The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-07-21

made a sensation IN this month : Norn
american Rcte,c.
Judge Merrimon's speeches ar
certainly very earnest. Any n hear
ing them must boot at the idea that h'
IS fighting for Prohibition as a stepping
stone to office.
Mr.. Seymour Whiting has been cleo
ted a member of Raleigh school Com
mittee u,cc w. Primrose resigned. Mr.
Whiting has written some verses OF
.Alamance" which we designed copy
ing from Baldwins Monthly, with "a
few appropriate remarks
Gen. John G. Pemberton, who
managed to give the Yankees a "glori
Gus Fourth of July" in 1863, by surren-
dering Nicksburg to Grant on that day,
died last week in Pennsylvania. lie
has been stock farming near Warren
ton, Va, siIce the war.
Major Marcus Erwin, of Buncombt
Is dead. The living would receive ar
instructive lesson, if the Judgment o.
this mans life could be known for he
received at birth a rare and glorious
genius, and he-perverted it.
Only fourteen deaths resulted from
toy pistols in Baltimore since the 4tf
of July, and only six were killed at
Rochester, New York. by the sam,
s.harmless" weapon. As yet the toy
hasn't caused any funerals in Raleigh,
but we shall hear from it afterwhile.
Now is the season when the aver
age young man in society pawne'h his
watch. or deadbeateth his friends,
to raise funds for three weeks fried
chicken, and piazza-lounging, at Ashe-
Vile. or Morehead the same being, as
he imagineth, a necessity to avoid
losing caste. Thus doth one spring
chicken devour another for the sake OF
the ducks.
On taking charge of the Greensboro
Patriot, by foreclosure OF mortgage,
Lieut.. J. w. Forbis a com
flop" in the tone of the paper. 1t will,
hereafter, favor prohibition, and offer
no uncertain sound In respect to the
Democratic party. The new proprietor
intimates that financial considerations
caused Capt. Fulghum's course in the
recent attitude of the Patsior. This
remark has given rise to some comment,
and we shall look to further develop
ment with interest. Capt. FOrbis is
said to be a young lawyer of ability and
will doubtless infuse new life into the
venerable journal.
"A letter from Rutherfordton says
the leading physicians have forestalled
any intimation that they are financially
interested in the passage of the Prohi-
bition Act, by formally pledging them
selves to give certificates free of charge
to their patrons where liquors are need
ed incidentally. And it is urged that
physicians and druggists in all parts of
the State make the same pledge. We
believe, however, hat as a general
thing the physicians have taken no &C
tue part In the campaign.
We were in error as to Aunt Alb
by House" being III Elizabeth City. A
paper of that town has a weekly column
of her quaint criticisms on local affairs,
and as we missed the old lady from her
haunts in capitol square, We inferred
that she had removed her orbit to the
metropolis of Pasquotank, where the
festive bullfrog leaps from bank to
bank" With regret we must state
that AUNT Abby's" retirement is OF
necessity, and probably permanent, as
she is confined at her home In the
suburbs of Raleigh by illness and feeble.
ness incident to advancing years. Did
you ever read Gov. Vance's articles in
relation to the old lady's war expert
enceS?
Five men boarded a train in Kan
Il, EI1lol tho opn1p,ror anl , p,Ccop-
ger, shot the engineer. and robbed the
safe, getting from So 600 to SIS. 600.
This was pretty bold. But three men
in New York drove up along side of
two men in another vehicle who bad
$4,000 In greenbacks under the seat, and
81, 900 in silver in a bag. They were
taking the money from a big brewery to
deposit it in bank. Two of the robbers
Jumped from their wagon into the brew
er's wagon, knocked down the two men,
who struggled to defend their cash, but
were unable to do so. One robter
Jumped into his wagon with the green
backs, while another attempted to take
the silver; but as it weighed 60 pounds
he was forced to drop it. Then the
robbers whipped up their horses and
escaped. All this in open day, near
noon, in a crowded street of the great
est city of America. The train robbers
must look to their laurels.
The American Child's Pictorial
History of the United States" is pub
lished by Messrs. L. II. Butler Il Co.,
of Philadelphia, in a style to excite ad-
miration. The size is neat, type is
large and plain, and every chapter has
half a dozen pictures which cannot
avoid fixing the mind or memory of the
child upon the incident related in the
text. In this particular nearly all mod
ern school histories and biographies
surpass those of twenty years ago, as
far as the sun outshines the moon. If
you doubt it, just reflect how much
more readily a child will comprehend
the meaning of a promontory, or a
headland, or a peninsula, if pictured
before HIM IN connection with the les
son, than where merely described in
type. And if you question the lasting
effect of information conveyed by pic
lures, let us remind yon of the i%ncalcu-
liable damage done to North Carolina by
the "scene In North Carolina so famil-
lar to every student of Mitchell's geo
graphy; the wood cut representing two
negro slaves in the midst of a dense
swamp. chopping pine logs, or burning
tar! Nine In ten of the American PEG.
pie have formed their impression of the
Old North State from that picture, and
the accompanying legend of"Tar, Pitch
and Turpentine;;' although a majority
of the State is higher than any State
east Of the Mississippi, and three
fourths of the State does not make a
barrel of either tar pitch" or lur-