North Carolina Newspapers

-ft 11 A A rh - a A FTRl r HP - ; I " -x II I I t II 2:- :j;;v nii II 1111' ff- U. JLL JJ Jl. Vy 'Hal si ,arri)i!? bfdiift! a.aiitrt '-wow nil ; luiuJi till ,Ti o YOL IX .THIRD SERIES SALISBURY H. C.y, IIAB(7H;;l4;a 1878; ! t H Lit if ijfel V! JTM 41 ftU. t tt. a t - "w a a . 9 w m -mm. ' . - V. f . . . .... i , . - . i! Mt. Vebxox, N. C Feb. 24, 1878. miR Watchman i When Paul wrote "It is good-to be zeal- liW affected alwaJtsin a good thing. Oils'' . . . I. . . J ... 1 e only put inio tw-ATiiut ui own nie nd that of every other active christian fcclares more loudly and effectively, more q'uentlv and beautifully than it I in fie power of language to express. -These tihors and trials have forced even the j . jiave elicited tins aumirauon nave cx: tor-ted it, as it w ere from oven their foes, rnirte-n and Elliott and hundreds of trans- l itors and scolastic drudges of all sorts Jiave consecrated their every book and manuscript Dy continuous prayers, em balmed them with pious' tears, encircled them with a halo of celestial self-sacrifice. And, oh ! ye martyrs, blessed a thousand ihld ! "Precious in the si"ht of the Lord lsthe death of bis saints." No- dying men were ever, watched . with . o many eyes from earth and heaven as you ! A holy warfare, in which nothing but the most chivalrous zeal for the Master's cause could sustain the soldiers, was the lot of these men. lint what is this Christianity, for which men have ever been so willing to suffer and to dare so much, and for which we profess so abiding an affection ? On its very face, the marks of divinity arc indisputable. In the contemplation of nature, -the glowing stars almost seem to stoop from' on high to whisper in our a a rri a -1 . i - ears : i ne nana mai maue us is uiviue.v Yet the grandeur of the firmament stirs the heart of man but feebly be'side the Hook of God's Kevelntion. It cannot speak to us in all the varied eloquence of inspired prophets, psalmists, historians and evangelists ! The evidences of Chris tianity are as vast as its Author's works, yet how great his condescension in laying them before us by such convincing and irrcsistable methods, by the testimony of the apostles, by the surprising variety as well astlie time, place and witnesses of miracles, by the brilliant success of the gospel itself; by a host of other evidences which cluster around the Good nook, ana , entitle its doctrines to the free reception J wisdom has ever accorded them. And what is the nature of Christianity ? It is two-fold a code of the healthiest j and happiest morality for this life, and a ! theory of sure guidance-to the soul into' the liaven of : rest hereafter. Its moraP precepts are unequalled; no philospher or statesman of antiquity has now any dis ciples except the moralists and law-givers of the Bible. The legislation of Moses now rules the wrold. Divinely author- t ized and divinely preserved, it Iras out- ; lived all systems of ethics which would; endeavor to-ignore itthe wild fanaticisms which would have set up a (Jod of man's own clrt)ice are now remembered onlv as , sickening tales of vanity ! j ' How Ion", too, have the blessed T!e- deemer's doctrines defied and triumphed : over the ravings of infidelity ! The es- j Kcuce of (imi'ti word, they are upheld -lv i Jlis will. The portraiture, of Christ, the ' "Light of the. World," "the propitiatory saeritice," "the Lamb of God," the "lliyh l'riest, Advocate and Intercessor,"' is enough of itself to inspire men with fer ment devotion. " The divine origin and immutable na ture of Christianity culminate in the most remarkable and useful effects Hpon indi viduals and upon society. So far from uniting us on earth continually, so a to render us miserable, it bursts the chains by which we are held captive. How many direful calamities have been soothed by Christianity! How. many tears hasshe wiped away ? How'many hopes inspired, when there-was no 'longer earthly room to hope ? How many doors of ' mercy thrown open to the guilty? How many supports given to innocence T If religion was designed onlj to console the miser able, it wjis designed of course for the consolation of the whole human race. 1'aul, amid bonds and imprisonment, and on the eve -of dissolution, exclaims: "I desire to depart, a ul to be with Christ, which is far better." Calm and unmoved, on the verge of both worlds, he thus ex presses the language of a steadfast faith f "I know whom I have believed, and am . persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Hinu against , that day." ""Indeed much the grandest influence of the Gospel is in the hearts of individuals; it forms them anew; it inculcates he ser vice of God and all their duties to their fellows; and it trains them up for a state of eternal' felicity. The generaL effects of Christianity, in the preservation of order and the preven tioik f crime, im-ovr that, there never was a national safe-guaud like the. religion of' the Bible. The "love of Christ coustrain etli men"" to obedience, w her e human laws would not aVail. Christ found at His coming, a world full, of idols tltc Gospel has now banish ed idolatry from Europe, and from a con siderable portion of Africa, A'sia and America. The old heroic virtues, under this new dispensation, have become com mon, i lie horrors or war have been sotte ftened, and tlie prisoners treated Jiu- anelv. The cause of the oppressed, the m indigent, the widow and the aged have been pleaded, and the -miseries of their lot often alleviated by the most magnifi cently endowed charitable institutions. Feeling now the true transeendant grandeur of Christianity and its intrinsic worth as an object of regard, can we hes itate to work zealously for it? t'au we .j ever hinder those who do ? I x -By what motives are they actuated? " 'God commands them to do it puts into ' their months the glorious' petition, "Thy kingdom come." That petition demands 6nr prayers and our services', our bodies and soiils, our choicest energies of thought word and deed, and, if need be, our lives, as a willing sacrifice to the cause of redemption. mighty No eloquence need be brought to bear to, convince us of the value of the pursuit of worldly pleasures, wealth ami honors., The mere sight of gold excites the desire - for its acquisition, tlie wine-cup's redness niust not be lookejl upon even, a single strain otmartial music stirs to its depths the ambitious feeling, the darts of Cupid and the love-light from the e3-es of wo man are synonymous. And why, let me ask", is not the very mention of the name hehfioti, a name rendered dear to us by every association of nobility, tenderness and mercy,-more intensely exciting than the most soul-stirring music ? Why arc not its jvnist beautiful ceremonies, that are sampled as it were from the courts of gkfpic IO avKUUW lcu6 ,1C Ui4!S never seen nfLvthing so "unostentatiously graud.n . . i . re t iristian neros oi missionary - nie heaven, more interesting in our sight than would be a crown containing all the diamong in the world T And why is not the pure fountain of its inspiration sweet er far than all the beverages that ever sparkled at the feasts of the kings Y When God says to you and me, dear reader, "it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing," will we be so dull as never to admire that good thing t Will we stop our cars against a truth so full of inducements, both for our worldly eu joyment and everlasting interest ? Is our nature too depraved and stupid to heed a call of such advantageous promise? Do we need any stimulant to 'earnestness in a matter of life and death, and that, too, a lite or. a tleath forever and evert The wants of this wicked, 'suffering, sighing world call on us to be zealous. How many millions of dying fellow beings stand about us, with "hell beneath them, heaven above them, and eternity before them," in all their proverbial un coutciousnesa of future danger I , Is anyhodyj ashamed to remember, that since that cross was reared, and He was nailed and crucified between two thieves; since that temple veil was rent, and those voices were heard in the heavens; since the mountaius swayed like ships in a tempest and even the tomb gave -up its dead; since the heart-forsaken moan of Eloi ! Eloi ! Sabacthani !" was heard, as they pressed the sponge to His lips; since, with the last gasp of his precious snffer- yig, he cried, "It is linished !" never, since, that hour, hath it been a trifle for a man to be born into the world! For that mau, whoever or wherever lo may be, is bound, by every possible con sideration, not only not to oppme the cause of Religion, but to be .earnest and zealous in its behalf. E. P. II. From the Raleigh News. WASHINGTON LETTER. Washington, March C, 1.878. Judge Reagan, of Texas, from the Com mittee on Commerce;- has submitted a lengthy iind able report providing for the regulation of inter-State commerce which is exciting much attention and will give rise-to active debate, when the bill is considered. U prohibits ( 1 ) any rail-road -company,' or other common carrier of iu-ter-State commodities, from charging any greater or less rates of freight ami charges from one than from another, and provides against defeating the intentions of the act by any arrangement to secure the sus pension or breaking of continuous trans portation, except for some necessary pur pose, and without intent to prevent sucli carriage from being regarded as contin uous. (2.) It prohibits the allowance of rebates and drawbacks in all cases of the transportation of inter-State commodi ties. (.) It inhibits all combinations and arrangements, or changes of schedules, or carriage in different cars, or other act, with intent to nreveut coutinuir.y. (4.) It provides that it shall be unlawful to ; charge more for the carriage of property, for one continuous carriage, for a longer , distance. (5.) It makes the infraction I of any of the foregoing provisions or pro- hjbitions a misdemeauor, punishable, on ' conviction by a line of not less than $1MH). There are many other provisions, i but 1 have given a fair digest of the lead ! ing features of the bill. I am no lawyer, but it impresses me that the power of Congress to legislate in the premises is at ' least questionable. j You have trobably seen some accounts ' of the great ejectment case now progress ing at Alexandria before Judge Hughes, of the United States District Court, I mean the suit brought by Gen. Custis ! Lee against the United States for the re ' covery of the Arlington estate, or, rather, i its value iu money, for the grounds are 1 now used as a National Cemetary. The argument has been" concluded, and the decision will be rendered on Saturday. s to go up afterwards, of course, to the Supreme Court of the United States for ; revision. It is a reproach and a shameful : outrage, that restitution for this flagrant ' robbery by the government has not been made long siuce, and that the family should be driven to the Courts for redress ; against the spoliation.-The estate, was ; willed to the wife of Gen. Robert E. Lee. When she went South, to share the for tunes of her illustrious husband, ic was j sold at a tax 6ale, $IW.0"2 being the j amount due, tender of payment for which 1 was mad) but refused because not by the owner x in person, and the Government bid it in at $26,800, go- ing so high that no private friend of Mrs I Lee's could bid in her behalf. There was no proceeding for "treason,"! simply and only a tax-sale. If this government, by a strong hand. cau not hold the property of a. citizen, without allowing him to ques tion its right, if a citizen can be dispos sed of his property otherwise than by-his peers, then are Magna Charta and our own Constitution worthless and our's is the champion despotism of the world. I have had the curiosity,- this morning, to look over the Congressional Directory, w ith a view to ascertaining theuumber of ' ex-Confedei-ate soldiers in Congress. I find the whole number to be fifty-nine, of whom 10 are in the Senate aud 4i in the House. Of these two are from Kentucky and three from Missouri; the remainder, of course, are from the Southern States proper. ,-S. G. "It was simply an informal affair," wrote the editor, of a little strawberry-party at a neighbor's house. "It was simply an infernal affair," read the compositor, and that editor will never get any more invi tations from that quarter. Mr. Hendricks corrected the report that si writ of ouster has been sued out to test the right of Mr. Hayes to the office of President of the United States. Many people put a fancy sigu in their parlors, asking God to bless their home, aud then they themselves do all they can to curse t. Prayer in the pitcher that fetches water from the brook wherewith to water the herbs ; break the pitcher and it will fetch no water, and for waut of water the gar den will wither. " . From the Kew York Observer.! j, : 1 ' 1 . . .-. . .. rr . t; n -rr- r- - - - IM THE BURIED-AL1VE HUHS. : A MORKING ADVENTURE IK-ROME. You have often heard of the Sepolte vive , the buried -alive nuns of Borne. '.1 have just returned from their convent. It is a strange story that yon arfe to read, scarcely credible in this age of the world, but strangely true it is, and "pity 'tis 'tis trac." Leaving the church St. Maria in Monti, whererepose iu full view the body of a cannonized beggar, I walked up the street, and in a moment reached A narrow alley winch seemed to lead only to a gloomy arch under which was a painted crucifix, life-size, with two old monks kneeling in front of it. I walked up to these hideous images, and oa the ieft hand found a flight of stone steps. I went hastily up, for I knew at once, from what I had heard, that these steps led to the doors of the con cealed convent of Farnesian nuns, the Se polte vive, or Buried Alive. Perhaps it was the spirit of adventure, certainly of curiosity, that prompted me to ascend the steps, for I could have had no expectation of gaining admission to this house of living death. Mr. Hare, in his "walks in Rome," had told me "that the only means of communicating with the nuns is by rapping on a barrel which projects from a wall on the platform alnive the roofs of the houses, w lieu a muf fled voice is heard from the interior, and if your references are satisfactory, the bar- t-l turnaround and eventually discloses a by which the initiated can admit themselves to a small chamber in the in terior of the convent." I looked in vain for any projecting barrel, but having reached an open gallery above the roofs of houses around, though the walls of the convent rose still higher, I entered a recess, on the walls of which were inscriptions iu Lattiu and Italian, such as, "Who enters here leaves the world behind." "Qui non diligit, nianet in morte." In the wall was a copper plate about oue foot wide by two feet high, which I supposed covered the. opening through which communication was to be had with the interior. On feeling of it, I found it was the side of a hollow cylinder, and evidently made to revolve if necessa ry. This must be "the barrel" through which the muffled voice of the woman within wouid come to me, if the oracle chose to reply to my call. I knocked. No answer came, bnt the hollow chamber gave back a melanchoh' sound. My sensations at this moment were pe culiar, and 1 began to wish that I had not come, or at least that I had brought with me some companion to share the excite ment, if not the perils of this adventure. For the secret of this convent is that the nuus who once enter never come out of tlie door again, dead or alive! They nev er hear from the world outside. No moth er's voice or father's love intrudes upon this living tomb in which their hopes are buiied. They sleep every night in a cof fin in which they are to be buried, here, when they finally stop breathing. They are told, when one of their parent dies, that some loved oinS is dead, so that each one is to be thrilled with the sorrow that perhaps her mother or father is dead, but no one knows which oue has become an orphan. It is said that they become so enamored of death that they invade the vaults iu which their dead sisters are placed, aud fondle the corpses as children play with dolls. They have a death's head on the dinner table, and often lie down in graves prepared with their own hands, that they may be as nearly dead themselves as they can be while yet con strained to live. Around me were the walls of this huge sepulchre, silent as the tomb itself, cheer less, hopeless, the home of madness or de snair. It wns Christmas da v. The suu I - - - - AJ was shining joyously on the roofs below me, and all the glad morning the bells of Rome had been ringing the carols of the Saviour's natal morn. The city was jubi lant with the songs of angels, and the churches flung open all their doors to the people flocked to the choirs and the al tars, their hearts the meanwhile shout ing, "Unto us a child is born.' Jut no glad sound of Merry Christmasnters these dead walls : this prison house of young souls, doomed in the spring time of life to take up their abode in coftins, vaults and tombs. These cloomv thoughts ot mine were destined to a speedy interruption and sudden conversion. I knocked again, and with greater force Lthcn waited listening. Presently a wo man's voice she must have been close by me was heard from the other side of the copper plating, and this is what pass ed between us : The voice (iu Italian.) "What do yon wish ?" "I w ish to visit the couvent if it be al lowed." The Voice. "It is not possible for you to come in." "I would see the convent, as I have come from a far country and have heard much of this institution." The voice. "You cannot come in ;" and then the woman broke out into a ringiug. hearty laugh, loud and long. T was taken all aback. It had not oc curred to inside uch me that they walls as these. ever laughed it was more "darkness, long despair rcignjn eternal sflence there." But she laughed cheerily at the idea of my being such a fool as to- think of coming in there, and ? we ehtttere gaily, I laughing in sympathy on the out side, and she within, a thin metallic loose plate between us. . The roiVc.-"Do rou apeak UiePreodil "Better than I speak the Ijtalan; (bji I the English is my own tongue. She saidshe would send some One to con-J verse with me, and in a few- moments another voice addressed men rencK, and asked if I would walk in and visit the chapel. I said that I wanted to see the convent, and the modo of Iifelwithlu. She" i i i i ? . . n v A 1 repueu inai ic was lmposaiuie, anavory soou legau to laugh as merrily as her sister had done. When f in jef '"playful French banter," she aste'rfhie,-'What do you want to see ?" I said, witli equal ttlrtirf nlnAoa 1 nrsnt f a sua vftn IIVI merriment broke out afresh, and I verily thought for a momeut I had won my way fin the fortress by the irresistible art. The cylinder revolved, showing me that it was divided into chambers ; it paused and I heard something fall upou the me tal bottom. It turned still more, and the open chamber presented itself to me with two keys lying iu it. The voice within said, "Tlie larger key will admit you to the chapel, and the smaller will open a door inside of it." The door of the chapel was near to me, the only door there ; unlocking it, I stood upon its marble floor. It was a simple chapel, the pictures aud stools and im ages such as are seen in thousands of Romish churches. But the marble floor was largely made of sepulchral slabs on which were recorded the names and vir tues of the nuns who were buried under neath ! How sad wa this obituary ! What a mausoleum was here ! How many weary, wretched, aching hearts had rest ed in this cold bed ! T read the epitaphs, and somo inscriptions on the walls, and mused among the tombs on the wreck and ruin of young lives, tortured and murder ed aud buried here, by the terrible ma- cliinerv or a uniirch tli.it. throiifrii lonsr ' O centuries, has perpetuated successive liv ing sacrifices of blooming Roman maidens on these altars of superstition, imposture and crime. For what is martyrdom by fire, or the wheel, or the axe, or by lions in the arena, compared with the long- drawn-out agony of a young lady who cats with a skeleton at her , side, and sleeps in a coffin and plays witha corpse, and this for years, till sweet death comes in person, and releases her from torment v clasping her iu his cold and chaste embrace ! The little key let me into a side cham ber, the cell or cloister of a nun, fitted up as a show or specimen, ana perhaps quite unlike the real cells into which the "pro auum vnlgus. or persons of the male lersuasion, may never enter, it was room about ten feet square, with a chair aud table in it : beyond it a closet with crucifix on tho wall, and, still farther. cell just large enough to hold a person in chair; and in the wall was a perforated plate through which the nun is reputed to whisper the story of her sins into the ear of an invisible priest who sits in the outer court, and by a pleasing fiction is supposed never to come within these walls. When tho Mother Superior gives an audience, it is an affair of state more mys terious than the approach to tho celestial Emperor of China. She sits in tho midst of her oratory veiled in black from head to foot, and the visitor sees nothing but this statuesque drapery concealing the abbess. Pope Gregory XVI. entered by his divine right to go where ho pleased among the faithful, and wishing to sec the lady with whom he conversed, he said : "Sister, please to raise your veil." "No, father," she answered, "it is against the rules." The Pope asked very much the same question that I did, and got about the same answer. Having penetrated as far iuto the con vent as the rules of the order permit, I returned with the keys, and dropping them into the cavity, the sound summon ed the unseen sister to the portal, and she asked me. ..... i i i l. m V Cie you pieUAru im mv; iiiumi i I told her that I had been very much interested in what I had seen, but would be pleased to see more. She laughed arain right merrily, and chatted on gaily as if it was a pleasure to have some one to t.ilk with, thoujrh he count not come in. I was well assured from.what I heard, her tones of voice, her cheerful words, and her right merry laugh, that they have good times inside in spite of death's heads eross-bones and coffins. I do not lielievc it is half so bad to lie hurried alive, as they would have it to appear, and a lady, who was permitted by special favor to visit the nuus, testifies that they are ruddy and rosy -looking girls not withstandiug their ghostly employments. Twenty seven are there now, and I left them with more satisfaction than when I knocked at their inhospitable door. Irkx.eus. Thos Jefferson is a barlier in Char lotte, Jo Turner a barlier in Wilming ton, aud Chas Sumner a barber ia. Ral eigh. fnlmy mind oeatn ana t ' Rather prematurely, we cannot help thinking, the qAestion of the Senatorial election has disturbed thr ' equinimlty of some of1 bbr" oontemnoriries. ' Since the question 11 has' been sprtng, we are at no loss' to'constfue the' motives of the at tacks ntobn ihe'idminlitritibh' of 'Gover bo Vance-, tiii&g tnaVthoW Attacks are at the bottom of the purpose 'to oppose bj election. Last winter there were friends1' ofJltfs excellency so far. carried away hjr. Cnthu-. siasra as to insist that Le should be nomi nated to the place now so -worthily, filled LyJJatt WV Ransom. We opposed thU jrecipitaucy upon the ground that the people, with' unwonted expression, had called him to fill one office ; one, in which peculiar adaption to its dutiev . were as cribed to him. i A sober second thought appreciated the soundness of our views, and Governor Vance, duly installed as Governor of the State, entered upon lis office with the full abnegation both on his part and that of his friends, of all ulterior ambitious projects. He is now ic the second year of his term and apart from the opposition of a captious journalism, he has not abated oue jot iu his hold upon the affections or esteem of the people. Both love and respect enter into the elements which give him his wonderful hold upon the popular mind. Without the first, hel could not have aroused the fierce blaze of enthusiasm which blasted all opposi tion; without the second, he could not lave retained what he had gained, if re action had exposed weakness of founda tion. It is the peculiar merit of Gover nor Vance that those light and amiable qualities which appeal to the affections, are ouly the graceful ornaments of a sol id structure of worth whose stability be comes the more assured uuder every test of its strength. He has proved himself not ouly the popular man, but the safe, prudent, sagacious and expausive states- mau. Tho time has come when he 6hall en ter into the full enjoyment of long defer- ed honors. North Carolina once sent him, with full recognition of his honors, to the United States Senate. He was forced to staad at its doors a suppliant, and un der decree of a bigoted partnership, was excluded from his rights. When he could have been legitimately returned and admitted, most untoward combinations confirmed his exclusion, and consigned him to obscurity until that time when the people, with spontaneous act, lifted him into the highest post of popular prcferruenF. The people have had him, or will have him, for two years. Now, let the State havo him; grateful for the past, apprecia tive of the present. It can elevate him without reproach to others. But a man whose character is national is entitled to an elevatiou where his capacities can be displayed upon a national theatre. Vance is a man the nation wants. Let him sent to adoru the national councils. be Shadracii, Meshach, and AnEDXEGorj Some persons have doubted whether the Babylonians were guilty of such "ex- 1 treme cruelty" as to cast persons alive into a burning, fiery furnace, as in the case of Shadrach, Meshach; and Abedne- go, mentioned by Daniel (iii. : 26.) They live strangely forgetful of innumerable fiery martyrdoms, very much more slow in their torture, and therefore more cruel, than the seven-times heated furnace of Babylon. Mr. II. F. Talbot has discov- ered ample proof in the Assyrian writings thatboth this punishment, and that of cast- inir men alive into a den of lions, n Dau- iel was treated, were in common nse at Babylon during the reign of Assurbanipal, who preceded Nebuchadnezzar on tlie throne by less thau 20 years. Saulmugina, the younger brother of Assurbanipal, hav ing risen in rebellion ngsinst his sover- ... ! '11 ' A- . 4 t eign, and having ianeo m i.ue .un-mu, !!. not. snared bv hi- ancrv brother. I he following brief record is sumcient to ten a .k, i its own terrible tale: "My rebellious brother, Saulmugina, who made war with me, was cast into a burning, fiery fur- nace." Many of Saulmugina's adherents were treated in the same manner; and the remainder were otherwise disposed of in the following way, as Assurbanipal very pithily says : "The rest of the peo ple I threw alive among bulls and lions, as my grandfather, Sennacherib, used to act; and I, following his example, have thus treated these rebellions men." Truly may we exclaim, with the Psalmists. "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."- Quarterly Review . Dean SwifV Marriage Ceremony. Dean Swift was applied to, at a late hour ot a stormy night, after he had gone to bed, by a runaway couple to be married. He answered the call from his upper chamber window. He told them as he was un dressed, the weather very- threatening, and they, he presumed, were in a hurry, he would marry them as they stood, and after asking them the necessary questions, said : "Under this window, in stormy weather, I marry this man and woman together ; Ict none but Hun who rules thethuuder, Put this man and woman asunder." ifte lada jetties are af leugta; a-eeai-i uwea. i enw wiu oi tiw i Mississippi is unlocked, and, the vast trade B9W passing through tlie Soutbass of .the MuwissfpjM, andn problem .as important Vys ..the conr -struction of the Suez canal is solved. The first great movement for, the south and west is a perfect success", and no man can vepture to compute its value. The genius r i!W'-,V, ! i - I V4HCHUS nas acuieven. amonrjn over great natural obstacles, anA' over Igno rance, prejudice and envy. His next un- iinn overt dertaking the deepening of the channel J Of the Mississippi to twenty feet from" St. t 'v ' a f ' . ' " - , i Lou s to W ,Orfeans-is an earH cer- wiurytana tuo snips ot every nation wiui viia. wikcu iu luo ucaiii vi.iuv vtcsbl and south, delivering and receiving car goes without breaking bulk. Side by side with this vast, yet thoroughly practicable work, comes the Texas and Pacific rail- way, from San Diego, on the Pacific, to the Mississippi river, and thence eastward to the Atlantic, pouring the treasures of India, Japan, China, and the isles of the Pacific iuto the bosom of the South. It is a road fourteen hundred miles shorter than the northern lines, unobstructed by snow", piercing the gold and silver belt of the Rocky mountain chain, leading for hundreds of miles through excelleut coal, lying near heavy beds of iron and copper ore, and having a climate along its entire line mild and equable the very and only line from the Atlantic to the Pacific that ever ought to have been built, or that ever in the long run will pay, and that, too, at rates one-half less than those forc ed on the people by the monopoly of the Central, and Union, and Southern Pacific three names for one gigantic swindle. Fortunately, most fortunately for the South and West, the hand of nature has indelibly marked theT true routo for a transcontinental line, with easy grades aud curvatures, from the Mississippi to the Pacific terminus in the bay of San Diego, where a thousand ships can ride at anchor in safety. Not to build this national line is to refuse a gift of God to the Amer ican people. To refuse on the part of the South to lend the Government credit for a few years, and only for the interest on the bonds, to the Southern, yet, na tional line, is suicide. Louisville Courier Journal. The Hot Spring Fire. Hot Springs, Ark, March G. The fire broke out in a shanty occupied by a ne gro named Greenlee. It was communica ted to the French restaurant, thence north and south on both sides of the street. - All the buildings were burned north of Rockafellow's drug store, and south below the Malvern Crossing. About two hundred and fifty buildings were destroyed, and au immense amout of goods. Tho loss is estimated at $300,000. The mountain is covered with people driven frnni shelter. THE NEW POPE IIc Makes no Mention of Pius IX, i Jlis Coronation Addresn, and is Taking Xeic Departures. London, Starch 6. The Rome corres pondent of the Times says: "Cardinal Franchi was confirmed Pontifical Secre tary of State; Cardinal Simeoni, Pro fect Propaganda ; Cardinal Moricpini, Camerlintro, and Bartolini, President of the Congregation of Rites," Rome, March 7. The pope and Cardi- nal Franchi determined on the policy of reconciling as far as possible the inter- ests of Church and State in questions pending with the various governments. The Pope, on receiving fifty-four par ish priests, recommended them to preach Jesus Christ, His life and teachings, and to guard their flocks against the infi delity and immorality so generally pre vailing the result of a corrupt press. The Pope in all his exhortations avoids I . . . a a. a . m meutiou ot the V lrgin, with the purpose of discountenancing the Marialary which his predecessor so long encouraged. What has shocked most people in his corona- tiou speech is that he made no allusion to the late Pius IX., although Cardinal Diep- tro in addressing the Pontiff has been elo quent in praise of tho deceased Poje. The omission could not therefore be acciden tal, and has lieen variously commented upon. The Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian say s: "Publie opiuiou is irre concilable on the attitude which appears to hace been adopted at the Vatican." The fate of the policy holders in the Charter Oak Company way lie illustrated by one case in Utica. A hard-working man in this city took out, in 163, an endowment policy for -$1,000, payable in ten years. He has paid ou it between $000 and 8700, and the company hold his notes for $50 more, ne is now con pelt ed to sign au agreement to take $ti in place of the thousand, and to received on it not this year, when it is due, bnt five years heuce, in 1883. Very many of our citizens are In an equally bad plight. It will be a day for thanksgiving and praise when the nrison bolts are drawn on the a swindler, one and all. Vt!ea insurance Observer. af rur-;q4 Amongst the Circuit Judged elected theidm ohiw uay by the South Carolina LerUla-i.i -d tare was the Hon. A. P. Aid rich arJtidleH- benBi rather than obey, the milkaryaixk thorities nt that time rslln 'otertfiat ' " State. In retiring from the Unchl Shfts4 Aldrich, then said ; 4 '''The'indignittiii t !'! ih , .-. al tt i.rt f..i f a.- It .1 1 . it. a.. . a ? . A 1' til . sue. W0 illtwe-tjj ; moraeoiuat Ualmast .break? my JiearfcM t, tra thin errand nM fitty Immllloi 1 , --....v .u.ui'.u.w-rv- tqaiugn my poor iroui4it gentlemen be of good rjie. r 1 th tJlwB -o .Sv.-r'A better,dajw ,T1uj greaj heart efjtlm people .j. . of this land beats toconsUthti on at liberty: Pa?$ Ptf Ilf 1r X Tr eid a8a-mltennnlh Car6hu,iCorHst, J stained. .Mrliiheriff ,u adjourn court, while tho voice of justice ia . r . , j. LOSSES OF THE WAR. " New York, Jan. 30, 1878. Editor of Journal of Commerce : 1. Please inform me as to the number of soldiers that died in battle aud iu pris son and in consequence of wounds, on both sides, during the late war of the re bellion. Yours truly, H. S. N. Reply. About 304,000 meu on the" Union side were killed tn battle, died of wounds, or of disease, first and last, the largest proportion, reckoned at 184,000, of the latter ; of these only 280,739 alto gether died while iu the service. On the Confederate side about 75,000 were killed, or died of wounds and disease. A Strange Remedy. A medical jour nnl states that iu Austria whooping-cough is treated with the rod. When a child is seized with a coughing fit he is immedi ately severely chastised. The remedy is applied with the belief that the malady is a purely nervous affection which can be cured l3- vigorous counter- irritation upon the outside. We do not recommend the remedy, and would advise none to try it unless they are desirous of receiv-' ing a visit from an agent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children. Health Reformer. A wonderful feat in engine buildiug was recently accomplished at the Michi gan Central Railroad shops at Jackson, Two gangs of fourteen men each began at seven o'clock upoir two separate lo comotives, the parts of which had been previously laid to hand, and "set up" the two machines, each employing thousands of pieces, and started them out of the yard uuder steam, in exactly two hours aud fifty -five minutes. A city contemporary that keeps a close eye upon mercantile affairs reports a grow- ing disposition among our merchants, to dispeuse with "drummers," and says there r. is quite a flutter among the profession, Undoubtedly the traveling-salesman sys- tein has been abused, and there is a cheaper and better way of reaching customers than spending the large sums in this direction which some houses have been accustomed to do. A reaction, to somo extent at least, is in order. The shoe manufacturers of Baltimore have protested to the Legislature against the competition of convict labor in their trade. They aver thatr the penitentiary contractors have imitated the styles made in Baltimore, and by the use of inferior materials, purchased principally ouUido of the. State, are able to undersell tho reg- ular dealers, and that "327 honest me- chanics (the number of convicts employ ed in shoe-making) are thrown out of e:n- ploy men t by the convict system, nna forced upon the world to be stigmatized as tramps. Kev. Dr. Deems has made a sacrifico that is well worthy of mention in such times as these. He refused to accept one dollar of the $20,000 legacy liequeathed him by the late Cornelius Vanderbilt.but gave it to the Church "of the Strangers, of which he is the pastor. 41e did this quite privately and it is but recently known, This shows how unjust the papers some times are iu their hasty commeuts. A Danbury young man nearly bank rupted himself visiting the daughter of the owner of a New York aquarium sub sequently discovered to be a fish market. The aunnal gold product of the world is probable greater than of silver.' by about $2.",000000 and there does not ap pear to lie auy well grounded reason why this proportion should materially change, at least during the present generation, ' Walter Canterberry, 4if Mississippi, is" six feet JH inches'" tall, and weighs 185 pounds. He is but I3years old, and luw room to grow. "" An, Alabama Judge has decided that any uue who eti a piuig-gun dots so at his ''owicperil, and is to be held re sponsible for damage do.ie, evbn to ties passers. There is a family in JI i lio:i ctr rty rt ..4" .......... 1 ., I .!. ct.iti'o Tim Htm r lOlHIrt, Ul I trllllll fwl vr.s r...tuv. . ..w ... - ! corder reports" their heights as f 1N: The father is seen feet idar; the mother U six feet eight; two son's seven feet three; and b daughter m ?eve i feet uiW, t A' - - r