Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / Aug. 27, 1884, edition 1 / Page 1
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if- 4 By P. M. HALE. office: Fayetteville St., Second Floor Fisher Building. RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION: One copy one year, mailed post-paid fr2 00 One copy six months, mailed post-paid 1 00 No name entered without payment, and "no paper sent after expiration of time paid for. ADVERTISING KATES. Advertisements will be inserted for One Dollar per square (one inch) for the first and Fifty Cents for each subsequent publication. Contracts for advertising for any space or time may be made at the office of the RALEIGH REGISTER, Second Floor of Fisher Building, Fayetteville t Street, next to Market House. VOL. I. RALEIGH, N.C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1884. NO. 27. THE BALLAD OF THE BABY. Carlotta Perry.l Bald of head and red in the face, I'm only a baby, weak and small: A bundle of flannel and bib and lace; But don't, I beg, into error fall. For there's not a thing on this earthly balk Or big or little, or old or new, That holds the world in completer thrall: Come, list to the deeds that I can do. I can shriek a shriek to rend all space, Can choke myself with my 'broidered shawl; ( an send my nurse on a frantic chaise For pins that never were there at all. ' I I can make my pa, so brave and tall, Say curious words, just one or two, As he walks the floor to hush my squall.; Come, list to the deeds that I can do. 1 can coo and coo with tender grace, And bring my subjects at beck and call. With cunning smile -and a soft embrace, While into mischief I straightway crawl ; My mamma's anger I can forestall ; 1 can patty-cake and can peek-a-boo, . I can charm, enslave, delude, appal; Come, list to the deeds that I can do. ENVOV. With my tiny hands I can build life's wall As true and strong as the skies are blue; I am the monarch of hut and hall; ' Come, list to the deeds that I can do. THE DRAMATIC AUTHOR. Warren's Diary of a Detective. During my third year of service in the force I was a frequent visitor in the even ings at the Wrekin Tavern, an establish" ini'tit well known to most Londoners. My especial business there was to be on the watch for a certain tradesman, whose pre dilection for convivial, and particularly theatrical society,' had led him step by step to distaste for and neglect of his busi ness, and finally to a ruin of a deeper dye than inability to, meet pecuniary obliga tions commonly involves. I waited and watched in vain : Mr. Stephen H did not again show himself at his once favor ite place of resort, and ultimately effected his escape to America, though the pursuit after him . was very hot indeed. As far, therefore, as he was concerned, my time was thrown away, and I should have es caped much disquietude had these visits to the Wrekin, been wholly -baiSren in pro fessional experience. It was not to be so : one ol the Uabuues of the place was a young and quite unmis takable Celt, though his name which I need not write at length, was a common English one. His face was intellectual rather than handsome, but there was much spiritual beauty in his .dark eyes and flash ing smile. He had, I was told, taken a degree at Trinity College, Dublin, had written with success in the fugitive liter ature of that capital, and about four months previously to my night acquaint ance with him arrived in London with the manuscript of a five-act tragedy, accept ance of which by the management of one of the large theatres he was still awaiting with a nervous impatience, strongly dashed with misgiving, notwithstanding that all those amongst his tavern-associates to whom he had read the play were unani mously of opinion that it was a work of wondrous genius. C was a prime favorite with the frequenters of the Wre kin; quick in Tepartee, and aneverflowing fount of genial if not very exquisite hu mor, lie sang well, too ; and one particu lar song faid to be his own composition, both in words and music, twice or thrice (hiring the same evening. It did not much impress me with an idea of his skill as a writer of ballads, it being a mere echo of the sensuous sweetness of Moore's songs, and its main gist to persuade the fair one to whom it was addressed that true wis dom consisted in enjoying herself whilst she could, forasmuch that, though her lips were roses, her eyes stars, her breath the sighs of flowerets in heaven, she might die ere the morrow: .iNothintr very new or striking in that, it seemed to me. His dramatic genius might, however, be of a higher order than his song power, and, if so, I sincerely hoped that its successful manifestation would not be loiijg delayed; for, even to a stranger, it Was $ sad sight to see. a man of evidently great! promise so wasting, soiling his golden prime; bright ening, night after night, the thick smoke of intoxication with flashes of a genius winch, if possibly unequal to the creation of a great tragedy, was certainlvt of a di viner quality than is vouchsafexl to the ordinary run of educated men. The Heli con, the draughts of which I had read in spired or stimulated tne poetic soul, was not, I felt quite sure, brandy and water. There were other circumstances which quickened the sort of languid interest which from the first I felt in the gifted young Irishman. He was himself well dressed, and appeared to be tolerably well supplied with money. His board, I sus pected, cost very little; his drink expenses, including frequent treats to others, could not certainly exceed fifteen, or say twenty -hillings, per diem outgoings which a -mall legacy he had come into possession "f just before he left Dublin sufficed as yet o meet. But there was an elderly, gray haired man, almost constantly sitting by las side at the Wrekin, whose thread-bare habiliments and niggardly expenditure contrasted strangely with the fashionable apparel and lavish outlay, of the young man. for whom he evidently felt the ten derest regard, the highest admiration. I noticed that Dobbs, as he was called (he was. I heard, a how shelved actor, who had been the original Dobbs in some play or farce) I noticed, I say, that Dobbs would sit for hours over one glass of ale or porter, almost constantly refused to be treated by the thoughtless author, and ever when the hour arrived a sufficiently late one for the departure of the general company, made use of every means of per--ua.-ion in his power tears in his fading eye-, the name of Aileen (which, imper lcctly overhearing, I mistook for Ellen), trembling from his thin, shrivelled lips- to induce him to go home, rarely with suc cess. I felt a great respect for the origi nal Dobbs. He might he a bad actor, but he certainly was a true gentleman, spite of his seedy clothes, his utter poverty, and the contaminating associations with which that poverty had forced him into contact. I wished in a half-careless way to know something more of him and his connection with C and with that view questioned one Roberts, a conspicuous frequenter of the Wrekin, and, I was informed, a pro vincial actor of unquestionable talent, agaipst whom so unaccountable a preju dice prevailed amongst the metropolitan managers, that he had never been able ,to obtain a London engagement. Now, I had closely observed this Roberts, in con--'quence of a vague notion I entertained 'hat I had somewhere seen him under dis creditable circumstances not, however, being able, after much. trying, to remem ber when or where, and he evidently hav ing no recollection of me, I concluded that a real or fancied resemblance to another person had misled me. " Is Dobbs, as you call him, related to C ?" I asked, amidst the clink and clatter attending the replenishment of pipes, pots, and glasses, at the conclusion of an uproariously-applauded song. "Not yet," replied Roberts, in atone as guarded as my own. "Not yet; but if C 's play be accepted and prove suc cessful and I hope my head will never ache till then they will no doubt be fath er and son-in-law." "Dobbs has a daughter, then, whom C is courting?" "Yes; and a very nice girl indeed is Aileen M'Grath, but possessed of no more talent for the stage, which till C fell in her way she was intended for, than her stick of a father. As to the play itself, which is to make all their fortunes," con tinued Roberts, "it will never be accepted by any manager who has not lost his senses, and this the fellows here who praise it to the skies, and who will drain the conceit ed Celt of his last shilling before they have done wftii him, know as well as I do; ay, and they will tell him so too, when that last shilling is spent : not, probably, till then. C is as devoid of true dramatic genius," added Roberts, touching the empty glass before him with the end of his pipe, " as this glass is of brandy and water." I understood the hint quite well, but, as I had paid for the last tumbler, I did not see the expediency of acting upon it. The disappointment was" a transient one. "Roberts," said C , who had left the room for a few minutes, and was pass ing us on returning to his seat, "Roberts, Lyou will take a glass, two if you will, with me this evening?" ' ' Thou ace of trumps, I will ! " exclaimed Roberts, jumping up, and grasping C 's hand with a natural assumption of friend ship and esteem decisive of his talent as an actor; "thou ace of trumps, I will! Ace of hearts, as well as trumps, I should have said." "Let me tell you," interrupted C , " why I am in such capital spirits to-night. I met Harley this afternoon, and he as sured me that my play has been read in the greeu-room to the chiefs of the com pany by Charles Kemble, and that a most favorable opinion has been expressed; some even predicting that its success will equal that of Knowles's Yirginius."' "Why, of course it will!" was Roberts' prompt rejoinder: "men are not-stocks and stones; they have powers of appreci ation; and knowing, as we all do, that Knowles's play was made by Macready's acting that acting itself mere melodram atic strutting and spouting, by the way the superior success of yours is not to be doubted. Waiter," added Mr. Roberts, as tliat functionary came up, and C passed to his place, "two hot brandies and water for me Mr. C pays. Shillintrs- worths, mind." The order given, Mr. Roberts relit his pipe, favored me with an expressive wink, and resumed his former strain of scamp ish malignity, which I interrupted by a curt. "Good night." During the next two months I looked in at the Wrekin two or three times a week, if I happened to be passing near; almost invariably found C there, and knew without inquiring that the fate of his play was still undecided. His clothes were getting seedy, his watch and a diamond breast-pin had disappeared, and his bright young life seemed to.be passing und.er the shadow of a great eclipse. The fire of his wit and humor flashed faintly at intervals only, and it was painfully manifest that the mental and moral wreck of a fine mind! could only be averted by the speedy reali zation of the dream of success and fame by which hejiad been lured from the safe, beaten path of life. The original Dobbs, I observed, was still hopeful, or affected to be so ; but his cheerful commonplaces fell upon ears deafer with each passing day to such windy consolation. Several times I was abouto counsel the misguided young man to break away at all hazard from the thraldom of a dreaming idleness, and get to work of some sort literary work, if none other were within his reach but the half-formed words remained un spoken. What right had I to obtrude ad vice upon a person with whom I had never exchanged a word? It would have been sheer impertinence to do so. It was in the stars, nevertheless, that C and I should be brought into close communication with each other. It came to pass thus wise. The day when acceptance or rejection of the play by the Covent Garden manage ment was to be definitely announced, had arrived, and C awaited at the Wrekin with tierce restlessness the coming of the managerial missive which would decide his fate. The afternoon had passed away, and evening was wearing late: still it came not, though Roberts, who had volunteered to go and question the stage-matvager as to the reason of the delay, had been gone more than an Jiour. At last Dobbs, un able to bear the cruel suspense any longer, jumped up and left the room, declaring that he would see Mr. Charles Kemble himself, and be back in no time. He had been gone about ten minutes oply when Roberts bounced into the room. Instantly there was a dead silence; the smokers? put down, their pipes, and C , trembling in every limb, staggered, as it were, to his feet, and with ashen lips quivered out, "Well?" "It is not well, I am sorry to say," re plied Roberts, with a miserable affectation of sympathy. "Mr. Harley is grieved to say that the play has been rejected, and adds, that the MS. will be returned this evening or early to-morrow." Poor C fell down in his seat as if shot, looked lound with a wild, ghastly stare, and burst into a fit of laughter! One of the company sitting near proffered him a full glass of hot spirits and water, which he emptied at a gulp. It appeared to still his agitation; and looking round, as if his purpose needed excuse, he muttered some half-incoherent words, to the effect "that after such news he must take a draught of fresh air to revive himself ;" and as his fevered eyes met mine, in passing me (he knew7 my vocation), he added, "that he should be back in live minutes, or less." A vague apprehension of, the purpose for which he was hurrying away crossed my mind, and after a lapse of two or three minutes I started up to go in quest of the unfortunate youth. As I opened the door to go out, I was almost knocked off; my legs by the sudden inrush of Dobbs in a state of tremendous excitement, and waving a paper triumph antly aloft. "Hurra! "he screamed; "hurra! The play will be put in rehearsal immediately. Where's C ?" Half-a-dozen voices replied that he would be back immediately; and it was then angrily demanded of Roberts why he had just before announced, upon the au thority of Mr. Harley, that the play was rejected. - ' . ' "I did not sav of mv own knowledge that Mr. Harley had so expressed himself,' sullenly rejoined Roberts. "Franks was my informant. I spoke after him.T " Then Franks is a liar!" cried Dobbs. "Here is the genuine article in black and white !" again triumphantly waving aloft the paper in his hand. He next read it with asthmatic stops, adding, "Here it is in black and white, written by Mr. Charles Kemble himself, and given me unsealed, because there was no wax or wafer at hand : " 'Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. " 'Mr. Charles Kemble presents his com pliments to Mr.. C , and is happy to in form him that his admirable play has been definitely accepted by the management, and will be immediately put in rehearsal. If Mr. C can make it convenient to call to-morrow at the Theatre, between twelve and two, Mr. Charles Kemble will confer with him upon the business arrangements consequent upon the acceptance of the play." "That's conclusive, I rather think a little about the edges!" continued Dobbs. Surely "But why does not C return? he cannot be gone home already ! "No no no," was the chorus answer; and Dobbs went on to relate in detail his interview with the great Mr. Kemble. I stayed not to hear him, the apprehension which the peculiar expression of C 's face as he passed out of the room had excited, coming back upon me, as minute after minute passed away, with augmented force. I vainly sought for him about the pur lieus of the tavern ; and as I had made my self acquainted with the whereabouts of his domicile, I stepped briskly in that di rection, my sharp walk presently acceler ated to a run. Henrietta Street was no great distance, and I soon ascertained he had not been there since he left in the morning. I hurried back as swiftly to see J if he had returned to the Wrekin. A few yards from the tavern I met a police-officer, and asked him if he had seen a tall vouncr man, wearinsr a short cloak and a kind of military fur-cap. Yes, he had, about five minutes before, leaning against a lamp-post in Catherine Street. The officer thought he was tipsy, accosted him, and was rudely repulsed, and the man went on his way with a feeble, staggering pace, but not so much so as to justify po lice interference. " He was going towards the Strand," added the officer, calling after me. I had concluded so ; the mode, in this instance, of accomplishing the mis chief which is so swift to enten into the thoughts of desperate men having instinc tively, as it were, suggested itself to my mind. The night was bleak and gusty ; there were very few persons abroad ; the cloud ed moon afforded barely sufficient light to dimly distinguish objects in the distance ; and it was not till I had crossed the Strand at the end of Catherine Street, and pro ceeded some way along Waterloo Place, that I fancied believed- saw Mr. C . A tall man was standing on the curb, within a dozen' paces of the end of the bridge. Presently a pha?t0n came rapidly through the gate, the brilliant lamps of which shone for a moment full upon the man's face, and I knew I was not mistaken. C was standing still; his suicidal intent, as I judged, checked by the tremendous perhaps," which makes calamity of such long life. I feared to resolve that hesita- tion in a fatal sense by showing myself till I was within grappling distance. A false pride would, I dreaded, prompt him to consummate the dreadful purpose of which he would instantly be aware he was suspected. I therefore crept cautiously along, keep ing myself as much as possible in shadow, and had got within perhaps twenty paces of him when he suddenly started off at a run, and passed through the revolving bridge-wicket. I followed hard, but he heard not, or, at least, appeared not to hear my pursuing steps, and I soon neared him sufficiently to be able to frustrate the design of which I suspected him, should he attempt to put it in execution. He did attempt to do so, near the mid dle of the bridge, and in another half min utp would have been over the parapet, and whelmed in the deep waters of the river. I caught him first by the cloak, which came away in my hand. The pull, fortunately, checked his spring, and the next moment I seized him firmly round the body, and drew him by main force off the parapet on to the bridge. " D n ! who are you? And how dare you interfere with me?" he exclaimed. "Loose your hold, or bv the living God '" "Do not, Mr. C , take the name of the living God in vain at such a moment. It is useless to struggle. If you persist in doing so I must summon assistance, though I wish to spare you the exposure which " " Ha ! I know you now !" he interrupted. " You are the police-fellow who has fre quented the Wrekin for some months past. You are a devilish clever lynx-eyed chap, they say, and know, perhaps, as well as I do, that I am not only trodden down into the mire of poverty, but am tremblirig- on the very verge of infamy." "I know nothing suspect nothing of the kind, Mr. C . A young man, with good health and fine talents, is very silly, it seems to me, to attempt drowning him self for nothing of more moment than a passing literary disappointment ! Besides," I added, "that fellow Roberts is one whose assertion I would not value at a button's worth. I do not believe he has seen Mr. Harley, or that your play has been re jected"." "What is that?" exclaimed C , stop ping short, and peering eagerly in my face. We were by then slowly returning towards Waterloo Place. "What is that?" "Before I say another word, Mr. C , you must give me your word, as a gentle man, that you will never again, under any circumstances, attempt suicide. If you refuse to do so, you will have to appear in the morning before a magistrate." a Yes yes. I promise, upon the word of a gentleman (with bitter emphasis upon ' gentleman '). And now what meant you about Roberts? Your tone and look inti mated more, much more than your words. Speak," he added, in a quick, trembling voice. "Do not keep me in suspense, nor mock me ! " - I at onc ran over what had occurred at the Wrekin after he left, and repeated pretty nearly the very words of Mr. Chas. Kemble's ifote. He listened with suspended breath; and when my voice ceased, and he felt that what I had said was the truth, his high strung nerves gave way, and he leaned for support upon the balustrade, sobbing like a child. Now the circumstances did not, to my prosaic mind, warrant; explain, such ex treme emotion: and the sentence, "Trem bling on the very verge of infamy," which, when uttered by him, had jarred unpleas antly on my ear, recurred painfully. No doubt the young man was in debt; but even should, his play prove unremunera tive, which I knew enough of such mat ters to lie aware was quite possible, nn- liquidated liabilities did not usually in volve infamy. "Of- presently grew calmer, and we walked on. I took the liberty of advising him not to return to the Wrekin that night. I would myself look in and bring out Dobbs. He took my counsel ; and after I had given him my private address, he and the original Dobbs, now much mystified by my budding intimacy with his son-in-law elect, took their joyous way homeward. Shortly afterwards the play was adver tised in the newspapers and playhouse placards, and was, as well as I could judge, strongly cast. A few days before the decisive night I received twelve free tickets for the theatre, with Mr. and Mrs. C 's compliments. C had then married Aileen M'Grath, upon the strength of his yet problematical success 8 a playwright ! A rash venture it seemed at the first blush; and yet, if the marriage rescued him from his Wrekin associates, it might turn out to be the most prudent step he could have taken. As, if I myself should be able to witness the performance, three tickets were all we could make use of, I called at Henrietta Street to return the remainder, which might be more advantageously disposed of. I was then introduced to Mrs. C , a most sprightly, amiable young woman, with about as lovable a face and figure as one could wish to meet with. Her eyes, I well remember, were of the gray blue color, peculiar, as far as my observation has gone, to Irish women : and her nose, slightly retrousse, added wonderfully to the arch expression of her bright face. No coming sinister event cast the faint est shadow upon her clear young brow, and I sincerely hoped, though with ltnuch that the moral sunshine Which illumined her new home would be jH;ren- nial. C , who was going to the theatre, left with me. Once out of the sight and hear ing of his wife, the buoyant gayety he had assumed in her presence suddenly subsided into a stern, gloomy sadness. In reply to my look, questioning the reason of such a change, he muttered something about the precariousness of his position; adding in a tone of petulant discontent, "The truth is, Waters, I begin to think I have made a fool of myself, which, by the by, I have a knack of doing, with re spect to money arrangements. The Covent Garden management offered me two hun dred pounds down for my play, or four hundred if it should run ten consecutive nights, and I I accepted and signed the latter proposal." "And rightly so, I should think." "Well, yes, under ordinary circum stances; but the truth is, that I must have one hundred pounds within a fortnight of to-morrow. Should I fail in obtaining it, I shall curse you with my last breath for your interference on the bridge. You need not," he added, forcings faint laugh, "you need not fix that 'detective' look so sternly upon my face. My position is ex actly this: a fortnight ago I took up an acceptance for fifty pounds; an accommo dation acceptance, which I had discount ed with a city house trading largely with Dublin, by an acceptance by the same party for one hundred pounds at a month, receiving, of course, the difference, with out which I could not have married Aileen. The discounters know the circumstances of the acceptor very well. Y'ou under stand, therefore, that the bill must be paid at maturity. " "Must be paid by you at maturity; be cause otherwise your friend, the acceptor, might be sued. That is all you fear?" "What the devil else do you suppose I fear?" he exclaimed, taking care, however, that I should not see his face. "That is fear enough, I think. It struck nieT he added, more quietly, "that you might know some party w;ho would advance me, in case of necessity, the hundred pounds, upon my legal assignment of my, of course hypothetical, claim upon the Covent Gar den management forf our hundred pounds." "Iam not acquainted with any such party. The acceptor of the one hundred pound bill," I added, "would, of course, be glad to enter inte the arrangement, the realization of the said hypothetical claim being, you say, your only chance of reliev ing him of his actual responsibility." "The old skinflint would not do it," burst out poor C , with incautious vehe mence, "to save his nephew from the gal lows ! " "His nephew!" , "Ay; didn't I tell you an uncle was the acceptor? But here we are at the stage entrance to the theatre. Good-morning." I understood better now the purport of the phrase " Trembling . upon the very verge oi lniamy. still it was but a sus picion, after all, from which I drew such frightful conclusions a suspicion, more over, which I had no inclination to test the soundness of. Covent Garden Theatre was full, though not crowded, on the decisive night, and the play, which I thought manifested con siderable poetic power, of a didactic kind, but of which the dramatic interest, such as it was, could neither have hurried the pulse nor suffused the eyes of the most susceptible of the auditors, was well enough received, and given out for repeti tion amidst general but languid applause. It was, I felt, a great pity that C had not taken the two hundred pounds. His play, I more than feared, would never run the ten consecutive nights. It was withdrawn after the sixth repre sentation ; and about noon on the day I saw that announcement placard I looked in at the Wrekin, with the anxious purpose of hearing tidings of the practically un successful dramatic author. To my great surprise C was there, in the highest spirits. Leaving his chums, he beckoned me apart, and informed me that his play was temporarily withdrawn, to be short ened, by himself of course, and otherwise rendered more telling as an acting play. " And," added C , " the management have this very morning paid me one hun dred guineas down for the copyright." "You have lost no time then, I suppose, in taking up your uncle's acceptance?" "I have sought to do so," he replied, flushing scarlet ; " but the city firm have paid it away. It will be due the day after to-morrow, and will, no doubt, turn unin due course. It is payable at my own place, and I shall therefore have no trouble about it. Will you," he added, " stay and take a glass or two of wine with a few friends I expect here presently?" I abruptly declined the invitation and left the house. The rest of the day was spent in the performance of duties which kept me in the immediate neighborhood, and my way home lying past the Wrekin, I dropped in to speak and reason with C , who, I remembered, with much uneasiness, if but for his young wife's sake, had probably the hundred guineas in his pocket. There was not one person in the general room, and ordering a glass of ale, I took occasion to ask the waiter what had be come of the usual company, and especially of Mr. C . ' ' He went away two or three hours ago with a whole lot of them," was the reply. "They are gone to a billiard-room here abouts, where Mr. C and Roberts are to play a dozen games of sixty up, for five pounds a game." " Good God!" I exclaimed, greatly star tled. "Why, C must be downright mad!" "That's about it," replied the man; "though it ain't for me, of course, to holler about what the gents do with their money. Roberts," he added, confidenti ally, ' ' though he swore he knew nothing scarcely about the game hadn't played it, in fact, for ever so many years will polish Mr. C off in style, depend upon it, though Mi C is, I hear, a fine player. Between ourselves," continued the waiter, with deepening confidence, "Mr. Roberts is a gent that don't mind acting as a billiard-marker at a slap-up West-end establishment when he's out of luck and an engagement; nd that, I've a notion, is one reason why the respectable theatrical gents fight shy of him. He has got, however," added the loquacious ser vitor, ' ' a prime engagement at the Theatre Royal, Liverpool : eight guineas a week, I'm told no less; and starts to-morrow or next day. It's a pity for poor C 's sake who is a real gentleman, and no mistake that he didn't start yesterday." " Had C -, who you say is a fine player, taken much wine when he left to play the match with Roberts?" " He had, sir." " Do you know where the slap-up West end billiard, establishment, at which Mr. Roberts has sometimes assisted as marker, is situated?" " I do not. It's pretty much hear-say I've been a letting on, you must under stand; and in course," the man added, with his finger on his lip, "mum's the word between us two, whether it's all gos pel or not." I nodded assent, and exit waiter. I was cudgelling my brains once more as to where I had seen Roberts, the wait er's hint as to his occasional vocation as billiard-marker having narrowed the range of police-vision over which my memory glanced, and the man's face was dimly surging into recollection, when a tumult of voices was heard from without, quickly succeeded by the inrush of seven or eight men all speaking together; the loudest and fiercest being C , whom the others were striving to soothe into resigned ac quiescence in the loss of fifty pounds. which Roberts had got from him by bil C was mad with rage Hard sharping. drunk with wine and passion ; rage against himself, not against the winner of his money, he evidently having no suspi cion that he had been the victim of unfair play unfair in this particular, that your opponent, knowing himself to be a supe rior player, against whom you positively have not the ghost of a chance, pretends .that he knows little or nothing about the game. "The only word-sedative to which C was not wholly insensible was a promise, many times iterated, that Roberts would give him "his " revenge " the next day! I listened in sad silence, knowing as I did that I was witnessing a fearful tragedy, upon the last act of which the curtain was about to rise. C drank furiously tossed brandy down his throat as if he therewith hoped to quench the fiery ar rows of remorse to sweep from his brain the images of ruin, shame, despair, which I could not doubt were trooping through it with ceaseless continuity. At last I interposed. Rising abruptly, I approached C : , touched him on the arm, and said I wished nay, that I would see him home at once. He had not ob served me before, and my sudden appear ance greatly startled him. I comprehended the mortal fear which, in his half -frenzied state, whitened his flushed face and shook his frame, and I hastened to say, "It's getting late, Mr. C ; you are not your self, and I will see you home." He complied, with the helpless submis siveness of a child, and, taking his arm within mine to steady him, we left the place. Neither of us spoke, I think, till we were at the door of No. 2, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. "You will say nothing to my wife?" he whispered. "Nothing that is not absolutely neces sary to be said. I shall tell her that you have fifty pounds about you, which she must take possession of, and that I shall be here early to-morrow." The door opened before C could make any reply; he was got to bed, and I had a conference with Mrs. C and her father. A very painful one. I did not want to talk about the one hundred pounds acceptance- to know any thing concerning it, except as to the means of meeting it on the next day but one. "There are no means," sobbed the pale nervous wife; " none no resource no hope! Oh, my husband !" saying which she swooned in her father's arms; and he, too, was crying like a child. The next morning I was told that C was delirious, and that a serious attack of brain-fever was apprehended. I learned, also, that had he avoided the snare set for him by Roberts, prosperous and happy days were, in all likelihood, in store for him and his; a note havjng been received from the manager of a great morning paper, offering C- a reportership in the "Gallery" as reporting the speeches of noble lords and honorable members is, I believe, technically termed at a weekly salary of five guineas, C -'s stenographic skill being, 1 had before heard, remark able. What was to be done? What could I do to compel that rascal Roberts to refund the fifty pounds, of which he had swindled C ? Ay, and to refund the fifty pounds before twenty-four hours had passed away! That was the question of questions. The ransack of my memory anent Rob erts had at last suggested that I had seen him at the Marlborough Street Police Of fice, as a prisoner in a gambling case, of which Kearns, a very active officer, had the management. I could remember noth ing of the result of the investigation ; but there could certainly be no harm, and might be much good, in advising with Kearns as to the present very pressing matter. I did so ; and at about half-past eleven in the forenoon Kearns and I having previously matured our plan of action entered the public room of the Wrekin, where we found Mr. Roberts. He was in splendid feather. The successful swindle of the previous day, and his engagement at the Theatre Royal, Liverpool, had puffed him up amazingly ; and he was unusually mouthy, boastful, and ostentatiously gen erous. He was gracious enough to pre sent me with a glass of wine. I declined the favor, and he then offered it to my companion. Clever actor as he might be, he never made a more natural start of surprise and consternation than when he recognized Kearns. "Mr. Calvert, I believe,' said Kearns, not too loud " a gentleman whom I once had the honor to " "Hush! hush!" interrupted Roberts. " Step this way," he added, after a flur ried glance at the company. "I have a word to say to you in private." He led the way to an adjoining room, whither, after conferring tqgether, we fol lowed, s Roberts had already ordered in wine, which he pressed us to partake of. "I shall take nothing at your expense, nor with you," said Kearns: "you have been at your old swindling tricks again, I hear." "What right have you to address me in that style?" retorted Roberts, endeavoring to put on a frontlet of defiance. "Your style won't do for me, my fine fellow," rejoined Kearns; "so you had better not try it on. The state of the case is this," continued Kearns, "and no two ways about it. A certain person, Cal vert alias Roberts by name, was detected in swindling a rich young greenhorn by billiard-sharping; also of having palmed off upon a drunken country yokel a note of the Bank of Elegance for a genuine twenty-pound note. Well, neither of the two cheated gents would appear against Calvert alias Roberts; that respectable in dividual having, with as many oaths as would fill a bushel basket, swore to leave off his swindling ways and live honestly for the future. Well, now, here it is; I know where to drop upon one of them bamboozled gents in less than half an hour my friend Waters keeping you com pany the while ; and when I inform said bamboozled gent that you have been and robbed a poor fellow of fifty pounds by the old dodge, it strikes me you'll be likely to make your appearance in Marl borough Street, instead of the Theatre Royal, Liverpool." This bounce on the part of my friend Kearns was very well done; but judging from the dogged expression which, as he was speaking, overgrew Roberts's face, I, more than doubting its success, struck in before he could reply : "One effect of which appearance at Marlborough Street, in your real name of Roberts, would be to certainly put an end to your Liverpool engagement, even sup posing that the evidence should in a legal sense break down; which could, however, hardly be, fortified as it would be by yes terday's billiard-sharping." i This was too plain to be disputed, and Roberts's countenance fell wofuUy. "In neither of the cases mentioned," he presently said, "did I commit any fraud; and I cannot believe that in this country the criminal law can force a man for I see your object to refund his fair winnings." j "We have nothing to do, Mr. Roberts, j with your refunding of fair or unfair win- i nings. l ou win act in tnat respect as you think fit. Meanwhile, my friend Kearns will go and seek out the party who declined to prosecute on a former occa sion, and whilst he is gone, though I may not take Calvert alias Roberts into custody, I shall certainly not lose sight of him. Be as quick as you can, Kearns," I added. The officer said he should be back in no time, and hurried off. " This insolent humbug does not impose upon me," said Roberts: "not a bit of it; and were it not for the public scandal, and the probable loss in consequence of the Liverpool engagement, I would see you both in flames before I would part with a penny of my lawful winnings." " I have nothing, I again say, to do with your lawful or unlawful winnings; but as certainly as that you are a practiced black leg, I shall immediately advise Mr. C to apply for a summons against you ; and I have no doubt that he will forthwith act upon that advice." " D n you and your advice !" exclaimed Roberts, with Choking rage : "I am in a cursed fix, and yet " "I shall go to speak to Mr. C- at once," said I, rising to go. "Prompt action in all such cases is advisable, and we shall always be able to find Mr. Roberts, otherwise Calvert, in Liverpool or else where." I then left, and walked towards Hen rietta Street, still very dubious as to the result. Mr. C , his wife told me, w as much calmer, and I had barely time to caution her not to speak of his illness, or to accept of less than the fifty pounds, when there was a violent ring at the first floor bell, and peeping through the blind, the original Dobbs announced that Roberts was at the door. " Mrs. C ," said that worthy, still in a flaming rage, "that insolent puppy of a peeler, Waters, is, I know, now with your husband, trying to persuade him to trump up a charge of cheating against me, knowing well, as he does, that such a charge false, absurd as it is would just now utterly blast my prospects. I there fore return the fifty pounds which I fairly won of your husband ; under solemn pro test, mind you. Here are the identical notes, and the devil give you joy of them !" Victory! Hurrah! The terrible bill was duly paid upon presentation next day. At least, I judged so from the renewed brighfness of Mrs. C-t 's countenance when I called in the evening. An hour or thereabouts pre viously I had the honor of touching my hat to Mr. Roberts, in response to that gentleman's clinched fist shaken savagely at me from the box-seat of the Liverpool night coach. Mr. and Mrs. C emigrated with their young family, some six or seven years af ter the occurrences I have roughly penned; with much advantage, I have reason to be lieve, to their fortunes. The original Dobbs went with them. New York Politics. NewYork Evening Post.' The New York Democratic, Committee have been making a careful personal can vass of the 2,000 election districts in the State and have found in the 1,750 of them which they have polled probably 75,000 Republicans who will not vote for Blaine, fifty per cent, of whom are .working for Cleveland. They have found that the re ports of Democratic disaffection have been greatly exaggerated, and that the number of Democrats opposed to Cleveland is steadily diminishing. The districts can vassed are all outside the large cities, and the estimate if 75,000 "kickers" does not, therefore, include those in New York and Brooklyn, who are admitted to be very numerous. Every man who talks with his fellow-men knows that where one Republican openly avows his intention of voting against Blaine there are two who say nothing about it, but will vote in the same way. From Dublin is reported an extraordi nary story of a lioness eating her own tail. One day she removed twelve inches of it, and, though efforts were made, to heal the bleeding stump, the lioness con tinued to eat the tail until it had almost entirely disappeared. One of the fore paws was then attacked, and it was be lieved that the operation would end in self- destruction. CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. A BRIEF BUT STRONG LETTER FBOJI GOVERNOR CLEVELAND, A Single Presidential Term, Protection of Worklngmen's Interest, and Hon est Government. Albany, n. Y., August 18, 1884. Gentlemen : I have received your commu nication dated July 28, 1884, informing me of my nomination to the office of Presi dent of the United States by the National Democratic Convention lately assembled at Chicago. I accept the nomination with a grateful appreciation of the supreme honor con ferred and a solemn sense of the responsi bility which, in its acceptance, I assume. I have carefully considered the platform adopted by the convention and cordially approve the same. So plain a statement of Democratic faith, and the principles upon which that party appeals to the suf frages of the people, needs no supplement or explanation. It should be remembered that the office of President is essentially executive in its nature. The laws enacted by the legisla tive branch of the Government the chief Executive is bound faithfully to enforce. And when the wisdom of the political party which selects one of its members as a nominee for that office has outlined its policy and declared its principles it seems to me that nothing in the character of the office or the necessities of the case requires more from the candidate accepting such nomination than the Suggestion of certain well-known truths, so absolutely vital to the safety and welfare of the Nation that they cannot be too often recalled or too seriously enforced. We proudly call ours a Government by the people. It is not such when a class is tolerated which arrogates to itself the management of public affairs, seeking to control the people instead of representing them. Parties are the necessary outgrowth of our institutions; but a Government is not by the people when one party fastens its control upon the country and perpetuates its power by cajoling and betraying the people instead of serving them. A Government is not by the people when a result which should represent the intelli gent will of free and thinking men is, or can be, determined by the shameless cor ruption of their suffrages. When an election to office shall be the selection by the voters of one of their number to assume for a time a public trust, instead of his dedication to the profession of politics; when the holders of the ballot, quickened by a sense of duty, shall avenge truth betrayed and pledges broken, and when the suffrage shall be altogether free and uncorrupted, the full realization of a Government by the people will be at hand. And of the means to this end, not one would, in my judgment, be more effective than an amendment to the Constitution disqualifying the President from reelec tion. When we consider the patronage of this great office, the allurements of power, the temptation to retain public place once gained, and, more than all, the availabil ity a party finds in an incumbent whom a horde of office-holders, with a zeal born of benefits received, and fostered by the hope of favors yet to come, stand ready to aid with money and trained political service, we recognize in the eligibility of the President for reelection, a most serious danger to that calm, deliberate, and in telligent political action which must char acterize a government by the people. A true American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor, and "the fact that honor lies in honest toil. Contented labor is an element of national prosperity. Ability to work constitutes the capital, and the wage of labor the income, of a vast number of our population ; and this interest should be jealously protected. Our workingmen are not asking unreason able indulgence, but as intelligent and manly citizens, they seek the same consid eration which those demand who have other interests at stake. They should re ceive their full share of the care and at tention of those who make and execute the laws, to the end that the wants and needs of the employers and the employed shall alike be subserved and the prosper ity of the country, the common heritage of both, be advanced. As related to this subject, while we should not discourage the immigration of those who come to ac knowledge allegiance to our Government and add to our citizen population, yet as a means of protection to our working men, a different rule should: prevail con cerning those who if they come, or are brought to our land, do not intend to be come Americans, but will injuriously com pete with those justly entitled to our field of labor. In a letter accepting the nomination to the office of Governor, nearly two years ago, I made the following statement to which I have steadily adhered : "The laboring classes Constitute the main part of our population. They should be protected in their efforts peaceably to assert their rights when endangered by aggregated capital ; and all statutes on this subject should recognize the care of the State for honest toil and be framed with a view of improving the condition of the workingman." A proper regard for the welfare of the working man being inseparably connected with the integrity of our institutions, none of our citizens arc more interested than they in guarding against any corrupting influences which seek to pervert the benefi cent purposes of our government, and none should be more watchful of the artful machinations of those who allure them to self-inflicted injury... In a free country the curtailment of the absolute rights of the individual should only be such as is essential to the peace and good order of the community. The limit between the proper subjects of gov ernmental control and those which can be more fittingly left to the moral sense and self-imposed restraint of the citizen should be carefully kept in view. Thus, laws unnecessarily interfering with the habits and customs of any ofKur people which are not offensive to the moral sentiments of the civilized world, aud which are con sistent with good citizenship and the pub lic welfare, are unwise and vexatious. The commerce of a nation to a great ex tent determines its supremacy. Cheap and easy transportation snouia tnereiore De liberallv fostered. Within the limits of the Constitution the General Government should so improve and protect its natural waterways as will enable the producers of the country to reach a profitable market. The people pay the wages of the public employes, and they are entitled to the fair and honest work which the money thus paid should command. It is the duty of those intrusted with the management of their affairs to see that such public service is forthcoming. The selection and reten tion of subordinates in Government em ployment should depend upon their ascer tained fitness and the value of their work, and they should be neither expected nor allowed to do questionable party service. The interests of the people will be better protected; the estimate of public labor and duty will be immensely improved; public employment will be open to all who can demonstrate their fitness to enter it ; the unseemly scramble for place under the Government, with the consequent impor tunity which embitters official life will cease ; and the public departments will not be filled with those who conceive it to be their first duty to aid the party to which they owe their places, instead of rendering patient and honest return to the people. I believe that the public temper is such that the voters of the land are prepared to support the party which gives the best promise of administering the Government in the honest, simple, and plain manner which is consistent witti its character and purposes. They have learned that mys tery and concealment in the management of their affairs cover tricks and betrayal. The statesmanship they require consists in honesty and frugality, a prompt response to the needs of the people as they arise, and the vigilant protection of all their va ried interests. If I should be called to the Chief Magis tracy of the Nation by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens, I will assume the duties of that high office with a solemn determi nation to dedicate every effort to the coun try's good, and with an humble reliance upon the favor and support of the Supreme Being, who I believe will always bless honest human endeavor in the conscien tious discharge of public duty. Grover Cleveland. To Col. William F. Vilas, Chairman, and D. P. Bestor, and others, members of the Notification Committee of the Demo cratic National Convention. Governor Hendricks' Acceptance. Indianapolis, Indiana, August 20. Gentlemen: I have the honor to acknowl edge the receipt of your communication notifying me of my nomination by the Democratic convention at Chicago as a candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States. May I repeat what I said on. another occasion, that it is a nomination which f- neither expected nor desired, and yet I recognize and appreciate the high honor done me by the conven tion? The choice of such a body, pro nounced with such unusual unanimity and accompanied with so generous an expres sion of esteem and confidence ought to outweigh all merely personal desires and preferences of my own. It is with this feeling, and I trust also from a deep sense of public duty, that I now accept the nom ination, and shall abide by the judgnient of my countrymen. I have examined with care the declaration of principles adopted by the convention, a copy of which you submitted to me, and in their sum and substance I heartily endorse and approve the same. I am, gentlemen, Your obedient servant, Thomas A. Hendricks. Cleveland County's Products. Shelby Aurora. J Cleveland is rich in mica, tin and other minerals. Every month we hear of fresh mica deposits, scattered in every portion of Cleveland. Mr. J. Hogue and T. G. Borders have mica deposits, while in No. 10 Township there is much interest mani fested in mica, and half-a-dozen men have this month found valuable mines. John R. Hoyle is digging out of solid rock large blocks of beautiful clear mica. William Bumgardner is finding mica near the In dian Graveyard, near Carpenter's Knob. In our office is a mica sheet 10-fcxl3f inches. The Landers, of Lincolnton, are also dig ging mica in No. 10 on Knob Creek. TOBACCO IN CLEVELAND. Last year seven acres were the sum total of area in tobacco in Cleveland. This year nearly five hundred acres are in culti vation in Cleveland. In and near Shelby are 170 acres in tobacco. Glad to see our farmers diversifying their crops and rais ing meat and bread at home. Now, let them stop mortgaging their crops for ad vancements. Mr. II. McFalls sold last week to Webb and Nance six acres of growing tobacco for $200. The tobacco is growing in the field, has just been topped. The tobacco is worth now $50 per acre. This is ahead of cotton, when we remember the tobacco is not yet matured or curedi A GANDER SEVENTY-FOUR TEARS OLD. William Hamrick, the aged postmaster, only eighty-four years old, has an aged white gander rejoicing in seventy-four years. It has for years followed old Mr. Hamrick, like Mary's little lamb, every where he went and when h. sneezed the gander gave a salute, it can be proven by several that this patriarchal gander is seventy-four years old, as it is of the first brood or hatching from a goose given by his first wife's mother as a bridal present in 1811. They never raised or bought any geese since 1811 and this alone survives. We regret that the old man is very feeble and burdened with the weight of years, while the gander is as noisy as a young one. You can believe this tale without being "a goose." . i- - His Good Name Damaged. Arkansas Traveller. "Yer mout offer me er hunnerd dollars ter vote fur yer- in de conwention an' it wouldn' hab no 'fluence wid me," said an old negro in reply to a candidate who had asked for his support. "Oh, I wouldn't offer you money," rejoined the candidate. "I believe in conducting a campaign fair ly and squarely. Corruption in office seeking has cast a dark cloud over our in stitutions. I wouldn't think of offering you a hundred dollars. I haven't that amount of money, anyway." " Yer ain't? Well den, dar ain't no usen talkin' ter me. How much is yer got, nohow?" "Ivegot five dollars." i"Uh, huh, no use talkin' to me. I ain't gwine to sell myself ter no white man." -"Of course not." "Look heah, what yer gwine ter do wid dat five dollars?" "I'll make good use of it." " Heah, lemme hab it. Dem folks thinks dat I'se dun sold out. I 'clare ter good ness, white man, it hurts er pusson's good name ter be seed er talkin' ter yer." Follows Mr, Blaine's Example. Charleston News and Courier. J Columbia, August ID. A rumor was circulated here last May which comprom ised the soprano singer and the organist of the choir of one of Columbia's largest churches. The husband of the lady thus involved carried the matter into the courts and had charges of slander preferred against a business man of this place. The plaintiff's attorney issued his complaint this afternoon, which has been published in pamphlet form and has been circulated freely. The affair has caused considerable comments on account of the infrequency of such suits in this State.
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 27, 1884, edition 1
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