$1.00 a Year, In Advance. FOR GOP, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 5 Cent.
VOL. XIV. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY. OCTOBER 30, 1903. NO. 32.
v1
If A STORY OF
r -iO AM an old grandfather's
clock. In these days, when
O I O there's a cry for "all things
K new," anything that is not
i 'WOW "up to date," however in
teresting and valuable it
may be, is apt to be relegated to the
shelf.
In my long life I must say, truly, I
'tafcave always been treated with the ut
- 'most deference and affection,' for, you
see, people of good family and high
education generally arc very much at
tached to handsome and useful bits
'of furniture, and seldom discard them
r. for a fashionable "fad." Anyway, I
hear that wo are quite In demand now,
though in bj'gone days there were few
houses that could not boast of one of
ais, and, to my thinking but that's
neither here nor there.
I am two hundred years old, and not
r. shamed to say so. A good deal of
ticking I've done in that time, and a
.good deal of life I've seen. Ah. me!
-the. changes that take place with the
flight of ages. The old faces vanish
ar.d are replaced by the younger ones,
who in their turn have their day, and
thenmake way for others. Yet, look
ing hack, it does not seem so very long
ugb that ladies Avore powdered hair
.and patches, and inflated their gowns
with huge hodfts, and went a-visiting
in sr dim chairs. Queer times those,
when a man was hanged for stealing a
sheep ai:d duels were every-day oeeur
.renees. 'Twas always love affairs they
liucht over. Ladies, I have heard, dye
'Tueir hair now, instead of powdering
it, and wear gowns in which "the
clinging effect" is carried to such an
extreme that I marvel how they get in
and out of. them. Of course it's a
graceful stylo, if only people would
not carry what they call "style" to
such a ridiculous length. Thank good
ness, though, there are numbers of
freLHble folk who like to look natural,
in s;r: to of the mandates of fashionable
in smro 0
I haven't done much traveling. Yen
pee almost all my life hns been spent
with .Scotch people, where the "auld
hense" passes from generation to gen
eration, with all its belongings. Many
a talc I could toll, ofttiwes humorous
ap;l ofttimes sad, for is not life made
up. cl' contrasts? I often think what
id ran go pranks human emotion, love,
half, fear, sympathy, make human
being play!
At the time I am writing of my
home 'was with three old sisters; high
bred, aristocratic ladies, with straight
back (guiltless of ever having yielded
to .o. seductions of a rocking-chair)
and aquiline noses the 'family m.;?e,"
they proudly called it. A trifle stern
reserved also but they had dear, warm
hearts i one-ath that coldness. 'Why,
I've rceii Miss Cecilia's failed gray
eye grow wonderfully soft and tender
ac the sight of the hrst rose of Bum
mer, for they fairly worshiped every
plant and tree and shrub in that wuh
dcrtul old garden of theirs.
I could see it from where I stood in
the lobby, and away beyond to the red
hr:k wall, where hung the most dt-.
lieiuus fruit, sun-kissed into perfection
' of :uste 'and color golden apricots,
pear;- peaches, plums amongst the
irclus;1, leaves. If I even began to tell
you .ahcut the sweet, old-fashioned
flowers that grew in. such profusion
IV, never be able to stop. Most of them
look prizes "year in, year out, at the
show, which old Sandy was "awfu'
proud of." And you should, have seen
ihr -alleys" of roses, a net the arbor
thickly covered with them, where the
"(Jinerai" used to smoke his pipe, and
but I must get on.
One day, when the roses wove bloom
ing grandly, an unwonted excitement
gut un in the house. I found out that
a young nephew and his bride were ex
pect rd .from across the ocean. Good
ness me, if there wasn't a fuss! I was
rubi ed and rubbed, till I shone like a
looking-glass. The old ladies wouldn't
.allow "furniture polish" to be used for
!i:-an(l I think it would have been
quite degrading.
I remembered Mr. Archie a fine,
ssalwart young fellow. He had mar
ried an American heiress. The fortune
she would inherit had been made in
"trade." Now, this was a great blow
to the pride of the Ker family besides,
they had had other hopes concerning
their nephew. So when the couple
arrived I could see they had hard
work to conceal their rather unjust
. prejudices. . She was a-tiny creature.
it
A CLOCK.
with large, dark eyes and a plump little
figure. I confess I fell in love with
her at the very first, and she seemed
equally taken with me, for she cried
out when passing me, "Why! what a
very quaint love of a clock! I dote on
these delightfully antique things, with
an old family air about them."
She had an attractive manner, and
looked kinel of shy-like, I thought.
You see, she was but young, poor
thing, and had spent most of her life
at an English boarding-school, I heard.
Then, of course, meeting new relatives
must be a little bit trying, even for an
American heiress. It seemed so for
her, anyway.
Mr. Archie was gay and "canty" as
ever. He smiled at me and said, "Well,
old fellow, glad to see you in such
good health!" Just at that moment I
struck four o'clock, which meant from
me, "The same to you!"
-When "retire", (as we all called the
young wife) chose she coulel be most
fascinating, but I noticed she seemed
rather ill at ease with her new rela
tives. You see, her ways were so dif
ferent from theirs. Her voice wanted
softness, and her expressions were
often rather odd. I fancied they grated
on the refined manners of the old
people. I used to love to listen to the
negro melodies which she sometimes
sang in the evenings, to the accompani
ment of the banjo. Her voice was
clear and sympathetic, but often had a
sad ring it, I thought. Perhaps she
was a wee bit homesick, for all she had
a most devoted husband. Amongst
her songs my favorite was "Swannee
River" it touched me wonderfully
aud then, there was the "Canadian
Boat Song." She would sing that with
Mr. Archie. I did enjoy that one!
It was such a pity, I often thought
as the days went by, that the young
creature seemed so far away from
the old ladies' hearts as ever. The
trouble was, they had' made up their
minds that their nephew was to'marry
the fair, tall and stately daughter of a
neighboring baronet, who possessed ir
reproachable maimers and "a family
nose." Report said she had been "fair
daft" about our young master, but re
port often makes mistakes but I must
not digress, or you'll be dubbing me a
tiresome old chatterbox.
About two months later we decided
to give a dinner party and to give it
in style, too. Just the day before it
was to come off an -unlucky accident
befell the coachman, who was to assist
in waiting at table. lie sprained his
ankle. Mrs. Archibald "fished up," as
she expressed it, a seemingly very
smart young man to take his place.
So everything went off swimmingly.
Wh-it a display of line things! The old
:a:::'y plate was all on shew, and
t..;- '? a brave one.
"T ."as a bright, happy gathering;
vv.:.y young, fresh faces, too, amongst
k. That pleased me; you see, when
one gets old it seems natural like to
feel that way. Mr. Archie told such
amusing anecdotes of his life in the
:-o!onies, and also some terrifying ones,
principally relating to his trip to a
Place called something ending with'
"dike," where gold was plentiful. I
fairly shivered when I heard them
such hair-breadth escapes! And there
he was, sitting amongst us, alive and
well, and as jelly ("Come now, old
. , ' . ,,
grar-ua uic-r, get on; no navenug;
But I must say,-Mr. Archie had been
born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
A couple of days later I overheard
Mr. and Mrs. Archibald talking, as they
were coming down 'the stairs, ai" in
arm for they were always "ihat lov
ing." She seemed a wee bit put out,
for there were tears in her dark eyes,
and she looked different altogether, for
she was wearing a black gown instead
of the usual white one a relative had
died, I suppose.
It was the twelfth of August, and
her husband was going away for a
week's grouse-shooting, which begins
in Scotland on that day.
I am soft-hearted. Those tears went
straight to my heart. They are the
solace of the old, but the young should
not grieve.
"It's my nose, Archie," she was say
ing, half laughing, half crying. "I
think I could make them love me if
only I had a 'family nose' and could
look stately."
You should have heard Mr. Archie
laugh, and he assured her she had the
dearest little nose in the world. It
was the feature of her face he'd first
6
Lfallen in love with,' and then he quoted
some poetry about "the petal of a
flower" "tip-tilted, like the petal of a
flower," that was it.
They stopped beside me.
"They'll love you, never rear, some
day, sweetheart!" says he. "Won't
they, old fellow?" And I struck two
o'clock, which signified, "They will!"
I didn't think then that I but I'll tell
you all about it.
So we were left alone and some fine
grouse from the moors made their ap
pearance. Of course you know these
birds are always kept till they are
quite old, so Susan took them down to
the cellar. Pm far away from heather
and sportsmen now, but ah me! a tiny
sprig of it affects me as nothing else
can, except, maybe, the bagpipes. I
dare say I'm very sentimental but,
dear me! what would life be without
sentiment, which is, after all, just love
and proper feeling, without which, I'm
thinking, the pulse of this big, bustling
world would cease to beat.
Now what happened after this Is one
of the stirring incidents of my life.
My body is long, but so is my head,
and I'll always feel sure that 'twas
the new man who had taken our old
coachman's place for these few days
who was the culprit. He was very far
removed from being a professional at
his work, but he meant business for
all that, and Mr. Archie's absence from
home was a step in the right direc
tion. About two o'clock on the morning of
the eighteenth of August, when all
was quiet and asleep in the old house,
I heard a queer kind of fuxzling in the
dining-room. Then light footsteps
seemed to come to .md fro into the
hall. Everything was dark as pitch.
Even the harvest moon was tired of
shining, and not a ray from her fell
(as usual) on the tiled floor of the lobby
just then. 'Hark! What who is that
creeping noiselessly down the thickly
carpeted stairs? My okl eyes could
not see and yet, is that not a white
figure, for all the world like a big
snowflake, drifting down, down. Ah!
a streak of moonlight falls athwart it
and shows clear and distinct the figure
of Mr. Archibald's little wife.
She stooped as if to pick up or grope
for something, and I heard her say, "I
may have dropped it in the garden."
Then she gave a kind of stumble, and
a sort of stifled cry- Then oh, my!
I saw her lift our solid silver, richly
chased coffee-pot from the lowest step,
just behind the knight in armor, who
had stood sentinel there, grim and
stern, for long, long years. The moon,
always capricious, hid her face again
behind a cloud, but I could see that
big snowflake standing stock still, as
if it had been frozen into a beautiful
statue.
She stooped towards the dining-room
as if listening, and then she crossed
swiftly, over to me. I was only a
couple . of yards away luckily. She
pulled open my glass door and one
after another she pushed inside of me
the collection of silver plate that the
"gentleman" at work now in the pan
try had placed there, carefully avoid
ing "clinking" them against my Drass
weights spoons, forks, teapot, salver
e v er y t h i n g h i ggl c d y -p i gg 1 edy .
Just think of the courage of that
pretty ybung creature who had
grasped the situation so quickly and
risen to the occasion and it all seemed
to be done in a twinkling. For all she
knew, a gang of desperadoes might
have sprung out and crushed the life
out of her before -she'd time to give
one "skirl"' for help. But the best of
the play was to come.
" I was fearfully excited; so much so
that my heart beats were louder than
usual, and how I ached with sympathy
when her little mites of hands could
scarcely lock the door of my case, they
weie trembling so! But she did it, and
slipped the key within the bodice of
her dressing-gown.
Just a few moments after we could
hear the thief's footsteps returning.
He evidently was going to make his
exit by a small window just behind
the staircase, aiul probably planned
throwing the booty out and then mak
ing away with it. But if ever a man
had mistaken his vocation, he had, for
h hadn't the pluck of a mouse in
him. "
On hearing him returning, she crept
behind me. All her courage must have
left her, for she sank down, and I
could hear her poor teeth chattering.
My size and the darkness pretty ef
fectually hid her small figure. Any
way, the whilom burglar (I could not
catch a glimpse of his face, for his
back was to me all the time) made di
rect for that precious coffee-pot and
all the other bits of silver that were
so dear to my old mistresses. lie had a
black blalze bag with him, I noticed,
and probably there was a confederate
waiting outside. When he found they
had been spirited away he expected
next, I reckon, cold steel against his
forehead, or he fancied some super
natural agency had been at work. If
he only could have seen the frightened,
helpless thing, all that was in his way
but, thanks to me, he couldn't. I
stood solemnly, tick, tick, ticking, calm
and brave and strong. I verily believe
if that coward hael seen and laid a fin
ger on the little heroine of the play I
would have cried out loud.
But he didn't he just gave a smoth
ered cry, a wild glance from right to
left, and then he 'made for and was
through that small window in a jiffy.
I've often since wondered how he man
aged, for he was a phenomenally tall
man. He did, anyway, and left every
thing behind; even the black bag was
dropped in his flight.
Our poor little lady had to keep to
her beel with a kind of nervous attack
after her first, and, I hope, last adven
ture of the kind. And I had quite a
siege of indigestion and was all out of
order for some time after, my heart
beating like a steam engine, and sev
eral times I struck twenty-four with
out stopping.
You may imagine the gratitude of
our family and the praise we both did
get. But what pleased me more than
anything was that, then and there,
Mr. Archie's wife, "the thorn in the
flesh" lately, and quite unfairly, I
thought, was forever after loved ay,
doted upon, by those high-bred dames.
"For her own sweet sake," they said,
but 'twas the lucky termination to
that thrilling episode in which I played
such an important part, that softeneel
their hearts, say I;and I think the
game was worth the candle. Good-by.
Wavctiey Magazine.
Street Railway StatistU'9.
The preliminary report of the street
railway industry of the country just
issued by the Census Bureau is author
ity for the following interesting fig
ures: There are S17 operating companies
and 170 leased lines.
The total number of miles of single
track is 22,577.
Compared with figures for 1SD0, this
represents an increase of 17S per cent.
The average number of employes is
133.G40.
The annual pay roll averages ?S0,
770,000. The number of passengers carried per
year by all the roads is 5,S72,000,0OO.
The average length of track operated
per company is only twenty-seven and
one-half miles.
The average number of rides per in
habitant throughout the whole country
is sixty-three.
In 1890 the average number of rides
per inhabitant was only thirty-two, the
great increase taking place in the ex
tension of roads to the South Atlantic
States.
Three hundred and ninety-four com
panies operate less than ten miles of
track each.
Two hundred and nineteen companies
operate between ten and twenty miles
each.
One hundred and seventy-nine com
panies operate between twenty and 100
miles each.
There are only twenty-five roads op
erating more than 100 miles of track.
Philadelphia Record.
Famous Horses.
It is strange that no one seems to
know anything about the various
horses that George Washington rode,
and that the names of them all seem
to have gone down into obliviou. Ev
ery onle knows about Marengo, the
white stallion Napoleon rode at Water
loo, and whose remains are now in the
United States Museum at London. The
Duke of Wellington was astride of Co
penhagen duriDg the battle and the
horse lived to be twenty-seven. Rich
ard III. owned White Surrey, and it
was for him that he wanted to trade
a kingdom. William III.'s favorite
horse was named Sorrel and was blind
in one eye, as was Savoy, the favorite
horse of Charles VIII. of France.
Springfield Republican.
Killed in a Curious Manner.
While chopping wood near Augs
burg, Germany, a boy named Wilhelm
Behr caught his ax against a wire
clothesline. At the same moment a
flash of lightning struck the line,
passed down the hatchet and killed
him.
Germany's Oldest Warship.
Germany's oldest sea-going warship,
the Krou. was built in England in
ISO, . , ,-.'"
, IDEALIZATION. , ,
If pictures told the truth,
How fine the world would be!
How smooth the mountain way would
seem! ' -
How kind the billowing sea!
The humblest cot by ruin touched
Would be the best, in sooth.
The road were easy to content
If pictures told the truth.
The rural shepherdess would be
As beauteous as the queen,
And simple toil and strength would stand
In majesty serene.
And though the years might pass, each face ,
Would hold the lines of youth
And life would be just what it should
If pictures told the truth.
"You have heard my daughter sing.
What would you advise us to do?"
"Send her abroad at once!" Cleveland
Flain Dealer.
"Jack told me I was not like other
girls." "That's what he tells all of us.
He's read somewhere that all women
are different." Louisville Times.
Mary had a little iamb
And that wound up the score;
She boarded in a boarding house
And dared not ask for more.
Brooklyn Life.
Tourist "Did you er ever shoot a
man?" Bronco Bill "No, lady, I've
plugged a few Indians, greasers an
dudes, but I never killed a human!"
Tuck.
The call had become tedious. "I
really must go," he said. "Oh, you
men are such deceivers," she returned
coyly. "I wish we girls could believe,
all you say." Chicago Post.
Sharpe "Why, yes, I was at church
last Sunda3." Kloseman "Were you,
really? Strange I didn't see. you."
Sharpe "O! not at all. I took up the
collection." Philadelphia Press.
Here's a mighty little question,
But it causes lots of worry;
Why do shoestrings never break ex-
Cept when one is in a hurry?
Baltimore American.
"What's the matter with Primly?"
"Why, he went home with a new hat
the other day, and it didn't fit very
well, and so his wife cut his hair away
wherever it stuck." Sioux City Tri
bune. Mifkins "That scoundrel Johnson
called me an idiot!" Bifkius "He
didn't prove it, did he?" Mifkins "No;
but " Bifkius "Then I'd advise
you let the matter drop, or he might."
Chicago News.
"Do your neighbors sing the latest
songs of the day?" asked the landlord.
"I shouldn't object to that," answered
the' sad-eyed tenant, "their specialty
is the latest songs of the night."
Washington Star.
"Sir!" cried Mr. Pecksniff, indig
nantly, "how dare yon accuse me of
such things? My reputation, sir, is.
spotless." "Your reputation may be,
sir," replied the detective, "but you're
not. We spotted you some time ago."
Philadelphia Press.
"Don't you think it would be a great
scheme to., get out on the stump and
make a few speeches?" "Not a bit of
it," answered Senator Sorghum. "As
long as a man is willing to let his
money do the talking, nobody is going:
to make fun of his grammar." Wash
ington Star.
"But you cannot fence," said- the
German university student, who had
his face pretty well plastered up. "No."
admitted the American college youth.
"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you
will go up against one of our football
games I'll make a try of one of your
Heidelberg duels." Chicago Post.
Power of Gentleness. .
No bad man is ever brought to re
pentance by angry words, by hitter,
scornful reproaches. He fortifies him
self against reproof and hurls back foul
charges in the face of his accuser. Yet,
guilty and hardened as he seems, he
has a heart, and may be melted to
tears by a gentle voice. Who, there
fore, can restrain his disposition to
blame and find fault, and can bring
himself down to a fallen brother will
soon find a way to bettor feeling
within. Pity and patience are the two
keys which unlock the human heart.
They who have been most successful
laborers among the poor and vicious
have been the most forbcaring.-New
York Weekly.
The swindler believes that if a man
is worth doing at all fce is worth do
ing well, - -