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?. jj. MUKRA Y & CO. Tho Peculiar Old Mvaf ANDERSON, S C., THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 20, 1883. VOLUME XIX. -NO. 23. THE UNKNOWN FRIEND. An Incident of Hie Colorado Mining Cum. y av J. Jly William II. Partons. Half Moon wa? a new mining camp tn a deep canon al the head waters of tho Gannisoo. One of that adventurous class known ns "prospector?" had, in tho Fall of 1881, wandered through that country, followed by a burro, which bore upon it? hack all his worldly wealth, and had brought into winter quarters in the valley of the Arkansas such prom isl ug specimens of brittle and ruby silver that many, seeing them, were induced to go in the Spring to Bpy out thc land. And so it happened, on a March night, in 1S82, that a dozen campfires were bright? Iv burning, a dozen tents were dimly outlined in the shadows and ripenings of the stunted pines, and forty or fifty men, in groups of from three to six, were gathered around the fires Binoking their evening pipes and relating their experi ences and wonderful finds of the year be fore. Among fifty men brought together "rom every part ol' tho world, in a wild country, by a purpose born, to some ex tent ) i least, oi Hellishness and greed, Homo are likely to be found in whom brutishness predominates. There were several such in tho camp at Half-Moon. The poets say that communion with nature refines and elevates the soul, and leads men onward and upward toward nature's God. The poets aro somewhat wrong. Thc kindly spirit born aud reared amid the best influences of a city homo, where all the surroundings aro of a refining character, will become kindlier and better ns the years go on ; while the dull man will become duller, and the mean man meaner, in the very presence and hush of nature. At least it is some times so: and it was so with Bill Lewis. He had seen nature in all her majesty, moods and aspects for more thar, thirty year* ; he traversed the country from the Missouri to the Pacific sboro; lunched on tho highest summits and camped in the deepest gorges. And yet his depravity was immense. He bsd been convicted of a dozen crimes, and committed a hundred others without con viction. Each succeeding Fall had found him worse in every way than the preced ing Spring, and those who knew him best frequently remarked upon the uew and ever-increasing capabilities for bin which he was constantly unfolding. But he was not wholly bad. Perhaps no man ever was. There was a rumor among the miners, credited by a few, that once or twice during his career his rough voice had become gentler and the light in his fierce eye softer, when he had been surprised into speaking of his mother. Where he had como from, "what made him leave," where his mother lived, or whether she li vc?! at all, no one knew or had the hardihood to ask. There was another man-or rather boy -in that camp; but he could not bo seen that evening around any of the fires. He bad come into the gulch in a crowd of seven who had been on the trail somo twenty days together, and Bill Lewis was another or the seven. His name was Zeno Brown. Hin comrades had failed to catch or comprehend his first name, and he had come to be called . "Little John." He would have been remarked any where in a mining region an one wholly out of place. He was light, delicate and fragile-though seemingly in good health before coming to the gulch-and was illy fitted to meet the vicissitudes of a H mountain life. He might have been born for an artist or poet, or both ; be certainly was never intended for a miner. Everybody except Bill Lewis liked and pitted him. Bill apparently did not bate him ; but be despised him for his soft, fender nature ; was in the habit of call ing him "Susie" and "Nellie," and other feminine diminutivos, and never let pass 1 an opportunity to humiliate and wouud him. In coming into the gulch the party had an unusually serious trip. The trail was illy defined ; the snow was deep and soft ; they had been compelled to unpack their animals a score of times, aud to sleep in wet clothes and wet snow. For all thin, however, most of them cared but little. They were not invalid tourists, and they had crossed the range too many times in bad weather to be much troubled by one trip more. But with Little John the case was dif ferent. He had never before becu thus Hflfll exposed, and was evidently not sustained Bfflj -? any considerable extent by a hopeful spirit, and he had succumbed. He lay in his tent in his rough blanket bed, sick, prostrated, exhausted. There was no physician there, although most of WM those men knew something of sickness, and in discussing bia case, while none could say that he bsd this or that disease, all agreed that he was "clean gone and likely to croak." ! They had been talking of bim around ! the fire when some one, coming from n tent in a grove near by said : "I think Little John'll go up to-night. He's crazy now, an'thinks he's in Ohio; MM ?.>' keeps tal kin' of his mother." Bill Lewis, before silent and .-nilen, started up at once. ."I'll go seo thu kid," he said. He went, and all followed iu wonder, f SS Tkc bed i?as warm enough, and soft ^ I enough. But it' and its surroundings were terribly roujih for one like him ip his condiliou. The pale face amid tbo Bhaggy blsnkets, lit up by a tallow can dle burning in a can ; the saddle*, ropes, 1 kettles and tools scattered around among ! HM the bushes upon the earth floor-all to gether formed a scene weird and impres sive. As the man had said, Little John was delirious and talking of his home and associates away back in Ohio, but most of all of his mother, piteously begging her to forgive him "for aeserting her, ana I ? never to believe him guilty. ! Beyond this brief hint there was noth lng intelligible in his sayings. Now and Jthen B word of pity ot sorrow was spoken by some one, but not a word of cope, until suddenly Bill Lewis quietly, but firmly and confidently, remarked : "Parda I that yer kid must be saved. If you fellers have a mind to tarn in an' help-well an' good ; but, anyhow, that \ ?'d's goin* io be saved for his mother !" V " was thirteen miles east over the range \ to the nearest cabin. The summit waa dn Vnenrly fourteen thousand feet in height, "SBf ?nd upo.' it a storm was raging. The 'III Apara to the north and west were utterly appeasable. . The only way out wan I. p Mwn tb0 gutah by the same route' over ifjaS Biich they had recently come'in. Al <*9M $B?ugh by this trail there would bo no Wm Bfjrm' l"ero WR8 ?oreo. There were GR ^Mudes, prccloices and difficulties innu SM flfpcrable. Besides, it would only lead i;J| M ?"?Jo the broad valley of tho Gunnison, 13H M The range must yet be crossed to the east ySBjy before a railroad town could bo reached, HT or the advantages of shelter and medical i pp attendance secured. They believed th? *? boy would die before rooming. How, >-BH lh<,n. could ho be saved? Bill, seeing gj&g their questioning looks, answered them \ "See here, parda t the boy ain't neni \m ?o sick as ye think he .is. He's tired, 0a| wore ont, an* tcetotolly discouraged ; bul I he's young, ain't burnt out with whiskey ! ? -an' in my opinion ia moro homesick j than nick. I'vo icen them fellers before. If we kin make bim understand there's I a chance of hiB gittin' home, he'll hang j on so we Lin git bim home. I'll rig a ? litter on Balaam (Balaam waa Bill's bur i ro.) an' we'll take him down the valley , to Taylor Creek. A couple o' you fellers i kin then cross the range by Iirush Creek trail to Copper Creek, an' git more fei ler? thar', an* meet me au* the kid on the summit o' Red Mountain. Ther'a an empty cabin at timber line ou the I west o' Ked Mountain, an' meet me thar' ! an hour by sun to morrow. If yer bus ; tie ver'll git thar. Ycr ought ter fetch up by midnight on the summit." It is useless to attempt to convey au mea of what this plau involved. None but those who have seen these vast n retches of rock and snow-save, perhaps, those who have contemplated for an hour Bromley's "Everlasting snows of Colorado"-can appreciate tho magnitude of the undertaking. But they knew '.ho boy must die if he remained where bo was, and as the plan offered a possible chance of succesa, they adopted They were ready in au hour. Bil: rigged a litter upon his burro, as Indians do, und in it placed Little John. At U j o'clock the procession ?tarted down the j RUlcb. There were two men besidee i Bill. While these went forward and picked out thc trail, Bill attended to tho J litter. Their progress Waa slow, and their mishaps many, but without serious accident they reached tho valley at day light, and at 12 o'clock were at Taylor Creek. Little John was no woree. Ile was j partly conscious, and had been mada to understand that ho was going towards home. Bill's assistants were lo leave him at this point, and he delivered a last injunction. "Now, pt?rd?, let's have no hitches. I kin make the cabin in five or six hours easy enough, an' shall stop thar an hour to rest an' warm. If I kin make the next two miles over the summit the thing's done. But it's no use talkin' that's hell ! If it's quiet like, mebbo I kin make it. If it storms-God help us ! You must bo thar at the summit at midnight. If the snow's drifted bad, Balaam can't make it, an' we'll have to carry the boy. When you git thar, if it Btorms, hunt 'round, an' yefW find me an' Balaam an' the kid somewbar in the snow. Now git; an'-an'-if you ever loved yer mothers-don't you fail 1" The two departed ; reached and paissed the summit before daylight bad faded ; and at 6 o'clock were ia the timber of Copper Creek, on the eastern slope. In" a few minutes more they were in a snug cabin by a glowing fire, telling their story to four tearless, big-hearted miners. They all knew Bill Lewin, and thought he could win if any man could ; but they bad little hope of finding Little John alive. They all, however, willingly made ready to set out. They bad eight miles of comparatively easy trail, which they thought they could do in three hours in which to climb the two miles from timber line to Read Mountain summit. Without great difficulty they reached the foot of the slide in the time proposed. But discouraging, iudeed. was the pros pect upon arriving there. That dreary waste of snow, snow, nothing but snow, stretching up, up, up, ut an angle of sev enty degrees, until it faded io the uncer tain light ; the wind roaring far above their beads as it carno sweeping over from the other side; all brought a swift sense of their own powerlessness as against the appalling forces of nature, which weighed down and discouraged them drearily. One by ono they crawled up the fear ful winding way. Not a word was spo ken. No one hud heart to speak or breath to spare. Even minutes seem long in a time and place like this, and it seemed an age before they saw the top, and, ob. bow lom? before they reached it! They had hitherto been warm eaougb. But when they turned the summit the cold west wind chilled them through. There was no snow falling, but the wind was driving and swirling the recent snow in small cyclones of arctic horror around their shrinking forms. In a moment they hud abandoned every hope. There was no Bill Lewis there. There was no council held ; there waa no time for that ; but instinctively every man rushed forward for some alight shel ter. Onward they went, nt timos easily and rapidly over the hard, old snow, and then struggling through deep drifts, uulil, some half a mile from thc summit, they saw something dark in the snow ahead. It could be nothing else. But were they alive or dead ? Good faithful Balaam ! no man shall abuse thee more ! Brave Bill Liwis ! Thy sins be forgiven thee 1 Bill bad worked his way up from the cabin by tramping the snow in front of Balaam, a hundred feet at the time, and going over the ground several times, until the animal could pass through, and then repeating for another hundred feet. This ho bad done in biting blast and blinding snow, never faltering, never de sparing, for six long bourel Bill's greeting was characteristic: "Well done, pards t I know'd you'd come. The kid waa better st the cabin : but whether alive or dead now, I don't know. Look an' see." Little John was alive and warm. "Now, pards, there's eix o' you. Ba laam's pretly nigh played out. Shoulder the ends of them ere poles, an' strike fer Caspar's cabin-first trail to the left after ye strike timber. Balaam and I'll go back to tho cabin, an' co>no over in the mornin'. You kin wait for me. I'll come-for I'vo learnt sumthin* st that thar cabin, an' Tin gain' to see this thing through !" The six men took up the litter, sad Bill and Balaam went back to the cabin at timber-line. They had picked the trail pretty well coming down in line ; and so, without special difficult^, though slowly and wearily, they gained the ?um mit, and the dreadful and critical fifty feet once passed, they felt that their troubles were ended. The next morning was a bright one on the eastern slope of the main range. Low down in the big timber, nestled in a warm qook, with an eastern and southern exposure, was a minsr's cabin. Already the water was dripping from the roof-logs which overhung the front ; the p le or mineral specimens on the rude shelf be eide tho door sparkled in the ?unsbine ; the dog basked upon the chipa ; the bur ros rubbed their necks together at the watering place; the fire was snapping in the rnde forge, and a miner wai huting and poundiog his drills and picka. Oth er men were sitting on the shafting tim bers which were piled around, ?mokiog their pipes and talking of the sick boy ; who lay within. ! Little John had already made bi* way r to these strangei a' hearts. He was not delirious now. But he was '< pale, and wore a hopeless look that was ; pitiful. No one of them thought he had . yet come out from the dark errado*, and there was a sadness in their faces and a l hush i nt ho ir voices. After a few hourn Bill came. The minera proposed to go to the railroad station for a physician and such delica cies as mining camps do not afford. Bill accepted the proposition in regard to the delicacies, but insisted that ho himself would be nurse and physician. Under his rough but Kentle caro the boy rapidly improved, aud at the end of the week Bill called the two Half-Moon men out lor a little talk. "Hev yer got any plat?, 'bout this kid?" Both answered that they had not. They left everything to bim. "Well, then, I hev ; an' I'm goin' to .ay to you two what I've never said to any man for more'n thirty years. When they wuz all goin' to Califoruy, in '49, I wanted to go too. I wuz a kid, theo, younger than this un. I lived in York fctate. There wuz on'y one o*lne. Mother wuz a widow. She didn't want me to skip out, but I stole seventy dol lars-all tho money she had-au' ht out. I wuz goin' to go back in a year or two, with thousands o' dol'ars, an' make tho old lady comfortable for the ba'anco o' her life. But somehow I didn't git back. Bimeby won! come she died UT S broken heart. "Ther' ain't been many nights ainco, parda, wheu I wuz sober, that I ain't seen her ; an', pards, so help me God I that night on Ked Mountain, she went with me from the cabin at timber-line, an' all tho while, back'ards an' for'ards, ?he walked beside me, an' helped me pack that ther' trail, uutil ye came. Then she went away. I could never done it alouo parda-never ! "Well this kid wuz clear-headed at the cabin on t'other side, an' him an' me talked an' talked. We've talked here. An', you see, he was a clerk or sumthin' In a bank, back iu Ohio; an' there wuz money stole ! They took him up for stealin' it; but somehow they couldn't provo it on him, au' had to tura him loose. But many people Baid he stole it all tho same, an' he couldn't bear the disgrace an' so come to the mountains. His mother's poor. What he got in tbe durned bank wuz all both on'em had. Since he come to P'eblo be's foun' out who did steal that money. But be hain't got a shiner to go back with an' tel himself right. That's how he's here. "Now, pards, I've got nineteen thou sand odd in the Leadville Bank, paid in on my Beiden Bale. I hain't got a pesky relation in the world, au' if I git my hands on that money I'll likely blow it all in. So I'm goin' to send that kid home, au' give ten tbousan' to his moth er. The balance is a big enough stake fur me ; an' then, ye see, if I do a good thing for his mother may be it'll count nguiu the infernal meanness I did to mine.- So we'll take him down to Hay den's, an' one o' you can stay with him an' t'other go up with me to Leadville au' get some money an' a draft-I've got ber name an' whar she lives-an' then we'll come back an' send him home, an' send the draft to his mother. D ver see?" Three days afterwards they put Little John in a sleeping car, with a ticket and fifty dollars in bis pocket, and on the same day a draft for ten thousand dol lars was mailed to his mother in a letter of remittance signed "An Unknown Friend." Two hourn afterwards Bill Lewis in sulted a respectable stranger and pro voked a fight at the railroad station, and before morning was arrested for cutting a man in a gambling bouBe. Gold in York County. . YORKVIXLE, S. C., January 17.-Yes terday morning two capitalists, Colonel Rudge and Mr. Samuel J. Beal, of Bal timore, were examining a gold mine in the upper part of thia county with a view of purchasing it, when they were approached by an old negro man who bad lived near the place for upward of fifty years. The old darkey, .Pompey Rey nolds by name, told Colonel Rudge that he bad specimens of gold at his house which he bed dug out the mine, and in vited the two gentlemen and Mr. Arm strong, the owner of the mine, to accom pany him to bis hut. Upon reaching tho old man's abode they were shown some remarkably valuable specimens of gold ore. One nugget weighed over twenty pounds, and was found when as sayed to give 68 per cent, of pure gold. Another piece contained over five pounds of the precious metal, while another yielded th eo pounds. Old Pompey did not appreciate the full value of his col lection, and offered to sell it for.fifty dol lars. Colonel Rudge, however, declared he would .iot impose upon the negro's ignorance, and gave him five hundred collars cash for the specimens. A thorough examination was made of the mine and a bargain was made whereby the two ?Baltimore capitalists and Mr. Armstrong are to own and operate the mine jointly. It is to be called "Lily Langtry." From present indications it will prove one of the most valuable mines in the South. The mine is near the North Carolina lino ; in fact part of the property is io that State. Mr. Armstrong, in company with bis two partners, h? gone to Baltimore, carrying nearly half a ton of rock. Mr. Armstrong, wbo is an Englishman and a resident of Rich mond, came to this country only a few months ago. He bought the valuable f>roperty for less than one thousand dol ara. He declares that he would not sell it now for a hundred thousand. Messrs. Beal & Rudge are wild over the golden prospects. Unique Letter. Captain Levi Gunter recently issued a commision to a road overseer in bis sec tion accompanied by the following let ter : Honored Sir-I have the pleasure of herewith enclosing your appointment to the lucrative office of road-overaeer. Thank God you are at laut in the line of promotion. "The patho of glory lead but to the grave," ont the patho of tbs public road under your supervision lead to Colombia. Remember that large re sults often come from small beginnings. 'Garfield was once overseer of the road. Abraham Lincoln commenced life as a railsplitter, and died the death of a mar tyr. While I can't hold out all these brilliant prospects to yon, I can only ad vise you to emulate their virtues and sbun their follies. This office comes io you like the Presidential chair to George Washington, unsought, the office in both cases seeking the man, not the nan the office. Another aimilarity aug gests itself to my mind-neither ot you could tell a lie. Now, you will proceed lo summons the hands in your beat, giv ing them three day'a notice to appear at some convenient place with tools for the business. None will be allowed to bring a turpentine hack or a shoe awl,bot must come with axes, hoes and spades. Tn working the roads, like death and taxes, none are exempt, except from over age, and the Prince as well as the beggar must come or send a band.-Lexington Dis patch. - God's almanac hss but one day, that is to day ; Satan's almanac baa bot one day, that ia to-morrow. A. WONDERFUL GIRL. I? lt tlaguetlam, Spiritualism-or What is It? Near Cedartowo, Georgia, lives a girl Damed Lula Hurst, fifteen years old, wno is the greatest wonder of the age. The Georgia newspapers for aeve.T.l weeks psst have contained account? of her mar velous (eats, and hundreds of people have gone many miles to witness bc perform soces. The Atlanta Coiutitution sent a member of its stall' to investigate and make a full report and from this report, published in tho Costitution of the 7th instant, we take the following extracts : This is what Miss Lula lola mo about the beginning of the mystery : "One night, about two months ago, I was sleeping with my mothor in my room. We had retired about nine, and were just getting off to sleep, when suddenly the bed set up a cracking and popping, '.he like of which I had never hoard before. The cracking was in all parts of the jed-all over it. My mother scolded me for making a noise, but I was inno cent. I knew nothing of it. The noise, however, ceased, and wc went to sleep. "The next night I was sleepiug in the same bed with my cousin, Miss Wimbcr ly, wheu the same noises wero repeated with oven greater force. My cousin call ed my mother into the room and we took the bed clothes and bedding off the bed. We examined them carefully and found nothing thc matter as far as we could see, although we noticed that the pieces that I took off on'icued to crack as I was handling them. My mother said the noises were caused by electricity, but I of course knew nothing of that. Imme diately my father and the family all de cided that some odd powers were at work in me. Mother said, 'Lula put your hands on this chair,' ? did so and the chair began to move around. It amused the little children aad i kept il up for half an hour. My father thought it was a joke we were playing on him, and took hold of tho chair, but be could not hold it down although I simply had tbe weight j of my fingers on it. My father then be gan to experiment and soon decided that there waa no limit to it, as five men could not hold a chair upon which I simply laid my hands." The following story is told by the fami ly and Mr. Hurst, and is vouched for by people who are ready to make the most iron bound affidavits ss to in truth : Miss Lula found that by simply plac ing ber band on the foot of the bed it would roll around the room. One night she was sleeping with Miss Wimberly wbeu the bed began to crack and rap, and Miss Wimberly said : "Lula, you can make this pop any where you want to. Command it to pop at the headboard." The command was given and "rap" went the headboard. A similar order was given for the foot board and the rap ping was renowed there. Then in other parts of the bed, and even on Miss Wim berly's face. Then Miss Wimberly said: "Lula, you can move this bed. Tell it to move." "Move, bed 1" said Miss Lula; and the bed moved across the room. And now let Mr. Hurst tell the next thing. He is an intelligent planter, a deacon in the Baptist church, and stands among thy best citizens of hie county. Haid he : "The next morning I was taken into the room and shown how the bed was moved the night before while Lula was on it. That night I went into the roora to see it done. Af. er being in bed awhile Lula commanded the oed to movo and it obeyed her command and moved across the door. I then made her desist. The bed moved two or three feet. I ?ledge you my word and honor that what have said is true." It was at Rome that I ssw Miss Lula. I turned up at her hotel at Rome to-day at noon, and in company with brother Ponder, of the Courier, bad a private seance for my own benefit. There waa no deception in what she did for me. I watched her with my ea gle eye. Her father and mothei and Mr. Pon der and myself were in the roora at the time with the young lady. Mr. Hunt laid an ordinary chair upon the floor on its back. "Lula put your band on it," said he. The young lady stooped down, put the tips of two of her fingers to the back of tho chair and immediately the piece of | furniture began to back around the room at a lively rate as if slid along by some unseen power. The chair was theo stood up and Mr. Ponder and I were asked to hold it on the floor. Ponder took one side and I took the other. We put our whole force to work to keep it still. Miss Hurst placed the palms of ber hands on the beck of the chair, and it was soon flying srouad the room, overpowering both of | us, cresting a big stir and nearly knock ing us down. Miss Hurst then took the chair and Elaced both hands under the perforated ottom with her palms uppermost. She took no hold os it, but simply let ii rest on ber hands as a servant might have carried a waiter of flowers. Thus the legs of the chair were about three feet from the floor and the seat about fonr acd s. half. Pender sud I attempted io put it on the floor, using all our might and strength to do so, but the chair would not down. It continued to rise and fly around in the air with the news paper men swinging on st each side. Mr. Hurst, a man weighing near 200 pounds, then got up into the chair and sat there as calmly as if be were a boy sitting on a gate post. Thur? Miss Hurst supported the combined weight of the ; three. Thc io tal weight which she thus supported on the palms of ber hands wss nearly five hundred pounds, or much moro than tho weight of two barrels of flour. It was indeed astonishing, capo cicily in view of the fact that not a mus cle twitched and the slightest flush did not mantle her cheeks. She was as calm and unconcerned as if she bad been twirling a summer hst by its string. "Does it not tire you ?" I asked. "Not at all," she replied. "Do you feel any peculiar sensations ?" "None whatever." "Doesn't it strain you Wi "Indeed, if thia were a cane bottom chair you would not see tbs slightest of rain on the delicate canes." ' . "What do you tbiuk of it?" "I don't know anything about it," I took a heavy hickory walking stick and caught it near oh? end. Mr. J. N. Brown, of Chattanooga, caught beside me ; Mir. J. W; Hinton, of Social Circle, end Mr.. B. M. Cornell,of Goabun, Indi* ana, took tho other aide. Each couple faced the other. We held on with both hands, the stick firmly pressed against each man's chest. To my left the end of I the stick projected a foot. Miss Horst stepped up to it, raised both 'hands and j ?ouched tho tips of her fingers to the end of the stick. In a moment it moved to one side. Then to the other, then op, then down, aer?se around, and the next instant that young girl by ?imply touch* ing the end of the stick and keeping her bands there had four men floundering furiously around the room, and several ; times I waa ten inches oft* the fluor. How ia that? Fire men caught a chair and held I" I the floor. Sho put her hands on it and as tho men hold it securely tho chair wu? completely shattered in trying to get ; away from them. Another and stouter chair shared a Uko fate. A heavy bed slaad was made to run across the room twice simply by the laying on of lier ' bands. I sat in a chair. ?She touched it, uud dumped me onto tho floor six feet away, j All thc; o tricks wero repeated several times and fully convinced mo that sb? j [tossessed some remarkable power (hut I ? eave for tho scientists to explain-<if ' they can. I did not have time to see lier attempt ' to move a bed by getting on it and sim- j ply commanding it, aa that reipiired au hour or two more time than I bad st my disposal. Neither did she attempt any spirit rapping. There is no doubt of one thing, and I mention it briefly for the benefit of those who may choose to study the matter, and that is this : Whatever inanimate object Rho touched sppoared to be charged with a force that impelled it to move an . that too most vigorously, and alway?; from her, and with an irresistible force. Her touch has no oflcct on animal objects. Some local wiseacres accredit her with animal magnetism, others electricity and still others the "odie influence" develop ed. For my own part I have not made up my verdict yet. Russian Cruelties. The Richmond, Ky., Herald, prints tho following readable letter from General C. M. Clay, in defeuso of Russia and the RusBiaus : "In your journal of December 12 is a paper which 5? a typ? of the malignant calumnies of tho anti-Russian press for a century or more. I lived in St. Peters burg for nearly niue years, aud mado Russian life a study, mingling with all classes for that purpose. I dined with the Emperor and Imperial family, and took cabbage, soup and black bread with thc woodmou who came from tho intoiior on rafts. Perhaps there is no American living or dead who can Bpeak with moro authority than I can on tho roal charac- , ter of Russia. I believe lhere is no moro charitablo and humane nation on earth than Russia. I give tho proofs. There aro no dcatha by absolute poverty in Russia, as in tho great cities of Paris, Lou don, Now York, and other European cities. Besides the charitablo associa lion;) established by luw, thc first nobles , in Russia, men and women, yearly, by organized societies, collect funds by gift--*, needlework, aud other methods, for clothes, soup houses and bread, which , aro distributed all winter in St. Peters burg ; and such methods are pursued in other cities. The infants that aro . drowned and thrown into sewer? in Eu rope and America arc taken at a day old, if need be, and brought up nt the public expense in St. Petersburg, Moscow aud other cities. These children when grown up to a suitable agc aro put to service and may make a generous living. Rus sia liberated ber slaves not by war and , gave them lands. America did neither. I dined with the nephew of Prince Dol gorouky, Governor-General of Moscow, (Viceroy,) and a liberated serf or slave was at tue table os a guest, and made tho best after dinner speech on the occasion. The Russians open all their pleasuro grounds besido the public parks to tho wholo people. They never bar the gates and close the doors against the "rabble" as in England and America. In summer the yards are open and the wiudowB without blinds, that the humblest peas ant may se9 and bear the music. Cn all great occasions of & private nature all the poor are feasted or otherwise entertained by suitable means. In England and America even bouse servants aro treated with contempt, and my own fami ly remonstrated on my return because I said good morning, as was my habit in Russia, to them. The Russian noblemen speak kindly always to their inferiors ; tho Englishmen and Americans out of the South rarely ever. The Russian Em pire is large and'opareely populated, so that tho means of subsistence do not at all press upon tho increase of population. Io the large cities, as I said, no absolute suffering for the necessaries of life is pos sible. Now as to prisons. There was al no time while I was in Russia, so far ns I know and believe, one equal in its infamy to the Kentucky penitentiary. And Governor Blackburn deserves not denun ciation but eternal honor for hi., man hood end philanthropy, against cbc bar barian clamors of the press, for his re form. When I was in St. Petersburg tho cholera.was several times in that city of 600,000, and there was no more sensation than if the measles or whooping cough prevailed. Every Bubject of the disease waa taken at once to wholesome hospit als, well attended, and then, when conva lescent, returned without charge to their homes. The streets of St. Petersburg were a hundred times cleaner than the streets, aHeys, and back yards of Rich mond. They nevor burned down the pest bou?ca in Russia, as they did tho other day in Madison county when small pox prevailed. As to prisons, and Sibe ria, i HID giad to have an opportunity to refute some of the world wide calumnies of the ncti-Rusaian press. Siberia is not so vile a country as the French penal colony of Cayenne, nor thc original Aus tralia of England. Throe Siberian born ladies married nobles in St. Petersburg ; one the Prince Suwarrow, the grandson of Prince Suwarrow of Napoleon's times : the other sister married well, one an offi cer in the staff of the Emperor. I have heard them speak of the ''Fatherland'' as would a German. And they were the descendants of Siberian exiles. I do not hesitate to say that of all tbe people I ever knew the Russians are the most ge nial and hospitable. It is true the ranks in Russia are very distinct and marked, but the humane spirit of Russia thaws all coldness.breaks all conventional bar riers, and fuses the whole into one national feeling as in no other land. That ia the reason of the invincible courage of the Russian army. What calumniators call "stolidity" is unshaken and heroic patri otism. I could fill a book of similar 'proof. - Two gentlemen were walking along the street. Meeting a colored woman, one of the gentlemen raised his hat ana bowed. "Why do you bow so politely to that women?" asked the courteous gentleman's companion. "Because she cooks at my house." WASHINGTON, D. C., May 15,1880. GENTLEMEN-Having been a sufferer for a long t-ime from nervous prostration and general debility, I was advised to try Hon Bitters. I have taken one bottle, and I have been rapidly getting belter ever since, and I think it the best medi cine I ever used. I am now gaining strength and appetite, which was all gone, and I was in despair until I tried your Bitters. I am now well, able to go about and do my own. work. Before i taking it, I was completely prostrated. I MHB. MA?Y STUART. HORMON WIVES. HUI Arti ou Jo? Ilrown's Mormon flpecch. - isavyn Atlanta Cviutitution. MCI They say that Governor Brown made a good speech against the Mormon bill, nnd I reckon ho did. lint if be pulled it down ho had bettor build up ?another ono that will regulato them follows. I've no respect for tho Mormons. I'vejbeon reading about them and thinking about thom for u loug timo, nnd my conclusions ure that their priests ero knaves ami their followers are fools. Tho whole fabric was conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity. Joe Smith, the found er, was a vaguhoud und a Bheep stealer, hut neither Joe Smith nor Higdon nor any of the first set, over set up polygamy as part of their protended revelation. Thc first Mormon Biblo s?' i ruu^ shall havo but one wife." Polygamy was never established until that lecherous old rascal, Brigham Young, got to bo the heud man and theu bo announced a new revelation which said tho priests and apostles should seal as many sisters as tticy could maintain, so as to gel 'um up higher in beaven. It was nil to elo vute thc dear women and make archan gels of them. Tho old hypocrite and deceiver* imposed upon the credulity and superstition of tho women and they are doing it yet. Mormonism is a bambug nod a fraud and their leaders know it. Webster says thal thc word Mormon means a humbug. Wives and tithes is their confession of faith-their selfish creed. I don't care anything ubout their tithes, but the poor, deluded, helpless womon must be looked after. Where women is degraded no government can prosper. Turkey is called tho sick mnn, and Turkey bas her harems. Tho eastern countries most all oncournge polygamy and they aro far bo hind our civilization. Why, thora is not but oue woman for ono man anywhere in ibo wide world, aud there never was, for lhere are 5 per cent moro males than fe lonies born into tho world, and if it wasent for wars and accident.) there wo ul dent be a woman apiece. Just think of a young, likely, vigorous feller goiug about weeping and wailing because lhere wasnl a woman for him. What a misera ble creature. Well, if these Mormon ei ders and apostles and leading men who have ??'.: tened off of the poor are allowed to seal 15 or 20 wives apiece, somebody will bo left out in the cold and have no wifo al all. Suppose that all of our rich men in Georgia wore to do tho samo way what would jar young men do? What greater calamity could befall our good uounty of liurtow if Dr. Felton, and Colo nel lio ward, and Mr. Dobbins, and Mr. Veech, nnd Mr. Munford, and Tom Lyon. ?nd Geueral Young, and Mr. Jones should suddenly lum Mormons and take a notion to about twenty wives apiece and seal 'em to tho Lord. I don't think that tome of these gentlemen would need that many, but maybe they would think they did and that would be just as bad, if not worso. Governor Brown sayB we must guaran tee to Utah a republican form of govarn ment, and therefore wc must let them regulate their own social and ecclesiasti cal relations. Now my idea of a repub lican government is that what is a crime in our Stat" ought be a crime in all. There was av, officer from Ohio in Atlanta tho other day hunting for a man who had two wives, but if the feller bad run to Utah and taken a dozen it would be all right. Woll, there is no good sense in that. Our government ought to do nit it can to insure strong, healthy chil dren. Wo do that much for our horses and cattle, und hogs and dogs, and thc best way is for one man and ono womnr o mate together and go to rais ing '< i. That is nature and anything that is against nature is wrong. The Turkish harems don't turn out any good stock, in Thibet and Tartary they re verse the engine, and one woman is al lowed to marry several men, and she fre quently calls for all the brothers in a iamily and lives with them time about, but tho government don't depend on those sort of marriages for its soldiers, for they don't come. There surely is no happiness for a wo man when her husband's affections are divided with another woman or a half dozen women. There is no loving union devotion ; no tenderness. It is all ani mal on the one side and woman is noth ing but a machine on tho other. Thero is no such song in her declining years as "Now wc must totter down, John, Rut baud in hand we'll go And sleep together at the foot, John Anderson, my Joe." There is no record anywhere in history of a happy married state wbotv a man had more than one wife. L&tnech had two, but the scriptures say nothing more about him. Adam dident have nut one an J Noah one, and they started the busi ness of peopling the world. Old Father Abraham bad one, and when he took another ou, tho uly old Aunt Sarah got after bim and she frailed out the second with a thrash pole and run her off. Jacob bad two, and if ever a man deserved two ho did ; but they dident got along well, even though they were sisters. Moses dident have bu.. one. King David bad several, but ho was curst with 'cr;, and actually committed murder to get one of 'em, and lived in anguish ever after, for he said, "my Bin is ever before me." Old Solomon must have had an awful time of it, for he had a thousand, and they kept him so harrassed and be dovelled that he flew to bis inkstand and wrote that he bad found one good man. but a good woman in a thousand he baa not found. Of course not. How could a woman be good when she was only a thousandth part of a wife. But Solomon repented of his folly and oald it was all vanity, and advised all men to "live joy fully with the wife whom thou lovest," and to "beware of strange women." I never think of these surplus wives who aro sealed to the 'Mormons without a feeling of sndness and pity, for every new one causes the others a pang of shame. They are all in prison and their depen dence is like that of the caged bird that tamely looks to its keeper for food. There is no escape, for woman is a proud creature and will suffer in silence rather than parade her folly to the world. Did you ever notice how a woman will suffer and be strong, especially if she has a child or children to keep her company ? The Federal government ought to amend tho constitution and declare that in these United States and Territories no man should have but one wife at a time. This much ought to be done for the pro tection of women and . for her elevation in society. There is no religion in thia. Let them fellows believe In Joe Smith's bible or Brigham Young's amendments, if they want to, but I wouldent let them have but one wife. Governor Brown says we had better let them alone and work on them through ibo pulpit and preto. We might aa well try that on tho Mohamedant, we have been trying it tor forty years, we can't get nt thom that way, they wont hear UR? But on the 60S* trary, they send out their em tosari ce all over the world and compass sea and land to make proselyte?. Why, a fow yean ago they took off a caravan of clever ir* normt people from Floyd and Pout counties, and still later they are working around us on the sly. Now I profess to fear Qod and regard man, but if one'of them was to come clipping around my house I'd get nabor Freeman and the boys and we would iar and feather him and ride him on a rail aud leave him in a condition that would make Utah a very uninteresting place for him. So I hone that congress will Ox up some bill that will blot out this national disgrace and when they make it a law, then execute it. General Cummiugs was seut out there once with 2,500 troops to regulate 'em, but Mr. Buchanan weak cued on it and advised a compromise and nothing was done. If our government is strong enough to subdue the Southern States and sot four millions of niggers free, I reckon it can regulate affairs in Utah and free those white women. I reckon so. BILL A nv. Some Cold Days. It ls a bit of coincidence that the com et upon which Napoleon's soldiors gated se ?oral yean; ago, whan they were making that dreadful March from Moscow, which rcAulted io the death from cold and ex posure of 400,000 mon, should bo accom panied on its reappearance with a bitter cold spell of weather. When it swept out of sight the world witnessed an un usually severe winter. The incident, as well ss the present cold on ip, recalls oth er severo winters. In October, 763, and February, 764, the denizons of the cities of mosques nnd minarets were astonish ed by a cold spell of weather, and tbs two seas at Constantinople were frozen over for twenty days. In 1063 the Thames was frozen over for fourteen weeks. In 1407 the cold was so intense in Eng'tvnd tbt? all tho small birds per ished, and in 1433 tho largo fowl of the air wore driven by the terrible cold into the towns and cities of Germany. - In 1468 tho winter was so severe in Flanders that the wine distributed wai cut with uatcbels. The year 1658 was noted for cold weather in England. Thouisnds of forest and shade trees wore split by frost, hares and stock perished, a line of stages ran on tho Thames for several weeks and shops were built on tho ice in the middle of the Thames. In 1810 the wolves were driven by the cold into Vienna, where they attacked men and cattle on the street. In 1810 quicksilver fr?re in tho ther mometer bulbs at Moscow. One of tba moat remarkable changes of temperature was witnessed at Hornsey and Hammer smith-, near London, in 1867. The ther mometer waB three degrees below zero on tho 4th of January and seventy-four hours later it had leaped to fifty-five degrees above cero. With respect to America some of tho remarkable cold spells were as follows : In 1730, and again in 1821, New York harbor wan frozen over so that teams wero driven across the Ice to Staton Island. Tho neighboring State of Indi ana saw weather cold enough to congeal the mercury in 1855. The winter of 1881 was made memorable by cold weath er. On the Kith and 26th days of Jan uary many deaths occurred from the in? tense cold, and the residents of Mobile saw the thermometer sink to zero. A record of cold sieges would be im perfect without a mention of tbs terribly sudden storm that swept over the coun try in 1853, which bad gone into history at the cold New Year's. A drayman was f-ozen to death in Cincinnati while driv ig along the street ; a man climbing a lenee in Minnesota froze to death and toppled over into tbs snow, while the loss of hu mau and animal lives ia all parts of tho country was immense.-Cleveland Herald. Starting a Fortune. Who is the wealthiest mau in Califor nia?" asked Gath of a well known Cali fornian. 'Jim Flood, worth $100,000,000; he is a liberal man and a shrewd one. He hat built up on San Francisco bay a now port called Costa City, with magnifi cient storehouses and piers from which the wood of those rich counties is shipped direct to Europe and the world. O'Brien, Flood's partner, is dead and his fortune distributed. Mackey, one of the bonan za crowd, is thought to be worth $60,000, OOO, and Jim Fair worth perhaps $40, OOOLOOO.* 'How in the world did Flood and , O'Brien make such fortunes?' 'Just in this way, my friend,' said I Mr. Hayoeman, taking np a piece of Saner nod a lead pend?, 'Flood and 'i?riou kept ? saloon, and the drink o I were twenty-five cents apiece. Fair and Mackey were miners who for some years did not strike anything very rich. So they gave mining stock for the drinks in stead of money. Tho habit was to walk into the saloon with three or four friends, ask for the drinks and drink them : re Eoat and say to tho bar keeper; 'This i mine,' ana walk out. The barkeeper made four marka with a pencil ana a fifth mark across them, signifying $1,25 for esch round. These rounds would go up to a pretty high figure, bat on a cer tain occasion Mackey or Fair would say : 'Well, Flood, we want to make a set tlement for drinks/ and they would give their mining stock at a certain valuation current at the time, which Flood and O'Brien put into the safe. Behold 1 On a certain day metal ts strack in pro digious quantities in the mines that Fair and Mackey own, and when Flood and O'Brien open the safe and count the stock they nave, it amounts to more than Fair and Mackey'a, so when the mince were pouring out their million or two every week these saloon keepers who had been receiving twenty-five cents per drink for watered whiskey stetted a fortune." Equal to the Situation* "I've got como good news." said a handsome Philadelphia girl to her com panion, who waa visiting her from out of town. ' "What is it?" she asked breathlessly. "Why, George and his friend, Mr. Smith, from No vf York-that delightful gentleman we met last evening, von know--have invited us to take a sleigh ride to night." "Am I to ride with Mr. Stu?th?" "YatY* "Bat he has only, ono arm." '.' " "That .doesn't make any difference. George says he is accustomed' to horses, and can drive with one just as well as ho can with;. tuf?.", . ... "It mok?a a croat deal of difforenco," said tho young lady '. from cut of town. "One can not find any pleasure sleigh riding with a one-armed gentleman un ices"-- ?nd hore her face lighted up- hope jiuny-"ehe drives ' hwtAt?'-M?S& \phia OaU. J ' , ? . . I ? Your Util? boj appears to bo par-, tlchlarty li-elr, *e*aa*2^ "Oh. y?e> reloaded the lady, sweetly,"hu thinks heia in church." 4 < Jr The Hie of a woman caa bo divided ?to three epochs; in the firs* she dreams love, in the second ?ha experiences it, in tte third sfco regrets it, .<? Light on Brewster, WASHINGTON, January, 19.-Judge Bond, who is known as a radical Republican, and whose methods on the bench in tho circuit over which he pre sides have provoked much criticism, bas recently dismissed the election cases in South Carolina as having no foundation nor proper standing in court. The cases have been nursed with special care by tho so-called Department of Jus tice. Not satisfied with the services of tho United States District Attorney on the spot, a lawyer of ability and eloquence and an extreme Republican in politics, Brewster, Attorney General, has em ployed no less than five special assistant council to aid the prosecution : Dallas Saunders, of Pennsylvania, waa paid $200 a month and his expenses in these cases. Ile began March 6, 1882, and stopped recently. W. w. Ker, of Philadelphia, was ap Jointed Jan. 21,1882, with a retainer of 1,000 and expenses. W. P. Sydner. of Pennsylvania, w?= appointed in February, 1883, at $200 a month and expenses, to aid the prosecu tion. Benjamin Butterworth received a re tainer of $1,500, Nov. 13,1883 "in the matter of the prosecutions of violation of the election law pending in South Caro lina," but it does not appear that he ever went to that State or rendered any ser vice, except to draw the fee. Emory Speer, present United States District Attorney of Georgia, was em ployed as special assistant, but his fee ls not yet reported. All the cases failed before the juries that tried them, and the others on tho docket were dismissed by Judge Bond., F.oaa ;"> rsi to last, in all their parts, these were political persecutions and nothinr BIS?M That face was well known through out the State and to the local District Attorney. Now that the trials aro all over, and there is no longer any use in conceal ment, revelations are made of an attempt ed conspiracy in the jury room to con vict some of the defendants anr1, to let others escape, "to help the Republicans during tho campaign of 1884." One of the jurymen charges that the officials representing the Government were privy to a caucus in the jury room where this lubjeot was fully discussed in its partisan relations. This disclosure, following swiftly aa it does on tbe heels of others mnde in the Star route cases, where spies and inform ara were regularly employed by the De partment of Justice, has naturally pro voked resentment and indignation. The committee- now investigating the De partment of Justico can not pass this Diatter by without a searching inquiry, which will bring out the truth.-New York Sun. Ball roads up Mo un taina. America is the sceno of many notable railway enterprises. We have such a di versity of au r fa co that great engineering difficulties have to be overcome which are not thought of in other countries. One of the most difficult feats is to get to tbe top of & mountain in a steam-car. This has been accomplished frequently, however, and by different devices. At Mount Washington the railway climbs tho uprise, advancing forward like a cat climbing a tree. Thc iron clamps or claws are advanced and the train or cars pulled up by malu force. It is a novel sensation to ascend Mount Washington, while the descent seems still more peril? ons. At Central City, Colarado, a dif ferent method obtains. The cars move forward, then backward, bu teach change switches i:-'u: off ta ? higher elevation. After plying to and fro like a bobbin in a weaver's loom, the cars at length reach the tor- of the mountain. It is now pro posed to build a railroad to the top of Pike'? Peak, the summit of which is 14,000 f :. et above the sea level-that is, 8,000 feet higher than Mount Washing ton. In this case the road will run around the mountain, in a sort of spiral' path until it reaches the top. The en tire distance from the base to the sum mit will probably be forty miles. When completed this road will be one of the wonders of tbe country, for the traveler in ascending Pike's Peak will meet at every mile a new scene, the one more picturesque than the other. The first twelve miles will be of surpassing beauty. Camping grounds will be located at vari ous points, where people can live io tenta, enjoying the pure air end weird grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, while in constant roeipt by rallwa? of all the neca._itie3 and Borne of tho luxuries ob tained in large cities. -Another moun tain railway will be up the Catskills, which will carry travelers to some of tbe grandest and most picturesque scenery In tho world. An ingenious dreamer pre dicts the construction of a railway ex tending from Alaska to Patagonia and running on tbe top of the mountain ranges of North and Sonth America. Who dara a&y that even ibis wild scheme may not some day be realised ?-Demo rat's Monthly for February. An Ugly Tale from Newberry* CoL?JdiiiA. January 14.-A shocking story comes from Newberry County. My informant is a gentleman who visited the spot to-day, and bis account is corrobora- ' ted in its essential particulars by other advices. Mitchael Kinard, an old whit? man nearly 80 years of age, lives between Prosperity and Newberry, about 7 miles from the former place. He is a well to do, but has associated for years almost exclusively with negroes. He is a root doctor ana is called by the negroes a ma gician. He has been living with a negro woman for many yewrs. . He bad a white daughter, Laura, about 80 years old, who had recently come into some property. She lived In an outhouse in his yard. On Tuesday morning last she waa found lying dead in the. fireplace of her house so burned about the face and up per portion of tho body as to be almost unrecognizable. Her rather refused to admit any white person to the place, and one of the neighbors having his suspi cions aroused went for the coroner who had io enter the house by force. Ho be gan an inquest at which Doctors McIn tosh and Gilder, of Newberry, were pres ent* The father said that the evening before hia daughter had been unwell and that he had given her a powder to core her, at first refusing to mon ti ou the in? gredlent of the powder.. lie finally gave them as bay-berry, boneset, alder and schall cap. Tho physicians thought that there Was no indication of poison in the powder or in the stomach, bnt tho jory ?ere not satisfied, and . sout tho atomach to * Charleston theorist to have its con ten ts analyzed. They will not reeder their verdict until tho analysis Ia e. _ The frther had declined to allow to bo buried up. io.noon to-day. . said to bo much feeling on tbe the neighbors .and asrcug sospl against tho father, which it is boped not be verified. ______ UfThto ls the rock of ages? s?ld * tired rather Who had kspt the^rftdle going two houri, and tho baby still