The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-11-03


weekly journal devoted to Southern III
dustries, published by Nessr>. James
Mcdonald ana Gen. Baker +. Lee, at
Richmond. "a, needs only large CIR
cniation 10 DO a very great deal - good
for the South. 1t Is possibly gejung
the circuiation We use the term pos
sibly' instead Of probably because
we know by suffering experience that
the day for such papers has not yet
arrived IN the South. Evcryo)1v must
admit that the farH,er and .HechGa'c
for two years after 1t started was well
edited and well CONDUCTED |; WAS a
large, handsome, page paper. pnntcd
from new type. issued regularly etc.
1t had half dozen editors, incluiIng
practical and successful farmers. X nad
the open support Of Gov. ance, then
IN the chair Of State, aud the trequcnl
use Of his pen. 1t numbered among its
contributors many of the best minds In
North Carolina, both male and female.
Such writers as Col. Cameron, Col
John s. Long, Mrs. Cornelia Spencer,
Mrs Harriet Irwin, Prot. Gregory, Maj.
Ragland, Col. Polk, Caps, 5. B. Alex
andcr, Col. JAS. q. Burr, and others.
1t had the good word Of Commissioner
Polk in all of his travels, canvassing the
State And it had warmer, and more
frequent, Kind mention by the State
press than was probably ever given to
any journal in North Carolina before
Yet, 10 spite of all these advantages, 1t
had, when the two years elapsed, lncurr-
ed debt Of 81 ,2GO for expenses IN ex-
cess of receipts and its list of subscrl-
parS did not exceed 600 Its tota, issue,
including exchanges and cofuplimenta
ricS, was on the lst day of March, 1879,
when we..took charge of Its business only
1lS, or considerably less than hot Its
present circrIationl
Why was this? The answer Is easy.
| Ii Is lot that our people lack intelligence
TO appreciate good Agricultural paper;
| but il is because all the habits and train
iny of their lives have been practical
AID traditional rather than experimen
| tal on Theoretical. We remember the
remarks an old editor You cannot
succeed, said he: The more money
YOU spend, and the better paper you
make, the sooner YOU will break Look
At he cid Nmt1. u,d Farmer! The
hnrGi C,u0lauat lie "('econstructer;
Farnter," The North Carolina Agr,cui-
hra .journdit The Carolinu Fdrnae,
al Wilmington Look at the shoals OF
similar wrecks What do the teach!
why, that our people when they sub
scribe for paper, want one that vii
give them the news, and politics, the
hotter the better !.
70 certain extent he was right, We
are quiet, slow, conservative people
and we do not take readily to new enter
prises, or new theories; consequent,
we do not enjoy reading paper wholly
devoted to Progress aud Advanced ideas
\ great change is going on, and within
zen years it will be possible to publish
d succ, ssful Journal, both of Literature
aud ot Industries, in the South But a>
yet, the large majority of our peo
pie prefer to have the news of the day
and a spice Of politics to go along witt
it.
The above Is, in part, an answer tt
he frequent query why We have re
dnced the agricultural features of The
Fd,mer md Nechnnic to some extent
The reason is that we wish to avoid the
hip wreck which has betallen every
/ AGRICULTURAL WcckIN lIOlI ft OlOhd az
t. the Rio Grande since the war.
At the same time We are trying t
make the Farmer and Mechanic a true
enresentative of The interests OF oul
Industrious people Of all classes, tranes
ma Professions. Oar files OF any yeal
xi!l show hundreds OF columns of artl
lies advocating Improved Hus sbandry
manufa ctures, lmmi grafton, Stock rear
iny Stock laws. Dog laws, Road laws
Diversified Crops, Methods of Culture.
etc, etc Ere long we hope to enlarge
the parer, ard give more space to al
,uch matters though we are aware that
eight In ten of our readers skip all bu,
the news items, and would stop then
subscriptions If the latter were omitted
A WONDERFUL SHoT. The remark
.ble sh Doting Of the young Ncz PERT
indian boy, Otto, was Witnessed Satur
Jay, in Platt's bali, by large audience
+ those interested IN rifle shooting.
The most rcmli l<lble feature Of the cX-
h'bition was the lightning quick ness OF
the boy. But very few attempts tai,ed !.
/ The first shot was at five cent piecs
IN the head Of a figure representing a
man, and was hit, the distaEcc being
/ fifteen PAGES.
The net feat was the cutting Of !;
string that suspended Il figure III the
rear Of the 5 are The rifle vas picked
np from the Stage hy the lad after he
had turned somcrsaut and the shot
was fred almost instantly. The most
remarkable SHOT Of the evening WAS ac-
cJmpIished by the Use of peculiarly
placed appliances in the following
manner: In a small steel frame a pistol
barred was suspended, behind the bar
rel a razor had been tiAc.l, and or
either side of it WAS suspended glass
4 b II. Tnc boy was then taken to the
ont of the stage and blindfo!ded, with
his face TO the audience. At the COM
mand ''2boue face he turned, raised
his rife, and after only momentary
hesitation. fired. The ball passed
through the pistol barrel, vas split by
the razor. and eaca glass ball was bro
ken hy half of the bullet. This shot
is said to be due to the boys wonder
+ ful gift of tue power OF location.
! Mr.. Heber Donaldson. of Oil City
danced. and the Presbyterian church Of
which he was . member danced him
outside. He appealed to the Clarion
Pres5ytcry, but they sustained the &C
tiep of the church. He now throws
himself upon the tender mercies of the
SYNOD at Erie. and his case excites
great interest.