Yorkville enquirer. [volume], January 20, 1881, Image 1

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VOL. 2'v. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JA-ISTTJARY 20, 1881. NO. 3.
jacketed Itoftrir.
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NOWADAYS.
Oh, my ! how everything has changed
Since I was sweet sixteen,
When all the girls wore homespun frocks
And aprons nice and clean ;
With bonnets made of braided straw,
Tied close beneath the chin.
And shawls laid neatly o'er the neck
And fastened with a pin.
But now a days the ladies wear
Such high three storied hats,
With feathers running all around
To cover up the Hats;
Then frocks that fall so very low
And trail a yard behind,
They're made the giddy for to catch,
j Yet sometimes catch the blind.
And then to think that some young girls
Will almost faint awav
If they were left to sit alone
In wagon or in sleigh ;
And as for getting pa his meals.
Or helping ma to bake,
Oh ! that would spoil their lily hands
From baking "angel cake."
Whan snow would fall I was so oleased.
And how my heart did flutter
As each beau took his sweetheart out
Sleigh riding in his cutter :
But when the storm was bleak and cold,
The girls and beaux together
Would meet and have a good straw ride,
In soite of wind and weather.
But now, indeed, it grieves me much
That I am fore'd to mention,
However kind a young man's heart,
Or honest his intention,
He dare not ask a girl to ride
But such a war is waged,
That if he sees her more than twice.
Why they must be engaged.
Land sakes ! what are we coming to,
Is what I want to know.
How do the girls expect to have
A sensible young beau !
Whene'r they get a nice young man
They cut too great a dash,
And then the grand result soon conies?
A universal crash!
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.
THE LADY OF LINTON.
BY WAITER MORGAN.
CHAPTER X.
The blood which had been driven to Miriam's
heart by her recent overwhelming agitation,
surged back in a rich tide to her cheeks
at the sight of Cyril. Her brilliant color,
her unusual dress, so greatly enhanced her
beauty that her lover was transported with a
na,T, oflniirohnn TrHmhlincr. excited, half!
overcome by the emotions which made his
heart throb almost to suffocation, the young
man scarcely dared approach the object of
his devotion ; but stood for a moment with
outstretched hands, gazing with mute worship
upon her face. Then, as she came forward,
placing her own hands iu his, he seemed suddenly
to break the spell which bound him,
and drawing her close to him, he pressed her,
for the first time, to his breast in a passionate
embrace, and kissed her quivering lips.
"Miriam !" he exclaimed, "it is true, then !
You do love me?you have consented to my
prayer?"
She bowed her head upon his shoulder.
Her whole frame trembled violently, and he
i * now perceived that her hands were as cold as
ice. His rapture changed to sudden apprehension.
Iu a change.! voice, he asked?
"Miriam, has anything happened? Are
you ill ?"
"I have suffered?oh! how much !" she
brokenly answered, without looking up. "I
dare not tell you how much."
"Suffered! When? How? Not for my!
cmuiaui .
"You roust ask me nothing," she replied,
with a shudder. "Remember that I told you
the other day of the existence of a secret
which must ever stand between you and me."
"But not between our love. Never between
our love, our happiness, my own one !"
"Happiness! Oh, Cyril, that is a vain
dream. For me the world contains no happiness.
I can fiud it nowhere?nowhere."
"Not in my love?my devotion, which will
labor only to make you happy ?"
"Your labor can never be crowned with
success. Go, Cyril. I have deluded myself
with the belief that I might cancel the past
and begin life anew, but I see that it cannot
be. Go?forget?"
Her voice, which had grown fainter, suddenly
faltered and broke down utterly, and
she burst into a passion of tears. Like a
tempest, her sobs surged up from her struggling
heart. Her self-control was for the time
completely lost, and Cyril, absolutely frightened
by the violence of her agitation, could
find no words which seemed potent to soothe
it. What was this mysterious, inexplicable
grief which enveloped her with its eternal
shade ? This wouud which bled ever freshly
in her bosom ? Was there no balm in
Gilead for such pain ? Had love?his love,
which, in its breadth and depth, seemed to
him must be all powerful, no influence to
chase away the baleful phautom which stalked
forever in her footsteps, and kept all joy
aud hopefulness at bay ?
"Miriam," he said despairingly, at last,
"what can I do ? Since it is impossible, as you
say, for you to reveal to me this secret which
oppresses you, I am powerless to offer you
any consolation. In Heaven's name, do not
weep so. You will drive me crazy! Don't
you knosv that it is agony to me to see you
suffer and not be able to relieve you ?"
"Did 1 not tell you that your love couia
bring you nothing but misery?" she rejoined,
in a stifled voice. "I must suffer always.
You would be condemned, if you married me,
to he a hopeless witness of pain which you
could not alleviate. There could be no joy
iu such a union."
"And was it to tell me this, and this only,'
that you sent for me this evening?" he asked, '
with involuntary anger in his tone. "How j
cruelly have I been deceived! I did not
dream that you would trifle with me. I {
thought your nature too lofty, too uoble, to |
suffer you to act thus."
"I have not trifled with you, Cyril. What I
have I done ?"
"If you sent for me, intending to reject;
me," he replied with warmth, "why assume i
this dress, making yourself doubly beautiful,!
in order to excite my admiration ? Why did :
you meet me cordially?yes, even allow me to !
kiss you, as only an accepted lover should ?"
Could I judge, from such a beginning to our
interview, that it was to end only iu the bit- I
lerest disappointment?the utter ruin of my |
hopes ?" Oh, Miriam, must I think you a
finished, false coquette?"
"No, no, no !" she vehemently exclaimed. I
"I have acted solely from the pressure of
events. When I sent for you, it was with the
liuenuon 01?01?
"Of accepting me as your affianced husbami
?" lie eagerly broke in, again clasping
her hand.
"Yes. On my sacred word, that was my
resolve."
"And what changed it ? Or has it changed ?
Miriam, dear, dearest Miriam ?dearer to me
" than the whole world?dearer to me than my
lite?tell me that you will not revoke that
decision, on which my whole earthly welfare
depends! Burdened with sorrow as you are?
fettled by a secret which you must not divulge?come
to me and let me share your
grief, even if I cannot understand it. The
task will be a light one, if I am blessed with
the knowledge of your love."
She dashed the tears from her face, and raising
her head looked at him fixedly and long.
"Cyril," she said at last, "I never before
met with a nature like yours. Its nobility,
j its unselfishness, are beyond my compreheni
sion. Would you, indeed, take such a yoke
as this upon your shoulders?and all through
your love for me ?"
i "I would?willingly, joyfully, as Heaven
is my witness !" v
j "Then," she exclaimed with a sudden, desperate
resolve, "I urill brave all for your sake,
even as you would brave all for mine ; but
remember, you have wrung this concession
from me?you accept the results at your
peril."
"At ray peril," he joyfully echoed, covering
j her hands with kisses. "How can I thank
i you ? How cau I bless you for this price'
less boon ?"
"You will never reproach me?never blame
me, if these results prove disastrous ? If
you find, as I predict, that only unhappiness
is in store for you ?"
"1 will never blame you, Miriam, no matter
what happens."
"Then be it it so," she rejoined, a strange
gleam lighting up her features. "I have
striven against my Fate, but it is too strong
for me. I can contend with it no louger.
Take me, Cyril. Such as I am, I am yours,
though all unworthy of your great love."
As if weary of the conflict of which she
had spoken, she sank upon a sofa near by, and
yielded herself passively, unresistingly, to
his caresses. Suddenly the door opened, and
old Priscilla entered. A shriek broke from
Miriam's lips. She started away from Cyril's
encircling arm, and regarded the ill-omened
intruder with frozen horror in her gaze.
Cyril, equally amazed at the old woman's
appearance, and dismayed at its effect upon
her mistress, looked from one to the other in
mute inquiry. Then, as Miriam, at Priscilla's
nearer approach, cried out to him "Save me!
save me!" at the same time extending her
hands as if to defend herself, he strode forward
and placed himself as a barrier between
them.
"Not a step nearer!" he sternly commanded.
"Do you not see that you terrify Lady
Hepburn ? What is it that you want ?"
Without any apparent anger at his interference,
Prisdlla regarded him earnestly for
a moment.
"Young gentleman," she presently said, in
a singularly gentle and serTous tone, "it is for
your sake that I am here now. Though I
seem out of place in this fine room?a poor
old servant like me?my errand is too important
for me not to fulfill it. I'm come to warn
you to fly?fly from the serpent's den. Don't
stop to think?you've no time for thought.
Fly, fly !" .
She raised her voice as she uttered this
warning,and stretched her wrinmea nana toward
the door. Astounded, Cyril turned for
an explanation to Miriam.
"Who is this old creature," he asked, "and
what does sh mean ?"
"Don't list m to her, Cyril! She is mad.
She does not :now what she says." Even as
she made thu response, she kept her fearful
gaze fixed, as f fascinated, on the old woman's
face, and her voice, as she spoke, was unnatural
in its tone. With a sudden fierce change
in her aspect, old Priscilla turned toward
her.
"Aye! that's what she says. That's what
she'll tell you, and everybody. But she may
call me what she likes?it don't alter the
truth. Young gentleman, I'm sorry for you.
You look goefd ami true, "and you ought to
find some one who isn't stained and wicked
like her?"
"Hush ! How dare you utter such words?"
wrathfully cried Cyril. But Miriam cowered
back, still with that fixed, frightened gaze
on her accuser's face.
"How dare you, wicked, false old witch,
slander one of the noblest and best of beings?
Has not Lady Hepburn grief enough of her
own to bear, without being tormented by
your crazy accusations? Begone, or I shall
call in some of the servants and have you
dragged away."
fy -I ! J. - J ? V- .,1J
V^yni was greatly excueu, ur iic nuuiu
never have spoken thus. To his inferiors he
was invariably kind and gentle, and especially
so to the aged aid helpless. But the opprobious
epithets which Priscilla had launched
at Miriam, filled hira almost with madness.
Her accusations, which, wild and incomprehensible
as they were, seemed yet to have
some meaning attached to them, and aroused
in hira the deepest auger of which he was capable.
"Nobody '11 lay hands on me, young master,
at your command. The servants are
afraid to touch old Priscilla. They think
she's a witch, lou may put me out, if you
will; but you don't look like one as would
harm a feeble old woman. Anyhow, before
I go, I must speak one word to save you
from destruction. You love that beautiful
lady?my master's wife?sittiug there before
you. You think she's as pure as she's handsome
; but I tell you her soul is more black
than ink. Ask her about her husband. Ask
her when and how she left him last. Ask
her to show you the trap-door of the old stone
vault below the cellar stairs?and see what
she'll say."
Utterly bewildered, Cyril mechanically
turned toward his beloved, as if to seek an
explanation of these mysterious words, uttered,
as they were, with a deliberate emphasis
that almost seemed to refute the suggestion of
their being the emanation of a disordered
mind. But Miriam's eyes were closed, her
face devoid of every particle of color. She
lay back on the rich cushions of the sofa in a
dead faint.
"Wretch ! you have killed her!" he fran
tically exclaimed, as he hent over the rigid
form.
"Not so," was Priscilla's composed rejoinder.
"If her own conscience hasn't killed
her before this, my words won't do it now.
As I stand here before God, I speak true
when I tell you that this lady that you love,
that's bewitched you so that you can't believe
any evil of her, is nothing more nor less, in
her Maker's sight, than a viurderesa.
Cyril staggered back, and his face grew as
white as Miriam's. Something in the terrible
earnestness of the old woman's manner,
combined with his remembrance of Miriam's
own words, her frequent allusions to the dark
mystery of her past life, impressed him with
the conviction that there must be some ground
for this dreadful accusation.
"This can be nothing but a wild delusion,"
he rejoined, forcing himself to speak with
something like outward calmness, though the
mere suspicion of the possible truth of what
he had heard filled him with a sickening, torturing
dread that nearly robbed him of his
self-control. "You cannot say such a thing
as that and dream of its being believed without
proof."
"1 have proof, and strong enough proof at
that," was Priscilla's confident reply. "But
listen, and f'll tell you the tale, and when she
i comes to herself you can repeat it to her, and
j tell her what I said. I don't think she'll
I deny it. Will you listen to me?"
Cyril nodded. His throat felt parched and
dry. It seemed as though an abyss were
' yawning at his feet, into which he was being
irresistibly drawn. He would fain have
i closed his ears, yet he was impelled against
; his will to listen to what Priscilla had to say.
| He turned his face away from Miriam. He
; could not look on her while her accuser spoke.
"It's a little over ten years ago," Priscilla
went on, "that my young master, Sir Roland
Hepburn, brought home his bride. They were
cousius, and had been raised together; but
she hated him, and he had little love for her.
The marriage was a forced one. They had
been betrothed to one another by their parents,
before they were old enough to have
any choice in the matter, and this one's mother
was bound to see that the contract wasn't
broken. You see she didn't want this fine
estate to slip away from them. Sir Roland
was deformed. He wasn't attractive to look
on, but he had the soul of an angel. Sir, any
body with common feeling couldn't have
helped learning to love him, he was so pure,
so good ! But my lady only hated him more
and more. At first, when they came, she
shut herself up altogether in her own rooms,
and wouldn't set eyes on him, except at
meals, when she came to the table for appearance'
sake. Suddenly, when this had lasted
about a week?no more?she came out of
her room one evening, when it was getting on
towards dusk, and set off for a walk, all by
herself.
"1 don't know how it chanced tnac sne mei
with ray master on the way. She could hardly
have looked to meet him; though God
knows what evil intentions might even then
have been in her heart. Anyhow, about
half an hour later, I saw them coming home
together, and I was astonished, for it was the
very first time I had seen them have anything
like intercourse with one another. I was
down stairs, in the basement?there's many
offices down there, where the servants do
their work?and watched them from a little
grated window that looks out on the lawn.
It was late then, almost quite dark. I had
gone down to the laundry to search for something
that was missing out of the wash. There
was nobody there but me. I had a candle with
me, but I had left it in the laundry, on a
table. The window I looked through is outside
in a little passage, and I went there to
look out when I heard their voices, for I could
see their figures quite plain, dark as it was.
"Well, they came nearer, and disappeared
round the corner of the house; but just as I
was about to get my caudle and come up
stairs again, I heard their footsteps on the
stone floor of the passage, coming to where
I was. I don't know what made me slip
back into a corner, out of sight, but I did.
Somehow I didn't want them to find me
there, and moreover I had a secret feeling?
i I can't tell why?of some wrong design on
her part, that maybe I could discover. I
mistrusted her so, that I felt bound to watch
over my poor young master; and I had kept
a pretty strict watch over him, and over her
too, unknown to them both, ever since they'd
come to the Towers. I'd held him in my
arms when he was a baby, and his father be
fore him. I loved* him better than my own
flesh and blood, and I wasn't going to let
any evil befall him that I could help.
"They came into the laundry, and I found
out then he was showing her the place. She'd
never been down there, in the basement, before.
'Somebody's left this candle here,'
he said, and took it up. 'How careless of
them ! But never mind, Miriam, it will do
to light us through the dark passage.' He
spoke quite cheerful like, as if he felt easy
and pleasant in his mind. Next to the laundry
is the wine vault, a great big place, with
such thick walls you can hear nothing
through them ; and beyond that again, just
under the stairs, a great empty room never
used, full of dust and cobwebs, where just
ghosts walk, I do believe?at least that's
what every one says. They went into that
room, me creeping after them, way back in
the shade. 'And what's this?' asks my
lady, stopping hi the middle of the floor and ?
pointing downward. 'A trap-door,' says he.
'They do say prisoners were kept there sometimes,
long ago. There's a dreary old chamber
below, but no one ever goes there.' 'Can
the trap-door hit up f ray lady asks, under
her breath like. 'I suppose so,' he says,
'though it's rusty from want of use.' With
that he tugs at it, and sure enough it opens.
'How deep ft looks, says she,' and then they
stand and look in it together, and me watching
and listeuiug, from a corner, with my
heart beating as loud as a drum in my
breast."
[to be continued.]
miscellaneous Heading.
NEW LAWS OF -THE STATE.
An Act to provide for a Public Guardian of the
Estates of Minors, Idiots and Lunatics, and to
define the powers and duties of such Guardian,
and to fix his liabilities.
Whereas, much inconvenience and delay
frequently arise in the settlement of the es
tates of deceased persons for the want of a
general guardian of the estates of minors,
idiots and lunatics; and whereas it is often
found impossible to find a competent and
responsible person who is willing to assume
such trust; and whereas for the want of such
guardian the estates of such minors, idiots,
and lunatics are rendered unproductive, and
are in danger of being wasted, if not wholly
lost; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the State of South Carolina,
now met and sitting in General Assembly,
and by the authority of the same.
Section 1. That the Judge of Probate for
each county in this State shall be Required to
act as the guardian of the estates of minors,
idiots and lunatics, in their respective counties,
where such minors, idiots and lunatics
have no general or testamentary guardians,
and where it is made satisfactory to appear
to the Court of Common Pleas or a Judge of
said Court at Chambers, by petition filed for
that purpose, that no fit, competent and responsible
person can be found who is willing
to assume such guardianship, and that the
Judge of Probate appointed as such guardian,
and his sureties, shall be held responsible
upon the official bond of such Judge of Probate
for all estates of such minors, idiots and
lunatics received by such Judge of Probate.
bee. "L That the application for the appointment
of the Judge of Probate as such
guardian shall be made by the father, mother,
husband, brother, executor, administrator,
or other persons interested in said minor, idiot
or lunatic, and shall state the name and age ;
of the minor, idiot or lunatic, the character |
and value of the estates of such minor, idiot j
or lunatic and that such minor, idiot or luoa- j
tic has no general or testamentary guardian,
and that no fit, competent or responsible perj
son can be found who is willing to assume
j said trust, and shall be subscribed and sworn
i to by the party making the application.
Sec. 3. That the Court or Judge hearing
such application, if satisfied that the interest
of the minor, idiot or lunatic would be best
subserved by such appointment, shall endorse
on such application an order appointing the
Judge of Probate such guardian, and authorizing
him to receive the estates of such minor,
idiot or lunatic, and to sign aud seal all necessary
and proper releases and discharges relating
thereto.
Sec. 4. That the Judge of Probate so appointed
shall have all the powers and be subjected
to all the liabilities of guardians appointed
by the Court of Probate, and shall
be entitled to like compensation.
Sec. 5. That the judge of probate for each I
county in this State shall, anuually, at the first j
term of the Court of Common Pleas, in and i
for his county, and oftener if required by |
the presiding judge of the circuit, submit in j
open court a report, under oath, of all his
actings and doings as such public guardian,
which report, if satisfactory, shall be approved
by the presiding judge by endorsement
thereon, and sha.ll be filed in the office of the
clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of said
county.
Sec. 6. That the annual report of the judge
of probate as public, guardian, required by
Section 5 of this Act, shall state the name of
each minor, idiot, orjuuatic, the date when
appointed guardian of such minor; idiot, or
lunatic, the value of the estates of such minor,
idiot, or lunatic, of what the same consists,
the amount and character of the investments,
if any, and when and by whom made, and
what amount, if any, remains uninvested, and
the amounts received and paid out since last
report, properly vouched, and such recommendations
as he may deem most to the advantage
of his wards respectively.
Sec. 7. That all investments made by the
judge of probate as public guardian shall be
made under the direction and with the approval
of the presiding Judge or the Judge
of the Circuit in which said judge of probate
resides.
Sec. 8. That all orders of discharge of the
Judge of Probate as public guardian shall be
granted by the presiding Judge or the Judge
of the Circuit io; which such Judge of
Probate resides, it $eing made satisfactorily
to appear that a full and fair accounting has
been had with the parties entitled to the estates
received by such guardian.
Sec. 9. That the Cierk'of the Court of Common
Pleas shall keep a separate journal of all
proceedings and orders relating to matters of
the Judge of Probate as public guardian, and
shall keep all books, papers and records relating
to the same in a separate apartment in
his office, neatly put up in packages and en
dorsed, and the said clerk shall be entitled to
charge and receive for the services as rendered
the same costs and fees to which he would
be entitled for similar services rendered in the
Court of Probate.
Sec. 10. That the Judge of Probate retiring
from office, or in case of the death of the
Judge of Probate, his executor or administrator,
shall turn over all moneys, bonds,
mortgages, notes and other choses in action,
and also all books, papers and other writings
in hia hands, custody and control, as such
public guardian, to his successor in office,
who thereupon shall assume all the duties of
such public guardian, and be invested with
all the powers and be subject to all the liabilities
of such guardian.
Sec. 11. That all costs for all proceedings
under this Act shall be the same and none
other than for similar proceedings in the
Court of Probate.
Approved December 24, 1880.
An Act to extend the time for Funding the unquestionable
Debt of the State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the State of South Carolina,
now met and sitting in General Assembly,
and by the authority of the same :
Sec. 1. That the State Treasurer is hereny
authorized and required to receive from the
holders jhereof, who may be willing to surrender
the same, all outstanding bonds and
certificates of stock of the State, issued prior
to the first day of January, eighteen hundred
and sixty six, together with the coupons of
said bonds aud interest orders upon said cer
tificates of stock which have already matured,
or which may mature on or before the first
day of January, 1880, and in lieu thereof
shall thereupon issue to said holders other
coupoD bonds or certificates of stock at the
rate of fifty per centum of the face value of
the material so surrendered in all respects as
is provided for in the Act of the General
Assembly, approved 22nd December, 1873,
entitled "An acCto rofl'uce the' Volume of the
public debt, and proyide for tbe payment of
the same," with regard to the bonds and certificates
of stock whose issue is provided for
in said Act.
Sec. 2. That the Comptroller General of
the State be, and he is hereby, required to
examine into the character and material of
all unconsolidated bonds and stocks of this
State, issued since the first day of January,
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, together with
the coupons of said bonds and interest orders
upon said certificates of stock which
may he presented to him for this purpose by
the holders thereof; and he shall report to
the State Treasurer, giving an accurate description
of the same, such bonds ancf stocks,
and the interest thereon, as are in any degree
affected by the decision filed by the Supreme
Court of this State in the case entitled G. M.
Walker, Cashier, vs. the State of South Carolina,
and the other case heard therewith ;
setting forth also in said report the exact percentage
of invalidity in the material reported
upon as established by the said decision.
He shall also report to the State Treasurer
such of the bonds and stocks, and the interest
thereon, so presented as aforesaid for examination,
as are in no way affected by the
said decision.
That the holders of such bonds and stocks,
and interest, as may be reported not affected
by said decision, and the holders of the valid
portion or portions of such bonds and stocks
and interest, as may be reported in some degree
to be affected by the said decision, shall
be entitled to surrender the same, together
with all coupons, and interest orders belong
ing thereto which have already matured, or
which may mature on or before the first of
January, 1880, to the State Treasurer as hereby
authorized and required, in lieu of the
bonds, stock and interest so surrendered, to
" 1 1 A ?_
issue lor so much tliereoi as are tieciareu id
s?id report to be valid in whole, and for the
valid portion of so much thereof as in said
report are declared valid only in part, other
coupon bonds and certificates of stock at the
rate of fifty per cent, of the face value of the
valid material so surrendered as aforesaid,
provided that nothing in this section contained
shall authorize the funding of any coupons
which matured. ptior to the first day of
July, 1872, and which have been detached
from the bonds to which they belong.
Sec. 3. That the new bonds and certificates
of stock whose issue in lieu of the
bonds, stock and interest surrendered is provided
for in Section 1 and 2 of this Act,
shall, in all respects, conform to, and be of
like character and validity, and eujoy the
same benefits and privileges as the bonds and
stocks authorized to be issued under the Act
of the General Assembly, approved 22d December
1873, entitled "An Act to reduce the
volume of the public debt and provide for
the payment of the same saving and except
that the first interest to mature thereon
shall become due and payable on the first
day of July, 1880, and saving and except
further that the said bonds and stocks whose
issue is hereinbefore provided for, shall be
numbered consecutively, so as to form a continuation
of the same numerical series, and
shall be of like color and appearance as the
bonds and stocks whose issue is provided for
in "An Act to provide for the settlement of
the consolidated debt of the State in accordance
with decision of the Supreme Court of
South Carolina," approved 23d December,
1879, and the Act amending the same.
Approved December 24, 1880.
An Act to bar the right and claim of Dower of a
Widow who accepts a distributive share of the
Personal Estate of the deceased Husband.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the State of South Carolina,
now met and sitting in General Assembly,
and by the authority of the same:
Section 1. That when a husband dies intestate
and his widow accepts her distributive
share in his estate, she shall be barred of her
dower in the lands of which her husband
died seized and of all such as he had aliened.
Sec. 2. That so much of all Acts and parts
of Acts as is inconsistent with this Act be
and the same is hereby repealed.
Approved December 24, 1880.
i BEATING HIS WIFE.
The story was all over town. Everybody
' was talking about it. It was too bad, they
; said. What was too bad ? Why the new
: minister had been beating his wife ! Was it
! possible? Yes; there could be no doubt
about it.' Mrs.S., who lives next door, heard a
; shriek about ten o'clock last night?a woman's
shriek?from a chamber in the parsonage.
! She looked across, and through the curtain
she could see that a man and woman were
running about the room in great excitement.
He was flourishing a stick ahd striking with
it. The blows could be plainly heard. And
as he struck, she screamed.
Mrs. S. could hardly sleep that night, she
was so excited by what she had seen. She
was up early next morning. She hurried
through her breakfast, and then started out?
to see the poor abused minister's wife, and
I comfort her? Not a bit of it. She went to
| elder A's, found the family at the table, and
| tpld the news. Then she footed on to Elder
B's and Deacon C's, and over half the town.
The half that she had not time to call on
soon heard it from the other half, and before
noon there was a great excitement in Ballville.
The church officers discussed the matter
with heavy hearts. #Such disgraceful conduct
could not be endured. Something must be
done. But what? Call at once on the min|
ister and his wife and inquire into the mat'
* " -i - i t - i. i J! :c.j
jterr vn, no; mat wouju nui ue uigmueu
and official. Besides, there could be no
doubt about it. Did not Mrs. S. see the beating
with her own eyes? So they called a
meeting of the session, and summoned the
minister and his wife. He to answer to a
charge of unrainisterial conduct, and she to
testify in the case.
They came greatly puzzled anil surprised.
The case was gravely stated by the senior elder,
when the culprit and witness burst into
a laugh. Checking themselves, when they
saw how serious and sad the session looked,
they explained. v
The minister's wife, though an excellent
woman who loved everybody, and especially
her husband, did not love rats. But the
house having been vacant for some time, the
rats had taken possession. When they went
to their chamber, a huge rodent ran under
the bed. The wife screamed. The husband
caught up a stick and tried to kill the intruder.
Every lime he struck at and missed the
rat the lady screamed again. How could she
help it ? It was an exciting scene, and must
have looked very funny to their neighbors
who were watching through' the curtained
window. They laughed heartily when it was
all over and the rat dead ; and they could not
help laughing whenever they thought about
it.
The session were in a fix. They were down
on Mrs. S. for making fools of them. They
asked her, "Why didn't you go over to the
minister's and make sure about the matter
before you reported it?" And she retorted,
"Why didn't you go and inquire into it before
you called a meeting ?" And all the
town that talked yesterday about how the
minister abused his wife, is talking to-day
about what an awful gossip Mrs. S. is, and
how she fooled the elders of our church.
I am mortified and disgusted. Is there
any way to cure these mischief-making gos
sips? Would it be right to hang them? It
seems to me that passage in the third chapter
of James about the toDgue ought to, be printed
in big letters on a card, and hung up in
all of our churches. Don't you think'so ??
The Occident.
MUSCULAR MEN.
A mong the Greeks the successful athlete was
crowned with laurels and loaded down with
wealth and honors. Milo six limes won the
palm at the Olympic and Pythian games.
He is said to have ruu a mile with a four-year
old ox on his shoulders, and afterwards killed
the animal with one blow of his fist, and ate
the entire carcass in one day ! So great was
his muscular power that he would bind a
cord around his head and break it by the
swelling and pressure of the veins. An ordinary
meal for Milo was twenty pounds of
meat, as much bread, and fifteen pints of wine.
The Roman Emperor Maximinius was up
ward of eight feet in height, and like Milo of
Crotono, could squeeze to powder the hardest
stone with his fingers and break the leg of a
horse by a kick. His wife's bracelet served
as a ring, and his every day repast was sixty
pounds of meat and an amphora of wine.
Topham, an Englishman, born in 1710,
was possessed of astonishing strength. His
armpits, hollow in the case of ordinary men,
were with him full of muscles and tendons.
He would take a bar of iron, with its two
ends held in his hands, place the middle of
the bar behind his neck, and then bend the
extremities by main force until they met together,
and bend back the iron straight again.
One night, seeing a watchman asleep in his
box, he carried both the man and his shell to
a great distance, and put them on the wall of
a church yard. Owing to domestic troubles,
he committed suicide in the prime of life.
Maurice, Count of Saxony, the hero of
Fontenoy, inherited the physical vigor of his
father, and was especially noted for his surprising
muscular power or "grip" in his hands.
On one occasion, needing a corkscrew, he
twisted a long iron nail round into the required
shape with his fingers, and opened a
half dozen bottles of wine with it. Another
time, stopping at a blacksmith's shop to have
his horse shod, he picked up a number of new
horseshoes and snapped them in two as readily
as if made of glass, much to the disgust of
the smith.
If history is to be believed, Pharyllus, of
Crotoua, could jump a distance of fifty six
feet. Strutt, an English authority on games
and amusements, speaks of a Yorkshire jumper
named Ireland, whose powers were marvelous.
He was six feet high, and at the age of
eighteen, leaped, without the aid of a springboard,
over nine horses side by side. He
cleared a cord extended fourteen feet from
the ground with one bound, crushed with his
foot a bladder suspended at a height of sixteen
feet, and on another occasion he lightly
cleared a large wagon covered with an awniug.
Colonel Ironside, who lived in India, early
in this century, relates that he met in his travels
an old white haired man who, with one
leap, sprang over the back of an enormous
elephant, flanked by six camels of the largest
I breed. In our owu day we are familiar with
many remarkable expositions of strength and
eudurance. Dr. Winship, with the aid of
j straps, lifted a weight of 3,500 pounds, and
j with the little finger of his right hand could
i raise his body a considerable distance from
j the ground.
How He "Took it Out" of Them.?General
McMackin, who died recently, was wellknown
all through Mississippi as a hotellronncr
Mo u*nc o norfoot nlin ranter in his
j way, and acquired as much reputation from
i his peculiarities as from his well-kept country
' hotel. He had a profound .contempt for
! the Mississippi State Legislature, from the
i fact that he had once wanted an office in the
| gift of the Legislature, and they had given
! it to some one else. A prominent Southern
! politician who stopped at General MacMackI
in's hotel a short time before his death, said
that he was much surprised on going down
to dinner to hear a loud voice from the dining
room, calling, "Oh, here's your nice
mock turtle soup!" The gentleman, on entering
the dining-room, found that it was
General McMackin himself, who was thus
announcing his bill of fare. As each course
was brought on the General announced it in
the same way, and in rhyme whenever practicable?like
this, for instance: "Here's your
lamb and ham, jelly and jam !" After dinner
the politician entered into a conversation
with the general, and asked him during the
course of it why be called his bill of fare out
in that way, instead of having it printed.
"Well," replied the General, "the fact is, it is
for the beuefit ot the members of the Mississippi
State Legislature. A good many of
them come here from time to time, and so
few of them can read I have found it my
easiest way to announce my bill of fare as you
have heard me."
THE TOWElfoF LONDON.
The Tower of London is the most cele- j
brated citadel of England, and the only for- ;
tress of the British capital. Its history is, to ;
a great extent, the history of the kingdom.
Within its walls some of the most noted political
and religious characters have been confined,
tortured and beheaded. The tower is
in the eastern extremity of the city, and consists
of towers, batteries, forts, ramparts, barracks
and store houses. It is surrounded by
a considerable moat, and" covers an area of
twelve or thirteen acres. The oldest part is
what is known as the White Tower, which
was built by William the Conqueror, and
which has not been changed inside, but has
been remodeled externally. Some of the
t'ftllo aha fflAf V*w?lr tvhir?h marlo if
vvaua ajc iuuiiccu cuivd, ??u?vu *ums*w *v
practically impregnable in its day. The notable
places to be seen by the visitor are : The
Traitor's Gate, opposite to which is the
White Tower, and through which the prisoners
like Raleigh were taken to their cells;
the Bloody Tower is also nearly opposite, and
there the sons of Edward IV. were murdered
at the instigation of Richard III.; Beauchamp
Towers is also seen and remembered
as the place where Anne Boleyn and the unfortunate
Lady JanAGrey were detained;
the Bell Tower, where the Governor resides;
the galleries known as the Horse Armory and
Queen Elizabeth's Armory; and the jewelroom,
where the crown jewels, valued at
812,000,000, are kept, The old banqueting
hall and council chamber have been made the
store house for arms, and St. John's Chapel
has been translated into an office for the records
and archives. A moderate sized army
is usually disposed about the various parts of
the tower. The armories have famous collec
tions of arms of mediaeval and modern times.
The Tower is one of the sights of London,
and all going there may see, on the payment
Of a small fee, the different parts of the great
stronghold in the company of a quaintly-atlired
guide. On the walls of the cells are
yet to be seen inscriptions'made by prisoners
confined liked Raleigh, within the dreary
place only to be released by death.
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
The tidal wave is going on with force and
earnestness. It is at the full and will lead on
to fortune. It has come in answer to the
prayers of the heroic six thousand women of
Charleston, who besought the General Assembly
to prohibit the traffic in spirituous liquors.
The State is being warmly commended on all
sides for its recent legislation on this subject.
Of what great force is example! Lancaster
closed the doors of the bar-rooms some
months since, and on last Monday our neighboring
towns, Chester and Rock Hill, made a
similar effort. Imitating .her example, each
held a municipal eleetidn on the 11th instant
in which the issue was squarely made between
"license" and "no license."
The habit of drinking whisky has grown
to an extent in this State that has become
truly alarming. Ibis is the true logic or
facts?sad truths at that. It is becoming a
curse to our people. We hope they are now
fully aroused to the importance of the hour
aud are taking a second sober view of the situation.
The history of the past, filled with
its desolations and gloom, is a lesson of severe
instruction, but useful as a sign-board to
point out the proper road to travel.
A correspondent of the Rock Hill Herald
hit the target in-the eye, when he said :
"We have yet to hear of a town having lost
trade by abolishing 'license.' Lancaster took
this step last January, aud her trade the past
year has been by far the largest in her history.
Marlboro county, (in this State) has not
had a bar-room within her borders for several
years, and no town in the State, for its size,
enjoys such a trade as Bennettsville, her county
town, and it is also a noted fact that nowhere
in the State are the people?especially
the poorer classes, black as well as white?so
prosperous as in this no-license town."
He is only in error as to the date when the
prohibition went into effect. It was on the
1st of May last. He might well have added
that it has been a subject of general remark
that the late Christmas with us passed off
without a single rencontraband the New Year
tripped in with a glad heart to witness the
smiling face of peace.?Ijaneaeter Review.
Before and After.t?This is a year before
marriage. He is making her a call. He
has been thinking all day of her. There are
his boots newly blacked, his collar spotless,
his form ditto op'jide, his gloves drawn on for
the first time, his hair newly parted and oiled,
his face newly shaven, his heart palpitates
for her, his nerves are nervous for her, he
fears she may be out or that her parents may
object, or worse than that, some other fellow
may be there with her. The door opens.
She is there and alone. He is happy.
f ? FT. !
mis is a year arter marriage, ne is ringing
at the door. His face unshaven, his collar
much worn, his boots unblacked, his hair
unbrushed. He rings again in exactly ten
seconds. He gives the bell a short, petulant
pull. He is thinking of her. He is grumbling
that she doesn't answer it sooner. He
has not all day been thinking of her. He
has gone farther maybe and fared worse.
Now she opens it. "Takes you forever to
answer that bell." His unbrushed boots sound
sullenly as he ascends the stairs. She follows
meekly after. He thrashes into the room
and around the house and sings out, "Isn't
dinner ready yet?" She bids him be patient
but a moment. But he won't. Because dinner
isn't ready within one minute after he
gets home. Because this is one year after
marriage. Because the bloom is off the'
rye, the down rubbed from the peach, and
various other considerations. Because it's
the way of the world, of man, of matrimony!
Oh, temporal Oh, mores! Oh, matrimony !?
New York Graphic.
A Touching Story.?One rarely meets a
bit of more touching romauce than is found
in the following story, that comes from
Wales: "Years ago some Welsh miners, in
exploring an old pit that had long been closed,
found the body of a young man dressed in a
fashion long out of date. The peculiar action
of the air in the mine had been such as
to preserve the body so perfectly that it
appeared asleep rather than dead. The miners
were puzzled at this circumstance; no
one in the district had been missed within
their remembrance, and at last it was resolved
to bring the oldest inhabitant?an old lady
: long past her eightieth year, who had lived
| single in the village the whole of her life,
j On being brought into the presence of the
' body a strange scene occurred ; the old lady
fell on the corpse, kissed and addressed it by
every term of loving endearment, couched in
the language of a bygone generation. He
was her only love; she waited for him during
her long life; she knew that he had not forsaken
her. The old woman and the young
man bad been betrothed sixty years before.
The lover had disappeared mysteriously, and
she had kept faithful during that long interi
val. Time had stood still with the dead man,
i but had left its mark on the living woman.
; The miners who were present were a rough
: 8it, but very gently aud with tearful eyes they
t amoved the old lady to her house, and the
same night her faithful spirit rejoined that of
her long-lost lover."?Church Union.
The Daring Skobeleff.?His personal
bravery was not only of the most reckless
character, but at times it seemed to paitake
of the merest bravado, in which only extraor
dinary luck prevented him from reaping in
death the well-earned reward of his foolishness.
He always wore a white coat, a white
hat, and rode a white horse in battle, simply
because other Generals usually avoided t hese
U.rget marks. He was perpetually riding at
breakneck speed over some fence or ditch,
leaving half his staff and orderlies sprawling
in it. He never lost an opportunity of displaying
courage. He went into battle iu his
cleanest uniform and fresh underclothing,
covered with perfume, and wearing a diamondhilted
sword, in order, as he said, th&r, he
might die with his best clothes on. For a
lcng time he wore,, with evident affectation, a
coat in which he had been wounded, which
had a couspicuous patch on the shoulder.
Yet all this was not mere hravado aud aonsense,
but was the result of thought and almost
cold-blooded calculation. It was intsndecl
to impress bis men, and it did so. They
firmly believed be could not be hit, and w aenever
they saw a white horse, coat and cap
among them, they knew that it was Skobclett;
arid so long as he was there they felt sure that
everything was going well. At the beginning
of the war he made up his mind firmly that
he would never come out alive. (After rjading
me the telegram announcing the armistice,
one of the first things hesaid was : "Well,
perhaps i won't get killed, after all.") Yfith
this idea firmly fixed in his mind, that his
death was only a question of a few weeks or
months, his one thought was how to best use
his life so as to make an impressson on his
men, and gain such a control over them :.hat
they would follow him anywhere. In everything
that he did he tried to eliminate the
idea of danger from their minds, and to make
the most dangerous exploit appear as an ordinary
every day affair.?Lieutenant Or tine's
Russian Army Life.
Atmospheric Dost.?Every one is aware
that the atmosphere holds quantities of dust
in suspension. The dust betrays its presence
by settling upon our clothes, furniture,' and
other objects; but on account of the minuteness
of its particles, it cannot be seen as it
floats in the air, except under the illumination
of a strong light, as in the case of a sunbijam
shining into a dark room. Besides the grain
of dust which may be seen in this manner,
there are others that can be perceived only
through the microscope, and others smaller
still, little not! ings like nebulosities in the
sky, which see a to become more Dumerocs as
tbey are soug it for with more powerful, instruments.
T iese bits of dust, lifted. up and
carried hither and thither by the atmospheric
currents, must not be overlooked?for tbey
play a part of considerable importance in terrestrial
economy and give rise to real geological
formations. Clouds of impalpable dust,
falling from the air in showers of considerable
abundance, are not uncommon in sune
countries, and. have beep noticed in periods of
history. Showers of dust, both wet and dry,
are quite frequent in the Cape de Verd Islands,
and are called "red fogs" by the sailors.
They are also common in Sicily and Italy,
arid occur so often in some parts of China as
hnrdly to attract remark. A shower of very
fine dust which fell in Southern Franco in
October, 1846, was found by the analysiu of
M. Dumas and the miscroscopic tests applied
by M. Ehrenburg, to be composed of the fine
sands of Guiana, and to contain the characteristic
diatoms and microscopic shells of
South America.
Formation of Snow.?Snow is formed by
vapor, and vapor is formed by heat: and it
has been calculated that the heat expended
in forming a single pound of vapor would
melt no less than five pounds of cast-iron.
Nor is that all. Equally great, if not greater,
is the force necessary to transform the vapor
into snow. Professor Tyndall says:
"I have seen the wild stone avalanches of
the Alps, which smoke and thunder d>rwn
-* -* * -1 A. -.-XXI
the declivities wun a vehemence aimost saw
cient to stun the observer. I have also seen
snow-flakes descending so softly as not to hurt
the fragile spangles of which they are compcsed
; yet to produce, from aqueous vapor, a
quantity that a child could carry of that
tedder material, demands an exertion of energy
competent, to gather up the shattered
blacks of the largest stone avalanche I have
over seen, and pitch them to twice the height
from which they fell."
J?" After disappearing from public gaze for
several months, Keely, the motor man, ccmes
to the surface again. The annual meetin * of
stockholders of the Keely Motor Company
was held in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, and
72,143 out of 84,000 shares of stock were
represented. A resolution was adopted declaring
that Mr. Keely has developed a new
motive power of extraordinary energy; that
nnnMotM fin-tlio dacslnnmpnf nf f.hfl TlflW
i?nc g^uwavui J<y< uuv viw * V*V^/*MVMV W* ..
er is a perfect machine; that the vibratory
engine for its utilization has progressed to
that extent as to have demonstrated tha^ he
is master of the situation and will succeed at
an early date in utilizing asa motive power of
great value the new force so discovered and
applied by him, and that nothing now remains
but mechanical details connected with
his engine, which the stockholders have every
confidence he will, at an early day, have under
his entire control.
UST" Rich Hill, Bates county, Missouri, is a
notable instance of rapid growth that characterizes
western towns. The Gazette, printed
at Rich Hill, says that the first building in
the village was begun June 2d. For 30 days
one house was put up every day, and afterwards
a single day witnessed the completion
of eight houses. To day the village has two
railroad stations, two newspapers, two hotels,
fifteen dry goods and grocery stores, two hardware
stores, five saloons, three barber shops,
five blacksmith shops, two lumber yards,
four livery stables, two schools, one harness
and one furniture shop, two wagon shops, two
granaries, five meat markets, a church and
all other establishments usually found in
a country town. In about six months the
population of the village has grown to over
1,000.
The Most Prolific Cow on Record.?A
correspondent of the Hartford (Conn.) Tines
1 A _ /? : J '
says: ine nisiory 01 a cow raiaeu uu tuc
faim of the late Erastus Ellsworth, of East
Windsor Hill, is so remarkable that ii is
worthy of record. The cow is not of any jne
breed, but is about three-fourths Durham,
and I hardly know what to call the other
quarter. April 16th, 1877, she gave birth to
twins, one male and one female; March 19th,
1878, she gave birth to triplets, two miles
and one female, making five calves in 11
months and 3 days; July 9th, 1879, she gave
bii-th to twinB, both males : October 7th, 1*180,
she gave birth to triplets, two males and one
female, making ten calves in 3 years, 5 months
and 21 days. The calves have all bee.2 of
good size, healthy and handsome, and have
been raised on the farm.
*