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r . _ ^ ^ ^ ISS^EI^SEMI^WEEIIL^^ l. m. grist & sons, Publishers.! % ^amilg gjnrspapor: 4or ft* promotion of the golifital, Social, gujricultural, and (Eommfiyial Jntwsts of ifo $fople. {TERM8Si"n"gle?coApyYfAivecentsANCE' established 1855. YORKVILLE, S. O., SATUREjAY, JUNE 28, 1902. NO. 52. * "" * ? - ~ ^ a,a, % I mr.nth thoro wno a flnnarp n|pf?^ of WHEN BOYS BY JOBN B Author of "Helen's B* ingtoi Copyright, 1901, by John Habberton. CHAPTER IX?Continued. The camp was soou quiet. Soldiers in the field fall asleep quickly after the evening meal and pipe, and our prisoners were all dozing by 8 o'clock. As I was uot a smoker and was on duty I remained wide awake and, pacing to and fro in the road, spent much time in thinking how dreadful it would be to have to fight so good natured, harmless a set of men as the gray clad fellows slumberiug near me. Theu 1 put In some time being sorry for the families whose heads were so far from home. What would become of the Frost farm. 1 wondered, and how miserable would be the family if my father Instead of his son was in the army? Pretty soon the tenor of my thoughts was changed by a drop of water which struck me in the face. It was quickly followed by another and then by several. 1 was not long in getting far enough out of my brown study to discover that it was raining. I soon had tny India rubber blanket over my shoulders and was wondering why the prisoners had uot brought their own with them from their saddles?most of the sleeping figures were wrapped in blankets or quilts. It seemed too bad. even if they were rebels, that the poor fellows should be soaked by a cold November rain. Perhaps I could send two or three of the guard, who were not on post, to get them. I consulted U c cu'j<i<ic<I name or the captive* in conversation. Hamilton, who shook one of the sleepers and politely repeated the suggestion. The man was slow in waking and slower still in comprehending, but at last he said: "What? Them gum cloths? Gosh! We ain't got none. Some of the army that druv you uns from round Richmond when McClellan was thar has got some that you uns left, but we uns wasn't thar." "Oh. 1 see. 1 beg your pardon. May I ask what you do when you're caught In the rain while on duty?" "Do?" said the mrui, with a mighty yawn. "Why, git wet. I reckon." Then the prisoner lay down and fell asleep again, though by that time the rain was falling furiously. As for Hamilton and me. we agreed that a so called nation that didn't provide its soldiers with rubber blankets would soon be on its last legs and that the said legs would be rheumatic. The camp was soon in commotion, most of It verbal and shockingly profane. The men in the newer companies had not yet learned how to keep dry in a shower. The rubber blanket Is so narrow that for It to be under a man and over him, too, the owner must lie as straight as a ramrod. There were individual outbreaks throughout the entire night as men woke to liud their knees soaked. To make matters worse for the guard, the rain put out the tires, so there was no light. Hamil irv?u lie hunded me n dirty tv<ul ot newspttper. ton and I took turns In pacing to and fro in front of the prisoners, counting the barely visible figures each time wo passed them. The guards were as unhappy as a lot of picnickers caught in a thunderstorm, and sleepy besides. The horses huddled together as best they could, (be road became ankle deep in mud. and the entire situation was as gloomy, uncomfortable nud detest WERE MEN. :abberton. ibies," "George Waslii," Etc. * t able as our worst enemies could have ' wished. The only living beings who did not seen) In the least disturbed were the prisoners. As for myself. I think I lost my seuses several times during that dread- ( ful night. Only 4S hours before, the job of loading the revolvers had robbed me of an entire night of rest. Now 1 was doomed to another. I bad to tramp the muddy road to keep myself awake, but my head dropped asleep once lu awhile on its own account, and with wide opeu eyes 1 beheld many t strange visions in the darkness and im- j agined many thiugs ridiculous and im- ( possible. It seemed that the night nev- j er would end. and tuy gratitude was ( unspeakable when at early dawn we j were ordered to feed, mount and re- j sumo our march. I tried to feel happy t when the prisoners were placed In | charge of a new guard and tuy sense g of responsibility ended, but soon 1 a found that sleepiness on horseback was more dreadful than ou foot. No sooner v would 1 drop into a doze than I would \ rouse with a start from an awful sen- j sation of falling from my horse. Every- v body was cross, particularly the smok- 0 ers. for all the fires were out, and few ( men carried matches. t Then it was that our captain leaped i suddenly and securely into the affec- f tions of his men. Passing the word a for smokers to fill their pipes, he tore f a long, narrow strip from his handker- a chief, nioisteued it the least bit. lit one t! end with a match, lighted his own pipe c and then gave the smoldering rag to e the first sergeant, from whom it passed fl down the entire troop. After the pipes j were fairly started there was no more t grumbling, except from nonsmokers. How I wished myself a smoker! g Often when in earlier days I had asked t) schoolmates why they took to smoking I was told, among other excuses, that a few whiffs of smoke would stop the craving of hunger when a fellow chanced to be playing truant for a day or off hunting or fishing and having too c good luck to got home at mealtime. Well, had 1 learned smoking, the third day of our scout would have been a ^ good time to test its remedial virtues, ^ for my hunger was so intense that it drove everything else from my mind, and the memory of the bacon and hoecake of the night before almost made me scream with rage. It seemed to c me the government was mean, des- ^ pit-able and standing in its own light to give me as three days' ration some f food which I had eaten during the first ti 24 hours. If only I had brought that u lump of fat pork which had seemed so loathsome when it was dealt me! I actually longed for that bit of adipose t| tissue, longed until I saw It on the ^ ground just where I bad tossed it, saw it as distinctly as if it were really before my eyes. e Really, when we halted about noon my hunger had made me mean spirited on/Mi/rli fn o>/? ^nlilioeofolv In COfimh ftf my friendly enemy who owned the ba- j eon and frying pan. Fortunately for the g poor fellow, he was eating his last bit of t food apparently, for his haversack was j inside out and lying by the lire to dry. ^ He recognized me. and as the guard allowed me to speak to him he said: "It seems too bad to waste the little * fat that's left in the skillet, doD't it? c Wonder ef tliar ain't an car of corn in that lield that we could roast?" "It's nil too hard." said I. shaking my head sadly as 1 remembered my search ^ of the day before. c "The harder the better." 6aid be. I never was more willing to be convinced. In a single minute I was back ? from the field with several ears. The 1 Johnny selected the hardest, shelled it r in his pan. shook it a little while before r he put it over the (ire, then parched it until it was a deep tr/owu and poured ^ it upon the top of his hat to cool. Not ^ a bit of the bacon fat remained in the c pan, but each grain of corn was as J glossy as if varnished. "Thar!" said he. after a moment or c two. as he poured a full half of the corn into a big husk and passed it to me. "Just h'ist yerself outside that an' see ef you wasn't wrong thinkin' the corn too hard." T I Mess that rebel! I do believe that 8 parched corn saved my life. I resolved ^ never to go on a scout again without a little frying pan in one of my saddlebags and a lot of shelled corn in the other. Hut what was half an ear of corn to a raging hunger like mine? It , was loo lale to parch more, for the call ' to mount had sounded. As I hurried down (Ik* road to rejoin my company I met a veteran of the older troop on which 1 had been billeted when first I j reached the regimental camp, and he ^ hailed me kindly with: "Well, young feller, how does scout- ' ing agree with youV" "Well enough." I replied, "if 1 wasn't almost starving." "It always strikes greenhorns that way." he replied. "Now. 1 ain't a bit | sharp sot. Say. niebbe a piece of pork (] would help you out. Ilere." lie handed me what looked like a | dirty wad of wet newspaper. In which t 1 found about half a pound of pork. It ( was solid fat. dingy looking, and on ( one side, where the paper had laju ,, closely against it. several advertise- c meuts had transferred themselves in reverse, with the general head "Help Wanted" at the top of them. The , words were eminently appropriate, so j I didn't scrape them off, but ate pork, ? advertisements and all. b About tlio middle of the afternoon a reneral buzz of satisfaction ran along :he column. We were passing one of >ur picket stations, which meant that tve were within an hour or two of our earn p. When finally the march was ended. my horse was so glad to get nto his stall and be relieved of bridle, saddle and blanket that he gleefully ticked the empty air for several minltes. Several minutes later his owner, ying on the bare tloor of his tent, his lead pillowed on the rain soaked blantet. was slumbering as sweetly as If lis couch were of down, and the ugly ejaculations of the weary men who struggled in one by oue were so many oviug lullabies. CHAPTER X. WINTER QUARTERS. T7 T> firtnnf nnf PU 11 Ul Ol OV.UUl UiU uvv differ much in duration, accidents and results from scores which followed it Go out whatever road we might, we were always sure to find the Johnnies doing busiicss at the same old stand and unwillng to be interfered with. We always :ould reach them in a day's march, consume another day in passing along their sntire front aud still another in returnng to camp. They seldom returned our lttentions lu force, probably because hey had not a large enough force to feel safe when far from home. Beides, they could learn all they liked ibout our post and its camps, for evry farmer and planter In the county vas a source of information to them. ,Ve never got Into a big engagement t wasn't our business, except, when ve were accompanied by a large force if infantry aud artillery, to worry the Confederacy by making believe that he "on to Richmond" movement of he Potomac army was to be made rom our direction. When we went lone, the enemy did not worry much, or they had a broad, deep stream long their entire front They could luickly take up the planking of the nly bridge within ten miles, so they ^changed shot and shells with us cross the river with the calm confllence of the card player who holds all he trumps. Our colonel had been quite right In aying that the first scout was worth nore to us than a month of drill. The aen learned to sit in their saddles and iot to be afraid of their horses, so we oKlrt tr\ horrln mrtnntoH H rill in ood shape and progress rapidly. Man anks lower than bis horse in all good nvnlry regiments, so it was not until re had completed the stables that our wn winter quarters were begun. By his time, however, we learned, to our elight, that we were too valuable to onsume our time in common labor. A umber of the "contrabands" (fugitive laves) who had made our post a place f refuge were sent into the woods to ut trees and split shingles, and Just efore Christmas each company had a reat log house, about 15 feet by 50, or its winter home. A small contribuion from each man enabled us to put p a stove, which tempered the winter ir. and one new member, who had always lived In the tenement house dlsrict in New York, said be never before ad known so comfortable a home. Ivilliug time in the winter season ras almost as hard as killing the enmy. for there was such an appalling ot of time ahead of us. Some men ilayed cards all day. except while eateg and sleeping; others read incessanty: still others did nothing but smoke, ioine seemed to spend much of their ime writing. I liked to observe these, or they had more heart in their faces or the time being, and as I knew some f the people to whom the letters were ;oing I amused myself by Imagining he scenes when the letters were reel ved. But it troubled mt much that HamIton and Brainard were writing so ersistently to my cousin May. I did lot see the letters, but 1 heard of them hrough my home correspondence. I ;new that Brainard. who visibly worhipod May's portrait sometimes when ie supposed I was not looking, and irobably hundreds of other times, was lot the sort of man to change his re;anl for auy oue. much less for a weet girl. Some one had seen in Iamiltou's hands a portrait of May. I lid not know that lie brought one from lummertou. I was also troubled by lis manner toward Brainard. It was lot ugly. l?ut it contained a suggestion f condescension not unmixed with onlcmpl. and I fancied Brainard noiced it. Stiil. what could I do in such a natter? May was no fonder of counel than very young women in general, lor was she loss averse to admiration u large quantities. 1 could not imagne her in love with any one. for she ind I had been rough and tumble playnates, uud I knew only the tomboy md fun loving side of her nature, titer much thought over the rivals ind their respective chances. 1 could inly hop", for the sake of peace, that he would not give the slightest eucour igeiuent to either, but would be wou ?y some other worthy Sumincrtou outli. I believed that both Brninard ind nntniiton were mauly enough to ecover from auy sorrow occasioned by he loss of something, do matter how ueeious, tiiat was not their own and lad not ever been promised to them. Our special comforts were not coniued to shelter and rest. Two or three if the married men knew something ihout cooking, and so did one man who tad been a logger in Maine; so the ompauy cook was coaxed, bullied and la tiered until lie learned to do someliing besides merely boil the several aw materials dealt him. A ration of rornmeal would sometimes be served is fried hasty pudding and again as 'crackling bread"-corn bread containng tiny dice of fat pork which had H'eu fried thoroughly and drained of ,Tense. Remains of a dinner of salt eef and potatoes would reappear next morning as corned beef bash. Boiled rice, modified only by cheap molasses, was about as unpopular as castor oil, but with a little coffee, which would < not be missed, we could trade with a i native for enough milk and eggs to 1 make that once detested rice so popu- i lar that there always was some man offering his supper portion of bread i for half of some other man's rice. Finally Hamilton, who felt that as commissary sergeant it was bis duty i to study up on cookery, electrified us i one day by announcing that on the fol- < lowing Sunday there would be a des- I sert of plum pudding. Up to that time < about half of the men bad called Ham- < llton "stuck up." Worse still, many had \ called attention to the fact that never i once in our many skirmishes and fights i luui n.imiifnn been under fire. Brain- i aid had combated this story for the honor of Suuiuierton, but one day he, too. learned that Hamilton had a picture of my cousin May. That silenced him. But the meutiou of plum pudding caused the grumblers to recant, Mick McTwyuy going so far as to borrow a pipe of tobacco from Phil. Our gustatory anticipations were marred only by Hamilton's statement that the pudding would be made entirely from army rations. "Where will he get the raisins?" asked one family man. "And the suet?" said another. "And the flavoring?" suggested a third. "Does the quartermaster Issue pudding bags?" another wanted to know. Nevertheless the puddiug was an absolute success. The flour came from the commissary stock; finely chopped fat pork, well soaked, answered for suet; dried apples, partly boiled and then caudied in boiling sirup made from sugar, took fbe place of raisins. The sauce looked as If It were only sirup of sugar, some of which bad been carameled to give it special flavor and color. There rose from the sa uce, however. an odor whlc|i caused Mick Mc- 1 Twyny to utter ab ecstatic "Whoorroo!" and Cloyue to ask: i "Is brandy an army ration, PbllY" "Yes." said Hamilton?"that Is, 'tis a hospital ration, abd 1 got half a pint from the hospital steward by promisiug a small pudding in exchange?for the sick, you know." "There's just one thing 1 want to ask." mumbled an ex-truck driver through a mouthful of hot pudding. "Does the government issue pudding bags?" "The quartermaster issues cotton drawers." I'hil replied, "and you'll learn, if you choose to ask. that he charged two new pairs to my personal clothing account this morning. The puddings were boiled In the legs of them." "Be hlvin," said Mick McTwyny. witli an approving shoulder slap that nearly knocked our enterprising commissary sergeant Into the cook's fire, "the likes of yez niver was born, and the fust money the paymaster gives me yez shall git that dhrunk wld me that yez won't know yer mout' from a hole In the ground!" "Thanks, sergeant" said Hamilton, rubbing his shoulder. "I assure you that you're the first man who ever was houghtlul enough to make me so hand- \ some an offer." I But a grander feast was eujoyed one i cooi evening arter rmi nuu uuuuuuceu c late In the afternoon that there would | be pancakes for supper and asked that cadi man would take knife and fork as < well as plate when he went for rations, t Hamilton had found some soda and i cream of tartar In the village. He i made the batter in a half barrel, and t his griddles were an odd collection of < frying pans, plowshares, flattened sides < of camp kettles the bottoms of which had rusted or burned through, a stove lid and some tin plates. As we bur- g ried to the cookhouse when the bugle c blew supper call we saw all these Irons on a glowing mass of coals and the j cook lifting large cakes from tbera j with a wooden turner made from a ' barrel 6tave, while Phil himself, with t a huge hit of fat pork on a stick in oue c hand and a great cup in the other, was f greasing the pan and pouring more batter. As the cook placed a huge cake ^ and a spoonful of sugar on each plate f Hamilton said that if we would be t patient and stand around as we ate t each could get a fresh cake every two j or three minutes. t "Ah!" "Urn!" "My!" "Oh!" "Golly!" t "Gosh!" were some of the expressions ?< that went up around that fire while the c men began their supper, some using f spoons instead of knives and forks, g Oftenest heard, however, was, "This | reminds me of home," or "Doesn't it re- ^ mind you of home?" Had I ever be- c fore been asked to name our national t dish I would have hesitated between ^ pie and pork and beans, but since y that great evening 1 have believed that In a competitive contest the pancake would receive more votes than beans and pic combined, besides being pre- j. eminent among eatables as "the tie c that binds." "a touch of nature" and . more of that sort of thing. As we ate c those cakes everybody began to talk f of home. liven big Pat Callahan be- j came so absorbed In home remlnls- t cences that he forgot to curse the gov- . eminent for not giving us butter to eat t on our cakes. , But nobody, no matter how full of j home memories, stopped eating that he , might talk. The first Issue disappeared j from the plates In a minute, and two ^ or three men who apparently hadn't t any homes to think of returned so fre- ( quently for more urn we agreeu 10 f form a circle, each man to receive a j cake and some sugar as be passed the ( cook's table. It was an odd spectacle, ( apparently, to men of other companies?that company of about SO men j marching slowly in a circle and eating as they walked. But we were not at all concerned about our appearance just them. We were having a private cake walk In which each aud every man "took the cake." Our officers t heard of it from their servants, and f the captain came down to look on. r "Won't you try one. captainr* asicet Hamilton, offering a clean plate ant fork. The captain accepted, tasted exclaimed "(Jrnclous:" and saldvn< more until he had finished the cake Then he remarked as be stepped lnt< a ga^n the line: "Just let me see how It feels to tramj around In a circle a little while." He didn't lay aside his plate ant fork either, but twice took his turnand cake?like the commonest of hh men. believing, evidently, that the pan cake, like love, levels all ranks, wnei be departed. It was to bring the colone over to see the fun and also to see ( company which was well fed. Mj place In the circling line brought m< car epougb to the two officers to heai the captain tell the colonel bow ad mirably Phil managed the company commissariat. A minute or two latei the couple passed through the line, ant the captain astonished us by saying: "Sergeaut Hamilton, can you spare I sample cake for the colonel?" Any other man in the company woult have felt awkward at coming face t< race with bis colonel while holding J pan greaser In one band and a caki turner in the other, but Hamilton sue ceeded in throwing his Implements In to one hand and in saluting; then, witl inother salute, he passed a plate t< the colonel, and all the while he looket as manly and self possessed as If hi were Just entering one of Suramerton'i best parlors. I did wish my couslt May might see him Just then. A mo ment Inter I was glad for Brainard'i sake that she couldn't The colone went through the motions of tastinj the cake. It would have been undlg nifled for him to eat all of It. tbougl every man knew he was dying to. Thei Id bis clearest dress parade voice hi 3a Id: "Sergeant Hamilton, 1 will make yot lieutenant as soon as a vacancy oc ?urs. A man wbo knows bow to feei 3oldlers well bas in bim tbe stuff 01 which good officers are made." Hamilton again saluted, but wltb the air of a man to wbom lleutenanclei were offered dally. The remainder oi 10 gn JS k " Won't you try one, captaint" Jbe company were so profoundly Impressed that no one but tbe cook, wbc loped to be Hamilton's snccessor at ommissary sergeant, bad tbe sense tc propose tbree cheers for the coloneL But tbe prospective lieutenant did iot leave bis pans. It took an hour oi lrne to fry and deal out that half bar'el of batter. Besides, Pbll was teachDg tbe cook. Finally tbe supply wat >xbausted. Hamilton threw his greaser into tbe fire, turned tbe tub upside town and sat upon it to rest. Suddenly one man exclaimed: "Well, by thunder! Tbe cakes were 10 good that we've forgotten all aboul >ur coffee!" "Thanks! That's a bigger compll ent than tbe colonel's," said Hamnon. raising his hat. He was right too, The coffee cups were filled and empled. and we went slowly back to tbe luarters in little groups instead of singly and in baste, as was usual in cool reather. There were not as much scufling, swearing and horseplay as we ;enerally had between supper and tatoo. Tbe quarters were quiet?so quiet hat we were almost startled when dick McTwyny's grating voice and hick brogue were beard iu an attempt o sing. The words were merely Thra-lah-lah," but the music, in spite if some eccentric sharps and flats, was Innlly recognized as that of "Home, Sweet Home."' Some one bummed the mss, another fellow helped Mick along vith the air, others dropped in, singly >r two or three together, on various lotes and bars, and when the last note vas touched It seemed as though every rolce was In It. Then Brarinard startid us all off again, with all the words md notes distinctly enunciated. The effect was not what 1 would inve expected. Everybody looked scrims. Some men fixed their eyes on the p-ound; others looked at the shingles >verhead as If trying to pierce them md see the stars; more than one felow drew his hat over his eyes, and a narrled man sitting on a bottom bunk mddenly turned and buried his face In he pillow. As for me, though my taze was fixed on the little black stove n the center of the room, I saw oui louse at Surnmerton, my father and nother, little Ned and Cousin May, ;he dog Itover, the horses, cows, pigs ind chickens, my room and everything >n its walls. I felt my face twitching, io, to keep from betraying my feelings [ hastily began looking about the room igain, but I was a second too late?1 :ouldn't see anything distinctly. And all this merely because of a sup ?er of pancakes! TO BE CONTINUED. Xfr Blindness is on the increase in the Inited States. Forty years ago, bul our in 10,000 were blind, but now the atio has increased 100 per cent. ; gmsmianrous jscaawg. ; f ) OLD-TIME NAVAL FEUD. ) Conflict of Olflcen Which Led to the Death of Commodore Decatar. ) In 1807, a certain commodore, in command of a United States frigate, left 1 Norfolk with insufficient means of de* fence; and was met by an English vesi 8el, which subjected him to the injury and humiliation of having his ship ? searched and several men taken from 1 it?claimed as British deserters. Alter the war was over, tnis man, Commodore Barron, who had, in his 1 time, been an efficient officer, asked 1 for a restoration to rank. Commodore 1 Decatur, who had been a member of the courtmartial that passed upon the case, opposed this strenuously, and the matter might have rested here had not some meddling friends -carried to Barron the words which the officer had used with some more grievous words, which he had not. Barron, who then lived at Hampton, Va., wrote Decatur, asking If he had really said that he. Decatur, "could Insult" him, Barron, "with Impunity." The other wrote back, denying that he had said this, but putting In their place some grievous words, almost as bad. One word brought on another and "friends" of both parties were not lacking to add to the grievous words written to those that they had heard spoken. Bv June. 1819. the feud had Drogressed ' so far that Commodore Barron wrote i i Commodore Decatur: "I am also Informed that you have tauntingly and 1 1 boastlngly observed that you would 1 1 cheerfully meet me In the field, and i ? hoped I would yet act like a man." Decatur, who could write a peculiarly ' 1 trenchant and stinging letter, answered " this communication from Barron, tartly i ' reviewing the case, taunted the other f with being largely the cause of the war of 1812, and then remaining in Europe i instead of taking part In the conflict, J and then added that he had never said 1 f anything about their meeting in the I field, except that, If challenged, he i would accept. He stated that he dls- i approved of duelling, and took pains to i say the ungracious words, "I should be much better pleased to have nothing to I do with you. * * From your manner ] of proceeding. It appears to me that i you have come to the determination to fight some one, and that you have se- , lected me for the purpose; and I must , take leave to observe that your object | could have been better attained had a you made this decision during the late | war, when your fighting might have , benefitted your country as well as your- | self." j So the words went on accumulating, , until, on January 10, 1820, Barron chal- , lenged Decatur, and on the 24th, he ac- | cepted. ] On the 22d of the following March the ] t.'ny but momentous battle was fought i on the historic old duelling ground of < Bladensburg, on the old stage road be- < tween Washington and Baltimore. The i weapons were pistols and the distance < was the murderous one of eight paces, < In order to compensate for the fact I that Barron was near-sighted. ' "VAfmnt* oon tnrlnpo mp tn take th(? 1 | J life of Barron," Decatur had said, when i ^ j he received the challenge. And Barron 1 afterwards made remarks which show- 1 I ed that he also entered the duel with , greatest reluctance. Before the firing 1 | Barron said to Decatur, "Sir, I hope, on meeting In another world, we shall ( be better friends than In this." Decatur answered: "I have never been your enemy, sir." These words, while they ' showed that neither was Implacably angry, were no doubt spoken with metallic politeness and made no headway , ' toward a settlement of the difficulty. | Both fired at the same second and , fell. Lying upon the ground, their ( heads not more than ten feet apart, , with their own blood staining the earth , ' around them, they became reconciled. ( "Let us make friends while we are f yet on earth." said Barron, "for no , doubt we shall both soon die." Deca- ( ' tur responded with equally kind words ( and Barron rejoined with the fervent , f added remark: "Would to God you had said this much yesterday!" But the ( soft answers were given too late to be of use in this world. Decatur died that night and Barron j : was a long time in recovering. To the ( end of his life he had cause to regret ] ' the grievous words which he had i spoken, and which were partly the means of his becoming the murderer of | f his one-time friend and comrade In : arms.?Everywhere. I HKI,D BY A SNAPPING TURTLE. I A Frightened Negro Who Got Re- | I en at* Only When IIIn Tronaera t Gave Way. i I A Negro whose name could not be as- 1 , eertalned, had a narrow escape from ! , painful injury during the unloading of ' , the steamer Kitty Knight, at the Light ! street wharf of the Sassafras River , line yesterday afternoon, but gained ' L quite a lot of valuable experience con- 1 . c-erning the handling of snapping tur- 1 j ties. 1 It was while the wharf was crowded ( with commission men and agents and ' . the excitement attendant upon the un- 1 I loading of several score of cattle was ' at its height, that the bystanders were 1 , startled at the loud and continuous , screaming of some one in their rear. ' Turning they beheld a big, swarthy Ne- ' gro vainly endeavoring to climb over 1 . the side of his wagon, which was back- 1 I r ed up against the wharf, and In the bottom of which his foot and leg seem. ed to be caught. Suddenly there wus a ( rip and a tear, a portion of the man's ] trousers leg gave way and he dropped s to the ground. By this time the crowd had gathered | nearer the wagon, in which they be- i s held, lying on his back, frantically wav- ' t ing his webbed feet and angrily shoot- j ; ing out his head at intervals, an 1m- , mense snapping turtle. In the reptile's 1 cloth which matched the color of the pantaloons the Negro wore. The trouble was explained. The Negro, In loading his wagon, had sone too near the turtle, which, angry over treatment it had received, grabbed the first thing within its reach upon which to wreak its vengeance. The Jaws came together with a snap, missing the Negro, but catching the clothing. The threatening look in the little eyes V?a mart ii'Vt n f 11 mo/1 o a ViA li 151HCUCU 111c man, nnu but ?*v.u **w uv felt something grab his nether garments, and he shrieked and attempted to get away. The cloth could not stand the tug of war and gave way.?Baltimore Herald. DIPLOMATIC SECRETS. How They Are Guarded In Transmission Between Official*. It says much for the integrity of government officials that all knowledge of our recent important treaty with Japan was successfully withheld from foreign nations until the compact had been actually sealed, but the great care exercised" in guarding a diplomatic secret renders a nremature announcement very rare indeed. No government secret, when first born, is ever committed to paper, except on the rare occasions when minutes of a cabinet meeting are taken and forwarded to the sovereign. As a rule, our ministers meet and transact business without any one being the wiser, for no official of any kind is allowed to be present. Once the government has decided upon an important piece of foreign policy, It has to be transmitted to our representative abroad, and for the first time the secret is put in writing in th6 form of unintelligible cipher, the key to which is always in the hands of our ambassador. The men who draw up these intricate cipher codes are reliable officials specially employed by the government, and they often obtain from ?500 to ?700 for a single code. The dispatch having been prepared, it is given into the care of a king's messenger, who wears attached to his person a bag fitted with only two keys? one in the possession of the foreign office and the other retained by our ambassador, who must unlock the bag himself, or Instruct the secretary to do so upon the messenger's arrival. The journey between this country and abroad is a risky one, because the messenger is beset with spies, and, although he travels incognito and well armed, there is always the chance of his being set upon and robbed. To avoid this, when an Important dispatch Is being carried, he is shadowed by two detectives throughout the journey, so that they can instantly come to his assistance, if necessary. When traveling by rail he engages a special compartment, and if called upon to do so he will have to lose his life before sacrificing the dispatch. In return he rereives a salary of ?400 a year, in addition to ?1 a day when traveling and all expenses found, but before being employed he has to be nominated by an official filling an Important place under the government who will hold himself responsible for his being a reliable man and not a foreign agent. Sometimes, to avoid danger, the courier carries with him the special sanction of International law, whereby every country through which he passes becomes responsible for his safety.?London Tit Bits. THE NEW JACKSONVILLE. A Fresh City Built Before the Rnlm of the Old Have Ceaaed to Smoulder. Before the fire that destroyed a great part of the city of Jacksonville, Fla., has ceased to burn, the city has practically been rebuilt. This statement not anly describes a building operation remarkable for its rapid execution, but also covers an incident unique in th? experience of firemen. Jacksonville was almost wiped out by fire on May 3 of last year. An area of 143 acres, comprising 148 blocks, was swept by the flames and property worth at least $15,000,000 was destroyed. The work of rebuilding on a better and more substantial scale was started within a week and has gone on with rapidity unprecedented in southern building operations and now the city Is in far better shape than it was before the fire. About three weeks ago the clearing jp of the last ruins was begun. The laborers doing the work removed three ar four inches of the mass of brick and 3tone on top and then found to their surprise that underneath the ruins wer? still hot. Smoke began to rise out of the hole they had dug and the farther down they went the hotter became the ruins snd the thidker the smoke. At last a mass of red hot coals was found, which 3prang into flames when the air reach ru 11. It had been necessary several times within the year for the fire department to soak this part of the ruins with water, but it had been thought for several months that the fire must be out at last. Alongside new Jacksonville had already sprung into existence. Six months after the destruction of the city a new one already covered the greater part of the site. Within eleven months more than 2,000 buildings were erected, fifty of them iggregating in cost $2,000,000. And the new Jacksonville is immeasureably superior to the old.?New York Sun. Growth of Habit.?A correspondent )f The Lanpet tells a story in reference :o the rapid growth of the habit of tippling which may be developing in unsuspecting subjects. Two elderly laiies, he says, were surprised by a vistor in the act of drinking neat brandy. Upon expressing some surprise they mid that brandy had been recomnended to them as a capital preventive against cnolera and they first took t with water, and then they took it vithout water, and now they took it ike water.