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THE DEMOCRAT PUBLISHING CO., PUBLISHERS. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $2.00 PER YEAR. VOLUME I. SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. .THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1885. NUMBER 14. . THOUGHT. lack and forth across the woof of yeare The shuttle of each life th3 weaver throws ; And here and there small bits, whence no one knows, Link with the tnreaa tne mystic pasiern weaving, tien lose themselves amid the smiles and tears Vich o'er the web are lights and shadows leaving. heard them not those fragments inter lacing "ith ours some life that crossed our nstth f one day, Bo many seems the tangled threads that stray,) til amazed we pause, some figure tracing hrown up in bold relief, and see and know h thread whose worth we failed to under stand, ut now whose wondrous beauty serves to show matchless wisdom of the Master Hand, k Sally Neill Roach, in the Current. XANCES DE HARTE. . A TRUE STORY. cbrc than seventy years ago there 1 in Demerara, British Guiana, a ter whose name was De Harte. He I near Georgetown, the principal sea iof that colony, and owned a large lation, which produced in great idance the products of that tropical I This plantation was tilled by ne llaves, as this time was before slavery .abolished in the British empire. Ve household of De ilarte consisted jmself, his two daughters, and his nts ; his wife had been dead years Vft Tip. n nriof lnvtinnna lifrt - " " 'VV Ml AH A UA WU, JUL. I the world as did the slaves who -his lands. - - '- - he was a brisk trade then, as bow, len Uemerara and various warts of i I Twin. I . 1 1 1 1 V'j - in tho harbor . of Georgetown; re goous ana notions were ex cel for molasses, rum, spices and Sal fruits. captain of one of these Connect!-' prchant vessels made the acquaint-. t JJe Harte, visited his plantation. as hospitably treated; but thegen- nnd unsuspecting South American selv rewarded for his kindness. arte's two daughters were vounsr e eldest, Frances, was sixteen ; nger, wnose name is now forgot- s a -.beautiful girl ; this one had een robust, and, as a consequence,- ien tenderly brought up. Neither e young ladies had ever known want or caie, nor were they likely tar as human eves could see. Iain B advised De Harte to have lighters educated in New England, pg out the advantages of an edu- and residence in New England ; e tone! father was loth to send pway so far: 'The captain urged uiuimsiuji io taice i ne best care ot f Is, to look after their welfare in respect. In short to care for pa if they were his own daughters. manner he induced De Harte to o his wishes.- The pirls. favored the plan, being like most people, pleased with the thought ting foreign countries. this was all rijrht. and the nlan r education an excellent one, had P Jo been an honest man ; but he Villain, and this movement was fans of bringing great injustice Vrow upon De Harte and his J time the vessel sailed. De Harte inied his daughters on board, .eflder farewell of them, commit im to the care of this man in ie had perfect confidence. He 3. to his home with that lonely which parents feel when the chil ie gone. The lonely years lay be n, but he little knew the sorrow for him and them, icir arrival in Connecticut they aced immediately in school. They need their studies with interest, fc most South Americans seventy go, they were very ignorant I of these girls could read or Jhe end of the term Captain B he hllis, which was the last money feceived from him. "When payment Ibecame due he told them he had d no money from De Harte. Thev ued awhile longer at school, ex- funds to arrive from home. The did not come, and. Captain B iold them that they need expect e monev from their father, and y must take care of themselves. St this time the younger girl died ; never been strong from child jmd the cold winter of New Eng ias too severe for her. A lung I set in which soon terminated her JTe. It is a sad part of our story ath of this young and gentle girl; ke should-die in a strange land un fchffi"ictive circumstances is truly ut those who believe in revelation, ok from this world to a better fill be gratified to know that she Christian. She passed away ully, looking by faith to that ir country," "where there is no ' or crying, for the former things assed away." Inext that we know of Frances, er sister, is that she was earninsr hood in Jewett City, Conn. This mail village then, but little like Kett City of to-day ; yet even then Fas a small factory on the banks ratcnouge river. In this little Francis De Harte found emplov- or many years. There is some- touching and even sublime in the t ot tins friendle&s enrl earninf est living, hfv hard labor, in nrf- to being dependent upon others. uiuoi, remember that she had ared in a home of wealth and m a. warm country, where all the iors were calculated to ennr- body and mind ; she had iust er onlv sistor and frini . k 1, the strange and unnatural t of her father was enough tn to despair. Now many women cumstances would hav rnm. icide. or sunk 'into n Ufa f d misery. Let those who are tempted take encouragement the heroine of this true story. !ng and caring as. little about the-!-mer remembering that honest labor, next to faith in God, is the best antidote for all sorrow. Frances was industrious and trusty as an operative, and had the respect of those who knew her ; she was economi cal in the use of money, and managed to lay up most of her earnings against sick ness or any other calamity. Wnen she had been at the factory awhile she made the acquaintance of a young man, which acquaintance proved a great misfortune to her. John M C was one of those worthless char acters found in all classes of society; he had a handsome person, and pleasing manners, but was fickle-minded and un principled. He took a fancy to the pretty South American girl, and paid his addresses to her. After a short acquaint ance they were married; this was the most unwise step taken during the years of her trial. Her husband diserted her in less than a year, without, acquainting her or his employers of his departure. No one knew where he went, nor was he heard of there again. His young wife was greatly shocked and grieved; this was the most bitter trial yet. She had loved and trusted him as her only earthly friend ; no won der that she felt crushed and broken hearted ; but the promise of God came to her aid; her brave and hopeful spirit rallied, and she took up the burden of life again. About this time she became an inmate ot my grandfather's family, and it is from this circumstance that I became ac quainted with her history. Here she remained for months, and here her son was born. The support of the childwas an additional burden, but it was a bur den that love made light. Her affection for the child was a tie to earth which otherwise had but little attraction. She went to the factory again, nnd worked patiently for years. TI . jurs for labor were longer then than now. and wages much smaller. In the suia- time, when the long day's work was over,, she might have been seen going to pray grandfather's leading her little boy 'by-the-hand. - There was an oak tree on the hillside half way to the house; here Lsh'e wouldjetop and rest, and while the hhilct played she would look away to the south and ask herself if she would ever see'her childhood's home again. 1 here-is no portrait of this young wo man1 except what tradition has given us. I remember of asking my mother's aunt how Frances De Harte looked. "She was rather short of stature." said she, "and had a dark complexion, but her eyes I shall never forget how they looked; they were very dark, and. had a deep, and far off look." She seemed much affected during a thunder storm, usually shedding tears. When asked if she felt afraid, she replied: "No, but the storm makes me think of home, for we have them every day in Denuerara." Here little John M C grew up a tall and handsome boy ; he had the fine form, blue eyes and fair complexion of his unworthy father, but the pensive smile reminded the . beholder of his mother and her sorrows. ' After several years had passed, Frances determined to visit Demer&ra; she' had long desired to go. She had now; a lit tle sum of money, the fruit of her toil and economy. She accordingly pre pared to visit her native country, and that father whose strange conduct had made her an exile from her childhood's home. The voyage to Demerara was lang and tempestuous, and it seemed an age to her before the vessel came in sight of home. "With what filings must she have watched the approaching shore! There was the familiar frees, the cocoa palms, lifting their statedy heads along the coast. Yes, it was hfcme, but would it be a home to her. It would be interestsng to know the particulars of the meeting between this lather and daughter; Jt must have been something like the meeting of Jacob and his son Joseph; like Ahem of old. Harte and his child had been separated by the villainy of man. That infamous Captain B had told De Harte that his daughters were dead, after first obtaining large sitmsof money, which he claimed to hayte spent for them. The father of coiO'so , believed him, and, like Jacob of old, he mourned for his children as dead. Great was the grief and indignation of De Harte when he learned what cruel imposition had been practiced upon him and his loved ones. As he looked at his daughter, now a grave and qpiiet woman, he wondered if she was the light hearted girl whom he saw tail away to the United States. And how strangely he looked to her, with hi$ . white hair and stooping form sorrow had made him prematurely old. .-- But what a change in his) life when this child was restored ; everything on the old plantation seemed brightened, for he received her as from tie dead, believing her to have been dead for years. - , "Father," said she, when they had talked the subject over, "we will never be separated again while we both live.' And they never were. Years passed away and her frienfl in Jewett City heard nothing of her. But one day in the summer of 1827, as the stage-coach stppped in the village, a dark-eyed woman stepped out fcnd in quired it old Mr. B still lived; there. Being answered in the affirmative, she took her way up the long village street and knocked at my grandfather's door. It was Frances De Harte. "What a joyful surprise it was, and how eagerly they listened to . what had befallen her since she went away. She was a widow now, having married after: her return to Demerara. Her father died soon after her husband, leaving a large property to her and the children. The two little ones which her husband left were at home in the care of the servants. Her son John M C was with her, now a grown up young mani She visited all the familiar places, especially the little factory where she la bored so long; walked up thevhillside and sat under the shade of the oak tree, where she had so often rested when sad and weary. And John was with her. no longer a little child, but whose strong arm could now assist her up the hill. ' But her visit in this country was not long; those little ones at Demerara were in her thoughts, and quickeped her steps homeward. Among the gifts left her friends was a cocoanut shell carved by one of her ser vants. This was given to my grand mother, who kept it carefully during her life; it then became my mother's, who was choice of it for grandmother's sak; it is now mine,.ddubly prized for.its in teresting history, and its association with the loved ones gone. .Fifty-seven years have brought great changes. There is probably no one now living here who knew Frances De HarteY If this story were a 'fiction, we could te"fl the career of Captain B and hdw he prospered with his ill-gotten gain; we could tell the subsequent history of that worthless husband ; but if we believe the Lord reigns, we know that justice has been given them, but when and how it is not for us" to know. . The oak tree mentioned above is still growing on the hillside a beautiful and noble tree ; these fifty-seven years have greatly added to its beauty "and granr deur. Houses have been built on the hillside, and in summer time groups of children can be seen playing under the tree. But of all who have sought its shade, which one has a more romantic history than the subject of this story? Charlotte Corday. Charlotte Corday, who ended her short but eventful life through the ministra tions of the guillotine, in Paris, on the 17th of July, 1793, was the daughter of a poor Norman nobleman, and was born in the department of Orne, July 28, 1768. Her father was the author of works of a republican tendency, and she inherited not only his literary, but also his liberally patriotic tastes and temperament. She was impulsive, vehement and passionate to a high degree. She formed a violent attachment for a young cavalry officer, who was subsequently assassinated at Caen. Determined to avenge the death of her lover, who was a Girondist, she went to Paris and took an apartment not far from the dwelling of the great jour nalist, Marat. For a time she was undecided" as-.to- whether Robes pierre or Marat V should be the victim .ofi-her .vengeance. The ad vocacy by '"the ; lattjer "of the killing of more Girondists deeided her choice. Providing herself with a knife, she called at Marat's house on the evening of July 13 and with some difficulty obtained an audience, having promised t o acquaint Marat with the plots of the Girondists at Caen. Marat listened tc? her story, and at its conclusion remarked : ."Within a week they will go to the guillotine." At that moment the young woman drew the knife and plunged it to the hilt in Marat's heart. The blow was not only struck with lightning-like quickness, but was aimed with a bold and untrembling hand. Charlotte Corday was tried on the morning of July 17 and was beheaded on the evening of the same day. Her courage did not forsake her, and she proclaimed, as she was brought face to face with the instrument of death, that she had "killed one man to save a hun dred thousand." Her courage bo im pressed an unfortunate young German enthusiast named Lux that he wrote- a pamphlet suggesting the- erection of a statue to her memory, for which unwel come suggestion he was himself arrested and subsequently guillotined. ' In the Soudan. Mr." J. A. Cameron, the war corre spondent of the London Standard, who was killed in the battle of Abu-Klea wells, sent to his paper two weeks be fore his death the following interesting pen picture of the country between Donr gola and Khartoum traversed by the English army: "The small towns are built of sun-dried brick, on gravelly, sterile land, and are surrounded by date, orange, lemon and pomegranate trees. The Egyptian houses, even of the better class, have not much furniture. There is a bed-frame, with strips' of buffalo hidej stretched across it, on which are laid neatly -made maps, so that it forms a seat in the day time. Round the walls hang wooden bowls of various sizes, which are used instead of crockery. The kitchen is separate, and in it there is a Dstone mill for grinding corn, and three large stones forming a fireplace." "The Nubian woman's dress," he continued, "is a piece of dark blue calico wrapped around her waist and coming half-way down to her ankles, her head and the upper part of the body being covered by a white muslin scarf with a red border, which can be drawn across the face. Her hair is sometimes gummed into a kind of busby circle,, at others hangs down in thick masses of innumerable plaits; and necklaces of agate and amber beads, coral bracelets, silver and coral rings, earrings and mas sive anklets complete the costume. The upper class in Nubia have a curious way of cleansing the,, skin. Every evening they rub it all over, first with a kind of dough and then with aromatic oil. This I is called the dilka, and is said to be verv reiresmng." A Marine Monster. The whaling bark Alaska, which ar rived in this port a few days ago from the Arctic ocean, brings a strange story of the narrow escape from death of six of her crew. The first officer, George Johnson, stated the circumstances to a Chronicle reporter, as follows: When the vessel was forty-six miles south of Alaska, an object was perceived in the distance whose proportions and shape indicated it to be a monster sea lion. A boat was immediately lowered and placed in charge of First -Officer John son and five of the crew, named Andrew Nelson, "William "Wilson, An tone Nagai, George Marshfield and - Hans Stuten. As the distance was being decreased between the boat and the huge animal they became con vinced that it was the famed sea serpent. When, they came within a few hundred yards the monster . made a dash for the boat, striking' but its immense tail against the craft. ' Several of the occu pants were precipitated into the water, but were " rescued with difficulty. A harpoon - and lance were fired into the body of the beast and it disappeared be neath the surface., Half an hour later it reappeared, floating on the water, dead. It was secured with ropes and towed to the vessel and hoisted on the deck. There the capture was seen to be a villainous-looking thing. Its head closely resembled that of an alligator, while the body resembled that of a lizard. It measured thirty-three feet in length, the tail alone being nine feet long. The tail was cut off and brought to this city and is now on exhibition in a water-front saloon. San Francisco Chronicle. The burglar is a hospitable fellow, is alway open house with him. It EPITAPHS IN RHYME. Carious Collection From Various Old Church-Yards. The literature of epitaphs is almost Without end. Anybody whos has the time and patience to decipher old . tombstones can add something to the collection of queer inscriptions already placed befdrc the public. A writer 'in Chamber? Jour nal hit upon some of the most , unique yet heard from in rhyme. In a Devour shire church yard he found the following relating the married experiences of a worthy man: Beneath this stone, in sound repose, Lies William Rich of Lydeard Close; Eight wives he had, yet none survive, And likewise children eight times five ; From whom an issue vast did pour Of great-grandchildren five times four. Rich born, rich bred, yet fate adverse His wealth and fortune did reverse. He lived and died immensely poor, July the 10th, aged ninety-four. A Cornwall churchyard is enriched with the following dainty verses : Here entombed one Roger Morton, Whose sudden death was early brought on ; irying one aay ms corn to mow orr, The razor slipped and cut his toe off. The toe, or rather what it grew to, An inflammation quickly flew to ; The parts they took to mortifying, And poor dear Roger took to dying. A Welsh husband thus sings above the grave of his better-half : This spot is the sweetest I've seen in my life, For it raises my flowers and covers my wife. And in Eldon churchyard another great ly relieved individual says : Here lies my wife in earthly mold, Who when she lived did naught but scold. Peace ! wake her not, for now she's still ; She had, but now I have my will. In Worcester churchyard is the follow, ing affecting double kind of compliment: Martha and I together lived Just two years and a half ; v She went first and I followed after . The cow before the calf. . - The following punning verse is on a tombstone in a Sheffield churchyard, erected above the grave of John Knott, a scissors grinder: i Here lies a man that was Knott born. His father was Knott before him, - He liv.ed Knott, and. did not die, Yet underneath this stone doth lie. r -Knott christened, -Knott begot, And here he lies, ' And yet was Knott. At Eling, near Southampton, is the following circumstantial statement: Pray, reader, stop, and read my fate, -What caused my life to terminate; For thieves one night, when in my bed, Broke in my house anil shot me dead. The following, which i3 rather hard upon the deceased lady, is said to adorn some churchyard in Manchester ; Here rests in silent clay Miss Arabella Young,' Who on the 21st of May . Began to hold her tongua This other one is slightly invidious: Here lies Margaret Sexton, Who never did ought to vex one; Not like the woman under the next one. . At Kirk-Santon churchyard, the fol lowing epitaph is placed on the grave tone of a man named Daniel Teare : Here, friend, is little Daniel's tomb. To Joseph's age he did arrive; Sloth killing thousands in their bloom, "While labour kept poor Dan alive. - ; How strange, yefc true, full seventy years Was his wife happy in her tears. , At Ockham, Surrey, a wooJ-cutter thus describes his final exit : The Lord saw good ; I was lopping off wo Jd, And down fell from the tree; I met wit ha check, and I broke my neck, And so Djath lopped off me. A photographer has this rather pat in scription over him : Here I lie, taken from life. In St. Peter's churchyard, Isle of Thanet, is an epitaph written by some elegiac rhymster, who was very careful not to stand committed to the facts: Against his will, Here lies George Hill, Who from a cliff Fell down quite stiff. Fhen it happened is not known, Therefore not mentioned on this stone Slaughter by Wholesale. The most efficient machine for killing our fellow-men yet invented appears to be the Maxim machine gun, a utensil which any person can carry without dif ficulty into battle, and having leveled it at his enemies and supplied it with a quantity of ammunition, he need do nothing more than turn a crank once, and retire to a place of safety. The gun then begins shooting by itself, and continues to fire bullets at any rate desired, from two a minute to six hun dred, until its cartridge-belt, which con tains three hundred and thirty-three charges is exhausted. The advantages, to a warlike-person, of being able to kill three hundred and thirty-three persona at a single effort, without exposing his own valuable person to injury, are so obvious that there is likely to be an ex tensive demand for the new instrument among Christian nations, and no one should fail to acquaint himself with the principles on which it acts. Every one knows something of the machine guns heretofore used, the Galling gun, with its six barrels tied together by bands, and the crank at its rear, being perhaps the most familiar, but all those hitherto used differ from the Maxim gun in employing a continued force from the outside, gen erally applied to a crank or lever, to fire the charges, while the. Maxim weapon loads and fires itself, after the first shot had been discharged, by utilizing the re coil of each discharge to effect the nec essary movements ; an ingenius system of springs and levers, operated by the bar lel, which slides back about half an inch at each explosion, extracting and throw ing away the shell of the cartridge just used, putting another in its place, push ing the barrel forward again, cocking the hammer and pulling.the trigger,,and repeating the whole scries of movements as the barrel slides back again by the re coil of the new discharge. With all its ingenuity and apparent complication the new gun seems from the tests to be sub stantial enough for active service, and it is jpuch to be hoped that the occasion for employing it will be rendered rarer by the very fact that its efficiency will make it dreaded.. American Architect, 1 Rollei skates were invented by Gabriel ziftvel, the pantomimist. . - TIMELY TOPICS, Two islands that were thrown up by the great Java earthquake last year have again sunk out of -sight and below the deep. water line of navigation.. The vol cano Merapi, . which started, the previous disturbance, is once' moire unusually ac tive. John Bright has figured out the cost of the wars of Queen Victoria's reign, and in his speech at a liberal demonstra tion in Birmingham he announced that England has sacrificed $750,000,000 and 68,000 lives in war since the coronation of her present illustrious sovereign, nearly forty-eight year3 ago. There are in America at the present time 30,000 locomotives. To keep up the standard and supply new demands 1,200 must be built each year. Locomo tives cost on an average $10,000 each, which would indicate an expenditure of $12,000,000 this year. There are six teen locomotive- works in the United States, among which this work and money will be more or less evenly dis tributed. Jenny Lind is described as one of the most active members of the College of Music in London. Her duties as a teacher are discharged in . tne most thorough and conscientious way, as she arrives early at her professional post, and remains often an hour or two beyond the required time. She is very strict, but at the same time sympathetic with her scholars, who in return for her devotion to their interests are said to adore her. The boundaries of the region known as the West have been perpetually shift ing. Within the lifetime of old folks it commenced along the Toot hills of the Alleghanies. A few years later the limit stood for a while on the banks of the Mississippi. To-day the boundary lies oh the bluffs of the Missouri, in the neighborhood of Kansas City. Beyond that point lies the region of tradition, prophecy, adventure, discovery, enter prise, heroism the West. A unique form of entertainment has just "taken place in Vienna where the Hairdressers' congress was concluded by the curious spectacle of competitive hair dressing, performed by twelve ladies' hairdressers on living models, who were seated on a raised platform, round which the Vienna public thronged as if the art of hairdressiug were the chief interest of the nation. "The admiration of the au dience was great, especially at the feat performed by one of the competitors, who adorned his model with a spark of electria.light. Capitalists have organized a company to build a monster artificial lake in the town of Northfield, S. I. The lake will cover 1,600 acres of land and hold 10, 000,000 gallons of water. It will receive a watershed from ten miles of woodland. Hundreds of brooks and springs will empty into it. The proprietors propose to supply drinking water to villages and cities in New Jersey through large iron aqueducts that will be laid across Long Island sound, which at one point is quite narrow. The dam will be 4,400 feet long and twelve feet high. Servants are cheap and plenty in Mex ico, and you are pretty sure to have sev eral descendants of the Aztec kins about the house if you hire one, for it is the rule that the whole family accom pany the father or mother who goes out to service. Your cook brings her hus band, her children, and pretty nearly all her relations, and they are fed from your table and sleep under your roof. The husband may tc a shoemaker, or a saloon keeper, or a hackman, but he iives where his wife works. There are usually rooms enough in the ho jse for them all, and the Only food they want is plenty of beans and what is left from your own table. A Washington correspondent of the Chicago Times says: "A hundred years ago, President Stile3, of Yale College, wore a gown of American ' silk ; Mrs. Garfield has been given an American silk dress, and Congress has two American silk flags. These are the chief results of more than two hundred years of ef forts, private and public, to domesticate the silk industry. The plea now made for silk culture is that feeding the worms Would constitute a light and moderately remunerative employment for American women and children, to be carried on at their homes, and if the women oi the Silk-Culture association succeeded in ac complishing what thy aim at they will provide the farmers' wives of the warmer regions of the country with pin-money." The scientific commission, which was recently appointed by the Spanish gov ernment to investigate the late earth quakes in Southern Spain, is daily send ing reports to Madrid of the result of its operations. Perhaps the most remark able phenomenon noted by the commission is that of the complete obliteration of the high road leading into Periana. no certain trace of which can be found for several miles outside the town. The road inmost places lay between abutting hills, and in the recent terrific disturb ances of the earth's crust seems to have been forced, downward or engulfed. Many of the hills themselves Were lev- eled beyond recognition, and well-" known landmarks, whose positions had remained undisturbed for centuries, were moved a distance of thirty yards. Three performing seals are said to be seen at the Westminster aquarium in London. Tt'hey perform on such musi cal instruments as the banjo, guitar, drum and cymbals; they smoke, and in the comic part of their performance a blind member of the trio plays the part of the needy knife-grinder; while another, left to rock a cradle, overturns its baby-charge into the tank. They dive from heights, carrying sticks Out of the water as retriever dogs do, and catch fish and take them unhurt to their master. And one of them has been taught to save life. A man is launched on a raft into the tank, and when the raft cap sizes, the seal seizes him by the collar ot his coat, and swimming on its back, so as, with the lower portion of its body, to keep the man's head above the water, tows him to shore: A "recent visitor to the Island of New Britain, which has lately been annexed by Germany, states that it contains a large population, and is very hilly. Re ferring only to that portion of the coun try which he visited, he states that there are no hereditary chiefs, a man exercis ing influence and authority according to the wealth he possesses. The people are miserably housed, but they are an in dustrious and trading people, who, how ever, have the drawback of being con firmed man-eaters that is to say, they always eat their prisoners ef- war. The young learn quickly, and soon adapt themselves to the ways of civilization. There are volcanocs,and earthquakes are not unfrequent. The rivers contain crocodiles, and there is said to be in the interior a race of men with tails. These remarkable persons appear to be shy of coming down to the coast. - The New York Times remarks that ag riculture makes a garden of the earth ; gold mining makes it a waste and a ruin. This has been the result in California where the hydraulic system of mining has filled the rivers and covered fruitful farms with a waste of barren sand and gravel. The "cursed thirst for gold" is exemplified in its most revolting results in the total wreck and destruction of one of the fairest and most beautiful locali ties in the United States in the mountain region of Northwest Georgia. Here tho picturesque hills, clothed with valuable forests, slope in every direction to ver dant valleys, of which the richly fertile soil gives promise of the most abundant recompense to the husbandman. The clear mountain streams have been en slaved, and in the fetters and bonds of ponderous sluices have been forced to wash the soil from the slopes down into the valleys through the miners' "riffles" for the sake of the wretched pittance of gold it contains. The few cents thus obtained have reduced the land to hope less barrenness, while the money thus obtaiued has been less than a tenth part of the ye?.rly value of any ordinary farm' crop upon the area so destroyed. The result thus unhappily obtained has had another disastrous effect in the financial ruin of the speculators who have thus spread waste and ruin over a fair land in their "cursed thirst for riches;" while, had the land been cleared and made into farms, it would have beautified the face of the country, and made it permanently productive. Typhus Fever. This fever prevails in England, Scot-1 land and Ireland more than elsewhere.' From the latter country it sometimes finds its way to this in emigrant ships, and is known among us as ship fever. In Europe it is called camp, fever, whole armies havinebeen nearly swept away by it. It is sometimes called spotted fever, from the extensive rash thrown out on the body of the patient who is prostrated! by it. Typhus fever is very contagious. It,, however, mainly attacKs only those who come into close contact with it. .Fromi 1Rfi1 tn 1ftU np.arlv fifteen hundred cases' were admitted to Bellevue hospital, New. York over five hundred within the last six months of the period. During that time forty persons connected with the, hospital service took it, as did also' twenty-six patients admitted to the hos-; pital for other diseases. The poison seems to need to be concentrated to be- come dangerous. A single patient sel-; dom communicates it. Crowded, filthy tenements are its breed-; ing places. Epidemics of it prevail in Liverpool more than elsewhere. Largei numbers of the houses in that city are" built back to back in unventilated courts.-; In these quarters the fever often attacks! every person not protected by-a previous1 attack. It is a disease of cold and temperate' climates, and is unknown in the tropics.' It is also largely a winter disease, doubt less because of the lack of ventilation n the filthy lodging-houses of our commer-! cial cities, and the depressing influence of the cold and of the utter destitution of the poor. It attacks persons of every age. Mosfc of the children ninety-five per cent. recover. Of persons over sixty, sixty-six per cent. die. The mortality increases regularly between these ages. A person is seldovn attacked twice by the disease. Its duration, if uncompli cated, is from twelve to twenty-one days. When the crisis is passed, the recovery is exceedingly rapid. The subsequent health is generally good. Medical sci ence knows no means either of curing it or of cutting it short, but simply seeks to palliate the symptoms and to support the system until the poison is eliminated by the proper organs. Youth's Companion. Juvenile Jesters. Lottie was invited with her mamma to a dinner party. A gentleman gravely asked her, "Are you a vegeterian?" "No," promply said Lottie, "I'm a Pres byterian." One morning Freddie arose, looking very much out of 6orts. and soon showed that he was in a very ill humor. "What is the matter with my Freddie this morning?" said mamma. "Are you sick?" "No, ma'am," he said, with a sigh; "but I got up wrong side out." t in ;a i:t.l HOW greeuy you arej oaiu uiic iikwo , girl to another, who had taken the best , apple in the dish; "I was going to take ( that myseli A mite of a boy standing at the out side door was asked if it rained. "No," he replied, "but it leaks a little." A gentleman was giving a little baby boy some peanuts the other day. The good mother said, "Now, what are you going to say to the gentleman?" With childish simplicity, the little fellow looked up in the gentleman's face and replied, "More!" " The best thing to give your enemy is forgiveness: to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to a child a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity. Beware how you allow words to pass for more than they are worth, and bear in mind what alteration is sometimes produced in their current value by the course of time. THE ROLLER SKATE VICTIM. One more unfortunate Trusting the fates, Rashly importunate, Tried on the skates, Pick her up tenderly, Loosen the straps, Fashioned so slenderly Unused to mishaps. Oh, it was pitiful That she should flop, Where a whole city full Must see her drop. Pick her up tenderly, Smooth out her dress, Fashioned so slenderly, Made to caress. Out she struck trustfully, Skating galore, Down she came bustf ully On the hard floor. Pick her up tenderly, So good and so true, Fashioned so slenderly, What could she do ? Bumping inhumanly, Jolting the men, She is pure womanly, And tries it again. Pick her iip tenderly, What does she care ? Fashioned so benderly, So plump and so fair. Me rcha n t- Tra veler. PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS. A club house The police station. A nap is very refreshing to man. Yes, and it would be very refreshing to some coats. Haw&eye. When clothespins are only a cent a dozen there is no excuse for snoring in church. Xeio York Journal. A woman in some States cannot sue and be sued, but she can complain and be courted. New York News. What is the best covering for the head ? demands a Western journal. Hair isn't bad. Binghamton Republican. It is now said that roller skating is dangerous. " Not if the riuk floor is suf ficiently cushioned. Hartford Post. "Hannah More," says a writer, "was a good woman; but she had no corns." That's no excuse for writing poetry. Boston Globe. A woman in Ohio gave $1,000 to a faith cure doctor, who at once disap peared. She was cured of her faith. New York Tribune. , Be pleasant and kind to those around you. The man who stirs his cup with an icicle spoils the tea and chills his own fingers. Lowell Courier. "Papa's pants will soon fit brother" is the first line of a new song, and yet it is said that there is no literary or musical genius in this country. Call. A little skate, A little fall, A broken pate, Laid up that's all. Free Press. -The principal seasons illustrated at the roller skating riuk are "fall" and "spring." Some of the remarks they provoke are summery. Norrktown Her ald. Lady to hackman "How much did you say I have to pay?" "One dollar." "What's your number?" "Fifty cents, you mean, stingy old fraud. Texas Sift ings. "Don't be afraid 1" slid a mob to a German laborer. "Sit down and make yourself my equal." "I would haff to blow my brains out," was the reply of the Teuton. Jules Levy franklysaid to a Louisville reporter, "I am the only great cornctist in the world." And the Philadelphia Call thinks "people with de.icate nerves wish it were true." A Detroit doctor knocked a man down with a club in a street quarrel and then charged him two dollars for fixing up his sculp. You can't stump a doctor with hard times. Burlington Free Pre. "Papa, what is the matter with your neck? I eruess youm going to have a boil." "No, I think not. It is only a little pimple." "Then, papa, it must be a par-boil, ain't it?" Carl PretzeVs. One singer said to another: "My daughter has inherited my voice." "Oh," said the other, with the most innocent air, "that is the explanation, then. I have always wondered where it was." A Boston girl, who saw a fellow with delirium tremens, exclaimed: "Unhappy man ! Why do you permit yourself to get the 'James James?' " The shock re stored the sufferer to his right mind. New York Journal. When rapid transit is finished, Brook lyn married men will have to invent new excuses for being homo late. With the bridge and the elevated road a Brook lyn man's life is being made a hideous dream. Brooklyn Times. - "Connecticutters cat boiled shad." This is a very small thing to build an item out of. If the boiled shad ate Con necticutters, or if the shad ate boiled Connecticutters, then it might be worth a passing mention. Puck. . "Joseph Marmaduke Mullally, how dare you, sir?" exclaimed the inc ignant motheu of a St. Louis boy. "Take your sister's ear muff off your feet instanter, and find your rubbers. Don't be so lazy, toTV'Pitisburg Chronicle. "Medicine stains may be removed from silver spoons by rubbing them with soft ashes and soap-suds." Great (bare, must be exercised in not rubbing the"plating off. This recipe should never be used on solid-silver wedding presents. Puck.. She smote him with the shingle -' . ;'" Till she made him thrill and tingle Because he did not mind bis baby brother, But he soon forgot bis pain And went singing down the lane, "A boy's best friend is his mother." Boston Courier. A Maryland wedding had to be post poned because at the last moment it was found-that somebody had stolen the marriage license. It is curious what chances some fellows do have, even when it would seem as though the last oppor tunity of escape had passed. Hawkeye. An English architect asserts that houses can be made of timber which wil last longer than brick or storie. In many English towns houses of oak and plaster are standing and in daily use that were built 500 years ago. I v t- ' 1
The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 26, 1885, edition 1
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