FOR COUNTRY, FOR GOD, AND EOR TRUTH."
Single Copy, B Cents.
VOL. XI.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1900.
NO. "20.
1.00 a Year, In Advance.
TAUT, TKKSI2 ASiU TIMELY.
G iv. Pingree has cut the last cord
that bound him to the Republican
party. He says the hope of the peoplo
i8 in , the success of the Democratic
party this year; and he is one of the
people.
One of the significant political signs
is the number of prominent Democrats
that refused to support the regular
Democratic ticket in '96, who are now
predicting the nomination and election
of Col. Bryan'this year.
The English public is complaining
Jiecause Lord Roberts does noc lick the
Ioers faster. Lord Roberts appears to
be satisfied not to get licked.
The man who would shoot a girl for
refusing to marry him he has become
entirely too numerous of late would
beat her if she married him.
- Western people are showing Admiral
Dewey that they love him for his vie
tories, even if they take no stock in his
petticoat-made political ambition.
Hon. VV. L. Wilson thinks Admiral
Dewey will blunder out of politics as
suddenly as he blundered in, and that
Col. Bryan will be nominated and
elected.
The Boer women are running the
farms while the men and boys are doing
the fighting. Surely such a people de
serve liberty.
The Boer peace delegates are coming,
but the English government isn't afraid
ytheir accomplishing anything with
Mr. McKinley.
Our occupation of the Philippines has
up to date cost the lives of 2,2,57 Amer
icans and permanently broke down the
health of mauy more. It is not sur
prising that men should be asking if the
game is worth the candle"
The Great Fire In Canada.
A dispatch of the 28lh ult. from
Ottawa Canada, gives further details, of
the big fire, as follows:
Little except ashes and ruins is to be
found in the district five miles square
that was swept by the names in this
city and Hull, Oat. There is practi
cally no fire left. Every inflammable
thing touched was consumed. Although
under control for many hours the flames
were not entirely extinguished until
about noon to-day.
Seven deaths have been reported as
the result of the conflagration, but the
authorities are constantly asked about
missing persons. ji.ight thousand per
sons are homeless and thousands have
been thrown out f work for an indefi
rite period.
Insurance men and persons whose
property was burned now estimate the
total loss at about $17,UUU,UUU. lfte
greatest item in the figures id due to the
destruction of 15,000,000 feet of lumber
and several lumber works. Two thout
and buildings were destroyed in Ottawa
and 1,800 in Hull. The insurance s
estimated at $5,000,000.
Prompt measures have been taken
for the relief of the sufferers. The
Federal government has given $10,000
for immediate relief, aud ParliaoieLt
will vote $90,000 more. The Ontario
Legislature at Toronto will contribute
$25,000, while private subscriptions to
the amount of about $50,000 have al
ready been received from all parts of
Canada. Half a million will be n quired
to bring the fire sufferers safely through
the emergency. The city council of
Ottawa, has decided to borrow $100,000
to aid the destitute.
The Catholic Archbishops of Ottawa
and Montreal will appeal to the couutry.
The most serious problem that confronts
Hull is that of work. Tbe majority of
householders who were burned out are
poor and haye large families. It is not
expected there will be employment for
a considerable period, and the wny in
which- many of the poor are going to
live in the meantime is puzzling.
Ay cock Stands for Education.
RCcky Mount, N. C, May 1. All
the State candidates except Dr. Dixon,
Mr. Patterson and Mr. McNeill arrived
here at 12:20 a. m. They were met at
the train by a reception committee, and
at an early hour this morning crowds
began to assemble. At noon today the
speaking began in the opera house.
Grimes, Lacy and Toon made their
usual short, to the point, good speeches.
Turner spoke longer than usual, a
strong, forcible, vote gaining speech.
His illustrations proving that all white
men can vote were unanswerable and
convincing.
Aycock began his speech at 2 o'clock.
The opera house was packed. Jacob
Battle, E-q., in introducing him said
that many of us have known him for
two decades and love him for his mod
esty, honesty and unselfishness. Ay-.
cock's pledge, if elected, to stand for
the education of all children in the State
however poor or humble, was received
by long and continued applause. All
the candidates made a favorable and
strong impression. The white people
of this section are more determined
than ever to forever put an end to ne
groism, Butlerism and Russelism.
A terrific explosion occurred on the
1st in the winter quarters of the Pleas
ant, Valley Coal Mine at Schofield, on
the Rio Grande Western Railroad, near
Colton, Utah, by which, acc. rding to
reports, over 100 people were killed and
many injured. It is reported that 90
bodies have already been recovered.
The cause of the explosion is attributed
to the blowing up of a number of kegs
of blasting powder.
REV. SAM. P. JUNES WRITES OP
FLOODS, HACKS ASli THE DEVIL.
Memphis, Tenn. I waited over in
Atlanta three days last week on account
of washouts and floods on railroads. I
left Atlanta the 23rd inst. for some
points in Mississippi and to Memphis..
1 have not been through the worst
flooded districts of Alabama and Missis
sippi. A man will have to swim much
to do that yet, and if what I have Been
is only a taste of what has happened
for the south ani west, then devasta
tion must be complete. I esteem rail
roads more highly now than ever.
When the trains stop it looks like every
thing stops. The heroic, herculean ef
forts the railroads haye made and are
still making to repair the tracks and re
place the bridges, trestles, etc., is mar
velous to behold. The railroads in
Mississippi alone have been damaged
more than a million dollars. The farms
and loss of stock and crops, etc., are
more than two millions more. The old
est inhabitant has never seen the river
and creeks bo high or the lands so badly
washed. 1 believe when the costs of
the floods m Texas, Louisiana, Alabama
ani Mississippi are fully counted up it
will reach ten millions of dollars or
more. The railroads are able to repair
their tracks, the landlords can stand the
loss of stock and the washing of their
lands, but there are ten thousand poor
tenants who lost their all in the floods.
Poor fellows, I am sorry for them.
The races are on in MemphiB, and
that means much for any city. It's a
pile for the hotels, saloons and gam
blers. Its wreck and ruin to the fellow
who bets. The gang who attend and
bet on the races are goin to ruin and
hell faster than any thoroughbred horse
ever went around the track. There is
nothing more fascinating and so hurt
ful to the young men as the race course.
A prize fight, a masquerade ball, a
Louisiana lottery, a faro bank, a said n
itself, any one or all of these can't
wreck manhood and character quicker
or more surely than the race course. I
like a thoroughbred horse, and I love to
see him go, but I think scrubs make up
the crowd that attend the races, largely.
Memphis is a great city. Her trade
is large, and she is a growing town, but
the devil has pretty much his own way
here, as he does also in Atlanta. It
will be a sad day for Atlanta when she
adds a race track to her other deviltry.
A street preacher (dreBsed like an
Episcopal clergyman, except he has
those large crosses on veBt and coat,
and long hair) named Blanford, from
Eagland, and who by the way married
one of our Cartersville girls, has been
preaching on the streets and in the au
ditorium of Memphis for six weeks. He
has gotten up no small stir in Memphis.
He preaches salvation from sin and
heals the sick. He has a fine face and
splendid address and seems to be about
26 years old. The good people are di
vided on him and I suppose the sinners
consider him a crank. One thing is
certain, he can't hurt anything in
Memphis. The devil himself has done
... . i j i ? n
about ms worst on tnem nere, ana sun
they survive.
I am amazed, as 1 travel over this
country, and see the life and push and
vim in the business world and the ac
tivity of the devil and his gang. Then
look on and see the church, hew dead
and how indifferent it is to the condi
tion of things. Many of the deacons
and some of the preachers talk like they
think that matters aro going on lovely.
The Methodist pastors have just left
my room. They are anxious tbat
come to Memphis. They admit that
the thing is in a hole, and are anxious
that something be done. But engage
ments already made will prevent my
coming back to Memphis in the near
future. I begin meetings in Baltimore
May 6th, and will continue there until
27th; and will spend the summer largely
in campmeeting and Chautauqua work
Farm work is badly behind in all Bee
tions. May is upon us and not a tenth
of corn or cotton either planted in the
sections where I have been. But we
have still left to us the blessed fact that
we will live until we die, and the hard
shell brothers say we won't die until our
time comes.
The people everywhere though seem
happy and hopeful. The towns and
cities say trade was never better and the
farmers say there is plenty of time yet
left to tbem to make a crop.
I met a drummer this morning, jusc
from southern California; he said it had
not rained out there in three years; so
we are better off than they. It's like
the old woman, who always said it
might have been worse, to every ca
lamity. Her husband was run over
and killed by the train, and the friends
went to her and told her of the tragedy.
She asked, "Is he dead?" They said
'Yes, madam." She replied saying, "It
might have been wor;e." How, they
asked. "Oh !" She said. "They might
have just crippled him and left him
here on my hands to wait on."
So, whatever betides us, we may say
it might have been worse.
Sam P. Jones.
Neeroes continue to move out of the
State. From the Eastern part of the
State they are going further South.
From this section they go to New York
and New Jersey. From the West they
are going to West Virginia to work in
the mines and on the railroads. Several
hundred negroes, both men and wo
men, have left the State the past winter
and this spring.
THE AMEN OMEN 1'.
Hon. Geo. E. Boggs, Populist, Telia In a
Letter to The 1'roKrenslve Farmer of
llestricted Negro Suffrage in South
Carolina, and Urges the Adoption of
the Amendment in This Matt.
Progressive Farmer.
Editors Progressive Farmer: I am
yery deeply interested in the success of
the effort to secure a limited suffrage to
the negro in North Carolina, by the
adoption of the proposed Constitutional
Amendment. I am fully persuaded it
would prove a great blessing to the State
of North Carolina, to all of its citizens,
including the negroes.
I have been sojourning in South
Carolina, my native State, for about two
months, and see the great benefit to all
classes of its people, negroes included,
from the practical retirement of the
negro from political influence and
power. This was yirtually done by the
ereat revolution in 1876, which wrested
the power from the negroes and their
leaders, and vested it in the white peo
pie. For some time the whites retained
the political power by the entire control
of the election machinery, lhe m n
agement of tbe election was entirely in
the hands of the Democratic party. Tha
law required that there should be a sep
arate box for the reception of each vote
for a candidate for any particular office
Each box was to be marked for Gover
nor, Lieutenant Governor, for Senator,
for members of the House and the law
provided that in any case if the ballot
was not deposited in the right box it
was invalidated. It also' provided that
each voter should deposit bis ballot in
person, with no one near him. As
result illiterate persons could not vote,
unless the managers of the election
chose to give infjrmation as to the right
box in which to deposit each ballot. As
a result illiterate voters where votes
were not desired were practically de
barred from voting. There were graye
objections to this Bystem, and many
thought that it was unwise to hazard its
continuance in case of division among
the whites. To fully secure the victory
that had wrested the power from the
ignorant and incompetent negroes and
their self-seeking leaders, the amend
ment to the Constitution was adopted
Before my recent careful investigation
into the actual workings of the law, I
had always been distrustful of it and
feared it might limit the rights and in
fluence of the plain common people for
whose rights I am ever jealous, lhat
such has not been its effect is plainly
shown by the fact that the plain, com
mon people who revolutionized the gov
ernment in this State a few years ago,
and got full control of it, still retain this
power.
I have spoken with quite a number of
persons, of men of different professions,
of different occupations and yarious po
sitions in society, and have found not
a single one who did not speak of it with
full approval and commendation.
It is very singular the good effect it
has had upon the negroes. They have
had their eyes opened to the fact that
casting ballots into boxes was not going
to secure for them either the hnaucial
or Bocial advancement which they ex
pected, and as a result the masses of
them have lost all interest in politics,
and many of them who can read and
write and can therefore vote if the choose
do not exercise their right. Their
whole demeanor is changed. They are
for more Industrious and contented than
they were during their days of political
power.
I lived here during that horrible
nightmare of Reconstruction, and can
vividly recall the anxiety as to life and
property, that hung like a pall over the
whole people, can but note the amazing
change that has taken place.
I wish to say a few words, more es
pecially to my Populist friends, in re
gard to the pending contest in tur
State. We have often criticised and
not infrequently abused the Democrat.?
for making the negro issue a paramount
one.
Now the amendment will practically
eBliminate the negro question from our
political contests in the future and give
to us the opportunity of discussing issues
of far greater importance.
Now, will it be consistent in us to re
fuse to assist in the effort to suppress
the ignorant negro vote? I think it the
duty of every true lover of the State to
put aside any bitterness or estrange
ment that may have occurred in the
past, and unite in the request from all
to secure this modification of suffrage
and relieve us from this irresponsible
and dangerous negro vote. G. E. Boggs.
Story of a Pass.
Troy Times.
The following is a history of the rail
road pass which, if true, is very good of
its kind. When R. N. Rice, who was
afterward president of the Michigan
Central railroad, was the general man
ager of the New York Central, he re
ceived by mail an expired pas?, across
the back of which the holder had writ
ten in red ink :
Bless my stars ! no more on the cars
As a deadhead I'll ride on the mil,
Unless Mr. Klce should take my advice
And send me a pass by the mail.
Without a moment's hesitation Mr.
Rice turned the pes over and traced in
red ink on its face the following :
The conductor will pass this bundle of gas
From July to the middle of Int,
Llkeany other deadhead, without paying a
Let him ride to his heart's content.
The pass was never taken up, and
today kept in the family of the bold
f
t
THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR.
Baltimore Sun, 28th,
Wepener has been relieved, the Boers
who besieged it are hurrying northeast
ward and Lord Roberts is bending all
his energy to catch them. So far the
Boers have escaped and it is belived in
London that they will have little diffi
culty in making their way to join their
comrades in a place of safety.
Tnis is the situation in the eastern
part of the Orange Free State: A Brit
ish success has been won by the relief
of Wepener, with the faint prospect of a
bigger one the capture, of some or all
of the late besiegers. As an offset to
their retirement from Wepener the
Boers in the western part of the Free
State have forced Lord Methuen to re
treat and have occupied Boshof, which,
for some weeks, has been his headquar
ters. Hence the Boers, so far as is
known, are in complete control of the
country west of Bloemfontein.
Simultaneously with the abandon
ment of the Wepener siege, which oc
curred Tuesday night, the Boers also
evacuated De Wet's dorp. Both col
umns are doing their best to escape
to the north. It is believed in London
that the chief hope of catching them
lies in the movements of Gen. French's
cavalry, which is going east from Vaal
bank, but great results are not expected.
Wepener has endured a siege of 16
days, losing in killed and wounded
about 165 out of 1,500 men. Its relief
was accomplished by General Brabant's
column, operating from the south.
Baltimore Sun, 28th.
A fight has begun at Thaba Nchu, 40
miles east of Bloemfontein, in the Or
ange Free State. The Boers having es
caped the net that Lord Roberts spread
for them, Roberta is directing his ener
gy to getting command of all the im
portant roads in the district lately oc
cupied by the burghers.
It is now said that Gen. Louis Botha,
the Boer commander-in-chief, directed
the brilliant retreat of the burghers
from De Wet's dorp and Wepener. lie
arrived at De Wet s dorp last Monday
and at once took the situation in hand.
Many signs or intelligence marked the
retreat. The wagons were sent north
far in advance of the burghers, and it
is believed they had relays of oxen wait
ing on the road.
Meanwhile the main British advance
to Pretoria is delayed. Lord Wolseley,
the British commander-in-chief, i
credited with having said, when Bloem
fontein was first occupied by Roberts,
that the British would be in Pretoria by
May 15. Like General Buller's report
ed promise to be in Pretoria by last
Christmas, it seems that this will have
to be revised. Murmurs of dissatisfac
tion with Lord Roberts are beginning to
be heard in London.
The Boers are preparing to spend the
winter in Natal. The South African
winter is now setting in.
A Lorenzo Marquez dispatch says
that the latest authentic estimate of tbe
Boer army places it at 30,900 men.
Baltimore Sun, 30th.
Lord Roberts is again collecting the
British troops whom he sent skurrying
over the southeastern part of the Orange
Free State in an effort to trap the Boers
at Wepener and De Wet's dorp. The
divisions of Generals French, Rundle
and Hamilton aie massed at Thaba
Nchu, 40 miles east of Bloemfontein,
and other troops are arriving there. As
a good road leads from Thaba Nchu in
the direction of Brandfort and Kroon
stad, where the main Boer army is
massed, this may foreshadow that the
main British advance will be started
from Thaba Nchu.
Baltimore Sun, 1st.
The next few days promise to develop
a situation which will settle definitely
the fate of Mafeking. So far as the cen
sors permit the world outside to know,
the paramount movement in South Af
rica is the relief of Baden-Powell and
his garrison in thelong-beleagured town.
It is understood that the expedition
will be more formidable and will con
sist of General Hunter's Tenth Divis
ion, assisted by Gen. Methuen's forces.
If the handful of Boers who have so
tightly tied up the place far six months
do not yield to this imposing column,
then Mafeking may well be considered
beyond relief.
The last few days have witnessed con
tinuous, although no very seyere, fight-
iug in the vicinity of Thaba Nchu, the
Boers, according to the British version
of it, being constantly thrust back b)
General French's cavalry. Their re
treat Beems to be toward Ladybrand,
which is almost due east, where they
doubtless will offer a strong resistance.
The characterof the country alongtheir
retreat is rugged and affords a most ef
fective protection in covering a retreat.
According to Kimoerly advices tbe
Boers in Btrong force have occupied
Windsorton, which is about twenty-five
miles by rail southwest of Warrenton,
the nearest point held by British troops.
The occupation is the result of deter
mined efforts, bat until yesterday the
British succeeded in keeping out the
burghers.
The region north of Sunday s river
appears to be fairly well clear of Boers."
uenerai jouis xxuua nan reiurneu 10
Pretoria, where he will resume supreme
command rfj2.es-yl
- jam'"'" " Jm
General Louts Botha has returned to
FORREST'S HUMOR.
One of the fiercest and most deter
mined fighters in the Civil War was
General N. B. Forrest, cavalry com
mander in the Confederate Army. His
name was a redoubtable one and few of
his opponents were aware of a humor
ous side of his disposition, familiar to
his friends, says a writer in the Youth's
Companion. For many years the Gen
eral loved to tell the story of an incident
which occurred near Cowan's Station.
The few troopers he had with him
were being hotly pursued by the Fed
erals, and the General was galloping
along at top speed. A hery Southern
dame happened to be standing by the
roadside, and when she saw the flying
Confederate officer her indignation
boiler over. Shaking her fist in Bcorn,
she screamed :
'Why don't you turn and fight, you
cowardly rascal? If old Forrest were
here he'd make you fight !"
Fortunately the General's horse soon
carried him out of range.
Forrest's biographer relates that once
at a dinner party, where he had be n
invited as the guest of honor, there waB
a loquacious widow, with hair of raven
black, who rudely interrupted the con
versation by asking General Forrest
why it was that his beard was still black
while his hair was turning gray.
With great politeness Forrest turned
toward her.
"I fear I cannot give a satisfactory
answer," said he, "unless, possibly, the
reason is that I have used my brain a
little more than I have my jaw."
In the midst of one of his campaigns
a captured Federal chaplain was brought
to his headquarters. The man showed
the deepest anxiety and depression, for
stories of Gen. Forrest's seventy were
rife in the Union camp. A little later
supper was announced, and Forrest, to
the chaplain's surprise, invited him to
share it; but his surprise grew to
amazement when the General turned
to him reverentially and said :
"Parson, will vou please ask the
blessing?"
The next morning Forrest courteous
ly gave him an escort through the Con
federate lines, for he wished no non
combatants for prisoners, and bade him
good-by with the remark :
"Parson, I would keep you here to
preach for me if you weren't needed so
much more by the sinners on the other
side."
A WItoh linns the Hat Away.
Mooresyille Enterprise.
A resident of Mooresville tells the
following true story of how he was re
lieved of rats several years ago while
living in Mecklenburg county. He says:
"It was during the '70s, and I was
running a grist mill near Charlotte. The
rats became so numerous that I was
annoyed a great deal ard couldn't get
rid of them. An old woman who lived
near claimed to be a close communi
cant with the spirits, and had performed
many miraculous deeds about in the
neighborhood. Finally I approached
the old lady and offered her a calico
dress if she would rid my mill of the
peBts, and send them as a plague to a
neighbor who did not love me any too
well. The offer was accepted. The
old lady wrote something oa two little
slips of paper I don't know what was
on them and instructed me to place
one on the floor at the meal chest and
place the other one at the door of my
neighbor; also to arrange a board for
the rats to climb to the foot log cross
ing the creek. I dip as I was told, and
next morning to my surprise, 1 saw
tracks in the sand where the rats had
been scrambling to reach the foot-log.
The rats left every one of them. I re
mained there six years afterward and
never saw a rat. The old gentleman to
whom the old woman sent the rats was
compelled to vacate his premises on ac
count of the great number. It was a
wonderful delivery. What I say can be
substantiated."
May
Take a Hand in the .Strike Now
on the Southern Road.
News and Observer. 1st.
UuIcks the Southern Railway settles
its suite pretty soon the Corporation
Commission will take a hand. The peo
ple all along the line are appealing to
the Commission for relief, and have
been for the past two or three weeks.
These appeals have been referred to
the Southern Railway officials for
answer, aud unless they caa show good
cause why it should net le done the
Commission will order all effires along
the Southern's lines opened at once.
Somebody has said that strikes are
triangles. There is the angle of the
company; the angle of the men who
strike; with the last angle that large
body of us who don't own railroads and
don't work for railroads, but Would,
nevertheless, dwell in peace and have
proleotiou. It is from this last angle
that the Corporation Commission is
called upon to take part in this quarrel.
The Southern Railway Company has
righ'.s; its operators have rights, but
equal to both, ry
railroad pub?
The Cor,
to plunp
the p" f
nl'
GEHBUAL HEWS.
The Pennsylvania Republican con
vention at Harrisburg, last week, en
dorsed the re-election of Quay to the
Senate.
A canvass of the Presbyterian clergy
men of the important churches of Bos
ton shows that, of seven interyiewed,
five are opposed and two are in favor
of a revision of the Westminster con
fession. A tornado passed through a portion
of Blum, Texas, Friday, destroying
several residences and a two story
school building. Two persons were
seriously hurt, one of whom, a woman,
will die. About 15 others were slightly
injured.
The 10th annual reunion of the Vet
erans will be held in Louisville Ky.,
this year and great preparations are
now being made to entertain and have
as many old veterans present as possible.
The fare from Concord to Louisville and
return will only be $11 and the expensee
of veterans there, nothing. It is proba
ble that a large number will go from
this county.
An Oxford special to the Raleigh
News and Observer says: "It is relia
bly reported that a certain mouthy ne
gro of Granville county made this
threat: 'That there would be more ashes
in Granville county before the election
was over tban there was in Hell." A
certain law-abiding Christian citizen
said upon hearing the same: 'Find out
tbe party who said it and we will in
crease the Republican majority in Hell
one vote sure.'"
safe Kales.
Do not be ashamed of hard work.
Work for the best wages you can
get, but work for anything rather
than be idle. Be not ashamed to
work, for it is one of the conditions
of our existence. There is no crim
inal who does not owe his crime to
some idle hour.
To industry and economy add
self-reliance. Do not take too
much advice; think for yourself.
Independence will add vigor and
aspiration to your labors.
One of the softest rules is to never
allow a year to pass by without
laying up something for a rainy
day.
Keep your health good by adopt
ing regular, steady habits.
Kemember that steady, earnest
efforts alone lead to wealth and
high positions.
A man of honor respects his word
as he does his note.
Ne er misrepresent falsely or de
ceive; have one rule of moral life;
never swerve from it, whatever be
the acts or opinions of other men.
Never form the habit of talking
about your neighbor, or repeating
things that you hear others say.
You will avoid much unpleasant
ness, and some times serious diffi
culties. The penitentiary farms will this sea
son have 2,000 acres in cotton, a de
crease of 33 1-3 per cent. ; 1,000 acres
in peanuts, an increase of 50 per cent.
The peanut crop is expected to reach
75,000 bushels. Last year it was the
most profitable crop. The corn acreage
will be about 2,000.
"Sweet Bells Jangled
Out of Tune and Harsh."
Shakespeare's description fits thou
sands of women. They are cross, des-
fondent, sickly, nervous a burden to
hemselves and their families. Their
sweet dispositions are gone, and they, like
the bells, seem sadly out of tune. But
there is a remedy. They can use
McELREE'S
Wine of Cardui
It brines health to th
organism, and health there mean!
well poised nerves, calmrwsa, stresr'.
it restores woman'
T A
insr and diseas