University of South Carolina Libraries
BYE: B. MTJRRA"! 3. 0. OliLN^sdALlJS, Editor. AH OLD LETTES OF DR. LIEBER'S. : '-?'\- : .. ? .? .? - r Mb. Editob: Oar eye has recently fallen upon an extract from a copy of **SoiUh &rolinian" published in 1853. this extract is a, commtinication on com? mon schools, which was written by Dr. Lieber under the nom de plume of Free? dom. We ask you to republish this let? ter in your educational column, believ? ing it will Interest all of your readers ?fho are interested in the common school education of our people. W. S. M. Common Schools. ???? Mb. Editob: I rejoice with every .loyal citizen of South Carolina that Gov? ernor Manning has clearly and ably brdnghl; ihe all-ihiportant subject of com? mon jjchools before the Legislature. It is a subject of so essential and compre? hensive' importance, that every one ought"to contribute his mite to a thor? ough discussion. This is the object of my contribution. It gives the unassum? ing opinion of a single individual, but an individual who has much reflected on ^ the subject, and who ..has observed and . studied' the. operation Of public school syatem^in Tnany States, and in foreign & ooohties. I have not yet seen the letter of the President of the South Carolina College, mentioned in the Governor's message, and which doubtless deserves the most eerious and-sir cere attention, > 'nor have I ever .had any conversation with him on the wants of oar State in this particular. If onr minds have comu to the same conclusions, it will give some additional weight to his recommenda? tions ; if we differ, it may lead to addi? tional reflection in those who must de? cide on tbe matter, and adopt definite measures. I take it for granted that all right minded men agree as to t he necessity of general education. Governor Manning puts the subject on the proper basis when he calls common education, among others, a measure of public safety. It is a proud thing that modern civilized States con? sider education, that is the development of man and progress of society, an ele? ment and indeed, a basis of safety; while formerly the general diifusion of j knowledge was frequently esteemed to be a cause of disquiet, aud even of disorder. But if it be so, we must provide for it, and in doing bo, we are bound to pay re? gard to all the laws of general and efficient action; among other things, we must needs adopt onr means to the given circumstances and not only ask ourselves what is it that is desirable to be obtained, but also what can be obtained with the mean? at onr disposal, and under the circumstances which surround as ? With reference to all these points, there seems to me certain measures necessary and indispensable and others desirable. Necessary seems to me: 1. That the State be dttfaed into school districts, with such an organiza tion as to provide for public and elemen? tary education and especially, 2. With the right to tax themselves for the purpose of providing for common schools, and.with the privilege of claim? ing from the public treasury a sum equal or otherwise proportionate to that which the school district has imposed on itself. This principle has worked admirably wherever it has been adopted. 3. The appointment of a new School Commissioner as Governor Manning recommends is indispensable; but I would not give the appointment to the faculty of the South Carolina College. It seems preferable that the appointment be simply given to the Governor, with the consent of the Senate. Common elementary education ought to be made obligatory in some degree, and by some means direct or indirect. The legality of such a measure can not be doubted, even if education be consid ered, by way of safety, only as a police measure. There is this essential differ? ence between education and an article of common consumption, that the want or absence of a desirable article of con? sumption creates demand; while the least educated desire education the least. An empty stomach craves for bread; an empty head despises education. 5. It is necessary to provide for those parts of onr State in which the popula? tion of the educable (if I can make a word) is so that they cannot be easily collected in a general school. It seems that we must adopt the law which prevails in the world of exchange, wher? ever the population is so thin that tbe consumer can not go to the shop the shop goes to the consumer, and itinerant merchants, from the richly-freighted floating markets on tbe Ohio and tbe Mississippi, to the humble pedestrian carrier of his own merchandise, bring the commodity within the reach of tbe consumer. Iu a similar way it will be found necessary to appoint schoolmasters in some parts of our State, who shall teach for three months in some place, and for the next quarter in another. I know very well that this would be a dif? ficult way of instructing, but it would be better than no instruction, and be at any rate a beginning. The church has been obliged to adopt the same principle in many counties. If there be not a suffi? cient population to erect a chnrch or meeting house, the gospel is preached to smaller clusters at least occasionally; and, deficient as this method of dispens? ing the gospel may be, we all acknowl? edge that it is better than nothing. These seem to me indispensable. Desirable it would be that the State establish a Normal School, where teach? ing ia taught, and where common school teachers are educated. This, however, with many other things, would soon be presented to the Legislature and the public at large by a School Commis? sioner. One additional word as to tbe necessa? ries. The School Commissiouer must be a well paid man. The laborer is worthy his hire, and talent "has necessarily its market value in this world of exchange aud individualism, as everything elai. You would get offers, no doubt, for the meanest salary; bat far better to hare ST & CO. ' no School Commissioner at all than a poor one. This place ought to be one of the brightest and most honorable appointments, worthy of the acceptance of the most gifted and efficient man the State can command. Freedom. Prohibition in Kansas. CuiCAGO,July 13.?On the 2d of July inst. a special dispatch was sent from St. Joseph, Mo,, to a Chicago paper, in which it was stated that tbe closiDg of saloons in Atchison, Kansas, haa cut off the most profitable source of revenue, amounting to thousands of dollars a year, and as a result the city bas not revenue enough to keep goingj that the police force, with the exception of tbe marshal and one policeman had been suspended ; that the services of the firemen were to be dis? pensed with, and that gas and electric light were to be shut off. This dispatch .having had wide publication, many let? ters of inquiry have been received by Governor Martine, of Kansas, and by the Mayor of Atchinson. Under the date of July 12tb, QovernorrMartine addressed a communication to Hon. Wm. Henry Smith, General Manager of the Asso? ciated Press, in which he says: . I am thoroughly familiar with tbe condition of tbe city of Atchison and personally know that the statements embodied in the St. Joseph dispatch are false and misleading. The gas, electric light and water supply of the city has never been turned off, its police depart? ment has been, .and is, continually on duty. The police force has been largely reduced, but has, in the absence of sa? loons, been ample to preserve the peace and protect tbe property of citizens. A local dispute concerning the methods of taxation and involving the adoption of a j tax which has been collected in the city of St. Joseph for many years past, is the only foundation for the malicious and untruthful dispatch from that place. * * This St. Joseph dispatch is only a fair specimen of hundreds of false and malicious statements I have seen pub? lished in the newspapers of the country during the past three or four years con? cerning Kansas and Kansas towns. The whiskey interests predicted that the abo? lition of saloons in Kansas would inju? riously affect tbe material prosperity of the State, and falsehoods intended to confirm this view are constantly invented and circulated in every section of the country, and especially in the States where movements are being made to ban? ish saloons. I am receiving letters daily from different States making inquiries concerning the effects and results of our temperance laws on the financial/com? mercial and other material interests of our State and these letters all indicate that the work of maligning Kansas is going on in every section of the country. Permit me, therefore, to give you the real facts. The prohibition amendment to our constitution was adopted in the autumn of 1SS0, and the first laws to enforce it went into effect in May, 1881. Tbe war to banish saloons was, for some years, only partially successful. The amendment bad been adopted by a very meagre majority, and public sentiment in all our large cities was overwhelming against it. As late as January, 1885, saloons were open in fully thirty of the larger cities of Kansas, including Topeka, the capital of the State, but steadily and surely public sentiment against them spread and intensified. The Borall ma? jority that had voted for the amendment was reinforc^,, first by law-respecting citizens, who are always willing to subor? dinate their personal opinions to the majesty of the law, and, second, by an equally large number who observing tbe practical good following tbe abolition of saloons in different cities and towns, be? came convinced that Kansas, would be more prosperous, happier and in all re? spects a better community of people if it bad not an open saloon within its borders. So tbe sentiment of Kansas against tbe liquor traffic has grown and strengthened'until to-day, I very much doubt whether of its 800,000 male voters more than 75,000 would, if they could, invite back and reinstate the saloons. ? At last the Chinese are undertaking the construction of railways. But it does not appear that foreign syndicates are to profit by the changed attitude of tbe Government. In May last there was issued a decree sanctioning the building of railroads north of the Pei-Ho River in the province which contains tbe great city of Pekin. A company composed of Chinese officials was formed and native capitalists were urged to take stock. These capitalists, however, were unwill? ing to invest. Thereupon the viceroy of the province issued a proclamation, in which the advantages to be derived irom railway communication were set forth, and tbe rich were advised that by delay they might "lose their opportunity." Investors still declined to support the j work, and it is reported that French bankers have loaned the Government $4,500,000 to be used in building tbe road, which is to extend from the mouth of the Pei Ho to the interior by way of Tien-Tsin. The leading minds of China have not lost sight of the railway opera? tions of other nations in Asia. They see tbe Transcaspian Road approaching the Middle Kingdom, through the heart of the continent, and know that Russia has determined to build a road through Siberia to the Pacific. Onthesout *t I the construction of roads through ] .a and Burmah to the Chinese boundary is only a question of time. They are con? vinced that the empire must have a sys? tem of railways, but they are hampered by the conservatism of the people. Eventually that conservatism will be overcome. ? In repairing tbe Presbyterian church in Hoopeston, III., the steeple, which bad long been a home for English sparrows, was cleaned out. The straw that the birds had carried into tbe steeple or nests amounted to nearly enough to fill a wagon box. ? Newcastle, Pa., has a hen of extra? ordinary egg laying ability. One day recently she layed two good-size eggs; the day following she repeated the oper? ation ; on the third day she rested and laid no eggs, but on the fourth day she made up by laying three eggs, t BILL ARU. ?lrp Says tho World is Growing Bettor. The preacher told us the other day that sin was born in a child and it was a life long struggle to keep it down. That if you planted a tree that it would grow up straight of its own nature*, but a child would grow up crooked and the parents had to brace it up just like we stake up a tree to keep the wind from blowing it down. We protect the young tree from, battle and storms by planting boards on each side and nailing slats across, and just so the father must stand upright on one side of the child and the mother on the other, and they must lock arms around and keep the little fellow straight. But the difference is the tree is inclined to grow straight and the child to grow up crooked. That is so I reckon?David said "man is born to sin as the sparks fly upward" and we all know that there is a power of sin in the world, and according to history there always has been, but there is a power of good, too. Cyrus was not a. God-fearing man, but he was a philoso? pher and he said, "I know that I am' under the dominion of two powerful spirits?one the spirit of good and the other the spirit of evil. They are carry? ing on a continual warfare in my soul add contending for its possession." Paul said ''when I would do good sin is present with me." I suppose that is the experience of everybody. I know that is mine; a thousand-times have I felt inclined to do things that neither my conscience nor my reason approved, Things that I condemned and abh?rred as other people. The spirit 'of evil was after me. Then again the spirit of love and kindness and good will would take possession and get the mastery, and so I feel like Cyrus, that the war is going on and I must help fight it. I believe that a man ean submit to the spirit of evil until he will love its dominion. He will love hate and discord and triumph in the downfall and misery of other people, and if he dies in that condition he will keep on in it in the world to come, whether it be hades or sheol or some other mysterious abode. As the tree falleth there it shall be. I do not seek to fathom the origin of sin or of evil or the devil. It is enough for me to know that I am a sinner. The devil is a most insinuating rascal. I saw a boy getting apples from a tree that overhung the sidewalk, and when I asked:him if it was right he said, "Well, sir, they are over the road; they ain't in anybody's lot." The devil told him to say that. Some? times a boy will find a knife and keep it, although he kuows who lost it. If a man finds a pocketbook with money in it he will hunt for the owner, bat if he finds a five or ten dollar bill without the pocket book be won't exert himself very much. Somebody might claim it who never lost it, and so its just as well to say nothing about it. It is possible to be dishonest and be generous too. I know a man who will cheat his nabor in a minute, and tell a lie to do it, but he will help a poor fellow who is down, and he loves to do it. Most everybody has a kind soft place, in bis bosom that circumstances will reach. Most everybody has sympathy for distress. One time I saw a desper? ate wicked man jump into a swollen river to save a poor boy from drowning and be saved him. There were many good people on the bank who dared not take the risk. The other day one of our no account dogs go: into the pound under the benign auspices of the new dog law, and the marshall- informed, me and said I could pay a dollar fora collar and seventy-five cents for his board and lodging and take him out. I made no promises and kept silent at home, for I was perfectly will? ing for this benign canine law to take its course, but my chaps found out that Fido was in the pound and condemned to be 8bot before breakfast next morning and just such a commotion as was raised I never heard. Children and grandchil? dren raised the rebel yell and their sym? pathy for poor Fido made me ashamed of myself and so I had to pay him out and then buy two more collars for two more dogs?and that mak.n three dollars and seventy-five cents invested in dogs that I will give anybody as much more to steal and carry away for good, and no questions asked. We have given Fido away several times, but it won't stick. A Fannin county man hauled him thirty miles one day, and Fido was back home next morning in time for dinner. He is good for nothing in the world, except to bark when it thunders, but the children love him and he loves them, and wags his little tail when tbey come from school. The great contention in this life is be? tween love and selfishness?the love that strikes in and the love that reaches out. The poet says most truly: "All thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs this mortal frame, All are but ministers of love, And feed its sacred 'flame." And another says: "Love rules the camp, the court, the grove, And men below and saints above, For love is heaven and heaven is love." Love is the cardinal doctrine and teaching of Jesus Christ?the best man that ever lived. Love to God and love to man. " Little children, love one an? other." " I know that I am called from death unto life, because I love the bre? thren." Leigh Hunt never conceived anything so tenderly sweet as Abou Ben Adbem, who was admitted to he&.en solely because of his love for his fellow men, Sterne's choicest morsel was the Btory of Uncle Toby, who swore that the poor soldier who had fainted at his gate should not die. The loves of Jonathan and David, and Damon and Pythias are still the brightest jewels in the crown of man's humanity. The best motto for any banner is "peace on earth and good will to man." The devil don't like that banner and don't fight under it. I believe in the existence of a personal devil or satan or an evil spirit who has myriads of subjects and wants as many more as he can get. I believe that good will triumph over evil and that the vic? tory is near at band. The battle is going on now. There is a general upheaving in the Christendom. The church is more aggressive than it ever was before. There is more light, more thought, more work in all religious denominations. pa ANDERSON, S. C 1 Love and charity are increasing, espe? cially is this so in these United' States, the nation that is to lead all nations. Andrew Carnegie is a wonderful man. His steel works now employ as many men as Krnpp's and turn out more pro? ducts and are established on the co? operative system. Carnegie Bays the United States are now rich enough to buy out Great Britain and Ireland and pay their national debt and then have money enough left to buy Denmark and Norway and Switzerland and Greece and that we are getting richer at the rate of | one and a half billions every year, and yet we have only sixty millions of people while England has 190 millions in India alone and sixty millions at home and millions more scattered around. He says that there are only 400 thousand square miles of coal in the world, apd three-fourth of all these are in the United States. It is amazing to read his statistics. Great and terrible wars are impending on the other side, but this nation is to hold the fort of Christianity and progress, and prepare the way for the millenium. So mote it bo. I would like to live to see that millenium. I would like to see the time when there were no courthouses, nor jails, nor chaingangs, nor dog pounds, nor locks on doors, no police, nor aheriffa, no soldiers of the cross. Maybe I will. Bill Arp. A Protecting Providence. It will not be difficult to mention cases in which eminent individuals have been preserved from danger and death by the manifest band of Providence. John Knox, the Scocth Reformer, had many enemies, who sought to compass his destruction. He was in the habit of Bitting in a particular chair in his own house, with bis back to the window. One evening, however, when assembling his family, he would neither occupy his accustomed seat, nor allow any one else to do uo. That very evening a bullet was sent through the window with a design to kill him. It grazed the chair which he usually occupied and made a hole in the candlestick. It is related of Augustine that be was going on one occasion to preach at a dis? tant town, and took a guide to direct him on bis way. By some means the guide mistook his way, and got into a by-path. It was afterwards discovered that a party of miscreants had designed to waylay and murder him and that his life was Baved through the guide's m;-'uke. Charles of Bala was once saved from death by what some would call a foolish mistake. On one of his journeys to Liverpool his saddle bag was put into the wrong boat. He bad taken bis seat when he had discovered it, and had to change at the last minute. At first'he was vexed and disappointed, but he afterwards learned that the boat in which ho intended to go in was lost, and all its passengers drowned. Howard, the philanthropist, was once preserved from death by what some would call mere chance, but which was no other than a special Providence. He always set a high value on Sabbath privileges, and was exact and careful in bis attendance on the means of the grace. That be might neither increase the labor of his servants, nor prevent their atten? dance on public worship, be was accus? tomed to walk to the chapel at Bedford, where he attended. One day a man whom he bad reproved for his idle and dissolute habits, resolved to waylay and murder him. That morning, however, for some reason or other, he resolved to go on horseback, and by a different road. Thus his valuable and precious life was saved. The Rev. John Newton was in the habit of regarding the band of God in everything, however trivial it might appear to others. "The way of man is not in himself," be would say. "I do not know what belongs to a single step. When I go to St. Mary Woolnoth, it seems the same whether I go down Loth berry, or go through the Old-Jewry; but the going through one street and not another may produce an effect of lasting consequence. A man cut down my ham? mock in sport, but had he cut it down half an hour later I had not been here, as the exchange of the crew was then making. A man made a smoke on the seashore at the time a ship was passing, which was thereby brought to, and after? wards brought me to England." What Watterson Says. Henry Watterson, of Kentucky, is in New York. Speaking of the political outlook, Mr. Watterson expressed the belief that the democrats would be vic? torious in the next presidential contest. "The battle flag incident and President Cleveland's letter of declination to the mayor of St. Louis, coming as tbey do now a year before the presidential con? vention, is an instance of the luck of the man. If the flag episode had happened six weeks before the election in 1888, the bloody shirters might have used it to defeat Mr. Cleveland." Mr. Watterson predicted that the next national demo? cratic convention would renominate Mr. Cleveland by acclamation, and that he would be re-elected. With regard to Gov. Hill's chances, Mr. Watterson said, that gentleman bad not been thought of in tbe South, and declared that if Hill went to the convention with a solid New York delegation, Cleveland would receive the votes of the delegates of every other State and be renominated. In conclu? sion, Mr. Watterson said: "A tariff reform bill will be introduced by Mr. Carlisle.and other tariff reform democrats, called the administration tariff reform bill at the next session. The president will favor it, and it is expected to go through. If Mr. Randall opposes it, he will have to step aside and cease to have any active participation with the party." ? A writer in a medical paper says that in experience in Colorado and Utah he never saw an Indian with a cold. He concludes that it is our hot rooms H at give us colds. ? Sweet things are generally sticky. That is the reason so many men "get stuck" on pretty girls. ? Cheek is the tight rope from which crafty men often crosB tbe chasm of igno? rance to success. :htjrsday mornij REVELATIONS BV HB. DAVIS. . Efforts to Have him Assassinated and ' Narrow Es cap e s. I Baltimore, Md., July 9,1887.?The 1 Morning Eerald of this city, will publish a six column contribution giving an ac? count of recent important interviews ';' with Jefferson Davis. In these inter? views Mr. Davis, among many other ? things, charges that the federal govern? ment conspired during the late war to have him assassinated. On this subject Mr. Davis says: "While the Confederate government . was at Montgomery, Ala., in 1861, I J received an anonymous letter from Phil? adelphia, the substance of which was that the governor of Pennsylvania had released a noted desperado from the ' penitentiary upon the condition that he would go to Montgomery and assassinate me, with the promise of a reward of $100,000 if he succeeded, that after re- 1 lease the man stated that he could not ' probably succeed alone, and gave the name of another convict of character like his own with whose assistance he felt sure of success, and that the second ! convict was released to accompany the first. "About the time when this letter was received I was going from my office to my residence. I observed a man squat? ting down by the brick wall, which was about three feet high and upun which the yard paling rested. I bad gone a few steps before the position of this man so impressed me as induced me to go and look after him. Then walking back 1 toward the corner of the fence behind which he was crouching,! saw him look? ing over the wall toward the gate through which I was expected to enter, but as I reached the corner he jumped up and ran toward the rear of tbe lot upon which my residence stood, where there, was an alley. I followed him rapidly, but when I had reached the alley he had disap? peared. The only way in which he could have escaped appeared to be through a gate which led into my stable. Thither I went and found my servant in the loft throwing down hay, who, upon inquiry, denied that anybody had come there. He was a servant I had raised, in whom, as I afterward learned, I bad a misplaced confidence. Accepting his statement as true and making fruitless search elsewhere, the bunt was aband? oned. But the warning received was not forgotten. The Commissary General, Colonel Northrop, my friend and old army comrade, soon thereafter went with me by rail to Richmond, and was on tbe alert during this whole trip for the reap? pearance of tbe assassin. "I sent tbe anonymous letter to Mr. William B. Reed, of Philadelphia, ask? ing him to make such inquiry as would verify or disprove its allegations. If he ever replied I do not know, as communi? cations were closed soon after that. "While in Richmond it was my habit to ride out ofteu in the afternoon to visit the defensive works we were constructing around the capital. On one occasion, accompanied by my aid, Colonel William Preston Johnston, I had ridden across Gillis Creek and was going up the hill when a rifle ball whizzed just behind me and in front of Colonel Johnston, who was riding by my side a little in tbe rear. Warning him to seem as if noth? ing had occurred, we rode rapidly round an unoccupied house, from which it was thought the shot must have been fired, and from which we could see distinctly the ground over which any one must have fled, if, after firing, he had taken to flight. No one was visible. After returning to the city in the evening Col? onel Johnston went.to the provost mar? shal, who sent out some men more skill? ful than we had been to make a further search in the house. "They found in the upper story some plank out of the floor so that they could be removed, and underneath that found a man with a rifle, who gave a lame account of himself as biding there to avoid conscription. His story of being employed at a bakery in tbe city was found upon inquiry unfounded. The next morning I was notified that the man, with a liberal retainer in gold, bad employed a lawyer to sue out a writ of habeas corpus. Aware that though the circumstantial evidence might produce moral conviction, that he would probably be discharged in compliance with the writ, and that the man was of proper age and physical vigor for a soldier, I directed him to be seut to Geu. Lee at Petersburg, with an explanatory note, and the hope that he would be put in the front line to stop a ball intended for a better man. What became of him I never learned, matters of large import? ance engrossing the attention of General Lee, as well as myself. "On another occasion, returning from an afternoon ride with my aid, Colonel Joseph R. Davis, just as we entered the suburbs of Bichmond a shot was fired from behind a high gardeu wall at very close range, but without effect. We rode up to the wall, and by rising in our stirrups, looked over into the garden, but no person could be seen. It was twilight, and the shrubbery afforded some means of concealment and escape. "There were many reasons before the Dahlgren raid for believing that efforts inconsistent with the rules of war as practised by civilized nations were made to secure assassination, especially of the president, and to acquire information by spies, resident and transitory, and that large rewards were offered for such services, including arson and murder. "On one occasion when I was known to be travelling on a railroad to tbe army information was brought by a lady, who had overheard the conversation in abaru, that obstructions v?ere to be placed on the track, and the information was veri? fied by a detachment sent who found the obstructions and some United States soldiers secreted in a barn near tbe place where tbe train was expected to be wrecked." Mr. Davis gives his motives and polit? ical status in 1861, and claims that be never was a disuniouist, but that tbe northern senators rejected at that time every proposition that promised pacifica? tion. He refers to B. F. Butler voting for him fifty-seven times at Charleston, S. C, in 1860, as a candidate of tbe democratic party for president to prevent fG, JULY 21, 1887. iisunion, and declares he did not desire ;o be president of the Confederacy, bat ook "prompt and, as he thought, ade ]?ate means to prevent it." After his election and inauguration at Montgomery ill his efforts were directed toward lecuring for the seceding States a peace ul separation, though he never thought >f going back into the Union to escape a ast resort to the arbitrament of arms. Mr. Davis discusses bis experience as lecretary of war in Mr. Pierce's cabinet md as United States senator from Mis lissippi, bis career as president of the Southern Confederacy, and is eloquent in lis praise of General Albert Sidney Johnston, Lee, Jackson and A. P. Hill. Efe says A. S. Johnston bad no peer on iither side during tbe war, if he ever had in American history, and his loss to the Confederacy was irreparable. Speaking of tbe seven days' battles tround Richmond, Mr. Davis says Gen? eral Lee conceived and executed the des? perate plan to turn the flank and rear of tf cOlellnn'a army, and adds that the fail lure to annihilate the federal army was lue chiefly to the fact that General Lee iad no maps of the country below Rich? mond, and that his army moved in igno? rance of the country and with guides who for tbe most part proved themselves itterly inefficient. He declares that McClellan and Meade nrere the two best Federal generals, and ' if the former had been permitted to carry jut bis campaign against Richmond as be had planned it and received tbe hearty rapport of the Federal war department, it would have resulted disastrously to .he Confederacy. Mr. Davis and his family are warm in their praise of the late John \V. Garrett, and confirmed Mr. Garrett's statement, made before bis death, of how he secured Mr. Davis' release from imprisonment at Fortress Monroe. A Few Words From the Horse. The Tunbridge Well Society for the prevention of Cruelly to Animals, pub? lishes for circulation a slip from which eve make an extract. If they could only speak for themselves, would not the horse and donkey say: "Don't beat our sides so bard and so often, and we shall be stronger and bet? ter servants to you. You know how op? pression only makes you set up your back, but you will do anything for a kind master. "Don't ride and drive us about till we are ready to drop, and our wind is almost broken, and we are reeking with heat and rough usage. "Pray let us have a little more water tvhen we stand weary and thirsty, with our poor dry tongues unable to ask for it. You have felt the suffering of thirst. "And, for pity's sake," the horses would say, "looseu this torturing rein; sve toss or shake our heads or we try to keep them still, and nothing gives us a moment's ease. You, master, would suffer severely if your head were held in such a position, and we could do more work and much better without it. "Please remember that we can always hear your voice, and shall understand what you want us to do so much more quickly if you speak to us quietly, than if you roar at us, and drag our tender worn mouths about. We get so puzzled and frightened when you are in a rage with us, that we only flounder and plunge, and make you more and more angry. "Our last entreaty is, that, when we get old and past our work, you will not let our poor wasted bodies stagger along under some load, when our lives have been spent in your service, but that you will reward us by having us immediately put out of our pain." Danger of Keeping Bad Company. The crows, one spring, began to pull up a farmer's young corn, which be determined to prevent. He loaded his gun, prepared to give them a warm reception. The farmer had a sociable parrot, who, discovering the crowa pull? ing up tbe corn, flew over and joined them. The farmer detected the crows, but did not see tbe parrot, He fired among them, and hastened to see what execution he had done. There lay three dead crows and bis pet parrot with ruffled feathers and a broken leg. When tbe bird was taken borne the children asked: "What did it, papa? Who hurt our pretty Poll ?" "Bad company! Bad company!" answered the parrot in a solemn voice. "Ay! that it was," said the farmer. "Poll was with those wicked crows when I fired, and received a shot intended for them. Remember tbe parrot's fate children. Beware of bad company." With these words the farmer turned round, and with tbe aid of his wife, bandaged tbe broken leg, and in a few weeks the parrot was as lively as ever. But it never forgot its adventure in the cornfield ; and if ever the farmer's chil? dren engaged in play with quarrelsome compaions, it invariably dispersed them with the cry, "Bad company! Bad company !" A Good Story, A Methodist minister tells us this story: "Rev. William Barnes was an Irishman, noted equally for his power and bis eccentricities. He wore a shirt collar of stupendous size and a curly wig. The latter article of decoration waB the subject of some unfriendly criticism, and this coming to his ears, he prefaced his Sunday sermon with the following remarks: 'Braithren, I understand there's some of ye that don't like it because I wear a wig. Now, I've made up ray mind to wear it or not, jist as the congregation says. Here I am?look at me. This is Billy Barnes with the wig. And this?(taking the wig from the bald pate) is Billy Barnes without the wig I Which way will ye have him?" In the roars of laughter i nd vociferous respon? ses, 'Brother Barnes with tbe wig!' that ensued, the wig-critics were utterly dis? comfited." ? Passengers on the street cars of New York pay out $100,000 per day in fares. -- A good word is an eftsy obligation, but not to speak ill requires only our silence, which costs us nothing. HOW TO SUCCEED. What May bo Accomplished by Energy and Perseverance. Col. H. W. Pickney, in Dixie, a news? paper published at Atlanta, Georgia, relates the following incidents, which came under the writers own observation, where success trod closely on the heel of perseverance and industry: A man can make a living, and also make money, in hundreds of different ways in this country, and it is a mighty good thing that this is bo, else over? production would be the rule, not the exception. I know a man who is getting rich out of baby swings. It's a simple, cheap thing to make and he started in a simple and cheap way to make (hem, his entire outfit of tools comprising two saws, two saw benches, a draw shave, two hand planes, a brace and some bits, a rough work bench. He didn't stand around with hands in his pockets waiting for somebody with capital to come along and boost him. Not much. He thought these swings would sell, so bo made one and peddled it round until he found a purchaser. Then he made another and sold that, and thus he kept on until finally people began to think his swings were a good to have in the family, and they began to inquire for tbem. He started eight years ago, and alone did all the work of making and selling tbem. Things with him are very different to? day. He has a shop two stories in height, and machinery for sawing, plain? ing, boring, mortising, turning, and sandpapering the material entering into the construction of these swings. In that shop forty men find constant employ? ment, and, as I said before, the owner is getting rich out of it. Counting the wives and children of the workmen in that shop, there is a population of nearly or quite one hundred and fifty making a living out of one man's idea that a baby swing would sell. A baby swing is not a very big thing, but it is iu this case big enough to keep quite a little village busy and comfortable. A step ladder is a mighty bandy thing to have around the house! Five years ago three men, by the closest kind of scraping, twisting and borrowing, man? aged to get together five hundred dollars. They bought some lumber, rigged up a circular, or buzz, rip saw, and started in to make step ladders. For two years it was a struggle of the hardest kind; sales had to be made by personal canvass, prices obtained permitted no margin of profit, and the outlook was of such a dis? couraging nature that their friends and neighbors pitied tbem first, then prophe? sied dead failure, and finally laughed at their folly in sticking by a losing game. There came a change, however. A prominent house furnishing goods firm one day wrote tbem for prices on five thousand ladders. The size of this pos? sible order very nearly took them off their feel. They had sense enough, however, to understand that this big house would not give them the order unless prices were made away down, so they sat down and figured the thing over, and having decided that matter, awaited the result, which turned in their favor and they got the order. Then they went to work; each one took his coat off and pitched in; they worked sixteen hours a day until that order was filled, and it was filled on time, and each ladder was honestly made. The only expense they realized was for lumber, screws and paint. They bad done all tbe work themselves. This was the turning point in their business career. Within a month from tbe delivery of these five thousand ladders tbey had contracted with the same house for a monthly sup? ply of two thousand five hundred. Tbey were on their feet now, and began to push things. They are turning out to? day, with fifteen men, ten thousand step ladders each month, and have been doing this for more than a year. A step ladder is a little thing, but these men are making money out of them. About fifteen years ago, in one of the big planing mills in Chicago, a strip of board catching, in some unaccountable manner, on a buzz saw, was burled with violence' against the leg of one of the workmen, breaking it and badly mang? ling the flesh. The injury resulted in incapaciating the man for performing the labor required of him iu the mill, and he was compelled to seek other means of livelihood. A man of fine me? chanical attainments, his endeavors very naturally sought outlet iu that direction, to be built, after his own ideas, a scroll or fret saw, foot power, and rigged up a seat on it, as he was unable to stand for auy leugth of time, and began sawing out and putting together articles for household ornament and utility. He regarded this as simply a temporary means of making a living. After a time he added to his scrool saw a light boring attachment and then a little turning lathe. Then he bought a cheap set of carver's too'ts. You see he was looking out to save labor and to combine origi? nality in tbe articles be turned out. Time ran along, and almost before be knew it, he was getting more orders than he could, alone, fill, so he hired a man to dress and prepare his materials, lay out tbe patterns, and put the articles together. Still his orders increased, and he hired another and still another man. To-day he has thirty men in his employ? ment, and he does no physical labor him? self. Making money? Yes, right a! ocg, but it was a very little thing that gave him bis start. Now, the point I wish to make is this: Capital, in large amounts, is not neces? sary in tbe founding of industrial enter? prises. A good deal of pluck and ener? gy, and unconquerable perseverance, are better than money, because, having these, money becomes the result, not the means, of success. Money is valuable, not as the means by which an end may be accomplished, but rather because it is tbe result of an accomplished end. It has power, immense power, but without energy behind it, it is powerless. Perse? verance and energy can make money, but money cannot make porsevance and energy. What I would like to see in oui Sunny South is more small industrial establishments. I would rather sec c dozen shops employing three men each than one shop employing three dozei meu, There is more money iu the thro VOLUM dozen, because there is greater possibil? ity for their expansion and growth. Don't wait for the establishment of big enterprises with heavy capital, but start little ones in a modest way, and then let them grow, as the majority of them surely will. Root Development. To show the importance of shallow cultivation and of not cutting the roots, we give the following observation by Prof. Thurman, of the Alabama Exper? iment Station, on the length and distribu? tion of roots of corn and cotton : COHN ROOTS. By means of a hose with a nozzle, which gave a spray in imitation of rain? fall, the soil was gently washed away from the roots of corn and cotton plants, leaving the entire root surface exposed to view. A ditch was dug entirely around the plants at a distance thought to be beyond the extremities of the roots. From this another ditch was dug, giving sufficient fall for the ready conveyance of the water and the soil which it removed. The first specimen was a corn plant eight inches in height from the surface of the soil to the top of the bud leaf. The roots of this little plant were found to occupy an area of thirty-six square feet. The lougest root taken up was four feet, one inch. One was found to have penetrated to the depth of twenty three inches, gradually descending through nine inch? es of soil to the lough clay subsoil, into which latter it penetrated vertically fourteen inches. It reached the clay at the distance of nearly three feet from the plant. The position of the roots in the soil was such that a plough run four inches deep with a foot of the stalk would have deprived the plant of more than three-fourths of its root surface. The seminal roots started from the base of the'stalk two inches from the surface of the soil and gradually descending until they reached the clay at two or three feet from the stalk. The coronal roots radi? ated from the stalk at a depth of one inch from the surface of the soil and de? scended more rapidly than the seminal as a rule, but some of them continued throughout their entire length within three inches of the surface. Quite a number of the roots penetrated the sub? soil (which was nine inches below the surface) from two to three inches, and after entering continued at that depth for the remainder of their growth. What has been said relates to tbe main lateral roots which radiate from tbe base of the stem. From these a multitude of sub laterals radiated, filling tbe soil with their rapacious absorbing surfaces. These commenced within a few inches of the stalk and covered the mains to with? in six or eight inches of the advancing end, the newly formed part of which bad not yet put forth the sublaterals. It is surprising that the yield of corn should be reduced as much as four bushels per acre by injudicious ploughing? COTTON ROOTS. In June last a cotton plant 31 inches in height was washed up as described for tbe corn plant. Tbe plant was just in the condition in which many planters "bar off' previous to "chopping." Tbe longest root found was three feet four inches, the end of the root being three inches below the surface of the soil. It seems the utmost folly to cultivate tbe cotton plant in such manner as to cut off three feet of its roots on either side, creating the necessity for an entire re* establishment of its avenues of commu? nication with its sources of supply. Two months after planting, when the plant was two feet in height and just com? mencing to bloom, another plant was made the subject of investigation. A circular ditch was first dug six feet from the plant and the soil gently washed from the roots, resulting in tbe removing of a large portion of the root surface of the plant. Tbe longest root, wben stretched to its full length, was just six j feet. Its extremity in its natural position was five feet one inch from the stalk, The position of the roots in the soil varied according to the point from which they left the tap root. Some of tbe longest left the tap root at one and one and a half to two inches from the sur? face of tbe soil and gradually descended, reaching the clay sub soil at from three to four feei from the plant. Several en? tered the clay three inches and continued at that depth. Tbe tap root descended vertically to tbe depth of twelve inches, three inches into tbe sub-soil, and then pursued a horizontal course at that depth. Tbe usual deep cultivation with scooter and scrape or solid sweep would have de? stroyed four-fifths of tbe lateral roots which extended at right aogles to the row. The plant was cultivated entirely with tbe hoe up to tbe time of its remov? al. It was planted in garden soil?sandy drift filled with water-worn pebble?soil nine inches deep with tough, yellow clay sub soil." ? A Special from Atchison, Kansas, says: "Since Wednesday noon about fifty acres of land in East Atchison, Mo., have been washed away by tbe river. A school bouse which a month ago stood a quarter of a mile from the river bank was moved east, and tbe ground on which it stood ia now in the river. The bank at that point is perpendicular and thirty feet high. The river has been rising steadily for forty eight hours, and the high winds of Wednesday drove the cur? rent against tbe bank with great violence, washing out a bed of quicksand, which lies below the stratum of clay, and thus undermining section sfter section of earth as large as a block of buildings, which broke loose and was swallowed up by the mighty current. All the residents of that portion of the town have been forced to hastily remove their houses or abandon them to the mercy of the river." ? Sam Jones says: "Next to a pret , ty woman, I love a fast horse." We don't. When we are next to a prettj woman we want a slow horse?one of the kind you have to build a fire under tc - start him. i ? Of the hundred thousand inhabi i tants of Cilicia, a fertile plain in Asit , Minor, eighty thousand are destitute t The harvest time has just passed, bul 5 not a single sheaf of grain'was cut, E XXIII.?NO. 2. A Pretty War Story. When tbe federals captured the little town of-, in Mississippi, they took Judge Strong's house for tbe headquar? ters. The old judge was mad. He decided at once to go into exile. He borrowed his own carriage and horses to convey him and his family to tbe river bank, where tbey would take skiffs. It looked a tii'le like a funeral proces? sion as tbe women, veiled and weeping, filed solemnly down the steps and took their places in the wailing carriage. The judge followed tbem in unsmiling dignity. They were going into exile. Their borrowed driver slammed the carriage door upon tbem and mounted to tbe box with a solemn "Git up" to his horses. Some one halted him from the interior of the house. The hurried step of a spurred boot along the big central hall, aud tbeu, standing there with bared bead before them, was the young officer upon whose unwilling hands the odium of this ejectment bad been thrust. With a quick military salute to the veiled wo? men, he lurned his troubled eyes upon the judge, sitting sternly erect upon the front seat. He held in one hand a bird cage, in the oilier a basket of blooming hyacinths torn up by the roots. He knew they all hated him, and it was hard to say what he wanted just then to say to them. The hot blood mounted high up to the white temples that were in such sharp contrast to his sun burned cheeks. He stammered out his erraud presently awkwardly enough, "I brought these thinking the ladies might want to set tbem out somewhere else," indicating the hyacinths "and this''?-the bird cage? "supposing it had been forgotton." "Present tbem to tbe general in com? mand with my respect," said the judge's wife iu her most patriotic tones, "and tell him, if there is anything more we can surrender for bis comfort, we hope he wil not be too modest to indicate it." "Oh, mamma, that is cruel." A girl's veil was thrown back and a pair of Utile hands were held out for the hyacinths. "It was good of you to Ibiok of this. The bird would be in our way. It's mine. P give it to you. These I wili take, thank you." Then tbey were gone, aud he had nothing but a memory left, and a very inconvenient piece of army baggage on hand. But never was bird or beast bet? ter cared for than the useless little yellow warbler. At tbe end of Ibe war tbe family returned. Tbe condition in which tbey found the premises was a matter of more amazement to the Strong than it had been to their neighbors. There was not one sign left of tbe enemy's occupation but the grassy welts on the lawn and the free sweep of exposure to the public road, which at first was a sore trial to the nerves of tho whole family. The judge made it bis business at once to begin sifting the mystery of this unfathered beneficence to him and his. A little bird" gave him the right clue. They had been settled in the old house but a few days when two enormouus tubs, each containing a tbirifty rose bush, and a glittering gilt Cbir?se pagoda of a bird's cage, containing a useles little yellow warbler, were added to their effects. These were dumped abruptly down npoh tbo portico with no message of any sort. A tag was fastened to each rose bush, on which was written: "Survival of the fittest." The bird gave tbem tbe clue. "Why did you do all this for me?" the judge asked, sitting face to face with the new lawyer, whom he bad unearthed as his benefactor. "I don't know that I did do it for you/* the ex-adjutant said, his eyes wandering from force of habit to where the bird's cage had swung and the rose trees bad bloomed behind the little office. "For whom then ?" "For your daughter?the one that lift? ed her veil and remembered to be kind and just to her enemy, even in the sharp hours of her own misery. God does not make such a woman as thai every day, and some of these days, when the soreness has worn itself out of her heart and yours, I mean to ask her to be my wife. Not yet though, I bide my time." It is safe to conclude that the soreness was worn out of everybody's heart before - tbe day when that strolling photographer sprung bis camera on the old Strong house, when the family were all grouped on the stuccoed steps, lor among the blurry forms on the stepo is the ex-adju? tant's. He is sitting "uite close to the judge's youngest daugh.'er, and if you look at the picture through a magnifying glass, you can see that her fingers are clasped in his, though the petals of a handful of "sunset" roses almost hide them. The Themometer Was Off, There is a suburb of Montgomery call* ed "Vesuvius," and the population, as may be supposed, is all colored. Three or four of us were driving out around the fair grounds when we came upon two col? ored men who were wrangling. One had an open razor in his band, and the other a clnb, aud they seemed ready to fight, We drove around for half an hour and then returned to tbe same gate. They were still there and still wrangling. W took another direction, drove two or three miles, aud again came back to that point. There was'change in the ituation. They still stood in the middle of the road facing each other, and their high-pitched voicas were still hurling anathemas at each other's heads. "Say!" called the Colonel as we drove up, "is there going to be a fight here ?" "Yes, sahl" called both men iu chorus. "When?" The query puzzled them for a minute. Theu the older one shut up his razor, put it in his pocket and replied: "Kurnel, dar's suntMn wrong wid de weather. Ize bin callin' him a liar an' he's bin callin' me a thief for moan' two hours, but we doan' seem to git mad about it. Did you notice any thin' out o' kilter wid de thermbometer dis maw* in'?" ? News comes from Georgia to the effect that a map in tha c State is living "pleasantly" with his eighth wife. This shows the value of trying again if at first you'don't succeed.