The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, February 13, 1920, Image 2
SAW DEATH CLOSE
Circuit Rider Looked Into Eyes of
Grim Reaper.
Marvelous E?cape From Destruction
at Natural Tunnel In Virginia
Could Almost Be Classed
as a Miracle.
w " * i
In both the Natural tunnel In Scott
r#unty, Virginia, and the Natural
bridge In Rockbridge comity. a
and mi now defile hctwo<?n two hill#
Ik Spanned by a huge mas* of look,
over which h public Idghway pusses,
The Nutural bridge Is morn widely
known. Travelers lui\* written about
It for perhaps two ceulyrloH, and lOllhu
Hurrltt describes It In the "Scene at
the Natural Bridge in Virginia," a ae
lection that luts won many prizes hi
youthful eofitesla In declaiiMitlon. Hut
tho Natural tunnel was once the scene
?f a real incident, that, while It last
ed, wun just as thrilling. as the iinag
I nary one Mr. Iiurrfti Ue.-#cllie? in his
declamation,
ft was witnessed k.v no spectators,
ami It had only two participants, a
horse and a Methodist circuit rider.
Yet Into a brief sfticc of time It crowd
ed suspense and agony as terrible an
n human being can endure.
Soon after the close of the Civil
war Rev. H. C. Neal was sent to
travel a circuit 4n Scott county, which
Included the Natural tunnel within Its
hounds. Returning onb Monday morn
ing from a charge where he had
preached the day before, his route led
him over the tunnel, and he stopped
tD enjoy the view from It# summit.
Now, the surface of the tunnel on
ench sldo of the highway Is covered
with a low growth of bushes, and on
Its southern side, from which the view
Is more remarkable, It Is comparative
ly level to within a short distance of
the edge, where It begins a gradual
hut constantly Increasing slope down
ward.
Turning from the highway, the
preacher rode through the hushes. In
tending to hitch his horse and then
proceed on foot. Hut In winding about
ho ha<l gone farther than he hnd sus
pected. Feeling the anltunl slld^, for
ward, lie checked him and saw sud
denly that the yawning chasm was
only a short distance away. He was
now on the edge of the downward
slope with only some small hushes
crowing between him and the abyss.
Apprehending as >et no real danger,
he quietly gazed into the immense
void, when his horse again suddenly
slipped forward. Ha In had fallen Ihe
night before, and (lie thin coating of
dirt was soft and yielding. The rider
now attempted lo turn his horse's
fiend. Once more Ihe animal slipped
forward. All at once he snw that he
actually was In an extremely perilous
situation. The slope was becoming
steeper, ami as the horse kept slip
ping forward the edge of the chasm
was getting nearer. The rider, thor
oughly alarmed, drew hard on the
reins ami soothed the horse with soft,
encouraging words. Intending to throw
himself from the saddle, lie relaxed
slight l\ on his hold on the reins; hut
a I once the animal again began slip
ping. , fie drew hard again. and for an
instant stopped the slipping. Then,
.almost Imperceptibly, it continued.
Preacher and horse trembled in fear.
It seemed as If the cnasm were reach
ing up Invisible hands to pull them
down.
At that terrible moment the sibling
suddenly ceased, and the horse sank
to his haunches Cautiously, tbe rider
?dipped from the saddle and seized a
fow. sfinit shrub with one band while
fie held the reins in the other Crawl
iru; upward the length of the reins. fie
??aught another shrub, and turned the
horse's head Tin* animal struggled
to hi- foot and followed the rider to
the Minimi i licit- the t rciuMing horse
stood |?:iiit!!ig. nod the rider lay on
the ground ->o im rcnine w ith weak
n??.s tl,.it :! i?.is -oine 11 ? ? i ? - before he
v us nbl ? to wall*
Kcturnlnc on toe fo ihe m-cih* of
'he narrowly :??. . j ?-i I ir.iged\ when
he had recovered hi* -irengtb. he saw
that ;? ridye of tbnt protruding above
the limestone bail i . tbe animal's
feet and tool held-the wi-iuht ot horse
?nil ruler in thai ? lot - 'iinnieijt.?
Ton!b'- < ???mt?anloii
Date Growing in Ca'.forroa
I >. I f ?? twiltll* J?T< I U 11 I roil! s||i?o1S ftlflt
aer<i Mup'.rriMl from Mc?"-s jirc now
Nhunda n (I v lirrit Inj.' fruit iri flu- (*o:irh
?*I! 11 \ :?!!??> of ('alifiThiM f n Its (rrow
nuv r!i? ? (into crop _is I?><!<*.*??! pirtur
esfjuo A> a smpip. h?.'\o\?*r. it l?
hn p!!\ wi'M?|;nmvti?m?A i!in m ?i?rr?
in t lit- T.rvjint w hm* f??i untold < en
tnr.rv it h;i> I'l-cti iilniost i- iitijmhi:int
ulifiiT. Thoiurh i| woi'1'1 dotihi'es*
?nko it'orf t?>:i11 ni:ui?*roii> dates and
?r<iv?>s To nuike u Cii.nlon of I'.don still
?he-o ;irt* sU|i|x>s<mI lo I?ji\ ? ? Imm-ii tai
mrv iu that deU'^l ahlr> condition of
'hinkrv In m.dwlntrr It i plrasunt to
?h'nk of ?h?i? h m croc ;?s 'his growing
n* Mr si town mlhd Mf? ch In the
I' n: l ???' States.
Food Oil From Grapes.
The palatable and hichl.v nntrltlou*
new food oil from jjnipos i> citfirest
ed us ;> r;val for olive and cottoim??ed
f.! 1? for oinUnK ft'?d salad dressing.
I ?r .1 11 Shrnder of the (,*n't?*d State?"
hnr* ai? of plnnf in?1usir\ hi.d* that noi
onl> profitable fp:n nM '\ of xuoh
oil h?- derived from (he ?8<p of vine
yards. I it] ? f h:i t the <-? -od* of ["irnpUin^
loniMtfu* and oilier vegetables tuny he
utlTI z#?d In n v!tnliar wiy A mot hod
of tine tho seed* without
Intr to h ?-critPsl *t?Mo? In h?dng <W
reloped.
THE WANDERER
RETURNED
By GKNKVIEVK UI.MAR
(Copyright, l?*o. Wutirn New?i>tip?r Union)
lie had U'ft his native town a raw,
undeveloped hamlet. he 11u<1 returned
to hud It a m 11 a 11 city. In those hack
years a narrow-gauge cut off had run
a baggage and a g6C0Q4ol8ll passen
ger coach Once h day; now the trunk
line direct operated twenty. The estab
lishment of four Kreat plants at Vlr
den had come about, and Donald Hruce
Ntralned his gaze to Mud something fa
miliar, and experienced a strange
sense of disappointment, of loneliness
and of fear, for he knew not how
many of those he had come back boil
ing to tlnd might have passed away
with the new order of things.
He was bronzed, bearded, uncouth
as to dress, ami his pose was not that
of a man attended hy fortune. He
met no one he knew as he left the
dep< Me passed the site of the old
Kir house to find It occupied by
a to iceut hotel. Where a minia
ture lake had covered the center of
the public square there was an ornate
city hall.
Donald checked his steps as he
turned a corner round which he had
played "hunt the gray 1" In hla boy
hood days. His eager glance sought
the pleasant portlcoed structure he
had known as home. It was not there.
A public garage had superseded It.
His heart sank. An oppressive, brood
ing chill assailed him. Home, father,
mother?these he had dreamed of, and
had longed for?and now the Initial
augury was one of menacing despair.
Klght years' exile, long, weary wait
ing! He turned from the spot feeling
like ii stranger In a strange land. A
square farther on. his glance swept
a neat little cottage, set In a charm
ing neat of greenery. 7t whs the first
remaining token of the past that had
met ills view. There was the old-time
garden, and even the horse block upon
which lie had often rested. Donald
aat down upon It now, bis head bowed
In reyerie.
His mind went back eight years to
the oh I home, now swallowed up by
the monster of progress. ? His father
conducted a village general store
slow, methodical, a plodder. For two
years Donald worked there. He. was
paid no wages, lie rebelled at strict
ness and discipline.
"Father talks of 'slow but sure.' It
Isn't the world's way nowadays," he
hud one day told his great friend. Lucy
Gray, the daughter of the village phy-|
slclan. whose house he now faced.
"I'm tired of It! I'm going away to
see real life and earn reuI money."
And then and there he and Lucy, mere
I children thm they were, pledged them
selves one ti> Ihr other and parted With
' a kiss.
j How he had dreamed of pretty, lov
I Ing Lucy all those succeeding years!
! How he bad built up a fabric' of gaudy.
| gilded ambition ?a fortune won. a" re
| turn to his native town loaded down
with riches, to prove to his methodical
father that dull urubblng was a poor
business system !
Tint hi* was not the path of for
tune. 11?? had wjorked hard, but sue
I cess had always eluded him. He.lost
t his grip?hi* nerve - at last. He was
1 homesirk, dispirited, all broken- up.
j Without a dollar he had left Virden,
without h dollar he had coine back.
I Contritely, humbly, he was ready and
willing to assume the burden lie hadi'
' onee disdained, to acknowledge that !
I his father was right and he himself
I wrong, longing for the old sweet home
! life, with all Its loveliness a# the
4* I
greatest boon In the whole world.
And now? His snul shrank within j
him. His parents were probably dead,
the little business enterprise of his fa-> i
ther engulfed by the rush and havoc of
the new rule of advancement. He start- '
ed up as a step sounded near him,
and a kindly voire spoke:
"What Is if, my man?"
Donald thrilled a* bis oyes rested
on the speaker. He recognized him
In an instant. It was Doctor (Iniv.
changed, grown old. hut the friendly,
sympathetic face was tin* same. At
tliHt moment a speeding automobile
passed by. Its electric lights focused
on his face.
"Why. it is Donald Hruce!" ei
claimed !he doctor. He sat down <m
the horse block, retaining bis heart\
Kri|? on Donald's hand. "Where have
?on been all these years1 fJet in I
want to talk to you."
Doctor Cray led the way to the
gravel madw?v where his old fash
I?j.hiuUou?sfnntl rendv f.?r hint
Slow l\ the ancient horse attached took
thent flown the street. With manifest
Inten-st the physician listen*! to the
story of the wanderer. As they retried
the clt \ hull he shId :
"Your father passes mo?t of his
fltto? there.?Just elected mayut for a
sf( ond term."
Then aft*r urgln* up th?* laggard
xfr>ed hnd reaching a handM?me man
?!on on the principal residence street
he added : "There Ik where your fa
ther and mother live My old friend
P.ruce made his fortune when the town
hooin nine. Co In now, la<V The
prodigal sun? That's no shame You
will get a sure welcome from (hose
who have never forgotten you
For only a moment IV>n?ld lingered
Kager longing was In his f?ee rupt
tenderness In his eyes as he silked
?oftlv :
"And I.tier?"
"Nor tiaT she forgotten," <?p?'ke 'he
goou dv.or "Come around to *hr
house as soon ??? you ar<? titled, and
?he will tell you so."
SENATE SWAYED BY YOUTHS
Conspicuous Examples of Precocity
Furnished by the British Com item,
th? Moth tr ot Parliament!.
For m Iouk fine It has been a Brit*
l?h boast that the house of com in on ?
la the u.oxt Widely representative ot
all legislative hud lea. Mince It Includes
QOt only nil social Kindt's, hut nuoibfft
among It* membership men of till ages,
from the mere youth to tlie octogena
rian.
So lung ago as the year 1013 there
were 40 legislators In the commons
who hud not attained their twentieth
year, and, Inclredlble as It may seem,
certain of .these were only sixteen
years of age. \ ? I
Kdmund Waller, the poet and cour
tier of Stuart days, was a schoolboy of
sixteen when he qualified as a M. P.
He was, as Clarendon says, ''nursed
In parliament," and probably fuiv
nlshed the only Instance of a man who
could took back upon, two-thirds of a
century to his debut as a legislator."
Charles James Fox was but nine
teen when he wan '.'returned" to par
liament for the "pocket borough" of
Mldhurst. He was not many weeks
, older when he made one of the finest
I "maiden speeches" ever heard at West
minster. "I heard It spoken of by
i everybody as a most extraordinary
i thing." his father wrote to a friend,
"and I am not a little pleased with it."
Chesterfield was a legislator at
i twenty, when he entered the com
mons. His first speech Is said to have
? "electrified the house." His triumph
1 was, however, undiminished by the
circumstance that as he was not yet
of age Me was liable to a heavy fine
for speaking In the house.
More precocious yet was William
Pitt. Although he had passed his
twenty-first birthday when Appleby
sent him to parliament, he had with
in a few weeks after the taking of his
seat established himself as the keen
est debater and the finest speaker In
the commons. Upon the conclusion of
his "maiden speech" a member of the
opposition was reported to have ob
served to Fox: "Pitt will be one of
the flrat men In parliament." "He Is
so already," replied Fox.
Pitt was scarcely twenty-three when
he was made chancellor of the .ex
chequer. At twenty-four he was prime
minister.
End to "Hotel of Kings/'
The Hotel Bristol, nicknamed "the
hotel of kings," nnd considered the
most select In Paris, Is now no more
hut the remembrance of a brilliant nnd
picturesque past. Founded In 1807 by
a British subject. Mr. Morlock. whose
son Is still the head of the firm, the
hotel soon after the war of 1870 was
patronized by King Edward VII, then
prince of Wales, whose photographs
with autograph signatures can be seen
In the hotel's salons, some from his
early youth when he wore a square
black beard, and others belonging to
a later period with the small pointed
beard which gave so much finesse to
his humorous smile.
King Oeorge of Oreece, King Leo
pold of Belgium, both dubbed "old Pa
risians," Queen Alexandra. King
George and Queen Mary, the king of the
Belgians and many others have been
among the royal guests of the Bristol.
And there It was, too, that Don Carlos,
king of Portugal, was Introduced to his
future bride. Princess Amelle. by the
then prlnre of Wales. An American
bank Is now moving Into the historic
building. .
Trees for Hall of Fame.
A popular tree at Spartansburg, 8.
C? the top of which was shot off dur
ing the Fourth of July celebration In
1832, has been entered In the hall of
fame for trees which Is being compiled
by . the American Forestry association.
From Lisbon, O.. comes the nomina
tion of the tree under which the In
dians and white settlers came to an
agreement regarding Iron ore to be
used In making kettles. Kalph O.
Smith of CMrclevllle. O., enters the
Logan Elm In that city. C. C. Iloyce
nominates (he Sir Joseph Hooker Oak
at Chlco, Cal. (.eneral Sherman esti
mated that 7,000 men could stand In
the shade of this tree.
A. I>. Dart nominates the "Largest
Live Oak" in the South, at Brunswick.
Oa? known to he a veteran in 1703. It
has a elrrntnference of 20 feet.
Fatal Famine After Feast.
A play, a dance and a feast, wind
ing up a season of plenty, was respon
sible for the near extermination of the
Qulglliingok tribe of natives last win
ter and spring, according to John H.
Ktlbuek. superintendent of schools for
the Kushokwlm River (Alaska) dls
li lei. ?
The famine following the feast, Mr.
Kllbuck ?ald in his annual report to
the bureau of education, eaused th??
deaths of at least 42 of the natives,
and would have wiped out the entire
elan tiad not missionaries eome to the
rescue with a meager supply of food.
It will be years. Mr. Kllhuck de
clared. before the Qulgllllngoks recov
er from the effects of their generos
ity. o
Mint Established Record.
The Philadelphia mint shattered
coinage record* in 1010. Domestic
coinage totaled .'?0o.01fi,00() pieces, as
compared with 3C7.845.000 In 1018.
Coinage I"r foreign countries amount
ed tf> 00..">'20 10* pieces, compared with
2*-4RO nnn |f, 1018.
Early Struggles
T??'' 'lie. Mr '.VomliHi of yotif early
Htt uggi -Ji."
mi? ah y ?* th#-y v ere
terrible u heti ?h?* ivurted to urmb n?j
eai * " ? Of} Journal
HORSE RACES NEXT TUESDAY AT RACE TRACK
si Coach of Beauty
zAdorns This Silent Chalmers
\f I *HE fine craftsmanship of coach building turned itself loose
J in this new appearing Chalmers. You observe a high
^ front line and a low rear line, which a well known artist
fhas said is the way a car should look.
You find nothing severe, however, about this Chalmers. It
has a new elegance, a new grace; and yet a quiet reserve distin
4/. ?
guishes the car from others.
Particularly does this appeal to you after youVe been seated
and touch your foot to the accelerator.
r The silent flow of power, the notable harmony, the ease of
the engine engage you. *
< And again you pay a compliment to Hot Spot and RamV
horn, which tackle the low grade gas of the day and make it
perform.
Thus the beauty which the eye sees is enhanced by the
beauty of action of its master engine; and you, too, say with so
many others that Chalmers surely is one of the few great cars
of the world.
George T. Little
Camden, S. C.
Quality First
Insist On Genuine Ford Parts
Imitation "Ford" pvarts are being .sold bv many mail-order houses,
down-town stores and garages to unsuspecting Ford owners as "Ford"
parts. But they are not Genuine Ford parts made by the Ford Motor
Company. These imitation pvarts are not even made from the same
grade of steel,, or under the same formulas used by the Ford Company.
They arc eo intorfcit pvarts.?Tests haac nhown them to break when the
genuine Ford parts didn't even bend, and they generally are from thir
ty-fipve to one hundred per cent lower in quality.
The Authorized Ford Dealer is your protection. As such, we handle
nothing but the Genuine Ford parts. They are made from the famous
Ford Vanadium Steel and each part?according to its use?is heat-treat
ed in the way that will give it the longest wearing qualities. Every part
is the same as its duplicate in your Ford car or Ford truck.
Our "stock of parts is complete. And our Ford garage and Ford me
chanics are at your service at all times. Drive in when replacements or
repairs for 'your *"ord car may be necessary. Save your car and also
your monev.
Kershaw Motor Co.
Phone 140 Camden, S. C.