ADVERTISING
T? TO
BUSINESS
YOU WILL
ADVERTISE
tOUK
Business.
-WHAT STEAM IS
Machinery,
E. E. HILL.IARD, Editor and Proprietor.
'.TKATGKir.T i'uOry.!.! ii POWER.
"EXCELSIOR" IS OUR MOTTO.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $i.oo.
VOL. XTTT. Hew Scries Vol. 2.
SCOTLAND NECK, N. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1897.
Send Your Advertisement in Now.
. i - i
i - - - ' 1
frr ' jX ' IF YOU ARE HUSTLER
ro u ii ii hi r"H i u 1 1 i 1 1 i 1 1 ii ii w iv-d i m ii n ri ' alvis.ktisjs
THAT CI.ArSti OF READERS
Wish your Advertisement
TO KEACU
i the elas who read til it y per.
Fifty Years Ago.
president Folk la the White House chair.
While in Lowell was Doctor Ayer ;
Both were busy for human weal
One to govern and one to heal.
And, as a president's power of will -
Sometimes depends on a liver-pill,
Mr. Folk took Ayer's Fills I trow
For his liver, 80 yean ago.
Ayer's Cathartic Pills
were designed to supply a
model purgative to people who
had so long injured themselves
with griping medicines. Being
carefully prepared and their in
gredients adjusted to the exact
necessities of the bowels and
liver, their popularity was in
stantaneous. That this popu
larity has been maintained is
well marked in the medal
awarded these pills at the
World's Pair 1893.
50 Years of Cures.
For sale" by E. T. Whitehead & Co.
Scotland Neck, N. C.
PROFESSIONAL.
0
R. A. C. LIVERMON,
OmcE-Over the Staton Building.
Office hours from 9 to 1 o'clock ; 2 to
If'Pfc'iTsfk, p. m.-- "
SCOTLAND NECK, K". C.
1 A. DUNN,
ATT ORNE Y-A T-L AW.
Scotland Neck, N. C.
Practices wherever his services are
required. ,
0
AVID BELL,
Attorney at Law,
ENFIELD, N. C.
Practices in all the Courts of Hali
fax and adjoining counties and in the
Supreme and Federal Courts. Claims
collected in all parts of the State.
JJR. W. J. WARD,
Surgeon Dentist,
Enfield, N. C.
Office over Harrison's .Drat" Store'
E
DWARD L. TRAVIS,
Attorney and Counselor at Law,
HALIFAX, N. C.
fXr"Money Loaned on Farm Lands.
0WARD ALSTON,
Attorney-at-Law,
LITTLETON, N. C.
M. FURGERSON.
ATTORNEY-at-LAW,
HALIFAX, N. C.
09ly
P
AUL V. MATTHEWS,
A TTORNE Y-A T-L A W.
Collection of Claims a specialty.
12 2ly
ENFIELD, N. C.
JJR. C. A. WHITEHEAD,
DENTAL
Surgeon,
Tarboro, N. C.
HUDSON'S ENGLISH KITCHEN,
187 Main St., NORFOLK, VA.
Is the Leading Dining Room in the
Cjty for Ladies and fhmt.lffrnMi. Strict
'y a Temperance Place. All meals 26c.
""Hudson's Surpassing Coffee a
'
THE EDITOR'S LEISUBE HOUBS.
Points and Paragraphs of Things
Present, Past and Future.
There is a movement on foot to di
vide the State ot New York when the
next Legislature meets. The new State
is to be called "Manhattan." ' Many
will ravor it and many will ' oppose it
ana aouDtiess coin sides will dv
a J r -1 . -a .
o
reasons.
"Five cent cotton" is assigned by
many a man this season as the reason
for not paying his little debts ; and tru
ly in some cases, no doubt it is a good
reason. But the wise farmer is Be who
plants and plans for home independ
ence regardless of the price of cotton or
tobacco ; and if the low price ol cotton
should bring about home independence
amongst farmers, it might be "a bles-
ing in disguise."
The Virginia Legislature is in session
now, and the chief idea before tbe "Old
Dominion" law makers is a reduction
of the State's expenses.
And this leads us to say that with
almost universal low prices of products
from the farm it would seem proper for
other things to tally somewhat. AH
officers from the President down get as
much salary now as they did when cot-
con was worth four times what it is
now, and when money was plentiful.
Things are very uneven and irregular
and it looks like it may remain so.
Some one has suggested that a "Board
of Pardons" for North Carolina would
be a great relief to the Governor. At
first thought it would seem a commend
able idea, but the people of the State
would like to know what such a "Board"
would cost the public treasury. Twelve
men usualiy do the . work of such
"Board" before the matter goes to the
Governor, and it might be vroll to re
member this before taking such a step.
"Relief" for the Governor might be
a nice thing to lighten his responsibili
ties sometimes, but we fear the "Board"
would desire too much pay.
The editor of the Wilmington Mes
senger and the editor of the North, Car
olina Baptist have had a little conten
tion over the temperance zeal in the
Methodist and Baptist denominations.
The Messenger says that of all the re
ligious bodies the Methodists, ' North
and South, are the most active in the
war on the liquor traffic. With this
statement Tbe Baptist takes issue and
claims that the Baptists are as active
as any other denomination in their ef
forts to suppress the liquor traffic.
The Commonwealth does not pro
pose to be judge in this matter, but is
inclined to believe that the Messenger
has some right to Its claim. However,
we have not known the members of
any religious denomination to exercise
a zeal in the matter equal to the horrors
that follow in the wake ol the great
evil.
Discussing the possibilities of tbe
cotton product in Eastern Carolina, Dr.
Kingsbury, editor of the Wilmington
Messenger, says :
"We know the lateJThomas W, Har
ris, of Halifax, of blessed memory, an
alumnus of the university, more than
fifty years a etsward on the old Roan
oke circuit, the nrst one iormeu m
North Carolina, and one of the wealth
iest men of his county or section, went
to Beaufort county after the war, and
purchased a large plantation near, we
think, the old town of Batb. v His ob
ject was to plant cotton. He told us
after experimenting that the Jana was
positively so rich he eould not make
cotton profitably, it grew so enormous
ly and so thick that the bolls could not
mature. He was forced to abandon
cotton and plant corn. We knew ui.
Robert Patterson of Halifax, a nephew
of the late Bishop Atkinson, to average
more than 100 bushels of corn on some
fifteen or twenty acres, and that too in
war times. So it is not impossible to
mk three bales to the acre provided
the land like Mr. Harriss' andJJr. Pat
ten' is not too rich for cotton, xn
w-iif conntv. as we have more than
once mentioned, we know that the late
Littlebury Manning made on one acre,
5iwwi whim, three bales and exhib-
A them at a Weldon fair, taking a
So what has been none may
premium.
THE GUIDE POST.
IT MUST BE STRONG "EFFORT."
MAKE" THE MOST OF LIFE.
Some Rambling Thoughts.
(Copyrighted by Dawe & Tabor.)
The strength of a muscle comes from
long-continued exercise ; the strength
of an ideal from years of devotion to it
strength of mind from patient train
ing ; strength of character from the
markings left by decades of struggle,
And there is no short way !
Would you seek the royal road to the
pinnacle ot your life's highest possi
bill ties? Then move forward, watch
ing tor a guide-post with the single
word "Effort !" Turn in by it . and
press on, though it does not lead by
flowery paths through valley fields.
Your highest, like a mountain-top
win never seem to move toward you
until you move towards it. Ways o:
life are thus divided : to the doubt
ing and timid ones, the lowly paths
that give no wide outlook ; to the fear
less and purposeful ones, ways that
climb upward, leading by many grand
experiences to a prospect most broad
and to an atmosphere most exhilarat
ing. And what is this upward triumph
over the downward tendencies of our
nature, but tbe counterpart of real
mountain climbing, in which the world
ever grows broader and yet more silent
at every forward step and backward
glance? There, alone with the High
est, our hearts are filled with ming-
ing emotions, our eyes glisten with
tears and we know not why ; save that
we are small, smaller in relation to the
universe than an-4nvisible animalcule
is to us great greater than all cre
ated things if we unite our force with
the Force above, weak weaker- than
veriest thread if we forget our union
with the great human family below ,
sad sadder than we can understand
because so many of our fellows are con
tented with narrow valley-sight. -
THE ROAD OF LIFE.
The sign-poet of,our duty
Is pointing up the hill,
Above the valley's beauty,
That stretches soft and still.
Tbe upward path is dented,
Where heroe's feet have trod ;
Yet we would lie contented
Upon the flower-strewn sod.
'Tis ill to stjjy repining, 4
Because the" way is long ;
For vigor comes with climbing,
And effort makes us strong.
And though it-be not given
To us to reach the skies ;
To know how we have striven
May help another rise."
Effort overcometh the world, lor
effort is faith in one's self, and in the
value of life, and in the right of tbe
world to the best we can accomplish.
Effort well-sustained and well-directed
-this is the victory. But would you
seek a shorter way ? Then use "Long
ing" as your guide-post. It leads by
dream paths to golden glories that
vanish when you awake. It woos you
with dazzled eyes out into a dreary
desert and leaves vou to enjoy the sub
stance of a mirage. It weakens your
manliness for action, not longing, is
life. Far better to toil the path that
has been proved by all the ages.
The strong are those who make the
most of life as it comes to tnem ; who
spurn indolence as they would scorpi
ons ; who turn the defeats of life into
more certain victories by struggling on
when all seems lost ; who yield to
neither difficulties nor disappointments,
not because they stop to argue out ad
vantages, but because the spirit of a
true man despises yielding cannot
yield ! These are the ones who stand
serene after great resistings, whose
deeds no matter about men's names I
are woven into every progress, and
whose freely spent efforts are the secret
of human triumphs. They area good
ly company, whom no perishable book
shall ever fully record, but whose works
live though the hands that wrought be
dead. -
Herein is your hope and mine, hum
ble men of purpose. Shall we credit
Luther with the Reformation? No !
rather he merely voiced a feeling that
was moving resistlessly through the
awakening European giant. Without
that dumb cry tor freedom of thought
a cry. that was not solely a religious
protest he might well have lingered
within the scholastic wans, oi witten-
i - shall m nainr, una siiruera ui
Ayer's Pills, being composed of the
essential virtues of the best vegetable
aperients, without any of tne woody or
fibrous, material whatever, is the reason
why they are so much" more effective
and valuable than any other cathartics.
The best familr physic. Sold by E. X.
Whitehead & Co.
) Declaration as neroesr res, - if you
will. Yet surely they came to the
front because there was a public opin
ion back of them, and this was made
up.of these nameless yet conscientious
elements of a country's life that are
tbe substratum and tbe very substance
also of all great forward movements
Ann on tne otner Hand snail we
credit Alanc with disrupting the Ro
man Empire? No ! his strength con
sistea in tne weakness of his enemies
who, raised to Heaven by their privi
leges, brought themselves down to
destruction ; not by the wickedness of
any one man, but the general unrighte
ousness and consequent feebleness ' of
tbe many. -
Alas ! the strong and the weak to
gether make up a nation, and its con
tinuous power is possible only by an
increase of the strong and a decrease of
the weak. The weak are those who do
not utilize life to the full ; who, loving
the comfort of the hot house, perish
at the sincere chidings of the north
wind ; who crumble like sand ramparts
at tbe first touch of the ocean of test
ing that all characters must endure if
they would be true ; who seek for them
selves the quiet niches of life, satisfied
to forego the honors if only they can
escape the strivings that precede hon
ors ; who, like tropic sayages, are con
tent with food secured without labor
and much sleep with late awakenings ;
who being weak are selfish, and shut
away their compassion from struggling,
eager humanity whose efforts they
scorn, but whose shoe-strinsrs thev are
not worthy to unloose ; who have the
forms of men but the virulent softness
of jelly-fish ; who have the outer ap
pearance of manly grandeur but tbe
attributes of internal parasities, hid
den, despised, invertebrate, yet ever ted
by others'. labor.
Choose ye this day your classT
Proper Pronunciation of "Arkansas."
Richmond Dispatch.
For many years there was a " conten
tion among Arkansas's best intormed
citizens as to the correct pronunciation
of the name oi this State. Most per
sons prenounced it as it was spelled,
while others, especially the early set
tlers and their descendants, pronounced
the name P3 if spelled "Ar-kan-saw,"
bllowing, as they believed, the pro
nunciation used by the Arkansas In
dians, tbe aborigines of this country,
rom whom the territory derived its
name.
Erom 1844 to 1848 Arkansas was re
presented in the United States Senate
by Mr. Chester Ashley and Mr. Am
brose H. Sevier. Mr. Chester Ashley,
a New Englander by birth, always pro
nounced the name of the State phonet
ically, as it is spelled "Ar-kan-sas."
Mr. Sevier, a Tennesseean, the grand-
nephew of Colonel John Sevier, the
hero of King's Mountain and the Gov
ernor of the "State of Franklin," as
Tennessee was then called, always gave
to tbe last syllable of the name of his
adopted State the pronunciation of the
broad "a," as. if it were spelled "Ar kan-
saw." At tnat time mr. .uaiias was
Vice-President, and he made one of
the most courtly presiding officers the
Senate ever had. Mr. Dallas, in ad
dressing Mr. Ashley, alwaysxsaid, "the
Senator from Ar-kan-sas," while Mr.
Sevier was always "the Senator from
Ar-kan-saw."
The opinions of tbe Arkansas people
differed on this subject, as did the
opinions of the senators. Finally, to
settle the disputation, the General As
sembly of 1881 appointed a learned and
able committee to investigate the whole
ubject. This committee made a crit
ical and exlfausive examination, and,
based upon tbe report of this commit
tee, the General Assembly unanimous
ly adapted the following resolution :
"Concurrent resolution declaring the
proper pronunciation of the name oi
the State of Arkansas :
Whereas, confusion of practice has
arisen in tne pronunciation oi tne
name of our State, and it is deemed
important that tbe true pronunciation
should be determined for use in oral
official proceedings ; and,
"Whereas, the matter has been thor
oughly investigated by the State His
torical Society of ' Little Rock, which
have agreed upon the correct pronuncia
tion, as derived from history and the
early use of the American immigrants :
be it, therefore, . '
'Resolved by both - houses of the
General Assembly, That the only true
pronunciation of the name of the State,
in the opinion of this body, is that re
ceived by the French from the native
Indians, and committed to writings in,
the French word representing the
sound, and that it should be pronounc
ed in three syllables, with the hnal 's'
silent, the 'a' in each syllable with the
Italian sound, and the accent on the
first and last syllables, being tbe pro
nunciation iormerly universally and
now still most commonly used, and
that the pronunciation with the ac
cent on tbe second syllable, with " the
sound of a' in 'man' and the sounding
of the terminal 's' is an innovation to
be discouraged." March, 1881.
? This closed the discussion. ' Every
body in Arkansas now pronounces the
name of the State "Ar-kan-saw,"
RESCUED FROM RUIN.
NOW IN BALEIGH.'
Two Little Country Girls Flee From
a Drunken Father.
News & Observer.
Little Martha Ganey aged 13 and
her sister Ida, aged 10, arrived here
night before last on tbe tram from
Goldsboro.
A Rind gentleman paid their fare to
Selma and two othersrPythians, so a
good lady said yes'terday, brought them
ou from Selma, and this morning early
the little country girls have happily
gone to woik to do as best they can, the
duties of a factory girl, tor Mr. Stanhope
Wynne has given them employment
No longer will a cross and cruel father,
raging from drunken frenzy, make
their lives miserable.
Some months ago these little girls
left their father's home at Gully's Mill
anareacnea mis city only to be car
ried home to receive the harsh words
of a drunken parent. Soon, however,
matters grew even worse than they
had previously been and the mother
though it broke her heart to part with
her loved children, sent them to
Goldsboro with her permission to
find shelter wherever they could
anything in preference to living in the
home with. a man fast becoming a
beast.
And so it came to pass that with
out work the little women would be
without food and they were sent here.
Yesterday a News and Observer re
porter called to see them at the Union
House, near the Passenger depot and
ittle Martha talked freely.
She is a cute little being with bright
sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks and waving
sable locks, and looking at you with
that frank glance and speaking in sln-
cerest tones she tells a story of a life
pitiable in the extreme. In speaking
ot her home life and why she left the
ittle tot said : "Dad cut up, rared and
messed so much, Mur told us if we
could git us a home we might go to it,
nd now we've found work. I want to
ork, that's what I can do."
"Was your father bad to your moth
er?" 1 asked.
"He never was bad to Mur," she con
tinued, "for it he tackled her she was
man enough to down him."
"But I thought your mother was a
trail woman?" v
"Oh, she don't look so good and
strong, but if you'd bang on to her
you'd find out. She's no puny thing
and dad ain't crabbed with her, but
he's right smart and crabbed with us."
Just here Officer Rogers said the
tjme to leave had arrived and little
Martha said good-bye to the kind lady
who cared so tenderly for her, but Ida
who was older, feared the brass buttons
and shied past the big policeman. The
two were finally ready to go and with a
merry laugh the two began their jour
ney through the sterner life.
Wouldn't Spank Him.
motor.
Father, what does a printer live on?
Live-on? The same as other lolks
of course, why do you ask Johnny?
Because you said you hadn't paid
anything for your paper and the prin
ter still sends it to you.
Wife, spank that boy.
I shan't do it.
Why not?
Because there is no reason to.
No reason ? Yes there is. Spank
nim I tell you and put him to bed.
I shan't do any such thing. What
in tbe world do you want him spand
ed for?
He Is too smart.
Well, that comes ot your marrying
me.
What do you mean?
I mean just this, that boy is smart;
than his father, and you cannot deny it.
He knows enough to see that no man,
printer or no printer, can live on noth
ing ; and I should think you would be
ashamed of yourself not to know as
much.
. r ,
How to Prevent Pneumonia.
At this time of the year a cold is
very easily contracted, and if let to run
its course without the aid of some re
liable cougfi medicine is liable to re
result in that dread disease, pneumon
ia. We know of no better remedy to
cure a cough or cold than Chamber
lain's Cough Remedy. We have used
it quite extensively and it -has always
given entire satisfaction. Oolagah,
Ind. Ter. Chief, ?
This is the only remedy that is
known to be a certain preventive of
pneumonia. Among the many thou
sands who have used it for colds and
la grippe we" have never yet learned of
a single case haying resulted in pneu
monia. Persons who have weak lungs
or have reason to fear an - attack of
pneumonia, should keep the remedy
at hand: The 2it and 50 cent sizes for
sale by E. T. Whitehead & Co:
No. 203.
This quarter-flawed
oak writing'
desk la pol
ished like a
piano. It
has a 9-inch
beveled
J late glass
n top and a
deep drawer
below. Ar
tistic French legs:
also finished
in mahogany.
Q3.95
Is our spec
ial price for
this S10 desk.
(Mailorders filled promptly.)
We will mail anyone, free of all
charges, our new 112 page Special Cata-
.veuo, wuuuuiog t urnnure, ura penes,
Lamps. Stoves, Crockery. Mirrors,
Pictures. Bedding;. Refrigerators, Baby
Carnages, etc This is the most oom
. plete book ever published, and we pay
all postage. Our lithographed Carpet
Catalogue, showing carpets In colors, ia
also yours for the asking. If carpet
samples are wanted, mail ua 8c. in
if & urB 18 no reason why you
ouvuiu imjr juur jutau neater ou per
cent, profit when you can buy from
the mill. Drop a line now to the
money-savers.
JULIUS HINES & SON.
DtUluHUrB, Liu. M
Please mention this paper.
FOR
IsTOW
Coopers
ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA-
Secures the Highest Prices for the Tobacco Farmers.
Every Customer's wants are met if possible, and every needed attention
and courtesy is rendered. -
Best of all
Good Prices are the result of Sales every Day.
I am anxious to serve my friends,
I respectfully solicit
C.
9 9 3m
Hygienic Value of Singing.
iV. Y. Home Journal.
When one considers how many thous
ands of young men and women are
tudying the art of einging, and how
very lew of them ever learn it well
enough to earn their living by it, or to
give anybody much pleasure, one feels
nclined to look on tbe vast amount of
time spent on Vocal exercises as so
many hours wasted. But there is an
other point of view which is not often
enough emphasized. In a recent num
ber of a German journal devoted to lar-
yngolgy Dr. Barth 'has an article dis
cussing with German thoroughness the
utility of singing from a hygienic point
of view. Every bodily organ is
strengthened by exercise ; singers ex
ercise their, lungs more than any other
people ; therefore, he says, we find that
singers have the strongest and sound
est lungs. The average German takes
into his lungs 3,200 cubic centimeters
of air at a breath, while professional
singers take in 4,000 to 5,000. The
tenor Gunz was able to fill his lungs at
one gasp with air enough to suffice for
the singing of the whole of Schumann's
song, "The Rose, the Lily," and one of
the old Italian sopranists was able to
thrill up and down the chromatic scale j
two octaves in one breath.
Tne singer not only supplies his
lungs with more vitalizing oxygen than
other persons do, but he subjects tbe
muscles of his breathing apparatus tor
several Hours a day to a course of most
beneficial gymnastics. Almost all tbe
muscles of the neck and chest are di
rectly involved in these gymnastics.
The habit of deep breathing cultivated
by singera enlarges the chest capacity,
and gives to singers that erect and lm-
noiiine attitude, which is so desirable-
and so much admired. The ribs, too,
are rendered more elastic, and singers
not in old age suffer from the breath
ing difficulties to which others are so
much subject. By exercising so many
muscles singing furthermore improves
the appetite, most vocalists being noted
for their inclination to good meals.
The nose of a singer is kept in a healthy
condition by being imperatively and
constantly needed tor breathing pur
poses, the injurious mouth breathing
so much indulged in. by others being
impossible in this case. That the ear,
too, is cultivated, need not be added.
In short, there is hardly any Kind of
gymnastics that exercises and benefits
so many organs as singing does.
Our Grandmothers' Remedy.
Cougb medicine will not cure eon
sumption, but Dr. David's Cough Syrup
will cure tbe cough which, if neglected,
will end In consumption. -Pure pine
.noar-nound and wild cherry-Onr
tar,
grandmothers', remedy.
WATCHES!
We are always ready to sell you the
right kind of a time-piece at the right
kind of a price. There is nothing
better than the best, and no honest man
can sell an honest article lower than
the low water mark. There is a limit
both ways, and we come up to those
limits and offer you as good as you can
get as cheap as it can be sold. If you
want an honest reliable watch at tbe
lowest possible price, patronize us. .
Watches, Diamonds, Jewelry, Solid
Silverware, Clocks, &c. for sale. Our
persona attention of 40 years experi
ence given to repairing. Satisfaction
guaranteed.
JAS. H. BELL,
The Jeweler,
TARBORO, N. C.
2 18 ly
Subscribe to
The commonwealth.
1897
OPEUI
Warehouse,
and thanking them for past custom
it again for this season.
C. COOPER,
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C.
IV. L. DOUGLAS
$3 SHOE thVJd.
-o For 14 years this shoe, by merit
alone, has distanced all competitor.
W. L. Douglas S)3.SO, S4.00 and
Shoes are the productions of skilled workmen,
from the best materia! possible at these prices.
Also SJS.SO and fS.ee shoes for men, SjjaM),
SS.OO and 91.7& for boys and youths.
W. L. Douglas shoes are indorsed
by over 1,0"0,0U0 wearers as the best
in style, fit and durability of any
shoe ever offered at the prices.
Tbey are made In all tbe latest
shapes and styles, and of every vari
ety of leather.
. If dealer cannot supply yon, write for catav
logue to W.L. Douglas, Brockton, Mass. Sold by
E. SHIELDS,
SCOTLAND NECK, N. C.
11 11 3m.
Where
WE BUY, SELL
AND EXCHANGE
-TO GET-
BOOK.S,.
Furnishing tfiO new
Books nt Pui.'ishrra'
Prices when we have
not the Fcceii'l hand
BOOKS !
AT HALF PRICE !
Send for Catalogue and Frier s.
Best & Cheapest Staiisnerr
TO BE HAD !
SOUTHERN BOOS EXCHANGE,
No. 127 Fayetteville St. Phone 253 B
M.M. Smith,
9 232m Raleigh, N. C.
Mention this paper.
NIMO & HUBBARD,
-GENERAL-
Commission Merchants
And Dealers in
COUNTRY PRODUCE AND SOUTH
ERN FRUITS.
Quick Sales. Trial Ship-
PrompReturns. ments Solicited.
No. 15 Roanoke Dock,
NORFOLK, -VIRGINIA-
- s) M4SS . 'i "",
' ' " ..." ",'"-'!
Reference: City .National Bank, Nor-
First National Bank, Gainsville,
9306m
'V
owialtv. llBly
be done again;