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^ issued semz-wbksl^ i. m. orist's sons, pubuihen. J % jfamili; Beirspaper: ^or the promotion of the political, Social Agricultural and ?omm?[cial Interests of the; people. {TEcsrt.nvs c?mts.VA!ICI! established 1855. yorkville, 9. c., fridaymay 29, 1908. 1sto. 43. I mil >11 lUAUJUAiUUrfHUIUfcUH | By CLARENCE WWIWIWIWWIWIIIIWIWIiWWIW CHAPTER XXX?Continued. The night was dark. "Not toft dark, but just about dark * enough." said the man who had just forced open one of the windows of the mansion at Jahnway Park, and who now sat on the the window-ledge, one leg outside and one leg in, waiting in much the way we may imagine Caesar waited (in a purely figurative sense, my dear reader, in a purely figurative i, sense,) ere he crossed the Rubicon. Then he swung his other leg over (I refer to Patsy Oullens and the window-ledge, not to Caesar and the Rubicon), and entered the room. He walked briskly, but noiselessly, across the room to the dressing table. He picked up Miss Bannottie's watch absent-mindedly. He examined it. with a preoccupied air. One could scarcely have been certain, when he placed the watch in his pocket, whether It was the result of purpose or forgetfulness. ^ Perhaps we had better compromise? and call It Habit! Mr. Qullens looked over the other articles on Miss Bannottie's dressing table. There were some artioles of which he knew neither the names nor A>, the uses; he did not wait to examine them very closely; he felt that he scarcely had time. Mr. Qullens let nothing go unexamined; but he took nothing else than the watch there, It?to quote from the lady on whom he was calling?it was not remorse! It was simply because he didn't see anything else he wanted. Miss Bannottle was usually a wonderfully beautiful woman; do you remember the afternoon she slept with her door alar, the Sunday of her return from meeting Samuel Lyman at Barron's Boomvllle Bank? Do you remember how she looked at that time? Tonight, she had locked her door, She had fastened down her window. She had felt as seoure from intrusion or danger?well, let us say as secure as Constance Craig had felt the evening before she died. Perhaps, had she started up from her slumbers, as Constance Craig had done?? ? Hut we needn't dwell upon the suggestive topic. Lurljne Bannottie slept op: she slept soundly. Qullens turned toward the bed. He looked on the face of the sleeping woman. He drew back, greatly startled * and not a little frightened. "Merciful God!" he said, not aloud, for he was a man of two many and too varied experiences to allow himself to be surprised into making too much noise In a place where his discovered presence would have been unpleasantly compromising; "is it possible the devil |s a woman? Or is she his sister?" * Lurllne Bannottie had felt herself too secure. She had gone to sleep without leaving some wakeful faculty of her mind on guard. Patsy Gullens hud seen her when her face truly in^ dexed her. That was all. Oullens didn't remain In the room long after that. He would have liked to examine several other tables, a sug-| gestlve looking desk, and a bureau which appeared promising. But. so he reasoned, there were, perhaps, as good ehunees for plunder elsewhere in the house; and?he should hate to wake up that slumbering fiend yonder; and he shuddered at the thought. He went out from Miss Bannottie's room. He went through a number of rooms which were unused, In which he secured several valuable little keepsakes, und Into several rooms occupied by servants, in which be got nothing. He opened another door. He stepped Into another room. He noiselessly closed the door behind him. A woman, a weary and worn-looking woman, but a beautiful one, nevertheless. opened her eyes, sat up in bed, faced him, spoke to him. "Oh. sir.' she cried, "have you come to help me! Help me, my good man: help me and save me." "I ain't a good man." growled Gullens. "and as for helping and saving you, I don't know what you mean. But I do know that unless you lie down and keep still I shall have to kill you. Lie down and shut your eyes, like a clever little woman, or I'll put a bullet through you in just five seconds by this watch I've just purchased." And he took out Lurline Bannottie's watch and gravely looked at it. On the whole. 1 ant afraid that Gullens had been drinking a little. "I wish you would." said the woman, quietly. "Wish I would do what 7" * "Kill rue." "You don't mean it. ma'am?" "I do." "Then I sha'n't do it." At which she forgot herself enough to ~ smile, and he followed her smile with a gruff laugh. After which, she was undoubtedly much safer than she would have been if Miss Rannottie. instead of Mr. Oullens, had been her past-midnight visitor. "It would be a quick way out of it all. and easier than the weary waiting," said the woman. "What would? Being killed?" % "Yes." "I don't much wonder you think so. You must find it hard living here all alone with her. She looks like the?the ? like the Evil One. begging your pardon. ma'am?don't she?" * "I don't know." said Elsie, so hon.imi p< i ml id I v that Ciullens laugh ed again. "Net inure tl? I." he said, lightly; "maybe I shall, one of these days. I> she much care?" "Whom do you mean?" "Why, the woman down stairs: thf insane woman." "She isn't insane. She is in chargt ^ here." "The keeper?" "I suppose she calls herself that." Patsy now drew back a little fronr where he had been standing. ^ "You?you don't mean that you an the insane woman, do you?" Elsie smiled gravely. "She says I am," she replied (lullens drew nearer again. yiuiiiininiiyiiiiuMMHiiiiiiyjy BOUTELLE. fwhwwwu iw imii 111 in mm \ "That settles it," he said, with an oath; "if she says you are, that proves you ain't. I wouldn't believe her dying oath." "Then?then will you help me? I? I am in desperate need, and " "She keeps you locked up here?" "She does." "Then I will help you," and he swore again; "that is. if?if you can keep still about this housebreaking." "I have no other choice." "That's the sensible way to talk, ma'am. You are no fool, that's certain. What's your message?" "Tell him that Elsie Is Imprisoned." "Yes; tell whom?" "Mr. Walter Aldrlch." "Where?" "At Boomville." "And where is Elsie imprisoned?" I aon i Know me name or rue piace, but I suppose you do. Here." Patsy Gullens whistled softly to himself. "Then I suppose you are Elsie, ain't you?" he asked. "Certainly." "Well, Elsie. I'll do It. I'll tell Mr. Aldrlch the sort of a beastly box you're In, and " He began to look about the room. "What is it?" asked Mrs. Senn. "Well?you?you see, I robbed the other lady?and?and?it might seem strange, and lead to her asking you awkward questions?if?if you weren't served " "I see," She reached her hand under her pillow, She took out her watch. She handed it to him. "Ah! Many thanks, ma'am. I suppose I'll have to sell the rest of the little trinkets I found lying around here promiscuous like, but I shall never let this go out of my own possession. I shall keep it as a precious keepsake, your own free and fair gift, ma'am." "Yes: please do. And you shall have much more, If you carry my message safely." "I've said I'll take your message, and I will. I don't expect pay for it, though. I have observed," he continued, as he put Elsie's watch in his pocket, "that the average of folks ain't generous? except when they oan't help it." He walked across the room to the window, "I don't know as I shall find this as handy as the window I came in at, one story lower," he said, meditatively; "but I think I'd rather risk the vines and the pillars than go back through the room where your keeper is, Elsie." He wrenched the fastenings from the window, He broke a pane or two of glass, half carelessly and half maliciously. He threw up the window. He put one leg over the window-ledge and waited again. "I must really be going, ma'am," he said, as if some sort of apology were needed. He put hi* other leg over the windowledge. "Good night. Elsie: pleasant dreams, ma'am." he said. And he was gone. CHAPTER XXXI. Their Last Day at Jahnway Park. "Well. sir. who are you? And what are you doing here?" Miss Bannottle's tone was severe. Her manner was full of suspicion. The man to whom she had spoken took off his hat with a sudden, awkward bow. "My name Is Gullens, ma'am," he said. "Patsy Gullens. at your service." Then he added, to himself, "She lobks more like an angel by daylight. I guess she must have had the nightmare the lust time I saw her." "Well, Gullens, what are you doing here?" "Oh. nothing, ma'am, nothing much; only loaling around promiscuous like, und " "You lie. You know these are private grounds, do you not?" "Yes, ma'am. But I didn't intend any harm." "You did. You're a spy." "A what, ma'am?" n , tv 111 auir j?> . "Well, now. ma'am, you hurt my feeling- I?I did not know you had any occasion for being so sensitive, or "Stop! I have no time to bandy words with you! I am in no mood for argument or foolishness. Empty your pockets!" "What?" "Empty your pockets!" "What for?" "Because I want to see what's in them. Hurry! I am going to know if messages " "Messages, ma'am? Why. there isn't any one here to get mesages but yourself. The insane lady wouldn't know enough " "Are you going to show me what you have in your pockets, or " "Really?ma'a m " "Or shall I have to make you doit?" "You can't do that! And I'll never ?never? Oh, you devil! Would you kill " She raised her hand. She struck at him. as she had struck at Jahnway in the London street. And he never raised his hand to ward off the fearful blow. She stooped down. She tore open his coat. She drew out a foldied paper, red at its edges already. She read: "My Darling Elsie: I am coming. I shall he with you almost as soon as you receive this. I?1 have so much to 1 tell you; so much to say. "You give me no particulars, hut I suppose you are with Miss Rannottie. Is it possible she has turned against you? I am not in the confidence of Mr. Prier. but I think he is trying to ; find you and Miss Rannottie. I wonder why? "It seems strange, dear little woman, that tlie tirst message you have sent mc in all these months should be i an appeal for help. It is pitiful that you had to select such a messenger as you did. If L.urline Rannottie has 1 dared locked a door against you. if she has spoken harshly, if she has looked unkindly at you. I will make it cost her dear. "Come what may. I love you ?I love you. I " Lurline Bannottie read no more. She tore the letter Into fragments, her fingers frantic with a furious haste, and scattered them in the slowly widening pool of red which stained the earth and leaves?on the very spot, too, where Jasper Jahnway had once picked up a remarkable letter, if she had only known it. "I wish I dared serve her so," she muttered: "but I am hard pressed, and dare not do it. I must have something better than her dead body to give them when the time comes for me to buy their silence and my own safety." She looked down on Patsy Gullens,, for a moment, as he lay there, gaunt and white, his sightless eyes staring at the sky. Then she turned away her head. "He should have known better than to have dared do such a thing," she said, grimly, as she walked away and left the dead man behind her. Dead? Yes, dead! Dead in a moment, without a heartbeat between danger and oblivion. Cowardly, degraded, mean, wicked? and dead because there was somewhere In his dark soul a fooling- of pity for suffering Innocence, and a spark of chivalry kindled in behalf of wronged womanhood. A tear and a prayer for Patsy flullens! I have no desire to judge hint. Have you? Lurline Ban not tie walked slowly backed to the house. She did not give a second thought to the man she had left down In the glen behind her; she was thinking solely of her future. Her face worked nervously, almost spasmodically, responsive to the emotion In her soul, and What was that, kind reader? Oh. no Indeed! It was not remorse; no?it was not remorse! She called In all her servants. She paid them liberally. She gave them wages for months in advance. Then she dismissed them all. "I shall need none of you any longer," she said. "I am going away from here, this very day. Leave dinner on the table; leave the horses harnessed in the barn; 'put the saddle and bridle on my own horse, that I may mount and ride away if I should choose to go in that way. And now, pack up your personal effects; the coachman will drive, and you will all ride to Jahnwa.v Station. The coach and team are to be left there until called for. Now you all know my wishes; attend to them." There was much wondering, and some muttering, among the siivants Mrs. Brown, as they knew her, had certainly acted strangely, but they had found Mrs. Brown's actions strange more than once before. So they submitted In a better spirit than might otherwise have been true. They did exactly as she had said; they did it exactly when she said. Miss Bannottie had taught them to respect Mrs. Brown, whether they liked her or not ?nna to obev her. And all the time taken for the packing: of her servants' belonging's, all the time it took to prepare dinner all the time it took the coachman to make ready the team and saddle-horse she would never use, as well as the team he was to drive to Jahnway Station and leave?shall I say for ever, since she will never call for it??all this time she walked up and down behind the house, watching to see that none of them all went down the path toward the glade near the stream, where the sun shone hot upon the face of him who had been her latest victim. Up and down: up and down; up and down. To and fro across the garden, with a step which was sis regular as though it had been beating in time to music?a step which neither faltered nor hurried. She crushed the bright leaves beneath her feet, the gast-off garments of the dying autumn time rustling noisily as she stood over them. Rich-colored flowers, hot from the scarcely forgotten noontimes of the vanished summer, nodded and bowed at her. The trees, half bare, gave her no * ?-? ? 1 - - ? .." 1 i.t'-iii1*, I snaae; me grass, i-nsp ?uu bent and broke under her dainty feet. The unclouded sky bent brightly over her. And beyond that sky, He ruled who had ordained that this day should be. for her, the beginning of the end! She was thinking as she walked, walked and watched, the way leading down to where murder had left its dead. Surely she needed to think. Surely she needed to plan. But, in heside all her plots and plans, came one retrospective thought: not a thought of remorse?not yet?but a half-sad. wondering question as to why her life had been what it had: a thought which, centering on Aidrich, as all the thoughts and purposes of her life had. went out beyond him and included more; a wonder whether she could have lived happy, died honored, and?and?and all the rest, if she had happened to have known Jahnway first. The wheels rattled down the drive. She looked up. The coach, with all her servants, was almost out of sight. Not one of them looked back: not one waved a handkerchief or kissed a hand to her: they had no reason to look back, had they? And yet, Miss Rannottie sighed; this manner of their going away had touched and hurt her more than she usually allowed herself to be touched and hurt. She would have Riven more to have had the memory of some kindly words of farewell from them, than she would to have Riven hack life again to Patsy Gullens, or?hunted as she was, desperate as she was?even to Constance Craig. But they went away without a word or a look of kindness for their employer. and left her alone to do as she could with her prisoner?and her dead! .Miss Bnnnottie went slowly in. She walked thoughtfully through the hall. She was about to ascend to Mrs. Senn's room. But There was suddenly a loud ring ?*it the door bell! She went to the door herself. Site opened it. To be Continued. In proportion to its weight, a bird's wing is twenty times stronger than the average man's arm. jc;' Among the objects found in recent excavations in Egypt was a whole company of wooden soldiers fifteen inches high. ittijsffllanmtr. iteadinfl. FLYING MACHINE THAT FLIES. Successful Experiments of the Wright Bros., at Kill Devil Hill. Zach McGhee to Columbia State. Manteo, N. C., May 17.?Kill Devil Hill?that's the place where the flying machine is, and where the day before I started out to look for it, it got smashed up?is, as I have already stated, far out towards the stormy dangerous eastern shore of North Carolina, some ten or twelve miles the other side of the end of the world, which is at Manteo. It is the hill upon which some several hundred years ago?the histories and story books * ? ?* A i? r? Kiiuw wnen?me iiiuiau ciiitri, manteo, or some other "heap big Injun," killed the White Doe, In which the spirit of Virginia Dare had taken refuge. He killed this White Doe with a silver arrow presented to him by Queen Elizabeth. And when he did it, there was great rejoicing in Injun land, because they thought the White Doe. which had been wandering for years up and down the shore, was toe devil. And now this flying machine has taken it first flight from this same Kill Devil Hill, the first time in the history of the world that man has really flown successfully In a heavier lhan air mnchine, soaring back and forth up and down the bleak shore among the sand dunes, sand crabs and pebble filled winds of the shore. Is it the soul of Virginia Dare, the first white child born in America, or is it the devil? Chartering a fisherman's boat, propelled by a greasy chu-chuing, throbbing, gasoline engine, I gathered together a small party at Manteo and hied me away across Albemarle sound for Kill Devil Hill. Nag's Head was our first stop. Once there was an old pirate by the name of Edward R. Teach, who had his office on the narrow strip of land which encloses Albemarle sound, just a few miles below Kill Devil Hill. He had an old nag upon whose head he used to tie a lantern and drive her up and down the beach. It was n particularly dangerous shoaly shore there and sailors out at sea going past would see the light moving and think it was a boat. Since the sailors were having a pretty hard time of it themselves and seeing the other boat moving smoothly along, they would steer their vessels toward the supposed boat to get Into ?a better channel, when low, they would strike the shoals. This was what the old pirate was wanting, and he would go out, stick knives through the sailors and- take their gold and Jewels. He was a sharp old pirate, and If he lived at the present day he would have his office in Wall street Instead of on that desolate place, which was named after his horse. After the usual experience with the motor boat's engine, somewhat automobilious, you understand, and after climbing over a few sand dunes, marshes, quick-sands and things, we reached Kill Devil Hil?, and there, sure enough, was the flying machine ?nailed up in boxes, they say: I know only that it was not flying, and if it existed anywhere, it was in the big barnlike house they called* the "camp." The only "natives" anywhere In sight of the whole neighborhood were some six or eight life savers?technically or professional so-called?at the United States life saving station beside the roarine sea. a short dis tance from the camp. These life savers have been at this station since 187S, during all of which time they have never been known to handle a wreck or to save a life. Their specialty seems to be, not to save life, but to kill time. This may be another reason for calling the place Kill Devil Hill, Old Father Time being the devil, as many folks are quite willing to attest. The flying machine was a boon to these poor fellows away there on the I desolate uninhabited shore, who had nothing to do at all the live long day but sit and look at one another, stare at the ocean or make toad frog houses in the sand. They watched the wonderful performances of the flying men from the top of the sand dune. Each one of the life savers could tell wonderous things about it, and they each had a theory about the puzzling Wright brothers and the problem of flying. Ever since I had struck the North Carolina line I had found the air full of the flying machine and the Wright brothers, not anywhere visible. but everywhere in the air audible. At Elizabeth City, on the boat going to Manteo, nobody could talk of anything else. The monstrous performances over at Kill Devil seemed to occupy the minds of all, men, women and children. Very few had seen it, though everybody claimed to be on intimate personal terms with the inventors. Accordingly I was entertained with the most wonderful tales. At last I had reached folks who had actually seen it. And these life savarc r?r titnA lfillpr? tolfl inc nhoot it: what was. what had been and what was going to be. not going it particularly strong, however, on the last, for they had little imagination, in spite of their intimate association with the mystic and majestic sea. One of these fellows showed me a picture of the machine in flight in a New York paper, which, by some wonderful, inexplicable process, had been blown across the wide expanse of water, shifting sand dunes and a still wider expanse of ignorance. "Thar's the picture," said he. "The fellow sho* got a good un." It was an excellent picture indeed, and, as I was admiring it and epvylng the luck of the man who hud managed to take such a perfect photograph, I asked, "When was this picture taken?" "Thursday," he replied. "Why the paper's dated Thursday," J said. "That don't make no diffunce," he said. "That ar' picture xvuz tuk Thursday,' cause Thursday's the only time thar wuz two men in the machine, and the picture has two in it." Sn tiM had fii'iirerl it not And I quickly figured nut that the magnificent picture marked a "'Photograph of the Wright Brother's Aeroplane in Flight" was a pure fake. It would have taken two whole days to get a picture from there to New York, and two more days to get the paper back. At the hotel in Manteo I met a whole bunch of newspaper men from Norfolk, Washington, New York, London. On the day of the flight thr woods were full of them?the wood; far away from the camp and from the big sand dune. Not one of these newspaper men saw the machine fall, though they all saw it fly. Some of the wildest accounts had been printed in some of the papers about this flying performance. A Norfolk paper printed a story that the Wrights had taken a flight of ten miles out over the sea. The same paper after the accident said that the Wrights had cut their machine up into unrecognizable splinters to preserve their secret. The newspaper men who saw it were at least a quarter of a mile away. It is but just to those who did see it and to the profession generally to say that Norfolk paper did not have a man on the scene at all and the absurd stories were evidently written by some expert think-artist in the home office. Other wild stories were printed in other papers. The Wright brothers would not operate their machine when any newspaper men were present. In order to see it, they had to stand afar off, and many humorous accounts of Iheir experiences were related. Some of these experiences were not quite so humorous, though at the time, such as getting blistered in the sun, skinning their shins climbing trees, making a close acquaintance with the enterprising and distinguished Mr. Chigoe, who Inhabits the little patches of woods ail through this country. They saw the long eight-mile flight, though, and they learned from a reliable source through a man who was there at the time that one of the Wrights pressed the wrong lever of the steering apparatus, causing the machine to shoot down instead of up. It shot into the sand, and as the speed was something like a mile a minute, great was the fall thereof. The flying machine consists of two horizontal oblong discs, or planes, forty feet long, six and a half wide. A propeller is In the rear, run hy a gasoline engine set between the discs or planes. There Is an arrangement to steer by raising the edges of the planes, and by shifting the direction of the propeller. The engine Is twenty-five horsepower, and weighs 160 pounds. The whole machine when it took its long flight the other day weighed, including the two men, 1,100 pounds. There Is no balloon or gas bag attachment, nothing about the whole thing which is lighter than air. It is maintained In the air on the same principle exactly as a disc sailed by throwing it laterally Into the air. The disc you throw is held up by the motion imparted in the throwing. If this motion did not spend itself against the resistance of the air and gravity It would go on forever. Now, what the Wright brothers have been trying to do Is to put some motiongenerator on the disc itself so that instead of the one Impulse given to It at the start it shall have a continuous force operating upon it. Before putting a motor on their machine, the Wrights practiced for years riding on it as it was projected into the air with one impulse given it in starting. They have been coming down to Kill Devil Hill for seven years, getting upon one of these sand dunes and gliding off on a simple little track made of two parallel planes. By climbing upon the top of the hill and sliding down part tne way tney would generate enough motion to sail out into the air, and they would practice steering it in this way. When they had become skillful in doing this and had contrived a steering apparatus they made a gasoline engine and continued the motion. For a long time and until this year they would lie down between the planes, but they thought it would be better to sit up. And that was the principal thing they went to their camp for this year, to practice with the new steering apparatus which had to be changed so they could handle it sitting up. And that was likewise the reason of the accident the other day. The steering arrangement being changed, the positions of the levers were new to them and by mistake one of them grabbed hold of the. wrong lever and shot down instead of up. When they fly they keep very close to earth, from fifteen to twenty feet all the time. The longest flight they have yet made was made three years ago at Dayton. Ohio, which was twenty-four miles. This distance they made in thirty-eight minutes. They flew eight miles the other day in about nine minutes. Now. this disc sailing principle with the engine to Impart a oontinuous force is all right, so far as it goes. But suppose the engine should go wrong or something should happen to the propeller or other part of the apparatus, what would happen? Would the machine, men and all, like a bird shot in the wing come tumbling down? There is where the danger would seem to be, for it must be remembered that there is no danger In going (up into the air, unless you go pretty high up where the air is very rare and you might take cold or run out of oxvgen. The real danger In all aeronautic performances is in coming down. Hut u disc thrown Into the air after the manner so well known does not come suddenly to the ground when the original force Imparted In the throwing Is exhausted; It sails slowly to the ground. This Is what the planes would do. if the engine is shut off it would have a certain amount of momentum which it must expend, and this It would do gradually, and thus if the steering arrangement is properly manipulated the thing would slowly glide down and light like a disc thrown or like a bird. The momentum would be expended gradually against the resistance of the air and gravity, like a child In a swing "letting the old cat die." Very simple; isn't It? Then, why don't you fly? It beats walking all to holler?especially over hot sand dunes In the blistering sun. Who Stpported Atlas. ? Little Ethel is the young daughter of u contractor in Philadelphia. One of her sisters has recently entered into an international marriage. Ethel was asked the other day by one of the teachers, "Whom did the ancients say supported the world on his shoulders?" "Atlas," answered Ethel, "Quite right," said the teacher, "and what supported Atlas?" "Oh," answered Ethel, "I suppose he had an American wife."?Philadelphia Ledger. LIBERIA BEGS FOR HELP. i The Government Is Helpless and Hopeless. Secretary Root has made an ap, pointment to receive Tuesday a dele' gut ion representing the republic of Liberia, which has come from West Africa to ask counsel and aid in the ' many troubles which have continuously beset the efforts to colonize the freed slaves of America, which began the latter part of the 18th century. It is admitted officially that Liberia, is from the standpoint of nations, in I practically a helpless and hopeless condition. Her latest tribulation is in effect an ultimatum from England to maintain a better government. Although the United States is virtually responsible for the existence of Liberia, diplomatic history shows that this government has hesitated to stand sponsor for the little republic before the world. Thomas Jefferson's name first appears in the story of Liberia. In 1781 he advocated the abolition of slavery and the colonization of the freed slaves. In 1800 the governor of Virginia. directed by the legislature of his state, took up the question with the president by correspondence. Africa was selected as an appropriate site, and In 1816 Maryland Joined Virginia in the undertaking to colonize. In 181.1 the slave trade was made statutory piracy In this country, and the following year it was provided by law that negroes from captured slavers should be safely "removed beyond the limits of the United States." To carry out this act. the government chartered the ship Elizabeth and made provision for conveying and settling in African on a site selected by agents sent by President Monroe 300 liberated slave trade victims. The offer of transportation was extended to all free blacks but the Elizabeth sailed with only 86 on Febraury 6. 1820. On reaching the African coast the natives refused to sell the land they had agreed to sell, and the agents and a third of the colonists died with fever. The next year twenty-eight colonists were sent out, but the renewed effort to purchase land failed. This government then sent Dr. Eli Ayrcs and the armed naval schooner Alligator, commanded by Lieut. Stockton This effort resulted in the purchase of a coast strip of land 130 miles long and forty broad, with perpetual tenure. Tho nrina. r\niH was a. miscellaneous as sort men t of trading goods. This purchase Is given as the last direct act of this government towards the establishment and maintenance of the settlement, although this government sent from time to time liberated negroes to the colony. It was in June, 1824, that the United States steamer Porpoise arrived there with additional colonists and gave the colony the name of "Liberia." Several years later various states of this country established settlements, and the interests ol these Independent and rival settlements clashed from the first. A federation was effected with the exception of Maryland, in Liberia, in 1837, when a commonwealth was formed, governed by a board of directors. It possessed no allegiance to any known power, nor was it recognized by any power as an independent state. It soon encountered trouble, however, when in 1824 it attempted tocollect revenue on Imports.- Great Britain objected and ultimately patrolled the coast with armed vessels to enforce customary free trade. Liberia sought the aid of the United States and the matter was the subject of much correspondence between Washington and London. It was on August 24, 1847, that the republic of Liberia with a constitution was inaugurated and the republic was recognized as an independent nation. Then began British and French boundary disputes, which have been gradually settled by Liberia humbly yielding to the demands of her stronger opponents. Just what is to be the outcome of the present appeal to the United States for aid is a question upon which officials will undertake to throw no light. PARTRIDGES' ECONOMIC VALUE. No Bird Worth So Much to South Carolina Farmers. Few would dispute the primacy of the p8rtrldge as a game bird. Viewed in any aspect he Is unrivalled and alone. This bird may be valued for some one quality; that for another; hut the partridge has many qualities that appeal to the true sportsman?he lies well to the dog: tiles well for the marksman, and dies as a game bird should, without a sound or murmur. His place as a game bird is established for all time. Remember, too, his name is partridge, not quail. The northern people have fallen into the bad habit of calling the ruffed grouse a partridge (Just as well call the wild turkey a partridge) and they have misled many southern people. Our bird is the true partridge. But valuable as the partridge Is as a game bird, he Is far more valuable as an Insectivorous bird. He is worth ten times as much to the farmer living as he Is dead. The partridge feeds almost entirely on insects in the spring and summer. The insects he feeds on are among the most dangerous enemies to growing crops. They consist of the cutworm, the larva of the owlet moths, crnsshonDer and the well known and dreaded billbug. Most farmers know the billbug, but as some may not It is well to describe him and what he does. The billbug burrows into the cornstalk, lays his eggs and departs. The worm that is hatched eats away the pith of the stalk until it falls over and dies; he then goes down into the mass of roots, forms himself into a chrysalis and waits for the next corn planting, when as a full grown billbug he can scatter destruction among the newly planted corn. Sometimes a field of forty to fifty acres of corn is entirely destroyed by the billbug's progeny and often destroyed when it Is too late to replant to advantage, differing in this respect from the cutworm, whose operations are confined to the young corn, just after sprouting. The partridge seems to regard the billbug as a peculiar delicacy and as the bird is a wide ranger and a vigorous scrateher he can and does get after the hugs?in fact wiping them J tut entirely if let alone. Any farmer that permits a whole covey of partridges to be destroyed is sacrificing a host of his best friends. This does not mean that partridges are not to be shot at all. for it does no material damage to kill a reasonable number out of each covey, say five or six birds. Nothing wages such relentless war on the billbug as the partridge. Farmers have recently reported to the Audubon society that partridges are eating the worms in their tobacco fields to such an extent that the fields are no longer troubled with these pests. There can be no doubt that if sufficient birds were left there would be a marked difference in the number of tobacco worms. It has been known for some years that the partridge ate tha PnlnraHn nntotn hnntlo anH {t la n<>\v estimated that one full covey of I ?art ridges will worm twenty acres of potatoes if the birds are not disturbed. The United States department of agriculture says in one of its recent bulletins that the partridge is unexcelled as a weed destroyer and this is not to be disregarded in summing up the bird's value to the practical farmer. Like all birds of that family, they are fond of grasshoppers and feed on them freely. C.rasshoppers are among the most destructive of field insects. When they are sufficiently numerous they sweep the fields hare. For years in Kansas and Nebraska they ate up grass, grain and every green thing. It was found that turkeys ate them and farmers began raising turkeys on a large scale. Today Kansas is the largest shipper of turkeys in the world and the difficulty is to get enough grasshoppers for the turkeys to feed on. What the turkeys did In Kansas and Nebraska, the partridge does in South Carolina, where, until recently, they were everywhere numerous. With the influx of visitors from the north and elsewhere each winter and the serving of game at restaurants and hotels, th"> partridge has been sadly reduced and has disappeared entirely from some sections of the state. The intelligent farmer of today cannot afford to disregard modern discoveries, and this one In particular. The partridge deserves protection. The weekly newspapers of the state that go into every nook and corner can do a great work for the people by urging on farmers to back the work of the Audubon society of South Carolina in teaching the intelligent value of hird life Without the work of the birds human life would not be possible in the world, for millions of insects would eat up every blade of grass, every stalk of grain, every green leaf. Birds ire one of the agencies with which a beneficlent Providence keeps the woild in order, and among birds none Is more valuable to the farmer than the partridge: none better earns his right to wise care and protection. In Texas It has been found that the partridge eats the boll weevil, although not to the same extent as the bullbat, the killdee and the chacalaca. Try saving the partridges for a few years until they become numerous and note results. The Audubon society Is anxious to hear from farmers on their experience with partridge and other birds. From such information valuable results flow. Keep your partridges alive and most ?f your worst enemies will trouble you no longer. The Audubon society begs as many weekly papers as possible to urge the care of the partridges in their communities on the farmers. Immense good can be done in this way. James Henry Rice, Jr. HOUSE RENT IN PERU. An Odd Experience With a Hut and Its Landlords. In a village on the upper Maranon, Ill h"eru, Mr. U. n. linocK siayeu iur some weeks In a thatched adobe house on the banks of the river. In "The Andes and the Amazon" he recalls certain amusing facts regarding his stay. I hired the place, writes Mr. Enock, at the not exorbitant rental of 20 cents per week, which amount I handed to the owner on receiving the key. I had just had it well swept out, my baggage installed and traveling cot put up and was enjoying full possession of the premises when a wrathful senora appeared and asked my servant by what right I was there. It transpired that she laid claim to the ownership of the place, saying that the person to whom I paid the rent was an impostor, who had absolutely no right to the house at all. Weary at length of the voluble arguments of the woman, who went back into the remote history of the village to prove her claim. I hit upon the simple method of getting rid of her by paying her the amount of the rent, the disputed 20 cents, in full. But I took the precaution to obtain a receipt this time. The dame having departed, I again lay back in my cot and was just falling into a siesta when more wrathful voices aroused me. Behold! Three other women and a man were laying claim to the house and its rent and were only prevented from entering by the knowledge that the patron was asleep within, as my men informed them, and sleep is much respected among these people. This was really too much, and I sent my boy for the gobernador. After much sifting of evidence it appeare'd that the last claimants, the man and his three cousins, held probably the most likely right to title, and to get rid of the whole affair I again produced a twenty cent coin and deposited it temporarily in the keeping of the gobernador until such time as a judicial decision on his part should be arrived at. This particular house afforded me yet another incident. Wishing to encourage habits of cleanliness and decency among my men, I had upon leaving given orders that the place should be thoroughly swept out and cleared of the litter of departure of my men and baggage and went on ahead. When the arrlero and my servant joined me I inquired if my instructions had been carried out and saw by their answers that such had not been the case. Forthwith I ordered a right about turn, and the village was shortly astonished at our rearrival. I set the men to work and had the place left in thorough order, while the villagers crowded around wonderingly. "Know," I said grandiloquently, "that an Englishman always leaves a house cleaner when he goes away than when he entered It." ' CURIOUS MONEY FACT8. First Coinage 895 B. C.?Iron and Lead Currency. While the first actual coining of money is attributed to Pheldon, king of Argos, in 895 B. C., it must not b6 supposed that there had not existed a keen appreciation of the value and uses of money for centuries previous to the introduction of coinage. The ancient Egyptians had a gold and silver standard of currency and their money was in the form of gold and silver ornaments, rings and nuggets, the purchasing value of which depended on their weight. The Oreeks improved somewhat on this system by first marking the weight on gold and silver nuggets so that It would no longer be necessary to reweigh them every time they were to he used for the purpose of exchange or trade. Then, says the New York World, came the introduction of gold. silver and copper nuggets of graded uniform sizes and values. The next step was his molding and stamping of discs made from the precious metals. Some of these first coins were enormous. the Idea apparently being to discourage the greedy from attempting fo accumulate and carry around too many of them. There were copper coins as large as dinner plates. While the Idea was based on excellent motives, It had to give way before the demand Cor smaller and more convenient forms of currency, and the giant pennies soon dwindled In size to meet the popular demand. The earliest trace of the use of gold as money Is to be found in the pictures of the ancient Egyptians, weighing in scales heaps of rings of gold and silver. There is no actual record, however, that these rings were what may be termed coins with a fixed value. Iron, judging from the statement of Aristotle, was once extensively employed as currency. Lead has also served as money. In fact, it still does In Burmah. Copper has been more widely employed as money than either of the two last mentioned metals. The early Hebrew coins were chiefly composed of It. while down to 269 B. C., the sole Roman coinage was an alloy of copper. Tin money was once used In England, probably on account of the rich tin mines of Cornwall. Early English coinages contained much of this tin money, principally in the form of farthings and half-pence. Silver formed the basis for the early Greek coins and was introduced In Rome In 269 B. C. Mediaeval money was principally compr?<?d of silver. The only other metals for money are platinum and nickel. The former was coined for a short time by the Russian government and then given up as unsuitable. The latter is used as an alloy and in this country for the 5-cent piece familiarly referred to as a nickel. Coined money was first used on the continent of Europe twenty-five years before the Christian era. It was in copper and silver. The gold was not coined there till the eleventh century, and money did not receive the round form to which we are accustomed until the lapse of another hundred years 01 so. The oldest coih in the United States is owned by a. southern collector. It was minted about the year 700 B. C. In Aeglna, The design in high relief represents a tortoise crawling across the face of the piece. The Swiss were the first to date their coinage. They introduced the dated coin 400 years ago, and the style was universally adopted within a veryshort time. The coin of the smallest value ever issued is the "mite," so called, such as the widow of the Bible story contributed to the poor. Its shape was hexagonal, and Its face value onefiftieth of a cent. Five thousand "mites" are the equivalent In value of one American dollar. frouaDiy ine queerest, cuius m mc world are the roundish, Irregular lumps of silver used in Slam. They vary In size from that of a walnut to a half buckshot, according to the value represented. All kinds of guesses have been made as to the number of one-dollar bills that would be required to equal the weight of a five-dollar gold piece. The guesses range as a rule from about 50 to 500. And when a humorist in the subtreasury asks a visitor which he would prefer, all the five-dollar gold pieces he could lift or the same weights In one-dollar bills, the visitor immediately votes for bills, imagining as he does that the proportion will be about ten to one in favor of one-dollar bills as against gold. As a matter of fact, there is very little difference between the weight of one fivedollar gold piece and five one-dollar bills. To be exact, just six and a half bills will balance the five-dollar gold piece. BURIED ALIVE. The Mode of Death Selected by a Chinese Murderer. Rough justice as it is administered in most parts of China is sometimes tempered by Individual tastes, as an Incident printed in one of the China port journals attest. A man in Suchien, condemned to die, preferred to be buried alive, and his wishes were curried out. 10 me icuci. During the famine two brothers who lived in Suchien fought desperately to stave off starvation from their families and bad blood arose between them. At last the elder brother sold his father's coffin for food. When he refused to divide the proceeds with his younger brother the latter chopped off his head with a cleaver. Because it was too expensive to carry the murderer several scores of miles to the nearest yamen of justice the local elders, including the father of the murderer, whose coffin had been sold, sat In justice upon the culprit and condemned him to death. He asked that he be buried alive instead of receiving the horrible torture of the "thirty slices." The father Interceded with the other elders to get them to grant his son's request. A grave was dug. and the victim, with his arms and feet securely bound, was trundled in a wheelbarrow to the edge of the pit by his wife. There, upon the murderer's own request, his bonds were loosed, and he walked to the grave, lowered himself Into it and was ready. The victim's wife put a felt hat over his mouth at his request, and then she helped the elders to fill In the grave with six feet of earth.