Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i ■r. | > COURAGE. It Is not they that never knew Weakness or fear who are the brave: Those are the proud, the knightly few | Who»e Joy is still to serve and save. But they who, in the weary night, Amid the darkness and the stress. Have struggled with disease and blight, l With pitiful world-weariness: They who have yearned tostand among !. The free and mighty of the earth. ( Whose sad, aspiring souls are wrung i With starless hope and hollow mirth— Who die with every day: yet live 1 Through merciless, unbrightened years, l Whose sweetest right Is to forgive . i And smile divinely tlirough tlielr tears: They are the noble, they the strong. They are the tried, the trusted ones. And though their way Is hard and long Htr light to the pitying <iod It runs, t -Harrier’* Weekly. tpae*,. xetoiae&wmoiaewwzi^Gcw, WHEN MARY SAW. 1 in iterman, or rotisu, or Bohemian crowd together at the railing, where the slices of sunshine come in, ami I ty GBOROfc: AUli. .Jrw/w ^/lOl n2» iylOit 'lO.'OlO.DIO! i/GJOICa %✓!</. s/fO’” HK pavilion for the ba ilies s built at the wa ver’* edge in Lincoln I •h, Chicago. One end of it is on stilts which are knee-deep in the water of Lake Mich igan. Tbe pavilion has » a roof but no side w alls. Every breezo that ripples the endless blue of the lake is; welcome. On n hot summer •lay dozens and dozens of hammocks are strung from post to post in the deep shade of the roof. The hammocks are full of babies. The floor sprawls with them. Babies toddle about, colliding with one an other, and sometimes they fall over outheir bae ks and lie in contentment so that the nurses carrying medicine to the sick babies in the hammocks must step over them. White babies -and black babies and some that prattfe in German, or Polish, or Bohemian re _ „ 7 imd look with large eyes at the broad l|ke where the boat* 1 are tipping np and down. The Tresh-air pavilion was built by public subscriptions. The milk which the babigs d;iuk, the hammocks in which they lie and the clean frocks in to which they are thrust, sometimes under protest, are provided by the people of Chicago. The sanitarium, as it is called sometimes, has a volun teer medical staff. Physicians and surgeons take time from their duties at the office buildings and give their services, free of charge, to the babies. Thus Doctor Fielding,a specialist in discuses of the eye, roamed among the hammocks one dap. In one hammock he found Mary Levenska, a year old' and small for her age. He put out one linger, and the groping little hand closed around it. “Can the baby see anything at all?” he asked. Mrs. Levenska. who was sitting be side the hammock, looked up with a frightened smile. ‘ Yes,—a lamp,” she answered, in the doubtful mauuer of one who knows but little English. "Always been the same—always blind?” ‘ Always just like—you see.” She was a thin, sunburnt woman, ith high cheek bones, and her hair, which was parted with care, gathered itself in a tight wisp at the back of her head. A ragged shawl was thrown across one shoulder. Her print gown was faded, but clean. The baby held to the doctor's fore finger. and the doctor, looking at the baby, and n<ft at the mother, asked many questions. He learned that the Levenska* lived in “Alleytown,” a region shut off from cleanliness and light by the factories and warehouses along the sluggish north branch of the river. Mary’s father was a day- laborer. He had been out of work for over a mouth. Mary had whimpered and cried among the stuffy bedclothes, and so the mother hail brought her to the lake for fresh air and sleep. The doctor knelt beside tbe ham mock and lifted the pink lids. He nodded his head and said, "Just as 1 thought.” Mary's mother was washing him dumbly. “You hawe no money?” he asked. “You never took her to a doctor to , have him look at her eyes?” Mrs. Levenska shook her head.* He smiled and said, “I see.” They were poor people, and, there fore,^ at his mercy. He told Mrs. Levenska to bring the baby to his office on Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock. She promised. MQ Doctor Fielding spoke to the matron before he went away: “I am going to try and do something for that blind baby. I saw another case just like it in Berlin.” “Doctor Fielding, do you think—?” “I never make promises. There’s t chance, however.” The matron hurried to Mrs. Leven ska and told her to he sure to go to the doctor’s office on Thursday, ihc doctor went home and told his wife about the blind baby. “I’ve wanted a chance toexperiment on a case of that kind,” he said. Mrs. Fielding was seldom interested in her husband’s work, but this time she insisted on being in the office when Mrs. Levenska came on Thurs day afternoon. She took the blind baby in her arms, and began to blink at Mrs. Levenska. “I told you not to come in here,” said tbe doctor. Then, for the first time, he fold Mrs. Levenska that he was going to put the knife to the baby’s eyes. "I can’t promise that it will do any good,” he said. “Do you under stand? Arc you willing?” Mrs. Levenska looked first ,at the doctor and then at his wife, and her lower lip trembled. Mrs. Fielding patted her on the shoulder. “Keep her away from here,” said the doctor to his wife, and Mrs. Le venska was led away. Doctor Kay mond had been waiting in the inner office. What happened in the back room is for books of surgery. After an hour, Mrs. Levenska was brought hack to the office. Doctor Fielding sat on the sofa coddling the baby, whose eyes were bound about with bandage::. “It’s all right,” ho whispered. “Then yon think—’’ began bis wife. “I don’t know anything about that part of it. 1 can’t tell yet. You see we haven’t hurt tbe baby very much, Mrs. Levenska. May’oe we’ve done it some good. I hope so. But you must keep this baby ia a dark room for ten days. Do you understand?” Mrs. Levenska nodded eagerly. The doctor sat beside her and told her over and over again how the bandages wore to be changed. He warned her that she must not allow any strong light to fall on the baby's eyes. “I'm afraid she doesn’t understand,” said Dr. Raymond, nervously. Dr. Fielding smiled at his younger associate and said, “I’ll risk it. She has more at stake than wo have.” Then Mrs. Levenska carried the baby back to “Alleytown,” and Mrs. Fielding went to the fresh-air pavilion in the park to tell tor .ir.' ron of what had happened. The well-meaning matron confided the story to a news paper reporter who came to the pa vilion every day to gather stories about "the children. The reporter put the story into a morning newspa per—of, how Doctor Fielding had found Mary, of how he had performed the operation, of how the members of the staff at the fresh-air home were waiting in the hope that after the days had elapsed and the bandages had been removed, little Mary would see. Doctor Fielding read the paper at breakfast. “Now who did that?” he demanded. “I don’t like it. How do wo know what the results arc going to be? It was merely an experiment. Oh pshaw!” No wonder he was an noyed. He was an eye specialist, and they were trying to make him a hero. That evening the letters began to come. They came from town and country, and most of them were from women. The letters helped to dis tress Doctor Fielding, who counted himself a hard, matter-of-fact man. He believed in surgery, but not in sentiment. “I have a baby of my own. and I can understand how thankful that mother must be for your kindness to her little one,” wrote one woman. In another letter it said, “We are pray ing for the blind baby,” and there was an enclosure of two dollars for the Levenska family. Some of the letters were from little children. “We read about the blind baby, and we all hope you will cure her,” and three children signed their names and the last i of k the names was a mere baby scrawl. From the number of letters arriving by every mail the doctor learned that the “Alleytown” baby had become the one object of public concern. Ho fretted in his office, and wondered why this responsibility had been put upon hiiUi In this uneasiness, he wandered over to “Alleytown” to sec if directions were being followed. In “Alleytown” the small wooden houses are huddled end to end, two houses on one building lot. One house fronts on a “street,” which is usually muddy and unpaved. The rear house meets the narrow alley, and the alley is made to do service as a street. Doctor Fielding picked his way along the dismal chute, through droves of romping children. The hot smell of boiling dinners blew from the open doors and win dows. The ground between the squatty houses was black and ciudcry. Women peeked out at him from be hind the painted curtains. A thought came to him that supposing the baby could see, what was there to look at hut the nnpainted huts and the dreary smoke-wall of the factories? He found Mrs. Levenska on duty. The inner room was closed and dark ened. She sat at the crib, fanning the baby. Ho gave his finger to the baby, and talked with Mrs. Levenska for a* few minutes. After all there was nothing to be done for a while. He went back home to be annoyed by new letters which called down bless ings on him. He did not go to “Alleytown” again until it came time for him to no for lo<>k at the baby’s ires. TTc knelt beside the crib, and; pa', his head down close to the uauvn fare. After arising, he put out hi* finger and al- lowed-the liaby to hob it. “I tell you, Mr*. Levenska,” said, “you might them off an hour or so, but cfoi’t let any more light into the room. Take them off for an hour or two tomorrow. Sexs day, that’s Tuesday, put on all the bandages very carefully, and bring her to my offle^—Tuesday, ten o’clock.” On the way out he met a bearded man in blue overall! talking to three bareheaded women. The man was Mary’s father. Oae of the women followed him, hesitatingly, and asked, “How’s the baby?” “We must wait awhile,’’replied ihc doctor. He nodded pleasantly at the ragged boys whovjumpod out of his way, and stared at him as ho hurried through ‘ ‘Alleytown. ’’ They observed that he seemed to be in good humor. As soon ns be reached home he told his wife that the baby would bo brought over on Tuesday. “I’ve been thinking,” he added, “I want yon and tho matron to be here. Supposing the baby can see well enough to distinguish the larger objects in the room, I wonder if she could tell which was which—if you and the matron were here, too. You understand that she was born blind folded, as you might say. We cut away the blindfold, and we hope—T say we hope—that the eyes arc all right. It’s pretty hard to say what’s going to bar pen. Of course, even if she is able to see, she wilj have no im pression of distance at first, and I’m not sure that she v/ill be able lo dis tinguish one object from another. You have th&jnairun come over.” From tho moment the doctor spoke these words, Mrs. Fielding knew that he was confident of his case. She and the matron sat at the win dow on Tnosday morning and waited. The doctor had warned them to ask no more questions. “Why, there's a carriage,” said Mrs. Fielding. “She’s coming in a carriage,” said the doctor. “Pull down all the blinds.” At the frnjil door he lifted tho baby from Mrs. lievenska’s arms and asked, “How has slie been?” “Oh, still. a i r - ” food. Now I’m going to his chair in tha corner, romen sit over there. Keep take care of her.” raj being drawn, there was Sitered light in the little 1 ' tor Fielding put the baby in the softlcorner pocket of abigehair, and laid aIbrigat-eolored rattle in her lap, withiJ easy reach. He shook his finger at he women, and slowly un wound tin bandages. As the 1 ist one was removed, the baby gave a simper of pain, winked rapidly, a: id covered her head ns if to avoid the i udden light. She remained crouched gainst the light for several moments, and Doctor Fielding still shook hit finger at the three women, who sat, i>ale and tremulous, biting their lips.j While tuo baby was thus bent for ward, one hand was seen to move fald* eriugly toward the bright-colored toy. Then the baby took hold of it. There was another wait in dead silence, and the doctor whispered, “Mary, Mary.”< Tho baby slowly lifted her face to the light, and the lids m^ved convul sively. Then there was a cry of yearn ing, and the baby held both arms to ward her mother. Mrs. Levenska, unnatural mother! She did not rush to her child. She screamed and slipped forward to her knees, her face in her hands. Mrs. Fielding, forgetting all promises to her husband, fell into the matron’s arms and began to sob. The matron put a handkerchief to her eyes and wept quietly. As for tho doctor, he maintained that there were no tears in his eyes. His wife tells that ho carried Mary np and down the room, blubbering mildly, and saying over and over, “All right, little girl, you’ll see as well as any body's baby.”—Youth’s Companion. “That’s put her iu You three away! Tt»e a mild a’ room. ..Tg Armies ‘:4,O0O Miles Lons. A German military critic has been adding np the grand total of the conti nental armies, and, after noting that we can form only a vague idea of what ia meant by tens of millions, he tries to bring home to his readers in an other way the colossal growth of mod ern armaments. If, he says, wo could have all the armies of the continent on a war footing and drawn up in one long procession, with their guns and ammunition and baggage wagons, the column would be rather more than 2-1.- 000 miles long, and. marching day and night, it would take nearly a year to pass a given point.—Loudon Chronicle. An Ancient OHlcc. The sheriffs of London bear, per haps, tho most ancient offices iu the kingdom. It is supposed to date from 1180. ( Edward IV. gave the citizens t to elect thair own sheriffs, jurisdiction over the county dlesex also. Recent legis'.a- created a sheriff of Middlesex, ) a sheriff of the county of but the citizens still elect icriffis of the city. THK RAT AND HIS FOR FERRETS ARE THE NATURAL ENE MIES OF THE GREAT PEST. JtatK Arc Uivlded Into Three KimW, amt Are Khm-iiIJally » (Social Animal — They Will Kat or Brink Alnuntt Anythin* — The Flexible Ferret ami HU Ways. Comparatively few persons know anything definite about rats, beyond the fact that such animals exist. They are supposed to be an article of staple diet iu China, and iu every other coun try of the world, says the New York Mail and Express, are exterminated at the expense of much loss and tron- ble, and yet there is a book published on the subject of rats and ferrets, the ferret being the natural enemy of the rat, and consequently being natu rally included in any remarks which may be raa le about ruts. Rats are divided into three classes, the black, the brown and the water varieties. The most common variety is the brow n rat, which was originally bronght from Norway to this country about 177r>. Before this time the indi genous black rat had things all his own way iu this country, but the im ported rat. rapidly exterminated the home product. The original black rat is practically extinct, whereas the brown rat is found everywhere. This is because the brown rat is the larger and bolder and most ferocious. That the rats in previous times w ere considered quite us great a nuisance as they are at present is w it^e*s“d b- the fact that there w as in England au official rat catcher to the king. This individual was usually a gypsy and wore a scarlet coat, embroidered in yellow worsted, with figures of rats destroying w heat sheaves. He also carried a heavy staff' surmounted by the insignia of his office, which he al ways bore while taking part in royal pageants. He also hail an attendant, who took no part in the processions, but w ho did the main part of the work, and was munificently rewarded by the princely wage of twopence a mouth. The rat is essentially a social animal, and he habitually herds with his kind. In the cold weather a whole colony of rats, composed usually of about sixty, sleep together iu a heap for mutual warmth, and they change from the bottom to the top of the heap in order to give each rat a chance at the warm sjMit at the bottom. This unselfish ness, however, does not exy»t when tlq? rats are hungry. Then they eat each other. If the mother rat does hot get enough to «*t >she eats her young. Rats also eat their dead and infirm, which accounts for the fact that sick rats are never found at large. WherA a numbfer of rats are confined in a cage it is no uncommon occurrence for all the rats except one to combine and kill and eat one ill-fated compan ion. The multiplying capacity of rats is prodigious. A writer has calculated that from a single pair of New York rats there will sprihg,- in three years, 650,000 descendants. There is practically nothing which a rat will not eat or drink. They w ill drink all kinds of liquor, and are par ticularly fond of oil, and it makes no difference to the rat whether whatever he eats or drinks is fresh or not. In fact, he rather prefers decaying meat and stale drink. All rats are inebri ates, and get as drunk us they can whenever possible. In the breweries they lie around in drunken heaps, and are consequently easily captured. Those who have eaten rats say that they are pretty good food and taste not unlike rabbit. As has been said, the ferret is the natural enemy of the rat, and seems to have been created for the sole pur pose of exterminating the tribe. For this purpose the ferret is eminently fitted by nature. Both in head and body the ferret is flexibility itself, and he can go anywhere tliat a rat can. A ferret is a cross between a mink, a martin and a polecat. The ferret is a comparatively do mesticated animal, and will readily become attached to its owner, but it is a very treacherous little animal, and when irritated will bite even the per son by w hom it has been accustomed to be fed. When bitten by a ferret the hand should never be withdrawn. The moment a ferret feels whatever he has bitten resisting, he instantly fastens upon it with the tenacity of a vise, and in order to make a ferret give up its hold it is frequently neces sary to cut its head oft'. Ferrets not only kill rats, but they cat them. A ferret will devour au entire rat, including skin and tail, which carnivorous quality marks his chief usefulness. The ferret does not kill the rat iu the wall and then leave him to decay, but he absolutely eliminates the rat and removes him internally. When a ferret is finished with a rat there is no rat, and there is no known case where a rat, however large and ferocious, has killed a ferret. Two l.urky Servant*. Two of the luckiest persons in Paris at the present moment are a maid ser vant and a concierge in the Luxem bourg® district. Their mistress, a wealthy lady without children,recently died, leaving $300,000 to he divided between them. They are also to in herit two house*, and nobody has as yet arrived to contest the will. THE BLACK PROPHET. H«mt the Native Australian I* Altleti iu Weather I’i-0|;n«»»tication*. “Warrignl,” called Hergeant Dalton to the black tracker, “look out for a high, dry spot for the camp tonight. My bnnion and those black clouds np there, say it’s going to rain soon.” The aborigine rolled over on his back and, for several minutes, he scanned the sombre banks above. Then he darted a glance into the for est about. Dalton watched him, for he knew that the eye of a weather prophet peered into the elements. The whole time the black lay on*the ground, with his arms under his head, he never moved a muscle; his eyes rolled about iu his head, he never moved a muscle; his eyes rolled about in his head like irresponsible pupiled white marbles, covering the whole space, from the ground behind him to the horizon in front, and the earth rim of the black vault above him, on each side. Then he slow ly closed his lids for a moment and rolled over on his elbow, facing the sergeant. “No niu, massa. Plenty dry spell all along two mouths.” “How do you tell all this weather business?” tbe sergeant asked’ for he knew’ by past experience that the weather prediction of any true Aus tralian tribesman was more to be trusted than that from any scientific meteorological bnrean. These people predict seasons of wind and rain w ith perfect accuracy. "See gum-leaf?” said Warrignl, pointing to the eucalyptus trees. “Yes, plentv of them,” assented Dalton. “S'posiu’ it rain, leaf lay down. S’posin’ it keep dry, leaf stand up. See, all leaf stand up to look for wa ter. Water long time off. ” “Look on ground,” continued the aboriginal hushman, “gum-leaf dry, turn up, crack loud. No rain. S’posiu’ rain soon, leaf drink in wet first; lay out. Plenty heavy dew all nights; plenty long dry spell ahead.”—Outing. The Etiquette of the I>e*ert. Social etiquette among the Arabs is a factor in life to be considered seri ously if yon wish to live among them without friction. Its obligations ye not to be completely mastered in a few months. Sometimes when I have had companions with me presumably thoroughly au fait with all things Mo hammedan, the harmony of the occa sion has been seriously endangered by some thoughtlessness or ignorance on their part, which to the Moslem could appear only as a contemptuous want of consideration. Thus, no greater insfflt could be' offered to an Arab than a friendly inquiry as to the welfare of his wife, to us a natural civility, but to him a gross impertinence bitterly resented. On one occasion I newly made a similar blunder. I was invited by a neighboring sheik to go over to see him, and was on the point of rid ing up to his tent door and dismonnt- ing there. Fortunately, however, I recollected in time that etiquette de manded that I should halt fifty yards off and call in a loud voice: “Have I your permission to approach?” This gives time to bundle off any of their women kind w ho may be about, pre paratory to the admission of a stranger. It is curious, also, to notice that in spite of the real affection existing be tween father and son, the sense of re spect dominates all other feelings, and the sons will never sit at meat with their father in the presence of a guest, but will wait upon both until the father, rising, allows them the op portunity of breaking bread with their visitor. Provided, however, that you recog nize their social customs, my exper ience has proved the Bedouin to be genuine, warm-hearted friends; and they really become greatly attached to those whom they know and who know them.—Centnrv. Founder of tt»c Red Fro**. The name of the man who was the actual cause of the foundation of the Red Cross society, who has done so much to mitigate the horrors of war, is little known to the present genera tion. However, he is still alive, and, unfortunately, it is said, in bad cir- cnmstances. His name is Dunant, and he was born in Geneva in 1828. A man of means, he appears to have de voted a large portion of his wealth to works of charity in connection with his native city. The admirable labors of Florence Nightingale, which at tracted the attention of all Europe, made a strong impression on M. Du- naut, which was further increased by his own participation in the war of Napoleon III against the Austrians in 1859 There he witnessed war in all its horrors, and it resulted iu his pub lishing a book on the subject, which at the time attracted much attention. In 1863 he started on a pilgrimage, at his own expense, to varions countries, to stir np men into influencing the vari ous governments into a conference which should have for its object the formation of some means for the miti gation of the horrors of war. \The re sult was the historic conference in 1864 at Geneva, the outcome of which was the convention which has made modern warfare comparatively hu mane.—Philadelphia Ledger. An ostrich’s egg w eighs abont four pounds—equal to forty hen’s eggs.