Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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gg^jjji~^y^jjj|jggjjjg^ I jj m ni]W., _ j.i i i in i ii ii B ... gggg. ? - gggBBBBg ? - i. i n Egg jtt ??^*8d*?i Jsiaihj |^wp*qpty~~gurttf 'to gilttte, iptote, ^gr?mte a?? 6<aml $ntd8gtm HOYT & CO., Proprietors. ANDERSON C. H., S. C~ THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 22, 1874. VOLUME X.?NO. 15. Present and Prospective Condition of the ftegTO? Uncle Tom without a Cabin. A correspondent of the New York Herald mates the annexed observations upon the con? dition and prospects of the negro race in the South: Savannah, Ga., Oct. 5,1874. Whether the negro will succeed in so shaping the new condition of life imposed upon him as to secure the full advantages of freedom and advance the general welfare of his race is a question that can only be answered by another generation. The experiment for nine years has Certainly not been encouraging, for except among the school children there are nowhere Visible signs of mental or moral improvements. At his feet were laid all the paraphernalia of the Freedman's Bureau, books and teachers and soldiers to protect him whenever he was threat? ened in his material interests. Northern men stood by to see that he was not imposed upon In making contracts. Churches were given to him in which to worship, and the government spent millions of dollars to supply him with ra? tions while preparing for the start upon his new career, iiever did a people begin life with fairer opportunities for success or greater in? ducements to achieve it. Thus far, however, the country may look in vain for substantial results from ail this effort in behalf of the na? tion's wards, except in one respect. Politically his vote has been conscientiously given to the republican party since the hour when he was entitled to the ballot. That is all. Other phases of his present condition it may be inter? esting to analyze here. First, uncle tom is without his cabin I It is a significant; fact that, while there has been a constant demand for negro labor and at good prices, not one in five hundred owns the -cabin in which he lives. Land may be had for a song and be paid for out of the crop; yet somehow the black man fails either to buy or produce, though the end of a season will find In the pocket of almost every worker, if he has not "wasted his substance in riotous living," from $150 to $200, and more than double this sum if the family have assisted. It is, howev? er, one of the curious results of emancipation that field labor has been almost entirely aban? doned by the females and children. The form? er, in imitation of the whites, look after home affairs, and perhaps the latter go to school. Around the cities, where negroes do more or less Of 'job work," you will now and then find a shanty which is the property of the occupant. If he takes boarders, which is not unfrequently the case, it will be crowded worse than a tene - ment house in Baxter street, and the surround? ings are anything but savory. But he does not like to pay taxes on ever so little, and eventual? ly, unless he has become quite well to do, he polls up stakes, emigrates and relapses into his former condition. The ordinary hut of the lower class of negroes is simply a pile of logs laid at right angles, with a door and one or two wooden window shutters, and a chimney outside. Within, you will find a few plauks knocked to? gether for a bedstead, sorry looking blankets and bedclothes, and in all sorts of odd utensils the provisions with which they live from hand to mouth. In short, the negro is taking care of himself, and knows none of the best how to do it. Is it a wonder that the race of mortality among them, and especially among the chil? dren, is so great ? uncle tom's labor. The Southern people view with no little con? cern the gradual depreciation of colored labor. Those who grow up in a state of slavery and acquired industrious habits will still work, though with less result by fifty per cent than formerly. The rising generation have no such habits, and are not likely ever to become pro? ductive members of society. It is even more difficult to obtain and retain a faithful negro servant here than an Irish servant at the North. They come and go at will, stay long enough to earn a few dollars to spend, then leave and find another place when their funds are exhausted. Unfortunately, desirable as is an education, their improvement in books is temporarily hav? ing the effect of teaching the poor creatures to aim above the level which somebody must al? ways occupy in the social scale. Should these influences continue the blacks will gradually * work themselves out of employment, and their places will be supplied by industrious and wil? ling laborers of another race. It must not be understood from the foregoing remarks that the people of the South are averse to the race. On the contrary, they are using every effort for the moral amelioration of the negro, and desire his advancement. He was frequently taught to read and write before the war, in or? der that his usefulness might be augmented, and Georgia is annually expending $365,000 as a school fund, the benefit of which is equally divided between the whites and blacks. "The colored people are also establishing lodges -of the Order of Good Templars for the promo? tion of temperance and private benevolence among them. There are already some fourteen ?or fifteen lodges in this State in successful oper? ation, under the direction of the white Grand Lodge, and one in Atlanta now numbers be? tween 300 and 400 members. All these things show how the people of Georgia are striving to eolve a problem of the negro's welfare, and how they view any present demoralization as one of the natural ana possibly to be expected stages 3n his progress, oelieving that time and expe? rience will eventually cause the scales to drop from his eyes, and enable him to see clearer than now how he may become a useful member of society and co-worker with themselves. In Sa? vannah the Commissioners of Public Schools have made provisions for 1,400 colored pupils, and recently secured premises in which 600 more may be educated. Eleven teachers are colored and three are white. In Bfacon the colored .public school is one of the handsomest edifices in the city. In Atlanta they have a colored college which annually receives from the State the donation that is given to the white eollege?to wit, $8,000?besides schools amply capacious for the accommodation of all who seek admission. The whites of Georgia do not, therefore, as many suppose at the North, -"hate the nigger." If they do, this is certainly a curious method of showing their antipathy. cotton production. It ia not an argument against the idleness of the negro that the production of cotton has beenjw well maintained since the war. First a large and unusual amount of white labor has been applied to the crop. Secondly, by the use of fertilizers one acre has been made to perform the work of three acres, and the crop in northern sections has been thus hastened to fruition in time to anticipate the early frost, which before the war was almost annually de? structive. The upper portions of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, through this means have been open to cotton culture and utilized, and hence the deficiency of other localities has been supplied. As an illustration of the great changes that have taken place within a few years, the open? ing of the Air Line Eailroad has led to an in? crease of cotton in the neighborhood through which it passes a thousandfold, while in the great South belt?the home of the staple?the decline amounts to forty or fifty per cent. In the one place white labor is doing the bulk of the wort; in the other the black man. Time will demonstrate whether, with such a small minority of labor, the whites, even with all their agricultural advantages and all the profit likely to accrue therefrom, can, without acces? sions, maintain the crop at the present stan? dard, and establish a basis of calculation on which the capitalist and manufacturer may safely count his gains. negro suffrage. Where the ballots of the negro are thrown without intelligence and under the influence of false and wicked representations, and where the race can thus insensibly exercise control in public affairs, it is impossible for a good gov? ernment to exist. A bad man from the North may come here, proclaim himself a radical, and in three months so far win the confidence of these ignorant people as that they will fol? low his advice blindly to the pistol point. The love for the old master is forgotton, all the benefits of past or present life are ignored, and for no other reason than that this man is be? lieved by them to represent what they call lib? erty, and, bad as he may be, they will obey his voice as if he were an autocrat, and do his bidding like slaves. It is for this reason that the people of the South never have been able to make political headway with the negroes, and even as republicans have been thrown aside for the carpet-bagger and thief. It is only a little while ago that the race made de? posits of their savings in the Freedman's Bank. To-day it is said to be a hopelessly insolvent institution, and yet the poor dope takes no lesson, and even kisses the hand that gave the cruel blow. It is a curious race. A year or two ago one of their number, a Northern negro, flamed Alvah Peoria Bradley, went among them and collected their poll taxes, amounting to several hundred dollars, and decamped. He is now back again seeking lor office or another swindle, and it will not be astonishing if, for no other reason than that he is a Boston radi? cal, he succeeds in securing, under some plun? dering pretext, a considerable share of their year's hard earnings. It is this class of people to whom the whites refer, when they say, "Let us alone 1" It is but fair to say, however, that even if there were no radical party in the State or Nation, the negro, as a voter, would proba? bly still be a political evil, for he would natu? rally affiliate with that class of whites who ap? proach him nearest in character and condition, and who are base enough to cheat him out of his ballot for no other object than to put the worst elements of society forward in the ad? ministration of the government. If the col? ored man were less afflicted with political prej? udice there would be less danger of political corruption, for the whites have the strongest inducements to secure to him all of his rights as a citizen, and to promote mutual harmony and prosperity. This they have sought in vain to do ever since the close of the war, nor will they succeed in the future until the chief dis? organizing element of the country is removed by moral force?I mean the carpet-bagger. Incidents of an Aged Pilgrim's Life?Bro. Thomas Dawson. Brother Dawson's great grandfather was a member of Ash ford Church, in Kent, England ?the same to which Ann Aiken belonged, who was burnt at the stake for being a Baptist du? ring the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Brother D. traces his lineage back a hun? dred and fifty years, and can tell many inci? dents of olden times. He is the oldest Baptist preacher in the State now, being eighty-live years of age. He belonged to a British reg? iment that fought in the battle of Waterloo, and was baptized by Daniel Mile in Portsea, Hampshire, on the 1st of October, 1S15. He has seen the large fonts in which the English church in ancieut days immersed all infants except those certified to be sick, and they were poured. He came to New York in 1818 and was soon afterward sent by the American Triennial Convention, of whoso Executive Committee LuiLer Rice was then a member, as missionary to the Cherokee Indians. After remaining several years with the red men, he came to South Carolina, where he found churches thinly located and the Baptists gen? erally poor and illiterate. With them, howev? er, he cast his lot, and has lived in various por? tions of the State and been honored as Moder? ator of several different Associations. He has lived through several decades, and has seen all the friends and associates of early years enter the shadowy columns that march in solemn silence to the mystic shore, and the country gradually filled with churches, and the once feeble denomination reaching forth its arras of influence until its mighty power has been es? tablished over the land. The present nor future generations will ever appreciate the sacrifices and self-denials en? dured by our forefathers in Israel in their toils to give an unadulterated Gospel to a cursed world. As an illustration of these sacrifices, Brother Dawson labored for one church twelve months and received three-fourths of a yard of woolen homespun for a vest, one yard of blue checked cotton homespun for his wife's apron and a silver half-dollar for his salary. Brother Dawson seems to enjoy good health and a fine flow of spirits, and we trust will be spared many years to linger on the earthly shore and comfort and encourage his brethren. ? Working Christian. The Duty of the Present Time.?The candidacy of Judge Green is a matter of neces? sity, and the propriety of every honest conser? vative in the State, casting his vote for him, follows as a matter of course. Let the people bear in mind one fact, that every honest man who stays away from the polls, and fails to give his vote for Green, does in effect, throw the weight of his vote for Chamberlain. The issue is between honesty and dishonesty, nothing more, nothing less. The Conservative party accept Green as the representative of honesty. The Conservative party denounces Chamberlain, as the representative of Bond Ring, which means dishonesty. Now let honest men decide" which they shall ehose. If he stays at home he choscs not to oppose dishonesty. Can any sensible, honest man do that? The question of Civil Rights has noth? ing to do with it. Will a farmer refuse to sow his wheat, because the rain may fall at harvest time next summer ? He has a present duty to perform. Let him cast his vote, r ? he would sow his seed. God will take care of the harvest season.? Greenville Enterprise and Mountaineer. ? After dinner one day, at a Liverpool table d'hote, a young man was relating how he had miraculously escaped from a fearful shipwreck. *'Yes," said he, "fifteen of my friends were on board. The vessel went down, and they were all lost." "But how," asked a listener, whose interest was painfully excited, "did you manage to escape!" "Oh," was the calm reply, "I was on board another vessel I" ? When a man reminds you that you owe him, just make a note of it. He will take more interest in the matter if you humor him in that way. Sensible Conservatives. The Conservatives in South Carolina have made up their minds to frank and cordial cor operation with the Independent Republicans, who seem earnestly endeavoring to carry out something like reform in the State government. The Tax Unions, which comprise most of the influential and intelligent property-owners of the State, for some time manifested a prefer? ence for Gen. Kershaw, an honest and straight? forward man, as candidate for Governor, in case any conservative nomination was to be made ; but they are now convinced that Judge Green, the Independent candidate, could do much to improve the present lamentable con? dition of affairs if he were fortunate enough to get a seat in the Governor's chair. They con? sider it a forlorn hope, but they mean to do their utmost, and if they fail they will certain? ly be bitterly discouraged. Although the sup? porters of Chamberlain are by no means so confident as they were shortly after his nom? ination, it is pretty evident that he will have a very strong following, and it is probable that he will be elected. With the frightful exam? ples of the past few years before him, it is fair to suppose that he will do his best to reform the glaring evils which have brought South Carolina to the brink of ruin. But he will be cumbered with a greedy army at his back, and will find it as hard to detect frauds as he seems to have found it when he was Attorney-Gen? eral. When the Independent party, in whose ranks there are large numbers of negroes, appealed to the Conservatives of the State for co-opera? tion, their appeal met with an instant response from many quarters. Thousands of men who have suffered for years all the miseries of tax? ation without representation, and who have been completely at the mercy of the ignorant and vicious, answered at once that they would sacrifice partisan politics in the interest of a movement for fair government. They did not sit sulking in corners, refusing affiliation and issuing manifestoes filled with dreary com? plaints, but they stepped frankly forward and gave their adhesion to a party which had nom? inated an earnest advocate of the wiser provis? ions of the Civil Rights Bill as Governor, and a highly intelligent colored man as Lieutenant Governor. There were many Conservatives who hesitated, and who still hesitate, to follow the excellent example afforded them by their old associates; but they will in time accept a decision which is certainly wise, and will be productive of much good. They have seen the folly and uselessness of any attempt to open a race issue, and have never seriously contem? plated it. Their neighbors in Georgia have now and then sent to the world glowing ac? counts of race disturbances on the Carolina borders, but there was never any basis of fact on which to build the presumption that South Carolina was to be the scene of actual strife between whites and blacks. Whatever may be the immediate result of the Independent movement in the State, the final effects cannot but be good. The negroes are evidently learning to pay some little attention to the character, as well as the political profes? sions, of candidates; and that is a long step forward. The prospects for retrenchment of the expenses of government, and for appropria? tion of the revenues to their proper uses, even if the Independents and Conservatives do not elect their candidate, will be far better than if they had never made an effort to elect one. If they do succeed, it is not probable that they will attempt any other than a liberal policy. The Conservatives say truly that neither the Civil Rights Bill nor any of the present causes of the troubles in the South can perpetuate dissension in South Carolina, and that there is no obstacle to harmonious and immediate prog? ress save the dishonest administration of the State government. Even under the crushing weight of that government, certain sections of the Commonwealth manage to prosper. What might not be expected if taxes were reduced, stealings were abolished, and industries were revived ? Both the regular Republican party and the Independents would do well to pay strict at? tention to measures for an increase ofeducation al faculties throughout the State. Either party will succeed or fail, eventually, very much in proportion to the amount of attention it be? stows upon the education of its voters. Until the majority of the negroes are far better in? structed than at present, they cannot become useful citizens ; they will not have the ambi? tion or the pride necessary to ur^c them to ac? cumulate property and to develop the State. Retrenchment in appropriations for school pur? poses would be fatal to progress toward reform in South Carolina.?New York Times. The Labor Question. There is probably no question which can in? terest the Southern people, of greater moment than the question of labor, present and to come. It is one with which our future prosperity as a people is intimately associated. The general public might think it one in which our farmers alone arc interested, but it has a much deeper and wider signifince. The prosperity of every branch of our industry is involved in its solu? tion, for everything is directly or indirectly in? volved in the success or failure of the farmer or planter. Under these circumstances it is one which we approach with very great caution, and yet it is one which our people would do well to consider. Our farming system has been uprooted by the results of the war, and yet many of our best farmers have endeavored to carry out the same plans of agriculture which were a characteris? tic of Southern farming before tho war. This was, among others, a plan, so speak, for devas? tating the country by cutting down our forests, wearing out the land, and allowing our worn out fields to grow up into brambles and pines. This we could afford under our old system of labor, but under the changed system of labor all must be changed. Labor is cheaper now than it was before tho war, but it is almost entirely uncontrollable. What we want is more labor, better labor, more reliable labor. This can be properly regulated through the Grange order, and if our Grangers will take hold properly of this subject they will be surprised at the readiness with which a prop? el solution can be reached. When we have time we will have something more to say on this svbject.?Charlotte Observer. ? A good story is told of a reporter, who, fearful that he might not get the address which was to be delivered at the funeral of a promi? nent citizen, knelt beside the preacher while he was praying, abstracted tho manuscript from the latter's rear pocket, and forthwith carried it off. The clergyman, thinking his paper had been lost, delivered himself extemporaneously, but the next morning discovered his error, his written address being printed in full in the newspaper. ? Ina recent action for a breach of prom? ise of marriage, the defendant's counsel asked the plaintiff, "Did my client enter into a pos tive agreement to marry you ?" Not exactly," she replied ; "but he courted mc a good deal, and he told my sister that he intended to mar? ry into our family." Political Principle. A great deal is said now-a-days about politi? cal principle. It is an excellent thing in its way, and in its place, but it is in a bad way, ana in the wrong place when, by prating about political principle, the creature is made higher than the creator and the form more important than the substance. In political parlance a principle is a rule of action, a fundamental truth, of a particular I political organization or part)'. There is only I one way of declaring such a principle authori? tatively, and that is by making it a plank in the platform, or declaration of principles, of a Convention of the party. When so declared, it is expected to be the rule of action of every orthodox member of the party, until a new j revelation is vouchsafed him. But as the ob? ject of every political party is, in theory, the procuring or the maintaining of good govern? ment, so that the people may become and re? main happy and prosperous and free, no polit? ical party can lawfully teach that its unity, as a party, is more important than the public good. No political party is, necessarily, wholly rig;ht or wholly wrong ; the truth will general? ly be found in an unexplored middle ground between the party lines. All Conservatives are not saints ; all Republicans are not sinners. To be a Republican is not, necessarily, to be a thief; nor is every Couservative, as a matter of course, an honest man. There are good and bad in both parties. The Conservatives think i there are more good men in their ranks than in the Republican ranks. The Republicans think just the reverse. What comes of all this? That no party, acting as a party, can be false to principle; because it defines its own principles and or? dains its own laws, and those persons who dis? like its principles and object to its laws are at liberty to go to a party whose laws and princi? ples will suit them. The Conservative party of South Carolina, in State Convention assem? bled, enunciated thegraud old principle, which in theory is common to all political parties, that "the necessity of checking corruption and procuring honest officials is paramount to all questions of party politics or affiliations," and the Convention adopted, as the platform of the party, this single maxim : "Honesty and Econ? omy in the administration of the State Govern? ment." There is no abandonment of principle in that. It is the doctrine that the welfare of the people is the highest law. Every Conserv? ative is bound by the action of the Convention, and he cannot be accused, or accuse himself, of any surrender of principle ; because, unless the platform be morally wrong and inimical to the public good, he canuot have any other principle, or rule of political action, than that which the Convention of his party gives him. When the platform is intrinsically wrong, the person attempted to be bound by it is free to step down and out. In any other case, a re? fusal to submit to the decree of i:he party is tantamount to a withdrawal from the party. One point more. The Conservative Conven? tion exhorted the Conservatives to vote for the Independent Republican candidates.. It could not have done this had Conservative candidates been in nomination, but, acting on the rule that, good and honest government is a para? mount necessity, and having declined to make Conservative nominations, it logically and con? sistently urges the Conservatives to sustain honest candidates, from another party, who can be elected, and so accomplish the reform in the State which the Conservatives require and desire. There is no deviation from party principle in doing this, because the Conven? tion, the exponent of Conservative principle, advised it. Nor is it otherwise than morally right, because the persons proposed lo be voted for are persons of character and integrity, worthy of public trust. These thoughts we commend to those good citizens who fancy that there is soms inconsis? tency or impropriety in making no Conserva? tive nominations and in voting for Indepen? dent Republicans. We arc confident that they will see, upon reflection, that, in following the counsel of the Convention, they will, instead of abandoning principle, be true to political principle in its highest and latent expression, and that the Conservative party, in voting as such for the Independent candidates, is fulfill? ing the noblest purpose that any political or? ganization can have, viz., of bringing about purity and economy in public affairs, and of giving to the people unity, fair-dealing and peace.?News and Courier. The Tax Union.?In the anxiety concern? ing the nominations, which have been and are yet to be made, the subject of Tax Unions seems to be lost sight of to a considerable ex? tent. Too much importance, it is true, cannot be attached to the former, but while that is the end, the means should not be neglected. It is to the Tax Union alone, we look for the ulti? mate redemption of our government from the hands of the robber gang. Failing in this movement the State is irretrievably lost. No one can hope for reform, or to effect an honest administration of affairs, at the hands of any one who is likely to be placed in power from the ranks of those whose declared object is rob? bery and plunder. The cry of reform has been too often sounded in our cars immediately pre? ceding elections. Too well do we know the meaning of it. If ever the state of affairs is changed for the bettor in South Carolina, it must and will be through and by the honest white men of the State, who know and feel the evils of misgovernmcnt. They are willing to reform, they are anxious to reform, but as long as they remain in that disorganized condition in which they have ever been, so long will they fail in every effort, and find themselves con ' stautly growing less powerful to accomplish I the much coveted end. The Tax Union is un? questionably one of the most thorough, and the most promising system of organization ever instituted in this, or any other State, and will, if properly pursued, eventuate in incalcu? lable good to the people. What ever may bo the result of the approaching election, there is a star of hope, for the tax payer, in the Tax Union, which extends beyond, and whose light should be kept constantly in view.?Marion Observer. GATHERING Corn.?Com left long in the field after it is ripe, loses from depredations of birds and other animals, and many cars rot from water getting in the shuck or from their lying on the ground. Whilst it is very impor? tant to pick cotton as soon as it opens it is poor economy to neglect corn to do so. Ordina? rily, however, the two crops can be gathered without interfering with each other?damp drizzly days nnsuited to cotton pick? ing, being selected to gather corn. Pack? ing away in the shuck a little damp, is re? garded by many as the best preventive of the depredations of the wcavil. We prefer any? how to put away corn in shuck, it being more convenient to shuck it in winter than at the present busy season. It is good work for cold, rainy days in winter. Don't put off selecting seed corn until spring; if you have not gone over your field and made selections already, have barrels convenient and throw into them the best ears whilst shucking or feeding out the corn.?Southern Cultivator. 1 Novel Beading-. The managers of the Boston Public Library have recently been investigating the statistics ! of that institution to ascertain the relative use of the different classes of books in the library, with a view, as it would seem, to the formation I of some theory to be recommeuded to the pub-1 I lie on the subject of general reading. There is, it appears, in connection with the library an upper room, known as "Bates' Hall," in which are many valuable standard works, but j no novels or works of fiction. This collection has not heretofore received anything like the attention which has been bestowed on the more miscellaneous contents of the lower hall, or general library; but last year the books in Bates' Hall were classified under the heads'of biography, history and travel, and lists of them j were prepared for the use of readers. The effect of this, it is stated, has been to increase the use of this class of books, by sev? enty-five per cent., while the additional call for works of fiction has been less than three per cent. A comparison of the use made of historical works in June, 1874, and the same month in the preceeding year, shows an in? crease of two hundred per cent.; the increase of the entire reading of the general library, in the meantime, being only a half of one per cent. The result of the investigation has been to convince^the examining committee that the reading of novels engenders a taste for reading of a different character, and is, in its educa? tional influence, decidedly better than no read? ing at all. It therefore, wisely we think, "con? cluded not to deprecate novel reading, but it nevertheless greets with pleasure every sign of improvement in the public taste, and every measure designed to raise the standard of read? ing." This conclusion, it seems to us, is one which might have been reached without all this pre? paratory investigation. There is a good deal of sounding nonsense and pompous charlatan? ism talked and written on this subject of read? ing; and Boston, perhaps, is responsible for the paternity of a good deal of it. Of course we cannot expect the profound scholars of the "hub"?the classic denizens of the Athens of America?to submit to be nourished on as low a literary diet as satisfies less favored mortals. They, to be sure, must have their strong meat ; ; but they should not insist therefore that milk be banished from the world. We are not all of us capable of appreciating the beauties and rising to the sublime heights of the transcendental philosophy; but we may enjoy the satire of Thackeray, and weep or laugh over the pathos or the humor of Dickens. Richard I. may prove a dull fellow in the pon? derous tomes of Hume ; but the iron-hearted king arouses all our enthusiasm in the glowing pages of Scott, who has doubtless awaked the curiosity of many a youthful reader, and in? duced him to pursue in history the acquaint? ance commenced in the novel. Beading is pre-eminently a habit that grows by what it feeds upon ; and we are glad that the Boston public library committee has discovered it, and so concluded not to p*.it the novel under the ban of its condemnation. Very many of the novels of the present day are just as profitable reading as the histories, and possibly are not very much more fictitious. There arc other things in the world worth learning besides the facts which the Grad grinds think so important, and which al%er all are only the dry bones of history, of no value in themselves. Young people often conceive a disgust for all reading by finding it impossi? ble to interest themselves at the outset in that "historical" reading which they are taught to believe the only kind that can benefit them. Let them have their novels, and the report of this Boston committee shows that they will soon create a demand for history, biography, : and travel.?-Louisville Daily Ledger. A Pennsylvania Romance. Two farmers living on adjoining farms in Gi rard township, Erie county, have for years been unfriendly on account of the disagreement about the line fences which separated their lands, both claiming the ten feet which was formerly the lane running between the two places. Their children have grown up inheriting their parents' animosity, and their eldest sous have several times been subpoenaed as a witness in lawsuits which have grown out of this diffi? culty. The case had been' a sort of suit in chancery, having run on from year to year, both men spending their money in lawyers' fees without any legal conclusion. Abont a year ago the two farmers awoke on Monday morning to find that each had lost a child, one his youngest son, and the other his only daughter. Like the houses of Montague and Capulet, in "Romeo and Juliet," the sci? ons of the two rival houses had secretly cherished a fondness for one another, and knowing the feud between the families, with? out divulging their passions or intentions they met clandestinely and carried into effect the elopement. A week passed, at the end of which the father of the runaway daughter was called on to go to Erie and attend again to the everlast? ing lawsuit. He went in early to the office of the lawyer, and, taking up one of the weekly papers, read the marriage notice of Emma. It was a terrible blow, and he went out into the yard to try and walk oft* his excitement. All that passed through the old gentleman's mind is not known, bur. there seemed to be a desperate struggle within, which resulted in his returning to the lawyer's office and post? poning the business. Then he drove directly to his farm and had a long private interview .with his wife; then he did what he had not done for twenty years?went over and called on his enemy. * He was found sick, having been confined to his room since the abandon? ment of his favorite son. Both the two farm? ers met, and both for a few minutes stood face to face in profound silence At length the father of Emma spoke: "I have come to settle the dispute; let the child? ren have the lot on either side of the iane, and I will build them a house." "And I will funish it." So the recreant children were sent for and forgivc:itund came home to receive their parents' blessing. And now there are no more lawyers for the two farmers, but each has faithfully fulfilled his contract in regard to his house and furniture Turning Over Land.?Whenever the soil is in order the ploughs should he kept running on stubble and rested land?it will facilitate work in the spring when everything is in a push, and the weather is often very bad. Especially is this desirable on stiff clay lauds, that the winter freezes may have an opportuni? ty of mellowing them. Whenever the turn plow is run so as to bring up raw clay to the surface, it should be done if possible in autumn. There is then less liability of the land baking after the winter freezes.?Southern Cultivator. ? "Fifteen cents per gal!" exclaimed Mrs. Partington, looking over the price current. "Why, bless me! what is the world coming to when the gals are valued at only fifteen cents." Wasted Liberality. In Anderson county, the Conservatives, al1 though a decided majority, have accepted a proposition from the Republicans to make no party nominations in that county, in order to avoid the animosities which political agitation, and especially too strict an adherence to party lines, are apt to engender. The plan is to run men for office upon their own merits and per? sonal character, rather than upon their politic? al affiliations, which is surely a great improve* ment upon the present corrupt system of con* ventions. The resolutionssubmitted to the Conservatives by Col. John R. Cochran, acting for the Repub lican Convention admit that "in Anderson county peace and prosperity reigns, law and order are enforced fairly and justly, and the two races are living happily and harmoniously together," and the desire is expressed in them that this good feeling may not be disturbed by the drawing too tightly of party lines. This admission of the Anderson Republican Convention, not only that peace and good will reigns, but that the government is justly and fairly administered in this Conservative county, is a plain and honest contradiction, from a trustworthy Republican source, of the oft re? peated and studiously disseminated lies about the intolerance, injustice and oppression of the Conservatives, when they have power, and we would invite the attention of the eolored peo? ple to it, because it is not what we say, but what a Regular Republican Convention says. Besides this we notice that the Conservatives of Union, who also have a majority, have placed three colored men on the County ticket. We are gratified to note these clear indica? tions of a spirit of harmony and conciliation on the part ot the Conservatives of Anderson and Union ; but, judging from past experience, we are strongly inclined to the opinion that the Republicans, in any county in which they have a majority, would see us in the bottomless pits of his satanic majesty's dominions, before they would grant us similar advantages. The legislative is a more important branch of the government than the executive, and, if the conservative elect their own representative in every county in which they have a majority or an equal number of rotes, nearly, if not quite half of the counties of the State will be represented by them in the legislature. We are ardent advocates of harmony, good will and political feedom and liberality of sen? timent, and would hail, as an auspicious omen of liberty and political progress, the day when men are elevated to office upon individual merits instead of party affiliations; but ;e fear that our up-country friends, who are stigma? tized as ku-klux, and yet who have made such liberal concessions of their own accord to the Republicans, without exacting from them cor? responding concessions in counties in which they are in the ascendency, are doing an act which will never be appreciated, and which, under the present indications of Republican intolerance, will only result in diminishing the number of Conservative representatives in the coming legislature. Far oe it from us to discountenance a spirit of liberality on the part of the Conservatives, but we do think, in a political light, when con? cessions are made, that they should be recipro? cal, and not altogether one-sided.?Orange burg Times. De Mahler, the Famons Pedestrian* Many of our readers will remember De Mahler, the most indefatigable walkist on the face of the globe, who was in Anderson three or four years ago, and whose adventures were sketched in these columns at the time. His singular fancy seems not to have forsaken him, as will appear by the following extract from the St. Louis Democrat, giving an account of his whereabouts, and touching upon prominent points in the history of this wonderful adven? turer : He has passed Atlanta, Ga., and gone to To peka, Kansas?De Mahler?a man who has traveled around the world and all over it on foot. He walks for pleasure. Sometimes a wagoner on the road accosts him with, "Stranger, want a lift?" He always replies, "No; rather walk," and some miles on he passes the home of the wagoner, who by this time has his wife and children out to look at the man who had rather walk than ride. De Mahlergoes trudging on, like the Wandering Jew. He has put 40,000 miles behind him since 1SG2, and has acquired such a momentum now that he can't stop. He must walk to be happy. Of course he stops sometimes for rest and refreshment and sleep, but 'tis only a halt. An Atlanta editor took De Mnhler to his house and got some particulars of his walks in life out of him. De Mahler is a Virginian. He has estates that yield him such an income as enables him to go where he pleases and enjoy himself in his own way. He was wounded in the begin? ning of our war, and when his wound healed he was bent nearly double and was totally un? able to walk. He was rolled up almost like that being which turns itself into a ball and wheels from place to place. He went to Paris to get straightened out. The surgeons opera? ted upon him ; after a fair trial, they couldn't make his head aud feet stay at their respective cuds of the man. At length they told him that nothing could effectually cure him but walking, persistent walking. He resolved to try it. He told his doctor that he was going to walk out of Paris aud leave France on foot. His doctor told him he was crazy. He, how? ever, commenced the iourney, and made only 104 yards from his lodgings the first day, with the aid of a stick. The doctor tended him two weeks on his trip, that is, until he got out of Paris. He had then begun to improve, and was filled with a glorious hope. He put his whole soul into his walk. In a month he was on the sunny slopes of the Pyrenees, and had begun to straighten up like a man. He walked on, and on, and on, and on. At length he was entirely cured and strode with a firm tread. Thus he walked along the world and across it, and became intensely interested in his travels. He sailed across the seas, but walked the decks of vessels in order to keep his foot in. On land he seems to walk as naturally as the winds blow and the streams flow, and now he can't stop. He makes pencil sketches of the best scenes, and remembers every place he has been iu, and the name of somebody he met and talked to. He is thoroughly cured of his war wounds, but many lazy people might think that the cure is worse than the origiual inflic? tion. ? A lady who had been teaching her little four-year-oldcr the elements of arithmetic, was astounded by his running iu and propound? ing the following problem : "Mama, if you had three butterflies and each butterfly had a bug in his ear, how many butterflies would you have ?" The mother is still at work on the problem. ? The reason why Cashmere shawls are said to be like deaf people is because we can? not make them here.