Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Jan. 19, 1908, edition 1 / Page 19
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CHARLOTTE DAILY OBSERVE!?, JANTJATiY ID, I908L A PAGE' WGE! makea Jiavoe. If a nlce family of tn-1 nocent, small Crustacea gather ia coxy corner, the horseshoe crab ts sure to want that particular place. Ha bursts in on them, scatter them in all directions and urrows to tha sand. If. after he Is burled and all Out f: Paris bj BAmn I HE TOY BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL TIIORXDIKE. FOE' THE (GEMEIATIOM LITTLE' ; BROTHER - CEAB BY J. W. SIVLLER. dvw-ii: b HEM There are some important patriotic ApJ that have not been done by he real bona fide soldiers. Those who lead this story shal; learn how me Aoys. by playing o;user, eerved their country as efficiently a If they had really been great snapping fellows In " regular uniform. It wat the time of the rovoutldnajj war, and the people or the settlement nf Cherry ""Valley, jn Central Pfrw York. being very 'patriotic, were lull of Indignation wgainii the king and the loyalists. Nothing was talked of from morning till night but battles and the rd coats who had come over from England. Kxclted mretlna were held In the church, to which H the children ' were taken, until -2jKf. . Brant was angry they became as ardent patriots as their fathers and mothers. But, although tnoroughly brave and spirited, the villagers were natur ally very much alarmed because of their perilous position on the fron tier. No wonder the little settlement trembled Imagine a few amall houses huddled together, and around them dense forests stretching over the . hills as far as the eye could see. Imagine this forest peopled with the wildest Indiana, the Mohawks. Re member that the perp?e had' in either fort nor soldiers to derend them, and the Indians, having sworn to light for the king and with the red coats, were ten times more their enemy than ever, and might at any minute sweep down on the village and oestroy it. The Mohawks were the more formid able as they were led by a very re markable chief. The n-ame of Brant was a terror in Cherry Vnlley. Any boy who had seen the chief "when off the war-path would prob ably have declared that he w.is not an Indian at all. Vhi would have be lieved that the tall, handsome gentle man, dressed w any 'white man, was a fierce Indian chief a-i: a scalper? " To have -heard him tp.:k would have v confirmed this impression, so graceful and fluent .was the English he spoke. Once. a he was walking with somn friend, tie broke oft a crab-apple from a tree end tasted it. Instead of exclaiming "Mushkra-muck-awock" or such Jargon, es one would expect to hear from a .well-regulated Ind'an chief. Brant simply said: 'Why. it's as bitter as a Presbyterian!'" He was intelligent orrd affable, a-nd was, in short, a very agreeable, well mannered gf-ntlemtn wnen he chose " " . . ' . . . .l I .11111 U I, thl story tells, he-did not eho.-se to be. as he was on the -war-path and had promised the BrTlish that he and Ma trih would fight od their side. In Ms beaded trappings, eagle feathers and tomahawk, no one would have Vrnlstke.n him for art American. V With tlie cruelty, tne craftiness and fleetnes of an Indian, Brant united the acience and Judgment of a civinx?i -man. lie comi plan a name after the manner of a Kuropean gen ' eraUoreouId skulk through dene woods, leaving trdlv a much trait as a brexe; could mimic the hoot of an awl or the rcrexjn of a panther l'ke the most skillful of . his trie. The red coats found him n invalu able all;.", and the Americans an ne- mv whose very name cu-dud th&ir! Mnod. So when, one &T. a messenirer rutic ridinir Into Therrr Valley wii he nv that Bra;t w-s apprch 1sr that part of the tountrv. v'llagers wr nnlc-tr1ckn . ' If bodies, and ihsir hair n their heads, I n r u they must do iwmetning and quickly, too, for Brant was known to aot with almost incredible rapidity. ' -Jt was decided that the bou'ise of Col. Samuel Campbell, which, was the largest in the village, and stood on the top of a hign hill, should be turned Into a temporary fort. The men acrwdinglymMe an embank ment of earth and lugs inclosing the house and the two laige barns, dou bled the doors, raztened ' strong shutters over tho wlnanw, and made everything bullet proof. They also built two: blofc-houer in the inclos ure. When all was finished, the men and women, with their children, left their small houses, and, bringing their valuables with them, they came to and disappointed live In Colonel Campbell's house, with the horrible expectation of an Indian massacre always betote-them. But, in spite of, tne rears of the grown-up. you may be sure the boys of the settlement managed to haveia royal time. They were living In fort with earthworks, wnere sen tinels were pacing to nnd fro or standing guard. They could watch Captain Winn and h-.s company of rangers drill, or listen to the exciting stories about Indian trails when the men returned from rcDnnolterlng In the forests. Indeeii, tney heard mo much about fighting and aw so many muskets that they grow to be even fonder of playing eo:dier than boys usually are--and were truly soldiers In spirit. ' . ' 'As there were a great many of them in the fort, the boya organized them selves Into a company. They selected a captain, made wooden guns and swords, and had a regular drill every morning on the graur rawn east i of the house. One day inMay, as tney w-er& plaj'lng soldier, tney saved the whole villaje of Cherry Valley from an Indian massacre. That very morning as they were drilling with , their wooden -" guns, Prant, the Mohawk cnief, and his body of warriors wre stealing through the woods toward Cherry Valley. They wero coming very swiftly, and. at the earns time, quiet ly and eecrefly, for tnelr plan was to surprise the village, ivirn the houses and tomahawk tne people. When they reached the arow of Lady Hill, which was a m::e east of the village, the Indians lay concealed in the thick wood, while urant, with a Tory friend, w.ent forward to ex amine th appearance of the settle ment as it lay opposite them. What was their urprls to find Samuel Campbell's house turned into a fort, to rpy a company of armed soldiers parading on the ureen east of the hou. Brant was angry and disappointed. . , "Campbell has got his house well ruarded. I perceive," he aald to the Tory. If he had known that the company of "armed men were only a company of boys 'playing soldier, he would not have heitated in tha exfcntton of his plan., and, in half an hour, those very boys would hava teen kilted or taken prisoners. Seen at a distance, however, tnrougft the tr-s. they looked l!k frown men, and the wooden guns like Iron mus kets. the areat Indian chief and his warriors did what Indians and war riors tate to do tney retreated throuRh the forest. The Jlly com pt of Iws playing Fofditr-had v d Cherry. Valley. So., you see. "mak believe" Mle,-s arc sometimes Just as good as real ones.. j-islt to the mat she has the fa tat gift of beauty. The thing that the spleer crab thinks with is not large. If you "bust" one, you will find that her interior mech anism looks like a piece of red flan nel, which, judging from results, is not startlingly unlike the material of which the brain ot some land ani mate consist. Having the idea that has been men tioned, the spider crab spends her spare time (twenty-four honrs v-day) In snipping off brignt weeds and ad justing the pieces oi ar carapace. While she is doing this she stands on her hind legs and fiddles around her head with her front egs, taking a piece off here and putting It on there; stroking one place towiit and twisting another piece to max it curl, exactly like well, after reflection 'before the tank, just look at tne most adorable woman when, she is putting her hat on straight and see wooer or not she reminds you of a spider crab. o- The Crafty Lobster. The blue crab is tho reformer of the Aquarium. In a prehistoric state j of development, possibly the blue crab was a necessary rpiurmrr. cuiv.o then the reforming idea has become a monomania, while 'his sense of pro portion and fitness has vanished. For that reason his presen: character Is such that the unthlnxing are pronto conclude that the blue crab is a quar relsome, vicious, vindictive and un d!rnble fallow eenerniiy. Watch his stalk eyes. They peer In -a.il directions, looking for trouule. He always finds It. A piece of beau tiful crimson weed is growing In a corner. He reforms it by pulling it out and planting it upsice down. A mm now comes sculling n:ong peaceably Up go the crab's shears and slash at the poor little fish. A ToDster comes along. The crab tackles him and gets methodically and phlerniutoally lick ed by the big shell-fish, who seems to be thinking of something else while he does It. Then roe blue crab re tires, furious, to & corner, fplds his claws tinder his chin and swears to himself vindictively. He thinks tha world is at an end, end he watches with rlpe to see the Aquarium cave In. But nothing happens, except that An other reformer, another blue crab, comes pottering along. "It's your fault," rtaya the first "Spider crab thinks she has the fatal gift of beauty." craft, shaking his claw, threateningly. "If you weren't a traitor, the cause of acuatlc honor would hav won." "Liar!" sputters tne other reform er. .. Then they lock. With each ehear each gets the other's legs or feelers. Now, gripping each otner tight, the reformers look almost h'appy. They tug and chew and saw and tug. Legs and claws are torn off. Oenerally, while they ore fast, the otar parties in the tank eu: both. Some time one 'reformer kills the other and eats him. That Is unification. Another resemblance eetwenn the blue crabs and terrestrial reformer -JT . a "Tie bUtt erah is t!u reformer." it appears- from a lait to me Aquarium, that the spider crab thinks is that at frequent interval both be come soft. The only diffwence is that in this condition the erso Is useful. As a lawyer, the lobster undoubt edly holda the palm. lie is heavy and stolid.- and, like .many lawyers, when he moves it is backward. He knows that all things come, to him tt'h.i waits. o he lies behind a rook and seizes his prey wnen it swims into his reach. This saves him trouble, and also clears his conscience, for cer tainly a minnow that swim into a lobster's grasp is guilty of contribu tory negligence. Like me law, when this crustacean is lying in wait he keeps his huge claw-traps out of sight, and he look innoTFnt and rather at tractive. When he kills and eats his prey he does it wit;i an unwilling, abstracted air. as if he rather re sented the intrusion on the part of his victim. . f The horseshoe tr king crab is a pushing fellow. '- His prototype - on land takes two seats in a crowded car. Jostles people on the street, or is a road hog whon h, drives. The horseshoe crab Tias the ehape of the ereatura whom newspapers always describe .as a burly ruffian. He has a long, sharp tall, and on bathing beaches it is his gonial habit to stroll along the nottoin with th t! II held up straight, with the hope that - somebody will step on It and get hurt. In the tanks he evinces the same kindly disposition. He shoves nnd slides and shoulders all the other Inhabitants, tile will climb over a delicate sea amemonn and crush It rather than turn out rff his way a few Inches. Ho tunnels his way through rockeries and weedj and ; TBue Gypsnes . ' Gom FieM . DV AMAXDA B. HARRIS. One dajr the gypsy men held a sol emn council over a very email matter. What should they -do -jout raising oir? rrain for their own use? Iliey had seen the great storehouses of millet and barely, or wheat and rye that their rich neighbors possess ed, and they came to ne conclusion that it must be very convenient to have something to make bread of. The women could do the grinding on hand-mills; and wnat good hot ctkes there would be, 'irnked on the coals! , If they had grain they could always have bread wnen they wanted it.. , Probably they had "begun to be tir ed of broken bread and tal bread, and sometime thare was no bread. There -would e no work in .it for the men; no work to speak of. As for the women well, no matter, they were mad to cook, and they might as well mak4 cakea as stew rabbits and chickens. How sweet and crisp and toothaome those cakes would be! "I am really hungry for bread of our own," said the captain of the gypsies. "So am 3." cried hts wife. "And we'll do the grinding." said the girls. ' i "And we'll all eat!" rejoined the m'n. ' "Very well, then,, we'll have our own corn," was the ccptaln' conclud ing word . Mind, by corn they meant barley. Corn might be rye, or wheat, or mil let, but it did not that time. It meant barley. Barley Is a good grain, makes good bread. Thousands of peasants never 'eat any otner. 8o the gypsies got the land ready, many acre. ' In front of the forest where they had their er.campment and lived right royatly on the king's own game. They sowed the seed and let It alone . to come up and grow.! Rains watered it, the sun shown on It, dew fell at night By and by a fine field of barley stood there, tall and 1 ibeautlful and almost ready to head out. One afternoon of a hot day there came up a high wind, Ty no means a cyclone, not a hurricane. But a atror.g wind, blowing steadily rrom the west, never ceasing, but keeping right on as if there was a stronger hand back of it. It blew in as regular and un ceasing a way as water runs . over a dam. at really was no a common kind of wind. If it had been well, perhaps things would have been different. If It hud blown a few minutes and then nlonned and then trran Mini In. the consequences might not. have boini what they were. - But,, you see, that steady wind kept i hnrlotf iTwtlnff r!:r?lf fnrwaril AS if it were going away. The whole' field looked as ir It were steadily mov ing on. The older gypsies were all In their hut or lying under tne trees,:?sytlng an afternoon nap. or singing or smoking. They were not where they could see the "barley field. 'King Crab holds hit tail uptd that people get hurt.", seems at peace, any of his fellow creature venture to trw spot, the crab waits till they are nicely settled;then he hops out of his grave riotlously, and, having terrified the little fellow, slides to some other part or the tank, where he does the aam thing again. And ail the time he Iooks deeply in jured. . The gypsy boy hail gone off hunt ing squirrels, but about the middle of the afternoon they came back and saw' the barley moving "before the wind. Tlvey dropped tne squirrels and rushed into tne encampment, screaming: "Come quick, come quick, tho corn is running away!" Kvery gypsy was wid-awake in a moment. The women ..let the bable fall, the men threw cown their pipes and away went nil to type what wus the matter. They stopped, however, long enough to catch up sickles, I utcher knives and shears and any thing that would cut, and out they went to tho field at full speed. Then everybody set to work at once, mein, women, toys, girls nd even little children, and cut and slash ed to saVe the harley from running away, and by night there was nothing left but etubbla and the wilted, spoil ed, unripe stalks. This experience si discouraged the gypsies that uiey mvur iritni to raisa corn again , It Is very strange, for the gypsies are not fools. Hut a Transylvania legend nays this is the reason wlpr. You can 'believe It or tvt. - ; ; The Goose Is All lllght. Ton must no longer use the ex pression : ,"As silly as a goose." The naturalists of half a dozen countries have been studying tne goose of late years, and they have come to the conclusion that she :s the wisest fowl among them all. She never quarrels without cause; she see danger be fore any other fowl; sne has more courage than tho nvister; she Is far braver than the gobbler, and if given a fair show she can beat off the fus. A flock of geese squatted around the barnyard at night Is a much greater protection than the watch dog. They are light sleepers, and will give the alarm the instant they sec a stranger moving about. We should say "as wise as a goose," and give her all due credit. . ! 4 Willi n llatclwt. Xj'aider the law of frince any per son who cut off the tail of a - dog is liable- to a fine of 12. At Lyon, a few weeks asro, . man wno got mad at a boy heard that ne had cut off a dog's tall, and o had Turn arrested. The boy' defense was that he chop- I ped off the tall with a natchet instead ' of cutting it off with a knife and the. judge decided that the law could f pot touch him. They are g)!ng to alter It this winter, nowever, ami the French dogs needn't tie afraid of los ing their tails unless tney get them pinched in tho door. A Don't B IiCft-IIandi'd. , "it has been estimated lhat about one boy out of fifteen ! left-handed when he reaches the iie of 10. This 5s his mother's fault in hot making him use his right hand more during his babyhood. In Oermany there are schools where the boy Is taught to be right-handed. Nearly all tools erm made for right-handed men. wnd the boy who grows up left-handed will be awkward. If one can use bom hands alike he ha an advantage In some things; but it seems as If nut ore Intended the right arm to do most of the work. The ;lrl That Looked. An Idaho girl. 8 yeaia old, wanted a Teddy bear, and ner mother told her she might go oar into the fields and look for on. Not filuding one near tne house, th girl wandered farther aw-ay, and presently round herself lost. For three days and tirchts searching parties were I x.klng for her In the thickets, and she wayflnallf found at the foot of a tree and fast asleep. When aroused she sat up and said: "I've looked all ovr th world and I can't find a Teddy bear. I gues they are all dead." A Gratia Hint. Washington Star. .. . Homer Fclk. the secretary of Ihe State Charity Aid Society of New Tork tffrred in a recent address to tha awkrardnes that charily workers Tec! In making public appeal for funis. A few charity worker. Mr. Folks ad.lcd. 'Van carry off that awkward- tes with the neatness of .the colored ' preacher who reminded his congrega-j tion that: ; . - j " 'Drudren. Ah kaln't preach hyA an' board in heb'n.' " If only the skin of a dog a big. black do'g. But It covered more com mon sense and a truer heart than can be found in many a human being. Once he saved my life, at the front, when I was -wounded and help less; but that waa not the only time lie did me .such a service. It was this way. We were In Paris. We were caught there oy the Prussian army that surrounded the city. We could have gone through the llricsona-natlonallty pass, or a "HOLDING THE VALVE press pass, for we were both foreign er and news-gathers; but we prefer red to stay and see the fun, though we dlj grow very hungry when tough old cat were selling tn the markets at 11.37 apiece. I never dared let that dear fellow out of my sight. Dog meat had gone up to 60 cents a pound, and market men were constantly out af ter game. We were walking one day by that centre of all excitement In Paris, whether In eace or war the Hotel de VJlle. The Frenchmen wern fill ing a balloon. For weeks this- had ripen their only means or communica tion wi'h the world. There were pasters up all about, and the dog -and I stopped to rend so m0 of themj The announcement luted that there were important dis patches which must gu that night, and a large reward was offered to tiny one who would take them out, giv ing the quHliflcHtlona required. I looked at the dog and the dog looked at me. He wagged his tail and I nodded my head. Then we turned and walked Into ' the office. We easily convinced the official that we were to be trusted; the only trou ble wns that nellber of us had ever before been u In a balloon. Jn the evening the officer gave us the dispatches and I put them In my pocket. They were not o safe with me as they would have ren wtth the dog; but, then, you see, he bad no pocket. It was a moonlight night, with just a few clouds. We waited till one cov ered the moon, for the Prussian guards trad learned the secret of the airships and bad put a bullet through more than one of them on its fight out of Parts. The moment the cloud came over the moon we were cut loose, and at once bounded up and up and op. a though we were In an elevator that kept making fresh starts, and yet never stopped. It was a decidedly un pleasant sensation, and I tried to dis tract my mind, by looking down. The great' city ewam about under me for a moment; then the fire burning along the Prussian lines seemed to whirl like a great wheel of fire. I hard srvrrar sharp reports, and saw the flashe down, below. I quickly drew my head into the car again; but if the fellows were firing at me they missed. It grew cold. it was almost Im poss'ble to breathe. Everything was wet la an Instant. That black fellow gave the most mournful howl . you ever heard; It was the first sound he bad made. I tried to wpeak to him, but (be wind and water took my breath away, and before I succeeded we made another furies leap, and the clear, white moonlight flashed upon our faces. 4?uddenly, I realized tnat we aa shot through th croud that was floating so high above th city- of Paris,, and tho thought that we -were higher yet, and -bounding Mgher, made my head wim. I caught the rope that opened th valve and began to pull. I knew I was pulling, but either rrom the cold or from something else my hands were so numb that I could not feel the I rope. Somehow I did not care much ROPE IN HIS TEETH") whether I pulled or not. I began to topple one way and the other. The dog kcptup that howling, but he seemed a mile- away. Why did I care .where the balloon went to? I raw my hands beginning to slip from the rope, but It did not seem worth my while, to try t& put' them back again. Then I have a vague recollec tion of collapsing, in a sort of indis criminate heap, in the oottom of the car. I don't know how long afterwards I openei my eyes. I was feelinx all right. Then I remembered where 1 was. I sprang to my feet. We were floating over a frutt orcnard. There wan a village not far cway. I looked about to eep how it nad all happen ed, nnd there snt that dear old boy, at the very edge or the car, braced for dear life, holding tne valve "rope in hi teeth and pulling for all he was worth. His blood shot eye were rolled up and rested on me and I ciuld see the very tip of uts tall mak ing a, faint endeavor to wag. I threw out the anchor, and we touched the ground. A happier dog you never saw. 4 He gave one yelp as he Jumped out, and looKing up said, a plain a any wore could put It: "I reckon we'd better riot try balloon- - in nain tin urie ui us Knows some-., thing about it." ."Tern per-- i And 1 ca,rvT -Jind jT ATj where M J
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 19, 1908, edition 1
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