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InMiJii % ■♦ rieit VOLUME II. OXFORD, N. C., AVEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1876. NUMBER HI. A STOltY OF ALDEK8I10T- i. 1 During the steeple-chase week :at Aldersliof, some years ago, I was introduced by a young friend, in whom I toolc a great interest, •but over wdioni I unfortunate!}' possessed but little control, to accompany him one evening to see some roulette played. Mv friend, whom I .shall call Herbert B , was an impetuous, warm-hearted Irishman, generous to a fault, and as fine a young fellow as you would see in a day’s walk. He was, however, like many of his countrymen, thought less to a degree, and seemed al ways quite unable to resist the impulse of the moment, whatever it might be. Knowing him to be in debt, and dependent almost altogether on his pay, I tried my best to dissuade him from going ; but it was no use ; so I determin ed to go along with him, to try to keep him as much as possible out of harm. For all I could do, though, as it turned out, I might as well have remained away. Every one, I suppose, knows what roulette is : but in case this should meet the eye of “the ex ception,” I will endeavor briefly to describe it. Four things arc chiefly neces sary for its performance. First, a board of peculiar and complicated construction—of which more here after ; second, a cloth half red and half black, with sundry numbers and cabalistic characters painted on it; third, a professor of leger demain, to inaiiipulate tlie wlieel; and fi)iall\', the “flat.s” to be pillaged. Herbert B represented the last item to perfection, except tha.i he had \-ery little to be pillaged of. In a' few minutes all his available capital had melted in almost equal proportion on both the red and the black, winch colors he backed impartially, but gcnerallv with the same result, for he nearly always lost. His last coin having vanished he rose to go, remarking incidentally that he had brought no more money with him. “ Won’t you take a glass of champagne, sir?” said an oily voice at his elbow; and turning round he beheld a sleek, close shaved, Methodist parson-like in dividual, w'ho was rubbing his hands in an apparently nervous manner, and smiling abjectly. “Well, I suppose I may as W'ell,” replied Hetbert, as he fol lowed the other to the sideboard. “ AVe’ll be happy to lend you any money you like. Captain, to go on with,” insinuated the greasy owner of the oily voice, as the bottle was being opened ; adding, as the liquor formed into the tumbler: “Your luck has been dreadful bad, to be sure; but it is sure to turn; and with the steady games you play you stand an uncommon good chance of winning, I can tell you, though I say it who shouldn’t, if I consult ed my own interest.” But why' dwell on my poor friends folly. He gulped down the stuff they called champagne, borrowed ten pounds, and return ed to the table. When he left the house some hours later he had written checks checks he told me he did not pos sess five hundred fai-things. I was, unfortunately, poor my self, and could do nothing for him; so, advising him to go home and try and got some sleep, and come to me in the morning to have a talk about his affairs, we sepai'a- ted; he went to his hut in the North Camp, and I to my quarters. I never saw him alive again. The following morning when I awoke I saw my servant standing by my bedside. “ You know Mr. B., sir?” said he. “ He shot himself dead last night.” “Shot himself! Impossible! What on eartii are you talking about!” I exclaimed, jumping out of bed. “ It’s quite true, sir. His ser vant is here.” Yes, it was true. My poor friend, in a moment of despera tion, which, as the jury truly' said, was temporary insanity, had committed the rash act for which there was no remedy. About a fortnight afterwards I heard at mess the following story, which I will give in the words of the narrator : “ What about the roulette bla’- guards ? Haven’t you heard I Oh, I’ll tell you with pleasure.” “ You know Blau’s billiard- room, I suppose? AVell, the beggars had established them selves there, and carried on their little game on the billiard-table, from which they had removed the cusliions. One night I strolled in bv accident, and found the room crowded witii fellows, some sitting on the table itself, and more standing romid it, but nearly' all dtoppiiig their coin like smoke. In the n.idule stood the ronlette- boaid, flanked by heaps of gold and silver; and on each side of these were cloths, with the num bers and zeros painted on them in the usual manner. F'rench, of the 22d Lancers, was being bled to a frightful extent. He would persist in backing the red for fivers ; so, when I tell you the black passed four-and-twenty times, you may imagine it was rather hot for him. At Hamburg the longest run on record is thirteen or sixteen, I forget which ; so this alone ought to have made the fellows smell a rat; but they didn’t, apparently, for they went on playing as long as they had any money to lose. “ A few won, of course, and Smith of the was one them. The little beast was as pleased as Punch, and kept sticking half- crowns on whichever color was not otherwise backed, till he had quite a heap beside him. He w'as right enough, perhaps, but it made me savage to see the only cad there winning. “Well, matters went on like this for a goodish bit, and cham pagne was flowing all over the place, when in walks Robinson of the th, who had just rejoined from sick-leave, surrounded by a lot of his pals. “ As soon as he saw the new arrival, the fellow who was twirl ing the board gave a little start, and became visibly paler. He, however, kept on as usual, called the game steadily—twenty', red, even and over—raked up the for five hundred pounds in favor winnings, and paid away a few of the oily one, and to meet these [ half-crowns, and was just pro ceeding to give the wheel another turn, when Robinson, who had strolled quietly round to his side of the table, coolly shoved him on one side, and drawing the board over to himself, called out in a loud voice; “Gentlemen, allow me to explain the mechanism of tliis swindle.” “ There was, of course, a tre mendous row immediately. The rest of the gang closed up from their outlying posts about the room, and before you could say knife, the whole of the money' disappeared. Two or three of the swindlers then tried to get hold of the board, and the mean beggars who had been collaring their half-crowns backed them up, and were loud in their cries of shame and order ; but Robin son stuck to the timber like a good one, and being supported by liis friends, soon carried his point, and obtained a hearing. “ In two minutes the whole dodge was explained and practi cally illustrated, so that even the iialf-crown fellows'were obliged to admit they' were convinced. “ This is how it was dona You know the little partitions which divide the holes the ball settles in, from each other ? AA^ell, these were all movable, and Robinson showed us how, in the act of set ting the wheel going, while he whirled the ball in the opposite direction, the fellow who operated could raise with his finger which ever partition be liked, to the extent of about the sixteenth of an inch above the rest. If he wanted black to win, all he had to do was to elevate the partition in front of one of the red holes; and as the ball kept on rolling round and round, it w'ould natur ally’ and necessarily stop eventu ally' where it met most resistance, and thus remained in whichever color or number the .scoundrel had, as it were, set it for. To do this so as to avoid detection re quired, of course, considerable sleight of hand; and it was on this account, no doubt, as Robin son pointed out, that, though the gang numbered some seven or eight in all, it w’us invariably the same individual w'ho presided. This explanation occupied some considerable time, and caused, as you may imagine, no end of sen sation, particularly among those fellows who had been losing heavily. Immediately there arose a cry' for vengeance, and the only one of the lot who could be found was forthwith seized by a dozen pirate warriors, who with one voice demanded satisfaction. The poor wretch, a low-sized greasy man, tried in vain to make himself heard, and shrieked aloud for mercy. None, however, was shown him ; for first his hat was playfully kicked about, and then his coat was torn off piece-meal, revealing remarkably dirty under garments. His waistcoat disad- peared next, and finally his trous ers and boots vanished. His costume then consisted of a dilap idated flannel shirt and filthy socks; and it was lucky for him that these articles were in such an uncleanly state, for it was that fact alone which saved him from being turned adrift on the streets of. Aldershot as naked as ho was born. “ It wasn’t a bad lark, was it? But I forgot to say, that in the fellow’s breast-pocket there was a wallet of ponderous dimensions, and in it a number of checks and bills, which a man, whose name I won’t mention, but who you all know, made a small bonfire of, on a tray in the center of the billiard table. “Well, I must say',” said our Colonel, who had been an at tentive listener, ‘that I am sur prised you should have gone to such a place under any circum stance ; but to go so soon after thei terrible affair in North Camp” “I beg your pardon, sir, inter rupted the narrator of the story ; “but all this happened the night after poor B ’s death, the par ticulars of which had not then oozed out. Had the circumstan ces which led to his sad end been known, it would have fared much harder with the greasv man. But it is satisfactory to know, isn’t it, that he did get some punish ment ?” “Herbert B ’s checks wer probably among those that were burned, for they were never pre sented. Poor fellow ! I tried hard, that fatal night, to get him to stop at my' quarters; but he insisted on going home. If I had only' known what was about to happen ! But who can tell what a day'—or a night—may bring forth ?”—Chamhers’ Journal ORCHARD ORASS. turned off, it will be ready for regrazing in less than half the time required for Kentucky' Blue Grass. In summer it will grow more in a day' than blue grass will in a week. Orchard grass is natural ly' disposed to form and grow in tussocks. Tlie best preventive is good preparation of the ground, and a sufficiency ofseed uniform ly sown. It is less exhaustive i.o the soil than tiinothv. In a po rous subsoilits fil)r(>usu'oot extend to a great depth. .Its habits of growth unfits ;t for a lawn grass. —N. C. Farmer. RC.tl’S DOI.A«:J. Flowers in dense cluster. Its stem is erect, and grows throe feet, and in good soil has been known to grow as high as five feet. Root perennial. Flo^vers in June and July. This is one of the most valuable and widely' known of all the pasture grasses. It is exceedingly palatable to stock of all kinds. Its rapidity of growth, the lu.xuriance of its after mast, and its power to en dure the cropping of cattle, com mend it highly to the farmers care, especcially as a pasture grass as it blossoms earlier than timothy, and about the time of red clover ; it makes an amimable mixture with the later plant to cut in the blossom and cure for hay'. As a pasture grass it should be fed close, both to prevent its forming thick tutts, and to pre vent it running to seed, when it loses a large proportion of its nut tritive matter, and becomes hard and wiry. All kinds of stock eat it greed- ly when green. It grows remarka bly quick when cropped by cat tle—five or six days in summer sufficing to give a good bite. Its good properties more particularly' consist in its early and rap id growth and its resistance to drought, but all agree that it should be cropped close. Sheep will pass over every oth er grass to feed upon it. If suffered to grow long without be ing cropped, it becomes coarse and harsh. It is suitable to all arable soils. Two bushels of seed are requisite for one acre when sown alone, one halt this quantity when sown w'ith clover. The seeds are very' light, weigli- ing fourteen pounds to the bushel. It should be cut early for hay. AVhen grazed down, and the stock A woman went to a ^v•ood-yard on a very colil day and asked to see the head man. He came for ward. ‘Sir,’ said she, ‘can y’ou let me have a quarter of a cord of wood for that ?’ handing him a piece of money'; my childrou are freezing.’ The man looked closely' at her. ‘Why, are y'ou not Seth Blake’s wife ?’ he asked. ‘Yes, sir, I am,’ said the wo man. ‘How does it happen that y'OU are in such loy circumstances ?’ asked the man. ‘Sir,’ answered Mrs. Blake, ‘rum did it.’ ‘That’s bad,’ said the man. ‘Yes, sir, it is bad. My child ren ar starving, and rum did that. My children are ragged, and rum. did that. My children are grow ing up outside of church, outside of the Sabbath-school, outside the day-schools, and rum does that. My husband, once kind and industrious, is now a vaga bond, and rum did it. My heart is broke and rum did that.’ And tlip poor woman sank down on a log of wood, the picture of want and woe. Nor did the rough woodman keep his eyes diy, for he remem bered the time when Seth Blake was a promising young printer. He married a nice woman, and the young couple started in life with as fair a prospect of comfort and ha|)piness as a young couple could well have. They' had seats in the methodist church too, and used to be seen listening to the Word of God. But Seth had a weak point. Fie would sometimes ‘drink.’ Fie did not quite believe in total ab- ■sienence.. ‘Touch not, taste not, handle not,’ Was not liis motto. The hadit gaiueu on him. It mastered him; it ruined him; and what is worse, a druukaid’s family' has to share' a drunkard’s shame and degradation; and worst of all, drunlcenness ruins the soul. Touch not, taste not, handle not, boys. That is the only safe ground. Any’ other may' sink you. It is said that the grasshoppers are damaging the crops in Meck lenburg county. The first bale of N. C. cotton was sold in New Y"ork last week for 12^ cents per pound. Three hundred thousand trade dollars per mouth are being coin ed at San FYancisco, to meet the demand for export to China.
The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 13, 1876, edition 1
1
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