Wily
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$1.00 a Year, in Advance. FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 5 Cents.
VOL. XIV. PLYMOUTH, N.' C, FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 6, 903. ' NO. 33.
x
MOSE HOWARD'S FISH -TRAP I
BY J. R. HAMMB
ICODEMUS SQUAB, pro-
I the 'Skunkville district
J enlinrkl Tin a o m t on
quiring turn of mind.
overhearing some of the scholars dis
cussing a prospective coon hunt that
was to come off the following Satur
day night, the professor drew near
and inquired if they would allow him
to join them.
"Of course you kin jiue us," said
Mose Howard, who was the' ringleader
iu all the devilment in the neighbor
hood. "Glad tu have you go 'long.
We'll call for you."
"Thank you," said the professor. "I
never was coon hunting in my life,
though I've always wanted to go just
to see how it is done, you know."
According to promise, Mose Howard,
Dick Miller and Joe Smiley called for
the professor, who was ready and
waiting, and who joined the hunters,
anticipating a jolly time.
After winding up the coon hunt,
which resulted in the capture of tive
'possums and three coons, Mose How
ard proposed that they should go back
by the fish-trap and catch a mess of
fish.
The proposition was unanimously
agreed to, and they struck off down
the creek, the professor bringing up
the rear, puffing and blowing, though
highly elated at the variation that this
additional act in the program prom
ised, as well as at the prospect of a
successful raid upon the finny tribe.
The queer contraption that Mose dig
nified with the name of fish-trap, con
sisted merely of a large sack held open
- by a hoop, around which the mouth of
the sack was fastened, and a couple
of ropes, one end of each of which was I
fastened to each side of the hoop, while
the other ends were fastened to trees
on tWoppeslte sides of the stream, in
uch a way as to allow the hoop to re
main about half way submerged.
On the bank of the creek was a lan
tern, in which was about half a tallow
candle.
Producing some matches Mose lit the
candle and proceeded to explain to the
professor the modus operandi of catch
ing fish with his new-fangled trap.
"You just take the lamp and wade
Into the trap and hold the lamp right
in front of the mouth so that the fish
can see how to run in, and we boys'll
go away down the creek and drive the
lisii up and into the trap."
The professor, as unsuspicious of
any trick as a baby, shucked himself,
and then taking up the lantern, waded
into the trap that the boys set for him
instead of for fish, and in the construc
tion of which they had not only ex
hausted their financial 7-esourees in the
purchase of the material out of which
it 'was constructed, but also their in
genuity in the getting up of the same.
"Ugh!" grunted the professor, as he
reached the trap and placed the lan
tern in the position indicated, "this
Avatcr is cold as ice. I want you boys
to make haste."
"Yes, sir," responded the boys.
"You'll hear us hollerin' as we come,"
said Mose, and off they started down
the creek at a trot.
"All right," said the professor.
As soon as they got out of sight their
gait slackened to a walk, which they
kept till they reached a point some 400
yards distant from the trap, when,
seating themselves on a log they began
the most uproarious din of yelling and
howling that had ever awakened the
slumbering echoes of those old woods
since the aborigines had vacated the
premises.
After about an hour spent in this
way the boys got up and advanced
slowly up the bank of the stream about
j 00 yard?, when they seated them
?!'Ivts on another log, where they con
tinued to whoop and yell like sa many
wild Indians.
After another hour thus spent they
made another advance, which brought
tho professor and the ash-trap within
their range of vision, though, owing to
the darkness they were not visible to
him.
"Hurry up, boys." he shouted. "I'm
nearly froze, and the candle's nearly
out."
That was what they were waiting
for the candle to burn out so that
their failure to catch fish could be laid
to the absence of the light.
"Yes, sir!" they shouted back; "we're
hurrying as fast as we can!" And re
newing their yells they advanced slow
lyvery slowly up the stream.
"Hurry up! hurry up!" apia thou ted
the professor. "The candle will bo out
in two minutes."
"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted Mose in reply,
"but you must stop hollerin' or you'll
skeer the; fish."
Sure enough, in about two minutes
the candle gave a last convulsive flick
er, and In the twinkling of an eye
thick darkness reigned as absolutely
over the professor and the fish-trap as
elsewhere.
"Boys," said Moso, in a tone loud
enough for the professor to hear him,
"there ain't no use wadin' in this water
any longer; le's go back an' git our
cloze."
Seating themselves on a log they sat
perfectly silent for a while long
enough, as they thought, for it to have
taken them to go back to where they
commenced their drive, dress them
selves and reach that point on their re
turnwhen they got up and resumed
their progress up stream.
On reaching the trap they found the
professor on shore, and though he had
completed his toilet, his teeth were
chattering louder than a pair of casta
nets rattling off a quickstep march.
"We'll have to try it over ag'in some
other time," said Mose, "and fetch
more candle with us. I thought we
had plenty. this time, but we didn't. I
guess I'll bring enough next time."
"Why didn't you fellows hurry up,"
aaid the professor. "What made you
come so . slow?" the chattering of his
teeth as he spoke causing him to cut
the words into more than the legiti
mate number of syllables to which
they were entitled.
"Couldn't come no faster," said
T'ose. "The water was so thunderin'
cold the fish wouldn't drive fast."
Satisfied with this explanation the
professor fell into ranks as the boys
filed off in the direction of home. The
exercise of walking soon brought a re
action in his system, the first effect of
which was to put a stop to the music
of the castanets, and on reaching home
he pronounced himself all right again.
Some time during the ensuing week
Mose Howard informed the professor
that they were going to try the fish
trap again the following Saturday
night, and asked him if he didn't want
to go along.
The professor gave an involuntary
shudder as the recollection of that pro
tracted soaking in ice water of the
previous Saturday night flashed across
his mind.
Discretion prompted him to give a
negative response. Curiosity, however,
got the better of discretion, and he ac
cepted the invitation.
"I'll be on hand," said he. "There's
no fun standing in that cold water, es
pecially when you get no fish, but if
you can stand it I guess I can."
At the appointed time the boy.s came
by, when, the professor joining them,
they proceeded to tho fish-trap.
On arriving there Mose produced a
couple of pieces of candle, one of
which he proceeded to light and put in
the lantern. It was nearly twice as
long as the one they had burned out on
the previous occasion.
The other piece he placed in the lan
tern so that it could be easily got at if
it should be needed.
This latter piece Mose had manufac
tured himself especially for the occa
sion, and had taken some little pains
in its construction.
After soaking the wick in water until
it was perfectly saturated he had taken
a skillet and melted some tallow there
in, then placing the wick in a mold, he
filled the latter with the melted tallow,
and the thing was accomplished.
This particular candle he had care
fully marked so as to be able to distin
guish it from any other candle.
Before completing their arrange
ments at the fish-trap preparatory to
beginning the drive the professor pro
posed that one of the boys should take
his place at the trap while he accom
panied the others and assisted in driv
ing the fish.
"Kin you swim?" asked Mose How
ard. "No," answered the professor. j
"Well, you'd run the risk ov gittiif
drownded, then," said Mose.
"You go on, then," said the professor,
"and I'll mind the trap." 1
So off the boys started, and going
down the stream about a mile, seated
themselves upon a log, and began yell
ing and whooping as on the previous
occasion.
Hour after hour passed, each hour
seeming io the benumbed professor an
at
The yelling seem to approach slowly
but surely.
The boys had now arrived at a point
where every motion of the professor
was distinctly visible.
The piece of candle Mose had lighted
and put in the lantern was nearly
burned out. Taking up the other piece
the professor proceeded to light it.
Placing it in the lantern it gave a
splutter and went out. Dark! Dark
was no name for it. No moon, no
stars, no matches.
Eut that bogus candle would have
been a match for a whole box of
matches.
"What in thunder's the matter
now?" shouted Mose.
"The candle's gone out!" shouted the
professor back. "Have you any
matches?" he inquired.
"Nary match," said Mose.
"What's to be done?" inquired the
professor.
"Nuthin'," said Mose. "The thing's
played out. Put on your cloze, while
we go and git our'n and then we'll skip
for home."
Seating themselves on a log the boys
remained quiet for a while, then rising
to their feet they came up to where the
professor' was waltzing around trying
to get up a circulation.
"Another waterhaul." said Mose.
"Looks a good aeal like it," said the
professor.
"Don't know why the mischief, some
of us didn't think tu bring some
matches," said Mose.
"I don't know, either," responded the
professor in a deprecating tone, as
though he entertained the idea that
somehow he had been mainly instru
mental in producing the bad luck.
"Better luck next time," said Mose,
philosophically, as he struck out for
home, followed by the others.
They had proceeded about two-thirds
of the way home, groping their way
as best they could through the thick
darkness, when a shrill, prolonged
scream directly ahead of them, and ap
parently at no great distance, broke
upon their startled ears.
"Painter!" ejaculated Mose. in a low
tone of voice, though sufficiently loud
to be distinctly audible to the profes
sor, at the same time springing to one
side, and the next moment he was out
of the professor's hearing.
The fact was he had only taken a
couple of steps and then squatted in
the grass, as completely concealed
from his companions by the intense
darkness as though he had been on the
opposite side of the globe.
"Painter!" repeated the other boys,
following Mose's example of springing
to one side and squatting :n the grass.
Left alone the professor, with hair
on end, paused a mpment to collect his
scattered thoughts, but only a moment.
Another scream, long drawn out and
apparently but a few yards distant,
set his plump body in motion, and the
next moment he was streaking it
across the country as fast as his duck
legs could carry him.
Tumbling over a log lying on the
edge of a bank some twenty feet high
and nearly perpendicukfl", down which
he rolled, he landed in a mud hole at
the bottom.
Gathering himself up he began look
ing for his which had parted com
pany with him on the way down the
bank, when another scream breaking
upon his ear he struck out once more
on his race for life, hatless and cov
ered with mud from his head to his
heels.
Coming to a briar pntch he was on
the point of diverging from his course
In order to try and go around it when
another scream precipitated the- terror
stricken professor into the patch like a
catapault.
Emerging from the brier patch with
his eoat-tafis torn into ribbons, the
mud-begrimed professor held on the
even tenor of his way without any
diminution of speed for a hundred
yards or so, when his pace began to
slacken a little. Another scream, how
ever, put him on his mettle again, but
as that was the last, and as he was
about exhausted, he soon settled down
to a walk, and presently stumbling
over a log, he picked himself up and
seated himself thereon.
After resting a while, pluuged in
the meantime in a deep cogitation, he
finally concluded to try and seek a
shelter for the remainder of the night.
So, starting forward, he wandered
about, first in one direction and then
in another, and it was not until day
light began to streak the eastern hori
zon that he stumbled on a clearing in
the wroods, in the midst of which was
a log cabin.
Cautiously approaching the cabin, he
had reached the foot of a sapling some
fifty stepg from the door, when a b!g
dojr came dashing around the cornei
of the house, barking furiously.
No sooner did the professor catcb
sight of the dog bouncing along in the
direction of him and the sapling, than
he was seized with such a sudden
panic as to cause him to grasp the
sapling in his arms and start up it,
though, owing to want of practice,
with hardly the agility of a squirrel.
After a tremendous effort, he succeed
ed in reaching a fork some ten feet
from the ground, where he seated him
self, and awaited the issue of events.
He didn't have long to wait. The
furious barking of the dog soon
aroused the inmates of the cabin.
Scarcely a minute had elapsed after
the professor had succeeded, by almost
superhuman exertions, In seating him
self comfortably in the fork of the
sapling, out of reach of the dog, when
the door of the cabin opened and a
huge six-footer of a backwoodsman,
somewhat airily attired, with a long
rifle in his hand, emerged therefrom.
"What you got thar. Bull?" said the
man, as he approached the sapling, at
the root of which the dog was barking
vociferously. "What is it, old feller?"
he continued. "Bar, painter, ur cata
mount?" Bull's response was an abortive at
tempt to climb the tree, accompanied
by a furious outburst of barking.
"Be quiet, old feller," said the man;
"we'll soon see what it is," at the same
time raising his rifle to his shoulder.
"Hold on there!" shouted the profes
sor, who was beginning to realize th1
perilous position in which he was
placed, and the imminent danger he
was in of being shot for a bear or a
catamount. "I am no varmint. I'm
Nicodemus Squab, professor of orthog
raphy in the Skunkville d 'strict
school."
"Hello!" said the backwoodsman, as
he lowered his rifle, "is that so? Well,
that gits me. What in thunder ur you
doin' up thar?"
"Wait till I get dowir and I'll tell
you." And crawling out of the crotch
in which he had been seated the pro
fessor slid down the sapling, when he
soon succeeded in explaining matters
to the satisfaction of that thinly-clad
backwoodsman and his savage bull
dog. It was now broad daylight, and when
he reached Skunkville the sun was
some distance above the horizon,
climbing upward toward the zenith.
Of course, every man, woman and
child in the place beheld, with wonder
depicted countenances, the advent of
the mud-begrimed, hatless professor,
and a thousand conjectures were in
dulged in as to the cause of his singu
lar appearance.
The professor was disposed to be
reticent on the subject, answering in
terrogatories in relation to the matter
evasively, but the joke was too good
to be kept, and in less than twenty
four hours his approach toward any
crowd was greeted by a broad grin
overspreading the countenances of a
majority of the members thereof, and
his departure signalized by a low guf
faw. This conduct on the part of the citi
zens annoyed the professor consider
ably at first; then it grew monotonous
and he became disgusted.
Finally he burst into a flame of in
dignation, and after taking his revenge
out of the hides of the pupils, espe
cially Mose Howard and his confeder
ates, the irate professor shook the dust
of Skunkville from off his feet and be
took himself to parts unknown. New
York Weekly.
The Brick Industry. ---
The largest brick-making region in
the country is the Hudson River valley'
in New York State, where nearly a bil
lion brick are made annually. Penn
sylvania leads iu the production of
pressed brick. Most of the terra cotta
comes from New York, New Jersey
and Illinois. Although West Virginia
was the cradle of the paving-brick in
dustry, Ohio now leads in the produc
tion of vitrified brick. Ohio, Illinois,
Indiana and Michigan are the most im
portant producers of drain tile, and
Ohio is the main producer also of
sewer pipe. Pennsylvania produced
over four and a half million dollars
worth of five brick, about one-half the
total production, in both 1000 and 1901.
Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in
the order named, are tho greatest pro
ducers of pottery, East Liverpool, Ohio
and Trenton, N. J., being the chief cen
tres of production. American Cultiva
tor.
Uncle Eben's Experience.
"It 'pears dat de opportunities of dis
life," said Uncle Eben, "is a heap like
fish. It's alius de biggest ones dat
gita away." Washington Star.
STRONG FOR THEIR SIZE.
Inattctit Relatively Are More Powerful
Than Men.
Every one in a general way knows
of the astonishing muscular power em
ployed by insects and of the real tours
de force which they execute either in
the pursuit of prey or in defending
themselves against their enemies. At
the same time one rarely has t precise
idea of the strength of these insects
because there are few standards of
comparison, although nothing is sim
pler than to make a correct valuatioa
of their strength.
The wing strength of Insects " is
known because of the work of Fellr
Plateau and De Lucy, who showed
that these little creatures could not
raise a weight much heavier than
themselves, no matter what the surface
of their wings. During the course of
these experiments a very interesting
fact was discovered namely, that the
size of the wing decreases as the
weight and size of the animal in
creases, a fact which explains the
slow, heavy flight of the beetle and
the swift, light movement of the gnat.
The case is entirely different, how
ever, where the creature moves on a
solid surface where its six feet may
obtain points of support. In this case
we can approximately calculate the
force exercised. Take, for example,
a fly by the wings, leaving the legs
free so that they may seize and raise a
match. If a man wished to perform
relatively equal labor he would have
to raise a beam twenty-four and a
half feet long by fourteen and a half
Inches square. The earwig harnessed
to a small chariot drags without diffi
culty eight matches, which for a large
Percheron horse would mean dragging
330 beams as long and thick as him
self. The man who leaps the 300
meters of the Eiffel toAver is merely
repeating the action of the flea, which
can leap 200 times its own height.
Finally the Hercules is obliged to
rfise eighty large locomotives to equal
the relative strength of an oyster,,
which in closing its valves exercises a
force of fifteen kilograms. Thus it is
a much more simple thing to calculate
the strength of insects than to equal
it, and our modern athletes have yet a
long road to travel before they can
compete with animals occupying very
humble positions in the living world.
Greatest of Savings Banks.
England's remarkable system of
poatoffice savings banks, started sev
eral years ago. have been brought into
notice of late on account of the trans
ference of the prodigious clerical foi'ce
which the systef keeps busy from the
big building in Queen Victoria street,
London, which they have outgrown, to
their new home in West Kensington,
a vast beehive of a place, covering five
acres of ground, close to the amphi
theatre called Olympia, sacred to the
memory of Buffalo Bill, Barnuui's cir
cus and such shows. The moving day
concerns 3200 clerks, the thousands of
ledgers in which are kept the accounts
of the bank's 9,000,000 depositors and
the innumerable documents relating
thereto.
What has been brought out most sig
nificantly in consequence of the atten
tion which the "biggest savings bank,
in the world" has been receiving of
late is the remarkable growth of this
unique institution. The number of de
posits annually has jumped from 3,
000,000 to 15,000,000, the number of de
positors from 2,000,000 to 9,000,000. In
other words, on every business day of
the year 40,000 persons make deposits
through 14,000 government sub-stations.
No wonder then that since the
postal savings banks were established
nearly 500 private institutions of the
kind have been forced to go out of
business.
Submarine Inventions.
A remarkable invention has been
adopted by tno English Admiralty, the
effect of which is to increase the ef
ficiency of British submarines. At
present the radius of submarine attack
is restricted, owing to the difficulties
of ventilation and the carrying of fuel,
but experiments warrant the belief
that the new submarines will bo ablft
to travel immense distances with dis
astrous effects on the ports of an en
emy. '!
Tho existing submarine fleet of Brit
ain is not. however, rendered obsolete.
On the contrary, it can easily be
adapted to utilize the now discovery.
Tho inventor is a British officer well
known for his brilliant capabilities.
The most remarkable feature in his
design is its extreme simplicity. De
tails of the invention are, of course,
withheld by the Admiralty. New York
World. ' '
4