Newspapers / Rocky Mount Mail (Rocky … / Dec. 10, 1875, edition 1 / Page 1
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- EOCKY MOUNT MAIL;: Weekly : Family Newspaper J. ' H. &. W. L THORP, POBMaHMUl A WD PBOPSIITOU. SCBSCBIPTI05 TXBMS : EOCKY MOUNT MAIL Advertising RtM W)jS.$lejSel.OS .--,'-t- ' .1 tJOi 1M M J' SMS OUB' OOUKTBT,. KIOHT OBWBONO; IF WBONO, TO BE SET EIGHT. Carl Schurt. i I aanhuolueoi .M M.I H10.HH11.UM bZuM itHi. 4.H ? sW hop .in.( o.oul ra.es i.um $2.00 per Annum, In Adrano. j Wr L. THORP, Editor. EOCKY MOUNT, K. C., DECEMBER 10, 1875. - VOL. IV. NO. 33. iaf M&. ROCKY MO I NT MAIL. Te-Day. fTfom day to dej- The Ufa of a wm ana inn ; What miter U aaaaope fr sway Hare gloom or hare double sons To olimb tha oareal path, - We Iom the roadway here, W awiia tli riven of wrath And tunnel tha hilla of f ear. Oar feet on tha torrent's brink. Our eyea on the olood afar, We tear tha thinga wa think, . Instead of tb thinga that are. Like a tide oar work ahonld rise, Eeeh later ware tha bt.t, To-morrow forTar fuee, - To-dej U tie epecUl teet Like a aavyer'a work i. life i Tha preeent make tha flaw, And tha oalr Held for trite la tha inch before tha aaw. TROTTIE'S DREAM. A CkHataiaa Starr. On Christmas eve, 1871, two poor girls, renoing between twenty and twenty two jean of age, quitted a large biscuit manufactory m Bqtherhithe, in which they were employed, and continued their way westward towards the Borough, converting as they went in what manner they should spend the next day. One of th em, who lived in Lambeth, said to the other: !' At oar house we intend to hare regular iollifloition, and I mean to spend eighteen pence of the money I't earned daring the week in baying a 'bottle of good ram, to giro my father and mother a treat of punch. And very happy we shall be together, for my brother Tom has just onme home from sea, and Martha has got a holiday for three days from the shop she works at in r'looadury. What do yoa intend doing, Trottie I amt yoa going to give your people treat " - Trottie, a pretty brunette, replied that sne was rather puzzled what to do . ''The fact Ja," she said, "we're in great deal of trouble at home. ... Father. who works in the docks, has been thrown out of employment through the continu ance of the east wind, which keeps the shipping from coming up the channel, and poor John, my brother, who worked iu the ailk factory, has so sprained his leg that it is probable he will Dot be able to go to work again for some week to ooms. If it had not been for what tiers earned, and mother picking np something at umbrella making, we ehonld be pretty well "tarred . As it i. the two little ones, Kate and -Johnny: ' aro gotting an pale and thin for want of nourinhmoht, it quite .goes to my heart to see thetii. Still, I should like to give po'ir father a treat if I could, for he's . rery low-ipirit'd. and it would cheer him up a little, and do him good." ' " Yon f bctti r do so," said her com panion; " and depend upon it, it won't IMi uiuiii'y tuiuau away. It a only fair a daughter should thiak of her lather and mother's comforts." liy this time the two girls had arrived at the corner of Tooley street, iu the Borough, and after a very affectionate ' parting, each wishing the other the com plimants of the season, the one- hurried south ward to her home in Lambeth, and Trottie continued her way onwards over London bridge towards the Commercial road, where, in a by street, her parent resided, thinking as she went over the conversation h had with her friend. The poor girt was in a state -of great Indecision, one much wished, to pur chase the rum, bat she had heard her father say it was his- intention to take the plodgaT" He knew, he said, several meu who worked in the docks who had done sap, and their report was that not only oould they perform their work folly as well sad with as little inoonvenienoe to themselves as when, taking three or four pints of bear daring the day, but, in point of fact, found them in better neaitu loan ixjore; tney roes ireaner iu ' foe morning, aud wectto bed feeling . less fatigued iu the evening ; also that their wives and families were made the - more ootnfoxtabln, on account of the - money economized from the puDlio - house. Still, lrottie argued, her lather and mother bad not vet taken the pladge, and therefore she would not be tempting them to break it, , They eould have a ' happy evening to-morrow, and then be- " corns teetotallers, if they pleased, the next morning. Aud then it occurred to her "tuaV'Uppose they did not, would she, iu any manner, have made Herself answerable in keeping them from their ' good, resolution f Other thought then came into her head. The family larder - was at a " very low ebb. and; would it not be better to give her mother "the ''money aha bad earned, to expend in . good nourishing food far the family in stead of .drak f Foot Trottie oontinned onwards in a . '. state of lamentable inoertitaie. At last : she came to a eonoluion. ,: On passing a flaring gin palace in Whitechapel, which, 'from the splendor of i s decorations, L probably BTtrriassed Aladdin's t palaoe (with theexception that the quaint Ori ' antai magna Bounce of the latter might be worthy of some admiration, while the .' execrable taste displayed in the former was worthy of all reprobation), her eye' was attracted by tha glare of gas, plate S' lass, and gilding. She looked at the uiUling for a moment, and found, among other labels, embossed in golden letters, in the window: " Fine old Jamaica Bam, eighteen pence bottle." The wards seemed to east singular spell over Trottie, and she oould not'keep her yea from them. At last the truth of tha proverb, What ia dona cannot, be undone," came across her mind, and aha resolved .to enter the gin shop and purchase a .bottle of ram. But attractive as the show and finery of tha place might have appeared from the outside, and although the gilding and appointments on the in side were even mora lavish than on tha exterior, she soon found that aha was in a moat anoongem a stmospnere. There was a crowd oompoaed of woman of the - lowest character, workingmen and. Bhu 1 some also bad their wires 1'wKh them), soldiers front tha Tower, Bailors, and others, Jew oeing quue sober, tha majority slightly intoxicated, Ad soma positively drank. There was a eofl-tHsrabJe uproar going forward at j the time, caused by the attempt of tha narman to posn-out at -aheahope wretched, ragged, drunken middle-acred woman, who screamed and fought .with great energy. Of those present,, some took her part; others were for her ex pulsion. Possibly neither party were mnon interested in her cause, but sim ply interfered from love of the fun it created, - Disgusted with the aoene, Trottie left the shop, and went into the street, de termining to continue her road home wards. She had not, however, snooeeded m passing the shop; when she saw on side door, written also in gold embossed letters: " Bottle Department." . Being somewhat of a determined character, and having resolved that she would carry home the rum, she entered this department, where she could make her purchase quietly and unobserved. This, however, was hardly the case, for she found it filled, though with i somewhat more decent set of customers than in the barroom; bat every sound and blasphemous expression used by those she had just left was as audible as if she bad been among them. She oould hear that the barman was evidently suc ceeding in turning oat the woman, her defenders at the time making still more noise, and using more horrible execra tions as they found the other party the stronger. Trottie oould support this no longer, and, before making her purchase, she left tha place, at the same time as the woman wss expelled from the other door. When outside tha house the woman continued her vociferations londly as ever, totally indifferent to Hie remonstrances of a policeman, who earnestly advised her to go home, or he would be obliged to look her up. ion ungrateful vagabonds I she roared oat to the barman and others em ployed in the shop; "yoa ought to be ashamed of yourself,' lor Jon know yon haven t a better customer than Why, this very evening 1 pawned the shoes off my children's feet: and now I've . spent all the money I've got yoa refuse to give me credit for another quartern. Oh I you're a precious set of Christians, you are I 1 would n t have my aoni in any of your bodiea for auy thing, Here the no lineman mamured to draff . r .. ,j her away, while poor Trottie, thorough ly disguBted with the whole soene, oon tinned her war homeward, leaving all thoughts of the bottle of ram behind her. When Trotne arrived at the house she found all the family assembled: bnt rloomv indeed was their appearance. The stamp of hanger was on the faces of alL and not without cause, for that -day, with the eraepiKW of a half quart ern loaf, they had eaten nothing. Trot t.e, when she noticed their expression, was very pleased she had not purchased the bottle of rum. Without making any remark, she drew from her pocket the whole of her week s earnings aud placed it in the hands of 'her mother, who silently kissed her, and then putting on her bonnet, started off for the open-air market in the Whitechapel road, leaving Trottie to converse with the others, and make herself as useful as she oould dor ing her absenoe. After talking a little to her father and brother, and patting the tea things on the table, she sat down and silently reflected on the temptation she had overcome. Presently an op- stair lodger entered the room, carrying on her arm a basket filled with good turners for the next day s enjoyment Trottie asked what she had got. and the woman, opening the basket, showed her many oeiuuuiea wnicn fine nuu Doagnt Dlniua.-curnuits, lea, sugar, meat, vege tables, and other things, including a bottle of rum. - " You re determined to make yourself happy to-morrow, raid Trottie, looking at the rum. . . Yes." said tha woman: " Christmas comes but ones a year, and we may as well be happy as not. My nusnana works hard enough, and has enough to try his temper, and it would be aad in deed if he can't make a littlatmerry once year. Why, we always look lor it on Christmas day. I believe my husband would sooner go without half his meat than his glass of ruin-and water and pine after dinner, and another in the evening." ; - The lodger aontinaed conversing with the familv for a short time longer, whou Trottie a mother returned from tne mar ket. -"And what have you got, mother I" asked Trottie. ' " Let's see if your bas ket ia as well worth having as Mrs. Thompson's." v - Trottie's mother seemed to have some diffidenoa in showing the contents of her basket, and possibly with some reason, for her purchases were vastly in ferior to those' made by the "lodger. Trottie also felt half ashamed of the ex -oosnra. but made no remark. 1 sea," said ner mother to tne lodger, von'va sot eomethuur Brood there in that bottle. I should like to have bought one as well, bnt I'm sorry to aay we can't afford it." "Oh." said tha lodger, "yon ought to have made an effort. It will be hard indeed if Christmas night .passes off without some, jollincation." " Wa most try and be happy without tha bottle," said Trottie's father, joining for tha first time in the conversation. And not only be happy to-morrow tight, : but every night in tha week, 've rarely found anj good coma of the bottle, but 1'va 'known a great deal of harm. I was never a drunkard, bat I can easily sea now that if I'd kept away from tha public nonaa sitogetner, and saved my money, we should not be in tha strait we are now in. Bat it shan't occur again, though, if I can help it. Whenever in again in work X U put Dy every farthing I should have spent in the public house, and I suspect before next Christmas I shall 'not have aa much dread of tha east wind keeping shipping from coming np tha channel as now." Trottie's mother argued on. the other side, and expressed great regret that she was not able to obtain the same means as tha lodger for their enjoyment tha next day. . ' - ' , - "-'- "For my pari," aha oontinned, "I think every workingman want somsr thing to strengthen him, and all the doe tors now say there's nothing does so much good as spirits. A good glass of brandy is often worth all th physio ia doctor I shop put aogsuar,;: . j Trottie's father,' however, although he -did not oontradiot his wife,- held to his own opinion ; and Trottie began to think that his intended abstinence was occasioned rather by the pain he felt at seeing their poor circumstances than from any dislike to the liquor itself. The lodger now left them, and after their meal Trottie and her younger sister Kate aoon went to bed. Although tired with the day's exertion, Trottie did not fall asleep, but Continued, in the darkness and solitude of her room, the train of thoughts that had oc cupied her mud during the evening. She was particularly struck with the words of her mother, and the sorrowful expression of her ooantenanoe when she lamented they bad' nothing whatever iu the shape of spirituous liquors to glad den their hearts the next evening. - Now Trottie -was a good daughter, and in tensely fond of her mother, and she be gan to consider whether it would be pos sible to obtain a bottle of rum, and make it a present to her. True, she had given all her week's earnings to purchase food for the family, bat still tbore might be some plan by which to accomplish her object. No doubt her friend. Martha Jones, who aooompanied her from the factory aa f ar aa Tooley street, and whose Earenta were comfortably off, would lend er the money, which she oould repay from her next week's earnings. Well, she thought she would do it, and then she thought she would not. "Better go at once," suggested itself to her mind, and that so plainly and dis tinctly that she thought it must have been whispered to her. Again the words were uttered, and, if possible. more dearly than before. Trottie was in doubt whether she reallv heard voice, or whether it was merely fancy on her part, when she felt a hand taken hers. 'She attempted to withdraw her own, but it .was impossible. Without any pressure the hand seemed simply to clasp hers, bnt so cold and olammy was it that she shuddered aa she felt it. And then she remembered, some years before, when she had seen her little brother, as he lay in his coffin preparatory to it being screwed down, that she had kissed him first on his forehead, and then, tak ing his hand, had kissed that also, re marking at the same time how cold and clayey it felt. The hand that held hers at the present moment seemed that of a dead child's about her brother's age. Without being able to understand in what manner it was done, Trottie found the hand leading 'her through darkness so profound she could distinguish noth ing whatever. All, too, was silent around her. Still she, went on, gliding swiftly, without meeting with any im pediment, or without the dread of do ing so. At length there appeared to be a glimmer of Ught, as if .from gas or a lamp, which increased in Toleainesatill she begau to notice that there were ob jects near her. These in their turn be came more and more distinct, till she found herssif, the , dead hand holding her still, behind the counter in a large pawnbroker's shop.. To her surprise. neither of the shopmen appeared to notice her ; and she turned round to see who it was that held her hand, bat she oould soe neither the hand nor her own. On looking round the shop she found it contained three small compartments, like boxes, each -having an occupant, with two of whom the -two shopmen were busy completing loans. In the third was a respectable-looking wemaa, who remained silent till her turn came to be attended (o. She kept her head turned somewhat aside, so, that her fea tures were not visible, and this was done iu such a manner as evidently to show the wish to escape observation ; and no one oould see her, for, as before stated, the shopmeu were busy with two other customers. Bid Trottie herself felt that she was ai invisible as the one who stood besidi her and held her hand. And now ltoame to the woman's turn to be waited upon, who had so fixedly engaged irotcie s attention. " What can I do for yon, ma am I said one of the shopmen. " J. want nalf-a-orown on those, said the woman, patting something down oa the counter, bat Trottie oould not see what, at tha shopman stood between her and the woman. , Taking np the article she had put down, the shopman carried them (a pair of child s shoes) under tha gaslight tb examine them more minutely. " Ah, yon may examine them as much as yoa please," said the woman; " thoy are very little worn: I gave six shillings for them not long ago, and the boy's oniy worn tnem on ounaays. 'Eighteen pence, said the shop- " Eighteen penoe won't do," said the woman. "Take thorn back, then," said the shopman, throwing, them on the coun ter. "Soy one-and-nino, raid the woman. " Eighteen penoe cr nothing," replied the snopmau. I ll take the money, ' said the woman. : ,. . The man now proceeded to tie to gether the shoes and make out a ticket. and tha dead hand drew Trottie from the shop. Mow it was ana could not ten. bat. without harrying or making scarcely any movement, lrottie tha next moment found herself in a rrom overhead. It was fitted np in a singular manner, with racks and shelves raised round it and in the center; and these were filled with ohjects of a most varied description, many of them folded np in cloths, while others ware open to tha eye, all having labela oa them, and arranged in the neatest order. . There were two men also in this room-one of them an as sistant in the house, the ether a visitor. They were conversing together on some oommon subject when a nous was heard in one part of the room, which seamed to proceed front a small cup board in the comer. The assistant went and orjened tha door, and there, on a shelf, he found evidently the same pair of ahoes which had been pledged by toe woman below. Tha man having inspect ed the tioket on. them, took them to a shelf where a number of other pairs of ahoes about tho same size were ar ranted. . . .. . . ' ." How I do hate having to do with these things," said tha man to his com panion. ' ' w -. ; - - WBjri- aa I don't like them ; they all tell, the a tale." was his reply.. " There isn't one pair of the whole of these ahoes on this shelf that hasn't been taken off the feet of the child of a drunken mother. " How do yon know that I" asked his companion. "A sober woman," he replied, "may be in distress, and hitter distress, too. but she will part with everything she has sooner than pawn her children's clothes; while the drunken mother males no scruple on the occasion, and in ninety-nine oases out of a honored be fore half an hour has passed since she reoeived the money every farthing of it is gone in the gin shop. it would be very curious to trace the stories of those families whose children s shoes are on 1 that shelf. Many a tale of the moat heartrending description would be found connected with .them, and every portion of the misery endured, the iau or. a arunxen motner. imow as to these very shoes," he continued, "I can tell the history of the woman who pawned them ;" so saying, he mechani oally examined them under the light. " Yon see they're well made; there's no slop-work here. I can almost tell by the look of them that the child's mother has never pawned them before. I should like to have seen her when she was in the box offering them, and then I oould have told. When used to be be low in the shop I oould always tell when a woman offered s pair of her children's shoes for pledge whether she was a be ginner or an old band. " "How oould you know that ?" asked his oompanion. " If a beginner," said the man, " she generally turns her head on one side and tries to ooneeal her face : if an old hand she will brazen it out. Why, these shoes have not been worn a fortnight or anything like it." - lrottie s eyes Dow fell on the shoes as the man was examining them, and it struck her they were remarkably like her little brother Johnny's, and she re membered that about a fortnight before a pair of shoes had been bought for him out of the last wages her father had earned before he was thrown out of work at the docks. It also occurred to her that the shawl the woman wore strongly resembled the one which her mother had on when she went out to market. Her attention, was, however. again riveted to the conversation of the two men. I wonder whether any of these fe male drunkards are ever reclaimed," re marked one of them. "Never," said the assistant. "I've been now in these kind of shops in Rat- cliiT highway and about Whitechapel for the last Ave and twenty years, and, you may imagine, have had a good deal of experience, and beyond that, I belong to a temperance society myself ; well, I can assure you 1 ve never in my hie known a female drunkard reclaimed af ter once having pawned her children's shoes. I almost look upon it that when onoe she has pledgscl her child's shoes she is as completely lost to all chanoe of r. formation as the men we used to read of in former times who sold themselves to the evil one, "Isn't that carrying the idea rather too far I said his oompanion. " Not a bit," replied the assistant. " Yon don't, then, consider it possible for a drunken woman to be reclaimed f " " Not when she's once pawned her children s shoes," said the man, "and there's a very curious circumstance con nected with it, showing how much more prejudicially drink will act on a woman's mind than a man a. A man may be an irreclaimable drunkard, and to satisfy hht DrODensitv for drink will Dtirloiu or steal anything he can lay his hands upon, but l never knew a case of a man, although very likely a doxen-times-oon victed thief, ever having pawned his children a clothes for the sake of drink. A drunken woman, on the contrary, af ter onoe having perpetrated the act, never again hesitates. - No, believe me, when onoe she" has done that aha is thoroughly lost, The dead hand now drew Trottie from the warehouse, and after passing through darkness aa -profound as that she en tered when first led from her home, the light began gradually to appear, and ob jects, as of people passing her in the streets, became distinguishable. Then a elare of light aDDeared in the distance. and presently she found herself standing near the Whitechapel gin shop in which she had intended to purchase a bottle of rum, and then quitted it in disgust from the soenes she had witnessed The same noise of shouts, quarreling and laughter wmon had appeared to her so repulsive, she now heard again, and with the same abborrenoe. tthe would will ingly have moved of, bat the dead hand led her forward, ohe attempted to re aist, but the pressure, which had hith erto been light, now became so strong as to be irresistible, and she was obliged to enter the place against her better indgment. The soene here was, if possible, more revolting than the one aha had before witnessed. - There were mora persons in tha place, both men and women, and these in a grosser state ol intoxication. JjamTuaaa of the moat disarastiiur de scription-was bandied about from one to the other, less in anger or jest than as ordiiiary-KinversBtion. - One- aoene particularly attracted Trottie a attention. A middle-aged man, in a state of maud lin drunkenness, was crying, and a dirty, disreputable-looking woman was at tempting to console him. Don t take on so," she said; "yoa know that'll do no good yoa can't core ner that way. "But aheH be dead before I get home, said tha man. "Well, yon can't help that," said the woman; "it's very sad, -but yoa help it And when she's gone, I shan't make yon a fashionable wife, bat we shall be very happy together.' Turning from this scene, Trottie wit nessed another still more painful. A girl about thirteen years of age waa en deavoring to drag her father from the gin shop. He resisted, however, all her endeavors, and the poor girl cried bit terly. And then a "quarrel-tooar-place between him and a sailor, and a fight ensued. The sailor was bv far the most powerful of the two, hU adversary being evidently of a weak, dilapidated consti tution, apparently a workm n in one of tha numerous factories ia tha Beighbot hood of Whiteohapel. - la a short time tha sailor bad so great an advantage over hit adversary as to prove that the latter had not the slight est ohanoe against him. He had got the wretched man against the wall and was pommeling him in tha most terrific man ner, the poor child screaming violently and begging the bystanders to interfere ot her father would be killed. The genius of the place, however, wss domi nant at the time, and no one offered to render any sasistanos or to part the com batants; on the contrary, they called out for fair play, the sailors cheering tneir oompanion, while those of the workman's party advised him to stand up and aho'w himself a man. At last the poor wretch fell, utterly senseless and exhausted, on the ground, his face covered with blood. Borne of the bystanders evidently thought he was dead, and advised the sailor to decamp as rapidly as possible. He took their advice and left the place. Tha landlord of the house then sent for the police, and the poor girl remained by the side of her father, crying in a . . : i , tt : . . . modi piuauia mauuer. nero, i. is uuo. many offered to console her, but even their consolations were mixed np with the odious influence of that locality. Come, cheer up, my gal, said one man; "your father will be au right as soon ss he's got the polios to take care of him. Here, take a drop; it'll do yoa good," and he plaoed some gin to the girl s lips, out sne puaueu u away wuu horror. At last the polios arrived, and the man was plaoed on a stretcher. One of them then asked where he lived, and the girl told him. What a shame I" said the policeman to the landlord, "for you to allow the man to have got so drunk in your house. " So it is, said a woman, who now seemed to exhibit some kind feeling to wards the. girl, and. who, had she not been in such a locality, might have been considered respectable. " It's a shame, for he u a hard-working man enough, u he had his way; but it s places like this that tempt him in. Why, the man spent as mnoh money here to-night as would feed his family half a week, and they're pretty well starving at home." The policemen now carried off the man on the stretcher, and the dead hand drew Trottie after them. They had hardly quitted the threshold of the house when Trottie noticed a woman annmachinir. . The dead hand now held Trottie stationary, and as the woman came nearer Trottie began to recognize her as the same she had seen in the pawnbroker's shop. Onward she came toward the gin shop, and just as she was about to enter Trottie found, to her intense horror, that she was no other than her own mother. She implored her not to enter, but her words seemed unheard. She then stood before her to impede her way, but her mother seemed to pass through her as if she bad been a spirit, and unaware of her presence, and then to enter the gin shop. Trottie, iu despair, attempted to utter a violent scream. "Why, Trottie, what's the matter with you said little Katie, her bedfel low ; " what ails you to-night t One would think you were being murdered. What's the matter, dear Trottie ?" Trottie remained for some moments silent and motionless ; she oould hardly believe she was in her home, and in bed with her sister, so vivid and real bad her dream appeared. She was inclined to believe sue had been sleeping, and the scenes she had passed through were simply illusions ; but then agnin the dead hand how oould she account for that? She still felt its pressure ; her hand was perfectly uamb, and then the thought occurred to her that she bod beeu lying on it, and the pressure she had felt was only caused by stagnation of blood. , ' j In a few moments Trottie was fully awakened by little Kate, who passed her arms round her neck, and after kissing her, said : " Dear Trottie, what is the matter with yon I Do tell me what made yoa cry out in that dreadful man ner." Trottie only kissed ber sister, bat did not give her any explanation as to the cause of her cry ; nor did she to any one else. No visit was paid that day by Trottie to her friend Martha Jones, and no rum was purchased. . Christmas evening, however, oould not have passed more happily with the family than it did, had Trottie oarried out her determination ; and the money tha rum would have cost was not only economised, but probably a mischief not less terrible than that which Trottie had witnessed in her dream avoided. William Gilbert What I Have Seen. An old man of experience says : I have seen a young man sell s good farm, turn merchant, and die in the in- aaylum I have aeea a fanner travel about so much that there was nothing at home worth looking at, I have seen s man spend more money in felly than would support his family in comfort and independence. I have seen a young girl marry a yoong man of diss plots habits, and re pent of it aa long aa ane uvea. I have aeea a man depart from truth where candor and veracity would have served him to a mnoh better purpose. I hare seen the extravagance and four of children bring their parenta to poverty and want, and themselves to dsgsoa. . I have seen a prudent and industrious wife retriva the fortunes of a family when the husband palled at the other end of the rope. ; " v ' I have seen a yowng man who despised the counsels of the wise and advice Of the good, and his career end in poverty and wretchedness. . A Greajf Injustice. A milk peddler named. Drew was at tha Detroit police station to secure aid in tracing tha whereabouts of a family who had changed locations between two days, owing him three dollars. " WelL I rappose there was twervei shillings' worth of water in that three dollar milk account, "remarked the chief. "Thais where it gaila ma that's here it harts P replied tha dealer. They were new customers, and I had act aoaimencaa to water tha mk vat I" A GREAT BCSSUS COSTBACTOR. Tha CalliUMe -at Over Oae Haaare Tkeaei a Werkaiea. A Vienna paper says : Dr. Strons berg, who was arrested at St Peters burg after failing for nearly 100,000, is of Jewish origin, his full name being Barnch Hirsch Stronsberg. Born in 123 in humble cireamstanoes at Neidea bnrg, in East Prussia, he went to Lon don in 1835, after the death of his father. Here he waa reoeived by his uncles, who were commission agents, and waa shortly afterward baptized a member of the Church of England. Gifted with great intelligence and energy be more or less educated himself, and entered journalism. In loin we went to Am rioa, where he gave lessons in German, but finally real ised some money by buying a cargo of damaged goods and selling them at a u a! . iir:,i. . i : a . i i. ufj uruuh wuu uiin chiuhu ufl re turned to London in 1858, and founded several newspapers, but six years after ward he went to Berlin, where he was for seven years the agent of an English insurance company, in isoa, nowever, Stronsberg began to think of improving his fortunes, and having made acquaint ances at the British embassy, by this means come to know some i-nglisli capi talists, with whom he contracted for the Tilsit-Insterbnrg railway. Withiu six years Stronsberg was making a dosen lines, among others those of Bonmania, He bad over 100,000 workmen in his pay, and had launched out into other vast enterprises. At Hanover he estab lished a guranno macbino factory ; at Dortmund and Neustadt he had smelt ing works and iron factories ; at Antwerp ana nerun ne Duut entire new quarters; in Prussia he bought ten estates ; in Po land an entire county : in Bohemia he paid 800,000 for the splendid domain of Zbirow, where he established railway carriage works which employed 5,000 workmen. Meantime he built a palace for him self in the Wilhelmstrasse at Berlin. which in decoration, luxury, and accom modation surpassed that of the emperor' himself. In it were to be found works of the first German and French artiste Delacroix, Meissonnier, Gerome, and others. Nor was his charity on a less splendid scale. In winter he caused 10,000 portions of soup to be given daily to the poor, in addition to 2,000 pounds, worth of wood. When the famine broke out in East Prussia he sent whide trains laden with corn and "potatoes to his suf fering fellow countrymen. . Of course. such a man had his own organs in the press, and was chosen to represent the nation. Yet be took from the Moscow bank, which he founded, 4,308,000 roubles, and it is hinted that his fntnre is not altogether unprovided for. No greater collapse than that of Stronsberg bos probably occurred in the financial history of the country, save, perhaps, that of Law. Thong-its for Saturday Sight, We should never ploy with favor; we cannot too clorely embrace it when it is real, nor fly too far frini it when it is false. Humility is a grace that adorns and beautifies every other grace; without it, the most splendid natural and acquired acquisitions lose their charm. Prejudice lurks in hidden comers of all minds over which knowledge has not shed its penetrating light, and preju dice is ths natural foe of magnanimity. Wisdom consisted! not in knowing many things, nor even in knowing them thoroughly, but in choosing end in fol lowing what conduces the most certainly our lasting happiness and true glory. Sloth makes all things difficult, but tndustry all easy; and be that rises late must trot all dav, and shall scarce over take his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon over takes him. Far from the crushed flowers of glad ness on the road of life a sweet perfume is wafted over to the present hoar, a ' marching armies often send out from heaths the fragrance of the trampled plants. A pious cottager residing in the midst of a lone and dreary heath was asked by visitor: " Are you not sometimes afraid in your lonely situation, especial ly in the winter I tie' replied: " Uh, no I for faith shots the door at night, and mercy opens it in the morning. Ingratitude is too base to return a kindness, and too proud to regard it; much like the tops of mountains, bar ren, indeed, bnt yet lofty; they produce nothing, they feed nobody, they clothe nobodv. vet are high and stately, and look down npon ill tha world about! them. . ' Welcome Christmas Gifts. " The usual practice in choosing Christ-, mas gifts, says Scribner, ia to start oat with s full portemonnsie and come home with it empty, having sooareda dozen book and print and curio shops meantime, to "nnd enough pretty things to go round." The gift sent to one friend might have been offered with equal propriety to a hundred others. Now everybody (worth remembering at all on Christmas day) naa a fancy, or whim, or association, which a trifle will recall and gratify. Now that we have so little money, let oa set our brains to work to remember these whims or hob bies, and to find the suggestive trifles, and. to oar word for it, wa will startle our friends with s ibore real pleasure than if we had sent them the costliest unmeaning gift, ' There most be a nice discrimination, too, in assorting these trifles. There are certain folks whom we know to be sorely in need of articles for the wardrobe, and to whom we most therefore give utterly useless folios, be cause they know that we know it ; and there are better folks in like con dition, who will receive a collar or a pair of glovea with aa hearty and sincere feeling ss though the suffering were s strain of Christmas mono. There ia one cousin wbose gift mast smell of the shops and dollars paid for it, and another who, if we sent ber our worn copy of Georga Herbert, or tha htt!e broken vase which has stood for years oa the stndy table, would receive them with wet eyes, sad And theta fragrant with oh) mori as. ... I trass of Iateretf. Tha " king of the pumpkins " ia Francs this year weighed nearly four hundred pounds, and is the largest aver raised in that country. A voter, praising e-favorite candidate at a late election, said : " He's aa fine a fellow as ever lifted a hat to a lady or s boot to a blackguard.'' - - " Mamm,, can I have some beef t" asked a little girl at supper table. "No, my dear ; bnt if yon eat your bread and milk, go to Sunday-school on Sunday, and keep your apron clean, I will show yoa a picture of a cow." Here is a Mormon reason for marry ing a Gentile : " Why, isn't he hand seme I and then he is good, and then and then I wanted every bit of him to myself I Father didn't like it, mother didn't like it, but I did." Near Mount Vernon, ill., a man named Jackson got np befo: e duybreak, and accidentally stepped c I tlio chest of his fifteen-year-old daught a, who was sleep ing on the floor. His veight being two hundred aud twenty pounds, he crashed in her chest and killed her almost in stantly. During the late .fire atJTirginia City, Nev., all the rats in the Ophir and Con solidated Virginia mines were killed by gas. The rata are the scavengers of the mines, eating up the refuse food left by the miners, and their disappearance from the mines is therefore a misfor tune. ' Our Dan remarked to his wife one evening, as he left home for ths offioe : " I'll bn.-hack by ten o'clock if I don't meet with any serious pull back." " It won't lie well for you to meet any pull backs, Daniel, serious or smiling, if I know of if," said his better half , intones which indicated that she meant it A Chinese philoeophei rejoicing in the expressive, and, if s truthful appel-. lation, the valuable name of "Tin, says : " There was a place set apart in heaven for good wives who eonld judge wicked thing as harthiy when a man did it as when a woniai did it. But it has never been occupi d, I beliave." There is a rector in Euglnnd who, after bis establishment in a parish, preached the same sermon to his congre gation Sunday after Sunday a very good sermon, bat always the same. At jast the farmers sent a deputation to request a change. " Very well," said the rector, but now let any one of you tell me ail abont that sermon." Not a person oould give an acoonnt. "Then, re sumed the elergyman, " I'll oontinue to preach it till I'm sure you all know what it contains." A bold snd ingenious swindler in Ohio collected alout $500 by-rlio following process : He made the acquaintance of a dealer in fruit trees under the pretense of wanting employment, and, having learned that a laige number of trees bad been shipped to a certain point to be de livered in the neighboring country, he went to the place, paid the freight on the trees and delivered them according to the address marked on the several packages, collected the price and dis appeared. Captain J. C. Symmes, United States navy, fifty years ago believed th t the earth is hollow, and that it is habitable within- as well as without Symmes thought there wereopeningsat the poles; and Connt Somanoff offered tb help him with money in investigating the theory. Hymmes patriotically declined to serve Russia. A vessel, according to the theory, would sail into a pole, without apparent change of coarse. -except from the hiding of certain stars or a change ot horizo . The main fact upon which the theory depends is the warm air and tem perate flora that float southward from the notth pole. - - i The Immigration in September. Returns made to ths Washington bureau of statistics show tho number of immigrants sho arrived at the port of New York during the month ef Septem ber; 1975, as compared with September, 1874, is as follows : September, 175 males, 4,y4'J ; fe males, 4,400 ; total, 9,319. S-ptember, 1875 males, 8,796 females, 7,684 ; total, 16380, a decrease in 1875 of males, 3,- 847 ; females, 3,184 ; total, 7,031. The principal islands or countries of last lermahent residence or citizenship of the immigrants were as follows : Cnalrfae Eo friend gootleud Wales Ireland..., Germany int. ..."2 26 4HS ... 61 ...1.718 . ..1,598 1S74. 4.54 8X1 46 S.011 S6 522 7M . . 494 1M 1,858 Austria.. Sweden, Norwryend Denmark. 780 France 2H5 Bwitaerland .............. lift Jlooaie 251 Bread vs. Heat, Experiments made abroad to test the effect of an exclusive bread diet prove that a bread diet alone is very expen sive, as a large quantity must be given to supply the daily waste of ths. fleshy tissues-. On the other band, the addi tion of a smajl quantity of meat red aces , the cost of support and keeps np. the strength of the body. The attempt waa made to ascertain which of the several j " kinds of bread in ordinary use waa .ab sorbed in the greatest amount inlita passage through the alimentary canal. It was found that wheat bread waa ab- f sorbed in the greatest amount, then- ' leavened rye bread, then rye bread : raised by chemical prooet set, and lastly, the " pumpernickel," or German black ; , . -bread. Tha great nutritious value at- -tributed to bran is denied by the experj- " menter. ' ' ; i I -'' Better than Fhh. '-....'. K:-':'xx. They recognized each other at onset . v-;' tha fish stands, and one called out : ' , "Is that yon, Mrs. Jonesf And are f , yon after a fish l" - . Ana is uis you, sera., loauie r- am OB, I never bny ttsh.' , "Yoa don't!" , " No. I have got tha particulareet ' husband you ever saw. If he's eating fish and gets four or five scales in his - c" mouth he makea aa much fuss as some : men would over s cobble stone in a loaf - of bread. So I buys hver, snd there's . . . no scales on it, and ail you have to do h to give it a rinse, flop it into the spider, ' and ths bnther gets all tha Warn- ' .V. t '
Rocky Mount Mail (Rocky Mount, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 10, 1875, edition 1
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