Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Feb. 5, 1904, edition 1 / Page 1
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Wily II ; . . : - y- $1.00 a Year, In Advance. " FOR OOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." ..cA Single Copy, 5 Cents. ' . - Si ' , . . . X- . VOL. XIV. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY. JANUARY 15, 1904. NO. id. ' f r V, WEARINESS. O little feet, that such long years Must wander on through hopes and fears, Must ache and bleed beneath your load; I, nearer to the wayside inn Where toil shall cease and rest begin, 'Am weary, thinking of your road. 0, little hands, that, weak or strong, Have still to serve or rule so long, Have still so long to give or ask, 1, who so much with book and pen -Have toiled among my fellow men, Am weary, thinking of your task. yfC XTi Mz t t Vt' V S.s.Ss i ?Oi4 HAVE made a discovery, $ y i John," said Mrs. Mans- I O field, looking up from her f F knitting. 'WOW John Mansfield, retired mercnunt, Alderman and Mayor of Fiinperne, looked up from his paper. "A discovery, my dear?" he said, assuming his best magisterial manner. 'Tray what is the nature of this re markable occurrence ?'f "I find that Miss Ansom has a photo graph of yourself, which she treasures in secret." "What do you mean, my dear?" ex claimed Mr. Mansfield, i "This morning," explained Mrs. I Mansfield, "I entered Miss Ansom's ' room and found her absorbed in the f contemplation of some object which she held. She had evidently not heard my knock, but the noise of my entrance startled her, and, as she hastily hid something in a drawer, a photograph fell to the floor. She snatched it up, flung it into the drawer and closed it, tout not before I had recognized it as your photograph. I pretended not to - iiave noticed the photo, preferring to have an explanation from you." Mr. Mansfield was the picture of lielpless amazement. Miss Ansom, it must be explained, was a bright and charming young lady, whom Mrs. Mansfield had recently en gaged as a companion. "I am quite at a loss to explain the affair," said Mr. Mansfield, in tones quite unlike those of the Mayor of Pimperne. "Possibly it was given to her by a mutual friend." "Then why should she make a mys tery of it, and gloat over it in private?" demanded Mrs. Mansfield, grimly. "My dear," said Mr. Mansfield, with & return of dignity, "I do not under stand you! If I mistake not it was something she hid in the drawer which she 'gloated' over, not the photograph." "I am not su-s which it was," said Mrs. Mansfield, with strained calm ness. Now that the first shock of amaze ment was over, Mr. Mansfield's pomp osity returned rapidly. "Ah, very possible, my dear, Miss Ansom, whom I have every reason to think is a young lady of good discern ment and sound judgment, has found something in my public life which she has been good enough to admire. Miss Ansom has had every opportunity of studying my work for the past three months, and also the general course of municipal life in what, I think, may be regarded as a noble borough. What more natural, then, that this young v lady, seeing the portrait of a gen tleman clad in the robes and insignia of the office of the chief magistrate of this borough, displayed in the photog rapher's window, and, recognizing in that gentleman myself, should pur chase that photograph?" Mrs. Mansfield listened with immov able features. "A very good explanation," she com mented, "if it had been one of your official photographs. But the one in Miss Ansom's possession is one of those you had taken about two years ago, before you were elected Mayor. We ordered only a few of them, I re member, and I thought we had dis posed of them all. The question is how did Miss Ansom obtain one? I did not give it to her?" "Then I can only say that you must be mistaken, my dear," said Mr. Mans field, with asperity. "On your own confession you only saw it. for an in stant. How can you be certain that it wus a photograph of myself?" II MRS iuMSPiEl ll'S STRATEGY lis IIIIIWI IVinilUI DL.L.U U U I Bin I 1U I ; O, little hearts, that throb and beat With such impatient, feverish heat, Such limitless and strong desires; Mine that so long has glowed and burned, With passion into ashes turned. Now covers and conceals its fires. O, little souls, as pure and white And crystalline as rays of light, Direct from heaven their source divine; Refracted through the mist of years, How red my setting sun appears, How lurid looks this soul of mine! Longfellow. v .x v .' v . s y. v v . . w "If you think my eyes deceived me, perhaps you will believe your own! The photo is still in the drawer. Miss Ansom has had no opportunity of re moving it, for I sent her on an errand. It is in the first drawer of her dress ing table, if you wish to satisfy your curiosity." "Mrs. Mansfield, do you think that I am going to steal into a lady's room and pry Into her private affairs?" cried the Magistrate, rising. "You forget yourself, madam!" Mr. Mansfield went upstairs in high dudgeon to make some alteration in his dress preparatory to going out. . He was forced to acknowledge him self quite at a loss to account for that photo being in Miss Ansom's posses sion, which admission was rather ex traordinary on his part. He prided himself on his keen in sight, his strict impartiality and his firmness in discnarging his magisterial duties. But an exhibition of these qualities was not confined to the bench. Of the latter he had made a lavish display in his home, as Mrs. Mans field found to her cost. It was only twelve months ago that his unbending will had driven their only son. Jack, to South Africa. Mr. Mansfield had determined that his son should marry rank and beauty in the person of a daughter of a local magnate. But handsome Jack Mansfield elect ed to manage hfs own matrimonial affairs, and upset all his father's brill iant plans by falling in love with a pretty nobody, a governess in a house where he was visiting. Finding all arguments, persuasions and commands alike useless, Mr. Mans field finally told his son he must either fall in with his wishes or leave his home forever and look for no fur ther assistance from himself. Jack chose the latter course, and within a week set sail for South Africa. The loss of her only son was a source of great grief to Mrs. Mansfield. But all her tears, pleadings and reproaches could not prevail on her husband to relent and as time rolled on her impor tunities ceased. Having dressed himself to his satis faction, Mr. Mansfield left the room. Suddenly his progress was checked by the sight of a wide-open door. What tempting fiend could have left the door of Miss Ansom's room so invitingly open, displaying, as it did, the very drawer on which Mr. Mansfield had never even set eyes, in which the much discussed photograph was sup posed to lie? Mrs. Mansfield had, as she well knew, struck her husband's weak spot when she mentioned curiosity. "It would be the work of a moment," he reflected, "to take just one glance into that drawer to satisfy himself of the truth of Jane's story. With a cautious look round, he noise lessly entered the room, partially clos ing the door behind him. He opened the drawer boldly, and yes, there it was his own photograph. It was, as his wife had stated, one of the few he had had taken about two years ago. Horror! Somebody was coming. A light step on the stairs and a sweet voice humming the refrain of a song, heralded the approach of Miss Ansom herself! What was to be done? Could he al low her to find him in her room, pry ing about like a curious housemaid? He, Alderman Mansfield, Mayor of Pimperne! There was only one thing to be done. Miss Ansom entered and closed the door behind her. Mr. Mansfield could hear her moving about the room, still singing lightly to herself. "She is taking off her hat and jack et," he thought. "In a few minutes she will leave the room. Then I can slip out unobserved." , Everything, no doubt, would have happened just as he wished, had Tiny Mrs. Mansfield's darling pug not followed Miss Ansom into the room. The spirit of investigation was strong in Tiny. In the course of his present explorations he naturally looked under the bed. He immediately sent up an ear splitting series of barks and yelps, at the same time dancing about with every canine token of delight. Mr. Mansfield responded to Tiny's joyful recognition with silent curses, and, hearing Miss Ansom's expressions of surprise, and that she was approach ing the bed to learn the cause of Tiny's excitement he slowly emerged with a very red face and a very ruffled ap pearance. "Don't be alarmed, Miss Ansom, I beg," he cried, seeing that the lady looked dangerously like shrieking. "Er my unexpected appearance fills you with amazement, no doubt." "Mr. Mansfield!" she ejaculated, in tones of incredulous astonishment. "Er I must, of course, explain, and humbly apologize for my despicable conduct!" His worship then proceeded, with abrupt and jerky sentences, quite de void of their flowery trimmings, to explain his presence In her room. Greatly to his relief, she did not look very angry when he had finished. She said nothing at first, but, open ing the fatal drawer, produced some where from its depths two more photographs, which she put into his hands, saying: "You see, I have photographs of other members of the family as well." Mr. Mansfield gazed at them in astonishment. They were pictures of his wife and son. "Why, who gave you these, Miss Ansom?" "Jack," she replied simply, with lowered eyelids and a pretty flush on her face. "Jack!" he cried. "My son?" "Yes," she whispered. "But I I don't understand! I was not aware that you had ever met him! He Is in South Africa." "It was for my sake be went there," she replied softly. There was silence for a few minu tes. "Then you are the young er lady whom my son wished to marry in opposition to my wishes?" said Mr. Mansfield severely. "Yes," she murmured. Mr. Mansfield thought deeply for the next few minutes. After all he like'd Miss Ansom immensely; and if he still proved obstinate, she would, of course leave the house, and perhaps this morning's ridiculous adventure might be mentioned, and yes, he would be merciful. "Well, Miss Ansom, I need hardly say that your story astonished me beyond measure. But I will not dis guise from you the fact that during the time you have been with us you have won my highest esteem and, in fact, I regard you with feelings of paternal affection. We must write to that young scamp and have him home. Meanwhile " With a cry of joy Miss Ansom flung her arms around his neck and im printed a kiss on his nose. At that moment the door opened and Mrs. Mansfield stood on the threshhold, with hands uplifted In horror. She could not have timed her entrance with greater precision had she been waiting, with eye at the keyhole. "John! Miss Ansom!" she gasped. Mr. Mansfield looked frightened. "My dear," he cried nervously, "I am going to write and tell Jack to come home. This young lady has promised to be his wife. She is, in fact, the lady about whom we had that foolish quarrel." It took Mr. Mansfield quite a quart er of an hour to make his wife under stand clearly the facts of the case. But when she did understand she burst into tears and rapturously em braced Miss Ansom, assuring her of undying affection. Mr. Mansfield at length managed to to slip away, congratulating himself upon the success With which he had extricated himself from an unpleasant position. After all, he was glad of an excuse to welcome his boy home again. But perhaps if he had learned what passed between his wife and future daughter-in-law when they heard the door close behind him he would have realized that they had scored on all points. ' r "Dear, darling Mrs. Mansfield!" cried Miss Ansom, embracing Mrs. Mansfield afresh. "How good of you to have me here as your companion, arid then to devise this clever plot! why, it was quite a drama!" "In which you played your part very well, my dear!" replied the old lady, patting the girl's cheek affec tionately. Baltimore World. THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER.' Interests of Every Town Require That it Shall Be Supported. It is to the interest of every town to support a good newspaper, not through local pride alone, but for practical business reasons. A newspaper is con stantly doing ten times as much for its town as it could ever hope to get pay for more than it could charge for, If it would. The more prosperous a paper is the more it is able to do. Show us a good weekly paper, full of live local ds with a general circulation throughout the county, and we will show you an up to date, prosperous, progressive community. , Show us a community that persist ently proceeds on the idea that the ed itor of the home paper can live on the "pi" that accumulates in the office, whose official bodies think it a waste of public money to throw him a bit of public printing occasionally at living prices, whose citizens have come to re gard it as one of their Inalienable rights to work him for long-winded obituary notices and "in memoriams," with three inches of hymn book poetry at the end, to say nothing about an oc casional notice of a lost cow or some cotton seed for sale, and we will show you a community that is living from hand to mouth and is always on the ragged edge of adversity. People ought to stop to think about these things. It is an important mat ter. It is their own good that is in volved, the welfare and progress of their community, therefore of them selves. A local newspaper is absolutely nec essary to any community. No mer chant, no grand jury, no town council that spends every year all it can afford with the home paper, whether that ex penditure is actually necessary or not, makes a wiser, more profitable invest ment. They are not "giving" the home paper something. On the contrary, it is earning every cent it gets, and more, providing it is a paper worth picking up in the road. And if it isn't that sort of paper it is usually the fault of the town in which it is published. Atlanta Constitution. Pepper's Success. The late William S. Pepper used to take great delight in telling the follow ing story on himself: "I was bought up in the country, but from a very early period in my life 1 determined to go away to the city some day to become a big man there. An old neighbor, a great friend of my father, professed a strong liking for me and always declared that I was going to be a successful man. He told it all over the country that Billy Pep per had good stuff in him and was bound to succeed. "Time wore on and I did go away to the city and met with a measure of success. My old friend, when he heard that I owned a hotel, remarked that he had told folks so, and announced his intention of paying me a visit. "He had never been in town, so I wrote him when he got here to ask for the City Hall, and to come right down here from the station. He did so. When he reached the City nail he entered and roamed about the big corridors and up and down the steps In perfect amazement. Finally he re marked to himself, as he afterward told me, 'Well, I always knew that Pepper would get ahead in the world, but I'm blamed if i thought he'd ever own anything like this.'"-Baltimore Sun. . . Nothing; Doing. A physician of this town worked up a practice by hiring a small boy to go to the church Sunday and call him out hastily. The boy received fifteen cents. Two Sundays ago he struck for a quar ter, and now the physcian is permitted o slumber until the close of the serv i e, as he formerly did. Kearney Clip l r. Peter Perren, the guide who took the first party of tourists up the Mat terhorn, is still alive. lie has made the ascent forty-one times since. THE GROCERY SEAT. t The grocery seats! What forum great E'er neard discussed affairs of state . With such discernment, such command Of logic, facts, as when the band Of village patriots debate? They make and break the county slate, All true reforms they advocate. And coups d'etat are shrewdly planned 1 In grocery seats. While citizens thus congregate, '-tf&A The grocer sadly sighs at fate Whose ways he cannot understand. " Somehow this "trade" does not expand- Although his doors are open late His gross receipts. -Wood Levette Wilson, in Puck. , The trouble about never offending people is that it leaves most of them unconscious of your existence. Puck. "I like a man," she remarked, "who says exactly what he thinks." "About somebody else, of course," suggested her chum. Chicago Evening Post. Although he got no game at all. He felt juite lucky in the end. By no stray bullet did he fall, Nor did he shoot some trusting friend. Washington Star. "Don't you think that woman' clev er?" "Clever? Why, she's so clever she can make all her clothes without otheT women knowing it !" Brooklyn Life. Archibald "Mamma, gimme a pen ny." Mother "You're too big to be asking for pennies." - Archibald "Well, then, gimme me a quarter." Chica'go Daily News. "That crabced cynic, Hawkins, says, he spent the whole cummer alone with nature. I really feel sorry for him.,r "I do not. I feel sorry for nature." Chicago Record-Herald. "See what a big opal George gave me for an engagement ring." "Don't you consider it unlucky?" "Well, not so unlucky as a small diamond." Cleveland Plain Dealer. Mr. Robin--"The children don't seem so well to-day. Can it be possible those worms weren't good?" Mrs. Robin "I'm sure of it. They ought to have been sterilized." Life. "Have you ever had palpitation of the heart?" asked the fjsurance ex aminer. "Well, replied the young man, blushing vividly, "I'm engaged to be married." Philadelphia Press. - A man who breaks his word we call . A liar most pernicious: A woman does the same; we say, "Why, she is so capricious." sx San irancisco Bulletin. Dumley "I wonder what Sharpe meant to-day when I told him that Tinker called me a fool?" Erling "What was it he said?" Dumley "He said Sharpe was so conventional. Now, what in time could he have meant by that?" Boston Transcript. Carrie "I'm sure you misjudge Mr. Sweetser, papa. He is a man of great amn ions. You should hear him tell ofthe things he is going to do." Car rie's Papa "And I suppose I'm one of 'em; but I reckon he'll find it harder to accomplish than he fancies it is." Boston Transcript. Mr. Kidder "Ah, how-der-do, Doc-" tor! If you have a few minutes to spare, I wish you would come over to my house and chloroform my young est boy." Dr. Price "What is the matter with the lad?" Mr. Kidder "Oa, his mother wants to comb his hair." Harper's Bazar. Mother "You can't stay in this hot city. Why don't you tell your hus band you must go to a summer resort?" Bride "I I don't dare." "Why not?" "If he says 'no," 1 will be miserable because I can't go, and If he says 'yes,' I will be miserable because he can live without me." New York Weekly. "Plays," said Mr. Stormington Barnes, "are not what they used to be." "I wish I could convince the public of that," answered the man ager of the burlesque show. "Every body I see is complaining because the music and comedy are the same that they've been -listening to for years." Washington Star. , The Late Professor Bain. The late Emeritus Trofessor Bain, of Aberdeen University, like many nota ble men of humble origin, was not ashamed of proclaiming the fact. On one occasion he jocularly said to his students in the- logic class: "Gentle men, my wife may be connected with the Thanes of Cawdor, but I am de scended from the tinkers of Braemar." Had he said "thinkers" the class might perhaps have taken him more seriously than it did.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Feb. 5, 1904, edition 1
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