Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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♦ I THE CLOSING SCENE * By HOWARD FIELDING Copyright, loot, by Charles IV. Hooke I DO not know how much testimony would be required to authenticate such a story as this. Indeed I doubt whether any tinite number of mere human witnesses could ever make me believe it. Half a dozen of the most credible people whom I know are agreed as to the facts, and I myself was present when the affair came to its close, yet I cannot make up my mind in regard to it. The incidents as they are alleged to have taken place are exceedingly sim ple. Stanley Winthrop was a man who had been much given to athletic sports in his early life. When he was in col lege and I was a little, snub nosed, frec kled schoolboy I used to look up to him and envy his fame. He was the son of the richest man in our town. Shortly after the close of his college life Winthrop inherited nearly all his father’s property. He traveled for a few j'ears and then settled down to a quiet and monotonous life in our town, which was nothing in the winter and not very much in the summer, to ho frank about it. When he was nearly forty years old he made a most unromantic match. He married a girl who had been born and bred in the town and was content to live there all her days with her hus band. By that time I had sought wider fields, and my knowledge of Winthrop was derived from home letter 0 and from brief renewals of acquaintance in summer vacations. Mrs. Winthrop lived about two years in a placid state of beatitude, as I am informed, and then she died of pneu monia. Some one wrote to me that Winthrop was taking his tiereavemeut very hard; that his condition gave alarm to bis sis ter and other near relatives who lived with him in the big house in Maynard, which is the name of our town. He seemed to show no power of recovery, no interest whatever in life. It 'was necessary, indeed, to take some pains with him in order that he might not neglect the proper nourishment of his body, for such an engine as that re quires fuel. Some weeks after receiving this ac count I received a letter from my mother. I will quote a few lines of it hero: ■“"“Stanley Winthrop does not improve in health, but he has made up his mind to travel for a few months, and they hope that that will benefit him. There is a strange story about this intention of his, and I am going to tell it to you, although you are such a skeptic that you will think it mere nonsense. I had it from his sister, and it has impressed me very strongly. “It seems that Stanley has slept very little and that that has been the chief cause of their worrying about him. Last Tuesday morning when he came down to breakfast Marion, Winthrop’s sister, remarked that he looked re markably well. He told her that he had ■ IT’’ and I think you know that I shall not be sorry to see it.’ “These are Marion’s words, her best recollection of his, as nearly as I can set them down. Marion was much af fected. When he told her later in the day that ho had made up his mind to travel she did not wish him to go, al though she had previously urged that course upon him very strongly. She knows well enough, that he Is going in search of the room which he saw in his dream. “The circumstances are known to the family, but little is said about it because Stanley naturally did not wish it to he publicly known that he at tached any importance to a mere dream. So 1 would not speak of it if I were you, but I wish you would write me what you think about the matter.” I wrote to my mother very mildly that I did not see how any opinion could be expressed in this case during the life of Mr. Winthrop. It was im portant, in my way of thinking, that he should write down an accurate de scription of the room, and he might seal this document in an envelope to be opened after his death, in case he felt unwilling to discuss the matter openly at present. Before my mother “CURIOUS IDEA,” HE SAID, WAVING HIS HAND. had a wonderful night’s rest. There seemed to be son 10 peculiar meaning in what he said, and she questioned him. He tried to avoid a dfrect answer until he became convinced that his silence would worry Mariou more than the truth, and then he admitted having had a remarkable dream. “It was no more than that he seemed to be in a room which was different from any that he could remember. He declined to describe it to Marion, but said that the impression which it made upon him was extremely vivid, so that he could not fail to recognize the room in case he should ever really see it. is I stood looking at it in my dream,’ aid he, T began to wonder why I was there, and presently in the gentlest and best possible way that you can Imagine the explanation took posses sion of my mind. That is the room where I shall die. I received no inti mation as to when the event will oc cur, or how, or in what town or even in what land the room exists or will exist, but somewhere I shall find it “SHE MUST NOT COME IN. received the letter containing this sug gestion Stanley Winthrop had set out upon his travels. He was absent about eighteen months, returning in late June, when the pretty town is at its best. I was in formed that he had aged very much and that his wanderings had done him no good. It had been my intention to spend that summer in Maynard, and I was glad to know that Winthrop was to be [ there, for I had come to like him ex ceedingly during my brief sight of him after his affliction. I arrived in May nard on the 1st day of July, and in the afternoon I called on Winthrop. It was a very hot day. and he was in his room, which, because of its location, is excep tionally cool in summer. The window seat had been extended and cushioned since the date of my last view' of the apartment, and it made a sort of couch, very comfortable and inviting. When Winthrop arose and came forward to greet me I perceived that he was quite feeble. It seemed impossible that a man whose figure still declared the great strength which he ha4 once pos sessed should walk with the slow cau tion of an invalid while yet free of any grave disease. However, one may al most call grief a disease if one looks only at the symptoms, and certainly the continuous brooding upon an ir remediable loss may be a matter for the anxious consideration of a doctor. I lied cheerfully to Winthrop, saying that he was looking very well. “You’re mighty comfortable here,” I added. “They’ve changed the room all about since I had the pleasure of see ing it last. That’s a great nook you have there by the window.” Standing by my side, he surveyed it with a smile. “Curious idea,” he said, waving his hand toward the farther end of the window seat, where something like the rolling arm of an old fashioned ma hogany sofa had been placed to sup port the cushions. “Did you ever see anything like it?” “Never,” I replied. “Marion did all this while I was away,” said he. “I think she believed that this room had exercised a bad in fluence upon me. I had left it Just as— as it used to be when—you under stand.” “It’s much more cheerful now,” I hastened to say. “Marion is a great sister. You ought to be very good to her.” “I am going to be so good to her,” he replied, “that I shall never tell her what she has done. I shall offer my thanks to her in secret, but I am going to tell you because you’re a notorious skeptic and. furthermore, because you are a man who may be trusted to keep his own counsel. This thing may in terest you.” He went to a desk in the corner and unlocked a drawer, from which he took a sealed envelope. Upon it were rritten in his band this line, “To be apened after my death,” and a date. “Just before I went away,” he said, putting his finger upon the date, “I carried this envelope with me—and brought it back. The last words were added with a peculiar expression. At that instant I 1 knew what was in the envelope. The same idea that I had expressed to my mother had come to Winthrop. At his request I broke the seal and took from the envelope a sheet of paper upon which was a rude diagram with some lines of description. Beyond a doubt the furnishings and what may be call ed the “arrangement" of that room were set down upon that paper. “You did not recognize it as your own?” 1 asked. “That seems strange.” “Ah! So you know all about my dream?” said he. “It may indeed seem strange that I dhl not know this place, yet I did not. To l»e sure, the outlines are regular; there was really nothing except the furniture by which it might be recognized. It has l>een repapered, the rugs and the hangings are differ ent”— “I should have thought that the view from the windows”— I began. “But perhaps you did not look out.” “There is one of the peculiar facts about this dream,” said he. “There was no view from the windows; it was night. The room seemed to be dark, and yet I perceived all that was in it and had an impression of the things just as if I had seen them.” His manner far more than his words produced upon me an effect of awe- absurd. of course, for what is death or the view of death to shake a man’s heart? “I don't understand why you should conceal this from - your sister,” said I. “Your revelation was dumb as to time. That you expect to die in your own chamber some day cannot alarm your friends. How can they hope for any thing better?” This is surely the rational view, and it was extraordinary that it had not sprung up before Winthrop’s mind im- tnediately. It had not, and in response to my suggestion he said repeatedly: “It will alarm her. The thought that she herself planned these changes will torture her mind.” “You are mistaken,” I insisted: “If you do not tell her you can never go from home without raising in her mind the fear that you have gone straight to that closing scene of your life which has been so strangely revealed to you.” The upshot of it was that he was overpersuaded and agreed to take Mar ion into his confidence, the more espe cially because he had been confronted by the necessity of leaving home for a few days upon a matter of business. The result of this disclosure, however, was precisely what Winthrop had fore seen. It was to Marion as if she had built a gallows for her brother upon which he must die the sooner because of the work of her hands. She concealed this feeling from Stan ley, but to me she was explicit. It was at this time that she and I began to re alize the nature of the tie that was binding us more closely to each other. We had misnamed it friendship for more than a year. This monstrous notion, that the room and her own affectionate efforts to make it more comfortable for her brother had somehow accelerated the approach of his doom, would not leave her mind. Her brother dwelt in the apartment with a eertaim placid impa tience, but Marion viewed his contin ued use of it with an ever present ter ror which seemed to me utterly unrea sonable. The situation was the worse because no one dared try to mend it. To per suade Stanley to give up the room for ever or to consent to a change of its furnishings was the same as asking him to set a date for his own exit from the world, since he believed that he was to die in that scene as it then stood. Absurd as this belief must seem to a normal mind, it had surely taken possession of the brother and sister, and the effect was disastrous upon each, though in a different way. To Stanley it meant an increasing concen tration of his thought upon a morbid theme, to Marion a constant, tortur ing apprehension, a dread of night and morning. It speedily became necessary to take decisive action. I took advice of Stan ley’s physician, a man more intolerant of all morbid and mystic nonsense than any one else whom I ever knew, and I consulted certain members of the Win throp household. The result was a de termination to overthrow this super stition by direct proof of its falsity. It seemed likely that in this attempt I might lose Stanley’s friendship, but I had reached a pitch of desperation where I was willing to risk anything, and, moreover, the doctor, who was a bluff old fellow, agreed to assume all responsibility and to make all the arrangements. One evening at the Winthrops’ dinner hour Dr. Evans and 1 gained access to Stanley’s room from the veranda. We were accompanied by some of the serv ants, and we had the means of effect ing a very considerable change in the appearance of that apartment. It was an evening prematurely dark. The western sky almost to the zenith was dead black, so that the earth seamed to be rolling into the mouth of a pit. I was the first to enter the room, and I groped my way at once to a table upon which I knew that there was a lamp. A match crackled under my fingers and went out. I was find ing another when I heard a low, hoarse cry. Immediately there was a noise at the door. Some one outside turned the knob and then knocked with a hurried and unsteady hand. “Stanley!” called Marion from with out “Stanley, unlock the door!” I ran to let her in, but a hand in the darkness clutched my shoulder, and the doctor’s voice whispered: “It isn’t locked. I have my foot •gainst it. She must not come ln. H “Why not?” I demanded. He put his lips close to my ear. “Because her brother is dead here on this couch by the window." That is the whole story as I know It Stanley had died of heart failure. He lay there upon the cushions, with his right hand across his breast and a little picture of his wife clasped tightly In the stiffened fingers. TELEGRAPHIC BREVITIES. JUDGE JONES DENIES REPORT. Hon. L. C. Hutcheson died at hii home in Jonesiboro, Ga., yesterdaj morning. The feature of the University ol Georgia commenceme t was the bril liant alumni address delivered by Con gressman W. M. Howard. The visit of the German cruiser Ga zelle has put Charleston people in 3 quandary on account of the personaltj of Dr. Crum, the negro collector o) port. There will be no strike in the anthra cite coal regions. John Mitchell’i advice has prevailed with the miners I^ate reports show that the horroi at Heppner, Ore., was not exaggerated The death roll may be over 500. Chauncey Dewey, cousin of the ad miral, is on trial In Kansas charged with participating in the murder ol the Brett family. The Socialists made pronounced gains in the reichstag elections in Ger many. John Redmond warn* Premier Bal four that the government must acl fairly about the land bill or the Irlsli members will oppose the admintstm tion. Father John, of Kronstadt, who bit terly denounced the Christians for th« Kishineff massacre, now mans a state ment alleging that the Jew* caused the bloodshed. Russia and China have arranged that the customs management of Dalny and the adjoining frontier shall be *imi lar to the German arrangement al Kiau Chou, says a Pekin dispatch. Gov ernor Alexieff's financial secretary will be the Russian manager of the cus toms service at Dalny. The reoeipti will be deposited in the Russo-Cht nese bank. The secretary of foreign relatione has nominated Bernardo Oalero to be chancellor of the Mexican legation in London, says a dispatch from the Oity of Mexico. A dispatch from Monterey, Max. says that the election for governor oi Neuvo Leon resulted in the unanimous choice of General Bernardo Reyee for another term. At the annual meetings of the Own tral and South American Telegraph company and the Mexican Telegraph company, held in New York, the direc tors of the former company were ah re-elected, while on the board of the Mexican Telegraph company Cornelius Vanderbilt was elected to eueeeed Geo Williams, deceased. CliHinberlain'H Colic, Cholera 'and Diar rhoea liemedy is everywhere recognized as the one remedy that can always be depended upon and that is pleasant to take. It is especially valuable for summer diarrhoea in children and is un doubtedly the means of saving the I lives of a great many children each year. For sale by Cherokee Drug Cr.; L. D. Allison, Cowpens. Alabama Jurist Misrepresented as td Charge on Peonage Cases. Montgomery, Ala., June 17.—The re ; port sent out from here to the effect that Judge Jones advised the federal jury that persons convicted of mis demeanors, whose sureties confessed Judgment for them, could nof. restrain or work them without violating the statute against peonage, is entirely in correct. He a/dvieed directly the reverse and held that such persons, having been duly convicted of crime their involun tary servitude was lawful if the sure ties complied with the state law by having the contract made in open com* with written approval of the judge. The law which he advised the jury la unconstitutional is the renters or laorers’ law of 1901, which punishes the laborer or renter if he gets work elsewhere after breaking his contrael without informing his new employer, and also punishes any pefcon who em ploys the laborer or renter after know! ed«e that he has left his first employ er. The latter statute was held to amount to imprisonment for debt, class legislation, denial of the equal protec tion of law to croppers and laborers and also violating United States stat utes against peonage by corecing per sonal service for oa v ment of a debt. Women as Well as Men Are Made Miserable by Kidney Trouble. Free to You If you are not well and want to know the truth about your trouble, send for my free booklets and self examination blanks No. 1, Nervous Deblli ty (Sexual Weakness) No. 2, Varicocele, No 3,Stricture, No. 4, Kid ney and Bladder Com plaints, No. 6, Disease of Women, No. 6, The Poison King (Blood Poison), No. 7, Ca tarrh. These books should be In the hands of every person afflict ed, as Dr. Hathaway, the author, Is recog nized as the best au- y,/,,,— thority and expert in the United Btates on dr. Hathaway. these diseases. Write or send for the book you want to-day, and it will be sent you free, sealed. Address J. New ton Hathaway, M.D. 41 Inman Bldg. 224 S. Broad St., Atlanta, Ga FOR Up-to-Date Job Print ing, call at the LEDGER Office. Gaffney, S. C. Kidney trouble preys upon the mind, dis courages and lessens ambition: beauty, vigor and cheerfulness soon disappear when the kid neys are out of order or diseased. Kidney tropic has become so ^ffevalent that it is not uncommon for a child to be born afflicted with weak kid neys. If the child urin- . ates too often, if the urine scalds the flesh or if, when the child reaches an age when it should be able to control the passage, it is yet afflicted with bed-wetting, depend upon it. the flvase of the difficulty is kidney trouble, and^jfcfirst step should be towards the treatment of these important organs. This unpleasant trouble is due to a diseased condition of the kidneys and bladder and not to a habit as most people suppose. Women as well as men are made mis erable with kidney and bladder trouble, and both need the same great remedy. The mild and the immediate effect of Swamp-Root is soon realized. It is sold by druggists, in fifty- '.ent and one dollar i izes. You may have a| ;ample bottle by mail ree, also pamphlet tell- ng all about it, including many of the housands of testimonial letters received rom sufferers cured. In writing Dr. Kilmer c Co., Binghamton, N. Y., be sure and icntion this paper. Home of Swamp. Root. ; Final Discharge. Notice is hereby given that I will ap ply to Hon J. K. Webster, Probate Judge tor Cherokee county, S. C., at his office at the Court House Friday, July loth, next at io o’clock a. in., for a final settle ment and discharge as Administratrix of the estate of W. W. Lavender, deceased. All persons holding claims against said estate will present them on or before said date or forever be hatred. .Mrs. V. L. Lavender, Admx. Kstate of W. W. Lavender, deceased. Published in Gaffney, (S. C.,) Ledger June 12, 19, 26 and July 3rd 1903, Notice. The stockholders of tlio Blacksburg Spin ning ami Knitting Mill are requested to meet at the City Hall. Blacksburg. S 0.. on Tues day June 30th. UWi, at ten o’clock a. ni , to act upon the three following propositions, con tained in a resolution passed by the Board of ! Directors on May 27th, UW).'!. to-wit: To in crease the capital stock of said mill toflOO.- (XX). or a less sum; to issue $12,(XX) of preferred stock divided into 120 shares of the par value ! of $100 each, on which a dividend of s percent, per annum is guaranteed; or to issue t>onds amounting to $12 000. hearing 6 per cent, in terest secured hv a mortgage on the^rr per- ty; time of the payment tof which to^ fixed ‘ of Directors. by the Board i J. G. Bi.ack, Wm. Anurkson, If. A. Tripp. 1>. I! Bird. May 2!). June 5-12-19 M. II. Morrow. (■. M. Ct,INK. N. W. Ha ruin, IM rectors Miss Katherine K. Cassatr. daugh ter of the president of the Pennsyl vania Uai'road, was married to Dr. J. P. Hutchinson, at Haverford, Pa. , Interesting to Asthma Sufferers. Daniel Bante. of Otterville, Iowa, writes, “I have had asthma for three or four years and have tried about all the cough ana asthma cures in the market and have received treatment from physicians in New York and 1 other cities, but got very little benefit until I tried Foley’s Honey and Tar which gave me immediate relief and I will never be without it in my house. 1 sincerely recommend it to all.” Cherokee Drug Co. The nests must be renewed occa sionally and kept clean, (dean, dry straw is the best nestling material. Tobacco stems will help to keep away vermin. During the summer kidney irreg ularities are often caused by exces sive drinking or being overheated. Attend to the kidneys at once by using Foley’s Kidney Cure. Chero kee Drug Cm Bone meal will greatly assist the growth and development of bone in chickens and in a great measure pre vent leg weakness. Chronic bronchial troubles and summer coughs car. be quickly re lieved and cured by Foley’s Honey and Tar. Cherokee Drug Co. Perfect Soda Water. Daintiness marks the making and serving of our Soda Water; satisfaction and refreshment follows the drinking. Fairly good Soda is not hard to find, but absolutely perfect Soda is a rarity. We serve perfect Soda because we have the fountain, the ex- Jperience, the skill, and do not hesitate to spend money to make our Soda best. We look after the cleanliness as careful ly as though we bad to do all the di inking ourselves. To drink our Soda is to go out* glad. ■ *S**0lt*l&**ll**M**M*tM**m*'~‘- — CHEROKEE DRUG GO. Limestone and Frederick Streets. Notice to Bridge Builders. J f I will be at my office at the Court House Saturday, June 20th, at 11 o’clock a. m., to let contract to build approacl es to the Owens’ Ford bridge in Gowdysville Township. Rights to reject any and all bids. Contractor must give bond for the faithful performance of his duty. J. V. Whklchel,, 6-9-2t County Supervisor. Notice to Bridge Builders V I will be at Cole creek on road leading from Gaffney .to pauper farm near the Petty place, in Limestone Township, Friday, June the 19th, at 11 o’clock a. m., to let contract to build a bridge over Cole creek. Plan can be seen in my office. Right reserved to reject any and all bids. J. V. WHELCHEE, 6-9-21 County Supervisor. Kodol Dyspepsia Cure Digests what you eat* Cooping up the mother hen and al-! lowing the chickens to run around is the safest and most economical plan No good health unless the kidneys are sound. Foley’s Kidney Cure makes the kidneys right. Cherokee Drug Co. __ The games have more meat for their size than any other fowls. They grow slowly, but are solid and firm. I On the first indication of kidney trouble, stop it by taking Foley’s Kidney Cure. Cherokee Drug Co. We discontinue each subscription promptly at Its expiration. So watch your label and the date and renew before ’tls too late. F U Silberman Bros. Largest Fur House In America. Branches All Over Europe. R Highest cash price paid for all kinds of raw furs. Hold your shipment until you get our prire list. Write for it to-Uay. We mail it free. SILBERMAN BROS., 122 to 128 Michigan St.. Chicago, III. S banner salve th« moat booling oolvo In tho world. THE UP-TO-DATE MARKET. I have just got in a large cold storage and am prepared to keep all kinds of fresh Meats from |i to 30 days. I guar antee every pound of Meat good and sound, no flies or tainted [Meats. I in vite the public to come and see for them selves. Fresh Fish, Country Produce, Vegetables, Heavy and Fancy Groceries and Ice for the public. Goods delivered on time; Meats carved by experienced men to suit the trade. Come or call ’Phone No. 60, Burnett Block. Yours for business, L. W. BUILDERS’ SUPPLIES LUMBER, SHINGLES, LATHS, DOORS. SASH, BLINDS, FLOORING, SIDING, CEILING, MOULDING. ALSO A FINK LINK OF Paints and Oils 50c to |1.30 per xai. °° T0 L. BAKER. KIDNEY DISEASES are the most fatal of all dis eases. cm C V’0 kidney cure it 1 iULli oDuarcnt&sdRemedy or money refunded. Contains remedies recognized by emi nent physicians as the best for Kidney and Bladder troubles. PRICE 50c. and $1.00. Things We Like^Be^t Often klleagree With Us Beoiuse ws overeat of them, ladft* gee m follows. But there’s s way to eeotpeiuoh consequences. ▲ dose of % good dlgestant like Eodol will relive joe at once. Your stomach is simply too weak to digest what you eat. That's stt indigestion is. Kodol digssts the food without ths stomach's aid. Thus the stomach rests whtls the body is strength* ened by wholesome food. Dieting Is un necessary. Kodol digests any find ef good food. Strengthens and invlgomtta. KmM Make. . Moh R.S Leal: mm! OneMlnuteOenghOupe