Newspapers / The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.) / March 21, 1907, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE TTD T T Raleig.; Ent erpn VOL. III. RALEIGH, N. 0., THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1907. NO. 47 LETTER FROM 111LKINS Zeke Wants to be an "Alderman' Thinks He is the Man to Save Money for the People and Cause Reforms to be Made Betsy, Being in Politics Will Canvass for Zeke Bob is Full of Politics and is Ready for the Campaign. Correspondence Raleigh Enterprise. Bilkinsville, N. C., March 21, 1907. Mister Editur: -Sinse the spring buds began to show their heads, the sap seams ter be rizin' in my vains, an' I can't help f rum thinkin' the Lord caused me to be on this here earth in order to be a helper fer my feller man. I think that by bein' an Alderman I could reform the town in a hundred different ways. There seams ter be a certain set ov men who run fer perlitical honors, who, after their election do nothing but draw the honors ov their offis, and don't care a continental darn fer the peo ple's interest. Fer instance, they, if thy hev property they will have their sidewalks fixed an' leeve evrybody else's alone. They seam ter be in a state ov innoccuous desuetude, when they should be up an' speakin' fer their eonstiuents. I am in favor ov hier wages fer the worlun' man an' woman, shorter hours in the fac tory, houses with good gardens fer renters, better sidewalks, more parks fer the nurses with baby car rages, more paved streets, more public foun tains with ice water, more perleece men, better graded skules; more shade trees, kompulsory educashun, street cars with double seats, and a hole lot "ov other reforms fer which our peeple hev bin askin' fer in vane. If elected, I promise to do awl these things, an' will not run fer the offis next time. Betsy, being leader ov the Wo man's Sufferin' Club, iz now makin' a house ter house canviss fer me ter be an alderman; she offers awl kinds ov indusements to sell two heads ov cabbage fer five cents, whar she used ter get ten cents fer two heads, if they will only vote fer Zeke. She knows Zeke will make a great city offiscer an' thinks he will awlso help her out in her sufferidge business. Bob is in trim fer me ter ride to the presinks. He and I air out every day on the "war path" fer votes. Hit iz the konsensus ov opinion that I .will beat my opponent two ter one, fer aldermaniac honors in the fust division of the Furst Ward in Bilkins ville. Yours as ever, ZEKE BILKINS. Are Your Feet Untangled? He was a little, old negro, gray and black and bent. With axe in hand he came to cut a load of wood. "What's your name?" I asked. "Archie Brown, boss," was the re- piy. "How old are you?" "Gwine on eighty-fo', sah." "Well, Uncle Archie, if the Lord were to call you to go home this af ternoon, would you be willing to go?" ''-r-i:':---':r:: A reminiscent look swept over his face, and, pushing his hat back, he leaned on his axe, chuckled to himself, and said, "Boss, I'm dest a waitin' wid my footsies ontangled." A few months later I . heard thai. Uncle Achie was dead, and I thought It must have been easy for him to leave. Churchman. Cat Happiness. I know what makes a cat happy. A saucer of milk, a soft chair or cush ion in a warm corner, a hand to stroke its fur and my cat will purr like a teakettle. Now I haven't much desire to purr. It would sound too much like snoring. And the cat's pleasures are only now and then for me. When I come to think of my own happy year, I do not want to be hap py all alone in a corner. I have some times thought that if my cat could only read instead of sleeping, she would like to get a story-book in a warm corner all by herself, with a pocket full of candy, when the other cats are out at play, as I have seen children do. But that is doing the cat injustice. Kittens always play together, and cats have no pockets. And of course there are times to read every child knows that. There is another kind of cat-happiness which I do not want for my happy year, and that is night prowl ing, when there is so much to do and learn at home and in friends' houses. I do not want to go to school in the streets. I know what will make my dog happy and I sometimes think he is the very happiest thing alive. If I put on my hat and open the door, though he seems to be fast asleep on his rug in the corner, he will be up like a flash and ready for a walk. And he will go five miles where I go one, exploring all the hedges of the road and making excursions into the thickets, running back now and then to tell me that he loves me. It is so easy to make a dog happy that I am tempted to do it oftener than I should. And one thing about my dog I like best of all, he gets his happiness in sharing mine. I suspect the cat would not mind if I were in pain and distress so long as she had her milk and cushion and her strok ing. But the dog knows in a mo ment when I am unhappy; and when I am joyful he jumps and capers and wags his tail for joy. I would like to be as happy as my unselfish dog is in the woods and fields, but God has made me more than a dog. What I really want is to be man-happy. That must mean not being dependent on a saucer of milk (or any other helps of laziness) or even on having my fur rubbed the right way (or any other sort of praise or flattery). I assure you that I am not wishing any of you a cat happy, or even a dog-happy year. First of all, I wish for us all a growing happiness. They used to talk when I was a child of "growing pains," but growing happiness is just as real. Perhaps a better name would be victorious happiness the joy of overcoming. Even the plants know that. When you put a seed into the ground a pea or a bean, let us say, because they are big enough to be easily watched it pushes a root down and a stem up and conquers Itself a place. Unless u plant can conquer it withers and dies. This happiness of overcoming is better than what I called cat-happiness, because it requires work. And its great task for us humans is in overcoming our own selfish love of ease. A boy has to conquer him self before he can get up in the morning or solve a problem in arith metic or go on an errand for his mother. And by that overcoming happiness grows. Did you boys ever notice that so long as you hold a ball tight in your own hand you cannot have the pleas ure of catching it? If you want to have a good time, you throw it to some one else, who returns it, or at least against a wall so that it may come bounding back to be caught. The best sort of happiness is some times like that. It is good for noth ing until it is thrown away. I should like our happy year to hold a good deal of self-forgetting. Of course, I do not mean that we are to reckon it all put. "If I, Tom my, give some of my cake to Harry, when he has cake he will give me some of his." That sort of thing is only a different sort of selfishness and results in anger when Harry gets his cake and forgets to give Tommy some. Tommy's real happiness is in giving and helping without any thought of what comes after. I know a man who has a well on his place which never runs dry. In a drought all the neighbors come with pails and buckets from their empty springs to his never-failing well. I should like to have our new year's happiness .like that man's well, al ways full and ready to provide for others in the dry, unhappy times. And that can only come to you and me when the springs of our happi ness are fed from the unfailing treas ure of God. It is Christ who gives the living water and he gives it for us to share. The Congregationalism As Cross as a Bear. "You're as cross as a bear," said Bess to Billy. Uncle Jim whistled. "Bears aren't cross to members of their own fam ily," he said. "Now, I knew a bear once " Bess and Billy both ran to him and climbed up on his lap. "Did you really every know a bear?" cried Billy, with wide open eyes..:;.;'. "Well, not intimately," said Uncle Jim, "but I used to go hunting them when I was up in Canada, and one day I was out with a hunting party, and we saw right straight in front of us what do you suppose?" "A real bear!" gasped the children in concert. "Yes, a real mother bear and her little son. The dogs started after them, and the mother bear began to run, but the little baby son couldn't run as fast as she did, and the dogs were gaining on him, so what do you suppose the mother bear did? Leave her little son behind? No, sir-ee-ee. She picked the baby up on her stout nose and tossed him ahead; then she ran fast and caught up to him and gave him another boost that sent him flying through the air. She kept this up for a mile and a half. Then she was too tired to go any farther, and the dogs surrounded her. Then she sat up on her haunches, took her baby in her hind paws and fought the dogs off with her fore-paws. And how she did roar!" Bess shuddered. "You could hear her miles away. She never forgot her baby; ket)t guarding him all the time. When the mother was shot the baby cub Jumped on her dead body and tried to fight off the dogs with his little baby paws. That's the way the bears stand by each other. Sometimes I think they love each other better than brothers and sisters. Hey, Bess, what are you crying about? I guess I won't tell you any more bear stories if that is the way you feel." "Billy," sobbed Bess, "you're as good as good as a bear!" Then they all laughed together and forgot what they had been cross about. New York Tribune. "A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush." This saying originated from the following circumstances: Will Somers, the celebrated jester to Henry VIII., happened to call at my Lord Surrey's, whom he had of ten, by well-timed jests, saved from the displeasure of his royal master, and who consequently was always glad to see him. He was on this oc casion ushered into the aviary, where he found my lord amusing himself with birds. Somers happened to ad mire the plumage of a king-fisher. "By my lady," said Surrey, "my prince of wits, I will give it you." Will skipped about with delight, and swore by the great Harry he was a most noble gentleman. Away went Will with his king-fisher, telling all his acquaintances whom he met that his friend Surrey had just presented him with it. Now it so happened that my Lord Northampton, who had seen this bird on the day previous, arrived at my Lord Surrey's just as Will Somers had left, with the intention of ask ing it of Surrey for a present to a lady friend. Great was his chagrin on finding the bird gone. Surrey, however, consoled him with saying that he knew Somers would restore it him if he (Surrey) promised him two another day. Away went a messenger to the prince of wits, whom he found in raptures with his bird, and to whom he delivered his lord's message. Great was Will's surprise, but he was not to be bamboozled by even the mon arch himself. "Sirrah," says he, "tell your master that I am obliged for his liberal offer of two for one, but that I prefer one bird in the hand to two in the bush." Hence originated this oft-repeated saying. Harper's Young People. The Largest Diamond in the World. The American Magazine reports graphically the discovery of the largest diamond in the world a dia mond which weighs in the rough, 3, 02 42 carats. Translated into under stanable terms it is a stone weigh ing a pound and a third. Until the discovery of this wonderful gem the world's record in diamonds was held by the "Excelsior" a stone of 969 carats nearly a half pound avoirdu pois. Three years ago the "Excel sior," which was badly flawed, was cut up into ten stones valued at $415,000. This in turn utterly eclipsed all the other great diamonds of the world. Thus: Kohinoor (af ter first cutting), 279 carats; Nizam, of Hyderabad, 279 carats; Regent, or Pitt, 137 carats; Duke of Tuscany. 133 carats; Tiffany (yellow), 123 carats; Orloff, 194 carats; Star of th South, 124 carats. Our truest prayers are but the echoes of God's promises.
The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.)
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March 21, 1907, edition 1
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