VOL. I NO: 7
3YLVA, N. C.t DECEMBER ;3i:1915
..... V f
.OO THEJYEAR INADVANCE
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iii!
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TBEtOBlCASf of long agoe fcellthe toii haoT lmt
in , - " cold, inhuman stare and the same hand in gentle caress, Sfjme warmth j giy limbf asked Vthe iteigh-j
BY WALTER H CANDLER. ' ; .
c It was Christmas eve,, the snow
was falling steadily in biflakes. A
lone mah on crutcSes made his
way painfully aloiig the railroad
track stopping--occasionally to
brush the, wet snow from his beard
and slouched fiat He was thinking
of another Christmas eve one year
ago just such a night. They had
carried him to the hospital after the
accident. The accidentf Yes, he
remembered it with startling vivid
ness, but when he tried to think be
yond the accident his mind was
clouded and things seemed like a
vague dream he had had some time
or other. There was the doctor at
the hospital who had bandaged his
fractured leg, and there was the
nurse who reminded him so much
of his sister who now appeared to
him as a dream child in some fairy
land far away all night long she
sat by his bedside soothing away
'the pain and now and again moist
ening his parched lips.
And then morning came, Christ
mas morning! The sunbeams peep
ed through the window, and he had
forgotten the pain, and was just
slipping into dreamland, trying to
think why he, a tramp, should be
treated with such consideration by
decent people. The nurse, who had
been called away, came to him and
placed her hand gently upon his
forehead. He remembered the
strange expression on her face when
he opened his eyesr and looked at
her.
She told him of a very sad acci
dent that had happened that same
Christmas eve.' The daughter of. a
wealthy man had been frightfully
burned. There was little chance
for her recovery. The doctor had
told her if they could get some
human skin to replace the "charred
mass on her back, they might be
able to save her, and would he vol
unteer to give his leg to save her
life?
Would he? For a moment there
was a fierce struggle in his soul, but
only for a moment, then he., looked
up into the nurse's face; the tears
were trickling down her cheeks. He
tried to speak, but the words would
not come through the dry parched
throat and lips; he nodded his head;
that wa i enough. Then came the
operating room, the choloroform'
and oblivion. When consciousness
returned the nurse was there the
same nurse so much like his sister.
She told him the operation was
a success, the.young lady would re
cover, the newspapers were loud in
their comment of his wonderful
sacrifice and bravery: ;
, "The whole world is talking about
you," she said. .-' .
Yes, the world talked about him
then forgot him as it, forgets things
of even greater x import It was
good "dope" f6r the newspaper re
porters and the press.
Somehow his mind had not been
clear since that . accident He re
membered, vaguely leaving the hos
pital. Tliey gave him ; a pair of
;rutchestthat was all; but was not
that enough What more, could he,
a commdnr tramp, ask far or expect?
48 ne picxea ms i way along tne
railroad , track slowly" and uncertain
ly he tried ib get 1 the , c6rwebd
. from his ; brjMn. Four .long eari
some day84had passed since: he had
Uasted food; Had he asked? Yesi
nnrf rafiioQ Pnf what ndht rilri hOf a r N WTJst- ' J V r '' ' 1 1 ' ' 'UJ
have to aik for a scrap of - bread?
Was he not a tramp, an outcasU
What human heart could be com
passionate toward him or feel a
kindred spirit? Was it not his, lot
to starve, to freeze? What differ
ence could it make? Would the
world not be better off without him?
On and on he stumbled through
the darkness, fearful to stop lest
tbat horrijle stupor which he had
been fighting off so long, take pos-
session of mm. - His hunger was.LL..- .1... i.!. ...c.t 'ik u.j i
not so fierce now as it had been.
Why was it? Was he growing ac
customed to going without food?
A big house loomed up in the
darkness not far from the track;
bright lights were flooding every
window. He.made his way toward
the house. Would he ever reach it?
The lights seemed to grow further
and further and away as he ap
proached. Ihe sound of merry
voices reached his ears. He felt
that queer sensation greening up
his spine. He stopped to knock
the snow from his face and to
feel the stump of his leg which had
grown numb; he was feeling queer.
yet there was no pain. What was
it, was he starving, or freezing, to
death?
There! he could see through one
of the big windows. What was that
he saw? At first his eyes seemed
to have failed him, then his vision
gradually cleared, and there before
him in the big warm, comfortable
room was a beautiful Chtistmas
tree laden with oranges, fiffr'crack
ers, dolls, candy in sacks, toy pistols,
pocket knives, tops and many other
things dear to a child.
He could see the children as they
flitted gleefully here and there full
of childish expectancy. From an
adjoining room came the father and
mother and a gray haired man with
a tall beautiful young lady. Was
he a ininisrer? Yes, they were
kneeling in prayer. The words came
slow and measured and pathetic:
"We are thankful dear Father
that we are privileged to enjoy all
these blessings."
The man at the window listened
with bowed head. He tried to
raise his hand to brush the snow
from his face, but it ivould not let
go its grasp on the crutch. He tried
the other hand, it too, was fastened.
He raised his head with difficulty
and looked into the room, the pray
er was finished, a look of happiness
beamed An each little expectant
face. The many presents were be
ing distributed, he could hear the
snap of toy pistols and the hoarse
unmusical sound of the little red
and gilded bugles, then a white
cloud descended slowly cutting off
his view of the room, it was his
breath freezing on ; the window
pane.
A fireside scene of long, long ago
appeared to him on the white
sheen, A little boy and girl were
hanging up their-' stockings by the
old fashioned fire place. He; could,
see their glad faces astliey knelt at
mother's knee and from across the
years drifted the echo of "Now I lay
me down to sleep" Then they arose
and kissed mother good night and
jumped into their little trundle bed,
- Ah, the sweet and tender memo
ries of childhood daysl HoW they
foilow. us on and on. down through
Ithe ailses of time! We hear he
song and laughter of our loved ones
ine man at me w
tening with rapt attention; ; not to
the childish voices iiiside the - room,
but to the voices of ' long agv; and
as he listened, the tearsrolled do$n
his cheeks and;frozetonhis rough
unkempt beard. Tjaere Was Uq
bitterness in his hear&nbt even or
those goodly housewives , who had
refused him food, these four days.
He had never narmeq, arj xne ,)n
all his life. He realized as he stood
a mistake, that he had started oT Little Frank wandered over to the!
wrong in te first place, yet, ttelwHl- snnH tri ,n t v ftl1tt . .,
blamed no one for hisiftiistake. "He
had given his limb to save a: life, he
would have given monif hecessa-
ry, but that was all thjy asked for
and yet, wnen he hau asked lor
a scxap of bread to sdye : his own
life, they had refused! him. Was
this the plan. Wepe tiings so or
dered in the beginning nf the world
that soul upon soul should be whirl
ed in fierce attrition in infinite tur-
imol? Was this the visiMimate?
The aueer sensation ; he had at
first felt creeping up his spine now
enveloped his entire being. He
tried to move closer to thewindow
which seemed to be slipping slowly
away, but he could not iraove; the
voices of the children weje now al
most inaudible; In the stance he
could hear bells ringing. jPerhaps
they were Christmas bells! now
they were coming closer land from
every direction, hundreds and
thousands of them bf JMiiziPj
and tones. There before him was
a large warm dining room, the table
was spread with white linen did
linen ever seem whiter? Ah, yes
the feast was spread, there was
every thing good to eat and tempt
ing. There was his sister entering
the diningroom smiling and beck -oning
to him, to come to her.
"We aTe glad to have you with us
tonight," said Mrs. Morton, address
ing herself to the white haired min
ister. "We pre, indeed," affirmed Mr.
Morton "I was just thinking how
different it was with us a year ago
tonight."
"Don't talk of it, Samuel," pro
tested Mrs Morton with a show of
feeling.
"But why shouldn't we talk of it
mother?" asked the daughter, J4'
was thinking of it myself, and have
been all evening. Somehow I have
a peculiar feeling, and I "
"Nonesense, daughteryou are
nervous, mats an, repnea tne
mother, then turning to her hus-
rband 'Samuel, I wish you would
caution the children to be quiet,
their noise is beginning td get on
my nerves." Y
"Please don't mother, said the
daughter, lam sure the children
do not worry me. Let them enjoy
themselves, Christmas don't come
often.1
"We never know just what we
have to be thankful for", said the
kind old minister. Hiat awful
accidentia year ago and Blanche's,
miraculous recpyprv, is something
I have thought of no little." -
"It was wonderful " agreed Bfe.
Morton, and goes to : show what
wonderful f cd vancea have ' ' been
made in the scienceofVsurgery." ?
"But father, rwhat Tcould "those
Burgeons have done id haver saved
- Werv tme ;my ;daughternrery
tn,TA- thfl rhpr rhht
uk AiA aa t j,.t
shall always regret that l failed-to
see mm-- before he left the bospita!,wi
3 "But he was just , a tramp, nd
they said his limUhad. been broken
andwas.useless to him" said tfaet.
muiuer m a lone oi procesc. . -r ;
There, was t silence, a ; spell, of
gloom descended over aiL e ed the
childrenlost interest in their-1-dolls
. . . . . . -t
window- and tried to 1 ok out : !
"Look mamaP he called, "the
vvipdow is white in a great big
j 0omg 2
circle,; what makes it that way?
re to tne lire son,
cautioned the mother, you will take
cold over there."
"But, mama! what makes the
windo w white like that?" the " child
insisted. : '
''Come over here by the fire,; son
said thft father "it is frnst on thp
windosy pe thaCvnIakes -ft
It is turning colder. No doubt
many a poor unfortunate is 5 uf fet
ing tonight It reminds me '65 the
same night a year, ago. What is it,
Blanche, daughter why are you
crying? Perhaps yo a should retire,
I am afraid you are not well." J i
"Don't, father I am perfectly
well I was just thinking, thats all."
"Listen!" exclaimed the father,
springing up from his?chair, . T
heard something fait outside : the
indowv- -
"I heard it too," said the mother;
"1 wonder if those neighbor boys
are up to some of their pranks
again," continued the father. F11
take a li jht and go investigate."
"I think you will fipd it was just
some snow fell off the roof.' said
the minister. "
"But surely snow falling would
not make a noise like that," re
plied Mr. Morton .
"It sounded to me just like frozen
snow falling from the roof," contin
ued the minister.
"Perhaps you are right Parson,
Idid'nt think of that no doubt
you are right. Look! Blanche are
ou crying yet? What is it daugh-
er?" and her father arose and went
to her side. . f .
"I don't know, father but I have
had a)eculiar feeling ever since I
came into the room, and that noiser
outside the window awhile ago
must have malje me unusually ner-
vous, I seemed to have felt some
thing break down in my heart. I
think I shall retire if I may be ex
cused." j
Christmas morning ' dawned,
bright, jelear and cold. . The; snow
which had ceased to fall during the
night was frozen solid. ; ;The Mor
tons were astir before daylight, the
children were out shooting their
fireworks and eating nuts and candy
It was a typical Christmas morn
ing, everythihg'confusion, expect
ancy, excitement sjid delight -
A waterpipe had frozen, Mr. Mor
ton, took a wrench and went to look
for the;xposed part, ?. in passing
around the house, hie stumbles over
a form half buried - in the frozen
snow. What was, it he stooped to
make exmninatibnthen Tell : : back:
wit'a look of horror. Jt Iwas a
dead nrUpbit
tion he . discovered lhat : the man
ivas a tramp a one legged tramp;
One ofrhis cfutctiesas .. under hk
ar Jthe; had caught An a rose
hTheTjnas frbzei-Theiet
weie icecycles pnl&Jough beard
anp! a'smitein his i faoe that seem
ed to?h6vefr.aroutid the cold glassy
eyes wfiich stared out into space
DETA GRADED: SCHOOt
The Beta Gaaded School resumed
its work r Monday with the usual
large attendance the children seem
extremelyadxious to take up the
school work;aganv Hard study and
vad weather do not, debar interest,
We have a reatnumber of "Wid
a-wake":pupiis atc Beta. They are
note-worthy and trust-worthy young
people, for which we feel especially
'thankful; r " V
The generosity and efficient lead
ership of Prof Moore and Miss Rig
don cannot be overestimated We
should strive, t employ teachers
with noble characters seeing the
results from suchjexamples:
Wishes to all lor a happy and!
I prorperous new year: A Reader.
ANNODNCBIEST
Vola Vita Manufacturing Co. has
just received its charter from Okla
homa City,
The 'company is capitalized for.
$10Q.OOO, with: the fpl
A. J. Campbell of Muskogee, presi
dent and treasurer: W. -rL Candler, .
Muskogee vice president; C. M. Rai-
ggee
pany has placed $$50:000 of its.
treasury stock with; capitalists of
Chicago and New York!
The main office will be in Chicago, .
and soon as the office is opened A.
J. Campbell will resign as president
m iavor of W. Weatherby of
Chicago. Th 3 company will manu
facture many toilet articles in ad
dition to the Vola Vita Hair Tonic.
W. H. Candler will look after the
manufacturing, and C. M. Raisig,
the selling, and A. J. Campbell, the
financial part of the business.
The company will also have an
office in Muskogee, Okla.
GROUND LIMESTONE
The Commissioner of Agriculture,.
Raleigh, H. C., is in position to fur
nish the farmers of the state with
high grade ground limestone and
marl at cost of production; and he
will have no difficulty in making
piompt deliuery provided the orders
come in early
There is sure to be a rush for this
material in February and lifarch
and many will be forced to do with
out it whose orders are delayed till
this time. It is pf extreme import
ance, therefore, that orders be sent
in at nnce for future delivery,
The Commissioner has state con
tracts, at very low prices, with all
the best lime griridihg plants that
are so located that they can do busi
ness in this state, and it will be
gredtly to the iarmers advantage to
get his material through the Com
missioner, Let us have your orders
at once and we will fill them as soon
as possible. .We will quote prices
and freight rates on request.
" :vV : Ja L.3 Burgess,
1 State Agronomist
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