The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, February 08, 1879, Image 2
.'i rh1 ,rE. I+_.FAT.)LIN. -,VIN\NS1B)O1)._S. (3. AA I'UI)AV. 1'1Ia BiJAItY 8,. 1 :.. .NO
THE GUA NO WAR.
DIFIR'I1T:NT I'ICW ' TAKECN TITlt(O'
D1'ERENT P'1CtACLES.
Cotton vs. Guano--Another Article from
the Guano Side of the Question--The
Cost of Manufacturing and the Small
Profits ofManufacturors--Uncertain
ties of Cotton Option.
.Editors Chronicle and Constitu
tionalist : I can hardly persuade
that if the planters thoroughly un
dorstood the guano quostioi they
would speak and feel as they do to -
ward the manufacturors and general
agonts. It would occupy too much
space to enter fully into the discus
sion of this (at present) important
subject. The raw material that it
takes to manufacture a ton of guano
-to sack it, and transport it to the
ports in the South, at tho\ present
price-leaves but a small proiit, 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 gets
near thirty dollars per fon for it at
the coast, he could not mako any
thing on it, and to do this, it would
be necessary that they should carry
no surplus stock over. This can
hardly be expected, howevor. There
is always more or less stock carried
carried over from one year to anoth
er, which has to be c.red for at con,
siderable expense, snd then to be
handled and re-sacked the next
season, storage to. be paid, large
quantities lost in waste, and many
other minor things, which, in aggro
gate, foot up heavily.
\Vhen the guano comes into the
hands of the general agents, there,
are other and formidawlo clairgos
which are nocessary before it reach
es tho farmer. Thu general agent
huimself is entitlod to soie conpen
sation for the risk of guaranteeing,
pro-paying freight, Paying traveling
agents, who es tabliish 11iterior agenh
cies-his own time and that of his
office clerks-for thero is immonse
labor connected with his business.
He is also entitled to the interest
on the money advanced in paying
freights to the farmer's no rst
depot. And after it arrives ho has
his interior agents to pay, and has
heretoforo had to pay in nlany in
stances storage on guano, and also
drayage, and also to 'pay even for
weighming the cotton that was paid
in oxch mge for the guano. The
general agent or the in nufacturer
has also to pay for mending sacks,
and loss in. weight from wastoage;
they have to pay freight on cotton
from place of delivery to the coast,
and they have to receive cotton at
interior weights-and in this they
lose about five pounds to ovory bale.
About ton dollars per ton is added
to man ufacturers' prices to cover all
the numerous incidlental expenses,
which includes another very impor'
tant item, that of guaranteeing the
sales of their interior agen ts. It is
true that the interior agents guar
an tee their sales to the general
agent, but only to the extent of
their aggregate commissions ; they
can only lose their labor, while a
general agent in many instances
may not only lose his commissions
but much more. There is sometimes
large quantities carried over at into,
rior points, wvhich entails additional
expense. It also frequently hap,
pens that one point is too heavily
supplied, and then comnes another
expense of transuor'tation of fromn
one to two dollars per ton. All
of these little arpounts in the end
make large snina, which go to row
due the profits. In. some in
stances general agents accept a
mere forwarding commission rather
than~ incur the risk to which they
are subject. It is hardly necessary
to add, that wo have now and then a
1088 inl thme way of a bad. debt. The
writer has hieard of instances where
there were baa debte enough to con
sume the entire year's p.ofits.
Our farmer friends complain that
while everything else has declined,
the-price of guano has advanced.
S Is this in fact true ? Last year the
currency price at the coast was $441
per-ton, this year it is $40. Last
-year the number of pounds of cotton
'required for a ton of guano at the
coast was 488 pounds. The price
of cotton at the time this price was
fixed, was sneh that they reasonably
calcuated&.tp, get, ten , cents* pox
pound ; the price thereforp in cottoni
was $43.80 per ton. That they
did not got ten cents per pound is
well kho*n.. The writer heard' one
of the largest imlainulacturers sa
that they did not make a cent las
year, although they sold thousan 1
of tons. Others only saved t hew
solves by taking the risk of sellin
futures in cotton-they mado somic
thing by that last season, they migl
lose the next. There is hardly an
one now who think they will bo abl
to realize for tlhis year's coiton cro.
more than 8 cents per pound fo
middling cotton. The price fixet
thereforo. for a ton of guano at thi
coast is 500 pounds of cotton, whicl
at 8 cents per pound for cot ton i
$40.
Now, has there been any advance
general agent or manufacturer (1o
ing-business in Georgia or Sout
Carolina but who would prefer
currency noto to a cotton optio
note. It is chance in a cotto
option noto. If Cotton goes u
they would make (so would th
planter on the balance of his crop)
if it goos down lie would lose. I
cotton was now Sc. per lb., th
Manufacturer could not afford I
take 500 lbs. of cotto'i f. r a to]
but ifit was 20c. per lb., he oul
afford to take 200 lbs. The manu
facturer must havo a certai
amount of money for a ton of for
-tilizer, and he can only see thu
amount by asking 500 lbs. middlin
cotton. There is ni disposition o
the part of the manufacturers t
oppress the farmers. On the otlh
hand, they have done and are sti
doing (by giving them a better an
cheaper fertilizer than ever beforc
all they can to hlp theni along, fi
upon the farmers' success depend
not only their own success, but the'
of every other business.
1hero has bo0n largo sums ma(
Oin commercial fertilizers, br
like evely other business, it h,,
como down to hard pan, and the
will hercafter have to 1)o satisfio
with small profits. If they in
making large sums now, I shoul
like to know what b:ico:nes of it ; i
is certainly not declared in visibi
dividends. D.
Augusta, Ga., January 28, 1879.
Advice from a Farmer.
.Editors U:hronicle and Uonstit i
tionalist : Are the cotton plititei
of the State of Georgia going t
submit to the iniquitous advance
fifty pounds more of lint cotton o
the ton, as determined oi by ti
Guano Kings, while everythin
else is depreciating in valu:tion
After specie payment has been rc
sumed and every one elsa seem3 do
tormined to hive adopted the fac
that they must work hard and I
willing to take fair retuneratio
only for their labor, the guano met
feeling their might over tho lmi.
numerous and powerful class of on
people, have concluded to put u
their prices, knowing that the giant
(our agriculturists) are slow t<
move and will submit to most any
thing. Robbed on all sides, sup
porting the world, . they, tih
agriculturists, instead of fightin
those who prey uponl them, ar
conltillnally skirmishin g aimn
themselves, scarceiy looking beyon
their owin noses, but faittonin
those wvho feed upon them. Whi
will you cott on p)lers a'lowv y >ur
selves to be plundered and show n
resentmfent ? Do you know thla
wvith anl old negro man, to whoni
you would have to pay $30 ani
feed, a cart and horse, whlole affaui
costing you $200, you can, inl th
course of a year, by hauling truch
viz., leaves, pine straw, etc., in you
lot, at a lowv calculation, make ye
over twenty tons of better fertilize
than you h'ie to pay a five hundro
ponds bale of cotton for, eve
when you get a genuine article
And that old negro would pay fo
himself inl teonding ten acres inl corr
besidles feeding your stock aI
looking after your sows and pigm
and going alround( your fences afte
overy washing rain, to see that ni
stock could get in, that so often yo
have to delay your best hlands ti
look after, keeping them from
grassy piece of cottonl that ought t<
have been finished while the fenc
was being examined. Happily, ok(
Columbia is one county thlat hlas do
termined to call a moeeting an<
ascertain whiether the citizense hay
nerve enough to refuse to purechas
any five hundred pounds bale of cot
ton (for a ton) guano. We cottoi
planters know from tile style tha
guano agents go in, tile champagn
they drink, the carriages they rid
in, and palatial manufactories tha
that odoriferous compound i
manufactured and stored in, tha
they need be in much -worse plighl
financially than the one who digs i
out of the earth, or spreads it unde
his cotton beds. Contrasts ar
sometimes odious as wvell as odlor
y iforous. Like the coi/onx .(Iiple
t war iai; r;age( here somlc aiian sintee,
S perchaneo this 50 poln,ds ilnere 1'4
- is also to enire to the belnieht of tho
good natured, but ignora:t1i.. Iiin;led
C:o-r-roxN umn
Di.strict No. 3, Columbia County,
y January 18th.
CoUlD Nor Owr-RUN 'r1r TAIN.
-When the train on the Charlotte,
Columbia & Augustal Railroad,
which leaves here at 11.30, was near
Jolnston's on the down trip from
Charlotte, day beforo yestcrday
evening, tho engineer saw two
. mules drawing a wagon, with two
lmlen seito(d in it, approaching the
crossing. There was aconsiderahlo
e,lear space between the train and
the crossing, so that the men iii the
wagon must have seen if they could
not have heard the locomotive, but
nevertheless they endeavored to
C Cross the track before tho train
could reach it, and failed, as men
generally do fail under theso cir
omltnstancos. One of the occupants
of the wagon was a white man and
the other a negro. The white man,
seeing in time what was about to
happen, jumped from the wagon
an 1d saved himself. 'ho pilot of
the engine struck the vehicle about
miidway. Trho negro was ldlle(d, and
the wagon shattered into at thousand
fragments. The mules escaped un
injured.-Charlotto Obscrecr 5th
inst.
A VENERAn.LE iLMATRON.-LasHt Sun"
a day, Mis. E;izrabhethl Leopard, relict
i of Thomis Leopard, die in Gran.
r i:eville, S. C., at the venerablio at:_,e
s !of one haundred aiIl seven years.
She was brn in B:3uckingh1am11 coan.
ty, Va., oil the 25th of Decembor,
: 1T71, and emigrated to Souit Caro..
alilt when) shlle. was seventeen years of
s age, and lived noar Ninlety .Six.
Y She ratmed twenty-two orphan
tl grandchildren and great.grandclhil
e (Iron. At the funeral was h1or only
surviving son, eighty years of ago.
t Around her grave stood this son, a
c grandeiildi fifty-six years old, r.ov.
oral great-"grandchildren over forty
years of age, great-great,grandchit
dren twenty-five years old, .pnd a
nuniber of great.-great-great-graidi
children-five generations in all.
s There are living at present eighty
o of her descendiants. and two hun
>f dred and ten have died, making
l altogether nearly three hundred.
o She road the Bible, withot: sp)ectat
c!es, the Sunday before sh( diod,
f tallkedwith friends and relatives al
most i1pto the very moment of her
- death, passing away gently and with
t out patill from cid e:ge.-A /usta
o Chronicle.
, A contributor to the British
t Journal of Photography writes :
r "Are photographers awaro that the
electric light can be produced with
Sout eithr' a ste uan or a gas ongin.;
> Yet such is the (ase. It has been
found by tho aid of a fly-wheel,
- which can easily bo driven by one
3 man, a degree of rapidity and
power can ho obtained quito sutli
0 cient for iutiliz'ttion in the produic,
tioni of the electrin light. A large
1'machin' roiire;, of courseo, a
powerful motor ; buit a machine of
Y moderate power~ will sumcfo for the
- rocquirenmeints oif the p)hotographor
0 who desires to make use of it, eithetr
t inl the production of portraitsi or
1 onlargemnents. I am aware of a ma
1 chine of this kind be(ing construoled(
r by an amateur mnechanician, aind it
o answers well. What is now wvanted1
,is a machine of similar power', that
r can be obtained in the course of
1 business at a moderate piriec all
r compllloto."
1 W~hen the train conveying Gon,
oral Shuerman to the South stopp1ed
at Kettle Hollow, Montgomery
counflty, Virginia, TeecumTseh watlked
:out to view the sterile aspeoct of the
country. Seeing an old resident
standing near, the General irfquir.
e d :"What do they raise in this
country, -anyhow ?" Tfhe aforesaid
SKettle Hollow man rep)lied :"They
Sraise h -11 here about as quick as
Sany place yon ever saw." The
General tucked his feathers and1
sought refuge inl tile car instanter.
I "Poon H-ERBEIRT I-How I wish you
s did not have to slave so at that
0 hlorrible store from morning till
-night I" said his wvife, as, with a
I fond caifoss, she seated herself on
t her husband's knee, and gently
3 stroked the auburn locks from his
s sloping brow. And the grave, stern
t man of business und6rstood her at
s once, and answered : "WVell, Susie,
I; what is it-a bonnet or what ? Go
t light on me, for money is scareer
b than over."- (/dic-go 7Wbune.
a Pay your subscription to the
~aum WAHsa
POSTAL AElSMIDITIES.
T'l'lr J'- I I ;l . u '''t I ll 'II iLA
IIow Innocnt PapMo3 nro Gouged--The
P( nitly of Seitding Compl;ments
Price Lists Under the Ban--Common
Sonso Needed.
[ Prom the Y or York Times.1
An author, res:idilg in a Western
city, sent by mail to his friend in
New York a copy of his book, on
the fly-leaf of which was written
something like this: "Wolfgang
W"inholried Brown, with the comn
pliuimts of Vashingt.on Potts."
The New York post office clerks
descried this nefarious inscription,
and "charged ip" t lie book at letter
postage rates. Deducting the 28
cents paid by the sender, there re
minerd e2.25 which was duo from
\oifgrn, Winleiried Brown. *A
per;;ol in Osiris, Ohio, desiring that
his favoritc weekly palper, pub
lislied in New York, should print
certain familiar verses, wrote on a
postal card a request to that effect,
and, to make all sure, pasted the
poem on the back of the card. The
recipient of this valuable comimuni..
cation, for reason which will appear
further on, vas compelled to pay
live cents postago thereupon. A
New York citizen, having noticed in
the Times an editorial article which
he thought would interest his friend
in Ucstona, went to a window in the
New Yolk post-office and asked for
"a newspap)ecr wrapper," for which
he 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. Be:ng weighed, it
was thrown into Lhe waste basket
a1s insufliciently paid, and before the
sonder left the building it was on
the wiy to the furnace. Subse
quently, the expectant Boston man
wrote to' his New York friend :
"There 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
meut. T'hie statutes of the United
States provide that the sender of a
book may write on the fly-leaf
"Wolfgang Winkolriod Brown, from
Washington Potts." More than
this tends to mischief. Thereforo,
Mr. Brown paid $2.26 for "the
compliments of" Mr. Potts. The
gentleman in Osiris might have put
his printed poem in an unsealed
envelope, which, being sent to the
New Yt,rk publisher, would have
been charged as a printed circular
-one cent. Tho law says that
nothing shall be "attached" to a
postal card. The poor little verses
were pated on with a thick con
p)osition, and the whole thing then
weighed more thant half ounce. J3t
was unclafssiled, the "attached"
newvspap)er clipping hbeing unlawful.i
T1hoirofore, as un'lassin'ed umattei', iti
was chargeabie with lett,er' postage.1
It weigrhed mzore than a half ounce.
and it required six cents postage.
BtOne centt haiving been paid for
the postal card, only five cents were
(duo. And this was collected. In
the case of thn newspaper which
was confiscated, wit.h its one c'ent
stamp, tlieoI;ender only knew that a
newsp)aper wriapper (cosating one
cent) w'is a new~spamper wrapper1. He
nevr' dreamed that a post-offico
clerk wvas requiretq to weigh his
patpor, and, if it was not propaid '
at the rate of one cent for every two 1
ounces and fraction thereof, toI
throw it into the waste basket.
ICongress, by its burdensome stat
utes, seems to be anxious to worry
the people who have transactions
withvoh post-ofiecos. In this onl,
dovrCongress is ably seconded
by the Post Office Department with
its capricious rtulings.
Of these rulings let us give a few
examples : There wias no clasinca,
tion of mail matter until 1825. On
the statutes of year's preceding that
date all present classifications are
made. The type--writer is a modern
invention, and mnat.ter from that
machine is unknown to post-offRce
law. Next camne the papyrograph,
and then the electric peom These
machines produce matter whicli is
merely writing by machinery,
whether in single copies or by
duplicate. Confronted'with a new
problem, the postrofflee authorities
at Washington flew to the statutes.
These wore silent on the subject of
machine-writing. Therefore, mat..
ter produced by the type-writer,
tp.vrograph, or electric pon was
"V neliassified." As we have soon in
ho caso of the pasted postal card,
laC, i(ftOr mnil mnatt,:e' U4 ohargea
ble with lotter po-'ad.go. The agents
>f these machinnes moved upon
Washington. Reinforced by Sona
tors and Congressmen, they coorcod
the department into revorsing its
lecision, and matter produced by
the papyrograph and the electric
[pen was admitted to the mails as
third class matter, the typo-writer
being "loft out in the cold." Then,
tho pressure being removed, the
lepartment again ruled that even
this concession would be revoked
March 4, 1879- So, unless Con
.ress comes to the rescue, typo
writer, papyrograph, and electric
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 case," in pencil, in con
sequence of a change in the tariff,
was charged letter rates, under a
cdocision of the Post Office Depart
ment to this effect: "A prices cur
rent, partly in writing, is subject to
letter rates of postage 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
letter 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 convoyed, or any
instructions given in writing, sub
jects the shots to letter postage."
Examples like these might be
indefiltiely multiplied. We have
said eno gh to show the necessity
of having the entire postal code
modified and simplified by compe
tent men. When practieal com"
mon sense is applied to a revision of
our postal laws and regulations, the
burdens of the people will be light
DUed and the .revenu3.of the ,
arnment will not be reduced.
Alexandria Gazette: The mem..
bors of the theatrical profession
visiting R3ichmond are generally
struck with the habit which
young gentlemen here have of go
ing out between acts. One of
Madame Modjeska's company asked
x young gentleman whom she notie.
ad had been out in this way, "Why
lid you go out between every act t"
He replied, "I went out to see my
tint." "What aunt 1" "Stimulant,"
maid the gay youth, as he went out
to got a night cap.
A clock mado entirely of bread
ias lately boon received in Mil an,
[titly, from Peru. It was construct
3d by an Indian, who, having . no
neans of purchasing material, saved
% portion of the soft part of his
laily bread for the purp)ose. Hie
iolidified it with a certain salt which
eondorod it very hard and insoluble
n water. The clock keeps good
,imo, and the case, also of hardened
>readl, displays artistic talent.
' FaoM 'ENTENNIAn HEADQUARTERS.
-I find Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup
3xcellen t, having a ready sale anid
:end1eri ng more satisfaction than
my cough syrup I have ever sold.
-A. B. Malony, M. D., Fifteenth
ma Carpenter Streets, Philadel
hia, Pa.
Skating is a very healthful exer
:iso. It not only puts in p lay all
he muscles of the legs and arms,
Mit it creates lumps for future
>hrenologists to feel of and report
)1.
ASSIGNEE'S SALE,
O\N \Ionday, thiel0th day of February,
.J1879, cmmnoing at 11 o'clock in
he forenoon, we will offer for sale at
mibl Ic auction, to the highest bid der,
or onsh, all that stock of merchandise,
sonsisting of groceries, liquors, segars,
obacco, etc., njow in the store in Winns
)oro lately oceupied by R. J. MeCarley.
Isl~o all the fixtures and eqnipments of
atl store, includling one iron sate.
J~. S. GLADNEYV,
Assignee of 1R. J. MeCarley,
-Agent for Creditors,
jan 23-18 ______
LIVES ARE OFTEN LOST
B Y theouse of cheap Kerosene. Get
one of our safety Lamps in which
ivenl the most dangerous oillis safe.
$20,000 Saved Yearly, to Fairfield,
When onr farmers learn to purchase
'hemicals and make their owd fertilizers,
Jall and got a book tellng how it an' be
lone.
dec# . MoMAS*Z ABR10.