The Anderson intelligencer. (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, July 02, 1885, Image 1
"??^^1 ? !^ZZ^!Zr?_^!!r^S!!^?^l!^^^??^^T"1T^''1111!'''**^^ i' in.?I.-MM?-ii .??inuit, II?-MI?-?- in II mi i-a-.
BY E. B. MURRAY & CO._ANDERSON. S. C., THURSDAY MORNING. JULY 2. ??sT _ VOLUME XX.-NO. 51.
WILHITES'
ARCTIC SODA WATER,
SETTER THAN EVER I
Twenty-Five Tickets
For #1.00.
When you come to the City, and wish a good, cooling,
refreshing glass of Soda, Vichy or Congress Water, go to
WiLHITE * WILHITE
And call for Soda Water with "Red Orange Syrup/' Beats
the world. Strawberry, Raspberry, Pine Apple, Banana,
Sarsaparilla, Vanilla, Orgeat. True to name, and of beBt
quality.
25 TICKETS FOR $1.00
Good for either Soda, Vichy or Congress Water. Congress
Water relieves Headache and Dyspepsia, and is one of the
best mineral waters sold.
THE CELEBRATED
NEW ORLEANS MEAD SYRUP
Tho beat Syrup in the City. Call for it at
WILHITE & WILHITE.
Muy 14, 1885 44
" Go TeU all the People for Miles Around I"
JOHN M. HUBBARD * BRO.
ABB PREPARED TO SELL
?BORE JEWELRY,
MORE WATCHES,
MORE SILVERWARE,
MORE CLOCKS, &C
AaT PRICES. MORE TO YOUR NOTION,
THAN EYER BEFORE.
fiS* EVERYTHING ia the shapo of a Watch, Clock or Jewelry thoroughly repaired,
fob 5, 1886 _SO_._
WE BOW
To our Friends and Customers who have so liberally j
patronized 11s in the past. We desire to return
thanks, ??'W?r our usual Spring and
Summer Greeting !
WE ARE PREPARED TO OFFER BARGAINS IN ALL KINDS.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE. PLANTATION SUPPLIES
-AND
FARING IMPLEMENTS.
.W^(ARE..AGENTS FOR
Daniel Pratt Oin CO.'B OInB, Feoders and Condensers.
Barbour Machine Co.'? Cotton Seed and Grain Crusher.
Empire Threshers, Encinos and 8aw.Mills.- * ? "
Champion Reapers, Mowers and Binders-the world-renowned Harvesting Ma
chine, which have been sold and used in Anderson and adjoining Counties for the past
ten yeArs, and for durability and economy there is none to comparo with thc Champion.
_ We would also mention the Count's Home-made 7-Fingered Grain Cradle-a Sonth
**roHna production-of which wo ?old during the seasonal 1884 Heteral dozen by way
Jt 'ptroductlon, aud have raado arrangements io furnish them this season again to all
>06 may desire a good home-made Cradle.
Our "White Hickory" one and two-korec Wagons are well known throughout this
""-^.J"1*?Peak their own praise. \ ? t ' . , , .
. The Thomas Smoothing Harrow and Perfected Pulveriser ia an implement that
.noold be on every farm. They can be nsod for cultivating crops of Corn and Cotton,
* w2i.1 M I" the preparation of the laud for planting and sowing. Call and see them,
fe Tho "Wlxon,. Patent Heel 8weep is growing in favor overy day. Invouted and
jatnufactured in Geoi'Kia. Used and reconimcnded by the late J. C. Furman, the great
uuansWe farra et of Goornln. The bl&dui being adjustable and easily changed, make It a
??ap and desirable Sweep. We are taking orders for foturo delivery, and would ask
Ten to call and examino it . . ", , " ,
We abm acll the Mbhawaka 3ulky and Walkin* lorn flows In dlejsm. j . .
j. The beat Chewing Tobacco in the market, madebf B. W-: Vetiabbs. OT Petehbnr*.
^.?hr?clngtheo?|>ntedbraJuis of'Wo Jeans/' "Rapidan," "True Blue" and
bJk??mei.? X trial sf edT grod ?hew gnaranteed.' Other makes and grades also on
i McCTJliLY, CATHCART & CO.
^foflerson, S. a, April 30, 1886 j ' ' ? _
fP i '??^-?aggHBgafeBBeBag---_i-..L-JBSMI. B 1 Meagan 1 1 ?'?-a
FISHING TACKLE,
i?OOfelS and J^INES:
O?T AXJL* KINDS AT
SIMPSON, REID & CO/S
DRUG STORE, f1
Waverly House Corner, ?i^?rson, S. C.
APtUa,leS5 al ' L
HIGH ROADS AN DJ RAILROADS.
Gen. McCrady Contends for Blore and
Better Country Rond?.
7b (lie Editor Newt and Courier :
Wo read in a letter from Spartanburg,
published in the News and Courier a few
day? ago, tho ?talement that "the man
who lives to witness the completion of
tho numerous and almost numberless
railways projected and chartered will soo
that section cut up into very small
squares with transportation almost un
paralleled." We almost daily read of
meetings throughout the State for tho
purpose of subscribing to build more
railroads.
Tho prediction of tho writer from
Spartanburg is undoubtedly true, pro
vided tho people can support the rail
roads after they shall have built them,
but it called to mind the very able letter
from Mr. John B. Cleveland, of Spartan
burg, published last July, in which he
contended thal tho State has tho consti
tutional right to assume the railroad
debts of tho counties, towns and cities,
and urged that it was right and proper
that it should do BO. That Mr. Cleve
land's proposition is aa serious as its
argumenta are plausible, will be realized
when, in looking over the counties which
havo providently, or improvidently,
burdened themselves with railroad debts,
we find that combiued already they havo
? fifty-five representatives in the lower
house, and need only the representatives
from ono or two more counties, which
arc now being pressed to incur railroad
indebtedness, to have a clear majority in
that branch of the Legislature Does
not the question of railroad building,
then, lose ita merely local interest aud
become one of concern to the State at
large? And if so, are we sure that wo
are not building more railroads than our
necessities demand and our circumstances
warrant?
Railroad legislation has received more
attention than most subjects of general
interest, but even in regard to it tho
habit of local legislation haa prevented
proper conrade rat ion. It has been treated
as if every suggestion for chartering a
railroad should be acted upou without
hesitation if the representatives from
the proposed neighborhood favored it,
and with the application for a charter
the right to obtain subscriptions by
counties, townships and towns-the sub
scriptions to be paid by taxation-baa
commonly been demanded of late years,
and, considered as a purely local matter,
has seldom been refused.
It is true that it has always been pro
vided in the charters that the question of
"subscription or no subscription" should
boBtibmitted to the people, but experience
hna piioffn that while conforming to the
letter of Buch provisions, BO that the
Couria have beeu unable to declare such
elections void, it has seldom happened
?hat the people affected have had the
question fairly presented to them, or
have even, in some instances, been made
aware of it until finding themselves
bound. Then has often followed a atrug
gie in the Courts to repudiate the bonds
issued upon such elections. Thia haa
been the history of county subscriptions
to railroads, not only in thia State but
elsewhere, especially io the West, where
county subscriptions and bends _ have
been most obtained io aid of railroad
building. A glance at the reports of the
United States Courts and of our own
State will confirm the statement.
It is now too well settled, both by our
Courts and those of the United States,
to ni lo,7 us to renew the question as to
the competency of counties to incur in
debtedness aud to issue bonds to be paid
by taxation for the purpose of building
railroads, but the wisdom of doing so is
still in each instance open to disensaion,
a discussion to which the people of the
State generally, since Mr. Cleveland's
suggestion, should give their fully atten
tion.
Senator Butler, two years ago, very
wisely called the attention of our people
to the subject of their country roads and
endeavored tn induce some action for
their improvement, but while the Legis
lature ia year by year authorizing taxa
tion for railroads nothing has been done
and little more thought of country roads.
Io this we think there is & great mistake,
and believing that there is a limit which
should be observed in railroad extension
we would ask the consideration of some
facta, and venture to make some sugges
tions in regard to it worthy, we think, of
the attention of our people.
Mr. Poor, in the preface to his Rail
road Manual for 1877-78, pointed out
that the experience of the New England
States baa demonstrated that to enable
railroads to bo operated at a profit a
population of at least 850 to a milo of
railroad ia necessary in thia country, and
added that the history of tho railroads
in the Western States had proved the
same thing. Yet notwithstanding thia
experience railroad building boa gone far
beyond thia proportion to . population.
Except in the old Western States the
proportion of a mile of railroad to every
850 inhabitants has been groat'y exceed
ed. In those States the ratio is vory
nearly a mile to every 900 of population.
In the New England States there ia a
mile to every 648.79 of population ; in
the Middle Atlantic States a mile to
overy 657.50 ; in the Southern Atlantic
Stales a mile to every 648.89 ; in the old
Western and Southwestern States a milo
to every 899.80. In this State the pro
portion is a mile to every 646.47.
We hear of the overtrading and over
production of our - manu Cac tories aa the
cause of the depression of tho times.
May not the overbuilding of railroads
have something, perhaps even moro, to
do with it? Mr. Poor, in his Manual
for 1884, tells us that a few years ago
there was in public estimation no moro
inviting field for railroad enterprise than
tho State of Colorado. A vast eyvtem of
railroads covering the whole State waa
constructed with great rapidity, involving
the nominal expenditure of $100,000,000,
almost tho wholo of which is now un
productive. Ts not this In itself an item
considerable enough to be appreciable in
I tho economic conditions of the country?
In the great "Wabash swindle," aa it ia
now termed, it is estimated that there la
a balance of $41,000,000 of bonds, to say
! nothing of stock, for which only $206,000
per annum Is visible for purpose of dis
tribution to the investors. Ia Ibis not
! another Item sufficient to have a percep
tibie effect upon the business cf the
country? But for our present purposes
our view must be far narrower-it must
be confined to our own State.
We have in South Carolina a popula;
tioo, white and black, of 995,577 and
1,010 miles of railroad completed ; that
Is one mile of railroad to every 647,47 of
population. In addition to this we have
20O more miles cf railroads in tbs actual
process of construction, wh|eb will give
ns ods mlle to every 572 of population.
Yet again we bare in addition to this
charters airead* granted for tbs building
of thousands ol miles moro. One hun
dred and forty-two railroad charters have
been granted by the S ta to, more than a
hundred of which have yet to bs built.
Now are we not overdoing tbs matter ?
It is a curious, and no doubt to many
it will be a surprising, fact that the pop
ulatiou and number of miles of railroad
in tits Hiddle AtlanUo States and in the
Southern Atlantic States, as the same are
grouped In railroad statistics, are almost
identical, as appears by this table :
Fop'o. M'slUi.
Apgr.gato New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dclt
wtre, Maryland, District Co
lumbi?, Weit Virginia...-.12,374,SU 18,80?
Aggregate Virginia, North Caro
lin?, Bouth Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Ken
tucky.M.12,244,888 18,889
Hut the similarity in the conditions of
tho railroad problem in these two sec
tions of tho country ends here. For we
find that Mr. Poor gives the net earnings
of tho
Middle Atlantic group for 1883 as.8107,259,253
While In (ho Southern Atlantic group
they were but. 29,836,483
The railroad? in the former State?
carried during tho year 1883 of pas
sengers.". 126.633.8SJ
The railroads in the latter carried. 14,114,8c?
Tho railroads in the former moved tons
of freight.- ltS7.927.23C
Tho railroads in tho latter moved.- 28,030,589
There is again almost identically the
same number of miles of railroad in
proportion to population in Connecticut
as in th is State ; tbero being in Connec
ticut one mile to every C47 inhabitants
and in this State one to every 646. But
in Connecticut the railroads carried in
1883 10,684,374 passengers and moved
5,005,163 tons of freight, while ours car
ried 1,033,607 passengers and moved
1,404,624 tons. We must bear in mind
too the Important fact that of the 999,
577 of tho population of this State 604.
332 are negroes, and but 391,245 of tho
like industrious and thrifty people who
support tho Northern and Western Bail
roads. Do not these statistics show that
we hnvo railroads enough in this State
already to do five or ten times the busi
ness which now offers? And ought we
to tax the people to build more when
those already built have not business
enough to do?
If is urged that if wo build more rail
roads the population and business will
increase and furnish them with os many
passengers and as much freight as they
will bo able to carry. But does experi
ence warrant such an expectation ? This
was the theory upon which the vast
amount of capital was invested in the
new Western State*, and in those States
there were exceptional grounds on which
to base such calculations. There was
the immense multitude of emigrants
seeking homes in the West, and a virgin
Boil awaiting but their coming to yield
untold wealth in grain. But oven in
that section tbero was a limit to the profit
able building of railroads, as is shown
in the COBB of Colorado, notwithstanding
her silver mines. In our case there are
no such conditions on which to base rail
road speculation. We can expect no
Budden expansion of business, nor the
wonderful results which followed railroad
building in some of the newly settled
territories.
Wo must remember, too, that the capi
tal Bunk in Colorado was foreign capital,
voluntarily sent there on speculation,
Becking great gains, in the face of possi
ble loss. The capital we risk in these
cow enterprises is to be drawn from our
own people, for the most part unwillingly,
by taxation. We, ourselves, are not
without some severe lessons In railroad
enterprises in this State. We have
already a city, town and county debt in
curred for tho building of railroads of
$4,137,579, to wit :
By the City of Charleston
Blue Rldgo itallroud.-.41,049,000
Cheraw and Darlington Railroad. 100,000
Northeastern Railroad.-. 400,000
Charloston and Savannah Railroad. 2G5,100
Memphis and Charleston Railroad-.220,000
Koshvillo and Charleston Railroad-. 500,000
Grconvllle and Columbia, Charlotte and
South Carolina, (no telegraph). 30,000
Louisville, Cincinnati and Charloston..... 63,000
Total.-.-...$2,677.100
In the rest of the State a large indebt
edness has been contracted in the last ten
or fifteen years. In the report of the
comptroller-general for 18S4 we find tbe
following which, however, is not given
as a complete statement of the town and
county debt :.
Anderson-Savannah Valley Railroad.... S 25,000
Chester-Chester and Lenoir Railroad
$55,000, Cheraw and Chester Railroad
$75,000.-.".130.000
Chesterfield-Cheraw and Chester Kallr'd 6,079
Col le ton-Green Fond, Waite rho r o' and
Branchville Railroad. 1,200
Edgc?eld-Edgeueld Branch Railroad $6,
OOO, Edgefleld, Trenton and Augusta
Railroad 8100." .. 6,410
Georgetown-Geor g e t o w n and Lanes
Railroad....._._.-."... 80,000
Greenville County-Richmond and Dan
ville Air Lino Railroad-.4170,000
Greenville and Lauron? Rail
road.-.- 50,000
Greenville City-Ric h m ond
and Danvilla Air Line Rail
road. 51,000
Greenville and Laurens Rail
road.-. 25,000 29G.O00
Lancaster-Cheraw and Ches
te r Railroad.-. 100,000
Laurens-Grconvlllo Laurens
and Bnartanburg Railroad 76,000
Greenville and Laurens Rail
road.-,. 11.500 I43,5C0
Picken?-Air Line Railroad... 100,000
Spart anburg- Atlanta and
Richmond Air Line Rail
road. 150,000
Spartanbnrg and Asheville
RaUroad._-. 100.0C0
Greenwood, Lauren? andSpar?
tanburg._ 75,000
8partanburg City-Air Line
Railroad.29,500 a>4,600
Union-Spar tau burg and
Ash-Tllfe Railroad.- 145,200
York- Chester and Lenoir
Railroad.................... 66,400
Total....!-..?.-.tl,?60??79
In addition to these there remain the
claims against the Slate for its guaran
tee of the Charleston and Savannah Rail
road bonds to the amount of $800,000,
and upon the revenue bond scrip of
$1,800,000, which will probably cost our
State a considerable sum to arrange.
We have thus an ascertained railroad
debt in the State of $4,137,579, and un
liquidated claims against tho State to
the nominal amount of $2,600,000. Our
railroad indebtedness is therefore a'ready
as large as the general debt of the State,
Ia it right to impose farther taxation for
the building of more railroads?
What we really need In the South, and
ia this State particularly, la the improve
ment of our country roads. We have,
aa we have seen, already moro miles of
railroads in the South ia proportion to
population than they have ia the North
aod West. We havj not, it is true, as
many in proportion to area as at the
North, but la this respect, too, we have
moro than in tho West. In Now Eng
land tho proportion is a mile of railroad
to 19.65 equara mile*. Io the middle
Atlantic States there Ia a mile of railroad
to each 7.5i square miles, in the South
ern Atlantic States a mile of railroad to
every 23.82 square miles, and in the Wes
tern and Southwestern States a mile of
railroad to something over 27.63 square
miles.
If one will try with a compasa on a
railroad map of tho Stato ho will find
that except tn the few places we name
below be can describe no circle with a
radius of fifteen miles which will not
Biri ko some railroad at som* point The
few pointa which are not within fifteen
miles of some railroad are these:
.1. Alone the Savannah River about
Roborisville.
j 2. In Geilston above Walterboro' In
the vicinity of Ball's atore.
8. From about Mill's store neir tho
point where Aiken, Orangeborg, Barn
well and Lexington Counties corner
and in the direction of Batesburg on the
Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Rall
raw. .
j 4. Some territory between a lino drawn
Qom Pamden to Lancaster on the Cho
ra w and Chester Railroad.
0. Country about Vance's Ferry on
either side or tho river and other por
tions of Berkeley and Georgetown Coun
ties.
C. Parts of Horry and Williamsburg
and some portion of upper Marion to
wards the North Carolina lino.
These points, it will be observed, are
almost entirely within the upper pine
belt of the State, which, according to
Major Hammond's statistics in the book
published by the State Board of Agri
culture on the resources of the State,
bas a population of but 35.5 to the square
mlle-a population certainly unable to
support more railroads.
Except then in tho upper pine belt of
the State, and one or two parts of the
lower, we have already sufficient rail
road facilities to allow one on good roads
to go from any point in the State to
some railroad and return in the carno
day. But ?B urged that whilo this is
truo with the map and compass, that it
ia not true practically, because oui roads
are so laid out, or rather havo so run
themselves, that the distances from rail
roads which must be travelled is in
many instances much more than the
map and compass would show. Granted ;
but which, then, is the better remedy-to
straighten and improve our country
roads or to build moro railroads ? This
is tho question we would have consider
ed.
We would have our people bear in
mind that it is not within the design
and scope of railroads to run to every
barn door nor to run on both sides of
every Htream. Railroads can novor take
tho place of highways. As Mr. Nimmo,
tho chief of tho bureau of statistics,
treasury department, in his laBt report on
the internal commerce of the United
States, observes : "Tho fact that the
railroad is an avenue of commerce, the
pathway of which is no wider than the
wheel of the vehicle which moves upon
it, at the very outset forbade that it
should become, In tbe ordinary sense, a
free highway." "The railroad," as he
I elsewhero says, "became, therefore, at the
I very beginning, and from tho very exi
gencies of its being, a monopoly." Tbe
I buildings of highways bas everywhere
and alwayB been the proper subject for
taxation ; but however tue courts may
bave decided as to the technical, const!
I tutional right to build railroads by taxa
tion, the propriety of doing so must still
I remain open to question. The argument
that a railroad, though a highway, ia at
I the same time not only private property
I but a monopoly, and that tho public
should not be taxed to build that the
I profits of which enure always to the
benefit of a few private individuals and
practically never to repayment of the
I taxes, is not answered by the technical
decision of the Courts.
On the other hand, the improvement
I and repair of our country roads is to the
emolument of no private individuals,
but to the benefit of the publio and all
tbe public alike. In regard to thom
there is no monopoly of a highway. Ev
ery person may use them, ride or walk
upon them without question from an j
I one else.
We have often wondered to observe
the towns moving in new railroad enter
prises, for with the general through con
nection we already have, it ia Beldon
their interest to do BO. Railroad? an
absorben) of towns-they are suckers tc
I tho great cities-the money centres. Lc
us illustrate. The town of Camden ii
I now at what may be termed the bead o
railroad navigation in that section. Al
the produce in the country around, in i
radius say of fifteen or twenty miles
comes into Camden to the railroad there
But its citizons are dissatisfied, am
think that by inducing a railroad fron
Hamlet or some other point to the nortl
to come to Camden they will improve it
I condition. Is not this a mistake? I
j such a railroad is built will not all th.
cotton that now comes to Camdem fron
the north and east of it go to the neares
station north of Camden rather than bi
hauled in wagons to Camden and thei
I by rail again North ? This has certainl;
been the result to Chester upon th
building of the Cheraw and Cheste
Railroad. Before that railroad wa
built Chester did all the business be
tween the Charlotte, Columbia am
Augusta Railroad and the Catawb
River, but since that railroad has beei
opened it has lost thousands of bales o
cotton. The cotton that is put on th
railroad at Fort Lawn ana Ricbbur
does not stop ia Chester, but passe
through to Baltimore or New Yorl
Chester loses this year 2,688 bales ship
ped from Richburg which, but for th
Cheraw and Chester Railroad, woul
have come to it. So again with Black
ville. Since the building of tho Barn we
Railroad Blackvillo has lost many bale
of cotton that formerly were handled i
that town.
Bat it will be said the community i
large is benefited even though thc;
I towns suffer. If co then let tho com mi
nity at large build the railroads, aod d
not call upon the towns to do so. But
the community at largo benefited by tl
"drying up," if we may use the osprc
sion, of our small money centres. Tl:
general difiuaion of wealth has bec
urged as one of the fundamental maxine
Of political economy ; but is not th
effect of our building of railroads tb
exact reverse of this priociplo. Tl
accumulation of capital in the towos
I small though such accumulatioas may I
I each instance be-keeps tho means <
planting' and of improvements with!
reach of the farmers, especially of tl
small farmers, but the shipping of cottc
directly from the way-stations to tl
I great money centres ia destructive to tl
banking interests of the towna ; aod y
the farmer who bas avoided the town i
I the sale of is produce Is found to re tu;
to it for the capital to reaew bis oner
tions and purchase bb supplies.
The making of good country road?, <
tho other hand, cortainly toads to tl
building up of our towns and the ace
mulation of capital in their backs. Su
I poso, for instance, that the money expo
dod for building the railroads from One
ter and Blackville had been expend?
instead lo building good turnpikes zac
sting from these towns in di G?rent dire
j tions until they reach territory tributa
to other towna, would not the money ha
been mach better expended in their 1
terest ? Thea their busiaess would hs
been Increased instead of dimlnlshe
It would really havo co?I the farmer.)
moro to haul bia cotton on good toads
these towns, say tea or fifteen miles, tbi
to haul it, as fae still mast do, five, six
seven miles over, bsd roads tb tba noan
station oh the hew railroads and tb?
pay the railroad freight for the rest
the diatanoe to the towns.
We need In this State not so mn
more railroads as more towns with caf
tai. We need, co doubt, better si
doser connections with the Weat, b
except with regard to the West we ha
already enough through lines, and o
tc ~: tori al zad pimelea! portion b?tWO
the foot of tho Blue Ridge and tho s
will aseare for ui. whatever more la nee
ed in the future at the cost to da only
the right of way. Oar great need is go?
turnpikes to reed, strengthen and bul
up our towna, and not more cross r Ail roa
to sap and "dry them up."
1 By the United States census of 18
tho building and repairing of fences cost
us annually $917,000. This sum, which
we have saved by the Stock law, would
give ua a vast system of improved turn*
pikes which would build up and develop
our rccuurces far more than any further
extension of our railroads.
EDWARD MCCRADY, JR.
Tlie Grasses*
While tho larger part of tho world is
fighting grass a number are striving to
propagate it. We are not sure but the
common Crab grass could be profitably
grown bera on fallow land, but however
this be a number of the improved grasses
could certainly be. While we sit idly
down and envy the dwellers in the W ae
grass region of Kentucky and tho Timo
thy and Red clover fields of the North,
as producers of hay, wc have in our reach
a number of grasses equally valuable
with those and which could be success
fully grown here.
First among them is Alfalfa or Lu
cerno, which is perennial, luting twenty
O? more years, and capable of being out
three and four times a season on rich
f;rouud. This grass will be est by horses
n preference to corn, for wo havo tried
it ; nor will it salivate stock, however
often cut, as Red Clover after ita first
cutting does. Tho grass once set properly
and tho land aunually fertilized grows
luxuriantly and one acre would keep a
cow and several horses duriug the sum
mer. Wo have a plat of eixty-fivo by
thirty feet which wo have cut twice
already and it ?B coming again. Wo de
siro annually to add to this until we get
an aero, if possible, for au acre well set
would be worth $200 or more. It difiera
with Red Clover in that the latter, after
two or three crops, dies out. It will
?row well here and is found largely in
lalifornia and as far South as St. Augus
tine, Florida. It stands drouth well, as
tho roots in porous lund go eight or ten
feet, some say twenty feet deep. We
think every farmer should yearly try to
plant a small patch of Alfalfa. The
only trouble we experienced with it was
tho first spring when we had to finger
out tho weeds and grass. Since that it
has been able to take care of itself,
smothering out other grasses. We sowed
io drills about eleven or twelve inches
apart and when it growB up two feet
high it has the appearance of being
broadcast. As we cut it wo generally
about a rain sow a little fertiliser over
the part cut.
Tue next in order among valuable
grosses ir. Orchard Grass, which will grow
well on land of ordinary fertility and
either in orchards or groves. It does as
well or better undor light Bbade as in
open fields. We havo over two acres of
this grass in our peach orchard and pas
tured four cows in it last year by staking
them, both in the spring and during the
dry summer and fall. We have seen it
eat and tramped so olose in places that
scarcely a vestige of grass could be seen,
bot in a few weeks after a rain it would
Bpring up and appear as thrifty as ever.
ThiB spring ana summer it has grown
well and arter mowing it we have pas
tured three cows on it and it has never
lost its thrifty appearance. It remained
green all winter and we know of no
hardier grass for pasturage than the
Orchard Grass. When at Pickens in the
spring we beard a good farmer there
speak of it in equal terms of commen
dation. Every farmer should seed sev
eral acres in this valuable grass.
Another valuable grass, which grows
well on low lands in this climate, is Red
Top or Herds grass. This grass becomes
a mat after a time and makes superior
bay. In its green state aa well as In hay
it is much liked by stock of all kinds. It
will remain green or have a green ap
pearance through the winter and is very
nardy and well adapted for pasturage.
These three grasses are perennial and
once seeded are good io stand for years.
We remember we sowed Red Clover
with our Orchard Grass and secured a
fair stand. The second year it yielded
well, but this, the third year, nearly all
of it is dead. We would not recommend
Red Clover, as Lucerno is a better feed
and is good for twenty yeats.
Another grass well adar.ted to this cli
mate, but which people dread, because
of the difficulty of getting rid of it, is
the Bermuda Grase. It makes a solid
mat and is fine for pasturage. We hear
General Hagood has near one hundred
acres in Bermuda Grass which pays a
handsome profit. Twenty acres well set
in this crass, we believe, would be worth
to any farmer $50 to $100 au acre. Wo
are not afraid of it and last year planted
a two horse load of the roots, but as tho
land waa in oats wo could not plow it in
and most of it died in the dry spell. We
have, however, spots living and it is
spreading fast. Thnse wno dread it
might clear a rich valley surrounded by
woods and plant. It cant stand shado
and j would never spread beyond tho
cleared land. We have heard it could
be killed out by seeding three years in
oats, followed by peas, thus shading the
lana. It is a good fertilizer by reason of
its network of roots and an effectual pre
ventative of the land washing. Its high
est value consists in the difficulty of de
stroying it, for daring the summer it
furnishes rich food for stock without labor
or attention. Thone who are afraid <? f it
should let it alone, but for ourse? rc if
we had fifty acres in Bermuda Grass,
near or in town, it would bring it r : $1.50
?or month for each cow pastured at least
160 per month during summer, and
persons owning milch cows woola find
good pasturage st $1.60 per month the
cheapest mode of feeding them.' Or a
rosa could buy up colts and beef cattle
and make it profitable. With labor so
uncertain and expensive wo must begin
to look to grasses. The late S. E. Mas?
woll, though he disliked the grass, has
often told us that the best oats and corn
he ever grew were planted on Bermuda
Grass land. Though, hard to break,
when once torn up and planted the grass
seemed not to injure the growing crop
and when tsid by nero comes again the
grass. Any of the three first named
grasses can be destroyed easily, and all
snoold endeavor to get a start In one or
all of them. It could not fail to bo
profitable.- Walhalla Courier.
- The fame of Florida aa tho place to
make fortunes in bss reached London,
and a colony of fifty families of fruit
growers and market gardeners are now
f>reparing to immigrate to St. Lucie, Fis.,
n November. It is expected that their
skill snd koCtiedge of horticulture will
insure them greet success.
- A correspondent of the Los ?ngeles
Ihnes reports that along the Southern
coast of Mexico the people. bsye a habit
of inoculating themselves with the vims
of the rattlesnake or adder, which rea?
dem them absolutely safe forever after
ward from ibo bite or sting of the dead
liest reptiles,
' - Whiio mAdtM>! stsdsnts are being
harshly condemned for robbing graves, it
is forgotten that the students Intend to
fill them ap again whon they go into
practice.
- Sergeant Mason, who was made a
hero of because of his attempt to amrsi
nate Gultcau, is ia jail charged with rob
bery.
BILL AIU?>S LETTI'H.
He Ueicrlboa a Storm lu the Country.
The weather ia a little cycloni nh. Just
enough for ua to enjoy Its solemn grand
eur. Broad fields aro in front of us, and
the bluo hills just beyond encircling the
valley South and West, and through this
valley runs Fettits creek. When the
black clouds begin to loom up from
behind the hills and the low rumbling
thunder is heard we look and watch ana
listen. Will the storm go round us or
will lt come. By and by the western
sky ia all darkened. The aun ia hidden,
and we catch the roar of wind and watch
for Hie finit fifth t of rain on the crest of
tho pine covered ridgee. If it croases
the mountain it will most surely come
and water tho valley in front of ua, and
it most alwaya co .nea with a wind. We
look nod wonder and admire as long aa
we can, for it is a grand display of nature's
power, but soon it reaches our very doors,
j and tuen we have to leave the piaua
and take in the chaira and close the door
and let down the windows and wail its
pleasure and its perils. The treetops
wave and bend furiously about, the tall
corn is bowed low, the grape leavea are
turned wrong olde outworda, the driving
storm has obscured all the valley and the
mountaina beyond, the lightning flashoa
inceaaantly and the thunder shakes the
ground and jara the windows. There is
a solemn stillness in the family room.
"Don't sit so near the sewing machine.
Jesaio : keep away from tho hearth, Carl,"
says Mm. Arp. The driving rain daabes
against the window glass, and oreapa in
at every crack. There is a leak over the
piano-a leak that I have promised Mrs.
Arp a dozen times to fix, but I can't fix
it in such a storm aa thin, and when the
niunn is over I put it off for a more con
venient seaeon. It ia so easy to put off a
thing, especially a thing that requires a
man tb get on top of a house. I don't
like elevators nor elevationa now-too
old and stiff. I havo passed the meridian ;
I have just aeon my sixtieth birthday
and was kissed all round, and had good
wishes and kind worda from Mrs. Arp
and the phildren, and the spring chickens
were sacrificed, and t hero waa cherry pie
without tho aced and raspberries aud
various good thlnga all raised at home.
A atorm in the country ia worth some
thing to soe. Wo can look out and afar
off and we can see the lightning flash
and zigzag and corruscate, and have no
fear-it Is grand, but not fearful-not
alarming. The trees are all around ua
and havo never been struck. Thoy are
our lightning roda, our insulators.
Lightning willatriko one lonely tree, but
it rarely strikes In n grove or forest. It
has struck twice in our cotton fiold and
killed the cotton, but these trees all
around ua scatter it and keep it from con
centrating. Nabor Freeman says that
lightning boa a liking for a wagon with
ono steer, for he passed one on the road
day before yesterday while there was a
storm on hand and the lightning atruck
tho little one ateer wagon and tore it all
to pieces, and tho steer just went on with
nothing but one shaft bitched to him.
There was no driver, for tho steer'hud
i'uat been turned loose to go home by
limself. Cobo says he never did under*
stand thia thunder and lightning busi
ness, nohow, "for," BayB he, "como folks
any it's the llghtnln' that strikes, and
some aay it'a the thunder, but he 'isa
noticed one thing, and that is that when
ever anything is struck they both come
right smack together and it looks like it
takea 'em both to do the work."
Wo have had a good deal of country
life of late and I have no idea of chang
ing base. I had rather live poor in the
country than rich in town. We have
been harvesting wheat and oata and rye.
We went to see a millpond drawn off,
and had a big time wading in and grab
bing the furn under the moss and in the
hollow stumps, and trying to hold the ,
slickery eels. I go with the children
after mulberries and dewberries and
huckleberries. I've hived six swarms of
beci and got stung only twice. The
children hove pulled out the peacocks'
tails for flybruBhee. Tho peacock ?B a
dude. I need to think the peahen ought
to have the fine clothes, but I don't now,
for it would moat kill her to givo them
up. The beautiful feathers wovo intend
ed for the ase of man, and It ia all right
to strip the vain bird of bis ornamenta
and let him feel like common stock.
There is right good fishing in our big
spring branch, and every spring some
mee trout run up from the creek and
feed on minnows. We have been watch
ing them and trying to catch them, but
thoy wouldn't notice our earth-worm
bait, and so the other day I set out a
minnow and got over the fence and
watched the pole, and sure enough a big
fat fellow grabbed it and hung himself,
and was cavorting and splashing around,
and I had to go over a six plank fence,
and I couldn't do it in the old time way,
and just fell over on my hands and feet
and ? galloped onallfoura to the pole
just ia time to pull him oat And save
him, for he fell off the book on the grasa
and had liked to havo flirted back ia the
water. Mrs. Arp had fish for sapper
that evening. She is fond of fish-aris
tocratic Uah, and when we get a trout it
is always for her. They say that fish is
brain food and gives folks sense, and I
reokon the finer the fish the finer the
braiu, and that is the reason folks who
feed on trout have so mach lodgment.
Then, again, trout are game flan and that
Is the reason why folks who eat them
aro so game. I wish I had some trout.
May be I wouldn't be as meek and ham*
ble aa I am.
BILL ASP.
- Kev. Sam Jones continu?e to eur- !
prise his hearers by his piala talk.
''Some of you little sinners," he said tho
other day. "are Bitting around here wait*
lng for saltation to strike you aa it did
St. Paul. Snowbird waiting to be hit
with a canuott ball. God adjusts his
ammunition t> thosizo of the man he Is
Riler. Must', rd seed shot will do for you.
God won't keep a man sober who has a
quart of liquor in him all the time.
God won't keep a young lady pious who
bas her waist encircled seven times a
week by til o arma of a spidcr-1 egged
dode."
- General Longstreet, io his article
on "The Seven Days' Fighting about
Richmond," In the July Century, says
"Without doubt, the greatest man of
rebellion times, the one matchless among
forty millions for fha peculiar difficulties
of the period, was Abraham Lincoln.'*
- A colored boy ten yean old waa
drowned in the Saluda river ia Newberry
County on Stta?ay. His six com panions
carefully avoided mentioning the matter
until after lbs body waa found, fearing
that they would be accused of murder.
- The Abbeville Medium means baal*
ness: Wis' want to see the maia who
?aid hs would pay for his paper In chick
ens of nico frying alzo. We havo the
crowd at home lo eat them.
?- South Carolina ls coming ont ahead
st Nsw Orleans. Tho S tato has carried
off tbs first premiums on both asa island
cotton and ?ice-tv?o important agricul
tural productions.
- Tbs bill cf General Grant's doctora
ls said to tort already reached ?40,000.
How Will It Eufl I
All over tho world young men are
coming to the fore, but in no country so
rapidly aa in America, and in no city of
the world to such an extent aa in Now
York. In our great metr?polis, brains,
vigor, dash ana fresh blood aro always
wanted. Young men control New York.
They are supreme. Old fogies are not
wanted. In an ideal cort of way gray
heads are respected, but in every day lire
they are shoved aside. Among a non*
dred clerke at work io the Park Bank
only three or four have passed their
thirty-fifth year. All the leading lines
of business and all the professions are
controlled by young men. They do
more work ana do It quicker than the
steady old fellowa who have been at
work all their lives. Perhaps the objec
tion will be urged that they lack the
judgment of their elders. Judgment I
Who cares for judgment? Do wo not
run everything on tho hit or miss, heads
or tails plan ? Judgment won't toko tho
risks ventured by hot young blood. The
mon wbo strike a big thing these days
are the reckless, devil-may-care fellows,
wbo would stake an empire on the haz
ard of the die. If they wio, the world
hears from them. If they lose, the ready
revolver is ready, and the world soon
forgets Hiern. It Is a fast age. Hurry is
the watchword. To day is with us ; to
morrow may never come. Slow men
trained in the habits of the past genera
tion cannot accommodate themselves to
theso ideas, and they drop out or aro
crowded out of the procession. The
wear and tear of these hard-working,
rapid youngsters is fearful. The averago
business man ia New York takes twenty
drinks of whisky a day and smokes fif
teen cigars. Nobody can stand this.
The young Now Yorkers don't stand it.
They go down in regiments and squares.
But, like the old guard, they die, but
never surrender. If a man pulls through
it all he is old at the age of forty and
retires to toko a permanent rest. One
remit of thia unnatural life is the pro
duction of a .nco of pigmies. New York
is famous for its young men of small
stature and light weight. This comes
from oxcess of all kinds. It Is not so
with the young women. The girls who
do not smoke, drink and dissipate, are
large and well built, bright-eyed and
rosy-cheeked. They will nave to take
hua band 3 from the country. The spider
legged dudes around them are not fit for
their mates. If wo escape a deluge or a
revolution the next generation will bo a
gauzy one. a sort of fleeting show, as it
were.-Allanta Constitution.
A Thought for "Our Girls.'7
"My banda are so stiff I can hardly
hold a pen," said farmer Wilbur, as ho sat
down to figure out some accounts that
were getting behind hand.
"Can't I help you, father?" Bald Lucy,
laying dorm her bright crochet work. "I
Bhsll bo glad to do so, if you will explain
what you want."
"Well, I shouldn't wonder if you could,
Lucy," he said reflectively. "Pretty
good at figures are you not?"
"It would be sad if I did not know
somothing of them, aller going twice
thrcgh the arithmetic," said Lucy.
"Well, I can show you in five minutes
what I have to do, and it'll be a wonder
ful help if you can do it for me."
"I no vcr waa a master hand at accounts
in my best days, and it does not grow any
easier since I put on my spectacles."
Very patiently did the helpful daugh
ter plod through the long lines of figures,
leaving the gay worsted to be idlo oil the
evening, though she waa in such haste to
finish nor scarf. It was reward enough
to see her tired father, who had been
toiling hard all day for horself and dear
ones, sitting so cozily in his easy chair,
enjoying his weakly paper.
Tho dook strueV nine before her teak
wau over, but the hearty-"Thank yon
daughter, a thousands time," took away
hil sonso of weariness.
"It's rather looking up, where a man
can have such an .manuensis," said the
farmer. "It ia n?< every farmer that can
afford it."
"Not every farmer's daughter that ia
capable of making one." said tho mother,
with a little pardonable maternal pride.
"Nor every one that would be willing;
if able," said Mr. Wilbur; which last
was a sad truth. How many daughters
might be of use to their father in Una and
many other ways, who never think of
lightening a care or labor J If asked to
Ear form some little service, it ia dono at
est with reluctant step and unwilling
air that roba it of all sunshine and oil
claim to gratitude.
Girls, help your father. Give him a
cheerful home to rest in when evening
comes, and do not worry his life away by
fretting because he cannot afford yon all
the luxuri?s you covet. Children exert
ea great an influence on their parents, se
p?rente do on their children.-Our awi:
day School.
Solar Eclipses?
, The eclipses of the a?n ore camed by
the moen's passing betwoen tho earth
and tho sun. If the two bodies followed
tbe same tr ach in tho heavens th oro
would be an eclipse every oew WOOD, but .
as tho orbits aro inclined the moon, but
generally passes above cr below the ann,
and there is no eclipse. Occasionally
the sun ia near one of the moon's nodes
the points where the planes of tho ?rbita
intersect-when lt pastes, and then an
eclipse occurs. If the sun end moon
were always at the same position wUh
regard to the earth and alwaya the same .
distance from it, the eclipses would al
ways be the same size. But aa these
conditions var % so do the appearances of
tho eclipse. E or instance, let ua suppose
that at tho tim y of an eclipse tho center
of tho moon happens to pass directly
over tho center ox the sun. If tho moon
is near the point in her orbit which la
at tho least distan?a from the earth her
app?tant diameter will exceed that of
the soo, and tho latter will bo quito kid
dee from view, sud we have what ia
known as a total eclipse. Of course,
even in Ibis case the eclipse will ? only
appear total to tho observer near th olino
joining tho centers of tho sun and moon.
If, however, the three bodies occupy sim
ilar position but the distanc? between the
earth and moon is greater, the whole of
the sun in not covorcd by the moon,
however, does, not pass certainly over tho
SUD lt can only hide a part of the latter
os one aide or the other, and the eoupee
IS said to be partial. AB tho moon's
orbit is quite eUptical the distance of
that body from tho earth varies <*ro*t!y.
IU loaat distance Is 221,000 m Hos, ito greaC
cat 259,000 miles.
.;< The Southern crop prospects ore
sold to bo unprecedented for many years.
Cotton, rice and sugar promise splendid
returns.
- - There Is a red oak tree in Barnwell
County known os the "RebsV Oak/*
which'mesantes twenty seven feet In o?r-,
enmferenco.
- Them Ia a negro woman in New
berry County BIX feet three loches high,
straight ns cn arrow and black as tho St