North Carolina Newspapers

. m: y k r - ;JFrlniI.i in ItsYarlsus cnssH I m II t . I i.00 ,A YEAR IN ADVANCE, "FOB GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH," VOL.. X. PLYMOUTH, N. C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER i i i mmmm 9 THE RED CROSS. Tbfty too have heard the drum-beat, They follow the bugle's call, These who are swift with pity On the Held where brave men fall. "When the battle-boom Is silent, "'And the eoholng thunder dies, They haste to the plain red sodden With the blood of sacrifice. Tie flag that floats above them Is marked with a crimson sign, fledge of a pre at compassion And the rifted heart divine, That once for man's redemption Knew earth's completest loss, These to the field of valor . Bring love's immortal cross. ' And so they follow the bugle, And heed the drum-beat's call, But their errand is one of pity They succor the men who fall. - m Harper's Bazar. THE YELLOW QOD BY LEAVEN WOBTH MACNAB. ins ran his hand through lay heaped on the ' floor Seems to me, Billy," that hopin to hnd W it." .;: ... ght from a smoky he face of the old V, 'deep-farrowed and offering a iL to, the haud s, V8 of Billy Hlly, .-TswsA-s quittin'. the wants air- privations for nigh twenty j pars. ow, l ve come to like these ountains, an' the singin of 63, an the . river. They ve d like friends, an' , I'm never Ine among 'em. Listen! you far 'em now. Maybe it's the las' ley ll ever sing fer me. re goin back to civ'lization. ued Tom, unheeding the other's t i J Si A 1 1 .-,Ack of sympathy with his reminiscent mood, "an that means separation. I , know you like me, Billy. A feller wouldn't want a better pardner than . jou've been fer the two year I've " knowed you. . But with yer eddica ' tion, an' yef young blood, an' yer am bitions, you ain't my kind in civ'liza tion. We can't be the same down there. I couldn't expect it. But I think a powerful deal of you, Billy. "Oh, come, Tom," broke in his companion, impatiently, "you're iu , the dumps tonight. Take a walk and j brace up. Should think you'd look 2n .tne Drignt siae or tniners now. e've worked and starved in these rsed wiids for gold, until at last 've got it. Think of the city's ten thousand pleasures that this stake can buy for us. There's no life in these solitudes. It's there in the crowded streets, and it can be ours when we've got such a god the god of gold to aee us through." Billy laughed gloatingly in anticipa tion. Then ouce more he fixed his yes with' a glittering intensity on the . yellow heap, which meant for him all that life can mean to a selfish, love Jack nature. '"But it ain't, fer me," persisted Tom. "I'm past them things. If it a'n't fer the hojje of fiudin'the old Wouiau down there in Frisco an' mak in' her comfortable, I'd stay. I don't J:are fer the gold after all. I've found t, an' my hungerin' fer it's satisfied." Billy made no answer. He had Jong since become resigned to the di Versityof their tastes, and tonight he Was in no mood for , argument. He got out some materials, and began to fepair a rent in his coat. Tom rose presently, and dumped the nuggets into a gunny-sack. Theu he arranged big blankets for the night. "Put it away safe, Billy," he said, jocularly; "we're already on the edge bi civ uzation, an must learn to be bertickler." "I'll look after it, never fear," said the other, shortly; "good-night." Billy finished his task, but his mind Was still busy with thoughts of the tature. He rose and stepped out into Aigaf.' At his feet the turbulent Aver rushed blackly along, its foam ,j tests gleaming like dull silver in the "tlear starlight. Behind him - towered :ia silent majesty the rugged, wooded fcouutains. The air was heavy with iho breath of the pines. , ' But Billy t law none of the beauty of the night. JChe mountains awakened memories of "hardships and hopelessness; the river hvas only a highway to civilization. He lit. his pipe, aud began to pace up and dowithe shelving shore. , . i . Tiifte was none of the stuff of which 'aerclrt are made in Billy Bailey's com position. Had the fates, seen fit to isoxitjtia. their kindly beginning, he 'Vvggj probably , have . developed into yTof the horde of whited sepulchres fat so largely make up what the tbii'of humanity those who observe Ine .conventions to the letter, indulge evetydsire with a studied care that wins theapproval of men, and dying Are respectfully buried aud speedily forgotten. On the contrary, fate had preferred giving Billy a chance to prove his mettle. His college career ?t -short by the melting away of his father's fortune, Le awoke one morn by L find himself face to face with the world, hi wits his only capital. ": 11 Auiembered tonight Lis struggles fa : .a ., i :2.iu U13 sooirtl Ik pyifivu; th slights heaped upon him by erstwhile boon companions; the gradual sinking away of hope, until, with starvation staring him in the face; he had shipped in a vessel bound "'round the Horn." On his lips were angry phrases for the friends who had failed him; in his heart a resolve some day to retaliate. , Ha recalled his hardships on the Western frontier, his final falling in with old Tom Jenkins, and the hope less search for gold until a week ago, when the gravel of a dried-up moun tain stream unexpectedly yielded .them their little fortune and ended for him the wretched existence in these soli tudes. , His future course was plain. Mercilessly he would engage in the war for wealth. His heart must know bat one love the love of gold. And the stake! it was not so much after all. If he only had Tom's share, too! , The thought startled him,, and he looked furtively about as though already under surveillance. Well, why not? The olJ man oared nothing for gold he had said as much. Why not begin the task of wealth-gathering tonight, and double his fortune by a single coup? The skiff was all ready for the morrow's journey down the river. He. could easily reach North Fork by daylight, and miles of dis tance would lie between him and Tom before the latter could make the trip across the almost impassable mountain trail. He weakened for a moment as he. thought of Tom's almost motherly solicitude of hdw throughout their wanderings the big-hearted miner had borne the brunt of the struggle. Even whnj4he treasure was discovered1 the old man's first words were: "I'm glad for yoir sake, Billy." Then he asked himseli if he, too, was growing senti mental, 'and tonight, of all nights, on the very feve of battle. He walked back to the house. Tom was fast jasleep. The flickering light of the lantern fell aslant the corner where he lay, his powerful form half swathed in the tattered blankets, his brawny arms thrown above his head. The face, from which sleep seemed to have smoothed away the deep furrows, mirrored the rugged honesty of his heart. But the touching picture meant nothing to Billy, who watched the sleeper for an instant, and then pro ceeded to put his cowardly scheme into effect. It was but the work of a few minutes to gather together the things necessary for the short journey down the river, and to secure the treasure for safe transportation. There was a look of cunning triumph on his face as he completed his preparations. He was thinking of the surprise await ing Tom, -who had been "fool enough to believe in human friendship." He made a cautious step toward the door of the shack, when a slight noise, real or fancied, caused him to glance back over his shoulder. The next in stant the bag of gold crashed to the floor, while Billy sank-on his knees as though felled by a blow. Tom was sitting bolt upright in bed, his revolver leveled at Billy's heart. The two gazed at each other in utter silence. Billy's eyes, fixed with the penetration born of despair, scanned the old man's face, and read there reproach and pity, rather than a thirst for swift revenge. This somewhat reassured him, and, he rose to his feet. . . "Well," he said, bluntly, "what do you intend to do?" "So," said Tom, with a long breath, "I wuz mistook in you, after all. To think that I give you my friendship an' you wa'n't worth it. What be I going to do? What do men usu'lly do when a pardner turns thief?" "You wouldn't shoot me, Tom?" "Why not? Men's been killed fer less 'an this an' the -world wuz well red of 'em." Then it did mean death As Billy realized this his face turned ashen pale, while a palsying terror struck through him, rending his bravado mask and revealing him as the pitiable dastard he was. He cowered before the old man, pleading hysterically. "Oh, spare me, spare me, Tom. You said you cared nothing for gold, while I I was mad with love of it. It is my god my heaven my everything. But take it, take it all only give me my life Tom I I can't die." "Git up," commanded the other, coldly, "don't make me despise you worse'n I do. What would you do if, yon wuz in my place? Shoot, wouldn't you? You'd kill me now if you had thi chance." "But think, Tom, what life means tome; I'm young and " "Think what friendship meant to me, Billy. I'm old." Iu the momentary 'silence that followed, thepines and the river could be heard singing their old, old song, unheeding of the strife of mor tals for a scrap of the treasure they guarded. Tom heard the song, and his bitterness seemed to go out with the weird melody. The hand that held the weapon dropped listlessly to his side. "I'll spar yer life,"hesaid hoarsely; "you kin go." Billv stood a moment as though he I had not heard. ' 1 "Yer free. Go!" sail Tom. The boy glanced from the old man to the bag of gold, aud then turned slowly toward the doorway. "You better take yer pill now," said.Toai, quietly, "as I reclion you wou't be c ,min' bsck. " "Do you jaean it?" gasped Billy. "Certainly; half's yourn, ain't it? There's only one thief in this camp, an it ain t me. Tom proceeded to open the bag, and roughly'divided the contents. "You can take the boat, that goes with your half. As fer me," he added, in a voice that wavered in spite of himself, "I'll do what I'd 'a' done if you'd 'a' robbed me. I'll staywhile longer with the mountains an' the river. They're uncertain sometimes, an' sometimes dangerous, but most wise they're better'n men." Billy vaguely appreciated the nature of the man with whom he was deal ing, yet he felt . that such nobleness required some acknowledgment. He sprang forward, and tried to grasp the old man's hand. "No, no not thatl" cried Tom, fiercely. . "Don't touch me. The gold is yourn. Take it and go. But go quickly, Billy fer I'm only human." San Francisco Argonaut. , CUBAN FORESTS.. An Immense Amount of Valuable Timber Land in the Inland. Cuba still possesses sixteen million acres of virgin forest abounding in valuable timber, none of which is use ful as coarse construction lumber, while nearly every foot would be salable in the United States and bring high prices. Cuban mahogany and cedar are particularly , well known in the United States. The mahogany is very hard and shows a handsome grain, and is preferred by many to any other variety in common use. The moment Spain drops the reins of government in Cuba and trade rela tions are re-established with the States, there will be a movement both inward and outward of forest products which will have a beneficial effect up on the industry in both countries. First to feel the force of this move ment towards rehabilitating Cuba will be the lumbering interests of the south Atlantic and gulf coasts. Prior to three years ago they looked upon Cuba as an excellent outlet for the coarse end of the mill cuts, and since that market has been closed to permit the prosecution of a most hideous and revolting war, the coarser grades of yellow pine produced at coast points have been marketed with great diffi culty and seldom at a; profit. It is unfortunately true that Cuba will be unable to realize so promptly from a movement to re-establish her mahog any and cedar trade, for it is claimed by prominent operators that the in dustry has been so completely crippled by the ravages of war that a period of time running from twelve to eighteen months will be required before logs can be landed at ports in this country. It is hoped that all this may be ac complished without shedding an addi tional drop of blood. Prior to the war the annual net revenue of Cuba was $80,000,000. With peace restored it would hardly be better than $50, 000,000. Lumberman's Review. Heating Capabilities or TVood. From time immemorial soft wood has been regarded as comparatively valueless for heating purposes. Hard wood has brought high prices and has been in much greater . demand than soft, on account of this generally pre vailing notion. Experiments with woods of various sorts have demon strated that the linden, which is one of the softest of woods, gives the greatest amount of heat. The value of other woods in their order, as as certained, is as follows: "Fir with 0.99 heating power; next follow the elm and pine with 0.98; willow, chest nut and larch with 0.97; maple and spruce fir with 0.96; black poplar with 0.93; alder and white birch with 0.94 only; then comes the hard oak with 0.92; the locust and the white beech with 0.91, aud the red beech with 0.90. Hence hard- wood heats the least." It is one of the. remark able facts of the day that so many theories that have been held for many years are fast giving way before the critical analyses of science. True Courtesy. General Robert E. Eee was in the cars going to Richmond one day, and was seated at the end farthest from the door. The other seats were filled with officers and soldiers.' An old wotaan, poorly dressed, entered at one of" the stations, and finding no seat, and having none offered to her, approached the end where the general was seated. He immediately arose and gave her his seat. Instantly there was a general rising, each one offering his seat to the gen- Keral. But he calmly said: "Xo, gentlemen, if there was no seat for the infirm old woman, there can be none for me." The effect was remarked. One after another got out of the car. The seats seemed to be tco hot for them, aud the general and the old lady oon had the car to themselves. Ram's Horn. What She Will Insist Upon. "Do vou think she will pin her faith to him?" "No; I think she'll insist upon a good hard ministerial knot." Phila delphia Bulletin. - There were more than a lmndred collisions on Jap.tuese railways last Tear. PONCE IS A METB0P0L FIRST CITY CAPTURED IN PORTO RICO BY THE AMERICANS. In Population It Is the Largest Place oa the Island, bat. Commercially, It Is Second In Importance to San Juan Is Probably the Healthiest Spot on Island, "Military Notes on Porto Rico, "pre pared by the war department for the information of the army, contains the following description of Ponce: A city of 22,000 inhabitants, with a jurisdiction numbering 47,000, making it the most populous on the island. It is situated on the south coast of the island, on a plain, about two miles from the seaboard. It is the chief town of the judicial district of its name, and is seventy miles from San Juan. It is regularly built, the cen tral part almost exclusively of brick houses and the suburbs of wood. It is the residence .of the military com mander, and the seat of an official chamber of commerce. There is an appellate criminal court, besides other courts; two churches, one Protestant, said to be the only one in the Spanish West Indies, two hospitals besides the military hospital, a home of refuge for old and poor, two cemeteries, three asylums, several casinos, three theatres, a market, a municipal public library, three first class hotels, three barracks, a park, gas works, & perfectly equipped fire department, a bank, thermal and nat ural baths, etc. Commercially, Ponce is the second city of importance on the island. A fine road leads to the port (Playa), where all the import and export trade is transacted. Playa has about 5000 inhabitants, and here are situated the custom house, the office of the cap tn of the port, and all the consular o3es. The port is spacious and will hold vessels of twenty-five feet draft. The climate, on account of the sea breezes during the day and laud breezes at night, is not oppressive, bat hot and dry ; and, as water for all purposes, including the fire depart ment, is amply supplied by an aque duct 4442 yards long, it is said that the city of Ponce is perhaps the health iest place in the whole island. There is a stage coach to San Juan, Maya- guez, Guayama, etc. There is a rail road to Yauco, a postoffice and a tele graph station. It is believed that Ponce was founded in 1600 ; it was given the title of villa in 1848, and in 1877 that of city. Of its thirty-four streets the best are rMayor, Salud, Villa, Vives, Marina, and Comercio. The best squares are Principal aud Las Delicias, which are separated by the church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. The church, as old as the town itself, began to Be reconstructed in 1838 and was finished in 1847. It s eighty-six yards long by forty-three broad and has two stee ples, rich altars, and fine ornaments. The Protestant church is of gothic architecture, of galvanized iron out side and wood within; it was built in 1874.. The town hall, which also serves as a j'ail, is a good two-story building of masonry, and was finished in 1877. There are two barracks, one for in fantry, with a capacity for 700 men, and another for cavalry. The former was constructed in 1849 and is two stories, high, while the latter is a one story structure belonging to the muni cipal council. The military hospital, of masonry, is situated gn Castillo street, and has a capacity for seventy patients. . The smallpox and pestilential hospitals are more simple and are situated outeide the city limits. t The albergue de Tri coche (hospital) was built with money left by Valentin Tricoche for this pur pose in 1863. It is in the northern part of the town, is 'built of masonry on the doric order, with a porch sup ported by doric columns. It has a capacity for sixty persons. The Damas asylum is built of ma sonry, with au elegant porch, iron gate and garden at its entrance. It is maintained by money left by various persons and by other charitable means, and will accommodate twelve men and twelve women, having besides four beds designed for sick seamen. The theatre is called the Pearl aud it deserves this name, for it is the finest on the island. It has a sculp tured porch, on the Byzantine order, with graceful columns. It is mostly built of iron and marble and cost over .70,000 pesos. It is fifty-two yards deep by twenty-nine wide. . The in side is beautiful, the boxes and seats roomy and nicely decorated. It may, by a mechanical arrangement, be con verted into a dancing hall. About one and one-eighth miles northeast of the town are the Quiu tana thermal baths, in a building sur rounded by pretty gardens. They are visited by sufferers from rheumatism aud various other diseases. The city of Ponce proper has no military defenses, but in the hills to the north of the town a series of earth intrenehments have lately been con structed. West of Pouce, where the railroad and military road touch the shore, earthworks have been eon-A structed to guard, this strategic pop There are about thirty mountain itzers in Ponca available for of ttsa citv aud the railroad. iV a'1 a tOi ve plui OI V the throLi above particl and ari toward1 actually centre, t the tub the rim, lent rap until it ru" bottom. you would turned upsi upward iustl Iu the cycl months, whei grow hotter a longer days tl air, hot, light,' for a time held above it. Rest!' tuous, it moves i' bay until a thinri above is found, rushes, and into U nind tne lower a from all directions, ing and pouring up fallen into a regular a common centre. formed, rushes away toward the pole, and of destruction, brui: and sinking the luckl nappen to De in its pal more of the surrounding is drawn into the whirl, until storm often covers an area nearly a thousand miles in diameter. Some times it flings itself upon our Atlantic coast, and tears fiercely through for ests, fields, and cities. Then again it sweeps away across the broad ocean, and dashes itself upon the coasts of Europe. Once in a while it so adroitly avoids the land that we never know it has passed until ships come in torn and broken. The Curfew Bell, There are, it is said, three hundred towns in this country in which the curfew bell is now rung at night. The upholders of the new regulations quote statistics to prove that crime has de creased in consequence, and that every day fewer arrests have been made. The object of the movement is to keep children off the streets at night, and to get them, under penalty of a fine in money, safely tucked away in bed before danger or temptatibn can assail them. When statistics about crime and its decrease are quoted, the voice of dis sension fpr the time beingis silenced, and it requires a certain amount of hardihood afterward to so much as at tempt the first argument to prove a possible other side. But there are those of us who remember among the sweetest sins of our youth the joys of running away on summer nights when bedtime came well out of reach of the parental voice.. There was the beauty of the early moonlight to tempt us, the fragrance of sweet fields; there were the romps on newly mown grass h"eaj:s, the hide and seek behind the currant bushes, and the darling plunge into -some boat drawn np on the shore,. No delights were ever like them. We would baiter much that we possess today to have them ours again. And there was no penr alty of a two-dollar fine hanging over our heads, only the frown on a moth er's face that we could kiss or laugh away in a moment. Harper's Bazar. Shipping Molten Iron by Rail. Shipping 'molten irou by rail is a daily stroke of economy to be wit nessed at Duquesne, Pa. The raolteu iron as it is tapped from the furnaces inns into an immense mixing ladle having a capacity of 250 tons, and from this it is poured into the 20-ton ladle cars, the ladles being made of sheet steel or iron, with alioiug of refractory material. The cars are theu hauled by a locomotive to the steel works, where the direct conver sion of the molten iron iMo open-earth steel is made, avoidiug all the expense of casting the metal into pigs .and cooling handling, reloading reheat ing and re uelting thepig metal. With the completion of the Union Railroad bridge across the Monongahela hot metal will be shipped from the Edgar Thompson furnaces to Homestead. New York Commercial. ltinoved the Ieg of a Itnnaway Groom. When Rramwell was arrested, after a brief honeymoon, he was . :n Pratt coxinty.near the west line of the state, where he had goue on some business, without the thought that his bride would discover lm crime. The sheriiJ did not wish" to humiliate the old man bv putting handcuffs ou him, so he I removed me prisoners -nuojen ieg 1 and hid it away unaer a car seat, thus 1 tendering him incapable of a. run.- Kausas City Jo in; J. i. i i i i K I t 4 i i i i i V mfL'tT& o sweet will you beli Al. -I. 1. eutf luuhi. it $1.78 each. , Gentleman (looking iutoulie apart ment of musical composer)-VExcnse me, does Mr. Secretary Meyer live here? Musician No; he lives an oc tave higher. Cholly Ethel Knox told me last night I wasn't over half-witted. Su sie I shouldn't feel badly about that; she never did know anything about fractions. . "I have heard that she walks in her sleep," said the gossip. "Indeed!"' returned Mrs. Parvenue scornfully. "So coin uion, isn't it? I should think she would ride." Greymair My wife is such a thoughtful woman. Betterhaws- So'a mine, lou coukln t imagine all tK.a things she thinks about me if I hap pen to be detained down town. "My dear," said a fond wife, "when we were engaged I always slept with your last letter under my. pillow." "And I," murmured her husband, "I often went to sleep over your, letters.'."1 Little Pitcher Uncle John thinks you are awfully smart, I guess. Miss Poesie How do you know he does, Johnny? Little Pitcher He said it could not be very hard work for you to write poetry. ' He (looking at the water) Here's the swell of the steamer; the boat will soon be here. ' She (looking land ward) Oh, he doesn't belong to the steamboat; he's a clerk at the dry goods store uptown. First Sunday School Scholar How far have you got in the question book? We've got as far as "Original sin."'' Second Sunday School Scholar--Oh, we got by that long ago. ' We are "Past redemption. His Wife How in the world will you ever catch tht first morning train? Her Husband Why, I'll get up the moment I wake! ' His Wife But, my dear, you'll have to get up much earlier than that. " She stamped her foot. . "Look at me in the eye." she commanded. He complied. '.'Thirty dollars, phase," he observed, after ' a moment. A faintness came. over her as she remem bered that he was an oculist. Fedwell There was a surprise at Jumson's house last night. Gal- Friends presented him with o thing valuable, I suppose? Ftiv. yo; tne people wuo were gonu surprise him with a gold watcu dk show up. Biggins So you are a victim of Bomnia? What do you take for Wiggins Oh, anything that conv hand;; sometimes ao empty .i i sometimes a hairbrush or b,m;i k, is the cats' insomnia I'm tL" it 1 s you know. - t.) it? r 1 a r. of. Biggs I. see jo 1 tut girl we used to hav an awful temper th you manage t ) i Diggs Oh, that's manage her by 1 . everytbic'g.'e's!. "I tell you, " CI 1 astically, t L- j t I wonder, T-;:ii.. m'ontns o'd a u ,1 . -remarked ht- ?! knoo S.Jt: : y.f.y . l ft