Newspapers / The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.) / April 19, 1906, edition 1 / Page 1
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TH E .Raleig o ... I erpri VOL II. RALEIGH, N. C, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1906. NO. 52 se0 LETTER FROM BILKINS. Out on His Canvass Again Staid at Home to Await Easter Developments- Bob Gets Very Frisky A Hard Working Man Amused Bob Very Much. Correspondence of The Enterprise. I stayed at home till after Easter. I kept making out that I wanted ter git back on the campane mity bad, which I did. But I awlso wanted ter stay at home an' see if Betsy went ter church wearin' one ov them rat tlesnake skin belts. She, didn't. I reckon she seed my letter in your paper an' tuk warnin" fer she knows I kin run erway an' never cum back if I make up my mind ter do so an' she knows when ter stop. If we men would stand up fer our rites a little oftener we would not hev so much trouble. So far az I could diskiver Betsy didn't hev any rattlesnake belt an' she didn't hev any snake jewelry. Fer the seckond time in twenty years I hev had my way. I found that she had economized by changin' the ribbons on her last year's hat an' puttin' a new flower or two on hit. But she cum out in a new silk dress Sunday mornin'. Hit looked az flashy az a new auter mobill an' az purty az an October sunset. She awlso had sum flour or soda or sumthin' on her face. She said hit was talgumjpowder or sump thin' ov that sort. When I seed that new silk dress my heart purty nigh quit beatin'. "The farm will hev to go now," sez I ter myself, and then I said hit out loud. "Why?" sez Betsy. "Bekase that silk dress must a cost a little fortune," sez I. "No hit didn't sez Betsy. "That iz this new mesmerized silk an' hit iz cheap az dirt. Why this didn't cost much more than you'd hev ter pay fer a new suit ov clothes." Well' I'll giv up that I don't know much about such things an' I'm too busy ter larn. I reckon by the time I'm eighty years I'll begin ter git on ter sum ov the ways wimmin hev ov doin' things. But hit will be too late then. Sumtimes I think we air made rong end foremost. If we could know az much when we first cum inter the world ;az we do when we air ready ter die with ole age we mite git erlong better in this world. Then we mite sorter taper off az we git older an' not know so much. But I guess I am mistaken. I started out on the campane ergin Tuesday. Bob had bin restin' at home an' eatin' evrything in site, so he hez bin mity frisky. I don't look fer enything but that he will lie down in the first big crick we cum ter, so he will giv me a gude wettin'. That mule hez more meen ness inside ov hiz hide than any three bad boys in Martin Crick Township. If he does try any pranks on me he'd better be sure that sum ov the members ov the Serciety fer the Pre venshun of Crewelty ter Animals air close by or I will wallop him till I git tired. I find that peeple air too busy ter talk polly ticks much now, so I am just reconiterin' eround talkin' er bout the price ov cotton an' the re duckshun ov akerage. I tell them that if they will reduce 25 per cent an' eleck gude men ter offls this sum mer they will git more fer cotton than hit iz bringin' now. I met up with a young feller that I knowed yester day. "How iz your daddy?" sez I. "He iz well an' hard at wurk," sez he. "What iz the old man doing?" sez I. "He iz erbout ter wurk himself ter death trying ter reduce the akerage," sez he. I seed that Bob wuz jest dyin' ter laff an' I rid on. Az fer me I wuz sory fer my ole friend, but Bob thought there wuz sumthin' funny erbout a man wurkin' so hard jist ter reduce the akerage. If he could talk I'd make him tell me whut hit iz er bout every time he looks so tickled. Yours truly, ZEKE BILKINS. The President on Women's Indus- tries. ' A great deal of interest has been deservedly aroused by the President's demand in his message for an inves tigation of the condition of women in industry. The effect of the fac tory system on the health of the wo men who are to be the mothers of th next generation is a subject which has long demanded the careful at tention of disinterested experts. More than 50 per cent of the million and a half women in the manufactur ing establishments in this country are under twenty-four years of age. .Thg. speeding up of machinery jvhich seems to be the concomitant "of ef ficiency in bur present factory meth ods is thought by many to have a dangerous effect upon the nervous system. If this is true the effect of high-speed, modern machinery on girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four ought to be carefully inquired into. Women are known to be more conscientious in their work than men, and will continue working at a pace that is ruinous to health when men would stop. Indeed, it is a generally recognized fact that it is easier to "drive" a woman than a 'man. . The question of the employment in factories does not often get a fair hearing, for many people are anxious to meet it by saying that a woman's proper place is at home and that she ought not to be in the factory at all. We cannot, however, arrive at the truth unless we face the facts square ly, and if we do that we must con fess that the 5,000 women gainfully employed in the United States are working outside of their homes be cause they must do so to support themselves and oftentimes their fam ilies as well. If they are to work, it is our duty to see that they work under conditions that will not under mine their health and, the health of the coming generation as well. Ev ery one who has a serious interest in social problems will do well to urge support for the President in his demand for this investigation. Bos ton Transcript. Every right and natural responsi bility of which you relieve a man, taking it on yourself, makes him less which nothing can relieve him. ath able to bear those responsibilities that nothing can relieve him of. If you could take all his duties from him, as we sometimes do, it would only make it certain that he would not even then do his duty by himself. Jean Ingelow. , ... SAN FRANCISCO DESTROYED BY EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE. Worst Disaster of Modern Times -Many Killed and Wounded Flames Follow and Complete the DestructionMost Staggering Blow This County Has Ever Felt. At 5.10 yesterday morning the city of San Francisco was visited by an earthquake. It was more severe and destructive than the earthquake that wrought such ruin at Charleston in 1886. : San Francisco is the largest and richest city west of St. Louis, has numerous railroads and everything modern. Some idea of the disaster can be found by the fact that after the earthquake was over not a word of news could be gotten from the city for several hours, and then only when the Associated Press secured a boat and carried news to Oakland where it was wired over the country. San Francisco had a population of 342,000 in 19 00. It is estimated that only about 1,000 were killed and wounded by the earthquake. Many of the finest buildings were de stroyed or damaged, including the City Hall which cost $7,000,000, and the new postoflice building a very fine one. The damage and loss of life due directly to the earthquake was just about equal to that caused in one of the cities of Japan a few weeks ago by an ,eai;t.hq.uake. But, aside from the loss of life, the greatest loss of property has been from fire, which is still burning. Numerous fires started after the earthquake subsided, in various parts of the city. It was found that the earthquake had affected the water mains to such an extent that the fire men could do nothing. A stiff breeze was blowing and the flames were. fan ned into furious fires. Practically all of the business portion of the city has been burned, including all of the .newspaper offices, most of the hotels, etc. It is more than likely that the entire city will go. The fire is greater than the one which destroyed Chicago, for San Francisco is a larger city than was Chicago when the fire occurred, and the buildings are much finer. It is greater than the Baltimore fire, for that only destroyed a portion of the business section of the city, while the San Francisco fire has burned much of the residence sec tion also, rendering many thousands of people homeless, and the end is not yet. In ancient times foreign cities as large as San Francisco Were destroy ed by earthquakes. But this is the greatest of all modern disasters, cer tainly so far as relates to our own country. There are a number of towns and villages around San Francisco. Prac tically no news has come from them and it is feared that they, too, have been destroyed, which may more than double the loss of life and property. The insurance companies have an nounced that they will meet all losses even if the entire city goes up in flames. . The Servant 'Problem. There is one woman in Washing ton who recently tried a home-made plan for solving the vexatious servant problem. She resides in the eastern section of the city, and makes no secret of her method of dealing with her help. About four weeks ago she hired a colored girl as maid of all work. She agreed to pay the girl the wages demanded, but made these ex actions: "I have a system of fines and for feitures," said the lady to the girl, "that you must agree to abide by be fore you can go to work, and you must sign your name to the condi tions I am going to impose upon you. The first is that I will deduct from your pay the necessary amounts for being tardy in coming to your work or for overstaying your time when you are sent on an errand. Then for neglect of your duties there will be other forfeitures of money from you pay, and last, but not least, you will have to pay full value for every article of china or otherwise that you destroy or injure." The colored girl reluctantly con sented to the terms and went to work. When the end of the month came, the servant informed the mistress that she could not work for her any longer, as she was too strict and ex acting, concluding by asking her for her pay. The employer drew from the folds of her wrapper a roll of paper nearly a yard in length, on which were writ ten many figures and notes of ex planation. After adding the long rows of figures she turned to the servant and said: "Let's see, Violetta: you were to receive $10 a month. My records show that I have fined you $8.50 for being late and overstaying your time while on errands. Then for dishes broken and furniture scarred by your carelessness and neglect of your du ties I have imposed forfeitures amounting to $2.25. This makes a total of $10.75. So you see, Violetta, you are in my debt to the sum of seventy-five cents, which you can pay whenever you have the money to spare." . : . The dazed girl staggered out of the room, but she bided her time. She thought the matter over serious ly, and several days later, when her former employer was holding her af ternoon tea and entertaining some of her friends, the colored girl rush ed into the parlor, and, to use her own language, "bawled de 'oman out before her f ren's as de meanest white 'oman under de sun." Washington Star. ' A Helpful Plan. The flowers you raise will be sweet er and more beautiful to you than any display in florists' windows, and no vegetable that can be bought will compare in flavor with those you raise yourself. If every woman blessed with a place of her own would do what she could to interest her hum bler neighbors, giving them seeds, plants and shrubs from her own gar den, telling how they should be plant ed and cared for, and interesting the children in raising flowers and vege tables, the result would be not only a beautiful community, but a bond of sympathy between people in all walks of life, with a softening and refine ment of character that comes from a spread of the love of nature. Ex change. ' The Raleigh Enterprise and the New York World, thrice-a-week edi tion, for only $1.60 a whole year. Think of itl
The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.)
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April 19, 1906, edition 1
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