University of South Carolina Libraries
lewis ji. grist, i?, <>1>rietor. | " ^ 2b Jn^tprnd?i #?nil8 }lpicspappr: , tfor ftp promotion of Ac flolitital, .Social, Igritultnral and (foJmtprtial Jnfprpsts of flip South. ERMs---$2.00 A TEAR IN ADVANCE. VOL. 35. "~=^T [ ' YORKVILLE, S. C~~ WEDNESDAY, JATsTTJA^lY 16, 1889. ~j ' ~ :: , ~ NO. 3. ?lt #tor? JfUrt. lunisiiirrMu^ CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK, j Fain would I pause to dwell upon tlip world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero as ne enter? the state parlor of Van Tassel's mansiop. Not those the bevy of buxom lasses, with their luxurious display of red and white; but the ample chums of a genuine Dutch country tea table in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such heapedfup platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to/experienoed Dutch housewives I Theredvas the doughty doughnut, the tenderjolykoek ana toe crisp and crumbling Willerjswoet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes and the yhole family of :cakesv And then therefwere apple pies, and peach pies and pumpkin pies; besides slices of nam and smoked beef, and moreover delectable diihes of , preserved plums and peaches and pears and quinces, not to mention broiledfshkd wttotaH ohickffBS: together With bowls of mhk and cream,"all iiingfed have ^e^umierafced tliem, with tbhmothuiy teapot. sending up iUi qfaudavrfA W vapor from the midJt?hea^$n??anai4M'V *> ^ mark! I want breath and -time to ' discuss this banquet as it ieserves, an4 81X1 t00 eager to getJon with trr^ story. Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but did ample justice to every flainty. He was a kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in proposion as his skin was filled with good cheer, nd whose spirits rose with eating, as soil > men's do with drink. He could not hel, too, rolling Ins large eyes round hin as he ate, ana chuckling with the poss rility that he might one day be lord of a] this scene of almost unimaginable li rury and splendor. Then, ho thought how soon he'd turn his back upon the eld school house; snap his fingers in the I ice of Hans , Van Ripper, and every other niggardly patron, and kick any itinerant pedagogue out of doors that should darepo call him comrade! jbld Baltus Van .Tassel n?ved about among his guests with a facedilated with content and good humor.Jround and jolly as the harvest moon. His hospitable attention were brief, butJ expressive, being confined to shake of jthe hand, 4 slap on the shoulder, a loud laugh, and a pressing invitation to."fallfto and help themselves." And now the sound of the music from the common room or liaLL summoned to the dance. The musician jwas on old gray headed negro, who Ipd been the itinerant orchestra of the Jcighborhood for more than half a centjry. His instrument wis as old andji battered as himself. The greater pan of tho time he scraped away ou two orihree strings, aooampanying every mdvtment of the bow with* a motion of thenead, bowing almost to the ground and damping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to Btart. TnlinW rvrirlorl Viimoolf nnnri hlR danc- I AViittUUU 1/A4UVU ? . . Ing as mucn as upon hisyocal powers. Not a Limb, not a fiber ibout him was \ Ichabod prided himself fupai his dancing. Idle; and to have seen; hii loosely hung framo in full motion and clattering about the room, you would have thought St, /Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance, was figurine fefore you in person. He was the aanjtation of all the negroes, who, havingjgathered, of all ages and sizes, from thraarm and the neighborhood, stood formilg a pyramid of shining black faces at entry door and window, gazing with cWjight at the scene, rolling their white Eyeballs and showing grinning rows oh ivory from ear to ear. How could lib flogger of urchins be otherwise than *nuatea ana joyous? the lady of his ^art was his partner in the dance andpmiling graciously in reply to all Us amorous ogliDgs; while Brom Jonet sorely smitten with love and jealousy ,?at brooding by himself in one corner. When the dance was at amnd, Ichabod was attracted to a knot of tk sager folks, who, with old Van Tassel, sfc smoking at one end of the piazza, gossifng over former times, and drawling ou long stories about the war. Tliis neighborhood at the tne of which I am speaking, was ono of hose highly favored places abound ^ w{h chronicle and great men. The Britisl and American fine had run near it dulng the war; it had, therefore, been to scene of marauding, and infested vrii refugees, cowboys and allltinds of baler chivalry. Just sufficient time had elajed to enable each story teller to dress upus tale with a little becoming fiction, ail, in the indistinctness of ms recollecfri, to make himself the hero of every eoloit. There was the story of Dote Martling, a large blue bearded Dutchiin, who had nearly taken a British frigalwith an old iron nine pounder from a mu^reastwork, only that his gun burst at fe sixth discharge. And there was an otoentleman who shall be nameless, beir too rich a naynheer to be lightly mentMed, who, in the battle of White Plains, beig an excellent master of defense, parrii a musket ball with a small sword, intnuch that he absolutely felt it whis-ound the blade, and giance off at the It; in proof of which be was ready at iy time to show the sword, with the jt a little bent There were several me that had been equally great in the fid, not one of whom but was persuadediat he a considerable hand in bringg the war to a happy termination. But all these were nothing) the tales of ghosts and apparitions thaucceeded. The neighborhood is rich ilegendary treasures of the kind. nnH superstitions thrive best in-ieso sheltered, long settled retreat but are trampled under foot by { shifting throng that forms the populan of most of our country places. Besi$, there is no encouragement for ghostn most of our villages, for they have ircely had time to finish their-first niand turn themselves in their graves,'fore their surviving friends have traled away from the neighborhood, s<fcat when they turn out at night to*iilk their rounds, they have no acquftance left to call upon. This is perhaghe reason why we so seldom hear of gst-l except in our long established Dutccommunities. The immediate cause, ho^er, of the prevalence of supernaturaetories In these parts, was doubtless <tng to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. tere wcs a contagion in the very air th4>lew from that haunted region; it bnfoed forth an atmosphere of dreams aifencies infecting all the land. Seial of the Sleepy Hollow people weipresent at Van Tassel's, ana, as usual,ere doling out their wild and wonde4 legends. Many dismal tales were to about funeral trains, and mourniUcries and wailings heard and seen abt the great tree where the unfortunatejaj. Andre was taken, and which stood the neighborhood. Some mention wanade also of the woman in white, M haunted the dark glen at Raven Rc\ and was often heard to shriek on wfer nights before a storm, having periafc there in the snow. Tho chief part ofje 6tories, however, turned upon the ffcite specter of Sleepy Hollow, tho hefegghorseman, who had been heard sq^l times of late, patroling the countr^d, it is said, tetnered his horse nigy among thegraves in the cliurchyara Tne sequestered situation ofte church seems alw r. 3 to have made i favorite haunt of troubled spirits. Hands on a knoll, surrounded by locusrees and lofty elms, from among w^ its decent, whitewashed walls shu^odestlv forth, like Christian purity^nming through the shades 01 retirent. A gentle slope descends front to a silver sheet of water, booked by high trees, between which tnay ? jl - ffjp; be caught at t e b"luo hills of them*?son. To look upon this grass grown yard, where thq sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one' 'onld think that there at least the dead i light rest in peat e. On one side of th< church extends a wjtde woody dell, al< ng which raves a laijje brook among brtken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep black part of the stream, not from the church, vfau formerly throwi a wooden bridge; the road that led to ft, and the bridge itself were thickly shaded by overhangkig trees, which cast a gloom about it, eton in the day time;!but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. Such was one of the. favorite haunts iof the headless horseman, and the p|ace where he was most frequently encountered. The tale-was told of ola Broker, a most heretiqal dlsbeliever in ghoeta how he met the hpasoman returning from his foray j^to Sleepy Hollow, aid was obliged to'eei' up behind bfin; how they galloped oyer bush and fcrttfe/oyer mil ana Bwsnitof until tjhey iedohed the bridge, whence homwjiati -suddenly turned into a *&)? j etemi threw old BJouwer into the brook,; over the tree tope wttfc 334* etory wee immediately matchalJ W a thrice marvelous adventure ot, Brom Bones, who made light of the arirJ lo^ipgH^Bmp as nignt trooper; that he offered to ?8r with him for a bowl of punch, and Bhould have won it too, for "Daredevil 1 beat the goblin horse all hollow, but rait as they came to the church bridge j Hessian bolted and vanished in a flashK. j All these tales, told in that drowj^H undertone with which men talk in dark, the countenances of the listener*only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sunk deep in the mind of Ichaboa. He repaid them in kind with large extracts from his invaluable author, Cotton Mather, and added many marvelous events that had taken place in his native state of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he had seen in his nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow, The revel now gradually broke up. , The old farmers gathered together thefr families in their wagons, ana were heard for. some time rattling along the hollow J roads, and over the distant hills. Some 9 of the damsels mounted on pillions be-J hind their favorite swains, ana their light: j hearted lai ;hter, mingling with the elafc-J ter of hoofs, echoed along the silent woodj lands, sounding fainter and fainter, unfcpH they gradually died away?and the lafcdf j scene of noise and frolic was all silent?' ana aesertea. lcnauou vmy mi^xui i**-;, hind, according to the custom of country^ lovers, to have a tete-a-tete with the heir-' ess; fully convinced that he was now on the high road to succesa What passed,al this interview I will not pretend to say, for in fact I do not know. Something, however, I fear mo, must have gone wrong, for he certainly sallied forth, after no very great interval, with an air quite desolate and chapfallen?Oh, these women 1 these women! Could that girl have been playing off any of her coquettish tricks??Was her encouragement of the poor pedagogue all a mero sham to secure a conquest of his riVal??Heaven only knows, not II?let it suffice to say, Ichabod stole forth with the air of one who had been sacking a henroost, rather than a fair lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left to notice the .scene of rural wealth, on which he had so often gloated, he went straight to tho stable, and with several hearty cuffs <md kicks, roused his steed most uncottt*. eously from the comfortable quarters jjjk; which he was soundly sleeping, dr^MDNi ing of mountains of corn and oats, whole valleys of timothy and clover. j It was the very witching time of night, that Ichabod, heavy hearted and creeW fallen, pursued^lus cottld even hear the barking of^thawa^hdog from the opposite shore of the Hudsot; but it was So vague and faint as only to give an idea of ins distance from this faithful companion of man. Now and then, too, the long drawn crowing of a cock, accidentally awakened, would souid far, far off, from some farm house aw^r among the nills?but it was like a dreaming sound in his ear. No Bigns of life occuned near him, but occasionally the melancholy chirp of a cricket, pr perlups the guttural twang of a bullfrog from a neighboring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably, and turning suddenly in his bed. All the stories of ghost&and goblins that he had heard in the aft?it}Pon now came crowding upon his recafcaijon. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from his sight He had never felt,so lonely and dismal. He was, moreover, approaching the very place where many or the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid. In tho center of the road stood an enormous tulip tree, which towered like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood and formed a kind of landmark. Its limbs were marled and fantastic, large enough to fr\rm fninlrQ fnv ^aao fnncfino1 4.VA.-U-1 u uixixo 4W* ViUiUCUJf laCCOy VTf down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air. It was connected with the tragical story of the unfortunate Andre, who had been taken prisoner hard by, and was universally known by the name of Maj. Andre's tree. The common people regarded it with a mixture of respect ana superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill starred namesake and partly from the tales of strange sights ana doleful lamentations told concerning it" Aa Ichabod approached this fearful tree he began to whistle; ho thought his whistle was answered; it was but a blast sweeping sharply through the dry branches. As he approached a little nearer he thought he saw something white hanging in the midst of the tree; he paused and ceased whistling, but on looking more nariowly, perceived that it was a place where the tree had been scathed by lightning and the white wood laid bare. Suddenly ho heard a groan?his teeth chattered, and his knees smoto against the saddle; it was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon another, as they were swayed about by the breeze. Ho passed the tree in safety, but new perils lay before him. About two hundred yards from the tree, a small brook crossed the road and ran into a marshy and thickly wooded o-lpn, knrvwn hy iho rc">r- yiK-v'w Swamp. A few Tough logs' laid sido by side served for a bridge over this stream, On that side of the road where the brook entered tho wood, a group of oaks and chesfnuts, matted thick with wild, grape vines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass this bridge was the severest triaL It was at this identical spot that tho unfortunate Andre was captured, and under the covert of those chestnuts and vines were the sturdy yeomen concealed who surprised him. This has ever since been considered a haunted stream, and fearful are tho feelings of a schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark. As he approached the stream his heart began to thump; he summoned up, however, all his resolution, gave his horse half a score of kicks in the ribs and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge; but Instead of starting forward, tho perverse old animal made a lateral move ment ana ran Droaosiae against tne fence. Ichabod, whose fears increased with the delay, ierk'ed the reins on the other side and lacked lustily with the contrary foot; it was all in vain; his steed started, it is true, but it was only to plungo to the opposite side of the road into a thicket of brambles and alder bushes. The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip and heel upon the starveling ribs of old Gunpowder, who dashed forward, snuffling and snorting, but came to a stand just by the bridge, with a suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just at this moment a plashv tramp by the side of tho bridge caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, ho boheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering. It stirred not, >but seemed gathered up in tho gloom/ liko some gigantic monster ready to spring upon tho traveler. The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rose upon his head witn terror. \Vnat was to bo done? To turn ahd fly was now too late, and besides what chance was there of escaping ghost or goblin, if such it was, which could ride upon the wings of tbo wind? Summoning up, therefore, a show of courage, he demanded in stammering accents.'' Wlio ore yosi" Ho roi I J I cfciveatio foply. So repeatedhis de'mftnd tq a still more agitated -tfice. Still th?re woe no answer.- Opce.rnore he cudgeled the sides of the indelible Gunpofrder# and, shutting his ejbs, broke forth, with involuntary forvr.into a psalm tune. Just then, the stulowy object of alarm put itself in potion, and wilh a scramble and'a boo#, stood at onhe in the middle of the rofi- Though thi night was dark and di^ial, yet the form of tho unknown mighfoow in some dagToo be ascertained. Hgappeared to bwa horeeman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse* powerful frpxne. He made no offer # molestation or sociability, but kept aloo on one side of! the road, jogging along on the blind :jjpI?of old Gunpowder ^ ?ho laid now i(gjt over his fright and w^wardness. Ttqhahod, Who had no>*yhah tor this afrange^nidnight common, and bethought himself of tP adventure of ^B^iBones with the gapping Heteian, ' j^^yifckened hie sf / in hopefe of I wawBjjliim behind, t?? stranger, however, oMckened his OI^ to an equal pane.- qfoabod pullecpP. and f611 into a MisK&.iJnn, ^v Kj?behind'?the other lldS^BSme!*6 His Tift began to sink i\t&to'hfcn; he endear1^ to resume his WotS)$oof hi moutfcjp^d bo could not TtrS^uuid appalSngilt was soon fear^ fully accounted for. On mounting a : rising ground, which tought the figure ' Sf hfi Mlow traveler i^ehef against the flty, gigantic in lieightnd muffled in a (JottkT I^habod was ?ror btruck, on pOOaViDg that he waseadless! but his Aifcror tfas still moreh creased on ob*vingib at the Wad, iich should have jested o? his shouldersyas carried beAre hfan on' thepomsl of his saddlel is terror rose txy aespition; he rained h shower of kicks ana |jwb upon GunpVwder, hoping, py a solen movement, ttSjjive nis companion fe slip?but the specter started full jap with him. ^*9** $bey dashe through thick VuMU^Kbhes flyingid sparks flashbound, ihabod's flimsy ' ttered in he air, as he snatched Idi long, lanfcdy away over in die gerness of his V.--They had how reachcche road which ,ttettt?cattiSlfepy H ollol but Gunpowcpbfi vhtiWpiiibu pos3B8itivith ft demon, instead.>c| / keeping ! up, made ft opporiM turn, hd plunged tmadlongdoyn hill to theft Tnis road Iwia througi a sandy hqw, shaded by J^fbraSftitac uarterja mile, where '0 djrewjrt"jbe bridge faius in goblin '* vvrwrrtvi/l fillo tkn m*aon JjUJBV y QUU juov ucjvuu tvuo vuo gAvuu kb&U on which stands tUwhitewashed yet-tha panic of the.-ed had given his^ unskillful rider an a|rent advantage in the chase; but jus he had got half way through the hoW the girths of! the saddle gave waykd he felt it slipping from under him le seized it by the pommel, and endi jred to hold it ftrih, but in vain, and jd just time to save himself by claspinld Gunpowder round the neck when) saddle fell to the earth, and he heaiit trampled under foot by his pursued For a moment the terror of Hand in Ripper's wrath passed across his mi-for it was his Sunday saiMPe; but thLnsnotime for ges; the goblin m hard-on l,e was} he had much ada> maintain mi) seat, sometimes slippion bne side, an : another, ai sometimes jolted i op the* high ridge Crik horse's , Jjajair^one with a violence it he verily ft^H* would cleave him aqlen ! v^raopening in the treeshw cheered him 4 i*h theiopea that the irci bridge waft, at hand. The wavegrejection of a^flver star in the bosom the brook tokiw11 that he was not npkelu He ^K#soe walls of the churckimh glar?$ag tflider the trees beyom Herecollepfega tho place wbere^ I vukive kick'mttwdribs, ^powder sprang upon the bridfhe thundered over the resoundinganka, he gained the opposite side, antow Icha i bod cast a look behind to see the pursuer should vanish, accordi) to rule, in a flash of fire and brim^e. Just then he saw the goblin jising his stirrups, and in the very act of rling his head at him. Icbiabod encrored to dodge th? Horrible missile, btoo late. In encountered his cranium "h a tremendous crash?he was tumd headlong into the dust, and Gunjder, the black bleed and the goblin n- passed by like a "whirlwind. ^ ! ' ihabod endeavored to dodge the-rible missile, i The next mornincr the old k<*rma 1 ibund without his saddle, and \ the j Iridle under his feet, soberly Gping ] tie grass at his master's gate, fboa j (id not make his appearance atbiifasfc , ?dinner hour came, but no IchabThe , loys assembled at the school hotand arolled idly about the banks I the 1 took; but no schoolmaster. Hayan 1 lipper now began to feel some jipi- ' less about the fato of poor Ichabtmd 1 lis saddle. An inquiry was set o^ot, i md after diligent InvestigatioBioy eme ujKin liis traces. In one pantho j cad leading to the church was fotjthe 'J addle trampled in the dirt; the tri 0f ( iorses' hoofs deeply dented in theid, j !nd evidently at furious speedere raced to the bridge, beyond whion lie bank of a broad part of the >>k, there the water ran deep and blacias 1 ound tho hat of the unfortunat^a- J ]od, and closo beside it a shfjed ? I Tumpkin. j 6 I . Tho brook was searched, but th^ly i f t'v flf'lv^4m"f-t^'- was i covered. Hans Van Ripper, ashciVtr I i I of liis estate, examined the bunuvl^h | ; contained all his worldly effect Tl^y I consisted of two shirts and a 1, t>o stocks for the neck, a pair oi w> of worsted stockings, an old pair c orQiroy small clothes, a rusty razor b?k of psalm tunes full of do ea-s and a broken pitch pipe. A) tlo books and furniture of tho sclio ousj, they belonged to the communitvTcepU ing Cotton Mather's "History oflitcb craft," a New England Almanac id i book of dreams and fortune to!in which last was a sheet of foohcr luck scribbled and blotted by several tles? attempts to make a copv of \ es in honor of the heiress of Van IsseL Theso magic books and tho poeliiawl were forthwith consigned to tMmea by Hans Van Ripper, who, ftqthafc milO il/I H04UJ UWbVlUUJUCU tU QU 1115 children no more to school, dbring that he never knew any pood ch 01 this same reading and wnting. Tatever money the schoolmaster pcftetL-k and he had received his quarter's rout a day or two before, he must havfcad about his person at the time of disappearance. The mysterious event caused Ich speculation at the church on the fAwing Sunday. Knots of gazers and glpa were collected in the churchyard, ant bridge, and at the 6pot where tlikal ! and pumpkin had been found, p stories of Brouwer, of Bones, and a w>l 1 budget of others, were called to mid ' and when they had diligently considos 1 them all, and compared them with t ] symptoms of the present case, tk ] shook their heads and came to the cj l elusion that Ichabod had been carried)] by the galloping Hessian. As lie wa|c bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobo troubled his head any moro about hi' the school was removed to a diffcrr1 quarter of tlio Hollow, and another pP j agogue reigned in his stead. j It is true, an old farmer who had b<o j down to New York on a visit seveil I years after, and from whom tliis accotf( I of the ghostly adventure was receivN : brought home the intelligence that Ic j bod Crane was still alive; that ho 1 j ' left the neighborhood Dartly through Ita of the goblm and liana Van Kipper, and partly in mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress; that he had changed his quartets to a distant part of the country; nad kept school and studied law at the same time: had been admitted to the bar; turned politician; electioneered; written for tlie newspapers; and, finally, had 4x?en made a Tuetice of the ten pound. court Brom Bones, too, who shortly after his rival's disappearance, conducted the blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichahod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the .mention of the pumpkin; which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell. The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural means; and it is a favorite story Often told about the neighborhood round the winter evening fire. The bridge became mo;e than. ever an object of superstitious awe, and that may be the reason why the road has been altered of late, years, so as to approach the church bv the border of the mill pond. The school house being deserted soon fel] to decay, and ofrda reported'to-fee hAunted by&e ghoatpfthe ..unfortunate -pedagogue, V<ma th?-plow boy, loitering homewara of & still summer evening evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil ; solitudes of Sleepy Hollow. POSTSCRIPT. FOUND IN THE HANDWRITING OF MR. KNICKERBOCKER. The preceding tale is given, almost in the precise words in which I heard it related at a corporation meeting of the ancient citv or the Manhattoes (New York), at which were present many of its sagest and most illustrious burghers. The narrator was a pleasant, shabby, gentlemanly old fellow in pepper and salt clothes, with a sadly humorous face; and one whom I strongly suspected of being poor?he made such efforts to be entertaining. When his story was concluded there was much laughter and approbation, particularly from two or three deputy aldermen, who had been asleep, the greater part of the time. There was, however, one tall, dry looking old gentleman, with beetling eyebrows, who maintained a grave and rather severe face throughout; now and then folding his arms, inclining his head, and looking down upon the floor, as if turning a doubt over in his mind. He was one of your wary men, who never laugh but upon good grounds?when they have reason and the law on their side. When the mirth of the rest of the company had subsided, and silenco was restored, he leaned one arm on the elbow of his chair, and sticking the other a-kimbo, demanded, with a slight but exceedingly sage motion of the head, and contraction of the brow, what was the moral of the story, and what it went to prove. The storj teller, who was iust Duttine a glass of wine to his lips, as a refreshment after his toils, paused for a moment, looked at his inquirer with an air of infinite deference, and lowering the glass slowly to the table, observed that the story was intended most logically to prove: * ."That tkere is no situation in life but has its advantages and pleasures?provided we will but take a joke as wo find it: "That, therefore, he that runs races with goblir. troopers is likely to have rough ridinp of it: "Ergo, for a conn try schoolmaster to be refusedlme hand or a Dutch heiress is a certain bmi to high preferment in the state.", r The cantons >ld gentleman knit his brows tenfoid closer after this explanation, being ttrely puzzled by the ratiocination of tie syllogism; while, methought, theone in pepper and salt eyed him with sunefhing of a triumphant leer. Atle^thtoobserv^U^alitlus I his doubts: "Faith, sir." replied the story teller, "us to that matte*, 1 don't believe one-half 'of It myself." THE ELEC-RIC LIGHT PROBLEM. How Edison Vrestled with Its Difficulties. A Knotty Point. I remember going to see Edison soon after it was announced that be had boasted of having solvad the electric light problem. ABelectriciinsJknow that^this same problem Is one of the oldest In the field of electricity. Fifty years ago sci- i entists in Enjjand and Professor Joseph Henry in this country had made incan descent lamps, which were jo all appearance very simihr to what we have today, j There was a litile glass globe l?om which the air had beei exhausted; inside was a i strip of carbon or platinum, which, when ! heated by a strong current of electricity, ! glowed with a vhite heat, i In Professor Henry's cby the electric | current was at expensive affair, how- i ever, the dynanos being unknown, and | the zinc battejy alone bring in use. i When the dynano offered an unlimited current at a moderate price inventors be- 1 gan to work aj the glow lamp again, j Its defects hac( never been sufficiently < overcome to mare it more than a labora- < tory toy; it would give light for a few mo- 1 ments and woull then go out, the oxygen ] remaining in tie bulb burning up the 1 carbon loop. Ix order to make the lamp < of practical use it was necestary to de- t vise means for making the balb really 1 empty of air and. for making the carbon ] Loop last a reasonable time. Edison went 1 it this work with his custom^y ardor. ( For months he tested air pumpa, until he 1 found a better form than any yet known; 1 then he worked at carbons until his S friends feared ho would break down under the straii. The preparation of a aew forni of carbon loop might require weeks of steady labor, the remits of I wliicli would be decided in perhaps five l ninutes. In his search for a better material than t olatinum for the loop which gives out the 8 iglit in aglow '.amp, Edison tried 8,200 lifferent materials, arriving finally at a 8 rind of South American bamboo of re- 8 narkably closo fiber. This wood, when ^ larbonized, give5 a loop of great tenacity 8 ind durability. For two years the in- ? entor worked at the glow lamp before ' to dared to say that it was a commeicial t success. In the .vitUer ?.f 1870-80 heau- 8 jounced that his lamp would last Ung f jinnrrh irnmict iLion with ca.sntf5.__l s'ihle. It may h remembered that tie T"E announcement cmsed a storm of ridiculi. F One so called efcpert, connected with t * well known college, declared that Edi? 8 son's lamp could never enter into com- t petition with gin, hut would remain n e curiosity and poeibly n luxury for rich F men. This was at a timo when Edison f was inviting people from all over the ' country to sec iho lamp work at his t Menlo Park laboratory, and so angered ' hit! that ho declared lie would some day j erett a statue to his critic, light it up ' wife Edison lamp and muko the inscrip- [ tiotiread: "This s the man who said the j Ediion lamp was 1 failure." 1 Here were maiy dark days that win- c ter., After makitg one batch of lamps 1 thatburned spleididly and lasted for s weep, burning right a,nd day, Edison 8 fou4 to his disnay that the second bata, made in emctly the same way, so J far i| he could finl out, and of the same ! matlials, failed completely. Instead of 1 bunhg for weekn the lamps went out * in lei than an hour. For three dayB \ Edish worked night and day trying in ^ vain o find the trouble. Then he took to hi| bed, seriously ill, wliile his ex- 11 haustd assistant took a rest. 8 Edpon has had iho good fortune to attractmd retain a number, of devoted * men,who for the last ten years have 8 sliared in his trialsand successes. When v the ilventor believes that ho is on the track of KnmptVlinc imivmtint Via r*r\m- U V* ?-1?"~*"v "" oletey forgets his meals and his sleep. " :Ie lis been known to workfor forty-eight " lours at a stretch, without leaving his 8 abor<tory, and with no food except 81 rackers and cheese which he ate as he ondered over a knotty point. He can- " iot understand that other men need rest, 0 nd is indignant that any one should 0 liink of meals or sleep while the result ^ f some interesting experiment is in n oubt. The Edison lamp was not per- ? Kited without many such incidents.? ew York Star. , b ECr* A guilty weight upon tho hear to kes the sun out of sky. 01 jL? ! iHiocfUimeoua fading. ' MONEY FjR THE.SCHOOLS.* . WILL THE 1'AAXAOE OF THE BLA11 BILL IIHi.TP THE SOUTH ? ! ' t I ? . The Opinions (^ Prominent Educa tors in the Leullng Colleges of th< &<iuth dn this Important Question As attention Isjigain being turnet to the Blair bill, which has already passed the United States Senate, th< opinion of ieadjfii? Southern educa tors on this irapw&nt question havt just at tws tim?v)i peculiar interest What, will beithe effect upon th South ? This question tha many people Havetried to answer, The answers tayg-bfcen Vailed it character. Sop* tending lawyer and gentlemen pf prominence see * this bill the pffia&a for all the illf of the South, yhile others of equai learning and etlpraoter regard it as e ;Trqten boree th|t will effect' tfltfrulE regar T"'" 1/ve question.' Theanthorof the bill expresses his confidence that by the Act of the next Congress the bill will become a law. He also says that President-elect Harrison is in thorough sympathy witbthebill. If this be so, the people may well begin to think about the bill. The people of the South have a peculiar interest fn the matter and the opinions of her leading educatbrs will/carry great weight. ' GOOD FOR THR WHOLE COUNTRY. Dr. W. M. Grier, the learned president of Erskind College, Due West, S. C., sees nothing to fear from the passage of the bill. He says: "So far as I am acquainted with the provisions cf the Blair bill the measure seems to me a wise one for the whole country, and the South especially." Gen. Stephen 1). Lee, president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi, takes pretty much the same view of the matter. He says: . "I am in favor of the Blair bill. It cannot affect the autonomy of the States since the funds are placed under the control of the States. We must emigrate the negro or we must educatenim. Theintelligentwhitescerfain 1 ir nan loom at ranirilv no fho in telligent negroes. Failing to accept one or the other of these alternates we will be degraded to a lower level, although the negro may at the same time be advancing somewhat. The former slave-holding States are too poor at present to educate the negro without the assistaace of the General Government. If the States that formerly held slaves retrograde, the effect will be felt throughout the wfiole Union. So this is not a sectional question^ but ? national one, and it, therefore, requires national aid in its solution. This is written with the belief that the race issue is as far from settlement as ever in this country, yet with the hope that industrial progress and the excess of white population may lead to a settlement which will be final." THE SITUATION CALLS FOR HEROIC REMEDIES. Dr. J. ft. Carlisle, the scholarly president df Wofford College, Spartanburg, S, C., -sees the dangers of our presentsituatioh, and also in the Blair bill a remedy that can be appii^.^bi^ne.but good effects. He righ t is, at times, very narrow, scarcely wider than a geometrical lipe. Whether it would pass.a littlb on this 'side or the other of the Blair bill is not now the question. Governor James H. Hammond, in his last message to the Legislatureof South Carolina, in December, 1841, said: 'Ignorance and free institulons cannot long coexist.' Since that date great events have taken plao?, bringing a large mass of ignorance into new and perilous relations tti our free institutions. Our situation is critical and calls for heroic remedies. The amount of money appropriated by this bill has in it wonderful possibil it!fe8. It may be made to do great good. There may.be danger in lessening the feeling of independence and self-support in our people of both races. There may be danger in handling so much money. There may be danger and risks in any. treatment of the great problems that surround us. But the greatest danger of all may follow, standing' 1 still and attempting nothing at all. intellectual enlightenment ilone will never save us as a people. The ' ignorance now around us, perpetuated and left to its natural increase, will surely ruin us. The powerful machinery now proposed as a tempo- ] rary expedient may help us. It may 1 increase the probabilities thut we pan 1 stand the fearful strain now upon us ind continue for a century or two onger on the list of free nations. 1 He may be unwise who is sanguine, 1 eut he is unpatriotic who despairs. 1 Dn the whole I lean to the tide of 1 lope that if the Blair bill becomes a 1 aw its effects will be for good on the * Jouth and on our whole country." * 3XPEDIENT AND CONSTITUTIONAL. ] Col. William Preston Johmton, i resident of Tulane Univernity, Sew Orleans, La., takes great interst in the Blair bill and expects gieat food to result fro n its passage. He ( iays: g "I have thought that this bill, l sven if not absolutely unobjection-1 ible, should be passed. Objections i rnve been made to its constitution t ility, but I do not think them tenn j >le. Washington, Jefferson, Madl c son, the fathers and expounders o" ( he Constitution, made and justified i grants of land?at least to this pur- t K)se? to the aid of education. I be- t ieve they knew what the constitutor ft) n rripan t as weir as ^ffio'defn i n ferjreters. An attempfehas been made o draw a distinction between land ind money, It has no validity unler aoy fair rule of construction, specially under aStates rights interrelation of the Constitution. 1 rave heard it urged that the money n the Federal treasury belonged to he United States Government, but hat it held the national domain as a rust. I do not understand that the United States Uovernment holds a Inilar nf mnnpvnr n fnnt r\f . nits own right or otherwise than a " rustee for the States, or the people ; )f the States, as you may choose to 1 eadit. Ithasmdivinerightand no I pecial grant, in/esting it with irre- 1 potsible, inherent ownership. ? "The most plausible objection has i >een summed up in the phrase that c it is an entering wedge for Federal e nterposition in .he States.' After t vhat the South las suffered in the t vayofthe hackiig and hewing of t lestruction and riconstruction* this c lonor of the pouriig of a little balm t ipon our wounds srikes meaa rather t bsurd. An enteing wedge! We c lave been rivfen 'rom end to end. r ^he entire appropriation is but a mall effort towarai binding up the c rounds. b "I believe this aic to Southern ed- t< cation justified by is great a public 1 ecessity as ever exsted. We have tl ad turned loose upn us in negro p uffrage a pandora'sbox of ills, re- i< ulting, in my belie more from ig- I orance than from 'ace. Our only u ope of good governnent is to edu- ci ate the negro, or dlfranchise him, w r both. He is with is to stay; and ii am one of those wl> trusts in hu- ft aan enlightenment aithe only mode c< f advancing human vrtue and civil- 8 nation. I believe th education of K lie Southern peopK white and rr lack, will be good fo;ps; that it is st >ur only hope of keejipg step with, le r getting to the fronj in the eager n competition of rival Statei and nt tions." A RAID UPON THE TREASURY. Prof. F. C. Woodward, late < Wofford College, but recently electe to the chair of English in the Sout Carolina College at Columbia, ca see no good in the bill, which h considers simply as a raid upon th * treasury. He says: ' ' e "The mauraudings of the buccan . eers sometimes assumed, by reasoi j of their ambitious scope, the digni ty and importance of war; so th r audacious ouslaugbt of the ftlair bil a upon the United States treasury ha . won attention and a certain sort o a respectable hearing by force of thi " sums it seeks to dispense. "The scheme is not a reasonabli * one. It proposes to give certaii 11 sums, during a certain time, withou reference, to conditions or circum I stances or any kind; a certaii ; amount of surplus expended during r a certain number of years. No oni i explains on what principle eithei 1 the sum o? money or tfye Dumber o - ytnuB ia uxeu, una me gjii aisiriou 1 tlop close* with no more reason thai ' it fygap^wlik ob rather | same reason, viz.: the protection o ' our infant industries by disposing o ! a huge lump of troublesome surplus "If the National Government haf ; a right to do this much for education in the States, it surely has the riphl 1 to make its work thorough by taking 1 charge of common school education? of ail education?in those States. II it may, under Congressional legislation, levy taxes and then direct and control their application in any mere State matter, such as this, surely 'paternalism' of the General Government is realized, and State sovereignty is 'such stuff as dreams are made on.' "Furthermore at the close of the arbitrary period, which in the inscrutable wisdom of the framer of this bill has been allotted io the distribution of the equally arbitrary seventy odd millions, the States must either levy heavy additional taxes for maintaining the infanteducational phenomenon abnormally developed by the Blair bill or must drop back to the statu* quo ante subsidium. The latter course would give up the cause of common school education; the former would double the tax for educational purposes upon a people unprepared for such an increase of financial burdens; for it is idle to talk of the educating influence of such a measure; people are not educated into helping, themselves by having their work none for them. "The South needs additional edux: 1 -!?!! - t i-uuuutu mcinues, dui tms Dill does ot offer the educational aid most needed by our people. We do not need book learning so much as we need training in independence and self-reliance, but this depends on self-help and self-denial; and it were a misplaced charity, that in the name even of philanthropy and enlightenment, should seek to give us, for a limited time, and which even asp. permanent endowment, would bj^a doubtful blessing. The finest public school system, provided by4J>e gift of outsiders would not be as helpful, as educating, as our own earnest efforts to secure an imperfect system. This is one of the things that philanthrophy cannot give, and a self-respecting people may not accept. Any system of general education to? be really helpful must be the outcome of the people's earnest effort to supply a felt need, hence it must be a slow, native growth, and not a foreign importation forced by artificial methods to sudden, awkward size, ajMfoe ^jfpenqe of niTHE STATES DO THEIR DUTY'. President W. A. Candler, of Emory College, Oxford, Ga., thinks that the South can well afford to have the Blair bill killed by Congress. He says: "In view of the sore need fortnore and better educational facilities in the Sonth, I am strongly tempted to OnHnrim tho KU1 Tlllf m,T Imlnmnnt vuuv?/v ?><v Willi u v UJJT jUU^UJVUK) unbiased by such consideration, is that the bill is pot to be approved. I do not believe that the General Government is authorized to> make any such appropriation to the cause of education. "As to its possible effect on the South I cannot speak so confidently, but I fear it would be disappointing as a method of popular education, and beside would teach our people a parental view of this Government which would be vicious in its results. We need something more than money to educate the people, and there are many evils we endure with less danger tnan we can invite a revolutionary departure from the constitutional fuhctions of the National Government. Let me add, however, that the State Government should make prompt and generous appropriations to popular education if it is expected that the temptation to favor this bill will be removed from the people. "When State Legislatures make large appropriations to colleges that thesonsof a few well-to-do families mavhave college tuition free, and small appropriations to common ' schools to which the children of the ! poor must look for instruction, they 1 anact measures which lead the people 1 to look away to the General Govern- 1 ment for aid. Let private benevo- < ence maintain the colleges and State ipproprlations the common schools." EXPEDIENT AND RIGHT. President J. F. Crowell, of Trinity College, N. 0., is in favor of the passage of the Blair bill and gives the < allowing reasons for his position : J "In spite of its defects as a meas- i ire of financial administration and i ;he objections to it on constitutional t grounds, both of which I fully appre- t :iate, I am, after much consideration t >f the matter in its various bearings, r mhesitatin^ly'in favor of the pass- ? ige of the JBlal r bill by Congress, on 1 he ground ot public expediency and i lational duty. ? ""The Blair bill will do something t <f what should be done. I do not hink it will do it in the wisest way, r hit an objectionable way is better J tian none at all. The passage of the t Bair bill may stretch the Constitu- a ti>n till it cracks, but that is not i nbrethan Mr. Jefferson did in the t purchase of Louisiana. The proposed diitribution of the Federal surplus q foi education in the States has been i objected to by saying that the distri- c buiion of 1837 was the cause of much r 3vi financiering to the country, r But that was a quite different affair. In 1837 money was flung into the o banis of every free person while the e ever of speculation was high; mil- it ions were poured into the lap of the t State*, then in the craze of internal t mprovement. It was not the fault v )f the water that it went through the lie ve. But the object, the plan of dis- c ribution and the limits of the use of a he surplus now proposed to be dis- h ributed for education are so entirely p lifferent from the state of things 1 hat attended the distribution of 1837 t hat there is not a single analogy that I an be honestly drawn from the expe- a ience of 1837 against the Blair bill, t " We have nothing to fear from the h iplitical consequences of the Blair ill, nothing that is vital to the in- v pgrity of the States in the South, a 'o improve the status of citizenship 1 hrough better schools?that is its o oliticai object. It is only our polit- tl :al inactivity that can injure us. n 'or the Federal Government to help fi s to help ourselves is no political a rime against us as States. Who v 'ould ever think of arraigning the ilperiar Government,of Germany a >r giving to h$/< States the magnifl- j e< rnt educational fey stem the German ] s< tates haveto-dUy? It was not the tl Lrupp guns, but the German school- h taster that mi ,de Germany the ii rongest power Kn Europe. Know- p idge in the StatA politics is likewise s< tore powerful than moneyjIf ^ i- hands of Federal officers for distr bution. In other words, the instri ment of intelligence (money f< < schools) will enable the South to pn d vent more powerfully than ever an k encroachment that may be attempi ed upon the autonomy of the State: "Socially considered, the Blair bi will aid in extending systematic an elementary education beyond ou cities into the rural districts, froi which many of the best families c farmers are now migrating into citie g for the want of educational facilitio. I The instinct of individual citizens.s a wiser here than the wisoom of state f men. Even the negroes are sendiig their children into cities at eaiy ages to be educated. In some of a these rural districts the question, t>o, " is either barbarism or the Blair 1111, t for those who will not move ater shools. For these this bill will five ~ more schools and longer terms, knd r moreover, no ambitious cla? oifar' mers from France, Italy, Geraany . or the North will ever immigrrte to f the lands of the South, ho7ever fertile. If county sclipdld ar0'.|)<tlin[ proved. No matter how muto cotf ment Day for all that. Farmlrs will seek the West, where thee is a ' school house for every tract of two miles square, in spite of ou1* immit gration bureaus, conventions and , agencies. ' "The Blair bill must beiefit the p South industrially. Through better schools the coming generaton of laborers will certainly be moe intelli' gent than their fathers ani mothers ' were. If intelligence coints anywhere it does in the proJuction of wealth. Other portion9o/the Union ' are educating their working classes, so must we. : "Let me say, too, thatthe self-sac rince of Southern educators deserves some encouragement. The Blair bill is a ray of hope for progfessvto thousands of them, whocaniot bfe?tempted by higher salaries to; leave even their native Suites. They can, and will, do more and bbter work with their increased means! provided by this bill. Raise the efficiency of the schools for fifteen yean and the level of school taxes will rise after them. Attheendofthattimethe school system of every State inthe South will be able to take care of itself. That will be a great gain to us." BROUGHT TO TERMS./, When the Union army was filled by drafting men, during the Civil War, it was wonderful to see how many men, who had always been regarded by their neighbors as robust, healthy fellows, were afflicted with some dreadful and incurable infirmity which rendered them incapable of performing military duty. Perhaps if the pension lists were now scrutinized many a man would be astonished to find that some of his neighbors who seem well and strong draw money regularly from the treasury on the ground of disability contracted in the service. But there are certain people who feign sickness when there seems to be little or nothing to be gained by so doing. "Nearly every hospital and house 1 - 1.1- ~ x I * * i/i v.uiici"tjun in me country una us regular attendance of malingers," says a physician V the Episcopalian Hospital, Philadelphia. "Some are most cunning in tlrejr schemes to become patients. The. comfortable bed, the good food, and the kind attention they receive, are the temptations to try these deceptions. ' "Why, I oncesaw a case of feigned muteness. A youth of seventeen wag btrmget sktOft.?nis parents sara" he had spoken well enough until he was eleven years old, but since that he had never spoken a word. He had his hearing perfectly. We tried a good many things?galvanism, tonics, and even, because we thought it wasifetubbomness, w$ had a clergyman to talk to him, but all was of no avail. "At last we came to the conclusion that the young rascal was hoodwinking us, and we determined to try a trick upon him that has been tried with success before. "Two of the physicians stood at his bedside, as if consulting about his case. One of them said in a loud whisper to the other, 'Well, I'll tell you what we'll do. First of all we'll cauterize the whole of the under surface of his tongue, and, if that does not succeed, we will cut out his tongue and examine it under a microspe.' Then, turning to an assistant he continued, 'Mr. Wilson, please get the iron red hot.' "The fellow didn't say anything, but he tried by signs to beg the doctor not to perform the operation, tte iron was brought, and the surgeon began arranging the patient. The sight of the instrument on its spirit flame, almost at a white heat, brought forth a terrible cry from the boy, the first sound in six years. "Then one assistant held his legs, another his arms, a third his hoad, and a wedge was thrust into his mouth. Still not a word, The hot iron was lifted and brought near to h is face, so that he could feel the heat. Whether the operation would have been performed or not I am unable to 3ay, but there was no necessity, for the instaDt he felt the heat he shouted, 40h! don't, doctor, dear, please don't; I'm not dumb! I will speak, 1 I will, inded.' I "And he left the hospital that very 1 ifternoon."?[Philadelphia Times. ? .? i THE ORLOFF DIAMOND. The wonderful stone which is call- 1 id, in honor of Count Orloff, its first ( European purchaser, the "Orloff diamond," has had a most extraordina- ' y history, which must add some- j ;hing to the value of the stone, inxinsically almost fabulous. It was ' )riginally the eye of an idol in Frichinopoli, in India. It was stol- f sn, according to an accepted account, 1 >y a Frenchmau, who escaped with < t to Persia, where he sold it for sight thousand dollars to a Jewish nerchant. The Jew sold it to an Armenian \ lamed Shafras, who had traveled in f tussia, and conceived the idea of g aking the diamond to that country [ md selling it to the Km press Cather- v ne for a great sum. Shafras paid 1 he Jew fifty thousand dollars for it. t Having secured the stone, the next [ustion with Shafras was how to get 1 t to Russia, or rather how to con- t eal it when he was searched by s obbers, as he was sure to be on the g oad. The journey was a long and peril- li ma one, and thieves abounded evry where. Shafras thought of swalowing the stone when he should be aken by the robbers, but was obliged a o give that plan up, as the diamond vas quite too large to swallow. y Hp nondered Tone over the diffi ulty. and began to feel that he had s n elephant on his hands, when a tappy thought occurred to him. He n irocured a sharp lance, made a cut tl n the fleshy part of his leg, and g hrust the diamond into the wound, le sewed up the cut with a needle , nd a silver wire. It healed, leav- p he diamond embedded fast in his o 2g, quite out of sight. t< Then he started for Russia. On the t< /ay he was seized by robbers again t< nd again, and thoroughly searched, li leing an Armenian, and suspected ? f going to Russia to trade, the fi hieves marvelled greatly at finding 'g othing of value on his person. Sha- s( as could not refrain from laughing tl t them when they searched him in w ain. tl He arrived in Russia at last, and, ai fter extracting his diamond, visit- b< d the Empress. He was willing to ol jll it for one hundred and s&ty lousand dollars, but the Empress j ad not so large an amount available h: i cash for the purchase, and Shafraa tl referred to gom^HMtosterdam^BM the y, i- , Here Count Orloff, an extremely i- vealthy Russian saw the diamond, >r ,ind was filled with a determination 3- to secure it for the Russian crown, y He did secure it, but Shafra exacted t- from the Empress four hundred and 3. fifty thousand dollars, an annuity of 11 twenty thousand dollars, and a title d of nobility. He died a millionaire, i The Orloff diamond weighs one i hundred and ninety-five carats, and r is about the size of a pigeon's t egg. It is smaller than the Koh-iNoor, in the possession of the Queen i of England, which weighs three hundred and sixty-seven carats, and is worth three and a half million dollars. ? ? ENDURING A HORNET. The old school of manners trained a woman, .when dispensing hospitality, to allow nothing to betray trouble, or even preparation. Guests were complimented by allowing them to 8^e nothing of what was go logon in ine nouseaeeping mattney might not think of themselves as be known that she was fatigued or disturbed, but as evidence of incapacity for the station. Mrs. Fremont, in her agreeable gossip about her early life, makes mention of a wedding dinner-party she once attended at Lexington, Virginia. One of the married daughters of the hostess noticed that, though her mother was presiding at the dinnertable with her usual grace, yet fleeting expressions of pain passed over her face. At last she sent a servant to ask if the mother was too ill to remain, and should she, the daughter, take her place. A motion of the head answered, "No." When coffee was served in the drawing-room, the guests learned that the hostess had been obliged to "retire." Bather than disturb the company, she had quietly endured torture. A hornet had got caught under her cape, and had traveled about, stinging as he went. Searching for an outlet, it had turned down between the shoulders, where it browsed about the poor woman's back. Fever came on, and the lady was obliged to take to her bed ; but her training had made her willing to suffer acutely at her post rather than to disturb the enjoyment of her guests. A less ceremouious age may smile at this rigorous adherence to etiquette, thinking that such self-control should be reserved for a more heroic occasion. But the women of the "old school" rarely failed to rise to the level of the occasion, and hefoines have stepped out of their ranks, "two paces to the front," at the call of dutv. Thev knew "bow sublime a thing It in To suffer and be strong." Perhaps their ceremonious training and their Oriental ideas as to guests and hospitality had much to do with begetting the ability to endure. Another Lincoln Anecdote.? DuriDg the war Miss N., a beautiful and spirited Virginian, whose brother (a Confederate soldier) had been taken prisoner by the Union forces, was curious of obtaining a pass which would enable her to visit him. Francis P. Blair agreed to secure an audience with the President, but warned his young and rather impulsive friend to be very prudent, and let a word escape her which would bcITSy- Tsioothern sympathies. , ? They were ushered into the pres- 1 ence of Mr. Lincoln, and -the object 1 for which they had come stated, i The tall grave man bent down tivthe petite maiden, and, looking searchingly into her face, said, "Yo^ are 1 loyal, of course?" Her brighteyps ' flashed. She hesitated a moftta?M 1 and then, with a face eIoquen?.)#Hit! \ emotion and honest as his owo/.'^ie' , replied, "Yes, loyal to the Jheffcrtft core?to Virginia!" Mr. Lipcolik kept his intent gaze upon tagJte a, moment longer, and then jjpftMr> his desk, wrote a line or ttni, ; and handed her the paper. Wflpp^txiffr the interview terminated, " j vOnce outside, the extreme tion of Mr. Blair found .vt&tfBreproachful words. "Now yomAavc clone it!" he said. "Didn't I Whm you to be very careful ? you have only yourself to blame." Miss N. made no reply, but opened the paper. It contained these words: "Pass Miss N.; she is an honest girl, and can be trusted. A. Lincoln." Sam Jones' Sayings.?You speak of God's elect ; no man can be elected unless he is a candidate. I like the Gospel that says Christ died because God loved me; not that God loves me because Christ died for me. I like a man that goes halves with God. Too many fellows turn everything over to God. Praying is right, but a fellow must do as well as pray. Some people are so nice that they are afraid of hurting feelings. You had better hurt feelings here than have them scorched up in hell. a The finical old woman with head paliirinn nfntnoto anoinuf on., nv 8 |/lVVVOlO U^Ul UOt ttU J CA" m citement in church. I will bet she 11 goe9 home and raises the devil with the cook about burned biscuits. d The church member who cannot v make up his mind as to whether he will take one side or the other of . moral questions is not worth ten 11 rents a dozen in heaven or hell. ? A horse that has a sore back will h kick and rear around mightily when mrried, but if he is sound he will ie up to you. So it is with my rearers. 0 Sow a thought, reap an idea; sow ? in idea, reap an act; sow an act, d eap character; sow character, reap lestiny. One right after the other. Flvery deed is a seed. C A Gentle Beproof.?A woman ^ vho was riding in a railway car, was tl jreatly annoyed by the profane lan- v fuage of two young men who occu- vi >ied the seat in front of her, one of r< vhom seemed to be a college student, g Vn exchange tells how she stopped d he profanity: ft She thought she would rebuke ft dm, and on begging pardon for in- tl errupting them a8ked the young w tudent if he had studied the lan- w uages. p, "Yes, madam, I have mastered the fl anguages quite well." ft, "Do you read and speak Hebrew?" tc "Quite fluently." oi "Will you be so kind as to do me ai small favor ?." ------ VI "With great pleasure; I am at it our service." ol "Will you be so kind as to do your wearing in Hebrew ?" tt We may well suppose the lady was fr ot annoyed any more by the ungen- at lemanly language of this would-be b< entleman. ai ai HaT The New York Evening Post se rints the following from the State pi f Maine where prohibition is so of- ca jn said to be a failure: "A Bos- cc mian who was in Portland was aj )ld, says the Boston Traveler, that th quor was freely sold at the Preble e> [ouse. Inquiry through a 'posted' ki iend revealed the presence of a pc aloon' od- the other side of the lei ;reet from the hotel. A visit to ac le place showed that only one man th ras permitted at a time to go into an le room where the liquor was sold, ab ad the supply was kept in a single as ottle that was carried in the pocket sc f the man who sold it." \ to ?l'A gentleman had^^^flfcich wj ad ^ve mm jte beiMM^H|^^H ~ For the Vorkville Enquirer. , REMINISCENCES OF WESTERN YORK. Old people used to tell the writer sgme good stories about different men who lived in Western York, and some of them might now be repeated for what they are worth. Many, many years ago, Mr. Jackey Darwin kept a grocery store near King's creek mill, at the place where he lived and, I think, died. In those days keeping whisky for sale or private use was not regarded as disreputable as it is at the present time. Of course, all people, as they do now, didn't look upon it in the same way. There were some who were opposed to barrooms. These men were nuuwu wrar. jjarwin, wno, oeing iona 01 s fun, took occasion to have some at their expense. He kept a slate hanging in a 'B conspicuous part of his store room, where H the day's proceedings were pretendingly 9 kept, written in plain, legible hand. The fl credit system was more extensive then than now. When one of the anti-barroom H men wonld pass, going to mill, if he didn't flj 'Oven speak, Mr. Darwin would dharge I him with one or perhaps two drinks.^^B This he would hang up and everyb'dtty^^^l could see it that came in. The effect was VjH to make these opponents appear as hypocrites in the eyes of their neighbors, and consequently their opposition to his business had but little weight with customers. Jacob B. Moore was then, as he was for many years after, and, in fact, since the writer's first recollection, one of Western B York's most noted men. He was a man fl of most powerful physique, and afraid of fl nothing or nobody. He was kind to, and H thought well of by his neighbors. Like flj many of the unfortunate men whose names H have been mentioned in these sketches, fl he, too, was fond of his dram, and while H under its influence his best friend was liable to be the object of his wrath. Many of oijr readers can remember the vise-like H grasp of his bony hand and disjointed flj fingers. He was rich and always had pfl more or less gold coin on his person. 8| When he got on one of his "razees," as he H called them, he would throw his money in fl every direction. Friends would gather it fl up for him, sometimes, and no doubt he H thus threw away hundreds and perhaps M thousands of dollars he never recovered. H He attended all public gatherings?courts, musters, and wherever he could find a H crowd and whisky. I never knew him to be at church in my life. He had a mare H he rnde that, ho mllorl "Tonnu T.lnH ? H ""*"i ?uu m his walking-stick he called "Cephas." At B one time he was at "Gaffney's old field," B during a camp-muster. He got drunk and fl disorderly and was put in the guard-house, ffl where another fellow was incarcerated for /B the same offense. He concluded he could B not see enough from within his quarters B and proposed to his fellow-prisoner that B they improve the situation by tearing B down the guard-house and getting on top B of it. I don't know whether his compan- B ion took part in the work with him or not, * B but soon they were both on top of their B prison-house. "Cephas" was his defensive B weapon in this as well as most other emer- B gencies. This being the case, his captors B had a proper respect for the room necessa- B ry for him to turn around. A wise thing H for them, no doubt. But "Jacob B.," for B this was the name bwAich he was always B known, beganto flUChat it was time lor H| him to shovfl? he had. Taking Out hislongfll Uit *B irouvnd hjsi. Hl^flBfc-house friend be?an to fuck it up, whfW'Jacob B." struck aim a severe blow on the head with "Ce- B Dhas." When he recovered, his head was aleeding profusely, and "Jacob B." made aim take up the blood and spread it upon ais ("Jacob B.'s") shoes. Then he gave aim a $10 gold piece, with the admonition HI ;oiet other people's business and money B| done in the future. The unfortunate man 9E uwured him that he meant no harm by tfhat he did; that he only wished to save .he money from being lost or taken by )thers who would perhaps make no return Q| H it to him. ___ iVOEfrjtfistanJtpp tlwa fnrilties and eccen- flB Iricities of Jacob B. Moore, as we have ^B :>ut briefly related them in this connection, Hj le was a man of genuine principles? hon- H ist and trnthful. He lived upon one of H ,he poorest ridges in York county, I sup- H >ose. He used to say that his land was so H itrong that it pushed the "tassel" out of lis com before it got over knee high. H He used to ride "Jenny Lind" out to jfl >ublic gatherings, and before reaching the "*^B dace where he wanted to make a display, |H ie would place a pebble under the saddle o make her prance around. He would requently emphasize and rhyme his senences with the sound of double e, as "Jaob B. Mooree, in the crowdee; yessiree," _^B On one occasion he was presented by a riend with a bottle of brandy that the, riend said was seven years old. After V W asting it, and looking at it awhile, he eked his friend : "Did you 'say this is even years old ?" "Yes." "Well, if that s the case it is very small for its age." Mr. Moore followed gold mining a good eal. He was at one time engaged in working the Martin mine, near Smyrna IH hurch, and got some floe specimens from HH t. He was a first-class geologist, and al-, /ays claimed that this was the richest ort, fl I e knew of south of King's Mountain. I lost sight of this old and widely known lan, Jacob M. Moore, when the war came n and I went into the army. Of his sub squent life and* the circumstances of his eath I am unable now to speak, j. l. s. ? A New Variety of Cotton.?Mr. '. A. Alexander, of Washington, .county, ra., is the discoverer of a new variety of Jtton which the Financial Chronicle B| links may prove to be of very great ad- j^K antage to cotton growers. The discovery 'as made quite by accident, and in this 9h aspect, at least, it is not unlike numerous reat discoveries. One day Mr. Alexaner was inspecting a field of cotton on his irm, when he noticed a single stalk, the 9H faves of which possessed a peculiarity lat, instead of being solid, as those of the BH ell known varieties of the plant, they b9 ere divided into what may be termed j^B artitions. In their full growth they were ve-fingered. Mr. Alexander was sufciently impressed with the peculiarity BBB ) save up and plant the seeds during three H| r four seasons, and now his observation 91 id experience have convinced him that ?e variety possesses very superior qualies, all owing to the unusual formation 7 the leaves. The advantages claimed for it are that le leaves admit the air and sunlightquite eely, thus giving the plant a healthier id more rapid erowth. and causes the HH )lls to open earlier; that the increased HB r and sunlight prevent mildew and rot; id, what will interest farmers of some ctions more than anything else, that the ant thus far has not been attacked by HH terpillars. The exemption may not ntinue, but it is contended, and there ipears to be some ground for the claim, at the caterpillar cannot thrive when BB :posed to the sunlight and air. It is lown that the caterpillar's eggs are deisited on the underside of the cotton |^H ives, where they are afforded shelter, d that shadqf* and dampness promote MB e propagation of the pests. If the shade BC d dampness are wanting In a considerie degree, it does not seem too much to ?ert that the caterpillars will hi irce. Mr. Alexander ought