University of South Carolina Libraries
BY E; B. MURRAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. C. THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 29, 1885. VOLUME XX.?MO. 29 ALWAYS GO TO HEADQUARTERS FOR DRUGS, MEDICINES, PERFUMERY, Extracts, Patent Medicines, DYE STUFFS, <fec. A FULL line of Paints, Varnishes, Combs, Brushes, Hair Oils, Bay Rum, Toilet Articles, Perfumery, Face Powders, Fine Toilet Soaps, Tooth Powders, Tooth Brushes, La? dies' Hand Mirrors, Razors. Shaving Setts, Trusses, Shoulder Braces, Sup? porters, &c . Pure, High Toned Flavoring Extracts, Baking Powders and Soda, Pepper, Allspice, Ginger, and Finest Teas in the market. Cigars and Tobacco. Best Coal Oil Lamps and Lamp Goods, and every variety of choice Goods and necessary articles usually kept in First Class Drug Stores and used in families. TENT-MEDICINES, all the Standard and Reliable ones kept in stock. The sweetest and most deli? cate Perfumes aud Odors, and a-full line of Colognes and Toilet Water always in stock. Chapped hands, face and lips are very prevalent at this season of the year, and nothing will cure and pre? vent this annoying affliction so effectu? ally as a box of Camphor Ice, Cosma line, or some of our pure Glycerine. FANCY GOODS and Sundries, ? and a thousand and one other arti / cles of general use may be found in our complete, stock. . ' Oblige us by giving us a call, and you will be surprised at our LOW PRICES and superior quality of our Goods. With the compliments of tho Season, we are yours, &c, WILHITE * WILHITE. > . .... . Jan 8,1885 1 GOODS WERE NEVER SO LOW. This fact .We are prepared to Prove to our Friends and Customers who may favor us with a call. WE are now receiving the largest and most carefully selected Stock of General Mer? chandise which we have ever purchased, and will make it to your interest to call and examine for yourselves. We have added to the lines usually kept by us many ?ew and desirable ones, embracing? Ladies' Dress Goods, flannels, Suitings, Shawls, &c, And the besv CORSET on the market at 50c, worth $1.00. Also, a A LARGE LINE OF READY MADE CLOTHING, HATS, TRUNKS, UMBRELLAS, BLANKETS, SADDLES and HARNESS. Also, the Celebrated "NEW GLOBE" SHIRT?the king of all Shirts. It needs only to be worn to be appreciated. Wo are agents for the Celebrated Mishawaka Sulky Piows, Cultivators and Hand Turning Plows. The "White Hickory" and "Hickman" one and two horse WAGONS, every one of which we guarantee. The attention of Ginners and Farmers is called to our? COTTON SEED AND GRAIN CRUSHER, By which you can crush your Cotton Seed and make your Fertilizer. Get our prices on Plantation and Gin House Scales, Cotton Gins, Feeders and Con? densers and General Farm Machinery. We are at all times in the Cotton Market, and will do you right. We will pay all ties who owe as for Supplies and Guano an extra price. A large lot of BAGGING and TIES at lowest prices. McCULLY, CATHCART & CO. _Oti 2.1884_;_12_ W. JL. CHAPMAN" IS NOW OFFERING GOODS AT AND BELOW COST ! So as to close out his entire stock of Winter Goods before 1st Februarv, 1885. JUST THINK OF IT ! CLOAKS from $3 00 to $10 00. SHAWLS from 35c to $5 00. BLANKETS from $1.00 per pair up to $8.00. SHEETINGS at 5c per vard. BED TICKINGS from 8c per yard to 25c. JEANS cheaper than ever. DRESS GOODS from 10c per yard up. DRESS FLANNELS from 20c per yard up to ?1.15. Best PRINTS Gc per yard. SHOES from 50c per pair up to $6 50 BOOTS from $1.00 per pair up to $4.00. And as I have only a few Trunks, Valises and Hats on hand I am determined to close-them out regardless of cost. Before buying I ask everybody to examine my stock. W. A. CHAPMAN. Dec 25. 18S4 23 ly ? IDOZLSTT Deny Your Wife and Children of one of the Greatest, most Elevating and Refining of all the Sciences, MUSIC. "gCONOMY SAYS GET THE BEST OF EVERYTHING! Ohickering Pianos and Mason & Hamlin Organs Are the RECOGNIZED LEADERS OF THE WORLD for Musical Instruments. They cost a little more than cheaper Instrument?, simply because more care and better material is used in their manufacture. Only one to buy in a life-time. GET THE BEST. J. A. DANIELS, AGENT FOR LUDDEN & BATES. Jan 1,18*5 S" LETTER FROM GERMANY. Berlin*, October 25,1884. To The Intelligencer: On August 2otb, we ascended the Breithorn. We con? cluded to ascend this snow-mountain in preference to another for several reasons. Its height and fine position ensure a fine view in good weather. Then, a guide costs but about 30 trancs (about six dol? lars), and one guide agreed to conduct our party alone. (It is unusual for a guide to conduct as many as four, but he was our guide on the previous ice tour.) To ascend Monte Rosa, each person is said to require two guides, at 40 francs eacb, for the Matterhorn, the guides cost a hundred francs each, and forMt. Blanc, the ascent is computed at 320 to 350 francs. As to the ascent of Mt. Blanc, which is 2,000 feet higher than the Breithorn, the guide-book of Baedeker, who resides in Leipzig and is perfectly reliable.says, "In fine weather the ascent is attended with no serious difficulty or danger, but travelers arc cautioned against attempting the expedition' in foggy or stormy weather." As to the vicxo, this author says it is "unsatisfac? tory." As to the Breithorn, he says it "commands a very imposing view." I take this opportunity of making this quotation becausesome who ascend these mountains picture the dangers rather j fancifully. It is easy to understand that the higher one goes the greater the ten? dency to become sick, and the sicker one is the greater the tendency to exaggerate the difficulties, but that does not make it specially dangerous. In fact, ladies have made most of these tours and even more difficult ones than Mt. Blanc. Of our route Baedeker says, "from the Theodule pass the Breithorn may be ascended with little difficulty *? * lastly mounting a steeper slope of ice where step cutting is sometimes nec? essary." *We did not find it necessary to cut steps, though this would have reo-; dered a part of the ascent easier. Though the ascent from the pass is easy, the trav- { eler who attempts it from Zermatt in one j morning will be fatigued on arriving at j the summit. Several made the ascent ou the day upon which we did, but all, with one ex? ception, went part of the way the even- j ing before, which made the ascent easier. \ We, however, were not sure that the; weather would be good, and chose to try j the tour from Zermatt in the morning. ? We rose before three o'clock, and were at i breakfast with a young German gentle- 1 man who had engaged a guide to take him up. This gentleman, with his guide, j left some minutes before our party. We departed before four. Each of us ! had naila projecting from the bottoms of our shoes, which was absolutely necessary to enable us to climb upon the ice, and each carried an "Alpenstock." This "Alpine stick" is about six feet long and vrry strong, with a sharp irou point in one end, by slicking which into the snow j and ice the tourist is enabled to climb j much more easily and securely. Such a stick aids very much in ascending and descending any mountain, and for a [ Boow-uiountain either the stick orau ice- 1 axe is indispensable, and we must often J trust our lives to our sticks. We had ; already tested the merits of our sticks on ! a previous excursion where, just after i passing the Rhone glacier, we had to descend a snow slope too steep for one to stand upon it. We had no ice axe and bad to trust to our sticks. Placing them i behind us with their sharp points in the snow, and resting almost our entire weight upon them, we came down quite finely. The guide carried his ice-axe and our provisions, and we carried the rope and a little wooden flask of wine "time abutit." Though the weather was fine, it was still quite dark in the valley, and we could see but the outlines of the great peaks j around us. The guide car/ied a lantern, stopping occasionally to caution us to be careful, that we were upon the edge of a steep precipice. The .path was narrow but it was so dark that we were uncon? scious of danger, and even the roaring of j the mountain torrent beneath us attracted less notice than the sombre forms tower ing above us. At length the day began i to dawn and our lantern was left in a | little hut on the mountain. The spectacle was sublime. To our right we watched the rays of the morning suu as they crept slowly down the tower? ing pyramid of the Matterhorn, while to our left we saw the crimsoned summit of Monte Rosa. In front of us rose the lovely Breithorn towards which we bent our step and eye. The retrospective view of the valley and the surrounding snow-mountains was also exceedingly fine. We journeyed along the moraines of the glaciers and we could see the glacier streams leaping over the frozen walls. Before four hours had elapsed, we had arrived at the snow on the Theodule pass. Here we ate lunch and were tied with the rope at intervals of eight or ten ft et from each other, and proceeded on our march over the snow. The precau? tion of using the rope should never be neglected in going over the snow fields or in making ascents upon the snow mountains. There are often deep fissures bridged over by the snow into which one may be precipitated, but where several are bound together at a good interval from each other, and one falls into a crevice or looses his footing on the ice, the others may rescue him from an icy grave. Up to this point the German, with his guide, had kept up with us, but now they began to fall hack. Soon we met one gentleman who had two guides. I 9uppo*e he diil not mind "traveling ex? pensively," or being "a little (?) assisted in difficult (?) places" (the way a good many ascend the snow-mountains). After passing the little Matterlhorn the a-cent became much more trying, and we began to feel the force of the cold wind which drove the enow into our faces, : and the effect of the thin air. The guido cautioned us to tie on our hats and tied the bottoms of our pants closely over our shoe?. It was necessary for us to breathe much more rapidly, and wo had to use much more exertion in speaking, in order I to make ourselves heard. One notices the insufficiency of the air when he has ascended 10,000 feet, and some even at lower altitudes. Here and ihere were to be seen the re? mains of butterflies and insects which had strayed from the genial valley below and fallen on the snow, j The last S00 feet of our route was j quite fatiguing. As the mountain is too j sleep for one to go straight up we must ! ascend in a zig zag course. On this part of the route also we pa5$cJ over deep fissures on bridges of ice and snow. Sometime before we reached the sum j mit, as we stopped to* rest a moment and I stuck our sticks in the snow, the hat of j one of our party was blown oft", <-;riking his slick with such force as to throw it { out of balance. Before he could seize the j stick it was gliding point foremost down I the mountain, and told us what would be j our fate if we all slipped here. I The wind blew strongly in our faces and j almost took our breath from us, but we I were soon upon the summit. (Here I quote irom Baedeker the heights of some of the highest and best known of the Alps to give the reader an idea of our altitude: Mt. Blanc 15,7131 ft., Monte "Rosa 15,217 ft., Matterhorn 14,705 ft., Wetterhorn 12,105 ft., Jungfrau 13,671 ft., Gross-Schreckhorn 13.3SG ft., Finsteraarhorn (the highest of the Ber? nese Alps). 14,026 ft., Grand Paraciis (Graian Alps) 13,710 ft.) Baedeker, in his guide book, says of the little village of Zermatt, from which we had come, "In no other locality is the traveler bo completely admitted into the heart of the Alpine world?the very sanc? tuary of the '.Spirit of the Alps,' " and of Gorner Grat which we ascended two days before, and which is just across the gla? cier fiom the Breithorn, he says, "The panorama from the Gorner Grat, in par ticular, though dt tute of the common attributes of the picturesque, cannot fail to impress the spectator with ils unparal? leled grandeur." But the view from Gorner Grat is limited by the giant peaks which surround on every side. We were now upon one of Ihe giants of the Alps and in the "heart" of this wonderful region. We had ascended from Zermatt, in little more than six hours, 9/570 feet and stood upon a peak 13,685 feet high. The duy was pr-riWr No clouds were to be seen except a few in Italy. Nothing seemed to obstruct our vision but its own limited powers. Immediately near us, toward tbe West, the slender pyramid of the Great Matterhorn pieiced the blue dome of the heavens and afforded a speclacle, which, in point of solitary grandeur, is unequaled among Ihe Alps. About the same distance toward the East ro*e Monte Rosa in Italy. Even nearer to us were the Little Matterhorn and Castor and Pollux. The Gorner Grat, which two days before seemed to us so high, lay over 3,000 feet below us and looked quite insignificant. To the North we saw the great moun? tains of the Bernese Alps, with their im? mens" snow-fields, and the deep cut val? ley of the Rhone, whoso glacial waters flow 'o the lake of Geneva. Looking more toward the East we saw the snowy chain of the. Tyrolese Alps and the Engadine. Southward we saw the Grand Paraciis, the pride of the Grainu Alps, and Westward we viewed the great Mt. Blanc, of Savoy. Countless peaks ruse sublimely on every bund. A vast sea ..f ice and snow and glaciers greeted the view. The deep ravinesaud gorges seemed profoundly furrowed in their rocky beds. The little villages and smiling valleys were sheltered from view and the pictur? esque had given place to the awful and the grand. Here it was more ea?y to appreciate what Switzerland is. We could see the great mountain walls of the ancient Helvetia, which had encouraged a spirit of liberty among its people and were a barrier against foreign enemies. We could better appreciate the exploits of Pompey and Gesar among the Alpine heights and we could see the great natur? al boundary, which had kept people and governments and languages separate. Thus these barren heights reveal many a page of history and many a picture ol sublimity. It was, in a word, a view of Switzer? land. The guido said we shoulr] stay but a few moments, and ihe col.J wind admon? ished us that we should descend. The descent was quite rapid, but a little fatiguing. When we arrived at the base of the little Matterhorn, we found the German and his guide descend? ing. He had "seen enough" without going to the summit. But he saw it too late. The fact was he was getting nau? seated. He had already come too high and though his effort was to got down, the effort of his breakfast was exactly the contrary. The two had "disagreed" and a "falling out" was inevitable. lie had given up all idea of ascent, but his break i fast hud not., so he went down and ihe other "come up." This sort of a "'dilli cully" is not uncommon in high altitudes and affects one about like sea sickness. The French call it "mal do montagne." Of course the German will have many tales to tell of the "dangers among the Alps" and his (?) ascent rather than that of his brail;fast. Before we had proceeded very much farther one of our party (not the writer) asked to sit down on the snow and said he Wbs nauseated. Afttr he had taken some wiue and rested a fe.v moments he was able to go down to the inn on the Thoodiile pass. 1 This inn is at tho boundary between j Switzerland and Italy, and is a lough, I one story, stone building, containing a few rooms. It is said lo be one of the highest habitations in Europe. Here wo were united and our companion went to bed. The German soon arrived, and we saw about three others who had ascended the Breithorn and were sick. The rest of our party were not sick, but wc were all thoroughly sunburnt. We sat about on the icy rocks and contem? plated the great Matterhorn and the ; Breithorn, and drank coffee the mo>t I miserable I have ever lasted, i At length our companion became well j enough to descend, and we weie again j roped together for the tour down the ; upper Theodule glacier. After a few j hours we arrived at Zerinall about three ! or four o'clock in the afternoon, j The next morning we walked down to Visp in the Rhone valley, and went by rail to Martigny. From Martigny we went on foot to Chamonix. As we arrived at Chamonix the Alt. Blanc chain was hid from our view by the clouds, but on the following morning they began to rise up from the valley and we ascended "le Brevem," a mountain just opposite Alt. Blanc on the other side of the valley, from whose summit the finest view of the Mt. Blanc chain is obtained. Upon the Brevent (8,274 ft.) we found fresh snow. When we had attained the summit, the clouds had almost entirely disappeared and we again had a most magnificent view. Toward the South and West the pano? rama was extensive and embraced Grand Paradis etc.; but the chief attraction was the Alt. Blanc range, jus' across the narrow valley of Chamonix. It is diffi? cult to compare the rival views of the Bernese Oberland from the Faulhorn and of the chain of Alt. Blanc from "le Brevent"; and the valleys of Grindel? wald and Chamonix contest the palm for charm. The scenery of the Alt. Blanc range is, however, more pointed. The serrated pinnacles (called in French "aiguilles" meaning "needles") rise aloft with a fantastic charm which the view of the Bernese Oberland does not posses?. The view of Mt. Blanc, with his snow covered dome rising above all surrounding mountains, was very grand, but hardly so impressive as that of the Mattcrborn, near Zermalt. Alt. Blanc is the highest of a continuous chain of high peaks, closely connected, and has large dimen? sions. His broad summit is graced wilh snow. But not so with the Alalterhorn. Its slender, pyramidal spire, too steep for the snows to find a resting place, rises on high in bare and rugged .magnificence fiom a Held of glaciers. Thus .standing a lone, isolated from surrounding moun? tains, it is u monument of marvel. From the Brevent the view ef Chamo? nix in the valley and the glaciers of the chain, especially the Glacier des Bossons and "Aler de Glace," is very lovely. After descending from this mountain we ascended "le Flegere," from which we had a fine view of the immense "Aler de Glace." This view gives one an idea of its extent, but is rather too distant. On the following morning we ascended to the Moutanvert, just above the "Aler de Glace." The survey of this "sea of ice" from this point is very extensive and fine. This great "sea" is several miles long and over a mile broad at the narrowest part. The wave feature of this great glacier is best seen in crossing it. As there are no concealed crevices :it this poir', we crossed without a guide. Upon the first part of the route steps are cut in the ice. When upon tho glacier, amid the frozen waves of ice, it resembles a "sea" and hence its name. We descended on the farther side by the "aiauvais pass" ("bad pis*"), where an iron railing has been placed to assist the traveler to the Cha pi-iiu. At this point the frozen mass of the glacier descends over a sleep ledge of rock into the valley, and from the resem? blance is called the "Fall." We bad contemplated ascending Alt. Blanc to the "Grands-AIulets" in the afternoon, but a rain made further visits impossible. The "Grands-Alulets" is the hut where the louri.-ts to the summit of Alt. Blanc spend the night about two thirds of the way up. Upon the follow? ing clay, we walked down to Vermizrz in the Rhone valley where we visited the great ''Gorge du Trient." By means of a wooden gallery fastened on the rocky wall, just above the roaring torrent, one goes far into this narrow gorge, bounded by its perpendicular walls, several hun? dred feet high. It is similar lo thegorge at. the "Grindel wald" glacier. Alontreux, at the head of lake Geneva, is one of the most beautifully situated towns on the lake, land commands a superior view of the lake and the moun? tains. The waters of this lake have a blue color instead of green, which the other fine lakes of Switzerland have. The castle of Chillon is about a thirty minutes walk from Alontreux. It is situ? ated very beautifully upon a rock rising out of I he water not far from the shore, with which it was connccled by a draw bridge. The reader will remember Byron's "Fri-ouer of Chillon," in which he describes very finely the prison rooms of the ancient, reformers ami prisoners of slate. The description begins, '?There are seven pillars of Gothic mould, In Cliillon's dungeons deep and old,'' ete. Fastened to one of these pillars, upon which the name ofBonnivard is found, is yet to be seen an iron ring in which this : noble prisoner was so long chained. He ; was allowed almost no walking room, j The pavement close by the base of the ! pillar is worn away, and wo are told that j this worn spot marks the extent of the I pri-oner's freedom. Upon another pillar is to bo seen the I name of Byron, who visited the prison ? and has immortalized the Castle by his ! poem. In another dungeon is n beam of tor I I orto which prisoners were tied, From this dark, damp pri.-on nothing j but "The sky, the Alps, and lake Leman" (Geneva) are to be seen. Much might be said of the interesting history of tin's Castle, which is now u>;ed as a military post. Its thick walls, small windows, and isolated position give it a peculiarly gloomy appearance. The room shown as fiat occupied by the countess of* Savoy is beautifully situated on the lake side, and through the long narrow windows in the thick wall may be seen its dreamy, blue waters and the great Alps, but even this attraction does not relieve the apart? ment of its air of gloominess. From Montreux we weut by boat to : Geneva, and from this city by rail to Luisanne, *on the lake, where Gibbon concluded his great history. The view of the Mt. Blanc chain from j Liusanne is very fine. From Lausanne wc returned by way of Bern, Strasburg, Heidelberg and Frank? fort to Leipzig, stopping in each of these cilics to visit many works of Art and places and objects of interest. The tourist in Switzerland will be impressed with the life of the Swiss, which has its trials as well as charms. When we rise with the'early day and look out upon the steep, grassy mountain sides, we may see a little picture of Swiss life and energy. Some are ascend? ing the steep paths tn milk the herd on the Alpine hills and some are ascending tn little patches of potatoes or vegetables, which they have high above the settle? ments. Here and there we see a little village or. a high cliff with its wall to protect it from the avalanche, and the little chil? dren with sharp nails projecting from their slices, learning early to stand on the dizzy heights. Often upon the lovely green lakes we may see a little boat filled with large baskets of fruit on its way from some Alpine hamlet to its market. To us there is an air of poetry in all this, but wc must remember the snows of winter for which they must prepare, and we may not he surprised that the poor often beg the traveler among the Alps. Thus I have tried to give the reader a fit tut idea of Switzerland as I saw it, but feel tho inadequacy of my endeavor. To the charms and grandeurs of the Alps the poet has dedicated his pen and the artist bis brush, but there arc gran? deurs toosublime for song and charms, too perfect for the artists' biush, reserved fur those whose privilege it may be to visit this wonderful land. J. S. M., J?. The Riebest Woman in America. Mrs. E. H. Green, who is popularly proclaimed to be "tbe richest woman in America," had ?450,000 in cash and $2(i, 000,000 of stocks and bonds locked up in the vaults of Cisco it Sons, who recently suspended. Mrs. Green, when rumors affecting the firm's credit began to be whispered about, wrote to clo.-e her ac? count and demanded a settlement. The firm replied to Mrs. Green's letter, in? forming her that her husband; Mr. E. H. Green, formerly Vice-President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, owed them SS00.000, and requesting her to allow her deposit to remain for the time being as an offset to that loan. This she promptly declined to do, as it has always been her invariable rule to keep her own financial matters entirely separate from those of her husband. Whereupon Mrs. Green proceeded to put the screws upon Cisco & Sons, who then, in the slang of the clay, "tumbled to tho racket." Her securities are safe and will be re ttinied intact. The New York Times gives the follow? ing interesting Recount of this remark j able woman: Her father, a New Bedford whaler j named Johnson, died some years ago and left her, it is said, about ?5,000.000. She hss lived a frugal life, exeiciscd extraor I diuary keenness in her investments, and by embracing every good opportunity that the stock market afforded she has ; nmrc than quintupled her heritage. Old ! Wall street operators give Mrs. Green errdit for having as intimate a knf?w!edt;e ! of railroad securities as any person they ! know. A broker said yesterday that he I knew of more than one instance where j Mrs. Green had gotten up a corner in ' Reading stock. She is so largely inter ; csted in the Louisville and Nashville ! securities that it has been frequently j said that she practically owns the road. Tho "richest woman in America" has ' some strongly marked characteristics She does business on the strictest busi ? ness principles, regardless nf sentiment ? or relationship, and she is economical in : the most elaborate sense of the word, j She seems to have made it a rule of her : life to indulge in no personal luxuries, j She has been known to walk from her : hotel in this city to a social reception ? through a heavy snow-storm rather than ! pay for the use of a coach. It is related ' that one day, when John Jay Cisco was alive, she got nut of a Broadway stage in I front of his banking nfh'ca in Wall street with a bulky parcel under her arm. Mr. Cisco was looking out of his office win- j dow at the lime, and a few minutes later, when ho found that the bulky parcel con-! taincd over $200,000 in negotiaole seen- j ; rities, which .Mrs. Green had brought down to place in the vault he said:: "Don't you think it was rather risky for t : you to have brought the.se bonds down , town in a public stage? You should ; have taken a carriage." "A carriage indeed !'' said she. "Per ; haps you can afford to ride in a carriage, ! I cannot." The "richest woman in America" , would seem to be one of the most, penU \ rious of womankind. She is rich in : money; but a day will come when her ! great treasure cannot be taken on the long journey ; she is to go alone, and to j . an accountability that the veriest pauper \ may be far better prepared to stand, j ; Possibly, like the late Johns Hopkins,] she is gathering a prodigious store of money to benefit mankind in her final I bequest. Lei. us hope that the "richest \ woman in America" will become the, I most philanthropic. Then, if she can? not afford to lake A carriage here, she! ? may ride in a chariot of glory hereafter. I ? Doors have been so far improved by ' a recent invention that now they may be ' hung so as to open either way and from ' either end with equal facility. ! ? Recently the churches of Ml. Zion, ! Bush Liiverand Cross Roads, in Newber 1 ry County, have been entered by unknown parties and robbed of hymn hooks, bibles, carpels. &c. ? Seventy-five years ago the first tomatoes grown in this country were cultivated as a strange and showy horti? cultural curiosity in a garden in Salem, Mass. Forty-five years ago, or a little more, they began to be used as a vegcta i ble iu season. BILL AIM? TA'ritos of the Beauties of Nature. Southern Cultivator. Nature is a wonderful stud)- lo me, and it looks like the older I grow the more mysteries I discover. I have been clearing a piece of forest land where there are lar^ro red oaks, and some post oaks and here and there a pine. There is a small under growth of oak. and hick? ory, and crab-apple, and red haw, and sour-wood and blackgum. The large old trees seem to he all about, the same age, and when I count the rings alter they have been cut down I find that they average about a hundred years. Now what kind of a forest, was upon this land before these old trees came up. Was there any? If so, where are the stumps, or roots of those that died from old agf>. There is no sign of any. Did the old forest that, preceded this all decay and die at once, and this new one come up? Do forests come and go in platoons, or are trees always coming singly ? If you go into the pine woods you can travel for miles and find no under gnwth, and all the pines are pretty much alike in size, and ajre. Where the land the same, the timber is the same. What growth preceded this, or was the land a prairie? DeSoto marched through this country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi more than 300 years aero, and carried tents and baggage for 600 men. If this country was then a wilderness of trees, with no clearings and no roads, how did he get along? It we go d'Mvn upon the uncleared river bottoms we see t:tll white oaks, and elms, and poplars, all grand and green, and no sign of decay. No old ones dying, no young ones stretching up, but the forest seems a uniform thing; a single creation of nature, and I have wondered at it. It is all a mystery. There ate twelve different kinds of oaks on my farm : The white, the black, the red, the post, the water, the willow, the chestnut, the Spanish, arid four others whose names I do not know ; but they are distinct in form and leaf and acorns. I believe they all have their peculiar uses, but we do not know much about them, except the value of two or three. I wonder if any body known? I know that sasafrns makes good bows, and sour wood good arrows. I know that white and Spanish oak is good wagon timber and ash is good for shafts, and plow stocks,, and post oak' and chestnut are good for posts, and dog-wood and per? simmon, are good (or gluts. If you will cut a green persimmon and put it in a vise and saw out your gluts and let them dry and season, they will maie the best wedges in the world, and will split timber like iron and outlast dog-wood or any other wood. They tell mc that black locust will outlast any wood in the ground, but nabor Freeman told mc that his grand-pa put a young round chestnut post in the ground to hang a gate lo, more than 70 years ago and it was there yet; but on cross examination I found that his grand pa settled tho place in 1S40. He explains the ditl'erence by saying that ho built the gale long before he settled the place. But there are all sorts of shrubs, in my low grounds and glades, that I don't even know the names of. My old nabors are no wiser than I am. There are three different shrubs that different people call "seven bark," and neither of them have that many barks that can be separated. There is a long corral growth like Scotch broom with a yellow ilower and glossy red limbs that borders the creek and acts as a break water that I never sluv else? where, and nobody knows the name of. It grows about as high as my head, and is almost impenetrable to a dug or a rabbit, and is still'green but is not an evergreen. Then there is the "father graybeard," which is a good name for it, but nut the true one and which my father had a respect for, for he was the first man who ever sold A. Q. Simmon's Liver Medi? cine, and he said the first medicine was a powder put up in brown papers and tied with coarse twine string-, and it was marie of "father graybeard" roots dried and ground up in a coffee mill. My father sold thorn for the old doctor at ten cents iK package and it was a good medi? cine as long as the old man lived and made it. But nobody knows what Simmons Liver Medicine is made of now. One thing is certain, there is not enough graybeard in this country lo make one bottle in a thousa-id of the quantity that is sold. I know fid people who use the "gtaybeard" root now lor chills and malarial diseases, and I havu used it. in my own family and we believe in its virtues. [ stood under a persimmon tree the other day and observed a number of small limbs lying on the ground that had been cut off of the tree and fallen. Every one had the same cut or ring where it was sevared. It looked just like the limb had been turned off in a turning lathe with a sharp tool held edge ways, not exactly square down, but very nearly so. Nobody can tell me what kind of an insect cuts these limbs off or why they do it. 1 have found the same limbs under the hicory trees cut off precisely the same way, some of the limbs are as large as a thimble. There is some explanation for this. The locust splits a limb and deposits her eggs in the crack, and when the eggs hatch into a worm, tho worm swings down to the ground on its own web, which is fastened to the limb. Well, I looked all over these little brushy limbs to find some cocoon or some sign of a living animal or insect, but there was none. It may be that the insect t'jok to the ground for preservation as soon as the limb came down. Maybe some of your readers can tell us more about it. There is death going on among the sycamores on my farm. It seems to he catching from one to another, and is travelling along slowly, but surely. A j few years ago they were young and I vigorous but I notice the first marks now, j and they always begin at the very top of the highest branches. I can lind no sign about the roots but of course that is feeding at the root. A few years after the war, the chestnut trees all went the same way ; trees have their enemies just like man and beast. 1 used to think that the mistletoe was a harmless parasite, but I know some red oaks in the front yard of a naboring residence that, are living of mistleto. It has actually absorbed the life of the trees and is losing its own vitality for lack of the food the trees have been giving it. I never saw as much mistleto any where I else. It is a curious and a dainty thing, i I have never seen any on a pine or a I post oak ; indeed there are but few trees j it patronizes with its company, It has ' a special liking for the chestnut, and lue Spanish oak, and red oak that has been topped. Some how or other the mistleto has had a sacred character of its own for ages and ages. Pliny wrote about it ISUO years ago. The old Saxons would not marry until they had kissed their sweet? heart under the mistletoe bough. Tra? dition connects it in some way with the birth of the Saviour, out before that it was said to be the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden, and had a huge f pearly delicious fruit that tempted Eve, and after her fall the Creator let it wither and die, and destroyed its power to grow any more in the ground, but the birds took pity and carried its seed to the bark of other trees, and grew, but the plant was dwarfed, and the fruit became a little berry. It is curious what supersti? tions were harbored and nourished by our ancestors. Then again, we find on the fields and swamps hundreds of smaller plants that we know nothing of, but which have their uses. Many of them have their tiny flowers that sweeten nature's carpet, und many no doubt have for arres been secreting a medicine for man that jvill come to light in due time. We know the sarsapxrilla, and pink root, and fox glovp, and May apple and some others, but there are hundreds we do not know. J believe that if I had my life to live over again, I would make botany my study and live in the woods. Bill Arp. The Brown Land Bill. Pici:ens Sentinel. Mr. Editor : I notice that the Green vill Daily News of the 4th instant com* ments rather unfavorably on what has boon said by the Pic kens Sentinel, and endorsed by the Akderson Intelli? gence r. in regard to the Brown Land Bill, which was rejected by the House at the recent sitting of the Legislature. The News closes what it has to say with these words : 'The Legislature refused to grant this perfectly proper request and permit a transaction which would cer? tainly have allowed the widow and chil? dren of an honest South Carolina citizen to realize on property honestly inherited from him, and would probably have been of immense benefit to the State, because it did not know anything more about the matter than our esteemed cotemporaries dc, and, like them, undertook to act without taking the trouble to learn." If these remarks are just, the action of the House in rejecting the Bill was unjust. It acted, tbe News says, 'without taking the trouble to learn what it was doing.' If a legisla? tive body is not convinced that it is right to adopt a given proposition, it is certain? ly safest to reject it. It was the duty of those who desired the passage of the Bill, to inform the Legislature of its merits, but no such information was giv? en. Yet that supine body, the South Carolina Legislature, which "undertook to act without taking the trouble to learn," did learn as follows: In the year 1794 a certain party obtained from the State a grant for one hundred and thirty acres of land, lying in the upper portion of Oco nee and Pic-kens Counties. It is claimed, on one hand, that this land has come from the original grantee by descent, sale, assignment, &c, down to tbe heirs of G. W. Brown; but these say there is a miss? ing link in their chain of title, and they asked for the passage of this bill to rem? edy this defect. On the other band it was "learned," that there is an entirely different party claiming the land in ques? tion, under the same grant of 1794. With this party I conversed several times while in Columbia. He slated that if the rights required under the origioal grant had been forfeited for non-payment of taxes, he was willing and ready to pay whatever was right for ?ie State's claim. It is clear, that it would have been very improper for the legislative power of the Slate to have interfered, in what is now or will soon be, a contest between indi? viduals over rights which apparently conflict, and that too, without any knowl? edge as to the legal status of the respec? tive claimants. As the Legislature did not have time to do "all that it should have done," as a legislative body, it should not have wasted^time in discharging the functions of a Circuit Court. The Legislature also "learned," or at least heard that when this grant of 1794 was made, the land otiice had been closed by an Act of the General Assembly and was to remain closed for four years. There is a preamble to this act which among other things recites that many persous were obtaining grants lor large areas of land with no intention of im? proving them. This graut, therefore, may be void on its face. Almost the entire scope of country eovered by the ?rrant of 1794. has been recovered by junior grants from the Stale, whose officers it seems have ignored the said grant. The House acted also under the vague impression that there is already a law by which forfeiter1 lands can be redeemed, and that it is the prerogative of the sink? ing fund commission to dispose of vacant lands. Moreover, it seems to me, that it would be a bad precedent for a State which has courts for the adjustment of claims, and the trial of titles, to undertake, by legis? lative enactment, to bridge over the chasms made by the statute of limita? tions and the carelessness of individuals. if the able editors of the Sentinel and the Intelligencer spoke without knowing, in my humble judgment, they spuke well. Respectfully, J. *E. Boggs. A Mistake, A colored organ published at New York, editorially says: Color is purely the result of climatic influences. The snows of Caucasus will bleech a black cat white and the sun of Africa will bleech a white cat black. But blood is of the same color and thickness and reason remains the common heritage of mankind in every age and every clime." Color is not the result of climatic in? fluences. Cats may possibly change their hue, so far as fur is concerned, in the Caucasus : but no negro will become white there from climatic influences, any more than an Englishman will become black in Central Africa. European children born of white parents in Africa remain white, and no climatic influence can turn the pure-blooded Caucasian into a negro, anymore than it could metamor? phose, a negro into a white man. The negro must be satisfied to remain what Dr. Haygood calls, "our brother in blue/;." Negroes live where the thermometer gets many degrees below z?-ro, hut their com? plexion does not bleech by cold. The Caucasian is bronzed by exposure to boat, but his inexposod limbs continue to j be white. We believe it was Professor Agassis! who described about cue hun? dred physical differences in the negro and white man. There are also mental variations, the chief of which is that of the inventive faculty, which is highly developed in the Caucasian and coin i plftely lacking in tho negro.?Augusta I Chronicle and Constitutionalist. j ? John B. Clark, clerk of the House ' of Representatives, has prepared an un i official roll of the membership of the i House in the 49th Congress. The j House will contain 132 Democrats, 140 ? Republicans, 1 Greenback Democrat (Weaver, of Iowa,) and 1 Greenback Re ' publican, (Brumm, of Pennsylvania.) ! A vacancy exists in the 19th Congres? sional District of Pennsylvania. I ? Schuyler Col fax, Grant's first vice ; President, dropped dead at the depot in I Mankato, Minn., on the 13th instant.