me to human nature; such a life strengthens my faith in man, and my faith in God. I did not know him until five years ago, when I came here a stronger to him and to you. I soon felt the weight of his influence; I soon had his help in difficulties which I need not name. He took me by the hand like a brother, and I leaned to him as naturally as I would to a brother for counsel and sympathy, because I had confidence in his strong sense, his sound judgment, and, more than all, in his great honest heart. He was one of God's noblemen. He scorned a meanness with all the strength of his enthusiastic nature, and was incapable of deception or equivocation. He stood squarely by the right, and when he praised or blamed, he did it frankly, openly and above-board. He was a prosperous man, but he prospered on strict business principles. He was one of the most generous hearted men I ever knew, and yet he made money rapidly and easily. His life should be a study for business men, for he proved to the world that money can be made rapidly without grinding the poor, without doing the slightest injury to any man living. He was one of the few generous liberal-handed men that could stick close to business principles. When he transacted business, he made his money count for every cent it was worth, and when his charity or generosity was appealed to, he scattered that money with a liberal hand. But more than all, he was a humble, devoted Christian, as any one would know that knew his life and his deeds of love and mercy. I could not often be with him during his sickness, and I have not made many inquiries about his last moments. I was not uneasy about them; I knew his faith would not falter, I knew his death would be a triumph. Show me a man's life and I am unconcerned about the manner of his death. Oh! how we shall miss him. But he has gone to live with God, to "shine as the stars forever and ever," and "our loss is his gain." And now, as I take my leave of all that remains on this earth of my noble friends I feel like borrowing language, and saying to that form which lies there so still and silent: "Bright be the place of thy soul, No nobler spirit than thine In the orbs of the blessed to shine." May the Lord grant that we all shall meet him where parting will be no more. OUR RESOURCES AND THE DOG, 1898. The abstract of personal property in Cherokee county, recently made out by the Auditor, furnishes some interesting facts and figures and, perhaps, more interesting suggestions. According to this abstract there are in the county 1,020 horses listed for taxation at $31,670, a small fraction of $31.00 a piece, which as an average price, may do pretty well. There are 2,131 mules, or more than twice as many mules as horses, listed at $71,264, or about $33.50 a piece. There are 4,194 head of cattle valued at $35.374 or about $8.00 a head. The sheep and goats are lumped together and there are only 580 head of both, valued at $626. There are 2,256 hogs valued at $4,405. The list of animals is closed with 1,326 dogs at $8,975 or a little over $5.00 each. We suppose dogs worth less than $5.00 were not returned. In the line of comforts and luxuries we have 485 gold and silver watches, or about one-third as many watches as dogs, valued at $4,602 against nearly $7,000 in dogs, from which facts we might infer that those well supplied with dogs don't need watches. Carriages and buggies 2,306, valued at $31,226; pianos and organs 232 valued at $10,345. The total value of all personal property in the county listed for taxation is $1,078,493. The above selections from the abstract deserve a careful perusal. When our readers shall have studied them to their satisfaction, we advise then! to let the faithful and irrepressible dog occupy a prominent place in their closing reflections. It wi!! be observed that there are over 300 more dogs in the county than horses and over 700 more dogs than And remember, too, We have little doubt sheep and goats put together. that the dogs are not all here. but that there are as many more not returned. The dog has little ambition to have his name appear on the tax books. The truth is there are grave doubts in his mind as to whether he is property or a member of the family, and if property at all, whether he is personal or real. It is true that he can move about from place to place with great facility and thus far he must undoubtedly be classed as personal; but then when we remember that in many a house he is as much a fixture and a sine qua non as the well or the barn, it would seem that he has indubitable claims on the realty. But whatever he is, if property at all, certainly no other property ever enjoyed such tact at playing with the owner's conscience or such facilities for keeping out of the clutches of the tax gatherer as he does. He can easily belong to Bud or Sis, whose name is not on the Auditor's books, and the tax payer of the family may think no more of reporting him to the Auditor than he would of Bud's top or Sis's doll. And then if any sort of pressure were brought to bear, or any research threatened or instituted, he could just as easily belong to nobody for a few days while returns are in demand, converting himself into a certain fortuitous quasi vagabond too valueless for anybody to claim. Hurrah! for the dog! In every war that has been waged against him, he has come out victorious, and so long as he has so many friends in the human family who will fight for him and die for him if need be, he may laugh at the hostile acts of Legislatures and bid defiance to all comers. RAILROADS AND THE REUNION. The Reunion of the Confederate Veterans will be held in Atlanta, beginning on the 20th and ending on the 23rd nstant. The railroads thus far have insisted on a fare of one cent a mile each way, and it is probable that no further concessions will be made. These rates are nearly double those granted to the Reunion at Richmond and Nashville, and that the roads should suddenly "shut the gates of mercy" and of charity against the old Confederate in his declining years, is another forcible illustration of the fact that corporations have no souls. All of these veterans are now past the prime of life; many of them are poor and maimed; and the difference of a few dollars arbitrarily fixed by a greedy and heartless corporation, will keep hundreds and thousands of them away from a last reunion on earth which they hoped to have with the comrades of the days of patriots and heroes-of the days made immortal by deeds of devotion and daring, by scenes of suffering and endurance, by acts |