Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1859 — Page 2
THE RENSSELAER GAZETTE, RENSSELAER, IND,^ WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1859.
E. Mettee has closed up hia whisky shop here, and removed to Covington, Ind., where he takes charg • of the Brewer House. will ean electi n for Director* of the Foit VVavne Western Railroad Company on the Bth of June next, at Fort Wayne. M. Austin advertises in this paper that h.e will apply to the next Board of . County Comjnisioners for a license to sell liquor in Rensselaer. are having a splended season for planting. Thousands of acres of corn will be "planted this week. Our farmers are wearing smiling faces at the prospect of rich harvests. ur is still selling here at $3,80 per hundred. 'Potatoes and corn would sell from wagon at 81 per bushel. Butter ten cents per pound, and eggs » cents per dozen. Hams twelve and a half cents. No sides for saie.
KANKAKEE COUNTY.
Some s : xty-eight citizens of a strip of territory in the north part of this county, running parallel with the ivanknkee river, have filed a petition in the Auditor’s office for a new ciunty to be struck off. under the above J name. We also hear that there is some talk of erecting another county out of White, Benton and Jasper, with Reynold’s Station as the county seat. So we go. One now can hardly tel! what the boundaries of Jasper county will be one year hence.
NOBLE CONDUCT.
Corn for m*al and feed, it. is well known, is Very scarce in this region at present. Those having money have great difficulty in procuring it,.while those who are without money find it almost impossible to get corn enough to supply the wants of their families and keep their work horses from breaking down. l uring such seasons of scarcity, it is gratifying to notice acts of human ty in our ci'izeus. A couple of our citizens v ent down on Beaver for a wagon load of corn each, one day last week, and called on one of the well-known citizens of Beaver township. He asked them if they had money. “Of course,” they replied. “Then,” said he, “you can get none of me.. I have a little corn to spare, but tnose who have money cannot have i». I will sell it for half a dollar a bushel, and to those only who have no money to buy elsewhere!” We have also heard of two citizens some five or six miles north of this place, who have positively refused to sell corn for sevenfive cents a bushel cash, saying that they intended to sell it for fifty cents to those who had no money. How different is this noble conduct from that of those who, if the the truth is told, have been going about the country buying up all they could buy, in order to sell it for a dollar a bushel cash in hand. The one class deserves the respect of all, while the other will receive, as they should, the sealmark of miserly inhumanity.
CORPORATION ELECTION.
The following is the result of the corporation election last Monday: TRUSTEES. Ist VVqr<i—L. A. Cole 65 “ ' v G. W. Terhune.... .31 j 2d Ward—P. Dunlap 6.'! I “ C. Rhoades M i 3d Ward—G. A Moss. 57 W. W. Bickford 28 “ 0. London .. . , 1 4th Ward—W. W Wish .rd 56 “ J. M. Stackhouse... 34 J W. Warner 1 ! sth Ward—C. W. Ilenkle r 94 - ' MARSHAL, C. R- Barnes. . 61 E. T Harding..... ... 8 T. W. Lamson 5 0. S. Harvey. 1 TREASURER. A- McCoy 64 i. E. Ballard 26 E. Wright. 1 CLERK. E. P. Hammond 70 L. A. Cole 22 assessor. T. W. Lamson 36 D. T. Halstead. . ... . .29 For a corporation election there was an iinsual amount of zeal and enthusiasm manifested for each of the two tickets in the field. The one elected was stigmatized as the ‘‘Methodist Ticket.” by its enemies, while the defeated one was stiginrtized in turn as the “ Whisky Ticket.” The objection was raised that a Methodist was unfit to fill a corporation office in Rensselaer—ihe result may he seen in tlm figu es above. Mr A.ustjji elections *:d for his ticket with a zeal worthy of a {letter cut s •; he labored from the rising of. t Ue Run until the closing 4>f the r ■ >"’d his ticket '*» /J looted by t .v 1 - ; i i lot him chid * ” ‘ f '•( -'.'O' V • r. jfjfdiUiitCii Ota lil- Ail C i 4 ictihi. * * fit IbJl Methodist , and all on the “Whisky Ticket” Hfof< .r.»t friendly to whisky.
LANDS AND RESOURCES OF JASPER COUNTY.
We are promised a scries of articles on this subject, the first number of which appeura this week in the “Farmer’s Department.” We have full confidence in the writer’s ability to describe the present state o: our county and its prospects, and are only sorry that our paper does not circulate in the East, where land is high and almost beyond the reach of men of ordinary means. .That Jasper county on# day will be noted j tor her wealth and prosperity, there can be | no doubt—all that is needed is population. , We are almost cut off from the trading public by want of railroad facilities, but we believe that one road (the Logansport and Peoria) will be running through the county before the first of January n< v xt, and the pros pect is that two other roads will be constructed in time—pejhaps within three to five years. All that Jasper county needs is that iter 1 nds, shuuld he held by resident farmers, and when these roads are built the roun'y will fill up with amazing rapidity. Like many other counties, we have the best and the worst of lands. The latter (known as 6\vamp lands) are owned principally by speculators not living among us. These inferior lands are thrown into market and sotd*‘sight unseen,” often to innocent persons, at ten times their value. This practice of speculators aids, in a great measure, to depreciate J sper lands abroad, and to deter immigrants from settling among us. Our advice to all who want good farms in this county, (and they are as plenty as they are in any other part of the West.) is this: Come and see the land lor yourselves before you buy, and then you will Jioi be swindled by sharp speculators. •
PIKE’S PEAK.
Mr. Editor: —A day or two since, a pi'e was caught in the Iroquois with a catfish half swallowed. The stiff bone of the fin on the back of the cat-fish Was sticking up through the pike's head, and the fins, on each side of the cat-fish, were sticking out through the pike's gills. Both were aiive. Is not this very mm h like the condition of the Democratic party in reference to slavery! They have swallowed the head, but can neither digest nor throw it up. Common Placer.
Horrible Massacre by the Cannibals.
Three Hundred and Thii ty Persons Killed and Eaten. We published about a week since, brief statement of the wreck of the French ship St. Paul , on the island of Russel, in the j •South Pacific, in September last, and the! subsequent massacre of three hundred and I twenty-nine of her hree hundred and thirty i Chinese passengers. The survivor was res-j cued by the steamer Styoc, and has furnished the follow ng narrative to the Sydney, Aus-: tralia, papers: “The ship went on shore during the night, and when she struck, the passengers ail rushed on d -ek. making a great outcry, upon which the captain drove them all nel nv again. When daylight broke, we landed by means o the boats on an Island, where we remained two days without any water, when some ot us went aboard the ship again to get some, as also provisions. The captain left in his boat with ?yme ot his crew, and we were t, o t. disturbed by the natives lor a month after he had gone; they ther came over from the mainland, distant about tnree-qu ir!ers of a mile, and made an attack onus. < Some of us had double-barreled carbines, but we got 1 frightened and threw them away. The only whiteman leit with us, alter the deparetur of Captain Pennard, was a Greek, who, having armed himself with a cutlass, fought desperately and killed a great many of the natives before he was overpowered. They then took all our clothing, &.C., which they partly destroyed. Any valuables that t ley found, such as severe gn.-, rings, &,c., they placed in a net hag. which each man carried j around his neck. A watch particularly ex-1 cited their attention, as they were continually opening it to observe the reflection ot j their faces in the glass. At night we were placed on the center of a clear piece of ground with fires lit in several places, the natives keeping a regular watch over.us, arid during the day they would select four or five Chinese, jukl, a ter killing them, roast the flesh, and eat it; what was not consuin d being deposited in their nets. Tlieir u ode of proceeding was as follows: The victims being decided on, they were taken out and beaten all over (excepting the head) with a kind o club, and then dispatched by ripping the stum ch open. The body was then cut in small pieces and divided, the fingers, toes and brains being eagerly sought after; the hones were then- collected and either burnt or thrown away. I saw ten of my fellu v passengers killed in this way. On one occasion seme of the Chinese took a boat which belonged to the ship, and went over to the mainland in the night, to get some water, but never returned, so we thought they had bd n killed. Every day they brought us cocoanuts or some wild roots to eat, and appeared to be quite friendly with us. This state of things continued until I was taken off the Island. When I left, there were only four Chinese and the Greek alive, all the rest having been killed. I saw these live the day the steamer came in sight, b it when the natives saw the boats coming on took them to the mountains. 1 wus sick ami lame, and they would not carry me, so that I watched my opp rtunity non contrived to conceal mys it among tie rockuntil the boat carne on shore. ’! m y art ■ very •numerous, l>ut do -not appear to have any cliiel among t hem. They live on cocoanuts, of which there are large quari‘ ities, unci a kind oi yam-, which they roast before eating; but, beyond a few dogs, 1 saw neither or lowls ot any kind.” • A Si sot ear Farewell —An exchange :. :. : young in n named Si limn Rogers blew lout i* is brains one ib v last week, utter bidj ding Bis wile good bye with a shotgun! Singular manner of bidding good bye.
A Female Robinson Crusoe.
The Cleveland Herald republishes a letter •Tom Racine, Wisconsin, to the Chicago Herald giving an account ot a “female It d>inson Crusoe,” in the person of a Cleveland lady, a Miss Richardson, who is represented as having been shipwrecked in May 185f>, on a desolate island near the N.-rth-wes coast of Lake Superior, and having lived alone there ever since. The story is either entirely false, or else has been spoiled in the w riting o .t, lor it is narrated in such a silly manner as to show improbability in almost evp-y paragraph. Miss Richardson is represented as being twenty-three years old, and, at the time of the shipwreck, as going out to Green B iv in the bark Mary, Capt. Edwards, to marry a Mr. Daniel Ashnell. V* hen the bark struck the rocky shore of the ’eland the captain and crew immediately leaped overboard and were all drowned except the mate, and he was killed immediately after by the falling of a spar. This fright- ■ ened Miss Richardson so that she put on i her life-preserver; took her two trunks, “ • lot of provisions, blankets, buffalo robes, : tools, and other things convenient for setting | up a Robinson Crusoe lile,” and swam ash re with them—a distance ot half a mib'—amid rough breakers,and • broken and j igged rocks." A ; ter narrating to the letter writer how she husbanded her provisions, built a low hut for shelter, and fashioned a dress out of buifalo robes, she goes on to say; I he forest supplied me with wood as long as the weather continued pleas nt, I got uiong well. During the early p.rt. of the first winter I suffered terribly; hut by means of constant exercise, regularity in mv diet, and a steady hope ot release, I m in tged to live -through it. In the same mm tier I passed three < ntiie years. 1 lave kt pt a journal of n.y life during this unhappy period. and this indeed w: s the only literary pursuit in which 1 had the opportunity ot indulging. My books-—even my Bible—were , lelt upon the wreck. During these .three j years, I saw but seven ve-sels. T ley all passed by, and either did not see n.y signals, ; or would not regard them. My anguish on tncae occasions wag indescribable. The j thoughts of home, and of the Iriends who } were now no doubt mounuing lor me as one i among the dead, would rush upon me with I overpowering lorce, and my misery won d seem too heavy for me to bear. I wander ! now that my reason sustained itself. I At length—l know not on what day, hut, j according to my calculation, on the goth of February, my Island was visited by a band or Menominee Indians, six in number. They had crossed on the ice from Me Brit ish shore, and were as much surprised at seeing me as I Was delighted to look again upon a human lace. We could not understand each other, hut they made signs for me to go with them. I was in their power, but 1 was w illing to go, and I conceived by this means I might, finally obtain release and be restored to inv triends. They returned with me to the British shore, which I fancied was not more than twenty miles from my Island, and then by short and easy stages, they conducted me to a French trading pas', where for lhe first I time I found myself in the company o' civil- j ized men. I was received with the greatest kindness, and soon forwarded to Fort Will- 1 isms, the commander of which post enter- ! tained me hospitably till the lake opened, j when he sent me across to Marquette, Iroin which point Capt. Marvin h s conducted me hither. At the Soult I learned that Mr.J Ashnell had returned to Cleveland, and I am I now on my way thither. The geography of the wh le narrative is | absurd, and it is evidently a desperate effort on the part of the Chicago Her .Id, Democratic paper, in the first!year <>f its existence, to gain some kind ol notoriety.
OC?~The Bedford Independent reports a shooting affair near Bloomington, on Tuesday evening, between a fdanv generaly nicknamed. “Fool Jacobs,and a young mail named Phi Ili ps,_ ill which the latter was dangerously, if not fatally wounded. J.ic >bs appears to be a notoriously hard case, having been frequently arrested on suspicion oi a connection with the horse thieves ai d counterfeiters that used to in est that r* - gion. He has a brother in the Penitentiary. Misconception. —As a canal-boat was passing under a bridge, the captain gave the usual warning, “Look out!” when a little Frenchman, who was in the cabin, o eyed the order by popping his head out of the w mdow, which received a severe thump by coming in contact with a pillar of the bridge. He drew it bkek in a great pet and exclaimed, “Dese Americans say look out when dey means look in by gar!” Sharp Shooting. —ln Richim nd, last week, Captain Travis, said to he the greatest pistol shot in the world, snot at a percussion cap box, ot the diameter of a half dollar, held between the thumb an I finger of his servant., at the distance of lourteen paces, and sent a bullet through the center of it. He also fired at a hilt unne placed be ween his own feet, with only the width of the com seperating them. The coin was struck in the center, without detriment o Captain T.’s boots. Qi7“The Snelbyviile Banner s tys that the body of an inlant was found buried in a field near that place, on last Friday, and an inquisition revealed the tact that it was the child of a girl name Murphy,only seventeen years old, tbat it had been born a.ive, alid came to its death by violence from its motner. A warrant is out. tor her arrest. (tv’Tiie colored people of Chicago, at a forma! in*et:ng, on Monday evening, which w is very numerously attended, adopted resolutions declaring it. to be the imperative dutv ot every free colored man in the United Stati s, to emigrate to Hayti, and appoint d a committee to open a correspond ice on the subject with that Republic. OO” hCi Mb'- :Ml pod 'sirioii named J mes Adams, who had. ic>\ weeks bemre, perlormed the great feat of wsi Iking seven uiflen in titty-five minutes, undertook on 'l'm silay evening to walk lour m'les in ball an hour, ut a gymnasium in New York. lie failed hy one minute and a hall. t.i A new marvel has been i Hoovered ai N rtli Fairfield, Ohio, in the shape of u living coli. or centaur, having the body ol a horse, hut a he .d resembling that of a human being.
A Boy Convicted of Manslaughter.
The recent trial of a boy named Stallings, for the murder of a school-mate named Stillwell, in Posy county, has created a good deal ofleeling. The Advocate ot Mount Vernon, says: Stallings is in his eighteen’h year, though youthful in his appearance, and unu-uiily small lor his age. S nee his arrest, and during his trial, he has mani ested a stolid indifference, which can only be accounted lor as either the result of inability to comprehend his position, uncommon s If-eont.rol, or an extremely callous disposition. The testimony elicited in the trial was to about the follow ing effect: The difficulty which resulted in the murder took plaqe at a school which bo*h parties attended, originating from a dispute as t > : the au'horship of what was claimed to be a | love-letter, purporting to have been written Iby Stallings, but which each accused the other of writing. The dispute and quarrel | commenced during the morning exercises of the school attracting the attention of the teacher, who arrested it for the time, but it was commenced again at recess. Stillwell’s ; sister then interposed, requesting the parties to desist from quarreling. Stillwell ex- ; pressed his willingness to do so. Stallings | made riK reply, hut walked off some distance to a fallen tree, where he remained a sh ut ! time, and then returned, with his hands in lliis pockets, to where Stillwell, his sister,; and other pupils ot the school were standing.! remarking as he approached, that lie-would \ as if|oii fight a little as not. Siillwel! re-j plied that, he (Stallings) was get 1 ing big.; and ought to write another love-letter, and I S aij no; retorted by giving hi the lie. Stilwrii caught him by the hair and stru k him. Stallings drew his hands from his pickets, in one of which he held an open knife with which he immediately struck Stillwell a blow on the leit breast, t .e kni:e penetrating to the region , the heart? Stillwell reeled and fell, hut in a short time recovered his teet, remarking that he could whip any Stallings. He remaind standing hot a lewmoments, when he again fell, and in less than five minutes he expired. Tne jury brought in a verdict of rnans!:iu liter, and condemned the prison >r to the p nitent i try for tw’o years. Public opinion approves the verdict.
The Treasury Defalcation-A Suicide Supposed, to have Resulted from it
On Wednesday night last, Ai hiilrs Toiler committed sui- ide at his residence in Mr. Vernon, Ind., blowing his brains out with u pistol. The case ot Toiler is rather a singular one. II - was formerly a resident a wealthy and espeeteri) of Tiffin, Ohio, ha* ing in proceeding years amassed a competency in the brokerage nu.-iiness. He married a tine : aimuhle lady in Stark comity, and no person seemed to enjoy life more than he did. His first troubles commenced about the time th it Breslin's term us State Treasurer was expiring, and when the combined efforts of Democracy and Republicanism were put forth to secure the nomination in the Republican ticket ot Win. H. Gibson. Tne wealth, sagacity and influence of Tuller Was needed, and what was then the germ of the great defalcation by which Ohio was almost forced to bunkruptc- , was broached to him, and his influence and co-operation solicited. Tuller refused, and during the canvass leit no si. no unturned by which he might be enabled to tlelea; this swindle by defeating t, e nomitiat'on and election of either Bresiinor G ib-. ■ion. It is said that letters written !>v Tu - ler predicting the sad results which must ensue, are still in existence. For this course lie was sir j cted to persecution and hatred of the most malignant form: h.iinstli and family tiadueed and vilified and threatened, until he was compelled to leave the community. Thence he removed to Pittsburgh; slill the malicious slanders lolkmetl him. until he could b ur it no longer, and again with his family he removed to Ohio, s tiled in Franklin county. His residence was so oil discovered, and for a third time it became necessary tor his own safety, that lie should migrate. He d d so, and wit hunt telling even his most intimate Iriends ol his wherea i-ut--, took u,» h.s residence at Mi . Vernon, li.u , and holding intercourse or communication with no one in relation to his unfortunate past, living in 'he strictest seclusion and under an assumed name, far away irom his own and w ife’s friends. At the state , time d ring the session ot Cum mun l’lease Court in this county, when tietrial ot Gibson would probably oe ur, Tuller would he ut Columbus, a daily visitor tit the Court-house, with the avowed intention of giving testimony against h;m. But the cas s were invariably continued, and T Her would return to his family and seclusiofi The cause of this last, fatal act oil the pirt of the unfortunate mail may probably lie traced in some manner to the secrets and intrigues of Ohio politicians.— Columhus Fact.
is generally reported that the N"W '•' 'toy iXiStlein Railroad is to be taken up and laid on air-line from the battle-ground to Chicago, or Irom the battle-ground to Rensselaer, and so on to Chicago. The ou»iness on that road does not pay the - ex penses. and uni's, sum thing is done it will have to be given up and abandoned. If it could be got th-oULi'i on the air-line, it would get. all the C aeiuriati route and a large amount of way-travel, and a tar better route for freight than it now runs. The iron would answer to re-lay, and their buildings with the exception of Michigan City, are not very valuable. The grading will be the greatest cost, and that we presume will be done by funJs raised on the line. We cannot vouch 'or other counties, but. Like, we are happy to say, will do the grading through this county, or give enough to put :t tb -yugli. There is no doubt that it will be moved anil put on air-line during the next twelve months.— Crown Point Register. Richmond ( Vit.j Dispatch reports 'lie 'he citizens o Texas have lately been hiial ne meetings to expel the members ol ihe N 'itherii Methodist Church from the S at; , ihe said Church being suspected ol ••ab III lonlsm.” A committee ol li ty recently waited oil B shop Jones, on Sunday, w hile lie whs' engaged in the ■morning services. iiiul notifi d him of the action of the citizens. The Northern Methodist Church it was resolv'd should not he tiffetated in Texas. This is ull very well and very I >• ■ 111 - ocratio. The Northern Methodist Church, however, can stand it n good deal longer than Texas can.
Farmer's Department.
CONDUCTED BY AN AGRICULTURIST.
JASPER county. Extent— It ill Roads —l Viter — Mineral—TAme Font—Clay for brick—Sw sac — Soil — Timber. J isper county, as at present organized and bounded, embraces t rritorv equal t > twen- ■ tv-six and one-halt tow nships, i f thirty-six miles each; being more th in fve hundred and fifty thousand!' acres. Near the can er of the 1 county, but westward of it, is a lake, coverj ing eight to ten thousand acres, th" remain- ; in ™ fve hundred and forty thousand acres is \ arable land, and with proper cultivation will ; produce anything adapted to this latitu le i less than halt the entire county is covered ; | with timber. Of the many varieties, th j 0.. k, in its m•• ny species, predominates. The other halt ot the county is prairie, covere : annually w ith a vigorous growth ofluxurian grasses. It is proposed to" divide tiiis countv, an 11 steps h .ve been taken to that effect, by a ; 1 ne running from north to south. so as to; j cut off two tiers of whole townships, and a tier ot fractional townships, from the west j side, including about eleven townships in all. j of an area ot ne irly four hundred miles, in-| eluding the l.ik ; leaving t • Jasper 1 fi teen j and one-h ll townships,of' about Jive hundred ; and fifty miles, or three 'inndred an 1 ri ty-six ! thousand acres, all tillable lands, which are, worth for farms', at the present time, Irom three to twelve dollars per acre, while cultivated. sell from eighteen to twenty dollar.- : uri acre.
A railroad runs within one an! a h i miles of the eastern line of the coun'y,along its whole boundary, from north to south. Another road has been loc-.ted across the southern border of the county, from east to west, which is now graded and will e put in running cornlit im, _the coming year. A third railroad his been located across the county, from east t > west, n >ar the center, wlicli is parti <l:y graded, running bv the county seat. Two large rivers, the K ink ikee on the north, and the Iroquois through the center, together with nu nerous sm tiler stream-, form outlets to the surplus water of the county, while .nnunierahie springs, in every p ut, furnish an in ailing supply of wa'er in llio dryesl seasons, bodi for stock and culinary purposes. Many of t iiose springs form pools near where they emerge from the surface, on the hillsides and valleys, which are familiarly called ‘ due c-lioi.es,” filled with fish, and when drained, make’ small limped rills, II nving throughout the year. From the loose, porous nature of the soil around many oT these springs, tlieir value is not always appreciated until the land ileneed for pasture, or a drought causes stocit.u frequent them for drink in the summer. Wells sunk from five to thirty Met, have stru. k living veins of but h hard and so t water, web'll How with inexti mstable plenty many of the n never drying up since they were opened, showing that the fountains ri-e in different strata, an I that the crop
flings are near the surface. Near th.* K nk.kee, on the.north side o the couti'y. a ledge of stone comes up within one or two led ol tin* surface for main miles. Further south, as the stone strata dip, a superincumhe-.t !> *.J of iron ore, covering many hundred acres, and passing to Si veral townships, has bci n discovered, ami thousai ds of tons t rovvn ifp by ditchers on the State lands. Mid.vsiV between the K<n kakee and Irnquds, are strong im'ica’i ns of an extensive coal-field, the copper-ci lore decompositi n of the coal ashes uni the ne trulium, giving name to Copper 15 attorn, a creek w,.ich Haws into the Iroquois. Similar indications, demonstrating ilie presence of coal or peat, m iv be seen a few miles south o R *nsselajr. Toe limestone crops out at the lulls of the Iroquois river at Rensselaer, and near this town on Lie south an 1 west. Four miles south-east of Rensse.cer is a sandstone str.tiun, rising to the surface. Marls, debris, shales of water-lone, boulders containing fossil shells, graywacks, strata of yellow and blue clays are met with ih oughout the county. Yellow inicai sand, resembling gold dust, has been disc .vered in strata on the west tod-* ol the count)-, but fl >at* oil quicksilv. r. Fossil plants and shells, and specimens of coral, are found de ached in the soil and beds of stre ms. which is a slighj indication of tli * nature of the land, and flie abundant presence ol decomposing animal remains accounts, ill some measure, for the exuberant fertility of the soil. The surface o: J.,spur couti'y is much diversified. Broad unnulating prairies, terminating in everglades, forms a st. iking feature, and, at first. v ; ew, favorably impresses the stranger. From the black loam o the prairies, so tortile in corn, oats, b rley, buckwheat and the grasses, tin* glades rise gradually into rolling bills, two to three hundred leet high, above the bed of the rivers, composed ol s only loam and clays, rich in wh .t, corn, grasses, gardens fruit-trees, sugar-canes on! other vegitables. No part o' the county is so low or tl ■t. but that with proper draining, it will produce the tame grasses in the wetest years; nor is any part so steep ns to he inaccessible to the plow, or so high as to sutler from drought in ordinary seasons. The timber in Jasper is not always situa
tod so as to be convenient to small farms, hut hard tie her is plenty for ordinary purposes, and from the rapidity in which the young growth comes on, where the large timber is cut off, it. is highly probable there .vill be more timber in the county fi tv yeare hence, than at present. The price of good lumber is dear, nd dwelling- commands tlieir full value. Rents are high, but firewood is cheap, because little or none is burnt or wasted in the clearings, although, in the eastern puit o, the c< unty, the tree* on some farms are girdled and allowed to fall down by peaceinel and rot on the premises. The first impression upon a stranger arriving here in tb • supm t, is th it p tsturage and grazing are the natural features of the county. Many have, and are now trying this business. But wln-rever the plow ente s the surface, or a ditcla is cut, the adaptation of the soil to the growth of anything common to this latitude, is not less appar--itit- Many are engaged in this. Directed by this intimation, I propose to make inquiries into the experience and success ol those w h > have followed one or the other of these pursuits.
STRAWBERRIES.
Strawberries grow naturally and wild in tins o unty in every p .rt of it, and in some seasons in gre.it abundance. Lke everything ei’.e, strawoer.'ies are improved by cultivation. It, when you find an extra cluster ol large berries ripe on a stalk in summer, you v\ ili take up its root and set it out in a convenient bed where the weeds and grass can be kept from it, the berries will be much I irger and plentier the next year, than they were at lire time you found it. By this means hardy"'prolific vines are obtained, which are natives of the c imate. The longnecKs, scarlet and flesh-colored may all be bid in this tv ay-. It will much, improve t'wrn if two or three varieties *r« planted in the same bed. They do nit need* rich soil, no hilling, n > manuring, keep them clean, cut j the runners, and they will grow. Improved, domesticated varieties, of the finest kinds grow admirably in this countv, an-.l'With the same care the natives do, al;;i aigh some sorts are less hardy in in uni avorab le- vi i liter.
GRAPE VINES.
NVe have several kinds of native grapes in this county growing wild, both nn the margin ot wet prairies and on the upland. When the grapes are r ipe in the fail select the'best roots, cut off the vines a loet or two from the ground and transplant the roots,in-a rich soil. Or take tlietii up in the spring or summer, ii known to be good varieties". Set t eem by a fence or stone w 11. Prune them * y time of the year. The iri p»ng or Wee ing does not hurt th. m. When n blossom, is as good tin e as any, to p une them;, any kind of gra,pes will make good w ine, and the truit of" our native white ur blue grapes of the large .varieties is much b tier raised here by cultivation, than the Gatawbu or Is bel. They are better bearers. J hey stand the dim «t 1 better, and are larger, more lueious, and bv far tnore profitHole.
Death of the Kentucky Giant.
J ones 1). Porter, well known as the--Ken-tucky Giant,” though horn at Portsmouth, Ohio, was 'otind dead in his I eil at his residence no-ir L lu.sviue, mi Mond <v morning. He was forty-n ne V■ ‘a sot age, seven teet nine in he.-, in high*, and when in good health weighed three hundred pounds. The Democrat siysy that tor the first fourteen y-ai-.s oi ins life' iie was small for his nge. A' ' 'inoi-ii lie was apprenticed to coopering, :ml his rem irk able growth commenced. It is stated that the most he ever grewin one week was one inch. It was his habit, while growing, to me sure every Saturday night, m l his own test inony and’ that of his family and triends are evidence ot this remarkaole fact. M. P li ter soon got so tall that it was impossible to cooper b.irr Is, and he was employed on li-*gs;ieails. l’fiis, however, became e (willy impossible, owing to his rein irk iblii bight, and he was compelled to it).indon the business. He then engaged in keep ng and driving hacks. In the years IS3J-37 lie went. Eist, and appeared on the -stag:*, in on" or t vo pieces written especially for him. He returned to L mi-ville, an/g. t w years later bought the coffee house winch he was keeping at the lime ol his death. He was very highly esteemed hy all who knew him, lor his integrity. In his do nestle relations—he wasffiever married —he was all a parent Could desire. At the time 01; .rles D fkens came to this country, there was a perfect lurror to see ■; Bog” as lie passed through the canal at L misvi lie, lie sent a messenger to Mr. Porter, ol whose remarkable proportions he had heard, inti-nut ing a wish to see him. Mr, Porter replied to the messenger that if “Mr. Dickens wishes to see me more than I to seo him. he will come to n e.” Mr. D.ck-ua took the hint, and during tie conversation, Portei told the novelist tliit while he was growing his mother had to sew a foot on his pantaloons every night. Mr. Porter’s coffin is nine feet one inch ii\ length, and two :eet across the breast.— Cincinnati (Jazette. Two Miles ok Literature —The New York Tiibune says that the pile made on the ll ior ot the Appleton's, bv the books p,,f, chased ot them by School Commissioner Smyth, for the School L braries of At,:,, measure-twenty-eight' s uid cords, trnu tho books weigh seventy eight tons. Placed on a shelf, as usual, and as close together «» poss hie. they would reach two miles. These books arc lo be trail ported to Ohio by a speiial freight train. The binding is uniform and substantial, and the Tribu Compliments Mr. Son th very Highly for h\s judicious selections.