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¥ Thursday, November 27, 1930 THINGS WORTH KNOWING 0-0-0-0 Three-fourths of Denmark’s ares is farm land. 0-0-0-0 A new metal stopper for medi cine bottles has a spoon attached. 0-0-0-0 A volcanic eruption in the East Indies recently destroyed six vill ages and killed 1,000 people. 0^-0-0 Many of our motor roads follow old Indian trails, which in turn followed the paths taken by wild animals seeking water holes. 0-0-0-0 A method of making artificial pearls by lining glass balls with irridescent fish scales was invented by a Frenchman, about 1680. 0-0-0-0 Although only about a dozen different kinds of cheese are made in France, the cheeses go by some 250 local names in different parts of the country. 0-0-0-0 Practically 50 per cent of the total number of voters in the United States are women. 0-0-0-0 About twenty asteroids, or small planets are added each year to the astronomer’s catalogue. 0-0-0-0 Japanese children are engaging in a dental hygiene campaign. 0-0-0-0 There were 929 women medical students in the United States last year. 0-0-0-0 The magnetic poles are more than 1,000 miles away from the geographic poles. 0-0-0-0 Many of the mysterious fires that break out on farms are due to spontaneous combustion, gov ernment farm experts believe. 0-0-0-0 / Young bats, past babyhood, are “hung up” by their hooked claws while their mother ^oes out to hunt for food at night. | 0-0-0-0 California’s gold was never worked tor mined by the Indians. 0-0-0-0 A Japanese meal may include as many as seven kinds of sea weed. | v 1 o-o-o-o Films are used for teaching pur poses in 15,000 educational insti tutions in the United States. . / O-O-O-O Norway is to have a floating fish meal factory, which will cruise along the coast and gather up fish scraps from factories to make meal. O-O-O-O A big sea fish known as the elec tric ray has the power of disabling its enemies by giving out a strong electric shock. , O-O-O-O African elephants show a ten dency to what might be called “right-handedness,” since their right tusks are usually worn down by digging more than the left. O-O-O-O The only important copper mines in eastern United States at pres ent are at Ducktown, Tenn. O-O-O-O It is estimated that more than 700 different kinds of exotic birds are alive in zoological gardens and private collections of the United States. x Cut Com Stalks Now Removal of cornstalks from the field for subsequent shredding, en siling, or biiming is one of the most effective means of controlling the European corn borer, says the U. S. Department of Agriculture. To control the pest by this method, the stalks must be cut at ground level, thereby leaving no stubble. Standard com binders do not cut closer to the ground than 5 ov 6 inches but the farmer may now buy, at small cost, a low-cutting attachment for four makes of corn binders, or he may make this at tachment himself. He may also make a low-cutting hand device according to instructions given in Miscellaneous Publication 56, either of which may be made at little cost. Low cutting is particulc”' ,T important if the corn is left in the field until late in the season be cause the bdrers work downward in the stalks. —txt plan to make one or two out-of- doors play suits for the younger children this winter, to wear, like overcoats, oter their regular cloth ing. The Bureau of Home Eco nomics will tell you how. GbR, tfcCOKMICK, South Carotin*. Page ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS * * BY FRANK ELLIS, JR. Virtues of Ringe T HE rings and screws of coffins have long been supposed to pos sess certain virtues. There are two things in use to prevent the cramp, viz., a ring of sea-horse teeth worn upon the finger, and fillets of green periwinkle tied about the calf of the leg. or wherever the cramp usually comek. This'seems the more strange because neither of them has any re laxing virtue. They are more likely to act upon the spirits in the nerves than upon the substance in the nerves themselves. In England a man who had epileptic seizures was recommended to try a ring made of 20 sixpences collected from maidens, not necessarily of his own age. He outlived the fits, which he attributed to the magic power of the ring. * The superstitions connected with marriage rings are various. In order to secure protection against diaboli cal arts, a ring of cane or of straw, or one made from the nail of a horse shoe was placed on the finger of the fiancee. Sometimes the ring was blessed by passing It three times over water. As many as four or five blessed rings w’ere placed upon the finger of the bVide-to-be. Another custom was to place a ring under the feet of the couple during the marriage ceremony. The first few drops of a barrel of wine were often poured over the ring. (©, 1928, Western Newspaper Union.) ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS ? BY FRANK ELLIS, J R. Legends of Rings I T has been believed from eariest times that rings, enriched with cer tain precious stones of occult virtue, were supposed to influence the actions and character of individuals, and many are the superstitions to the won derful effects produced by these charms. Solomon’s ring gave him di vine powers by which he acquired in credible • knowledge and triumphed over all obstacles. The wedding ring of Joseph and the Virgin Mary was an object of adoration. Legends in connection with rings Were introduced from Asia and Greece. The power of invisibility was accredited to a ring worn by an an cient king. Rings once constituted the principal means for the preven tion or cure of cramp. They were con sidered more effective if formed out of the screws or nails taken from cof fins. A special ring was worn to cure each Individual disease. Superstitions connected with supposed cures of epi lepsy, etc., by charmed rings still exist In our country. On which finger the wedding ring should be worn was long the subject of learned discussion; on the first fin ger, a haughty disposition; on the third finger, love and affection; on the fourth, a masterful spirit. In Sweden, girls place under sep arate pots a ring, a coin, and a piece of black ribbon. If the ring is turned up the girl will be married; if the inonev, she will get a rich husband; and if the black ribbon, she will die an old maid. A gold wedding ring rubbed on a stye is considered a good remedy. To wear a ring engraved with hearts pierced through with darts shows a girl’s —Mi'Y 1 - 81111 re8pect for l° ver - ’£ Little Journeys in ♦ £ Americana r O X X By LESTER B. COLBY ❖ Custer Sacrificed to Graft F OR more than fifty years hundreds of writers have sought to solve the mystery of Custer’s massacre. They have searched the battlefield In vain, have pawed over letters and records throughout the West and have plied Indian survivors with questions. Al ways they have been on a cold trail. New York and Washington were the places to search. Custer was sacri ficed to graft! Gen. George Armstrong Custer, U. S. A., and the 225 men who died with him, were destroyed utterly because Custer had discovered the most colossal conspiracy, probably, in the history of the w’orld. He had discov ered a conspiracy which, at that time, was costing the United States gov ernment as much as $20,000,000 a year in loot. Nor was that all of It. When Custer went into action to break up the ring he signed his own death warrant. Very soon repeating Winchester rifles began to flow to the Indians of the northern plains country by the boat load, up the Missouri river. The Indian department, rotten with the conspiracy, through licensed agencies, was copartner in the sell ing. • Accompanying the boat loads of rifles went more than 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The Indian depart ment, steeped in crookedness at the time, through grafting agents, was giving the sellers protection. Big profits were taken on all of these death-dealing machines by the post traders who were paying tribute tp the clique. Agitators were busy among the In dians for months, stirring them up, getting them excited, preparing them for war. In a little time 5,000 of them w r ere “off the reservations” and on the warpath. They were armed wdth the best repeating rifles ever manu factured up to that time. They had more ammunition than the 5,000 war riors in the field could lug into battle. Nor did Custer, who w*as sent against them with a handful of men, know their strength. Why? Simply because the conspiring Indian agents were reporting them on their reserva tions. And Custer’s men were armed with obsolete single-shot rifles; wea pons that had been used in the Civil war, now ten years ended. Gen. Phil Sheridan, in his official report of the battle, gave a clew to the situation w’hen he wrote: “It now becomes apparent that the hostile forces had been augmented by large numbers of young warriors from agencies along the Missouri river and the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agen cies in Nebraska, and that the Indian agents of these agencies had . con cealed the facts of the departure of these warriors, and that in most cases the agents continued to issue rations as though the Indians were present at their agencies.” A pretty mess of affairs. Sitting Bull, Gall and those other Sioux chieftains, as much victims of the conspiracy as Custer, because they did not know what it was all about, had plenty of help from men at the agencies. Custer had been told that not more than 1,000 Indians were on the war path. Old Indian fighter, he had often wldpped Indians when outnumbered by them five to one. So he dashed to the strike. The Indians, knowing he had been informed that a party of about 1.000 was on the warpath, left a trail such as 1,000 Indians might make. He followed it, riding boldly to his doom. The battle of the Little Big Horn was no battle at all. It w T as a slaughter. Merely a shambles. The Sioux were so thick that only a part of them could crowd near enough to wet their hands in blood. (©. 1929, Lester B. Colby.) Enthusiast Has Long Been Termed Fanatic Once, being carried away by the impetuous rush of his feelings, the eccentric and famous Rowland Hill exclaimed: “Because I am in earnest, men call me an enthusiast, but I am not; mine are the words of truth and soberness. I once saw a gravel pit fali in and bury three human beings alive. I shouted so loudly for help that I was heard at the distance of a mile; help came, and two of the suf ferers were rescued. No one called me an enthusiast then; and when I see eternal destruction ready to fall on poor sinners, and about to en tomb them irrecoverably in an eter nal mass of woe, and call aloud on them to escape, shall I be called an enthusiast now?” It Is strange how we can be called “enthusiasts” when we are enthusiastic about religion and yet not “enthusiasts” when we happen to he enthusiastic in other matters. Men can he very inconsist ent in their arguments.—Exchange. Wit an Humo SAID TO BE FROM ABERDEEN A professional actor was coaching a dramatic society. “You must infuse more expression Into your voices,” he said. “Why, I re member an actor who could so read a menu as to make his audience weep.” There w’as a moment’s awed silence, and then one of the amateurs re marked : “He must have read the prices.”—Stary Stories. Lovely Present “Where did you get that lovely walkingstick?” “It was a present from William Kruger.” “Who Is he?” “I don’t know—but is all engraved on the gold knob.”—Hamburg Hum mel. Better Light She—I’m putting up a better light. When the light Is dim the gentlemen are apt to get rather bold. He—But that light is worn out. It won’t light at all. She—So much the better.—Lustige Blatter. He Was Willing Judge—You attacked this man on the street. Can you deny it? Accused—Yes, I can, Your Honor, if you think it will help me any. NOT WELL KNOWN A. 'M£k “Bill knows his onions, all right.” “Yes; but doesn’t know ’em well enough not to eat ’em.” Yes, Sir! With family spats Confined to the feet Married life Will be complete. Foggy Excuse “I’m sorry Reggie’s so late in bring ing me home, mother. There was a dense fog, and his car was held up.” “Why, it’s a clear, moonlight night, child !’* “So it is. I must have been think ing of some other night!”—Humorist. What, Indeed? “Don’t see any more stuff like Spar- tacus to the Gladiators.” * “Eh?” “What’s become of all those fellers that wrote for the old Third Reader?” A Friendly Word Jasper—I haven't a good word for that feller Jim. Dexter—Well, they ain’t much good said about him. But I’ll say one good thing about Jim, he wasn’t always as mean as he w T as sometimes. Positions Altered Hattie—Oh, Evelyn, did he propose last night? Tell me what it was like! Evelyn—Oh, it was very simple. When he began he was on his knees, and when he finished I was on them. TO STOP HER qi <€> Teacher—“Why should we put a full stop after the sentence, ‘The woman said she was going after him with a stick’?” Pupil—“Why—er—to keep her from going too far.” * Just Try It! A sweet young thing at the show the other evening Insisted on repeat ing each joke aloud, to the discom fiture of her escort and the mHd an noyance of the people seated neaitiy. The worm was hound to turn, and did, after one of the characters' had j remarked, “I think tiie weaker sex is: often the stronger sex, because of the! weakness of the stronger sex for the weaker sex.” “There,” said the sweet young thing’s hoy friend, grimly, “repeat that one.” Truth in Ads “I never smoke no cigarettes.” The famous player said; But they had him on the signboards, Recommending Shanghai Reds. Facing Death Returned Explorer (boastfully)— Yes, gentlemen, I have faced death in a hundred forms. Little Perkins—Really! Doctor or undertaker? Ea?y to Please “That hat makes you look ten ysars younger.” “Then won’t do. When I take It off I shall look ten years older ” 1£T IDE DOVOI JOB PRINTING —00— 00— -00— We are prepared to do various kinds of job printing neatly and promptly and solicit your orders for Ruled Letterheads i Typewriter Letterheads Noteheads I i Billheads Statements Envelopes Posters Circular Letters Folders Business Cards Visiting Cards Special Invoices Day Books Receipt Books Tally Sheets Lumber Tallies Notes I < M I I ■r < Chattel Mortgages 1 Crop Mortgages And many other special forms of printing or rule work. Our prices are reasonable, and we guarantee satisfaction on every piece of work we do. —00- -00- —00— McCORMICK, S. G