North Carolina Newspapers

VOL. VI. LINCOLNTON, N. C, FRIDAY, MAR. 3, 1893. NO. 43. Professional Cards. J. W.SAIN.M.D., Has located at Lincolnton and of fers his services as physician to tl e citizens of Lincolnton and snrround ing country. Will be found at night at the Lin colnton Hotel. March 27, 1S91 ly IMII IHMHIIIimnlli. I tiiiii,, Bartlett Shipp, ATTORNEY AT LAW, LINCOLNTON, N. C. Jan, 0, 191. ly. Dr. V. A. PRESSLEY, s : 1 1 1 icon DENTIST. KOOK HILL. . C. Will si.- l'd the Vill E K BEGINNING VriTU THE liiT MONDAY Ol EACH MONTH t olJic" in Lincolnton. requested to male arrangement by I correspondence M'M'ifactiori guir- -CASH. ly anteed. Trrns July 11, ls'JU. r w a. e-kntist. LINCOLN! ON, N C. Cocaine used for painless ex tracting teeth. With thirty years experience. Satisfaction jiven in all operations Terms uish and moderate. Ja& '2i '91 lv BAKBER SHOT. Newly fitted up. Work aways. neatly done, custodiers politely waited upon. Everything pertain ing to the tonsorial art is done according to latest styles. IIeNRY Tayi.ok. Barber. English Spavin Liniment removes all Lard, .ift or calloused lumps and blemish es from horses, blood spvina, curbs, nplintfl sweeney, rin?-bone, stifles, sprains, all swollen throats, coughs etc. Save $50 by use of one bottle Warranted the most wonderful blemish cure ever known. Sold by J. M. Lawing DruistLincolnton J5tf C Itch on human and Dorses and all ani mals cured in 30 minutes by Woolforrts Unitary Lotion. This never fails. Solq by J M. Liiwintc Druggist Lincolnton. N C UliuU From fcrolnla Ouretl. Atlanta, Ga., June 2d. My six year old son has had a terrible s'oughin scrofula ulcer of the neck for three years, attended with blindness, loss of hair and general prostration. I'hj iicians ar d various blood remidies were resorted to without beneht. The New Atlanta Medicnl College treated him for three months, but his conditiou grew worse. 1 w as urirei to try the eiScacy i B BI), and to the aston ishment of myself, friend? and neighbors, one single bottle effected an entire cure. Ulcers of the neck entirely heaied; eye sight restored, and the hair commenced growing on his head again. I live at 245 Jones Street, Atlauta, and my boy is there to be seen. Frank Joseph. J. "W. iMeeer, Howell's Cross Roads, Chrokee county, Ga., writes: ."1 was aflicted with chronic sores nine years, and CJAp TQand had tried many medi kil I fl, I Jktvnd tnev did me no 2-ood. 1 then tried B B 1J, and eight bottles cured ' me sound and well. OtlE L11LUQI1 LADIES Arc daily recommending the Perfection li r.fln Across The il uApcuud eall & Joints, 1 his makes The best Fitting, nicest Looking and most comfortable In iho world. Prii-rs 2. J-' So. and JS.V50. -.w tx.and Consolidated Shoe Co., M-inufacturcr.-, Lynn, Mass. Shoos Made to Measure. To be found at Jenkins' Bros. "BUCKLLN'ii AKN1CA SALVE The best Salve in the world for cuts and bruises, sores salt rheum, fever sores, tet er, chapped hands, chilblains, corns, and &U skin eruptions, and positively cure Piles, or no pay required. It is guaranteed to give perf.-ct satisfaction, or money refun ed. rrice 25 cents per box. For sale by J. M Lawing, Pvhpician and Pharmacist 4 Scientific American Agency for CAVEATS TRADE MARKS DCSICN PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS. etoJ or Information and free Handbook write to MUXN a Co.. sa Broawit, 5ew York. Viciet bureau for securing patents (a America. KTery f.atent tHken out bv uh is bro'jjrht before Itx public by a notice piven free of charge In ttxe Scientific JUtmnw LarcoBt circulation of any scientific paper in the world, if leniiidly liiuFtrated. So IntfUipent nian ehould be without it. Weekly. 3.00 a year; 11.60 six months. Address Mt'NN & r(j PCBLisnEita. a til BrcVf ar. Kew York i IP tmisiamoi jnAn' prr sannsnoTiTn 'ttoxiBaJ MIMIIin VO?Il S4.VAVOMQ vunqiniv oiav uojpnqa jo 'apiojti 3trrp30si saiavi Matt. Lambert's Little Catherine. BY SOUTIIWOETH SHELLEY. "And a little cbild shall lead them." It was past the ides of April, and day was closing in. It had been spring in the morning, automn ak, noon, and was winter now, thii bleak November day. The wind, which swept through Maiden Lane in tempestuous gusts, was filled with tossing and gyrating snow flaKes, that could be bat dimly seen through the dingy windows o' the couuting rom of Snaggs & Co., publishers and book-binders. Snaggs & Co- was a solid firm from 'way back. No one had ever been found who was able to say when they had had a beginning, but it was positively known that they had occuP the same quarters when Maiden Lane was no thorough fare, or indeed little more than a cow-path. Years aud years before the inquisitive little street took it jinto its bead to ruu straight through Trinity Church-yard, and was promptly and ignorniniously sat down upon and kiiled by that pow erful and fabulously wealthy cor poration. Indeed, the firm had alwajs been shrouded in such mystery aud un certainty, and th proprietors had surrounded themselves with such impenetrable atmosphere of seclm sion, that the belief had gone forth that Snaggs was no less a personage than the Wardering Jew, or some other equally mysterious individual, and "Co.'' a certain gentleman but rarely mentioned in polite society and seen there never at all. But there was one mau who could have told the world differently, had he been so disposed. To him "Co.," whom he knew to be dead and bur ied, was as impersonal as to the rest of the world, while Snaggs, whom he knew to be very much alive, was so important a factor in his own life, as well as the lives of those most nearly connected to bim, that it was a matter of daily concern not to arouse the cboler of the irascible old man, or fall into any of the many traps set for him. In a corner of the countingroom, farthest from the fire, a narrow cell was partitioned off ; so narrow that it was unpleasantly suggestive of a crypt, and without any great stretch of fancy one could readily under stand the manner in which the pas sive occupant was to be shoved into the contracted and comfortless quarters. When, however, you went op the two steps leading through the door of the cell, you were disposed to Finite at what yon saw ; for, instead of a corpse, there j whs a living man standing before a battered desk, which, in tarn, stood before a window, looking out on Maiden Lane. ! And this was the man, Matthias Lambert by name, to whom Snaggs was personal in the highest degree; for it was a role of the bouse, and always had been, time out of mind, that no employed inside its walls should marry, on pain ol instant dismissal. Yet this thing Matt. Lambert had done, and though for reasons known to himself, Snaggs had retained his book-keeper, he set him up as a target, at which all his whistling, poisoned arrows were aimed, till many, many were the times that poor Matt, would have accepted starvation rather than live in such an atmosphere of vitu peration aud sulphurous fumes. Only there were the wife and child. Matt. Lambert tbonht of these as he chased up and down six col umns of figures for an error of twenty-five cents in the balance, without tiding it ; thought of tbem I with an affection bordering on pain, i as be muttered : i "Nine and eight are seventeen, and five are twenty-two, aud three are twtntyfive, and eeveu are thir ty three what tbe deuce! Nine and eight are seventfen, and five are twenty-two, and three are tymityflve, and seven are thirty thirty poor baby, poor little'kitten, it' too bad, too bad 1" He ceased for a moment to search for the delinquent quarter of a hun dred cents so insignificant in it self, so potent to kick np a row with Snag- & Co. to look out of the wmdow at tbe whirling snow. When he lifted his head you saw at once that he was one of those old young men one meets so often nowadajs. Yet, looking closer at the face, with its open and ingenuous ex pression, to which much was added by a pair ol exceptionally fine hazel eyes, yoa would have been willing to wager that the appearance of age was not tbe result of dissipation, fast living, or ''burning the candle at both ends," but rather that too much tbickiDg, added to prematuiejmy wife aud my little daughter, and care, bad worn the two vertical lines between tbe brows and sprinkled the hair about the temples with grey. He was certaiuly not over thirty, but as you looked at bim from be hind, bent over his books and pas per?, or caught a glimpse of ihe profile as he directed his gaze to the storm outside, you would have ad ded another decade to his years. Though Snaggs & Co. meant daily bread, and fuel, artd clothing, and doctor bills, with sparse luxuries and an occasional and grudgingly granted holiday to Matt. Lambert, be seemed to have forgotten their existence, as he stared out of the grimy windows, against which the snow-flakes teat, muttering under his breath : "Poor little kitten, poor little kit ten.'' The words were inaudible even inside his cell-like apartment, and so couid not possibly have been heard above the uoiseof the rattling windows, across the twenty feet of space that seperated Matt. Lambert aud the genial Snaggs. Yet tbe sinister knowledge that his book-keeper and factotum was not diligently investigating the whereabouts ot the mysteriously missing penco was conveyed by some occult power to the brain of Snaggs. whose voice rising above tbe storm in jarring staccota, flung these words across space and parti tion : "If you'll just attend to tbe busi ness of balancing that account Lam berf, I'll be develish glad to take it.'' The book-keeper's left hand clinched and the vertical lines in his forehead deepened, but he said nothing, and his eyes dropped to tbe six columns of figures which the pen in his right hand began to run up. "Do you hear in there V snapped Snaggs. Silence followed til! the scratch ing pen bad made six memoran dums on a scrap of paper and the footing of the columns bad been alteren one silgle cent- Then he took some loose change from his pecket, counted out twenty-four cents in his hand, replaced the rest? and with the words, ''I am coming," went down the two steps from bis vault and crossed over to his im ployer. "I found an error of bnt one cent, sir, but I have balanced the ac count,'' he said, and laid a paper and the twenty-lour cents on the greeu baize desk. Snaggs seperated the pieces with his bony finger, counting them over with a glance; then he swept them with his right hand into the left and coolly dropped them into his trouss ei's pocket. 4So much,'' he said, with a snarl, "for carlessness. There is a mistake farther back." "No, sir, there is no mistake. 1 have taken hours to look up that twenty-five cents. I found one of tbem on tbe last page. The err-r does not lie with me, anyhow it is rectified and the account balanced, is not that sufficient ? For a wonder Snasrgs made no reply, and the book-keeper waited respectfully, until io a lull of the wind there came tbe sound of a clock up Maiden Lne, striking tbe quarters, followed by the hour. "If you please, Mr. Snacgs," be gan tbe man with evident hesita tion, "I would very much like to have " At the very first word the old man had looked up at Matt. Lam bert with suspicion in his coaUblack eyes, but when he got so far in whatever request he was about to make, Snaggs burst forth irascibly : ''No, sir-can't think of it; can't overstep the rules of the house for any of its employees. There never has ben and never ivil! be but one pay day in this coucern.'' "Bat I am not asking to be paid. What I wish to ask for, is a day off, a holiday !" "Tbe dace ! I take no holidays ; if I did, thing9 would go to the dev-. il. What do yoa want with a holi- day ?" "It is the anniversary of the mar riage as well as tbe birth ot both we have thought of celebrating the triple event in a qniet way-" "Bosh!"' snorted ofiags, while his eyes seemed to give off sparks back of his spectacles. "All nosh this thing of celebrating wedding and birthday anniversaries. Bet ter if there were no weddings, con sequently there'd be no birthdays to keep. You'd a dal better be put ting the wherewithal to buy bread io your pocket, instead of spending so much in fol!y.r "People think differently upon these points, sir. Moreover, I can make the time up by a week's over hours; and tosmorrow is Saturday." He stood quietly '.vaiting, ye1 with a look of anxiety in the hand some hazel eyes that was Dot lost upon his employer, who kept stab bing the besmeared cork inkstand with ii rusty pen, while every fea ture of bis wrinkled face eeemed to harden and set, and he inwardly gloated over his power to add to or take from the pleasures of this man's life. He was loath to yield ; j some devil of the" past shouting into one ear : "Refuse ! Wring his heart ! Keep him at his desk! Remember the past r While iuto the other ear a flute like voice whispered : "Forget ; forgive ; give, and it shall be given unto you." Suddenly he lifted his hand to a level with his shoulder, took aim, and sent the missile flying at the nkstand. As the rusty nib buried itself in the cork, and tbe holder swayed back and lorth for an in stant, he turned his glowing eyes upon Matt. Lambert's face and said fiercely : "Curse it ! Tako the day, get out of it what you can ; but see that I lose nothing by the folly ot your wedding and birthday anniversa ries.'' "You shall not, sir,'' answered Matt. Lambert, moving back quick ly to his crypt, from which he pres ently emerged with bis bat and overcoat on, and locking the door, put the key in his pocket and went out with a "Good evening, Mr. Snaggs," which that gentleman did not see fit to notice. In the rear of the building a steam whittle blew shrilly ; following that, came the sob and throb of stopping machinery, then the sonnd of slam ming doors, and the tramp of many feet down the stairs and halls ; then silence. Then Snaggs might have been seen to cross tbe counting-room, ' lock the door, come back again to his deek and drop iuto his chair in an inert and powerless wy, "So it's tbe anniversary ot your wedding day, and the birthday ot your wife and child, is il, Matt. Lambert?" be said, as if speaking to his book-keeper. "It's he six feenth of November, and the anni versary of more than your family happiness, if I remember rightly' he continued bitterly "You wouldn't think it, Matt. Lambert, but it's tbe anniversary of my wedding day also, and of my wife's death, and my daughter's birthday, as well as tbe anniversa ry that marks the day she chose to break her father's heart and change bim into a bitter and crynical old manby running away with that poor devil of a lover of hers, simply to escape marrying my rich part ner. "Ob. it's a multiplicity of ann' versarie, is this the sixteenth day of November. Curse it ! ' He tore off his spectacles and flung them on the desk with a vio lence that shattered one lens ; but he took no heed, running his bony finders through his bushy grey locks and literally tearing them out by the roots, in the extremity ot hi misery. He got up and walke l the floor, racing like a lion ; a mag- nifieent specimen of a man, in whom all the gifts and forces of mental and physical life bad been lavishly cist ; a man ot strong passions aud fierce, indomitable will, still un tamed : with extreme capacities fr happiness and suffering, despite his sixty jears. He paced back and forth, lashing himself to fury bv the bitterness of reminiscence and introspection, ro vealing the nature of his thoughts by more than one emphatic "Curse it,'' till the tide of passion having reached the flood began to subside, and gave place to calmer, tenderer thoughts and actions. "Ah, Catherine, my girl, behold your work,'' he said, suddenly stop- p ng, aud stretching out his arms, as to some visible creature, "see the transformation your disobedience and ingratitude have wrought in the father you might have bound with one silken tress of your hair to your will. Why not have trusted me, child ? I wonJd not have been im implacable ; but to deceive me till the last; to steal a.vay to the arms of who knows what low-born lover; to betray my love ; to impeach my honor; to transform a loving, hap py father into a Diogenes; to keep "ilence all these years.' He stood with arms extended and gleamiug eyes, looking into space ; then lowering his voice, as if she to whom his words were addressed stood face to face with him. con tinned : "Bat I have been to blame, Cath erine, I have been implacab:e, in that I have never sought to find you." Then, with sudden resolutioa, emphasized by that vehemence which characterized every act of the man, he said : "It is not too late yetj.Joel Snaggs, to undo the work ot vear. Ah, Matt. Lambert, if it were only you my child had chosed ; poor but proud, upright and ingenuous, the pill would not be so bitter. After all, what does existence amount to without my child ? Well, let to morrow come, with its aftermath of anniversaries ; keep yours, Matt. Lambert, and I'll keep mine, and start anew from thence." And Matt, Lambert trudged through the driving storm, bis great, tender heart sorrowfo! for his little child, because this nnlooks ed for change of weather would prevent the carrying out of their plans for tbe celebration of the triple anniversary. Aa he turned into the street near his own home, a tiny creature in a Mother Hubbard water-proof, with the hood drawn over the shining head, and little feet shed with over-shoes, came skim ming toward him like a swallow. The mau's pace was quickened, and his face transfigured as she came on, and long before she reach ed him bis arms were ready and caught her up even before she stopped. Just to see tbe love in his eyes, as tbe little creature put her arms about his neck and nestled her vel vet cheek against his own, wa worth going a dav's journey; pis' to hear her pretty prattle as she told bew she and mamma bad re planned to keep the day, ws worth a pilgrimage to Mecci ; but to have had a single one of the score of kisses her rosebud mouth pressed upon his with sweet abandonment of love, would have been in Suite compensation for any privation anrl an inceutive to overcome all ob stacles in the way of her happiness. And so thouebt Matt. Lambert as he bore his baby, his kitten, his little Catherine up the steps to his own modest abode. So Matt. Lambert's trio of anni versaries were kept, to little Cath erine's delight, at the Museum cf Natural Hiefory, with a tidy little dinner at the Park restaurant, and the after ecstasy of driving alone a spirited team of bronze-horned goats up and down the mail ; the whole lovely dry ending with au evening at the theatre, from whence little Kittle went home in such a bewilderment of bliss that all night long fairies and wood nymphs danc ed over the counterpane, and a comicl little Puck turned summer- s.iults and poed on tbe foot-bc;ird of her oof, WUile Joel Snaggs, not so far away aiter all, had kept his anniversaries in lonliness and self-reproach for the last time. One person there was whose thoughts never left the austere old man throughout that day of quiet happkiess, and that persoa was Matthias Lambert's wife. He had told her as gently as he could with what reluuctance Snaggs bad grant, ed the holiday, softening tbe bitter words and giving the man lull ben efit of tbe sublime piiy and charity of his own great natnre. But when she had laid her hands in bis, and looking into his pitiful htzel eyes with her brimming blue ones, had asked iu a whisper : "Has the time come, Matt V he had been compelled to answer, with a sorrowful shake of tbe bead: "Not yet, my darling.'' So winter passed, with the No vember day standing cut like a shrine, a little apart from the du3fy highway, at which they had stopped to rest and make au offering of flowers, sind June had come in with her wealth ot funshine aud roses. Matt. Lambert In his cell iu the counting.room had made up tbe day with over hoars, serving bis em. ployer with houest ninglenesss of purpose, obsorned iu not only the strict performance of appointed du ties, but anticipating the wants of Snaggs, whose manner had faltered, and whese words had lost that Da mascus edge that had characterized tbem prior to that day of days; while the men at the head of each department, who alone came inti contact with the proprietor, felt that some great change, some soft ening influence, was at work on Snaggs & Co Matt, noticed, too, with wonder? that where it had been an excection to see tho chair before the old raan'd desk vacant, be found it often so now when he came down tbfc steps from his vault to ask for instruc tion, or give information upon upon some important piece of busi nes. Whenever the day was especial, ly bright this was almost sure to be the case ; aud what was strang est of all, Joel Snaggs was irratabla if detained about his own affairs frequently leaving the counting loom, where h had almost buried himself for years, with such cau tious silence that often Matt, came out of bis cell with a handful of pa pers and was half across the inter vening space before be noticed that Snagg's desk was in disorder and his awivel-chair empty. The book-keeper's practical mind was puzzled to find a solution for this astonishing change ; for the money market was easy, credit good and never m all the years of his connection with the firm of Snaggs & Co. had business beeu prosper, ous or the outlook so fair. It could be none of these things, therefore, that took tSnags awy, or account ed for these unseemly absences dur ,ug business hours. But if Matt. Lambert eou'd have followed his employer be w.nld have lieen still moie a-toninbed in seeing that he always went in tbe same directiou, always turning at length into the same quiet street, and always stopped io speak to a fairy creature with shining chestnu hair and heavenly eyes blue, who slipped her tiny hand confidingly in his and walked a little way up the street, chattering gaily, while Snaggs, the most heartier, soulless and bitter ot cynics turned as she left, him to run back and stood watching the iittle creature with gleaming eyes till she reached her own dr-or in Raffjy. More atoniahed still would Matt have been cou'd he have seen the man's face viben she asked him one j.tay with pretty naivete: 'Are yon anybodv's grandpa?' and then, withont waiting for an answ-r, the sweet little voice drop ping into sorrowful accents : "Bessie Dunn has such a nice grandpa. I wish I had a real Brand pa too." "A real grandpa, little one? What is a real'grandpa ?' "Oh, one you can see and love, and take walks with in the park." "And haven't you a grandpa, dear f asked Snaggs, regarding the lovely upturned face with hungry eyes. "Yes, sir; but not a real one.'' "What kind cf a grandpa hare yen, then, my pretty one?' "I don't know, he is way off," she said, with a sorrowful shake of her head. "But will he not come home some time ?' asked Snaggs. "Mamma says maybe he will, but I guess not, 'caose I'm five years old and he nevr cme to see me yeV answered the child. "Will you tell me your name, dear ?'' asked Matt. Lambert's em ployer as they reached the corner and stopped as usual. "Oh yes ! It is Catherine Snaggs Lambert," auswered the unconscious babe, patting tbe bony haDd that held bor little dimpled one. "Catherine Snaggs Lambert I" gasped Joel Snaggs, while all his features wor ked convulsively. Then he suddeuly bent and lifted the cnild in his arms aud with all his starved soul looking through hia humid eyes into the celestial blue cues, and asked hoarsely. "Will you let me be your really grandpa, dear ?" "Oh yes, oh yes," she cried, de lightedly laying a dimpled hand on ither wnn iled cheek. "Then kiss me, Catherine, and run back to mamma," he said. And Matt. Lamdert's little K'tten had pressed her rosebad mouth against old Snaggs' grey mustache, aud, slipping from bis arms, gone skimming like a swallow up tbe street, whilst he stood still and watched her ; and such a swell ot memories came rolling in upon hia eoul that no power on earth could have drawn his feet again that day toward the counting-room of Snaggs .& Co. in Maiden Lane. But sweetest and best aud strangest thing of all tbe beantiful finale to all tbe wonderful denouement of which Matt. Lambert's anniversa ries had been the cause ; J tbe hour when Snaggs bad entered, locked the door and crossiug the counting roo.r. with bounding steps, eDtered his book-keaper's cell aud laying his hand upon his arm, said with a stimulation of ferocity: "Matt. Lambert, I have found you out !" And when the man had turned, white and trembling, to look at bis employer, bow Snaggs' eves had betrayed him after all, and the two men had grasped each other's band and sbanken them until tbey ach ed ; the staanga tenderness in old Suaggs' voice as he told how he cime upon little Catherine one day when he was wandering aimlessly to eaee the aching of his heart; how something in the little creat ure's face brought back such nvtd memories of his r-nly child, that he had been drawn again and again to lock upon the babe, till all her sweet confiding little ways had broken the crut of bitterness in which his soul had beeo encased for years, and when God bad seen that h was rip for revelation, the child had h-aid, "Mv name is Catherine Siiajfg Lambert." "Matt. Lambert,r old Snaggs bad said with ebokiog voice, taking off his spectacles to polish them, "put t:n your hat Dd take me to fee my child," And the book-deeper bad slammed bin ledgers into the safe snatched bis hat like a school-bov from its hook, locked the door of his vault, and gone out arm in arm with Suaggs, which being seen by one of the foremen, had to staggered the man that be was found leaning against the door incaple ot speech tdl revived by a timely dose of Bour bon straight and strong. And when they came at length to Matt. Lambert's happy homet and the door was opened by a tidy ntte maid, and little Catherine, catching sight ot Snaggs, went skimming down the bal', -rviog: "Oa, marrma, LereV my rea Concluded on last paqeJ)