NORTH CAROLINA. 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 611 



Among the prisoners now confined in the 

 ntiury of North Carolina there are "a 

 whiti- iiinii sent thither for a terra of ten years, 

 f<>r -tealing a Bilik- while drunk ; a youth for 

 ii t TIM of three years for stealing one goose, 

 valued at ten cents ; another for a term of 

 thive years for receiving a stolen chicken ! " 



Under the law, as it now stands, according 

 to the decision of the Supreme Court, assault 

 and battery, even an assault with a deadly 

 weapon and with intent to murder, is not a 

 penitentiary crime! 



As the Western North Carolina Railroad was 

 to be sold under a decree of the Circuit Court 

 of the United States, the General Assembly of 

 1874 '75 passed an act to purchase the said 

 road for the State at a price not exceeding 

 $890,000. It appointed the Governor and two 

 other citizens a commission to make the pur- 

 chase, and pay for it by issuing bonds in the 

 name of the Western North Carolina Railroad 

 Company, and in the usual form of mortgage- 

 bonds, the principal to be paid at fifteen years 

 from the date of issue, and in the mean time 

 bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent, 

 per annum, payable semi-annually. , The act 

 empowered the Governor, after the purchase, 

 to appoint three commissioners to manage the 

 affairs of the road during the pleasure of the 

 General Assembly, and to build and complete 

 its unfinished portion to its termini at Paint 

 Rock and the Georgia or Tennessee line, near 

 Durktown, according to the charter granted 

 to the railroad company. For the execution of 

 this work the act authorized the last-named 

 commissioners to use the labor of convicts from 

 the State penitentiary, and also the net earn- 

 ings of the road, as they might deem proper. 

 The judicial sale of the road, with all its prop- 

 erty and franchises, including road-bed, super- 

 structure, equipment, and ail its real and per- 

 sonal estate, took place on the 22d of June, 

 1876, when the above-named commission, with 

 the Governor at its head, bought it for the 

 State, to whom a perfect title was conveyed in 

 due time. The Governor then appointed the 

 three commissioners. A considerable amount 

 of work has since been done on this road. 



One of the first matters acted upon by the 

 members of the Legislature after the opening 

 of the session on November 20th was their 

 own pay, as the amendments to the constitu- 

 tion adopted reduce its present amount some- 



what. A joint resolution to fix the pay for 

 the time previous to January 1, 1877, at the 

 reduced rate prescribed by the constitutional 

 amendments for the time thereafter namely, 

 mileage, at 10 cents per diem, of members, at 

 $4 ; of President of the Senate and Speaker of 

 t In- 1 louse of Representatives, at $6 ; and of the 

 chief clerks of the two Houses, at $5 waa in- 

 troduced in the Senate on November 21st, and 

 adopted on the 22d. The resolution, as adopted, 

 being sent to the Lower House for concurrence, 

 was passed yeas 97, nays 11. 



Matthew W. Ransom was elected to the 

 United States Senate for six years from March 

 4, 1877. 



Both Houses agreed to adjourn on December 

 13th, and reassemble on the 30th, the last 

 working day of the month in 1876, which 

 agreement was carried into execution. 



During the twenty days of session before 

 the recess, a considerable amount of work was 

 done by the Legislature, but chiefly of a local 

 nature. 



A joint resolution was introduced into the 

 Lower House by a colored member, requesting 

 the Representatives of North Carolina in Con- 

 gress to procure such legislation from that body 

 "as will assign to the negroes of the South 

 two or three Territories west of the Missouri, 

 for their exclusive use." The resolution was 

 taken up at the sitting of December llth, when, 

 as some among his colleagues seemed inclined 

 to ridicule his proposition by moving to refer 

 it to the Committee on Military Affairs, and to 

 the Committee on the Insane Asylum, he de- 

 clared to the House that from facts and reflec- 

 tions he had come to the conclusion that the 

 two races could not live together in the South 

 in that hennony which was necessary and de- 

 sirable ; adding that, this sentiment and belief 

 were entertained by a large portion of his 

 race. He then moved to postpone the further 

 consideration of his resolution to January 10, 

 1877. A motion to table the whole matter 

 was rejected by a vote of 50 nays to 37 yeas ; 

 and the motion to postpone to January 10th 

 adopted. 



On December 30th the members of the Legis- 

 lature met again to resume the work of the 

 session. On January 1, 1877, in accordance 

 with the amended constitution, Zebulon B. 

 Vance, the new Governor-elect, was formally 

 installed in office. 



O 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. AMERMAK, 

 JOHX, Jr., was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., April 

 2, 1809 ; died there, January 6, 1876. He was 

 the oldest employing printer in New York, 

 having followed that occupation for half a cen- 

 tury. In 1834 he established with P. T. Bar- 

 num the Herald of Freedom, a weekly journal, 

 at Norwalk, Conn. The paper soon passed in- 



to other hands, and Mr. Amerman returned to 

 New York, and formed a partnership with the 

 late James Van Norden, making the printing 

 of legal matters a specialty. 



ANTHOXY, JAMES, born in Franklin Coun- 

 ty, Pa. ; died at San Francisco, January 3d, in 

 the 52d year of his age. He emigrated to 

 California in 1849; in 1851 he became part 



