$l.oo a Year, in Advance.
FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH.
Single Copy,. 5 Cent-
VOL. XIV.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1903.
NO. 39
. j ax
DON'T FORGET
BY WILL
Nay, don't forget the old folks, boys
they've not forgotten you;
Though years have passed since you were
home, the old hearts still are true;
And not an evening passes by they haven't
the desire
To see your faces once again and .hear your
, footsteps niglier.
You're young and buoyant, and for you
hope beckons with her hands,
And life spreads out a waveless sea that
laus but tropic strands;
The world is all before your face,' but, let
your memories turn
To where fond hearts still cherish you and
lovinur bosoms yearn.
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A riot Thnt Thickened Until It
Dolled Over With Unexpected ,
mid Disastrous lieauttg. I
fy&ILLY HARTLEY was one?
P-' of those irritating young
Q ! 5 men whose stock in trade
consists of an important
manner and a positive
voice. Billy Hartley was a
private detective and business was bad
with him. He had gradually nursed
himself into a state of mind where he
beiieved, that the world did not appre
ciate him. 'When a man so believes,
the plot invariably begins to thicken
into an ominously fatal sort of stew.
One day. as Hilly sat in his room at
the "Grupelii"' apartment . house, , he
peiled the following little sweet po
tato of thought and threw it into the
.sienmering saucepan of his auibitional
thought:
'! must bring my detective ability
be love the public in a way which wiil
lr.ake a marked impression," said lie.
He chopper! -si logical .turnip ox
two.' and thoughtfully stirred them in.
"The public does not bring me its
private cases and to I cannot prove my
worth." he continued. "I must there
fore fix up a case myself. Now there
a; a lot of robberies going on in this
neighborhood, and the police seem help-
1
Why can't I whirl in and catch
it ' se thieves V"
Eilly Hartley communed with him
self until he began to hate his own
company.
-By the Croat Huns of War! I have
it!" he finally exclaimed.
He wrote the following note:
"Dear .Sir If your representative
will be at the corner of Broadway ami
Eighth street to-night at 1'J o'clock I
will hand him $100 as agreed. He
must have this letter to identify him,
it ml the signal will be a sneeze."
Billy Hartley sealed ,this note, ad
dressed it to himself, and placed it on
s conspicuous part of his bureau. On
the envelope 'he added the words:
"Valuable. I:i haste."
Billy liar I ley tipt oed to the window
and cautiously peered out. "Oh. if
the burglars would only call here and
tin -J that letter," lie murmured implor
ingly. Billy Hartley tiptoed to the door and
lisieu'ed intently. "They'd go for the
MK and then we'd nab them sure."
1 -n:)iinued." in a sibilant, whisper.
"Why, it would make me famous."
Billy Hartley picked up his hat and
opened the door. He shook an omin
ous linger with, a warning, gesture for
i .bfoir.tp silence and disappeared.
'Ike world's a stage. Up in one of
11:'. hoxs sat Dame Fortune intelli
g -ntly following Hartley' little side
1
y.
Now I'll just help this worthy young
r:;t".i." remarked the Fame to herself.
j: d she settled cosily down to sea this
g through.
The world's a stage. The actors arc
ready.- The prompter is at hand. The
stringed instruments in the orchestra
sire shivering out their trembliest niu
fie and a thrilling detective mystery
- ra
pidly begins to unfold itself.
It was night. The stars shone bright.
"Jimmy Short ryd Otis Simmons, nt
thvd in irreproachable evening drosfc.
woiided their devious way up West
1'orty-sixth street. They had an utter
disregard of - the; fight of the crow.
Their faces were-' bathed in an oft'ul-p-i.t
happiness. Their .gestures were
ol: the heroie si.e." They had 'all the
ervkible appearances of having dined
to the tuneful .leconvpaiument of corks
ihat pop and tinkling glass.
THE OLD FOLKS,
T. HALE.
No matter what your duties are nor what
your place in life,
There s never been a time they'd not as
sume your load of strife;
And shrunken shoulders, trembling hands,
and forms racked by disease,
Would bravely dare the grave to bring to
you the pearl of peace.
So don't forget the old folks, boys they've
not forgotten you;
Though years have passed since you were
home, the old harts still are true ;
And write them now and then to bring the
light into their eyes.
And make the world glow once again and
bluer gleam the skies.
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Occasionally Jimmy was stricken
with a convulsion of apopletic merri
ment. "Isn't it easy?" he whispered
to his companion at these times.
"It's almost too easy," replied Gus,
wagging his head in a reflective man
ner. The Bacchanalian procession of two
stopped in front oi! the "Grupelii."
They ascended the steps. One of them
lurched inside. The other sat -down
on the door step and softly wept as
he unlaced his shoes. A sophisticated
policeman smiled indulgently as he
passed.
But now behold a curious thing! The
method and manner of the reveller
who had lurched inside suddenly
changed. His jag fell from him even
as a mantle. He rapidly entered all the
darkened rooms that were unlocked
and rapidly came out again. In a short,
time he reappeared at the street door
and resumed his correct imitation of a
man on a bat. He locked arms with
his watching companion on the steps
and, striking up the chaste measure
of a merry roundelay, they continued
their winding way to Sixth avenue,
where they disappeared. .
In the Great Comedy of Life it is
the accepted fact that one man in' his
time plays many part?, but it may
be remarked that things do not be
come rually interesting until some of
the players ibegin acting two different
parts at one and the same time.
When Billy Hartley returned to the
"Grupelii" that evening he found the
place ringing with violent and stinging
acclamations. It seemed as if nearly
every room in the place had been
robbed. Orotund oaths pulsated in and
out like a passionate shuttle in some
highly speeded rhetorical loom. Curi
ous curses perforated the peaceful
night and died away in an awed and
shuddering stillness.
Fp and down the halls flitted the
Imrglared one-:, comparing notes and
lamenting their losses in stentorian
accents. The human imagination is
never so healthy as during the discus
sion of a robbery. Missing neckties
became full dress suits with money in
the pockets, and pilfered scarfpins
were glorified into solid gold repeaters
presented to their inconsolable owners
for saving human lives.
Billy ilariley entered his room with
the tense feeling of a gambler who
l-i'.s staked everything on one card,
lie noted wifh a hot glow of satisfac
tion that the letter was missing from
his bureau. lie called in bis neighbors
and explained the case to them.
"The burglar will be there." con
cluded Hartley importantly. "He'll be
there after that S100. And when lie
sneezes we'll nab him,"
"But how'll we prove it?" asked a
doubting Thomas.
"He'll have my letter with him. of
course," replied Hartley. "I can swear
I loft it on my bureau."
The doubting Thomas shook Hartley
by the hand.
"Great head." he murmured admir
ingly. "Lucky thing that the burglar
happened to take your letter."
"That was pure detective ability,"
responded Hartley importantly. "No
such thing as luck in matters like
these."
Up above. Dame Fortune suddenly
cast a spiteful look at this cheeky
young man who was so early denying
the existence of his benefactor.
'No such thing as luck, eh?" she
muttered, pursing up her lips. "We'll
just see about that. We'll just see!"
It may be stated at this point that
when Femininity purse up her lips
and says. We'll just, see," it generally
means that some poor image of a man
will soon be heavily leaning up against
bars many where and vainly attempting
to drown his bitter sorrows in a tem
pestuous sea of beer.
And in the meantime where were
Jimmy Short and ins Simmons? They
were sitting at a little round tabic and
looking earnestly at each other.
"Isn't it easy?" inquired Jimmy.
"It's too easy," ruminated Gus.
"Why is it that a cop never arrests
a drunk in a dress suit? And if I'd
been caught in the Grupelii to-night
they'd have thought I was full and got
in the wrong room by mistake. It's
too easy!" he repeated solemnly. He
again loosed earnestly at his compan
ion as he piled a miscellaneous assort
ment of jewelry on the table. Their
earnest looks simultaneously disap
peared and they winked at each other
with much humorous unction.-
'And here's a letter I picked up in
one of the rooms," continued Gus. "It's
marked 'Valuable' and hasn't been
opened yet." he commented as he pro
ceeded to read the letter to his atten
tive partner.
" 'He must have this letter to iden
tify him and the signal will be a
sneeze,'" concluded Gus.
"The sigual will be a sneeze," he re
peated. "Easy!" murmured Jimmy ecstati
cally. "Oh, easy!"
"And Hartley never saw this note,"
added Gus.
"Easy!" repeated Jimmy. "Oh,
easy! Why, anybody can sneeze. It's
child's play. One of us will just go
there with this letter and sneeze and
get $100. Isn't it easy, eh? Makes
you wish you had a cold."
"It's too blamed easy." objected the
other more solemnly than ever: "it's
too easy to be natural. Let's think it
over."
A tall, thin, red-headed man brought
in a couple of bottles and placed them
on a table.
"Hello. Sandy," remarked Gus.
"Where' ve you been lately?"
"Been over to Jersey for a week,"
answered Sandy; "just got back five
minutes ago."
Jimmy and Gus again looked at each
other earnestly. They nodded.
"Sandy," remarked Gus portentious
ly. "sit down, my boy, we want to
have a little talk with you."
At this point it may be stated that
while it is a well accepted sociological
theory that talk is cheap there are a
number of well authenticated cases
on record where it has cose a man
surprisingly dear.
The hour was midnight. The place
was Broadway and Eighth street. The
clock in Grace Church clanged out The
midnight hour. The last reverberation
had reluctantly died away when a tall,
red-headed man walked up to the cor
ner and sneezed. Instantly a strange
thing happened. A posse of revenge
ful citizens pounced out from neigh
boring doorways and seized this tall,
sneezing, red-headed man.
"We've got you!" they cried.
The tall man struggled mightily and
loudly called the company's attention
to the fact that his coat had been torn
in the shu Hie. "And that coat cost
SviO." he added impressively, "imported
goods."
One of the attacking party . caught
sight of a letter in the tall man's hand.
"He has the letter!"' shouted this
observant member. "Call a police
man:" Agai.n the tall man struggled valiant
ly and with good effect.
"There goes my vest!" he shouted;
"very fancy vest; worth 8:25." He con
tinued the struggle with the dogged
air of a man who has a deep hidden
purpose before him. "And there goes
my pants," he finally added with a
subdued triumphant note in his voice.
"Those pants are worth $25 of any
body's money," he remarked with mel
ancholy resignation. At this point
the policeman came along, ami in a
few minutes our Sandy was explain
ing his case to the authorities.
"I had just returned from a week's
visit to Jersey this very night and had
got off the .Christopher street car to
mail this letter to my wife out there,
when up comes this crowd and mobs
me. One of 'em stole my wallet. There
was $200 in that wallet. And -they tore
my clothes. Uook at that coat!" he
wailed as he glanced down himself
with a critical eye. "And look at that
vest!" he sdmufed. Ho continued the
survey of nis personal damages with
rapidly rising emotioni "And just
take a good look at them pants!" ho
howled with sudden feeling as he
hastily took advantage of a convenient
chair.
That is how it cost the tenants of
the Grupelii $300 to square themselves
with Sandy I'ierson the other night.
And that also is why Billy Hartley
is going, into the real estate and in
surance business as soon as he can
find a suitable opening for an ambi
tious j'oung man. New York Evening
Sun.
Fashion,, in Horses
As in nearly everything eise, fashions
in horses are frequently changing, and
it is interesting to note how these
have varied. Years ago nothing: was
considered more stylish, in tandem for
instance, than a smart dapple-gray
leader and a good, upstanding chest
nut in the shafts. Then came the
period of rigid uniformity when the
animals had all to be carefully matched
it made no matter what Avas the
color. This has lasted pretty well un
til the present day, with varying limit
ations. At one time well-groomed,
satin-coated blacks were the rage, at
another chestnuts were essential. Just
now "liver-colored" chestnuts and
browns are declared to have Dame
Fashion's smile, and there is also con
siderable request for the good, hard,
serviceable blue roan, nowadays some
what scarce. In this as in other mat
ters, however, the good lady's favor is
fickle. A prominent fancier decides
for a certain color, anel drives in a
smart "turnout." He promptly has 'the
llattery of imitation. A demand is
created and the fashion set. Just as
in clothes, so in selection for the stable.
What was yesterday's "correct thing"
may be to-morrow's "bad form;" but
for the riding man 1he highest recom
mendation of a mount will always be
quality rather than shade. London
Daily Telegraph.
TUe Atomic Theory Exploded.
"Atoms" as indivisible and unalter
able particles disappear from our phil
osophy. In their stead we have "elec
trons," of which the streams from ra
dium are partly composed, and which
are nothing more nor less than minute
electrified masses. If Ave accept the
atom at all, we must consider it as
composed of a Avhole stellar system of
"electrons," all in orbital motion.
Chemistry bids fair to become the as
tronomy of the infinitesimal. Just how
much smaller than an atom an "elec
tron" is, Sir William Crookes has
shown in a striking example: The
sun's diameter is about OSO.OOO miles,
and that of the smallest planetoid
about fifteen miles. If an atom of hy
drogen be magnified to the size of the
sun. an "electron" will be. about two
thirds the diameter of the planetoid.
T'ye .nineteenth century saw the birth
of the atom. We iioav ste its destruc
tion. Perhaps at some future day we
may conclude Avith Crookes that the
universe is composed of a swarm of
rushing' "electrons." Woman's Home
Companion.
Charles Jamh's Only rropomil.
Charles Lamb proposed to a woman
just once in his life. The letter con
taining his proposal, and a portion of
it in facsimile, is printed for the first
time in Harper's Magazine, in an ar
ticle by John Hollingshead. Avhose col
lection of literary treasures contains
the original letter. The lady to whom
his addresses Avere made Avas Miss
Frances Maria Kelly, "a versatile and
sympathetic actress and singer." Miss
Kelly Avas said not to have been a
beauty; but Lord Byron had said of
hev that she Avas the only woman in
the Avholo Kemble company at Drury
Lane Theatre avIio was Avorth talking
to. It is no wonder, then, that Lamb
succumbed o her sympathetic attrac
tion. But- f-a replied gracefully '.u
ti e negative to his proposal, and her
letter, too. is included in Mr. Hol
liugshcad's article.
Publishing the Xew.
People should understand that a
newspaper is printed for the sole pur
pose of carrying the news of the day,
says an exchange. It is a poor slick
of a reporter or editor who will listeii
to personal grievances and permit him
self to be influenced by personal friend
ship or family matters. The neAvspa
per man who does not recognize news
and Avho is influenced by any degree
of sentiment to suppress Avhat is news
has no business to be engaged in the
business.
Italy has 93,701 acres of orange and
lemon groves containin- 10,720,907
trees.
HUNTING CHAMQiS.
A Sport Which Takes Place in the
Clouds.
This is how a writer, in .Outing de
scribes a chamois hunt;1; V .
The ascent up the excessively steep
slope, with' the crushed&now break
ing under one's steps, Avas hard work,
and the fresh signs of gamo as I
reached the higher elevations and a
whistle or two out of the dense fog,
emitted by chamois at no great dis
tance, made it all the . more tantaliz
ing that one's range of vision was
eo extremely limited; The top of the
ridge, some 3,000 feet over the val
ley, consisted of a black, rocky, needle
like pinnacle, too steep for snow to
lie, and on scrambling hand over
hand to the top, I found to my sur
prise that it just topped the sea of
white mist.
We soon had glissaded a thousand
feet down to about the place where
I had heard the chamois whistle on
my way up. We were talking quite
loudly, when suddenly, without the
slightest warning, I found myself in
the middle of a band of chamois some
thirty or forty in number. As I had
been sliding down at a great pace I
actually passed a beast or two within
reach of my Bergstocker and one
kind, in its frantic haste to join its
mother, nearly ran me down. Throw
ing myself backward into- the snow
and wrenching off the covering of holt
and muzle, the chamois, whose sur
prise seemed to he even greater than
ours, actually gave me time to get in
a quick shot at what looked like a
buck before they vanished la the
dense mist. ;
"You have hit him right enough,"
exclaimed the keeper; but I was not
so very certain about it, for it was a
case of pulling the trigger before the
rifle was well up to my shoulder.
When we -reached the spot where the
animal had been overtaken by my
soft nosed Mannlicher bullet, a few
spurts of blood put a rosier hue on
the outlook. As the snow was scored
up by countless tracks and the trail
of blood soon stopped, we- separated
in order to more quickly find the
wounded beast. I had not gone far
before I found my. quarry it was a
barren doe, unfortunately lying dead,
with my bullet through her shoulders.
EVER HEAR OF URALITE?
Wonderful Materia Invented by Man
With Wonderful Name.
Have you ever heard of uralite?
Probably not, for it is a new invention.
It is the Invention of a Russian artil
lery office? and chemist named Im
schenetzky, and its claim to distinc
tion, lies in the fact that it is absolute
ly fireproof.
Uralite Is composed of asbestos
fiber, with a proper proportion of sili-'
cate, bicarbonate of soda and chalk,
and it is supplied In various finishes
and colors according to the purpose
for whicn it is intended.
In a soft form a sheet of uralite is
like an asbestos board; when hard, it
resembles finely sawn stone, and has
a metallic ring. Besides being a non
conductor of keat and electricity, it 13
practically waterproof, and may be
made entirely so by paint.
Moreover, it . can be cut by the usual
carpenters or woodAvorkers' tools; it
can be veneered to form paneling for
walls or partitions; it. can be painted,
grained, polished and glued together
like Avood; it does not split when a
nail is driven through it; it Is not
affected when exposed to moisture or
great changes of temperature, and it
can be given any desired color, either
during the process cf manufacture or
afterwarl. Stray Stories.
More. Men Than Vcmen.
Europe has a population of 334 mil
lions, with 2-3 millions more women
than men; Asia has.815 millions, Avith
a surplus of 1G millions of men;
Africa, with a population of 27 mil
lions, has about l.COO.000 more men
than women: in America, which has a
population of 102 millions, there are
also about 1.000,000 more men than
women; the excess. of men in Austra
lia, with a total population of 4,000,
000, is about f00,OCO. .
Europe is the only continent with,
a numerical preponderance of women.
But even in Europe there are many
countries whore the men outnumber
the women. That is, the case in Italy,
Greece, Roumania, Bujgarte, Scrvia
Eosnia as d Herzegsvfcia.