Organ of Washington Ccanty. ADVERTISING MEDIUM; J FIBST OP ALLTHE NEWS. Circulates extensively la the Counties tl Wishiniton, Kartia, Tyrre!! ifid Biaafart. Job Printing In ItsVarlous Branches. . . , .t ,. - - , , . , , . ,. , , , , , , , - !, . ,.! - ,,. ,. i. J ,, ,-- m l.OO A YEAR IX ADVANCE. . FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH."' ' ' SINGLE COPY, 5 CENTS. VOL. X; ' , PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1808. NO. 8. r 1 i K k THE ONE WHO I don't think Til go in to town to see the boya come back; My bein' there would do no good in all that jam and pack: The ere 11 be enough to welcome them to cheer them when thev come jA-marchlng bravely to the time that's beat upon tne drum; They'll never mi83 me in the crowd not one of 'em will care If, when the cheera are ringin loud, I'm not , among tnem mere. I went to see them march away I hollered with the rest. And didn't they look fine that day a-marchin' lour abreast. With my boy James up near the front, as i nunasome as could be, 'And wavin' back a fond farewell to mother and to me! I vow my old knees trimbled so when they had all got by, 'I had to jiat set down upon the. curbstone ;- V there and cry. tjjkjflt AAAAA A A A PRIVATE JIMS RETURN. i y y y y y -ay y y F"V JU V Her hair was drawn back in little Waves from her brow. Now and then phe would raise her gentle eyes and glance out through the pantry window .toward the patch ot tall, waving .hollyhocks that Jim had planted four summers before. , She was kneading douffh. and two or three lines she stopped to scrape the clinging batter ;from her fingers with' the back of a Case-knife. She hummed a little old-fashioned Jtune, emphasizing the "turn te turn" with savage jabs at the rapidly hard ening dough on the shelf-board before her. "Jane!" i No reply! j "Jane!" The ungainly figure of a young girl jjn gingham, her hair escaping in strands the looselv tied knot at the back of her head, appeared in the pantry doorway. ... "What d'ye want?" I' "I want ye t' git them biscuit tins out o' th' kitchen cubboard an' bring 'em in here t' me." 1 The girl slowly turned and sham bled across the kitchen floor, the run over heels of her old flippers clatter ing on the white scrubbed boards as she walked. "I never see sich a girl," muttered Mrs. Springer to herself. "Seems " like a impossibility t' git any decent help out here in. th' kents-y. All th' .". girl3 that's good fer anything gits up an' gits t' teown ez soon ez they're th' right age t' be good fer anything. Only them as is too lazy t' live is lef fer us out here." From the great lump of dough on ihe board Mrs. Springer pulled little lumps and rolled them into flabby globes, which she placed in regular lines on the bottom of the biscuit tins. j She had patted the last little lump into a ball andf wedged it into a cor ner of one of the- pans and stepped ,back to survey her work when through the open doorway of the kitchen . floated to her, on the cool September air, the call, "Missus Springer! Oh, Missus Springer!" "Neow I'd like t' know who that ds," she exclaimed as she crossed the floor and pushed open the screen 'door. j ' "Fer the Ian's sake, Zeke Evans, hat be you a-wantin'?" ; f She had stepped out on .the back porch, all green and blue with cling ing vines and open morning glories. The little man in the light "rig"' Wiped the perspiration from his brow jand clambered out of the vehicle over the wheel. j He advanced toward Mrs. Springer and extended a yellow envelope. F'Thia kum las' night," he said, "jes fore th' ten twenty arrove. Th' op erator asked me t' fetch it. At fust I thought I'd bring it right over, not thinkin but what it might be trora Jim. Then I sez t' myself, sez I, Missus Springer'll be t' bed an better Wait till mornin',' so I fetched it over pu my way deown. '' A 4 tl.A noma ".Tim" lTVa flnrinerar hatched the bit of yellow paper and, r ith fingers that wavered a little, tore i . fcen the envelope. i j Zeke waited. j The envelope dropped to the floor ! of the porch. Mrs. Springer held the tlispatch in her left hand and followed the scrawled writing with the fore sting sr of her right. S One glance at the words, and she cried out: "It's Jim. He's comin' tome. It's from his capting sayin' he has been sent home sick in th' care o' Iwo other soldiers. He lef th camp yesterday afternoon an'll be here airly tomorrer mornin'." i "Is they anything I kin do fer ye?" flaked Zeke, a little tone of anxiety in ;-U3 voice. "No, they ain't nawthin. An' 1 jion't believe I even thanked ye fer fcringin' me this telegram, Zeke." i Zeke blushed and stammered that I'that was all right" and turned to fclamber over the wheel again into his ,xig.". . I Matilda Springer went back into the kitchen and through the little passage tfray into the front room. There by rfShe half-curtained window, through frhich Jhe sun rays had filtered on iinothe September morning, long be fore, and lighted the face of maa in WON'T BE THERE. And now they're coming home agent record that they won The Was sich as shows we still have men when men's work's to be done! There wasn't one of 'em that flinched each feller stood the test Wherever they were sent they sailed right in and done tnelr best! They didn't go away to play; they knowed what was in store; But there's a grave somewhere, today, down on tne uuoan snore: I guess that I'll not go to town to see the boys come In I don't jist feel like mlxin' up in all that crusn and din! There'll be enough to welcome them to cheer them when they come A-marchiu' bravely to the time that's beat , upon tne drum And the boys'U never notice not one of 'em will care. For the soldier that would miss mo ain't a-goin' to be there! Cleveland Leader. A A-W A A-JW AAA A A A A. 1 J V V V V V V W V V WW a coffin, she read again the telegram: "Jim is sick, and I have sent' two members of the company along with him." f Mrs. Springer laid the telegram on the table aud went over to the old haircloth sofa. She sat there in the semi-davkness for nearly an hour, and when she arose she lifted. the corner of her checked apron to her eyes and wiped away the moisture that had gathered in them. A little smile of happiness, too great even to give itself full expression, curved her trembling lips, and as she climbed the front stairs' and weut along the hall to the door on the right, at the end, she murmured to herself so softly that the words were lost in the noise of her footfalls: "Jim'll be here tomorrer. Heow I wish Ezry had a-Iived till neow, to see his boy a-comm home from th' war t' me like he thirty year ago." She hesitated come t' me niore'n an instant before door, and then, as opeping that last though it were an effort, she turned the knob and stepped into the room. Everything was just as he had left it. The piu cushion top on the dresser was a little dusty, and there were flecks also on the woodwork of the old bed and on the commode top. His brush and comb lay on the bu reau, just where he had left them when he went away with the Thompsonville company. A vest, even, hung over the back of a caue-seated chair, and at the head of the bed on the floor three pairs of shoes and one of rubber boots were ranged in a straight line. The September sun entering the room through the east window fell upon the face of Mrs. Springer. It was not the old face that had hung over the dough downstairs. It was a younger face now. The eyes were not so tired. Maybe the moisture made them look brighter. And she smiled sweetly through the gathering tears as she looked around that room Jim's room. She stood there by the head of the bed for a moment, silent and unmoved; then she laughed aloud and going to the closet door threw it open and peered inside, From the pegs she took down a black cassimere suit, Jim's best suit. "He'll need it neow. Tain't nothin' but homesickness, I'll bet, an' he'll be all right in a day or two." She laid the garments out on the bed and brushed them with the stubby whiskbroom that had . hung on the wall, over the washstand. It was a labor of love. When dusted, the clothes were folded and laid on the spread at the foot of the bed. Mrs. Springer covered them with a newspaper and going down stairs for the broom, stopped a minute in the doorway to smooth the "sham" that hung from a frame over one pillow. Returning, she swept the room thor oughly, then dusted it and opened the window and pulled back the chintz curtains. Then she went back downstairs. All the rest of that day there was no sharp word spoken to Jane, and as a consequence tne girl waited even slower than was her .usual custom. Budd came up from the spring lot be fore the biscuits were ready to be slipped into the oven, and his mother met him in the kitchen doorway. "Jim's comin'," was all she said. "Who tol ye?" "Zeke brought a telegram t me beout an hour ago. It said Jim was sick an' two soldiers wus comin with him an that he'd be here on that six thirty-eight train in th' mornin'." The younger brother of the soldier thereupon relapsed into a dream of the stories that would be told him ere another week had passed. ' "Dew yew suppose he'll bring any Spanish bul lets?" he askecl.Snally. That night when the rest of the family and ail the help were asleep Matilda Springer lay in her bed and dreamed awake. In her miud the vears unrolled be fore her like a pa norama. She thought of the day Ezra springer had asked her to be his wife, of her acceptance. It was under tne big shag hickory tree down by the spring lot, and they had gone a-uutting fogether. And then the Avar- and his return. Andtha their marriage and their long, happy life thereafter. And Jim the boy who twenty-two years ago had come to them. And then the war she thought longest of that. Four months before Jim had come to her, inflamed with enthusiasm. All the boys in the Thonipsonville company had signified their willingness to go to the frout at the call of the president. There were ten vacancies in the company, and could he go? It would be all over in a month, and then he could come back. Yes, he could if his country needed him. She remembered how she went down to Thompsonville one summer morniug with Budd to see Jim off to camp with his company. He wrote her the night before the regiment left for Cuba. Letters came to her regularly for a while, and then, of a sudden, they ceased. She thought of those endless days of waiting for just a word from him, her boy, her Jini. And then at last, after centuries it seemed to her, came the letter say ing he had beeu iu the hospital with the fever. She remembered how near ly crazed she was after she read that letter. Then came others saying he was better, and then day after day without a word, save once, when a short note, scrawled on a bit of wrap ping paper, came to her with the news that his regiment was again in the United States a,nd encamped some where on the eastern coast. And at last the dispatch of that morning "Coming home " and sleep closed her eyes. At four o'clock Matilda Springer arose. She hurriedly dressed and called Budd. He went out aud hitched up the two horses to the old democrat wagon and removed the back seat. He knew he would have to sit on the bottom of the vehicle coming back from the station, for Jim would be on the front seat with his m6ther, and there would have to be room behind for the baggage. Budd thought of all the implements of war . that would be loaded into that wagon and wondered if Jim would give him his gun and canteen. He led the horses up to the back porch and called to his mother. She came out dressed in a brown poplin, and on her wavy gray hair rested her best bonnet, a little affair of jet with violets on one tide and strings to tie under the chin. Around her shoul ders she had wrapped a shawl. "I I can't hardly wait," she said, half to herself. Budd helped her into the wagon aud climbed in after her. He drove over the dusty country road and across the old wooden bridge with one hand holding the reins, for she clasped the other. She did not speak often during that drive. There are times when the heart is too full to allow of the forming of words. This was one of those times. The mother's heart was filled to overflowing with love for that boy whose face she had not seen for so many, many weary weeks, whose brown eyes had not looked down at her for oh, so long. The wagon rolled down the last hill in the road and around the curve at the bottom. Budd drew up the horses at the depot rdatform. "Yew stay here an' hold 'em," said his mother. "I'll go over there an' sit on that truck til' th' train comes." She got out of the conveyance and walked around the station house to the other side. Unobserved by Budd she wiped her eyes, and then she sat down on the truck. By and by the young agent came aud unlocked the door of the building and went inside. Out upon the cool morning airwas wafted the "click, click" of the telegraph instrument. Mrs. Springer rose from her seat and entering the building walked over to the ticket window. "Ja th' train from th' north on time?" she asked. "Three minutes late at Silver Lake," was the answer. "Heow long afore it's due?" There was a little tremor in the voice. "It'll be here in eighteen miautes," the operator replied. By and by from away up the track came the rumble of an approaching train. Nearer and nearer, and then around the" curve above the station the engine swerved. The bell clanged, and the train stopped. Mrs. Springer ran back to the passenger coaches. One or two sleepy heads were poked out of the windows, but no one got off. The woman's jaw fell. No, there was no one in the rear cars for Evans Crossing,' the brakeman told her. "Ain't they some soldiers?" she cried, her face all white. "Oh, soldiers,", he said, "they's some up in the baggage car." The woman turned and ran down the platform. As she reached the forward end of the first passenger coach two soldiers lifted a long pine box from the car ahead aud laid it on the platform. The woman cried out to them, "Where's Jim, my boy Jim? He was comin ou tnis train: Where is iier "Who?" asked' one of the men iu uniform, quietly. "My boy, Jim Springer." The soldier did not answer, ne stooped and glanced down at the little white card tacked on the lid of ,the long pine box. "I can't tell l:er,Biil,"he whispered to his companion. The engine bell rang. The train was moving. "Why why why don't you tell me?" cried the woman. She rushed toward the two men. She glanced down at the box. The card caught her eye. She leaned over and read the words written there. Then she stood up straight, her face white, her mouth open, her eyes star ing at nothing. A cry cut the air a keen, piercing, gashing cry and the woman fell upon her knees beside that box and throw ing her arms over the top sobbed and beat her head agaiust the , lid and scratched the rough boards with her nails. And just then the sun broke through the clouds, and the dew drops on the grass, the leaves, the trees aud every where 8)arkled like diamonds. All nature seemed to mock a mother's agony. Detroit Free Press. BAY STATE'S SECOND CITY. Rivalry for the Honor Finally Settled Id Favor of Worcester. Under the subdivision made by the United States census officials there are four classes of cities in the United States. The cities of the first class are those having more than 400,000 population, the cities of the second class those having between 100,000 and 400,000 people, the cities of the third class those haviug between 50, 000 and 100,000 inhabitants, and the cities of the fourth class those having fewer than 50,00"0 inhabitants. Mas sachusetts is one of the few states which had under the last census no second-class cities. Its chief city, as well as its capital, port of entry and literary headquarters,-is the city of Boston. Following Boston there is a break, a sort of urban vacuum, and then appear some cities of the third class, grouped so closely together as to be rivals for the distinction of sec ond place. By the census of 1890 these cities were Worcester, with 84, 000 population; Lowell, with 77,000; Fall River with 74, 000 and Cambridge with 70,000. Among the fourth class cities of Massachusetts by the same census were Lawrence, New Bedford, Spriugfield, Somerville, Holyoke, Salem, Chelsea, Haverhill, Brockton and Taunton. Since the taking of the last Federal census the growth in population of Massachusetts cities has been very un equal. Into some there has been a large immigration; in others there has been a considerable reduction in yop ulation through the prostration of manufacturing interests in the bay state. The population of Massachu setts cities'has, to a considerable ex tent, been shifting of late years through the migratory ways of the French Canadians. According to the last census there were more than 15, 000 French Canadians in Fall River, nearly 16,000 in Lowell, 5500 in Wor cester, 7200 in Cambridge, 7000 in Holyoke, 4300 in Lawrence, 4100 in Somerville, 4100 in New Bedford and 2700 in Springfield. Having few of the ties of association, which are strong among the native New Eng enders, they move from place tq place as material interests seem to dictate, and thus make difficult accu rate computations of the city popula tion iu Massachusetts. The recent state census of Massachusetts has de termined the honor of second place as between Worcester, Fall River and Lowell. It shows that Worcester is the second largest city in the state. Fall River comes next, and then Low ell aud the other cits follow. The city of Worcester has . come recently iuto more than usual prominence by reason of the fact 'that it is the Massa chusetts city which has the largest proportion of native American inhab itants, and its growth is, therefore, a normal one, not affected by immigra tion. New York Sun. A Sad IMsappolntmenr, They had surrounded him, had the patriotic women, this hero of the Fighting 13th. He had a most engag ing limp. "Was it done by one of those dreadful mauser bullets?" asked the tall bloude with the eyeglasses. "Will you be crippled for life?" queried the plump brunette. "I suppose he was shot while car rying a wounded comrade off the field?" gushed the romantic maiden. The crippled veteran, as modest as he was brave, was visibly embarrassed by these tributes from the fair. As soon as he could control his emotion, he remarked, simply : "Ah, g'wau! 'faint nawthin' but' a boil on me knee." Buffalo Ex press. Pike and Eagle at One Catch. Dr. Charles Woodward of New Egypt, N. J., went fishing for pike in a pond near that village the other day. The fish were not biting freely and the doctor had about concluded to go home when he felt a bite on hi3 line. Just as he got the fish out of water au eagle flew over his head and the next instant had the pike in iti grasp and started to fly si-ay with it. By hard pulling Dr. Woodward drew his double catch to the boat. The eagle showed tight and Dr. Woodward attacked it with an oar, finally killing it. It measured seven feet from tip to tip of its wings. Dr. Woodward got the pike also, New Yorfc S'4C SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. The annual increase of the German nation during the last five years haa 'been more than five times as much as that of the French. No deep-sea sounding is now con sidered trustworthy unless a sample of the bottom is brought up by the sound ing apparatus, as evidence that the lead has reached the solid ground. Entomologists of the department of agriculture have discovered that the destroyers of silver maples are being themselves destroyed by the coccopha gus Iecanii, a small internal parasite. Kohlmann Rosental, an English man, and Dr. Von Komocki, a Berlin chemist, assert that they have invented a match that will strike anywhere, and no phosphorus is used in it. This invention, they say, will do away with the horrors of .necrosis, to which em ployes in match factories are subject. An invention, now in practical use, that is destined to revolutionize the present system of aerating milk and water consists of a specially con structed bottle and a portable steel capsule charged with carbonic acid gas. The capsule is fitted into the neck of the bottle aud the screwing on of the stopper liberates the gas, which is forced into the liquid con tents of the bottle. AMERICAN LANTERNS. Carried "Wherever Lanterns Are Used All Over the World. American lanterns are exported to all the countries of the world where lanterns are used. Many are sent tc South Africa and to South AmericA, to Australia and New Zealand, and Borne are sold in Asia. Few, propor tionately, are sent to Europe. Kerosene oil is now commonly burned iu lanterns all over the world. There are no lanterns made nowa days for caudles only, but there are exported to South Africa some lan terns made so that either candles or oil. may be burned in them. They are provided with a caudle socket which may be set down into the oil reser voir, the wick-holder having been re moved. By removing the candle socket and screwing in the wick hold er the lantern is made ready to burn oil. Excepting railroad and other lanterns made nowadays are of the kind known as tubular, first intro duced about thirty years ago, and now inade in various modifications as' to detail, the tubular part of the lan tern being designed with a view to producing better combustion and a brighter light. The lanterns made for ordinary uses are produced in about forty styles. The American lanterns are the light est, the slightest in appearance and the best adapted to their use, and they are sold cheaper than lanterns of equal quality produced elsewhere. There are large establishments in this country making lanterns only. It is probable that more lanterns are now exported from this country than from either England or Germany, and the exports of American lanterns are in creasing. New York Sun. A New Kind of Fuel. Those concerned in the coal indus try will be interested to know that a new form of fuel is being suggested from one of the colonies. It is offi cially reported from Barbados that the island is commencing to export "man jak" or "glance pitch," which is a product of the nature of petroleum in a bituminous form, and when mixed with infusorial earth cau.be used for fuel. It is found in veins, like coal seams, and ha3 very. great heating powers when ground into fine dust. Its principal drawback is its extreme ly low melting point; and scientists are endeavoring to find a substance with which it can be properly com bined for purposes of steam fuel. One or two shafts have been sunk in various places on the northern end of the island, and a considerable quantity has been extracted. Some has been used on railway locomotives, more or less successfully, and ou some of the sugar estates . to economize their ex penditure in coal. Eight hundred and seventy-eight tons were exported last year, of which 571 went to the United States and 250 to the United Kingdom. Its value is given at $10 per ton. There is the indication of the pres ence of a large quantity of this mate rial in the island, and it remains to be seen whpther it can 'be successfully developed; but Barbados has the great advantage of cheap labor, and of the presence on the same ground of the infusorial earth with which it is mixed to become marketable. It is further to be noted that there are indications also in Barbados of oil-bearing rock, with a large percentage of petroleum. Florida Times-Union. Mineral Wealth About Santiago. The mountains about Santiago,Cnba, are rich in iron aud manganese, and valuable mines of both these ores are owned by American companies. The annual exportation of iron to the blast furnaces of Pennsylvania and Mary land has been nearly 400.000 ions. The ores of manganese ari almost as valuable as those of Russia. Cuba contains also considerable deposits of copper and was once famous for gold. A REST. A resting spell approaches now; " 1 We seo the end at last. They've put the laurel on the brow Of each brave man who passed. We'va watched the prtm events that stalkeJ An i feared what came behind. And each has paid, or cheered or talked. According to his kind. , 'Through pages, marching day and night, I We've traced the army's ways, And faltered, sometimes, in the fight . With x's, gs and j's. I These ills, with heavier woes are gone, And now each thankful chap . May lay aside his lexicon And put away the map. Washington Star. HUMOROUS. ' Patient Oh, doctor, if I could onb die. Doctor I'm doing my best foi you. ' "Who is best man at the wedding?" t "The clergyman, of course; he geti para. "What made the audience hiss that vegetarian lecturer?" "He said he would deliver a meaty discourse." "Blykins has his own way in hil house." "Yes. But his wife al way l tells him what is going to be before hand." "How your baby's legs did gro dowu in the country." "Yes; hi chased roosters from morning till night." . - "How often do you want me to teU you not to make that noise, Johnnie?" said the father. "I would rather you wouldn't tell me at all," repjied Jack. Irascible Lieutenant (down engina room tube) Is there a blithering idiot at the end of thi3 tube? Voice from the Engine Room Not at this end, sir. ' 1 "My dog is almost as intelligent aa I am," remarked Squildig. "Are you going to have him shot, or will yoa try to give him away?" asked Mc Swiiligen. "Do "you know what will happen to you if you don't hand that apple over right away?" said the big-boy to the little boy. " And the little boy gave it up. ; " Pupil What, in your opinion, pro fessor, is the most difficult mathemat ical problem? Poor Professor (grim ly) Trying to make both ends meet, my dear sir. , After a quarrel with his wife,. who violently expressed a wish that ha were dead, an Irishman said: Bedad, I'll take good care you're no widow as long as! live !" , "They say that Mrs. Bondly throws on a great deal of agoiiy since they became suddenly rich." "Well, rather. That woman used to walk in her sleep. Now she gets up and rides a chainlesa bicycle or orders a carriage." Wallace I see that the aeronauts have discovered that a woman's voica ascends to twice the height attained by man's. Ferry I wonder if that is the reason so many men let th.'ir wives do all the praying? A shrewd old lady cautioned her married daughter against worrying her husband too much, and concluded by saying: "My child', a man is likav an egg. Kept in hot water a little while, he may boil soft; but keep him there too long and he hardens. A lawyer noted for his laconic style of expression sent the following terse aud witty note to a refractory client, who paid no attention to reiterated demands for the payment of his bill: "Sir If you pay the enclosed bill, you will oblige me. If you don't, I shall oblige you." Mrs. Prentice How do you always manage to have such delicious beef? Mrs. Bywell I select a good, honest butcher, aud then stand by him. Mrs. Prentice You mean that you give him all your trade? Mrs. By well No; I mean that I stand by him urhiln lift 19 fiittririfr tlio maat. Ererclning on a Man-o'-War. Walter Russell, an attist with the fleet, contributes to the 'Century aa illustrated article entitled "Incidents of the Cuban Blockade." Mr Russell eays: During quarters the various exercises and emergency drills are gone through with, including sword practice, bayonet drill, physical exer cises for straightening the figure and! expanding the chest, boarding drill, fire drill, collisio'n drill and- many others. A huge mat, weighing per haps 500 pounds, is brought up on deck, heavetl gver the side and held there within 60 seconds after the or der is given. Should a Spanish ship tarn one of ours, this mat would be thrown over the aperture made in the side and held there "by the pressure of the water. Again, lines of hose are run out and connected, a wheel is turned and a strong stream or water floods the deck immediately. In a very few seconds 20 streams of water can be directed upon any part of the ship. ' Suddenly the band plays a lively march, and the order for the rua around is given. Jackie likes this. It " is his exercise. It is to him what wheel ing is to a landsman. It is his oppor tunity of moving a little faster than f usual. Iu double quick time each section runs in an ellipse for five ruin ates, the Hue of sailors being usually barefooted at this time of the day. They douge in out of the sunlight aaci hadow, laughing and showing thtir gaiety of feeling, ...

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view