Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY HOYT & CO. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1875. VOL. XI-NO 8. A FIRE IN THE BEAR. Wendell Phillips . Declares for a Green? back Currency. The. following letter from Wendell Phillips has been addressed to Mr. Eu Jene Beebe, Secretary of the New York ^gal-Tender Club. It gives in forcible language that gentleman's views on the delicate question of a circulating medi? um, and will be read with interest by all who have money or want it: ; August 23rd, 1875. Mr. Eugene Bcebe, Secretary Legal-Tender Club: Dear SlK?I; appreciate the great im? portance of your agitation to prevent further contraction of the currency, and era sorry I shall not be able to attend your meeting in September. P. seems to me there are but two questions to be con? sidered touching the currency: - F?rst Upon what basis shall it rest? 'Second.. ?Lo\v much- of it shall we A long tame ago there imgnt have been a third : of what shall it be made, gold **A tilver or paper ? But the experience \>i Business men long ago answered that inquiry and settled it beyond recall, that throughout Christendom the currency must be paper. Tt is idie to talk to-day of a specie basis. That gentle hallucina? tion has been encouraged to quiet timid men and delude the masses. But the thing-itself has not really existed for fifty ora hundred years. Great Britain, where, if anywhere,;such a basis could be main? tained, has to-day fifty cents of coin to $100 of, paper. (Patterson, Science of Finance, pp. 5, 6,27, 28,37, 38. Edin? burgh, 1868.) Any. individual may have that fifty cents, provided he does not need it, and provided .there is no special reason why he. should have it. If at any time his business absolutely requires that he should have that fifty cents of coin, at that time he cannot have it. A specie basis of fifty cents coin to support one hundred dollars paper! It reminds me of that Irish six-bottle toper, who always sat down to drink with a small bit of a strawberry at the bottom of his wineglass and kept it there through the evening? "It gave;so fine ft flavor to the wine!" Doubtless' that? fifty 'cents coin gives a strong specie flavor to the vast system of British paper, and makes Bull feel warm and comfortable. Political economy settles very few points by theorizing. Now and then experience decides a question, and it passes into accepted and undeniable truth. In this way business experience has decided that currency, in civilized and commercial nations, must rest on credit, and consist of paper. Thus ex? perience answers our first question; the currency does rest and must rest on cred? it. Whose shall that credit be ? Shall it be the credit of banks and their custo? mers or the credit, of the nation ? This question also experience has answered. Before the war we had banks resting each one off its own credit. We all re? member the result. The bills of a bank ceased generally to be current a hundred miles ftooi ,its* own counter. You lost ten per cent, in changing those of the South and West for Eastern bills; and Horace Greeley demurely told the com? mittee who paid him a handful of Western bills, "If convenient, I should much prc for a well executed counterfeit on some Eastern bank." What makes our nation? al .bank bills good, and equally good, ev? erywhere to-day? The nation stands behind them. Such notes pass every? where, and eveiywhere at the same value, because the nation guarantees them. All the note c?rrency we have rests on na? tional credit, directly or indirectly. No man can give a reason why they should not all rest directly on national credit; why all bank bills should not be with? drawn and legal tenders supply their place. In buildings a hp.uije.you do. not put a Slatform-^betriyeen fche-hep.ee and its foun ationJ'CertaTnly not. Your walls rest directly: on'your foundation. To-day the nation pays the banks ?20,000,000 or more to allow them to play the useless part of standing between- it (the nation) and its own currency. Dr. Franklin's herOj who asked his victim to pay for heating the p?ker, was a most reasonable person and a Solomon compared with I Ourselves in this matter. I nave heard I of an incompetent man put under guar? dianship ana obliged to pay. trustees lib? erally for taking care of his property, but I never heard of one put under guardianship and paying his guardian liberally and then obliged to do all of his own business besides, which is exactly ?our case. We furnish the credit that supports these bank bills, and then we ,pay the banks for using that credit. Bagehot, the highest authority in Eng? land, says the public takes Bank of Eng? land bills without i inquiry or hesitation, because it knows that in any emergency the government will sustain the bank. Here our bills pass 'because the govehf ment is distinctly pledged to do so. The two great commercial centres have drifted into currency based, in fact, on govern? ment credit, add they deliberately accept the situation. ,Onr first question (On what shall our currency rest?) is fully answered by facts. -In commercial nations it rests, and must test, 'ni> government credit. ^Second. How much currency shall we 3bttVe? No single. man, officer or institution <can decide or ever did decide this ques? tion. Currency made up of bank bills, ?depositsk npteapbills of exehangc, &c., is ?like any Muer article Or manufacture? *we make as much-of it as we need. The business of a country, when not inter? fered with, always settles the amount of Us currency. Business creates, .every? where and at all times, just such and just so much currency aa it needs. Banks and Secretaries of Treasuries imagine they determine the amount of the cur? rency. As well might Old Probability claim that he determined the weather. He and they only record what mightier forces do. Hats, shoes, wagons, rails, cloths, cotton, wheat?one year we want more, the next year less?who decides ? The dealers in the article and the users of it. Does anybody advise going back to other days and having some board of wiseacres decide how much wheat shall be planted and how much cotton, how many'l?aves or wagons made? No such dreamer'obtrudes himself on the public. But thousands clamor for allowing bank . directors and them alone to settle the amount of the currency. And they are allowed more coutrol than any other agency. The New York city batik alone increased the currency $3,000,000 ($2,957,200) in one month, September, 11874, and decreased it $5,000,000 in one week of March, 1875. This aristocracy in_ the money manufacture is an odious monopoly, alien to our institutions and harmful to our prosperity. What should we say if 500 men and such friends as they chose were allowed to plant wheat and mine iron while every one else was forbidden ? Yet this is but another name for our present bank system. Let us cease, then, to have any plan either to enlarge or contract the currency. Let the govern? ment stanq* ready to issue all the currency any business man . wishes; and can give good security for, at low interest aud con? vertible into long bonds. If necessary, in order to conciliate existing prejudice, let the capital of these bonds, having long terms to run, be payable in gold. Make greenbacks legal tender for all Purposes, customs. and all government ues included. There is every reason why this should be done. History is re? peating itself. England never knew more prosperous years than from 1800 to 1812, during which she neither had gold, nor wished to have it, nor promised to pay gold to any one whatever. All that while she extended and contracted her currency, without any regard whatever to gold! Her enormous trade and ex? penditures were all paper, and only pa? per, resting* on credit and nothing else. We had similar prosperity during the war and after, on the same terms. In 1820, England^ yieMim* to- theorists and dreamers, tried to put this new wine into old: bottles, and dragged her business back tp methods a amtury-old~to specie. Bankruptcy, the very history of which makes the blood cold to-day, blighted the'Empire/ "It -took half a generation to recover from the mistake. No man can to-day begin to show that such suf? fering was necessary; that it achieved any good, or that it effected any changes which could not have been as well made without it. We entered that same valley of the shadow of death when, in 1865, McCuli?ch began contraction. We are hurrying fast to England's 1820; proper? ty sunk to half its former value; the streets crowded with unemployed men fast rotting into criminals; grass growing on the wharves, machinery rusting, wealth alarmed, poverty starving. Woe to the political party which the nation shall finally pronounce responsible for this fatal mistake! No previous merits will avail for its pardon. Its leaders will be buried in curses, as men whom neither history nor their own experience could make wise. We lament, as well we may, the wide? spread corruption of business men and office-holders. But where such corrup? tion in high places steals a dollar, con? traction?this well meaning ignorance of bullionists?robs the people of thou? sands. If this generation is ever bank? rupt, its bankruptcy will not be the work of knaves, but of honest men following a jack o' lantern and dragging us to ruin. Yours, Wendell Puillits. Strange Story of an Ex-Confcd. A travel-stained pedestrian, who gave bis name as Johnson, passed through this place Friday last. He was badly crip? pled, and apparently in very indigent circumstauces. In respousc to certain in? quiries nropounded by several persons, whose charitable offices he solicited; be related a strange story, which, if true, embraces a sad personal experience, as well as a notable instance of official pre? sumption. His narrative was, in sub? stance, as follows: He was a member of John Morgan's famous command iu 1862, and in a skir? mish near Murfreesboro, in that year, was badly wounded, and fell in the hands of the federal troops. Immediately after his capture, he was sent to Rock Island, a prison of bitter memory, where be re? mained a helpless cripple until the close of the war, when, instead of being dis? charged, he was transferred to the Jeff. Davis Hospital in Marion county, Ohio, where he remained until a few weeks ago. His detention in the latter place is the strange part of the story. His wounds were of such a nature as to render him entirely helpless, and being unable to work, he was a mere incumbrance to the establishment. He claims, however, that his detention was due to the fact that the keeper of the hospital received a liberal stipend from the Government for his board, and as there was quite a number of disabled Confederate soldiers quartered iu the samo establishment, under similar circumstances, it was manifestly to the interest of that officer to retain them. During his confinement in the hospital, he, in common with his fellow-prisoners, was hot allowed to communicate by wri? ting or otherwise, with the outside world, and his letters to friends and relatives were invariably intercepted by the hos? pital authorities. A few weeks ago he regained the nse of his limbs, and the first use he made of them was to leave the hospital and strike out for Tennessee.? Having ho money he was forced to travel on foot, and trust to the charitable for subsistence. He succeeded in reaching this place without suffering for food, but his general condition was anything but enviable. He told his story in a quiet, earnest way, that enlisted the sympathy of all who heard it, and as he gave an ac? curate history of his command up to the date of his capture, and displayed a fa? miliarity with the characters of several who belonged to it, which must have grown out of a personal acquaintance, his statements were received without the figurative grain of salt. He says that two citizens of this county?David Bag gerly. and-Landesa?are at present confined in the hospital mentioned, and the latter claiming to be a son of Jesse LandesR. We do not pretend to say that Johnson's story is worthy of credence, bot it is certainly plausible enough to awaken investigation. At any rate, the man, as well as his narrative, enlisted the serious attention of several of our pronii ncut citizens, and at their suggestion we give publicity to both.?PhucUeviite, Tain., Express. ? An amusing story is told of Gov. Bagley, of Michigan, who is a good Sabbatarian. He was lately in Detroit on Sunday, and, passing a billiard hall with some friends, heard the balls, clicking ?s if it were a week day. He politely inquired of the proprietor if lie made a practice of keeping Iiis ball open on Sunday, and was astonished when the man replied; "No, Governor, not as a general thing; but if your party would like to play a quiet game, I guess I can fix it for you.' ? Even (he laziest boy ?an sometimes catch .a whipping. Cost of Fencing-. When I look around me in this enlight? ened nineteenth century, with my politi? cal economy study cap on, and see the stu? pendous follies of people, for want of what they always claim to have in a high degree, a little common sense, and tno want of sensible concurrent action to achieve important results, I have no hope of a millennium in agriculture or any? thing else, and believe "dies irw" will come and lind the fool-killer's work not half accomplished. In this clay of degenerate politicians, however, who never attempted to eulight en the people, but follow in the wake of erode public opinion, as sharks in the wake of a vessel, who listen for the "vox populi" with ears as erect as a wild In? dian who catches the sound of bis game upon the passing breeze, who are all for personal success, and nothing for princi Ele or the common weal?there is no ope for us but to await a change in the tide, and hope almost against hope, that a better day will dawn. Some year or so ago there appeared in an agricultural pa? per the broad assertion that the cost of fencing in the State of Pennsylvania was equal to the whole value of the live stock in the State. This was so remarka? ble a statement as at once to attract our attention. To make some approximate estimate of the cost of fencing to the people of Vir? ginia is the object of the present article, and whilst the data are insufficient or not sufficiently accurate, perhaps, to arrive at a high" degree of approximation, low ! estimates have been advisedly taken, that the actual cost shall rather exceed han fall short of the results obtained. From the statistics of Agriculture in 1770, wc find that in the State of Vir? ginia as at present organized, there were 73,849 farms of all sizes, and that of im? proved lands exclusive of wood lands, and other unimproved lands there were 8,165,040 acres. This gives 410 acres as the average size of the farm of improved lands necessitating a fence. If we add ten acres additional to cover the wood and other lands under fence, wc may safely assume, we think, that the average farm in our State requiring to be enclos? ed is about 120" acres, or 1200 square four-pole chains. If we suppose this farm to be in the form of a square, which of quadrilaterals gives the minimum fen? cing for the area enclosed, the side of the square would be 33.64 chains, or as a very close approximation 762 yards. If divided into six rectangular fields the amount of fencing required would be seven times as much, or 5,334 yards. Allowing forty rails for every hundred yards ot an ordinary good fence, wc have to enclose properly the average farm, 21,335 rails. The rails are worth per hundred in both the timber and mauling about $1.10 say, upon an aver? age through the State, though as we have no ineans'of verifying this hypothesis, it may not be a very near approximation, yet the true value would probably exceed the amount assumed as our basis, as 100 good rails would make a cord or more of wood, aud the cost of mauling is from 50 to 75 cents per hundred in different sec? tions. This give* say 235 dollars as the cost of the rails necessary to enclose the aver? age square farm. But this being* the most economical form of enclosure for four-bided areas, and not adhered to in practice, we may safely assume in consid? eration of the crooked fences and irregu? lar forms of our field 250 dollars as a still closer approximation. Now comes in the additional expenses of hauling and fencing. We suppose at the average dis? tance for hauling rails at different seasons of the year, nine loads per day with a two-horse team, and 22 rails at a load would be a sufficiently high estimate. This would make 300 rails per day. If we as? sume the cost of hauling and the addi? tional expenses of fencing the 100 rails to be two dollars, a low estimate, the cost of fencing the 31,335 rails would be 142 dollars, and allowing the small amount of eight dollars for the irregularity of fields above 150 dollars. Thus we have 4U0 dollars as an approx? imate result for the outlay necessary to fence in 120 acres of land with a good new enclosure into six fields. It would therefore require an outlay to enclose the 73.849 farms in the manner and upon the basis adopted, $29,539,900, or twenty-nine and a naif millions of* dollars. The value of all the live stock in the State by the same census was $28, 197,669, over twentv-eight millions. Even if a four-field enclosure be adop? ted, the expense would be six-scventlis as much, or it would do away wjth only one division line, and the cost would be over twenty-five millions. Wc may safe? ly assume, then, that the cost of good new enclosures for all the farms of the State equals the vahie of their live stock. Granting that these enclosures require to be replaced every twelve years, we have here a little item of nearly two and a half millions of annual expenditures sunk in fences to keep out stock, two millions of which could be saved by requiring all farm stock to be fenced in, in standing pastures, or by moveable fences that could be durably constructed. It should be observed also that the smaller the farm the greater the relative expense, as it requires just half as many rails to enclose 25 acres as prescribed, as it does to enclose 100 acres. The poor man and small farmer is thus much more interested in this matter than he has ever been taught to consider, but as wc said before, our public men and law? makers never attempt to teach the people up to economic laws, but rather mount the rostrum to teach them how to vote. We omit here the hisses incident to our agriculture from successive droughts, which by some are supposed to be due in part to the destruction of our forests. This is, however, controverted. Though we have paid no special attention to this subject, either as to its philosophy or sta? tistics, if there are any reliable?which we doubt Yet one fact is worthy of con? sideration, and that is, that waters which fall to the earth are rapidly collected into streams and move off to the ocpiiii pre? senting very littlesurface forevaporation, I whilst the immense amount of water j caught and held for evaporation by the groat forests of the great continent, can I be better appreciated! by the little urchin, I who inveigles bis playmate under a tree ! to shake down a heavy shower upon him, than the philosopher who has lorgottcn his boyish tricks-. But wc leave this to the philosophy that rides upon the wings of the wind, and shoulders all responsibility upon the gulf stream. What say the editorial fra? ternity of your city, yourself included. Wo believe they all speak ex ni/ficdra on kindred subjects, and English liramuuir. Human Idiosyncrasies. That curiosity which originated in the feminine sex, but did not fail in fullness of time to lapse into a masculine attrib? ute also, seems to have a fair share in evolving those discoveries which run all the way from the practical and useful to a frantic belief in, and steadfast endeavo to prove, the most ridiculous isms. Each decade of time furnishes its own examples of those who risk life, and lose it, in their devotion to science. Living? stone's explorations in Africa made him a hero in his own country, and his death made him take rank among the martyrs who sacrifice their being in pursuit of discoveries so remote that they are almost I entitled to take rank with the vexed question, "Was Adam the common father of us all?" A taste for experimenting is generally unsafe. Although it is now some two hundred years Bince Bishop Wilkins re? marked that it would be as commou here? after for a man to call for his wings, when about making a journey, as it was then to call for his boots and spurs, the story of Darious Green and his flying machine, supported by the unhappy fate of the luckless Grimwood, warns us that the "hereafter" he then alluded to is some distance off in the future, and that those who have an agreeable premonition that they "are bound to rise," will find it consistent with personal safety to under? take such evolutions merely iu flights of] fancy. While a thirst for discovery may be founded on a desire to benefit mankind, as iu the case of the physician who, to test the contagion of yellow fever, supped on the black-vomit of a dying patient, in many instances it seems as though some cerebral perversion inevitably impelled the would-be discoverer to risk health, for? tune, even life itself, iu order to freeze fire or ignite snow, or cause water to run up hill. Theu^ is not a more touching narrative in airy literature than the story of the German peasant who turned away from many friends and a happy home to wander over the wide world in search of I a four-leaved clover that was to be a charm that would make life a perpetual [ joy and blessiug. He wandered far away, and looked along the ground for many years. He did not pause to make friends, nor did he pluck any flower by the way side, but when old age came and it seem? ed to him that his search was not ever to be successful, the story tells us that he went slowly back to the old home in the mountains, in order that he might die there, and just beside the door grew the four-leaved clover he had wasted his life in search of. But few of us are inclined to bo coutent with life just as we find it, or to echo the question of the poet who exclaims, "Whv should I tear my flesh and bruise my feet Climbing fur roan when from when I stand Down thtfgreun meadow I way reach my hand And pluck Ilifm olTas well?" While our eccentricities do not master us so as to interfere with the tenor of our every day life and conversation, pet weak? nesses will occasionally rise tu the surface, not so much in faculty for gathering spilt milk, or curing spoiled hay, as in an unlimited confidence that our ability to make preserves for family use far exceeds the ability of some less favored mortal, whose genius extends no farther than a special faculty for making soup for a sick neighbor. Both qualifications are harm? less and necessary in their way, and those who carry their exercise to excess, are but guilty of amiable weakness, and are to be much commended, in contrast with their sisters, who so sacrifice home com? fort to personsal display, in the egotisti? cal belief that they sqould be a cynosure for all eyes, that one who marked their finery otherwise than admiringly wrote thus concerning tbcm: "Press drains our collar dry, And keeps our larder lean, puts out our fires, And introduces hunger, frost and woe, Where peace and hospitality might reign." Again, there may be au itching eager? ness for autographs, or a longing desire after fossils, and the whole world seems called upon to pay tribute to those snap pers-up of unconsidered trifles, who ran? sack the ends of the earth for specimens, until their absorbing interest in science reminds a distinguished looker-on of the j will of one Nicholas Gimerack, who lelt "to my dear wife" one box of butterflies, one drawer of shells, one female skeleton, and- a dried cockatrice, while he cut off his eldest son with "a single cockleshell," for undutiful behavior in laughing at the little-sister his father had preserved in spirits of wine, and bequeathed to anoth? er relative "a collection of dried grass? hoppers" as an adequate acknowledg? ment of virtue and reward of merit. Well may those whimsicalities remind us of "what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue," as human ingenuity varies from a harmless inquiry as to the relative speed of the hare and the tor? toise to the horrors, calamities and trag? edies that follow in the wake of scien? tific or adventurous investigations from the argonauts of olden time to the aeronauts of the present day. A Practical Formula.?Commis? sioner Janes, in answer to repeated in? quiries for a formula for manuring wheat and other crops, has recommended the following formula: 700 lbs. green cotton seed. 700 lbs. well sheltered stablo or cow manure. 500 lbs. acid or superphosphate. 40 lbs. muriate of potash. 60 lbs. sulphate of ammonia. Spread the cotton seed and manure in alternate layers under shelter, sprinkling each layer with a due proportion of acic phosphate and a solution of potash and aroonia thoroughly dissolved in a suffi? cient quatitity of water, warm if conve? nient, to hasten decomposition and pre? vent excessive heat. After fermentation has so thoroughly set iii as to kill the germ of the cotton seed, cut down the mass vertically through all the layers. Shovel it into a heap and allow it to remain for a week or ten days, when it will be ready. Sow broadcast at the rate of 400 pounds per acre, and harrow in wheat. If ap? plied in drills one font apart 300 pounds per acre will secure better results. In the spring, when wheat is in the boot, sow broadcast iu wet weather, 00 pounds of nitrate of soda, well pulver? ized. When the cotton seed or manure is inaccessible, use 1,400 pounds of the other. The land must be well prepared, and this formula is adapted to small grain and narrow blndod grass. This formula is worthy of a trial. The Lien Law. We notice a disposition on the part of the press, as well as among individuals, to denounce the lien law as the source of many, if not all, the evils that afflict the fanning interest. It is illustrative of the fact that "thousands are hacking at the bending branches of evil, to one who is striking at the root." The lien law is a necessity. It is the result of the condition into which the farmers have placed themselves, by the improvident system they have pursued. They are without supplies, without money with which to purchase, without credit, and if without the lien law would soou be without existence, for no one would make the requisite advances unless the security given was satisfactory to the creditor.? The lien law, then, is a necessary evil; it is the system of credit; it is the branch of an evil, as its root, which utterly fails to provide the means of subsistence anil necessitates a resort to the original in? vestment itself. It is an evidence of the dissolution of the farming interest of the country. He who gives a lien thereby confesses that his farm has failed to sus? tain itself. If this view of the subject is correct, we fail to see the wisdom of denouncing the lien law. Rather denounce the system which has called it into existence and made it a necessity. Poiut out the evils in the system of "labor, as the root from which springs all other consequences, as evil branches, which can not be destroyed unless their cause is eradicated. When farmers resolve to pay only for services, and that at a fair valuation, then they will have struck the root which gives rise to the lien law. When they realize the fact that the result of their operations under their present system is often insuf? ficient to pay the demands of the laborer, the lien law will cease. When they re? fuse longer to employ their lands and stock and tools for the maintenance of the laborers, to assume all risks therefor, incur all liabilities, and endure the anx? iety and care incident to such a position, which none can realize except he who has tried it, then the lien law will cease. If the farmer awakes to the magnitude of these evils in time to save himself from rapidly approaching and complete ruin, the lieu law and similar evil results will disappear, and a tide of prosperity will flow in on him that he has not anticipa? ted.?New Era. There is much in the above for our far? mers to seriously think upon. They complain grievously of the lien law*; but avail themselves of its provisions year after year, acknowledging all the time that it is injurious to them. The law is not to blame in tue least. It does not compel the farmer to give a lien ; it does not prevent a farmer from raising his own supplies, nor does it compel him to locate his granary andmeit house hundreds of miles from his farm: \>ut if farmers prefer paying 50 per cent, more for what they cat than it would cost thcin to raise it, the law allowing him to do so should not be blamed. One would sup? pose that after one year's trial of the lien law, every farmer would bend all his energies toward relieving himself of the necessity for its assistance. If every far? mer in this County would adopt the sys? tem next year of raising all the meat, bread and provender he will require for his household and stock consumption the following year, he would be independent of the lien law and it would be inopera? tive, in this County, at least. The only reason why we think the lien law should be abolished is, that hundreds of our planters never will make a provis? ion crop so long as they can get credit for provisions to make a cotton crop; and that system of farming is doing great in-! justice, not only to themselves but to J everybody else, because all the money made from the cotton crop is scut West and North to pay for what they have already eat and used, instead of being kept among us to build up our own me? chanics, improve our own furuis aud spread its encouraging influence through every industrial interest in tlio State. Entertaining this view of the operations of the lien law we are in favor of its repeal; at the same time we believe the farmers themselves?those who avail themselves of its privileges?have no right to complain of the high prices they are compelled to pay, under it, because they can help themselves if they deter? mine so to do. The law was intended to do good, but those for whose benefit it was enacted have so abused its privileges that it has become an evil?much like the . use of whiskey. Used only when necessary it is a good thing, but when its use has be? come a confirmed habit, from which in? jury is done, then it ia a great evil and should be abolished.? Union Times. Railroad Across the Atlantic.? A railroad across the Atlantic is on the list of possibilities for the future achieve? ment of science. Many years ago a civil engineer read a paper before the French Academy suggesting submarine railways. His theory was that at a certain depth of the ocean?a hundred fathoms or more? far below any agitation from surface storms, the water is of such density that nothing in tubular form, whatever the weight, can possibly sink. Having thus made a foundation in the very bowels of old Neptune, he proposes to sink a con? tinuous line of immense iron tubes?after the manner of the recent cable laying? in which a double track railway could be laid between Cape Clear, Ireland, and Cape Race, Newfoundland, and thus trains go booming through, to the con? sternation of the sea serpent and the mortal terror of the big aim little fishes. The only really serious objection to his project that the engineer of this deep-sea scheme could then see, was the suffocat? ing cfTects of the smoke from the locomo? tives; and if this could be overcome then the grand oceanic railway only required the necessary construction capital to enter upon its career of "successful experi? ment," which he duly figured out upon the profits of the ample traffic between the two worlds. Now, the aforesaid "scientific objection" has already disap? peared in the smoke-consuming engine i>f modern invention, to say nothing of the "Kccly Motor." Can this capital question be as easily solved? Who will form the company, and who will take the shares. ? A precocious boy in an up-town family was asked which was the greater evil of the two, hurting another's feel? ings or his linger, lie said the former. "Right, my dear child," said the gratified questioner, "and why is it worse to hurt tin* feelings?'' "Because you can't lie a rag around them," explained the dear Chi id. The Crown of Scotland. The ancieiit crown of Scotland, now in the Castle of Edinburgh, has had adven? tures not unlike some of those of the Hungarian diadem. It is supposed to have been made for King Robert Bruce, and is formed of two circles of gold, the upper one being surmounted by a row of crosses and flans de Iis, while the lower and broader ring is adorned with precious stones, in their "rough, unpolished state. From this, rise two arches of gold, which unite in a ball and cross. Even when the Stuarts became kings of England, they came to Scotland after their Eng? lish coronation, to receive this crown at Scone. Charles I. indeed, wished to have the crowu ana regalia of Scotland sent up to London in order that the cere? mony might take place there, but this was regarded as an infringement of the rights of the kingdom, and be bad to come to Scotland, where he was crowned June IS, 1G33. "When, after his father's death, Charles II asserted his rights in Scotland, he was crowned at Scone on January 1, 1651. On Cromwell's advancing across the border, the crown and regalia were sent away from Edinburgh to the strong castle of Dunnottar, on the shores of the North sea, lest they should fall into his hands. They were placed under the protection of a picked garrison, commanded by the Earl MarischaLand Ogilvy, of Barras, a veteran soldier. Several guns were sent to reinforce the other castle, among others, M?ns Meg, and the great embra? sure, through which this monster was fired, is still shown at Dunnottar. On the 3d of January, 16?2, thcCromwellian General Lambert, having closely invested the castle, summoned it to surrender. The summons was rejected, and the siege began. Ogilvy had previously asked that a ship^night be sent to carry off the crown, sceptre and sword of state; but Charles bad not been able to comply with his request. It soon became evi? dent that the castle could not hold out long, and it was therefore necessary to devise some plan for saving the regalia. The chief agent in the plot was the wife of Rev. James Granger, of Kinneff, a small church four miles from Dunnottar. She obtained from General Lambert per? mission to pass through his lines, in order to visit the lady of the castle, and, on her return, secretly brought away the Scot? tish crown. Her maid followed her, bearing two large bundles of lint, as if for spinning, but in one of them the sword of state was hidden, and in the i other the sceptre. On reaching Kinneff, she gave them to her husband, and that night they went into the church, raised a flag of the pavement in front of the pulpit, dug a hole, and buried there the crown and the sceptre. In another part of the church they hid the sword iu the same way. When, on the fall of the castle, the re? galia were found to be gone, great was Lambert's indignation. Tradition says that he suspected the Grangers, and tor tiitod them in vain in order to extort their secret. But suspicion was at length lulled y> rest by the report that the crown had been sent abroad. Occasionally the minister and his wife went by night into the church to change the cloths in which the crown was wrapped, in order to pre? serve from the daiup, and at the Resto? ration, they gave up*Jjc regalia in safety to Charles II. A gram of 2,000 marks rewarded Mrs. Granger nr her faithful service. After the union, vhen on ac? count of the strength of tin Jacobite party, the English government ?.;rv un? wisely exhibited on many oecasror*; the mistrust with which they regarded the sentiment of Scottish nationality, tin crown aud regalia, as its most striking emblems, were shut up in a strong coffer iu the crown room of Edinburgh castle. This toook place in 1707, and there they remained for more than a century, until they were agaiu restored to light by the commission appointed for that purpose in 1813.?Chamber's Journal. A Little Mistake. He took the evening train up from Cleveland, aud in looking through the the cars discovered a female sitting alone in ascat, and it instantly occurred to him that she might be lovely. A veil dropped over her face, but there was no reason to suppose that she was not good looking, and he gallantly raised his hat and sat down beside her, remarking with a smile: "It's lonely travelling alone." She just murmured a reply, but the ac? cent was captivating, and he was won at the start. He was practiced in all the arts of po? lite tactics, and spoke to her softly of tills great, desolate world, with appropriate al? lusions to human hearts, lie told her how he had hungered and thirsted after the affection of a true heart, and had yearned to feel the breath of the heaven? ly flame of love. No, he sighed, he had no wife, no one to love and caress him and mend his sus? penders ; and when he enquired if she was treading the path of life single and alone, she murmured so pensively and sad that he felt compelled to put his arm on the back of the seat lest she should fall out of the window?which was closed. They reachedNorwalk, and just as the train stopped he heard a grating, hissing sound close to his car, and then the words: "Y-o-u villain; y-o-u old hypocritical s-i-n-n-c-r, I'll make you think you've been struck by a breath of heavenly flame, you old owl." -?'He looked around just far enough to get a glimpse of a pair of flashing eyes and the face of his wife, who had mur? mured so fondly to him alone the jour? ney. A sudden spasm seized him, but he managed to accompany her from the train, and as they moved into the dark? ness toward homo her Hashing eyes lit up his pale face with spectral effect. UxriKR tue Fifth Rib.?On the Vicksburg and Meridian Railroad the other day, a Louisiana planter encoun? tered a colored man whose face had a familiar look. The negro had his atten? tion attracted likewise, audit was soon ascertained that he was once owned by the planter. "Yes, you once owned me." he remark? ed, "and I was no better dan a boss.? Now I holds an office, and is as good as anybody." "Do you want to do me a favor, George?'' inquired the ex-master. "1 specta so, sab." "Well, in case yon ever tell any one that you hold an office, don't let on that. [ ever owned you, for, with this one ex? ception, all my niggers turned out to be respectable people 5"? Vie&sburff ffentld. j Remarkable Surgical Operation. On the 2?th of February, 1874, a young man named Best placed a* pistol to his head and fired a bullet into his brain, which remained there until last Saturday. The young fellow, who was only seven? teen years old at the time, was very at? tentive to a Miss Lena Schmidt, nineteen years old. Best's suit did not thrive suc? cessfully, either from the opposition of the parents or from the girl herself* How? ever, on the night in question, Best call? ed on Miss Schmidt, and, after what ap? pears to have been a stormy interview, left the house. A moment afterwards I the report of a pistol was heard, and the I girl rushed out to find her lover with a j hole in his skull and blood and brains i oozing from the terrible wound. He was removed to his brother's home, on Fifth street, and bis death regarded as certain to occur within a few hours at the furthest. Favorable symptoms set in the next day, however, and the wound? ed man continued steadily to improve until, after a few months, he was able again to resume work. The attendant physician had not ventured to attempt the removal of the bullet, and surgical care was only taken to remove such parts of the shattered skull as from time to time were discharged. Last Saturday Dr. R. 0. Cowling was called into tho case by the attendant physician, Dr. Bodie, to assist in removing another niece of bone. The probe touched a large substance which was thought to be the section of the skull, which the surgeons were looking for. Carefully working around it, it was finally brought out and discovered to be the bullet, which had been within the braia for a period of eighteen months. Although under the influence of chloroform the patient vis5 ibly winced as the ball was extracted. Upon coming out of the influence of the anoesthetic, however, he was compara= tively free from pain, and his surprise \ and pleasure, when the leaden ball was shown him, may be imagineA Some months after his attempt at suicide he was married to Miss Schmidt, and the young couple have since lived very hap? pily together. During Saturday and Sunday young Best's condition steadily improved, and at 1 o'clock this afternoon he was still better, with every prospect of ultimate and entire recovery. We learn that the operation has never before been performed, with one exception? that or Dupuytren, the celebrated French surgeon. Several notable instances of the survival of meu who have been shot in the brain have recently occurred, of which the case of Garath, the Vineland editor, is familiar to all readers of the newspapers. Drsagreeable HaBits.?Nearly all the disagreeable habits which people take up and come at first from mere accident or want of thought. They might easily be dropped, but they are persisted in un? til they become second nature. Stop and think before you allow yourself to form them. There are disagreeable habits of body, like scowling, winking, twisting the mouth, biting the nails, continually pick' ing at something, twirling a key or fum? bling at a chain, drumming with the fim gers, screwing and twisting a chair or whatever you lay your hands on. Don't do any of these things. Learn to sit quietly like a?gentleman I was going to say, but I am afraid even girls fall into such tricks sometimes. There are much worst habits than these, to be sure ; but we are speaking only of those little things that are only annoying when they are persisted in. There are habits of speech also, such as 'jegiuuing every speech with "you sec,'' or"vou know,"' "now-a," "I don't care,''' "tefive what," "tell ye now;" indistinct' utterance, sharp, nasal tones; avoid them all. Stopxud think what you,are going to say, and the* let every word drop from your lips just .-?4 perfect as a new silver coim Have a Ore about your way of sitting and standing and walking. * Be? fore you know it you H ill lind that your habits luge hardened in\o a coat of mail that you cannot get rid ol without a ter? rible etfort.?Little Cbrporah CAPTTRtXfi Ostriches-.?The- ?rcat> est feat of an Arab hunter is to cap^re an ostrich. It is the largest of living birds, and probably the swiftest of all living animals. Being very shy and cau? tious, and living on the sandy plains, where there is little chance to take it by surprise, it can only be captured by a well-planned and long-continued pursuit with the swiftest horses. The ostrich has two curious habits in running when alarmed. It always starts with outspread wings, against the wind, so that it can scent the approach of an enemy. Its sense of smell is so keen that it can de? tect a person at a great distance, long before one can be seen. The other cu? rious habit is that of running in a circl<\ Usually five or six ostriches are found in a company. When discovered, part of \hc hunters, mounted on fleet horses, will 'pursue the birds, while the other hunters ! will gallop away at right angles to the course the ostriches have taken. When these hunters think they have gone far enough to cross the path the birds will be likely to take, they watch upon some rise of ground for their approach. If the hunters hit the right place and see the ostriches, they at once start in pursuit with fresh horses, and sometimes over* take one or two of the birds, but often two or three of the fleet horses fall, com? pletely tired out with so sharp a chase. How to Dry Fk;s.?Assort as fol? lows : Figs not quite ripe, figs barely ripe, and figs fully ripe. Keep each kind by themselves. , 2. Scald in a weak lye of saleratus, to take the roughness off of the skin. 3. l>oil in syrup (made with fourteen pounds of "X" sugar to one gallon of water) five to ten minutes; take out ami dry on a cloth spread over a suitable frame 4. When dry, roll in pulverized sugar, place in a drying furnace, or a stove gently heated-, and when fully baked or dry, pack in light boxes or cans, using a little pulverized sugar, flavored with ex? tract Vanilla between the. layers. ? The odiior of the Elmira Gazeilf I says: "We always did like a girl with a blue veil, and we rejoice to see that this becoming article of female gearing is coming into style again. They are twis? t.-d into the most bewitching shapes are! so tantalizingly tied around ami about a-* to make the wearers more winsome tha-: ever. If there is anything nicer than a pretty girl in a blue veil, we never found it out."