Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ISSUED TWIOE-A-WEEK?WEDNESDAT A.KTD FRIDAY. L. m. grist 4 sons, Pnbiuhers. } % dfamitg gicuispager: 4or the promotion of the golitical, ?ociat, Agricultural and (Commercial Interests of the ?oufh. {coir! "^centsX^ VOLUME 42. YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1896. NUMBER 5. *- * * ' ' . 1 Jl FROM ra BY CAPTAIN CI Copyright, 1894, by the J. B. Llpplneott Co. * CHAPTER XX. They were having a family conclave at Sablon. The fnrlongh granted Sergeant McLeod on account of wound received in action with hostile Indians would soon expire, and the question was, Should he ask an extension, apply for a discharge or go hack and rejoin his troop? It was a matter on which there was much diversity of opinion. Mrs. Maynard should naturally be permitted first choice, and to her wish there was every reason for according deep and tender consideration. No words can tell of the rapture of that reunion with her long lost son. It was a scene over which the colonel could never ponder without deep emotion. The telegrams and letters by which he carefully prepared her for Frederick's coming were all insufficient. She knew well that her boy must have greatly changed and matured, but when this tall, bronzed, bearded, stalwart man sprang from , the old red omnibus and threw his one , serviceable arm around her trembling form the mother was utterly overcome. Alice left them alone together a full hour before even she intruded, and little by little, as the days went by and , Mra Maynard realized that it was really her Fred who was whistling about the AM VkAminrr frAATWir OrtnofQ in V>1Q 1 UUbtOgU U1 VWiUlJLig vuwyvi DVUgu M*w great basso profundo and glorying in his ( regiment and the cavalry life he had led, a wonderful content and joy shone in , her handsome face. It was not until the ( colonel announced that it was about time for them to think of going back to { Sibley that the cloud came. Fred said he couldn't go. In fact, the colonel himself had been , worrying a little over it As Fred Ren- wick, the tall, distinguished young man in civilian costume, he would be welcome anywhere; but, though his garb < was that of the sovereign citizen so long ( as his furlough lasted, there were but , two weeks more of it left and officially < he was nothing more nor less than Ser- , geant McLeod, Troop B, th cavalry, and there was no precedent for a colo- i nel's entertaining as an honored guest and sooial equal one of the enlisted men i of the army. He rather hoped that Fred would yield to his mother's entreaties i I* o Hi a ITATinH ttHU. nppij iUi ? vucr^iMgo. Uio i and the latent trouble with his heart , would probably render it an easy mat- j ter to obtain, and yet he was ashamed i of himself for the feeling. Then there was Alice. It was hardly to be supposed that so very high bred a young woman would relish the idea of being seen around Fort Sibley on the arm of her brother, the sergeant; but, wonderful to relate, Miss Alice took a i radically different view of the whole i situation. So far from wishing Fred i out of the army, Bhe importuned him ; day after day until he got out his best ; uniform, wth its resplendent chevrons and stripes of vivid yellow and the yel- i low helmet cords, though they were but ; humble worsted, and when he came forth in that dress, with the bronze medal nn liic left breast and the sharoshoot er's silver cross, his tall, athletic figure i showing to such advantage, his dark, southern, manly features so enhanced by contrast with his yellow facings, she < clapped her hands with a cry of delight j and sprang into his one available arm i and threw her own about his neck and ] kissed him again and again. * i Even mamma had to admit he looked ( astonishingly well, but Alice declared ] she world never thereafter be reconcil- < ed to seeing him in anything but a cav- t airy uniform. The colonel found her i not at all of her mother's way of think- j ing. She saw no reason why Fred should ( leave the service. Other sergeants had won their commissions every year. Why not he? Even if it were some time in coming, was there shame or degradation in being a cavalry sergeant? Not a bit of it! Fred himself was loath to quit. He was getting a little homesick, too? homesick for the boundless life and 6paco and air of the broad frontier, homesick for the rapid movement and vigorous hours in the saddle and on the scout. His arm was healing, and such a delight of a letter had come from his captain, telling him that the adjutant had just been to see him about the new j staff of the regiment. The gallant sercrennt, maior. a vountr Prussian of mark ed ability, bad been killed early in thfc campaign. The vacancy must soon be filled, and the colonel and the adjutant both thought at once of Sergeant McLeod. "I won't stand in your way, sergeant," wrote his troop commander, "but you know that old Ryan is to be discharged at the end of his sixth enlistment, the 10th of next month. There is no man I would sooner see in his place as first sergeant of my troop than yourself, and I hate to lose you. But, as it will bo for the gain and the good of the whole regiment, you ought to accept the adjutant's offer. All the men rejoice to hear you are recovering so fast, and all will be glad to see Sergeant McLeod back again." Even Mrs. Maynard could not but see the pride and comfort this letter gave her son. Her own longing was to have him established in some business in the east, but he said frankly ho had no taste for it and would only pine for the old life in the saddle. There were other reasons, too, said he, why he felt that he could not go back to New York, and his voice trembled, and Mrs. Maynard said no more. It was the sole.alluaion he had made to the old, old sorrow, but it was plain that the recovery was incomplete. ERANKS. CARLES KING. The colonel and the doctor at Sibley believed that Fred could be carried past the medical board by a little management, and everything began to look as though he would have his way. All tlkAY* woi-n frvr cnirl fViA Pfilniipl IXiCJ *?OXV II U4V*?8 AV*, w.VMV^ was to hear from Armitage. He was still at Fort Russell with the headquarters and several troops of the th cavalry. His wound was too severe for him to travel farther for weeks to coma, but he could write, and he had been consulted. They were sitting under the broad piazza at Sablon, looking out at the lovely, placid lake and talking it over among themselves. "I have always leaned on Armitage ever since I first came to the regiment and found him adjutant," said the colonel. "I always found his judgment clear, but since our last experience I have begun to look upon him as infallible." Alice Renwick's face took on a flood of crimson as she sat there by her brother's side, silent and attentive. Only within the week that followed their return?the colonel's and her brother's? had the story of the strange complication been revealed to them. Twice had she heard from Fred's lips the story of Frank Armitage's greeting that frosty morning at the springs. Time and again had she made her mother go over the colonel's account of the confidence and faith he had expressed in there being a simple explanation of the whole mystery and of his indignant refusal to attach one moment's suspicion to her. Shocked, stunned, outraged as she felt at thfl mero fact that such a story had gained an instant's credence in garrison circles, she was overwhelmed by the weight of circumstantial evidence that had been arrayed against her. Only little by little did her mother reveal it to her. Only after several days did Fred repeat the story of his night adventure and his theft of her picture, of his narrow escape and of his subsequent visit to the cottage. Only gradually had her mother revealed to her the circumstances of Jerrold's wager with Sloat and the direful consequences, of his double absences the very nights on which Fred had made his visits, of the suspicions that resulted, the accusations and hi? refusal to explain and clear her name. Mrs. Maynard felt vaguely relieved to see how slight an impression the young man had made on her daughter's heart Alice seemed but little surprised to hear of the engagement to Nina Beaubien, of her rush to his rescue and their romantic parting. The tragedy of his death hushed all further talk on that subject. There was one of which she could not hear enough, and that was about the man who had been most in strumental in the rescue of her name and honor. Alice had only tender sorrow and no reproach for her stepfather when, after her mother told her the Btory of his sad experience 20 years before, 6he related his distress of mind and suspicion when he read Jerrold's letter. It was then that Alice said, "And against that piece of evidence no man, I suppose, would hold me guiltless?" "You are wrong, dear," was her mother's answer. "It was powerless to move Captain Armitage. He scouted the idea of your guilt from the moment be set eyes on you and never rested unH1 Vip harJ nvprt-nrnprl Hip Innf. ntnm nf svidence. Even I had to explain," said ber mother, "simply to confirm his theory of the light Captain Chester had seen and the shadows and the form at the window. It was just exactly as Armitage reasoned it out. I was wretched ind wakeful, sleeping but fitfully that night. I arose and took some bromide about 3 o'clock and soon afterward heard a fall or a noise like one. J thought of you and got up and went in your room, and all was quiet there, but it seemed close and warm, so I raised your shade and then left both your dooi and mine open and went back to bed. "I dozed away presently and then woke feeling all startled again, don't you know?the sensation one experiences when aroused from sleep, certain that there has been a strange and startling noise, and yet unable to tell what it was? I lay still a moment, but the colonel slept through it all, and I wondered at it. I knew there had been n shot or something, but could not beai to disturb him. At last I got up again and went to your room to be sure you were all right, and you were sleeping soundly still, but a breeze was begin? V-1 A fn mwl mug u> I>1UW iUIU nag ;uui iuiuuv luuiiu fro, so I drew it and went out, taking my lamp with mo this time and softly closing your door behind inc. See how it all seemed to fit in with everything else that had happened. It took a man with a will of his own and an unshaken faith in woman to stand firm against such evidence." And, though Alice Renwiek was silent, she appreciated the fact none the less. Day after day she clung to hoi stalwart brother's side. She had ceased to ask questions about Captain Arantage and that strange greeting after the first day or two; but, oddly enough, she could never let him talk long of any subject but that campaign, of his ride with the captain to the front, of the long talk they had had, and then the stirring fight and the magnificent way in which Armitage had handled his long skirmish line. He was enthusiastic in his praise of the tall Saxon captain. He soon noted how silent and absorbed she sat when he was the theme of discourse. Ho incidentally mentioned little things "he" had said about "her" that morning and marked how her color rose and her eyes flashed quick, joyful, questioning glances nt his face, then fell in maiden shyness. Ho had speedily gang> ed the cause of that strange excitement displayed by Arm it age at seeing him the morning he rode in with the scout. Now he was gauging with infinite delight the other side of the question. ; Then, brotherlike, he began to twit and tease her, and that was the last of the i confidences. All the same it was an eaeer group that surrounded the colonel the evening i ho came down with the captain's letter. "It settles the thing in my mind. We'll . go back to Sibley tomorrow, and as for 1 you, Sergeant Major Fred, your name has gone in for a commission, and I've , no doubt a very deserving sergeant will i be spoiled in making a very good for i nothing second lieutenant Get you ; back to your regiment, sir, and call on Captain Armitage as soon as you reach i Fort Russell and tell him you are much i obliged. ' He has been blowing your trumpet for you there, and as some of those cavalrymen have sense enough to onnrnmitD flio /-irvininn nf snob a soldier as my ex-adjutant?some of them, mind you; I don't admit that all cavalrymen have sense enough to keep them out of perpetual trouble?you came in for a hearty indorsement, and you'll probably be up before the next board for examination. Go and bone your constitution and the rule of three, and who was the father of Zebedee's children, and the order of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidte, and other such things that they'll be sure to ask you as indispensable to the i mental outfit of an Indian fighter." It was evident that the colonel was in joyous mood, but Alice was silent She wanted to hear the letter. He would have handed it to Frederick, but both Mrs. Maynarfi and Aunt Grace clamored to hear it read aloud, so he cleared his throat and began: "Fred's chances for a commission are good, as thp inclosed papers will show you, but even were this not the case I would have but one thing to say in answer to your letter?he should go back to his troop. "Whatever our friends and fellow cit izens may think on the subject, 1 hold that the profession of the soldier is to the full as honorable as any in civil life, and it is liable at any moment to be more useful. I do not mean the officer alone. I say and mean tho 6oldier. As for me, I would rather be first sergeant of my troop or company or sergeant major of my regiment than any lieutenant in it except the adjutant. Hope of promotion is all that can make a subaltern's life endurable, but the staff sergeant or the first sergeant, honored and respected by his officers, decorated for bravery by congress and looked up to by his comrades, is a king among men. The pay has nothing to do with it. I say to Reuwick, 'Come back as soon as your wound will let you,' and I envy him the welcome that will be his. "As for me, I am even more eager to get back to you all, but things look very dubious. The doctors shake their heads at anything under a month and say I'll be lucky if I eat my Thanksgiving dinuer with you. If trying to get well is going to help, October shall not be done with before B company will report me present again. "I need not tell you, my dear old friend, how I rejoice with you in your ?bum and haw and this is all about something else,'' goes on the colonel in malignant disregard of the longing looks in the eyes of three women, all of whom are eager to hear the rest of it, and one of whom wouldn't say so for worlds. "Write to me often. Remember me warmly to the ladies of your household. I fear Miss Alice would despise this wild, open prairie country. There is no goldenrod here, and I so often see her as?hum and hum, and all that sort of talk of no interest to anybody, "says he, with a quizzical look i over his "bows" at the lovely face and [ form bending forward with forgetful ; eagerness to hear how "he so often sees : her.'' And there is a great bunch of ; goldeurod in her lap now and a vivid [ blush on her cheek. The colonel is wax ing as frivolous as Fred and quite as great a tease. And then October comes, and Fred ; has gone, and the colonel and his household are back at Sibley, where the gari risen is enraptured at seeing them, and where the women precipitate themselves ; upon them in tumultuous welcome. If i Alice cannot quite make up her mind to return the kisses and shrinks slightly i from the rapturous embrace of some* of the younger and more impulsive of the i sisteihood, if Mrs. Maynard is a trifle i more distant and stately than was the ; ease before they went away, the garrison does not resent it. The ladies don't I wonder they feel indignant at the way : people behaved and talked, and each lady is sure that the behavior and the ' talk were all somebody else's?not by ; any possible chance could it be laid at i the door of the speaker. And Alice is the reigning belle beyond dspute, though there is only subdued gayety at the fort, for the memory of their losses tit the Spirit Wolf is still fresh iu the minds of tho regiment. ' But no man alludes to the events of the ^ black August night; 110 woman is permitted to address either Mrs. Maynord 1 or her daughter on the subject. There 1 are some who seek to be confidential ;uid who cautiously feel their way for an opening, but the mental sparring is vain. There is an indefinable some' thing that tells the intruder, "Thus far and no f;irther." Mrs. Maynard is courteous, cordial and hospitable; Alice 1 sweet and gracious and sympathetic ! even, but confidential never. ! And then Captain Armitage, late in the month, comes home on crutches, 1 and his men give him a welcome that makes the rafters ring, and he rejoices ar in it and thanks them from his heart, th but there is n welcome his eyes plead of for that would mean to him far more W than any other. How wistfully he stud- vc iesherface! How unmistakable aro the ar love and worship in every tone! How lo quickly the garrison sees it all, and lil how mad the garrison is to see whether in or not 'tis welcome to her! But Alice w Renwick is no maiden to be lightly w won. The very thought that the garri- it. son had so easily given her over to Jer- h( rold is enough to mantle her cheek with si) indignant protest She accepts his at- th tentions as she does those of the young- w er officers, with consummate grace. She th shows no preference; will grant no fa- be vors. She makes fair distribution of her th dj^nces at the hops at the fort and the ps parties in town. There are young civil- ai ians who begin to be devoted in society be and to come out to the fort on every bi possible opportunity, and these, too, she lii welcomes with laughing grace and cor- A diality. Sho is a glowing, radiant, gor- a\ geous beauty this cool autumn, and she th rides and drives and dances, and, the w women say, flirts and looks handsomer pc every day, and poor Armitage is begin- he ning to look very grave and depressed, al "He wooes and wins not," is the cry. fn His wound has almost healed so far as the thigh is concerned, and his crutches sa are discarded, but his heart is bleeding, and it tells on his general condition, pc mi? J?J. ?? V.? XlltJ uuuiurs bay uc uuguu iu uu gEtuug well faster, and so they tell Miss Ren- ta wick?at least somebody does?but still she relents not, and it is something beyond the garrison's power of conjecture to decide what the result will be. Into her pretty white and yellow room no one penetrates except at her invitation, even when the garrison ladies are spending the day at the colonel's, and even if they did there would be no visible sign by which they could judge whether his flowers were treasured or his picture honored above others. Into her brave and beautiful nature none can gaze and say with any confidence either "she loves" or "she loves not." Winter comes, with biting cold and blinding snow, and still there is no sign. The joyous holidays, the glad New Year, are almost at hand, and still there is no symptom of surrender. No one dreams of the depth and reverence and gratitude and loyalty and strength of the love that is burning in her heart until / all of a sudden, in the most unexpected and astonishing way, it bursts forth in <l( Slglll; U1 on. They had been down skating on the ec slough, a number of tho youngsters and aj the daughters of the garrison. Rollins bi was there doing tho devoted to Mamie Gray, and already there were gossips ai whispering that she would soon forget n< she ever knew such a beau as Jerrold in fc the new found happiness of another one. Hall was therewith the doctor's pretty ri daughter, and Mrs. Hoyt was matron- er iziug the party, which would, of course, rc have been incomplete without Alice. I' She had been skating hand in hand with m a devoted young subaltern in the artil- fc lery, and poor Armitage, whose leg was unequal to skating, had been ruefully fc admiring the scene. He had persuaded cc Sloat to go out and walk with him, and Hi Sloat went, but the hollow mockery of fc the whole thing became apparent to him ly after they had been watching the skat- ai ers awhile, and he got chilled and si wanted Armitage to push ahead. The sc captain said he believed his leg was too si stiff for further tramping and would bo rc the better for a rest, and Sloat left him. Heavens, how beautiful she was, tl with her sparkling eyes and radiant color, glowing with the graceful exercise! w He sat there on an old log watching tr the skaters as they flew by him and " striving to keep up an impartial inter- oi est, or an appearance of it, for the other si girls. But. the red sun was going down, and twilight was on them all of a sud- u< den, and he could see nothing but that face and form. He closed his eyes a mo- b; ment to shut out the too eager glare of u< the glowing disk taking its last fierce te peep at them over the western bluffs, in and as he closed them the same vision hi came back?tho picture that had haunt- in ed his every living, dreaming jnommt tl: since the beautiful August Sunday in it the woodlaud lane at Sablon. With un- ai dying love, with changeless passion, his pi life was given over to the fair, slender to maiden he had seen in all the glory of ei the sunshine and the goldenrod, stand- pi ing with uplifted head, with all her ef soul shining in her beautiful eyes and nc thrilling in her voice. Both worshiping cc and worshiped was Alice Renwick as to she sang her hymn of praise in unison a with the swelling chorus that floated tl through the trees from the little brown jvi church upon the hill. From that day ai she was Queen'Alice in every thought, se and he her loyal, faithful knight for weal or woe. Boom went tho sunset gun far up on ed flwmi 'TtrOi! flir.llMT ni hju paituiv ui'ui v iiiuiii. a itmu ?. time, and the skaters were compelled to (k give up their pastime. Armitage sethis te teeth at the entirely too devotional at- m titude of the artilleryman as he slowly be and lingeringly removed her skates and ir turned away in that utterly helpless sc frame of mind which will overtake the st: strongest men on similar occasions. Ho so had been sitting too long in tlio cold ea and was chilled through and stiff, and w his wounded leg seemed numb. Leaning th heavily on his stout stick, he began tb slowly and painfully the ascent to the hi railway and chose for tho purpose a in winding path that was far less steep, br though considerably longer, than the co sharp climb the girls and their escorts hi made so light of. One after another the glowing faces so of the fair skaters appeared above the ca embankment, and their gallants care- ui fully convoyed them across the icy and gc slippery track to the wooden platform cl beyond. Armitage, toiling slowly up ht his pajthway, heard their blithe laughter th id tnougnt witn xio muo omerness at it was a case of "out of sight, out mind, "with him as with better men. rhat sense was there in his long deition to her? Why stand between her id the far more natural choice of a ver nearer her years? "Like unto ke" was nature's law. It was flying the face of Providence to expect to in the love of one so young and fair hen others so young and comely craved The sweat was beaded on his fore;ad as ho neared the top and came in ght of the platform. Yes, they had no ought of him. Already Mrs. Hoyt as half way up the wooden stairs, and e others were scattered more or less itween that point and the platform at 0 station. Far down at the south end iced the fur clad sentry. There it was 1 easy step from the track to the >ards, and there, with much laughter, it no difficulty, the young officers had fted their fair charges to the walk. 11 wero chatting gayly as they turned vay to take the wooden causeway rrom ,e station to the stairs, and Miss Renick was among the foremost at the >int where it left the platform. Here, jwever, she glanced back and then )out her, and then bending down began imbling at the buttons of her boot. "Oh, permit me, Miss Renwick," ,id her eager escort. ' 'I will button it" "Thanks, no. Please don't wait, good ;ople. I'll be with you in an instant" And so the other girls, absorbed in ,1k with their respective gallants, passDh, permit mc, Miss Renwick," said, her catjcr escort. "I will button it." I her by, and then Alice Renwick jain stood erect and looked anxiously it rmieklv back. "Captain Armitage is not in sight, id we ought not to leave him. He may it find it easy to climb to that plat>rrn," she said. "Armitage? Oh, he'll come on all glit," answered the batteryman, with isy assurance. "Maybo he has gone >und by the road. Even if he hasn't, ve seen him make that in one jump any a time. He's an active old buffer >r his years." "But his wound may prove too much ir that jump now. Ah, there he >mes," she answered, with evident reef, and just at the moment, too, the irago cap of the tall soldier rose slow into view somo distance up the track, id he came walking slowly down the mrp curve toward the platform, the ime sharp curve continuing on out of ght behind him?behind the high and >cky bluff. "He's taken the long way up," said le gunner. "Well, shall we go on?" "Not yet, "she said, with eyes tnac ere glowing strangely and a voice that embled. Her cheeks, too, were paling. Mr. Stuart, I'm sure I heard the roar ' a train echoed back from the other de." "Nonsense, Miss Renwick! There's j train either way for two hours yet" But she had begun to edge her way ick toward the platform, and he could Dt but follow. Looking across the inrveuing space, a rocky hollow 20 feet i depth, he could seo that the captain id reached tlio platform and was seekig for a good place to step up; then lat he lifted his right foot and placed 011 the plunking and with his cane id the stiff, wounded left leg strove to ish himself on. Had there been a hand i help him, all would have been easy lough, but there was none, and the an would not work. Absorbed in his Forts, he could not see Stuart. He did it see that Miss Renwick had left her impanions and was retracing her steps i get back to tho platform. He heard sudden dull roar from the rocks across ie stream, then a sharp, shrill whistle ist around tho bluff. My God! a train, id that man thero alone, helpless, derted! Stuart gave a shout of agony, Back?roll back over the bank!" Annitage glanced around, determin1, gavo one mighty effort, the iron feriled stick slipped on tho icy track, and iwu he went, prone between tho gli?ning rails even as the black, vomiting ouster came thundering round the nd. He had struck iiis head upon the on and was stunned, not senseless, but rambled to his hands and knees and mm tn rrnwl awav. Even as lie did lie heard a shriek of anguish in his jo, and with one wild leap Alice lienick came flying from the platform in o very face of advancing death, and i0 next instant, her arm clasped about s neck, his strong arms tightly clasp g her, they were lying side by side, xiised, stunned, but safe, in a welming snowdrift half way down the ther bank. When Stuart readied the scene, as on as the engine and some wrecking rs had thundered by, ho looked down ion a picture that dispelled any linsring doubt in his mind. Armitage, asping Queen Alice, to his heart, was ilf rising from the blessed mantle of e snow, and she. her head upon his uruuu fcuuuuicr, wan Diiiuiiig xaixxuxj ujs into his face. Then the glorious eyes closed in a deathlike swoon. ####? Fort Sibley had its share of sensations that eventful year. Its crowning triumph in the one that followed was the wedding in the early spring. Of all the lovely women there assembled the bride by common consent stood unrivaled? Queen Alice indeed. There was some difference of opinion among authorities as to who was really the finest looking and most soldierly among the throng of officers in the conventional full dress uniform. Many there were who gave the palm to the tall, dark, slender lieutenant of calvary who wore his shoulder knots for the first time on this occasion, and who for a man from the ranks seemed consummately at home in the manifold and trying duties of a groomsman. Mrs. Maynard, leaning on his arm at a later hour and looking up rapturously in his bronzed features, had no divided opinion. While others had by no means so readily forgotten or forgiven the mad freak that so nearly involved them all in wretched misunderstanding, she had nothing but rejoicing in his whole career. Proud of the gallant officer who had won the daughter whom she loved so tenderly, she still believes, in tbe depths or tne bouncuess mother love, that no man can quite surpass her soldier son. THE END HOW TO GET PROSPERITY. Don't Leave It All to One Man ; but Let All Hnfttle Together. Mr. D. R. Bird, of Pacolet, S. C., in a letter to The Manufacturers' Record, says: I expect to build a 15-box dry-press oil mill at Gatfney during 1896. The capacity of the mill will be 15 tons every 24 hours. I have already bought the machinery from the Stillwell-Bierce <? Smith-Vaile Co., of Dayton, Ohio. The machinery was bought to build at Blacksburg, S. C., but the stock could not be raised there ; so I tried Gaffney, and have 88,000 subscribed. I want $12,500, and I am told that the balance is assured. It is quite probable that there is an abundance of money lying idle in Blacksburg, which could have been judiciously invested in such an enterprise as this, just as there is in hundreds of Southern towns; but the failure to realize the importance of investment in industrial enterprises, and tbe lack of a hustling spirit to encourage such undertakings often cause the loss of opportunities to secure a factory, and, once lost, these chances can never be regained." Blacksburg could easily have taken hold of this enterprise, and, to its lusting benefit, built a cottonseed-oil mill, just as it could easily build one or more cotton mills; but its local people are entirely too well satisfied, and, hence, make little effort to do some hustling and build up tbe industrial interests of their town. Admirably located as the place is, with excellent railroad facilities, with wonderful mineral resources surrounding it, it has left to one or two men the work of doing all the hustling tvhir.h has been done in that town for the last four or five years. So far as au outsider cau judge, its business people uever seem to unite in pushing forward and carrying to success, enterprises which could easily be started, and which would quickly give life and prosperity to the town. The Manufacturers' Record is not, however, criticising Blacksburg more lhau it would criticise hundreds of other places. All through the South there are towus having excellent natural advantages?towus in which money is lying practically idle, bringing little or no profit to its owners, and doing no good to'the community. If t^very such town in the South could be inspired wan some of the hustling qualities which have made Atlanta, and which are today bringing to the front Rome, Ga., now one of the most conspicuous places in the South because of its success iu capturing great cotton mills, hundreds of towns throughout the South would quickly spring into life and activity. The South has the ability and the money to build up its own industrial iuterests. It ought to be more independent, more self-reliant, and its people ought to unite,'and through active co-operation, gather into manufacturing enterprises its now unutilized capital, and thus cease to depend upon outside men and outside money. There is scarcely a town of 1,000 people iu the South which could not raise $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 of local money for the purpose of starting industrial enterprises ; but there is too much lack of public spirit and broadminded energy in many of these towns. The Manufacturers' Record wants to see Blacksburg and every other place, which has been waiting for outsiders to come in and create prosperity, go to work and - ? create lueir uvm j;iuojjcinjr. They Say?That a fast man easily runs into debt ; that a light heart cannot accompany a heavy head ; that a man always feels cheap when he has been sold ; that people who borrow trouble have to pay big iuterest; that a city is always called "she" "because it has outskirts; that the people who influence you are tbey who believe in you ; that a woman cannot drive a nail, but she can drive a bargain ; that it is curious how a woman who screams at a mouse is not startled at a bill that makes a man tremble ; that the fun that a man has in watching a woman sharpen a pencil is only equalled by the quiet amusement the woman experiences while the man is endeavoring to thread a needle.