Newspapers / Polk County News and … / Feb. 8, 1906, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE LARAMIE TRAIL. T JOaifK HILLS Jlwosa the crests of the naked hills. Smooth-swept by the winds of God, It cleaves its tray like a shaft of gray, Closa bound by the prairie sod. It stretches flat from the sluggish Platte To the lands of forest shade; The clean trail, the lean trail. The trail the troopers made. It draws aside with a wavy curve From the lurking, dark ravine, It launches fair as a lance in air O'er the raw-ribbed ridge between; " With never a wait till it plunges straight Through river or reed-grown brook; The deep trail, the steep trail, The trail the squadrons took. They carved it well, -those men of old, Stern lords of border war, They wrought it out with their sabers stout And marked it with their gore. They made it stand as an iron band Along the wild frontier; The stronsc trail, the long trail, The trail of force and fear, j , For the stirrinj- note of the buglers throat Ye may hark to-day in vain, For the track is scarred by the gang-plow's shard And gulfed in the growing grain. Bnt wait to-night for the moonrise white; Perchance ye may see them tread The lost trail, the ghost trail. The trail of the gallant dead. THE TODD BOY'S NAME By E. F. C. OW the next boy may give me his name," said the new teacher, who was enrolling his pupils on the first day of school. There- was an expectant hush over the i:oom, followed by a general titter as the boy thus called upon answered: "Ebenezer Fettingill Todd.': Even the teacher smiled, as he said, "That is certainly a good, substantial name. I supp'ose I may call you Eben for short?" "I guess you had better call me Ebenezer," was the reply. Then every body laughed again except the Todd boy himself. It was no laughing mat ter to him. "Your name, rather staggered the teacher at'first, didn't it?" one of his mates said to him at noon. "I don't wonder at it. Gracious! I wouldn't be caught with such a name as that -on 'me for five thousand dollar?." To these thoughtless words the Todd boy made no reply. Nevertheless, he kept turning them over in his mind until he reached the modest home where, since the death of his father and mother in his early childhood, he Tiad lived .with his maiden aunt. "Aunt Lucy," he asked suddenly, s the two sat at dinner, "how did I ever come to be named Ebenezer Pet itingill?" "Mercy on me, child I" said his aunt, In gi;cat surprise. "You know about a well as I do. You've heard it timeV enough: "Why, it was. this way," she went u, nothing loath to repeat the story. "At one time it began to look as if your poor father and mother would never succeed in getting you named for good. First and last I believe they named and unnamed you four different times, aud then they were just as much at sea as ever. But one day your father tame home, and says he, 'I've got a name for the boy at last. It isn't fancy he said, 'but it's substantial, .and it will be worth money to the little -chap some day.' "Then he went straight to the fam ily Bible and wrote the name down in good big letters Ebenezer Pettingill Todd. You have seen it there, :you inow, manyfa time. 'There," he said, 'tbt is going to stick! It was the name of a kind of half:uncle of his, jou know, that lived over in Belham, -and does now, for that matter. He has "property, and n near relatives, but plenty of distant ones. Your father had fallen in with him that day, and I suppose they got to talking about you. I never knew the particulars, but at any rate, they came to an understand ing that you were to be named for Mr. Pettiugill, and he was to remember .you in his will. "Your mother didn't take to the name -at ail; but your father said, It means live thousand dollars to the boy when 'Uncle Ebenezer goes.' "Dear, dear! Your father llitle thought then that Mr. Pettiugill would -outlive him; but he died within a year, -and the old gentleman is alive yet. si've heard that he is -likely to disap point some of his relatives by leaving .most of his money to charity. But I , guess there will be no doubt about your, five thousand dollars." . "Irwould swap the five thousand dol lars any time for 'a different name," said the boy, gloomily. - . "Why, child, you ought not to speak in that way. Your Uncle Pettingill is ,i tt-v, respectable name." HAX80V.- Twist cloud and cloud o'er the pallid moon From the nether dark they glide. And the grasses sigh as they rustle by, Their phantom steeds astride, " By four and four as they rode of yore, 'And well they know the way; -The dim trail, the grim trail, The trail of, toil and fray. With tattered guidons spectral thin . Above their swaying ranks, with carbines slung and sabers swung And the gray dust on their flanks. They march again as they marched it then When the red men dogged their track, The gloom trail, the doom trail, The trail they came not back. - - They pass, like a flutter of drifting fog, As the hostile tribes hav nnap5 And the wild-wing'd birds and the bison . nerds , ' And the unfenced nrairies vast. And those who gain by their strife and , pam Forget, in the land they won, t The red trail, the dead trail, The trail of duty done. ' But to him who loves heroic deeds The far-flung path still .bides. The bullet sings and the war-whoop rings And the stai wart trooper rides. For they were the sort from Snelling fort Who traveled fearlessly The bold trail, the old trail, The trail to Laramie. ' Youth's Companion.' ROBBINS. 'T suppose the name was all right in old times," said the boy, "but it isn't a good one for me. It is all out of fashion now. People always laugh the first time they 'hear it The new teacher did to-day. The boys at school won't even giVe me a nickname. They always call me Ebenezer Pettingill that is nickname . enough for them. And grown-up people don't call me by any first name very often. They just call me the Todd boy." "Ob. well," said his aunt, soothing'y, "you can afford a little trouble for all that money. You know you want to go to college -" V "I don't know that I do with such a name as mine." interruDted the bov. "I should almost hate to see it on a diploma. They write your name in Latin, you know. Charles is Carolus, and James is Jacobus, and so on. How do you suppose Ebenezer would look turned into Latin? "And it is just as bad whatever I want to do. I'd like to be a political man when I grow up, and perhaps run for office. But you couldn't get up any enthusiasm for Ebenezer P. Todd. "I tell you, Aunt Lucy, it is a bad bargain for me, and for Uncle Pettin gill, too, for that matter." "Why so?" asked his aunt, In sur prise. , ' The boy did not explain his last re mark, but when he left the table he had in his mind the germ of a purpose, which soon developed into a full-grown plan. : - ; On his return from school at night he found that his aunt was out making callsr and he decided that the time was ripe for action. ','--. . He went at once into the infrequent ly used best room, opened the large Bible that lay conspicuously on the centre-table, and turned to the family record. There stood his name in bold black letters. Y ; He next took from his pocket a cer tain package which he had- bought at a drug store on his way from school. ' , In this were two small bottles, each containing a colorless liquid. By means of a little glass tube, dipped first into one bottle, then into the other, he care fully traced twice over the words Ebenezer Pettingill. He was not disappointed at the result. Tiie letters gradually faded from his sight, and he felt that he ,was at last rid forever of the burden of that name But as he sat there, half -frightened at what he had done, yet wholly tri umphant, he was suddenly confronted by a problem new to' him, although quite old in human experience that of naming a boy Unfortunately, concerning this mat ter his" mind was as much a blank as the space in the family record on which he had just been operating. To be sure, he could think of names, but none to suit. He wished that he knew some of the names that his pat ents had given him and then taken a wav. One of those misht do. The paper was all dry where Ebenezer Pet tingili had been, and something ought to be written in. But at the end of 4 half -hour's thought he had come to no decision. He heard his aunt's step on the walk, aud hastily shutting the book, fte 6iinnpi niit nf the room, very ill at ease. It felt queer to be a boy with out'a name. 'v ' " All his leisure moments for the next twenty-four hours he spent in wrest- ! ling with his problem. , Once, while in lio tinn-iAf! himself Harold, out ' ot his English history book; and for Jan Lour or so his mind was relieved. , Then he.thought.of tfct letfcrs. E. P. T." that he had spent So mtfch time In cutting on trees and -desks and other things. No, he must stand by those Initials, anyway, so the name Harold, j was given up. v ; r ' Finally, when almost in despair he decided that -Edward - Percy would have to do; and at the first opportunity he opened the family record again and wrote, in the name. After that there could be no backing out. - The boy now felt it to be his duty, to apprise his great-uncle of the change. This he did by letter, as fol lows: ' ' " . Mr. Ebenezer Pettingilh ' Dear Sir I write to' tell you that you will not have to leave me that five thou sand dollars, for I have gone and changed my name. I hope this. will. not. hurt your feelings. Ebenezer Pettingill is 'all ; right in its nroner place. It loots eood on the monumen that you have had put up in the cemetery at Belham. I was out there on day and saw it. But I 'don't, think it is quite suitable, for me. It doesn't join on well with . Todd, and it causes remarks. Some have said to me. "Why don't you shorten it to Eben?" That would not bo so bad, but I don't think rfc would be a square thing to do. If X am to earn five thousand dollars bv havine vour name. -I must be willing to take it just as it is. ana T rtllflrKf tint nrlinmnl ii. But I have been ashamed, and I couldn't help it. 1 You must think considerable of th name, and I don t believe you want it made fun of. or carried ' round hv a. hnv that doesn't like it. So I thought it was best for us both to change. I have washed out Ebenezer Pettingill, where it was in our Dig Jiible an cL have written : Edward Fercy in its place. So it is all settled. I have written this so tha you can fix over your will. Your affectionate nephew, EDWARD PERCY TODD ' formerly " EBENEZER PETTINGILL TODD On the whole, itf was easier to write this letter to his uncle than to an nounce the change to his aunt, and to other pepple who might be interested. He waited .a. little for , a favorable op portunity, still answering to his old name, but always saying although not aloud "Edward, if you please.". But in a. day or two he received thit note from Mr. Pettingill; ' Master Edward Percy Todd: Dear Nephew I do not blame you for changing your name, n you do not like :t. I think that you have been frank and honest with me. I only wish I could say as much for some others who are looking to me. for a legacy. But I must set vou right on one point. I never agreed to leave you hve thousand dollars tor your name. I believe I did promise to remember vou in my will, and I find that I have done so to the extent of fifty . ; dollars. I will change that, and in place of the legacy I enclose a check for twenty dollars, to show my regard, lruiv yours, EBENEZER PETTINGILL. This letter gave the boy his oppor tunity, and he at once showed it to his aunt, at the same time, of course, ex plaining what had been done. The good lady, although considerably shocked at first, soon became recon ciled to the change, the more easily, no doubt, because it seeured to involve no great financial loss. . She admitted that she liked the new name better than the old, and she quickly became quite fluent In its use. But there was ".still one trouBle left for the boy. T wish I knew the best way to break the news to the. boys and girls at school," he said, anxiously. Presently another inspiration came to him. "What kind of a party was it that Aunt: Helen gave Cousin Laura last year?" he asked his aunt, after some reflection. They called it a coming-out party," was the reply;- y .' "Well, why can't I have one?" "You!" exclaimed his. aunt. "Whyr they don't give coming-out parties for boys; they are only for young ladies." But the boy was not convinced, . and eventually be carried 'his- point. Soon after, all his schoolmates and friends received va neatly written note of invl tatlon: . , Mies Lucy Emmons requests the pleasure of your company at i. party in honor ot her nephew, Edward Percy Todd, September the nineteenth, $ to 10 p. m The party was a complete success. and although it cost nearly the whole of his twenty dollars, Edward thought that the end justified the means. As he had anticipated, his friends, after having partaken of his ice cream, feit in honor bound to recognize his new name, and they never called him Eben ezer Pettingill, except perhaps now and then for nickname purposes: . But the most surprising result of the whole transaction wasthe increased interest shown by Mr. Pettingill to ward his nephew. Her frequently in vited the boy to, visit Ihim at Belham, and occasionally manifested his good will in moresubstantial ways. And when, some years later, his will was finally probated, one, clause read as follows: v To Edward Percy Todd son of my late nephew, Joseph Todd, I give and bequeath the sum of five thousand dollars. Youth' Companljn. , $..-. ; - : v No fltope For Jlim There. The "old" man", addressed the follow ing letter to his son, whq was about to stand a civil-service examination for a Government posltioflf -:, r 'Iear Bill: It ainnc aibito nseo! you goin' up - agin -that civil-service business, it'so a. Onesided affair-altogether. Why, they'll turn you down if you don't know 'rithmetie, an they'll even 'rule you out it you're- a leetle short on g'ography an' spellin'I Take my advice an'stiek ;t ' yer trade of lawyer, before a jury of jer peers,, n' when tnai iaiis you um gv w j school. -Atlanta Constitution. THE GREAT CULEBRA CUT. It Will be the Biggest . Piece of Dig- ' glng Ever Undertaken. The huge excavation for the Pana ma canal . across the Culebra divide will be , by far the greatest furrow in j the earth's surface ever, made by hu man agency. It is so large that the mind fails to erasD its real magni tude, aid it can only be appreciated by comparison with some familiar object. A question of considerable interest recently raised by a correspondent-relates to the largest exist ing artificial excavation which is at all comparable with the 'Culebra cut. Great amounts of excavation y were done, of course, on such works as the North Sea canaL the Manchester canal andvthe Suez canal; . but all these were :built through comparative ly level country. . . So far as we are able to find, the only deep cut at all comparable with that to be made "through the Culebr& divide is the great Nochistongo cut through the hills which surround the valley of Mexico. This huge excava tion was begun in 1640 for the pur pose of "affording an outlet to the flood waters which had inundated , the City of Mexico and destroyed a great part of the city and its inhabitants. For more than a hundred and forty years labor on this great work was the chieif task of the Mexican nation, and it was not until the year 1789 that it was finally completed. The total length of the Nochistongo cut is 121-2 miles. Its greatest depth is 197 feet, and its greatest width 361 feet. The total amount of material excavated was about 54,000,000 cubic yards. In comparison with this the cut at Culebra will have a consider ably greater ' maximum depth and width, even for the project w.itih the 85-foot, summit .level. .The . total , cube of excavation at the Culebra divide was estimated by Mr. John F. Wallace as 186,000,000 cubic yards for the sea level canal and 111,000,000 cubic yards for a canal with a 60-foot summit level. While in mere size of excavation the cut through the Panama divide is by far the larger, the fact that the Nochistongo cut was made with abso lutely no aid from machinery or me chanical power, but wholly with hu man muscle, makes our task on the Isthmus seem like mere child's play in comparison with that occomplished by those patient toilers under the tor rid sun of Mexico two centuries ago. When one recalls that this deep, arti ficial valley, more than twelve miles long, was all dug by the labor of In dians, who excavated -the material with the crudest hand tools and car ried it in baskets on their heads to the place of final deposit, the great cut of Nochistongo is entitled to rank, with the Pyramids of Egypt, among the world's greatest wonders. En gineering News. 7 ."' Law Got it in the Nose The policeman was in a hurry. He had the air of a man who intends -to' be home in time for dinner at whatever cost, and the way he bounded up the stairs of the"L" station at Twenty- eighth street cast a new light upon the efficiency and speed of the New, York police. When he reached the top of the stairway he saw that the exit gate was open, and as it was not incumbent upon him to confront the ticket-seller, he made a dash straight ahead for the open gate. An up-town train was about to pull out, and the policeman put on , speed to catch it. But a diligent ticket-chopper "at that instant gave the ropes a hard jerk and the gate closed with a bang in the very face of the policeman. Actually in his face, " for gate and policeman collided. There was a grunt, a t helmet clat tered to the floor and rolled to the edge of the stairs, and a nose was flatten ed against the wire netting. The chop per heard the racket, and when he saw' what 1 had happened he neglected -his station to assist obsequiously in the restoration of the finest. The police man, stopping the flow of blood' from his nose, said not a word; but the boy, when he had picked up the official hel met, ran down the stairs crying, "Ex tra! - All about the police raid - on the L'!" New York Press. Shooting Beef on the Wing. Few city sportsmen, have ever made a hunting trip into the country with out having met the bugbear of all Nim rods, the "irate farmer," who orders the huntere off his farm, telling them how many cattle he has had shot by careless sportsmen. The hunters do not, have much faith in the farmers' statistics. :' . . ' "To know how widespread the" cattle shooting habit is," said a government meat inspector, Dr. H. G. Pinkerton, "one should, take up a position beside an 'inspector at a packing house and note how many cattle are flr.yed, re vealing a fharge of 'birdshot in their bodies. Some are peppered on one side only; others on both sides. I don't know whether' the cases are all acci dental or whether the hunters shot, the cattle, full of birdshot just for fun; but mighty few, either native or range cattle, reach the packing houses with out carrying souvenirs of some glori ous ' hunting trip.'Kansas Citj Times- PEARLS FROM LABRADOR. fntflans of the Shore .. District Havt, Fished for Them for Generations. Deep sea fishermen and whale ,or seal hunter's are about the, only: per- sons who know much the, Northern Labrador coast where it runs into the Hudson Bay territory. Barrenness and desolation, rocky shores beaten by the ice Atlantic, long winters and short, inclement summers are its chief characteristics. . There are few signs of human life; merely ancient rock built shelters set up by whalers from Nantucket or Gloucester when Greenland!- whales were hunted among the icebergs or seal hunters' Tude' shanties, where observation parties land for a day or two at a, time. But curious as it ap- . pears' there is a little known source of wealth in that one lone landJ It is found in the rivers, which gen-' erally .make their-last ;leap- into the ocean over a steeo .waterfall. . The immense masses of fresh water m us-" sels, which in many places choke the streams first ' directed attention to it in late years. . Men wondered why old-time whale or seal hunters and other early navi gators collected such quantites of the v shells N as were piled about the camp ing places. ,Then a short search by a ne'er-do-well a few years ago re-' vealed a large, irregularly shaped pearl under a pile of shells and im mediately a valuable secret was re-, vealed..- Since that time several men have become expert pearl fishers, and now shipments are periodically, and in summer, regularly made of pearls. These men make fair 'wages by their labor, though, of course, the returns" vary according to the fortune that attends the individual. , ; Some of the pearls are large, and of great value.' Last year one was sold ' to a New Yorker of rare discrimina tion for upward of $1,000. 1 In appearance hese 1 fresh . water pearls are not : easily . distinguished rom those obtained m southern seas, though unfortunately "some percen-. tage of them are irregular in shape. . Usually they are silver white in color, though a young man who has just returned from Labrador has a pair of rose pink pearls, perfectly matched, which weigh about twelve grains each and are worth $60 or $70 apiece. This lucky one was not a pearl hunter, but took a clump of shells in his hand and sat down to open them with his pocket knife. He found ,the, pearls in one large shell. After that find he spent a fortnight in searching for more, but only obtained about half a dozen small ones, worth perhaps $3. As a - rule pearl hunting is gone about in a more scientific manner. The mussels are- stacked on flat rocks or sand bars and are allowed to decompose, when the shells open naturally and are easily; examined for the pearls, which lie embedded in the flesh of the fish. The Indians of that district have al ways known of these fresh water pearls," and several "of the' rivers running north have been fished for them for many generations. Most of the pearls collected by them in olden times were mined by being rudely bored, so that they might be strung, for necklaces or for the adornment-of wampum belts. Nowadays the wideawake Hudson Bay company traders pay a fair price for all the Indians can collect. Some Montreal houses have regular dealings with the pearl hunters' of the coast, and have agents on the spot who ob tain shipments for them. Swiss Change National Hymn. It is not often that a nation changes its national hymn. The Swiss ha v, however, formally announced their in tention of so doing and adopted the less well known Swiss Psalm, or "Can tlque Suisse," instead of the hitherto universally . sung "O Monts Indepen dants." ' - " The reason of this change is that the latter has always been rendered to Carey's melody 'of. ;"God Save the King,", which is identical also with the German-"Heil ' Dlr im biegerkranz,". Land the Switzers are beginning to find this sameness too confusing. Hence forward, therefore, they will change their tune to one which shalh be theirs only, and, indeed, the melody accom- panyingi the words,' "Sur nos monts quand lesoleil," etc.i of the "Cantique Suisse" is, if anything, more inspiring than the old one. 1 ; It is also by a true son of the Alps, one Zwyssig, to whom a monument was erected on the Lake of the "Four Cantons" a few years ago. That the "late" national anthem can have, but a small hold on the people's affecttons is proved by, the way the "new" one is readily accepted , on all sides. -Reynold's Newspaper. ; Says He is 260 Years Old. . , Srimat Brahmananda Brabmacharye,; aged 260 years, is not after all a myth ical personage. He . is of super-extraordinary age no doubt; but he is just at present very much alive and proposes to grace the religious Ma hotsavam to be hed at Benares with ,?o : auctist nresence. Indian Daflv S
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 8, 1906, edition 1
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