Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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YORKVILLE ENQUIRER. ZSSUXD SEMI-VBEKLT. l. m. grists sons, Pnbiiihen. } % dfamill! JJeirsgajfr: Jfr lti? fromotion of the political, ^ocial. ^grifaltutal and dtommnrial Jnttrnts of lh? established 1855. - YORKVILLE, S. C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1906. _ NO. 66. *1 ' ' " " s * ' < * ii i i ? i._ _i ?l i?- u. ^?... ...... ..a! * fu' BOB DUBHAS BII How Ransy Sniffle Fij SOME HUMAN NATUE Delightful Old Classic That Ai pie of a Former General Much for the People of 1 of the Old Days. Prom "Georgia Scenes," published by In the younger days iof the Republic there lived In the county of two men who were admitted on all hands to be the very best men In the county, which in the Georgia vocabulary means they could flog any other two men in the county. Each, through many a hard fought battle, had acquired the mastery of his own battalion;' but they lived on opposite sides of the court house and In different battalions, consequently they were but seldom thrown *?wh??? thpv met however, IU5C11IC1 . *VMVa> , they were always very frlendry ; Indeed, at their first Interview they seemed to conceive a wonderful attachment to each other, which rather Increased than diminished as they became better acquainted; so that, but for the circumstance which I am about to mention. the question, which had been a thousand times asked, "Which is the best man, Billy Stallions (Stalllngs) or Bob Durham?" would probably never have been answered. Billy ruled the upper battalion and Bob the lower. The former measured six feet and an inch In his stockings, and, without a single pound of cumhrons flesh about him. weighed a hun dred and eighty. The- latter was an inch shorter than his rival, and ten pounds lighter; but he was much the more active of the two. In running and Jumping he had but few equals in the county; and in wrestling, not one. In other respects they were nearly equal. Both were admirable specimens of human nature in its finest form. Billy's victories had generally been achieved by the tremendous power of his blows, one of which had often proved decisive of his battles; Bob's by his adroitness in bringing his adversary to the ground. This -.^vantage he had never failed to ga'.r. at the onset, and when gained he never failed to improve it to the defeat of his adversary. These points of difference have involved the reader in a doubt as to the probable issue of a contest between them. It was not so. however, with the two battalions. Neither had the ? J"*In ^ntnrmlnlnr the DOlnt 1CHBI Ullllt'UllJ lu v. v. , by the most natural and Irresistible deductions a priori; and though, by the same course of reasoning, they arrived at directly opposite conclusions, neither felt its confidence In the least shaken by this circumstance. The upper battalion swore "that Billy only wanted one lick at him to knock his heart. liver, and lights out of him, and If he got two at him he'd knock him Into a cocked hat." The lower battalion retorted "that he wouldn't have time to double his fist before Bob would put his head where his feet ought to be; and that, by the time he hit the ground, the meat would fly off his face so quick that people would think it was shook off by the fall." These dls putes often led to the argumentum ad homlnem, but with such equality of success on both sides as to leave the main question just where they found it. They usually ended, however, in the common way?with a bet; and many a quart of old Jamaica (whisky had not then supplanted rum) was staked upon the issue. Still, greatly to the annoyance of the curious, Billy and Bob continued to be good friends. Now, there happened to reside in the county just alluded to a little fellow by the name of Ransy Sniffle; a sprout of Richmond, who, in his earlier days had fed copiously upon red clay and blackberries. This diet had given to Ransy a complexion that a corpse would have disdained to own, and an abdominal rotundity that was quite unprepossessing. Long spells of the fever and ague, too, in Ransy's youth, had conspired with clay and blackberries to throw him quite out of the order of nature. His shoulders were fleshless and elevated; his head large and flat; his neck slim and translucent; and his arms, hands, Angers, and feet were lengthened out of all proportion to the rest of his frame. His joints were large and his limbs small; and as for flesh, he could not, with propriety, be said to have any. Those parts which nature usually supplies with the most of this article?the calves of the legs, for example?presented In him the appearance of so many well-drawn blisters. His height was just five feet nothing; and his average weight in blackberry season, ninety-five. I have been thus particular in describing him, for the purpose of showing what a great matter a little fire sometimes klndleth. There was nothing on this earth which delighted Ransy so much as a fight. He never seemed fairly alive except when he was witnessing, or talking about a fight. Then, Indeed, his deep sunken gray eye assumed something of a living fire, * L1 ~ * o vnluhilitv ana nis lUllgue a<.quncu a. that bordered upon eloquence. Ransy had been kept for more than a year In the most torturing suspense as to the comparative manhood of Billy Stalllngs and Bob Durham. He had resorted to all his usual expedients tc bring them in collision, and had entirely failed. He had faithfully reported to Bob all that had been said by the people in the upper battalion "aglr him," and "he was sure Billy Stalling; started It. He heard Billy say himsell to Jim Brown that he could whip him or any other man in his battalion;' and this he told to Bob, adding, "Doc darn his soul, if he was a little bigger if he'd let any man put upon his battalion In such a way!" Bob replied "If he (StalMngs) thought so, he'd better come and try It." This Ransy carried to Billy, and delivered it with t spirit becoming his own dignity anc the character of his battalion, anc with a coloring well calculated to give I AND ,L STALLIONS i I : Pulled Off Famous ?ht. , ; ( 1 >E AS IT WAS AND IS \ I mused and Interested the Peo- , :ion, and Which Has In It As J 'oday As It Had for the People J Harper & Brothers. it effect. These and many other schemes which Ransy laid for the gratification of his curiosity entirely failed of their object. Billy and Bob continued friends, and Ransy had begun to lapse into the most tantalizing and hopeless despair, when a circumstance occurred which led to a settlement of the long disputed question. It is said that a hundred game cocks will live in perfect harmony together if you do not put a hen with them; and so it would have been with Billy and Bob had there been no women In the world, and from them each of our heroes had taken to himself a wife. The good ladies were no strangers to the prowess of their husbands, and, strange as it may seem, they presumed a little upon it. The two battalions had met at the court house upon a regimental parade. The two champions were there, and their wives had accompanied them. Neither knew the other's lady, nor were the ladles known to each other. The exercises of the day were Just 1 over, when Mrs. Stallings and Mrs. * Durham stepped simultaneously into the store of Zephaniah Atwater, from ? "down East." > "Have you any Turkey "red?" said Mrs. S. "Have you any curtain calico?" said Mrs. D. at the same moment. "Yes, ladies," said Mr. Atwater, "I ? have both." "Then help me first," said Mrs. D. ^ "for I'm in a hurry." "I'm in as gTeat a hurry as she is," said Mrs. E., "and I'll thank you to ^ help 'me first." "And, pray, who are you, madam?" continued the other. "Your betters, madam," was the reply At this moment Billy Stallings step- ^ ped in. "Come," said he, "Nancy, let's be going; it's getting late." "I'd 'a' been gone half an hour ago," she renlled. "if It hadn't 'a' been for , that inpudent hussy." "Who do you call an Impudent hus- ^ sy, you nasty, good-for-nothing, snag- ^ gle-toothed gaub of fat, you?" returned Mrs. D. c "Look here, woman," said Billy, J "have you got a husband here? If you ^ have, I'll lick him till he learns to ^ teach you better manners, you sassy heifer you!" At this moment something was seen to rush out of the store as If ten thousand hornets were stinging It, crying, ( "Take care?let me go?don't hold me? ( whore's Roh Durham?" It was Ransy Sniffle, who had been listening in breathless delight to all that had pas&ed. "Yonder"s Bob setting on the court house steps," cried one "What's the matter?" "Don't talk to me!" said Ransy. "Bob Durham, you'd better go long yonder and take care of your wife. They've playing h?1 with her there, in Zeph Atwater's store. Dod etarnally darn my soul, if any man was to talk to my wife as Bill Stallings is talking to yours, if I wouldn't drive blue blazes through him in less than no time!" Bob sprang to the store in a minute, followed by a hundred friends; for the g Dully or a county never wants irienus. "Bill Stallions," said Bob, as he entered, "what have you been saying to my wife?" "Is that your wife?" inquired Billy, obviously much surprised and a little disconcerted. "Yes, she is; and no man shall abuse her. I don't care who he is." "Well," rejoined Billy, "it ain't worth while to go over It; I've said enough for a fight, and if you'll step out we'll settle it!" "Billy," said Bob, "are you for a fair fight?" "I am," said Billy. "I've heard much of your manhood, and I believe I'm a better man than you are. If you will go into a ring with me we can soon settle the dispute." "Choose your friends," said Bob; "make your ring, and I'll be in with mine as soon as you will!" They both stepped out, and began to strip very deliberately, each battalion KCtlUClillg I UU1IU 1 CO Vltuillpiv**) Ransy, who kept himself busy in a I most honest endeavor to hear and see i all that transpired in both groups at < the same time. He ran from one to the other in quick succession; peeped i here and listened there; talked to this one, then to that one, and then to himself; squatted under one's legs and another's arms; and, in the short interval between stripping and stepping 1 into the ring, managed to get himself trod on by half of both battalions. But Ransy was not the only one Interested upon this occasion; the most intense interest prevailed everywhere. Many "'^r'o tho Annionhiriiq HnilhtS. Oaths. ' and imprecations uttered while the ' parties were preparing for the combat. ' All the knowing ones were consulted I as to the issue, and they all agreed, > to a man. in one of two opinions?either that Bob would flog Billy, or Billy would flog Bob. We must be permlt' ted, however, to dwell for a moment i upon the opinion of Squire Thomas i Loggins, a man. who, it was said, had f never failed to predict the issue of a . fight in all his life. Indeed, so unerring had he always proved in this reI gard that it would have been counted . the most obstinate infidelity to doubt for a moment after he had delivered . himself. Squire Loggins was a man who said but little, but that little was always delivered with the most imposl ing solemnity of look and cadence. I He always wore the aspect of profound 1 thought, and you could not look at him J without coming to the conclusion that tie was elaborating truth from Its most intricate combinations. "Uncle Tommy," said Sam Reynolds, "you can tell us all about it if you will, how will the fight go?" The question immediately drew an inxious group around the squire. He raised his teeth slowly from the head of his walking cane, on which they (lad been resting, pressed his lips closely and thoughtfully together, threw down his eyebrows, dropped his chin, raised his eyes to an angle of twenty-three degrees, paused about half a minute, and replied, "Sammy, watch Robert Durham close in the be ginning' of the fight, take care of William Stallions In the middle of It, and jee who has the wind at the end." As lie uttered the last member of the sentence he looked slyly at Bob's friends ind winked very significantly; wherejpon they rushed, with one accord, to tell Bob what Uncle Tommy had said. \s they retired, the squire turned to Billy's friends and said, with a smile, 'Them boys think I mean that Bob will vhlp." Here the other party kindled into loy, and hastened to inform Billy how 3ob'8 friends had deceived themselves is to Uncle Tommy's opinion. In the neantlme the principals and seconds vere busily employed in preparing hemselves for the combat The plan >f attack and defence, the manner of mproving the various turns of the :onfiict "the best mode of saving vlnd," eta, etc., were all discussed and lettled. At length Billy announced llmself ready, and his crowd were seen noving to the centre of the court louse square, he and his five seconds n the rear. At the same time Bob's >arty moved to the same point and n the same order. The ring was now ormed and for a moment the silence if death reigned through both battalons. It was soon interrupted, howiver, by the cry of "Clear the way!" rom Billy's seconds, when the ring ipened in the centre of the upper batallon (tor the order of march had ar Bilged the centre of the two battalons on opposite sides of the circle,) ind Billy stepped into the ring from he east, followed by his friends. He vas stripped to the trousers, and exlibited an arm, breast, and shoulders if the most tremendous portent. His itep was firm, daring, and martial; ind as he bore his tine form a ittle in advance of his friends an nvoluntary burst of triumph broke rom his side of the ring, and at the ;ame moment an uncontrollable thrill tf awe ran along the whole curve of he lower battalion. "T af him'" nrnji hoard from his rlends; "Just look at him!"' "Ben, how much you ask to stand >efore that man two seconds?" "Pshaw, don't talk about it! Just hlnkln' about It 's broke three o' my 1bs a'ready!" "What's Bob Durham going to do vhen Billy lets that arm loose upon ilm?" "God bless your soul, he'll think hunder and lightning a mint-Julep to t!" "Oh, look here, men, go take Bill stallions out o' that ring and bring In Jhll Johnson's stud-horse, so that Durham may have some chance! I lon't want to see the man killed right tway." These and many other like expreslons interspersed thickly with oaths ?f the most modern coinage, were comng from all points of the upper batallon, while Bob was adjusting the Irth nf his nantaloons. which walking lad discovered not to be exactly right, t was just fixed to his mind, his foes >ecomlng a little noisy, and his friends i little uneasy at his delay, when Billy :alled out, with a smile of some meanng, "Where's the bully of the lower >attallon? I'm getting tired of waitng." "Here he is!" said Bob, lighting as t seemed from the clouds into the ing, for he had actually bounded clear >f the head of Ransy Sniffle into the circle. His descent was quite as Imposing as Billy's entry, and excited the tame feelings, but In opposite bosoms. Voices of exultation now rose on his ilde. "Where did he come from?" "Why," said one of his seconds (all laving Just entered), "we were girting lim up, about a hundred yards out fonder, when he heard Billy ask for :he bully, and he fetched a leap over :he court house and went out of sight; jut I told them to come on, they'd find lim here." Here the lower battalion burst into i peal of laughter mingled with a look if admiration which seemed to denote their entire belief of what they had leard. "Boys widen the ring, so as to give lim room to jump." "Oh, my little flying wild cat, hold tilm if you can! and, when you get iiim fast, hold lightning next!" "Ned, what do you think he's made if?" "Steel springs and chicken-hawk, 3od bless you!" "Gentlemen," said one of Bob's sec onds, "I understand it is to be a fair fight?catch as catch can, rough and tumble; no man touch till one or the other halloos." "That's the rule," was the reply from the other side. "Are you ready?" "We are ready." "Then blaze away, my game cocks!" At the word, Bob dashed at his antagonist at full speed, and Bill squared himself to receive him with one of his most fatal blows. Making his calculation from Bob's velocity of the time when he would come within striking distance, he let drive with tremendous force. But Bob's onset was obviously planned to avoid this blow; for, contrary to all expectations, he stopped short just out of arm's reach, and before Billy could recover his balance Bob had him "all under-hold." The next second, sure enough, "found Billy's head where his feet ought to be." How it was done no one could tell; but, as if by supernatural power, both Billy's feet were thrown full half his own height in the air, and he came down with a force that seemed to shake the earth. As he struck the ground, commingled shouts, screams, and yells burst from the lower battalion, loud enough to be heard for miles. "Hurrah, my little hornet!" "Save him!" "Feed him!" "Give him the Durham physic till his stomach turns!" Billy was no sooner down than Bob was on him, and lending him awful blows about the face and breast. Billy made two efforts to rise by main strength, t~T . ' . : but failed. "Lord bless you, man, don't try to get up! Lay still and take it! You bleege to have it!" Billy now turned his face suddenly to the ground, and rose upon his hands and knees. Bob jerked up both his hands and threw him on his face. He again recovered his late position, of which Bob endeavored to deprive him as before; but, missing one arm, he failed, and Billy rose. But he had scarcely resumed his feet before they new up as Deiore, ana ne came again to the ground. "No fight, gentlemen!" cried Bob's friends; "the man can't stand up! Bouncing feet are bad things to fight In." His fall, however, was this time comparatively light; for, having thrown his right arm round Bob's neck, he carried his head down with him. This grasp, which was obstinately maintained, prevented Bob from getting on him, and they lay head to head, seeming, for a time, to do nothing. Presently they rose, as if by mutual consent; and as they rose a shout burst from both battalions. "Oh, my lark!" cried the east, "has he foxed you? Do you begin to feel him! He's only beginning to fight; he ain't got warm yet." "Look yonder!" cried the west. "Didn't I tell you so? He hit the ground so hard It Jarred his nose off. xr-~?* ?' ?'* mon a a hfi iiuw am i. ?ic; a |sicivj man stands? He shall have my sister Sal, Just for his pretty looks. I want to get In the breed of them sort o' men, to drive ugly out of my kinsfolks." I looked, and saw that Bob had entirely lost his left ear and a large piece from his left cheek. His right eye was a little discolored, and the blood flowed profusely from his wounds. Bill presented a hideous spectacle. About a third of his nose, at the lower extremity, was bit off, and his face so swelled and bruised that It was difficult to discover In It anything of the human visage, much 'more the fine features which he carried into the ring. They were up only long enough for me to make the foregoing discoveries, when down they went again, precisely as before. They no sooner touched the ground than BUI relinquished his hold upon Bob's neck. In this he seemed to all to have forfeited the only advantage which put him upon an equality with his adversary. But the movement was soon explained. Bill wanted this arm for other purposes than defence; and he had made arrangements whereby he knew that he could make It answer these purposes; for when they rose again he had the middle Anger of Bob's left hand in his mouth. He was now secure from Bob's annoying trips; and he began to lend his ad versary ireiiienuuuo uiuwo every uuo ui which was hailed by a shout from his friends: "Bullets!" "Hossklcking!" "Thunder!" That'll do for his face; now feel his short ribs, Billy!" I now considered the contest settled. I deemed it impossible for any human being to withstand for Ave seconds the loss of blood which issued from Bob's ear, cheek, nose and Anger, accompanied with such blows aa he was receiving. Still he maintained the conAict, and gave blow for blow with considerable effect. But the blows of each became slower and weaker after the first three or four; and it became obvious that Bill wanted the room which Bob's Anger occupied for breathing. He would therefore, probably, in a short time, have let it go, had not Bob anticipated his politeness by jerking away his hand and making him a present of the finger. He now seized Bill again, and brought him to his knees, but he recovered. He again brought him to his knees, and he again recovered. A third effort, however, brought him down, and Bob on top of him. These efforts seemed to exhaust the little remaining strength of both; and they lay, Bill undermost and Bob across his breast, motionless and panting for breath. After a short pause Bob gathered his hand full of dirt and sand and was in the act of grinding it in his adversary's eyes when Bill cried, "Enough!" Language cannot describe the scene that followed?the shouts, oaths, frantic gestures, taunts, replies, and little fights?and therefore I shall not attempt it. The champions were borne off by their seconds and washed; when many a bleeding wound and ugly bruise was discovered on each which no eye had seen before. Many had gathered round Bob, and were In various ways congratulating and applauding him, when a voice from the centre of the circle cried out, "Boys, hush, and listen to me!" It proceeded from Squire Loggins, who had made his way to Bob's side, and had gathered his face up Into one of its most flattering and Intelligible expressions. All were obedient to the squire's command. "Gentlemen," continued he, with a most knowing smile, "is Sammy Reynold in this company of gentlemen?" "Yes," said Sam, "here I am." "Sammy," said the squire, winking to the company and drawing the head of his cane to his mouth and an arch nmllA on V.A nh.nA/1 ??T n.lnU ..A.. toll siiiiic as nc tiuocui l wish ) uu iv Cousin Bobby and these gentlemen here present what your Uncle Tommy said before the fight began?" "Oh, get away, Uncle Tom," said Sam, smiling (the squire winked), "you don't know nothing about fighting." (The squire winked again.) "All you know about It Is how It'll begin, how it'll go on, how it'll end; that's all. Cousin Bob, when you going to fight again, just go to the old man, and let him tell you all about it. If he can't, don't ask nobody else nothing about it, I tell you." The squire's foresight was complimented in many ways by the bystanders; and he retired, advising "the boys to be at peace, as fighting was a bad business." Durham and Stalllngs kept their beds for several weeks, and did not meet again for two months. When they met, Billy stepped up to Bob and offered his hand, saying, "Bobby, you've licked me a fair fight; but you wouldn't have done It If I hadn't been In the wrong. I oughtn't to have treated your wife as I did; and I felt so through the whole fight; and It sort o' cowed me." ".Well, Billy," said Bob, "let's be friends. Once In the fight, when you had my finger In your mouth, and was pealing me In the face and breast, I was going to halloo; but I thought of Petsy, and knew the house would be too hot for me If I got whipped when fighting for her, after always whipping when I fought for myself." "Now that's what I always love to see," said a by-stander. "It's true I brought about the fight, but I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't 'a' been on account of Miss (Mrs.) Durham. But dod etarnally darn my soul if I ever could stand by and see any woman put upon, much less Miss Durham! If Bobby hadn't been there I'd 'a* took it up myself, be darned if I wouldn't, even if I'd V got whipped for it! But we're all friends now." The reader need hardly be told that this was Ransy Sniffle. Thanks to the Christian religion, to schcols, colleges, and benevolent asso ciauons, sucn scenes or DarDansm ana cruelty as that which I have been Just describing are now of rare occurrence, though they may still be occasionally met with in some of the new counties. Wherever they prevail they are a disgrace to that community. The peaceofficers who countenance them deserve a place in the penitentiary. Halx.. ASSASSINS' A8YLUM. Great Britain's Pact With the Anarchists. Every royal houM by that of Britain has supplied a victim for the hate of anarchists. Two or three attempts upon the life of Queen Victoria were made in the course of her long reign, but their authors were lunatics, not the emissaries of a secret society. On one occasion King Edward came within the shadow of death when he was traveling as Prince of Wales in Belglum, and though the would-be assassin was an anarchist, his deed was universally execrated by his colleagues In England. Among them, and among the police of all nations, if is an accepted fact that the British royal family Is immune. Not the personality of Its members nor the liberal Institutions of England explain the phenomenon. There is a tacit bargain between the English authorities and the anarchists who have made Soho the world's headquarters of anarchy. So long as the assassins commit no outrages in Great Britain they will not be hounded by the police and so long as they are not hounded by the police they will respect British prejudice against assassination. On neuner siae is mere an element ui gratltuce. It is this bargain that Is now denounced by the secret services of Spain, Italy, Russia and other countries where the police and the anarchists are engaged In an unending feud that lasts from generation to generation. Desperadoes In London. They declare that so long as London remains an asylum for these desperadoes it is impossible to defeat their plots. Hunted out of Naples or Vienna or Madrid, they flee to London, where they are free to conspire against the governments of the world. For many years the English secret service was able to keep a close watch on the foreign anarchists, but of late they have spread all over England, and are by no means exclusively aliens. Many Englishmen have become tainted with thfe germ of anarchy, and the propaganda has ramifications " beyond tte practical knowledge of the police. At one time it might have been possible for the British government to round up every anarchist in the country and depoi^ him. No such drag-net could now "e successfully cast. The Balfour government, however, realized the gravity of the situation, and at the last session of parliament a biil was passed enabling the authorities to deport undesirable aliens. No anarchist hastening from the scene of his crime to London would now be admitted, but would be handed over to the police. What Britain has so far refused to do Is to surrender London anarchists suspected of complicity in a foreign plot. It Is announced that there Is to be a conference on this subject, and without exception, every European power will urge the British government to adopt the policy that prevails outside of England. Indignation and horror at the Madrid outrage may cause some change to be made, although there are sound reasons for the maintenance of the present British polIrv of lsrnnrinir anarchists. Difficulty of Conviction. The best reason is that a change would be ineffectual. ' As already remarked. many of the anarchists living in Great Britain are unknown. Those who are known to the police have no reason for concealing their opinions on government. A crusade against them would result in their denial of anarchis*'" sympathies. How is a man to be convicted of opinions If it is to his Interest to hide them? The most zealous hunting down of suspects would not exterminate the breed, and the attempt could only be made by adopting a system or espionage anu witui?iu that is repugnant to the average Englishman. however law-abiding. Nor can it be overlooked that anarchist outrages invariably occur in those countries where this system Is In vogue. To inaugurate it in England would be to make the British royal family a target for bombs. If the continental system of making war on anarchists Is to be adopted the continental system of guarding royalty must also be imported. Otherwise successful assassination would be certain. As It is now, the British police are often able to supply valuable information to their colleagues in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. They are supposed to have been aware of the plot at Madrid, although perhaps Ignorant of its details. Still, a London evening paper was able to announce the existence of a plot a day or so before the outrage occurred. This might have been a lucky guess, for one might safely predict a period of ferocious activity among anarchists In the Immediate future. It is well known that the nihilists claim great credit for the dawn of responsible government In Russia. In other countries where real or Imaginary wrongs remain to be redressed the anarchists will be encouraged by the boasting of the assassins from St. Petersburg. Against the terror of bomb and pistol it Is almost impossible to guard, so long as the assassin Is willing to die with his victim. England will do well to purchase immunity at the price she has always paid. When the anarchists break faith will be time to act.?Toronto Mall and Empire. ts~ The first turnpike road was made In 1794 between Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pa., was sixty-two miles long and was so called because It was required to be so hard that a pike could not be driven through it. pteceHuntiw grading. THE IMMIGRATION QUE8TION. Interesting Observation From a Southerner on the 8pot. CoiTMoondeoce of the Yorkrille Kaoolrer. Intbrlakkn, Mass., August 13.?I heard a fine sermon yesterday by the pastor of the Congregational church at this place, on the dangers threatening our nation on account of the great influx of foreigners. There is no doubt that the people of this I section are as much concerned about the immigrants that are pouring Into the country as we of the Carollnas are with the negro. New England ministers quite frequently preach political sermons, so it was natural for the discussion to turn to Immigration. During the fiscal year, which ended June 10th, there were 1,062,054 Immigrants applied for admission at Ellis Island, X. T. This number would make two cities the sixe of Boston, but it Isn't the number, but the character of the Immigrants, that especially concerns us. for there is still plenty of room in our broad country. Southern Italy led in numbers with 221,606, while the Russian Jews came next with 125,000. Germany sent 71,916. Now, of course, nearly all of these Italians and Jews were of the poorer classes, and it.is extremely doubtful whether our country will be much enriched by their addition. Indeed it is far more likely that our criminal classes will be swelled from their numbers. Our immigration laws are supposed to be so constructed that no criminal can enter our shores, but out of the million immigrants at Ellis Island last year only one polyg&mlst and 196 criminals were deported, so the laws must: not be rigidly enforced. More than seven thousand were excluded on account of disease, but even this number must fall far short or rne many incuntuies uunnucu v> nu will later be a charge on our government. Trachoma, a chronic eye disease commonly met with In southern Europe and the east, Is the disease that caused more immigrants to be returned than any other. I went to Ellis Island some time ago on a government tug to see the examination of immigrants. The force of employees and physicians seems inadequate to handle the. large crowds, and part of the examination was superficial, though the men seemed earnest In the discharge of their duty.? The party I saw admitted were Roumanians and Italians and there was certainly a babel when they met their friends on shore. I didn't see many among the thousand who looked as if they would make desirable citizens for York county, but perhaps I am prejudiced. For the Swedes, Danes, Germans and people from northern Europe, I have a more friendly feeling. At present, I have employed as cooks and maids six girls and women from Finland. They are from In and around Helslngfors, the scene of the recent revolts against Russian tyranny. Only one of them speaks Bngllsh, so I know but little of their home conditions, but I And them honest and capable. They are willing to work and very strong. Evidently they have done heavy work in their own country. I like them as servants and think they would be useful additions to a community. Wages are a good bit higher In this section than in South Carolina, consequently the better class of immigrants will remain north. We pay our cook $25.00 per month and expenses, and the other help $14.00. This is more than they could command in the south. In my judgment the negro labor, though in many ways incompetent, will yet keep out for a good long while the foreign element from our section, and in the long run we will be just as well dff, if we improve our farming methods and do our work on a more scientific basis. It would amaze a man who had been accustomed to working good land like some of that in Tork county to see how these New Englanders work these rocky hillsides and make a living. They have no "laying by" time in which to cro to nlcnlcs and listen at 'political speakers. They work all the time, are careful and painstaking, keep their fences In good repair, barns painteS, lawns mowed and all around them looking trim and neat. Labor is high. Farm hands get $25.00 per month and board, and at present, in haying season, hands are worth $1.76 per day. Surely If they can make a living and keep a bank account on land such as they have here, Carolina farmers' will some day become wealthy. I have seen only two things here in which the Yankees are much superior to us ani that is in good roads and good schools. The roads are built by contract labor, for the labor unions wouldn't think of allowing convicts do public work. All the country roads are as good and better than the streets of Yorkvllle. They are macademized and have a top dressing of gravel which is found in natural deposits or "gravel banks" through this ..locality. Education is compulsory, schools rur. forty weeks a year, everything Is free, books, slates, etc., and In winter a man has a contract to haul the onhnnl Tn thnflp LUUMll J Wltnut Vf? ... cases where they have to go to school on trolley cars the fares are paid from the school fund. There are some objections to their system, of course, and I am not advocating that South Carolina should Imitate Massachusetts In all such things, but have Just mentioned some of their customs, and trust I have not been too tedious. John W. McConnell. Thouoht He Bblonoed Inside.? Rev. W. H. Morrison of Brooklyn, Mass., formerly of Manchester, N. H., where he enjoyed a long and successful pastorate, Is a bit of a humorist and enjoys a Joke, whether on himself or another, says the Boston Herald. His manner and sympathetic characteristics make him In much request at funerals, and It is related that on one occasion it so happened that the hacks allotted to the mourners were all filled, so the minister rode to the cemetery oh a hearse with the driver. On returning from the grave he was driven to his home on the same unconventional - conveyance. His wife met him at the door, and, somewhat indignant at the apparently unusual proceedings, and not noticing it was a hearse the clergyman was riding on, exclaimed: "William, what did you ride up there for? Why didn't you get inside, where you belonged?" "PUSILLANIMOUS 8CRUPLE8." Correspondent Hss Legitimate Fun at the Expense of Mr. McMshan. Editor of The Yorkvllle Enquirer: Oarrick was said to have contributed to the "gayety of nations"; so Mr. John J. McMahan has contrib uieu iu Uiv gtiyriy ui uic cam^aiBii? albeit unconsciously. Mr. McMahan is a Scotchman, and a "lad of palsts" as they say in that "bonny land." The only trouble is he is on the wrong side and has got hold of a text he cannot manage. It sticks in his throat Man of honor and of ideals, he is not use to such advocacy. The patent "solution" wont work for him, producing some most surprising utterances. "Pusillanimous scruples" is one of these undigested bits that Mr. McMahan got off in his speech here last week. "Pusillanimous scruples!" Now here is richness! We have heard "scruples" called every sort of names, but never labelled "pusillanimous" before. Men have been dubbed "narrow" and "stubborn" for their scruples, but never "pusillanimous." Scholar as he is, Mr. McMahan just got hold of the wrong word. As we understood Mr. McMahan, he said that the only trouble about - II tm .Jll ? la running a puruieu uisyciwai; m that the good people, the church members, the deacons, stewards, et cetera, will have these "pusillanimous scruples" about engaging In the business. Yes, Mr. McMahan, they will have them, and you just simply cannot teach them any better. They are afraid to do wrong. And perhaps Mr. McMahan would be all the better if he would harbor a few of these "pusillanimous scruples"?If they would prevent his stultifying his noble manhood by seeking to bolster up the great moral institution. He is too good a man to be sacrificed. May a few "pusillanimous scruples" save him. Looker-ow-w-Vmnv a. 8PIDER L1FT8 A SNAKE. Explanation of the Power In the Insect's Strong Elastic Silk Threads. Doctor Phln describes, among other strange things, how a spider contrived to lift from the ground a snake that was, of course, many times heavier than Itself. The story Is of interest chiefly for the scientific explanation which is given of the way in which the thing was done. ' Some years ago in a small village i in New Tork utate a spider entangled a milk snake in her threads and actually raised it some distance from the ground, in spite of the struggles of the reptile, which was alive. By what process of engineering did the comparatively small and feeble Insect succeed in lifting the snake by mechanical means? The solution is easy enough if one only gives the question a little thought The Bplder is furnished with one of the most efficient mechanical implements known to engineers, namely, a strong elastic thread. There are few substances that will support a greater strain than the silk of the spider. Careful experiment has shown that for equal sixes the strength of these fibres exceeds that of common Iron; but notwithstanding its strength the spider's thread would be useless as a.mechanical power if it were not ror us elasticity. The spider has no blocks or pulleys and therefore cannot cause the thread to divide up and run in different sections, but the elasticity of the thread more than makes up for this and renders possible the lifting of an animal much heavier than a snake. Let urf suppose that a child can lift a six pound weight one foot high and can do it twenty times a minute. Furnish him with 350 rubber bands, each capable of pulling six pounds through one foot when stretched. Let these bands be attached to a wooden platform on .vhich stand a pair of horses weighing 2,100 pounds, or rather more than a ton. If, now, the child will go to work and stretch these rubloer bands singly, hooking each one up as It Is stretched, In less than twenty minutes he will have raised the pair of horses one foot The elasticity of the rubber bands enables the child to divide the weight of the horses into 350 pieces of six pounds each, and at the rate of a little less than one every three seconds, he lifts all these several pieces one foot, so that the child easily lifts this enormous weight. Each spider's thread acts like one of the elastic rubber bands. The spider would have to connect the snake with the point from which it was to be suspended by a sufficient number of threads. By pulling successively on each thread and shortening it a little, the snake might be raised to any height .within the capacity of the building in which the work was done.?-Youth's Companion. The Japakesb and Manchuria.? The Japanese seem to have taken as full possession of Manchuria as the Russians did before the war. Cotton mill men say that it would be no more satisfactory to have the Japs in any part of China than the Russians. The United States has a treaty with China in which China guarantees an open door all over her empire for American goods. Manchuria has been heretofore the principal field of our sales. Russia grabbed Manchuria. She promised many times to give it back to China, In which case the commercial door would have been open to American goods. Falling to carry out her promise, the result was the war. In the war the moral support of the United States and England was with Japan. Now Japan is lingering in Manchuria. Her trade there is increasing and American trade there is slack. America Is naturally .restive to know when Japan is gotnf to get out of Manchuria. The interests of our cotton mills are involved. STAND BY YOUR GUN8T Appeal to People Who Would 8avatho 8tate From Debauchery. Editor Torkville Enquirer: Primary election day la rapidly approaching and the real Issue before the people Is whether or not this proud old state will submit to the dictation of a corrupt dispensary liquor ring with Its state and county ramifications, or rise up In her might and glory and overthrown this liquor ring once and forever. The Issue Is between honesty and dishonesty, purity and Impurity, civic righteousness and civic debauchery. "The evil that men do Uvea after them," and let a voter before casting his ballot for a corrupt and corrupting liquor system ponder and consider well the effect of this system for the next - . a? generation on his family, hla neighborhood. his county and hie state. Let him remember that the only promise and hope held out to him Is that the legislature will purify It Let him remember that the law has been changed at least a dozen times for the purpose of purifying It and every time it has been touched It has been made worse. And these changes have not been made by the enemies of the system. The dyed-In-the-wool dispensary! tes voted for every change with the hope of , purifying it But "who can can make an unclean thing, clean?" How can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit? This thief-producing, society-degrading, hell-ending dispensary system has been corrupt from the day it opened its doors, as witness the unanswered questions about the rebates on the first liquor ever bought for this system. Witness the sworn testimony of a gentleman from Spartanburg who said he resigned as a member of the state board away back some twelve years ago because he saw liquor sold at the state dispensary to blind tigers, and he could not tell what became of the money. Witness the further fact that only two members of the seven const!- '-Mi tutlng the investigating committee apparently made any honest effort to expose the rottenness and corruption of the system. The investigating committee only touched lightly on one recent administration, while the whole black sea of graft and debauchery remains yet unexplored. I know of no greater hvnocrite on the face of the earth than a dispensary advocate talking about the evils of blind tigers and barrooms and then advocating something that will do society more real harm than these evils, already under the ben of the law and moral sentiment, combined will .. do. It Is the pot calling the kettle black. It is Satan reproving sin. It la the evii nimseir telling the people to trust him and not have anything to do with his agents. Does any one happen to know any dispensary advocate who has lifted his little finger to suppress blind tigers? On the contrary Is It not the simple truth that they have encouraged blind Hsus-hMMMtka that voted out dispensaries? ' The dispensaryites make war on the tigers for what purpose? Simply In order that they may monopolise the liquor business. The blind tiger reaches only the low and the depraved element of society. The barroom reaches the same element and a few more; but when the devil Saw he COUld not resoh all people with barrooms and blind tigers he had his agents here In South Carolina to frame the dispensary law ?a liquor system that is intended and designed to reach every man, woman and child in South Carolina. Tes, utterly destroy the influence of the church on earth by having church members act on state and county boards of control and have church members act as barkeepers under the euphonious name of county dispensers? Tes, teach the people to enter dispensaries with the same reverence they enter churches. "A big, monopolizing, whitewashed, money-loving, Hauor-tralflc-debaueh ing devil, who talks in favor of temperance reform, champions the cause of education of poor children, attends church, sings in the choir, and associates with the Christian ministry, can evidently exert a greater influence and do more harm to humanity in general, than a common every day saloon-devil, or a little wild blind tiger." To those who think the dispensary is no more corrupt than other instltlons, we ask that they read and study the following from the Newberry Observer, one* of the leading newspapers of this state: "Those who argue for the retention of the dispensary admit that there is a great deal of rottenness in the ad ministration of the system; but they say there Is occasional rottenness In a treasurer's office, or some other office. Then they argue that the right course in the case of the dispensary system is to turn the rascals out and purify the system. , * "That might be sound argument if it were not that the dispensary system Is inherently wrong?cannot possibly be anything but wrong. The dispensary system of selling liquor?or any other system by which the state sells liquor to its citizens?will as surely lead to corruption as effect follows cause. "There is an analogy between a state liquor shop and a public office. A public office may furnish an opportunity, or occasion for graft, but does not furnish the cause. The dispensary is both the occasion and the cause of graft. "To what other cause can be attributed the hundreds of cases of graft in public office that have occurred in South Carolina within the past ten or twelve years? It was rare indeed that a public officer in this state went wrong before the dispensary system was established. There has been more corruption in office in South Carolina since 1892 than in one hundred years preceding. "There must be some cause, and there is not the slightest doubt in our mind that the dispensary system is ???1 Ott Tha roonlt has hoan what one might have predicted from the nature of the business. "Let South Carolina get out of the business as soon as possible." Vorat. % ? i S3T The savage tribes In the Interior of Brazil are exceedingly fond of roast monkey. Humbolt estimated that one small tribe of 200 Indians consumed over 1,200 monkeys during a year. It is said that until recently monkey meat was for sale In the butcher shops of Rio Janeiro. Mr. Wallace, when In the Amazon region, had a monkey cut up and fried for breakfast. The flesh somewhat resembled rabbit In flavor and had no unpleas^ ant and peculiar taste.