The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, May 27, 1897, Image 3
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THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C., MAY 27, 181>7.
OLD-TIME RELIGION.
:d Enough for the Sago of
Rocky Crook.
Hut tlie I.nteat Style Tun>> '1; lnT»
«•*>»»« Slile OutanU’’—HunK Ksl-
Ulni, Mnrrlen the Hartley Gener-
utiun—Little .\e,vt WixuinH.
Plain, old-time religion is goo<l
erougli for mo—and good enough for
you—a n d ir o o d
enough for every
body. You see some
people go and git
religion, but when
1 hey come b a e !c
t hey ha ven’t got t he
old-fashion
are
more new-fangled,
high-flyin fool no
tions in regards to
religion than a most anything else now
adays. Religion which makes a man
sorrowful and sad instid of joyoufc like
and glad ain’t worth pick in up in the
big road.
Si
pbdn, old-f.ushior
sort. There an
"si
“Tarneil \Vr«>tiK Stile OI3tJ!rlls. ,,
What makes me tell you what I do?
Ren Chris Weaver come up from the
old Panther creek settlement some days
•ago, and passed a night with me. You
.see me and Pen Chris have been as
friendly and thick as four in a lied from
the golden days of boyhood clean
through till now. And westill visit and
sw ap lies and mix tobacco at least onest
a year, to keep our old acquaintance
young and the recolloctiorsof old times
fiosh so far us me and him are con
cerned.
“They have now got so infernal many
new pints and fancy trimmius and ex
tra touches on the game, Jtufe, till
blamed if 1 know what cards are com-
in next,” says Ben Chris that night
after supper. “From the way in which
they run things in this present day and
generation, it wouldn’t lx* no ways sur-
prisin to me to see two pair heat three
of a kind, or four aces win the pot over
a straight flush.
“And what n, more, Rufe, if you ain’t
as blind as a mole and as deef as a ]-ost,
you can see them same new-fangled
fool notions eroppin out in regards to
a most anything and everything in
sight. Even to the churches have got
the new disease, and bless the Heavens,
if some of the latest styles in religion
don’t make people meaner instid of Ixd-
ter. Tiuit is the Bible truth, if I ever
told it.
‘Bight soon after Christmas two
sobers of a new and curious religion
idown intotheold settlement, and
;r skirmishiu and seoutin around
edges for a few days, they put in
L went to preaehin forth their strange
strines. They soon got toe holt over
ere at old Bchoheth church, and, by
facious, they have now busted the
rob wide open, and turned things
pigside out aids and raised mor-'
kvoather amongst the j;cople than a
Iittl& As for me, Bufe, 1 don’t take no
stock in any such contortionments, but
from all 1 cjui hear and pick up around
amongst the people, the new preachers
set forth and maintain that accord in to
the Bible and the declared words of
the 12 epistles, a man has got the right
to marry himself olf w ith as many vari
ous and sundry women as he wants to.
They preach some otlierwild and woolly
doetriin's, but that plii|x‘rfe<y fool no
tion about mariyin is the maii.cst new
pint in their religion,
“.Vow, it would seem like .s >n:e of the
nembers at old UehoLcth -which yea
recollect that church was built up ac-
eordin to the Methodist faith and order
way back in the early settlement of the
country—-they took up with tko new
doctrine, whilst others kicked and
wouldn’t touch it with a -lO-foot pole.
But Anally at last the biggest side stood
by the new prercaers, and tiie others—
them that are Methodists lill yet, and
Methodists till iit-y die—they had to
pull oil and take out and quit the
church.
“But the most strangest thing in the
whole business to me, Bufe, comes from
the fact that some of the women folks
have took up with that multitudinous
fool notion about more wives than one
for every man. It wouldn’t look so
t remend ins pussin strange for the men
folks to take up with such doctrines,
hut blamed if 1 can see how they ever
got it to go down, with the won.cn. But
it won’t hold water, Bufe. 1 told them
people from the jump that they run
their religion dead square agin common
sense and rough shod over IniLiau na
ture, and they can’t. The devil is in it,
and cousqucutially they are hound to
play the devil with it.”
"" ’ •!*.
lie Married the Whole in;*<y.
“As you will no doubts recollect,
Bufe, 1 never did make out like J hud
more religion than the man which built
cup the first church,” Ben Chris went
on, in his plain, blunt way. “but what
little I have got is natural and honest
and in line with the general govern-
l^mcnt. The laws of the land and the
laws of nature stand up agin the new
fangled religion .vhieh they have been
preachin over at old Bchoheth church,
and it is hound to go down to rack and
ruination in the due fullness of time.
"Old man Bank Kddins and his wife
was the very first to take up with them
new preachers. They took ’em in at
their house, and give ’em their hoard
free gratis for nothin, and jest natural
ly skimmed the milk and fed ’em on
the cream. And then the mainest lead-
,ts in the fight for the new-fangled re
ligion which finaily at last split old
I Behobeth wide open and turned things
lu roiig side, outards was old man
liiunk and his wife. To me it want no
livays snrpiisin to see old man Hank
fine nj) with that side, hut I never
rotdd of thought it in regards to his
lietter twortliirds. Well, I rtlther ex-
liect the o!\|l lady has now got enough
[1 B. and some to spare, whilst old man
Bank no doubts feels like he tool: and
bit oil a whole lot more than he will
eier worry down in peace and safety.
"You understand, Bufe, soon as ever
the Fddinses and their side whipped
the fight old man Hank didn’t do a
blame thing But light out and pitch in
to praetice what they preached. And
fioni that about the next news we got
the old silver-haired idiot had took the
hit in his teeth and married three more
wives. Say, Bufe. don't yon remem
ber that Bartley generation of people
•—old man Luke Bartley and his gang
—which lived over there in the forks?
Well, three of them Bartley women—
Sukcy and -Van and Shng—are still
with us in the flesh. They never had
got married so fur as I know, and never
had any bright prospects to speak of.
They likewise also took up with the
new-fangled religion which played the
devil over at Bchoheth church. So it
come to pass on one of them bright and
beautiful spring days old man Bank
hooked up his mules and wagon, driv
over in the forks and married the Hart
ley women—all three at a pop—and
fetched 'em hack home with him for
better or for worse. 1 hear that Mises
llddins was rut her somewhat agin the
?»'>i r.ent at the start, hut old man
HarJ. quoted Scripture oil’hand so fast
and furious till she at last give in and
told him he mought go on with the
good work and practice what they
preached. But when he returned hack
Lome late that evenin with three new
wives the old lady had her doubts
about it and was pullin on the bits con
siderable in her quiet, humble way.
Anil tin* Storm “tSust Loose.”
"Now, that was on a Saturday, and
by Sunday night a most terrilie big
storm had riz and bust loose over there
at the Eddins place. The women folks
had fell out and fussed and Anally at
last got inton rouglwmd-titmble,eatoh-
as-eateh-eau tight. From all the signs
and general nppearments it is hard to
tell for certain w ho come out first and
second best. Old man Rank had went
oiT to tend a night meet in at the church,
and his various and sundry v. ives they
lit and fussed and fussed and lit till
he come home and indefinitely post
poned the performance.
"But, at any rates, the Bartley wom
en packed up their duds bri ght and
early next mornin and moved back
down in the forks. On that same day
the high sheriff come out w ith papers
of eompellmcnt and took old man Hank
to jail on the general charge of too in
fernal much plurality In v.gard to his
wives.
“Old Mises Eddins has p-ati sick abed
the past two weeks consequentially
from the storm which bust loose that
Sunday night, but she is still holdin
things down at the home base. When
them Bartley women moved backdown
to the forks one of them was totin her
left arm in a sling, whilst the other
two didn’t have enough hair left—both
of them put together—to plait one whip
cracker.
“And now, with old man Hank in the
county jail, and his wife in bed, and the
Bartley family laid up for repairs, J
am Jeanin to the opinion that the new
fangled religion is bound to go. It
mought work tolerable well in some
fnrren country, Bufe, but by gatlins it
won’t hold water down there in the
old settlement, where human nature
has been human since the flood run
down, and men and women are flesh and
blood till yet.”
WHY HE IS A BACHELOR.
WEDDED IN PRISON.
Ml tie Xeirt WlfCislna.
There was weepin and wailin and a
general smashin of teeth at the Wig
gins place over in the hill country last
Tuesday mornin. And what do you
reckon was the matter? Nothin much
exeeptin that little Newt, the onlyest
hoy on the place, come up missin, and
they couldn't tell where to find him.
Little Newt, as everybody was wont
to call him, was the first and last horn
son of Lon and Jenny Wiggins. All the
rest of their boys, la the mysterious
ways and wisdom of kind Providence,
turned out to be girls, and there ain't
but 13 in the family. Little Newt is
now dost up to 17 years old, hut not
much bigger than a minnit till yet.
If you never was a hoy, and the
onlyest hoy on the place, you never w ill
knew what little Newt has passed
through since he shed his colt's teeth.
There is so infernal much to do that
nobody is titten to do hut a y earl in boy
—so everlastin Biany rough places
which he fits to a nat's bristle. Along in
durin the last two years they have had
that hoy linked in and strung out at
all sorts of work, from driv in the ex
wagon to pii'kin up chips and kindlin
the fires. There was no rest for the
weary or the wicked or little Newt Wig-
gius.
Bright and early last Tuesday mornin
little Newt come by our house, and
somehow I could tell from his genera!
r.ppearmer.ts that he was runniu away
from home and moviu his washin to
heat six bits, lie had a little wallet on
his hack and was hittin the big road
in the high places only. I was fumhlin
and foolin around »ut there about Hie
lot gate when he come along, and 1 Jet
on like 1 didn't see him. But he slowed
up a little and went on to te!l me what
was already as plain as a whitewashed
fence around a graveyard - he was run-
tiin away from home. 1 didn't say if*
blame thing, only told him not to take
any had money on his rounds and ask
him what was the matter at home.
"They fetched anot her baby there last
week," says he, whilst the tears as big
as glass marbles backed up in his eyes
and rolled dow n his cheeks—“and dnd-
blnme the luck, it is only one more
girl.”
With that the poor hoy strurk off up
the road, bitiu off about four feet at
every step. My doctrine is that the best
I lace in the whole diseotered world for
a boy is right there at home with his
own home folks. But for the life of me
1 couldn't And it in my heart to blame
little Newt. If I was the onlyest boy
in a family of 13. and gnl babies still a
(<omin. I mought maybe do as he has
done and move my washin to parts un-
‘ nowu.
P.UFl'8 8 AN PE 118
ARP A CHILD AGAIN.
Eomanco of a St Louis Stroct-Car
Conductor.
He Fell In Love with a Fair Pintsen-
Ker Whose Marriage Intermitted
LI* Dream Hut Not III* Sim
ple Faithfulness.
We are not likely to think of romance
in connection with theunan who rings
up fares. He is mortal like ounselve-s,
however, and, being so, is a target lor
Cupid’s darts.
There is a tall, quiet-mannered man
whose hair and mustache show the
frosts of age. who could tell an in t ere s'!-
ing story of an unprofitable attachment
if he would.
You remen:l>er the tender little love
story that appeared in magazine forma
year or two ago and which maidens |
cried over and ladies specula ted ,ipon at j
afternoon teas? It was as tantalizing j
in its way as Frank Stockton’s ve.va- j
lions question, the lady or the tiger? I
Bid Luke know? the ladies asked each
other, and the answer was according to 1
the temperament of the speaker, for i
the author had left it a mystery. Luke, ;
; bluff, lovable backwoodsman, tells a t
comrade about the sojourn of n family i
of wealth and culture in his neighbor- j
hood one summer long before, and ;
about the lovely girl of queer actions, j
Everyone who reads the story as the j
author makes Luke tell it knows that 1
the girl loved Luke. There it ends, j
with no promise of hope’s fruition. !
The gray-haired conductor was tell
ing the story to a friend who stood |
with him on the platform the other day. [
"That man is one in a thousand,” I
s aid the friend afterwards to a St. Louis :
Bepublie reporter. "He has the high-
est, kind of an opinion of women. He |
Irons at their shrine as he would at that
of a far-away saint. He is a bachelor !
and always will he on account of the j
strangest kind of a love story 3011 ever |
heard.
"He is a college man and has a lot i
of energy, though you might think he j
was lacking in anything like ambition. 1
After he graduated from college there
was no opening in professional or busi- j
ness channels to him. for he was a poor 1
boy who had worked his way through
college.
"The support of his mother and a
.younger sister then devolved upon him.
He had a cha nce, to get w ork as a street
car conductor, and us that was the only
Hoy mill Girl Ilorise-Thleve* .Marry
ll«-foro Coins to Hie I’en.
Love has been loudly laughing at
locksmiths again. Bolts and bars have
proved no obstacles to wedded bibs.
Ban ( lipid has been able to shoot his.
darts through the walls of a grim coun
ty jail. v
iriin Shaw and Gertie Fisher were re
cently arrested near YViiiaington, <).,
charged with horse stealing. He is a
beardless boy. She is a pretty girl. 10
years old and small for her age. They
had engaged in the stealing of horses
together, the object being to raise
money w ith v. hieh to be married and set
up housekeeping.
Their first venture proved to be their
last. They stole the horses all right.
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HER LAST HIDE.
ALL THE BUG’S FAULT.
thing that presented itself, he, like a
sensihl • man, accepted it. lie had beer,
at work not more than three months
w hen he noticed a sweet-faced girl w ho
rede on his t ar two or three times a
week. She was one of the girls who ] Ue'chapel near the cycle path. She rode
radiate sunshine. She smiled at every- I well, too, and she knew it. She handled
one, including the conductor. His life
V
had hern a hard and lonely one, and it
is no wonder that the sight of the
gracious girl and the delicate scent of
her favorite perfume set him dreaming.
He began to think of the days when In-
was established in a profession and
might meet this girl as an equal. He
noted the birdlike turn of her head at d
the tendrils of hair on her neck with a
lover’s delight. Jf he had been more of
a clod and less of a dreamer this
wouldn’t have happened, hut as it was
he was made ecstatically happy by the
opjKirtunity to raise her umbrella or
pick up her handl.erehii f.
“One week he i dssed her. Another
passed and she did not appear. He
overheard a conversation one day that
gave him the information Ik desired.
Fl.e was ill at her home. He learned the
address. Next day some 1 xquisite red
roses cheered the sight of the sick girl. :
No card accompanied them. Lvery day
the gift was repeated.
“He did not see her again until one
evening when she returned from the
city wiiii a number of friends.
"When the merry party alighted the i
pretty girl looked shyly at the con 1
duetor. She hail a warm heart t: at
often led her to forget tiie hffs im- |
portant conventionalities. She had
bade adieu to the eat al home. Why I
i.ot to this quiet, stern-looking man
who, she vaguely rememliered, had al- |
ways been kinder than his duties re- |
quired? Besides, she was so happy to- j
night that her heart overflowed with j
kind impulses. ’Good-by,’ she said, |
softly. ‘1 shall not ridti on your line ;
again soon. We go to Cleveland to live. |
1 was married to-day!’
“The hand pressure that returned j
hers was gentle and respectful. The i
man’s face was ashen, lie said not a !
word. He was surprised. ‘Perhaps I
should not have done that,' she whis
pered to the bridegroom. ’Nothingyou
do could be wrong, dear.’ he whispered,
and neither thought of the conductor
again. 1 know him well, and I was
at a loss to account for his morosenrss
and the premature whitening of his j
hair, it was long afterward that he
told me this in a hurst of confidence. It
was the death of the man’s uinhition.
That happened 13 years ago. lie is n
street ear conductor still, probably al
ways will he. Jle seems to have no de
sire to become anything else.''
With
'!!N
Jhjlor.ophor Attends an Eight-
Year-O’.d Birthday Party.
Tnkt'M Part In tiie Games — Tires of
% Lable* nml W rites ol Groups
Tomb nml v.t Gen
eral Lee.
If
MARRIED IN JAIL.
but they were unable to market them.
While carrying out this part of their
plan 1 hey were arrested, and w hat they
intended for a honeymoon became a
stay in jail.
The} - were tried and convicted. The
youth of both prisoners had much todo
with tiie fact that they received a light
sentence—a year in the penitentiary.
A year is a long time to fond lovers
when the year means separation. Kix-
teen-year-oid (iertie declared that it was
a shame, and that the time would never
pa:ss.
In the comity jail the lovers were al
lowed to ; ee and talk to each other
daily and the result of these talks was
the resolve to he married lie fore they
were taken to the penitentiary and thus
separated.
One thing stood in the wav of their
carrying out their plans. Gertie had not
attained the age at which girls can
marry in Ohio without the consent of
their parents. Gertie’s mother lived in
Dayton and a letter was sent to her ex
plaining'' the situation. By return mail
a letter came from the older woman,
giving her consent.
On May 1 the wedding took place.
The bride and bridegroom were taken
from the jail to the office of the jailor,
and there they were met by a minister,
who joined them in marriage. They
seemed as happy as they e>.pc< fed to lie
when they mounted tiie horses and rode
away seeking fort line anil happiness.
Perhaps the story may induce Gov.
Btishnell to pardon them or shorten
their sentences.
Spoiled Her Gown Uecuusc* It Perclioil
on Her ,\e«*U.
I If it hadn’t been for the hug it
wouldn’t have happened.
Dressed in a fetching cycle gown of
fashionable tan-colored material, says
the New York Journal, she rode along
Eighteenth avenue in front of the iit-
her bicycle gracefully with only one
hand on the handle bars, and she could
turn around in the saddle w it!) ease and
look behind her to see who w as coming.
Furthermore, s.he could ride well with
Tioth hands off the handle bars.
But it was the hug that did the mis
chief. The little nuisance just flew
from somewhere and lit on her neck,
a half-suppressed scream she
ROLLING INTO THE DITCH.
reached mn'lly around with her left
hand to brush it away. In her excite
ment she h t the front wheel swerve so
that it ran over the edge of t ho road, and
the soft dirt giving way the bicycle
rolled clumsily into the ditch, dismount
ing the young woman most ungullantly.
A big stone, was imbedded in the dirt.
NY lien the young rider struck the ground
there was a muffled sort of crash. With
a frightened look, as quickly as she
could extricate herself from the wheel
she reached down into her pocket, very
carefully, and brought nut t he shattered
portions of a small flask.
“You needn’t, stare so.” said she ton
stable hoy who had been exercising
some horses. “It’s oniy Jamaica gin-
ger.”
But it was the Lug’s fault, and the
fetching gown didn’t look so well.
Women on the Sebool Ilonrd.
At the late mtinicipa! election in
Philadelphia five women were chosen to
serve on the school hoards. There are
now 12 in all.
Another birthday in the family.
There are ten children and 3'.) grandchil
dren, and somehow every one of them
has a birthday about once a year.
My wife remembers tin in all. just like
she know s her alphabet, hut the alpha
bet keeps lengthening out as the years
roll on, nml she says her memory is
weakening.
Tli ere is hut one orphan in all :he lot
—a little black-eyed girl w ho lives with
us, and so it was agreed that she should
have a birthday part3', for she was just
eight 3 ears old to-da.v. It was a mighty
big thing for a little girl, and will last
her its lor,"' ns she lives. 1 reckon, ami
she will never have a happier one. .She
goes to school, and all her little friends
had to lie invited. Fort3' notes had to
he written and JO little envelopes had
to lie hacked and put in the post office,
and this afternoon at four o’clock 40
little l:o\s and girls came up tire wind
ing \va3 r through the grove, and in
course of time were plu3 ingen the lawn
as happv' and as nois3' as a flock of
blackbirds. Tlie\- played evervthing
except baseball and football and other
college eurrieulunis and wound up with
“many, many stars in the sky.” 1
broke into the ring tm self in that game
and kissed a prett3' little girl and got
kissed l>3' another. Age has its priv
ileges. and these are of them. By and
by the piano announced that the parfv'
w as prepared, the feast was ready, and
so all these little folks were soon cir
cled around the long table and the side
! tables, where the ice cream and the
strawberries and the cake anil the
flowers were nestled in luxuriant abun
dance. Fight little red w*ax candles
were burning in the center, and eight
vases filled with flowers significant of
hope that the little girl might have a
light to her path and her wa3 be strewn
with roses.
My observation was that all these
children behaved wall and have good
training at home. Of course, the boys
are always hungrier than the girls,and
it takes more to do them. It is said
that one time the queen of Shelia had
40 hoys and girls all dressed alike and
! brought in before King Solomon to
! see if his great wisdom could pick out
I the boys from the girls. And so the
king called for bowls of water and tow
els and had them passed around for
each one to w ash their hands in. The
girls earefull3’ turned up their tuffs,
hut the boys just sloshed their hands
! in the water regardless of spattering
their sleeves. But I would have sent ice
cream around in saucers, for I know
that the girls would be satisfied with
two, while the boys, as a general rule,
could be persuaded to take one more.
I don’t blame them. Good strawberry
; ice cream surely is a good thing and
harmless, and three moderate saucers
! have never hurt me yet. My’ wife will [
i have another birthday in two weeks,
and I shall insist on more ice cream.
Well, we have had an evolution at our
house that lias astonished the natives. ,
We have live acres of grove in front 01 |
our house, and it has long been inclosed !
with 7UU feet of fence along the two ;
streets that bound the t wo sidi s of our i
domicile. That fence was getting old, |
and had been often repaired, but re- j
cently the city fathers pas.-od the cow
ordinance for good, and forthwith in a
day l had removed every vestige of that ;
fence. It looks very odd; in fact, it j
looks like South Carolina. My wife
does not know whether she likes it or
not; says the place looks undressed,
and she feels like taking cold, hut it
will save me about ^30, and that is a big 1
thing with us, now. So let the evo- !
lutiou go on. It is a sign of progn ss.
Since we liaie Jived here Logs have been
abolished; next the saloons, and, last,
the cow s huic been ruled off the streets,
and the boys, after nine o'clock at '
night. We are going to have a clean,
nice, orderly town. Jf 1 was rich I
would have a fountain down in the
grove and n dipper chained to it. and
some iron seats in the shade not far
away, where the thirsty and the weary
might liaie rest. These iitticattentions
don't cost mui-h, and make both place
and people attractive. The little things
make up the sum of our life's happim as.
The grand pageant that celebrated the 1
dedication of Geu. Grant's new tomb
was over in u day , hut his generosity to
; Lee at Appomntcx, and his kind ness to
the south after the war. eclipsed ail his
lictorics. Grant had sense enough to
know that his triumph was nothing to
boast of. considering that he had three
j soldiers to our one, and lost near a
million men, and now has another niil-
1 lion on the pension rolls. Why, not
even old Jack Falstati would have
bragged over such a victory. But 1
liked Gen. Grant. He was a southern
man, and his wife a southern woman.
He owned slaves tip to the very day of
freedom, and lived off ‘heir hire, so
rays his biographer, Gen. Janu s Grant
Wilson, and Mrs. Grant said in 8t.
Augustine a few years ago that her
sympathies had to be smothered all
through the war for her hit: hand’s
sake. J have said it before, and 1 say
it again, that most all professional sol
diers will offer their swords to the high
est bidder. They have a preference, cf
course, but patriotism is not as big a
thing as personal success. If a man
could see behind the scenes he would
find many notable instances of this,
i Then, what a lie is history; what a
! hypocrite is fame. Dr. Johnson said
' that “patriotism is the last refuge of n
scoundrel.” He meant pretended patri
otism, of course. Milton expressed it
better when he said that “brave men
and worthy patriots are dear to God
and famous to ullages.” Buta soldier
of fortune eon fight anywhere for a
cause that is respectable. Geu. Loring
told me that he could have fought
against the khedive just as honorably
as for him if the position and the pay
had been satisfactory.
But I didn’t mean to ruminate on this
line. I have great respect for Gen.
Grant’s memory, but when I read all
the gush and parade over those cere
monies and almost hear the shouts of
the grand army. I was obliged to think
of our side and the truth of history. £
wanted to make that monument com
plete by chiseling on its capstone some
figure* — only a few figures that
strangers who visit it might read and
wonder, and inquire where do those
people live who fought that fight. Ver
ily. Saul has slain his thousands, hut
David his ten thousands.”
And now I will cool off on some ice
cream and go back and play with the
children.—Bill Arp, in Atlanta Consti
tution. *
A FIRST CATTLE.
’J'tie Early Exticrlenoe of 11 War-Sen*
Moned Soldier.
An old soldier, who Lad seen service
for many a year in the Crimea, India.
China, Africa and Egypt, was asked
one day in a London el ub whether he re
membered the List time when he wu»
under lire.
“Certainly,” he replied. “No soldier
ever forgets that experience.”
"Did you feel like a hero at the
time?" *
"No, indeed. It was one of the great
battles of the Crinn a. I was a young
officer who had been run out of the
military school ahead of time to fill a
vacancy. 1 had hardly been in camp a
week before the regiment was ordered
to charge a Russian battery, which was
posted in a commanding position. NYe
went forward on the gallop through a
; dense cloud of smoke, swooped down
upon the battery, sabred the artillery
men. and captured the guns. YVe lost
many of our men, but it was a very bril
liant charge. Yet there was at least
one hussar who acknowledged himself
to be a coward from beginning to end.”
“Then you were terribly frightened
by y our first battle?”
"Yes. that is the truth. I went ahead
with the others, hut I was trembling
with fear and excitement. I shut my
eyes and made no attempt to guide my
horse. I thought of my goo«3 mother
at homo, and wondered how I had ever
been so foolish as to think of the army,
when there were comfortable profes
sions like the ministry and the law,
which I might have followed.
“The charge occupied only a few
minutes, but it seemed an endless time
before we were behind those murderou*
guns and had the cannoneers at our
mercy. I was among the first to l>e with,
them, nnd I swaggered with my sabre,
while the horse rode down and killed a
gunner. But my heart was like a hall
1 f ice. A greater coward never scram
bled over an entrenchment. All the
time I was repeating texts from the
Bible and sentences from the Lord’s
Braver, and wishing myself thousands
of miles away.”
The veteran laughed heartily over his
reminiscences of his first battle.
“The funniest part of it," he added,
“was they’ considered it a great ex
ploit. and insisted upon giving me a
medal for my’ heroic and courageous
conduct, when I was a white-faced,
mean-spirited coward from first to last,
and my horse did all the fighting for
me. trampling the gunner underfoot.”
Probably the veteran exaggerated his
boyish trepidation and panic. He could
have afforded to do so, for he was a
seasoned soldier whose courage and
even recklessness, were well known:
but he was not far from the truth when
he declared that no soldier ever felt
like a hero when he was first under fire.
—Youth’s Companion.
Tiie Mnshomilmid Doll.
No doubt the earliest manufactured
toy of all was the doll. Little girls play
with dolls everywhere, and have al
ways done so. Indeed, among the
iU' lu auas and Basntos at the present
moment, married women carry dolls*
until they are supplanted by real chil
dren. There is for its possessor a curi
ous individuality about a doll, altogeth
er unaccountable to other people. How
often may it be observed that a child
will neglect the splendid new five-shil
ling waxen beauty, with its gorgeous
finery. and cling faithfully to the dis
reputable, noseless wreck of rags that
lias been its favorite hitherto! Some
thing causes other children, besides
Helen's babies to dislike "beyed dol
lies," even to the preference foran arti
cle made of an old towel. This some
thing. whatever it is, is doubtless a
great comfort to the small girls of
Mashonnland. It is un innocent, arm
less sort of rffuir, without any such
disfigurement as waist or shoulder*
might cause, no knee joints to get un
fastened, and nothing at the end of ; ta
legs to cause expense at the shoe
maker's. As regards dress, it is inex
pensive, |he w hole suit of apparel con
sisting of a piece of string threaded
throng!) a hole humanely bored through
the head.- Strand.
Fired 1 lie Kina.
One day in a small church in Heidel
berg, Germany, there entered tho
church a plainly dressed man w ho took
a pew near the pulpit. Soon after n
haughty German lady swept up the
aisle, and, seeing the stranger in her
pew, ordered him to leave it. The tiian
promptly obeyed, taking one of the
seats reserved for the |>oor, and joining
devoutly in the the services. After the
services were over the Indy’s friends
•gathered around her, and asked her if
she knew who it was she had treated
so rudely. “No, some impudent
stranger,” she replied. “It was King
Os< ar of Sweden," w us the answer. “Uo
is here visiting the queen, who is nn in-
'olid in charge of the doctors.” The
haughty German lady is still looking
for u foot large enough to chastise her
self with.—Every Where.
—Tn Italy there are more thentei« irv
pro|x>rtlon to the. |>op<j!ation timn in
any other country.