H,
$1.00 a Year, in Advance. " FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 5 Cents.
f - i . . 1
VOL. XIV. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, JULY 10, 1903. NO. 16.
4
S
(
AN OPTIMIST.
"O aged man, pray, if you know,
I -vow answer mc the truth!
' !Whieh of the gifts that the gods bestow
;j Is the greatest gift of youth?
'"O ac;cd man, I have far to fare
By the divers paths of earth,
.. ?ny which of the gifts that with mo I bear
: Is the gift of the greatest Avorth?
4,I it the might of the good right arm,
Whereby J. shall make my way
.Where dangers threaten and evi's harm
i Holding than still at bay?
n.
The old man smiled: the listening breeze
Grew whist on the sun-lit slope;
The old man sighed: "Ah. none of these!
Youth's greatest cift is its hone."
Florence Earlc Coatcs, in Lippincott's.
the: better way.
By Alice C. McKecver.
lJUiCTgacir'jwmwiii iiiimhi mwtinai
gsOUISE!" "Yes, auntie."
L
"lie has gone home."
o early. Why ilid
he
W&MM goV"
"Ho had letters to write, he said."
The old woman glanced at the girl
anxiously. Her eyes were dim. but she
fancied that Louise looked as it' she
had been crying.
"My dear," she paid, softly, "Bob is
only a man ami you 'wouldn't let any
.sense of duty stand between you?"
The girl flushed deeply, and turned
her lovely face toward her questioner.
"No, auntie, don't worry; It isn't a
question of duty."
"I thought, perhaps Bob is so close,
he would object to me, and I wouldn't,
Jnot for the world, keep you apart. The
poorbouse has no -terrors for me not if
it makes you happy."
"Ycu have a queer notion of what
"Would make me happy. No, you are all
I have left, and we'll 'bide a wee to
gether.' "
And the girl pressed her soft cheek
against the one so old and wrinkled.
"It's hard," murmured the old aunt.
; "First there was the old father and
' mother you nursed so long, and now
1 here's me and he's a likely lad as
iver was. He'll be rich some clay."
"Yes," said the girl, quietly. "I know
it. He's made of the, stuff that pro
duces rich men. Let's forget him, for
he is not of our world."
"But I hoped," persisted the old
woman smlly. "that lie might lift you.
at least, up to his world. You work so
hard, you are only a girl. Your life
ought to have been so different."
"His world is not above mine," ex
claimed Louise earnestly, "it is far be
low. "I do not care to step down.
Never mention this again, auntie,
please."
But when the winter of snow and
rain Fct in, and Louise had to plod
back and forth a mile through the
storm to the little millinery store,
where she. was hired at saventy-five
cents a day, the old woman more than
once brought up the name of her old
time lover.
"He's gone to the city," she said one
clay, "getting a salary that would make
us rich, one year of it."
Louise, pale and weary, answered
nothing, but the old woman continued
plaintively.
"Now, if it hadn't been for me you'd
a been living like a queen. Seems like
instead of helping you, as I want to, I
only take all your hopes away. Dear,
dear, how long I do live."
"Hush!" said the girl, sternly. "How
unkind you are! You are all I have in
the world. - You are all I have ever had
since since they went away!"
"You're twenty-five," said the old
woman. softljr; "you're the prettiest
girl for miles .around. I always
thought "
"I'd marry. Well, I won't," an
swered Louise, brightly, "for I'm de
termined to be an old maid."
tt
Bob Hunter had been in the city
tweiity years. He was no longer
known as Bob, but as Robert Hunter,
millionaire.
lie had friends, such as they were,
astute business financiers like himself;
servants who ran at his bidding, but
nor. one person In the whole world who
loved him.
Even the little errand boys knew him
for what he was, hard, cold and un
charitable. They were paid their stipu
lated prices, never a cent more. This
wo: id and this life was only a place
to live long in, in order to grow rich
.and richer.
He seldom recalled his old country
time; there "w"cxa no ties there to hold,
"Is it the strength wherewith I shall climb
Where few before have trod
To the mountain tops, the peak3 sublime
Tint glow in the smile of the god?
"Is it the ncvr-failing will,
Invincible in might,
Which armed nqainst oppression still,
.Shall vanquish for the right?
Or is it the heart, thou aged man!
The heart impassioned, strong
Which shall be blest, as naught else can,
In perfect love ere long?"
him. Only, sometimes, there came a
fleeting memory of a fair young face,
the one face in the world he had truly
loved.
"She was a little fool," he woulu
mutter; "she's been a martyr long
enough. I didn't propose to saddle
myself with that old aunt. Well, she
chose her way, I hope she's enjoyed
it."
Accident brought back his old home
vividiy at last. There was a railroad
running through that part of the coun
try that he desired to buy.
"I'll run out there a few days," he
saM; "it will be prudent to do so, and
I wonder how the old place looks by
this time, anyway. Nobody will recog
nize mc, I dare say."
But they did; the newspapers that
heralded his name, and the old neigh
bors who remembered him as a boy
wanted to see the great man he had
become.
A number of old friends, .is tl;pv
wero pleased to call themselves, un
dertook to show him around and to
point out the improvements that twen
ty years had brought about.
There was a new court house, a new
jail, and, lastly, a tine, large building,
lately erected for the county poor.
Bob did not care a copper cent to be
shown any of the affairs, but he had
his c wn reasons for being civil, hence
he permitted himself to be dragged
hither and thither and at last actually
found himself inside the handsome
new poorhouse.
"Tiie matron will show us through,"
said the obsequious friend. "Who
knows but you may run across some of
your old acquaintances," he added.with
a light laugh.
In one of the large halls they passed
a woman bending over a little child,
who was sobbing bitterly. The woman
sat in a low armchair, and her face
was hidden, but the mass of brown
hair rolled in a knot at the nape of her
neck was heavily streaked with gray.
"Cot out of the road, Jimmy," said
the matron. "You are always getting
hurt." Then turning to the woman
she said. "Have you finished the
shirts?"
The woman raised her head and re
plied softly that she had. The sun
light streaming in through the window
brought her head and face and slight
form into bold relief.
He saw her plainly, her voice had be
trayed her even before he had known
or guessed her identity. Yes, it was
Louise older, frailer, helpless and a
beggar, no, not exactly that, for it
seemed even here she was a toiler as
of old.
"My Cod!" he thought, "how long
has she been here?"
But they hurried him on, and Avhen
once mor - in the open air he felt he
had. not reached it any too soon. He
was never so near a faulting fit in his
life.
"Are you ill, Mr. Hunter?" inquired
more than one.
"A little," he repli d. "I think I will
go to my room at the hotel and rest
until supper."
But no sooner did he find himself
alone than he sent for one of the maids,
a girl that he knew had always lived
in the place.
"Mary," said he, "I want to ak you
a few questions, and you're not to
tell any one a thing I shall say. If I
make you a present of five dollars, do
you think you can held your tongue?"
Mary tossed her head and eyed the
five-dollar bill.
"I can tell the truth without being
paid. As for telling anything else, no
money could make me do that."
"Very well, my girl, I only want the
truth. When was Louise Upton taken
to to "
He did not finish, something seemed
to choke back the word.
The girl's eyes opened and grew
round as saucers. Ah, she remembered
now hearing her granny tell that
Louise Upton had once had a lover
who had gone away and grown rich.
Could it be this was he?'j
"Only a year ago," she answered
softly, pitj-ing the man she saw was
really suffering. "She worked as long
as she cou'd, but it was rheumatism
crippled her feet and she could not run
a machine, then her hands were bad,
too, and and there wasn't any one to
take care of her, so she asked to be
put where she is."
"How long has her aunt been dead?"
"Her aunt! Oh, I can just remember
her; about fifteen years, I think. But
a nicer, sweeter lady than Miss Louise
couldn't be found. Lots of us cried
and would have helped her, but she
said no, she would go where she be
longed." "Where she belonged!" repeated the
rich man in a tone of voice tlu.t made
the girl's eyes sparkle.
"Here is your money; take it, and
I'll not forget you, either."
"Thank 3-ou," said the maid, smiling
joyously. "You are very kind."
Very kind! Did the walls take up
the words and echo and re-echo them?
Kind, very kind! Him; kind!
He sat for an hour with closed eyes
and compressed lips; then as the shades
of evening stole around, he passed out
and sought once more the matron of
the county infirmary.
"It is not the hour for visitors," she
said crossly.
But v.heu he explained that he must
see one of the inmates privately, and
tendered another live-dollar bill, he was
quickly admitted.
He waited for her in a cold, damp
room called the reception room, and
she came at last at last. The door
opened softly, there was a thump,
thump of two crutches over the floor,
and Louise, wondering and surprised,
stood before him. .
He bowed and wheeled forward a
small sofa upon which she sank, more
and more surprised, for she did not
recognize him.
"Louise. ' he said, huskily, coming out
into the stronger light. "Louise, don't
you know me?"
"Bob-Bob Hunter!"
"Yes," he said, taking a scat at her
side. "Bob Hunter. Don't you want
to shake hands?"
She half extended her hand and then
drew back.
"Don't, if you don't want to."
"Oh, it isn't that but my hand "
He knew, when he took it almost by
force; too pretty, white hand that had
been was now drawn and toil-marked.
He held it between both his own, his
head bent over it, while a hot tear fell
upon it.
Louise felt her .breath coming and
going at a most surprising rate, while
she could not speak.
"I've thought it all over, Louise, ever
since I found you here, this afternoon.
I never knew what a cold-hearted vil
lain I was before, but I know it well
enough now. "
Still Louise was silent.
"I loved you. I have never loved any
one c'se, but money was my God, and
and it conquered me. But to-day,when
I saw you so frail and helpless and so
poor, and thought of all your life had
been, and contrasted it with what it
might have been, had I not been so
cruel in the past. I felt that I wanted
to go out and shoot myself."
"But you didn't," said Louise, smil
ing with something of her old bright
ness. "No, because back of it all was a lit
tle hope, a faint ray indeed, but I
thought, perhaps, even if you hated
me, you might let me 'see that that
you never wanted for anything. If
you don't, I won't answer for the con
sequences." "Fie, Bob?''
"Of course, there's a better way
that is, if you don't hate me after all,
which do you choose?"
The cold and cheerless room seemed
to change to one of radiant splendor,
when he bent over to hear her low re
ply: "I have always tried to choose 'the
better way.' "Household Companion.
A Good Fire Extinguisher.
A very perfect tire-extinguishing
compound is made by mixing twenty
pounds of common salt with ten
pounds of sal ammoniac in seven gal
lons of water.
An innkeeper of Wilhelmberg, who
turns the scale at 502 pounds, is the
heaviest man in Germany.
Tat I)ay of Clifford' Inn..
Clifford's Inn, London, which in the
course of 'a few months will have gone
the way of some other inns, and have
been knocked down in the course of
modern improvement by the hammer
of the auctioneer, had retained as be
came an institution which is the pre
mier of its kind, and dates from the
days of Edward III. more than one
quaint manner and custom. The so
ciety, for instance, was governed by a
principal and rules, and the rules were
just as much incarnate as was the prin
cipalmore so, indeed, some of them.
Latterly, to obviate any invidious dis
tinction, all the members were made
rules. There was also a "Kentish
mess" at which you might consider it
rather a privilege to be asked to dine.
Dinner ended, the napery of an ex
tremely long and highly polished black
mahogany table would be whisked off
with a swift dexterity unexampled
elsewhere. And then there would be
brought to the President what looked
like a hammer and was a little hard
baked loaf, and, anon, send it skim
ming to the other end, there to be as
dexterously caught in a basket, in to
ken that the fragments that remained
of the banquet were pannierod for the
poor. Philadelphia Telegraph.
Earth's 3I"oft CJorjrentis I'nlac.
Seventy-four years after St. Peter's
at Ilom was finished. Shall Jehan was
building the most magnificent palace in
the East perhaps in the world the
beautiful Palace of the Moguls at Delhi.
It is made of red sandstone and white
marble; some of its walls and arches
are still inlaid with malachite, lapis
lazuli, bloodstone, agate, earnelian and
jasper. There were once silver ceilings,
silk carpets and hangings embroidered
with gems; the pillars were hung with
brocades: the recesses were filled with
china and vases of flowers, treasures of
the goldsmith's craft, also, no doubt
from France and Italythe Italy of the
Renaissance and the France of Mary
of Medici. Beyond doubt there was the
famous Peacock Throne "a sort of
large four-posted bed all made of gold,
with two peacocks standing behind it,
their tails expanded and set with sap
phires, rubies, emeralds, pearls and dia
monds, while a parrot cut out of a sin
gle emerald perched upon the tester." On
the front side of the canopy was a dia
mondthe Koh-i-noor, now among the
crown jewels of England. Tavernier,
the jeweler, who was at Delhi in ICG."),
beheld these wonders and thought they
represented, all told, "200,000.000 cf
livres." Collier's.
Woman's I?ady Wit.
South Wales proudly tells this story
as proof woman's superior wit:
An inland revenue officer called to in
quire if a lady had a license for her
dog. She politely asked him to come
in and sit down while she looked for
it. In a few minutes she smilingly en
tered the room, bearing the license.
Then k appeared she had in the mean
time paid a visit to the postoffice at the
corner.
From Yorkshire, says the London
Express, comes a story that surpasses
this one from South Wales.
A bailiff had to seize the furniture in
a cottage. He knocked at the door. A
relative of the woman who rented the
house presented herself. She wore a
woe-begone countenance, and whis
pered with her forefinger before her
mouth: "Hush! She is going. Call
again, if you kindly will, sir!"
The officer of the law was compas
sionate. He postponed his visit for a
week. The relative again appeared
upon the scene, and, with tears in her
voice, said: "She's gone! She's gone!
And she's taken all the furniture with
her!"
Stoneware Furniture.
The German plan of finishing meat
shops with tiles is a very satisfactory
one. as cleanliness is thereby secured
with added attractiveness. In many
German butcher shops the floor, walls,
ceilings, counters, scales and desks are
all finished with glased tile, somewhat
similar to those used in the American
bathroom. Stoneware furniture is a
novelty in German shops that might be
adopted with adyantage in this coun
try. This is especially applicable to
meat shops, fish and other markets,
kitchens, sculleries, etc. Philadelphia
Record.
A strong movement has arisen in
London in favor of a dead Zoo as an
adjunct, to the livinc tho creation nf n
i spacious museum in which animals
who have succumbed should be staged
in accordance with their surroundings,
an expert taxidermist being retained in.
order to prepare for this permanent
Dreservatiou.
WHY WE LAUGH.
This Professor Finds Twelve Types cf
Laughable Things.
Professor James Sully, the English
psychologist, has recently published
an interesting volume on the nature,
causes and effects of laughter.
He makes twelve general classes or
types of laughable things: (1) Novel
ties, (2) physica.l deformities, (3) mor
al deformities and vices, (4) disorder
liness, 5() small misfortunes, (6) in
decencies, (7) pretenses, (8) want of
knowledge, (9) the incongruous and
absurd, (10) word plays, (11) that
which is the expression of a merry
mood, (12) the outwitting or getting
the better of a person. It will be no
ticed that the majority of these things
are essentially displeasing in charac
ter. Indeed, a careful examination of
nearly every case of a laughable sight
or occurrence will show that in the at
stract it is painful rather than pleas
ant. Possibly the secret of this curious
and apparently paradoxical fact lies
in the harmless intention and result
of the episode, which under ordinary
or other circumstances might have
been tragical. A Beau Brummel fall
ing into a dirty, shallow pond is dis
tinctly humorous to most people; if,
however, the pond is deep and drown
ing is imminent, the laughter is re
placed by efforts at succor. Mr. Tup
per's nearly shooting off the game
keeper's head was funny; if he had
actually done so the operations of the
Pickwick Club would have been very
much curtailed.
An explanation offered by Mr. W.
McDougall in reviewing Professor
Scully's book seems rather more in
genius than convincing. He says:
"We may surmise, then that the laugh
ter reaction has been developed as a
necessary corrective of the effects of
sympathy, for the power of sympathy
is so great that in the absence of this
corrective those spectacles which meet
us on- every hand, and which we call
the ludicrous, hight well destroy us."
Whatever the true physiology of
laughter may be there are certain
facts regarding its physiology which
are undisputed. The most important
of these is its increase of the vital ac
tivities so as to cause exhilaration. It
increases the circulation and leads to
a more perfect oxygenization of the
blood. It is one of the best medicines
for indigestion, and a valuable safety
valve for worn out, overstrained
nerves.
The assumption that in general we
laugh because we are pleased (to
which Mr. McDougall takes exception)
although the pleasure may be of a very
complex nature and often perilously
close to pain, will still seem the most
tenable one to most people.
CHINESE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Many Important Lines of Business Are
in Their Hands.
Our countrymen own and operate
four banking institutions; one daily
and three weekly newspapers. They
pay one-fifth of the slaughter house re
ceipts of the city of Manila; one-third
of the market; two-fifths of tho
license; one-ninth of the industrial
tax; two-fifths of the cedula tax; two
sevenths of the stamp tax;' one-sixth
of the import tax direct in their own
name, besides more than as much
more through the English firms. Over
one-half of the bulk of the goods re
ceived through the custom house is for
Chinese firms, and they pay less than
2 per cent of the fines. The custom
house officials state that their ac
counts are more nearly correct, that
they are more prompt in receiving and
paying for their goods, and cause less
trouble to the customs officials than
any other class of importers. They
have six boats engaged in the coast
wise trade with an average of over
500 tons burden. While they have
only a few boats registered in their
own names which ply in the coastwise
trade, yet business of all to the towns
of any importance is largely carried
on by Chinese merchants. The rice
trade, which is probably the largest
single article of trade in the islands,
is almost wholly carried on by them.
Out of 4S9 importers, 199 are Chinese.
We have no hesitancy in saying that
when you consider that there are only
about 80,000 Chinese in the islands
and less than 40,000 in Manila, these
are significant facts.
Market for Italian Cauliflowers.
Thirty tong of cauliflowers from
Italy are now being landed daily at
Folkestone for the London market.