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. ^ ^ ISS^^EMt-WEEKL,^^ l. m. grist & sons, Publishers. 1 % I'amiln Hetospper: 4or "if promotion of (he JJoIifical, Social, Agricultural, anil (Commercial Interests of the ?outh. { ikk\sina,lk raArv, fAivk c4DTSANCIi' "established 1855. YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1898. ]STO. 78. THE MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE. BY CY WARM AN. Copyright, 1898, by Cy Wurman. (Continued from lust Friday.) The day's work in a dispatcher's office is divided into three tricks. The first trick man works from 8 a. m. until 4 p. m., the second from that hour to the end of the day, and the third man works the "death trick"?in which nearly all the ugly wrecks occur?from midnight till morniug. "You may go now," said Mr. Creamer to the girl when the second man came in and took bis trick at 4 o'clock. "bball 1?come?back in tbe morning?" asked tbe girl with some embarrassment. "Yes," was tbe answer after a mo- j ment's thought. By a sort of unwritten rule the first trick man bad stepped to the post of trainmaster when that industrious but dverzealou6 officer had fallen. "Whose initials shall I put to this order?" asked the girl, sending her first message on the morning of tbe second day. "Yonrown," said Mr. Creamer, and the receiving operator at Livingston wondered who the new dispatcher could be. Every night, after midnight, tbe operators along the liue would ground wire, cutting off tbo officials, aud discuss the new dispatcher. Not a few of them felt that they were entitled to promotion aud were in favor of sending a grievance committee in at once. "Who is the new guy?" asked the operator at Lookout one afternoon wben lie supposed toe secoua tricK niaD was at the other cud of the line. "Go ahead, 'guy,' " said Miss Morgan, for she bad not yet been relieved. "Working the first trick?" said the operator, finishing his query aud making it plain. There was a dash of Irish in Minnie Morgan, and she answered without hesitation, "Miles Mulcaby." "Solid with the new push?" "Sure!" was the girl's answer, aud then she shut him off. It was not long, however, 'until the trainmen carried the news out over the road that Miles Mulcahy was a woman, but not until the new dispatcher had gained something of a reputation as an expert handler of trains. Some of the swift senders began to try to rush her, but it didn't go. The great clock continued to measure off i;be days. trains arrived aud departed on time, the mysterious message was still a mystery, and the girl staid at h6r post The superintendent was quietly proud of his protegee, and Mr. Creamer was enthusiastic. She knew the road, he had declared to his chief, as the red man knows the forest and the time card as Father Malouey knew the catechism. "She's just a bird, that's all," he observed to the smiling superintendent, "a regular crackerjack, and you can't tie ber." The January sun, swinging far and low in the south, sent a stingy ray aslant the window and touched the covers on the sick man's couch. He rubbed bis eyes, looked about and whispered, "Where am I?" but he was not acting. The bare white walls, the iron bedstead, tbe little table and the one wooden chair told him that he was in tbe hos The superintendent c<itne in to see him. pital. A vase of fresh cut roses stood upou the table, aud he knew that he had a frieud somewhere. He remembered afterward that the smell of roses was the first thiug that was quite clear to him. "Havel been ill?" he asked of the attendant, who now entered the room, for, being an official and able to pay extra, Goodlough had not been placed in the open ward. His malady, too, had been of a nature that required close attention. At times be had been a raving maniac, screaming and calling for help to rescue the president from a burning car. "Yes," said the nurse, coming cautiously to the sickbed, "you have been very ill. You'ro all right now, but you must not talk." In a little while the sick man fell asleep again, for the fever had left him very weak. When ho awoko on the following morning, his mind was much stronger. His eyes wandered directly to the little table, and there was tho vase with fresh flowers, ami tears came to tbo eyes of the sufferer. Ho woudered as the days went by that none of his old friends came to see him. Vaguely he be^an to recall the past and all that had happened. He wouderc d how many were killed, but he dare not ask. The few people that he saw seemed so cheerful and the chief surgeon was always so genial that be began to hope that things bad turned out better than he had expected. At tho end of another week the superintendent came in to see him, and he, too, was as cheerful and happy us a man could well be. "It is good of you to come and see me," said the sick man. "I don't deserve it." "You do deserve it," was the reply, "and I have been here many times, but the doctor thought you would be better off alone, but now that you are so strong he says we can all coino and see you as often as we will." " Will Creamer come? I always liked Dan, and his absence has hurt me. hut ho has not forgotten our past friend- i Ehip. " And the speaker's eyes filled with ] tears as they rested on the vase. i "He's here now," said the snperiu- ] teudeut, touched deeply by the tears j and tenderness of the sick man. "Every ] morning for nearly a month ho has call- j ed here to ask after you. I shall send i him to you at once, and now you must < brace up. Good by." I The meeting between Creamer and < his sick friend was too much for the pa- j tient, and the chief surgeon, who had come in with the visitor, was obliged to < send him away almost immediately. j It was nearly a week before any more ] worn o/ltYitfforl fr* Hio ciptrnnm ? Only the flowers came every morning, i They were not many, but always fresh. ] "I'm strong enough to know now, ( Dan," said the patient when Creamer bad been left alone with him, "and I want you to tell me all about it." t "About what, Tom?" "About the collision. How many | w?re killed?" , Dan assured him that there had been j no collision on the road for over a year. ( "And you," he explained, "have just < been here a mouth today. This is the j 20th of .January." "Don't lie to me, Dan. Anybody , could do that. But from you I ask the , truth, and I think I have a right to ex- j pect it. I sent a lap crder the day I fell j ill. I became confused over the repeti- j tion of iNo. 8 and engine 88, Eastcreek ( and Westcreek, and I gave a lap order. A girl in the office tried to save me, but j I larslud at her. I thought her crazy, i and when ac Inst 1 noticed my mistake I tried to call Wrstcrcck to bold No. 8, but could not gi t him. I called and called up to tbe last second, but be did uot answer, and it seemed to me that I must go mad. Suddenly it occurred to me tbat I migbt get Eastcreek and bold the special, but the answer came quick and awful, 'Gone,' and then I knew no more until I smelh d tbe smell of those fresh roses you scut me and came to life again." "Now, I'll tell yon the truth, Tom, tbe whole truth and nothing but the truth, as the judge would say," began his visiter. " You did give a lap order, but yen saved yourself. Westcreek did answer and got your order to hold No. b, and he held her, and there was no collision." "Dau, I never sent tbat message. I wanted to. Ucd knows I would gladly have given my life to have saved those poor fellows on the engine! And tbe new president? Was he killed? Ah, Dan, why don't you tell me tbe truth?" and the miserable man held out bis hand beseechiugly". -?T *-1-1 *U ?> j. iiavo iuiu mo wuuto uutu, cuiu Creamer. "There was no collision." But Goodloupb shock his -head, his eyes tilled with tears and ho turned his pale pinched face to the wall. The superintendent, whose "long suit," as the roadniaster expressed it, was "hoss sense," had maintained all along that the transmission of the mysterious message was still a mystery. Those occult scientists might sit up nights and work out answers satisfactory to themselves, declared the superintendent, hut they would never go at his end cf the liue. "There must be another solution cf this mysterious message. " he declared to the president, "and I shall hud it before thoend of the year." At tbo expiration of 40 days the med- < ical stall declared Goodlougb sound in body and mind, and tho old trainmaster called upon the superintendent for his ' decision. He had begun as a messenger boy in the trainmaster's office on an ' eastern road when ho could barely reach 1 the top of the high desk. He had been ? with this company so long that he felt * a proprietary interest in the road. He * would be glad to return to his old post, 8 but men were usually dismissed for giv- 8 iug a lap order. ' "It will not bo necessary for us to re- 8 view this matter," began tbe superintendent when Mr. Goodlougb had seated bimself in the private oflice of histoid chief. "Under ordinary circumstances I sbonld ft el it my duty to discbarge you, but in consideration of your excellent record and other extenuating circumstances, the confusing nature of the uumbers of the locomotives and trains and the names of stations, I have concluded that 1 shall servo the company best by allowing you to return to your former place. In doing this I wish you to understand that the matter of personal friendship, which has grown strong in the years that we have spent together, makes no difference in my decision. The GO days which I must now give you is meant more as a punishment for your refusal to listen to a well meant warning which might have saved you than for your carelessness in giving a wrong order. It is more your misfortune tliau your fault, however, that you have lost these 40 days; therefore your suspension will date from Dec. 20." I11,tlm Ennprinfend tut warmly l'or his consideration and went out to begin tlie hard task of waiting 20 days, for to him every day spent away from his work was wasted. The old trainmaster spent the greater part of his 20 days where he could hear the rattle of the instruments and the slow, measuri d ticking of tho great clock. He was interested in and then amazed at the work of tho young woman who was now handling tho trains on the first trick. At first he felt half angry with her for being able to do what he had once made a mess of, but she was so sweetly modest and so utterly unconscious of herself and so faithful to her work that lie soon found himself wishing she were a man. He said so to Creamer once, and she heard him. Long before his time was up he had begun to wonder where ho could put her, for he had no thought of letting her go. But she was a lucky soul, and it seemed that tho same power that sent the ravens to Elijah looked after her. .7list about the time Goodlough was to resume his office a connecting road wanted a trainmaster, and the place was offered to Mr. Creamer. He accepted it of course. Mr. Goodlough was or- ' dered to report for duty, and having no i ! one he considered competent at .hand he i allowed Miss Morgan to remain whero be had found her. It was understood by all that this arrangement was only temporary, butGoodlough scon learned that be would lose an able assistant when he parted with Miss Morgan and so was a good while in making a change which all precedent made necessary. The second trick man wus entitled to the first, the third man was in line for the second, and if be kept Miss Morgan she must do the "death trick." The two men were notified bj letter of their promotion, and then the trainmaster braced himself to tell the young lady that she would be transferred to the company's telegraph office unless she chose to take the third trick, which | be felt ashamed to ask her to do. It was only right and fair, she said, and 6he would be glad to take the third trick. All 6he wanted was an equal show with the men and no favors. If he could overlook her sex and forgive her for having been horn a woman, she would be content to tt ke whatever he had to offer aer. "Ye gods," said the trainmaster ;o himself, "she makes me ashamed! she's as brave us she is gentle and as irilliant as she is beautiful." When the two dispatchers who had received notice of their promotion came into the trainmaster's office, they did iot appear over joyous. The man who lad thus honored them saw that something was wrong and inquired the cause if it. "It's just this way," said the second :rick man. "If yon are setting Aliss ilorgan lack because she is incompetent :o handle the heavy business on the Irst trick, we have nothing to say, but ,f the change is made because she is a ivoman or us a matter of justice to us tve most respectfully decline a promoiion that will work a hardship to this nost deserving girl." "The change was ordered as a matter if justice to you and in keeping with ;be policy of the management. Howjver, if you gentlemen are disposed to lo the gallant the young lady can remain where she is. She is thoroughly lompetent to manage the business, and [ can see no reason why she should not aave an even break with the rest of us." So the split trick man, who had done :he talking, and the "death trick" man, ivuo ouu uuuueu ast-cui;, weui n^ray 'eeliug that they hud duue the proper bing, and the trainmaster congratulated jimself upon the result. Minnie Morgan was a woman to win i man's heart if he had such a thing to ose, and so as the spring deepened joodlougb, who had been too busy all lis life to go out into the world and iviu a heart, discovered when it was too f 7 I ; '/ know absolutely nothinq," declared Goodlouqh earnestly. ate that ho was slowly but surely osiug his own. Miss Morgan, on her side, had pitied Goodlough at first, aud ;heu wheu he recovered aud came back 10 work she had learned to respect and ;oon to admire him. It might have endid there, so far as she was concerned, if ie had not fallen in love with her and ihowed it a dozen times a day, or every ;ime he attempted to hide it, and soon ;hey both loved, and each resolved to teep the secret from the other. But while Dupid held his huuds over their eyes ;be world looked on and laughed. It was winter without. The snow lay u deep drifts upon the pilots of locomo;ives that came down from the hills and lid the tops of the incoming freight iraius. Miss Morgan stood at the window, overlooking the yards. An old itorm stained work engine stood in iront of the station, toil worn and ,veary. leaking like a sieve, and the wa:er, dripping through her firebox, had irozeu and hung icicles upon lnr very jrates. Her driver, looking as rusty as lis engine, was coming up the stair to ;ell the dispatcher that he was not yet n and would ?>ot be for ten minutes, md the dispatcher erased the arrival md put him in ten minutes later, so :hat the engineer might not get ten days 'or fast running. He was a hero, this nan, begrimed as he was with soot and ?rease. for this was ihe enaiuo and he ;he engineer who bad outruu tho Atlau;ic express a year ago and saved that :raiu as well as the president's special. The trainmaster came iu with a sad lace and a heavy heart. He remembered that it was just a year ago today that tie hud turned a pale faced young worn* m away not because there was no room lor her, but (he blushed to admit it) because she was a woman. And now that same woman was doing u man's work. More, she could enslave him with a zluuce or bind him with a single strand af her silken hair. He knew this and knew that she knew it and resolved not to let another day dawn before he had told her everything. Miss Morgan was sad, too, for she bad lost a secret?not of her love, for that was no secret?but she had just revealed to the superintendent the true 3tory of the "mysterious message." The superintendent was happy. He bad promised to have an answer for the president by the end of tho year, and this was the last week but one. Miss Morgan's story was all the more timely because tho president would arrive on tho morrow, and the superintendent was anxious to convince him that the iverage occult expert, who makes a speoialty of "seeing things nights," knew about as much of the future or of things unknown as the codfish out in the Atlantic. She was still silent. The morning broke clear and beautiful, and the crisp air was full of the sounds of clanging bells and the screams of switch engines. Express wagons came down laden with boxes and packages? bundles of sunshine?that would find their way to hundreds of homes and gladden the hearts of thousands of people. Everybody was busy, for the presirlont nf t:ho rnnri \v?fi fcn nrrivo fndnv Wbeii Goodloagh left hie private office and wandered into the big room where the dispatchers worked, he heard Miss Morgan calling Westcreek and when Westcreek answered heard her say: "Train No. 8, Conductor Smith, will take siding for special west, engine 88, at Eastcreek." Then the operator at Lookout siding answered, and she said: "Special west, engine 88, will meet train No. 8 at Eastcreek." "Bravo!" cried the trainmaster. "That's exactly what I was trying to do a year ago, only I said'Westcreek' at the last. How's everything?" "On time," 6aid Miss Morgan, still working the key. After glancing about for a few minutes Goodlougb returned to bis office and sent out a bulletin promoting the operator at Westcreek to be train dispatcher on the third trick. The same order put the two old dispatchers a step nearer the presidency of the road. He had barely finished this pleasant tUn onnoriiitonrlonf r??inia in IUHI\ >Y i_lCU tlio au^viiuiiuuutMV via tuu iu with the president, whom Goodlongh had never met. When they were all 6eated, the superintendent asked the trainmaster to relate what he knew abont the so called "mysterious message." "I know absolutely nothing," declared Goodlough earnestly, for the subject was naturally embarrassing to him. "You told Air. Creamer, I believe, that you were positive that you did not send the order to Westcreek to hold No. 8, although your initials went with it," said the superintendent, with an air of a lawyer cross examining a witness. "I did." "And yoa do not know who sent the message?" "I do not." " Well, I do," said the superintendent, with a broad smile, "and I'll let you gentlemen into the secret. When Miss Morgan saw or rather heard your mistake, she endeavored to convince you that you were in danger, but failed. Despairing, she left the building. She was almost wild with grief and alarm. I saw her face as she hurried down the stair, uud it was the face of a mad woman. I read it wrong and returned at once to you to learn the cause of her disfroec T hoarrl Tjnn nnll Kncfcoraalr and n?lr for tbo special?your last message that day?and beard tbo answer 'Gone,' and saw yon fall. But the frail woman wbom yon bad turned away did not fail. While y'ou fell fainting among the inkstands and instruments she rushed into the hotel over the way, and, finding no one in the Western Union office, took the key and began calling Westcreek. She could not see the olook as you did, and she called and called, and when at last the operator answered she told bim to bold No. 8. 'No. 8 is gone,' said the operator. 'Hold her,' said the wire back at bim, and fearing the operator might question tbe message she sent your initials at tbe end of tbe order." "Bravegirl!" cried the president, rising and beginning to pace tbe floor, for be was deeply affected by the story of bow a young woman who but a day before had been refused employment by tbe company bad contrived to save tbe company's property and the lives of men wbom she bad not known. "She shall have tbe company's check for $1,000," tbe president added. "You will furnish her with transportation," be oontiuued, addressing the superintendent, "and have her report to me at tbe Boston office the first of the year." "Miss Morgan reports to tbe trainmaster," said tbe superintendent, smiling and waving a band toward Goodlough, who sat pale and silent like a man who bad just received a bard fall. "Miss Morgan will not be in tbe company's employ after today," be 6aid, looking steadily at tbe president. ??"? -i- - i J: : 3i nas sue ueeu uibiuisseu.r "She has been promoted and is to take her new place on New Year's day." "May I ask what office she is to take?" inquired the president, glancing from the traiumaster to the superintendent, who was still smiling. "She is to be Mrs. Goodlough," said the trainmaster, with a stem, calm face. "Accept my congratulations," said the president, holding out bis hand. "This is the second time, then, she has saved your life," he continued as Goodlough took his hand, "and I hope you will allow her to accept my personal check for another thousand, for she saved lpine as well." ' Goodlough was greatly affected by the news of Miss Morgan's heroism and the conduct of the president and superintendent of the road. He kept clear of the dispatcher's office that day, for ho dured not trust himself in her presence. That evening when Minnie's mother had retired to her room and the lovers were left alone together in the little lamp lit parlor they looked at each other in silence for a moment. "What distresses you?" asked Miss Morgan. "And you?" inquired the trainmaster. "Order No. ?6," was the reply. "I've lost my place." "And found a friend, a lover?aye, a husband und happiness, I hope.'* "An* what have you found?" "The sender of the mysterious message," said Uoodlough, advancing to whero his sweetheart sat. "Did ho tell you?" "Yes. How shall I repay you for all that you have done for me?" "By pardoning 1110 for forging your name to tho message and becoming cheerful and shortening your offloa hours, and?weir, if anything more oocurs to me I'll tell yon later." "Then yon did send the message?" "Yes." "And how about the flowers that came to the hospital every day?the red roses whose breath called me back to life?" "Yes," she said, and the little hand stole into his and nestled there. And then tbey talked on for just a little while. She forgot that she was out of employment, and he forgot the lap order of a year ago. The lamp burned low. He lighted a match to look at his watch, and it was neither yesterday nor tomorrow, but just between, and then, as all telegraphers do at the end of the day, she gave him "Good night," and he went away. THE END. Miscellaneous ileailing. SPEECH BY ROOSEVELT. Tlio Rough Rhlor Colonel Tellt* the Story of Santiago. The people of Oyster Bav, Long Island, held a peace jubilee last Thursday. nnr^the guest of honor was Theodore Roosevelt, the gallant commander of the Rough Riders. During the celebration, Colonel Roosevelt made a THE COUN public address in which be told the story of his regiment. What he had to say is reported as follows : "Mr. Chairman, Ladies aud Gentlemen : Next to the greeting given to me by my own regiment, I could appreciate uothiug so much as a greeting from you, my fellow townsmen. Up to this time I have refused to speak uuywhere, but in refusing I have told my friends that there would be an exception to the rule. You, my neighbors, you with whom I Lave lived since I was very small, you who have known me in many capacities, who know the evil as well as the good of me, were the exceptiou. I made up my mind that if you cared to hear me you certaiuly should. You should have the first call. "I want at the very outset to express my appreciation of the way in which this meeting was arranged. It is wholly without political significance. It is exactly as with my regiment?no politics or religion. [Laughter.] Excuse me, but there is a proviso, all were good Americaus, and all, according to their several creeds, served the ?i? well hs their eountrv. We I'orgot politics wheu the transport bearing us to the front weighed auchor in Tain pa bay. "This meeting today is only for me in a secondary sense. Primarily it is in honor of all the Americans who, during the past few months, have tried lo uphold the flag. You can all rest free from any appreheusion that I shall make any political allusions in this speech. I shall not. I have carefully refrained lroin talking politics since I returned from Cuba, and if you have seen any interviews of a political character with me, you must credit them to the interviewers and not to me. I disclaim them all. "There used to be a man who owned u number of houses aud who used to carry a brick in his pocket to show the quality of his houses. I have several bricks of rough riders here today, and one of them is our color-sergeut, who carried the flag with us through all of the fighting thai we did in Cuba. [Applause and cries of "Let's see him !"] "Wait a minute aud you shall 6ee him. First I waut to tell you, though, that ot all our regiment he was the man must exposed to danger aud the man who, with the exception of my orderly, was closer to me all through the war than any other one of my men. I am now about lo inflict upon him more agouy than the Spaniards ever could by making Color-Sergeaut Wright stand up." Sergeant Wright, tall aud bronzed, stood with a sheepish look on his face, and sat down immediately, evidently much embarrassed by the roar of applause that greeted him. Colonel Roosevelt continued : "I want to tell you briefly what my regiment was. We raised this regiment ut San Antonio, Tex., and it was made up primarily among the men of the southwest, the men whose life business is to guard the great horned herds, the mining prospectors and the hunters. They were all men skilled in the use of the rifle, accustomed to haudling wild and dangerous horses, used to liviug in the open air, and knowing how to take care of themselves. It is a question if there ever was before such a body of men to draw from for the rough material of soldiers. "But I am particularly proud of the fact that my regiment was made up ol men from all sections. We had men from Maine to Oregon, men who lived in great cities of the east and men who had never seen a large city. We had men from the seacoast and men who had never seen a large body of water. It was one of the latter whom I heard cry out to a comrade when his hat blew ofl' as he stood on the deck ol the transport: 'Oh, Jim, my hat's blown into the creek !' "With these men we had men who had left dollur-a-day jobs to fight and men who had been reared in luxury, but all irood Americans and anxious to show that there was no truth iu the sayiug that it was a rich uaan's war and a poor man's fight, and both only demanding the chance to face deuth for the honor of their native land. They only asked to be judged on their merits, and so they were judged. "Ours was an American regiment, so American that we had representatives of the original Americans among us. There were 50 men of pure Indian blood and they were among our very best men. More than that, it was our good fortune, at the time ol ScBB xtftr JHgg1 jjp SP - I Bgnfilr ^'*" "^SiBlirfRaLiLl rv HOME. our toughest fight, to have at our right and left the boys of the Ninth aud Tenth regular cavalry. These colored men, whom the Spaniards dubbed 'smoked Yankees,' we found to be a very good breed of Yankee, and every Rough Rider has for the men of those two regiments a feeling of hearty comradeship. TTT.QM 1/ncw tin la nf t.hft duties required of them when they were gathered together, but they were all determined to learn, and there wasn't one who thought he knew all about it in advance. There were very few that needed to have the sizes of their heads reduced, and they had the thing done in very thorough fashion. It was because of the way the men went at their work that the regiment was able to make the record it did. I'll not pretend that I'm not proud of the regiment, for I am. "We had that regiment armed, equipped, mounted, then dismounted, on the transports, in Cuba and through a victorious fight inside of fifty days. We had lost the services of a quarter of the men through the bullets of the enemy, and another quarter from disease in that time, but the remainiug half stood ready for any duty that it might be called on to perform. The men all understood what was required of them, for we never deceived a recruit about what he was likely to encounter. There was sure to be trouble and mismanagemeut when Uncle Sam embarked on such a mission for the first time in so many years, and we didn't want to hear any howls afterward, "One of our first experiences taught us the kind of a game we were playing. We were hustled into a transport as though everything depended on our getting aboard within a specified time, and then held under a cheerful tropical sun for a week. During the first three days after we landed in Cuba I lived on what hardtack and bacon some philanthropist in the ranks chose to share with me. In theory it is pleasaut to lie under a tropical sun - 1 u..? and watcn ine ooumeru viuoa, uut when you are soaked to the skin aud standing iu mud over your ankles it is astonishing how the gilt edge of romance is taken off. "It was on the second day after we landed that * we got orders to march and join General Young's brigade. I don't think any of us will ever forget that march. It was a hurd experience ufter being huddled up ou tbe transport for two weeks. But the men went ahead. They had been told one thing, aud that was that if a man dropped out the rest were to go straight ou as though nothing had happened. We had it thoroughly understood that if any man fell iu action, from the colonel down to a private, he was to be left where he fell and the regiment go on. ? ?u~. u ? o "we Siurieu OH llint Luuii:ii au M o'clock, were soaked to the skin in u thunderstorm, but rewarded at the end by word that we were to have a chance to tackle the Spauish rear guard. While General Young, with four troops of the First cavalry and four troops ol the Tenth cavalry, weut up the valley road, we went over the trail through the jungle. We struck the Spaniards at the same time that the regulars did. They were in a strong position, and it was the first experience of the American troops with an enemy having smokeless powder. When the firing was heaviest there wasn't as much a puff of smoke to show where the enemy was. "Among the foremost of our men was a New York boy, young Hamilton Fish, and in command of the advance guard was a man whom I regarded as nearer the ideal Ameticau officer than any man I have ever sesn, gallant Cantaiu Canron. Thev were in the heaviest fightiug, und were killed almost immediately. They died aot only heroes, but martyrs for the cause we were fighting for. That troop of meu had its captain killed and its first lieutenant shot, and the command fell on the second lieutenant, who, having seen his two superiors shot down, gathered his men together and finally drove the Spaniards out. Later, at San Juan, he, too, was shot down, and the command of that gallant troop fell on the first sergeant. "I was on the right wing, meantime, and it was impossible for us to locate the enemy. YVe could here the bullets singing over our heads, and occasionally a man would crumple up. We finally located the Spaniards about 700 yards away and drove them out. Then we saw the regulars coming up, and for fear they would mistake us for Spaniards the first sergeant of Troop K climbed a tree and waved his guidon uulil the signal was answered. "After that we moved up to Santiago, uud camped on a hillside with a ridge in front of us. At dawn our artillery got on that ridge and opened tire. That was tine music to us, but pretty soon the Spaniards began to reply, and instead of dislodging our artillery they shot over it, aud the shrapnel came at us. Of course they iidn't mean to hit us, because they couldn't see us, but that was like the Spaniards. Well, while Generals Lawton and Chatfee were pounding away at El Cauey we were ordered to take the blockhouses on the hills. We went through the jungle in a hurry, forded the river aud were then halted for an hour uuder heavy fire. I see by the pupers that there has been some talk as to whether we took Sau Juan hill or uot. I dou't know whether we did. We didn't stop to ask the name of the hill.; we just took it. "The most trying part of it all was that wait, though, for the men were being shot dowu like sheep. I recollect giving au order to an orderly. He rose and suluted, then fell dead across my knees. I saw Capt. Buck O'Neill walking up aud down in front of his meu. Oue of them said: 'Lie down, captain; you'll be bit.' He laughed and said: 'TheSpanish bullet has not been made that can kill me.' The next moment he fell dead, a bul| let hole through his bead. He was a man of absolute courage, and one of the finest soldiers and men I have ever known. "We finally got orders to go ahead, and then began my crowded hour of glorious life, an hour I wouldn't exchange for all the rest of my life. It is pleasant to remember how the men behaved that day. I saw 13 wounded men refuse to go to the rear, and I recall a New Mexican cow puueher who was shot in the side and whom I ordered to the hospital myself. Twenty minutes later he was in the front rank fighting again. After the fight he went to the hospital and had his wound stroccod Whilo tvinor on a cot he beard the surgeon say tbat be was to be shipped home. Tbat night be jumped out of the hospital window and came back to camp. He fought with the regiment from then on. "The temptation is strong to go on with these tales of personal bravery. There were many others that I saw and a hundred for every one that came under my'observation. Well, we finally took that hill, which we always called Kellett Hill. I dou't know whether, the Spaniards called it San Juan Hill or not. "One word I want to say in closing, and that is, that the regiment typified what we hold to be American. In it was the Protestant and the Catholic, the Jew and the Gentile, all alike and on the same footing. It was a Jew that I promoted for gallantry on the field of battle. The men rose on their merits as men, und by nothing else." The applause lasted nearly five miuutes after Colonel Roosevelt sat down. Then Mr. Youngs, on behalf of the people of Oyster Bay, presented a fine sword to Colonel Roosevelt. "It is not for your bravery in battle," he said, "that your fellow citizens give you this sword, but because they love you as a man." Colonel Roosevelt said "Thanks," and then the Rev. Charles S. Wightman pronounced a beuediction and the jubilee was over. ? Gastonia Gazette: At Waynesville last Thursday, Judge Green decided that Judge Norwood was legally entitled to the office of judge, notwithstanding his resiguatiou of same had been fulfilled by Norwood's subsequent intoxication. E. D. Carter, Russell's appointee to succeed rsorwoou, men threw up the sponge, withdrew his appeal, quit the fight and went home, leuving Norwood in undisputed possession of the office which he so disgraces. That very day Norwood was in Bertie couuty on a spree. Early thut morning he was at Aulander unable to take cure of himself. The agent there helped him to get a conveyance, says a special to the Raleigh News and Observer. When Wiudor, the county neat, was reached, Norwood and the driver were both gloriously drunk. They drove to all the hotels and on through town until they reached the river. Unable to go further they turned back. Friends discovered who it was, helped him to a room, and nursed him so he was able to hold court next day. It was truly *a sight of humiliating degredatiou.