North Carolina Newspapers

.8 I I I I ' I ...I I " 11 ' '' "" II I 1.1 .11. . .,, I. M.I 1. f.-lfcM. ....fc, . " 1 '. . 1." I itetj. fflr IKVirA f& 'W. ird,H) itIV) IM fifflnin&VWiirtlltWAY advertising mediuil . FIEST OF AIL THE HEWS, Jcb Printing In ItsVarlcus Branch! VsZ-) V J WasWmtsn, Martin, fyrrsl! tndliaafcrt. I.OOi A YEAR IN ADVANCE. . FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AKD FOB TRUTH." ' SINGIIS COPY, 5 CENTS. VOL. X. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1898. NO. G. p - i I, I J' ONE OF THE LOSERS. X see br stand In the twilight there, Her hand and her temple gray ; Her furrowed face it is marked with care, Hough is her garb and thin with the wear Of the work of the long, long day. She turns her face to the distant skies It is anxious and drawn with pain And slowly she shakes her head and sighs, Sadly the tears course from her eyea As she enters her ot again. Oh, the white road stretches across the . plain, And it's here that she comes each day, Por she has not heard that her boy was slain, And she does not know that she looks in vain ? Through the twilight dim and gray. HIEG'S WILD RIDE. Bt ETHELYN LESLIE HUSTON. Meg's "wheel" was not one of those fascinating lady's bicycles. She did not pin airily over an asphalt pavement I to park or boulevard. Meg's "wheel" ! , weighed several hundred pounds. She Jrode it out over the Nebraska plains. And,' after all, it wasn't Meg's wheel ' ji anyhow, for it belonged to the North- etu Pacific railroad and was made of iron and painted red, and was a tricycle instead of a bicycle. . Meg lived on a ranch, and the near est village where the trains sometimes deigned to stop for a panting moment was called Squaw Creek. Meg owned a sturdy little broncho pony, which she would ride on a swift lope down the long trail which lay like a white ribbon over the prairie, and at the village she would visit at the "store" where Mr. Smith sold candy and saddles and flannel shirts and lariats and many other things. And then she would rattle her pony's heels, slipping and scrambling down the bluff road to the station, where she 4 would arrive in a cloud of dust and . merrily hail the agent,Frank Graham. It was here Meg would ride her tricycle, which was a'railroad,,wheel" and provided by the company for the agent's use. And ' though it was heavy Meg's strong arms could make the handlebar fly back and forth while the wheel glided swiftly over the gleaming rails. .Late one afternoon Meg rode to the "store" and found some little excite ment over a cattle train that had been 5 ditched about two miles below tin station. The accident was . caused by spread rails, the inea said, and nobody was hurt, but it would delay the ex- Apress, which was due in two hours. Meg rode down to the scene of the "accident where the train men were busy. It was already growing dark and they had built great bonfires to help them to clear up what they could while waiting for the wrecking train. Frank, the agent, had been to the wreck on the tricycle and had raced back to the little station to wire for the wrecking engine and warn the ex press, as the road wound snake-like along the broad Missouri river in the heavy shadows at the foot of the bluff, and as it was the "flyer"it could hardly be signaled safely. It was quite dark when Meg finally turned her pony's hose toward the station and cantered slowly along to say "how-de-do" to Frank and get the papers he promised her to take home. Also it could not be long till the "flyer" would be due, and Meg loved to see the long, bright train loaded with passengers and flashing its gleam of the great world (beyond the plains into her longing eyes for a brief moment. As her pony's heels thudded lazily along beside the track the station f gradually came into view. And then Meg's heart leaped oddly in her breast and her eyes widened. For the sta tion was in . total darkness. Meg's quirt came down with a swish on her pony s cank, ana Teddy, amazed and 1 indignant, bucked decidedly to ex press his strong disapproval of such actions. For he and his young mis i tress understood each other and the "Aquirt was never used except in gentle UM "love taps." Meg was not western f f raised for nothing, however, and she retained her place on Teddy's back. Finally his slender legs stretched out " and his nimble heels skimmed the sage bush and sharp cactus till the station was reached. Then Meg flung herself from the saddle with a stifled crv. tor me asreni jay iace aownwara on the dark platform, and doors and black windows tion, together with the signal lamps, told a story the closed of the sta unlighted that froze 'Meg's blood. She rolled Frank over, ' but he was unconscious from a blow on the back of the head, evidently ' given by robbers. "And the flyer must be due!" cried 4Meg, in'an agony of despair. She :V ineir nothing of the mechanism of lWlte signal lamps i ;d to re turn to the ( reck for help would be hopeless, for .hey would be too late. jS-J What was to be done? As Meg moaned aloud Teddy whin ' nied uneasily in reply. She looked at him hopelessly. The flyer some times stopped at a watering tank up the track, but there was a bridge to cross between and Teddy would be useless. Then her eyes fell on the tricycle on the main track, where it J had been left when Frank was at v tacked. It was tha only chance and Meg le vied on the machine. In a moment Teddy and the un- conscious agent were alone with tho silent statioc, while down the track the' "click-click, click-click" of the railroad wheel grew faster and fainter in the distance. ' The only hope was to reach the water tank before the ex press left. Meg's white lips parted with a sob, while her wide eyes strained before her through the black ness for that yellow eye of light that must surely be due. "Click-click," went the machine, "Waiting!" it seemed to cry, as the girl's hands tightened convulsively on the handles. The wheels spun over the track with a low roar that again and again, as Meg swung around the curves, seemed the oncoming roar of the' express. The frightened girl's mouth seemed filled with ashes, her 12 J -l - l : up l I ii iib were ury uuu aim aim me snarp particles of sand that swept up into her face and eyes stung like a storm of needles. Her back ached and pained and sharp knives seemed shoot ing down her arms and through her numbed and stiff hands that now hardly felt the handlebars. Suddenly the headlight of the ex press (standing at the tank) loomed in the near distance. Frauticially Meg tried to stop her machine, but the best she could do wa3 to retard its progress as it approached the now blinding glaring of the light. With a shriek of agony and despair Meg reeled back in a faint. The helpless little hands fell from the bar and one crash swept her into a merciful obliv ion. But Meg was not killed. When she opened her eyes her face and hair -were wet where the trainmen had dashed water over her, and many anx ious eyes, were looking down at her face. She had been in time, after all, though the engine was just about to start from the watering tank as she dashed into it. The bicycle was a wreck, and Meg's left arm was broken and her head cut and her body bruised. But she had saved the train and was a heroine. Sympathetic women from the Pullman coaches and from the tourist cars and weary travelers from the emigrant cars together thanked the white-faced girl lying on the ground in the yellow light of the lanterns. While Meg was convalesc ing slowly and being mended up gen erally her little brown-haired mother hovered around her in an ecstacy of thankfulness, and brawny ranchers rode in miles to see "that gal of Stan nard's who saved the flyer." Letters arrived from the president and other high oflicals of the Northern Pacific road, containing beautifully printed pieces of papern bearing very illegibly written signatures and mysterious little holes punched through, and Meg discovered that she was a very im portant young lady with a bank ac count. But, best of all to her, when she was well she went down daily to the "store" and to see Frank Graham, who was convalescing, too, after a very long illness,- aud she glided swiftly and happily on a "lady's wheel" of latest make. Chicago Record. The American Way of Making War. The war is practically at an end. It has been one of the shortest wars on record. The president sent his ulti matum to Spain on April 20. The American ambassador to Spain re ceived his passports on the following day. This makes little over three months. In that time the Americans have destroyed two fleets and, in fact, totally annihilated the sea power of their enemy.. They have captured two great ports. They have defeated the Spanish troops in the field and have taken a province and thousands of prisoners. Above all, tliey have improvised the army with which they did this part of the work. Not bad for the interval between rent day and rent day! The manner of the improvi sation is a striking indication, in some ways, of the American system. Most cf the troops who swarmed up the slopes at Santiago and captured in trenched positions held by seasoned troops and swept by artillery were mere untrained butchers, bakers and candlestick makers at the beginning of the war. When they went into camp at Tampa they were the rawest of raw hands. Many of their officers were probably very little better. Their commissariat was a practical joke. Transports, medical service, all had to be created. The chief part of their equipment was their spirit as free men, their general intelligence, their lifelong habit of turning their hands and brains to anything, and to master it at uncommonly short notice. In one word, they had nothing at their back but the system; aud their whole military organization is based on the belief that, with this, they have the wherewithal for tha ruggedest hour that time and spite can bring against their country in time of danger. London Daily Chronicle. Automatic Alarm for Mined. A Prussian inventor has patented an automatic alarm apparatus to indicate the presence of firedamp in mines, a large metal funnel being, placed over the coal, with a counterpoised alumin um plate at the top, which is lifted by the light gas and completes au electric circuit. Forty years ago the first missionary was eaten on the Fiii Islands. DUG A FELLOW PRISONER'S CRAVE, Experience ef an American Under Lopet in a Cuban PrUon. Colonel B. F. Sawyer, a prominent Southern journalist and at present the chief editorial writer of the Borne (Ga.) Tribune, is one of the oldest and most picturesque characters in the land of Dixie. When a boy of fifteen or sixteen his fiery spirit led him into our war with Mexico, and the youngster thorough ly enjoyed it all the way through. After returning to his home in Ala bama the lad didn't feel like settling down. He was fond of adventure, and the life of a soldier in a strange land suited him exactly. It was not long before he became interested in the cause of free Cuba, and as one of the periodical insurrec tions in that country was then in prog ress he joined the ill-fated expedi tion of Lopez. The capture and exe cution of his chief left the boy and his comrades in a bad fix. The few prisoners who were not put to death were chained in couples and placed on the public works. Sawyer was harshly treated, and it looked as though exposure and hard work would kill him. He managed to send a note to the American consul, but nothing was done for him. One of the Spaniards guarding him was rather clever, and the captive sent his letters through his hands. The half starved young American awoke one morning to find that the prisoner chained to him was lying dead by his side. The survivor was ordered to bury him, and when the chain bind ing him to the corpse was rudely broken he dug a grave for his late fellow-sufferer. There was no coffin. The grave was scooped in the sand by Sawyer's tired and trembling hands. . The situation was desperate. Saw yer then wrote a long letter to the British consul, telling his whole story his youth, his pitiful condition, the neglect of the American consul and many other matters. The very next day a big English man visited the camp. He was very mad and very overbearing in his man ner. He talked with the boy pris oner and told him to be of good cheer. How he did it nobody but himself and the Spanish authorities ever knew, but in less than twenty-four hours he secured Sawyer's release and put him on a vessel bound for America. Sawyer devoted himself for a few years to politics and planting in Ala bama, but the first call to arms in the civil war found him ready. At that time he was a prosperous mn. He cared nothing for money, and when he organized his company he insisted upon equipping it at his own expense. He paid for uniforms, guns, canteens, knapsacks and everything out of his own pocket. He was a gallant fighter, and his men were imbued with his feailess spirit. Of course he was promoted. He rose to a colonelcy, and would have gone higher if he had cared for such trifles as rank and title. The war left very few of his men alive or unscathed. They fought like tigers and nearly all of them were , slain in battle. At the close of the war the colonel faced his new duties and responsibili ties aud showed that he could work as hard as he could fight. Commemorating Worth in China. Chinese notions of death are by no means morbid, and a prosperous trades man is proud of the handsome "shell" which confronts all who enter his door, especially as it is adorned with deep carved golden characters, which tell his virtues "Mr. Builder-of-a-Mon-astery-Chang." "Mr. Feeder-of-the-Widows-Tseng," and so on. This is less expensive and more useful than the erection of wayside arches, such as one often sees set up to commemo rate "works of merit." These "draw ing room" coffins are of polished cedar or kindred wood. They are massive constructions of a peculiar shape, with curving sides some two and a half inches thick, overhanging base and top aud sunk euds, higher and wider at the head, but with straight sides. Within they are carefully papered-for use, and furnished with four to six gallons of lime, on which the body rests. Clad complete with a special cap aud rolled iu a bed quilt, the de funct Celestials are laid to rest. Keaaoning by Analogy. ,"Ah," said little Mrs! Newlywed, dreamily, "my husband is as steady as a clock." She gave a little half sigh as she said it and looked fixedly at that article the clock, not her hus band. Then she stood it ou its head, blew into the keyhole, and tried to persuade it to do its duty in other feminine rrays. I, was one of those 98-4. alabaster clocks, and she had just bought it. A dainty creation, with gilded hands and forget-me-nots upon the face. The dealer had guar anteed it to run for a life time, and it had run down and utterly collapsed in just five minutes and 37 seconds. "My husband is as steady as a clock," she said, dreamily. Judge. The latest computation showr that it is 2413 miles from San Francisco to Honolulu and 80," 0 miles, from San Francisco to Manila, Philippine Isi suds, bv war of Honolulu. A. GLIMPSE OF DREYFUS. PITIFUL LIFE'S ROUTINE OF THE PRISONER ON DEVIL'S ISLAND. Narratlre of the Cook on Board the Dutch Ship Andalngia. Which Recently Visited the French Penal Colony Ap pearance of the Prisoner Aged Rapidly. Oar ship, the Netherland steamship Andalusia, was anchored off Devil's Island recently after a visit to Cay enne, when we were hailed from shore. At the same time a small boat put off, manned by soldiers. They came alongside to ask the captain for the loan of a cook while the Andalusia was waiting for freight. The cook of the little garrison had broken his arm, they said, and our cook was to teach one of their men, bo that he might be able to attend to the kitchen until another was sent by the com mander. The captain sent me to the island, and while busy in the little kitchen instructing a soldier in the mysteries of broiling lamb chops and cooking pork I had plenty of opportunity to question Captain Dreyfus' guards. The men, who had at first seemed dis inclined to speak, became loquacious after awhile. "He'' was not so ill treated as those in the world seemed to think; "he" is not confined; "he" can go everywhere on the islaud. Of course, two men are always at his heels. "He" gets up between 6 and 7 in the morning, and his first break fast consists of a cup of chocolate. If the weather is good "he" goes for a walk soon afterward and winds up his promenade by a bath. "But are you not afraid he might swim away or commit suicide?" I asked. "Not at all," said the soldiers, "for rope is fastened to both his wrists, and the ends of the rope are in the hands of the guard. After the bath he takes his second breakfast butter, bread, ham or eggs and a bottle of beer. Then he goes in for study. He reads and writes for several hours." "What kind of books has he got?" The soldiers , looked at each other. After awhile one of them said: "He is only allowed to read techni cal works,- but he can write whatever he pleases. He is now writing an ac count of his life." "Must he show you what he writes?" "No; we read only the letters he desires to have forwarded. These are sent to the commander at Cay enne," "And does the commander send them off as received?" t "No, they are copied and the orig inals are retained at Cayenne." "What does he do besides reading and writing?" "Two weeks ago we received per mission from the commander to play cards with the prisoner, and- he has become an inveterate gambler since. After dinner he has always soup, a roast and dessert about 2 o'clock in the afternoon we always play baccarat together." "What are the stakes?" ' The soldier laughed. "He has not got a sou and there are not probably three francs on the whole island. We play for shells. The prisoner gets his supper at 6 in the evening roast, or ham and a bottle of beer. Soon afterward he goes to bed. He is not allowed to have a light, you know. Only the guard on the door keeps up a wood fire. He says the hours from 7 to 10 are his worst He cannot go to sleep before 10 o'clock and the guard is not allowed to answer any questions he may put. In the day time we may talk to him, but only on the most trifling subjects, the weather, his health, etc. Our own country is not to be mentioned." "Is he allowed to smoke?" "No; that is, I think he is not, for the commander does not furnish him tobacco." "May I leave some cigars for him?" The soldier did not answer. I emptied my tobacco pouch and my cigar case on the table. I hope he got what I left for him. As I was about to return to my ship I saw ' a man, followed by two soldiers, approaching the strand. Dreyfus ! He seemed to have heard of my presence and measured me with questioning looks. His lips moved, but he did not speak. He is a middle sized man, cadaverous and of a yel low complexion. His eyes are deep in their sockets;' he walks with a stoop and his forehead is furrowed. He is growing old rapidly, no doubt. Dreyfus whispered with his guard and, when the latter had nodded as sent, walked up to me and shook me by the hand. "Bring my good wishes to the wide world," he said, in a voice quivering with emotion. Then he walked slowly toward his hut, where he remained standing at the door, waving his hand as my boat dashed into the billows. Half an hour later we were on our way home. Karl Weinheber, Cook of the Netherlands Steamship Andalusia, in Kuche und Keller. On the Faraua and other South Amer ican rivers it is no unusual thing for a steamer to run on to a sandbank aud be obliged to wait for several days sometimes a week for a heavy rain to flout it aja)n. WARNED BY RATS. Seamen Think It Prudent to Desert Ship When the Rodents Do. Seven or eight years ago a schoonei which had no name was deserted by rats while she lay in Milwaukee. Two of her crew quit immediately. . The remaining two stayed on the craft. This schooner was blown ashore at Silver Creek, Lake Erie. The two men were taken off by a life-saving crew. A more recent case of this kind was that of the steamer Idaho, which went down off Long Point, Lake Erie, last November. This boat put out of Buf falo just ahead of the hardest blow of last season. Once she was regarded as the finest passenger boat on the lakes. On this, her last trip, she was buffeted about for several hours. She pounded by Long Point, eighty miles northwest of Buffalo, and then her captain ordered her brought about that she might run under Long Point for shelter. The rush. of waves was .too much fer her. She was caught in the roll of the sea and she gradually filled and sank. Of her crew of twenty-one men, nineteen were drowned. The first mate and a sea man named Gill climbed into the rigging, where they remained thirty six hours. They were finally taken off by the steamer Mariposa. It was learned shortly after the wreck that just before the vessel left her moorings, a swarm of rats crawled over the hawsers to the wharf. This was known to part of the crew and four men deserted at the last moment. Their places were filled by two vaga bonds who were lounging along the docks. When the old sloop was well out of port and beating hard, the old steward, who was the oldest of his class on the lakes, learned that the rats had left the ship the hour of her departure. He raved because the fact had been kept from him. . When the boat began to roll and plunge and the great waves broke over her, old Laly, the steward, got down on his knees and prayed. He was the first to be washed overboard. The captain of a sailing vessel was asked recently why he and other lake men placed so much confidence in the movements of rats. "Because it has been shown that rats are an unfailing sign," he said. "It has been proved a hundred times. There are a whole lot of things in this world that we don't know anything about. Why isn't it sensible to be lieve that God designated rats as mes seugers to warn navigators of danger? Bats live in the very fibres of a ship. They see what we can't see. When the timbers are hollowed and the seams open, these little animals know that the ship is unsafe and they desert it. Knowledge of some kind was probably settled on them by one of the powers of which we know abso lutely nothing." An Acquired Habit. It is a matter of general knowledge that the mountain parrot of New Zea land, the kea, has acquired the very destructive habit of piercing the backs of sheep with its sharp beak in order to feed on the kidney fat of the very unfortunate animals attacked. It was at one time believed that the birds had learned this habit from procuring fatty particles from the skins of sheep which had been slaughtered; but now a more likely solution of the problem has been suggested by a correspond ent of the Zoologist This gentleman, who writes from Melbourne, tells us that in the hilly districts of the mid dle island of New Zealand there grows in great quantity a white lichen which bears a strong resemblance to sheep's wool. Beneath this lichen are to be found small white fatty substances, which some suppose to be the seeds of the p'aut, and others describe as maggots which infest it; but whatever they be, they form a favorite food of the kea. It is suggested that the bird, misled by the resemblance of the sheep's wool, digs down into the flesh in the hope of finding this white sub stance of which it is so fond, and that in this way -the new habit has been originated. In the first place, probably the birds are misled by mis taking dead sheep for masses of the lichen under which they had been ac customed to find their favorite food. Chambers's Journal. Kirmefts. In some portions of Germany the kirmess, or church mass, formerly' danced in honor of the dedication of a church, is now observed with the special character of a harvest home. It marks the close of the year's la bor and is celebrated Joy three days of music, feasting and dancing with partners chosen or allotted, according to degree of comlmess, at tue preced ing May festival. In south Germany the end of. the harvest is marked by the sickle feast. The last sheaf is carried in triumph to the barn and placed on the floor, while the younger couples - dance around it. One half of it is then decked with ribbons and hung aloft while the other half is burned. Its ashes are treasured as a remedy for rheumatism and are sometimes used in making amulets or charms. Tho peasants leav6 for Wodan, or "the old one," a few ears of corn aud a small number of apples, it being considered unlucky to strip either field or tret entirely bare. Lippincott's. ENVY. Butterfly, he ory an' sigh, As he met me 'neaf de tree. Wfaah de loafln' hours went by; "Wisht I wus a noney bee. He hab comfort in completeness; Got a hive chock full o' sweetness Luckier dan de likes o me. Wisht I wus a honey bee." ' - Says de bee, says he to me, ' " Tain' no use ton me to try To be frollickin' an' free. ., Wisht I wus a butterfly. Nuffln' 'tall to do but dancin Whan de sunbeam comes a-glancln I must toll an' sleep an' die. Wisht I'wus a butterfly !" - Washington Star. HUMOROUS. , .- "How was your amateur opera per( formance?" "It wa so poor that it was really rich." - , Train up a servant girl in the way she should go, and the first thing yoa know she's gone. , "Obrian got mixed up with a maI bull yesterday." "How did it end?" "It was a toss up." i "You remind me so much of my poor, dear, first husband!" "You re mind me of him altogether too much, my dear." .' By the time a man has a few dollard saved up for his old age he is told that his daughter has talents which should be cultivated. - - "c "Why, Jim, what did you shoo that man for?" "To avoid trouble, t new we'd be a quarrelin if we kep' on, aud I hate a row.". The art of sailoring Most women lack, But she who's pretty may - Command a smack. Jones For awhile John was cleaa out of his mind about that girl. Smith And now? Jones Oh, now the girl is clean out of her mind. "Oh, Alice! my new dress looks nice enough to eat." "Well, I wouldn't eat it if I were you. I don't believe it would set so, well on the inside." Manager I hope your Cuban play bias lots of local color in it. Drama tist Oh, yes. In the last act tha Spanish villain dies of yellow fever. "Hans, if you are very good "and get a high mark in school, I wilt give fou a ham sandwich." "But, mam tna, do you imagine I can be bribed?" "I , think I have pretty well your language the master of," said the for eigner, "but tell me how, as I hear a tnan say, one can cut a lot of ice with his dough?" Goverrior of the Prison JVhat is the cause of this unseemly delay?. Failer That expert headsman you en gaged from the medical school is ster ilizing the axe. Tourist Can you tell me where Mr. Greencorn's cottage is? Small Native I can for a nickel. . Tourist Here Is the nickel; now where is it? Small Sative It's burnt down. ' Judge You robbed your benefactor in a most ghatneful way, Do you feel ao compunctions of conscience?, Pris Dner Before answering, sir, I would uke to consult my counsel. ' What ever may be'said of what The Chinese actors do, . " One fault at least they haven't got They never miss their queues Boggs How is it that your hair is ' juite white, while your beard is very dark? Noggs It's the most natural thing in the world. Boggs Indeed I SToggs It's thirty years older. The Dearest Girl What makes you old bachelors say such horrid things? Harried men do not talk that way, the Savage Bachelor No, we only' lay what the married men think. Mrs. Faddle I thought you : war ranted that dog bought of you well bred? Dog Dealer So it is, mum. Mrs. Faddle Oh, no, it isn't; it bolt its food in the most vulgar manner! ."The Binkses must buy everything n the instalment plan." "Whal snakes you thinkso?" "I heard Jimmy Binks ask his father whether their ne 5aby would be taken away if they ;ouldn't keep up the payments." Landlady That new boarder it ither married or a widower. Daugh ter Why, mamma; he says he is $ bachelor. Landlady Don't you, be- lieve he is. W hen he opens his pock etbook to pay his board he always urns his back to me. Women Telegraphers in Holland. , In Holland, and Germany, too, women are employed in the stations . of the government's railroad and tele graph lines. Woman is said to love brass buttons and uniforms. ' In the . land of. the Teuton she has a chance to discover how it feels to wear them berself. In winter the railroad womaa wears a uniform of postilion blue cloth trimmed with red braid and brass buttons, and in summer a similar uni-" form of lighter material. with white braid decorations is worn. Families Badly Mixed. On Butler Taylor's farm bantam ehickens and quails are mixed. Tha quail hen hatched chickens and the bantam is the proud mother of a covey of little quails. The little chickens followed the quail mother off into tha copse and are as wild as real quails. The bantam's little quails deport themselves in the yard and coop tha lame as regulatiou chickens. Carrul ton (liy.) Democrat ;