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$1.00 a Year, In Advance. ' FOR Q0, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Single Copy, 5 Cents.
VOL. XV. f PLYMOUTH, N. C..' FRIDAY. MARCH 25. 1904. NQ,1.
it
3
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MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
"With kindly ryes yuii smile, and say
Jtt -rout' lov. lu!e!t vibrant way,'
:'' -Why speak'of Warner", -V.nt
life to me was uoy," serene, ,
No pang or thought oi mijrht nave oecn,
Unt il vou came. " -
TVTy placid life in ordered round
Massed without prions, stir, or sound;
Hue now, my eycst in yowrs have see,u
"Tle bk zing joys of mi'zht have been.
A A A
it:
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By
Oi ES'V said the gentlemanly
j burglar. " there is one class
. 3 of ro'en tnat I occasionally
f --- stumble upon in my mid-
Wf'-.11'? work which I prefer
to avoid. . An inventor is always an
unknown quantity, and it is an uu-.
pleasant business ransacking; his
house. He might be as harmless .as a
child, or he might. prove more diaboli
cally cruel and cranky than an escaped
lunatic. Only twice in my .experience
have I met. such characters in their own
homes. One was in a suburban house,
where everything seemed so easy that
I took my time about entering the open
.windows:, but after I had stepped in
'fcide I knew that there was something
wrong. I found the floor strewn with
nil sorts of strings and pipe's and coils
of wive which, when I stepped upon
them, jangled and made all sorts of
noises. - " ' '
"I tried to get out of the window as
;ocm as possible, but I was so tied up
in the wires and strings that I tumbled
twice. .Then .the owner of the house
appeared, . 'aroused by the jangling'
noises made by his infernal things.
, 'There was n scene that nearly cost me
roy life. I escaped however, by tear
ing around among the pipes and wires
until the man went down on his knees
nnd begged me to desist., lie offered
ine everything in his house if I would
;pave his invention, I had entered his
.workshop on the ground floor, and
every footstep of mine smashed some
of his precious things. What did I do?
Why, I accepted his apologies for in
terfering with my work, took his gold
watch nnd spare . c:.sh, and departed.
The last I saw of the inventor lie was
:;22.tcd on the tloor wringing his hands
in agony over his broken toys. " I never
know what invention he was tryiug
to make, but. it was such a: queer sort
of infernal machine that I never want
to stumble-upon it again.
""The oilier instance where I paid an
unexpected visit to an inventor's home
was in New York. The fellow was
Kornawhat of a .crank. I imagine, and
lie invented things for the pleasure of
it. I knew nothing about his occupa
tion until I '-aroused idm in tuc middle
of the night by tumbling over his
-shoes in the middle of the floor. He
.was 1 lie most, composed "man I over
met under similar r6ndiiions.
'Why do you frighten n inan'in
j Hint way The nsked. crossly. 'Is ife not
bad enough to rob the .house without
waking me- up- by such noises?'
"Any man. who throws his shoes in
the middle of the. floor. deserves to bo
rudely awakened.M answered, turning
up the gas to study the man better. 1
-owe yoiv no apology.'
" 4Yoi are wrong.' he answered. 'You
.do .own me an apology,' If you had
shut j he door of my room behind you,
I might have accepted the situation.
Hut any man who will leave- such a
draught blowing on a sleeping man
deserves to be-- ' .
' I accept the correction.' I replied,
bowing and; stepping' toward the door.
II will apologize and at the same time
close the door. ,
"The perfect composure bf the man
had aroused my suspicions; and I dis
creetly kept my, face toward him while
I backed toward tha door and closed
It. There was a dick oi the lock, and
the' door banged sharply against the
jam. -
" Y ft have closed it with a very
bad ?ce and with little thought oi
the c:iiu"-uc-ce?, the man adde-V.; 'If
you Juui givci mc time to cso'nlu you
lnigni. rave f-;',t'd yourself a good deal
of incQi.vciihHit'C. As it is now, " I
think ytni liave made the situation un-ph-asaiu
foi both of us. :
"I d not understand,' I muttered,
nu-re nonplusseil than ever by the
uiiiu's 'word and attitude.-.
Long years ago love smiled, and I . "
With hns-tinped finger passed him by;
I dreamt of fame. , . . ,-Nov.-
with love's glowing, bitter banda,
, Y'et murmur "Blame."
All mine the blame; you could not know
That in dear dreams of long ago
1 touched your hair's soft auburn siicen,
And heard . your voice the might have
been.
Frank Hird, in Country Life. ,
About a Burglar,
an Inventor ancl a
Patent Time Lod
GEORGE E. WALSH.
;" 'I suppose not, but j'our ignorance
does not alter the fact. I shall, how
ever, seek' to enlighten you. To do so
I must go back somewhat in my story
'I'm an inventor by profession' these
words made me shudder 'and I am
just how at work upon a very great
thing, im fact, it will prove a revolu
tion in some lines of trade. I mean to
invent a time lock which will prove
superior to any on the market to-day
This lock will be of value in an infin
ite variety of ways, but chiefly for use
on safes and bank - vaults. . All that
you have to do is to set it for a certain
length of time, and no earthly power
can unlock it. You maj' blow 'up the
safe or vault, but tue steel, bolts will
not move from their position. It will
remain locked amtil the time expires,
and, then the steel spring. will open It
automatically,', ;
" 'I have met sneh locks in my work
before, I said, impatiently, 'but what
bus that to do with the present case?
"'Very much, indeed. If you were
of a discerning nature you would
have noticed , the connection before
now. I have put, the time lock on that
door to test it.' Every night I retire
and lock the door, and no power can
open it uutil 1 in the morning.'.
"A mighty good protection from
your wife.' I answered with a grin.
'But why was the door open when I
entered?'
"'That also will I explain. The
night was so hot that I. thought I
would leave the door open. Besides,
my wife is away, visiting her mother.'
" 'Now I understand. Then I am to
believe that I am locked in here, with
you until 7 in the morning?'
" 'Exactly, and that is the time the
private watchman raps on the outside
door to see if all is well.'
" 'I see,' I replied, smiling less pleas
antly. 'But you would not dare sig
nal to the watchman that you bad n
burglar in your room. I would shoot
you the Instant you did so.'
" 'I'm afraid you are too hasty, and
do not understand the life work of an
inventor." I would not have to signal.
There is an automatic device on the
outer door which would warn him.
That cannot be disconnected so loug
as the door is closed.'
"For the first time I began to feel a
little creepy, but I answered with
vrhat suavity I could command, 'But
what if I break down- the doovV It is
only made of wood.'
" 'That would be impossible. It is
four -inches-thick and made of stout
oak and is braced with steel ribs.
.Nothing short of dynamite could. bib w
it open.
"'But the windows?" I ' continued. I
have slid down the sides of houses be
fore, now. with nothing but bed quilts
to support me.'
"The .man sighed there was no mis
taking that. Ho looked almost pathet
ically at me, and then said:
"'I'm sorry to shatter another delu
sion of yours, but that avenue of es
cape is totally, closed.-." It would mean
instant death to you. If you will no
tice the iron grating at the windows
you may gather my meaning. Those
small steel bars are charged with elec
tricity enough to kill a dozen men. If
you attempted to cut them or pry them
apart yon would never live to tell the
tale. Nor even I, with all my skill at
mechmics and invention, could escape
through the windows or touch one of
the steel bars of the grating, Your
only hope is to tench the basin or the
hous" nnd turn off the switch, but that
seems 5 m possible until after. 7 hi t;.e
morning. ' -
"I felt r.ou- the perspiration breaking
out on my forehead, for I was undonbt.
ejiy in a tvap. locked up in a room
with the oMuer of the bouse, with no
possible: . mckus of escape ualil day.
light.' For some lime I lost my nerve
and stared helplessly at the inventor
before me. He looked so pathetically
sorry for me that I almost laughed in
his face. .
" 'Do not make light of, it,' he broke
out, reproachfully, 'for no man should
look death or prison in the face with
out sorrow and remorse. I should
think that your past deeds would -
"'See here, old man,' I interrupted.
may be shut up in a room with you all
night, but I'm not going to be lectured.
I'd rather do the talking if there's any
to bo done.'
" 'But, sir, I'm thinking only of your
welfare of your soul's safety in the
hereafter. I should like to reform you
and turn you away-from your path of
crime. We have six hours together be
fore us, and if in that time I could
convince you '
"You cannot,' I interrupted rudely.
'I wish to rest and sleep. It will do
me more good than if'
".'You must be very far gone, indeed,
if you can sleep at such a time as this.
In all my experience with criminals I
have never yet found one who" would
not" . - .
"I yawned and stretched myself on
tho sofa opposite him and closed my
eyes. 'If you. do not wish me to kill
you," pray be quiet. I Jiavo no need
for your sermon.'
"'Ah, j-ou will speak differently
some but be careful how you stretch
yourself on that sofa. It has a patent
spring invented by mo which will
make it close up with a click and suf
f oca to. you in a moment if you should
accidently touch the knob.'
'What a confounded hole thi3 room
is!" I exclaimed, jumping from the so
fa and standing in the middle of the
room. 'Is there anything else of your
invention in this room?'
" 'Nothing of importance: that is.
nothing except the chairs, which have
collapsible backs and legs. If you
should happen to seat yourself on one
and tip over to the right it might
"I moved away from the nearest
chair and took a seat on the loot of
the bed near my midnight acquaint
ance. 'The bed at least is all right, I
suppose said I. .
"Not if two get on it. It will stand
just 150 pounds and no more.'
"'What Will happen then?' I de
manded fiercely, standing up once
more.
"'It will spring ' -
"The man could ' not finish his sen
tence. His face suddenly blanched,
and I felt my nerves shaking. Had I
accidentally touched some secret but
ton of knob which would bring death
and destruction down upon both of
our heads? I heard footfalls outside
iu .the hall, but they had little mean
ing for me. I was wondering what
would happen next.
"Then there was a turn of the door
knob, and suddenly the door, opened,
and a" -vision of white nightclothes
stood before us. A voice asked sharp
ly: 'John, what are you doing at this
.time of the night with the gas turned
up so high? Arc you up to your
old
."Then there was a shriek, and the
woman dropped in a heap on the
rloor, swoouiDg before my eyes as she
caught sight of me. I turned an in
quiring te toward the man iu bed,
but be avoided returning the gaze.
' 'MaiHiy, why did yon come here and
spoil it all?' he said. 'I- '
""The truth' was dawning upon my
mind, in ml in a few moments I recov
ered sufficiently' to say: 'You deserve
a horsewhipping, old man, but I'll let
yon off easy. Now , that the door is
open I think I shall bid you good
night'
"I hurried somewhat nervously down
the stairs, for, after all, I was not cer
tain that the man was faking, but I
believe to this. day that he was no in
ventor at" nil. If he wasn't, he had a
pretty fertile imagination." New York
Times. .J j
A Strange Tinjfskeeper.
A" naturalist white?; visiting Croat
Sangir. one of those islands in the In1
dian Ocean known as the Celebes or
Spice. Islands, found a' curious time
recorder in the house of a rajah. Two
bot tles were firmly, lashed together and
fixed, in a. wooden frame. A quantity
of black sand ran from one bottle into
tho other in just half an hour, and
when thi" upper lottle;was empty the
frame was reversed. Tweiyo. short
1 sticks mavk'Hl.w.U'h tioteucs.frowi one to
iweLve weve hn:;rr upn the su ing. A
hook was placed - bet ween tin st ick,
bearing the imibinr of notches corve
spbr.ding to the hour last struck and
the one to be struck Ae:;i'. The sentry
announced the time jby stvikag the
Lours on a !are frcuz
VForld's Most Expert Swft-rdman.
The most expert swordsman in the
world is Lieutenant Barrett, It. N.
One of his cleverest feata is to ent
in halves with a sword a bar of lead,
the ends of which rest on the bowls of
clay pipes smoked by two bluejackets.
With such care and precision is the
feat performed that the pipes are left
perfectly uninjured. A variation of
the same trick is done by placing two
open razors, about one and one-half
feet apart, with a thin strip of paper
laid between. Over the paper is placed
a bar of lead which Lieutenant Barrett
cuts through with one dexterous stroke,
leaving the paper intact and the razors
standing up edgeways. He also clev
erly performs the same feat by placing
the bar of lead on two g!as3 tumblers
filled with water.
Lieutenant Barrett is not only a good
swordsman himself, but he has taught
his wife to use the sharp-edged blade
with almost equal dexterity as himself,
and the two often' give capital enter
tainments in public for deserving chari
ties. One of Mrs. Barrett's most daring
feats is to cat in halves with a sharp
sword a potato balanced on her hus
band's neck. This feat seems decid
edly risky wheu one realizes that the
slightest error of judgment in the
stroke would probably prove fatal, but
Mr. Barrett has such confidence in the
skill of his wife that he has gone
through the performance hundreds of
times. London Illustrated Mail,
A Homely Consumption Core
Mrs. Wolfe, the mother of the great
general, kept a comprehensive cookery
book, still preserved at Squerries Court,
Kent. One of her recipes was for "A
good water for consumption." Tako
a peck of garden snails," says .the pre
scription, "wash them in beer, put
them in an oven, and let taem stay
there till they're done crying; then,
with a knife and fork, prick the green
from them, and beat the snails, shells
and all, in a stone mortar. Then take
a quart of green earth worms, slice
them through the middle and straw
them with salt, then wash them and
beat them, the pot being" first put into
the still with two handful3 of angelieo,
a quart of rosemary flowers, then the
snails and worms, then egriraony,
bears' feet, red dock 1 roots, barberry
brake, blloney, wormwood, of each two
handfuls, one handful of rue-tnmoric,
and one ounce of saffron, weil dried
and beaten. Then power in three
gallons of milk. Wait till morning,
then put in three ounces of cloves
(well beaten), hartshorn graed. Keep
the still covered all night. This done
stir it not. Distil it with a moderate
tire. The patient must take two spoon
fuls at a time." London Daily Chron
icle. Civilization of Africa.
I "Was forcibly struck the other day
by the extent to which Darkest irica
is being 'opened up. Looking through
the illustrated program cE the Anglo
American Nile Steamer and Hotel
Company, I see that you can not only
travel in a luxurious' style all the way
to Khartoum, but you can go by
steamer up ttie White Nile to Gor.do
koro. the most northerly post of the
Uganda Protectorate a journey of over
a thousand miles through an absolutely
uncivilized country, and one which Eu
ropeans have only penetrated within
the last few years. This is really a
wilder, though probably an easier, tour
than the trip from Mombasa Hp the
Uganda Railway. Boats are making
the excursion in January, February
and March. As for Egypt itself, the
fine boats of the Anglo-American Com
pany have made the trip as easy and
comfortable as a run to Monte Carlo
by the train de luxe perhap3 more so.
London Truth.
Consmnptioo Not Dangerous.
Consumption is a preventable, cura
ble, communicable, but by no means a
dangerously contagious disease. Among
those who were once afflicted with it
and were ultimately lastingly cured
we count the brightest nflnds, the most
generous and truest hearts. -The (ler
man poet Goethe, our own , Peter
Cooper, the French poet Coppee, were
among them. The greatest German
specialist. Herman Brehmer, ' who
cured himself and thousands of others
from this disease; his two greatest con
temporaries and co-workers, still alive?
and active, Dettweiler in Germany and
Trmlcau in this country, are all exa'--plcs
of the highest type of men.
Commerce between the United States
and ItusSia during the Inst fecal year
greatly surpassed ijiat of any previt -L?
year. .
7 f
NOVELS TO ORDER,
How ths Five and Ten Cent ThrlSfsrC
I ' . Are Made.
The task of putting into' readabls
shape stirring tales about Jesse James;
Alkali Pete, -Gentleman Jim, Wild
Bill, the Gold King.4he Boy Detective
and other heroes whose exploits thrill'
small boys, i3 not done by writers o!
the same heroic and fire-eating type aa
the characters portrayed Men who
write such stories need principally a
fertile imagination, a capacity for hard
work and the ability to turn out thou
sands of words of readable stun a day;
to make them successful.
They have never rescued imperiled;
maidens, tracked Indians and mur
derers over deserts and mountain
trails, or . recovered . host fortunes.
Many of them have never seed a livo
Indian or cowbor, have a bare speak
ing acquaintance with the detectives
at headquarters, and carry no six
shooters in their back; pockets. i
More than one dime novel publish
lag firm has made a fortune at tn
business of providing literature for
Young America, and that in the day
when they paid a writer from $75 to
$250 for a story. Thing3 are done dif
ferently now.
Each dime-novel publishing houa-?
employs a staff of writers, who receive
a regular salary Besides the staff of
regular contributors, persons who can
bo depended upon to turn in a fixed
amount of copy every week, each
publishing house has a list of work
ers who can write a story to order
and at short notice.
When, a regular writer falls ill oc
takes a vacation, or wnen some spe
cial event happens which makes a
foundation for a plot for a popular
novel, one of these special-writers is
communicated with and is ordered to
dash off a story on three or four days'
notice. InspiraKon forms a small
part of the dime-norel writer's stock:
-novel wi
ly aTi his
in trade, for nearly aTi his stories aro
written to order. In those cases the
writer follows a plot suggested by
the publisher, and does not even se
lect the title. ;
It is said that regular writers 'oS
dime novels, men who do yno other
kind of work, are able to produce a.
story of from 40,000 to 50,000 word
a week, and to keep it up, for six
months in the j'ear. The writer can
not attempt to think out his plot and"
t plot and" f
lero's life 1
3, a3 that A
arrange the events in the hero';
before sitting down to write,
would take too long. Buffalo News.'
FOOLED BY HIS OWN TRICC
Joker Rushed to See Accident He HWf"
Invented. , r
Strangers In New York" always no
tice and comment on the childlike cur
iosity of the crowd3 on Broadway
New Y'orkers will stop and look at any
thing, from the hoisting of a safe to
tho uplifting cf a fallen horse, and
they chase fire engines like boys.
. An incident of this sort i3 related by
one of the older bankers. When Rufiu
Hatch was in his prime there was a
little restaurant down town where tho
men of finance took luncheon. Hatch
was in a hurry. There seemed to 'b-v
no chance. So he said to the man 'Lu.
charge, loud enough to be heard all
over the snail room: "Terrible ac
cident down at the' Battery."'
"What?" asked the manager.
"Full-rigged ship has just gone down
in the channel, with a lot of people on
boara." s , : '.
There was an, immediate rush for
the door. Tables were deserted, and
the rfien who were eating ran pell-mc'd
down Broadway. Hatch eat down anil
ate a quiet luncheon. Then he paid
his check and went ont. The streor.
was full of people running toward th.'
Battery.
"What's the matter ?" asked IUtch
-y "Ship gone down with a lot of poop'
on board!" gasped the runner.
"Gracious!" shouted Hatch
that- so? I my st see that," '
too, ran down the street, hoa'
own hoax. Phlla-Iclphla V
Amusing Th:
A curious thear
U in the tad" '
wick. . 1p. the
'"o lowing r
"in cvdir,''
ni'1'K nc-
Mr '
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