HE
FRANKLIN PRESS
uMIME XXI.
PUTTY
A TALE OF A
Ey John
Number seven shed In Rldgeway
Brook mill was admittedly the mo3t
exclusive and conservative room In
the factory, and was managed not so
much by Its overlooker and "lacklorB'"
a by an old and privileged hand call
ed Peggy Pratt, who had been there
time out of count, and was apparently
as much a fixture la the iron pillar
which stood at her loom end.
Nearly all the ljjinds employed at
the time of our Btqry were her nomi
nee, and how Jessie lcave came to
obtain the pair of looms which were
vacant when Sally Hunter got married
Was a mystery which puzzled the rest
of the hands and seriously piqued
Peggy. It was a crisis. Peggy had a
feeling that her prestige was at stake;
but as the looms had been given by
the head overlooker, who scarcely ever
Interfered In such matters. Peggy,
after some reflections, was philosopher
enough to see that the surest way to
retain unauthorized dominion Is not to
strain It, and so she resolved to "take
It out" of the newcomer.
She had been sulky and wordless all
morning, therefore, but by the break
fast Interval had made up her mind.
At the entrance end of the shed, where
the tacklers" stood, whs an open apace;
and when the engine stopped the weav
ers assembled here, ' and, squatting
bdoui on me noor or on upturned cup-
kips, took their miming meal. ' En
tine and machinery being still, thee
was unwonted silence, except for De
clatter of women's tongues. The Cw
arrival did not Join the company but
sank Bhyly down at the far endof ner
loom alley, almost hidden llnd the
beam. It was about twOfourl elnce
Jessie Qleave came amsfag them and
In that short time everiTW0II,tI) ln ,ne
place had Inspected er ad COuld
have told almost every gmch Bhe wore.
They kne-MMjth, wag married
ger to that part
ad .likewise dls-
," the tacklcr who
care, was smitten
t ahe had
the best
Bhe had
the shed.
1
is
ft
1o
- FACE"
WEAVING-SHED.
AcKworth.
low, masculine sort of voice; the more
reasonable were not surprised. In the
dlnner-bour ths better singers, and
those who could not sing but thought
they, could, were sometimes roughly
constrained to give solos; and on sev
eral occasions Slippy Jane, who was a
.sort of self-appointed stage-manager,
invited Jessie, whom Bhe called "Putty
face," to "oblige the company." Jessie
joined In her soft, quiet way in the
laugh. against hor, but nobody thought
seriously of pressing her to sing. Then
Slippy Jane made a discovery. Spying
In Jessie's 'temporary absence lu the
warehouse, among the newcomer's per
sonal belonging, "she came across a
paper-back copy "of "The Messiah."
With a. little whoop of triumph Jane
held It tip, and in a few seconds some
thfrjy girls were standing round ex
amining and discussing It.
me secret, such as It wasas out,
and for three daysjpoojtaje was bul
lied and.1 untu ner paie fBCe
grew pltj(ui t0 brtoia. And then an
amazing thing occurred. One after
noonne telegraph boy a rare comer,
,ndeSM-was led into the shed, and
C0IMfucted straight, to Jessie. A few
m,fiu'les later he departed with a reply,
aDM at four. o'clock Jessie stopped her
Vtams and went home. What could It
Lmeanf 8ome thought she was leaving
tne spop for good, but when Jessie
came back next morning more weary
locking than ever, the queen of the
shop was Jeered so unmercifully for
her failure ' that she determined to
drive her. away. On Friday, the pay
day, Peggy Pratt, who had all day been
unusually taciturn, left the shed and
went out.
In ten minutes she was .back, with
the still damp local paper Just Issued.
8ho threw off her shawl, called to hor
side Dinah Belt, who acted as public
reader to the shed, and, handing her
the paper doubled down at a certain
paragraph, laconically commanded her
to read.
Dinah did as she was biddenand an
nounced:
"Miscellaneous ConcerLham,,,
e extract
singer herself. All fear, all shyness
bad gone, the face had become Impas
sioned; the singer had escaped them,
forgotten them, floated out of their
reaSh, her throat swelling, her face
glowing, and her eyes ablaze with
glory. She was somewhere else, sing
ing to somebody else, and all the fire
and passion of her soul were in her
song. Every eye was riveted upon her,
fascinated and hypnotized, the music
forgotten ln the musician; they watch
ed and watched, and suddenly another
flush and an eager, radiant smile pass
ed over her face, tears gushed from
eyes that seemed drowning In glory;
she swayed a moment, expanded her
chest for a last eort, and the next mo
ment lay swooning on the floor.
When Jessie came to herself, nothing
would Induce her to go home, and by
three o'clock, whiter and wanner than
ever, she bad set her looms going.
But that was the qtiietest'afternoon In
the history of Number Seven shed,
and though little was said, everything
that those rough natures could think
of was done to atone for the past.
Jessie was not ln ber place next
morning, neither was Peggy Pratt.
The latter, however, came at breakfast
time, and as soon as the weavers had
got all seated, with thelr eatables In
t"lJapX-rnrflieTr cans at theooTfleT
or their knees, Peggy camjB out of her
loom alley, and, standing Id their
midst,. commanded, "Hearken!"
Attention was not difficult to get,
for they had not yet recovered from
the sudden sobering of the day before,
and most of them felt there must be
something yet to be told.
Even the rattle' of spoons and. can
handles stopped.
"I've found out all about that that
there singer."
The listeners were forgetting to eat.
"She won a scholarship for singing,
an' wur golh' to London fur t' larn to
be a perfessional."
One or two looked a little supercili
ous. "And her folks wanted her to brelk
It oft wi' ber chap, 'cause he wur sick
ly." The mention of her "chap" raised a
little giggle among the juniors, but it
was suppressed by sternest glances.
"An' 'stead 'o that she married him
and chucked London up."
A low murmuring, supported by
fifty pairs of shining eyes.
"And her folks took ageaa her for
It; and when he wur took bad she had
to tak' tt her weyvlng agvln to keep
him and his mother."
Short little gasps of interest and
several biting epithets.
An' she's gotten him big doctors
f xpenslve things to do him good.
rly worked herself to death.
her to stop wi' him yester-
epuldn t, they were too
1
FRANKLIN. N. C. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 22.
CUSTOMS OF NAVAJOS.
WIVES ARE BOUGHT AND THE
MOTHER-IN-LA'7 RULES.
Old Husbands for Young Girls The
Marriage Ceremony Simple Super
Gtiticns Prevent the Navajos From
Digging Graves Funeral Feasts
and Cuctoms.
The Navajo Is somewhat polyga
mous In tendency, but as he has to
pay roundly for each wife only the
most wealthy of the tribe can afford
the luxury of several wives.
When a young wife has grown old
and ugly, the husband often discards
her, taking unto himself a younger
and prettier one. Thus he takes his
wives tandem, Kistcad of abreast as
tho Mormons did.
The Nnvajo secures bis wife by
purchase and tho Navajo maiden
never lacks offers of marriage. She
Is not at liberty to choose for herself,
but is a sort of stanJing Invitation,
which her mother holds out, for in
formal proposals.
The Navajo mother-in-law Is the
greatest on earth, for the daughter
belongs to her mother until .married-,.
r wmfrmr bridegroom also becomes
the property of his mother-in-law,
with whom he is required to live. As
he Is also requited never to look her
in the face, existence becomes a com
plicated problem.
The young girl seldom gets a
young husband and the young man
seldom gets a young wife.. Property
among tho Navajos Is mostly posses
sed by the old men, so they are, as a
rule, able to offer a larger price for
the girl than is the young man who
has not yet had time to accumulate
his fortune. It requires several
ponies and a good flock of shoep to
buy a young and buxom Navajo
maiden.
"I recently witnessed an old squaw
leading a young girl about 10 years
old, ln the school grounds at the
Navajo agency," says a writer In the
Indian School Journal. "As she ap
proached the agent'c jfflce she fell
upon ber face by the sidewalk and
Immediately Bet up a loud, mournful
walling.
"'Some of her people must be
dead," I said to tho agent.
" Mo,' he replied. 'I know tho old
lady well. You see that little girl
sitting ttjere on tho sidewalk beside
her? Well, that girl is about ten
years old. j A short time ago her
mother ytLl her to an old man for
his wlfe.Vf
"'He Is JO years old and stone
blind. The "mattervwaa reported to
me, and I ordered her . to bring" the
little girl to the agency and put ber
Aaarhool,?" f" fiir' -n tl
gan Aai burn it up, with Its contents,
thus cremating the body.
Believing that an evil spirit enters
a body at death, and that if they
come In contact with the dead this
evil spirit will enter Into their bodies,
they are afraid to touch a corpse or
even the house ln which the person
died
Upon the death if the head of a
Navajo family all of his possessions
go to his relatives brothers, sisters,
etc., instead of descending to his
wife and children. This custom Is,
perhaps, the most harmful In effect
of any practised these days by the
Navajo.
It often leaves the wife and chil
dren destitute, especially where the
husband owned the flocks as well as
the cattle and the ponies. However,
the Navajo women usually own the
flocks, in which case the mother and
children have some means of scanty
support at least.
SEEKS TO GROW OUR TOBACCO.
Japan Imports American Product Now
But Plans to Raise It at Home.
Under authority of the tobacco
monopoly bureau of Japan, which is
operated as an adjunct o the -Pepartr
ment of Finance T. Abe of Tokio
called at the Department of Agricul
ture, Washington, D. C, with creden
tials from ViBcount Aokl, the Japanese
Ambassador, to ascertain exactly the
amount of tobacco raised In Virginia
and North and South Carolina, a part
of which is sent to Japan, as well as
the method of production.
Mr. Abe made no secret of the fact
that the Japanese government desired
all Information possible regarding the
culture of this particular grade of to
bacco In order that Japanese farmers
may successfully grow It, and thus do
away wlih the necessity of importing
American-grown tobacco. Several at
tempts have been made to cultivate
the American promtct in Japan, but
failure inevitably resulted because the
tobacco produced lacked the aroma
characteristic of the American pro
duct Such Information as the depart
men had was given to Japan's repre
sentative, who later left for Connecti
cut to Inspect the Government experi
mental station In that State.
The Government has become alarm
ed over the effect on American tobac
co exports due to Governmental mon
opolies abroad, having In mind the
conditions existing In France, Italy,
Spain, Austria, and Japan, and to meet
these conditions and to prevent, so
far as possible, a curtailment of Amer
ican exports of tobacco, there waa In
corporated In the Agricultural Appro
priation bill recently an amendment
providing for an investigation It
puntrlet where the busines;
1006.
Killing Dandelions.
Many Inquiries have bce.i address
ed to this department asking for advice
on how to kill dandelions In lawns.
The best means, of course, and Biirert.
Is to dig them up, root and all. This is
tedious, however, and expensive. Try
In case the digging process Is not em
ployed, the sulphate of iron solution.
Use a good Blzed handful to three gal
lons of water and sprinkle this over an
area twenty feet square. It will not
Injure the grass and will kill the
dandelions at least some of them.
8hoW Birds for Egg Production.
One of the beet Investments the
writer ever made was a $25 cock In
troduced among a flock of pullets
raised from a-dollar-a-dozen eggs.
The pullets were fairly well bred, and
from good laying stock, but the In
troduction of the high-bred cock, a
show bird In the Bense that he was
bred for perfect markings and form
according to the standard and scored
over 90, gave me chicks that were a
good many percent, better from the
standpoint of egg production than
their mothers.
Summer Use of Grains.
The feeding problem in some sec
tions Is quite formidable in the slim
mer as ln the winter, and this is par
ticularly the case where the feeding
Is largely done In the barn, which,
by the way, Is becoming more popu
lar every year among dairymen. What
grains one shall use depends largely
upon the methods which individual
feeders have found most profitable In
the past, but corn, In the summer ra
tion, must be sparingly used. The
stock foods or the concentrated grains,
purchased already mixed, ought also
to be handled carefully and particu
larly so when little or no pasture Is
given the animals.
No All-Round Poultry Food.
A correspondent asks for some poul
try food which will answer for gen
eral purposes that Is, a food which
t' MilLJ)ppg lay, which Is also good
d which may be
IfiStiedi
4re
V
background for a bed of flowers or a
fine plant for the side of the yard
where the clump plunts are put in.
Those who have little time to de
vote to the cultivation of flowers
"sbould plant biennials and perennials.
Many of them are very attractive and
none require much care.
The Onion Maggot.
Every onion grower should prepare
to combat this destructive pest and
begin early. The onion maggot Is the
Immature stage of a small fly that
lays eggs In the onion when they are
very small. The fly looks something
like a small house fly. The maggot
appears when the plants are quit
young and works directly into the
bulb entirely destroying it for use.
Of course all Infested plants should
be carefully taken out and burned as
soon as discovered.
Treatment with kerosene and sand
for small patches of onions and treat
ment with commercial fertilizers for
large fields Is recommended. The kero
sene and sand treatment consists of
placing sand with herosene oil along
side the young plants, but not quite
touching hem. It keeps the flies from
laying their eggs and kills some young
maggots outright. Use a cupful of oil
to a bucketful of dry sand.
The fertilizer treatment Is as fol
lows: With hand plow turn aside the
soli from the rows of young plants,
making a little furrow on each side
of the row, then sow broadcast about
600 pounds of kanlt and 200 pounds of
nitrate of soda per acre; turn back the
soil and wait for rain. When the rain
comes it will wash the salty fertilizers
Into the soil and kill the maggots, be
sides stimulating the plants to fresh
vigor and thus help them to overcome
the effects of the pests. The Epitomise.
Earth for Hog Pen Floors.
While the cement floor may be the
Ideal one for the hog pen, as claimed
l:y many swine breeders, our experi
ence has been that the floor of earth,
If It Is of clay and gravel, will answer
the purpose equally well with a small
number of swine. If we had large
herds we should certainly use cemeat,
which can be applied at any time With
the earth floor as a foundation.
The one floor which ought not to be
used is that of plank, and the reasons
Iu scd
Nre obvious to every one who fcrSps 1 1
Wine. They aiwiM. wet aniv'
MJiUBKtt 34.
PECULIAR PCUKLE.
Plil you ever observe when you ride en
a rft r.
How funny tho people all seem?
If you flit, or you stuml, or you hang on a
Mrap.
It aipcuis very much like a dream.
There s tin- man vltu is gilnnlng as hard
as lie can.
Tho woman whoso hat is ajar,
Tho Tollow whoso nose la as red as a
boot
Thcso peuple wo soo on a car.
There's the man who ia wearing a very
blink v Ifj,
Another vlth no li-iir at all,
A spoil with a verv lo-.ul checker-board
vo t,
His neighbor clone uo In a shawl;
A woniiin with diamonds woith thlrty
fivo cents.
A girl chewinc iium. with a scar
You smile for you think they are funny
Indeed.
These people wo soo on a car.
There's tho j;irl who Is bowing to men
on the fctroot.
The woman vvlio can't find her fare;
The fellow von ai lc to get off your toes.
And tli- klil v.lih the yellow-red hair;
The man who h:is remnants of egg on
hlH chin.
Another with Irilf a cigar.
A grav-luireil old tinner who's trying te
flirt
Those people wo see on a car.
L'envol.
But wait! Now,
perhaps.
I'm forgetting
invself
The t nought almost gives me a Jar;
I'erhaps they are thinking tho same
things of me
These people 1 soo on a car.
Vonkers Statesman.
. '
"Papa, what is satire?" "Well, for
example, when your mother asks me .
how much I've won at the prayer meet-
ing."-Llfe.
Wlgg: Do you believe that every -man
has his price? Wagg: No. Lota
of men give themselves away. Phila
delphia Record.
Preceptor Your translation today
bore marks of distinction. Student
Yes, I put 'em there because people
were always borrowing It er .
Princeton Tiger.
"If a thing Is worth doing at all It
should be well done," remarks the man
who butts In. "Except when you order f
a rare steak," replied the ready re-.
torter.'-Mllwaukee Sentinel. -
Mrs. Upperten:Yes, my daughter re
fused Lord Addlepate because he waa : ,
old, poof, corrupt, weak-minded, a
physical wreck and she didn't love :
him! Mrs. Newly rich: What fools
young girls are! '
Rimer: I think the Idea is certainly
poetical. I might make It into a quat- .
rain; would you? Crlttlck: I would
not. Rimer: How would you put It ;
out, then? Crlttlck: I would not
Philadelphia Press. - '
I've been reading aboutf
v,vretaln