North Carolina Newspapers

am Mjcoii H. A. LONDON, Jr., XOTTOS JUffD rSOPBIETOR. BATES or Ay Ay Aj Ay y ADVERTISING. o TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: On eory, on year, Omccopf ,tLziontli O0Wr, tonWUiOuUtf, - - - One square, one Insertion, Om square, two lnaertlans, One square , one month, - - - fl.OB - - 1.50 - - 2.W 1.00 VOLUME 3. PITTSB0R0', CHATHAM CO'., N. C5 SEPTEMBER 23, 1880. NUMBER 2. Tor larger adTerttmmsntt UbeMl contracts will Poetry. TWO LITTLE POEMS. The lines watch follow will be appreciated tor tbelr tenderness if for nothing more. NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP. Ooldea head, slowly bending, Little feet bo wlilto and bare, Dewy eyes, halt shut, half opened. Lisping out her evening prayer. Well she knows when she is saying, "Now I lay me down to sleep," 'Tls to God that she Is praying, Praying him her soul to keep Half asleep, and murmuring faintly, "If I should die before I wake" Tiuy fingers clasped as saintly "1 pray the Lord my soul to take." Oh, the rapture, sweet, unbroken. Of the soul who wrote that prayer! Children's myriad voices floating Up to heaveu, record It there. It, of all that has been written, I could choose what might be mine, It H:uM be tli.it child's petition Kieiug t.i the tbroue divine. THE UNFINISHED PKAYER. 'Now I lay" say It darling "Lay me," lisped the tiny lips Of my daughter, kueellug, bending O'er her folded finger tips. 'Down to sleep" "to slop," she murmured, And the curly head bent low; "1 pray tho Lord," I gently added, "You can say It all, 1 know." "Pray the Lord" the sound came faintly, laiiuer sttU "my soul to keep," Tlu-n tho tired head fairly nodded. And the child was fust asleep. But the dewy eyes half opened, When I clashed her to my breast, And the dear voice softly whimpered, "Mamma, God knows all tho rest." Selected Story. The Beach-Patrolman's Story. The thuuderim? surf at Atlantic t Citv was swarming with bathers old ! and young, grave and gav, men andimuuiS ppnng m, ourrymg women and little children romping j tnem ou sight just as they man in among the joyous headers, for the aSed to se3z,e the roPe' u.d when the7 sunlight was reflected from the sands j "appeared he was laughing bolster in a steady blaze, and the dav would I ously, wMe she resignedly kept her have been blistering hot but for the rushing of the glad sea wind. I had mv bath, and was strollin idly along the beach, enjoying the pleasant scene when I suddenly espied an old acquaintance. It was Jasper, chief of the beach terestiug story of his life-saving ad J ventures in the preceding summer. ' eueui- He was now standing at the edge ' ed fr0 s,ome creaimng ripples, wliicli, of the waves, half-naked, broad hatted ,! nevertheless, overtopped her Unh and with his immense CAnvass-cover-j19016 8116 0011111 Set beyond ed life preserver hanging over his 1 ,J,f e,' . , ..... shoulder readv at an instant's warn-! "The lady waved her hand, a little ing to answer the first cry for help;8? thought,- toward the child, b r dashing to the rescue. " He greet- i a!d then dragged out consider ed 1119 plea ;.t:iilv- at niv approach. aV fur.thsr alcmg the rope by her "AriawreroraatiticHtoiiesof res- companion. The latter being a capi cuo from drowning, Jaspei T I in- tal swimmer, then left her m peace, quired and began to swim pretty far out. In- "Its more than a vear since I saw deed, he was making such bold wide vou." he replied, "and of course I've I cn"cluts bend the outermost cork plucked many a hatf-drowned bather j achment to the rope, that I, laying from the waves durinjr that time. ' m band on, ZlP s c?Uar' about Here, Zip! No more of that! you'll be good for nothing in case of busi noss." The lat remark was addressed to tho chief and most trusted partner of his perilous pursuit, a great New f ouudlaud doi which at that moment. 111 answer to his call came bounding ' out of the sea, whither some urchins ! had dispatched him in pursuit of a I chin, and after shaldua- the drons ! from his glossy black coat, crouched j submissively at his master's feet. "Jiut haven't you had any particu lar adventure that I could make a Btory of ?" I continued. ''Something embodying excitement and romance, you know ?" "Yes ; and it happened only a fort night ago, right out there on that very rope neai which we are standing, and which you now see so thronged with shouting men laughing women," he replied, after a little reflection. 'The incident itself was a terrible one the most exciting in all my experience and it had an interesting sequel, which only came to my knowledge a day or two ago." I at once presed him for the story. Inasmuch as the crowd of bathers he was watching did not seem to be com posed of any over-adventurous indi viduals, he seated himself on a frag ment of shipwreck near at hand, mo tioned me to a seat at his side, and took up his narrative very much as follows : "It was just after I had taken up my station on the beach here, about a fortnight ago, that I noticed a lady and gentleman, accompanied by a pretty little girl of four or five, pro ceeding from yonder pavilion to that long line of fashionable bathing houses to the left. "They passed quite near to me. and I noticed them more particularly than I would otherwise have done, for the day was cloudy, though warm, and there were comparatively few persons to be seen. "The extreme beauty of the lady, however, coupled with the scowling, sinister face of the man escorting her, would have more or less engaged my attention and curiosity under any cir cumstances. She was, moreover, anx ious and careworn, as though in fear of him, while he seemed to be half bullying, half entreating her to go into the water in his company. This she by no means seemed inclined to do, drawing back every moment or so, with the little gill's hand in hers, and then proceeding reluctantly forward again. "I could distinguish the Bound, but not the purport, of their words, the wind being a little off shore. But they were richly dressed, and this fact, combined with the strangeness of their manners, set me to puzzling over what might be the relations existing be tween them. "However, as the lady seemed to give over her hesitation upon reach ing the ticket office, and a moment later disappeared with her companion in among the sheds, leaving the little girl out on the sands, with a toy buck et and spade for her amusement, I only laughed, saying to myself: 'Pshaw ! it's only a case of a timid, pretty woman being tied for life to a tyrannical brute of a husband, who has insisted upon her taking a duck ing against her will. And then I thought little more about them. "Visitors began to throng along the beach a little more lively just about that time. I did not again see the couple referred to till they were about to enter the water, at this very rope here, which was then occupied by no other bathers. "The man was in one of the hisrh- j priced, striped suits, made out of one piece, which set off his burly, muscu j lar i'gore well, but did not improve ! the expression of his frowning, black inusiacnea iace. ne iaay was mod estly attired in a uiark blue, trimmed with red, with one of the great bonnet-like hats tied over her ears, so as to almost conceal her handsome face, and her pretty little white feet fairlv : glistened against the dark-brown of the drenched sands. "Even then she drew back from his touch, and seemed inclined to run away. But he suddenly seized her in his arms, ran in waste-deep with her behind a retreating wave, in spite of ueruip screaming protests, uid the nex .mstan a 8 Racier came !f , ' rtiu Btm &mmu "um con tact with him 'So,' says I to myself, the water she was afraid of 'it wasn't so much as of the man.' "Just then the little girl came skip ping down to the water's edge, crying i. 1 ' l out in high glee at reco; mzmg ner f10 in the surf and tossing lier 10 B?oni ??z a naming him con cermnsr the dangerous undertow, when I saw him bejrinninir to swini swiftly in shore again, as though he had j'ust recognized some one on the sands. "Just at thia moment a gentleman passed, me on Ins way into the water, I felt instinctively that it was he, the recognition or appearance of whom had caused the bold swimmer to so suddenly change his mind and take the back track for the shore. 'He was a tall, handsome, abstracted-looking man of middle age, and a gentleman every inch of him, by his walk and bearing, in spite of the mis erable, ill-fitting old bathing costume they had palmed off on him. "He seemed to be unaware of the presence of any other bather on this particular rope, for the lady was pretty far out, with her back turned toward him, and it was a question whether he could have made out her features in any event, just thsn, they were so overshadowed by the overhanging coalscuttle hat, which every now and then the white-caps toppled oyer, making her look like a mermaid in the waves. 'The little girl, though, who was still playing near at hand, attracted his momentary attention as he was about entering the water, and I thought I saw him give a painful start and mutter something to himself upon observing her, as though she might have suggested some troubled recol lection or resemblance of the past. "That was all, though. Then he went into the sea, making his way steadily out along the rope toward the lady, with that firm footed ease of an experieneed bather. "A vague anticipation something I cannot exactly define caused me to keep my eyes riveted upon the group composed of the two on the rope and the swimmer beyond, who was slowly but surely making his way to within wading distance of the beach. "I hardly think that the last comer the absent minded gentleman was well aware of the lady's proximity un til he was within a few feet of her. Suddenly, however, he made the dis covery, and I saw him start back, as though to place a greater distance be tween them, perhaps out of a gentle manly regard for her sense of modes ty. He must have uttered an exclama tion as he did so, for simultaneously the lady turned toward him, her head and bosom rising gracefully over a smooth incoming swell, while just then her hat blew oft, leaving her handsome face and pretty blonde head exposed to view. "A wild cry of recognition burst from the hps of both at one breath. " 'Henry!' she screamed. " 'Louisa!' he cried. "And then the rolling water bore them together, and they were locked in each other's arms. "At this instant another cry, hoarse and terrible that of the swimmer, who had regained the rope, and was struggling toward the pair, with fury and hatred in his dark face rang out above the tumult of the waters. Oaths and curses were mingled with his shouts. He came swimming along on a tall wave's crest, and as tli9 three came together with a sort of shock, I saw him grasp the woman's shoulder with one hand, and with the other strike her new companion a blow that sent him staggering back, though he managed to recover the rope in time to keep his feet. " 'Oh, let me go. He is my hus band my dear husband !' screamed tho woman, struggling vainly with the swimmer, who was dragging her furiously out into the deep water, while the man who had been struck was courageously endeavoring to reach her again. "'Never! curse you!' roared out j ner capior. 1 ou snail oe mme or I death's ! I'll drown you before his ! eyes, sooner than let you return to him.' " 'Help ! help !' screamed tho wo- j man; 'he will drown me !' ''And then they all came together ; again by the action of the waters, the j woman shrieking, the men striking j desperately at each other over her j V . . J .1 11 . 1. jl. . i ueaa ana rnrougn tue spray, ana, as j they had all lost hold of the rope, I i knew that it was but a question of time for them to be caught in the in fluence of the fatal undertow. " 'Follow me with the catamaran, j Enoch!' I shouted to my assistant,! who chanced, most fortunately, to be ; near at hand. j "And then, with my big life-pre-: server over my shoulder, and old Zip j hfirfi at mr hels. T dashed ntn t.hn ' j sea. j 'In spite of my experience in run-; uing out, watdbing tor chances with j the back-tow, aud the like, the three strugglers were considerably beyond ! ! their dttpth, aiid the woman almost J ! gone, by the time I reached them. i ." 'Let go of the woman !' I shout- j jed, with an oath, to the swiinnjer, i i who was still endeavoring desperate- j j ly to drag her from the other's grasp ! and out to sea. "His only replj being a torrent of ! curses, I struck him with all my force oeiween xue eyes, wnicu causeu mm to lose his grasp and drift a little to windward. "Then, seeing the other man was unable to swim, I tossed him the life- i preserver, with a few words as to the j best method of using it, and then j took hold of the lady, whom, with j Zip's assistance, I easily managed to 1 l-aon oflnot. flia lnfolltironf "ln:r cuii7tnn her short bathmg-skirt upon one side, while I supported hGr elbow on the the other. "The skeleton life-raft, or catamar an, as we sometimes call it, came up soon afterward, and I presently had them both on board, with Enoch at the oars and headed in shore. "I have never known whether the other man drowned himself intention ally, or exhausted by the previous efforts, he found himself unable to cope with the undertow that must have caught him in its embrace soon after I compelled him to loosen his hold upon the lady's arm. At any rate, he was certainly drowned, and his body was never recovered. "The last I saw of his ugly head was far to windward, when his dark face was turned glaringly toward us for a single instant, only to sink into a deep water trough, and to be seen no more. Well, that is pretty much the end of my adventure, sir. The lady and gentleman reached the shore, but little the worse for their ducking, and shortly afterward left the hotel together, accompanied by the little girl. Hello 1 wasn't that some one crying out V "But stop ! What about the tequel the explanation ?" I crie J, as he was moving away. Just then, however, an unmistaka ble cry of fright came from some where among the bathers in the surf, and my narrator, the beach patrol man, with his faithful dog at his heels, sprang away to the rescue. It proved to be a false alarm, how ever, for some over-timorous lady, and he was presently once more at my side, dripping and smiling. "Oh, I forgot about the sequel," said he, shaking himself in imitation of Zip, who was, moreover, enjoying a roll upon the dry sand. "And that, as it has since become known to cer tain inquiring folks about the hotel here, though not to you newspaper people, constituted about all the ro mance there was in the adventure, after all. "The reunited couple were from some Connecticut city, where, after a married life of three jears, they had been divorced two summers before, by reason of incompatability of tem per, which constitutes sufficient grounds for severance of the marriage tie in that State, I understand. It J seems, however, that they had all along truly loved each other, and might have lived happily together, but for their temperamental differ ences having been secretly and con stantly fanned into flames of bitter ness by a false friend of the husband. This man the same as was drowned, as you will readily conceive was also enamored of the wife, whom he hoped to marry after the divorce, which was ultimately secured through his vil lainous machinations. "In this, though, he was destined to deserved disappointment. She went with her little girl to a wealthy relative's house in Philadelphia, where she steadfastly refused to lis ten to his suit. But, not possessing a great deal of force of character, she feared him quite as much as she loathed him ; and, unfortunately, the fellow received the countenance and urgent support of the relatives with whom her necessities compelled her to make a home. "She was goaded and almost forced to accompany him everywhere, and, though openly expressing her dislike, to listen to his persistent advances, and his alternate threats and appeals. Such was the state of affairs upon the day that witnessed the episode of the surf I have narrated. "Her encounter with her divorced husband in the breakers was purely accidental, on both sides a happy chance. Their long hidden but un smothe red love burst out afresh at the first sight of each other, and, na turally enough, they rushed into each other's arms. "No sympathy has been expressed for the drowned villahi, and it is said that the divorced couple, so romanti cally thrown together by fate, have lost no time in marrying over again, in another State." Some Interesting Facts About Presidents and the Presidency. Forty millions of people, more or less, are now talking about Presi dents and the Presidency ; and it is not ont of place to give some inter esting facts, historical and constitu tional, in connection therewith. To begin, then, the word president, derived from the Latin, means to "sit before" i e., an audience. The free translation of the term would be "chairman." And the office of a chairman is to act as presiding officer or moderator of an assemblage. The President of the United States holds his office for four years. He must be a native of the United States and at least thirty-five years of age. He is not elected by the popular vote, but by a College of Electors chosen by the people. Buchanan's popular vote was about 200,000 less than half the total cast: Lincoln's about 800,000 less than half; and Hayes' was 156,000 votes behind the number cast for Tilden. From 1789 to 1824 the President was, in most cases, chosen by the legislatures of the States. The title at fiist conferred upon the President was "His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of our Liberties." After awliile it was discontinued. ; The President receives a salary of $50,000 a j'ear, with the White House as a residence free of charge, andi light, fuel and attendants thrown in. I Under the original provisions of the Constitution the person having the second highest number of votes for President became Vice-President. By arrangement two men of di rectly opposite political views might, and, in fact, did, become elected to the offices of President and Vice President in the same administration. The Presidents of the United States, from the adoption of the Con stitution to the present time, have been as follows : George Washington, 1789 to 1797. John Adams, 1797 to 1801. Thomas Jefferson, 1801 to 1809. James Madison, 1809 to 1817. James Monroe, 1817 to 1825. John Quincy Adams, 1825 to 1829. Andrew Jackson, 1829 to 1837. Martin VanBuren, 1837 to 1841. William Henry Harrison, 1841, when he died, and was succeeded by John Tyler, the Vice-President, who held office till 1845. James Knox Polk, 1845 to 1849. Zachary Taylor, 1849 to July 5, 1850, when he died, and was succeed ed by Millard Fillmore, the Vice President, who held office till 1853. Franklin Pierce, 1853 to 1857. James Buchanan, 1857 to 1861. Abraham Lincoln 1861 to April 15, 1865, when he died, and was suc ceeded by Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, who held office till 1869. Ulysses S. Grant, 1869 to 1877. Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1881. Nineteen Presidents in all, from the close of the provisional govern ment to the present. According to the Constitution, the President and Vice-President cannot be chosen from the same State. Of the nineteen Presidents seven came from Virginia Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harri son, Tyler and Taylor; two from Massachusetts John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams ; one from New York VanBuren ; one from New Hampshire Pierce ; one from Mary land Fillmore ; three from Tennes see Jackson, Polk and Johnson; two from Illinois Lincoln and Grant ; one from Pennsylvania Buchanan; and one from Ohio Hayes, On his renomination for a second term the total electoral yote. was in creased by the accession of new States to 135, of which number Washington received 132. John Adams, who was the next President in succession to Washing ton, received seventy-one votes out of a lotai 01 130. In the fourth Presidential contest Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr re-! ceived seventy-three votes each. The j result oeing a tie, there was 01 course no election, and the choice of Presi dent devolved upon the House of Representatives, which elected Jeffer son by a vote of ten to four Dela ware and North Carolina not voting. The electoral college also failed to elect in the tenth Presidential con test. The total number of votes was 261. Of these Andrew Jackson re ceived ninety-nine, John Q. Adams eighty four, William H. Crawford forty one, and Henry Clay tlu'rby seven. The House elected Jackson. In 1856 the Democrats elected their last President, James Buchanan, and the republicans put in the field their first candidate, John C. Fre mont. That same year (1856) what was known as the Kno Nothing move ment had acquired considerable strength, and the American party put in the field Millard Fillmore. He received only the eight electoral votes of his own State Maryland. During the Presidential election of 1864, eleven States all Southern did not vote. Of the nineteen Presidents ten have been soldiers and nine lawyers. Of the six candidates now running for the office of President and Vice President five are generals and one is a banker. Important to Orphans. Mr. J. H. Mills, the Superintendent of the Oxford Orphan Asylum, has written the following letter in regard to the admission of orphans into that institution : "Several persons have lately in quired how orphans may obtain ad mission to the Orphan House at Ox ford. Some have written to promi nent persons asking that their influ ence be used in favor of certain or phans. I wish to give public notiee that we have room for about thirty more orphans than we now have, and that there is no circumlocution about their admission. If they are between the ages of 8 and 12, sound in body and mind, without estate, and have no rich uncles, the door stands wide open, and transportation will be pro vided. All good people are request ed to send us the names of poor and promising orphans, and we will do our best to help them. But we do not take deserted children; this would encourage bad men to leave their children. Neither do we re ceive any children able to pay, nor any who have friends willing to pay for them. Such children can attend other schools. We help those only who have no other reliance. I will thank the papers of the State to circulate the foregoing notice. J. H. Mills, Sup't. m 1 A Shrewd Bet. The cutest thing that we have heard of during the campaign was in a bet made here yesterday between two prominent lawyers in this city. One of these, a gentleman whose wit has often provoked more than a smile, even witlmi the sacred precincts of a court of justice, bet the other $10 that he could name fifteen States that would go for Garfield, and $50 that one-half of the other twenty-three States would go for him also. The agreement was duly recorded in wri ting, signed and attested, and the money was put up. Thereupon the first gentleman mentioned as the fif teen States, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkan sas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Miss ouri. This left twenty three States, including Delaware, on which to de cide the second bet. Of course the first bet is lost already, but taking these States. out of the way the chances are very good for winning tha second, as Garfield is pretty sure to carry twelve States. Therefore, Mr. Blank is sure of losing $10, and just about as sure of winning $50, which will net him $40 on the trans action. Wilmington Review. Preachers' Pay. The Raleigh Christian Advocate, in a recent article on the salaries paid to preachers of the Methodist church in the North Carolina Confer ence, says: "According to the reports made last year, out of 146 preachers in charge of work, in 1879, one hundred and twenty-two of them received less than $810, seventy received less than $510, and twenty-eight received less than $310, and eight received less than $100. Only nine received as much as $1,000. Two Presiding El ders received less than $1,000, and no P. E. received as much as $1,400. One preacher received only $60 for his year's work, another received $69.45, another $105, another $140, another $155.81, another $165,and so on upward. The average salary of the 146 preachers in charge as re ported was $524.99 each." Burying a Chinaman. Lee Wan, grocer, living in the Chi nese colony on Mott street, New York, died last week and was buried last Sunday by about fifty of his countrymen with singular ceremonies. The procession drove rapidly to the cemetery of evergreens, where the interment took place. On the way a pallid, sad-faced Chinaman, seated beside the driver of the hearse, and threw slips of rice paper into the street. This was said by a China man to afford the dead man a clue to retrace his w.iy should he desire to return home ; but another said that the papers were thrown out to catch the attention of the devil, who al ways pursues the dead, and thus to detain him until the body is safe un derground. At the grave LeWan's clothing was burned, and rows of candles and bunches of slow matches were inserted in the earth at the foot of the mound and lighted. Rice, chickens, mutton and tea were then placed beside the grave, that the soul might eat and drink on its journey heavenward, but these things were carefully eaten before the party left the grave. After the Chinamen had bowed and saluted the dead man and poured tea upon the earth above him, they drove off, smoking and chatting with the Irish wife of one of the number. The body of Lee Wan, together with the remains of the other Chinamen lying in this cemetery, it is said, will eventually be returned to China. The Bearded Woman Dead. New York Herald, 14th, A. celebrated woman was buried at Liverpool, a little village on the shores of Onondaga Lake, yesterday. This was none other than the famous bearded woman Barnum years ago advertised as his greatest curiosity. The great showman placed her on exhibition at his museum in New York. Like all curiosities, the time came when she was no longer at tractive, and she retired from public gaze, and not long afterward became a resident of LiverpooL She lived in that village up to the time of her death, which occurred Friday. The maiden name of this woman was Re becca Westgate. She was born at Pembrook, Genesee county, N. Y., in 1824. When she was quite young her parents removed to Ogdensburg, where she remained till 1841. In the meantime she had married a man named J. A. Lyon, and in this year she removed with him to New York, where she remained till 1868. Noth ing unusual in the life or person of Mrs. Lyon had been observed till she reached her forty-fourth year, and then a very heavy dark beard suddenly began to appear upon her face. Her features had nothing mas culine in their appearance, and she was greatly embarrassed by the growth upon her face. She employed various means of removing the fast growing beard, but without avail, and it was not long before it reached her waist. It was soft and silken, like the hair of a child. Barnum learned of her and sought to induce her to enter his museum and become its greatest attraction. She was reluc tant to make an engagement, but the showman was persistent, and her friends favored the proposition so strongly that she at last concluded to do so, and for several months at tracted crowds of people. A suit was instituted against Barnum for an alleged imposition upon the public, it being stated in the complaint that the woman was an impostor. It was currently believed at the time that the suit was brought at Barnum's in stigation for advertising purposes. After Barnum's Museum was con sumed by fire Mrs. Lyon became one of the attractions of Colonel Ward's Museum in Chicago, and was the wonder of that city for some time. She went from Chicago to a museum in Boston, and a little later became engaged with ForeVmugh's circus, with which she travelled over ika United States and Canada. While in Canada an order for her arrest was issued by a civil officer who declared she was imposing upon the credulity of the people of that country, and not until a resident of the place stepped forward and declared that she was just what she appeared to be was the order rescinded. Mrs. Lyon was of modest and retiring nature. Her age was fifty six. Circus Row. Intelligenca was received here yes terday to the effect that a big row oc cured at Florence, S. G, on Friday night, between some of the attaches of Coup's circus and a number of col ored men, during which one of the colored men was killed and several others badly beaten. We have not heard how the difficulty originated, but whiskey was probably at the bot tom of it Wilmington Star. The children were discussing what they would like to be and do, and most of them wished for a position with little work and big pay. One of them said, "Well, I should like to sit on the roof all my days, and have nothing to do, just like Joseph in Egypt" Very naturally the attention of the family was excited by the re mark, and the boy was asked to ex plain himself. He at once quoted the passage, "And Pharaoh put Joseph over his house.r "There," he said, "that's what I should like, to sit on the roof, and have a large salary." STATE ZJEWO. Excessive Mortality; Stephen McDaniel col., of Jones lost three children on last Saturday night in one hour and half s time. Kinston Journal. Found Dead. Maj. J. M. D. Ray was found dead nearKeyseron the 14th insL No inquest has yet been held and the cause is unknown. Moore Index. Barn Burned,. The barn of Alfred Brewer, a citi zen of Randolph, living on the Moore and Randolph line, was burned ' last week, supposed to be the work of an incendiary, a boy whom he had hired and had dismissed. Moore Index. Oxford Railroad. A certainty beyond the shadow of a doubt is the fact that the railroad will be finished to Oxford before the end of the year. Prospects are daily growing brighter and hopes are being realized. Come to Oxford. Oxford Torchlight. Declines to Run. Owing to feeble health, J. J. Wick er has been advised by his physicians to retire from active life for the pres ent; he, therefore, declines to run on the ticket for Sheriff as nominated. Moore Index. Mail Robber Arrested. The News and Observer learns, that Col. Thomas B. Long, of the Post Office Department, arrested Wm. McGarland, at Morganton, N. C, on the 13th inst., for robbing the Post office of that town, on the 26th of August. Returning Home. Five families of colored people re turned to La Grange last week from Indiana. They say there is no work to be had there and that the whole body would return if they could get the funds. Kinston Journal Sudden Death. We learn that Mr. Charles M. White, of Robeson county, died very suddenly on the 10th inst. He was apparently in good health a short time before his death, and had assist ed his son in butchering a beet He was on the point of leaving for home, being engaged in fixing his harness, when he dropped on the ground and immediately expired. Fayetteville Examiner. Unfortunate Family. Mr. Wm. G. Hollowell a few days ago was run over by a steer and pain fully hurt, breaking one or more ribs. But a few weeks ago he lost a prom ising boy by a kick from a mule, and on Tuesday he lost another of his children from Diphtheria and we learn that two moire of his family are down with the same disease. Truly the old adage "afflictions never come single," applies to Mr. Hollowell's case. Goldsboro' Messenger. Elect Good Constables. On the 2d of November the differ ent townships in each county elect Constables. No one but the very best men should be voted for men who will discharge their duties prompt ly and faithfully. The business men of the State and of each county need a prompt, intelligent and faithful officer. Do not elect numb Bkulls and dead-heads to the place, but put in live men who will do their duty according to law. Charlotte Demo crat. Swallowing a Yellow Jacket. Joe Brake, Esq., while drinking ci der through a straw had the misfor tune to swallow a yellow jacket The troublesome stinger stopped in his throat and began to make it rather unpleasant for Joseph, so he immed iately sought to dislodge his unwel come tickler by drowning him with cider, &c. He finally succeeded in gulping him down. What became of him Joe says he can't telL He is very particular now how he imbibes cider through a straw. Rocky Mount Progress. A Poisoning Case. We learn that a colored man named Ben. Grier, who professes to be a preacher, was committed to the jail of Gaston county recently, charged with poisoning a family of negroes who go by the name of Fronebarger. It is said that two or three have died, and that the stomach of one has been sent to a Chemist for analysis. It is thought that the negro preacher did the poisoning at a preaching carousal of some sort near Brevard's Station. Charlotte Democrat Novelty in Ginning. J. M. Mewborn has a novel plan of moving his lint cotton from near his gin. He has the gin, a 50 saw Brown self Feeder, on the ground floor and has a plank flue just the size of the opening from which the cotton falls from the gin. This flue runs about eight feet from the mouth of the sin, luclined upwards and with a crook near the opening. The draught from the gin drives the lint easily through the flue and on leaving it drifts in eddies. The novelty is in fording the lint upwards and in having it distrib uted in layers all over the lint room instead of choking up near the mouth of the opening. Kinston Journal