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$i.ooa Year; in Advance., ,. ' ; ' m FOR GOP, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 5 Cent.
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OL. XIIL ;r : , PLYMOUTH, N. C, FEIDAY, MARCH 14, 1902. NO.K
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THE CHARACTER
How happy is he born or taught, ' '. '
That eerveth not another's, will;
"Whose armor is his strongest thought,
And simple truth his highest Bkill. .
Whose passions hot his masters are;
TVhose soul is still prepared for death;
Xot ty'd unto the world with care .
Of prince's ear, or vulgar breath.
Who hath his life from rumors freed; ?,
Whose conscience is his strong retreat;
Whese state can neither flatterers feed, :l
Nor ruin make oppressors great. .
fllERE passed through the
gates of Fort Sheridan the
other day a man with a coal
black face and snow-white
liair.. His bearing was military to a
degree, notwithstanding the fact that
he limped painfully.- His shoulders
were well thrown back and his head
rect and carried with a "probably un
conscious sort of pride. The limp in
the gait, however, was so marked that
an observer, if he gave the subject any
thought at all, would know that this
negro would never run a step in his
life.
The name of this Fort Sheridan vis
itor was and Is Henry Johnson, one
time of Troop K, Ninth United States
Cavalry. If certain of the older officers
and enlisted men of this colored outfit
cf Uncle Sam had known that the
thought that this limping, ex-soldier
would never run again had, entered
Into an onlooker's mind, he woxild
probabiy have said: "No, Johnson
never will run again, but if he could
have kept up the gait that he once
bowed these 100-yard sprinting rec
ords that we hear so niuch of in these
i : SUDDENLY STUMBLED
" .day of sports would be headed by an-
other and the name of 'the hoUer
' jrould be Henry Johnson."
i There isn't the slightest doubt among
cavalry officers who have long mem
ories that the .world's champion sprint
er was lost to track fame when Henry
Johnson, colored trooper, went lame
Just twenty-two years ago this month.
Johnson was in ; Fort Sheridan only
as a casual visitor the other day.
There are no colored troop$ at the
x post, but this negro" visitor wore a
little something pinned to his vest that
makes any soldier, black pr white,
a welcome and honored guet at any
place where tents are pitched or bar
racks are reared under the fluttering
Stars and Stripes.
In the month of November, 1S79, a
-j of Ute Indians suri'ounded a
f ii command of United States reg
r" te.dYs, composed for the greater part
Xof Troop K, Ninth colored cavalry.
There was for a while'-tho heaviest
a& fit righting and at closi quarters.
ially the reds retreated a little way,
still Hld their Vor(ioDi of braves
t. temporary withdrawal
v OF A HAPPY .LIFErr .
Who envies none, whom chance doth raise
.' -Or vice; who never understood .- .
. How deepest wounds are given with praise;
,Nor rules of state, but rolei'pf goodV,..
i . Wh'b- God doth late and early pray f
i More of His grace than gifts ta
And entertains the harmless day : . -, 4 ;
. With a well-chosen bobk or friehdi V'.v
This man is freed from servile -'bands '' s w
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall;.:; ; --i
Lord of himself, though not of lands; .
And having nothing, yet hath all, . '
. - Sir Henry .Wdttea'
for a short distance did not give the
troops a breathing spell, for they set
to work at once to entrench. They
succeeded with their horses and impedi
menta,, and by vigorous use of the
shovel in forming and in throwing up
a fairly strong defense bulwark. After
this had been done small parties under
cover of the rifles of their comiades
went out to a considerable distance
from the entrenchment and there dug
rifle pits at intervals In a circle about
the Inner and stronger defense. For
some unknown reason the encircling
savages allowed these precautions to
be taken by the foe without much at
tempt at interference, perhaps think
ing that as they had a sure thing of it
anyway, they might better attack later
under cover of darkness for your true
savage has ever a wholesome regard
for his skin and scalp.
Into these well-covered rifle pits
guards were dropped with a plentiful
supply of amunition and such ; little
water and proventler as could be
spared. There was one man in each
pit. They were absolutely protected
from the front, and they were put there
AND WENT TO EARTH.
to perform the usual duty expected
where troops are thus besieged. Un
less the Utes actually succeeded in
getting into these pits, the men there
were safer than were those behind the
extemporized fortification in the cen
tre. After the pickets bad been placed
in. the pits and the fatigue and post
ing parties had returned to the central
point of defense the Indians drew in.
The red circle was drawn closer and
closer, and the bullets from the Ute
rifles tore through the frail parts of
the barricade, and soldier after soldier
was either killed or wounded. :- :
Three times the Indians were driven
off, only to return again. They had
lost heavily, but seemed Jo be roused
to" a maddened pitch that made them
heedless of caution. For the fourth
time they were sent hurtling back
ward, and then there came the awful
necessity of sending instructions to
the men In the outlying pits. The space
between the central defense and the
outer guards was as level as a bowl
ing alley. . The Utes, when they had
withdrawn for the fourth time, were
still within ensy ran je, though they
It came to be a question with the com
manding officer as to whether or not
communication was posslole with the
pits. He did not in his heart believe
that any man could live to reach the
first one of. the., guards, let alone tho
entire circuit. - ; ;
' The captain commanding was just
about to give over all idea of attempt
ing messenger communication because
of the deadly nature of the errand,
when Private Henry Johnson came up
to him, saluted, and said that he would
like to volunteer to make, the round
of the guards. .
"You can't do it, Johnson," said his
commanding officer. "It's death."
"Yes, I can, sah; I'm a sprinter.
When they shoots afc me running side
ways 'round the ' ring they can't do
nothing' but cut daylight behind my
back. I've beat everything in the regi
ment running, and I beat everything in
my State before I 'listed."
The result of this dialogue and some
thought on the captain's . part was that
a moment afterward a blue-clad figure
was darting in zigzag lines, straight
away from the barricade, toward the
first rifle pit. How' that negro; did
run, notwithstanding the fact that he
took a course like the flight of a snipe
when it is first flushed. He simply
tore. He had not gone thirty yards
before a hundred feathered heads were'
seen raised and the faces below show
ing doubtless in sheer amazement at
the sight of that flying figure. Then
rifle after rifle spoke viciously, but
Johnson, the sprinter, sped on. - He
reached the first pit unscathed and
fell into it by the side 'of the guard.
There he stayed long enough to
"breathe" himself and to turn over
his ," orders, and then : from the " pit,,
jumping like a jack-in-the-box, came
his stalwart figure. There was no time
lost in scoring. Johnson was away for
the next, hole at the first start. , This
time his course was practically along
the lines of fire. The bullets .marked
out his way, but, as it was said behind
the barricade, "They'll have to hold
a hundred yards ahead of that buck to
get him." ' . ; ".:.-v-
No one thought in the strain of that
awful time, to 'hold a watch" ou the
sprinter. There never has been a doubt
since that the world's records before
and after were smashed. There were
eight of the guard pits,; and the race
between each was but a repetition of
the last, the Indians popping away
all'the while at the devoted messen
ger, while the soldiers, though with
eyes and hearts only for their comrade,
did their best by volleys to divert the
savage fire. Johnson left the seventh
pit and started for the eighth. His
pace showed no sign of abating. Some
of the Indians, In following the cir
cling course of the black, had closed
in from left to right along the circum
ference of their own' circle in order
to mark the messenger's course more
perfectly with their sights and shots.
The result was a concentration of fire,
and Johnson, while speeding, like a
scared jack-rabbit, suddenly stumbled
and went to earth. He was up again
like a flash and on be passed, but his
step was lagging a little now. Once
more he went down, then up-again,
and once; more haltingly and slowly
for ten yards, then down again. witJi
his face in the sand, and then on for
ti& yards more, thia time on his hands
and knees, and then he rolled into the
last rifle pit. ,
Everyone knows of the outcome of,
the Milk .River Ute campaign. How the
beleaguered men were relieved, and
of the march that was necessary to re
lieve them. Before those men, almost
dying of thirst, would one of them
go from the barracks to the sparkling
river, they went in mass to rifle pit
No. 8 and there picked up Johnson
and carried him to 'the water. Henry
Johnson, colored private of Troop K.
had only three holes in him, but his
sprinting days have been over for
nearly a quarter of aj'century. It is
because the soldiers who saw Johnson
run forgot to hold a watch on him
that another man now claims the
world's sprinting record. Edward B.
Clark, in the Chicago Record-Herald.
. Knjctnd'a Ixn 1b Territory.
It is stated that every year England
loses a tract of land the size of Gibral
tar, and that on the East coast alone
the annual loss equals In territory the
Island of Heligoland. In the last 100
years au edge of England equal in area
to the county of London Las-Men sub
merged. California' Orange Acreage.
The oranff groves of California com f
prise la area over 83,000 acres.
ffilRLSSRiiYS
- Sleepy Time.
Hushaby, baby-doll, hushaby, dear,
Mother will watch you, she's sitting quite
near,
Her foot on your cradle. Hush, do not
weep, - . , . .
But close your dear eyelids and fajl fast
asleep.
The snowbirds have twittered . their, lov
, ing good-night, ' '.'
Jack Frost has fresh painted the panes,
The moonbeams are bathing the night
' world in light, ...
.Hush, dolly; the Moon King now reigns.
Detroit Free Press.
A Happy Meeting.
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, the au
thor of those traveling experiences in
the tropics which he calls "Thirteen
Stories," says that in his South Ameri
can journeying he one day rode to see
a village where, report hinted, pome
valuable old books had been -preserved.
He adds: .7 ' .' . :'l ;-V;'
"I got ' lost and passed the night in a
small dealing, where a fat and hand
some roan horse was tied. On seeing
me the animal broke his picket rope,
ran furiously round me four or five
times in circles, and . then, advancing,
put his nostrils close to the nostrils of
my horse and seemed to talk to him.
His . owner, an old Paraguayan, told
me that the creature had been with
him far into the Interior, aifd for a year
had never seen another horse.
; " 'But, said be, 'God has given every
animal speech after its kind, and he is
glad to see your horse. ' No doubt h
is asking him the news.' :
. "During. the night I cannot say ex-,
actly what the two horses talked about,
but in the morning my host rode with
me a league upon the way, and when
we parted his horse reared once or
twice and plunged. It was a farewell."
Jack Horner. H
Jack norner , was a little monkey
who lived on shipboard. He wore a
sailbr's jacket of scarlet flannel and a
cap to match and was very proud of
his costume. He looked like a dwarf,
old man, for he was brown and wrin
kled," and his black eyes peeped out
beneath shaggy eyebrows and crinkly
gray hair. t ;( ' ;
Sometimes, when the' eook was out of
eight, he would jump on the flour bar
rel and powder his head like a miller.
The cook scoldecL-'and shook his roll-,
ing-pin at him. ' But in a twinkling
Jack was , up the mast. There he
would sit In safety, grin and chatters
and shake his head and paws to m! .
poor old Cato, while the sailors ro.
Jack went where he pleased af
tne snip, dui nis own corner, w
large dry goods : box, turned on one
side, and well supplied., with clean
straw for his bed. This was left to
his own care, and Jack. was a tidy lit
tle creature. He had watched th
steward about his work until he knew
just what to do. Every morning , he
snooit up-me struw wnu ms uuvv tuic-
paws auu luuue uis ueu iu ssut. miuocu. j
3 J 1 1 i ..t. V.!rfrvl '
He would stand off a little way, and j
look at it, shake it ago 'n,, and pat It
down. . Then he would run for the
broom and sweep out h!s cabin. He
washed his face and hands in a basin,
as the sailors did, and dried them on a
towel. '
Jack norner was very fond of, ;
They were often given him for break
fast. But he was not as honest as he
was tidy, and would sometimes snatch j
i herring or an egg, if no one were near
and run off to his stateroom to eat it. !
One morning, he burned his fingers j
with an egg, and for a long time after-
ward would not take one. even when j
offered him. V j
Twice a- week there was sago pied-"
ding with cinnamon on It for dir
and Jackjwas always oii'-hatsd' for Inn
share. He would 'take his sancer in.
one paw, his spoon in tne other, and
eat as the sailors did. Sometimes there
were raisins in his pudding, and thon
Jack was pleased. He' would pull one
out with ls finger and thumb, hold it
up, and chatter about it in great glee.,
At Christmas th? sailors filled a
stocking for him with nuts and lumps
of sugar, and he had -mince pie and
plum pudding. Mary Johnson, - in'
Home Journal.
Hippocrates is said to hava greatly
allayed the violence cf the plague at
Athens by a literal usa of perCa2 ia
tho streets and houses.
WAITING'
' ' 8.00.
Herei in the parlor 1 sit; :
"In a moment or two she'll be down;
Of course, she must prink just a bit
The prettiest girl in town! t
I mark her light step overhead . .. , ,
As she gives at the glass a last touch.
Yet I'll wager, be cheeks ne'er so red, v
She's guiltless of rouge jar, or such. 1
' ' . 8.15. . . "
Ileigh-ho! .Tis a quarter .past, now!
bhe knew that I d call sharp at eight;
It's a little vexatious, I vow.
I hope we're notdoomed to be late! '
But, then tho' a goddess, a queen
A woman, at best, is she, still, '
Predestined tp make, all serene,
. Man wait or bestir, at her will.
8.30.
Evht-thirty! Great Caesar!
Come on.
"JCung lady; we're missing the fun..
A rouvd dozan garbs could I don
WhiJeVou have been fussinz with one
And this 13 'a moment or two!"
1 Don't hurry, lt beg or deem that
I had other amusements in view
Than sitting hem twirling my hat!
. - .
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A quarter to nine! Faithand love!'
It's more than I'll standI declare!
I Ah! . There's a niatle abcrC
A froufrou of silk on the stair .
She's eoming a quarter to nine!
I must smile and pretend, I suppose,
But 'I'll never By Jove! She's divine.
God bless her! As sweet as a rose!
' ' Edwin L. Sabin, in Puck;
The 1MiUionairer'After . all,' rer
money hasn't brought us happineps.
His AVlfe "But; it has made , us oi-
jects of envy."-Llfe ' , , "
Who does not fear to tell the truth
Is pretty brave, but, my! ,
More brave is he who s not, forsooth, ,
' Afraid to tell a-lie.
" -rPhiladelphia Presi.
She "Mr. Niblack is a very, skill
ful golfer, isn't he V He "1 don't
know about that but he certainly i
a very : fluent golf er." Philadelphia
Press. : r '.. v :- , "
Hewitt "Hal .the world doesn't
know. how the other half lives," Jew
ett "I think .you overestimate- the
number of people who mind their own
business." Brooklyn Life. ,
"I Wonder who this man . is who
wants to know whether or not life i
worth living V' "Oh, probably some
fellow who has more money than he
knows ,what .todo with." Life.
: Laura "Yes, you., see she told 'blur
her father hau lost all' bis wealth, just
to test his love for her."v"A6a "And
then?" Laura-" Well, she' will know .
better ne.xt time." The Smart Set.
1
Mrs. A. "I sent my daughter to a -oking
school to fit her for marriage." .
'ilrs. B."Was the exrprlmnt n sue
, . ;.
engaged to found it out." Judge.
; If "Miss Minerva learned to play
Football, 'midst other studious cares,
These bargain rushes, shopmen say.
Would 'soon'be serious affairs.
. . . -Washington Star.
Miss Gushlere "How torturing, io
fearful the thought mrst be for a great
tIn to know hA-has lost hor vniPr
Mr. Praclere "It's much mo e- tortur
ing when .she doesn't know it!" Tit-.
Bits." . - ' .
Mi' . Rangle "I've ai'yertised for a
servant for a whole week with no
result." Mrs. Cumso "Well, I adver
tised for a good-looking, lady-help, and
had thirty-four to select from the fir4
day." Tit-Bits. ,
' Her Father "Aha ! I C caught
kissing mv daughter, cir. Wha
you-mean, by that sort of busirt .
He "I don't consider business at .;;!
sir, but pleasure, purely pleasuio."
Philadelphia Press.
f' Softly (who fell overboard and was
dramatically .rest... !) '"Did you aw
faint, when yoa beard them velL
"Man overboard V " ; Helen (sobbinf"
"No no, Choily. I never once
pected they couid mean you." Tlt-L
; Tbe Yi?!tor-"Horrors! The ligLc
nlflf express wrecked antrotally de-4
stroyed by fire!" Young Artist "IIujs
rah! Good!" "Are you crazy?" "Nr.
but I expressed a drawing on that Xxw'.n.
and I valued It at $30. Now the ex
press company will hav to pay for it.
Life.
Backstop "I'm glad to see that you
,are making a name for yourself as r :
'"author, old man." Scriblet (modestly)
"Yes. Honors are being heaped on
me. Why, it was 1.. !y yesterday tl -.t
I learned that my latest book had b-
, thrown out of the Boston library.
Harper's Bazar.
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