Newspapers / The Mount Airy News … / June 20, 1912, edition 1 / Page 1
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I'll flit Tf i ill i$ v i;r Jill FOX. XT.Y MOVm AIRY, JVORTII CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1912 JVO. oO s 1 . 4 4 REGIONS Story of Mary Shank Daughter to the Had 4 Hy E. Roho liatturham lotto Observer. in Char On one of the sunny slopes of a low npiir of craggy mountain in western North, Carolina there k a tiny log cabin surrounded by a small garden patch where the sole inmate of the cabin, a wo man, "raises her scant supply of potatoes and corn. She is so old ami Inrnt and worn out with sorrow that she hardly seems liko other humans. The people of the settlement in the valley below whisper strange tales about her, and some of these tales are connected with a large frame house that lears the old wo man's curse, so the mountaineers fcay. Though thw house is the best in the village, yet no one has lived in it since its first owner left, twenty years ago, taking with him his young bride. People say that the house w haunted by the old woman' curn-H, and that if she ever dies ber gliost will go there to live. When 1 visited in the settle ment one summer, I heard all of these tilings and they interested ma so that I was curious to learn the whole story and what con nection the woman had with the former inmates of the framt bouse. iSo one morning I got lip very early and climbed the slope, to the cabin whore the woman lived. She was i 0t tW tfSTueijetuuiU'. I wpoke to her in a kindly tone, and began asking about the gar den. Mho peered at me from un der her old, sua bonnet fcr just a. minute, then went on with her work. Not a word would she say. I left her and went down the mountain trail. After peeing her ami her borne so closely, I waj more than ever determined to find out the mystery that was whispered among the mountain eers. After a week of tactful ques tioning, I found that none knew much of the truth About her. They hatd only surmised things from certain incidents in her life. I had almost given up hope, when in one of my mountain tramps I met up with an old man,: who lived in the outskirts of the settlement and made souvenir paper knives out of rhododendron wood for a living. During my conversation with him, I casually mentioned the cabin and its owner. Dy the quick glance 1m gave 'me, and the way be smiled knowingly I realized that he must Jknow some thing of the mystery. I was right, but I paid biui several visits (before we became good eiXHigb friends for me to per suade him to tell me the tale that I was tso curious about. lie told it with the queer mountain accent and no many colloquial ex jireions that it waa often hard for me to follow him. To write k as he gave it, with all his side remarks and his own opin ions would almost make a book, so I will tell the story in my own words. The old woman's name is Mary Shank. In her youth she bad been what the mountaineers call "right peart lookin'." Then she bad' lived in that same little cab in with her father, Joe Rurnett, for whom she kept house. The girl had two lovers. One w.w the heir of a well-off farmer; Hie other just a plain back woodman's son. Every one was very much surprised when she jnarried Jim Shank, the poorer of the two, but people did not quostwui her for they supposed that she must have loved bun the mot truly. Her other suitor, David Linn, was heart broken, lie was only a t ry young fellow, and Dot being able to bear stay ing so near the girl who had re fused him, he went off to some distant town where he entered OF NORTH CAROLINA and the Marriage of Her Man She, Herself, Loved college. Thus the neighbors thought. The whole truth of th matter was that Mary loved him ami in a moment of anger had married his rival. Thw David knew; and though he .longed to stay where he could le near her, he did not wish to add to her unbappincss or probably bring enmity oetween iiimseii ana ner husband. The young couple lived in the cabin with the bride's father. To tli em wut born one child, a girl. Soon after the coming of little Minnie, Jim died leaving Mary a widow. 'When the child was just able to walk old man Rurnett's death occurred; and the woman was alone with the little giir ner iatner nau not lejt .nary in poverty. There were large tracts of timWr land for which she found ready sale ami was able to save tquite a sum for the edu cation of the child. The mother was determined that her daugh ter should have every advantage. The people thought that this de sire on her part was a natural outgrowth of mother-love. In truth, Mary had another reason. David Linn had returned to his home as a lawyer, and his 'iaririn'" was the wonder of the mounTaineers. liiu uniiKe so miany young men who come back to their homes with a college education, he entered into his, Ti fcud tMpM aiTd " old lift wifu all the fervor of h'us boyish days." AH t-)ls Mary noted and heard of it. It filled her with a great angor and she determined to make lw-r child his equal in every respect She herself could not be. She was not able to bear the tlwught that he should sur pases her in everything. He had conquered her in the matter of Jove. His affection had been overcome in hw college days, but the woman's love for him was just as strong. Every time she needed advice about the sale of the timberJ tUdnosit lag of nfiL go to the la'trjw though they charnitvl liW- very painful ones. With all Ler strength she tried to conceal her love for him and appear indiffer ent. But her love and another passion, that David did not un derstand, oould Hot but be Keen by the lawyer. He pitied her, but all he could do for her was to lu-lp in the sale of the, land or in deciding the best school for the child, Minnie. So the young girl was sent away from home to a school. The separation of tlie mother and daughter wa not hard. There was nothing Lu common between them. The child ever reminded Mary of her lo voles marriage; and the mother absorbed in her hidd.-n and passionate love for David had never sought Minnie's ooinpanionsbip. In tlie years that they were parted the mother thought more and more of the revenge tlie mut uurely. show the man when ber daughter re turned equally well educated as he. The admiration that the village bad for him would le dauijMTed by a vival. Of course Minnie whs unconscious of these purposes. Besides, no knowledge of h;r mother's love affair had ever reached her; too few peo ple in the village knew aaiything about it for the matter to arouse much commejit tlwn. After four years of study away from home Minnie return-: ed to take up her former life with her mother. The four years had l'-n beautiful ones to the oiiiig girl; the contact with oth er people and the friendship she made witli them had awakened all the joy that hud never been inspired during her childhood. She dreaded the brtt determined to return home, make her I Lf e ! pbaisaxit by haing Mine tli ing definite to do. The teaching of the village school appealed to Minnie as an occupation. The mother took more uitere-st in the girl, Minnie, than she ever had in the child. She gloried in her daughter' learn ing and gloated over the facrt that she was received almost m a queen among the neighlwrs. "Now," argued Mary, "David can see what I've done, ami how as 1 can get along without him and give my child 'as good an education as he ever had." She was sure that her revenge for ber unreturned love was having the desired effect upon her for mer lover. The position, of teacher rank ed almost as high us that of preacher, and was in the same plane as law practice in the iiiountai.il people s estimate. So when Minnie was appointed as school m i am the mother rejoiced as over a victory. She thought that new her daughter would ever be a source of jealously to David. Little did she under stand the man's nature. She did not know that through his influ ence the position of teacher had been given to Minnie. tn me wav to ner school ev ery morning Minnie passed by file trame house ot David Linn She often saw the tall, hanUome man, working around the home, or sitting on hw porch reading. To her he was nothing more than a lawyer, though perhaps she did have a kindred feeling for him, as he had, like herself, come in contact with the outside world. She had never met him formally, so oidy nodded a greeting when wnen sue passeu, as w the cus tom in the mountains Encouraged; by her mother, Minnie attended every social gathering that the village afford ed. At one of these aim met Iaid- f.tmi"."' Alter 'tTt'is she was constantly seeing him at partial and! church festival, and both were contented to be in one an other's comianv. Soon David Linn began to love the girl. He could not but own to himself that at first it caused through her likeness to her mother, he had once loved But as his affection grew he knew that it was the girl's owu true self that had awakened a passion, which he h;id felt wa-s ever to lie dormant. The love could bring him little joy he who had courted the .mother uld not for that mother's sake to w jwd IToVJumii to wed the daughter. It all so quickly tluit the oinau on the mountain did not kiw until afterwards how things had been between David and her daughter. One day as the cirl waa re turning home from her school a teirible thunderstorm arose. She sought shelter from the blinding rain at David's house. She would not go into the house, so both she aaid the man aat far Ixiok on the. .porch ami watc.lmd the terror of the storm. The lightning and thunder soon forced the pair t5 go indoors. As the woman passed over the threshold of his home, the man felt stronger than ever his love for her. It ficem ed so natural for her in reality to 1 hure where he had placed her in his dreams. The mother ami the love tlut David could not but know she still had for him were forgotten. The daugh ter was there, in all ber youth and uiuielfifdine.vi. The presml, with its love, blotted out the past. The man took Minnie's hand as she wtood waiting for h;;.i to show her into which room to go. "Minnie, le me make this your home," he asked. The girl looked at him quick ly, she did not understand. "Don't you see," the man con tinued, "I love you, and want you for my wife," and as khe did not .peak, "I know I am! old, old enough to be your fath er;" he had not meant for those Lu-4 words witli all their sigmfi-! cance to 1 spoken 'Oh, don't. I was not thinking of years, that doetn't mattT. I was so happy in, what you have jiwt told me that," and as fche f.ilt bis arms draw her tn him. ' " I couldn't sneak." I "Aiid you mean it, you will be my wife!" "Yes, David, yew." A few minutes afterward as he led her into hw parlor a thought of the mother came to him. He had never been able to ascertain whether or not the daughter knew of that love af fair of the pasit, and the love that still remained with the mother. The time luul come when he muHt know. "Minnie, has your mother ever Hjoke.n of me to yout" "No, not very often, only in connection with my work here, or the timber land. "Why!" "Has she never told you of that we were once lovers T" "Once lovers, what do you mean?" The girl was. overcome. 4 i "It. 'II 111 l . v. una, cniia, has she never told you, when 1 have no right?" "No, but I will never ask her. If there is anything to tell me you must do it." The man' meditated a while Htid then remembering how vitally the love affair had once touched him, he felt hw right to tell the girl, wham he had now asked to be h'us wife. So he acquainted her with his own side, concealing as much as possible the mother's feelings in the whole affair. After lie had finished the pained surprise that was in the girl's face died away. "Of course, dear, I would have much rather had your love firtf, but all that' so long ago, and you don't care now." "No, no, I ceased to care when I went to college." "And after you left mother married father and " "Before I left it was, that caused my leaving." "Well, and then mother must have ceased to care. Let's don't talk of it nonv. See it wan stop ped raining. I must go." "Before you go promise me this that you will go and tell your mother of our love now, and tlittJ"-7---i "I don't want to tell her yet. But if you wish it, well, I will." "I do wish it but, dear, if you need me come to me." "Need vou," she laughed. vi. i i n ! He walked with her to the font of the trail leading to the cabin home and there left her. He turned thoughtfully away and walked straight to Ids home He seated hiniM-lf on the jMrch and gazed sorrowfully at the lit tle cabin. "When Minnie retched home she found Mary Mewing. After re moving her hat, the girl came to her mother's side. "Mother, I have something to tell you. David Linn ami I are to be mar ried. We love eacli other. Yes, mother, we love each other." There luul been little mother- love in Mary Shank's nature, so it was not IuiaI for her to deal a terrible blow to her child. "Love each other, you say. We loved rach other, child, years before you were born. He is mine. I have loved him, loved him. He shall never marry you. He must suffer as " "As what? Mother he does not love you. Oh" and as the moth er quivered. "But you are my mother. Ood, what am I to doll" The mother went sobbing into the kitchen and the daughter was left alone with her struggle. Now she understood the words- that David had spoken, "If you need: me come to me." But why had he not told her all? As soon as ibis thought entered her mind, j she dispelled it. Of course, i twas not for him to tell of his love of j her moiher's. There was no sleep for the daughter, all night was one Ion? flight of duty against love In the morning hhe was still in the midsl of the battle, that duty and love were waging. When it seemed as if her sorrow were too hard to be borne, she remembered how ber mother must have suffered for all thue long, long years. The mother and chili met over the breakfast table, ea'Mi s.iw that the otii r luul n duivd a like struggle. On the daughter's face there was no nlit f. The mother's Miowed 1 lie kei iit-r suffi-ring, but it also bre J r 'signed look. The older woman spoke first. "You are young. I am old. You have life and love before you 1 ujve 'uoO.il: navi given y . i u tii!. Ah. but '.t ' the fault uf ;i ;i .rriea . : , h m:ii1 s-Jtlu all of that w:Vi you. Go, I cannot bless you. I would but I cannot. Oh, I have born him the greatest blessing of his life him, who I would have to suffer a9 I have. "Go, forget me. I wish you happiness. Why shouldn't I? You are my child " "Oh, mother," ami Minnie came toward the woman and would have taken her mothr in her arms, but Mary prevented her "Oo, go." Witli a wild sob, part pain, but mostly of joy, Minnie left her home to answer that call, "If you need me " David and she wen) marritnl that same morning. In the after noon they left the settlement and have never returned there since. Nor have they been heard of during the twenty years since their departure. Tbu frame house remains vacant', and the old wo man watches it from her cabin on the mountain slope. Such is- the tale that the old mountaineer told me, as he whit tle! away on his souvenir rho dendron knives. U. S. Offers $500 fcr Sidney Allen. lioanoke, Va., June 17th. The United States government has of fered a reward of $T00 for the arrest of Sidney Allen, which with the $1,500 now offered by the State, bri:gs the total re-1 ward f-r the eapt .nc of the Car roll county fugitive up to $2,000. The Baldwin 1'eib agency L'i this city yesterday received a letter from William E. Logan, United States marshal at Greens boro, N. C, saying that he had been authorized by the attorey general in Washington to make the offer. The letter was 6iflrned jLyca mef Deputy J,ijl.- .Hatfry The government wants Sidna Al len on a counterfeiting charge, on which he recently was bailed in the sum of $0,01)0 pending a new trial. The bond was forfeited June :i, when Sidna Allen failed to ap lear m the Lniteti States court at Grene.sboro. The authorities ask for pictures of the fugitive which will be published with the reward. The reward for the . a . . m lit e pi ure oi esiey awards is $7fi0. The Baldwin-Felts agency have not yet received photograiphs of the man captured several days ago at Clay City, Ky., ami thought to be Wesley Edwards. It is probable they will arrive Monday. liiist evening a party of five detectives who have been search ing for the two fugitives in the mountain of Carroll County re turned to Roanoke. The de tectives have been at work about a week but were not successful in locating the hiding places of the two members of the Allen clan- yet at large. With the detectives were the two keen scented blood hounds, "Topsy" and "Beauty," from the State penitentiary at Richmond. The two dogs spent last night in the city jail where they had a private cell. Inmates in the State Hospital t Morganton. The report of Superintendent MeCampbell shows that there were in the State Hospital at Morganton at the beginning of the quarter 57o men and 799 women, a total of 1,374. Admit ted during quarter, 34 men and 3G women for the- quarter, end ing May 31, 70; discharged, 29 men and C2 women 91; died, 10 men and 8 women 18. Remain ing May 31, 570 men and 7(i." wo men 1,335. The & missions are about the usual rate. The institution is tax ed to the limit all the time and many worthy causes are held up for lack of room. The general health during the quarter was goxi with the exception of an epidemic of measles, affecting principally the female population. j There is no real need of anyone: ein& troubled with constipation, j Chamberlain-. Tablet. Mil caue an agreeable movement of the toL ! without any unpleasant effect. Give j them a trial. For .alo by All Dealer, Jury in the Hawkins Case CVar AH of the Defendants. Asheville, June 12. After de liberating all night, the jury in the noted Myrtle Hawkins ca at Hendersonvilylc returned to the eourf. room this morning and an nounced a verdict of not guilty in the case of each of the seven defendants. Judge Koushee or dered the jury discharged and the prisoners set free. There was a scene of wild de monstration in the court room when the verdict was announced. The cast" went to the jury last night, and when court convened this morning it seemed as if all of Hcndersonville were present waiting for the verdict. When the verdict was announced the friends of the seven defendants cheered an 1 waved hats and handkerchiefs. The defendants were George Bradley. Bynev Bradley, Ab, Me Call. Beatrice McCall, Dan McCal Lizie Shaft and Nora Britt. , The jury passed on each de fendant separately and the si h'hee was dramatic as each de fendant's name was called 'and the verdict announced. The jury took the case at 8 o'clock last night and the verdict was announced at 1 1 ::J0 today. The. discharge of the defen dants in this case places the kill ing of Myrtle Hawkins among the unsolved mysteries of North Carolina. All Bound fcr Chicago to Help Nominate T. R. Salisbury, June l.". The North Carolina delegation to the Na tional Republican Convention started for Chicago this after noon in a special Pullman car, leaving here at 2:30, going via Asheville. A large crowd met the car at the station and the delegates from "Salisbury a nd Spencer join ed the party here. The car was bedecked and large banners ex tending the entire length of the car on each side tells the story of the feeling ami policies of the Tar Heel delegates. Thirty lead ing Republicans were in the party and they were happy and en thusiastic insisting that the re sult of the work of the conven tion will be the nomination of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. On one side of the car was a banner bearing the information, 'The North Carolina Roosevelt Special. The Old North State Delegation Solid for the Honest Chieftain Teddy Roosevelt. Down with the bosses. Let the people rule." On one end of the ear is a banner with the follow ing inscription: "My hat is in the ring T. R. The ring is in my hat T. R. We have them lick ed." '1 be banner of the other side of the car bore thw inscription: "My hat is in the ring T. R. The ring is in my hat. T. R. We've slugged them over the ropes The North Cnrohiif. Roose v. It Special, 11C 00-) Tar Heel Re publicans for that Honest Chief tain Teddy Roosevelt ami a square deal. Down with the bosses. Let the people rule." On the end was this message: Teddy's got a dawg but he ain't no houn'. He's a square jawed bull and hia face is roun. His legs are short and he's close to the groun', And you bet the' ain't kickiwr Teddy's dowg aroun'." Huge Steel Mili Payroll. Pittsburg, June, 12. The total payroll for workingmen in the Turtle Creek and Lower Monon- gahela Valleys for this week will be more than $1,200,000. Pay days start tomorrow and will continue through the week un til Saturday, when most of the plants pay off. It w 'estimated that 'A000 men are employed at present in steel mills and factories in the two valleys. This number near jly equals that M 1907, the ban j ner year in this district. This week's payroll is the largest; since before the panic of 1W7. All the industrial ,phmU are booking orders rapidly, and not en h Jaborers or sk'iJlHl v ork. , , . . , , ,m"n rRn !,e flKirul to Supply the demand.
The Mount Airy News (Mount Airy, N.C.)
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June 20, 1912, edition 1
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