Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ . ' , <-': YORKVILLE ENQUIRER. IggPEP SEM1-WEEKLT. , ' ' ?TiTori8T:8 bohsT^PobUiher^j % dfamitg jtrospaprr: Jfor (In promotion of thq political, gonial, ^griqtiUttnal and ommn;cial gnltriala of Ihj gtopl^. {TEByp.o^op?,gn?oEm*''c'" ESTABLISHED 1855~ ~ YORKVILLE, 8. C., FRIDAY, AUGUST '^4, 1906. . 1STO. 68. AN OLD TI SHOOTT How Primitive G< Pra( MICKY SHOTS 1 Judge Longstreet's Interesting Back^ From Georgia Scenes, Published by H Shooting matches are probably nearly coeval with the colonisation of Georgia. They are still common throughout the southern states, though they are not as common as they were twenty-five or thirty years ago. Chance led me to one about a year ago. I was traveling in one of the northeastern counties, when I overtook a swarthy, bright-eyed, smerky little fellow, riding a small pony and bearing on his shoulder a long, heavy rifle, which, judging from its looks, I should say had done service in Morgan's corps. "Good morning, sir!" said I reining up my horse as I came beside him. "How goes it, stranger?" said he, with a tone of independence and selfconfidence that awakened my curiosity t/\ lrnnnr a littla of his character. "Going driving?" inquired I. "Not exactly," replied he, surveying my horse with a quizzical smile. "I haven't been a-drtving by myself for. a year or two; and my nose has got so bad lately I can't carry a cold trail without hounds to help me." Alone, and without hounds as he was, the question was rather a silly one; but it answered the purpose for which it was put, which was only to draw him into conversation, and I proceeded to make as decent a retreat as I could. "I didn't know," said I, "but that you were going to meet the huntsmen, or going to your stand." "Ah, sure enough," rejoined he, "that mout be a bee, as the old woman said when ah* killed a WttSD. It seems to me I ought to know you." "Well, If you ought, why don't you?" "What mout your name be?" "It might be anything," said I, with borrowed wit, for I knew my man, and knew what kind of conversation would please him most "Well, what is it then?" "It Is Hall," said I; "but you know it might as well have been anything else." "Pretty digging!" said he. '1 find you're not the fool I took you to be; so here's to a better acquaintance with you!" "With all my heart," returned I; "but you must be as clever as I've been, and give me your name." "To be sure I will, my old coon; take it?take it, and welcome. Anything else about me you'd like to have?" "No," said I, "there's nothing else about you worth having." "Oh, yes, there is, stranger! Do you see this?" holding up his ponderous rifle with an ease that astonished me. "If you will go with me to the shooting match, and see me knock out the bull's ?vp with her a few times, you'll agree the old Soap-stick's worth something: when Billy Curlew puts his rhoulder to her." This short sentence was replete with information to me. It taught me that my companion was Billy Curlew; that he was going to a shooting match; that he called his rifle the Soap-stick, and that he was very confident of winning beef with her; or, which Is nearly but not quite the same thing, driving the cross with her. "Well," said I, "if the shooting-match it not too far out of my way, I'll go to it with pleasure." "Unless your way lies through the woods from here," said Billy, "it '11 not be much out of your way; for it's only a mile ahead of us, and there is no other road for you to take till you get there: and as that thing you're riding in a'n't well suited to fast traveling among brushy knobs. I reckon you won't lose much by going by. I reckon you hardly ever was at a shooting match, stranger, from the cut of your coat?" "Oh yes," returned I, "many a time. I won beef at one when I was hardly old enough to hold a shot-gun offhand." "Children don't go to shooting matches about here," said he, with a smile of incredulity. "I never heard of but one that did. and he was a little swinge cat. He was a born a-shooting, and killed squirrels before he was weaned." "Nor did I ever hear of but one," replied I. "and that one was myself." "And where did you win beef so young, stranger?" "At Berry Adams's." "Why, stop, stranger, let me look at you good! Is your name Lyman Hall?" "Wel^ dang my buttons, if you a'n't the very hoy my aaaay usea 10 ien me about. I was too young to recollect you myself; but I've heard daddy talk about you many a time. I believe mammy's got a neck-handkerchief now that daddy won on your shooting at Collen Reid's store when you were hardly knee-high. Come along, Lyman and I'll go my death upon you at the shooting match, with the old Soapstick at your shoulder!" "Ah. Billy," said I. "the old Soapstick will do much better at your own shoulder. It was my mother's notion that sent me to the shooting match at Berry Adams's; and, to tell the honest truth, it was altogether a chance shot that made me win beef; but that wasn't generally known, and 'most everybody believed that I was carried there on account of my skill in shooting: and my fame was spread far and wide, I well remember. I remember too, perfectly well, your father's bet on me at the store. He was at the shooting match, and nothing could make him , believe but that I was a great shot with a rifle as well as a shot gun. Bet he would on me. In spite of all I could say, though I assured him that I had never shot a rifle In my life. It so happened. too, that there were but two bullets, or, rather, a bullet and a half; and so confident was your father in ME RTG MATCH iorgians Got Rifle :tice. 3Y A STRANGER Picture of Georgia Life In the voods. arper & Brothers. my skill that he made me shoot the half bullet; and, strange to tell, by another chance shot I'd like to have drove the cross and won his bet" "Now I know you're the very chap, for I heard daddy tell that very thing about the half-bullet. Don't say anything about it Lyman, and darn my old shoes if I don't tare the line off the boys with you at the shooting 1 match! They'll never 'spect such a looking man as you are of knowing 1 anything about a rifle. I'll risk your chance shots." I soon discovered that the father had eaten sour grapes, and the son's teeth were on edge; for Billy was Just as In- 1 corrlglbly obstinate In his belief of < my dexterity with a rifle as his father had been before him. We soon reached the place appointed 1 for the shooting match. It went by the name of Sim's Cross Roads because here twc roads Intersected each 1 other; and because, from the time that 1 the first had been laid out, Archibald Sims had resided there. Archibald 1 1? J r\f ?ho ruinpp In hid ' IltLU UCCII a JMOUVV VI w?v ? ? day (and where is the man of his age in Georgia who has not?); consequently he was called Squire Sims. It is the custom in this state, when a man has once acquired a title, civil or military, to force it upon him as long as he lives; hence the countless number of titled personages who are introduced in these sketches. We stopped at the squire's door. Billy hastily dismounted, gave me the shake of the hand which he had been reluctantly reserving for a mile back, and, leading me up to the squire, thus Introduced me: "Uncle Archy, this is Lyman Hall; and for all you see him in these fine clothes, he's a swinge cat; a darn sigh? cleverer fellow than he looks to Wait till you see him lift the old Soap-stick and draw a bead upon the bull's eye. You gwine to see fun here today. Don't say nothing about it." "Well, Mr. Swinge cat," said the squire, "here's to a better acquaintance with you," offering me his hand. "How goes It, Uncle Archy?" said I taking his hand warmly (for I am always free and easy with those who are so with me; and in this course I rarely fail to please. "How's the old woman?" "Egad," said the squire, chuckling, ["were you're too nara ror me; iur one Idled two-and-twenty years ago, and I 1 (haven't heard a word from her since." "What! and you never married again?" "Never, as God's my judge!" (A ' solemn asseveration truly, upon so light a subject.) 1 "Well, that's not my fault." "No, nor it's not mine nlther," said 1 the squire. i Here we were Interrupted by the 1 cry of another Ransy Sniffle: "Hello, 1 here! All you as wish to put in for the shoot'n' match, come on here! for the putt'n' ln's riddy to begin." 1 About sixty persons, Including mere spectators, had collected, the most of 1 whom were more or less obedient to ' the call of Mealy Whitecotton?for that was the name of the self-constl- { tuted commander-in-chief. Some nastened and some loitered, as they desired to be first or last on the list; for they shoot in the order in which their names are entered. The beef was not present, nor is it ' ever upon such occasions; but several of the company had seen it, who all 1 concurred in the opinion that it was a good beef and well worth the price that was set upon it?eleven dollars. A general Inquiry ran round, in order to form some opinion as to the number of shots that would be taken; for, of course, the price of a shot is cheapened in proportion to the increase of that number. It was soon ascertained that not more than twenty persons would take chances; but these twenty agreed to take the number of shots at twentyfive cents each. The competitors now began to give in their names; some for one, some for two, three, and a rew ror as many as four shots. Billy Curlew hung back to the last; and when the list was offered him, five shots remained undisposed of. "How many shots left?" inquired Billy. "Five," was the reply. "Well, I take 'em all. Put down four shots to me, and one to Lyman Hall, paid for by William Curlew." I was thunderstruck; not at his proposition to pay for my shot, because I knew that Billy meant it as a token of friendship, and he would have been hurt if 1 had refused to let him do me this favor; but at the unexpected announcement of my name as a competitor for beef, at least one hundred miles from the place of my residence. I was prepared for a challenge from Billy to SVII1C U1 1113 UtflgUUUIS 1U1 a. |/u?aiv match upon me; but not for this. I therefore protested against his putting in for me, and urged every reason to dissuade him from it that I could, without wounding his feelings. "Put it down!" said Billy, with the authority of an emperor, and with a look that spoke volumes intelligible to every bystander. "Reckon I don't know what I'm about?" Then wheeling off. and muttering in an under, self-conHdent tone, "Dang old Roper," continued he, "If he don't knock that cross to the north corner of creation and back again before a cat can lick her foot!" Had I been king of the cat tribe they could not have regarded me with more curious attention than did the whole company from this moment. Every inch of me was examined with the nicest scrutiny; and some plainly expressed by their looks that they never would have taken me for such a bite. I saw no alternative but to throw myself upon a third chance shot; for though, by the rules of the sport, I would have been allowed to shoot by proxy, by all the rules of good-breeding I was bound to shoot in person. It would have been unpardonable to disappoint the expectations which had been raised on me. Unfortunately, too, for me, the match differed in one respect from those which I had been in the habit of attending in my younger days, in oiaen time me contest was carried on chiefly with shotguns, a generic term which, in those days, embraced three descriptions of firearms? Indian traders (& long, cheap, but sometimes excellent kind of gun that Mother Britain used to send hither for traffic with the Indians), the large musket, and the shot gun; properly so-called rifles were, however always permitted to compete with them, under i equitable restrictions. These were, that they should be fired offhand, while I the shotguns were allowed a rest, the i distance being equal; or that the distance should be one hundred yards for l a rifle to sixty for the shot-gun, the i mode of firing being equal. But this was a match of rifles exclusively; and these are by far the most i common at this time. i Most of the competitors fire at the ) same target, which Is usually a board i from nine Inches to a foot wide, char- < red on one side as black as it can be < made by fire, without Impairing ma- ! terlally the uniformity of its surface; i on the darkened side of which is peg- < gred a square piece of white paper, I which Is larger or smaller according to i the distance at which it Is to be placed , from the marksmen. This is almost i Invariably sixty yards, and for it the 1 paper is reduced to about two and a < half inches square. Out of the centre i of It Is cut a rhombus of about the ! width of an inch, measured diagonally; ] this Is the bull's eye or diamond, as 1 the marksmen choose to call It; In the 1 centre of this Is the cross. But every < man is permitted to fix his target to t his own taste; and, accordingly, some 1 remove one-fourth of the paper, cutting I from the centre of the square to the i two lower corners, so as to leave a < large angle opening from the centre downward, while , others reduce the I ingle more or less; but It Is rarely the 1 case that all are not satisfied with one cf these figures. The beef Is divided into five prizes, t cr, as they are commonly termed, five I quarters?the hide and tallow count- l Ing as one. For several years after the Revolutionary war a sixth was added? ' the lead which was shot In the match. < This was the prize of the sixth best I shot; and it used to be carefuly ex- 1 traded from the board or tree in which it was lodged, and afterwards remoulded. But this grew out of the exigency of the times, and has, I believe, been long since abandoned everywhere. The three master shots and rivals were Moses Firmby, Larkin Splvey md Billy Curlew; to whom was added, upon this occasion, by common consent and with awful forebodings, your bumble servant. The target was fixed at an elevation about three feet from the ground; md the judges (Captain Turner and Squire Porter) took their stands by it, joined by about half the spectators. The first name on the catalogue was Mealy Whitecotton. Mealy stepped )ut, rifle in hand, and toed the mark. His rifle was about three inches longer than himself, and near enough his own thickness to make the remark of Darby Chlsholm, as he stepped out, toleribly appropriate: "Here comes the lorn-stock and the sucker!" said Darby. "Kiss my foot!" said Mealy. "The way I'll creep into that bull's-eye's a ! fact." i "You'd better creep into your hind sight," said Darby. Meaiy raised and ; fired. I "A pretty good shot, Mealy!" said one. ] "Yes, a blamed good shot!" said a ] second. "Well done. Meal!" said a third. i I was rejoiced when one of the com- ; pany Inquired, "Where is it?" for I \ could hardly believe they were found- > ing these remarks upon the evidence ( of their senses. ] "Just on the right-hand side of the | UUU wtio me icjJi.y. I looked with all the power of my ( eyes, but was unable to discover the least change In tne surface of the pa- i per. Their report, however, was true; | so much keener Is the vision of a prac- ( tised than an unpractised eye. i The next In order was Hiram Baugh. | Hiram was like some race-horses which I have seen; he was too good not to contend for every prize, and too ( good for nothing ever to win one. "Gentlemen," said he, as he came to ( the madk. "I don't say that I'll win beef, but if my piece don't blow I'll eat the paper, or be mighty apt to do it, if you'll b'lieve my racket. My powder are not good powder, gentlemen; I bought it thum (from) Zeb Daggett, and gin him three-quarters of a dollar a pound for It; but it are not what I call good powder, gentlemen; but if old Buck-killer burns It clear, the boy you call Hiram Baugh eats paper, or comes mighty near it." "Well blaze away" said Mealy, "and be d?d to you, and Zeb Daggett, ana your powder, and Buck-killer, and your powder-horn and shot-pouch to boot! How long you gwlne stand thar talking 'fore you shoot." "Never mind." said Hlrain, "I can talk a little and shoot a little too; but that's nothin'. Here goes!" Hiram assumed the figure of a note of interrogation, took a long sight, and fired. "I've eat paper," said he, at the crack of the gun, without looking, or seeming to look, towards the target. "Buck-killer made a clear racket. Where am I, gentlemen?" "You're just between Mealy and the diamond," was the reply. "I said I'd eat paper, and I've done It; haven't I, gentlemen?" "And s'pose you have!" said Mealy; "what do that 'mount to? You'll not win beef, and never did." "Be that as it mout be, I've beat Meal 'Cotton mighty easy; and the boy you call Hiram Baugh are able to do It." "And what do that 'mount to? Who the devil a'n't able to beat Meal 'Cotton? I don't make no pretence of bein' nothin' great nohow; but you always makes out as if you were gwlne to keep 'em makin' crosses for you constant and then do nothin' but 'eat paper* at last; and that's a long way from eatln' beef, 'cordln* to Meal 'Cot- s ton's notions, as you call him." ^ Simon Stow was now called on. 1 "Oh, Lord!" exclaimed two or three; S "now we have It. It'll take him as long 1 to shoot as it would take Squire Dob- r bins to run round a track o' land." <3 "Good-bye, boys," said Bob Martin, s "Where are you going. Bob?" 1 "Going to gather In my crop; I'll be e hark asrln. thouarh. bv the time Stme t Stow shoots." . ' 8 Simon was used to all this, and <J therefore it did not disconcert him in c the least. He went off and brought his t own target, and set It up with his own i hand. 1 He then wiped out his rifle; rubbed 1 the pan with his hat; drew a piece of t tow through the touchhole with his t wiper; filled his charger with great c care; poured the powder into the rifle d with equal caution; shoved in with d his finger the two or three va- c grant grains that lodged round the 1: mouth of his piece; took out a hand- r ful of bullets, looked them all over carefully, selected one without flaw or I wrinkle; drew out his patching, found 1' the most even part of it; sprung open e the grease-box In the breech of his <3 rifle; took up Just so much grease, dis- ? trlbuted it with great equality over the c chosen part of his patching; laid It y over the muzzle of his rifle, grease side t down; placed his ball upon it, pressed y It a little; then took It up and turned a the neck a little more perpendicularly I downward, placed his knife-handle on It. just burled It in the mouth of the 1; rifle; cut off the redundant patching d just above the bullet, looked at It, h and shook his head, in token that he 1; had cut off too much or too little?no v one knew which?sent down the ball; f measured the contents of his gun with his first and second Angers on thfe h protruding part of the ramrod; shook his head again, to signify there was li too much or too little Rowder; primed carofully; placed an arched piece of " tin over the hind sight to shade It; a took his place; got a friend to hold his s hat over the fore sight to shade It; took II i very long sight, fired, and didn't o sven eat the paper. "Mv olece was badly loadned." said ii Simon, when he learned the place of v its bail. s "Oh, you didn't take time." said ? Mealy. "No man can shoot that's In such a hurry as you is. I'd hardly got ii to sleep 'fore I heard the crack o' the li ?un." t The next was Moses Pirmby. He g was a tall slim man. of rather sallow complexion; and It Is a singular fact a that though probably no part of the d world Is more healthy than the moun- s tainous parts of Georgia, the moun- n taineers have not generally robust I Frames or fine complexions; they are, fa however, almost Inexhaustible by toll, e Moses kept us not long in suspense, It His rifle was already charged, and he v fixed it upon the target with a stead- E Iness of nerve and aim that was as- fl tonishing to me and alarming to all g the rest. A few seconds, and the re- r port of his rifle broke the deathlike silence which prevailed. a "No great harm done yet," said Spl- v vey, manifestly relieved from anxiety ay an event which seemed to me better it calculated to produce despair. Firm- u by's ball had cut out the lower angle >f the diamond, directly on a right line v Kith the cross. a Three or four followed him without s bettering his shot; all of whom, how- E ?ver, with one exception, "eat the pa- p per." t It now came to Spivey's turn. There c was nothing Vemarkable in his person b ir manner. He took his place, lower- t sd his rifle slowly from a perpendicu- n lar until it came on a line, with the n mark, held it there like a vise for a t moment, and fired. e "Pretty sevigrous, but nothing killing 1 pet," said Billy Curlew, as he learned 11 the place of Spivey's ball. e Spivey's ball had Just broken the up- a per angle of ttie diamond, Dealing * Flrmby about half its width. 1 A few more shots, in which there was nothing remarkable, brought us to Billy Curlew. Billy stepped out with much confidence, and brought the e Soap-stick to an order, while he deliberately rolled up his shirt-sleeves. Had r 1 Judged of Billy's chance of success d from the looks of his gun, I should ? have said It was hopeless. The stock c of Soap-stick seemed to have been maae wun a case anue, anu uau n been, the tool would have been but a poor apology for Its clumsy appear- ^ ance. An auger-hole In the breech 13 served for a grease-box; a cotton ^ string assisted a single screw In hold- v Ing on the lock; and the thimbles 1 were made, one of brass, one of Iron, 1 and one of tin. 0 "Where's Lark Splvey's bullet?" called out Billy to the judges, as he fin- r Ished rolling up his sleeves. "About three-quarters of an Inch ? from the cross," was the reply. "Well, clear the way! the Soap- p stick's coming, and she'll be along In there among 'em presently." Billy now planted himself astraddle, * like an inverted V; shot forward his left hip, drew his body back to an angle of about forty-five degrees with the plane of the horizon, brought his cheek down close to the breech of old 0/\or\_aHnl/ onH hor nnAn tho morlf with untrembllng hand. His sight was long and the swelling muscles of his a left arm led me to believe thaf he was J] lessening his chance of success with ^ every half-second that he kept It burdened with his ponderous rifle; but It neither flagged nor wavered until Soap-stick made her report. "Where am I?" said Billy as the t smoke rose from before his eye. "You've jlst touched the cross on the lower side." was the reply of one of the a judges. "I was afraid I was drawing my r bead a leetle too fine," said Billy. J "Now, Lyman, you see what the Soap- . stick can do. Take her, and show the was a baby." I begged to reserve my shot to the ^ last; pleading, rather sophlstlcally, that It was, in point of fact, one of Billy's t shots. My plea was rather indulged than sustained, and the marksmen who had taken more than one shot commenced the second round. This round was a manifest Improvement upon the first. 1 The cross was driven three times? once by Spivey, once by Flrrnby, and once by no less a personage than Mealy Whitecotton, whom chance seemed to favor for this time, merely that he might retaliate upon Hiram Baugh; and the bull's-eye was disfigured out of all shape. The third and fourth rounds were ho:. BlUy discharged his last shot, vhlch left the rights to parties thus: Silly Curlew first and fourth choice, Jplvey Becond, Firmby third, and ^hltecotton fifth. Some of my readers nay perhaps be curious to learn how a listtnctton comes to be made between levnral, all of whom drive the cross, rhe distinction Is perfectly natural and iqultable. Threads are stretched from he uneffaced parts of the once interacting lines, by means of which the rtglnal position of the cross is preIsely ascertained. Each bullet-hole >elrg nicely pegged up as It is made, it s easy to ascertain its circumference. To this I believe they usually, if not nvariably, measure, where none of the tails touch the cross; but if the cross >e driven, they measure from It to the ientre of the bullet-hole. To make a Iraw-shot, therefore, between two who Irive the cross, it Is necessary that the entre of both balls should pass directy through the cross?et thing that very arely happens. The Bite alon remained to shoot. Jilly wiped out his rifle carefully, ; oaded her to tho cop of his skill, handd her to me. "Now," said he, "Lyman, Iraw a fine bead, but not too flne; for loap-stick bears up her ball well. Take are, and don't touch the trigger until ou've got your bead, for she's spring rigger'd, and goes mighty easy; but ou hold her to t he place you want her, nd if she don't go there, dang, old toper." I took hold of Soap-stick, and lapsed mmeaiaieiy into in* most nup?i?ss lespalr. I am sure I never handled as leavy a gun In all ray life. "Why, Blly,'*. said I, "you little mortal, you! rhat do you use such a ffun as this or?" "Look at the bull's-eye yonder!" said ie-. "True," said I, "but I can't shoot her; l is Impossible." 'Mo 'long, you old coon!" said Billy; I i ee what you're at," Intimating that .11 ^hls was merely to make the coming hot the more remarkable. "Daddy's Ittle boy don't shoot anything but the Id iBoap-stick here today, I know." "ifrie judges, I knew, were beoomtng mpatlent, and, withal, my situation ra^ growing more embarrassing every eoDnd; so I e'en resolved to try the iosip-stlck without further parley. I stepped out, and the most Intense nterest was excited all around me, and t Hashed like electricity around the arget, as I Judged from the anxious use of all in that direction. Policy d ictated that I should Are with . falling :rlfle, and I adopted this mode, letermlnlng to Are as soon as the Iglits came on a line wtth the dlanond, bend or no bead!. Accordingly, commenced lowering old Soap-stick; iut, In spite of all my muscular powrs, she was strictly obedient to the awe of gravitation, and came down rlLh a uniformly accelerated velocity, iT could arrest her downward light she had not only passed the tar[et^.but Was making rapid encroachnewta on mjr #*? toes. "Why, he's the weakest man In the rm I ever seed," said one, In a halfirhlsper. "It may be fun," said the other, "but t looks mightily like yearnest to a man p a tree." I now, of course, determined to reerse the mode of firing, and put forth 11 my physical energies to raise Soaptick to the mark. The effort silenced Silly, and gave tongue to all his companions. I had Just strength enough d master Soap-stick's obstinate prolivity, and, consequently, my nerves egan to exhibit palpable signs of disress with her first Imperceptible novement upward. A trembling commenced in my arms, increased, and ex ended rapidly to my body and lower xtremlties; so that, by the time that had brought Soap-stick up to the nark I was shaking from head to foot, xactly like a man under the continued ction of a strong galvanic battery. In he meantime my friends gave vent to heir feelings freely. "I swear poin'-blank,' said one, that man can't shoot." "He used to shoot well" said anothr; "but can't now nor never could." "You better git away from 'bout that nark!" bawled a third "for I'll be dod arned if Broadcloth don't give some of ou the dry gripes if you stand too lose thare." "The stranger's got the peedoddles,"* aid a fourth with humorous gravity. "If he had bullets enough In his gun le'd shoot a ring round the bull's-eye >ig as a spinning-wheel," said a fifth, is soon as I found that Soap-stick ias high enough (for I made no furher use of the sights than to asceraln this fact), I pulled trigger, and fT she went. I have always found that he most creditable way of relieving nyself of derision was to heighten It nyself as much as possible. It is a :ood plan in all circes, but by far the test which can be adopted among the ilain, rough farmers of the country. Accordingly, I brought old Soap-stick o an order with an air of triumph, ttp>ed Billy a wink, and observed, "Now, iilly, 's your time to make your forune. Bet 'em two to one that've mocked out the cross." "No, I'll be dod blamed if I do," said Jllly; "but I'll bet you two to one you la'n't hit the plank." "Ah, Billy," said I, "I was Joking bout betting, for I never bet; nor rould I have you to bet; indeed, I do lot feel exactly right In shooting for ?eef, for It Is a species of gaming at ast; but I'll say this much, If that ross Isn't knocked out I'll never shoot or beef again as long as I live." "By dod," said Mealy Whitecotton, youH lose no great things at that!" "Well," said I, "I reckon I know a little ibout wabbling. Is It possible Billy, i. man who shoots as well as you do lever practised shooting with the louble wabble? It's the greatest take n In the world when you learn to Irlve the cross with It. Another sort or getting bets upon, to the dropilght, with a single wabble! And the Soap-stick's the very yarn for It." "Tell you what, stranger." said one, 'you're too hard for us all here. We tever hearn o' that sort o 'shoot'n' In hese parts." "Well," returned I, "you've seen It tow, and I'm the boy that can do It." This word was entirely new to me; )ut like most, If not all, words In use imong the common people, It Is loubtless a legitimate English word. )r, rather, a compound of two words, he last a little corrupted, and was :ery aptly applied in this instance. It Is a compound of "pee," to peep with one eye, and "daddie," to totter >r wabble. The Judges were now approaching with the target, and a singular combination of circumstances had kept all my party in utter Ignorance of the result of my shot. Those about the target had been prepared by Billy Curlew for a great shot from me; their expectations had received assurance from the courtesy which had been extended to me; and nothliig had happened to disappoint them but the single caution to them against the "dry gripes," which was as likely to have been given in irony as in earnest; for my agonies under the weight of the Soap-stick were either imperceptible to them at the distance of sixty yards, or being visible, were taken as the flourishes of an expert who wished to "astonish the natives." The other party did not think the direction of my ball worth the trouble of a question; or If they did, my airs and harangue had put the thought to flight before It was delivered. Consequently, they were all tranflxed with astonishment when the judges presented the target to them and gravely observed, 'It's only second best, after all the fuss." "Second best!" exclaimed I, with uncontrollable transports. The whole of my party rushed to the target to have the evidence of their senses before they would believe the report; but most marvelous fortune decreed that it should be true. Their Incredulity and astonishment were most fortunate for me; for they blinded my hearers to the real feelings with which the exclamation was uttered, and allowed me sufficient time to prepare myself for making the best use of what I had said before with a very different object. "Second best!" reiterated I, with an air of despondency, as the company turneo rrom me larger 10 me. oecunui best only? Here, Billy, my son, take the old Soap-stick; she's a good piece,] but I'm getting too old and dim-sighted to shoot a rifle, especially with the drop-sight and double wabbles." "Why, good Lord a'mighty!" said Billy, with a look that baffles all description. "a'n't you driv the cross?" "Oh, driv the cross!" rejoined t carelessly. "What's that? Just look where my ball is! I do believe In my soul its centre is a full quarter of an inch from the cross. I wanted to lay the centre of the bullet upon the cross, Just as if you'd put it there with your fingers." Several received this palaver with x contemptuous but very appropriate curl of the nose; and Mealy Whltecotton offered to bet a half-pint "that I couldn't do the like again with no sort of wabbles, he didn't care what." But I had already fortified myself on this quarter by my morality. A decided matoritv. however, were cUarly of opinion that I was serious: and they regarded me as one of the wonders of the world. Billy, Increased the majority by now coming out fully with my history, as he had received It from his father; to which I listened with quite as much astonishment as any other one tft 'his Wearers. He begged me to go home with him for the night, or, as he expressed It; to go home with him and swap lies that night, and It shouldn't cost me a cent;" the true reading of which is, that If I would go home with him, and give him the pleasure of an evening's chat about old times, his house should be as free to me as my own. But I could not accept his hospitality without retracing Ave or six miles of the road which I had already passed, and therefore I declined It. "Well, if you won't go, what must I tell the old woman for you? for she'll be mighty glad to hear from the boy that won the silk handkerchief for her, and I expect she'll lick me for not bringing you home with me." "Tell her." said I." that I send her a quarter of beef, which I won, as I did the handkerchief, by nothing in the world but mere good luck." "Hold your Jaw, Lyman!" said Billy; "I a'n't a gwlne to tell the old woman any such lies; for she's a rael reg'lar built Meth'dlst.' As I turned to depart?"Stop a minute, stranger!" said one; then, lowering his voice to a confidential but distinctly audible tone, "What you offering for?" continued he. I assured him I was not a candidate for anything; that I had accidentally fallen in with Billy Curlew, who begged me to come with him to the shooting match and, as it lay right on my road, I had Sioppeu. UU, SttlU I1C, Willi a vwudilatory nod, "If you're up for anything, you needn't be mealy-mouthed about It 'fore us boys; for we'll all go In for you here up to the handle." "Yes," said Billy, "dang old Roper If we don't go our death for you, no matter who offers; If ever you come out for anything, Lyman, jlst let the boys of Upper Hogthlef know It, and they'll go for you to the hilt, against creation, tit or no tit, that's the tatur." I thanked them kindly, but repeated my assurance. The reader will not suppose that the district took its name from the character of the Inhabitants. In almost every county In the state | there Is some spot or district which bears a contemptuous appellation, usually derived from local rlvalshlps, or from a single accidental circumstance. Hall. ? Although they will have until January 1, 1907, under the anti-pass amunrimont to the Interstate com-1 merce act, to abolish free Interstate transportation a number of the western and southern railroads have announced their intention of cutting off all passes on August 28?the date the new rate law goes Into efTect. Instructions have been sent out to cut down the time limit of all trip passes now out so that they will expire on that date, and all annual passes will be canceled at the same time. Among the roads which have decided on this programme are the Harrlman lines. It is contended it will be Just as easy to put all the reforms into operation at the same time. The new rate schedules, It Is contended oy me railroad magnates, will stir up no little strife and annoyance for a while, and to follow this Ave months later by] the enforcement of the anti-pass law they believe will only serve to renew their troubles. Therefore they Intend to reform all at once. ? ? Seventy live thousand dollars for a thimble teems something of an extravagance, but this was the cost of one presented to the Queen of Slam' by her husband. OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. The Whole Business Is Weak sad Rotten. McMJUMN MAKES SENSATIONAL SPEECH Clemson College Organization Along Lines of Independent 8elfiehne?e? Small Farmer Qets No Good From Higher College?General 8hake-Up ' - - - I Needed. At Greenville last Tuesday, Hon. John J. McMahan, former superintendent of education, now a candidate for governor, and one of the broadest, brainiest and most honest and fearless men In public life, spoke as follows: "I am in this race for the sole purpose of bringing about better conditions for the welfare of the masses of the people. I alone have insisted upon making this campaign one of education of the people in their public duties. I have refused to recognise the liquor question as paramount I protest against the absurdity of confining the thought of a great state to the mere question of expediency in controlling alcdhollc drinks. I point to education as the only possible solution of the drink-evil and of all intemperance and weakness of character. I insst upon the necessity of universal, thorough, practical education and correct training as the solution of all questions, the final remedy for all evils, the promotion of the general welfare, the attainment of the ends of Democracy and Christianity alike. "As state superintendent of education I became alive to the deficiencies of our educational system. I have specifically outlined and strenuously urged the legislation needed for the improverrtent of our country schools. I im In this rnr>A for nrnvArnor In nrdAir to arouse the people and secure their endorsement, so that legislators will be moved to act for the people. The politicians of the legislature through timidity and selfishness, will do nothing good unless it is clamored for by popular demand. They are either ignorant and indifferent, or they are conoerned only for their personal political advancement, or the serving of some special interest of financial value to them or their friends. The people must be aroused and educated before we shall have a government in their interest. The demagogues who represent our 'statesmanship' are careful to scent out the popular trend and to follow the people, the object being to get office rather than to lead the people to the truth and to better things. These are really as false, to the people as the scheming politicians who are in politics to look after special corporate interests. Our 8ystem a Failure. "Our education is largely a failure. I stand for radical reforms. Education should be a real preparation for the real duties of life. Jt should ba the chief factor in the development of our industries, and the elevation of the homes of the humblest. "The small white farmer, the hope of our state, has been neglected. His needs have, been Ismored. Not for him are the colleges. Not for his children are Clemson and Wlnthrop. The establishment of these industrial colleges was In the right direction, but we have done wrong tp stop there. In every county there should be a farm school for boys and a home school for girls, to which the poorest could go and by their own labor support themselves while learning, by actually doing under skillful direction the things which will constitute the chief duties of their after-lives. There is no proper training In South Carolina today for the life work of the great majority of our people in the work shop, the field, the orchard, the dairy, the garden, the kitchen, the home with its manifold demands upon the laboring father and the laboring mother. Here are the rroblems of cleanliness and wholesomeless, of thrift and prosperity, of health and character and happiness. The home Is the unit of our civilization and our government It is blasphemy to call education a preparation for life when It makes no attempt to prepare for the labors that constitute our occupations and make our homes. Clemton College. "Our colleges need reforms in order to fulfill their mission of preparing leaders In thought and in industry. I shall dlreot my remarks especially to Clemson college. The textile department will not accomplish its purpose until the state provides scholarships for bright young men to be selected from the help In the cotton mills. Those whose lives are already cast in the mill work will have the preliminary lrnnu'lciHir? of maohini>rv and of the ac tual conditions and problems to enable them to profit most by a course in a textile school, training them to be skilled master workmen in their calling. One hundred and twenty of these voung mill hands at all times befng educated by their state to the highest skill and mastery, along with the same number from the farms now provided with supporting scholarships to take the agricultural course at ClemBon, would prove a blessing to the state. In less than a decade we should feel the uplift of life In the mill villages. What mill president and what mill community would not welcome the Inspiring and uplifting Influence of broadly educated native superintendents and bosses? This is the great need today both of the mill business and of the mill life. "But Clemson college itself needs radical reforming. My criticism is not based upon the present newspaper controversy as to extravagance In the prices paid for cattle, or as to the lack of proper accommodations for the people lately In attendance upon the farmers' Institute. It should be a disgrace to any Institution to feed the teachers at the state summer school upon rotten chicken, and to afflict guests with bedbugs. There Is no excuse for compelling the cadets to learn heroism from four years of affliction with bedbugs. The management of Clemson college has never been a model of efficiency. In the formative period or youtn, wnen standards of life are being fl^ed, It Is a crime to surround the young nen of the state within conditions which would be intolerable in decent homes. It Is the duty of public men to speak out. I am In this campaign to tell the truth and not to cater for votes. Organization Wrong. "But the entire organization of Clemson college is wrong. It is supported by a tax upon the farmers, which some years far exceeds the usual income. To avoid the criticism that they have more money than they need, the trustees are under the necessity of finding some way to spend the surplus before the time to report to the legislature each year. This encourages extravagance and places this one state institution in a class all by Itself, independent of the government of the state. This permanent appropriation of an Indefinite and ever-increasing sum of money is in violation of the fundamental safeiruard nf rnv?mm?nt which, everywhere else, requires that the representatives of the people, in annual or biennial sessions, shall pass upon the work and the needs of the institutions of the state, and shall say how much of the people's money is to be spent Except at Clemson it has been unheard of in our state for a board of trustees, without specific authority from the legislature, to ereot new and expensive buildings, add new departments, Increase the plant so as to necessitate permanently increased annual support, committing the state to new departures without asking the consent of the legislature. The fertilizer tax should go into the state treas- M ury and Clemson should be supported as the other institutions of the state by annual appropriations from the treasury"But the trouble is more fundamental. The state of South Carolina has no authority in the government of Clemson college. She has planted her , hundreds of thousands on millions of dollars there; for a mere pittance of J poor land and a little cash she accept- I ed from Mr ??? ? Mill<3 ^I^KOU " condition that a majority of the board of trustees should be named by him and should have the power to perpetuate themselves and thus rule forevef this Institution upon which the state of South Carolina should lavish her wealth. No state Institution should be beyond state control. Trustees become out of joint with the progress and demands of the times. Their cxarlike power, a perpetual obllgarchy amenable to no authority, may breed in them arrogance, bigotry, and selfishness It has long been felt that Clemson col- ;n lege Is a close corporation, largely officered by the kinsmen and other favorites of these life trustees, who will control even beyond tlve period of their natural lives, because <hey choose their successors. Nepotism, the bane of efficiency and fairness, honeycombs the institution. It is operated In large measure by the trustees for the trustees. Until the legislature' some seven or eight years ago saw the necessity of directing that the trustees chould not draw per diem, but shouid I raw only actual expenses, there were a few old broken down trustees who were on committees to supervise all sorts of work, which should have been left to the president The mileage and $4 a day was an Inducement to hang around the college nearly all the time. Such Is the tyranny of the trustees, perpetuated in m un-American way. like a*""* Hfry1 European dynasty, that professors have been taught to keep their mouths shut to be In constant terror, and sometimes to cringe. The Remedy. "What Is the remedy? The state should go to the heirs or residuary legatees and purchase, as could be done for a small amount, the reversionary Interest so that the state could repudiate the will, and take charge of the management of Its institution. "Not the least of the benefits to come from its action would be ".he right J;'>] then to name the college as it should have been named in the beginning, after the great statesman whose name the world over is linked with that of Smith ~ III " 1 .... vsivhho. v^ainoun'8 estate win willed by an unworthy son-in-law, who, northern man and without any claim ui-on this state, was so ungenerous, so m?anly selfish, that he decreed in his dictatorial will not only to rule forever the institution which he asked the state to support, but to foist upon it his name instead of the name which sprang to every lip, the Immortal Calhoun." LUNCHING ON FLOWER8. Blossoms Considered Table Delioaey in Certain Regions. A lunch of rosebuds would hardly be called a feast, and we should most likely be inclined to think ourselves trifled with if we were asked to dine upon the great glowing blossoms of a pumpkin vine. But in olden times some of the American Indiana nnf. bly the Aztecs, esteemed these flowers, when properly cooked, a treat dainty. At the present day, states an expert authority of the department of agriculture, the natives of many parts of India depend for food upon the blossoms of the bassla tree. They do not even need tn ennir f?i? ???? . but make a good meal of them raw, just as they gather them up under the trees, from which they fall in great numbers during the night The authority referred to describes the blossoms as sweet and sickly in odor and taste. Sometimes they are dried in the sun, and are then kept and sold in the bazaars as a regular article of diet. The trees are so highly esteemed that the threat of cutting them down will generally bring an unruly tribe to terms.' This is hardly to be wondered at, when It is understood that a single tree will yield from two to four hundred pounds of flowers. The Parsees cook the flowers, and also make sweet meats of them. But, after all, we are not quite at liberty to smile at the flower-eating propensities of these strange peoples. Here is one flower afforded by our own gardens that finds a place freely upon our tables. We are apt to look upon the delicious cauliflower as a caobage, but It is the flower heads and flower stalks that we consume In the cauliflower, and not the leaves, as In the rase of the cabbage He who eats a cauliflower Is a flower-eater as truly as the Parsee. No one would be Inclined to deny that smoked flsh and smoked meat are agreeable varieties In our bill of * fare, but few, perhaps, would feel reudy to plead guilty to a taste for smoked flowers. And yet, when we give to the clove Its well-earned place among our flavorings, we are making use of a smoked flower bud. The delicate peach-colored buds grow on a small evergreen, and are ruthlessly plucked from the ends of the branches before they have had time to expand. Afterward they are dried in the sun, and then slightly smoked over a wood Are, to give them the brown color we are so familiar with.