North Carolina Newspapers

VOL XIV. '.J.:.';- - COLUMBUS, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBEK 17, t908. NO. 33. , mm T H thKHRlT .CH I LD3 BIRTH DAY. IH.& feNT By MAY C. RINGWOLT. - i. Si with- her sweet ng enthusiasm. to id. them of the uist Ctrristmastide - of, the Christ r..iid" cradled Jn pital fo little children who have crippled legs, and arms, and poor, crooked backs, sick children who caiPi runahd play, but have te hobble about on crutches or lie in bed all aay. wouwn t you like to make r,i ,' , ) v iiiw , ?. ,r iiac iu4ro i vu, m umtr , errata - ! ine manger because their Christmas bo happy that they'd "I've so mufeh to A II ' -,x nan nb rnnm fllrr- .Vioir nalnf" . i, 1 h i-ict ti'a Mrnl -nf I Hpr 4tti)1q ffolWdi. w hU ..' the Pin! 'i l-lit i iiusnuujiw wi I . v. i v. . i up iucii cagci i v . I enntr hvtht art.- nods at' asasnnt q a cAtHan h.l i tn t','1 s'u1' .loras waiumug meir ; aiaenng pesns. l Knew you woulll. US lU . . . Wall ... ... U locks by r.isr.i. j i-w bw8,w tt yon a Bwrrei. flare's !; ' 'yi, uwvBjr,eis ; ouo iwmiu cunnuonuauy near. me jnrinff (j i an iuc icoi,u tuiii.i wjwg vuiwulob were IU UBYt) qUHUfc- , ' . . .4 iti4il . . . !nna -school, none was o luyeiy-aa ; uwr iitue serviqf , uown uere, ana , own Miss Maua laftne iain" ime shining yellow. She was certain . over there oh the platform will be an angels had the i empty manger, andaa we sin our Christmas carols, we are aoina to mar$h up to the manger and isach put liTa gift for some little Christ child at the hospltai Won't we have a jolly time deciding what; to bring! Why, it will be almost as exciting as if every girlie of, you . were playing Santa Clans!" Again Clarice's smiling face was clouded by a scowl, and1 one rude elltowepoked the. new scholar's arm. "Clarice!" exclaimed Miss Maud, severely. "She's crowding me!" defended a .sulky voice. hair. Did they ing what a lucky girlie she was to have two lively legs, and a straiehfc 1 strong back. Aghes remembered the time, be fore dear fathers death, when they lived in a cunning cottaec-of thtir own on a pretty avenue, but now mother and she hai only one room at the top of a gloomy house on a forlorn back street. Still , as her feet clattered up the dark, nncarpeted stairs, her heart Was full of happiness because she had reached home at lait-; for even one room is. home when mother is there. Oh, mother," er-laimed Agnes, And cuddled in mother 1p . an -.- V i sue 'and it wao Just beautiful! We took Miss Maud looked up at the . li'-tle Upng walks, and, In the evening, in fer own figure shrinking back into a steac corner. The' child's eyes were lumin ous; ner race flushed, her lips parted stead of the stupid sewing,, you told me the lovelist stories. ! " I rJ lit. io.tb, tjAUiiiiueu muuici , witu Agnes was so intently listening tc a Bad 8miie, "when there is no work that I'm siirejihedldii'r realize Ithere is no nay no money to buy j.i j. i i m i i - r . . - mat sne .-was leaning against anyone. I'm surprised at you, Clarice!" A cheek hid its shamed crimson in the soft muff. To have Miss -Maud "-surprised" at you was ignominy itself! Her tears wet the violets. It, was all Agnes' fault. She would never for give her never! And when Sunday-school was over and Agnes, with a timid smile, asked if she might walk up the street with Clarice, that unladylike little girl slipped .her anxL.through that of her chum, Anabel, and, whispering and giggling, stalked by Agues without a word. ' The teanr came Into Agues eyes, !lpte door softly opened, and a little brown shadow of a girl with a small pink object 'hugged to her breast slipped timidly In For a-moment Agnes'stood dazed, as if she had sud denly entered fairyland, fbr yre bare walls of tho reom were! festooned heavy ropes of Christ mas greens, shades at the windows were d all the ehandeiiers -bril- her neck, a hand n.'t wy .Ww 4llaatly Ughted, while above the await Aanea sweet! nvattrr vid th hrH $b -Shone a glorious electric Child of oM and hn'wit. hirfhdov str. Then, ashamed of being so late. was to be kent. by lsiviniwwnts to poor, sick liUre calldren left In mi piace. . And, mother," she cried, x m going to give a aou jusi: use my own dear Peggy! Do you think, mother dear if i- sewed, too, you know you could vget the dollie dressed in time?" The smile faded from mother's lips, and the arm about her girlie trembled. "My dear Httle Agnes," she murmured, with a catch in her voice, "mother is so sorry to disap point you." She paused, then brave ly went on, "AgneS has grown tobe such ar little woman that mothe" is going to explain everything to her. You know, dear,, for three "whole weeks mother bad no work to do." Yes," chimed in Agnes, gaily. hurriedly tiptoed to. her plact the vacant seat beside Clarice. ance mei ner wun aycoia sxare, the gate of Agnes' eyes never reached the unkind Mttle4trrs face, for it rested In fascinate awe upon a vision of beauty n uiarrce s arms.. Tt was a doll such as.tairies might dream of. She had dark, .clustering curls, and ftfttilfteefot Vown eyes. Her cheeks gloayed with; color, and there was the ctmningest dimple in Bel round chin, he was dressed in claret velvet trimmed, in; white silk, an wore a clareT velvet poke bonnet With white silk strings and an, ex quisite White plume gracefully touch ing the brown cur on-hS right side. Ana best of Hhe hedl a sfecklace kofgold beads, and gold bead brace- ryr dangling ever her hands. h& -murmured' Agnes, "won't your Itttie hospital girl he pleased?" "My little hospital girl!" scorn fully whispered back Clarice. 44 You dof't suppose I'd give my best,dQll away! Here'amy present" nuhe held MEETING OF CONGRESS M mm ii PSiis Congressional Summary. ' The business of both- houses pf. Congress was confined largely to list ening to the reading of the Presi- dent's annual message but in addi tion a few nills were introduced both in the Senate and the House and in the 'House a number of" bills was sent .to conference, among them being one providing fc a new immigration sta tion in Boston. In addition, the Speaker announced the apointment .of Mr. Higgins, of Connecticut, teVa place eu the com mittee on the jadierary, in place of Mr. Littlefield ad; of Mr. Martin to Results in a Number of People Losing Their Lives OF GREAT EXCITEMENT Prematero Explosion cf an Enormous Blast of Powder Hear Colon Claimi Ten Dead and Fifty fejored. vear those fascinating gold hairpins, too? One was slipping but from the soft fluff over Miss Maud's left ear. If only sho dared tell her! But that morning she had asked the mwfult privilege of holding Miss Maud's muff a rich sable with a beautiful-.kainch of violets fastened to it and there was no courage left for further inti mate speech. Suddenly the spell was broken, and Clarice turned- with angry jerk from the object pf her worship-, and fiercely scowled at an inoffensive little girl sdhted beside her. Excu me," Ineekly apologized Agnes, the new scholar. Clarico drew her light blue silk fkirts away from the dingy, brown casbmerertcuchlng them; held herself very straight: and, with a superb dig nity, sniffed the violets on the muff. : ' And now, my dears," said. Miss Baud, "as you know, Wednesday will be another birthday of the Christ Child ;and who wants every one here to give !!;:n a present just asyou noma g:-p a present to "your own "ttle brother pn. his, birthday at Kriv.i r ft j t ' a. t n r sm on ran mm v uti i rou v .n ier how vou can do that ! orhood iato which they had moved, Kin?: 3r mI rk kVV ylrJL Ci m. W Bmiv for inom'&r would not let her play with the little girls, in the new neigh HANGING THE STOCKING. Hwni'ii anything to eat nor coal to keep us out a box of jack-straws .'-ady, La warm." j cile and 1 simply stopped lo." $he 4Wa st pvsrv day. thoneh. mother . airily tossed her head.? "We're on dear, and most generally always we onr way to a Christmas $ve party.r left nrist Child has become . a uwuus . uc sinm. cu -" in Heaven? I'll tell you. He in I.isV.lacp all the noorr little Kirls and. boys in this W world, -and told us t in giving to them we give to Him Vnt far awaj is4a ttPHtr h9.3- and boisterous, and used naugnty words, and she was very" lonely. But she was a brave ljttle soul, and dash ing away the tears, she was soon skipping along in the sunshine, think- THE ANGEL AND THE SHEPHERDS. MM IM ill U I I I ll III had a fire "Yes, dear, -because a kind man let us have all that we needed, and trusted mother to pay for It when she got work agsin. So, you see. Agues, the money that mother Is making now does not really belong to us.-hu-t every cent must go to pay our debts." A small head solemnly nodded, "Itiurts mother very much not to give her dkrling any Christmas toya nor let her girlie'B kind heart have its wish about the dollie for'the poor sick little child at the hospital,, but Agnes will try to be a good little girl aboflit, wout she?" doWiT ' ri v38BM'fiifl SHlEBHi8 And L auael said unto tlkem, temoot; for, behold, i tidings of great joy. Albert KdeHeit. bring you good L- . .- e arms aoout motner s nect: tightened their hold, but Agnes' mouth twitched, and she had to ulink very hard to keep back the tears. If she had no present to lay in .the Christmas manger, how would the Christ Child know that she loved Him? "Of course," 'she r.rgued to herself, "I couldsplain in mrprayers that I had" nothing to give." But nad sue nothing? Her face suddenly crimsoned, great lumn choked her little throat. Tilers was Peggy herself! Without speaking, she go from mother's lap, and darted across the room to her little bed. There, propped up by a pillow, sat Peggy tn a stiff pink calico dress. The curls had all be6n combed out of P 'ggy s straccllng hair: the roses ha loBgjla,!er ago faded from er cheeks,5 and.iiLa sad: accident Perry feast parted cpm pay with the end of her nose. 44 You dear!" whispered Agnes. Her Hps formed & determined line. How could she have thought of giving Peggy up! What would she do all day without a dolUe to play with? What would she do at night without a dollie to sleep on the pillow beside her?. But how disappointed her sick "Form in line, my dears," Inter rupted Miss Maud, briskly.- "Yes, our clas3 comes last, but you , must sing all the time we're jDoarching. ' The, children's voices -caroled joy ously "'as the prOcestslon pressed for ward, but-one little singer waa mute. She was the last in the1 liue;'a llttlb brown shioW of a girlf withxa email pink object bugged td her breast. Miss Maud stood by the manger r now f heaped with all sorts'4f,'playthinga, 1 and nodded and smiled as each wee member, of her class approached. Puzzled, she watched kgnes pause, look at the manger wH;H frightened eves, -and hesitate. Tien she saw the small pink object ;itah tovthe child's lips, and heard tiie -ound of a smacking khte-qf farfiwell before tremblrng hands laid I a doll with straggly hair, faded cheeks and a brokien' nose among the new" toys. "Why, my dear" cried Miss. Maud, putting her arms about. Agnes, " what Is the. matter?" J vt A great sob shook the tiny figure. "Tell me aH ateeut tt," comforted.4 Miss Maud. "And Agnes brokenly confided the -whole story. But as she explained bow mother's money j belonged to somebody else, and how she had noth ing to give the Christ Child except her only-doll, neither of them noticed place on the e6mnMee on Indian affairs in glace of Mr. Parker, de ceased. For the first time during the present Congress there was a call of the com- mittees of 'ti;House but no measure was reported by any of them. The .miscellaneous work of the Sen ate ..consisted in the main of the ref erence', in. executive session of about 1,500 recess nominations, which wgre sent 4& te Senate by the President, and this adoption cf resolutions,of re gret on aecQufrf of the death of mem bers, of the House who have passed away since the adjournment last May. The Senate ed.iourned for' jfehe day. ar 2 o'clock and.4he House at 2:35. dSfBsim Passed. : For nearly five-hours the House of Representatives considered' the bill providing for the taking of the thir teenth and -subsequent decennial cen suses, and pa sfsed 41 'i without material change. From? tb; very outset (if lite debate it- bedaiiis'. evident that the progress of the measure toward pas sage would, be. nnpeded. " Fenaiong in Senate. Thcses8ion bf the Senate wa chiefly devoted to the formal presen- tatioUof departmental 'reports and the .introduction ko bills. The re ports "have, been made public from time to time and the hills numbering 352 were chiefly for the granting, of -4 pensions. w Saturday's Session. : The House of Representatives-Sat urday was in its old-time "form. No particular programme hadV been map ped out, but under a call of commit- tees several measures in which the member were especially interejited, and in some cases vitally concerned, were considered. With few excep tions they engendered the liveliest sort of debate, and it was disclosed that the er-ces ikr or against them were fully lined up. for the fray. Parliamentary tactics were freely re sotted to, with -the result that five times the -scoll was called. The first' rangle occurred on a reso lution fixing ihe boundary line, be tween the Statesof CoForaffo, tma f homfi "and New Mexico, which w; agreed to bv a majority but "'n6t wit out two roll calls. The . House by a decisiVevote Tefased tp further consider the bill providing for&$ tra ry settlements of dispute? between employers nd employes. Xext' turning attention to the bill providing for the protectipn of aliens iiv the United States' the. subject wa: threrhed oftt at lengtii." The measure ha.r rengh sailing - and it was passed Jjy a slim majority after the roll had been called t Colon, By Cable. A giant blast of ' ifyaamitc, already prepared for firing, was prematurely exploded in the workings at Bas Obispo Saturday. Ten men were killed and fifty injured. It may be that others have been kill ed, fcr debris is plied up in all direc tions. Bas Obispo cut is about 30 miles frcm Colon, and the shock of the ex plosion wls distinctly felt here, as in addition to that in the blast, 22 tons of dynamite was cdoded. Numercus reports are current as to the cause of the accident but the official-version from Culebra which gives an estimate of ten tailed and fifty wounded, states thatr-duriug tho bading of the last hole of tle triest the ..dynamite in this cutting was dis chargedT and the remaining 22 tons' were exploded by concussion. Tho boles iiad. not been connected electrically as - the discharge of the bk was set for 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The last hole was beinj Ibaeted under the supervision of one of the rz.cW efficient powder men in the employ of the commission. A passenger train had just passed when the, explosion oeeurred, but it was net in any way damaged. The majority of the vietims " are Spaniards, Relief trains were sent to the ssene of the disaster and one which re turned here several hours later a little listener who. drew nearer and No. no, cried Agnes, ' wouldn't taW het baclf. I waat- the nttle-hos- pital girl to have her-he'H preeiate PestJy' orippled nose; wont she" Agnes forced a smiiel tiHfcgh her tears. ."Only," she faltered, jt will be so so lonesome i without any doll ie." Something tugged at Miss Maud's skirts. She turned, ad with a start xf surprise, looked down into Clar- little girrt the hospital would be l .ce s.eagerjjace. know," she whispered And, laying Lady. Lucile in Agnes' astonished Christmas morning when all the ether children had lovely presents, and she found that she had been left out? Agnes stooped over the bed, gathered Peggy ;in her arms, and pressed her to her aching heart. It was the day before Christmas, and the children had sung all but their last carot wbteft they were ta- sinK as they marched to the manger and laid do wu their gifts on? by .one. ... . mm. S arms, Uianca ran aiier.ner cnum. Anahell- The Interior, ' "i - - - i - Oyster Soufc Ghrhto iBdst Dt38 fc: brought back the report that 45 of the injured had been sent to Anccn Hospital. The offfcials on the train stated that eleven dead had" been , found while many .others in the gang- of 120 who were employed in the cut were missing. It was also reported by the rain men .that the explesion was due to a passing steam shovel, whih hook-, ed the wire leading to the! immense charge of dynamite. Whether or not this was the cause of the accident, a steam shovel and crew, which hap pened to be on the scene were prac tically baried under the mafs of rocK and earth thrown up. Gan?s were scou. searching for the dead nud assisting "Ihc wounded. I Electric lights were set nr and at nfc gteam sleovejls wtre at work re-moving-vt he tons . ucon tons of debris. c men have been seriously uredj- some of them probably fa- ition has it that the Panama ad "cost onie human life for ev- what with accidents; insurrec- itipps.and disease, and the construcr tiphj of the canal has not gone along wft!out exacting its toll. There have been a number of acci dents in the last two years, chief among which was the :prematnre ex plosion of dynamite at Pedro Miguel in June, 907, which resulted in the deathAf seven men and the injury of a number cf others. -unj I ?r. and Mr&Llaft Given Boception. WashinctonSpecial. President-? elect srfd Mrs, William H. Taft were tendered a5 Wceptidn by Miss Mabel Boardina'n, a Washington society leader, at her home on Thinont cirele. The function wag one of the mast United States took' control. notable of riie season, and among the guest were a large number of the rep resentativ4 jprsons of the Capital's official, diplomatic and sociaJL circles. Killed by Electric Shock. Yorkviller Special. Mr W. F1. Downs; a native of Fort Mill, and The Dead Total Fourteen. Colony By Cable. The explosionSun day at Bas Obispo of 21 tons of dynamite blast was the most serious accident in connection with the build ing oi the Panama canal since the A thor ough investigation' with a view to fixing the responsibility has been or dered and already officials are . tak ing evidence. and-Cclcry Salad -. .. -. .-i s. ocomi wtTo brarcx. . Mum Ptiddtrw, Hand 5au .. rouno -p- f ect for the past three or four years heed machinist at the Tavora Cotton Mill at this place, was instantly killed by an electrical current. The electrical current which is furnished by ! the J Southern Power Company,. id failed and Superintendent Raraseur and Mr. Powns were searching for the trouble. The switch had been opened and Downs iplaeed his hand on. wire he supposed dead bat jt. proved not to be and be fell back lifeless. The Evacuation of Cuba. Waslfcington, Special. Atthe War Departments the first details regard ing the withdrawal from Cuba of the, American army of pacification, which has been on duty there since the fall of 1906, were made, known. The moviements of the. troops wil gin on January 1st and will be com pleted by April 1st. Crooked Wisconsin Banker Sentenced Milwaukee, Wis., Special. John F. Schulte, aged 38, former paying tel ler of the First National Bank ol Ra cine, was sentenced to five years at T9tt Leavenworth by Judge Queries. Schnite embezzled $15j&O0, pleaded guilty and asked for leniency. Five years is the minimum penalty. Schuite w arrested at Cleyeland on July - . . -. Kail Carrier Badly Hart. Spartanburg, Special. Jesse L. Wood, a well known letter carrier, was thrown ffom his buggy early Sunday morning and seriously injur ed. The horse Mr. Wood was driving took fright on east Main Street, just in frSnt of the First Presbyterian church. 3& was thrown violently to fne sidewalk and knocked uncon- l9. When taken to his home it discovered that three of his ribs kd been bjroken ahd one of bis Qulders terribly injured. He is threatened with pfiffloia, which fflakes his eofidtiion tirebly Worse.