Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY E. B. MUREAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 21, 1884._VOLUME XIX?NO. 32. Stone wall Jackson. Wilmington N~C., Review, Considerable of a discussion seems to have arisen in regard to the time at which Gen. Stonewall Jackson received bis death wound. Mr. T. J. Capps, of Onslow county, who drove the ambulance which conveyed Gen. Jackson to the rear, says that it was iu the afternoon. To controvert this Rev. L. C. Vase pub? lished a communication in the Newbera Journal saying that it waa after dark, and Capt. A. H. H. Tolar, of the 18th regiment, who was at Cbancellorsville, wrote the Review from Colorado City, Texas, where he now resides, also stating that it was dark when the fatal mistake was made. Still further testimony is deduced from Gen Jas. H. Lane, who commanded the brigade at whose hands the death wound was dealt, confirming what Cftpt, Tolar and Mr. Vass have said. Gen. Lane writes Maj. D. T, Caraway, of { Newbera, in reply to ajetter from that gentleman. He says: Aubuen, Ala., Jan. 5,1884. My Dsae Major :?In response to your letter asking for information about the wounding of Gen. T. J. Jackson, I would ifospectfully refer you to my offi? cial report of the battle of Chancellors villa, dated May 11th, 1863, and to a letter doted January 1st, 187S, written by me for the Richmond DUpaich, at the request of one of its editors. Both of I these *i?e to be found in YoL 8 of thai SvvtiurnlRdort? From them you will, learn that McGewan's brigade and ours were not in line in Jackson's flank attack on the afternoon Of 1ha 2nd of May, but marched by the flank,. along the plank road, the rear of j the artillery?ours being in front?and j that as soon aa it was ascertained that the enemy were rapidly falling back be? fore Bh-Ddes,-we jushod forward with the artiller) beyond our second and' third lines to within a short distance of the -first., Here God. A. P. Hill, in person, ordered me, ai dark, to deploy one regi? ment an skirmishers across the road, in front of Rhodes, and to form, line of battle in rear of my command,' for the purpose of making a night attack and capturing the enemies batteries, if possi? ble. While I was giving my orders to this effect, both sides opened a most terrific artillery fir* along the plank road, in which our brigade bad been baited. To save my men from this murderous enfilade, fire. I at obco ordered them to lie down, and my staff and I dismounted on the loft of the road. Daring this artillery fight, Col. W. H. Palmer, of Gen. Hill's staff, gallantly crossed tae road and in the dark inquired for me. I called bim and on bis coming up, we remarked upon the severity of the fire, the low flight of the-enemy's shells, etc., and when be informed me thU Gen. Hill wished to know why I did not form my line as I bad been ordered, I requested him to tell Gen. Hill that I bad 'not attempted it on account of tho terrific and murderous artillery fire, and that if hi? wished me to do so wccetifully, would have to order bis artillery to cease firing, as I believed the enemy were ketiping up theirs only in response to ooia. All old soldiers know how difficult it in to manoeuvre the bravest troops in the dark, under a murderous fire, through scrubby oaks and pine thickets, and over the1 abattis of the enemy's abandoned works. -Coir Palmer, who had a most varied and trying experience that night, hat frequently told me that he delivered my message to Gen. Hill, and Hill, through him, ordered Maj. Braxtonx of his artillery, to cease firing. As soon as . thiii waa done, the enemy, as I had ex Sected, also ceased their firing. I then eployed the 33rd regiment under Col. Avwy as skirmishers, and formed line of battle in its rear. The 7th and 87th -reg? iments ware on the right of the plank road, and thai8th and 28th, on the left ?the left;, of the 37th and right of the 18th rested on the road. When I gave my erde? to my regimental commanders, I informtxl them that we would occupy the front tine for the purpose of making . a night attack; and as there would be nothing before us but the enemy, they must keep a sharp lookout to the front. After I had formed my line from left to right, I rode.back to the plank road to report to Gen. Hill and there, in the dark, l met with Gen. Jackson, who re? cognized mo first and asked, "Lane, whom aro you looking for ?" I replied, "Gen. Hill, who ordered me to form my line for a night attack, which I have done, and I now wish to know whether I must advance or await further orders." I then added, "but Gen., I don't know where Gen. Hill is, and as he is acting under your orders, it would save time, were you to toll me what to do." . To this. Gen. Jackson, iu an earnest tone and with a pushing gesture of the right hand iu the direction of the enemy, replied,- "Push right ahead, Lane," and rode forward. This was the last time I ever saw my old V. M. I. Professor and Commanding Lieut-General. I then rode to the right to put my b'ne in mo? tion, and found that a Lieut.-Col. Smith, of a Pennsylvania regiment, had come in with a white handkerchief tied to a stick, to learn whether we were "confed? erate or Union troops." Soon after this, our skirmishers on the right fired, as I afterwards learned from Col. Avery, at a mounted person who roda up to his lino and called for Gen. Williams, and this drew the enemy's ar? tillery and infantry furo and there was firing all along our whole skirmish line. When I ordered the old 7th forward, some of its officers, and especially the brav? sad noble Lieut.-Col. Hill inform? ed me that they were satisfied that there were troops of some kind on our right, and advised me to reconnoitre in that 'direction before advancing. Genl Ponder then rode up, called me aside and advised me not to advance at all, as Gens. Jackson and Hill had both been wonnded and it was thought by my command. Lieut. Emack, with four men from the 7th regiment, was then sent to recon? noitre on onr right, and they soon return? ed with Lieut.-Col. Smith's Pennsylvania regiment, which had thrown their arms and surrendered, on representations made to them by Lieut. Emack. WbUe Lieut.-Col. Smith was telling me that be did not think we could hon? orably capture bis regiment, as he wasvin our lines "with a flag of truce," the ene? my's artillery opened upon us again, and the Pennsylvania regiment broke for our rear, tumbled over their own abandoned works, and lay hid and sheltered in the abattis until the firing ceased. Lieut. Col. Smith was then turned over to Capt. Adam's, of Gen. Hill's staff, and his regiment ordered to the rear under Capt. Young (our boy captain) and bis compa? ny. On going to the plank road, I there learned from Col. Barry (then Major) of the 18th regiment, that he knew nothing of Generals Jackson and Hill having 'one to the front, that ho could not tell riend from foe in the dark and in such a woods (low scrubby oaks), that when the skirmish line fired, he heard the clatter? ing of approaching.horsemen and the cry of cavalry, and that he ordered his men to fire. It was generally understood that night by my command that the 18th regiment had not only wounded Generals Jackson and Hill, but killed some of their couriers, and perhaps some of their staff officers, aa some of them were min? ing. Col. Palmer, finding that the 18th regiment kept up its fire and seemed de? termined to kill them all, threw himself from bis hone and seriously injured bis shoulder. In conversations afterwards Gen. Hill always told me that be thought he was wounded by the enemy, and Gen. Jack? son by the 18th regiment; and Col. Pal? mer is of the same opinion. In all my intercourse with Gen. Hill, I never heard him, nor have I ever beard aay one else, censure the 18th regiment for firing under the circumstances; and those who knew our talented young friend Barry, will always remember bim as one of those fearless, dashing officers, who was especially cool under fire. After this unfortunate mistake, the whole of my command was moved to the right of the plank road, and about mid nigbt we repulsed two attacks made by Sickles, in which we captured the colors of the Third Maine regiment and a good many prisoners, including a number of field and company officers, and two staff officers, one of which was an Aid to Gen? eral Williams. Next morning, about sunrise, our bri? gade, under orders from Gen. Heth, made a direct front attack upon, the enemy's breaatworka and carried them; but as our supporting brigade broke in our rear, we were drives back before Bamseur's brigade.of North Carolinians could come to our assistance. Bamseur went forward and was also repulsed, after reaching the works, with a aimilar terrible lose. There were twenty-eight pieces of artillery bearing upon us from tbe Chancellors vi 11 e hill. Tbe enemy were finally and suc? cessfully driven by Gen. Stuart in a flank movement of infantry and artillery on our right. . My entire loss it Chancellors ville waa 72 officers and 837 man, making an aggregate of 909, & little more than one-third of* tbe force carried in. We went in with eleven field officera and came out with only one (Barry) foPduty. Col. Purdy and Lieut. Col. Hill were, killed, and the others were wounded. I have not seen the article of Mr. Cappa to which you refer. I can aay, however, that the statement that he. as ambulance driver at Chancellors ville, on the 2nd of May, 1868, took General "Stonewall" Jackson, wounded, to tbe rear, about three-quarters of an hour before luntet, it at remarkable to me, u the statement of a Virginia officer, pub? lished in 1872, that no night attack waa ordered by Gen. Jackson on tbe 2nd May, 1868, and that tbe immortal "Stone? wall" waa wounded while riding along the skirmish line looking after tbe com? fort of his men. Aa a cadet and an Assistant Professor, I was at the Virginia Military Institute for five years with General T. J. Jackson, where he always addressed me as "Mr. Lane," though in the army, ke alwaya most pleasantly called me "Lane," and J know that it waa the aame "Old Jack" of the V. M. I., now the immortal "Stone? wall Jackaon" of Confederate fame,? who on tbe night of tbe 2nd of May,' 1868, while tbe mournful cry of tbe whippoorwill waa ringing in my eara from every direction, ordered me to "push right ahead." Respectfully, Jab. H. Lake. They Went Unprepared, We came upon them at tbe close of a September day, five miles out from Co? lumbus, Nebraska, their "schooner" anchored on the prairie sea /or the nigdt and the wanderers preparing tbeir evening meal. The little Arabs tossed about in an extemporized hammock whil't father fetched the water from the stream and mother boiled tbe potatoes and broiled the grouse shot two hours before. Close by the horses were coralled. Old Tow ser, the faithful watch dog during all these long journeyings?stretched under the wagon waiting his finish at the vict? uals, which, however, a soaring hawk apparently believed would fall to bis lot. It was a moat picturesque scene, as the setting sun cast a flood of light upon all around, and then disappeared beneath the billowy grass, just aa one sees tbe bright orb drop below tbe ocean wares. Tbey bad been travelling all day, poor things. Man and beast were weary and worn.. They bad been to the far West, and were now wendiog their way slowly back home East of the Mississippi, heart? sick and disappointed with days and weeks of travel before them. We did not question them too closely, but it was fdain to observe that they belong to that arge class who push for the far West without sufficient forethought and prep? aration. Very many reach their desti? nation in safety, construct a sod house, break a few acres, and then have not means to tide them ever until they can harvest a crop. Others lose their crops and are unable to winter. Still others become discouraged owing to sickness and other causes, and are bound to get back east again, .no matter at what sacri? fice. If they have not funds to carry them back by rail they drive back, con? suming weeks and even months io mak? ing the return trip. So it transpires that at certain seasons and in certain locali? ties in the Western States and Territories, claims and breakings can be bought from discouraged owners at a fraction of tbeir value. Frequently the disheartened settler, after he has built bis house, made hia first payment, and broken thirty acres or more, will "let the whole busi? ness slide" for enough to carry him and his family out of the country. During the grasshopper period, the prairie roads of Kansas and Nebraska wore at times fairly alive with returning settlers, whose crops had been devoured, and whose claims were being bought at a song by j cormorant spectators or old and new comers who had more faith in tbe future of tbe country. In 1875-6 and 7, tbe railroads experi? enced great difficulty in selling tbeir lands in some portions of Kansas and Nebraska, the abandoned claims were so numerous and sold at such low figures. Often tbe deserters after remaining East for a year or more, will return again, to find the claims which tbey gave up now held by thrifty occupants and very valu? able. So they have to push on still fur? ther away from the railroads, where lands are cheaper, and begin all over again. Moral.?Don't be tempted by the allu? ring advertisements of some railroad to start for tbe new West, before you are fully equipped. And when you do start, go expecting to encounter hardships, and determined to stick it out, though grasshoppers, or short crops, or rainy seasons, or blasting winters are among your earlier experiences. Then time will bring you out all right.?David W. Judd, in American Agriculturist for Feb? ruary. Bright'* Disease of the Kidneys, Dia? betes and other Diseases of the Kidneys and Liver, which you are being so fright? ened about, Hop Bitters is the only thing that w'!l surely and permanently prevent and cure. All other pretended cures only relieve for a time and then make you many times worse. "SOCIAL PROBLEMS." If r. H?nry G??rg?'? Late?t Work In. Sup? port of his Land Theories. Mr. Henry George's new book. "Social Problems," is reviewed at length by the English newspapers. It may best be de? scribed as a series of short essays in illustration and expansion of the funda? mental thesis expounded in "Progress and Poverty." In the latter work Mr. George claims that the progress of mate? rial civilization tends, necessarily and in? evitably, to increasing inequality of social al conditions, so that as the rich get richer the poor get poorer, and it assigns as the main cause of this increasing in? equality the "fundamental mistake of treating land as private property." The main inference drawn from this funda? mental assumption is sufficiently familiar to all readers of Mr. George's earlier work ; it is that the true remedy for so? cial difficulties lies in the complete abo? lition of private property in land.* This iajthe root of the evil, and if this be once extinguished all other evils of the social state tbat are really remediable and not inherent in the nature of things will gradually but surely disappear. In bis resent work Mr. George very considera ly enlarges the catalogue of these evils. According to him, capitalists, monopo? lists and fraudulent despoilers ef other men's rights will be swept away, national debts will disappear and each man that lives will enter upon bis right to enjoy that portion of the earth's surface which is inalienably bis according to the Irre? fragable and eternal principles propound? ed in the Constitution of the United 6tates. These results, together with the futility, in bis view, of any remedy less drastic than hii own, are displayed by Mr. George in an ingenious illustration which gives his own peculiar views in hia own forcible language and exhibits the enormous extent of hia assumptions and the inflexible rigor of bis conclusions: "Suppose an island, the soil of which is conceded to be property of a few of the inhabitants. The rest of the inhabi? tants of this island must either hire land of these landowners, paying rent for it, or sell their labor to them, receiving wages. Aa population increases the com pe.ition between the non-landowners for employment or the means of employment must increase rent and decrease wages until the non-landowners get merely a bare living, and the landowners get all the rest of the produce of the island. Now, suppose any improvement or inven? tion made which will increase the effi? ciency of labor, it is manifest that, as soon as it becomes general, the compe? tition between the non-landowners must give the landowners all the benefit. No matter how great the improvement be it can kave' but this ultimate result. If the improvements are so great tbat all the wealth the island can produce or that the landowners care for can be ob? tained with one-balf the labor, tbey cane let the other balf of the laborers starve or evict them into the sea, or if they are pious people of the conventional sort, who believe that God Almighty intended these laborers to live though He did not provide any land for them to live on, they may support them as paupers or ship tbem off to some other country, as tbe English Government is shipping the 'surplus' Irishmen. But whether they let tbem die or keep them alive, tbey would have no use for them, and if im? provement still went on they would have use for less of them." DAXGEBS TO CIVILIZATION. In another part; of his work Mr. George points out the dangers which threaten society should these social problems be neglected: "It is startling to think bow destruc? tive in a civilized nation like ours would be such fierce conflicts as fill the history of the past. Tbe wars of highly civiliz? ed countries, since the opening of the era of steam and machinery, have been duels of armies rather than conflicts of peoples or classes. Our only glimpse of what might happen were passion fully aroused was in the struggle of the Paris Commune. And, since 1870, to the knowledge ef petroleum has been added tbat of even move destructive agents. The explosion of a little nitro-glycerine under a few water-mains would make a great city uninhabitable; tbe blowing up of a few railrosd bridges and tunnels would bring famine quicker than the wall of circumvallation that Titus drew around Jerusalem; the pumping of at? mospheric air into the gas-mains, and the application of a match, would tear up every street and level every house. The Thirty Years' War set back civiliza? tion in Germany; so fierce a war now would all but destroy it. Not merely have destructive powers vastly increased, but tbe whole social organization has become vastly more delicate. "In a simpler state, master and man, neighbor ana neighbor, know each other, and there is that touch of tbe elbow which, in times of danger, enables socie? ty to rally. But present tendencies are to the loss of this. In London, dwellers in one house do not know those in the next, the tenants of adjoining rooms are utter strangers to each other. Let civil conflict break or paralyze tbe authority that preserves order, and the vast popu? lation would become a terror-stricken mob, without point or rally or principle of cohesion, and London would be sack? ed and burned by an army of theives. London is only tbe greatest of great cit? ies. What iB true of London is true of New York, and tbe same measure true of the many cities whose hundreds of thousands are steadily growing toward millions. These vast aggregations of hu? manity, where bo who seeks isolation may find it more truly than in tbe desert, where wealth and poverty touch and jostle, where one revels and another starves within a frw feet of each other, yet separated by as great a gulf aa that fixed between Dives in hell and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom?they are centres and types of our civilization. Let iar or shock dislocatT the complex and delicate organization/ let the policeman's trun? cheon be thrown down or wrested from him, and tbe fountains of the great deep are opened, and quicker than ever before chaos comes again. "When a mighty wind meets a strong current it does not portend a smooth sea. And whoever will think of the opposing tendencies beginning to develop will ep fireciate the gravity of the social prob ems the civilized world must soon meet." ? An Iowa boy fifteon years old work? ed a month for the family physician, and | was given instead of the ten dollars be expected a receipted bill for professional services, which the doctor had rendered on the occasion of his birth. This new way of paying old debts was very disap? pointing to the boy. ? A man going home at a late hour in tbe night saw tbat the occupant of a house standing flush with the street had left a window up and be decided to warn them and prevent a burglary. Putting his head into the window he called out: "Hello 1 good peop?." That was all he said. A whole pailful of water struck him in the face and as he staggered back a woman shrieked out: "Didn'tI tell you what you'd get if you wasn't home by 9 o'clock ?" Two Obscure Heroes. When the Britiih marched up from Sarau nab, and took Charleston, in the Spring of 1760, they thought the revolu? tion was at an end in the Southern States, and it really teemed >o. Even the pa? triot! thought it was useless to resist any longer, and so when the British ordered all the people to come together at differ? ent places and enroll themselves as British subjects most of them were rtady I to do it, simply because they thought they could not help themselves. Only a few daring men, here and there, were bold enough to think of refusing, and but for them the British could have set up the royal power again in South Carolina, and then they would have been free to take their whole force against the patriots further north. The fate of the whole country depended, to a large extent, upon the courage of the few men who would not give up, even at such a time, but kept up the fight against all odds. These brave men forced the British to keep an army in the South which they needed further North. The credit of beginning this kind of partisan warfare belongs chiefly to two or three plain men, who did it simply he cause they loved their country more than their ease. The man who first began it was Justin Gastou?a white-haired patriot, who lived on a little stream called Fishing Creek, near Rocky Mount. He was eighty years of age, and might well have thought himself too old: to care about war matters; but be was a brave man and a patriot, and the people who lived near him were in the habit of tak? ing his advice and doing as be did. When tbe news came that Tarleton had killed a band of patriots, under Col. Boford, iu cold blood, Justin Gaston called his nine sons and many of his nephews round him. Joining hands these young men promised each other that they never would take the British oath, and never would give up the cause. Soon afterward a British force came to tbe neighborhood, and all the people were ordered to meet at Rocky Mount to enroll their names and take the oath. One of tbe British officers went to see Justin Gastou, end tried to persuade him that it was folly to refuse. He knew that if Gastou advised the people to give up there would be no trouble;' but tbe white-haired patriot told bim to his face that be would never take the oath him? self, or advise anybody else to do so. As soon as the officer left, the old man sent for his friends, and about thirty brave fellows met at hie bouse that night with their rifles in their hands. They knew there would be a stroDg force of British and Tories at Rocky Mount the next day, but in spite of the odds against them they made up their minds to attack tbe place. Creeping through tbe woods, they suddenly came upon the crowd, and after a sharp fight sent tbe British fljinr helter-skelter in every di? rection. This stopped tbe work of enrolling the people as British subjects, and it did more than that. It showed the patriots through the whole country that they could still give the British a great deal of trouble, and after this affair many of the men who had thought of giving up rubbed up their rifles instead, and formed little bauds of fighting men to keep the war going. Another man who did much to stir up ?artisan warfare was the Rev. William lartiu, an old and pious preacher in the Scotch-Irish settlements. These Scotch-Irish were very religious people, and their preacher wss their leader in all things. One Sunday after the news had come to the settlement that Buford's men bad been killed by the British iu cold blood, the eloquent old man went into the pulpit and proashed about the duty of fighting. In the afternoon he preached again, and even when the ser? vice was over he went on in the open air, still preaching to the people how they should fight for their country, until all the men in tbe settlement were full of fighting spirit. The women told the men to go and do their duty, and that they would take care of tbe crops. These little bands of patriots were too small to fight regular battles, or even to hold strong posts. They had to hide in the woods and swamps, and only came out wheo they saw a chance to strike a blow. Then the blow fell like lightning, and the men who dealt it quickly hid themselves again. They had signs by which they told each other what they were going to do. A twig bent down, a few stones strung along a path or any other of the hundred small signs, served to tell every patriot when and where to meet his friends. A man riding about, breaking a twig here and there, or making some other sign of tbe kind, could call together a large force at a chosen spot within a few hours. The men brought out in this way would fall suddenly upon some stray British force that was off its guards, and utterly destroy it. The British would at once send a strong body of troops to punish the daring patriots, but the redcoat lead? er would look in vain for anybody to Euuish. The patriots could scatter and ide as quickly as they could come together. Finding that they could not destroy these patriot companies, the British and Tories took their revenge on women and children. They burned the houses of the patriots, carried off their crops and killed their cattle, so as to starve their families; but the women were as brave an the men, and from first to last not one of them ever wished her busband or sou to give up tbe fight. If the patriots could not cooquer the British, they at least kept them in a hornet's nest. If they could not drive them out of South Carolina, they could keep them there, which was nearly as good a thing to do because every soldier that Cornwallis had to keep in the South would have been sent to some other part of tbe country o fight Americans if the Carolinians ha'. left the British alone. In this way small bands of resolute menfkept Cornwallis busy, and held tbe State for the American cause, until Gen? eral Greene went South and took com? mand. Greene was one of the great? est of the American Generals, and after a long campaign be drove the British out of the State. But if it had Dot been for tbe partisans the South would have beeu lost long before he could be spared to go there, and if the partisans had uot kept a British army busy there, it might have gone very hard with the Americaus in the rest of the country. When we rejoice iu the freedom of our country we ought not to forget how much we owe the partisans, and especially such men as Justin Gaston and the Rev. Wil? liam Martin, who first set the partisans at their work. It would have been much easier acd pleasanter for them to remain quiet under British rule; and they had nothing to gain for themselves, but every? thing to lose by the course they took. Gastou knew that his home would be burned for what he did, and the eloqueut old Scotch preacher knew that he would be put into a prison-pen for preaching war sermons to his people; but they were not men to flinch. They cared more for their country than for themselves, and it was precisely that kind of men through the land, from New England to' Georgia, who won liberty for us by seven years of hard fighting and terrible suffering. idtleft to all Cotton Farmers. W. P. Tarpley, of Henry County, Georgia, writes as follows to the Farming World of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the sub? ject of "all cotton" farming: We have planted and cultivated, and borne the best of the day, and the season has come for a few days' rest. How many have made a success or adviur-ed in the old mother profession by reflection and experiment? Each can now see the fruits of bis labors developing. The Western farmer, that is akin to every? body, looks over his broad acres of corn and smiles at the thought of a weighty corn crib and a disappointed winter. A Southern farmer, with a diversity of crops, feels himself an American citizen. He has garnered his wheat and oats and now enlarges bis corn crib, and makes new barrels for his syrup, while bis few acres in cotton bring him a few surplus dollars. But what is the condition of the man who planted ail cotton ? Truly he is a melancholy man. He began his work the first day of January, and has toiled through heat and dust, and now finds himself in the same trucks that he stood in fifteen years ago?so far as financial progress is concerned. He is perfectly exhausted, but, the worst of all is, he realizes that a new year will dawn upon him again with empty hands. If that man does not need the sympathy of his people, who does ? I have endeavored to picture the con? ditions of the two farmers, just as they exist. The one will then ask, how can I better myself? Tell him to quit raising cotton, and he will invariably say that I am obliged to raise it; I am in debt and I have no other way to get out; and, furthermore, I have not the necessary means to commence a different plan of operations. The truth is, he does not know how to quit. He has been goiug the same wav so long that it has become habitual with him. This is not supposi? tion, but ia the real condition of two thirds, if not three-fourths. Take the two different plans and compare the figures. Take the one-horse farm, for instance. The farmer should sow five acres in wheat, clean and break the land well, mow and harrow in some half an acre of rye in September for early use, sow another half in November, com? mence tbe first of January and sow ton acres of rust proof oats, and put thirty buahels of cotton seed to the acre. If your land is not good plant twelve acres in corn as early as possible; if tbe frost does bite it down it is that much the bet? ter, but plant it on your best land or manure it, if only with muck or rich dirt. Plant eight acres in cotton and five hundred barrels of compost to the acre of your own make, which will not coat you over two dollars per acre. Plant two acres in sweet and Irish potatoes, one acre in sugar cane upon a loose sandy loam, ir you have it. You now have in the thirty-nine acres. The oats will make twenty bushels to the acre at the least calculation, or two hundred bushels for tbe ten acres, at twenty-five cents per bushel, is orth one hundred and fifty dollars. Cotton seed, worth thirty dollars, deducted, will leave one hundred and twenty dollars. Your corn will make at least, one hundred and twenty bushels, worth one hundred and twenty dollars. The twGr" acres in pota? toes will make at least one hundred dol? lars. Tbe one acre in sugar cane, if it makes anything, will make seventy-five dollars' worth of syrup. The eight acres in cotton upon average land, if planted as directed, will make five bales of cotton, worth two hundred and twenty five dollars, expenses of compost and ginning, twenty-five dollars, which leaves two hundred dollars. You have made upon your diversified crops six hundred and fifteen dollars, with wheat, rye, fod? der, shucks, etc., thrown in for good measure, and have put everything at its least figures. Now take the man that plants all cot? ton. Twenty-five acres is as much as one man can work, from which, if he gets seven bales of cotton, he will do well. If he manages to gather it all himself, which is more than he can do, his expenses will be for guano, ginning, etc., sixty dollars; bis seven bales of cot lob is worth three hundred and fifteen dollars; sixty dollars deducted leaves two hundred and twenty-five dollars just three hundred ana sixty dollars difference for a one-borne farm. My opinion is the six hundred and fifteen dollars will pay up all dues and leave enough to subsist on while making another crop and have a few dollars loft. It is no wonder that a man does not suc? ceed with only two hundred and fifty dollars to feed man and beast upou. One of the great points to be considered, if a person wishes to succeed, is to econ? omize and save. It is surprising to know bow little a person can live on, if brought to the necessity of it, for it is better to live cheap one year than all your life. By following this plan with a determina? tion to go into debt a* little as possible, in two or three years you will be an in? dependent man. The Mystery of Dreams. A man fell asleep as the clock tolled the first stroke of twelve. He awakcued ere tbe twelfth stroke had died away, having in the interval dreamed that he had committed a crime, was detected after five years, tried and condemned ; tbe shock of finding the halter around his neck aroused him to consciousness, when he discovered that all these events bad happened in an infinitestimal frag? ment ox time. Moharaed, wishing to illustrate the wouders of sleep, told how a certain man, being a sheik, fouud him? self, for his pride, made a pour fisherman; that he lived as one for sixty years, bring? ing up a family and working hard, and how, upon waking up from his long dream, 90 short a time bad he beeu asleep that the narrow-necked gourd bottle, filled with water, which he knew he overturned as be fell asleep, had not time to empty itBelf. How fast the soul travels wbeu the body is asleep I Often when we awake we shriuk from going iu the dull routine of a sordid existence, regretting the pleasauter life of dream? land. How is it that sometimes when we go to a strange place, we faucy that wehavesoen it before? Is it possible that when one has beeu asleep, the soul has floated away, seen tbe place, and has that memory of it which so surprises us ? In a word, how far dual is the life of a man, bow far not? ? Twenty-six homicides in New York since the 4th of November, tho day of tbe Danville riot, says a Richmond pa Eer, and not a Congressman has raised is voice in favor of investigating these crimes. ? It was at the close of the wedding breakfast. One of the guests arose, and, glass iu baud, said : "I driuk to the ! health of the groom?May he sec many j days like this." The intention w?b good, but the bride looked as if something had displeased her. THE BLESSED BABY. ! Ail Open Letter- from au Old Boy to a I Youdc One. Dear Ezra: When that baby you speak of arrives, prepare to take a back seat. Take it gracefully, and occupy it without a murmur, for it is the only one you will ever get. You have doubtless made your own plans about the way which your first child shall be brought up?all prospective fathers do this. Do not be surprised to discover that you have nothing whatever to do with the performance, but that you are to merely a spectator, and from a back seat at that 1 The child is going to be reared by your wife and your wife's relatives and your wife's old nurse and the family doctor. Don't forget this, or you may find yourself in trouble. The counten ance of your wife's mother will seem perpetually to say to you: " You git out I The nurse and doctor will remind you that they have brought up hundreds babies before you were even thought of, and that you had better keep your little suggestions to yourself. You have decided, for one thing, that your baby shall be plainly dressed?none of this wicked extravagance of laces and embroidery for you. How chagrined you will be when you see the gorgeous "outfits" that have been smuggled into the house while you were away at your business. Then, too, there will be the presents which pour in from friends custom of which you never beard and for which you made no allowance Wurst ' shoes are easy to make, and every mail will bring them to you from all -loints of the compass. The joke of it is, they will all fit I A girl thirteen years old can knit a pair of pink shoes for a babe still unborn that will fit as perfectly as those contributed by the septuagenarian mother of fifteen chil dren. Yes,-you may be too poor to pay your rent, but you will see your baby riding proudly through the streets in its own carriage, and covered with an array of ribbons and spangles and crochet work which will make the glittering cos tume of the circus monkey look pale. You have determined also that your child shall not be rocked. "When it cries," you say, "lay it, down and let it have the cry out; just as easy to train a child one way as the other. If it is to be rocked and dandled and walked with every time it screams, the whole family will soon be bond slaves. Let us have no cradle in this house aud no springs on our baby wagon I" Here, again, pre pare yourself for ignominious defeat You will have a cradle with a lovely canopy and a fly-net, and the little car? riage will have bounding springs, and your infant will be rocked on the tree* top and trotted to Boston to buy a loaf of the staff of life, just like all its pre? decessors. When you ask who is going to do the rocking and promenading at midnight and at cock crowing and with a baby weighing twenty pounds, there will be an ominous silence which means that you yourself have been selected for that duty. The nurse has told your wife that that's all yu're good for I When you see the baby smothered in worsted jackets, shawls and afgbans, per? spiring like a trotting horse and gasping for breath, don't even venture to suggest that it has too many clothes on. Of course you don't know the saving quali? ties of pinning blankets, knit shirts and flannel blankets; and probably you never heard that the child would die in? stantly if flannel wasn't kept over its stomach. It is only out of pity for your ignorance that the nurse doesn't knock you down. When your wife says the baby is laughing, dou't dispute her, whether you can see the laugh or not. Only females can tell when a baby laughs, or interpret its other complex expressions. If you take a band in the business you will be Bet down for a fool. Don't try it. In the nursery you must be all things to all women. Prepare to dress yourself in the bath room, receive your friends in the hall, and to go to the barn when you want to smoke. Your own room will gradually assume the appearance of something be? tween a drug store and a diet-kitchen. When you go out of it in the morning it is well to be equipped for the day, as you may not be readmitted until bedtime. If you go back to change your cuffs, the chances are that you will fiod the door locked and a chorus of female voices will inform you that you can't come in because the baby is being bathed. Even when you are allowed to enter, there is danger that the burly nurse will bustle you out again, whispering into your ear that the baby has got to be "changed"? whatever that may mean. Bathing aud changing will keep you in almost con? stant exile. Before your child gets into short clothes you will have spent about six months sitting on the stairs, "waiting to speak to your wife." And yet, your wife still loves you. At times she even says that she wishes she could do some? thing for you. The trouble is that she is completely under the control of "per? sons ol experience," who tell her that if she doesn't powder the baby and trample on her husband, as they advise, her life will be a complete failure. I have only mentioned these few things which happened to occur to me. There is a vast held of vaccination, teething, milk crust, bottle-feeding, wet-nursing, sickness, christeniug, and "have the baby's picture taken," which I haven't touched upon at all. If you are alive six mouths from now, I will write and advifie you further. In the meantime take good care of yourself aud don't for? get what I have said about the back seat. Your affectionate uncle. t Gen. Grant's Condition. Oeu Grant will never be a well man again. I doubt if he will ever again go out of the house. I called there yester found him quite unable to see anybody. I walked through the great marble floor? ed hall while waiting for the message into the bijou of a reception room, with its ebony table and ivory carved orna? ments, a great bronze Japanese \ettle on the shelf, au enormous turtle climbing up the wall?no, a closer inspection shows him hung there by the under shell, the upper shell polished like a mirror. The creature's skiu at the Bide was tan? ned and painted and bsstrung with rib? bons, while the vital creature himself has boon dug out and turned into hoav enly soup, and in bis place now stick the latest newspapers ; into the long drawing room, bejewelled with lovely silver bas? kets from Vienna, rare st?nde from Con? stantinople, enormous vases of bronze, big enough to cook a calf, from Yoka haina, faienco ware and clock of ormolu, trophies and trinkets from around the welcoming world. Then comes the ser? vant again; General Grant did not sleep a wink last night. The only Bleep he gets now is little cat naps iu the day time. It is mostly pain that keeps him awake. His diet uas become rigidly simple. Indeed he has little appetite for anything. I am seriously afraid that our most distinguished citizen has been seen in public for the last time.?Letter to Horton Glode. day by previous I TW9-SC0EE YEARS AGO. Soms Tilings People Did Tlisn that They Do Kot Do Now. San Francisco Chronicle. Family cooking was better than at present. Our motheis and grand-moth? ers "took a band" in It. Bread was made at home. Coffee was freshly ground erery morning for breakfast. The grind? ing of the family coffee-mill was a famil? iar sound of the early morning, long ere the cbildreu were up. Foreign help bad less sway in tbe kitchen than now, and European bands did not make a botch of such purely American dishes as pumpkin pie, codfish cakes, pork and beans, corn bread, buckwheat cakes and succotash. People then did not lire as long, nor was tbe average health as good as it is to-day ; they ate more meat, more grease, more hot bread, more heavy dishes, drauk mor? at meals and afterward chewed more tobacco. Dyspeptics and consumptives were more common ; disease and premature death were devoutly laid at the Deity's door and alluded to as "dispensations of Providence." Tombstones had larger epitaphs and more verbosity engraved upon them. At funerals the undertaker cried with the mourners, the flow of tears being proportionate to tbe expense of the fu? neral. Coffins were very plain, and burial caskets unknown. Young folks in'couples counted it a privilege to sit up nights with the corpse before burial, and in many cases it was a welcome recreation. "New Orleans molasses, very black and thin, was the common "sweetening" for buckwheat cakes. Refined molasses was comparatively scarce. The bank bills were of State banks, and the farther West their locality tbe shakier were they. Illinois and Indiana bills would barely pass in New York city*. Much of the silver currency?sixpences, shillings and dollars?was of Mexican coinage, brought to this country by tbe aanta Fe traders. The country retail trade was better than now. People then could not so easily run by rail to tbe city and spend their largest cash accumulations for the more expensive stuffs. Country dry goods stores renewed their stock from the city twice a year. The arrival of "new goods" created quite a flutter. It filled tbe store for two or three days?until all tbe women in the village had seen the new styles. Eggs were a shilling a dozen, and but? ter was considered high at eighteen pence per pound. There was "York currency," being sight shillings to the dollar, and New England currency, six shillings to the dollar. Business letters were more voluminous ind formal than now, and written in a precise, round hand. Isolated rural settlements contained a greater proportion of lunatics and vic? tims of St. Vitus' dance than they do today. The railroad had not strung places to? gether and there were fewer hospitals for ipeciai diseases, hence most of these cases were kept at home. Tbe diet was more surcharged with grease. The winter breakfast at thou? sands of tables consisted of salted bam nod hot cakes. Dinner was simply a hasty lunch at noon. Little importance was attached to the necessity of good digestion or a period of rest after eating. Tbe same heavy diet prevailed in many families, without change, winter and summer. Hence on the first approach of the warmth of spring came "spring fever" and biliousness. For this the doctors of tbe period gave strong cathar? tics, possibly a "blue-mass pill" or a dose of "calomel." The regular profession then used mer? cury in a manner which would now be deemed reckless. The patient was given a regular purgation and directed to "diet" for a few days. Children were strongly dosed with castor oil and rhubarb and lalta and senna on the least provocation. It was a strong age for medicine, and an age of strong medicine. Under such treatment the strong managed to recover, the weak died, and the medium class physically lingered on and suffered. Lightning rods made their way into use with difficulty. Tbe ultra devout actually opposed them on tbe ground that they were an insult to Deity, and that it was an interference with tbe works and will of Providence. Negro minstrelsy was just cropping out in tbe traveling circus. There were generally but two performers, who as? sumed male and female characters. 'The popular melody was "Jump Jim Crow." War Anecdotes. Adjutant General Townsend, of the U. S. Army, in his anecdotes of the civil war gives us the following: "General Town send was at General Scott's headquarters when the dispatches came in announcing the rout of the Union forces in the first battle of Bull Run. In regard to the movement, by the way, which ended so disastrously, the author says that Mc? Dowell plans were approved in detail by the President and his cabinet, and by General Scott and his staff. Among oth? ers to whom they were submitted. Gen? eral Fremont was especially asked by the President if be perceived any objection, or could suggest any improvemet; not a word of criticism, however, was forth? coming from any source, and the unlucky programme was unanimously sanctioned in all its features. "Amid the panic and confusion that followed the defeat, General Scott was at all events, it seems, unwavering as a rock. When reports were brought him that the rebels were advancing unop? posed on Washington, and would soon be on the Long Bridge, tbe old soldier would calmly look on the informant and j reply: 'It is impossible sir I We are now tasting tbe first fruits of war, and learning what a panic is. We must be for all kinds of rumors. Why, sir, we shall Boon hear that Jefferson Davis has crossed the Long Bridge at the head of a brigade of elephants, and is tramping our citizens under foot! He has no bri? gade of elephants; he cannot by any pos? sibility get a brigade of elephants.' But though Scott kept his head, hardly any? body else did, and 'for a time,' according to the author, 'there is little doubt that bad a squad of men mounted on black horses (tbe Virginia troop of 'Black Horse' bad been a bug-bear for some weeks) appeared on tbe Long Bridge or in the streets of tbe city, there would have been a stampede wo.-thy of a flock of Bheep.'" ? A uew taste in men and women She: "What a fine-looking man Mr. O'Brien is!" He: "H'm-hah-rather rough-hewn, I think. Can't say that I admire that loud-laughing, strong-voiced, robust kind of a man. Now, that's a fine-looking woman he's talking to?" She: "Well-er-somewhat effeminate, you know. Confess I don't admire effeminate women!" AN ARKANSAS GOVERNOR. A Farmor Meets an Ingenious Story Teller at tbe Executive Mansion. An old fellow from Bear Wallow vis? ited tbe executive office the other day to talk with the Governor and secure some? thing to "blow" about the neighborhood. "Come in," said a pleasant-looking gentleman. "Are you the Governor?" "Yes air." "Wall, then, I've allus been mistaken about you. I had heard that you left one of your legs on a battlefield, but I see you've got two legs. How do you account for that?" "Easy enough. When I took my seat as Governor I had only one leg with me, having, as you said, lost the other one in battle. A short time after I took my seat I noticed that another leg had begun to grow out. At first I was alarmed, having never heard of such a perfor? mance, bub after awhile I decided to await developments. Tbe leg kept on growing until the ankle was reached. Then it stopped for a few days, and I thought that the resurrection business was entirely suspended, but I was wrong. The leg was only gathering material with which to build a foot. After awhile the foot began to make its appearance. It reminded me of an old woman knit? ting a sock. It would have tickled you to death to see how skillfully and human like tbe work of rounding off tbe heel went on. Occasionally it would drop a stitch, but, sir, it would bop back and pick it up. I was very anxious about tbe ioBtep, but my fears were soon allayed, for it was shaped off as perfect as anything you ever saw. At last, when the performance reached the toes, hanged if I didn't think that I should itch to death, but I couldn't scratch, for that would have spoiled the work. When the job was completed I could walk as well as any man in town, and I even ran a race with an old negro down on the river bank." "Did you walk around while the growin' was goin' on?" asked the man from Bear Wallow, regarding the Governor with curious gaze. * "Oh, no. I had to remain'perfectly quiet and allow my leg to lie on a kind of a cot which I had prepared for tbe occasion." "Did you talk to any of the doctors about it?" "Yes, but they did not regard it as re? markable. One of our leading physi? cians said that the election to office was very frequently the cause of legs and arms growing out, and gave it as his opinion that this was the reason crippled men were always after offices." "It may not have seemed strange to the doctor, but dinged if it don't seem mighty strange to me." "It did to me at first, but I soon got used to it; and let me here remark that when a man is elected Governor of Arkansas be will soon get used to a num? ber of things he never heard of before." "Now, when I go home and tell the folks that the Governor's leg has growed out, they'll believe it, for they don't think anything impossible with him, but when I tell 'em that I seed the Governor an' sot down an' talked to him familiar like, they won't believe it. Can't you give me a sort of receipt showin' that I've seed you ? Jest say, 'This here is to certify that John Killprune, of Bar Waller, has this day had a conversation with me. I axed John to set down an' make himself at home, which he done, an' I found him mighty entertainin', an' wush he come again an' fetch his folks.' Jes' draw up them words eiackly an' sign 'em, please." "I'll do it; sir," and the receipt was drawn up and signed. Greatly elated the man from Bear Wallow went down. At the State House gate he met the watchman, who asked: "That feller gone down from up yon? der yet?" "What feller?" "That feller in the Govnor's room." "Ain't he the Governor?" "Governor, the deuce. He's a jack leg lawyer from up in the country, an' he's here tryin' to get a pardon for a horse thief. The Governor's been dodg in' him all day."?Arkansaw Traveller. Buzzards in Charleston. Well do I recall a visit made early in the morning to the city market one year ago, and my surprise to see such flocks of these ungainly birds hopping about, picking up the scraps. The market keeper noticing my interest communi? cated to me marvellous stories of their intelligence, and what I then saw was really corroborative in part of his story. The birds were collected on the peaked roof of'the market house, and they did not seem to be in any hurry to come down to tbe street to gather the scraps of meat which the butchers had rejected. I asked him why they did not?were they afraid ? "He hasn't come yet, sur 1" "Who?" "Why tbe inspector, sur. Them buzzards don't dare touch nothin' till he inspects." And presently he spoke up, "Here he comes," and I look? ed up the street, marvelling much what kind of a yarn I was getting, for what had a market inspector to do with a lot of carrion birds? My confidence was fast vanishing?"Not there, sur, up there; don't you see him ?" AU I saw in the direction he indicated was a few buzzards flying toward tbe market. "That's him?watch him." I saw a buz? zard alight on the roof, and the color of r^is head was different. It was reddish, and I did see this fellow hop around, then down he came to the street, and presently the whole flock followed. The market man, still pointing out the "inspector," suggested to me that if I would buy some meat at a neighboring stall he would show me how tame they were, and perhaps they suspected that I came from a land where man was not on friendly terms with the buzzard family. "Them birds," said he, "knows raor'n some men; they knows tbe day of tbe week and when Sunday comes just like a Christian, and up at the slaughter pens they can pick out the fat cattle aud wait for him." The scraps of meat being purchased, he selected two of the tough? est chunks and tied them at each end of a string about six feet long, casting this in the street the birds fought in buncheB for the chunks, one trying to pull one way, another the other way; they would hold the cord with their ieot like a dog, till finally one more courageous or hun? gry than the rest swallowed one chunk, the string hanging out of his mouth; the rest tugged at the other chunk of meat, our gourmand braced himself, and tried to keep his chunk where it was do? ing him the most good, but his grip was not strong enough; he could not bite off the string. A strain at the cord by the other side?a distended neck. "'He's lost it," cried the market man, and the much-coveted morsel returned to terra firm a to be once more sought for, and so this black, unsavory company of birds, hopping sideways, jostling each other with their disteuded wings, fought and quarreled for their breakfast.? Cor. Bal? timore Day. ? Earrings were worn by Jacob's fam ily, 1732, B. C.