The Darlington herald. (Darlington, S.C.) 1890-1895, July 27, 1892, Image 1
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“IF FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE WORLD WE CAN DO ANYTHING.”
n.
Ill I I ■
That Three Dollar Poll Tax.
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1892.
NO. 47.
V
1
•Qy
7
[SpartHiilmig Siutrtmi ]
Mr. Eiliton—I propose to call the
attention of iny brother farmers
through the medium of the Spartan gll y j g ih e y propose to collect an
to the injnstiee of the proposed
to secure it is the repeal of the school
tax, which can only lie done by a
Constitutional Convention.
If the repeal of the 2-mill tax is
not in the programme, all I have to
measure, and show it# practical w ork
ing upon the farmers. Governor
Tillman is the apostle of the farm
ers, but if he can carry his measure,
I, as one of that class, pray to be de
livered from my friend, as I now de
monstrate.
If I understand his*project, it is
to call a Constitutional Convention
and do away with the 2-mill school
tax, leaving a poll tax of $3 in lieu of
lars, yon will observe, comes out of
it. ( , the poor Qian’s pocket* for one-teoth
But, whether the 2-mill tal is tet of-the people own nearly all of the
be repealed or not, the $3 poll tax
is to be made if he can get a Legis
lature subservient to his will. Now,
understand it and see how it works,
let us assume that the taxable prop
erty of the State is 130 million of
dollars, equally divided between the
class of farmers and all other classes
not farmers. We will also assume
that 80 men out of every hundred
are farmers. The census of 1880
shows about this proportion, whether
right or wrong it makes no difference,
as it is the principle I am trying to
demonstrate.
The State has about one million
inhabitants, 400,000 whites and 600,-
000 blacks, which would give about
80,000 white voters and 120,000
black ones, or a total of 200,000,
which at $3 each could raise $600,-
000 for school purposes. Now, who
would pay this tax under the new
arrangement proposed? If the farm
ing class is eight-tenths of the whole
population, why, of course, they will
pay eight-tenths of it. or $480,000,
. and all other classes, representing
half the property, would pay only
$120,000; that is to say, that the
farmers would pay just four times as
much as all the others combined.
Umlei ihe present arrangement, on
150 millions, with 2 mi'ls on prop
erty and $1 poll tex, the farmers yay
$150,000 pluieight-tenth, of tile poll
tax $200,000, (Ais .being a^JySar
upi: each voter,) 100,000—$310,-
OoO. The other classes now pay
$150,000 property tax and two-tenths
of poll tax or $40,000 mote, making
that $190,000.
Tillman therefore proposes to re
lease the property holders from $70,-
000 tax, which will.be seen is the
difference between the present and
projiosed plans, and to saddle the
same upon the very poorest class the
country has in it, and a good deal
more besides, for under the new ar
rangement they would pay $480,000,
whilst under the present plan they
pay only $310,000, which is a differ
ence of $170,000 against the farmers.
Now when yon take into consider
ation the ability of the two parties to
pay taxes this is simply outrageous.
Why make the poor farmer, who
Governor Tillman says, lust year did
not make a two cents -postage stomp
clear money, pay such an enormous
sum as four hundred and eighty
♦housand dollars and let off all other
classes, representing half the prop
erty, with only one hundred and
twenty thousaud. Now would it not
be a ni e md business like way to let
off railroad#, banks, cotton manufac
tures, merchants and monied men
generally from all property tax, with
an insignificant $3 poll tax, for the
few men engaged in these occupations
and saddle the weight of it upon a
lot of men, the large majority of
whom a-e working at $10 to $15 per
month, and out of which they sup
port their families.
If this is all Tillman knows about
my interest as a farmer, and is the
way he proposes to look after my af
fairs, why the sooner somebody
knocks him and all others who have
no better sense in the head, the bet
ter for us poor farmers. Why he is
just simply cutting our throats.
His excuse is lie wants to make
the negro bear his share of the bur
den. Making the negro pay $3 poll
tax isn’t going to help the poor white
man to pay his $3, nor will it help
the white man’s school, for the negro
will get for his schools all he pays
in, a id probably a good deal more,
for there will then be no excuse for
not giving him an equal division
At p •eeent the property being in the
h n Is of the white man he only gets
what he is entitled to, that is a very
small amoant
It may be that theanthorities will
say that the repeal of the 2-mili
property tax is no part of the pro
gramme. But I will say that they
wait a Constitutional Convention
called and oneof the arguments used
awful tax, 2-mill tax, say $300,00©
knd a $3 poll tax, about $600,000,
n a- ing a grand total of $900,000 for
schools alone, which is an enormous
amount for an impoverished people
and is more than was collected un
der Hampton and his successors to
run the whole State government, in
cluding the interest ou the public
debt and for school t.
This nine hundred thousand dol-
Abellsh the Fnit Rule for the Jury,
of-the people own nearly
property. I know townships in
which a 1 alf-dozen men pay three-
fonrths of the taxes. How would it
do to repeal the property school tax
aud exempt the landed proprietor
with Ills several thousand acres and
put it upon his 20 or 30 tenants or
the cotton manufacturers and put it
upon operatives? This is what it all
means. Solomon says, “The prudent
man foreseeth the evil and hideth
himself, but the simple pass on and
are punished.”
1 propose to th >w you in some fu
ture article, next week maybe, that
the farmer is being imposed on in
the Clemson College, the privilege
tax on fertilizers and in the proposed
increased phosphate" royalty.
Tillman carries us all in his
breeches pockets, so he says, and I
verity believe it, for we will shout and
vote for hi i as farmers, no matter
how little sense he has displayed in
looking after our interests.
What fools we farmers be.”
Fakmer.
How do ¥•■ Like this Platform!
A citizen of Georgia announces
his candidacy for Congress, and gives
hi- platform as follows:
i he writer takes this method of
announcing to the people that he is
a candidate for Congress in the third
party nomiQatioo. My reasons for
leaving the old Democmticpurtv are
that it has always schemed and tried
to give everybody unequal showing
by which those who sjieiit have got
poorer, and the longest poles have
knocked off all the persimmon-. 1
now propose to give the short poles
a chance.
I believe that Wall street is able
to feed the balance of the country
and should be made to do it. The
foolish system of every man having
what he has earned and saved has
become obsolete and should beabol-
ished.
I believe in crea i.ig new parties and
government offices until every man
in the country, who is too buy to do
anything else, can become an office
holder and collect the money from
Wall street to fly high on.
I believe every freeholder in the
country should be made to divide his
land with the first poor God forsaken
tramp that comes along until we all
become freeholders or tramps togeth
er.
I believe every Union soldier ought
to be pensioned until be is able to
live without work, and the Confed
erate soldier be made to feed him.
I believe the women should be al
lowed to vote. They govern the
country now, and they ought to have
the credit of it
The first thing I shall do when I
get to Congress will be to pass a bill
making cotton worth twenty-five
cents per pound.
Next, a bill giving every man as
much money as he wants, and if the
government hasn’t enough money for
that let them make enough paper
money to do it
Then, a bill compelling the gov
ernment to loan every man us much
money os he wants at 2 ) e.- cent,
and to raise this money ly taxing
the people until they have u> borrow
it tit 10 per cent to pay the taxes
with.
I will esteblnh a custom house
and subtreasury in every inland coun
ty in the State until I get enough
voters in office to carry the election
for my side.
I believe the government ought to
own all means of transportation, in
cluding horse s, mules, oxen and asses
—in office aud out—and be compell
ed to feed them /ud let every man
ride that wants to.
I propose to pass a law making
due bills legal tender, and when a
man gets out more than he cun pay,
will pass a stay law to keep everbody
from collecting them.
I propose to place the county court
I ouae on wheels aud move it around
from place to place until every little
town in the county is satisfied.
1 can think of nothing else to pro
mise just now, but if there is any
thing else you want done, J am ready
for it and I propose to promise any
thing that will bring in % vote.
The conviction is steadily growing
in the minds of thinking people that
there is something radically wrong
with our Jury system as it now
stands.
Time after time some criminal es
capes the penitentiary or the gallows
for months, even for years, iif.er the
perpetration of the crime, and in
some instances escapes entirely, al
though the community has no shadow
of doubt as to. his guilt and ho|ie for
a speedy conviction and punish
ment
Time and again the County is put
to the expense of trying the same
offender for the same offence, and
Anally the Jury becoming wearied of
the case, and despairing of ever reach
ing a verdict, prefer to set the pri
soner at liberty rather than have an
other misti iul entered, thereby render
ing necessary the same proceeding
at some future Court mid with tin
same result probable.
The fruitful cause of these repeat
cd mistrials is the law that require!
the twelve Jurymen to come tor
unanimous agreement before they can
find a verdict By such a system om
.nan on a Jury can defeat justice for-
r, mid In is not a •countable ton
.i.uiuii tor hi# conduct unless
• onld l e proven guilty of brilerv.
As an illustration of the eumb
some operation and perhaps dangei
•in's elTict of the unit law with Jurir
e cil“ the following exttmp
a oe# 'Inddoii was tried at the J:u •
nary term of Court for murder. We
are reliably informed that the Jury
st-od 11 to 1 in iavor of a verdict ol
guilty. As the one vole caused a
mistrial James Haddon was again
tried at the last term of Court. The
Jury sat. np all night and yet stoo
10 to 2for conviction. We have thi
condition of affairs then: Out ol
two Juries, aggregating 24 men, 21
have been convinced that James Had
d.m was guilty of the churgeof mur
der. Three have thought otherwisi
and the opinion of the thm has had
equal weight with the opinion of the
twenty-one, and James Haddon wil
have to be tried for the third time
To put ihe above facts 'in other
words: Out of the twenty-tour men
that have sat upon the case, one Jury
of twelve men could have licen se-
Deled who would have reached a
unanimous verdict of guilty, mi
another Jury could have been select
ed three-fourths'of whom would iiavt
favored conviction.
Other cases could be cited when
one corrupt or eccentric or toolis
Juror had defeated the will of the
other eleven honest and conscientious
Jurors.
We submit that undue importance
is thus attached to the individual
Juror's opinion. Too great a power
is placed in his hands. Where onh
one is corrupt the balance are power
less than to eutorco their common
opinion.
The preservation of peace and or
der the enforcement of the laws de
mand that this importance be taken
from the single Juror and that n
two-thirds or three fourths ruhbe
established. No issue can be so vital
but that the common conclusion ol
nine men out of twelve should settle
it. No greater majority is ever re
quired among any body of men.
We submit the following proposi
tions as our main reasons tor desir
ing this change', and we believe the
facts will sustain them:
1. Innocence will be in no mon-
danger where there is a three-fourth
(or 9) rule, than where there is a unit
(or 12) ru’e : • .ssary for the finding
of a verdict by the J ury. .
2. Guilt will be punished more
often ai d more speedily by the three-
fourths than by the unit rule, and as
a consequence, aud it is supreme in
its importance, mob law will subside
and lynching will take piace only in
rare cases.
If these two propositions are true
then there can be no reasonable
grounds for opposing the change, nor
can the change be brought about too
speedily.—Anderson Intelligencer.
Tke Arntrlcaa Girl.
She knows no Latin, she knows no
Greek,
But the purest America u she cun speak;
-'lie knows the uses of her and she,
Vml the proper places of I and me;
Site doesn’t use big words to tell
A story, although she cm use them
well;
In sb i t, she’s a girl without pretense,
Wii h an ample sppply of comm u
Hcnse,
And I’d rather have her any day
Than the girl who can parley voo
frongaay. -rBrandon Bucksaw.
THE FEROOIOUS TIGER.
Proof That He Kill! More Mon Than Aay
Other Animal.
The point of view from which the
lion or tiger looks on man is perhapn
not so far removed from that of the
non-carnlvorous creatures as might be
supposed. Man is certainly not the
natural food for any animal—except for
sharks and alligators, if he is so rash a#
to go out of his native element into
theirs—and if the item “man” were aub-
tracted from the bill of fare of all thQ
carnivora they would never want a
meal. The notion of the natural atti
tude of a lion to a young lady—
When as that tender vergln he did apje,
Upon her he did run full greedily,
, To have at onoe devoured her tender corpse •
is still popular, but hardly correct.
More^ probably the lioa would get out
of the way politely—if .we miay judge by
the pacific behavior of these in oflr-ldst
uxplored lion-haunt, Mashonaland.
Georges Leroy’s contention for the nat
ural allnity, or semi-sympathy, which
should exist between man and intelli
gent hunting animals is no doubt part:
ly reasonable. Leigh Hunt was un
pleasantly struck by the incongruity of
the notion of being eaten by wild beast,
“the hideous impracticable fellow-
creature looking one in the face, strug
gling with us, mingling his breath with
ours tearing away scalp or shoulder
blade.” But the “fellow-creature” is
not nearly so impracticable as he is
supposed to be. More human beings
are probably killed by tigers than by
any other wild beast, except by starv
ing wolves. Yet this is what Sir Sam
uel Baker has to say on the subject:
“There is a great difference in the
habits of tigers. Some exist on thu
game in the jnngles. Others prey espe
cially upon the flocks belonging to the
villages. A few are designated ‘man-
eaters.’ These are sometimes naturally
ferocious, and, having attacked a hu
man being, may have eaten the body,
and thus acquired a taste for human
flesh; or they may have been wounded ou
more than one occasion, and may have
learned to regard man as a natural en
emy. But more frequently the ‘man-
eater 1 is a very old tiger, or more prob
ably a tigress, that, having hunted in
the neighborhood of villages and car
ried off some unfortunate woman, has
discovered that it is far easier to kill a
native than to hunt jungle game.”
As a rule, the tiger is only anxious to
avoid men, and it is noticed that in high
grass tigers are more dangerous than in
forests, because in the former they can
not be seen, neither can they see, until
the stranger is close upon them. An
ancient instance of the opposite be
havior is that recorded of the new col
onists of Samaria, where the lions at
tacked “and slew some of them.” A
curious inversion of this experience oc
curred when the islands in the Brah-
muptura, which were swarming with
tigers, were first cultivated. The natives,
mainly by the aid of traps set with a
bow and arrow, killed off the tigers so
fast that the skins were sold by auction
at from eight annas to onq rupee apiece.
In this case the tigers were the first ag
gressors by carrying off cattle. But it
seems evident that there exists no a
priori reason, founded in natural an
tipathy, why man and animals, if we
could reconstruct a “state of nature” in
which we could put civilized, not savage
man, should not dwell together in pro
found peace, or at least in such peace as
obtains between accidental neighbors.
The only ground for quarrel that seems
inevitable is the everlasting one be
tween the shepherd and the wolf, and
that, after all, is a question, not of pre-
ju lice, but of property.—London Spec
tator.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.
Mow a Young Man Unveiled In That
Delicacy.
The man or wo n in who has once
eaten homemade strawberry shortcake
can never become reconciled to the yel-
low-hued precursor of dyspepsia which
is served in most New York restaurants
as strawberry shortcakj. The number
of persons who remember the straw
berry shortcakes that their mothers
used to make is surprisingly large, and
they keep bobbing up every now and
then in indignant protest against the
mlsealled strawberry sandwiches that
are serve 1 in the average lunch room.
One young gentleman who acquires
city habits with suspicion, and loyally
clings to the recollections of his boy
hood, almost worried himself sick over
the fact that nowhere could he find
homemade strawberry shortcake.
Like many another unfortunate, he
has no home; he boards. A few days
ago, however, he chanced to meet a
friend of his schoolboy days, a young
married woman, who informed him that
she was living on Staten Island, her
husband and herself being the happy
possessors of a whole house. Into her
sympathetic ears the young gentleman
X>oured his strawberry shortcake griev
ance, and supplemented the woeful nar- j
rative by describing how his mother
used to make that delicious pastry.
imagine his delight when the young |
woman said:
“Why, that is just the way I make a
shortcake. You must come and eat one j
with us.”
“One! A dozenr exclaimed the young
man ecstatically. “Let me furnish the
berries and you make the shortcakes.”
The next day being Saturday, this
young man sent several quarts of the
finest strawberries that he could find
over to the house of his Staten Island;
friends. On Sunday he reveled in straw-,
berry shortcake. Had it hot and juicy
for dinner and cold for tea. It was like,
recalling one of the days of lon&ago.—
N. Y. Times.
It Yields Best Returns.
Totling—Do you know which is thq;
most profitable metal to work? ,
Binding—“No; which is? i
Tolling—Printer’s zinc.—Detroit Free
Press.
—A some what surious and noteworthy
collection has come into the market, 1
and has lately been offered for sale to,j |
among others, the authorities of the
British National Museum. A Canadian
gentleman has expended a vast amount
of patience and shown considerable'
perseverance in gathering a collection
of battens of officers of every regiment
and department of the British army.
The collection, which comprises 144
buttons, has teken nine years for its
formation, aud the owner wrote 584 let
ters to all pirts of the globe in pursuit;
of hi} hobby, . j
THE GUILLOTINE. "
Watery of tho Instrument That -Tal
Claimed Its Thousands.
One of the most widely disseminated
Of popular errors is that Dr. Guillotln
invented the grim machine which still
bears his name. The real inventor u|
this sinister contrivance was Dr. Louis,
a well-known medical man, and perm a,
nent secretary of the Parisian School
of Medicine, or Academie de Medicine.
The teachings of Beccaria, endorsed
as they were by Voltaire and other
humanitarian writers of the eighteenth
century, had at last awakened in thii
minds of the people a feeling of revul-
.alpn against the prevalent barbarous
methods of putting criminals to death.
I<ouis XVL remembered with horror
the indescribable torments to which thu
Wretched Damiens had been subjected
for an attempt on the life of his prede*
'cemor, and early in his own reign mani.
fjMted a desire to pffect a complete
refcnnaHoh * 6# the* prison- system
throughout his dominions In 1788 ha
♦rote a letter to his brother-in-law,
Joseph| II., ou this subject, and on
many occasions manifested a keen in*
terest in everything connected will, t
more humane treatment of prison i
and condemned persons. The queen,
too, had placed herself at the head of q
society of ladies who devoted some of
their leisure to the visitation of prisons,
and the subject of their reformation
had become fashionably popular.
In 1785 Dr. Louis, a well-known pro
fessor of pathology, modeled his ap
paratus on the manaja, a rougher sort
of guillotine, which had been used in
Italy for centuries. On March 7, 1792,
this gentleman read a paper on his in*
vention before a select assembly of
members of parliament, and exhibited a
small model of it, made for him by M.
Schmidt, the famous manufacturer of
musical instruments, who was so liber*
ally patronized by Marie Antoinette,
for whom he constructed several of hi^
most elaborate spinnets and harpsi*
chords. Little did he imagine that ha
had exhibited the model 'for an instru
ment which, within two years, would
destroy both his illustrious patroness
and her husband. On March 25 a reso
lution was passed by the national as*
sembly recommending the immediate
introduction of the machine in question
in aU prisons throug bout the country.
The invention was first called tha
Louison, after its real inventor. Dr.
'GuiUotin, who continued his crusade
against the rack, the wheel, the ropa
and the stake— all of which hod only
recently been abolish ed, and several of
which, notably the w heel, were still in
nse in the sout hern provinces—con*
stantly spoke with such euthusiasm of
Dr. Louis’ apparatus that the people
ended by giving his name to it and ha
was presently credited with having in*
vented an instrument which he ha<f
only introduced to public attention. On
April 25, 1703, the gu illotine was pub
licly used for the first time, and be
headed a bandit named Pelisscr. This
was in the Place de Greve, where some
twenty years previously Damiens had
been tormented for days in precisely the
same way as Ravaillac had been for tha
assassination of Henry IV.
During four months after the execu
tion the machine which was eventually
to achieve such sinister celebrity was
disused. In August it was transferred
to the Place du Carrousel, and a few
weeks later it was alternately stationed
In the Place de Greve, the center of
what is now called.the Place de la Con
corde, and in the Place du Trone. It
was iu the Place de la Concorde that
Louis XVL, Marie Antoinette, Mme.
Elizabeth, and some eight thousand
other victims fell beneath the identical
blade which, by a curious irony of fate,
is now to be see n.. in the Chamber of
Horrors at Mme. Tussaud's. As it is
impossible now to ascertain the exact
number of the victims of the Massacre
of St Bartholomew, so it is impossible
to give a correct estimate of the num
ber of persons who were put to death
by the guillotine in ('ranee between
August 10, 1792, and the 9th “Thermi-
dor,” 1794, but it was certainly not un
der 40,000. Lamartine and Thiers gave
the number as under 20,000; but they do
not seem to have been acquainted with
the evidence which has been discovered
during the last few years of the facts of
the “Comlte du Salut Public” in the
small towns and villages where roughly
constructed guillotines were erected,
and performed their awful work with
appalling regularity. Under the em
pire and restoration the guillotine was
permanently stationed in the Place de
Greve, and executed annually between
thirty and forty persona During the
reign of Louis Philippe the guillotine
was transferred to the Barriere St
Jacques, and under the second empire
to the Place de la Roquette, where it
remaina Daring the Commune the old
guillotine was burned by the people,
and the present instrument is quite
new. Sanson, who was the public exe
cutioner throu ghout the Reign of Ter-
.ror, sold the original guillotine to Cur-
tius for £1,000, and he in his turn dis
posed of it for a larger sum to his
niece, Mme. Tussaud. Dr. Guillotin,
who died in 1814, energetically but
vainly protested against the use of his
name in connection with this disagree
able subject—another evidence, if one
were wanted, of the great difficulty
there is of correcting a popular error.
Needless to say that the legend that
Dr. Guillotln was among the victim’s of
his friends ingenious and merciful in
strument of destruction is wholly
apocryphal He died at a good old ago,
and in nis bed, surrounded by his chil
dren, who, however, obtained permis
sion to change their name.—London
Saturday Review.
Twin BeaU.
Housewife (to tramps)—Now that
you have had lunch you may saw some
wood, as you promised.
First Tramp—We did not promise to
saw the wood. You mistook the tense
of the verb. «
Second Tramp—Exactly! We said we
would see the wood, not saw it
Housewife—You villains! You uphold
each other in your rascality like
brothers. i
First Tramp—We are not brother*!
We are simply two souls with but *|
single thought {
Second Tramp—Two hearts that beat,
M onu.—National Tribune,
—The director of the Breslau Ophthal
mic university alleges that in three
hundred cases which have come under
his own notice, the affection of the eye
sight complained of has been caused by
wearing tight collars The pressure on
the veins of the neck, he says, disturbs
the circulation of blood to the head.
ALL A MISTAKE.
A Story Which Proves That Injustice Has
I, Been Dooe the Snake.
“People have an inborn, low-down
opinion of snakes,” said a man from
Pike county. “Everything that is bad
or mean or loathsome they never hesi
tate to associate with the name of
snake. This isn’t the people's fault.
It is the result of ignorance. It is their
misfortune not to know the snake. If
they could only come into closer dbin-
munion with snakes and study them
without prejudice they would find that
the popular estimate of these interest
ing and intelligent reptiles has done
them ages of injustice. That unfortu
nate affair in the Garden of Eden ought
to be sufficient evidence that the snake
is smart. A little circumstance of more
recent occurrence, which I want to tell
you about, will convince any one that
the snake is by no means bad.
“The water snake, although pretty
and harmless, is one of the most unpop
ular members of the ophidian race.
This is probably because he has a rare
tooth for fish, and especially for trout,
of which he takes a great many away
from the angler every year. And, when
/ou come to think of it, why hasn't he
■is good a right to them as the angler?
Anyhow, whether he lias or not, he
shows that he has a delicate sense of
what is good by his partiality for tront.
"One day I was fishing for trout up
in Pike county, and 1 saw a water snake
drop down into the creek from an alder,
only a few yards ahead of me, and
presently come out on the other side of
the stream with a trout in its mouth. I
at that time shared the popular dislike
for snakes, and when I saw this one
with the trout I became so enraged that
'I picked up a stone and threw it at the
snake. The stone struck the snake a
foot or so above its tail and disabled it
It dropped the fish, which was still
alive, and the trout flopped back into
the water. The snake lay writhing on
the ground, and I was cruel enough to
pass on, leaving it to die, as 1 believed,
iu agony, because of my abhorrence of
its kind
“The next day, fishing the same
stream again, as I approached the spot
where I had stoned the water snake, I
saw a kingfisher sitting on a dead limb
above a pool in tho brook. I knew it
was watching for a fish, and I stopped
to see whether the bird would catch
one. I had to wait but a very short
time. The kingfisher plumped like a
shot down into tho water, disappeared
for a moment, and came up with a
good-sized chub in its bill I expected,
of course, to see the bird fly away home
with its catch, but instead of that it
flew to the side of the creek, and to my
surprise laid the chub on the ground in
front of a snake that I hadn't noticed
before. It was the water snake I had
bit with the stone the day before. It
was not dead, but had been unable to
move away from the spot where the
stone had crippled it As the kingfisher
laid the fish in front of the snake, the
latter seized it and proceeded to gorge
it. The kingfisher flew back to its
limb, went to fishing again, soon caught
another fish, and flew away with it to
Its nest.
“Now a half-witted man couldn't
have helped but understand what this
all meant at a glance. The wounded
snake, unable to move, and consequent
ly unable to get any tiling to eat, had
been discovered in its sad plight by the
kingfisher, and the kingfisher, being a
tender-hearted bird, had taken pity on
it, and was feeding it to keep it alive
until its wound healed and it was able
to do for itself again. This touched me,
and I resolved to let the snake alone
and see what tho outcome of the inci
dent would be. I didn't get back on
the creek again for three or four days
after that, and when I got down to.
where the snake had lain it was gone.'
Of course I had no means of knowing
what had become of it, but naturally
concluded that it had recovered and
gone away.
“While 1 stood there the kingfisher
alighted on the dead limb again, and
sat there as motionless as a knot, watch
ing for a chance to catch a fish. A king
fisher fishing is always an interesting
sight to me, and so I waited again to
see the result of this vigil I had to
wait a good while this time, for the bird
was evidently intent on big game.
While he set there watching, a fish-
hawk appeared, high np, circling around
over the creek, looking for a dinner
himself. By and by the kingfisher’s op
portunity came. He shot into the water,
came out with a nice trout apd started
for home. I didn’t know whether the
fishhawk had had his microscopic eye
on that trout or not, but if he had, he
didn't intend to be done out of it by the
kingfisher. The latter had gone scarce
ly a rod when down on him the fish
hawk pounced and a lively but short'
struggle for possession of the trout en
sued. The kingfisher finding the fight
to hot for him, dropped the trout, it
fell on the ground, but before the
hawk could fasten his talons iu it a snake,
shot out of the bashes like a Hash,
grabbed the trout an 1 shot back out of
sight in the bashes again. As soon as
the kingfisher dropped the trout it flew
back to the dead limb and went to fish
ing again. I never saw anything sur
prised quite as much as that hawk was
when he saw the trout disappear in the
bushes. He hoverel over the spot a min
ute or so, as if he couldn't believe his
eyes, and then sailed away.
‘ ‘Well!” said I to myself. ‘That wise
old snake just lay low and got the best
of both of them!’
“I was about to start on again, when
1 saw a movement in the bushes at the
foot of the tree the kingfisher was on.
I looked,and out eame the snake with the
trout in its mouth. It paused a moment
at the foot of the tree, and then climbed
it. The snake made its way out on the
limb where the kingfisher was sitting,
looking very disconsolate, and touched
the bird on the side. The kingfisher
turned quickly around, looked surprised
for a moment, and then took the trout
tlie snake handed over to him, and flew
away home. The snake went back'
down the tree aud disappeared in the
bushes.
“It was all plain enough to me then.
The snake was the one I had wounded
and the kingfisher had been good su
ms ritan to, and it had taken this op-
portunity to show its gratitude to the
kind-hearted bird. From that minute I
changed my opinion of snakes, for I
felt that I had never known them be
fore.—N. Y. Sun.
• ■'« '
Gill Edge VIsitTuR Cards at this
I •Dice.
I
FIRESIDE FRAGMENTS.
—A full tablespoonful of flour makes
one-half ounce.
—Lemon Jelly.—Soak one-half box o|
gelatine, as in preceding rule, and with
tile hot water add the juice and grated
rind of five lemons, two cupfuls ol
white sugar and the beaten whites o)
four eggs.—Good Housekeeping.
—Beef Loaf. — Three and a hall
pounds of round steak chopped fine,
two cups of rolled crackers, two eggs,
one tablespoon of salt, butter the size
of an egg, and one cup of cold water.
Pour into a bread tiu and bake three
hours.—N. Y. World.
—Potato Snow.—Press hot boiled po
tatoes through a wire sieve into a vege
table dish, previously warmed and carry
to the table immediately. A bowl of
hot cream seasoned with salt and
white pepper should accompany it—
Drake’s Magazine.
—If the eyes are tired and inflamed
from loss of sleep, by sitting up late or
long travel, apply in the morning soft
white linen, dripping with hot water—
as hot as you can bear it—laying the
cloth upon the lids. You will feel the
eyes strong and free from pain or dis
tress in half an hour.
—Cheap Doughnuts.—Three cups of
sifted flour, one cup of sugar, one-half
teaspoonful of cinnamon, or any kind
of spice preferred, a very little salt, two
teaspoonfuls of baking powder; sift all
together; wet with milk, roll out thin
and fry in boiling lard. Make pretty
stiff, so that they won’t soak up the
lard.—Detroit Free Press.
—Ham Croquettes.—One cupful of
finely chopped cooked ham, one of
bread crumbs, two of hot mashed pota
toes, one large tablespoonful of butter,|
three eggs, a speck of cayenne. Beatj
the ham, cayenne, butter and two of)
the eggs into the potato. Let the mix
ture cool slightly, and shape it like cro
quettes. Roll in the bread crumbs, dip
in beaten egg and again in crumbs, put
in the frying basket and plunge intO|
boiling fat Cook two minutes. Drain,;
and serve.—Boston Budget. . i
—Fish Croquettes.—Boil in a kettle!
of hot water a good trout or whitefish.,
When cold, pick to pieces one pint of!
the fish. Cook in a double boiler half a
pint of new milk, one large tablespoon:
ful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of
flour made smooth with a little cold
water, and the yolks of two eggs; re
move from the fire and add the fish,
and season well with salt and pepper,
mix thoroughly and turn out to cool’
When perfectly cold, form in small'
cylinder-shaped croquettes, dip in egg,,
and then in bread or cracker crumbs,
and fry in smoking fat. This quantity;
will make twelve croquettes.—N. Y.
Observer.
' —Sheep’s Head Stew.—Clean the head;
thoroughly, taking out the eyes, and
‘put it on to cook in three pints of water
for one of medium size, with a teacup*.
, ful of rice, two or three sliced onions, a
tablespoonful salt and a pinch of pep- 1
per. Bring to a boil, removing the scum,
as it rises, and then add a few carrots
.and turnips, peeled and quartered.
Cover, closely and simmer slowly two
hours, or until very tender. Taste and,
see that the seasoning is right, then add;
a little thickening, boil two minutes)
and it is ready to serve with boiled po
tatoes. This makes another economical
dish for dinner.—Orange Judd Farmer.
SUMMER PARASOLS.
White 811k, ChilTon, and Muello Are Much
In Demand.
White really seems to be most promi
nent, though of course all shades which
can be used in harmony with the pre
vailing costumes are shown, and what
ever one's fancy may be, it need not go
unsatisfied. But the varieties in white
cover a very large field of usefulness. 1
Among the simplest are those of sheer
white muslin with a puff around the
edge, at the top, and around the handle,
which is of natural light-colored wood.
One can also find among the compara
tively inexpensive parasols plain and
brocaded white silk with dainty nifties
of lace. Then come marvelous crea
tions in the greatest variety of delicate
and beautiful materials,—chiffon, cov
ered with puffs and ruffles of the same
material or ruffles of lace of the most
delicate patterns; bolting silk, painted
and lace-trimmed; and finally, the most
expensive, lace alone covers the frame
with flounce upon flounce, inside and
outside.
Ttiough the white parasols seem con
spicuous, when one turns to the colors
there is found no lack of variety and
beauty, 'the most novel effects, in
deed, are among the colors, and for
every use to which a parasol may be
put something may be found among
them. One novelty is the melon-shaped
parasol, which has many ribs and is
covered with silk and fluted grenadine.
This, while pretty in itself, will be but
a passing fancy on account of its un
usual shape. Silks in ail colors, with
an embroidered edge from six to eight
inches deep, are very attractive. Col
ored silks with flounces of white lace
are also used, and silks with ruffles and
puffs of the materials.
In the plainer parasols and sun-um
brellas intended for more constant use,
every shade of silk is used, and frames
are often covered with material like the
dress, if it is sufficiently light to be suit
able. Gingham and similar material is
frequently employed for parasol covers,
and with very pretty effect
The handles are somewhat longer
than they were last year, and in some
cases are made so that they can be
taken apart for packing. They are al
most invariably decorated with a puff
like the material of the parasol, a how
of ribbon, or a cord and tassel, about
two-thirds of tho way down the stick.
Whatever decoration is used around the
handle is often repeated on the stick at
the top of the parasol. The parasols
have not changed much in size since last
season—both fancy and plain ones be
ing of medium size.—DeinoresL
A Murderer's Sad Fate.
First Thug—Bill Blugcon has been
convicted o’ murder.
Second Thug — Poor fellow! Now
they’ll lock Mm up. an’ his lawyers will
apply for a new trial, an’ poor Bill ull
tiie of old age before he git# IL- ''
—Two companies of the famous
“Buektail” regiment in the Union army
came from the lumber regions along tlie
west branch of the Susquehanna river.
T1 ey built two large, long rafts, hoisted
a Hag at both ends and sailed down to
Harrisburg upon those primitive crafts.
A small portion of one raft is still at;
Harrisburg, and it may be exhibited at
the world's toll. ,
THE STRANGER’S CALL.
An Incident That Interested the Miners
at Homesick Diguing*.
There were about two hundred men
of us at Homesick Diggings, and it was
the hour of noon on a summer’s day
when big Jim Davis came over the hill
with his pack on his back and staked
<out a claim. He came alone, and that
was why we noticed him so particularly.
He seemed to fight shy of us for three
or four days, and that is why we won
dered if he was all right. Big Jim had
got a squint at the face of every man in
camp before he thawed out and became
social. In a little time we found him
to be a good fellow, and so we gradual
ly came to forget our first suspicions.
We were still agreed, however, tha*
•there was something queer about him.
He appeared anxious and perturbed
whenever a new arrival was announced,
and if a party of half a dozen came
along. Jim would go into hiding until
die had sized them up. It was as if he
jsuspected some one was trailing him
•down.
There were all sorts of men in the
mining camps in those days, and it was
the rule to mind your own business.
As long as a miner obeyed the rules and;
regulations laid down for the govern-
,ment of a camp he was looked upon as
all right. What he had been in the past
was nothing even to his tentmate.
There was a big shanty in the center
of our village which was occupied as a
store, saloon, bank and general rendez
vous after working hours. I was in
there one afternoon just before the,
miners knocked off work, when a
stranger quietly entered, lie had corao
by the trail and alone, but ho one had
noticed him. He was a slim, light
weight man, and though clothed in
•rough garb you could see at once that
’he was not a miner. He was sunburned
and unkempt, but that was to be ex
pected out there. He was talking with 1
the stoorkeeper as I entered—asking
after just such a man as Big Jim Davis.
I His face struck me pleasantly enough,
'but there was a something in his gray
|Cyes to remind you of a wounded beast,
and a something in his voice to satisfy
you that he would be a pitiless enemy.
• He went out before I did. Where he
kept himself for the next hour I never
learned. The boys had knocked off,
•washed up and eaten supper, and about
twenty of us had lounged into the store
for a smoke and a talk, when the little
man suddenly show :d up. This, mind
•you, was three months after Big J im’s
coming. Jim sat on a box facing the
door, which was open. I happened to
!be looking at him, and I suddenly saw
his faoe grow pale and his jaw drop.
I looked over to the door and there
stood the stranger, lie had a leering
sort of smile on his face, and was look
ing only at Big Jim. In ten seconds all
conversation had ceased. We instinct
ively felt that the two were enemies,
and that the little man had finally
trailed Big Jim down.
It was fully two minutes before the
•stranger moved or spoke. Then he
stepped forward until close to Big Jim
and said:
“It has been over two years, but I’v»
•run you down at last!” ■»
Davis looked at him as one who sees t
specter, but made no reply.
“You have skulked and dodged like a
coward 1” continued the little man in
the same quiet voice, “but you’ll be a
man now, of course. The boys will see
fair play. Shall it be pistol or knife?”
If Big Jim s eyes hadn't been wide
open we might have thought him a
dead man. You never saw terror more
plainly written on a human face.
“It’s a little affair of our own, gentle
men, explained the stranger, as he
turned to us. “I’ve traveled thousands
of miles while looking for Big J im. I've
been hunting him down, to kill or be
killed. This world isn’t big enough for
both of us. Arrange the details to suit
the crowd.”
Not one of us had spoken. Just as
the stranger finished Big Jim recovered
from his stupor and made a move for
his pistol. Like a flash of lightning the
little man had him covered, and then
he laughed a harsh, dry laugh and said:
“I ought to shoot you down like a dog,
but I’ll give you a show. Come out doors?
Shall it be this or that knife?”
Big Jim turned white again and re
lapsed into his former state of dumb
ness. The stranger surveyed him iu dis
gust and contempt, and by and by
turned to us and said:
“Back in the states this white-livered
coward betrayed my confidence and
wrecked my home and my life. Even his
dead body would disgrace your diggings.
Come, Jim!”
He stepped back and beckoned to
Davis, who slowly followed, staring like
one who wa Iks in his sleep. The little
man backed to the door—out of it into
the moonlight, and then started up the
trail Davis foil owed like a dog, never
looking to the right or to the left—mak
ing not the slightest move to draw his
weapon. It was as if he had been mes
merized. Something of that same feel
ing was upon all the rest of us, for we
stood at the door, speechless and amazed,
and looked after the pair until they
were out of sight. It was like a dream,
and men rubbed their eyes as if heavy
with sleep.
Up the hill—around the great black
rock—past the tree on which we hung
Taylor for murder, and then they were
out of sight. The stranger we never saw
again. A month later a prospector
found Big Jim's skeleton in a ravine
two miles away.—N. Y. Sun.
Fashionable Shoes.
With the exception of a few fine jet
ornaments or a small buckle of Irish
brilliants, all fancy decorations on dress
shoes and slippers have nearly disap-
appeared. Fine soft shoes of undressed
kid, most easy and delightful to wear,
are shown in many new shades to match
the costume. The dove-gray and pale-
tan mixiels find the largest sale. These
tinted kid shoes do very well for a
change or to complete a suit of one
color entire, but for real elegance and
neat and refined appearance there is no
foot covering that can compare with a
perfect-fitting shoe of fine black French
kid. It suits all styles of dress, all oc
casions, and makes the foot look trim-
m t ami much smaller than a shoe of
any other description. —N. Y. Post.
MISCELLANEOUS.
—If a man hasn’t friends, it is lie-
cause he does nothing to deserve them.
—Atchison Globe. _
—Doubtful, But He Had It.—“Wai
Gen. Jones ever in the war?” "Never."
“Where did he get his title?” “Owned
six lots near a military encampment."-*
Atlanta Constitution. „ . i
'Wfo