IE THAT C; A.-. THAT YOC Wish your Advertisement IV REACH 18 the class who read this psper. The Hit of the Season is made by Ayer's Sarsa parilla. Just at this season when Spring and its debili tating days are with us, there is noth inglike Ayer's Sarsaparilla to put new life into the sluggish sys tem. It sweepa away the dull ness, lack of appetite, lan guidness, and pain, as a broom sweeps away cob webs. It does not brace up. It builds up. Its benefit is lasting. D o you feel run down? Take AYER'S Sarsaparilla Send for "Cnrebook." xoo pages. Free. J. C Ayer Co Lowell. Ilaii. For sale by E. T. Whitehead & Co. Scotland Neck. N. C. PBOFESSWKAL. R. A. C. LIVEEMOX, Office O ver the Staton Building. Vmce hours irom y to l o ciock : z to I o'clock, p. m. SCOTLAND NECK, N. C. A. DUNN, ATTORNE Y-A T-L A Scotland Neck, N. C. Practices wherever . his services are required. D AVID BELL, Attorney at Law. ENFIELD, X. C. all the Courts of Hali fax and adjoining counties and in the lax aim itu.jui in lij v,-.......- Supreme and Federal Courts, collected in ail parts of the Sta u i a im a tate. D H. W. J. WARD, Surgeon Dentist, Enfield, N. C. Office over Harrison's Drue Store. E DWARD L. TRAVIS, Attorney and Connselor at Law, HALIFAX, N. C. Money Loaned on Farm Lands. t JOWARD ALSTON, n Attorney-at-Law, LITTLETON, N. C. M C. 31. J? UKUHiri3U-. ATTORNEr-at-LAW, HALIFAX, N. C. t)9 1y P AUL V. MATTHEWS, A TTORNE Y-A T-L A W. rT"Col!ection of Claims a specialty. i.. ENFIELD, N. C. R. C. A. WIIJTEnr.Au, DENTAL Surgeon, Taeboko, N. C. SPRING PARK HOTEL, J. L. SH AW, Proprietor. Littleton, N. C. Good accommodations near Shaw's All-Healing Springs at $1.50 per day. Sunday Bates 1.W. i-zi-om. Points ana Paragraphs of Thing Present. Past and Future. The Greenville Reflector says that "the Physician's Black List for Pitt county is undergoing revision, aDd this is to give notice to all delinquents that if their accounts are not settled by the 15th of April their names will appear j on the black list." N The Commonwealth thinks this is a good idea. If any class of persons in the land ought to be paid, it is the faithful physicians. Tt ho n Inns- time before the . . , . . paople of this country forget Charl.e Ross. There comes news of another such abduction from Burlington, Ver-1 mont. This time it is Earl Sheldon, the son of wealthy Mr. F. M. Sheldon, , . . . . 0 M an, The missing boy is 8 years old and 6 disappeared from the front of his home February 18th and has not been heard from since. His father has offered a large reward to n purpose. Perhaps the kidnap pers are waiting for a larger reward. A terrible conflagration in Chicago last week in which a dozen lives were lost and more than two dozen persons were injured, makes one in the coun try feel safer than in the crowded city There were hundreds of persons in the Knilflinff as hieh asseven stories, and when the alarm of fire was given there was such a panic that a number were hurt ana killed. And indeed the es cape was soon cut off by the flames below. Here in the country we seldom hear J of a life lost by fire ; and after all there . Vf are many advantages in country life nize. vveougntioDe more sauaueu cultivate land to any great extent, nera with our rural surroundings when we ed together in huts unfit for swine, suf- . ,i .j j iu. ..., I rememoer mat uou maue iuo tuuuuj and men made the town." Despite a clear and explicit statute in JNortn uaroima against vruwtjr wi i r i i i animals, there is a blindness and deaf ness to that crime that is almost start ling. Thousands ol loolish ana "smart Aleck" fellows have almost bellowed for the past few weeks for an opportu wffsin.Whnv not had the , i manhood and courage to raiseasmgle protest against the innuman-iiKe prac- tlce of cruelty to animals that comes J daily before their observation, vve believe that men are more afraid of .. iu each other in tnis one wiug man almost any otner. The merchant is afraid to protest before thfi law aeainst anv one overloading u4 t w i t h of a nen- ilia icnui, vjw k ny's worth of goods. The professional man is alraid to protest against any practice of cruelty to dumb animals lest he lose a little patronage. Andsoitgoes. But the unblushing nracticeof such cruelties almost every dav before our eyes is a shame upon the " J: ..ii MioMor, weaK-Kneeuism community. In Germany and Prussia, where the population is very thick, .and forests afarpp.. ana wnere uiey iotu -. 1 . 1 wmIi.. IhAl v hie of trees, they have very strict o.Qf laws -anil we think it is time fr.r na to beein caring for our own, for it is only a question of time when the limited timber resource will have . t . ,1 it tho Tirtuonf. nut reaencu uu n vv.- continued together with the constant waste and destruction." The foregoing is a sensible para- i- SAnthnnrf. Sf.flnniirn. h - t TSTnrth Carolina the land owners have lost largely this year by reason fc (n:f.fin. Tn everv part of the Ul lUlV - m, m State almost there have been destruc Here in Halifax county tive hres the people have sustained grea .. It is a matter that ought to claim the . .. , A .I. . attention ot an ; ior ai me preocui. i 11 nnt. ottimDercuusump-iiu.. r t.Uv fi Arrlinorv Villi Irl long Deiore iumuw - . . n,r.ffi thirt.v vfiars! r . ,. i j u nr m into cobbiuU.u " - - ago paid no attend to tne vaiue timber. Let pur forests be better pre- a ..a lot oil fal interest in it bcTVcvl f nun wv - the people' in towns and cities as well as those in the rural districts. Subscribe to Tire Commonwkaxth. A FLEA FOB THE PACIFICOS. Let it be "Cuba Libre." BY "NEMO. (Copyrighted by Da we & Tabor.) Three years and more have elapsed ance tne pre8entCuban rebellion broke out. It is probable that in history past or to come no parallel to Its conditions will be found. The rulers ol the island, unable to defeat the insurgents, elusive ana triumphant and enduring beyond usual measure in guerilla warfare, are no nearer the actual accomplishment of of their purpose than they were at the I .1 ..l. r k.ilitina Yohiro anrl hnr UUIUI " uU3Mi.w. ghastly hand maiden, Pestilence, have insurgenta . but NatluVs bjlttlin-8 have been balanced by new arrivals of Spanish soldiers meu,some of them ; boys, many ol them iorced almost at bayonet point to take the places of the diseased and the dead. . A pninht the doearedness of the insurgent tfae prlde Qf tQe rulej. hafj beeQ matcbed. The insurgent can hold out indefinitely ; the Spaniard will. V While the stubborn warfare of these unyielding forces has proceetfed with fluctuating reiults that in the long run have nracticallv balanced each other, a tfalrd army of nuioan beings has been 3iowly ground to destruction. Of their woes we must think and, having thought, we must act. Though the Spaniards have been chiefly confined within the limit set up by themselves ; prisoners, in fact, within their own fort ifications, yet they have retained a fear- compelling power over the feeble minds of the children and the timorous natives of both sexes who were afraid to fight and did not dare to flee. These pacificos quietly obeyed the government when orders went forth through the country regions to gather within town limits and stay there. The expected freedom to live in peace under the surveillance "vo , , , . , into death-dealing bondage. Unable to - fai-inrr fmm Innlr nt fond rendered more Ples8 weak-spirited than beiore, they have aiea use mes in auiumu , and in dying have suffered woes that are unequalled even by the bloody suf- Ia. rf t ha a rmoninna nr inn n 3?uh iohusu w r a ridden starvation of the Hindoos. The language of a moderate woman like Clara Barton, the famous Bed Cross heroine ; and the stories pictured by the truthful camera, more than justify these comparisons. In one hospital lonea place where care and tender oversight are expected four hundred ucia ... . . j mo paviiivva liaC uau. vs. aw. w Tfae burfeng of tne jn8Urgents, who, in retelling did so in full expectation oi the fortunes and misiortunes oi war, have been as naught beside the woes of these unhanny non-combatants. -- - . v I Where epain nas uiaiu no uuuuicua uj firQ aQd by sword u haa slam itg HIJN. deeds of thousands-by hunger and by neglect. This has taken place and is etill doing so within ninety miles of the i land that declares in favor of "life, liber ty and the pursuit of happiness." This war-measure of Spain against harmless ones will ever stand out pro- j minently in the annals ot the hrutai I ties of which our race is capaDie. This is not war with its glamour ol t ex- citment ana oi cnauc, but relentless shedding of 1 murder without the blood When a man sees a weak one per- I fiecuted and refuses to side with the weat he is no man. The rule for a i man in tne ruie lor a uanuu. juum . 1 r i: irnivlA. of women and children, helpless and I fi ani ntnrviner. is at our door. t iflst we heain to appreciate it. Their Droten lives, their untimely deaths, thfiir richts to a happier condition are Ifll t,nmaalvaa tlnwlv lind Arstnod mtuiuK iuwuooi? -j mone our people. Every stratum of society is permeated. The great under Wing love of fair-play is stirring this a. m a. at rt ann mm in n nil ii. I naiiun nunu "-" " 1'irirdine it to punish and not to wage " W war. , . , ri .. vf)0o ara U3l us Decareiu. pure ana our ramus . : H Tl,o M of a Dlundering official like meLomeisnouuuu, serveative millions. thought of war over war or even uib such a matter is hn " its ,te fc t the merl - I ni i 1 : pAnrrh RamDrIv fl ntlft i ijoamoenaiu vvft . exceeaingiy . ".-" iwHl never U1AJ,V r. 3 srss-sar it your -e--? "? . . a. j ...a.. iiMiiii ton nrnnn Remedies are held by people in general, l nave never .. - r.Tfnrmedvy amonK ten thous- medicine that gave-as good satisfaction and. Success to it.-U. J4. "owbey, Editor democrat, Albion, ma. if sale byE. T. Whitehead & Co. unworthy our contemplation. It would be an absolute reversion to the barbaric irascibility of olden times. We have grown away from such things. The selfish motives of tobacco factors and Bugar gamblers in pointing out to a great, fairminded country a chance to filch from Spain, because she is weak, that which is heis as truly as New England is ours, has moved us only to condemn and not to approve. We re fuse to add to our racial problems at the nod of self-seeking men. The heart of the nation is unresponsive to such temptation, and futhermore even the terrible Maine disaster, with its sor row and its loss has grandly shown to the world that we are slow to anger and plenteous in conservatism. Despite all guesses to the contrary, our people have refused to believe that the Span ish government could be siHcidal enough to have direct connection with the disaster. We believe that she would foresee more damage to herself than to us in this sudden and horrible event. If this were all that had hap pened, an indemn ity would be sufficient, and a war be quite contrary to Inter national precedents. But while this nation, set in might to lead the Western hemisphere, can stand insults to its vast self it cannot permit inhumanity to its weak neigh bors. It will enter into conflict with Spain not because certain of victory, but because Spain slaughters the inno caut. This nation believes in the glories of peace, but it must be "peace with honor" and not with dishonor that assuredly comes from silence in the presence of brutal abuses. By its own past, it knows full well the horrid cast of war, yet its great, true, heroic hp-irt heats hlorh to declare that it is better to die in protecting the defence less than to live in falsehood to its own grand past. Its conscience is aroused. Its arm is bared to smite and that swiftly, lest there be none of the starv ing left to save. With such a pure motive, its actions will have the cordial good will of European nations. Short, decisive work will be made of the solemn task, and when the smoke has cleared justice will have been done to the unjust, and Cuba Libre" may then develop in quiet its own individuality. AMERICA'S SUMMONS. Copyrighted by Dawe & Tabor. Stand fast America 1 Troubles are falling ; Clouds cover Cuba's star, Sad hearts are calling. Strong sons of Liberty ! Mindful of others, Not vain your natal cry "All men are brothers." Soft have your slumbers been Since your hard testing, Shaded by laurels green, Rightfully resting. Now, when oppression's sting Calls you to waken, Rise, like the eagle king, Night dews off-shaken. Go not in anger forth, Furied by faction ; "Noblesse oblige" not wrath Calls you to action. Soon may war's cruel din Hotly enfold you ; Yet when dark days begin Truth shall uphold you. Stand fast, America ! In the world's story, All men shall praise a war Waged not for glory. Francis H. Tabok. Looks Squally. Wilmington Star A Wilkes, county sign reader has mmeu mo uumvi. , . ill.J . U A mnohAn WA OrA rn- Mng to have it sure enough, ana 1 three vears war. too. The corn blades i a Wilkes have for some time Deen bplit at the end into three sharp sword shaped prongs, we are to nave vur'a rnnlcnt tor each DrOUg. Ihe j -" same thing happened before theRevolu tionary war. when the corn biaaes naa seven prongs, as attested by this sign And the in i iiiiuri mi in n i aiiuui vvuv. . i -t i- " roosters which used to behave them I . .1 U., J.. selves ana ao meircruwiug wu uaj- light how crow throughout the night j v.. .a incf Voaii pnn..nr(. in I lJU il uo , Con9ul Gen "1 , T , Ki hin wr,iVprS I - SUiltCU Ull . w j ine and distributing lots of shooting .. .. stuff. When all these things are hitch ed to the split corn blades it does look of sqUally- . . i .ho hitrhAsf aim in era nnd that the Wide awaKearug uriu . rVT" . tm,. Srrlinr Til., is doing'so, is proven by the following, n I r Tr Vnkimvian "In m v slTrPfln t ri itti nr. rjuiniuaii - -a u -- 7 oa nhamharlain's Colic. Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. Sold by E. T Whitehead & Co. or TALMAGE ON NEWSPAPERS. POWER IN THE SECULAR PBESS. Who Cares for Newspaper Men? in. Another trial of this profession is the fact no one seems to care lor their souls. They feel bitterly about it, though tbey laugh. People sometimes laugh the loudest when they feel the worst. They are expected to gather up religious proceedings and to discuss religious doctrines in the editorial col umns, but who 'expects them to be saved by the srmons they stenograph or by the doctrines they discuss in the editorial columns? The world looks upon Ihem as professional. Who preaches to reporters and editors? Same of them came from religious homes, and when they left ths parental roof, whoever regarded or disregarded, they came off with a father's benedic tion and a mother's prayer. They never think of those eood old times but tears come into the eyes, and they move through these great cities home sick. Oh, if they only knew what a helpful thing it is for a man to put his wearv head down on the bosom of a sympathetic Christ ! He knows how nervous and tired you are. He has a heart large enough to take in all your interests for this world and the next. Oh, men ol the newspaper press, you sometimes get sick of this world, it seems too hollow and unsatisfying ! If there are any people in all the earth that need God, you are the men, and you shall have him, if only this day you implore his mercy ! A man was found at the foot of canal street, New York. As tbey picked him up from the water and brought him to the morgue they saw by the contour o his forehead that he had great menta nanacitv. He had entered the news- paper profession. He had gone down in $ health. He took to articial stimulus He went down further and further, un til one summer day, hot and hungry and sick and in despair, he flung him self off the dock. They found m his pocket a reporter's pad, a lead pencil, a photograph of some one who had loved him long ago. Death as sometimes i will, smoothed out all the wrinkles that had gathered prematurely on hi brow, and as he lay there his face was as fair as when seven years before he left his country home and they bade him good-by forever. The world looked through the window of the morgue and said, "It's nothing but ah outcast," but God said it was a gigantic soul that perished because the world gave him no chance. Let me ask all the men connected with the printing press that they help us more and more in the effort to make the world better. I charge you in the name of God, beiore whom you mus account for the tremendous influence you hold in this country, to consecrate yourselves to higher endeavors. You are the men to fight back this invasion of corrupt literature. Lift up your right hand and swear new allegiance to the cause of philanthropy and re ligion. And when at last, standing on the plains of judgment, you look out upon the unnumbered throngs over whom you have had influence, may it be found that you were among the mightiest energies that lifted men upon the exalted pathway that leads'to the renown of heaven. Better than to have Bat in editorial chair, from which, with the finger of type, you decided them wrong, that you had been some dungeoned exile who, by the light of window iron grated, on scraps of a New TootamAnt. leaf, nicked tin from the earth, spelled out the story of him A V"JVl"""' 7 i who taketh away the sins of the world. Tn eternitv Divee is the beggar. Well, my friends, we will all soon get through writing and printing and proof-reading and publishing. What then? Our Ufa. ?a n hook. Our vears are the inv - - - 1 chapters. Our months are the para graphs. Our days are the sentences. Our doubts are the interrogation points, our imitation of others the quotation marks, our attempts at display a dash death the period, eternity the perora tion. O God, where will we spend it Have you heard the news, more startling than any found in the journals of last six weeks? It la the tidings that man is lost. Have you heard the laddest that was ever an ' u r,- How to Get the System Ready for the Speing. "I always dread the Spring" he said it mal-ps me leel so naa. j. wane i i with ii had taste in my mouth and sense of goneness, and some days I can hardlv null one foot after anotner. Of course anv man who does not look after his system and starts mto the Spring withont getting his blood cleansed from the impuraties that have accumulated through the long winter -.in Viova thn samp! experience. The mi. uc.v w l b thing to do is to begin earlj with bottle of David's Sarsaparilla and use faithfully until the entire system cleansed. No. 083. Made In 64, 48, 42, 36 Inch widths. $2.25 buys this Brass-trimmed White Enameled Bedstead. In stock in all widths; length, 75 inches. It has one inch pillars, two-inch brass rases and caps. This bed retails at from 5 to 6 dollars. Buy of the maker and save the mid dleman's large profits. Our Catalogues are mailed for the asking. Complete lines of Furniture, Carpets, Draperies, Crockery, Pictures, Mirrors, Stoves, Refrigerators, Baby Carriages, Lamps, Bedding, etc., are contained in these books. Our Lithographed Carpet Cata logue showing all goods in hand-painted colors isalso free ; if Carpet Samples are wanted mail us 8o. in stamps. Drop m postal at once to the money-savers and remember that w pay freia-ht this month on pnrehnsea of Carpets, lee Curtains, Por tlers and Rngs amounting to $9.00 and over. Julius nines G Son BALTIKORE, BID. Please mention this Paper. nounced, coming this day from the throne of God, lightning couriers leap ing from the palace gate? The news the glorious news that there is pardon for all guilt and comfort for all trouble ! Set it up in double columns and direct it to the whole race. ACKNOWLEDGES TO THE SECULAR PRESS, j And now be tore 1 close this sermon, thankfully commemorative of the "Two Thousandth" publication, I wish more fully to acknowledge the services rendered by the secular press in the matter of evangelization. All the secular newspapers of the day for I am not speaking this morning of the religious newspapers all the secular newspapers of the day discuss all the questions of God, eternity and the dead, and all the questions of the past, present and future. There is not a sin gle doctrine of theology but has been discussed in the last ten years by the secular newspapers of the country. They gather up all the news of all the earth bearing on religious subjects, then they scatter the news r.broad again. The Christian newspaper will be the right wing of the Apocalyptic angel. The cylinder of the Christian ized printing press will be the front wheel of the Lord's chariot, l take the music of this 'day, and- I do not mark it diminuendo I mark it cres cendo. A pastor on a Sabbath preaches to a few hundred or a few thousand peoDle, and on Monday or during Ihe week the printing press will take the same sermon and preach it to millions of people. God speed the printing press ! God save the printing press l God Christianize the printing press 1 When I see the printing press stand ing with the electric telegraph on the one side gathering up material and the lightning express train on the other side waiting for the tons of folded sheets of newspapers, I pronounce it the mightiest lorce in our civilization. So I commend you to pray h.rall those who manage the newspaper of the laud, for all type-setters, tor all editors, for all publishers, that, sitting or stand ing in positions of such great influence, they mav give all that inUaence lor God and the betterment ot the human race. An aged woman making her living by knitting unwound the yarn from the ball until she found in the center of the ball there was an old niece of newspaper. She opened it and read an advertisement whieh an nounced that she had become heiress to a large property, and that fragment of a newspaper lifted her up from pan nensm to affluence. And I do not know but as the thread of time unrolls and unwinds a little farther, through the silent et speaking newspaper may K. fr.ii.iri vast inheritance of the K- " - world's redemption. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun linns his successive journeys run, His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till suns snail riseand set no more. The base of Ayer's Hair Vigor it a refined and delicate fluid, which does not soil or become rancid by exposure to the air, and which is as perfect a substitute for the oil supplied by na- a it is Mini in vrtllth and health, as modern chemistry can produce. Jbor sale Dy E. T. Whitehead & Co. (i6XiXi)$(Kgi& R.E.L.PITT, TARBORO, N. C. BICYCLES OF ALL KINDS ON HAND. Iver Johnsons, E$100. Pitsburg, $75. .SdSSi-ecialty in repairing. All parls furnished for any bicvele manufac tured. PLUMBING AND ST SAM FITTING AT LOWLsT 1 RICES. 6 251Y 44 Woods Seeds Are Good Seeds" b tne tatfanony of the thousands who have sown, and .are still towing them season after tfaoon. Wood's Descriptive Catalogue k a moat valuable help to the busy gar dener or farmer, all through the year, giving just the informabon he needs about all Seeds, Time for Planting, Best Methods of Culture, Descriptions, and points at to what crops it will pay best to grow. It is really a complete manuallor the Garden and Farm, and will be mailed free upon application. T. W. WOOD & SONS, SEEDSMEN, - - RICHMOND, VA. THE LARGEST SEED HOUSE IN THE SOOTH. Shall I Eeep a Bad Promise. Edtvard 31. Poteat in Our Young People. 1. Better not make one. That is the way to escape the difficulty. Be . sure you know what you are promising, and that it is a worthy and wise promise you are making. Then you will nev er be troubled about keeping a bad promise. 2. Be careful about associates and habits. Do not run the risk of mak ing a bad promise by fissociating with people whose character and habits take the edge off your conscience. Herod had "a good time" with some "friends," got drunk, made a foolish vow, and be ing a coward to start with, he hadn't courage to renounce the folly he had committed. 3. If you have made a bad promise break it. Two wrongs do not make a right. One wicked thing is not re deemed by having another added to it. It is never right to do wrong. It m a virtue to renounce a vice. Conscience recovers her throne by rescinding the bad promise. God desires "truth in the inward parts." And doing wrong for the saKe ot being consistent is not truth in the inward parts. 4. Better endure the consequences of breaking a bad promise than those ol keeping it. Herod was far more dis turbed in conscience by the sight of John the Baptist's head on the charg er than he could have been by the gibes of his companions. "L Nice Place to Goto." Presbyterian Bulletin. This is a little boy's definition of honae, and well may all parents think about it. Blessings attend the builders and keepers ol homes, that are nice places to go to ! Christianity does not l own upon harmless mirth. Let the children have it. With honest intentions we may do what we regard our duty, and by stern detaeaner and numbalcas restrictions and prohibitions make our hooics dreary for our children. Let us be careful or we will pluck up all the flowers that spontaneously grow in tLe pathway ol children and hedge It with thorns, till they will not relish an evening at home. Pimples ox Your Face? "Not very pretty are they?" "Source of mortification sometimes, eh ?" "Always trying something or other to get rid of them ?" "And tbey are as bad as ever?" Well now suppose you go to the bot tom of the matter. There are pimples on your lace because there are impuri ties in your blot 1 that's all there is of it. Let your imples alone and look after your blood and if you will go about it properly your pimples will di . before you know it. Of . A" courge there is nothing like sarsaparilla j or the blood and there is no sarsaparilla like David's. . OLD NEWSPAPERS FOE SALE. 40 cents per hundred. i - J