3 THE ft flffiftial II reran nf Wssfimorfnn fifioirff. (ADVERTISING IHLDIXJIl) r i ' ir 1 Clrculatn xltnslvely In tbt Caanlli ef Wasbisitos, Martin, Tyrrell and EaasfsrL1 Job Printing In ItsYarious Branchsfe l.OO A TEAK IN ADVANCE. "FOB GOD, FOR COf NTRT, AND FOR TRUTH." SINGLE COPT, 5 CENTS. '"" ' - "" """ ' 1 1 ' "'- 1 1 - -. .. ... " - - '" ... i ... ,.- -- i. . .,, VOL. X. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1899. NO. 22. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOCOOOQ The Man in R the Gray Cloak x Q O V A Story Fop Washington's Birthday O o 8 tt "BY CHELSEA CURTIS PRA8EB. . Q O t.1 O000CC00GQ0QQ0GQ3OO000GOCCS HE winter of 1779 was approaching spring. But it was still dismally cold, and all day there bad been a drip, drip of chilly rain around a two story farmhouse which cluug to a New Jersey hill side, a Bhort dis tance from Mor- ristown, where the American army under General Washington was en camped. J v Hope Adams, a thotightful-faced lit tle girl of eleven, dressed in a plain, homespun gown, sat by the bedside of her feeble grandfather, and strove ear nestly to divert the invalid's mind . from the noises which came from the kitchen downstairs. "Never mind, grandfather," she aaid, comfortingly. "They are American soldiers and will not do us harm, though they be rude. If only General "Washington knew of their be havior, I know he would send them away. There, don't mind please don't!" she pleaded, bending over the nervous sufferer and smoothing the gray locks away from the aged face. A hoarse voice sang a bit of army song, boisterous cheers followed; then came the sound of tinkling mugs and the troopers seated around the kitchen fire resumed their rough exchange of jokes. These noises all penetrated to the little chamber, disturbing the peace of the sick man and awakening fresh ap prehensions in Hope's young heart. Twice that afternoon she had crept downstairs, twice had she begged the men not to be so boisterous, and twice had they promised, only to fail in keeping that promise. It is due these soldiers, however, to say that they respected the little girl's request and tried to obey her. But their good resolutions were drowned deeper and deeper each moment as they freely quaffed mug after mug of the hard cider, a cask of which they had discovered in the cellar. "As if it were not bad enough to rrest my brave son on suspicion of his being a traitor," the old man moaned bitterly; "they must suspect us of being Tories and guard our home as though we were in actual league with the enemy. "William a traitor! we Tories! The name of Adams was never before connected with such vile charges. And I suffering here at this moment from a gunshot wound received not two weeks ago while fighting for my country! Ah! it is terrible, terrible, indeed!" He had partly arisen in his excite ment, but slowly fell back on the pil low, as the wound in his shoulder sent a shaft of pain through his body. "Yes, grandfather, it is hard for tis," spoke his grandchild, soothingly, "but do not worry, if you can help it. Father is not a traitor, and he must come clear of the charge." And there was a flash of determination in her dark eyes. "Heaven bless you, Hope," re plied the old man, placing a trembling hand on her crown of nut-brown curls. "We will pray for the vindi cation of your father's good name and his restoration to a place of honor in the American army. It can't be thac he must die as a traitor my son, so brave and loyal!" "No, no, grandfather!" assured the little girl. "He will not." Only that dav had the unpleasant news been brought them that brave William Adams, the old soldier's son and Hope's father, had been arrested on the serious charge of ,rpurposing to reveal the plans of the American army to the British, although, like his aged father, he had proved a valiant soldier, had gained the respect of his officers, and had just been mentioned for promotion. He indignantly denied the charge, but a mysterious paper found on him had caused grave thoughts. He had attempted to-explain that he knew nothing about the fatal paper, but his explanation had not been found sufficient to save him from arrest. A few troopers under a sub-officer had been detailed to watch the house of the prisoner's father, who, despite his age and the fact that he had just been sent home from the ranks, wounded, was forthwith sus pected of being a Tory, and an abet tor of his son. It had beau a weary day to the prisoner at Morristown, and a very sad one to Hope and the old grand father. The presence of the troopers in creased their fears, audit was not un til long in the night that (the'rude jol lity beldw stairs having ceased) the nervous sufferer became somewhat quiet. Then Hope sang to him, soft and low, as a mother to a sick child, and soon she had the satisfaction of see ing the wrinkled eye-lids close over tbe weary eyes. 1 Then she arose noiselessly, and, go ing to the window, looked out into the dark night. It was growing still colder without, and the rain had ceased. "I must go," she declared, reso lutely. "If I can but see General Washington, I am sure he will not let father die a traitor's death." Wrapping a shawl about her head and shoulders, Hope let herself out of the chamber, quietly secured the door, and descended the dark stair way. As she stole cautiously along the' hall, her heart in a tumult of emo tions, she saw, through the half-open door leading into the kitchen, that the troopers were eitber asleep or heavily dozing. In another moment she was outside iu the night and the cold. The night was very dark. Great, dense black clouds scudded across the heavens as if they were mockingly en deavoring to outstrip her; and but the merest fragment of a new moon, with a few bashful stars, could be seen through a drift, well down in the western sky. She had gone nearly a mile from home when she cauie to a stream, swollen almost into a torrent by the recent thaw and rains. IHope ran along the marshy bank until she found the place spanned by two long planks used as a bridge by the country folk who wished to shorten the distance to town. , "She started to cross the planks, but when near the middle of the stream a water-fowl arose from beneath her and flew away over her head, with wild, frightened cries. So unexpected, so sudden was its appearance that Hope started back HOPE TELLS HER STOltY nervously. The planks were icy where the rain had frozen on them the even ing before, and her feet slipping she fell and came near to being thrown in the stream. With desperate strength she held firmly on to the plank and tried to draw her body up. But her little frail arms were unequal to the task and there she hung with feet dangling in the foaming water. One moment she clung in awful peril; then a tall figure stepped swiftly out on the bridge and Hope was lifted by a pair of strong arms and carried safely to the opposite bank. Looking up, half shyly, as the moon continued to lend the feeble light? Hope's clear eyes scanned her rescuer. He was very tall, very erect and wrapped in a gray cloak. "My child" and the tall figure bent over her kindly "it is a dark, cold night for you to be abroad. Where is your home?" "Back there on the hill," answered Hope, pointing across the stream. "Had you started home?" he ques tioned her gently. "No, sir. I was going to Morris -town." "Have you friends there whom you wish to see?" "No yes, sir that is " "Do yon fear , telling me. I am your friend." One glance into his smiling gray eyes, and Hope feit that she could trust him implicitly "I had started for the American camp," she said,,sirnply. "What takes you there at this un seemingly hour, and in such incle ment weather?" "My troubles, sir." "And whom did you hope to see there?" "General Washington." "Trust me with your troubles. I have great influence with the commander-in-chief, and may be able to help you." "Will you tell him my story and help me?" "I will help you if I can. Now, tell me, my child, what has driven you forth this dark, cold night to seek General Washington at his headquar ters?" Thus urged, Hope told how news had reached the farm house of her father's arrest on the charge of being a traitor, how it had affected her grandfather confined to his bed from a wound received while in the discharge of what he considered old as he was his simple duty, and how the troop ers had terrified them with their rude behavior. "What is your name, little one?" her listener asked, when she had finished. "Hope Adams," she answered, "And your father is " "William Adams, sir." "Do not worry any longer, Hope. I give you my promise that General Washington will do all he can for your father." "Oh, thank you, sir! God will be good to you." "The father of such a daughter can not be very bad, no matter how dark is the suspicion cast upon him," re marked the man in the gray cloak, more to himself than to the little girl. "There must be some mistake. The case must receive prompt attention." Then again taking Hope up in his strong arms he carried her over the stream and led her back to the farm house. On the threshold he paused and said in a gentle, cheery way: "Now, Hope, run up to your wounded grandfather and tell him that the troopers shall annoy him no longer. This is not a Tory house hold." Hope hastened to do his bidding, while he stepped into the kitchen and called the sub-officer of the troopers to him. . The conference between the new comer and the sub-officer was short. The trooper soon returned to his fel lows. "We are ordered back to headquar ters at once," he announced. The tall figure in the gray cloak stood on one side, while the troopers filed out into the darkness and away toward the American camp. He seemed lost in thought as he gazed after the retreating forms of the men. The next day a trooper stopped at V-- 3 TO GENEBAL WASHINGTON. the farmhouse door and placed a letter in Hope's hands. Running upstairs to her grandfather, she cried joyfully: "Listen, grandfather?" And in a happy voice she read the following note. My dear little Hope It was Gen eral Washington himself who prom ised you last night to do what he could in behalf of your father. His case has been investigated, and the real traitor in camp (who was jealous of the chance of promotion "which had come to William Adams) has been discov ered. It was he who concealed the suspicious paper upon your father's person, and sunningly contrived to bring about his arrest. Of your father's promotion, which is now certain, I will not speak, for he will be with you to-day. Would that all of our daughters were as brave and true in this time of sore distress as you, little Hope. Your obedient servant, George Washington. "And the man in the gray cloak was General Washington all the time! Oh, grandfather, isn't he good?" "Noble!" said the old man, his face glowing with pride. And from that day forth no American ever reverenced the memory of George Washington more than little Hope Adams, nor who can deny me? with better cause. Detroit Free Press. Washington' Nearest Living Relative. Major Burges Ball, the nearest living relative of George Washington, keeps a cigar stand in the court of the pension office at Washington. The Illustrated American has just pub lished a new portrait of the Major, which is here reproduced. Major Ball bears a close resemblance to his illustrious relative, but is by no means puffed up concerning his kin- j ship to the great patriot or the unmis takable likeness he bears to him. In deed, Major Ball is the only person who doesen't seem worried about the fact that Washington and he are nearly related by blood. He conducts his little business in his own way, an'd is very polite to all his customers. The Sons of the American Revolution, who take a great pride in their ances tors, "took him up" and thoroughly investigated his genealogy. He did not ask them to do it, and when they satisfied themselves that he was about as eligible for membership in their body as anybody and made him a life member of their organization without the payment of dues, Major Ball did not refuse to join them. He is the only member who pays no dues. The Major was born in the old homestead in Loudoun County, Virginia, and started out in life as a humble clerk. In 1840 he went West and gained great repute as an Indian fighter and pioneer in California. He joined the Confederacy and seceded from the SURGES BALL. Union which his historic kinsmen fought so hard to establish, and when the war was over he found himself homeless and destitute. His grand father, Colonel Burges Ball, was a cousin of Mary Ball, Washington's mother. He married Frances Wash ington, a niece of the General, and that relationship is as near as any on the Washington side. Major Ball is a cousin of George Washington Ball, who maintained a regiment at his own expense during the Pvevolution, and who was a friend of Washington. He Was Truthful in His Statements and Could Stick to Grammar, Too. When the winter's nearly over And the spring is nearly here, When the bud upon the maple Tells the blossom of the year, There's a holiday approaches That wo celebrate with glee As the birthday of a laddie Who removed a cherry tree. 1 And who, when his father questioned, Nobly answered, with a sigh, "Yes, papa, I know who did it; To be truthrul, it was I." Which was better than if Georgie Had replied, as you will see, "Yes, papa, I know who done it; To be truthful, it was me." "A laddie who behoved a cherey thee.' Then the father proudly answered, "My forgiveness you have won. Few, indeed, there are so worthy As my little Washington. Few so brave and cool In danger. Glory waits fcrsuch as he Boys who stick to truth and grammar When they've cut a cherry tree." Now, when winter days are passing, And the spring is nearly hert, When the bud upon the maple Tells the blossom of the year, We rejoice upon the birthday Of the noble laddie who Could remember to be truthful And could stick to grammar, too. The First Engraving of Washington. This is a reproduction of the first engraving ever made of George Wash ington. The only print known to be in , existence is in possession ol Charles F. Gunther, of Chicago, whose collec- tion of relics of the "Father of His Country" ranks very high in deed. The original print is all in black, except for the blanket on the horse, which is colored red and yel low, and the rider's coat, which is blue, with yellow epaulets, and a red sash across th.3 breast. ' DK. TALMAGFS SEEMON. SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED DIVINE. Subject: "The Evil of Selfishness" Help Others to Bear Their Burden It Is a Christian's Duty to Encourane and Aid His Comrades in Life's Battle. Text: "Bear ye one another's burdens And so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians vl., 2. Every man for himself! If there be room for only one more passenger in the lifeboat get in yourself. If there be a burden to lift, you supervise while others shoulder it. You be the digit while others are the ciphers on the right hand side nothing in themselves, but augmenting you. In oppo sition to that theory of selfishness Paul ad vances In my text the gospel theory, "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." Everybody has burdens. Sometimes they come down upon the shoulders, some times they come down upon the head, pometlmes they come down upon the heart. Looking over any assembly, they all seem well and bright and easy, but each one has a burden to lift, and some of them have more than they can lift. Paul proposes to split up these burdens into fragments. You take part of mine, and I must take part of yours, and each one will take part of the others, and so we will fulfill the law of Christ. Mrs. Applflton, of Boston, the daughter of Daniel Webster, was dying after long illness. The great lawyer after pleading an important case in the courtroom on his way home stopped at the house of his daughter and went into her sickroom. She said to him, "Father, why are you out to day in this cofd weather witho'ut an over coat?" The greatjlawyerwent into the next room and wai In a flood of tears, saying. "Dying herself, yet thinking only of me." Oh, how much more beautiful Is eare for others than this everlasting taking care of ourselvesl High up in the wall of the tem ple of Baalbec there are three stones, each weighing 1100 tons. They were Hfted'up by a style ot machinery that is now among the lost arts. But in my text is the gospel machinery, by which the vaster and the heavier tonnage of the world's burden is to be lifted from the crushed heart of the hu man race. What you and I most need to learn is the spirit of helpfulness. Encourage the merchant. If he have a superior style of goods, tell him so. If he have with his clerks adorned the show windows and the shelves, compliment his taste. If he have a good business locality, if be have had great success, if he have brilliant prospects for the future, recognize all this. Be not afraid that he will become arrogant and puffed up by your approval. Before night some shopgolng person will come in and tell him that bis prices are ex orbitant and that his goods are of an in ferior, quality and that his show window gave promise of far better things than he found inside. Before the night of the day in which you say encouraging words to that merchant there will be some crank, male or female, who will come Into the store and depreciate everything and haul down enough goods from the shelves to fit out a family for a whole winter without buying a cent's worth. If the merchant be a grocer, there will be some one before night who will come into his establishment and taste of this and taste of that and taste of everything else, In that way steal ing alt the profits of anything that he may purchase buying three apples wlille be is eating one orange! Before the night of the day when voU approve that merchant he will have a bad debt which he will have to erase, a bad debt made by some one who has moved away from the neighborhood without giv ing any hint of the place of destination. Before the night of the day when you have uttered encouraging words to the mer chant there will be some woman who will return to his store and say she had lost her purse; she left it there in the store, she brought it there, she did not take it away, she knows it is there, leaving you to make any delicate and complimentary inference that you wish to make. Before night that merchant will hear that some style of goods of which he has a large supply is going out of fashion, and thera will" be some one who will come into the store and pay a bill under protest, saying he has fiaid it before, but the receipt has been ost. Now, encourage that merchant, not fearing that he will become arrogant or puffed up, for there will be before night enough unpleasant words said to keep him from becoming apoplectic with plethora of praise. Encourage newspaper men. If vou knew how many annoyances they have, if you understood that their most elaborate article is sometimes flUDg out because there is such great pressure on the ool umns, and that an accurate report of a" speech is expected, although the utterance be so indistinct the discourse is one long stenograpntc guess, ana that the midnight which finds you asleep demands that they do awaKe, ana tcac tuey are sometimes ground between the wheels of our great brain manufactories; sickened at the often approach of men who want complimentary newspaper notices or who want newspaper retraction; one day sent to report a burial, tne next aay to report a pugilistic encoun ter; shifted from plaee to place by sudden revolution which is liable to take place any day in our great journalistic establish ments; precarious life becoming more and more precarious it you understood it you you would be more sympathetic. Be affa ble when you have not an ax to be sharp ened on their grindstone. Discuss In your mind what the nineteenth century would be without the newspaper and give en couraging words to all who are engaged In this interest, from the chief of editorial department down to the boy that throws the morning or evening newspaper into your basement window. Encourage mechanics. They will plumb the pipes, or they will calcimine the ceil ings, or they wiU put down the carpets, or they will grain the doors, or they will fashion the wardrobe. Be not among those who never say anything to a me"hanic ex cept to find fault. If he has done a job well, tell bim it is splendidly done. The book is well bound, the door is well grained, the chandelier is well swung, the work is grandly accomplished. Be not among those employers who neversay anything to their employes except to swear at them. Do not be afraid you will make that mechanic so puffed up and arrogant he will never again want to be seen with working apron or in shirt sleeves, for before the night comes of that day when you praise him there will be a lawsuit brought against him because he did not finish bis work as soon as he promised it, forgetful of the fact that his wife has been sick and two of bis chil dren have died of scarlet fsverand he has had a felon on a finger of the right hand. Denounced perhaps because the paint is very faint in color, not recognizing the fact that the mechanic himself has been cheated out of the right ingredients, and that be did not find out the trouble in time, or seoldsd at because he Seems to have lamed a horse by unskillful shoeing, when the horse has for months had spavin" or ringbone or springhalt. You feel that you have Uie right to find fault with a me- cbanio when he does ill. Do you eve praise a mechanic when be does well? Encourage the farmers. They come in to your stores, you meet them in the city markets, you often associate with them in the summer months. Office seekers go through the land nnd they stand on politi cal platforms, and they tell the farmers the story about the independent life of a farmer, giving flattery where they -ought to give sympathy. Independent of what? I was brought up on a farm, I worked on a farm, I know all about it. I hardly saw a city until I was grown, and I tell you that there are no class of people in this country who have it harder and who more need your sympathy than farmers. Independent of what? Of the curculio that stings the peach trees, of the rust in the wheat, of the long rain with' the rye down? Independent of the grass hopper, of the locust, of the army worm, ot; the potato bug? Independent of the drought that burns up the harvest? Inde pendent of the cow with the hollow horn,' or the sheep with the foot rot, or the pet," horse with a nail in his hoof? Independent of the cold that freezes out the winter grain? Independent of the snow bank out of whlch;he must shovel himself? Indepen dent of the cold weather when -he stands thrashing his numbed fingers around his body to keep them from being frosted? In dependent of the frozen ears and the frozen feet? Independent . of what? Faney farmers who have made their fortunes in the city and go out in the country to build houses with all the modern Improvements and make iarminir a luxury may not need any solace, but the yeomanry who got their living out of the soil and who that way have to clothe their , iamuies ana educate their children and pay their taxes and meet the interest on. mortgaged farms such men find a terrific' struggle. I deman.d that office seekers and politicians fold up their gaseous and; imbecile speeches about the independent; life of a farmer and substitute some word of comfort drawn from the fact that they are free from city conventionalities and' city epidemics and city temptations. encourage the doctors. You praise the doctor when he brings you up from an awful crisis of disease, but do vou praise the doctor when, through skillful treat ment oi tne incipient stages or disease, he keeps you from sinking down to tke awful crisis? There Is a great deal of cheap and ' heartless wit about doctors, but I notice that the people who get off the wit are the nrst to send for a doctor when there is any thing the matter. There are those who undertake to say In our day that doctors' are reany useless, one man has written a book entitled, ' Every Man His Own Doc tor." That author ought to write one more book entitled. "Every Man His Own Un- dertaker" Oh," says some one, phy- sicians in constant presence of pain get hard hearted I" Do thev ? The most cele brated surgeon of the last generation stood' in a clinical department of one of the New York medical colleges, the students gath ered in the amphitheater to see a very painful operation on a little child. The old surgeon said: "Gentlemen, excuse me if I retire. These surgeons can do this as well as I can, and as I get older it gives me more and more distress to see pain." '; Encourage the lawyers. Thev are often' ' cheated out of their fees, and so often have to breathe the villainous air ot courtrooms, and they so often have to bear ponderous responsibility, and they have to maintain -against the sharks in their profession the dignity of that calling which was honored by the fact that the only man allowed ta. stand on Mount Sinai beside the Lord was oses, tne lawyer, and that the Bible speaks of Christ as the advocate, Enootre-' ago liwyer3 in their profession c! trafl. by having on the bench a Chief Justice Story and at the bar a Bufus Choate: ' Encourage the teachars in our public schools occupation arduous and poorly compensated. In all the cities when there comes a fit of economy on the part of offl- cials the first thing to do is always to cut' down teachers' salaries. To take forty or fifty boys wiSose parents suppose them precocious and keep the parents from' finding out their mistake; to take an empty head and fill it; to meet the expectation of; parents who think their children at fifteen years of age ought to be mathematicians' and metaphysicians and rhetoricians; to' work successfully that great stuffing ma chine, the modern school system, is a very arduous work. Encourage them by the usefulness and tho everlastlnguess andthej magnitude of their occuDation. and whan yourchildren do well compliment the in structor, praise the teacher, thank the ed ucator. . .. Encourage the troubled by thoughts or .. release and reassociation. Encourage the aged by thoughts of eternal juvenesoencev Encourage the herdsman amid the troughs . of sin to go back to the banquet at the father's homestead. Give us tones in the major key instead of the minor. (li "Coronation'Mnstead of "Naomi." You have seen cars so arranged that one car going down the hill rolled another car un tha Ki'll Tl. . t.. t-, j , : ..uuuwi. . iijcjf ucorijr uiiiauccu fHW" oiner.1 And every man that finds life up hfil ought to be helped by those who have passed the heights and ure descending to the vale. Oh, let us bear one another's burdensl A gentleman in England died leaving hi fortune by will to two sons. The son that staid at home destroyed the father's will and pretended that the brother who waa absent was dead and buried. The absent brother after awhile returned and claimed 1 his part of the property. Judges and jurors were to be bribed to say that the re turned brother and son was no son ai all, but only an impostor. The trial came on. " Sir Matthew Hale, the pride of .the English, courtroom and for twenty years the pride of jurisprudence, heard that that injustice was about to be practiced. , He pat oft his official robe. He put on the garb ot a miller. He wont to the village where that trial was to take place. He entered the courtroom. He somehow got empan eled as one of the jurors. The bribes came around, and the man gave ten pieces ot gold to the other jurors, but as this was only a poor miller the briber gave to him only five pieces of gold. A verdict waa brought in rejecting the rights of tbis re turned brother. He was to have no shara In the inheritance. "Hold, my lord!" said the miller. "Hold; we are not all agreed on this verdict. These other men have received fn pieces of gold in bribery, anu I have rceived-only five." "Who are you? Where do you come from?" said the judge on the bench. The response was: "I am from Westminster Hal!; my name is Matthew Hrib. lord chief justice of the king's bench. Off of that place thou villain!" And so the injustice was balked, and so the young man got his. Inheritance. It was all for another that Sir Matthew Hale took off his robe and put on the garb ot a miller. And so Christ took off His robe of rovaltvand put on the atlira of our humanity, and in that disguise Ha won our eternal portion. Now are w tha sons of God! Joint heirs! We went off from home sure enough, but we cot back In time to receivo our eternal inheritance. And if Christ bore our burden, surely wa can afford to bear each other's burdens. Cuban Soldiers Becoming: Iletliis, It is reported that Cuban soldiers ar growing restless because of lack of pay,

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