rv ' t r.
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erori
VOL. III.
RALEIGH, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1907.
NO. 39
THE
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BILKINS' LETTER.
Bob and Bilkins Are Getting Better,
but Are Unable to do Much at
Present They Will Recreate and
Prepare for That Trip Around the
World Betsy Learning Fast at
the Business College Can Now
Take Fifty Words a Minute in
Short Hand Will Report for the
Bilkinsville Bladder.
Correspondence of the Enterprise.
Bilkinsville, N. C., Jan. 23:
Sinse my last letter me an' Bob
hev bin. impruvin' sumwhat, but am
still unabul to do much in the way
of trottin' erround' the wurld. "Bob
is tu week ter try ter swim the At
lantic Oshun, fur he can hardly swim
Krab Crick or Nuse Rivver. But he
can ete grass an' drink Wallnut
Crick water. The other day Bob got
out ov hiz stawl an' when found waz
in Capitul Square tryin' ter git into
the Capitul building ter see if the
Legislatur were passin' any law ter
prevent crewelty ter animals. He
wuz tole sutch a bill would pass an'
went home satisfide.
Sinse the late earthquake at Kings
ton Bob an' me will giv that place
the go-bye in our trip erround the
wurld.
Betsy iz awl attenshun these days
in her studies. She iz learnin' short
hand so fast she takes down 50 wurds
a minit, and can make a tipe-riter
ring az fast az the dispensary
cash register on Saturday afternoons
.when the rush hours begin. Az soon
az Betsy graduates she will report
the Legislatur proceedings fur the
Bilkinsville Bladder, which paper haz
jest bin started.' No speech that haz
more than 500 wurds will be allow
ed in its collums, an' awl cuts ov
members will be charged az rule an'
figger work dubble price the
members ter furnish the cut.
Me an' Bob air now takin' things
easy an' rekreating so az ter be in
fine condition ter start erround the
wurld when we" git in gude health
.agin.;
Yours az ever,
ZEKE BILKINS.
The Red Squirrel.
Outside of my study window there
is placed every winter a large wooden
tray filled with canary seed, bread
crumbs, shredded suet, and cracked
nuts, and many hungry birds come
there to get their meals. One morn
ing, as I looked through the window,
I saw not a single bird, but a thin,
red squirrel, sitting right in the mid
dle of-the tray and eating as jockeys
eat at the end of a racing season.
When I approached he seemed alarm
ed, but as I did not attempt to drive
him away, he soim ' lost all appear
ance of fear, and continued to stuff
himself with the best the tray af
forded. I decided to let him stay
as long as he would, but when I
found him there the next morning
I was obliged to put up another tray
for the birds, In a place where, the
squirrel couldn't reach it. The lour
footed pensioner grew bolder as the
Increasing rotundity of his body
pressed the .wrinkles out of his skin,
and he kept his seat even if I opened
the window. At last he became al
most arrogant and scolded If I- ap
peared at the window while he was
feeding.. But the laws of hospitality,
though made of elastic, may be
stretched but not compressed, and,
as he choose to stay all winter, he
stayed.
' In the spring the migrant birds
came back, and among them a pair
of robins, - which nested in an apple
tree in my garden. All went well
until the young birds were hatched,
when one day I heard the angry
voices of the parent birds, and I
looked out to see what the trouble
was. The mother robin was seated
on a low branch, and with lowered
wings and tail was screaming loudly
at soTie object below her, apparently
on the trunk of the tree. Presently
she darted down, with her crest rais
ed and her bill open and ready for
business, and then I caught sight of
the rascally red squirrel, who scur
ried around the trunk to avoid her.
Round and round she chased him,
until he seemed to lose his presence
of mind and leaped to the ground.
He started across the grass at full
speed, but she was after him like
a fury, and he squeaked in abject
terror as he fled across the road and
Into the woods where the bird gave
up the chase and returned, ruffled,
but triumphant.
Had he profited by this experience,
the red squirrel might have been liv
ing to-day, but one morning he wan
dered into the garden of a neighbor
who was studying a pair of nesting
redstarts. The squirrel found the
nest, too, and a moment afterwards
he was seated near it with one of
the eggs in Lis paws. But lie, never
finished that egg, for my neighbor
has a gun and he values redstarts
higher than red squirrels. Ernest
Harold Baynes, in the Neffi York
Post.
An American Girl at Court.
The necessary wardrobe is no small
matter. A simple court dress by Pa-
quin will cost anything from $500 to
7 5 0 not Including lace, which may
be a family heirloom above price,
The debutante's bouquet may include
$100 worth of costly orchids and hot
house blooms. As to gloves, the regu
lation twenty-four botton court gloves
will cost $5 or $10 a pair at least,
in a Bond Street store; and for shoes,
the correct ones are to be bought at
a little store high up Bond Street,
near the Oxford Street end. These
people make shoes for the queen and
princesses, and the price is $25 a
pair. It is embarrassing to find that
almost every detail of one's attire is
laid down by law and has endured
for centuries.
Some points about the presenta
tion at court are much changed since
Queen Victoria's day. The "courts,'
as they are now called, are held at 10
o'clock at night an hour much more
becoming to one's costume and com
plexion than the erstwhile afternoon
session. Also, there are beautiful
bands in attendance; a most excel
lent buffet supper; and last, but by
no means least, the king and queen
sit on gorgeous thrones at the end
of a huge and sumptuous saloon, in
all the glory of ermine and purple
and jewels beyond price. Harper's
Bazar.'-: '
Popular Errors Concerning Volcanos.
The eruption of a volcano is an
occasion for the reiteration of funda
mental errors concerning volcanic
phenomena.
The official dispatches and the most
serious reports say that the crater
"vomits flame," that "black smoke"
escapes from the mountain, and that
"showers of cinders" are thrown out
by the subterranean fires. There are
as many errors as there are words
in these statements. The fact is
and savants know it that there is
no combustion in volcanic phenome
na; there is no eruption of fire and
flame; a volcano never discharges
either smoke or ashes.
Liquid lava is a non-combustible
rock which melts at a high temper
ature. Thus heated, when red hot,
lava burns combustible bodies: herbs.
grass, wood even men and animals,
if it come in contact with them. In
other words, lava burns things but
it never is consumed.
This statement may raise an out
cry, because every one who has seen
a volcano in action has seen the fiery
light from the crater. But flames
never issue from the crater. What
looks like fire is lurid light reflected
on the clouds: the reflection of in
candescent lava. Lava is often seen
through the lateral fissures in the
flanks of the volcanic mountains, but
it seldom overflows. The false idea
that lava overflows a crater, just as
water escapes from an overfull pitch
er, is firmly fixed in the human mind.
The newspapers recently stated to the
world that "a new crater had formed
at the base of Vesuvius." Error!
there is no new crater; the simple
fact is this: Lava had found its way
out of one of the fissures on the
slope of the volcano. The lava was
In the mountain and the fissure was
there, but until recently the lava had
not reached the fissure. "But the
smoke!" How do we account for
that? No one can deny that Etna's
summit is always plumed with black
smoke, even when the volcano
sleeps, and did not Pliny the Younger
compare the smoke of the Vesuvius
to a gigantic pine cone on fire?
Well, yes; it looks like it! Ap
pearances are against me, but "ap
pearances" (in this case particularly)
"are deceitful" there is no smoke in
a volcano, because there Is no com
bustion in progress, and there cannot
be smoke where there is no fire.
What the ill-informed take for
volumss of smoke is cloud form
ed by vapor steam escaped from
the volcano. Steam escapes from the
crater, and when it enters the cold
air it condenses and forms minute
drons which mass and look like
clouds of smoke. Harper's Weekly.
onion, one leek, two tomatoes, two
tablespoonfuls of minced celery, two
tablespoonsful of butter or drippings,
three teaspoonfuls of salt and half a
teaspoonful of pepper. Have the wa
ter boiling hard in . a stewpan, and
add all the vegetables except the po
tatoes and tomatoes. Boil rapidly
for ten minutes, then draw back
where it will boil gently for one hour.
At the end of this time add the other
ingredients and cook one hour long
er. Have the cover partially off the
stewpan during the entire cooking.
This soup may be varied by using
various kinds of vegetables.
Vegetable Soups.
Helpfulness.
Philips Brooks, speaking of those
lives from which we derive the most
real courage and helpfulness, said:
"It is the lives like the stars, which
simply pour down on us the calm
light of their bright and faithful be
ing, up to which we gather the deep
est calm and courage. No man or
woman of the humblest sort can real
ly be strong, gentle, pure and good
without the world being better for it;
without somebody being helped and
comforted by the very existence of
that goodness."
A life without a purpose is a lan
guid, drifting thing; every day we
bught to renew our purpose, saying
to ourselves: This day let us make
a sound beginning, for what we have
hitherto done is naught. Thomas A.
Kempls.
Nearly every vegetable grown may
be employed In the preparation of
soups, either as the foundation of the
soup or' as a garnish to any kind of
meat stock. A few types of vegeta
ble souds are given. Meat, meat
broth or beef extract may be added
to any of them if additional flavor
is desired, but as they stand they are
very satisfactory soups.
Mixed Soup. Three quarts of wa
ter, one quart of shredded cabbage,
one pint of sliced potato, half a pint
of minced carrot, half a pint of
minced turnip, half a pint of minced
How Shall We Entertain?
How shall we entertain? Joyous
ly! Pleasure is contagious. Remem
ber, hostess, every house has its cli
mate; some are in the torrid, some
ih the temperate, some in the frigid
zone. Remember, moreover, that you
create the climate of your house.
More Important than the style of your
dress, the ordering of your banquet,
the setting of your table, is the mood
in which the appointed hour of en
tertainment finds you. When the
door-bell peals to the ring of the first
arrival, put aside all thoughts of how
you look, how your drawing-room
looks, how good, bad, or indifferent
the dinner may prove; banish every
care, meet yous guest with nothing
on your mind save the anticipation
of passing and helping him to pass a
delightful hour. If you can do this
the battle is already half won.
Maud Howe, In Harper's Bazar.
A Wife and a Cow.
The illustrions General R. E.
Lee, in his advice to his children, said
to his boys: "If you want to be
missed in society, be useful; patch
up the old house and keep out of
debt; marry a sweet woman. Let
her bring a cow and a churn; they
will be all you want In starting a
happy, useful life. Read, Improve
the mind; read history, works of
truth, but never read novels. Fol
low simplicity of dress; it is not be
coming in a Virginia girl to be fash
ionable. A farmer's life is one of la
bor, but it is also one of pleasure."
The young man who predicates his
acts and life on the grand principles
above marked out by General Lee
will be a success in this world.
Southern Agriculturalist.
I have lived to know that the great
secret of human happiness is this:
Never suffer your energies to stag
nate. The old adage, "Too many
irons in the fire," conveys an abom
inable falsehood. You cannot have
too many. Poker, tongs, and all
keep them all going. Dr. Adam
Clarke.