Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1 T1IK LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C., FERRUAUY 10. I8i)8. 3 0L3 WAIO. Hr r Thu froi % quiet j.<. I fa< e in hwik ; t of Jin ny a \rn : Lien on l.i r Lair. nn rjpnr; und fair, hell jear She hns no nn inoi ie.; of vowa Exelianvi il below an April moon Or \.hiapen-U eouverse Ueiith jhe bon^ha Of r< . o l(:i';ht June. She never plnnne This .sweet old For her life belli Of moth 1 her weiV.iivr rov.-n. Du . ci’uv rhocxl. J-jUU*-. Yet to the shelter of hi r tiidu The littlo oi ! Lan i hildren press. 'Tis kuov. :i she niiHhei . ,, tur and wide, The mot herlens. The poor nnd suTerlni* love her well, I'ueh roady nym; nthy she shewn. The norn \. burdeni-d fn ly tell To her thoir woes. For those who slum! le, those who fall. Her heart with pontlest rath is siirreJ. She bus a kindly rniilo for oil— A cheering word. With fate she never wepea strife. “It i'1 be right, sinceGodknows lx -t.’ And so tho lives her useful life, I Blessing and blest. She strews the thorny pr.ths with fiowi'rs, Slut turns the dnrhnes.s into day, And os wo clasp her homls in ours Vfe cun bat say : “Bear friend, so rich in love and truth, Wi.h large, warm heart end stead fas mind, *Twas well for some that in your youth The men were blind!” —E. Mathcson in Chambers' Journal. THE MISSING LINNET. tbu clear water, you saw, in bright copper, barnacles and "Yv hat's become of the Linnet?” asked some body suddenly one fine morning at the admiralty some 50 years ago. And nobody knew. Somo said China, others the west coast, others again the West Indies. But there was no duality in the guessing. And not r.ntil an old clerk in the undersecretary's room happened to mention that his son was the Linneth midshipman, that he had not been heard of for three years, and that hi- last letter was from Australia, was the clew found. In u snug harbor of S avail a, the lar gest island of a group of four known 4, tho Padrenes,” lay H. M. S. Linnet. But you would never have taken her for what she was. Her sides were worn and weather beaten, long tears of iron rust trickled down them, and every where showed unsightly patches of the first priming coat of lead colored paint in place of the original delicate creamy white. Instead of “Europe” rope half hri runuiug riggings was coir, brown and frizzy, and the standing gear showed grievously for lack of tar. Many of her ratlines were gone and their places filled by strips of bamboo. Her sails, loosed to dry and half sheeted home, •showed great patches, fiutr fur u north country collier than a British ship ol \war, be she ever so small. Everywhere iluout her hung :i curious look of decay ^ud drought, and barbarism ttccentuated instead of relieved by a festoon of shells and sharks’ teeth hanging round the neck of the once smartly gilded figure head. Looking over the side, deep down through place of weeds. Her crew was well in keeping, for ii the ship's stores bad run out so evident ly had the slop chest. For'ard the men were in every variety of rig, and with their broad leafed palm hats, made to the individual wearer’s fancy, their trousers and jumpers of cheap and gaudy "trade” prints, and sharkskin belts or namented with native work, they looked far more like pirates than the regulation British Jack. Nor did the presence among them of many flower decked brown maidens, who evidently had the run of the ship, lessen the resemblance. Aft, in hammocks under the sun blanched awning, swung Morrissey and his lieutenant, while n couple of native belles sat on the skylight chattering to a small midshipman, who in an undress uniform of brown calico and grass woven fcr.t, lay on a rug smoking a huge cigar of his own manufacture. Presently, frem a boat which had pulled off from the beach, stepped a tall, bronzed, clean shaven man dressed in spotless duck from head to foot. This was fc'ilas B. Ktgg, the owner of the white coral built trading station which flashed cut of the great clump of purple hibiscus that little Thompson, the mid shipman, had once fancifully compared to a stain of blood on the even greenery of palm and IrcaSfruit trees. “I reckon now, cap,” said the visiter without any ceremony, as he leaned against the clews of Morrissey’s ham* meek, “as we’ll huvo trouble direckly. ; I don’t like the free an easy way those niggers is carryiu oa lately. That’s a fact. You’d think the storo yonder be longs to ’em. Likewise this ship o’ youru. You don’t burn powder enough. Look at ’em now. ” The commander turned his head slow ly till, under the dip of the awning, ho could see right for’ard. A whole crowd of natives, male and female, had so closed in the Linnet’s seamen that noth ing was to be seen of them. Another mob was sitting in a row all along the 43 pounder that lay, its white paint peeled off in patches, on its turntable just for’ard ef the foremast. Those, ■flower decked, laughed and screamed in childish gayety as they pushed each other off the muzzle of the guu. Others again were aloft in the fore rigging, ap parently playing at follow my leader. A harmless race surely and one full of mirth I But the trader shook his head as he gazed. His dealings with the Linnet and her people hud beeu profitable. And be hoped for more profit still. Also he was afraid for his own skin and wished to inoculate the 1 others. Alao he knew the islands and had seen curious mat ters happen in them. “Huh, ” said Morrissey, after a long ’look, “they know we cun bite , like. It’s only the mice lurking wWn the lion; although, to tell the truth, Kegg, we’re getting so moldy aud worn that I’m almost afraid to fire the guu. Lost practice ovor at Mullicobo brought showers of dry rotten stutf from aloft about our curs. None of our spars would stand a heavy blow. Bcsidisour emmu- uitiou is giving oat, both for small arms awl the gun. Aud as for provi sions—well, your little bill will tell its own tala when it conics to pay day. Our commission’s up over a year now. They’ve clean forgottm us, aud we'll be left here till we become niggers our selves and live on cassava and pork.’’ Awl the commander yawned and turned in his hammock. “No, no, cap,” replied Kegg, with a twinkle in his eye; “not so bad as that. I’ve got a boat under charter, nearly due from Yap, in the Carolines; bet- i tied ale, champagne, the cbycest o’ tin’ll d stuffs an the whitest c’ flour, uot ! to iwiitiou a few barrels o’ gunpowder. ! She ought to show up pretty slick with this southerly.” “More promissory notes!” groaned the commander. “John Bull’s name’s good enough for j :ne,” replied Silas. "You kin take the hull cargo on them terms. But,” ho continued, as he stepped toward the i gangway, “mind a fool’s advice, cap, [ an keep your eye liftin on them niggers:, an specially on Mister Tuifalu. He’s watchiu on us now as sharp as a shark arter a pickaninny. Send a rouu shot or two ashore, cap, just for fun liko— knock over a few o’ their cocoa palms and pay for ’em. Them nigs is just bustin’ full o’ pure enssedaess, spito of their larfm an flowers an singin. Well, eo long. I ain’t uoue too comfortable myself, an copza’s a thing o’ the past. But, you see, I alius keep my guns handy.” And he patted a couple of hol sters, one on each hip, from which pro truded the butts of two enormous rolts. “Anything in it, d’ye think, Bram ble?” asked Morrissey, after a long pause, turning languidly to his lieuten ant. Fcr answer the latter sent little Thompson to call the boatswain, who presently appeared, with flowers in his r >r.gh gray hair, remnants of a hurried ly discarded garland. "Danger from them niggers, sir!” said he iu reply to his superior’s ques tions. “Why, they’re for all the world like a lot o’ kids an as much ’arm iu ’em. If/twcre Tanuu, now, or San Christoval, it might be different. But wo been here a solid mouth an never see nothin wrong. Besides, it ain’t likely, sir, as a scum o’ black niggers ’ud tackle a British man-o’-wer. ” Morrissey laughed, so did Brvnible, so did the solitary midshipman who was lying back eating bananas almost as fast as the two brown girls could skin them and puttioiu into his mouth. As Hicks (which was the boatswain’s name) finished sniggering in respectful sympathy a sound of shooting reached thorn from shoreward. Abreast of the white house, backed by the patch of scarlet, in the bright sunlight stood a man from whose extended arms Hashed forth fire aud smoke into a dense crowd of natives, between whom aud the trader (for it was he) so thickly flew the spears that they seemed but ouo continuous mass. Suddenly they saw him fall to his knees, the firing ceased, a'jcl it was as if a brown wave had rolled over iho spot. With a roar the boatswain sprang for'ard, only to be met at the break cf the little poop by Tuifalu and cleft so cleanly by a single blow from a nine pound American ax that a half of his head fell sideways on to each shoulder. For full a minute he stood upright, then slowly Lis legs gave way, and he dou bhd up all iu a heap over the port har ness cask—the one the salt pork was kept iu. Almost simultaneously the 30 men who composed the crew, and who were almost all on deck, were butchered. Those below speedily shared the same fate. The scuppers ran blood. In the words of Tuifalu (much later on): ‘‘The sea was rod aud the ship was red. Red was everything iu our sight, yea, even the very air wo breathed was red. A great slaughter, a very great slaughter of white men, tho liko of which was never known iu the world before. ’ ’ Meanwhile after the first long wild stare of despairing incredulity and ouo solitary exclamation of “My God!” from Morrissey, the three turned to fly down tho coinpanionwa}*. But tho doom of the unprepared in those lauds, even to the present day, was upon them. At the sound of the first shot tho two native women had sprr.ngou to tho awning and rapidly cut the stops aud earrings, so that before the three offi cers could reach the door down came the big heavy spread of stout canvas right on the top of them. Yelling liko fiends, the children of treachery rushed aft, stubbing frantically with their spears and beating with their shark teethed swords at the sharply outlined bodies beneath until the bleached can vas began to show great patches of red, und all movement ceased. To the westward, beyond tho ever sounding circle of the surf glowing rosy in the rays of the lowering sun, that same evening there hove in sight u small schooner making direct for the entrance in the reef. Then Tuifalu’s brains went to work again in savage wise, and very quickly the awning was respread, all signs of confusion cleared away and sundry bod ies placed in position about the decks, some apparently watching the approach ing vessel as they leaned over the bul warks, one sitting on tho rail with a fishing line between his fingers, aud aft they propped poor Morrissey against the hood of the companion and pat his bio scope under his arm as they had scon him stand many a time. Nor ashore were thuy Idle. While some beat welcoming tamtams others ran tUo stars aud stripes up to the top of the flagstaff that stood before the dead trader’s bouse. Ruddier than ever iu the sunset glowed the scarlet hibiscus. And as the Yap soboouer drew slowly in aud let go her anchor they sot off with songs aud flowers aud boarded her. Reudored totally uususpioioca by Lbe presence of the Linnet, they found the t little fore and aft an easy connuest. Tho Upolu men who comprised the crew at once took to the water and were killed there. The two whites, skipper and mate, were cut down on tho quarter deck. Here, indeed, was an embarrassment of riches, aud the whole group was in a ferment of pleasurable excitement. Two ships full of untold treasure and as much "long pfrg” would furnish quite a week cf ceaseless foa.-ting. But old Tuifalu was uot altogether easy in his mind. Once when only a stripling he remembered tho people had killed and eaten a white trader—a man like this last one—and thought no more about it. Then, one fine morning, a big, a very big canoe appeared aud vomited fire and smoke aud things that screamed as they flew, and when they burst smashed huts and canoes and planta tions. Certainly only a few very old people wore killed, because the whole tribe fell inland. But it was not pleasant on returning to find their village iu ashes, canoes in splinters and the whole of the season’s crops mined. There was, he recollected, much argu ment over the matter. “The anger of tho gods,” at last said tho priests who lived in tho temple where row upon row shone the long array of polished boars’ tusks. But even then Tuifalu hud doubts. He doubted mo?3 when ho saw the Linnet and heard tho big gun fired. Weeks of close communion with the whites had taught him a great deal. As we have seen, ho profited—aud the big guu had beeu dumb so long. Also, where was tho other big canoe —the one of many moons agone? Might it not return at any minute with guns that were not dumb? Therefore Tuifalu stopped the feasting and prepared to get rid of the two vessels, casting un easy glances the while seaward. The Yap schooner, after taking out most of her cargo, ho ran ashore and set fire to. And as the people watched her burning she blew to atoms, and a few were killed and many grievously wounded. Kegg’s powder had, in somo sort, worked a revenge. “The auger of the gods,” said the wise men again. But Tuifalu knew better. It, however, ef fectually stopped him from serving tho Linnet iu the same fashion. Otherwise ho would have burned her where she lay. As it was be concluded to tow her round to a secluded inlet that ho knew of, and there gradually break her up. Ouo mrjttcr puzzled b’m. Jt was hew to weigh her f.t'.chor. The Yap schoon er's ground tackle had been merely a ooir hawser. One can cut the like easily, but not a heavy chain cable. So Tuifalu had to work his brains once more. First ho tried fair pulling, but the whole strength of the group, or as many as could get hold, was unable to move the anchor. He and his had twice seen the sailors—those men now dead aud digested—walking round a fiat topped thing to the sound of music until the big iron hook came up from the sea bottom. Was it the music or the walking round and round? Tuifalu pon dered tho matter deeply. And tho re sult was that one 0"7, shipping the burs aud seating himself on top of the capstan with an instrument made out cf one of Morrissey's thigh hones, ho struck up, while his naked cannibald ran merrily round and round to tho clank of the pawls aud the barbarous squeaking of the savage flute. But, alas, tho great hook, fast in its coral bed below there, gave no sign of ascending. The necessity of taking the ruble to the capstan before commencing operations bad never beeu explained to the untutored ones. But the old chief was bad to beat, and presently, seeing the futility of the thing, he began to pay out chain, in stead of trying to get it iu, with tho result that tho mau-o’-war schooner nearly drifted into the surf with tho set of the ebb *:ide. So crowded were her decks and rigging aud yards with curious spectators that she looked more like a huge muss of bees blown out to ma at swarming time than a ship. And as this great floating mass lay just in front of the gap in tho reef, with 100 fathoms of chain surging aud grating behind her over sea bottom hills ami gullies, suddenly came on to blow the nor’wester as it always blows at Buvaila—first a few premonitory puffs roaring hollow down the green declivi ties of the island, and then a wild ■woop of wind that bends the palms and shakes their stately heads like plumed on a jolting hearse. It caught the Linnet aud filled her topsail and topgallant sail, bellying them out to the full slack of their loose sheets; it filled the big foresail, making ft strain and tear and jerk aloft tack and sheet blocks aud bring them crash ing aud rattling down on tho natives’ heads, aud heeling the Linnet over till the water foam 3d across the main hatch, alewing her head round till it pointed straight for the entrance in the reef, against which the surf now biroke iu thunder. Ibeu, somewhere in the groat length of chain dragging across tho coral, the inevitable weakest link snapped, th« yard* braced themselves to the wind, and, like a racer, the Linnet, black with her swarms of yelling cannibals, darted through the gap ami reeled away into the fiery heat of the sun. Aud as the snn set the wind blew ■tronger and more strongly, ami tho Linnet, with ull her canvas for’ard, struggled and staggered through the fast rising sea and tho darkness, her shaky spars creaking and working, spray and spindrift hissing orer In r decks, where, to make standing room even, ho oaowdod they, wire, the stronger fought with the weak and hnrled them over board—women and children first. And on top of the oombutunts cuuio down those who had been aloft, so that us town as ever a httlo space was made tho struggle commenced aguuH— “this time,” as Tuifaln remarked later, “truly tho anger of the gods.” • •••*•• In due course—winch meant in this lies and legends, out o could be made, sending her hither thither on wild gcj-e chases. So at case 12 months—a bigmnn-o’-wnr, with many men and guns, came along with admiralty orders to find the Linnet and pay her msn off aud lay her up. But she was already laid up, and for weeks tho newcomer searched for her missing sister, learning no tidings—only vague which nothing hr»r Uitliir }Ui*l lust the big ship relinquished her quest and left, her captain wishing to spend the hot months in Hobart Town. Twice 12 months, and one day a la bor vessel, cruising speculatively, hap pened to visit a certain isles which stands quite solitary amid a thousand leagues of ocean aud almost exactly on the line. On (be admiralty charts you may now sec it marked as “Lonely is land.” From only a few miles away so low is it as to appear merely a clump of tall greenery growing out of the wa ter, and there is no encircling reef. Presently, as the boat’s crew of the blackbirder landed, straggling about, all at once, in the mils' jf tho thick bush, they came on a sort of natural dry dock, formed by a deep depression iu the rock. Aud iu it, nearly upright, lay the wreck of a vessel with t ’y her lower masts standing. Flakes of •otten timber had fallen from her sides ud out of the rents grew great purple 1 .ugi aud tall coarse grasses. Through the upper deck planking a young palm had thrust its way. growing until the ten der green fronds shaded a mass of rusty iron that, only prevented from fah ng into tho hold by the stout stringer cf her turntable, gaped all awry at .he graceful arch overhead. As the seamen moved about, full of curiosity, they became aware of many skeletons scattered around amid a storo of native weapons. And one, venturing on to the quaking deck and wrenching off the bell fron. its woodwork and bringing it away, discovered thereon, alter some cleans ing, tho inscription “H. M. S. Linni t, ” with tho date of her building, a year which no man there could Icol: back to, for she was a very old ship. And as they ir,ar velud among them selves, having by this, like most wan derers aboni tho Pacific islands, heard ot tho mystery of the total disappear ance cf the queen’s ship, out from the thick hush on all fours crawled, mother naked, an old man, very feeble, aud whose hair and beard were enow white. It was Tuifalu. And after they got him on hoard ho lived just long enough to tell the story that I have here set down, and of how at hist, after being driven during four days aud nights before a raging hurricane, tho Linnet was cast high aud dry by a big wave upon tho little island, with only 30 survivors cf the great crowd she had borne away with her; of how her boats being all gone these had made a raft and three times attempted iu vain to leave tho island, a storm arising each time and blowing them back again, aud of how' they fought and kil’ud and fed on ouo another, and of how, after many moons, by reason of his greater cunning, Tuifa lu was loft alone, existing since as best he might on fruit and fish. • • • . • • • • “Missing,” tersely says the “Navy List” of that day opposite the Liuuet’s name. “Missing. No information.” “This time truly, by tho auger of the gods,” said Tuifalu, with his last breath, having finished his story.— (Jornbill Magazine. DIZZY IN MIDAIR. rnpli-asant r*prrli-n: , «> nf -i I..-ij;n.ia la a liuniiv. tty Hal loon. “.Since I came to Washington I have bad not less than a dozen invitations by friends to accompany them to tho top of tho Washington monament, but each lias been declined with thunks,” THE FIRST DRIVER. WAS ENGINEER OF STEPHENSON'S TRIAL LOCOMOTIVE. A Close Call. Wo were sitting on the veranda of our bungalow iu Burma cue eveuing, enjoying our after dinner cheroot. Fi nally my friend arose and sauntered into his bedroom. Usually lights were placed in all the bedrooms, but this evening for scum reason—probably the moonlight—tho servant bad uot performed his duties. I could hear my friend fumbling about on his dressing table, and then suddenly he gave a cry of horror and rushed out to the light “I have beeu struck by a snake,” ho gasped, aud his face was deadly pale. “Where is it? <^uick! Show me!” I exclaimed as I whipped out a knife. He held out his right arm. There was no mark on the hand, which I examined critically, but on the cuff of the shirt were two tiny scratcblike punctures aud two little globules of poison sinking into the starched linen aud leaving a sickly, greenish yellow mark. “You’ve had a close call, old man,*' I exclaimed, with a sigh of relief, “and nbw let us settle the snake!” We found him coiled up ou a small mirror which lay on the table, aud au ugly looking reptile he was, too, ready to strike again. ' He was a very poisonous snake, known as the Debom russelli, but after my friend had done with him it would have beeu difficult for any naturalist to have placed him iu his proper genus.— Exchange. The Spelling CIum. Rev. George Chunuing wrote an ac count of the school of his youth, which he attended just after the Revolution. Girls and boys attended together the primary school aud sat on seats made of round blocks of wood of various heights, which were furnished by the parents. Children bowed aud kissed tho teacher’s hand ou leaving the room. The teach ing of spelling was peculiar. It was the last lesson of the day. The master gave out a long word, say, “multiplication,” with a blow of his strap on the desk us a signal for all to start together, aud in chorus the whole class spelled out tho word in syl lables. The teacher’s cur was bo trained and acute that he at once detected any misspelling. If this happened, be de manded the name of the scholar who made the mistake. If there was any hesitancy or refusal in acknowledg ment, lie kept tile whslu class until, by repeated trials of long words, accuracy was obtained. Thu roar of the many voices of the large school, all pitched ui different keys, could be hoard on summer days for a long dhitanoe.— Chautauquan. % ?aid J. M. Underwood of California. “There isn’t money enough iu tho world to tempt me to go to the top cf the monument. I recall with a shudder one time iu my life when I wont up high enough to more than satisfy me, and I made a solemn vow then that if I lived to get back to terra finnu I would spend tho rest of my life as near to tho earth as possible. “How was it? Well, I don’t mind telling you if I do not boro yen. Dur ing the war the government employed Professor Low, au aeronaut, to make ascensions in tho interest of the Union army. It was practicable, inasmuch as the movements of the enemy could be easily watched. At Yorktowu, Va.,one day General Fitz John Porter, who was then in command, made an ascension with Professor Lew, and I accompanied him.- “Usually two soldiers were detailed to accompany the professor. On this oc casion only ouo was necessary. The two men who had been previously detailed began to quibble among themselves as to who should go, aud tho captain of our company finally gave the order that neither should go. “‘What's the matter with your go ing, Underwood?’ tho captain said to me. “I didn’t stop to think what I was getting into and assented at once. Tho balloon was controlled by ropes attached to windlasses on tho ground. Two sol diers were usually stationed at these windlasses, and they pulled the balloon back to earth upon a signal from tho professor. Oa this occasion tho men at the windlasses let us up several hun dred feet, and as tho professor was about to survey tho enemy with his glass something gave way down below, aud we began soaring away into space. “Higher and higher wo went, the vindlasscs dangling at tho end cf tho lopes in tho air. Professor Low took in tho situation coolly and seemed appar ently at home tho higher we got. “ 4 We will go up until we get into another current of air,’ ho said to Gen eral Porter and me as ho caught hold of a valve. I “ ‘Dcu't bo alarmed, ns wo shall get back all right, but I caution you uot to look downward. ’ “If ho hadn’t admonished us not to, I presume that I wouldn’t have thought of it. At the time I was standing up in t_ho basket, with my gun in one hand. With tho other hand I had a firm grip on ono of tho ropes that held the basket. My Yankee curiosity asserted itself, and I looked down. God forbid that I may ever again have such feelings. I can’t describe them. I only know that I fair ly swooned aud sank to the bottom of the basket. My gun went overboard. “Such agony of mind I had never ex periencod before. I have never experi enced such feelings since, and I am con fident that I shall never place myself in condition to experience anything liko them in the future. “Well, we went up into another cur rent of air, which, with the professor’s control of the balloon, enabled us to drift back toward where we went up. General Porter was as cool as a cucum ber, though I recall that he expressed himself us feeling more secure when we returned to terra firuia. The balloon, after the windlasses became disengaged, had flouted over the enemy and toward Richmond. “That experience away from earth was enough for me. Not much do I care to visit the top of the monument. I never look at it without a shudder.’’— Washington Star. Kucsian lionet. The land whore animals are raised iu large numbers is not always the laud where they are best loved. Russia, however, which is, says Mr. W. Dur- i ban in The Contemporary Review, the greatest horse breeding country in tho world, is the country where the horse is both loved aud appreciated. “I never in all my wanderings,” says Mr. Durban, “saw a pony or steed of any sort that seemed to bo in a bad con dition through ill usage. The drosky drivers of Moscow put our London cab men to shame iu this respect. They may abuse each other vociferously, they may cheat you rouudly, but they never abuse their horses.” The supply cf fine berses makes it a constant luxury to travel in Russia. The population is chiefly dependent upon tho tarautass, or rough, partly hooded van; the telega, or country cart; the little drosky, aud the capital troi ka, or three horse carriage. Nothing de lights a driver so much as dashing along at headlong speed, wi h three spirited horses harnessed to u troika. With tho whips cracking, the bells ringing, tho driver singing at the top of his voice, tho two outer horses flying off at an an gle us wide as possible, tho troika in full speed is a splendid sight. In Siberia the driving is so furious, the mountain roads being as rough us they are steep, that tho traveler is con stantly nmuzrd at his immunity from accident. A stranger experiences uiixzd feelings of wonder and alarm us tho rough vehicle, chiefly made of pine and birch poles put together iu the crudest manner, is positively burled into the air and down again during the dcacuit into u valley that is approached by a corduroy rood. Tho driver* keep their horses scrupu- loasly clean, however they themselves may revel in dirt. It is curious to enter a miserable little shabby drosky and note that the burse which draws it is a really beauftful animal, plump, sleek and evidently petted. Tlitre must assuredly bo a good ride to Russian character, or the people would not be os fond as they are of their horses end their children. The two laves are ingienrcd into the vary heart of the not km. % ■c"lly had charge of it. Tho police clei.;’ tbu L'-cksfor us to gel o*at,' Says Ko Brought the First Iron Horne la Country Arroi.i the Ocean—Captain Jack Lawson on C.ie Larly Hays of Hail- roading. “I ran the first steam locomotive that was ever invented—run it on its trial trip between Liverpool and Loudon, ami I am as active today as I ever was. ” Tho speakt r was Captain .Hick Law- sou of Paducah, Ky. He made the above statement to a Republic reporter ou an Illinois Central train while ho was crossing the Eads bridge to this city, ! where ho comes to visit the only living tie of affection that ho has left to chetr j him iu his old age. Captain Lawson is a decidedly unique and unusual character on account of i the fact that he is the oldest engineer i iu the United States. Captain Lawson related the history of his eventful life before ho reached the Union station. ‘‘I was born ou Aug. 18, 1805, ia Lancashire, England,” ho said. “I was left an orphan when I was quite young and had to hustle for myself. I did va rious odd jobs when I was a boy aud finally drifted into Liverpool, where 1 served ir.y apprenticeship under Robert Stephenson, the inventor of tho steam engine. Stephenson was a good fellow, but he was inclined to be cross, aud many were the thrashings that I re ceived from him. “But I stood the punishment, as it was a case of necessity, and finally Stephenson took a liking to me. When he first announced that be had invented a locomotive power that would supplant the old fashioned stagecoach and Eng lish cockney horses, be was ridiculed by nearly every one. In fact, the name of Stephenson was used as a standing joke, but he was willing that incredulous people should have their fun at his ex pense. “When ho finally announced that he would run a trial trip from Liverpool to London, the people quit joking and became seriously interested. I well re member that trip. The engine was un der the supervision cf Mr. Stephenson, but I ret hud to so dense was tho crowd. After wo got out cf Liverpool wo expected to make headway, but it was nearly as bad all along the route. The people swarmed by thousands. Although tho time we made was necessarily slow, still that trip demonstrated to sciouco that Mr. Stephenson’s invention was more than a mere dream. “Six mouths later I came to America and brought the first steam engino across the ocean that was seen in tbi* country. I took the engine to Balti more, aud the first trip was made oa the Baltimore and Snsquebanna to a medicinal spring 12 miles dinfant. Tin* American people were not so incredu lous as their English cousins, but they were more inquisitive, aud a denser crowd turned out to see the trial trip than there was in England. I can re member every detail of the trip to thin day. “Two years later I went to Virginia aud took charge of an engine ou tho Virginia and Roanoke railroad. I re mained there several years and then came west. “Tho engine that I brought over here only weighed eight tons aud was prac tically a pygmy beside the 00 ton mon sters of the present day. Now there is something in tho history of this country that I want to disprove right here. It is tho statement that tho engines of those days could uot make over 12 miles au hour. This is a mistake. The engine that was used for the trial trip in this country could make as fast time as those that ere in uso at tho present time. “I am proud of one thing in my life, and that is that I never had an accident while I was running au engine. I have made some noted runs too. At one time in my career I made the run from May- field to Paducah, 2G miles, in 17 min utes. It is my cuudid opinion that the nuniOrouH accidents which you read about in tho daily papers are caused by carelessness. “No, I do not believe that electricity will supplant tho steam engine. At om» time I did, but I do uot believe sufficient power can bo secured to do the work that tho steam engines of the present day are doing.” When the civil war broke out, Cap tain Lawmn enlisted in the Confederate cause, and he is still a redhot rebel. He engaged iu a naval fleet on the Missis sippi river and participated in many thrilling engagements.- After the war he captained a steamboat on the Ubi<» and Tennessee rivers. He finally becama proprietor of one, but had tho misfor tune of having it burn down. Ho pluck- ily went to work, however, and soon regained another fortune. Captain Lawson married over 60 years ago. Three children were born of the union, but they died in tbeir in fancy. His wife died six yours ago. At the time the captain was boarding with G. K. McKadden, a prominent citizen of Paducah, and he took a liking to bia sou. He is educating that boy now in this city, and it i« hi* protege that he ia visiting at 1515 Semple avenue.—St. Louis Republic. Aa Infermtlal Hmmmmi. “Mumiaa,” said little Mire North- side, who was talking about her bum mer oxnerienoes. “ Well, daarf ’ “I asked Farmer Burkwfceat if the milk he gave ue was sterilized, und h» said no. Do you suppoue, mamma, that be bad no sterilized ouwi?”—Pittsburg Chronic in-Teli graph. The ISrwl IV a toe ret. Our idm of being just rich enough i« to be in such circumstances that oats can rend telegrams instead of having U» write letters.—At&isou Globe.