Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, December 05, 1900, Image 1

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YORKVILLT ENQUIRER. seki-weeklt. k. grist & sons, pabiishers. j ^amitg gerosppn Jfor the gromotion ?| the golitieal, lariat, ^ricuttural, and (gontmeitriat gntygte aff the geogle. { established!8557 yorkville. s. c., wednesday, december 57t900. isto. 977 THE MYSTE ASA Bv ANNA KATH> Author of "The Leavenworth Ca and Ring," Copyright, 1900, by Anna Katharine ( Synopsis of Previous Chapters. In order that new readers of The Enquirer may begin with the following installment of this story, and understand It just the same as though they had read It all from the beginning, we here give a synopsis of that portion of which has already been published: The story opens with the close of a ball after daylight in the morning. "While the guests are leaving the house Frederick Sutherland dashes out frantically and disappears in the woods on the other side of the road. Agatha Webb is found up stairs murdered. The body of Batsy, the cook, is found hanging from a window. Philemon Webb, Agatha's husband, is discovered sitting before a dining table asleep, with a smear of blood on his coat sleeve. Philemon being charged with the murder, his mind, alrady feeble gives way completely. All Agatha Webb's money has been taken. Miss Page, standing on the lawn, points to a spot of blood on the grass. Frederick Sutherland, who has been a wild fellow, promises nis father to reform; also to give up Amabel Page, whom he has been expecting to marry. Miss Page tells Frederick that she followed him ? ?*?-* - * on/1 c?o ur on tne mgni ui mc muiuci anu him secrete $1,000 in a hollow tree. She declares that he shall either marry her or she will proclaim him a murderer. She is about to leave him and the town when she is held as a witness. The past life of Agatha Webb. Six children have been born to her and all died in infancy. It is learned that the money taken from Agatha Webb was all in new bills. A storekeeper produces one of them that a strange man with a flowing beard gave him the night of the murder. The problem now is to find the man with the long beard. Suspicion falls on the Zabel brothers. CHAPTER XII. PAT OR SUFFER EXPOSURE. The Hallidays lived but a few rods from the Sutherlands. Yet as It was dusk when Miss Halliday rose to depart Frederick naturally offered his services as her escort. She accepted them with a slight blush, the first he had ever seen on her face or at least had ever noted there. It caused him such surprise that he forgot Amabel's presence in the garden until they came upon her at the gate. "A pleasant evening," observed that young girl in her high, unmusical voice. "Very." was Miss Halliday's short reply, and for a moment the two faces were in Hue as he held open the gate before his departing guest. They were very different faces in feature and expression, and until that night he had never thought of comparing them. Indeed the fascination which beamed from Amabel l'ages rar rrom regular countenance had put all other faces out of his mind, but now as he surveyed the two the candor and purity which marked Agnes' features came ,i out so strongly under his glance that the countenance of Amabel lost its charms, and be hastily drew his young neighbor away. Amabel noted the movement and smiled. She had no fears of Agnes Hnlliday. Perhaps she might have felt less confidence if she could have seen the short gluuces he cast uis oid playmate as they proceeded slowly down the road. Not that there was any passion in them, lie was too full of care for that, but the curiosity which could prompt him to turn his head a doxon times in the course of so short a walk to see why Agnes llallidny held her face so persistently away from him had an element of feeling in it that was more or less significant. As for Agnes, she was so unlike her accustomed self as to astonish even herself. Whereas she had never before walked a dozen steps with him without indulging in some sharp saying, she found herself disinclined to speak at all. much less speak lightly. In mutual silence, then, they reached the gateway leading into the Iialliday grounds. But Agnes, having passed in. they both stopped and for the first time looked squarely at each other. Her eyes fell first, perhaps because his had changed in his contemplation of her. He smiled as he saw this and in a half careless, half wistful tone said quietly: "Agnes, what would you think of a man who, after having committed little else but folly all his life, suddenly made up his mind to turn absolutely toward the right and to pursue it in face of every obstacle and every dis couragement?" "I should think." she slowly replied, with one quick lift of her eyes toward his face., "that he had entered upon the noblest effort of which man is capable and?the hardest. 1 should have great sympathy for that man. Frederick." "Would you?" he said, recalling Amabel's face with bitter aversion as he gazed into the womanly countenance he had hitherto slighted as uninteresting. "It is the first kind word you have ever given me. Agnes. Possibly it Is the first I have ever deserved." And without another word he doffed his hat. saluted her and vanished down the hillside. She remained, remained so long that it was nearly 9 o'clock when she entered the family parlor. As she came In her mother looked up and was startled at her unaccustomed pallor. "Why. Agnes." cried her mother, "what is the matter?" Her answer was inaudible. What was the matter? She dreaded, even feared, to ask herself. BY OF THA WEBB. VRINE GREENE, se," "Lost Man's Lane," "Hand Etc.,Etc. Jreen. Meantime a strange scene was taking place in the woods toward which she had seen Frederick go. The moon, which was particularly bright that night, shone upon a certain hollow where a huge tree lay. Around it the underbrush was tblcK ana tne snaaow dark, but in this especial place the opening was large enough for the rays to enter freely. Into this circlet of light Frederick Sutherland had come. Alone and without the restraint imposed upon him by watching eyes he showed a countenance so wan and full of trouble that it was well it could not be seen by either of the two women whose thoughts were at that moment fixed upon him. To Amabel it would have given a throb of selfish hope, while to Agnes it would have brought a pang of despair which might have somewhat too suddenly interpreted to her the mystery of her own sensations. He had bent at once to the hollow space made by the outspreading roots just mentioned and was feeling with an air of confidence along the ground for something he had every reason to expect to find when the shock of a sudden distrust seized him. and he flung himself down in terror, feeling and feeling again among the fallen leaves and broken twigs until a full realization of his misfortune reached him. and he was obliged to acknowledge that the place was empty. ^ 1 1 '1 ?* iaoo n nrkioct o t werwueuueu m uia iwo. af,uuoi ??.. the consequences it must entail upon him. he rose in a trembling sweat, crying out in his anger and dismay: "She has been here! She has taken It!" And realizing for the first time the subtlety and strength of the antagonist pitted against him he forgot his new resolutions and even that old promise to Agatha Webb and uttered oath after oath, cursing himself, the woman and what she had done until a casual glance at the heavens overhead. in which the liquid moon bung calm and beautiful, recalled him to himself. Ceasing bis vain repinings and silencing with a fierce but determined effort the fierce demon in his breast, he turned from the unhallowed spot and made bis way with deeper and deeper misgivings toward a home made hateful to him now by the presence of the woman who was thus bent upon his ruin. He understood her now. He rated.at its full value both her determination and her power, and had she been so unfortunate as to have carried her imprudence to the point of surprising him at that moment in one of the hollows of that midnight copse it would have taken more than the memory of that day's resolves to have kept him from using his strength against her. But she was wise and did not intrude upon him in his hour of anger, though who could say she was not n.-ar enough to hear the sigh which broke irresistibly from his lips as he emerged from the wood and approached his father's house. A lamp was still burning in Mr. Sutherland's study over the front door, and the sight of it seemed to change for a moment the current of Frederick's thoughts. Stopping with the gate in his hand, he considered with himself and then with a freer countenance and a lighter step was about to proceed inward when he heard the sound of a heavy breather coming up the hill and paused, why he hardly knew, except that every advancing step occasioned him more or less apprehension. The person, whoever it was, stopped before reaching the brow of the hill and panting heavily muttered an oath which Frederick heard. Though It was no more profane than those which had just escaped his own lips in the forest, it produced an effect upon Frederick which was only second in intensity to the terror of the discovery that the money he had so safely hidden was gone. Trembling in every limb, he dashed down the hill and confronted the person standing there. "You!" be cried. "You!" And for a moment lie looked as if be would like to fell to the ground the man before bim. But this man was a heavyweight of no ordinary physical strength and adroitness and only smiled at Frederick's heat and threatening attitude. "I thought I would lie made welcome." he smiled, with just the hint of sinister meaning in iiis tone. Then, before Frederick could speak, he said: | "I have merely saved you a trip to Boston. Why so much anger, friend? You have the money. Of that I am positive." "Hush! We can't talk here." whispered Frederick. "Come into the grounds, or.-what would lie better, into the woods over there." "I don't go into the woods with you." laughed the other. "Not after last night, my friend. But I will talk low. That's no more than fair. I don't want to put you into any other man's power, especially if you have the money." "Wattles"? Frederick's tone was broken, almost unintelligible. "What do you mean by your allusion to last night? Have you dared to connect me"? "Pooh, pooh!" interrupted the other good humoredly. "Don't let us waste words over a mischance word I may have let drop." "I don't care anything about last night's work or who was concerned In it That's nothing to me. All I want. my boy. is the money, and that I want devilish bad or I would not have run ^ up here from Boston, when I might q have made half a hundred off a coun- 1 tryman Lewis brought in from the ^ Canada wilds this morning." ^ "Wattles, i swear"? 1 But the hand he had raised was quickly drawn down to the other. "Don't." said the older man shortly. A "It won't pay. Sutherland. Stage talk q never passed for anything with me. I Besides, your white face tells a truer ^ story than your lips, and time is pre- ^ clous. I want to take the 11 o'clock train back. So down with the cash. Nine hundred and fifty-six it is. but. being friends, we will let the odd six a go." 1 "Wattles. 1 was to bring It to you to- H morrow, or was it the next day? I do ^ not want to give it to you tonight. Indeed I cannot, but?Wattles, wait stop! Where are you going?" "To see your father. I want to tell ^ him that his son owes me a debt: that q this debt was incurred in a way that V lays him liable for arrest for forgery; ^ that, bad as he thinks you. there are ^ facts which can be picked up in Boston which would make Frederick Sutherland's continued residence under the parental roof Impossible; that In fact ? you are a scamp of the first water and b that only my friendship for you has S kept you out of prison so long. Won't ^ it make a nice story for the old gentleman's ears?" "Wattles?I?oh. my God. Wattles, stop a minute and listen to me. I have not got the money. I had enough this morning to pay you. had It legitimate- It ly. Wattles, but It has been stolen from me. and""1 will also tell him." the other broke t( in as quietly and calmly as if Freder- a ick had not uttered a word, "that in a n certain visit to Boston you lost $500 on q one hand: that j*ou lost it unfairly, g not having a dollar to pay with; that si to prevent a scandal I became your h security, with the understanding that w I was to be paid at the end of ten days it from that night: that you thereupon ji played again and lost $400 and odd h T w "J want to tell him that his son is c scamp b oj the first water." tl more, so that your debt amounted to ir $055; that the ten days.passed without it payment; that wanting money I press- si ed you and even resorted to a threat w or two and that seeing me In earnest 11 t-rtti awnro timf the dollars should be 1? J?"" ? ----- -? __ mine within five days; that instead of r< remaining: in Boston to get them you 81 cnme here and that this morning at a a very early hour you telegraphed that w the funds were to hand and that you *r would bring them down to me tomorrow. Fie may draw conclusions from this. Sutherland, which may make his ^ position as your father anything but ^ grateful to him. lie may even? Ah, p you would try that game, would you?" lr The young man had flung himself at j, the older man's throat as if he would n choke off the words he saw trembing h on his lips. But the struggle thus be- u gun was short. In a moment both a stood apart, panting, and Frederick, s< with lowered head, was saying hum- V bly: a "I beg pardon. Wattles, but you drive h me mad with your suggestions and a conclusions. I have not got the moqey. a but I will try and get it. Wait here,'' r' "Ten minutes. Sutherland. No Ioq- t' ger! The moon is bright, and I can see a the hands of my watch distinctly. At h a quarter to 10 I will receive the money from you here or seek it in your a father's study." tj Frederick made a hurried gesture and vanished up the walk. The next Q moment he was at his fatkei's study Q door. F TO BE CONTINUED. a V. THE BALANCE OF TRADE. jj is Why All the Money of the World Does Not t( Cone Here. tl When we read of tne enormous "bajrance of trade" In our favor, people a sometimes wonder why all the money ^ of the world does not come here to pay s the balance. The following from The ^ New York Post explains why: S In the current number of the Yale C; Review, Mr. N. T. Bacon presents a a computation of the amount of foreign o capital invested in ihis country, and -j the interest and profits annually payable to foreign creditors. Several attempts of this kind have been made n heretofore, but they were for the most a part guesses rather than computations, e and their figures for the annual charge ? ranged from $70,000,000 to $350,000,000. Mr. Teidelbach, in an article published 11 in The Forum in February, 1895, reck- Sl oned our annual foreign dues at the o latter figure. He considered that American tourists and residents abroad spent $100,000,000 a year; that foreign _ individuals and corporations doing r' business or owning property here de- e rived a like sum as rents and profits; e that foreign investors in our securities u derived from them $75,000,000 yearly; . and that our freights amounted to n $100,000,000. He became satisfied on n further investigation that the charge for freight should be reduced $50,000,000 tl or $60,000,000. His estimate was there h fore, that in 1895 the sums payable abroad amounted to about $300,000,000. d Mr. Bacon estimates that for 1909 P these sums were less than $200,000,000. d gjrtijwltonroMis fUading. THINGS THAT NEVER DIE. 'he pure, the bright, the beautiful, 'hat stirred our hearts in youth; 'he impulse of a wordless prayer, , 'he dreams of love and truth, 'he longings after something lost, 'he spirit's yearning cry; 'he striving after better hopes? These things can never die. 'he timid hand stretched forth to aid l brother in his need. 'he kindly word in grief's dark hour 'hat proves a friend indeed. 'he plea for mercy softly breathed, Vhen justice threatens high; 'he sorrows of a contrite heart? These things shall never die. 'he memory of a clasping hand, 'he pressure of a kiss; tnd all the trifles, sweet and frail, 'hat makes up love's first bliss, f with a firm, unchanging faith, .nd holy trust ana mgn; 'hese hands have clasped, those lips have met? These things shall never die. 'he cruel and the bitter word, 'hat wounded as It fell; he chilling want of sympathy, Ve feel, but never tell, 'he hard repulse that chills the heart Vhose hopes were bounding high, n an unfading record kept? These things shall never .lie. .et nothing pass, for every hand lust find some work to do; .ose not a chance to waken love, le firm, and Just, and true, o shall a light that cannot fade, team on thee from on "nigh, .nd angel voices say to thee These things shall never die. ?Charles DIckenp. YORK COUNTY'S GOLD MINE. May Prove To Be Veritable Klondike of Wealth. "Some day you are going to wake up > find my section of this state a veritble Klondike," said a York county rnn, who was in the lobby of the harleston hotel last night. "I know old mining in the northern part of the tate Is an old story, and that people ave grown to think and speak or it ith a smile; but there is a revival of iterest in the matter in York county ist now that has plenty of facts beind it to Justify serious consideration, his is no placer scheme, with men anning out a few dollars of the shinlg metal in creek bottoms here and iere; but a real vein of gold bearing Int rock, that is returning $15 per ton ight along. The miners have gone own on the vein to the water level, )me 80 feet or so, and they have tuneled for a quarter of a mile or so, 'ithout the least indication that the aylng rock Js running out. Without lodern machinery they are making a ood thing out of their mine; and that i the reason I say we are liable to ave a Klondike craze up our way lost any time. "It was two years or more ago that a olorado miner, by the name of Frank, imped in our county, and started to ander over the hills out about Hlckrir Cmva TTo rlM not talk rrmoh about lmself or his business. He was a ood fiddler, a pleasant fellow and lade himself popular with the farmers, ilttle by little It leaked out that he as a gold hunter, and while It had een said for time out of mind that lere was a rich vein of ore somewhere 1 that vicinity, the people were a little lcllned to smile at Mr. Frank and his :heme. But after a month or so he ent to the Brown Brothers and told lem he wanted to djg a b}t on their ind down on a wooded ridge, which 3se above the Broad river. He made )me sort of an arrangement with them nd went to work. Month after month ent by and Mr, Frank wag still holstlg great chunks of rock out of the ole In the ground, which he had made own on the Brown place. When peole asked him how he was getting long, he told them he was doing as ell as could be expected. He layed the fiddle just as sweetly find idefatigably at night, and he Joked ist as pleasantly with the people he let in his wanderings about the red ills. Every once in a while Mr. Frank ould take some chunks of his rock nd go over to Charlotte for a day or o; and once he sent some of it to Washington to some of the government uthorities. After this kind of thing ad been going on for something like year he went over to the Browns one fternoon and offered them a good ound sum for the mineral rights on heir farm. The Browns had developed very keen interest in Mr. Frank and is mining operations by this time, and hey said they would rather have a roylty than to sell outright. After some rading over the matter it was agreed hat the Browns were to get 50 cents er ton for every ton of ore taken ut of the mine until the first f next June. After that date Mr. 'rank has the right to buy the mine at given figure, if he sees fit to do so. "Now, of course, I do not know just ow much Mr. Frank is making out of he scheme; but all of us know that he s shipping carload after carload of ore j Charlotte every week. It Is said that lie ore is paying $15 per ton gross, and hat there seems to be no end of the mount that is available. Now, every ody is aware of the fact that a mine uch as that is a veritable bonanza, t'ith modern machinery put on the round and a company formed with apital enough to handle the stuff to dvantage, there are fortunes of six r seven figures to be made out of it. hat is the reason I said just now that he people of South Carolina should ot be surprised if York county became Klondike in the next year or so. Othr men have found ore on their farms s rich as that which Mr. Frank is takig out of the Brown farm, and there eems to be no end of the possibilities f the thing. "Unlike some of the North Carolina old this metal is found in soft flint oek, which can be mined with great ase. You can see the metal in nearly very chunk you pick up, and some locks of it that Mr. Frank has on exibition are fabulously rich in the letal. "As I said before, I know all about he South Carolina gold mines that ave started out well and then dwindled own to nothing in a few years. I am erfectly well aware that this one may o likewise; but you must not forget that miners have long held the belief that there was a splendid vein of ore ! somewhere in northern South Carolina, j and I merely wish to call attention to ; the fact that it is possible that Mr. Frank has found it in York county. If 1 he has you are destined to see a boom 1 up our way in the next year or so, be- i side which all other booms in this sec- i tion of the country will sink into insig-11 niflcance. The people up about Hick- I ( ory Grove have not lost their heads over the affair?they have not taken ' the gold fever. They are still raising 1 cotton and corn and wheat on their rich i bottoms and loamy hillsides; but they ] are watching that hole in the ground i down on the farm of the Brown Broth- 1 ers, with something akin to excitement, t Mr. Frank still plays the fiddle in the t long pleasant evenings, and the people j who gather around to listen to the music say that the tunes he selects nowa- < days are merrier than those he used to ^ play when he first came to the county." i ?News and Courier, December 3. MARKHAM'S NEW POEM. ! Edwin Markham contributes to the i Christmas number of "Success" the most remarkable po .m he has written f since "The Man With the Hoe." His < new work is entitled, "The Mighty i Hundred Tears," and It is a story In < forcible, yet graceful and elegant verse, ] of the world during the past century. 1 In Markham's poem, the Muses stand i before the Norns, the gods of mytholo- i by, that gave ail men birth and tell the 3 wonderful history. The following are 1 a few stanzas from this great piece, il- 1 lustrating the growth of the world from the death of the dark ages; TH8 MJQHTY HUNDRED YEjARS. "One mighty gleam, and old horizons ? broke! All the vast, glimmering outline of the Whole Swam on the vision, shifting at one stroke, ' The ancient gravitation of the soul. 1 "All things came circling in one cosmic { dance, One motion older than the ages are; 1 Swung by one Law, one Purpose, one 1 Advance, I Serene and steadfast as the morning c star. t KIT AM iMAAM 4-V.a smAnlAlia ArKlla A# f VlO 1 IV1CU Lia^C UIC O^aV/iUUO Vt Ml to vra. mv Lav/, And find It is their snelter and their friend; For there, behind its mystery and awe, God's sure hand presses to a blessed end. "And so man pushes toward the Secret Vast? Up through the storm of stars, skies upon skies; And down through the circling atoms, nearing fast The brink of things, beyond which Chaos lies. "Yea, in the shaping of a grain of sand, He sees the law that made the spheres to DeSees atom-worlds spun by the Hidden Hand, To whirl about their small Alcyone. "With spell of wizzard Science 011 his eyes, An argument on his arm, he probes through space; Or pushes back the low, unfriendly skies, To feel the wind of Saturn on his face. "He walks abroad upon the Zodiac, To weigh the words in balance, to fuse Suns in his crucible, and carry back Tne spheral music and the cosmic news." m AN OLD SOUTHERN GAMBLER DEAD. Mack Won $20,000 on a Pokor Hand Once; But Waa Buried By Charity. William Mack, who died In Charleston recently, was one of the gamblers whose heyday of success came a quarter of a century ago. At the time when he was best known the common story was that he had more money than he could put In a barrel. He died in poverty and was burled by the charity of his former associates. One story told of his early playing was of the game when he raked In $20,000 at the poker table from a sea captain, who was bluffed out on a pair of fours. "You don't find many gamblers now of the Billy Mack stripe and color," said one of his friends to The Sun correspondent. "In his early days, when V?o nlovori \ rt "Mow iirloann Vip wfl known as a huge bluffer. The time he put the blinds over the eyes of the sea captain was after a long dash with the American game. The stakes had been running high and there was enough casn on the table and in nearby pockets to equip an army. Billy's luck had been jumping, and the captain was having a bit the best of the play. Some giant bluffs had been engineered. Billy was caught in one of these and he was bumped so hard by the captain that the latter remarked that Mack would not be caught that way again. "It was a ragged game and the players stayed in it only when they had Jacks or better. Finally we decided to | make everything a jack, and a remarkably bad streak in the hands resulted in having the pot made as sweet as a sugar plum. There was all kinds of ' money on the table and of course we ' all wanted it. After we had passed time and again It came to the captain's ' first say and he opened the pot with a:J stunner. We all stuck?there were 1 five of us?and when the cards were ' handled the captain stood pat. The rest of us had ordinary pick-ups, ex- 1 xsnitr u'Virt askori for one card. ' The betting was cautious at first, but when It came to the captain's second turn he jammed on a handful of money which made several of us want to drop. Around at Billy's end he saw the raise and lifted it without even looking at his hand, and so there was nothing left for us to do but jump, the captain alone remaining to see the end of the fight. "Well, they raised and raised. The fact that Billy refused to look at his fifth card rather nettled the sea player. and he began to get cautious. Raise after raise came, and finally Mack stuck a diamond scarf pin in his five cards, lying face down, and asked for time to go and get more money before making another raise. He just had to go across the street and we waited with the greatest anxiety until he returned. He eajne up the steps blowing and puffing. The captain, who had grown uneasy in the absence of Mack, began to fidget in his chair, and he was losing some of his playing nerve. " 'Being that It's my raise,' said Mack very quietly and very cooly, 'and as the pot Is rich, it will cost you Just $5,000 to call me.' "And with that he began looking at tils money. He brought out bills of the four figure character and he was counting these off slowly. The captain had reached for his wallet and we looked for wild plunging. The captain, howiver, hesitated. " 'Hang the luck,' he said viciously, I am beaten and there isn't any use :hrowing good money after bad,' and .vith that he threw down his hand. Billy began to rake in the money just is if it was a $2 bet, and the captain eft the room. The pot had a frac:ion less than $20,000 in actual money, ind Mack smiled when the sea dog had jone. " 'Pretty good,' he said, 'for two Utile fours, but the chance of the draw vas worth it. What did that guy iave?' "The captain's hand had been copped )ut. He had a little straight, and strange to say the smallest card in it vas a four spot." Billy Mack belonged to the class of jamblers so much in evidence around ?narieston just aner me ciuse 01 me var. He was without a relative. He :ame to Charleston years ago from New York city and It Is understood :hat his home was originally in Albaly. He never received a letter and it s doubtful if he got any mail for 15 fears preceding his death. He never :alked of himself, and in a certain way le was a mystery.?New York Sun. JUOQE AEDANUS BURKE. tome Sayings of a South Carolina Jurist? Distinguished Men of Long Ago. R. H. Kirke writes to the Washlng;on Post as follows: Mr. Edward Hooker, a native of Conlecticut, and an educator of note, was i professor in the South Carolina colege at Columbia from 1805 to 1808. He cept a voluminous diary during that >eriod, which, through the enterprise >f Prof. Jameson, of the American Hisorlal association, has been published. Prof. Hooker relates many interesting sxperiences with eminent members of he South Carolina bar of that day, a ew of which I recount here. Aedanus Burke, a native of Ireland, md a Carolinian by adoption, was a nember of congress from 1789 to 1791. le was a common law judge from 1778 ;o 1799. He once pronounced sentence >f death on a culprit and added at the :lose of it, "but don't mind my good 'ellow, it is only what we have all got :q come to." "I hope," said one of the lawyers, 'your honor don't mean that we've all jot to be hanged." "No," replied the Judge, "but we've til got to die, and It don't make much llfference how." On one occasion General C. C. Pinckley, who had been minister to France, tnd the Federalist candidate for the rtce presidency of the United States In .780, was arguing a dry legal point be,'ore Judge Burke, when the later lost latience, tucked up his silk robe, took lis hat and left the bench. The lawyer :eased his argument. "da art flonprol TMnokni?V. CO On." said the judge, "you love to hear yourself talk. Meanwhile, I'll go out and :ake a look at the camel," then on exlibition back of the court house. Hence "peeping at the camel" is to :hi8 day a byword among the Carol!la lawyers for going out of the court oom on any occasion. One day, while going on horseback :o hold court in a neighboring county le lost his way. He met a mountaineer, whom he requested to pilot him ihrough the woods to the court house. [Jpon his refusal to do so, the Judge lismounted and vigorously attacked ilm until he cried out that he was willing to carry his honor anywhere f he would stop beating him. The ludge told the lawyers that he had seen among a desperate set of people :hat day, and tha.t nothing but their tear of his strong arm had enabled him :o fill his judicial appointment. Prof. Hooker devotes much space in tiis diary to the legislative debates at Columbia, and pays high compliment :o the eloquence of the gifted and amiible Colonel Robert Barnwell, General Wade Hampton, of Revolutionary 'ame; Charles Pinckney, Paul Hamil:on. William Lowndes, John Goodloe Harper arid others. The years that Mr. Hooker spent at Columbia are a sart of a period of transition, during vhich the state was developing from :he Federalist South Carolina of 1788 nto the better known South Carolina )f 1832. All South Carolinians will :hank Prof. Jameson for having made ?ublic this most interesting diary. WHY DEMOCRACY WAS DEFEATED. Ar. Wm. J. Bryan Gives Some of The Reasons. In an article on "The Election of i900," published in the December number of tne North American Review, tVTlliam J. Bryan gives what he beieves were the causes of his defeat, rhey were, according to Mr. Bryan, the ,'ree use of money, the war in the Phllppines and the cry of "prosperity." Mr. Bryan says: "There are certain egitimate uses which may be made of noney in a campaign. * For all :his legitimate work the Republicans lad plenty of money, while the Demo:rats had very little. The Republicans ,vere also able to secure transportation 'or all Republican voters who were iway from home. The Democrats were lot in a position to secure passes or to lay for transportation. "It is impossible at this time to oaicuate the effect of colonization or the exent to which votes were purchased by ;he direct payment of money or by emiloyment for political w?rk. There are nstances where as much as $500 was iffered to one man for his political iervices for a few days." Further on Mr. Bryan again refers o the use of money, saying: "No time leed be wasted in the condemnation >f the illegitimate use of money. But t is worth while to consider why such arge campaign funde are used by the Republicans, and how such funds are :ollected together, with the remedy to >e employed for the protection of the public against the Improper use of , money In the election. . "Pryor to 1896 the moneyed elements of the country were divided between the two leading parties. * Since 1896 the consolidation of wealth has gone on with a rapidity never before known. All the trusts had a pecuniary reason for supporting the Republican ticket, for they not only have enjoyed immunity during the present administration; but they have every reason to expect further immunity In case of Republican success, while the Democratic platform and the Democratic organization were outspoken in their condemnation of private monopolies, and the candidates were pledged to aggressive measures for the extermination of all combinations formed in restraint of trade." Regarding the war issue Mr. Bryan says: "Many were led to the support of the administration by the plea that the insurrection must be suppressed before any plan could be adopted for dealing with the Philippine question. They refused to believe that the Republicans contemplated an Imperial policy." Mr. Bryan says the Spanish war and the Philippine war withdrew many men from the labor market, a war loan put a large sum into circulation, and the South African war increased tfie demand for our products. Thece "abnormal influences," he says, contributed to a temporary Improvement, but the Republicans cannot justly claim credit for any of these things. DECEMBER WEATHER. The Averages of the Month of December For 13 Yeara. Mr. J. W. Bauer has compiled for The State the following data, covering a period of 13 years and showing the averages of temperature and precipitation in Columbia during that time': TEMPERATURE. Mean or normal temperature, 48 degrees. The warmest montu was that of 1889, with an average of 58 degrees. The coldest month was that of 1896, with an average of 44 degrees. The highest temperature was 77 degrees on December 28, 1889. The lowest temperature was 9 degrees on December 29, 1894. Average date on which first "killing" frost occurred in autumn, November 5. Average date on which last "killing" froBt occured in spring, March 23. PRECIPITATION Average for the month, 2.38 inches. Average number of days with .01 of an inch or more, 8. The greatest monthly precipitation was 3.37 Inches in 1887. The least monthly precipitation was 0.75 inches in 1889. The greatest amount of precipitation recorded In any 24 consecutive hours was 1.64 inches on December 16-17, 1888. The greatest amount of snowfall recorded in any 24 consecutive hours (record extending to winter of 1884-86) was 6.3 inches on December 30-31, 1894. CLOUDS AND WEATHER. Average number of clear days, 14; partly cloudy days, 7; cloudy days, 10. WIND. The prevailing winds have been from the northwest. MORMONS ARE BOLD. They Attempted House-to-House Canvass In Columbia. Press dispatches recently announced that numerous prominent Mormons were assembling at Chattanooga for the purpose of pushing the Mormon propaganda in the South. As is well known to the public, for several years Mormon preachers have been operating in remote rural districts in this state, where a number of converts were made. A year or two ag > they held a conference in this city, and it was then stated that there was something over 1,000 converts in the state. The elders and preachers have been quietly at work ever since and it is likely that more converts have been made. But the elders and preachers seemingly no longer intend to confine their efforts to rural communities. Three preachers have been at work in this city, and it is stated that a church is soon to be organized at the Uranby mill. The elders, or whatever they are called, have even grown bolder and are attempting to conduct their mission work right in the city. They go about it in a quiet and unoDstrusive way and do not hesitate to broach the subject of their religion to most prominent and respectable families. A gentleman mentioned an instance where two of them called at his resl dence. Tney nrst pretenaea to de iooking for some place to board, and during the talk on that subject they adroitly brought about their religion, prefacing the remark that it was misunderstood, etc. As soon as the subject was broached they were promptly dismissed. But it was brought out before they left that they Intended to make a house to house canvass. The Mormon religion is very obnoxious to Intelligent people, and the boldness of these men In attempting to propagate their doctrines in the city 13 unprecedented. But it goes to show to what extent the Mormons are carrying on their propaganda in this stateColumbia Record. Why You See Stars.?If you are one of those who frequent the police courts, you have no doubt heard the victims of assaults declare that their assailants hit them so hard that it made them "see stars." And, indeed, the sensation which you experience from a violent blow on the head resembles very much the sight of stars. The fact is, there is a phosphorescent power in the eye which shows itself when the head is struck violently, and is often perceived even in the act of sneezing. The jar to the system caused by the blow, produces a pressure of the blood vessels upon the retina, causing either total darkness or a faint blue light which floats before the eye and in which the imagination discovers thousands of fantastic figures, the majority of which resemble stars.?New York Herald. ? \