Ligonier Banner., Volume 15, Number 25, Ligonier, Noble County, 7 October 1880 — Page 3

i’ i . * S f : The Zigonier Banner The ZLigonier Banner, J. B. STOLL, Editor and Prop’r. LIGONIER, A : : + INDIANA, Te A 85 A MO T YWA NIRRT S S TARSA TN SR SENATOR BAYARD. B A I SRS b His Speech at the Great New York Meeting —Wretched Falsehoods in Regard to the south—The Candidates Contrasted? ‘Senator Bayard began his speech by calling attention 'to the fact that a new generation, North and South, now exercises the franchise since the close of the war, fifteen years ago. The boy of fifteen then iy now a mature man of thirty. ‘The constitutional amendments adopted in the interval have been declared by the Democeratic candidate as “inviolable,” and if called to the Presidency he should deem it his duty to resist with all his power any attempt to impair or evade them. The Tlhirteenth Amendment, said the. speaker, toreyer abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a phaishment for crime, The Fourteenth Amendment ereated equality of citizenship before the law ;provided for representation in Congress; . excluded 'iwr,-.(ms fl'()lgl hu]lfiug oflice, either State or Federal, whe had engaged in the rebellion, untess relieved by a two-thirds vote of both branches of Congress; secured the validity of the publie debt of the United States, including pensions and bounties, from ever being (l;uvstinmr«l, and expressly prohibited the Tnited States or any State from assuming or paving any debt or-obligation incurec¢d in aidof msurrectionorrebellion nghinst the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation,, and ail such debts; obligations; and c¢laims should be held illegal and void. The l!'ifu-(‘ntb prevented the denial or abridg:ment by the United States or any State of the right to vote, . At i L

Let me pause here for one moment to comment upon a charge fluently made and daily, repeated by the Republican press and their orators—that in theevent of Democeratic success the war debts of the South, the loss of the slaves and claims for other losses grow: ingout of the war, pensions for their wounded, ete.,” would be paid out of the United States Treéasury. This requires the combined votes of a Democratic majority in both Houses, and the f'uppmvul of a Democratic President. . 5 taa !

There is a proverbial difliculty abeout proving negatives, and to attempt to meet by proof every apparition and chimera that partisan ingenuity can create, and partisan wralice and falsehood can suggest, wonld be idle and useless, especially before sensible audiances. The best reply to all these wild, malicious, and foolish assertions'is that such payments would be impossible. o s

. The goqd sense or the honesty of that man Is suri,nusély to beé impugned who does notread in the plain mandate of.the Fourteenth: Ampendment the absolute seal of illegality :UN{ nullity set upon all sych claims; so that, until khe Constitution is #gmended by the con-; current vote of two-thirds of all the States, such tlaims asthose styled “Southern Claims”’ are mere ghosts to alarm the silly and unthinking, or to furnish the unscrupulous with dishonest arguments, . s ; And here let me say that, having been for a number of years in Washington; 1 have -learned, incidentally, who were the real bene'ficiaries of the claims paid by Congress in the past teh years of the class styled ‘Southern claims,” and in almost every instance the great part of the money flowed into the pockets of Northern and.very “loyal” assignees, who had bought up these claims for a song from their impecunions Southern owners, and then, employing distinguished counsel at the ‘North, ‘the whole claim beecamne suddenly clothed in the uniform of loyglty and patriotic duty, and no odor of its Soutliern and danger‘ous origin could be perceived. At the great guthering of Republican ladlies and gentlemen at. the Academy last week, there were lawyers, “ bankers and statesmen who had more money in their pockets from “Southern clpims,” altowed hy Republican commissioners and Republican courts, than.the poor South ceverreceived since the war, or ever will receive from now until the day of judginent. The checks of many of those wealthy and distinguished citizens must have tingled with sh:iné¢ when they heard the Democratic party assailed for paying ‘“southern claims,” and they knew how large ‘a portion had gone into their own pockets., . : .No; gentlemen; it is' trifling with your intelligence in the face of the history of the times and the plain prohibitions 'of the. Constitution to téll you the Treasury is in'danger from Southern ¢laims, growing out of the ~war. Just now it suits the radical press and orators to seek to fix the stigma of repudiation on the Southern States and people, and in thesame bre .th they would have you believe that the{' propose to pay every claim, private and public, in full. ' - - . WHAT THE SOLID SOUTH MEANS., _The speaker referred at length to the recent speech of Senator Conkling. Believing that it is always easier to.be violent than just, he suid, and that if the flames of passion can only be kindled, argument and reason are quickly consumed, it seems to have been de“liberately decided by the Republican managers that a revival of the passions of the war and the stimulation of sectional antagonisnis form to-day their best chance for inducing the Ameri¢an people to continue public power in their hands. : e . They raise thée cry of the solid South, and declare it must be antagonized by a solid North. But if the South be ‘Solid for those things the North needs and desires, then all reason forantagonism is gone, and the solidity "of both sections for the same end and purposeis demanded. What does the South, as i section, seek to do which the North should fear? Does the éxecution of any scheme of gdvernment or policy now proposed by the Southern people, or the politieal party which controls them, forbode disaster to the ecitizens of the North, or to the Government of the United States? If it does, then lam opposed to it and them, and will vote and act in opposition. If I believed the success of the Demoeratic party im&werilcd national honor or interest, or involved injustice to any member of the Union, then I should cease to be a Democrat. But convinced as I am that the yunity of our people isessential to our ftrength and safety, and that justice and:good will L mnong our p«f.o%)lc are the true corner stones {in the temple of our liberty, I propose to lay the foundations broad and wi(f()e and deep in ‘the hyurts_ of our countrymen, and to assist’ no party organization which is tainted with sectionalism. Our system fof Government is based on voluntary support by the citizen, From within his breast springs the fountain of duty and affection which flows down to join the mighty river of poptlar sentiment and patriotic devotiom, which is to fill the land with prosperity and build up its true strength. The inextinguishable hatred of a sectional party makes all this impossible. o :

The Soufhern States are solid for local selfrovernment in each State, uninterfered with hy extraneous power. This is: what each Northern State insists upon under the Constitution, and actually enjoys. They are solid in asking that the tasks of Government in' gll its higher positions shall not be.committed to the hands of ignorance and weakness, but to individuals rendered competent by education, and fitted by natural qualities to S)(-rform the funetions. The North seeks to do this, and votes down incompetence and ignorance whenever it can. .

The South is Stl’lid in seeking advancement in. all that tends to its miiterial prosperity, and through its representatives in Congress strives to obtain adequate appropriations for. light-houses on-its coasts, Post-offices and Custom and Court-houses for the transaction of its commerce and business. All these ap})ropri’wﬁons‘ are under- Federal dontrol and or Federal purposes. And Northern repre-: sentatives are; just as active and eager for similar appropriations for their localities. The South is solid in responding to friendly treatment and kindly sympathy with mutual confidence and support, and responding to contumely and vilification and injustice with indignation and resentment. . = i

The South.is solid for retrenchment), reform, economy, and good Government,. State and Federal, and should not the North be also solid in these things? : 111880 the South is.solid in favor of the election to the Presidency of one of the most distinguished captains in command of the armed ‘hosts that put an end:to 41l hope of separate and independent government of the Southern: State}f;. Is this a cause of apprehension to the North? ¥ SR dnaamd

But the South is also solid against a political party that has never ceased to hold its people up as ruffians and murglerers and repudiators; that has s&ngpathlzed onlgx with those who misruled an eggared it, and refused to tolerate that manly independence which is the birthright of American freemen, and without which they would be unworthy of respect. The ery of a solid South is but an attempt. to. renew unpatriotic animosities, and an unworthy resort of desperate party managers, ‘ il el ki

The South is not solid for anﬁf thing the North need apprehend, and its solidity has no feature and no result unfriendly to the prosperity of the entire Union, It is amazing that in a community so wide awake and intelligent as this, whose citizens speed on business and pleasure all over the land, ‘whose correspondence and business trans%ctions are coextensive with every corner of the Union, it amazes. me, 1 say, to see men and partiés venture to play upon popu-

lar credulity and supposed ignorance in relation to the condition of business and society in the Southern States. o

When 1 read the'lurid pictures drawn. by occasional m&n'espo'ndents of the Republican press in the North, and oftentimes, I am sorry to say, by Cabinet Ministers, Senators, d@ind other party leaders, descéribing the Southern States as abysses of crime and ruffianism, scenes of daily and nightly murder of an innocent black population seeking shelterinthe swamps by day and creeping back to their cabins at night in fear of their lives, I marvel at the temerity -of the bearers of falsehood, when the means of refutation lie so near at hand. : : Many of the relators of these tales of blood and suffering are noisy and J¢ud professors of ospecial regard for our national credit, but the pictures they draw, if true, would be almost. fatal to it ; but that is nothing if the trick can induce ignorant and timid voters to retain them longer in power,

Aprainst all these malevolent and fluent charges 1 place the actual condition of the south itselt in evidence., There are many forces at work in this broad land—forces of destruction and forces of conservation—and if hatred and injustice have their disciples and apostles; so- also, thank heaven, have truth and justice. : : ! In a paper of remarkable ability and interest, -prepared for the Fortnightly Review, and ‘published® in separate form .in Boston, *“ On the “Railroads of the United States, and their Effects on Farming and Production in that Country and Great Britain”’ Mr. Edward Atkinson of Massachusetts, after. a careful and extended personal inspection of the condition of the Southern States, and a masterly arrangement of the statisties of some of their productive industries, makes incidentally the following remarks: ‘ Reln

*The total production’'of gold and silver by the mines, mountaing and rivers of the whole world (according to Cernurelii’s latest statement) for twenty-seven years has been $4,400,4 937,000, and thie American totton crop for the last’ ten years has amounted to from $2,:‘)()()i()1‘)11‘000 to - $3,000,000,000 in - gold values.: Nince 1865 an industrial revolution hias occewrred in the States. made free by the war, such as never betore occurred; on the surtace there hag appeared to be wmisgovernment, fraud, political disturbance, want of stability, sometimes violence; but underlying this surface, apparently so deeply agitatedl, great industrial forces have becen quietly and surely working to the end indicated by the great crops of cotton, the ten last crops marketed exceeding the ten ante-war crops by nearly 6,500,000 bales, while the crop now being marketed will be far the largest ever grown.,” “ Al e o

~And then he remarks, with a logic whose force ileirrosist,il)l(é to candid minds, and which constitutes a complete and crushing answer. to the political slanderers and assailants of our fel{uw citizens of the South: : ; “Violence and anarchy can not have been the 1'111*: in a sectionthat has produced greater CTops ‘fp’r salo, and has at the same time been more self-sustaining than ever before in its history.” > . g . THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NEGRO. The jpuﬁukur also referred to the production of tobaiceo, rice and sugar in the South, and to the great revenues derived from them. As to the present industyial condition .of the South Ie sdid: But afortnight ago [ paida visit to/South Caro.ina to express my decp interest in the weliare of the- people of thit State, ;fml' I wish eyery man in: the North could have witnessed the assemblages that I did, an{ heard not méerely the addresses inade to the people, but the manner in which every ullusi_oTl to the union of the South and the duty df upholding ¢he honor and credit of the general Government was responded to. There 'was a- heartiness and sincerity that could not misundersfood. In the processions and mdetings were large numbers of mounted mcmhqr's of the “red-shirt clubs”’—they of whom | such blood-curdling accounts are iven in Republican newspapers. They all looked| to me like plain, hearty, home-spun furmers; resembling in every respect the {Comanry |of the State of Delaware or of New JOrR.: o »

But I had seen it often stated thatthe chiet occupation of the red-shirted riders was to shoot and intimidate the colored voters, and as I scanned the ranks of the long procession, I discovered scores upon scores of these dusky \Li('tims of imaginery; massacre riding upon wi 11-fed horses and mules, and cheering for Hanlcock und the whole Democratic ticket, with an ardor that was unmistakable. I had free and friendly talk with some of these ¢olored men, and ascertained they were generalIy the owners of the animals they were riding, and hdad come, some as far as forty miles, to swell the assemblage. and hear the speeches. They listened attentively; and to the statements of Mr, Hagood, the candidate for Governor, of the relative expenditures in the government of the State, they were especially attentive. y =

In several instances these colored men had forty acres of land under «cultivation; thirty acres in cotton, ten in corn; the whole labor was performed by the family and one mule. The product was about twenty bales of cotton and corn enough for the mule and the bread for the family. House rent was nothing; fuel novhing; clothing, in that climate, very little, Buttwenty bales of -cotton are worth: §sl,ooo, and I could not help thinking how many mechanics and laboring men in the North would be glad to exchange the net proceeds.of their year’s toil with some of these colored men .in Carolina. 3 .

Fellow-citizens, I would liketo say much to you on this subject, and endeavor to let you feel, as I did, how unjust and. untrue are the charges we hear made of the oppression of the colored people of the South by the whites. And sure am I if any man, who was not unwilling to see the truth, had been at my side during my visit to South Carolina, he would have come away assured that industry was the rule among the peple, and that the relations.of the races were quietly and happily regulating themselves, and but for the devils’ ‘work of seltish and unscrupulous politicians of the Radical party, there mever would be any serious| dificulty among the people there. - § . THE FINANCIAL QUESUION. :

‘The speaker reviewed at much length the financial history. ot the country during the past eleven years, in the course of which he said : st i . S . ;

It has been the labor and economy -of our country, favored by Providence with weather that permitted full crops at the time He visited the British Islands with deluges, and bestowed unfavorable seasons upon the agriculture of the continent. Redemption of Treasury notes has been made possible by what Horatio Seymour aptly calls ‘“the statesmanship of the plow.” . Let mé put the plain question to candid and intelligent men. .Is not the cotton crop of the Southern States to-day, and has it not for years past been, our chief item of export which enables us to maintain the balance of foreign trade in our favor? Ido not omit enr vast shipments of breadstuffs in the calculation, but I do aver that but for the industry of the Southern people and the production of their staples, the balance of trade would have been against us stesdily, and be so to-day, and that resumption would have been impossible. And yet Northern audiences, and here in this center of intelligence, are taught to believe the Southern States are inimical to Northern prosperity, and that a policy which digcourages their industry and alienates their affections and sympathies'is the safe, proper, and patriotic one to be followed. | | THE ELECTORAL FRAUD. = | - After referring also at much length to the manifest tendency of the Republican party toward centralization; to the infamies of the election laws, and of Commissioner Davenport’s theft of naturalization certificates from thousands of voters and his imprisonment ‘and intimidation of thousands more; to the hypocrisy -of the Hayes Administration’s pretension of ecivil service reform—* Snivel Seryvice Reform,” he said he once heard an eminent Republican Senator term it—and to the great danger to Republican institutions of the party in power using the immense army of officeholders as active instruments in aiding to .perpetuate that power, Mr. Bayard thus spoke of the events that followed the last. Presidential election : : In.the fall of 1876 the American people, by a large majority of both the popular vote and the electoral vote, elected Mr.Tilden President of the United States. But the Administration at Washington, swayed by the intemerate will and unscrupulous leadership of gecretm'y Chandler,who was theé Chairman of the Campaign Committee, aided and sustained a fraudulent perversion of the elections in Florida. and Leuisiana by the Boards of Ganvass and Returns, and succeeded in defeating the popular will. This was a refusal to surrender power, and it must never be forgotten that Jamc? iA. G(in'f%fi'llid wa.:e;t an active and il articipant in s great wrong. g?[et%s%istcd to put the peace of the country in great jeopardy, and the time for his signal rebuke has now arrived. For ninet%yem:s the people of the several States of this Union held their elections under their own a¥encies, and without Federal interference. f there was fraud or violence overthrowing a fair election, the House of Representatives was the sole judge of the elections and returns of its own members, and the question could be contested and decided there. :

Now, under one pretext. or another, although all inspeectors and judges of elections are appointed solely by State authority, and find the measure of their powers under State laws only, yet existing acts of Congress assume to control them by deputy marshals, whose power is unmeasured. ; It is also a fact which discloses the animus of this whole assumption of control over elections, that every appointmentis of a partisan

character, and ‘every arrest and prosecution has been of members of the party.in opposition to the Administration. It has not%een justice, but party success, which has been songht. b G e shs =

Fellow citizens, one of the inevitable results of a long continuance of power in the | hands of one man or a set of men, is that they | come to believe and to act on the belief that i they constitute the body politie, and that the | powers delegated to them for public use and safety are virtually given them for their own perpetuation in power. THE CANDIDATES, - And now of the representative men who | have been chosen to lead the party organiza- | tions.” Of Gen. Gartield, the-}ie{)ubliCan candidate, I wishito'speak justly; but I will not, ‘in a spirit of false courtesy, ascribe to him virtues I do not believe him to possess. i - He was Chairman of the Commi}ttee‘ on Appropriations when corruption and extravagance ran riot in Washington City; when Boss { Shepherd and his crew were drawingtens of millions to lay rotten pavements in those streets, with faise measurements and double prices. And in allthe carnival of roguery from 1869 until 1875, when a Democratic majority | put an end to the lobby and Congressional plunder, where p’aﬂ the voice and the vote of I Mr. Gartield? If he sought reform he did it so | quietly as never to be heard. Ileave the reports of committees, controlled by men of his l own party association, to describe his per- { sonal connection with disereditable transactions. S ; l . ; - Of his associate-upon the ticket, Gen. Arthur, it is not needtul for me to speak in New York, for the merchants in this city have reason to-know him. In 18721 came over here, a member of 1 committee of the Senate to investigate the affairs of le New York Custom House, which was alleged to be a mere politi- { cal machine, Mr, Arthur then being the (L 01l l lector. Despite every effort to conceal them, | the.grossest abuses and corruptions were laid | bare.. When I recall the cases of insulting, tyi I':\nui(‘:ll{trnunm'nt of wealthy and honorable | citizens Here by the brood of special Treasury } agents and ofticial harpies and ruflians, I won- | der that public revolt did not occur,

Under the infamous moiety systein no merchant was secure against the seizure of his bhooks and most private papers. Such men as Jayne and Frank K. Howe terrorvized the mercantile community and plundered the merchants at will. Custom lHouse bribery was the régular practice, and Custom House appointments were mere counters in - exchange for political influence. o

All this was proven; was. published in the Tribune, for Horace Greeley then controlled it; and in the Sun, and partly in the Herald. . The committeec went back to Washington, the majority to send in a whitewashingreport and the minority to téll facts, as they found them:. Gen. Grant, then President, who will never and can never see any thing wrong in one of his party subordinates, took no other action than through Williscuns, his AttorneyGeneral, to order the merchants to be prosecuted for paying bribes to his officials. But no changes were made. .Public sentiment® however, was aroused; and, finally, when a firm so eminent and so respected as Phelps, Dodge & Co. were robbed.under the forms of law of ¥267,000 in one amount, and when'it was shown, and ¢an to-dav be proven, thatinhonesty and equity they had- over-paid more duties thah they ever under-paid; still no reparation was made. A reform in the laws that permitted such outrages was: accomplished, but it was done against the strongest eftorts of the Administration and their leading mémbers in both Houses. E = 1n.1879, the President of the United States and Mr. Sherman, the Séeretary of the Treasury, communicated to the Senate, ‘and it was made public, that the New York Custom House, for a long period. »f time, had been used to manage and control political atfaird. That the duties of the officials were regarded as subordinate to their partisan woﬁ{, and they had made the Custom House a center of political management. That, under the control of Messrs. Arthur and Cornell, theCustom Hduse would be one of the principal political agencies of New York, and *“in order to have the important office of Colleetor efliciently and honestly administered,” the President suspended Mr. Arthur and nominated Gen. Merritt in his place. Mr. Sherman formally claimed that he had established by proot the existence of gross abuses in Mr. Arthur's administration, and - declared, in his letter of Jan. 15, 1879, that the *‘ restoration of Messrs.' Arthur and Cornell to oflice would be a serious injury to the public service, involving a loss of revenue and an increased expenditure.” That is to say, President Hayes and Secretary -Sherman, in 1879, fully indorsed in the strongest language the report of Messrs. Bayard and Casserly, muade to the Senate in 1872, It is:plain that Garfield and Arthur will be a weak repetition of »rant and Colfax. To hope for reform from men: of such antecedents is unreasonable. I have said nothing ot either of them except to cite the statements of their. own party associates, and they should stand or fall on such showing. e © And n_ogg‘ of the Democratic standard-bear-er. Events of an important political nature caused public attention to be drawn to Winfield Scott Hancock in 1867, when he was in command of. a military district in the Southwest. Up to‘that time hisspiendid bearing as a soldier had won admiration for his gallant1y and skill; but a brighter glory settled on his crest when (to use the words f Senator ‘David Davis, the cherished friend and e¢hosen counselor of Abraham Lincoln), ‘“the soldier, clothed with extraordinary power, voluntarily uncovered before civil authority, sheathed his sword, testified his fidelity to the Constitution, and set an example of obedience to law which will pass into history as his sound€Bst claim to distinetion.”

' The bright light of public scrutiny, the hostile lens of party animosity, has been turned upon the spotless armor of his private and publie character and no flaw or stain has been disclosed. Indeed, the hostile suspicions and charges of his foes' caused his; private correspondence in 1876 to be developed, and in what a glorious attitude does his letter to Gen: Sherman, in the critical period of the fraudulent perversion of the results of the Presidential election, exhibit him! Well may Judge Davis say: “It mai%s him as one of the wisest of his time, with a statesman’s grasp - of mind, and the integrity of a patriot.” Nor is his associate upon the ticket less worthy of public confidence. His record as a legislator in Congress, as & leading financier and manager of important interests in his own State, his unblemished character as a nian and statesman are all in accord with the promises of reform which our success will accomplish. - s ¢ Before the American people to-day I arraign the Republican party asitis now led and organized, as obstructive to the welfare, prosperity and wise government of the country. fiet : Yn the present contest they base theirhopes on the passions of a war long since .ended, and the fruits of whose success being tnity,, peace and concord, the Amierican people are entitled to enjoy, and in the coming triumph of the conservative and National Democracy willdose, - .

——llt can’t well be claimed that there is lack of consistency in Gen. Garfield’s record. The man who pocketed Credit Mobilier dividends and then swore that he had done no such thing; the man who took the De Golyer corruption fee in face of the law making the act a penitentiary offense; the man who, during the Electoral count of 1876, said, ¢We have the army; we have the navz; we have the treasury, and we have the Executive—if you had such cards wouldn’t you play them?’ such a man may be set down as consistent in political degradation.—Washington Post. :

———The latest . begging letter issued by that sturdy beggar, Mr. Jay A. Hubbell, of the Repu%lican Congressional Committee, begins, ‘“To the business interests of this country the success of the Republican party is kindis%ensable.” The clerks, watchmen and ¢ arwomen to whom the circular is addressed will wonder sadly why, in that case, the business men of the country don't subscribe to the campaign fund and save them -from the horse-leech.—N. Y. World. 5 ;

——lt would be just lovely to see Blaine surrender; to the Opposition on one vote, unless compelled to do so by & force he could not resist. It is curious to note how exceeding honest some people are when it is impossible for them to steal. The wolf that didn’t eat lamb had lost his teeth.—N. Y. Ezpress.

-—Recent election news will have a tendeney to confirm the opinion that Garfield ¢‘has not a record to run on for President.”” Many politicians are disposed to look upon Garfield talk as contemptible chatter.— Exchange. '

MRS. McWILLIAMS AND THE LIGHT- _ NING.

Well, sir—continued =Mr. McWilliams, for this was not the begiuning of* his talk—the fear of lightning is one of the most distressing infirmities a human being can be afflicted with. It is mostly confined to women; biit-now and then you find it in a little dog and sometimes in a man. It is a particularly distressing infirmity, for the reason that it takes the sand out of a person to an extent which no other fear can and it can’t be reasoned with. and neither ean ‘it be shamed out of a person. A woman who could face the evil one himself—or a mouse—losses her grip and goes all to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. Her fright is something pitiful to see. . Well, as. T was telling you, I woke up, with that. smothered and unlocatable cry of “ Mortimer! Mortimer!’ wailing in my ears, and as soon as’/I could scrape my faculties together I reached over in the dark and then said: .

Y Evangeline, is that you calling? What is the matter? Where are you?"’ ‘““Shut up in the boot-closet. You ought to be ashamed to lie there and sleep so, and such an awful storm, going on.” ! e . *“ Why, how can one be ashamed when he is asleep? It is unreasonable; a man can’t be ashamed when he is asleep, Evangeline.”’ :

““Younever try, Mortimer —youd know very well you never try,”’ - : I caught the sound of muffled sobs. That sound smote dead the sharp speech that was on my lips, and I changed it to: - e “T'm sorry, dear—l'm truly - sorty. I never meant to act so. Come 'back and U ey i “ MORTIMER!? : 5 !

‘ Heavens! what is the matter, my loveplr & - ¥ ‘ i

‘Do you mean to say you are in that bed vet?” e k

¢« Why, of course.” : ¢ Come out of it instantly. 1 should think you would take some litle care of your life, for my sake and the children’s,/if you will not for your own.” *‘But my love——"" ' L - “Don’t talk to me, Mortimer. You know there is no place so dangerous as a bed, in such a thunder-storm as this —all the books say that; yet there you would lie, and deliberately throw away your. life —for goodness knows what, unless for the sake of arguing and arguguing, and——"" s

. ““Bat, confound it, Evangeline, I'm notmbed nowe: Pm—-77

[Sentence interrupted by a ‘sudden glare of lightning, followed by a tervified little seream from Mrs. McWilliams and a tremendous blast of thundeg 1 n ¢ There! You see the result. O, Mortimer, how can you be so protligate as to swear at such a time as this?’

I didn’t swear. - And that wasn't p result of it, any way. It would havg come, just the same, if I hadn’t said a word; and you know very well, Evangeline—at least you ought to know—that when the atmosphere is charge?_l with electricity——"" P ' ,

0, yes, now argue it, and argueit, and argue it!—l don’t see how you can act so, whegn you know there is not a lightning rod on the place and your poar wife ‘and children are absolutely at the mercy of Providence. What are yon doing?—lighting a match at such a time as this! Are you stark mad?” *“Hang it, woman, where’s the harm? The place is as dark as the inside of an mfdel and-— A

‘¢ Put it out! put it eut instantly! Are you determined to sacrifice us all? Yon know there is nothing attracts lightning like a light.® [Fzt!—crash! boom!— boloom-boom-boom!] O, just hear it! Now you see what you've done!?’ . - ““No, I don’t see what I've done. A match may attract lightning, for all I know, but it don’t cause lightning—l'll go odds on that. And it didn’t attract it worth a cent this time; for if thatshot was leveled at my watch, it was blessed poor marksmanship —about an average of none out jof a possible million, 1 should say. Why, at Dollymount, such marksmanship as that——" ‘ - ““For shame, Mortimer! Here we are standing right in the very presence of death and yet in so solemn a moment you are capable of using such language as that. If you have no desire to— Mortimer!”’ ¢« Well?”? Fh i

¢“Did you say your prayers to-night ?’’ ¢ I—l—meant to, but I got to trying to cipher out how much twelve times thirteen is, and——"’ : - [ £zt I—bogm-berroom-boom.! bumbleumble bang-sMASH!] . ; |

“O, we are lost, beyond all help! How could you neglect such a thing at such a time as this?”’ :

‘“But it wasn’t ‘sucha time as this.” There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. How |could 7 know there was going to be all ‘this rampus and pow-wow about a little slip like that? And I don’t think it’s just fair for you to make so much out of it, any way, seeing it happens so seldom ; I haven’t missed before since [ brought on that earthquake, four years ago.’? : . : » ““MorTIMER ! How you talk! Have you forgotten the yellow fever?’ ‘“ My dear, you are always throwing up the yellow fever to me, and I think it is perfectly unreasonable. You can’t even send a telegraphic message as far as Memphis without relays, so how is'a little devotional slip of mine going to carry so far? I'll stand the earthquake, because it was in the neighborhood ; but I'll be hanged if I m going to be responsible for every blamed——"" -

[Fzt!—BoOM beroom-boom ! boom !— BANG ] : *“Oh, dear, dear, dear! I knrow it struck something, Mortimer. We never shall see the light of another day, and if it will do you any good to remember, when we are]’fone, that your dreadful language— ortvmer !’ - i ¢“WeLL! What now?”’ ; m

¢ Your voice sounds as if —Mortimer, you are actually standing in front of that open fire-place?”’ . ; ““That is the very crime I am committing.” S , ““Get away from it, this moment. You do seem determined to brin% destruction on us all. Den’t you know that there is no better conductor for li%lhming than an open chimney? Now where have you got to?”’ i ' ¢ I'm here by t%xe window.”’ | - “ 0, for pity’s sake, have tylro'u lost your mind? Clear out from there this moment. The very children in arms

know it is fatal to stand near a window in a thunder-storm. Dear, dear, 1 know I shall never see the light of another day. Mortimer? 66 Yes ?’1 ¥ > 3 % 4 ¢ What is that rustling?” o eI me)) ; : ““What are you doing?” **Trying to tind the upper end of my pantaloons.” : ; . ¢ Quick ! throw those things away ! I do believe you would deliberately put on those clothes at such a time as this; yet you know !perfectly well that all authorities agree that woolen stuffs attract lightming. = O, dear, dear, it isn’t suflicient that one’s life must be in peril from natural causes, but you must do everything you can possibly think of to augment the danger. O, don’t sing ! What can you be thinking af P’ :

‘“ Now where's the harm in jt? - * Mortimer, if I have told youonce, I have told you a. hundred times, that singing causes vibrations in the atmosphere which interrupt the flow o?fhe electric fluid, ‘and—What on earth are you opening that door for?” G

““Goodness gracious, woman, is there any harmin that 2’ ' '

- ““ Harm 2 There’s death in it. Anybody that has given thjs subject any attention knows that to create a draft is to invite the lightning. You haven’t shut it; shut it tight—and do hurry, or we are all destroyed. O, it is an awful thing to be shut up with a lunatic at suchia time as this. Mortimer, what are you doing »* '~ : ¢ Nothing. Just turning on the water. This room 1s smothering hot and close. 1 want to bathe my face and hands.” S

““You have certainly parted with the remnant of your mind! Where lightning strikes any other substance once; it strikes water fifty times. Do turn it off. O, dear, I am sure that nothing in this world can save us. It does seem to me that—Mortimer, what was that?”’ ‘lt was a plaguy picture. Knocked ibdown.’ b : : ““Then you are close to the wall! 1 never heard of such imprudence! Don’t you know that there's no better conductor for lightning than a wall? Come away from there! And you came as near as anything to swearidg, too. O, how can you be so desperately wicked and. your’family in such peril?. Mortimer, did you order a feather bed as I asked you to do?”’ : s ¢ No.. Forgot it.»’ . ““Forgot it! It may cost you your life. If you had a feather bed now and could spread it in the middle of the room and lie on it, you would be perfectly safe. Come in here—come quick, before you have a chance to commit any more frantic indiscretions.” L I tried, but the little ‘closet would not" hold us both with the door shut, unless we could be content to smother. I gasped a while, then forced my way put. My wife called out: = .

¢ Mortimer, something must be done for your preservation. Give me that German book that is on thé end of the mantel-piece and a candle, but don’t light it; give me a match, I will light it in here. That book has some directions it Pt

- I got the book—at: cost of a vase and some other brittle things, and the madam shut herself up with her eandle. I had a moment’s peace; then she called out: . - . Pt ¢ Mortimer, what was that?”’ -

(L gobhing BAut the cat.”

“The cat! O, destruction! Catchher, and shut her up in the wash-stand. Do be quick, love; cats are full of electricity. I just know my hair will turn white with this night’s awful perils.”’ :

I heard the muflled sobbings again. But for that, I should not have moved hand or foot in such a wild enterprise in the dark. , s

However I went at my task—over chairs, and against all sorts of obstructions, all of them hard ones, too, and most of them with sharp edges—and at last [ got kitty cooped up in the commode, at an expense of over four hundred dollars in broken furniture and shins. Then these muffled words came from the closet: Sl e

‘“ [t says the safest thing is fo stand on a chair in the middle of the room, Mortimer; and the legs of the chair must be insulated with non-conductors. That is, youw must set the legs of the chair in glass tumblers. [Fzt!— boom — bang! — Smash!] O, hear that! Do hurry, Mortimer, before you are struck.!? 7 . ;

I managed to find and secure the tumblers. I got. the last four—broke all the rest. I insulated the chair legs, and called for further instructions. .

¢« Mortimer, it says, { Wahrend eines Gewitters entferne man Metalle, wie z. 8., Ringe, Uhren, Schlussel, ete., von sich und halte sich auch nicht an solchen Stellen auf, wo viele Metalle bie einander liegen, oder mit andern Korpern verbunden sind, wie an Herden, Oefen, Eisengittern u. dgl.” What does that mean, Mortimer? Does it mean that you must keep metals about you, or keep them away from you?”’ ““Well, I hardly know. It appears to be alittle mixed. . All German advice is more or less mixed. However, I think that that sentence is mostly in the dative case, witha little genitive and accusative sifted in, here and there, tor luck ; so it means that you must keep some metals about you.” ,

““Yes, that must be it. It stands to reason that it is, They are in the nature of lightning-rods, you know. Put on your fireman’s helmet, Mortimer ; that is mostly metal. = I got it and put it on—a very heavy and clumsy and uncomfortable thing on. a hot night in - a close'room. Even my night-dress seemed to be more clothing than' I strictly needed. . _ : ¢“Mortimer, I think your middle ought to be protected. Won't you buckle on your militia sabre, please?”’ I complied. . : . . . ““Now, Mortimer, you ought to have gome way to protect your feet. Do please put on your spurs.’”’ . ‘ Idid it—in silence —and kept my temper as well as I could. L ‘ Mortimer, it says: ‘Das Gewitter lauten ist sehr gefahrlich, ‘weil die Glocke selbst, sowie_der durch das Lauten veranlasste Luftzug und die Hohe des Thurmes den Blitz anziehm konnten.” Mortimer, does that mean that it is dangerous’ not to ring the church bells during a thunder-storm?’’. : ““Yes it seems to mean that—if that is the past participle of the nominative case singular, and T reckon it is. ¥es,

I think it means that on acgount of the height of the church tower and the ab-, sence of Luftzug it would be very dangerous (sehr gefakrlich) net to ring the bells in timé of a storm ; and moreover,. don’t you see, the very wording——"" ¢ Never mind that, Mortimer; don't waste the precious time in talk. Get the large dinger-bell j it is right there in the hall. Quick; Mortimer, {dear ;| ‘we are almost safe. O,dear, I do be-~ lieve we are going to be saved, atlast I? Our little” summer- -establishment stands on-top of a high range of hills, overlooking a valley. - Several farmhouses ‘are in our -neighborhood—the nearest some ‘three or four hundred yardsaway. - Una b . , When I, mounted on the chair, had been clanging that dreadful bell a matter of seven or eight minutes, our shutters were suddenlys torn open from without and a brilliant bull’s eye lantern - was thrust in at the window, followed: by a hoarse inquiry: 7 <% .. - ‘!

“““What in the nation is the matter hete?! |, "' o e aeata s

The window was full of men’s heads, and . the heads were full of eyes that stared wildly at my night-dress and my warlike. accoutremients. . o o

I dropped the bell, skipped down from the chair in confusion and said: ' ¢ There is nothing the matter, frignds —only a little discomfort on account of the thunder-storm. I wasjrying to-keep off the lightnigg. 3= ra: = e

~ ““Thunder-storm? - Lightning? Why, M. McWilliams, - have you lost your mind? It is :a beautiful starlight night; there has been no storm.’’- .- - - Ilooked out, and I was so astonished I could hardly speak for a while. Then ¢ I do not understand this. We distinetly “saw the glow of the flashes through the curtains and shutters and héard the thunder.’) .b .c = One after another those people lay down on the ground to laugh—and two of them died. Oreof the survivors remarked: o e RBy

¢ Pity you didn’t think to open your blinds and look ‘aver to the top of the high hill yonder. - What you heard was cannon; what you saw was the flash. You see, the telegraph brought some news, just-at midnight: Garfield’s nominated—and that's what's the matter!”’ Yes, Mr. Twain, as 1 was saying in the beginning (said Mr. McWilliams,) the rules for preserving p@opie against lightning .are so excellent and so innu-

merable that the mostincomprehensible thing in the: world to me is how anvbody éver manages to get struck.,

So saying, he gathered up his satchel and umbrella abd departed; for the train had reached his town.—Mark Twain, in. Atlantic Monthly. -

Too- Much Ice-House.

. We were for three years the victim oy too much’ice-house. ,Ours was a fancy one with a nice eupola on top, a'stone foundation bailt up-in mortar and air tight,.covered with matched siding and painted.- 1t was close as a jug and lined with saw-dust, which was packed in between a-board lining and. the siding. We had a little square hole left' on the east side “for, extra ventilation: The building was a lean-to on the north side of the kitchen; and fronted toward the nortﬁ', There were but twooutsides, the north and east. . The roof was very flat and made of tin. - For fear this would get hot and effect the temperature of the ice-house we . painted it, and this made it last longer, and then we put a ceiling overhe’ag to break the effects of the heat if any should come through. Most people would say, now you are all right fill it up with ice and it'will keep. It did not, and- so we shut the extra ventilator on the east. side, but this did not make the ice keep. = We got out of ice befor the summer was half gone.

. During the rest :of the season we talked ice-house. with ‘evervbody we thought knew anything about it. One man who was in the business extensively, said the trouble ‘was in the stone wall . which made the foundation. ¢ Ice,” he said, ¢ would not keep near stones, and they doubtless carriéd the heat inside.” We conld not very well remove the foundation, so we tried to remedy its effect- by putting plenty of saw-dust between- it and the ice. We also added another . ventilating hole on the door, and put a blind on it “with open shutters. The next year the ice kept better, but not as we wanted it. We wereon the right track and the next year when we took the blind out and left all the ventilators open the ice kept good. This is the way we learned the secret of kgepi_ng ice, .which is, plenty of sawdust and plenty of ventilation; without these no matter how fancy the house is and how many fheories and rules have been carried out, the ice will not keep, A neighbor always has plenty of ice and he does not have any ice-house at all. He packs it in a square body under the cow shed, which has a northern exposure and covers it thickly with saw dust,- which he packs as firmly as he can, setting up boards on end around the pile to keep the sawdust in place. He is careful to have the. first tier of ice high enough from the ground so that water will not reach it. He puts the sawdust a foot thick around the ice and three feet thick on thetop. i iiaii g A pile of ice six feet high, eight feet wide and eight feet long will make 384 cubic feet. -~ And this is enough for the use of on ordinary family for the table and to cool the cream, etc. Six team loads fill an ice house which contains about 400 cubicfeet. The blocks should be cut as smooth as possible and square so they will fit closely, and ' then ice must.be chopped up- fine and crowded in between the pieces so as to make a solid mass. ' The closer the ice is packed and the'more solid the mass is united together the better it will keep. When anice-house is too close there is a great - deal of condensation which makes the whole contents wet =a|.,m'3.;..drippi_l_;ﬁ'l and causes the ice -to melt rapidly. - The air must, be kept as dry as possible.: I always like to see the top of the sawdust dry. Themore ice there is in a pile the better it will ‘keep. A small quantity - must be covered a-rdegge'r and thicker than a large mass. A large mass will almost keep itself. - It does not require. the protection of sawdust, but straw or a double wall of boards will be ample. Every person who - makes butter 90u%ht ¥ to have ice.: It will more than pay for use in the dairy, and then for the family it is aluxury eveg provident man should supply.—~F. D. Curtis, o N. Yi’mﬁzme; i