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fcraps and <facts. ? The truck business of Georgia is l>eeoming immense. The value of vegetables and fruits shipped North by the steamer from Savannah this season up to last Tuesday is placed at $804,092. While the shipments by railroad are very large. ? Railway construction in the United States for the year 1883 is estimated as not likely to exceed 8,0(K) miles, against 11,000 last year?a decrease of nearly 80 per cent. Some authorities put the present year's mileage as low as 6,000 miles. '"?A cyclone swept through the eastern section of Nebraska last Thursday, wrecking several houses and two school buildings at; Valparaiso and fatally injuring a woman and two children. The wires are down and details are unobtainable. The cyclone touched the south-west portion of Omaha, doing slight damage to several houses, but injuring no one. ' ?The business failures throughout the country for the week ending last Friday, as reported to the mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Co. during the week number 171, against 156 last week. The distribution was: ?_ -r* .i?.1 fii-i.- n- nr.* j.ii^ cii.~i.~r, O.I ixew migianu o taies 20, luiuuie ounces ^i, Southern 30, Western 57, Pacific States and Territories 12, Canada 17, and New York City 7. ?It is said that the Hon. W. D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, is suffering from a disease of the mouth similar to that which proved faNtalto the lamented Senator Hill. He has already submitted to a surgical operation, and the surgeons as in Hill's case, say that ' he will recover. It is to be hoped that he will rally and get well, but the chances are against him. ? George O. Jones, the New York Greenbacker, being interviewed, stated that the Greenbackers would nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency in June, 1884. "We will not elect them this time," he said, "because the Democrats will sweep the country, but we will elect our men in 1888. Both the old parties will have been broken up by that time." ?Charles F. Kring, whose remarkable suc, cess in fighting the law and escaping punishment for the murder of Dora Broemaer, in St. Louis, Mo., eight years ago, has been written up and published time and again, and who was released from prison on bail about three weeks ago under a decision of the United States Supreme Court, died on the 17th, in that city, from internal hemorrhage. ? The Act of the Tennessee Legislature constituting a railway commission provides that, all of the railwavs in that State shall pass free the members of the commission. The officers of the various roads have declined to acknowledge the right of the Legislature to prescribe as to who shall pass free over their lines, but have sent annual passes to the three commissioners "as a personal courtesy alone." ? The widow of the late Congressman James O. Smith, of Alabama, has married her nephew. As the laws of that State are aginst such a marriage they went to Kentucky, and as the same laws were found to prevail there they went immediately to Gallatin, Tenn, where they were married. After overcoming these obstacles the couple have returned to their plantation near Selma. ? The Court of claims at Washington, last Monday, decided in the case of Lawton, of South Carolina, vs. the United States, that the government is liable for the amount bid by the commissioners under direct tax laws at their sales in excess of the tax penalty, interest and costs. This is one of several test cases brought by Mr. Earle of Washington to obtain a construction of the court upon the statute and the decision is regarded as great importance to claimants. ? .Tosh Billintrs is the best paid literary man in the world, possibly with the exception of Tennyson. He recently received $400 for twelve words. They were for an advertisement for a dry goods house. Many of his best things are disposed of in this way. As he was an auctioneer and without a dollar till nearly three score years old, he is not above peddling out his work at the best figure now. He is rich, drives a fine team, is kind and gentle as a girl, but has an eye to finances. ? The Senatorial divorce suit between Senator Fair and his wife was tried in the District Court at Virginia City, Nevada, on Saturday the 12th inst. The defendant tiled no answer to Mrs. Fair's complaint, and a decree for a divorce was granted, and the court awarded plaintiff the handsome sum of $4,250,000 in money and United States bonds. The oldest soil was given over to the defendant and the three youngest children to the plaintiff. It seems impossible to find out exactly the cause of the difficulty between the unhappy husband and wife. ? On April the 21st the people of Rome celebrated its 2,G36th anniversary. Tradition hath it that from the day when Romulus and Remus laid out the lines of the eternal city this anniversary has been kept with civil and religious festivities. Rome has seen many vicissitudes during these 2,G3G years of rough and boisterous life. Once the mistress of the world through her legions of soldiers and again the mistress of the world through the statecraft of her priest nooa, now Doin 01 mose glories nave uepaned, though still the papacy continues and St. Peter's remains the wonder of mankind. ? A cyclone struck the west side of Galveston, Texas, last Thursday. A small house occupied by the family of James Burch was blown to attorns. Miss Burch and a child were seriously injured. The Baptist Church was completely demolished. The brick residence of Andrew S. McMurtrey was blown down and Mrs. McMurtrey and her mother were buried in the debris, but it is thought that they are not fatally injured. A colored schoolhouse was torn from its foundation and badly wrecked. Many houses were moved from their places, and fences and shade trees suffered. The cyclone lasted only a minute, but the rain fell in torrents. ? The managers of the American Bible Society have just presented their sixty-seventh annnal report. From the report it appears that during no previous year of the history of the Society have so many pages of the sacred word been issued, and only a single year?the last of the great civil war ranks the one just closed in the number of volumes distributed. Three hundred and eleven colporteurs have labored in this country, ana two hundred and seventy-six in foreign lands. The receipts for the year for general purposes, were $598,641. 91. The number of copies of the Scriptures issued duflng the year is 1,676,232. The issuesof the Society during sixty-seven years amount to forty-two million, eighty-three thousand, oi?hf Viiinrlrorl onrl civtpen ? D. C. Hutchins, who murdered Will A Lyon at the ferry landing in Bossier Parish, opposite Shreveport La., two weeks ago, while being conveyetl to Belleville jail on Sunday of last week, was taken from the guard by seventy-five or one hundred men and hanged in the woods. When he saw masked men coming Hutchins pulled a huge dirk knife from his pocket and stabbed himself three times near the heart. After hanging him these placards were pin nedtohis body: "There is a point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue." "Fettermans?Both of you never return; if you do you will follow this desperado and thief." The two Fettermans keep stores on the opposite sides of the river and are in some way mixed up with Hutchins. Thousands of people have visited the place where the hanging occurred. Young Lyon, the murdered man, was a native of Abbeville county, S. C. ? The Irish immigrants sent to this country by the British Government are given free transportation tickets and fropi $2 to $50 in cash, which, it is apparent, will not provide for them very long. Most of them receive'no more than $10 or $15 from the purser of the ship they came on. There are many children among them of a tender age. One woman with six small children arrived at Boston the other day, and all she had beyond her passage money was $15 given her out of the British fund. It is evident that these persons are transported to get rid of them. It is a favorite scheme of tne British Government to transport the whole Irish population of the island to this country and Canada. That government, however, has neither the humanity nor the decency to furnish these people with sufficient means to enable them to buy land and establish themselves as farmers. The idea is to thrust them on our shores to be provided for by I the humane Americans or to starve. ? The Hon. Phillip B. Thompson has been acquitted of the charge of murdering Walter If. Davis at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, several weeks ago. This celebrated trial consumed over one week, and the most desperate efforts were made both for his conviction and acquittal. The jury was absent from the court-room about an hour, and returned with a verdict of "not guilty." It was received with loud and boisterous demonstrations of approval by the anxious and sympathizing crowd that packed the courtroom from the first to the last hour of the solemn trial. The acquitted defendant was thronged by his many friends, and heaps of earnest and enthusiastic congratulations were piled upon him. He bore the ordeal with the same characteristic coolness that marked his bearing throughout the trial, and his dignified and manly demeanor won for the already popular Congressman many additonal friends and admirers. ?0tMlc inquirer. YORKVItLE. S. V. : THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 1883. COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE. The President has appointed Walter Evans, of Kentucky, commissioner of internal revenue in place of Green B. Raum, resigned. Mr. Evans is a lawyer of some ability and is well known in the politics of his State. He was at one time law partner of Benjamin H. Bristow, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and was a Bristow man in the convention of 1870. In 1880 he was a delegate to the Chicago convention and was one of the 806 who supported Gen. Grant's can' didacy. In 1879 he was a candidate for Governor of his State on the Republican ticket. He and Postmaster General Gresham are - - - - .... , . ? , warm personal friends, and it is understood that the latter was instrumental in securing Evans' appointment. ' The new appointee qualified and was sworn in last Monday at Louisville, the occasion for haste being that the ten days for which an acting commissioner of internal revenue could be appointed expired on that day, and it was necessary that the commissionership should beat once filled. THE GREELEY RELIEF EXPEDITION. The organization and outfit of the Signal Service relief expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, under the command of Lieutenant Garlington, are now practically complete. General Hazen will shortly go to St. John's, Newfoundland, in person to select a steamer for the use of th? party. Everything, he says, which experience could suggest has been done to insure the success of the undertaking. Lieutenant Garlington's men have been selected with great care by General Terry from among the best soldiers under his command, and they are believed to be unusually well qualified in pointof physical efficiency for the arduous service which may be before them. The best sailing steamer obtainable will be chartered at St. John's to carry the relief party North, and it is hoped that under the management and guidance of an experienced Captain and two or more skilled ice pilots she will be able to make her way through Smith's Sound and channel to the Signal Service station. Lieutenant Garlington, who will have command of the expedition, is a young South Carolinian, and the selection of him for so responsible a trust speaks highly of the confidence reposed in him by the Government. THE KENTUCKY DEMOCRACY. rP),n lCt?n+in.lrv nnni<>crnHp Shite Con veil inv jwihuvuj ? ~ tion, in session at Lexington last week, nominated a full State ticket, with J. Proctor Knott at its head as nominee for Governor. The nominee for Lieutenant Governor is Capt. James It. Hindman, late of the Federal army, who was nominated over Capt. Allen late a Confederate soldier. The platform adopted declares as follows : The Kentucky Democracy are unanimously opposed to subsidies of every description* They believe that all taxation should be for the support of the Government. They denounce the Tariff Act of the last Republican Congress as a monster piece of inequality, injustice and wrong, and they demand of the next Democratic House of Representatives a measure of relief and reform based upon the organic law of the Democratic party declared at St. Louis in 1870,and reaffirmed at Cincinnati in 1880, which requires that all customhouse taxation shall be for revenue only. J. Proctor Knott, who was nominated for Governor, was born near Lebanon, Ky., August, 29,1830 ; studied law, removed to Missouri in May, 1800, and was admitted to the bar in 1801 ; was elected to the State House of Representatives of Missouri in 1857 and resigned in August, 1859; was appointed Attorney General of Missouri in the same month ; was unanimously nominated for the same position by the Democratic Convention and elected in August, 1862; returned to Kentucky and commenced the practice of law in Lebanon in 1868 ; was a member of the Fortieth, Forty-first, Fortyfourth and Forty-fifth Congresses, and was re-elected to the Forty-sixth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 8,969 votes against 4,616 votes for Beldin, Republican, and 204 votes for Lewis, National. THE TROUBLES""iN IRELAND. Daniel Curley, the second man convicted of participation in the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke on the 6th of last May, was hanged in Kilmainham jail at 8 o'clock last Friday morning. The jail was guarded by a force of military similar to that which was present at the hanging of Joe Brady on Monday. Canon Kennedy and Father O'Reilly arrived at the -J. .... 1.. + A..la., prison ai an rari^ jiuui iw nucnu vuncj, After the priests had prayed privately with the condemned man in his cell mass was performed in the prison chapel in the presence of the governor and warden, when Curley received the sacrament. Meanwhile a group of women, who had gathered outside the prison, were on their knees saying the Litany for the dying. When the black flag announcing that the execution had taken place was hoisted over the prison every man in the crowd outside, which numbered barely one thousand, uncovered his head and murmurs of sympathy with Curley were uttered. A rush was then made by the crowd for the garden near-by, where Curley's relatives had assembled, and where his father was kneeling and praying for the repose of the soul of his son. The people soon dispersed quietly. Curley walked to the scaffold with but little assistance. He seemed to be resigned to his fate, but was hardly firm. He declined to make any statement touching his connection with the crime for which he was executed. Death was instantaneous. In a letter which Curley wrote to his wife he said: "I will take my secrets to the grave with me and leave those who are at freedom to enjoy it. I will die in peace, forgiving my enemies." The trials of the other prisoners implicated in the same offence ended in Dublin on Thursday, on which morning James Mullet, Edward O'Brieil, Edward McCaffrey, Daniel Delaney, William Morony and Thos. Doyle, all of whom had pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to murder, were arraigned in Court for sentence. The first live were each sentenced to ten years' penal servitude and Doyle to five years' penal servitude. The crown decided to drop tho charge against McCaffrey of having participated in the murder of Burke. Judge O'Brien in passing sentence upon James Mullet said : "There is more known concerning you than has been made public. I | believe you were present during the attack on Juror Fields." Mullet replied, "1 was not." The Judge then adverted to the principal share the prisoner had taken in organizing the conspiracy to murder. Matthew Brady, who was charged with threatening the foreman of the jury which convicted his brother, Joe Brady, pleaded guilty to the charge, but the Crown and the person threatened assented to his discharge. mi _ Tl^i. 4-Ua aKam/wa r inc trial ui i~eier miyic un uic cuai^i- ui conspiracy to murder was postponed on account of sickness. He was in Court but was so weak that he had to be supported in the dock by the warden. Judge O'Brien after sentencing the men discharged the special jury panel which was summoned to try the cases of the men charged with the Phoenix Park murders and other crimes. He took occasion to praise the manner in which the arduous and pain-1 ful duty of the jurors had been performed. THE PUBLIC ROAD QUESTION. The Newberry Herald thinks that Senator Butler has staked agooddeal in publicly announcing that he will study thoroughly , this summer the subject of the public roads. The Greenville News, discussing the question, solves the problem, using Greenville county for illustration, as follows: "Greenville county has 735 square miles, and, possibly, 400 miles of public roads. She has at least 6,000 hands liable to twelve days of road duty a year. This is 72,000 days. The sum is simple. 400 (miles of road) into 72,000 (days of work) goes 180 times. In other words; if the law was properly enforced, we could put one hand 180 days, or ten hands eighteen days on every mile of road in the county every year " hat would help a good deal, would it not, Messrs. Commissioners?" The Abbeville Press and Banner is opposed to a change in the present system. It says: "There never will be a cheaper or better system of working the roads than the present one. The overseer or captain of a confinn l-nnn'i the* nnn VPnifmf'P of his nfiiffh bors and he can order them out to work the road at a leisure time or on such days when the ground is too wet to plow. By working i the roads nearest to one's house, very little ! time is lost, and the citizen generally does ! this work cheerfully as a matter of consequence and benefit to himself. Whenever we abolish the old and cheap system the country will be bankrupted or we will have no roads at all." In Senator Hart's letter on the subject of the public highways, published by us last week, under the head of "expense" there was an omission of a line, which so obscured the writer's meaning that in justice to him we reproduce the paragraph entire. Discussing the practicability of working the public roads by a system of taxation, he said: , It will likely be answered that this latter system is too expensive for the present growth of the country, in answer to this objection, let us take a single county and illustrate the cost. York county has about I 250 miles of the most execrable market roads in the State. Its property is assessed at about $5,000,000. It levies an annual road tax of about $1,000 and receives an annual income from railroad dividends of $1,500. A tax of i mill, or fifty cents per thousand j on property would raise $2,500 more. The | sum of $5,000 annually employed on 100 I miles of its worst sections of road would in a few years transform them into thoroughi fares. Dassable at all seasons of the year and repaying to the farmer ten fold the cost expended. This system has been successfully tried in Canada, and is even now the established system among the sparse populations of its western settlements. It [ has worked satisfactorily?so much so that in all the older settlements these embryo [ roads have grown into free turnpikes of full width and construction. THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIANS. The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian church commenced in Lexington, Kentucky, on Thursday last. The opening sermon was preached by Dr. D. K. Smoot, of Austin, Texas, the retiring moderator. Dr. T. Rogers, of Virginia, was elected moderator by acclamation. The Rev. H. R. Raymond, of Marion, Ala., was elected secretary. The Assembly then adjourned until Friday morning. In the morning session on Friday the working committees were announced. Nearly all the session was consumed in reading reports. Rev. J. Leighton, D. I)., secretary of foreign missions, read an interesting and exhaustive report of the executive committee on foreign missions. One of the most, afflictive dispensations during the year was the removal by death of Mrs. Evelyn Houston, of the Hong Chow mission. The Matamoras mission had been seriously afflicted by yellow fever, while the Greek mission had been interrupted by the smallpox. Mercies, however, have been mingled with these trials. None of our missionaries have been victims to pestilence. The missionary work has gone steadily forward with more than usual success. Eight thousand aonars more of mission funds have been given to the cause this year than ever before. The receipts during the year amounted to $00,071. The number of churches that have contributed is 1,250, which is 45 less than contributed last year. The Rev. Richard Mcllvain read the annual report of the committee on home missions. The past year has been crowned with unusual harvests. The growing importance of the South, and its wonderful resources are beginning to attract a multitude of settlers. Nine hundred and ninety-five churches have contributed to the sustentation, 850 to the Evangelistic fund and 931 to the invalid's fund. The total receipts for all branches of the home missions have been $67,288, against $13,462 last year. There were 173 ministers in a service of about 400 churches. On Saturday the Assembly received the delegates of the Northern Assembly on fraternal relations. Five of the seven delegates were present. They were introduced j to the Assembly by the Rev. J. J. uuiiock, ! 1). D., chaplain of the United States Senate, i The Hon. Samuel M. Moore read an able ! ! paper. The liev. T. D. Prime made an J eloquent address. He favored co-operation. The field was too large for one body of Presbyterians. He did not favor organic union, but hearty co-operation in the work. The address was well received. Dr. J. Loud i Niccolls made the most telling speech of the i day. He favored the union of the two churches and prayed that the time might come. The Hon. Wm. Strong favored cooperation and brotherly relations. He would j not speak of an organic union. The Rev. Dr. ! T. Pryor, of Virginia, the venerable mod-, erator, responded in an able and happy { style. The delegates expressed themselves as well pleased with their reception. On Monday the committee 011 bills and overtures reported the overtures considered. The overture regarding fraternal relations 1 was made the order of the day for Tuesday. I The committee reported in fiivor of tlie overture that all correspondence with religious bodies be carried on by letter and it was made the second order of the day for Tuesday. The committee reported on the overture to change the concession of faith and the catechism that no changes shall be made in the confession of faith unless proposed by two-thirds of the Assembly, approved by three-fourths of the Presbyteries and adopted again by two-thirds of the Assembly. The discussion was made the order of the [ dt?y for Wednesday. The committee reported unfavorably on the overture proposing a change in the section touching the education of ministers, the minority report advocating a change. Dr. Lane, of Georgia, offered a substitute referring the question back to the Presbytery. The question was discussed. A telegram was read from the delegates to the Northern Assembly stating that they had been enthusiastically received. The assembly then took a recess until 3 p. m. MORE FATAL CYCLONES. This year will be fanous for the devastating storms that have occurred in various sections. Besides those mentioned in another place in this paper, there have been serious storms in the North-west?one in Wisconsin, and one in Illinois. Describing the former, a dispatch Com Racine says : The first cyclone in tie history of this city struck Racine at 7 o'clock last Friday night, passing through the extreme northeastern portion of the city, demolishing 150 houses and barns and killing 20 persons, besides injuring 100 others more or less seriously. The day was ushered in bright and cool with a fresh wind blowing from the southeast. Towards noon the sky became overcast and about 4 o'clock a sharp electric storm prevailed, although but little rain fell. The sun again came cpt for about an hour during the afternoon, the temperature being about 70?. Towards ( o'clock heavy masses of clouds again gathered in the west, portending a storm, and the air was oppressively warm. The eye one was announced by the breaking of the clouds, and it struck the earth with a noise Which might be com pared with the roar and rumbling of a thousand railroad trains thundering over a bridge. Tpe pach of the storm is little over a half mile longand perhaps a quarter of a mile wide. In this territory a Building is left standing here and there. Brick and frame houses alike collapsed, and their sites are marked only by heaps of debris. Many occupants of houses escaped by fleeing to the cellars and oilier places of comparative safety, but the cyclone came with such lightning rapidity thst many were killed before reaching the cellars. In only a few cases were houses moved from their foundations. Thost in the middle of thestorm centre simply fell in ruins where they had stood. Some nearer the circumference were turned around, and it is reported that some light articles, such as wagons, were swept into the lake. The cyclone, as it moved from the city upon the waters of Lake Michigan, presented a grand spectacle. Whirling columns of air were seen as they flew over the watery expanse, bearing with them spiral columns of water, and no ship that encountered this monster of the air could by any possibility escape destruction. All the physicians of the city responded nobly to the call for assistance, and did what they could to alleviate the sufferings or the wounded, who were at once conveyed to St. Luke's and St. Mary's Hospitals. The dead were taken home to the houses of friends, and others to the courthouse. The coroner's investigation, held on Saturday only served to swell the list of casualties and make more sweeping the destruction occasioned by the fearful storm. It is ascertained that fully 25 were killed and 100 injured. One hundred and fifty houses were demolished, and had the cyclone struck the business centre the damage would not easily have been calculable. At Western Union Junction, seven miles west of Racine, many houses were' wrecked and one young man named Webber was killed. A later dispatch on Sunday says : Up to noon the list of the dead had not been lully obtained. Men are at work clearing away the debris. Steps are already being taken to relieve those in immediate want, and the Mayor has issued a manifesto calling upon citizens for contributions to be left at"the office of the city treasurer. A special meeting of Council was called at 10 A. M., and action was taken toward caring for the dead and maimed and penniless. The suffering is confined to the very northern outskirts of the city, among the laborers and mechanics, who owned their little property, which was completely swept away. A large brick dwelling, in which were fourteen people was reduced to ruin. Not one of the inmates was more than slightly injured. The financial loss by the storm will not exceed $150-, 000. The buildings demolished are principally frame structures, and the individual losses range from $300 to $7,000. The cyclone in Illinois was even more destructive of human life than that occurring on the same day in Wisconsin. The towns near the Galena division of the North-western Railroad suffered severely, they being -? ' i ~ t* j-i? -i- a ci : ? ? i .1 in tne iniCK 01 uie siorin. A cspnugiieni dispatch dated Saturday says : The damage caused by the cyclone storm which visited this section of the State last 'night was more appalling than was at first supposed. It struck the ground on Eliza He's farm, south of the junction, and laid waste three dwellings and as many barns and outhouses. Mr. He's house a large twostory brick building, wasentirely demolished. It was occupied by Mr. Booker, who was considerably injured. A male infant was nearly killed. Across the road from Booker's placeZebulon Willford's house was swept away by the tornado, but no damage to life resulted. A quarter of a mile further to the northeast the home of Mrs. English was torn to pieces and everything about the place destroyed. Mrs. English was crushed and mangled by falling timbers, but there are hopes of her recovery. Her two sons, Joseph and Thomas, were only slightly injured. The hurricane struck the earth again four miles east of the city, where the little settlement of Round Praria is situated, and played havoc with the lives and property of the farmers in the vicinity. Several persons who took refuge in the cellars escaped uninjured, although the houses were swept from over their heads. Henry Farbe was killed and twelve or fifteen persons more or less injured. From Round Praria the storm swept | on to Dawson, nine miles northeast, but do! ing no serious damage till that point was reached. Here a number of houses were ! torn down and Mrs. Ferris was killed. At | Buffalo, another little hamlet, Mrs. Thos. I Chandler was killed by the falling timbers /.f hnv imniH A rmfhpr stnrm is rennrted to have struck just east of Jacksonville, and to I have pursued a northeast direction twentytwo miles west of Springfield. It is said the little hamlet of Leitenburg was destroyed, I and that eight persons were killed and injured. I Latest advices received at Chicago from | points in Illinois visited by the cyclone say | that 54 deaths have already been reported in [ the State, and the number injured is estimated at very nearly 200. Owing to the condition of tlie wires north of Milwaukie, no accurate computation of the loss of life in Wisconsin can be made. A St. Louis dispatch says: The storm that passed over Grafton, Shipman and other places in Illinois on Friday night, seems to have come direct from the West. The first heard of it was at Jonesburg, Missouri, where it crossed the Wabash Railroad, levelling with the ground several houses in the town and killing one lady in the country. The telegraph wires were broken and no de- j tails have as yet been received. ? On Wednesday night of last week, Frank j Whiting, formerly of South Carolina, under j sentence of the Federal Court for passing . counterfeit money, and J. H. Raby, under i sentence of the same court for the violation of the revenue law, sentenced to eleven | months' imprisonment, six of which have ! been served out, made their escape from the \ Buncombe jail and are still at large. ? Charlotte celebrated the anniversary of j the Mecklinburg declaration last Monday j in spirited style, though a peculiarity of! the exercises seems to be the omission of an orator for the occasion. The festivities of the day were brought to a close at night by a brilliant ball attho Buford House. LOCAL AFFAIRS. new Advertisements. \V. Holmes Hardm,' President. ?Stockholders' Meeting. Sergeant Manufacturing < 'ompany?Sergeant lk>rse Power, tFourth page.) May ?v May?Notice to the people of Bullock's Creek." J. M. Adams--New Hoods. T. M. Dohson- Not smiling so often. Herndon Brothers?Reapers, reapers. J. Ed. .Tefferys it Co.?New Furniture Store. Ilunter it Oiites?We are headquarters. M. Strauss?Beware of counterfeits. J. K. Lindsay & Co.?Still ahead on Clothing. Kennedy Brothers A Barron?The right kind wilf sell. Withers Adickes?Fight the Flies. (!. H. O'Leary?Reaping Whips, Ac. the news and courier. Mr. Theodore DeHon, the general travelinor iinrorif fop fho Ch or I out on AT*) nx Mill ('fill rier, will visit Yorkville in the interest of that paper the early part of next week. PLUME DRILL. The cadets of King's Mountain Military School will have a plume drill in the barracks building next Saturday evening at 8 o'clock, to which the public, and especially the ladies, are invited. COTTON SHIPMENTS. The shipments of cotion from the depot in this place for the Reason aggregate to date 8,4-19 bales. The largest shipment any day was on last Friday,/when 228 bales were shipped, 2(H) of which Jvere carried by one train. POSTMASTER WALLACE. Mr. John R. Wallace, postmaster at this place, who sustained serious injury by falling from the door in the rear of the office on the night of the 8rd instant, is still at his home in the country. His physician reports that he is improving slowly. TEXAS CROPS. Mr. L. J. Huffman, of Tucker Station, Anderson county, Texas, writing to us un/In^A aC 1 It-U inofanl nnolnt'oc o nnrn UCl uaic ui tur; at in limuiii', ruviwvn iv wa?4 'silk taken from a field of fifty acres which has been "laid by." He says the crops of all kinds, in his section of the State are unusually promising. FLAG STATIONS. By a recent order of the management of the Chester and Lenoir and the Cheraw and Chester Railroads, conductors of passenger trains on these roads will hereafter sell to passengers taking train at flag stations, round trip tickets at three cents per mile each way. COTTON SALES. Last week Mr. Rufus M. Allison sold 4(1 bales of cotton to Mr. D. } 'cC'auley, of Chester, at the average price ol 10.20 per pound. Mr. J. W. P. Hope sold a lot of 200 bales to Messrs. J. M. Ivy & Co., o' Rock Hill, at an average price of 10 cents. FROSTY There was frost on Saturday morning the 19th instant, and also on yesterday morning. The frost of Saturday ^v|as not severe, though that of yesterday moirning will probably affect the young cotton plant to some extent. The weather has been remarkably cool during the entire month, tthe thermometer on fTiiAo/lotr in/li/io fine* nfi ilarrrfjou jl uccnicvj imiivouiig CHURCH NOTICES. Baptist?Rev. J. E. Covington; Pastor. Services at Union church at 11 A. M., and 3 P. M. In the church at Yorkville at 8 P. M. Associate Reformed Presbyterian?Rev. R. Lathan, Pastor. The pastor will fill his regular appointment at Tirzah next Sunday. Methodist Episcopal?Rev. R. P. Franks, Pastor. -Services in the church at Yorkville at 101 A. M., and 8 P..M. At Philadelphia church at 3 P. M. Presbyterian?Rev. T. R. English, Pastor. .Services at 10.30 A. M. ; and 8 P. M. THE TOWN COUNCIL. . The iijftendant anil wardens of Yorkville, elected on Monday of last week, assumed their duties on Mont ay last. The new board consists of F. Happ >rfield, Intendant, and J. R. Schorb, S. A. McElwee, J F. Oates and J. R. Lindsay, Wardens. Mr. Schorb was elected clerk ai d treasurer. The only business transacted >y the board after organization was the election of town marshal, to which posi ion A. F. McConnell was elected vice Itol ert B. McClain. Mr. McConnell entered u ion his duties on Tuesday* / TAX COLLECTIONS. County Treasurer Neely has made the round of the countv.and will beinhis office in the Court House the remainder of the month for the purpose of collecting the May installment of the State and county taxes. The following is the amount of his collections up to Tuesday night last: For State : 82,509 08 1 For County 1,583 76 8 For Railroad 897 99 7 For School 1,057 10 7 Poll Tax 102 00 (I Total 80,149 95 3 FINE WHEAT. The finest patch of wheat we remember ever to have seen is growing in Mr. It. J. Latta's lot, on the west side of the railroad. It is known as Palestine or Golden Grain variety. The heads will average nine inches in length, and are heavily bearded. The stalk is large and heavy, with a very large blade, and altogether presents a luxuriant appearance. Mr. Latta procured a pint of the seed three seasons ago, and this lot of four acres is the product of that small beginning. From his experiments with the wheat, he thinks it well adapted to this climate. DEATH OF EX-GOVERNOR JETER. Our Union correspondent writes, under date of Monday, that Railroad Commissioner T. B. Jeter died at his residence in that A n 1 OA4-K town un Duiiuay evening iu.^k, _um hliuhh-, of inflammation of the bowels. Our correspondent adds: "Governor Jeter had been sick for some time, and it was thought on Saturday that lie was doing finely, but on that evening a change for the worse took place, and he continued to sink rapidly. Governor Jeter was a good and noble man and too well known throughout the entire State for me to say anything more in his favor. He was loved by all, and his death will spread sorrow throughout the county and State." TIIE BAPTIST CHURCH. The Rev. J. E. Covington, of Marlboro county, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Baptist church in this place, and Union church three miles north of town. He will make his home in Yorkville and arrived here last Friday for the purpose of assuming his pastoral duties. He preached to the congregation at Union in the forenoon last Sunday and in Yorkville in the afternoon. Mr. Covington has just completed his theological course and enters upon the ministry under promising auspices. Coming here an entire stranger, he has already made a very favorable impression upon his congregations as a minister, while all who have met him in social intercourse are pleased with nis engaging address. RECENT FIRES. The dwelling house of the Rev. Mr. Studemire, a local Methodist preacher, living near Fort Mill, in this county, was destroyed by fire on the night of the loth instant. All the furniture, clothing, and provisions in the house were destroyed with the building, the family barely escaping with their lives. The house was on the premises of; C'apt. 8. E. White. The neighbors of Mr. I Studemire nobly came to bis relief, supplying the immediate wants of himself ami family with clothing, provisions and money. On Sunday night last the barn and stables of Mr. W. I). Height, in the upper end of i Lancaster county, about five miles from Fort j Mill, were burnt, by a supposed incendiary fire. Loss about eight hundred dollars. THE CROP PROSPECTS. Planting operations in York have been from two to four weeks backward throughout the county, owing to the winter rains and the lateness of the spring season. Farmers are getting along with their work very well, however, and a large area of land has been planted in cotton and corn, much of which is up and a portion of it has been worked. In some sections the stands of cotton are fine, while there is complaint from other sections. The cool nights of the past two weeks have been injurious to the plant. The small grain crop is represented as not so promising as it was three weeks ago, though with no blight upon it after this date the crop of wheat and oats will be good, if not nearly so abundant as last year. Much of the young fruit is falling off the trees, and this crop will be light. KNIGHTS OF HONOR. At the last regular meeting of Home Relief Lodge, Knights of Honor, Mr. Withers Adickes was elected Dictator to serve the remainder of the term made vacant by the death of Dictator J. It. Gardner. Capt. t T> T :?,i? I. rv. uiuwxiy wu? cicuicu y . At the recent meeting of the Supreme Lodge at Galveston, Texas, the following officers were elected: Supreme Dictator, R. If. Cochran, West Virginia; Supreme Vice-Dictator, F. P. Ireland, Nebraska; Supreme Assistant Dictator, F. I). Sloat, Connecticut; Supreme Reporter, B. F. Nelson, Ohio; Supreme Treasurer, Robert J. Breckinridge, Kentucky; Supreme Chaplain, G W. Holland, South Carolina; Supreme Guide, E. J. Davenport, Minnesota; Supreme Guardian, P. C. Carlton, North Carolina; Supreme Sentinel, Lewis Wilson, Ohio; Supreme Trustees, W. H. Wall, Mississippi; George S. Woodman, Maine; C. H. Ross, Wisconsin. RETAIL LIQUOR DEBTS. The recent decision of Judge Witherspoon that retail liquor dealers or barkeepers can collect bar debts, has created some surprise. Some of the papers, in speaking of it treat it as a matter-of-course decision, not seeming to remember that until recently the collection of such bills was barred by Act of the Legislature ; and other papers speak of the decision as though they regard the Tupper law still of force. Section 9 of the Act of 1849 to al^er and amend the license laws of this State is as follows : "That if any taVern keeper shall give credit to any person or persons for spirituous liquors, he, she or they so trusting or giving 1 credit to any person or persons, as aforesaid, shall lose the debt and he forever disabled from suing for or recovering the same or any part thereof. And any note, bill, bond or other security which may be given for any spirituous liquors sold or drank in or at his or her house shall be void ; and if any tavern keeper shall sue for any such debt, the person or persons sued shall and may plead this Act in bar thereof." The Revised Statutes compiled by the Corbin Commission re-enacted the above portion of the license law, but the compilation of the Simonton Commission, which took effect from May, 1882, repealed it. Hence any bar debt contracted since May, 1882, can be collected by law the same as other debts. SALES OF CORN. If anything argues well for the prosperity of a commnity it is the fact that it produces its own supply of bread. This has been sufficiently demonstrated the past year to stand as a beacon light to farmers, warning them against transferring their corn-cribs to the West. Necessity compelled the farm.ers to plant corn last year, and we cannot but believe they are pleased with the result. If they are not entirely pleased, however, we commend to their consideration the following figures, which we have been at some trouble in collecting. By calling upon all the dealers in plantation supplies?and unfortnnately corn has heretofore been classed under that head?we learn from them that the sales in this market alone from January 1st to May 15,1882, aggregated 14,700 bushels. For the same period the present year the sales have been 935 bushels, the demand this year being local and mainly frgm non-producers in town. The 14,700 bushels sold in York vilie last year took from the pockets of farmers living within a limited area of York county not less than fourteen thousand seven hundred dollars, which amount has been saved to them this year by the increased production of this important crop. COTTON AND COKNAREA FOR 1883. The Departmeut of Agriculture has received 202 returns from county and township correspondents, covering every county in the State, and a compilation of these reports shows the following results : One hundred and seventeen correspondents report that the Spring has been very unfavorable for farming operations and twenty-five report the seasons favorable. The cotton area has been.increased 32,660 acres or 2 per cent, above last year, making the total of acres in this crop this year 1,441,983. Kershaw county shows the largest percentage of increase, 9 per cent., followed closely by Newberry with an increased area of 8 per cent., and Hampton with 7 per cent., Horry 5 per cent., and Spartanburg and Lancaster 4 per cent, increase. Abbeville, Pickens, York and Marion each show gin increase of 3 per cent. Anderson, Chester, Union, Chesterfield, Darlington, Fairfield, Lexington, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Sumter, Clarendon and Williamsburg have each increased 2 per cent., and Aiken and Edgefield 1 per cent. Greenville, Laurens, Oconee, and Richland and Georgetown have made no change in area, while Colleton shows a decrease of 2 per cent., Barnwell 5 per cent., Berkeley and Charleston G per cent., ancl Beaufort 7 per cent. Abbeville county has the largest cotton area, 88,727 acres, and Georgetown the smallest, 3G2 acres. In Northern Carolina 9 per cent, of the crop was up on the 1st of May, in Middle Carolina 23 percent., and in Lower Carolina 08?an average for the State of a fraction more than 2(5 per cent., against 47 per cent, for the same period last year. The condition of the crop compared to last year is: In Northern Carolina 73, Middle Carolina 80, and Lower Carolina 78?100 representing last year's condition. The amount of commercial fertilizers used on cotton is: In Northern Carolina 4 per cent, in excess of last year, in Middle Carolina 7 and in Lower Carolina G per cent., and 32 per cent, of the entire crop is fertilized with homemade manures. The corn area is practically unchanged, the returns showing an actual increase over last year of only 3,288 acres, making the whole area devoted to this crop this year 1 O-'O- "CV1 annou Va J rfi n 1A <> lirl T ,?v i n (rtnn sliow the largest percentage of increase, be- j ing7 percent, in excess of the area of 1882. | Greenville follows next with an increase of.51 per cent., Orangeburg, Berkely and Charles-1 ton show an increase of 8 percent., Laurens, I Oconee, Chesterfield, Edgefield and Beau-! j fort 2 per cent.. York, Aiken, Marlboro, I Sumter, Clarendon, Colleton, Marion and I Newberry 1 per cent. Anderson, Pickens. J Kershaw, Richland, Georgetown, Horry ana j Williamsburg have made no changes in ; area. Darlington shows a decrease of 1 per ' cent., Barnwell 2 per cent., Chester and | Spartanburg 3 per cent., Union and Hamp; ton 5 per cent., Abbeville 7 per cent, and : Lancaster 8 per cent. The condition of the cron compared to same period Jast year is : In Northern Carolina 8">, Middle Carolina 80 and Lower Carolina 71). The stand compared to an average is 83. Fifty-three per cent, of the crop is fertilized, and 40 per cent, of this amount with homemade manures. As soon as the full list of correspondents is completed the Department will receive returns from every township and the above estimates as to acreage will then be revised, but it is thought that a revision will show only very slight changes of these figures, as they have been carefully made up from reports of experienced correspondents and there is evidently no decided tendency to change the area in any of the principal crops. According to the estimates furnished to the Department, York county has in cotton 523,405 acres, and in corn 452,200. SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS. ? Senator Butler has returned to Washington. ? Mr. John F. Hobbs, tbe Lexington Oreenbacker, who has been in Australia for some time, is pleased with that country and is doing well. ? An encampment of the companies composing the Palmetto Regiment, to be held in Columbia, in the month of August, is talked of. ? The amount expended in Edgefield county last year for implements to work the roads and for bridges was $4,427.95. In I860 the amount expended for this purpose was about $6,000. ? Gen. Crawford, a distinguished soldier of the United States Army, was in Edgefield for a day during the past week, on a visit to obtain from Mrs. Pickens certain records and data for his history of the earlier period of the war. ? Messrs. Butler & Simkins, of Edgefield, the attorneys for Malloy in the recent suit fpr damages against the New i ork Herald in which a verdict for $2,500 was finally obtained, have been notified that no appeal will be taken from that decision and the money will be paid. ? Three negro murderers have been sentenced to be hanged together at Orangeburg on the 22nd of June?Richard Jeffcoat for the murder of Louis Rumph, William Trezevant for the murder of Frank Mitchell and Horace Hall for the murder of Daniel Glover. ? Court opens at Abbeville on the second Monday in June. Judge Witherspoon will E reside. This will be his first Court in Abeville. The business will be rather light, but there will be enough of it to hold the Court for the whole week. Very little civil business is transacted at the summer term. ? Mr. S. F. Hendrix, of Leesville. Lexington county, made shipments of cherries on the 9th, 10th and 12th, receiving $13 per crate for the first shipment and $11 for the second. He will commence shipping peaches in about ten days. He says the peach crop will be very small this season. ? The wheat, cotton and corn crops in Abbeville are reported to be in a most nourishing condition. There is a good stand of cotton, and the farmers have begun chop ping. The farmers there are well satisfied . with their prospects, and improvement and advance are noticeable everywhere. ? S. N. Hendrix, doing a large retail grocery and provision business in Columbia, failed last Saturday with heavy liabilities, which cannot be estimated. The failure causes much surprise, as the business of the house was large, and it was supposed to be exclusively a cash one. It is said that the assets will only amount to 38 per cent, of the liabilities. ? Chester Reporter: Farmers with whom we have conversed in the past few days report generally good stands of corn and cotton; in some places, though, planting cotton is just being finished up. Corn planting has been unusually late by reason of excessive rains. The condition of the small grain crop cannot be called promising; the majority of farmers from whom we have reports estimate that the yield will be about half of what it was last year. ? An election took place in the town of Aiken last Saturday to ascertain whether twenty-five hundred dollars should be subscribed by the town for the purchase of ten acres of land to be given to the Carolina, Cumberland Gap and Chicago Railroad Company, for the erection of car shops upon the land by the company. One hundred and eighty-six votes were polled?one hundred and eighty-five for the subscription, and one against it. ? The Carolina Spartan gives the following as the law regulating coroners' inquest: In all cases of casual or violent death an inquest must be held by the Coroner. If he should be absent from home or reside more than fifteen miles from the place where the dead body is, then a Trial Juslinn tv\ Unlrl +1^ A inAHAof Tn oil AA a AO irc may nuiu tuc ni^ucsit jlh an taoco within fifteen miles of the Coroner's residence he should be sent for. No other person whatever is authorized by law to hold an inquest. ? Little Joe Gosnell, one of the most noted moonshiners of the mountain country, a son of the famous Jack Gosnell, was captured last Friday morning in the Saluda Mountains by Officer W. C. Fisher, assisted by James Altom. He made a desperate resistance, but after some fighting was overcome. and brought to Greenville jail the same afternoon and incarcerated with his father and two brothers, who are serving a sentence for moonshining. The prisoner has eluded the officers most successfully for years past, and his captors regard him as quite a prize. PROPOSED COLORED CONVENTION. The Colored Convention arranged by Fred Douglass to be held in Washington city has been repudiated in a meeting by the colored men representing the Southern States. A Washington letter says: There were fifty persons present and orfanization was effected by the election of ). B. Willborn, of Mississippi, as chairman, W. K. Price, of North Carolina, as secretary, and L. M. Brown, of Tennessee, as assistant secretary. A committee of one from each State was appointed to draft resolutions. Prof. Greener addressed the meeting and explained that a few men had undertaken io use the names of a number of others without their knowledge, in order to get up a convention for certain political purposes, and that these self-appointed representatives of the colored race were men who had stood aloof in the struggle of 1875?76, and that the colored people should oppose such a scheme. Other speeches were made in the same tone, and it appears that this was a representative meeting of the colored race in the South. The resolutions reported totally and emphatically repudiated the Fred. Douglass call and advised the col orod people not to send delegates. mey were adopted without opposition. This meeting evidently treated the Fred. Douglass scheme as a smart trick arranged to gerrymander the colored vote of the South. "The man and brother" has shown himself smarter than was expected. A Contumacious Lawyer.?Edward F. Stokes, Greenville's wealthy and eccentric lawyer, was committed to jail on Friday by Trial Justice C'. M. Furman for contempt of his court. Stokes was his own attorney in a case, and his principal witness was subsequent to the trial brought up on a charge of perjury. Stokes was the chief witness against his former witness, but he declined to testify, as he was to defend fiim. He was ordered to testify and was given a day to makeup his mind, but he resolutely held out una went tojuu iuroue any rutner tnan pay a tine of ten dollars. Mr. Stokes' incarceration creates quite a sensation owing to the fact that he is a wealthy and eccentric individual, and also on account of his known disregard for consequences when he takes a stand on any question, and his having some years ago spent eighteen months in jail for contempt of court in refusing toanswer questions propounded to him by the Circuit Court, Judge Cooke presiding, as to his property liable for taxation. The Gallows Last Friday.?Joseph C. Cohen, white, the wife murderer, was hanged at Lexington, Georgia, last Friday. There was the largest crowd ever seen in the place. People came from every direction. By 12 o'clock there were fully five thousand people in the town. Jones' attempt to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a piece of tin, having failed, he resigned himself to his fate. The Governor telegraphed to the sheriff to execute the Jaw. The condemned man ate a hearty oreakfast, declaring that he wanted to build up his backbone in order to be firm on the I scaffold. He dressed himself carefully and