Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY E. B. MURRAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 7, 1886. VOLUME XXI.?NO. 26 TUE FLORIDA TOWNS. Bill Arp on the Progross or Settlement. Atlanta Constitution. It takes a good while for a new settle? ment to get straightened out. These Florida towns are novelties in their ways. . Cartersville, where we live, is but little larger than Saudford, but Cartersville is old and settled. Yon can find a hundred fine cows in Cartersville, but you can't And any cows at all down here. Every? body uses condensed milk. We wanted some iresh cow's milk for our sick boy, but it was not to be had in the town and we bad to beg it in the country. It is not becanse they can't raite cows here but because they haven't begun. A druggist here has sent off for ten and says he la going to supply the town with milk. Merchants come here and there are much finer stores and stocks than in our Georgia towns, for these people are rich and dress fine and buy first class goods. Most every other house in town is.a hotel or a boarding house or a real estate agency. Livery stables do well of course, for these people are moving around. There are lots of darkies here but they don't care for anything. They haven't got to buy wood nor blankets and they can ?sh and whenever they want to do a day's work they can get a dollar and . a half or two dollars for it. The darkey is not willing to work ahead of his wants Nothing but necessity drives them to the use of their muscle. A very common cook woman gets from ten to fifteen ?dol? lars a month. I know a family that pays . a man twenty dollars and a cook sixteen and a nurse twelve, and they are just average negroes?and the washing is all done outside. The washing for one person is a dollar a week. A heathen Chinee arrived yesterday and says be will reform all this laundry business if the Melican man will let him stay. Florida '. lives on canned goods. If you want anything outside it costs you dear. I priced chickens to-day and was asked a dollar a pair. Eggs are forty cents a dozen. Now why does not somebody go into the chicken. business. A few do, and make money. Two farmers here make money selling milk, but there are only two. One man. raises hogs, lots of hogs, they say 600 a year. They fatten on the crawfish and shell fish on the borders of the lake and grow to 300 pounds, but there is only one man at it. Some few who have hammock land raise vegetables for market and make money, lott of money. But most adventurers come here to raise oranges and lemons and get absorbed in that, not so much for . the future profit in the oranges as for the increase in the price of the land after a young grove has been planted. .They plaat.arjd sell out and plant again. Most everything is for sale, but not the beauti? ful homes that the wealthy have estab? lished on the lakes. These Florida newspapers are crowded with lands for sale. New towns spring up so fast they are hard run fcr names for them. Real estate agents are busy. Major Marks is the pioneer, the old reliable land man, and does things on a big scale. He went to Europe and has got lords and counts interested in Florida and you can run against one on the sidewalk and not know it. Most of them are young and sociable, and our boys don't say "Me Lord" nor "Your Grace," but hello Jack or good morning Johnny Bull. Major Marks believes in advertising. On his return from England he called'At the office of the World In New York and bargained for one day's issue of that great paper, and said he wanted every column in it devoted to Florida. They asked him ten thousand dollars, and he said he would give it and now he is as? sessing the towns and railroads that want to come into the pool, and I hear that Orlando raised one thousand dollars in a day. Well, that is business and it pays. There are countless numbers at the north who are tired of their climate and are looking this way. They make right good democrats when they get here aud are joining the solid South. Sanford is a wooden town. There is only one brick building in it an those brick were brought here on a schooner from up North. But - brick can be made here and that is another unoccupied field of industry. Insurance is high, very high, about six per cent, notwithstanding they have a good system of waterworks. I was sur? prised to find firewood so expensive. I paid one dollar for one-eighth of a cord, but it was sawed up short for stove wood. The surrounding lands are full of scrub? by pines but the owners make the timber sell. the land, and so wood is high. But after all, Jiving is not expensive, for a family can do without chickens and eggs on week days, and it takes but little wood to do them. Vegetables are cheap and beef and venison are reasonable and fish cost nothing hardly. The people are bright and cheerful and seem as happy as they do anywhere. The ladies meet on the sidewalks and stop at the gates and cbat merrily aud have a good social time, and the landladies are just as good as their guests. There is no stiffness here. An old friend who called on us was telliug a lady how to raise her boy, and was hinting that her boy needed more raising than he was getting, and advised a little more of Solomon's pre? scription, and he told her how he was raising his boy 03 a model of juvenile propriety. Well, she stood it pretty well for awhile, and then fired up and said: "Well, sir, you are not the first man I've seen who knew exactly how to raise other people's children. You just wait a few years and see which is the best boy, mine or yours. Now, take that, Mr. Sroarty." Well, that is just so. I have itched all over to raise other people's children, and I reckon other people wanted to raise mine. What will raise one child will not raise another, and if there is any perfect rule to go by we have not found it out at my house. Now, the older I grow the morel won? der at the beneficent wisdom of Provi? dence in scattering the good things of this life all over the inhabitable world ; not all in on* place, but a little here and a little there, and all adapted to the place and the people. There is no Eldorado, np paradise, on the one band, and on the other no clime so miserable but what has some blessings attached. We think this Florida sand is awful, and forget how disagreeable is our north Georgia mud. We have apples and peaches, and here are oranges and lemons and pineapples and bananas. They have no winter here, and we have the blazing hearthstone and the old back log as a set off*. They can catch more fish here in half a day than we can in a week, but we have more fun in trying. They have lovely lakes and the salt sea'breeze, and we have springs and gushing streams, and the snow the beautiful snow. Take, it all in all I reckon it is best for folks to be content with their lot, especially if it is their lot to live in north Georgia where I do. Bill Arp. ~" [Original.] Au Interesting Letter from Florida. Leno, Fla., Dec. 17, 1S85. Mb. Editor : According to promise I will try to let the readers of your paper have a look at Florida as I see it, and as it really is. Only a short while ago I was in a snow-bound land. Now I am in a sunny clime, where the flowers bloom in open air the year around, and the birds sing as merrily as ii it were not winter; strange this seems, but neverthe? less it is true. Florida has been praised too highly on some poidts, and not enough on others. The fruit crops seem to be all that most j writers think Florida soil is capable of producing, but not so. It can grow near? ly if not all the crops that other States do, though all of her lands are not as fertile as a Western prairie. With dili? gence, however, one can acquire a good livelihood and lay by a snug little sum for a rainy day. The opinion of many is that Florida is poor, so poor that one would starve in a season with a year's supply ahead. This can only be attri? buted to ignorance, because if people would only observe the official reports they would see and be surprised at the rapid strides she is making, which could cot be done if she did not possess a solid foundation on which to build. One must need come to Florida to fully ap? preciate all its qualities. There are no two that come that see it alike. It seems to appear differently to every one. No writer can describe so as one in a foreign country coming here would see and un? derstand as he wrote. Her resources are almost wholly undeveloped and present new fields for extensive operations, for idle capital to ba employed, and many capitalists are taking advantage of them. She is the oldest State in the Union, and has been in the background till only a few years ago, and has just waked up from a three hundred year sleep. Real? izing that she is on the back seat of ad? vancement, she has set lively to work and is moving to the front more rapidly than any of her sister States. Within the last five years she has more than doubled her taxable property. In 1880 it was $30,000,000; in 1885, $60,000,000. Her population in 1880 was 269,000; in 1885, 342,000; a gain of 76,000 in five years, or an increase of about 27 per cent. 1885 shows 19,572 farms and 596 manufactures. Florida is thought also to be very un? healthy. To prove ihat it is one of the healthiest States, I will quote the mortu? ary statistics, which show that of 342,000 persons, of all classes and ages, only 2,777 die*. Bather a small ratio for a sickly country. This much is a little queer: that one in good health coming to Flor? ida is more than apt to be sick, more or less, till he becomes acclimated. On the other band, one in poor health improves from the date of his arrival. For con? sumption there is no safer harbor of refuge if they cume in the early stages. I don't claim that her climate will resur? rect the dead. Agriculture doesn't pay as well as in the West, and not half what the people ought to make it pay them. The corn yield is from 10 to 40 bushels per acre, and some lands produce upwards of 100 busheis, but the first figures are what the average lands will produce. Oats make a good yield. I believe they can be grown belter here than iu any other Slate. The yield per year is 20 to 40 bushels per acre, and very often from 60 to 70 bushels. Rye averages about 25 bushels per acre. Wheat doesn't grow here to much profit, though the lands yield from S to 25 bushels per acre. The weevils eat it to a dust before it can be worked. Sea Island cotton and upland do well. Upland yields a bale on ftom 1 to 2n acres. Sea Island is as much at home hero as on the islands in the South Sea. Its yield is from 350 to 550 pounds per acre, or oue bale to 3i or 4 acres. Bice does almost as well here as in the swamps of South Carolina and Georgia, yielding as high as 80 bushels per acre. Pinders, or ground-peas as they are bet? ter known, should grow, I thiuk, only in Florida. Chufas and sweet potatoes are grown for hogs, and are seldom market? ed, though if they were, would pay well. Fine cigar tobacco is also grown, but not extensively. Chewing tobacco cannot be grown scarcely at all. Sugar cane, from which sugar and syrup are manufactured( is grown by almost every farmer. In fact, almost every tbiug that is needed for home consumption can be grown here ; but over one-balf that is used is brought from the North, simply because people are too lazy and indolent to grow what they want. Judging from what oue reads in the papers, Florida is a young heaven, but let it be remembered that there is bitter a3 well as sweet here. The advice I gije to all is, if you are doing well enough, let well enough alone. If you have a good home, stay there, for you wont bet? ter yourself go where you will. This is a good country for a poor man, a young man or rich man, if he comes with the expectation of working, for these words hold as true here as elsewhere: "by the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread." Thanking you, Mr. Editor, for this kind indulgence, I am, very respectfully, Jesse Russell. ? In this country a young man who made his living father a present of a coffin would get bounced out of the bouse, but in China it is the proper thing to do. Every father expects his son to givo him as fine a coffin as he is able to buy. ? Well-ventilated bedrooms will pre vent morning headache arid lassitude. BRAVERY IN BATTLE. How It Feels to Stand np and bo Shot At. From Washington Republican. Many a time I have been asked, "How does a soldier feel when in actual com? bat?" From ray personal experience I can only say that it depends upon cir? cumstances. The feeling of vengeance is utterly absent iu a close contest be? tween opposing regiments. As a rule, during our civil war the men never ap? proached within twenty yards of each other?one side or the other giving way. When it is considered that our rifles car? ried a ball nearly a mile, and that the tactics were to advance firing, it may be seen tbat a great lo?s of life might hap? pen before the actual grapple of the contending forces. I don't mean to say that there were no bayonet fights*or actual personal encoun? ters, but they were few and ,far between. When they did occur it was with blind fury (for instance, on the occasion of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg), where crossed bayonrts and clubbed muskets were brought into play. There neither side asked quarter nor gave it. It waB a simple knock down and drag out fight, in which the Virginiaus had to give way because of the overpowering numbers and artillery brought against them. A NEW EXPERIENCE. Now, I recollect distinctly (without naming the battles) that during the seven days' battles in front of Richmond in 1862 we were on the offensive. Before that we had been strictly on the defen? sive. It was a new experience, too, to us, because before tbat period we had always been on the defensive. That country (the Chickahominy and its affluents) was densely wooded with scrub underbrush, and in marching iu battle order regiments, and even companies, would be separated from each other in avoiding the obstacles to an advance. Tbat sort of thing was very trying to the nerves of the men, because the skir? mishers were out of sight of the main advance, and even when they met the outlying posts of the enemy the infantry line was not notified. Now, there was a situation in which the best troops might be tried. It is of the subsequent battles, includ? ing all the battles of the army of North? ern Virginia up to the campaign of 1864 tbat I can deal with. I recollect the preliminaries of two or three battles as distinctly as I do the events of yesterday, and I recollect moreover how I felt when the order to strip for battle was given. But what I wish to give an idea of is the conduct of a regiment when in actual battle. There are three battles in which I was engaged that especially recur to my memory, for the reason that the fighting was fierce and the loss on both sides heavy?those were Frazier's Farm, second Manassas and Seven Pines?I mean to state that in these battles our regiment lost most heavily. Before the latter of these battles some of my com? rades were immediately behind the fight? ing line, and before they could roll up their blankets they were called into the fight by their officers. THE PASSION OF BATTLE. The old story to the effect that the boys learn in the columns of the "JEneid"?-when speaking of the soldier element?"furor iraque mentem precipi? tant," bad no exhibition iu the contest of the war between the States, or between these men in line of battle. The men as a rule stood off and shot at long range at each other. When they got to close quarters, and they were fighting body to body and man to man, then of course, as I have above stated, there were angry passions developed by the contestants which did not apply to the . body proper of the armies on both sides in any occa? sional engagement. In the old days it was shield to shield, and spear to spear, and sword to sword. The best man was he who was the strongest and most skill? ful. Now, we can kill each other 1,000 yards range. I dou't know that I can better give an idea of the improved methods of modern warfare than when I state that in the charge of Pickett's division at Gettysburg the eutiro force was decimated long before they got within reach of the opposing batteries. I wish to give instances of the pecu? liar bearing of the men in the battles wherein my regiment was engaged. For instance: When after the battle of Gaines' Mill (the second day of the seven day's fight in front of Richmond) there were numbers of the Union dead and wounded around and about our bivouac, we did what we could for them iu the way of giving water and medi? cines, etc., but, as far as I can recall my sensations, we paid no more attention (o them than is usually done by spectators to a herd of slaughtered bullocks. I recollect well the bushing and crowd? ing attendant upon an advance over rough ground. It was almost impossible to keep the alignment of a dress parade, and under the fire of the artillery gaps were constantly being made in the ranks. Friend and foe we pushed over, disre? garding all appeals for help until we bad attained the summit of that which we had beeu ordered to drive at by our generals. It is certainly a fact that, as a rule, the men on the other side when they were drawn up to light had a pretty good iukling of the work mapped out for them. PltO FANITY?DISORDER?VALOR. Finally, as for troops iu actual battle, I have this much to say, that I never saw more profanity than in the standing up of a regiment anywhere. A mission? ary would have but small chance for a conversion. It is distinctly in my mem? ory, for instance, that at the battle of Williamsburg, and the battle of the Seven Pines thereafter, the men in my brigade sworo "like the army in Flan? ders." In fight the men were like "wild bulls of Basban," and the file-closers, of whom I was one at that lime, had hard work to keep them in order. Before the order was given them to advance tbey were quiet enough ; but thereafter, in spite of all ordert?, abjurgalions, and prayers of the officer.-:, commnsioned and non commissioned, they would crowd in toward the centre, and thus were ren? dered in a measure incompetent with tru? best action of our whole force. v Again I recollect that in/iho middle of^ one of the hottest battles of the war, in 1862, the captain of a company told a sergeant that the ammunition was giving out. The sergea._t left his position and darted for the ammunition train. He got bis cartridges and started back, but on the way a shell exploded near him and ignited his cartridges, wounding and lacerating him severely about the face and body. When ho was lifted from pnder the debris tbe first question he asked was, "Did I get 'em in all right?" Now, it has been my fortune to have been in more than a dozen pitched bat? tles, and in double the Dumber of skirm? ishes that, as far as the combatants were concerned, approached almost to the dignity of a battle, and I never saw as I yet a man flinch from his duty. When the fight was raging, and comrades were falling on every side, I never saw any of the rest of the men drop out to carry them back. Hydrophobia. The people of London, of New Jersey and of New York City are now being possessed of a panic in reference to mad dogs, which amounts to an epidemic and which may spread all over the country. The newspapers of these localities teem with editorial and news opinions on the subject of rabies and hydrophobia, which i'lustrate to a very high degree the old adage that doctors disagree, and exem? plify how unreasoning may people be? come when demoralized by a panic. Some physicians say that hydrophobia io man may be produced by the bite of a rabid dog twenty years after the bite. Many people believe that if a dog is killed immediately after biting an indi? vidual there will be no danger of the disease developing in the bitten person. And both many physicians and many persons believe that the bite of a dog not mad will produce hydrophobia. The most singular feature of thi9 whole business is the acknowledgment by physicians that they cannot cure hydrophobia?thus confessing that nature gives a disease for which in no case she furnishes a remedy?a state of things absolutely without parallel iu pathology. As physicians, however, do not cure any disease, this acknowledgment on their part should not drive any layman into a panic. The fact is, that a truly rabid dog is a rarity almost as great as a black swan in the days of Horace. The countless stories we hear every day about police? men killing mad dogs comes from police? men who are not appointed to their posi? tion because of their special knowledge of this disease. Most physicians, when brought down to facts, will candidly con? fess that they have never seen a case of hydrophobia, while all agree it is of rare occurrence. The fact seems to be that the disease called hydrophobia is either tetanus or hysteria or both. The danger lies not in the poisoned saliva of a dog, but in tbe shape of the dog's teeth. Baron Larrey, Napoleon's chief of surgeons, examined many thousand cases of traumatic teta? nus, and declared that every one resulted from a punctured or lacerated wound, such as made by a bayonet or sabre thru?t, and never from a clean-cut wound, such as made by a sabre blow. The con? sequent deduction was that, tbe nerves being lacerated, such irritation of the nervous system was produced as resulted in lock-jaw. Any blunt instrument is calculated to give a wound liable to bring on lockjaw. A rusty nail is an elegant tool for that purpose. A dog's tooth is just as good as the nail. Now a singular confirmation of this theory is found in the remedy for traumatic tetanus, first proposed, we believe, by the celebrated Brown Sequard. He recut the lacerated nerves with a sharp instrument, so as to produce a clean cut. The effect was almost magical. But along with tetanus is tbe disease called hysteria. Patients suffering from this affection make a singular uoise in their throats like the barking of a dog. They cannot swallow because of the globus hystericus. The sight of liquids throw3 them into spasms. The convul? sions are clonic or remittent, while in tetanus they are tonic or continuous. The spasms in hydrophobia are clonic. But the writer of this once saw a young man Buffering from tetanus, which was I caused by sawing his thumb accidentally with a woodsaw. He was attended, if the writer's memory is correct, by Dr.' McKim. Twelve hours before he died the writer saw him in a spasm which was emphatically clonic?remitting after a certain interval to such an extent as to permit him to swallow nourishment. The boy had never beeu bitten by a dog in his life, hence there was no suspicion of hydrophobia. Now, as excision of the parts bitten by a dog has sometimes failed in averting tbe so called hydrophobia, the writer (with all due deference to the medical fraternity, who are not yet a unit in acknowledging there is such a disease and who invariably fail to cure it) that in such cases the excision did not cleanly divide the already lacerated nerves, but still further tore and jagged them. At all events, as the resources of surgical learning and the drugs of the pharraa copcea have been exhausted to no pur? pose in trying to euro alleged hydropho? bia, it would be worth the experiment of trying Brown-Sequard's remedy for tetanus, combined with proper treatment for hysteria. ? "What a farmer needs iu this world to be successful," remarked Deacon Hay? seed, "is a good wife. Then he's all right. My wife could get up in the mornin' at four o'clock, milk fifteen cows, feed six horses, git breakfast for twenty hands, and be all ready for a day's work I aforo six o'clock. That's what I call a good wife." "Doesn't she do it now, i deacon?" he was asked. "Oh, no," he j replied, wiping away *tear, "she's dead." I ? A recent investigator into the causes of consumption says that the disease is often inherited because the heir has taken for hi* personal use the decedent's old mattresses, upholstered chairs and carpets. ? Lay the green peel of cucumbers whera the cockroaches will get at it. They will eat greedily of the poisonous juice and die. GEN. J, E. B. STUART'S DEATH. Last Moments of the Famous Confederate Lender?A Pnthetrc Scene. Stuart received bis wound during the Wilderness campnign, which opened May, 4, 1864. Soon after the general's death, Maj. McClellan wrote the follow? ing letter to Mrs. Stuart: "About 4 o'clock the enemy (at Yellow Tavern) suddenly threw a brigade of cavalry upon our extreme left, attacking our whole line at the same time. As he always did, the general hastened to the point where the greatest danger threaten? ed?the point against which the enemy directed the mounted charge. My horse was ho much exhausted by my severe ride iu the morning that I could not keep pace with him, but Capt. G. W. Dorsey, of company K, First Virginia cavalry, gave me the particulars that follow: "The enemy's charge captured our battery on the left of the line, and drove back almost the entire left. Where Capt. Dorsey was stationed, immediately on the telegraph road, about eighty men bad collected, and among these the gen? eral threw himself, and by his personal example held them steady, while the enemy charged entirely past their posi? tion. With these men he fired into their flank and rear as they passed him, in advancing and retreating, for they were met by a mounted charge of the First Virginia cavalry, and driven back some distance. As they retired, one man who had been dismounted in tho charge, and was running out on foot, turned as he passed the general, and, discharging his pistol, inflicted the fatal wound. When Capt. Dorsey discovered that the general was wounded, he came at once to his assistance, and endeavored to lead him to the rear, but the general's horse bad become so restive and unmanageable that he insisted upon being taken down and allowed to rest against a tree. '?When this was done, Capt. Dorsey sent for another horse. While waiting, the general ordered him to leave him, and return to his men and drive back the, enemy. He said he feared that be was mortally wounded, and could be of no more service. Capt. Doraey told him that he could not obey tbat order; that he would rather sacrifice bis life than leave him until he had placed him out of all danger. The situation was an expos? ed one. Our men were sadly scattered, and there was hardly a handful of men between that little group and the advanc? ing enemy. An ambulance was pro? cured aud by great exertions Stuart was carried off the field. The wound, which was in the kidneys, gave him excruciat? ing pain. "As he was driven from the field he noticed the disorganized rauksof his retreating men aud called out to them : "Go back 1 go back I and do your duty, as I have done mine, and our coun? try will be safe. Go back ! go back! I had rather die than be whipped." Stuart was taken to Richmond, where, on the morning of the 12th Maj. McClel? lan saw him as he lay dying. He was calm and composed, in the full possession of his mind. Our conversation was however interrupted by paroxysms of suffering. He directed me to make the proper disposal of his official papers, and to send his personal effects to his wife. He then said: " T wish you to take one of my horses, and Venable the other. Which is the heavier rider?' "I replied that I thought Venable was. " 'Then,' said he, 'let Venable have the gray horse, and you take the bay.' "Soon agaiu be spoke : " 'You will find in my hat a small Confederate flag, which a lady of Colum? bia, S. C, seut me, with the request that I would wear it upon my horse iu a battle and return it to her. Send it to her.' "I was at loss bow to interpret these instructions, for I had never seen any such decorations upon his hat. But upon examining it the flag was found within its lining, stained with the sweat of his brow, and among his papers I found the letter which had conveyed the request. "Again he said : 'My spurs which I have always worn in battle I promised to give to Mrs. Lilly Lee, of Shepherdstown, Va. My sword I leave to my son.' "While I sat by his side the sound of cannon outside the city was heard. He turned to me eagerly and inquired what it meant. I explained that Gracy's bri? gade and other troops had moved out against the enemy's rear on the Brook turnpike, and that Fitz Lee would en? deavor to oppose their advance at Mead? ow bridge. He turned his eyes upward and exclaimed earnestly, 'God grant that they may be successful.' Theu turning his head aside, he said with a sigh : " ' But I must be prepared for another world.' "The thought of duty was always up? permost in his miud ; and after listening to the distant cannonading for a few mo? ments, he said : 'Major, Fitz Lee may need you.' I understood his meaning, and pressed his hand in a last farewell. "As I left his chamber President Davis entered. Taking the general's band, he asked : 'General, how do you feel ?' "He replied: 'Easy, but willing to die, if God and my country think I have fulfilled my destiny and done my duty.' "During the afternoon he asked Dr. Brewer whether it was not possible for him to survive the night. The doctor frankly told him that death was close at hand. "He then said : 'I am resigned, if it be God's will; but I would like to see my wife. Rut God's will be done.' Soon after this he passed away."?Boo/; ? A father was very much annoyed by the foolish questions of his little sou. "Johnny, you are a great source of an? noyance to me." "What's the matter, pa ?" "You f-.sk so many foolish ques? tions. I wasn't a big donkey when I was of your age." "No, pa, but you've growed a heap since." ? A dog fancier estimates the number of dogs in New York city and its sub? urbs at .?00,000. ? An Indian and a Chinaman are partners in the stationery business in a Nebraska town. HE SWORE OFF. A Few Sensible Rcnsous For a Very Sensi? ble Sacrifice. "I going to swear off New Year's," said a newspaperman, who does railroals and night police, as he dropped into one of Potter Palmer's cushioned seats In the rotunda of the hotel. Of course there was a laugh. There always is a laugh at a Now Year's promise, and particularly that of a New Year's man. "No, boys, I've got some ideas on this business of tippling, and I'm going to give 'em to you. If either one of you will print 'em you're welcome to do it. My proprieter is a drinker himself in a small way, and he might say he had not engaged me to write tem? perance lectures. But I'll tell you whs.t I've been thinking about and everybody ought to think of it. That's the cost Now, I've got too much sense to take up the temperance racket from any senti? mental idea, nor will I prate about the moralistic side of it. Leave that to the platform crauks and blue ribbou idiots. My standpoint is one of practicality. What does the tippling habit cost? I have been a moderate drinker for twenty five years. I don't think the habit i? growing on me. I know I am in no danger of tbe gutter or tramphood. My health is perfect, my mind clear and active, and, physically and mentally considered, my seven or eight drinks a day or more on occasions seem to have done no harm. But I am damnably poor." With this the newspaper man stretched his legs and looked at bis friends, who were all his juniors. They hardly realized his poverty, for he was well dressed and known to be a gentle? man. "Fact," he said, "I am poor and in debt. Of course, you kuow the craft does not get princely income?, but they get enough to save something from. The difficulty is not so much lack of income, as lack of prudence in handling it. Do you know what led me into this train of thought? I'll tell you. I went into one of the best saloons the other morning to get a cocktail. I was a little shaky and needed it. I had just twenty-five cents. I got my ten cents change, and then I leaned up against too rail and looked around. I saw pictures that were ele? gant.- I saw mirrors reflecting and du? plicating them. I saw tbe most magnifi? cent cut glass and silverware. I saw wood carvings, marble things, gorgeous tapestries, frescoes, and, speakiog to a young man present, the barman said that it had cost nearly $60,000 to supply this one place with these things. I looked for the proprietor. He was not in just then, but his magnificent family sleigh stood outside. It bore tufted plumes and the horses wore banged tails and Russian arches of silver gongs. The coachman wore a green coat with great pot metal disks for buttons, and a huge sealskin cap that cost more than miDe. And then, as I looked, I began to think. I turned to the bar and said inwardly, 'I'll put up the other ten cents and get a cocktail.' The young man who made it attracted my attention. He was one of four who was dealing out the brain's poison. He was young, strong, stalwart. His dress was immaculate, his linen faultless, his hands soft and white; his whole appearance suggested the freshness "of early spring. In his polished shirt gleamed a gorgeous diamond. Upon his little finger blazed another. I looked at this chap, and I began to reflect that I had spent my last ten cents, and would be compelled to borrow tosee me through the week. Then reflection went still further, and I asked myself how much of my poor salary went to keep up this style, and how much interest I had in those diamonds and furs and sleigh and bang-tailed horses? Then I began to look at the profits of the business, and remembered that there were sixty average drinks to the gallon of whisky, and that the average bar whisky cost three dollars a gallon. At fifteen cents a drink this diamond bedizened gentleman behind the bar took in nine dollars for something that cost three dollars, to say nothing of added water. And then I remembered how few of these gentlemen had even a cent to spend on anything but their sel? fish pleasures; how they wore the finest of clothing, the costliest of underwear, silken and cashmere; how their shoes J boots cost from ?12 to $20 a pair, and how I had to tramp around with soft patches. And the more I thought the madder I got, and I have made up my mind to leave no more of my money with these gentlemen who live so easily and luxuriously, and whose gorgeous liveli? hood costs them not an hour's worry. Others may and will order drinks, do doubt, but from me the saloons and their gorgeous proprietors have got their last dollar. This is my little Christmas tem? perance lecture, boys. Try and profit by it." ? Chicago Herald. A Coffin Explodes. On Friday last there was an occur? rence in the cemetory at this place, tbe like of which, perhaps, was never known before. In 1875 Mr. James A. Watson, of Clover, whose family then residod in Yorkville, lost a child, aged three or four years, by death. At that time Mr. Watson was living in Baltimore, a teach? er in the Bryant-Sadler Commercial College, aud he could not conveniently leave his business to attend the funera^ and in his absence only temporary burial was given the body, awaiting his return homo to secure a permauent burial lot in the cemetery. This was not practicable until recently, on the exteudion of the cemetery grounds, since which time he has bought a lot and on last Friday in company with Mr. J. Ed. Jeffreys and Dr. J. B. Allison he went into the cem? etery to remove the body to his lot. The burial case?a Fisk metallic?was raised from the grave, and a natural desire to look upon the face of the child which died and was buried in the father's absence, prompted Mr. Watson to ask Mr. Jeffreys to remove the lid covering the glass panel over the face. The lid was unscrewed and removed, all three standing near, but observing a film on the surface of the glass, Mr. Waif on requested Dr. Allison to procure some material for cleaning ft off. The Doctor went to a residence near by for some cloth for this purpose and while he was in the house an explosion of gas ensued, shattering the glass, which was } inch thick, into numberless fragments, several striking Mr. Watson in the face, cutting it severely. One piece struck the bridge of the nose, cutting entirely through it. A few pieces of the glass also struck Mr. Jeffreys, but be was not seriously hurt. The caskot had been out of the ground several minutes wheu the explosion occurred, which was the result of the expansion by the warmth of the sun of the gas formed in it. The report of the explosion was equal to that of a dyna? mite cartridge and was noticed by per sous on Main street, more than a quarter of a mile distant. The face of the child was in excellent preservation, as were also its burial clothes, and a wreath of flowers on the breast seemed to be nearly as fresh as when buried twelve and a half years ago.? Yorkvillc Enquirer. Judge Rice Was Solid. Mr. Randall writes the Augusta Chron? icle tbat somebody has giveu him the facts of Judge Sam Rice's petition for pardon to Andrew Johnson, the then President. The judge was much alarmed and asked Mr. William Dickson to write out the document and he would sign it. Dickson, who was a good deal of a wag and per? fectly acquainted with the judge's facility for being every thing by turns and noth? ing long, consented. The next day the document presented made Rice stare. It is impossible to quote it at length, but some of the salient points were these: "Your petitioner, Samuel F. Rico, now of Montgomery, Alabama, was born in South Carolina. There he, Gamaliel? like, sat at the feet of John C. Calhoun, the apostle of the pestilent doctrine of nullification, and, beiugof a sensitive and confiding disposition, imbibed his here? sies, which your petitioner now repudi? ates and deplores. Your petitioner, when he moved to Alabama, was a secessionist, but a peaceable one. He was prominent in talkiug disunion, but harmless in actiou. He did indeed say that the Southerners could whip the Yankees with cornstalks, but the Yankees would not fight in that way. While he helped send many meu into the army, as an orator, he kept twice as many out as a lawyer. Your excellency remembers a certain William Shakspeare declared that "the quality of mercy is not strain? ed." The president of the republic must be more charitable than a poet bribed by British gold- Your petitioner has been on and off, but more often off than on, a member of the Methodist church, and being now on, must commend himself to your excellency as a brother-in-the Lord, at the foot stool of repentance. Had your petitioner been in Tennessee when your excellency ran for governor, he would have voted for you early and often. Your petitioner has at been at one time or another on every aide of every ques? tion ; and must therefore have been right occasionally. Your excellency can uelect the time when you thought him .right and consign the balance to oblivion and forgiveness. Your petitioner is not a singist, but sometimes joins in a chorus. ]'f your excellency shall graciously par? don him, be will agree to assemble daily n glee club of loyal colored men and help them intone sonorously and fervent? ly 'The Star Spangled Banner,' 'The Flag of the Union" and 'John Brown's Body.' These will be the cherished doxologies while he remains or he pre B2rves his abnormal consistency." Judge Rice appreciated the humor of this instrument, but could not stomach it. He said: "Billy, you arc too hard on me, I can't sign any such document a3 that. It is too true." Before and After Marriage. Not unfrequently both men and wo? men expect more from marriage than it is in human nature to yield. In the ro? mantic courting days the love-making is fresh, and sweet, and all engrossing, and tbe unreflecting innocents are deluded into the belief tbat the bonds of matri? mony are alone needed to secure them a life of love and joy at high fever-heat of the warm, youthful moments. But such an anticipation of heaven on this earth caanot be. The beat must cool down and the intoxication of love sober into the tranquility of friendship. It is a great matter to get safely through the cooling process. The danger is that when it begins, one or the other, or both, igtorant that its cause lies in the nature of things, may throw the blame on an innocent partner, and in bis or her sweet heart sigh over the misfortunes of a dreary union. This would not happen so frequently as it does if, as is not often the case, the husband and wife were to sober down at the same rate. As a rule the lady will hold on to tbe tender love ma'ring much longer than the gentleman. It i the man that cools and the wile that i-j broken-hearted. Among the causes of evil lying nearer the surface there is ouraystom of court? ship, which seems as if especially design? ed for mischief. To be kind and atten? tive to the object of one's affection is natural on the part of both man and wo? man. But, according to custom, the genuleman must do all the wooing, the labor of love-making falls to him, and, as a rule, he does not spare himself. For weeks, for months, for years, he wor? ships at the feet of his fair one with compliment, flattery and endless atten? tion:?. He seems the slave of her small? est wish. In all this there is much act? ing, often much conscious acting. Mar? riage is the dropping of the curtain; with it ends the merry, but in its conse? quences, melancholy farce. And wheu he sees the effect of the play, he sincere? ly wishes it had never been. The atten? tions cannot continue. Nor is it desirable that they should. Yet iu getting them for a time, women are taught to expect then:, forever. The arrangement is cruel to women. It is like the practice of first spoiling children, aud then punishiug them for being spoiled. ? The last distinct words spoken by Robert Toombs wen: (turning to a rela? tive) : "Lend me one hundred dollars." ? The difference between a "country" aud a. "city" greenhorn is, that the oce would like to know everything, and the other thinks he can tell him. A Chapter of Questions to Puzzle the Old aud Young. When are secrets like the sails of a ship ? When they get wind. What is that which goes when a wagon goes, 6tops when a wagon stops, is of no use to the wagon, and yet is what the wagon cannot go without? Noise. Why are the stars tbe oldest astrono? mers? Because they have studied (stud? ded) the heavens for ages. When are the streets of a town most greasy ? When the rain is dripping. Why is snow more easy to. be under? stood than any other sort of weather? Because it is the only one of which you can see the drift. Why does a chicken three weeks and two days old walk across the road ? To get to the other side. Why are your nose and your chin con? stantly at variance ? Because words are constantly passing between tbem. Why is the letter G like the sun ? Because it is the centre of light. What is that which occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, but not once in a thousand years ? The letter M. How many sticks go to building a crow's nest? None, because they are all carried. Why is coffee like an axe with a dull edge ? Because it must be ground before it can be used. Why does a cook make more noise than a bell? Because one makes a diu, but the other makes a dinner. When has a man four hands? When he doubles his fists. Where is happiness always to be found ? In the dictionary. How can a boy make his jacket last? By making his waistcoat and trousers first. Why do little birds in their nests agree? Because if they did not they would fall out. Why are fowls the most profitable thing to keep ? Because for every grain they give a peck. Why is a coal charity the best of all charities ? Because it makes the receiv? er's grate full. Why is the horse the most humane of all animals? Because he gladly gives I the bit out of his mouth, and listens to every wop. What is that which everyone wishes to have, and which everyone wishes to get rid of directly be obtains it ? A good appetite. When is a man not a man ? When he turns into a lane. What is it that goes up the hill and down tbe hill and yet never moves? Tbe road. Whv is it an amiable and charming girl like one letter in deep thought; another on its way towards you ; another bearing a torch, and another singing psalms? Because she is A-musiDg, B-coming, D lighting, N-chanting. What is the best kind of shooting in Winter? To have coals shot into your cellar. What is the difference between a hun? gry man and a glutton ? One longs to eat, and tbe other cats too long. On what toe does a corn never come? The mistletoe. Why is the port of Plymouth like a very wonderful phenomenon in acoustics? Because it includes a part of the sea called the Sound, and that is tbe only sound that you can see. What pudding makes the best cricke? ter? A good batter. How many nnts make a landlord ? Tenants. When is it dangerous to walk in the country ? When the hedges are shooting, and the bid (I) rushes out. Why are ripe potatoes in the ground like thieves ? Because tbey ought to be taken up. Why is a bookbinder a most charitable person? Because be often covers a mul? titude of faults. What is the difference between an apt quotation and a shut up lancet ? One is a case in point, and the other is a point in case. Why is a cabstand like a lawyer's desk ? Because conveyances are drawn up upon it. Why are fishermen and shepherds like beggars ? Because they live by hook and crook. Civil Rights at the North. Nobody will deny that the exclusion of a colored concert company from a hotel in Troy is an outrage, and that the ex? cluded singers are entitled to feel tbe re? sentment and indignation which they express. But it is also true that the out? rage is one of a kind against which the victims seem to be absolutely without remedy. Neither in legislation nor iu public opinion is there any hope of effectual redress. The trouble is that the case is one which almost everybody judges in one way when' it is presented to him as an abstract question and in a very different way when it confrouts him in the con? crete. The guests of the Troy hotel would have denounced the guests of any other hotel who refused to sit at the same *able with cleanly and decent negroes, just as the guetts of other hotels doubt? less denounced them when the reports of the case were canvassed at the tables of other hotels. It is especially unjust to blame the landlord of this Troy hotel for refusing to entertain colored guests. A man no more engages in the business of keeping a hotel than in any other business for the purpose of vindicating the rights of man. He engages in it for the purpose of making money, and it is his right, as it is his interest, to make his hotel at? tractive by keeping out of it persons who, for any reason or for no reason, are offensive to the classes upon whose favor he must rely for his living. There are very few landlords?it may be doubted whether there aro any in this State?who would turn away colored guests on ac? count of their personal prejudices against the African race. They dislike to receive such guests simply becauge they believe that by entertainiug them they will lose more than they will gain. Even sup? posing the calculation to be erroneous, a hotel keeper is no more to be blamed for making it than any merchant is to be blamed for acting upon an opinion with regard to the market for hfegoodrf, which turri3 out to be mistaken and by which he loses money. And no reasonable person will be apf. to Fay that this par? ticular calculation is erroneous. There is a dispute about the facts in this case, as appears by our dispatches, but there can be no dispute about the public feeling. A hotel or a theatro in this city to which it was generally under? stood that negroes were admitted on the same terms with whiles would be iu danger of being abandoned to the ne? groes. This fact shows the folly of at? tempting to legislate against so impalpa? ble and irresponsible a thing as a race prejudice. You may pass laws to pre? vent a hotel keeper or a theatrical mana? ger from discriminating against colored persons, but you cannot bring the law to bear on their white customers. That being the case, it is an obvious injustice to coerce the landlord or the manager into defying a prejudice which he may not himself share, but which be assuredly cannot overthrow. The lot of an educa? ted and refined colored man or woman in this country is very hard. It cannot be ameliorated by legislation, being a subject appropriate for sermons. Ap? peals to humane and Christian feeling are entirely in order. They may not be effectual, but they will do quite as much good as penal laws.?New York Times. Prairie Chickens. Houston boasts of quite a large num? ber of Nirarods who go out almost daily to bunt prairie chickens and other gar.:e. Prairie chicken shooting has the prefer? ence over most hunting sport, for the reason that it requires carefully trained dogs and a sufficient practice with the gun ro shoot "upon the wing" without a moment's warning. The prairie chicked is an accommodating bird and may be hunted in pleasant weather; and this fact may partially account for the ardor with which it is pursued. Chicken shooting, however, is a fascinating sport in itself, tbe game being very strong of wing, and exceedingly palatable. Day? light finds the hunters?for they gener? ally, like their dogs?hunt in pairs leaving the farm house where they have passed the night. At the word of com? mand the dogs leap into the wngon, and a few moments' drive brings th-3 hunters to a "likely field." Tbe hunters alight, slip a cartridge into each barrel of their guns and turn into tbe field. The dogs are eager for the sport to begin, and at the words, "Hunt 'em up," and a wave of the band, spring out into the stubble at full speed, one hunter and one dog to each side of tbe field. The dogs work from the edge of the field to the center, cross, ?eep on to the other edge, return and cross again, covering the field in ever varying and irregular circles. Now and then one pauses and snuffs the wind blowing down the field, or turns quickly aside from his course and follows up for a few yards an old scent in hope of find? ing it grow stronger. Suddenly one of them, running at full speed in long elastic bounds, with ear and tail waving-1 as he leaps, falls flat on his belly as if paralyzed and remains motionless as a stone. Quick as is the movement, the other dog has also crouched and is point? ing at the first dog, "backing him up" with implicit confidence, though the scent may not have reached his keen nostrils. The sagacious animals turn their heads and look back at their mas? ters with intelligent eyes, as if to say: "Hurry up; here they are I" The men move rapidly aud noiselessly up to the^ first dog. The intelligent animal, who has not moved a muscle except to turn his head and look back, rises slowly and . crouchingly to his feet, and with. -u<x&J extended steals slowly forward, intelli? gence and wary caution expressed in every movement of his eloquenf body. His feet are lifted' and put dewn like paws of velvet, and his progress is noise? less and as true as Ihs needle to the pole. - The hunters follow carefully close be? hind, guns cocked and ready for use. Down goes tbe dog a3 though shot dead, and this time he does not dare to . look back, tremor of his body giving warning that he can go no further with? out walking into the covey. The men take one, two steps?whiz, w'tirr, three birds rise?two to the left, one to the right. Bang I bang! bang! The man on the right kills his bird, the man ou the . left kills with the first barrel and misses with his second barrel. Neither huntejjp. nor dogs stir a step. The left-band man breaks his gun, draws out the discharged shells and slips fresh ones in their places. While he is loading up rises a fourth chicken, this time to the left. The rights, band man knocked it over, and at the discharge of his gun the chickens rise all sides. The left band man gets both barrels and knocks down two bin* They reload, and the dog is told to "hi 'em up." If the birds are plenty and the stubbles in good condition, the chances are that a covey will be in each jtubble-field. Hunters often "draw a blank," as they term it, and sometimes two coveys are found in one field. The coveys vary widely in size; sometimes as many as thirty or forty birds are found together, and sometimes an old cock is^ found alone with a field all to himself: The chickens in different coveys al?o be? have differently. At times they will get up singly, and in such a case two shoot? ers will get nearly the whole covey. At other times the whole covey will rise together, and it needs quick and skillful shooting to make each of the four bar? rels count. If the country and flight of the birds allow it is sometimes possible to "mark down" a covey and follow them from the field to field", unless they fly into the corn, when pursuit is hopeless. To a novice the sport is wildly excit? ing. The intelligent and admirable working of the dogs, the intense excite? ment of the moment when tbe birds are rising with the noise and speed of a skyrocket from the stubble beneath their very feet, and the exhileration of a suc? cessful shot, give it fascination hard to describe to those who have not tried it. The novice, although he may be a very good shot at other kinds of game, is very apt to miss his first half-dozen birds. They rise so near him and look -so large that it does not seem possible to 'miss a bird, and he is very apt to shoot jdmost without aim. After a few misses? jfow* ever, he finds that they flyjJikv&n ex? press train, and must be covered by^ha. I sights of the gun, and quickly," too. I After that hi* luck improves, and ho*^ finds that, lilce everything else it is easy enough when you know how, and one of. the most fascinating of all field sporls.? Houston J'ost. U kUO se-ojLf jinS