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VOL. III. MANNING. CLARENDON COUNTY, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 13,1887. NO 30. "wo story bricik mansion, occupied by 3eneld Lee and his family; and at vari >us points on the grounds are residences .or the other professors. The other >rincipal '>uildings are a iarm-house, a liry, a barn, an engine-house, and the tables for the stock, each of which is mntitled to some special description. F.MIN(O AND ]onTIcrCURi:E. The College owns 1,762 acres of land, vhich is divided into cultivated fields, >astures, orchards and vegetable gar lens, and ornamentu grounds. There tre, of the 1,762 acres, about 600 under Lctual clltivatiou in different crops. Ehese 1 acres are fividd inLto the .trmf deprtmecnt al] the Lorticultural leparrment. The forne.r inciudes the n:itivation o the usual plantatiou crops, uch as cern, cotton, peas, etc. The lat er incndes all the comm.an vegetables .nI ruls. In the farm department the student is amiliarized with the planting, raising .nd harvesting of the large commercial rops, the actual care of the cattle on he farm, the construction and use of arns, stables, pens, and with the prac ical use of all the improved agricultural aschinery now in the Southern States. n the farm work is included a special ourse :n dairy husbandry, covering the Leory of breeding stock, feeding for ailk, and of making and shipping milk, ream and butter. This is all reduced : practice in what is called the creame y, for the pu-poses of which there are laintained on the farm 200 head of cat le, pure bred, grade and native. There also much attention paid to ensilage, L~e raising and curing of hay, clover, te., all of which, it should be borne in lind, is done by "the boys" themselves. In the horticultural department there re gardens in which okra, tomatoes, abbages, beans, Irish potatoes and cuits of all kinds are raised. COURSE OF STUDY. The course of study prescribed for the tdents is made up of (1) biology, the iost important branches of which are Irtilization and the relation of insects nd plants; (2) agriculture, including the rinciples of stock-breeding and feeding, rainuge, cultivation, curing and mar eting of crops, improvement of soil and ianuring; k-) horticulture, fruit and egetable culture, botany, silk culture, tc.; (4) chemistry, as applied to the nalysis of soils, plants, foods, water, te.; (5) English, course of reading. in rose and poetry, logic and mental :ience, with written essays monthly; J) mathematics, all the elementary ranches, up to analytical geometry, alculus and civil engineering. THE MILITARY BRAxci. There is also the military organization f the College, with General Lee at the ead of the military department, and econd Lieutenant ff. C. Davis, United tates Army, as commandant of stu er ts. The students are all uniformed i cedet gray and are divided into five )mpanies. Practically, the discipline f the College is military, and the rules ad regulations in this respect are of the sual military institute order. All the lasses are taught company and battal )n drills, dress parade, guard duty, etc. he senior and junior classes are taught rget practice and service of the field iece; in the junior year Upton's tactics re taught, and in the senior and janior ear there are lectures given on the Hience and art of war. The military equipment of the uade ts onsists of two 3-inch field pieces, -10 ifles, cartridges, etc., all of which is arnished by the United States Govern lent, with the exception of 100 rifles rnished by the State. LIFE OF' THE sTUDEN~Ts. The foregoing sketchi of the work one at the institution gives only a dry bstract of the essential details of the fe of the student. This life is, how ver, one of great variety and activity. ~he government of the institution is all f a republic within a republic, and is ivided sharply between the military nd agricultural fcatures. In fact these eatures are quite distinct, and in nowise onflict with each other, the discipline -f the one securing discipline in the >ther. When the college boy here goes out ato the field he dofls his military trap dngs and puts on his old clothes, old hoes, old hat, ete., just as his father toes on the homestead f arm in any ounty in 3Missisaippi. In other words Le goes out to work and he does not go n holiday attire. In the morning, in the class-room or >n dress parade, he is as gorgeous as you aight desire. He has a fine uniform ith pkenty of brass buttons, all of which L' wears with the self-complacency of avng paid for them by honest labor htrough long and dusty in summer or ret~ and dreary days in winter. In the afternoon you may meet him at ome place, any place, on the farm and on will not know him. He wears a iouch hat, very honesi aeld clothes and very honest old face. M1aybe he is eeding turnips or digging potatoes, or -on wili meet him out on some of the ~reen pastures driving the cows, or if ou peep into the cow stables you see iinm playing the milk maid. You will nect him at any given point over all the >road acres of the farm, aid in ninety ine cases out of a hundred he is doing omething that will help him to pay his ~xpenses at the College. And this he loes in a fashion that deserves a special hapter. At night, after an afternoon's work, he ~oes home to study and in the morning iC appears again a mlilitary chrysalis as paudy and as happy as on the day:, before. eLoSI: OF Ti2l sCssION. Just now the College is about to close or the present year. The conamence nent exercises for 1587 were opened yes erday -at 11 a. mn., at which time Dr. T. 31. Greer, of Erskine College, South 2arolina, prcehed a sermon and again .ast night at E.30 o'clock, These exer ises are a great eveat in the immediate .oealty, ind in fact are necessarily look ~d upona with great muierest all o- r the State, dhere beinag representative , oung aen here from almost every county in M1ississipp~i and from several other :tates. The students in attendance a~umber 27i3. Writes Mrs. Eliza Ann Smith, of Ter millIion, Erie county, Ohio, to tell the adies every where that nothing surpasses Dr. Harter's Iron Tonie for all irregu. larities. "It cured me when the physi cian andallothe remdie faied - TilE MISSISSIPPI COLiLD1. ITS OltlGIN, ITS PR ESETT E I1 P.M ENT AND ITS WORK. Au Observer's Account of Gen. S. D. IA Farmer's Cvulege--The Clas-1oom and the Farm. (From the News and Courier.) AGRICULTURAL A-N MECIANICAL COL LEGE OF MissiluTi, July 4.-Referring to a number of notes taken in amid summer tour of four of the most imp ort ant Southern States, I do not know that t I could select a more interesting subject -Han the Agricultural and Mech-aical College of Mississipp. This me:: be stated without discounting, in any .ise, the many places, institutions and t-ngs of note along the lines of railways v. hich connect Charleston with the pecularly c favored land in which the institution named is situated. t THE COLLEGE. To begin with, however, the term "Agricultural and Mechanical Colh ;;e," t as applied to this College, is a misrom.er. i The mechanical department has not yet been provided for, but may be real.ized t at any time when the institution ; so r far favored by the Legislature of Missis- 1 sippi. The College is, therefore, rac. - tically an agricultural institution witn1 its bandmaidens of the mechanical arts in eiectancy. hatever this institution may be it has caused a great stir in social, agrical tural and political circles ever since its a establishment, seven years ago. 11 was e cradled in opposition, strc ..ut not f fatal; it has traveled over a rough road and still survives; and it has lived edown a certain class of opponents and is still s doing battle against some formidable r foes. As between the enemies of the f College and its friends the lines are ery a sharply drawn; and even the comiara- V tive stranger, who runs, may read. d THE ISSUES STATED. Broadly stated, the question is ona. of 1 utility: Does it pay the taxpayer to: up- v port the College; and, granting the ob- 0 jects of the Coilege to be fully ca: :ied - out, do the results warrant the State in e continuing its appropriations? The ais- V tory of the College up to the prccnt - time carries with it the solution ot e'-rv ( one of these problems. Something of this history is, therefore, essential to a C clear conception of the interesting -itu ation. From what can be learned from the , various published reports, the College . owes its origin to the Act of the Gene"ral j Government, passed in 1862, to encour age the establishment of industrial col- o leges in the States. This Act, amyng o other things, provided for the "en ow- a ment, support and maintenance in cach u State of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excld- I ing other scientific and classical studies, I and including military tactics, to teach t such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe in or der to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes." Mississippi's share of the agricultural c land scrip fund amounted in 1678 to y $227,150, which is now in the State r treasury bearing five per cent? interest. p The- Mississippi Legislature in 178 dividdd this fund between Alcorn Uni versity (for colored youths) and the present Agricultural and Mechanical a College of Mississippi, giving to each i $113,5i70. Subsequently the Legislature e expended $15,000 of this money in the purchase of lands, leaving to each of the c institutions named a balance of $898,575, which yields an annual interest at live ~ per cent. of about $',928. The State Legislature up to within the past year or two has appropriated the sum of $32,500 annually for the support of thec institution. THLE BUJl>IxGS.1 Tfo enable the State to avail itself of I the Federal aid it was necessary to erect the College buildings, and these were completed for occupadon by the stu dents and professors in 18&0 These buildings are about a mile and a halfI west of Starkville, and occupy positions on both sides of a branch Qf the Mobile.C and Ohio Rlailroad. The principal build igfaethe south and are just norfe which the ascent from the railroad is over a well-kept lawn. These buildings are: First, the academy, three stories in height, of brick, and 127 feet long by 70 feet wide. The upper story consists of: six class-rooms for the use of certain professors in teaching; the second sto.ry consists of six rooms for the use of other I' professors, and on the first floor are thel. College hall or chapel and the offices of the president, Gen. Stephen D. Lee, and the secretary, Prof. T. F. Watson. Second, the dormitory, three stories in height, with basement. It has a front of 275 feet, running east and west, and *two wings, each 140 feet in depth, ex tending at right angles to the main building. The first floor contains the library, museum, a lecture room, the cammandant's qluarters and a writing room. On the second floor are two large rooms, an armory and a guard room. The remaining rooms on this floor are chambers for the students. On the third story are about fifty room's, used exchti sively by the students. The accommo-' dations of the dormitory arc for from 204) to 250 students. Third, the laboratory, -Z fcet long by 38 wide, a two story building, the upper story of which contains a large lecture room, an analytical room for the stu dents, a private work-room for the pro fessor of chemistry, and apparatus room. The lower story is~ used princip~ally a~ storeroo..~ a4.d anlalytical rooms, use by Prof. A. M. Meyers, who is also the State chemist of Mississippi. The mess hall is a two story wooden building. On the first floor are a diig hall capable of accommodating three hundred students, kitchen and bakery. On the upper floor are two halls used by two rival iiterary societies of the Col lege. There is also a hospital containing eight rooms, which are very seldom oc gmoieA. South of theailway is a plain SO0ME BALLOON STORIES. TI:l LLNG EXPERIENCES OF I'ROF. KING AND THE WISES. Trai elinig Sevetity 31iles an ilour--land ing in a Vi1derness--Caught in a Snow Storm Without a Valve R ope--Driven to Sea. (From the Philadelphia Times.) There are no two names better known in the annals of of American aeronautics than those of King and Wise. Professor Samuel A. King is now in his sixtieth year. Since 1851 he has been a practi cal aeronaut, making his first asce nsion in the summer of that yt ar from the old Zoologica Garden, in Fairmount Park. Since then he has made 2Si6 aerial voy ages and a great many lesser ascensions. His wife, who is a quiet, modest little woman, has made a number of ascen sions with him and regards balloornig a much safer mode of traveling than car riage riding. She is afraid of horses, but doesn't mind taking a jaunt through the air a mile or so above the earth. In one of her trips she once had a narrow escape. it was two years ago at In dianapolis. After a remarkably pleasant ascension the balloon in descending sud denly swayed when near the earth and caught in a dead tree. The sharp branch ripped the balloon open causing it to collapse, and landing the basket in which she and her husband sat in a fork of the tree, sixty feet from the earth. As quick as thought Professor King braced the basket with a rope, until he had cut the balloon away, then, dropping another rope to some farm hands, he loosened the basket and was lowered over a limb to the earth. Neither he nor his wife received a scratch. The only time he was ever hurt was in an ascension from Augusta, Ga. When he descended the balloon caught on a dead pine and was torn. He attempted to descend by the drag rope, when the balloon collapsed and came down with a crash, badly bruising, but otherwise not hurting him. Some of his voyages, how ever, have been exceedingly perilous. SOME THRILLING VOYAGES. On October 14, 1878, he went up from Scranton, got caught in a windstorm and came down at Oak Station, Mont-! gomcry county, 140 miles from the start ing point, the whole trip consuming but two hours. On October 15, 1881, he made his memorable ascension from Chicago with Hashagen of the Signal Service Bureau. He was up nineteen hours, and descended in the Wisconsin wilderness, where lie and his comrade lost their way and suffered terribly be-' fore they again came in contact with civilization. One night he was suspended between sky and earth for 13 hours over the Maine and Canada wilderness. His experience that night was thrilling and remarkable. The ascension was made at 4 p. m. at Plymouth, N. H., his companion being Luther E. Holden, of the Boston Jour nat. For six hours they hung over a mile above the wilderness, the balloon not losing a foot of gas or the car an ounce of ballast. When they landed next morning they came down at the head of a new railroad which was being constructed 250 miles below Quebec, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, over which they had spent a portion of theI night. The road was 200 miles away from any other road or civilization. They rode to Quebec on a buckboard, driven by a French Canadian. Mr. Holden always attributed their lucky descent to an interposition of Divine Providence. In an ascension he made in August, 18'75, from Burlington, Iowa, he was caught in a thunder storm, and came near being struck by lightning. The expansion of the air acted on the balloon and drove the gas from the neck on to his head, and through the open valve with terrific velocity. He had a thrilling descent through the clouds, and on reaching the earth went crashing through trees, landing twelve miles from where he ascended, having been driven back by the storm. The whoule trip consumed three-quarters of an hour. AN AERIAL BlIDAL TRIP. On the Fourth of July of the same year he took a party of seven, including two bridal couples, over Lake Erie from Cleveland. The balloon sailed over the lake to Buffalo, where it struck a brek. current and returned, passing Cleveland, gradually approaching the Cainada shore, which it struck at Point an Pele. It then crossed a strip of Canada and :35 miles of Lake St. Clair, landing 11 miles from Port Huron at midnight, having made 480 mil1es in 13 hours. On another Fourth of July he took five newspaper men from Buallalo to Quinton, N. J. He crossed the Alle ghenies and followed the Susquehanna as far as Havre de Grace, took a sharp turn and sailed due east across Delaware into New Jersey, the whole trip taking thirteen hours. THE wIsE FA3IILV. Professor Charles Wise, under whose direction the "Independence" will be sent up, is the son of the late Professor John Wise, Sr., who was lost while making an aerial voyage. He made his first ascension thirty-seven years ago, when but 13 years of age, at Shannandale Springs, West Virginia. He went up two and one-half miles and staid up three hours, landing sixty-six miles from the starting point, to which place he re turned in an ox cart. Four years later he made an ascension from Newberry port, Me ., on the occasion of a civic ceebrati~ The wind was blowing to ward the.n on and the committee offer ed to pay the price of the ascension rather than take any risks, but after con sulting with his father he decided to make the aseension. After going up 18,000U feet very rap)idly and desendhig still mere rapidly he struck Plum Island bar. As there were no inhabitants and nio place to grapple the only alternative wa ojump1 out of the ear. This he did, laningsaelyinthe sand. The ballooni, lightened of its load, shot into the air and blew out to sea. The next morning it was picked up by a whaler GC00 miles away and brought mnto Provincetown. The whole ascent and descent occupied one-half hour. The sailors on the whaler, when they- saw the balloon floatineg in the water, t+aogh it was an immense blubber and harpooned it. It immediately collapsed and was taken on board, the Newberryport papers of the previous day being found in the car. The professor has been ever since actively engaged as an aeronaut, and at various times has taken up every mem ber of his family, having in thirty-five years made over 300 ascensions. His son, .John, Jr., who will take up the "Inde pendence" to-day, made his first ascen sion at the -ge of 8, with his grandfather. CAUGHT IN A SNOW STOnM. One of the most notable ascensions I that has been made was made by him, under the direction of his father, at Waynesburg. Green county, when he was ontv 14 years old. After wording a half da4 at nflating the balloon, the sup ply of gas gave out vhen the balloon was only -hd ll. The balloon refused to ascend with the boy, when his father decided to do a thing that has never be fore or since been attempted. He cut the lower half of the balloon off. While he was doing this some officious specta tor cut the valve rope two feet beyond the boy's reach, and in the midst of a rain storm the 14-year-old aeronaut went sailing into space, and beyond the clouds, hatless and coatless and without a valve cord. He was directed by his father not to go over two miles, but beidg unable to reach the valve cord, he got caught in a heavy snow storm and was driven forty miles in forty minutes. Landing where there were no means of communication, he was not heard from for two days. The excitement of the citizens was so intense that they organized a committee to search for and give him a reception when found. When he was found the citizens filled his hat with money. He was nearly frozen to death during the voyage, and when he descended was cov ered with icicles. Since then he has made 250 ascensions without an accident. TWO LMARKABLE ASCENSIONS. The highest ascension ever made was on September 5, 1862, by James Glaish er, F. R. S. He left the earth with aeronaut Goggswell at Wolverhampton, England, lit 1.03 p. m., and at 1.54 was 29,000 feet high, going np at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute. IIe kept on as cending until the balloon attained an altitude of 37,000 feet. Glaisher became utterly unconscious, but Coggswell climbed up the ropes and pulled the valve rope with his teeth. They de scended at the rate of 2,000 feet per min ute until the balloon formed a parachute, when it came down easily, seven miles from the starting point. The longest and fastest balloon voyage was made on July 1, 1859, by John Wise, Sr., La Mountain and Oliver P. Gager, of New York. They left St. Louis at 6 p. m., and landed in Jeffer son county, New York, at 2.35 p. m. the next day, the distance being 1,100 miles as the bird flies, and 1,200 miles as the balloon flew. MOUNTAIN ROBBERS. Their Blloody DeedI--Travelers Who Have Disappeared. In Putnam county, Tennessee, before the war, for seventy-five years, a road within three miles of Cookevile, leading from Louisville, Kentucky, through down into Georgia and South Carolina, was known as the Kentucky stock road, and was at that time the principal high way for traders between the two sections. Planters, slave dealers and stock men would drive their negroes, mules, etc., down to the southern market, returning with the money from their sale. Such partices were frequently missing very mysteriously, no trace of them ever being found. The road ran through a wild, thinly settled mountain country. The stopping places, or dwellings where a traveler could get shelter, frequently were thirty or forty miles apart, and as recent investigations show, were kept by robbers and murderers of the worst de scription, who for years folloved this business of wholesale robbery and mur der. About thirty years ago a man, who is now a citizen of Cooke, found a skele ton at the entrance to a cave, but no fur ther investigation was ever made until a couple of years ago, and it was left for a stranger to make discoveries that cast in the shade all stories of like descrip tion, where the writer finds his terrible characters only in his own brain. A party was organized under the lead ership of Mr. Ferd Kincaid to explore the cave where the skeleton was found thirty years ago. Back on the mountain side about one-half a mile from one of the notorious stopping places described, the entrance to the cave was formed. A hole, something like a well, going straight down thirty-five feet, was first passed through, and then the cave opens into large caverns, with a downward course under the mountain. At the bot tom of the shaft the party found human bones, and with a little digging in the debris that had accumulated at this point, unearthed about sixty skeletons of men who have boeu murdered and thrown down this hole. Some skulls were found with bullet holes through them, others being mashed with an axe or instrument of that kind. Old citizens now living inthis vicinity say that the keepers of these dens would keep track of the travelers when they passed through with stock, and on their return they would be almost certain to disappear. The robbers were even so bold they would take the clothing and saddles and horses of their victims and use them publicly. They would get a man drunk, if possible, and, as whiskey was plentiful and the custom of drinking common, it was no hard matter to do, then in their drunken stupor kill, rab, and throw their bedies in the hole, and without~ doubt many men, as this fearful disclosure proves, never returned to their homes, and anxious friends waited and watched and wondered why they re turned not. Not far off, by the side of the road still st-.ns a houise. The walls of one roor.-~ s.e stained and spotted with human blood. Above, in the mountains, about twenty miles, was still a worse place, if p iossibile, thaa this. Another case is there, and would, if investigated, repeat the sickening story. The people are much excifed over this discovery, as many diescendants of this robber gang are still living all through Putnam coun iv-. B~ut "dead men tell no tales," and lie history of these fearful crimes will iever be known. The "Favorite Prescription" of D)r. Pierce cures "female weakness" and indre utrte-tins. Ry drugnists. TIlE DEADLY TOlNADO. LOSSES IN TiE UNITED STATES EST! MATED AT S300.000.000. Tornado-Centering Regions-FreqeICnCY Of Cyclones in the 31sissippi Valley-4SN a Mild Tornado Year. The terrible destruction of life and property by tornadoes at this season causes much fear in several States. 1e cent investigations by Lieutenant John P. Finlay, signal service, United States army, reveal to some extent the danger in each region, which will do much to allay unnecessary alarm in the Eastcri States. At the same time other regious before thought to be comparatively sUle are found to be more dangerous than had been supposed. The first striking result of the exami nation of Lieutenant Finlay's map, show ing the geographical distribution of tor nadoes from 1882 to 1886 inclusive is that they uniformly avoid extended mountain ranges. The Rocky Moun tains present so insurmountable a barri er that the country lying west of this great range is almost entirely free from the long, violent tornado tracts seen in Kansas and Missouri. It is known that storm centers which form west of the Rocky Mountains are imperfectly de veloped, and are not persistent or vio lent in their course until the Mississippi valley is reached. Tornadoes form at an atverage distance of 453 miles southeast of the main storm center, as shown in forty-one cases cited by Professor H. A. Hazen, of the signal service. It follows that the cold air from the foot of the Rocky Mountains, coming in the wake of and eastward moving storm manifest ing unusually low barometer, causes sharp contrasts of temperature in Kansas and Missouri, and these contrasts, some times as much as fifty degrees, result in great tornado frequency in northwestern Missouri and northern Kansas. It is further shown by the distribution of tornado tracts that the average of severi ty and destruction steadily lessens as the storm centers move eastward from the' Mississippi valley. This waning of tor nado power is gradual, but the danger does not entirely cease as the Atlantic. coast is approached. The coast lines of; the Gulf of Mexico and of the Atlantic ocean are nearly free from tornadoes, because great contrasts accompanying storm centers cannot develop, owing to the equalizing effect of the ocean tem perature and moisture. IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Of tne total number of tornadoes re ported nearly one half occur in the Mis sissippi valley, which is the region of greatest violence. The lapse of time must make this even more marked, be cause the records of the Eastern States cover a much longer period, while the number of tornadoes is less. The region of greatest frequency is along the north and west boundary lines of Missouri, in creasing toward the point of intersection. Then comes northwestern Georgia ex tending into Alabama. A very solid and compact region of tornado development is in southern Michigan, tending toward the lower part of Lake Michigan. For a distance of about 200 miles square, this region nearly equals that of Kansas in frequency, though it has not more than one-tenth its extent, and its average se verity is far less. In the Eastern States, the most remarkable region next to western New York, is in the Connecticut river valley, which seems to be persist ently followed by tornadoes through Connecticut and Massachusetts into New Hampshire. The open country here favors the development of a small torna do with atract about a mile or half a mile long, and from two hundred to five hndred feet in width. Western Con necticut and Massachusetts favor the accumulation of warm air from the southwest, which moves steadily north ward, while Pennsylvania, Virginia and western Delaware remain cool, this causing sharp contrasts of temperature. In southeastern Pennsylvania the bend of the Delaware river there is a group of tornadoes centering near Trenton, 1S. J. Southeast of Lakes Erie and Ontario there is also a lively region, which is an extension due to the still high contrasts of temperature common in the Missis sippi valley and southeastern Michigan. In northeastern Mississippi there is a very marked extension of the Georgia and Alabama region, though not quite equaling it in frequency. LOSSES OF LIFE AND ROPERTY. The value of property reported to the signal service as destroyed in 205 years years was about $28,000,000. Lieutenant Finlay estimates this to be about one tenth the actual value, maing the total losses about $300,000,000. The number of deaths reported was 3,165, and the injured 5,049. These figures are doubtless much be low the actual damage, because tornado reports include the main facts only. The transmission of news is partly obstruct ed, and isolated regions escape report. The comparison of a number of torna does, with the amount of forest land by States, according to the United States census, indicates that these storms are not appreciately influenned by the pres ence or absence of forests. Tornadoes are caused by the persistent movement! and accumulation of air masses on an immense scale. Forests and other local features of lindscape have little effect. The signal service reported 280) torna does for 1886, 136 for 1885, 200 for 1b84, 161 for 1883, and from that time back to 170 the number diminishes to 9. This. does not represent a change in the actual number, but only indicates additional facilities for observ'ation, due to the steadily increasing interest taken by the press and people, as well as to the or-~ ganization of a large staff of voh-mtary tornado reporters in 1884 under the su pervision of LieutenaAt Finlay. In 18&5 the number of reporters had increased to 1,500 and in 1886 to 2,500. This large working force sent in an immense mass of very valuable information, due to the good will of the people. These reports are used in estimating averges which will serve as foundations upon which the! work can and will be carried forward' centuries. By this means the danger for given regions will be so well known that tornado insurance premiums can be esti-I expenditnre saved. Th'ere is every rea son to believe that if the tornado records were carried forward for several hundred years au ,stonishing regularity would be discovered. The statistics already show great advance in this direction. 18,7 a MILD TORNaDO YE.1. The number of tornadoes reported from January 1 to June 11, 1887, is 123. In 3886, for the same period, there were 21 G. which shows that taken yearly there are great fluctuations. The figures so far indicate 18SS is a very much milder tornado year than 1586. In July the Eastern States )egin to contribute their proportion in addition to those still due in the \Vestern States. The most io, portant deductions from the signal ser vice statisties is that there is no evidence of variediun in the number of tornadoes, but only IL apparent increase caused by better reportorial and press facilities. It would require a vast lapse of the to demonstrate the theory that the cut ting away of forests affects the number and deadly violence of tornadoes. They may be considered a fixed characteristic of the United States, like the geological formation of the mountain ranges, and the average number may be considered as little subject to change. They seem an inevitable result of the movement of immense masses of air over comparative ly level plains and on the boundaries be tween the temperate and torrid zones. Tornadoes occur in India and Japan, and parts of Europe where land surfaces are free from extended mountain ranges. It would be a valuable contribution to science if the tornadoes that occur in India and Japan were classified and re corded. This might lead to the further advancement of the science of tornado prediction in the United States, which at present awaits the action of Congress to carry it to a high degree of perfection, saving many lives and much valuable property. AN OFFICIAL FISH STORY. How Capta;n Langford Was Killed by a Sword*-Fish. (Fr-on iie Wash4innton -tar, July 2) 1 A bulletin of the United States Fish 1 Commission just issued gives the follow ing accoatt, as described in a letter to Professor B3aird, of the killing of a man by a sword-fish: "The schooner Ven, i* a small vessel of about twelve tons, owned and com anded by Franklin '). Langsford, of Lanesviill, ;a,:s., with a cre- of three men, engaged in the general fisheries ofR the coast of Maxschusetts. On Monday morning, August 11, Captain Langsford sailed from home in purniut of sword fish. About 11 o'clock in the morning, when eight miles northeast from Halibut Point, in Ipswich Bay, a fish was seen. The captain, with one man, taking a dory, gave chase, and soon harpooned the fish, throwing over a bucy with ine attached to t -e , l .oon, aitr whic' the fish was left anC they return to the vessel for dinner. About an hour Later the captain, with on- ni-, again took his dory and w'ent out to secure the fish. Picking up the buoy, Captain Langsford took hold of the hie, pulling his boat toward the swordfish, wiel was quite large and not badly woiuedi. The line -as taut as the boat slowIV neared the sh, which the' Captain intended to lance ind thus kill -t. When near the fish, but too far away to reach it with the ance, it quickly turned and rushed at ly t and under the boat, thrusting its sword ts sword up through the bottom of the boat twenty-three inches. As the fish urned and rushed toward the boat the ine was suddenly slacked, causing the Captain to fall over on his back; and hile he was in the act of rising the word came piercing through the boat nd into his body. At this time another wordfish was in sight near by, and the aptain, excited and anxious to secure oth, raised himself up, not knowing hat he was wounded. Seeing the sword', e seized it, exclaiming, 'We've got him, nway!' He lay in the bottom of the lory, holdino fast to the sword until his ressel came i ongside, while the fish, be ng under the boat, could not be reach d. Soon the Captain said, 'I think I im hurt, ad quite badly." When the essel arrived he went on board, took a, few steps, and fell, never rising again. he boat and fish were soon hoisted on t oard, when the sword was chopped oil' to free the boat, and the fish was killed on the deck of the vessel. The fish 1 eighed 245 pounds after its head and 1 ail were cut eff and the viscera removed; hen alive it weighed something over< 00 pounds. Captain Langsford sur ived the injury about three days, dying~ on Thursday, August 12 of peritonitis. he sword has been deposited in theI nited States National Museum." Mormonis at Work. Cniu:nEsroN, S. C., July 6.-Serious1 rouble is feared on' the banks of the~ avannah RLiver near Augusta, Ga. The ev. David Berion an"d 'lders Spener ~nd Murray, Morm'e miaSsionaries, have een pireaecing in t'at locality for some ine. They haecnetdabout t-.en yv-ive amilies of the more ignorant. hites. The doe'rine expournded is that al w w do uot adopt the faith of Mor norasm aed go to Clai before 1803 will e destroyed by fire; that no marriages re in accordance with the laws of God xcept those sanctioned by the Mormon hurch and that no woman can attain to< bsolute perfection in the future unless arried in this life. Notice to leave the ocality has been served on the mission ries by the rnore respo'nsible citizens, ut they have refued to comply. The nissionaries are backed up by their con 'rts, and declare that they will resist ay attempt of the regulatfors to drive hem from the' zountry. I, it Ren-ly Con4tnp'ion sens a sly oe oflive comli t au -a b esordto hea'Iy 'den 'It will s4 'irns n thei sp-dy decay, and then ais wel hav casuuntion.11. wIhichis ierce's "Glde 'I.le~ Discovv"~ By -A deacon of Seymour, Ind., has een exp)elled from the church for de laring his belief tha~t the world is 1,000,- 1 I00 years old and tht it is likely to tand for another million before the T. A. EDISON, TlE WIZARD. TELLING ABOUr HIS EXPERIMENTS IN SUBMARINE SIGNALING. The Ca t Lins of Vessels Seven Miles Apart Can Talk With Each Other--In Philadel phia Buying Electrical Apparatus for H is Laboratory. A smooth-faced, thick-set, youthful looking man, attired in a gray suit and accompanied by two handsome young women, stepped briskly up to the desk of the Continental Hotel office and regis tered in a plain round back-hand, "Thomas A. Edison, Orange, N. T." It vas the wizard of elecricity. The young women were his wife and sister-in-law. He appeared to be enjoying the best of health, and said the stories about his being at the point of death while in Florida were without foundation. He said he had come to Philadelphia to purchase electrical apparatus for his new laboratory at Llewellen, N. J. TWO UTT T.TONS IN ExPERIMENTS. The laboratory, the erection of which has just begun, will, when finished, be as large as the University of Pennsyl vania buildings and will be devoted en tirely to experimenting. The machine ry will be of the largest and most im proved patterns, the machine shop alone being 200 feet long. Mr. Edison, in peaking of the cost of experimenting, said he had expended over $2,000,000 in experimenting, but as it was strictly in the line of his business he had found it noney well invested. In speaking of is Florida trip he said he was so well pleased with the climate that he had 1rected a permanent laboratory on the banks of the Caloosahatchie river, where e will continue his experiments every winter. He has erected a number of lectric-light plants in several Florida owns, but he has not devoted much ime to plants. SIGNALING UNDER WATER. One of his most interesting experi nents was in submarine signaling, by vhich messages can be transmitted from ihip to ship by means of steam whistles )perated by keys in the same manner as elegraphic instruments. All his expe -iments have so far been confined to the raters of Caloosahatchie, where he has ucceeded in conveying intelligible mes ages a distance of one mile. The prin iple on which he will endeavor to per ect his experiment is the remarkable aeility afforded by water for transmit ing sound. Divers in the ocean have heard the wish of a steamer's wheels fifteen miles tway and Mr. Edison thinks he can ;ansmit his message from ship to ship a listance of at least seven miles. What ie purposes doing after he has perfected pparatus is to have the large ocean teamers equipped with the steam whis les and transmitters. Under the water ine of each steamer will be a sounder, onnected with the captain's cabin by a hiu thransmitting wire running through tube. When the captain of one vessel ants to signal another he will sit down o his key-board, turn the steam on his histle, manipulate the keys and send he message out into the waves that reak against the sounder. This sound vill pass unbroken from wave to wave vith remarkable velocity until it runs up gainst the sounder of some vessel or essels which may happen to be within each of the volume of sound. As soon as the wave containing the ound strikes the sounder on the hull of he vessel or vessels within reach, the essage will run over the electrical wire o the captain's cabin, where it will ring .n electrical bell. An attendant will hen take down the message as it comes rom the water, by means of telegraphic :eys, as comfortably and correctly as hough he were sitting in one of Jay iould's Western Union Telegraph offices eceiving news about one of Jay Gould's. >ig deals. PAsSING IT ALONG. After the message has been received he captain can swing his vessel around, .nd continue the message through seven ifles of water, in tIle same direction, ntil it strikes another steamer, when he operation may be repeated until the. ihole breadth of the ocean has been rossed. It will also be useful as a means. > signaling by a vessel in distress. Mr. Edison seemed confident that his xperimnents would meet with success, >ut regrets that he cannot send the mes age by electricity, instead of a steamer thistle. Pianos andi Organs. All of the best makes. $25 cash and >alance November 1, at spot cash prices >n a Piano. $10 cash and balance No rember 1, at spot cash prices on an rgan. Delivered, freight free, at your iearest depot. Fifteen days test trial ~nd freight both ways if not satisfactory. Write for circulars. N. W. TRUMP, Columbia, S. C. Albion, in Erie county, Pa., has a uriosity in the shape of a clock which tands seven feet high, operated by hans and great weights, the dial bear ng old Roman figures, with the entire orks made of boxwood and bearings of >Ure ivory. It is a pectfct time-keeper ud up~ward of 100 years old. -Louisa county, Va., is exciteaC over he alleged fact that after a whi~o hand cerchief, which had been folded four hick and laid over the face of a dead vomanu, had been removed, there were our distinct pictures of the womaan,. bout the size of a 25 cent piece, plainly >inted on the cloth. Spirits of camphor ~ad been applied to the face before the ace before the handkerchief was laid >U it. -IFt is said that in Portland, Maine, here is a man with a false nose, a glass -e, but three fingers and one thumb, Gne ear, false teeth, false hair and a rk leg. For all this he is the liveliest an in Portland. He walks ten miles ~very day, rain or shine. He has had hree wives, and survives them all, and. ias refused five chances to get married gan, so he says, since he buried his. at wife about a yea ao.