Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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MAKE ODD fflllS Many Freakish Documents Filed for Probate. <Ono Drawn at the Time of the '"Black. Plague" Placed in a Bottle of Spirits. All wills for which probate is granted are filed in Somerset House. They can be inspected by the public on the payment of a fee. The only excepfrt the nhnve rnle annlies to the wills of the king and queen of England, which are kept In the records but are sealed. Almost every day the principal probate registry office has to deal with wills of original construction. One of the most recent was the portrait of a pretty girl upon which the testator had simply written, "I leave all to her." The legator, a soldier, had duly signed it, and affidavits of -Identity being forthcoming, the will was admitted to probate and tiled In the archives of Somerset House. A quaint will, yet these same archives contain others just as fanciful and s"me that are remarkable for their historical interest. One of this collection, interesting nftlnf r>f view, was X1VSUJ 14 Uivuivut V. w made by an unfortunate who died of the black plague that raged at one time in London. This will was placed In a bottle filled with spirits and then corked. A precaution, no doubt, to preserve his majesty's law officers, who would have subsequently to handle it in the course of their duties, from Infection by the deadly bacilli. Another will Is in shorthand. Considering its date, somewhere round the year 1760, this Is not a little remarkable, for the well-known cipher Invented by the famous Mr. Pitman saw the light of day over a hundred . years later. Luckily the testator left a key, else the authorities would have been put to no little trouble to decipher It, for shorthand was unknown In those days. A win salvaged from the bottom of the sea supplies the nautical interest This will was recovered after a long period of immersion, and the only damage it received was In the way cft shrinkage. It was made on parchment, and this when fished up was found to have shrunk to about a tenth Its normal size. But so beautifully had it been inscribed that the writing remains as clear as prist to this day, and though -very minute it can be read easily with the naked eye. Another quaint, though cumbersome record is the leg of a four-poster bed. The will of a certain earl was hidden In a recess at the top of this leg, and as there was a dispute over the grant of probate the leg and its large wood? en castor had to be filed and kept as evidence. Shakespeare's will with its remarkable signature, Nelson's will written In a common or garden exercise book v on the eve of Trafalgar, and which toward the conclusion contains these words, "The enemy are now in sight ," a soldier's will made in a blackcovered note book through which a bullet has passed without making it Illegible?these and many more go to a miiA^tlnn that man* a curio hunter would give his soul to possess. ?Solicitor In London Dally MalL Canada Has No National Flag. Canada has no national flag. A so called Canadian flag Is In use, but its use is unauthorized, and It no longer (represents Canada. It is the red ensign of the British mercantile marine C-rtth the coat-of-arms of Ontario, Queec. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick In a quartered shield on the field of the flag. This flag, by warrant dated February 2, 1892, was authorized by the British admiralty "to be used on board vessels registered In the Doznlnlon." This limits Its domain to Canadian merchant ships, as no authorization was given to fly It on shore. When It is flown on land it Is iout of Its formal jurisdiction. In any case It has not been formally adopted [by the Canadian people, and it now has decided limitations. Its shield ^contains the devices of only four of the nine provinces which now form the Dominion of Canada. Joke on the Bank. Woman's limited knowledge of jbanklng and money matters has long been the subject for jokes on the jftage and elsewhere. The story of the . ;woman who believed that because she jfltlU had blank checks in her checkbook she still had plenty of money rtn the hnnfc Is an nld nne. Rnt the other day an Indianapolis woirai* was notified that her account had been overdrawn and instead of ao ceptlng the bank's stereotyped invi[tatien to "come in at your earliest convenience and attend to the matter^" she chose a new method of procedure. The bank received the following letter from the woman: "Please find inclosed a check for 413.72 to settle my account." The Symptom*. , "Was Mr. Grabcoin In his office when you called?" "No, he must have been playing golf." "Are you sure about that?" "Reasonably sure. The office force seemed t" GUnk he wouldn't be hick isoon. Mc?t of the clerks had tbelr jfeet on their desks and three stenographers were making 'dates' by itelenhone."?Birmingham Age-Herald. f- t I r=r- = .-n An Unusual Welcome By MARVIN ST. JOHNS. Copyright, 1921. Wcatern Newspaper Union. Collins was in a very uncomfortable frame of mind as he journeyed downtown in the subway. He had been unemployed for nearly two months and was fast approaching the end of his resources when he answered the promising advertisement in the newspaper. An invitation to call was the response and Collins was almost certain that his application would be "turned down." The reason for this pessimistic conclusion was that both the advertisement and tlie letter especially stated i that the advertiser wanted a "clean- j cut" man. Decidedly Collins was not I "clean-cut" in the fashion-plate sense. ! The car was crowded and Collins j was hanging to a strap. He fell to ! watching the face of a girl who was i seated opposite. Her hair was light I brown, and her eyes. Collins per- j ceived, when she lifted them for a j moment in his directlou, were his j favorite color?at least, at that mo- , ment?blue-grav. On one side of her sat a swarthy, meah-vlsaged individual, a common mihway type. On the other sat a /wmtlamon rAO/llnrr hlo |MJii > 'ijivcu ^riiuciuau, t uio newspaper. Collins had totally forgotten the girl by the time the train Stopped at Brooklyn bridge. Suddenly his attention was drawn to her by hearing her exclaim in a low, .well-modulated voice, but expressive of intense scorn: "Will you kindly stop pressing my arm, sir?" His nerves were already tingling. This slight incident completely upset his equilibrium. He saw the puffyfaced man, who had begun to look exceedingly uncomfortable, apparently attempting to conceal himself behind his newspaper. Oolllns leaped forward and dragged the puffy-faced man from his seat. Holding him by the collar with one hand he delivered a clean uppercut with the free fist, ! and had the satisfaction of landing squarely upon the puffy-faced man's optic. I Instantly the car was In an uproar. , Collins found himself the center of a mass of straggling humanity. A man was clapping him on the shoulder and shouting approvingly. "Well done, young fellow V* he exclaimed. "That's the way we southerners would do. Give him what he deserves!" Collins worked himself free and tried to help the girl through the throag. He reached her and offered her his arm. She declined It Indignantly, and Collins, crestfallen, fol- . lowed her to the car door, where he was at once seized by a gray-coated subway guard. i "Hold him!" yelled the puffv-fnced man, who, hatless and coatless, now appeared on the scene. "That's the fellow that assaulted and tried to rob me." Collins saw the girl stop suddenly, hesitate, and then return Impulsively toward him. She laid her hand upon his arm. "No, it Is a mistake," she said. "This gentleman tried to protect me against a despicable fellow who was Insulting me, only?only?" "Only he struck the wrong man," she said. "This gentleman was perfectly innocent." "Innocent!" snorted the putTy-faced man. "I should say that I am lnno- - cent. I am a family man, and I can't go home with a black eye. Besides. I'm a churchwarden, and there's nothing in my life I have to conceal. My name Is Robert B. Allison, president of the Western Manufacturing company, and the little influence that I have.I shall use to see that this young black- i guard gets the punishment he deserves." t Collins was thunderstruck at this piece of information. Surely fate had dealt very hardly with him. The puffy- : faced man, who bad now adjusted his coat and hat, did not look much like a prospective employer. "Mr. Allison," he said Impulsively, ' "I don't care for myself, but if you are a gentleman you will let me get this lady out of this crowd. Won't you accept my humble apologies? My name ; Is Collins?Frank Collins, and I was j on my way downtown to apply to you , for a position. I lose the position; J let us call the account even." "You are Mr. Allison!" exclaimed the girl. "Why. I am Grace Loomls, and I was on my way to your office In answer to your letter to call concerning a private secretaryship." There was an awful silence. Collins dared not look up. The crowd was melting away; the three stood there together, for even the guard, seeing the turn matters were*tak!ng, bad wlselv gone about his business. 8ud denly a roar burst from Allison's lips. "Good Lord, that's one on me!" he said. "I can't afford to have It get about that I was mauled by one of my employees to punish me for Insulting my secretary. Besides, I need you both to give evidence to my wife about my eye. Come on down to my office and we'll adjust matters. Mr. Collins, your first official act will be to buy me an eye-plaster. You're a clean-cut man, sir, and a clean uppercut man, too. Your'e both engaged." But somehow there was a lurking double meaning in that last word that made Miss Loomls blush. The Safety Valve; North?America is a land of equal opportunity. Westr-Yes, a man may sue his wife for divorce the same as an* klm ?Vow York Snn WHEN THE FAIR ONE SMILE Not Infrequently There Are Heserv. tions of Which Mere Man I* Entirely Unconscious. A rann smiles because be feels thi way. but a woman, with Instlncth cunning, smiles for various reason and many of them are deceptlv though she claims that she decelvi only to be kind. The smile with which she greets a: other woman Is rather different fro the smile that she bestows upon movie actor, h soldier, a traffic office or a prospective husband. She can smile the smile that y< think Is worth while. She can mal her smile perfectly "nice," and ye my boy, there may be certain reser* lions to that smile which. If you < any mere man could only know, won surprise you Indeed! When she Is young and falls in to for the first time her smile Is a sor and a sonnet. When she is a widow ar smiles the song Is there, but It lurl In the background, as the dlslllusk of life has taught her the protects art of reservation. Sometimes a vei clever woman sits very still and r views life, especially her life, ai smiles sadly. There is a pathos ! that smile "too deep for tears," as tl poet said. The smile that she bestows upon tl helpless mite of humanity, her flr born, Is n glorious poem. She mi smile to deceive her rival, she mi smile to encourage herself, her sml may be false to her lover, but wh< she smiles at her first bom all tl love of her heart and all the splrltu beauty of her soul goes Into It, and tl angels In heaven rejoice, A woman with pretty teeth does n smile, she laughs; a woman with ug teeth smiles carefully. There a women with dainty rosebud mouth and when they smile qt a man he fc gets the high cost of living and e tends an Invitation to a movie. How Interesting It Is to watch tl smiling woman I How It flatters a mi to have a woman smile at him?but he knew she laughed at him afts ward {?Philadelphia Ledger. Treasures of Lhasa for Sale Some of the treasures which w? saved when General Younghuahand expedition had to evacua? .Lhasa ai the Chinese looted the -jfapieua foi Ling or monastic palaces,/are 'to 1 sold at auction In LondttT an e change states. These plaques are ce: turles old, studded with precious az semi-precious stones In elaborate d sign and of fine workmanship. Tl stones Include opal, garnet, crysti agate, amethyst, sardonyx, turquols Jade, cornelian, sapphire and tops One plaque on a rough eetlma shows more than 18,000 such piece The Items Include a marvelous bra four-foot model of a temple with te races, domed tombs and many ml lature figures of kings and deities, ! laid with precious stones and ove laid with a strange patters compos* of pair after pair of human eyes su posed to be connected with some for of sun worship. There is a chap containing three gems and an offerli box studded with bosses of seven jei els supposed to be more than 1,01 years old. Dog 8aves Master's Life. An Irish terrier saved his mastei life at Belmont Park, N. Y.. a fe days ago, says an exchange. Jo< Scot, a fair sprinter but a savage i heart, was In ugly humor and vlciou ly attacked his trainer when he uei Into the stall. He threw his train down, planted one foot on his hot and tpnpfnir the clothes oT his ! ;;< sank his teeth in h's shoulder. Ti re.* four stable hands rushed for clubs i pitchforks to beat off the horse, bi the Irish terrier waited for nothin He Hew at Joel; Son. grubbed hi by the nose and shook it as lie wou shake a rat. The infuriated hon turned his attention to the dog lot enough for the trainer to crawl pal fully to safety. The trainer om owned a horse named Chief to whl< he was devoted. The Irish terrier wi named in memory of the horse. Ti og la now the trainer's dearest pc session. Got First Prize. Mary Ellen had been In klndergt ten one week and was very much li pressed by ber teacher's ability. "24 teacher," the boasted to the famll "can twist ribbons Into a rope." High school Thomas grinned. "24 teacher," he mimicked his slstei proud tone, "can twist up her won into an enigma of English." Twelve-year-old Mark was plain stumped, for his pretty young teach was just a beginner with lots of cur and dimples, but suddenly a sml came on his face. "My teacher," 1 chuckled, "can twist our principal (1 the way a single man) around her ft ger Into doing anything she wan him to." And even fatner said that Mark d served the first prize. Feminine Curiosity. The marine camp at Quantico wi visited on one occasion by a party i young girls from a Delaware tow friends of one of the officers of tl post. The party exhibited much t terest In everything pertaining to tl routine of the camp. "What do you mean by taps?" que led one of the young women. "Taps Is played every night ot. tl bugle," answered the officer addresee "It means 'lights out' They play over the bodies of dead soldiers." A puzzled look overspread the que tloner'* pretty face. Then she aske< "What do you do if you haven't ax dead saldlers?"?The Leatherneck. ? - I T"l yj ] MOVED! L " ;? ? te ] Jr ^ 51 Hereafter the Office and fj | if Printing Establish- I j ?S ffi v ;? ment of | j le E: ' S ?n V E2 ?* B I ai Eh if THE COUNTY RECORD j 111 m ' EE > t'M u t9 ffl iT- t# $ S r3 3| will be found in the old i u Ltj NH 1 if Bank of Kingstree build- 1 J x ? \ :| ing next door to Dr. I s| Gamble's Drug Store. I * m W" X " M iin + *' Rh fig % 5 Little tots w*7/ get out in the drafts Aw# Porfprtinn will Provide instant heat?economically ri rrrv a vf^ wrrv?? ... lj -l And the Perfection is unusually stantly, just where you want it, o: economical now for Aladdin Se- when you need it. No fuel waste, or curity Oil costs only about half of easy to carry about. It is ornamenut its former price. tal and durable. It burns for 10 w Over a million families are econo- hours on a sin?Ie ?allon ?(kerosene, id mizing on coal by heating their Then, too, the Perfection has a se homes selectively. They keep the score of practical uses in every whole house warm with the regu- home, such as drying clothes on n" lar coal heater and use a Perfec- rainy days, heating small amounts tion, "the portable radiator," to of water, warming baby's milk. M make drafty halls, bay windows and Hardwire, housefurnishing and department ^ living rooms comfortable and safe. ,torei to* Perfection. Let your dealer A| AnnfN ... explain its sturdy construction and smoke- rlvil/l/Hl I lS" The Perfection supplies heat in- less wick adjustment. ! Jt STANDARD OIL COMPANY C ^ v (New Jersey) ^ lf _??!(! 1P1TYOIL I || oacc'^iT I vv \v II vv Ba^SQUCfflw J) | J| ! =^^^JCJK^Oj} Hea/ens r .j^i