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' r ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY. l. m. grists sons. publishers, j % janttlg fleirspaper: Jfor the promotion of the political. Social. Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the people. J ^^o^coiA-. mvk cknt?!AUK established 1855. " YORK VILLE, S. C., TC'ESDAY. NO?EMBER 3, lttQH. N~Q. 88. 1 ? - ' ?' i- ?* T>u ? ??? Vilof /tatichf T cravfii ; i?i J Inn-Keeper\ 1 nr Etta * fl PART II. In that dark, silent stable, lighted by ^ one pale lantern, a brief consultation A took place. Then Jonas led from one ^ of the many stalls a splendid bay horse belonging to George Thornton, and gave the bridle-rein into the hand of Mary Sparks. This done, he extin 1~? a nff Vila PGflt guisneu uie uimp, uucn vu >... and boots, and with wonderful lightness and agility began an ascent to the roof of the carriage house. As this was no very difficult task, it was soon accom* plished, and then Jonas paused. He well knew it would be useless to attempt an entrance to Campbell through the window of his chamber, for it was secured so strongly that an effort to ^ force it would be sure to alarm the house and defeat his plans altogether; so Jonas drew a long breath and prepared to clamber up still higher to the roof of the tavern. Hartley Campbbll had just entered dreamland, when he suddenly awoke to the consciousness that somebody was ft giving him a vigorous shaking. He f sprang up and saw beside the bed a monster hideous enough to have frightened any member of the human family into convulsions. The hands were jet black, and the face was ornamented with ebon streaks, running over it every which way, and beautifying it wonderfully. The lank, light hair was powdered thickly with soot, his clothes were richly decked with the same arti. ile and altogether the figure was an astonishing one. "Jonas!" exclaimed the surprised Campbell. "How came you here, and in such a plight as this?" Jonas raised his smutty fingers to enjoin silence, and whispered. "I say, square, if you don' want your head * ' + foil snavea on, you u ocuci tracks from this ere house?you had? 0 by thunder!" "What do you mean?" asked Campbell,, more mystified than ever. "Why, old Mike and George Thornton and a legion of other Tory varmints (have made up their minds that you would be benefited by having your throat cut, and they're coming up here to do it for you in good style. Miss Jessie overheard their talk and didn't approve of the plan, so she sent me to tell you of it, and in scratching down the chimbly I lost my footing and tumbled into the fireplace?that's the whole story." "Travis!" said the bewildered Campbell. "Travis a traitor and a midnight murderer? It cannot be!" . "Very well," answered Jonas, "if you don't believe my story, you stay here, square, and you will soon have a fair chance to Judge whether I've told the truth or not." Campbell stood for a moment in gloomy thought. "I do believe it?it must be so, but come what will, they shall find me no easy prey," and his firm lips closed in stern determination. * "You must go with me," said Jonas, clutching his sleeve; "they've put a guard below and on the stairs, so you can't leave by the door, but the gals are holding a hoss for you outside, and all you've got to do is to follow me up the chimbly, and then trust to the Lord and the hoss's heels." At that moment a faint sound was heard on the staircase. "By gosh! they're coming now," whispered the W alarmed Jonas. "Ketch holt of me, | square, and I'll lead you out of this ^ tamal hole quick'n flre'll scorch a bedbug." |V "Not so," calmly replied Campbell. "I could never escape by the way you mention. Here, take this valise?give it to Jessie?God bless her!?tell her if she values my honor, to see that it falls not into the foeman's hands. I am armed?I will sell my life dearly?and now fly." Jonas snatched the valise from the young patriot's hand, fastened it around his neck, and the next moment * disappeared up the broad mouth of the fireplace. In a brief space of time he emerged from the gigantic chimney, and safely reached the ground by the side of the anxious and impatient girls. * "Where is he??where is Hartley Campbell?" cried Jessie, in alarm. "Here, take It quick." answered Jonas. holding out the valise. "He couldn't make up his mind to creep away from the Tories in such a fashion. Take care of this thing. Miss Jessie?lug it 'way from the Britishers?there's another horse in the stable?God bless you! I'm going back to punch some of their heads!" and. having delivered Hartley's message in this style, Jonas caught up an iron crowbar that lay in M the stable door, and before the bewilA dered Jessie could speak a word, rushed past and vanished in the old tavern. jy Jessie Travis was a brave girl. One sharp pang thrilled through her heart, and one brief prayer for the safety of the man she loved?then her bold purpose was formed. "Mary." she said, quietly, "we have placed Hartley Campbell upon his guard, and if injury is offered him now, Jonas will aid him. As for myself. I will carry this valise to the American camp tonight, or die in the attempt." l. "And I will go with you," was the T laconic reply. With a vast show of dexterity and swiftness, the patriotic Mary changed the accoutrements of Thornton's steed for those better suited to a lady's ser vice, and gave him into the hands of Jessie. She then seized upon the horse which Jonas had mentioned, and which was the property of another Tory, and having led the animals silently into the mad. where the clatter of their hoofs was lost in the miry soil, both girls sprang into the saddles, and set out on their midnight journey. The road which lay before the dauntless girls ^ was little better than a cart-path, rough and narrow at that, and often darkly shadowed with dense groups of pine and cedar: but both were accomplished equestriennes, and they sped along ^ their course at a headlong gallop. One weary mile was left between them and the tavern, and then another, HE I s Daughter l ?r. PIERCE 1 and still on they dashed, fearful of nothing but pursuit. The path grew lone and gloomy, and they heard no sound save the mournful night-song of the winds, and heavy tramp and harddrawn breath of the gallant horses. At last Jessie broke the almost insurportable silence by anxiously asking: "Mary, are you sure this road will lead us to the American camp?" "Not exactly sure," answered Mary; "but I know 'tis ten miles south of the tavern, and by keeping this direction we can't fail to reach it. Nearly a third of the way lies behind us now, and if we don't fall in with any of (lanrtro, Thnmtnn's Hessians we will soon reach our journey's end." "George Thornton's Hessians!" repeated the startled Jessie; "It cannot be that they are near us?" "I don't know," said Mary; "he's got a party of them somewhere under his command, and as he's haunted the old tavern a good deal of late, I'll warrant they are prowling around at no great distance from him. Jessie's heart leaped to her throat. "God help us!" she murmured, solemnly, "but I cannot go back?no, and I would not, if the army of Tyron lay before me!" Mary nodded a quick assent to this declaration, and again relapsing into silence, the fair patriots rode on side by side with renewed speed. They had reached an abrupt turn in the road, and were trotting swiftly over the ground, when a smothered exclamation burst from Mary Sparks, and she drew her rein so suddenly as nearly to throw her horse upon his haunches. Jessie paused, also, and beheld directly before her?oh, horror of horrors!?the light of a campfire glimmering through the thick pines. , "Who goes there?" cried a deep, stern voice, and the rattle of a musket fell on the ear of our heroine. Jessie comprehended her situation at once; they had ridden straightway into the jaws of the lion; but, quick as lightning, she turned her horse's head, and as she brought her little whip sharply down on the side of the spirited animal, with a rear and a plunge, he J u ^ J ' ^ ' ?' ? ^ l l/%n A1 root 1 nnnn uasncu UII in a UI1CV.IIUII uiiivtv vri,v site that from whence the voice had proceeded. "Stand!" thundered the sentry. There was a quick, sharp report, and a bullet whizzed past, close to Jessie's | pretty head. Another followed and !struck a pine bough just above Mary; then a clear, scornful laugh floated mockingly on the air, and the brave girls galloped fearlessly forward, making the complete circuit of the enemy's camp and safely gaining the road again. They caught faint glimpses of scarlet uniforms glittering in the firelight as they swept past, and heard plainly the oaths and shouts of the aroused soldiers. "George Thornton's Hessian heroes!" said Mary. "I feared this all the time. Rut hark! Great heaven! there are horsemen behind us!" The girls halted abruptly and listened. Clear, distinct and heavy came the measured tramp of horsemen behind them, and then they heard a few brief words of command uttered by a voice which fell on Jessie's ear like a flat of doom. "Mary! Mary!" she cried; "'tis Geo. Thornton! we are pursued?we are lost!" "No. no," answered Mary; "follow me?we will escape them yet;" and on, on, through the solemn midnight rode the devoted girls. The noble horses, as if conscious of threatening peril, bounded along with every nerve strained to its utmost tension, and gradually the shouts of the pursuers began to grow fainter and fainter in the distance. "If they catch us they'll have to ride for it." said Mary. "If we should be fortunate enough to reach Putnam's camp, I'm thinking some of them lobster-coated Tories will be shorn of their gay colors before the coming of another night. Hark! there is Thornton's voice again?we must trot a little faster; and be careful. Miss Jessie?here are fallen trees." The warning came too late. An immense pine, uprooted by some fearful whirlwind, lay directly in their course, and in attempting to leap it, the feet of Jessie's gallant horse became entangled in its massive branches, and he fell heavily to the earth, bearing his rider with him. Though half stunned by the jhock, Jessie had strength enough remaining to extricate herself from the saddle and rise to her feet, but the patient creature that had borne her so well was now powerless. Again and ?_ rlco onH attain ttgcllll lie .-"U UftftlCH CW 4 IOV, uuu and again fell back upon the turf with a cry that was almost human in its anguish. In vain Jessie strove to aid him; and at last, finding all her efforts fruitless. she knelt down beside the poor brute and stroked his flowing mane and fondly patted his glossy neel#. "For mercy's sake, do git the critter up!" cried the frightened Mary: "Geo. Thornton and his troops are close upon us!" "His limbs are broken." said Jessie, in a wild, despairing tone. "I cannot go on. Take these dispatches, Mary and ride for your life. I shall be captured, hut they dare not harm me. If you reach Putnam, beg him to send aid to Captain Campbell. Good-by. and may God preserve you!" Without a moment's hesitation Mary seized the unfortunate valise and, with a free use of her whip and rein, the heroic girl dashed into the lonely wood. urning hack once through the misty moonlight to wave her mistress a fond adieu. Jessie remained kneeling beside the dying horse. There was a tramp of men and steeds round her. but she did not move or look up. "Well, young lady." said the mocking voice of Travis, "I hope you've enjoyed this caper: but let me advise you not to go on a gallop again at midnight, even for the sake of a handsome rebel , ?'taint healthy!" "And my gallant bay is killed," said George Thornton; "but that matters little, since we have his fair rider safe again. Sweet Jessie, you have taken so much interest in my horse, tonight, that I feel assured you will yet bestow a little upon his master." Jessie answered only with a look of withering scorn. "Where's that Molly?where's Molly Sparks?" cried Travis; "if she has escaped, I'm lost. All the mischief that's happened tonight we owe to her?blast the girl! Where is she?" "We cannot stop to pursue her now," said Thornton; "so let us hasten back to the inn, for the night is far spent and I must join Tyron tomorrow. Miss Jessie, you will be obliged to return home with us." Still maintaining her stubborn silence, Jessie was placed on another horse, and the party proceeded swiftly back to the old tavern. Mike Travis and George Thornton rode beside her, but the inn-keeper shrank, cowed and ashamed, before the indignant glances of his child; and her Tory lover, finding that she paid not the slightest attention to a word he uttered, was compelled to relapse into silence also. They reached the inn at last, and then Jessie found herself indeed a captive. To the dark, narrow chamber where Hartley Campbell had slept, she was conducted by Thornton, but the place was vacant, and not one sign of recent strife anywhere visible. "George Thornton," said Jessie, with pale, quivering lips, "where Is Hartley Campbell?what have you done with him?" "Ah! my pretty lady-bird has found her voice at last!" said Thornton, mockingly; "I have reason to believe you overheard a conversation tonight, Miss Jessie, that was not intended for your ears, and in some unaccountable manner you found means to warn the young rebel of his danger; consequently, we found him ready for resistance and we did not kill him. But he and Jonas White are both prisoners In my hands, and his hours are numbered!" A stifled shriek broke from Jessie. "No, no! you will not harm him?you dare not! Oh, George Thornton, hear my prayer?for the love of heaven, Unn^lAi* Pn mrvKfill t " sptu c HUH spaic nai uc^ V/aiiijpu^n . "Spare Hartley Campbell!" replied Thornton, scornfully; "not so, sweet Jessie; and yet, by my faith, I will give you a chance to save him. Consent to be mine, and he shall go free?refuse, and he dies at sunrise!" A convulsive shudder shook Jessie's slender form from head to foot; then she turned her clear, blue eyes upon him, and calmly said: "George Thornton, I have no words to tell how I scorn and loathe you! You are a perjured traitor, and the contemptible minion of a cruel tyrant, and I am a 'rebel' girl who would suffer the darkest death rather than become your wife!" "Then I swear Hartley Campbell shall die!" and with lowering brow and lips compressed in angry passion, Thornton stalked from the room. With her sunny hair drifting in disheveled masses over her shoulders, and her fair hands clasped tight upon her throbbing heart, Jessie Travis walked back and forth across her narrow prison through all the remaining moments of that dreary night. One hope still cheered her?Mary had escaped and, with the dark threat of Thornton ringing in her ears, she clung ? ' A- iU. 41 Ui tenaciously io me iin>u&in mai am might yet arrive in time to rescue Campbell. There was a sound of mingling voices below and a faint beam of light struggled in at the open window. Then Jessie knew that the night had passed away and that the hour of deadly peril was at hand. Soon a step approached her door, the fastenings were withdrawn, and the stately figure of Thornton darkened its portal. "Come!" was all the Tory said. Knowing how useless it was to resist, Jessie obeyed the command, and quietly followed him as he proceeded down the staire and into the garden adjoining the tavern. Near the door stood Jonas White, bound and closely guarded, and at no great distance from him the shuddering Jessie beheld Hartley Campbell with a file of Hessian soldiers drawn up before him. "Jessie Travis," said Thornton, "in five minutes the sun rises over yonder mil. lr. in inai ume you uu imi ise to become my wife. Hartley campbell must die a soldier's death!" A livid hue settled round Jessie's lips ?she looked in agony at Campbell. "For God's sake, do not promise!" he cried, passionately. "Be mine!" persisted Thornton. "Never!" said Jessie, firmly. "Jessie, girl, for shame!" cried Mike Travis. "Will you let the poor lad die when a word of yours can save him?" At that moment a bright beam lloated over the hill top, and down?down, till it rested on the fair, white brow of Hartley Campbell. "Mercy! Mercy!" shrieked Jessie, as she threw herself at the feet of Thornton. "Spare him! spare him!" "His fate is in your hands," answered Thornton, bending his fierce, dark eyes upon the half-frantic girl, "for the last time I will give you a chance to save him." "I will die with him!" cried Jessie, in cold, quivering tones; and before a hand could be extended to stop her, she had sprung to her feet, reached Campbell's side, and twined her arms around him. "Take her away, Travis!" shouted Thornton. "Ready, men! One!" At the fatal word every musket was raised and pointed toward the young patriot's heart. "Two!" A wild, ringing cry burst out from Jessie Travis, and it was answered by the sharp report of a dozen rifles, and over the garden wall came dashing a score of mounted rangers, while an equal number, led by Mary Sparks herself, galloped in at the open gate. "God and our country!" shouted the patriots, as they charged upon the Hessians. "Surrender!" thundered an officer, as he threw himself from his horse before Thornton, and pointed his sword at the proud Tory's heart. Thornton gazed at his men?they were either prisoners or flying in all directions. He surrendered. With a wild cry of delight Mary Sparks rushed forward to the side of Jessie. "Oh, thank heaven, I came In time!" she cried fervently. "And where's my poor Jonas?" "Here I am," answered the veritable Jonas, close behind her. "By gosh! Molly, you're a smart one! The cowardly rascals were afraid to tackle us last night, though we wasn't but two agin a dozen. They promised not to harm us If we give up, and so we give us, and they chucked us down cellar, and brought us out here this morning to breakfast on cold lead?blast their profiles! They're got peppered some, this time, and there's old Travis on the grass, as dead as mutton!" It was the truth?the unerring rifles of the rangers had stretched a dozen forms on the ground of the garden, and among them was the old inn-keeper, with a bullet in his breast. But little more remains for me to tell. George Thornton, in attempting to escape from the American camp a few Hnvs after was shot dead by a sentinel. Jonas White attached himself to the service of Campbell, and fought with him in the army of Washington till peace was declared and our country recognized by the world as a free republic. Then Jessie became Campbell's bride, and Jonas wedded his faithful Molly. For many long years they lived to enjoy the liberty they had helped to win, and rejoiced in the knowledge that the "Star-Spangled Banner" waved bright on every sea, respected and honored by every nation. God bless its glorious folds forever! THE END. IN CHINA. Some Experiences of an American Explorer. Frank N. Meyer went to China with a sort of carte-blanche commission from the United States government. Here was the proposition for the explorer: The United States practically Includes every variety of climate and soil, barring the Arctic. Yet many sections of the United States lie fallow, marked "barren." Now Corea and China and Russia have areas with the same climate and the same soil; but those areas are not marked "barren." They are cultivated so they support a population prolific as rats. Meyer was sent to see what grew in those regions, to see how it grew, to examine gardens and farms, to learn the failures and to learn the successes of those foreign peoples who have been cultivating arid soil more centuries than the United States number years, to do all this and to send back specimens of plant growth and of seeds that gave promise of development, in the United States. Very simple, it sounds, doesn't it? It was not at all simple in reality. It would take a book to give the explorer's experiences. The quest led him to the far interior, where Chinpse soldiers dare not go. It led him to regions known as banditti haunts like the border marches of England in the days of Picts and Scots. Coolies deserted him in panic terror. Horses could neither be bought or hired. Baggage had to be carried forward on rafts and wheelbarrows. Xight after night, weeks and months at a stretch, the explorer had to sleep in village inns on earthern Hoofs where the house scraps and filth of ten years stunk in a veritable cesspool. The water was not only bad, but it was sheer poison?a vile concoction of rain and sewage. Vermin infested every inch of such abodes and Hies in clouds corrupted food as fast as it was exposed. Meyer's food was canned meat, biscuits and tea. What with the smell and the vermin, restful sleep was out of the question. Of course, the man's health went utterly to pieces. It wasn't a case of an illness with a beginning and an end. It was a case of never being well; and the invalided scientist was surrounded by banditti ruffians who had never before seen a "foreign devtrooto/i him tn sunh courts sies as one may guess, staring In at every crevice and crack, day and night, In mobs; examining him from the hair of his head to the soles of his feet; lying to him and jeering at him if he asked questions through his Interpreter; accusing him of the evil eye if he examined their gardens; demanding extortionate prices when he attempted to buy seeds and specimens; in fact, treating him exactly as our own criminal population might treat a Chinese explorer if we had no police; and the Chinese police had forewarned Meyer they could no: protect him in these regions. Did Meyer turn back? Not much. He wore a good revolver and protected himself.?Outing. DISEASE AND WATER. Necessity That the Beverage Should Be Free From Taint. "Present cholera scare in distant parts," said Dr. James B. House of Pittsburg, to a New York Telegram reporter, "only reminds us of the value of pure water in large cities. "It is not unprecedented that some one should turn up claiming to possess scientific knowledge that typhoid is not disseminated by impure water, and that filtration will not prevent that cause of the disease. Persons imagining that they have wisdom have professed readiness to disprove that the earth is globular or that day and night are caused by its revolutions. "Nor is it remarkable that a medium should be found to give currency to the alleged claim that filtration expenditure is wasted, since a notorious desire to establish that conclusion has been powerfully assisted by cheerful and complete ignorance of the facts that were established beyond all pos sibility of dispute at the inception of this discussion. Therefore, a little thing like the proof from scores of cities in Europe and America that typhoid and cholera have been distributed by impure water supplies; that they were wiped out when the supply was purified; that in such cases as those of Berlin, Hamburg and Pari;?, when there was a break in the filtration the disease reappeared, and that when the breaks were repaired the diseases again disappeared?all these well-established facts are trivial beside the high purpose of trumpeting an alleged failure of filtration." xv* It takes more than a pet name to pacify a woman when she's in a pet. XiT It is permissible to blow your own horn if you are a member of a brass band. Of all the great cities of the world, New York has the smallest ratio of population to the acre. NT. VERNON M. E. CHURCH Story of a Notable Old Methodist Sanctuary THE FIRST BUILT AT HICKORY GROVE Records Destroyed During Civil War; But Some of the History of the Famous Building Has Been Preserved In the Memory of a Septuagenarian. Written for The Yorkville Enquirer. I have been requested to furnish an historical sketch of Mount Vernon church. Several years ago I wrote for The Enquirer a series of letters under the caption "Reminiscences of Western York," but was never able to give a full or satisfactory "write up" of Mount Vernon church, for the reason I* could never find the records. These with others data that might and would have aided greatly in the work, had been lost or mislaid during the war, when people of that section had been forced to hide out most of their valuables, papers, etc., in order that they might escape the torch and touch of Sherman's army vandals of the nineteenth century. The records of the church books, papers, rolls, etc., were kept by the late Perry Dye or William Berry, the litter better known to the people of his day as little "Billy Berry." However, these records were ne'ver found that I know of. and as Mr. Berry was killed or died, the information they contained could never be produced. Hence only slich matters as were retained in the memory was the only available mate ammrnm Mount Vernon Methodist Church. rial I had to use In writing the history of Mount Vernon (M. E.) church. Since that time I have gained some information that will assist in the work, but it does not complete the history or make it as interesting as it would otherwise be with the official data. Away back in the early thirties, Mr. Abram Smith, a large land owner, proposed to the people of his section that would give a lot of land and the timber necessary to build a house of worship to be used by the different denominations for that purpose. This was long before the writer had seen the light of day or breahed the air of western York. At that time there was no church building near there, and Mr. Smith's proposition was taken up and the result was a splendid log house was erected. By common consent they agreed to call it "Unity" and the place is still known by that name. Here they each worshipped for years, and each organized a church of its own except the A. R. Presbyterians, but they had' regular preaching there. The Baptists and Methodists were the strongest?numerically, and these kept up their regular meetings while the "Seceders" would drop in and preach a day now and then. The Methodist conference had their "circuit rider" to fill his regular appointments there for several years, and some of them were able and consecrated men too. Both these denominations, (Baptist and Methodist)) Increased In membership and influence until each had a strong church for that day. So far as I know, or every heard of, there was no friction between the different denominations?all went on nicely and the members attended the services of each other's church, generally. About the year 1856 or '57, the Methodist people concluded they wanted a better house in which to worship and began a movement In that direction. But like It Is at the present day, some thought It impracticable. They couldn't see how they could go to that expense, particularly, while they had a claim on the old church. Rev. J. W. North was then their preacher and he urged the building of a church of their own, and he never lost an opportunity to put in a word for it either in the pulpit or elsewhere. On one occasion he preached a sermon from this text: "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying. Grace, grace unto It."?Zechariah iv, 7. It is not necessary for me now to say, (or attempt to say) what a man of J. W. North's calibre could say from such a text in applying it to the object he had In view. The astute Bible reader will see the application for himself. However, they determined to build the house, and the work was begun and carried out and the present house is the result of their effort. The contract was let to the Burns Brothers?John and Sam. and in 1858, (in June or July) it was dedicated. Rev. John W. Kelly, presiding elder, preached the dedicatory sermon from the text: "I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"?Acts xx, 35. A very large congregation was present at the dedication, not over one-half of which could get inside the house. By the way, that was the first time your correspondent ever met Col. Samuel Jefferies, now of Oaffney. He was then a slim, lithe young man, weighing about 135 pounds and about as full of talk as he is today. Mr. North continued on the circuit for four years and during that time he courted and married Miss Dye, a daughter of the late Perry Dye, a leading and influential member of Mount Vernon church. There was some considerable discussion about the name of the church. A number of the members wanted to call [ it by some Bible name, but they finally agreed to call It Mount Vernon after | the home and last resting place of the "Father of his County"?George Washington. With the exception of the nails and glass used in building the house, there was not a single article of the material but grew in York county. The lumber was dressed by hand, the framework put together with mortise and tenon, and it was a model house when finished. The sash, blinds and doors were made at home. Some years ago, the writer was there when the matter of recovering the house and making some other repairs came up, and Mr. W. S. Wilkerson made the remark that he didn't suppose there was a single member of the church present who had ever paid out a cent for its repairing or beautifying, and it was time that this (their)generatlon should do something for it. Up till the war, your correspondent attended this church. For several years Mr. Fletcher Burns was superintendent of the Sunday school there, and these services were generally attended by a large number of the young people and several of the heads of families were regular attendants. We had none of the lesson help as now used. Each scholar took his Bible and the lesson was set one day for the next. The main exercise of the school was Bible reading and singing. The superintendent, minister (when he was present on preaching days) or some one else would make a talk on the lesson and in the course of his remarks would throw out questions to test the scholars' knowledge of the lesson. On Friday 21 of December, 1860, (the day after South Carolina seceded from the Federal Union), the Sons of Temperance had a rally at Mount Vernon and a large congregation was present. Hon. W. C. Beatty of Yorkville, Rev. R. A. Ross, Hon. I. D. Witherspoon, Sr., Rev. Samuel L. Watson and other eminent speakers were invited to make addresses. But owing to the continuous rains and bad roads none of them came. Rev. James R. Castles was the only speaker present and he made a good talk. The rain had been falling for about two days and Broad river, Bullock's creek, Clark's Fork and King's creek were all out over the low lands and kept many away from the meeting. It was estimated that at least 600 people were present, 150 of whom were sons of Temperance. The day's proceedings, however, formed no small part of the early history of Mount Vernon?It will always be remembered by those present on that occasion. The closing exercises were very impressive when one hundred men and women?Sons and Daughters of Temperance, well dressed and wearing their regalias, gathered around the chancel and to the tune of Plenary sung the closing ode: "Good night, good night to every one, Be each heart free from care, Let every brother seek his home And find contentment there. May Joy come with tomorrows sun, And every prospect shine, *VVhile wife and friends laugh merrily Without the aid of wine." A long and well loaded table was on the grounds and everybody Invited to eat. It was a day of unalloyed pleasure for all present. However, a serious accident happened that was much to be regretted. A tall, dead pine tree, standing In the hollow at the eastern end of the church was blown down and Killed a nurse ul ivn. aiuus uuino m the Beersheba neighborhood. If my recollection serves me right, money was made up on the ground to buy him another?of this I am not quite certain, but a move In that direction was started then and there. There are other Incidents of more or less Im- , port I might speak of, but It would make this narrative too long. I would like to give the names of the membership of the church, but In the absence of the proper roster that Is Impracticable at this late day, I will say, however, that among them were some of the best families living In that community and most of them have their representatives there today. James L. Strain. Wllklnsvllle, Oct. 29, 1908. LIFE MINUS TELEPHONES. Would Be No Easy Matter In These Days of Bustle. Now that Paris has been deprived by a fire of Its telephone service, the city is heartily to be congratulated on the fact that Its service was extremely bad, says the New York Times. Had it been better the present situation of the Parisians would be more desperate than it is, for they would have come to depend upon the telephone much more than any of them except their humorous paragraphers and cartoonists have ever been able to do?would have come to depend on It in almost every relation of public and private life, as have New Yorkers, for instance, and In a hardly less degree the Inhabitants of every American city, town and village and of a not very small minority of American farms. Even in Paris, however, the burning out of the great central station has so interfered with the conduct of business that the French capital is described in the dispatches as "practically prostrated, commercially," and the suddenly increased demand for means of transportation through the streets for men carrying messages that hitherto have been sent over the wires has thrown everything into inadequacy and confusion. Many of us can remember the antetelephone days and people hardly middle-aged can recall when telephones began to come into anything like general use, even in the larger cities. Their employment was confined, long after they had ceased to be a novelty, to business houses. In homes, except of the rich, they were rare until only a few years ago. Now they are to be found in every residence of what is called the better sort, and the very thought of getting along without them is almost appalling to multitudes of people who regard themselves as poor. That the telephone makes it as easy to talk to a person ten miles away as with one in the same room, marvelous as that would have seemed to the parents of most adults and to the grandfathers of all of them, is now taken as a matter of course, but we can still experience a mild thrill of wonder when the distance reached by a gently spoken word covers the better part of a continent. Selected i'octvi). SUNSHINE. A little gold amidst the gray? That's sunshine; A little brightness on the way? That's sunshine; A little spreading of the blue, A little widening of the view, A little heaven breaking through? That's sunshine. A little looking for the light? That's sunshine; A little patience through the night?J That's sunshine; A little bowing of the will, A little resting on the hill, A little standing very still? That's sunshine. A little smiling through the tears? That's sunshine; A little faith behind the fears? That's sunshine; A little folding of the hand, A little yielding .of demand, A little grace to understand? That's sunshine. ?smart aiaciean. iUiocrllanrous grading. FRIDAY NOT UNLUCKY. According to This Record of Events It Was Quite Otherwise. You mustn't be too ready to believe all the evil reports the patrons of the other days spread about Friday, says the New York Herald. It's been a pretty good sort of a day, so far as the history of America Is concerned. If you will take the trouble to glance your eye down the list of notable dates that once In a while you come across In the dark corner of the library you'll find that Friday has a good deal of a claim to consideration. For example, It was on Friday, August 3, 1492, that Columbus set out from Palos, In Spain, on the mission of discovery which terminated so happily, to the infinite discomfiture of the doubters. And it was again on a Friday, October 12, 1492, that the ancient mariner ?only at that time he wasn't an ancient, but was by all odds the most up-to-date gentleman of the day?discovered land off the port quarter and was correspondingly cheered and strengthened. That made Christopher Columbus think pretty well of Friday, and so he picked It of all the seven days of the week for his return, sailing on January 4, 1493, for Spain, and reaching ? /\ ? T^nl<4nir i'cLIOS Oil 1116 U&4J1V U ip Uii rnuaj, March 14, 1493. This took considerably longer than the present steaming time of the big vessels, but Columbus didn't know this, and so It didn't worry him any. Friday, November 22, 1493, was the day Columbus landed at Espanola on his second voyage to America, and on another Friday?June 12, 1494?our explorigator discovered the mainland of South America. That's as far as Columbus went with his Fridays, but every falrmlnded person must admit it was a good way to g-o. However, there were -others Just as unimpressed by the popular notion that Friday was a bad day. There was John Cabot, for Instance. On Friday, March 5, 1494, King Henry VII gave Cabot a commission to come over and see what he could find In America, and you all know the gratifying results attending his mission. The oldest town In the United States ?do you know what It is? St. Augustine, Fla. And do you know when it was founded, September 7, 1565, by Mendez. And do you know what day of the week that was? Answer. Friday. And then another great occurrence for which Friday must be duly credited. The Mayflower, with all your descendants on board?but at that time known as the Pilgrim Fathers?slipped gratefully into the harbor at Provincetown Friday, November 10, 1620. And on Friday, December 22, 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock. No one will dispute the Importance of the date February 22 In American history. Everybody knows who was born on that day. But not all of us know that the year was 1732 and that day of the week on which George Washington first opened his eyes was Friday. Then Friday was pretty helpful to us In war ways. Friday, June 16, 1775, Bunker Hill was seized and fortified, and surely we have not forgotten that on October 17, 1777?and It was a Friday?Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. We discovered the treason of Benedict Arnold on Friday, September 22, 1780, and on another Friday?September 19, 1781?Lord Cornwallls did the most popular thing he ever had done In his whole, whole life?surrendered at Yorktown. And to crown It all on Friday, July 7, 1776, John Adams, In the Continental congress, made the motion that "the United States are and should be Independent." Oh, no, Friday Isn't such a bad day, after all. TARDY JUSTICE. Canadian Jurist Comments Upon the American Court System. Colonel George T. Denlson of Toronto, Canada, a police magistrate of the Canadian city, said to a Washington Herald reporter that the cause of the high percentage of crimes In the United States was because Justice miscarried in many instances, and that, consequently. there was no punishment. "There Is too much temporizing with justice and the course of the law In the United States," said the Canadian iustlce, "and this fact being knqwn to the criminal classes, they do not regard the law with the same awe as we do in Canada. When a person com mlts a crime in Canada no mnuence ui any kind can protect that person from receiving the punishment which the law provides. It seems to me that juries in the United States are too often tampered with, especially by the wealthy law-breakers. There is only one way to stop crime, and that is to enforce the law and impose sentence, and enforce the same. We used to have considerable trouble In Toronto with sneak thieves who would force their way into vacant houses, cutting, out all the lead water and gas pipes and selling the same to Junk dealers for a trifle. I made it a particular point to Impose the limit of the law on these thieves when they were brought before me, and I have succeeded in stoping this kind of thievery entirely. At one time we suffered much from bicycle thieves. There were too many complaints entirely, and I decided to put a 31 <jp IU 1L. J. IIC 1UOV kiuvi v?-u0..v * o? ? a light sentence; the next received more severe punishment, while all those that followed got the limit Stealing bicycles got to be very unpopular among the fraternity, and stealing of bicycles is a thing of the past in Toronto. LIABILITY PROBLEM. Something That Gives the Employer Food For Thought "One of the hardest problems we have to solve," remarked George Watson Ham, of Atlanta, Ga., to a New York Telegram reporter, "or rather that we will soon have to solve, if we are going to keep up with the countries of the Old World, in the protection of the life and health of the individual worker, is the employers' liability. "A human life was a very precious thing in 1776, but a few hundred years of refinement have placed one life at a minimum value. When a man Is blown into the air by a noontime blast of dynamite In some great building excavation the Idle lunch hour crowd rushes to the scene with an eager, morbid interest, but the man who is a block away and does not hear the blast never learns of that man's death. "About this time every year the statisticians tell us how many men were killed in our coal mines during the last twelve months. The figures are Increasing, as are also the fatalities on our railroads, and yet I doubt very much if the American people will be willing to pay more for coal and more for railway travel simply because the miners and trainmen must be protected. "You know when you give protection to millions of day workers in our hazardous branches of business you add millions to the cost of the necessities of life. At the end we must estimate the value of a human life hy the amount it coets us to protect that life. So it comes down to this: 'How much are you willing to pay for the protection of the life of a workman whom you never saw, never will see and who Is of lltle conseouence to you?'" MORAL STRENGTH. A Necessary Element to Success on the Field of Battle. According to Napoleon, three-fourths of an army's success In war is due to the moral cha-acter of Its soldiers. Now more than ever, says General Kuropatkln in McClure's, must a successful war be a popular war. Continuing, he says: "The recent contest In Manchuria I was a popular war for the Japanese, but not for us. The Korean question and the question of naval supremacy on the waters of the Pacific involved vital Japanese Interests, and the Immense importance of these Interests was so clearly understood and so fully appreciated by the Japanese people that the war for their protection was a national war. Japanese soldier?, deeply consclotrs of the bearing that their ejffcflBlts * might have on the future of the country, fought with a self-sacrificing devotion and a stubbornness that we had never seen in any war In which we had previously engaged. Sometimes, in villages that we had taken by assault, a handful of Japanese soldiers would barricade themselves in native houses and die there rather than retreat or onrronrJor .Tananese officers who fell into our hands?even wounded officers ?generally committed suicide. In some cases Japanese mothers even killed themselves when their sons, on account of weakness or ill health, were denied admission to the army. Hundreds of men volunteered to undertake the most desperate enterprises, in the face of certain death, and many officers and soldiers before going to the front had funeral ceremonies performed over their bodies in order to show that they intended to die for their native land. * Military history shows that in all wars the antagonist who is strongest morally wins tne victory, me only exceptions are such contests as that between the English and the Boers In South Africa and that between the north and the south in America." SOME MARRIAGES WRONG. St. Louis Minister Says Solomon Set Bad Example to Posterity. Solomon, with his 700 wives and 300 concubines, set a mighty bad example that is being followed ?ven to this day, according to the Rev. Dr. W. C. Bitting. who. before the Baptist ministerial meeting here, says the St. Louis Republic, also attacked "matrimonial brokerage" ana marriages iui wouui, physical attractions and social position. He criticised American girls who marry abroad for titles as baneful blots on modern society. Dr. Bitting, who Is pastor of the Second Baptist church, gave a remarkable and unusual Interpretation of "The Song of Solomon." As the voluptuous king, assisted by his harem women, tempted the purehearted mountain maid from northern Palestine with the glamour of his court, by wealth and Jewels, and finally by offering her the place of queen by his side, so Dr. Bitting declares there Is a system of "matrimonial brokerage" today. "What about our women who marry abroad for title and honor?" he demanded. "Are we In this age free from these same temptations? Do not men and women in our day marry for money, and purely physical attractions, or so cial advancement : uo we nc?? o<_v. modern marriages the potency of the dollar in making alliances, and the ambition for social distinction? These Identical temptations still exist. The rich, the handsome, and the artlstocrat still present attractions. Thousands are weak, and their yielding has slain millions of hearts and homes and has Tffected the church and society in the most baneful way. "You wretched matchmakers must fall In your schemes. You cannot force love. You cannot compel It. All your devices are condemned. Spontaneous generation is the law of pure human action. "Matrimonial brokerage is an insult to the pure heart. No external treaty of love was ever negotiated by ambassadors of expediency." 'tv The Mexican porter handles loads of 400 pounds with ease. Leeches are killing fish in the principal Swiss rivers by thousands, and so far scientists have been unable to abate the strange plague.