Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' lewis m. grist, proprietor, j 3U Jjnltcpriibcnf Jkmilg ftetospaper: Jfor *l|c |lromofrott of fljt political, Social, ^grinilhiral anb Commercial Interests of % j?oiifj). j TERMS--$2.50 A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. VOL. 29. YORKYILLE, S P., THURSDAY, MAY 34, 1883. ISTO. 21. fflectfd ?tfcttg. TO THE COMING FLOWERS. Awake, dear sleepers, from your wintry tombs ; The sun has turned the point of Capricorn, < And 'gins to pluck from Winter's wings the plumes Of darkness, and to wind his silver horn For your return. Come to your homes, forlorn, In absence of your odors and your faces; Like Rachel* weeps for you the reaved morn. As often as she views your empty places, Erewhile the daily scene of her and your embraces. * t Come, pensive snowdrop, like the earliest star That twinkles on the brow of dusky Xight, Come, like the child that peeps from doors ajar, With palid cheek, upon a wasteful sight; And shouldst thou rise when all around is White, The more thou'll demonstrate the power of God To shield the weak against the arms of might, To strengthen feeble shoulders for their load, And sinking hearts 'mid ills they could not full forebode. Come, crocus-cup, the cup where early bees Sip the first nectar of the liberal year," Come and illumine our green as similes Light up the poet's song. And (>, ye dear March violets, come with welcome breathing near! You, too, fair primroses, in darksome woods % Shine forth, like heaven's constellations clear; And come, ye daisies, throng in multitudes, And whiten hills and meadows with your sainti ly hoods. Come with thy lilies, May; thy roses, June; Come with your richest hues, autumnal hours; O tell your mellowing sun, your regal moon, Your clewy drops, your soft, refreshing showers, To lift their blessing hands in Flora's bowers, Nor e'en to scorn the windweed's flossy gold, Nor foxglove's banner hung with purple flowers, For solitary heath that cheers the world, Nor the last daisy shivering in November's cold ! if lift. BUPELL'S PROPOSAL. At this time two years ago our Square Club was flourishing; now I am the only member.. Budell, Marby,Smithers and myself had formed ourselves into a private bachelor's club for the purposes of whist and other intellectual occupations, and a very good time we contrived to have together, wo hadn't nmnv rules and by-laws for our club. We were sworn bachelors, and each of us had to allege a reason why we did not intend to wed; but we had so far recognized the possibility of a change in our sentiments as to solemnly bind ourselves to inform the club at once if we should ever meditate "halving our pleasures and doubling our expenses." Smithers said he hadn't time to marry ; I was too poor; and Marby, who was regarded as our romantic member, gave us indefinitely to understand that "blighted affections" stood between him and the hymeneal altar. Budell at first laughed at the idea of! assigning a reason ; and he wished to allege as his that he hadn't met Mrs. Buri?.n rp>,Qf nnanimoiislv rejected bv uca xiiMv ?iww ? - v v therestoftheclub; whereupon he insisted upon our accepting as an alternative that he was afraid of ladies. We were willing to stretch a point in favor of Budell, who was one of the joiliest possible fellows at a bachelor supper, and so we received this second reason. For the rest tve nobly resolved not to fly but to withstand temptation; our maxim was that every lady was charming so long op one was not married to her ; and we were all ready to go into society, and even sustain the reputation of being "dancing men." We used to relate to each other over our celibate pipes wonderful stories of narrow escapes from guileful women every season ; but if these were all as dependent upon the narrator's fancy for their important details as my contributions to the conversation, the escapes were somewhat more than hairsbreadth. Budell was especially a favorite in society ; he was one of those rare phenomenal young barristers with some Dractice. and he had besides a comfortable allowance from his father. Like the rest of the club, I had at first token it as a joke that he was afraid of ladies; but I gradually came to see that there was some truth in it. So long as Budell was in a large company? in a ballroom or any place like that?he was quite at ease and as bold as a lion ; but if by any chance he happened to fall a temporary captive to a solitary damsel's bow and spear, he was almost overwhelmed with nervousness, and his usual powers of conversation deserted him. I once met him at the Royal Academy, escorting a very pretty young lady, and looking as uneasy as if he had a worse conscience than King Herod ; and I have seen him tremble at the mere passing mention of the conservatory by his partner at a dance. However, in the Square Club he was our most enthusiastic member ; and horror and indignation filled our souls when we realized the direful fact that Budell was in love and doing his best to be married. Had we been women we might probably have seen the symptoms of the advancing * malady; but we were only obtuse and shortsighted 'men. Now as I look back over these months I recall incidents that might have been warnings. The gradual decrease of Budell's hilarity at the club and the gradual increase of his excursions could hardly, indeed, have been portents, for Budell always did go more into society than the rest of us. The first allusion he made to me about the lady who was afterward to play Beatrice to his Benedick was at a concert?or rather in the cloak-room after a concert. "That's what I call a pretty girl," he whispered to me; "that darkeyed girl over there in the warm, fleecy brown shawl?none of your flimsy white opera cloaks." The girl was pretty, in a! fresh piquant sort of a way j and even a j sworn Dacneior nugni nave ueen caluscu for being pleased at receiving such a frank smile as she*, greeted Budell with. Again not many days after he remarked to me apropos des bottes?"Met rather an interesting girl Jiast night; quite agrees with me on the subject of names." I may be excused for neglecting this hint; Budell, I think, would have found a mollusc "interesting" if it had only agreed with him that there was nothing more objectionable than to have one's name murdered. He was nervously anxious that his name should be ' * pronounced with the accent on the second syllable; and I afterward found that he had been introduced (for the second time) to this "interesting girl" as "Boodle." "Just as though I rhymed to 'noodle' jis he indignantly expressed it. But the most important hint was given the night aft<er Mrs. Burton's ball, at which we all had been present. We were lounging in Budell's rooms, and Smithers was giving us a highly colored and graphic illustration of the frivolity that passes for conversation between $*oung men and maidens. "That's all nonsense," broke in Budell; "it's your own fault at any rate; Why, last night 1 had quite a serious and intersting conversation about women's education with a Li? ~ J ~' T tloi?irvfni*n fn lior IlittlUt'Il* x CVCil uutcu ^vii|/vuav ia/ jivm "Bet you a hat you misquoted," siiiel the irreverent Smithers, who thought every one was ignorant as himself. "No; I'm not joking; it's a fact; and I got an idea or two, let me tell you." Had he only told us that he had ventured into the conservatory in order to carry on his conversation without interruption, I am convinced that I at least should have surmised that the acquisition ofan idea or two was not the only result. However, I was not long in my state of ignorance. One day, a month or so after, Budell hunted me up'to confide to me that the bachelors' club was all bosh; he was over head and ears in love, and did I think he ought to tell the other men ? Then there followed a shower of apologetics in which "soft, brown eyes" and gounnesss knows what other personal attractions were prominent. When I recovered breath I assured him that I thought it quite incumbent upon him to inform tha club. I was rigid and cold with him for I felt indignant; It was almost an insult to select me as his confidant, as though my i celibate principles were less fixed tht ! Marby's or Smithers'. i His announcement that evening was r I ceived in solemn silence by the Squa | Club; even Smithers at first had nothing j say. At last Mary asked, "Is it permits to inquire the lady's name, and when tl | marriage is to take place?" Budell look< | uncomfortable. "Well the fact is," he sai "I thought I ought to tell the club at onci I but I haven't?that is I don't quite kno how to set about asking the lady." Budell looked so comically distressed he made this confession that the club hail( it with a shout of laughter. The notion bold and confident Budell finding himst muzzled by the tender passion was too su gestive for our risability. Budell was s riously annoyed. "I don't think," he sal "that my courtesy to the club has been m with courtesy." He glared at me as if specially had been guilty of revealing li confidence. We apologized humbly andi last pacified him. He really was puzzl( as how to accomplish his proposal. Mart suggested the old fashioned plan of plum; ing down on his knees; like a swain in valentine; but Budell paled visibly, was such a coldblooded way, he objectec yet it appeared he had almost adopted qn two occasions. Thq first time a litt i x? ?Z* .. AM V?/wl \ Ar?rvAt?fnnolir Qi uruie 01 u urutuci nan iuuj/|)uiiuuvij *?j peared?I never knew a nice girl that hadn a little brute of a brother, exclaimed Bi dell hastily generalizing; and on the se ond occasion he had even got the length i informing the object of his affections (1 adopt a phrase that used to madden Budel that he had something to tell her, whe her mother entered, and he had hastily 1 devise some idiotic factabout a flower shov It was quite evident that his nerve was n< equal to a third attempt. I suggested thj he should write; but it seemed that tl young lady, in talking about a certain no1 el, had laughed the hero to scorn for n sorting to so cowardly a plan as writin his proposal. "Can't you save her life in some thrillin manner and then cast yourself at her feet? asked the romantic Marby. "Or can't you get overtaken in a show< and then you could neatly ask her to shai your lot as well as your umbrella ?" sugge ted Sraithers. Budell smiled faintly. "Itis all very we for you fellows to make fun of it when yc haven't to do it yourselves; but all the sair it is aticklish thing to do it well. I wish i do it in a neat and direct manner and wit] out any humbug." "It's ray opinion," said Smithers, "thi you'll end by 'popping the question' in son altogether extraordinary and absurd mai ner." "Very well sir," said Budell with dignit; "we shall see." But when we lost him, the idea of the i repressible Budell being tongue-tied befoi a dainty little damsel who couldn't even s on a jury came upon us again with redoul led force, and we awoke the echoes of the s lent street with renewed shouts of laughte Poor Budell could find no opportunity .< settling his fate. He revolved drearil round my rooms, where he materially ii terfered with my work by constantly pu ting skillfully elaborated questions to m devised to extract my opinion as to his lad love, without reveafing her name. I ro; and fell in his estimation as my answe were as he desired or not; and I committc myself to an immense number Of defini opinions as to the preference betwee blondes and brunettes, large mouths ar small ears, etc., etc. "Whether do you pr fer Greek or Saxon names for ladies?" 1 once asked me. I answered at random thi T II'IFA/1 4-honi KrvfVi onildilv hllf, TPfl X llfVCU tllCin uvm \Aiuw??j . -.W| ly," he persisted. "I mean modern nami derived from those languages." "Well, replied, at a venture, "I like Saxon names, "Do you?" he exclaimed; "why so do For example, I don't think you could find frettier name than Edith anywhere. "Oho! cried, "her name is Edith, is it?" Bude blushed, but couldn't deny it; and I daresa he would have revealed her surname als had I pressed him. August brought me an invitation froi Will Carlyon to spend a fortnight at h father's place in Scotland, and have a sin at the grouse. "I've asked Marby, Smitl ers and Budell," he wrote, "and I expe them all. I know you four have frightf chains-and-slavery notions about matrim ny; but there are lots of nice girls stayir here with Fanny, and if you don't all ? home with the full intention of forthwil becoming Benedicks I shall be surprise* Anyhow, we have plenty of birds. When I arrived 1 found the house full < pleasant men and agreeable girls; while tl grouse gave very fair sport. The club wi there in full force. Budell was in tolerab spirits, and came out in grand style as mast* of the ceremonies, and as the original of all sorts of amusements. He was t< busy to inflict any more confidences, but had no reason to suppose that he had y< accomplished his proposal. One afternoon a heavy rain storm ha driven the sportsmen in sooner than usua I was examining my breechloader in tl gun room when Smithers mysteriously r quested me to come to the smoking room i once. There I found Budell and Marb; Smithers had convened the club, and v had the room to ourselves. He briefly e: plained his object. "I have an announc ment to make," he said, similar to one mac by Budell not long since. I'm going 1 follow his example, and 1 hereby invi vou all to the wedding. Like Budell, haven't yet put the final question, and I ai not afraid of the answer. I have no obje Tmii flmt \?Aiir?(r laflv * mm ivii t> v/u nidi tuv vuwh , present in this house, and that her name Miss Maxwell." "Good heavens!" ejaculated Budell. "Well," said Marby, "I may as well tal this opportunity of informing the club tin I too am going to follow suit. Only, I'> taken the precaution to speak to the your lady first, and Fanny Carlyon is shortly g ing to become Mrs. Marby." I was thunderstruck. "In that case," j said with dignity, as I strode from tl room, "1 am now the only member of tl Square Club." Just as I was tying my necktie a fe minutes before dinner, and reflecting thu though nervousness, want of leisure and ev< ; blighted affections might be got over, I j least had a reason that would preserve n | from matrimony, Budell hurried into n j room. "Look here," he said, "I'm in a deu [ of a box! Smithers is going to propose J Miss Maxwell; and, hang it, that's Edith "What! you're both in love with Mi Maxwell?" "Yes, and that forward beast, Smithei twill be.sure to propose right off; and I'1 I never had a good opportunity." "My dear Budell, you must make oppc I tunity. Do it to-night." "To-night? Why, it's dinner time t j ready; and after dinner we're to have tho ! blessed tableaux ri'rants; and goodness kno: what Smithers will do while I'm lookii I after the wretched affairs. And then, t morrow, I've promised Carlyon to start f j the east moor at!) o'clock. I endeavored to comfort him by suggef i ing that possibly Miss Maxwell might r ; fuse Smithers; but Budell shuddered at tl i possibility of being forestalled. He w palpably upset, and he looked nervous ai ! anxious all dinner time. The company ge j erally attributed it to theatrical responsib I itv, but they were wrong; Budell was t i old a hand to be anxious about anything | simple as tableaux vivants. Smithers, < i the other hand, had secured a seat besi j Miss Maxwell, and seemed to be makii ! himself vastly agreeable, j The tableaus began immediately aft . dinner, and they were A great success. B j dell had skilfully arranged them, witho ! attempting to make them into a.series ; ai I music, supposed to be appropriate or to ha ! reference to each tableau, was played whi the curtain was up. Curiously enough the last tableau Miss Maxwell, Smit ers and Budell were to appear by themsel v( and still more curiously the suDject of it \v I "The Rivals." Whore Budell had got ii m don't know ; probably in his inner consciousness. It was supposed to be a woodland e- scene in the paint and powder days. A re young lady was discovered seated on a bank to with a lover kneeling at her feet, and holdMi ing one of her hands. , At a little distance, io and unseen by either of the lovers, was a Ml rival glaring from among the trees at the d. unsuspecting pair. The tableau was very 2; effective. Miss Maxwell looked very charmw ing in her costume, and Smithers glared splendidly. Budell's face it was impossible as to see, for his back was turned to the au?d dience. Up till now the performers had all of managed to remain as rigid as statues, but ;lf in this tableau Miss Maxwell, who had alg ready a ppeared several times, seemed to lose e- her nerve. The curtain had not been up a d, minute, when she started, looked down at et Budell, and at last, flushing crimson, fairly I ran off the stage. However, the last tableau is went off without a hitch, and the slight misat take did not affect the general verdict. An *1 adjournment was made to have a dance in >y the hall, and I was standing idly looking on p- when Budell, once more in his usual garb, a rushed up to me in a fever of excitement. It "By George, sir," he whispered, "con1; gratulate me ! I've done it; it's all right." it And he dragged me along with him from le the hall into the empty library, p- "What on earth do you mean, man ?" I 't exclaimed. "What have you done ?" u- "I've proposed, sir; una rve uewi c- ed." of I cordially congratulated hiin ; and then I to inquired. "How did you manage it?when 1) did you tind the time?and where the courn age ?" to "I'll tell you. I did it in that tableau. v. Under cover of the music I told Edith that )t in all sober earnestness I was at her feet, it not in jest alone ; and I asked her to be my le wife. That's why she ran away." v- "No wonder! I interjected." e- "Wasn't it splendid doing it under Smithig ers' very eyes ? And then of course I saw Edith afterward in the little drawing room; ig and she'll be here directly, whenever she has "' changed her costume." "Well, I'm glad you've settled it; and I jr think Smithers was right when he said you re would end by proposing in some extraordis nary way. And it seems to me that it was decidedly embarrassing for Miss Maxwell." ill Smithers married Edith Maxwell's sister >u eighteen months after the tableau.?Belgrale via. tO fl" The Horror of Solitary Confixe^ ment.?A correspondent of the St. Louis ie Globe-Democrat, describing Joliet, 111., a- State Penitentiary, says the system of solitary confinement merits some description. y> At a point within the prison yard, at the r_ extremity of one of the great cell houses, re and far removed from the noise and hum it of the workshops, is a stone building, in b- which are arranged in two galleries forty i" solitary cells. Each is about 10x16 feet in dimensions and 15 feet in the clear. Along [v horizontal window, perhaps 6 feet in width ? by eight inches in height, located near the top of the cell, admits light and air. It is e sunk in the heavy walls, and rarely do the :' sun's rays penetrate the interior pf the tomb3Q like apartment. The floor of the cell is of stone, the ceiling is painted white, the walls !(j are a glaring white. The two bits of color in the cell are the black irons of the inner >n grating and the red wooden bucket in the 1(j corner of the cell. That bucket is the only e_ piece of furniture. The prisoner to be pun" ished is led to one of these cells and hand^ * ' n A; 1. ^ cuneu to me inner grauug, ins turns uciug j. at a natural elevation. A heavy wooden door shuts off a view of the corridor. lie is j alone amidst a silence as profound as the ? grave. His own voice, should he raise it in j protest at his fate, is thrown back to him ^ by the cold pitiless walls, and the echo causes him to start. He looks around and nothing meets his eyes but the glistening LV white walls. At first he does not notice * this. Ere long his eyes, used to the moving ' life of the workshop, begin to weary of this monotonous, glistening, blank view. The l.n feeling,' at first irksome, becomes painful. He tries to look at the window above, but he sees nothing but the flood of light. The blue sky he remembers as a thing of beguty j never heeded before. A glimpse of it now LU would be a boon inestimable. He tries to ?" shut his eyes to relieve them of the glistening, blank impression, but his disordered fP nerves cause strange lights, and an annoy. ing phatasmagoria of grotesque and ever a* changing figures to dance through his brain. f If he is of an acute nervous formation, this 01 soon becomes torture to him, and he fears that he is losing his mind. ?Some of the .ls most rebellious spirits have been quelled by le a brief retirement in these merciless white ? cells. Coffee Beans to Order.?"Give me I your opinion of these, young man," said the east side grocer, as he spread before the reporter a handful of coffee beans. "They d aren't verv regular in size, are they ? Now ' > compare them with these, and tell me which ie you think are the better." e" The grocer placed a second handful alongilt side of the others. The two lots were of the Y- same dark brown color, and at a little dis'e tance away presented no very marked difference. Closer inspection showed that e" while the coffee beans first shown were not Je all of the same size, the second handful were of extraordinary regularity, the beans being te very plump and large. I "I know what you are going to tell me, rn and at first glance any one would say so. c* Your opinion is that the last lot is the best, [d isn't it? Well, the difference between the 1S two batches is that those which I showed you first are a fair lot of coffee beans, while the others aren't coffee at all, and never ce grew on a coffee bush." at "What kincl of bush did they grow on?" '? "No bush at all. They are a manufactured ig article. You need not look as if you didn't o- believe it, for it's a fact on which you may safely risk your last dime. They are nothI ing more than imitations, made out of le dough and browned up to resemble the true ie coffee. They are made in moulds and baked afterwards. Each one is almost perfect in w shape, and all are alike. You won't find it, genuine coffee beans to have such regular?n ity." at "They look all right, but it strikes me ie that no one would mistake the beverage ly made from them for coffee." "You are wrong again, young man. No ce respectable grocer would be foolish enough to to give any customer who buys a pound of ." coffee a pound of the imitation. They mix ss it in the proportion of four or five pounds of coffee to one of imitation. Nobody exam's, ines each bean. You hear persons eomce plaining of bad coffee all the time. T'm sure 1 can't tell how it is,'says the houseir keeper; T buy the coffee in the bean and grind it myself. I am sure it is not aduld tern ted.' se "You see the grocer can mix chicory with 1 K..+ Su Krt.w,V,f 111 VS gTUUIltl uut WIlCIl LUIIC17 to uvu^nv in | ig the bean something's got to be done. Some o- brilliant miiul got over the difficulty by or making coffee beans to order." ;t- A Baf) Investment in a Good Book.? e- A New York letter says: "They are selling lie editions of the revised New Testament now as for whatever it will bring in ounces and iid pounds in New York. It was a stupendous n- failure. No one would read it; rib one would il- buy it. Booksellers have had enourinous oo loads of it that they cannot carry, and, as it so was not worth a cent in the market, it was r>n sold as old paper to be turned into the vats de in the paper mills and soaked into pulp. A rig fair edition was sold when the book was first issued to people who were anxious ?? eurwittitv Hnkft to look nt, it. but as SOOll iu- as their curiosity was satisfied the sale ut stopped short and it has never started up ml again. Half a dozen schemes have been ve tried by the hook publishors to get rid of ile their useless stock, and a great many have in waited patiently in the hope that some genii uine interest would be manifested by Bible js; readers in the new version ; but they have as all been grievously left. The book is com\ I mercially good for pulp and nothing more." fj$MlaneMt5 grading. DEMAND FOR BETTER DIRT ROADS. Southern Cultirator for May. It is doubtful if there has been for years past, probably not since the late war, such a demand for better dirt roads. The increase of new railroads instead of throwing the old dirt road into the back ground, seems to have brought it more prominently into notice. Long lines of dirt road have been superceded by railroads, but the establish meyt of new railroad stations and the building up of new towns have created innumer-i able shorter lines of dirt roads. The General Assembly of Georgia has appointed a special committee to revise her road laws and establish some system by which good dirt roads can be secured. Other States are also agitating the subject, and all over the Snuth, as with one voice, the press is demanding some reform in the road laws and the idoption of some plan to secure a thorough and permanent system of good dirt roads. The press is a powerful reformer when guided by judicious hands, and we propose to gather into the columns of the Cultivator cmnp nf the best ideas and suereestion of Southerneditors on the subject of amended road laws and improved dirt roads. We commend these views aad suggestions to our Southern readers, vho are scattered from Texas to Virginia, as worthy of comparison and careful study. The South, with her growing industries, her increasing agricultural interest and her let work of railroads, demands a thorough system of good dirt roads to all her depots, her factories, her farms, and her towns snd cities. A VOICE FROM FLORIDA. The Tallahassee Flordian says: "A joint committee to revise the road laws having been appointed by the Legislature of the progressive State of Georgia to report at the next session, the sibject of the best way of making and maintaining highways is being earnestly discussed. Some of the counties have local boards of road commissioners and it is properly urged that the structure and condition of roads depend very much upon capacity and industry of superintendents of roads appointed by the boards, who should be well-informed men, capable of running levels, giving proper grades, calculating the cost of excavation, filling, etc. Sucn superintendent should be properly paid for his services, and the hoard mav at anv time remove him for incompetency, neglect of duty or other cause deemed sufficient hy the board. It is advised that the labor at command should not be too much scattered, and only partial repair of many roads effected; but what work is taken in hand should be thoroughly done?taking one or two main roads at a time, and putting them in positively good and enduring condition, instead of running over many with mere partial repairs. Thus in due course of time, all the principal thoroughfares of travel would be well built, requiring comparatively little labor and expense to keep them up." KENTUCKY OFFERS ADVICE. It is impossible, according to the CourierJournal,, to say much in favor of the improvement of our public highways. "Railroads," says the Louisville Commercial, "lose half their usefulness in counties where they are only approachable by roads that are bad every time it rains and impasSable during most of the winter. There are good sized towns in this State, raHroad towns at that, where wagons mire in the streets in winter, and which country freight cannot enter or leave for weeks at a time in bad weather. This is a tremendous burden to business, and a heavy tax on the farming interests. "A system of good turnpike roads or good, well-drained dirt roads, will double the value of the lands in any county that will provide them. Through a great part of the State material for making good macadamized or gravel roads, is'abundant and cheap. If stone or gravel is not accessible, good tile drainage will keep a dirt road from becoming miry. The worst rains will only affect a road so drained a little while. It ?.in i? -? ntvlor n few hmirsj Will ue 111 UUVCUIJ^ Uluv. IV .v? after the rain is over. "There is no other improvement so much needed as good country roads. They will double the "utility of the railroads in those counties that have railroads, and they will double the value of the lands of any county that will make them." ALABAMA TO THE FRONT. It is the opinion of the Evergreen Star, that the subject of public roads is exciting no little interest at present in all parts of the State. The system which has been long in vogue, that of compelling every one between given ages along a certain road to engage at the summons of the overseer, in its repair, is rapidly falling into disrepute. And it is not without abundant reason. Many of our roads are scarcely ever beyond a miserable condition. Especially is this true with respect to roads broken by hills, or penetrating swamps. Often in winter many of them are almost impassable. This is due to several causes. 1. Overseers are either incompetent or different with respect to the roads. 2. Many of them consequently do patch-work that is swept away by the first heavy rain. 3. Others are controlled by the seasons in which the roads are ordinarily worked, which are usually the busiest of the year, and hence they feel constrained to have regard for the interest of the workers. How is the whole matter to be remedied ? The complaint is made by farmers that they keep in proper condition the roads leading to tne towns and the towns derive the bene-? *-! --j. .Li.- i~? tits threirom WlinoUC Hie WUIII- eusung Uiu town merchants a cent. How far this is true, or how far it can be answered, will have to be settled by our readers themselves. But to resume the question, IIow may the matter of road-working be adjusted? Two plans are suggested: 1. To levy a tax which shall be sufficient to keep the roads in proper repair under the auspices of responsible contractors. 2. To engage the convicts of each county upon the public roads thereof. Of cAurse, either plan would have to be submitted to practice to test its competency. We have only submitted these remarks for the consideration of our readers. SOUTH GEORGIA HAS A PLAN. Discussing the seeming popularity of a ntinnrira l'ntllO mfl f 1 111. WSJ. t.llP Tlinill J[J1 UJJVaCVA UlUUgU AAA VJ?V - v^v? ?. .. w, asvilie Enterprise says: "Instead of the law remaining as it is, and permitting any citizen of the county to be called away from his farm or work at any period, no matter how critical, to work the roads, a regular road tax could be levied annually for the purpose of raising a fund for letting out tin; roads to contractors. "The advantages of this system are apparent. By it the constant good repair of the roads of this county would be guaranteed; farmers would not be so constantly subjected to the serious annoyance and loss of being forced to leave their farms and losing their labor at the very moment of all others when it might be indispensable that farming operations, be uninterupted, and besides this, a large element in the community, which every year manages to avoid road duty, would be thereby required to contribute its share towards the publie welfare. "Nothing so much tends to the prosperity of any community or any town as good roads. 'This has been abundantly proven in the case of this city, and it is an axiom of trade that business will always seek those places to which it is more readily accessible. The money tax, which would be thus levied upon our community, would be as nothing compared with the advantages which would be derived by each individual, and would certainly be less than any one would be likely to lose if has to devote time to the roads which inierht be more profitably ex ponded elsewhere. As far ns this is concerned, however, the law could be so framed as to permit any one to give manual labor I in lieu of the road tax if he should so elect.'! THE "OLD DOMINION" EXHORTS. A few weeks ago, says the Industrial South, of Richmond, Va., we wrote a paragraph or two under the head of Country Roads, "in which we called the attentioii of. our country readers to the condition o; their county roads, and advised them tc make a midwinter memorandum of the facl with a view to repairing the roads as soon as the weather will permit. We were gratified to see the article copied bv many o our most enterprising and public-spirited DU U'd WPrP thllSi*lP(l to llP l/Ull ill 1 UW II V II - ? lieve that the farmers and others most immediately interested in the matter, will be awakened to the importance of so improving their roads as to guarantee against the recurrence of their almost impassible condition when the next winter shall have set in "People in the country may, without due reflection, say they cannot afford to make .their roads good; the truth is they can 1101 afford not to do it. To say nothing of al the other considerations that spring uj spontaneously in every man's mind in thn connection, if a farmer should want to sel his farm there is nothing that commends il more than a gopd road leading to it." THE SUPREME COURT OE LOUISIANA. A parish, or county, in Louisiana enforceci certain local provisions for improving the public roads in front of* a certain man'? property, he having refused to do the work An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court which has decided that the parish ordinances do not conflict with the State road laws, and that a community,has a right to enforce its claims upon delinquents for the propei repair and improvements of the public roads, and that without conflict with State road laws. The decision, among othei things, says: "Acareful reading of the various section.of the Revised Statutes of 1870, on the subject of roads, satisfies our mind that the effect of all that legislation is to relegate tc the police juries the full and exclusive powers to establish such system of road laws a: to them may appear necessary or more convenient, and that the object of section 337' WHS tn -mocinllv regulate the Dowers of sucl: of the police juries as would adopt the laboi system, and to give them ample power tt enforce their systems by fines. "Such was tne conclusion reached by oui immediate predecessors, who held thai section .'1404 of the Revised Statutes incor porating the provisions of the legislatioi: of 1858 under which police juries were clothed with plenary powers in the prem ises, was the law of the State regulating th( subject matter of public roads. 80 A. 1002 St. Martin vs. Delahoussaye. "In the case of St. Landry vs. Stout, 3f A. 1278, the present court recognized th( power of police juries to enact and enforce ordinances touching the manner of making and repairing public roads. We are, therefore, clear in our eonclusioi that under the laws of the State of Louis iana, police juries are clothed with ful plenary and exclusive powers to regulate bj ordinance the manner of making and re pairing public roads in their respective par ishes, and that the ordinances of the polic< jnry of the parish of Terrebonne, on thi; subject, are legal and binding. 2. the argument that the police jur having exhausted its taxing power, tin constiutional limitaton, is inhibited fron imposing the additional burden of roat repairing is evidently not serious, and i refuted by a mere statement of the pro position. "The taxing power of a municipal corpo ration is as distinct from its power to regu 1-x- -1-1? ? nnrl for\ainn< liilti lilt! lllllimt!! U1 uian.111^ 1U1U public roads, and to enforce its ordinance by fine and imprisonment as it is distinc from the power of such corporations to en force any police regulations. A fine fo dereliction of duty is not more a tax thai an imprisonment, for the violation of i police regulation." COUNTRY ROADS UNDER COVER. Covered bridges are a very common thing hut covered roadways have not yet evei become a matter for general discussion The Scientific American, however, present the matter to the public in the followinj article, whicli may prove interesting ii this connection: "To a large extent in the South and South west the highways are of two distinc sorts?in the local parlance, turnpikex an< mud road "The former title covers the main Stat roads, often constructed with great care an< cost and usually macadamized. The latte includes the great majority of the countr; roads ; and for nine months or more of ev very year, the name is exactly descriptivi of their character. They are emphaticall; mud roads, and the mud is deep and tena cious. Plank roads are sometimes tried wher lumber is cheap; but they rest under th disadvantage of being expensive and the; are neither durable nor easily kept in repair Accordingly mud roads predominate an< communities possessing them are little given to social or commercial intercourse wit! their neighbors, save during the brief pe riods when the mud is dry and the wheel ing passable good. An exception to this rule appears in Bo sier parish, Louisiana, where an attemp has been made to keep an important eartl road dry and usable by the novel devic of roofing it, so as to keep off the rain The first stretch of cove reel road on thi plan runs from Bed Chute Bridge, Louisi ana, four miles across Ited River botton near Shreveport. The idea originated witl Judge J. I). Watkins of Shreveport, and I as fs the usual fate of new ideas, it arouse* no little ridicule. .Judge Wat kins was no a man to be laughed down. Obtaining j State charter for his enterprise lie began t< build the road. His opponents complainec that he was obstructing the parish road and attempted to stop the work; but am pie and lawful room having been given fo the parish road their opposition came t< nothing. It is now four years since tin work was begun, and Mr. John 8. Williams ofShreveport who has been connected witl the enterprise from the beginning, inform us that the road is a complete success. A the time of his writing, while the uncover ed roads were axle deep in some places witl stiff mud, the shed road was firm and dry "In building the road, the bed, 18 fee wide, was thrown up just enough to kee] out the surface water, and over it was a roo of plank five-eighths inch thich, the plan! being twelve inches wide and twenty fee long. Cypress from the neighboring swan] is used for posts, and roughly sawecl timbe for frame work. By means of an ingeniou platform mounted 011 a common two-horsi wagou and supporting a light frame work four men easily put up twenty sections o twenty feet eaeh, a day. "The cost of the road was about $3,5001 mile, with lumber at $1 a hundred feet, la bor $1 a day, posts 12* cents each, earthworl 20centsa cubic yard and nails5 cents a pound The advantages of the road arise from it cheapness, as compared with any other styli of road possible there, its durability and it: unvaryingserviceableness. The nativeclaj soil, when kept dry, makes a better roaf than either wood or stone, and the road i: easily kept in repair.. The wagons do no touch the wood work, and the roof will las live times as long as planks laid on the damj earth. Though the sides are not inclosec the rain does not drive in enough to maki the road muddy, much less wash it. Ir short the practical test of the road, on tin score of cheapness and efficiency, has beei so satisfactory that the ridicule and oppo sition it first awakened have been over come, and other roads on the same plan ar< about to be constructed." TENNESSEE IN TIIE ADVANCE. No State is giving more attention to tin improvement of her dirt roads than Tennes see, nor is there a Southern State that ha greater need of such thoroughfares. Th< joint committee of her General Assembb have recommended the passage of jj bil drawn by Representative McDowell, whicl provides that road commissioners shall bi elected by the County Courts in April, t< 1 i nerve for one year ; the commissioners to re, cei ve the funds from the trustee and disburse , the same, and pay out same 011 order of the ;! overseer^ receiving a commission of 4 per ); cent., this being all the compensation they i shall receive, except freedom from road and I: jury service ; they shall file with the chairi man of the court an itemized statement of l I receipts and expenses; the tax for highways ^ | not to be more than 15 cents on each $100 ' 'worth of property, nor less than 5 cents, and on privileges not more than one-fourth the assessment; the tax to be collected in the I same manner as other taxes by county trus"! tees. The Commissioner and .Justice of [ peace of each road district are to appoint the r overseers. All highway tax not payable in labor, shall be payable at the same time other taxes are due. All males between the ages of eighteen and fifty are liable for la; bor. Any road hand may be exempted [ from labor by paying $1. The overseer is to I give three days' notice of the time and place 1 to commence. Magistrates are not eligible to the office of highway commissioner or ) overseer. ? There is also another bill, by Senator Calloway, which provides for the purchase or D construction of turnpikes by counties, and l..ia iiHwi/ifnfl a in-not rloo 1 nf* fo vnrtihld comment, and if enacted into a law will do I much toward the acquisition of a good sys! tern of public roads. The bill, containing ? nine sections, is quite lengthy, and presents . an elaborate and practical system of substan, tial dirt roads. Although costly at first, iff ter the lapse of years they will be found the , cheapest roads the State" ever made. The : best is always the cheapest so far as roads are concemedj because the work is perma! nent. What is done this spring is not wash; ed away by heavy rains and the work re quired to be done over again this fall, and further repaired and improved next spring ; In commenting on this bill the Memphis Avalanche says: The great benefits to be i derived by all classes of people, especially ? the tax-payers, by the building of good roads ajre unquestionable. The road improvement i history of Union county, -Ohio, furnishes a notable illustration of the general prosperity 1 caused by good roads. In the last dozen i years $1,000,000 have been expended, in the : construction of graveled roads in that eoun) ty. There are 110 roads aggregating .500 miles in length, alL within the county. The work was done by contract after due advert tising, according to the following specifica tions: i The road to be cleared of all obstructions ; to the width of forty feet. All trees and stumps within the area required for the con; struction of the road bed ditches shall be , grubbed and removed therefrom, except in fills, where they may be cut off level with I natural surface of the erround. All material 3 belonging within 23 feet of the center line of 3 said road may be used for construction of the f same, unless otherwise reserved by the superintendent. Contractors will be required i to preserve all monument and corner stones - to he found in the road-bed, and will be held 1 responsible if the same are destroyed. j The road-bed to be smooth and evenly - graded (in roads of two tracks on the side to - be used for dirt track, leave no sinks or low i places in the surface of the grade liable to s contain or hold water) to a width of 12 feet on each side of and crowning six inches to r the center line. The sides of all cuts, tills, a or ditches over three feet in depth or height l to receive a side slope of U feet horizontal 1 to 1 perpendicular, with side ditches not less s than 5 feet wide at the bottom, and to be - not less than one foot below the edge of the grade on the high grounds or water divides, - and not less than three feet below the edge - of the grades at the culverts or outlets, unl obstruted and continuous with bottom gras ded straight and smooth, leaving no ponds t or pools by the roadside. i ne oariKS 01 an - ditches three feet deep and less to receive a r side slope of one foot horizontal to one foot 1 of perpendicular. All culverts, ditches or i small bridges must have outlets or side ditches cut from the road sufficient to drain them thoroughly, except those which are marked on the profiles, which are not ini eluded in this contract. These ditches to be one foot wide in the bottom and to have ^ their banks sloped one and one-half to one v foot to each one hundred feet until a good [i and sufficient outlet is made. The whole grading to be done in a neat and workman. like manner. t Contractors will be required to remove I all the earth, rubbish or other matter liable to obstruct the waterway between the e abutment of any bridges built by either j the county or contractors to a depth deemr ed by the engineer sufficient for the necesy sary waterway. The gravel to be uniformly spread upon e the center of the road-bed as above prepary ed, twelve feet wide, fourteen inches deep . in the center and eight at the sides, when completed. Q Roads thus constructed cost $1,200 to . Si 800 npr mile, exclusive of bridging. In ,, other counties destitute of graved crushed r stone is used at a cost little exceeding that j of gravel. In those counties the tax-payers _ are better pleased with the result than are 1 those where gravel is used, the crushed . stone being the more durable. The Union _ county Auditor gives this estimate of cost: I will give you a closely figured estimate . of the cost of a road made from crushed a limestone, average quarry, No. 1 rotary 1 crusher, tenhorse po\ver engine, including e all costs for stone and labor, loaded on wagon, SO cents per cubic yard per day. On g the usual gravel road we put seven cubic . yard of gravel to the rod, but of the crushed stone we use about four and one-half 1 cubic yards to the rod, which makes a very material difference in the expense of haul1 ing and spreading. \ The results of the large expenditure of { money have been highly satisfactory. The Auditor says land that were $40 and $50 I per acre on mud roads, now sells readily at $00 and $70 and upwards and many citizens I of older and richer counties are coming in r and purchasing farms in Union county, xt. _ .. +1,,,+ Him. Ttrtt;!, AWI1 ,j tutrix- rensun unug man m&j iti,7u iu v..,.. 5 lands in a county blessed with good roads. It makes a good system of drainage for low J lands, and many farms are largely drained s by tiling into these side ditches, fences are j. improved along the line of these roads, . new dwellings are built, barns are painted, , and the whole county is improved and beautified wherever you see good pikes, j This plan of levying taxes to build roads j was however, at first violently opposed by f the largest tax payers, who are now its . warmest advocates. "I have never," says t the Auditor, "yet found an opponent of good roads that once he has had a good r pike past his farm, would part with it for s three times the amount of tax he paid." e And he goes on to say: "The citizens of this county are well satisfied with the J- amount of money they have expended for road improvements. The farmers are well t paid by the increase in the value of their . lands, the merchants are well pleased that c I they have at their counters, in the winter ( I season as well as in the summer, customers ' i wiin live fifteen and twenty miles from the a county .seat, and the carriage makers are ^ i well pleased, that tliev now sell twenty r I buggies and carriages where under the mud j road system, they sold one ; and altogether s j we seem to be a very happy, industrious, ( j honest temperate and religious sort of peot j pie; and our advice to our neighboring , | counties is to build gravel roads and you 1 will be correspondingly happy with us." This experience is certainly an induce1 ment for allowing the counties in Tennessee 3 to make the efforts to better their roads in \ the manner proposed. Goon Language.?Young people should ^ acquire the habit of correct speaking and 3 writing, and abandon as early as possible any use of slang words and phrases. The longer you put this off, the more difficult the ac3 quirement of correct language will be ; and - if the golden age of youth, the proper season s for the acquisition of language, be passed in e it its abuse, the unfortunate victim will f most probably be doomed to talk slang for 1 life. You have merely to talk the language i which you read, instead of the slang you b | hear, to form a taste in agreement with the ^ speakers and poets in the country. NATURE'S PROTECTIVE COLORS. Nature, like a careful mother, equips her children for the battle of life. She gives to animals colors that, by resembling their surroundings, protect them against their enemies. The brown or gray color of the wild rabbit blends with its surroundings and hides it from hostile eyes. The mottled feathers of the quail and partridge closely resemble the fallen leaves, among which the young birds conceal themselves. Animals that roam at night, as do the rats and mice, bats and moles, are usually of a neutral tint, such as escapes notice in the dusk. The helpless tree-toad takes the color of the tree on which it lives, and his bitterest enemy has hard -work to find him. The animals and birds of the hot desert are tawny and gaudy in hue. So the lion conceals himself by crouching in the sand, and thence'springs upon his unsuspecting prey. The tiger stalks among the jungles or India. The vertical brown lines which adorn his tawny skin enable him to lurk unseen among the bamboo stems. The spotted skin of the jaguar imitates the changing spots of light and shade among the leaves, and thus conceals him in his lair. The puma has neither bars nor spots on his skin; it does not need them. It waits for its prey by crouching along the limb of tree, where its dull color escapes notice. White animals and white birds are, as a rule, aweners in ivrcuc regions, ine wiuic* suit of the polar bear indicates at once its distant home amid the snow and snow-fields of the north. Some animals, like the Arctic foxes and Alpine hares, wear their white livery only in winrer, and appear in summer clad 111 brown or gray. In the thick tropical forests, whose bright foliage is never touched by frost, live the brilliant green parrots and paroquets that seem so out of . place here. Nature also seems to take pains 111 providing for her weak and helpless creatures. The upper surface of the wings of some of our common butterflies Is of a bright color, but the lower surface is dusky. When they light on a tree or wall, and close their wings, the color of which closely resembles the surrounding surface, the insect collector needs sharp eyes to find them. Moths that fly by night are gray, or neutral, in tint. Some tropical butternes resemble withered leaves, and even the marks on their wings appear like the veins of a leaf. Our grasshoppers take the color of the grass. Beetles frequenting mossy banks are green in color. Beetles that live on the bark of trees are rough like bark and frequently resemble lichens. Some defenseless insects are protected by their resemblance of insects able to defend themselves. Some flies which possess no means of defense, resemble wasps and hornets. In these and in many other ways nature watches over her children so that none, from the least, to the greatest, shall lack protection. Popular Superstitions Explained.? 1. It is unlucky to spill salt. Of course, for it shows you are either naturally clumsy that your hand is unsteady from overindulgence in tobacco, and anyhow, it is certain to raise the wrath of your host. 2. It is unlucky to pass under a ladder. This is when the gentleman on the ladder is conversing with a fellow-laborer and lets fall a hod of mortar or a pot of red paint on your head. 3. It is unlucky to pass outside a ladder. This is when the ladder projects to the curbstone, the road is very muddy, and a runaway van in your immediate neighborhood. 4. It is lucky to have a black cat in the house. lis presence accounts for the disappearance of cream, cold game and other viands notoriously detrimental to the health. 5. It is unlucay to dream of a black dog. i Of course, as it shows that your present habit of late suppers will shortly be stopped by your medical attendant. 0. It is unlucky to meet a woman with . ? "/> ><?<' If la o fin-oof inwffirtnna tn pn Ill ni|UUIli At lO (V ?3 X VUV ?<?AUAVA WMltV hW v<> counter an ugly woman anywhere. 7. It is unlucky to sneeze on Friday. It is particularly fortunate on any other day of the week, as it probably shows you in for a severe cold. 8. It is unlucky to hop up stairs as the new year comes in. It ameliorates your grief at the follies of last year, as it shows i however capable of idiocy you were then you are still more capable this year.N 9. It is unlucky to see a single magpie. Jit indicates that there are more in the neighborhood, and for discordant noises the magpie is pre-eminently gifted among birds. 10. It is unlucky to seethe first lamb of the year with its face towards you. It at any rate shows that neither your visage nor your apparel is so absolutely repulsive as to frighten a beast of the field. 11. It is unlucky to sit down to table thirteen in number. It is equally unlucky to sit down twelve if there is only elbow room for eight. 12. There is luck in odd numbers. This extirely depends upon the game you are playing, and what the other man has up his sleeves.?Punch. Sense Culture.?The special culture of the senses is too much neglected by us in this modern busy life. Probably at no previous period of human history has the nervous system generally, and more particularly, the sense organs, been so severely taxed as they now are, but never have they nnHuroftirl This iu in uetrn it'sn UUCIUUJ tum <u^u. ... part, if not wholly the cause of the progressive degeneracy of the faculties of special sense, which is evidenced by the increasing frequency of the recourse to spec tacles, ear trumpets, and the like aparatus, designed to aid the sense of organs. The mere use of faculties will not develop strength?it is more likely to exhaust energy. Special training is required, and this essential element of education is wholly neglected in our schools, with the result we daily witness?namely early weakness or defect in the organs by which the consciousness is brought into relation with the outer world. It is not necessary to adduce proofs of the position we take up, or to argue it at length or in detail. The truth of the proposition laid down is self-evident. On the one hand we see the neglect of training, and on the other the increasing defect of sense power. The matter is well worthy of the attention of the professional educators of ydhth. Muscular exercise wisely regulated and apportioned to the bodily strength is felt to be a part of education. Sense culture, by ovomiiiw in coninrr Vipjirino". appiupuut CA^IVIO^O in uwi?ibj touching, smelling, would, if commenced sufficiently early in life, not merely prevent weakness of sight, deafness, loss of the sense of feeling, and impairment of the sense of smell long before ohl age, but by its reflected influence on the nutrition of the brain and upper portion of the spinal cord would do much to reduce the growing tendency to paralytic diseases, which are very decidedly on the increase.?Lancet. A Good Edgefield Anecdote.?The recent agitation of the public road question reminds me of an anecdote that a mail carrier, who rode between Augusta and Longmires in Edgeflekl county, used to delight in telling to show the average condition of the routes he travelled. He said on one occasion he was riding along at the rate of a mile an hour, his horse sinking to his knees at every step, when looking some distance ahead of him he saw a small black object moving about the middle of the road which he at hrst supposed to be a bird. As he drew nearer he saw that it was a black hat and when he got within reach he lifted it and saw a man's head just far enough above the mud for him to breathe. The mail courier asked him what was the matter; he replied that he had struck a very soft place in the road and had immediately sunk so rapidly that he was unable to extricate himsell. The .courier said, "well, my friend, you are certainly in a very bad fix." The stranger replied, "well, if you think I am in an unpleasant position, what do you think of my mule ? I am on a mule." This happened about Red Hill in Senator Butler's county and this occurrence, which is vouched for, will convince anyone that the Senator is in earnest in his efforts to improve the condition of the public highways. Columbia Correspondence Augusta Chronicle.