University of South Carolina Libraries
" nggTO SEMS?WEEgI?Y. t. m. grist s sons, Publishers, j ^ <^amitg Dewsjaper: Jjor the promotion of the political, Social, ^grirutfural^ aml etomtner^riat^ ^nteretsfs of the people. {TBRM9s,,,"o^;#copr! rm cents*nce' ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, S. C., SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1902. ISTO. 54. WHEN BOYS BY JOHN EC Author of "Helen's Ba ington Copyright, 1901, by John Habberton. CHAPTER XII. AFTER THE FIGHT WAS OVER. last we were on our ' \V/ v own si(le of tlie l)r,(^e:e ?those who were left of us. Roll call show[M/jted thirty men missing from the first compaM\JJ ny. which had carried ml v^Sli only men int0 ac" '-J tion. besides several from each of the other companies. Some of the missing we found dead or wounded in the creek and woods, with a larger number of the enemy in the same condition, but after a careful count we found the Johnnies had secured about twice as many prisoners as we. The proceedings of the next hour or two would not have interested any civilian spectator in search of t^ie glory of war. Several mounted men who had been hurried away to a farmhouse known to be about a mile down the road came back with all the farmer's wagons, carts, colored men, spades and picks. Into the wagons and carts on a lot of pine tufts hastily picked were placed the wounded and our own dead. The colored men. under the direction ol the farmer, who had kindly volunteered to help, buried the Confederate dead near the roadside. Some of the wounded groaned terribly, and one poor fellow almost broke my beart by faintly screaming "Father!" every moment. I didn't feel any better when we learned that the wounded boy whom we were about to cart away was a son of the old man who was preparing the dead Confederates foi their last home. Then we knew why the old man had offered to assist the burial party and why he had looked sa quickly and Intently through the gathering dusk into the faces of the dead. The bo.v had been brought in later from the woods, and the father would never have known of his presence had It not been for his cries. The nest scene was equally painful? the old man begging, with tears in his eyes, to be allowed to take his wounded child to his own house and the major Insisting on his duty to carry all the wounded captives to our own camp. Several minutes before the old farmer had been to us only a stay at home rebel. Now there wasn't a man of us who would not have added our entreaties to his had we dared. It was a great relief to all of us when our assistant surgeon, who had been rapidly examining the wounded, assured the old man that the boy would need frequent surgical attention Instead of home nursing if his life were to be saved, so he would be better off in our hospital. Then the surgeon offered the farmer bis hand, and after a shake the old man sighed: "I'll take your word for It" I couldn't understand why a mere handshake was so convincing until one of our middle aged chaps told me that both men were Freemasons. But the ag ouy for us was resumed after we started for camp, for the major, though true to the letter of his duty, was a Freemason himself, so he halted us in frout of the old man's farm long enough to let the family come out and bid the boy goodby, perhaps for the last time. They came down with a lantern, for it was now quite dark, and the mother sobbed and wailed as she leaned over the cart and did all her thinking aloud and told how handsome and cheery her boy had looked when he took diuner at home a few hours before for the first time in months. His pretty sister, whom all of us had adored from time to time as she stood at the farm gate with her father to see the soldiers pass by, prayed aloud for heaven's curse to fall on the man whose bullet had pierced her brother's lungs, and 1 am sure each of us trembled at the thought that the bullet might have been his own. Near them stood a little brother and sister crying in the pitiful, hopeless way that my brother Ned did when he first heard that I was going to the war. Yet this was not the only family that suffered by that engagement. Besides the men killed outright, some of our own comrades died afterward of their wounus wuuoui raiuer, mouier, sisicrs or brothers to say goodby to them. Not all the missing were taken prisoners by the enemy, and nearly half a year of awful uncertainty and of frantic letter writing passed before we learned this through our captured men who returned when exchanged. One of our men, whose leg was broken by a bullet and who then was knocked senseless by a glancing shot on his head, floated down the shallow stream some distance before he came to his senses and got ashore. Stanching his wound by tying a strip of his shirt tightly around his leg. he bound the broken limb in twigs and then spent two whole days and nights in crawling on his hands and one knee to our nearest picket station. several miles distant. In the early spring a colored man who went to the creek to fish found the remains of one of our men beside a tree, a mile below the scene of the fight, and scratched on the bark of the tree were a few words telling how the poor fellow had died a lingering death from wounds, exposure and starvation. Yet the entire engagement, in which a full third of the men on the bridge were either killed, wounded or captured within 15 minutes, was in military parlance "merely a little WERE MEN. ABBERTON. I ibies," "George WasliEtc. brush." Mention of it never got Into the newspapers. There were thousands like it, except for the falling bridge, during the war, the results being too small or gradual to be part of the history which was being made by some great engagements which proportionately were not so bloody. Perhaps the story of this one will explain to some people why old soldiers when chatting together about the war talk much of the march and camp, but very I little about lighting. [ The fight at the bridge was the severest engagement In which our company had ever participated, so I ought to have been so absorbed by it as to be insensible to anything but my duty as a soldier. I am glad to say that I loaded, aimed and fired as carefully as if?oh. as if it were the first day of tlie "opeu season" for quail In the woods and fields near Summerton. Nevertheless 1 frequently detected myself in the act of looking about me to see what other men were doing. 1 saw C/iOyiie luaunip ?iuu unug uo ymviuij uud smilingly as if lie were merely making out bills at the Summertou lumber yard. Miek McTwyny was handling his carbine as energetically as if it were a coffee mill, yet in his excitement he was discharging It In the direction of the sun. the tree tops and his own toes, as if the enemy were atoms of the surrounding air and could be easily hit by a man with his eyes shut Meanwhile he was volubly cursing his platoon in English and Irish, with some assistance from the verbiage of the holy Scriptures and the vocabulary of the Bowery, for not firing more rapidly and carefully. "Look at that little dbivll BraJnard!" he shouted. "He's puttiu' rebs into purgatory as fast as if he was walkin' to Sunday school in Summerton." Braiuard: The sound of bis name startled me and caused a guilty pang as my having been concerned only for my own life impressed me. 1 looked quickly about for him and Just in time to see him roll sidewise from behind a fallen log. his face as white as the paper on which 1 am writing. Killed? No. he moved. 1 hurried to his side and asked him where he wus hit. "In the heart. Jack, but 'twas not the enemy that hit me. 'Twas Mick McTwyny's tongue. (Jreat heaven! I've vowed my life a hundred times to the saving of men?you know I was studying for the ministry. But now I'm trying to kill men! It's all?but why aren't you firing? See that red bearded face sticking out from behind a tree on the other side of the creek? No, no! Don't you fire at him! Here goes!" Braiuard's lips closed so tight that 1 could not see their dividing line, so I looked to war j tne conieueraie who a rod beard, and a second after Braiuard tired I saw the red bearded man clap a band to Ids shoulder. Then the angles of his elbows and knees indicated that he had gone out of action aud sat down behind ins tree. At that instant Braiuard himself had a strip of skin and a bit of flesh taken from Ids cheek by a shot from the other side, but he did not know of it till the light was over. I was recalled to a sense of duty by Cloyne. who drawled: "What are you lounging for. Jack? This isn't a Sunday school picnic." Quickly I covered my confusion by regaining the cover 1 had left, but 1 was still curious to know what other men were doing. The Baiaklava veteruns were side by side on the ground aud as flat as the head of a snake about to coil, though they did not seem intent on striking. Not far to my right stood Phil Hamilton, handsome and composed us usual, but in apparent trouble with ids pistol. lie looked so superb, with his clear cut face, erect figure and broad shoulders, that for a moment I wished my cousin May might see him. Then 1 was glad she could not, for did not Braiuard love May. and was not Braiuard my dearest friend? Still, pistols are made only to shoot ? * ?C fllil Willi. JUKI lilt' IIIUIlJl'Ill u 1 llilllivr 10 UK time to use thorn, so I hurried over to Hamilton and said: "Take 1113* pistol and Rive mo j-ours. Mine is in perfect ordei. and. as I n W 'V W* ft \1 '^1 "Hon't i/on fire at him!" helped father when he was inventing a revolver, 1 know something of a pistol's works." "Thank you, Jack." said he as coldly as if he had been born and brought up in an icehouse, "but 1 think I'll conquer it in the course of time." I was somewhat offended by his manner, but I reminded myself that there is a time for everything and that in the thick of battle was not the time to expect a polite reply, even from the Chesterfield of Summerton. When again I chanced to look toward Hamilton. I saw that his face was very white and he was looking at a card photograph. 1 could not doubt who the original was. On our homeward ride big Pat Callahan snarled: "ina ye s see our swen commissary sergeant behind the thickest tree thero was? I'm thinkin' be was.afeard o' gittin' his beauty spots scratched!" "G'wan to blazes!" snarled Mick McTwyny in reply. "Commissary sarjints don't nude to fight if they don't want to. Besides. It's better that we'd lose the captain?yes, or the colonel?than the mau that kapes us in the best of grub that can be made of rations." "I'm not sayin' ye lie." Pat replied, "but if I had as little stomach for grub as he has for fightin' I'd go to the hospital and stay there." After unsaddling I' was greatly delayed in reaching the quarters, for 1 "went over" my horse very carefully to learn whether he had beeu wounded. Horses have their own reasons for not reportiug "a mere scratch" that might In time disable them. Climbing our bunk ? Brainard's and mine? whicl was at the top of a tier. I sow my chum lying down, with a pocket mirror in one hand, my cousin May's portrait in the other and with tears in bis eyes. "Brace up. old cbap!" said I. He quickly turned bis bands to bide their contents, but bis face was too honest to hide anything that was behind it. Besides, be said in fragments between sobs: "I was homely enough before. Now I'm disfigured for life. The surgeon wouldn't deny it. and Hamilton ? be always was handsome. Heaven made him so. Therefore I've no right to complain, but?but"? "But you fought, and he didn't" "Eh?" "He didn't, 1 say. 1 was watching him." Brainard mopped his eyes with bis hands and looked proud an Instant. Then lie groaned: " 'Tis a hard world. Jack." The crudest thing about It was that Braiuard was the only member of our company that got a scratch, though fully half of us. not being handsome, like Hamilton, coveted the scar which Brainard wore after his wound healed. Among the half that did not covet that Ted badge of courage" was Hamilton. He never spoke of it, but many times afterward did I see our handsome commissary sergeant look at Brainard's cheek with an expression that indicated extreme satisfaction and triumph, with a dash of contemptuous pity that made me hate the man, though he had always been so considerate of my abnormal appetite that he bad slyly given me double rations of hard tack when we went out scouting. riTiwrwi} viii 1 14U 44?.Aki WHICH I HAD NOT COUNTED UPON. NE day our company vvns Rpnt out to rebuild a ruined bridge, severif' ' nl m"(,R beyond the l'/"- JSt Picket linos, which \1 . \ would give us the use fx|b/V?pF2K^v\ of a road by which we might increase our ca^ ? pacity for threatening the eueniy. All the material, even to the flooring, was to be cut from the woods near the little river. The first two days of this work would have been very happy ones to me but for a single circumstance. All day long there wandered among us the farmer who owned the young pine forest from which we were cutting our timber, and his face looked as if his family were dying one by one. with no doctor or medicine within reach. Ilad he last his temper and sworn at us we could have got rid of him and our uncomfortable feelings, but he was a gentle, slow spoken, tired looking man. like the American farmer of almost any other state, and he told us how he had been saving that bit of woods from the time he married, so that the timber upon It should pay for educating his sons when they grew up and also to give himself and his wife a little money with which to see something of the world after the boys married and the farm was divided between them. Now it all was being swept away and without a word of warning or n cent of pay. "Well, sir." said our captain kindly, "I'm awfully sorry for you. but it's one of the fortunes of war. A full half of my company are young men who ought to be in college or learning some business by which to live and perhaps provide for their parents' later years; but, so far as their own future is concerned, their time is being wasted about as thoroughly as your property." "I suppose that's true," said the farmer, looking around at the men at work. "You've got some likely looking young fellows. But that don't give me back my trees." "Very well." said the captain, "the government will pay you the full value of your trees if you will certify aud prove that you are and always have been a true and loyal citizen of the United States and have never given aid or comfort to the enemy." The farmer stopped looking gentle and tired as he replied; "I've given the Confederacy my three sons, and I'm proud of it." "That's square, honest talk," saia tne captain, "but It brings us back to the fortunes of war again." "I didn't bring on the war/- said the farmer. "I believe you," said the captain. "I only went with my state." continued the farmer. "Uod knows 1 never wanted any war; neither did any of my neighbors, except a loafer or two." " 'Twas the Baine way with me and my neighbors," said the captain. "I suppose if we on our side and you on your side had been more particular about the men we sent to congress and to the legislatures?If we had thought more of our country and less of our party, there wouldn't have been any war." "There's a right smart lot of sense In that," said the farmer after a moment's reflection. Then he looked sad eyed nnd continued, "But it doesn't give me back my trees." As the farmer wandered away I offered the captain- an argument or two which seemed to me nrst ciass cuqcuh of the rightfulness of his position, bnt he smiled sadly and replied: "It's of no use, my boy, to fuss over a man's head when his heart's turned upside down." "But"? I began. "Oh, go back to your ax," interrupted the captain. "Any logic that I have I need for use upon myself. If you live through the war and have a farm and a family of your own some day and look back to this particular time, you'll probably believe that I'm about as unhappy over this work as the farmer is at his loss." I was made so wretched for two days by this sad eyed farmer's manner that I tried to devise ways of escaping it It wasn't long before I found one. Many of our logs had to be floated to the point where we were massing the timber preparatory for use, and it was not easy for men walking along the shore with long poles in their bands to prevent an occasional log from drifting out of reach, and escaping us entirely. I suggested to the captain that a single rowboat or a skiff would help us greatly, and the captain agreed with me. but wanted to know if I had never heard that for military reasons all boats on streams in a fighting country were destroyed. "If southern boys are as smart as northern boys," said I, "I guess a boat or two escaped and lie hidden away In the bushes somewhere along the shore." I couldn't forget how many times I had stumbled over boats while roaming along the edge of creeks and ponds not far ftom our village up north. "Very well." said the captain, with an odd smile, "if that is true and northern boys are as smart as southern boys, you may go aud find one of those boats. Take two or three men with you. Don't go without carbines. And be in a hurry about it. We do need a boat." Hurrah! Here was to be an outing that would bring back a taste of old times. 1 wasn't long In selecting my party. Braiua4^*clmost danced with joy when I asked him to come along, and two other fellows about as old as we begged to go with us. Just before we started the captain handed me a canteen of whisky, telling me not to use any unless some one fell into the water, in which case I was to dose him frequently, a few swallows at a time. We were on the search within a quarter of an hour, and I felt a year younger in each successive five minutes. Blessed be nature! There Isn't much difference 'twlxt north and south as to the underbrush and dry leaves along the banks of small streams during winter. It was almost as Jolly a trip as If we were out chestuutting In the woods about Summertou. Once In awhile we would startle a squirrel and long to fire at him. It was so hard to ho honn/1 hs tho rnlo to flrp flt nothing MV UUUUU WJ fcMV * V..W %w ?- ? D but the enemy when outside our own picket lines! What enemy could hear us, anyway? There was no road within three miles except that which was broken by the bridge. The temptation to shoot became still stronger when we saw the head of a deer on the other side of the stream, but Bralnard reminded us that the deer would do us no good unless we could cross the stream to get him. So on we tramped. It was as good as an excursiou. We continued to be reminded of old times at home. In one place were the remains of a toy boat such as each of us had whittled from sticks in other days. Then we came upon a path which cattle and pigs had made in tramping to the river to drink. A little farther along was a little dock, such as northern farmers with water fronts generally have. All of these discoveries had no suggestion of war about them, and we all agreed with Brainard when he said: "I feel as if I weren't down south at all." Suddenly my heart bounded with Joy, and I shouted "Hurrah!" for through a screen of bushes I saw the side of a boat. It was only a skiff, made of about four boards, but hadn't just such a boat often been as good as I wanted at home? We surrounded it In an instant and murmured a chorus of delight. The oars were in it instead of being hidden a little way off. as they would have been had the owner been a northerner, and It seemed In as good order as if recently used. "The captain ought to make you a sergeant for this. Frost," said one of the tinvs. Flat bottomed skllTs make up In weight what they lack in grace, so we laid our carbines In a heap and began to lift and drag. The boat was fully 50 feet from the water's edge, so we had a great lot of tugging and shouting of "Now!" "All together!" "Again!" etc.. before we reached the water. At last, however, we got it where a single shore would place it afloat; then we straightened our backs and took another admiring look, while one of the boys became ecstatic enough to spring In, seat himself, snatch the oars and go through the motions of rowing. "Don't fergit to take yer guns with ye." said a voice which none of us recognized. We looked around quickly, and there, kneeling right by our carbines, were three Johunies, each with his own gun at the position of aim. And two of those three awful guns were double barreled! This was something that none of ua had looked forward to. With one accord. however, we began to look for- ; ward to Llbby prison. "Don't ye know it's a sin to steal skiftsV" asked one of the Johnnies, still ' keeping his piece at the aim. I never saw so unpleasant looking a weapon In my life?two great, yawning, dismal ] boles that ended in utter darkness and j behind them two hammers within an t inch or two of which glittered bright r red percussion caps. I never again j wanted to contemplate any kind of a ^ gun from that point of view. And bow j <*vnrlnstinf?lv?it Roemed at least a thou* c eand hours?that fellow held bis guD In that one position! "We were not stealing the skiff," said Brainard after the silence had become almost maddening; "we were merely appropriating it. according to the customs of war as recognized in all countries." "'Proporatin'. eh?" replied the man, relaxiug his aim, though bis comrades neglected to follow his praiseworthyexample. "Well, 'cordin' to the customs of nations we'll 'properate you. Come up here?one at a time." Nobody moved. "D'you hyah me?" shouted the Johnny. "Yes. sir." said 1 politely as I stepped forward. "Gimme yer belt." said he. I obeyed, and he bound uiy arms behind iny bach We looked around quickly. with It. saying as he did so, "You anfl j bein' four to we uns three, we uns has j got to be uiore'n ord'nary keerful." y I didn't look at the other boys while ] they were being bound. 1 was afraid ? tbey might be looking at me. Besides, ( I had too much else to occupy my mind. Capture meant prison, poor food, perhaps sickness and death. It certainly meant no more communlca* > tlon wllh home for months. Probably my parents would think me dead, and they would daily wonder where and how I met my fate. Oh, what an aw- f ful load of punishment belonged to ( whoever was to blame for the war! When all of us bad been bound, the ? men who bad kept us covered with ( their guns arose, came In front of us t and stared at us. Suddenly one of ^ them exclaimed: s "It's a fact! I was doggoned sure of ? ii irom me i usu "What you talkin* about?" asked an- j otber. ^ "This here," was the reply as 1 felt a big hand ou my shoulder and looked ( up; "this here Is the little cuss that ? got us coffee the night the Yanks grabbed us three months ago. Mebbe you ? didn't gtt some of it. I did, though, an' I sbayu't never fergit It. I'm right glad to see you again, my friend, though 1 wish 'twas somebody else we'd ketcbed." I felt much better at once and then c felt ashamed that the sound of a c friendly voice had made me forgetful * of the awful future before me. "I)ou't look so down In the mouth," continued my old acquaintance. "We 1 ain't goln' to kill an' eat you. After we r git you across the river we'll treat you r as well as we know how. Won't we, 1 boys?" 1 "Of course," growled the leader of ( the party. This was kind, but would their good will be of any service to us in Llbby ' prison or Castle Thunder? Still, I thanked him as heartily as I could and r told him truthfully that if we had to i be captured I was glad we had fallen i Into the hands of some one who seemed c to remember us pleasantly. Then my old acquaintance became chatty and t told me they had hung about the edge c of our camp all tbeday before, trying t to find out what we were doing, word having been sent to their camp. 15 miles away, that a "lot of Yanks was cuttiif pine by the river." They bad < followed us. keeping on one flank as my little squad went up the river, for they wauled to learn what we were up i to. They were glad they had seen us f leave camp; otherwise they would have missed their boat, on which they night- t ly crossed the river to the house in E which they slept. All this was interesting, but It made t cold chills play hide and seek all over ? me. Suppose. Instead of following us f through mere curiosity, they bad shot us as soon as we were out of hearing ( of our camp. Ugh! "Guess we'd better git across the rlver now." said the man who seemed c( leader of the party. "The Yanks '11 be ^ send In' out for these boys pooty soon, like as not. an' we don't want to git Into no muss." TO BE CONTINUED. t A Real laicot r "What Is an exit, pa?" "Exit. Freddy? Well. It Is a Latin t placard hung around on the walls In I theaters and opera houses to keep peo- ? pie from thinking they smell Are."?In-11 AianapoliH Journal. jl piscellatttous peadtog. THE O. A N.-W. R. R. it Haw Made Proxreii In the Face of Great DIfllcultlea. The news conveyed In a special from Ldncolnton in today's issue of this pa>er, to the efTect that the new road of he Carolina and North-Western raiload, standard gauge, is in operation rom that town to a point near Dallas, < vhere the line leaves the old road bed, s of much importance to the western itction of the state. The entire line, rom Chester to Lenoir, a distance of 10 miles, will before many months be n operation as a standard-gauge road, he road-bed and trestles having been indergoing repairs and alterations with hat end in view for sometime. Heavy alls have also been laid for a considerible disance, and distributed along ither sections of the line. The most important fact connected vith the development of tms Independint railroad property, however, is the hange of line from where it crosses he South Fork river, three miles north >f Dallas, to Llncolnton, a distance of welve or fifteen miles. Leaving the ild road-bed on the banks of the itream, It goes up the river, passing lome four or more cotton mills that lave not heretofore been touched by a ailroad, including High Shoals mills, i laboratory mills, Lincoln mills and t ithers, and enters Llncolnton from the j ipposite direction of the old road. Only < ?ne station is abandoned by the change >f route, that of Hardin, and It was of mportance only as being the shipping joint for a manufacturing concern vhich now has a station at its mill loor. The management of the Carolina end North-Western, It is said, was >aid a bonus to build the line via the nills, and was under contract to opertte a train by July 1st, and it is a credt to those in charge of the work that lespite the recent heavy damage ' by ains, they were enabled to comply vlth the terms of the agreement. The Chester-Lenoir line has had a food many up and downs, since It l>eeame an Independent road, and Its evilence of prosperity Is a source of gratflcation to those who have watched t since it attempted to stand alone. The fact that it has been enabled to idopt the standard gauge and change ts route so as to become one of the nost important cotton milling roads in his section shows that the men backng It know their business. Between ts terminals the road now has probacy as many cotton mills as any other lne of the same length in the south, ind Its future success seems assured.? Charlotte Observer. WIT AND WISDOM. I Negro Preacher Understands the Troubles of His Race. The Atlanta Constitution has discovered a Negro preacher who seems to be reaching a gospel that Is calculated 0 benefit his race materially. His lame is W. W. Lucas and he is field lecretary of the Negro Young People's Christian and Educational congress hat will assemble in Atlanta in August. This young Negro, who is deicribed as a "Black John the Baptist," 1 combination of Mark Twain, Sam r on/1 \T r "Hnnlorr moHo o nnopph , n Mobile a few days ago, from which The Constitution takes these extracts: "A great hindrance to the progress >f the race is the two by four bigoted lelflsh, Ignorant Baptist or Methodist >reacher. He is in every community, ipposing every measure of progress. "I have decided that the only way to ret rid of the "Jim Crow" car is to get id of the "Jim Crow" Negro. "If I could use 200,000 bars of soap in the unwashed Negroes that travel in trains and hang around depots I vould solve the Negro problem about 0 per cent. "Lazy, ragged, barefeet fellows, longng for silver slippers and long white obes and counting themselves worthy: jeglecting to provide a home for their amilies on earth and yet claiming a louse not made with their hands in jod's heaven! "The white man is trying to make this (arth blossom as a rose and the Negro s getting ready to die. "The white man is organizing buslless enterprises and the Negro organzing societies to turn out at their fulerals! Now, I object to a hundred lollar funeral for a flfy-cent Negro." Unquestionably this man possesses >oth wit and wisdom. His talks are alculated to do good, and he should >e given the right of way. t i AA l l UOiivvu vnuiinuui ,'Ievelnnd Methodlat* Declare War AKalnat the Weed. The Shelby district conference of the H. E. church, South, In session at Stanley Creek, N. C., last week, adopt>d resolutions condemning the use of obacco as injurious to both body and ioul. The resolutions are as follows: "Whereas, It is no longer a question hat tobacco is Injurious to the body ind mind, and to some extent to the ioul, and, "Whereas, The habit of using tobacco in any form, is a perfectly useless >ne, and to many people very offensive, i great waste of money, entailing disease on posterity and enslaving its ictims, and, "Whereas, Good people everywhere ire becoming very solicitous about heir boys, demanding that their pas- < ors enforce and confirm their teaching. by worthy examples of abstinence, n the total disuse of tobacco in any ind all forms, and, "Whereas, It is a conceded fact, that he pew will rise no higher than the mlpit, this being confirmed by the Scriptural statement, 'Like Priest, like 'eople,' and by Paul's admonition to ["imothy, 'Be thou an example to the z ^ucvera, 111 wuiu, in uuuvci oauuit, in harity, In spirit, in faith, in purity; ind again in his epistle to Titus, 'In all :hings showing thyself a pattern of food works,' and, "Whereas, It is our purpose as miniters of the gospel, to set worthy exam)lfc8 in all things before our people, and :heir children, and in no wise to abrogate the teaching of parents to their ihildren. Therefore, be it, "Resolved, First, That by the grace )f God, we will set wholesome examples jefore all men, as overseers of the lock, by abstaining from the tobacco lablt, and all other habits inconsistent vlth our high calling, as ministers of lit; guayci. Resolved, Second, That we will discourage the use of tobacco in all other Christians, by kind admonitions, by reaching against Its use, and by proper instruction to the people, as to the njurious effect of tobacco on the sysem. Resolved, Third, That It is the sense >f the district conference, that no applicant for license to preach, or for adnlsslon Into the annual conference, n-ho uses tobacco in any form, should pe licensed or recommended to the annual conference, unless they solemnly promise to quit It, and that forever." The King and the Bengar. A rather amusing story is going the ounds in the Danish capital concerning :he king and his little adventure with i smart beggar, says the Copenhagen correspondent of the Paris Herald. The Democratic habits of King Chrisdan are well known. Many a morning :he senior monarch of Europe may be jeen walking about taking an early constitutional. In some cases he is at:ended by Prince Waldemar, and at pther times he is alone but for a favorte dog. The king on such occasions is entirely unguarded. v^ii uie uctttoiuii ui uiic ui U1C9C wtiiiva i man approached his majesty. He was a rough looking fellow, with all :he suavity of the professional mendicant. King Christian, like the late king of Italy, is particularly kind to the poor md he goes out of his way to notice :hem and say kind words. Taking off his hat, the man approached the king, who, seeing he wished to say something, encouragingly isked: "Well, what is it?" "Please, your majesty," came the somewhat astonishing request, "might t ask for a picture of your majesty as i souvenir?" The king, rather taken aback at so jnexpected a request and yet feeling ileased at it, replied In a laughing tone, "Quite so, but I do not carry my Ikenesses about In my pocket." "Excuse me, your majesty," said the Deggar, with a knowing expression, "I think you do. If your majesty will mly look in your purse, you will find me." King Christian disbursed at once to the extent of a 2 kronen piece, but a ittle later the police, who had been watching, quietly grabbed the man, ind he was warned and lectured igainst begging. Persia a Storm Cbntrk.?Sensationalists who delight in war's alarms are low turning to Persia as the probable icene of the next trouble of the British ion. Having 125,000 men to spare from South Africa, now is the time, say these advisers of Lord Salisbury, to re establish British influence in the doninions of the shah and counteract the iffect of Russia's diplomatic successes n that quarter. All the northern part >f Persia is falling under Russian iniuence. By loans of money and bluffing :he czar has induced the shah to grant exclusive concessions for the construc:lon of railways and for other purposes. X Russian bank has been established :o facilitate a monopoly of Persian :rade in opposition to the British bank it Persia. A British telegraph line ;raverses Persia and a British steamer service exists on the Karum river, in vestern Persia. In the eastern part of :he country a traffic route has been established between Quetta, via Baluehistan, to Meshed, and a railroad is jrojected. Something is being done to etain the political and commercial inluence of India in the southern part >f Persia. India's "sphere" of influence is supposed to extend as far west is Koweit and Aden. Persia is an Inlian interest, since Russia, in control it Persia, would be on the flank and even in the rear of Afghanistan and in i position to assail India by sea. There s talk of applying the principle of the open door" to Persia and inviting all lations to join in withstanding Russia's alleged purpose of absorbing Persia. But Lord Salisbury. It is believed, las had his full of fighting in South Africa and is not "looking for trouble" lust now.?Baltimore Sun. Longevity op Dogs.?The age to vhich a dog lives in the ordinary :ourse is always a somewhat interestng subject, especially at the present ;ime, when so much is done in the way )f breeding for early maturity. For nstance, we have both collies and fox erriers becoming bench champions before they are well out of their puppyiood, but it is sad to say that in a malority of such cases the overshown dog ifterward rapidly degenerates or dies in early death. A correspondent writes :o The Field of the death of his fox terrier at the advanced age of 18 years, laving been born in 1884. He was ;ither a son or a grandson of Brokenlurst Joe, his late owner does not tnow which. This is, no doubt, a case )f unusual longevity, but instances of logs living to 14 and 15 years are comrson. Dr. Leeney recorded the death )f a dog of Lord Ogilvie's at 23 years )ld, it arising from an accident; while VIr. W. L. Littleton-Geach about the mme time mentioned two of his own logs, one of which was then living lard on to 20 years of age; the other lad just died when over that age. The veil known fox terrier Belgrave Joe vas born July 31, 1868, and died Januiry 13, 1888, while another aged terrier ,vas one of a working stamp which :ame from George Carter, or tne Melale, born in January, 1880, and died February 13, 1900. In several of the tbove well authenticated cases of longevity death either arose from aceilent or was brought about by the twner, owing to growing feebleness of he poor creature. No mean can be itruck as to the average age of the orlinary dog, but this might be taken at 0 years as he is now.?Pall Mall Ga;ette.