The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, August 28, 1860, Image 1
BY FEATHERSTON & HOYT.
ANDERSON COURT HOUSE, S. C, TUESDAY AFTERNOON, AUGUST 28, 1860.
VOLUME 1.?NUMBER 3.
From the Charleston Courier.
To the Hon. Edward G. Palmer.
A few days ago I received the South
Carolinian of August 5th, in which is pub?
lished, a letter from you to Mr. M. W.
Gary, on the subject of the Blue Eidge
Kailroad. It was copied from the Edge
field Advertiser, and I presume, will have
a rapid circulation in the District papers.
In that letter you assert that the cost
of the road in South Carolina and Geor?
gia, up to the first of December, 1S59,
had exceeded the estimate to the amount
of S600,000. You also charge the officers
of the Company with having "grossly vi?
olated the conditions of their charter,"
and of having acted in "bad faith."
Though I am most averse to personal
controversy, I am constrained to appear
in defence of the officers of the Company.
I do not intend to. present an official
statement of the cost of the road in South
Carolina and Georgia. This I cannot do
without the assistance of the Treasurer
and Chief Engineer, who are not in the
city. Besides/ it would take a long time
to dissect and apportion the many accounts
comprising the expenditure of two and a
half millions of dollars, so as to make an
accurate statement of the cost of the road
in each of the States through which it
passes. Your letter appears in the midst
of the canvass for the election of mem?
bers to the Legislature. In order to
counteract its effect upon the elections, it
i3 necessary that my reply should be
prompt. Want of time and of needful
assistance for an accurate statement of |
the cost of the road in South Carolina
and Georgia, must confine me to a strict
reply.
You assume 83,654,034 to bo the esti?
mated cost of completing the road in
South Carolina and Georgia on the first
of November, 1S5G. For the present pur?
pose I will take that to be correct. From
the report of tho Treasurer, and certain
assumptions and calculations of your
own. you attain to the conclusion of an
"excess of cost over the estimate up to De?
cember, 185$" to the amount of 8000,000.
I will examine your statement in the
sense in which nine persons out of ten
will understand it, viz: That the actual
cost of constructing the road in South
Carolina and Georgia, to December, TS50,
exceeded the estimated cost to the amount
of ?600,000. An.Engineer's estimate of j
cost is made up by a calculation of the
several kinds of work and material ne?
cessary to make a railroad completed or
only half finished, as he may be directed,
and the quantities and prices of each, by
which he obtains the sum total of the
costs. "When you compare the actual
^epst with tho estimated cost, you must
restrict the comparison to the subjects of j
cost in tho estimate. If you charge, as
actual cost, interest and discount on bonds,
the expenses of law suits and the like, of J
course, the actual cost must exceed the
estimated cost, for none of those contin?
gent charges are comprised in the esti?
mate.
I think I can show in your statement
of the "excess of cost over the estimate."
errors to an amount exceeding 8500,000.
It is necessary, in order to make plain
your errors and mis-statements, that I
should present the Treasurer's account of
"expenditures" in his report of 1859. and
also your statement by which you attain
a result so surprising.
It may be proper to premise for persons
not acquainted with book-keeping, that
the Treasurer's books are kept iri the usu?
al form. In his report he has headed the
Debtor side of the account "Receipts."
and the Creditor side "Expenditures."
All the entries iu the two columns arc
not actual receipts and expenditures, but
some are made (as is necessary) to ex?
plain the true state of tho account, and
exhibit the correct balance of the trans
tions ?which arc entered :
"expenditures."
For construction, $1,078,320.11
Iron, 101.200.01
Engineering, 106,399.40
Expense?Salaries, Printing. I>gal
Advice, Suit of Bangs & Co., 70,280.19
Real Estate for Depots, &c, 0,274.05
Right of way in S. Carolina, ?4,303.00
Right of way in Georgia, 3,775.00
Right of way in N. Carolina, 1,030.00
Right of way in Tennessee, 8,358.50
8,170.00
0,988.50
Locomotives and Cars, 38,741.05
Interest on mortgage bonds, $44,703.98
Loss on sale of Bonds and
Stock, 37,381.01
82,085.99
Due by Anson Bangs & Co., 2,082.30
Due by sundry contractors, 0,311.14
Transportation expenses, 4,102.30
Repairs of Road way, 1,701.58
Sundry open accounts, 4,013.95
?2,594,712.48?
The following is your statement:
?' By the Report of the Treasurer, up to the 1st of
November, 1859, there was actually
paid out $2,594,000.00
"And there was reserved in Cash
Bonds and Stock, for the comple?
tion of contracts,
149,129.00
" Actually paid out and (due) for
? work done," $2,742,129.00
Add Col. Gwynn's estimate of addi?
tional cost of* completing the road
to Clayton, Ga., made in Decem?
ber, 1859, 1,057,000.00
'Sum total of the cost of the road
to Clayton," ?4,400,129.00
You add your estimate of the cost of
finishing the road from Clayton
to the North Carolina line, 0
miles, 135,000.00
"Sum total for South Carolina and
Georgia," $4,535,129.00
You then deduct?
Your own estimate of tho cost of (he
road in Tennessee, ?166,666.00
Rolling Stock on the road, 60,000.00
Amount of Engineering
charged to North Caro?
lina and Tennessee in
November, 1850, 53,780.00
280,449.00
"/or work done in South Carolina and
Georgia, $4,254,080.00
You then deduci your estimate, made
1st November, 1850, of the cost of
the road in South Carolina and
Georgia to that date, 3,654,034.00
"Excess of coat over estimate, up to 1st
November, 1859," $600,640.00
The sum total of expenditures in the
Treasurer's account, which you have
charged to the cost of the road in South
Carolina and Georgia, comprises many
items which did not enter into Colonel
G wynn's estimate of the cost of comple?
ting the road in those States, and were
not expended in construction, and, there
Tore, should not have been charged in
your statement to the cost of the road in
those States. These items are : " Expen?
ses, salaries, printing.'* &C, -right of way
in North Carolina and Tennessee," "in?
terest on bonds," -Joss on sale of bonds and
stock;" "debt 'due by Ansou Bangs & Co.,"
the amount "due by contractors" being
for advances made to them on account of
their work, "transportation expenses,"
(that is, of running the trains between
Anderson and Pcndleton) and "repairsof
the road-way," amounting in the aggre?
gate to $1S8,580.
In the sum total of the expenditures,
you charge to the cost of the work in
South Carolina and Georgia $100,300, the
total cost for engineering on the whole
road from Anderson to Ivnoxville. But
you deduct from this sum what you are
pleased to allow for engineering in North
Carolina and Tennessee $03,780, leaving
charged to the cost of the road in South
Carolina and Georgia for engineering
$112,700. The just apportionment of
engineering would be in the ratio of the
length of the road. It is 00 miles long in
South Carolina and Georgia, and L20
miles long in North Carolina and Tennes?
see. If engineering is charged in this
proportion the sum to be charged against
North Carolina and Tennessee would be
$107,020. You have allowed for engineer?
ing in these States only ?53,780, .shewing
an overcharge in round numbers to the
cost of the work in South Carolina and
Georgia of $54,000. If this is added to
$188,580 the sum will show an overcharge
in your statement to the cost of the work
in South Carolina and Georgia, of more
than $242,000.
The next item of overcharge in your
statement of the cost of the road in South
Carolina and Georgia, is the addition of
$140,123 to the sum total of the expendi?
tures in the Treasurer's report of 1850.
Not content with charging to the cost
of the road in South Carolina and Georgia
the sum total of expenditures on every
account, from the date of the charter to
the first of November, 1859, you pick out
of tho column of ""Receipts" an item for
"reserved in Cash, Bonds and Stocks, for
the completion of Contracts," $149,123?
and add that sum to the sum total of ex?
penditures. Work done cannot be enter?
ed in the column of receipts. This would
make the Treasurer a debtor to tlue Com?
pany to the amount of the entry, if it was
not balanced by an entry in the other
column. Accordingly, the item of $140,
123 is included* in the sum of $2,078,000,
for construction; and the entry of $140,
123, in the column of receipts, is explain?
ed as being "reserved as security for the
performance of Contracts," that is, re?
ceived or retained by the Treasurer for
the Contractors, to be paid to them when
they should have performed their con?
tracts. It cannot be retained for the
Contractors, unless they had done work
to that amount. This charge against the
Treasurer must be balanced by an entry
in the other column, and is included in
the item for construction. The fact is.
and the entries in the Treasurer's ac?
count, are in conformity with the fact,
that $2,078.320 docs comprehend all the
work that was done to the date of the re?
port. In the first paragraph of your let?
ter when you refer to tho Treasurer's
account for 1850, you say: "I find, up to
the first of November, 185.0, there was
paid out and due for. work $1,102,000."
"When 3'ou take up the corresponding
item in tho account for 1859, you say
'there was actually paid out" $2,594,000.
In the column of receipts, iu the account
for 18i')G, there is an entry, in the very
words of the entry of $149,123, in the
column of receipts for 1850; yet you did
not, in your statement for 1S5G, add the
amount of that entry to the sum total of
expenditures. It was a curious freak of
memory, that in the short space of time
occupied in "writing your letter, what you
understood when you referred to the
Treasurer's report for 1S50, you forgot
before you referred to Iiis report lor 1850.
You have, therefore, overcharged to
the cost of construction in South' Caroli?
na and Georgia, the sum of $149,123,
when you added that amount to the sum
total of expenditures.
By your own statement you admit that
the cost of the work done in Tennessee is
included in the sum total of expenditures
which'you have charged to the cost of
the road in SouthriCarolina and Georgia.
You make your own estimate of what
was the cost of the work in Tennessee and
state it to he $166,666. . This amount you
accordingly deduct from what you charge
to have been tho cost of the work in
South Carolina and Georgia. You should
have deducted $302,000, which was, at
least, the cost of t he work in Tennessee.
It may be more, but from an examina?
tion of the books I am sure it is .not less
than that sum. The difference of what
you do deduct from the co<t of the road
in South Carolina and Georgia, and the
actual cost, which should be deducted is
$136,000. This is another overcharge in
your .statement.
Your mode of attaining the cost of the
road in Tennessee cannot be passed with?
out remark. You say the Treasurer's
report does not state the amount. But
you assume two-thirds of $200,000, the
County and individual subscription in
Tennessee, which is $166,666, to be the
cost of t lie work in Tennessee. Tho Kc
ports won hi have shown you that; in or?
der to comply with the conditions of the
Tennessee charter and of the Act grant?
ing State aid, seventeen miles of the road
out from. Knoxvillo had been nearly fin
ished. You might have seen in the Re?
port of 1850, Col. Gwynn's estimate of
tho cost of the grading in Tennessee
to l>e $757,000, and of tho whole road in
Tennessee $1,037,000, and also that the
section of seventeen miles, which was
nearly completed, while it is only thirty
per cent of the length of the road, is es?
timated to cost forty-one per coat, of the
entire ccst. Forty-one per cent, of the
grading would be $310,000. If you had
used these Keports, you might have made
a nearer estimate than you have done.
When to $242,000, the amount of over?
charges, before stated, are added $140.
000 and 5130,000, they exhibit an aggre?
gate of errors and overcharges of $.327,
000. in your statement of 600,000 as the
-excess of cost over the estimate (for
South Carolina and Georgia,) up fo Pe
ce:nl c-, 1859:"
If Col. Gwynn's estimate, in 1850, of
the cost of completing the road from An?
derson to Clayton did not include the
Whitmire fill, your estimate of the cost of
completing the road from Clayton to
the North Carolina line may bo correct.
But if the Whitmire till is included in
that estimate, it is probable $10,000 per
mile will complete the road ; for the gra?
ding from Clayton to the Xorlh Carolina
line is very light, and so nearly finished
that the cost, of completing it must be
very inconsiderable. lu this case. $15.
000 more must be added to the sum of
your errors.
1 expect you to reply that my exhibi?
tion of errors does not apply to your
statement; that what you intended to
show is not that the actual cost of the
work in South Carolina and Georgia ex?
ceeded the estimated cost, but that the
expenditures for and about the work in
South Carolina and Georgia exceeded the
estimate of the cost of the road in those
States. It is precisely of that I have a
right to complain as unfair. You profess
to make a statement of the cost of the
work compared with the estimate, and
yet you charge to the cost of the work
not only the expenditures for its construc?
tion, but, also, the sum total of all the
extraordinary and contingent expenses
of the whole undertaking from the date
of the charter to December, 1850. In
other words, your statement professes to
exhibit one thing, but, in reality, it ex?
hibits another thing, very different from
that which is professed.
You caunot complain if I have taken
you at your word, and corrected your
statement: accordingly.
But, taking your statement for what
you intend it to be, viz: an exhibit of the
excess of expenditure for the work in
South Carolina and Georgia over tho es?
timate of cost in those States, I will show
that your errors are little loss in number
and amount than tho errors which have
been pointed out.
From the 8000,000, then, taken as the
excess of expenditure on the work in
South Carolina and Georgia, you must
deduct the overcharge to the work of
8140,120, and also tho overcharge of 8130,
C00, which results from your short esti?
mate of the work in Tennessee, and also
$54,000 you overcharge for engineering
in South Carolina and Georgia. To these
sums must ho added the following items,
which, in the Treasurer's report, are in?
cluded in the sum total of $2,594,712,
which sum total, in your statement, is
charged as the amount of the cost of the
work in South Carolina and Georgia :
First, you. charge the total of " expense,
salaries, legal advice, suit of Bangs & Co..
879.289," to South Carolina and Georgia.
These charges are for the common benefit
and defence of the roads of each State,
and. like engineering, should be charged
in the proportion of the length of tho road
in each State. The portion of South Car?
olina and Georgia being in the ratio of 09
miles to 126, would be 828.000. In this
item you have overcharged 851.000. The
cost of the right of way in North Caroli?
na and Tennessee. ?9,988, which you have
charged to South Carolina and Georgia,
is a manifest overcharge. So is the
amount '-duo by sundry Contractors,"
$9,811. This amount being for advances
or loans to them on the security of their
work, was refunded when payment was
made to them fur future work. So, also,
you have wrongly charged "transporta?
tion expenses" 84.102. being the expense
of running the road between Anderson
and Pcndlcton, and the -repairs of the
road." 81,791. Against these two last
charges you will find on the opposite col?
umn -received" for transportation 89..'J45.
You have also charged the amount -due
by Ansou Bangs & Co., $2,082." In the
opposite column }'ou will find an entry of
-interest due to Anson Bangs & Co.. ?G33,
and immediately above that entry anoth?
er of "interest in suspense" 81025. This
is also due to A. Bangs & Co. It was re?
tained on notice of an adverse claim
which was afterwards abandoned. These
items are a set oil" against the 82082 due
by A. Bangs & Co., and make another
item of overcharge to the amount of
$1(5*8.
- Loss on the sale of bonds and stocks,"
$37,880. you also charge as an expendi?
ture for the road in South Carolina ami
Georgia. It could not be expended for
anything, for it was never received. The
State and City of Charleston paid their
subscription in bonds at pur. The dis?
count on the sale of the bonds was a short
payment of subscription. That is anoth?
er overcharge.
You also charge interest on mortgage
bonds. $44,705, to the cost of the road in
South Carolina and Georgia. This sum
was certainly not expended in payment
of work. It must appear in some account
of the Company, but is out of place in tho
account of expenditures. It is an item
similar to discount on the sale of bonds.
It is not received, nor is it expended on
the road, and cannot be charged to ex?
penditures for the work. If the interest
paid on bonds is to be charged to the cost
of 1 he work. - construction" account could
not be closed until the bonds are paid.
For. no reason can be given why the
charge of interest, if made to the cost of
the work, should cease when the road is
finished. If interest on money borrowed
is to be charged as an expenditure for the
work, so. also, should interest on the cap?
ital stock paid in be also added to expen?
diture. If the stockholders borrow one
hundred thousand dollars on bonds, they
pay interest on that amount. If they
pay up capital stock to that amount they
lose the interest on it. There is no more
reason to charge interest on the bonds for
money borrowed to the cost of the work,
than to charge interest on capital paid in.
So that you might have made a much
more flagrant case of the "excess of ex-*
penditure for the work" in South Caroli?
na and Georgia, "over the estimate," if
you had added the interest on the capital
stock paid in, as well as the interest on
bonds.
The affffregate for all the overcharges
for expenditures on account of the work
in South Carolina and Georgia, which I
have shown to be cont lined in yourstatc
ment of the "excess of cost over the esti?
mate," amounts to 8498.875. When this
amount is deducted from your figures,
your statement is pityfally reduced. The
whole evidence on which I have made
my statement of overcharges is derived
from the reports to which you refer and
your own statement, except only the cost
of the road in Tennessee. If there is any
error in my statement, it is open to cor?
rection by every reader.
EDWARD FROST.
-*
Betting is immoral, but now can the
man who bets, bo any worse than the man
who is no bettor?
\
The True Wisdom.
A man may know all about the rocks,
and his heart remain as hard as they are;
a man may know all about the winds, and
be the sport of passions as fierce as they;
a man may know all about tho stars, and
his fate be the meteor's, that, after a
brief and brilliant career, is quenched in
eternal night; a mar may know all about
the sea, and his soul resemble its troubled
waters, which cannot rest; a man may
know how to rule the spirits of the ele?
ments, yet know not how to rule his own;
a man may know how to turn aside the
flashing thunderbolt, but not the wrath of
God from his own guilty head; he may
know all that La Place knew?all that
Shakespeare knew?all that Watt knew?
all that the greatest geniuses hare known;
he may know all mysteries and all
knowledge, but if he,docs not know his
Bible, what shall avail ? I take my stand
by the bed of a dying philosopher as well
as of a dying miser, and ask of the world's
wisdom as of the world's wealth, " What
shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul V
I despise not the lights of science, but
they burn in a dying chamber as dim as
its candles. They cannot penetrate the
mists of death, nor light the foot of the
weary traveller on his way in that valley
through which we have all to pass.
Commend me, therefore, to the light
which illumines the last hour of life?com?
mend me to the light that can irradiate
the face of death?commend me to the
light that, when all others are quenched,
shall guide my foot to the portals of that
blessed world where there is no need of
the sun. and no need of the moon, and no
need of created lights, for God and the
Lamb are the light thereof. Brethren,
leave others to climb the steeps of fame?
brother, sister, put your feet upon the lad?
der that scales the sky; nor mind though
your brows are never crowned with fa?
ding buys, if you win, through faith in
Jesus, the crown of eternal life.
Maternal Influence.?The biography
of almost any person, faithfully written,
would ascribe to a mother's influence the
moulding, not only of youthful character,
hut the more matured forms of mental
and moral development in after life. In?
deed, a vast majority of our greatest and
best men have traced to the early coun?
sels of maternal attj^tion much of the
good influence and right action which
characterised their after-course. Nor has
this been confined to the more elevated
or well-educated classes in society; but
tho humblest abode of honest poverty has
often sent forth, from maternal lips, the
soundest of life's lessons, and the most
abiding and most blessed of its influences.
When daily toil or absence, chilling in?
difference to domestic duties, or beastly
intoxication, even, have dried up all the
springs of a father's love?rendering his
influence negatively of no good account,
hut positively of evil, and often of atro?
cious example?tho mother, dispirited
and broken-hearted though she may be
as a wife, still, as a mother, has often prov?
ed herself, under Heaven, the guardian
angel of an otherwise abandoned and des?
olate household.
The influence thus shed is often the al?
most hopeless '-casting of bread upon the
waters." It is often not found in any of
its favorable developments, until '-after
many," very many {fdays." The cares of
the world, and the evil examples of it?
the bustling and besieging sins of indi?
viduals and of communities?the counter?
acting example, perhaps, of a fatJier's life
and conversation?often choke tlic word
of a faithful mother and destroy its vitali?
ty. But not unfre uiently it will be found,
like seed long buried in the earth, to
spring up to remembrance in after-life?
and the counsel imparted to the -infant
of days" be found to influence and per?
haps control the whole destiny of the man
of years and gray hairs.
-?i
Here is a very singular sentence:
<: Sator arcpo tenet opera rotas."
1. This spells backward and forward all
the same.
2. Then taking all the letters of each
word spells the first word.
'6. Then taking all the second letters of
each word splls the first word.
4. Then all third, and so on through the
jourt and fifth.
5. Then commencing with the last letter
of each word spells the last word.
-o
Love may exist without jealousy, al?
though this is rare; but jealousy may ex?
ist without love, and this is common.
-o-?
The greater part of men live by faith in
powerful men. A small number of indi?
viduals lead the whole human race?Vinet.
-*
A word of kindness is seldom spoken in
vain. It is a seed which, even when drop?
ped by chance, springs up a flower.
Humors of the Census.
Although the marshals engaged in tak?
ing the census sometimes experience an
no3rances, yet they occasionally meet
with persons who afford them no little
amusement. Their task is often a hard
one, and exposes them to charges of im?
pertinence from, those who really do not
understand the importance of "number?
ing the people." One of the marshals of
2s cw Jersey, whose field of operations is
in the interior, at a place somewhat re?
mote from railroad depots found. conside:
ruble difficulty in getting information
from an "ancient maiden lady" whom he
had addressed on the subject.
"Taking tho senses, air you? "Well,'I
reckon you can't take none here." She
was indignant at his first remark.*" 'Taint'
none of your business who lives hero or
who owns this place. It's paid for, and
every cent of tax on . it tew. 'Taint best
for you tow come snooping around to find
out matters that don't consarn you."
Her body, interposed at the doorway,
although thin and wiry, prevented his
passage into the house. ? The marshal
would gladly have taken a seat, but-she'
offered no such luxury to her inquisitor.
"Hev I ever been man-it ?? "Well, what
next I wonder. Perhaps yeu'd like to
have our pedigree right down from Adam.
But you can't! I 'spect you're some fel?
low from York, come out to seek whom
3*ou may devour. You'd better go back
again ! Take our senses, indeed 1"
The marshal tried to explain matters,
to give her to understand the necessity
and requirements of tho law, and particu?
larly .to convince her that ho was not a
resident of Gotham. lie utterly failed,
however, for his next question only in?
creased her anger. "Hev I got any chil?
dren ! tThy you impertinent puppy, how
darb 3-ou asperse my character? Here
hev I lived^for forty-eight years, and nev?
er been ten mile from homo. Ef you
doubt my rcspcctibility, you'd better go
to our minister, ho knows all about me;
he lived here when I was born; ho knows
that all I possess in the world is this farm
and the two houses down in the village,
worth altogether about fifteen thousand
dollars. He can tell^u'~>tfe^J^ved^
with my father till he died, having*no
brothel's and sisters, and that I never was
marrit, and haint got no children; he is
well acquainted with the folks living with
me, which is a little girl, a farm man and
a big stout Irish girl I'm a woman of few
words and don't allow meddlers."
Tho good woman had now worked her?
self into a passion, and turning away
slammed the door in his face. From her
remarks, however, he gained the follow?
ing facts: "Miss Abigail-^} forty- ~
eight; never married; has no children j
property worth $15,000 ; has no brothers
or sisters; carries on farming;" which
after all was about all the information ho
cared to possess.
-o
All for. the Best.?Blessed are they
that are blind, for they shall sec no ghosts.
Blessed are they that are deaf, for they
need never to lend any money, nor listen
to any tedious stories.
Blessed are they that arc afraid of thun?
der for they shall hesitate getting marri?
ed, and keep away from political meet?
ings.
Blessed are they that are ignorant, for
they are happy in thinking that they know
everything.
Blessed is he that is ugly in form and
features, for the girls shan't molest him.
Blessed is she who would get married
but can't, for the consolations of the gos?
pel are hers.
Blessed arc the orphan children, for'
they have no mother to spankJhem.
-#-:
If Philanthrophy is properly defined to
be a love of man land, most women have
an unoquivocal title to be consdered phi?
lanthropists.
'I fear,' said a certain curate to his flock,
'when I explained to you in my last ser?
mon, that philantrophy was love of our
species, you must have understood me to
say 'specie/ which may account for tho
smallness of the collection. I hope you
will prove by your present contribution
that you no longer labor under the same'
mistake.'
-<5
"My brudders,', said a waggish colored
man to a crowd, "in all affliction, in all your
bubbles, dar is one place you can always
find sympathy." "Whar," shouted several.
!; In do dictionary," ho replied, rolling his
eyes towards the sky.
--*
A medical journal says that single wo?
men have the headache "more than married
one. That may be; but don't married
men have tho headache oftcner than sin?
gle ones?
?-*-? ?
It is chiefly young ladies of a narrow un?
derstanding who wear shoos too tight for
them.
A