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w/K ' ' , ? y ISSUED SE^l-WBEKL^ L. m. grist's sons. Publishers [ 3. Beirspaper: Jfor the |rontotion of the political, Social, agricultural and Commercial Interests of the feople. | TgRes^te^o YEA^^AmNos ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, 9. O., T LTfES J.) AY, JUNE 36, 1906. , TSTO. 51. THE R; A Story of the Time? Alexander BY JERE ( CHAPTER VI. "Oh, love! what Is It In this world of ours ?? * ? *- ? n 4 - ka iavo^? i wnicn ma*?B 11 miiu iu uc Ah! why With cypress branches hast thou wreathed thy bowers, And made thy best interpreter a sigh? As those who doat on odors pluck the flowers And place them in their breast?but place to die? Thus, the frail beings we would fondly cherish. Are laid within our bosoms but to perish." By one of those chances common in civil wars Margaret Moncrieffe, the daughter of a major in the British army, had b??en separated from her father, and was detained as a kind of hostage within the American lines. The proud, spirited girl. Irritated by the surveillance to which she was subjected. annoyed by a suspicion, that had somehow grained currency, that she was engaged in communications with the enemy, and mortified by the want of pecuniary means, determined to appeal directly to General Putnam. The kind-hearted old soldier, appreciating her situation, and sympathizing with her feelings, promptly forwarded an invitation to take up her residence in his family until he could procure her permission to return to her father's protection. At this period she was not more than fourteen years of age, although a woman in physical, and more than a woman in intellectual development. Divinely beautiful, witty, and vivacious, she at once became the charm, of the general's family circle, and attracted crowds of admirers to his doors. Domesticated in the same family, her Intercourse with Aaron Burr was necessarily frequent; and, as day by day each discovered some new In the other's SOCletV. it rapidly grew into intimacy, and then as rapidly ripened into love,?a love as yet unspoken, and, perhaps, unacknowledged by either. It was her practice, as she writes in her memoirs, to ascend, in the evening, to the gallery on the top of the house, for the purpose of watching, through a telescope, the "wooden walls of Old England," whose frowning batteries threatened the republican city. After awhile, that secluded spot was invested with other attractions. It had become a trysting place. The floating bulwarks that rose and fell with the briny waves, and the white tents that dotted Staten Island, were unheeded. A new and absorbing passion had subdued her natural pride, and abated her natural confidence in British prowess. She had learned to listen for the coming of a rebel step, and hang with rapture upon a rebel's voice. It was impossible that such an entercourse could long continue without finding words to syllable the emotions that filled the heart of each. Suddenly and unexpectedly to both, the avowal came. For many minutes there had been silence; for many min utes they had been holding communion with each other in the sacred stillness of thought. Turning his gaze from the white waves of the Sound, it rested on the heavenly beauty of the sweet creature at his side. At the same moment her soft eyes were raised lovingly to his. In that one glance was conveyed all the burning passions teach; and the young lover, forgetting that he belonged to his country?forgetting that a wall of adamant grew broad and strong between them?forgetting all the dictates of prudence?threw him self madly at her feet and uttered words which, like the poetry of David, were "spangled with coals of fire." The deep blush which spread over her cheeks, rich and rosy as the glorious painting of the sun upon the morning sky, was a whole world of bliss to him; and the soft hand she laid in his, thrilled through every fiber with electric force, and sent wild currents back upon the heart loaded with Joy. No word was uttered. No word was needed to the full fruition of his hopes. One hand detained its willing prisoner, and one encircling her voluptuous waist, drew her toward him until their lips met and grew together. Oh, happy had it been for both if in that hour the thunderbolt had fallen! Happy had it been if, linked in each other's arms, their souls had taken flight while yet the bloom of innocence was upon them, and neither guilt, nor care nor torturing sorrow stained the opening bud or the springing tree! Better would the grave have been for her, far better than the guilty pleasures, succeeded by the vain regrets, that checkered her after days! And better would it have been for him to have passed away with his young laurels fresh upon his brow, than to have run a career, splendid Indeed at its noon, but, like the hot sun of the tropics, scorching and blasting in its brilliancy, and going down at last behind clouds, and storms, and falling tears! But what did they care for tomorrow? What warning could break the spell of that ungovernable transport! They were riding in a frail and leaky boat, upon the foamy crests of a tempest-shaken sea; but the angry voice of the great deep was unheeded, and the shrieking breakers, as they rushed madly to the iron-bound shore, sounded low and soft as a mother's lullaby over her first-born infant's sweet re pose. And who could blame them for the mental abandon of that delirious hour? Such moments come but once, and not always once, in our pilgrimage below. Aaron Burr and Margaret Moncrieflfe caught the nectar as it rose, and if death should follow the potent draught, it was a death that came on balmy wings, and pointed his destroying dart with rapturous joys. Side by side they sat upon the rough bench that ran along the gallery?their hands clasped, their eyes bent down until the drooping lashes rested on their cheeks, their lips mute and motionless, their hearts full and eloquent of unutterable joy. Who shall say that days of sorrow, nights of mourning, or even long, long years of anguish was too high a price for all they felt in that unearthly trance? IVALS. \ of Aaron Burr and Hamilton. :lemens. Twilight deepened into night before | the soell was broken, and they rose to /ilrnla i trim ii IU me laiuii* "You will meet me here tomorrow?" she said, in a tone of gentle inquiry. A warm clasp of the hand, and a murmured "Yes, sweet one, yes!" was followed by another of those long; lingering kisses that send the blood leaping in fiery currents through the veins, and shed around the soul an incense so sweet that we cannot believe that it was born to die. Another day was added to the cycle of time. During that day the mind of Aaron Burr had been like the wintry moon, over whose broad disk the clouds are chased in broken columns by the hoarse and angry wind. Troubled thoughts and fitful resolves, and now and then a clear, bright ray of hope, were all confused and jumbled together. As the chaos of his feelings subsided, the barriers to his love, forgotten yesterday, became painfully apparent. He had not thought of them heretofore, because he had indulged no purpose to avow his attachment; and vainly trusted that the tongue could be ruled into silence when the heart was bursting to be heard. A little mure experience ui iiib unu iivm ?. might have taught him that it would be easier to dam up a torrent with sand, than to maintain the cold silence he had imposed upon himself while lingering near the object of his passion. It is a pity that our knowledge so often comes when It is too late to profit by it. If we could only begin life with the same amount of experience that is beat into us before its close what a world of mistakes and troubles would be avoided! If we could only know ourselves a little earlier. and a little better, earth might become a very attractive dwellingplace. But we walk on, believing ourselves stronger and wiser than we are, until some unexpected pitfall opens before us, and away goes the man and his hopes forever. Aaron Burr had been like a blind man wandering in a wiiurrness ui swkis, nnu lui u.. til he feels Its sting, that a viper may nestle among the roses. He did not remember that, no matter how beautiful, and gifted, and virtuous, Margaret Moncrieffe might be, it was Impossible for his love to end in happiness; and it was not until that love was spoken, and its return avowed, that all the objections to It that had been floating vaguely and dimly before him, assumed the form of sturdy substantial realities, and chilled his sanguine nature Into despair. One day had sufficed to reveal to him the hard and naked truth; and when the hour for the meeting of the lovers arrived, Margaret Moncrieffe stood alone In the gallery. Her heart bounded when at last she heard his well-known step, and a glad smile illumined her countenance. Upon his visage no such Joyful expression rested. He approached her slowly, and, taking her hand, pressed it to lips bloodless from agony, then dropped it and said,? "We have been like unthinking chil dren, Margaret, and must pay the penalty for our folly. A lovely flower was growing on the outmost verge of a precipice, and in our eagerness to gather it we have fallen Into the abyss below." "What is the matter?" she exclaimed wildly. "Oh, what terrible thing has happened?" "Terrible Indeed!" he mournfully replied. "Yet it was lovely and sweei In its coming. You and I have been guilty of the deep sin of loving one another. You and I, between whom there is a gulf as wide as hell, have permitted our heart-strings to intertwine, and when they are torn asunder, as they must be peace and happiness will bleed themselves to death." "But why should they be torn asunder? Why may they not remain intertwined forever?" "Look there!" he said, pointing to Staten Island. "With your naked eye you may discern the tents of England's soldiery; with the telescope you may mark the very spot where floats the regimental banner of your father. Think you that haughty officei wiM give his daughter to one who is fighting with a halter about his neck? Who, if he wins, may be termed patriot; but if he loses, will certainly be branded as a traitor, and to a traitors doom?" "Oh, yes! He is too just not to make allowances for this unhappy quarrel; and when he comes to know you well, he will cheerfully sacrifice any remaining prejudices to his daughter's happiness." "Never, Margaret?never! Besides, that is the least obstacle in our way. Tomorrow, or the next day, or any day, may witness an assault on this city. When that time comes, I shall be in the front rank of its defenders. If I meet your father then, my sword will be directed at his heart, as certainly as at that of the vilest mercenary under his command. Could I approach you and ask this hand while my own was still red with the blood of your parent? No, Margaret: we must part. It was madness?nay, worse, it was dishonor?to go on as I have done, shutting my eyes to consequences an idiot might have foreseen. To have crushed my own peace was bad enough; to have aimed a deadly blow at yours, is a sin no repentance can atone." The young girl listened in speechless woe. The rose fled from her cheek, and a dull film gathered over the soft blue eye that had just been eloquent with the happiness of requited love. But hope has its natural home in the bosom of woman, and soon a cheering light flashed upon the rayless gloom of her despair. There are trials before us, my own love," she replied, in a voice sweeter than the lyre of Urpheus. "Trials and troubles and bitter hours; but they are not so dreadful as you think. This war must have an end; and when you have passed through it, successful as I trust, and honored as I know you will be, the vows of yesterday may meet their fulfillment, and we shall bless the delay that prepared for us a more entrancing gladness." Her lover folded her passionately to his breast, and imprinted a warm kiss on her polished brow. "Bless you, sweet one, for those words of hope; and bless you for the soft heart that spared the reproaches I know I deserve! I will even do as you bid me, and hope to find trees of frankincense and beds of spices beyond the gloomy present, to welcome the traveler who faints not bv the way." Gradually the conversation changed to other themes. The day-king traveled on his fiery path, and sunk to rest behind the dark forest that stretched away toward the unknown regions of the west. The shadows of night fell upon the earth, and the beauteous stars came forth as if robed for a heavenly bridal. Still that lingering, loving Interview was prolonged. The cloud that had come between them and the sun was for the time forgotten. In the light of each other's eyes' the darkness disappeared, and fancy led them to a fairy-land, where the green pastures were sleeping in a dreamy atmosphere, and the murmuring streams leaped gayly from the hills. Each word was music, and each sigh was eloquence to them. The honey-dew upon the lip of love Imparted a wilder ecstasy from each recurring draught, and the broad earth supported on its bosom no creatures so happy as tnat tempest-threatened pair. All things human must have an end, and our sweetest enjoyments are always shortest lived. Aaron Burr and i Margaret Moncrleflfe were recalled from the paradise in which they were roving, to the world of reality, by a summons to join the family circle below. "For your sake," he said, as they de- i scended, "for your sake, Margaret, : General Putnam musb know all." "Be that my care," she replied. "The good old man has exhibited for me the i kindness of a father, and Is entitled to a daughter's confidence in return. I love him as if I were one in reality." "And well does he deserve it; for a nobler, truer soul never animated a human frame; and that lion-heart which would lead him on a hundred bayonets at his country's call, is soft as that of the fluttering dove when weakness or distress appeals to Its assistance or its sympathy." On entering the common sitting-room 1 they found the wife and daughters of General Putnam engaged in spinning flax for the use of the soldiery. Turn not away, gentle reader, from the : homely spectacle! It was a sight upon which the angels might have looked with approving smiles. The wife and daughters of a major-general laboring with their own hands to clothe the half-naked recruits who had answered | to the call of liberty. No wonder that ] soldiec triumphed! No wonder that i when hunger and cold, disaster and defeat, were heaped upon them, their i spirits rose above the depressing i weight, and with the blessed example of female patriotism before them, they < sprung to their duties with a new and vigorous alacrity that eventually led to a glorious victory! General Putnam was seated at a ta- < ble, having an open map before him, on which he had marked in pencil the position of the British troops. Various lines traced from this point Indicated that he had been studying their probable movements and endeavoring to an- ( ticipate the precise place where the ; principal attack would be made. At hie invitation Rnrr eoatori hlmsplf nt i the table, and was soon as much obsorbed as the general, in military speculations. Margaret Moncrieffe had directed her steps to the part of the room occupied by Mrs. Putnam and her daughters, saying as she did so,? "I hope it is no treason to King ( George to assist in your labors." "Thee may be sure," replied the Quakeress, "that it is no treason to the King of kings." Several days went by, and Miss Moncrieffe had as yet made no communication to General Putnam. The task that seemed easy in the distance, grew more difficult when she came to perform it. Sometimes he was busy; sometimes he looKea perpiexea Dy irouDiea mougnis, and she did not like to disturb him. When a favorable opportunity did present itself, her heart failed her, and she shrunk with the instinctive bashfulness of a young girl from revealing the secret of her first love, even to so kind and noble a friend as she knew him to be. At last she determined to adopt the less embarrassing plan of addressing him by letter. After many trials she succeeded in framing one to her own satisfaction, which she placed, herself, in his hands. It ran as follows : ? "Dear and Honored Sir: "When I was a stranger, and you knew me only as the daughter of your country's enemy, you took compassion on my distress, invited me to your home when I had no other, and received me as tenderly as if I had been a favorite child. From you, therefore, I ought to have no secrets; and to you I feel that the circumstances in which I am now placed should be frankly 3 T T 3 T It* t> -tsv*. avoweu. uiiuer juur ruui ? mci majui Burr. I will not tire you with details that are without Interest to any one except ourselves. It is enough that we loved, and that it has been confessed on both sides, notwithstanding the barriers that we are well aware exist between us. Those barriers will readily suggest themselves to your mind and the object of this note is to appeal to you for your advice, and your assistance in removing the difficulties that environ us. Do not fear to pain me by any suggestions you may think fit to make. Whatever they are I know they will be just and sincere, and I know, too. that they will be dictated by a heart whose manly qualities are almost hallowed by the delicate sensibilities with which they are intertwined. "You will pardon me. I hope, if I cause you trouble or annoyance, when you remember that it is your own goodness that emboldens me to address you in the absence of the parent who. I niultir nthpr f?lrnimstn iipps. should alone guide and direct my steps. "Accept my warmest thanks for all that you have done to render the abode of the prisoner delightful, and believe that I shall ever remain your attached and grateful friend, "Margaret Moncrieffb." Major Burr, who was ignorant of the mode of communication adopted by Miss Moncrleffe, and, indeed, ignorant that any communication had been made, was busy with the regimental reports of the day, when General Putnam hurriedly entered his apartment. "What madness is this, major?" he exclaimed, extending the letter he had just received as he spoke. "Where, in the name of all the saints, have your wits been wandering?" "It was madness, Indeed!" replied Burr, sorrowfully, his eyes merely glancing over the letter; "but a madness which brings Its own punlshIshment. In an evil hour I forgot that the galley slave Is more free than I am and dared to dream of happiness amid the rattle of musketry and the clank of chains. Even when the hour of u'Aklnp rarne a vnlco callprl hack the illusion, and I was the slave of hope once more. It Is over now and I shall prove none the worse soldier since I have learned to look to a bloody bed as a happy riddance of a troubled life." "Nay, major, It Is bad enough, but not so bad as that. It would be unfeeling, and In my Judgment, dishonorable to think of marriage with Miss Moncrieffe, while her father and yourself hold commissions in opposing hosts. Nor do I think it likely that his consent will be given at any time to your union. In his eyes you are a traitor; in his eyes you will remain a traitor, although success may to others convert the rebel into a hero. That is the worst side of the picture. On the other hand, time and patience may do a great deal toward bringing about the fulfillment of your wishes. At all events, your life belongs to your country, and must be cherished for her sake. The folly of which you have been guilty will be converted into crime by a reckless exposure of your life on the battlefield." "I did not mean exactly that, slr? I r?nlv m'pant that T mlcht hp Ipsa oarft ful to preserve it. I rejoice that you acquit me of anything worse than folly, and I assure you that in all this I have been hurried on without knowing what I did, and can scarcely be said to have been a free agent." "Why bless you, man, I know that as well as you do!, I know, also, that at your age I should have done the same thing. If you will ask the old lady who sits at the head of my table, she will tell you that there was a time when a petticoat could have lured Israel Putnam to the devil." The idea of putting such a question to the demure Quakeress, over whose placid countenance no ripple of passion ever seemed to nave rolled, called a faint smile to the lips of the aid-decamp, and he replied,? "I am afraid I should lose ground In her estimation by asking a question that implied her good lord had ever been different from what he now is? the most clear-headed and practical as well as the most upright of men." "Pshaw! she knows better! She knows that I would have Jumped from a precipice at her bidding, or performed any other equally absurd exploit. For that matter, she knows I would do It yet; and the chances ar?, that when I tell her what a fool you have been, she replies, 'Thou wert foolish thyself, Israel, in thy younger days, and must deal tenderly with the maiden and the youth.' But to return to your own affairs. I hope you see the necessity of an immediate separation between Miss Moncrieffe and yourself. I shall apply to General Washington today for an order to change her residence; and I shall worry congress until they grant me permission to restore her to her father." "And so," answered Burr, "I am to reproach myself for making her captivity more irksome, by causing her removal from a family where she has met a daughter's and a sister's welcome. Truly, her acquaintance with mp hnQ hppn nnfnrtiinoto " "Do not disturb yourself on that account. When she leaves my roof I will see to it that she Is conveyed to another as hospitable and as kind. Now you may go. I give you leave of absence for twenty-four hours, and do riot wish to see your face within that time." "Am I permitted to see Miss Moncrieffe?" "No. You have met often enough, and must not meet again until congress grants me permission to send her on board a British man-of-war. I win say an inai is neearui, ana 11 win agitate her less, coming from me, than from you." Major Burr understood the mot'ves of the general and acquiesced uncomplainingly in his decision. When he returned to his duties the next day, he learned, without surprise, that General Washington had issued an order for the removal of Miss Moncrieffe to the family of General Mifflin, at Kingsbridge. What reasons General Putnam had for desiring the change, he kept to himself, and General Washington did not seek to pry into them. The rank of Miss Moncrieffe's father however, and the course that congress had pursued toward her, gave her movements an importance in the eyes of the public to which they were not entitled, and speculation was rife as to the cause of her sudden removal from New York. Finally, the majority settled down in the opinion that she had been detected in communicating information to the enemy?an opinion that General Putnam neither affirmed nor contradicted. To the fertile brain of Alexander Hamilton it suggested another means of wounding his rival, and on the very night that James Billings had brought him the news of Adelaide Clifton's death, the infamous confederates concocted another story of seduction, which soon obtained general circulation, and the character of Aaron Burr as a libertine became fixed for life. It was no easy matter to obtain per mission from congress to restore Miss Monerieffe to her father. General Putnam, true to his promise omitted no opportunity of pressing the subject upon their attention, and finally succeeded. When the order was received he handed it to Major Burr, and said ? "You can go now to Kingsbridge, and carry this news. I place no injunction upon you not to renew the vows you have already uttered. In affairs of the hear' it is often the best course to leavt the heart to its own guidance. Still, it will be well for you to remember *'iat the probability is, you will never meet again?that there is nothing more than a bare possibility of your future union. Excite no other hopes in her bosom, and cherish none in yours. Encourage no correspondence, without her father's free consent. Utter not one word to lessen her sense of duty to him. Behave, in short, with that high honor which spurns concealment as an approach to meanness, and would rather endure the tortures of the rack than the shame of deceiving or mis lading a loving and a trusting woman." !Hajor Burr warmly grasped the hard hand of the veteran soldier?the big tears came into his eyes, and his throbbing heart almost choked his reply. "God bless you, my more than friend! Rightly and nobly have you pointed out my pathway?firmly and undauntedly will I follow It, If my heart breaks In the effort." |"I do not doubt you," said the general deeply affected. "I do not doubt ybu, and If I did, I would not trust you as I do. Go on, he continued, to Mrs. Pjutnam and the girls. They will have many messages to send." Major Burr's arrangements were soon made. The Journey to Klngsbrldge was a short one and the dlstunce was materially lessened by the speed at which he rode. Those who have ever loved, will understand that other thoughts than the gloomy ones of an early separation obtruded themselves on his mind during the ride. He was about to meet once more the object of Idolatry; to clasp her warm hand In his; to look down into the depths of her blue eyes, and wonder from what world of loveliness their beauties were borrowed. In imagination he was even now inhaling the Incense of her breath, sAid draining the nectar of her lips. At such times the demons of doubt and uncertainly lose their power, and the dark clouds that, one after another, r*?fey spread along the sky, are brushed aV'ay by angels' wings, or changed to rainbow beauty by the God of Love. They met, not as those meet within whose bosoms hope has laid itself dpwn to die; but with the bounding gladness of those who clasp in their embraces all that is dear, or cnensnea, o remembered of existence. For one b 1ef hour they breathed the air of E den, and in its wild delights forgot t tat but an hour Interposed between t lem and a separation that might be e ernal. To them there was no past; n) future; nothing but an all-absorbi*g now. They thought not of the \^orld around them, and envied not the hjeaven above, amid the thrilling joys of the heaven below. Sweet privilege of youth! why is it that you abide with us no longer? Why Is it that the same sun that lights your coming must also shine upon your grave? Why is it that the last notes of the rejoicing song that hails your birth are always mingled with the prelude to the funeral wall that mourns your decay? Alas! before the first green blade decked the bosom of earth, an immutable decree \^ent forth that whenever the Angel of Love folded his wings on the footstool of God, he should be followed by the Angel of Grief, and the raptures of one be succeded by the anguish of the other. The boon and the curse travel always so nearly together, that the lightning Is visible before the sunshine disappears. To Aaron Burr and Margaret Moncrieffe it was rosy daytime now, and eagerly they gave themup to its sweet enjoyments, even while the muttering thunder proclaimed that the stormy night was approaching. ? The hour o;f final separation had arrived. "Will you not go with me to the boat!" she asked, "and give me every possible moment of your society?" "No, Margaret. It would be torture to you and to me to have the prying gaze of indifferent spectators fixed upon us at such a time. Let us part where the throbbings of the heart are unrepressed, and eye and tongue have full permission to proclaim that we would not exchange our love, hopeless as it seems, for all the countless spheres that hang above this orb of ours." "Nor," she added, "nor for a myriad agts of such poor endearments as those with which the Eastern prophet peopled his paradise. Let it be ours to prove that there is a love as deathless as eternity; and if we meet no more until the soul has put off the stained garment In which it Is clothed, there, there beyond the sky, in the heaven to which one is called, or the hell to which It is doomed, let us agree that the other shall follow and nestle by its side." "So let It be, Margaret," he exclaimed, pressing her to his heart. "So let it be. Our compact is sealed." One burning kiss?one long long embrace, and then he sprang to his horse and galloped furiously away. They never met again. The lines of her life ran in tears and in guilt. A father's command consigned her to the arms of an unfeeling husband, and Nature vindicated its outraged laws by making her the instrument of that husband's dishonor. Still In the depths of the Infamy to which she sunk, she clung to the memory of her early love, and when her own hand recorded the events of her unhappy life, every word that spoke of him was filled with passionate fire. The mistress of a royal lover, the splendor that glided her lot could not bring forgetfulness to her heart; and when she came to die, the name of Aaron Burr was on her lips. At that dread hour her fearful compact was remembered, and her last breath was expended in uttering the words,? "In Heaven or in Hell we will meet again." to be continued. Build Ir to Last.?All that com mends the lock type of canal is cneapness In time and money. It can be built quicker than a sea level canal, and It will cost less. There are considerations of some Importance, but there are others of greater consequence. We are building for centuries and not for years or decades, and we want the best waterway which skill can furnish. After It Is built a sea level canal will cost less to keep In order than would a canal with locks, it will be easier of transit, It will be less subject to Injury from war or earthquakes. In a quarter of a century a sea level canal would probably pay its extra cost by the smaller expenditure which would be needed to keep It In repair. Nobody can tell just what the extra cost and time of construction would be. Some of the experts believe the cost and the time would be no greater. Even if they should be greater this would be no formidable argument against the adoption of the sea level type. The people are willing to pay the extra cost, whatever it may be.?St. Louis Globe-Democrat. tir There's a lot of foolishness to keep out of GREAT IS BOLL WEVILL : i So-Called Pest a Benefactor to the ] South. TEXAS BROKER'S INTERESTING VEIWS. ; ( u tua?^ u?. d..+ ' ITI i rvo l ? i iiviimo \j m j o inoev.i i i?a f r $10 In the Pockets of the Southern Farmer For Every Dollar It Has Taken Out?Some Points to Think | About. The following address was delivered before the Arkansas Cotton convention at Monte Ne, Ark., last Wednesday, by Mike H. Thomas, a well known cotton broker of Dallas, Texas: I was born and raised in Texas, and the boll weevil is the only thing that I ever saw that raised so much devilment as he has in that great state and still ilve. He has done more than the country he came from ever did, and that was to lick the stuffing out of Texas and the United States thrown in as lagniappe. When anybody or anything that wears hair and hide, walks, flies or crawls, whips a native-born Texan, tney have my greatest admiration, for I am forty years old and have matched at least 100 fights with them myself, and have my first one to win yet. It is said that a male and female boll weevil, after having passed through their courting days and have been a party to the ceremony and taken the solemn marriage vows, will grind out over a million young in one year, and they belong to the union at that. But it is not the quantity that licks the Texan, Its the size ot the brute, varmint or bug. That is where he has his advantage, for anything that a Texan cannot go after with a gun is safe, for he has not yet learned the modern up-to-date warfare practiced so successfully in TT^ttsvsl Ufnfno Ullf TnV_ SI UIC UllllCU OlttlCO DCIiaVC. UUV ICA- V as is a great and growing state, and S her people are the best and smartest t on earth, and It will be but a question t of a short time until they adopt other t and more harmless methods of over- a coming their enemies. r The efforts that have been made in the past to lick the boll weevil not t only by the Texans themselves, but y by the United States government, t have proved such howling failures I that they are ridiculous. They first t went after him with Paris Green, t George Aldredge and Horatio Adams \ bought it in carload lots and had \ their plantations smeared so thick t with it that it looked like the Em- c erald Island. Hugh Fitzgerald and c Dan Sullivan went into spasms at t the sight of them and wanted to \ erect a monument to Tom Moore on t tne spot. The following Sunday s morning Aldredge and Adams went t out to see the effect of the Paris Green and they had not gone over v fifty feet when they saw an old cock ' weevil on the top of a nine-foot cotton stalk as fat as a Jew goose, who f. scratched his third rib with his seventh left hind foot and winking his right eye, cried out to his wife, "Good morning, Carrie, the 'pair is green,' if they think they can kill us with this stuff." The next attempt was made by the United States government. They imported some ferocious man-eating Guatemalan ants. South Texas was selected as the battleground, and while It is sTrlctly against "the laws of the state to pull off a prize fight within its borders, the United States seems to claim to be larger and have more authority, but we do not believe It. Dr. Knapp was selected as referee; Dr. Hunter was chosen as second and bottle-holder for the ant, and Dr. Morrill was given the honor of filling the same position for the weevil. The bears sold the cotton market down forty points, anticipating a favorable result for the ant, and the whole world waited breathlessly for the final result of this great battle. Labor and capital labored together as one and sought the telegraph offices to get the earliest returns by rounds. "Eureka" was on the tongue of every man, woman and child. It was cried from the housetops, from the press and from the lowlands what the ant would do to the weevil and our country would be saved. But, like nature, the unexpected happened. The ant and the weevil warn nlonorl I r* thp rlnC tnCPt HPT flt the sound of the gong the ant gave * a scream like a panther and made a r rush for the weevil. Knapp says, j "It's all over;" Hunter says. "He eats 'em alive." But to their dismay, the weevil side-stepped, caught the f ant's fifth right wing, Jerked It from i his body and beat the ant over the r head with the bloody end of It until he cried for help. Eut, seriously, the boll weevil like I everything else put on the earth by t the Great Artificer of the universe, . is for the good of man. For example, the house moth. It is comdemned by ' every good housewife in every civil- t ized land, and yet, it plays its part as , nature Intended, and is a great bene- . factor to man. For the birds build- 1 ing their nests in trees of countries like the United States, England and ? Scotland, who are great producers of KImtI Vm rti'lcra and of ra U'O gether with threads of wool, and If it were not for the moths who cut the threads when the nests are abandoned. It is estimated by scientific men that our forests would be ruined in less than 100 years. So it Is with the weevil. He has already proven himself to be the greatest benefactor the south has ever known. While he destroys millions of dollars worth of cotton, and is looked upon as an enemy, he has put J10 into the pocket of the south to where he has cost it one. He has destroyed 250,000 bales of cotton at $40 per bale, which is equal to $10,000,000, and advanced the price of 10,000,000 bales $10 per bale which is equal to $100,000,000. And while Texas alone suffered the loss, and it looked like she was bearing all the burden, and the remainder of the cotton states reaping all the rewards, such Is not the case, for while It cost her the entire $10,000,000, it Increased the value of her 3,000,000 bales $10 per bale, which is equal to $30,000,000. But the real benefit to this great state is yet to come, for the good this pest has done tne state in tne pasi will be as nothing compared to what it will do for it in the future. Our one Great Creator made us all equal and alike, and while we complain of the weevils' ravages and think we are cufsed, it is because not one man out of every thousand ever thinks. While God endowed man with the powers of speech, action and reason and made him the master of everything on the earth, he uses all his power, but that of thought or reason. He contents himself with following any one that has the nerve and often, what is commonly called gall to be a leader, no matter whether he uses reason or philosophy or is preying upon the Ignorance and stupidity of the people to increase his own in- . come and enrich his own cotters at the expense of the public. It requires a great deal of labor, study and reason to pierce the thick veil f j that hides from the mass of mortals I the mysteries of nature, and while t Texas is laboring under the Impres- r I slon that she Is cursed with a great t pest in the weevil, and has the sym- t pathy of the whole world, she, in- t stead, Is to be congratulated. For t God made it so that one poison should t act as an antidote and panacea s for another poison, and that one t calamity would overcome another t calamity which might be far more j dangerous and destructive. r Had it not been for the weevil, t our vast territory of the west would \ have remained unsettled for years, * and an over-production of cotton < might have come to hand, which ( would have bankrupted the state, rhe cotton plant Is a dry weather plant and its leaves are so formed ind grow on the stalk In such a manner that the plant resembles an umbrella and acts as a shed to prevent the rain from penetrating and rotting ts roots, as the plant requires but ittle moisture, while corn, wheat, jats, cane and millet have leaves shaped like a gutter that carries the moisture to the root of the plant be:ause they are wet weather plants ind require much more moisture, rhe weevil cannot live In a dry cli nate, it wouia De narmiess in our western territory which God Intended to be devoted to cotton, as the limate was made for that plant. tie will be harmless In the rich black, waxy and alluvial soil when devoted :o cereals. The day of large ranches is drawng to a close and these lands will lave to be devoted to the produclon of suitable feed and vegetables ' or preparing of cattle for market in imaller numbers. Hence, It will be ( i question of a very short time until he weevil will do for man what he vould not have done for himself. It ! vill force him to produce what is >est suited to the climate and soil ind most beneficial and profitable to he whole world. The potato bug that visited the >otato growing states of the Union >nly a few years ago created havoc or a time and threatened to ruin nllllons of people financially and deirlve many millions more of the veg- , 'table of the world. At that time . t was looked upon with fear and rembllng by the people as the great- < (st calamity that had ever visited the < Jnlted States. But the Inborn temer- . t vr nf thla trro n t nortnlp o/qq nrniia^H rhey looked at the pest from a phtlotophlcal view and commenced to use heir reason and took the position hat a mere handful of their foreathers at one time had overcome tnd put to flight a mighty nation and i few bugs could not take their tountry. The potato bug is now a thing of he past, and instead of proving a alamlty, it has proven to be a great enefactor, as It forced the people to ultivate more thoroughly, which has esulted in an improvement in both luantlty and quality of the potato. 5o It will be with the weevil. In afer years to come, history will say o those who follow us that It taught he growers of cotton where, when ind how to produce the best and nost cotton by the least expense. It has been truly said that God akes care of his own. Some ten ears ago, the Dallas-Galveston News, he greatest dally paper In my opinon, and whose columns cannot be tought for any one man or party, >ut whose columns are free to all vho want them for anything that vlll benefit the human race, saw hat diversification was the salvation >f the south. They spent thousands if dollars to educate the people and irove to them what was best for all vas the best for the country. Now ne mucn conuemneu wetsvu naa uccu ent to force man to do for. himself hat which is the best. VHEN IS A MAN TWENTY-ONE. V Question Not So Easy to Answer as It May Appear on the Surface. "It Is often said that law Is applied ' ommon sense," said Prof. John Wurts >f the Yale Law school, the other day, ' vhen in town. "While it is true that 1 aw principles originated in common i ense, the law itself is the combined < xperience of many men; for no two 1 Hfen unlnstructed in law will agree as o what Is applied common sense. "Then there are many rules of law vhlch undoubtedly have a common < ien.se origin: but conditions having I changed, history falls to disclose this i >rlgin. Yet these very rules must be I etained In order not to shake person- I il and property rights. Therefore no 1 nan can depend on his own unln- i itructed common sense to know the I aw. I "To drive this statement home, I < lave frequently put to an incoming < aw otoss the question, 'When does an nfant become of age?' The answer I 1 ITtTL?? la I s always unanimous; vvueu ue 10 wenty-one years old.' "The next question appears rldlcuous to some, and makes them laugh, vhile others set their alleged common tense at work, and never with correct esult: 'When Is a man twenty-one 'ears old?' "One student says: 'On his twentyIrst birthday,' but of course he does lot mean it, for he Is about a year out >f the way. Another ventures: 'On he twenty-first anniversary of his ilrthday.' This sounds better, but even if correct, is not specific enough. When he has completed his twenty irst anniversary'; 'At the beginning of hat day'; 'On his twenty-first anniversary, at the precise hour of his lirth,' are other answers. "And then I surprise the guessers by laying that they are all wrong. "In computing time it Is a general ule that the law disregards part of a lay. In applying this rule, suppose i man was born Just one minute beore midnight on January 2, 1880. "At midnight he had lived but one ninute, yet the day on which he was >orn was ended, and the law considered him one day old. So in computng the twenty-one years which a man nust live In order to reach his majorty we do not begin with the moment >f his birth, but with the commencenent of the day of his birth. -? " i\OW, since we II1USL siau mui mc Irst moment of January 2, 1880, It Is jerhaps natural to say that this man ' lid not become twenty-one years old : intll the close of January 1, 1901. Mathematically speaking this is true. 1 "Twenty-one years In that sense re- 1 luires that the last moment of Janu- 1 iry 1, 1901, should have arrived In >rder to make the man of age, and >bvlously, he was of age at that point ' >f time. But here again the rule Is j ipplied. i "As the man was of age on the last noment of January 1, the law dlsre- : jards the entire part of the day Interrenlng between the first moment and he last, and consequently he became n law twenty-one years old on the \ Irst moment of January 1, 1901, the ; lay preceding the twenty-first anni- 1 tary of his birthday. "This rule is a part of what Is cnown as the common law and Is apdied In this country in all states 1 vhere the common law of England ias been adopted, and remains un- , hanged by statute. A man may vote >r make a valid will on the day pre edlng the twenty-first anniversary of J lis birthday, although the right in tne >ne case and the capacity In the other : s given only to persons who have eached the age of twenty-one years." -The Sun. Terro? Saved Her.?A tale of a i jaralytlc and a stroke of lightning: ^or twenty-two years a woman had teen paralyzed, unable to leave her i oom. One night when she happened o be alone in the house a fierce storm i >roke. The poor woman was terrified l >y the thunder and the blinding glare 1 >f the lightning. With an effort of i vhich no one had believed her capable ihe struggled from her bed and went to he house of a neighbor. Barely had she eached safety when the place she had ust left was struck by lightning. The oom in which she had lived so long vas rent In two and everything in it I vas burned or smashed. Power of locomotion had been restored to the :ripple Just in time to save her life.? Chicago News. sHteccltonrous grading. ODD ANIMALS THAT CAN FLY. Real Dragon* Found In the Malayan Archipelago. "One of the most Interesting orders, And at the same time one of the most difficult to fill, that I ever received," said the natural history collector, "was for a collection of winged or flying animals other than Insects or birds. In Ailing this order I was compelled to travel over a good part of the world. "While in prehistoric times flying nf nil. aiuiiiaia, co^ctiaiijr ic^uioo, ncic numerous, the same Is not true of historical times. The collection when made was not extensive, but was very Interesting. "One of the queerest flying animals Is the dragon of the Malayan Archipelago. This reptile, which looks a little like the dragon of fable, Is fitted with loose folds of skin on its sides which can be extended outward by means of false ribs and thus support the animal in its flight. "I was collecting insects in the forest one day when I saw a beautiful butterfly alight upon a branch. Climbing the tree and crawling slowly out along the branch, I was almost near enough to cast my net around it, when suddenly I heard a whir in the air and looking up quickly saw a dragon with outstretched wings aiming, as [ thought, straight at me. "The sight of the remarkable and rorbiddlng animal so close upon me unnerved me for a moment and I nearly reu rrom me iree. wim a graceful bend he alighted on the branch close to the butterfly, and before It could take wing had seized and devoured it. "I had regained my courage by this time, and as the butterfly was gone beyond recall I concluded to capture Its captor and threw my collecting net over the dragon's head. Although quite a flimsy affair, it sufficiently hampered the animal's movements so that I was enabled to get it safely to the ground, where I secured it with twine until I could manufacture a oage for It. "I also ran across a frog able to fly, the only batrachlan that can do so. The animal had Immense feet; spread out they covered a larger area than the rest of its body. "Thanks to this parachutelike attachment the frog was able to flit from branch to branch and pounce without difficulty on the small Insects which formed its food. It was a very pretty little beast, bright green on the back and orange colored underneath, dotted with black or blue spots. "The colugo, or flying lemur, is half way between the lemurs and the bats. The flying frame of the animals is immense, spreading out like the ribs of sin umbrella from the neck to the extremity of the body. Practically the whole body, with the exceptfew^ef the^^^_ head, is webbed. "The animal Is exceedingly active, darting to the topmost branches of trees, thence launching Itself into apace, clearing hundreds of feet in its flight, passing with ease from tree to tree, crossing wide streams and even broad valleys in its aerial flight It is i rainer aimcuu oojeci 10 nna as 11 is nocturnal In Its habits. In the daytime banding together In large numbers under the leafy branches. It is found only in Sumatra, Borneo and Malaca. "One of the prettiest of the class of dying animals Is the flying squirrel. This little animal is fitted with a membrane reaching from the forq to the hind limbs and extending to the wrists of the limbs. "They are exceedingly lively and seem to extract much enjoyment from their flights, and in places where they are abundant a dozen or more may sometimes be seen enjoying themselv es logeiner. nounaing ugnuy into tne air from the swaying summit of a tall tree, spreading Its wings for a flying leap, one of these squirrels glides smoothly and swiftly on an inclined air plane for thirty, forty, even fifty yards, when a movement of the rudderlike tail guides the body upward for an instant, with half a somersault, and the creature settles as light as a feather upon bough or trunk of the tree for which it set sail. "In the forests of Asia I found the pteroml, another species of flying squirrel. By the aid of the membrane which is spread between its fore and hind feet it can jump from one branch to another without the slightest dif-^g^#M| Acuity, its movements in the course of flight being regulated by its cylindrical tall, the same as a ship's evolutions are controlled by Its rudder. The animal Is exceedingly quick in its movements and, like the rest of the flying squirrels, nocturnal in its habits. "The scale tailed squirrels, as they are commonly called, can aptly be described as flying squirrels, with climbing irons; the under side of the tail being furnished for some distance from the root with a series of large, horny scales, which, when pressed against the trunk of a tree, serve the same purpose as climbing Irons. "The parachute Is similar to that of ?U/v M.rlt, W..4 LUC II uc ujrriiB s^uinri, uui la atL?LL-lied to the fore limbs at the elbow instead of the wrist, and is therefore less extensive. The animal averages about fourteen inches in length, is of a bright reddish color, and is found only in Africa. "I found a very interesting little flying animal in Siberia, where it is called a polatouche. This animal looks considerably like the flying squirrel and has similar habits. It is not more than eight or ten inches long, lives in pine or birch forests, and can clear from twenty to twenty-flve yards at a bound. "On the ground its movements are slow and awkward, owing to the loose folds of skin which Impede it, but among the trees it is wonderfully quick In flying from branch to branch. It is an exceedingly scarce animal, and I had a long search before securing a specimen. "The belide or flying ph&langer, which is found only in Australia, is remarkable, not only for the large size of its parachute, but also for the abdominal pouch of the female, in which like the opossum, she carries her young. This little creature also uses Its tail as a sort of rudder in its flight through the air. It Is much prized by the natives as rood. "In tropical regions is found an animal called the flying fox. It is difficult to say how this species came to be so named, as it is really a bat. "This animal is a living refutation of the assertions of temperance advocates that animals do not naturally drink intoxicating liquors. According to Francis Day, 'they often pass the night drinking from the chatties of the cocoanut trees, which results either in their returning home in the early morning in a state of extreme and riotous intoxication or in being found next day at the foot of the trees sleeping off the effects of their debauch.' "In the Loyalty Islands, in the South Seas, the red fur under the ears of these animals is sometimes cut out, strung on a string and used for money. They are also used for ornaments."?New York Sun.