"FOR COUNTRY, FOR GOD, AND EOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 6 Cents VOL. XL PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1900. NO 35. 1.00 a Year, In Advanee. it ill Aiei"s letteis. Thought moves swiftly1 these days. How eager wc are for news. Two pa pers a day and the people gather at the postoilice waiting for them. And when it comes it's all about war afar off and crime at home. Murder, sui cides, divorces, outrages by negroes, lynehings and the Atlanta muddle and Kentucky murder thrown in as a side show. Some of the preachers are taking a hand in the general melee and are raising a racket in the name of the Lord. How different is all this from the good old times when wc got the mail only twice a week and were content to worship God on Sunday and work on week days and had time , to think and ponder and talk to our neighbors. When two doctors were enough for the community and they had but a Ihtle shop full of medicine and there were no drugstores and no patent medicines, and Jim Alexander and his brother, Tom, and Gib Wright and Adam Jones and his brother, Frank, and I, and some other boys, who are now dead, never were sick or took any medicine except salts or castor oil for green apple colic. What a glorious fellow was Bryant Strickland, whose hearty laugh could be heard across the town. He died not long ago and left his hearty laugh with bis boys. And good old George Lester, who ran against Dr. Felton for congress. There never was a bet ter boy, nor a beter man, nor a better friend. I loved him and still remem ber how he and I searched over the potatoe patch to find some remains of the stars that fell in 1803. What a change has come over the world, some things for the better, some for the worse, and we must take life and pro gress as we find it. Pope said: "What ever is, is right," but old men and old women can t help looking back ward and regretting that some things have passed away. Of course, wo re joice in the many comforts that in vention has brought to us, but take it all in all, the average of human happiness remains about the same as it was about sixty years ago. We had more content then, more love and fewer divorces and grass widows. Children were more obedient to their parents and there were no cigars or cigarettes or Bull Durham tobacco or Coca Cola or cocaine or hip pocket pistols. Every town had one or two saloons where a fiddle was played for the old sots, but young men did not go there. There was not a young man in our town who ever took a drink of whisky, but nowadays young men consider it manly to smoke and drink, and even some of the young Avomen get drunk on the sly and vainly im agine that nobody knows it. Our ne gro slaves were contented and happy and not an outrage was committed from the Potomac to the Jtio Grande. But now there are 24,000 of them in the chaingangs of the South ern States and 4,100 of them are in Georgia. Who is responsible for all this, and the lynehings that still go on? Mistaken philanthropy and un- mistaken malignity. If the South had been let alone we would have had gradual emancipation half a cen tury ago when Henry Clay was its advocate and Henry Clay whigs were a power in the Southern States. Now we are taking the back track and are undoing what our enemies have done, and I hope Georgia will follow North Carolina's lead and that Mr. Hard- wick will try his bill again at the next legislature. I would amend it a little, but in the main it is right. I would encourage the negroes to a better citi zenship, both morally and intellectu- ! ally. The county commissioners or the grand jury should be authorized to examine and make a selection ot certain moral, industrious negroes : and give them the right of suffrage. : There are some in every community . that I would trust. There are a dozen or more in Cartersville, and every community has a few. This would create a caste or a social condition in in the race that would have a good influence. I would trust such men as Professor Councill with any politi cal privilege, and there are others. Frank Carpenter is a great traveler a diligent student and a great writer. It is interesting to read from his pen the true condition of the ne gro in the Philippines. How the ne gro captives are bought and sold, and he was offered four likely ones for $50 by a woman who claimed to be a Mohammedan Christian. The boys average $10 and a good looking girl brings from $15 to $20. This traffic has been going on for a hundred years, but for the last half century has been dull. New England slave ships had to quit the business about that time for the Brazil market was . overstocked and English vessels were .watching too closely. According to history the last cargo was captured on the coast of Madagascar in ' 1848. It was a yankee craft and was fitted out in Boston. That is why Chief Justice Story charged the grand jury that "Boston merchants were steeped to their eyebrows in this infamous busi ness." But this is all barred now by the statute of limitations. Prof. Councill believes it was ordained of God for lhe good of the negro, even though it was baptized in blood and inhu manity. "Offenses must needs come, but woe unto them by whom they come." But in some respects the South is making good progress. Our manu facturers are increasing in every State, our agriculture is improving and our fruit growing is advancing all along the line. The diffusion of knowledge is spreading from the towns to the country hamlets and everybody takes and reads' newspapers. Now if we can stop these negro tramps who waylay the highways and byways we will have a good quiet, peaceable country and can sit under our own vines and shade trees and worship God accord ing to our own conscience. Mean niggers are our greatest curse and there are thousands of them, for, as my nigger, Bob, said when he had served his term in the chaingang, "dar is some as mean niggers in de chaingang as dar is outer dar." That is about the truth of it. If every nig ger was put in who has been guilty ot stealing there wouldn't bo enough left to get up a baptizing or an excur sion. Bill Aiip. P. S. Let me correct the printer of a former letter. I did not write that General Jackson was a vice-president nor that Grant ran with Colfax for his second term. He ran with Wil son. , " B. A. An Axe to Grind. Trojan in Charlotte Observer. When Benjamin Franklin was a little boy by the name of Bennie h rankhn he was accosted one cold winter morning by a man with an axe on his shoulder, "My pretty boy," said he, ''has your father a grindstone? " xes, sir," said Bennie. "Youarea fine little fellow," said he, "will you let me grind my axe on it?" Pleased with the compliment of "fine little fellow," "Oh, yes, nit," he answered, it is down in the shop." Patting the boy on the Bhoulder the man said: "And will yoa, my man, get me a little hot water?" He brought a kettle full. "I am sure," continued he, "You are one of the finest lada I have ever seen ; will you just turn a few minutes for me?" Pfeased with the flattery the boy went to work and toiled and tugged until he was almost tired to death. The school bell rang but he could not get away; his hands were blistered and the axe not half ground. At length, however, it was sharpened and the man turned to the boy saying: "Now, you little rascal, you've played truant; be off to school, or you'll rue it." "Alas! it is hard enough to turn a grindstone, but now to be called a lit tle rascal is too much." And when Bennie became the wise Benjamin he observed as follows : "It saukdeep into my mind and often have I thouglit of it since. When I see a merchant over polite to his customers, methinks 'that man has an axe to grind.' "When I see a man who is in private life a tyrant, flattering the people, and making great attachment to liberty, methinks, 'Look out, good people, that fellow would set you turning grind stones.' " But after all it is but one of Trojan's notions that few are the men without an axe to grina. And when I see a preacher who rubs his people down all the time; who never sees any faults in them especially the man with the money, methinks that preacher has an axe to grind. A.nd so in every depart ment of life, and not forgetting the politicians, it is not hard to spot the fellow who has an axe to grind. Chinese War Clones Mills. Galveston, Tex., Aug.lL The Gal veston cotton mills will shut down Sep tember 1. How long the spinners will be idle can only be determined by trade conditions and solutions of the intricate Chinese problem. It was with great reluctance that the directors de termined on this action, but owing to demoralization of the cotton goods trade, with no prospect of improvement in the immediate future, there was no other course open to them but to sus pend operations until there is an im provement in trade conditions and a de mand for cotton fabrics. The pay rolls of the mill last Satur day contained 400 names. The opera tives in each of the various departments will be retained until their work is com pleted, then idleness and suffering un til the mills start up again, as their salaries were not sufficient to provide for such an emergency as a shut-down. Yesterday the broker of the mills sold 300 bales of cotton which the mill had on hand. A mouth or two from now the mill people believe they can buy 300 bales of cotton of the new crop at $5 a bale less than they got for the cot ton they sold. The Galveston mill people hoped the Chinese imbroglio would be speedily settled and thereupon the dry goods demand would instantly revive. But, as there is no sign of it, and as China is a big customer of American mills, 00 per cent, of their product going there, the directors followed the action of other mills and decided to shut down until there was an improvement in trade conditions. The national Secretary of Agriculture, Hon. James Wilson, predicts that we will have dollar wheat before the end of the year. This will bo a great thing for the Western farmer, who baa wheat to sell, and will not be against the in terest of the North Carolina farmer, who made a fine crop this year and therefore will not have buy flour. A (EOItOIA ROY WHITES FKO.M i Tin: 1'himiim:s of tub iiaud conditions there. Atlanta Journal. The following letter from a Georgia boy, who has been in our army in the PhilipineB for a year past, was received recently by a relative 111 Atlanta: ' "The heat has been fearful here for the past two months. We have had no rain, with the exception of two light showers, since last January, hence you can imagine what a delightful climate this is. By the time this letter reaches you the season will have changed and we will be having rain, rain, nothing but rain, until long after Christmas. The heat is bad, but Oh, my! how I do hate to see the rainy season drawing near, for it is almost unbearable for one to stay in doors from day to day without anything to amuse oneself. The quar ters we have now are far from being as comfortable as those we were in last rainy season. Then we were dwelling in a palace, but now we are shut up in old bamboo barracks, which I fear the first big rain and windstorm that comes along will carry out into the bay, but I would not care, if it would ouly float out over the deep blue sea to far-away Amer ica. I look for a great deal of trouble here this rainy season with the 'niggers.' They are already becoming quite active in the interior. You see, so long as it is dry they hide away in the mountains, where it is impossible for us to get at them, and when the rain comes and the mud and water are so bad that our troops can do but little toward' hunting and following them, they come out to give us battle, and after a few rounds run away so fast that it is impossible for our men to overtake them, and thus it is and thus it will ever be. "Th long-talked of and looked for civil cemmision arrived in the bay last Sunday morning on the transport Han cock, but I do not look for them to ac complish much. They say that they come as men of peace, and therefore they will only deal with the people in those regions where peace has been re stored. The question arises. 'Where will they begin work?' Where is the region on these islands where peace reigns? Why! an American is not even safe right here in Manila without his side arms. We have been anticipating an ouf break even in this city every night for more than a month, hence you can judge for yourself the condition of affairs here. You people at home little know what is going on in these islands of the men that each day and night, out in the malarial swamps and Jungles, feel the sting of a Mauser or the keen cut of a Bolo and all for what? Why, the whole group of islands are not worth one-half the American lives which have been sacrificed and of those we are losing every day. Not a day passes but what you can pick up a daily paper and read where some man or men have been killed or wounded, and lots of them are killed of which we never hear. There was a time when I was proud to say, I am an American.' But that day has passed. I have seen too much in the past 10 mouths. There is one thing sure. These people are fighting for their independence and they will continue to fight as long as they live, and when the old ones die or are killed the young ones will step into their places. There is not a native on these islands, man, woman or child, who does not hate the American people, and their hatred will nver die out, but live on forever." Senator Itutler Tired. Special to Charlotte Observer. Washington, Aug. 15. If there is a more tired statesman in the United States than Senator Butler he has not reached Washington. The latter ar rived here this morning and registered at the Ebbitt House. He had hardly put his name to paper before reporters were after him. He was not "in" fif teen minutes after he arrived. At 5 o'clock he sent down word that he wa? "tired" and when a number of report ers called at 7:30 he was still "tired," according to the reports that the bell boy of the Ebbitt brought down. Be tween the time he landed here and 7:30 no one could say at the hotel where he went. He could not be seen. He did not go to Democratic headquarters, for Chairman Richardson said he had not seen him. Of course he may have gone to Republican headquarters, but no one who supposes that Senator Butler is supporting Bryan would have inquired there. His mission here is unknown. Whether he is going to Chicago or not is unknown. No one about his hotel knows anything about him except that be is "tired" and what makes him "tired" is as much a mystery to the people about the hotel as it is to the newspaper people, The Washington Post, the Associated press and your corre spondent, as it is to anybody else. He is not sick, that iB certain. Butler reached here about li o'clock and registered in a free, bold hand. He went out immediately, and he could not be found at the hotel. At 3 o'clock he was "asleep or tired," as the bell boy brought down the message after a faint knock at the door without arous ing any response. Why Senator Butler was tired is a matter for speculation. He is healthy, robust and is not as far as known here, given to afternoon naps. Still he was tired in the morning and was still "tired" at 7:30 o'clock. A fool at 20 may be wise at 40, SELF-DECEPTION. Baltimore Sun. The advice of Polonius, "To thine own self be true," may be interpreted in various ways, but it ought always to in clude a warning against self-deception. Those who do wrong begin usually by deceiving themselves. They may not work themselves into the belief that wrong is right, but they find excuses for the wrong. When their conscience warns them they plead that they are on ly following a custom; that other peo ple have committed the same offence and yet have maintained their respecta bility; or they declare that necessity has driven them to some sharp prac tice which is not illegal and therefore not dishonest, or they indulge in other sophistries to excuse themselves, not to the world but to themselves. The nor mally honest and upright man cannot begin a course of wrong-doing without first deceiving himself. His conscience will not permit him to do anything that is not honorable and upright until he has stilled it in some way, and he be gins by confusing the moral relations in bis own mind. The embezzeler is usually a man of good reputation and presumably one of moral training. If he were not he would not occupy a position giving him the opportunities to embezzle. He does not begin by stealing outright; that would shock his conscience. But he deceives himself into the belief that there is no great wrong in using money intrusted to him for his own benefit temprarily, fully intending to return it all at the proper time, so that no one shall be the loser, though he may be the gainer. He argues to himself that there can be no great wrong in this, since his employer is not to suffer, and also be cause he knows that such misuse of trust funds has laid the foundation for the fortunes of much-respected men. Not until he has stilled his conscience by this false argument is he prepared to violate a trust, but having taken the plunga he becomes lees and less scrupu lous. Once in a great while such an em bezzler escapes detection, restores the money he wrongfully used and pro vides himself with capital for other ventures out of the profits of its use. More often he loses the money of others with which he has speculated, is driven by what he calls necessity to embezzle more, and when hope lessly entangled is exposed, disgraced and perhaps punished. The down ward career is very rapid after the first false step. Conscience grows cal lous w hen its warnings are unheeded. A crime which would appear revolting to an honest man becomes merely a daring venture to one who has al ready sacrificed his honor and is only striving to save a reputation that will be lost by exposure. Men marvel when they hear that "a good man has gone wrong," because they know nothing of the stages of his descent from a high place. They see only a man who one day is respected, the next denounced as a thief. If they could penetrate the mystery of his fall they would probably find that for months, of years, perhaps, ho had sustained a false reputation, that his fall was not sudden, but gradual, and that he began by deceiving himself. It is quite probable that no man succeeds altogether in self-deception. He knows, though others may not, that he is not honorable or honest, but he succeeds in stilling his con science, and when he has done that he is ready for any kind of of roguery. The aim of the young man who wants to live honoiably should be to keep his conscience alive and extremely sensitive. He should avoid every form of selfdeception and ask himself from time to time whether he has been true to his own sense of honor. If he has not he should resolutely retrace his steps, not continue in them with the blindness of a fatalist. "To thine own self be true" should be the guiding principle of every honorable youth. Mi lit M nifctw in Itiillrooiii. Charleston, S. C, Aug. 15. The shirt waist man has been officially and socially welcomed to Charleston, the most conservative city, perhaps, in the country. At a fashionable seaside hotel a ger man was given last night complimentary to visitors from Macon, Ga., and it was annouueed that the affair would be very "swell" in its way. There was a large attendance, and the dancing hall was beautifully decorated and lighted. The hotel ia on the iront beach of Sul livan's Island, and usually there ia a stiff sea breeze, which makes the place delightfully cool. The breeze last night was dead, and it was oppressively warm. There was talk at the german about the shirtwaist man, and it was decided to put the new scheme into effect. Ac cordingly the young men departed and returned in negligee, looking cool and comfortable, even if they did appear in costume weird for a ballroom. One visitor wore duck trousers, white shoes, a white stiff shirt and high standing collar and was not adorned with a cra vat. He was at home with the othtrs, however, and with their coats discarded the young men dacced away the better part of the night. Now there ib a move on foot here to make the shirtwaist man a regular institution. One hour in the future ia worth a dozen in the past. SAM JONES IN PHILADELPHIA. New York, August 13. A Special to The World from Philadelphia says: Sam Jones, the evangelist, con cluded his series of meetings at Na tional Park Saturday. The Park Association pays him $800 for the work. He says that iie makes $30,- 000 a year and doesn't save a cent. Here are some of his quaint sayings culled from sermons which he has de livered at the park: Infidelity breaks down because it has never tested the thing it denies. Infidelity is just a great, big old mouth -goin' around talkin'; if I wanted to kill an infidel I'd just smash his mouth. I can understand Ingersoll because he got $1,000 a night: but I never could understand the poor little fool that ran after him for nothin' and boarded hisself. An infidel came to me once and said, "You've got somethin' I haven't, and I want it." "All right," 1 said, "you just keep your mouth shut, and I guess 1 can pull you through. You've pretty near talked yourself into hell as it stands now." So he said he would, and 1 went at him, and every time he wanted to speak I told him to keep his mouth shut. And by keeping his mouth shut he began to think, and as he began to think he was a Christian. A man isn't a sinner because he's an infidel; he's an infidel because he's a sinner. If you'll get the devil out of you, neighbor, you won't be long gettin' Christ in; but you'll have a govern ment job gettin' both in together. God don't care about your head. He wants your heart. Faith is like hunger you don't get it up; it gets itself up. If you will God will, and if you won't the devil will. I despise one of those little "I-didn't-go-to-do-its." 1 prefer the man who did it even when he didn't want to do it. Old adages are lies. They say all comes to him who waits. Well, I only know of one thing that comes to the waiter, and that's gray hairs. When you wanted to get married did you wait for the woman to come along and ask you? Maybe you wish now you had. Like the man who said he loved his wife at first, so he wanted to eat her up; but now he'd lost his appetite. If a man'll do what Christ tells him to do and doesn't get what Christ said he'd get, then he's got the drop on the universe. Jesus Christ has put the platform of his promise over the pool of life. The infidel looks over the platform and says there ain't no water there. But the old sinner believes, and w-alks on the platform, and his weight forces the water up to him. You've been sittin on the station steps with a ticket for heaven ever since you were born, with God Al mighty s grand excursion train goin by eyery day, and God sayin' 'All aboard!" You heard him, but you just set still. If some ot you fellows uidn t tend to your farms any better'n you tend to your souls the weeds would get your crops, the buzzards wouiu get your mules and tne sheriff would get you.' Some men would like to come here and get the grace of God and then go to Washington Park and get drunk. Other men don't want to be told to keep decent. I told a man that once, and he wanted to lick me. "Well," I said, "I'm opposed to lightin', but if you start in to lick me I'll fix it so I'll keep the flies off of you. And then, if you do lick me, what do you think 3'our wife'll say when you tell her you did it because I wanted you to keep decent and be good to your family?" The best religion in the world is the kind you do, not the kind you talk or sing about. There were two nigger parsons, and one said he just laid down on God's promises, but the other said he did the best he could, first. Just then a mad bull came along and they both took to the woods. When they were safe Parson Green said: "Why, Par son Johnson, why didn't you trust to the Lord a promises?" "Because," said Parson Johnson, "I don't be lieve those promises includes mad bulls." K'll lioiiM of a Haehelor. New York Press. It takes genius to be an old maid. If women were really angels no man would ever want to go to heaven. Love is probably called "the tender passion" because it takes legal tender. If many poets could afford to fall in love there would not be so much fool poetry written about it. To love a good woman is enough re compense for all the ill that have been; to be loved by her is enougn reward for all the ilia that will be. Modesty in a man is only instinctive; in a woman, it is acquired. Wdman is not a sex of her own; she is only the female of man. Wallpaper has probably caused more enme in the human race than Here dity. No man ever felt like clinging to a woman when she had on a "clinging" dress. THE SITUATION IN CHINA. Baltimore Sun, 13th. Hope of peace in China is dawning at last. Minister Wu Ting-fang pre sented to the State Department in Washington yesterday an edict from Emperor Kuaug Hsu appointing Li Hung Chang Envoy Plenipotentiary to propose "an immediate cessation of hostile demonstrations." There had been reports of this from Shanghai, but Minister Wu's presentation of the edict puts it in official form. The edict says that Li is authorized to conduct negotiations in behalf of the Emperor for the settlement of what ever questions may have to be dealt with. The result of the negotiations is to be reported to the Emperor for his sanction. It is believed in Washington that tnis indicates a decided willingness by China to make concessions, and that the allied armies may not enter Pekiu. When they reach the east gate of Pekin, it is hoped, the Chinese Government will be willing to deliver the Ministers and other foreigners to them, and Li can then negotiate a basis of peace. Acting Secretary of State Adee re-,.. plied to the edict promptly. He reiter ates the demands previously made by the United States for co-operation be tween the Chinese Government and the allied forces, and intimates that nego tiations cannot be entered into until the Chinese Government complies with those demands. As China is expected to comply soon, this obstacle ia in a fair way of being removed. One or more breaks may occur in this program. The Russian Govern ment, it ia announced from St. Peters burg, has authorized M. De Giers, its Minister, to leave Pekin under Chinese escort, as proposed by the Chinese Gov ernment. It is considered likely that he has already left Pekin. Then, too, there is the German punitive expedition, which Emperor William has announced will exact reparation for the murder of Baron von Ketteler. iield Marshal Count von Waldersee, when he arrives in China, may find nothing but this expedition to command. A cablegram from Minister Conger, dated August 4, and addressed to Gen eral Chaffee, was received in Washing ton yesterday. He says "We will hold on until your arrival; hone it will be soon. Baltimore Sun, 14th. The allies have made a distinct advance in their march to Pekin. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, commander of the United States forces in China, sent a dispatch which was received by the War department in Washington late yesterday afternoon stating that he arrived at Ho-Si-Wu last Thursday. Ho-Si-Waia only 33 miles from Pekin.. At the same rate of progress the troops should reach Pekin today or tomor row. The last previous definite news from the allies put them at Yangtsun, IS milee southeast of Ho-Si-Wu on Monday of last week. Thus they cov ered the IS miles in three days. They have evidently left the railroad and are proceeding along the main high way to Pekin. Ho-Si-Wuis a city of considerable size. Ching Chia Wan and Tung Chow are the only other two cities which the allies must pass before reaching Pekin. General Lmevitch, commander of the Russian troops with the allies, sends an official report to St. Petersburg estimat ing that the Chinese had Jo.WU men engaged in the battle of Peitsang and 20.000 in that of Yangtsun. The text of the American reply to the Chinese imperial edict appointing Li Hung Chang to negotiate with the powers for peace is made public in Washington. It insists tbat China shall aid in the delivery of the foreign Ministers at Pekin from their present position. The reply says: "We are ready to enter into an agreement be tween the powers and the Chinese Gov ernment for a cessation of hostile demonstrations on condition that & sufficient body of the forces composing the relief expedition shall be permitted to enter Pekin unmolested and escort the foreign Ministers and residents back to Tientsin." In this attitude, it is believed, the United States has the support of all the other interested powers Some well-informed dip'omats consider the situation at Shanghai more potent in grave possibilit'es than that at Pekin. Russia, Germany and France are believed to be firmly united m seeking to prevent Great Britain from asserting claim to exclusive rights there and a general landing of troops is in imminent prospect. Crops are Being Parclied. Salisbury Truth-Index, 10th. Rowan countv is now suffering from one of the most severe droughts that that has visited u in recent years, xae upper section of Rowan is a particu larly heavy sufferer and from every portion of that section cumes word that the crops are already a failure. Mr. Jacob Lipe, one of the beet farm ers in the Atwell neighborhood, stated to the Truth-Index representative yes terday that everything was burned be yond hope and that even a rain would not save the crops in that vicinity now. It has been several months since raiu.,. to any extect has fallen in this section. The county l elow CMliMmry m airo i-r1-ginmug to suffer considerably ami un a ram soon fdU the crops in tbar action will al.jo be rv.iued.

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