Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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LIKE SHEEP ASTRAY. AND REV. -R. TALMAGE S-y: iT MEANS EVERY0DY Half the Text 1,anInietnnn-Th3- Oth or Open-; the Dovr To 1iiot-A--A d Goswpel sonts., a~t the~ N:a ioun Catp itaL VWAsiHN .;rN, Yairch 1 -Ti O.Pfl sends out its gladdest sound in ts sermon from the nation's capital. In mense throngs pack and overilow the church to which Dr. Talmage preaches twice each Sabbath. His text this morning was Isaiah liii, 6: -All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Once more I ring the old gosp-1 bell. The first half of my next text is an indictment, "All we. like sheep, have. gone astray." Some one says: "Can't you drop that first word? That is too general; that sweeps too great a circle." Some man rises in the audi ence, and he looks over on the other side of the house and says: -There is a blasphemer, and I understand how he has gone astray, and there in another part of the house is a default er, and he has gone astray, and there is an impure person and he has gone astray." Sit down, my brother, and look at home. My text takes us all in. It starts behind the pulpit, sweeps the circuit of the.room and comes back to the point where it started, when it says, "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." e I can very easily understand why Martin Luther threw up his hands after he had found the Bible and cried out, "Oh, my sins, my sins!" and why the publican, according to the custom to this day in the east, when they have an great grief, began to beat his* f cry as he smote upon A be ,ssner. was,71Mmany of you, brought up in the country, and I know some of the habits of sheep, and how they get astray, and what my text means when it says, "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." Sheep get astray in two ways -either by trying to get into other ture or from being scared by the ogs. In the former way some of us got astray. We thought the religion of Jesus ~Christ put us on short com mons. We thought there was better pasturage somewhere else. We thought if we could only lie down on the banks of a distant stream or under get oaks on the other side of some ' we might be better fed. We wanted other pasturage than that wbich God, through Jesus Christ, gave our soul, and we wandered on, and we were lost. We wanted bread, and we found garbage. The farther we wandered instead of finding rich pasturage we found blasted heath and sharper rocks and more stinging nettles. No pasture. How was it in the clubhouse when you lost your child? Did they come around and help you very much? Did your worldly associate console you very much? Did not the plain Christian man who came into your house and sat up with %our darling child give you more comfort than all worldly associates? Did all the convivial songs you ever heard comfort you in that day of bereavement so much as the song they sang to you-perhaps the very song that was sung by your little child on the last sabbath after noon of her life? ~,nere is a happy land ar far away. W~here saints immortal reign .Bright, bright as day. . Did yoir business associates in that day of darkness and trouble 'ive you any- especial condolence? Busiess exasperated you, business wore you out, business left you limp as a rag, business made you mad. You got dollars, but you got no peace. God.hiave mercy on the man who has nothing but business to comfort him! The world afforded you no luxuriant pasturage. A famous English actor stood on the stage impersonating, and thunders of appause came down from the gleries, and many thought it was te proudest moment of his life, but there was a man asleep aust in front of him, and the fact that that man was indifferent and somnolent spoiled all the occasion for him and he cried: "Wake up! Wake up!" So one little annoyance in life has been more pervading to your mind than all the brilliant congratulations and suc cess. Poorpasturage foryour soul you find in this world. The world 'has cheated you, the world has belied you, the world has misinterpreted you, the world has persecuted you. It never comforted you. Oh, this world is a good rack from which a horse may pick his food; it is agood trough from which the swine may crunch their mess, but it gives but little food to a soul blood bought and immortal! What is asoul? It is ahope high as the throne of God. What is a man? You say, "It is only a man." It is only a man gone overboard in sin. It is only a man gone overboard in busi ness life. What is .a man7 The bat tleground of three worlds, with his hands taking hold of destinies of light or darkness. A man! No line can measure him. No limit can bound him. The archangel before the throne cnnot outlive him. The stars shall die, but he will watch their extinguish ment. The world will burn, but he will gaze at ihe confiagration. End less ages will march on. He will watch the procession. A man! The masterpiece of God Almighty. Yet you say, "It is only a man." Can a nature like that be fed on husks of the wilderness? Eubstantial comfort will not grow On nature's barren soil; All we can boast till Christ iwe kno W Is vanity and toll. Some of you got astray by looking for better pasturage, others by being scared by the dogs. The hound gets over into the pasture field. The poor things fly in every direction. In a few moments they are torn of the hedes, and they are plashed of the ditch, 'and the lost sheep never gets home unless the farmer goes after it. There is nothing so thoroughly lost as a lost sheep. It may have been in 1857, during the financial panic, or during the financial stress in the fall of 1S73, when you got astray. You almost became an atheist. You said, "Where is God that honest men go down and thieves prosper i" You were dogged of creditors, you wered dogged of the banks, ycu were dogged of worldly disaster, and some of you .som-into misanthropy, and some of you took to- strong drink, and ?thers of you fled out of Christian association and you got astry. Oh, man, that was the last time when you ought to have forsaken God: Standing amid the foundering of your earthly failures. how could you get along without a God to comfo~rt you. and a God to de liver you, and a God tolihip you, and a God to save yout You tell me you have been through enough business trouble almost to kill you. I know it. I cannot understand how the boat could live one hour in that chopped sea. But I do not know oby what pr' cess you got astry, some in one way and some inanotner, and if you could really see the position some of you oc cupy before God your soul would burst into an aoony of tears, and you wou pelt theleavens with the cry, Lave bele unliribercd aboveyour soul A 1utw you have 1,eard it iiiander: -The wages (if sin is death. -''Ali have intnled :and coni- short of the lrY of Go"d. "'y on.e tuan sin tn xr-d into the world, atid death by sin. aud so death passed upon all rueln, for that all have sinued." ''The soul that sinieth, it shall die." When Sevasto Pol was being bouibarded, two Russian frigates burned all night in the har bor, throwinga glare upon the tremibl ivg fortress, and some (i you, from what vou have told me vourselves, some Of you are standingt in the night of yonr soul's trouble, the cannonade. and the conflagration, and the multi plication, and the multitude of your sorrows and troubles, I think, must make the wirgs of God's hovering an gels shiver to the tip. But the last part of my text opens a door wide enough to let all u'lt and to let all heaven in. Sound it on tuze or gan with all the stops out. Thrum !t on the harps with all the strings atune. With all the melody possible let the heavens sound it to the earth and let the earth tell it to the heavens. "The Lord bath laid on him the iniquity of us all." I am glad that the prophet did not stop to explain whom he meant by "him." Him of the manager, him of the blood sweat, him of the resurrec tion throne, him of the crucifixion agony. 'On him the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all." "Oh," says some man, "that isn't generous, that isn't fair; let every man carry his own burden and pay his own debts." That sounds reasonable. If I have an ob ligation, and I have the means to meet it, and I come to you and ask you to settle that obligation, you rightly says, "Pay your own debts." If you and I are walking down the street, both hale, hearty and well,and I ask you to carry me, you say rightly, "Walk oD your own feet." But suppose yowand I were in a regiment, and I-was wound ed in th i unconscious eet with a gudshoLJactures and dislocations, what would you'dot You would call to yourcom.ades, say ing: "Come and help! This man is helpless. Bring the ambulance. Let us take him to the hospital." And I be a dead lift in your arms, and you would lift me from the ground where I had fallen and put me in the ambul: ance and take me to the hospital and have all kindness shown me. Would there bemeaning in my accepting that kindness? Oh, no. You would be mean not to do it. That is what Christ does. If we could pay our debts, then it would be better to go up and pay them, saying, "Here, Lord. here is my obligation; here are the means with which I mean to settle that obligation. Now give mea receipt. Cross it all out." The debt is paid. But the fact is we have fallen in the battle; we have gone down under the hot fire of our transgressions; we have been woundel by the sabers of sin; we are helpless; we are undone. Christ comes. The loud clang heard in the sky on that Christmas night was only the bell, the resounding bell of the ambulance. Clear the way for the Son of God. He comes down to bind up the wounds and to scatter the dark ness and to save the lost, Clear the way for the Son of God. Christ comes down to us, and we are a dead lift. He does not lift us with the tips of his fingers. He does not lift us with one arm. He comes down upon his knee, and then with a dead lift he raises us to honor and glory and immortality. "The Lord hath laid on him the ini quity of us all." 'Why, then, will a man carry his sins? You cannot car ry successfully the smallest sin you ever committed. You might as well put the Apennies on one shoulder and the Alps on the other. How much less can you carry all the sins of your lifetime? Christ comes and looks down in your face and says: "I have come through all the lacerations of these days and through all the tern pests of these nights; I have come to bear your burdens and to pardon your sins and to pay your debts, Put them on my shoulder, put them on my heart." "On him the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all." Sin has almost pestered the life out of some of you. At times it has made you cross and unreasonable, and it has spoiled the brightness of your days and the peace of your nights. There are men who have been riddled of sin. The world gives them no solace. Gos samery and voiatile the world, while eternity, as they look forward to it, is black as midnight. They writhe un der the stings of a conscience which proposes to give no rest here and no rest hereafter, and yet they do not re pent; they do not pray; they do not weep. They do not realize that just the position they occupy is the posi tion occupied by scores, hundreds and thousands of men who never found any hope, If this meeting should be thrown open; and the people who are here could give their testimony, what thrilling experiences we should hear on all sides. There is a man who would say: "I had brilliant surround ings. I had the best education that one of the best collegiate institutions of this country could give, and I observ ed all the moralities of life, and I was self righteous, and I thought I was all right before God as I am all right be fore man, but the Holy Spirit came to me one day and said, 'You are a sin ner1. The Holy Spirit persuaded me of the fact. While I had escaped the sins against the law of the land I had really committed the worst sin a man ever committs-the driving back of the Son of God from my heart's affec tions-.and I saw that my hands were red with the blood of the Son of God, and I began to pray, and peace cam~e to my heart, and I know by experi ence that what you say is true," "On him the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all !" Yonder is a man who would say: "I was the worst drunkard in the city; I went from bad to worst; I de stroyed myself; I destroyed my home; my ~children cowered when I entered the house; when they put up their lips to be kissed, I struck them; when my wife protested against the maltreat ment I kicked her into the street. I know all the bruises and all the ter rors of a drunkard's woe. I went on farther and farther from God, until one day I got a letter saying: "My Dear Husband-I have tried every way, done everything and pray ed earnestly and fervently for your reformation, but it seems of no avail. Since our little Henry died, with the exception of those few happy weeks when you remained sober, my life had been one of sorrow. Many of the nights I have sat by the window, with my face bathed in tears. watching for your coming. I am broken hearted, I am sick, Mother and father have been here frequently and begged me to come home, but my love for you and my hope for brighter days have away made me refuse them. That hope seems now beyond realization. and I have returned to them. It is hard, and I battled long before doing it. May God bless and preserve you and take from you that accursed appe tite, and hasten the day when we shall be again living happily together. This will be my daily prayer, know ing that he has said. 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, andI will give you rest.' From your loving wife, "MARY. "And so I wandered on and wander ed on," says that man, "until one night I passed a Methodist meeting hoe, and I so-id to myelf, 'I'll gro in tandl s(e wh'at. Lilt a .i ' i ,' : '. r~(It to)t hie dooir. ai;;d lit% %*t-r,! ' "All may e.'ue, v iha v r nil - This ma!n rn ceives pooKr .- inr, !ill. .ud I dropped right t-iw- w r: I was, and I said,- God. v int-rv and he had werev oll . io m:n cs retolred, my wife siniLs l ,fday long durinz work, my children e-ne out 1a long to grett ie home, ald m1y ulise hold is a little heaven. I will tell you what did all this for me. It was the truth that. this day you proclaii, .')n hiu1 the ] .>rd halh !aid the iniquity of us all.' Youder is a woman who would say: 'I wandered otY froni nly father's house; I heard the storm that pelts on a lost soul; my feet were blis tered on the bot rocks; I went on and on, thinking that no one cared for my soul, when one night Jesus met nie. and he said: "Poor thing, go home: Your father is waiting for you; your mother is waiting for you. Go home, poor thing ' And, sir, I was too weak to pray, and I was too weak to repent, but I just cried out-I sobbed out my sim and my sorrows on the shoulders of him of whom it is said, 'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.'" There is a young -nan who would say: "I had a Christian bringing up: I came from the country to city life; I started well; I had a good position, a good commercial position-but one night at the theater I met some young men who did me no good. They drag ged me all through the sewers of ini quity, and I lost my morals, and I lost my positionand I shabby and wretch ed. I was going down the street thinking that no one cared for me when a young man tapped me on the shoulder and said, :George, come with me, and - '-will do you good.' 1 looked at him to see wheth or he was joking or not. I saw he was in earnest, and I said. 'What do you mean, sir?' 'Well,' he replied, 'I mean that if you will come to the meet ing tonight I will be very glad to in troduce you. I will meet you at the door. Will you comel' Said I, 'I will.' I went to the place where I was tarrying. I fixed myself up as well as I could. I buttoned my coat over a ragged vest, and I went to the door of the church, and the young men met me, and we went in, and as I went in I heard an old man pray ing, and he looked so much like my father, I sobbed right out, and they were all around, so kind and so sym pathetic that I just there gave my heart to God, and I know that what you say is true; I know it in my own experience." "On him the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all." Oh, my brother, without stopping to look whether your hand trembles or not, without stopping to look whether your hand is bloated with sin or not, put it in my hand and let me give you one warm, brotherly, Christian grip and invite you right up to the heart, to the compassion, to the sympathy, to the pardon of him on whom the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all. Throw away your sins. Carry them no long er. 1 proclaim emancipation to all who are bound, pardon for all sin and eternal life for all the dead. Some one comes here today, and I stand aside. He comes up three steps. He comes to this place. I must stand aside. Taking that place, he spreads abroad his hauds, and they were nail ed. You see his feet; they were bruis ed. He pulls aside the robe and shows you his wounded heart. I say, "Art thou weary?" "Yes," he says, "weary with the world's woe." "I say, "Whence comest thou?" He says, -I came from Calvary." I say, "Who comes with thee?" He says: "No one; I have trodden the wine press alone." I say, "Why comest thou here?" "Oh, he says, "I came here to carry all the sins and sorrows of the people." And he kneels. He says, "Pat on my shoulders all the sorrows andt all the sins." And, con scious of my own sins first. I take them and put them on the shoulders of the Son of God. I say, "Canst thou bear any more, 0 Christ?" He says, "Yes; more." And I gather up the sins of all those who serve all at these altars, the officers of th'e church of Jesus Christ. I gather up all their sins, and I put them oa Christ's shoul ders, and I say, "Canst thou bear any more?" Hesays, "Yes; more." Then I gather un all the sins of a hundred people in this house, and I put them on the shoulders of Christ, and I say, "Canst thou bear more?" He says, "Yea; more." And I gather up all the sins of this assembly and put thiem on the shoulders of the Son of God, and I say, "Canst thou bear them i" "Yea," he says; "more." But he is departing. Clear the way for him, the Son of God! Open the door and let him pass out, He is carrying our sins and bearing them away. We shall never see them again. He throws them down into the abyss, and you hear the long, rever brating. echo of their fall. On him the Lord hath laid the iniquity of us all." Will you let him take your sins today, or do you say, "I will take charge of them myself, I will fight my own battles, I will risk eternity on my own account? I k-now not how near some of you have corne to crossing the line. A clergyman said in his pulpit .one Sabbath, "Befere next Saturday night one of this audience will have passed out of life." A gentleman said to another seated next to him: "I don't believe it. I mean to watch, and if it doesn't come true by next Saturday night I shall tell that clergyman his falshood." The man seated next to him said, "Perhaps it will be your self." "Oh, no," the other replied. "I shall live to be an old man," That night he breathed his last. Today the Saviour calls. All may come. God never pushes a man off. God never destroys anybody. The man jumps off ; he jumps off. It is suicide-soul suicide-if the man perishes for the invitation is, 'whosoever will, let him come," whosoever, whosoever! While God invites, howsblest the day, lie w sweet the gospel's cha' ming sound' Come, sinncr, haste. c h, haste away While yet a pardoning God is founct In this day of merciful visitation while many are coming into the king dom of God join the procession heav enward. Seated in my cnurch was a man who came in who said, "I don't know that there is any God." That was' on Friday night. I said, "We will kneel down and find out whether there is any God." And in the sec ond seat from the pulpit we knelt. Hie said: "I1 have found him. There is a God, a pardoning God. I feel him here." He knelt in the darkness of sin. He arose two minutes afterward in the liberty of the gospel, while another sitting under the gallery on Friday night said: "My opportunity is gone. Last week I might have been saved; not now. The door is shut." "Behold the lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation 'It is appointed unto all men once to die and after that the judgment." Disastrous Storms. Los1>oN, March 2.-A dispatch re ceived here, dated Brisbane. says that gales and floods have caused a great deal of damage in and about the seaport of Townsville. Seven teen vessels in that harbor have found ered and one of them went down with its passengers and crew. Houses on shore were razed to the ground. The loss by tihe foundering of four passener' steamr is estimatto be $2,500,001). BAD~ STATEi" 011 AFFAIRS, THiEVERY AND LACHESE ;N THE COUNTY OF EDGE FIELD. 1The Gr:ati .Jury .Makes :. 1'resentme-nt Which Relects 01n A Form-r County Trea-sttrer ai.d the rr n-?, t 'h-rin amai ii! iR:LcallV lieputie*. Il-FFI.FL, M.i rch 2.--ourt con vened here today. Judge Ernest Garv presiding. The following special pre sentmnt, which created a sensation, was made by a committee of the out zoiuggrand jnjry. The criminal dock eL is lighter tha n usual, the chances being that it will occupy only a por tion of the week. A STARTIANi EXPOSE The grand jury submits as its pre sentment the following report of its special committee: Gentlemeu of the Grand .1 urv: Your special committee to investigate the books of the different county officiais has submitted reports at each term of the court since our appointment, but on account of the delay of the sheriff's returns on executions and the treas urer's final settlement, we could not make our report complete in Novem ber. Commencing in the olfice of the treasurer with the fiscal year 1892 93, we ascertained that the annual settle ment with the treasurer had beea made from the original assessment furnished by the auditoi, and know ing that money had been collected frontparties whose property had not -been assessed, we proceeded to the la borious task of aggregating the stubs of every receipt given in the county for money collected as taxes. We found that the sums of the stubs amounted to $1,043.23 in excess of the amount that had been charged in the original assessment. For the fiscal year of 1893-94 the same state of things exist, and with a similar investigation as we made of the previous year we found that the treasurer had collected $508.37 more than charged to him by the assessment, thus making for the two years $1,551, 60 that has been collected by the treas urer and has not been accounted for. These amounts for both years were collected from parties whose pi-operty had not been assessed, but voluntarily came forward to pay their taxes. Upon examining the settlement sheets we find no additionals reported. The present treasurer has already collected from ; similar source about $600 and has the amounts and names of parties properly entered upon a book for this purpose. This fact itself bears out the correctness of our examination. The tax executions are given out by the sheriff to a lot of deputies, and in a great many cases to men unworthy of such trust, as the facts below will show. From various townships, without expenses and with very little effort, we have the following facts: la Higgins school district an execu tion for taxes went out against Wess Samuels and the books of the sheriff and treasurer are both marked "Non est. nulla bona," and we have in our possession the receipt of the deputy, J. R. Webb, showing that he collected $7.40 from Wess Samuels. In Pine Grove Township the taxes of Sophie Burt is marked "Nulla bo na," and we have the deputy's, J. Q. Cogburn, receipt showing that he col lected $3.50. In Moss Township Wiley Blanchard has been marked "Non est, nulla ho na," and we have the receipt of A. V. Morgan, constable, for $5 for taxes and penalties of Wiley Blanchard. In Moblev Township D. W. Harris is returned on the books nulla bona and we have the receipt of W. L. Rhoden, deputy, for $9.35, collected from D. W. Harris for taxes and pen alties. W. G. Wood was given the execu tions for Collier Township. Execu tions were given to him against him self and brother, T. B. Wood. In stead of paying his, he marked it as having been paid by receipt 1,170 of treasurer and marked T. B. Wood, with receipt of treasurer, 5,053. We examined the stubs and they show that the receipts for these numbers were for other parties and that Wood has defrauded the county. This same deputy had an execution against a negro, Lewis Holmes; sold his clock, bought it and he or his fath er, has the clock to-day, and returned Lewis Holmes "Can't be found." These facts gathered without expemte convinced us that something should be done and not wishing to assume the responsibility of involving the county in the expense of investiga)ing every township in the county we decided to investigate one township thoroughly, and we employed a reliabe man sent him to Merriweather Township, with no intimation from any one that it was worse than any of the forty town ships and school districts in the county. We found in Merriwether Township on the execution book Jesse Schultz, marked "Non est, nulla bona," can't find, and we have receipt of the depu ty, WV. E. Buxssy, for $8, collected from Jesse Schultz for taxes and pen alties. Tom Johnson is returned on the books "Non est, nulla bona, can't find," and we have the receipt of W. E. Bussey that he collected $5.65 from Tom Johnson. Jack Johnson and Richard Johnson are both returned on the books N. E. and N. B., and we have the receipt of WV. E. Bussey showing that he collect ed $5.65 from Jack Johnson and $5.52 from Richard Johnson. Oliver Patten is returned N. E., N. B., and we have Bussey's receipt show ing that he collected $5 40 from Oliver Patten. We have positive evidence that WV. E. Buzzey collected in Merri wether Township more than thirty ex ecutions and returned them all "N. E., N. B." and that more than $150 was paid to him in this township, of which not one cent. was turned ever to the county. The sheriff certainly ought to have known that B~ussey was not making a proper settlement and should have re fused to accept his returns without in vestigating the matter.- We have given a thoirough investigation of this township and from it you can judge of the balance of the county. December 5, 1893, the county com missioners approved a claim in favor of J. C. Kinard for $3.40 for four shovels. The claim was entered on the book $31. February 20, 1894, a check was given to J. C. Kinard for $34. We called Mr. Kindard's atten tion to this matter during last summer, and hoped that he would return the money, but he has failed to do so. We recemmend. that suit be brought against Mr. Kinard for the money and in case it can not be made out of him that suit be bought against the county commissioners. In our August report we called the attention of the treasurer to seven school cetilicates. amounting to $150, which were forgeries. The present treasurer never having been served with such an order, has paid $150 to the Farmiers' Bank for these forged certificates, taking an indemnity bond from the said bank. We recommend that suit be entered at once against the Farmers' Bank for the recovery of this money. Since our investigation commenced, last July, we have found errors, irres ularities and shortages to the amouint of 9.,24895. Some of this amount has already been returned to the treasury, and all of it will go back to our treas ury if our county gets its dues, and there :is very little doubt but that the money can be made out of the parties. The tax execution business is not in cluded in this $3,248.95. We find the books used by the dif ferent offices to be very unsystematic, so much so that we earnestly urge an immediate adoption of a systematic form. Especially do we recommend this in the oflices of the auditor, treas urer and sheriti. W\'o have examined all of the coun ty oflieers for two years, bringing them up to August 1, 1895, except the treasurer's and sheritf's, which we have brous-ht up to October 1.1895. Respectfully submitted: Alvin Hart W. A. Strom, Harry S. Hill, Jas. T. Mims, J. C. H. Rauch, Committee. This report'and presentment is signed by "R. B. Gallman, foreman." who adds: '"kVe extend thanks to your Honor, the solicitor and other ollicers of the Court for courtesies," etc. IN THE EVENTS OF WAR. aval Strenath or the United States and Spain Compared. WASHINGTON, March 4.-As the United State and Sni may come to blows over Cuban question the follo winif figures will be interesting. Commander Philip Hichborn, the chief constr.actor of the navy, shows in his generalizations upon the subject that in n umber, equipment and fight ing strength the American navy-is far the superior of the Spanish navy. In answer to a guery as to the ships which the United States will have in commis sion not later than July 1, Commodore Hichborn stated that they would be thirty-five in number, as follows: Name and displacement of armored ships: Indiana .......................10,288 Oregon........................10,288 Massachusetts........ ....10,288 Maine..........................6,682 Texas.. ........ ..........315 Miantonomoni.. ...........3,990 A.mphitrite.. .............3,990 Terror........ ..........3,990 Monadnock.....................3,990 Monierey......................4,084 Puritan........................6,060 Katahdin.......................2,155 New York.............,........8,200 Olympia........................5,780 Name and displacement of unarmor ed ships: Columbia..................,3757 Minneapolis..............7,375 Baltimore........ ........4,413 Philadelohia...... ........4,324 Newark .................4.098 San Francisco............ .4,098 Charleston. ..............3,730 Cincinnati. ..............3,213 Raleigh........................3,213 Boston ....................3,000 Detroit.......................2,0S9 Montgomery...................2,089 Marblehead.....................2,089 Bennington... ............1,710 Concord........................1,710 Yorktown......................1,710 Castine.........................1,177 Machias........................ 1,177 Vesuvius........................ 920 Petrel.......... ......... 900 "How many additional ships could you have in commission within 99 days after next July if their services were needed ?" "We could have t wo fighting ships, the battleship Iowa, of 11,410 tons dis placement. and the Brooklyn, an armored cruiser of the New York type but larger and more powerful than that splendid vessel, of 9,271 tons. There is also the Chicago, which is now undergoing repairs and nine other vessels, mostly of the gunboat class, which could be used at that time. Our small fleet of torpedo boats on October 1 next would be supple. mented by seven others now building. The list I have given you," continued Commodore Hichborn, "does not in clude any of the old turreted monitors or any of the old cruiser class, either of wood or of iron, though doubtless some of them might be moderately serviceable in a war with any but a first class naval power." "How many vessels are there in the Spanish navy that compare favorably with the Indiana, Oregon, Massachu setts and Iowa?" "There is but one ship in the Span ish -navy that can be compared with the Indiana class in our navy. The Pelayo, launched in 1887, is of about the same displacement, thickness of armor and speed, but carries in her main battery two 12.inch and two 11 inch guns, as against four 13-inch guns by the Indiana. The Pelayo's second ary battery consists of one 6.3-inch and twelve 4.7-inch guns, as against sii 6 inch guns by the Indiana. They have six modern second class battle ships, as follows: The Almirante Oquedno, Infanta Maria Teresa and Vizcaya of 7,000 tons displacement, 13,000 indicated horsepower and 20 knots estimated speed, launched in 1890 and 1891; the Cardinal Cisneros, Cataluna and Princess de Asturia of 6658 tons displacement and the same] estimated speed, are still under con struction. All six are of the same general construction, with a narrow water line belt of 12-inch armor, and carry two 11-inch guns in 10k-inch ar mored barbettes and ten 5-inch guns protected by shields. They have one ship, the Emperado Carlos V, of the samne type of the New York, having 9,000 tons displacement, and 20 knots estimated speed, launched in 1895, and not yet completed. She has no side armor except a 2-inch casemate around the upper battery, but has an armor deck of the same thickness as the New York's. She carries two 11-inch guns, as against the six S-inch guns of the New York, and eight 5.5-inch and four 4 inch guns, as against twelve -inch guns of the New York. Besides these, thae onl.y armored ships in the Spanish navy are N umancia and V ito ria, of 7,000) tcns displacement, launch ed in 1863 and 1865, and carrying muzzle-loading guns, and the Puig erda, a smafl monito,:, built in 1874. Of modern unarmored ships they have the Alfonso XII, and Lepanto, of about 5,000 tons displacement and 20 knots estimated speed, carrying four 8-inch and six 4-inch guns; the Alfonso XII.. Reina Christina, and Reina M1ercedes, designed for trans ports, of about 3,000 tons displacement and 17 knots estimated speed, carrying six 6.3-inch funs; seven gunboats of the Infanta Isabel class, of 1,130 tons displacement, each of what is known s the 'torpedo catcher' class, with igh 'speed. Besides these, they have a few old wooden ships, and about 45 very small gunboats of no fighting value, and have built a number of small vessels for Cuban service since the present t -ouble there commenced. They have U;S first-class and 3 second lass torpei.o boats, and 4 vidette boats, but few, if any, of them could make an ocean voyage." A summary of the E~ghting value of the two fleets will be as follows: Type of ship. U. S. Spain. First-class battle-ships..4 1 Second-class battle-ships... 8 6 Armored ram........ 1 - Armored cruisers...........1 Unarmored cruisers above 4,000 tons.............. 7 2 Lnarmored cruisers above 3,000 and below 4,001) tons 9 - Unarmored cruisers above 2,000 and below 3.00tons 3 - Unarmored cruisers above 1,000 and below 2,000... .14 7 A WONDERFUL GIRL. Claretta N. Avery Preac - toj an im mnense CongregK:ion. CoLa31mu, S. C., Ma -ch 5 --There were fully 2,.5u,) peoph at the First Calary Baptist church colored, last to hear Claretta N. Avery, a young colored girl, apparently about 13 years of age, preach. She has, during her short career, created a decided sensa tion thiroohout the north an~d south. in nyllV of, tht cities inl which 0h- i preached to thou-;t ti o rsos. h.th white - nd ()lo red. Her mother, a womnan apparentlv about 535 years of age, travels with her and last night sat beside her on the rostrum and seemed to take interest in all that she said to her auditors. Before the young girl commenced her discourse a collectin was taken up and hundreds liberal.y contributed. After the singing of several hy ins the pastor, Rev. J. C. Daniels an nounced that the "wonderful little in strument in the hands of God" would again preach at Calvary this afternoon at 3 o'clock in order to allow the hun dreds who had been denied admittance to receive the benefit of her powers. This service will be especially for the whites. Little Claretta is from Carthage, North Carolina, but 'ier pronuncia tion is distinctly different from that of the southern negro, being doubtless due to her long journey through the northern States. She spoka in a low voice, though clear to those near her, and the immense c ongregation was aroused to a high state of enthusiasm when she so intended them to be. She seemed to hold them aus in a trance and they appeared deeply touched and strongly impressed b:r her prayers to God and her interpretation of His word. It was with the greatest difficulty that Rev. Daniels ar.d his assistants could restore quiet when those in the audience became so e:athusiastic over the young girl's teachxings as to give vent to exclamations of approval and she was, in fact, repeatedly interrupt ed during her discourse and the pastor found it necessary to appeal for quiet. In her preaching she said that the Lord sent many into dields to work for him and that satan attempted, often with success, to persu ide them to work against him. There were hundreds of unbelievers who had fallen by the wayside by the persuasion of the dev il. The sinners needed to come to Je sus in order to appreciate their real condition. It was dreadful to be a sinner and unconverted to the cause of Jesus Christ, for death comes at any moment and perhaps at a time when it is too late to prepare for an entrance into the pearly gates. This cause should be championed until He forbids us to proceed further. She pictured hell as vividly present ed in the mind of a dreaming sinner, as a place where writhing, hissing ser pents found their habitation witbin the living breast; where the soft spots refused to rest the weary limbs of a traveler, for in "hell there there is no rest." The sinner then called upon God for aid. When the dreamer awoke, the visions of damnation still fresh in his mind, be deserted the ban ner of satan and fought under the col ors of Jesus. She appealed to her now thoroughly aroused and enthus~ed auditors, to do as the dreamer had when he "washed in the blood of the Lainb." Old wo men in the congregation called to the young girl in tones of approval, stand ing up and gesticulating wildly and even applauding at times. The entire assemblage gave vent to their feelings by murmurings of delight as she de scribed the asceut to the heavenly gates and the entrance to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Men and women lost control of themselves in mad enthusi asm at the girl's words when she begged them to fight for God and pre pare themselves for the fields of happi ness above the clouds. Some pressed toward the front of the church and endeavored to get nearer to the girl, throwing up their hands before her and lingering between a smile and a tear of joyful belief. At the close of her sermon she asked those who desired to profess their con version to the cause to stand, and fully 100 arose. Claretta is undoubtedly a wonderful girl, and to hear her is the only way in which her powers of speech can be properly appreciated.-State. Joint Parade off. WAsHINGTON, March 5.-The decis ion published by Gen.- Walker, com mander of the Grand Army of the Re public, in reference to the proposed joint parade in New York on July 4. oday, was called to the attention of Senator Gordon of Georgia, who has been commandei'-in chief of the Uni ted Confederate Veterans ever since their organization., and he was asked if he p)urposed to take action looking to a change of the date of the next an nual meeting of the Confederates at Richmond. June 30th and July 1st and 2d. General Gordon replied: "This date was finally decided upon in order to permit the Confederates who came from I urther South to go to New York immeliately after the ad journment and take part in the joint parade, but I see no reason for chang ing the date of our reunion, which was called to nieet at Richmond by th e last annual meeting at Houston Tex.-, and although the date could le gally be changed by me, yet I shall not do so unless I find it to be the wish of a majority of the United Con federate Veterans camps and best suited to the convenience of the peo ple of Richmond, who have been most enerous in making provisions for our entertainment- It will readily seen that no change can be contemplated if it in.any measure incommodes our host, the people of Richmond. "Of course, it would now be entire lv incompatible with our seif-respect s Confederates to take any part in the proposed jomnt parade. I do not wish, bowever, to discuss the action of G'en. Walker. It has been my etfort since the war to cultivate the most cordial relations between the soldiers of the two armies and between the people of the sections. I am glad to know that [ have had the cordial sympathy and approval of my~ old comrades in this effort; and I wishi also to add, in this connection, that I have had the most ordial manifestations of like seiiti ment on the part of the great body of the Union soldiers." The Waters Sultide. BOSrON. Marah 4.-W\ith the subsi dence of the waters. which during Sun ay night, Mor.day and Tuesday, over dhelmed a greater part of New Eng land, figures of losses sustained are oming in. and fr-om those received it is apparent thait the totail damage in the section will be considerably more than $2.000U, uv. This does not include the wages of thousands of laboring en through suspension of manufac luring and other industries. Six lives :iave been lost. The main financial loss is divided between the States oF Maine. New EIampshire and Massa chusetts. Maine bears about one-half. New Hampshire has been swept from one end to another, and heavy losses t Manchester' and Dover will bring fhe total in that State closely up to a million dollars, Massachusetts. at Lowell and Lawrence, and the Merri mac River Valley, sutfers heavily, but m25Unon will (cnver what she loses. HOW FACTORIES HELP FARMERS. A Striking Illustratior of the Value to Farmers of Manufactories. L. J., of Blacksburg, S. C., writes as follows to The Manufacturers' Re cord: Piedmont and Pelzer are two cotton manufacturing towns in Anderson and Greenville Counties, taking taeir names from cotton mills. Incorporat ed companies began to build and op erate these mills sixteen or seveueen years ago, one starting with $265,000 capital and the other with $100,000, while the present capitalization of Piedmont is $800,000 and of Pelzer $1,000.00. Piedmont has about GS. 000 and Pelzer 107,000 spindles, and each a full equipment of looms of im proved pattern. The increased capital has been made up of accumulated profits and newly subscribed stock, Pelzer getting $l25 a share for the last $400,000 of stock issued. When these mills were projected the value of real estate or farm lands in the surrounding country was small, certainly not over $5 to $10 per acre. The system of cultivation then in vozue was crude, and generally the farms were dilapidated and little cared for. These factories when once in opera tion, awakened a new spirit among the farmers, who soon realized Lhe fact that potatoes, turnips and every food for man and beast found a ready every-day cash market at their very doors, due to the assemblage-of factory operatives as consumers at Pelzer and Piedmont. The result was that re newed attention was given to farm improvements and the production of food crops which had hitherto been neglected, all interest having been given to the production of the only salable crop then and previously known-cotton. At the same time the local demand and market for cot ton for the mills has put on it a pre mium of from one-eighth to one-quar ter of a cent per pound, and often even more. On this basis, on every bale raised within the wagon market limit of these two factories the difference at the minimum calculation would be from sixty to $1 20 a bale, or on 30,000 bales $18,000 to $38,000 a year, equal in fifteen years to $270,000 to $540,000 all of which ha gone into the pockets of adjacent farmers; and while these factories did not consume every bale produced within their territorial limits yet they fixed the price and put the premium on all of it that was shipped away. If we had any data upon which to sum up and fix the profits made in the last fifteen years by farmers living around these towns-made from the sale of vegetables and farm products and wood as fuel to the factory peo pie- the amount would doubtless be very large, perhaps millions; and yet these profits were scattered among people who never contriouted a cent towards the building of either of these large and prosperous industries. While the building and operation of these mills have proven highly re munerative to those who invested money in them, and while their stock is in great demand and more than double its original cost, it may seem strange, but it is a fact, that the peo ple of the surrounding country who own the farm lands have in the ag gregate been benefited to an amount in exceess o f the entire cost of both factories. From a point midway between Piedmont and Pelzer describe a circle or imaginary line with a radius of ten miles. Such circumference will en close 200,000 acres of farm lands. Suppose the building of these factories placed upon these 200,000 acres of land an increased and enhanced value of $5 per acre and the sum is $1,000,000; at $10 per acre $2,000,000, and at $15, $3,000,000 and at $20, $4,000,000 of enhanced value. Taking 10 as the true limit, it gives a profit to the own ers of land within a radius of ten miles of $200,000 more of enhanced values than the entire capitalization of both Piedmont and Pelzer, all of which has accrued to them without their making a cent of investment. The write: has repeatedly talked to intelligent and educated farmers who live within t wo to ten miles of these factory towns, and most of them place the increased value of their lands re sultant on the building of these fac tories at from $15 to $25 per acre. As a fact. no farms withing ten miles of either town can now be purchased at less than $25 or$30 per acre, and many will now command a greater price than this even. Seventeen years ago, when Col. H. P. Hamett purchased the lands near and on which Piedmont now stands at $2 per acre, there was living near by an old respectable farmer on a worn out and dilapidated farm with a house to correspond, the roof even being wornout. and leaky. He had offered his farm time and again at $5 per acre, and finally tried to get $4.50 per acre to enable him to move to Alabama or Texas in order to get bet ter land. Failing to sell he remained, and when the noise of loom and the hum of the spindle were heard near him, he took heart, began to farm bet ter and sell wood, turnips and farm truckr, put a ne w roof on his house. cut away the briars and thorns, fixed up the place generally and has since sold 100 of his surplus at $50 to $75 per acre, and could now get $70 per acre for the 200 left; and this honest old farmer is but one of the many who have found themselves bettered by the successful enterprise of others. Suppose a cotton factory costing $600,000 to $1,000,000 be built on 1,000 acres of waste lands at the south cost ing $10,000; on this would be 600 to S00 dwelling houses for operatives on as many distinct lots of say 100 by 200 feet. From past experiences with us in twelve to fifteen years these town lands would be worth as much more than the cost of the plant, if indeedI the lands were not worth tie cost of ne entire development and annual in - terest on the same added. Think of purchasing land at $2 to $10 per acre and building thereon ven a small Fall River or Lowell, ad while pocketing substantial an ual profit, in the course of a few years owing to a townsite worth in it self more than the cost of the whole. Large manutfactu ring centres in New England are generally surrouna d by the usual occurrence in that :lime-rocky, barren lands,and few, if ay cases, can oe pomnted out where exceeding 10 to 15 per cent. of the sur rounding lands are arable. Not so at the Southi as few locations can be met with where less than 85 to 90 per cent. f the surrounding lands are not only arabe, butt capable, with small cutlay for improvements, of being brought p to a high state of cultivation arnd roduction. Food products, and especially in the truck time, in Newv England must e transported a great distance to the onsumers int factory towns, while at the South all supl)Pies needed can be carted from the neighboring fat-ms. To reach the Newv England operaives. to the cost of carting from1 the farm nust be added railroad fr-eights to the point of consumption. Taking les-1 ions from the past, the people whno Kild factories in future in the Soth~ bad test best as an investment pa chase liberally of the surroturding ~ lands, and in! the end be benentedI y their own delopment. A Hard Case' Mr. Meetze, of Lexington County, is to sue the present possessor of the petrified man for $50,000. The plain tiff claims that the lamented deceased was abducted unlawfully and secretly from his legitimate resting place on Meetze-s land. It is not stated wheth er the stone gentleman was a relative of Meetze but the supposition is that he was. It may b3 a comfort to the plantiff to know that while his remains were in Greenviile on a r-f -t vi.it t'y were dLly, iawfully :tin abun:datitly walked inx urope:- ftr. uid wi app:o priate ceremoit Soume culoro-d brethren who were around the ooera house of a Saturdav nirht with sup plies of native corn liquor becani iw pressed with the idea that the corpse deserved some rites and they inaugu rated and cniducted a series of such exercises as they judged to) b-t suit able, iucludmur a l-rge qaantity of mixed singing a-;d plain drinking. It was at one tuie proposed that inas much as there was evidently a body not identified or claimed and cause of death unknown the coroner should be notitied and brought in to conclude the festivities with an inquest, but this suggestion was rejected as it was held that to have a jary sit on a strange stone man brougnt here for exhibition purposes would be taking unfair ad vantage of a visitor who w s obvious ly unable to help himself. So far as we are informned, Ur. Meetze has not given the public any evidence that the stone man was a kinsman of his or originally reposed on his premises bat wesuppos- he will present it at'the proper time before the jury. If he can establish that the deceased was a kinsman or friend of his and thereby set at rest the public curiosity concerning his identity he will confer a boon. Surmises have ranged from an Indian chief to a Con federate soldier. Thea will cvne in the question of damages. We sup pose it will be rather a tine ani a ne a point in law whether a body petrified remains or becomes simply a stone; also whether it is personal property or real estate: furthermore whether there is any proprietary right in a citizen who has in lapse of time attained to the dignity of a passive curiosity which people will pay to look at, and if a man whose earning capacity during life was, say, $600 a year an who draws to various museums and other places of amusement five or six thousand dol lars a year when he has been dead a quarter of a century or so, is to be esti mated at his value as a citizen or an exhibit. We look for much instruction and enlightenment and many valuable-, precedents for future petrified men in the case of Meetze against others. Also if it can be determined exactly where the gentleman under consideration was first planted and what conditions of soil turned him to stone, we will ask the Agricultural Department of the News and Courier to direct the attention of farmers to the matter and impress on them the splendid profits to be made by preparing suitable cemeteries and planting their deceased friends and relatives for yields of petrifactions, thus further diversifying crops. It may be that in the course of a few years we will find our Charleston contemporary offering prizes for the quickest and most com plete yields of reone men. -Greenville News. Winl Bates go up? A representative of the Columbia State approached a prominent insur ance agent of that city on the subject of the valued policy bill which was recently enacted into laa by the sea ate. This bill is of the greatest inter est, not anly to insurance men throughout the State and country, but to the people of South Carolina gen era]lly. The agent, in reply to a ques tion r:egarding the effects of the law in thi's State, said: "There seems to be a great differ ence of opinion among insurance men as to the action which the companies will lake, now that this bill has become la w. It is known, however, that sev eral companies now represented in South Carolina have notified their agents in this State that they must re f use to continue operations in this ter ritory under the new law. There will be a meeting of insurance men held in Atlanta, representatives from each company being present. These gentlemen will discuss the law from all standpoints and a plan will be sug gested whereby the companies can continue in the State without loss to themselves. In order that this may be done, a raise in insurance rates will be imnpressive and absolutely necessary for self protection. "The class of people who will be more deeply affected by the euforce ment of the la w will be those living in the country and smaller towns. The :ompanies are prejudiced against writ ng risk in such localities, as there is little or no profit resulting therefrom, and the hew law makes it practically imoossible for them to secure protect on from fire in what I consider re sponsble companies will, if the rates are increasec, received an extra mount in premiums on 99 polices written to pay the loss on the hun redthone, if it is a reasonable au-u.nt. 'To shoev that it is almrost iunpassi be to defeat the insurance companies, feel quite sa fe in saying that in case f a fire, their agents or adjusters caui ispect the property and if a ce s lef t standing, they can tertn partial loss and deduct the va he chimney from the face 61 he policy. ~Tire contrict r e:nplo d not the owner of tile prope ill name the value of tih:)use bair d and the amount to be- d--ducted for he chimney or any othe-r p >rtion lt tanding that will be sullie ie to war ant the adjuisters in caiug at a par tial loss --I undersLand that trie zr t ority of the ouasiness mue:r of Caiteles orn and C.>lumbia are grztly preju ied against the law, as they claim hat they are worthy of somec consid ~raton owing to the efficiency of their ~tfetive tire departments. etc. E very dditional expense sustaiuied by tue ~opanies will indirectly be paid by he policy-holders and they will be he sufferers and no)t the co:nrpauies. believe that the bill will be repealed t the next session of tine general as em'oly. For Free silver. WXASmsuXTON, March 4.-A promi ent miembe~r of the executive com nuittee of the Bimetallic Democratic ational Convention, whose head tarters ar-e in this city, states that he committee is conddeat that the re si:ver Democrats wvi!! control the W'-mocrattic National Convention by decided mai jority. This committee, te says. is actively and earnestly at ork, is rzanriaed ini nearly every tate and T'riitory of the Union an~d 3i in nsat and r'egulair correspond neec~ w-ith leading an~d iuIlnrential sit -e- Demcrat--s inl every sectionf of the uty. 'Thiese reports dto .v beyon I iestion, tor commirrttee claim,. that re mass of the D~emrocr-atic party is in avor of the fr-ee and unrliarited coin geof silyer at the ratio) of 16 to 1, and hat the silver sentimtent is every where rowiug in strength anid earnestness, s advocates daily becoming muore