The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, April 21, 1870, Image 1
HOYT & CO., Proprietors.
ANDERSON O. H., S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 21, 1870.
VOLUME 5?NO. 43.
A TERRIBLE ENCOUNTER.
Love, Jealousy, Mistaken Identity* and a
Tragedy.
Many years ago, my health having become
much impaired by over study, I was recom?
mended to pass a winter in the South of France.
Of so agreeable a prescription I readily availed
myself. I was without wife or child to encum?
ber my departure; and, armed only with a
portmanteau, made a most delightful journey
of it to the charming town of V-.
Shortly after my arrival, while sitting at the
"window of my hotel, a man passed bv so very
much like myself that, struck with the resem?
blance^ I rose, and leaning forward, followed
him with my pves. His dress bespoke him an
Englishman. Me was tall; so was I. Slim; I
was slim. His eyes were blue, his skin fair, his
hair a deep auburn, his nose acquiline. All
this was iay portrait When he had reached
the bottom of the street, he paused, looked
round, then slowly returned, crossing the road,
however, and taking the opposite pavement.
This enabled me to get a clearer view of the
man. I confess I was much impressed with the
resemblance, and hardly liked it. The physi?
ologist, I thought may delight as much as he
pleases in such coincidences; for my part I de?
cidedly object to being made a portion of any
sort o? phenomenon. I had read of very un?
pleasant consequences following personal re?
semblances, ana earnestly hoped that this in?
dividual, whom nature, short of moulds at the
time, had undoubtedly cast in mine would
speedily clear the neighborhood of his presence.
A week or two after this, in taking a walk
across a beautiful bit of adjacent country, I sud?
denly encountered my likeness seated on a rus?
tic bench 1>eneath a tree with his arm encir?
cling the waist of a very beautiful peasant girL
Hex skin, of a pure and cream-like tint, finely
contrasted with the splendid luxuriance of black
hair. Her eyes flashed upon me. .as I passed,
and I noticed ier draw Herself erect with rapid
hauteur, 'aj^.if indignant or impatient of de?
tection.
The man by . her side, who would have passed
Tery well ibr me to any. other person but my
mother and myself, still maintained his cares?
sing attitude. He did not condescend to raise
his eyes to me as I passed, but kept them fixed
upon the face of the girl, who, I could see,
watched me with a species of sullen eagerness,
as if wishing me well out of sight
As I passed them, I must confess of having
experienced a momentary sensation of envy of
die man. Since nature has put him in my skin,
I thought, it seems only fair that I should put
myself in his shoes. For all I know, I reflec?
ted, that beautiful peasant girl might have been
originally destined for me; out the intention of
nature has been defeated by her love of coinci?
dence. I laughed at my thoughts as I walked
on, and turning a corner I lost sight of the
lovers.
On Teaching the bottom of the lane, I found
that I had Mien upon a cul-de-sac. The pas?
sage terminated in series of fields, across which
I could discover no footpath. I had no wish to
be arrested for trespassing, so I decided on re?
turning the way I had come.
On sighting the bench, I found it was deser?
ted. I was not sorry. I would by no means
have disliked another peep at the beautiful,
brunette; bat, at the same time, I had no am?
bition to inspire the couple with the notion that
I was watching them.
I had got to the top of the hill, and I was
passing between a row of thick bushes, making
a sort of natural hedge for a broad area of
trees, like a gigantic park, when I was sudden?
ly startled by a report of a pistol discharged to
my left At the same moment I heard the hol?
low sound of a ball striking my bet, and that
article of dress rolled on the ground.
I looked round with a pale face. The at?
tack was horribly sudden. Who, i-i the name
of heaven, wanted my life ? For what crime
was my blood demanded? What bad I done?
I saw'the blue smoke curling np from the den?
sest portion of the bushes, and heard the crack?
ling of the furze and twigs caused by the hasty
flight of some one.
I picked up my hat The ball had passed
clean through it. Had it struck two inches
lower, it would have entered my skull.
I hastened toward the town, possessed with
much the same sort of enviable feelings as you
might imagine a Tipperary landlord or agent
would feel who sees threats of his life carved
on every other tree. Bravery in a situation of
this sort was quite out of the question. Of
what use is pluck when you have to deal with
invisible foe's ? I might also confess to having
broken into downright flight as I neared the
town?so extremely anxious was I to escape
every sheltering bush, tree or hedge in the
neighborhood.
On gaining my hotel I began to rc fleet on my
narrow escape. I had been too much excited
to attach to it the significance it demanded.
Bat the hole in my hat conveyed the most
shuddering information on my narrow escape.
Beyond all r easonable doubt my life within that
hour had only been worth two paltry inches.
I repeated the question to myself: "Who
wants my life? And, if anybody wants it,
what are their chums? What have I done to
merit assassination ?" Being wholly unable to
answer these queries, I resolved to make a con?
fident of my host the hotel keeper. I called
him to my room, and told him what had hap?
pened. He shrugged his shoulders and ex?
claimed:
"Monsieur., like the rest of mankind, must
pay the penalty of love I"
"Butf* said L shocked at his sang-froid "I
have not made love. Since I have been here I
Am not conscious of even having looked at a
fro man?much less spoken to one."
"Then it is an enigma," he replied. "The
only solution that I can offer you is?that you
have been mistaken for some one else."
"Bon Dien /" I exclaimed. "You have un?
doubtedly hit the mark. I have beer, mistaken
?and I know for whom. Have you not Been a
man in this town bearing a striking resem?
blance to me?" ?
"No," was the answer.
"Well, my friend, I have. The moment I
saw him, I felt uncomfortable. I had a pre?
sentment of evil?you will oblige me by letting
me have your bill. I shall go to Paris to-night
If I stop here another day, my life, which lieft
England to fortify, will be snuffed out like a
candle."
The hotel keeper, seeing matters come to a
point that affected his interests, endeavored to
fcugh down my thoughts. He argued that the
ball I had received in my hat might have been
destined for a bird: that it was the shot of some
wretched marksman, who had mistaken my hat
for a crow.
"That may all be very well," I answered;
4tbut suffer me to tell you that your excuse only
makes me more resolute to leave this place; for
of what value is a man's life in a district
abounding with sportsmen who can mistake a
hat for a crow ?"
A train left for Paria at 2:36. It was an ex
fress and I found it to be due at eight o'clock,
dispatched my portmanteau by a porter to the
station, and having twenty minutes before me.
sat down to a slight repast of cold fowl and
via ordinaire. The position of my table enabled
me to get a view of the street As the porter
strode away with my luggage, I observed a man
cross the road and accost him. In reply to what
was obviously a question, the porter, with the
gesticulations of a Frenchman, pointed, with
his thumb to the hotel, and vigorously nodded
his head. The man crossed over again to the
pavement, came on until he was opposite the
hotel, caught sight of me through the window,
and abruptly turning on his heel, walked off in
the direction taken by the porter.
I thought nothing of this. The man, I con?
jectured, probably, wanted the job I had given
to the ]>orter. He was a common-looking fel?
low, dressed in leather gaiters, a blouse, a
slouched cap and a belt. There was nothing
singular in his face. He was dark, with a black
beard aud moustache. He was a familiar type
of the middle-aged peasant of Southern France.
Having discharged my bill. I walked to the
railway station. On one platform there was
much tumult, a train from Paris having just
arrived. But upon the platform against which
stood the train that was to bear me to the north,
I counted only five people, exclusive of por?
ters.
But I had little time for observation. The
train would leave in three minutes. I saw my
portmanteau stowed away in the luggage van,
procured myself a first-class ticket and took my
seat
The shrill whistle of the guard sounded. The
engine gave a snort and the line of carriages
clanked to their chains as they tightened to the
strain. Suddenly sevend voices, cried, "Stop I
stop! Now, then, quick I Which class?first?
Let's see your ticket. Right. Here you are?
jump in I" The door of my carriage was oj>en
ed, a form bounded in, the door was slammed,
there was another shrill whistle and off went
the train.
I looked at my companion. He was the man
whom I had noticed speak to the porter and
stare in the window of my hotel.
A thrill passed over me. My recent escape
had greatly shaken my nervous system; and the
apparition of the man whom I felt I ought to
suspect sent a chill through my blood. As a
peasant, which he was?not expressed in dress,
but in hands, which were dirty, rough and hor?
ny?what did he do in a first-class carriage ? I
would have given something to have exchanged
carriages. But there was no communication
with the guard. Moreover, the train, as I have
told you, was an express, and did not stop until
a run of sixty miles had been accomplished.
We were now bowling away with great rapidity.
The man sat, screwed up in a corner away
from me, immovable. He appeared to be look?
ing through the window at the country as it
whirled by; but there was an abstracted ex?
pression in his gaze which indicated that he
saw nothing. His arms were folded upon his
breast. Though he must have been conscious
of my scrutiny, he never turned his eyes upon
me. His lips, I saw, were tightly compressed
and he breathed slowly, but deeply, through his
nose, the nostrils of which diluted to the steady
respiration.
1 began after a little to regain my composure.
I struggled to laugh down my fears. What, I
thought, had I to fear from a man I had never
seen?who had never seen me? The thing was
preposterous. I extracted a paper from my
pocket and commenced to read. I might have
spoken to him, only I imagined that a man in
his situation ttight have been embarrassed at
my French, which I did not speak with a good
accent Besides, there was something that re?
pelled all approach in his immobility.
Half an hour passed away. All at once,
over the edge of my newspaper, I saw him put
his hand out of the window, as if to open the
door. I had no time to conjecture his inten?
tions, when, with a wild screaming whistle, we
hurled into the night of a long tunnel.
The rapid disappearance of daylight made
the oil lamp suspended in the carriage emit but
the dullest light for some minutes.
? I laid the newspaper down with all my old
fears revived in me. I had scarcely done so
when I saw the outline of a man nse in the
carriage. He leaped over to me where I was
seated. I saw the gleam of a knife in the air.
Mad with passion and surprise, I grasped the
descending arm. A furious determination to
preserve my life inspired me with the strength
of a giant. The ferocity with which I seized
the wrist forced the hand open. The knife fell,
and then commenced a silent furious straggle.
He seized me by the collar and clung with
the tenacity of a tiger. I heard him snapping
his teeth as if he were endeavoring to bite.
We swayed from one end of the carriage to the
other. I felt how weak ill health had left mc,
and prayed to pass out into the light, that I
might the better see how to encountw the ruf?
fian.
Suddenly I felt myself swung around with
tremendous energy. I bounded against a door
which opened, and we fell on the linep in the
very center 01 the tunnel.
The fall seemed to have stunned him, for he
fell under me and remained there for a time
motionless! For myself I received an inde?
scribable shock, such as is experienced in a col?
lision : but I retained my senses. I heard the
roar of the train dying away in the distance.
I saw the red gleam fading like the eye of a
dying demon. I still clutched- him by the
throat, nor did I dare relinquish it. My situa?
tion was frightful. I suspected that a down
train would soon be passing, and in the intense
blackness of the tunnel I could not see on
which line we had fallen. I would have
stretched forth my hand to grope for the rails ;
I might have found a place of safety by judg?
ing of the distance between them ;but 1 felt the
form of my assailant commencing to writhe be?
neath me. His struggles grew fiercer. He en?
deavored to rise, but with the fury of despair I
kept him pressed down, one hand on his throat,
the other on his breast. What I desired was to
render him insensible. I would then leave him
in the darLne.^ts, and grope my way as I could.
It never occurred to me at the time that there
was no need to make him insensible in order to
elude him. The darkness would have rendered
my presence invisible to him. But my mind
was hopelessly confused. I wtis breathing a
sulphurous air made thick and difficult by its
blackness. My only thought was to keep the
ruffian down. I was only capable, indeed, of
this thought.
A few minutes had elapsed when I heard a
distant rumbling like approaching thunder. It
increased. I seemed w feel a wind blowing
against my face. I tfisted, too, a continuous
draught of smoke and steam. I knew that a
train was approaching, and my hair lifted on
my head. What rails were we on ? The sus?
pense was frightful.
My assailant increased his struggles. Hebe
came furious. Ho was evidently fighting to
throw me down, and over in the direction of
that side of the tunnel', along which came the
roar of the train. I saw his object, and madly
pressed upon .him. His body frantically writh?
ed. He twisted under :me as if he revolved upon
a pivot. He endeavored to shriek some words
to me, but my throttling grasp made his voice
no more than a horrible hoarseness.
I saw thn red and green lights of the engine
approaching. They grew in size and luster
with a hideous rapidity. There was a roar, a
I shower of dust, a wind that struck me down
like a blow from a strong man's fist; then fol
lowed the dying rattle, ending in a dull and
sullen moan.
I rose to my feet I crossed over to the wall,
and, feeling along it, took a walk with all the
speed my sinking frame would suffer me to put
forth. How long I walked I know not. My
passage seemed interminable. The damp of
the wall against which my hand constantly
pressed froze my blood. Now and then I
stumbled over piles of rubbish lying grouped
against the side; and sometimes my groping
was bewildered by my coming across recesses
into which my hands guided me.
At length I saw a star, tremulous, glorious,
in the distance. It was daylight; the aperture
of the tunnel, and I pushed forward with in?
vigorated spirits. I neared it slowly, for this
star seemed to maintain an inexorable distance,
and would not enlarge. How shall I describe
my joy as I gained the twilight of its reflection
?as I advanced and felt the pure air of heaven
upon my dry cheeks and burning lips?I saw
the blue sky, and the d^m vista of pale, green
banks 1
As I got into the light, a cry escaped my lips.
My trowsers were splashed with blood. There
was one ensanguined line, as if a fountain of
blood had played upon me.
I "seated myself to recover my strength, I
could see that I presented a dismal and terrible
spectacle. My coat was torn, my hands were
black?so, too, I judged, was my face?my col?
lar had been torn from me, and the skin at the
ends of my fingers had been lacerated. After
reposing myself I climbed the bank, and per?
ceived M the distance of about a mile a small
station. I made toward it, and gained it. A
railway official, who was standing looking at
tiro children playing in a back garden, uttered
a loud cry of alarm as he spied me. I narrated
my story to him as coherently as I could, and
then sunk upon the ground in a fainting condi?
tion.
Of what happened after this I have no re?
membrance. When I came to my senses I dis?
covered that I had been taken to the house of
the station-master and carefully tended by his
wife. From him I learned the conclusion of
this singular incident in my life. It seems that
after my story had been told, two men were dis?
patched into the tunnel in search of my assail?
ant. They discovered him lying dead with both
his legs cut clean off a little above the knees.
They bore the corpse to the adjacent dead-house,
and an inquiry into his death brought out par?
ticulars that are easily anticipated. The man
who so very closely resembled me at V
had seduced the betrothed of a laborer, one
Theodore Vertot. This Theodore, reckless now
of life, and resolutely bent on vengeance,
swore to kill her seducer. Mistaking me for
his enemy, he attempted to shoot me. This fail?
ing, he hung about the hotel, armed with a
stiletto, determined to stab me whenever I
should appear on the street
Hearing, however, that I was about leaving
for Paris, ne perceived a better and safer means
of prosecuting his design, by stabbing mc in
the tunnel through which he knew we would
pass, and then escaping in the darkness. Re?
flection had obviously taught him that revenge
would be none the less sweet because it did not
entail his destruction by the law.
Such is the simple but tragical story. My
prototype, who had been the means of twice
imperiling my life, I have never seen since. I
coiifess to no wish to see him. It is bad enough
to have to bear the brunt of one's own follies;
it is altogether miserable to suffer for the fol?
lies of others. Ever since the occurrence of
this small episode, I have always thought there
is a much wiser providence manifested in the
dissimilarity between man and man than our
philosophers suffer us to dream of.?Gentlemen's
Magazine.
Honor Yotjs Business.?"We commend this
paragraph from the London Economist, to all
who nave a "vocation:"
"It is a good sign when a man is proud of his
work or his calling. Yet nothing is more com?
mon than to hear men finding fault continually
with their particular business, and deeming
themselves unfortunate because fastened to it
by the necessity of gaining a livelihood. In
this spirit men fret, and laboriously destroy all
their comfort in the work; or they change their
business, and go on miserably, shifting from one
thing to another, until the grave or the poor
house gives them a fast grip. But while occa?
sionally a man fails in life oecause he is not in
the place fitted for his peculiar talent, it hap?
pens ten times offener than failure results from
neglect and even contempt of an honest busi?
ness. A man should put his heart into every?
thing that he does. There is not a profession
that nas not its peculiar cares and vexations.
No man will escape annoyance by changing
business. No mechanical business is altogether
agreeable. Commerce, in its endless varieties,
is affected, like all other human pursuits, with
trials, unwelcome duties, and spirit-tiring ne?
cessities. It is the very wantonness of foliy for
a man to search out the frets and burdens of his
calling, and give his mind every day to the con?
sideration of them. They belong to human
life. They are inevitable. Brooding over them
only gives them strength. On the other hand,
man has power given him to shed beauty and
Eleasure upon the homeliest toil, if he is wise.
,et a man adopt his business and identify it
with his life, and cover it with pleasant asso?
ciations ; for God has given us imaginations,
not alone to make some poets, but to enable all
men to beautify homely things. Heart-varnish
will cover up innumerable evils and defects.
Look at the good thing. Accept your lot as a
man does a piece of rueged ground, and begin
to get out the rocks and roots; to deepen and
mellow the soil to enrich and plant it. There
is something in the most forbidding avocation
around which a man may twine pleasant fancies,
out of which he may develop an honest pride." J
Slate Pencils?Twenty years ago, all the
slate pencils used were manufactured in Ger?
many. She then supplied America with this
commodity. In 1850, there was a young man
living in West Rutland, Vt, eighteen years of
age, who fortunately discovered a supply of
stone for making a first-class article of slate
pencils. He began by whittling out the pen?
cils and selling them to school children. Being
a better article than that for sale in the stores,
he found a ready sale for all he could whittle
out. He became possessed of the idea that
there was a fortune in the business, and his
dream has been realized This quarry of slate
pencil Btonc was situated in a large ravine, four
miles north of Castlcton, Vt, near Bemoseen
Lake. The land on which it is situated was
for sale at $100. He purchased it, and be?
gan operations by sawing out the pencils
and whittling them round. The business of
making them grew immensely on his hands,
so that it was impossible to keep a cioan order
book. Machinery was invented to facilitate
the process, which lias reached something like
Scrfection, and enormously increases the pro
uction of pencils. At present, the quarry and
mills are owned by a joint stock company.
They arc valued at $300,000. From fifty to
one hundred thousand pencils are turned out
daily, and upwards of a hundred hands are j
employed in the quarry and in the mill. '
Building up the Sooth.
An excellent symptom, in the new movement
of population and industry, now so rapidly
tending Southward, is that bodies of settlers, of
both native and foreign birth, are starting out
upon the co-operative principle, combining
their own means and their experience in vari?
ous practical pursuits with moderate capital
offered to them by responsible parties. We
have heard of several enterprises of this kind,
within two or three weeks, and are inclined to
augur well for their success.
Only a few days ago an expedition of about
100 persons sailed in a small vessel from this
port, for a certain point in Florida, taking with
them implements, cottages in detached pieces
that may be run up in a few hours, seeds, and
live stock. Another set out last week for
Georgia, and there are several more about to
leave New York, Boston, Philadelphia and
Baltimore, for Southern destinations.
Among these small colonies which have late?
ly been, or are just about to be established, the
Swiss and German community at Grutli, in
Grundy county, Tennessee, already in opera?
tion, may serve as a very fair specimen. One
of our valued German exchanges, the Baltimore
Weder, gives a long and interesting detailed
account of it, in a series of letters from the
spot, and the encouragement they afford may
be useful to other intending colonists and set?
tlers. In October, 1869, there were 15 lots, of
100 acres each, left for sale to private parties
of the original purchase. In less than two
weeks after the fact was made publicly known,
all of them were taken up. The result was
that the Swiss Consul from Knoxville visited
the spot, and made two additional purchases
for the colony not far from Tracy City, and ly?
ing along the Chattanooga Boad. Together,
the quantity of and thus added was 8,900 acres,
which have been readily sold at $100 to ?115
for the hundred acre lot. Ninety-five families
are already established at the colony with homes
of their own, and more are rapidly coming.
They are clearing away the forestj and extend?
ing their grain and vegetable culture with mar?
velous speed; they have a saw mill and a flour
mill; several stores, of different kinds; black?
smith, wagon-making and butcher shops ; and
among the handicrafts, carpenters, turners,
shoemakers, tailors, etc., all fully employed,
and they are now building a handsome school
house.
This is the true way to go to work, and we
are happy to know that these spots of light are
swiftly breaking out over the surface of those
portions of the South which have hitherto been
reposing in the silence and darkness of the
primitive wilderness. These are ''the armies
of peace" which are destined to achieve the
truly grand triumphs of our time, and we take
all the more pride in their steady and victori?
ous march that, from first to last, in spite of all
discouragement-*the forebodings of the timid,
and' the sneers of the skeptical?we have urged
and favored this emigration of the sturdy Eu?
ropean stock to the Canaan of the South. Al?
ready, the bug-bear stories of a deadly climate
and hostile population have been scattered to
the winds; and the margin of Northern cul?
ture, industry and thrift begins to fringe the
Gulf. It is pleasant to have had a part in so
glorious a revolution.?N. Y. Mercantile Jour?
nal.
Education of the Colored Race.
It is likely that no Southern man of intelli?
gence is opposed to the education of the color?
ed race, since they have been endowed with the
rights and duties of citizenship. These duties
are very responsible; for the nature of the laws
in force and the character of the men who hold
office in a republican government, depend al?
most entirely upon the manner in which its
citizens discharge their duties to the State, es?
pecially that of voting. This being undeniable,
it becomes a matter of prime importance that
all citizens should be, to some extent, educated.
Unless they have intelligence and understand
the nature of their duties as citizens, it is sim?
ply unreasonable to expect a wise exercise of
their rights or discharge of their duties.
The negro race have oeen suddenly called up?
on to act the part of citizens, without any pre?
vious experience, or even any definite idea of
what they ought to do. It would have been
the wisest thing that the Southern people could
have done, to have at once entered upon the
work of educating them. But, though the ne?
groes have been anxious to secure education,
tor their children at least, and though every?
body admits that education is imperatively
[ needed for the colored people, very few South
: ern men have done anything to encourage meas?
ures for this end. The colored people have, in
! not a few instances, requested the services of
Southern teachers; but have rarely been able
to get them. The consequence is that they ap?
plied to the Frcedmeu's Bureau, and got what
they wanted.
We are led to make these remarks because
we have been applied to recently, to secure
Southern teachers for two negro schools, which
will probably have nearlv a hundred scholars.
After applying to several persons, one gentle?
man was founa willing to teach a school of this
kind. The other school is still vacant, and un?
less a teacher is found soon, those who have
charge of it will apply to the Bureau, although
they much prefer to get a citizen of this county.
There seem to be two objections to taking a
colored school?the uncertainty of getting pav
and the fear of what the neighbors will think
of it. The first objection is unfounded, as the
State ensures five cents per day for each scholar
unable to pay; the second is unworthy of any
man of independence who feels conscious of
honorable intentions, and is unjust to his neigh?
bors, nine-tenths of whom will applaud both
his motives and his action.
Wc hope our readers will meditate npon this
subject. If they desire to cement the ties of in?
terest and good will between themselves and the
colored race, they can do so in no better man?
ner than by showing an interest in and encour?
aging colored schools. The negroes are deter?
mined to educate their children, and the white
people of each locality are the proper persons
to teach tho colored children of that locality.
The expenses of this work will be paid by them,
as the pay for free schools comes out of the
county taxes. They have it in their power to
see that this money is used for promoting good?
will between all races here; but if they prefer,
it will be paid to those who will exert the pow?
erful influence of an instructor to make the
colored people distrust their white neighbors.
Which shall it be??Yorkvillc Enquirer,
? A Washington correspondent of the Wor?
cester Spy relates the following: "Senators have
the use of a handsome bath-room. Attached
to it is a barber-shop. Mr. Garrett Davis is
?reported to have been a daily customer. Re?
cently he was in as usual. Passing just beyond
the door, he looked in amazement at a vision
on which his eyes rested. There sat his col?
league from Mississippi, Senator Revels, evi?
dently not long from the bath-room, and enjoy?
ing the luxury of a comfortable shave. Gar?
rett looked on in horror, and then as he real?
ized the situation, turned on his heel and
walked out. He has not been in since, and it
is reported, has moved to strike out the bath?
room appropriation from the bill."
The Colored Vote??ur True Policy.
If any man imagines that the colored vote of
this State is to be diverted from the radical
party in the next election in this State, then,
in our judgment, he deceives himself We re?
gard it our duty to speak candidly. Weinteiad
neither to deceive our friends nor ourselves.
We regard it the highest policy to look mat?
ters squarely in the lace and then to do what is
best under all the circumstances of the cane.
We have accepted the declaration of the press
conference as due to our recognition of accom?
plished facts, but not expecting said, declara?
tion to have any influence upon the colored
voters of the State. In our judgment, the
great mass of the colored voters will vote for
the regular nominees of the radical party, in
convention assembled. The sooner Democrats
and anti-radicalists understand this, the better
for the cause of those arrayed against the radi?
cal regime of the State.
We have expressed our disposition as a Dem?
ocratic journal, to engage in a general anti
radical rally. But, it is due to ourselves to
say, that we regard the "Citizens' Party" for?
mation as a grand mistake. Upon the basis of
a Democratic platform?upon the basis of a
vital and progressive Democracy?we believe
that the opposition to radicalism ought to be
organized. This, it is true, would not give us
the State on the general ticket, but it could
give us Democratic representatives from 12,13,
14 or 15 Counties. Failing to carry the entire
State, as we must fail, the next best step is to
put in the Legislature a band of able, earnest
and devoted Carolinians, opposed to tne domi?
nant party. Our programme, then, is less am?
bitious than that of the "Citizens' Party," but
it is more sure. Another point?let a party
called "the Citizens' Party" nominate a "Con?
servative Republican," and, in our judgment, a
stronger radical vote will be arrayed against
him than could be against a bold, open and
avowed Democrat. These are our views. It
may be that a majority of our political friends
think otherwise. But we desire to be under?
stood. In our deliberate judgment, to sink the
Democratic organization in this State into a.
"Citizens' Party," is to dull the edge of the
opposition to radicalism and to impair the
cause of the State and the cause of the coun?
try. But perhaps we shall be over-ruled.
When the convention of the anti-radicalists of
the State shall speak, it may be our duty to
defer?at least, to be silent?if no more. Li
the meantime, the Phamix will not flaunt its
Democracy offensively into every anti-radical
ist's face, but let it be known, that as vet. we
see no reason to give up that cause which so
many good and true men in the North, South,
East and West, yet deem it their duty to stund
by. But there is yet another and very impor?
tant point that we desire to make. We wish
to say to our friends that this State is to be re?
deemed and regenerated neither by Democracy
nor any other party. Politically, the State
must be radical tor several years to come. The
colored voters will vote the radical ticket, not
because they cannot stand the Democratic par?
ty, but because they like and love and swear
by the radical party. Now, our proposition is
to stop seeking negro votes. "Ephraim is
joined to his idols, let him alone." The lead?
ers of the negroes have said: "To your tents,
oh Israel!" and "Israel" has obeyed. Yes?
we repeat it?stop trying to win negroes and
try the game of winning white immigrants.
Let no man think and feel and act as if be
held that the destinies of these Southern Stal es
are dependent upon the votes of the colored
man. Let him vote as he will, and, in the
meantime, let the men of the South?fairly,
justly, faithfully, manfully work out their own
salvation. In an industrial sense, it is true?
"Who would bo free, themselves must strike the blow."
Let our people realize their necessities. Let
us understand that these necessities are in the
line of labor and industrial development. Let
us organize in every Southern State, bureaus
of immigration. By some practical means,
give an impetus to immigration and the stream
will flow on. Why should it not? African
slavery has been removed, and we have greater
attractions in productions, in climate and in
soil, than the Isorth. We must labor now not
for victories in the forum, not for laurels of
logic and rhetoric, not for merely mental
achievements, but for population and wealth
and enterprise.
What, then, is our conclusion ? It is this :
Let political fidelity and self-respect l)e main?
tained ; but, above all, let it be understood and
felt in every fibre of our being, that the best
politics?the most reliable politics?for the
State and the South is, the amplest material
development and the largest flow of immi?
grants. To utilize and foster the colored labor
that we have, but to supplement it with white
labor?to improve the colored citizenship that
we have, but to augment the white citizenship;
this is the policy of common sense.?Columbia
Phanix.
A Card from a Democratic Member of the
Legislature.
To the Editor of the Republican?
Sir : I see in your weekly issue of the 19th
inst. a charge upon certain of the Democratic
members of the General Assembly as being
guilty of complicity in the bribery and corrup?
tion so generally supposed to be a distinguish?
ing characteristic of that body. I also notice
in the same paper an extract from the Marion
Star, in which the editor says he has been in?
formed of the existence of a company in the
Legislature known as the "Forty Thieves," who
could be bought for $25 and upwards, accord?
ing to rank, &c, and that the said company
was headed by a Democrat from one of th?
upper counties, &c.
Not knowing upon whom so grave a charge
as this might fasten, and believing that each
one should answer for himself, I take this oc?
casion, so far as these charges refer to myself,
to pronounce them false without qualification,
both in letter and spirit, and to assure ray fel?
low-citizens that whilst I entertain no doubt of
the existence of corruptions and bribery in our
Legislature, my own skirts are clear
Nor do I believe any respectable membef of
the Legislature, either Democratic or Republi?
can, would, for one moment, give credence to a
charge of this kind as in any wise applying to
myself. Since my connection with tne South
Carolina Legislature I have endeavored to cul?
tivate patriotism, which is said to be the high?
est civic virtue. I loathe and detest that spirit
which would induce one to sell his birth-right
for a mess of pottage, or sacrifice the people's
good to secure his own selfish ends-;-this must
certainly be the lowest civic occupation.
Respectfully,
Claude C. Turner,
Spartanburg, S. C, March 24,1870.
? A young married couple in a Wisconsin
town lately began housekeeping, and the first
purchases of the head of the family at the
village grocery were: Five cents worth of soda,
five cents worth of salt, two cents worth of
peppeT, one cent worth %cf chewing-gum and
twelve cents worth of soap. The bill amounted
to twenty-five cents, which was paid by the
young Benedict in specie, and as he left the
store lie remarked to the clerk that "keeping
house is cheaper than boarding." '
The Lahor Problem at the South.
We regard it as a sign of industrial con vales*
cence that the people of almost every Southern
State are earnestly discussing the questions cf
production, of emigration, of manufactures and
material recuperation of thaf section. They
seem to have reached a full, albeit a tardy, re?
alization of the folly of their policy previous
to the war, and to evince a disposition to avail
themselves of the opportunity for a fuller de?
velopment which has just been presented to
them by emancipation. They are evidently
beginning to appreciate the true reason why the
North has so steadily outstripped the South in
the race for material prosperity, as well as of
physical power, during the last three-quarters
of a century. With infinitely greater attrac?
tions in climate, soil and profitable production,
the South has steadily fallen behind in the
struggle for supremacy in population, territo?
rial development and wealth. The explanation
of this ifs to be found in the social aristocracy,
the spirit of isolation and the degradation of
labor, which were the inevitable results of
slavery. There is no question that but for
these obstacles the South would have absorbed
a large share of the emigration and enterprise
which poured into thewWestern States, and
which not only made that section the garden of
the world, but has given it the political control
of the whole country.
Emancipation suddenly changed the policy
as well as the requirements of Southern, civil?
ization, and notwithstanding it has taken five
years of severe and painful discipline to effect
a realisation of the iactj the delay has been
salutary, and the transition more healthy and
Eermanent by reason of the delay. The people
ave had an opportunity to study out the solu?
tion of the problem for themselves. They have
been made to appreciate the true digni y and
mission of labor, and to get rid of the false
notions which they previously entertained.
They see that the presence among them of
four millions of people suddenly transformed
from slaves to freedmen, required a correspond?
ing change of sctfal ideas. If not profitably
employed, the blacks would surely become a
dangerous social element, but if they were so
employed, and speedily, they could readily be
made a means of development and wealth even
greater than they were before the war. Two
things were necessary to effect this. The blacks
were to be encouraged to adopt proprietary
labor, and it was essential that they should ? be
subjected to sharp competitions in order to pie
vent them from combining to control The
first necessity involved the Teasing or sale of
land to the negro in small parcels, and the
second the encouragement of white immigra?
tion.
Both necessities were resisted for a long time
after peace was declared, and chiefly from ptta
I judice. But recently We ?bte ? very decided
change in that respect The Southern press
generally invites emigration from the North, as
well as from Europe.. Agents have been sent
from most of the States to organize European
migration, and quite a large number of com
munities have already arrived. A Convention
is to be held at Charleston the 6d of May to
aid the movement of South Carolina; several
large colonies of Germans have recently set?
tled in Alabama, and a colony of New Yorkers
are also on their way there. Fifty-three thou?
sand emigrants, black and white, have passed
through Memphis within the last five months,
destined for the Southwest, of whom fifteen
thousand were newly-arrived foreigners. North
Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky have each
organized bureaus of immigration, which ate
actively at work, and similar efforts are being
made?and with great succcsss?to turn the
tide toward Alabama and Mississippi.
All this is but the beginning of the end. It
is destined to go on increasing until the South
shall be filled up with a new element of popu?
lation, which will introduce new ideas, bring
its vast extent of unoccupied lands Under tut*
age, and ultimately bmld up a homogenous
civilization upon the ruins of that false and
pernicious system which has hitherto been an
incubus upon the South, socially, politically
and materially. The result will be that the
sectional animosity which has so long prevail?
ed will be gradually obliterated, and that when
the present generation shall have passed away,
it will have disappeared altogether.*-Hew York
Tines, \
Irani the Chester Reporter,
Hon Jas. L. Orr.
The Southern Guardian in a recent editorial
forcibly presents the claims of this distinguish'3
cd gentleman to the confidence and support of
the entire people of the State; We endorse
every word of it Our confidence in the politic
cal honesty and integrity of Go v. Orr has never
wavered. We differed with him in 1868, but
we believed then that he was honest and patri?
otic in the views he held and theC?ursc he pur*
sued; With the light of experience reflected
back upon those (lark days we see now that
statesmanship and wisdom dictated his course.
It is true, his judgment has been sometimes at
fault. For it was to his influence, more per?
haps than to any other one man's, that the
scornful rejection of the 14th amendment by
the Legislature was due.
And from this rejection spfa?g all our recon?
struction woes, and the miserablen ess of out*
present condition. But still, to err is human r
and despite this great blunder of his, we regard
him as our safest counsellor in these trying
times, and as the ablest hands to which we can
entrust the Executive Office of the State.
The following is a part of the Gwtrdian'i
editorial i
"Through all this past of trial and fire, the
one man, whose eye has been clear, and whose
.judgment has taken facts and not feelings for
its data, whose prophecies of each year have
been verified by the events of the next, and
whose counsels have invariably been approved
but only in retrospection?that one man has
again appeared; and to-day finds, for the first
time, a State ready to hear him.
"In an hour like this, when the State Heeds
her best powers, and all of them, she can ill
afford to spare the man who has given the
clearest proof of his peculiar ability to read
these tangled times, and of his special fitness
to avert yet greater calamity from her. She it
in the unclean clutches of a corrupt oligarchy
of adventurers hostile to her true interests; and
to save the State from these spoilers is the par?
amount interest of all. And all her best citi?
zens, the black no less than the white, 'eel this
to be the true condition of things with us.
Governor Orr distinctly announces thiu, as we
showed yesterdav; and, under the guidance of
such a man?and there is no other such than
he himself?the emancipation of South Carolina
from its Winchester rifle regime next October
is a glorious certainty."
? An association of New England, capital?
ists, who are thinking of investing largely in
Southern enterprises, fcave recently put thjem^
selves to a good deal of expense to find out the
prices of votes in all the Legislatures of that
South. The result shows that the average pricsr
is. eleven dollars thirty-seven and a hali eents
per dozen, with a liberal discount to wholesale
dealers.