University of South Carolina Libraries
; ..:_-:-?- - BY E B. M?EEAY & CO. ANDERSON, 8. C THTJESDAY MOENING, JANUAEY 14, 1886. ? VOLUME XXI.-NO. Tt_ :as electrical supper. I Tlie;Now Year's Feast Given In a 1 Magi clan's Dining Boom. Mr. William Hammer gave'an electric supper to a few old classmates on New Year's eve. It was like an evening in sheol. Mr. Hammer has been associated with Edison, the great electrician, for such a long time, and has become so Steeped iD electricity that it fairly oozes out at his finger tips; He carries light filng about in his pockets as carelessly as a. boy would carry a toad. His pretty little home at No. 23 Rowland street is built upon Ley den jars and batteries and queer - electrical inventions, and every thing Hbo?t the place from opening the front gate to blacking shoes is done by electricity. . You can't walk across the ? threshold without ringing bells or sound? ing burglar alarms, or lighting the gas, or doing some odd thing that you never dreamed of doi?g. Thursday evening Mr. Hammer had all the hidden Wires about his house con? nected so'as to give his twenty guests a lively time. As far as outward appear? ances went, the parlors and dining room looked like any other ?well-iumished apartments. Rut hidden beneath the carpets and in the walls and ceilings were strange systems of wires and but? tons and signals that made the place like one of the enchanted castles we used to read about iu fairy-tale days. You enter the gate and the house ap? pears, dark, but as your foot touches .he lower stoop three electric lights blaze out and the number of the house appears in bfightrelief.C^TheJnext step sets a bell to jingling, and the third throws open the door and lights the gas in tho hall by .electricity, transmitted by the press? ure) of the foot. Inside the hall there is an. odd-looking foot-rest attached to th&'nat rack,"anrTby pressing a button a pair of brushes come out and shine your shoes. Upstairs, where you remove your wraps, there is a bedroom that would be . worth a fortune to a lazy man. By touching your head to tbe~pillow the gas fifteen feet away is extinguished, and by pressing a knob at the .foot of the bed it is lit again. Outside the door a clock? work attachment sounds a drum at the proper waking time, and if the ocenpant does-not get up after fifteen minutes' . grace, the bed rises on its bind legs and -,' dumps the sleeper out on the floor. In the parlors the guests who had come early stood about in little groups. No? body sat down, although ottomans and solas and chairs were scattered through the rooms. Every new-comer was cordi? ally greeted and a chair pushed towards him. If he sat down?as he usually did ?the chair either doubled up on him .or Btarted for the door with him, or disap? peared or completely exploded. If he sat on a sofa he set a banjo to playing on the opposite wall, and a drum to beating; or if he took another seat the movement * pot out the lights and introduced queer phosphorescent figures. No man knew when ho was safe, although there were a *ew apparently sr*fe seats. In one of these Humorist Brown.was telling a very funny story. He had left electricity far behind, and just as. he reached the cli? max a pretty funnel-shaped Japanese affair, like a big dunce cap, that orna? mented the ceiling overhead, dropped quietly down and covered him up, silent? ly extinguishing the story and the story? teller. Somebody proposed u mic, and half of a selection went very nicely on the piano. But- just as every one' became interested something seemed to give way, and instead of strings the keys beat upon a horrible jangle of gongs and drums and bells, and every kind of noise-pro? ducing implement. But the worst came in the dining-room. About 11 o'clock the' twenty guests sat down to a table loaded with the usual delicacies. At the head a figure of Jupiter presided. At a signal the great god began to talk (pho nographicaliy), and made a welcome ad? dress. He wore electric lights for shirt studs, a bibulous red light for a nose, and his green eyes had the snap of light? ning in them, while blue bolts blazed from his pocket. The table seemed bewitched. Touch a knife or fork and it put out the lights and introduced queer sights. Put your spoon into a di9h of cream and it flared up in great columns of green or red flames many feet high, like a fountain of fire. Reach;for an innocent lookiug sandwich and it rang a bell iuside, where the meat ought to be. Try to pick up an orange and a drum beat inside. Help yourself to pudding, and the dish and all slid silently into the great unknown. Ask for Malaga grapes and Und that an electric light flashed from each one as you pulled the stem. Pour a glass of lemonade and it was incandescent and ' full of fire as it touched your lips. And yet everything wa3 good to eat and the coffee was cooked by electricity. And when the little clock tinkled out 12, ushering in the new year, and the chimes from the distant churches came softly into the room, pandemonium seemed to havo changed places with the modest dining-room. Two big cannon ! unexpectedly Went off with a suddenness that rolled every man back from the tabh>, tho lights disappeared, gongs un? der each chair beat a tattoo and two bricks dropped off the chimney. For a few minutes every malignant noise that was ever invented wps piled on top of one another, and then silence and the lights came back, and supper was re? sumed as calmly as if such a thing as a scare had never been known. After supper electric fireworks and phonograph experiments and a luminous cbamber'of horrors sent the guests home with a be-, ildered feeling, that, somehow they had been living half a century ahead of the new year. ? The Kingstree Herald says there seems to be a good deal of commotion among the laborers of that County as to their plans for another year, and the question of labor is unsettled. Large numbers of the best hands have and are still going to Florida and Georgia to work turpentine and some of them are carrying their families. The farmers cannot compete with tho prices offered by those engaged in the manufacture of turpentine, and are therefore put at a disadvantage so far as labor is concerned. Living For Our Neighbors. To live for others, in one sense of the term, that is in the'sense of unselfishly devoting your talents and energies to doing good to others whenever you can find or make opportunity, is the highest order of living, and there is small room for finding fault with one who has con? secrated his life to so noble an aim. But there is another sense in which the words may be used, when but little of unselfish? ness or of any other Christian virtue is implied in their application. For everything depends upon what others you live for, and how you live for them. There are men and women in every town, and upon every block in town, whose chief rule of conduct is the supposed opinions of their neighbors, and who may truly be said, therefore, to live for their neighbors rather than for themselves. Is the house painted anew on the out? side, at a time when matters arc not going on in the dingy office exactly as the husband and father could wish ? Depend upon it, the colors are not laid on to please borne folks so much as to satisfy eyes across the way. Is the old carriage relegated to the woodshed aud a point strained in order to replace ifc with a bfand new one, that shines as though it were fresh from the hands of the boot? black brigade ? Husband and wife may recline, more jor^less at ease, upon the luxurious- back seats whenever they go out driving thereafter, but we may be sure that they occupy back seats in their ownitbougiita as well. The carriage was really bought for the neighbors. A new piano eounds.uoue the less sweetly, per? haps, for sounding preternaturally loud when it is first installed in the parlor, and the windows are opened for ventila? tion and other purposes. An unusually .fine carpet, also, uever appears to so great advantage as when it is spread on the lawn or on the back fence, to be beaten, of course, and nothing short of u sudden shower is likely to drive it within doors before nightfall. In these and a thou? sand other great and small matters of every-day life the restricted class under consideration may give a passing thought to their own comfort and pleasure, but they hold their neighbors and their neighbors' opinior in steady regard. How many people again, think you, would undergo the worry and expense and discomfort incidental to the annual Summer hegira to the springs, the moun? tains, the seaside, the country, if their neighbors did not drive them away, either by going themselves or by staying at borne because they cannot go. There are certain very weak-minded brethren and sisters in society who would rather prevaricate, or tell a downright fib, if tbev dared, than to acknowledge that they stayed in their ovvn bouses in peace and comfort during the whole of last seasou. So strong is the pressure brought to bear upon this unfortunate class, indeed, iu some communities, that it is currently reported and believed that some of them have been known to shut up the front of their houses and live in the back rooms until frost kindly came to there relief, and permitted them to appear before their neighbors agaiu without fear and without reproach. The less said about matters of dress, the better, since there is uo knowing whose skirts or toes we may tread on if we venture rudely into this branch of the subject. Suffice it to say that, wore their no neighbors in the world, there would be neither tailors nor milliners, fashions nor frivolites, neither dudes of the one sex nor their equivalents, if there be any, in the other. It is a well established point, at any rate, that women do not dress to please the men, nor yet to please themselves; and it is very much to be questioned whether they dress to please anybody. From first to la9t; from the hour of buying the material to the hour that it is worn for the first time in its completed and complicated state, but one thought is uppermost in the mind of its deatined wearer?and that thought may be fully expressed iu two words, "the neighbors." What will the neigh? bors say, and think ? is stitched in with every thread, aud tacked on with every button, and folded into every hem, and tucked into the plate3, and pressed into the seams, until it becomes so wholly an integral part of the dress tha it can never after be outirely dissociated from it. At the opera, the bali. the fair, on the promenade, iu the church aisle, the rustling skirts incessantly echo the secret thought that was confided to them at their creation, and whisper at every mo? tion? What will the neighbors say; what will the neighbors say ? And men are not very much wiser as regards dress or any other particular whereby the neighbors may be duly im? pressed. It is a high order of intellect that can find itself surrounded by a new silk hat, worn for the first time to church, and that can erase from the lines of the face under its brim that peculiar nebu? lous, kindly and somewhat vacant expres? sion which says as plainly as words, what do the neighbors thiuk? And so of other matters besides dress. How many speeches and addresses in the lec? ture room, in the Legislature, iu Congress, are inspired solely by this one idea?the neighbors. How many sermons iu the pulpit are preached for the admiration of the neighbors. How many prayers ic public are addressed to the neighbors. This is an old failing of human nature. It is, at least, two thousand years old, aud it has not weakened by age sinco it was manifested in the synagogues and on the street corners of Jerusalem. The subject is a large and interesting one, when you have gotten well into its consideration, and it possesses the pecu? liar advantago that you can study it at any time in public, or, perhaps, even when you are alone. The fact is there aro very few persons, besides yourself, who are not controlled in all they do by reference to the opinions of other per? sons. It is pretty safe to say, indeed, that one-half the troubles of most people are caused by their mistaken desire to impress other people with certain opin? ions which we wish them to entertain towards us, whether well founded or not. We would like to be thought "well off," when we are not well off, and we commit all manner of extravagances, iu trying to keep up apfJearances, whiclfare atoned for in Becret]by privations and annoyan? ces that make us miserable. Probably half of all the money we spend in life, even when we have no money to spare, is spent for the sake of our neighbors, and, at the end, the loved ones who sur? vive us, take new burdens upon them? selves to appear in suitable mourning garb, and to bury us handsomely, before the eyes ot the neighbors. The worst of it all is that your neigh? bors are engaged in the practice of the same folly, and see through all your shallow devices quite as plainly a3 you see through theirs.? Charleston Sunday News. They Stopped Laughing. One of the passengers on a St. Paul train was a man neither young nor old. His face was youthful but his hair was turning gray. His skin was bright and smooth, but there was a queer look upon his face. He sat gazing out of tho win? dow, motionless and rigid. His eyes rarely winked, and his gaze was an empty stare. Presently he turned, for the first time in an hour/and reached into a trav? eler's grip which-lay upon the seat beside hie From this valise he pulled a doll, large and pretty, with delicately-painted face, golden hair, bright blue eyea and a haudsome little gown. The other pas? sengers looked and wondered. Then the man clasped the doll to his breast, pressed its china cheek against his, kissed its painted lips,smoothed its flaxen hair, gazed into its glass eyes, and talked to the ears that could not hear. The other passengers tittered and began to make remarks. There was a grin upon every face aud a jest upon every tongue. But just then the brakeman came in and held up his hand to attract attention, and placed bisjfinger to his lips, enjoin? ing sileuce. "It's nothin' to laugh at," muttered the brukemau to three or four who gath? ered about him, "an' you ought to be ashamed of yerselvcs. I know that man ?he's a commercial traveler and' a gen? tleman. Six months ago be 'had a wiie and child?I've 6eeu 'em both many a time, an'.they were lovely. But one day, when ho was ont on tho road, he received a telegram telling him to hurry home. Before be could get there his wife was dead. Two day? later the little girl fol? lowed her mother. Thero was no one left for him to love but the doll his little girl use to play with, &n' he packed that up with his kit when he went out on the road. There wasn't nothin' for him to do but to go on with his work, an' keep as much away from the old home'as pos? sible. He carries that doll with him wherever he goes. At night its head rests on the piller with his, an' only yes? terday he was in town buying Christmas presents for it?he has 'em there now in bis grip. Poor man, he's a little off in his head 'bout the doll, ycr see, though I never saw him take it out in the cars before. You fellows oughter be ashamed for laughing at him?an' ye wouldn't if you had any little girls of your own, as I havo." Like a breeze the word was passed through the car. All laughter ceased and the passengers sought their seats. Nobody seemed to want to talk to any? body. And as the man with the youth? ful face and grayish hair and'queer look shaded the dolls eyes from the light and wrapped his coat about it and hummed a little lullaby as he rocked it to sleep against his breast, the brakeman went out upon tho platform and the passen" gers held their newspapers and maga? zines close to their eyes.?St. Louis Globe Democrat. Capital and Prohibition. A railroad manager said, not long since, that tho public could not realize the extent of the damage done by drink as it was seen by these great corporations. He thought that, if a statistical table of tho accidents, deaths and losses to rail? roads, .directly tsaceable to drink, were made and published, tho people would be incredulous at its . enormous extent. Hardly an accident occurs that is not remotoly or directly connected with the driuk habit. The law courts have been full of suits against railroads, and courts and juries have awarded heavy judgment, where the only defense was that the employee was drunk. That did not matter; a railroad company must pay the damage. At last, through a moneyed necessity, and not by reason of sentiment, these heavy corpo? rations have adopted prohibition. It is said that the Erie railway company have decided to discharge employees who are not total abstainers ; and the New York Central orders all tenants who sell liquors to vacate their premises. Of course there is an awful howl, personal liberty being in peril; yet is it fair to compel a railroad company to pay for damage caused by a drunken employee, and not have the privilege of employing none but abstainers? Other capitalists are taking tho matter up. The Pullman Car Company have built a prohibition town. Large manu? facturers in tho East are enforcing th9 same rule. Capital everywhere is finding out that the morals taught by the church are a good investment in business and among employees. While the rule has been enforced, aud the earnings of the workingmen havo gono into the comforts of home, even they have become ardent prohibitionists. The- doom of the dram-shop is not hard to fessee when corporations, manu? facturing establishments, capitalists, philanthropists and churches combine for its overthrow. Our motives may difl'er, but our object is the same. No move- 1 meut gathers such momentum as this one against the saloon. "For God, for home, and native land," is a motto which is to be at tho he:td of all banners of patriotism, liberty, and Christianity in our country. ? At-a special session of Charleston Presbytery, held in Charleston on Mon? day night, resolutions wore adopted ex? pressing a loss of confidence in Dr. Woodrow, and directing the student, from that Presbytery, Mr. .7. G. Wen zenberger, to withdraw from the Colum bia Theological Seminary at once. THE TWO.GOVERNORS. An old Talo of a Llttlo Brown Jug. A great many years ago the Governor of North Carolina received a friendly visit from the Governor of South Caro? lina. After a real North Carolina din? ner of bacon aud yams, the two Govern? ors lit pipes and sat in the shade of the back veranda [with a demijohn of real North barolina corn whiskey, copper distilled, within easy reach. "There was nothing stuck up about thoso Gov? ernors,'' says a North Carolina Slate his? torian, in the homely but vigorous language of his section. "There they sot and smoked, aud sot and smoked, every once and a while taking a mutual pull at the demijohn with the aid of a gourd, which tbey used as a Democratic goblet. The conversation between the two Governors was on the subject of turpentine and rico, the staples of their respective States, aud the further they got into the subject the lower down they got into the jug, and the lower down tbey got into the jug the dryer the Gov? ernor of South Carolina got, who was a square drinker and a warm man, with about a million pores lo;Jevery square inch of his hide, which enabled him to histe in a likely share of corn juice, or other beverage, and keep his carcass at the same time well ventilated, and gen? erally always ready for more, while the Governor of North Carolina was a more cautious drin' er, bnt was mighty sure to strike bottom at about the twelfth drink, liko n* \T nutur? had measured him by the gourdful. Well, they sot and smoked and argued, and the Gov? ernor of North Carolina was as hospita? ble as any real '..Southern gentleman could be, for he ladled out the whiskey in the most liberal manner, being par? ticular to give his distinguished guest three drinks to his one, and gauging his own drinks with great care, for fear that if he didn't he might lose the thread of his argument, and the demijohn might run dry before the Governor of South Carolina should be ready to dust out for home, in which case it would look like he had not properly observed the laws of hospitality, which would have been a self-inflicted thorn in his side for years to come,]and]no amount of apolo? gy could ease his mind or enable him to feel]warranted in^ahowing his counte? nance to his fellow-men, especially in his home district, where for generations it had been a main point with every gentleman to keep his visitor well sup? plied with creature comforts, and to hand him a good gourdful as a stirrup cup when about to make bis departure for the bosom of his family. Singular to relate, the cautiousness manifested by the Governor of North Carolina was of no avail, for at one and the same time the jug went dry and the Governor of North Carolina,Jmuch to his subsequent mortification, when he learned the fact afterward, dropped off into a quiet sleep, while the .Governor of South Carolina continued to keep on with his argument, holding the empty gourd in hisjliand iu close couliguousiiass to the demijohn, and wondering at the apparent absent mindedness of his hitherto attentive host to whom, after a minute and a half of paiuful silence, he made use of but one remark: "Governor, don't you think it's a longtime between drinks?" The remark wa3 overheard by George, the body-servant of the Governor of North Carolina, who, knowing that there was something wrong, took to the woods, where he remained in seclusion for three days; but the Governor of South Caro Una, receiving no reply from the Gov? ernor of North Carolina, mounted his horse and rode sadly homeward, with an irrepressible feeling at his heart that there was coming to bo n hollowness in friendship, and that human nature was iu danger of drifting into a condition of chaotic mockery.?[From the Richmond, Vd., Reformer.) An Outrage at A ikon. On Saturday last several of the North? ern boarders at the Highland Park Ho? tel, including young Chatlield, son of the proprietor, and also a number of young negro roughs, were brought before Inten? dant Davis on tho charge of disturbing public worship at the colored Baptist Church on New Year's night. It ap? peared from tho investigation that parlor matches were sprinkled on the floor, which, of course, would explode with the> noise of gun caps when trodden upon, and that while the congregation were engaged in prayer inflated bladders were squeezed, tin horns blown and such eu couraging and lively remarks were made as "sachez all," "hands round all," "promenade all," &c, which, though in? tensely amusing to these offenders against decency and violators of law, was so de? moralizing to the congregation that the [ preacher had to discontinue the services, j We learn, however, that no fines were I imposed and that no prosecution has been entered against any of the parties, although this is a most serious infraction of the statute law of the State, punisha? ble by severe penalties of fine and im? prisonment. Does it not seem strange that Northern men, who are so fond of distorting facts in regard to the relations which exist betweeu the white and colored people of the South, should come so far from home to perpetrate so flagrant an outrage upon the "brother in black ?" Might not the house consecrated to the worship of God have been spared from such an indecen? cy? If such a piece of blackguardism had been perpetrated by Southern white men in company with negro roughs, would not the New York Tribune and other Northern papers have blazed forth in such startling headlines as the follow? ing : "Another Southern Outrage? Peaceable Negroes Routed from their Church while Engaged iu Public Wor? ship by the Explosion of Matches, the Squeezing of Bladders and tho Shouting of Dance Figures?No Fines aud all the Offenders Discharged." Such an infrac? tion of law, order and decency is calcu? lated to produce no good results, aud ought to be punished regardless of who the persons may be. Much less than what happened at the colored Baptist Church on New Year's night has caused riot and bloodshed in other localities.? Aiken Rccc ler. A Woman KillsInU'nnlhcr. Clayton, Ga., January 5.?The peo? ple in Tennessee Valley have for weeks been terrified by the depredations of a wild beast, which made its nightly visits from the adjoining mountains. In places the valley is not over half a mile wide, witlAhc mountains-rising high on either side, while the cottage between, by com? parison, seems to be but a speck. In such a place Btands the.houee/jf Marshall Bleckley, the brother of Judge Logan E. Bleckley. About six weeks ago Mr. Bleckley's family were alarmed by fierce cries from the mountain side, the cries at limes softening into a plaintive moan, as of some one in pain. The movement of feet among the leaves outside a few moments later, added terror to the sus? pense, for while some-members of the family thought the cries proceeded from & wild animal, others thought the move? ments outside were those of a man, who might be prowling around from some unworthy purpose. A few nights later^ however, as. a visitor stepped into the door of tho house, the soft cat-like fall of an animal from the roof t<: tue ground, proved that it was an enormous panther, which had evidently sprung from its lair, only to miss its prey. The whole community was at once aroused, and the next night found a dozen men, well armed, at the house of Marshal Bleckley, to take menus for the extermination of the beast. They do ployed out, some on the roof, and others at convenient places, along which it w;as supposed that the animal might come. Thus for weeks the watch has been kept up, but without success, as the beast was wily enough never to come within dan? ger. One night John Lone, the most celebrated hunter of Rabun County, caught a sight of what he supposed to be the panther,'and taking aim, fired, only to kill one of Mr. bleckley's finest calves. Meanwhile women became ter? rorized, and parents would not let their children go to school, lest they should be attacked by the animal on tho way. On Saturday night last Mr. George Greenleaf, accompanied by his wife, wa3 returning home from Clayton. It was about nine o'clock, and, as is the custom of the country, they both walked up one of the hills, while the mules and wagon ascended, their little boy being the dri? ver. Suddenly a rustle was heard in the hushes, and peering.out in the dark? ness, could be seen what looked like two balls of fire. As if by instinct, Green leaf opened his knife, and as tho beast sprang at bim he made a lunge, only to drive the knife into his wife's arm, she having thrown herself upon him at the sight of danger. He dropped the knife nerveless, and fell under the second spring of the panther, tho beast being now maddened by the scent of blood. Just as the animal was about to insert its teeth into Mr. Greenleaf, the wife, who had picked up the knife and acting under the inspiration of desperation, took a clean cut at the beast's throat. The panther gave one [?itiful cry and rolled over. The cry alarmed the hunt? ers at Bleckley's house, near by, and almost instantly a number of them were on the spot, only to find that a woman had accomplished what they had been six weeks trying to do. They helped to lift the dead animal into Greenleafs wagon, who carried it home, where he skinned it. Tho hide he intends to use as a coverlet for his babies, in order, he says, to impart to them their mother's courage. There is Danger iu Buying at Official Sales. Our object in writing this article is to correct a very common error which is prevalent among the people viz: That the titles to lands sold by the Sheriff, Master and Probate Judge are necessa? rily perfect titles, because sold under order of Court. There is a Latin maxim of the law applicable to such sales, the meaning of which is, in English, "Let the purchaser beware." In the first place, officers of the Court merely give a "quit claim title," without any warrantly whatever. In the next place, those officers only proposes to sell tho interest of the de? fendant in the laud, be that much or lit? tle. If the defendant is a married man, his wife or widow will have the right of dower. If the land is sold under foreclosure of mortgage, and if an older judgment should be of record, the sale under fore? closure may not give purchaser clear title. If taxes are unpaid the purchaser may be liable for them. In a hundred ways a purchaser may pay very dearly for lands which are sold by officers of the Court, even though the bid for the same bo low enough. Our own opinion is, that a prudent, careful man will always investigate the titles to any lauds which ho may choose to buy, no matter whether from a private individual or an officer of Court, but more especially when buying at forced sales. "Let the purchaser beware." A small fee to a good lawyer before Sale day may save the purchaser much cost in money and much vexation of spirit.? Abbeville Press and Banner. "She." "Why," asked the fat passenger, "does an engineer always call his engine 'she' ?" There was a moment of embarrassing silence, when tho man on the wood box said something about "her headlight," which was followed by a hollow groan all along the line. "Because," ventured the tall, thin passenger, "the more you throt? tle her tho faster sho goes." But this was barred out under tho rules. The man with the jsamplo case suggested: "Because sho ruus the mail," but every? body said "ah, there !" so sarcastically that ho apologized. The cross passenger said: "Because thoro was so much bustle and bang about her," and he was fiuod cigars for the crowd ou the spot. The bashful passenger said may be it was be? cause she "pulled the smoker," and he was hissed oil* the stage. And longer had they sung, but the woman who talks base closed the lodge by croaking : "Be? cause wo couldn't get along without her." Pny ns You Go. Among the many Rood resolutions tkat are being formed for the control and shaping of character and, destiny during the coming year, it would be a good thing for many of our readers to adopt the above. Pay as you go, or buy noth? ing on credit. We are persuaded that the credit sys? tem as it now exists and has existed for some time past, has more to do with the financial distress of which we hear from year to year, and the annual bankruptcy and ruin of good men than any one thing else. The graduaPdecline in the price of cotton aud'olher marketable products for the past few years is bringiug disaster and sometimes disgrace to many of our citizens.j ;The?purchasing power of a pound of cotton is as great to-day as it was five years ago, as the price of ether things has been reduced in a similar pro? portion. But the mischief wrought is due to the fact that there has been no shrinkage iu the money valuation of debts contracted years ago, aud while the present crop of cotton will go as far to? wards paying for the supplies o; the present year'aa it'everjdid, yet its p:wer to pay the debts contracted in the year 18S0 has been-/.reduced by the corres? ponding depreciation in price. Debts contracted under a twelve cent system must be met by the.returns of an eight or nine cent market. One hun? dred ...and forty pounds arej necessary where one hundred would have answered five years ago. This [is wie ofcthe eyj s of the credit system that is working hard ships to both farmers and merchants. Another evil of tho system;^ the I net that one will make larger and more tin necessary purchases when buying on credit than when paying cash. Send two men to market, tho one with cne hundred dollars in'hi.s pocket, the other with permission to buy goods to the amount of one hundred dollars on creciit, and the chances are nine to one that the cash buyer will make fewer, wiser and better purchases, than the credit buyer. There is a fascination in buying on time that often makes a man exceedingly reckless and extravagant in his purehtis es. People are often ensnared into mak? ing needless purchases by the gentle, courteous and captivating manners of popular salesmen who assure them that their promise is as good as their money. It may be all that to the seller, but it is neither the safest nor wisest for the buyer. The cash system may not be favored by the merchants, it may reduce his sales, leave old goods upon his shelves and dispense with an occasional visit t:o the Northern markets, but it will event? ually prove the wisest, safest and most remunerative to both buyer and seller. To adopt it fully may be impossible, to adopt it in part may call for rigid self denial and untold sacrifices, it may cut sharply and deeply, but iu the end?aud the end will not be very distant?it will pay and pay richly. The discipline of self, tho habits of economy acquired, aud the surplus left over at the end of the year, would be more than a liberal com? pensation for tho pain and denial it entailed. It would be inGnitely better for tho morals of the country if merchants would draw the lines more rigidly and sell lesa on credit. The extension of titfte frotc. year to year which has the appearance o.* mercy is a positive uukindness to the buyer. The process is continued from year to year, until the unfortunate man becomes hopolessly involved, and all his property is absorbed by the debt. If prompt payment, had been insisted on at the outset, aud the sheriff called in if necessary, the lesson would have done good and the poor fellow left, with some? thing with which to begin life anew. Then would have been a slightly poorer but much wiser man. Now he is literally "cleaned up,;' and left to start anew with nothing but a damaged repu? tation. Too much leniency weakens moral obligation. Excuso a man from paying an honest debt and next year he thinks himself bestowing quite a favor on you if h'o pays, and if the debt lies over until tho third year ho half persuades himself that he ought not to pay, or if you press him for the money he denoun? ces you as a heartless extortioner and cruel persecutor. That sense of moral obligation which should have been as a band of steel .around the man's character, protecting it from warp and twist, has been attenuated into a gossamer thread which the lightest breath of policy may sunder in a moment. Such a system as the one described , has been influential in bringing about the low standard of moral obligation that prevails in many localities, a standard that has rendered the collection of an honest debt as next to an impossibility unless tho aid of a legal process is re? sorted to. Nothing but an invincible determina? tion to come out of.and to keep out of debt will save the country from moral as well as financial disaster. Abolish the credit and adopt the cash system. Pay as you go, and in the end it will pay you an hundred fold.?A. It. Prcsbi/' tcrian. Wise Massachusetts. Wc understand that even the tickets us'"d in a recent Atlanta election were printed in Cincinnati. This was not wi: 3 or patriotic. All such work should be done at home. Suppose it did cost a trifle more, would not the money be bet? ter used at home than abroad ? We hold it, as an axiom, that our people would be gainers immensely if they purchased, even at a small advance in price, what? ever they needed at home. By so doing, immense sums, annually lost to circula? tion here, would remain and stimulate all kinds of trade. Wo would grow rich rapidly. It is the contrary custom, in only too many instances, that keeps us poor aud unenterprising. We sco it stated that Massachusetts gave the contract for her militia uniforms to a Boston tailor, in the face of a lower oiler from Philadelphia, and then ex? plained that oilers from outside the State were not wanted. The same State dis posed of her mortgage bouds in the New York and New England Railroad to a Boston syndicate, in spite of a better offer from a New York syndicate. Until our peopleMearn to have money as well as make it, they cannot prosper materially ; and many thousands of dol? lars would remain-in Augusta annually, for the commoiMvelfare, if the men who make their money here would speudeven the larger portion of it in this city. When this is done, we will have sav? ings banks and other development!* for the public good.?Augusta Chronicle. (lOssiplAhout^the Mormons, i. Washington, December 31.?Judge Carlton, of the Utah CommissioL',| who is here, says his observation leads him to believe that polygamy is gradually, dis? appearing among the Mormons. Only a small proportion of the Mormons are polygamists. A polygamous Mormon in Utah to day would make a poor showing in coinparing"sithe number of his wives with those of Joseph Smith or.Brigham Young. Even the late^Bishop Lee, who had only nineteen wives, including one very old and ugly who he married just 10 save her soul, would beat three or four of tho best families of to-day. "I dou't believe," he said, "that in Utah to day there is a single Mormon with more than seveu wives." "Where do the Mormons come from principally?" "Well, they come from all parts of the world, but mainly from Europe. A lar? ger proportion, ^perhaps, comes from Denmark than from any other couutry. There are a good ruauy Germans and and good many English, but very few Irish. They come, also, from various parts of the Slates. They come in or? ganized bands, including a good supply of wives. Strange as it may seem, the register shows that there are more men than women. I suppose that most of the Mormons in the Territory now were born here, and it is evident, that more hoys are born there than girls." "Does a plurality of wives mean an immensity of children ?" "Well, no ; not exactly. I think that one man with six wives would have a more numerous offspring than one man with oue wife, but not so numerous as six men with six wives." "Since the church compels the man to support all their wives and children, is it to bo expected that only tho wealthy would be polygamists,?" "That is not so. Very poor men in? deed have several wives. The poor are most pious aud polygamy, you know, is part of their religion." Prohibition to be a National Issue. Senator Blair, of New Hampshire, has been interviewed as follows: "Neither high nor low license will receive my sanction so far as the District ef Colum? bia is concerned. For you might just as consistently authorize murder, grand larceny, burglary, rapine aud arson, all of which are the natural accompaniments of the rum shop. There is a necessity for decisive legislation by congress on the liquor question, and as for myself I am in favor of absolute prohibition. The best thing that could be done with the rum now in the District of Columbia would be to take it and pour it into the river, and then its baneful influence would not be felt. "During the forty-ninth congress I propose to devote my lime to securing tho adoption of a bill introduced early this session looking to a more thorough knowledge of the effects of intoxicants in the interest of the young people of this generation. If the youth of the land can be taught that alcohol in any shape is as deadly a poison as strychnine, arsenic or prussic acid, few will.be in? clined to taste the stuff which destroys body and soul. Since tho battle of Waterloo there has been no one year in whieh the combined suffering and pecu? niary losses inflicted upon the Caucasian race by war, pestilence and famine has equalled tho total destruction chargeable to alcohol in tho same lapse of time. "This liquor question is assuming gigantic proportions. And in the next presidental campaign it is destined to be an importaut issuo. And unless the Republican party comes out squarely on the side of a prohibitory enactment and amendment to the constitution its remiss ness may prove fatal to its prospects. Let all the people concentrate upon one grand effort to amend the constitution so as to prohibit tho manufacture, sale, importatiou, exportation and transporta? tion of alcoholic beverages anywhere within the limits of the national domain. That is tho way to rescue and preserve the States. Tho evil is national and the war which saves the nation must be fought by the nation. Nothing can be done now but to get two-thirds of both houses of congress to vote to submit the proposed amendment to the people. The thing is easier than it seems to be." Death in the Fortieth of a Second, A learned writer in one of tho scien? tific magazines claims that death by hanging is the most humauo method of putting criminals out of the world that has yet been discovered. From numer? ous observations of executions and care? ful computations of time required for the censor nerves to carry tho feeling to'the brain, he thinks the pang occasioned by :he fall is very brief, and places the time which a man is conscious of his own feelings, after bringing up at the end of the rone, at .020 of a second. In other words, a man who is hung has his senses just one-fortieth of a second after the lino is taut. ? The .Southern Passenger Agents' Association met in Atlanta on Tuesday list. Tho main question which will come up is the failure of the Lousville and Nashville Road, and others which had mado contracts, to transport West, at reduced rates, largo numbers of labor? ers. Increased rates, however, went into effect on tho 15th of December, before the Louisville and Nashville contract had been completed. Tho Western far? mers threaten to sue the railroads for noil performance of contract and the complications growing out of the matter which threaten to break up the pool will I r.'ceive the attention of the associa? tion. Tlie Boy and the 'Gator, "Boys will be boys," observed a trave? ler from the South, "and I guess it doesn't make much difference whether thuy arc white are black, city or country. Down where I have been in Florida there's a little black boy hanging about the place, and^he is the laziest chap I ever saw. He is almost too lazy to eat. He sleeps two-thirds of the time, and doesn't get more than half awake the other two-thirds. 'He has no ambition to do auything but snooze and get enough grub to keep him from hunger. "A few days before I left I was taking a walk down by the shore of the bayou, when I heard a scream. Rushing into the tall grass and weeds that fringe the water I saw the most horrible sight my eyes ever beheld.?",Tbat colored boy was hanging with his hands to a sapling, and his feet were in the mouth of a huge aligator. It was plain to me that the pickaninny had been asleep and.the 'gator had crawled up and seized him. I was so horrified that it seemed a-i if my heart would refuse to beat. I .wouldn't look upon such a spectacle again for ?10,000. Itdrove mo finally wild. I had uo weapon, and as you may imagine I was frantic. It is my firm belief that the sight of that 'gator with his awful jaws upon the poor boy's feet knocked an even ten years out of my life." __/T>ul did you ?iuecesd Jn ?aving the boy V "He didn't need any saving. The little rascal was km safe as you are. this minute. As I seized a fence rail and rushed up to beat the reptile over the head that boy grinned at me in delight. You see, tho alligator was a dead one, and the pickaiinny had gone down there and stuck his feet in his mouth and hol? lered when he saw me walking \\\a way. I guess the laziest kid that ever lived was not too lazy to play a prank."?Chicago Herald. Carrying Out Ills Orders.] Hugh McGuire, a son ot the Eoierald Isle, who had volunteered in the Tenth Mississippi Regiment of infantry, sta? tioned at Pensacola, Florida, in 18Gly. was placed upon picket one night on the beach, with orders to .'walk between two points, and to allow no one to pass with? out the countersign and that to be given in a whisper. About midnight the cor? poral with the relief discovered, by the moonlight, Hugh up to his waist in water, the tide having set in since he was posted two hours before. "Who goes there?" "Relief." "Halt, relief; advance corporal, aud give the countersign." Corporal?"I am not going in there to be drowned. Como out here and let me relieve you." Hugh?"Not a bit I will. The liften aut towld me not to lave my post." Corporal?"Well, then, I'll leave you in the water all night," going away as he spoke. Hugh?"Halt, I'll put a hole iu ye if ye pass without the countersign. Them's me orders from the liftenant," co.cking and leveling his gun. Corporal?"Deuce take you, everybody will hear if I bawl it out to you." Hugh?"Yes, me darlint, and the lif? tenant said it must be given in a whis? per ; in wid ye. Me finger's on the trig? ger and it may go off." The corporal had to yield and wade in to tho faithful sentinel, who exclaimed: "Be jabers, it's well ye're come; the coullerin' tide has almost dr?wued me." ?Detroit Free Press. Whisky Changed the Picture; The other day we noticed him as he came across tho bridge, with his wagon full of cotton, aud chickens, and eggs. He found a ready market for his pro? duce, and we thought bow happy his lit? tle cues would be when ho returned home in the evening with toys, and drosses, and shoes, and food for tho morrow, and some clear money in his purse. We thought we could see his wife standing in the doorway to give him a cordial greeting on his .jturn, so desirous were we that he should make one contented and happy. We could almost see his cheerful face as ho'rotarnod to his family after a day's absence. So wo thought and returned to our work. * * * But ovontido came and be passed by our window again. He had nothing that we thought he would have. The bed of his wagon was bare. No little shoes, nor toys, nor dresses, nor food* for the mor? row, nor money in his purse, we dare say. The poor man was drunk. He had changed, or whisky had changed him. This changed our thoughts of his home. Wo could see the children shrinking from his approach, and tho wife so care? worn and sorrowful. She could not meet him with tho pleasant smile with which she had hoped to greet him. He was breaking her heart and preparing to make pauper.s of bis children.--Alabama Baptist. Tho Money Value of Women. "For every man who lives a single life, caring only for himself, there is some woman who is deprived of her natural "supporter," says Henry George. It is a cool and unwarranted assump? tion on tho part of society that wives arc supported by their husbands. The per? sons who assume this will seldom deny that wives usually work as many hours a day as their husbands, and frequently more. "But then," they will say, "the wife's labor is unproductive; it has no money value." Such a position needs no very close analysis to provo its utter absurdity. Let tho wife fall sick, and it is immedi? ately discovered that her labor has a money value, for it takes money to hire help to take her place in the household. To tako her place did I say ! But who can take her place? The wife's labor is not unproductive. It is as necessaiy to cut and sew cloth into garments as it is made or to weave that material into cloth. It is as necessary that food be cooked as that it be provided in readiness for cooking. A house-keeper is as es? sential as a house-builder. It is not a "supporter" that a self respected woman asks for in society, but equal pay for equal work.?Industrial Appeal. Sontli Cnrolina News. ? Tho town council of Laurens has contracted to have one hundred shade trees set out on the streets. ? Mr. John Agnew, a prominent citizen of Columbia, died at his residence in that city on the 30th ultimo. ? The small, .grain sown fin Cues \ tcrfield County this winter is much larger than ever before. The prospects are fine for a large yield. ? Work on the Greenville and Lau- * rens Railroad is progressing rather slov/-^ ly at present, owing to the difficulty in,v obtaining cross-ties. The track has been laid nine miles from Laurens. ? Two ucgro men who murdered and robbed a crippled store-keeper at Milea' Mill, in Edgefield County, on the night of the 28th ultimo, have been captured in Augusta, Ga. ? The Baptist Courier warns the churches againsl^a preacher named Fields, who bas'been preaching in Green-, ville County. He was requested by the officials of the church to leave on ac? count of gross misconduct. ? According'to a census just complet? ed, the city of Charlestonjias a popula? tion of 60,145, an increase of twenty per cent, over 18S0. Of the^e 27,605 are while, and 32,540 colored, the excess in colored consisting mainly in chiidren. ? A colored man on Mr. Daniel Hall's plantation in Fairfield County has a novel way of securing a divorce. He became tired of "iis wife and by means of a pistol' and razor persuaded her that it would be best for her to lpave the home fireside. ? The liquor license has caused a deadlock in the Darlington Town Coun? cil. Two members favor the present fee, while two are in favor of a much higher license. The mayor, who has the casting vote, is sick and cannot attend the meet? ings. ? John Erb LeFevre, a sixteen year old white hoy, has been arrested in Lan? caster County on the charge of breaking into a mill and stealing from the safe therein 536 in money and papers valued at ?6,000. He says he was iuduced to commit the robbery by three men whose names he declines to reveal. ? ? The Charleston lYews and Courier says the Washington Light Infantry, of that city, is the only corps in South Car? olina, and perhaps the only one in the South, that pays a regular, annual pen? sion to the widows-and orphans of their dead comrades who served in the three W. L. I. companies in the war between the States. The trustees have managed chis charity fund with great success during the past ten years, and their an? nual disbursements amount now to $1,000. In the past twenty years over $10,000 has been paid on this account. ? At Wiunsboro, last Monday, while the sheriff and his deputy were selling personal property, a party of about thir? teen white men went to the jail and one of them told the jailor that tthey had the sheriff's permission to visit the cells. Obtaining entrance they went to the cell where Ben Duhose and another negro were confined, charged with burning the barn of Mr. Daniel Hall, Jr., of Fair field County, last week. The sheriff, being informed of their visit, went with a deputy and ordered the party out. After some parley, they retired. Their evident purpose was lynching. The two prisoners were taken to Columbia Mon? day afternoon. ? In Florence on the night of the 26th ult., Mr. T. B. Baxter was accidentally shot and killed by the premature dis? charge of a pistol in the hands of Mr. James Naismith. Both parties are young men, well connected and the best of friends, and much respected in the com? munity, they having recently returned home on a visit to spend the holidays' Baxter held a position in Augusta, Ga.. He leaves a young wife, having married a young lady of Florence only a few months ago. Naismith held apposition in Fernandina, Fla. The accident oc? curred in a barroom. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental shooting. ? At a meeting of the Trustees and Faculty of Wofford College, on Decem? ber 17, the venerable Dr. Whiteford Smith presented resolutions expressing deep regret at the death of the Hon. Simpson'Bobo, who for years served as Chairman of the Board ofj Trustees. The resolutions speak in feeling terms of the fidelity of Mr. Bobo in the discharge of his duties, and of the interest he ever took in the welfare of tho College. Tim Faculty, the Board of Trustees and the students of Wofford College were request? ed to attend the funeral services of Mr* Bobo in a body. As a memorial of tho upright, honorable and.Christian life of Mr. Bobo, the resolutions were 'ordered to be uled among^the records of the Col? lege. ? In Union County, on] Christmas day, B. B. Going and H. E. Fowler, whose lands join, had a difficulty over an old grudge, and Going killed Fowler. Going surrendered himself to the Sheriff and was afterwards admitted to bail by Judge Wallace in a bond of $3,000. Going is a man of means and a successful farmer and merchant. Mr. Fowler was also a prosperous and useful man. The unfortunate occurrence which cost the life of one good man and involves the trial of another for his life is much re? gretted. The evidence is very conflict? ing, and it will require the judgment of a Court to determine who was right in the difficulty. ? Dr. Girardeau, who was called to tie First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, has declined to accept the call, and on Sunday, the 27th ultimo, quite a warm fight took place between the two factions in tho church, Woodrow and Anti Woodrow, about the choice of auother pastor. The name of Dr. Eugene Dan? iel, of Memphis, Tennessee, was pro? posed, but he was strongly objected to by the Auti-Woodrow side on accouU of the stand he took on the Woodrow question. After some discussion, Dr. Daniel was called, and it is understood that he will accept. Several of the members have expressed their determination to with? draw and go into the Second Presbyter/an Church. Three left the church when the call was made, but the secession will not assume large proportions.