546 



NONPAREIL. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



tions of 15 Democrats in the Senate to 16 Re- 

 publicans and 1 Independent ; and in the House, 

 73 Democrats and 55 Republicans. 



NONPAREIL, THE AMERICAN LIFE-RAFT. 

 A daring adventure was performed by the crew 

 of an American life-raft in 1867. These gallant 

 fellows, three in number, brought over a raft 

 from New York to Southampton in forty-three 

 days. No better evidence could be afforded of 

 the utility of this invention for purposes of sav- 

 ing life at sea. The raft is only 24 feet long 

 and 12 feet broad, has two masts, and con- 



SeoJt. 



sists of three cylinders, pointed at each end, 

 united together by canvas connections, having 

 no real deck, and is strengthened by boards, 

 slipped under strong iron neck-pieces, the 

 whole kept together by lashing. A water- 

 proof cloth, hung over a boom, closed at each 

 end, affords sleeping accommodation, two at a 

 time, and the third keeping watch. This is 

 fixed on a strong locker, in which the pro- 

 visions are kept. The raft lay-to seven times 

 from stress of weather, and the last vessel 

 spoken was the John Chapman, from which 

 they were given a fowl, which was still alive 

 and well on the arrival. They arrived with 

 thirty gallons of water to spare. They had 

 no chronometer on board, and sailed by dead- 

 reckoning, .and corrected their position by 

 vessels they spoke. There is a smaller raft on 

 deck for use as a boat. The raft was per- 

 fectly water-tight all the way, not a leak of 

 any sort having occurred. She is fitted with 

 an apparatus for filling the tubes with air. The 

 adventure has been conducted by John Mikes, 

 captain, and a crew of two, named George 

 Miller and Jerry Mallene. 



NORTH CAROLINA. The Legislature of 

 North Carolina, which assembled in November, 

 1866, continued in session until March follow- 

 ing. Two hundred and twenty-nine acts and 

 forty-eight resolutions passed both branches 

 during this time, mostly of a local character, 



and, in view of the subsequent military juris- 

 diction of the United States in that quarter, of 

 temporary interest. "While the reconstruction 

 plan of Congress was yet under discussion, a 

 resolution was introduced into the Lower House 

 of the North Carolina Assembly, and referred 

 to the Committee on Federal Relations, after a 

 spirited debate, declaring the willingness of the 

 State to accept in good faith the proposed con- 

 gressional plan. This resolution did not, how- 

 ever, obtain favor with a majority of the mem- 

 bers. A series of resolutions was adopted, in- 

 viting all the States to meet in a national con- 

 vention for the purpose of "proposing, in.exact 

 conformity with the Constitution of the United 

 States, such amendments to the Constitution 

 that the result will be such mutual concession 

 as will lead to a restoration of our former 

 happy relations." Previous to this, a plan had 

 been on foot for the restoration of the South- 

 ern States by certain amendments to the na- 

 tional and State Constitutions, and had been 

 submitted to the North Carolina Legislature for 

 adoption. (For the substance of the proposed 

 amendments, see ALABAMA, p. 16, of this vol- 

 ume.) All interest in these schemes was super- 

 seded, however, by the adoption of the Military 

 Reconstruction Acts in March, according to 

 which North and South Carolina were to form 

 the Second Military District, under command 

 of Major-General Daniel E. Sickles, with hia 

 headquarters at Columbia, S. 0. (For General 

 Sickles's order assuming command of the Second 

 District, as well as for other orders having no 

 special application in North Carolina, and un- 

 der which no special action was taken in that 

 State, see SOUTH CAROLIXA.) 



A Republican convention met at Raleigh on 

 the 27th of March, composed of ninety-seven 

 white and forty-nine colored delegates. The 

 platform adopted denounces secession and rec- 

 ognizes the supremacy of the central Govern- 

 ment and its paramount claim to the allegiance 

 of the citizens of every State ; it indorses the 

 " great measures of civil rights and enfranchise- 

 ment, without, any property qualification, con- 

 ferred without distinction of color ;" demands 

 the right of free discussion upon all topics of 

 public interest; declares that the most efficient 

 means of restoring prosperity in the South is 

 by spreading education among the people; 

 deprecates repudiation of 'the public faith, and 

 indorses the "recent action of Congress as a 

 solution of our present political difficulties." 

 Republican meetings in several of the counties, 

 made up of whites and blacks, also expressed 

 their readiness to cooperate with the General 

 Government in its plan of restoration for the 

 Southern States. 



Since the commencement of the civil war no 

 United States court had been held in the late 

 insurgent States, at which a justice of the Su- 

 preme Court had been present, until the open- 

 ing of the Circuit Court at Raleigh on the first 

 Monday of June, 1867, From 1861 to 1865 

 the United States courts had been excluded 



