Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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jj! independent Family Journal?Devoted to Politics, Literature and General Intelligence. HOYT & CO., Proprietors. ANDERSON C. H., S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 18, 1870. VOLUME 6?NO. & The Sagacity and Credulity of the Negro Race. The correspondent of the Charleston Courier, accompanying the Reform candidates on their canvassing tour throughout the up-country, has had abundant opportunity to study "the situation," and in one of his recent letters, he gives the result of his impressions, concluding with earnest words of advice to the white peo? ple as to the necessity for personal explanation and solicitation. Is every white man discharg? ing this duty ? Here is what the correspon? dent says of the sagacity of the negro in one instance and his unaccountable credulity in the other: The history of every newly enfranchised race exhibits some peculiar circumstances, but I think there cannot be found on record an in? stance of a people more easily duped than that of the colored race in South Carolina. That the colored man should turn his back upon the Democratic Platform of 1868 is most natural. One of its main features was a declaration of the illegality of the very Act which gave to him the right of suffrage, and whatever may have been the opinion of the wise statesmen of the country as to the fitness of the newly en? franchised African race for the suffrage, it was quite natural that they should fight to the death against such a party platform. In this respect I think they exhibited a wonderful po? litical sagacity, a sagacity which is difficult to be understood when their attitude in the polit? ical arena for the past twelve months is con? sidered. I cannot easily conceive how a people who gave evidence of such shrewdness in 1868, can be so easily duped in 1870 ; how a fellow like Whittemore, accused and convicted by a Republican Congress of disgraceful conduct, virtually expelled from the seat in the national legislature which he had disgraced, can delude them into re-electing him, and even after being again refused admittance to Congress, can re? turn to his constituents with so black a record and assume at once a prominent place in the councils of what is called the Republican par? ty. Nor is this delusion of the colored people confined to Whittcmore's district. During the past ten days I have visited every principal town in the mountain regions of South Caroli? na, and I observe the same system of delusion kept up by the Scott Ring. For instance, at Abbeville Court House there are several idle mulattoes, engaged in no appa? rent avocation, loungers about the streets from day to day, and two or three worthless, brain? less white men, doubtless in the pay of Scott, who exercise a wonderful influence over the colored people of the whole District. In Oconee County this Scott worship is, or was, kept up (for I believe that a great revolu? tion is about to take place iu the political his? tory of South Carolina) by a dirty, thriftless, weazen-faced white man. In Greenville, a fellow who bears the brand of the Penitentiary upon his face, rules these people, and in other places the same curious anomaly is apparent. These men, who are by no means a representative class, are given office or paid by the Scott Ring, for the purpose of keeping the colored people bound down to their interest, and right successful has been their efforts. Their whole argument is, "be? ware of the white man. He will reduce you to slavery again if you allow him to get iu power," and this specious argument, acting upon a naturally jealous mind, produces the fruits to which I have alluded. Now this is the feeling that the friends of Reform have to counteract. The colored man must be made to understand, thoroughly, that the whites of the State, who have hitherto, in one sense of the term, at least, been their political enemies, extend now the olive branch of peace. That recognizing, in its fullest sense and in good faith, all the rights guaranteed them by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend ments, and pledging themselves to protect them in the enjoyment of these rights, the white people ask them not to abandon the ranks of the Republican party; not to vote against any man who is a Republican; not to give up any of their political or civil rights; but to join with them on a common platform of equal rights to all men, and help rescue the State from the hands of the corrupt Ring who now misrule and misgovern. Let them understand that they are asked to help depose Scott and Neagle and Parker and Whittemore, and the rest of this Ring, not because they are Radi? cals, but because they have, during nearly two years of misrule, proved themselves totally un? worthy of the solemn responsibilities entrusted to them; because they have well nigh plunged the State into inextricable ruins That the col? ored people are gradually awakening to these great truths I do not doubt, but there are pow? erful influences brought to bear upon them, and although they invariably attend the Union Reform meetings in this section in large num? bers, there are many who are kept away by the threats and persuasions of Scott's agents. Hence, a3 I have already stated in a previous letter, exists the necessity for active local can? vassing. Those men who are kept away from hearing the truth at the public meetings, should be talked to and reasoned with by the more intelligent people in their vicinity. I have so much faith in the good sense of the colored man, and in the justice of our cause, that I do not hesitate to predict the most grat? ifying results. Keeping Accounts with Fkeedmen.?One of the most fruitful sources of trouble with the employer of freedmen, says the Rural Caro? linian, is the want of understanding on the part of the latter of book accounts. The freed? man sets in on the 1st of January, for the year, at so much per month. The employer must necessarily open a running account with him, in which he charges him a stipulated amount for every day, or fraction of a day, lost, as well as goods, supplies and cash advanced? giving him credit with the stipulated amount of his monthly wages. The book-keeping in? volves, of necessity, upon the employer. At the expiratiou of the engagement the balances in favor of the freedman almost invariably fall short of bis expectation. He has lost more than'he has any remembrance of?his expenses have been largely more than he calculated, with lively suspicions of unfair dealing on the part of his employer, he goes away, sullen an dis? contented ; all, perhaps, for" uo other reasou than that he wa3 unable to keep an account for himself. A plan has been suggested which we think is calculated to obviate this difficulty, and is, at the same time, simple and convenient. Let the employer provide himself with checks or tickets, representing the price of a day's work ?say fifty cents?with fractions of this sum, and at the end of every day pay to the laborer, in these checks, the amount due him. If he has done a full day's work, give him a check for the amount due; if he has done but half a day's work pay him accordingly. When the laborer wants supplies let him pay for them in these checks. In short, whatever transactions may be had between the employer and the freedman, let the settlement be made at at the time, with these checks, as a representative of cash. ? Saratoga has an affluent Chinese merchant, who flings eight-ounce diamonds at the waiters when his baked rat is not well done. Ex-Governor Seymour on Chinese Immigra? tion. The working masses of the North are just now deeply interested in the probable influx of Chinese immigrants, and everywhere in that section the subject is being discussed. Recent? ly, a mass meeting of workingmen was held at Rochester, N. Y., when the followingletter was read from Ex-Gov. Horatio Seymour, in which that distinguished statesman discusses the evils which must attend an immense inundation of the Chinese upon this country. The letter is addressed to the Secretary of the Association inviting Gov. Seymour to address the meeting: Utica, August 3. Sie : I put off until this time my answer to your letter asking me to speak to a meeting at Rochester upon the subject of Chinese immi? gration, as I hoped it would be in my power-to do so. I am sorry that I cannot attend. All agree that it is a grave subject. It is one that must be met, and it must be met now. Strong influences are at work to open the flood-gates and pour in upon us the worst classes of over? crowded China. They can get to our shores at less cost, and in greater numbers than the peo? ple of Europe. If they continue to crowd in, they will overthrow the customs, civilization and religion of the whole Pacific coast, and they will also crush down the position of labor? ing classes throughout our country. I am against this. I am not willing they should gain a foothold here. No nation in Europe would suffer such an invasion. If Britain, Germany or France should allow anything of the kind, their government would be over? thrown. Why should we give up our civiliza? tion in any part of our country for that of Asia ? It is said we want cheap labor. We do not want cheap labor, but well-paid labor. Inter? est, as well as justice and humanity, calls for this. If all who labor in this country took the same wages and spent as little money as the Chinese laborer, our government would be bankrupt and business would shrink up, Well paid labor spends freely with the business man and fills the national treasury by the imposts and duties it pays upon what it uses. This is the whole source of our financial strength as compared with other people. If labor is brought down to the Chinese standard, there will at once be a difference in the condition of classes which will in the end overthrow our govern? ment. We pay higher taxes and interest than any other people, and, if the price of labor is put down to Asiatic rates, capital will swallow up the earnings of toil more rapidly than was ever yet done in the history of nations. If this is to be our future we have lost in vain nearly a million of lives in the late civil war. It is not the object of government to undersell others, to pinch ourselves that we may pinch others. The great end of statesmanship is to give com? fort and plenty to each home, and to take care that labor is well paid. We should seek to give happiness to each fireside, and not to fill the coffers of capitalists. It is said by some, if we shut out Chinese immigration, we do so in the face of all our former professions. This is not so. We invite European immigration, because it adds to our power and happiness. Europeans do not over? throw our customs, religion, or civilization.? They do not bring here any strange blood. It has "always beeu our practice to shut out any immigration that is hurtful. We send back to Europe criminals or paupers, by virtue of State and national laws. Every city and town guards against incomers who endanger social order or safety. We are in no way bound to take into our public system any mischievous elements, or to destroy it by personal influences. If we believe in our religious creeds; in the form and principles of our government, then wVmust believe that Asiatic creeds and customs are baleful. To-day we are dividing the lands of the native Indians into States, counties and townships. We are driviug off from their property the game upou which they live, by railroads. We tell them plainly they must give up their homes and property and live upon corners of tiieir own territories, because tiiey are in the way of our civilization. If wc can do this, then we can keep away another form of barbarism which has no right here. I have no doubt the Chinese have useful qualities. They are said to be good servants, ready to do the work of men or women, but they have not the traits which will build upon this continent a great and high toned power. We must not judge of those who come here by those who stay at home. We get only the dregs. There is but one way of dealing with the mat? ter. The policy of exclusion must be as. sharp and as vigorous as that of Massachusetts or New York against the coming pauperism. It must be borne in mind that, under the late amendments to our national Constitution, you can give them no qualified condition ; you put upon them no political restraint, made necessa? ry by their peculiarities. They can grasp the rights of voting and law-making despite all State legislation. It is to be hoped that this subject will be taken up and discussed in a fair and temperate way by all classes. We must not let it drift and settle itself. Unless we are ready to give up the consequences of this new danger to the public peace and home happiness of our people, wc must confront the problem at the outset. Truly yours, horatio seymoue. Captain Hall's Aectic Expedition.? Captain C. F. Hall, of the Arctic Exploring Expedition, will sail early next May. The ex? pedition will be planned solely with a view to the promotion of science and general knowl? edge. Explorations will be extended from the eighty-second parallel to as near the North Pole as possible. He will make it a point to hunt for relics of the famous expedition of Sir John Franklin, whose venerable widow, nearly eighty years of age, has recently visited Captain Hall in this city, to thank him for his past ef? forts and wish him still greater success in the future. The American people will watch with interest the results of this expedition, though it will cost them but a beggarly $50,000. If all our public service could be had at a similar rate the national debt might be paid off within five or six years.? Cincinnaiti Times. Longevity.?The Piedmont Virginian says there is living in the upper end of Orange county a Mrs. Pratt, who will be ninety-niue years old in November next. Her mind, mem? ory and hearing are almost as good as ever.? She can walk about the house, yard and garden without help of any kind. She cards and spins every day for amusement. She was born in Culpeppcr, raised in Madison and married in Orange. The Hillsboro (N. C.) Recorder Bays: "Mrs. Shankliu, who resides six miles from town, is one hundred and eleven years old, and has a daughter living with her who is eighty and odd. The old lady was grown in the revolutionary war, and remembers Cornwallis when he had his headquarters in this town. Mrs. S. is as active now as some of our parlor-ornament girls of thirty years. ? A cabbage leaf worn in the hat and on the chest, next to the skin, will keep a man ccol and comfortable on the hottest day. From the Boston Courier. Extraordinary Kevclations?Lincoln and Booth. A most extraordinary revelation in regard to the assassination of the late President Lincoln has just been made in the New York Democrat. Such is the force of party prejudice that doubt? less very many persons would refuse credence to the narrative, and even to give it any heed whatever, simply because of the vehicle through which it is communicated to the public. It will, nevertheless, make its due impressions, since the facts stated do not rest upon the mere authority of a Democratic newspaper, but, if sustained in the end, will owe their support to the testimony of persons referred to in the ar? ticle, and whose statements will carry ample weight. It is not unlikely that they, or some of them, may decline to say anything upon the subject, from either personal or political rea? sons ; but after such a minute relation, in which their names are freely made use of, has been given to the public, their silence would be equally confirmatory with their open assent. As Mr. Web9ter said in the Knapp trial: "And suicide is confession ;" so reticence on the part of those conspicuous gentlemen, in regard to facts of such consequence, in which they are publicly alleged to have been concerned, could only be construed as full admission of their truth. The world has always imputed the murder of Lincoln to political causes; though it must have appeared a little unintelligible, why a person in the position of Booth should have taken upon himself the perpetration of such a crime for the reason assigned. We suppose that few ever really believed that the Confed? erate authorities, or any one of their number, either had any knowledge of the purpose, or would have looked upon a scheme so impolitic, as well as so criminal, with any sort of com? placency ; and every such idea has long been dismissed, wherever entertained by persons of or? dinary judgment and candor. Still the theory, however vaguely imagined, imparted a sort of dignity to the unhappy eveut and elevated the assassination into a kind of martyrdom, in the common apprehension of which, as we well know, plentiful use has been made. All this prestige is completely stripped away by the narrative of the Democrat, and the high-han? ded murder of the President is reduced to the level of an atrocious act of private vengeance. The Democrat devotes some eight columns to the details of this transaction, of which we can only give the portion below. It seems that Booth was and had long been an intimate and devoted friend of John Yates Beall, of Virginia, an officer in the Confederate service, who had conceived the idea of recapturing the Confed? erate prisoners, amounting to some twelve thousand, confined on Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, for attempting which feat he was duly commissioned. Having been taken prisoner himself, however, he was put on trial before a military commission, according to the practice of those days, was treated as a spy and sen? tenced to summary execution. Wc now copy the important part of the narrative in question, as published in the Democrat, of July 20th, to which wc fear that Republican papers will ren? der very little aid in giving currency: When Beall went as the special agrcnt of the South on a hazardous mission, the friendship of Booth went with him. At last Beall was arrested. He was tried and sentenced to death. Then, with him looking into the Eternal Mirror, our chapter begins its ending. John Wilkes Booth resolved to make a grand attempt to save the life of his friend Beall, and conveyed information of his purpose to him, with the whisper of hope a part thereof. At this time Booth loved with a strange and tender devotion a daughter of John P. Hale, United States Senator from New Hampshire. He worshipped her as, in his mind, the best and purest Avoman he had ever seen. She ad? mired him, but not with that eternal-reaching wildness of love his was for her. For the purpose of our recital we must draw aside a curtain to reveal a glimpse of a family picture. Booth loved her for her worth, virtue, purity, and goodness. But he was reputed a gay man of the good world, and she feared to trust her heart aud destinies into his keeping, though wc have reason to believe she greatly admired him. And her father, looking to the happiness of his daughter as he thought, was not quite willing the alliance Booth desired should be formed. But for the gifted genius he had a liking and an admiration. One night in Washington, after Beall was doomed, John Wilkes Booth and John P. Hale called on G. W. McLean, of Cincinnati, who was then in Washington. They wanted McLean to go with them to find Colonel John W. For? ney, and, with him in company, call upon Lincoln. McLean was unusually intimate with Lin? coln, and had more influence with him than any other Western Democrat. And as he was cheek by jowl with Forney, McLean was to vouch for Booth, with Hale and Forney to join in asking the Executive clemency for Beall. It was after midnight when the carriage con? taining Hale, Booth and McLean left the hotel where the latter was stopping, and was driven to Forney's residence. Forney was in bed un? der the influence of liquor. After some little talk and explanations he arose, and bathed his head in ice water, made a hasty toilet, and took a seat in the carriage. The party were then driven to the White House, reaching there about two o'clock in the morning. They were admitted past the guards, and found President Lincoln in his room, not yet retired. Then came an explanation of the object of the visit. President Lincoln sat by the side of Senator Hale, and listened to the particulars. Booth then and there told that once he was in a scheme to abduct the President, not to injure him, but to aid in the release of certain friends, who could not be exchanged. He told that all that was of the past, so far as he was concern? ed. And then he asked for the reprieve of Beall, promising on his honor as a man, to ever be as good a friend to Mr. Lincoln as a man could be to one who had rendered such a favor?to warn the President, if it came to his knowledge that his life was in danger, and to hold himself per? sonally responsible for the good behavior of Beall, ever after. It was a question of life or death. Beall was doomed. !No power save the Executive could save him. Booth pleaded with all the impas? sioned eloquence of his nature, and thousands upon thousands know what that was. Senator Hale asked the pardon of Beall as a favor to himself and his family. Forney asked for it for reasons then and there given, as did McLean, and the reasons we can give at the proper time. Booth told the President of their long es? tablished friendship?of his love for the brave, adventurous spirit?of his love for the young man who was doing for his people in the South, just what a patriot in the North would have done for the cause and the people dear to him. 1 President Lincoln was greatly moved, even to tears, and gave to Booth Aw word of honor, as a man, that Bca 11 should be pardoned. Then there was joy and happiness in that room. Booth kissed the hand or the President, and thanked him with tearful eyes and choked voice, even after his friends had taken their hats to leave the presence of the Chief Magis? trate of the nation, who had promised, and whose promise was by Booth relied upon. But alas for human promises! Beall was hung. The President did not keep his word? did not pardon him. Seward, the iufamous ty? rant and Secretary of State, whose tinkling bell sent his betters to Bastiles, said it would not do?that Lincoln's duty to the Republican party demanded the execution of Beall to keep tinted the sentiment of the North for such blood. Lincoln said Beall must be pardoned, for he had promised it. Seward said he must not be pardoned, or there would be strange revcalments 1 And so the President weakened, withheld the pardon?and poor Beall suffered for his patri? otic devotion with his life. When Booth learned that Lincoln had lied to him, and not kept his sacred promise, his face turned to the pallor of death, his lips became white, his eyes seemed ready to burst from their sockets, and he swore by the Eternal God that he would kill the man who had lied to him, and that his own right hand, then raised to Heaven, should avenge the death of his comrade. And he did 1 Booth called to his counsel but a few friends, some of whom were in Washington, two of whom were not. He marked the President for his own avenging, and to others was given in charge to kill Seward at the same hour, for his interference. As we believe, under the directing power of another world, Booth's hand did avenge the death of Beall. He was the martyr to private feelings, for he knew that almost certain death awaited him, but he cared not for that. Inflamed by revenge?going like a bolt of wrath to the President, he fired the shot which sent echo after echo down the long lane reach? ing to the future. He kept his word?he avenged the death of his friend, and a wondrous Providence dealt then with him as the world knows of. But Seward lived. There was not that "light? ning" in the hearts of those who were deputed to aid Booth in his avenging that tilled the soul of the one who settled so terribly in full with the President. And so died Abraham Lincoln, not by the hand of one who struck in behalf of a nation, but by the hand of a fiery, impetuous stage walkiug tenement of chivalry. Had he kept his word, he would not then and there have died, no matter what his fate afterward. It be admitted that the statement tends most essentially to modify the impression heretofore entertained in regard to a mournful event which may be justly said to have shocked the world. If the narrative be true, the title of "martyr President," so far as his death has been esteemed a sacrifice to the cause of the country, would seem altogether inappropriate. It will be observed that the attempt on the life of Se? ward, as the special adviser of Liucoln, on the occasion, at the same time that Lincoln was killed, is strongly confirmatory of the relation of the Democrat. But wc are not leftto inference alone in regard to a matter of such great pub? lic significance. The persons mentioned as the companions of Booth, on the occasion of his intercession with the President for the life of Beall, arc well known meu in public and pri? vate life. Mr. Hale, at that time a Republican Senator, has just returned from his Spanish Mission; Washington McLean has long been editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the leading Demo? cratic journal of the West; Mr. Forney, at that time, we think, Clerk of the Senate, and then and still editor of "two papers, both daily," on the Republican side, has peculiar facilities for presenting the public with any information he may choose to communicate on the subject. We shall soon see what course will be taken by these gentlemen, thus imperatively appealed to iu a matter of such importance to the future history of the country. Last Hours of Judge Loxgstreet.?A correspondent of the St. Louis Advocate refers to the last hours of the venerable Judge Long street?whose death has been recently chroni? cled in the following language: For a week previous to his decease, he had been suffering from a severe attack of chills, but after the first two or three days had rallied so far as to sit up, to read, and to write. Late on Wednesday evening, the 6th of July, he had declared his intention of sitting up through the whole of the next day; but early in the morning he was seized by a chill which rapidly developed into phcuraonia, and thenceforward he sauk rapidly. His last hours were remarkable, even for those of a true Christian. To within two days of his death, and while prostrated by disease, his aged and trembling hands were eagerly writing on a work of a religious character, to which the last part of his life had been devo? ted. An ineffable peace settled around him, quieting even the grieved souls about his bed? side. All the numberless moments of his life, which had been consecrated by his remarkable, unhesitating trust in God, seemed to gather from the by-gone years, drawing around him in the trying hour of death to sustain and brighten him and his. When questioned respecting his spiritual condition, raising his hand, he replied, "There is not a cloud." So uushaken was this repose that he watched the approach of death with the curious interest of one making a new and important chemical analysis, rather than with the tremulous apprehension of one about to enter the unknowu and awful hereafter. The parting of the soul and the body was an event which he had long anticipated, and which for years he had made the topic of his daily conversation. When the time came, with a wonderful lucid mind, he gave the closest scru? tiny to the loosing of every tie which united the two; and it is very doubtful whether any soul of the millions departed can tell more of the rationale of death than that of Judge Longstreet. With his own fingers he counted the failing pulse. When he could no longer move his hand he made one of his attendants place it on his wrist, and, looking around on the loved ones he was leaving, he quietly ex? claimed, "Almost gone." At 4 o'clock, in the afternoon, and without pain, he expired, with the light of a glorious Bmile playing over his face. ? Three little girls were playing among the poppies and the sage bushes of the back yard. Two of them were making believe keep house, a little way apart, as near neighbors might.? At last one of them was overheard saying to the youngest of the lot: "There, now, Nellie, von "go over to Sarah's house, and stop there a little while and talk as fast as you can, and then come back and tell me what she said about me, and then I'll talk about her; and then you go and tell her all I say, and then we'll get as mad as hornet's, and" won't speak when we meet, iust as our mothers do, you know; and that'll*be such fun?won't it?" The Coming Hallway. The "coming man" has so long absorbed public attention, that coming events, though they cast their shadows before, appear t()be unheeded. The remarkable success which has attended the narrow gauge railway in Wales, so much talked of a tew months ago, affords a subject for speculation, or suggests, in fact, the possibility of a revolution in railway construc? tion. The length of this road, from Port Ma doc to Festiniog, is fourteen miles, the lint of route being a rugged mountain, one with a succession of sharp curves and a continuous rise by gradients averaging about 1 in 85. It was built cheaply, is worked at a singubuly low cost, and yet is found quite as effective for local traffic and travel as roads of wider gauge and infinitely more costly construction. Tne gauge, to be exact, is one foot eleven and a half inches, and the locomotives used weigh about ten tons coaled and watered, with Sen? ders whose avoirdupois but slightly overrun a ton. . The passenger cars are proportionately light and diminutive, though so arranged as to afford accommodations as ample and comforta? ble as the enormous carnages upon ordinary roads, and are in strange contrast with them in the proportion of dead weight to each pas? senger. A few weeks ago, at a trial of the en? gines on this road, the "Little Wonder" hauled a train of 125 trucks and seven passenger car? riages, weighing nearly 115 tons. It glided with perfect smoothness round the constantly recurring sharp curves of the mountain, over? came grades with perfect ease, and made the distance of 14 miles within fifty minutes. This experimental line has been for several years in active operation, and carries daily a consid? erable number of passengers to and from Port Madoc, and a large amount of heavy freight? the latter consisting principally of valuable j slate and building stone from the Festiniog quarries. The cheapness with which it was built, the peculiar lightness of its equipment, and the handsome profits it has paid to its stockholders?not less than fifty per centum annually?have led to the construction of sim lar roads in other parts of Wales. The atten? tion of large numbers of capitalists and civil engineers has also been strongly attracted to the subject. Here, then, we have a railway which may be constructed for a few thousand dollars a mile, the cost of whose equipment is a mere trifle. As a local road connecting with a main line it can be built more cheaply than a common plank road, and from the lightness of its rolling stock is subject to very little wear and tear. Such a road might be built by neighborhood corporation anywhere. It would cheapen the cost of transportation to a market; it would largely enhance the value of the lands through which it passed; and, if properly managed, would pay to the stockholders from the very outset a handsome profit on their in? vestment. Why may we not see the experi? ment tried here ? There are plenty of isolated interior localities for which it would be just the thing.?Railroad News. A Strange Creature.?A correspondent of the New Orleans Picayune relates the fol? lowing story: . During a recent sojourn in the Lone Star State my attention was called to a curiosity or a freak of nature more wonderful than the three-horned ox, and a harder dose for skeptics than the fact of a hog playing scveu-up. About six miles from Cliappell Hill, Wash? ington county, Texas, there is a negro, about twenty-five years of age, who can truly be called a woman-man, being physically a man, with the nature, disposition and temperament of a woman. He was born in Washington county, is now in the employ of Judge Landes, and was formerly employed by 3Ir. M. Mont? gomery, of the same county. While a youth he always had a desire to wear girls' clothes, and did such work as fine sewing, quilting, knitting, cooking, &c, as naturally as would a girl. In fact, from the age of twelve, he did all his mother's sewing, and continually protested against wearing men's clothes. The work of a woman was more natural to him than that of a man, and he would always show his feminine disposition in such little actions as riding side-saddles, &c. He would beg to be called Dixie, or bv any girl's name, instead of Dick. The most wonderful part of the history of this strange being is, that the very moment he was free he adopted the full garb of a woman and the name of Lizzie. By those with whom he was raised he is called Lizzie-Dick, but is most generally known by the name of Lizzie, and is now universally recognized as a woman by both the whites and blacks of the county. His bed-room is always kept in the very neatest order, and in his dress he displays a rare taste seldom seen among negroes, and often "fouad wanting" iu the fashionable belle of society. He evinces no disposition to talk of his situa? tion, but simply says he is a woman, and con? siders it a non-debatable question^ I know the reader will say, as did the writer on first hearing of this wonderful being, that the negro is hermaphroditical, demented, luna? tic or a monomaniac on this one subject, but the above two gentlemen will corroborate the statement that the former is not the case, and that there is not a brighter or moro intelligent negro in the county. This is probably another case of man turning to woman as was going the rounds of the press a few years ago; but, my object being simply to give the above facts, I will leave the "whys and wherefores" for wiser heads than that of your friend. r. A New Power i>* Mechanics.?A couple of young machinists have a working model of an engine on exhibition in one of the rooms of the bank building on Third-street, which, if successful in operation on a large or working scale, is destined to produce as radical a change in motive power as steam effected iu its day and generation. A patent was secured for the present invention a few mouths ago, but even since then certain improvements are claimed, and it is proposed to offer the perfected model to the inspection of the public in the course of a week at the farthest. A furnace at one end of a heavy iron tube, which acts as a flue; is expanded 5y the heat. The expansion acts upon a lever of heavier metal than the tube, and as the latter becomes heated, the lever moves slowly but powerfully backwards and forwards; and this motion, once secured, is repeated at will by the application of cogwheels. The supply of heat to the tube is regulated by side flues which carry off super? fluous heat, or leaves all the furnace produces for application to the generating tube, at will of the operator. . The inventors affirm that the power is unlim? ited, aud that it can be supplied at a cost which will'throw caloric engines aud steam engines completely into tho shade.?Cincinnati Com? mercial. -? ? A member of tho Pennsylvania Legisla? ture, in defending mothers-in-law, said: "I know 'em, Mr. Speaker. Have had several.? They're a good and useful class, and yet?and yet?with the best of them there may be trou? ble." ? The man who sat down on a paper of tack3 eaid they reminded him of the income tax. ' I The Needle Gun, The needle gun is to Europe what the mask? ed batteries were to us in. the late war, a fear* ful mystery and ar humbug. It was the man back of the needle gun who won for Prussia her great victories, and they were won in spite of the needle gun. The cool precision of a well trained man is worth more in the hour of peril to a Govern? ment than all the inventions of Yankeedom, The deadliest instrument known to the world is the bayonet, that will not repeat, nor carry beyond the arm that uses it( If infantry can be so trained as to use the bayonet, that infan? try is irresistible. This was our trouble during the late wan Our men threw away their ammunition. So soon as ordered into action they began firing at random, rapidly as they could under intense excitement, and to little or no purpose. Let m e i 1 lustrate. At the bloody little battle of Cross Keys, General Fremont sent me to Colonel Bohlen, then commanding a brigade, to order forward two or three regiments to oc? cupy a woods that crowned a knoil the General thought important for us to hold. It had been shelled to no purpose apparently. I delivered the order and the line was moved forward. The men began firing soon as the order was given. They were not within range. I re? marked this to Colonel Bohlen, and he said, "Certainly not, but what the devil can one do; the command to cease firing is of no use while we march toward the enemy." And so the wild abuse of ammunition continued. The enemy made no response. The wood being ap? proached by our troops was silent as a cemete? ry. When, at last, our poor fellows were within fifty yards of the fatal spot, the Confederates seemed to rise out of the earth, and, with a wild yell, delivered one well directed fire* Some nineteen or twenty of our men and offi? cers were killed on the spot, three times the number wounded, and the entire line retreated in confusion. The reason given, and a true one, was "out of ammunition." There is not an officer in our service who saw actual fighting, who will not sustain me in this, by reminiscences of like sort. Had that line been made up of well-trained men, no braver than the poor fellows who fought and suffered, and had they advanced on the wood with fixed bayonets, the twenty would have been killed and as many wounded, but we could have cleared the wood and taught the foe a lesson not easily forgotten. I do not believe that we had a real bayonet charge during the entire war. Many tell me that this implies a superiority in the Southern troops. I beg pardon. I mean nothing of the sort. The Southern soldier was no better trained than our own. But there did exist a military spirit at the South we do not and never did possess, or attempt to cultivate. We make a few precious officers at West Point, who, like General Baum, have immense spirit and no army. I happened to be present one day when an ingenious gentleman undertook to explain to Mr. Stauton a cunningly designed repeater. "The best invention for killing" said Mr. Stanton, "was made by God Almighty, when he created a man. I would rather have one good soldier with a single charge in his gun de? termined to kill somebody that a new recruit armed with a repeater, and followed by a wagon load of ammunition." The question of transportation is a grave one in war, and a man can have in battle as much ammunition as he can convenieutly carry. It is therefore an error to suppose that in a re? peater we double or quadruple the number of men, if in so doing we weigh down the soldier, or have to follow him with a wagon-load of am? munition. The true art of war lies in the im? aginary order of old Putnam, of "reserve your fire, boys, until you can see tue whites of their eyes." * But wc went crazy with the rest, and had our fine Springfield rifles turned into repeaters at a cost that would have bought us new ones, some infernal scoundrels pocketing the profits. ?Cincinnati Commercial. A "Diabolical" Invention.?The New York Times has this paragraph: "Among our European mail news will he found a statement from a French source, charg? ing Prussia with reviving the use of that most barbarous of all known missiles?the explosive ball. It may be remembered that at the con? vention held last year at St. Petersburg, for the purpose of taking measures to alleviate the hor? rors of war, the governments of both France and Pruesia gave their adhesion to a resolution whereby the use of explosive balU was express? ly disallowed in warfare. But it appears that the Grand Duchy of Baden refused to sign this article of the Convention, and its soldiers being now in the field with Prussia, and in possession of the missiles in question, France has been compelled to resort, in her turn, to their manu? facture, and the ghastly catalogue of slaughter is, therefore, in a fairway to be largely increased. This statement if. also repeated by the corres? pondent of the Independence Beige, and Prussia certainly owes it to the civilized world to see thac an invention so purely diabolical as the explosive ball should not, by any fault of hers, be Drought to swell the horrors of war." It appears that the explosive bullet, which both France and Prussia condemned as opposed to Christian civilization, and which the New York Times denounces as the "most barbarous of all known missiles," was actually used by the Yankees in their war upon brethren of the same race aud nation a few years ago. A writer in the St. Louis Republican confirms a fact well known by surviving Confederates who^served with the'army in V irginia. He says: "At the battle of Wiliiamsburg, in the spring of 1862, these balls were used with some effect by the Federal forces. Seven men belonging to the Fi.rst, Seventh. Eleventh and Seventeenth Vir? ginia Infantry, were killed by these 'infernal missiles.' I, myself, saw some of them strike trees and saplings, tearing out hole3 nearly as large as a man's fist, and exploding with a re? port like that of a pistol. They were fired from rifled muskets of a large calibre, which our men, for want of a better name, called 'Belgium muskets.' After the battle of Wil? iiamsburg, however, these bullets,gradually ceased to be used, more because they were ! found to be inexpedient, and not on the score of sentiment, as was supposed." ? Ah! It's so?While thousands fall by clashing swords, ten thousand fall by corset boards; yet giddy females (thoughtless train !) for sake of fashion yield to pain. _Words are little things, but they strike hard. We wield them so easily that we are apt to forget their hidden power. Fitly spoken, they fall like the sunshine, the dew and ti e drizzling rain ; but when unfitly, like the fror t, the hail and the desolating tempest. ? Politeness almost invariably require'' a gentleman to agree with a lady : but when sh? speaks of the great beauty of some other lady, it is always sale for the gentleman to say there are other styles of female loveliness that he ad? mires much more. ? He who assumes airs of importance, ex? hibits his credentials of insignificance.