'JPOIT GOJD, FOU. OOXTIXTTIX-Sr, VINTO POH TUTJTII."
Single Copy, O Contn.
VOL. XI.
Plymouth, n. c, Friday, December i, is99.
NO. 11.
$1.00 . Yoar lxx A.airan.oe.
B1L.L. A HP'S liETTEtt.
- On the Wine. The other -ight
I
dropped down from Chattanooga
TVTprirUan. . Tt is over 800 miles, but
to
it
seemed like a dropping down, for the
last train on the Alabama ureal oouin
ern carried me there in less than eight
... i . -r- , 1
hours while 1 slept, ueaumui care
and a smooth trivck made the trip a
pleasure even to a veteran. I had
some flattering calls to the cotton belt
of Alabama and Mississippi, and as the
larder was low and the family purse
looked like an elephant had trod on it,
.nr1 t.iYfs were to Dav and coal to buy.
and my female folks were in need of
winter garments, my wite saw l naa
v " . letter co. That settled it. and here I
am in Meridian. Many years have
passed since I visited this growing city
and I hardly recognized it. It has
since grown from 800 to 18,000 people,
and now pits on metropolitan airs, for
it ia the largest town in Mississippi. It
used to be a dirty place, and , was j
dug-out for saloons and disreputable
miartera. Six vears aero there was a
great awakening and the saloons were
abolished and many ot those wno sup
ported them left for parts unknown.
Grass dident grow in the streets as was
predicted, but the town took on new
life. Mr. Dial was elected mayor on
temperance principles and a system of
. public works was at once inaugurated.
Since then fifty miles of sewerage has
', .v been laid and thirty miles of sidewalk
il t.wfilvfl blocks of streets
8 "graded and paved with vitrified brick
and as many more wl chert. Two
cotton mills and an o-iT mill and a
splendid system of waterworks have
been established. Six large buildiDgs
for the public schools- have been
erect'ed. Two female colleges have
been planted there. The new city has
gasworks and street cars, and new resi
dences with handsome architecture are
in "right on all the high-lands that
. environ the city. I never knew before
that there was a' hill within miles of
Meridian, but there are not only, hills,
but a mile or two south there are
mountain ridges like those in upper
Georgia, and : from these come the
" gushing springs that supply the city
. , witiTthe purest water. Tf f re is no
better kept hotel than the Southern
good fare, good beds, good serlce of
every kind and what was best of all
to me the people gave me a good audi
ence, all select, especially tbe eighty
allege girls who came arrayed in
cOilege uniform , I saw more cotton
yesterday than l ever saw neiore at.
one time and place. Meridian com
presses and markets 150,000 bales, and
half of it is there now in the ware
houses and outside, xnucn oi u nas
been sold, but cannot be moved for
"lack of cars. Cotton is still the king.
While at breakfast thv morning two
northern men took selfis at the same
v table and one remarked: "This town
y is on a boom. They are building all
over it." "Yes," said the other, "the
" whole south is on the upgrade, and if
it keeps on Bryan won't carry a single
southern state." Well, they were for
McKinley, of course, but they will
know by waiting. A northern man
who has never been south finds much
to interest and astonish him. Not lor
ago Mayor Dial took one over the city
and asked him what he would like to
see specially. He replied that he
would like very much to see where the
negroes lived and how they lived. So
the mayor drove up to negro town,
where he saw numerous women and
children and heard them laughing and
talking merrily. "What are they
laughing at?" he inquired. "I dident
know they ever laughed.' "Why,"
said Air. Dial, "they laugh all fte day
long; they laugh at anything."r"Is it
possible?" exclaimed the yankee.
"Supper " ve stop and ask them what
iaey f i ; ,v? about? -My curiosity is
greatly jd.'.' So the mayor stopped,
and calhnV. r;e of the women whom he
knew to the eate. said: "Hannah, this
gentledsvn isjroiejnorth in
God s country and says ne uiuem
lrnnw that, the necroes down here ever
laughed, and he wants to know what
you were all laughing about as we
drove up." ' This, of course, provoked
anolher spell and all they got out of
.1 Vvt (illnnir n V ft A TaYAT
w r.npni was iut uiuuy nuu uu,jut
wh-h was de most alike, a 'possumxr
coon?" The 8trJ "rer was profoundly
Impressed, and made a note in his
aorandum book.
I Mr. Dial says the new law about
toting works well in Mississippi, and
ceased to excite any comment or
Vnt. The negro population of
ISian is-about equal to the white,
jfnere are only about fifty colored
Irs most of these are teachers,
lechers and barbers. About eighty
ered the first year after the law
passed, but the number has de
based from year to year, and the
, gro has long since ceased to take any
West in politics. Quite a number of
liite men have retired from registra-
,have paid their taxes for the two past
years. Mr. Dial says that me registrar s
office was in his office, and that officer
was uniformly considerate toward the
negroes who applied. Some of tl em
who couldent read made "right good
answers when calif d on to explain a
clause in the constitution, and if he
was a cf-od negro he was questioned
very lightlv and was admitted. Cut
gome who could read missed it a mile
and were rejected. The law, he said,
was harder on a poor, trifling white
man than it was on a thrifty, industri
ous negro. But nobody makes any
fuBs about it or proposes to change it.
Well, I have been impatiently wait
ing on the stars, but do not believe that
this is the year for the meteors my
books do not say so. Humboldt is
pretty high authority, and so is Apple
ton's cyclopedia, and both say the
periodic interval is thirty-four years
instead of thirty-three. They fell in
1799 and in 1833 and a partial display
in 18G7, and so they will not come
again until 1901 year after next.
And the anniversary was 12th and 13th,
November, which has already passed.
But we will know by waiting another
day whether Mr. Ashmore is right or
Humboldt. 1 remember well the fall
in 1833 and would like to see another
before 1 die, and I wish -my wife and
children to see one. It is a grand and
solemn sight. - Bill Arp.
Supreme Court Ouxts Two Democrats.
Raleigh, N. C, Nov. 21.One of
most interesting cases in recent years
was decided by the Supreme. Court to
day. The railway commission was
composed of three members. The term
of one expired April 1. Another, -who
had been suspended by Gov. RusBeil,
and who was found by the Legislature
to have been illegally removed, re
signed. D. H. Abbott, Republican,
had two years to serve. ; The Legisla
ture abolished the commission and cre
ated the corporation commission, giv
ing the latter jurisdiction of railways.
Three members were appointed by the
Legislature, and Abbott boifght suit for
the seat of one ofihese E. .C. Bedding
field. The lower court decided against
Abbott, but the Supreme Court to-day
reversed the decision, and. Abbott will
take his seat, ousting Beddingfield.
The Supreme Court holds that under
the act of 1891 establishing the com
mission, Abbott was elected for" six
years from 1897; that an act of the
Legislature this year repeals the act of
1891, while another act established the
corporation commission, and that un
der the last named act Beddingfield
was elected to succeed Abbott, who was
ejected. I';. is held that the act having
abolished only the name and not the
duties and functions of Abbott's office
he was unlawfully ejected therefrom.
Justice Clark files a dissenting opinion
in which he attacks the old-time decis
ions of the court that an office is prop
erty, and also saya the Supreme Court
has no right to declare . any act of the
Legislature unconstitutional. This ia
an entirely new theory in North
Carolina.
Another Enoch Arden.
Philadelphia, Nov. 20. After an
absence of 30 years, James Edwards,
whose home is now in Denver,. Col., re
turned to this city and discovered that
liia wife had been divorced from him
and had married another man.
Thirty-five years ago Edwards mar
ried Miss Belle Hickman, of this city,
whose parents were wealthy. Edwards
was in poor circumstances and his wife's
mother opposed the marriage. -
The couple lived together for five
years, but at the end of that time Mrs
Hickman is alleged to have brought
about a separation. Edwards went to
New York and, .stowing himself away
on a sailingjship,8ucceeded in reaching
San Francisco. From there he went
into tlie interior and secured work in
the mines. By practicing economy he
accumulated some money, and eventu
ally established himself in a lucratiye
business in Denver.
Not hearing from her husband for 15
years, Mrs. Edwards advertised and re
ceived a letter from Denver informing
her that a man answering her hus
band's description had been killed by a
fall from his horse. Mrs. Edwards, now
certain that her husband was dead, se
cured a divorce and remarried. Ed
wards succeeded in, meeting his former
wife upon his return here. There were
explanations all round, and he bade her
farewell and went back to Denver.
A Northerner lias a Nixed School In
Georgia.
Cordolojj aTDisitCliiv
Notice was served on"-Mi Ander
son, at Listonia. near here. ye'Bter4av
that he must give up a Sunday school
which he had started, in which there
are both white and negro children in
attendance. Listonia is a colony ot
Northern settlers, on the Georgia and
Alabama road, about seven miles from
from Cordele. Mr. Anderson is one of
the settlers, and some time ago started
bis "mixed" school. A meeting of tbe
people in the neighborhood was held at
the justice of the peace's court.
Besolutions were adopted declaring
the school a "vile nuisance," which
should not be derated, and a commit
tee was appointed to inform Mr. An
derson that his school must be disband
ed, or he would have to take the conse
quences. The gentleman informed the
committee that he would continue his
school at all hazards. Should he per
sist in his determination serious trou'jle
will be certain to result.
,4How do you make your paper pay?
I never see it anywhere."
"We print pictures of prominent men,
and they buy it."
"To distribute?"
'Oh, no; to destroy."
'Did that bottle of medicine do your
aunt any good ?"
"No: as soon as she read the wrapper
she got three new diseases."
SOME NOTED BACHELORS.
Men of Mailt In Politics, Art And Llt-
, eratare Who Never Married.
St. Loula Globe-Democrat.
Samuel J. Tilden was the richest
Americana who ever entered public life
and remained single to the end of his
days. His persistent celibacy was re
markable, for, unlike Sir Thomas Lip-
ton, Mr. filden was born with money,
and thus from his youth was considered
eligible by the mammas of many young
women.
No Republican of half Mr. Tilden's
prominence has gone through life with
out marryiDg, but, including David
Bennett Hill, who seems to be a con-,
firmed bachelor, Democracy's rolls show
a noteworthy triumvirate of the dis
tinguished celibates, James Buchanan,
the only bachelor President, being the
third member thereof. Buchanan is
understood to have refrained from tak
ing a wife because the girl upon whom
he set his youthful affections was obdu
rate. He is said to have regretted the
Bingle state to the day of his death. Mr.
Hill, on the other hand, is reported to
be a bachelor from choice. -
Literature has furnished a long string
of names to the list of eminent bache
lors." Possibly the best-known unmar
ried man of letters "today is Henry
James, the novelift. He maintains
stoutly that the artist, no matter what
the medium of his expression, should
remain single, on the ground that the
petty cares and carpings of domestic
life tend to wear on delicately adjusted
nerves and exhaust the mental fiber of
genius, whether its possessor be a paint
er of pictures, a worker in works, a
modeler of statues, a composer of music,
a singer, or one who amuses the ieople
from the stage.
John Greenleaf Whittier was a bache
lor, though not from the same cause as
the brilliant fiction writer mentioned.
Whittier wsb a ,fi;reat admirer of the
married state, we are told,- and in his
boyhood had a blue-eyed, red-cheeked
New England girl for his sweetheart.
Together they went to school as child
ren, and wren they grew to youth s es
tate he told her the story most girls like
to hear. She heard it gladly, too, but
he was poor, and a poet loye muPt wait
for recognition. She promised, but
waiting is wearisome; before recognition
came to the young, gentle versemaker
Bhe forgot him as a lover, and was mar
ried to someone else.
Edward FitzGerald, the translator of
Omar Khayyam's quatrains, was a
bachelor, and there was a romance in
his life, much like the one which sad
dened Whittier's, but ' there was little
else which they had in common. The
celibacy of Charles Lamb was full of
pathos, for he remained single all his
life that he might care for his Bister.
Venerable John Burroughs, naturalist
as well as writer, and one of the most
charming of men, has never married.
Mr. Burroughs was riot even a woman
hater, neither has anyone ever surmised
that a romance caused his bachelor
hood. The only literary bachelor who is ac
knowledged to be a hater of women is
the English poet, Algernon Charles
Swinburne. His sentiment appears to
be based upon the fear that a woman of
little culture would be dull beyond de
scription as a life partner, and the con
viction thi the clever woman is the
least attracjliye of her sex.
Only one noted Protestant divine has
been a bachelor. He was Phillips Brooks,
who finished life as Bishop of the Epis
copal Church, and seemingly possessed
every quality desirable in a model hus
band. The cause of his remaining
single appears never to have been un
derstood, even by those who were closest
to him. He did not avoid the fair, nor
has anyone been able to recall a ro
mance in his life. In his student days
and his career as a clergyman be had
many friendships with women, while
his passionate fondness for children was
remarked often. His letters to some of
his juvenile friends, published in one of
the magazines, were models in their
way.
The bachelorhood of Sir Isaac New
ton was a puzzle to some of his con
temporaries, but others knew he re
mained single solely on account of his
mother- He thought the world of her.
aDd her"affection for him was unbound
ed; but her ni&ternal love was marred
by jealousy, and" -whenever her son
thought on marriage or-evinced a pass
ing interest even in a pretty face she
wept and wrung her hands, and man
aged somehow to check true love's
n .. . 1 i 1 - 1 J
course..' xie nnaiiy toia ner ne wo;uu
give up all notion of marriage as long as
she lived. After her death he found
himself too deeply absorbed in his scien
tific work and too mature to think of
matrimony.
Two Men.
Paterfamilias (furiously) You scoun
drel 1 why did you elope with my
daughter?
New-Son-in-Law To avoid the insuf
ferable fuss and nonsense of a society
weddiDg.
Paterfamilias (beamingly) Thank
heaven ! my daughter got a sensible
husband, anyhow.
"Want a situation as errand boy. do
you? Well, can you tell me how far the
moon is from tbe earth, enf
mWpII fruv'nnr. T don't know, but I
"--i a , - - -
reckon it ain't near enough to- interfere
with me running errands."
He got the job.
WHY THE SOUTH IS POOK.
Charlotte Observer. '
3?he Staunton, Va., News calls atten
tion to the fact that "of the stock held
by the New York Life, the Equitable
and tbe Mutual Life Insurance Com
panies of New York at the beginning of
the present year, only $226,000 was in
vested south of the Potomac." There is
no lack of opportunity for safe and
profitable investment of insurance
premiums or any other money in the
South, but what is need here is not so
much that these Northern companies
re-invest here all or a part of the money
they collect here, as that Southern peo
ple organize and conduct their own in
surance companies and get the dividends
as well as the benefit of a part of the
surplus. The Staunton paper says the
Northern companies would find South
ern cotton mills and iron furnaces yield
ing as good returns as the railroad, bank
and trust company stocks in which they
put their money; which moves the
Charleston News and Courier to say
that it does not know that it would be
to the interest of the South for these
compank s to own the stock of the
Southern cotton mills in any large or
controlling measure. Nor would it.
The South needs the profits these mills
are earning, even more than it needs
the first investment necessary to their
erection, and in like manner it needs
the profits to be derived from insurance
and not merely the investment of such
part of the surplus- above interest as
may be doled out to it.
Our Charleston contemporary remarks
further that "Southern fire insurance,
companies managed on business prin
ciples have paid good dividends to their
stockholders, and Southern life insur
ance companies managed upon the
same principles would pay equally well,"
it has no doubt. There is no reason for
doubt. There is in Charlotte a fire in
surance company which is doing well,
as it deserves to. It is quartered in its
own building, the finest office building
in the State. O'her home fire insur
ance companies of the State are likewise
doing good business, and encouraged
by the success already won in this field',
a combination of gentlemen of business
experience and financial standing is
about launching in this city another
company, organized under the laws of
the State. Of course the field is an in
viting one else they would not enter it.
f for fire companies why not, then, for
life also? Both kinds we mean back
ed by local capital are needed, and
Southern people need to give them their
business, not from sentiment; not for
personal regard for any of their stock
holders, directors or officers, but from
business considerations solely. Of course
they must" be solvent, conducted on
business principles ard able to pay the
risks they take, otherwise they are not
entitled to expect public favor; but these
essentials assumed, it is not simply the
duty of the people to give them their
business but their individual selfish in
terest to do so. We decline to put the
case upon any other ground than tbis.
The News and Courier concludes what
it haa-to say upon the enormous drain
upon our reeorces with the, observation
that "what, with paying premiums on
insurance policies for the benefit of
Northern companies; tariff duties on
imported goods for the benefit of North
ern manufacturers, and taxes for pen
sions, for the benefit of Northern 'pa
triots,' it is only of the Lord's mercy
that the people of the South have not
been utterly consumed." This is a
phase. of the question upon which we
have touched, even dwelt, very often,
perhaps to the fatigue of our readers.
The tariff and the pensions in particu
lar are factors in Southern poverty which
we are not able to contemplate with an
equanimity and which the most ami
able of us of the South, who think much
upon them, are not always able to dis
cuss temperately.
A Free Choice.
Many anecdotes are related of John
Randolph, of Virginia. One night,
when traveling through the "Old Do
minion," he Btopped at an inn near the
forks of two roads. TBe inn-keeper was
a fine old gentleman, and, knowing who
his distinguished guest was, he en
deavored during the evening to draw
y-'va into conversation, but failed. But
in the morning, when Mr. Kandolph
was ready to start, he called for his bill
and paid it. Tne landlord, still anxious
to have some conversation, tackled him
again.
"Which way are you traveling, Mr.
Randolph?"
"Sir?" said Mr. Randolph, with a
look of displeasure.
"I asked, paid the landlord, "which
way are you traveling ?" ,
"Have I paid you my bill !"
"Yes."
"Do I owe you anything more--"No."
"Well, I'm going just where I please.
Do you understand ?"
"Yes." -The
landlord by this time got some
what excited and Mr. Randolph drove
off. But to the landlord's surrf ise, in
a few moments he sent one of tus Ber
vants to inquire which of the forks of
the road to take. Mr. Randolph still
beine within hearing distance, VfJni
lord yelled, at the top of his y
"Mr. Randolph, you dv''
cent. Take whichever ro
The North CaroliV
meet in Washingto
RULES COit
ioun MEN
IN LIFE.
STAKT1NO
St. Louis Republic.
Men who become successful in the
latter part of their life sometimes give
out the set of guiding .rules to which
they attribute their success. The fol
lowing rules are said to have been
formulated by Andrew Carnegie for his
own guidance :
1. Never enter a barroom, nor let the
contents of a barroom enter you.
2. Do not use tobacco. ' -
3. Concentrate. Having entered up
on a certain line of work, continue and
combine upon that line.
4. Do not shirk; rather go beyond
your task.. Do not let any young man
think he has performed his full duty
when he has performed tbe work as
signed him.. A man will never rise if
he acts thus. Promotion comes from
exceptional work. A man must learn
where his employer's interests lie, and
push for these.
The young man who does this is the
young man whom Capital wants for a
partner and son-in-law. He is the
young man who, by and by, reaches
the head of the firm.
5. Save a little always. Whatever be
your wages, lay by something from
them.
6. Never speculate. Never buy stocks
or grain on margin.
7. Never indorse. When you enter
on business for yourself, never indorse
for others. It is dishoneBt. All your
resources and all your credit are the
sacred property ot the men who have
trusted you. If you wish to help an
other, give him all the cah you can
spare. ' Never indorse; it is dishonest.
Another Bet of rules for young men
to follow are those laid down by a man
who built up an immense business, the
ramifications of which extended all over
the United States.
They will bear perusal, and are as
follows :
Keep good company or none. Never
be idle.
If your hands cannot be usefully em
ployed, attend to the cultivation of your
mind. 4
Always speak the truth. Make few
promises.
Liye up to your engagements. Keep
your own secrets, if you have any.
When you speak to a person, look
him in the face.
Good company and good conversa
tion are the very sinews of virtue.
Good character is above all things
else.
Your character cannot be essentially
injured except by your own acts.
If any one speaks evil of you, let your
life be so that none will believe him.
Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors.
Ever live (misfortunes excepted) with
in your income.
When you retire to bed, think over
what you have been doing during the
day.
Make no haste to be rich, if you
would prosper.
Small and steady gains give compe
tency, with tranquility of mind.
Never play at any game of chance.
Ayoid temptation, through fear you
may not withstand it.
Earn money before you spend it.
Never run into debt unless you see a
way to get out again.
Never borrow, if you can possibly
avoid it.
Do not marry until you are able to
support a wife.
Never speak evil of anyone.
Be just hefore you are generous.
Keep yourself innocent if you would
be happy.
Save when you are young to spend
when you are old.
Read over the above maxims at least
once a week.
Cotton Crop Very Short.
On the heels of the government esti
mate of a 9,000,000 bale cotton crop
the Columbia State has received from
Latham, Alexander & Co., of New York
a circular letter, bearing date November
15, which indicates a crop of 8,709,690
bales. This firm is one of the oldest
and most responsible in the cotton trade
and its annual statistical review is a
standard book of reference. In its cir
cular it says that having received many
letters of inquiry as to the probable
total cotton crop of tbe United States it
mailed 4,200 letters to selected and re
liable correspondents covering every
cotton growing country in the South
banks, bankers, cotton commission
merchants, brokers, proprietors of pub
lic gins, railroad officials and planters
and received 2,800 replies of average
date November 7. These Latham, Al
exander & Co.. cor L,lmtai.li itble as
any informal
heUr
for highef.
' 'Our special
haye been travelu.....
for the past month
condition of the f
firrn the foreiprv
i;r x5
. MANAGEMENT OF" MEN.
Baltimore Sun.
It is commonly supposed ' that one
must have an understanding of men in
their various humors to successfully
manage them, but some men and some
women have intuitive knowledge on
the subject. They are born managers.
The success attending the careers of
great men has generally resulted from
their ability, natural or acquired, to
pu'K out me rigui assistants anu get
them to use their best ' efiorts. Their
methods are not always the same.
Some men have to be driven and some
led, with every possible shade of differ
ence between the two processes. But
the successful managers of men exhibit
one characteristic in common. They
have command of themselves and
pursue their course, whatever it may
be, with an even temper.; When they
drive they do so with moral force rather
than with physical; when they lead it is
with cheerful manner. They are al
ways in earnest, and their purposes
command respect. The driving man
may be very quiet, th6ugh determined;
it is his persistence without passion
that breaks down oppositkn. ; If, he
should be arrogant, he would arouse
resistance and perhaps fail in his pur
pose. The noisy, abusive, domineering
ruler of men may command them
through fear, but he has no real hold
upon them, and the moment they are
given an opportunity to escape from
his tyranny they rebel. He is not a
good manager of men, though for the
time being they may obey him with
alacrity. Successful management of
men implies that they have been so
trained by him that they will do their
duty whether he is present or absent;
whether he has the power to punish or
reward, or is the mere aerent of another
and higher authority. Such a man
rules by force of character, because the.
men under him have learned that he is
fair-minded, sympathetic and devoted
to duty. He is not arbitrary or bad
tempered, but has obtained control
over himself before undertaking to
control others. He is, moreover, an
observant man and quickly learns the
dispositions of those whom he rules
and treats them accordsngly. With
one he is indulgent, with another severe ;
with all he deals justly. Such men
are, of course, rare," but these are the
men who rise to the higher positions
in business life; they are the men who
are fitted to become foremen, man
agers and principals. Some of them
are fitted for such posts by nature; all
can qualify themselves for higher office
by giving some attention to the qualities
required of those who are to success-
fit 1 r mnrtnrvA V rr nr ir TH Air mnaf
1U11J UlOiUaV WUUUi lliVUt AUVJ . IUUC3V
first of all learn to control themselves
so that their tempers shall be even;
they must be free from prejudices, able
to deal justly with all men; they must
have a definite purpose in .life and
sufficient determination to follow it
unswervingly. Men thus constituted
command respect, and . are, therefore,
fitted to rule or manage other and
t i i mi ' J
of a manager or boss is of an arrogant,
loud-mouthed, cruel ruler who governs
by the fear he inspires, but the real
rulers of men are gentle and just, but
persistent. They are men who control
themselves and are thus fitted to con
trol nt.hfirs.
"Something ia going on in that house
with the green blinds," said the neigh-
uui uppuoiro. i'lUUl lllO tUUftO ui tup
women who are arriving," though, I
really can't tell whether it's a reception
l a l. ii , l j .
cook."
Tho Tinto Camcm
to every elderly woman when an irti-
?ortant functional change take9 place,
'his is called "The Change of Life."
The entire system undergoes a change.
Dreadful diseases such as cancer and
consumption are often contracted atf
this time.
PI ? lit
I 1