THE CHARLOTTE MESSENGER
VOL. IV. NO. 30.
THE
Charlotte Messenger
18 PUBLISH KU
13very Saturday,
AT
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
In tho Interests of the Colored People
of the Country.
Able ami well-known writers will oontrib
me to it* columns from different parts of the
country, and it will contain the*latest Gen
eral News of the day.
Ths M kssengbr fa a first-class newspaper
an«l will not allow personal abuse in its col
umns. Itis not sectarian or partisan, but
independent— dealing fairly by all. It re
serves the right to criticise the shortcomings
of ail public oflicials—commending tho
worthy, and recommending forelection such
men ns in its opinion Bre best suited to servo
th«» interests of the people.
ft is intended to supply the long felt need
of a newspaper to advocate the rights ami
defend the interests of the Negro-American,
especially in the Piedmont section of tho
Carolina*.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
(Always in Advance.)
1 year - - - $1 50
8 months - - - 100
0 months - - 75
months - - - 50
V months * - -35
Single Copy - 5
Address,
W.C. SMITH Charlotte NC,
It may be of interest to military men
in this country lo know that the Gove n
ment of Great Britain is now engaged in
a monster and most unique enterprise.
A process has lately been discovered in
that country for the manufacture of
smokeless gunpowder, and the prelimi
nary steps toward the formation of a
company had been taken, when the
Government stepped in. made inquiries
and secured control of the entire scheme.
This was an easy matter, as the powder
is made by a secret process, known only
to the inventor, and for which no patent
was asked. One of our agents, who has
just returned to this country, brings us
the direct information that this smoke
less powder is mainly made from straw,
and that the British Government has
despatched agents to all grain-growing
countries with instructions to purchase
all tin* straw in the market, as well as
that now in process of growth, to the
end that she may have at least a year’s
start in her new industry. Manufactur
es of w rapping paper and straw board
will f-uffer by this absolute withdrawal
of raw material from its peaceful uses,
and will be forced to cast about for a
substitute, which may be found here.
Meantime, as the secret is out thus far,
is it not within the possibilities that
American genius may be relied on to
worm and work out the portion leading
to the process of manufacture?
President Klbridgc T. Gerry, of the
New York Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children, has tiled some im
portant recommendations with Factory
Inspector Connolly. Mr. Gerry has bor
rowed his ideas from the law in force in
Kngland, but he has greatly strength
ened its provisions. Me recommends
that the employment of any child under
eighteen years of age l>e prohibited in
factories without a previous examination
by a physician, who shall certify as to
the physical ability of the child to per
forin the work required, and that it is
not suffering from any disease making
its employment at the work dangerous.
Me insists strenuously on a provision to
that effect that no child under the age
of sixteen shall be employed in handling
or using any machinery dangerous to life
or limb, or in any mining, glass, mer
cury, lead, arsenic or brick works, or in
any match factory, or in the preparation
or application of aniline or other poison
ous dyes, or in the manufacture of any
explosive substance or in any plnce not
properly provided with proper or suf
ficient lire escapes or means of exit, lie
would make any violation of the statute
a misdemeanor and the making of any
false statement in a certificate a perjury.
Me suggests, in addition, that a full hour
instead of forty-five minutes be given
children for their dinners. These pro
visions. he insists, would prevent the
employment of any delicate or s’ckly
children, and w ould make the Inw easy
of enforcement. Inspector Connolly
favor* (he propotri
WASHINGTON.
THE MALITIA FOIICB OF TUB NATION.
The Secretary of War has transmitted
to Congress a tabulated statement of the
militia force of the United States, which
shows that at last return there were 82
general officers, 1,105 officers of the gen
eral staff 1,638 officers of the regimen
tal field, and staff and 5,385 ” com
pany officers, making a total
of 8,210 commissioned officers.
There were 18,331 non-commissioned offi
cers; 2,900 musicians, and 71,396 privates
making in all 92,627 enlisted men and a
grand total, of fticers and men, for the
militia force 0a100,837 men. The num
ber of men avilablc for military duty
(unorganized) is set down at 7,920,708,
but in some cases the figures arc based
upon estimates made in the War Dcpr t
ment.
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND GOING TO FLORIDA.
President Cleveland expects to leave
Washington next Tuesday for a short
visit to Florida. Me will be accom
panied by Mrs. Cleveland, the Secretary
of the Navy and Mrs. Whitney, and
Colonel and Mrs. Lament. The party
will go by special train, and no stops
will be made unless it be an hour at Sa
vannah for a drive through that city.
One day will lw; spent at Jacksonville
and one day at St. Augustine. The party
will return to Washington the following
Saturday.
BBEADBTCTFF EXPORTS.
Breadstuff exports from tin* United
States during January past aggregated iu
value $8,122,277, against $14,528,809 in
January, 1887. Exports of the principal j
articles of provisions during January
past were valued at $6,826,980, against
$8,131,442 in January, 1887.
STATUE TO PROF. BAIRD.
The Senate has passed the bill appro
priating thirty thousand dollars for (lie.
erection of a statute to the late Professor
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute.
ATLANTA’S PUBLIC BUILDING
In a letter to Congress the attorney
general says that the accommodations at
Atlanta for Court officers and Govern
ment business are insufficient, and In*
therefore urges early action in appropria
ting money for the cxtcnsjpn of the Gov
ernment building at that place.
CLEARING THE CORRIDOR.
All telegraph offices have been remov
ed from the coridor of the Mouse of Rep
resentatives, adjoining the main entrance
where they have clustered thickly for a
long time, and where the throng that
hey gathered impeded the passage.
CON I) UCTOR’s LICKN S E.
The Mouse committee on labor after <
hearing further arguments on the bill to ,
licence railway conductors, authorized i
Mr. Burnett, of Massachusetts, to report |
it to the Mouse adversely.
POSTOFFICE INSPECTOR APPOINTED.
Mon. J. L. Webb, of Shelby, N. (’., i
has been appointed a postoffiee in '
specter.
THE BLAIR BILL PASSED THE SENATE.
The Blair educational bill passed tin*
Senate by a vote of 39 for to 29 against.
A BLAZE IN A BOAIIBING HOUSE.
nien and Women In Tlicir Niulit Cloihcn
Lenp Into (he Icy Si reels of Brooklyn—
Two illen nml Two Women lliirnl.
Fire broke out early Sunday morning
in the three story and basement frame
boardinghouse Nos. 105 and 107 Clark
street, Brooklyn, N. Y. The boarders,
most of wnoin had not time to dress, en
deavored to escape with tlicir goods as
best they might into the icy streets. Sev
eral were severely in jured by jumping
from windows, and were earned by am
bulances to hospitals. The plaee is
known as the old Harper Mansion, and
was kept as a boarding house by Mrs.
McCoinb.
The llames were discovered about 2 a.
ni. in the basement, and burned away
the stairs, causing great confusion and
panic. Several women leaped from the
windows in their night dresses. One
gallant policeman, who was in the dis
trict telegraph office iu Montague street,
got on the scene early and rescued three
women from the Humes. Two men and
two women were burnt, one man having
his skull broken and another his leg.
The two women injured jumped from a
third story window and struck feet first
on the pavement, breaking their ankle I
bones. The two men were taken to the
Clinton Mouse in Fulton street, and from
there to a hospital. The name of one was
Mr. Gordon. Jle was injured by jump
ing from a third story window front and
striking on the balcony. Me was dan
gerously wounded. The damage is esti
mated at $50,000.
A Noted Outlaw Killed.
The notorious leader of the train rob
bers, Captain Dick, alias “Brack Car
nett,” was shot and instantly killed, on
Monday last, while resisting arrest, by
Hheriff Alice, of Trio county, Texas,
near Pearsall, a station ou the Interna
tiona! and Great Northern Railroad.
Carnett was a noted outlaw, and a few
years ago organized a band of horse
thieves for the purjHise of robbing ex
press and mail trains in Texas. For the
lost two years numerous train robberies,
where large amounts of money, and in
one instance $3,000 worth of diamond
jewelry was stolen, have lieen traced to
('amett’s gang, and although the secret
service of the railroads and the civil ofli -
cers of Texas hi ve often lieen close on
their trail, they have heretofore evaded
capture. The authorities sav the killing
of the loader will result Iu tfie rupture or
Milton to" "Ml 1
CHARLOTTE, N. C., SATURDAY, FEB. 18, 1888
THE NATURAL AIIVANTAOES OF
NORTH CAROLINA.
Address l>y President K. I*. Hattie, oft e
Suae I lulvernity, Be lore the Farmers’
Cun vent ion at (areeusboro.
CoiTespondenco of the Raleigh Observer.
1 have rarely heard so complete and
eloquent a presentation of the natural
advantages of our State as that made by
President Battle at the recent Farmers’
Convention. It was a capital speech,
j well delivered and well received. It
I ought to printed and circulated over the
United States and Europe by the Board
of Agriculture. I send a very brief and
inadequate summary:
“North Carolina has, as a farming
country, many extraordinary advant
ages.
“1. Range of productions—the same
as if the State stretched along the sea
coast from the Gulf of Mexico to New
York.
“2. The climate—Our average isother
mal is that of South France, Florence,
Ycddo. Dakota's range of temperature
is 105 degrees F. in summer to 38 de
gree* below zero; Kansas from 98 degrees
to 25 below; Indianapolis from 100 de
grees to 22 degrees below zero; West
Texas from 102 degrees to below zero.
In Pennsylvania and New York farming
operations arc hindered about live months
in winter.
“3. North Carolina has no blizzards,
and as the cold waves start from the
northwest, the telegraph gives our peo
ple one or two days’ notice of their
coming.
“4. We have pure air and pure water
in most of the State, and therefore good
health. With cistern water the eastern
counties are also healthy.
“5. North Carolina has comparative
freedom from drought. We have 47
inch's per annum of rain, while Dakota
has only 21, and West Texas only 18.
At El Paso there were one year only
11 1-2 inches, and about one-third of this
fell in one month.
“With deep ploughing and good cul
tivation we need not suffer from
drought.
“6. Grasshoppers (called locusts in the
Bible) flourish where there is a dry hind
near riuh vegetation. They will always
infect Kansas, etc., while North Carolina
is free from them.
“7. We have a good, orderly popula
tion, composed of the best blood of Eng
land, Germany, France, Highland and
Lowland Scotch, etc., who have been in
the State long enough to become homo
geneous. No religious denomination is
dominant. All are represented.
“8. Our geographical situation is ex
cellent. The most civilized nations, with
240,000,0(/0 of people, with ten thousand
million dollars of imports and exports
per annum are clustered around the
North Atlantic. North Carolina is on
the water-front of this great lake of the
nations.
“9. As the mountains opintsite the
Southern Chesapeake have ln*en recently
pierced by railroads, the building of a
great city somewhere on its waters is in
the near future. But even if the predic
tion be not verified. New York is now
the second commercial city in the world.
On Manhattan Island alone there were
sixty-seven millions of dollars worth of
new buildings last year. Counting Brook
lyn, Jersey City and other places, there
are clustered here already about two and
three-quarter millions of people, with
wealth beyond conception. Between
here and New York are other populous
cities, rapidly growing, so that it will
not be long before the lands of North'
Carolina will be adjacent to forty mil
lions of non-producers. Farms in twenty
four hours of New York should now he
worth SIOO per acre. They have not
only the advantage of a ready market for
their productions, but they arc iu close
proximity to the storehouses and manu
factories whence they get their supplies.
“What are the disadvantages of North
Carolina {
“1. The presence of slavery excluded
men unaccustomed or averse to that in
stitution. After the great civil war the
uncertainties of Reconstruction ami the
bitterness of party feeling have retarded
the intbix of Northern men. It will not
be long before these disturbing elements
will have passed away.
“2. Some unaccustomed to colored
labor do not like to settle where negroes
are a large portion of the population. To
this there is a sufficient answer—first, f
that many counties are largely white,
and in the eastern couutics the negro ele
ment is superior to that in the South,
because for many years it had been the
custom to sell to that region the turbu
lent and vicious slaves. And lastly, the
proportion of the colored must rapidly
diminish, Inca use they have no accessions
from immigration.
“Want of schools is urged as ail ob
jection, but that does not result from
hostility on the part of our people, but
from spnrscncss of jioptiiatioii and pov
erty. When settlers come schools will
spring up.
“3. High railroad freight will disap
pear when our farmers demand it. The j
railroad companies will lower their rates
from |M>licy whenever farm products in
crease in bulk.
“4. All these objections to North Car
olina arc remediable. We conn* lastly to
the most serious, viz., that our lands are
not naturally fertile.”
As to this, President Battle contended
that if our lands are not naturally rich,
they are cheap and easily made rich, so
that the total cost will lx* only one-half
or one-third of the cost of land at the
same distance from New York in any
other direct ion, lie quoted from a letter
of a friend in Kansas City to the effect
that the lands in Western Missouri and
Fasten) Kansas brings thirty to *ixty
bushel* of flow to the acre, and cost $25
no jut W’l'fli flu u*kod If n North
(WWW fW! shqtl|lj luff ffjl till faffd
the difference between the cost of land
here and there, our lands would not pro
duce as much or more.
“Mr. Hazard, the great cattle farmer,
says the common plan in Chester county,
Pennsylvania, is to put on each acre
forty two-horse loads of stable manure at
$2.50 per load, i. c., SIOO per acre; then
plant iu corn. The result is 75 to 100
bushels of corn per acre. Then seed to
wheat and timothy, applying 200 |M»unds
acid phosphate. This gives forty bushels
of wheat per acre. Then seed clover on
the timothy in the spring, and get three
tons of grass j»er acre for three years.
Then repeat the rotation.
“Now, suppose we in North Carolina
should farm in this way, would not our
lands show similar results? The land in
Pennsylvania costs SIOO to $l5O per acre.
Oar land can be brought to bring as
much as theirs, adding enough in fer
tilizers, lalior, etc., to make the cost
only S4O or SSO per acre. The interest
on the difference in cost of the land
would be a handsome income.”
President Battle closed by showing
that we have isolated cases of farmers
who put brains on their land. William
son, of Raleigh, had raised land bringing
600 pounds of seed cotton to 1.800
pounds jar acre. President Upchurch
had secured 33 bushels of w heat (>er acre
on Wake county land. Captain S. B.
Alexander, President Elias Carr and
others fanned with similar intelligence
and success, lie made an earnest appeal
to all to follow tlicir example, to study
their farms and the needs of their soils,
to learn and practice the l>est methods.
North Carolina ought to be one of the
garden spots of the world, and with
such intelligent farming it will lieeoine
so.”
Let 100,000 copies be printed and cir
culated.
A TREASURER KILLED
And llie County Fund* Stolen Pursuing
the Murderer.
At three o'clock Sunday morning a
messenger arrived at Marshall. Texas,
direct from Carthage, thirty miles dis
tant, bringing the news of the murder of
Mr. Hill, county treasurer of Panola
county, by some unknown parties, alxmt
dusk on Saturday last. Mr. Hill was
struck three times on the head with an
ax, crushing his skull, and his throat
was cut from car to ear. The safe con
taining the county money was robbed of
SIO,OOO or $12,000. The messenger
came to Marshall for the purpose of se
curing aid from Sheriff Perry with blood
hounds to trace up, if possible, the mur
derer. Great excitement exists at Carth
age, and the w hole community is search
ing for the murderer.
Given hi* Deserts.
A few weeks ago a house and a ware
house were destroyed by tire in llines
villc Ga., and all the circumstances (mint
ed to its 1 icing the work of an ineendia*
ry. The people have been greatly wrought
up in consequence. A negro was arrest
ed there on the charge of burning the
houses aforesaid. He is said to have
confessed the deed, and implicated sev
eral in the crime. After a preliminary
investigation, he was committed to jail.
That night a band of armed men over
powered the deputy sheriff, who had the
prisoner iu charge, and carrying him off
to the woods shot him to death. Great
excitement prevails in that section.
A Strange Pliciicinonoii.
A sjieeial from Raleigh, N. C., to the
Is'mv York Herald says: “The wells in
the vicinity of Wood, Johnson county,
are reported to be violently disturlied,
and to Ik* boiling and huhling w ith loud
noises. At a distance of thirty yards
from the mouth of some of the wells this
noise is plainly jM*reeptible. The phe
nomenon was observed ten days ago. The
soil is sandy in that section. Nothing
like it was ever before known there.”
North Carolina Tax Collections.
The State Auditor has completed the
footing of the report on taxes collected
during the past year for county purposes
and for education as follows: Tax on
licensed retail liquor dealers, $82,757;
tax on white (mils, $173,855; taxes on
colored (Mills, $80,038; on real and per
sonal property at 12 1-2 cents on SIOO
value, $257,480. Totd school taxis.
$605,000; total taxes for all county pur
poses, $920,000.
Richmond’* Electric Cars.
The Union passenger line, which lms
its ramifications through many of the
princip'd streets of Richmond, and on ;
which cars are propelled by electric
motive power, has been formally opened j
to the public. With insignificant inter
ruptions, the cam were successfully run
over the line for a distance of seven miles.
They were crowded with passengers all
day.
Unique Lily Bonds.
The most unique and beautiful collec
tion of water lilies in ibis country is the
bond of Fairmoii'it I\uk iu I‘hiludel
phiu. In the great lily pond* every vari
ety, from the pink blos-oinof New York ,
to the imposing Victoria Regina, an
Gland in its broad expanse of leaf, is to
be found. Through blue, purple, red
and snow white lilies, tie* gob! and sil
ver ti*h dart, and iu Mimmur butterflies
of brilliant hue hover over the pond
flowers in delight. A new variety of the
lily family is to bu added to toe collet:- ,
lion. It is produced by a French gar- i
dencr, batonr Murliac. The flower* are
six inches in diameter, and their color is
the . oft canary of the Marechal Neil rose.
Only two other yellow water lilies are
known—a putty North American
bit?* iqlqrkJ snofl** of UrnfM*
IVrt /Vi, .
Terms. $1.50 per Annum. Single Copy 5 cents.
TELEGRAPHIC TICKS
THE SOUTHERN STATES.
News ( ullrrml by Wire and Mull From
All Paris «r Dixie.
There are twenty-one iron furnaces idle
in Pennsylvania in consequence of the
strike.
Two escaped convicts were recaptured
in Durban N. (?., a few days ago and
taken to the penitentiary at Raleigh.
Orders have heen given to largely in
crease the working force on the new rail
way from Shelby via Morgantou toCran
lierrv, N. C.
The Suffolk and Uarolina Railroad is
completed to Chowan river. It is an
important connecting imint lietwcen Vir
ginia and North Carolina,
Rev. A. R. Hunter, late of the Diocese
of Colorado, has accepted a professorship
in St. Augustine Normal School, at
Raleigh. N. C.
At Raleigh, X. C„ a cotton mill com
(tally, with a capital of SIO,OOO, has
been organized and the necessary amount
suhserUied.
At Charlotte, N. C,, three tenement
houses owned by James M. Davis, were
burned. The houses were outside of the
district which has water supply. The
loss is fifteen hundred dollars.
Adeline Allen, a negro woman tried at
Winston, N. C„ for murdering her in
fant by drowning it in a mill-pond, has
lieen convicted of murder, with recom
mendation for mercy.
Two Mormon missionaries have left
Warren county, Ga,, in disgust, after
failing to make a single convert.
The residence of Atlas .lowers. in An
son county, N. G„ was burned a few
nights ago withal! its contents.
The official statement of the State aud
itor of North Carolina shows that the
value of property in that State is $210.-
035,000, an increase of $9,000,111 oil the
returns last year.
The steam launch Irine, at New Or
leans, blew out a flew head, resulting in
the drowning of William Meade, engin
eer, and the fatal scalding of two l*oys.
At Manning S. C, Stcphncv Murray, a
negro, while trying to steal a ride
on the down traiu of the Central Rail
road accidently fell. Ilis skull was 1 wi
ly fractured by striking a cross tie.
At Palatka, Fla., arrangements have
Urn made for a lumt race in which Tee
nier, Mamin and McKay will row on St.
John’s River at Palatka for a purse of
one thousand dollars.
It is estimated that there is about
$350,000 worth of timl»er in the port of
Darien, Ga., waiting shipment. One
firm is carrying $133,000 worth of tim-
Ur.
The schooner Adventure, Whitehurst
master, from Charleston, S. C., Itotind
to Washington with guano, is stuck in
Oregon Inlet, N. C. She is a total loss.
Cargo insured. The crew's effects were
saved.
News has been received of the burning
of two colored school lonises in Chatham
county N. C. All evidence |Munts to the
fact that U*th fins were incendiary, and
the authorities offer a reward for the in
ctndiarics.
Very great interest is manifested in re
vival meetings at Statesville, N. C„ by
Evangelist Pear-on. Already there are
over one hundred converts, and the great
warehouse, where the meetings are held
is packed nightly.
The report of Dr. T. J. Roberts, suiter
intendent of the eastern North Candida
insane asylum for colored patients, at
Goldsltont, says there are oil file sixty
five applicants. There are I*s (siticnts.
The school commissioners of Charlotte
N. have elected Alexander Graham j
superintendent of the graded schools. |
He has for many years been superin
tendent of the Fayctville graded scln*ols, j
and is a very aide man. lie succeeds 1
PndVssor t \»rlew. There are seventy -five
applicants.
The authorities of Wake county N. C., j
have made contracts for the erection of!
two large iron bridges over the Ncuse
river, near Raleigh. It is understood J
that iron bridges have Irvii constructed ]
or contracted for iu many pirts j
of this state. The Contract* were award- .
ed to the Iron Bridge compuiy, of Tolc- j
do, Ohio.
A reward has In en offered for the dis
covery of the men who, on the Ist inst., i
at Oyster Shell Landing, Hyde county, ]
N. murder**! Rcddin Supton, white, i
in tin* store of J. M. Supton, his brother, |
and then burned the body in the build- j
ing. There is no clew as vet to the men ,
who committed this terrible crime.
Governor Scale*, after a careful con- j
sidcration of the case, commuted the j
death sentence of Lucian Rowe, colored, |
to imprisonment for ten veais in the |»on
iteutiary at Raleigh, N.(\, at hard hilmr. :
Rowe was convicted of burglary at the i
March term of Durham Superior Court, j
and was sentenced to Ik* hanged, lie i
appealed to the Supreme Court, which ]
eon fu med the judgment of tin* lower j
court. Governor Sonic* then set March 1
6th a* the date of execution. Rowe j
made earnest aj»jH*als for commutation, I
and has lu*eu able to show conclusively I
that the evidence of Mary CastlelH'rrv, a j
negro girl, which was un*up|>ortcd, but j
which convicted him, was false. Tho ;
girl has made a confession to that effect, I
The Governor therefore Imposed uuutt
Howe ti»n highest intnMiiqept fur far*,
p.'tt y,
At Elizalnffh City, N. (’., unknown
persons entered the dental office of J. 11.
White and robbed )dm of all his dental*
instruments and appaiatus, and tried to
set lire to the building by turning over
the stove, after (Hitting kerosene and
pa|H*r on the floor. But strange to say
it was only partially burned.
Parties who liought what is known as
Big swamp, in Robeson county N. CL,
containing sixty thousand acres, are run
ning a canal through it. The canal is 30
f«*et wide, and will be used for drainage
and transporting. The swamp was pur
chased from the state. It is expected;
that the extensive drainage system inau
rated will reclaim large tracts of it.
At Blackville S. <’,. J. I). Whitle shot -
at a dog going out of his gate. He miss
ed the dog, but hit a book agent, from
Richmond, Va., named Sampson who
was walking on tin; railroad track a hun
dred yards distant. Sampson's wound '
is (willful but not fatal. *
in the United States Court at Jackson
ville, Fla., W. J. Gook, formerly a con
ductor <m the Florida Railway and Nav
igation Gompany’s road, is suing the
read for $20,000 damages for the loss of
an arm. The caboose of the freight
train of which ho had charge was de
railed and the plaintiff jumped to the
ground, in jurying his left arm and* hand
so that the limb had to be amputated.
Already over $50,000 has been sub
serilied to a new cotton factory at Rock
Hill, S. G., and subscriptions are still
l*eing taken. Nearly every one lias some
shares. It is a cheap and good invest
ment, and many young men are putting
their money Into it.
James Wilson was found dead in hi
house near Excelsior, N. G. A neighbor
went to Wilson’s house and fouiid him
laying tlea ion the floor. It is thought
death resulted from natural causes, but a
jury of inquest has been summoned to
investigate the matter.
A daring robbery was committed at
Raleigh N. G., a few days ago. A negro
entered tin* jewelry store of William
Thame, in the block of tho police station*
and carried off eleven gold watches anti
one silver watch, during the momentary
absence of the proprietor. A cry was
raised and the imld thief was run down
and captured half a mile from the city.
He gave his name as John Staples, of La-
Grange, Lenoir Gounly. He had a w hite
accomplice, who has not yet heen cap
tured. Kievan of the watches were re
covered, being found on the person of
Staples.
North, East and West.
Near New Orleans seven out of eight
colored petrous crossing the Mississippi
in a skiff were drowned.
In Chicago Ralph Lee was convicted
of the attempted assassination of his
step father, the banker Itawson, and sen
tenced to eighteen months iu the county
jail.
At St. Alban's, Vermont, five broke
oft about midnight in the ot. Alban's
hospital. The hospital was completely
gutted, and two out of eight patients
were* suffocated. There was no male help
present, and no sjieeial provisions had
been made against lire.
The United States Senate lias con
firmed the nomination of Alex McGue to
be Assistant Treasurer at New York.
D. R. Locke, Ini ter known as Petro
leum V. Nasbv, editor of the Toledo
Blade, is dead.
A Freak of Lightning.
A funny thing occurred at Orlando,
Fla., recently, when we had quite severe
lightning. < >ne of our surveyors was out
in the woods surveying, and ou the ap
proach of the storm took shelter under
a large tree, leaving his compass on the
jackstaff, sonic two or three hundred
yards away. During the storm a tree*
very near the compass was struck by
lightning, and, strange to relate, the ef
fect upon the compass was to reverse it
so as to make tin* north point of the nee
dle change position and point south. Tho
gentleman not knowing that fact, when
lie went back to the compass took a
cour.-o and started, us lie supposed, for
home. After walking eight or ten miles,
going north, as the compass indicated,
lie. away in the night, came to the house
of an old settler, who, upon inquiry,
told him where he was and how far from
Orlando and the proper direction, which,
of course, was directly opposite lo that
indicated by his compass. After becom
ing satisfied something was wrong with
(he compass and that the settler was
right, he retraced his steps and arrived
at home, tired, wet and mad. This i*
the second instance we have known of
the needle of a compass being affected by
lightning so as to become reversed. —Or-
(FVci.) iic^rd.
A Superstitious B aiter.
A traveler obtained a satisfactory
break!:;.si at a Suit hern hotel in un in
geuioua manner. Having railed for
different items on the hill of fare with
the unfailing result of hearing “all gone,
.-ah, lie fixed a stern look upon the
colored uniter and exclaimed in deep
tonc>: “IK* you know where you will go
to w hen you die?” The waiter trembled
ind did not reply, hut he turned away,
and with dispatch brought out a snufving
breaUfast of thicken and other features
of a good meal. It rcems that he had
reserved these delicacies for himself, but
had been touched by suiicrstUion to
produce them for the traveler. —Chicago
1 i*n w,
Uncle Isaac Wallace, of G1 ark ville,
Texas, it one of the most remarkable prfd
nets of that State. Ho is said to be 10*j
yeais old, walks with crutches, is still
able to earn a living at chopping rord
woQd, find WtilHi u mile or two dally ga*
lf| M •'•wtojj tWH