North Carolina Newspapers

4: THE- " AN EXCELLEN1! v Official Organ of Washington County. FIRST OF ALL THE NEWS.' ! ADVERTISING IIEDIUIX. Circulates extensively in the Counlles cf Wasliiniio;!, Martin. Tyrrell and Beaufort. Job Printing in ItsVarlouj Branches. l.Orf A YEAR IX ADVANCE. ' FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." SINGLE COPY, 5 CENT?. VOL IX. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FKIDAY,MARCH 25. 1398.- NO. 27. 2 r 'X "THE RIDDLE OF We walk tn a world where no man reads The riddle ot things that are, From a tiny fern in the valley'8 heart To the light of the largest star, Yet we know that the pressure ot life ia hard And the silence of Death is deep, As we fall and rise on the tangled way That leads to the gate of Sleep A riother's Tlistake. VVVVVVVVV VP W V Vlf V WVWWV V i In a darkened room, where the shutters were closely bowed and tied with broad black ribbons, a lady was unfolding and stroking with tender hands the contents of a small trunk, v Not packed for a traveler's comfort, Hue trunk contained only the posses 'sions of a babe a year old, who had "gone before" to jue heavenly home. For six months the bereaved mother had made a weekly visit to the trunk, unfolding and refolding every baby garment, packing carefully the baby t'ia and stroking tender!y every tiny object endeared by the touch of tli8 little one she had lo.it. Yet, on the day when the sixth month had rolled by, her tears fell upon the dainty em broideries, the worn socks, the broken toys as fast as on the day when she first put aside the clothes Baby Willie would never wear again. Her dress ' of , heavy black, loaded with crape, suited well her pale, tear-stained face, heavy eyes and grief-drawn mouth. While she was yet busy at her mournful task the door opened softly and two beautiful boys of four years old, her twin sons, Eddie and Charlie, oame into the room! Seeing their mother busy, they softly stepped to her side and stood quiet until Eddie spied a tin horse and wagon on the floor. A moment later he had grasped it and was pulling it down from the summit of a pile of little garments. Down toppled the whole pile, the cart rattling noisily. . The mother looked around with a quick frown. "You naughty, heartless boy!" she cried, sobbing. "How can you touch jour poor, dead brother's things? I think yon are old enough to know poor Willie is gone, never to come back, and mamma is so sad so " Here the sobs choked her, and the children, terrified, began to cry, too. "Eddie sorry," one sobbed; "don't ky, mamma." "Is Charlie bad boy, too?" asked the other, with a piteous wail in his voice, that should have gone straight to the mother's heart. "Go to the nursery," she said, and the little ones trotted off, hand in hand, vaguely conscious that they were in disgrace and ready to be com forted by rosy-cheeked Nannie, their nurse. "And, dear knows," said that warm hearted individual to the cook, "it is a shame for the poor darlings. It's not blaming Mrs. Aiken I am for cry ing her eyes out for the beautiful boy she lost. Didn't I love every curl of his hair, the pretty pet. But look at the two that's left. Wouldn't they be a comfort to anybody, and Mrs. Aiken only speaks to them now to set them crying. Sure she can't expect babies like them to remember their brother more than six months, and if they were downright wicked she couldn't be harder than she is if they laugh or romp. She'll break their spirits en tirely." And the mother, rocking to and fro, with the picture of her dead boy clasped to her heart, was thinking: ".Lverybody is forgetting Willie but me. But I will never forget. I will never, never cease to mourn for my darling. Oh, Willie! Willie!" Breaking in upon her sobs came a whistle, a merry whistle of a popular tune, and the door of the darkened room opened again noisily. "Where are you, Susy? Oh!" Voice and face fell, and Mr. Aiken sto a siientiy at tue aoor, nis eyes slowly gathering the mournful expres sion suited to the funereal aspect of the scene before him. "I was hoping you had gone out when I did not find you in the sitting room," he said, "but Nannie told me you were upstairs. I wish you would not spend so much time in this room, Susy. It is wearing away your health." "Oh, Fred," the mother sobbed, "how can you whistle! I don't expect sorrow or sympathy from the children, but you I thought you loved Willie so dearly." "So I did, Susy, but I made a most fortunate investment in business a few weeks ago, and today I was able to ...' "'Y the mortgage on the house. ' X o t-hearted when I thought -nome for my family." ; -can you think of ,,yv.i our beautiful - '.v.l 6hame- shadow "Millie's ithes jnk, it nk d i THINCS THAT ARE." We know that the problems of Sin and Pain, , And the passions that lead to crime, Are the mysteries looked from age to age In the awful vault of Time; Yet we lift our weary feet and strive Through the mire and mist to grope And find a ledge on the mount of Faith, In the morning laud of Hope. William H. Hayne, in Harper.'s Weekly. 1AA A AAAA A A AJ closing the door of the room where she kept the precious souvenirs of her boy, she followed her husband to the diniug room. Everywhere the bowed shatters kept out God s sun light, and the house was as dark and gloomy as if a corpse awaited burial there. Awed by the father's grave face, the mother's look of Avoe, the children ate silently, gladly scrambling down and escaping to Nannie and the nursery when tue dinner was over. tome, ousy, ireu sail, "i can afford to take a few leisure hours to day. I will get a carriage, and we will take the children out. A run on the seashore will do us all good, for tne weather is getting hot." "Oh! Fred, drive me to Greenwood. it is nearly a month since we were there." "Well, as you wish, "said Fred, pity ing the pale face and really fearing that he was growing heartless. "We can take the children down to Bath afterward." ' Nearly a month after the day de scribed, which was a fair specimen of the days preceding it for six long months, a silver-haired old ladv sat knitting in a cheerful sitting room In a sleeping room beyond a lady lay upon the bed, resting after an ex! nt ing talk, weary with crying and half sleeping. While the old lady plied her needles with her sweet, placid face clouded by some troubled thought, Fred Aiken came into the room. "Oh!" he said, kissing her fondly, "you always look cheerful here, mother." . "I am glad you still love your old home, Fred, was the rep'iy. "Yes. Have you seen Susy to day?" "She was here this morning, and "Has she told you I am going y to accept Russell's oiler and take the California branch of the business?" "She said you thought of it. But, Fred, I hope you will think better of it. lou are doing well here, and your first duty is to yourpwn home." "I have no home." "Fred, yon shock me!" "There is a funeral vault up town where I live," was the reply, "but the home I had there is gone. I have been patient, mother, as you advised me. I have not said one harsh word to Susy. I respected her sorrow and tried to comfort her, but I tell you fraukly that I shall become insane if I do not get away. It is useless for ma to tell you that I loved my boy, my little Willie, as fondly as ever father loved a son. I grieved for him sin cerely, but after my first shock of paiu was over I thought of him safe in God's care, happy, released from all thosorrowsof this life, and was com forted. God has left me my wife, my two noble boys and my own home, health and strength. It seemed to me monstrous and wicked to see no light or hope in life because a babe had returned to Heaven pure and spotless. But Susy would not see the loss in this light. It became her religion to mourn for her baby ceaselessly and hopelessly. She hugged her grief to her heart till the whole world was dark, and would hear no word of com fort." "Have you told her what you have just told me of your own source of comfort?" "Over and over again, but she only sobs more pitifully because I do not share her feelings. You advised me to be patient, to let time carry its healing to her. I have been patient, but I am losing my own powers of usefulness in the dreary atmosphere of , my once pleasant home. My boys are growing pale and thin in the un natural suppression of their baby spirits. Susy has actually persuaded them that it is a sin to romp, to make a noise or laugh, and I have seen Ed die put his finger on his lip and say to Charlie ; " 'Don't laugh! l'ou forget baby brnzzer.'" "Fred!" "I assure you I do not exaggerate. The house is like a prisou. Every room is kept darkened, and the whole atmosphere is heavy and actually chilly in this glorious summer weather. Susy nurses her sorrow till it is be coming a monomania." "Cannot you coax her out?" "She will go nowhere but to Green wood, and the last time we were there she fainted on Willie's grave." "She is not strong." "Because she shuts herself up c!oely in the house, dark aud gloomy I as a vault, destroys her appetite and iveakeus her whole system. I cannot t' any sternness, exercise any strong , rr -v it seems like actual bru- j tality and want of feeling for her sor row. But I must escape. I am be coming unfit for business, and Mother, I have actually been tempted to join bachelor parties to get rid of the necessity of returning home to meet only darkness, tears aud repin ing!" "Oh, Fred, you frighten me!" "I frighten myself! It is because I am losing my strength to resist such temptations that I am considering this California offer. Susy will then have no one to consider, and I will have at least air and light out of business hours. Mother, advise me! What can I do? If it is cowardly to run away, shirk my duties as husband aud father, I will stay; but I tell you frankly I am afraid I shall be driven to neglect heme, wife and children if I find nothing there but, gloom and darkness." ' There was a rustling noise in the sleeping room as Fred ceased speak ing, and the door, which had stood ajar, was pushed open. Susy stood updn the threshold, her heavy black draperies still clinging around her, but her face lifted with a look upon it that went to Fred's heart. It was the expression of so much penitence, such heart-stricken remorse, that he held out both hands, to gather her closely in his arms. Then she spoke: "Forgive me, Fred, aud stay with me! I did not mean to be au eaves dropper, but I heard all you said, aud I see how wickedly selfish I have been. You were so kind, so tender, that I did not realize what I was doing in my neglect of you and our boys. Do not go away, Fred!" "Never, Susy. if you bid me stay." "I do. Mother, you will help me to keep him." "Not now! I must give my answer, this morning. 1 1 ani off -now, but I will be home to dinner." It was still daylight on the summer afternoon when Fred Aiken came home. Before he entered the Rouse he drew a deep sigh of relief, seeiDg the shutters of every window opened ana the light shaded only by inner curtains. In the sitting room- Eddie and Charlie, long banished because they were noi3y, were building block houses. Their . dress showed plainly that Nannie had no longer sole con trol of their appearance, and on each little face was a serene happiness, as if some long-felt restraint wa gone. Susy,in a dresnof Wack,thm goods, had put ' snowy "ruffles at wrists and throat and,, for the first tiriie since her baby died, had arranged her hair fashionably and becomingly. Upon her face, still pale and thin, was a smile of welcome for Fred, and the kiss of. greeting he gave her was cor? dially returned. . "Papa!" the boys shouted, "see us" tumble down the tower mamma built." ' And down c.uue the rattling blocks, without any quick cry of restraint for their noise or the gleeful shouts of the little ones. ' It is nearly seven years now since Baby Willie was laid to sleep in Greenwood. Two little girls are playmates for Eddie and Charlie in Mrs. Aiken's nursery, and another little grave marks a second bereave ment. But the mother ha3 learned well the lesson impressed upon her heart when the selfish sorrow so near ly blighted her homa. The little ones God has taken can never be forgotten. Tears still fall Over their pictures, the silent souve nirs of their brief lives, but the duties to the living are never forgotten in sorrowing for the dead. What God has taken to His own care the mother has learned to resign submissively, thanking Him for the blessings spared, shutting out no sunlight He gives and treasuring gratefully the memories of brightness with the sorrow of the little lives ended. Jsew iork ruews. , Disagreeable I'lowers Made Fragrant. Artificial flowers now imitate the natural ones so truthfully that they are much used in room decoration, and the practice has become much more widespread siuce manufacturers have succeeded in giving them a lasting perfume. But a still more remark able fact, says a foreign paper, is that Dutch horticulturists have produced delicately fragrant varieties of flowers among those species which usually have a disagreeable odor. Thus sun flowers exchange their pungent smell for the scent of the rose, camellias are made to smell like violets, the faint perfume of primroses is intensi fied and the large cyclamens acquire the exquisite aroma of the Alpine vio lets. The process is still a secret.but it is said that horticultural science will soon be prepared to disclose it. New York Tribune. Consecrated to Food. Food plavs an important part in the world's history. A number of days are consecrated to some article of diet. Chief to the American is Thanks giving, with its turkey and cranberry sauce; to the Englishman, Christinas and plum pudding; Christmas Eve and snap-dragons; barley, sugar and oranges on St. Valentine's eve; Shrove Tuesday and pain cakes; hot cross buns and Good Friday ; salt codfish on Ash Wednesdays goose on Michael mas day; gooseberry tart on Whit Sunday, and roasted nuts on All Ilal.ow eve. ONLY ONE PEAKL KING. A YOUNG CALIFORNIAN'S INTEREST ING SOUTH PACIFIC TRADE. Controls the Pearl and Pearl Shell Mar kets of Europe and America How He Built Up the Industry-Bartering Mer chandise for the Beautiful Gem. It is not generally known that one single merchant, a young Californian, 32 years of age, controls the pearl and pearl shell markets of America and Europe. This monarch of the pearl trade is Samuel Harris. He operates In the Pacific ocean, and he has built up an astounding commercial reputa tion in the course of eight years. There are plenty of cattle kings in the west, and wheat kings in the east and money kings everywhere, but there is only one pearl king, and that is Harris. Thousands of rare, translucent gems are brought to this country and shipped to Europe by his agents. He deals in mother-of-pearl shells by the ton, and the magnitude of his trans actions has made the private mark of Harris, namely, a diamond inclosing a large H, a seal of international im portance and a guarantee of genuine kingship. Harris gathers his gems exclusively in the Society Islands. For eight years he has made these Pacific land spots the field of his interesting busi ness. It was on the shores of Tahiti that first he earned his title of king. After repeated transactions with the natives whom he employed in pearl fishing he stimulated them from pas sivity to great activity, gaining their confidence and trust by honest and reliable barter. He never made promises to them that he did not keep. He paid them in full the price which they demanded. Himself a finished critic, a connoisseur, he never per mitted them to overvalue a pile of shells, and they grew to admire him. He controlled the situation at Tahiti. He was easily king. ,- It is said that Harris has been a lover of these delicate gem3 since his boyhood. Pearls have always been to him the most mysterious, the most wonderful, the most beautiful handi work of nature. To him, gifted with an artistic, idealistic temperament, they appealed in' a romantic, poetic way To him each translucent glob ule seemed like a tear from the weird -eyes' of an earth-bewitched mermaid. They were silent tokens of the water maid's grief, she who. perhaps pined for a terrestrial lover, v "v. , 1 Finally young Harris took a pleas ure voyage to the distant Society Isles and saw what made his enthusiastic eyes. bulge in their sockets. He saw native children playing - along the Bands with the richest pearls he had ever seen; he saw the native helles passing by with ropes of pearly gems about their throats, such treasures as would have made a society queen turn pale with envy. Then Harris made his first business trip to Tahiti, and he took with him $3000 worth of mer chandise. His burden consisted mainly of tobacco, knives, rope, fish hooks and articles of clothing. . These were luxuries' to the native Tahitite, and the pearl trader brought back that year in exchange for his merchandise fully $10, 000 worth of pearls and pearl shells. He did not consider it a bad bargain and he has been back every year since. , Formerly only the lowest grade pearls were brought to the American market. The finer ones were retained abroad aud rarely ever found their way this side or the water. Harris has , turned the tables, and now brings to the San Francisco market the most perfect pearls found anywhere. The perfect stones are Orient and of trans lucent whiteness or glimmering irides cence. They are finely symmetrical in form and the best are generally pear shaped, like a falling tear. The huut for these beauties of the deep goes on" incessantly. The same excitement and uncertainty attend the fishing, as sur round the tireless chase for gold or the determined digging in a diamond mine. There is the same labor and the oft repeated disappointment. Now; and then a great suprise is brought up by the fearless pearl diver. That com pensates for all the rest. Lately jt vyas an immense black pearl, the hand somest of its kind ever snatched from the fathomless ocean. Harris brought it on his last recent voyage to San Francisco. After careful examination it was found to be absolutely perfect, having a weight of six karats. It is valued in the London markets at $750. Since 1895 Harris has revolutionized the trade in pearl shells. Only one grade ever found its way to the manu facturers of pearl shell ornaments and gewgaws. It was generally shell that was thin, flakey, and colorless, and sold for $800 a "ton. This energetic young pearl king now exports four different grades or varieties, ranging in value from $000 to $1200 a tou. All sheils are purchased in bulk from the native fishers. They bring down their hauls of shell to the young king's schooner as it lies in port, fret ting restlessly against the side of the rude piers. They bring down their find here for the king's inspection. He sits in state and passe? judgment. Harris can tell at a glance what a pile of shells is worth. He U an expert at determining value, and he ia a shrewd buyer as well, .and has never r ermit ted the native ex2erts to outdistance him in judgment. When a pile of shells is dropped before him he picks up one or two and xuns his arm care lessly through the heap, and in a moment can determine the grade, for the natives are clever at assortment. No uncommon shells are ever found among the poor ones. They have not learned yet the trick of deception by mingling the good and the bad. Chicago Times-Herald. BULL AGAINST TIGERr A Combat In Which the Latter Caui Oil Second Best. In the Spanish capital a few days ago, before one thousand three hun dred well-pleased spectators, there was a combat between a royal Bengal tiger and an Andalusiau fighting bull, the tiger being a full grown animal, knovn for its ferocity. A cage seven teen yards square by four in height had been erected in the middle of the plaza, and the animals were brought in, the bull being the first to be released into the inclosure. He immediately began to run round and round his prison, bellowing and throwing up sand and gravel with his hoofs. The instant the tiger entered the cage the great cat gave a roar and bounded on the bull, avoiding the horns, and fixed on his flank's and belly with both teeth and claws. The bull remained paralyzed for a few seconds, and then seemed to be sinking backward to the ground. The tiger, however, loosened its grip for a second to take another hold, and in the brief interval was hurled to earth by the wild plunges of the bull. Be fore the tiger had time to recover, the bull was on him, and, plunging its horns in the tough hide, tossed the tiger into the air. This was repeated four or five times, the bull varying his tactics occasionally by crushing his adversary against the bars. When the bull desisted the tiger I lay limp on the ground, and the crowd, thinking he was dead, cried, "Bravo, toro!" The bill stood stamp ing for a moment in tne middle of the cage, and then, seeing that the tiger did not move, approached and smek his enemy, who, however, was only shamming death, and seized the bull's muzzle in his powerful jaws, so that the latter could not move. Eventually, however, the bull was released, and, after stamping furiously on the tiger, again caught him on his horns. . This time the tossing, stamp ing and banging apparently really ended in the tiger's death. The cage was then opened aud the bull rushed out and back to his stable. For pre caution's sake the tiger's van was brought up, and, to the general sur prise, he rose to hia feet, glanced round as if afraid the bull was still there, and then bounded into the van. The tiger was found to have five ribs broken, besides having a number of wounds from the bull's horns. He is expected to survive. -London" Tele graph. Pranks of Art Students. " In the National Magazine W. H. Iieavitt tells some amusing stories of the pranks of American art students in Paris. Once the students in one atelier hazed a newcomer by taking all his money, putting him into a cab and giving the driver instructions where to take him. When the cab halted the penniless student alighted and stood on the curb. "Will you be so good as to light a match, " said the student. "I dropped a napoleon in the cab and can't find it." Whereupon the driVer whipped up and was away in a hurry. A new student from Algiers amused the studio for a while by imitating the sounds of various wild beasts and birds. Then the fickle fellows tired of if. So one day, having prepared a big box with1 breathing holes in it, they put the mimic in it and kept him there three days, at the end of which time he performed only by request. How France' Treasure Was Hidden. The discussion in connection with the renewal of the charter of the Bank of France, which has just been pro longed by the National legislature un til the end of 1920, has brought to light the measures that were adopted during the war of 1876 for the preser vation of the specie and valuables con fided to the care of the institution to the extent of over $100,000,000. It seems that the whole of this treasure was packed into some twenty-five thousand cases, marked "explosive projectiles." and was shipped by rail to Brest, where it was "cached" in such a manner in the arsenal that, had even the Germans captured the port, they would never have discovered the hiding place. Indeed, so elaborate were the precautions adopted that neither the people who -shipped the cases from Faris nor those who con cealed them at Brest had any idea of the contents of the boxes. Theological. "Ah," he said, as the postmaa banded him a letter, "an epistle?" "No," said his wife, as she opened the envelope, and a tailor's bill Mut tered to the floor. "Not an epistle; a collect." Boston Traveler. Few natives of India eat more than twice a day, and thousands only onea. A TRYING SITUATION. A man may be a hero ' In most any walk of life; Cut certain situations Make him falter in the strife; And one that tries his mettle. 'Till warm beneath the collar, Is when he comes to parting " With his last and only dollar! He'll laugh at old misfortune When he hears the dollars clink, And be brave for any danger', When be knows he's got the 'chink; But he sings a different measure, When hia hoard is growing smaller, And he finds he's come to parting With his last and only dollar! -You speak in praise of striving, And of conquering adverse fate, And prove how oft the, humble nave Deen truly good and great; . But philosopbyis vauquished By both the Boor and scholar, Wbenjt comesjto final imrtinir With the list and only dollar! Detroit Free Press. HUMOROUS. ( Different kind3 of punishment are good for unruly children, but as a general thing spanking takes the palm. - "What's Old Calamity howling about now?" "Because he can't get as much for wheat here as you are paying at the Klondike." Wallace 1 2resume you are aware that mojjey is a great carrier of bac teria? Hargreaves Y'es. That is why I burn it as fast as I get it. "And why," said the young porker, "do you feel so sad whenever you see a hen?" "My son," replied the old hog, "I cannot help thinking of ham and eggs. " First Hen What are those young bantams fighting about? Second Hea Oh! they are disputing about the question, Which is the mother of the chick the hen that lays the egg or the incubator? Lounger Do cook-books form an important item in your salej? Book seller Yes, we sell them by the thou sand. "The women appreciate thern, eh?" "Oh, the women don't buy them; their husbands do." ' 'Pat, you complain of being out of work, and yet I heard that coal dealer offer you a job to drive one of his carts, not ten minutes ago." "Yis," Bor; but I'm blamed if I'll freeze me self to death to keep alive, begob!" Maud(showing fashion plate) Papa, that's the way I would look if I had a sealskin sacque. Maud's Father (showing advertising picture labeled "Before taking") And that's the way I would look, dear, when he bill cams in. "Papa," said Sammy Snaggs, who was seeking for information, "how much is gold worth au ounce?" "I can't tell you what gold is worth an ounce here, but in the Klondike I un derstand that gold is worth its weight -in donghnuts." , Mrs. Askem It's the unluckiest store to shop in, dear. ' Mrs. Priceit -Why? Mrs. Askem There isn't a thing you might ask for they haven't got, and everything they have is so lovely you're forced to buy without going further." She beats the bars of her prison in her wrath. "Belease me,", she shrieked, ?'or I shall break out if not iu one way, then in another." The warden trembled. If she proved to be a poetess of passion, would ha be responsible? "l'ou," said she, as she came down leisurely pulling on her gloves "you used to say I was worth my weight ia ' gold." "Well, what if I did?" he asked, looking at his watch. "And uow.you don't think I am worth a wait of two minutes." "You enjoy coa hing.do you ? I never could see where the fun comes in. Ona looks so like a blamed fool, sitting up on a three-story coach and cavorting over the highway tooting of a horn." "T know it, but it isn't every blamed fool that can afford it." . Johnnie -Papa, is mamma the bet ter .half of you? Father Yes, my son, that's the way they put it. John-, nie And are all wives the better part Of their husbands? Father Certain ly, my son. Johnnie Then, what part of King Solomon were his wivts? Feeding Army F.Iepliaiitfl, Elephants in the Indian army ara fed twice a day. When meal time ar rives, they are drawn up in line be fore a row of piles of food. Each an imal's breakfast includes ten pounds of raw rice, done up in five two-pound packages. The rice is wrapped in leaves and then tied with grass. Ai . the command, "Attention!" each ele phant raises its trunk and a package is thrown into its capacious mouth. By this method of feeding, not a sin gle grain of rice is wasted. Five Years in Search of a Cow. Five years ago young Barkley Geary, son of a farmer living near Westmoreland, was sent to bring up the family cow. Nothing was seen or heard of him until one night recently, when be drove the cow up to the bai n, entered the house, hung up his cap on its accustomed pe.r, and told hia mother that he would milk after sup per. He refuses to toll where ha spent the five years, beyond dt-c'iariug taut be was out hunting the co-., Kausa3 City Star.