The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, February 08, 1879, Image 1
T1'LI-WEKLY EDION. WiNNSBOR1O, S. C. _$A TUR )AY. FETBR UAR Y 8, 1879 WOL. 3. NO.4
TILE GUANO WAR.
-,-0
DIFIRrC.NT VIEWS TAKIN THRO'
D1. EJRfN' P1I;CT'ACLES.
Cotton vs. Guano- -Another Article from
the Guano Side of the Question--The
Cost of Manufacturing and the Small
Profits of Manufacturers -- Uncertain
ties of Cotton Option.
.Editors Uhronick awl Constitu
tionalist : I can hardly persuade
that if the planters thoroughly un
derstood the guano question they
would speak and feel as they do to
ward the manufacturers and general
agents. It would occupy too much
space to enter fully into the discus
sion of this (at present) important
subject. The raw material that i:
takes to manufacture a ton of guanc
--to sack it, and transport it to th(
ports in the South, at tho\ preseni
price-leaves but a small profit, and
were it not for the great quantity of
it that is sold, would not be worth
the trouble. If any one will put
themselves to the trouble of calcu
lating the cost they will be satisfied
that unless' the manufacturer get:
near thirty dollars per ton for it at
the coast, he could not mako any
thing on it, and to do this, it woulc
be necessary that they should carr3
no surplus stock over. This ca:
hard:y be expected, however. Thor
is always more or loss stock carried
carried over from one year to anoth
er, which has to be i'caed for at con
siderable expense, snd then to b
handled and re-sacked the next
season, storage to. be paid, larg
quantities lost in waste. and man
other minor things, which, in aggre
gate, foot up heavily.
Vhen the-guano comes into the
hands of the general agents, there
are other and formid.aulo chargo
which are necessary before it reach
es the farmer. The general ageni
himself is entitled to some comnpen
sation for the risk of guaranteoing,
pro-paying freight, paying travolint;
agents, who -establish diterior agen
cies--his own time and that of lii
office clerks-f.)r there is imnonac
labor connected with his business
He is also entitled .to the interesi
on the money advanced in payinp
freights to the farmer's no-trust
depot. And after it arrives ho h1a:
his interior agents to pay, and hia
heretofore . had to pay in n any in
stances storage on guano, and also
drayage,,and also to 'pay even foi
veighing the cotton that was paid
in exch inge for. the guano. The
general agent or the in.mufacturer
has also to pay for mending sacks,
and loss in weight from wastoage;
they have to pay freight on cotton
from place of dlivery to the coast,
and they have to receive cotton al
interior weights-and in this they
lose about five pounds to every bale.
About ton dollars per ton is added
to manufacturers' pricos to cover all
the numerous inc idenital expenses,
which includes ancther very impor
tant item, that of guaranteeing the
sales of their interior agents. It ih
.true that the interior agents guar
antee their sales to the general
agent, b)ut only to tho extent oh
their aggregate commissions ; they
can only lose their labor, while i
general agent in many instanceE
may not only lose his commissioni
but much more. There is sometimei
large quantities carried over at inte,
rior points, wvhich entails adiditiona]
expense. It also frequently hap.
pens that one point is too heavily
supplied, and then comes anothe
expense of transpot tation of from
one to two dollars per ton. 'Al]
of these little arpounts in theo end
make large smats, which 'go to 'res
duce the profits. In: some in
stances general agents accept s
mere for warding commission rather
than'incur the~risk to which they
are subject. It is hardly necessary
to add, .that we have now and then e
1oss in the way of a bad. deb~t. Th
writer lias heard of instances wher
there wvere baa debth enough to con
sume the entire year's p. ofits.
Our farmer friends complain thai
while overything else has declined
the-prico of guano has advanced
Is this in fact true ? Last year the
currency price at the coast was $4-i
Sper.ton, this year it is $40. Lasi
-year the number of pounds of cotte:
'regnired for a ton of guano at the
coast was 488 pounds. The 'pric<
of cotton at the time this price war
fixed, was such that they reasonabl;
fcalculated. tos get.. ten cenIts, pci
pound; the price therefore in cotte:
was $48.80 per ton. That the;
did not get ten cents per pound ii
well kiiown.. bIYe writer heard o
of the largest nanufacturors saly
that they (lid not make a cent last
year. although they sold thousan ds
of tons. Others only saved themt
solves by taking the i'isk of solling
futures in cotton-they nado some
thing by that last season, they might
lose the next. There is hardly any
one now who think they -will bo able
to realize for this year's cotton crop
more than 8 cents per pound for
middling cottoln. The prico fixed,
therefore, for a ton of guano at the
coast is 500 pounds of cotton, which,
at 8 cents per pound for cotton is
$40.
Now, has there been any advance ?
I assert hero that there is not a
general agent or manufacturer doW
ing"business in Georgia or South
Carolina but who would prefer a
currency note to a cotton option
note. It is chanco in a cotton
option note. If cotton goes up
they would make (so would the
planter on the balance of his crop)
if it goes down lhe would lose. If
cotton was now Sc. per lb., the
manufacturer could not afford to
take 500 lbs. of cotto'a f.r a ton,
but ifit was 20c. per lb., he told
afford to take 200 lbs. The manu
facturer must have a certain
amount of money for a ton of for
tilizor, and lie can only see that
amount by asking 500 lbs. middling
ot.ton. There is nt disposition on
tho part of the manufacturors to
oppross the farmers. On the other
hand, they have done and are still
doing (by giving them a better and
cheaper fertilizer than ever before)
all they can to help them along, for
upon the farmers' success depends
not only their own success, but that
of every other business.
There has been largo sums made
on connercial fortilizers, but
like evehy other business, it has
come down to hard pan, and they
will hereafter have to be satisfied
with small profits. If they are
making large sums now, I should
like to know what b:ieomes of it ; it
is certainly not declared in visible
dlividends. D.
Augusta, Ga., January 28, 1879.
Advice from a Farmer.
Eiditors Uhronicle and (Jonstitu
tionalist : Are the cotton planters
of the State of Georgia going to
submit to the iniquitous advance of
fifty pounds more of lint cotton on
the ton, as determined on by the
Guano Kings, while everything
else is depreciating in valu:tion ?
After specie payment has been re
suinod and every one else seoin do
tornned to have adopted the fact
that they must work hard and be
willing to take fair remuneration
only for their labor, the guno men,
feeling their might over the most
numerous and powerful class of our
people, have concluded to put up
their prices, knowing that the giants
(our agriculturists) are slow to
move and will submit to most any
thing. Robbed on all sides, sup
porting the vorld, . they, the
agriculturists, instead of fighting
those who prey upon them, are
conltinually skirmishing among
themselves, scarcely looking beyond
their owvn noses5, but falttoning
those who feed upon thlem. WVhy
will yon cotton planflors a'.low y >ur
selves to be plnndered and show no
resentment ? Do you know thlat
with an old negro man, to whom
you would hlave to pay $30 and
feed, a cart andI horso, wvholo affair
costing you $200, you canl, inl the
course of a year, b)y hauling truck,
viz., leaves, pine straw, etc., in your
lot, at a lowv calculation, make you
over twenty tons of better fertilizer
than you hlave to pay a five hundred
pounds bale of cotton for, even
when you get a genuine articlo ?
And that old negro would pay for
himself in tending ton acres in corn,
besides feeding your stock and
looking after your sows and pigs,
and going around your fences after
every washing rain, to see that no
stock could got in, that so often you
have to delay your bess hands to
look after*, keeping them from a
grassy piece of cotton that ought to
have been finished while the fence
was being examined. Happily, old
Columbia is one county that has do-.
termined to call a meeting and
ascertain whether the citizens* have
nerve enough to refuse to purchase
any five hundred pounds bale of cot
ton (for a ton) guano. We cotton
planters know from the style that
guano agents go in, the champagne
they drink, the carriages they ride
in, and palatial manufactories that
that odoriferous compound is
mahufactured and stored in, that
they need be in much -worse p light
financially than the one who digs it
out of the earth, or spreads it under
h is cotton beds. Contrasts are
sometimes odious as well as odor.
iforouls. Like the coif')hon wm Ie
wrll' that nagedl hero some ' imo sinee,
perChatneo this 50 pounds'1 incR1?oe
is also to cnure to the benefit of "ho
good natured, but ignorat1, h,iinodc
Co-r-ro\ '1..w'r::.
Diatrict No. 3, Columbia County,
January 18th.
CoULD NOT Orr-IBu run i: 1\.
-When the train on the Charlotte,
Columbia & Augusta Railroad,
which leaves here at 11.30, was near
Jolhnston's on the down trip from
Charlotte, day before yesterday
evening, the engineer saw two
mules drawing a wagon, with two
men seated in it, approaching the
crossing. There was a considerable
clear space between the train and
the crossing, so that the men in the
wagon must have seen if they could
not have heard the locomotive, but
nevert,hless they endeavored to
cross the track before the train
could reach it, and failed, as mon
generally do fail under these cir
cunstances. One of the occupants
of tile wagon was a whlito man and
the other a negro. The white man,
seeing in time what was about to
1mppen, jonped from the wagon
and saved himself. The pilot of
the engine struck the vehicle about
midway. The negro was killed, and
the wagon shattered into a thousand
fratgmlents. The mules escaped nn
injtured.- Charlotte Obscer 5th
inst.
A VENERABLE MATRON.-Last Sunl'
(1ay3, Mrs. Elizablethl Leopard, reliet
of Thom1s Leopard, died in Gr;an -
i:evilie, S. C., at the vencruie 'c.
of one hundred a.id seven years.
She was born in Buckingham conn..
tv, Va., on tho 25th of December,
1Til, and emigrated to SouL! Caro
hn1uat when she wis seventeen years of
age, and lived ne' Ninety-Six.
She rained twenty-two orphan
grandchildren and great- randchil
dren. At t.he funeral was 1er only
surviving son, eighty years of age.
Around her grave stood this son, a
grandchild fifty-six years ol, sev.
oral great-grandebidren over forty
years of age, great-great,grandehil
dren twenty-iive years old,,ind a
umuher of great.-great-great-grala -
children-five generations in all.
There are living at present eighty
of her descendants. and two hun
lred and ten have died, making
altogether nearly three hundred.
She read the Bible, withou, spect.a
c!es, the Sunday before siho diod,
talkedwith friends and relatives al
most ipto the very moment of her
death, passing away gently and with
out pain from old t:ge.-Augusta
U/ironicle.
A contributor to the British
Journal of Photography writes
"Are photogr.iphers aware that the
electric light canl ho produced with
out eithor a ste un or a gas ongina ?
Yet such is the ase. It has been
found by tho aid of a fly-wheel,
which can easily be driven by one
man, a degreo of rapidity and
power can ho obtained quito snill
cient for uitilization inl the pro(duc-.
(ion of thle electrie light. A l argo
'machine' ro:luires, of courao, a
powerful motor ; but a machine of
moderate power wvill suffice for the
requiremnnts of thle lpho togr'aphor
who diesiroes to make use of it, either
ill the p)roduction of portraitsi or
enlargements. I am aware of a ma
chino of this kind being constructed
by an amo.teur mechnician, and it
answer*s well. What is now wanted
is a machinme of similar power, that
can be obtained in the course of
business at a moderate price all
comupleto."
When the train conveying Gen
eral Sherman to tile Seuth1 stoppedi
at Kettle Hollow, Montgomery
county, Virginia, Teecumnseh walkIed
out to view the sterile aspect of tihe
country. Seeing an old resident
standing near, tihe General iufquir.
od : "What do they raise iln this
country, -anyhow ?"' The aforesaid
Kettle Hollow man rep)lied :"They
raise h -11i here about as quick as
any place you ever saw." The
General tucked his feathers and
sought refuge in the car instanter.
"PeooR HERDEaT I-How I wish you
did not have to slave so at that
horrible store from morning till
nighit I" satid his wife, as, with a
fend caifess, she seated herself on
her husband's knee, and gently
stroked the auburn locks from his
sloping browv. And the gruve, stern
man of business und6retood her at
once, and answered : "WVell, Susie,
what is it-a bonnet or what ? Go
light on me, for money is scar'cer
than ever."- (7hio'sgo Tribune.
Pay your subscription to the
Naes a Hase.
'A i A 1 ) ('yN(i3S l tJ.S .
How Innoecnt PabMe aro Cougod--Tho
Pcnalty of 8eitding Compliments
Prico Lists Under the Ban--Comnon
Sense Needed.
[ fr; the Xe'w York Times .3
An author, reu;iding in a Western
city, sent by mail to his friend in
New York a copy of his book, on
the 11v leaf of which was written
something like this: "Wolfgang
Winkelried Brown, with the con
plilcnts of Washington Potts."
The New York post office clerks
descried this nefarious inscription,
and "charged up" t.he book at letter
postage rates. Deducting the 28
cents paid by the sender, there re
m.,ined S2.25 which was due from
Woifg:ng Winheiried Brown. * A
persol in Osiris, Ohio, desiring that
his favorite weekly paper, pub
lished in New York, should print
certain familiar verses, wrote on a
postal card a requ(st to that eflect,
and, to make all sure, pasted the
poem on the back of the card. The
recipient of this valuable communi..
cation, for reason which will appear
further on, vWas compelled to pay
live cents postago thereupon. A
New Yoik citizen, having noticed in
the Tines an editorial article which
lie thought would interest his friend
in Boston, went to a window in the
New Yiol k post-ofTico and asked for
"a newspaper wrapper," for which
lo paid one cent. Putting this
about the copy of the Times, he
dropped it into the box. The
weight of that copy of the paper
happened to be two ounces and
on-sixteenth. Being weighed, it
wa,s thrown in to Lhe waste basket
as insufliciently paid, and before the
sender left the building it was on
the way to the furnace. Subse
quently, the expectant Boston man
wrote to' his Now York friend :
"Thero is a thief in your post
oflice."'
In each one of these instances
the postal authorities proceeded ac -
cording to law as expounded by the
rulings of the Post Office Depart
miit. The statutes of tho United
States provide that the sender of a
book way writo on the fly-leaf
"Wolfgang Winkolried Brown, from
Washington Potts." More than
this tends to mischief. Therefore,
Mr. Brown paid $2.25 for "the
compliments of" Mr. Potts. The
gentleman in Osiris might have put
his p) inted poem in an unsealed
envelope, which. being sent to the
New Y c.rk publisher, would have
been charged as a printed circular
-- one cent. The law says that
nothin;g shall be "attached" to a
postal card. The poor little verses
were puted on with a thick com
position, anid thme whole thing then
w~eighed1 mnore thani half ounce. ]t
was unclassified, theo "attached"
newspaper clipping being unlawful.
Thieref'ore, aim unclassified matter', it
was chlargeable with letter postage.
It weighed mtore( thant a half ounce.
and it required six cents postaige.
Butt one centt having been paid for
the postal card, only five cents were
duo1(. And this was collected. In
the ease of thQ newspaper which.
wias confiscated, withI its one cent
stamp, tije bender only knew that a
newspaiper wrapper (costing one
cent) w'as a newspaper wrappeor. He
n1ever dreamed(3( that a post -ofice
clerk wvas requireq to weigh his
palper, and, if' it was not p)repaid
at the rate of one cent for every two
ounces and fraction thro,to
throw it inmto the waste akt
Congress, by its burdensome stat
utes, seems to be abxions to wvorry
the people who have transactions
with the post-offices. In this en,
deavor Oongress is ably seconded
by the rost Office Department with;
its capricious rulings.
Of these rulings let us give a few
examples : Thoere was nmo cl.assifica.
tion of mail matter until 1825. On
thme statutes of years precoding that
date all present classifications are
ma~de. The type-writer is a modern
invention, .and mat.ter from that
machine is unknown to post-offee
law. Next came thme. papyrograph,
and thou the electric penm These
'machines produce matter whicli is
merely writing by machinery,
whether in single copies or by
duplicate. Confronted' with a new
problem, the post,ofUice authorities
at Washington flew to the statutes.
These wore silent on the subject of
machine-wriing, Therefore, malt..
ter produced by the type.writer,
p"tpyrograph, or electric pen was
"unclassified." As we have seen in
the case of the pasted p'stal cud,
unciasitiedl mail mat,c is chargea
ble with lotter po:tago. The agents
of these mnachines moved upon
Washington. R einforced by Sena
tors and Congressmen, they coerced
the department into reversing its
decision, and matter produced by
the papyrograph and the electric
ptn was admitted to the mails as
third,-class matter, the type-writer
being "loft out in the cold." Then,
the pressure being removed, the
department again ruled that even
this concession would be revoked
March 4, 1879- So, unless Con
gress comes to the rescue, type
writer, papyrograph, and electrio
pen will produce matter subject to
letter rates after March 4. This
seems frivolous. In like manner, a
printed prices current, in which
"$14.50 per case" was changed to
"$14.25 por caso," in pencil, in con
sequonce of a change in the tariff,
was charged letter rates, under a
decibion of the Post Office Depart
ment to this effect: "A prices cur
rent, partly in writing, is subject to
letter rates of postago when sent in
the mails." In like manner, also,
an architect's plans, drawn with a
pen, were charged letter rates, but
photographic copies of those plans
were charged third-class rates as
"photographic proofs, &c." Au
thors' corrected proofs are third
class matter, but an author having
marked on his proof "run up solid,"
made his entire package liable to
lotter postage, under a ruling of
the Post Office Department to the
effect that "any notations made on
corrected proofs by which informa
tion is asked or conveyed, or any
instructions given in writing, sub.
joets the sheets to letter postage."
Examples like these might be
indefiultly multiplied. We have
said eno gh to show the necessity
of having the entire postal code
modified and simplified by comnpe
tent men. When practical comm
mon sense is applied to a revision of
our postal laws and regulations, the
burdens of the people will be light
oned and the revenuie1iof the y
ernment will not be reduced.
Alexandria Gazette: The mem..
bers of the theatrical profession
visiting Richmond are generally
struck with the habit which
young gentlemen here have of go
ing out between acts. One of
Madame Modjeska's company asked
a young gentleman whom she notic
od had been out in this way, "Why
tlid you go out between every act T"
He replied, "I wont out to see my
nunt." "What aunt ?" "Stimulant,"
aid the gay youth, as he went out
to get a night cap.
A clock made entirely of bread
has lately been received in Mil an,
Italy, from Peru. It was construct
3d by an Indian, who, having no
moans of purchasing material, saved
a portion of the soft part of his
daily bread for' the purpose. He
solidified it with a certain salt which
renderod it very hard and insoluble
in water. Tihe clock keeps good
timo, and the case, also of hardened
bread, displays artistic talent.
PM ENTENNIKAL HE.ADQUARTERs.
-I find Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup
excollen t, having a ready sale arid
rendering more satisfaction than
any cough syrup I have ever sold.
-A. B. Malony, M. D., Fifteenth
and Carpenter Streets, Philadel
phia, Pa.*
Skating is a very healthful exer
eise. It not only puts in p lay all
the muscles of the legs and arms,
but it creates lumps for future
phronologists to feel of and report
ASSIGNEE'"S SALE.
O\N Atonday, the 10th day of February,
\1870. commencing at 11 o'clock in
the forenoon, we will off'er for Rade at
public auction, to the highest bid dler,
for cash, all that stock of merchandise,
Donsisting of groceries, liquors, segars,
tobaoco, etc., no w mn the store in Winns
bore lately occnpied by R. J. McCarloy.
Also all the fixtures and equipments. of
mail store, including on iron safe.
Assignee of R. J. MoCarley,
J.3J. NEIL, -
-Agent for Creditors.
Jan 28-t8 _______
LIENS AEOFTEN LOST
B Y the use of oheap Kerosene. Get
one of our safetj Lamps in which
mven the most dangerous o$il is safe.
*20,000 Saved Yearly, to Fairilold,
When on,r farmers., learn to purcohase
Phemioals and make their owl fertilistre.
Oall and got a book telliag how I6 esar be
done,
de 2$*MoAT 1 2W~