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■ - v • THE LEDGEIT: GAFFNEY, S. C., AUGUST 20, 1806. SQUIRE RUFUS SANDERS. Same “Groat Gobs'* of Good Sens* and Philosophy. ST (•rry Cropi and Hard Tim®* — Thr«« VaneraU, Hut “Harry One” from Star vation — Anicela •* Wlvea and Salat* as Husbands. One day Inst week my friend nnd fellow servant Andy Lucas—which you will understand there Is a man that will travel all the gait* and stand hitched — went on a horse- swnppin trip down in the Flat Woods. And then the next time I saw Andy lie win* on his return back home dismounted nnd afoot nnd totin of his saddle. In n general off hand way Andy give it out to me that he had sold his horse and come put thirty dollars ahead of the hound*. Hut Andy's mouth ain't anybody’s prayer l>ook, nnd my private notion is that he struck n snag down there and got hi* socks Kwnpi>ed off of him. I will go out amongst the boys in a few days nnd see what I can pick up. “Powerful Seldom Time*.** "Don't you forgit it we have IsM-n hav in’ some powerful seldom time* down in the old settlement this summer, Ilufus,” says Aunt Nancy Newton tome after dinner when she got her pijie load ed nnd fired and runnin on full time. "The crops are mighty spotted nnd sor ry for a common thing, nnd money Is skcerce ns hen teeth. Hut yet I don’t reckon the times are j*o soandlonw and outrageous hard n.s you hear some pim ple mnkin out that they are. ".Test to set around nnd hear folks talk you mought think the whole dis covered country was trembliH nnd tot- terin on the ragged islges of starvation nnd ruination. I have l>een stlrrin nlKJiit and visitin nroun considerable nnd keepin up with things as l»e«t I could, and to the best of my ability and belief the country is safe for a 1-e-e-tle while longer anyhow. We have bad about the usual run of sickness In the settlement, but iw* yet I ain't heard tell of anybody that got down for the pure want of somethin to ent nnd wear. I did hear that one of the Tanner boys had to go to l>ed one day last week whilst bis wife washed put his breeches, but be was up pud fllmut the next doy as healthy find happy as ever. “Hut wo aint had but only throe funerals Ip the settlement this summer H'hb h you recollect we had four by this time Inst year—and so far ns I know parry one of the three didn’t die from pure hard times and natural starvation. Old man Seth Wallace died along In the first, days of July, which the snnie It is a blessed pity he didn't go (lend 20 years Indore be was ever l*orned Into this world. He. was too tarniil rotten mean and stingy to live In Hod's country nnd amongst the chil dren of nature. lie had a big chance of money lonnt out in the settlement on high intrust, and when the seasons *11 h it wrong nnd the crops put in to fnilin, nnd provisions went up whilst cotton went down, nnd the general n|>- jieannents of things got blue and squal ly all around, the pore old thing took sick nnd went to l>ed. And then the more he thought nliont the hard times and sorry crops nnd that mighty per- centum on ids money the sicker he got till finally at last, one day he keeled pver and |x*ggcd out and went on—well, pf course it aint for me to sny forcer- tain which way h 0 went and I would HOinc rut her pot spend my jiersonni Opinions on that pint. Hut nt the same time It iiint much probable to my mind that Seth Wallace had ever pestered old Saint Peter like he did the good people In the Panther Creek settlement. “Little Sim Hiddins lost his wife nlKuit the last of June, which the rnme he didn’t deserve no better nnd site died with the slow fever. Now If it had l>cen left with Sim Olddinn I reckon maybe there would of lieon one death in the settlement from starvation, cause he is too lazy and trlflin to make a livln for one, let. alone two. ITut his wife, she was a Simpkins nnd a good jH iirt woman, though I always thought she. must of been in ( n powerful good no tion to marry when she took nnd tied hers»*lf up with little Sim (liddins. As it, was, howsoever, she nerer suffered n day nor n, minnlt for somethin to rot und wear and that which was nice. What she couldn't rustle up for herself, with her butter and hm* egg* and a little extry Rewin, her own folks put it down there for her, nnd whilst she was sick the neighbors chipped In to gether nnd waited on her and done for her the same as if she had been a mem ber of every family in the. settlement. Then after shei died nnd wn* put away decent nnd proper her old daddy and brothers got right In l>ehind Sim Old- dins and hot the ground so hot nnd made the track so heavy for him till he hixl to pack his wallet and move his wash In off to some furren country. I reckon by this time be bos either jlned the chain gang or put up nt the poor house. “And then one of the Kuthorford* — I forgit which one it was now—lost a baby, nnd it had the measles, though from nil I could see nnd hear I hare my doubts ns to whether It died with any disease. I rnthcr think it. wnadoctored to death But anyhow it. didn’t die from hard times and natural starvation. It had all the nilk it would take, not to mention the dead oodles of medicine which they stuffed it with. No, they •in’t dyln up with starvation ns yet down mi the old settlement, Jluf'u*, though you mought think so Je«t to ride through there and hear people talk. thousand wonders to me that some peo ple don't starve to death,” Aunt Nancy went on, after scratchin a match on the neat of her chair and etrikin a fresh light. “1 have been lookin and listenin all the summer to hear some starvation news from Mister and Mises William Lumkins. You recollect William Lum- klns, Ilufus? Well, be married Sarah Ann Singleton somethin bettor than three year ago. Now for common I don’t go around meddlin nnd mlxin myself up with every little love mess and weddin match in the settlement, but thai was one weddin match which 1 tried my level best to oust up and break off. I bad knew’ the Lumkinsesand the Singleton** all my life, and I knowed well and good that William and Sarah Ann didn’t have no business hookin themselves up together in the doufde. harness for life. For why? Well, they was l»oth jest naturally too good to go aad got married. She was too good tor him, nnd he was likewise also too good for her. She was too good to do any thing in particular but wear white drossow and pick flowers and read book novels and look soft and sweet and love sick, ns It were, whilst n.s for 'William, he was born too good. lie w as a good , baby, nnd then a good boy, nnd n.s be growed older nnd bigger hu got lietter nnd ltetter till, when he cojne tip to Is- a man, bless gracious, he was so everlast- ln good till he was good for nothin’. "When William took to comin up reglar nnd frequent nt the Singleton place, and It looked out that a weddin match mought soon come to pass in the settlement, I picked my chances and tried to talk him out of it. Hut then when he went on to tell me that Sarah Ann was the apple of his heart and an angel on the earth I blowed off the dogs and quit the drive, though not 1:11 after I had give out my plain private opinions in the case without l»ein mealy mouth with him. “ ‘You are grown now nnd call yourself a man, William, and if you are bound to marry jest. pitch In and go it, boots,’ says I. ‘Hut rememlier whnt your Aunt Nancy told you, W illiam. I know a few things concernin this world and the people that live in it, and after you git married you w ill nighty soon find out that your angel must cat victuals nnd wear clothes. More than that, William, some of these angels— partielnr them that live in the flesh and wear dresses instid of wings—they have babies sometimes,and as the family grows the store account will grow with it. You are poor and she is poor, and about the next thing anybody knows you will have to gn to the field, whilst your angel goes to the cook pot and then to the wash tub. Love is r. good tiling no doubts in Its place, nnd every body ought to in* ns good ns they know how, but with poor folks nnd a grow in family it takes nnd a whole passle of ’em to run expenses and make both ends meet. I can see now the way your head is sot, William, but in the main time.1 nin bound to tell you the truth as my okl eyes see It. When a |x>or mini takes a notion to git married he don’t need no rvr.gcl for a wife. He needs a rale smart, stlrrin. penrt-motioned, healthy woman—that’s whnt he needs. It will lie time enough for you to mate your self off with an angel when you reach Flint other and better country, where they don’t have to eat vietnlns nnd wear clothes nnd work.* may not be ns good as saints, but I ruther think they make better hus bands and fathers for plain, everyday women and children. “Too Good to Kill Grass.” "Don’t you go and put it out now that your Aunt Nancy don’t like good men, Rufus, cause she dot's," says the old lady, as she knocked the ashes out of her pipe on mother's new fire screen. ‘Ihitatthe snmetlmel do like a regular, healthy, human man, and I don’t like a good, easy good for nothing saintlike William Lumkins, nnd I don’t care a ropjier who knows it. Now, .Sarah Ann Singleton allowed she wouldn’t, marry nothin but a pluperfect nnd upright man—or.ethntwaseleanabove doin any thing that was wrong. And so far as I know’, she got what she was lookin for when sho took William. I have never yet heard tell of him doin any thing wrong. He is too mortal lazy and triflin for that. He is so kind and gen tle nnd tender-hearted and got till In* won’t wen kill grass when the weather ■'its rale hot. I reckon he is still callin Sarah Ann hisnngel, whilst in the main- time the meat 1k»x nnd the meal barrel Maud empty and the little children go hungry and dirty, but you know that wouldn’t suit my style. If I had a hus band—nnd for all we know I may lievo one some of these days, the Lord willin —and lie was to come honeyin around callin me angel and foolin off his time whilst the grass run away with the crops and the poorhouse loomed up in the near distance, I would spit on him— declare to gracious I would. I would a heap sight ruther he would call me jest plain Nancy, and then go on about his business and keep up w ith the store ac count. it maybe mought not sound ex actly right for me to say so, but as I’m a woman I would ruther have a man that would do wrong sometimes t han to have one that wouldn’t do nothin. "I know it ain’t none of my business, but as l started out to say, if it comes to pass th:r. you mought hear of anybody flyin from pure hard times and natural starvation in the Panther Crock sett le nient indurin of these hard times you can jest go ahead n.nd put on mouruin for Mister nnd Mises William Lum- kins. There ain’t so very mueh danger of men and women starvin, but when crops are short and money isskercc and times are hard there ain’t no tolliu. what will happen to the saints nnd angels in this eonntry.” May the (lod of the orphnnt and the widow bless theso plain old lliiit-nnd- stcol women, which the same my Aunt Nancy Newton is one of whom. RUFFS HANDKK8. AIM* AND THE WEATHER, i Explains About tho Extreme Heat of July and August. Unlit* Him for III* Work-Cun not Hoc in tho Garden — Mrs. Arp lior- ron-s n Ilahy and Hill Tries Not to Snore. QUEER MANIA OF A SICILIAN. Work “Angel* sad Itatil#*.” •TalkIn about hnrd times nnd money and atarvation, Kufua—It to * "Well, jest as I lowed, wbnt I said to William nlioiit Sarah Ann went in on one side of his head nnd come out on the other, and whnt other people told Sarah Ann about William went in and come out the same n ay. And so conse quent hilly It want very long Ix'fore there was a second-class weddin in the settlement. They never had nothin to start wit h and they nint. got nothin yet rxeeptin a few odd weddin cloth“» and n promlsln crop of children. They have been livln around nnd nlxmt from pil low to post nnd from hand to mouth, so to soy. This year they are livln on n poor little old wore out farm over on tothrr side of the creek, nnd William rails himself runnin of a farm, but he ain’t. He did make out to pitch a little crop, nnd, with some help from his an gel, he did manage to work it over one time, ami since then the ]x>nr little old farm has Is'cn runnin of itself. William has always been ft mighty good man, everybody says, but it does look to me like if I was a man and lui'l took nnd went and married myself off with an angel I wouldn’t then turn around nnd make her work in the field. I don’t think angels have got any business eookin and wn.hln a ml tendin children, ihk! tt sicjiis to me like they would look particular odd and curious like out in the hot sun with a fly bonnet on, chop- pin cotton. Now docs your general ojdnion run along that line, Rufus?’’ "They run right plum square with yours, Aunt Nancy,” says I, and the good old soul went on to say: “You know Nancy Newton—you have knowed her now nigh o- ♦<» fifty years— nnd you know full well . ,e never did give herself any tremendiu* big sight of worriment about yokin up with a man. And yet, Rufus, you never heard me nay I wouldn’t marry any livln ninn that the snn shine* on, and you never will. I never have so much as made out like I wouldn’t git married if I got a good chance. I ain’t"no angel, ns yet. 1 am nothin hut a woman—jest a plain old female woman without any fly- wheels or fancy trimmins—and there aint no tellln whnt mought of took place before now if the right man had come along at the right time nnd put In his credentials In the right way. But let me tell you something, Rufus San ders. As I have said l>efore, I aint no angel, but, even In my old days. If I was to take up a fool notion to git mar ried I wouldn’t want to marry no saint like William Lumkins. I hope to dwell lu jwnoeund unity with the saints some* time and somewhere* In the futur® hereafter, but so long ns I live in thd flewh nnd remain over in this vain and fleetin world hero below, the common run of |H'oplc are good enough company: for me. And If I must give me a man —give me a man. Plain, everyday men Kept h IJeRlnien of Sculptors nt ou Grotcx<|tio Stutlicit. The Sicilian prince of Yalguancmat the beginning of this century was a monomaniac of a mre description. He succeeded to one of the. largest fortunes in Europe, his hobits were studious ntul economical, he hod no children; but, in spite of these tulvnnltigcs for saving iikonev, ho contrived to rnln himself. The prlnoe had n fancy for grotesque statues, with which he adorned the stately mansion of his forefathers. Many descriptions of the. place are ex tant, for It. was renowned through Eu rope In its daj\ Brydono visited it and lie has left, us a pleasant picture. Ap proaching by a noble avenue, one found the palace encircled by an "army” of monsters. “The nlrsurdity of tlu* v retched Imagination which created them Is not less astonishing than its wonderful fertility,” says Brydone. “Some were a compound of five or six r.nitnnls which have no resemblance In nature. In one Instance the bend of a lion was set. upon the neck of a goos-', with the IkmIv of a. lizard, the eye of a goat and the tail of a. fox, Upon the back of this object stood another with five or six heads nnd n grove of horns. There Is no kind of a horn in the world that. he. has not collected, and his pleas ure Is to see them nil flourishing on the same skull.” Of such horrors there wen* GOO In tin* avenue and the courtyard alone when Brydone saw t.he collection, and the prince maintained a regime of sculptors who were rewarded proportionately to their success in designing new nnd un paralleled cdhiblnations. Theeffcet up on a nuperstitfou* peasantry may lie imagined. So serious was the agitation that the government of Sicily threat ened to demolish the wondrous array several times, butn prince of. Vnlguam mi was not to be offended in those days without tie gravest cause. The inside of the house was eccentric in another fashion. Here the madman divert eel himself with columns and arches n.nd pyramids of cups and sau cers, teapots nnd the like, cemented to gether. One column, for Instance, started from a great porcelain vase of shape familiar in bedrooms, but not elsewhere; the shaft wn* teapots, with the spouts protruding, graduated in size up to a capital of flower|>ots. The open ings of the chimney pieces were en crusted In this manner, the chimney pii'ccs were loaded up to the ceiling, nnd the innguiflcenfc rooms of the palace were divided by fantastic arches of the same construction. China was rare ami fine In Sicily at that day, and most of the pieces thus treated had great value. The prince's lied room was n chandler of supreme horrors. Jleptlleo awful Tx- yond conception had their Imnic there, intermixed with phvising hunts nnd statues which if turned, showed a skele ton or a hideous representation of de crepitude. We have, never observed an illusion to these things in a modern work of travel. Berhajis the gm*rn- ment di-stroyed them at the prince’s death, lieggared by his mania.—London Standard. The renattf of Promptn***. Lott—One never loses anything by keeping his engagements punctually, Stone—Except half an hour's timo waiting for the other fellow.—Tlt-BIts. —The spirits of truth nnd of freedom —these arc the plllara of socletyr* Ibsen. Julius Caesar was a very great man. He was a democrat and the leader of his party when only 33 years old, and held the highest office before he was 10. But 1 don’t understand what made him cut a sliei* out of the middle of the year and name it July. And his son (Jus did the same thing and named it August. If tlvey wanted to dismember the year and add two more mouths why didn’t they take it off the tail end nnd lap them on to December. I don’t like July nor August nohow. It seems to me they get hotter and hotter ns the years roll on. I can’t work in my gar den. It is so warm that I can’t gather tin* vegetables nor mow grass for the cow with any comfort, I sweat all over with perspiration nnd have to change my garments every day. We don’t go to IhsI until 1o’clock and can’t sleep good for an hour after, but I reckon it will conic all right again before long. I reckon so. It always •lot's. Whatever is Is right. My wife borrowed the baby again last night. Ever and anon she has to have a baby to stay over night and sleep with her to remind her of the good old times when she nursed her own nnd fondled them and patted them in the restless night. Ro little Caroline, who is the youngest grandoild, was left with her to comfort her nnd it made lioth happy, for the little thing loves her grandma and hardly knows which mother she belongs to. I got to sleep nliout midnight, but my olfactories or esophagus or larynx or throttle valve or whatever you call it was out of order, and I suppose I was snoring pretty live ly when I heard a voice calling me: "William, William.” Asleep or awake that uxoriun voice always makes me jump with alacrity. I hastened over to her corner of the room to see what was the matter and ran against, the center table and a c hn : r and waited for orders. Suddenly she whispered: "I just want ed you to turn over. You snore so loud you will wake up the baby. Don’tsnorc hO," With a subdued feeling I stnrtid back to my bed, but it was awful dark and I couldont find tlie round table that was in the middle of the room. Slowly nnd cautiously I felt my way, when sud denly my nose collided with the top of the mantelpiece. This guided me to my little bed again, and I assumed a tired nnd recumbent position and rumi nated on the battle of life. But I miiKjent snore was the order. The baby imistont lie disturbed. This injunction weighed so heavily U|>on me that I was afraid to fall into a deep sleep nnd of getting sonorous again, so I slum bered along and dreanved I was travel ing to Heaven or some haven of rest, nnd on every bnrn nnd Imnrd fence nnd rocky cliff tlwere was n red letter sign like a patent medicine sign, ard it sa d: “Don’t. Snore! Don’t Snore! Don't Snore!" nnd by any by we reached a high mountain and there was a youth climbing it with a banner, nnd I thought it was the excelsior chap we used to see in’ the blue-hack sjiolling book, but as tho breeze unfolded the banner I saw It was “Don't Snore, Don’t Snore." Just then 1 was awakened by a gentle son orous olfactory sound that came from the other corner of the room, and so I ventured over there nnd touched her tenderly, and whispered: "Don't snore; you will wake up the baby.” This baby-raising business Is about the biggest business I know of nnd the most retqxmsible. 1 was cue of ten that my mother raised, and my wife has raised ten, nnd they have raised ten, and it looks like some of our posterity are on the same ancestral line. Hut there were no grandparents in our fam ily nnd we little chaps had to rough it like Cain nnd Abel did. Nowadays It takes two parents nnd three or four grandparents nnd several aunts nnd a nurse and a baby carriage to raise a child. Tint that is all right if the child is blessed with such privileges. The dear little tilings ought to have a good time In infancy, for trouble will surely conic when they get older, nnd I rejoice that tl»c modern children have a 1 otter time than wo did. I remember the little brown cradle that we were all rocked in, nnd when there wasent a baby enr- ringo in the town. I remenils*r when the average child had no nurse save its mother, and she did the housework and made all the garments, too. and didcnl know she was having a hnrd time. The little chaps dident have their faces washed nor their clothes changed but once or twice a day, and they were set down on the floor or the ground and given some homemade playthings, nnd they, too dident know there was any thing better. Even the children of wealthy parent* were turned over to the' little darkies ami were happy in their keeping. I remember when Evan Howell, the ]>ol!tirnI dictator, was bob bing around with the little niggers and got so dirty playing In the sand you couldcnt s|K)t him nor tell tothcr from which. But now his little grandchil dren go around in laces nnd rlhlxm* end gold buttons and ride In a $10 bnhy carriage and bathe In a $10 bathtub, and Evan thinks It Is nil right, rud I reckon it Jx. Our* come as near doing the same thing ns they can, and so do everybody else'*. It is n beautiful trait in human nature to Improve on your own raising nnd to sweeten the hnrd- of childhood. But the time will come, when the boys nnd the girls get big etHMigh to lie useful nnd then they should Is'iunde to know it. They should lie rained to habits of industry. The girl of ten years should help her mother In housework nnd in nursing the baby. The boy of ten should begin with tbn hoe In the garden nnd the nx at the woodpile. The piano Is all right, and so Is the pony, hut work should b* mixed with pleasure. Sometimes I think there is too much schooling and col- Icging going on in this generation nnd too little work. The curriculum of our public, schools is now nine long years, sny from eight to sevi ntcen, nnd then comes three or four more of col lege, and no work in all that time, no habit* of industry, nothing but l>ooks, books, books. There is hardly a swift girl graduate in the state w ho can make her own dresses. She goes to the mil liner nnd keeps her poor old father on a. strain. Perhaps the college boy takes an honor nnd gets his name in the papers, and then, of course, he must study law and dabble in politics and depend on tho old man for support. These kind of nice, smart, good-for- nothirg boys nr* in every city and town nnd village. They know nothing of the practical concerns of life. They couldcnt plan a house nor run a saw mill nor an Ice factory nor a brick yard nor even a little farm. They know nothing of horticulture or the science of growing flowers and evergreen. They couldcnt hang a door or make a gate latch or put up a roller window cur tain. But they know a little Latin and Creek nnd some geometry and perhaps can tell you whether the deluge came before or after the flood, and they can play baseball and football and dance the german nnd wear tanned shoes and brllyhands to perfection, hut they are good Ikivs and so smart nnd have such idee manners and winning ways that their mothers nr* proud of them, but their old fathers are serious nnd per plexed. College life is very fascinating l)oth to Txjys and to girls, but to most of them it Is a waste of precious time. Education should bo mixed with labor. It should lie hard to get. not easy.—Bill Arp, In Atlanta Constitution. PYTHONESS AND PRIEST. THE 0DTL00K. The I.utter XVns IncroluIonH ami Junttflcd 111* Unbelief. Mdlle. Conedon, "the Angel Cnbrirl,” ns her votaries called her, after going up like a rocket has come down like a ■tick. Site has not •oven obtained a gilded retirement after all her no toriety, for the i.‘2,0:)O damages she claimed in a recent libel ease were re duced to five pounds and the three extra postmen who groaned under the weight of mail bags addressed to her have been withdrawn. Before allowing Mdlle. Courdon to sink into oblivion the following inter view with Abbe Vnlndier, the very respected chaplain of La Koquette, who speeds the parting criminals on tiie scaffold, may l>e interesting ns the conclusion of one of the most curious chapters on superstition in modern times. The nbl>e, by an ingenious stratagem. cotui>clled the lady to con fess that she was no more a "voynnte" than fortune tellers, who are allowed to fool credulous jx'ople at French fairs. Anxious to see the “Angel Cnbrie!” for himself, the nbl>c called in the Rue du Paradis, and, on handing in his card, he was immediately received. On seeing him the “voynnte" began, os usual, to pour fortli “ixmts rimes" which meant nothing. The priest, in terrupting. asked whether he could speak to the angel. Mdlle. Courdon nuulo some mysterious signs, turned round nnd round in her chair nnd said: “Now you can question the angel.” “Cur dixit angelus—” Ix-gan the nbbe. “I beg your pardon.” remark: d Mdlb'. Courdon, “but if you speak Lat in the angel docs not understand.” The nblie held under ids arm a lx>\ containing a pyx, in which there is usually a consecrated host. “Can this angel see inside this?” he naked. "Certainly.” "Whnt is inside, then?” The “voyante" sought to turn the conversation by reciting psalms nnd disconnected sentences. "Suppose," said the nbbe, “it was a consecrated host ?” "Oh, then, the angel would go down on his knees nnd pray.” "Then,” said the priest, rising nnd in a solemn tone, “the angel must know whether or not I have a host in this box.” Mdlle. Conedon dropped on her knees. Tears flowed from her eyes. The angel was speaking through her. "He knows the host is in the 1k>x; he sees It nnd he adores it.” The prayers over, Abbe Vnlndier sold, severely: “You are not a ‘voy ante.’ You are not inspired. You have proved It. You see, there is no host inside.” Again the floodgates of Mdlle, Couedon’s eyes were opened nnd she asked the priest’s forgive ness.—Paris Cor. London News. The Repeating of Old Thing*. The great Napoleon may snceringly have called us a "nation of shopkeep ers" (unc nation boutiquicre), and have expressed the opinion that "Providence is on the side of the big battalions,” but the first is borrowed from Adam Smith ("Wealth of Nations,” Volume 2, pub lished in 177f», when Napoleon was a child, nnd the second is a plagiarism from Voltaire’s letter to M. 1c Riche, dated February fl, 1770, “Dleu est tmi- Jours pour les gros bataillons.”) “Though I say It a* I shouldn’t” is used In slightly altered form by Beaumont and Fletcher nnd afterward quoted by Colley Cibber nnd Fielding. King Charles II. was of opinion that a parlia mentary debate In his time was “as good ns a play.” (It would be Interest ing to know what his merry majesty would think of our legislators of to day.) For "Murder will out" we must turn to (ieoffrey Chaucer, who, in hi* quaint way of s|*clllng, tells us “Mordr* wol out.” ("The Xonnes PreestesTnle,” line l.I.ft.’iH.) When we say we will “leave no stone unturned” we are quot ing the answer of the Delphic oracle to the inquiries of Polycrntes ns to the best means of discovering the treasure buried on the field of Plntnen by Mnr- donius. To "make a virtue of neees- ■Ity" is from Chancer ("KnightesTnle,” line 3,014), but the phrase is used also by Knls'luls. Shakespeare and Dryden. •—Chamber*’ Journal. Sam Jonos on tho Uncertainty of the Political Situation. II* Doesn’t Heller* There Will He Whole sale Robbery by the Gold Hag* Nor Wholesale Repudiation by the dllvor Hags. In common with others who think I have been more or less disturbed by what 1 see and hear as relates to the future of our great country,! know not how much a disordered liver may have to do with these forebodings and dis trustful anxieties at times. Some days the outlook is gloomy; other days I feel that there is a chance yet for our country. Some days it looks like a revolution; some days it don’t. Some days it looks like financial disaster and absolute bankruptcy to the whole business; other days it looks like com merce ami agriculture and the govern ment will move on in the even tenor of their way. We have now l>cfore us three months of agitation with its declamatory ami inflammatory speeches. This is said to be a campaign of education. If the blind lead the blind the whole business will fall Into the ditch. After a hun dred years of experience with their succession of sue und failures, triumphs and de.^Rts. mistakes and miscarriages, stifl *■<» survive. 1 lieve this country will survive McKin ley, advocating the gold standard and protective tariff, can do at least as well for us as Harrison did the four years he was in, though the people may be as much dissatisfied with him nnd tho things he advocates at the end of four years as they were with Harrison and his crowd. Bryan, with his agrarian ism, free silver, etc., if they should conic into vogue in November by voice of the people, I doubt if they will ut terly ruin and disrupt the country. As much ns I am opposed to the freo and unlimited coinage of silver sixteen to one, yet I am sure we have had worse things than those to contend w ith in the past history of this country. I am sure of this fact, our barns arc full w ith com and wheat, our fields with cattle, our I>ens with hogs. The election of cither •andidnte will not affect the quantity or quality of corn and wheat nnd oats and cotton and cattle nnd hogs, and really these arc the things we live on. We cannot eat gold or silver, or wear green backs and clearing house certificates. I Ix'lievo in the personal integrity of both McKinley nnd Bryan. I believe the crowd running with McKinley have th® money, the exporienee, and largely the brains of the country on their side; while Bryan and his hosts have oratov^ and theories and debts and dissatisfac tion on their side. No living man can predict w ith any certainty the result of the November elections. It seems that fusion with the populists i*; Bryan’s only chance. The outlook is not. first- class for fusion. 1 believe t!><' populist party Is the most, inhomogeneous, nn- inixable, nnfS-stick-togeth: r crow d in the universe. I would sooner attempt to climb n ladder with an armful of eel* and get to the top w ith all of them as to try to fuse anything w ith the populists. The populist* will have the last word and the last say in every argument.and are ns dogmatic n.s theoJd negro preach er who declared that immersion w as the only true Scriptural doctrine, and look ing over at the Methodist negroes in his audience, he said: “You look at me a' much ns to ask me how does you know it is, nnd I tell you dnt’snoneof your business.” I nm nt this time spend ing a week nt a Methodist, comp meet ing near Boston, Mass. A week ago I was at the Chautauqua at Salem, Neb.; a week before that in Louisiana. This tour takes in a good scope of our coun try. The more I sec and know, the less I know ns to results. Fred Wil liams is stirring up all New England with his logic nnd statistics with Sewall in the procession. . (Jordon nnd Tnlmnge, so the pa- l>ers say, have declared for Bryan and in favor of free silver. Tammany New York is joining the procession w ith Hill and Whitney n.s dumb ns a dead oyster, and Mr. Cleveland off fishing; while the business interest of our country i* suffering from ocean to ocean. Stock and 1x>ik?s going down. Bears to top. Prices depressed nnd business almost at a standstill, but still there is plenty to cat and wear in the country, and while the three months of discuafiion nnd education are wearing away, we will cat and drink whether wc .-hull be merry or not. A stoical w ill, a cheerful mind arc es sential in these times. We need to keep cool; we need to keep down pas sion; we need to keep in a good humor; we need to have little to do with the orator who thc^ws mud and calks nil people bad names who do not agree with him. Repudiat ion on one side and robl>ors on the other, if we listen to the orators of the day and Ix-iii vo them. I do not believe there will be whole sale robbery on the jmrt of the gold bugs, nor wholesale repudiation by the j silver bugs. I do not know what a change will do for us; I simply know) that most anything will beat what we; have now. We can but swap the devil! for a witch. I don’t know which is ' preferable. SAM P. JONE8. Speed of Carrier lUgcon*. Experiment* made with carrier pigeons in connection with various Eu ropean armies show that tlu* speed of the carrier in calm weather and for a short distance is about 1,210 yards a minute. With a very strong wind in the direction of the flight o bird has reached 1,080 yards a minute. Shot Carried Fifteen Mile*. The longest distance that a shot has been fired is a few yards over 15 mile*, which was the range of Krupp’a 130* ton steel gun, firing a shot weighing 2,GOO pounds. The 111-ton Armstrong gun lin* an extreme range of 14 milea, firing a shot weighing 1,800 pounds and. requiring 900 pound* of powder. | j ' 4 I • I