Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

VOL. 1.] EASLEY, SOUTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1884. ,he fausleg 41essenger. Ente-Aed at the Po3toffice at Easley S. C., as Second Clas' Matter J. B. HAGOOD, Editor and Prop'r. , TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One ear, 'r,.i tt it advance......$1.00 Six months ". 65 RATES OF ADVERTISING. One square (1 inch) 1 insertion......75c Each subsequent Insertion............40c Liberal discount on contracts or by itie column, half or quarter column. Marriage notices free and solicited. Obituaries over 12 lines charged for. Correspondents. to Insure attention, must give their full address. We are not responsible for the opin !ons of our correspondents. All commiutications for the paper .must be addressed to the Editor; busiiess letters to the Publisher of the MFSSENGER. Easle, S. C. THE OLD BEAU. How cracked and poor his laughter ringst How dulled his eyes. once flashing warm! But still a courtly pathos clings About his bent and withered form. To-night,' whtere mirth and nusjq d iells, His wrinkle cheek, his locks of snow, Gleam. near the grandsona of the belles He smiled on forty years ago! We watched him here, and half be lieve Our gaze may witness, while he prates, Death, like a footman. touch his sleeve, And tell him that the carriages waits. -Edgar Fawcett. BETSY HAMILTON'S LETTER. A Pketch of Life in the Backwoods. Craps was all laid by and it wasn't haru for the new writin' marster to git up a class; the young folks all jined mostly for the fun of gittin' together. A right smart chance of old folks tuck lessons too. Old man Loftis lowed he had allers hearn it said it was never too late to larn, and he was a gwine to larn how to sign his name if nothin' more, 'peared like he had been makin' of his X mark long enough. We' uns seed the writtin' mar stem a comin' and maw she jerked the broom quick and swept up the hath, and sot a cheer in the entry and axed him to light and come in. Cousin Pink and me and Cale dony got back in the shed room and peeped through the crack of the door at him. 'What mought be your name?' said Aunt Nancy, "ef I mought be so bold as to ax.' 'Broom is my name,' says he, and Cal she snickered. and whis pered, 'A new broom sweeps clean,' I says she. 1 He sot a bit, then axed: i 'Whar do you'uns keep your i drinkin' water?' and went back to j water shelf, and atter he drunk a < gourd of water he tuck a wash; I and long as he was a stranger, 4 Flurridy she riz the chest lid and I tuck out a bran new store bought handtowel, that hadn't never been biled, and he scrubbed and scrub bed, and I know in reason he inought have scrubbed thar tel yet if Aunt lNancy hadn't a tuck pity on him and gin him a old saff towel. 'Them as never has tried to dry ther faces on one of these here new stiff store bought towels 'fore hit's been washed don't know how aggrevatin' it is,' says Aunt Nan cy, tryin' to be civil mannered to wards him. "rake a cheer and set down and be seated.' The minute the Freshours sees anybody at our honse here they comes. The ole 'oman come in a puffin' and a blowin' to see who the stranger was, and the chillun come a tearin' across the truck patch fetchin' in all the mud on ther bar feet. They stood right afore him with ther eyes and mouth wide open. Some chillun, you know, couldn't see a wink lessen ther mouth was open. We gals had slicked our heads and starch ed our faces and come out, and was all standin' around like he was a monkey show. He had on tied his bundle and was a showin' the spessiments of his hand write and all sorts of little birds in red ink and blue ink, some a settin' up on quill pens and some with leaves in ther mouths. And he had a goose a swimmin' on the water that he lowed he made all once't without takin' up his pen, and Aunt Nancy she winked at maw didn't believe nairy word of it. Flurridy lowed them birds tuck her eye, and Cousin Pink lowed the goose tuck her'n. The little Freshoura' 'peared like they would jist bardaciously climb all over the man spite of everything if ther mammy hadn't jerked 'em back. She gin Dick a jerk and lowed: 'Set down thar, Dicky, the stran ger don't want to nuss you. Come here to me, Becky Ann, you're too big to do that way, pine blank like you never had saw nothin' aforei in your life; and you know your 4 uncle Josiah Freshours drawed a< bird and a tarripin too out'n red ink and blue ink too--set down < 'fore I slap you down, and quit ai gazin' like you hadn't never saw nothin' afore, and which you knowi you is.' He wanted pap to let him put < our names down. Pap he Wasi about half tight, and lowed: < 'I don't know as I keer about it. Ky folks ken all writ tollerable a ,air fists, leastways they ken read < ,t theyselves. But I reckin they'll I dl want to take-they most ingin- f ierly takes every fool thing as somes along. They buys from all s 'he peddlers, and allers gits cheat- I 3d; they tuck cipherin' lessons I !rom that rethmetic man, and he I was gwine to larn 'em all so fast I bow to do any sum in the United ( States in two minutes and a half, I and he never so much larnt 'em how to count six aigs. Then they tuck singin' from that ar trout- t mouth squealin' fiddler that come along here last year at tater dig- 1 gin' time. The fact of the busi- 1 ness is this whole settlement is about half crazy. He never larnt 1 'em a dime's worth as I could see. 1 But nevertheless, howsomever, not- 1 withstanding, singin' you know is i one thing and writin' is tother, and while I maintains to the doctrine 1 that a pretty hand write haint no sign of smartness, nevertheless, notwithstanding I never stands as no stumbling block in the way of my chillun a larnin' nothin'. Live 1 and larn have allers been my mar- i tow, but I'll tell you the truth and 1 stake my afildavit oh h, that the I biggest fool ever I seed writ the 'I beautifullest hand write.' Then Aunt Nancy up and low- i ed: 'Is it 'no larn no pay,' or is you 1 got to plank up the money afore band? Sposen now, for n'instance, I goes and takes, jist sposen you know, and sposen I don't .arn how will you gimme my money back or will you keep it? That's what I desire to inquire fore I puts my name down. leastways that's what I I'm axin' aforehan'. Not as I am a thinkin' of puttin' it down, mind 1 you, but I was jist a sposen.' He laughed and told her if she'd take he wouldn't charge her noth in', and so he put her name down. When old man Freshours hearn i bhat old man Loftis was a gwine to I ake writin' lessons he lowed he 1 wouldn't be outdone, and told the ( writin' mnarster to put his name < lown too. 'And you ken jist come ] ver to my house,' says he 'and eat I >ut the worth of it in vittles, or i you ken wait tel I ken take some i water-millions to town airy otme, dds is the difference to me.' But odds wasn't the differencei Uo Mr. Broom. He eyed old Fresh urs a minute (he had done seed1 yld Miss Freshours and the chil-1 tn) and said he believed he'd iruther wait tel he sold the water nillions, and who blamed him? The writin' school was hell atj ~he school'ouse. In course me and Dal sot together and kep up a pow-4 sr of gigglin' and not much writ .n's We sot on a long bench side >f a long desk. I looked away 1 iowni at tother eend of the bench. ,nd seed 1ky Roberson a twistin' of his mouth every letter he writ. hunched Cal argdIne and her rot to laughin'. 'Look at Aunt Nancy,' says I, Lnd she was a twistin' of her lips 'ust one side then tothet, jist pine )lank like shle was a cuttin' out a Irock with the scissors. Then we ooked down the bench and toth hrs was all screwing ther mouths oo. Cap Dewberry wusser'n all. rhe writin' marster come and ax d me and Cal what was tile mat ;er. Cal she lowed: 'Haint thar some way to larn a )ody to write without writin' with ;her mouths?' He lowed he didn't twist his'n, )ut we watched him when he sot he next copy, and he looked pine )lank like he was a gwine to whis le. Me and Cal had a power of fun, )ut we never larnt mph. Two >r three of the gals fell in love with r. Broom, and was jealous of Cal 1dony. But when he left all of a muddent betwixt two days, bekase Ohe lawyers was atter him for steal n' that fin6 ridin' critter, they was nonstrous glad he was gone. Pap owed: 'The new Broom swept iisef to partrutflknown.' When old Miss Freshours hearn t, she lowed: 'Thar now, I knowed it all tile ime, for I dreamp I peed him a .rossin' of muddy Wator.' BETsY HAMILTON. WOULDN'T TAKE His ADVICE. 3ne day soon after Pope's defeat it second Bull Run, and Chantily, i private soldier belonging to an )hio regiment sought an interview with his captain, and announced ;hat he had a plan for a military .ampaign which must certainly re mit in crushing out the rebellion. rhe officer very naturally inquir Ad for particulars, but the soldier 'efused to reveal them. and asked 'or a chance to lay his plans.be 'ore Pope himself. After some lelay he was given a pass to head Uarters. He did not get to see Bope, but after tihe chief of staff lad coaxed and promised and bhreatened for a quarter of an hour he Buckeye stood up and replied: 'Well, sir, my plan is for John~ Plope and Bob Lee to swap comn nands, and if we don't lick the south inside of sixty days you nay shoot me for a patent hay 'ork swindler.' When he returned to camp he wras naturally asked what success 10 met with, and he ruefnlly re >lied: 'Well, thley had a plan of their 'What was it?' 'Why they took me out and >ooted me for a mnile and a half!' .--Detrait Press.,