Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, November 03, 1908, Image 1
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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.
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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.