V
THE-
AN EXCELLENT,
ADVEIlTISIITGr IIEDIUIX.V
Official Organ of Washington County.
FIRST OF ALL THE NES.
Circulates extensively in tha Counties r
Kartis, Washing!: vTyrreil zzi lv
Job Printing In ItsVarious Branches.
l.OO A YEAR IN AUVAXfX
" FOB GOD, FOlt COUXTKV, AM) JOK TRUTH."
SIKOT.E COPT, 5 CKN
VOL. IX.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRLDAY. JANUARY :;2J, 1898.
NO. .18.i
A SONG OF
There s a song of a bird in a blossoming
' trev . ': - ,
( And songs In wind-trebles above ; - "
But the song that is ever the sweetest to
me
Is a dear little song of her love !
Like fairy bells .ringing
Where roses are springing,
Is the song of her love that my glad heart is
singing !
O the bird in the blossoms with melody
charms
And the winds sing the blue fields above ;
But of rosy-red lips and two little white
arms
T
Creed and
The Rev. Wetherby Smiles was rec
tor of St. James and occupied a rose
t eVnbowered cottage not far from the
Church. The cottage, with its atten
dant garden, was a dainty, pretty
spot, which looked as though a
woman's hand had planned and cared
for it. But no woman had anything
to do with the rectory. The Rev.
Mr. Smiles only servant was a dod
dering old man; tbo rector prepared
hia own meals, except when he was
iuvited to tea by some old lady who
pitied his lonely, indigestion-breeding
existence.
Not that the Rev, Mr. Smiles was a
woman hater, but Mr. Smiles was
very high church indeed. Unfortu
nately, St. James' and the parish and
the people were very poor. The good
people liked the Rev. Mr. Smiles and
tried to follow his suggestions upon
high church usages. But there are
.people, you know, whom you couldn't
make hierh church with a lackscrew,
1 "She communicants of St. James' were
I lostly farmers and small tradesmen.
The rector felt that the clergy, to be
able to give their , whole time and
thought to their work, should live
lives of celibacy. He had felt at times
a strong drawing toward some ecclesi
astical order in which such vows would
be necessary. Then he would wear
some outward sign of his vows, and
the young women of his parish would
not tall in love with him. The rector
was young and good looking; he had
been in his present pastorate six
months, and he had t already had an
experience.
The young rector lived with -his
books, occasionally taking a little rec
reation in the garden. The roses dis
appeared, the leaves fell and left the
clinging vines bare, and the snow cov
ered the prim little beds in the rectory
garden. Thus a year of his- pastorate
' closed, and the spring drew near.
The Rev. Wetherby Smiles, from
his study window, could look across
his garden plot and see the, brown
earth warming in the spring sunshine
and the trees and bushes slowly burst
ing into leaf. Nature is always most
attractive in the spring,, and nature in,
a thousand ways, with bud and leaf
and warming earth and white-flecked
sky and sweet air, wooed him from
his books. "
He looked across his garden, I say.
And across the garden, beyond the
low hedge, was another garden, which
ia summer was full of color. He had
noticed the brilliant-hued beds the
year before, but now the only bit of
" color was a pale-blue morning robe
that flitted about the inclosure. '
To tell the truth, the rector had
Beldom noticed that morning gown or
the little woman inside it before. But
it pleased his fancy now to look across
the hedge and watch his neighbor.
He recalled that-his old inajor-domo
, had told him the cottage next the par
4? sonage was occupied by a widowed
lady a lonely creature who had taken
up her abode there but shortly before
the Rev. Mr. Smiles was settled over
St. James. He remembered the little
figure in black in one of the side pews,
pointed out to him by the clerk as
"Mrs. Scorritch," and probably had
not given her a thought or a glance
forward. -v
However, he saw so much of the
pale-blue gown that first warm week
in spring that he looked for the little
widow in her pew the next Sabbath.
She had laid aside her weeds and was
dressed in some soft, clinging, fawn
colored material that made her look
like a very demure little moth. And
aha had the sweetest face in the world
as least, the sweetest face in the
Rev. Wetherby Smiles' world.
On Monday morning the clerical
black appeared in the rectory garden
almost as soon as the pretty morning
robe appeared over the hedge. The
demure little face dimpled and smiled
i under its garden hat at the rector's
approach, and , the widow nodded
brightly.
"You r i"Iy at your gardening
thH nprf
U'P," she re
; expecting
Mjr now."
V frost
VI"
HER LOVE.
Is the dear little sonar of my love.
Of red lips that kiss me
. And tenderly bless me. ; 1 - .'
And arms like a necklace that clasp and ca
ress me.
Sing ever, ye birds, to the blossoming tree
And. winds, pipe your music above :
Her brown curls are brighter than blossoms
- to me,
And I'm singing a song of her love ;
A Like. fairy bells ringing
Where roses are springing.
Is the song of her love that my glad heart is
singing!
F. L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitution,
Crocuses.
health to work in his garden while the
blue gown (flitting like a butterfly from
rose tree to vine and from vine to
hedgerow) was in evidence in the
neighboring yard. Really, alter por
ing over musty theological tomes all
winter a man. must get some freshness
in his soul 'and new blood in. his
heart.
The gardening went on apace, and the
treacherous warm weather continued
Many were the conferences held across
the hedge regarding the proper prun
ing of rose trees, the planting of hardy
seeds and the preparation of the beds
of earth. The rector had never sua
pected there w as so much detail to the
business of gardening.
One moi-ning, just after a warm
night rain, the Rev. Mr. Smiles was
called to the hedge by a litttle cry
from his neighbor.
"They are coining!" she cried, in
delight. "Seel here is the dearest
little blade of green pushing up
through the mold -and there is another
and another! Just look at them!"
The rector found it necossary to
leap the hedge (he had been some
thing of an athlete at the university,
and certainly this spring weather was
sending the 4 blood coursing through
his -veins quite like old times) and look
at the crocus bed near to.
"They are such lovely ones," she
said, earnestly. "I don't believe you
noticed them at all last sijring" (he
pronounced maledictions upon him
self for having been so blind a3 to
miss so much beauty the previous sea
son), "but they will be even better
this year if we don't have that horrid
frost you have been prophesying."
She looked at him roguishly, and it
suddenly crossed the young rector's
mind that several yellowish-green
points of crocus blade, breaking the
damp soil, made a far prettier picture
than the finest rose bush in full bloom
which he had ever seen. It was a
strange fact and one he had never dis
covered before.
But when he had returned to hia
own lonely domain and entered his
study, he stopped and thought seri
ously for a minute. Then he cast his
flat-crowned ministerial hat upon the
floor with great emphasis and ex
claimed: "It's my creed, I tell you, that a
man in orders should not marry."
Now, there was no one visible to
argue the question, and yet there
seemed to be argument in his own
mind, for the Rev. Wetherby Smiles
smote his palm with his clenched fist
angrily and kicked the flat-crowned
hat to the other end of the room.
For two days the rector of St. James'
rigidly stifled his interest in crocuses;
his interest in creeds, however, was
not entirely satisfying. On Sunday,
after vespers, he overtook on his way
home a little figure in a fawn-colored
gown.
"You must see my crocuses, Mr.
Smiles," she said. "The buds will be
open before Sunday. "
The rector glanced gloomily at the
darkening sky and thought that prob
ably there would be a frost;, that night.
But he could not long think of frost
and other unpleasant possibilities
under the skillful manipulation of his
charmiug little neighbor. He hesi
tated at her gate, and again crocuses
triumphed over creed. Tbe crocuses
were flourishing finely; the creeds
took a back seat indeed, a very un
obtrusive seat in the rector's ruera-
y.
His interest in the crocus continued
that evening to so late an hour that
his old servitor really thought he was
not coming tosupper and cleared away
the repast. ; -
"Never mind, said the 17 'tor, kind
ly, "I am not hungry,"anu when the
old man had doddered off to bed he
sat down before the open window of
his chamber and stared out into the
still night.
He sat there for an hour. A light
burned behind the curtain of one of
his neighbor's windows. That was
her light he knew. Finally it dis
appeared, but he sat on, his arms
folded upon the sill, his eyes glaring
fixedlv into the darkness. Crqeu was
making a strong fight for life.
It grew rapidly colder, and suddenly
the Rev. Wetherby Smiles awoke to
the discomforts of the outer man. He j
shivered and drew away from the wiu-
dow.. There was no breeze and no j
louds, but an increasing chill made j
iiim close the casement. . j
) Then he slipped on a smoking jacket ;
nu weut to tne uoor. mere was u
?iglit haze upon the river and a shini
er of frost in tbe air.
." .bad nilit for the farmers aud
:wffef". he thought. Then!
his mind reverted to those crocuses.
"They will be black by morning," ha
said. "Too bad! and the little womau
thinks so much of them."
He hesitated a moment and then
went in again, reappearing shortlj
with an old mackintosh.
"Just the thing to spread over tha
bed to defend them from the frost,
he muttered and with long strides
crossed the rectory garden and leaped
the hedge.
Feeling a good deal like a night
prowler who had no business in the
place.he crept through his little neigh
bor's garden and approached the cro
cus bed near the porch. He started
at the slightest sound and glanced
about fearfully. Suppose anybody
should see him one of his pan diion
ers even hisma;or-domo! He forgoi
the night was dark; it seemed to his
excited imagination that anybody pass
ing along' the road could see him
the rector of St. James' prowling
about beneath a lady's window!
Suddenly, just as he spread the cov
ering over the crocus bed and was
turning hastily to flee, he heard a
sound on the porch. He started, and
his eyes became fixed upon the vision
before him. ' A figure, all in white,
and motionless, stood upon the lowez
step.
The Rev. Wetherby Smiles was
startled, but he was not superstitious.
For some seconds, however, he stared
at the apparition before he recognized
it. Then he stepped quickly forward
aud began to make excuses in a low
voice.
"Mrs. Scorritch LyQia I beg
your pardon, but I thought "
He got no further in his faltering
remarks. With a shuddering little
cry the figure tottered and would have
fallen to the ground had he not sprung
forward and caught her in his arms.
"Good gracious!" muttered the Rev.
Mr. Smiles, the perspiration starting
on " his brow. "What a situation.
Suppose anybody should see me now.
To think of me a clergyman in a
woman's garden at night, holding that
woman in my arms!"
He was tempted to lay her down
upon the porch and run. But he
looked down into tbe little white face,
revealed by the faint starlight. The
pale lids were drawn over the great
eyes, which he thought so glorious.
The pouting lips had not entirely lost
their redness, but the cheeks were
without color.
He looked upon her, and then did
not lay her down ana flee. Instead
he stooped lower and lifted her more
closely against his breast and carried
his burden into the house. There
was a couch in the reception room. He
laid her down and lighted the gas. She
opened her eyes languidly and saw
him.
"I have frightened you, Lydia," he
said, stooping above her. "Really.I
had no intention, you know. I only
remembered the crocuses "
"I I thought'vou were a burglar,"
she admitted. "Aud when I heard
your voice
"Didn t you recognize it? he
asked.
"You you had never spoken to me
in just that way before, and "
He bent lower and took her hand.
"I was only thinking of the crocuses,
Lydia," he said, which was very true.
He had quite forgotten the "creed."
Chicago Record.
The " Whistting Language."
Some years ago, while roaming
through the mountain ranges of
Teneriffe, it fell to the writer's lot to
hear the shepherds conversing in the
whistling language which is used by
the people of Teueriffe and Gomera.
Three parties of shepherds were ex
changing their hopes aud fears re
garding the weather by tins means.
On another occasion he heard an in
vitation to a " dance sent in the
"whistling language" across a stretch
of country exceeding four miles in
length. The young boys, and even
the girls, are adepts at the "lan
guage," and the very sheep appear to
understand whistled commands at a
considerable distance. Bv placing
two or three fingers in the mouth, the
whistlers contrive to make the whistle
carry to a distance of three miles or
thereabouts. A French savant has
conclusively proved that the whistling
is in Spanish. Easy words are taken,
and the sounds imitated by the
whistlers. . The language dates from
1455. Long practice and heredity
have naturally given the shepherds
extraordinary skill, and their vocabu
lary is now a long one, while in addi
tion they have a regular code of
graduated notes, which convey tele
graphically what they cannot satis
factorily reproduce in the ordinary
maimer. Waver i e y Magazine.
- TheKkhfst Town,
The richest town in the United
States is Brookline, near Boston, Its
population is 17,000 and valuation
Si0, 000,000, vet it is governed through
the typical New Eugland town meet
ing. It has a public library contain
ing 45,000 volumes, a $300,000 high
school, a $10,000 free bathing estab
ishmeut, and spends $100,000 a year
on its parks aud well shaded streets.
Boston would gladly annex it, but
Drookhne prcters to go' on as it is.
Among the 53,000,(100 inhabitants
-.f Germany, there are only seventy-
eight who have passed their one-hun-
jredth birthdav.
A Leading: Material.
Crepe de chine in all the lovely tints
?' i one of the season's leading materials
or evening and house dresses. A
pretty costume is in a bright shade of
pomegranate toned down by panels of
black plaited chiffon, two on either
side of the skirt over black, and one
at the left side of the bodice where it
opens, and is fastened with silk cord
and small diamond buttons. Both the
skirt and bodice are accordion-plaited
and the belt and collar band are of
black satin. New York Sun.'
Woman Physicia- to LI Hung Chang,
Miss Hu King Eng, M. D., the only
female native of China who has ever
graduated from an American medical
college, has just received very high
honors iu her own country. Follow
ing close upon her appointment as
sole delegate from China to the
Women's Medical convention, to be
held in London next June, comes the
announcement that Li Hung Chang,
China's grand viceroy, has appointed
her first physician in his private house
hold. Never before has this high of
fice been given to a woman.
A Fortune With a String.
Miss Grace Hartley, a Vassar col
lege girl and member of a prominent
family in Fall River, Mass., has been
bequeathed one of the most unique
fortunes on record by her father, Dr.
J. W. Hartley.
The queer conditions of the will are
as follows: First, that she never marry
any one within the degree of kinship
of son, grandson or great grandson of
Cook Borden, late of Fall River, de
ceased. Second, that she shall at no
time give, bestow, present, loan, en
dow or furnish any part of the prin
cipal or income of the estate to, for or
upon, or for the benefit of any person
within the kinship of wife, son, daugh
ter, grandson, granddaughter, great
grandson or great granddaughter of
said Cook Borilen.
Help to Keauty.
Those of us who have been much in
the open air through the summer find
ourselves thoroughly tanned and frec
kled, and although at first we may be
very proud of this acquisition, it will
thicken up the complexion in a way
that women, at least, find very unbe
coming when trying to make them
selves presentable for the autumn.
Something more potent than lemon
juice is required at this season, but as
a supplement only; as the latter should
be used as much as a matter of course
as soap. This needed supplement is
close at hand, and is nothing more or
less than over ripe cucumbers and
ripe tomatoes. When the former are
close and crisp for table use, they are
useless for the toilet. When turning
yellow they are soft and spongy. The
face, neckband hands, after thorough
washing, should be well rubbed alter
nately each day for a week or more
with slices of soft cucumber and red
tomatoes, then well rinsed in warm,
soft water.
It is taken for granted that the skin
is thoroughly massaged every night
with some simple emolient; this is as
much exercise for the complexion as
calisthenics for the muscles, and will
wake it up and make the countenance
lively and expressive as nothing else
will. After this treatment over night
the cucumber and tomato will work
wonders aud need only to be used for
the first week or two after indoor life
is resumed once more.
A cucumber cream for occasional
winter use may be made by squeezing
the pulp of the cucumber through a
coarse seive and mixing through a tea
cup of this a teaspoonful of glycerine
and five drops of salicyclate of soda;
the two latter are preservatives, but
if glycerine does not agree with the
skin it may be omitted.
Sirs. Frldtjof Nannen.
The wife of the world famous Arctic
explorer is a great favorite in Nor
wegian society on her own accouut,
beside being, of course, now a kind of
queen as the wife of her husband. But
before she was married she was much
sought after in Christiania, because,
for one thing, she is one of the finest
musicians in Norway, the possessor of
an extraordinary and highly cultivated
voice, and an unusual combination
an accomplished pianist as well.
When in England a year ago, Mrs.
Nansen played and sang before Queen
Victoria at Windsor, aud the queen
was very gracious in her expressions
of pleasure iu the occasion, and though
bo much could hardly be said iu re
gard to any other art, a compliment
from the queea on ti.iu musical is a
geuuiie iriuuiph, for si a loves uiuaic
(
deeply, and really knows a great dea'
about it. ,
Mrs. Nansen is considered deeidedlj
intellectual; her family has been dis
tinguished for generations for the
numberof professors it has contributed
to Norwegian institutions of learning,
particularly to the university at Chris
tiania. Such a family history confers
distinction anywhere, but particularly
is this so in Norway, where there ie
neither aristocracy nor plutocracy. But
perhaps Mrs. Nansen's good looks and
love of outdoor sports are for her hus
band as decided attractions as her
musical or mental gifts. She is just
the contrast in coloring to him that
she should be dark haired and dark
eyed, and a contrast in size, too, for
she is decidediy a little woman.
Running over hill and dale on Nor
wegian snowshoes is the great winter
sport of Scandinavia, and Mrs. Nansen
is an expert at skilobning, as they
call it; but once when she was skilob
ning in the mountains with her hus
band she did too much, and became
exhausted; she was wearing a short
dress and a long coat and high boots.
Her husband picked her up and
sought help. At last he found a
peasant's hut, and from it issued its
owner before he reached the door, pro
testing volubly: "Oh, sir, you ought
not to bring a little boy like that out
so far. The country here is too rough
for a child to skilobn in."
It is a pet trick of Dr. Nansen to set
her on his outstretched arm and parade
up and down the room with her; but
that really to one that knows him
does not indicate much about her
size, for at a banquet given in Chris
tiania after his return from Green
land he picked up Captain Luerdorf,
who has since commanded the Fram,
and, holding him by the arms high
from the floor, cried: "There is the
man I place above us all." Chicago
Record.
Fashion Notes.
Jacqueminot velvet hats are much
favored by brunette beauties.
Amethysts and emeralds seem to be
favorite stones for gold hatpins.
Very lovely tea gowns are of Roman
striped silk, with lace garniture.
For yokes and skirt borders there
are beautiful lace applique insertions.
Three kinds of fur utilized in one
garment is no t unusual sight these
days. . ,
Long black lace scarfs in the style
of days gone by are now used as
sashes.
The latest French skirt models
grow narrower and closer on the front
and sides.
Some French house dresses are
trimmed with two shades of ribbon of
the same color, artistically arranged.
Daggers for the hair are again in
fashion in gold, aluminum, filigree,
silver and amber set with mock jewels
of every color and device.
Many of the new skirts are cut with
the narrow tablier front, as it serves
to display the trimming which covers
it entirely or extends up either side in
elaborate designs.
There seems to be a veritable epi
demic of tiny waists. The athletic
girl has broad shoulders, but she
doesn't run much to waist to indulge
at once in a pun aud an honest state
ment.
The fashionable photograjdier jxs
sesses such an assortment of laces,
neck jewels and fancy head wear that
the woman anxious to be posed artis
tically has a wide range of choice in
the matter of her adornment.
Very many of the new fur boas are
long enough to reach the bottom of
the skirt in front. Some are made en
tirely of Russian sable, Hudson's bay
or stone marten tails. With these lace
aud jewels are often introduced.
When silks are packed away they
are likely to become yellow unless
care is used. To prevent this, break
up a few cake3 of white beeswax, fold
them loosely in old handkerchiefs aud
place these among the folds of silk.
White gloves stitched with black
are only de rigueur for day wear when
accompanying a costume in black and
white effects. The more fashionable
shades are doe color, biscuit, mush
room, almond, pale brown and tan.
Spangled belts are entirely out of
date. Ribbon belts with loops aud
enJs are still iu favor. Russia leather
belts, fastened with solid silver links,
are expensive, but "much neater and
more useful than the white belts which
so many wear unthinkingly. White
belts only look well on slender women,
as has been said before in this department.
EACH MAN FOE IIIMSKI
THF OLD PROVERB IS LITER
FOLLOWED IN THE KLONDIH
, . . .; .
A Returned Miner Declare Thro'
Greed for Gold I-eartft Them t-f
Suspiviou of i:ch Other and !'
the Verge of Cruelty A BiT""
"Nobody who has spent!
in the Klondike will ever I
it again," said Thomas Haj
Deliver (Col.) Mining Bun
is. unless he has a certain!
ing enough money to part!
him for suffering bardshjft
weia never enuureu. ins any lurriv
camn on earth hfifore. .- ' Ir
Mr, Harmer went into Alaska two
years ago and says that he left there
last August never to return. "I
would not go back there aud remain
live years for $230,000," he con
tinued. "When I speak of suffering
I do not mean actual bodily pain or
sickness, because I think if a man
goes there prepared as he should and
abstains from excesses he can keep in
reasonable good health, but - to .'live
nun g the winter season m tnose
close-cabins and see the horrible sel
fishness and cruelty of human beings
tow arda each other, the result of the
rush for gold, which many of them,
even after they have secured it, do
not h?sitate to throw away, is enough
to make one lose all faith in the fit
ness of men to live on the earth.
When I was coming out I saw men re
fuse a nail or the use of an axe, or
even the use of a tin cup to men who
were in need of these trifles. Every
man there seems to be afraid of his
fellows afraid that they will steal
something or have better success in
finding gold. I spent last winter
from September to April with eight
ether men, we having gone together
to save labor in keeping warm.
"Each of us had a claim or a part
of a e'.akii, and went out every day
that the weather was not too cold to
work our claims. Iu melting the
frozen gravel we nearly always found
one or more nuggets in the dirt, but
during the entire eight months that
we worked together I do not remem
ber of a single occasion when one of
us acknowledged that he had found
any gold. Each of us had a buckskin
bag, which was carried on the person,
and the ingenuity of all was taxed to
the utmost to devise some scheme
whereby the bag could be concealed
from the rest. There was no stealing
in the camp. A man caught stealing
would have had a rough time of it,
but every man seemed to think that
every other man wanted to steal from
him, and I do not think that a single
one of us knew where any other man
carried his gold. I remember one
night lying awake and seeing five men
of our company at different times put
ting away nuggets found during the
day, and in every case after putting
them in the little buckskin bag they
would thrust the bag under the blan
kets, and I could see from the fum
bling that they were concealing it
about their persons. We always had
a man sitting up to keep the fires, and
the men were afraid that he might see
where they put 'their gold. There was
no absolute cruelty, but the total in
difference to the welfare of others that
characterized everybody was simply
horrible. I was in the cabin one day
reading with two men, one of whom
was sick, the rest being at work. The
sick man had a terrible cold and fe'ver'
and asked one of us to hand him a
drink.
"The other man went over to the
bucket in which we kept our melted
snow, and with the remark, 'There is
no more than I want myself,' drank
it all. This, of course, was excep
tionally brutal, bat there were many
instances almost as bad. Every man
is for himself, and many of them are
so constantly thinking of their gold
that they become insane, or j'artially
so. I came out with one man who was
so excited over about $10,000 worth
of gold that by the time we got to Sau
Francisco he was almost an idiot, and
it was with difficulty that we could
induce him to deposit his gold in a
bank and go to a hotel. There is plen
ty of gold there, aud I think more
fields will be found, but all a man is
likely to get will not pay him for the
horrible experiences he is called upon
to endure. was not particularly
lucky, though I brought out enough
to pay me fairly well for my two years
in Alaska, but if I was assured ol
$50,000 a year I would not go back
there."
Killed a Two-Headed Sparrow.
A very curious ornithological freali
has been discovered in Columbus by
Olher P. Davies, a well-known orni
thologist and the author of a book on
the subject. Some time ago Mr. Da
vies' attention was attracted by the
apparent possession of two heads by a
little English sparrow. The bird
seemed especially tame, and, after sev
eral futile attempts to catch it, a boy
iu Mr. Davies' employ finally man
aged to kill it. One of the heads was
set on ail usual in the bird line, while the
other seems to have a windpipe running
through the neck down to the lungs,
but to have no other arrangements for
eating or drinking. Mr. Davies ha
come to the conclusion that the bird
whistled with one head and ate with
the other. He has mounted it.
Cleveland Plain Dealer...
v