Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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AA A--'4 - o NOL 31 MAN N N(4- 8.(' EI)NESI)AY, 1)ECEMBER 419.N .2 THE TREES OF PALESTINE. SUBLIME LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPT URES ON THE CEDARS. Dr. Talmage Describes the Scenes on Mount Lebanon and Deduces Moral Lessons Therefrom-The Prephets Loved to Gaze Upou the Mighty Forests. BRooKLYS, Dec. 14.-To-day Dr. Talmage preached the t welfth sermon of his series on Palestine and the ad joining countries. Dr. Talmage an nounced as his text Psalm civ. 16, "The cedars of Lebanon which he bath planted,"and preached the following sermon: in our journey we change stirrup for wheel. It is 4 o'clock in the morning at Damascus, Syria, afnd we are among the lanterns of the hostelry waiting for the stage to start. A Mohammedan in high life is putting his three wives on board within an apaitment by themselves, and our party occupy the main apartment of one of the most un comfortable vehicles in which mortals were ever jammed and half strangu lated. But we must not let the dis comforts annul or disparage the op portunities. We are rolling out and up the mountains of Lebanon, their forehead under a crown of snow, which coronet the fingers of the hottest sum mer cannot cast down. CLD1BING UP LEBANOW. We are ascending heights around which is garlanded much of the finest poesy of the Scriptures, and are rising +.nward the mightiest dominion that bo ja ever recognized, reigned over by the mo imperial tree that ever swayed a leafyb pter-the Lebanon cedar; a tree eu in my text as having grown from a nutput into the ground by God himself, and no human hand had anything to do with its planting: "The trees of Lebanon which he bath planted." The average height of this moun tain is seven thousand feet, but in one place it lifts its head to an altitude of ten thousand. No higher than six thousand feet can vegetation exist, but below that line at the right season are vineyards and orchards and olive groves and flowers that dash the moun tain side with a very carnage of color and fill the air with aromatics that Hosea, the prophet, and Solomon, the king, celebrated as "the smell of Le banon." At a height of six thousand feet is a grove of cedars, the only de cendants of those vast forests from which Solomon cut his timber for the temple of Jerusalem, and where at one time there were one hundred thousand axmen hewing out the beams from which great cities were constructed. But this nation of trees has by human iconoclasm been massacred until only a small group is left. This race of giants is nearly extinct, but I have no doubt that some of these were here when Hiram, king of Tyre, ordered the assassination of those cedars of Lp banon which the Lord planted. From the multitude of uses to which it may be put and the employment of it ii the Scriptures, the cedar is the divine favorite. When the plains to be seen from the window of this stage in which we ride to-day are parched under surm mer heats, and not a grass blade sur vives the fervidity, this tree stands in luxuriance, defying the summer sun. And when the storms of winter terrify the earth and hurl the rocks in ava lanche down this mountain side, this tree grapples the hurricane of snow in triumph and leaves the spent fury at its feet. From sixty to eighty feet high are they, the horizontal branches of great sweep, with their burden of leaves needle shaped, the top, of the tree pyramidal, a throne of foliage on which might and splendor and glory sit. But so continuously has the ex termination of trees gone on that for the most part the mountains of Le banon are bare of foliage, while, I am sorry to say, the earth in all lands is eing likewise denuded. BE SPARIN~G OY GOD'S TREEs. The ax is slaying the forests all round the earth. To stop the slaugh ter God opened the coal mines of Eng land and Scotland and America and the world, practically saying by that, "Here is fuel; as far as possible let my trees alone." And by opening for the human race the great quarries of granite and showing thej human fami ly liow to make brick. God .is practi cally saying, "Here is building mate rial; let my trees alone." We had bet ter stop the axes ampong the Adiron dacks. We had better stop the axes in all our forests, as it would have been better for Syria if the axes had long ago been stopped among the moun tains of Lebanon. To punish us for our reckless assault on the forests we have the disordered seasons, and now the droughts because the uplifted arms of the trees do not pray for rain, their presence according to all scientists dis posing the descent of the showers, and then we have the cyclones and the hurricanes multiplied in number and yelocity because there is nothing to prevent their awful sweep. Plant the trees in your parks that the weary may rest under them. Plant them along your streets,. that up through the branches passers by may see the God who first made the trees and then made man to look at them. Plant them along the brooks, that un der them the children may play. Plant them in your gardens, that as in Edlen tie Lord may walk there in the coolof1 tbe day. plant them in cemeteries, their shade like a mourner's veil, -and their leaves sounding like the rustle of the wings of the departed. Let Arbor Day, or the day for the planting- 01 trees, recognized by the legislatures of many of the states, be observed by alJ our people, and the next one hundred years do as much in planting thesE eafy glories of God as the last one hundred years have accomplished in their destruction. When, not long be fore his death, I saw on the yanks of the Hudson in his glazed cap, ridingor horse-back, George P. Morris, the great song writer of America. I found .htnm grandly emotional, and I could under stand how he wrote "Woodinan, spare that tree!" the verses of which many of us have felt like quoting in belligerent spirit, when under the stroke of some 'ou withouit sense or reason we sawa beautiful tree prostrated: Wodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me. And l'll protect it now. 'Twas my forefather's hand That placed it near his cot; 'rcre woodnman, let it stand.. ~ hy ax shall harm it not. Ahen but an idle boy, 'I sought its grateful shade; In all their gushing joy Here, too, my sisters play'd. My mother kiss'd me here, My father press'd my hand Forgive this foolish tear, But let that old oak stand! My heartstrings round thee cling, * (lse as thy bark, old friend! Here shall the wild bird sing, And still thy branches bend, Old tree! the storm still brave! And woodman. leave the spat; While I've a hand to save, Thy ax shall harm it not. As ywe ;ode along on these the moun t+in f Lebanon, we bethink how it cedars spread their Lranches ana breathe their aroma and cast their shadows all through the Bible. Solo mon discoursed about them in his bo tanical works, when he spoke of trees "from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." The Psalmiit says, "The righteous shall grow like a cedar in Labanon," and in one of his magni ficent doxologies calls on the cedars to praise the Lord. And Solomon says the countenance of Christ is excellent as the cedars, and Isaiah declares. "The day of the Lord shall be upon all the cedars of Lebanon." And Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Amos and Zephaniah and Zechariah weave its foliage into their sublimest utterances. As we ride over Lebanon to-day there is a howling wind sweeping past and a dash of rain, all the better enabling us to appreciate that description of a tempest which no doubt was suggested by what David had seen with his own eyes among these heights, for as a sol dier he carried his wars clear up to Damascus, and such a poet as he, I warrant, spent many a day on the Le banon. And perhaps while he was seated on this very rock against which our carriage jolts, he writes that won derful description of a thunder storm: "The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majes ty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon, He maketh them also to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young uni corn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire." As the lion is the monarch of the fields and behemoth the monarch of the waters, the cedar is the monarch of the trees. And I think one reason why it is so glorified all up and down the Bible is. because we need more of its characteristics in our religious life. We have too much of the willow, and are easily bent this way or that; too iruch of the aspen, and we tremble un der every zephyr of assault; too much of the bramble'tree, and our sharp points sting and wound, but not enough of the cedar, wide branched and heaven aspiring and tempest grappling. But the reason these cedars stand so well is that they are deep rooted. They run their anchors down into the caverns of the mountain and fasten to the very foundatious of the earth, and twist around and clinch themselves on the other side of the deepest layer of rocK they can reach. And that is the differ ence between Christians who stand and Christians who fall. It is the differ ence between a superficial character and one that has clutched its roots deep down around and under the Rock of Ages. THE ROCK ROOTED CHRISTIAN. One of the Lebanon cedars was ex amined by a scientist, and from its concentric circles it was found to be thirty-five hundred years old and still standing, and there is such a thing as everlasting strength, and such a stanch ness ot Christian character that all time and all eternity instead of being its demolition shall be its opportunity. Not such are those vacillating Chris tians who are so pious on Sunday that they have no religion left for the week day. As the anaconda gorges itself with food and then seems for a long while to lie thorohghly insensible, so there are ngn who will on Sunday get such a religious sdrfeit that the rest of the week they seem thoroughly dead to all religious emotion. They weep in church under a charity sermon, but if on Monday a subject of want presents itself at tie door the beggar's safety will depend entirely on quick limbs and an unobstructed stairway. I, takes all the grace they can get to keep them from committing assault and battery on those intruders who come with pale faces and stories of distress and subscription papers. The reason that God planted these cedars in the Bible was to suggest to us that we ought, in our religious character, to be deep like the cedar, high like the cedar, broad branched as the cedar. A trav eler measured the spread of the boughs of one of these trees and found it one hundred and eleven feet from branch tip to branch tip, and 1 have seen ce dars of Christian charities put out one branch to the uttermost parts of Ame rica, and another branch to the utter most parts of Asia, and these wide branched Christians will keep on mul tiplying until all the earth is oversha dowed with mercy. But marK you, these cedars of Leba non could not grow if planted in mild climates and in soft air and in care fully watered gardens. They must have thegymnasium-of the midnight huricane to develop their arms. They must play the athlete with a thousand winters before their feet are rightly planted and their foreheads rightly lifted and their arms rightly muscled. And if there be any other way for de veloping strong Christian characters except by storms of trouble, I never heard of it. Call the roll of martyrs, call the roll of tbe prophets, call the roll of the apostles and see which of themr had an easy time of it. Which of these cedars grew in the warm valley ? Not one of them. Hloneysuckles thrive best on the south side of the house, but cedars in a Syrian whrrlwind. TiHE sCHOOL FOR HEROES. A Lebanon cedar! John Milton or his way up to the throne of the world's sacred ~poesy must sell his copyright oi "Paradise Lost" for $72 in three pay ments. And William Shakespeare or his way uD to be acknowledged the greatest dlramatist of all ages must old horses at the door of the London: theatre for a sixpence, and Hiomer .must struggle through total blindness to inimortality, and John Bunyan must cher himself on the way up by mak ing a flute out of his prison stool, and Canova, the sculptor, must toil or through orphanage modeling a lion ii butter before he could cut his statues in marble. And the great Stephensor must watch cows in the field for a fen pennies and then become a stoker, and afterward mend clocks before he puts the locomotive on its track and call orth plaudits from parliaments and medals from kings. Abel Stevens I: picked up a neglected child of. thi street, and rises through his consecra ted genius to be one of the must illus trious clergymen and historians of the century. And Bishop Janes of thi same church in boyhood worked his passage from Ireland to America, an< up to usefulness where, in the bishop rc, he was second to no one who eve: adorned it. While in banishment Xenophol wrote his "Anabasis" and Thucydidei his "History of the Peloponnesiar War," and Victor Hugo must be exile< Ifor many years tQ the island of Gjuern sey before he can come to that heigh in the affections of his countrymne; that crowds Champs Elysees and th adjoining boulevards with one mnillioi mourners as his hearse rolls down t the church of the Madeleine. Oh, iti a tough old world, and it will keep yo1 back and keep you down and keep yoi under as long as it can! Hail sons an< daughters of the fire! Stand, as the anvil when the stroke of sta: wart men falls fierce and fast; Storms but more deeply root the oak whos brawny arms embrace the blast; Stand like an anvil; noise and beat are bor of earth and die with time; - The soul, like God, its source and seat, B moemn stil1 serene, sublime. Thirty years from now the foremost men in all occupations and professions will be those who are this hour in aw ful struggle of early life, many of them without five dollars to their name. So in spiritual life it takes a course of bereavements, persecutions, sicknesses and losses to develop stalwart Christain character. I got a letter a few days ago saying: "I have hardly seen a well day since I was born, and I could not write my own name until.I was 50 years of age, and I am very poor; but I am, by the grace of God, the happiest man in Cnicago." The Bible speaks of the snows of Lebanon, and at this season of the year the snows there must be tremendous. The deepest snow ever seen in America would be insignificant compared with the mildest winter of snows on those Lebanon mountains. The cedars catch that skvfull of crystals on their brow and on their long arms. Piled up in great heaps are those snows, enough to crush other trees to the ground, split ting the branches from the trunk leav ing them rent and torn, never to rise. But what do the cedars care for these snows on Lebanon ? They look up to the winter skies and say : 'Snow on! Empty the white heavens upon us, and when this storm is passed let other processions of tempest try to bury us in their fury. We have for five hun dred winters been accustomed to this. and for the next five hundred winters we will cheerfullytake all you have to send, for that is the way we develop our strength, and that is the way we serve God and teach all ages how to en dure and conquer." So I say : Good cheer to all people who are snowed under! Put your faith in God and you will come out gloriously. Others may be stunted growths, or weak junipers on the lower levels of spirituality, but you are going to be Lebanon cedars. At last it will be said of such as you : "These are they who come out of great tribulation and had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the lamb." THE GREAT MAN'S FALL. - But while crossing over these moun tains of Lebanon I bethink myself of what an exciting scene it must be when one of the cedars does fall. It does not go down like other trees with a slight crackle that hardly makes the woods man look up, or a hawk flutter from a neighboring bough. When a cedar falls it is the great event in the calen dar of the mountains. The axmen fly. The wild beasts slink to their dens. The partridges swoop to the valley for escape. The neighboring trees go down under the awful weight of the descend ing monarch. The rocks are moved out of their places, and the earth trem bles as from miles around all ravines send back their sympathetic echoes. Crash! crash I crash ! So when the great ce'dars of worldly or Christian in fluence fall it is something terrific. Within the past few years how many mighty and overtopping men have gone down ! There seems now to be an epidemic of moral disaster. The moral world, th. religious world, the political world, the commercial world, are quaking with the fall of Lebanon cedars. It is awful. We are compelled -to cry out with Zechariah, the pro phet, "Howl, firtrees, for the cedar is fallen !" Some of the smaller trees are glad of it. When some great dealer in stock goes down the small dealers clap their hands and say, "Good for him !" When a great political leader goes down the small politicians clap their hands and say, "Just as I expected !" When a great minister of religion falls many little ministers laugh up their sleeves and think themselves somehow ad vantaged. Ah, beloved brethren, no one makes anything out of moral ship wreck. Not a willow by the rivers of Damascus, not a sycamore on the plains of Jericho, not an olive tree in all Palestine is helped by the f dl of a Lebanon cedar. Better weep and pray and tremble and listen to Paul's advice to the Galatians when he says, "Con sidering thyself lest thou also be temp ted." No mnan is safe dntil he is dead unless he be divinely protected. A greater thinker than Lord Francis Ba con the'world never saw, and he chang ed the world's mode of thinking for all time-his "Novum Organum" a mir acle of literature. With 838,000 salary and estates worth millions and from the highest judicial bench of the world, he goes down under the power of bri bery and confessed his crime and was sentenced to the Tower and the scorn of centuries. Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen I ALL NATIONS TO REST IN IIIS SITADOW. In my journey u p and down Pales tine and Syria nothing more impressed me than the trees-the terebinths, the sycamores, the tamarisks, the oleanders, the mulberrys, the olives, the myrtles, the palms, the cedars-all of them ex planatory of so much of the Scriptures. And the time is coming when, through an improved arbori-culture, the round world shall be circumferenced, engrid led, embosomed, emparadised in shade trees and fruit trees and flower trees. Isaiah declares in one place, "The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it;" and in anothe~r place : "All the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree." Oh, grandest arbore scence of all time. Begin ! Begin ! Oh, I am so glad that the holy land of heaven, like the holy land of Pales tine and Syria, is a great place for trees, an orchard of them, a grove of them, a forest of them. St. John saw them along the streets, and on both sides of the river, and every mouth they yielded a great crop of fruit. You knowv what an imposing appearancte trees give to a city on earth, but how it exalts my idea of heaven when $t. John describes the city on high as hay ing its streets and its riye-s lined wimh them. Oh, the trees ! the trees: lhe jasper walls, the fountains, the temples were not enough. There would have teen something wanting vet So to complete all that pomp and splendor 1 behold the up branching trees of life. Nat like those stripped. krees now around us, wvhich like banmshed mins trels through the long winter ni ght utter tbeir dolorous lament, or in the blast moan like lost spirits wandering up and down the gale, their leaf shall' never wither. Whether you walk on the banks of the river you will be I under trees, or by the homes of mar tyrs under trees, or by the heavenly temple ander trees, or along the palace of the King immortal under trees. "Blessed are they that do his comn -mandments that they may have right to the tree of life." Stonewall Jack son's dying utterauce wvas beautifully suggestive, "Let us cross over and lie down under the trees ! The Interest on state Bonds. SCHTARLEsTON, Dec. ly.-State Trcas urer Bates was in the city to-day and s Ihad an interview with the bank presi dents. The object of the visit was to get I money to pay the interest of the State 1 debt due Janurary 1st, Treasurer Bates was fearful that in viewv of the tpostponement of the time for the pay ment of taxes till February 1st lie mig ht e not have sufficient money in the treas urv to meet the January paymnluts. STe Charleston banks came promptly s to his aid and agreed to furnish the State with all the money it needed. END OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Senator Kenna Gives a Grapbic Descrip tion of the Happy Event. WASillXSTOx, Dec. 17.-In the Sen ate yesterday Kenna addressed that body in opposition to the election bill. The country was about to witness, he said, the final acting of the read political drama which thc 1Republican party had been piaymg at the rate of star for a quarter of a century. The play had beeen long. It had paid well. Its receipts had been enormous. The last preceding scene had closed in muttering disgust. Whether the perfor mauce should end in comedy or tragedy remained to be seen. Awaiting paltien ly the final culmination of the play, the interval migit be devoted, he said. not without profit to a somewhat casual re view of the general plot and gcneral performance. Kenna proceeded to sketch the history of the Republican party, beginning with the reconstruction period, iuch to the disadvantage of that party. Ile de nounced the policy ot the Republican party in regard to the Mormons, public lands, tariff, navy and Indians, and then addressing himself to the bill, said that there was no mistake about what it meant. There was no mistake that it was a cunning contrivance to place in the hanas of the minority the control of the institutions of the people with a bayonet, for every ballot. The Senator from M1assachusetts (IIoar) had told the Senate that no time should be wasteI in debate as no one's jadgment would be affected by it. He (Hoar) had a desire to have the bill passed without discussion, as there was, perhaps, evidence that that desire was concurred in by the other side of the chamber. All that had a tendency to impress on his mind at least the idea that for some good reason it was consid red wise for party reasons to smuggle the bill through Congress; wise to have it invade the statute book, silently as the tread of a thief by night. Was the bill, he asked, the producet of a felon oi' of a fanatic? of a Solomon or a fool? Its terms and provisions were before the Senate. Its objects and its purpose were stamped on its face. It was understood that John I. Davenport was its author. It sounded like him, looked like him and read like him. Every section, everey clause and every letter, from one end to the other, spelled Davenport." Its chief promoter in the Senate was the distinguished Senator from Massa -husetts (Hoar,) and the second in com mand seemed to be the equally distin uished Senator from New York Evarts.) It seemed to be meet and pro er that those two distinguished gentle men should be selected (either by others >r by themselves) to take charge of the bl. One of them had made a part of the electoral commission and the other ad been the chief Republican counsel efore that tribunal. Kenna gave a highly graphic descrip tion of the scenes before the electoral ommission an(d in the House of Repre entatives and referred to Mrs. Fasset's painting in which Evarts was the cen-. ral figure addressing the tribunal and in which Hoar appears as a member of the ommission. That picture, he said, ought not to go down to posterity solitary and alone. There should be a companion picture ainted for it showing an extemporized astile in which some of the 0,300,000 .merican citizens for whom Davenport hd issued warrants were packed, rowding each other to look out through ars, and showing Davenport as the entral figure. if an honest man (as Davenport was represented to be) could natch the liberties of 1,000 American itizens by the strocke of his pen, what as to be the fate of the voters when here was to be a bayonet behind every allot, and Davenport behind every bay oet. (Some applause in the galleries.) If a scanning of the bill from the title age to the conclusion afforded no ob ection on which to cast a vote against Lt, its authorship and its source would ondemn and damn its every line and etter forever. It had never been in ended to promote the honesty of elec tions. It had never had associated with t any design to promote the honesty r purity, or freedom of the ballot. After occupying some three hours, Kenna said that there were .other eatures of the bill which he would lIke o discuss, but he did not feel in view of his health that it would be safe for him o continue the speech. The Bilggest of Boycotts. SANFORD. FLA., Dec. 11.--President Polk of the National Farmers' Alliance as named Friday. February 0, 1891. ad Washington, D. C., as the time and lace of holding the first meeting of the National Legislature Council, which is omposed of the national president ad the presidents of all the State Alli anes. important action was taken durmng the closing moments of the late conven tion. This was the adoption of a reso lution that the policy of the Alliance will be to withhold all support from ewspapers which do not condluct Alli mee departments or at least publishi Alliance news regularly. This arrange ment does not compel the support of Al liance measares or an advocacy of Alli anee demands on the part of these news papers in thieir editorial columns, but does compel a certain degree of friendlli ness on their part, and amounts to an absolute bjo geott ofall newspapers wIch do nut come up to the terms of the reso lution. The Third P'arty Scheme. TA LLAIASSEF, Fla., Dec. 17.-At a meeting in JTacksonville last night, at tended by Geineral 31aster Workman P owderly and Jolhn D)avis, member-elect of Congress from Kansas, on behalf of the Knights of Labor, President Folk, National Lecturer Willets, members of the executive board, Wardwell of North Dakota, and others of the Farmers' Al iaice, it was decided to have no con vention at Cincinnatti on February 23d, as had been arranged. It was dlecided that the call for the Cincinnati convention should not be formally issued, but that in its stead, a conference composed of five from each of the organizations appointed, should be held some time in February, which should go over the ground caretully and without taking formal action practically decide what course of actioii should be hprsed. This is a decided victory for the conservative element among the third party men. _____ Eighteen Men Kiiled En~tssELs, Dec. 17.-A terrible acci dent occurred to-day at Escouflial Col liery, at Ilerun, in the province of Paunant. A shift of eighteen men had entered the cage and the engine started to lower them into the pit. Suddenly, and without warning, the rope connect ing thle cage with the drum broke and Ithe men precipitated to the bottom of tile shafts. E very one of tne occupants f the cage were killed. W NDiNG U P T H EIR WORK. THE LEGISLATURE FINISHES irS AN NUAL TASK. Important Measures Postponed as Usual The Rush of Private and Local Matters Some Notable Enactments. COLUMBIA, S. C., Dec. 20.-Special: The Legislative session may now be said to have ended. The work of the three days of next week will be of a very formal and, indeed, perfunctory character. Laws will be passed at a speed limited only by the vocal capac4 ty of the reading clerks. The opportu nity for discussion is past. All that the most keen-eyed legislator may now hope to do, lies in the amendment of pending laws where their deficieieies are of the most glaring character. The merits of the case cannot now be con sidered. This haste, incident to the rush of business in the last days of the session has been one of the evils of our law-making ever since the Legislature restored the old rule of adjourning be fore Christmas, "whether for no." The serious aspect of the thing appears in the fact that some-frequently most of the important measures go throu h their last stages in the closing hours of the session. Under such circumstances there is constant danger of some cleri cal error or some informality of pro cedure. just serious enough to render worthless a very impc'tant measures. The present session, as will have been observed by the readers of this correspondence, has formed no excep tion to the rule that the minor matters of law-making absorbed the attention of both branches of the General Assem bly for the first two weeks at least. Something different appears to have been expected of the present body, but the circumstances suggested in this correspondence, as inducing delay, have, been more than usually operative upon the members. There have, of course, been numbers of bills passed. These, however, as already indicated, have been chieflv of local interest-measures determinea, really, by the wishes of the members representing the particu lar community affected. The matters of general interest will now be noted. NEW MEASURES. Among these were the following: Bill to punish frauds or misrepre sentations in the manufacture, analy sis or sale of fertilizers and commer cial manures in this State. (House.) This bill makes it a misdemeanor to violate any of the regulations as to the manufacture and analysis of commer cial fertilizers, punishable with not more than $500 fine or one year's im prisonment, or both in the discretion of the Court. Bill to provide for the redistricting of the several counties of this State and to provide for the election of school trustees. The bill relates to the reformation of school districts through out the State. (House.) Bill to regulate the sale of intoxicat ing liquors in this State. The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the sale of spiritous and malt liquors within this State. The bill is a copy of the Kansas prohibition law now in existence. Druggists alone are allowed to sell alcohol or any spiritu ous or malt liquors, and they -are re quired to obtain a permit from th'cOV:i ty commissioners so to do under very rigid conditions. They must give a bond in the sum of $1,000 to carry out the terms of the permit, which cannot be granted unless the druggist seeking it is a man of good moral character,and has not engaged in the sale of intoxi cating liquor for so many years. He is equired to keep a book in which shall e entered the amount of liquor pur hased, where from and what for, and ust account for its distribution be fore he can purchase more. The rail oads are forbidden to transport liquor o any one except druggists, and only o them upon a permit from the county ommissioners. In the event of a violation of the erms of the law the bond will be for eited and a portion of it will go to the arties injured by the violation and the emainder to the school fund. Mr. Norton, from the House commit tee on mines and minning, submitted with a favorable report and with mendments a bill to create -a phos hate commission and define its pow ers and duties. The bill has been fully escribed, but the amendments pro osd by the committee cbange it ma erially. The committee recommend that the hosphate commissioners shall consist f the Governor, Attorney General and omtroller General and two citizens o be appointed by the other three com issioners for terms of four and six ears respectively. Also that no in crease of royalty be made by the com missioners without six months' notice. Also the commission is empowered to ake conitracts with phosphate com anies on such terms as they see fit for eriods not exceeding seven yeatrs. Next follows a provision for th'e res oration to the State o: the phosphate erritory now worked by the Coosaw Company. TIlE RAILROAD BILL. Mr. Yeldell, from the committee on railroads, reported favorably on the railroad bill with a large number of amendments. The most important are these: The three commissioners are to be elected by the Legislature for a term of six years, instead of being appointed by the Governor. Only two commis sioners, however, will be elected at this session, as the committee has decided that under the law Mr. Jervey will hold over for t wo years longer. The Governor is given the power to fill vacancies occurring between ses sions of the Leglslature, such appointee to hold until the following meeting of the General Assembly, when an election must be held to fill the vacaney. One of the two commissioners to be e-lected at this session is for the unexpired term of Commissioner Bonham. The commissioners are to be paid out of the State treasury $2,100 a year each, and they are to be furnished with a clerk at a salary of $1,200, and an of fice and eqluipment to cost not more than $500, also to be paid by the State instead of by the railroads. The board is given fulpower to make up a schedule of rates for freight and passengers, both for long and short hauls, and for joint hauls over more than one road, and to prevent discrimi nation. The people are given an ap peal to the Courts from the decisions of the board. There are a number of minor amendments looking to conform the bill to the Georgia law. The fate of these different measures' wvill have been decided in some way when this paper reaches its readers. TUE LABOR BILL. This bill, which was the first intro duced in the Ihouse, was laid on the tabe and the substitute reported by the committee was taken up for considera tion. The bill is entitled: A bill to regulate the hours of lanor of children under 16 years of age and females in all cotton and woollen manufacturing establishments in this State, avd to provide remedies for violation of the same. It limits the time of labor for children under 16 years of age and for women to eleven hours a day, and it lws opeatives to make up lost time not exceeding one hundred and ten hours in a year. After some debate the bill was passed and sent to the Senate. TIIE CONST ITUTIO NAL A31ENDMENT. When the Senate resolution to ratify the amendment to the Constitution. abolishing boards of county commis sioners as constitutional officers elect ed by the people came up in the House the friends of the amendment pushed the fight. Mr. Ernest Gary opened the debate with a strong speech favoring the pas sage of the bill. He took the ground mainly that the people had adopted the amendment at the ballot-box and there was nothing for the Representatives of the people to do but to ratify their action. Mr. John Gary Evans also favored the bill, taking pretty much the same line of argument. Mr. Timmerman favored the bill both on the ground that the people had declared in favor of the amendment and because he thought the counties could manage their affairs much more satisfactorily under some other sys tem. Mr. Brennen opposed the bill on the ground that the amendment would take away from the people the right to elect officers to manage their own county affairs. Mr Finley opposed the bill. le took the ground that the adoption of the amendment at the recent election had not been a fair expression of the will of the people. The amendment had been adopted by a vote of 24,000 to 18 000 out of a total vote in the State of 232,000. As there was strong probabil ity of a constitutional convention short ly he thought it very inadvisable to tinker with the Constitution in the way proposed. Mr. Ira B. Jones favored the bill. He said that the fact that boards of county commissioners was a constitu tional office had been an obstacle for years in the way of county reforms. The county commissioners had enorm ous powers and while it was true that they did submit the levies they desired to the county delegations in the Gener al Assembly, yet it was not at all im probable that they had the right resid ing in themselves of levying any tax they saw fit. The people had declared at the recent election that they wanted this office removed from the Constitu tion, and as their Representatives he thought they should carry out their wishes. The vote was then taken by yeas and nays and resulted in the ratification of the amendment by a vote of 97 to 20. The joint resolution having duly passed the Senate, the ammendment awaits but the signature of the Gover nor to be of force. This it will of course receive. The effect of the amendment is to leave the Legislature free to adopt any scheme of county government which that body may deem best. MISCELLANEOUS. The bill to abolish the agricultural lien law was simultaneously killed in both houses. The bill to reduce salaries, about as heretofore indicated in this correspond ence, has passed the House, and seems 1 sure to go through the Senate. The Senate decided the Sumter cop. e-4,case in fayor-aoLb:rh t.the incumbent. The House judiciary committee re ported unfavorably on the following: The Charleston metropolitan police bill. Report unanimous. Bill to prohibit express companies from transporting matter for lottery ompanies. Bill to empower the Governor to re move sheriffs. Bill to provide for the election of an extra Circuit Judge. Each of the above was killed. The joint resolution extening the time for paying taxes without penalty until February 1 has passed both the ouse and the Senate, and has been ratified and signed by the Governor. The State officers hold that the joint resolution being practically a law the ounty treasurers will continue to re eve taxes without penalty. The supply bill levies a tax of 4% mills for State purposes. To this mnusb, of course, be added the constitutional school tax of two mills, the county taxes and the special taxes. PENITENTIARY OFFICES. 1 The two houses met in joint assem ly on Wednesday to elect a superin endent and three directors of the State penitentiary. The following, named gentlemen were placed in nomination: EHenry Massey, of York, N. W. Brook-1 er, of Edgefleld, J. T. Gaston, of Aiken, J. R. Earle of Oconee, and W. J. Tal bert of Edgefield. Mr. Talbert was easily elected on the] first ballot by a vote of 112, the remain ing vote being divided as follows: J.3 T. Gaston, 17; A. W. Brooker, 10; J. R. Earle, 9; Henry Massey, 4; T. J. Lips-1 omb, 1. The joint assembly next proceeded 1 to the election of the board of directors. The following named gentlemen were placed in nomination, with brief1 speeches setting forth the fitnees of ash for the duties of the position. W. A. Neal, of Anderson; Thos. Ar derson, of Fairfield; T. J. Cannmngham, 1 of Chester; J. G. Guignard, of Lexing- I ton; J. L. Ramsey, of York; Henry Oliver, of Charleston; Absalom Horne. of Edgefield. Messrs. Oliver, Cunning-1 ham and Neal were declared duly elected on the first ballot their re spective ballots as follows, 108, 98 and The election being over the joint as sembly then dissolved. Messrs. Anderson and Guignard are incumbents. A New Proces. WAsIIINToN, Dec. 17.--The annual renort of the chief of the chemical divis ions of thc agricultural department con tains an account of the p:'ocess recently perfected at the departme3nt as a result, of the experiment in thc chemical labo ratory with reference to the manufactuer t sorghum sugar. The chemist claims substantially an increase in the yield of sugar per thou san galions of juice of from an average of about 10,000 pounds to an average or over 21,997 at an increase ofecost of pro duction of $84 for the alcohol which en The report recited some various difli culties hitherto found in the economic manueture of sugar Irom sorghum, and indicates that the solution ot the question was to be tound in some pro :ess which would separate, as nearly asi possible, gummy amorphous bodies from1 the juice without precipitating sugar.I The known property of alcohol to pro duce precipitation in the juice was made use of in the further study of the probem. The difliculties, says the re port, which have been encountered in manufacturing sugar from sorgum juice have been solely due to the presence of gums- Not only has the removal of the zus been ef'ectcd by the process evolv d during these experinrents, but it has been shown that this can b~e effected at a ost omaratvely trifling by compari .n with the results obtained. THE ALLIANCE BANK. A Few Facts About It That Will Be of Interest. COLDMUIA, S. C., Dec. 18.-The trus tee stockholders of the Exchange will meet in Columbia on the 28th of next January to perfect arrangements for establishing the Farmers' Alliance Bank, and it is of vital importance that every cent of subscribed stock should be paid in on or before that time. Brethren, the successful operation of the State Exchange of the Farmers' Alliance of South Carolina depends in a great measure upon the prompt pay ment of this stock. Can we not hope that this will be done, and that other sub-Alliances, who have done nothing in this direction, will in like manner send in their subscriptions? The State Exchange, desiring to be just to sub-alliances in its connection, at its meeting in Columbia unanimous ly adopted the following resolution: Resolved, That sub-alliances which have subscribed one or more shares of stock to the State Exchange and have paid a part of the same, and have, since making such payment, been reduced in membershiD below the constitutional number up6n which said subscription was based, that all sub-alliances shall have the benefit of such reduction in membership and receive credit from the State Exchange on their stock for any amount thus overpaid. At a meeting to be held on the 28th of January, 1891, not only will the banking business be discussed, but this will Le discussed in connection with the future management of the State Exchange, and it is highly probable that many changes will be made in the rules which have heretofore governed the management of the Exchange. The whole business will be discussed, and an effort will be made to reach the wisest conclusions. Let, every member of the Alliance regard the subject as one in which he is most deeply inter ested and send in such suggestions to the meeting as will in his opinion most likely lead to the best results. But, oyer and beyond every other onsideration, let every true and loyal member of the alliance put forth his best efforts in seeing that the money lue the State Exchange from the sub illianceq be promptly paid and reported >n or before the 28th of January, 1891. With this money in hand there is a )right future for the alliance of South 3arolina. If it is not paid, no promises wan be made. DO NOT LIKE THE SYSTEM. Revolt of the Michigan Grange Against the National Grange. LisSINo, Mich., Dec. 17.-The Michi an Grange is in open revolt against the Kational Grange, on account of the tand taken by the national organization n indorsing the proposition for govern nental loans on real estate. Before ad ourning, the following report was dopted: We regret that the National Grange, he Farmers' Alliance, and other organi ations of farmers, have indorsed the roposition, in one form or another, to aake loans by the government to the >eople. That the issuing of $1,000,000, 00 of treasury notes and loaning it t9 :he people, either directly-6r ind'retly, it a low rate of interest, would lead to a vild clamor for credit, every intelligent )erson must admit. That no system ould be devised or its operation be so )uarded as to prevent partiality and fa oritism in its distribution; fist, to per onal friends of the loaning agent, next ;o his political associates, every thought ul man must foresee. That it would create a feeling of help ess dependence upon governmant aid by hose whom it is designed to benefit5 hereby relaxing their individual effort, lestroying their energy and self-reliance tnd rendering them helpless mendicants f government charity, every observer f human nature must know. That it vould lead to thriftless improvidene, -elying upon government aid or govern nent forbearence by those whom it eeks to benefit, and prove a curse in-: tead of a blessing, isso plainly evident hat we are surprised that the National Irange should allow itself to be carried tway by the clamor of those who hope o gain for themselves public preferment y holding out a scheme so enticing to he ignorant or improvident debtor and cheming speculator. Death on the Rail. NEWBERRY, S. C., Dec. 13.-Th'ere vas a fearful accident on the construe ion train of the Columbia, Newberry md Laurens Railroad about one mile tbove here this afternoon. by which con luctor Walling and two rtegroes were kil ed and several others injured. The engine was pushing several fiats oaded with iron and crossties and one >f the 'cars loaded with crossties jumped ;he track and in some way shoved under he car -loaded with the iron rails and ;urned it over. On this car were con luctor James T. Walling and several of he hands. Walling and two negroes vere instantly killed. Aniother negro ad his arm crushed by the heavy iron tnd was otherwise injured and will pro ably die. Several others were slightly mrt. Walling is from Columbia and leaves twife and one child. The inquest wa.. ild this afternoon.-Columbia Register. Three of a Kin d and Two Pair. i'ITTSBURG,.. Pa., Dec 17.-Mrs. Blume of Allgeheny has surprised her eighbors and her husband (luring the >ast two years by giving birth to seven :hildren. A few (lays since MIrs. Blume >resented her husbaud with triplets wo strap)ping boy babies and a healthy zrl. Not quite a year ago MIr. Blume has surprised by twins, andl during the preceding year her first two children ere born. The triplets. who are de cribed aS chipper, and their trohtic nothier are domne well. M1rs. Blume is t woman oftordinary build and her chiil ren are all well formed and healthy. Twelve H~undired Mliners on a Strike. CumYEN:, Wyoming. Dec. 17. rwelve hundred miners and laborers at .he Rock 'prings mines of the Union Lacific Railaoad Company are on a trike and ineiis are ll idle. Th'le comn any grave notice Saturday that the i >roposed paying the workmni by the our. A mass meeting was held yes erday and the strike resolved upon. It s believed that the company intended 'orestalling the erfect of the eight hour aw, introduced in the prescnt State Legislature, wich is likely to pass. & Bloody Arkansas Tragedy. FORT SMIT H, Ark.. Dec. 11.-Char es Joplin shot and killed five persons .oday at the Jenny lead mine, twelve iles from here, andl then committed tuicide by shooting himiself., Thiose kill id were John M1iller, his wife. his grown laughter, Lou M11ller, Dr. Stewart, a prommeint physician, and a man whose .ame is not known. Th le shiootimg oc :ureud late In the daiy and details are neagre. The only clue to the cause of he killing lies ini a report that Dr. Stewart intimated that Joplin was the aunsa of Mias Mfiller's trouble . BETTER THAN GOLD. A DiSCOVERY THAT MEANS MILLIONS FOR AIKEN COUNTY. The Invention of an Amateur Chemit that will Bring him immence Wealtha. A Process for Transforming Kaolin into Aluminum. COLUMBIA, December 14.-A gen. tieman who registered at the Grand Cen tral Hotel to-night has knowledge of a discovery which when fully developed wil! make the kaolin beds ot this State infinitely more valuable than the phos. phate deposits. He asked the represen tative of The News and Courier if he knew Mr P. A. Emanuel of the Aiken Bar, which being answered, he went on to relate the following facts: It is known that a fortune not to be reckoned by millions awaits the discov erer of a cheap process for the manufac ture of aluminum. About a year ago Mr Emanuel applied himself to this pro blem, and it is believed that he has ar' rived at its correct solution. The ma terial which he used is the kaolin of Aiken County, the basis with which he worked sulphuric acid. On making the discovery Mr Emanuel went to Wash ington and submitted his processes to the scientists there, and now has his dis. covery secure from attack by the proper letters, patent and caveats. Not very lone ago aluminum was sold at about $26,000 a ton, but by a process which was considered final the price was reduced at Pittsburg to two dollars and a half a po'-am or about $5,000 a ton. The sartling announcementrs-iss now that by the ingenuity of Mr Eman uel aluminum can be freed from kaolin at a cost of about two dollars and a half a ton, being a price two thousand times less than by the Pittsburg process. As there is now more demand in the world for aluminum for mechanical purposes than there is for gold, the immensity of the field and fortune for the discoverer will be apparent. It is said that half a million dollars has a.ready been offered for a location near Aiken for a plant to develop the aluminum industry. The narrator of these facts said that he had seen a lot of the clay after one of the preliminary proeesses in which the metal had already materialized. He also said that Mr Emanuel had discov ered a material which will greatly de crease the cost of manufacturing phos phate fertilizers. A caveat has been filed for this discovery, but the scheme is retained for the present, as the publi cation of it might embarrass the discov erer., It is understood that the facts herein have been given to a Georgia industrial paper. If the facts be as stated, and there is no reason to doubN them, as the gentleman who stated them is a man of education and responsibility, there are wore millions at less cost under ground in Aiken County than there were onrthe Island of Monte Cristo.-News and Courier. A Shocking Accident. ial dispatch to the Times from Bristol, Pa., says: A shocking accident occur red at the Mill Street railroad crqssing, this afternoon, by which four persons were killed, one fatally wounded and one seriously hurt. The accident was caused by the safety gates at the cros sing being raised just before the New York westbound train was due. A number of persons had been wait ing for a freight train to pass, and as soon as the gates were raised, started to cross. John Mcflvaine, a teamister started across with his wagon, in which' were his 13-year-old son, iea-Mcllvain. JIos. Huessay, about the same age, Hugh Devere, a storekeeper on Pine Street, and Jno. McGee, about fifteen years old. The express train, which was rnnnig at full speed, struck the wagon instant ly killing Neal Mcflvaine, Jos. Hassey and Hugh Devere. Jno. Mcflvaine had hIs shoulder and leg broken, ribs crush ed and was otherwise internally injured. He is not expected to live. T wo boys were struck with such force that they were thrown into the cansL. Jas. Johnson, who was crossing the track afoot, was also struck by the qn gine and mnstantly killed. J'ohn McGee, who was also in the wagon, was badly injured. The gatekeeper claims that the clat ter of the freight trains ingpassingdrowned . the noise of the bell so that it could not be heard. He will probably be arrested. A Heavy Blow to Dariington. DARLINGTON, Dec. 17.--About 10 o'clock to-night fire was discovered in the two story frame buildipg of A. C. Spain & Co., occupied on the 1lower floor by Mrs. J. S. Swygert's millinery, with the othice of the Darlington Harald and others up stairs. The flames spread so rapidly that the fire could not be extin guished until eight stores and residendes were burned. One of the buildings ivras brick. The burnt portion is on the last side of the public square. The fire was only arrested when it reached A. large brick building with thick walls. The fire was extinguished about 2:30. this morn ing. The loss is about $301000 ; insur ance will cover most of the lossies J. A. Boyd, J. J. Ward, P. C( Beck & Bro.'s losses will far exceed 'the Insur ance. Florence was wired for assis tnnce, which was gallanily given,. their boys coming in with cheers, and were received with cheers,.at 12 o'clock. - He Wanted to Swap. . ATL ANTA, Dec. 12.-A negro stoal a pair of shoes from a merchant on De catur street, and carried them 'home with him. When he reached his house and tried them on lie found they wei'e number eleven, when he wore the small siz~e of thirte~ He very kindly carried the shoes b~ to the> merchant from whom lie had stolon thiem,.and offered to exchange them for a size which would lit him. The merchant recognized the sh:oes, a polhccman was summoned and the negro was soon in the lock-up. Wounded by Highwaymen, Cotour, S. C., Dec. 13.-A few nmghts since, Mr. S. H. Clamp, a wealthy farmer livig near Blythewood, inFair h eld county, was, while going home a'f ter selling cotton in Coluimbia, beset by a gang of desperate highway robbers,and being rendered unconcious by a blow on the head was robbed of 6400, with which the robbers made off. He was found later by friends and it is now thought he will die from his severe wounds. .No clue to the perpetrators has been secur ed- ,__ -.-1 Duel Between Father and Son. G AINEsVILLE, Tex., Dec. 1I.-A fatal duel took place on Tuesday night in Paine's Valley, Indian Territory, be- - tween ' amuel Paul of the C s~Jaw Legislature and his son, Joe Pa u1. The father received a dan wolsud in his thigh, but It is said that the di a quarraelr jj