Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Oct. 16, 1908, edition 1 / Page 7
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,TJ C73 a.5cLcMil5ES?.tT9 aHr1.? crp ctp TP r. it was a grilling day la the July ol ,1876, as I sauntered Into the office of ,tho 'Western Union Telegraph Com pany; on Broadway, for the purpose jOf sending a dispatch to my friend, George Moyers, the artist, who im plored of me to join him lnstanter at West Point, where he had pitched ;his tent for the purpose of doing a ipicture or two of the scenes enacted In that romantic locality during .glorious War of Independence. ' I am a lawyer, and in '76 was a prising junior." I had teen fagging cruelly, sparing myself no amount of jlahor, and when on that July day my longed-for vacation" was at hand, I ifelt like a schoolboy about to get away for the real genuine holidays. ' As I approached th9 grating and awaited by turn to pop In the mes sage, I became interested in a young Sady, richly but plainly attired, whose fevelte figure was simply perfection, and . whose golden hair was wound jound the back of her graceful head jln massive and luxurious pleats. Of course any man of a certain age obeys the impulse which bids him gaze on a fair face or a faultless form it is fbut nature's tribute to the beautiful 'v and in mere obedience' to this mys terious law, I strained eagerly for jward to obtain a glimpse of her fea tures, but without success. -t "When will this message be for ewarned?" she asked, in a low and musical tone. The clerk muttered something that I could not hear. "Oh, I hope It will go at once. How much am I to pay?" The phlegmatic employe proceeded to count the words, and announced Tiof 'ha mocQQCo tvnnlil pnef -cirri The young lady put her hand In her ; pocket, started, colored violently, be came deadly pale and palpitated: "I have left my purse at home, Twhat am I to do?" - The clerk bit his pencil and said nothing. "I live out of town and the mes sage would be too iate," and in her perplexity she turned and faced me. She was perfectly charming. Lus trous violet-blue eyes, and long, sweeping lashes eye3 sad yet joyous, bright, tender. . A delicately formed nose, slightly retrousse, which Im parted a piquancy to the face such as one only sees in Greuze's portraits. Her golden hair came low upon her forehead, and she wore a hat sur mounted by a rich dark-blue feather that almost swung across her shoul ders. My voice was scarcely audible as I said : "1 beg your pardon. I Inadvertent ly hesjdjyour conversation with the clerk. Will you permit me to relieve S!vJiu?.niy embarrassment by al iasing me to pay for the dispatch?" She started as I spoke, and, be stowing upon me a haughty glance that almost amounted to defiance, ex clalmed: "We are strangers, sdr, and I can not accept your offer, however cour teously meant," and she turned from me. I felt nettled and strangely Irri tated. A keen sense of injury smote me. I resolved to act. Plunging my liand into my pocket, I seized upon two silver dollars, and, finging them to the clerk, gruffly cried, "Send that lady's message," and, striding from the building, sprang into a passing stage. "What a fpol!" I muttered, as we rumbled along. "What a blooming idiot to indulge in two dollars' worth of chivalry!" And then her defiant loveliness came back to me, and I felt elated, triumphant. She might be Lady Clara Vere de ,Vere for aught I knew to the con trary; but be she. gentle or simple, she owed me two mighty dollars. George Moyers met me at the dock at West Point. "You never beheld such a charming ranch as I have dropped on!" he ex claimed, as we strolled up the hill. "It's all honeysuckle and sunshine, birds whistling, and a rustio porch over every window, and a sximmer house instead of a stoop, and a land scape In every corner, and such food ah! " And he joyously kissed the tips of his fingers as he waved them in the direction of our temporary, home stead. Our ranch was all that George had painted it, commanding a view of tha lordly Hudson, with its glori ous and varied scenery. As we sat on the stoop lazily smoking our cigars, I related my adventure with the "Fair One With the Golden Locks." "Why, I used to think you a hard headed, shrewd, solid business man," laughed George, "but now I shall never see a two-dallar bill that I will not think of my friend Tom Kendrick loafing around telegraph offices for the purpose of raying for the dis patches of damsels who have forgot ten their purses." Our life at West Point was an en chaniicg monotony a plunge in the river at seven, breakfast at nine, no letters to read cr write thank Heaven a prolonged smoke. George sketched, I read a trashy novel, with the full knowledge that It wast rub bish of the most uncompromising kind, but exulted in its flimsy fiction, nevei tceiess; unu men 1.0 me utxn iu t meet the steamer this act, together i. . . 1 A 1 A 11 .1 T A f with that of attending the evening parade at the Porst. weirded in i with all j jffbjTpcs at Coz- commoa n? sv-?. shsp .51? ST? 5 RRS'piS? sr? qp Remarkable Dispatch. By EMERSON BENNETT. zen's Hotel, and Indeed of the village, In the light of a serious duty; and be the weather fair or foul, wet or dry, stormy cr calm, the arrival of the boat found us on the dock, like a pair of detectives, awaiting the landing of Borne party telegraphed as "wanted." Six weeks had glided away a3 though'I had been in dreamland, and the hour was not far distant which wa3 to summon me to work. The shadow of New York was upon me. One exquisite afternoon found us, as usual, on the lookout for the boat en route to Albany. Tourists from all climes under the sun were passing backward and forward, and George's excuse for gazing at the pretty girls was on the plea of "studying char acter." "I never saw such a colorless lot," growled my companion, as the boat commenced to glide from the dock. "As ugly as ah, that's, something over there in deep mourning the girl with the hay-colored hair." My heart leaped. , It wa3 the young lady whom I had encountered at the telegraph office. My eye3 caught her3 and she flushed. Tho boat was passing along thp dock. . ; She spoke rapidly to her compan ion, a tall, aristocratic-looking young man, toward whom, in that single In stant, I conceived a deadly aversion. This man instantly quitted her side and rushing to the stern of the boat shouted: "Your name and address; I want to get out of your debt" his tone as though he were addressing a lackey. "You are not in my debt," I defi antly retorted. The boat had almost passed from the dock. He sprang upon a seat, and rapidly wrapping a silver dollar in a green back, I know not of what value, cried, as he flung it: "Catch! Debt with interest and thanks." Tho boat had passed away from the dock. I was not the "boss" baseball player in the Manhattan Club without being able to make a fair catch. I caught his missile as it came flying through the air. With all my strength I sent it spinning back to him. It struck him, and a savage thrill of pleasure ran through me as I saw him apply a handkerchief to his face. The steamboat had passed away, and my heart's longings were with that fair girl who was being borne from me, whither I could not tell. What was this haughty beauty to me? What link between us? None, save an act for which a newly breeched schoolboy would flout me. Her husband, too. Strange to say, I never admitted the possibility of her being united to that man whenever the thought came to the surface, I did not give it breathing time, but sent it down to the unfathomable depths of undefined idea. ' Upon my- arrival in New York I found a letter which compelled me to take the night train to Boston. I ordered my berth to be made up with out entering the sleeping compart ment, and smoking a cigar before turning in. It was bright daylight and we were slowing into the depot when the por ter shook me up. I rolled out of my berth and stood gathering my Im pedimenta together preparatory to going in for a wash, when a conduc tor exclaimed: "Please to let these ladles pass, sir." My fellow travelers were standing anxious, like Mr. Sterne's starling, to get out. I muttered an apology for blocking the way, and, turning, cast a short, sharp glance at two ladies. One of them was the young girl whom I had encountered at the tele graph office. My holidays had passed away, and work, grim, gaunt, earnest, was upon me. Letters to be replied to, papers to be hunted up, appointments to be made and kept, law books to be con sulted, opinions to be given, and every pigeon-hole in my waking existence crammed to the uttermost limits of its endurance. Bitterly I reviled the ill-fortune that closed my lids In the cars; bitterly the Ill-luck that forced Play not for gain, but sport. Who plays for more Stakes his own heart; perhaps his wife's too. . Herbert. They say this town is full of cozenage, As nimble jugglers that deceive the eye, Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks, ' And many such like libertines of sin. Shakespeare. Gambling with cards, or dice, or stocks, is all one thing: ft is getting money without giving an equivalent for it. Beecher. Gaming Is the child of avarice, but the parent of prodi gality. Cotton. A gamester, the greater master he is in his art, the worse man he is. Bacon. A gamester, as such, is tho cool, calculating, essential spirit of concentrated, essential selfishness. Beecher. 3 me Into a corner beneath the bony knuckles of time; bitterly the mock ing destiny that dashed the cup from my lips thrice when the brimming nectar was within reach of them. My work was heavy, and demanded a ceaseless vigilance. - My work stood between me and her image, thrust ing it aside with an Iron and unswerv ing hand. It was a murky, drizzling morning In December, upon the eve of the Christmas holidays. I had not the pleasing gratification of even seeing my bed upon the preceding night, as I was compelled to read up a case In volving a series of the most im portant Issues, and my night's rest went down before the interest of my clients. It was a disputed will case, and I had been retained for the defendants. Miss Isabelle Van Zandt died on the preceding August, bequeathing the bulk of her vast property to her nephew and niece, the children of a deceased sister, and a comparatively 6m? 11 residue to a sole surviving brother, who now disputed the will on the grounds of undue influence and the mental incapacity of the testatrix. On our side It was alleged that the testatrix was of sound mind at the time of her demise, and that the be quests were the result of natural affection, and that she was further influenced by the fact that the plain tiff was extremely wealthy and un married. There were two weak places In our armory. The first, that Miss Van Zandt had been estranged from her nephew up to within a few days of her death; the second, that Misa Van Zandt was generally considered some what eccentric. Her nephew, .Mr. Ed ward Appleton, had married "a pen niless lass wl a lang pedigree" con trary to the expressed wishes of his aunt; and it was solely owing to the influence of his sister Mabel that he was, at the eleventh hour, restored to the good graces of his offended rel ative. It wa3 late when I arrived at court, and, in addition to my brief, I was incumbered with a ghastly headache, which, at every throb, led ma to im agine that my skull vas in imminent danger of exploding as though through the agency of nltro-glycerine. The plaintiff had a cloud of wit nesses in attendance, and the case, from the magnitude of tho property at stake, excited very considerable interest. The plaintiff's case was ably, elo quently and argumentatively stated by hl3 counsel, and about twenty per sons who had been on terms of al leged intimacy with the deceased were examined as to her eccentrici ties, and also with regard to her visi bly decaying mental powers, antece dent to her demise. My associate cross-examined such of those witnesses as he deemed shaky, and, by dint of a series of art ful and elaborate queries, totally ir relevant to the question at issue, suc ceeded in driving a number of these witnesses Into a state of mental irri tation bordering upon frenzy, and the remainder into a condition of hapless and irrevocable bewilderment. When he had duly impressed the jury with the conviction that the In dividuals who had appeared before them were each and all possessed of a natural taste for perjury, he proceed ed to stat9 the case for the defense, and in a brief but incisive statement painted the conduct of the plaintiff in such hideous colors as to justify the refusal of the tears of a solitary angel to wipe the record out. If our case was indented with weak points, it likewise bristled with strong ones, and one upon which we placed an unlimited confidence was the fact of tho deceased lady's having tele graped to her nephew, a few days prior to her death, .to come and re ceive her unqualified forgiveness. The substance of the dispatch was written by herself, copied by her niece and transmitted by the latter to Mr. Ed ward Appleton, who acted upon it im mediately. The existence of this dispatch was questioned. By a piece of extraor dinary good luck tho original, in the handwriting of Miss Van Zandt, had been procured, and, with a cool, self satisfied demeanor, my associate rose and said: "We propose to place Miss Apple ton on the stand now;" and, turning to me, half-whispered: "You take her up, Kendrick; I'll held myself in reserve." Up to this particular moment I had preserved a masterly Inactivity; my head was splitting, and my ideas were deranged by the tortures of physical anguish. I would willingly have given a hundred, two hundred, yea, five hundred dollars for a respite, but the chance was too good to throw away; I could not afford to lose thj opportunity, so, by a vigorous effort, I drew myself together, and, glancing rapidly at the marginal notes scrawled on my brief, I turned toward the stand, and, blinded with pain, drawled: "You are Miss Mabel Appleton?" "I am." "Niece of the late Miss Isabelle Van Zandt?" "Yes." "You recollect Tuesday, the 27th of July last?" "Per feet! "You are acquainted .with Miss Van Zandt's handwriting?" "Intimately." "You recollect sending a dispatch to your brother at Montreal?" "I do." "At the request of your aunt?" "Yes; she wrote the substance of the dispatch." "Will you have the goodness to in form me if you have seen this docu ment before?" handing a half-sheet of note-paper all written over. She raised her veil. The court swung around me; Mabel Appleton held the original draft of the dispatch for which I had paid tha two dollars. That "bit o writin " is now framed and glazed, and suspended in a gold frame in my wife's boudoir, and many a time do we refer to that memorable 27th of July, when I paid two dollars for a dispatch that was destined to do so much for her, and so much for me. Good Literature. It is said that the use of an oil or gas engine on the farm results in a saving of from twenty to fifty per cent, as compared with horses. Tests of reinforced concrete barge3 and pontoons have been conducted by the Italian Government since 1S97, and the results have been so gratify ing that several more of the strange constructions have been ordered. Consul-General William H.Michael, writing from Calcutta, says that a young engineer of Dalsing, Serai, In dia, has invented a machine which disposes of the wood in the stems of jut9 at the rate of 00,000 stems per day. The quantity of sulphuric acid In mine water varies according to the district and condition of the mine. Some mine water has been' found to contain only a few grains, while the water in other workings often' con tains over 100 grains a gallon. According to the Engineering Rec ord, a concrete tank at the San An tonio ga3 works has been in service for three years, holding heavy Texas oil without showing - any leakage whatever, although there is a general belief that oil destroys the cohesion of concrete. A novel plan is being experimented with in Australia with a view to rid ding it of the rabbit plague. A news paper is placed at the mouth of the burrow, and the hole is then stopped with earth. The rabbits are said to be so frightened by the rustling of the paper that they will not approach the spot again, preferring to die in the burrow. The available coal yet stored in the earth in Germany Is estimated by Professor Ferdinand Fischer, of Got tingen, at 160,000,000,000 tons; in England only 81,500,000,000 tons; in Belgium, Austria-Hungary and France about 17,000,000,000 tons each. The store of Russia is but Im perfectly known. North America can produce 6S4, 000,000, 000 tons, and Baron von Richthofen has stated that China has a supply nearly as great. Japan, Borneo and New South Wales have considerable coal; Africa, an un known quantity. Germany's coal should last another thousand years, but England's supply will begin to show exhaustion within fifty years. In the United States the production has increased from about 6,200,000 tons in 1891 to nearly 45,000,000 in 1901. An Excuse. Little Dick, the village "bad boy," was wading through a shallow swamp catching frogs with a small landing net. He had just caught a fine speci men and transferred it to his bucket, when a young lady who was out for a walk happened along. "Little boy," she said, "don't you know it's very cruel to catch those poor little froggies?" Dick straightened up and looked at her. She wore a gorgeous "crea tion" on her head, and eomething in its trimmings attracted his attention. "I want 'em to wear on my hat, he said. Youth's Companion. Wooden Clothes Are Next. W7ooden hats, ccats, carpets, tow- els, as well as "wooden shoes," are promised by Professor Emil Claviez, of Dresden, who is said to expect to teach all human being3 to wear wooden clothes. After being ground into pulp, as for raper, the wood is impregnated with chemicals and woven Into yarns. The building of the Chicago drain age canal has been the means of so improving the sanitary conditions In that city that the death rate from typhoid and similar diseases has been reduced C7.5 per cant. Fofxthe Younger Children,... THE MIDDLE CHILD. Wh enever there is company And mother sends tor us, It'n always 'bout the baby that They make the biggest fuss. They say, "She's sweet as she can be!" "Her hair, just see it curl!" They never say such things to me, - 'Causa I'm the middle girl. And then they say to sister, "Why, Is thia the oldest child? She'll be a woman by and bv!" And after they have smiled And held her hand, they look at me. Mamma eays, "She's begun To lose ber teeth," and then they lafl 'Cause I'm the middle one! Then baby speaks her little piece, And sister's asked to sing; But no one ever seems to guess That I do anything. Although my name is Marguerite And Marguerite means "pearl," Nobody thinks that I'm sweet, 'Cause I'm the middle girl. When I frrow up, and when I have A family of my own. I'll Bend up for the middle girl lo come riown-etairs alone; And I shall let her sneak and sing And have a lot of fun. I'll not deny her anything 'Cause she's the middle one! Ethel M. Kelly, in The Delineator. WATER EXPERIMENTS. Of course you know' that water boils when heated to a temperature of 212 degrees. No matter how much heat you may apply to it then, the temperature will not be raised, but the water will only be the more rap Idly turned Into steam, for that is what boiling does. There is a way, however, !n. which you may raise the temperature of water above 212 degrees, though most persons would tell you that it Is impossible. To make the test and prove it, you will need a small chemi cal thermometer, that i3, one without a tin case. These are sold at a mod erate price in the 6tores, or, if you prefer, you csn convert an ordinary thermometer into a chemical one by carefully scratching the divisions of the scale on tho glass tube with a file, and then removing it from the tin case. If you will fit it in a wooden case, so that it will float in the water without touching the bottom or the side of the vessel, it will be complete, like those that are used for taking the temperature of baths. "When you have your thermometer, holl some water for fifteen minutes, and then let it stand undisturbed un til it cools. Then keeping it perfect ly still heat it again, and you will find that the temperature will go a few degreeB higher than 212, without causing the water to boll. . If you now drop some pieces of metal into the water, it will at once begin to boil. Tho explanation of this is that the air is expelled from the water when it boils, and water with air in it bolls more quickly than water without air In it, so that, at the second boiling, a higher tempera ture is reached before boiling begins. When you drop the scraps of metal into the water they carry air with them, besides, they reduce the tem perature of the water to the boiling point. Another experiment may be made by putting some salt or sugar into water, and then boiling it; you will find that it will take a higher tem perature than pure water, for the reason that some heat is required to separate the salt or sugar from the water before the latter can be con verted Into steam. You may in this way prove for yourself the degree of heat for boiling various substances. Still another Interesting experi ment consists In boiling some water in a glass flask; then, while it is boil ing cork it tightly and remove it from the flame. When it stops boil ing in the flask pour some cold water over the outside and it will begin to boil again. Or plunge the flask Into cold water, and the same thing will happen. You may be able to do this several times with the same flask. The explanation 13 that in a corked flask of boiling water there is some steam above the surface of the water, and the application of cold water causes the steam to condense, which at once removes some of the pressure from the surface, causing it to boil, as the bubbles of steam can then es cape. Good Literature. A TIP FOR WILLIE. "My eon," said the head of the family after he had read all the snortinsr news, "here i3 a good thing for you to remember. I give it to i you out of the store of my expsnri- ence. Had l understood it ni your years it would have saved me a good many mistakes: "Always notico the way your friends laugh. By their laugh you may know their character. "The laughter of human beings is based on the vowels. If a man laughs In A the open tone of A which is ah then he is frank and honest, a little fond of noiso and excitement, perhaps, and perhaps of a somewhat fickle disposition; but at any rate honest. You can trust him, son. "Those who laugh in E pro nounced ay are melancholy. Those who laugh in I pronounced ee are gleeful. Children most often use that tone, as do the simple, tho oblig ing, the affectionate, the timid and the undecided folks. "When your mother asks me if I am going to the club again and I langh, using the ee sound, It Is not because I am timid, but because I am undecided. It is.well to make a note of these things. '. "Those who laugh roundly in O are generous and inclined to be of a daring nature, the former of which is a good thing, son, and the latter very bad for little boys. "Never trust a man who laughs In U. He's a scamp. The gasman laughs in U. Yes, indeed, after you grow up you will notice these things." "Yes, Willie," said the lady of the house from the other side of tho table, "remember what your father says, because to-morrow night he will want you to repeat it to com pany and say he told you. But for your own Instruction I will tell you an easier way to pick cut nice people than that somewhat complicated method mentioned by your dad. "Notice the thing that makes men or women laugh. Never mind how they laugh or in what vowel sound they do it. Find out the thing that creates the laughter. "If it is really a funny thing they are all right. If It is some predica ment that some one else is in or some Idea that is not kindly or gentle then they are not all right. And, Willie, it Is about timo you went to bed now." "No woman ever did have a sense of humor," remarked the head of the family as he went out and silently closed the door after him. Nevr York Sun. THE HERO. He was eight years old and she was six. They were playing on the steps and their mammas on the veranda were listening. "Come here and 1 will tell you a story." Six-year-old obeyed, after the manner of women, and heard the following: "Out West there was a man living on a ranch and his nearest neighbor lived on another ranch, three miles away. One day the first ranchman sent his little daughter, who was five years old, over to the other ranch to get some milk. After , she got a long distance from home she saw some Indians coming toward her on horseback. She-counted and there were nine of them. She was very much frightened, for the Indians were riding fast, and were j-elling, and she knew they meant to kill her. There was no place for her to hide or to run to. When she looked around for help she saw a cowboy coming from the other direction. He was riding fast, too, for he saw the In dians and he knew they meant to kill the little girl. The cowboy had the best horse and he rode up between the little girl and the Indians and be gan to fight them. They dashed at him and yelled fearfully, but the cow boy killed six of the nine and the other three were so frightened at him and at the way he could shoot that they ran away and the little girl was saved. "And," he added impressively, plac ing his hand on his chest, "I was the cowboy." "The result," murmured one mamma, "of having been to a show. New York Press. RATS GOT WHAT THEY WANTED. While standing in a large wood shed, one end of which he had par titioned off with narrow slats as a fowl house. Mr. X heard a gnawing noise, and, looking about him, saw a large brown rat darting away from a dog-biscuit lying on the floor of the shed. . He decided to remain quiet and watch to sea whether this thie of his dog-biscuit wtuld return. Presently he did, and, slyly glancing at Mr. X as if to say, "Now you let me alone and I'll let you alone," his rat shiD began dragging the biscuit over toward the slat partition behind which were the fowls clucking and scratching. He reached the laths and tried to drag the biscuit through after him. It would not pass, being flat and broad. After some vain struggles with it, the rat vanished, to return with another of his acquaintance. The newcomer he stationed inside the fowl-house. He himself came out and seized the biscuit by one corner. He then began tilting it up on one side, and the adroit friend poked his head through the slats and steadied it with im. In a few seconds .the biscuit was held between tnem "up ana iown," and between one rat's push nc and the other rat's pulling from within the barrier, the prize was forced triumphantly through me slats. MOTHER HUMMINGBIRD. Such a tiny, tiny nest was that In which Mother Hummingbird and her two babies lived, hidden away in a bush so carefully that only Betty knew where It was, and she kept the secret to herself. But one day Betty began to think. Suppose it should rain, what could such wee birdies do, for a drop o rain would be almost enough to drown one of them? Mamma only smiled when Betty told her. "Wait until it rains, little daughter," she said. "Littlo Mother Hummingbird will know what to do." Sure enough. The next day it rained, ar.d what do you think the mother bird did? A good-sized leaf grew at one side of the little nest. Mother Humming bird took hold of the tip of the leaf and bent it over the nest. Then she fastened it to the other side to a little twig which happened -to be on the nest. There the birdies stayed. ! quite dry under the leaf rcof, until j the storm passed. Then the Mother i Humming! ird unfastened the leaf again. Primary Education. CaT iiV-'sh
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Oct. 16, 1908, edition 1
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