Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SOLITUDE. Oh! that the desert was my dwelling- place, With one fair spirit for my minister, That I might all forget the human race. And, hating no one, love but only herl Ye elements!?in whose ennobling stir I feel myself exalted?can ye not Accord me such a being? Do I err In deeming such inhabit many a spot? Though with them to converse can rarely be our lot ?Byron. AFTER THE WILDERNESS. Moj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry?A Bravo Artillery Officer. When Gen. Grant came over with his hammer to batter the tough earthen anvil in May, 1864, it was Maj. Gen. Fitz Lee, as much or more than anybody else, who prevented a disastrous result after the battles of the Wilderness. Stuart as signed to his division the duty of ob structing the Federal advance to Spottsylvania Court House, and during all the long hours of the night the young officer obstinately resisted the Federal progress with barricades and the crack sharpshooters, falling back only to make, another stand, until time was given Gen, Leo's infantry to" occupy the line of the Po. Had it not had time to do so, Gen. Grant would have interposed between Lee and Richmond, the Confederate capi tal must have fallen, Bince there was no force to protect it, and that this- result did not follow the rapid movement .of Gen. Grant southward was due to the soldiership of Gen. Fitz Lee and his cavalry. It is impossible in a brief article to. give an adequate idea of this obstinate fighting of Lee's division between the I Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House. The cavalry and horse artillery seemed to die rather than yield a foot, and when under orders they sullenly fell back, it seemed, under bitter protest. A single incident wiU give some idea of the animus of Gen. Fitz Lee's men, which he related to me. The cavalry had fought step by step and had been ordered to fall back on Spottsylvania Court House. Two pieces of horse artillery were posted to cover the retreat, and near them were seated On their horses Gen. Fitz Lee and Maj. Breathed, one of the bravest of all Stu art's brave artillerists. A line of Federal sharpshooters was advancing on the guns, and Gen. Lee said: "Give them a round of canister, Breathed." The guns thundered, sweeping the slope, but the skirmishers bravely con tinued to advance; and what was worse, a line of infantry advanced to support them. To remain longer was to lose the guns and Gen. Fitz Lee exclaimed: "Take off the guns, Breathed!" UA few moire rounds, general," Breathed pleaded, and turning to the gunners, "Give them canister!" he shouted. "Look out for your guns, Breathed! Bring them off!" .Gen. Lee ordered, turn ing his horse. "Limber to the rear!" was the order, and one of the guns wellt off at a gallop. The Federal infantry were now only a fair y yty]g <>flg-and-the^?eoood gun seemod lost. "Surrender the gun!" they shouted, to which Breathed replied with a last round of canister, and limbering up at tempted to take the gun off. As he did so the drivers were shot one after an other and fell from their horses, some of ? which were also shot and fell in their traces. Breathed cut the animals from the traces, mounted one of the wheel horses, and, striking them with his sabre, brought off the gun in the midst of a shower of bullets, from which, as Gen. Lee said, "he miraculously escaped un harmed " It was by means of this reck less'fit hUig that Gem Grant's column was delayed in its advance and Gen. Lee was enabled to reach, the court house and occupy the line of the Po before the ar rival of his adversary.?John Esten Cooke inPhiladelphiaVTimes. New York Winten Getting Milder. It was nothing strange years ago for snow to fall about Christmas and remain on the ground for weeks and months, often several feet in depth. The mercury dropped below zero and did not cause any wonder. Everything that usually ran on wheels was placed on "runners." It is very seldom that the mercury now reaches below zero, and snow rarely packs, even when it is not cleared away by the street cleaning department. "One principal cause for this change," said a New York officer of the signal service corps, "can be seen from the win dows of this station. Look around you in every direction, east, west, north, or south, in this city, Brooklyn and Jersey City, and what do you see? Clouds of steam rising from almost every housetop. Elevators in offices and apartment houses, factories using steam as a motor, build ings heated by the same hot vapor; all sending forth clouds from the tops ol the houses. Do you not suppose this has an effect on the atmosphere, warms the air and half melts the snow before it reaches the ground? Then there are the boilers under the sidewalks and in the cellars; steam-heating pipes along the roadways and thousands of contrivance; to generate heat not known a quarter of a century ago."?New York Letter. The Hairless Bog of Mexico. No Mexican kennel is complete with out two or three pelon or hairless dogs. They are of a dirty blue color, have sharp, pointed ears, and do nothing but lull in the sun or crouch before a fire shivering with cold. Pelon is a Mexicanism mean ing gift, and they probably called these hairless creatures pelon dogs because you have to give a man something to take "one as a present. They are ill-natured, mean, arrant thieves, and with not a single good trait in their character.?Mexi< n Letter. Great Frederick's Drinking Cup. A silver drinking cup which formerly belonged to Frederick the Great has just been sold at Berlin for 2,000 roubles. The cup was presented to Frederick by his troops, and he drank out of it on his last battlefield. There are inscriptions on it of the names and dates of his great victories, and it is in all respects a rare curiosity. The German ambassador of fered the owner 5,000 roubles for it soma years ago, but he then refused to sell it. ?New Orleans Times-Democrat. THE ESQUIMAU AS A TRADER. He Knoivs Nothing of the Use of Money Bargains?Sign of Friendship. The Esquimau knows nothing of the use of money, and but little more of the art of barter. This was strongly shown in their method of trading with the whal ing crew of the ship whereupon my party was taking passage to North Hudson bay. A nice polar bear robe was spread on the quarter deck, one that you would expect a furrier's clerk to intimate was worth a clear ?150. My breath was al most taken away when the master of the ship hauled out of his pocket a half a plug of navy six (one-twelfth of a pound) tobacco and offer it to him for the white silky affair, and I had to lean up against one of the davits, when this northern ninny accepted the offer with a smile, as if he had struck a special sale bargain. The white man got generous, however, before he rolled up the skins, and added a sixth of a pound of powder to the bar gain. Four saddles of reindeer meat were had for a liali a cupful of shot, that properly managed might have secured four ducks, which in turn could have been traded to this whaler for a lump of brown sugar, and the native would have still been satisfied, even if the white man had bitten it in two and handed liim the smaller half. Twenty-five rusty musket caps were given for five beautiful white fox skins; and I went into a mathemati cal estimate with logarithms and astronomy, which showed that a man with a capital of a box of musket caps (4 cents wholesale), would, if he started into this business at 15 years of age and continue it till he felt like retiring at 50, own the whole earth by warranty deed, and have a ohattel mortgage on the rest of the solar system; that is, if tlie foxe3 held out. They had brought three dogs with them in the comien, which I wanted to purchase for my explorations, and although the sur rounding circumstances would have justified me in tendering a handleless palmleaf fan that hung up in my state room as a souvenir from my unknown '?edeoessor. I broke loose from the in atuation, and actually gave them some thing approximately near their own value. As a result one fellow, who had evi dently not washed his face since he was born, so insisted on rubbing noses with me in an affectionate manner to testify Ids appreciation of my payments that notwithstanding it was interpreted as signifiing eternal friendship, I almost repented of my weak atteinpr, at gen erosity, and regretted that I had not given them a pipeful of tobacco for each dog, instead of a pound package of it along with other articles. A breeze springing up, ter-bow-it-ec (farewell) was exchanged, and we parted with all our Esquimau friends except their odor, which hung over the ship as if it had come to stay. I spent the next few hours reading a description of these same savages, and how they had to be watched to prevent their stealing things too loosely scattered about the ship's deck, and I thought there would be very little left of , even the deck If the natives stole enough' to keep even with their trading losses.? Lieut. Schwatka's Letter. What Young Doctors Dread Most. In a conversation with a doctor, he Baidto me: "Bo you wish to know the greatest source of worriment to a young practitioner? It is that he will be called to save a poisoned person. There are bo many sorts of poison, the symptoms axe so intricate, and the antidotes so Varied, that it is almost impossible to keep them in one's headby.merely theoretical learn ing. Actual experience impresses knowl edge on a doctor, and an old man has accumulated a stock in that way, but the youngsters don't have it within sudden reach. "In the ordinary routine of practice, he can delay treatment long enough to look into a text book or to consult with some kindly old chap in the profession; but when we are hastily summoned to the side of a patient with poison in his stomach, the nature of which can only be determined by symptoms, and whose life can only be saved by quick dosing with the right drug, the responsibility is something frightful. What do I do? I carry in an inner pocket a thin book con taining a summary of poisons, symptoms and antidotes. That is a common prac tice with young doctors, and a few old ones, too." The liability to pummons au a witness in court after attending to a poisoning case makes physicians additionally alert and anxious. That lends terror to the risk of mistakes.?New York Cor. Chi cago Journal. Largest Sewer in the World. A sewer is building hi Washington, wliich is seven feet larger in diameter tlian any other in the world. In its small est part it is larger than the Largest of the sewers in Paris. For over 2,000 feet it is a circular sewer of twenty-two feet in diameter. There is connected with it a sewer 5,000 feet, or nearly one mile, in length and twenty feet in diameter. A fully-equipped palace car, locomotiv.) and all, could be run through it without difficulty. This enormous sewer is in to ded to drain the immense water-shed lying to the north of the city. Beside* that, it will carry to the eastern branch of the Potomac all the contents of the smaller system of sewers in the northern part of the city. It will take a year to complete the work.?Boston Budget. A "Way of Getting Around It. Gen. Toombs had a peculiar way of get ting around defeat. In controversy with a northerner, who finally exclaimed, "Well, general, we licked you, anyhow!" he retorted: "Licked us! No, sir! No such thing! Wc wore ourselves out whipping you!*' Gen. "Jim'' Lane of Kansas al most equaled that when, in the early pan of the civil war, he responded to a question about a rather hurried retreat of his brigade: '"No, sir, the Kansas brig ade never retreats; it counter-marches, sir!"?Chicago Tribune. Many a heart would be hardened but for the memory of the past griefs, when eyes, now averted, perhaps, were full of sympathy, and hands now cold wer? eager to soothe and succor.?Thackeray,, A FAMOUS RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONIST What "Stepniak" Saya of tho Injustice of Bussia's System of Taxation. In one of the dingiest squares in the west central district of London lives "Stepniak," the famous Russian writer and revolutionist. In the course of a recent interview he said: "When the late Czar Alexander emancipated the serfs he received the applause of civilized Europe. It was thought to be a gracious act worthy of an enlightened age. Russia hailed it as the dawn of a new era. But what has been the result? Millions of people have been emancipated from slavery to a so called freedom which has burdened them with responsibilities they are not able to bear, and for the non-fulfillment of which they are afflicted with punish ments unknown to slavery itself. Rus sia is a peasant state. The inhabitants of all the cities and towns make only 10 per cent, of the population, and one half of the towns are agricultural. And our peasants are our taxpayers. They, and not the wealthy folk, supply the revenue of the state, and they are taxed far beyond reason and justice. The taxes are so imposed that they fall due just before harvest time, when the peo ple have not yet turned their crops to cash. At the best of times they have barely enough to live on after they have paid the government demand^ how much worse then must it be when they are asked to pay their taxes just at that season of the year when they have no money? "You would think that it would only be rational on the part of the govern ment to postpone its days of collection until the harvests have Iteen gatliered and sold. But the Russian government does nothing that is rational. Year after year efforts have been made to so postpone the date when the taxes fall due. But to no avail. For then the officials would be bereft of an excuse for plundering the peasants and appropriat ing their crops in the name of the law. And understand that in Russia every thing is done by the officials as they think best, or, rather, as they find the best chances for plunder. At one time banks were started to assist the peasants, so that they could lay up money through the year to meet the taxes as they be came due, but, just as these institutions met with favor from the men they were designed to benefit and their coffers be gan to fill with savings, a decree was is sued?which is only another way of say ing that it was carried 'out?appointing a government official at the head of each bank, and the officials at once ap propriated the funds. "In Russia there is no public opinion because there are no means of formu lating one. Tho peasants, who form nine-tenths of the population, are densely ignorant, and the educated class suffer ceaseless prosecution unless they enroll themselves prominently on the government side. What are called the 'Nihilists' are chiefly the educated people, for there can be no harmony be tween despotism and enlightenment. "The educated-clazs"have~ taken up uu: behalf of the peasant the battle Which the peasant is unable to fight for him self, and for this they are persecuted be yond the power of an alien people to believe."?London Cor. New York Trib une. An Apology from Bean Brummen. An ex-officer in the army, who ? had had the misfortune to have his nose shot or sabred off in the peninsula, was told that Brummell had reported of him that ho had never held a commission, but was nothine- more than a retired hatter. He called t an the Beau and demanded satisfaction. Brummell promptly and energetically denied that he had ever spread the disparaging rumor. But when the captain was about to take his leave, gratified with his success, Brum mell followed him to the door and again affirmed that the report was false, giv ing, however, this, reason: "Now that I think of it, I never in" my life dealt with a hatter without a nose." The Peasant and the Serpent. One day on his return from Market a Peasant found a Dangerous Serpent playing with ins children. Without stopping to make Inquiries he seized a club and dealt the Reptile a Mortal blow. "Wasn't your Action an Arbitrary Abuse of Power?" inquired the Toad. "I don't think you oan Prove that the Ser pent had struck one of your Children." "As to that," replied the peasant, "the time to kill Poisonous Reptiles is before you are Bitten." Moral: A Wolf doesn't make his ap pearance among Lambs with the Inten tion of leading them to Sunday School. ?Detroit Free Press. It Sounds a Little Odd. In The Union Medicale a doctor tells of a duel at winch he assisted, and in which one of the men died of a pleurisy ?empyema following upon the wound. He thought that this could have been prevented by due antiseptic precautions. "The blades should have been clean, medically. The foils should have been passed through a flame or carbolic acid. We should like to have the pistols and balls disinfected." This sounds a little odd, considering how easily they could be dispensed with.?Exchange. Most Remarkable Natural Echoes. Among the most remarkable natural echoes is that of Eagle's Nest, on the banks of Killarney, in Ireland, which repeafs a bugle call until it seems to be sounded from a hundred instruments, and that of the banks of the Naha, be tween Bingen and Coblentz. which re peats a sound seventeen times.?Phila delphia Call. Place Where Drums Are Made. Uiw firm in western Massachusetts last year made 130,000 drums, usmg 500,000 feet of lumber, 35,000 sheep skins, 2,200 pounds of cord, and tons of other fittings.?Chicago Journal. When our pride, our avarice, out in terests, our desire to domineer, are worked upon, are we not forever1 pester ing heaven to decide in theiir favor?? Thackeray. The Laud of the Mini in the Moon. [Ruf us Rood.] There's a country remarkably quaint and queer, Wbero the air won't support a bollooa, And everything's just as it isn't here? 'Tis the land of the man in the moon, fhero people don't bother with "parties" at ad, rhe crop of great statesmen's exceedingly small, Bank officers never flee toward Montreal In the land of tho man in the moon. "The ladies all make most delightful wives In the land of the man in the moon. Rascality's punished, and honor thrives In the land of the man in the moon. The milkmen are honest, tho liquors are pure. No agents beset you with plans to insure, Quack doctors don't promise each ailment to cure In the land of the man in the moon. The Economy of Cheap Furniture. ,_ [Tho Judge.! A GO-AS-YOU-PLEASE BEDSTEAD. Paste This in Your Hat. [Good Housekeeper.] Don't let tho door stand open, but shut it with much care, "Without a bang, without a whang?yes, shut it fair and square; Without a slam, without a jam, without a slat?or jerk. For if you've left it open, go shut it, and don't shirk. No Christian man or woman, no well trained chick or child, "Will let a door swing idly, to make weak nerves run wild, When chilly winds aro blowing, and some ono taking cold? "While the open door is creaking and mutter ing like a scold. Haste makes but waste, remember, so plenty take of time; Don't leave the door half open?a fault al most a crime? And if you've over dono this, don't do so any more; "Whatovor else you fail to do, don't .fail to shut tho door. Her Big Sister's Bean. [Atlanta Constitution.] You are my sister's new beau, are you, Tho one she caught at tho ball? 'T heard her telling mamma so, Just as I came through tho hall. She says you are awfully stupid, And you cannot dance at all; It's just becauso you're rich, I guess, Made you tho "catch" at tho ball. And she says that when you are married She'll teach you a thing or two; I don't think I'd be taught by a girl If I were a man like you. "What! Not going already, aro youf Jack never hurried off so; Sister will bo down in a minute, And be real angry, I know. Pickles and Cream. [To-Day.] I know an actress who stands high in her profession and who is generally regarded as a sane woman, who never eats a dinner. Bat after her night's work is done she is eervod with a meal comprised of pickled gherkins, ice cream and cake. After EOmo year of this dietary practice she foil seriously ill, and in her convalescence I met her, palo and interesting, being towed down Broad way by her dog. ?rl cannot conceive what ailed me," she said. "I'm sure I took the best care of my self. There isn't a woman in the profession that lives quieter than I do." And she assumed an expression of injury that ought to have mado Nature ashamed of herself. Politeness Pays. [Philadelphia Press.1 "Won't you leave your coat down here before you go up to dinner? Let me take it," suavely besought tho clerk of a country hotel of a visitor who had just come in. "I will hang it up," he coutbiued politely. The guest thanked him for bis profuse dis play of courtesy, and went upstairs highly pleased with the troublo that hnd been taken over him. "We always do that," said the clerk winking at a bystander. "I have only been in tho hotel busiucss two months, but that was tho first trick I learned. I wanted that man's coat as security for tho payment of his dinner bilL It is tho rule in many country hotels to got tho unknown transient to deposit his coat, hat or gum boots in the office. If it Is done properly, tho visitor tiiinks it is nothing but native politeness." A Subscriber Is Never a Fraud. [Life] Office Boy (to country editor)?A man was in while you wero out who said ho was the genuine John "Wllkes Booth." Editor (hastily)?He's a frau2. You didn't give him anything, did you? Office Boy?No. Ho left a dollar for six months' subscription. Editor?"Well, welL Aud so John Wilkos Booth is still alive. It beats all. Brevities. Life: Bettor an empty head than one with a cold in it Soinervilk) Journal: '"Man's lifo h what ho makes it"?sometimes. More oftou it h what some woman makes it. Sani: Dudelet?Barber, me boy, I want my mustache dyed. Barber?Certaiuly, my dear sir. Did you bring it with you? To-Day: "What's your hurry, Wilkinsl Got a note to mceti" "No. Cot oua I'm afraid to meet." Vanishes around tho cor ner. Merchant Traveler: Young iron who think their sweethearts are divine, love to make divinity students of themselves every night iu the week. The Judge: His honor?How old are you, madam.' Witness?I have no personal knowledge of my ago, and hearsay testi mony, 1 understand, is not accepted in the court Ho uwt her on the hcrso car, And ho offered her a seat, And he thought she was an angel Till she trod upon his feet. -{Boston JUudgU. CLEARING OUT SALE! AS THE SEASON IS NEAR AT , HAND FOR PUTTING IN ? SPRING GOODCi PRDsG G00J)O Aud wishing to make room, we will make it to the interests of all to call and get Great Bargains As we arc determined not to carry over any Fall Stock. We still lead in low prices and are Headquarters for GENT'S, YOUTH'S AND BOY'S CLOTHING. Our trade in Zeigler's Fine Shoes For Ladies was never better. Every pair guaranteed. Wo cany the largest and best Stock of Gent's HAND-SEWED SHOESS: : In the market. All warranted. ?Grroceries At CHARLESTON QUOTATIONS. -? ! COME AND'SEESFORSYOURSELF. GEO, H. C0MELS0I Removed TO OUE NEWLY FITTED UP STORE OPPOSITE THE TENT. NOTICE. Wc do not propose to undersell everyone else, but we arc ready to meet fair competition. Our Stock is now complete: give us a call Mr. I.S. CUM MINGS is with us, and will be glad to see his old friends and customers. We sell the. ROYAL 1ST. JOHlN SEWING MACHINES. Machines of all makes repaired. Large Wogoh Yard in rear of Store. VOSE & SALLEY. Dress anil business suits for Men, Youths and Boys. This is the largest stock ever brought to this city. I particularly ask an inspection of these goods now, in order that I may have your verdict of approval. And after you havo seen tliir -lsplay of Tailor Made Clothing, Gents' Furnishing Goods, Fine Shoes, Hats and Neckwear, I feel as snrcd that you will be pleased not only with the goods but the low prices 1 am selling them at. I desire you to handle them, to bring all your experience to bear in Judging them; critically examine their make, fabric and trimmings, test the sewing, try them on; in fact make a study of them as well as the prices, then go to other houses and make the comparison. I am satisfied that you will return and make your selection out ?f this beautiful stock and to find the goods as I represent them to be, and give you full satisfaction in every instance, as my goods are made by fust-class workmen. All or ders sent to my care will receive prompt attention. Respectfully, M. L. KINARD, Columbia, S, ?. Dec. 17-ly "ESTABLISHED 1877. Twenty-five Years Experience. T, Mliiavette, Watch Makeu and Jkwelek, And dealer in Watches, Clocks, Jewelry Spectaeles, Silver and Plated Ware ami Musical instruments. All work warranted for one year. Orangeburg. >. Cj INSURE YOUR PROPERTY WITH KIRK ROBINSON, AGENT. COMPANIES Ahl. fIST-CLASS AND RELIABLE. LOSSL'S PROMPTLY ADJUSTED AND PAID. COLLECTIONS PUOMI'TI.Y ATTEND ED TU. 1 am Miil sidling liriek, Lime, Laths Hair and other ESuHiliti? Material. ALSU 1 am now prepared in furnish Coal and Wood in any ijitautity. All orders !.;fl with nie shall have prompt attention. N'o (ravage charged. Give me a trial. July 28- K1KK IIOIJINSON AIUAI. I.ATIIUor. I\ M. WANXAMAKKlt, Orangeburg, S. C. St. Matthews, S. U J ATI! ROI' & WANNA MAKEU, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, OaANGEBUltC!, S. V. Ollice Up Stairs Over the Postofllce.