University of South Carolina Libraries
BY E. B. MTJRBAY & CoT ANDERSON, S. C~ THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1884. VOLUME XX.?NO. 10 IN FOREIGN LANDS. Correspondence of the Intelligencer. "Oh Venice! Venice! when thy marble ?walls Are level with the waters, there shall be A cry of nations o'er tby sunken balls, A loud lament along the sweeping sea." From Florence to Venice is a delight? ful ride of nearly 200 miles through some of the finest regions of central and North? ern Italy. As far as Pistoja, famous as the place where pistols wore invented, the road runs along the base of the Apen? nines ; but at this point the ascent of the mountain is begun and the iron rail winds up the fertile slopes, giving varied and extensive views of the broad plains of Tuscany. Beyond the mountains we follow the course of theriver Reno nearly to Bologna, one of the important cities of both mediaeval and modern Italy. Its university, established early in the 12th century, at one time numbered 10,000 students, and many important discoveries in science were made here. About thirty miles farther ou we pass Ferrara, the home of Tasso, Ariosto and Titian, and seventy miles beyond Ferrara the spires and towers of Venice come in sight, ap? parently, rising out of the sea; and cross? ing a bridge more than two miles long we reach the station and take a Venetian omnibus, a gondola, to our hotel, which was, according to the best authorities, formerly a palace. Nations, like men, often owe their for? tunes to small beginnings. Upon the downfall of the Western Empire in the 5th century, a handful of the inhabitants ? of Northern Italy sought refuge from the ' conquering barbarians upon the low islands at the head of the Adriatic, thus laying the foundations of the city of Venice. From bumble fishermen tbey gradually increased in numbers and S'wer and obtained the mastery of the editerranean and the commerce of the world, and maintained an independent national existence for more than 1,200 years, until conquered by the great Bona? parte in 1797. In 1866 Venice passed from the control of Austria and is now a part of United Italy. Around its marble palaces and gloomy prisons are clustered more memories of beauty and pride, of chivalrous devotion and treacherous despotism/ of romance and tragedy, of high-souled honor and the blackest passions of the human heart, than about almcst any other spot on earth. The Venice of to day is a city of about 130,000 inhabitants, built upon 117 islands, separated by 147 canals and con? nected by nearly 400 bridges. The Grand Canal, shaped like a huge inverted letter S, divides the city into two nearly, equal parts and runs from the railway station on the Northwest to the Piazza of St. Mark's on the Southeast. It is the Venetian Broadway. Imagine if you can, a city without the sound of horse or wagon; no broad paved streets, but in their place narrow crooked canals, upon whose dark waters the black gondolas glide almost noiselessly; a city in fact where the rush and bustle of the nine? teenth century never has and probably never will reach; a city which seems to live in the romance of its past,.and you will have some idea of Venice. The grand central point of interest in* Venice is the Piazza of St. Mark's, an irregular square about 600 feet in length and 250 feet wide. It is terminated on ttie East by St. Mark's, the Campanile, or belt tower, and the Doges Palace, and on the three remaining sides is surrounded by a palatial structure, the lower story with broad arcades being occupied by shops and cafes. The Piazzetta is a smaller square extending from St Mark's Southward to the Grand Canal, the famous winged lion of St. Mark's and the statue of St. Theodore standing as senti? nels on the shore. In the summer a military band plays in the square several . times each week and the entire piazza is filled every evening with a gay crowd of pleasure seekers. The world has nothing like the cathe? dral of St Mark's. It was built in the eleventh century, in the form o? a Greek cross, with a great dome over the centre and. four smaller ones over tbe arms. It is in tbe Byzantine style, and the oriental splendor and magnificence of its decora ' tions cannot be described. Above tbe portal are the celebrated bronze horses which have stood successively upon tbe arches of Nero, Domitian, Trajan and Coastantine at Borne, were taken to Con? stantinople by Constantino tbe Great, , brought to Venice by Zeno, taken to Paris by Napoleon but restored again to Venice in 1815. Passing through tbe vestibule one is alnaos" bewildered by the wierd splendor and surpassing richness of its interior. The ceiling does not rise in pointed arches, like tbe great Gothic cathedrals of central Europe, neither is if. flat or panelled like tbe mighty basilicas of Rome; but is hollowed out into vast dome shaped forms, with massive semi? circular arches between, tbe whole cov? ered with costly mosaics upon a gold f;round. Around us rise hundreds of pil ars of rich marble and variegated stone, while the chapels on every hand present new features of interest. Tbe pavement of tessellated marble rises and falls in waves under foot, the foundations having settled unequally. Among the relics which are here exhibited, are two alabas? ter columns from Solomon's temple, the stone on which John the Baptist was be? headed, a vase containing some of tbe blood of tbe Savior, and many others - regarded by tbe profane as of equally doubtful authenticity. The dreamy light which illuminates the shadowy aisles of this almost oriental sanctuary, enters through small windows high up at the base of tbe domes, and mingling with tbe gleam of tbe silver lamps which burn ceaselessly before tbe many shrine.-, is reflected upon the wondrous imagery of the mosaics and tbe stately glories of the sculptured saints with a peculiarly strik? ing effect. It is worth a trip across a continent to behold. Adjoining St. Mark's on the right and between that church and tbe Grand canal, is the Doges Palace, which has been destroyed and rebuilt five times, the present edifice dating from 1350. Like nearly all structures of its class, it is built around an open court, and its many halls and council chambers are filled with historical paintings, commemorating grand events in the history of the Repub? lic. The Hall of the Great Council con? tains Tintoretto's Paradise, the largest oil painting ever executed, it being 84 feet long and 34 feet wide. In tbe lower part of tbe palace we are shown the damp and noisome prison cells where many State prisoners have been confined ; and from one of tbe upper stories we go out across a caual over the famous "Bridge of Sighs" referred to by Byron. "I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, A palace and a prison on each hand." This bridge connected the council cham? bers of tbe palace with the prisons beyond and contains two passages, one of which was nsed for State prisoners and the other for ordinary criminals. The prisons are still used and possess nothing of interest. Besides St. Mark, Venice! has many churches, but with the limited, time at our disposal only a few claim attention. The Friara contains fine monuments to Canova and Titian ; Santa Maria della Salute has one of the most graceful and finely proportioned facades in Europe, and others have features of lesser in? terest. The Grand Canal i3 crossed near tho centre of the city by the celebrated bridge called the Rial to. It is a single arch of 74 feet span, 32 feet high and rests on 12,000 piles. It was built in the 16th century and contains three passage-ways with a row of shops on each side of the centre passage. The name Rialto, was originally applied to the main island of the group, which has always been the business as well as the geographical cen? tre of the city, and it is probably this to which Shakespere refers in the "Mer? chant of Venice" when Shylock says : "Signor Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me, Even there where merchants most .do congregate." The Grand Canal by moonlight is justly regarded as one of the most fascinating sights in Europe. The palaces which line its shores have many of them seen their best days, and in the glare of the noonday sun appea:: a trifle "seedy" to say the least; but tb e glamor of the soft moonlight throws a charitable vail over the dilapidation and evidences of decay and the surroundings all combine to form a scene of enchanting beauty. The gondola, which forms the only means of transportation in Venice, is a singular craft about 30 feet in length, with a sharply elevated prow and seats in the centre for the passengers. The boatmen stand on a deck at the stern and propel the gondola with a broad, flexible oar, literally pushing, with a peculiarly dextrous stroke, their way through the water. Such perfect control do they have over their boats that they will turn a square corner within an ioch of grazing it and even when going at fuU speed will stop almost instantly. Venice has been justly famous for her advancement of the arts. Here Galileo invented the telescope. Here the first newspaper was printed in the sixteenth century and Bold for a coin called a Ga zetta. Here the Order of Jesus, or Jes? uits, was organized in 1536. The names of Canova, Tasso, Marco Polo and many others illustrious in the annals of the world are all associated with this city of the sea, ?We leave Venice with regret. Ita pecu? liar location, its wonderful history, the evidences of its past greatness, all com? bine to make it one of the most interest? ing cities of Europe to the American traveler. When we compare our own hundred years of national life with the twelve centuries during which this city maintained an independent existence, we feel that many of our faults and fol? lies can be excused on the score of youth and inexperience; but on the other band, when we compare the condition of the American people with the best days of these old nations, we feel no reason to be ashamed of oar growth and civilization. Leaving Venice in the early morning we stop over one train at Verona,,a.city of about 70,000 population and about 75 miles from our starting point. We pass through Padua and vicenza and. as we near the mountains at the foot of which Verona is situated, we find the country ?very'fertile and highly cultivated. A system of irrigation is carried on which greatly increases the value of the land, and fine vineyards, fields of corn and other grain, and extensive mulberry orchards, the leaves from which support the silk worms, surround us on every side. The great attraction of Veroua is the the old Roman amphitheatre built A. D. 90, and still in good preservation. Its outer wall was thrown down by an earth? quake in the 12th century, but the seats are almost perfect, and could Barnum or Forepaugh secure a lease of it they would find in its broad arena ample space for the "Greatest Show on Earth/' while an audience of 25,000 could be accommo? dated on the stone seats as well now as in those old days when the Boman popu? lace assembled to witness the bloody work of the gladiators. In fact at the time of our visit an itinerant rope walker bad been giving an entertainment there and his rope was still stretched across from the upper tiers of seats far above the arena. But the amphitheatre is not the only point of interest in Verona. The romantic and sentimental traveler will find in the garden of an old Franciscan monastery, near the Southern wall, an old stone sarcophagus, likened by many unappreciative minds to an old stone horse trough, which is pointed out as the only original tomb of Juliet. Although the devoted Borneo ceased his attentions some years ago, the fair Juliet has since had many callers; as the bottom of the sarcophagus is covered to a depth of sev? eral inches with visiting cards, represent? ing all nationalities and all quarters of the globe. Nothing can be less attractive or romantic, but the beauty of Shake spere's play draws thousands of visitors here each year. The house of the Capu lets is in a street near by and is now oc? cupied as a botel. Verona was one of the fortresses of the famous "Quadrilater? al," the others beiog Peschiera, Mantua and Legnago, but its military importance is now a thing of the past. Shortly after leaving Verona we pass Lake Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes and posssssing some fine scenery. Near this lake is the famous battlefield of Solferino, where the French and Ital? ians, under the third Napoleon in 1859, struggled against the Austrian forces and were finally successful. The fertile plain through which the road passes is traversed by numerous canals which are bordered by long lines of tall Lombardy poplars, giving a very striking appearance to the landscape. A ride of about four hours from Verona brings us to Milan, the second city in size in Italy and one of the most prosperous of the entire king? dom. Teaveler. In the Country. Returned Prodigal ? "Dear! Dear! How little the old farm has changed 1" Honest Farmer?"Very few changes have been made, my son. You will find things pretty much as you left them twenty years ago. Over there is the apple tree you planted." "Yes, the same tree, only larger; and there is the dog-house I made for the new pup." "Yes; poor Carlo! He died of old age ten years ago. That dog you see is bis grandson." "And over there is the chicken-house I helped to build for old Biddy's first brood." "Yes ; poor old Biddy ! I wish I had known you were coming home." "Why ?" "Because I might have saved her, but I took her to market last week.-?Phila? delphia Call. ? Brick made of small discarded j corks now constitutes an industry of Ger? many. I ??OJjJ OF THE KING'S JEWELS." A Tribute to tbe Memory of the Late Bish? op Fierce. The mournful interest that has every? where been excited, especially in the South, among people of all denomina? tions, by the news of the death of Bishop Pierce is in a measure explained in the following warm tribute to his memory written by a member of the News and Courier staff, who owes his collegiate edu? cation to the generosity of the Bishop: Bishop George F. Pierce came from good stock, and bis lineage could be traced back to the settlement of James? town. He was a son of the world re? nowned Dr. Lovick Pierce, who died in 1879, aged 93, and who has been preach? ing the gospel sixty-six years. Bishop Pierce was 74 at tbe time of bis death, and had heen preaching nearly fifty-five years. Father and son have left a great? er impress upon Southern Methodism than any other two men that ever lived, not excepting the scholarly Wesley, who was its founder, nor the awful and anomalous orator Whitefield, whose flute? like voice wooed sinners into listening, while bis arguments frightened them into repeutance. The elder Pierce learned to read after he was 21, and at 50 was acknowledged to be the greatest preacher of bis denomination in America. As a Methodist pulpit orator be was never surpassed until his own son eclipsed him. Bishop Pierce bad all tbe advan? tages of the schools, a mind as clear as a sunbeam and a heart like the heart of a little child. He graduated at tbe Uni? versity of Georgia in the same class with Gen. Robert Toorabs, with whom be maintained a most unreserved intimacy up to tbe time of bis death. Aside from their transcendent intellects two men more widely different never lived. Their friendship, covering a period of nearly sixty years, is another illustration of the affinity of extremes. Gen. Toombs sought the good things of this world, and be obtained them if any man since Solomon has done so. Ancestry, wealth, inherited and acquired, intellect, social position, political preferment and even personal attractions of tbe highest order combined to make this man happy. Last year in Washington, Georgia, where be lived all bis life, he was baptized and received into the Methodist Church by Bishop Pierce. That day he said: "George's life (meaning that of the Bish? op) has been a perpetual sermon to me, and tbe great mistake of my life was leaving Christ out of my calculations." As an orator, Bishop Pierce was both made and born. As a belles lettre rhetorician he bad few equals among English speaking people. At the age of 30 be was pronounced by Henry Clay to be "tbe most eloquent man in America." He met with and was a member of per? haps as many distinguished deliberative assemblies as any man that ever lived; and in every one without dispute he was pointed out as tbe oratorical Corypbeus of them all. In a debating tilt, whoever was second be was first. He was versa? tile to tbe last degree. He could be a May morning or a September storm, as it suited bim best. The first General Assembly of bis church to which he was ever elected was tbe most historic; in its debates be made for himself a fame which has climbed the mountains of two hemispheres and built for itself a nnt beside the eagle's. The Assembly was the great General Conference of 1844, which, to use the trite phrase, "Split the two Methodisms." Up to the meeting of that Conference tbe Methodist Church in the United States had been one organ? ic body. As is well known it divided upon the slavery issue. One of tbe Southern bishops, Andrew, had married a lady who owned slaves, and the North? ern, especially the New England, dele? gate;* urged that he must either manumit tbe slaves or give up his office in the Episcopacy. The Southern delegates 6tood by Bishop Andrew, and the two sections divided as Methodists, at least. When tbe papers announced tbe division of the Methodist Church Daniel Webster, who was then in tbe Senate, said it was the "first wedge of secession." It was in tbe great debate on tbe resolution to expel Bishop Andrew that Bishop Pierce, then a young man of 30, distinguished himself. One of the speakers, Dr. Peck, having threatened that unless Bishop Andrew was deposed for holding slaves the New England churches would with? draw from the connection, Bishop Pierce replied at some length and closed with this sentence: "Let New England go; joy go with her and peace will stay be? hind her; she has for many a year been a thorn in the flesh and an emissary of tbe devil sent to buffet us." This is the harshest sentence that has ever been re? corded of him, and that was fully justi? fied by the provocation. It is difficult for one who has never been in Georgia to understand exactly the extent of Bishop Pierce's influence and popularity. The love?literal love ?for this man was not more confined to people of the same denomination than it was to people of the same complexion. It is eaid of him that he never had an enemy. Certainly he was every man's friend. Barring politics, he had more influence than any fifty men in Georgia when be died. His home, "Sunshine," is situated several miles from any station, but immediately on the railroad. For twenty-five years it has been a standing order from tbe authorities of tbe road that auy train signalled must stop for the accommodation of the Bisop and his family. A man in Georgia once beat another for speaking disrespectfully of Bishop Pierce. Neither of them were members of any church, and neither had ever seen the Bishop. While Bishop Pierce shone in debate and was mighty in counsel, it was as a "camp meeting preacher" that he was at his best. Camp meetings have always been a distinctive feature of Methodism. Bishop Pierce was their champion. Camp meetings, as they once were, are rapidly passing away, and their champi? on is already gone. But they have be? come a part of Methodist history. At these gatherings, all through the South? ern States, for forty years past Bishop Pierce's presence has been coveted, prized and remembered. Humble as he was, wherever he went he towered above the other preachers, like Saul above the ar? mies of Israel. No man could wear his armor or fill his place. His power over the people has never been equalled, siuce the days of WhitGeld. On one occasion, j about thirteen years ago, he preached at an "arbor meeting"?a series of camp meetings?in Jefferson County, Georgia. A colder, more phlegmatic and fashion? able audience would be hard to find in the country than that was. The audience was all silks and smiles and feathers. But when this great preacher rose they saw his white, sad face and flashing eyes, they caiight the spirit of solerauity that; was in him. He awed them. His sen? tences flowed like a river and fit his text like a groove. Everybody mellowed as he proceeded. Hearing him was one half the sermon and seeing bim tbe other, for his face was all aglow with "the light that never was on eca or land." In less than fifty minutes that vast throng was as completely under his control as a piece of. machinery. They followed his ges? tures with their bodies; and, when he eat down, the pent up emotion burst forth in a storm. Scores of people, some of them grey-headed old men, were conver? ted and began a new life that day. All the world may forget Bishop Pierce, but Jefferson County, Georgia, will remem? ber him. He was a type of the Metho? dist preacher that is rapidly becoming extinct. Few will be greater and none purer than he was. With all his friends and honors and fame, bis heart was not here; he had placed it with his treasures, in a country where "moth and rust doth not corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal." He preached the Gospel of the Son of God to the third generation of men, and when at last, in the shodow of two worlds, he came to face the last enemy of man, the grace.he bad recommended for others was sufficient for him. Four months ago he preached the funeral sermon of his aged colleague, Bishop Hubbard H. Kavanaugb, in Nashville. To look back now it seemed that then the "sunset of life gave him myBtical love," for in that sermon he said : "Time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away. Soon the grave will be our home and the worms our companions. Brethren, let us all ask ourselves the question, 'who will be the next?'" He was the next. He was gathered to his fathers in the course of nature, and in due time, like a shock of corn that is ripe for the harvest. He is one of the King's buried jewels and God will take him home with Him at last if He has to burn the world and sift the ashes to find him. Of a truth, "the day of a man's death is better than the day of bis birth; and though after this skin worms devour our bodies, yet in the flesh we shall see God." After all, the death of men like Bishop Pierce is the best argument in favor of a future existence. It a Benevolent Power rules the universe such characters can? not suffer annihilation. As for Bishop Pierce, we have au intuition, independent of revelation, which answers us that to? day, while we write, he still lives and loves and moves in some beautified land where azure isles loom up from seas of silver, where eyery bosom is peaceful, every eye is tearless aud every face is radiant with an inward and irrepressible joy Inventions of Half a Century. The number of inventions that have been made during the past fifty years is unprecedented in the history of the world. Inventions of benefit to the hu? man race have been made in all ages since man was created, but looking back for half a hundred years, how many more are crowded into the past fifty than iuto any other fifty since recorded in history. The perfection of the locomotive, and the now world-traversing steamships, the telegraph, the telephone, the audipbone, the sewiug machine, the photograph, the cylinder printing pres3, chromo lithograph printing, the elevator for hotels aud other many storied buildings, the cotton gin and thespinni?g jenoey, the reaper, the mower, the steam thresher, the steam fire engine, the improved process for making steel, the application of ether and chlo? roform to destroy sensibility in painful surgery cases, and so ou through a long catalogue. Nor are we yet done in the field of invention and discovery. The application of coal gas aud pretroleum to heating and cooking operations is only trembling on the verge of successful ex? periment, the introduction of the steam ? from a great central reservoir to general use for heating and cookiDg is foreshad-! owed as among the coming events, the j artificial production of butter has already created a consternation among dairymen, the navigation of the air by some device akin to our present balloon would also seem to be prefigured, and the propulsion of machinery by electricity is now clearly indicated by the march of experiment. There are some problems which we have hitherto deemed impossible of solution, j but are the mysteries of even the most j improbable of them more subtle to grasp than that of the ocean cable or that of the photograph or the telephone? We | talk by cable with an ocean rolling be- I tween; we speak in our voices to friends j a hundred miles or more from where wo articulate before the microphome. Un der the blazing sun of July we produce j ice by chemical meaus, rivaling the most solid and crystaliue productions of nature. Our surgeons graft the skin from one ! person's arm to the face of another, and it adheres and becomes an intregal por? tion of bis body. We make a mile of white printing paper aud send it on a spool that a perfecting printing press unwinds and priuts, aud delivers to you, I folded and counted, many thousands per hour. Of a verity, this is the age of in vention, nor has the world reached n. stopping place yet, "Papa is Running the Engine.? One beautiful moruing in the spring of 1863, I was on board a passenger train on i the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, cross- i ing the green glazes from the Alleghanies j westward. At that time this railroad ; was held alternately by the Federal and | Confederate armies, and travel was neith? er safe nor pleasant. On the occasion of which I write the train was behind its time, and was running at a very high speed, and as we were whirled around sharp curves, over fields, and across j bridges, nearly every one on board man- j ifested some anxiety at each jerk and jar of the train. All eyes were turned to the windows, aud many faces wore a look of uueasiuess. I was thinking of the j probabilities of the train being hurled j over an embankment, and the fearful scenes that must follow, when I observed I a bright little girl of four or five sum? mers approaching me, and, as she extend? ed her little hand and bade me "Good morning" in a sweet, clear voice, I en? gaged her iu conversation, by asking her if she were not afraid to ride on the cars. To which she replied : "Sometimes, but I am not afraid this morning." "Why," I asked, "are you not afraid this morning? Everybody j else seems to be afraid ; and, besides, we are running very rapidly." "Oh, there is no danger at all," she replied, "papa is running the engine." Her father was the engineer, and she had such implicit confidence in his abili ty to protect her, that she felt perfectly , secure and happy. I shall never forget the lesson of faith and trust I learned from that dear child. When clouds, 'and storms, aud darkness surround my pathway, and I almost feel that I must perish, I remember that it is my Father in Heaven that watches over me, and if I will only take His proffeicd hand, He will lead mo in paths of peace, beside the still waters. Oh, bles3 His name forever! ? "Couldn't you find room enough for j yourself on that bench without pushing I that little boy off'on the floor?" asked! an Austin school teacher of the bad boy j of the school. "I didn't want any room I for ^myself," was the reply ; "I "wasn't j crowded at all." "Then why did you push him off?" "To give him more room. He was the boy who was crowd- j ed, so I pushed him off' to give him plen- j ty of room. There is a great deal more j room off a bench than there is ou it." ! THE PEOPLE WHO WENT WEST, The Colony TVhlch Hornco Greely Sent Out Into the Desert. Fourteen years ago Horace Greely was chiefly instrumental in sending a colony of 100 families to Colorado to make an experimentin farmingin that almostrain less desert by means of irrigation. They went forth from the eastern States under the guidance of Mr. Meeker?the same man who was afterwards massacred by the Indians. The colony located on the Cache la Pondre creek, which is fed by the melting snows of Long's Peak. The town of Greely was laid out in 1870 not far from whero the creek empties into the South Platte river, and is fifty-five miles north of Denver and about the same distance south of Cheyenne, and is some twenty or thirty miles out in the plain east of the mountain range. Sev? eral other streams flow out of the Long's Peak group of the Rocky mountains and empty into the Platte near Greely. The first year was devoted to erecting shanties and digging a long canal and latteral ditches. The second year some crop was raised; the third year every green thing was devoured to the last blade by the grasshopper plague. This was in 1873. Many of the colonists, becoming discouraged, sold out their improvements lor what they could get, shook the dust of Greely off their feet, and returned to their eastern homes. But other bolder and tougher men took the place of the despondent "tenderfect." The struggle for existence continued, but in a little while more abundant crops began to reward the efforts of the colo? nist". The Greely setlement is now the mc^t p:<3sperous and happy community in the whole of Colorado, and the town is the handsomest in the State. The first canal constructed was twenty feet wide and thirty miles long, and ca? pable of watering 60,000 acres of land. Since then other canals have been con? structed and large areas of country laid under water. Greeley now contains upward of 3,000 inhabitants, living in 600 hundred nice houses, embowered in shade trees and each with its fruitful garden. One of tho best hotels in the State is there ; a Chicago man has estab? lished a National bank; there are two well-conducted newspapers, several flour mills and other manufactures, and last year so much wheat was raised in the country that a good many thousand bushels of surplus were shipped east for a market. The Greeley colony having set a successful example, numerous other colonies have followed in its foot-steps aud profited by its mistakes. It is now surrounded by such colony towns as Fort Collins, Evans, Longmont, Platteville, Loveland, Eaton, Windsor, Berthoud, Boulder, and other towns alt practicing its methods. A citizen of Greely took me for a drive into the country to see farming by irrigation. We passed through scores of beautiful farms growing as fine crops as I ever saw in any country. There were numerous wheat fields that will produce more than thirty bushels per acre?not small patches, but fields of twenty to 100 acres of magnificent wheat j other fields were covered with oats, which will yield forty to sixty bushels of excellent quali? ty. There was a great deal of corn look? ing fairly well, and which will produce thirty or thirty-five bushels per acre. Corn is the poorest crop grown, and the best one is alfalfa, a species of clover, which grows with wonderful luxuriance, producing three or four crops a year, and each cutting averaging two or two and a half tons of hay to tbe acre. When I took the ride the farmers were mowing alfalfa for the second time.this season, and they will make hay again toward the last of August, and some of them twice before winter. Everybody testified to the excellent character of this feed and its nutritious quality for cattle and milk cows. It is fed to hogs, and fattens them rapidly. Several farmers assured mo that one acre of alfalfa will produce as much fodder as five or six acres of clover, timothy or blue grass in the Eastern States. (Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana are called Eastern States.) There is a perfect furor for alfalfa in Colorado, and thousands of acres were sown with its seed this spring around Denver and Greely. Once fairly rooted in the ground it grows and produces fur nearly a lifetime without renewing. One of its peculiarities is that it strikes down into the soil a tap root in search of water to an astonishing depth. The roots of five-year old alfalfa, are found to have penetrated ten feet, and in some instances even deeper. It is tbe remarkable prop? erty of going deep down in search of moisture that makes the plant so valua? ble in these dry regions. Alfalfa Is un? doubtedly the fodder of the future on these arid plains wherever a little irriga? tion to give it a start can be procured. It is a perfect success in Utah and Cali? fornia, and is proving to be the same in Colorado and New Mexico. The most extensive system of irrigation at present in tbe State is in the country around Greeley for twenty or thirty miles. The quantity of land that can now be wet is rtot faf from 200,000 acres, which is more than all the irrigated laad in Utah at the present time. The farms in the Greeley region mostly exceed eighty acres and some several hundred. The Utah farms of the Saints consist of patches of a dozen acres or a score at most; but tlioy are very carefully tilled and watered. A Chat With Bayard. "I do not recollect any National can? vass that was so dull at this time of the year. As a usual thing all the issues are made up by this lime aud the campaign is well under way in all tbe States. Now there are not a half dozen States in which the campaign has become anima? ted. The fight is warm in Ohio, but it is owing to the October election." "To what do you attribute this unpre? cedented dullness V asked the Post cor? respondent. "To a lack of sharp divisions between the two parties," replied the Senator. "Of course there are issues, but they lack the intensity which has marked the issues of the past campaigns. The Re? publicans made a systematic and deter? mined effort to revive the bloody shirt j issue, but they failed. The Sherraau ! outrage committee was organized-for that dLtinct purpose, but tbe scheme did not j work. The tranquility of the country, J North and South, is so apparent that the 1 people saw through the thin disguise of this partisan conspiracy to kindle anew the flame of sectional animosity." Tbe issue of reform, concluded the Senator, "is the paramount question and it is the only one that will grow in popular inter? est till the day of election. The first great need of this country is honesty in the administration of the government." ?Senator Bayard in the Houston Post. ? Mr. Joseph E. Glenn, of Helena, Newberry County, was struck in the eye by an umbrella, which was blown against him by the wind, last week, and the sifcht was destroyed. He lost his other eye years ago. ? Who ever heard of a hat band play? ing a tune? 1 Slaves of a Degrading And Brutalizing Habit. j It waB stilted recently in a Boston pa i per that inquiry among some of the : leading physicians of that city has elic? ited the fact that the opium habit has long been recognized by them as one of j the great evils of society. It exists j chiefly among the middle classes, but is j unhappily confined to no rank or condi : tion of men, and includes among its victims j even members of the medical profession whose knowledge of the dangerous char I acter of the drug would naturally be j supposed to deter them from indulging iu its use. A prominent physician of Boston, who was questioned on the subject, says: "I believe that the practice of taking opium is on the increase. It is difficult to get a good idea of how far the habit is prevalent, for the tendency of opium using is to make men stealthy and deceit? ful, so that the cases which the doctors treat are exceptional ones. Very often men are led into the habit by having taken opium in some form to relieve pain. I had one case, that of a young man who had been suffering from a painful disease, and having a certain amount of work to do iu a given time took opium to enable him to accomplish the taste. He succeeded, but found him? self a slave to the habit. I treated him for it, and be professed to be willing to follow my directions. He was taking ten grains a day when he came to me, and I began to reduce the dose. He took it in the form of a hypodermic injection, and pledged himself to take only the dose which I would put in the syringe. I commenced reducing at the rate of a tenth of a grain a day. If I reduced at a greater rate he would feel it, and would be after me as early as 4 o'clock in the morning to give him another dose. He would not abide by my treatment, but used to buy laudanum and drink it. Of course, under these circumstances I could do nothing for him. He finally commit? ted suicide, as nearly all opium eaters do at last. The habit leads to a condition of melancholy, with suicidal tendencies. "I have known people to do without the necessities of life to satisfy the craviug3 of their appetite for opium. The old woman, dependent on a chari? table institution, used to sell what she got as a charity each month in order to buy the drug. People who are slaves to tbe habit will do anything to appease their cravings. "I consider that the prevalence of the vice is largely due to carelessness in pre? scribing by physicians. I am very care? ful not to label medicines containing opium in such a way as to let tbe pati? ents know what they are taking, or to give them the opportunity to duplicate the prescription. Some people are afraid to take a prescription with opium in it, and I am frequently questioned on tbe subject by ray patients. I do not know of any cases of opium smoking outside of the 'joints,' but the drug is taken in various other ways. Sometimes it is in the form of laudanum, at other times it is the crude opium, and very often it is in the form of morphia. The method usually depends on the way in which the victim first formed tbe habit. The hy? podermic injection is as common a form as any." "I think the habit of opium taking has very much increased in tbe last twenty five years," was tbe opinion of another physician. "In proportion to the num? ber of opium users a great many are to be found among the physicians. I know of four cases among my own personal acquaintances. Iu one case the result has been fatal in causing prostration. In anotbpr the result has been suicide. The other two are living, but ruined men. All these men were physicians. It is strange that of all men the doctors should become victims, but it is so. The opium habit is far worse than tbe habit of excessive use of alcohol, as regards the hold it takes upon one. The liquor habit bears about the same relation to opium that tea and coffee do to liquor." Still another Boston physician adds bis testimony, as follows: "The carelessness of physicians in prescribing and the use of patent medi? cines containing a large proportion of opium are powerful sources of the for? mation of the habit. Opium is one of the most valuable of drugs, but must be prescribed with intelligence, or it be? comes one of the most dangerous. The majority of the men who are addicted to the vice become so through having taken tbe drug to relieve pain. We sometimes have reason to suspect the opium habit when there are no means of proving it. Those who are addicted to it are secretive and deceptive, and take great pains to keep the fact concealed from ua. We had one patient whom we attempted to treat, and he professed to be willing to co-operate with us, but after a while we discovered that be had a box of opium pills concealed in his bed, and was thus counteracting all we did. The opium habit is iufiuitely worse than alcoholism. Liquor is an infant and opium is a giant. When a man has been addicted to the habit for three of more years be is prac? tically incurable. He has not the will power to co-operate, and without the co? operation of the patient the opium habit cannot, under ordinary conditions, be successfully treated. "The proportion of opium users, how? ever, is greater among the women than among the men, aud in many cases wo? men form the habit for the sake of the stimulus. It is more convenient than liquor aud less liable to be detected. I have beard the statement made that factory girls in a town in this State were in the habit of buying three or four ounces of laudanum after they got paid olf for the week, and with this they would have a regular 'opium drunk.' "When a man has the opium habit, the cure is not a question of weeks, but of months, and to be cured at all he must be kept under surveillance, so that he cannot elude his physicians and con? tinue the habit. Otherwise his will? power to reform is gone and his moral sense is destroyed, so that he will even steal in order to get the drug. The only case I ever treated successfully, was that of a man who had been addicted to the habit for about three months. I had nurses with him day aud night, so that he had no chance to procure the drug, and iu his case I stopped the supply at once. If I had a case of three or four years' standing, I would want at least a year in which to treat the patient, and after that I would want him to take a long sea voyage, not merely as a passen? ger, but with something to occupy his mind. All these treatments would require money, and those who have the means can have treatment in private asylums. The public institutions do not treat cases of this kind, aud it is a blue outlook for those who are poor. "With the exception of the case I have mcntioued all my opium patients have gone away uncured. They would remain for a short time and leave, saying they were all right. I could not detain them .and so they returned to the habit. "I do not know how the opium habit can be dealt with by law. Opium can be bought by anyone; and even if the indiscriminate sale of it were forbidden, ppium users would contrive to obtain it. The only way in which a victim can be properly treated is by putting himself in proper care in such a way that he cannot leave until a good result is obtained." Why a Change Is Needed. In the course of his speech at Munich, Ind., Saturday, ex-Governor Hendricks said : "It is now twenty-five years that the Republican party have controlled the administrative and executive affairs of the country, and it is of tbe first impor? tance that you and I should consider tbe question whether that is not as long as one set of men ought to continue in ab? solute control. In other word*, the question is before us, ought there not to be a change? That is the first question that strikes your attention and mine. How much has transpired since the Republican party came into power? And I do not choose to include in that period j of the war. I ask your attention only j for the last nineteen years, during which that party has controlled the administra? tive and executive affairs of the country. I could not find figures or words to express to you the enormous sums of money that have been collected and the enormous sums of money that have been paid out. I will refer by way of illustration only to oue year, the last year, as reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. The collections and expenditures amounted to $663,000,000. The history of those transactions is found in many thousand volumes, aud they were recorded by many thousands of men?men belonging to one party only. No Democrats have been allowed to participate in any of tbe affairs of the country. I speak in sub? stance; an occasional Democrat may have been allowed an office, but for the great purposes of administrative affairs of the Government Democrats have been rigidly excluded, and to you men the question is presented now: Ought there not to be a change? Who knows what is wrong in the books? Shall they be opened ? Shall there be an opportunity for us to know what has been wrong in the records of the country, so that we may know whether it is well or ill with the country. May I ask your attention to another illustration of this subject? I do not claim that the one political parly, in the firat place, in its organization, is probably any more honest than the other. If we had no political parties in this country and were going to establish two political parties, and were to run a line through this crowd, aud the men on that side were to be of one party and the men on this side of the other party, the chauces are there would be just as many honest men on one side as on the other, and as many rogues on one side, perhaps, as on the other. "But take another step in this lbought. Suppose this party comes into power and it becomes established that it is going to retain its power for twenty years, to have the control of the offices, tbe control of the money and of the country, don't you see that all the rogues on this side would gradually come over aud join the strong side? Isn't that human nature? And more than that, don't you know that as they came over they would gradually push the honest men on this side back and back until they would take the con? trol of the dominant party themselves? To a very large extent that would prove to be the human nature of the case. "I have one step further to go in this argument. I am trying to establish the proposition that there ought now to be a change. I do not know why the Repub? licans for the last nineteen years have said to every Democrat, 'You shall have no position in the control of the affairs of government.' Thoy have seen fit to occupy that position?a cruel, proscrip tive policy, excluding every man that did not agree with them. And what do you think of it, my countrymen ? Shall it be continued any longer? To what a condition have we come ? I refer now to the statement made by Mr. Calkins, the Republican candidate for Governor, in bis speech at Richmond a week ago. He said we now have $400,000,000 in the Treasury. Do you know how be came to say that? He said that by way of braggadocio, by way of a taunt to Democrats. Hesaid that the Republican party when it came into power found an empty Treasury, and now it has $400, 000,000 in the Treasury. Do you want to hear me express my opinion of what is the fortunate condition of tbe coun? try? Well, it is not in having a Trea? sury overflowing; it is not in collecting from the people untold millions of money that it may be hid away in the vaults of the Treasury. "What right has the Government to $400,000,000 of the people's money that it has no occasion to use in the adminis? tration of United States affairs? What would be the effect if taxes were reduced so that tbe money would come back into your pockets and into the channels of trade? Don't you know that it would stimulate enterprise?" Three Heals a Day. An Enelish writer gives some much needed advice as to tbe times and fre? quency of meals. In bis opinion tbe present usual practice of three meals a day has good reason, as well as custom, in its favor. When work of any kind is being done, whether mental or bodily, the intervals between taking food should not be so long as to entail demands on the system when its store of material for the generation of force is exhausted. An ordinary full meal, in the case of a healthy man, is generally considered to have been completely digested and to have passed out of the stomach in four hours. A period of rest should then be granted to the stomach. Assum? ing that two hours are allowed for this, the interval bctweeu one meal and anoth? er would be six hours; and this accords with tbe experience of most men. Du? ring rest and sleep there is less waste go? ing on, aud especially during sleep there is a greatly dimiuisbed activity of all the functions of the body. The interval, therefore, between the last meal of one day and the first of the next may be longer, as it generally is, than between the several day meals. Assuming that breakfast be taken between 8 or 9 o'clock, there should he a mid-day meal about 1 or 2. The character of this must depend on the nature of the day's occupation and the convenience of the individual. With women and children this is gener? ally their hungry time, aud the mid day repast, whether called luncheon or din? ner, is the chief meal. So it is with the middle and laboring classes, for the most part. But for the merchants, profession? al men and others, whose occupations take them from home all the day, this is inconvenient, and, moreover, it is not found conducive to health or comfort to take a full meal in the midst of the day's work. There can, however, be no doubt that much evil arises from attempting to go through tbe day without food, and then with exhausted powers sitting down to a hearty meal. Something of a light, easy, digestible, but sustaining character, should be taken toward 1 or 2 o'clock. ? Contempt of court?The small boy who hangs around the parlor and makes faces at his big sister's beau. Tempting Bait Refused. i Albany, September G.?The move? ments of ex-Senator Roscoe Conkling tins week have been watched very closely by politicians here, who believe that impor? tant political developments relative to the action of the old Stalwart faction in this State may be expected soon. Mr. Coc'-Mng passed through this city this afternoon, on his way from Utica to Xew ! York. He was accompanied by ex Sec? retary Geo. C. Gorham, and was met at the station by John F. Smyth and two or three other political friends, who held a. twenty minute conference with him. Mr. Conkling turned a deaf ear to the report? ers, and declined to say a single word about the political situation or his own course in the campaign. There is good authority, however, for stating that over? tures have been made to him by intimate friends of Mr. Maine, acting with his knowledge, to take a hand in the contest in New York. Two or three speeches wore all that was asked. The original plan provided for a grand ratification meeting in New York shortly after the Maine election. Mr. Btaine, flushed with a glorious victory in the Pine Tree State, was to be present, and Mr. Conk? ling was to be the principal orator. Under these brilliant auspices the Republican campaign in this State was to be inaugu? rated. The effect, it was expected, would be similar to that caused four years ago, when the sulking Achilles left his tent and, with Gen. Gran*, took up the Gar tield banner and made a victorious charge on the Democratic hosts in Ohio and Indiana. In return for his services Mr. Conkling, it is rumored, is to have no opposition from Mr. Maine's follow? ers in the Legislature next winter when the time for the olrclion of United States Senator arrives. The scheme was not lacking in authority, the feast was tempt? ing, but unfortunately the "turkey gob? bler" declined to enter the trap, and public reconciliation with his hated rival was too humiliating to Mr. Conkling's pride. He will neither lake the stump for the Republican ticket nor consider any bargains with the "Plumed Knight." Whether his energies will be actively exerted in any other direction this Fall cannot yet be ascertained. The reports of the Stalwart manoeuvres to capture the next Assembly showed that the ex Senator's friends were early in the field. It has been since learned that in several districts the Blaine mana? gers, expecting that the plan of harmony outlined above would be carried out, had arranged slates on which the names of prominent Stalwarts figured as the chosen candidates lor Congress and Assembly. Any sacrifices were to to be made to pla? cate the anti-Blaine wing. Votes for Mr. Blaine were sorely needed, and the breaches in the Republican ranks had to be repaired at any cost. Within the past few'days it has been whispered that the pre-arranged slates have been broken aud thai it is announced that if the Stalwarts want the Assembly they will havef'to fight for it. One theory is that the Stal? warts have discovered that their early work had been so effective that no aid from the Blaine men is required. They had outwitted slow Warner Miller, and can now snap their fingers at the advan? ces made by that crowd. Another rumor is that a combination has been formed by Senator Miller and his adherents on one side, and Chairman James D. Warren and part of the Stalwarts on the other, by which the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew is to be put in Senator Lapham's seat, and the Warren party is to be recognized in the distribution of patronage by the npxt Administration. In either case Mr. Conkling's Stalwart "razors will be flying in the air" at an early date.?Special to the New York Times. Corn-Starch Sugar. The starch-sugar industry in the United States consumes daily 40,000 bushels of corn and produces grape sugar and glucose syrup of the yearly value of $10,000,000. There are thirty factories in the United States, furnishing their product to brewers and for the manufac? ture of table syrup and the adulteration of cane sugar, It is also largely used in confectionery, in canning fruits, making fruit jellies, and in cooking. Artificial honey is made of it, and so, also, is vine? gar. In France and Germany potato starch is used instead of corn, the latter country consuming over 70,000 tons of starch and making 40,000,000 tons of starch sugar. The industry is an increas? ing one, and is another of the many con? tributions of chemical technology to the wealth of nations. In 1811 Kirchhoff prepared sugar from starch by the pres? ent process, which consists, in brief, of extracting the pure starch from corn or potatoes, transforming this into sugar by treatment with dilute acid, pui-iiying and then concentrating the product to either glucose syrup or crystalline grape sugar. By this process fifty-six pounds of corn will yield thirty pounds of starch sugar, tho rest being used for cattle food, as it is rich in nutritive matters. The corn is steeped in hot water for several days, ground between burr stones, the starch separated on silk sieves, cleaned by alkaline waters and separated from the waters by depositiou. Tbe conver? sion iuto sugar may be accomplished by various acids. In practice, one and one half pounds of sulphuric acid will change 103 pounds of starch into sugar after a short boiling with the dilute acid. The acid mixture is neutralized with marble dust, decolorized by filtering through boueblack, and is ready for the market as a colorless liquid or as snow-white crys? tals. When made into table syrup it is mixed with cane syrup to give it flavor and tone, the caue syrup being used much as butter is to give bovine qualities to oleomargarine. For brewing it is a very imperfect substitute for barley malt, as it is deprived of the nitrogenous bodies and mineral salts originally con? tained in the com. For the adulteration of brown caue sugars, grape,sugar is added to the extent of twenty or more per cent. But as the adulterant is per? fectly harmless nothing is lost except in taste, as glucose only has two-thirds the sweetening power of cane sugar. By no commercial process can all the starch be changed into glucose, about five per cent, remaining as intermediate products, mainly maltose and dextrine, which, though harmless to the human system, have no sweetening power.?Indianapolis Journal. ? A correspondent of the Memphis Appeal, in furnishing a sketch of the late General L. Pope Walker, makes the following statement, which the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph andMestenger says is no doubt correct: "Fifteen years ago Gen. Walker gave a graphic and interesting history of the cabinet meeting the night before Fort Sumter was bombarded, and in that conversation paid a high compli? ment to General Robert Toombs of Georgia. General Toombs, with all his impetuosity, violently opposed the as? sault. General Walker said he paced the floor like a caged lion, and suddenly straightening himself up in all his phy? sical and intellectual grandeur, he im? ploringly said : 'Gentlemen, I beseech you to pause and reflect before you give an order which will shake the continent and drench the land in blood."