THE- AN EXCELLENT 1 ADVERTISING MEDIUM) ' Official Organ of Washington County, FIRST OF ALL THE NEWS. Circulates extensively fa the Counties el . Washington. Martin, Tyrrell nd BiaafsrL Jab Printing In ItsVarlous Dranchss. l.oo a year ix Advance. " for god. for coustby, and for truth." sixgjb copy, 5 cents. VOL. X. PLYMOUTH, N. G., FRIDAY, JUNR 16, 1899. NO. 39. IF. "If I were a man," the woman said, v "I'd make my mark ere I was dead; , I'd lead he world with a battle-cry, j And I'd be famous ere I should die If I were a man." "If I were a youth," the old man cried, "I'd seize all Chnnces.I'd go with the tide; I'd win my way. to the highest place, And stick to honor, and seek His grace If I were a youth." THE EXPLOIT OF ANTOINE 4 Tty Frnnlclin This is the true story of an exploit of ,ntoine' and Pierre Le Beau, lads who were born in the little French Indian village of La Saussail. Their father, Baptiste Le Bean, was a trader ui peltries and their mother a half blood Mandan woman. Pierre was two years the older and very Indian and lazy by nature. An toine was more like the French, and 'clever, and therefore was sent away to school in St. Louis, where he re mained until his father was killed, an accidental vctim, in a tight between Red DogV .nd Three Feathers' bands of Bois-Brules. Autoine found that during the four years 01 ms aosence tne mr traae naa . , , .i i . i been ruined. Settlers and stockmen had come into the country across the river from La Saussail. He found Chavbonueait, his father's partner, in possession of the store and his mother and lierre with nothing left them save a few ponies, the log house they lived in and the Indian title to a tract of land above the village. ' Although but 15 years old, Autoine, thrifty and clever,saw his opportunity in t.hn rmt.i-nl nf the land, which in cluded some excellent grazing ground. The stockmen across the river had great droves of horses and cattle, and they were already crowded for room So Antoine took horses to herd. He succeeded'in gathering 300 during the first spring and received two dollars per head for the season. He lost but two out of this "bunch," and the ani mals did so well that more than 500 were placed in his charge the follow ing year. So the Le Beaus were again highly important among the people of mixed complexion of La Saussail. Pierre wore the gayest of blanket jackets, lived merrily and sometimes amused , himself by going fishing He loafed much in Charbonneau's dingy store, Which smelled of hides, dried fish and Stale tobacco. Now it happened one chilly morn ing, when Antoino had come in to warm his hands by Charbonneau's fire, that a couple of young men from the settlements were in the Btore seek ing to buy rope and blankets. - "This old rope no good," said Pierre, as one of the newcomers stopped to examine a coil upon the floor. "My brudder Anloine, hees buy some of dat rope las' summe)-,and fle knots dey rot oft' hee? picket-pins." At this Charbonnean flew into a rage, called Pierre some hard names In French and ordered him out of the store. Then, as Pierre merely grinned, Charbonneau rushed at him and flung him violently upou the floor. Antoine's French-Indian blood got the upper hand of his school training at this. He seized the irate trader by the beard, thrust a pistol in his face and said such enphatic things that Charbonneau's legs shook like willows in the wind, and his customers left in alarm. Charbouneau begged pardon, and Antoine's wrath quickly subsided. The lad was rather ashamed, in fact, for he knew Pierre had been impertiuent in talking to customers about Charbon neau's goods. The matter would have ended Amica bly but for Charbonneau's Ogalalla wife, who was of a temper quito as choleric as her husband and far more steadfast. She was greatly enraged when she learned that Charbonnean had been taken by the beard, whreh she seemed to consider a most humil iating thing. It made her despise Charbonneau and thirstfor revenge on Antoine. When the first warm days came after the going out of the ice Madame Char bonneau gathered her small effects and departed in a canoe with her children, a well-grown boy and girl. This little family paddled far down the Missouri and thence up White Biver to the big Ogalalla towns. Whether the angry squaw-wife ap pealed more signally to the spirit of revenge or of cupidity among her friends is not quite clear, but certain it is that shortly after her appearance among them a party of Ogalallas set out across the great stretch of plain to Ihe northward, descended upon An joine's horse-corral3 one night in June ind drove off all the herded stock. Antoine had built his corrals a mile ibove the village. As these hordes ,ere under "sacred medicine" and in sharge of "one of the blood" there ivas no danger that they would be Stolen by Cheyennes, Oros Ventres or Bther tribes of the upper reserve. Another and final element of safety Klj in the fact that most of the horses "If I were rich," the poor man thought, "I'd give my nil for the poor's support; I'd open my door.and rd open my heart, And goodness and I would never part It I were rich." Andlo! if all these ifs came true, The womnn a man, the man a youth, The poor man rich then In all truth. This world would be, when we got through, Just as it Is ! James Oppenheim, In New York Sun. E L. t Welles Cnlltlns. were of a large breed not much in use, except for beef, among the Sioux. Thus Antoine had felt doubly secure in leav ing the animals at night unguarded in the corrals. He could not wateu all night and work all day, and Pierre could not be depended on for guard duty. On the morning of his loss he rode home from the broken corrals with despair in his heart. His occupation and his reputation were gone unless he could recover the stock. The owners of his herd and other whites across the river would not hesitate to accuse him of having a hand in such a wholesale robbery unless he could prove his in nocence absolutely, and they would trust him with no more horses. It was barely daylight, so early was he out of a morning, when Antoine aroused his mother and Pierre. The woman immediately took a canoe and paddled across the river to warn the owners of the stolen horses. As for Pierre, he suddenly awoke to the im portance of doing something. His In dian blood was aroused, and he readily joined Antoine in an arduous chase after the horse thieves. Sunrise saw .the brothers well mounted and galloping hard to west ward. The broad trail of the herd led straight away toward the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri. The ani mals had evidently been taken from their corrals in the early night and were being pushed hard, for when the pursuers had mouuted the bluffs above the Missouri they saw no cloud of dust upon the miles and miles of near ly level plain. At night they passed down into the valley of Thunder Creek, which marked the limit of the country they knew. They camped on this creek, nearly 70 miles from home. They were up and off again at break of day, and'night brought them to the breaks of the Bad Lands warm, at last, upon the trail of the stolen stock. Hitherto they had passed three camps where the Ogalallas more than 20, as thf -others had made out by the s; n ad halted to rest and g'aze the st ck, .i id at one of them the skull auu ..dshlv picked bones of a horse were found. Just before sunset the brothers rode to the summit of a red buttj and looked back over their trail. Were the stockmen following the stolen horses? Oa all the vast stretch of sun-baked rdain there was no slightest cloud or trail of dust to cheer the boys with hope or aid from the settlements. In another direction lay rough ridgas of chalk cliffs and a narrow, gorge like valley cast in forbidding, shadows. At some point or turn in that tortuous, fading canyon the stolen horses would be guarded for the night. But dared any two pursuers venture their lives in that narrow pass? Did the brothers turn back? Did the lazy Pierre, dust-begrimed,choked by thirst and half-famished from a slender diet of dry, chopped beef, want to go home? Not he. The Sioux's persistence and the white man's bold ness had seized upon the lads and urged them on to a deed almost in credibly daring aud yet planned with great shrewdness. From the appearance of the trail be low they knew the stock thieves were two hours' ride in advance and that they would go into camp soon after dark. So, with plans already formed, the two rode down the red bluff into the narrow valley. Upon reaching the creek a swift, shallow stream they turuel their ponies loose, quenched their thirst and immediately set out to search the banks. They found a bog hole where were tufts of old dry grass which had escaped the fall fires. Of this they gathered enough for their purpose. With dry twigs and bark of willows they twisted dry grass ropes some two inches in diameter and half the length of a lariat. To prevent these ropes from untwisting they tied them here and there with interlacing twine. - The task finished, the brothers ate some stringy chips of dried meat and stretched themselves on the ground for an hour or so of rest. Thus refreshed, they remounted and rode leisurely and cautiously along the trail. Turn after turn of the nar row valley was made. They moved in a silence broken only by the light footfalls of their ponies. Their ani mals were kept at. the sbuffliug,nearly noiseless trot characteristic of the In dian-bred pony. On either hand loomed the chalk cliffs; fringes of cottonwoods and willows marked the crooked channel of the creek. The trail, a broad swath AND in the thin, tall grass of the bottom lands, was easily followed. The thieves were depending upon their advantage in start, their celerity of movement and the unlikelihood of pursuit except from fort or settlement This they hoped to elude finally among the intricacies of the Bad Lauds. Leaving the trail, the boys hugged the little stream, keeping well within the shadows of its bordering trees. It was after midnight that the rustling murmur they had listened for came to their ears. Quite plainly now they could near the trampling of a herd. hungrily cropping the coarse, thin grass. But no fires, no sign of In dians or of horses could be seen in the night. The brothers dismounted and led their ponies deeper within the shad ows of a cluster of cottonwoods. They stripped the animals of saddles and bridles and turned them loose. Each then wound his surcingle and grass rope about his body and slid softly down the ditcli-like bank of the creek They left their saddles under the trees and carried their rolled blankets under their arms. They followed the creek channel, hugging the bank, half creeping on the shore or wading in the water with great caution where there was no foothold on land. The creek channel led them by a curve within the shadows of over hanging cliffs, and they knew the In dians were encamped in this bend. Sounds of the herd grew more dis tinct, and they were creeping with greater eautiou whan a loud, familiar whinny broke upon their ears, then yells of Indians and a brief clatter of hoofs. What Antoino and Pierre had cal culated upon had happened. Their own ponies had come on and joined the herd. Therehad been a momentary alarm as the nuimals had passed In dian guards aud camps. In the dark ness there was little danger that the incident would excite suspicion. The savages 'would simply ccnclude that ponies had strayed and returned or been left behind in some shelter of brush or trees. In the meantime the lads had dis covered the Sioux's camp and their first outpost. Fortunately, horse stealers do not allow dogs to follow them, and Antoine and Pierre were in no danger of discovery from these sen tinel pests of an ordinary Indian camp. Thanks to the shelter of the creek bank and its fringe of willows, they passed this camp in safety. The horses were farther on. Presently the brothers ascended the creek bank upon the grass land and were in the midst of the graziug herd. They walked carelessly among the animals, talking in low tones and in the Sioux tongue, which they spoke with a per fect accent. " They were some time in finding rid ing ponies among the herd. At last,- by cautious aud friendly advance, each secured a pony, bridled the animal, strapped his blanket upon its back aud mounted. They rode together boldly along the creek bank. As they passed the limits of the herd a Sioux arose from the grass a few yards distant aud hailed them. Autoine replied. "Wego to the hills," he said, gruffly, "to look for pursuers when light comes." The Indian grunted approval, aud the riders passed leisurely on. This simple,bold proceeding, and the noise and confusion 6f the stamping, snort ing herd, saved an alarm. Its success, and the knowledge that the Indians were herding their booty unmounted, filled Pierre and Antoine with elation. The Sioux, as they had hoped, were giving all of their ponies complete rest for the night. The daring, riders passed on down the valley until they were well out of sight and hea ing of the herd. Then they hobbled their ponies and flung themselves upon the grass. Here they waited, resting and talking in sub dued voices until that darkest houw which comes before the dawn. Then they remounted, uncoiled their grass ropes aud lode back toward the herd.. They approached, riding cautiously, until warned by coughing snorts that the horses were near at hand. There was no longer the rustle of trampling feet the herd were lying at rest. So much the better for the plan the boys had adopted, a plan sim ple and bold, requiring dash and cour aff beyond ordinary conception. They were to stampede this herd of 500 horses and ride at its heels directly through and over au Indian camp. Truly, it was to be neck or nothing with them! They rode a dozen rods apart and halted. They scratched matches under the cover of thei- horses' flanks and lighted the frayed ends of their grass ropes. In the next instant Antoine fired his revolver in air, aud with shrill, terrifying whoops the daring fellows rode at top speed directly at the sleep ing herd. They whirled their lighted rope ends, fanned to flame as their animals ran, and rushed in upon a startled crowd of horses, encircled in hissing, writhing coils of fire. Pierre rode like one possessed and yelled like a veritable war fiend. As the herd broke away iu his front ha ran plump upon an Indian guard. The Sioux was directly in advance and running, but turned to shoot. As he did so. F'iesre, whirling his fire rope, swept the b!azing end directly into the savaged face, thrust out a foot and left him, aprawiing and blinded, it the grass. Then there was a wild and moat ex citing rout. The whole herd of horsei fled like mad things before those cir cling, shrieking snakes of fire. Despite a mob of yelling Indians, aroused from their blankets and rush ing frantically hither and thither, th horses, gathered in a flying masfl, Bwept resistlessly on, taking theii own back trail instinctively. Antoine and Pierre galloped int( the Sioux camp ground, riding at th heels of the herd and in a smothering cloud of dust. They were fired upor, by several Sioux, whom they nearlj ran dowa as they came together at the tail of the herd; but bullets aimed chiefly at whirling streaks of fire and in dust and darkness, went amiss, am' the daring stampeders came off with out a scratch. They yelled and whirled their Art ropes until those effective torches had burned nearly to their finger ends, and when that happened they were beyond the Sioux camp and had the whole herd with 26 Ogalalla ponies besidt in front of them and going like th wind. A score of disconsolate Sioux bucks were left to make their way od foot to the Niobrara country. Four days later the French-Indian boys drove the recovered stock, minus four or five head killed and strayed, down the bluffs at La Saussail. The owners of the stock had not thought it worth while to follow the Indians, but they were delighted with the exploit of Antoine aud Pierre. Even the lazy brother was a man of consequence thereafter and was al lowed to assist in looking after the herd. This recapture of stolen stock was a piece of daring so admired by the-most renowned Sioux braves that even Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull always spoke of the Le Beau boys with some envy aud great respect. Youth's Companion. COULD NOT SERVE AS JUROR. Had Been the Victim of Circumstantial Evidence Himself. A good story is being told about a juror who was drawn for service in the criminal court, Buffalo, recently oh a murder case. He was willing tc do his part as a good citizen, but he had a prejudice against circumstantial evidence which was so strong he could not dispel it from his mind, and it finally became necessary to excuse him. He answered the questions put to him by the prosecuting attorney to qualify, but when the attorney for the defendant got down to where he asked him if he would convict a person on circumstantial evidence he hesitated. "Why do you hesitate?" asked the judge. "Well, I'll be fra-ik with you," re plied the juror. "I don't believe in it." "If the evidence was so overwhelm ing that there could be no doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, wouldn't you vote to convict?" "No." "Why?" "Judge, can I whisper to yon?" "Yes." There was a three-minute conversa tion between the judge and the juror, at the conclusion qf which the judge smiled, and then he said: "Juror, you are excused." The attorneys did not forget the in cident, and at the end of the day's session they asked the judge what the trouble was with Mr. , naming the juror who was excused. The judge said the man told him he was the owner of a farm in Cheek towaga, and among his live stock was a handsome pet calf. One day while he was out in the barnyard chopping at a fence with an axe this calf made a break to get out of the yard. With the axe still in his hand, he ran aftei the animal and caught him by the tail. Just as he was dragging it back from an opening in the fence a member of the family happened along, and, seeing him with the axe in his hand, con cluded he was suffering with an attack of senile dementia and in his fury was trying to hack the poor beast into veal cutlets. "Judge, I was perfectly rational. and I protested that I was attempting nothing of the kind, said the juror, but appearances were against me, and to this day lam unable to convince my family that I was not crazy and was not trying to murder that calf. That's the reason I am against cir cumstantial evidence." Mont Fragrant Flower. It is an interesting thiug to know that 4200 species of plants are gathered and used for commercial pur poses in Europe. Of these, 420 have a perfume that is pleasing and enter largely into the manufacture of scents and soaps. There are more species of white flowers gathered than of any other color 1124 in all. Of these, 187 have an agreeable scent, an ex traordinarily large proportion. Next in order come yellow blossoms, with 95L Beventy-seven of them being per funred. lied flowers number 823, of which eighty-four are scented. The blue flowers are of 594 varieties, thirty-four of which are perfumed, and the violet blossoms are pleasantly odoriferous. Tit-Eits. VIA NIL A IIEMP TRADE, THE CHARACTER OF THE INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS- The Plant From Which the Hemp Is Made Belongs to the Banana Family Used for Halting Bope, Cordage and Cloth The Crude Machinery Used Injures the Fibre. Manila hemp, called in Spanish abaca, is grown successfully in the Philippine Islands only. Attempts have been made to grow the plant else where, as, for example, in Saigon, China, and in Britisli North Borneo; but the results have not been satis factory. The plant from which the hemp is made belongs to the banana family and resembles very much the ordi nary banana tree, its leaves, however, being darker and Bhorter than the leaves of that tree. The hemp plant flourishes best on hilly lands and mouutain sides, where it can be well shaded by trees of thick foliage. Al though it requires a considerable amount of moisture, it does not do well in swampy lands. The province of Alhay, in the island of Luzon, is the greatest hemp-producing district in the archipelago; but the finest quality of hemp comes from the island of Leyte, which also nearly equals Albay in amount of output. The other hemp-producing districts are: Provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Tayabas, in Lu zon island; the islands of Samar.Mar induque, Mindanao, Cebu aud Negros. Four years from the time of plant ing the seed are needful before the plant leaves are ready for the knife, but ouly three years if shoots be set out. The general custom among planters, however, is to transplant six months old suckers. The shoots are set out in squares, about six feet between each shoot, and in starting a hemp plantation in forest lands the large forest trees are left standing to shade the young shoots. After the first three or four years of waiting, a hemp plantation is usually a safe aud profitable investment, as the plants are seldom damaged by typhoons be cause of the protection furnished by the forest trees; the plantations are gener ally on high lands and therefore suffer little from floods; locusts do not attack the leaves in the way they do almost everything else green on the island; fires cannot spread far among the rank foliage; no costly machinery is required on the plantations, and no plowing is necessary, although care ful weeding is required; the plants can be harvested all the year round, as they come to maturity. The leaves should be cut for the fibre, however, wheu the plant is flowering, nor should the plant be allowed to go to seed, for if allowed to bear fruit the fibre will be weakened. The average weight of dry idbre from one plant is about ten ounces, aud the yield from a well-managed plantation is 360 pounds of dry fibre to the acre. Tae method of making hemp is a very primitive one. The leaves that ehoot out from the trunk of the plant, after being detached, are separated into strips five or six inches wide, and from five to six and a half feet long. To separate the fibre from the pulp, these strips or basts, as they are called, are drawn under a knife that is fastened at one end by a hinge to a wooden block. A cord and a treadle are attached to the other end of the knife, and the operator, by working the treadle, can tegnlate the pressure of the knife, upou the bast. The edge of the knife should be smooth and keen, but too often it is serrated, as the work then is easier for the native at the treadle. As the bast is drawn through, the fibre is wound around a stick of wood. The natives work in pairs, one man stripping the bast and the other drawing it under the knife. In this way two meu can turn out about 300 pounds of dry fibre in a week. Machines to take the place of the crude apparatus described have been tried, but all have failed to answer the purpose, as all of them discolored the fibre. Machines with metal cyliuders and machines with glass cylinders, to wind the fibre on, have been tried, but all injured the hemp. Dealers and growers try to enforce the use of knives without teeth or indentations, so that the fibre may be fine, clean and white, but they have met with but little success. Manila hemp for this name is given to the product from all of the Philip pine Islands is classified by Manila firms as first, second and third quali ties. The middle men, or copia dores, in dealing with the native col lectors of small quantities, divide the hemp into two classes: First quality, corriente, and second quality, Colora do. Although there are few hemp plants that will give a whiter fibre than others, it is probable that all would yield first-class hemp, abaca corriente, if the natives could be made to cut the plaut during the flowering season ouly, draw the fibre under a toothless knife the same day that the bast is stripped and sun-dry at the first opportunity. The native, too, often strips the plant whenever he needs a few dollars, and leaves the basts exposed to the rain and all sorts of weather until they are so'tened by putrefaction and the fibres weakened, because then they are easier to work under the knife. In Manila the large export houses r.x the price ou corriente abaca, and allow a proportionate price for second and third qualities. In addition to the uses to which hemp is put up making rope and cord age, the natives weave from the fine fibres, carefully selected, a cloth called Bicol dialect, lupis; from the coarser fibres a very strong aud durable cloth, called all over the archipelago sina may, is made. This cloth is worn by all of the poorer classes. From a mixture of the fibres of the pineapple leaf and of carefully selected hemp a cloth of much finer quality, called jusi, is made. This cloth is thought by many to be more beautiful than the piua, made entirely of the pineapple fibre, for which the islands are noted. WILL EAT UP SMOKE. New Invention Which Will Bring Ke lief to Soot-Laden Cities. , A newly-patented smoke consumer was tested recently in Washington. The tests were rigid ones and were satisfactory to the witnesses. By an ingenious mechanical device the smoke from the boiler grate which usually finds access to the outer air by way of the smokestack is supplied with oxy- ' gen sufficient to cause combustion and resnlt in the complete burning of the smoke, the flames from the latter: adding to the heat received by the boiler. In the tests the grate wasf first filled with soft coal( refuse and a hot fire reached. No smoke was ob servable issuing from the smokestack connected with the boiler grate until the inventor cut off the oxygen. Then it poured forth in heavy volume from, the stack. In an instant after the burner was again put in operation there was no smoke perceptible. The grate was then filled with a mass of - rags and dirt and the same experi ment as described above again suc cessfully carried out. The fire was drawn from the grate and the steam pressure in the boiler allowed to re duce to nothing. A new fire of wood en barrels was started, and iu fifteen, minutes a steam gauge of the boiler registered a pressure of 65 pounds. By means of au aperture in the. brick wall of the combustion chamber in which the boiler A as located it was possible to witness the burning of the smoke and see its flames wreathing the boiler on all sides. An examina tion of th,e deposit left from the smoke after combustion showed it to be a light, almost white, impalpable pow der, with none of the characteristics of soot whatever. It is claimed by the inventor that boilers and other power-producing appliances requiring great heat can be operated at half the cost now incurred for them by use of the burner, because the cheapest grades of coal which produces the greatest amount of smoke ordinarily can be used without loss of .any heat giving properties. i High Lights. Life is a bureau drawer which sticks, and through a crack we helplessly thrust our fingers at the things we would like to reach. Woman can't throw a stone, but when she drops a flower pot out of a window she always hits somebody. The ideal woman is one whose pre served strawberries hold out until fresh strawberries get cheap. Three-fourths of the bread cast upon the waters returns because it has a string tied to it. Few women can sit through a ser mon without hoping that the cook won't let the dinner burn. In the chase after happiness there are too many crossroads and too few guideboards. It is a wise womtn who never re minds her husband that he forgot ta kiss her. . . After a bad dinner human nature ia cross; after a good dinner it is stupid. Man's experienca is like his fpec tacles seldom a good fit foyiny other man. You caunot forgive a friend without lowering yourself iu his estimation. Chicago Record. . ' Dangerou .Art. A newly arrived German iu New York c'ty, who was apprenticed foi years to a trunk aud bag maker in Berlin, Germany, undertook the other day to paint his own sign, and the re sult looked like this except -thai crooked letters caunot be made with these typei "Gustav Fritz hei mer, maker of trunk sandbags. " "Le' ma see some o thim sandbags," said a new member of the force, deftly con cealing his billy. "Saud bags?" re peated the German. "Sant-begs? I haf no santbeg! What you mean? A beg for sant? Miue peezness is trunga and begs. I sell you a hantsome beg for tollar seventy-five " But the policeman, seeing a great light, re marked: "My friend, you are a prac tical joker,- but go out and hire a painter to change your sign. Yon make my beat look suspicious." Ne York Press. One of Many. "George, do you know of any nice, quiet restaurant where I can get mj meals for a while?" "Why, what's the matter, old fel low any trouble at home?" "Yep. My wife has begun talk" ing about taking up carpets." Clav land PlaiD Dealer.