Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C., FEBRUARY L’B, 1897. LLOP-BACK BILLY. Proof That Fits Don’t Run in the Lucas Family. A Qvaliit ami Characteristic Story From Life as They Lire It in the ’Woods and Hills. In my day and generation. I have told •o scandalous many terrific big stones. till right nowlcan’t recollect for certain whether I have ever told you the chap ter from Rocky Creek history in re gards to Andy Lu- cas and Sea Hop-back Hilly, as we are wont to call him. Well, anyhow, Scallop- back Billy is a eal- Ico-sided mustang pony, with white stockin feet aud a skewbald face, and for some time past he has been Andy’s regular standby for trodin stock. When We Three Met. >^ow, in them days it so come to pass that I was right there present on the ground when the first trade was made, wherein Scallop-back Billy fell Into Andy's hands, and I recollect all the whcneencss and the wherefores thereof. It M ould seem like Andy and me had MTnt to town together on Saturday plong In the fail of the year, and on our return buck home that evening we struck road acquaintance with a stranger which, accordin to his own doxology, hailed from the Crawford set tlement way down in the river country, but from the way things turned out nftenvards he miis lyin like a jailer dog about that. Anyhow, the stranger was ridin of a little high-headed, proud-steppin horse, with calico-painted sides and other fancy trimmins on him. He Mas likeM’ise rigged out in a seroakin new raddle, with a red saddle blanket, aaul by gracious he was skhmniu along over the earth like a bird in great shape. Andy he w;us powerful taken up with the genral appeurmenk; of the little horse, and he bantered the stranger for a trade right then and there on the spot. The stranger he responded back that he M as then ridin the best piece of horseflesh that was ever done up in that much hide, and consequentiallj' heMant in no M ise particular keen to pnrtcom- panj' M-ith him. But at the same time lie M'ent on to say that he was a.tradin man and M ould sn ap anything he had, except, his wife and children, providin • of course he got the Aggers fixed to suit him. “Well, eomin right down to business and r^ek bottom." says Andj', “Iiom will saddles and bridles with me? 1, Andj' Mas a ridin of a little plug mule M'hich he had traded for that da\\ aud which the same stood him in hand about $40, and was well worth the monej’. “As I said in the outstart, I am not ridin my swappin stock to-day,” the stranger went on tercet iy, “and 1 reckon J'oe Mould have to Jay about $15 on your mule’s back befor i the change can take place.” “I am Millin to make it ten dollars even Steven,” says Andj’, “undi if that boot ain’t big enough I reckon u-e M ill have to retire from the trade.” [ “Well, noM-, I have never jet seen the day when I come so low down as to let five dollars bust up a horse swa the stranger responded, “and jou are traded with.” The Scallop Shows L’p, The next minute, they had both lit « and dismounted and got do\\ni to round up the trade. Thev changed bridles in the first place, Gjid then, as Andj* pulled his saddle off aud Mas takin a farewell look at his mule, the straaiger give a quick jerk and flung his saddle from the pony to the mule’s back. For some minutes then Andy he looked at me and then at the ]>onj*, and I looked at the ponj* and then at Andj*, M hilst his eyes bulged out as big as a pair of sau cers, and I had a poM-crful hankerlu to 'f laugh. \ When the stranger took off his sad- , cle and then pulled all tlie blankets out, L one by one, blamed if thej* didn’t leave a hole in the pony's back as big as a hamper basket. You couldn’t tell for certain bj” lookin at him M’hat in the 1 thimderat ion had happened to him, but It would seem a» if a big slice of his back had been bit out or chopped out at a very young and carlj* age. We found out afterwards that the dead I limb of a tree had fell ou him M*hen he Iwaa a mere colt and broke his back. * And then when lie got well aud come, ^around on has legs oucst more that ugly cal lop was still t lx re, and there to stay. BTxe stranger had a kind of silly look, but it ain’t no ways probable tliat the Fool Killer hud ever had any I pfcssin engagements at his house, and he hail filled up that uglv hole in the jioiry’s back w’ith about 15 saddle blankets, foldin them every one a little wktar*aad wider till s brung the valley up to a level with K knobs and hills surroundin. *Vell,man,sir, when he lifted his sad- i and blankets and pulled the Maddin snd left that thunderiu big hole re in the pony’s back he looked a fc*sed sight more like a drummedary Isn a piece of horse flesh. I thought 1 my soul for a few minutes that Andj* |icss would faint and fall doM’n in It spite of all that could be said or pe. But he rallied presentlj* aud me back to his right mind and proner irite. By this time the stranger Mas buc.k- l up th« girths ns if to take on a wu- Herbury JMvement, and leanin over in my saddle «pid Mdvispcrin to Andj*, says I: • “That dadiburned infernal scoundrel beast has swapped the livin socks off you by workln a law down trick. It will never do for you to go home ridin that double-action, scallop-bock thing— never in the created world. Rue the trade—even pull if you can’t do no bet ter—but rue the trade, Andj*—ru< the trade.” “This mought be a dcvilidi good time of j*ear for you to laj* low and say noth in, Rufe,” Andj* whispered back to me. “You want me to plaj* this game dead- square into the stranger’s hand, and I don’t most in generally ahvays handle the documents that M*aj*. It looks like both of j*ou took me for a natural-born durn fool, but we will see about that, I’.ufe—M*e Mill see.” Then turnin to the stranger,who was now mounted on the mulcMith his boots in the stirrups, Andj* smiled a pleasant, homelj* smile, and M enton to saj*: “Now, stranger, if j*ou fcavo got any more scallop-back, calico horses dovvn in j'our country I would love the best in the world for you to bring a drove the next time j*ou are paesin through our settlement. I have got a few head of mules and horses over to mj* plantation —both straight backs and scallop backs and hump Ivieks—and I will trade wiih j*ou most anj* time end naj' way. The scallop-back horses are all the go in this country now, whBst the straight backs are M ay yonder out of the fashion.” “Holy Moses and the twelve epistles, M-bat a lie!” thinks I to myself, but as Andj* had already give it out that mj' time of j*eair to suv nothin had come, I didn’t put mj* hand into the game any more. And j*et still I did feel rale curi ous all over in spots from the fear that the way in M'hich he had got bit and bugged in the trade and tlx* general shock Mhieh struck us when the stranger pulled the. w add in out of the hole in that ponj*’s back, had kindlj* un strung Andy's nervious system and ad dled his mind. Who Wn* Crarj TI»nt Kny? In the main time I couldn’t help but take notico that the stranger kept bang in' around like he u*asu*aitin for some thin to happen and would ruthernot go, whilst I thought if it was me after throM'in as much dirt on a man as he had on Andy I would be movin, my wasbin in a swingin gallop. But presently Andj' ho swung him self into his saddle, tightened the icins on scallop-back Billy, wished the stranger a whole lot of good luck, M*aved his hat at him in sajun good-bj*, tangled his spurs uith the flank girth and awaj* he M’ent. He pulled in and M'aited for me a mile or two down the road, and when I rid up he was dis mounted on the ground, rubbin and pet- tin that ponj*. and talkin and carrvin on with himself like a man that was borned a fool and had also went crazy. “Andj* Lucas,” talkin to himself out loud so I could hear, “you maj* not be smart enough to run for congress, but the faiuilj' records will show that j*ou ain’t all sorts of a foo! on t he same day. You have got a head as long as a flour barrel and as level as a squash. You maj* show tlm whites of your eyes and look foolikh sometimes, but I’ll be doubly dadburned if there is anything particular green In your general rec ords. But it does ralej* look like it M ill take some people forever to find out that j*ou arc a natural-born horse trader, with great gobs cf sense, and that fits don’t run in the Lucas family. But you jest spit on your hair and wait, and then M'hen a sucker count s along and bites you can throw him cut ou dn* land so lie never can flutter back to water.” “(lit on your horse, Andj*, aud come on. It is gettin late aud we would bet ter be movin along toM-ards home,” says I, soft and gentle as 1 could, cause I then felt plum certain that the man was not in his right mind. “Saj* here, Rufe, don’t you be givin yourself so infernal much trouble and Morrimont about me,” be come back, kindly firin up, like he mus mad. “You mought maybe think I am as blind as a mole and as crazj* as a chinch. A heap of people ain’t got no better sense than to think that, and you must be one of the people this evenin. The stranger we met back yonder in the road—the idiot M’hich swapped me this pony for that old mule—has backed his own fool self up agiu that very sung. Can’t you stir up the mush in your mutton head sufficient to see that I have KM*apped the very daylights out of the stranger, and him a-lookin nt me all the time? Don’t j*ou know this scallop-l»ack j>onj r is worth a small drove of sich mules as that to a man in the tradin business like me? Didn’t you see the game that dad blame fool Mas trj’in to plaj* on me, and can’t j’ou see hoM’ the documents have come my May like a mill nice M*ith the dam busted? You saw the idiot grinnin at me, and Imngin around like a man that Mas saunt for and didn’t M*ant to go M*orth a h:irdlj*, and j*et j ou couldn’t see through his game. Bj* the eternal Jim-jams, Rufe, it is an plain to me as a painted horse rack in ten acres of burnt woods. And noM*, accordin to inj’ general opinions, if there is a man In this crowd that is a i.toiiein candid ite for the crazy si loam, his name is San ders, and not Lucas bj’ a durn sight.” Andy Recovers Rapidly. “Now, see if you can’t manage sons to let a few Ideas soak through j*our hair, whilst I trj* to give you some of the nuiincst pints in the game,” suj s Andj*, as he mounted and we rid on toMnrds home. “That blame fool stranger Mhieh traded M ith me back j’omior has jest simply swapped off the goose that lays gold eggs and never goes to set. as it M-ere, and I saw through his trick like a flash. He calculated that M'hen lie took off his saddle and pulled the blan kets out of the terrible hole in the pon J*’s back I M ould be paralyzed on t he spot and dead crazy to rue the trade. | You M ould have took his bait like a lit- j sucker if you lind stood in my shoe®, but, hav n come doM'n from a gem^ra- tion of l»orf« traders, I didn’t snap and gobble down the bait any to spsakof. He thought 1 Mould ask him and l>eg bim for a rue, and at last offer 1 o swap Vxtck even in onlermeut to jdt rltL I of the scallop-back pocy, aud that wny he could keep the Ixxd money* I had paid him and land $10 -clean, cold cash—in bis flanks as easy as pickin it up in the big road. I’ll bet my Sun day* boots, Rufe, that he 1ms maJc 50 trades like that. You took notice of how he kept hangin around and waitin for me to saj* somethin, M’hich I never did say. Well, he was jest simply* beat out in his om u game, and I could see that it cut him to the bone. Right now I will bet the best mule In the settle ment that he would be more than glad to rue the trade and let me name the Aggers. You only M*ait now till raj* time comes and let me shoM* you hoM* easy* the trick will M’ork. There is some dirt in it I know, but accordin to the scrip tures anything is fair in love and war and politics and horse tradm.” As we rid on towards home scallop- back Billy' danced and pranced and MTnt sideways and put on more airs than the drum major of a brass band. Every body we met in the road had to turn round and take. a. good look at Andy’s high-headed, calico pony. Torectly it so happened that M*e met up with an other stranger. Andj' tickled scallop- back Billy in the flanks with his spurs and M*ouldn’t let him break his gait. But the stranger looked hack at us and hollered to Andy: “Saj', mister, are j'ou ridin SM*appin stock this evenin?” “Not if the court knows herself and she ruther thinks shodoes,” Andy come back at him. “But at the. same time I come from SM*appin stock myself, and j'ou mought bring on a trade if you are any Mays sufferin for one.” “Well, how Mill you change Mith me?” says the stranger, which he wan ridin of a little roan mare .some 12 or 13 years old. “This aint my t ime of year to trade,” says Andj', “but if you want to put your own trappins ou this pony j'ou mought pitch in and do the tradin. Money' talks, and when you hit me right M ith the Aggers I will let you know.” So the stranger he first made a pass at Andy to trade even, and from that he went to offerin boot. All this time Andy said nothin—only kept on shakin his head—till the stranger run the fig- gel's up to $20, M'hen the trade was closed and Andy put the money' in his left flank pocket. Then they dis mounted and changed bridles ami pulled off their saddles. And, man sir, Mhen the stranger walked around and saw that aM ful hole in the pony’s back he dropped his saddle to the ground and I thought in my soul he would go off in a dead trance right there in the big road. “Saj\ mister, I wouldn’t ride that dang thing home and turn him loose iu my fat her’s lot for $50,” says the young man M’hen. he recovered from the shock sufficient to talk. “You ma<3e jour omu trade, young man,” says Andj’, “and if you don’t love to ride, Malkin is tolerable good at this season of the year.” “I Mant to rue back and go heme,” say’s the young man, Mhilst his voice wavered and trembled like he Mas lixin to cry. “I don’t knou* bow it is over in your settlement,” says Andy, “but we don’t trade horses that a way around Rocky Creek.” “I will give you the Jionv even trade for my mare, and you can keep the boot money,” the young man went on, iookin powerful sorry* like aud piti ful. “Burned if I wouldn’t tote my* saddle and walk home before I would ride this infernal freak of nature.” “You have done made one trade al ready* this evenin, and if nothin else will do I reckon. I w ill have to- let j’ou make another one,” say s Andy. “Throw your saddle on the mare and go on back home to your ma, and the next time you start out on a horse swappin stam pede fight shy of the Rocky* Creek settlement.” Scallop-Rack Ilomea All the Go. The young man Mas so tremondius glad to sMop hack mostanyu*aj* till he went off rejoicin, M’hilst Andy be rid home on scallop-back Billy, with $20 spot cash landed safe in his left flank pocket. Nobody* knoM*s for certain how many* times Andy* has smupped off scallop- back Billy, but he gets him back every clatter with a little l>oot money tbrowed in for good measure. The stranger which first swapped him to Andy sent a trader into the settlement oncst, and sent him after scallop-back Billy at any price. But Andy got onto the trick, and Mhen finally at last the trader shook $100 at him for the calico pony* A.ndy Mould only shake his head and say: “Not this year. Rome other year, prebaps. Tell the man M'hich sent you here that I lore him like a twin brother, I do. And tell him moreover also that t he scnllop-bac-k horses are now all the go around, Rocky Creek.” And so if it ever comes to pass that you mought pitch out to try your hand with sM’appin stock, you can keep in mind that there Is one man in thisgreat country* which always falls like a cat- on his feet. . It M ould pay* you likewise also to recollect that fits don’t run iu the Lucas family. RTTFI'S SANDERS. The Contradictory Sex. “I do not understand it,” said the philosopher. “What is liothering you now?” in quired the other. “If n man is two hours late in arriving at home his M ife raises a row, while if he is gone tM o years she will give him a royal M-elcome. Women arc peculiar.” -Tit-Bits. Average Height and Weight. The average height of man is five feet six inches, his weight 141% pounds.. The average height of woman is five feet two inches, her M’eight 124% pounds. Got the PrUe. “What do you call this stuff, waiter?” “Floating island pudding, sir.” “Uintf Most of the soil seems to bavo fallen to me.”^— Philadelphia North American. i> WOMAN HORSE TRADER. Her Knowledge of Horses Astonished Kentucky’s Expert Jockeys. Mrs. Lizzie Fisher, a comely, well- dressed Moman, of middle age, from Salem, Ind., has been an object of con siderable interest in and about Dan ville, Ky. She arrived in town accompanied by a boy, and went at once to L. K. Rogers’ livery stable, where she drove a hard bargain for a horse. At the stable she gave the boy’s a shock by her knoM’ledge of horses and horse training. She in spected the animal from head to foot, and looking into it® mouth, remarked, in an off-hand manner: “He’s a four-year-old.” 'Ihe dealer had not examined the horse’s teeth, but, M'hen he did so, found ARPS NURSERY SONGS. Chcrokoo Philosophor Pacaea Hia Sovonty-Firat Birthday. “HE'S A FOUR-YEAP.-OLD.” that the woman m :is correct. She beat Rogers down from $75 to $70 on. the horse, and M hen the trade was closed counted out the exact price in crisp new bills. To the information that the horse kicked now and then, Mrs. Fisher re plied tb'-t she Mould attend to that all right, loe Mas the first Moman horse t ader lo strike the town, and the horse men got interested in her. That aft ernoon she left for Perryville, in the M*est end of the county. The follqM'ing day tM*o men came to toM n, hired a rig from Rogers, and went In search of the female horse trader. They did not leave their names, but said they Mere her husband and brother. At Perry ville they lost track of her, although they learned there that she had bought another horse. A few days later hcm s ;ame from Parksville that Mrs. Fisher was there, and was on the horse market. There, it mus reported, slie encountered some of the shrewdest traders in the business, and held her own with them. Monday of this week, m hich was “coun ty court day” in Danville, Mrs. Fisher returned to that city, and was con spicuous on ‘Jockey RoM*,”n'kerc horsc- sMapper8 from several counties congre gate and ply their trade. Mrs. Fisher could jump upon the M ild est sort of a“bueker”and ride down the row with the best of the boys. When she put her horse up for the night ut the livery .-table s*he unbuckled the girth, snatched the saddle from its place and carried the outfit into the building like an old hand at the business. This caused the boys to open their eyes Mith additional wonderment. The other day* two other men arrived on the lookout for Mrs. Fisher. They said they Mere her father and brother. She Mas located in Danville and went away M ith them. Mrs. Fisher, while in Danville, conducted herself in a highly* proper manner, but she astonished the old horse traders hereabouts by her knoM ledge of tiie business and her skill as an equestrienne. » _ _ _ THIS TREE 13 HAUNTED. Tlie Coen Dogn Turned Tall When They Strnrk It. Last fall a party of coon hunters from Danville, Ky., Mere In the woods in that vicinity, and the dogs hunted splendidly until they struck an old tree. There they* tucked their tails between t he 1 r legs and simply flew. They whined ami ga\e other evidences of fear, ami could not be coaxed into hunting any more that night, Finullf* the hunters themselves became seared. One of them declared he heard the sound cf a voice 'JMt Ipf vl dmlm AW i THE DOGS SIMPLY FLEW. aa i: from some soul in deep distress. This settled it. Every man in the crowd suddenly' remembered that he had business iu Ucnigaud townward the whole laj’-out proceeded M'itbout furth er parleying or loss of time. The next day an old gentleman residing in Dan ville M as told of the occurrence, and he recalled the fact that he had been one of a party M*hieh had a similar experi ence near this old tree three years ago, and he said that, the spot had been haunted for many years. \ longtime ago an old gentleman by the name of Louis Strcat was murdered for hi* money, and the murderer had dragged the body to the foot of this tree and covered it with dead leaves. The mur-i derer m«s never punished by law. A young man named Henderson wax ar- revted, charged udth the crime, and at his examining trial Mas liberated on $5,000 bail. Ho jumped his bond and disappeared some time afterwftr'JL Caeanr'a Langnafrc Quoted — Dartow Base Dcclarea That Moaea Had the Dluea and Lota of Trouble- aome TImea. “How many miles to Milybright?" *' Three score and ten.” I can’t help thinking of that old nur sery song, for I have just passed my seventy-first birthday and am therefore juist 70 years old. It is like crossing the Rubicon, and like Caesar 1 may’ say: “'Tlie die is cast.” I have reached the al lotted age, and now every’ day that I live isapersonal privilege-—a favornot prom ised nor deserved. There is something solemn and serious in the M*ord, for Scripture and an ancient history seem to have made it sign iticaut. There were 70 elders of Israel and the Lord sent out 70 missionaries; 70 learned men trans lated the Old Testament, and man’s age Mas cut doMD bj’ degrees from 900 to 70, and there the Lord called a halt, and Moses saith that ull the excess is labor and sorrow. Moses Mas feeling very’ blue M*hen he m rorte that. The old man lived to be 120 and had a troubled time, but I knoM* some men and many M-omen who lived past 80 and M*bose last days were their best days. Those M’ho have lived right or trieu to and have been un selfish and are blessed with a good u*ife or a good husband and loving children can take all the risks that attach to four score years. Labor and sorrow do not necessarily’ follow old age. Sydney Smith said, u*hen he was 74: “I am at ease in mj' circumstances; intolerable health; a tolerating churchman—much given to talking, laughing and noise; I am, on tlie whole, a happy man; have found the world an entertaining world and am thankful to Providence for the part allotted roc in it.” LongfelloM' lived to be. 75. When he M*as 70 ho Mrote his friend Childs: “It is like climbing the Alps; you reach a snoM’-crowncd ‘uinmlt and see behind you the deep valley' stretching miles and miles away, and before you other summits, higher and M'hlter, which you may’ have strength, to climb or you may not. Then you sit down and meditate, and M*onder M'hich it will be. This is the M*bolc story.” Dr. Holmes saw so much fun In every thing that he couldn’t help making funny rhymes about an old roan: “ And r.owj hlrj nose Is thin And It rests upon his chin Like a staff; And a crook lain his back. And a melancholy crack Is in his laugh.” Then he was sorry that he Mrote it, for he rays: “ I know It Is a sin For me to sit and grin At him here.” Tlie doctor didn’t expect to live to be 85, for long ag^ he said: “Our brains arc 70-year clocks; the angel of life winds them up once for all, then closes the ease aud gives the key to the angel of the resurrection,” But an old i ran is not obliged to have a crook in his back nor a crack in his laugh. VYe see many aged men who are straight as an Indian and have not lost the musical tone of their voice. Habit and pride of person, have much to do with this. I know an aged matron, a neighbor of ours. M ho when she is sit ting hardly touches the back of a chair, aud yet she is not stiff or awkwiard— always graceful, ahvays beautiful. She is kind and gentle in her age, and has a warm welcome wherever she visits. If she cannot hear all that is said she Is not embarrassed, for she says what she lacks in hearing she makes up in seeing and reading ami is thankful for the fac ulties that are still left her. I never saM- her with a troubled look, though I know she has had trouble and deep grief. Now, contrast such a woman with one who is ahvays complaining of her hard lot, or saying something disparag ing about her neighbors! But the old-time mothers had some excuse for bent shoulders, for it M’as the fashion to sleep on pillow and bolster, and it Mas the fashion to lean to the child M'hile it mus nursing. Habite be gun In childhood and continued in motherhood M ill never be broken in the decline of life. I believe that the habits of tlie girls of this generation are an improvement on those of the past. They do not law like they used to, and they carry' themselves more gracefully. They have betUr fitting shoes and corsets. They’ have more comfortable seats at school and aie not allowed to lean for- M-ard to their books or slate or n*riting pad. The life insurance companies have at lost discovered that Momen live as long as men if not longer, and policies are issued to them on equal terms. The longevity of both sexeo is increasing, sloM’ly but surely, and the only draw back is intemperance—whisky and opium. Were it not for these, the three- seore-and-ten limit would soon be ad vanced to four scorn and give us a stronger and handsomer race of people. Shakespeare gave us some types of ok! age that seem to have fitted the times In M’hich he lived, but they* are very rare in ours. Prince Hal said to FalstafT: “Have you not all the char acters of uge—a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a m hite beard, a decreas ing leg, an increasing eorporosity? Is not your voice broken, your M ind short, your chin double, your wit single and every part about you bloated with an tiquity?” I deny the picture. As somebody said, I deny the allegation and defy the alli gator. There is some of it that does not. fit me, Ik iron*. These poets a re too fond of poking fun at old men. The she bean ought to come along. The Scripture says that old age is honorable and that the young men shall rise up when the old men come in at the gate. The old men are tlie balance Mheels of all the machinery of government. If it were not for them the l»oys Mould run away with the wagon. There must be wheel horses with breeching on to bold back when going down hill. What are we here for? We can’t climb a tree or Jump a ten-rail fence any’ more, nor kick a college ball nor ride a bicycle, but these things are nonessentials and don’t have to be done. We can look after the grandchildren and point a moral and tell them a tale and teach the young idea how to dhoot without carrying a pistol in a hip pocket. Sol omon says that the glory of an old man ie his childreu’s children, and he might have said that the children M*ho have no grandparents did not have their share of happiness in this u-orld. But old age has its triumphs and con solations. It has passed ail selfishness and vain ambitions and takes comfort in memories and philosophic medita tion. It realizes the wonderful progress of art and invention, for m*c old men re member M'hen there M*a.s but one little railroad In the United States and no telegraphs; when the old stage coach carried the mails and postage was 2.» cents a letter; when there M*as no kero sene oil and no matches, no steel pens and but few books of any' kind. Old age is not alarmed about politics or the downfall of the government, for these same periodical excitements have agitated the. country as far back as we eon remember. It is the same old song, but it does not disturb our serenity. When our old cook concluded to quit she advised my M*ife to look round and “get a settled M-oman to take her place.” “Dese young niggers hain’t got sense enuf to stay anywhere long and dey will be runnin’ off after every scur- shion and funeral and picnic dat come along. Better get a settled woman.” Age does settle us wonderfully, and it looks like a pity' that M*e have to shuf fle off this mortal coil about the time we have gotten some sense and learned the lesson of life. But we must accept our destiny with grace and gratitude, and may the Lord give us "An ace that melts In unpereelved decay. And glides In modest Innocence away.” —Bill Arp, in Atlanta Constitution. DWARFS OF THE PAMIRS. ~ PlfirmlcB Whose Domestic Animals Are Also Dwarfed. At the nortlnvestem end of the Hin doo Koosh range of mountains in Cen tral Asia lies the Mild, desolate and al most unknoMn Pamir plateau, M’hich, on account of its great elevation, is knoM*n as the “roof of the M*orld.” Few travelers or explorers have ever ven tured there, and those who did traveled only in the southern and central parts of the Pamirs, lying just beyond the northwest frontier of India. But word has come from St. Petersburg that tM*o Danish officers, MM. Oloufsen and Phil- ipsen, have just arrived there from a very* extended 1 journey' of exploration in the northern portion of the country, having covered a vast area hitherto un trodden by foreigners. Their explorations are of great value to the scientific world. They discov ered tribes of natives entirely* different from those inhabiting the other parts of the Pamirs, and they brought back with them over 300 photographs of places they have visited and types they have met. The people are all dM-arfs, and the animals of the district, both M*ild and domestic, are correspondingly diminu tive in stature. The inhabitants are di vided into numerous small tribes. The herding of sheep and cattle is almost their sole occupation. During their travels the Danish ex plorers met, among others, tribes that ore still fire Morshipers and are totally uncivilized in their modes of life. Tlie full-grown men. and M'omen are rarely three feet in height. Their donkeys and their horses, Mhieh in appearance re semble the ponies of the American plains, are about the size of large dogs. The bulls and com*s are no larger than the ordinary* European foals and the sheep are no larger than small poodles. These little savages have dark spins and their eyes appear like little black beads sunk deep in their sockets. Their hair is very long and bushy, their noses large, their lips thick and their cheekbones large and prominent. Their habits are extremely unclean. They dress in skins, a long sheepskin pelisse cover ing the greater part of their bodies. Many M*ear long, loose skin trousers split at the bottoms of the legs. They use much grease on their hair and their clothing is covered with it. Their tents are made of skins. The use of money is unknoM n to these strange dwarf people and their only trade consists in the bartering of furs and stock. Little respect is .shoM*n for the women, and they are bought and sold at the rate of five and six cows or 15 sheep apiece.—N. Y. World. For Youmm Married People. Try to be satisfied to commence on a small scale. Try not to look at richer homes and covet their costly furniture. Try to cultivate the moral courage that will resist the arrogance of fash ion. Try being perfectly independent from the first, and shun debt in all its forms. Try to avoid the too common mis take of making an unwise effort to “be gin where the parents ended.” Try going a step further, and visit the homes of the suffering poor when secret dissatisfaction is liable to spring up. Try to be cheerful in the family cir cle, no matter how annoying may be the business cares and the housekeeping trials. Try’ to cooperate cheerfully in ar ranging the family expenses and share equally in any necessary self-denials and economies. Try buying all that is necessary to work with skillfully’, while adorning the house at first with simply what will render it comfortable.—Detroit Free Press. The Attractto®. Jess—I never understood w*hy Mias Fite married Giglamps. Bess—She couldn’t make up her mind to break the engagement. Jess—Why not? Bess—His w j the ipettiest ring she ‘ .’resa. : wr-r,. I 1 j