Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HHBI ' im ? .' ?-? ?? ESTABLISHED IX 1S( COST OF EASING COTTON. CHEAP MONEY NEEDED TO MAKE ' CHEAP COTTON. . Capt. Paul F. Haiunond Gives some In structive Facts about the Cowt of Grow ing Cotton?Debt und Extravagant liv ing the Cause of the Fanner's Poverty. Columbia, S. G, !S"ovember 22.?Capt. Paul F. Hammond, <>f Beech Island. Aiken county, has contributed a most interesting and valuable article to the annual report of the commissioners of agriculture of this State, regarding the cost of producing cotton in South Caro lina. Capt. Hammond says that 4 cents a pound seems a very low figure at which to place the actual cost of making cotton) and yet while it costs many planters S cents, some 10 cents, and not a Yery few^ even 12 cents, the fact stands as a fact within his own .knowledge, that it has been made tor less than four cents, and he claims that it can be demonstrated by figures that on finer land, with judicious and econo mical methods, industriously pursued, it can be made, ar d should be made, at four cents,: three cents, and even less than three cents per pound. "Even then." Capt. Hammond continues, "selling Ids crop at an average of seven and' a half cents net, there is no-great income left to the producer of thirty, fifty, or even a hundred bales of cotton." He then submits a detailed estimate of the cost of making cotton per acre, showing the net casii expenses to be about 37. If the product was 540 pounds of seed cotton, or 180 pounds of lint, the cost would be 3.88 cents per pound; where it was 200 pounds lint, 3>? cents, and where it was 250 pounds, 2.4-5 cents a pound. Capt. Hammond continues: '-The planter who makes cotton at a, cost of three cents and sells it for eight cents, ought not certainly to complain of the percentage of profit, upon his expenses. So, too, as a rule, the per cent, of pro fit, 'on the total investment in land, mules, machinery, implements, &c, will be found o:ne which business men are accustomed to regard as large. Property- is so extremely low that a planter making an average crop of 100 bales will not need to havs invested more than $12,000 to $13,000?810,000 in land and buildings, and $3,000 in stock, supplies, machinery, &c. "If, then, he be a good planter, on moderately fair land, for none is really good land which will not bring 300 pounds of lint cotton, when manured, he will make from 820 to 825 a bale, and his income will be from $2,000 to ?2,500?a very fair return from his capital." "What, then," he asks, "is the matter?" Why is there so much com plaint? Are not the cotton planters , -fast sinking into a condition of almost ' libjteless poverty T "I might answer,-1' he says, "that tfre whole world is grow ing poorer. The business depression everywhere is marvellous, unpreceden ted, and agriculture among the worst sufferers, as she always is. The great Northwest cannot .stand wheat at 80 ?cents. Three-fourths of the farms are mortgaged to their full value, and their nominal owners and tenants can only endure their miserable lives because they were reared in the poverty of the Old World. For some years it has been known that in every county in England scores of rich farms are lying tenantless and unworkedjand now we have the statement on good authority that rent on the average is not more than 15s. an acre, and, of this 15s.. 10s. Is required to pay interest on the in vestment in buildings which the land lord has made, leaving the mere pit tance of 5s. (SI.25) to represent the rental of land which makes from twen ty to fifty bushels of wheat. Why, in the cotton-growing section of the ;South, where it is healthy for a white family to live, land rents for from two dollars to ten dollars per acre." Capt. Hammond then discussed the different; modes of living in the North and West and in the South, and thinks that one of the causes of poverty in the South is extravagant living, 'fait the real cause is debt and an outrageous rate of interest. "If," says he, "the manufacturers want cheap cotton they must give us cheap money. "But there tan be no interest without debt, and the South is deeply in debt. Neither for this is her agriculture or her planters so much to blame. What people or what business, except on the bear side of Wall street, ever prospered ?or could prosper with a market falling, falling, falling through twenty years? At the close of the war cotton was worth forty cents, and it fell, little by little, steadily for twenty years, until it has come down to eight cents and the cotton planters are impoverished. If at that time cotton had been eight cents the difficulties to be encountered would for a time have been terrific; but if it had then risen steadily, year by year, through twenty years, until the price I reached forty cents, the Southern plan ters would have been rich?rich, pros persons and as happy as money could make them. In 1843 cotton was six cents; negroes sold for 8250, and the1 planters were poor. By 1860 cotton sold for 12 cents per pound and negroes for $1.000, and therein lay the secret of the great wealth of the cotton planters.: It was not the money they made: the percentage upon capital invested is greater now. It was not money saved out of incomes which were larger than they could spend. By no means. It was by the gradual, and in the end very great, increase in the value of their investments?about the only way men in nufiibers ever get rich honestly." Capt. Hammond then says : "While I have contended that the profits of cotton planting are in one sense large, and that agriculture is a more lucra tive business at the South than either in the North or West, or in Great Bri tain, I am very far from saying that the planter can grow rich, or even hold his own, at present prices. He may grow cotton for 3 cents and sell it for 8 cents, thus realizing over 100 per cent, on the cost of making, and not far from 20 per cent, on the value of his entire investment, yet even $25 a bale is too small a profit either to make him rich or the country prosperous. Let us take the case of a planter who makes is 59. < OHA one hundred bales and see what he comes of his income. Cotton cannot now he grown in large quanties by one man, lor the all-sufficient Season that few men- have the ^ability "to manage the large amount of labor and numer ous other .operations required. What one man.carisee after is usually the limit of what be can produce profitably. I shall not exceed,the truth when 1 say that the planter with 815,00Q.^hvested, including his dwelling and all the ap-; pursuances thereto, owes 85,000 and I pay3&500 interest on it. He will need ! advahces^of ?1,500, at an 'average of/six months; to make his crop, and the in terest on that is .875. He will also need 8L500 tovMve~upon, supposinglfl'fajnily of tiVe,~thelnsual number, rive ytjars ago\his family expenses would have beeii $3,000. "That.must be gqt from) his faetor, or,worse,-by keeping .open I accounts with merchants. This adds! 875 and taxes 8100 more. Thuv we have' Interest on debts.8 500 875 ) Interest on advances? 150 75) {Taxes.,. 100 Expense of living. 1,500 Overseer or headman. 250 Total.82,500 I have put in overseer or foreman, because such a character really exists on nine ? daces out of ten where as much cotton is one hundred bales is made, and I did not estimate in the cost of cotton, because he need not be, and ought not to be, where the proprietor is able to attend to his business. Although I have made this estimate in a way very favorable to the planter, It will be seen that there is nothing left out of an income of 82,500, and a pro fit of 825 a bale. Who will give us any remedies? Who will pay our debts? or lend us money at 5 per cent, instead of 10? or teach econ omy any faster than necessity ? We are aU looking for better things when trade revives; but when will that be? Our revival will never come until we can get a profit of 840 a bale instead of 825 out of cotton. I have mentioned I three great evils under which we labor. I They are incontrovertible. But most I certainly I have not mentioned the I greatest of all, and that is we make too much cotton. So long as we make a million bales more than the world wants at 10 cents, we will get 10 cents for none. We live by cotton; it is our life-blood. The control of the market is to us of the very greatest value; fin ancially worth everything else besides But how reduce the crop ? By a combi nation of cotton-growers? That is im possible. Providence has protected us in some measure." Capt. Hammond thinks there is but one remedy for the trouble, and this he thinks no politician living will dare propose, and those that are dead would tremble m their graves at the thought It is concurrent legislation among the larger Cotton States, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi ana, Arkansas and Texas, limiting the planting of ootton so as to bring the crop within 4,500,000 bales for three years at least. He admits that legisla tion of this character in England has been disastrous, almost without an ex ception, but three years trial here, at tended with little or no risk, 'would de monstrate its wisdom. In conclusion, Capt. Hammond shows that if the Mason Oqtton Harvester is a success the great West will tlood the markets of the world with cotton, which cost to m;tke less than ouerhalf cent per pound, or 82.40 a bale, and says : "This is no chimera or picture of the fancy, but its day may be so near that men now old will live to see it. Then poor old South Carolina, robbed of the profits of her rice culture by Louisiana, and of her sea island cotton by Florida and other {States along {with her, may have written over the ruins of their once brilliant systems of agriculture, finis."?"Richland" in the Augusta Chronicle._ An Ingenious Invention. An automatic box is being put upon the lamp posts in Brooklyn to supply the public with postage stamps, postal cards, a pencil and postal-letter envel opes. At any hour of the day or night a citizen may go to one of these boxes and drop a penny into it at which there will appear a postal card and a pen cil with which to write a letter. If he has a letter already written and merely wants a postage stamp to mail it he may drop two pennies in the box at which, presto, a two cent postage stamp will j come out of the box. 'fliese convenient boxes are already in use in London and are much liked" there. The boxes in Brooklyn are an improvement on those in London. They look like writing I desks and are 75 inches high by 17 in ches deep. Each box is divided into I several drawers -one for stamps, one I for postal cards, one for stamped en j velopes and one for letter paper. Then; I is a slit for dropping a coin over each I drawer. When the proper coin drops I in it sets in motion a bit of machinery '. which pushes out the article wanted. j At Lust. There is a little romance connected . with the marriage of Dr. G. M. Jones land Mrs. Mary Moore, which is an '?? nonnced this week. They had a court- ? , ship in their younger days long before the war, but afterwards drifted apart and each one married. After they i both became widowed the old (lame 'was revived and culminated in mar- j I riage last Sunday. A similar romance was connected with Dr. Jones'sister, : Mrs. Magill, and Mr. (J. L. Brown, who ' were married at this place two weeks ago. The young folks are becoming! so practical in this utilitarian age that it falls to the lot of the old folks to re kindle and keep up the lires of ro mance.?Anderson Journal. A Foolish Story. Some of the colored people in this1 city are excited by the story that a j gang of white men is prowling around throwing bags over the heads of color-, ed citizens, killing them out of hand and shipping their remains to Atlanta to be used for the advancement of j medical science.?Greenville >. ews. This paper only 81.50 per annum. i XGEBTJRG, S. C f H?: ROLLING CLOUDS OF FIRE. NARROW ESCAPE OF EARLY BRANCH AND FLORENCE. The Dry Grass SpreadFire all over the] Woods in a Blaze from Sum tor to the Five-Mile Curre?Brave Conduct of men, Women and Children. . r.' . A.correspondent ?roin Early ^Branch writing to the News and Conner under date December 1, gives the following account of the forest, fires in. that sec tion : At 11 o'clock yesterday morning our village was fiercely assailed by for est'fires "from the' adjoining woods."' We then thought that nothing but a Provi dential veering, of the wind could save the town-from entire and speedy de struction. The wind did not change, as we eagerly.hoped it might; the fire swept down upon us with savage fury, closed in upon every home, surged around us everywhere, from .several directions at once, in desperate efforts to accomplish our destruction. We are surrounded here, for several miles in every direction, by almost unbroken pine forests. The ground is covered almost everywhere to the height of several feet with a thick-set coat of sedge, wire grass and other lqwland growths. After 'frosts this' growth dies, becomes dry and is very combus tible, so that in times of drought at this season of the year it is a constant and well-recognized source of danger. Yesterday, in addition to the drought, a gale of wind was blowing from the southwest, fortunately; however, with an occassional brief lull. Ominous clouds of smoke were seen in the early, morning, hut at first it appeared that' the track of the conflagration would lie to the west of the town, hence there was little apprehension. It seemed, however, that far into the backwoods the lire was steadily 'obliquely beating against the wind, widening its-track as it went until it acquired compass en ough to envelope us in. its dreadful pro gress. The scene as the lire bore down on the "Methodist parsonage across an abandoned held two hundred yards' wide, covered with tall weeds, waS^ur passingly grand, but dreadful enough to strike"dismay to the stoutest hearts. The flames rolled swiftly on in.un-' broken waves, leaping,' curling and dancing in the air to the height of eight or ten feet. Its incessant crackle was like the firing of infantry in bat tle, and its deafening roar was like that of the cyclone in its fury. Yet brave men stood in its front, massed their small force dircctlyiu line-of approach to the buildings and sought to arrest the awful tide at a narrow intervening roadway. They;succeeded for a moment, but in the instant of local success a column of flames makes for the heart of the town ? in, . another- directing Forces already too small mtist be divid ed. We are speedily flanked on both side!*, and now- it is evident'tHat the whole town is to be enveloped in flames. How we were saved at last God only knows. It would require a volume al most to narrate the exciting situations, heroic achievements and fortunate es capes witnessed ,at every homestead. The women behaved with most ex emplary courage and zeal, several aris ing from beds of sickness to aid in the great work. The children caught the spirit of their elders and worked with boldness and ardor. Too much paise cannot be given to the colored people for their prompt and most hearty aid. The only losses sustained besides fenc ing are an uri?sed. sawmill shed, two unoccupied cabins, several flat-cars on the side track and a lot of cord wood. The railroad roadbed was so injured as to delay trains for several hours! From the News and Courier, of last Thursday, we clip the following : The passengers on the Columbia special train of the Atlantic Coast Line which reached Charleston at 9.10 last night, had an opportunity of witnessing for est fire of rare extent and brilliancy. The woods were on fire almost continu ously from Sumter to within five miles of Charleston, a distance of ninety miles. The grandest display of the ac cidental fireworks was in the section of country lying along the Northeastern Railroad between St. Stephen's depot and the Five-mile curve near Charles ton. In many places on both sides of the track, the line of fire was unbroken for miles, and in other places the fire approached so near the track on either side that the train literally ran be tween walls of flame and through clouds of blinding and asphyxiating smoke. At such places the effect of the super-heated and lire-laden atmos phere was sensibly felt by the passen ?engers through the thick plate-glass of the car windows. The lire was fierce ly swept on by a stiff breeze from the Northwest, and at some points leaped across the roadway ami caught the crossties. The whole heavens were lighted up with the reflection from the lurid blaze from the dry, combustible foliage and from the trunks of the! forest giants that had been "boxed" for i turpentine. Some of these trees re sembled pillars of (lame in motion as the train rushed by with the speed of a i lightning express. The woods on fire j in South Carolina is a serious occur rence. At Alonck's Corner it was re ported that several plantation houses' had been burned down with all their! farm attachments. At Stoney Land ing it was only by the utmost exertion that the works were saved, the loss at i that place having been confined to the destruction of about one hundred cords of wood. Several wood piles and wood racks along the track were in a blaze last night, and the loss in this respect may be still more serious. The people all along the line of road were out en deavoring to check the hurricane of flame and protect their fenoes and dwelling houses. The accidental land scape was Dantesqne to a realistic de gree, and furnished the passengers with sights and scenes equally difficult to describe or forget. A correspondent writing from Flor ence under dale of December 1 to lite same paper says : Considerable excite ment prevailed here yesterday, caused by what seemed for a while the chances of losing a large portion of our town by fire. During the prevalence of half a gale of wind, that blew nearly the en ?SB?T, DECEMBER 9, tir?iay, fire broke out in the woods on tbel^estern side of the town, and the wins, w.hich was blowing fiercely from that?.directiou, soon brought the flames roaii'?g.down on the town. The woods | on;$te other side of the town approach veqfe.close.-to the dwellings, and. the ma?? vacant lots on the edge had grown upbroom-grass, offering the most infljtfcmabie fuel. The fire department weif"- promptly summoned out, and, wifc|-the:a'd of the many willing hands aro%d, mamiged to subdue the flames. ' ;h not before they had penstrated to the town. > Providentially, the escaped without any damage, ex uch as weak nerves sustained. Killed Himself for Lore. 5vllle, Ky., December. .1.? White shot himself through the lay. He had been in love with [innie Lyons for some time and 6en engaged to her. Several ago she discarded hini, giving as an that she loved and would "fr rival by the name of Charles Since her declaration White _ all work and devoted his time ing to woo back his fickle sweet Jbat in this he failed. He passed Igrday with the girl, repeatedly tell TlXMfier. that unless she consented to mwtyhim he would kill himself, but as.Slhad made these threats before, she paidTio attention to them. Shortly be fcJS-tTo'clock this morning he asked lli?foTa final answer, and when she ag?n. declined he left the house and wA't to an alley in the rear. The girl, fefiring he was about to do something ra#K followed him. ^ou won't marry me?" he asked. 4f*can't, George; i don't love you," Replied. White whipped out his *i>l, and as the girl rushed toward he pushed her back, placed the >on to his heart and pulled trigger, lout a word he fell back into a Jbf water. He was picked up and ^ed into the house, but before a jician could reach him he was dead. Meeting of Throe Brothers. p3 Lenoir (rs. C.) Topic says: "At tie of Gettysburg, in 1863, three ,iers, named A very Kirby, Milas I?fby and Nelson Kirbv, parted on the battle field. All of the brothers left i($Edwell County as volunteers in Com ?pspy" A, Twenty-Second North Carolina Htjgimenti'and all fought through the war.on tho'Con federate side, receiving many wounds on the battlefield. On Saturday the three bothers met in Le tysburg. Avery UWin lndiaaa, Miras in Bristol, Tenn*. an d-Nelson on King's Creek, CaldweH IflBffty, at \rhioh^?iace his brothers are now visiting him.' The brother;; came ; ofetpol? the war without a cent of money* o&a foot of land, but are now all pro S^^otderjtzgii\ excellent citizens.' A Colored Reformer? We have received a communication from a respectable colored man of Bethel, in this county, making an argu ment in favor of reestablishing the whipping post as a punishment for petty offences, instead of the present mode of punishment in the county jail or the penitentiary. The communica tion is lengthy and presents no new arguments, for which reason we do not print it; though emanating from a colored citizen it is an indication of a growing change in tho sentiment of the very people for whoso "protection" the Federal authorities, in the recon struction period, demanded the obliter ation of the "relic of barbarism.""?York ville Enquirer. Charleston Filled with Smoke. Chaklkston, December 2.?Charles ton is filled with smoke fram the forest fires in the surrounding country. The telegraph wires are down on the line of the Xortheasting road, and the full extent of the damage is not known. The village of Pineopolis, in Berkeley county, narrowly escaped destruction. Mrs. Kate Porcher/s dwelling house and a number of barns and farm houses were burned. The fires are said to be generally under control, having burned out their tuel." Large bodies of turpen tine woods have been destroyed, and tho loss will necessarily be heavy. A Neat Swindle. The neatest swindle of the day has just been executed in the city of Mexi-; co. A man named Mayer appeared there claiming to be the agent of Mana ger Abbey, of New York, and present ing credentials which seemed to be all right. He proceeded to arrange for a five nights season for Patti, advertised it freely and put tickets on sale at three times the usual prices?850 for boxes and 86 for seats each night. The Mexicans went wild over it and 825,000 worth of tickets were sold. Mayer took 820,000, leaving 85,000 in silver which he could not conveniently carry, and skipped by the light of the moon." A Good Krnson. A man named Dick Townsend. an alleged mnrderer, was wanted in Flori da, and Governor Perry, understanding that he was in Georgia, demanded his! surrender from Gov. McDaniel. His demand not having been complied with j because Townsend could not be found, the demand was renewed when General Gordon became governor. The matter was inquired into by the new governor. | and a reply was received from the sheriff of Lowndes county that he did not know where Townsend was. but he recalled the fact that he had hanged him some months before the governor's inquiry was received. Too SncreliKlouM. We see it announced that there is shortly to be given a grand ball in Charleston, S. 0.. to be called "The Earthquake " ." It will strike many people that, ,.a it is well enough for the young people to dance, it is a mani festation of a want of reverence for and fear of the Almighty to call their dance, an "Earthquake Hop." Let them dance if they want to, but let them not forget their impotency when God is present in the earthquake.?Raleigh Chronicle. In an affray in Pitt County, X.C., be tween Thomas Smith and .lohn Dennis, the later shot and killed the former. -..; : ??"*. V ? 1836. praci A WIDE-EXTENDED SNOW. It Spread* Itself Over the Entire Country, South iw TVell as North. Ninety-Six, December 6.?Snow six inches deep and it is still snowing. The largest snow we have had in years. Mount Holly, December K.?Th? \ signal service observer at this place re ports live inches of snow on the ground | at 2 R M., with indications of another fall. 1? ate way, N. j., December G.?Peter | Laing, colored, was found frozen to death in his house next to the Milton I mills, in thiscity, on Saturday morning. He was CO years old and a cousin to i Thomas Kelly, a wealthy colored citizen Of this city. New Yokk, December 6.?Snow be gan falling in this city this morning | and continued with few breaks all day. The storm wa3 accompanied by severe I winds. The street car lines have oeen forced to double up. No serious delay is reported from the railways. Walhalla, December 6.?After the snow storm of Saturday morning a light rain and sleet set in, and cor aim ed until late Sunday night, when it terminated in a fall or light, ?aky snow, nine inches deep on the top "of the frozen snow of the day before. This afternoon it is thawing slowly. Kicamond, Va., December 6.?Al most continuous snow, hail and rain since Saturday morning have made the present storm one of the severest ex perienced for years. To-night at 6 o'clock the snow took a fresh start, fall ing thick and fast, and appearances are favorable for several inches more. Abbeville, December 0.?It has been snowing and sleeting with slight intermission since Friday night, and it j is now four to rive inches deep. The sun seem to be coming out. This is salesday, but so few people are here that biit few if any sales will take place, it has been bitter cold, but is moderating now. Society Hill, December )>.?We are having regular Arctic weather here. Snow commenced to fffll on Saturday at j 7 A. M. and has continued to fall at intervals since. Business is seriously interfered with. The county roads are almost impassable. Trains on the Cheraw and Darlington Railroad, how ever, are making fair time. midway, December 7.?We are cover ed with a beautiful white mantle of snow this morning, and at this writing it continues to snow. The most that falls on the ground melts, hut that on houses, railroad platform, &e, remains, as it is cold,, enough to freeze. Sonje little amusement in the art of snow balling is practiced by the lpvers of the sport. Asili?viLLE, N. C, December G.? Snow has fallen to tin! depth of twenty s?j inches and is still falling. Traffic I and travel of all kinds is suspended. The weight of snow crushed in the roof J of the Asheville Tobacco Works and a large stock of smoking tobacco was ruined. The loss is heavy. The old [ Shelton Factory, with a large stock of tobacco stored iii it, was crushed to the ground, also the wholesale provision house of Dickson & Watson. CmcAoo, December G.?A special from Chattanooga, Tenn., says : The roof of the stockhouse of the Dayton Coal .and Furnace Company caved in late on Saturday night on account of the heavy fall of snow. The building is near two hundred feet square, and more than half of the roof caved in. Usually there are about one hundred men in the house, but at the time of the collapse only the foreman, named Kerner, and half a dozen negroes wero at work. They were all badly injured and two of the negroes will die. Ker ner was also fatally injured. Spartanburg, December 6.?Since mid-night Friday it has been snowing, sleeting or raining, and to-day at 12 o'clock the snow is falling with no sign of clearing off. The depth of the compact mass in the open fields is 6 to 8 inches. First we had four inches of snow. This was followed by frozen rain and sleet, which was driven into the snow and made a pretty compact mass. Then yesterday evening we had rain that made it more compact. Dur-! ing the night it snowed about three or four inches over this and here we are, early in December, about as much snow bound as we have been since the fam ous snows of January, 1856. Bamberg, December 6.?We have had very severe weather since Friday night, at which time it commenced j sleeting. Since then it has sleeted, snowed and rained at intervals, and this morning we are having a heavy snow storm, such as is rarely seen in I this country. The trees are loaded to I their utmost capacity with icy burdens, j and many are giving way under their j 'tremendous strain and came crashing | to the ground. Many valuable shade trees and forests will be injured, as I well as the few vegetables still in gar dens. It is thought that the oat crop ; is as yet but little injured, as the earth has not been frozen to any considerable depth. Embezzler Jackson i'ardoiictl. Atlanta, Ca., December 4.?Major George H. Jackson has been pardoned at last. .Jackson was President of the I Enterprise Cotton Factory in Augusta, | where he stood at the head of society as well as commerce. The discovery of a big default led to an examination of his books, which developed the fact that they had been doctored for years. The amount of the defalcation was! j placed by some as high as $250,000, but he was convicted of the embezzlement I of sums to the amount of about SH7.U00.1 Numerous petitions from those who I j had been associated with him in busi-1 [ ness and society induced the Governor j to pardon him." New ruhlic Building for Charleston. Washington, December 7.?The hill introduced by Senator Butler for the erection of a public building at Charles ton, S. C, provides that it shall be for the accommodation of the postoflice ! and the United States Courts and that I the cost of the site shall not exceed $100,000 and the cost of the building I $400,000. "The Beautiful Snow" be blamed Is what we say, after this week's experi I ence. C $1.50 PEE AITNTJM. CL?VERI?S WILL HANG. GOV. LEE REFUSES TO EXERCISE EXE CUTIVE CLEMENCY. The Sentence Pronounced hy the Court of Hustings mid Affirmed bjr Virginia?** Highest Court JVI11.1t not he Set Aside or Commuted. Richmond, Dec. 7.?Gov, Lee to-day sent a letter to the counsel of Cluveri us, who is now under sentence of death for the murder of Fanuie L. Madison, in which he says that he has given to the statements, and to all papers and petitions peesented for Executive clem ency in behalf of the prisoner, the care ful consideration which their import ance demanded. The Governor then adds: "The prisoner came from the judicial to the executive department of the government, marked guilty by the judges and jury. Starting at that point therefore, I have been diligently studying the re cord, while industriously seeking in formation and evidence from all other sources, which might conclusively prove to my mind that the verdict of the court was an error and that, there fore the sentence pronounced by the Court of Hustings, and affirmed by Virginia's highest court, must not be set aside or commuted. With an earnest desire to faithfully execute without fear or favor the laws of the State, impartially to all, with the most profound sympathy for those up on whose hearts this blow must fall, with a clear conscience that 1 am dis charging my duty to the people of my State as God has given me strength to see it, I now write you to inform, you that I have not been able to reach a Afferent conclusion from the courts, and therefore, the case of Thomas J. Clu vexius is not one in my opinion to call for executive interference, either by the exercise of pardoning power or by commutation of sentence." The Governor's decision was convey ed to the jail by Judge W. W. Crump, senior counsel, and his son, Beverly T. Crump, who acquainted the prisoner with it. Cluvenus stood the ordeal with the same fortitude which has generally characterized his conduct since his arrest, and during his trial. After his counsel left him, however, it was plainly apparent that the awful news he had heard had a marked effect, and that it was as much as he could do to maintain his wonted composure. Shortly after the counsel lelt the cell several' reporters visited the jail and made an effort to see the prisoner, but when informed of their object--by -,tho "death watch" Cluverius said, "I do not want .to see anybody." He was ' seated in an arm chair with his elbows on his knees and his chin buried in his hands. Seeing the reporters? at the door of his cell he-changed hjaiposit-jton ami endeavored to .appear Ufulm ? niid collected, but it was evident, that the blow had struck home. The? counsel presented a petition for respite to the Governor this evening. No time was named, as that is left to the Governor's discretion. It is the general impression that a respite of thirty days wiiNbe granted. ^ A New Knghind Mystery. , Xew England has been excited over the Wilson-Moen mystery, a suit re vealing the fact that Levi Wilson, an illiterate and uncouth hostler, had for years exercised some mysterious power over Moen and bletl him to the extent of more than $200,000. The suit was on a note given by Moen to Wilson for $40,000. Both parties went on the wit ness stand but neither revealed the se cret. A few days ago Wilson gratified public curiosity with a revelation that he was Moen's son, born two or three months after his marriage and that to conceal the disgrace of his wife and himself Moen had given him to a black smith namad Wilson to adopt and raise as his child. Since the statement was made the records have, been examined and they prove that Wilson was born eleven months after Mrs. Moen?(who he claims was his mother and who seems to have been a woman of the highest character)?died. Xew Eng land is, therefore, all adrift again, but opinion is settling on the theory that Wilson acquired his power by pretend ing to have evidence to prove a son of Moen's guilty of a dreadful crime. Fell Sixty Feet. A young man by the name of Far mer "was killed at Thicketty Trestle, live miles below Gaffney City, S. C, on Thursday night. Mr. Farmer, who lived at Clifton, had gone to Grover during the early morning and purchas ed two jugs of liquor. It is supposed that he became intoxicated. On his return, when the train was passing Thicketty Trestle, he mistook the slacking of the train, while crossing the trestle, for the slacking for the sta tion, and stepped off the trestle, falling a distance of sixty feet. His body was found Friday morning when the hands went to their work on the trestle, which is being replaced by a new iron one. His remains were sent to Buck ingham, sis we learn he was from that place. Charlotte Chronicle. Murder In York County. One of the most brutal murders in that [tart of the country was commit ted at Ifoodtown, York county, S. C, about Hi miles from Black's on Tues day. Three negroes had stolen some cotton, and were discovered by a ten year old son of Mr. William Good, a respected farmer of the vicinity. The wretches at once set upon the boy, stoned and beat him until he was un? conscious, and then partly concealed the body. The boy's mother, becoming alarmed at his absence, went out to look for him. In a short time he was dis covered, and a physician summoned, but he died in a short time. Three negroes were arrested on suspicion, on Wednesday, and carried to jail at York Ville. Great indignation is expressed in the neighborhood, and it is thought the negroes will be lynched. The paragraphic slurs about boarding house chickens should cease. Old age should always command respect. Ridi culing spring chickens is akin to mak ing fun of your grandmother.