574 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[September 



nine eggs, seven spoonfuls of flour, a little 

 salt. Put in a bag and b^il three-quarters 

 of an hour. 



A Funny Speech. 



The Wisconsin Legislature have formally 

 considered a proposition to abolish all laws 

 for the collection of debts. The mover of 

 the bill, Mr. Elmore, is a great wag, as is 

 evidenced by the following extract from .his 

 speech upon the subject: 

 ■ "The speaker proceeded to review the 

 present system of collecting debts. It was 

 all a humbug and a cheat, a matter of tech- 

 nicalities and legal shuffling. Lawyers gave 

 advice in order to obtain a fee and encour- 

 age litigation. Judges made blunders and 

 mistakes. He had but little experience in 

 law, and that was rich, (Laughter.) He 

 would give a history of it. The speaker 

 then related how he had purchased a yoke 

 of oxen, about fifty years ago— -paid fifty 

 dollars for them— -a few days after, the son 

 of the man, of whom he bought the oxen, 

 came to him, and said the oxen were his. 

 He insisted on having pay over again, and 

 commenced a suit before a justice. The 

 jury didn't agree. Finally, through the 

 blunders of the Bushwood justice of the 

 peace, the case went against him. He ap- 

 pealed it to the Circuit Court in Milwaukee. 

 'There/ said he, 'I lost again, and said to 

 my lawyer: I will give you ten dollars to 

 quote Pennsylvania law to Judge Miller, 

 and have a new trial ordered. (Great Ap- 

 plause.) He took the ten dollars, and per- 

 formed the duty. 



"'A new trial was then granted, and 

 venue changed to Walwouth county. Judge 

 Irvine was then the Judge. Any man who 

 wanted to gain a cause in his court, had 

 either to go hunting with him and let the 

 judge claim all the game that was shot, or 

 else pat his dog. Well, I patted the dog. 

 (Laughter.) The case was decided in my 

 favor. When I heard the decision I thought 

 to myself the dog had followed me about 

 long enough. I turned around and gave 

 him a kick. (Laughter.) The yelp of the 

 dog had hardly subsided ere I heard the 

 judge say, 'Mr. Clerk, this judgment is set 

 aside and a new trial granted/ (Great 

 laughter.) Mr. Speaker, that kick cost me 

 $200! (Convulsive laughter.) You have 

 no doubt seen a suit in a justice's court in 

 the country. There is time spent by the 

 jurors and hangers-on, besides other costs, 



at least fifty dollars, besides the ill-feelings 

 and dissentions caused by it. It is all a 

 cheat. The litigants had better sit down 

 and play *a game of old sledge to decide the 

 case. It would be more sure to settle the 

 disputes justly/" 



Japanese Industry. 



The Japanese are an industrious and in- 

 genious people. Nearly all the useful me- 

 tals are worked by them with great skill, es- 

 pecially iron, copper, gold and silver; and 

 they possess an art, in the combination of 

 metals, for beauty and effect unknown to 

 other people. Their sword blades are admi- 

 rable. They also manufacture astronomical 

 instruments, and clocks and watches, copied 

 after European models, probably introduced 

 by the Dutch. 



Their mirrors are metalic, and very beau- 

 tiful. Their carpenters' and cabinet-ma- 

 kers' tools are also equal to any of European 

 manufacture. They are said to be quick in 

 observing any improvement introduced by 

 foreigners, make themselves masters of it, 

 and copy it with skill and exactness. Their 

 coinage is well stamped, as they are good die 

 sinkers. In wood, no people work better, 

 and in lacquering they excel the world. 

 Other nations have attempted in vain to im- 

 itate and equal them, owing chiefly to the 

 materials necessary in preparing the wood, 

 which is the gum of a tree known only to 

 themselves, called the varnish tree. Occa- 

 sionally, specimens of their lacquer-work 

 have, through the Dutch residents of Dezi- 

 ma, found their way to this country; but it 

 is said the best samples are never sent out 

 of the kingdom. They manufacture glass, 

 both colored and un colored, and their porce- 

 lain is delicate and beautiful, beyond all 

 rivalry. Paper they produce in abundance, 

 principally from the bark of the mulberry 

 tree. It is of different qualities ; and some 

 of it is as soft and flexible as our cotton 

 cloth, for which it might be mistaken, and 

 is used for handkerchiefs, and other domes- 

 tic purposes. They make silk, the best of 

 which is superior to that of China, and is 

 said to be woven by criminals of high rank, 

 who are confined upon a small, unproductive 

 island, deprived of their property, and com- 

 pelled to support themselves by their labor. 



The exportation of these silks, it is said, 

 is .prohibited. As a substitute for cotton 

 cloths, as before remarked, in the manufac- 

 ture of which they have little skill, they use 



