The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, January 30, 1889, Image 1

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VOL. V. MANNING, CLARENDON COUNTY, S. C8, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY "DOES RELIGION PAY?" Rev. Dr. Talmage Answers the rQuestion Affrmatively. Godliness Good for Both Men's Physical and Mental Well Being-A Plea for a Beligion of the Bank. the Store, and the Workshop. At the Brooklyn Tabernacle recently, "Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage preached a dis course on the subject: "Does Religion Payl" The text was: "Godliness is profit able unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come"-L Timothy, iv., 8. Dr. Talmage A happy ew Year to one and alll 'There is a gloomy and passive way of -waiting for the events of the opening year to come upon us, and there is a heroic way of going out to meet them, strong in God and fearing nothing. When the body of Catiline was found upon the battle-field it was found far in advance of all of his troops and among the enemy; and the best way is not for us to lie down and let the events of life trample over us, but to go forth in a Christian spirit d,,termined Lo conquer. The papers were made out, and some of you have just entered into business partner ships, and others of you take higher posi tions in the commercial establishment where you were engaged, and others have entered upon new enterprises, and there were last week in these cities ten thousand business ohanges. You are expecting prosperity, and I am detsemined, so far as I have any thing to do with it, that ycu shall not be disappointed, .and therefore I propose, as God may help .m. this morning, to project upon your at -tenton a new element of success. You will have in the business firm, frugality, -patience, industry, perseverance, economy -a very strong business firm, but there emeeds to be .one member added, mightier ,than them all, and not a silent partner , either-the one introduced by my text: "Godliness, which is profitable unto all :things, having the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come." I suppose you are all willing to admit that rgodliness is important in its eternal rela tions; but perhaps some of you say: "All I want is an opportunity to say a prayer be ifore I die, and all will be well." There are -s great many people who suppose that if tbey cam finally get safely out of this world, they will have exhausted the entire advan tage of our holy religion. They talk as though religion were a mere nod of recog nition which we are to give to the Lord Jesuason the way up to a heavenly mansion; as though it were an admission ticket, of no use except to give in at the door of Heaven. And there are thousands of people who have great admiration forareligion of the shroud, 'and a religion of the coffin, and a religion of the hearse, and a religion of the cemetery, ' ba- -tahaciatlon of a religion for wa. bank, for the farm,-or the factory, for the warehouse, for the aw s.a-- - .. .the broker's office. Now, while I would not throw any slur on a post-mortem religion, I gwt this morning, and on the first Sabbath of new year, to eulogize an ante-mortem - religion. A religion that is of no use to you while you live, will be of no use to you when you diL "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is as wellas of that which is to come." And I have always noticed that when the grace is - very low in a man's heart he talks a great deal in prayer-meetings about deaths, and - about coffins, and about graves, and about .churchyards. 1 have noticed that the healthy Christian, the man who is living -near to God and is on the straight road to :Heaven, is full of jubilant satisfaction and ;talks about the duties of this life, under standing well that if God helps ha to live ahthe will help him to die right. - ow, in the first place, I remark bhi god lieasisgood fer a man's physical health. I do not mean :to say that it will restore a broken-down constitution, or drive rheuma tism from the limbs, or neuralgia from the templea, or pleurisy from the side; but I do mean to say that It gives one such habits and pute one In such oondition as is most favorable for physical health. That I be lieve, and that I avow. Everybody knows that buoyancy of spirit is good physical ad - vantage. Gloom, unrest, dejection are at *war with every pulsation of the heart, and -with every respiration of the lungs. It ;lewers the vitality, It slackens the circula -1ion, while exaration of spirit pours the very balm of heaven through all the cur rents of life. The sense of insecurity which sometimes hovers over an unregen erate man, or pounces upon him with the blast of ten thousand trumpets of terror, is meet depleting and most exhausting, while the telnng that all things are working to gether for my good now, and for my ever Swelfare, is conducive to physical You will observe that godliness Induces industry, which is the foundation of good health. There is no law of hygiene that will keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will Shim, erysipelas wmnburn him, jaundice discolor him, gout will cripple him and theintelligent physician will not nrescribe erowbars and pickaes. There is no such thing as good physical condition without ;posItive work of some kind, although you -should sleep on down of swan, or ride In carriage of softest upholstery, or have on yur table all the luxuries that were poured fso the wineivats of Ispahan or Shiraz. -Our religion says: "Away to the bank! away to the field!I away to the shop! away othe factoryl do something that will en I~tan the energies of your body, mind and souL" "Diligent in business, fervent in spirIt,serving the Lord;" while upo'n the .hare back of the Idler and the drone comes -down the sharp lash of the apostle as he -eys: "If any man will not work, neither :dhan he eat" :0, how important in this day, when so mauch s said about anatomy and Iphysiology andl therapeutics, and some new style of medlelne Is ever and anon springing upon abe world, that yen should understand that the hihest school of medicine isathe school of Chrswhieh declares that "Godliness is L eial nto all things, having the prom of the life that nowis as wellias of that which is to come." So if you start out two men In the world with equal physical health,-and then one of them shall get the getigion of the Lord Jesus Christ In his hbeart, and the other shall not get it, the one who becomes a son of the Lord Almighty -will live the longer. "With long life will I eatisfy thee, and show thee my salvation." Again I remark that godliness is good for the Intellect. I know some have supposed that just as soon as a man enters into the Christanmd, his intellect goes into a be .dwarfing process. So far from that, religion will give new brillanoy to the intellect, new ,atrength to the imagination, new force to -tbe will and wider swing to all the intellect ud faculties. Christianity is the great cen tirial re at which Philosophy has lighted its epightest torchl. The religion of the Lord ijesus Christ is the fountain out of which dipped its clearest drenght, nunred from under the thre of God clear as crystal. Religion has given new energy to Poesy, weeping in Dr. Young's "Night Thoughts," teaching in Cowper's "Task," flaming in Charles Wes ley's hymns, and rushing with archangeio splendorthrough Milton's "Paradise Lost." The religion of Jesus Christ has hung in studio and in gallery of art and in Vatican, the best pictures-Titian's "Assumption," Raphael's "Transfiguration," Ruben's "Do seent from the Cross," Claude's "Burning Bush," and Angelo's "Last Judgment." Religion has made the best music of the world - Haydn's "Creation," Handel's "Messiah," Mozart's "Requiem." Is it pos sible that a religion which builds such inde structible monuments, and which lifts its ensign on the highest promontories of worldly power, can have any effect upon a man's intellect but elevation and enlarge ment? Now, I commend godliness as the best mental discipline-better than belles lettres to purify the taste, better than mathematics to harness the mind to all intricacy and elaboration, better than logic to marshal the intellectual forces for onset and victory. It will go with Hugh Miller and show him the footprints of the Creator in the red sandstone. ?t will go with the botanist and show hi= .elestial glories en camped under the curtain of the water lily. It will go with the astronomer on the great * Qnt where God shepherds the great fiocir of worlds that wander on the hills of Heaven answering His voice as li calls them all by their names. Again I remark, that godliness is profit able for one's disposition. Lord Ashley, be fore he went into a great battle, was heard to offer this prayer: "O, Lord, I shall be very busy to-day; if I forget Thee, forget me not." With such a Christian disposition as that, a man is independent of all circum stances. Our piety will have a tinge of our natural temperament. If a man be cross and sour and fretful naturally, after he becomes a Christian he will always have to be armed against the rebellion of those evil inclina tions; but religion has tamed the wildest nature; it has turned fretfulness into grati tude, despondency into good cheer, and those who were hard and ungovernable and un compromising have been made pliable and conciliatory. Good resolution, reformatory effort, will not effect the change. It takes a mightier arm and a mightier hand to bend evil habits than the hand that bent the bow of Ulysses, and it takes a stronger lance than ever held the buffalo on the prairie. A man can not go forth with any human weapons and contend successfully against these Titans, armed with uptorn mountains. But you have known men into whose spirit the influence the gospel of Christ came, un til their disposition was entirely changed. So it was with two merchants in New York. They were very antagonistic. They ihad done all they could to injure each other. They were in the same line of business. One of the merchants was converted to God. Having been converted he asked the Lord to teach him how to bear himself toward that business antagonist, and he was im pressed with the fact that it was his duty when a customer asked for certain kinds of goods which he had not, but which he knew his opponent had, to reccommend him to go to that store. I suppose that is about the thoroughly converted to God, he resolved to do that very thing, and being asked for e certain kind of goods which he had not, he said: "You go to such and such a store, and you will get it." After a while, mer chant number two found these customers coming so sent, and he found also that mer chant number one had been brought to God, and he sought the same religion. Now they are good friends and good neighbors, the grace of God entirely changing their dispo sition. "O," says some one, "I have a v-s e.g ged, impetuous nature, and relir ' do anything for mei" Do you krr tin Luther and Robert Newton ard Baxter were impetuous, all-con . g na tures, yet the grace of God turned m into the mightiest usefulness? A manufacturer cares but very little for a stream that slow ly runs through the meadow, but a strong torrent that leaps from rok to rock, and rushes with mad energy through the valley and out toward tbe sea. Along that river you will find fluttering shuttles and grind ing mill and dashing water-wheel. And a nature the swiftest, the most rugged and the most tremendous, that is the nature God turns into the greatest usefulness. 0. how many there are who have been pug nacious, and hard to please, and irascible, and more bothered about the mote In their neighbor's eye than about the beam-like ship timber in their owneye, who have been entirely changed by the grace of God, and have found out that "Godliness is profita ble for the life that now is as well as for the life which is to come." Again I remark that religion is good for a man's worldly business. I know the general theory is the more business the less religion, the more religion the less business. Not so thought Dr. Hans In his "Biography of a Christian Merchant," when he says: "He grew in grace the last six years of his life more than at any time in his life; during those six years he had more business crowd ing him than at any other time." In other words, the more worldly business a man has, the more opportunity to serve God. Does religion exhilarate or retard worldly business? is the practical question for you to discuss. Does It hang like a mortgage over the farmi Is it a bad debt on the ? Is it a lien agist the ostatatDoea t cno ~through .which customers come for broadcloths and silks? Now, re ligion will hinder your business if it be a bad business, or If it be a good business wrongly conducted. If you tell lies behind the counter, If you usc false weights and measures, if you put sand in sugar, and beet-juice in vinegar, and lard in butter, and sell for one thing that which is another thing, then religion will interfere with that business; but a lawful business, lawfully conducted, willifind the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ its mightiest auxiliary. Religion will give an equipoise of spirit. it will keep you from ebullitions of temper -and you know a great many fine busi nesses have been blown to atoms by bad temper-it will keep you from worrimnent about frequent loss, It will keep you indus trious and prompt, it will keep you back from squandering and from dissipation, it will give you a kindness of spirit which wil be easily distinguished from that mere store courtesy which shakes hands violently with you, asking about the health of your fami ly when there Is no anxiety to know wheth. r your child is well or sick ! but the anxie ty Is to know how many dozen cambric pocket handkerchiets youi will take and pay cash down. It will prepare you for the practical duties of every-day life. I do not mean to say that roligion will make us finan cially rich, but I do say that it will assure us of a comfortable sustenance at the start, a comfortable subsistence all the way through, and it will help us to direct the bank, to manage the traffic, to conduct all our business matters and to make the most insigniicant affair of our life a matter of vast importance glorified by Christian prin ciple. In New York City there was 'a merchant hard in his dealings with his fellows, who had written over his banking house, or his counting-house room: "No compromise." Then when some mer chant got In a crisis and went down-no fault of his, but a conjunction of evil cir --4.wa._ma a the ather meamhants were wiling to compo e-tuhey would take seventy-five cents on the dollar, ority cents, or twenty cents-coming to this man last of all, he said: "No compromise; P11 take 100 cents on the dollar, and I can afford to wait." Well, the wheel turned, and after a while that man was in a crisis of business, and he sent out his agents to compromise, and the agents said to the merchants: "Will you take fifty cents on the dollar? "No." "Will you take any thing?" "We'll take 100 cents on the dollar. No compromise." And the man who wrote that inscription over his counting-house door died in destitution. O, we want more of the kindness of the gospel and the spirit of love in our business enterprises ! How many young men have found in the religion of Jesus Christ a practical help? How many are there in this house to-day who could teftify out of their own experience that godliness is profitable for the life that now is. There were times in their business career when they went here for help, and there for help, and gonder for help, and got no help until they knelt before the Lord crying for his deliverance, and the Lord rescued them. In a bank not far from our great metropo lis-a village bank-an officer could not bal ance his accounts. He had worked at them day after day, night after night, and he was was sick nigh unto death as a result. He knew that he had not taken one farthing from that bank, but somehow, for some reason inscrutable then, the accounts wouldn't balance. The time rolled on, and the morning of the day when the books should pass under the inspection of the other officers arrived, and he felt himself in awful peril, conscious of his own integrity but unable to prove that integrity. That morning he went to the bank early, and he knelt down before God and told the whole story of his mental anguish, and he said: "O Lord, I have done right; I have preserved my integrity, but here I am about to be overthrown unless Thou should come to my rescue. Lord, de liver me." And for one hour he continued the prayer before God, and then he rose and went to an old blotter that he had forgotten all about. He opened it, and there lay a sheet of figures which he only needed to add to another line of figures-some line of figures he had forgotten, and knew not where he had laid them-and tne accounts were balanced, and the Lord delivered him. You are an infidel if you do not be. ve it. The Lord delivered him. God answered his prayer, as he will answer your prayer, 0 man of business, in every crisis when you come to him. Now, if this be so, then I am persuaded, as you are, of the fact that the vast majority of Christians do not fully test the value of their religion. They are like a farmer in California, with fifteen thousand acres of good wheat land, and culturing only a quarter of an acre. Why do you not go forth and make the religion of Jesus Christ a practical affair, every day of your business life and all this year, beginning now, and to-morrow morning putting into practical effect this holy religion and dem onstrating in your life that godliness is profitable here as well as hereafter? How can you get along without this re ligion? Is your physical health so good you do not want this divine tonics Is your mind so clear, so vast, so comprehensive that you do not want this divine inspiration I Is your worldly business so thoroughly es tablished that you have no use for that re ligion which has been the help and deliver ance of tens of tuousands of men in crises of worldly trouble? And if what I have said this morning is true, then you see what a fatal blunder it is when a man ad journs to life's expiration th3 uses of re ligion. A man who postpones religion to sixty years of age gets religion fifty years too late. He may get into the kingdom of God by final repentance, but what can com pensate him for a whole lifetime unallevi ated and uncomforted? You want religion to-day in the training of that child. You will want religion to-morrow in dealing with that western customer. You wanted religion yesterday to curb your temper. Is your arm strong enough to beat your way through the floods? Can you without being encased in the mail of God's eternal help go forth amid the assault of all hell's sharpshooters? Can you walk alone acress these crumbling graves and amid these gaping earthquakes? Can you, waterlogged and mast-shiv ered, outlive the gale? O , how many there are who, postponing the religion of Jesus Christ, have plunged Into mistakes they never could correct, although they lived eighty years after, and like serpents crushed under cart-wheels, dragging their mauled bodies under the rocks to die; so thse men have fallen under the wheel of awful calamity, crushed here, destroyed for ever, while a vast multitude of others have taken the religion of Jesus Christ into every day life, and first, in practical business af fairs, and secondly, on the throne of heaven ly triumph, have illustrated, while angels looked on and a universe approved, the glorious truth that "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life which now is as well as of that which Is to come."_________ AMERICAN CLERGYMEN. Not as Erudite, But Far More Profitable Than Their English Brethren. Some time ago I was talking with an En glish clergyman who lamented the fact that as a rule American clergymen are not scholarly men in the English sense of the ward. Dloubaie this is true in a measure, although we can point to American clergy men who are the peers of any English clergy men In profound scholarship. But we must admit that the exigencies of life In this country have made it impossible for the average clergyman to become a deep scholar. Our clergy have had to spread themselves over too much ground and do too many things to make the elegant leisure of the scholar possible. They have had to do card and rough pioneer work, and in a vast num ber of cases have had to vex their souls with knotty questions of financial ways and means unknown to the beneficial ways and of Europe. And in doing the work which was before them I think they have shown a power and an aptitude that a more bookish set of men never could have shown. It is not so long since one of the surest ways in reaching a mitre in the English church was to edit a Greek play. Such a state of things has never existed In this country, and It is to be hoped it never will exist, even though It should give us a learned ministry. The ability to throw new light ou the dative case in Greek and the discovery of a now shade of meaning for some particle are doubtless important so complishents in their way, but they would be of no yvalue to an American clergyman, whose erudition, no matter how profound it may be, must be directed into practical channels and used for the more uplifting of the people.-[Church Times. -How many take a wrong view of life and waste their nervous system in endeav oring to accumulate wealth without think ing of the present happiness they are throw ing away. It is not wealth or honor that makes a man happy. Many of the most wretched beings on earth have both. But it Is a radiant sunny spirit which knows ho~w o bear little trials and enjoy comforts, and thsetathappiness from every incident nlife.-Christian World. -Measure not men by Sundays, wli out THE TAXATION OF PROPERTY. THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA STSTEM. Comptroller General Verner Points Out the Inherent Weakness of the Law, and Srggests a Way in which Better Results May be Obtained. To the Editor of The News and Courier: The recent discussion by the newspapers of a circular issued from the Comptroll er's office, on the subject of tax returns, the article from the Columbia Bureau of the News and Courier, and your edi torial on the same subject, have brought prominently before the public the sub ject of our present system of taxation. It is universally conceded that a large part of the present property of the State escapes taxation, that much of that re turned is at an under valuation, while the real estate is returned and assessed at a rate far below its market value. The difficulties in our, or the ad valo rem, system of taxation are three-fold; first, that of securing returns of all tax able property at fair valuations; second, of equalizing the assessmentsof property between individuals of the same county, and third, that of equalizing between the different counties of the State, so that the burdens of taxation shall not only be equal between individuals, but be tween counties. The tax returns reveal many curious facts. In many instances these show that the greater the amount of property owned and returned by the person required by law ? - list his property for taxation, the smaller the valuations placed upon the items of property which make up the return, while the comparatively poor taxpayer returns his property for tax ation at a high valuation, thus making the burdens of taxationunequal and con sequently unjust. This is not only be tween individuals, but the different values, placed upon property of the same kind and character in the counties, make the counties bear burdens which are unequal. To ilustrate: & owns ten head of horses, which he returns for taxation at a valuation of fifty dol!ars each; ten of his neighbors own ten horses whose market value is not greater than those owned by A, yet they. return them for $100 each, thus paying on the same property twice as much taxes as A. Further, the county of A returns its property which is of equal value to that of B, for less than the returns of B, and thus imposes on B taxation which it escapes by under valuation. The much-agitated question is how shall these diffouities be remedied, fair returns secured and equal valuations be made of property, so that the burden of taxation may be equal and just. Experience shows that, under the ad valorem system of taxation, it is almost impossible to secure just, fair and equit abiereturns. The differentidesaof values entertained by individuals owning prop erty and assessors of various counties, the deliberate efforts of some to escape taxa tion, the large amount of localtaxes to be raised in some counties which do not affect others, and the consequent intent of the counties to keep down assessments, are obstacles which in the practical operation of our tax laws it is difficult to surmount. In many States these difficulties in the way of the enforcement of tax laws have grown so great that the ad valorem system has been abandonede The system of taxation which will re move these obstacles as far as possible is that to be desired. This can be done by chaging the system, and taking the good features of both the ad valorem and license system and combining them. To do this it would, perhaps, be neceE sary to change the present Constitution. If the county and mumic13ai governmente could be supported by a tax upon real estate and the ordinary personal property exclusively, and have the phosphate roaty, railroad property, banking in stitutions, express, telegraph and tele phone companies, liquor saloons, mining interests and other large corporations for State taxation, the difficulty of equal ization between counties would at once be removed, and it would become the in terest of each individual of the same county or municipality to have a fair re turn of property made. If the county governments were made dependent en tirely on a tax to be raised upon the real and personal property of that county, and this property exempt from State taxation, then the difficulty of equaliza tion between counties would be removed, and it would then become the interest of the individual taxpayer of that county to see that every species of property was returned with fair valuations. Each county could be divided into a large number of assessment districts and the assessors so appointed that they would have an accurate knowledge of the amount arnd value of the property of each district. The county governme nts being dependent for their support upon the real and personal property of each county, and that property exempt from State tax, the State tax could be raised from that species of property which could be readily equalized in value by a State board of equalization, for instance rail roa , banking institutions, mining in terests, manufacturinlg companies. tele graph, telephone companies, liquor saloons, insurance companies, &c. T1hat property whose value is easily assertained could be taxed ad valoremi, while other business whose profits are unusual on account of the peculiarity of the business could be taxed by a judicious system of ticenses. The amount of revenue to sup port the State Government can be thus easily raised without imposing on those institutions a greater rate of taxation than that which they now pay. The appropriations to support the State Government, for the fiscal year 1888 and 1889, amaount in the aggregate to $914165 40. This amount can be readily raised as follows: Phosphate royalty...-$-. 200,000 00 Liquor licenses........... 136,800 00 Banking capital, on an assess ment of $7,273,000, at 12i mills, present rate of tax ation...... ..... ---... 99,912 00 Manufacturing companies, on assessment of $25,000,000, at same rate............ 312,000 00 Railroads, on assessment of $17,000,000....... ...... 212,500 00 Fees from Secretary of State's un namn1tenliIC's of~ne..- 9.000 00 The telegraph, telephone and express companies........ 1.588 00 Total ........... ... .$963,300 00 Approprations, '88 and '89. 914,165 00 Difference ..............$.. 48,13500 The average rate of taxation paid by these institutions on their assessments throughout the State for all purposes, school, county and State, is 12; mill on the dollar. This I have used in my esti mate. The exemption of this species of property from county taxation will not increase the county taxes, or make the burdens of taxation on the ordinary personal property and real estate greater than now. Under this system the State taxes could be paid directly into the State treasury, upon assessments made to the Comptroller general and equalized by a State board of equalization. The county taxes could be collected by a county treasurer, who would be both auditor and treasurer, and the present expensive system of collecting taxes be abolished. There is a necessity for some legis lation on this ubject, and I write the suggestion cortained in this paper to agitate the question of taxation, and secure, if possible, a more equitable system than that now of fore-. Yours, truly. J. S. Verner. Columbia, Janu-ary 1 >, 1889. Prr',,s In Suut. Carolina. In its weekly "construction depart meat," giving a list of all new enterprises in the South, the Manufacturers' Record of this week contains the following itens of new iudustries and the enlargement of old ones in this State: Anderson-Hotel.-The Audrson Hotel Company will put electric lights in their hotel now being built by D. E. Sharkey, of Union. Beaufort-Saw Mill, Creosoting works, etc.-It is reported that a company has been formed to purchase the Port Royal saw mill, build creosoting works, wharves, etc. Beaufort-Phosphate Mining.-The Farmers' Mining Company, previously reported as to mine phosphate rock in Beaufort county, are having a large dredge built at Charleston. Charleston-Sash and Blind Fac tory.-Wetherhorn & Fischer have en larged their sash, door and blind factory building, and put in additional ma chinery. Charleston-Bag Factory.-The Royal Bag Manufacturing Company have pur chased a building for their factory pre viously reported as to be started. Ma chinery is ordered. Charleston-Rip-rap Stone.-Propo sale for furnishing and depositing on the jetties at Charleston about 100,00C tons of rip-rap .tone will be received until February 16 by Frede .ek V. Abbott, U. S. Engineer. Charleston-Depot and Wharf.-The Charleston and Savannah Railroad Com pany are prepairing plans for extensive improvements to their terminal facilities. They will extend their freight depot 250 feet, contemplate building a new wharf, &c. Charleston-The Economy Building and Loan Association is being organized. Charleston-Theatre, etc-Mill Hoke, of Greenville, has purchased a .site on Sullivan's Island, and will erect a pavil ion theatre 40x80 feet, skating rink 100 x75 feet, and ffty bath rooms. Clearwater-SSW Mill-A steam saw mill will be built by William Coleman and Cuthbert Prothro. C lifton-Cotton Mill-The improve ments to the Clifton Manufacturing Company's No. 1 mill mentioned lasi week are a new 100 horse power turbine wheel, the replacing of 2,304 old spindles with that number of new ones, etc. They have ordered 26 additionsl looms. A supply house and a warehouse (2,000 bales capacity) has been completed, and ground is broken for a storehouse 30x16C Florence-Electric Light Plant. George B. EdIwards, of Charleston, and Hodges & Newton, of Florence, will pul in machinery to show the merits of elc trio lights with a view to organizing the Florence Electric Light and Powei Company, to erect a permanent plant. Georgetown-Matting Factory.-It 15 rumored that that the party previously mentioned as to stait a matting factory if suitable rushes could be found, has secured about 3,000 acres of rush-clad lands, and will soon start his factory, possibly at Georgetown. Jedburg- Saw and Grist Mill, etc. Daniel Wellingham, Sr., will erect saw and grist mill and cotton gin. Newberry-Railroad.-The Charles ton, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Company (office, Rock Hill). arE preparing to commence works or their branch from Newberry to Augusta, Ga., previously mentioned as projected. The Massachusetts Construction Coin pany will do the work, Rook Hill-Katlin Mine.-It is prob able that a comnpa .y will be. formed tc develop a kaolin mane. Salem-Saw Mill.-A saw mill is being erected by J. A. Boykin. Spartanburg-Shool.-The contraci for erecting the Echool building, pre vionly reported, has been awarded tc M. Carlson and J. P. Hertzog. Varville- Saw Mill.-E. R. Gwir has added a saw mill to his wagon, carriage and furniture shops. There was a very romantic mar: iage ii Castle Garden on Tuesday. The groom was Robert Mayne, a handsome younf Scotman, and his bride was Catharmn Avellaveda, a blushing Spanish maiden, It years old. Both were steerage passengerE on the Cunard steamer Servia, which ar rivel on Monday morning. Their ac. quaintance commenced on the first clay ol the steamers journey. Robert, who come: here to take charge of a rauch in Wyomn ng, happened to occupy a berth in th( s eerage, not for lack of money, however, but simply to see the uncomfortable sidI of ocean traveling. is future bride wan unable to pay for a cabin passage, and thut was compelled to come in the steerage. On board the steamer she kept aloof frorr the other steerage- passengers, but seemet to be attracted to the good-looking young Scotman. The two were soon on speak ing terms, and, before the voyage was over had agreed to become husband and wife Indulgent Papa-Why, my dear, you had a party last month. How often do you wish to entertain your friendst She-Thiu one is not to cntertain my friencj, papa, bt to nb mIY enemies. 1ow EDGaR r'oE 1 E)D. One of the Men Who Drugged film Tells the Story. No American poet has attracted more attention. living and dead, than Edgar A. Poe. Nine lives of him have been written, yet about no celebrated writer of modern times has it been so difficult to get the real facts of his life and death, writes Eugene L. Didier in the New Yorit Star. According to some of hid biographers he mingled among men like a bewildered angel, while others describe him as a prying fiend, or an Ismaelite, with his hand against every one and every one's against him. The time and place of his birth were for many years uncertain; even now some of his bio graphers still differ as to that matter. The place of his burial was at one time undecided, but that was definitely settled in 1875, wb.. his remains were discover ed in Westminister churchyard. Balti more, an-l a monument of seven feet six inch' a high erect over his grave. The cause of hi. death and the circumstances a tendicg i bare not yet been definitely d .ni. ei, at d everything that throws a.ly lig-. uponu the subject will prove in. te~ asin to his many admircr. A fIrmu 1:. Itimorean;,, now living in S1. Franeisto, gives what he claims to b: : true ace tit of the poet's last days and death. 'ihi is his story: "I was in tim.ately acq"tainted with Edgar Allen Po fr 3ears. Much that has been said and wruiten hi regard to his death is fais:. His .bitual resort in BTntimore aa- the Widev Meagher's place. This as an oyster sMaud and liquor bar on 1:: city front, corresponding in some r.l> !cts with the coffee houses of San. Fr*ncisco. It was fri qiented much by erinters, and ranked as a respectable place, where parties could enjoy a game of cards or engage in social conversation. Poe was a great favorite with the old woman. Tie favorite seat of the poet was just behind the stand, and he was about as quiet and sociable as an oyster himself. ?te went by the name of Bard, an] when parties came into the shop it was 'Bard, come up and take a nip,' or Bard, come up and take a hand in tne game.' Whenever Widow Meagher met ith any incident or idea that tickled her fancy she would ask the Bard to vestifs it. Poe always complied, writing many a witty couplet, and at times poems of some length. These verses, quite as meritorious as some by which his name was immoriliz::d were thus frittered into obscursty. It was in this little shop that Poe's attention was called to an advertisement in a Philadelphia paper for a prize for the best story, and it was there that he wrote his famous 'Gold Bug' which carried off the $100 prize. "Poe had been shifting for many years between Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. He had been away from Bal timoie for three or four months, when he turned up one evening at the Widow Meagher's. I was there when he came in. He privatly told me that he had been to Richmond and was on his way north to get ready for his wedding. It was drink all around and repeat until the crowd was pretty fall. It was the night before election, and four of us, including Poe, started up. We had gone half a dozen squares when we were nabbed by a gang of men who were on the lookout for voters to 'coop.' It was the practice in those days to seize people, whether drank or sober, Icek them up until the polls were opened, and then march them around to every precinct, where they were made to vote the ticket of the party tht controlled the 'coop.' Our coop was in the rear of an engine house on Calvert straet. It was part of the game to stupefy the prisoners wish drugged liquor. Well, the next day we were voted at thirty-onediflrent places, and over and over, it b::ng as maen as a man's lire was worth to rebel. Poe was so badly drugged that, after he was carried on two or airee dufferent rounds, the gang said it was no use to vote a dead mau any longer. So they shoved Ihim into a cab and sent him to a hospital Ito get him out of the way. "rhe commonly accepted st ry that Poe died from the eflcta of dissipatiot' is al1 bosh. It was nothing of the kind. He died from laudlanumi or some other poison that was forced upon him in the coop. Hie was iar a dying conoimon when he was beihg voted around the c:ty. The story sold by Griswold of Pe's having been on a week's spree, and being picked up on the street, is false'; I saw him shoved into the cab mysel and he told me he had just arrived in the city." The above narrative will form an in Iteresting chapter in the life and death of Ithe poor, whose life was a romance and whose death was a tragedy. The accouint of Poe's last days agrees in several re spcts with the account which the loate Onief Judge Nelson Poe, of Baltimore, gave to the undersigned. It is pamnful to think that a man of Poe's wonderful genius would, after a life of intolerable misery, die in the wretched manener aboe~ described. But it must be ad mitte -that the author of "The Baven" was cooped and drugged to death by political toughs, who used the hapless piet as a repeaiter at a local election. Others have vaguely stated this before, and ;he detailed account now given by one who was with Poe at the time con firms. the horrible story. A Womnau Without a Stomach. Te other day Dr. Jacobus, of New Yor, placed a woman with a most dangerous affliction upon a table and ac tually removed her stomach. While he was performing the operation the surgeon was denounced as a murderer. lHe per severed and saved the life of the patient, who now lives and thrives witut a htomch. So says a dispatch to the Cireinnti Enquirer. The dispatch "At the end of the two weeks she was given food through the mouth without any bad effeszt. D~igestion went on in a perfectly natural manner, and from this it wuld seem that the stomach has been thought to play a more important part in digestion than it really does. "The patient will be kept at the hos pital for several months, so that the history of the case can be carefully noted. Photographs were taken of the stomach and the abdominal space after the canals were uited, and a complete record will appear ntext month in the Meial Journal. - No blessing equals the possession of a stut heart. FACTS FOR TILE FARMERS. USEFUL INFORMATION FOR SoUrH EftN FARUSERS. Capt. Peterkn.'s Solution of the Coaner cial Fertilizer Question-Let the Land Rest for a Year. To the Editor of the News and Courier: One of the chief causes of the impoverished condition of the farmers is the use of two much commercial ferti lizer and the injudicious applicatiosn of the same. For twenty years we hive bought any and everything that has been oflered for sale. All that has been ne'es sary was to put somethinginasack orbar rel and brand some unusual or pecular name on i.. I do not accuse the manufac turers of fraud, but do accuse my brother farmers of being the biggest set of fools there is in all the land, and the writer the king of fools, or the biggest fool =of all. For several years I bought ammoniated fertilizers at high prices, and applied in connection with cotton seed meal or cotton seed in natural state. After spend ing thousands of dollars in this foolish say, I dropped the ammoniated goods to a great degree and bougnt acid phos phate and acidulated rock, and mixed it ha f acid or acidulated rock and half cotton seed meal. Three or four -years ago I concluded I had enough sulphuric acid and phosphate in my land, and be gan to put in less phosphate and com mercial fertilizers, and brought it down to one hundred pounds with whatever amount of meal 1 used per acre.- I am now satisfied that where lands have been continuously planted in cotton, that it is unnecessary to apply commercial fertili zers of any kind; the lands need rest from them for at least a year. If you buy at all, only buy to mix with meal, where you plant on lands that weregrown in something besides cotton, and pat not over one hundred pounds to the acre. There are various reasons for this. By using little or no commercial fertili zer the plant will at rt off in the spring a little slow, will have less fruit in July and stand the July and August drought. Take the lower and middle cotton belts of the cottan States and we want to make a late or August crop. Wve need brit little if any commerial fertilizer.. The upper or clay belts need a little to get a July and August crop, will say one pound of commercial to three of meal or its .quivalent of seed. The clay lands do not req:iire any kainit or potash. Tbis is not all theory. I know what I am talking about. I know it from actual practice. If the farmers of the cotton cuantry who buy commercial fertilizers will adopt this plan, say use atleast. one third of the amount they have been in the habit of using, it will add many millions to their purses, and enable them to pay for fertilizers they have foolishly thrown away. Don't blame the men who manufacture or sell the fertilizers. We have encouraged them; and the demand is now so great that we can't be supplied, except at a price beyond our reach. The high price will continue. It is impossi ble to check it in any way, except by giving the land rest for sty one year. If you make the experiment one year you will continue it, and prices will for many years be in due bounds. Our manu facturers do not claim that the home de mand has increased so much, but foreign demand. Just let t'e foreigners have is all this year; we will save many millions. We wilt have as much or more cotton, and pay up back indebtedness. Let the agicultnurlclub!, the Alliances and Granges consider this matter. If there are no societies in your neighbor hood, call the neighbors together and calmly consider tae matter. if you can not do this let every farmer decide for himself, and say, "I wilt for one year let my land rest from fertilizers." it willinotf look so brigat for us in May and Jane, but Uotober and November will show you where the miilions nave been foolish y spent for the last twenty years. I have been told of late that farmers could not bny it; that his only chance was to get it through nis or some one else's merchant. This may be true to some extent. Of course money enough will buy it, but we dodit need it. That is the subject xor us to consider, and let them that have it keep it. bpin out your cotton seed from Iifeen Co twenty bash els to the acre. Mix the stable manure Ifine and spread it with the hand. Make Iit go over a l.arge area instead of care lessly tnrowing it down in piles from a pitchfork. Too many fertilizers are dagerous. They have never done the great amount of good we haveimagined. Good anid proper cultivationl pays better than large quanktitiesof fertilizers. There is such a thing as too much ammonia, ad we oftener put too much than not enough. Tn~ze phospaate and kainit, or potasin salt, are there so stay. Our land u eds rest from commercial fertilizers as much as they do rotion. t am almost tempted to say if yea take my advice ia this matter and it proves wrong, appoint a day next fali and hang me. JAMES A. PETmnKN. Fort Motte, January 10. The Banks Burning Case. Posearr v, S. C., Jan. 23.-The recent barniug of the house of Butler Banks is h~keh- to make the proceedings of the next Court of General Sessions unusually inter esing to the citizens of the lower part of New berry county. Yesterday morning tive mien were arrested, charged with tfle commission of this crime, and are now im j'il awaiting a preliminary hearing. The arrested parties are Jetf Holley, Turner Banks, Perry Balnks, Stout Banks and Rush Ex::ks, the four last named being Sne sos of James Banks. the man wounded by Butler Banks on the morning prior to the burning.-Spe&cial to Charleston World. -. A Battle with Moonshiners. GREENvILLE, S. C., Jan. 23.-A party of five revenue oilicers were tired on while destroying a 'blockade" still in Panther Mountains, thirty miies above here, last night. When returming to their horses this morning on foot in broad daylight they were confronted in the publie road by si moonshinlers, who stepped out and opened fire at short range, severely wound big Mlarshal Hightower. The remaining revenue men returned the fire and charge:u. puttig thne moof.niners to flight and cap turing one of themi, a uman named Howard, af ter a long chase over the mountains. Special to Charleston World.