Newspapers / Orange County Observer (Hillsborough, … / July 14, 1894, edition 1 / Page 1
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4 B WrlTil www V I F II I III III Ml ESTABLISHED IN 1 878. IIILLSBORO, N. C. SATURDAY JULY 14, 1894. NEW SERIES-VOL. XIII. NO. 35 I.ITTI-K nnOWM HANDS. ThT triv hoa tlm :ows 'rem thi. psstnfl Vp tl-.r-j i'fi t h Ion;:,, shaiy lan, Vin-r" V- i ' i U whi)?!9 lou J In !hj wheit foil. K'.' .v-Utt with ripning grain.' Thv fin 1 in fh" thick, wnvin;? graa Wj r th-'- sirM -lipped raw'errr srr'w , i Thy ufhT th- earliest snow lrop An 1 th fir!t Tirnson buds of the ros?. Thy to" th" ):ry ih thi rfcea low. Th-y githr th" :Mr blooms wiot 'P:y 'Sti'l whTf th" dusky grapes purple In On of-tint ! nuMjtnn light. - Thoy K"w whr" the ar.pUs hang ripest, Al'J or" nwttr th.in Italy wlma .' 1 ! now wher" the fruit Is the thickest (Hi th" n;, thorny blackberry lan. 'll.-y irnUr the delicate Ben wmH, A n J liijl'l tiny fast loft of sand . Thy f.ick up the beautiful sea shells Fairy bnrks that have drifted to laud. Thvy bmvc from th tall, rocking' tree tops, w'"'r" ' 'Tiobj'.s ha'nmock nt swings, An.l at night time are folded In slu nh;r ,.My a kjuk that a"foji 1 mother sing. Tliov who toil bravely ,ire strongest , 1 h" humble an I pobr bome great . And fr'.:ii those brown-handed hildrea Shall grow mighty rulers of stat. The p"n of the author and statesman, The noble nn 1 wiso of our land , The word and t!i -hh"l and palett" bhall be held in tho littl- brown hand. - Pittsburg Jmlletlu. THE GOLD CAVES. UV LKON 'EDWAHDS. ' t( T was good many -Vil years ago, but if I should live tc be a old an Adam, the incident I ana about to narrate Mill be as clear i 15 memory asjf they happened yester day. There were three of us, Ned ('on ley. an old Rocky Mountain hunter, who, when gam got source or furs unprofitable, took mi the dually hazardous calling of jold Heekirifj; Frank I'idertou, a hfrnilsomc -younp; Ken tiK'kian, who had ronie nut to wiu n budd n fortune, ami inyfielf, who had made ne fortune in the gold field, lo-t it, Htktl was now out to get an otli' r. and with the firm determina tion t' hanjj on t it, if I struck luck Across the Sierra' Madrc Mountain in tlie San .liian region was a might j dreary,' lom-lv country in those day h, with thf water riowinpj down out of Mht in the bottoms of the eanyons, an ! the nrurcst white settlement three hundred rm'es away in Eastern t'olwrado. - N.d Coplcv had hunted all through t)ns country with Kit ('arson, and he believrd it was rich in old, and that if we kpt our purpose to ourselves we "would make our everlastin' for tunes," to us1 his own words. W o had enough money to buy an o it'lt of f t for three months and n to ciitry it ; as for the tools fot j r not mi; and the rifle and pistols i'esry f frsrae, or to protect our-r-'lves from prowdi,na: Indians and Mi' ahm whiter, we were well pro vided. We ft I'anv ui the early spring and whib all the nirelinjr mountain? were covered low down with now, looking like glisteninc marble walU supporting a f-ky so clear and blue and cloudless, that it looked as if it was. hewn out of a oit of turquoise Hut anxiety to sc.' the yellow ' old flashing at the" bottom. of the clesi streams in the San Juan, blinded u to the glories of ihe landscape and the uu'irpa;se 1 natural splendir skit tered sv lavishly on every hand I think "I should savin all honesty t ' th'e bra-re fellow, that Frank Edgcr tou was an exception !o thia. To be pure he wanted gold. It was to get this that he left his oil Kentucky home and irove an ox team across the ster ile, .blistering plains, .o child's work m the tiays when the Indians and buf falo were plentiful and the saorticgof the iron bore had not vet ftirred to new life the echoes -f the giant Rock ies. Frank E Igerton had a nobler mo tive than his two partner. We were out to find gold t r tL sake of the powtr and the comforts it would give, and it may be-with' thoughtH of the def erence that would be paid us by the less fortunate when we were rich men ; but our handaome yon"ngr companion was moved to face the hardships and brave the dangers of the expedition by nc such mercenary purpose. He was not more than fire and twen ty, with curly brown hair and eyes, and a nilky znnstaphe and beard of th-j aame hue, and a mouth full of even white teeth, anil his fine face seeme 1 ever the home of kojI nature an laughter. No matter how Ion? thf march or aJeep the trail, no matter th long miles between the springs, or the indications of Indians in the neighbor hood, Frank was always cheery and happy, and his laughter and hi son;;, for he had an excellent voice, liqht ened many a Ion? march, and dispelled the gloom from many a lonely cam) in the heart of the canyons. We had not been many days out be fore Frank Edgerton opened his heart and gave us the secret of his constant happiness. He was in love, not "dead in love," but living in love, the glori ous passion possessed lm. ft bubbled from his lips in laughter and song, and glared from his eyes in exultation. "Who is she, boys?" lie said one day in answer to my question, for I, an old, loveless and perhaps unlovable bachelor, half envisd h'nuhis posses sion. "She ain't no ordinary girl, Susie Burns ain't. Heaven cut her out for a first-class angel, and never changed the original plan. Here'r; her picture, and let me skv, vou two are the only strangers that ever looked inside the lids p;nce sue fastened it round my neck." and told me, as she kissed me, that so long as I wore it next my heart I'd remain true to her just as if. I could ever dream of being false to Susie." By the camp fire he opened his coat and hunting shirt, and brought to light a slender gold chain that hang about his neck, and at the end of which there was a flat golden me dallion. He opened it, kissed the picture with the adoration of a pagan for his idol, and then let ns look at the face of a beautiful, blue-eyed girl of nineteen or twenty, who seemed bo life-like that it looked more like the reflection in a rntrror than a oolored ivorytype. "Susie Burns ain't rich, for Heaven couldn't give her all the blessings without being unfair," continued Frank, as he restored the picture to his breast, "but she'll be Tich some day, if there's gold to be found in these mountains. Meanwhile, while I'm out here prospecting, Susie's a teaching school down by the banks ot the Cumberland, and vou can bet, if she has auy time to spare from her work, she puts it in a-praying for me. That's why I feel ' so sure, boys, that we are going to win. I tell you an outfit can't fail that has an angel like that a-praying for it. " Frank filled 'ns with his enthusiasm, and Ned Copley and myself felt that we, too, were interested in the girl, as we were very sure she would have been in us. had she known the circum- stapees. I don't know the name of the tream, for it was in the days before names were given to every strip of wet ground in the West, but it rose io the-avalanches of the Sierra Madre and came down by our camp ic cold, and as it brought fleeks of yellow gold with it, we decided to stop there and go to panning out the gravel. We did fairlv well. What we got would have been big wages anywhere else, but to compensate for what we suffered and the dangers we faced, we naturally wanted more. A huadre I dollars a day between three wasn t so ban, but we were in a mood when a thousand dollars a day would not have satisfied us. Mr. how hard an I cheerfully Frank did work i Why, he got so deeply in terested in that unknown girl, away on the banks of the Cumberland in .dd Kentucky, that he sol into the - . m T j habit of saying every morning, as we ate breakfat by the light of the camp tire: "Another dav's work for Sosie, bors! ' Although the strongest of the three. Frisk was not used to this sort rough life. nd 1 so u si- it bgan to tell on him. and I W4nt?i him to let up. but the brave fellow, stuck to it. working in the ice cold water till he was taken down with chills, followed ) bv a burning ftver. We had some quinine and a few simple remedies for cuts and brusiaes along, and with thee and the skill that carrie of idilg years in the wilds, we did th best we codld fof our partner. Now come the remarkable part of mv story. I ve seen men down with the fever, when thy got so wild they had to be tied, but while Frank was clear out of his head, he kept just as peaceful as ever, only that he insisted that up the creek were great caves full of gold, and that the specks we had been picking ont of the gulch came from there. He wanted us to start up there, say ing we could get all the gold in a, day we wanted for a lifetime. Of course, Ned Copley and 1 humored Frank, and told him we'd go if he'd hurry up and get well, but he swore that instead of being sick he was as strong as a giant. The third night after Frank was tAken down, he seemed to be resting quietly, bo Ned and 1, who had been taking tarns watching, thought it would be safe to drop aff to sleep a kind of lightly and wo did so. When we woke up in the early morn ing, and saw that Frank Edgerton's cot was empty, and his clothes and pick and revolver gone, you may try to imagine, but you can never realize just how we felt. ) We cooked a hasty breakfast, then picking up enough provisions . froax our little store to last three days, we hid the rest, left the mule hid in a lit tle valley where there was lots of grass. and then started rff to find our insane friend. Remembering his ravings about "the gold caves" up near the snow line, w determine 1 to follow the creek. We ould read a trail as well as an Indian, but the rocks were too hard to retain the impression of a human foot ; yet, now and then we sa-ar signs to encour age us. The creek branched into a dozen streams further up, and it was only after long consultations that we de cided which to take, and then for no reason that would not have applied quite as well to the- other stream. It was a rough, hard road, and now and then as we went on, we stopped to shout Frank's name, or to discharge our rifles, but only the echoes came back for reply. That night, thoroughly fagged out, we halted close to the snow line; in deed, there were white patches all iiooni us. and not a sitrn oi a snruo io m-ike a fire. With a -little alcohol r lamp we made .coffeej and lay down under our blankets, spoon fashion, to keen warm. We wer i up by daylight, and started offagaiu, this time wituout coffee, for we had only about a gill of alcohol for the lamp, and we reasoned that poor Frank would want something warm, if we fouud bim alive. Another terrible day and another awful night, and still no sign of Frank Edgerton. We gave him up, .and with sad hearts were returning, when Ned, who had eyes like telescopes, said he saw something moving near the snow line across the valler. There had been an immense snow slide down the va'ler, not an hour be fore, but we got across, and there under a ledge of rocks, with a great pile of loose, glittering stones about him. lay Frank Edgerton, looking like a dead man. While Ned made some coffee, I rubbed Frank with snow till his skin felt warm, then we forced coSfee be t-ween his teeth, ani wrapping one blanket about him. we made a stretcher out of the other anl our twe rides, so as to carry him down to camp, no easy job, I can fell you. Just a-s we were about to st-t ofT, Ned noticed the pil?s of stones Frank's pockets were full of them and those lying about had evidently been brought there by him. Bjt they were fully ore-half olii gold. Frank Edgerton hal discovered the caves of his fevere i dream. We got him bad- to cimp. aa 1 w took turns nursing him and carrying dou the gold so mysteriously found with him under that lei;, atii the source of whi"h hai been cancelled by the snow slide. "To make a long story short,' as we used to s.ay when I was a bay, Frank got well. Whets he was abl t travel we tartJ back to Tat, carrying with us about one hundred and thirty ponnda of solid gold. ' We made a second and a third trip to find "the gold caves, of which Frank remembered nothing, and others hve often tried it since bat they were lost quite as myaUriously as they were found. Frank Edgerton hal, however, for his share, enough money to return to Kentucky and marry the fair Susie Burns. That they are as happy as the flay is long I can vouch for, for I vis ited them less than a year ago, and I was highly flattered to find that his oldest son was named after me. v FUJI. Men who preach by the yard gener ally practice by the inch. C letting rattled That tin affair of the baby's. Boston Courier. It i always surprising how mnch doeper a hole is after one gets into it. Pack. The things that go without saying must have escaped feminine atten tion. -aPnck". It is doubtful if culture will ever be Able to make a man stop snoring in his sleep. Ram's Horn. Jasper "I--l'e c come after y your daughter, sir" Father "You have! Let ite see your coupons!" -Cleveland Plain Dealer. A long-haired man is more apt to have admirers among women than a short-haired woman will find among the men. Atchison Globe. In many parts of Germany the hardest out-door work falls to the women. Well, is not the same true in America? Who doei the shopping here? Boston Transcript. Judge (to prisoner) "We are now going to read the list of your former convictions." Prisoner "In that case, perhaps, your worship will allow me to sit down." Le Baillage. A Birmingham school girl wrote, in the course of an examination in geography, that "the interior of Africa is principally used for purposes of exploration." New York Sun. "What is this money to be used for that the church is raising?" Howler It'sto send the minister away and give the congregation a much-needed vacation." Chicago Inter-Ocean. "Timmins never has anything more to say about that girl of his, I notice." "No. he has either fallen out with her or failed in love, with her, I don't know whicu." Indianapolis Journal. Millionaire Philanthropist "How can I make sure that none but th very poor will receive the money I in tend to distribute?" Rhymeter "Buy poetry with it.". New York Herald. Humane Officer- "Wh'do yem pile all your load on the front of the cars ?" Lazy Man 4 So th' hosf won't have so far t' pull it uv course. Think I ain't got no feelin'?" Cleveland PJLain Dealer. Journslltm's Avartcs. The first Americau newspaper was published in 190, and in 1830 tho total number of periodical publica tions in Canada and the United States was nearly 18,000. with a combined annual issue of nearly three and a half billion4;. This wonderful advance shows that the American people ara readers. A computation shows that the combined circulation of all publi cations will give three yearly subscrip tions to every family of five persons ; that the combined circulations monthly publications will give nearly twelve numbers a year to each family ; that weekly publications are sufficient to give two papers regularly to each family, and that the daily issues would provid3 mjre than one-half of the families with a daily newspaper. This ia wonderful strideTand an indica tion of the growth tl the future.--Press and Printer. . The American Preu. According to ihe American News piper Directory for 1891 there are now 20,169 newspapers and periodi cals published in the United States and the Cicidun proTires. Of this number 19,32 arc ifcsuci in this country aud 867 in the provinces. The UniteU States hts 1853 dailie, 29 tri-weeklie, tomi-weeklies, 14,077 weeklies, C2 bi-weckiic 290 semi monthlies, 2501 rsonthlie, 70 bi nioathiie an 1 1 21 quarterlies. The Canadian provide" hte M dallied iSC- trceUit nd Vi Uioathhe SOFT SHELL CRABS. MOST TOOTH SOMB OF SUMMER TABLE DAINTIES. The Chief Fishery Is at CrtsfleM on Chesapeake Hay How They Are Caught and Sent to the 3Iarket. THE HE soft thell crab is distinctly an Eastern product and one pnrely Eastern consump tion; because the crab is so delicate that it is Jmpoasible to ship him with safety any great distance. It is a chief article of diet in all Eastern cities, however, and particularly at the summer resort",, and one of which Western visitors carry pleasant mem ories to their homes. The sofj crab occurs on the Atlantic coast all the way from Massachusetts to Mexico and is abundant also in Chesapeake Bay and as farv uj the tributary streams as the salt water reaches. The chief crab dishery is at Crisfield on Chesapeake Bay, just op posite the mouth of the Potomac River. Here more than 100 ) men are engaged in fishing for tho crabs from May to October their total cateh being ni re than -5,000,000 crabs. The value o. the industry to the fishermen is more than $100,000 in a s-ason. There are other crab fisheries in the u"mt Chesapeake, in Indian River, Delaware, and in the Shrewsbury an I other rivers in New Jersey. But no one of these at all compares in importance .with the Crisfield fishery. In fact, all of them put together are of far less value. Although the oyster is of more in terest in the winh r thin the soft crab, the crabbing industry would b valu able the year round if the crabs could be had. But from October to May the crab retires to the deeper waters, where he remains half buried iu the muduntil the return of warmer weathei draws him to the bhoal waters near th shore. The soft crab i.s not always a sofl rab. Technically he is thr blii'. or edible crab, and still more techni cally he ii iv ri'liue 'tes histitt'iH Ordway. The soft er.ib is a soft er.ib only when he she Is his shell. When he is very young he f-heds it fre quently. As he grows oi b-r he .sheds only once ortwioj in a year. As h is' of commercial value only when he is soft, it is oT some importance to the fisherman that he be capture! nt a time when he has just shed his shell, or is preparing to do so. When the erab is preparing to moult and his shell is loosening, he is known t the fisherman of Crisfield as a "comer,"' a "long comer," or a ".short eom-r." When his shell has begun to crack, he is' called a "peeler," "shedd-r" oi "buster," according to the faucy of the fishermen. The "peeler" is known in oiner locauies, iku in-i - e j:nrtr is known by that title only to Cristield. Unless the crab is taken in hand immediately after moulting h? be comes a hard crab, and the hird crab has not the market value of his soft brother. The extierie.'iccd fisherman will quickly tell what stage of devel opment the crab is in. As fast as the crabs are brought in from the fishery they are placed iu floats and there they remain until they pbd their fhell. The hest tim'ecfor catohin? the crabs is just after daybreak. AH of the fishing is done iu small boats of an average vriue of perhaps $1 J. TJsnally the boatcarncs but one per son, but sometinle it l large enough to have a crew of two or thre-j. Th boat chiefly in use i a small sailboat, known in the venacular of the Chesa peake region as a "kuntjer"---th'5 lo cal corruption of "canoe." The in dustry is carried on by individuals or their own aecuast. Most of the f:h ermen use a dredge or scrape, which resemble somewhat the oystr dredge. It is lighter, however, and is pro vided w-ith a pocket of netting. Soa few of the boat ue dip net. The dredges are attached to the si ies of the boats by long roie H a sti breeze is blowing th- boat is broazht j well nn to the wmd or vi. nndr I 1 i reefed sails asi th dreig is tarowa overboard and allow c ! t drag along he bottom. At "interval the boat :. brought to, when thi dre Ie irawj ap and emptied on board. Then the crab are etrAt 1 bv ban I froui th mass of mad and jrraas which hascomt ip with them. here tat dip net is ased the fishermen pole through ths shoal water and dip up the crabs one at a time a they are ?n. Each of the small boats will average: seventv-Sve to a hundred crab in day. These are sold for cash to h shippers whose shed line the sdion. As the crabs are brought in th def ers count them, Mparatuig the soft "crabs, the "short comers" and th "long comerf," and paying f-r then according to the market value. Th prtcc received by the tihermen vane from 1 cents tu two cents for each eifeb. The soft cralw arc senaraU I fr u those which have yet t shed, an I r.ro picparcd for immediate shipment. Tiu hed lers" ar. carre. m t!o-t. Thttr floats are mode of hht plank, ait t'ueir sides sre lattice. Each d thou holds about ;tH or 4. oral'. The floats are visited tbr.-c or four times u day and the crabs tha iiav.- shed art taken out for shipment. 1 he orates m which they are packed- for market ar provided with trays. Iu thcs tho crahs at,? placed biw eon livers id crushed ieand seaweed. The capacity of each cr.ato i about one hundred crabs. The soft vrus cat, b? packed very closely, becau-o when their le4 have been folded and their bodies placed obliquely, that the uioitdur does not run from their mouths they f-how little disposition t- mow.- hi these crates the crab.i :vre sent as fat north .as Boston. A very important element in esti mating tho value ol soft crabs and their market price is the mortality among them. They ir very delicate and e:wly injured in handling. IV'de?. the sheddingproceas is sever- and klU many of them. Therefor.' the pur chase of the crabs, by tho dealer at Crisfield is something of a lottery. There is a record of a day, oin yean ago, when out of a total purcham of 3200 crabs taken by one firrr., :W died before they could b packed' fot shipping. This mortality is excessive. As a rule, the death rate is less than twenty-five per cent. But cveu that represents more than $2.,0d0 loss in each season. This falls indirectly on the fishermen, for the shijl)er takes it. into account when making a bid for the fisherman's catch. Comparatively few of the cra die on the way to the market. EveJrv effort has been mada to lcssenttie mortality among ihe crabs, Kut without success. The prico received by the dealer for tho crab ranges from thirty-five cnts to itty -cents a doztn. Washington Star. . Defeated by a Condor. "The enormous strength of th eon' dor is only equalled by his voracity and boldness," said George A: Dout vau, of Lima, Peru, who strolled into" the corridor of th4Liudcll Hotel tho .-ther night when a St. Louis fi lobe Democrat reporter was pre,ent. "I nave seen a great many f these bird while traveling in the A tide, and, be ing something of a naturalist, took m great deal of interest in watching their habits. This immense bird often pounce4 upon living animal, but from th shape and bluntness of it clawji he in unable to carry off his prey. Ylo con tents himself with fifing it against th? ground with on of its claw, tvhtl with the other and its powerful beak he rends it to pioce. Gorged with food, he becomes incapable of flight, an t a man may then approach him ; but should the rnn attempt to wzt the bird, he is met with a dprto probably be a long one, a the bird enjoys an extraordinary tenacity of life." - ' "I once approached a large condor just after be had finished a hearty banquet on a young sheep. In kC dfavoring to capture the bird I f struck ivera! tins w;th hit.' hujri clw- At Uugth, t ra sa l blee lmg: fro:a several wound. I left th Sd I of Ixattle and went t my camp, sev eral miles distant, to get help, mm to rapture the bird ahve. if possible. In aboit two hour I rturs4 with thre cosipaa;on. We found the bird m the cim pic. ataadmg ere?! an4 itir:sg its win? trvtag t f.r awar. 5 - We tried for som ttm to ;ire it, bit it mad auch a Scree fttrtiggle that on ..of the men finally killtf it by j blow on the head with a hatchet.' The firat war veef captnr-' by a n I American hip wa the Edward, takta i I.- V, T T.r, ..- kr.Til 17 1777. t
Orange County Observer (Hillsborough, N.C.)
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July 14, 1894, edition 1
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