Newspapers / Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) / Jan. 18, 1877, edition 1 / Page 1
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r HE OPIC. DEVOTED TO THE GENERAL 1NTEKKSTB OF CALDWKLL, WATAUGA, A8IIK AND ADJACENT COUNTIES. VOL. II. LENOIR, N. C, THUKSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1877. NO. 17. r Lenoir MUDIRHOOD. 1 tllll B. AKMAM. What happy star shone on ber birth t What grkaa; owner ( ths Mrth (Irw tables for her baby feet To daooe between, alnoe they r.po.1, On all the flowerleet ways they put, That breear motion of the grass ? What brook bewitched bar to 1U brink. And draw bar fraah Upa down to drink IU maalo, while tt slipped anaeen IU happy otdenoea between f Bo sweat and glad the voloe that slips From ambush of bar maiden lip. What win da upon tba bllla gar room To bar, and buffeted to bloom liar rounded oheeka, and naada bar hair A flying sunshine In tba air t For till. Ilka eun-gleame on a roaa, Her wayward color oomea and goes. What graybeard tree upon the down Cangbt, a aba aped, ber floating gown, And whispered through hla ancient girth The long dumb sorrow of the earth ? For the awaet pity In her eyea Almost their gladness overlies. ScrUmer's MonOdy. The Box of Honey. BY "BKCCO. " Mn. II. sealed herself hastily at the table. Her right hand rested firmly upon the handle of the tea-pot, a posi tion plainly Indicating to Mr. II. that the customary blessing; must be cut s'lort. Conspicuous among the neat fix lugs of a well-ordered tea-table were fie steaming hot biscuit and a plate of "that delicious honey" from their own hive among the clover blossoms In their garden. The "olive branches" were nottli3re. They never had been therefore, order, neatness, precision governed the min utest details of the domestic economy. Domestic peace requires IU sacrifices and chief of this la quiet acquiescence. Mr. II. had learned tills also, and for Its sake, though sometimes "riled" and nettled, ho acquiesced. In this Instance he snapped off the "truly thankful" with one hand on the butter plate, giving evidence that there should be no nnnecessary delay on his part. "Do you remark," said Mrs. H., with a honied accent, "how beautiful tiat honey Is? Notice tbe liquid trans parency of the comb! and the honey I is translucent as a liquid pearl! I n ver saw anything so lovely! How t.i.uikful we ought to be to know that wc nre privileged to live In a world where even the stinging Insects are made to minister to the delicacy of our most exquisite taste. We must take a box of that honey with us to-morrow to our friends In Boston. They will be so delighted to receive a box of "our own honey, from our own hive In the garden," won't they dear? "Likely. But how are we to curry it?" "Carry It?" ", am not to carry it. You, are to carry It." "Not If I know myself. I'd like to see myself lugging a box of hon' y all the way to Boston." "But you xo ill though pity if 1 can't have my own way once in a while I" "One In awhile," muttered Mr. II., making a deadly thrust at the butter and adding something that sounded very much like "dung the honey," or words to that eflect. However, next morning a small box of honey neatly wrapped In a copy of the Baptist Register might have been seen beside the satchel on the hall table. The trunks had been sent down to the "Jenny Llnd," a. small packet that took passengers as far as Rochester to con nect with the cars, and Mrs. II. remarked : 'Tow'! take the honey and I'll take the satchel." "I'll have nothing more to do with It." "Don't forget tho honey," he heard her call back from the gate as she walk ed off with tho satchel, and soon reced ed around tho corner. Picking up the box he followed muttering all sorts of Incoherent adjectives about woman's whims and nonsense. Tho, monotony of the packet trip was varied by the usual games of checkers and back-gamon In one end of the cabin, while In the other a strolling musician was tipping a round-keyed melodeon buck and forth on his knees, and singing: Oh, how happy is the man who haa chosen wis dom ways And measured out his span with the partner of his days: With bis Ood and bis Bible ba knows that he's not alone, Ilia declining days are sweeter, yea, than honey in the comb. About thle time one of the attentive listeners might have been seen tucking a small package under the end of a set tee, and whispering: "There! The 'darn' stuff's out of sight now, anyhow, and there it'll stay for all me!" Arriving in Rochester Mr. II. medi tated till everybody had left the boat, then he took up the box, then he put it down again ; then he shook his list tt It theu he picked It up and followed his wife to the cars, In which they were toon seated, the satchel stowed away under their feet and tho honey put up In tho rack. Mr. II. resigned himself to reading the "Reveries of a Bachelor," and Mrs. II. to sweet dreams of her friends In Boston and the exquisite pleasure It would give her to present the nice little "box of honey from their own hive among the clover blossoms." a "What Is that ?" exclaimed Mrs. II., starting up with surprise, as she heard something drop down among the rose buds on her bonnet, and looking up taw another pearly pendant about to de scend on the same spot. "Good Lord ! What have you been doing? My hut Is ruined 1" Hereupon Mr. II. seeing his opportunity to rid himself of tho Incu bus, seized the obnoxious sweetening and was about to hurl It from the car window, when a passenger came to the rescue with sympathy and newspaper. The box was thoroughly "done up'' and Mr. II. was reluctantly imprsesed to rest It upon his knees until their arrival In Utlca, when, placing It again In the rack, they took up their satchel and passed out lor refreshments. "We'll go to Bagg's Hotel and iti-tu nice dinner for fifty cents," said Mr. II. "No. I don't give fifty cents for a dinner when I can get as good as I want for twenty-live," bald Mm. II., pointing to a placard that dangled on a string from the window of a restanrant. "That's the way with you men always squandering your money, while your poor wives have to stay at home and drudge from morning till night." "That settles It," said Mr. II., swing ing his hand savagely at a mistletoe of files as he took a chair opposite his be loved In one of the side stalls In the "Eating House." "Pork and beans roast beef mutton stew !" said the waiter, knocking over a vinegar cruet In a spasmodic slap at the files. "Pork and beans, or anything!" said Mrs. H., loosening her bonnet strings, "and please to hurry, for we've left a box of honey on the cars, anil we should be In an awful bad" "Stew! of course," said Mr. H. to the waiter, who stood with aslimpsy nap kin thrown over his shoulder ami bal ancing himself with both hands on the back of his chair. "Whew! I'm glad I'm out of that dirty hole! I didn't enjoy my dinner a bit. I knew I shouldn't, for I was thinking all the time about that honey," said Mrs. H., as they were about taking their seats in the car. "And where is the honey?" said Mr. H., looking up to the rack. "Gone! sure as I am alive!" gasped Mrs. 11., falling back In the seat. "Somebody's stole it. Where's the conductor?" "What is the matter?" said the eon ductor, stepping forward. "Matter? Where's our honey f We left it up there In the rack while we were out to dinner. We're taking that honey to our friends in BostoD, and you had better find It, or there'll be trouble." "Well I'm very sorry, Indeed," said the conductor, "but the fact Is, the car you came In was switched off at Utlca The best thing you can do now is to telegraph back from Albany and have It forwarded to Boston by express." "I told you just how It would be If you left It in that rack all your own carelessness. And there's my bonnet! Oh, it's enough to provoke a saint!" Then, relapsing Into that peaceful con dition of unconscionness that follows .mental exhaustion, she remained undis turbed until their arrival in Albany, when Mr. II. rushed in great haste to the telegraph office, and, after caution ing the operator against making any mistake, dictated the following mes sage: "Well you see, my wile and 1 we started from Brockport to go down to Boston with a box of honey to give to our friends there, for my wife says they don't have any such honey, besides she wanted to make them a present, so she thought we'd better take a box. I did my best not to have her take It, for I knew it would make us more trouble and expense than 'twas worth, but she's bound to have her own way, so for the cake of peace 1 just brought it along and It was left in the car that was switched off at Utlca, and we want to have It sent to Boston by express." "All right," said the operator, "your message has gone forward just as you stated It;" figuring up the bill "fifty cents for the first ten words and three cents for each additional word is $3.89," said the operator, leaning his chin upon his hands and looking bland ly into the distracted countenance of bis customer. "What! $3.80 for that short letter?" I didn't spose 'twould cost ten cents !" "That's the charge," said the opera tor, rtpplng nervously upon the desk with the end of hit pencil at if to ex pedite payment. a a There tre momenta In life when the spirit recelvet whole volumes of thought on Its unwritten leaves. Ar.d this wat one of them to Mr. H.f as with each particular hair standing on an end, and struggling with emo tions of Indignation Inexpressible, he planked down the dust and repaired to tho depot Just in time to see the train depart without him, and Mrs. II. run ning up and down the platform crying they had carried eff her satchel. "Glad of it," said Mr. II., "and I wish they'd carried you of with It all this 'danged' trouble and expense for a box of honey that you could buy any where for a dollar I" "It's your own fault. You had no business to leave It In the car; and here we've got to wait four hours In this nasty depot for the next train." a They waited In silence those four weary hours, then they Journeyed on to Boston without further Incident, found their satchel and their friends, exchanged the customary greetings, and were happy. It was three miles by horse cars to the express ofllce, the day was hot, and Mr. II. was lost In the narrow and en tangled streets, but lie found the office at last, only to be told the honey had not arrived. The second day he receiv ed the same melancholy report, but on the third the expressman rejoiced his heart with the welcome words, "Your honey has come," and reaching up to a shelf he handed down a large platter, say i rig : "We were obliged to purchase this platter, as the shaking of the car and the hot weather were too much for It. Express charges, two dollars, platter, one dollar fifty, is three-fifty." There are moments in every man's life when all the forces of his moral na ture are loudly called for, and this was one of them to Mr. H., In which he demonstrated his complete mastery over the baser Instincts of his nature, by liquidating the bill without a mur mur, and wltii that Christian resigna tion that "hopeth all things and endur eth all things," he picked up the plat ter, walked a rod or two along the side walk, and then giving it a sling saw It break Into a hundred pieces In the mid dle of the street. "Did you throw that platter of honey in the public thoroughfare?" said a policeman tapping lilm gently upon the shoulder. "Yes I did, and I'm "danged" If I wouldn't a thrown It there If It had been a barrel ! You see my wife and I we started from Brockport ." "Five dollars fine for throwing any thing of that character in tho public highway, so fork over, or accompany me to the station house." There was a momentary pause, dur ing which the "Recollections of a Busy Life" swam before his eyes in a sea of honey, and a heavenly smile played around his features as he planked down the last instalment that honor, love, and exacting custom could claim of its most consistent worshipper. Hernial Food. Good bread is the staff of life, and if we lean on that we grow strong and healthy. If we bring up our children on plain, wholesome diet, they grow tall, erect, strong and healthy. But If we feed them on rich cake and pastry, and fill their stomachs with all sorts of trash, spiced up to tempt the appetite beyond what nature requires, their ap letites become depraved, and they loathe the food best calculated to make them grow healthy and strong; and, in consequence, they grow pale, poor, puny and weak. Just so with the mind. Our minds ought to become clear and strong, enlightened and elevated. There Is food that Is healthy and nutritious for the mind. But the literary cooks have served the public with so much highly seasoned food that the tastos of their readers, especially of the young, have become vitiated, and they turn with disgust from good, solid, instructive reading, which would Improve their mental powers, and make them intel lectually strong, and help them to be come useful members ot society. But they eagerly devour literary pastry, if highly spiced. They crave sensational reading; romance and fiction ; pathetic, comic and tragic. And this exciting reading, so stimulating to the brain, is tempting, and they read too much. The consequence Is, their minds become dwarfed and sickly. They gain no real knowledge, but the brain is weakened and the memory ruined, and the intel lectual vigor destroyed; and these men tal dyspeptics are about as unfit to grap ple with the item realities of life at a worn out, haggard, physical dyspeptic is to endure the hardships of a soldier's life in a campaign against the Modocs. Peaaata. PeaatjiU, or as (hoy are popularly known to the Houth, groundnuts or goubers, grow In tbe ground on the roots of the plant Just like potatoes. Tbe stalks and loaves of the plant some what resemble clover, and to get the nuts when ripe, the plants aro pulled out of the ground, the nuts adhering flnnly to the rooU. The greatest trouble with the groundnuts Is In pick ing them, which has to be done by hand, no machine having as yet been Invented to do the work, though It would seem as if such a machine, In the shape of a coarse comb, might be easily lnvJbtedT But labor is cheap In tbe places where they are grown, which are In the light sandy soil of Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, in this country. Peanut are also largely grown in Africa, India, Brazil and other places. The best are raised In the valley of tho River Oambia, In Af rica, and yield large quantities of oil. This product, when largely produced, Is esteemed equal to olive oil ; but it is also used In woolen manufactures, In soap making, In lamps, and for lubrlca catlng machinery. Last year the crop In the United States was as follows: Tennessee 235,000 bushels; Virginia, 460,000; North Carolina 100,000. The Imports from Africa last year were 840, 000 bushels of which Boston Imported 38,000, and New York 23,000. The average of the new crop this year Is somewhat larger than that of last year, and the yield promises well, the nut being generally better filled arid mat ured for the past two years, and of finer quality. The past year was marked by fewer changes than any former one; by a moderate but steady consumptive demand; by an absence of speculation ; and by the small proportion of choice white nuts. Tennessee peanuts are put up in burlap bags of four or five bush els capacity, and are sold by the pound, the grades being, respectively, inferior, prime, choice, fancy. The crop year be gins October 1st., and ends September 30 of the ensuing year. The new crop will come forward under very favora ble auspices. The previous crop having been well sold up, stocks are light in the hands of commission merchants and dealers. TM) JUtfsUtade ! Klehea. I can well believe the familiar story of Jacob Astor's saying that "a man who is worth $'250,000 is Just as well off as if he was rich." The mind easily beoomes habituated to these new mag nitudes. Thomas Brassey, the English railroad contractor, had at one time 80, 000 men in his employ, whose wages came to about $500,000 a week, and they were at work in seven countries Eng land, France, Spain, Italy, Venezuela, Canada, and Australia. He wrote a note one day ordering 10,000 wheelbar rows, and 3,000 wagons. In the course of forty years he constructed, or helped to construct, 150 railroads, and he did all this with less fuss than many a man experienced in running a peanut-stand. We have a greater than Thomas Bras sey in Cornelius Vanderbilt, who, at eighty, quietly made up his mind that the time had come for us to have a four track railroad Itctween New York and Buffalo. Some one" said to him, "I don't know of any four-track rail roads." "I don't," said he, "but the Central must have two more tracks, and I hope to live to see them laid," and probably he will. Tiie care of an estate of $40,000,000 and the manage ment of all his railroads occupy only two hours a day, and during that short time he does not appear to be very busy. By three o'clock he is usually on the road, erect, magnificent, driving a pair of fat horses, in an open buggy, unat tended. And now the question occurs: Who are these uncrowned mouarchs of the modern world? What are they? Where do they originate? By what means do they accumulate all thec great resourses? In what respect do they differ from the men who attempt a similar career and fall out of the course disabled and defeated? Is it their virtue or their want of virtue that gives the success? These are in teresting questions, because these men are the masters of our modern world. They carry the purse, and pay every body, and It is apparently a law of nat ure that the hand which signs the check wields the power. As a rule, these kings of business begin life near the bottom of what is called tho social scale. They generally begin very poor. Crabb Robinson records that the late Lord Southampton applied to the bishop of Llandaff for advice how to bring up 'his son so that he would get forward in the world. know but one way," re plied tbe bishop. "Give him parts and poverty." "Well, then," said the father, who was noted for his free liv ing, "if Ood has given him parts I will manage as to the poverty." Another English nobleman, Lord Derby, men tioned a carious circumstance in point. At a gathering in Australia, four people met, three of whom were shepherds on a theep farm. One of these had taken a degree at Oxford, another at Cam bridge, and the third at a German uni versity. The fourth was their employ er, a squatter, rich In flocks and herds, but scarcely able to read and write, much less to keep his own accounts. But I venture to say that the squatter knew sheep, knew land, knew markets, knew wool. It is an unquestionable fact that in Australia and America these founders of huge business are, as a rule, unlettered men, whose college was a rough, hard, grapple with mater ial things. It Is also true that they take hold very early In life of some plain work that lies under their very noses, and keep to that until it issues Into something large and magnificent. The wealthiest and most powerful house of business In Europe is that of the Rothchilds. The founder of the house, one hundred years ago, was a boy In his father's money-changing of fice at Frankfort-on-the-Maln. He dis covered that some of the coins In which his father had dealt had an artificial value as specimens, and he used to spend the first day of the week the Jew's Idle day in picking out such coins from the mass for sale to collectors. That was the beglning of his career. He took hold, you will observe, of that work which lay most obviously before him. a British Board! us;-Uoasr. But the interior of the British board ing-house is also worthy of attention. In the first place, It has existed through such a lengthy though unknown period of time ! The sojourner from the set ting sun has never Inquired when the edifice was built; but to his eyes, ac customed to frequent emissions of ashln pla8ter architecture, It looks old enough to be fit for pulling down; and he has even a vague, superstitious feeling that its destruction would be an act of mercy, setting free many generations of ghosts which now tenant It, and permitting them to find places of rest. Indeed, If one may venture such a disrespectful statement, the edifice has not borne its years well. There Is a looseness and also a a clatter! nguess about its fittings which reminds one of machinery, and sets one to marveling what unearthly web and woof Is lelng woven by the spirit of the invisible. There is a cer tain Cianibe r door which rattles to that degree that the occupant frequently shouts "Come in," when nobody is there but a lost breeze which lias stuin- bled into the house by some cranny and Is tumbling in all directions to get out j wisdom that tt ia the only sure found again. That occupant proudly believe i ation for securingany chance of obtain that nothing in the world can out-rat- !" either of them, The sooner you , . , ... , , .r. ! leave your lied, the seldomer you will tie his door, except his windows. These : conflux! (0 t last, especially when the wind blows' i0i,i . : , , r , ' , , ., , i Resolution which springs from from the southward side, have an ague christian principle, and is fortified by which transports him with a mixture . it. is fearless as well as unremltlne. lit of admiration and pity. He would canlk them up with coat and trousers, only that he has other uses for those articles. Everything within the room corres ponds w ith these syinptnnsof senility. An antiquarian would fall down and worship before a certain bleared and tottering washstand which has, to all appearance, been in steady use lor a ' ', . . matter of the or ten centuries. A shaky, worm-eaten In-dstead, which the I'lantagenets may have had the night mare on. would till the right kind of a soul with pensive joy. This bedstead, by the way, is so lofty that, if the boar- j der tumbles off it, he w ill dash himself to atoms on the gri:niest of carpets. In- ' to the composition of the bedding the mere, sheer, complex, mieellaiieous bedding-there is at least one man who ii. i i has never dared to ex.dore cxhausUve- ly. He knows, however, that it con- tains not only springs and mattre-ses, but also feathers. Furthermore, he has noted that what should be a bolster is simply a roll of threadbare blanket, ambuscaded under the sheet. The cur tains are of a very venerable fabric. matching in color the gr.niv exterior ot the building. In one coiner of the room (and only to be discovered by pul. ling idiotically at the w all-paper) is a totally improbable closet which smells as though it might have been a locker in Noah's ark, so strong is the perfume of antediluvian bilgewater. The Atlan tic. I.Diurjr of Fatigue. It is a great pleasure to get thorough ly tired. The only way to fully enjoy rest and sleep is to get tired first. Many persons have an idea that idleness is pleasure. There can not be a more er roneous notion. Idle persons enjoy nothing. A sense of languor haunts them through the night. Nor, on the other hand, is the highest enjoyment repose. It is the happy combination of mental and bodily labor, requiring re creation for both body and mind, which alone qualifies one for the complete re alization of the luxury of the change to rest and sleep. And it is only from such sleep that we awaken greatly strengthened and refreshed. If Infidelity wishes to shake the Christian's faith in a personal God, It must account not for the miracles of the first century merely, but for those of the nineteenth. Lyman Abbott. rOOD FOR THOUGHT. An evergreen A man who dora not learn by experience. Censure Is a tax a man pays to tba public for being eminent. There Is In the heart of woman suoh a deep well of love, that no age can freeze It. Ilulwei. The man who shows that he Is vain of having done us a favor pays himself and saves us the trouble. Flowers are the alphabet of angels, scattered over hills and dales, and speaking what the tongue cannot ex press. There Is no difference between hatred and pity ; pity is a thing often avowed, seldom felt; hatred Is a thing often felt soldom avowed. The mind has a certain vegetative power, which cannot bo wholly idle. If it Is not laid out and cultivated Into a beautiful garden, it will of Itself shoot up weeds or flowers of a wild growth. Steele. We may 1m: sure of finding that all periods of life have their compensations. If our existence Is a Journey we may believe that the part of It which Ilea nearest to our destination will not bo barren of Joy. There is a santlclty In suffering what meekly borne. Our duty, though set about by thorns, may still be made a staff, supporting even while It torture. Cast It away, and like the prophet' wand, It changes to a snake. Douglas Jerold. Observe a method in the distribution of your time. Every hour will then know Its proper employment, and no time will be lost. Idleness will be shut out at every avenue, and with her that numerous body of vices that make up her train. Duty is a power which rises with us in the morning and goes to rest with u at night. It Is co-extensive with the action of our intelligence. It It the shadow which cleaves to us, go where we will, and which only leaves us when we leave the light of life. Gladstone. There can be no greater bleating than to be born in the light and air of a cheerful, loving home. It not only in sures a happy childhood if there b health and a good constitution but it also makes sure a virtuous and happy manhood, and a fresh young heart In old age. Infinite toil would not enable you to sweep away a mist, but by ascending a little you may overlook it altogether. So It Is with our moral Improfement; we wrestle fiercely with a vicious habit, which would have no hold upon us if we ascended into a higher moral atmos phere. To rise early is so truly the one thing needful for all who are candidates for j three grand prizes health, wealth, and ! Is conclusive of good purposes and the pledge of their belngexecuted effective ly in noble sentiments and worthy deeds. The soul of the resolute Is lata j calm than firm. With the world it Is, the less you ask for the more likely you will be to ob tain It, but God's thought are not as our , thoughts, with God the more you ask t,e'l,0re llke,y are J herd; I Half open your mouth and it may not j flUed, but "0en your mouth wide, and I will fill it." A good story is told of an old shoe maker. He was charged with practic ing unlawful arts as an ague-charmer. "1 cure people," said he, "by pretend ing to do it; people believe 1 can cure the ague, and when they come to me I say I cure them. Bidding them wait till my return, I go into my garden "cut ; tvviK of mm tree, make nine notches ( i"1' nd b."ry 11 n then I . tell them I have buried the ajrue with ; it am, tney ha?e guch ,n me . tnat the aKe leave8 tnem J Happiness. True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemv to DomD and noise : it arises, in the first place, trom tne enjoyment of one's self, and In the next, from the friendship and con versation of a few select companions. False haupiness loves to be in a crowd. . and to draw the eyes of the world npoi her. She does not receive anv satisfac tion from the applause which she give herself but from the admiration whicL she raises in others. Addison. Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have on ly an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but Ins Maker can teach him. No man yet knows, nor can, till that person has ex hibited it. Where is the master that could have taught Shakspeare? Where is the master that could have instruct ed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every man Is an unique. Emerson. When a great kingdom takes a lowly position, it becomes the place of con course for the world ; it is the wife of the world. The wife by quietness in variably conquers the man ; and since quietness Is also lowliness, therefore a great kingdom, by lowliness towards a small kingdom, may take that small kingdom; and a small kingdom, by lowliness towards a great kingdom, may take that great kingdom. 8o that either the one stoops to conquer, or the) other is low and conquers. If the great king dom only desires to attach.'io itself and nourish that it, benefit others, then the small kingdom will only wish to enter its service. But in order that both may have their wish, the great on should be lowly. Laott.
Lenoir News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.)
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Jan. 18, 1877, edition 1
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