SARGENT, EPES. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



667 



was increasing in size, while Poti, notwith- 

 standing its dockyard and railway, was grad- 

 ually declining. In December, 1878, the cus- 

 toms receipts at Batoam amounted to 480 

 rubles; in October, 1879, they had increased 

 to 7,000 rubles. The German consul at Ba- 

 touni made a statement somewhat at variance 

 with this in his report on the trade and indus- 

 try of the Caucasus. During the past twelve 

 months, he said, adverse economic conditions 



had been experienced in Trans -Caucasia, and 

 the province had derived no advantage from 

 the possession of Batoum since it had come 

 under Russian control. The inhabitants of 

 the district were not consumers of European 

 goods, and the land-traffic with the interior of 

 Asia Minor by way of Batoum was rendered 

 almost impossible by the want of roads. At 

 present the port was absolutely useless, ex- 

 cept for strategic purposes. 



S 



SARGENT, EPES, author, was born at Glou- 

 cester, Massachusetts, in 1812, of a family well 

 known in literary circles of New England. He 

 entered Harvard College, but left before grad- 

 uating. He was a persistent worker in the 

 under walks of literature. In his early boy- 

 hood he conducted a paper called the " Liter- 

 ary Journal." He connected himself with Mr. 

 S. G. Goodrich in the management of u The 

 Token "and " Peter Parley's Magazine." To- 

 gether they compiled the Peter Parley series 

 of school-books, which have had so wide a cir- 

 culation. In 1836 he produced his first play, 

 "The Bride of Genoa," which was followed 

 the next year by " Velasco," a tragedy written 

 for Miss Ellen Tree, and played both in Amer- 

 ica and England. He edited the " New Eng- 

 land Magazine," the " Boston Daily Adver- 

 tiser," and the "Atlas," the "New Monthly 

 Magazine," and the "Boston Transcript." He 

 wrote a comedy, various juvenile tales, novels, 

 lives of Henry Clay and Benjamin Franklin. 

 He also published a volume of verses, among 

 which "A Life on the Ocean Wave " is well 

 known, and will probably live. He edited a 

 number of the lesser English poets, and wrote 

 their biographies, besides which he prepared 

 for the press "The Modern Standard Drama," 

 in seven volumes. He wrote much on spirit- 

 ualism, in which he had a devout belief. He 

 was a voluminous contributor to the periodical 

 literature of the day, especially " The Knicker- 

 bocker " and the " Atlantic Monthly." But his 

 most remunerative labors were in the prepara- 

 tion of readers, speakers, spellers, and other, 

 educational works. He died in Boston, in the 

 sixty-ninth year of his age. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. An extra session of 

 the Legislature was called by the Governor for 

 the purpose of voting appropriations, the Sup- 

 ply Bill passed at the preceding session having 

 been adjudged invalid by the Supreme Court. 

 In addition to the Supply Act, the Governor 

 in his Message called the attention of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly to the need of a registration 

 law and other matters. The session opened 

 February 10th. Besides the Appropriation and 

 Supply Bill, two bills amending the debt settle- 

 ment were among the more important acts 

 passed. In the act of 1878 to utilize convict 

 labor, the section which provided that railroad 



scrip might be taken in payment for the labor 

 of the convicts was rescinded. A report of 

 the Directors of the Penitentiary shows the 

 number of convicts leased to be 306 out of a 

 total number of 593, the hire being from $3 

 to $5 per month. The office of Railroad Com- 

 missioner was abolished. 



The consolidation of the Augusta, Knoxville, 

 and Greenwood Railroad Company, and the 

 Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Company, of 

 Georgia, was authorized, and the Blue Ridge 

 Railroad was chartered. 



On the 1st of September the Governor, "W. 

 D. Simpson, resigned his office to take the 

 Chief Justiceship, and Lieutenant-Governor T. 

 B. Jeter was installed as Chief Magistrate of 

 the State. At the opening of the regular ses- 

 sion of the Legislature in November there was 

 a discussion upon the right and propriety of 

 Governor Jeter's receiving a seat in the Senate 

 to which he had been elected and acting as 

 pro tempore President of the Senate while dis- 

 charging the functions of Governor. The new 

 Governor, Hagood, was inaugurated on Novem- 

 ber 30th. He called attention in his inaugural 

 address to the fact that the accounts of the 

 State had been cleared from all confusion or 

 uncertainty, and a true and accurate account 

 of the actual state of the treasury laid before 

 the people. The Assembly passed a resolution 

 to submit the question of calling a Constitu- 

 tional Convention to the people at the next 

 general election. 



The condition of the State debt at the close 

 of 1880 was as follows: 



Consols $5,210,793 82 



Deficiencies 564,855 98 



State scrip (Agricultural College) 191,800 00 



To be funded, principal and interest, ante-bel- 

 lum 196,570 91 



To be funded, principal and interest, post-bel- 

 lum 306,316 00 



To be funded for fundable interest 146,689 07 



To be funded for bills, bank of the State 22,145 00 



Total bonded debt $6,639,170 78 



In this statement the estimate of invalidity 

 in part of the debt and of the amount of the 

 bills of the Bank of the State to be funded is 

 an approximation. 



INTEREST ON THE DEBT. 



The appropriation to meet the interest on 

 the debt for the year 1879-'80 was $515,508, 

 of which there was paid up to October 31st, 



