Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY E. B. MURRAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 6, 1887. VOLUME XXII.?NO. 26 J. G. CLINKSCALEB, Editob. An Educational Association has been - organized at Anderson among the col? ored teachers. The Association meets on the first Monday evening of each month at the Greeley Institute. On the evening of Dec. 22 we had the p$ pleasure of attending the very pleasant entertainment given by Miss Ella Todd's school at the home of her father. The occasion was a very interesting and suc? cessful one. The children, though some of them are* quite small, acted their parts well, reflecting credit upon the painstak? ing efforts of their faithful teacher. The pieces recited were tastefully selected and the children were very Batural in their utterances, and strikingly free from ?? excesses usually noticeable on such occa? sions. We hope Miss Ella will favor the public with another entertainment at the close of her school term. NEATNESS IN THE SCHOOL-BOOM. This should be rigidly enforced. There is need for it. Litter makes a worse than pigsty of the schoolroom. The first slightest violation should be noticed and corrected. I do not say whale, thrash, ferule, nor physically punish for it. Passing up and down the aisles notice every kind of a violation and with a kind whispered word have it corrected; per-" haps not while you are standing by, for this might hurt the sensitiveness of the pupil, wound some delicate nature, and ?-except in extreme cases?seldom re? form from ? a desire to have everything right. Passing by a desk I seldom speak, merely, point at or touch the litter and : pass on as if I had not seen it at all, the attention of no one but the occupants. of the seat has been called to the offence, they gather it up after I ha7e gone by and I seldom have a repetition. . Repeated offences require a more pub? lic notice; let it first be given as a gener? al remark upon good order and good looks of the desks and surroundings; if j still repeated, and your passing by and land work do not effect a cure, then speak personally, and finally, if need be, before the whole school. Remember?Children are sensitive. Do all you can to avoid personal and pub* lie reprcof. Sensitiveness wounded gradually turns to 'hate.. Hate develops the worst form of annoyauce and mis chievousness. Once when passing a desk I noticed some litter upon it and pointed at it. The occupant looked up and said?"I didn't make it and don't mean to clean it up." Laughing, I replied, "That's right if a visitor comes into yonr parlor and leaves any mad, don't clean it up; leave it until he cornea again and make him do it," and passed on. It awoke a new line of thought in the mind of the pupil ? the pupil thought a moment, then look-J log up to me with a smile as I stood far away on the platform, cleaned it all up and quietly passed to the waste box and threw it in. I never again found any litter on that desk. Teach the .pupils that for the time their desks are their homes and exhibit their Home training, and there will be bat- very little litter allowed around them; This is a far more difficult task than keeping the ontside and floor clean. Changing' from one study to another, - palling oat a book when going to a class and crowding it in on returning, very easily gets the inside of a desk, or the book rack, out of order however carefully it may have been arranged before dis? missed .at eight or just after school has been called. I was standing apart by a window one day "(ben one of my young lady pupils came to me, her face expressing all the pleasure a young miss feels' upon receiv? ing a useful and valuable present, and said, "My father has got for me such a lovely bureau and put it in my room. I just wish you could see it, the drawers are so handy." "And^. every thing is jumbled up in them." "No indeed it isn't," she replied half indignantly, "what makes you think so?" "Because that is the way you keep your desk, and the way you do work on the-board," I replied. After that her desk was a model of neatness and her work on the blackboard a model of clearness. The lesson may have been somewhat impo? litely given, but it was effective. This is the great truth?school life is a reflection of home-life.?School Bulletin. The superintendent of public schools of New Orleans is authorized to suspend,-1 all pupils who fail after due notice to provide themselves with necessary books and materials. This is a good move? for the teacher, and is undoubtedly in? tended to remove one of the commonest annoyances of the school room. It seems hard indeed in this era of free schools to have a child tnrned into the streets, de? nied an education for want of a few books, as if the corse of poverty was not of itself enough without its yoke fellow ignorance. Bat the responsibility must rest with those whose short sighted policy and limited appropriations render it impossible to make a school system wholly efficacious in the education of the masses. If the justness of the claims that the public schools have upon the parse strings of the city fathers was fully recognized, oat of the sufficiency fur? nished a fund?it would require but a a nail one?could be set aside to procure books for such pupils as furnished indu? bitable proof of inability to purchase ihem. This is done in many cities* Sorry the day to New Orleans when the portals of her free schools are closed (o the ignorant poor whose education can thenceforth be only acquired in the street from which so many graduate to the refuge, the parish prfcon and the peni? tentiary.?Progressive Teacher. ?- He was an Englishman, and he found a new grievance against California. He was much impressed with the country and its productions. He was very en? thusiastic until they showed him a pump? kin weighing 155 pounds. "This is too much, don't you know," he said, with no injured air. "A pumpkin 155 pounds! Hang it, I only weigh 135 myselt."-^-/Sa? Francisco Chronicle, A CRT IN THE NIGHT. It was early evening in Venice. The limpid waters flashed and glistened in the yellow moonlight, and their gargling mingled dreamily with the song and mu? sic which seemed to be everywhere. June was just begun, and the balmy air and the soft weather had filled all the lagoons with gondolas. From my balcony I watched the flit? ting craft and gay freight go back and forth and hither and thither across the limits of my vision. At last, full of the fun, joy and glory which the revellers made, I called my gondolier and bade him take me out upon the water. It mattered but little which way we went, so our bark drifted, except when it was necessary to dip an oar to avoid a collision. All Venice seemed alive with the mer? ry, half-mad, riotous spirit of the sport, and at last the water became fairly thick with barges and gondolas. In and out among them we went, slow? ly, and from every side we were hailed with jests, laughter, bits of music and Bnatches of song. The mirth and good will with which we were surrounded soon took the gloom and care out of my own Bad heart, and I laughed, chatted and sang with them all, and was as gay as the gayest. An hour later, as we were passing un? der a low balcony an unseen woman suddenly began singing one.of the sweet songs of France, my own dear country. The song came from a throat as flexible as a bird's and as full of music. We paused beneath the balcony until the song was done; then I threw the singer a handful of white lilies and we drifted slowly away. Five minutes later all the mirth and music on ihe lagoon stopped instantly, and in its stead was a great and awful silence. It was caused by a wild cry?a scream so terrible that it seemed to cur? dle the blood in every heart?which came from the balcony where I had just thrown the lilies. One only utters such a cry when in mortal terror; and in this case it seemed inspired by both. There were blanched faces and staring eyes every? where. All were listening for a repeti? tion" of the dreadful sound. Ours was the only gondola which moved. All the others seemed enchained or spellbound by that awful cry. My gondolier, as if by instinct, anticipated my wish, and sent our graceful craft fly? ing through the water until we were once more under the.balcony whence the song and the cry came. Clutching the low railing I swiftly drew myself up, but| there was no one iu Bight. Through a window before me I heard a stjfled cry of pain, and instantly rushed in the di? rection it came from. The lights were dim, but in an inner room I saw the outline of a woman's form and heard the rustle of silken garments. A black shadow seemed standing between as, nnd then, all at once, the woman gave the awful cry again, sprang forward and threw herself into my arms. Her heart was beating wildly, and there was agony and terror in her every movement. "Do not move," she said; "do not stir. I am in danger, but I shall be safe if you hold me fast for a moment." I clasped her closely to my breast, and she flung her arms tightly about my neck. Then I again paw tbo shadow. It had a man's shape, but as it came for? ward the fearful color of its face and the still more hideous glow in its eyes made it seem like some fiend or vampire. It came very close to me aud breathed its hot, scorching- breath iuto my face. From impulse I raised my band and struck at it, but it darted backward and laughed at me in a way which I shall never forget. ' "Do not," said the woman; "do not move at all. He will go presently and leave us alone." I was wonderfully puzzled by the stange scene. It seemed to me too much like the Middle Age diablerie and non? sense to be real. But there was no mis? take about it; the woman was still in my arms panting with fright, and yonder, in the middle of the floor, stood the fiend, or whatever it was, grinning and hissing at me. Ju3t behind me I could hear the other revellers who had been with me on the lagoons. Recovered from their surprise at the alarming cry, they had also come to investigate, and they were climbing over the balcony and into the room where I was standing with the woman and the goblin. My eyes were firmly fixed upon the latter when the others began clamber* ing over the balcony. Suddenly, and without a sound the sinister presence vanished. How, I could never tell. It is barely possible that he darted through some unseen door and out along some mysterious , hallway, or be might bave melted into thin air. That point I have never been able to decide. I only know that I was looking straight at the eerie shape, when suddenly the space which it had filled became empty. Then the woman released herself from my embrace, and, slipping her band through my arm, she stepped forward with me to greet these who were still coming through the open windows from over the balcony. "I thank you all for coming," she said, "though the danger is past now. I was seriously disturbed and greatly frightened by a most unwelcome intruder, whom the gentleman at my side has driven away. The object of my alarm will not return again, so I will detain you no further from you sport, unless you will do me the honor to stay and partake of my hospi? tality. I will order refreshments, if you will permit me." But the revellers thanked her and said no; and soon I again heard their music and laughter, as the gondolas went flit? ting about through the moonlight. When the others had gone I, too, start ted to leave the woman at my side, but she clung to my arm. "Must you go ?" sho said plaintively ; "can you not stay with me for a little wine ?" It was then, for the first time, that I discovered how beautiful she was. Her hair was long and heavy and yellow, like spun gold. Few women ever have such hair; perhaps Godiva and Brunhilde were so favored, but even that is doubt? ful. Her face, neck and arms were of perfect shape and as white as marble, excepting a single flush of red upon each cheek. But her foremost charm?the one wherein ehe surpassed all other women?lay in her deep, black eyes. They were entirely, absolutely black; not the kind of eyes which are commonly, by a polite fiction, so termed; but there was no trace of any other color in them or about them save the great milk-white pearls which served as their settings. Her lashes, too, were long and dusky, and, when she wished it, completely veiled the wonderful eyes which had so powerfully impressed me. Though she was somewhat taller than women com? monly are, her exquisite shapeliness was in no way detracted from by her height. Somehow everything about her strange? ly moved and affected her. There was a BUpple, cat-like lightness which marked her every movement, and I felt that she was the occult and tangible centre of an atmosphere of weird and intangible mys tery. One moment 1 would almost fear her, and the next moment I would find myself regretting that I must ever go away and leave her. Her glances thrill? ed and bewildered me like some resistless and overpowering emotion, and at the lightest touch of her band or the most insignificant rustle of ber garments every sense tingled and every nerve quivered. The secret of her strange power over me was beyond my guessing, but that it was sufficient to overcome any resistance I might attempt I was fully convinced. Every trick of juggler, snakecharmer and mesmerist I knew as well as I knew the history of my own life; but she em? ployed no such method. I was in no sense dulled or stupefied ; on the contrary my mental perceptions were more than .ordinarily keen. Thought was in no way hindered or impelled, and I was not only fully conscious of the phenomena by which she was controlling me, but I was studying and analyzing: it as coolly as if it was, even then, a matter of the past instead of the present. I knew, too, that she was exercising just enough of her subtle force to hold me subservient to her will and not a whit more. She, mani? festly, only sought to enchain me suffi? ciently to prevent my resisting her, but, at the same time, it was her aim to leave me, as far as possible, in a normal condi- I tion. I was of the opinion that she had something to communicate to me con? cerning her demon tormentor which she feared I might be unwilling to listen to. There was much in her present manner which so impressed me, and many little circumstances connected with the depart? ure of the revellers now came flashing through my mind, satisfying me that I had conjectured rightly. The more I reflected upon the strange events of the night the more mysterious and wonder? ful the woman seemed to me. Every time that she had spoken to me she had addressed me in French..my native lan? guage. To the revellers she bad Bpoken in Italian. Since we were in Italy, and there was nothing in my personality to indicate that I was a Frenchman, how had she so accurately guessed my nation? ality ? Had she already guessed it when I came to her rescue, or even before, while I was still floating under her bal cony, listening to her song? j For a brief time these and similar thoughts made me even more uncom? fortable than my rellectionsof the ghoul, or goblin, with whom I found her wrest? ling when I first entered her rooms. i Was she a sorceress ? No I I could swear, standing there as I was, gazing I down into her pure face, that she was an angel. My faith in her was complete, I and could neither have been shaken nor intensified. My face must have betrayed my mental processes, for I saw all at once that she knew my thoughts and was sat? isfied. She had entirely released me from the brief condition of resistlessness or thraldom in which, for a few seconds, she had held me; and I was now left the supreme master of my own will. Her beauty, however, was more patent than* the other spell by which she bad controll? ed me, and I fhddenly felt that my whole heart was hers forever. She, too, seemed to realize this, for a deep crimson flush all at once spread over h( r face, ceck and shoulders. I was more than ever charmed by this evidence of her maiden? ly modesty, and impetuously extended my hands toward her. ! For an instant only she besiatted, then she placed both her hands in mine. "Shall you stay and test my wine?" she whispered, confusedly. "I will," I cried. "You know 1 could not do otherwise if I would. To look into your eyes, though, and to hear your voice is more to me than the rarest wine in the world. When I heard you sing? ing to night your music was so perfect that I forgot Italy, and thought that I was once more in my own fair France. But I am glad to have so sweet an awak? ening to my dream. Yes," I repeated, kissing her hands; "1 will stay and drink your wine; I will stay until you send me away." Her color deepened, and she bowed her head. "And that," she said, "will be when you are tired of me." She called for wine, but we scarcely tasted it, though we sat together in the moonlight until long after the hour of midnight was struck from the clock towers. Times unnumbered a shadow came upon her face, and I saw that she was about disclosing something which pained her, and so each time I diverted her from her purpose, aud in the end went away without knowing what she would have said. When I had stayed until I feared that the lateness of the hour might distress her, I reluctantly arose to go. It was then that my ardent impetuosity over? came me altogether, and I begged leave to come to her balcony every night. "Do not deny me," I pleaded, "for I love you and want to win you for my own. From this night I shall have no separate existence?my wholo being is merged into yours, and the hours I spend apart from you henceforth can Dover again be called life." Emotion after emotion thrilled her as I spoke, until she seemed to have felt everything that the heart can feel. She I made me no answer, but, pale and trem? bling, stood helplessly with her hands in mine. "Will you not speak ?" I murmured, bending over her. "Speak 1" she cried, "how can I? There is more to Bay than you,dn your wildest imaginings, can ever dream. You should have heard me before you said so much. Now you have silenced me, and the wretched words which should come from my lips would choke me if I tried to say them." '?Then leave them unsaid." "Justice to you demands that I should speak?" "Justice to me demands nothing which can dis tress you," I interposed. "You do not know how much I have to say about?" "Stop ?" I cried. -'There are but two things I wish to know. If you will tell me them, all is done." "SpeakI IVhat are they?" "Are you a wife?" "No." "Is any living man the possessor of your heart?" Again the rich crimson tide swept over face, neck and shoulders. She placed one of her trembling, burning hands upon mine, glanced shyly up into my eyes, and thee looked down. "Why do you not answer?" I asked, fearing that my fondest hopes were vain. "Do you not know ?" she cried; "can you not see?a re you really bo blind ?" I feared to look at her. It seemed to me, then, that I had been beguiled to her rooms merely 1:0 furnish her sport. I had forgotten the danger I had rescued her from, and only remembered that I loved her to be made, as I believed, the object of her mirth and caprice. "I see," I said turning away. "I am not so blind as you think. I am nothing to you, because you already love"? She seized me by the shoulder and turned me around. Then she threw ber self into my arms. "I only love you," she murmured. It was the first, the only happiness of my life, and I felt that all the Borrow and misery of the old dead days but made this moment the sweeter. I lifted up her beautifulfrblusbing face, bent my head, and then, for the first time in my life, my lips touched the lips of a woman. Earth never kn 2w a purer kiss. When the hour came for me to go she twined her white arms about my neck, and her eyes filled with tears. "Partings?continual partings," she said. "That is all life seems to bold I Why must we part?" "The day may soon come when we need not part," I answered. ' It is for you to say when that day shall be." "I am yours whenever you want me," she murmured, creeping more closely to me. "Then," I cried, "you shall be my wife to-morrow 1" For a moment she was silent, but there was another sound in the room; a sound, too, which at finit made her shudder. It was such a tremulous cadence as might be brought from a lute if one lightly touched all of i ts chords at once, only that it ended with a sigh. Three times the sound was repeated, and each time it was fainter than before. My wonderment was banished instant? ly by an unexpected caress on the part of my betrothed. Standing upon her tip? toes, she had raked her lips to mine and kissed me. "It shall be as you say," she said smil? ing at my surprise. The next day we were married. For a year we lived together in unin? terrupted happiin?>8, sometimes in Eome, sometimes in Florence, sometimes in Venice. As ehe seemed most contented in the latter place, we were there the greater part of our time. On the anniversary of the day of our first meeting she was strangely quiet and downcast. At nightfall we stood together in the same balcony where, a year before, she sang that sweet French ballad as my gondola was passing. My arm was about her waist, and '. could plainly feel the beating of her heart. "Why are you bo agitated, and yet so quiet?" I asked. . "I cannot answer you now," she Baid, "but I beg that you will sit here aud hold me in your arms until midnight." Presently she seemed calm again, and once more the French ballad rang out along the lagoon from her perfect throat. Apparently there was no change in tbe scene, outwardly, since the year before. Barges and gondolas were flitting about in all directions, and from everywhere came music, laughter aud merry voices. My wife sang soDg after song, until she was tired, and then, pulling my face down to hers with both her hands, she kissed me. "It was ju3t a year ago to-night," she said, "that you first came to me. I had already seen you many times, and loved you with my heart's first love. I sang that night becauseI hoped that my song might reach your ears and bring you to me. You did come under my balcony and kissed the lilies that your hands threw to me. Danger came, and you Baved me. You loved me at once, and bo we were married. Since then I doubt if God, whose eternal curse I once thought was-upon me, has ever given so much happiness to any woman." Her large dark eyes were luminous and full of tears, and her face had never seemed so beautiful to me before. I was about answering her, when suddenly the air about; us was filled with a strange hissing sound, which made my wife's flesh quiver like shaken jelly. She clutched me closely, and looked wildly up into my face. The smile she saw there seemed to content her, for she gave a little sigh of relief and nestled quietly down into my arms. All at once the hissing stopped, and a shadow fell across us. Before I could raise my eyes my wife again uttered the same dreadful cry which had summoned me to her assistance a year before. I looked up and saw standing before us the same demon or goblin whom I ban? ished on that memorable night when I first met my wife. He was grinning and chuckling fiendishly, and, bending over her, he breathed his hot breath into her face. At first she trembled with terror, and then, recovering her self-possession. she raised her head and gazed unflinch? ingly into bis eyes. It was more than he could stand, and he vanished almost instantly. Then my wife's eyes were bent upon my face, so searchingly and so yearning? ly that I pressed her passionately to my breast and covered her face with kisses. "You still love me?you still trust me 1" she cried. "Yes; more than ever before." "How hard your tenderness makes ray duty 1" she gasped. "If I was not such a coward?was not so much afraid of losing some portion of your love?I would now tell you that which was due you a year ago." "Do not speak of it or think of it," I answered. "So long as you love me, and are happy with me, I am satisfied." "One thing I must say," she said, "else our love will soon be desolated. You must be with me on the next anniversary of this night, and must keep your arms about me from sunset until midnight. After that I will forever he safe." I was puzzled, amazed and bewildered by the whole affair; but the subject dis? tressed and pained ber, and I loved her too well to let her talk about it. And, lest she should-fathom my thoughts, I kept the uncanny mystery.as much sb possible out of my mind. Two montb3 Jater we went to live in France, and finally in Germany. Except? ing a month another year had passed since our wedding. One day at the beginning of this last month, I was walking alone in the forest, when I suddenly caught one foot under some hard substance which nearly flung me upon my face. Glancing back at the cause of possible disaster, I saw, partially imbeded in the ground, a thin oval plate, which seemed to have several words en? graved upon one side. Picking it up, I found that it was made of silver, and that it was very old. The inscription, which was in Italian, was as follows: Michael Spezzi, Claimed by the Devil, June 10,15G0. On my way home I met a German sa? vant with whom I was intimate. I show*, ed him the plate, and was surprised to see an expression of the most intense horror come upon his face. "There is a terrible story connected with this thing," he said, after a moment. "Michael Spezzi was a half German, half Italian, who came here into the Martz Mountains about 1530. He was of royal blood, and married a niece of the King. Five years later a daughter was born to them, and soon afterward they fell into disfavor with the King and went to live in France. But when Spczzi's beautiful datighter was about 25 disaster again came upon him. He had no alternative, so history says, except appealing to the devil. The fiend came in answer to Spezzi's iucautation, and promised him everything he wanted. The prico de? manded was.the soul of Spezzi's beloved daughter. After a lime the unfortunate man signed the compact, but within a month he repented having done so, and begged that his owu soul might be sacri? ficed instead of his daughter's. The devil consented upon certain conditions. Spezzi wa? to yield himself to the cun? ning fiend at the end of a year. The girl's youth and beauty were to be per? petual for 500 years. If, at the end of tnat time, she was still a virgin, her soul was to be free, and the soul of her father was also to be relinquished from tormen*. In the mean time, if the girl found any man, who, knowing that she was in the devil's grip, would still love and marry her, that would end the infernal compact, and she and her father would both be free. ' Eveu then the devil was still to have three chances. If, on the night she first met her lover, he failed to clasp her in his arm?, in defiance of the devil's presence, the fiend could then claim her soul. On the first aud second anniver? saries of that night the devil would also have the same awful power unless she was in either ber husband's or her lover's arms. If she passed these three ordeals safely the compact would be ended and the devil foiled. "That is the story. It is said that the devil came for Spezzi, and that lib rela? tives put this very silver plate upon his tomb, which was made in some unknown corner in the Hartz Mountains. Nobody knows what befell the daughter. It is very singular, though,.that you should have found the plate; it has been lost po long." My learned friend went on talkirg upon other subjects, but I scarcely heard a word he Baid. My whole mind was full of the story that he had told me. It was now all perfectly clear to me. The supposed legend was true, and I bad really married the daughter of the illfat ed Michael Spezzi I Instead of being horrified, I was filled with a deep sense of gladness that I had brought bo much happiness into such an overshadowed life. My manner toward my wife was even more tender than ever after that, and she seemed instinctively to feel that at lost I kuew all. The day before the anuiversary npon which so much depended, I was strolling about in the mountains when my right leg was broken by a slight fall. At first I could not move, but late in the night some of my strength returned and I be? gan crawling homeward. I had many miles to go, aud some of the journey bad to be made by almost impassable paths over craggy hills. All day I dragged myself along, stop? ping, occasionally, to shout for help. But no one came to my assistance. It was night when I reached home, and at my summons the servants helped me at once to my wife's room. Just as I reached the door once more her voice rang out in that wild, despairing cry. Despite the pain in my broken leg, I rushed forward and flung open the door. But I was too late! The fiend already had her in his arms. Her face was turn? ed to me in the most pitiful entreaty,and I tried in vain to reach her outstretched hands. Then the house shook violently for a moment aud the room became dark as night. An instant later the servants and I were in the midst of a lurid blue flame, but the fiend had borne my wife away.?Translated from the French of Gcorac Sand. ? Pay for your paper. FARMING IN JAPAN. A Great Diversity of Crops and very care? ful Cultivation. Japan has an area of 150,000 square miles, or about 100,000,000 acres. This approximate approaches the area of the State of California. Of this area Japan has only 12,000,000 acres in cultivation by the spade, mattock or plow. From this cultivated area all the food and tex? tile plants are grown to feed and clothe 38,000,000 people. The land outside of this cultivation does not contribute by grazing to their support as with us, as the Japanese wear no woolen clothing and eat neither beef, pork, mutton, milk? butter nor cheese. The uutilled area yields them only fuel. Their 12,000,000 acres do even more than to clothe au feed their 38,000,000 people. They yield 40,000,000 pounds of tea, 25,000 baleB of silk, and large quantities of rice, tobacco and hemp for exportation. TILLERS OF THE SOIL. In a population of 38,000,0)0 there are 20,000,000 who belong to the agricultural c\aia. There are 4,500,000 landholders. The land holders average two and two thirds acres. There are few men who own and till ten acres, and there are many who have one acre and less. It is not to be understood that all the labor of 20,000,000 of people is expended upon 12,000,000 of acres of land. Every far? mer's family has its wheel, real, warping bars and loom, as the early settlers of this continent had, and their cotton? linen and silk cloth is made for family use, and even for sale. The climate is so mild that on the lower levels the soil never freezes, and on much of the land both summer and winter crops are raised the same year. In order to maintain the fertility of the soil, with this double demand upon it, repeated fertilization is praci.ised. The number of domestic animals h\ compara? tively small. There is no other country in the world with such areas unoccupied for tillage and so well adapted to grazing that has so few domestic animals. The result of this condition is that the farmer has no. barn yard fertilizers. Deprive the farmer in the older settled States in this country of these resources and there would be no agriculture, but the Japanese without them, and without any knowl? edge of agricultural botany or chemistry have reached a crop rate unequaled in Europe or America. With no stock to feed there are no uses for wheat, rye or barley bran, and these are used to enrich the soil. They also use decomposed non edible sea weeds. The whole seacoast line of those islands must aggregate more than 3,000 miles. All along this line the tides deposit great winnows of sea? weed, which is collected during low tide, piled up and allowed to decompose, and is then sold to the farmers. It is carried up to the foothills in boats, and thence by long lines of pack horses to the fields. LACK OF MACHINERY. Of labor saving machinery Japan has almost none. The plow, the symbol of tillage in Europe and America, is justly held in low esteem, and little used. The good farmer there will have it only when labor is scarce and the seed time is passing by. The implement used for stirring and comminuting the soil is a wide bladed mattock. Sometimes, in very heavy soils, a pronged mattock is used, but generally it is the bladed mat? tock that does the work. It is an awk? ward, heavy looking implement, but it is better than it looks. The blade is tweive inches in length and five inches wide The handle is five feet in length, to which the blade is hung at an acute angle, so that when by a blow it is forced into the ground there is a leverage for lifting the earth. By this instrument the soil is not only turned over, but it is thoroughly pulverized. Often theground is gone over again and again till the soil is thoroughly comminuted. Sometimes a plow is used by those who have clay soils and large areas of land. It is not, as usually described by globe-t-otters, a crude, imperfect implement. Ir, is light, easily run and does good work. It is drawn by one Animal, usually a cow, but sometimes by a horse. If the plow is used the ground is plowed and replowed. AN INTELLIGENT FARMER. In company with Gen. Van Buren, the United States consul general at Yokohama, the writer visited th e agricul? tural fields at Kioto, the olci capital. There the conquering lace had Hilled the soil fur more than 2,600 years. We saw a man plowing near the road and we stopped to talk with him. He informed us that he had harvested a crop of rice, which, after being hulled, avenged sev? enty bushels to the acre, and that the winter crop on the same land had been wheat, with an average yield of forty bushels to the acre. In addition to this, between the rows or drills of wheat, early in February, he had sown a crop of early vegetables. He was then plowing the land the fourth time, and informed us that he usually plowed it eight times. In reply to the question why he plowed it so often he said : "In order to make the soil yield such good crops 3 ear after year we must use all the fertilizers which the soil can transmit to the roots of the plante. To do this we must have the soil completely pulverized so that the roots can penetrate every portion of it Another reason is that we pul. a large quantity of compost manure on the laud before plowing, and it is desirable to have it completely mixed with the soil." To our expression of surprise at the enor? mous yield, he said that farther down the valley the eoil was deeper and finer and that it yielded better return!! than he realized, and that some of the best land yielded fifty bushels of wheat in the winter and seventy fivo ^ushels of rice in the summer, besides the crop of vege? tables between the wheat rows in the spring. a HE STAPLE CROP. Rice is the great crop of the country. Fully one-half of all the lam' under tillage is devoted to that food plant There are two general varietieii of rice grown?low land and upland. Lowland rice is grown in the valleys and on the plains where the irrigation is practicable, and where the plant can be flooded. In order that this can be done, the land is subdivided into small plats, and leveed or embanked. In valleys that have any slope, in order that the plat ni?y be level, the embanked subdivisions must be small, not larger in many in-tances than a good sized room ; in other*, as large as an average sized hou-*e, and the valley must have a very gentle slope to allow the plats to contain more than a half acre. The embankments are made of mud, and are about two and one half feet high. Their construction and the level? ing of the plats, involves considerable labor, but the results richly repay it. Every variety of vegetable is grown, and these people have domesticated many kinds of plants that are still known to us only as weeds. There are at leat 100 food plants, useful iG domestic econ? omy,, which we could borrow from them to advantage. These islanders have tue cessfully done what we havj attempted and failed to do. They produce all or nearly all the sugar they use. In Japan, since longb.efore written records, the sor? ghum cane has been grown, and granu? lated sugar has been made from it. In 1881, 512,000,000 pounds were produced. Any ragged coolie with a rusty pot can lake the juice of the sorghum cane and make fine granulated "C" sugar.?San Francisco Chronicle. Some Wealthy Women. New York, December 11.?The lieh? est single and the richest married lady in the United States are said to be lying at the point of death in this city. The unwedded .lady is Miss Catherine L. Wolfe and the wife is Mrs. William Astor. Miss Wolfe enjoys the income of between $18,000,000 and $20,000,000. The mo?t of this money is settled on her for life only. Her income is estimated at $500,000 a year, and she has had many offers of marriage. Miss Wolfe has aristocratic features and a slight figure. Her hair is gray and she dresses superbly. Her diamonds are large and dazzling. She i? a prominent figure in society, and she is loved and esteemed by all who know her. She spends her income where she thinks it will do the most good.. Her almoner for years has been Bishop Pot? ter, formerly rector of Grace Church, Indeed Miss Wolfe, herself, has long been the main pillar of this patrician house of worship. Sbe it was who spent ?80,000 for its marble chanty, and who subscribed so liberally toward erecting its beautiful spire. When Bishop Potter called for 850,000 with which to build a church in Mulberry street not long ago, Miss Wolfe was the first to respond. She sent him a check for $45,000. Miss Wolfe's father wa3 a prominent merchant of this city. Although one of the most generous of men, he rapidly accumulated a fortune* This fortune was enlarged by his mar? riages. He wedded in succession two sisters of the late Peter Lorillard. Their dots were immeuse. Three great fortunes rolled into one were inherited by Miss Wolfe on the death of her father. An only sister had died some time before this event. Miss Wolfe lives in an elegant brown stone mansion fronting Madison square. It is a corner house, within a stone's throw of the residence of S. L. M. Barlow. She owns some of the finest paintings in America. A pic? ture by Knaus is among them. It was painted for the emperor of Russia. While the czar was haggling about the price Miss Wolfe secured it and brought it to New York. Very few persons are admitted to her galleries. Some of her intimate friends are said to have sought admission in vain. Mrs. William Aster, who is also said to bo beyond hope of recovery, is a wife of a grandson of old John Jacob Ahtor and of a son of William B. Astor. Sbe is an offshoot of the ancient and noble bouse of Scbermerhorn. Mrs. Astor is tall, distingue in bearing and is a woman of graceful carriage. She has black hair} black eyes and an olive complexion. Sbe is a leader among the real leaders of fashionable life in New York. Sbe has a very generous disposition. Her charity is possibly more practical than that of Mrs. Wolfe. The latter makes most of her donations to the church, although they are by no means confined to the re? ligious community. Mrs. Astor, on the contrary, seeks individual cases of dis? tress, and has made many a bumble fire? side cheerful and happy. She takes a great interest in young people in her sphere of life, and gives them many din? ners and receptions. She takes special pride in rising young men, and has fre? quently aided them at critical periods in their lives. No woman would be more missed in social circles. Mrs. Astor owns probably the finest collection of jewels in America. When attending the opera or private receptions she has lre qr.enlly appeared in a blaze of diamonds. At an entertainment in Delmonico's last winter her throat was encircled with three stands of these jewels, each a stone of great size. Triple strands of similar precious stones were wounded around her white shoulders, and her corsage sparkled like the Buckler of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Living.jewels sparkled in her raven hair, and all the colors of the rainbow scintillated from her ringed fingers. She has frequently been seen at the opera wearing $50,000 worth of diamonds, but on this occasion she sur? passed herself, the display being valued at more than $100,000. Mrs. Astor has three daughters and no son. One of her daughters is the wife of Theodore Roose? velt, a second is married to J. Coleman Drayton and the third is Mrs. Orme Wilsof. ? An Idaho paper says: We wish to return our sincere thanks to the enter? prising but misguided burglar who broke into our residence night before hist, under the impression he was cracking the crib of the druggist who lives next door. He entered at the window and carefully removed his boots, setting them down on the floor. To this circumstance, and to the tact that we saw him come in_ we are indebted for the first good pair of boots wo have had in ten years. While he was ransacking the house we quietly slipped out of bed and exchanged our old t.oots for his and then went back to bed and fell asleep. How long he was in the house we do not know, but the presump? tion is that when he went away he took the old boots. They have been missing ever since, and there was nothing else to take. ? With women friendship ends when rivalry begins. ON BOARD A MORTAR BOAT. Experiences While Bombarding Fort Jack? son. One of the preliminary movements for the passage of the forts defending New Orleans was the bringing up and placing of Porter's mortar fleet where it could shell the forts. The number of these mortar boats wss an even twenty, and they were divided into three divisions, each division having a separate comman? der and being located by itself. For several days before the mortars got to work the coast survey men were busy buoying out positions aud calculating distances, and the wonderful work ac? complished by them was the wonder of at least the rank and file of the - fleet. The distance to each fort was so accurate? ly estimated by triangulation that the very first shell killed one man and wounded another inside the works. The division to which I was attached was anchored close to the bank of the river, with a strip of woods half a mile wide between us and the forts. Beyond the woods was a wide marsh, and our proper distance from the nearest work was 3,000 feet. The other fort (St. Phillip) was about 600 yards further away. It is a matter of history that our masts were trimmed with bushes where they showed above the trees, so as to blind the gunners at the forts. I was one of the detail of men who carried out this movement, and queer enough our schooners looked when the work was completed. Our proper masts seemed to have been replaced by trees taken from the shore. But few of us had had any experience with mortars, a\d the com? mander of each vessel issued instructions, which we followed with benefit. Few men, even those belonging to the artillery service, have any idea of the terrible din and concussion of mortar firing on ship? board. On land much of the din seems to be absorbed by the solid ground, but on board a vessel you feel it all. Some of the men on our schooner who neglected the precaution of holding a bit of soft wood in their teeth bit their tongues in a bad way. We had our ears stuffed with cotton, and each time the mortar was fired every man rose on bis tiptoes. Despite these precautions many minor accidents happened, and nothing could prevent us from feeling and bearing a good share of the terrible din. After the fleet got to firing regularly the roar was heard fifty mile3 at sea, and crockery was rattled about on pantry shelves in houses twenty five miles dis? tant. We fired about once iu every 8evep or eight minutes and this kept eight or nine shells in the open air all the lime. At each discharge the boat keeled over as if she had struck a heavy sea, and had scarcely come back to a level keel when we were ready to repeat the operation. The strain on planks and limbers was tremendous. After we had fired the fifth shot we had to set the pumps going, and some of the great spikes were started half an inch. Had we been aground the bottom of the schooner would have been driven out at the first fire. While the entire fleet came in for the din, the crews of the mortars of course suffered most. After the first day's firing, which ceased at sunpet, the stillness was hiinoo*. as much of a strain on our nerves as the noise bad been, and it was hours before we could go to sleep. It must not be supposed that all the fun wss ou our side. After our third shot the Confederates opened ou us from a number of heavy guns. While they could not see us on account of the forest, they knew our position, aud after a little shot and shell began to fall arouud us. Inside of oue hour I counted eight shells which fell within 200 feet of our schooner, and the bursting of some of tbem threw water on our decks. During the first day we had a doz-m missies pass directly over us, cutting a few ropes, and I wit? nessed several accidents aboard of other vessels lying ahead aud behind us. The destructive work of the Confederate fire was, however, more plainly seen when the big 120 pound shells fell into the forest which protected us. The soil was soft and spongy, being subject to periodi? cal overflows, and when the great shells sunk into this earth and exploded they would throw mud and water over the tree tops and leave a crater large enough to take in a house. Scores of great trees were uprooted by these explosions, and the shells which exploded in the tops of others created far more havoc than the angriest bolts of lightning ever hurled froiu Jove's hand. We planted over 1,300 bombs inside the two forts ou that first day, burning the citadel and everything elsr which would burn in Fort Jackson, driving most of the men to shelter and damaging the magazine so that it could not be entered during the night. Outside of thirty or forty shells which exploded in the air, owing to bad fuses, not more than a dozen out of the great number fired fell outside of the works. We fired entirely at Fort Jackson, which was a mile and a half away. We opened fire again at daylight on the second day, and the reply from the forts was just as vigorous, although we knew the enemy had suffered a great deal and must be considerably demoralized. About midforenoon, just as we were ready to fill our mortar for the fifteenth time since opening, a great rifle shell, which I plain? ly saw before it fell, and took to be a bird of some sort, descended upon our deck with an awful crash. It disappeared through the heavy planks as if they had been paper, passed down through the magazine with its dangerous contents, and on down through the bottom of the schooner and into the mud of the river bed. The fuse was burning brightly when it struck the deck, and the men saw a trail of sparks as it passed through the magazine. Iu a moment it was known that we were sinking, but the craft around us hastened alongside and helped to remove most of the stores before she went down. That the shell struck without killing any of us was considered miraculous. That it passed through the magazine without exploding it was one of those unaccouutable things in war which admit of no discussion.? Carringlon Smith in Detroit Free Press. ? Industry is the companion of honor and honesty. TMJiK THEY ARE SICK. Imaginary Ills to Which Human Fleth Is Heir. "Do you aee that lady V* A prominent Detroit physician indi? cated a lady who had just left bis office. "Well, she imagines sbe has consump? tion, and this is her third visit to me. You needn't look surprised. If I were to tell her the truth?that sbe hasn't the remotest symptoms of the disease?she would think me a fool, and go to another doctor. And if he told her the truth she - would keep on going until she found a physician who agreed with her. The only way to deal with persons who think tbey have consumption is to humor their whim, charge as little as possible without exciting their suspicion, and bring them, around perfectly cured as soon as they can be made to believe it. You have no idea of the number of intelligent ladies who imagine tbey have consumption or cancer. Some relative or acquaintance of theirs has died with one of these com? plaints, and the first time they cough they are convinced it is the beginning of consumption, and the least little pimple or burning sensation drives them almost frantic with the thought that a cancer is forming. The only possible way to (deal with this class of cases is to thoroughly gain the confidence of the patient. They - watch the physician like a cat, and any hesitation on bis part leads them to either imagine tbe worse or else set him down as incompetent. "I usually ask a few direct questions, Buchas when the trouble was first no? ticed, the exact location und intensity of tbe pain, and then fall into their view of tbe matter. I assure them that they have done a wise thing in coming to me at once, as, now that the trouble/ can be taken in?time, there will be no difficulty in effecting a speedy cure. A few bread: pills and a bottle of scented syrup are prepared with tbe greatest care and par? ticular directions given as to bow they are to be taken. At the next visit I noticed a perceptible change for tbe better, and am delighted, as I hardly expected any improvements eo soon. The third visit shows a complete eradica tion of the acute nature of the trouble,; but to provide against any return new remedies are applied. At tbe fourth^ visit the patient |is as well as anybody, treatment is discontinued, and I have gained a few dollars and a life long friend and patron." "And there is no quackery about it ?" "Not a bit. But if I were to tell the truth in the first place the patient would; probably fall into the hands of some un? scrupulous medic who would scare the life out of her and charge dollars where I only take cents." "To what extent does this sort of prac? tice exist ?" > "Well, if only those who really require a physician were prescribed for, One^ quarter of the doctors in Detroit would become Micawbers. On tbe other hand, there are a class of people not alone con? fined to the poor who neglect calling doctor until it is too late. He gets case just in time to make out certificate. There are hundf" terminating fatally which might luve been saved if takeu in time. This is a" very uneven world, my friend, take it how you will?financially, politically,", socially or medicinally. We boas? of our enlightenment, but you have no itm of the superstition existing all around vs. Why, the 'faith cure' has so many follow? ers that it has almost grown respectable. See the number of clairvoyant 'healers' who maintain themselves, in luxury by 'seeing' tbe disease and remedy in a trance. How many, think you, ctrry horse chestnuts in their pockets every. day of their lives to keep ft? rheumatism, aud would not dare go without one? Not a few, I assure you. Look at the; vast sales of patent medicines. Now let me tell you something about these patent medicines. They are prepared for gen-., eral consumption, and for that very: reason must of necessity be without: virtue. You never bear of any one beingr injured by them?that would not do, as, it would at once stop tbe sale of the! article. So they are prepared for the; most delicate child and the etrongesU man?mere .rash. A remedy which wilr do no one barm will do no one any good. There are a hundred other superstitions, but I don't know as I ought to be sur? prised at them. Medicine itself has onlyj receutly emerged from an almost bart state. Less than twenty-five years we were salivating with ca.c mel, cuppiij and blistering, and bleeding for almc everything. The counter irritant is sq practiced to some extent." "What is that?" "Why, if a little boy was beatinj drum, and you wished to hush his noi the way to do it would be to commet firing cannon. If you have a pain j your stomach put on a blister and it w| hurt you so much worse that you'll nei notice the pain. Medicated plasters all right when applied to extract pain any deep seated morbidity, as has of been proven, but as a counter irritant regard them as a relic of barbar But, then, medicine has made a wood 'ful progress in the last twenty ye since the homeopathic opposition It woke the old school up, and by so d<] ing bestowed an inestimable boon upoj humanity. Its first ideas, regarding finitestimal doses, were as much to on] extreme as the other school's doses we to the other. Both schools have rece from their extreme views, and are noi very near together. Another change the breaking up of tbe profession ,it specialties. A country store contains! everything?hardware, groceries, dry goods, boots and shoes. So it used to be with medicine. Only twenty-five yean; ago you had to go to a doctor to get ?? tooth pulled. Now you go to a dentist* The eye and ear are made one specialty,; brain diseases and insanity another, and so on. It is impossible for one mind to be expert at all classes of diseases. It Is too much to expect a man who amputates a leg to be able the next moment to pre* scribe for an infant with marasmus. T?crj dawn is breaking, sir, and I am gl see it."?Detroit Tribune. ? It a curious fact that fleas are I ed from eggs. Curious, becaua would hardly think that a flea still long enough to lay an egg.