Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1 THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, 8. C.,|*TULY 2, i80«. -i PROGENY OF FREAKS. ^OME RESULTS OF ROMANCES IN THE SHOW BUSINESS. I The First Iio»l I.iving SUcleton, Ills Wife end Their Three Skin ami Ilone Sons. An Old Museum and Side Show Man- ■i** r Taps Ilia Memory Tank. f According to Manager T. E. Sackctt the Bijon theater, Isaac W. Spragne frits the first nuuaturalJy or abnormally th|u skin and bones man to bo exhibit ed to the public nuder the title of a “living skeleton.” It was during the palmy days of Baruum’s Greatest Show on Earth, and while that celebrated shpwman was raking the continents in search of curiosities in 1864. Incident ally Mr. Sackett was in those days with Tony Pastor. Mr. Sackett was acting as doortendor, manager and all around ipan for Pastor. He had previously been opt with Millie Christine, the two beaded girl, and had an eye out for freaks. When the Tony Pastor show reached Florida, Stone & Murray’s cir- Jfcus came there. The old inhabitants will remember Stone & Murray’s show. It was contemporaneous with Dan Bice’s, Thayer & Noyes' and afterward with the John Robinson circus. With Stone & Murray was Isaac W. Sprague, the living skeleton. Mr. Spragne had .been discovered by Baruum in Massa chusetts. He was the first living skele- Ijv ton on record since the discovery of the world by Adam. And Sprague was a | real living skeleton too. Ho was uoth- ing but skin and bones, yet ho was , healthy and jolly. In 1805 Barnum collected several cu riosities, including Spragne, .and sent them for a tour of the world. Sprague was the big card. Next to him was a skeleton woman, nearly as attenuated as Sprague, whose name has escaped the wonderful memory of Showman Sackett. Among the other freaks with which Barnum expected to and did as tonish the world was Joyce Hcth, the colored woman he picked up in the south, supposed to be 125 years old; the “woolly horse,” and Annie Swan, the first giantess ever on exhibition. Sprague, on the steamer going over Mo London, fell desperately in love with the skeleton woman. She returned his affection, and, according to Manager Sackett, who was on the voyage, it was •a sight for the sentimental to observe the billing and cooing of these attenuat ed specimens of Pharaoh’s “lean kine. ” The outre love affair gave Barnum a business hint, which he was not slow to take advantage of. On their arrival in dear old “Lunnou” the showman adver tised and heralded the astounding fact far and wide that on a certain day there could be seen at St. James hall (where , they were showing) something that the idjiad never before witnessed, name ly, the marriage of two living, breath ing skeletons. Ho also announced the fact that never before in the annals of show business had such a thing as the wedding of freaks been performed in public. This was a fact too. Of the enthusiastic crowds which such a unique announcement drew, or the interesting conduct of the living skele tons, wedded in the presence of “as sembled thousands,” Manager Sackett is silent. But he tells of a fact, how ever, which is of such interest that it was recorded in medical works, but never before has seen the light of news paper publication. That was that a year after the marriage of tho skeletons the wife boro a child which also was a “living skeleton. ” Stranger still to relate—but Sackett stakes his fortune on tho truth of} it— two other children were also born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprague, and they were also- of the skeleton mold. For many years afterward the parents traveled with their unnaturally thin offspring, and added to the stock of the world's astonishment, including both crowned heads and those that were bald. The original Sprague and his wife are dead, but the three skeleton children, now young men, are showing about tho coun try, healthy, happy and rich. This is the only case or succession of cases in medical annals where a father and mother transmitted the disease of wasting atrophy to their offspring. Mr. Backett also tells of another weird case that came under his observation in his peregrinating show days. Major Burnell, a celebrated showman of tho sixties, found a pair of freak twins in the south, tho offspring of colored peo ple. One of the twins, a boy, was black as Kongo stock. The other, a girl, was a pure albino. Tho major engaged the twins for his show and exhibited them for yours. Tho albino girl grew up and married an albino in tho west. The offspring of tho marriage was a baby as black as the ace of spades. Of course this enhanced tho showing price of Charley and his albino wife, and Major Bnruoll increased their salaries accord- iugly. D. K. Prescott was tho discoverer of tho far famed Bleeping Beauty, whom ho found in Tennessee in the sixties. Ho brought her to Bt. Louis. Bhe was a young girl of surpassing beauty, with but one fault discoverable. Bho slept nine tenths of the time. Bho was tho greatest puzzlo the medical men had ever seen. It was ono of theso latter who deprived her mother of a fortune and Prescott of one of his most popular curiosities. Tho young doctor was left alone in tho showroom one day while the beauty was sleeping os usual. His curiosity prompted him to take out his lancet and puncture her ai m. The blood started out and tho beauty uwoko with ■ scream. Hor mother rushed in from an adjoining room. Hceing tho blood flowing from her daughter's arm, sho fainted away. This ended tho showing of the Bleeping Bounty. Her mother took hor. homo, and sho never slept in public any more.—Buffalo Courier. Tho most easterly point of the United Btales is t^uoddy Head, Me. ; the most westerly, Atto island, Alaska; the most northerly, Point Barrow, Alaska; tho most southerly, Koy West, Fla. THEIR OWN PHYSICIANS, Self Dor tori ns Promoted by the 17*e of Med icine* In Compressed Tablets. Not only has tho general introduction of medicine iu the form of compressed tablets simplified tho work of the doc tor, but it has also vastly promoted self doctoring. The number of remedies put up in this form for popular use con stantly increases. Many druggists make a specialty of those things. You see them displayed near the soda water fountain, put up in small bottles and sold at prices that must yield a hand some profit. Half a dozen remedies for indigestion are thus sold, some contain ing pepsin as the active principle, oth ers containing soda mint, some bismuth, some charcoal or more powerful disiu- fcctauts. Some are designed to remove acidity of tho stomach; others to attack a catarrhal condition. Others are to pro voke appetite, and still others are to promote ono or another natural func tion. A dozen headache cures are sold in this fashion, and (he different emolli ents for the throat are almost innumera ble. There ore grip tablets, liver tab lets, heart, lung and brain tablets. Persons who have eschewed patent medicines all their lives bny theso tab lets of ono sort or another, because most of them are supposed to bo well recognized remedies. Most of the tab lets are advertised only in medical jour nals, in accordance with the require ments of tho medical code, and many of them, no doubt, have obtained their popularity through their use by reputa ble physicians. Quinine, which is now extremely cheap, is sold largely iu tho form of two grain pills or iu larger pills con taining iron. Although believed by many physicians to be a dangerous rem edy, it has long been self prescribed by all sorts of persons, especially iu mala rial regions, and it is ono of the reme dies most frequently bought without prescription. It is self prescribed for malaria in its many forms, to check a cold iu its early stages, and as n tonic. Stimulants of ono sort or another are sold in this form, hot more especially perhaps at tho soda fountain, which has become a sort of medical dispensary. Many headache remedies are dispensed at the soda fountain. Some are recom mended or suggested by the attendant, but many persons have their favorites among the various sedatives and febri fuges, and some are called for as regu larly as the fruit sirups. New remedies are constantly introduced through the soda fountains, and many old ones have long been included in the annually lengthening list of the soda water dis pensers.—New York Bun. IN A BALLOON. The Sensation* Tlmt Aro Superinduced bj Its RUIns and Falling. A dim sunlight strikes us iu tho bal loon. Suddenly we realize wo are iu bright sunshine again, with fleecy white clouds below us and n deep blue sky above. Look at tho shadow of the bal loon on the clouds! Beo tho light pris matic colors like a halo urouud the shadow of tho car. Here we are all alone, iu perfect silence, iu the depths of a groat abyss—massive clouds tower ing up on all sides, a snowy white mass below. But no .dgu of earth—no sign of anything human. Not a sound, not a sign of life! What peace! What bliss! Horrors! What's that report? Tho bal loon must have burst. Oh, nonsense! Keep still! It’s only a fold of the stuff nipped by the netting being suddenly released; that’s all. Well, we are falling, for see the bits of paper apparently ascending. And we must take care, for the coldness and dampness of this cloud will cause the gas to contract, and we shall fall rapid ly. So get a bag of ballast ready, for wo are already in the darkness of the cloud. Now the gas bag shrinks and Writhes, and the loose folds rustle to gether, and it gets darker. You can feel tho breeze blowing upward against your face or hand held over tho edge of tho car. Well, that’s not to bo wondered at, for remember we aro falling, say 1,000 feet a minute, which is the same thing as if wo were going along ten miles an hour sitting in a dogcart. Not quite the same, yon sny—you’d sooner bo in the cart? Well, perhaps if the horse were going straight at a wall, without the possibility of being able to stop him, you would think otherwise. But look! There is the earth again ; so out with your ballast. Go on! Pour out plenty; there’s no good economizing.— Blackwood’s Magazine. SHOOTING STARS. Mark Twain'* Latest. The authorship of “Tho Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc,” which has been appearing serially iu Har per’s Monthly during the last year, and which has been credited to nearly every well known author, is finally determin ed. Volume 6 of the National Cyclo pedia of American Biography, a work of such accuracy that it may bo consid ered official, contains a new biography of Mr. Bamnol L Clemens (Mark Twain) which enumerates this work in the list of his publications. Good Digestion. A good digestion is as truly obliga tory as a good conscieuce; pure blood is as truly a part of manhood as a pure faith; a vigorous brain is os necessary to useful living as a vigorous will, which it often belps to make vigorous, and a well ordered skin is the first con dition of that cleanliness which is next to godliness.—H. W. Beecher. The Vannl Wejr. Fuddy—You know there is no rule without an exception. Buddy—I believe you. I never lay down a rule at the store but most of the clerks take exception to it.—Boston Transcript. A Misleading Report. “I hear the colonel is a hard drink er. ” “Hub! He’s the easiest drinker I ever saw in my life. "—Detroit Tribane. DIRECTED HER LETTER TO HEAVEN. THE MYSTERY OF A YEAR. rntlictle Little Story of n Child'* Kpintle to Ilrr Dead Mother. At u recent wedding the bride had retired to her dressing room to don her traveling gown. Her mother had been dead a year or more, and she had had the constant care and companionship of her little sister ever since their afflic tion. Tho 7-year-old entered tho room and went to her sister's chair very thoughtfully. Drawing a letter from tho little pocket, sho said: “Alice, here is a letter to mamma. I have just written, telling her all about the wedding. Will yon send it to her?” Tho older sister, a little shocked, re plied us gently as possible that she couldn’t send a letter to mother. Then tho little ono, looking quite bright, said promptly: “Oh, yes, you can, because now you are married, you will be getting a little girl, and when yon send for her, just give tho doctor this letter, and ho can take it to mamma when ho goes for the baby.” Ai'd there on tho envelope was the address, printed as best sho could: “To Mamma, In Heaven. Kindness of tho Doctor.” Bhe took tho letter, and hugged tho little one to hide tho tear which was rubbed olf on the curly, brown head.— Washington Btur. Early Candlelight State Dinner*. It appears that iu olden times the president used to give his dinner par ties at 4 o'clock in tho afternoon. The grandfather of Representative Acheson of Pennsylvania once dined with George Washington, and his family have pre served the invitation. It is written in a business hand on a fourth page of a sheet of ordinary note paper, with tho lines running lengthwise across the sheet, and reads as follows: Mr. Arhi'win is miuiittM to (lino with tho pn-Miilint on Thurmluy, tho 23d Inst., ut 4 o'clock precisely. Feb. 14, 17U7. —Chicago Record. Liked Lawyers. It is recorded of Andrew Johnson that when, senator or president, ho was invited to n dinner party, he was accus tomed to ask if any lawyer was to be among the guests. For, said be, law- yeps always lubricate things. He took a greater fancy to William M. Evarts, his attorney general, because of his post prandial fume than because of his emi nent legal attainments.—Green Bag. Goes a Long Way. Borax—My wife makes a little mon ey go a long way theso times. Hcnpckt—Bo does mine unfortunate ly. Bhe’s always subscribing for mis sions in Africa and Polynesia.—Pear son’s Weekly. Bhun no toil to make yoarself re markable by some one talent. Yet do not devote yourself to one branch ex clusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely, for all science ie one.—Seneca. Dow Th**e Odd and Erratic Daby Planet* maze and Darken. The shooting star is an oddity of tho very oddest kind. It is a world of itself —a miniature planet — probably not ! larger than tho papier macho globe on your study table or tho rubber ball with which the schoolboys play “three cornered cat,” but it is a world just the same. Theso baby planets aro not al ways round, as planets are generally supposed to be, but aro known to be iu all sorts of queer shapes. Borne aro squ../e, others octagonal; some irregu lar and many cornered, while one is oc casionally met with which is smooth as n brick or a cement paving stone. Probably you have never heard of a man (or woman either, for that matter) “meeting with” a shooting star in any of his wanderings. Let ns see how such a thing might bo possible. Tho shooting star is originally a min iature world, revolving around the sun with as much regularity as tho earth, Jupiter, Venus or Mars. It keeps up this unerring flight thousands or oven millions of years. Finally it reaches the limit of its existence. Suddenly and perhaps without any visible cause it shoots off at a tangent It is now a “shooting star.” Formerly it was a world, but even now it is not bright as other stars are. Let us see what will cause it to “flame up like a gigantic torch in the heavens.” This particnlar body that wo are talking about shot off from its orbit in tho direction of onr earth. Its speed is not less than 20 miles a second, probably five times that. In the great outer sea of space it en counters no resistance to its headlong flight. But wait. It is nearing the en velope of atmosphere which surrounds our globe. What will bo the result when it comes in contact with “the air wo breatho?” Tho first stratum it strikes is so attenuated that its resistance is very slight. Yet tho friction is great enough to instantly raise the tempera ture of the falling world. Within tho hundredth part of a second the dense stratum of atmosphere has been encoun tered. The flight of tho little world is now perceptibly checked, the result be ing a sudden tiring of the mineral mat ters iu tho stone. There is an instanta neous burst of light, and then we see the doomed representative of the zninia- tnre planets in all its meteoric splendor. Possibly tho streak of fire it leaves athwart the heavens will not appear to bo more than a few hundred feet long. Certainly it will be thin and short if the little world was not larger than a football—because it will bo almost in stantly consumed as soon as it strikes tho denser portions of the atmosphere. On the other hand, if this world which has so suddenly come to an end was ns large ns a good sized barn when it start ed, fragments of it weighing from 10 to 1,000 pennds may reach tho earth. It is from these fragments that wo learn tho shape and composition of tho aerial phenomenon referred to as “rhooting stars.”—Bt. Louis Republic. A little while, a year ngone, I knew her for n romping child, A dimple ami a glance that shone With idl mischief when she smiled. Today she passed me in the press, And, turning with a quick surprise, I wondered at her stateliness, I wondered at her altered eyes. To me the street was just the sains, Tho people and the city’* stir, But life had kindled into flame, And all the world was changed for her. I watched her in the crowded way*, A noble form, a queenly head, With all the woman in her gaze, The conscious woman in her tread. —A. Laiupman in Youth's Companion. TV ! DOG AND STUFFED TIGER. A Little Incident From New York City’* Varied Street Life. “In a Broadway show window,” said a stroller, “there is a particularly big and handsome tiger, stuffed, that I have often looked at iu passing. I saw in front of this store the other day a man who had with him a tremendously big, shaggy dog. Tho man looked at the tiger, and stopped and tried to draw tho dog’s attention to it. But tho dog didn’t look that way, and, iu fact, ho didn’t stop. He slowed down, just as ono man might have done for another who had stopped for a moment to look in a win dow or to spoak to a friend, and when be had moved ahead a few steps in that way, not finding himself overtaken, ho did just as a man might have done again. He swung round with the same mens ured tread and came back to tho win dow. Then the master, with a faint smile, again invited tho big dog to look at tho tiger, but instead of doing that tho big dog looked up into his master’s face and wagged his tail, and tho mas ter looked down and smiled at his dog; then the man started on down d- way, with the big dog wagging 1 *•*.»:], walking along beside him. “But while tho big dog had shown no desire to look at the tiger, had, in fact, shown rather an aversion to looking ut it, it did not appear that this aversion came in any degree whatever from fear. Tho perfect self possession and the deep and unbroken good humor of the dog were unmistakabL; apparently he sim ply didn’t care for tigers and didn’t want to look ut this one, but it did seem that if it had been possible for tho tiger to come to life and step down from the window and around and out through the door on to the sidewalk then the big-dog wonld not have walked away; that there would then have been there on the side walk tho loftiest scrap that Broadway ever saw, with the chances—well, the chances were in favor of the dog. ”—Now York Bun. Did you over stop to consider what a meaning the word* “fact^ conveyed? The dictionary says it means “reality, in other words, something that is true, something that can not he denied. It’ss £i That we are exclusive gvocerymen ; that is, that wo make the grocery business.a study ; that wo study to know what is good to eat. Now, when it comes to eating the whole world is akin. Wo all eat, and when it comes to selling groceries we know our business. If you don’t know what you want we may be able to tell you, and if we are able to do that we will be able to sell you. It is an Undisputed Uitet 1 hat we carry in stock a most select line of groceries, canned goods, etc., and no one has ever ; Viy I >enx the Unet 1 hat wo sell as cheap as the cheapest. When in need of anything iu our, line call and see us. We will he pleased to wait on you. Wishing you a happy time on the Fourth and many re turns of the day, we are Most truly yours, & Sparks, e Grocers*. Unique Plano*. “All manner of articles in place of wood have been used iu the mamifnc* turo of pianos,” says one of the great est English piano makers. “Perhaps tho most successful of those is paper, of which many pianos of exquisite tone and appearance have been made. The Duke of Devonshire has one of tho finest specimens of tho paper piano, this being of French make, and decorated most or nately with pictures by French artists. Tho duke gave 500 guineas for this, mainly, no doubt, ou account of tho or namentation. I suppose you know that pianos for very hot and very cold cli mates—all instruments for export, in fact—have to ho specially made, and in this direction all manner of experiments have been tried. Among others, a sort of cellulose, ouo factor in which is ac tually common molasses, from which sugar is made, is employed, and a com position made from tho chemical treat ment of gutta percha and leather pulp has been tried. Ivory pianqp are by no means uncommon, and the dowager Countess of Dudley has a magnificent carved specimen. Pianos of ivory aro, I might say, made every year iu numbers, but chiefly for Indian princes and rich Spanish Americans. Many pianos of solid silver have been made; indeed, one was only recently completed by a London firm for the nizam of Haidara- bad, and piano cases have at various times been made of bronze, a species of aluminium, glass, porcelain and iu com bination mother of pearl.”—Exchange. What Crosa Examination Can Do. Magistrate—Your nurno? Bashful Maiden—Anna Lang. “Religion?” “Protestant.” “Ago?” No answer. “When were your parents married?” “In 18G.V’ “When was the first christening?” "In 1804.” “How many brothers and sisters have yon?” “Five.” “Arc you tho oldest?” “Yes.” “Then you are 81 years of ago.” “Yes. (Botto voce) I have given my ago away. I am surprised. ”—Dorfbur- bier. Joat as Ho Supposed. “Has anybody here a corkscrew?” spoku np a sharp nosed old gentleman in the sleeping car. "I have,” was tho response from nearly every seat. “Just ns I thought,” shouted the old gentleman. “And now who will be the first to sign the temp< ranee pledge?”— Providence Visitor. On entering a room where many guests are assembled go at once and spoak to your hostess before addressing friends who are invited guests. The first and Inst salutation should bo to those who offer you hospitality. Modern inks date from 1798, at which time researches of Dr. Lewis and Riban- court iu the chemistry of ink begun. By act of congress, the enlisted strength of onr army, iu time of peace, is never to exceed 26,000 meu. Pride, that never failing vice of foola. —Pope. ENTERPRISE * STABLES. O. M0.11 ICICY, Proprietor. New Stable ! New Teams ! ! - New Turncuts ! ! ! -o- 1 have just moved into my new stallies and have added a new lot ot vehicles to my line, also a lot of stylish horses. Special attention given to the drummer trade, picnic parties, etc., etc. Teams fed and groomed at reasonable prices. Respectful! v. AI. G. AIOJVUGOAUCl^Y. BROAD GAINES, —r^THE PAINTER.^— I am now in good shape to do all manner of ill v <m(l The Best Line of Samples and Prices of W^LLll j>eu ever shown in Gaffney. Shop in the Goudelock old stand. Satisfaction or no charge. Xr^iotxiue ITueviiie^ And Easles made to order; also Under taker. R. A, Jones &" 1 u Carry a full line of Furniture, Coffins and Caskets, Wagons and Buggies, Dry Goods, Notions, Groceries, &c. Furniture. Our furniture is well selected by an experienced buyer and and any grade in our immense stock is cheap for the money. Coffins and Caskets. This line is complete in every detail and one can he suited both in goods and price in this department of our storey Wagons and Buggies. 1 Old Hickory and White Hickory Wagons are the Rest on i Earth for the money, and we arc selling them cheap, too [ Remember, wo sell the Carolina Buggy—the Best made. Dry Goods, Notions, &c. y In these lines we can suit you in anything, and tho prices are invariably consistant with the qualify of goods sold. R. A. JONES & GO. LIMESTONE * SPRINGS • UIE * WORKS, CARROLL ft CO., Lessees. Manufacturers of BUILDING, * PLASTERING * AND * AGRICULTURAL * LIME, And Dealers In Coal, Shingles, Laths and Plaster Hair. Dymamite, BUsting Powder, Fuse and Dynamite Caps. * ^ r ^ Uor £ riio i/' ■