The Greensboro patriot [December 1, 1882]

              THE GREENSBORO PATRIOT.
KTABLISH ED IX 1825. GREENSBORO, X. C, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1SsL>.
-\u ■" ipatriot
BUSHED I RIDAY.
I
• ■ •
« ..!■ ■ 10::
IG WEST MARKET STREET.
■ ntracl (or .special
, such ra'ci.
rged according
» .' '■* **
»U.l H. RUUKY,
i;,|itor A* I'l-sprirlor.
EMBER i, 18S2.
■ I !
h irlottc. In
at tlif
to con-t,
1883.
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. h (good idea, for
the vil-
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thei day in
asked if slu.' had
,( .he re-
-
\ "fie* Chrf*MMW Gift.
for "a i
nadc at a ti
■ ■ ■"■, tn n pay the ef-
V&h 1 large
irtains where
- silk,
rpct; then the
A littl
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t The
ruff it in the
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It is •. month
>« it has never f.iil-
. 1 n the 2,th <>i' De-
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t. fear,
U< in .%« - T« ik,^i\ III*.
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com-
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to Dan-r
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it won
stei n I- i- Ids
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the se-ly
af-
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ii nine
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A
it |10|
I in the
purity
■ 1-1 its effect.
There arc indications on every hand of
substantial prosperity and progn ss. Some
valuable real estate on Smith Elm street
has recently changed bands, and steps
will soon be taken to improve it. Yes-terday
>'•. Will Arancid, one ol our
leading merchants, purchased the valua-ble
building lot adjoining the Scoti build-ing
now going up, and at an early da)
Will begin the erection of a large
story brick building. The intervening
lots owned by Mr. Isaac Thacker, will
also be improved next spring. Dr. Ben-bow
promises to demolish the shanties
belonging to him on both sides of South
Elm, in the neighborhood of his hotel,
and substitute for them handsome brick
buildings. The vacant lot on West Mar-ket,
adjoining the PATRIOT building, is
under negotiation, the purchasers intend-ing
to build on it a mammoth tobacco
warehouse. With a $200,000 govern-ment
building on the Caldwel! corner
Greensboro will be happy.
N*rlh (ar«linu l>miu*ii<l«.
John F. Wootton, of Rcidsville, writes
to the Chattanooga Tradesman a> follows;
'•Haron Von Humboldt, the distinguish-ed
German scientist and author, who had
explored both North and South America,
Stated in one of his writings, many years
ago, that if diamonds occurred at all any-where
in the United States, they would
be found along the eastern steppes and
foot hills of the Blue Ridge mountains in
North and South Carolina and Georgia,
his prediction being based upon the dis-covery
of a belt of rocks analagous to
those in which are found tbe diamonds of
Brazil, cropping out at many points, in
this Piedmont section of the States here-inbefore
mentioned. Said prediction has
lately been verified by the finding, at
Danbury, Stokes county, North Carolina,
of a diamond of great brilliancy, lor
which the owner has been offered by the
leading gem dealer of the Unite I States
m of $7,000, the owner declining
to ace-;: 1!. offer. Mr. Pepper is the
fortunate discoverer and possessor of this
•m. His father, the late Or.
Pcpp r, who had collected a valuable
I of minerals from the section im-medial
him, is reported to have
litlS of ten miles
Germanton, the old county town
f Si re to be found a
iy ol min ia's than had been
covered in so small an
I d as high autho-
; devoted a
atd investi
is almost undei the
shadow of Mi re's Knob, I prom- ... . . .
from which i cju , . tini I xible
■
New Htyle.
If we in«ist talk about the we
'*It is
day." Evei \ 1 nc is tii kitting
,Vhy 1 cicr.i
■ meets a friend i The
following is submit) as a
Jon< have
cloudy weather with
Smith (u ith n cheerful smile) -Yes, and
to colder north-
. \ or higher p cssurt.
Joni so; but it is gratifying :J
know that th . k'ers will remain nearly
id thai the temperature has
fallen 50 degree, in the K10 Grande Val-ley.
Good morning, sir.
NEW SERIES X<>. 8:j3
Mr. S. VV. !!. Smith, of New Garden,
took first premium -ii the State fair on
upper leather .1
n was vei. strong, i>t.'. Guilfbrcl I
away with 1
In North Carolina there are
fifteen national banks with a capi-tal
ol $2,500, an.l a surplus fund of
1173,955. die individual deposits
aniotiot to $2,889,780, and other tii -
posits to #190,810. The loans and
discounts arc •■■ 1.7.'!8,0\-. Proba-bly
adding the businessof t be State
II ivate banks, (he loans and
discount would reach *u\000,000.
Mr. Cowardiu, the venerable
ler and editor of tin i.' '<
moml (Va.) Dixpatth. and Thurlow
W wl, if S ■■ X irk, ■ in' of the
.- i iirnnlis's.
ilii ,|, i • ;
1 n some i I' t he north ni i-liphthci
i.: is : limbering :; -
victim • by tbe hundred, and mil ss
medical science ran arresl its fatal
progress it threaten* to become ■ ;•
lie. The mortuary statistics of
Philadelphia show an alarming
yearly increase in the number of
i ises of diphlberia. In lloston as
well as I'hiladelphia, the ravages
disease h ivc aroused the
public health authorities to the im-portance
of immediate' aetiou.—
Thai the disease is contagious
Reenis no longi r to admil of much
doubt. The health authorities of
the two cities named have so de-cided
and have warned the public
against the danger of contagion by
exposing themselves where the dis-ease
exists. In the treatiueul of
this disease, so far, medical science
has in.-i with only partial success.
The increasing ravages of diphthe-ria
demand of the science of medi-cine
special consideration, and of-fer
a field for study that maj i.
suit in lasting benefits to the hu-man
race.
The friendsofJesse •' Veates
will be glad to learn that helms re-covered
entirely from the recent
mental attack that -sent him to the
asy lum.
Newsboys, look up! The
new Democratic governor of Con
necticnt once shouted "K'resyer
Hurrnld, sun. Times, an' lYftjMmr"
in the streets of New York.
BKPKtl, OK i III IJITKK.VAI.BEV.
I M l I, AW".
Strange as it may seem there are
Democrats who oppose the repeal
of the odious and oppressive inter-nal
revenue system. They are ap-prehensive
thai entire Abolition will
result in some way to the advan-tage
of Protection.
How. they dak, is the deficiency
to l>e made up '. By a revision of
the tariff. Abolition will necessa-rily
and inevitably bring the tariff
to a revenue standard, while still
affording that moderate incidental
protection which none but a small
school proposes to do away with
entirely. We do not seetheremot
esl danger of Protection circum-vention
in the total repeal of the
internal revenue laws. Democrats,
whether '-Tree traders" or t a rill' for
revenue only, will do well to accept
the verdict of the elections, to do
away with this war system—
undemocratic, monopoly-producing
andfostering, expensive,controlling
primaries and caucuses and tilling
the land with agents anil spies, as
wholly evil—leaving the tariff and
protection to stand out naked and
alone to be dealt with. B8 they
stand upon their own merits. The
tariff, as a means lo revenue and as
the moans to incidental protections
will lie best dealt with thus simpli-fied.
The revenue question alone
will be more easily dealt with when
we have thus reached a uniform
system ; protection will lie more
easily deal) with when it stands
alone, unaided by and not compli-cated
with the internal revenue form
of direct taxation.
There are in the United
States about 10,000,000 families.—
Our annual taxation for Federal |
purposes is about $400,000,000.—
Each head of a family pays, there- I
fore, an average tax of $40. rJn-l
der the existing revenue system i
the working classes are more heav-ily
taxed than their wealthy neigh-bors,
for the highest duties are ini- I
posed on the coarser goods used by ;
the poor.
Sluil Ilii- Coiiqucriil^ II. 10.
Charlotte Journal.
Another interesting runaway
marriage took place night before
1 ist. the parties being Mr. Nat
Savage and Miss Houston, (laugh
iei of Mr. Prank Houston'. While
the family of the bride were at
church Mi. Savage rode up to the
residence of Mr. Houston and tak-ing
his bride, who came out to join
. ihe iv..i proceeded to the res
ideiice of Rev. G, 1>. Parks, sever-al
miles in the country, where the
knot was tied, after which they re-till
lied to the house of a mutual
friend in the city. This last and
successful effort to gel his bride is
said to be the third which Mr. Sav
age has made within the last two
\ ears, during which time parental
objections have prevented the con
summation of the happiness of the
lovers.
ClB«lford*a "Wnr llorm-."
'.> C I'l/i'.i'r.
Hon. Frank Caldwell, Guilford's
veteran "war Horse." did good for
Randolph Democracy and much
credit to himself in the recent con-ic.-:
in this county.* Some ol our
nliler citizens thought his speeches
the bcsl they had heard since the
war.
A •'• mil far. .Him Baterprt—.
Wilmington Slat.
Mr. Cameron, of the Asheville
■' itizen, lias been traveling ill the
counties wesl ofAsheville, and has
been writing some entertaining
and instructive letters for his pa
per. lie docs this kind of work
specially well. Oncol' his letters,
beaded "A Bird's-eye View of the
Work on the Western N'orth Caro-tin
: Railroad,'' gives the only
clear account of what has bi ■
done and what is being done that
we have ever seen. The Due!.
town branch is being pushed rap
idly. As fur as Waynesville, in
Maeon county.all was easy enough
nent, save thai I ic
--.-, .■ and I he grad-ing
heai» liiil wh n thai ■< ;!i
been reached '•! lie in ri if 1
Hal >aiti i in i was iwiietni •
Then begun the mosi ilifBc li
feat. Mr. (*ame
says:
"The si up.-: dons range stn tele il
-- the pathway and defied tii ■
advance of Ihe iron horse; n n
the highest ; eaks in Hie i/hole
I'liiti'il States stood sentinel along
the passway by which man or
horse might Bud his lalwred route.
On one side stood Plott's Balsam,
6,097, and Jones' Balsam, •;.--•'•
feel high: on the other Westner's
Bald, 6,000 feet, and the ridge
that formed the connecting link of
their bases was 3,357 feet above
the level of the sea. When this
high crest was reached the descent
tumbled down on the western side
in sudden and apparently impassa-ble
descent, descending, too, into
an apparent range through which
no way of exit known to scientific
work seemed possible to find."
Bui the stupendous work has
been accomplished and a great
piece ol engineering it must bo.
From Waynesville the first seven
miles of ascent of the grading is
650 feet. The road clings to the
nidi - of the mountain and when
the summit is attained it passes
across to the descent through -n
cut not more than eight feet deep."
M r. ('. says :
••The ascent in the seven miles
from Waynesville to the top is
about 650 feet, though the grade at
all points is uniform. Immediately
on passing the top. the gorge of
Scott's creek is struck; and this is
followed down the mountain sides.
until the mountain becomes a val-ley,
and soon, until the Tucka-seege
river and the mouth of Tuck-aseege
river is reached. And to
I that point the work, with more or
less completeness, has been con-ducted.
"From the top of the Balsam to
the Tuckaseege river is fourteen
miles. The elevation at the gap is
3,557 feet. Tbe elevation at tbe
mouth of Scott's creek, which is
near tbe eastern approach of the
Cowee tunnel, is 1,977 feet So in
fourteen miles there is a descent of
1,380 feet, seven-eighths of which
is made in the first eight miles, the
most of it in fact in the first four
miles, where the descent is four
feet to the hundred—a little over
two hundred feet to tbe mile.''
The work on the east side of the
gap has been done by free labor
and is complete. But" a great deal
of tbe work has been done else-where
by convict labor. Tbe work
is extremely heavy. The valley
work is easy enough, but there is
a tunnel of 200 feet wide and 130
deep, which is far advanced. Ther?
Is a heavy cut through rock for 200
yards. Cowes turnout is another
laborious job. It is through solid
rock. The work is progressing fa-vorably.
Mr. Cameron gives a full account
of the management of the convict
labor, including sleeping, food, san-itation,
&c, and the report is fa-vorable
every way They are nev-er
worked in bad or raiiiey weath-er.
They are warmly clad. This
great Western Carolina will be
completed mainly through convict
labor. This experiment shows how
crime can be made subsidiary to
authority, and be conducive to the
ynblic welfare.
Drjiirm-ll Out ol lb,. AfcyluiM.
Ralt'igli Observer.
The facts of the murder of his
sister Mollie, by the young man.
Thomas .1. De.larnett. in a bouseof
ill fame, at Danville. Virginia, are
doubtless fresh in the minds of the
public, the crime having created
an almost unparalleled sensation
in all parts of the country. De-
.larnett, who was at the time an
employee of the Richmond and
Danville Railroad Company, and
whose home was in Sockiugkam
county. N. ('.. found his sister- in
the house and shot her with a pis-tol,
killing her almost instantly.
This was in the autumn of 1880. in
February, 1881, be was tried, and
acquitted on the ground of insani-ty,
Dr. Eugene Grissom being call-ed
as an expert to prove his ini-soundness
of mind. In June, 1881,
De.larnett was brought to the In-sane
Asylum at Raleigh; upon ap-plication
of the commissioners of
Rockingham county. There were
at the time conflicting opinions as
to his sanity Since his confine-ment
in the Asylum he has con-ducted
himself well, it is said, and
was allowed certain privileges ac
corded to those whose mental im-provement
is plain.
Ii appears thai an application
was made II lew days since lor his
release from the asylum. This,
Dr. (■ rissom says, tbe board of di-rectors
did not oppose, but prefer-red
on account ol* the character >^
the ease and ils history that the
matter should bed, cided by a court
of law. So a writ of liabea* cor/ntx
was sued out. returnable before
Chief Justice Smith, at Chambers,
Tuesday. The prisoner was brought
before his honor. Counsel appear-ed
for him, anil Drs. i".. Grissom,
James McKee, A. W. Knox and .1.
A. Sexton appeared and testified
to the present sanity of the priso-ner,
and he stepped out a free man
again.
De-laruelt was interviewed by a
reporter the moment the trial end-ed,
lie is quite ■<■ hands) young
fellow, anil looks in much better
health than when brought her.- in
1881. He says that he was 22
years old last August, and he does
not look a day older, with rosy
cheeks and a youthful countenance.
He says that his physical health
gave way in 1879, and following
came mental troubles. His family
was considering the idea, he states,
ofplacing him in the asj lum months
before he killed bis 'sister. The
railway company" suspended him
thirty days on account of his men
till troubles, he further says. As
to the slaying of his sister. DeJar-ne!
t says at the time he was un-conscious
that he was committing
any offence for which anybody in
the world would blame him. and
thought that he was doing right
tie was dead to every moral im-pulse,
lie was in ihis slate of
mind for several months alter he
i as in the asylum, bul then began
to realize bis crime ami In look at
ii us cither people did. DeJarnetl
made this statement in a matter of
i.iei way and without any hesita-tion,
tier saiil further that for
mouths before he killed his sister
Ic- -lepi but little, ate little, was a
wreck: that he often contemplated
suicide, and once had nearly com-pleted
preparations for taking his
own life. During the trial he was
very quiet and at its conc'usion
went down the street. In iheaf
ternoou be left for his home, which
is at M ivlield. Koekingham county.
!lo{£ KilliMg Time.
. WlaHta Constitution.
There's a good deal of sentiment
in tin1 memories that hang about
the hog. When- is there a festival
that compares in solid enjoyment
with "hog killing time" on an old
plantation ! How many a time
have I sat OU the warm side of a
big fire iii the cold of December
dawn and licked my half-frozen
chops as 1 watched the sleek car-casses
being drawn and quartered,
or hung over the huge scalding pot,
like a young Macbeth over the
witches' caldron.
How the glories of those festive
occasions come Hooping into my
mind as I write! The first troph-ies
thatcame to the youngsters who
were happy enough to be present,
were the bladders that blown up
and tied, opened a game of im-promptu
foot ball, or dried and laid
away, were exploded on Christinas
as the opening gun. Then came
the tails tube roasted in the em-ben
of this rue. or that, and slay
the demon that was unchained in
the youthful stomach, while the
hogs were laid on a rail pile to
freeze during the night. The next
day came the spare ribs with their
crisp and cheeseing fat, and the
backbone with its unutterable mar-row.
These elemental delights past,
then came the more intricate pro-cess
of cutting tbe leaf lard into
little white blocks that were thrown
into the pots from which came the
sweetest and purest lard, ami those
dry brown bits into which all the
savor and the essence and the soul
of the hog seemed imprisoned—the
cracklings ! (Stop a moment! par-don
this emotion. There—it is
over!) And from the cracklings
and fatty bread, and the head
cheese aud tbe chitterlings, and the
smoked Jowls, and the brains, and
the liver, and the shoulders and
then the feet, first boiled and then
fried in batter. Aud after tbe over-worked
sausage grinder that wheez-ed
and soughed as it was well nigh
choked to death with chunks of fat
and strips of lean, or strangled to
death with red pepper and salt, or
tickled to death with sage leaves,
but nevertheless filled pans, pots
and skins and maws with odorous
sausage, until it must have itself
been astonished at what it had
done. And then the mince meat,
which is at once the meeting point
and the resultant of all the edible
felicities. And last of all—alter
every part and particle of this
precious animal, save and ex-cept
the brain and haslets,
had been absorbed with thanks
and praise—the old smokehouse
with its smoldering fire of hickory
chips in tbe pit dug in the, centre
of its floor, its winding rat holes
h united the winter through by keen
young sportsmen, and its vague
and blackened rafters beyond the
aspirations of all save the most
daring climbers, and their slender
cross sticks from which were clus-tered
festoons of sausage links
sweetening in their skins as nuts
in their shells—genial middlings
on white oak splits and hams that
ripened and grew llavorous in their
seclusion, absorbing month after
month the aroma of the earth, and
of the sifted ashes that were sprin-kled
over them, and of the sweet
chips that burned beneath them,
and of the odorous smoke that
floated about them, and of the
night winds that Stole through the
loosely shingled roof above them.
This is all very foolish. It is
fashionable now to berate the hog,
mainly. 1 think, because hogkilling
has become a business now instead
of a sentiment, and because hogs
are killed in slaughter pens rather
than in open woods, and sausage
meat or beef rather than pork, and
hams sweetened in a night with
sugar and cured ill a day with
Chemicals rather than with the
gentle influences bred of air and
earth and forest and in long patient
vigils that nature requires of all
things she brings to perfection.
Th,- Ilailroarf .llontfli..
:\e fnter-OicaH.
There are live railroad monarchies
in this country. The oldest ami
richest is presided over by William
II. Vaiulcrbili. whose father creat-ed
it and bequeathed it to his sou,
notwithstanding his own harsh
judgment. "William is a fool." It
may be called an hereditary mon-archy.
Jay Gould is the second
king of the rail, and lie built him-self
up With the help of .lames
Fisk, William M. Tweed. Judge
Barnard andothers. Hisiuonarcby
is a vast empire founded by his
own genius and his matchless ener-gy
('. i'. lltiDtington is another
right royal magnate of transporta-tion.
His system ol'roads is not
finished, but will embrace a net-work
extending from the Pacific
eoasl to several Atlantic seaports.
New York and Newport News be-ing
among the number. The South-ern
Pacific, the Sunset route in
Texas, and the Chesapeake and
Ohio railroad are the chief links in
his chain. This system bids fair to
be a formidable rival to the other
two mentioned. Mr. Huntington,
formerly of San Francisco, and now
of New York, is a man of great
power, the architect of his own for
nine, and a man who has escaped
the reproaches heaped upon either
V'anderbilt or Gould.
As a fourth may be mentioned
the system of roads which are own-ed
in Boston, and controlled, not
by one man. but bj a syndicate of
capitalists quite as energetic anil
pushing as Mr. Could, but less
grasping and more liberal. In this
monarchy maybe included the At
chison, Topeku & Santa Fe, which
now connects the Missouri river
with the l'acili 'can. aud will
control the Australian commerce;
and the Chicago, Burlington &
Qiiiney, which gives Chic go com
maud of the great west, and is a!-
;. |y providing a formidable rival
lor the Union Pacific system
The fifth monarchy is that which
commands the great agricultural
district of the northwest, and in-cludes
rivals in its organization.
This is controlled by II. 11. Porter.
Marvin llughitt. Alexander Milch
ell, James Hill. Albert Keep and
Henry Yillard. tl Wind pool'
player.
Whatever may be the personnel
of these empires, it is reasonably
ceil: ill thai I iie systems named are
rapidly absorbing all the railroads
ol this country, which are links in
the chain of through transporta-tion,
it is safe to say that when
the schemes now in process ofexe-
Cillion have been carried out either
one of these lines will have more
miles of road and do more business
than all the roads combined which
belong to neither of the systems.
Not that the actual ownership of
the railroads w ill be thus unified.
but that the management is rapid-ly
drifting into this live told divi-sion.
In order to keep his present
supremacy, ascompared with other
railway magnates, Mr. Vanderbilt
finds it necessary to convert some
of his government bonds into the
securities of the railroad- belong
iug in the fifth kingdom. Other-wise
he might find himself at the
mercy of rivals.
Ii may be remembered that the
railroad commission in New York.
already referred to, may prove a
veiv important factor in politics.
: The last Legislature of that State
created the commission, leaving
the filling of the appointments un-der
the law to the Governor elect
'. ed last week. It is well known
that the similar commission in Re
publican Illinois has accomplished
a great deal toward establishing
the rights of the people as against
monopolies, (iov. Cleveland can-not
afford to appoint a board
which will truckle to the monopo-lists.
If be does, a reaction will
set in against him which will sweep
him out of politics. If he is wise,
he will appoint one Republican on
that board. In this State the mi-nority
party has always been al-lowed
one representative In a di
rect way monopoly can never be a
political issue, no party or candid-ate
ever openly avowing sympathy
with monopoly ; but the people are
quick to understand the real situa-tion,
and know who are their ac-tual
friends. In the impending
crisis the very strength of the mo-nopolists
will be their weakness,
but the struggle will fully test the
reserve streugtb of the people, and
expose the hypocrisy of those who
pretend to be the friends of the
producers and shippers, while real-ly
obedient to the behests of the
transportation monopolist!.-.
II-.i-iiu. :n..l Tariff.
Washington Post, 2lst.
The correllative questions of tar-ill'
and internal revenue reductions
are engaging the attention of those
Congressmen now in the city and
forming a substantial share of tbe
specials scut to outside papers. It
has been pretty well decided, bv
those in a position to know all that
can be known on the subject, that
the reduction of the internal reve-nue
will form the burden of the
recommendations in Commissouer
ltaum's report; and that Secrctary
b'olger and President Arthur will
respectively indorse his ideas in the
main. The abolition of all these
taxes, except upon whiskey, is the
present plan of lien. Raum. Sec-retary
I'olger is understood to lie
favorable to this to the extent of
all the omitted laxes except that
on tobacco, which he will recom-mend
to be retained for the present.
Chief Clerk Conquest Clark, of
the internal revenue bureau, is
quoted as saying that Judge Kel-ly's
proposed bill for the abolition
of the entire system is impractica-ble,
and that a reduction of the
whiskey tax to fifty cents, a slight
reduction on the tobacco tax, and
the measure known as the -little
internal revenue bill," abolishing
the taxes on bank checks, matches,
proprietary medicines and bank
deposits is as far as it is possible
to go.
The called meeting of the ways
and means committee did not bring
a quorum together yesterday and
an effort will be made to secure
one today at 12 o'clock. Chair-man
Kelly and Messrs. Kasson,
Krrett and Speer were present and
discussed the best means of getting
a quorum but no business was at-tempted.
Mr. -McKiuley. of Ohio,
and Mr. Russell, of -Massachusetts,
will probably be present to-day.
The work which may be done by
this committee is delayed by the
fact that the tariff commission is
not yet ready to reporl. and it was
said after the meeting yesterday
thai .there would be correspondence
between the committee and the
tariff commission. If il shall ap-pear
that the commission will not
have iis report ready before the
meeting Of Congress, then it is
probable that tin mmittee will
adjourn and not undertake its work
until December. The principal
matter before it is the preparation
of a revenue bill, and not much can
be done in this direction until the
the report of the tariff commission
is made.
Hon. W. D. Kelley. chairman of
the committee, has received a dis-patch
from Secretary Porter of the
tariff commission, stating that the
members of that body are working
night and day. but cannot possibly
be ready with their report before
the fourth of December. Judge
Kelley slated that in view of this
fact the committee, so far as it is
represented here, would adjourn
until the meeting of Congress.
The Trnnail ol VMM.
St. ientific A nu ricau.
One of the greatest astronomi-cal
epochs of the century will oc-cur
on Wednesday, the 0th of De-cember.
The planet Venus will
then make her way acrossthe sun's
disk, and American observers are
this time on the right side of the
earth to behold the rare phenome-non.
The actual sight ofthe trans-it,
except for its hearing on science,
possesses no special interest. It is
not a glorious spectacle, like a to-tal
solar eclipse nor a wierd com
bi nation of celestial beauty, like a
toiul lunar eclipse, nor an awe-in-spiring
exhibition of omnipotent
power, like a grand aurora, nor a
startling display of celestial pyro-technics,
like a downfall of mete-ors,
nor a sudden apparition of a
great comet sweeping the skies
with its gossamer tail.
A tiny black spot will cut sharp-ly
into the sun's border, move slow-ly
over his disk. and. after a pas-sage
of nearly six hours, will Slid
denly disappear. This is all that
will be perceptible to the naked
eve observer. Hut to the astTOUO
iner and the tolescoput the event
is lull of the deepest significance.
Through its instrumentality a solu-tion
is sought of one of the noblest
problems ever elaborated by the
highest exercise of human reason.
To measure the unapproachable, is
the |K)int at issue, and never, in
any previous combat with immensi-ty,
have astronomers had at their
command such resources forbecom-ing
victors in the contest. The la-bor
demanded is of the most severe
and delicate nature, even when as-sisted
by the most perfect instru-ments
that have been invented.
The utmost accuracyis required, or
theresnlt will be a failure. Meas-urements
must be accumulatedlike
grains of sand upon the seashore.
Thousands of observations aie of-ten
required in correcting an in-finitesimal
error. The grand ob-ject
for which nearly one hundred
transit expeditions have been or-ganized,
is to acquire the right ol
adding or subtracting less than
one tenth of a second to the solar
parallax, from which the sun's dis
tance from the earth is deducted.
The problem of the sun's distance
is of paramount importance, and
fully justifies the outlay of brain.
labor, and money lavished on this
uncertain means of reaching its so-lution.
It is the unit or yardstick
ofcelestialmeasurement, the stand-ard
by which everything outside of
the earth in the material universe
is measured, excepting the distance
of tbe moon. A mistake here makes
all celestial computation inaccurate,
the diameter of every planet, the
radius of every orbit, the distance
of every star. Thus the nearest
fixed star in the northern hemis-phere
is til Cygui. Its distance is
estimated at about 306,000 times
the sun's distance or earth's radius.
This means :«iC,000 times 92,885,-
000 miles. If there be an error of
half a million miles in this estimate
of the sun's distance, it will readily
be seen that the error in the star's
distance takes on gigantic propor-tions.
The 6th of December will there
fore be a great day on the annals of
the nineteenth century. Transit
observers will do their" utmost to
obtain a more accurate determina-tion
of the sun's distance. If they
do not reach perfect success, anil
there is little hope of such a result,
they will have the satisfaction of
feeling that they are laboring in a
noble cause. For the observations
made during the transit of 1882
will be a rich legacy to aid the as-tronomers
who. 122 years hence,
will observe the nexttransit in 2004,
i:.li.. iiiian in Xorlh 4'nrolma*
BtbHeal Recorder.
Dr. J. L. M. Curry, the efficient
general agent of thel'eabody Kund,
sends us a ropy of the proceedings
of the Board of Trustees of the
aforesaid I'uml. It is a bearer of
glad tidings to our peopu nccrn
ing the great educational wink
which is being done throughout
: the South. There is. however,
much ignorance among our people.
. and there is no higher ilntj which
attaches to every good citizen,
! whether be be in public or private
! life, than the encouragement of the
■ grand work that is now being car
I riedforward with such zeal. In
\ North Carolina, -n.ee October, 1881,
i there has been spent $6,485.00 of
| the Peabody Fund in aid of our
public schools, institutes and schol-
] arships at Nashville. Add to tiiis
1 the $.114,710 raised by State and
local taxation for this purpose and
some idea may be had of the ben-
. elits of our public school system
Add to this the winds of the gen
oral agent regarding our Slate. He
says: '-The censusstatistics make
no flattering exhibition as to the
educational advantages and attain-ments
of the people, ami yet there
is no Southern State where public
olliceis. communities ami citizens
are more thoroughly alive to the
need of new- schools, or are accoili
plishing more hopeful and fruitful
results." We all know this to bo
true, and are grateful that such
the case, yet with it all comes tin
impression thai with a State
containing a total population of
1,399,750 with a school population
Of 460,334, there are 145,391 illit-erate
rotert and an enrollment of
only 225,606 scholars. Such a tact
should strengthen every Christian
as well as every philanthropist ami
, property owner to even greater
zeal.
>• ICtfii- V.I.
\ - Y'ort Sun.
Kstecincd Democratic contcinpo
raries that arc publishing tables to
show that on the basis of last
week's voting tin1 Democrats will
have 310 of the 101 voles in the
electoral college in 188-1 are count-ing
their goslings too soon. The
eggs are not laid yet.
Kailr.iH'l ('oiniiii-.-io:i«.
I.'Kiisvil!. i 'outier-fovmetl.
Suite railroad commissioners can
be most scrvioehlo acting as n
court to hear complaints, to rectify
abuses, to inform Ihe public, to
gather and elucidate information
relating to transportation ques-tions
and to bring about II better
understanding between ihe rail
road companies and Ihe people
whom they Serve. When this duly
is well performed, when these re-ports
are distinguished by a tbor
ough knowledge ol the wants of
tin1 people and a proper apprecia-tion
of the difficulties of railroad
management, they will command
public attention and excite public
approbation to such an extent that
railroads will not hesitate lo adopt
them. Hut the attempt to "ab-sorb
the railroads," as Mr. Iluiirj
George advises, or to clothe com-missioners
with absolute power
over them, as some of our ex-changes
urge, is to invite commer-cial
and political disaster.
TbnuhfMl l«r *malt fttVOMh
Chatham Recotd,
We do most heartily rejoice aI
the defeat of I.. C. Edwards, whose
despicable treachery has only I* en
equalled Benedict Arnold ami Ju-das
Iscariot. And to think that
little Frank Darby should have
run so short a race! Well they are
all defeated and we are Intel)
thankful.
Smikr Hiii.n in NoffMlfetr.
Charlotte Ot >
Mr. John II liarnes. who lives in
the upper edge of the county, near
the Cabarrus line, came to the citj
yesterday with a hand thai was
swelled up abno.-l to the size ot his
head, the result of a copperhead
snakebite. Mr. Barnes was cut-ting
wood to cook breakfast with
Wednesday morning, and as be
reached down to turn over a stick.
he felt a pain in his hand as if a
splinter had been run in it. He
paid no attention to it for the mo-ment,
but il began to swell at a
rapid rate ami he realized the fact
that be was bitten by some pois-onous
reptile, lb hastened to the
house and drank a quart of_whis
key. while his aril, was tightlj
corded. After he had become a
little easy, Mrs. Banies went out
to the woodpile and pulling the
jogs about with a lee. soon dis.-ov
' ered the reptile jnd killed it. It
was a copperhead snake. Mr.
Barnes suffered intensely from the
bite, ami says that it was only a
the most liberal potations of liquor
that saved his life.
Thr 'I,,.. «•«; ll.m iiohr.,.,,.
New 1 'orit Situ.
It will, without doubt, lie inter
eating to your readers all over Ihe
United States to learn something
of the man who defeated Bobesou
in the first Congressional district
in our State. Thomas M. l-'errcll is
a native ol (ilassboro, Cumberland
county, where be now resides. No
man within the limits of our Stab-has
a fairer record than Mr. Fer
roll His progress up fortune's
ladder seems more like a romance
than reality. Born of poor, honest
parents, at B tender age he found
himself one of the waiter boys of
a glass factory, whose business it
was to assist tbe workmen and do
errands about tbe furnace fires. As
he grew to manhood he became a
skillful workman, educatedhimself
in the teeth of adversitv, and as
soon as he came to realize the tyr-anny
under which be and his lei
low workmen were tailoring, set
about a work of reform, with Others.
To-day he stands before the work-bagmen
of south New Jersey as
their chief benefactor ami friend.
He was the prime mover in organ
hang the (ilassblowei's League, the
influence of which brought about
an act of the Legislature eompell
ing the glass companies topay their
hands in legal currency instead of
the hated shin-plasters, long in use.
representing store pay..
For his heroic efforts in behalf of
his fellow-laborers he. was black
listed by the glass companies, who
formed a counter league, and to day
if Tl ias M. I'errell should Seek
to assume his trade as a glass
blower, he would have to go to
Canada or elsewhere outside the
United states. In deflanceof pow
erfiil organizations seeking his de-feat,
Mr. Ferrell. a few years ago.
was elected to the assembly by a
hamlsome'niajorily. and. following
up this advantage, one year ago he
ran for State Senator, and was
elected by nearly 500 majority in a
county claiming a like majority for
the Hepiiiiliean party. Mr. I'errell
is a small man in stature, but is
keen-eyed, active and intelligent,
lie has the faculty of saying much
in a few words, and always lo Ihe
purpose. His executive ability has
been tried iii many ways and been
found lo be of the first order. Ib-is
plain and frugal in bis habits
Such is the man who succeeds
Kobe son.
Thr l.a» . .f <'*»i|irii»nliali.
Elisabeth I >A- / ■ -
Winston was not elected to Con
gross in Scales' District but thai
■•law of providentialconrpeuNatiou"
runs, even Into the wicked ways of
politics, ami Col. Winston, ol
Greenback fame, received uineteeii
\ utes, a majority, for tow nsbip con
stable. Il was very kind of Dcm
ocra's !o thus remember him in his
hour of anguish. In the human
organization there is nothing more
striking than that universal law ol
i peiisalion. .
The (Iroei,shorn PATRIOT
Humiliates Gen, A. M. Scales for
(Sovernor in 1884, We lent our
feeble efforts iii that direction iii
1880 aud are ready to do so again
with the light now in view.—Hick
e i\ ' 'ai >>!lui'tti.
II .'.> liu. ...
If v.v knew thai every particle
of stale., musty or adulterated food
not only poisoned Inn weakened
lied;, and brain :
If we knew thai a lillist) i Kg foi
breakfast might causi us to make
a bad bargain before diUiiei:
If U'e knew that the milk of one
unhealthy or feverish cow i iii in-fect
with its distemper the i iilk of
20 other cows;
If we knew that our coal atrtves
were continually sending forth pi<
talic vapors until t-i breathe :
If we knew that, every useless
muscular motion, the result of hah
ii. such as leg swinging while sit
ting or walking nervously about to
no purpose is in expenditure ol
nerve force for naught as i^ money
idly Hung into the sea ;
If we knew that every tighl til
it ing, binding and compaBssing
garment was in the expenditure ot
strength uccessflry in wearing
equivalent in the •arrj'lng of
pounds of needless weight :
If we knew that the person who
call sit perfectly sliill and hold his
or her mind diieelly lo I lie presepl
moment and the things ill the mo
meat, and not allow it lo go "iay
ing off in longings _'" Pic place"
w here i' most desires iu- bo»:\ to
be. was hoarding op stn »t;:ii td lie
used as occasion shall require :
If we knew that we who despise
thus the day of small things and
go on in all things a- we do now.
would in a few years' time lie vain
Iv applying to some doctor to link
er up our w urn out bodies :
If we kllCW that "very bodily
|taiii, eveiy feeling ol lassitjude.
weariness, whether weariness of
tbe spirit or weariness of the
body, was a reproving and u.'inon
ishing sermon against some act ol
disobedie ice either nut "i re-mote
: ,
If we knew how blindl) i d stn
pidly we warred at I insl
our physical and m n}al happl
III-.- :
Ifwekneu that the mind, which
schemes, plans, studies. i>u\..sells,
makes bargains.builds houses. na\ -
igates ships, gets ns into dilBeul
ties gets us out again, net' M the
drama.paints on the - I ui -
out of marble the i
from the platform, wi r
lights the battle, disco.
tineiit. directs the va >
dy, manages the ling :
keys of the piano, is not . -■ i n
myth 1 mt an invisible
in ns built ii)' out of our »
iin proving ns as the body improve
ami influenced lor good or ill, foi
quickness or slowness, for keen
IU-SS or stupidity by every breath
we inhale, by the quality and pu
rity of what we buy. bj the el.-an
lincssof our bodies, by the lit and
ease of our clothing, by the pros
once and inlliiem f the people
about us. by our habits of method
and precision or the reverse :
If we knew, believed and real
ized all this what then '.
A