„DESIRE OF DISTINCTION.
Quaint Illustration cf a Peculiar
Phase of H uman Nature.
In "Doc Gordon," by Mary E. Wii
ktns-Froeman, is a quaint illustration
«f a peculiar phase of human uature.
It develops with the visits of the two
doctors to their poorer patients:
James drove all the morning with
Dr. Gordon about the New Jersey :
country- The country people wore
either saturnine with an odd shyness,
which had something almost hostile fti
it, or they were effusively hospitable,
forcing apple jack upon the two doc
tors. James was much struck by the
curious unconcern shown by the rela
tives of the patients and even by the
patients themselves. In only one case
that of a child suffering from a bad
case of measles, was much interest
•evinced. The majority of the patients
were the very old and middle aged,
and they discussed and heard discussed
their symptoms with much the'same
attitude as they might have discussed
the mechanism of a wooden doll. If
any emotion was shown, it was that
of a singular inverted pride. "I had a
terrible night, doctor," said one old
woman, and a smirk of self conceit '
was over her ancient face. "Yes, moth
er did have an awful night." said her
married daughter, with a triumphant
expression. Even the children cluster
ing about the doctor looked uncon
sciously proud because their old grand
mother had had an awful night. The
call of the two doctors at the house
was positively hilarious. Quantities of
old apple jack were forced upon them.
The old woman in the adjoining bed
room, although she was evidently suf
fering, kept calling out a feeble joke in
her cackling old voice.
Those people seem positively elated
because that old soul is sick," said
James when he and the doctor were
again In the buggy.
They are," said Dr. Gordon; "even
the old woman herself, who knows well
enough that she has not long to live.
Did you ever think that the desire of
distinction was one of the most, per
haps the most, intense purely spiritual
emotion of the human soul? Look at
the way these people live here, grub
bing away at the soil like ants. The
most of them have in their lives just
three ways of attracting notice, the
momentary consideration of their kind
—birth, marriage, sickness and death.
With the first they are hardly actively
concerned; even with the second many
have nothing to do. There are more
women than men, as usual, and, al
though the women want to marry, all
the men do not There remains only
sickness and death for a standby, so to
speak. If one of them is really sick
and dies, the people are aroused to
take notice. The sick person and the
corpse have a certain state and dignitj"
which they have never attained before.
Why. bless you, man, I have one pa
tient, a middle aged woman, who has
been laid up for years with rheuma
tism, and she is fairly vainglorious, and
:SO Is her mother. She brags of her in
valid daughter. If she had been mere
ly an old maid on her hands, she would
"have been ashamed of her, and the wo
man herself would have been sour and
•discontented. But she has fairly mar
ried rheumatism. It has been to her as
a husband and children. I tell you,
young man, one has to have his little
footstool of elevation among his, fel
lows, even if It is a mighty queer one,
or he loses his self respect, and self
respect tethe best jewel we have."
Much Wanted.
The following advertisement quoted
from a Boston paper of a date early in
the nineteenth century by Mr. Janson
In "The Stranger In America," shows
that the domestic problem is not one
of modern manufacture. But what
mistress of today would dare to im
pose such conditions on the hindrance
In the kitchen?
Much Wanted: A neat well behaved
female to do kitchen work in a small
family in Charlestown, near Boston.
She may pray and sing hymns, but
not over the dish kettle. She may go
to meeting, but not belong to the con
gregation of midnight worshipers.
Inquire at Repertory office, near Bos
ton.
A Natural Fortress.
In the northern part of Madagascar
Is the most remarkable natural fortress
In the world. It is occupied by a wild
tribe who call themselves the People of
the Rocks. The fortress is a lofty and
precipitous rock of enormous size, 1,000
feet high and eight square miles in
area. Its sides are so steep that it
cannot be climbed without artificial
means. Wfthin it is hollow, and the
only entrance is by a subterranean
passage.—St. James' Gazette.
Thrift.
There is an old fashioned word that
ought to come into use again—thrift.
There are a distressing number of
shiftless people in the world, and,
while we shall call no names, we hope
every reader will pause at this para
graph and think seriously of thrift and
shlftlessness. —Atchison Globe.
fV.
The Changed View.
Every man takes care that his neigh
bor does not cheat him. But a day
comes when he begins to care that he
does not cheat his neighbor. Then all
goes well. He has changed his market
cart Into a chariot of the sun.—Emer
son.
A Little Ball.
Cassidy— Ah, well, no wan kin pre
vint w'at's past an' gone. • Casey—Ye
could if ye only acted quick enough.
•Cassidy—Go 'long, man! How could
yer? Casey—Stop it before it happens.
—Kansas City Independent.
A common danger produces unanim
ity.-Latin Troverb.
\ I
%
DID LEE EXPECT DEFEAT?
The General's Significant Statement
After Sailors Creek.
My last official intercourse with Gen
eral Lee was on the retreat. I was
sent to him with dispatches from Pres
ident Davis and reached him near mid
night of April 6 near Rice's station. I
approached without being challenged
by a single sentinel and found him
standing near a smoldering fire with
one of his hands resting on an am
bulance wheel. He was dictating some
order to Colonel Marshall, who sat in
the ambulance with a lap desk receiv
ing his dictation. As General Lee
spoke he gazed into the bed of coals
as If weighing every word. There was
no staff or escort about, so far as 1
could see. Touching Sailors Creek, he
spoke bitterly and said in answer to
Mr. Davis' desire to know his proposed
line of retreat that it was beyond his
control; that he had intended to re
treat by the line of the Danville road,
but had been forced off that route by
the arrival of Sheridan ahead of him
at Burkville; that he was then follow
ing the line of the Southside road to
Lynchburg, but the enemy was out
marching him and might force him off;
that his movements were dependent
on the developments of each hour, and
then he added: "How can I tell? A
few more Sailors Creeks and It will all
be over—just where I thought it would
end from the beginning." When I first
published this statement its truthful
ness was questioned. Fortunately I
afterward saw two of his staff, both
of whom said they had heard him ex
press himself in the same way. There
may have been times when General
Lee, elated by some of his surprising
Cuccesses, felt hopeful about the tri
mph of our cause. From the proba
bilities based on numbers and resources
his judgment may have been warped
away now and then by the feeling he
expressed when, after Second Manas
sas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville, he said, "No general
ever commanded such troops as those
under me." But his mind was too
mathematical in its workings, and all
its calculations were too habitually
based upon what could be done with
a given number of men and a certain
amount of material to make him forget
the vast disparity between the contest
ants or hope for ultimate triumph.—
John S. Wise in Circle Magazine.
A WITTY JUDGE.
His Conclusions on the Evidence of
Ditto and True.
The late lion. Noah Davis, well
known throughout the country as the
judge who tried and sentenced Boss*
Tweed, was justly celebrated in many
ways. He was of that type of jurist
for which western New York was
famed during the half century follow
ing 1850. Orleans county is proud of
him as one of her noblest and most dis
tinguished sons. He was slightly
above medium height, full habited,
large head, fine, clean cut face —indeed,
a striking figure in any community. He
was a well read lawyer, an honest,
fair minded judge, with a keen sense
oi numor and withal something .of a
writer and poet The following lines
from his pen, written on the spur of
the moment and in the midst of a trial,
Illustrate the alertness and quality of
his mind. They are perhaps the best
play upon words of which we have any
record in the English language.-
It was at the Niagara circuit In the
early seventies. Judge Davis presided.
An action In ejectment was called.
The dispute was over a party wall or
a division line. It was purely a ques
tion for the civil engineer. The divi
sion line established and the case was
won. The defendant's attorney, realiz
ing this, called as expert witnesses the
Hon. John A. Ditto, city engineer of
Buffalo, and the Hon. A. R. True, the
engineer who constructed the canta
lever bridge over Niagara river at the
falls. They were two of the most emi
nent civil engineers in the state. They
made a survey of the premises and es
tablished the division line as contended
for by the defendant and when called
to the witness stand so testified, giving
monuments, courses and distances with
such minute exactness that they could
not be successfully controverted. The
moment True, who followed Ditto as a
witness, left the stand, Judge Davis
wrote these lines and passed them to
the clerk to hand to plaintiff's counsel:
Since True swears ditto to Ditto,
And Ditto swears ditto to True,
If True be true and Ditto be ditto,
I think they're too many for you.
—Daniel H. McMillan in Buffalo Truth.
Man and His Sweet Toothi
"If you want to have that tradition
upset about women only having a
sweet tooth," remarked the stenogra
pher who works downtown, "just go
into a quick lunch room occasionally
and watch the men who drink coffee
or chocolate with their midday meals.
I givei you my word I have seen not
one, but many men, put six lumps of
sugar Into their one cup of coffee or
chocolate and then eat apple pie that
is fairly covered with powdered sugar."
—New York Press.
Makes a Difference.
A girl who used to make all sorts of
fun of those who were poor spellers
is now receiving three fat letters a
week from a man who can't spell cor
rectly more than forty words alto
gether. But he has a big, nice house
and money in the bank—and that spells
something to her. Howard (Kan.)
Courant.
Perhaps She Did.
"Did your daughter inherit her tal
ent for drawing?"
"Well. I never thought of it before,
but it may be that she did. One of m*
brothers is a dentist!"-Chicago FK'
ord-Hr::! V
i
The Rocky Mount Record, FefcSaryo^iyu^^^
A BOWL OF BITTER TEA.
rfimalayan Hospitality In a Sno*
Enveloped Hovel.
In spite of a poverty which limits
their good intentions the inhabitants
of central and south central Asia dis
play a charming hospitality. Such, at
least, is the impression gained from
Mr. Ellsworth Huntington's book, "The
Pulse of Asia."
At Matayan, a village in the prov
ince of Ladakh, the habitable portion
of the upper Indus valley, a friendly
villager invited Mr. Huntington to dive
down from the crust which covered
eight or ten feet of snow into a one
story house. This was at an elevation
of 10,500 feet
Although it was April 11, the snow,
even on a level, was higher than the
tops of the houses. Where it had been
shoveled off the flat roofs it formed
high banks, protecting them from the
wind and making them the favorite
sitting room at that season and even
in winter, for the sunshine is always
warm in that dry, cloudless climate.
When the little black cows had been
driven and pulled out of the way Mr.
Huntington descended to an almost
closed shed used for the two or three
hardy sheep and goats and was usher
ed, stooping, into a dark stable con
taining a little pony, shaggy, like all
the animals. Bending low once more,
he climbed over a high sill and was in
the warm, close family living room.
Light and air came in through a hole
in the roof a foot square surmounted
by a chimney pot a foot high made of
three stones set up to keep out the
snow. A few bits of ragged cloth on
the mud floor for sleeping purposes, a
half dozen metal utensils and an iron
pot full of Himalayan tea, kept warm
over some embers, comprised all the
visible equipment for housekeeping.
After the host had persuaded Mr.
Huntington to take a seat on the floor
a half palsied old woman insisted upon
ladling out for him a bowl of tea. It
was surprisingly good in view of the
fact that a poor grade of tea leaves
had been steeped half an hour or more
with milk, butter, salt and soda. In
richer houses Mr. Huntington was
often served with tea which had been
improved by being churned violently
in a slender, greasy black churn, twen
ty inches long by four in diameter, in
order to mix the rancid butter well
into the compound before it was turn- j
ed into the drinking bowls.
*
DANTE'S HUMOR.
It Is of the Wholly Unconscious Kind .
and Woefully Grim.
The humorous side of Dante is ana
lyzed in the Westminster Review by !
George Trobridge, who is a great ad
mirer of the famous poet and who has
in previous writings expressed his ap
preciation of Dante as a nature poet
and as a novelist.
Although Dante's great poem is a :
"comedy," in the sense of being a
drama working to a happy ending, we
do not look for ridiculous situations in
it, such as we usually associate with
the idea of comedy. Ridiculous situa
tions occur nevertheless, and there is
no lack of humor even in the poet's de
scription of the sufferings of the Tost,*
Dante's humor, however, is of the un
conscious kind, arising from a total
lack of perception of the ludicrous. It
is said that he was never seen to smile,
and we can quite believe it, since he
never forsakes sober seriousness In his
writings, and it is his deadly earnest
ness that betrays him into occasional
comicality.
The sinners in hell, the poet tells us,
are relegated to their proper quarters
on the judgment of Minos, who indi
cates the particular circle to which the
culprit is consigned by wrapping his
tall so many times around his bestial
body. Fancy the trembling sinner
waiting to count the coils that he may
know his fate!
It is a horrible punishment which is
assigned to those guilty of simony, to
be buried head downward in a circular
pit, with only the legs and feet pro
truding, while flickering flames glide
over the soles of the latter, inflicting
exquisite torture, yet our sense of hu
mor is provoked by the description of
Dante standing over one of these holes
and holding a conversation with its oc
cupant, "reversed, and as a stake
driven in the soil," jrhile numberless
legs wriggle in "ntinual motion
around him.
Fish Spearing by Firelight.
In the sunny south in the blue wa
ters of the Mediterranean one may fre
quently behold the strange sight of
fishermen reaping a rich harvest with
the aid of a long forklike instrument,
which is used in place of a net There
the ancient "peche aux flambeaux," a
singular custom of fishing at night by
the light of a blazing fire, still exists,
enabling hundreds of hardy toilers of
the deep to gain a livelihood. —Wide
World Magazine.
Ono Good Turn, Etc.
Third Floor Tenant—See here! I'm
one of a committee of men In this
apartment, and I've called to ask you
sell your flute. Second Floor Ten
ant—Delighted to see you. I'm one
of another committee and was about
to go up and ask you if you'd sell
your baby.—Lippincott's.
Touching.
"Not a cent," replied the rich man
coldly. "Money is not good for the
poor."
"Well," responded the applicant,
"just pretend that you have a grudge
against me."—Philadelphia Ledger.
Obliging Jailer.
Mayor—Where are you going? Vil
lage Constable—The three tramps I
just locked up want to play whist,? arid
I'm looking for a fourth.—Transatlan
tic Tries.
■V x .
A LESSON IN GERMAN.
Follow It Closely and You Will See
How Really Simple It Is.
Among the Hottentots (Hottentoten
in German) the kangaroos (Beutelratte)
are found in great numbers. Many of
them wander over the country free
and unmolested; others, less fortunate,
are taken by hunters and put into
cages (Kotter) provided with covers
fLattengitter) to keep out the rain.
These cages are called in German Lat
tengitterwetterkotter, and the kanga
roo after his imprisonment takes the
name of Lattengitterwetterkotterbeu
telratte. One day an assassin (Atten
tates was arrested who had killed a
Hottentot woman, Hottentotmutter,
the mother of two stupid and stutter
ing children in Straettertrottel. This
woman in the German language is en
titled Hottentotenstraettertrottelmut
ter, and her assassin takes the name
Hottentotenstraettermu ttertaeter. The
murderer was confined in a kangaroo's
cage Beutelrattenlattengitterwetter
kotter—when a few days later he es
caped, but fortunately he was recap
tured by a Hottentot, who presented
himsejf jip* the mayor's oilice with
beaming face.
"I have captured the Attentaeter."
said he.
"Which one?" replied the mayor.
"We have reveral."
"The Attentaeterlattengitterwetter
kotterbeutelratte."
"Which Attentaeter are you talking
about?' -j.
"About the HotMatotenstraetter
trottskn u ttera tten ta etisr."
"Then why don't you say at once the
Hottentotenstrattel mu ttera 11 e ntaerlat
tengitterwetterkotterbeutelratte?"
The Hottentot fled in dismay.
THE AWKWARD "MRS."
Single as Well as Married Women
Once Carried This Title.
A curiously awkward word, if it be
a word, is "Mrs." It is not spelled as
it is pronounced—no one but a Welsh
man or a Pole would be equal to pro
nouncing it as it is spelled—and its pro
nunciation is a clumsy contraction of
the good old English designation "mis
tress."
In the days of old, when leisure had
not become, as it is now, almost a for
gotten* luxury and people were; less
anxious to clip their speech, the full
pronunciation was often used, and
"mistress" was not altogether elbdwed
out of existence by the vulgar ''«ifesis."
But nowadays "mistress" has drop
ped put, and consequently the con
tracted pronunciation of "Mrs." has
prevailed and holds the field.
Another point worth noting in the
histcMfy of the designation is that about
150 years ago and earlier "Mrs." wa3
applied quite impartially to unmarried
as well as married ladies. Even chil
dren were sometimes styled "Mrs."
The burial of an infant daughter of
John Milton, who died at the age of
flVe months, is recorded in the parish
register of St Margaret, Westminster,
and her name is entered as "Mrs. Kath
erlne Milton," followed by a small "c,"
t> indicate that a child is meant But
may be regarded as an exceptional
tltpJStle*—St James' Gazette.
A Sabbatarian Dog.
"Tip was an Irish setter—his name
was really Tipperary and Tip for
slort" said a New York clubman.
"3e knew when it was Sunday, and he
k»pt the day. He was the only Sab
bitarian dog I ever knew. He used
to sleep on a rug in my room. I had
to keep early hours in those days, and
every morning at 7 o'clock Tip would
put his cold nose against my face and
remind me that it was time to go to
work. Then while I was dressing he
would go to the village postoffice and
bring home the mail. On Sunday
morning he never stirred off his rug
until I was good and ready to get up,
which was usually quite late, and noth
ing could induce him to go to the post
office on that day. And the best part
of the story is it is absolutely true."—
New York Tribune.
No Plot.
The actor, rounded up in Russia
With a bunch of others, retained his
composure while his companions in
misfortune were giving way to despair.
"I can prove my innocence of com
plicity in any conspiracy to the com
plete satisfaction of the authorities,"
he said.
"How can you do that?" one of tys
companions asked. "You will always
be suspected of being connected with
a plot"
/■He smiled confidently.
"Not when I tell them that for years
I have been playing in musical come
dies."—Baltimore American.
Golfing Sarcasm.
"Caddy, how many strokes is that
for this hole?" asked the golfer with
the plaid cap.
"I can't say, sir."
"Can't say?"
"No, sir; I can only count up to
twelve, sir."—Pick-Me-Up.
Self Reliance.
It is easy in this world to live after
the world's opinion. It is easy in soli
tude to live after our own, but the
great man is he who in the midst of
the crowds keeps with perfect sweet
ness the independence of solitude. —
Emerson.
Ready For Business.
A tragedian playing Richard 111. in
a small town was waited on after the
show by an honest farmer, who said
that "if the gen'l'm who wanted a
horse was still of the same mind he
would like to do business with him."
No better masters than poverty and
want—Dutch Proverb. •
I ffisysip
a. -
I " Company, Attention!"
" For recreation you will now
• listen to a story from head- !
I quarters." CAPT. REXALL, Adj.
was s able to i haul
jffl li \ \ K
if r jK
i|g£ II 11
H
LOINS'
LYMANH- HOWE'S) MOVING P/CTC/J3BS
A fire that threatened the entire busi
ness section of Charlotte, broke out
Monday morning in the building of the
Charlotte Manufacturing Co., and raged
for two hours, the firemen's clothes
freezing on them while they fought.
"Health Coffee" is really the closest
Coffee Imitation ever yet produced.
This, the finest Coffee Substitute ever
made, has recently been produced by
Dr. Shoop of Racine, Wis. Not a grain
of real Coffee in it either. Health
Coffee is made from pure toasted
cereals, with malt, nuts, etc. Really
it would fool an expert who might
drink it for Coffee. No twenty or
thirty minutes boiling. "Made in a
minute" says the doctor. J. F. Jones.
Col. Jno. S. Henderson, of Salisbury
has been appointed by Judge Pritchard,
a reciever for the Whitney Reduction
Co., a ten million dollar power company
on Yadkin river.
A weak Stomach, means weak Stom
ach nerves always. And this is also
true of the Heart and Kidneys. It's a
pity that sick ones continue to drug the
stomach or stimulate the heart and
kidneys. The weak nerves, not the
organs themselves, need this help. This
explains why Dr. Shoop's Restorative
has, and is promptly helping so many
sick ones. It goes direct to the cause
of these diseases. Test this vital truth,
and see. Griffin's Drug Store.
* -1'