Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BT CLINKSCALE J.' G. CLINKSC?LES, Editob. What book are you reading now ? Are you growing? ? ?? Help a child when he has helped him? self all he can?not until then. Don't ait and wait for the world to make a place for yon?make a placejfor . yourself. . Are you satisfied, entirely satisfied v., with the first fonr weeks' work of the ?'year 1888? '?? :, You have a young man in your pchool who has never learned to read. Deal -L with him gently?he might be very easily VdiBcouraged and by some careless word -.{or act you may blast his whole life. Deal cautiously with such cases. It was a spirit of philosophy as well as of poetry that prompted Pope to write, "The proper study of mankind is man." 0, for more teachers who make it their business to study their pupils?their na? tures, their dispositions, their habit*! The Sal?da Academy i? a very good building, and with a very little improve? ment wonld be quite comfortable. Miss Cox is supplied with a very good Mack board, but has neither wall-maps nor globe. The children of that school are nearly all small ones, but seemed to be unusually attentive and studious. Let her patrons give her moral and fiuancial support aud they shall have returns that will be gratifying to all concerned. Broadway, aifcas '-Glory," holds on to the same teacher year after ; year. Mis9 Allie Major is thoroughly identified with the school and all its interests. She knows the children and -they know her. There-is very great advantage in sending to the Bame teacher several years in suc? cession. Miss Major has been well taught herself and applies her knowledge of methods to the work in hand. Her patrons- are fortunate, and so are her pupils. The patrons of Cedar. Grove school are taking steps now, we understand, to build them a new school-honse. The old house with its very prominent dispropor? tions is getting to be an eye sore to them. They have a handsome new church, and are now determined to have a new school house. That's right. They have all the lumbar of the old church which can be utilized, and at very little cost, they can have a splendid school-room for their children. The Broad Month school is not in our jurisdiction, but when Abbeville County insists upon taking away from us such teachers ?s Miss Calhoun and has among the children of Abbeville County a. few little ones from this side the line, we must be excused for stopping just long enough to take a peep at the surround? ings and look into the faces of the teach? er and pupils. Will brother Cowan take good care of Anderson's little ones en? trusted to his care? Our former pupil, Miss Mamie Wilson, presides- with dignity at Shady Grove. The faitufnl student makes, a faithful teacher. Such is the case with Miss Wilson. Her facilities for teaching suc? cessfully and satisfactorily are not what Bhe could desire, but she is doing a good work in spite of formidable' obstacles. The house is not comfortable, the bench? es are not what they ought to be, but Miss Mamie holds her ground and drives oa toward the mark of success. Miss Ella Black is. a boon teacher. She occupies a small honse at Centennial, but seems to get along with very little friction.. Her pupils gave evidence of close attention on the part of the teacher and an increasing fondness for their text books, and daily work. - We found her engaged in.ruling the slates of the little ones preparatory to a writing lesson. We ruled one or two for. her with the point of our knife blade, and she seemed pleased to know that much time could be saved in eo simple a way. The Long Branch school, in Honea Path Township, over which Miss Luna Gear presides, is not large, but seems to be abreast with the foremost in enter? prise, tact and energy. We have seen longer teachers than Miss Luna, but she measures? up to the. foil stature of a woman when it comes to teaching "the young idea how to shoot" We found two good black boards there and found abundant evidence of their frequent use. The children were prompt and polite, and we left well pleased. "In Union there is strength." Mrs. L. J. Brown holds the reins at Union. Her school is small. Sbe has a house considerably above the average, bat no black-board. That neat, warm stove seemed to smile a welcome when we en? tered. What a pity there is no black? board there. And how eagerly those children took to our own which we spread out upon the wall. Mrs. Brown works faithfully and well, but her right arm is paralyzed without a black board. Will her patrons help her? Cleveland is located in that beautiful bill-country on the Saluda side of Honea Path Township. The hills are there? there's no doubt as to that point?and some of them pretty tough, but the children and. teacher manage to get to school all the same. The house is com? paratively comfortable, and presents quite a genteel appearance when ap? proached. Mr. Johnson, the teacher, if ve may jndge from the signBlying around e, ia master of the situation. He is a of the Association, a subscriber [the Library fund, and proposes to get bbenefit of the boooks in bis reach. always a pleasure to us to visit lea Path school. The cheerful, of the teachers and pupils iting, encouraging, rejuvena thing has an air of a place business. Teachers and ind one another and move ?7 grace and becoming fatkins, with his assist S & LANGSTON. ants, is doing a fine work there, one of which the town and sarroanding country are justly proud. Mr. Watkins is vice president of our Teachers' Association, and declares boldly that the meetings of the Association have heen of incalculable benefit to him, and that he can not afford to miss even one. Show us a live, ener? getic, progressive teacher, and we'll show you one who never misses such opportu? nities for improving himself. The Belton school is fortunate in one respect. The people of that town have had good teachers there for several years past. Mr. W. E. Breazeale, who taught there last year, made quite a reputation there as a teacher, and, when he left, the Bchool fell into the bands of'a worthy successor, Mr. F. W. Pickel. Mr. Pick el is assisted by the accomplished and popular Miss Ella McGee. These two keep things well in band and are doing a fine work. The front steps of the academy need repairing?indeed, they must have been out on a visit, we didn't meet them at all?but the mayor of the embriocity was with us and promised that if we would just pass quietly over where the steps had been and not make too much racket about i ; wheD wegotinsidOj he would see that they were at borne when we called again. We shall see. THE BIP VAN WINKLES. It is said that people from sleepy dis? tricts watch the shores of the Hudson River as they are borne along on the steamboats, fully expecting to Bee Rip Van Winkle with his long gray hair, and his dog Snyder. This may not be bo, but the captains of the boats affirm it with twinkling eyes. But Rip Van Winkle exists in the school room yet. We met him not long since; he was principal of a good-sized school. He read no educational paper, not he; he attended no conventions, not he. He believed in the good old way and none of the new nonsense and gabble about improvements. "It is all a plain busi? ness, the boys learn lessons and I hear them." Now th is man is a type of a large class of teachers, regular Rip Van Winkles all of them. While this man was talking, the chief of the Brother? hood of Locomotive Engineers was talk? ing in Chicago. He declared an impor? tant factor in the improvement of the engineers, making them intelligent and more fit for their work and (mark you) able to get more enjoyment out of their work, was a certain journal published by the Brotherhood. This is taken by some 22,000 engineers; just think of thab ye Rip Van Winkle educators?no, memory crammers, grinders of young minds, schoolmasters, Icbabod Cranes! As there are 25,000 in the Brotherhood it appears that 88 percent, of the engineers fead on engineering journal? Now what per. cent, read an educational journal? Probably 20 per cent Sup? pose it to be 22 per cent., for that would make the educators one-fourth as anxious to hear about education, as the engineers about locomotives, etc. However, it may be explained, those who are thinking upon education do take an educational journal. The subject is so great that even with all the help that can be got from journals and books only a partial solution has been reached to educational problems. A man who does not avail himself of the means provided in the educational journals to get more light on education is mentally diseased, or mentally stupid, or mentally indiffer? ent, or puffed up with pride and self im? portance. If he cannot get anything from them to help him get clearer views, then he should sit down and write what be thinks will give these clearer and better views. To have., no lot or part with the educational thought of the day is, for one who claims to be a teacher, almost a crime.?Teachers Institute. Farmers, Aim High. ? According to Major Ransom's estimate, the yield of lint cotton per acre in this State last year- was 158 pounds. The .average for the last nine years has been only 150 pounds, or three acres to a bale. When one looks at that estimate, he wonders what becomes of those immense fields in Darlington, Orangeburg, Marl? boro and Marion wbere a bale to the acre is made. Then in all our upper counties no report ever gets into a paper with less than 1000 pounds of seed cot? ton to the acre. One is forced to conclude that big yields are few and far between or that the general average is about 100 pounds to the acre, or about five acres to the bale. Looked at from any standpoint, our average yield both of corn and cot ton is very low. This should certainly be raised, for all produced above a certain point will be profit. The furo er who struggles on, year after year, with a low yield is barely able to make a support. This average cannot be raised by Tillman Conventions, Agricultural Colleges, or universal resolutions passed in farmers' meetings. It has to be done by individ? ual effort. Intelligent and persistent labor must be used. One of the great drawbacks is a want of elbow grease. Land that would make a fair yield will be cut down very much by neglecting to work it at the right time. Sometimes it would seem that a cotton field would lose twenty five per cent, by going two days without work when it ought to have it. Now to raise this average you must not overcrop yourself. Lands must be well prepared und in good time. Manure must be applied liberally, and then the work must come early and often. In no other way can you increase the yield. Are you going to try it this year ? Or will you go on, scratching over more land than you can cultivate and make a crop of measly nubbjns and bumble bee cotton? Which will you do? Do not answer for your neighbor or your county, but for yourself. Which i3 better to cul? tivate, ten acres of cotton so as to average 300 pounds of lint, or run over twenty acres and get about 120 pounds? Bear in mind, while you are planning for your crop, that our average is very low, and that you holp to keep it down. Are you going to raise it this year??Spartanburg Spartan. ? Looking at it from a feminine point of view, a bridegroom is always insignifi? cant until he becomes a widower. A BP STARTS A BOOM. What the People of North Georgia are Doing. Atlanta Constitution. Last summer I overheard two men talking as they were digging away in the mines, and one said: "Jim, they say thar.is a big bum up at Borne." "What's that?" said Jim. "Why hit's a kind of thing whar one feller gits something for.nothing and another feller gits nothing for something. "Why that's a faro bank or a lottery, ain't it?" said Jim. "No it ain't. I tell you its a bum?a kind of a new tradin' business what swells and shrinks and the sw&v^r and shrinker stays dowji in a cellar and works the machine. They trade in stock." "Horses and mules ?" said Jim. "No, hit's all on paper and nobody can Bee what he is buyin'. You put your money in and wait for a swell. If it comes you are all right, but if a shrink comes you are busted, and you feel so shamed that you don't say anything about, and it never gets into the papers?nothing but the swells gits in the papers." Well, the booms have about subsided In Borne and Birmingham and Decatur, and those thriving cities have settled down to business. When a man buys real estate there now he means business ?not speculation but business, and that is right and honest and healthy. A slow and sure growth is the best. That is just what we want here in Cartersville and the signs are good. There is not a house to rent and many are wanted right now. But we are building and will soon have some manufactures here that will enliven the town. It is the prettiest town of its size now in the Stale, except Marietta, and does more business than any. There is one dry gooda house here that sells more goods than any retail house in Borne, and one hardware house that does more business than any hardware house in Borne, and one wagon and carriage factory that makes more vehicles and sells more than any in the State, and a man told me he sold twenty thousand dollars' worth of family groceries last year and never lost but two dollars and forty-five cents. We ship manganese across the ocean and to Ooroeige, in Pennsylvania. We ship yellow ochre to New York and iron ore to Tennessee. The fact is we have enough minerals here to keep .5,000 hands busy for a bun- j dred years. I see that a Tallapoosa boomer says in an interview that he found more ore at Tallapoosa than.he did at Cartersville. Well, I am not going to slander Tallapoosa. That New York Herald man told enough lies on her to do for awhile, but there is more iron ore in one bill in Bartow than there is within twenty miles of Tallapoosa. Bartow is the great reserve, the mioeral storehouse, and it is the granary, too. We make more grain than any county in the State, more in quantity and more to the acre. Our taxpayers return their lands at a higher rate per acre than any county in the State. We have more rivers and creeks and bridges and mills than any couuty. We have most every? thing that anybody wants. Why, I saw four men from Borne over here yesterday with their dogs and guns, came over here to find game.. Our doctors play back? gammon half their time, and the sexton is so poor he can't go to a circus. Nei? ther epidemics nor contagions can live here, for it is a round, roiling country, with drainage in every valley and rich valleys between all the hills. There are seven streams and five springs and a creek upon my little farm of 200 acres. A traveller can stop and water his horse every two or three miles, if he wants to. We have a street railroad that splits the town iu the middle, and runs from Bogers to Stegalls and from Stegalls to Bogers, with ten trains a day?not a horse car line, nor a dummy, but a sure enough steam line, with a palace car attachment. We can go anywhere we wish to as cheap as we can stay at home and do it in less time. We hare the best weekly paper in the State excepting those that are better than it is and I don't know where they are. If any friendly man away up among the bliz? zards wants to come South either for good health or good morals, let him send a dollar to the Courant American and he can learn all about old Bartow and Car? tersville. But be needn't come if he is opposed to Mr. Lamar's confirmation. We don't want that sort of cattle. We are getting choice of our company now. We don't care a cent whether a man is a Bepulican or not. He won't be so very long after he gets here. It is a?tonishing how soon a Northern man becomes a Southerner after he has lived here awhile. It is not put on either, for they were tried during the war?sorely tried. I was sorry for them and would have given them a kind farewell if they had gone back, but they wouldn't go. I was thinking about Captain Dwinell, who died in Borne the othisr day, and I wanted them to pay a ttibute to his memory. With parents and brothers, and sisters and kindred all up in Maine, where he was born and reared, he was among the first to shoulder his musket in defeuse of his adopted land. For four years he served in the field aud rose to be the captain of his company, the "Borne Light Guards," and whatever may have been his failing he never went back on the South. There were thou? sands like him all over the land. Indeed I do not know of one who left us for the other side. All we ask of our Northern brethren is that they be tolerant and considerate of our feelings and principles and they must be willing fur the South to have a fair share of all the offices and spoils. We believe that Jefferson Davis is just as good and as great a man as Mr. La mar, and Mr. Lamar as good and as great as the best man North. That is what we believe and we don't care who knows it. Miss Winnie Davis is just as much a queen as Mrs. Cleveland and she may be in the White House yet before she dies ?who knows? But come along down here to Carters ville and we will talk it all over and if you don't like us we will let you go back again. One thing is certain?our folks are not going to move up North?no not even the niggers?they know who are their friends. fDEESON, 8. G., TH We have got a great big meetinghouse here that is called a tabernacle where all denominations worship together. Of course we have separate churches, with high fences all around, bo that the sheep of one flock can't get over and mix with sheep of another, but every few months we pull down the fences and ail run together. It is like several fields sowed down in wheat or corn. You can see the low fences that divide them until the corn or the wheat grows up high and then it looks like it was all one great big field with no fences at all. True religion is just that way. A man with a great big heart, who loves his Maker and his fellowmen, can't see any fences and don't want any. Sam Jones lives here and his brother Joe?that is, their families do? but we keep Sam and Joe out out on the road as missionaries most of the time. We send them up North and West where money and sinners abound, and are "more thicker, more denser," as Cobe says. I see that fifty union soldiers, who are in Mr. Lamar's department, passed some touching resolutions and gave him an affectionate farewell. I like that. Those things do us all good down South, and those boys can come down South and get anything we have got. We want kind words and good will. With these, and these only, the North can break up the solid South. It is their infernal, never ending hate that keeps us solid. As long as they elect our slanderers to office just so long will there be no peace. We love Mr. Cleveland more than ever for that kind letter he wrote Mr. Lamar. He dared to write it and we are proud of bim. Politicians may write and talk about protection and infernal revenue and party policy and all that, but it is a bigger thing to dare to do right or what you believe to be right. The people respect moral courage and Mr. Cleveland has got it. I hope he will veto that Blair bill. We have got enough of for? eign education now. I don't want the government to educate my children: I want to have a voice in choosing my own teachers. I want my children to feel and to know that they are dependent upon their father for education. Needn't tell me that anybody is too poor to send their children to school. I never knew a teacher who refused a scholar because he was poor. It' is not the tuition that is so hard upon the poor man. It is the time lost from the farm or the workshop. The tuition is nearly nothing in some of our colleges, but the boys can't go because there is the board and clothes. I don't want the federal government to step in between me aud my chil? dren, and choose -teachers and books for them. If I have a share in that money that has accumulated let them give it to me; I don't want any guardian or trustee. Every boy or girl in our country who wants an education can get it if his parents are willing, aud Mr. Blair'b bill is a tremendous humbug, in my opinion. Bill Arp. The Lynching Business, Mr. Editor :?I sec from your edito? rials that you are opposed to Lynch Law. So am I. Now let me give you a case in Lamar County, Texas. When I was there in 1874, this thing had occurred : Robert Draper, who had moved from Spartanburg County, S. C, from the Goucher Creek settlement, was a widow? er, with several children, both girls and boys. He had a little son shot and killed at the bouse while his daughters were at the spring washing. There was a tramp seen at the house and a gun heard to fire aud when the girls went to the bouse there was one of the boys shot and dead. The tramp was hunted down and found in the woods at night. He was believed to be the man that killed the little boy and the citizens were going to hang bim right now. But listen, you lynchers! There was a Methodist Preacher in the crowd and he prevailed upon the exasperated crowd to carry the man to Paris and put him in the jail and so they did. Well, Mr. Draper was holding family prayer one night and prayed earnestly that God would reveal to him how and by whom his little son was shot and killed, God heard his prayer and a little son having gone to bed before prayer, but not asleep, heard the prayer and began to cry in bed. When his father rose from his knees he went to the bed and said : "What is the matter?" The little fellow said: "Pa, I killed little brother. We were fooling with the gun and it went off accidentally and I shot brother." The citizens went right to the jail at Paris and turned the tramp loose. So I would close this by saying, "Take everything to God in prayer." W. R. Lipscomb. Gaffney City, S. C. How Crcsar Got Ahead. It was an ex Confederate soldier at Sheffield, Ala., who was giving some of his experiences at the battle of Fort Donelson. He was an officer and bad a young colored man for bis cook.. When the Confederates, or the great bulk of them, decided, after a hot fight, to with? draw from the fort, the Captain looked around for his servant, but the negro waB nowhere to be seen. The officer mount? ed a log and called out in loud tones for hia servant, and pretty soon was answered, but in such faint tones that he could not for awhile locate the cook. Cmsar finally made it plain that be was in the log under the officer's feet, and was ordered to come out. "Cau't do it!" he ?houted in reply. "But you must. The fight is all over.'1 "But I can't?dar's four white men in dis log behind me !" And when the officer investigated he found that such was the fact. They crawfished out, one after another, each having an excuse to urge, and finally the darkey appeared. The officer was about to open on him, but Cajsar protested : "Doan' say one word Bos? I Disar' de fust time I eber got ahead of a white man, an' it's gwine ter be de werry last ] De next fout we hev Ize gwine to let dc white man hev de hull log to himself, an' I'll look fur a hole in de ground."? Scrioia Sentinel. Spartanburg Spartan. ? A meeting of the citizens of Cin? cinnati has enthusiastically endorsed John Sherman for President, i UKSDAY MOKNING CHARITABLE RICH MEX. How Millionaires Have Glvon Away Mill? ions. Courier-Journal. No nation of the world has so many charitable rich men as the United States. The gold which flows so easily into their coffers runs out in streams toward worthy objects, and we have had many instances of our richest men giving away during their lifetime more than they left at their deaths. George Peabody died worth four millions of dollars. He gave away while living eight and one-half millions to educational and charitable institutions, to say nothing of the hun? dreds of thousands that he dispensed with in other ways. W*. W. Corcoran is still the richest man in Washington, but h6 has given away between three and four millions of dollars and his purse is always open. Abram Hewiti says that Peter Cooper's charities were twice as large as the estate he left, and during the panic of 187?-74 his library; table was piled high with money, and from 3 o'clock in tho afternoon until 6.30 o'clock he distributed half dollars and dollar bills to all the poor who came to him for it. In one week it is said that he gave away $1,500 in this manner, and his daily gifts to the poor sometimes ran as high as $200. During this same panic James Gordon Bennett, jr., donated $30,000 to establish soup kitchens for the poor, and Paul Tulane, a millionaire, who died in New Jersey a year or so ago, gave $2,000,000 to the university at New Orleans before his death. Tulane began life as a farmer's boy and wa9 born near Princeton, N. J. He made his money at the start as a merchant tailor in New Orleans, and be spent his days in his native State. He was here noted as a great alms giver, and one of his charita? ble methods was the paying off church pew rents for poor people, and another was his donations of Christmas turkeys to those who were unable to buy them. He often gave away in this manner hun? dreds of turkeys upon a single Christmas, and many a poor family relied upon him for its winter clothing. Speaking of employees, there is no man who does better by them, than George W. Childs, of Philadelphia. Childs insures the life of every editor, reporter, clerk and head of department in his employ. He provides them with doctors when they are sick, and be has given a burial plot in Woodland ceme? tery, which is now known as the Prin? ters' cemetery. He and his friend Drexel lately gave $10,000 to the Inter? national Typographical Union, and he is continuously giving to printers. He believes that" a man can be liberal and successful at the same time, and he pays for the composition on his paper $1?| a week more than the amount called lor by the union rules. Every Christmasipe gives every individual member of the Ledger staff a present in money, ranging from $10 to $500, and he tries to mate mocey for his men. When they become old and broken down he retires them on full pay and a number of his employees have grown rich in his service. Like most rich men noted for benevolence, he is overrun with beggars, and be gener? ally gives even to tramps. Mr. Childs gets about two hundred begging letters every day, and the mail of this kind which is received by our rich men daily would consume the sup? ply of a large paper factory. This letter will start the betters to the charitable men mentioned in it, and I have been told by rich men that every mention of their wealth brings out scores of new alms asking correspondents. I once published a newspaper letter about Pres? ident Cleveland's charities in which I told how be frequently gave away ten and twenty dollar bills in response to letters which excite his sympathy. For weeks after this was published the white house mail was burdened with begging letters making reference to it, and Sam Tilden's private secretary once told me that the greater part of Mr. Tilden's mail was made up of letters from beggars. Tilden never saw these, and it was only in a few cases that their letter ever reached bis eyes. It is the same with the mail of W. W. Corcoran and also C. P. Hunt? ington. Huntington's letters come from all portions of Europe and the United States, though there are more from the^ Pacific slope than anywhere else. He does not read such letters closely, and usually pitches them into the waste bas? ket. Mr. Corcoran's letters are replied to with a printed form, which states that his letters to him, as be is unable to meet the numerous demands which they contain. The letters which he receives are from everywhere and of all kinds, and the cheek exhibited in some of them is, to say the least, remarkable. One woman had a husband who was worth $50,000, but she would like to be inde? pendent of him, and she writes Mr. Cor ' coran for a donation large enough for her to live upon the interest. Another woman wrote for a barrel of salt pork, and a third wrote for a lavender silk ' dress to bo used during a presidential reception which was Boon to come off. Many of these letters sent to rich men i are from adventurers. Many of them contain propositions by which the mill ? ionaires can make a great amount of , money out of the investment of a very , little, and some of them are from people who are evidently in need. It is hard to ; discriminate, however, between the true I and the false, and the millionaire who gives without investigation will soon be worth nothing. The result is that a 1 great many rich men have agents who i do nothing else but investigate such mat? ters for them. Senator Stanford rarely i gives except when he is sure he is right, 1 and his benefaction runs high into the i thousands. Mrs. Stanford is especially > benevolent, and few of her gifts come to ; the ears ot the public. I know of a number of women whom she has helped, ) and there are people both in Washington i and San Francisco who never fail to [ mention her in their prayers. ? Senator Stanford's gift of $20,000,000 1 to establish the university of California is one of tho largest of the kind known to history, and this gift is three times the size of the fortune which Stephen Girard I loft. Girard's fortune amounted to about seven millions and a half, and of this he r, JANUAKY 26, 188 left six millions to bis university. He gave nearly all bis property to the pub? lic, and out of the whole fortune bis rel? atives received only $14,000. He gave somewhat during his lifetime, but he paid no attention to begging letters, and did not believe in supporting street vagrants. He left his estate in such a way that it has since grown to many times its original value, and the Girard college property pays a bigger income every year. Money given to educational institu? tions'is wisely placed and the million? aires of America seem to have under? stood this fact. Daniel Drew was scared into becoming a Methodist by the light? ning once striking dead a horse which he was once driving, and he founded the Drew theological seminary and he gave largely to Methodist institutions. George I. Senoy gave five hundred thousand dollars to the Wesleyan university, of Middleton, Conn., and his charities, which have been chiefly educational, have amounted to over a million and a half. Asa Packer gave about three millions to the Lebigb university and there is a college at Cleveland which received SG00,000 from the estate of Amasa Stone. This college is called Adelbert college and it commemorates Mr. Stone's son Adelbert, who was at Yale college at the time of bis death, and who was drowned while on a botan? ical excursion in Connecticut. Stanford's big university schemo was brought about by bis son dying, and Philadelphia got Girard college because Girard had no children to leave it to. I "".ay be that Providence had a hand in bringing about the distribution of this great wealth, Vassar college was founded by Matthew Vassar, who gave $400,000 towards it, and Vassar's son added to this amount.. Peabody's charity extended to Yale and Harvard, each of which got $150,000 from him. He gave $3,000,000 to the Southern educational fund, $1,500,000 to the Peabody institute at Baltimore, and $140,000 to the Peabody academy iu Massachusetts. Senator Joe Brown, of Georgia, has given $50,000 to a universi? ty there. Wan namaker, of Philadelphia, gave $50,000 to the Bethany Sunday school of that city, and Robert L. Stuart, the millionaire sugar refiner, who died about five years ago, bad given before his death $200,000 to Princeton college, and he left;it $150,000 more. Among other charitable rich men O'Brien, the California millionaire, gave ?80,000 to a Catholic orphan asylum. D. O. Mills gave $200,000 to a female seminary in San Francisco, and $75,000 to the university of California. Amos Lawrence, one of the Boston millionaires of the past, gave ?600,000 to charity, and Burnside, the A. T. Stewart of New Or? leans, donated $500,000 to the State of Louisiana for charitable distribution, giv? ing the State the discretion as to how tbe money should be placed. Looking over the rich men of to day, there is hardly one of them who does not give away large sums daily. Rockafel ler, the president of tbe Standard oil company, who is worth $70,000,000, lately said that his income was so large that be prayed God to give him the wisdom to dispose of it, and Flagler, another Stand? ard oil man, handed his pastor not long ago bis check for one hundred thousand dollars, and told him to distribute it as be thought best. Flager has given away about one million dollars in charity in tbe last five years, and it is said that he never says anything to others about bis gifts-_ Gould's Gigantic Grab. Railroad men who profesB to know whereof they speak are insisting that Jay Gould is now contemplating a scheme which will be more vast and far reaching than any he has as yet undertaken. If consummated it will give to a syndicate, in which be will be tho principal factor, a line across the continent, with con? nections at New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, operated over 20,000 miles of road, controlling over $800,000,000 of property and creating a railroad power such as will surprise even those familiar J' h the great system of tbe Pennsylva railroad, the New York Central or great western lines. The scheme which Mr. Gould is sup? posed to be contemplating proposes the control of the following railroad corpora? tions: The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, the New Jersey Central, the Baltimore & Ohio, tbe Richmond Ter? minal, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day? ton, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and tbe Missouri Pacific. Mr. Gould's plan is said to aim at the establishment of a line of his own from the Pacific to the Atlantic. He sees that the California miliionares have built a line of their own from San Francisco to the Gulf of Mexi C3, and threaten the business of his southwestern system. The great operator also views with alarm the efforts of tbe Vanderbilts to control a line across the continent, operating the New York Cen? tral, the Lake Shore & Michigan Central the Chicago & Northwestern and its extensions by ?tbe Firemont& Elkhorn and Missouri Valley road west of the Missouri river for more than 500 miles, their destination being fixed at San Francisco. The difficulties now encountered in tbe big scheme are said to be due to differ? ences in the adjustment of values as between the various parties. The Rich? mond Terminal has been asking for a much higher valuation than Is placed upon it by the Gould element. It is expected that the Baltimore & Ohio will -oon be able to release itself from the control of the syndicate which recently assisted it. When that shall have been accomplished that corporation will be looked upon as a factor in the scheme.? Philadelphia Record. ? A person makes better time by go? ing slow. It is generally tbe fast trains that are behind time; an accommodation always makes connections. ? A Cresston lover who addressed a love scented letter to the object of his affections, asking the young lady to be? come his partner through life, inscribed on one corner of the envelope, "Sealed proposal." The result was he was award? ed the c?ract, 8. AN ACT To Provide for the Belief of Certain Sol dicrs, Sn Hortfund Willows of Soldiers or Sailors of theJLato War Betweecn the 'States. Be it enacted by the Senate and Hou9e of Representatives of the State of South Carolina, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same: Section 1. That the following persons, soldiers and sailors, now citizens of South Carolina, who were in the service of the State or of the Confederate States in the late war between the States shall be en? titled to receive from the Treasurer of the State a monthly payment of five dollars, to be paid in the manner and on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth. Sec. 2. In order to obtain the beneflt of this Act such soldier or sailor must show, first, that he was a bona fide soldier or sailor in the service of the State of South Carolina or of the Confederate States in the war between the States; second, that while in such service he lost a leg or arm, or received any wound causing a permanent disability incapac? itating him from earning a livelihood; third, that neither himself nor his wife is the owner of property exceeding in value five hundred dollars as assessed for taxa? tion ; fourth, that he is not receiving an income exceeding the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars per annum. Sec. 3. Before any soldier or sailor shall receive any part of the payment provided in this Act he shall make application in writing, addressed to the Comptroller General of the State, setting forth in detail the nature of the disabling wound, the company and regiment or battalion in which he served, and the time and place of receiving the wound and showing that neither himself nor his wife is the owner of property, as hereinbefore spec? ified, and that be is not in receipt of income as hereinbefore specified. Such application shall be verified by the oath of the applicant, made before any officer in the State authorized to administer oaths, and shall be accompanied by the affidavit of one or more credible wit? nesses, stating that they know the appli? cant was a soldier or sailor, and believe the allegations made in the application to be true. Sec. 4. Such applications shall be verified by a certificate of the Auditor of the County in which the applicant resides, showing that the statements made as to property appear to be true from the lists of property as assessed for taxation, and it shall be the duty of the Auditor to furnish such certificate, if he shall so find the facts, without fee or charge. Sec. 5. The applicant^ must further procure the affidavit of two reputable physicians of the county in which .he resides, showing that they have mad a personal examination of the applicant and setting forth the nature of the alleg? ed wound and the extent of the disability thereby caused, and such other details as in their judgment may be relevaut to the application. Sec. 6. Such aplication, with the accom? panying papers, shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Court r' Common Pleas for the county in which the applicant resides, who, if be shall so find the fact*, shall, without fee or charge, certify under his official seal that he knows the parties whose names are subscribed to the several affidavits hereinbofore re lired (or that upon inquiry he believes them,) to be citizens of the County and State, and worthy of belief; that the said physicians are in good standing and regularly au? thorized to practice in the said county, and that in bis judgment the application should be granted. Or, if he shall find otherwise, he shall so endorse upon the said application, together with any mat? ters known to him or found by him relevant to the case. Sec. 7. The application, with the ac? companying papers, shall be forwarded to che Comptroller General, who-with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, shall constitute a board to ap? prove or disapprove such application, any two of whom shall have authority to act. If the said Board, or any two of them, sbal approve the application they shall so endorse thereon, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the Comptroller General to issue to the party entitled to receive the same his warrant for the sum of five dollars, on the last day of each month, beginning from the date of such approval and continuing until the last day of the following October, or until informed of the death of the party, which said war? rants shall be paid by the Treasurer on presentation. Sec. 8. The widow of any soldier or sailor from the State of South Carolina who lost his life while in the service of the State or Confederate ".tates, in the war bptween the States, while she remains unmarried, shall be entitled to receive the benefit of this Act, to the same con? dition as to property and income as hereinbefore provided, and may make her application setting forth in detail the facts which entitle her to make such claim, and verified by affidavits and cer? tificates hereinbefore provided, except the affidavits of physicians, and upon the approval of her claim, such widow shall be entitled to receive the same amount and in the same manner as hereinbelore provided. Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller General to prepare and chuso to be printed forms in blank, on which such applications, certificates and affi? davits may be conveniently made, and he shall cause the same to be distributed in the several Counties of the State, in such numbers and such manner as in his judg? ment may bo necessary, Sec. 10. Any person who shall dis? count, sh?ve, or in any manner speculate in the claim or application of any soldier, sailor, or widow made under this Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or imprison? ment not exceeding sixty days, or botb, at the discretion of the Court. Sec. 11. The Clerk of the Court of Com? mon Pleas shall keep a record of the applications endorsed by him, and any person having had his claim approved by the Board, as hereinbefore stated, may, during the month of November in each succeeding year, report himself to the Clerk of the Court of his county and ob? tain from him a c rtificate that he or she is the identical party named in the original application, and is still entitled to receive the benefits of this Act, under the conditions herein required. Such certificate shall be forwarded to the Comptroller General, and, with the ap? proval of the aforesaid Board, the Comp? troller General shall continue the payments hereinbefore provided, until the thirty first day of October following, or until notified of the death of the party entitled to receive the same. Sec. 12. Any person who shall fraudu? lently personate any soldier, sailor or widow, for the purpose of obtaining the benefits of this Act, or who shall know? ingly make or cause to be made any false or fraudulent application or statement, or by any false or fradulent 'statements piocurc such application to be made, approved or paid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding two huudred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of the Court. Sec 13. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are herebv repeal? ed. Composting. 1. How early will it do to compost stable manure and cotton seed for corn and cotton ? 2. Will it do as well to add kainit and phosphate at time of bedding with com? post, or will it be better to add at time of putting up compost heap. Answer?1. As a rule, composts should be prepared a length of time be? fore using in proportion to the roughness and coarseness of materials. Not less than six weeks will be required under favorable circumstances for the average materials used in composting to become broken down by fermention and decom? position, so as to permit of uniform mix? ing and easy distribution. A compost heap should be cut down and reheaped once during the process, say in about three weeks. Looseness in the mass hastens decomposition, while hard pack? ing retards the process. Care should be taken to have the mass thoroughly wet at the start, in order to prevent over? heating or fire-fang. 2. Dr. E. M. Pendleton recommended putting cotton seed, acid phosphate and kainit separately in the opening furrow ; but we think it better to put all the ma? terials in the compost heap at the start, except where ashes are used. They should not be put in heap with stable manure, cotton seed, or acid phosphate, but separately applied" as the lime and potash of the ashes tends to dissipate the ammonia generated during chemical changes, as well as to revert the soluble phosphoric acid of the acid phosphate to an insoluble form.?Southern Cultivator. In Regard to Explosives. The prevailing opinions in regard to explosives are, in the main, incorrect. The statement that the main force of a dynamite explosion is downward will go uncontradicted in almost any company that bas not given explosives special attention. But in fact there is no shoot? ing upward or downward or edgeways with one explosive more than with another. They all explode alike, and the variety of effect is caused by the dif? ference in their power?that is, the rapidity with which they explode. The explosive power of powder, which, of all explosives, is best understood, is about 40,000 pounds to the square inch, and other explosives are measured as being a given number of times stronger or weaker than powder. Tue force of that explosive is generally believed to be upward, when, in fact it is equal in all directions. But it burns slow enough to allow the air to get out of the way. Dynamite, on the other hand, explodes so rapidly the air cannot be displaced in time to prevent its force downward, being much greater in proportion than that of powder. It is because dynamite will break a stone beneath it that the people think its greatest power is in that direc tion. To prove that it is not, suspend a large stone in the air and suspend the dynamite charge to the underside of it. The work of destruction will be as com? plete as though the stone had been underneath. Duties on Clothing and Blankets. A correspondent is informed that Mr. Sherman's statement, in his recent speech that clothing and blankets are a3 cheap in the Unitd States as in Europe is not correct. The tariff tax is imposed on those articles to enable the American manufacturer to sell tbem at a higher price than the European products of the same kind could be sold at, and it does it. It is a safe general rule, at a time like the present, when the mills are not overstocked and buyers are plentiful, to deduct the duty from the wholesale price of goods to find the price abroad. The duties are highest on the classes of goods bought by the poor, because the poor are tbe best customers. The list our corres pondent asks for is as follows: Duty on bats valued at 40 cents per pound, 75 per cent.; valued at SO cents per pound, 52 per cent. Duty on kr.il goods worth not over 30 cents per pound, 83.3 per cent.; worth SO cents per pound aud upward G2 per cent. Duty on woolen goods, dress goods, &c, worth less than SO cents per pound, 85.5 percent., worth over SO cents per pound, G4 4 per cent. Duty on blan? kets worth 30 cents per pound or under, 75 G per cent.; worth from 30 to 40 cents per pound, G3.S per cent.; worth SO cents per pound or over, 70 per cent. Duty on cheapest flannels, 73 4 per cent.; on flan? nels worth from 40 to GO cents per pound, GS 2 per cent.?Baltimore Sun. ? Nothing is more certain than that human conduct produces its effect upon human character and determines its fu? ture weal or woe. Virtue and upright? ness give the pure hea?t and clear con? science, whose working is r.n ample re? ward for effort and sacrifice. Vice and wrong inevitably leave their marks on the soul and tend to misery. Retribution follows as the night the day upon human action. Goodness hath its reward; sin hath its punishment. E XXIII.- -NO. 29. THE ELECTRIC CURRENT Commeudeil by a Commission on Capital rutilhliment. New York, Jan 17.?The report otV the commission appointed by the Legis lature in 18S6 to report the most humane aod practical method known to moder science of carrying into effect the sentence of death in capital cases,.was transmitted to the Legislature yesterday. It recom-'^ mends killing the culprits by electricity. ~ The commissioners are Elbridge T. Gerry, Alfred P. Southwickand Matthew. Hall. "Your commission have examined [ with care the accounts where crist of the various curious modes of capital punish- ; ment which are or have been used among . different communities, with the result of-r feeling that the element of barbarous i cruelty is so prominent in each that no mode can be considered as embodying.: - suggestions of improvement of that now in use in this State. Any change, to deserve commendation, must be to a sys? tem substantially new, and the careful reader of a description of those punish- | ments cannot, without prejudice, arrive', at a different conclusion." The chief objections to the guillotine by the commission are that it is too bloody and that it is associated with the ; scenes of the French revolution. The garrote is objectionable because physi-Ji* cians say the fatal screw cannot be de-.";\ pended upon to be so quick and certain in operation that there may not be great agony on. the part of the criminal. Shooting, if used in c?vil life, would be bloody in character and effects, would ;. sometimes lack celerity, would require a . .' large number of executioners, and would be demoralizing because of its tendency .^' to encourage the untaught populace to think lightly of the fatal use of firearms. /> The first objection to hanging is that the effect of giving stimulants to the',;? condemned immediately before execution is demoralizing. The prevalence of the practice, the commissioners say, is well known even in prisons where \ prisoners . are debarred from alcoholic drinks. When the Anarchists were hanged in ' Chicago recently, at the suggestion of the ? Sheriff, the county physician went to the~ condemned men's cells and asked them to take stimulants. Engel drank two or <2 three times of port wine and Spies spar- * ingly of Rhein wine. One reason assigned for giving liquor to crminals is that it is a mercy to lessen his perception of the pain of dying. Another is that, he f can thus fortify himself with unnatural ^ strength for the ordeal. These reasons- > are objectionable. As to giving liquor "' to stupefy the prisoner, if pain is a part^ of the punishment, then the - criminal should suffer it. If it is not essential, then let an anesthetic or a narcotic be given. In either case the resort to alco? hol as a means of stupefying the sufferer, argues a defect in the method of execu? tion. Moreover, if liquor enough is given to the condemned man he becomes . drunk, and drunkenness itself is an offense. In a moral aspect the gross im- j propriety of sending a man into the presence of his Maker intoxicated is too obvious to require comment. Another objection to .hanging is the danger of an attempt by the condemned man to commit suicide, and of some hor? rible scene afterward.. If Lingg, the Chicago .Anarchist, had lived after he had exploded a bomb in bis mouth, the spectacle of his face at the banging would have been shocking. There are four cases on record where men who had cut; their throats just before the time for their execution arrived were hanged. The commission then states the objec? tions to various other modes of inflicting the death penalty. In regard to the use of electricity, it says: "Perhaps *the most potent agent for destroying human life is. electricity. Death is instantaneous. The application may bo made without injury to officials,^ the place for its use may be strictly pri- - vale, and its certainty is beyond doubt. ; ."One objection to the use of electricity is the shock which people uninstructed in its use suppose is inflicted on the con? demned man. As[ a matter of fact, an electric shock cannot produce a sensation which can be perceptible to the criminal. The velocity of the current is so great that the brain is paralyzed." Thomas A. Edison writes that dynamo?-~ electric machinery which employs inter? mittent currents would be the most suita? ble apparatus. Tho passage of the cur? rent from these machines through the body, even by the slightest contact^ causes instant death. The commissioners describe a number of experiments with electricity as a means of destroying animals, witnessed in Buffalo by one of the commissioners last year, with Dr. George E. Fellofthat . city. For the purpose of ascertaining the effect of the electric light current on the action of the heart, the thorax of a chloroformed dog was opened so that tho lungs and heart could be seen in action, by forcing respiration, as in conscious life. At the instant when the current passed through the heart it became a mass of quivering flesh. The ordinary conditions of dying were absent. It was y noticed that an attempt to breathe was made after the current was passed through the dog. This indicated that the brain had not lost its susceptibility to impressions, and shows that in execu? tion the current should be passed through the centre of functions in the brain. The commission recommends that a chair, with a head and a foot rest, should be used, in which the condemned man could be seated in a half-reclining posi? tion. One wire could be connected with the head rest and tho other with the foot rest, which would be a metal plate. The electric current could be supplied by electric light wires. The commission recommends that the" date of the execution be made uncertain,^ so that the criminal may not know what date be is to die, and that the corpse go to the doctors or to a nameless grave without religious rites, and that the newspapers be forbidden to describe the j execution. ? Mother?"Why, Willie, you can't^ possibly eat another plafe of podding,"1 can you?" Willie?"Oh, yes, ma, I a One more plate will just fill the bill,"