediate and a successful termination of the struggle. The public meetings were, in every case, too enthusiastic. The people were carried away by acclamation. The cheering proved to be our folly. This excess of confidence lost us New Orleans and many other cities. "A much more serious difficulty arose from the mistaken view of the Southern cause by the Philanthropists of the Old World. They were led to believe that we were fighting for the perpetuity of slavery, aud that the establishment of the Confederacy would be the re opening of the African slave trade. This opinion shook the faith of great and good men in the humanity and righteousness of the South. The conscript law was another effective check to our success. Instead erf being a benefit, it was a curse?a badge of disgrace. The rich were favored ; falsehood and dissimulation were its natural results, suspicion and mistrust arose where confidence and reliance should have prevailed. The attitude preserved by Mr. Davis and other leaders, in opposition to the arming of the negroes, a policy which I always believed to be expedient, proved most disastrous. The widespread poverty of the country, accompanied by the just conviction that all further efforts were hopeless? these and other forces worked to one final result, the failure of the Confederacy." THE FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN BOTH ARMIES. Our next topic of conversation was the foreign element in both armies. Speaking of the Irish, he declared, with considerable feeling, that the "South could not reconcile with their notions of consistency and honor, how Northern Irishmen, who were so desperately and violently opposed to the thraldom of Britain?the wrongs of Ireland being mosquitobites by the side of the enormous injuries which had been inflicted by the North on the South?how liberty-loving Irishmen could fight against the Southerners contending for independence and equality of rights." I suggested that the soldiers of Irish origin iu our armies were equally bewildered to know how Irishmen who, for centuries, had gallantly contended for the freedom of the Celts could be so inconsistent and recreant to every principle of right as In be engaged in a war for a Government whose corner-stone was slavery. Besides that, though Irishmen were revolu?v tionists at home, they were conservatives in the United States, and that there was an infinite difference between a war in the interest of oppression and one in favor of the oppressed. Adverting to the character of the Irish as soldiers, the General was very enthusiastic, saying that they played a prominent part in all the wars of the world for the last three centuries?now on one side, now on the other, j "The Irish soldier fights not so much for lucre as through the reckless love of adventure, *nd, moreover, with a chivalrous devotion to the cause he espouses for the time being. Cleburne, on our side, inherited the intrepidity of his race. On a field of battle he shone like a meteor on a cloudy sky ! As a dashing military man he was all virtue; a single vice does not stain him as a warrior. His generosity and benevolence had no limits. The care which he took of the fortunes of his officers and soldiers, from the greatest to the least, was incessant. His integrity was proverbial, and his modesty was an equally conspicuous trait in his character. "Meagher on your side, though not.Cleburne's equal in military genius, rivalled him in bravery and in the affections of bis soldiers. The gallant stand which his bold brigade made on*the heights of Fredericksburg is well known. Never were meu so brave. They ennobled their race by their splendid gallantry on that desperate occasion. Though totally routed, they reaped harvests of glory. Their brilliant, though hopeless, assaults on our lines excited the hearty applause of my officers and soldiers, and Gen., Hill exclaimed, 'There are those green flags again." HIS ESTIMATE OF WEBSTER, CLAY AND CALHOUN. Then as we talked of the causes of the war we drifted to the old statesmen. Gen. Lee referred despondingly to the nation's lack of statesmen. Speaking of Webster he said : "I never saw a more striking object than Webster in the Senate. The effect of his fine figure and princely air, when speaking, was like that of a vivid fiash in the midst of darkness. WhatPaganini was in music, that Webster was in oratory ; the one charmed Europe with one string, the other, electrified multitudes with his eloquence. He once complained to me of the wrongs done him by the reporters; but in vain; the world would read whatever bore bis honored name, and the grub worms were ever ready to gratify the desire by fragments or rather caricatures of his mighty eloquence. His speeches indicate the powers of the great orator?they are lofty but not impassioned, correct but not fluent Henry Clay was every inch a patriot and an orator. I heard him on British aggressions. Never, certainly, had I ever beheld so powerful an exhibition of natural oratory. The grace of the attitudes into which he threw his flexible figure, the striking gestures of his arms, and, .above all, the fire which shot from his brilliant eyes, imparted an effect to the continually charming accents of his voice of which the roost accomplished actor might be proud. At one momentleaning forward when stating circumstantially the grievances of which the nation complained, and then standing bolt upright, with clenched hands and a countenance distorted with passion, he poured out a tide of invectives. The effect on his audience was electric?one and all, they stood regarding him with sparkling eyes and trembling limha ?a tVinnorh t.hpv wprfi listening to the inspired voice of a prophet. Henry Clay was the greatest actor off the stage. Calhoun was the favorite of the South. Morally, he is to be rated higher than either Webster or Clay. He was keen in the observation of whatever was minute. He" was attracted by the lofty and ideal. Similarity, resemblance, pictures and annalysis caught his eye. They were seized and secured and thrown down upon his page in gorgeous groups and splendid coloring. His logic was compressed ana concealed; the train of reasoning he seemed to be pursuing might be clear and continuous to his own mind ; all its facts' logically articulated from end to end ; 1>ut it was like a strearm of water, working its way under ground, that showed itself now and then, or by a succession of openings and jets, the one apparently deep, the other light and sparkling. He was distinguished for his power of condensation. Metaphors, tropes and figures of all kinds \^ere never found in his speeches. His eloquence and logic set on fire. I heard him in one of his altercations with Clay. I was surprised that Mr. Calhoun's eloquence did not produce the least reply. It fell like a thunderbolt upon an iceberg, glanced along, hissed and was extinguished." Jefferson Davis, Yancy, Breckenridgo and Toombs, whose names he mentioned, as well " " x iL ? as a set oi equally prominent men m wc North, Gen. !Lee characterized as "politicians," and "they," said he, "brought on the war." He went on to say: "I was opposed to war at the outset. I wept when I heard of the bombardment of Fort Sumter! I sought retirement so that I might not hear or see any of the political leaders, the great end and aim of whose statesmanship was to precepitate the havoc that subsequently swept their fields and cities. But when Virginia, my native State, seceded, there was only one course for me to pursue, naniely, to follow her fortunes." STONEWALL JACKSON. Referring to the great loss sustained by the Confederacy in' the death of Stonewall Jackson, Gen. L^e remarked : "In surprise marches and in the art of creating the resources of the war, Jackson far surpassed the level of his age, and rose to a comparison with Hannibal and Napoleon, the two greatest commanders of ancient and modern times. In every relation of private and public life his character was perfect. The South has produced some able soldiers, and a few in point of military talent were his equals, but it cannot and never could boats of one more beloved, not by personal friends alone, but by every soldier, and officer that served under him. His dispatches, even when announcing the grandest success, were briei statements 01 muis ulivumjibucu , mauj such passages as this would occur: "'We are about to open the campaign. I have prayed earnestly to God that He will enable me to pass through it in His fear, knowing no greater earthly blessing than to have a conscience at ease in the discharge of duty." I left the presence of Gen. Lee impressed with the consciousness that pride, hatred, revenge, had no place in his noble nature, and that having lowered his*colors and sheathed his sword, he was fully entitled to the respect and consideration of the gallant soldier to whom he surrendered. It is needless for me to say that, in my opinion, had he lived he would fully have upheld in the most distinguished manner the union of the States, the reconciliation of all classes, and the prosperity and happiness of the entire country. Foremost amongst the Confederates, and first in peace, Gen. Lee was not only a chivalrous gentleman, but he was eminently a Christian. In all his acts he was gifted with so rare a kindliness of demeanor, that he never made a quarrel with any one. His brilliant, though brief experience as an instructor of young men of the South, after the war closed, gave the strongest evidence of his loyalty and goodness of heart, and clearly presaged the glory which would have crowned his career had his lift been spared. " ' MODEL CAROLINA FARMS. WHAT MARION AND MARLBORO KNOW ABOUT PLANTING. In accordance with a custom established several years since, a number of our leading planters, accompanied by some invited guests, on last Monday commenced the annual round of visiting the crops of the leading farmers on and near the rd&ds leading from this place to Bennettsville. By this we would not be understood as confining the number of leading farmers of the two counties to the section named, because we know of some outside and beyond this limit who are fully up to the mark of the most advanced one in it, and we only regret that it iB not practicable for this pleasant review to extend to every one such in both counties. From Marion we crossed Catfish Bridge, passing through the farm of Capt. D. F. Berry, (the old Godbold place,) which has on it the best crop ever Known tnere. mr. jjouglas Mclntyre's farm was next viewed by some of the party, and reported very good. He is fast improving his land. The next was Mr. Thomas E. Moody, who has proved himself "a chip off the old block." With commendable enterprise and energy, he has gone to work, not in the holiday style of the generality of our young farmers, but with a vim and exclusivenesa that presages success and fortune. He purchased two years ago a part of the old Alston tract, now known as NewFound-Out, in which is one of the prettiest 160 acre fields in the county, surrounded by a marsh and grove, furnishing abundance of muck and turf, which our young friend fully appreciates and utilizes. He is fast bringing up the land?a light sandy loam on clay subsoil?which for many years has been poorlv cultivated by tenants. Enpauant, Dr. D. F. Miles' farm near his dwelling was viewed from the road and was pronounced fine, the land being naturally poor and somewhat deficient in drainage. The doctor has better crops on the Grove Place, which was not seen. Mr. J. R. Watson came next, and on new cleared, fresh land, he has a fine crop, and deserves credit for his plnck and*energy in converting a wilderness into a fine, fertile farm in so short a time. A field of cotton to the left of his attracted special attention, and upon inquiry we were informed that it belonged to Mr. Marcus Herrin. A PLACE WORTH $100 PER ACRE. The "Race Path" is thought by many to be the prettiest "hundred acre" field in the county, and we believe- that it cannot be surpassed in quality of soil and location. For touoral vp'ara ("!ftnf "Rllorhp liftfl maris nvflf ft bale to the acre on this field, containing 108 acres, and it was the*universal opinion of all present that this year it will make at least 120 bales, with a possibility of 140, if everything is favorable. The weed is still fresh and growing, and promises an enormous yield, in addition to the heavy crop now matured. It is manured with 25 bushels of seed and 120 pounds Guanape. Of this field the former owner, a good farmer, said: <Tt will not make cotton. It is useless to plant it" Several years ago, when told it would make that year 100,000 pounds seed cotton, he offered to bet his farm it would not make half so much. Capt. Ellerbe has been offered $100 per acre for this land by two of his neighbors, but it is no inducement to him. He would not sell for double that price. On six acres in the middle of this field, to test an increase of fertilizers, Capt. Ellerbe doubled the manure, and it is estimated by himself and other good judges that he will gather 3,000 pounds per acre from it. A large portion of the field, including these six acres, was subsoiled (two-horse Brinley in front of regular subsoil) to the depth of sixteen inches, with excellent results. This land is light loam, on red clay subsoil, which gives a beautiful tinge to the soil. The rapid improvement of this land with light manuring is in part due to thorough culture, but mainly to the canal the Captain has run through it and the admirable system of surface drains leading into it. The estimate on his crop is that ha has 200 acres that will make 200 bales, and altogether 250 bales. Besides the canal already alluded to, through the Race Path field, there is another through his plantation, 15 feet ? - n . i ,1 3 i? __ ! wide in most or lis J en gin, ana iour mues long. Into these canals lead numerous smaller ditches, and to these is attributable the wonderful improvement and productiveness of these lands, heretofore considered worthless. A HIGHLY IMPROVED PLANTATION. Mr. J. G. Haselden has built the finest gin and mill in the county, and has it covered with tin, and in it an elegant, new, ten horse power engine, with all modern improvements and fire guards. His plantation is also highly improved, and no planter has been more successful than he. THE MODEL FARMER OF THE STATE. Samuel Watson is pronounced by all the model farmer of the State. He does nothing by halves. As well as being energetic, scientific and thorough-going on his farm, he knows well how to make things comfortable and convenient about home?everything complete and in apple-pie order, even to the fire escape and unheard of extinguishers, his own inventions. We cannot, however, forbear to mention the completeness and truly economic arrangement of his barn lot. The entire lot (not a small one, either,) is covered by a huge, substantial, shingled roof, under which, also, are stalls (not bars) for horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep, of which latter he is making a specialty, however not neglecting any part of the other. This certainly means business, and is up to our most advanced idea of a cotton farm. He has twenty acres of cotton manured from this shelter, that will make him forty bales of cotton. His entire cotton crop?a large one?will average over a bale to the acre. RIVALS IN FARMING AND HOSPITALITY. At Mr. E. J. Moody's we founcl a large and magnificent field of cotton, fifteen acres of which, in five feet rows, showed equal to any that had been seen. Mr. Moody is well* - ? A.i ? i _ _ x T_ : Known as a successiui piamer. xu ptuuiug, fine crops were observed on the Ellis place of Mr. Samuel Watson, and that of Mr. J. W. Allen. The party reached Mr. L. B. Rogers and E. A. Bethea for dinner, and it is needless to say, received a hearty welcome and good cheer. Mr. Rogers has a fine plantation and a good crop, but it is hardly up to his usual high standard. He has remodeled and greatly enlarged his dwelling, making it one of the handsomest, as well as most spacious and comfortable in the county. Besides, he has built a fine gin-house, barn and stables to, correspond. A feature of the stables that attracted particular attention, and is worthy of remark and imitation, is that the foundation is laid in solid brick work instead of the timbers resting upon or entering into the ground. Mr. E. A. Betbea had prepared an elegant dinner for the party, several of whom dined with him ; and as usual exhibited a fine crop in good condition, everything about his premises being neat, clean and clear of grass and weeds. Mr. W. B. Ellen, hard by, also has a fine crop. It is a hard race between the three, Rogers, Bethea and Ellen. Mr. P. B. Rogers is one of the most energetic planters in the county. He may be put down among the prosperous and successful farmers. His crop at home was found very fine, besides which he has another, the Gaddy place, which was not seen. Mr. Marcus Stackhouse deserves particular mention for his generous hospitality. He has a splendid crop on the Clark place, for which he paid $30 per acre three years ago. AN "INTENSIVE" FARMER. Wednesday morning the reviewers met at Gen. E. T. 8tackhouse's, who entertained some of them during the previous night, and who may be written down as among the first, if not the very first, who introduced the intensive system of farming into this country. He commenced it immediately after the war, and for sometime was laughed at by his less 'enterprising neighbors for his "extravagant" use of commercial fertilizers and "waste of cotton seed under cotton." However, ho persevered, and on most of his land has been for several years making a bale of cotton to the acre; and this year will average a bale on 100 acres. Besides 118 acres in cotton at home, he has another farm not visited. He does not neglect his corn and small grain crops, which are always very fine. THE "EARLY MATURITY" MAN. Next comes the farm of Mr. J. H. Hamer. He plants largely and successfully, has about 175 acres in cotton, all good, but owing to a backward start, does not yet show as well as' usual. A forty acre field was prdhounced exceedingly fine and promising. Among the leading and most successful planters in the county is Mr. R. P. Hamer. His crop is large and very fine?better than usual. He makes a specialty of early maturity and quan ?tity of fruit, and in this respect cannot be surpassed. We regret not being abJ' to spec ify more particularly the extent of his crop. His building and improvements are among I the beat in tne State. A GROUT OP GOOD PLANTERS. Mr. J. T. Braddy bas 175 acres in cotton, a large part of which is very fine, and it is said will average a bale to the acre. The balance he has not had under cultivation in cotton long enough to bring it up to this high state of cultivation. Mr. Mctiaurin lives upon the plantation formerly owned by Mr. R. B. Braddy, which it is said exhibits greater improvement in five years than any other in the county. His energy and good taste have worked like magic in transforming it into one of the prettiest and best improved farms in the country. On 120 acres he will gather 120 bales of cotton. Besides this, he has a large farm at his old homestead, near Red Bluff, in Marlboro, which was not seen, but iis also good. Fine farms were seen on the plantation of Messrs. J. R. Townsend, A. Cottingham, Owen Jackson and N. Bennett The two last, and Mr. J. B. McLaurin, purchased the old Murchison homestead, in three tracts, lately owned by Mr. Afred Edens, which now has a sperfdid crop upon it, and which perhaps has produced more cotton per acre within tnirty years than any farm in the State. It sold at 930 per acre. One field of it has produced a bale per acre for thirty . years, and now has a better crop upon it than ever before. Mr. D. 0. Sinclair for many years has farmed successfully on the progressive plan. Hd has brought his land to a high state of fertility by the judicious use of commercial manures. He is now using less, and making large crops at very little expense. He has ltiO acres mat wui produce 130 bales, with light manuring. He has used Zell's phosphate, which, this year has proved superior to No. 2 Guanape. From nere they went to Mr. Rhoderick Murcbison's. To give an idea of his success as a planter, we merely mention the fact that he has a plantation, purchased at $35 an acre, on which he clears thirteen per cent on the investment On this he will this year make over a bale to the acre. Mr. W. H. Steed, one of the largest planters in the county, last year averaged 1,600 pounds to the acre. His crop this year is equally as good, if not better. CHANCELLOR JOHNSON'S TWO PLANTATIONS. The celebrated Donahoe farm of Chancellor W. D. Johnson was next visited. Here is a magnificent sight Three hundred and . fifty acres of cotton in a body, that will aver- * age a bale per acre; 250 acres in corn, some of which will make 40 to 50 bushels per afire; 100 acres for small grain, now in peas, manured with the "ash element," which he has found a success. Every one who knows the / Donahoe place will remember that it was formerly cut up and surrounded by ponds, . sludges and quagmires. It is now one of the largest and oest drained plantations in the State, and before this draining would not have averaged 500 pounds of seed cotton per acre. Chancellor Johnson is reducing portions of the bay into cultivated fields of corn. A noticeable feature on this large farm, is that there are no cross fences, although divided into numerous tenancies, each of which is made self-sustaining. Another, is that the land is planted, not in fields or divisions, but according to its adaptability to coin, cotton or grain. The manuring here is 20 bushels seed, 100 pounds Etiwan Dissolved Bone and 1UU pounds Viuanape. An experiment wiin "Cotton Food" shows early mutnrity. The party spent the night at Dunahoe ana vicinity. On next day preceeded to Clio, where were observed the signs of enterprise and energy of Mr. W. A. Hindshaw. Crops about the place are good. From Clio, strange to say, the party took the Cashua Road, wnicb leads through the poorest part of Marlboro, except the sand hills. Bowever, fair crops were seen 'on the route. Leaving this road beyond the Old Eden's Mill, proceeded through the "Flat Woods" to "Bushy Bay," the Marlboro farm of Chancellor Johnson. Here was found one of the best matured and best fruited cotton crops seen on the entire trip?about 200 acres in cotton that will certainly make that number of bales. Mr. ? Webster, the superintendent, deserves much credit for the manner in which, for so many years, he has conducted this farm. He entertained. the party very handsomely. He was found picking cotton, and hoeing out the scattering grass at the same time. This is work on next year's crop. A BELIEVER IN JERSEY CATTLE. Mr. W. D. Crossland's farm was found well improved and stocked. He has some fine Jersey cattle. He has in cotton 200 acres, much of which will produce over a bale per acre, and will average nearly or quite that much. From his gin-house can be seen l,OUUacres of cotton that will produce 1,000 bales. This includes his own, Col. McCall's, Mre. Stubb's and a part of Maj. Breeden's farms. SAGACITY AND PLUCK BEWARED. Col. C. 8. McCall was next visited. When he purchased the Mowry plantation for $21,000 many shook their heads, and predicted trouble for our young friend. But on the farm he has been as successful as in the counting-room. He has paid for the land, and nearly all, if not quite, all the money has already been made on it. To this farm he' has added largely by additional purchases, and now has about 400 acres in cotton, much of which will make 2,000 pounds per acre, and all of which will average a bale to the acre. His gin was the only one seen running on the trip, and was ginning new cotton. THE LARGEST PLANTER IN TWO COUNTIES. Maj. J. B. Breeden's Home place was visited and found, as usual, to have a magnificent crop upon it. He is the largest planter in two counties, having 850 acres in cotton, which, it is said, will average a bale per acre. ? " Promptness in business saves much trouble. It.is a pleasure to deal with a man that "presents bills against you exactly when they are due, and pays such as you present three minutes after sight. This is impracticable with the majority of people, owing to their training. They get in a slip-shod way of doing business, and fail to collect money due, fast as long as creditors will wait on them. Punctuality, both in collecting and paying, should be aimed at by every business man of ^ the country.