Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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jt'SM "'1 THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, 8. C., NOVEMBER 5, 189G. 3 ‘‘OVER IN GEORGY.” Tho Sago 'pf Rocky Crook Still LivftS to Learn. Ilow liob t'hiulwU'U “Ijrarnt to I.lvo”—A Natural kUir:i l%ol—Men anti Poli tics and TlUr'-KS la tho <Joobcr\tatc. “You will have 1o live to Icani before you learn to live.” That, is the plain. general doctrine which grandfa ther (may h i a race run on for ever and his tribe increase ac- cordin) give out to me in his blunt f: /" a**.? •y’iiijt' >Mfc' f, ' /C old-fashion way. 1 “The smartest v \ V. man in t he round, ^ V'- v created world 'i V would be n nat- ural . born (lurn fool if he didn't mix and mingle up with the human iii.ee, and sec and hear, and live and learn,” that, good old man would go on and say. “Mortal man, if you tithe him single and alone by him self, Rufus, is powerful small potatoes, with but v« ry few in the hill and the rows six feet apart.” The .Sie::rt-T,ook»ttg Man. “A man's mouth is most in generally his open enemy, Rufus,” the dear de parted old man were wont to tell me, “but his eye ; and his ears are more than probable to be hiK best, personal friends. The good Rook says somethin about, a man puttin a bridle on his tongue, or wearin a padlock on, his lips —or words to that extent—but you can use your ears and eyes for all they arc worth. You never can learn anything to speak of from your mouth, Rufus, and it is tremendous doubtful if any body else can. But him that has got, ears to hear and eyes to see with Jet him hear and see and live and learn. “Now thine was my friend and fellow- citizen. Bob Chadwick—Col. Robert W. Chadwick, as other people, used to call him—he never did have many brains To be plum straight and plain about it, Bol) was born and bred, a fool, and ho i.ved and died a, feo! on general facts and principles. You sec I had went to school with that boy—we use to run together considerable in our young and rowdy days and as to book lenmin, they never c ould git Bob to take any of that in bis’n. They didn’t have no foundation to start on, and consequen tially they couldn’t do any buildin to speak of. But Bob he used his eyes and his ears to see and hoar with and didn’t talk much with ids mouth. Inthatway he lived to learn and he soon learnt to i.lvc. He was a rale handsome young ster, and when he growed up I do nat urally think he was about the smartest look in man I ever saw. lie was the ' same durn fool that lie always was to jprte, but I didn’t, say nothin about it, "and of eour-e Bob wouldn’t, give h.m- r;elf away, and the people in general never did tumble to the naked facts in ♦ he case. TS: y jest simply took the man on his general appearrnents, and as I said before, he could look the smartest of any blame fool I ever saw. “In the run of time Bob got into a race for the legislature, and wnseleeted by a smashing large majority. And when he got up there he didn’t do a blessed thing butwear fine clothes r ml look smart. ILc didn’t talk and he didn’t act. lie didn't do a blamed thing, 1 tell you, hut by crackcy, he was the smart est-looking man in the whole congrega tion. Now anybody can see wherein Bob belt the trump cards and played the winnin hand. For a common thing when a man goes to the legislature to save the country, half of the pec^jlo cuss him for what he does, whilst the other half v ill cuss 1dm for what he don't do. But ;li, y couldn’t cuss Bob Chad wick. He didn’t do anything, and they didn’t have nothin to cuss him about. “Well, Bob he went to the legislature a» long as h< wanted to, and then pies- ently lie pitched out and run for eon- gress. Did he git there? Well, I should say. He never had done a blamed thing to make anybody mad—he was way yonder the most handsomest and smart est-looking man. in the district—and consequentially everybody was for him and he win the. race in a dog walk. “When finally at last Bob Chaihx ick — ripe in years and full of honors—took sick and dkd, the ftcoplc give him the gonehyest biggest funeral that has ever come to pa- s in this country. By that time he v. m still Bob Chadwick, the nat ural-born fcol, to me and a few more that knowed li ! m in his younger days. But. to the. people in general he was Col. Robert W. Chadwick, and the smarter,t- lookin man in the district. lie lived to learn, Rufus, and he had learned to live.” Homo “ Georgy I’olltlrs.*! So gradually by degrees I have lived to learn. And so in the fullness of time I hope I will learn to live. J wouldn’t make any brags about what I know—■ which they tell me though that brains always did run in the Sunders family— hut this little, bit 1 do know. What I know 1 know, and I know I do know a whole pasd« more than I use to know. I have now lived a right smart whet amongst the people in this lonely strip of country- seein and henrin n heap and tayin but precious little with my month--and 1 have learnt a little some thin In the main time. I took a trip the other day and went over into the hills of Georgy, and I learnt something over there. I learnt that th ey have plain American citizens and red Ui>t | olities somewhere else bc- s’des right mound here in the regions of Rocky Creek. They have had some pelit ‘c ; over there in Georgy here iately. They had a soorobin hard fight and a clo.st finish, and they had burnt the Is and sifted the ashes for voters .H.v like we sometimes do flown in this plain and pleasant country. Phe native air was so hot and so blue over there in Georgy till blamed it It didn’t make me think of good old times back here at home. When I first landed over there they had got things worked up to where the fight was powerful entortainin to a stranger. They had jest opened up with the cussin and the bettin. And I soon lenmt tlhat they sometiir cs bet on the elections in Georgy, whilst all the variegated fools in America don’t live right around Rock}’ Creek. ARP WANTS RICHES. Bartow Sago Says It Is Commend able to Acquire Wealth. Thinks Bryan Sure to Win—Fond of Work the rhilosopher'Puts in Time Driv ing Up tho Cow and Mend ing tho Fence. A Strange Flection Bet. In the settlement where I had took out ami put up for a few days I belt the stakes in the dadblaindest, most strangest election bet you ever heard tell of, perhaps. Maj. Gofney was a shoutin temper ance man and tooth and toenails for the prohibition candidate for governor, whilst Vick Hudman was a scream in democrat and for the democratic candi date first, last and forevermore. The major is as straight as a shingle, as sober as a judge, and stands way up in tho church, whilst Vick is about the wildest and roughest-and toughest cus tomer in tho settlements The major wears a silk plug hat, calfskin boots, a double-breasted Winchester coat and a stake-and-ridered shirt, whilst Vick xveare rale shabby elorthes and but pre cious fexv of them. The major leads the prayer meetin, xvhilst Vick does the cussdn and drinkin and fightin for the settlement. Anyhow, one day Vick and the major they got into a red-hot argyfication in regards to politiies, which of course they both fel t like they belt the winnin hand. The more they talked the hotter they got, till presently he went to cussin a little around the edges and the'bettm time had come. “I xvill bet you $50 my man xvins the race—50 to 20, major,” says Vick. “You know good and xvell, Vick, that my xvnlk is upright and blameless, and I can’t l)ct on the election,” says the major. “Fifty to ten that the democratic xvar horse swings down under the wire first —50 to ten, major, says Vick. “I wouldn’t l>et money on anything at any odds, and you knoxv it, Vick,” says the. major. “Fifty to live, major—fifty to five— put up or shut up,” says Vick. “Tell you what I xvill do xvith you, Vick,” says the major. “You knoxv I couldn’t, bet, but I xvill gr> into a wager xx-ith you to this extent. 1 xvill solemnly agree if your man xvins I xvill go to toxvn the nexitdnynnd git drunk and have a street fight with a free nig ger—xvhieh you knoxv I wouldn’t do that right noxv for a hundred dollars— provklin, Vick, if my man xvins you do likexvise solemnly agree to dress up in good clothes like I wear the next Kun- day and go to church and lead the prayer meetin. Now, Vick, you can put up or shut’up,” says the major, as he leant back on hisdignity. “By gatlins it’s a go, major—it’s a go,” soys Vick. “Remember, Vick, if I win you xvill have to xvenr a double-breasted Win chester coat and a silk plug hat,” sa} ti the major. “I haxe got your company, major,” says Vick, “and the Winchester coat, plug hat and everything goes. But if »n ease I niought xvin, major, remem ber it must be. a genuine, drunk and a rale street fight xvith a free nigger.” So they went into a solemcholy agree ment to that general extent, and then put up ten dollars—five to the side—in orderment, as Vick said, to make the xvnger stick It then come my xvay— bein a blank stranger in them jiarts and takin no particular stock in the election —to hold Ihc stakes. Ho I held the money and remained over to see the shoxv out. When the Horse Mails Come In. Noxv then. When finally at last thef boys at. the confluence of the streams had spoke on election day, and the horse mails come in from the four cor ners of the grand old state of Georgy, lo and behold the prohibition candidate had took a trip up the snaggy fork of Halt Creek, whilst the democratic can didate xvus still in t he saddle witn spurs on both feet. Consequentially Maj. Gafney he lost, whilst Vick Hudman win the pile. It 'vas jest as natural like and easy as beat in txvo pair, queens up, with three aces and a pair of tens. But the major he xvns dead game. Ho. nex-cr flinched nor flickered. Him and Vick they met up together and xvent to town the next, day. And 1 went along xvith them. The major and Vick they proceeded at onest. to change their breath as reglar and frequent as they could conxenient, and in little or no time the major he xva.s tanked up to the general ratio of six bits in the dollar. Along in the shank of the cvcnin— to the general astonishment of all the people that didn’t knoxv the mninest facts in the case—Maj. Gafney showed up in public as happy ns a sunflower and as mellow as a May pop. And then presently, accordin to his melancholy understandln xvith Vick, lie went forth and raised n roc us and had a genuine street fight xx'ith a free nigger. One thing I ntn bound to say in re gards to th*.* major—he xxus a xx’hole team and a holy terror when he onest got ripe and mHlow, with, his fightin clothes on. And to the Wst of my rec- ollectiom xvhon xvc left town thatevenin there xvus one colored x-oter in Georgy xvhieh looked like he monght. of rode a thrashin machine through a hurricane. Noxv, as for me, I didn’t have nothin to do with the ease, only I belt the stakes and remained over and tarried around there in Georgy long enough to see for certain xvhieh xvay the eat would jump. It suited me all right for Vick’s man to win the race. But oth- erxvise I did hade mortal bad to see the major lose the wager. It xvould look strange enough to sec Vick Hudman dress up and go to church and play good for one time. But it xvns a whole lot worn 1 , to see the major limber up ami come down so low as to have a rale, genuine street fight xvith a free nig ger. RUFUS SANDERS. It seems to me that the demagogues are underrating the intelligence of the people when they denounce a candi date because he is rich, or because he owns some stock in a national bank. That is all I haxe seen charged against Mr. Hexvall. Seaborn Wright, whoxvas the choice of tho populists, spoke hon estly and frankly xvhen he said: I regret to say that I have no stock in n national bank.” I don’t suppose there is a reputable populist in the country xvho would refuse to own some if he could get it fairly. This effort of the demagogues to excite in the poor envy and hatred of their more fortunate fcl- loxv citizens is shamefully disgusting. If a man acquires xvealth honestly, he should be commended for it. Abraham xvas rich, and so xx'ns Joseph and Laban and Job and Solomon, and Joseph, of Arimathen, xvho laid the body of Christ in his oxvn nexv tomb. Every man xvho is any account is trying to better his condition, and would get rich if he could. ' So I don’t believe that the pop ulists are opposed toScxvall because of his xvealth, and xvhen I hear any of their leaders say they are. it is my opin ion they are lying. They ta’k glibly about plutocrats, and some of them seem to think that xvealth and Pluto and hell are nil mixed up together. The fact is that Pint ns, xvho xva.s the god of xvealth, xvas a very different person from Pluto. For a long' time ho gave riches to the good only, but Jupiter did not like that, and fimote him xvith blindness, so that he could not tell the good from the bad, and over since then everybody has had an equal chance to get his fax’ors. Mythology says he xvns club-footed and slow in movement xvhen approaching a man to give him money, but xxdien he took it away his feet took wings and he fairly flexv axvny. They must hax-e gotten that idea from the Scriptures which say riches have xvings and fly axvny. Plutns xvas a good-hearted, clever, generous god, and I don’t like to hear him slandered. The boy with the cornucopia was his mark, his ensign, and I never see that picture but what l think of him and wish he would come, this way and empty his horn of plenty. I xvould like to feel the feeling of a plutocrat l>eforc I die. But the long agony xvill soon be over and it xvill lie a great relief to ms alb whether xve lose or xvin. Once I heard Bob T . "lor, xvho xvas running against his bro her, make a speech, and in clos ing he urged his hearers to vote for him, but said he: “If you . can’t eonseien- t'ously do so, then vote for my brother Alf.” If Bryan is not elected it will be a grain of comfort to knoxv Unit sonieo f my good neighliors are gratified. If I possibly can I am going to rejoice xvith those xvho rejoice. But there are some signs that I do not like. Who is back ing up this anarchist, Lautcrbach. in his treasonable utterances? lie say® that if there is not one xvay to prevent Bryan l>eing president there is another. Does he mean to have him counted out by bribery as Mr. Tilden xvas? Has he g,>t the scheme fixed, and is it to be •lone with Hanna’s 1 am i:; of money? I read some time agon boast that $10,- 000 apiece xvould buy every election manager in Chicago. That xvould take only a million to buy 100 managers, and they say they have got $10,000,000 at- their command. Is it possible that so good, so honorable a man as McKinley w ould consent to such iniquity ? 1 don’t l>elicve it. May lx* the conspirators hav-' plotted n scheme through the court* to get a bill of injunction and let Cleve land hold over pending the litigation. I xx ish I did know xvhat Lautcrbach means to do in ease Bryan is elected. It is getting very close noxv, close in time awl clone in count. The betting is alxiut even. Two months ago it was fifty to one on McKinley. From time to time it dropped to ten to one, and then five to on© and thiee to one and two to one. and noxv is alxnit exen and fexv takers. 1 knoxv a New York man xvho xx-ritea for a republican paper and scarifies Bryan nxvfully, but says in a letter to me: “It looks noxv like he is going to lx* elected.” Well, xve xvill wait a fexv days longer and sec. I am prepared for the worst, and for the Ixxst too. I haxe my con- x ictions and my hopes, but both may he wrong—but I am no pessimist. I do not fear that the nation xxill l»e ruire.l if things do not go my xvay. Man is naturally a vain, conceited creature, and when he forms an opinion bexvants things to linjqx'ii that xvay whether it is the right xvay or not. lie delights to say: “I told you so.” Now I am going to quit thinking about jiolitieK, for a dsiyorso at least.. For my wife has forewarned, me that rt is the right time do take up tihe plants and bulbs and pot- t hem and put them in the pit- She is very careful about the kind of soil I plant t hem in, and -so I liave to toko fhc wheelbarroxv, which Is the unicycle now, and get some leaf mold from the corners of the fence. Then I have to get some fertile fnsn the barnyard and mix .with it and some 'pawl to go on lop. She Iktstsos it all very kindly, and I have nothing to do but thework. I likerthnt. It relieves me from responsibility. If a plant dies in the pit I can say: “I fixed it just ns you told me." She has given the' heifer calf to one of the children, and now the old cow is ’lowing all the day long and the ca|f is bleating at its new home, and my wife is so worry for both that slic wants them brought together again. I believe she sympathizes mor • with the cow than the calf, tor she soya that children soon get weaned from their mother, but the mother i ever for- gete her child. Tlnut is so with human beings, but not with cminmls. Their af-. fectlon is strong, but their memory is weak. In a few days t licit cow will forgtot that she even- had a calf. Provi dence has arranged all these things It is astonishing hoxv many little things there are to do about the house and home. It took nil day yestenfciy to put down the carpets for the winter. 'They were «hakcn and beaten thoroughly last spring, xvhen taken up, but my wife xvnnted them shaken again. The fnrni- turd had all to be taken out- and the. books in the bookcase dusted, and the old sofa mended. The paper matting and a lot of newspapers had to lie spread on the floors before the carpets were put down. The wimloxv glass xvas xx’ashed and exerything renewed and brushed up for the coming xvinter. That Is all right, and I am glad that it is all done, for It is a power of work. I didn’t do much of it. for noxx I am like the clown in the circus, xvho nl- xvays gets there just too late to help move things out of the ring; but I had the back fence to fix up. The old cow had broken it down to get to her calf, and I htad to go after luer and drive her Idotoc. I used to have boys to do these, things, but they are oil gone and I am the only boy left on the premises now. It is hard, but it is fate, and I am not complaining. The old mare is 28 years old and can hardly travel, the old dog lies in the piazza and <xin hardly wag his tail, the big old oak in the back yard is dying at the top, and man can not escape the common infirmity. The jKict says that “man xxos made to mourn,” but I do not think so. He is born to trouble, but he needn’t mourn about it. Let him fight the Irattle of life brax’cly.—Bill Arp, in Atlanta Con stitution. THE NATIONAL ELECTION Earn Jonon Takes a Look Over tho Field. "TWO BITS.” The Story of an Army Home an Told Over Ills Grave. “Hello, you’ve got a giant here,” 1 said to my blue-coated guide as I wan dered through the little military grave yard at Camp Downing and stopped by a big mound all alone in one corner. The old fellow touched his cap in salute before the tall xvhite head-stone, ami dropped a handful of smoke-bush blossoms oh tho grave. “ ’Tain’t no man, sir—it’s a boss; it’s old ‘Two Bite.’ ” “But why b he buried here xvith the soldiers?” 1 questioned. “Buried here, sir? Why you must be a stranger sure; 1 thought everybody, knew aliout old ‘Two Bits’ an’ his savin’ company A. “It xvas txvo years ago xx-hen them Apaches, that eastern folks think so much of, xvas raisin’ the devil. They raided the ranches lielow here an’ killed a lot u’ women an’ children, an* run off all the stock; an* company A xvas sent out. after ’em, •'They ambushed us at Dirty Crock, more’n twice as many of ’em as xve thought was this side of San Carlos: but xve managed to git into a little clump of scrub oaks an' held ’em cfi.' till sundown. “Then our cap’n see it xvas all up with us if help didn’t come from the post; an’ he called for a volunteer 1 j ride old Two Bits past them devils an’ carry the xvord. “ ‘Two Bits had boon on the trade in his young days, an’ held the belt for long-winded mnnin*. Many’s the time I’ve seen Cap clean up a hatful of Mex ican dollars racin' him ag’in the eoxv- boys’ ponies. He xvas a big chest nut sor rel. xvith white feet an’ a white face; an’ him an’ Cnp’n loved each other like twin brothers. I’ve knowed Cap to go hungry lots o’ times spoutin’, so’s old ‘Two Bits’ could have his hard-taes; an’ he’d hold up his hea ’ an’ drink out of a canteen like a reg’lnr—you be* it xvns mighty dry times if that old boss didn’t git ids share. “Well more’n a dozen of the boys of fered to go, hut Cap picked out ‘Curly’ White, the toughest, and lightest man in the lot, to do the ridin’. “While they xva.s gittin’ him ready ‘TxvoBits’just stood an’ rubbed his nose on Cap’s arm like he xvus sayin’ that if xve didn’t hoar the old troop bugle's in- fore mornin’ it xvouldn’t be his fault. “Then ‘Curly* grabbed his gun an’ swung into the saddle; an’ we nil hol lered an’ yelled an’ made a break for Hie Injun lines on the side away from the jiost like xve xvas l.ouml to go through That give ‘Curly* a chane<\ an’ he took It, you l>et. Old ‘Two Bits’ shot up that valley like a streak—but there xvas a trail of Apaches behind him. We see ‘Curly’ drop the reins an*' turn in liis saddle an* go to sliootin’, an’ the Injuns fell back n little. “The race xvas nip an’ tuck for a mile, an’ once xve see old ‘Two Bits’stagger like he was hit; but he kept his foot an’ passed out of sight in the hills. Then the dark came down an’ xve waited. No, xve wasn’t Injun bait that time—the bugles of the old Third was u-ringin’ in the valley by daylight, an’ them Apaches got a lesson they'll be a long time forgittin*. “An ‘Curly’ an’ ‘Two Bits2’ Well, ‘Curly’ was shot clean through, but lux lived an’ is v.earin’ shoulder straps tor day. An’ old ‘Two Bits?’ Boor old ‘Two Bits!' He carried the word, an' lie carried txvo big balls from an Apache rifle till lie fell dead at (he. colonel’s door. “The men he saved put him here; an' I don't reckon none o’ them thutN si re pin’ long-side grudges him his room.” -New Bohemian. Y-M New : tylei». A • it*' satin shirt and bodice has the lain r emoicd with silk hioukscImic embroidered in ail'it and pearls. Bolero of xx hit© eh’ITon embroidered in sil'er, pink, tjue and faint, greui with an edging of chiffon frills. A deep geranium pink ribbed silk i* trimmed with bodice draperk* em broidered in coral, jiearl and silver, and has a corselet of water-green velvet. Lavender moire velours has the seams outlined with an embroidery of amethyst* and silver. The sleeve* and corselet are of white gauze similarly decorated. A costume of xvhite Bekin in alter nate Inch-wide stripe* of satin and taffeta has a demi-train skirt and loxv round bodice. Short sleeve* of loco njid Bekin.—Chicago Record. The Peraonnl Integrity and Character ol the Candidates — The Crowds Ar rayed IJohind Fach—Why We • Do Not Prosper. More than 12,000,000 voter* are ( thinking and rending and talking and ; discussing the issues involved and the ; interest at stake in the election. Per- I haps in the history of America but one election meant so much to the future of this republic. The personnel of the txxo candidates, Mr. McKinley and Mr. Bryan, is without flaw no far us the records go. There have been no rail ing accusations brought against tit her. One 1 understand (Mr. McKinley) is n local preacher in the Methodist church. The other, Mr. Bryan, is a divout deneon of the Cumberland Bres- byterinn church. The personal integ rity and enaracter of candidates xvas nexer better. The issues and linesxx'ere never so closely draw n as in this battle. One is the champion of monometal lism and high tariff; the other the cham pion of free silver ami loxv tariff. There are two sides to this national election, and it is interesting to look behind the curtain and see the crowds arrayed behind each candidate. The moneyed men of America, with only an exception here and there, are back ing McKinley for all there is in it. The democrats or popocrat.** declare that every monopoly in the financial, com mercial and industrial world is with McKinley. Among these, xve find the heartless millionaires, the grinding corporations, together xvith the nation al banks. Greed and avarice stand by McKinley in this campaign. Of course 1 do net mean to say (hat there arc not millions of patriots, faithful, hon est, conserxntive, good men. in the ranks of monometallism. Then xve look at the crowd backing Bryan. The anarchists, the communists, the rab ble. arc with him from snout to tail. 01 course I don’t mean to say tl«t every Bryan man is an anarchist, n commun ist, or a tramp. Millions of good men and true will stand xvith Bryan. I don’t think either crowd ought to poke fun at the other. I am sure McKinley is not proud of some of his crowd; and if Bryan is proud of all his gang he i« not fit to be president of an island of goats. Business has been at a standstill for xxeeks. Money is timid, from the little country merchant up to the millionaire manufacturer. They seem to lx* xvait- ing with uncertainty and indefinite- nesn of plan and purpose till the elec tion is over. 1 am one American citi zen not looking for much to happen. I am not among the free # silver qroxvd who expect to wake up on the morn ing of the 4th of November and find silxer piled up as higli ns my head on my front porch. 1 am not looking for a cyclone of prosjierity if McKinley is elected. 1 am one of tlvose who believe that the prosperity cf this country is •U pendent neither U|K)n monometal lism or bimetallism. 1 believe the sins of extravagance, the sins of deception, the sins of fraud, the sins of rascality, the sins of rum, all stand up like a bul wark between us and prosperity. I beliex© in God and I believe God keeps His hand on this xvorld. I believe in the truth of the Bible; and I bcliex'e God xvill suffer no nation to prosper whose* sins multiply as our sins multi ply. This great nation is in league with the liquor trallic. This grant na tion is in sympathy at headquarters xvith monopolies that grind the life out of the people. TIgh nation at head quarters has either lost its voice or lost its conscience. With $2:i per capita xve have money enough to do the busi ness of the country. If xxe had as much confidence as xvc* have got monoy things xvould move along in rightehaa- mls and in right proportions. The student of history cun see his tory rcix'ating itself. Belshazzar had his feast, with the handw riting on the wall. Babylon is no more? Rome was the brightest star of empire the world ever saw- xvhen she ruled nil the earth. Now her glory has departed forever. There are problems which threaten the ruin of this country upon which poli ticians do not touch at all. McKinley and Bryan know us well as any God fearing men must knoxv that the $1,200,000,000 xve spend for whivky every year is equal in amount to all our coined gold and silver, and that xve can lietter afford to dump all our coined money Into the Atlantic ocean and dis solve copartnership with and obliterate whisky than xve can afford to let mat ters go on aa they are; am] yet these txvo leading Christian men would no more ojien their mouths on that issue than they xvould deliberately retire from the race* for the presidency. A free ballot and a fair count is an other problem which stands at the very basis of all good governments. The buying and selling of votes, the coer cion, the stuffing of ballot Ixixes must stop or the day will i-ome in America when there will be thousands of men killed at the jiolls. Every state In this union should adopt the Australian bal lot and affix ]>eiiultics and enforce the law u|x)ii every man who buys or s'*lls a vote, taiii|x*rs with the Isillot 1 sixes, er luterfers with the election returns. Another great problem xvhieh lies at the very basis of America Is this im migration question. If we do not close our ports against undesirable immigration we will soon take on a load xve can’t manage. In the assimi lation into American life of the mil lions xvho have already come we have got our stomachs out of fix, our blood diseased, and we hare broken out litre and yonder xvith chill-bluins urxl bolls and pimples. Keep afflicting the blood j and yonder with chilblains and boils Another great problem with (bis country is to put official position out of the reach of Influences which have so long dominated. Lobbying ought to be n felony. The legislator ought to be as unapproachable as the judge on the supreme bench of the United tffatca. A lobbyist ought, to be ns much out of place in the capitol at Washington as ho would be out of place in the United States supreme court room. These are some of the things xvhieh threaten tho overthrow our republic and the xvreck of our institutions. These questions xvill remain unsettled after the issues of this campaign have been settled. I declare it to be the honest conviction of my heart and mind. Mr. McKinley will not bring prosperity. Mr. Bryan cannot bring prosperity to this coun try. The conditions of prosperity must be met and they are not and will not bemetby thecontimianeeof the gold at a ndn rd or by the xve ird,wild, foolish va por ings and views of the free silver- ities. Free silver and monometallism xvill nomoremeet thecomlitions of pros perity than vascHiie will cure a earner or rain water xvill cauterize and takeoff a wart. We must grapple xvith the issues that really threaten the ruin of our re- public. The devil xvr.nts no better joke on this country than to see us take of? at tangents and run these side issues and let the things that are really cut ting the foundation away go on at (heir work. The man xvho is looking for a cyclone of prosperity the day after the election of November 3 is going to be xvoefully disappointed. There are some other things to do. Thera are many things we must not do again if we want prosperity to come to us. I am no free silver man and I urn not going to vote for Bryan. I am no re publican and I am sure I w on’t vote tor McKinley. I am a prohibitionist and I w ill vote for Levering and John son. I may throw- my ballot into the air, but 1 won’t throw it into the mud. 1 am sure my candidate won’t bo elected, and as far as I am personally concerned if my man is to be left I care very little xvhieh other one of the'-an- didates gets in. I always liked Tom Watson. Personally, In* is a clever fel low. I admire him row. After the democrats in the Tenth district have counted him txvo or three times out of congress and treated him like a dog, I glory in Tom’s spunk. If I xvas Tom I w ould give the democrats all the trouble I could. They thought they had Tom buried once, but Tom lias turned out to be the liveliest corpse that ever came tumbling out of a graveyard. If I was Tom I wouldn’t come down, and if I hey fooled'xvith me I wouldn’t fuse; but every opportunity I had I xvould turn the business end of a mule toxvards the xvhole gang and kick the filling out of them. I am for Tom Watson against the xvhole gang. He is a better man than any of his maligners, lie is a purer politician than any of his companions and got more sense than any of the big men in either party. Tom Watson can never act as badly towards the demo crats as the democrats have acted to wards him, I don't care xvhat he does. Fight it out, gentlemen. I am a pro hibitionist. Our crowd don’t have to fight. We are gentlemen. Yours truly, SAM P. JONES.' A PORTABLE BICYCLE. It Csn He Folded Into a Case and Carried l>y Hand. Tlwx “pocket bicycle” is not. a toy or plaything, but u full-sized machine, xvith pneumatic tire, regulation handle bar, brake of latest pattern, ball bear ings, and the thousand and one things that go to make up a high-grade ma chine. It is full size, and can be un screwed, taken apart and folded up. It looks like a seemingly hopeless task for anyone but askilWl mechanic tojiut a bicycle together, but tiic “pocket bicy cle” i» said to lie so simple that anyone «aai master the process after on ex* seeing it done. The fastening springs aod tiny l>olt* are, for the most jiart^ go deftly- fitted into the framexx ork as to lx* unno- tieeable to the casual observer. They are, however, made of the finest tem- ]>©red steel, strengthening instead of weakening the machine. The framework of the machine is at tached to the handle of the fork by fit ting into slots, and being clamped into ixxsition by a spring. The axle pins tux* somewhat longer thaji in an ordinary machine, and fit Into a notch in the end < of the fork, and at the points of tho frame xvhere the rear axle joins it. Tho seat lifts out of a deep groove which holds it firmly in place while the rider is on the machine, and the handle is held In place by a similar device. Perhaps the most curious part, of tho whole machine, however, is its wheels. In no way can they bo distinguished from ordinary wheel* xvhen in use, but they develop curious features xxlien it is desired to pack the machine. These xvheels are made in four quarter sec tions, each seetion being complete In Itself. When the tire has !»con slipped off, a spring concealed in tlie hub is pressed, and the wheel falls into four parts, each of which can be closed like a fan, and the wheel bccomea apparent ly four straight, sticks. The frame is jointed in three places, and here again springs hold It in shape xvhen it Is desired to use the machine. When It Ls to b© packed for trnnsportn- tion, the. pressure of a spring in tho handle locwens every spring in the ma chine, xvhieh simply falls to pi»*cos al- moatready for pocking Into the.smallest lossibie space. Every spring xxorks au tomatically, and putting th© machine together is hardly more trouble than taking It apart. When In sections and folded for trnnsportotion, «*ach portion of the machine is about of equal length and weight. These machines have 1*'©» introduced into France, and they are soon to be brought to this country. FomiiHnptlon of Alcohol. Frenchmen consume more alcohol than other Europeans, according to fig ures put !.-fore the Bssle congress far alcoholism. Jn the computation the amount of alcohol in light wines and lieer is Included. The average annual consumption of alcohol per lieud of population is 13 quarts in. France, 10 in Switzerland, Belgium and Italy, 0 in Germany and England, 4 in Sweden, 3 lu Norway and 2 iu Canada.