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lewis m. grist, proprietor. | ^it Jnbtfmbfnt Jfamilg Ifetospaper: $<st tjit promotion of tjje political, Social, ^jritnltaral anb Commercial Interests of tjre Sont|. TERMS?$2.50 A TEAR, IN ADVANCE. * VOL. 25. YOEKVILLE, S. C., THTJE8DAY, NOVEMBER 6,1879. NO. 45. (The Chester (Co unfair. ORATION OF SENATOR M. C. BUTLER. DELIVERED AT The First Annual Meeting of the Chester Agricaltnral, Horticultural, and Mechanical Association, October 29, IS79. Order - was called by Mr. O. A. Wylie, r President of the Society, when Senator Hampton arose and said: Ladies and Fellow Citizens: You have just heard from the President of the Society, that to me has been assigned the pleasing duty of introducing the distinguished gentleman who is to address you to-day. I say the duty is agreeable, but it is quite a work of supererogation, as there is no place iu South Carolina where it is necessary to introduce Gen. Butler. On the battle-field and from the stump, and in the council chambers of the Nation, he has served his State and country with devotion, zeal and fidelity, and I feel that he is too near the hearts of all the people, to render necessary an introduction, but simply to present him to you. And now I would only say one word in behalf of old Chester. I have refused, du ring the year, to attend any meetings, or to respond to any invitations outside of ray own State, desiring to mingle only among my own people, and I come here to-day to greet you in person and to thank you for the kindness received at your hands. If any word I might say would have any weight with you, I would appeal to you to stand as gallantly and nobly as you have stood in the past. Let no jealousies divide you, but go on as one ^ man, and subserve all personal feelings and preferences to the public good. Work for the good of your county, your State and your whole country. I propose to suggest no more. I have come to look upon you again, and in conclusion, I can only wish for you all the blessings a kind Providence can bestow. After the applause which greeted Senator Hampton's remarks had subsided, Senator Butler spoke as follows: Ladies and. Gentlemen of the Aijriciiliufal, Hoi'tiCutttraUind Mechanical Association of Chester':'* The honor you have done me in selecting ^ rne to deliver the address at this, your first meeting, is not merited by any knowledge or experience that I may have in any of the departments fostered by your society, or any peculiar ability that I possess for the duty as signed me. I, therefore, conclude that I am indebted to the relatious of personal kindness and friendship which I bear to some of the members of your society, and their personal partiality, for the great pleasure I realize in being your spokesman to-day. * Some of my earliest and pleasantest associations were formed with men of your coun^ ty. My miud runs back over a period of twenty-five years, and selects among the companions of my earlier days, sons of Chester, . York, Lancaster, Union and Fairfield coun| ties, who were the most valued frieuds of that " period. Aod it fills me with pride to rememKior umnnor tho friends <?f mat.nrpr manhood. some of the best men of the same localities. The war brought to my side, or placed under my command, soldiers of these counties, who were worthy to have beloDgid to the "Old Guard" of France, or marched by the side of the invincible Grenadiers of Prussia. So that I derive special gratification in coming here to meet many of those companions? friends of other days?recall with sad pleas ure "those who have gone before," and renew acquaintanceship with your sterling population. 7 Twenty-five years ago! What volumes are embraced in that eventful period ! A political aud social hurricane has swept over the land, demolishing old land-marks, destroying old idols, breaking up old associa tions, crowding into a few hrief years events big enough to fill a century. But there are some things of which the fate of the revolution has not deprived us. Our country?our honor?are as dear to us to-day as when, from a sense of duty, we drew the sword iu her defence, or sheathed it because we thought; L it best for her welfare. r The same invincible courage that struck for her honor on the field of battle and electrified the civilized world, survives the great k struggle; and I trust Will sustain us iu mar king our country the abode of a law abiding, happy and prosperous people. We have the a*m) a ki 11* t? on/1 tvtAArta irifkin nil i?_ C1C1UCU10 nuu auiiuj auu tucauo nauiu vutselves, by the help of God, for achieving the highest plane of civilized existence. But we must utilize them. We must get out of the ruts made by our grandfathers in matters agricultural, but preserve and imitate their bright example and exalted patriotism in matters personal. In the better days of this old Commonwealth, she sustained a grand race of men and women. They left us a val uable inheritance. Shall we meet the require7 ments of our position and prove worthy of so noble an inheritance? Surely, no worthy son of such ancestry can hesitate to give an affirmative answer. I have traversed almost every portion of the American continent, except the Pacific slope, and have failed to find any country superior to this. I mean this country that we inhabit, between the thirtysecond and thirty-fifth parallels of latitude, with a mean temperature of 64 degrees, and an average rainfall of forty-eight inches. There are places, perhaps, more attractive to the eye; yield now more abundantly to l the hand of the husbandman ; where art and ' I human ingenuity have done more for the ^ comfort of mankind; but show me a land where Nature has bestowed her blessings more lavishly; where the soil is more varied or R; more kind; where the temperature is more! * pnnnhlp ?nd uniform the climate more health- i ful and geuial and well regulated; the water j more palatable and bountiful; and the productions of the earth more diversified, and all sufficient for man's wants. It has been so much a habit of late years to hear ourselves belittled and uuderrated ; our people abused, our institutions and habits traduced, our purposes and aims misrepresented and our civilization maligned, that the rest of mankind, and some of our own people, are begiuning to think that we j are a very unworthy race, and that our couu?try is scarcely fit to inhabit. The want of; proper self-esteem and self appreciation is more detrimental to a generation than too ! much pride. If we do not assert ourselves, j be prepared to emulate the achievements ofj our race in other localities, we shall degenerate into a coudition of self-confessed inferiority | and hopeless decadence. The genius that revolutionized naval warfare by converting a plain war steamer into a floating monster of destruction ; the originality, which, in the Confederate States, brought order out of chaos, and organized the most formidable armies in modern times; the inventive powers ^ which put at defiance a blockade amounting almost to complete isolation, and supplied war materials for sustenance and comfort and for the effective and terrible operations of mili tary and naval forces; the industry and thrift which sustained a struggling population upon their own unaided resources, and a statesmanship which preserved the conservative powers of a true Republic amid the throes of flagrant war and revolution, will go for naught and lose upon posterity the great lessons which they teach, if we permit the enemies of truth and a just judgment to imperil our future by blackening our record. But let us examine a little. Let us institute a brief comparison with some others, and see where and how we stand. And first, something as to our soil. It is demonstrable, I think?although I have not time nor ability to fully illustrate it?that an acre of your soil, selected almost anywhere in Chester ..!*!? rn-nnap on/1 1 11 fl i fM nil ft Olllfllrfi. can, in the course of a reasonable time, be made to produce as much in one year?and crops as diversified?as any other acre in any other county in the United States?yes, in the whole United States. I make this swelling assertion with a full knowledge of its scope and character. I except none. According to the early annals of the country, the hills and valleys where we now are, were, in th?ir virgin, native state, unsurpassed in fertility by any other portion of this vast continent. They literally teemed with the richness of their natural productions and productiveness. \ bad and faulty system of culture, and reckless abuse of great natural blessings, by those who have gone before us, has run them down to their present impoverished appearance. But the same constituent elements are still in the soil. The same atrrcospheric influences are regulated by the same laws, save such changes as have been wrought by cutting down the * '* ? i.L virgin lores ts; ine aescenuanis ui me same race of people control events after having been tried, and, I trust, purified in the fire of adversity. And the present and future generations must restore this gifted land to its original fertility. Can we?will we?do it ? Indeed, by tbc experience of the past fourteen years, I think there can be no doubt that we are already about it?making wonderful progress in that direction. I discover conclusive evidence of it on all sides. One of the greatest difficulties in the way of our entering at once upon a career of progressive agriculture, is to be found in the fact that whilst our entire system of agricultural labor was changed by the emancipation of the freedmen, our plantation system and arrangements and ideas of agriculture remained the same. You cannot conduct, profitably, a plantation arranged for slave labor with the same labor emancipated. The two are wholly inconsistent. Not only has this trouble been in our way, but the emancipation of our labor left all the evils of the plantation system, with none of its advantages. It left our lands in large, unvff?it??4^racts?in itself a great obstacle in the way of agriciiltural ieveiopmeut. ButrT-am rejoiced to say that in the two preceding decades, a wonderful change has taken place, in this regard, in our State. In 18-50, there were 29,967 farms, or plantations, in South Carolina, each averaging 541 acres. In 1860 there were 33,171, averaging 488 acres?an iucrease in the number, of 4,204, with a deo rty^aa rrcx AP R.Q QArPS TT1 1870. 1/x cacso ill llil> avivagv ua WV mvi W. the number had increased to 51,889?nearly doubled in the preceding twenty years?with an acreage of only 233 acres. And I have no doubt the present decade will show a still greater increase in number, with a proportionate diminution in the average of acres. South Carolina, with an area of 34.000 square miles, aud a population of 705,606, had, in 1870, as I have said, 51,889 farms or plantations, aud of these there were but 188 under" three acres in size; 10,286 of three and under ten acres; 9,146 of ten aud under twenty acres; 16,415 of twenty and under fifty acres; 8,148 of fifty aud under one hundred acres; 7,112 of one hundred and under five hundred acres ; 465 of five hundred and uuder one thousand acres; and as I have Q7 ,.F unroa 011H ftVPf. anui, ui vi vuo bnwuciktiu mvivw v?.v. w. There is but one other county in South Carolina that approaches yours, and which is that? Barnwell, which had twenty-four farms of 1,000 acres and over, and the others runge from ten acres down to one. Abbe ville, Greenville, Laurens and Newberry have but one each of one thousand acres and over. So that your county had a larger number of large farms than any of her sister counties. Let us see how Indiana stands, with a population of 1,680,000 and an area of 33,000 i square miles. She had, in 1870, 161,289 farms, against 51,889 in South Carolina, with about the same area and half the population. Of these 161,289 farms in Indiana, but seventy six were of one thousand acres and over; 1,565 were under three acres ; 7,270 of three and under ten acres; 13,506 of ten and under twenty acres; 55,821 of twenty and under fifty acres, aud so on. In all countries and in all ages, those States have prospered and developed a material wealth more abundantly, whose lands have been sub-divided into small parcels. France owes her wonderful recuperative powers?unsurpassed by anything in American or modern history?and her marvelous wealth and pros . . .L!- 11? penty to tms UUU lUUl IllUiC tnau auj other. England is no exception to the rule, for whilst her lands are owned by a few, they are sub divided into small farms and leased to tenants for almost indefinite periods, the landlord receiving rent and retaining the fee simple title only. Rome, in her palmiest and most prosperous days, allowed an allotment of but six acres to her agricultural citizen. Ohio, one of the most prosperous and wealthy States in the Union, with an area of but 39,000 square miles, (5,000 only more than we have) has 195,953 farms?only 69 of one thousand acres and over; 55,286 of twenty acres and under fifty. She has 2,665,000 of population, and sixty-six persous to the square mile. Indiana has forty-nine persons 'to the square mile, and Soutn Carolina has but twertty. I call attention to these facts to show the importance of subdividing our lands into smaller parcels for the purpose of diversifying our industries?fanning rather than planting?and for the additional purpose of attracting to our midst a desirable population. But to recur to the acre of land. Let us enquire what this acre of landf where we now stand, can be made to produce. It may not be inappropriate to this occasion, and may be instructive, as well as suggestive, and in support of my previous statement in that regard. I shall keep my estimates below what has been ascertained, by actual experiment, in ^ i i:4! omer uui uui remote localities. First?It can be made to yield 100 bushels of corn. (Dr. Parker, near Columbia, and Dr. Norwood, near Cokesbury, are said to have gathered over two hundred bushels from one acre of highly improved and cultivated land, originally poorer than-this upon which we now stand)?or 30, 40 or GO bushels of oats; or 12, 20 or 30 bushels of wheat; or 2,000 pounds seed cotton; or 150 bushels Irish potatoes; or 200 bushels sweet potatoes; or 30 or 40 bushels of rice ; or 1,000 pounds tobacco ; or 40 bushels of rye or barley ; or 500 gallons of wine; or 150 gallons of syrup; or 40 bushels of peas. Aye! Mr. Pres ident, it will do more than that. It will produce a crop of small grain, then a crop of com and peas, then a crop of turnips, all within the year. Of course, this yield presupposes careful and thorough preparation and fertilization, favorable conditions to seasons, judicious, intelligent and capable cultivation. But our farmers ought to be willing and able to bestow these. The value of the crops will certainly remunerate him for his labor. His material wealth will be vastly increased because the acre that was formerly worth 81.00, when brought up to this high capacity of productiveness, will be worth one hundred dollars. It would seem, then, that the oper ation would be a paying one. I have confined this statement only to field crops, proper. The garden crops that may be grown on the same acre are almost without limit as to variety, and the quantity and quality will equal or surpass that of any other land. Is there any other country, outside of the latitude designated, where this can be done ? If one acre will yield thus, ten or twenty or one hundred may be made to do likewise. You remember, Mr. President, it was said of New Jersey, that when the Creator had 1 . l t _ 1. ; 1.; completed ms worn, m lutt&mg tins mhuucui/, He had a cart-load of sand left, and dumped it out and made New Jersey. Her lands were notoriously poor and sterile. And in reply to an enquiry made by me to one of her Senators as to what the lands in New Jersey were worth per acre, he said, "one dollar in the native state ; but there is little that you can now buy for less than one hundred dollars per acre." I enquired how that was, and he explained that he had one hundred acres upon which he had put one hundred dollars worth of manure to the acre, and that now it was worth one hundred dollars per acre. New Jersey had, in 1870, an area of only 8,000 square miles and a population of something less thau a million, and yet the value of her farms was then 8257,523,876, against 844,808,763, the value of South Carolina farms; but they farm in New Jersey, whilst we plant in South Carolina. In this connection I am met by the suggestion that we cannot fertilize so highly in South Carolina, because we have not as much capital as they have in New Jersey. There is much force in the suggestion ; but this, eveo, may be overcome by proper management. Abandon the ruinous system of attempting to keep up the plantation system of agriculture of the days of slavery; concentrate both energy and improved culture and manure only a few acres. Get down into the bowels of the earth and release the elements bound up there; put into operation the forces of nature hermetically sealed in half-plowed land,-so that they may act directly upon the crops planted. Divide your lands into smaller parcels?cultivate less. Follow cotton with small grain, and small grain with peas, and turn under the vines, to be followed with cotton or corn. Keep the voracious cattle off' your tilled lands, and before you are conscious of it, your hills and valleys will rival New Jersey in productiveness and value. Why, Mr. President, the people of the North do not get rich so much from the pro ducts of their farms, as by annually enhancing the value of their lands by fertilization and high cultivation. There must have been a time in New Jersey when they were as scarce of capital as we are. ~TKey~mUst-4]ave had a beginning. New Jersey has an area one-fourth less than ours; yet she had more than half as many farms?30,652. Her soil, originally, was not so good as ours; her geographical location is no better ; her climate is more capricious and not so favorable to farming operations. Yet her agricultural development is greater than ours. Her farms and farm implements are more valuable than ours, and her material wealth greater. But it may be said iu our behalf that New Jersey has never been afflicted with the blighting curse of 400,000 slaves emancipated within her borders ; or the overwhelming calamity of reconstruction under hostile aus* * "? - n .* i l pices; nor tne domination 01 organizes vice operated in the name of government; nor the destructive forces of insatiate rapacity, impelled by the hand of the robber and guided by the trained intellect of accomplished criminals. When we present the advantages of our country and point out its attractions, we are met by the sneering enquiry, "Why, then, does she not improve more rapidly and fill up her vacant places?" This enquiry is often made, too, by those in power, who sustained and encouraged the colossal monster just described/and profited by their enormities and crimes. The reasons I have given, are some of those assignable for our desultory progress, but they are not alL The assessed value of the real and personal property in South Carolina, in 1860, was 8489,319,128. The assessed value of the same in 1870, was 8183,913,337, showing a loss, by that estimate, of 8305,319,128. But placing the assessment of 1870 at its proper estimate, of about 8134,000,000, we have suffered a loss in property of 8345,319,128. How we have kept soul and body together and survived the reign of the robber, is almost past comprehension. In a less favored land and with a less courageous and deter mined people, universal bankruptcy?inevitable ruin, expatriation and flight?would have surely resulted. Under all these adverse and discouraging considerations, that we have been able to advance and make progress, is something almost marvelous. But we have done so ; and the fact affords great encouragement for the future. We have only to be true to ourselves, to bound forward, in the next decade, along the highway of wealth and unparalled prosperity. Nor is this all. Our agricultural and mechanical interests were depreciated and deteriorated at least one third, and the value of our products in the same proportion. Since our resurrection and redemption, in 1876, these evil conditions to which we have adverted, have, of course, been vastly changed for the better, and as I have remarked, the evidences of progress and improvement are apparent on all sides. Our agricultural products have increased, and we are increasing in quantity and quality. Our live stock, as shown by your exhibition to day, has increased and improved to a most gratifying extent. The mechanic arts and manufactures are becoming slowly, but healthfully, profitable, and surely pressed forward. The future of the State is full of hope and prpmise, and if we will keep step with the march of events of the last three years, the statistics of the present decade will unfold unexpected advancement. In the value and variety of our agricultural products, in the profits on our manufactured articles, and in the value of our mineral and phosphatic deposits, we need fear competition with no State in the American Union. The social and vital statistics of our State bear a most favorable comparison with any other State ; and the advantage is largely with us, compared with many of those States that delude themselves into the belief that all the sanctimony and purity in government, morals and religion is with them, and all the diabolisms and shortcomings in the same are with us. Take, for instance, the criminal statistics of Massachusetts and South Carolina. The latter State, with a population of 705,606, had, in 1870, 2,343 paupers, supported at an annual cost of 8224,508. Whilst Massachusetts, with a population of 1,457,350?about twice the population of South Carolina?had at the same period, 8,036 paupers?about four times as many as South Carolina. On the 1st of June, 1870, South Carolina had 732 persons in prison, and Massachusetts had 25,126?more than three times as many as South Carolina; yet she had but twice the population. Continuing the comparison, we will find that in 1870, Massachusetts had 2,662 insane person, while South Carolina had but 333?eight times as many, with twice the population ; or four times as many, with the same population. Of the 732 prisoners in South Carolina, only 130 were white, and 584 colored! Eighteen were foreign born. Of 2,526 prisoners in Massachusetts, 1,152 were native white, 139 colored, and 1,235 foreign born. This comparison will show similar results, when made with any of the Northern States, and it is proper to be made to correct misapprehensions at home, as well as abroad. The vital statistics unfold -a marked and surprising advantage in our favor. The current belief in many other States is, that South Carolina is not a healthy State; and yet if the longevity of her people is any criterion of the healthfulness of her climate, the reverse is true. In 1870, of every 100,000 of her population, she had 236 white persous?101 male and 135 females?who had reached the advanced age of 100 years. She ranks sixth in the forty-seven States and Territories of the Union in the longevity roll?Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina ranking her in the order named. Vir ? r-li? j ?n glllia ana .Tennessee iuuuw iu uruer, auu an the States above mentioned are' far ahead of the Northern and Western States. Of every one hundred thousand of the colored population in South Carolina, there were, in 1870, 210?93 males and 117 females?who had reached one hundred years of age ; and with this class ofher population, she is fifth on the longevity roll. 1 have thus, Mr. President and ladies and geutleraen, grouped together, in a crude and inartistic way, perhaps, some practical facts touching our condition, in preference to an attempted disquisition upon the science of agriculture. The demand upon my time has been so exacting,of late, that I have not been able to formulate them in such logical order and correct style as to make them so attractive and effective as they would otherwise be; but if I shall be instrumental in inducing one man to abandon the old ways in agriculture, and enter upon anew career of improved and progressive systems; if I shall induce one man to increase his knowledge of our history, past or present, our capacities and possibilities, 1 shall be content. I had gathered and prepared some data touchin? the introduction of machinery for O f woolen and cotton manufactures in America; their improvement, expansion and present enormous proportions.* Also, some facts and figures, showing the progress and profits of manufactures in this State and the South; but I find that I have extended my remarks upon other topics too much at length to erabrace them. I have also prepared a table, with some pains, showing the proportion of people engaged in all occupations. Also, a table of the quantity of our farm products for the three decades, from 1850 to 1870, inclusive, and of the year 1875; but I shall not detain and fatigue you farther by reading them at large. A brief recapitulation may, however, not be uninteresting. We produced, in the year 1850? Cotton, 300,901 bales; wool, 487,333 pounds; oats, 3,322,158 bushels; wheat, l,066,2T7-bushels; corn, 16,271,456 bushels; rice, 159,930,613 poundsr-. ^ In the year 1860? - - _ Cotton, 353,412 bales; wool, 427,102 pounds; oats, 936,974 bushels; wheat, 1,285,031 bushels; rice, 119,100,528 pounds. And in 1870 we produced? Cotton, 224,500 bales; wool, 156,314 pounds; oats, 613,593 bushels ; wheat, 783,610 bushels; corn, 7,614,207 bushels; rice, 32,304,825 pounds. See what a vast falling off in the quantity of the leading products ! In the year 1875, we * * n - ?. m. or J JAO had advanced from ioyu in cotton, to oo*,wo bales ; in wool to 185,486 pounds ; in oats to 772,590 bushels; and in corn to 9,454,341 bushels. A word as to live stosk. I do not believe that we have a cat tie breeding and raising country, except under the operations of a rigidly executed stock law, and by the selection of the finest breeds. Your exhibition here to-day establishes the wisdom of your stock law. The numbers are few, but they are a credit to any iounty and are worth four times the number of the common scrub stock of former years. Sheep, horses aud mules may be raised profitably. A herd of our average scrub cattle, roaming on the commons, is more destructive of the vegetation of the earth and the fertility of the soil, than a swarm of locusts.. The value of our farm products, in 1870, was about .'$42,000,000, and must be nearly double thai; at the present time. At least fifty per cent, of these products are made with white labor. The annual value of our cotton crop alone?our chief and best market crop? must be in the neighborhood of 816,000,000. Suppose this sum should be retained by our farmers, instead of being sent out of the State to purchase provisions and farm implements and fertilizers?which we can make as well at home?in ten years' time we should have 8160,000,000 to add to our material wealth, to invest in home manufactures and the improvement of our buildings, highways and lauds. I submit, then, that the chief and supreme effort of the future should be to keep the proceeds of our market crops at home for investments. I congratulate you, Mr. President, and gentlemen, upon this most creditable exhibit at your first annual fair. The number and quality of articles displayed, .iudicate, in a most commendable manner, the enterprise of your farmers, and should encourage you to put forth the reserved powers of your population and lands. And then the ladies are here, by their presence and specimens of their handiwork and industry, helping along the good cause. I beg to do myself the honor of presenting my warmest congratulations to your society upon its good fortune in having these noble woman to gid and encourage it. A country that can boast of such mothers, wives and daughters; a country that contains farmers who can produce such valuable crops under such adverse circumstances, has nothing to apprehend in the future. It is a significant fact that the fires of liberty burn more freshly and constantly in the hearts of the agricultural population of a country than all others; and this fact will be peculiarly exemplified in the near future of this country. Upon your conservatism and love of liberty, and on men like you, depends the preservation of Republican institutions. Our future hope depends largely upon the success of conservative men and principles. The late elections are not encouraging; nor are they cause for despair. We in South Carolina must present a solid front; mend up our family differences, and see to it that honest government is at least preserved in our own State. We shall have no easy contest, and cannot afford to let dissensions enter into the discussion of the questions coming before the people. Knew his Business, and Did It.?The world gains nothing by making game of a young beginner, who is in earnest. By soberly going right ahead, he soon gets the lead of those who joked him. Uncle Elieha Frink tells of a young lawyer being put in as road-surveyor in a back-country town. He'd just put out his shingle in the place, and not having anything to do, was appointed, partly in joke, probably, and partly?as it was a strictly legal proceeding?to see what he would do. The young man took the office, warned the people, at the proper season, to work out the road taxes, and was present to supervise the work and to mark time. If a man stopped work two, or five, or ten minutes to rest, or tell stories, it was checked against his name, and each man was required, affably, to look the account over and work out his lost time before leaving. Uncle 'Lish says the roads were never fixed better under any management, and the incident led to the young man's getting a fair start as attorney and counselor." People liked his pluck.?Hartford Courant. \ Ipstttaejmis ?eadittg, I THE SOUTHERN WAR RECORDS. A reporter of the Star this morning dropped into the large building on G street, corner of Twentieth, where the official records of the late war are being compiled. General Marcus J. Wright, who is engaged in collecting the records of the Confederate side, was found in his office. He said:."Very many of the most valuable official papers of the Confederate army were lost or destroyed in the general break up and surrender. Our purpose is to get copies of all such papers, and thus | make complete the official records of that j side. Such of the papers as were preserved , were obtained by the government, and I was | appointed to procure duplicates of those that were lost" "But how did you get these duplicates?" "From the officers of the Confederate army. They preserved copies of every report, every official paper they sent to Richmond, and many of them kept copies of every official letter they wrote." "Do the ex-Confederate officers give their files up to you ?" "Oh, yes. As a general* rule they give them to us, but where any of them have papers they wish to keep, they allow us to make copies of them, and we return the originals. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston turned over to us his entire records, containing all his reports, official letters and report of his subordinate officers. I have also all of Gen. Pembertou's papers, and that gives us a complete official record of the Vicksburg campaign as conducted on the Confederate side." "Did they turn over their papers entirely to the government?" "Yes. We preserve the papers, and they are accessible at all times to those gentlemen, if they should wish to see them or make copies. They give them to us very willingly, as it relieves them of the trouble and care of keeping them, and does not deprive them of any use they would want to make of the papers. We take every precaution against loss by fire or otherwise of the papers we get, We have printed copies of each one made, and eighteen or twenty copies are distributed around among as many of the departments and other government buildings, so that in case of fire we are certain not to have them all destroyed." "General, these records are to be published by the government, are they not?" "Yes, sir; that is what we are collecting them for. The purpose of the government is to make up a complete official history of both armies of the civil war. The record of the year 1861, of both sides, will be ready for publication about the time Congress meets. The volume will be printed by the government as auy other public documents, and the usQal-ntimber distributed among the departments and memiiefs-eCCongress. Then the law provides that the work'sh^ll be stereotyped and sold to the public at the^OSt-price of printing, so that any one can obtain tfcif" work at comparatively little cost." "Will the records of the two armies be printed separately ?" "Yes; separately, and in consecutive volume " "Will the records be edited?" "No, not at all; simply compiled so as to present, in the order in which they were issued, the official reports, letters, orders, etc., of the war. The compilation is in charge of Colopel R. N. Scott, of the Third Artillery, U. S. A., and a man better qualified for the work could not have been selected." "How long will it take to finish up the entire work?" "It will require several years more to complete the work for all the years of the war." "Haven't you recently returned from a collecting tour in the South ?" "Yes, sir; I got back a few days ago, and I obtained a number of very valuable papers. I first went to see Gen. Joseph Wheeler, in Alabama, who commanded the cavalry of Bragg's army. He gave me his entire file of papers and reports, covering"the time from his entry into the Confederate service until the close of the war. I next visited the Indian Territory, and got a set of papers covering the military operations of the Confederates in what was called the District of the Indian Territory. The district was commanded by Generals Albert Pike, Maxey (now United States Senator from Texas) and D. H. Cooper. These records are quite important. I also got all the official papers of Lieutenant-General R. S. Ewell (since dead), and who held an important command in the Confederate army. I next visited General E. Kirby Smith, who commanded the transMississippi department, and got records. Du/% nrA aa Uio /lonowf monf in a o O lntinr Jiug tliu UiU liia uupaibuigui tyanf jui u iuug time, pretty effectively cut off from Richmond, and tha records there were incomplete as to his military operations. I found his files very complete, though. Col. Richmond, of McMiuville, Tennessee, promised to send me the official files of Gen. Leonidas Polk (Bishop Polk) who was killed during the war. These papers will cover some very important military movements. I have many of the papers of General Beauregard, and he has promised me the remainder as soon as his book, now in press in New York, shall have been printed. He held, as you know, very high commands, and his files will cover some of the most important operations of the war. This winter I shall make a trip to New Orleans, Memphis and Mobile, where I will get papers of interest from ex-Confederate officers residing at those points. The printing of these is equivalent to the publication of an official history of the war. The reports of battles from officers on both sides, and other official documents, will thus be preserved, and they will speak truthfully and impartially of the great events of the war. I had undertaken, on my own account, the collection of Confederate records, with the view of publishing them, when Congress passed the act authorizing them to be compiled. I had procured very manv valuable DaDers. and I immediately turned them over to the Adjutant-General of the army. Subsequently, it was decided to appoint an ex-Confederate officer to collect the papers of that side, and the position was tendered to me."? Washington Star. No Bald Eagle for Us.?The Camden Journal has run up the name of Gen. Martin Gary, of Edgefield, for Governor at the election next year, and seconded by the Marion Star, which says: "And why not? No man has the interest of our people and State more at heart than General Gary. Their interest will be his interest; it has ever been so with him. He has always, in peace and in war, in deed and in action, shown and proven his love for his mother, our State, and for her children, and we believs he would to day sacrifice his life to perpetuate the good name, honor and character of his native State and her children. We don't propose to build a platform for General Gary to stand on, but expect him at an early day to build one, and then we will show our people whether or not it is of good material and firmly built. If he erects one of sufficient strength, we can assure him that the people, to a man, in the Pee Dee section, will stand on it side by side with him. Then build your platform at once, General, and let us see what kind of a structure it will be. If it is of the right material, it must be strong enough to hold us, as we wish to stand thereon." True, we believe he has the interest of the people at heart, but then Geueral Gary has his own ideas about matters that differ very materially from those of the masses. Most of the people of this State have accepted the situation, and would not attempt to undo the results of the late war. General Gary has not been "reconstructed," and if it could be in his power to do so, we believe he would have South Carolina ruled precisely as it was before the war. He would restore the old aristocracy, consequently lowering the laboring classes 011 a level with the curbstone. Before the war a negro's life was infinitely more valuable than that of a poor white man. The war was the great leveler. It has ennobled labor; while it recognizes the value of capital, it has been the means by which justice is now dealt with more fairness to all than ever before?the great power of money upon judges and juries always excepted however. It has given equal opportunities to all to rise if they are capable and meritorious, and those who are not, mosi ceriaimj nave meir pruper bgulo in the background. No, the Bald Eagle is just a little too redhot for us. We don't doubt his principles, but do d?n his judgment. His speech in this city during the campaign of 1876 turned the fat into the 6re as fur as the people of this county are concerned. "Bring in another horse."'?Greenville Advertiser. * ? i From the Cosmopolite. NITROUS OXIDE..?VITALIZED AIR." BY MARSHALL H. WEBB, D. ID. 8. While on a visit to Dr. G. B. McDonald, at his office in Girard, recently, your correspondent heard a conversation between this friend and a patient in reference to the extraction of the natural teeth while persons are under the influence of nitrous oxide, or "vitalized air," (so-called.) Since the writer had administered and inhaled this same agent about eleven years ago, and after a time became aware (as did the gentleman just named and many others) of the insidious and evil effects of nitrous oxide upon the system, (his own system as well as the bodies, of others,) he became aroused about the matter upon hearing of the partial revival of the "hydra headed monster," and, for the welfare and safety of your good people, decided to state the following facts, and these, too, from an entirely disinterested standpoint. Nitrous oxide has been known by various names, such as "protoxide of nitrogen," "dephlogistigated nitrous air," "laughing gas" and "vitalized air." Nitrous oxide is generated by means'of heat from nitrate of ammonia and the gas passed through several jars partially filled with water to a gasometer. Of late nitrous oxide has been condensed into iron cylinders, and this "liquid nitrous oxide" is of greater purity than that made by dentists in former years. While this condensed nitrous oxide is free from nitric oxide (or other element) that is more dangerous than nitrous oxide, yet the agent is not a safe one. No agent that interferes with or suspends physiological or normal action is safe or free from danger. About fifteen years ago many dentists commeftGed.making and administering nitrous oxide, and "Ir^wak^then stated that this agent is "perfectly harmteSSr?There are those who are now giving this samVflgent, nitrous oxide, and claiming the -very same*thwg^ai^ _ far as its harmlessness is concerned, and that ' the wolf may be clad "in sheep's clothing," they introduce the agent by the name of "vi- talized air," whereas there is more of a devitalized than a vitalized character about it There is but one "vitalized air," and that is the pure atmosphere?the air we breathe?which enters the lungs and gives up oxygen to the blood-current to pass along with the bloodcorpuscles to "vitalize and revitalize" every part of the system. Any other air than that furnished through the operation and fulfillment of the laws of our being, has in it elements of destruction of the tissues. All the best dentists in the world (including Dr. McDonald, of your place,) who administered nitrous oxide years ago, or when it was first introduced, discovered that this is a dangerous agent, and that many persons have been injured for life, and in some cases life soon ended because of the administration of this agent. Very many instances could be given to prove that nitrous oxide and all the other ansesthenic agents have injured or destroyed many persons, but this brief statement cr truth ought to be sufficient to induce all to positively decline to trifle with the laws of life. It were better, so far as dentistry is concerned at least, had the anaesthetic property of any agent never been discovered, and artificial teeth never been conceived of. Ansesthenthic agents enable unconscientious practitioners (ma/practitioners) to induce persons to have, or accommodate unwise people in having their natural teeth extracted when they would not otherwise submit to such uncalled-for loss of priceless organs, and an unartistic array of miniature tomb-stones to mark the place where nature had implanted "pearls of great price" in an "arch of ruby," still further leads to the sacrifice of the natural teeth. The natural organs need be lost only through accident or from absorption of the alveolar process and gums because of disease or the lack of nutrition in advanced life, but it were better that those who thus lose their teeth should be deprived of artificial substitutes than that thousands, nay millions, should be nnnecessarily made toothless by unqualified, unskillful and unconscientious persons claiming to be dentists. Dentistry, (true dentistry) now consists in so directing the habits and feeding of parents and children that the whole osseous structure (including the teeth) may be fully supplied with lime-salts and be perfectly calcified, and in so operating upon and taking care of the teeth that decay shall be prevented; or if dis* 1 11 1 ?_ a!_ . J colored ana aecayea, 11 is me uuiy 01 mcueutist to so cleanse and treat the teeth and associate parts, and fill the cavities of decay, that the organs shall be preserved. - THE HOMESTEAD LAW. The decision of the State Supreme Court, holding that persons not owning real estate and having a homestead thereon, are entitled to no exemption from levy and sale of their crops and personal property under execution for debt, is calculated to create very general dissatisfaction. The decision, says the Anderson Intelligencer, has evoked from many very fonnnffl flid o a oar firm tKflf iliAV ICOpCUbaUl^ touauvo nib wgovii vtvu vuwv kmwj will not vote the Democratic ticket again. This, of course, is wrong, and those who make it do not duly consider the facts of the case. The law under which this decision was made wad passed by the Republicans, and the decision itself was written by the Chief Justice, who is a Republican, It is not the act of a Legislature, which is the representative of the successful party at the polls, but is a decision upon a Question of law by a Court, which is not a political body. We think the decision an unfortunate one. It is provocative of class dissensions, and is subject to all the odium and discontent which unfair and unreasonable discriminations against one class and in favor of another are sure to elicit. This decision holds that the man who is fortunate enough to possess one thousand dollars worth of land cannot be made to pay his debts by execution, but that the less fortunate tenant, who has nothing but a little household furniture, a mule, and a large family dependent upon him for its support, can be sold out to satisfy the demands against him. It seems to us that this will be generally admitted to be wrong. The homestead ought to be abolished as to all, or it ought toextend its provision oyer all. The doctrine that to him that has much, ipore shall be given, and from him that hath little that which he hath shall be taken away, is a very good doctrine so far as it relates to the moral qualities of man, but it will scarcely be contended that it is a good principle to engraft into the laws of the land relating to the material possessions of men. It is, however, the doctrine made of force in South Carolina under the decision above quoted. For this, however, the Democratic party is in no wise responsible, for it did not make the Constitution or the law. Neither landowners or tenants can afford to allow the JDemcocatic party to pass out 01 power in this State, for the riogs and corruptions of the past warn us of the oppressions that will again be heaped upon U9 if Republicanism, should ever triumph in South Carolina. The inconvenience ana hardship created by this decision can be as easily corrected by the Democratic party as any other, and we believe that it will be done. The Legislature, at its coming session, should submjt a constitutional amendment to the people making the homestead provisions applicable to every citizen in the State, whether he be rich or poor, whose necessities shall require him to take advantage of it Greely on Lawyers.?"Mr. Greeley," said Partridge, "this is Mr. Denslow, a young attorney." Greeley uttered a short grunt of recognition, but did not even look around. I, embarrassed, shrunk away to one corner and took a chair. He went on around the room, looking at pictures and what not, and in about five minutes, when his back was turned on me, and I thought he had forgotten me, he suddenly, without looking at me, said: "Hem! So you'fe an attorney, aae you ?" I confessed it. "I hate lawyers!" he exclaimed emphatically. "I hate lawyers ; they do more mischief than their heads are worth." "I suppose they are a necessary evil," I suggested, deprecatingly. ? ;no;au " VV noiiy uuueucssaijr, uc iucibkui "I suppose you will acknowledge," I said, "that they promote good order and remove impediments to good government" "Just the contrary! just the contrary 1" he squeaked, in his odd falsetto; "they cause disorder, and they are the chief obstacles to good government" I thought the man was crazy. "Perhape you will tell me," I suggested, "how debts would be collected without lawyers?" "Don't want 'em collected! don't want 'em collected!" he squeaked; "if A lets B have his property without payments, 'I don't see why 0, D, E, F, and all the rest of the alf)habet, should be called on to serve as a poice to get it back! No debt should be collected by law. It's monstrous! Let a man trust another at his own risk. Even a gambler pays his debts that he isn't legally obliged to pay, and calls them debts of honor ; but men will put their property out of their hands to prevent the le^'al collection of their grocery bills. Abolish all laws for the collection of debt, and that would abolish most of your lawyers?good riddance!"? Indianapolis Journal Letter. Position in Sleep.?A writer in the Christian at Work insists that position in sleep is of great importance. He says. s.^The food passes from the stomach at the righ^Bt4&hence its passage is facilitated by going tosle^cnthe right side. Water and fluid flow equally Ofr.a level, wad it requires less power to propel the^SHJt level than up ward. ^?. . "The heart propels the blood to evel^ part of the body at each successive beat, and it 4^ easy to see that if the body is placed in a hoi* .. izontal position, the blood will be sent to the various parts of the system with greater ease, with less expenditure of power, and more perfectly than if one portion of the body were elevated above a horizontal line. "If one portion of the body is too low, the blood does not return as readily as it is carried thither; hence, there is no accumulation and distension, and pain follows. "If a person gets to sleep with the head but a little lower than the body, he will soon wake up or will die with appoplexy before morning, because the blood could not get back from the brain as fast as it was earned to it. "The savage uses a log of wood or a bunch of leaves, civilized man a pillow; and if this pillow is too thick, raising the head too high, there is not blood enough carried to Die brain; and as the brain is nourished and in* vigorated by the nutriment it receives from the blood during sleep, it is not fed sufficiently, and the result is unquiet sleep during the night, a waking up in weariness, without refreshment, to be followed by a day of drowsiness and discomfort, and general inactivity of both mind and body." How he Was Cored op Swearing.? John' came in and inquired if dinner was ready, and was told that it was not. "Well, why in the devil isn't it?" said he. "Because, she coolly replied, "the wood was so wet that the fire wouldn't burn." "Why, Mary, what is the matter with you? Are you crazy or have you been drinking?" "Neither," she said, and quietly proceeded to put on dinner. The beef didn't melt like butter between his teeth?it rather resisted all attempts at mastication, like so much India-rubber, and finally John blurted out; "What makes this beef so toughf Mary looked up archly and replied: "Well, John, I suppose-you went down to the butcher's, and without knowing the difference, picked out a piece of some old stag that hadn't been fed for a month." John jumped up, looked at his wife in dismay, and wanted to know what such language from her lips meant "It means just this, John; you are the head of the family, and just as long as you think it manly to swear in my presence, I intend to do the same! If you don't like to hear it, you know how to prevent it" The cure was radical, and to this date Mary has never been compelled to administer another dose. 4 ? ? Just Sentiments.?Ex-Governor Chamkarlain nf MftJno rPPPtlflv HftlivfiPftd ft HnPPch in that State, at the dedication of a monument to the memory of Union soldiers, that is a just and fitting rebuke to the men who: are laboring to keep up the war feeling in the country. He said: "There are some who will not have it that the war is over till they have their way. From much of the talk of late, one would think that all the toil and ' trial of the war was in vain; that these soldiers and sailors of yours did nothing of lasting value; that the glorious war and God-given victory must count for naught, and that the real way to save the country is to keep certain politicians in office, and that servile following of them is the only test of loyality to the Union. For one, I resent this perversion of our motives and this belittling of our achievements. I am indignant at this insult ' to the memory of that great company of nobis souls who are martyrs in a sacred cause and a triumphant cause. Do not mistake the issue. ,Your sons will not have died in vain because the rebellious States are brought back into the Union, and send their best men to represent them in Congress, even though they had the courage to wield the sword instead of the pen in the time of mortal stuggle. Men who freely poured out their heart's blodd for their convictions, though. wrong, are less to be feared that they who skulked in the rear and gloat over the strife so long as they can fill their pockets with plunder,, snatched alike from foe or friend." t