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Bowser's G He Discovered an Exterminate Tens of Thousands of Dollars to (Copyright. 1DTi4. by C. D. Lewis.] JUST what Mr. Bowser had in the little package in his hand when *ne came up to dinner the other evening Mrs. Bowser couldn't guess, and he carefully laid it aside and volunteered no information until the meal was finished and they had settled down for the evening. There was a glow of satisfaction on his face that ' i-?? i............ nn/l iirnr n nrl warxicu nor in ucHiur, <uiu iiu.. uu? j then he chuckled to himself like a man with a good thing up his sleeve. This continued for a quarter of an hour, and then be took a pamphlet from his pocket and assumed a serious air and said: "Mrs. Bowser. I have some rather strange literature here, and if you don't mind I will read a few interesting statistics." "Why can't we go into Green's tonight for a game of cards?" she queried ' Because I have something of far more importance on hand. I have been experimenting for the last few weeks, and toright I am about to bring my labors to a head." "I thought you had some little scheme on hand when 1 saw that package. Are you going to sow grass seed on the cement of the cellar bottom?" "Madam, don't take me for a foolnot quite!" he brusquely replied. "Perhaps you've got a lot of peas .which ripen in March." "rroDaoiy. "Or you arc going to plant corn on the brickbats iu the back yard." "Whatever I do it will be some tomfool thing, of course. You can't credit xne with having the brains of a frog. Instead of rejoicing with me that my labors have been crowned with success you are ready to fling out innuendoes and insults to discourage me. k n Hh BOWSER HAD BEEN DRIV] I was going to toll you all about it, but : now you won't get a word?not a word." The cat had made arrangements to 1 meet a neighbor's feline in the back yard at 7 o'clock and scrap for the championship of the state, but seeing that a family row was more than probable she decided to cancel her engagement and remain inside. Mr. Bowser got up and walked back and forth a few times and flushed from red to white and back again, but presently his anger disappeared and he sat down j and picked up his pamphlet and asked: ! "Mrs. Bowser, have you any idea of i the number of rats running loose in j America at this present momentV" "Good gracious, uo!" she replied. "I thought not. and I am prepared to astonish you. The number, as estimated by good authority, is slightly over 100.000.000?100.000.000, Mrs. Bowser. If they were strung out in single tile, bend to tail, they would reach clear around the world." "I thought there might be ten or fifteen." she mused, "but as for a hundred million"? "That is for all America. Mrs. Bow- ; ser. The number in the United States is exactly 7:>.S24.."2t3. or was at 10 ! o'clock this morning, when the last es- j timate was made. The number for j our own state is .4 few over 3.000.000. j .and for this city and county bOO.UUO. j Do you know the value of what a full j jjrown rat <*onsuuics in a day?" , "How should IV" "Yes. how should you or any other j woman take any interest in such things : I when there are novels to be had at 10 j cents apiece and all the stores are ad- I vertisinjr sprint: bargains? Yon have i never triven it a passim: thought. of course, and you won't remember it lifteen minutes, but let me tell you that the cash value of what every rat eats 1 and destroys every twenty-four hours is exactly <? cents. To say nothing of what KMMHMMKH) rats are costing the country every day. the eost to this city alone is far in excess of S.TUHH) per week, or about $l.tHM?.(HK) a year." "Dear me. but who'would have believed it V" "A million a year wasted in one city alone. besides llie annoyance one is put to by having rats around the house. Suppose this million could be saved. Mrs. Kowser?suppose a hundred million per year could be saved. "Would there he any widows wailiti? for hi cad or orphans shivering with the colli? Would the man who could briti? about this savin? be spoken of as greater than Washington, or referred to fis a fool "Why, he >\ouKl be praised to the lood Thing j I r That Will Slay Rats by the j and Save Millions the Country I i skies," replied Mrs. Bowser, "but you ' ?you don't mean to say"? *'I mean to say, my dear woman?I mean to say that right here in this package is the stuff to do the business and that the name of the man who will do it is Bowser." "Why?why"--' "You are astonished, are you? I thought you would be. l*'or twenty years you Lave referred to my fads and held it up to me that I was a soft mark, but I have bided my time. My time has come at last. In a month I will have exterminated every rat in the city; in a year America will not have one left. Six months hence you will see my statue in bronze or marble in almost every public square in the country." "But I don't see how?how"? "You don't see how I discovered it." he finished as she hung on to her words. "Experiment, Mrs. Bowsertime and thought and experiment. Tonight I shall clear our own house of the pests, and tomorrow the exterminator shall be in the hands of hun- j ilreds of our fellow citizens." "But I am afraid that something will come: of it." protested Mrs. Bowser. "You never do anything of the sort but what?what"? "Certainly something will come of it. Millions of dead rats and millions of dollars saved to the country will come of.it. That's the idea, you know.". "And you won't blame ino?" "Blame you? Don't be a chump, Mrs. Bowser. When did I ever blame you. and where will there be a chance to blame on this occasion? There are no less than,live ratholes in our kitchen. From fifty to a hundred rats come out and gambol and disport themselves ^===^ BX TO MOUNT A CHAIR. every night. All I have to do is to pnt a little pile of this stuff on the floor in front of each hole, and the exterminator does the rest. Tomorrow* morning: you look out of your windows and see a cart load of dead rats in front of the house, and you'll turn about and embrace me and give me my just dues at last. I will now go down and prepare for the slaughter." "Rut yon will be careful and not fool with the hot water boiler or the gas meter and bring about an explosionV" she entreated, while the eat put on a solemn look and purred as hard as she could. Mr. Bowser gave her a look of mingled pity and contempt and picked up his package and went downstairs, followed at a respectful distance by the cat. Mrs. Bowser heard him poking amnnri for n miarter of an hour, and then lie passed on down cellar to fix the furnace. He had returned to the kitchen and put in another ten minutes when she was jumped to her feet by a wild yell of "Police!" Tlrat was followed by a cry of "Fire!"' and that again by a shriek for "Help!" Her knees suddenly weakened, and she could hardly make her way downstairs, but when she opened the kitchen door it was to witness a spectacle that appalled her. That exterminator had brought a i hundred or more rats into the house. | They were not only crying for it. but fighting over it and enjoying the taste I and asking for more. They had come ! with a rush, and Bowser had been | driven to mount a chair, and the cat I had leaped upon the kitchen table, and ; botli were prisoners. Mrs. Bowser I grabbed the broom and laid about her ! with pluck and vigor. Temporarily disj mayod. tie* rats permitted Bowser and l the cat to escape and close the door behind them. Then they issued forth j again in increased numbers in search j of more of that good stuff. | "1 knew how it would be!" pantingly j exclaimed Mrs. Bowser as she sank into ! a chair in the dining room. ! Bowser had c??t a scare, and it look | Him two or three minutes to rally. "Instead of exterminating the rats j you have simply drawn hundreds more. J and we will be eaten out of house and J home. I knew it would be so. I 1 knew" "Woman." lie said as lie towered over | her with the dignity of a <*?vsar. "I | wish To hoar nothing further from you. j The conspiracy to assassinate nie is as I in., .mo. im \-(?:ir face. and to ; ?..> . morrow my lawyer will see your lawyer ami arrange aliout the divorce anil alimony <Jood nitrlit. would In* nmrii (leress: ?o<:d nijrlit:" M. Ql"Al>. 71 Qhest that Came in the Mayflower Is sure to attract the attention of every New England woman and with pride in her heart she marvels that it is so strong and well preserved. This is due to the fact that it lias received prompt attention when any signs cf weakening were shown. So the woman of to-day may keep her strength and preserve her good looks if she gives immediate attention to the first symptoms of any womanly weakness. Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription prompt ly cures disease ana restores sirtngiu iu all women who are weakened by any womanly disease and are run down by maternal and household cares. <*gr*A HSWARDI for women I IfliBaBlfllBBaKflM who cannot be cured. Backed up by over a third of a century of remarkable and uniform cures, a record | such as no other remedy for the diseases and weaknesses peculiar to women ever attained, the proprietors and makers of Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription now feel fully warranted in offering to pay $500 in legal money of the United States, for any case of Ueucorrhea, Fe lale Weakness, Prolapsus, or Falling of Womb which they cannot cure. All they ask is a fair and reasonable trial of their means of cure. World's Dispensary Medical AssoCIA'iion, Proprietors, Buffalo, N. Y. Miss Stella Johnson, of 28 Brady St., Dayton. Ohio, writes: " I was troubled with severe pains every month when I wrote to ycu for advice. After following your directions. I am happy to say that after five years of untold suffering I have not had any pains since first using your 'Favorite Prescription.' I thank God and* Dr. R. V. Pierce for the health 1 now enjoy. I shall urge other women who suffer as I did to use your medicine " Take Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets instead of anv other laxative. All Obstacles Removed. P*ris, March 31 ?The first civil tribunal of the department of the Seine todav decided the case rf the r public of Colombia agairst the Panama canal company in favor of defendants. The eecision removes a I l9ff*l obstacle to the transfer of th * canal conception from the company to the United States. ? The Best Family Salve. DeWitt's Witch Hazel Salve gives inatai t relief from Burn1', cures Cuts, Bruises, Soiee, Eczema, Tetter aid all abrasions of the skin. In buving Witch Hezel Salve it is only nec^ssarv to sse 1 hah you get the g< nuine DeWitt's and a cure is e/rtaiu Tnere are many cheap counterfeits on the market, all of which srewortbless and quite a few are d-ngeroue, while DaWicl's Witch Hazel Salve is perfectly harmless and cures. Sold by all druggists. AAAAmmm| Without Music is fike unto your using some other COOKING COMPOUND I \ said to be "JUST AS GOOD" AS ! i Palmatina | ?"W When ! Yon | Can I Gsu I I PALMATINA THE PUREST VEGETABLE FAT ! I ON THE MARKET j ' The Wesson Company l i ^ SAVANNAH. OA. ^ ' j I - " "Why He Stopped His Paper. I've stopped my pajier. yes I bev, I didn't like to do it. But the Editor he got t<x> smart And I allow he'll rue it. I am a man as pays his debts. And won't he insulted. So when an Editor gets too smart, I want to be consulted. I took his paper eleven years And helped him all I could, sir. An' when it comes to duiinin' me I didn't think he would, sir. \ But that he did and you can betIt made me hot as thunder. Says I. I'll stop the sheet. I will, if the cussed tiling goes under. I hunted up the measly whelp. And for his eunnin' caper; I paid him 'leven years an' quit, Yes, sir. 1 stopped his pajier. A Great Sensation. There was a big sensation in Leesville, lad, when W. H. Brown, of that place, who was expected to die, had bis life saved by Dr. King's New Disovery for Consumption. He writes: "I endured insufferable a?omes from Astbaaia, but your New Discovery gave me immediate relief and soou thereafter tff.-efced a complete cure." Similar cures of Consumption, Pneumonia, Bronchitis | and Grip are numerous. It's the I peerless remedy for ?11 throat and j lung troubles. Price 50c andSl-0'J j Guaranteed by The Kaufmaun Drug j Co , Druggist. Trial bottles free. The Cotton Market. 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In bringing Machines to be repaired it is only necessary to bring the head?Leave the table at home unless it needs renairing too. 1900 Washers and Wringers/ The most perfect Washer ever invented. I can sell them at my store for less than they will cost you ordered direct from the factory. Write fof circulars and prices. J*. EC. BEEET, 1804 MAIN ST., COLUMBIA, S. C. April 1. 1903. 3m j Alfred J. Fox,I I Life and Fire Insurance and i t i . : iReal Estate j Agent, | ! Lexington, S. C i i Only First Class Companies Repre- j son ted. My companies are popular, strone and reliable. No one can give vour business better attention; no one can give you better protection; no one can give yon better rates. I Prompt and careful attention given i to buying and selling Real Estate, both town and country properties, j Correspondence respectfuly solicited. ! j ] 2 Money to Loan. WE A HE PREPARED TO NEGOTIate loans promptly in sums of $300 and upwards on improved farming lands in Lexington county. Long time and easy terms. No commissions. Borrower pays actual expenses of preparation of papers. THOMAS & GIBBES. Colombia. S. C, November 1. 1003 - 6mo. I . ft , , If 1 J. P. ABLE, S ''^^f' DEALEli IN '^\P J ft U_ & * M ^3HOB?& $U .M, CLOTHISO, m STAPLE AM) FAM V GHOCERiES, =Jp; . ## IIAB1JWABE, i|S | T1X AM) WOODEXWARE, ETC,, || W- LEESVILLE, S. C. W im I 4# m?- -wSir ^t? " - "* "45^ " " >7Ss^'' +.V\^' WM. PLAIT, , DEALER IN t Dry Hoods* Millinery and Notions, < NEAELY OPPOSITE POST OFFICE, COLUMBIA, - S. O. MAIN STREET. We have received and have placed on our shelves one of the most beautiful as well as the most complete line of d SPRING AND SUMMER GOODS. J ever shown in the city. These are all standard goods from the most reliable manufacturers and are rc-commeuded lor their stylish aud nobby appearance and the beauty of pattern. A full line of Ginghams and dre?s goods ot all descriptions, as well as lovely creations in fashionable spring and summer millinery. < Gome and see tnese goods beiore purchasing. 1 will make it to your interest to do so. October, 9.?3m. | We Have j 1 RECEIVED OUR i sPRii m mm shoes i and are now ready to serve our Lexington friends with the best shoes at the lowest nriee thev ever boueht. Three (3) points we were caretul in select ing this stock: STYLE, COMFORT AND SERVICE. We will only show ycu Good Solid Leather Shoes and guarantee every pur. E. P. <fc F. A. DAVIS, 1710 MAIN SIBEET, I COLUMBIA. - - - S. C. | YOUNG'S I | | DRY GOODS 1 1 II arid. p | NOTIONS. 1 jfj|S| Dress Goods and Dress Trimmings. Ladies Ribt>ed Underwear, Hosiery, Gloves, Handkercliiefs, Ribbons, Lace, Corsets, Embroidery. A big line of all w P||| wool Blankets. Some rare bargains in Comforts. ^ ^ P ?MEN'S FURNISHING GOODS? M P m This department of our business receives our most careful attention and we iire sure we can show you fw 40 goods in this line eqinil u> any ever shown. ^ We are not equalled in our line of Men's Shirts. Collars, Cliffs and Ties, Susjiendcrs and Hosiery, Gloves and Night Robes. |j| | Underwear. | * p ??? p fp^ We carry a full line of Umbrellas. Trunks?Trunks? Trunks. We invite you ro call on us while in the city. | | 1:7. "5T OU1TG-, jf j '<0 1833 Main Street, Lever's Old Stand, fj?j! I ! If COLUMBIA, - - S. C. f | |