Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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two dollaus l'eu annum. <? GOD AjSTX) OTJROOITNTRY, VOLUME 11. SATURDAY MORNING, 3 9, LS77. always ix advance' NUMBER I? My Great Aunt's Will. I am a clerk in a country stoic, and sometimes I wish I'd been a mar tyr in those days when they stretch ed people on beds of spikes or roasted them on a gridiron. Then I think I could have taken a little comfort in life. This is the way of it: I am behind the counter on the side were wo keep prints, and there trots up to the opposite side, where \vc keep flannels, a customei neither young nor beauti ful. I hurry around and across, and ehe asks for calicoes; and then I turn her about and make my way back, and 1 pull down half a dozen pieces, but she just gazes at the shelves, says (?he'd like to look at the under on the lop shelf*; I climb up, tit the ri.sk of brenking my neck, and get the under piece out, and she concludes 'tisn't what she thought it \vi>s. Then she says she would like to look at "that stripe"; I blunder on to every other stripe before I get her particular stripe. Then she say.- she wants a ?little figure, and I get all the little ifiguros out for her. Fhe wants to "know how much 'tis a yard; I sav six vents, and she says she can get bet ter in Springfield for five cents, and she looks tit mo suspiciously as if I was a cheating youth. .She wants to know if it'll wash, and she looks at mo in dignantly, ns if I was a saucy youth Thi n she asks mr. if we take eggs, und 1 say we d?>, and we pny twenty-eight ?cmts, and she pays they're paying "thirty c< uts at ihe other store; and off the goes, and I put up the prints, and am down at the further end of the mom turning frai'incuts out of a cracker barrel when back s c comes -and wants sum pies. We keep the pnstofiice, and by the time I cet back, to. my cracker barrel, in conies a irftiii who wants to know if Ire lufsti't a letter. He never, had a Jv^.lIhTli.w-~Ji ond he faimfc^tr in.d I ? km?w it; 1 ut it is one of those ?UaXs ti.ut both parties ignore and I ?go mid look, and give him the consol iug nfPiirnnce that in hasn't any, ami "he departs in peace of mind. Then there is a lady who wants to match a confounded bit ot silk braid, dinl) bordering on the lilac. It takes me five minutes to find one box of pilk braids, and five more to find .we iiavn't drab bordering on the lilac. Then she wants tewing silk the same shade, and I hunt through all the sew ing silks, and there's drab bordering ?on everything else under the sun ex cept lilac; but I know by the way her flounces sweep out that a mercantle house.not keeping drab bordering on the lilac stands very low. I get down to the further ond of the siofe again, and there comes a man to the front door, nud yells out loud enough for every customer to hear that he's brought back that barrel of flour; says the bread was black and all dough in the middle. Now that man understood, when he had that flour, that it was inferior quality, not recommended, and he had it cheap, and. took it because it was cheap. I help him roll the flour in, and can see that' he thinks he has circumvented a villain. That's the way it goes day after day, week after week, and I hate tea, detest salerattts, abhor codfish, and wish, calico, cotton cloth, drilling, htfofcs, and eyes, and all the rest of the wretched ? necessities of any artificial civilization" were at the lnttoni of the Indian Ocean. I long co be a savage more than I do an angel, and I shall be one of these days, though I do wear cloth suits, and have a shaving mug at the barber's marked in gilt letters S.O. Haynes. I wouder that nil' self-respect and sentiment of hu manjt/hafiu't long ago perished from out. my bosom. Stich ? were my reflections one fine morning just after train timo, while I was - weighing out half a pound of black" tea, when my fellow-sufferer in the oVy-goods nud grocery infliction cujled but. "Heirc's a lady inquiring for you Sam.1*1' In distinct outlono before the door fctood d little woman, her skirls spread out by a tri-anyular hoop like tho skirts of the female figures we used to draw'on our slates at school. I came up to mnkc my bow, and saw she had deposited a brown willow basket on the show-case and dropped a black glazed hag at her side. She wore a stringy kind of shawl, with fearfully long fringe, and seemed to be afflicted with numb palsy. "Are you my nephew Sam'wcl ?" asked slm. "My name is fianuiel llayncs, ma'am." "I'm your father's aunt, Loueczcr H syncs." "I'm glad to sec you, Aunt Louisa." She looked at me sharply, as if I was making fun of her. I suppose it is because tli3 cornets of my mouth turn up, people are always suspecting me of making fun of them. I wish those corners would sink; and wonder [ they don't. '?I v?'ttr only living female relative 1 on the father's side," said she. My business experience with females had been so inibittering, I was glad to learn she was the only one on the father's .side. "As yuu'.v no mother, I feel it my duty to help make a home for you." Instantly I remembered that Aunt Louisa was worth 875,000. I think I learned that fact in early years at the paterna' knee, along with who made me, nnd \vl at state I lived in. I know it always stood to my infantile con sciousness in the relation of a prim try truth. My father, all his life, courted poverty through the medium of dry goods ami groceries, and went through bankruptcy as often*as the law would allow. During thu periodic seasons, before calling the creditors and mik ing an assignment, he used to cliinp his hands to his head nud ejaculate : "Louisa t might help me. if she;oply would!" Bttf.: L'httvua ?vmTtTTn't, or utTeast didn't, and whatever may be thought cd'her filial affection mature observa tions on the oscillations in the mo? lasses and ginger market have con vinced me of the soundness ofher judgement, # "I'm delighted to see you, Aunt Louisa. I'll go right down to my honrding-place with you." Hence, with a brown willow bask et in one hand and a shiny leather bag in the other, and my great-aunt trotting behind ?why under heaven she didn't walk by* my sitle I couldn't see !?we meandered down tho street. We met Evelina Angelia Plimpton. I wa3 engaged to Evelina Angelia. 1 had enjoyed that boner ever since one July evening when there came up .a sudden thunder-shower, and she clasped my arm and ejaculated she was "so-fiiM-id " An engagement was an annual episode with Evelina. When I solemnly asked Pa Plimp ton's consent ho didn't remove his pipe from his mouth, butjust uoded, und pursued his previous train of thought. Evelina smiled patroniz ingly upon me. Deference to the uged I knew she considered beauti ful. My aunt didn't like my hoarding place, and wasn't pleased with my boarding mistress. She thought we'd better keep house, and I spent the next fortnight house-hunting with her. The great desideratum seemed to bo the right kind of a "buttery"; one would have supposed butter was to be the staff of life with us. Wo at last found a "buttery" on the north west corner, opening in tu both kitch en nnd dining-room, having the re quisite number of cupboards, having shelves that admitted of being takeu out in house-cleaning time, painted a bewitching cream-color; and we en gaged that buttery, regardless of cost or the character of the neighborhood. The next momentous step was to get my aunt's "things" removed. Wero I writing a st ientific essay on psychological distinctions of sex; I j should moko one strong point the tenacious attachment of the feminine mind to "things." Ten thousand dollars in stocks and bonds at ktake in an unsettled estate havo been , uown to c.v. itc lcr:^ iulcrc-t and create less jealousy than the disposi tion of ah odd table-cloth. My. aunt was for some days in a harrowing state of indecision as to whether she had better have her things invoiced as freight or to hire a car. By virtue of the handsomest figures I learned to make at Commer cial College, I proved to her it would be cheapest to hire the car. I had to go to her former place of abode to seo about getting tin thingseiiroutc, and I had to "meet them with a carriage" nt our depot. I felt like a collector of antiquities just gett ing an assort ment over from Egypt. I shall ever feel gnteful to the small boys of our village for their self-restraint on this tempting occasion. I don't recollect a single opprobrious epithet. They treated rny loads with a respect to which nothing but hoary hairs could entitle them. There was a cheese press, nnd I j don't know but a cider-mill; there was I something, With four tremendously heavy legs, I alway believed to be something in disguise of a bedstead. There were seven bandboxes (four large and three small), five feather beds, seventeen comfortables, aud a great deal of crockery which evident ly came over in the Mayflower, but had much better have put back to land in the Speedwell. I need not say that our residence when furnished was neat but not gaudy. I slept under a "ris ng-sun" bcd-qui!t, and had a round braided mnt to put my feet on when I got out in tho morning. I sighed for my former cozy quarters, but I remember ed my aunt's valuation, and reasoned that if she was my only living female relative on the father's side, I must of necessity be her only hying male relative ot] the mother'a side. Soon after we were domesticated I found that my aunt, was subject to mysterio 113 attacks, which,attacksjji}V. Vat'hiTiilv^seizjd her in the night tim i, and made it imperative that I should run for the d ictor. Liability to these attacks precluded the possibility of lay being away from home evenings, except Sunday and Thursday even ing*, when 1 wiis expected to see my aunt to prayer-meetings and attend I her home, though Evelina went off in an opposite direction with another fel!o\.. I didn't know but justice both to myself nnd Evelina demanded that. I should have a conversation I with my aunt, and set before her, in I language which even a child might understand, my views of the duties aud privileges of an engaged man; but I felt extremely doubtful of her sympathy, aud seventy-five thousand was a good deal to risk. We had one servant, whose wages my aunt thought it right I should pay, because, as she said, if there was no one but herself, she shouldn't keep a girl. Our cuisine was managed with strict regard to economy. We lived j largely upon soup, which consisted principally of broth. My aunt highly esteemed marrowbones. I wonder if it is generally known among physiolo gists how long a healthy person can subsist on a persistently boiled mar rowbone ? For two or three years T had been in the habit of smoking a single cigar at the close of the day's labor. One evening I sitting on the piazza indulg ing in this luxury, when out cams my aunt. "Sam'wel7" cried she, "me you smoking?" "Yes'm," very meekly. "Well," said she, calmly but firm ly "none of my money shall ever go up in cigar-smoke." Then again, "How much do you pay for cignrs?" "Ten cents." "Now, Sam'wel, I want you take your pencil and calculate how much ten cents a day will amount to iu a year, then how much in fifty years, then I want you to put this sum at compound interest, and see how much it will amount to by the time you are seventy five years of ago." It struck mc that I had somehow, during my lifetime, met with similar problems, but I conscientiously made the calculation. "Aunt,'' cried I, "i am perfectly appalled. '? Never did I dream of this. Of whit mall extravnnce have I been guilty!" and wildly I hurled my cigar into the camomile bed. It becamegenerally known through out our viHage that my aunt was wealthy and- that I wns heir-expect ant, nnd I srion perceived that, wheth er or not licver obtained the gold, I was going ;to havo the glory. At a town meoting;, legally called, and with the moderate in the chair, T was elec ted one ?ofihe nine prudential com mitte men ^tjduty-?"to sec about get ting wood." a Our Sabbath school ap pointed mo delegate to confereucc at Commingford-: privileges?to lose my time, pay n?y own fare, change cars twice sluge hgfivc miles.over a coun try road atlil through a November , landscape: jirospocts?address by Deacon Tliojoas Jones: music?that iure and intricate composition. "Shall we gather at jhe river." I secured tfre position of watchman at our store every other Sunday night. ! Aunt asked ;^ roe if I t xpocted extra pay for thisHferyjce, and said I did. Evelina hud^4?liUed of green reps for our pnrlor, bijf J;i'ouinl that her cal culations hndfonow ascended to sonic kind of rose c.ojftred sofnething, value about treble thafcofjthereps. Aunt was ntjjlongth seized with an "attack*' of m?ro than ordinary vio lence. I called three.physicians, for I shrunk froi.|<cxposing myselfito the irresponsible ,village gossip which might acnuse| jap of not employing every effort ^br-the prolongation of her life. Wjtbjtbree doctors in at tendance, sheV'iint unreasonably felt that this atlncj^ Vbuld prove final and sent for a lawVer.1 I was in a state of great nervous'trepi dtition. "If there ..anything I can do for you, aunt?" V- '' "Nothing now.". ' ' "Ha?? yoir-'nurse,' arranged'your "Perfect ly comfortable." Solemn scenes have no place in this narruiive, and I pass on to the time when we were assembled for the rending of the will?the lawyer, the doctor, the minister and myself. That instrument ran as follows : I After paying my putt dues and my funer al expenses, and providing a suitable monu ment, 1 give and bequeath to my beloved nephew, .Samuel O. Hayncs, his heirs and assign?, fur their use and behoof forever, all my wearing apparel and personal orna ments, with the exception of my gold beads, which I bequeath to my namesake, Louis I Hayncs of St. Joseph, Missouri; all my beds nnd bedding, household utensils and furniture, with the exception of my great anu-ehai r, which, as it came in on the Jones side, 1 wish to go to some deserving mem ber of that family. I also give my nephew Samuel S5, with which to buy a reference Kibble in my remembrance, nnd al?o the Healed pador of instruction accompanying this instrument, which I wish him to read a year hence in the presence of the witnesses now assembled for the rcadirg of this my will. The remainder of my property, both real and personal, with the exception of the legacies hereinafter named, I bequeath to the American Missionary society, neither legacies nor bequests to be paid until a year and a day hence. When the lawyer was through read ing I had no clear idea to whom these legacies were devised, but I remarked that the American Missionary society was a most worthy organization. The naturo of the will was soon made public. Popular sentiment was that of resignation, not to say of satisfaction, on my account. My companions, who had never seen why deserving merit in my case should meet such disproportionate reward, while their own plodded along on a weekly stipend, with no great-aunt's estate in prospective, naturally ex perienced a revival of confidence in the equitable government of the uni verse. Elderly friends in church and Sabbnth school felt that I had cause for rejoicing in being spared the snares and temptations which accom pany wealth. My employer privately evpressed the opinion that I hal been I getting abovo ray business, and ho was glad to sec mo takeu down a peg. Evelina said : "Never mind; we don't care for money." But not many days after Evelina told mo she had begun to realize what a solemn ordinance was matrimoney; she and I were both young, und had our way to make, and she thought, perhaps, for the present, it would be better for us to consider ourc'clvcs cnlv friend i. I snid : "Very well," nnd felt that I was a lonely bark tossed on a wild nnd watery waste. I bad read of instances similar to mine where the scale 1 packet or the old Bibble proved to contain bank notes; but finger the paper left me as I would I could make nothing of it but paper. Fora year I went calmly and hope lessly forward in the dry goods and grocery way, and then we assembled lor the opening of my sealed orders? the lawyer, the doctor, the minister and myself. The fist words that met my eyes ris I unfolded tho paper were : "And all former wills by tue made I do hereby revoke,*' etc. With pal pitating heart I passed the document to the lawyer. After provisions and legacies similar to those in tho first insttumcnt, this latter document pro ceeded as follcwa : To the American Missionary Society 1 give and bequeath the rani of S25,000 To my be'ovcd nephew, Samuel U. Hny ncs who I hone may have learned, during the year that has passed, lesson* of wisdom more valuable than money, I bequeath the sum of $25,000. which I direct my excutor to pay over to said Hay no? as soon asmiy be convenient. I further direct my execu tor to antiunlly pay to said Hayncsthe in come from the remainder of my properly, both real and personal, and to pay from the principal to said llaynea on his thirtieth birthday,* if he he living, or to his heirs ro aligns if deceased, the sum of $2 >,000, and to pay to Raid Hayneson Ms thirty-fifth birthday the remainder of my property, be it more or less. I went down to thestote just as usu al the next morning, for I whished to show people that I had too good seuse to have my head turned. When I filled our best customer's molasses jug with kerosene I knew I had demon strated my coolness. The chairman of the board of select men wanted to know what I should advise in regard to rebuilding the Piper stone bridge: the doctor asked ?wh t my candid opinion was concern of ammonia and iodide of potassium in a case of pleuritis where cgophony denotes slight effusion, but with strong indications of,adhesion of the med ins I tiiium; aud the minister said there was an article on "Semi Pelagian ism ; in the Fourteenth Century" in the JJiL/iofJiccn &ucra he thought I would enjoy perusing. As I stood on the hall doO'step after singing school that evening, Eveliua came out back of me, aud she, with a little shiver. "Oh, how (fu ark it is !" It flashed across me, as I offered my arm for escort home, that to the fetnine imagination matrimony on tho income of seventy-five thousand dol lars is naturally a less "solemn ordin ance" than on a precarious salary of eight dollars a week, and nothing found but peppermint drop3. Presently Evelina remarked: '?Aren't you very lontftj since your aunt died ?"' tender emphasis on the lonely. My aunt had been dead a year, and Eveliua "engaged" at 1 list once in the meantime. "Not atall; my time nnd attention are likely to be entirely absorbed in business." "No one can rejoice more sincerely in your good fortune than do I Samu el." "I don't doubt it, Evelina; I shall always feel confident of your friend ship." I leave Evelina at her cottage gate, and I feel tont? Of all the glad words of tongue or pen, The gladdest are these?"it wasn't to have been.'' tIic next afternoon my*cmploycr invited me to be suited behind the railing that fenced iu our office, and said he, laying his hand on my shoul der with a confidential, a parental, sacrificial air: "Samuel, I have been reflecting tip on my duty to you. You are a young man just starting in life, and starting, iu some respects, under favorable cir cumstances, but everything depends upon your starting right You have always been faithful to my interests, and I have determined t? show my appreciation of that faithfulness. 1 have decided to sell out to you\" A glance at the door showed me thnt the way of cscapo was not cut oft'. "With all the varied interests of the bur-iuc you tire already familiar; we arc yearly drawing in more of tho trade from surrounding towns; wo'?'?? have the confidence of our customers^ ? we have the confidence of wholesale ?' dealers; we can buy to the best ad van"'..! tage. To all these privileges you will succeed. Purely is there such an ' ' opening for a young man. Consult our books, consider our profits, reflect upon the income from tho post office?" t . ? "Sir," interrupted I, in thunderous tones, "by the blessing of ProVidcnde?!' and the benevolence of my aunt, who.;? is to have a monument that willb>in?r. a glow to the bosom of the president* of our Cemetery association, J nifty'* now the recipient of a modest comport tence, and shall I squander no more years of precious lifo on vulgar; soul' "' wearying dry goods and groceries;.-a subject ever to the fluctuations;of ?? Amoskcage nnd Peppered Is, or shall 1 live on my income and avail myself of the humnui/ing influences of lois I urc and culture? Conscience and tho voice of reason within my soul cry: 'Live on your income!' Nover more"'" will I lift my aching eyeballs to!ae.auid yon to shelf for cotton batting and-,.; Agawam mixed: never shall my trembling fingers seek to fit on warp ed pasteboard box covers; never shall?T. my wearied cars be greeted by tho ceaseless tinkle of the money drawer bell, or my sated nostrils by theoders ' : of the grinding coffee! Ko more shall->j the brown paper bag and the white cotton string mioglc in all my deains ! Sir, I hate tea, detest salerattn, abhor'. ' codfish, and loath:- that postoflieo and \ three stamps ?" I was done, and I knew by the hush' that fell upon that store that, what-' L ever else I might be, I was an?ora1;J tor.? Harper's Magazine. Tlio*Nation notices tho . fact that j' at the recent Chambor of Commerce dinner in .New York M9- reference!J was mnde to the colored men. Ship building, civil service reform, the" tit rill* and the currency were talked about, but the colored man not men tioned. Democrats ami Republioans ? alike are fully agreed at last upon i this point?the colored man must'' work out his own salvation." When'1 rf every sensible man has come to this >>\ conclusion, Senator Morton raises the,. i whoop. WltOLlvSALK Executions in PENNSYLVANIA.?The 2l3t of Juno will be a remarkable day in the ; criminal annals of Pennsylvania, for not less than ten murderers will then be put to denth ? uinc of them being : "Molly Maguires." The others of the same class will be hanged on tho 9th of August. The number of death warrants issued by the Governor to bo executed between this time and the 9lh of August is sixteen. The National Rifle Association will send a United Kingdom team to Creed moor this year 'Ibis will re sult in probably the greatest riflo match yet fought The British team . will include the nick af the Scottish, Irish and English small bore shots, while the American team will com prise the cream of Crccdinoor, Chicn go ami other American rifle ranges. . ?? ? -Ml - Judge Davis, of New York, has, made a decision that a corporation is not liable on forged bonds where the corporation hit I dono nothing to induce the puivhasa by the innocent patty. This is u decision which will impress on busi ness men the necessity for greator care in their transaction'. In the Kingdom of Prussia, among 0,000,000 births, there were seventy nine cases of four at a birth and oua case of five at a birth. No doubt tho extravagant births were visited upon poor, cripole men. That's tho case in this country. Postmnster-Gonoral Key and' tho commission loft Atlanta, Ga., yes'cr day afternoon for Chattanooga. aiiiaffi' Li?tiiii?p, ATTORNEY AT LAW, Orai i Lie bury, S- C fXif Oflico in roar of Masonic Hall. Ma:ch S iy.