,.oO,?t ,
r0L. VI.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, MAY "10, 1895.
NO. 44,
Harry Hay ward, of Minneapolis,
who induoed Blinx to kill Miss Ging
, for the insurance on her life, is the
fecond man found guilty by an Ameri
aan jury of mnrder in the first degree
committed through a hypnotized
agent. The new defense, "I was hyp
notically controlled," , is thus fairly
introduced into our courts. But, re
marks the St. Louis Star-Sayings,' the
Supreme Court of Minnesota, follow
ing the example of the Supreme Court
of Kansas in the Gray case, may re-
n ... A.. 11. ll!. : . . . , r
auno kvj ies snis vertuot sxana. .'
Says the New York Observer : The
death of John Stuart Blackie removes
one of Scotland's most interesting
'characters. While a loyal subject of
. Her Majesty of Great Britain and Ire
land, he was pre-eminently a Scotob
man, and opposed with decided earn
estness all influences calculated to ig-
nore or lessen the distinction between
' things English and things Scotch. His
services to his own country have been
very great; his influence for good
upon the young men who ' have come
in contact with him during his long
professorship is beyond computation.
Since 1888 England . has : acquired
the following islands in the Pacific:
Gilbert group, thirteen islands ; Ellioe
group, five islands; Union group, three
islands ; Kingman, Fanning, Washing
ton, Palmyra, .Tarvis, Christmas, Star
buofr, Maiden, . VoBtok, Flint, Pen-
rhyn, Dp.dosa, Rule, Coral, Gardner,
' Johnston, Danger, Suwaroff and Caro
line islands. While American mission
aries, sailors and commeroe have been
familiar in the Pacific islands in the
last half century, no attempt has been
made by the United States Govern
ment to annex any of them, remarks
the New York Tribune by way of con
trast. '
Houseboats are gradually develop
Ing into a recognized ., feature of
American, summer life west as well
as east of the Rocky Mountains. The
fashion has been imported in the last
place from England; but its origin
may be traced to China, India and
other Oriental countries, a large pro
portion of whose population is born,
lives and dies on these floating homes.
TIA Van Vnt TuiUnnd Ik.Wo J
doubtless be news to many that house
boats can be leased quite as cheaply
as cottages for the hot months of the
year, and that they offer many ad
vantages, which are afforded neither
by the country villa nor by the sum
mer hotel to thoae in searoh of changt
of scene and air.
"The click of the American clock ft
heard around the world," says an Eng
lish newspaper. We sell clooks to
the value of nearly $1,500,000 yearly
in the markets of the world. England
is the largest buyer, taking almost
one-half of that amount. We impori
directly to every country in the world
but Turkey t Switzerland and Bou
mania. In Australia,-China and Japan
wo have hardly any rivals in the clock
trade. " Not only aro our clocks the
best timekeepers in 1 the world, but
they exist in such great variety. Every
sort of material is used glass, ivory,
pearl, plush, marble, metal, paint,
porcelain. All sorts of devices are at
tached for special purposes. Clock
making and hut making are two orig
inal Yankee industries; In the latter,
states the New ' York Advertiser, we
have not kept pace with some other
countries, but in docks we lead th
worJd. . .
The St. Paul Pioneer-Press remarks :
While the farmers of the Northwest
are deploring the advent, of the Rus
sian thistle, a - new forage plant, also
of Russian origin, has made its appear
ance, which promises to prove such a
blessing to farmers as to more than
atone for the damage done by its
pestilent compatriot. ; It is known as
sacaline. ' It requires no cultivation.
Once planted, it propagates itself in
any, soi in dry, sandy, barren or in
wet, alluvial swamps. .It stands the
drouth, for its roots strike deep. It
drinks in the rain, when there is any,
like a camel loading np for a journey
through the desert. It is as nutritious
as any of our grasses. It possesses a
combination of remarkable properties,
which adapt it wonderfully well for
tlte conditions existing in Minnesota,"
and especially theDakotas and beyond.
Our impression is that the Minnesota
Agricultural college " 7S r
has arranged tftry it on the fcjtate
ferimestal f arm, ,
"
A MAN'S THOUGHTS.
Work, there is work to be done,'
A whole day's work In a day;
From the rising sun to the setting sua
... Work for all who may. .,
And the prayer of the working hand
Is the prayer of the working head
The clamorous prayer of the hungry land-
"Give us our daily bread!"
Fame, there Is fame to be won,
A name that stands for a name;
The prize when the race shall be run j
And the honors a victor may claim.
Gold, and better than gold,
Tower, and the world's good wilij
And better than all a thousandfold,
An honest conscience still.
To suffer and know no shame,
To conquer, and leave no ban.
To live as giving, through praise and blame
Assurance of a man.
Good Words.
THE "HIGH BALL"
HE hard times had
made it necessary
for the Mitchell
Furniture Com
pany to cut down
the working hours
of all of its em
ployes. " A little
more than a year
before two hun
dred tired men
passed the time
keeper every evening at six o'clock,
homeward bound. Now but nine
ty hands were employed, includ
ing the office force and boys,
and work was over every afternoon at
four o'clock. .
The majority of the men whiled
away the interval between quitting
time and their supper hours in the
stores and saloons, which surrounded
the public square. Malchester had
its public square, as every well ordered
county seat should have, and the ad
vertising leaflet, issued by the Mal
chester Improvement Sooiety, con
tained a most alluring pioture of it.
There were also, in this leaflet some
fine 'half tone" engravings of the
court house, the new high sohool,Mal
Chester's four stone churches, the
stores of her leading merchants (who
paid $25 'to defray the actual cost of
preparing the engraved plates"), the
new depot and the old round house of
the Jacksonville, Malchester and
Springfield Railway. The leaflet also
called attention, in bold, red display
type, to the fact that Maichester was
a division point on the Jacksonville,
Malchester and Springfield Railway,
and that for over a quarter of a cen
tury from one hundred and fifty to
two hundred employes of the road had
made the town their headquarters.
One afternoon, as President Mitch
ell's stenographer, Frank Ashley, was
tidying up the papers on his em
ployer's desk, he came across the
leaflets of the Malchester Improvement
Society, and the display note about
the Jacksonville, Malchester and
Springfield Railway reminded him
that it was high time to go" over to
the round bouse and hear a story
which his old friend, 'Commodore"
Foote, the engineer of locomotive
No. 92, had promised to tell him the
next time be came around.
Now, even if tho buildings in which
locomotives are housed are universally
called round houses, each one, I sup
pose, has its shady side. I remember
the one at Malchester was so blessed,
and here, at six o'clock, well out of
tho burning rays of a declining sum
mer sun, on a portable and improvised
bench," made by placing a broken
freight car door on ; two discarded
'draw heads," sat ' Foote and young
Ashley. Jim Walsh, the fireman, was
oiling, polishing, watering and gene
rally preparing No. 92 for her ap
proaching run. Presently the fireman
had tipped the long snouted oil can
enough to suit even the critical com
modore, and, as if . half in sympathy
with the mechanism of his engine, the
commodore's power of speech became
lubricated, and he began : .
"It's a true story. I knew Harry
Powers, the engineer-of old No. 47,
before tho war, "when his .wife was
fetation agent at Malchester, and trains
were run wholly by time table. Tbf e ,
were no such things as telegrsjV.ttt ;
train orders in those days. , '.j j
"Powers made his headquarters at;.
Malcbtfiter, and his wife, being the'
station- agent, .the company let the'
family live in the upper story of the
depot without paying rent. I'oweia
and his wife and their little girl Els'! a
lived over the depot for fifteen years,
,'hand running,' with the exception of
about two months,' when Elsie was
sick with typhoid fever, and they
hired a cottage up in the town, where
she wouldn't be distnrbed by the noise
of engines and trains. It was shortly
after Elsie had pulled through and
they had all moved back into the depot
again that the thing happened I am
going to tell you off.
Elsie was twelve years old then.
The doctor said it would hasten ner
complete recovery if she was out of
doors as much as possible, so almost
every afternoon her mother sent her
berrying.
"About a mile and a half down the
'track toward Millegeville, in a clump
of woods, was a fine blueberry patch
and here you could find Elsie almost
every afternoon. She could fill her
pail quickly there, and then she liked
the woods anyway.
'One afternoon she had been slow.
mr tne berries were not as plentiful as
usual, for.it was after six o'clock when
she started . for home. As she was
about to leave the woods and strike
the railway tracks she was suddenly
confronted by three masked men.
Now Elsie was weak and nervous from
her long sickness, and wheu she re
alized that she was among robbers she
fainted. The next thing she knew she
was coming to, and instead of being
murdered or robbed, was being
tenderly held in the arms of one of
the bandits, while the other two were
busy sprinkling water in her face and
fanning her with a piece of crumpled
newspaper. She was so relieved to
find that she had not been beheaded
or cut into quarters, as the robbers
were in Ali Baba, that her lips began
to tremble some sort of thanks. . But
the minute she showed that she .was
conscious the jobbers lost no time in
telling her why they had taken such
pains to bring her 'round.' She was
to stay with them until eight o'clock,
when the mail and express was due,
and signal and Btop the train at the
Millegeville siding, a desolate side
track half a mile down the track from
where they were.
'A few minutes before eight o'clock
a little figure sat on a big tie, at the
switch, at the west end of the Millege
ville siding. One of the robbers had
a switch key and had turned the
switch so as to throw the train off off
to the - siding. This in itself they
reckoned would cause the train to
stop. The signal lamp at the switch
had been twisted around until it showed
the white light of safety, and the
gleam of tho 'bull's eye' Bhed ju9t
enough light to show the robbers in
ambush at tho edge of the woods that
their unwilling little accomplice was
waiting and ready to give the signal
which would give them the oppor
tunity of robbing the express and mail
enrs of the most important treasure
bearing train then run by any rail
road in the State of Illinois.
"It must have seemed ages to those
four watchers. At last, however, the
rumble of the approaching train could
be heard np the valley. As it flew
through the sleepy little hamlet of
Millegeville it whistled and the noise
re-echoed against the quiet hills. To
the robbers these sounds meant only
the rapidly approaching chance of
rich gains, but to Elsie, who had risen
nd was standing back a short dis
tance from the track, those familiar
whistle shrieks meant far more. They
9ieant that her father's engine was
irawing the train and that if he should
recognize her in the dark all her plans
(rould miscarry. However, there was
do time left for speculation. Six eyes
gleamed with satisfaction through
three black masks as the little figure
at the switch light began to slowly
cave a white handkerchief as a warn
ing signal to the approaching train. '
"The infinite pleasure of having
their well laid plans carry without
mishap wt felt by the robbers, as El
lie waved more and more furiously,
.ind the engine could be distinctly J
heard Emitting off steam and slacken
ing for the stop. Then suddenly came
qujck' change. "Chu, chu, chu,"
ti'me in quick succession from the lo
comotive, as her drive wheels slipped
on the track and made a wild plunge
forward. '.'Chu, chu, 'chu, chu, chu,
chu," again 'came from the engine!
What could it mean? The speed of
the train was increasing instead of di
minishing. Elsie was now signaling1
wildly, yet onward, faster and faster,
came theciail ami express, It ea '
tercd the siding and flashed past the
little figure at the switch light. Even
the Buddeu unexpected swerve from
the main line on to the siding had not
diminished its rapidly increasing ve
locity. , In a moment more it had
passed from the siding on to the main,
line again, and the signal lights on the
rear platform disappeared around a
curve up the line.
The robbers now left cover and
came over to find Elsie in a faint, the
second time that day. This time,
however, they did not stop to bring
her to. There was no time to be lost.
She had done her full duty, fulfilled
every promise she had given them.
Certainly she was not to blame for the
train not stopping. Little did those
men know as they left her and disap
peared in the woods that Elsie Powers
had given her father that signal of
safety universally known among rail
road men as tho "high ball." Only a
railroad man, certainly no tecanically
unsophisticated tramp or robber,
could have told that 1 those handker
chief wavings meant 'All right 1 All
right! Come on full speed! Come
on full speed!' instead of ; 'Danger !'
and 'Stop!' From her earliest in
fancy, when she played train with the
parlor chairs. Elsie knew well the
whole code of technical railroading
nals, and she also knew that unless
fiier father recognized her at the
switch his unquestioning" obedience to
the signals of the road would savo the
mail auu express from robbery.
"Up in Chicago, on the desk of the
President of the Jacksonville, Mal
chester and Springfield Railway, half
buried tinder a sea of important let
ters and official papers, there is a lit
tle silver frame, containing a photo
graph of the little girl who, wheu only
twelve years old, saved the mail and
express from robbery at Millegeville
siding. Each year, when the Presl
dent inserts in his annual report to
his Board of Directors 'For the
efficient service rendered by ail em'
ployes our acknowledgments are due,'
he takes this picture in his hands and
sits for quite a long time all alone,
buried deep in thought. He knows
Elsie intimately now, for she is the
mother of his two grandchildren.
Somo of tho society people up in Chi
cago shook their heads and said that
President Roberts's son. Harry was
throwing himself away when he mar
ried Elsie Powers. 'But.' said tho
Commodore, as lie arose and, button
ing his blue checked jumper, turned
half round toward young A'shley, at
the same time unconsciously extend
ing his left arm toward No. 92, 'I. tell
you, she's as good and true as you'll
find them anywhere in the world.
Chicago News.
A Horso That Eats Pie.
Leonard Jacobs, a pie peddler, has
cne of the most remarkable horses in
Connecticut, says the Baltimore Amer
ican. Others towns have boasted of
horses that chew tobacco and chew
gum, but Jacobs' s horse will eat pie.
The horse is twenty-three years old.
Jacobs's pies come from New .Haven,
packed in cases, and in transportation
some of them get broken and cannot
be Hold. One day Jacobs threw a
broken pie on the ground near the
horse's bead. The animal' smelled it,
touched it with his tongue, lapped it
up and ate it with a relish. Then
Jacobs began to feed pies to the horse.
The horse soon got to like them, and
would even refuse oats when pie was
to be had. The habit has grown on
him, until now, when Jacobs says
"pie" to him, the horse will turn , his
head and wink expeotantly.
He has a decided preference for
mince pies, and the more raisins and
currants and cider there 'are the bet
ter he is pleased. Apple pie is not a
great favorite with him. Most bakers
put grated nutmeg into the apple pie,
and that doesn't eem to agree with
the equine tnste. Pumpkin pie he
likes, and cranberry tarts are an es
pecial delight. Peach, apricot, berry
and prune pies are acceptable, - but
anlecs the prunes are stoned he wilj
not touch prune pie after the first
bite. The horse- is fat, click and
youthful in his movements, and
Jacobs expects to keep him on tho pie
cart until he is lorg past the age whoa
most horses are turned out to grass
for the rest of their days, or are carted
to the horse cemetery by the side of
the murky waters of tbo Naugatttck
Paver,. ' -
TOBACCO GROWIKS.
TIMELY AND VALUABLE HINTS
Working the Crop. Implements Uaed
and How. Caution.
The cultivation of the tobacco crop
differs but little from that of any oth
er crop, says the Southern Tobacco
Planter, save that the soil must be
stirred often and all grass kept oat of
the field. The tobacco plant grows
rapidly after it gets a start, and is not
in the planter's way very long. If the
preparation of the soil has been thor
ough a few quick workings will see
the crop large enough to take care of
itself, and shade out all appearance of
weeds and grass. For this article six
successful planters have condensed
their experience which is given below.
The planter who follows their advice
will not go amiss and will do full jus
tice to his crop :
Col. Page. Iredell county, N. C,
says: "Plant tobacco as soon as possi
ble after the 1st of May. When my
tobacco has taken a start to grow, I
break out the middle of my rows and
with hoes scrape around the plant,
loosening the crust that has formed
around the plant. The first plowing
after this should be with a small culti
vator, running as close as possible
without tearing up the plant. After
this plowing pull a little dirt to , the
plant. The next plowing should be
with a cultivator running a little far
ther off from the plant. After this
plowing use the hoe as before. The
next and last plowing should be with
a cultivator in the middle of the row.
After this with hoes pat a good hilL"
J. W. Groome, Guilford county, N.
C, says: "Tobacco should be planted
the first season in May, and in order to
have good plantsiby that time the beds
should have guano put on them before
every rain, after the plants are well np
a small quantity say a gallon to a
bed of ten yards square. After your
tobaoco is planted it should be worked
as soon as the bud turns green and the
roots are beginring to take hold, ; but
be careful and not shake the plant
loose; if the plant is loosened it is apt
to die in dry weather; do not "plough
to it the first time it is worked; if se
you are apt to retard its growth. ; To
bacco should be worked three times,
about two weeks between times. It
has been my observation that early to
oacco always sells for more money
than any other; it will be easier cured
than late tobacco.
J. M. McMichael, Summerfield, N.
0., says: "Some eight or ten days
after the plants are set out, or as soon
as they begin to take root into the
earth, the ground around tbem should
be loosened or scratched gently to ad
mit the heat from the sun and start the
young tobacco to growing more rap
idly. Harrows and hos should be
used in the first working, and after
wards larger plows and hoes may be
used.. Plowing and hoeing should be
repeated every tea days or two weeks
till the tobacco is large enough to top.
Do not put too much bed to the to
bacco or make the hills too high in
hilling unless it be a wet season. If
the laud be left as level as possible in
the last working the tobacco will suffer
less from drought and will not 'fire' at
the bottom of the plant. It is a good
plan to plow tobacco just after a good
rain, when the land gets dry. enough
to plow, and then put in the hoes, as it
is less liable to bo checked in its
growth."
Colonel Davis, Hickory, N. C, says:
"The cultivation of the tobacco crop,
though thorough, should be superfi
cial that is to say, only the surface
soil should be stirred, the subsoil being
left intact. As soon as the plant has
taken root, which is shown by . its
changing color, it should be worked
with the hoe only by re mo vine the
crust of the hill and drawing loose
earth around the plant. This destroys
the crop of grass and helps to destroy
the cut worm. But if the land be
tween the rows has become foul, it
should be plowed with bull-tongue or
shovel at the first working. When the
plants have covered the hills, say a
breadth of twelve inches, they should
be worked thoroughly with both plow
and hoe. This plowing should be with
bull-tongue or shovel, using short single-trees
or shovel, and running it
close to tho plants, and throwing out
the row with four or five furrows. If
the land has become very foul, a tnrn-
iug plow is preferable. With the hoe
all the surface soil should be drawn
into hills around the plauts as at first.
This working is a lay-by with the plow,
which should never be used after the
plants have come to top. But later
than this, should the land then become
foul, it should bo Kcraped with the hoe I
only. Any vegetation which springs
up after the plant has attained its
growth does not harm, but is benefi
cial rather in keeping the lower leaves
from beins sanded; but to the eye of
the genuine farmer it is unsightly, and
is disadvantageous if a wheat crop is to
follow it had Utter hb kept down to
the last"
'Major Ragland, Hyoo, Va., savs:
"It is important to commence cultiva
tion soon after planting, to loosen the.
soil and start tin? plauts growing. Just
at this point maiiy planters fail, to do
their duty, vh-.ehbq uheqnent work
caB atone fyt, . r.rly, rtij'id, and
thorough cultivation is necessary to
produce first class tobacco. If . the
preparation has been thorongh, thrice
plowing, followed each time with a
hand hoe, will suffice for the crop.
"For the first plowing no implement
is better than the wing coulter, the
next best, the cultivator or double
shovel with coulter points." The second
plowing may be effectually done with
the turning-plow or cultivator. It
grassy, nse tbe first. The last plowing
.is most effectually done three furrows
with single shovel, a furrow on each
side,; then splitting the middle with
third and last furrow.
"Never : scrape, down" tobacco with
the hoe without putting back on the
hill or bed as much dirt as is scraped
down. This will prevent baking, and
save many plants should a dry spell
follow the hand-hoe working.
"Any process . which stirs the soil
effectually and often, and keeps fbe
plants free from grass and weeds, will
constitute good cultivation, no matter
how and with what implement done.
Old land will require more work in
cultivation than new, and dark grades
more than bright. Short single-ti-ees
should be used after the plants are half
grown to prevent tearing and breaking
the leaves. X
Another contributor says: "The
plants are set by hand, whenever they
are ready and the season suits; As
soon as they show signs of living the
field is plowed with side grabs or small
shovels, running as close to the tobac
co as may be done without covering it.
This plowing is : followed by the hoes,
and in about ten days the second plow
ing is given with double ;-; shovels,
throwing out the middle and giving &
light mold to the tobacco. If there is
left the hoes follow the plows
and where the plants are large enough
small hills-are drawn, around them.
Tbe third plowing is done with
straight shovels with cotton .bow
attached; as much dirt is thrown to the1
tobacco as possible, and if if it has been
well worked before, hoeing will not be
necessary. If the tobacco is not too
large, a fourth plowing may be given
running a sweep through the middle,
but if there is danger of breaking the,
leaves too much with the plow, a good
hoeing, with flat hills drawn around
tli. nlant n-ill finicVl 4VlO Alllti Vftfci nil.
The caution hinted at above in re
gard to breaking leaves when the to
bacco is too large should be - carefully -considered.
Careless hands can and
often will do great damage to the rop,
unlesB they are watched. It does not
pay to nse the plow when the leaves
have grown a certain size, for the hoe
can be made to answer all purposes.
A little care along this line will save
many pounas ouen oi hub wuswu i
a single field.
Ail Eclipse of the Moon.1
An eoliwse of the moon takes placfl
when the body of the earth comes be
tween the snn and the moon. Ths
sun is at night time nnder our feet at
the other side of the earth,, and tho
esxth throws a . long shadow upward.
If the moon enters into this shadow it
is plain that the sunlight is partly or
wholly cut off, and sinoe the moon
shines by no light of her own, but
only by borrowed light from tbe sun.
it follows that when the moon is buried
in the shadow all : the direct light is
intercepted and she must lose bar
brilliancy. Thus we obtain' whaV is
called a lunar eclipse. - It is total if -the
moon be entirely in the shadow.
The eclipse is partial if the rnoon be
only partly in the shadow. . The lunar
eclipse is visible to everybody on the
dark hemisphere of the earth if the
clouds will keep out of the way, so
that usually a great many more people
can see a lunar eclipse than a solar
eclipse, which is only visible from at
limited part of the earth. '
Place a lighted candle at one end of
the table and call it the sun. A yard
away from the candle place a football
And call it tne eartn. A lew lnobeu
away from the football place a tennis
ball and call it the moon. You will
notice that the light from the candle
shines on the football but not on the
tennis ball, which is in the shadow of
the football. In the same way the
light from the sun at the time of an
eclipse falls on the side of the earth
.turned toward it, but not. on the
moon, which is in ; the shadow of the .
earth. . This is, therefore, a total
eclipse, because the moon is entirely
in the shadow of the earth."
In China the prediction of an eclipse
is an important matter, as the. lives of
princes are supposed to be dependent -upon
them. In fact, an eclipse which
took place in the year 2169, B. C,
cost several of the Chinese astrono
mers their lives, as they had not cal
culated it rightly. It was considered
high treason to expose princes to such
danger without forewarning them,.
I. Forty two Inch Bride,
There was an unusually interesting
wedding in Eastport, Me. , , recently,
lrm the" fact that the bride was on .
of the four- Harris sisters, who are
known all over the country on account "
of their smallness in height. Two c f
the sisters are only forty ; inches tall
and the other ; two forty-two incbt.
Tkey are 11 over thirty yeirs of ,
and the average weight of tbo four i
ninety pounds each. Matilda was V:
one who was married. Esta and -Anu,.
it is said, ara considering pi -r.oe.i'.5
Of tr-arri"1-'13.o,"f,o'1, .-. '