Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1886 — THE SOUTH. [ARTICLE]

THE SOUTH.

Several members of (he Cabinet have hit upon a happy scheme to avoid the trouble imposed upon them by persistent autograph fiends. They have had stamps prepared having on their faces the name of theiv respective departments and a facsimile of their signatures. All autograph books are turned over to the private secre-

lected, and after blotting the mpressjon it has the appearance of having been written by the Cabinet officers. No thought of a stamp enters the autograph hunter’s mind, and he leaves with his book in his pocket, happy in'the belief that he has added the signature of one more great man to his list. A Distressing accident occurred at Saunders’ Ferry, on the Kentucky River, twenty-four miles south of Lexington. James Saunders, the ferryman, attempted to cross the river in his boat With his wife and two children, and, his light being extinguished by an accident, he attempted to make a lauding iu the dark, but missed the usual landing-place and overturned the boat. The woman and both children were drowned, and Saunders, after a vain effort to assist them, sWum ashore. Four colored laborers were killed at Mobile by a boiler explosion iu the oilmills. Two young men lost their lives by a similar accident at New Providence, Pa., .where forty-seven animals were roasted alive.... An attempt was made to wreck the Southern Pacific bridge across the Rio Grande, several miles north of El Paso, Tex. The plan was to blow a passenger train -from the structure and rob the wounded and dead travelers Ex-Senator James E. Bailey died at Clarksville, Tenn., from tumor of the stomach. He was born near Clarksville, sixty-three years ago. In 1853 he was elected to the Tennessee Legislature, aud at the beginning of the war was appointed a member of the State Military Bureau. He afterward served as Colonel of the Forty-ninth Tennessee Infantry. After the war he re, sumed the practice of law. He was elected United States Senator in 1877. and his term expired four years later. ,He was for a long time the leader of the State-Credit. Democracy. The casket containing the. body of a child, who had been temporarily interredover twelve, years ago, was taken up at Yorkville. S. C.. for final burial. After the casket had beeu removed from me grave a loud explosion occurred, shattering the glass lid aud driving the fragments in all directions, a piece of the glass seriously wounding the father of the child. The cause of the explosion is a mystery, hut the remains were found to be in an excellent state of preservation... .The census of Charleston. S. C., shows a total population of over 60,000, against about 49,000 iu 1880, an increase of over ; 20 per cent. The white population is about 27,500, and the colored over 32,500. The colored surplus consists mainly of children.... Two colored men. who had set fire to cotton, were taken from hanged. The people of South Carolina report having in tne last five years paid off $500,000 of the State debt, added $66,000,000 to the wealth of the State, and built 240 miles of railroad. A NUMBER of the Morgan County, Tennessee, officials were found short in their accounts. Among them is a member of the Legislature, who is a defaulter to the amount of $27,000 The Southern Hotel at New Orleans, La., was totally destroyed by fire. One man is known to have perished in the flames, and it is believed that others were buried under the .debris. Several firemen were injured.