BEDFORD PA„ FRIDAY, OCT. 20, 1805. ADVERTISE! ADVERTISE! The Bedford INQUIRER has the largest cir culation is this part of Pennsylvania. It is therefore one of the best mediums in the country for advertisers. teS°'lf you arc a Lawyer, Doctor or other professional man, advertise. BaT'lf you want to sell goods, advertise. If you want to buy a farm, adver tise. If you want to sell a farm, advertise. tdylf you want employment, advertise. 86L.1f you want to employ help, adver tise. you want to buy a house, adver tise. B®~lf you want to buy or sell a lot, adver tise. 50ulfyou want to buy or sell cattle, adver tise. SQk-If you want to buy or sell grain, adver tise. lWulf yon want, to advance your interests generally, advertise! THE ELECTIONS—THEIR SIGNIFI CANCE. The elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio and lowa are over and sufficiently accurate re ceived to indicate with certainty the over, whelming defeat of the Copperheads and sympathizers with the rebellion. The con test in Pennsylvania was declared by the op position to be upon negro equality, if so, the j result is bad for the Cops. The true issue, however, has been upon the question of re construction, and upon this the Union party went before the people with a platform whose meaning could not be misunderstood, and the people have ratified that platform, as Pconsylvanian's j>osition upon the ques 'ion of reconstruction, by a most overwhel ming majority. The Old Keystone has spo ken and her voice will not be unheeded in the councils of the nation. Her voice has been the key note of the Union party over the whole country. Ohio and lowa have, in reality, had practically the same issue before them, however much politicians may have endeavored to Pefog the people in regard to it lowa in addition to the reconstruction question took high ground in favor of uni versal suffrage and her people have sanc tioned it by fifteen thousand majority. So much for what hn-been done. Comingevents easts their shadows before them—Newirk, New Jersey has cast a dark shadow, for the fossilized democracy of that state, that indi cates progress even in New Jersey. Those who persistently believe in the lalismanic influence of the wortjf Democracy, without regard to principle may take a lesson from the election returns, aud learn, that a free people, who have just saved their Govern ment from. destruction and their country from anarchy, are not prepared to depute to their late enemies the work of recon struction. The question of repudiating the national debt and breaking the national faith has also been definitely settled. Pennsylva nia has also declared unequivocally in favor of that protection to American industry, so long needed and so necessary to the perma nent prosperity of the whole country. Let her voice be heeded in this also and in a few years, we will, under Providence, be blessed with such a degree of prosperity as the world has never yet seen, and while, our country so gloriously free, so richly endowed with every blessing, stands peerless among the peerless among the nations of the Earth. Pennsylvania, with her coal, her oil, her iron, her varied manufactures, her internal and external commerce, her canals, her rail roads, her grand old mountains, her fertile valleys and her life-giving fountains, shall stand forth first and fairest in all the bright galaxy of stars, that so gloriously illume the flag of the free. IN TRIBULATION. The old adage that troubles never come singly has been fully verified by the so-called Democracy in the recent elections. Penn sylvania, Ohio and lowa all came in a troop, and were quite enough to try the patience and test the faith of the stannchest of their leaders, but the unkindest cut of all came from Andy Johnson on the day of the Penn sylvania election, when he addressed the negro troops in Washington. Because he, in his magnanimity, had pardoned many of their traitorous crew, they took it for grant ed, that he was about to turn his back upon his friends and Tyler like, sell himself to his country's enemies. They accordingly began to pin his name upon their flags, and pro fess to adopt his policy in the administration of the government, when lo! he makes a speech and says '''He that ismost meritorious and virtuous aud intellectual and well in formed must stand highest without regard to color." What a fall was there, in the eyes of the Democracy. They suddenly remem bered that this "drunken buffoon" was not long since a "Journeyman Tailor," belong ing to the "Poor White Trash" in Tennes see, and quite as suddenly forgot their late gratitude for the pardon of their leaders. Why cannot the Democracy stiil adopt the President's sentiments? Do they fear that merit, virtue and intelligence will tell disas trously upon their ranks, if they should be made the test of privilege, rank and equali ty? Truly they are in a most desperate quandary-. To go forward, and follow the President, is to acknowledge the Union par ty as right Their present position, if they have any, is untenable. To go backward is utter destruction. Terror stricken they stand aghast and know not what to do. Tru ly may they exclaim of their future prospects, "0 dark, dark, dark, amid the blare of noon, Irrevocably dark, total eclipse Without all hope of day 1" Thus traitors meet their doom, and trea son its reward. HOW IB ITT The copperhead papers and speakers throughout the state have persistently de clared that the issue insolvcd in the politic al campaign, was negro suffrae. The State has adopted the Union platform by a major ity of from 20,000 to 25,000. Has it de clared in favor of Negro Suffrage ? What say you, prophets and seers of the Democ racy ? Do you accept the verdict as rendered upon your own construction of the issue? In the tere and yellow leaf.— The forests around our town, and the Democracy in Penmylvwda. Gloomy—The weather, and the prospects of the ooj^rheads. REHTWJRATION OF POSTAL FA CI Ll* TL* TO TUB SOUTH. When we incidentally read of the reopening of Post Offices and Postal routes and the repairing and extension of telegraphic com munications throughout the Southern States, we are apt to give it no more than a passing notice, and fail entirely to appreciate the im mense importance, not only to the South but to the whole country, of the reopening of mail coiiiujuuicution and the pouring of daily and hourly instalments of books, papers, letters, Ac., representing the thoughts, ide as and opinions of all sections, into the here tofore benighted regions of the South. Free communication aud interchange of thought is the lever of the world's progress, as indi cated by the experience of all ages. The South for years before the rebellion had neither a free mail, free speech, nor a free press, with them we would never have had a rebellion. The danger of a future rebel lion can now be averted by preserving the freedom of the press and of the mails thro'- out the length and breadth of the land. One of the great motive powers of civiliza tion is free, untrammelled thought, as ex pressed through periodicals, newspapers, in speeches and books and in the freedom of social intercourse. Its liberalizing influence upon the ignorance, bigotry, and selfishness of the hitherto isolated communities of the South, will be like the genial rays of the early summer sun upon the Earth as it emerges from the ice and storms of winter, quickening into life and energy the hitherto dormant powersof that region, and infusing a progressive spirit into its people that will soon make those long barren, wastes to bud and blossom as the rose, and crown with plenty, wealth, happiness and liberty all her inhabitants. Wc will hail with joy the day when not only all the old mail routes in the South are reopened but when many new ones shall be added, for they are the ties that bind our Union stronger than armed men and bayonets. But with these must go the minister of the gospel and the school teacher. When school-house and church stand side by side upon every hill top throughout the sunny south and all her children learn to read and write and think, we shall dismiss every fear of the cannon nnd bayonet being ever again required to preserve our national integrity. THE PRESIDENT'S PLATFORM. Yi hile politicians all over the country, of all shades of opinion, are shouting out, each that he is the true supporter of President Johnson, we notice that they are all some what shy of the most important part of the President's platform. Mr. Johnson declares that "slavery i.i in compatible with free and republican govern ment," and he holds further that there is but one way to get rid, finally and forever, of the evil. Here are his own words: "The mode by which this great change— the emancipation of the slave—can be effec ted. is properly found in the power to amend the Constitution of the United States. This plan is effectual and of no doubtful authori ty; and while it does not contravene the timely exercise of the war power by the President in his Emancipation Proclamation, it comes stamped with the authority of the people themselves, acting in accordance with the written rule of the supreme law of the land, and must therefore give more general satisfaction and quietude to the distracted public mind." We call the attention of influential polit cal leaders to these wise words of the Pres dent. Emancipation he holds to be so ne cessary. that he wrote in the same letter from which we have quoted above: "It is in vain to attempt to reconstruct the Union with the distracting element of slavery in it." The true way to secure emancipation, he goes on to say, is by the passage of the Con stitutional Amendment. Thus he adopts this important measure as his own: to oppose that is to oppose him. as he very well understands, and he is not a man to be blinded by loud pretentions of support from men who at the same time stab him by defeating the most important measure of his policy. When politicians now claim to represent Mr. Johnson, and to be his special supporters, the people will ask: What do you say to the Constitutional Amendment? It has not yet passed—will you, do you support it? Have you used your influence with your party friends, to induce them to pass it? Have you openly and clearly committed yourself in favor of it r It is of no use to say the issue is past—it is not; the amendment is not yet ratified by the requisite number of states. It lacks the vote of three states, we believe. In at least' two of those states, elections will be held this fall. It is very easy for parties, so ''harmonious" as each of the leading par ties now claims to be, to press upon their leaders in those states the open support of the amendment, and thus to secure its pas sage; that will be an assurance to the coun try that Mr. Johnson is really receiving sup port. But if either party in these states opposes the amendment, its professions elsewhere will be received with suspicion. The people, who do support the President, will say to these party leaders: In the only places where you have a chance to do anything you do wrong; in the only states where your support is important to President Johnson you oppose him; what then is your support worth? what is the value of your hollow professions? Here, therefore, is a test: When any politician, no matter of what party or fac tion, claims to "support President Johnson," ask him what he thinks of the Constitution al Amendment: if his reply is not clear, loud and definite, you may be sure that his pretentions are false.— Evening Post. ELECTION NEWS. The Union majority exceeds that of Lin coln several thousand and will be in the neighborhood of 25,000. Thirty-eight out of forty-two counties officially reported, •how Union gains. * Ohio gives a Union majority of thirty thousand or more. lowa gives a clear union majority of over fifteen thousand. C. C. C. in the election returns, means Cold comfort for Copperheads. Muddy —Democratic lucubrations over the election returns. Elongated —The visages of the Democrat ic prophets who predicted a victory in Penn sylvania. THE LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. Less than five pears ago, the accession of the Southrons having loft the friends of Protection iu a majority ia cither House of Congress, they improved their opportunity by framing and passing what is known as the Morrill and has been stigmatized by its enemies as the immoral Tariff. Though moderate in its rates of duty, it was unmis takable in its purpose, and was at once ve hemently denounced by Free Traders as a measure of insane Prohibition—of Japanese isolation. We were to have no more foreign trade, or next to none, till its repeal, clamored The Times (London,) as well as the great body of Economist doctrinaires , including even so masculine a thinker ax Harriet Mar tiueau. That we had setourfaces stubbornly toward the Dark Ages and decreed the in exorable expulsion from our shores of that large and respectable class of Europeans who live to supply us with the Wares and Fabrics of the Old World was devoutly believed. And, so long as the War lasted, they could not be made to realize that our subsisting commerce was not the factitious and transi tory result of our belligerent necessities. But the War was ended nearly or quite six months ago. We have long since ceased to import Niicr, Lead, Arms, Army Blankets, or anything of the sort. Our armies have in good part been dissolved and the men sent horn*. And yet though our exports are reduced nearly to a minimum by the M ar's suspensive afCotton-growing we are nevertheless importing foreign products— mainly Wares and Fabrics—at the rate of not less than Three Hundred Millions worth per annum—importing, to say the least quite as largely as our existing means of payment will warrant. And we are likely to import more rather than less so soon as we can grow the crops wherewith larger im portations may be paid for. And we are paying Federal Taxes alone at the rate of fully Ten Millions of Dollars per week, or hive Hundred Millions per annum, Though our volunteers are not nil disbanded yet and though many bills for War expenses are from day to day presented and paid wc are already more than paying our enrrent expenses including th; exceptionally high rates of interest on our vast Debt. Our two last monthly Treasury balance sheets have astonished the civilized world by exhibiting in either instance a diminution by several Millions of Dollars of the principal of our Debt and a corresponding reduction of the annually accruing interest. M e are confident that no other nation ever paralleled this so closely on the heels of a gigantic, and devastating War. Our Labor is generally well employed and rewarded. There have rarely been fewer men vainly seeking work in our City than now. In a long inland journey whence we have recently returned, we could hear of no dearth of employment anywhere. We donbt that there arc One 1 housand men looking for manual labor in the two States of Wis consin aud Minnesota which together have about One Million inhabitants. An average mechanic receives in Central Minnesota the price of three bushels of Wheat or fifteen bushels of potatoes for a day's work; a com mon lalstrer is paid the price of two bushels of M heat or ten bushels of Potatoes; and there is work for more men than can be had. We do not believe there were a hundred men looking for work or wanting it in the two cities of St. Paul aud Minneapolis, with a joint population of 20,000. Of course, there is some grumbling, as there.always is. One would have the evi dences of our National Debt taxed; though —as we have all that Debt to borrow afresh at very short dates—the effect of this would inevitably be to raise the rate of interest, so as to take five dollars out of the Treasuty for every four it put in. If you tax the bonds, the lender will take that circumstance into account in making his bids for the new loans whereby most of those now running must soon be replaced; so, that, instead of gradu ally working our average rate of interest down to five if not to four per cent, we shall have to pay aix or seven, as now. This project of lightening our burdens by taxing our Debt is as futile as it is perfidious. But prices are too high. Admit it ()r paper makers ask too much for their paper, compelling us to charge accordingly for our issues; the Cotton spinners are making (we are told) large profits; the farmers are get ting high prices for their products; the la boring class demand liberal wages; the land lords require big rents. AH this, we pre sume, is so; yet we are all getting on. Mer chants are selling many goods and getting pay for them; farmers are thriving; laborers are generally' comfortable; "newspapers are well supported as we can attest. We doubt whether this American People— we speak more especially of the States that took no part in the late revolt—were ever'doing bet ter than now. Considering our mountain of National and local Debt this is remarkable. Of course an effort will be made next Win ter to reduce the Tariff: but we cannot be lieve that it stands any chance of success. How should it? Suppose we had, for the last two or three years, been supplied with cheaper Paper cheaper Calicoes, cheaxer Iron from Europe, how should we have pfcid for them? How should we pay for tlXm overthrown on the assumption that the country had been reduced by it to idleness and embarrassment. Shall such facts be overborne? The South and the West arc now largely increasing or repairing their factories, woolen mills, Ac, are being erect ed or refitted almost everywhere. Let well enough alone, while we work our way back to Specie Payments, which will give us cheaper Goods, cheaper Food, cheaper Labor, cheap- I aper. If we can only refrain from doing mischief the country will rapidlj' increase her annual product until the Debt shall seem a bagatelle and every interest rejoice in a substantial, enduring prosperity.— JV. Y Tribune. now? We have very little Cotton, andean have little more for a year yet. Tobacco ditto. Rice ditto. Our product of Gold and Silver cannot be essentially increased till we shall have pushed our Pacific Railroad up to the Rocky Mountains on one side or over the Sierra Nevada on the other; and we are exporting too many Bonds to sell at 70—that is agreeing to pay SIOO a few years hence, with six per cent interest thereon, for every S7O loaned us. The less of this busi ness we do, the better for us and our children. Every Protective Tariff we have had has found our Industry paralyzed and left it ac tive and prosperous. Never yet was one GENERAL NEWS. AGRICULTURAL. The wheat crop of Minnesota this year will be 9,000,000 bushels, with an average of 24 bushels to the acre . Twenty-seven thousand balesot cotton will be produced this year along the line of the Illinois Central Railroad, against 5,000 last year. The cotton raised in Texas by the Germans is cleaner and finer than that grown by ne groes. LEGAL. The will of the late Mi. Cobden, executed the day before his death, has been sworn to as i nder SB,OOO sterling. The United States District Court at Chicago has decided that a married woman, in Illinois or Wisconsin may sne her husband, as well as other parties, to recover her own estate. Mr. L. C. Berry has just recovered a judg ment in the Supreme Court at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., for S3OO against the United States Marshal for illegal arrest and imprisonment in 1802. MILITARY. The First District of Columbia Colored Reg iment returned to Washington on the Bth, and their colored fellow-citizens gave them a re ception and Gen. Conner has declared war to the knife against the North-Western savages, and or dered his officers not to leave a trail, when once struck, until they have overtaken and punished them. The Military Department of New Mexico has been abolished. The office of Provost-Marshal in the Wash ington District has been abolished. FINANCIAL. The English Confederate bondholders are endeavoring to induce the London Stock Exchange to admit them to quotation. Fears are entertained of a financial crisis in England on account of large cotton specu lations in Liverpool and Manchester. The business done in American securities in London is unprecedented since the break ing out of the Rebellion. Five-Twenties were quoted at 70a7J on Sept. 30. M. Moreau, an eminent French financial statesman, isinthis country studyingits finan cial and commercial condition. The treasure captured among Jefferson Da vis's effects has been counted at the Treasury Department and amounts to $87,878 and $9,82*2 in silver. The receipts of the United States for the quarter ending June 30, 1865, exclusive of trust funds, were $018,464,820, and the ex penditures, $675,767,411. The State of New York has received $262,- 763 from the General Government for moneys advanced in 1861 for the equipment of regi ments, Ac. CRIME AND CABUAITIES. A bookkeeper named Bernard Straub was arrested in Brooklyn, N. Y., on the 10th, charged with defrauding his employers, and while being conveyed acros-i the river jumped overboard and was drowned. Dismal Swamp, Yu., is on tire, and thous ands of acres have already been burned over, greatly to the inconvenience of the bears, deer, Ac., in which it abounds. Highway robberies are of almost daily oc currence in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and a Vigilance Committee has been organi zed to inflict summary punishment upon the desperadoes. Fi.ur thousand barrels of oil and thirteen engine-houses and derricks were burned at Pithole, Pa., on the 9th inst. The fire spread over an area of five acres. Loss, $150,000. A man in Nashville, Tenn., shot his young wife six times, one day last week, for having proved unfaithful to him. She died on the spot. An attempt was made on the 7th to burn the celebrated Spotewood Hotel in Richmond. Va., and the house being filled with men, women and children, a terrible scene ensued; but the fire was extinguished nnd ''nobody hurt." LITERARY. M. Theirß is about to publish a HistoJy of Florence. De Bow is abont to resume the publication of his review. Dr. Bard is soon to revive The Memphis Avalanche, suspended in 1862. BobertE. Lee was installed as President f Washington College, at Lexington. Va., on the sth inst, At Gen. Lee's request, the ceremonies were of a very unostentatious character. A paper called The Journal of Freedom, advocating universal suffrage, has been es tablished fn Raleigh, N. C,, by the Federal officers. A monument is to be erected over the grave of Edgar A. Poe in Baltimore, Md. Mr. Charles Dickens has been seriously ill at Paris from the effect of sur.-stroke, but is recovering. The Empress Eugene has published a pamphlet on Mexico, for circulation among her friends, called: "Mexico from a Provi dential Point of View," Geo. Augustus Sala. quondam American correspondent of The, London Telegraph• is lecturing in Scotland on "Three Phases of Civilization—the United States, Mexico and Algeria." A life of Samuel Adams, by W, V. Walls, is announced by Little, Brown & Co., Boston. RELIGIOUS. 1 he American Bible Soeietybave aentagents to Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama, and Florida to labor among the freedmen. In the Episcopal Convention at Philadel phia delegates from three of the late rebell ious States were admitted. Seven thousand dollars were recently dona ted at St. Lazarus s Church, Memphis, Tenn., toward a cathedral in honor of the late Bish op Polk and others. A Roman Catholic congress is soon to be held at Treves, Germany, at which the most eminent Catholics iu Europe will be present. A new t atholic church is building in Wash ington. The recently published views of Henry Ward Beecheron future punishment, in which there is a leaning to Universalism, is cuusing much discussion. The 1 ennessee Conference of the Metho dist Episcopal Church, South, recommends that the word South be stricken from the name of their Church. The Presbytery of Sagamon, 111., recently denounced interference with the preaching of the Gospel either by civil or military au thority. At the Methodist Conference on the 7th, at Edgefield, Tenn,, great enthusiasm was nuuii. fe atthe introduction of BishopSoule, the oldest Bishop of that faith in the world. A. recess was bad, during which he received the congratulations of clergymen from all parts of the world. Alderman Phillips, a Hebrew, has been elected Lord Mayor ot London, Eng. The pope is opposed to secret societies and Freemasonary in particular, and censures the Sovereigns who protect them. The Presbyterian Synod of Virginia, in session at Lynchburg, Va., on the 7th, voted to maintuin a separate church organization in that state. POLITICAL. The Connecticut election, which took place on the 2d, resulted in the defeat of the negro suffrage Constitutional Amendment by from 3,000 to 5,000 majority. The Radical Republicans of Wisconsin held a convention at Janesville last week, and ex pressed themselves in favor of impartial suff rage us the only basis of the safe reconstruc tion and future security of the Union. The election for delegates to the Florida State Convention was held on the 2d. The North Carolina Convention met at Ra leigh on the 2d, and organized. Gen. Terry has designated nine members of the Richmond City Council and nine Alder men—being a majority of each body elected in July—who are to qualify and organize for tht purpose of appointing officers to conduct the Virginia Congressional election to take place on the 12th. Gov. Perry will, it is understood, be chosen Senator from South Carolina. lhe Louisiana election of Stale officers and Members of Congress takes place on the first Monday in November. I lie South Carolina election will be held October 18. James L. Orr is nominated for Governor. The Alabama State Convention has recon sidered the resolution to pay the debts con tracted during the war, and has repudiated both the State and Confederate debt. They have also passed an ordinance which practi cally excludes negro testimony from the courts. In Mississippi the negroes have been placed upon an equality with the whites in the courts of law. Col. Chaner has been elected Delegate to Congress from New Mexico. William Lloyd Garrison is tornakea lectur ing tour this Autumn in the West. Ihe North Carolina Convention has declar ed the ordinance of secession null and void, abolished Slavery forever in that State, and ordered an election for Governor and mem bers of the Legislature to be held Nov. 9. Garret Davis's Kentucky delegation is in Washington, asking the removal of Gov. Palmer. The colored people of St. Louis, Mo., held n meeting on the 2d, to take measures for se curing the right of suffrage. The Honorable John Minor Botts is a can didate for Congress in the Lynchburg Dis trict, Va. Col. J. W. Forney has concluded that ne gro suffrage in the South ;would be injurious at present. The majority of Gen Humphreys over •fudge Fisher for Governor of Mississippi is 10,000. The new State of Colorado has voted against negro suffrage. Maj-tien. N. P. Banks has been nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Sixth District of Massachusetts. The North Carolina election takes place on the first Thursday in November. MISSISSIPPI. Governor Sharkey on Negro Testimony. He Orders it to be Received in the Civil Courts. JACKSON, Miss., September 28.—Quiet reigns in this locality at present. The poli ticians are resting their claims before the dear people, who will decide on Monday mext the fate of each. The villains who were re cently engaged in shooting negroes for the "fun of the thing," and stealing cotton bc oau.-o it was the "custom of the country," have subsided, because both the fun and the custom are played out- Governor Sharkey's proclamation which appears in the papers this morning, is the theme of conversation, and has provoked a great tieal of comment pro and am. There has been much controversy, both in the pub lic prints and in the bar-rooms; where poli ticians and other loafers "most do congre gate," regarding the admission of negio testimony in courts of justice. While they were heartily tired and anxious to get rid of the Freedman's Bureau Court, before which a whito man stood but a slim chance, they could not consent to the policy of allowing the negro the right of testimony before their civil tribunals even in cases where Sambo should be the plaintiff or defendant in the suit. A fewdaj'sago it became known here that Colonel Thomas, Assistant Commissioner for Freedman for the State, had turned over the business of his court to the Mayor of Vioksburg. There was a great howl raised, and the Xeios of this city called upon Gov ernor Sharkey to suspend from office the aforesaid Mayor for receiving negro testimo ny. The proclamation of the Governor, however, has put a quietness to the matter, and the malcontents can do nothing but grin and bear it As the proclamation explains the matter fully I append it- PROCLAMATION. EXKCCTIV C OFFICE, .JACKSON, Septem ber 25, 1#65.—8y an order bearing date the 10th inst, Colonel Samuel Thomas Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau in this State, proposes to transfer to the civil authorities of the State the right to try all cases in which the rights of freedmen are in volved, either for injuries done to their per rons or property. This propisition is made, however, on condition that "thejudicial offi cers and magistrates of the Provisional Government of the State will take for their of procedure the laws now in force in this State, except so far as those laws make a distinction on account of color, and allow negroes the same rights and privileges as are accorded to white men before their courts," by which I understand that negroes shall be allowed to testify in cases where their interest is involved. And believing that the late constitutional amendment winch abolished slavery abolish ed all laws which constituted a part of the policy of the system of slavery, and in de claring that the negro shall hie protected in his person and property establishes princi ples which of themselves entitle the negro to sue and be sued, and, as a necessary inci dent of such right, that he is made compe tent as a witness according to the laws of evidence of the State: Now, therefore, I, William L. Sharkey, Provisional Governor of Mississippi, with a view of securing to our citizens the rights of trial before their own officers and under their own laws, rather than by a military tribunal and bv military law, do horeby proclaim and make known that in all cases, civil or criminal, in which the rights of negroes are involved, either j for injuries done to their persons or property j or ra matters of contract, the testimony of negroes may be reoeived, subject to the com mon-law roles of evidence as regards com petency and credibility which prevail in re- i gard to white pepspps, A"<l 1 d<> therefore accept the p-opositiou of Colonel Samuel Ihoinas Asflstant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau of this State and re quest that no freed man's court shall hereaf ter be oigaOMsed, and that those already In existence be closed, and instructed to trans - fer the cases before them to the civil author ities; and I hereby instruct all judicial officers and magistrates to aet accordingly, until the Legislature shall act upon the subject. Given under my hand and the great seal of the State affixed, this day and date above written. W. L. SIIABKEY. Provisional Governor of Mississippi. TF.lt Kl Ul.i: RAILROAD ACCIDENT. Nine Persons Instantly Killedl-Thirtv Men, Women and Children Reported wounded! lL °' L ,nost horrible railroad accidents that has hoccurred during the present vear, happened on Saturday afternoon, on the 1 ennsyivania railroad three miles this side of Lancaster, as the Pay Lxpress train reached that point, en route for Philadelphia. Tie tram consisted of seven cars: The front axio of the third car breaking, that end of the car at once fell to the track, and as the train was under full headway, the rear cars ran into the one to which the accident occurred, crushing to death nine persons and maiming a large number of others—rumor says thirtv or more. The scene is said to have been heart-rend.ng and sickening in the extreme, lhe shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying were such as to unman the stoutest heart, and cause many passengers to leave the vicinity oi the accident to obtain relief from the sad spectacle presented. The fol lowing is a list of the persons who were in stantly killed, or died within a few moments after the accident occurred: Mrs. James P. Barr, wife of the Surveyor (xeneral of Pennsylvania. Mrs. \Y illett, of New Cumberland, Cum berland county, Pa. Mrs. Zette, of Milwaukie, Wisconsin. Colonel Iutler, of Lewistown, Pa. Mrs. Butler, (wife of the above,) Lewis town, Pa. Bernard Butler, Clerk in the Surveyor ixeneral s ()ffice, Harri.sburg. Mrs. Phillips, of Ohio. A daughter of Mrs. Phillips, aged about 15 years. Another daughter of Mrs. Phillips, aged 10 years. It is said that from thirty to forty persons were wounded—and there is no cause to doubt the truth of the report, as it seems in credit>le that a smaller number would be in jured, when the list of killed is so extensive as the above. Among those reported wounded arc- James P. Barr. .surveyor General, and Mrs. Wolf mger, of Harrisburg. fhe Imdies of the persons killed were for warded to the West on the express train of Sunday morning. That of Mrs. Willeti* was brought to this city, and after being placed in a neat coffin, was sent to New Cumberland. We are informed that the railroad track was torn up for a distance of a hundred yards or more, aud that three or four cars were shattered to pieces. A bar of railroad iron penetrated entirely through the body of one of the men killed. Some of the bodies are said to have been horrildy mutilated. Among the parties wounded some arc re ported as arms and legs broken, and others sustained injuries of everv conceivable form. The accident is attributed to defective iron in the axle that broke, the ear to which it was attached having been in good condition. Bit ire going to press a rumor reached us that five of the persons wounded died yes terday. CHAMP FERGUSON. He j* Sentenced to be Hung—The day Ol Exetntion Fixed for the 2(Uh int. Nashville, Oct, 9.—The papers in the case of C hamp Ferguson, which were for warded to W ashing ton for the President's approval, returned today. The sentence was read to Ferguson in his cell by Colonel Miutter, the commandant of the post, which was that he be hanged by the neck until he be dead on the 20th of October between the hours of 10 A. M. and 2' o' clock P. u Fer guson received the announcement of this execution with apparent unconcern. Not a muscle of his face moved. He was taken out. tiding this afternoon by his guards. He is in apparent good health, and is, to all out ward appearances, regardless of his fate. Severe Earthquake in California. fhe severest earthquake ever felt at San Fiam isco occurred at a quarter before one o clock on Sunday afternoon last, and fright ened almost the entire population of the city out of their houses into the streets Services were over in most of the churches the large congregation of the Unitarian church was being dismissed when the shack commenced. Ladies shrieked: all pushed for the doors faster than they could be ac commodated with exit. Similar scenes took place at St. Mary s Cathedral, and at some other churches and Sunday schools. The rush was so great from the Catholic church on \ allego street that the large doors to the main entrance were carried away, and sever al persons were injured by being trampled upon. The walls of many buildings were cracked in many places. Mor® or less plas tering: fell from perhaps halt the ceilings of the city. The entire front of a four-story brick budding just erected on Third street, fell outward, covering about half of that wide street with fragments. One indepen dently constructed chimney of the Lick House fell and crushed through the roof of the room, coming down upon the tables and dishes to the astonishment of the boarders who were taking lunch. Three of the ser vants were injured. Two Chinamen were badly injured by the falling of a fire wall on Jackson street. The City Hall bell com menced ringing from the vibration of the tower. Ihe City Hall is damaged in the front wall to the extent that a portion must be rebuilt at a cost of several thousand dollars. Ihe old Merchant's Exchange building opposite the Custom House will probably require re-building. Fissures two or three inches wide were opened in the ground in the lower part of the city, where it is uiiidc land; and some of it was elevated many inches above its former level. The tide rose very high at the time of the shock, und fell very low immediately afterwards- Ten or eleven distinct shocks were felt after the first shock, up to five o'clock Monday morning, as well as a number of slighter visitations. It is estimated that the losses will amount to SIOO,OOO, and may exceed that suui. Brief accounts from Sacramento, Stock toh and San Jose represents the shock as the severest ever felt in those cities. It was not felt at Marysville nor at Placerville; but the town of Santa Cruz felt the shock more severely than any other of the State. Sev eral brick houses were so badly damaged that ftartial reconstruction will be necessary The ground along the river opened in fis sures and spouted water like geysers The people are unable to use some of the wells which are either dry or filled with sand * I FAOI F CANADA.—Within ~ r • months, from one or two streets of the city of St. Johns, nearly one tnref*h% laniCS , h S e takun their depar ture for the States! Many of these were fine joung fellows—manly, honest, and in austrious. rhey were anxious to remain at orne with their parents, their sisters, their brothers, and their schoolmates, but ''times were dull there was nothing doing, and little prospect of improvement. The house joiners, the blacksmiths, the masons, feared for the coming winter, and decided not to await flic pi'.ibahle penury that lav before t beiu m cu-c they remained b<-re, ,S7. fohnn 1 aptr. Politico Religious Aspects of Italy. The Ecaiiijiliciil C'/iriufenil'itn says (hat king V ictoi hiiHiianuel, as ho advances in |ifb, be gins to feel the superstitious terrors of the Koimsh Church and is filled with remorse for the personal and political offences of |,i past life. Hence, it is said, the reeei.t at tempts at reconciliation with Home, which might have Keen successful but for the blind obstinacy of the men a lio are around the Pope and for which the political and relig ious reformers of Italy alike give them their thanks. In the meantime a spirit of pens cution has been stirred up against persons of the Reformed faith all over Italy; and the priests are everywhere exerting themselves to bring up their flocks to the polling tooth in the forthcoming elections to vote for can didates who will support the cause of the t hurch. II a majority can be returned in favor of reconciliation with the Church, it is thought they will meet with little opposition on the part of the King. But in the mean time the government proceeds with great energy in its work of consolidating the newly won liberties of the people. The Minister of i nstruction was lately induced to resign and bis successor has already given notice of his intention to introduce into the new Par liament the measure for the secularization of the revenues of the monasteries and nun neries which was so unaccountably with drawn in the last session. With such pro ject.- on foot it is plain there never can lie real peace between Italy and Koine. There is another measure in which the government has displayed much energy. The cholera made its appearance at Ancona, and com mitted dreadful ravages among the popula tion. The priests attempted to persuade the people that this was Heaven s judgment on accouct of the backslidings of the govern ment, but the ministers faced the storm, sent money and gifts to the town: the com mander of the district shifted his headquar ters iiuo the heart of the infeeted city, and confidence and quiet were restored. It is satisfactory to add that the pestilence has now subsided. Attempted Escape of Ur Mtidri. We have obtained from an officer of the steamer Thomas A. Scott , the full particu iars of Dr. Mudd's attempted escape, differ jng in many particulars from the accounts hitherto published. The prisoners at the lortugasarc allowed the liberty of the bland except on the day of a vessel's departure. At night they are expected to sleep within the fort. The night previous to the return of the Thomas A. Scott, Dr Mudd slept outside the fort, in a shed, and the next morning he quietly walked on board the steamer, disappeard into the lowest deck, and sent a fireman for Quartermaster Kelly, fhis was the last that was seen of him. Soon after he was missed at the fort, and an officer and squad sent down to search the vessel. On the very bottom of the vessel lay a platform, resting on two cross beams; the officer thrust his sword under one side, ana the colored soldier inserted a bayonet under the other. The roar of pain that im mediately rose told that both sword and bar onet had reached their mark; the platform was raised, and Dr. Mudd arose and return ed to his status of a captive prisoner. lie was immediately brought to the fort and the thumb-screws applied to him, and underthe pressure of pain he acknowledged that Kelly with whom he had formed an acquaintance within a few days, had agreed to help him to escape on the promise of receiving Mudd's gold watch. Kelly was thereupon marched to the fort, a drum head court-martial held, and he was sentenced to six years' impris onment and hard labor in the Tortugas.— The vessel then sailed without Mudd or Kelly, and the papers were forwarded to Washington for confirmation.— N. Y. Tri bune. New Application of Paper. I jx>r pipes are composed of paper and Vntumeo. and the process of their manufac ture is very simple. Paper <>i:i width equal to the required length of the pipe, is passed through a cistern of molten bitumen. Upon a cylinder or core having its diameter equal to the required bore of the pipe, this pajmr is then wound, under pressure from a heavi ly-Weighted cylinder, revolving in connection with the core. This insures an equal dis tribution ot the bitumen and compactness id material throughout the pipe. The thick ness, and consequently the strength of the pipe is regulated by the amount of pap. r coiled on the core. When the pipe leaves the rolling machine, the core cylinder is withdrawn, and the interior of the tube is coated with an insoluble waterproof compo sition. This coating protects the paper, and forming a highly glazed surface, diminishes the resistance of friction, an important point as regards water pipes. A composi tion of bitumen and sand is applied to the exterior of the pipe, which protects it against the evils to which iron pipes are liable. The junction of these pipes is effected in several ways; where they arc to be subjected to pressure a flanged iron coupling is need. In thiscase the end of the pipe is forced acain t the inner projecting flange of a suitably for med iron socket, and an annular space of wedge section is then filled in with some of the substance used in lining the tube. A perfect and strong connection is thtw made .K'twecn the iron socket and the pipes, which arc then jointed together by screw holts pass ing through the iron flanges. An india rub ber washer between the faces of the flanges serves to make the joint water-tight. These pipes offer a strong resistance to external and internal pressure. In a paper read be fore the institution of engineers in Scotland by Mr. O. Marquet, it is stated that hitu mcnized paper pipes of three inches, four inches, and li ve inches diameter, and half an inch-in thickness, have been tested Imth singly and joined together, and have b. cn found to withstand a pressure of five hmi dred pounds on the square inch without showing the least sign of weakness either in the pipe itself or at the joints. Compared with iron pipes, the specific gravity of those of bitumeuized paper is as one to five, while the cost of the latter is stated to l>e about one-half that of the former. A GREAT NATURAL Cnu sm.— The Sentinel, published at Jack ou- Cle, Oregon oi the I— tli zens returned l.i week from a v.-it to the great Sunken Like, situa cd ii, Can tide Mountains about seventy-five mil: s north east tn.ni Jacksonville. Tin i.ik<- rivals the fatuous valley of Sinbad the ,r It is thought to average 2,000 feet down'to the water all round. The walls an- .-.'most t>cr nendieular, running down int.. :h water and leaving no beach. The depth nl "he water is unknown, and its surface is smooth and unruffled, as if lies so far below tin* surface or the mountain that the air eun cuts do not afreet it.. Its length is estimated at twelve miles, and its wcUtli at ten. Tl. is an Is land in its "outre having trees up m it. No living man ever was and probably '■ vcr will, be able to reach the water's edge. It lies silent, still and mysterious, in the Uisoai of the everlasting hills, like a lrtice well scooped out by the hands of the giant genii of the mountains, in the unknown avsgone by, around it the primeval forests watch and ward are keeping. The visiting pa; t.\ fired a rifle several times into the water, ai an an gle of forty-five degrees, and were able to note several seconds of time from the report of the gun until the ball struck the water i Uoii seeuis incredible, but is vouehed for by some of our most reliable citizens. The lake is certainly a most remarkable < u.iosi ty. ~ Secretary of the Interior has notified the neifie bail road Company of the accept ance ot their proposition for the location of the new line. Che maximum grade of the road nas been fixed at 30 feet. I he Supreme Court of Illinois has sustain ed ihe action ot the Slate Treasurer ifi refus ing to pay the Legis'uture in gold,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers