Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, June 26, 1908, Image 1
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l. m. grists sons, Publishers. { % Jfamitj fieicspaper: Jfor the promotion of the political, Social, ^grituttupl and (Eommencial Interests of the feople. {"mno'le toA. hvS cLAm A1<CI!
? ESTABLISHED 1855. ~~ YORK\rILLE, S. C.,FRIDAY, .IIJTs'K HO, 1908. NX). 51.
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CHAPTER VI.
When we met at breakfast the next
morning there were no signs of the
breach between Vincent and myself
except his unusual pallor, which suggested
to me that he. too, had spent a
sleepless night.
The girls were inclined to joke our
solemn faces, but so long as the meal
_ passed off without disclosing that
something was amiss between us I did
not care. All day we saw nothing of
each other, but this was not unusual,
as we always pursued different courses.
1 spent most of my time with Agatha
# Fourth, the only honorable, whom I
foupd to be a really delightful girl and
certainly the possessor of remarkable
musical talent.
In the evening the others went out to
row on the lake and left Agatha Fourth
alone with me. She sat at the piano
and played everything she could think
of, while I lay on a broad divan where
I could watch her and listen to the soft
music.
KI suppose that my bad night had
something to do with the fact that I
was boor enough to fall asleep while
the beautiful Agatha Fourth was playing
for me. Certainly I know that I
was guilty of that appalling rudeness,
for I was suddenly brought to a state
of consciousness by the sound of a
clock striking. I counted the strokes
mechanically?there were 12. I must
have slept for hours, and. sure enough,
the room was dark except for the fire%
light, and my slighted hostess was
gone from the piano stool. As I was
about to rise I heard voices and, turning,
I saw on the other side of the
piano a man and a girl. The man was
Vincent, of course, and I thought, as
I looked at him sitting full in the bright
firelight, that he had never looked so
handsome. His evening dress showed
off his superb athletic form to the best
advantage, and his face was fresh and
strong, with the bronze of his tan extending
to the roots of his hair, which
was cut close to conceal a wave in the
4 gold of it. It occurred to me at once
that his face had lost much of its boyishness
and he looked every inch a
man. But it took me some time to
>, realize that the girl who sat with him
^ was none other than the secretary.
At first I could not tell what It was
that had so changed her, whether It
was her shimmering white evening
gown, or the gleaming bracelets, until
at last it came to me in a flash that it
was nothing more nor less than the
glory of her hair that had wrought the
transiormauon. i nau never seen mc
secretary with her hair done any way
but plainly and unbecomingly, but now
it was dressed as I knew it should have
been dressed long ago. She wore it
low on her long, slender neck, rolled at
the sides and rippling loosely back
w from her forehead, in shining waves
and little wilful rings held in place
with big shell combs.
And when at last it dawned upon me
that it was really the secretary who
was Vincent's companion, so breathless
was I with amaze that at first I hardly
realized that I could hear perfectly
what they were saying. And when I
k did realize it, I wanted to rise and let
V them know that I was there, but on
second thought I saw that I must have
been there for .so long that they would
never believe that I had not heard the
whole of their conversation. Furthermore,
it occurred to me that it might
|r be well if I stayed to hear what Miss
Marsh had to say for herself.
"And so I calmly took the dress and
put it on, just to amuse myself." I
heard the secretary saying, "and did
my hair the way the others do theirs,
you know. And it was so late I thought
no one would find me here."
"And if I hadn't left my pipe on the
table no one would have found you,
and 1?think what I should have missed!"
Vincent's voice was eloquent.
"Of course, it was very vain of me,
very vain." she went on: "but you
know when a girl has to earn her own
living she gets a little tired of all work
and no play and sometimes the impulse
to pretend she's fortunate and happy
and?and pretty"?the secretary flushed
under Vincent's gaze as she faltered
the last word, and hurried on?"and
like the others?is so strong that it
tempts her to deck herself out in borrowed
plumes and sit in an empty
drawing room at 12 o'clock at night
enjoying the illusion for a brief hour."
"No," said Vincent, softly, "I don't
[think it was vain: 1 think it was the
most natural thing in the world, and?
?and I'm glad you did it," he ended,
rather lamely.
The secretary laughed, and I wondered
what there was about the sound
that made Vincent rave over it. Then,
as his eyes wandered to her hair, he
sighed.
"Why sighest thou. oh. furnace?" she
smiled at him.
"I was just thinking about something."
"About what?"
"You don't want to hear?"
"Ah! But I do!"
^ "All right, then." He turned on her
swiftly. "I was just looking." he said,
"at your hair. I'll bet the angels have
halos like that."
* v-i ViAcri/1
TUP Sfcreuny oiu.->nt-?i. n .........
r hair." she said, giving it a vindictive
little pull that only brought it to a
more charming disarray. "I hate the
color of it. Why. when I was a child
I never could bear to have the heroines
of the fairy tales have a shining head
of golden hair, and I used to think
mine was gold, and one day when I
v said so and was told. 'No. your hair is
red. not gold.' I cried for days afterIk
ward."
"You poor little thing!" he said, his
face as full of sympathy as if those
tears had just been shed. And for the
life of her the secretary couldn't help
her lip trembling, though she knew it
was absurd and was very much ashamed
of herself. Vincent broke the silence
first. "We might do a little on
the 'Dead Barons of Wyekhoff,'" he
lAgatm
r PICTURES BY
WEIL
y WAITERS
* A rjstfr
CAMPBE
y' Aixsmm
WILSON
suggested. It was evident that our affair
of last night was uppermost in his
mind, for his air was veiy abstracted.
"No, thank you, my lord. This is
my evening off. I am no longer Miss
Marsh, the secretary, but Miss Marsh,
the lady of leisure."
"I didn't think of it as work, and I
thought perhaps you didn't, either,
when we did it together."
"Little boys shouldn't think; it's a
bad habit," she said, severely; "besides,
you talk like 'I* in the 'Dolly Dialogues.'
"
At this Vincent's face grew desperate,
and I saw that she had goaded
him into asking her the question that
iiad been on his mind all day, and I
nearly fell off the sofa in my efforts
to hear without being seen.
"Do I?" he said. "Well, that's because
I've something I've been wanting
to ask you all day long. It's something
very personal, and, of course.
I've no right?that is, you won't think
so," the boy was stumbling pitifully,
"but I've got to know: it's so hard to
believe that you would do it deliberately.
Is it true?"
"Lord Wilfred," said the girl,
straightening up, "you must speak
more clearly if you want me to understand
what you have been saying."
"It's this." said Lord Wilfred, facing
her abruptly and terribly in earnest.
"Someone told me last night that you
were a married woman. Is it true?"
I could not see the face of the seciretary,
but I could not help perceiving
the ring of truth in her voice.
"I'm not married," she said, simply.
"I told Mr. Terhune so because I
[wanted to disabuse him of a false impression
he was laboring under. But
what is it to you?"
"This," said Wilfred, and he leaned
[toward her suddenly and grasped her
[hands and put his face within an inch
of her?I could see by the firelight its
look of determination and ineffable relief.
The secretary gave a little cry
and drew back. I conjectured that
Wilfred was on the point of making
an Irretrievable ass of himself, so I
interrupted proceedings by knocking
a book off the sofa and rising to my
feet. At the first sound of the book
falling the two had jumped to their
feet and stood, the girl shrinking close
to Wilfred and Wilfred with his arm
thrown around her.
"Who goes there " he said, sternly,
as he discovered my figure in the
gloom, and "Ah!?it's you, Terhune,"
as I came into the circle of light, in a
tone I hope I may never hear from him
again.
As the secretary saw who it was she
sprang away and was gone from the
room in a second.
"Well," he said, with a sneer, as the
curtains closed behind her, "eavesdropping.
meddling as usual. What can
I do for you?"
I sat down on the stool. "Sit down."
I said, with quiet authority, "and we'll
talk it over." He sat down. In moments
like this he forgets his independence
and remembers that at one
time he used to obey me habitually.
I wanted to comfort him, but I knew
my duty better. "Vincent." I said, appealingly,
"don't you see it won't do?
She's no match for you?a girl with no
family and no money, and, of her station
in life. Give it up. I implore you.
Think of your father. There has never
been a mesalliance in the family:
it would break his heart."
Vincent raised his head. "Mrs. Armistead
says her family is perfectly
respectable." he said. "I asked her."
"Perfectly respectable!" I repeated,
contemptuously. "Think of a Vincent
marrying a girl who has nothing in her
favor but the fact that her family was
'perfectly respectable!'"
Vincent sighed pathetically and I
delivered one more blow. "Think," I
said: "your brother Edmund is over
4ft. unmarried*, and a sufferer from
rheumatism of the heart, as you know.
Supple he should die?wouldn't you
make a more creditable heir to the
title if you hadn't tied yourself up to
a wife of obscure origin?a penniless
American girl? And if you don't come
into the title you're only a younger
son, and you know yourself your propensity
for getting into debt, and the
foreign office for a boy of your age is
not a paying business. No, Vincent,
you're not cut out for making money,
and it's certain you can't depend on
your father forever. Can't you see
how rash and foolish you are to consider
such a thing?"
I leaned over and put my hand on
Vincent's shoulder. He turned his
head, and when I felt his smooth
cheek against my hand 1 knew that
the battle was won.
"I'm awfully sorry. Arch," he said,
"that I was such a beast last night.
I'll never forgive myself for trying to
strike you. Only, you see. 1 lost my
head, and I didn't know quite what 1
was doing." "Of course," I said, "I understand?"
Hut he would n<?t let me
stem the tide of his remorse. "And
INtMl, yi?U KIH'tt , I lit l %V??U no.-very
hard to bear, and you see. after
all, it wasn't true. She told me it
wasn't. Did you hear her?"
"Yes." I assented, "and I believe she
told you the truth."
"Of course: but then you're always*
right, Archibald, always right. When
1 go away from here and never see
her any more"?his lips quivered uncontrollably?"I
may be able to forget
her."
"Of course you will," I assured h>in,
cheerily, though there was a lump in
my throat. "Men have died, but not
for love. Many have been as hard hit
as you and have recovered."
"Oh. yes." agreed my patient but
without enthusiasm; but at any rate
1 had gained by point, and Vincent had
agreed with me that marriage with
the secretary was too rash and foolish
for him to contemplate.
"Ity-the-by, Arch." ne said, carelessly.
as we still sat before the fire trying
to make believe that the incident
of the secretary was closed, "I huvt
something: to tell you. The secretary
told me outright which one of the
six girls really is the daughter of
Fletcher Boyd."
I looked at him in utter astonishment.
"What!" I said, excitedly; "do
you mean to say she deliberately gave
away the secret? Which one is it, for
Heaven's sake? And why did she
do it?"
"It's Agatha Sixth. You were right
all along. As for the reason, I don't
know what she did it for, unless?unless?"
he hesitated. "She's such an
honorable little thing I think she felt
that the marriage would displease my
family, so she wanted to turn me
from what she saw was coming and
used the disclosure of the Honorable
Agatha's identity for bait. Come on
to bed," he added, with a little return
of his old spirit; "you'd better get
rested for your last try for the twenty
millions. If you make up for P?^t
neglect you ought to win Agatha Sixth
hands down."
"Then you don't mean to try?"
JM
X
AGATHA
His face clouded again. "I don't
mean to try," he said, and we went up
to our rooms in silence.
And so we came to the last four
days of our stay at Castle Wyckhoff,
and I began subtly and by degrees to
win back my former place in the regard
of Agatha Sixth, and with every
inch of ground I gained in my pursuit
of the Honorable Agatha I thought of
Vincent with a fresh pity.
The evening before the last day of
our stay we all spent together in the
music room. We were very jolly, and
yet underneath it all I think the girls
were a little saddened by our approaching
departure, and Wilfred and
I felt a certain regret that the end
of our delightful visit had come,
though of course 1 had fully determined
to propose to Agatha Sixth on the
morrow. I was rather surprised, therefore,
when Vincent suddenly complained
of headache and, excusing himself,
went up to his room. When I went up
to my own room I rapped on his door,
but he made no answer and I concluded
that he must be asleep. The next
morning, much to my astonishment, he
did not saunter in and out of my room
as he was accustomed to do of a morning.
but as it was late I did not stop
t<> investigate. But when 10 o'clock
came, and still no Vincent. I went up
to his room, for I thought he should
be up and doing on this, his last day
at Castle Wyckhoff, when he was to
leave for London on the 4.15 train
that afternoon. I say "he" not "we,"
for I felt more confident of my success
with Agatha Sixth that day than I had
done the evening before, and although
I had not yet had the opportunity to
put the great question. 1 felt that it
was very possible that in the guise of
accepted lover I might not have to
take the 4.15 that afternoon.
when i rpsiehed Vincent's room I
knocked twice, jind, receiving no answer,
entered, and was somewhat
alarmed to find that he was not there,
though his bed had been slept in.
Anxious, without knowing why, I tore
downstairs and called for Mrs. Armistead.
That good lady met me at the
foot of tlie stairs in answer to my summons,
with an air as anxious as my
own.
"Have you seen Lord Vincent?" I
asked her.
"Have you seen my secretary?" she
replied, without answering my question.
"She's not in her room, though
her bed has been slept in. Hut she
hasn't had her breakfast, and I can't
' lind her anywhere."
"You don't mean it!" I ejaculated,
and a sickening fear turned me cold.
"Perhaps this has something to do
with it," said Mrs. Armistead. "I
found it on the front hall table underneath
the mail bag."
Her anxiety was apparently sincere.
1 and yet somehow it rang false to me.
1 With impatient fingers I seized the
folded paper she drew from her reticule.
It read as follows:
"Dear Old Arch: Sorry to deceive
you so, but I've gone and done it?
' that rash, foolish thing you told me
not to do; at least, by the time you
get this note the deed will be done.
And I so dreaded your reproaches
that I never so much as asked you to
be the best man. But I couldn't help
it, Arch, honest I couldn't. Not to
save my soul. She shouldn't have had
eyes like stars and hair like autumn
leaves. As for the money, hang the
stuffy old millions, I say! Every
pound of it is so many glass beads to
me in comparison to what I have
this day gained. I wish you joy of
them and of the Honorable Agatha.
Dear old boy, forgive me if you can;
and if you want to do me one last
favor come down to the station In
time to meet the eleven-seventeen for
London and hear my last injunctions.
VINCENT."
"When did you find this?" I gasped.
Eut 1 didn't wait to hear her reply,
for a glance at the hall clock told me
that it was five minutes of eleven.
Bare-headed I rushed arouna to tne
stables and fortunately found Christopher
just putting the marc Into the
dogcart. "Get in." I yelled, "and drive
like sin!"
"Sin, sir? Where, sir?" asked Christopher.
SIXTH.
"The station!" I cried, jumping up
beside him; and we flew down the
winding drive at a. pace that I would
not think of attempting in cold blood.
Through Mrs. Armlstead's criminal
delay in handing me the note many
valuable minutes had been wasted, yet
I thought I should still be in time perhaps
to save Vincent from carrying
out the last fatal step of his incredible
folly. It might not be too late to part
for in suite of what he had said
in his note I could not believe that the
worst had actually happened. As we
approached the last strip of woods before
we reached the station I caught
sight of a puff of white smoke down
the track. A moment later, when we
drew up at the platform, the great
locomotive thundered into the stauion,
ami there, at the other end of the platform,
I saw them. There was Vincent.
clad in the things he had worn
on the train when we had first come
through the fields of Wye, and with
him was a remarkably pretty girl with
beautiful wavy red hair, in a gray
tailor suit and a smart black hat. Or
course it was the secretary.
1 waved at them frantically and they
waved in return, and I could see Vincent
smiling happily at me as they entered
one of the carriages. As I came
up with their carriage Vincent opened
the window wide and thrust his head
out. "Oh, Vincent!" was all I said;
"am I too late?"
"Not at all." he said, genially; "you're
just in time to congratulate me. But
what 1 wanted of you. Arch"?and he
leaned toward me and lowered his
voice?"was to ask you to break it to
my father."
"Then it's true?" I said, not quite
able to believe it. even yet.
"Yes, it's true," he said aloud, and
with a radiant smile he drew back a
little so that I could see the erstwhile
Miss Marsh. "It's true that I've married
the secretary."
"But it's not," said that lady, much
to my surprise, and thrusting out her
pretty head. "It's not true a bit. He
hasn't married the secretary nt all. I
was only 'playing' secretary. He's
married no one but the Honorable
Agatha, the first, last, and only honorable!"
And for proof of her astonishing
words she snatched off her glove and
displayed to my marveling gaze the
big emerald cross of the Wyckhoff
ring, winking in the sunshine.
At this moment the train began to
move, and I was filled with a sudden
and justifiable nige that Vincent
should have so deceived me. To think
that he had been in the secret all the
time and had helped to make a fool of
me! Flut one look at his face proved
to me that I had done him an injustice.
He was as stricken with amazement
as I was, and 1 knew that then, and
not until then, had he- become acquainted
with the truth. Gathering my
wits quickly, for the train was moving
faster, I ran after their carriage till I
caught up with the window again.
"Good-by!" I shouted, and "God bless
you!" And Vincent, reaching out his
big hand, had just time to catch mine
in his strong grasp before I dropped
back, outstripped, and he had withdrawn
his radiant face from my view.
Afterward I learned many things.
First, that they had been married very
early that morning, before the rest, of
us were up, in the little chapel at Wye,
with Mrs. Armistead. who was in the
secret, as witness. That explained her
delay in giving me the note. Dreading
my interference, they had not wished
me to know until the whole thing was
well over and Mrs. Armistead back
at Castle WyckholT. Second that it
had been the Honorable Agatha's own
idea to play the part of secretary to
her aunt, thus improving upon her father's
plan, and making it still more
difficult for the competing suitors to
discover her Identity. Third, that her
reason for telling Vincent that Agatha
Sixth was the real Honorable Agatha
was only to prove him once more and
to the uttermost. And Vincent had
stood the trial without faltering and
had even proved himself equal to disregarding
my wishes. Yet I really
think that on that night when he had
agreed with me that It was best to
give her up he meant to do so, but
his love for the girl proved stronger
than his love for gold or his feeling
for his friend And it was thus that
the 'boy won?because he had loved
truly and faithfully.
Arid I also learned afterward that
the six Agathas, shortly after the
elopement of Vincent and the secretarylthat-was,
had all gone to their
homes in America. Later some of them
married certain suitors who had once
beeq guests at Castle WyckholT.
Among these were Agatha First and
young Branoepeth, who, I am happy to
say, has led a reformed life since his
marriage. And it also came to pass
that Vincent and his bride took possession
of Castle Wyckhoff as their
country seat when they came back
from their honeymoon. And there I
often visited them.
But on that eventful day when the
train had pulled out of the station
none of thesQ things was known to
me. and I stood on the platform dizzy
with the unexpected turn events had
taken.
And so it was that Vincent got
ahead of me, just as he has always
done. And so It was, also, that I returned
to I/ondon, still an eligible
bachelor, still the prey of match-making
mammas and smiling debutantes.
There was but one comforting
thought in the mixture of disappointment
and cbagrln that made the sum
of my feelings as I drove slowly back
to the castle. This much had been
given me: At last I had not made the
fatal mistake of proposing to the
wrong Agatha, and I hugged myself as
I thought how near I had come to put
ting the question to Agatha Sixth that
very morning. That, at least, I had
managed to avoid. From that folly
the innate caution and unerring inrttftict
of Archibald Terhune had preserved
him. Thank Heaven!
THE END.
CARING FOR BIRDS.
Solid Citizens In Maine Busy Looking
After Them.
Up in Maine there is a growing interest
In birds. Chlefest among the
influences which have awakened and
kept up an Interest in bird protection
in Maine are the Audubon societies
and the village improvement societies.
To one who rides along country roac'ls
leading from any main city, says the
Floston Globe, the Improvement Is
very marked. Within the past five
years the number of birdhouses and
bird shelters erected in suburban
Maine has increased by more than
2flO per cent. Magazines and papers
devoted to bird protection are found
in many homes. The Sunday newspapers
which give illustrations of
model birdhouses are preserved with
care for future reference. Teachers
in the common schools are showing
the boys how to use their Jackknives
to whittle shingles and tack together
sections of boards, and how to bore
out dead limbs on trees, and to tack
up tin cans and aged hats in ways
that shall make these homely devices
most welcome to bird couples that are
about to start housekeeping.
Six years ago there was not known
to be a pair of purple martens or of
crow blackbirds breeding within the
limits of Presque Isle. At that time
Judge George H. Smith, a prosperous
lawyer, and Sidney Cook, a deep-sea
diver, who had retired from active
labor, resolved to see what they could
do toward tolling the birds back to
the village.
Tt would make an Interesting book
to relate what these two men performed.
Fortunately, the barest results
will tell the story. Last year
Judge Smith had the pleasure of
sheltering more than ninety pairs of
purple martins in lofty houses on his
place.
Twelve pairs of summer yellowbirds
nested and brought up two successive
hroods of young among his
willows. He claims to have raised
"more than a cartload" of young
robins. He has induced three pairs
of cliff swallows to build mud nests
under the eaves of his barn, and his
small orchard and surrounding
shrubbery were noisy with bird life
from May until October.
Mr. Cook spent most of his summer
in a camp on the shores of Squawpan
Lake, eight miles from the village,
but with the help of his son he
became instrumental in getting a
flock of blackbirds to nest in a grove
back of his home, and when the birds
departed for the south last fall he estimated
there were more than 200 in
it, or double the number which came
in May. He also lured two pairs of
blue birds and three pairs of whitebreasted
swallows to nest in boxes
which he put up about his buildings.
Mysterious fioures.?Put down the
number of your living brothers.
Double the number.
Add three.
Multiply the number by five.
Add the number of living sisters.
Multiply the result by ten.
Add the number of dead brothers
and sisters.
Subtract 150 from the result.
The right hand figure will be the
number of deaths.
The middle figure will be the number
of living sisters.
The left hand figure will be the
number of living brothers.
THE WAY TO FIFT1
44 Plain Talk In Plain La
(Continued from our issue of June 23.)
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
(Extract from Pamphlet by Roland
Stone and published by Union Farmer
Publishing Company, Birmingham,
Ala.)
The Cost of Production.
The business farmer?and all farm|
ers must use good business methods
to succeed?has many things to consider.
First of all is his cost of crops
of every kind. He should know to a
dollar what it costs per acre to secure
a harvest from every acre he plants.
If ground does not pay for planting
to one crop he may try another, and
If the soil will not pay for working?
why work it? Why buy fertilizer and
seed and throw away labor?
Let It go to grass; blue grass, clover,
cow peas or any other forage
crop that only requires seeding and
harvesting. Pasture It, even If It is
only a- quarter or half an acre or
more. You can stake out a horse,
mule or cow and while they get
something out of it the droppings will
enrich the soil to some extent, but
don't waste the labor of cultivation
on it, put in the time with an extra
working of some crop on good land.
Don't plow and sow ten or twenty
acres just because It's all in one field;
some of it is not worth plowing this
year. You may bring it up again by
the right treatment and in a few
years I have seen land that would not
grow thirty bushels of corn to the
acre brought to the stage in three
seasons of judicious handling.
Do not think it necessary to plow,
fertilize and seed ten acres out of
which only seven is worth cultivating.
You know where the lean patches are
?the weeds of last season would
show you if you did not know the
land.
Remember that If all your acres
produced from one-half to a bale per
acre?and the same was true all over
the belt you would have cotton to
burn?not to sell. The world can not
take it, has no use for It. Of a normal
world's demand of 20,000,000 the
cotton states can find a profitable market
for about 12.000,000. Any more
than that is a menace to the price.
Two-thirds of last year's acreage,
should produce more than the full
market supply In favorable seasons.
You ought to calculate that the season
will be favorable or else court
overproduction, and if it is not, and
the crop falls below expectations the
price per pound will average higher
and your net profits will be practically
the same as on a normal crop.
You can not grow big crops and
get big prices one year in ten. Nine
chances to one against you. What
sort of a business risk is that?
The best grade of seed Is the only
kind worth planting.
The best grade of fertilizer is the
The best horses and mules cost no
more to feed than the Inferior sort
and will do more work.
The best implements are labor savers
and money makers. Figure on
the selling: value of everything you
buy, should you desire to dispose of
it after a season's use. The difference
In cost between the best and the poorest
Is not so much, and cheap implements,
vehicles, harness, etc., are
dear at any price?false economy.
Thorough cultivation always pays.
Each of these points is an element
in controlling the cost of farm production.
Maximum production at minimum
cost is the yearly problem of the
farmer, and the solution?other
things being equal?will be found in
thorough, frequent cultivation. Labor
Is the item that counts.
You must get the utmost return
from your investment of money and
labor to prevent loss in seasons of excessive
production and consequent
reduction in prices. If you are fortunate
enough to secure a bountiful
crop and extra market prices during
any season, that is the time for putting
by a sinking fund, for you know
it Is not likely to happen again in
years.
Don't squander your dividends; establish
a surplus, as your banker
does?if he Is wise.
Fifteen-Cent Cotton.
Perhaps you think I have been a
long time reaching a discussion of
the subject that suggested the title of
this booklet. Well, you have to grow
your crop before you can market it?
unless you are a cotton exchange
farmer, whose plantation is in Wall
street or Liverpool.
It has taken a number of pages to
warn you against the methods and
practices which have combined to
prevent the grower from getting a
fair price for his crop for generations
past; those features which are under
his control and for which he is responsible.
It is plain to me. and I trust will be
to the reader by this time, that there
is enough good cotton land in the
cotton states to produce all the
world's markets can absorb, and
enough that is not so good?now planted?to
render the south independent
of outside sources of food supplies
for man and beast?if properly
cropped.
The starting point is with the grower
himself?sensible production. No
better or quicker way to settle the
question than for each farmer to appoint
himself a committee of one.
with power to act, and cut his own
acreage and recast his crop on a selfsustaining
basis. He can not control
others, but he can control his
own actions.
If he is independent of the factor
and money lender, he is in position to
co-operate with his neighbors, the
growers of his county and state, in an
intelligent marketing plan.
Not even the largest planter or a
dozen of the largest planters in the
south are able to disregard the benefits
of co-operative method of marketing
their crop. To secure the true
value of their cotton they must often
hold it until the end of the season;
un'iil the exchange gamblers have
frightened, bulldozed, coaxed and
otherwise obtained from weak holders
possession of the bulk of the
year's crop before the laws of supply
and demand are allowed to become
operative for their benefit.
LEN CENTS COTTON
nguage to Plain People."
The small land owner and tenant
farmer may think I am taking up too
much space in telling of the big fellow's
success. I'm not; only pointing
to the successful ones because.you
wish to become similarly successful.
If a man falls heir to the largest and
finest plantation in the south he is liable
to become bankrupt in a few
years if he does not manage his property
on sound business principles.
I want to say to the smaller planters
and tenant farmers that their opportunities
are better today for success
than they ever were before, because
of unions and associations
which enable a hundred little fellows
to do all or more than the biggest of
the big ones. They can combine their
forces and imitate the successful
methods of the best and most successful.
Performing their own labor
and directing their own efforts, they
can secure a better result, proportionately,
than the great planter who depends
on tenant and hired help.
Ey mutual dependence, co-operation
and united action, under the guidance
of capable and honorable leaders,
they should have all the best of
the argument.
It is your own fault If you do not.
It Is not enough for you to solve the
problem of cheap production, or even
the curtailment of acreage. These
will not avail if you do not use Intelligent
co-operation in marketing. If
all try to market their crop at one
time, the price being unsatisfactory,
down go the figures under the senseless
flood of the staple. Tour state
organizations of the Farmers' Union
and Southern Cotton association,
through county and local branches,
can show you whereby a market may
be maintained, simply by feeding the
actual demand, and apportioning the
supply to average requirements of the
world's spindles.
Leave the broker and gambler out
of your calculation.
Hold your eotton subject to minimum
price conditions and wait for
the buyer with the cash in his hand.
He'll come.
If you don't seek him, he'll seek
you.
He's got to have the .cotton.
Co-Operation the Watchward.
There Is no man In the world, no
race of men and no section of the
earth wholly Independent of the balance
of creation. The strongest Individual
is the one with the greatest
backing of friends, the strongest nation
In the world is the one which
has the most powerful allies and the
success of all depends upon the oneterm,
co-operation applied In some
way or other.
In nearly three score years of an
active life spent In many lands I have
yet to learn that any man or set of
men monopolize all the virtues or
have appropriated all the honesty.
There Is good in all men, and the best
of each of them Is brought out In
mutuality of interests and brotherly
consideration of their fellows. All
forms of rellgrlon teach it; hundreds
of orders, secret and fraternal
preach and practise the beauties of
brotherly regard, and there Is enough
good in the best to counterbalance
the evil in the worst of mankind?
nioa ii'AitlH ho na aflfotv fnr jinv.
?-!< ?*? UICIC ?? wu.u MV ..W * .
Farmers are not a migratory class,
as a rule, and If a man can not fraternize
and co-operate with a neighbor
there Is something radically
wrong with one of them. They have
been brought up In the same community,
their families for generations.
They attend the same churches, a*ej
members of the same lodges and
know each other as members of one
family. Their lands, homes, interests
are still affected by like conditions.
They would band together as one
man to defend their homes from Invasion.
They would leave fireside and
family in a body to fight for their
country or stand together on any
great issue.
They are the people above all others
to practice practical co-operation for
the common weal. There should be no
cause so dear as the advancement of
the welfare of their own families.
Each day they are growing to see this
more and more clearly, and the day
Is not far distant when it will be considered
a reproach for any man to be
outside the pale of some co-operative
association having its local habitat in
his home community.
There may be unworthy ones, selfseekers
and those who enter these associations
from despicable motives, but
the way to down those elements is not
to stand on the outside and scoff, but
to enter the inner circle where your
voice, your vote and your example will
work for the best Interests of the institution,
and your good will as well.
The organizations are sound in
principle and based on honest purpose.
This being the case, a few
black sheep can not dominate the
flock. Don't act the Pharisee and
pass them by on the other side. We
are all human and all have souls
worth saving. There is more good
than bad in any community, and if
you do your part, that Is all that is
asked of you.
Co-operation among cotton growers
means that you can have your
warehouse, gin, grinding mill?perhaps
a compress?your sawmill, cane
mill and all other power machinery
without the necessity of single individual
investment, and the cost of
operation is reduced below that of
any other method for like service.
You can purchase seed, fertilizer and
other of your supplies at a lower rate
than your neighbor outside the organization
and save money in various
ways.
You can store your baled product in
a good warehouse, where it is insured
and keeps without depreciation, and
can borrow money on the best collateral
the world has to offer, if you are under
the necessity to do so. You can
keep your cotton under your eye and
have it sold for you to much better advantage
than you possibly could manage
as an individual.
You will never get 15 cents for cotton
on your own initiative unless by some
mere accident, and you can not tell
whether you are getting the season's
market value or not if you act independently.
(Continued on Fourth Page.)
JHisccUancous grading.
TILLMAN GETTING BETTER.
Senator It Enjoying Hit Trip Through
Spain.
A letter from Dr. J. W. Babcock,
dated at Gibraltar on June 8, and addressed
to Mr. August Kohn, brings
the information that Senator Tillman
feels very much Improved as the result
of his trip across the water and that
he has been enjoying his stay In Spain.
Dr. Babcock enclosed the following account
of the trip aa dictated by Senator
Tillman:
"The two weeks which have elapsed
since our landing at Gibraltar have
been spent In rather strenuous fashton.
The long rest on the boat had
brought such Improvement that the
morning after we reached Gibraltar
and found a good steamer about to
start for Tangier, forty miles southward,
on the west African coast In
Morocco, we yielded to the suggestion
of two Columbia friends, Messrs. Melton
and Earle, who had Just come In
on tne Herman L.ioyd steamer, ana
put off for Tangier without seeing Gibraltar
at all, reaching It about 4. p.
m. After resting at the hotel, a saunter
of an hour and a half through the
narrow, filthy streets, from seven to
twelve feet wide and all crooked, gave
us all the Idea of Mohammedan and
Moorish life and civilization that we
wanted, and there was no difference
of opinion about returning to Gibraltar
next day.
"After taking a view of Gibraltar,
through which we drove with the
American consul, Mr. Richard Sprague,
and whose courtesy was much appreciated,
we crossed over to Algeciras,
Spain, on the opposite side of
the bay, where we spent two nights
and a day resting and enjoying the
magniftcant view of the famous Rock
of Gibraltar, and the most gorgeous
display of flowers that It has ever
been our good fortune to see, hedges
of geraniums five feet high, white
daisy bushes of even larger size, with
other flowers too numerous to mention.
These are in the garden or park
surrounding the swell English hotel,
tlv Reina Christina, and though it
was the first of -June we had to sleep
under blankets, which has been necessary
throughout our trip In southern
Spain. Friday we went to Ronda,
an old Moorish fortress, In the midst
of the mountains, with a most magnificent
view. Part of the Journey upwards
was through the cork-woods.
Most of the way the fields are filled
with olive trees, wheat and barley occupying
occasional stretches. The
wheat in most instances was very
good, some of it exceedingly fine. After
a night at Ronda and a walk
through the old Moorish town to the
cathedral we started for Granada, Sunday
morning, and although the Spaniards
are perhaps the most devout
people In Europe, there was no evl
clence that the people remembered the
Commandment, as they were at work
everywhere In the fields.
"We spent two whole days In Granada
and then left for Seville, taking
nearly all day for the Journey, though
the distance Is less than 200 miles. I
will not attempt any descriptions, but
will only say that we were not disappointed
In the Alhambra, though our
expectations had been raised very high
by what we had read, and in Seville
there was a repetition of this experience.
The cathedral, with its numerous
masterpieces of painting, and the
Moorish palace must be seen to be appreciated
and then seen again and
again, while the little chapel in La.Caridad
hospital will undoubtedly
linger a joy forever in our memories.
Here we found the only evidences in
Spain of prosperity and modern city
life, and undoubtedly, for we all #
agreed on this point, our Columbia
friends joining in the verdict, that the
Sevilllan women as a whole are the
handsomest we have ever seen or expect
to see.
"Friday evening we went to Cordova,
famous for Its Roman bridge built
by Augustus Caesar and for the Moorish
mosque, considered by experts as
the most wonderful achitectural triumph
of t?he Moors, who conquered
Spain In the 8th century. The Spaniards
marred In many ways the dignity
and strength of this wonderful building,
but again I must not undertake
descriptions.
"We got back to Gibraltar last
night, June 7, well fagged out and
realized for the first time that it is
Just a month since we left Trenton,
without having had any news from
home or seen an American newspaper.
I have stood the strain much better
than I would have thought possible
and attribute it to an entire change of
view and the absence of anything to
excite, and the admirable sleeping
that the conditions have nrougnt
about.
"Letters from home this morning
tell us of hot, parched conditions in
South Carolina and one wonders .at
the marvellous Spanish climate that
compels blankets in June, where
oranges flourish and hot house plants
grow in the yards."
IT WAS GENUINE.
The William Shakespeare Signature
That Admiral Luce Had.
Admiral Luce was in command of
the north Atlantic squadron in 1895.
and his flagship for a time was an
chored in New York Bay, where it
was visited by many people. One day
a party came aboard which Included,
among others, a very pretty girl and
a very dignified and learned Englishman.
As Admiral Luce was entertaining
them In his cabin he asked the
pretty girl if she would like to see an
original autograph of William Shakespeare.
At this the dignified and learned
Englishman pricked up his ears and
remarked that he had made a study
of the autographs of Shakespeare and
was positive there was no authentic
example in America. Admiral Luce
replied that he was very positive his
was authentic and that Its genuineness
had never been questioned. This
made the Britisher quite mad, and he '
delivered a lecture on the fraudulent
autographs and manuscripts that
were brought over to America and exhibited
as originals.
"Well," replied the admiral, "I am
convinced that my autograph of William
Shakespeare is genuine, and I
am going to have the pleasure of
showing it to this young lady," whereupon
he went to his desk, took out
his visitor's book, and turned back a
few pages and then pointed out the
signature. "William Shakespeare,
mayor of Xew Orleans, Jan. 12, 1886."
The Englishman gave a painful gasp
and retired.