FOR QOD. FOR COUK'TJtT AXD FOH TRUTH"
$1.00 a year in advanc
VOL. VI.
PLYMOUTH, N. C.; FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1894.
NO. ;i.
W. Fletcher Ausbon, Editor and Manager.'
I
I.TTTLE BROWN HAND3.
They drive home the cows from the pastura
Up through the loair, shady lane, ,
Whera tho quail whistles loud In the wheat
." field,' .
XII yellow with ripening grain.
They 11 ml la the thlolc, waving grais
Whera the scarlet-dipped strawberry
. grows;
They gather the earliest snowdrops
t And the first crimson buds ot the roso.
They toss the hay in the meadow,
They gather the elder blooms white,
Tny find where the dusky grapes purple
, In the soft-tinted autumn light.
They know where the apples hang ripest,
, ' And are sweeter than Italy's wines , ;
They know where the fruit Is the thickest
On the long, thorny blackberry vines.
They gather the delicate sea weeds, .
, And build tiny castles ot sand ;
They pick up the beautiful sea shells
Fairy barks that have drifted to land.
They wave from the tall, rocking tree tops,
I w nere, i ne orw! .st hammock nest swings,
m nignt time are folded in slumber .
-, By a song that a fond mother sings.
Those who toil bravely are strongest , .
, The humble and poor become great ;; '
; And from those brown-handed children
Shall grow mighty rulers of state. 4
I .' - , ' . , . .. . : -
.The pen of the author and statesman, -
The noble and wise of our land ; ' 1
The sword and the chisel and palette '
Shall beheld in the little brown hand.
' -Pittsburg Bulletin.
THE GOLD OAVES.
LEON EDWARDS. .
T was a good many
years ago, but il
I should live tc
be as old as Adam,
the incidents I am
about to narrate
will be as clear
and fresh in my
memory as if they
happened yester
day.
There were three
of us, Nod Cop ley, , an . old Bocky
Mountain hunter, who,' when ganie
'got scarce , or furs - unprofitable,
took up . the , equally - hazardous
' calling . of gold seeking ; Frank
Edgerton, " a handsome young Ken
tuckia who had come out to win a
sudden fortune, and myself, who had
nade one fortune in the gold fields,
lost it, and ' was now out to get an
other, and with the' firm determina
tion to hang on to it, if I struck luck
again. . . ::
Across the Sierra Madre Mountain!
in the San, Juan region was a mightj
dreary, lonely country in thoso days,
with the water flowing down out of
f ight in the bottoms ' of", the canyons,'
and the nearest white settlement three
hundred miles away '; in Eastern
' Colorado. ; . .
Ned Copley had' hunted all through
this country with Kit Carson, and he
believed it was rich in gold, and that
if we kept our purpose to ourselves
we "would make our everlastin' for
tunes," to use his own words.
' "We had enough money to buy an
outfit of foct, for three months and a
- mule to carry, it ; as for the tools foi
prospecting and the rifles and pistols
necessary for game, or to protect our
eelveB from prowling Indians and
sneaking whites, we were well pro-,
Tided. -.We
left Taos in the early spring an J
while all the, encircling 'mountain?
were covered ' low down ' with , snow,
looking like glistening marble walla
supporting a sky so clear and blue and
cloudless, tliat it looked as if it was
hewn out of a globe of turquoise. :
-. But anxiety to see the yellow : old
flashing at the bottom of the cleai
streams in the San Juan, blinded us to
the glories of the landsoape and the
'unsurpassed natural, splenaor soat
tered so lavishly on every hand.
I think I should say in all honesty
to the brave fellow, that Frank Edgor
ton was an exception to this. To be
sure1 he wanted gold. It was to get
this that he Jeft his old Kentucky home
and drove an ox team across the ster
ile, blistering plains. To child's wbrk
in the days when the Indians and buf
falo were plentiful and the snorting of
'the iron horse had not yet stirred to
ew life the echoes of the, giant Kook
.: s. . ' '
) Frank Edgerton had a nobler mo
tive than his two partners. "We were
tjt to find gold for the sake of the
)Ower and the comforts it would give,
'.md ii r.'.sy bo with thought1 of the
' kf " - that wivil.t be paid us by the
- "j -
III
but our handaome young companion
was moved to face the hardships and
brave the dangers df the expedition by
no such mercenary purpose. ; , '.,
, Me was not more than five and twen
ty, with curly brown hair and 'eyes,
and a silky mustache and beard of th-j
same hue, and a mouth full of even
white teeth, and his fine fade seenle.l
ever the home of goo.l nature and
laughter. No mat ter how long the
march or sJeep the trail, no matter the
long miles between the spring, or the
indications of Indians in the neighbor
hood, Frank was alwayB' cheery and
happy, and his laughter and his sons?,
for he had an excellent voice,' light
ened many a long march, and dispelled
the gloom from' many a lonely camp
in the heart of the canyons. ;
We had not been many days out'be
fore Frank Edgerton opened his heart
and gave us the secret of his constant
happiness. He was in love, not "dead
in love," but living in love, the glori
ous passion possessed him. It bubbled
from his lips in laughter and song, and
glared from his eyes in exultation.
. "Who is she, boys?" he said one
day in answer to my question, for I,
ah old, loveless and perhaps unlovable
bachelor, half envisd him his posses
sion., i "She aint no ordinary girl,
Susie Burns ain't. 'Heaven cut her out
for a first-class angel, and never changed
the original plan. ' Here's her picture,
and let me say, you two are the only
strangers that ever looked inside the
lids eince sue fastened it round my
necL, and told me, as she kissed me, ,
that so long as I wore it next my heart
Pd remain true to her just as , if I
could ' ever dream of being . false to
Susie."
By the camp fire he opened his coat
and . hunting shirt, and brought to
light a slender gold chain that hung
about his neck, : and at the-end of
which there was a , flat ' golden me
dallion. He opened it, kissed the
picture with the adoration of a pagan
for his idol, and then let us look at
the face of a beautiful, blue-eyed girl
of nineteen or twenty, who seemed so
life-like that it looked more like the
reflection in a mirror than a colored
ivorytype.
"Susie Barns ain't rich, for Heaven
couldn't give her all . the blessings
without being . unfair," continued
Frank, as he restored the picture to
his breast, "but . she'll be rich some
day, if there's gold to be found in
these mountains. Meanwhile,' while
I'm out here prospecting, Susie's a
teaching school down by the banks ot
the Cumberland, and you can bet, if
she has any time to spare ' from her
work, she puts it in a-praying for me.
That's why I feel so sure, boys, that
we are going to win. I tell you an
outfit canH fail that has an angel like
that a-praying .for it."
Frank filled us with his enthusiasm,
and Ned Copley and myself felt that
w, too-, were interested in the girl,
as we were very sure she . would have
been in us, had she known the circum
stances. --'; -;
I don't know the name of the
stream, for it waB in the days before
names were given to every strip of i
wet ground in the West, but it rose in i
the avalanches of the Sierra Madre
and came down by our camp ice cold,
and as it brought flecks of yellow gold
with it,' we decided to stop there and
go to panning out the gravel. ' i
We did fairly well. What we got
would have been big wages anywhere
else, but to compensate for what we
suffered and the dangers we faced, we
natarally wanted more.
A hundred dollars a day between
three wasn't so bad, but we were in a
mood when a thousand dollars a day
would not have satisfied us. .
My, how hard an I Cheerfully Frank
did work 1 Why; he got so deeply in:
terested in that unknown girl, away
on the banks of . the . Cumberland in
old Kentucky, that he got into the
habit of saying every morning, as we
ate breakfast by the light of the camp
fire : -"Another day's work for Susie,
boys V ,
Although the strongest of the three,
Frank was not used to this scr t of
rough life, and I sooa saw it began to
tell on him, and 1 wanted him to let
up, but the brave fellow stuck to it,
working in the ice cold water till ho
was taken down with chills, followed
by a burning ft ver. .
We had some quinine and ' a few
Mipple rerrK'.!i--l3 for cuts and brusia
O ""?, an-.l v ; i:l the5"; t I the t'M
that came of long years in the wilds,
we did the best e oould for our
partner ; .
Now comes the remarkable part of
my story. I've seen men down with
the fever, when they got so wild they
had to be tied, but while Frank was
clear out df his head, he kept just as
peaceful as eycr, only that he insisted
that up the creek were great caves full
of gold, and that the specks we had
been picking out of the gulch came
from there. .
He wanted, us to start up there, say
ing we could get all the gold in a day
we, wanted for a lifetime. '
; Of course: Ned Copley and" 1
humored Frank, and told him we'd go
if he'd hurry up and get well, but he
swore that instead of being sick he
was as strong as a giant.
The third - night after Frank was
tken down, he seemed to be resting
quietly, so Ned and I, who had been
taking turns watching, thought it
would be safe to drop off to Bleep a
kind of lightly and we did so. . ; .
: When we woke up in the early morn
ing, and saw; that Frank Edgerton'B
cot was empty, and Iiis clothes and
piok and revolver gone, you may try
to imagine, but you can never realize
just how we felt".
We cooked a hasty breakfast, then
picking up enough provisions froaa
our little store ttr last three days, we
hid .the rest, left the mule hid in a lit
tle valley where there was lots of grass,
and then started off to find our insane
.friend. . - ' .
Remembering his ravings about "the
gold caveB" up near the snow line, we
determine! to follow the creek. Wo
couid read a trail as well as an Indian,
but the rocks were too hard to retain
the impression of a human foot; yet,
now and then we saw signs to encour-t
age us.
The creek branched into a dozen
streams further np, and it was only
after long consultations that we de
cided which to take, and then for ; no
reason that would not have applied
quite as well to the other stream. ' '
It was a rough, hard road, and now
and then as we went on, we stopped to
shout Frank's name, or . to discharge
our rifles, but only the eohoes came
back for reply.
, That night, thoroughly faggad out,
we halted olose to the snow line ; in;
deed, there were white patob.es all
about us, and not a sign of a snrub to
make a fire. f With a little alaohol
lamp we made coffee, and lay down
under our blankets, spoon fashion, to
keep warm.
We wer j up by daylight, and started
off again, this time without coffeo, for
we had only about a gill of alcohol foi
the lamp, and we reasoned that poor
Frank would want something warm,
if we found him alive. .
Another terrible day and another
awful night, and still no sign of Frank
Edgerton. We gave him up, and with
sad hearts were returning, when Ned,
who had eyes like telescopes, said he
saw something moving near the snow
line across the valley. .
There had been an immense snow
slide down the valley, not an hoar be
fore? but .we got across, and there
under a ledge of rocks, with a great
pile of loose, glittering stones . about
him. m lay Frank Edgerton, looking like
a dead man. 4
"While Ned made some coffee, I
rubbed Frank with snow till his skin
felt warm then we forced coffee be
tween his teeth, and wrapping one
blanket about him, we made a stretcher
out of the other and our two rides, so
as to carry him down to camp, no easy
job, I can tell you.
Just as we were about to start off,
Ned noticed the piles of stones
Frank's pookets were fall of them
and those lying' about had evidently
been brought there by him.. Bat they
were fully one-half solid gold.
Frank Edgerton had discovered the
caves of his fevered dreams. , ;
' We got him baek. to - camp, an J we
took turns nursing him and carrying
down the gold so ir.yeteriously found
with him under that ledge, aa l the
source of which hai been concealed
by the snow slide.
To make a long story short," as we
used to say when I was a boy, Frank
got well. When he was able to travel
we started bo,ck to Taos, carrying with
us .boat one hundred., and thirty
ponn.li of solid gold.
We ;.:.-vIe a seco i i and a thir l trin
to find "the gold caves,' of which
Frank remembered nothing, and others
have often tried it since, but ; they
were lostquite as mysteriously as they
were found." ;"'" "
Frank Edgerton had, however, for
his share, enough, money to return to
Kentucky and. marry the fair Susie
Burns. That they are as happy as the
day is long" I can vouch 'for, for I vis
ited them, less than a year ago, and I
iras highly flattered to find that his
oldest son was named aftur me.
Men who preaoh by the yard gener
ally practice by the inch. . r ...
Getting "rattled That tin affair of
tho baby's. Boston Courier.
,. It is always surprising how much
doeper a hole is after one gets into it.
Puck. . -, . ;. .
The things that go without saying
must have escaped feminine atten
tion. Puck. ', r
It is doubtful if culture will ever be
able to make a man stop snoring in
his sleep. Barn's Horn.
Jasper "I--I've c come after y
your daughter, sir M Father "Ton
have I Let ite see your coupons I"
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
A long-haired man is more apt to
have admirers among women than a
short-haired woman will find among
the men. Atchison Globe.
In , many parts of Germany the
hardest out-door . work falls to the
women. Well, is not the same true in
America? Who doe-j the shopping
here? Boston Transcript. ,;
Judge (to prisoner) "We are now
going to read the list of your former
convictions." Prisoner "In that
case,, perhaps, your worship will allow
me to sit down." Le Baillage. :
. A Birmingham Bchool girl wrote, in
the course of an examination ia
geography, that "the interior ,of
Africa is principally used for purposes
of exploration." New York Sun. ,
' "What is this money to be used for
that the church is raising?" Howler
'It's to send the minister away and
give the congregation a much-needed
vacation," Chicago Inter-Ocean.-
"Timmins never has anything more
to say about that girl of his, I notice."
"No, he has either fallen out with her
or fallen in love ' with her, I don't
know which." Indianapolis Journal.
Millionaire Philanthropist "How
can I make sure that none butth
very poor will receive the money I in
tend to distribute ?" Bhymster
"Buy poetry with .it." New York
Herald. '
Humane Officer 'Why do you pile
all your load on the front of the
cars ?" Lazy Man 4 'So th' hosf won't
have so far t' pull it uv course. Think
I ain't got no feelin'?" Cleveland
FJLain Dealer.
Journsllsm's Advancs.
The first American newspaper was
published in 1630, and in 1890 tho
total number of periodical publica
tions in Canada and tho United States
was nearly 18,000, with a combined
annual issue of nearly three and a
half billions. This.wonderful advance
shows that the American people are
readers. A computation shows that
the combined circulation of all publi
cations will givo three yearly subscrip
tions to every family of five persons ;
that the combined circulations o
monthly publications will give; nearly
twelve numbers a year to each family ;
that weekly publications are sufficient
to give two papers regularly to. each
family, and that the daily, issues would
provida more than one-half of the
families with a daily newspaper. This
is a wonderful stride, and an indica
tion of the growth of the future.--Press
and Printer. 7 -
The American Press.
According to the American News
paper Directory for 1891 there are
now 20,169 newspapers and periodi
cals published in the United States
and the Canadian provinces. Of this
number 19,302 aro' issued in ' this
country and 867 in .. the provinces.
The United States has 1833 dailies, 29
tri-weekliea, somi-weeklies, 14,077
weeklies, 62 bi-wcollica 200 ' semi
monthlies, 2501 monthlies, 70 bi
monthlies and 137 quarterlies Tho
Cmrtdiau proviuco'j ha-'e dailu-s,
S;j rrceVJIes s:;.! l:i? a.y;;,...I1J. "
SOFT SEBLL CRAM
MOST TOOTliSOMK OP SUJ13IEB
TABLE DAINTIES. ,
The Chief Fishery Is at CrlsfleM on
Chesapeake Bay How They ,
Are Caught and Seat to -
. the JIarketi '
T" 1 THE soft thell crab is distinctly
I an Eastern product and one
X ' nf purely Eastern consump-
... tion; because the crab is so
delicate that it is impossible to ship
him with safety any great distance. It
is a chief article of diet in all Eastern
cities, however, and particularly at
the summer resorts, and one of which
Western visitors carry pleasant mem
ories to their homes
The soft crab occurs on the Atlantic
coast all the way from Massachusetts
to Mexico and is ' abundant also in
Chesapeake Bay and as far up the
tributary streams as the salt water
reaches. The chief crab fishery is at
Cmfield on Chesapeake Bay, just op
posite the mouth of the Potomac Biver.
Here more than 1000 men are engaged
in fishing for the crabs from May to
October, their total catch being more
than 5,000,000 crabs. The value o.'
the industry to the fishermen is more
than $100,000 in a season. There are
other crab fisheries in the upper
Chesapeake, in Indian Biver,Delaware,
and in the Shrewsbury and other
rivers in Now Jersey. But no one of
these at all compares in importance
with- the Crisfield fishery. In fact,
all of them put together are of far less
value.
Although the oyster is of nore in
terest in the winter than the soft crab,
the crabbing industry would be valu
able the year round if the crabs could
be had..- Btffc-.from October to May
the crab retires tp,th9-,dvepci- waters,
where he remains half buried in the
mud until the return of warmer weathei
draws him to the shoal waters near the'
shore. .
The soft crab' is not always a aSti
crab. Technically he is the blue or
edible crab, and still more techni
cally he i? the ca!liue3tes hastatus
Ordway. The soft crab is a soft crab
only when he sheds his shell. , When
he is very , young he sheds it fre
quently. As he grows older he sheds
only once or twice in a-vear. As h.9
is of commercial value only when he
is soft, it is of some importance to the
fisherman that he be captured at
time when ho has just shed his shell,
or is preparing to do so. When the
crab is preparing to moult' and hie
shell is loosening, he' is known to the
fisherman of Crisfield as a "comer,"
a "long comer," or a "short comer."
When his shell has begun to crack, he
is called a "peeler," "shedder" oi
"buster," acoording to the fancy ol
the fishermen. The "peeler" is known
in other localiies, but the "corner" is
known by that title only to Crisfield.
Unless the crab is taken in hand
immediately after moulting he be
comes a hard crab, and the hard crab
has not the market value of his soft
brother. The experienced fishermaa
will quickly tell what Btage' of devel
opment the crab is in. As fast as the
crabs are brought in 'from the fishery
they are placed in floats and there
they remain until they shed their
shells. The best time for catching
the crabs is just after daybreak. All
of the fishing is done in small boats
of an average vxlue of perhaps, $19.
Usually the boat carries but one per
son,. but sometimes it is large enough
to haye a crew of two or three. " The
boat chiefly in use is a. small sailboat,
known in the venacular of the Chesa
peake region as a "kunner" the lo
cal corruption of "canoe." -. The in
dustry is carried on by individuals on
their own account. Most of the fish
ermen use a dredge or scr.pe, whicbl
1. V a ..l,'. Aral I
It is lighter,' however,, and is pro
vided wiVi a pocket of netting. Some
few of the boats use dip nets. 'The
dredges are attached to the sides of
the boats by long ropos. . .If a &til
breeze is blowing the boat is bro.i -ht
well up to the wind or put under
reefed eails-and the dredge is throws,
overboard, and allowed to drag a! on?
the bcttcfei. At intervals the boat is
brought to, when the dredge is drawa
up and tin ptied on board. Tha the
erba are yeparatad by band fron th-?
rr ss of r d and gr- h i ,
'witf !5. Whi'i t:e dip ' ' ii
used the fishermen pole throu 3 U the .
shoal water and dip up the crab cue
at a time as they are seen.
Each of the small boats will average
seventy-five to a hundred crab.-i in
day. These are sold 'for cash to the
shippers, whose sheds line the share.
As the crabs are brought in the deal
ers count them, 'separating the bo ii
crabs, the ; short comers" and iho
"long comers, ''and paying ior thow
according to the market valw. The
price received by the flshermea varies
from 1 J cents to two cents for each
eiab.
The soft crabs . are separate! from
those which have yet to shed, and Rta
prepared for immediate shipment. The
"ahedders" aro carried in floAla. These
floats are made of light planks, ami
their sides are latticed." Each of then: .
holds about 300 or 400 ..crabs. These.'
floats are visited three or four times o,
day and the crabs that hnvts shed are
taken out for shipment. " The crates in .
which they, are packed for market are
provided with trays. In these tho
crabs are placed between livers ,ol
crushed icfrand seaweed. Thu capacity
of each crate vis about .one hundred
crabs. The soft-Cbs can be packed
'very closely, because when their lega
have been" folded and' their bodies
placed obliquely, so that the niuibture
. does not run from their , moV they
ohow little disposition o ii JJ1'
these crates tho crabs ar sent. 's
north ns Boston. . I .
. A very important element in esti-
market price is the -mortality axo
them. They ere! very : ieliatv and
easily injured in handling. Beside
the sheddingprocess is severe and kill
many of them. Therefore the pur- ,
chase of the crabs by the dealers at
Crisfield is something of a lottery.'
There is a record of a day, noire y ears
ago, when, out of a total , purchase of
3200 crabstsken by. one firm, 3003
died before therid be packed foi
shipping. , Thortalit-.-exer' ive.
As a rule, the death ratt
twenty-five, per cent. Bi
represents more than $2oi
each season. This falls i
the fishermen, for the Bhij'
into account h'en makings
the fisherman's catch. Cor.
few of the crabs die on the
market. ; Every effort has
to lessen the mortality a,
crabs, but without success.
received by. the dealer for 1
ranges from thirty-five cents
cents a dozen. Washington ;
. Defeated by a Condor. t
. The enormous strength of ti
dor is only equalled by his v
and boldness," said George A.
van, of Lima, Peru, who stroll
the corridor of the Lindell IL
other night when a St. Loui
Democrat' reporter was pre! f
have feeen a great many of the
while traveling in the Andes,
ing something of a naturalist,
great deal of interest in watch
habits, i ,
' "This immense bird often
upon living animals, I
shape and bluntness of i
unable to carry off his j
, tents himself with fixm''
ground with one of i;
with the other and its j
ho rends . ft to pieces,
food, he becomes inca;
and a man may the;'
but should the man i
the bird, he is met
resistance, and th
probably be a Ion:
enjoys an extraorr
life. ' ' ;
"I once approach '
just after he ha " rirty,
banquet f' ' -ej"fcneep7"In en
dear7ngldu,ijture the bird I wa
t . . . . ..... .
1truck several times with his iiuga
claws. i6ngtn, lorn ana uieeamg;
from several wounds, I left tho field
of battle and went to my catyxv-stfv-r
eral miles distant, to ggt-telp, so as
to capture the bird rfive, if possible.
In about-two hours I returned with
three companions.' We found the bird
in the same place, standing erect ami
flapping its wings trying to- fiy awsr
We tried for soma time to secure- it,i
but it made such a fierce strn?'-i tbt
one of the men tz iMy killed is Ly
'blow on the bead with a hatchet,"
TI, -' f.rst war v
i ai
7