North Carolina Newspapers

Ml ri BE1 jl 1 J 11 8' t?3 IS fJ)evoted to the Trolcction of Home and the l7ilcrests of Hie Comity. Vol. II. GastoxiAj Gaston County, K Saturday Morning, October 22, 1881. No. 42. Ipsa Don't tell mo of to-morrow ! If wo look upon tho past. How much that wo have loft to lu Wo cannot do at lust 1 To-llty I It Is the only time For ull on this I'rull earth ; . It takes an age to form n life A moment gives It birth. Don't toll mo of to-morrow ! Glvo mo tlio man who'll wry, Whene'er a tfootl deed's to be done, lift 's do the deed 'to-day ; Wo may nil command the present, If we aet and never wait, Jlut'.ropontanco In the phantom .Oftlio past that comes too lute. THE CURE FOIl GOSSIP. Everybody must talk about something, Tbe poor fellow who wus tol l rfot to tali or tbe fear that people would find out that ihe was a lool, made nothing by the cxperi jnent. He wus considered a fool because he .did not talk. On some subject or another, everybody must have something to say, or give up society. Of course, the topic of conversation will relute to tbe subjects of Ifnowled-e. If a man is interested in science Jbe will tulk about science. Il he is an en ltbusiast in art, he will talk about art. If ilie is familiar with literature, and is an in telligent and persistent reader, he will inaturally put forward literury topics in his .conversation. So with social questions, po litical questions, religious questions. Out .of the abundance ol the heart the mnuth jSpcuketli., .That of which the mind is full that .with which it is furnished will come .out in expression. The very simple reason why the world is .full of ro8tip, is, '.hat those who indulge in it have nothing else in them. They munt interest themselves in pomething. They jit now nothing but what they learn from .day to day, in intercourse with, and obscr Tatioo of, their neighbors. What Ihe iicigh ibors do, what they say, what happens to them in their social and business affairs, .what they wear, these become the questions .of supreme interest. The personal and social 4'ife around them this is the book under .constant perusal, and out of this conn s that pestiferous onv.ef.ation which we call gos sip The world is full of it ; and in a mil lion houses, all over this country, nothing fa talked of but the personal iifl'.iirs of oeigbbors. All personal and 8' cial move ment and concerns are arraigned before this Jiigll .court of gossip, are retailed ut every preside, are-sweetened with approvul or embittered by spite, and ure guthered upas jcom m on ; stock of conversation by the bankrupt braius that have nothing to busy (themselves "With but tittle tattle. The moral aspects of gossip are bad .enough. It is a constant infraction of the Solden Rule; it is full of uncharitableness. No man or woman of sensibility likes to Lave his or her personal concerns hawked .about and talked about ; and those who engage in this work are meddlers and busy .bodies who are not only doing damnge to .oUiers-are not only engaged in a most un ricighborly office but are inflicting a great .damage upon themselves. They sow the .seeds of anger and animosity and social .discord. Not one good moral result can .come out of it. It is a thoroughly immoral practice, and what is worst and mopt hope less about it is, that those who arc engaged jn it do not see that it is immoral and de testable. To go into a man's house stealth ily, when he is away from home, and over haul bis papers, or into a lady's wurdrobe nd examine her dresses, would be deemed & very dishonorable thing; but to tuke up & man's or a woman's nume, and smuch it ,all oyer with gossip to handle the private .affaire of neighbors around a hundred fire sides why this is nothing ! It makes con versation. It furnishes a topic. It keeps (the whet Js o society going. Unhappily for public morals, the greed for personal gossip has been st zicd upon 08 tbe basis of a thrifty traffic. .There are aewspapers that spring to meet every popular .demand. We have agricultural papers, scientific papers, literary papers, sporting papers, religious, papers, political papers, and papers devoted lo every special interest, great and small, that can be named, and, among them, papers devoted to personal gossip. The way in which the names of men and women are handled by caterers for the public press, the way in which their movements and affairs arc her alded and discussed, would be supremely jdisgusling were it not more disgusting that these papers find greedy readers enough to jmike iIms traffic pr( fit able. The redeeming jibing about these papers is, that they ure .very low down that they sou son their .doses with flattery. They find their reward jn ministering to personal vanity. What is the cure for gossip ? Simply, .culture. There is grpat deal of gossip bat has no malignity ju it. Gjo-l ualured people talk about their neighbors because, and only because, they have nothing else ,to talk about. As we write, there c. roes jto os tbe picture of a family of young j ladies. v c have seen them at home, we have met them in galleiies of art, we have caught glipsis of them going from a book store, or a library, with u fresh volume in their bunds. When we meet them, they are full of what they huve seen and read. They are brimming with questions. One topic of e in-ers tlion is dropped only to give place to another, in which they nre interested We have left them, after a delightful hour, .stimulated and refreshed ; and during the whole boor not a neighbor's garment wus soiled by so much as a touch. They had something to talk about They knew some thing, and wanted to know more. They could listen as well as they could talk. To speck freely of a neighbor's doings and belongings would have seemed an imperti nence to them, and, of couse, an imprO' pricty. Tbey had no temptation (.0 gossip, because the doings of their neighbors formed a subject very much less interesting than those which grew out of their koowl edge and their culture. And this tells the whole story. The con firmed gossip is always either malicious or ignorant. The one variety needs a change of -heart and the other a change of pasture. Gossip is always a personal confusion either of malice or imbecility, and tbe young should not only shun il, but by tbe most thorough culture relieve themselves from ull temptation to indulge in it. It is a low, frivolous, and too often a dirty busi ness, there arc country neighborhoods in which it rages like a pest. Churches are split in pieces by it. Neighbors are made enemi. s by it for life. In nuuy persons it degenerutes into a chronic disease, which is practically incurable. L'.'t the young cure it while they may. Selected. POWER OF THE PRESS. One of the old-time editors of Michigan was boasting that he had never been sued for libel, or attacked in sanctum, but he could recall many narrow escapes. About twenty-five years ago he was running a red- hot paper on the line of the Michigan Cec tral Ituilroud. A man named Carson, who was running for some county t.ffiee, was given a bud racket, and the editor received u note that if he bad anything more to say he might expect to receive a good pound ing lie had a still more bitter attack the it xt week, and the paper was hardly mail ed before in walked Carson, the candidate, accompanied by a brother and two cousins. The four were struppinbjg fellows, and each wasarmid with a horsewhip. The two compositors and the " devil ' got out with II possible, speed, leaving the editor with out support, lie realized the situation at once, and began : Walk in, gentlemen. I presume you have come to horsewhip me?' ' We have," they answered. ' Very well ; have you thoroughly con sidered this mailer?' ' It don't need any consideration,' replied Carson. ' You have lied about me, and in going to lick you within an inch of your life.' 'Just so, my friend ; but first hear what have to say. Did you ever hear of tbe press being stopped because the ed itor wus cowhided ?' ' I duuuo.' Well, you never did. Lick me ull you choose, and my paper comes out week after week ull the same. Tbe power of the press is next to tbe lever which moves the uni verse. It ruukes or breaks parties, builds up or tears dowu, plants or destroys. Ag gravate the iditor and the press becomes a sword to wound or kill. Wollopmeif you will, but next week I'll come out mure bit ter than ever.' There was un embarrassing silence right heie, and the face of each borsewhipper had an anxious look. ' ' It will go out to the world to Amcri ca, Gaouda, England, France. uy, clear to Jerusalem, that the Carson family of this county live on roots and johnny cuke; that they stole a dog Irom a blind man; that they murdered a peddler for a pair of two shilling suspending ; that the women are club-footed, and the men work thejr curs when they sing ; that the ' ' What is the regular subscription to the Herald ? ' interrupted Curson. ' Only twelve shillings a year.' ' I'ut us four down.' " Very well six dollars that's correct. Run in and see me all of you, and it any ol you want tu sc" any of my Detroit tx ebaiiges I shall be only too glad to serve jOU.' A German was in a room with a dozen other lodgers, trying to sleep, but was kept awake by their ternlio snoring- At last occ of the snorers, who had been shakirg the building for lull an hour, gave a snort and stopped short. ' Tank (jolt, von ish tead J'1 said the dutchman. To meat a populur demand Florida sends bet cattle to Cuba. COURAGE IN EVERYDAY LIFE. "Moral Courage" wus printed in large letters and put as the caption of the following items, and placed in a conspicuous place on the door of a systematic merchant in New Yor5 lor a conslunt reference. Have the courage to discharge a debt when you have the money in your pocket. Have the courage to speak your mind when it is necssary that you should do so, and hold your tongue when it is prudent you should do so. Have tho courage to speak to a friend in a "seedy" coat even though you are in company with a rich one, and richly attired. Huve the courage to own you are poor, and thus disarm poverty of its sharpest sting. ' Have the courage to tell a man why you refuse to credit him. Have the courage to tell a man why you will not lend him your money. Have the courage to cut the most agreeable acquaintance you have when you are convinced that be lacks principle ; a friend should bear with a friend's infirmi ties, but not with bis vices. Have the courage to show your respect for honesty, in whatever guise it appears and your contempt for dishonesty and duplicity, by whomsoever exhibited. Have the courage to wear your old clothes until you can pay for new oms. Huve the courage to prefer comfort and propriety to fashion, iii all things. Have the courage to ocktowledgo your ignorance, rather than to seek lor knowl edge uuder false pretenses. Have the courage, in providing an entertainment for your friends, not to exceed your means. Have the courage to insure the property in your pissei-sion and thereby pay your debts in full. Have the courage to obey your Maker at the risk of being ridiculed by man. Selected. GET THE HOY'S HEART. Get hold of the boy's heart. Yonder locomutive with its thundering train comes like a whirlwind down the track, and a regiment of armed men might seek to ar rest it in vain. It would crush them and plunge unheeding ori. Pat there is a lever in its mechanism that, at the pressure of a man s band, will slack its speed, and a moment or two bring it panting and still, like a whipped spaniel, at your feet. By the same lever the vast steamship is guided hither and yonder, upon the sea, in spite of adverse winds and current. The sensi tiye and responsive spot by which a boy's life is controlled is his heart. With your grasp gentle and firm on that helm, you may pilot him whither you will. Never doubt that he bus a heart. Bad and Wilful boys very often have the tenderest heart, hidden away somewhere beneath incrusta tions of sia or behind barricades of pride1 And it is your business lo get at that heart, keep hold of it by sympathy, confiding iu him, manifestly working only for his good by little direct kindnesses, to his mother or sister, or even his pet dog. See him at his home, or invite him to yours, l'rovide him some little pleasures, set him to some little service of trust for you : love him, love him pructically. Any way and every way, rule him through his heart. S. S. Times. IHE DRUNKARD S WILL. I. leave society a ruined character, wretched example and a memory that will soon rot. I leave to my parents during the rest of their lives, ns much sorrow as humanity in a declining state can sustain. I leave to my brothers and sisters as much mortification and injury as I could bring on them. I leave to my wife a broken heart, a life of wretchedness and shame to weep over my prenature death. I give and bequeath to each of my chil dren proverty, ignorance and low character and the remembrance that their father wus a monster. A min wbo 'died in Nashville left direc tions to send his body to tbe lYnnsylvunia lunmce fi r cremation. His wife n fuses to have it done, and has placed a guard over his grave; but his two sons are determined to carry out his wish, and have betun a law suit to get posses-ion of the reman. s. A dandy of twenty-six having been termed au "old bachelor," nppoalid to an elderly gentleman to decide whether he should 'v cdled old or not, giving his age. ,'Twrnly si$," said the elderly gentleman, "it tsowirg to bow you take it. Now, (or a man it is young enough j but for a goose it ia rather old' m The cu livation cf tobacco is to be at tempted in Irelund. How to Teach the Use of Books. The editor of the Hartford Library Bul letin n commands : 1. L"t children learn that a booK is a thing to be treated with respect ; to be touched with elenn hands, and not to be left on the fbor at the mercy of ihe baby, dog, or cat. 2. Do not let tliew read anything that you have not read yourself. : 3. Read to them, and teach them to look for the explanation of allusions in books. Do not count time lost in coming to the library with them to see a portrait of tauten Elizabeth or a picture of a Roman chariot, or to find out why mince-pies are eaten at Thanksgiving. 4. Teach them to make scrap-books of pour's from history, poetry, or stories, and to find out what every picture means. For example: take three from a German publisher's advirtisement, Stephenson's prize; locomotive, Napoleon iu his corona tion robes, and Andreas Ilofer's last walk. First let the children read Smile's life of Stepbeneon, and if they grow to care for locomotives, what a field is open before them ! Then read to them a fair account of Napoleon. Don't let them have Abbott's for liny will be obliged to unlearn it all. When they are tired of him, find tbe touching story of Hofer and the Tyrolese insurrecion, and let them learn the translation of the ballad about him to speak at school. A book of pictures may be mada ef the greatest use in this way. 5. Do not let them depend on school "speakers" and the "Hundred choice selections" for the poetry which they must learn. Find it for them in Shakespeare or i-cott, or whatever poet you love, and arrange 'a scene from the Midsummer night's dream, the Tempest, or as you like it, and let them act it at Christmas or on a birthday. G. Keep an atlas at hand, and teach to the children in detail the historical geogra phy of England and tbe United States. If they learn where the English countries lie, and something about Scotland and France, so much the better. 7. Make the use of your well-bound and ilhistra'ied books a pleasure and privilege for Sunday afternoons and holidays, or a reward for work well done. It is astonish ing to a person who has not tried the expe riment to see how much a child absorbs from books like Froissart,Knight's History of Iv land, or a book of good engravings from celebrated pictures. t. Punn-mber Jacob Abbott's sensible rule, to give children something that they are glowing up lo, not awny from, and keep down their stock of children's books to the very best. PRESERVING MEAT. There is no gO( J reason why farmers and their families should eat so much salt pork, leaving all the fresh meat to the in habitants of cities and villages, when the following method will keep meat fresh for wetks, even iu Ihe warmest weather. As soon ns the animal beat is out of the meat, slice it up for cooking. Prepare a large jar by scalding it well with hot water and salt. .Mix salt-and pulverized saltpetre. Cover the bottom of the jar with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Tut down a layer of meat spri kle with salt and pepper the same as if it was just going to the table, and continue in this manner until the jar is lull. Fold a cloth or towel, and wet it iu strong salt and water in which a little of the saltpetre is dissolved. Press the cloth closely ever the meat and set in a cool place, Btfsure and press the cloth in tight ly as euch layer is removed, and your meat wit keep for months. It is a good plan to let the meat remain over night, after it is sliced, before pack ing. Then drain off the blood that oozes from it. It will be uecessury to change the cloth occasionally,' or take it off and wash it first iu cold water, then scald in salt and water as at first. In this way farmers can huve fresh meat all the year round, 1 have kept beef that was killed ou the eleveutb of February till the tweuty-first of June. Then I packed u large jar of veal iu the same way during dog-days, and it kept six weeks. This rtcipe alone is woilh the price of any newspaper in the laud. love yon -GUI). E. i!itin'ie. I. ivp him who first loved you, and while you rink into his arms. u::d surrender all to him, wiih n joyful, absolute, teif renuncia tion, Itt th's love swell and abound, til! tvtry fijiimnt of distrust shall be swept Ht, For against every challenge, in time r eternity, this may be the n joinder : "lie that spared not bis own Son, but delivered him up for ns all ; bow shall he not, wiih him, also freely give us all things !' . W. AU.raiuhr. A WEDDING IN WYOMING. . From the Oil City Derrick. Camping near the town, we secured our stock and then went in. Entering the lead ing store, I introduced myself to Mr. Stiles, one of tbe proprietors and the Postmaster. "It is now half past two, and at three there's to be a wedding down the street at Jonas Burton's. Old Jonas is a rough old coon that we elected Justice of the Peace about a month ago, and, as this will be his first attempt nt a marriage, I think we will see Borne fun. Come and go down with me." We went to the old 'Squire's cabin. We found him poring over a large volume of the statutes of Wyoming, sweating like a horse and looking terribly anxious. After greeting us he said : . " Stiles, the durned galoots tfaet got up these 'yer laws hadn't gunption enough lo last 'em over night. I've run through the blamed book a half a dozen times, an' can't find a dod blasted word about metermony, or how the hitchin' process is proceeded with. I've just got ter put the clamps on this couple hit or miss, an' ef I don't yoke 'em up legal I can't belp it." ' Ob !' said Stiles, 'just do the best you can. Any kind or a ceremony will do in this country, for people 'II never question the legality of the thing. I'll post you as well as I can." Stiles then explained to him about bow he should proceed, and the old man finally thought he could worry through in tolera ble shape. Ere' long the couple appeared, followed by a crowd of the citizens of the camp. The candidates stood up before the 'Squire, who begaii : ' Feller citizens, this 'yar man an' this 'yar woman have appeared before the court to be hitched in the legal bands of wed lock. If any galoot in the mob knows of anything that mout block the game ef tuk to a higher court, let bin now toot bis bazoo, or else keep his jaw to himself now and forevermore. All iu favor o' me per ceedin' as ortlmrized by the law say I." Everybody said ' I,' ' Contrary, ' no." Nobody said 4 no.' 1 The motion's carried unanimously, an' the Court rules that thar hain't nnthin' to pervent the tryin' of the case. Grip yer fir.3.' The candidates joined hands. 'Amos Peabody, do you solemnly swa'ar thet ye'II freeze to 'Mandy furever an' ever ! That ye'll love 'cr, an' pervide lur 'er, an' treat 'er squar an white, accordin' to the rules an' regulations sot down to govern sieh cases in the laws o' the United Stales, so help yer Go?' ' Yaas, sir ; I do, sie.' ' That fixes your end o' the bargain. 'Mandy Thomas, do you solemnly swa'ar : that ye'll hang on to Amos for all comin' time, that you'll nuss him in sicknes an' be sqnar' to him in wellness, that ye'll always be to him a good, true, honest, up-an'-up wife under the penalties prescribed by the laws for the punishment of sieh offences j do you swa'ar this, so help yer God ?' ' I swa'ar I will.' ' Tben by the power in me vested as Justice o' the Peace, in an' lur this pre cinct, I pronounce you, Amos Peabody, husband, an' you, 'Mandy Thomas, wife, and legalize ye to remain as sieh now an' furevermore, an' ye'll stand committed till the fees an' costs in the case be paiJ in full, an' may God have mercy on your soul an' bless this uniou with his heftiest blessin's.' The fees and costs were adjusted, and, after receiving the congratulations of the assembly, the newly made husband and wife departed for their cabin up the creek HUSBANDS AND WIVES. A good husband makes a good wife. Some men can neither do without wivvr nor with them ; they are wretched alone in what is called single blessedness, and they make their homes miserable w hen they get married ; they are like Tompkins' dog, which could not bear to be loose and howled when it was tied up. Happy bach elors are likely to be happy husbands, and a happy husband is the happiest of men. A will-matched couple carry a j y ful life between them, as two spies carry the cluster of Eschol. They are a brace of birds of paradise. They multiply their j u s ! by sharing them, and lessen their troubles 1 by dividing them. Theirs is fine arithmetic The wago-i of care rolls lightly along as they pull together, and when it drugs il little heavily, or there is a hitch anywhere, they love each oilier the more, and so lighten the labor. John Vlou jhmiui. A clergy mau, in a lrctare on "How to Get Marritd,1" said : "Every man wants a wife, and every weman wants a husband." But the great difficulty is that the woman the man wants won't have him, and the man the woman wants wants some other woman. RELIGIOUS NEW! Fro.n Sunday's Raleigh Observer. There appears to be much interest mani fested in the various revivals in all parts of the State. Work is going on slowly at the Primi tive Baptist church, at the corner of Daw son and Morgan streets. The press of the State deeply deplore the untimely death of Rev. A. A. Boeham er, and many beautiful tributes are paid bis memory. The new Second Baptist church of this city is greatly admired by its congregation. It is certainly a well arranged and commo dious building, such as the rapidly growing congregation needed. The walb of the new Methodist church are now. up to a height of some ten feet, and the proportions of the ground plan are maniftst. The church, when completed, will probably retain the name of 10 Jen ton Street Church, as at present. It was iu contemplation to give it the name of the " Metropolitan Methodist Church," a very appropriate designation. Tbe Presbytery of Wilmington met in Union church, at Faisou's Depot, on the 6th iustant, and by request was opened with a sermon by Rev. H. B. McAlpiue. This Presbytery is the smallest in the Syn od of North Carolina. It kas 15 ministers, 115 elders, 73 deacons, 33 churches and about 2,000 communicants. There was present a fair representation from the churches 14 ministers and 22 elders, 3G delegates in all. The narrative on tbe state of religion within the bounds of the Pres bytery gave some pleasing indications of progress. Colonel Walter Clark writes an inter esting letter from London, in which he gives the closing events of the great Ecu menical Conference. He says : ." The Cob ference consisted of 436 delegates, and there were very few seats unfilled. Repre sentatives were there from all parts of the globe. From California to Maiue tbe Meth odist churches sent many of their best men, including the pick of their bishops Simp sou, McTyeire, Warren aud Peck, besides two or ttiree colored bishops, including Bishop Hood, of our own Slate. Among the lay delegates were the ex commander of the Thirteenth Federal Army Cjrps, an ex-Confederate tnajor-ge neral and several ex-judges. A DEF1NA7ION. A little girl had seen her broLher play ing with his burning-glass, and heard him talk about the 1 focus.' Not knowing the meaning of the word, she referred to the dictionary, and found that the focus was ' the place where rays meet., At dinner, when the family was as.;eni bled, she 'announced, as grand as could be : 'I know the meaning of one big word.' ' And pray tell me what it is,' said her father. ' Oh, it is Ihe word focus' said Mary. ' Well, my child, what is its meaning V inquired the parent. 'Why,' she said, 'it is a place where they raise calves.' This, of course, caused a great laugh, but she stuck to hepoint, and produced the dictionary to prove that she was right, 'There?' said she, triumphantly, study ing each word carefully, ' Here it is ; ' Focus a place where they the rays meet; and if they raise meat, they raise calves. And so I am right, ain't 1, father, dear?' LONG COURTSHIPS. B.'yond a certain point there is no pro gress in courtship. When the put lies to the affair have arrived at t tie conviction that they were "made for each other," and cannot be happy apart, the sooner they becon.e 'one and inseparable" the letter. Ante nuptial afLciions is as mobile as quicksilver, and wbec it has reached its highest point tbe safest policy is to merge it iu matrimonial bliss ; otherwise, it 11137 retrograde. Very-long courtships often end in a pack out one side or the other the retiring parly being iu most cases "inconstant man." Aim! we would hint to that unreliable being that he has no right to dangle alter an estimable woman for J-ar3 itl,c,u 6" &rion of marry- '"a hi r. I he best thing u lady can do I under such circumstances is t bring mat ters to a loctw, by .aslng the point- n-point gentleman wait he means, mid when ? She can eitlnr d.i that or dismiss h m altogeth er. Peril ps tlie latter p'an would in mout instances be the b. Iter one, for a man who is slow to matrimony is generally slow iu all the concerns of life. There u enuff advice now laving around loose to run just three sue worlds tz this . what we are suffering most for is sum more good examples. lidling.