The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, May 09, 1882, Image 1
r KaUibllahed AprU, 1850.
'Be Just and Fear not?Let all the Ends thou Aims't t, be thy Country's, thy God's, and Truth's.
THE TRUE SOUTHRON, Ett^Stbed June, 1&6*.
S?TMTER, S. 0., TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1882.
Series?Yol. I. No. 41.
caress thifc; shall "make .??jl?'
~ . DeliTered* faded, to, the windsthat
And rend her crown from her dishonored
O ?Htary hott^ Aroe open do#r
: Again shallTrelcotoo sweet Lore's winged
:Sp^^ii^iS V
-y?i^f?^l^^^?MS^- they Kt of yore/
a when L^ref^dr Joy _weie newly
?etorn-, with myrtle round jus
And fill thy halls with motic as before.', .
' t Magazine.-.
V\ * >
A T?B?J0?rBAi'TOI0RB^IXIY YEAES
?.- - - jt-x-5- >.' ''.
AGO.
Somev r^esMar- ago, while tra%lBu^: j
* rk t&e lower counties of Maryland,
* Te37^?nteil?gen.Lola . gen ?emon
- wbahad onee. been a., prominent, ctti--j
entertained me with" stories of^ persons |
and things in existence years .ago.s I
{i'was
^oXiV on tb at occa.
osatble, his -recol
k^ojfe^^^B^^r^; mj impers
of^^^Sl?e#al>^o5?P^ to^ne
pubHc for what it is* worth. I baye
pre?erved-a?,&r as possible the lau
^^S^^J^^^^i^lPj^ He cssared
ttO that the fact*stated were true.
Sixtyyears ago the houses in Balti
more town proper did not extend north
waf? bjjyodd Lexington street.. Belvi
4erer:^the residence of Col. HoWard,
was ] ;%nrioanded^ with : woods,. * and
^^W^y^oos^^^yy^U dense fptT>
: vd?. Sach atbinjgHas a payed street ~ er
sidewalk in that vicinity, was unknown ?
.. ? few miserable mud roads and innu
merable bridlepaths constituted the only
meaw^of passage from hou se to house.
and orperson8-with ;rhom 1 was famil
iaraod %frwe- faces, and virtues and
oddities sometimes pass before-; me in
:-.^p$$Wik?g dreams like ghosts of- a
vanished lifel, Between Barn urn's
and the presentnorthern bounda
t there-were many pfeaa
notty reaHieDces and oat. Hanover
' anii-Sharp streets much of -the beauty
%and" fashion -was congregated. Aside
froti the iaentable brass knocker -and
.doo^i^e t%e houses of the ?lite were not
remarkable for outward adornment, but
wer? comfortably furnished within
"their ornaments were the beautiful
sjniling faces which brightened every
nobk-andcorner.-- In social life there
' was no* so much rich dressing as n ow,
r- to there was an eager^ hankering after
. it bj^rgentler/sex, and the young
bucks of that day by no means despised
the- tailor's orv hairdi?esser's arts.
Society was not so frothy then as now.
It, seems to Jfcbthere was m ore body to
- it, tlutr th?tf vT^m very old and some ir
^evercnt people say I am in my dotage.
Men Bad sturdier characters and women
; jficje; irresifltible fascinations. The
Browns, PatUrsons, Stuarts^Howards,
... Whjles,. Pinkneys, CarroITs, and a
number of others whose names escape
me, were the leaders and ruled with a
-temperate but ffrmsway.
v _When: ? saw my friend Jack Wattles
for th?^rs t time he was about 25 years
;?o?r He came from Southern Mary
^?asdsomewhere, and I judge he was the
last of his family, as I have never heard
ot one of them since,. He bad some
.property then, though much of bis patri
^mouy b*? been spent. He was a roy
Altering blade, full of life, fond of sport
^?^ad-socitrwhat given to the wine cup,
but a welcome guest at every aristocra
tic hooae in the town. He was quick
J?tte?, genial and happy, and all liked
He was expensive in his tastes
a&d habits, aad as careless of money as
tf?ughr he owned Portland Manor. If
^^ypuBg ladj expressed a wish it was
jfrati?ed regardless of cost. Tradesmen
of,course marked, bim fof their prey and
^Bw^ersr postively adored him. The
letter always added 50 per cent; to
aoyiBing that Jack bought. He was a
? ?eral admirer of the ladies, and was
Jm^m and out of love like jack-in
a-box, though nobody at this time be
Keted that my friend Wattles had ever
been seriously affected by the gentle
naa^on. A common questions at balls
and.parties was, * Well, who is Jack's
flame now V and it had generally been
*&t&&& Wattles was a butterfly,
sipping the surface honey from each
lovely 1fewer with no intention of pene
tratio^ the hidden -virtues of the plant.
He hajd travelled much?that is, he
to New York and Richmond
extensive trips in those
a young man of un
?stn perceptive powers, he
was'^??abled bv.to make bimself ,. very
agreeable in, society. How Iheard him
run on. about tir? Scheedleschanapps,
the^W^vorsts* the, Tod JUugenleers
?cpd?? S^yl^duy velar, oPNew.York ;
or the Pocaiiootases, the Oornwaahrog
ltdD8?anct t n ? Ruseldol ph s?, b ? Virginia !
^H? ir1f-wa^>i8; getrtle- as ad- April
shower, ? r? freshi og as exhilarating.
: But.poor Jack came to grief at last.
^Jb^is%nd8 gfe^leis Bis fondness for
drink increased. : How he dropped ont
:of society it would be difficult J^_;telU :
Asl?ae years glided by Jacs very grad-.
ually rol^db^^hU?^^rS?twhen inN
a confidential mood he said to me,
*Tom, ?>went to a gathering at Mr.
^ ?arro?Ps one night and I was ^not alto
gether'satisfied wit Ik my appearance
imyself. J? thei truth must be toldk
both looked and felt a little seedy, and
the .old gentleman, instead of . coming
briskly up, as was his wont, andV slap
ping me on th? shoulder witte a 'How
are, Jack V greeted me with excessive
dignity and said, 'Good evening, Mr.
Wattles/ It was" the cut direct. I
put on rmy .wraps^jtlL the aid of a ser
ran t and I thought the darkey gave me
a somewhat supercilious;; glance as I
passed out over the threshold never to
enter the house again. Soon it be
camenoisecLaboutZthe. . town- that for.
some reason the. CarroiL-man si on was
.closed :against me, ^od the cofd shoul
ders cropped rupnhiek^an^d -fest?1 ^Tired
of an unequal struggle, and not caring
'very much for a.negleet my ,own com
mon sense had to some ex ten t Anticipat
ed/ ?^roppeS out of the charm ed circle
with a;*esolve never to enter it again,
except as 4the glass of fashion and the
moid of form." Such was Jack's sim
ple description of his social downfall,
and as he was as truthfut^as light it I
was probably correct. 41
I .'There were those in that galaxy of
?l?gant peoplewho did notshare Jack's
nouchalenee. There were beautiful
"girls of great"wealth, who would have
willingly sacrificed themselves to retain
Jack, and who were only deterred, by
that maiden modesty which seldom mils
-the^sex/ ~ About twenty'. years ago I
remember meeting in Baltimore seveV
rat rather-prim and precise old maids-,"
who were forever busy in good works,
"but whose visages almost gave the re
buff to the kind words,, money and arti
cles of Comfort the y so freely lavished in
-charity,,&at; never was-the holy light of
love mere thorougolyvrer^ _8>. ;
^eJmentibh of .Jacl? Wattles' name, :
The sour.faces-turned sweet, the melan
choly s m He's which played about 'the
cornerstone m^uTnT^tolu^o^^oty \
long faded, and the diamonds which
sparkled in ^the eyes"of these "good old
ladies spoke of a, depth of feeling which
could hardly hare be^n - ex pected to last
so long, un requited, and indeed never
;re?ogni?d-;'':.6y;:- its? Object. ^The^ said
Jack's grave was always covered with
fresh flowecsr?biit ^^ i^Cam /anticipat
?Di?*^^5^r $t Sssr ~p 7~ -- ->- ? -r
Jac* nrettricd tbe fawr'aad^Wweiili
up like the sky-rocket and came down.
lij?e the i^iefci After two.J qr three
btili iaut efforts- he got on a frolic, i and
brought Iiis legal career lo an abrupt
termination.' He4hen became p^
e?htbat journarrem was his, forte, ^aud> ;
was readily engagedoe-a morning "paper "
recentry started in --opposition to the
leading journal of the town. -'His pithy
and spicy articles, and the support of
bis former.fiiends,^who ??cked 16 ^ him
in-numbers, gave-an ephemeral popular
ity to tbe-paper, andforatimethe very
existence of. its rival j?as threatened,
but he insisted^ going to Timonium
to report a great horse-race,^and journa
lism lost one j>f the brightest, writers^
of that day. Jack u n fortunately won^
$200 or $300,. and his besetting
sin got the better of him. He never
returned to the paper, and, li?e many
other ventures of the same' sort in 'Bal
timore, it faded ont of existence so com
pletely that ks bare name has long::
since escaped my memory.
: While cm this trip Jack went over
r?th some of the Bbsleysvand Merry -
mans to a ^amp-meeting and was con
verted. Struck with the sublimity of
the religion he had embraced he deter
mined to impart it to others and got a
license to preach?a document easily
obtained at that early day. He scoured
the comparatively unknown region of
Western, Maryland for '[ some mootOs,
and is'said to bave done good service to
the cause which he bad espoused. His
old enemy overtook-him, however, in
the midst of bis labors, and the *fiext I
heard of Wattles was as clerk in a cross
road grocery, where his pay probably
consisted mainly of the tolls on the
whiskey he sold. He?finally drifted to
Baltimore in a wretched condition, his
nerves shattered, his health broken and
his whole system unstrung. A few
friends?of whom I have always been j
proud to think I was one?took hold of
Jack, tucked him away quietly and
kept hit. secluded for some weeks.
< It.
When Wattles emerged from his re
tirement be was a. changed man. He
was neatly clad, full of fire, handsome,
engaging and determined to turn over
a new leaf. We got hi in a situation at
a small grocery store on Market street
with, a salary of $10 a week, and secur
ed a room for him at a boarding-house
a little distance in the country kept by
a Mrs. MacPherson. Boarding-house
keepers infested Baltimore to as great
an extent proportionately then as now,
and they were in those early days sui
generis. They had all seen better days,
and conld point to an illustrious ances
try, but the MacPhersons were excep
tional* in this respect They claimed to
be an old Scotch family. The latter
are generally satisfied with tracing
themselves direct to Adam, but the
MacPhersons, as well as I remember .
went further. The theory of evolution
had not then been generally ventilated,
or-I am persuaded they would have dis
covered some particular anthropoid ape
undergoing a transformation to a tail
less condition, as their lineal ancestors,
bat barring this, they occasionally re
ferred to some prehistoric race whose
eminent virtues had been concentrated
and sublimated in their own persons.
- The romantic portion of Jack's life
now began. He took possession of his
room on a Saturday night. He always
said he had a confused recollection of
passing through a bevy of girls, some
of whom nad red hair, some orange
tawney, and that in their midst he
caught ? glimpse of a beautiful face,
I with a splendid head of hair of those
: ever-changing hues from chestnut to
burnished gold, which the old painters
I ascribed to Fornarina, Beatrice Cenci
! and Mary Queen of Scotts. He went
to bed thinking of it, and it filled his
dreams and softened his slumbers. . He
arose betimes-in the morning, and with
out saluting his new acquaintances, for
he was not altogether, free from his re
cent nervousness, he sauntered down to
the Indian Queen, where he met some
familiar faces, Sothron, from- St.
tMary*?rHanson, from Howard district ;
Murray, from Annapolis; Mercer, from
West river, and several others from the
counties, rolickiog fellows,, who had
driven up to town the day before, and
were disposed.to make the most of their
pleasure trip. At -breakfast toasts were
drunk-, as was the custom in those days,
but Wattles, to the astonishment of
everybody, did not join in the merri
ment. He was rallied upon his sobri
ety, and accused of being in love. He
disclaimed any such absurdity, and said
his heart was as callous as an old sponge,
and as full of holes?he had often been
in love, but not sufficiently to endanger
his digestion, and he had at last deter
mined to shake off his old habite. ?e
would hereafter neither'make love nor
drink; but attend strictly to business
and make a- fortune. -SA desperate re
solve, Jack/ said Murray, 'You can't
keep that up. Til bet ^0 that .you I
will be tight half a dozen times, and in ;
lovej just as often before the first of ;
January.' Jack, booked .the bet for
answer, and said as seriously-as he
ever said anything, 1 The woman does
not breathe who can move me from a
resolve.' Some one playfully suggest
ed that they would be the death" of him
yet, and- the conversation drifted to ;
other topics. At the usual, time for i
service, the bell of St.. Panics rang, out
clearly in the crisp^autumn atmosphere,
and the young men, more devout than the
.present generation, hurriedly arranged
their toilets and scrolled"up the hill to
church. The service was plain but im
pressive; the dense stupidity of an old
fashioned sermon, however, gave ample
opportunity for cat-naps and sly glances
.at the congregation. Jack, in one. of
the latter, caught*a glimpse of his fair
charmer of the previous night, and
there was no more sleep and no more
sermon for him. There was but one*
object of interest in the church for
Wattles,
_peared to me on that Sunday with^seve
ral of her ta^vuey -headed sisters beside
her. My inferences may have been
different afterward, but I do not know
that my excess ion of her appearance
has even materially changed. She
was above the medium height, fulj
and rounded, bat not inclined to em
bonpoint, with- a long, graceful neck
oval face and ruddy cheeks/-'into
which the rich blood would mount in
wayes/surging over her neck and fore
head// Her eyes were of ? deep brown,
corresponding admirably with the dark- '
er tints of her hair/her ey elashes" long .
kand;her eyebrows thick and heavy. Her
lips were; full bat very red and very
beautiful. | It would hot be? fair, - per-.?.,
-haps, to con par? her to some" ?f the" vol-* "
uptuous beauties of the court of Charles
II., but a flfeby Spanish madonna by
Murrillo would about hit the mark.
Such was Louisa McPhersoo, and Jen
nie, the sister next to her, was a bright
little red-haired girl, with a pleasant
face and a pensive, d?pendent manner,
which made ber winsome andattractive.
The least said about the balance, the
better ; they were not fair to look upon,
and Murray, who prided himself on his
Scotch ancestry, and who had fortified
his love for the auld land by a trip
through the Highlands, said it was a.
base slander to tax bon nie Scotland with
such productions. As the benediction
was pronounced Wattles w'hispered to
young Mercer, a friend of his from
Anne ;Arundel, and the two quickly
made their way through th? now 'retir
ing congregation to the dirt sidewalk in
front of the church. There they met the
McPberson party and Mercer was in?
troduced. ? think I noticed, a shadow
pass.over his face as he underwent the
ceremony, as much as to say, 'What
the devil does Jack mean by bringing
me in contact with such people V
The fact is, as they sat in their high
pew in the church little more was visi
ble'than their beads and necks, and a
few ribbons tastefully arranged about
the latter concealed the plain, even shab
by dresses that showed, while the front
of the pew hid all that below it, bot now
as they stood out in the bright sunlight
the contrast between tbeir attire and
the splendor of mauy of the members of
the congregation was absoutely start
ling, and must have struck any person
not blinded by love. *
Mercer, however, was equal to the
situation. He was a well-bred gentle
man and made the most of his dilemma
by asking permission to walk home
with Miss Jennie, Jack being already
far in advance with Miss Louisa or For
narina, asshe always spoke of her sub
sequently. Mercer was not devoid of
humor. He had a way at times of
twisting his mouth and looking very
demure, which was irresistibly funny to
those who knew him, and as be passed
many of his magnificently arrayed ac
quaintances his mouth worked convul
sively, and Miss Caton was heard to
ask him a few days later what he
meant by making faces at her when he
was walking home with that chamber
maid on Sunday. 'She is not a cham
bermaid, but a young lady in very re
duced circumstances ; poverty could
never bring her to insult one beneath
her, just as wealth would not lead her
to suppose she was clothed with pecu
liar privileges. The clan MacPherson
has never yielded in courtesy to friend
or enemy, and there are those I wot
of who can scarcely do better than pro
fit by their example/ This was a
long speech for Sprigg, as he was fam
iliarly called, and produced its legiti
mate effect. Miss Caton didn't speak
to him during the balance of the season
and could scarcely be induced to make
a visit to Woodlawn in the summer u^"
til Sprigg made known the pathetic
story of his friend, which, as usual, I
am anticipating. The clan as we boys
used to call them, crossed St. Paul's
lane and took a side path down the hill
to a house surrounded by forest trees
When they were all gathered in the
comfortably but plainly furnished'par
i lar Sprigg had'an opportunity' to study
the countenances of the other members
of the family, and his inspection did
not contribute to his equanimity. He
! said afterward there was the most un
equal distribution of personal gifts in
that family that be had ever seen. It ap
peared to worry him long after the
events I am giving you had transpired.
Dinner was announced and Jack, al
ways a good talker, gave a. loose, rein to
his fancy. His face was flashed, and
so-was that of another at the table. He
said but little to Fornarina, addressing
his remarks generally to those seated at
the board, but it was observed that he
cast sly glances from time to time in
her direction, and somehow or other
their eyes always met, and there was
a sparkle in those of each as they were
hastily withdrawn. .The leaven was al
ready at work. Jac?. reckless in every
thing, didn't care to notice it, or if he
did showed no disposition to control it.
A walk after dinner in the woods around
Bel vi d ere ended a day which he always
claimed to have been the most supreme
ly happy of his chequered career..
Bright and early on Monday morn
ing he was at work at his new place.
He was.the life of the store, and many
person's made purchases simply because
Jack Wattles was there* He never
saw Fornarina until he returned home
after the labors of the day were over.
The two young ladies after supper
usually repaired to the parlor with a
female boarder from the Eastern Shore.
There was an old piano, jangled and
out of tune, in one corner of the room,
and the sisters were not accomplished 1
performers. They sang a little, Miss
Jennie taking the soprano, while Forn
arina bad the making of an excellent
contralto. Jack possessed the cracked
remains of a bastard tenor, and the trios
they sang, the Scotch and Irish airs
they murdered, absolutely butchered,
would have stirred up the patriotism of
a Highlander or Fenian to the assassi
nation point. I used to go there night
after night out of pure love for Jaok,
but it was a terrible test of affection.
How an educated musician like Wattles
could be so befogged by a pretty face
as to mistake that caterwauling for mu
sic I never could understand, but there
he would pose, his eyes fixed on For
narina in an ecstacy.of delight and his
own wheezy,.asthmatic tenor making
desperate dashes at the notes for all the
world like the sudden plonges of a
^Kgwfoniadland dog after a stick in the
water ; whjlFtnel'est of tue compari^T
with their fingers in their ears or by
talking at the pitch of. tjbeir voices,
would attempt to drown the frightful
discord. Fortunately the concerts didn't
last very long, or they would have been,
beyond human endurance. The reper
toir of the young ladies was exceeding
ly limited and soon exhausted, and then
the house" appeared ~to~-sett!c-4owu to
business. Jack amused the whole~coai~
pany with mildly-satirical anecdotes of
the foibles and weaknesses of various
members of the society" of which he had
so recently, been a shining light, and of
course every one present k ;w dear
Mary so and so, or .Nannie this and
that, or Flora such an one
I 'never in my life heard the name
of a prominent member of society men
tioned in a boardiug^ojise-^atScvery^
one presentoiuh't know him or her
with all their antecedents, collateral
relations and personal engagements for
half a year in advance. Jack would
very often weary of this, and a quick
glance from one to the other, not a sig
nal, for I am sure they had arranged
no system of communication, but a sort
of intuitive, magnetic-impulse, would |
seize both simultaneously, and while
one went quickly out at the rear door
the other would leisurely saunter out at
the side, and a few moments later For
narina and Jack would be found on the
porch pensively gazing up at the stars
or talking in low, soft tones such stuff
as only themselves and the Infinite
could understand.
.I have often thought there must be
8om? similarity between the language
of love and the conversation of some
dogs. I have seen two pointers in a
yard get up from their reclining pos
tures, walk toward each other, touch
noses and while one would bound over,
the stile the other would trot leisurely
out through the front gate ; in a few
moments they could be seen coursing
through the stubble in front of the
bouse as though their very existence
hung upon thier locating every hapless
quail in the field.
These interviews were of short dura
tion, but oh ! how delightful they were
to Jack, as I afterward discovered. He
received a note from an old flame of his
one evening who had suddenly driven
up from the country and was staying at
the house of one of her grand relations.
She commanded Jack to come to her as
she would return on the morrow. How
Jack writhed! He actually swore, some
thing of which, with all his faults, be
was seldom guilty. He put it on the
ground that he tfad been kicked out of
the circle in which she visited and that
he was in no condition to face his for
mer acquaintances. In his humble posi
tion as grocer's clerk he did not wish to
be made a spectacle of, to be pitied and
gazed at for one evening and to be lift
ed by the collar at its close and dropped
back into his. present obscure berth.
He declared he considered it an insult
and a piece of unpardonable thought
lessness on the part of the young lady,
but some of us knew all the while that
if there were no Fornarina Jack would
gladly go and would enjoy himself
hugely, too. He had always ' a soft
*pot somewhere in his diaphragm" for
this same lovely girl, and she was in
every way worthy of an honest man's
love. She deserved a better fate. She
followed Jack to the further shore very
soon after our solemn leave taking.
But here-.I digress..
As time wore on the intimacy be
tween Jack aod Fornarina increased,
and he no longer indignantly repelled
the assumption that be could fall in
love. The meetings on the steps led to
Jong moonlight rambles out by Belvi
dere and through Howard's woods. It
was after one of these that Jack
came to my house and made me his
confidant.
[To he Continued.]
My wife,' remarked Fitznoodle,' is
fairly crazy of the fashions. She has
got the delirium trimmins;' J
. ' - y
BILL AKP.
On the Children and Grand-Children.
When folks that spring from a nu
merous family become numerous them
selves and the first children marry off
before the last are born, the children
and grandchildren and uncles and neph
ews and cousins get all mixed up so a
man can't tell totber from which, hardly.
About this time of year they begin
to congregate at my house and take
charge of the premises?for a boy soon
learns that grand parents wasent made
to wallop grandchildren but was crea
ted especially to take their part and pet
em and wait on em and when these lit
tle chaps come from town where they
live in a half acre lot where they can't
throw a rock more than ten feet without
breaking somebody's window or falling
on a green-house, and can't squeal nor
squall for fear of waking up somebody's
baby, they feel like they have just got
out cf the penitentiary, and so they be
gin right staight to make up for lost
time. They have mixed up with mine
now and put their devilment together,
and it keeps me a trotticg to keep
the gates shut and the draw-bars put
up, and hunt up the digging hoe that
they had carried off to dig bait, and go
after the pan that they salted the colts
in, and knit on more fish hooks for em,
and ever and anon they get clear off,
and after Mrs. Arp has called em in
alto and contralto and any other 'to'
about 13 times and they don't answer,
I know what's coming and so I just
start after em without any instructions.
But.
a little now. Tbey have to come at
the blowing of the. horn, whether they
hear it or not, or.go without dinner or
supper, for the little rascals have got to
playing off. and making out they don't
hear when they do. Lintou says he
can't hear at all when the fish are bit
ing. They are breaking the colts now
about half the time, and the poor brutes
have just surrendered and let 'em do
as they please for they found it was no
use in trying to out do a parsel of boys
that was bent on a purpose. We used
to larrup our first children right smart,
and they throw it up to us yet, for the
last ones get nothing but promises; but
I reckon that was right, for if the first
ones are made to behave and do right
their example is enough for* the youn
ger ones or at least it ought to be. Then
again it must not be forgotton that the
ddest^Dli?Vii^^ and the
choice and pick of everythmfif*. ai?d they
get the young ones off some times
give 'em a licking and then hire 'cm
not to tell when they get home, and
th^oungerones-have to wear the sec
ond-hand clothes and wait for the sec
ond table when company comes, so I
reckon the average is about right after
all. I wasent the oldest boy myself,
rtrod-i-krow how it is. When there is
only one or's?wo the parents strain a
point to set 'em up and adorn 'em and
take 'em to all the shows, and if they
stump a toe they send for a doctor ; but
after awhile when 8 or lfr come along,
children get.sorter monotonous and pa
rents let 'em-rip along ?nd grow up of
their; own accord, and the more the chil
dren the less the doctor's bfllspa^r?-fia*-^
clothes aint as necessary as they used to
be, f?r the fact b it takes air sorts of
economy and contrivance to raise 'em
at all in hard times or soft times either.
Occasionally I see my old coat and pants
spread out on the floor and ripped up
and the little patterns laid on the pieces
to sd-e if they will do, and the first thing
anybody knows Mrs. Arp has a little
all rigged out in a suit as good as
It gives a man
A PATRIARCHAL FEELING
to s?e these grandchildren increasing
aroulnd him. Old Father Noble limps
abotft the streets of Rome every day
(don't know 'em, and when a little
salutes him with 'howdy grau dpa,'
howdy great-grandpa,' he bas to
and look'and say, 'whose child are
you j'sonoy,'for he had twelve of . his
own/, and they have married and multi
plied amazingly, even down to the
foumh generation. It is astonishing
bow fast they do multiply if they get
au arly start, for a man told me he
kneW of an old lady in South Carolina
who) was 104 years old and was said to
bavfe over a thousand decendants.
Thejre's nothing improbable or impossi
ble (about that, for she was married at
fiftejen and had ten girl children before
was thirty and they all married
and multiplied and replenished
there were sixty grandchildren
the old lady was fifty years old,
lots of great-grandchildren. If
folkjs generally had posterity after that
fasl don, I wonder how long it would
tak< ; the world to fill up and run over,
and "something serious and pecnliar be
coo ie of us all. A power of folks have
live d and died, but life is a gaining on
dea ;h all the time, and it's, curious to
con template bow thick the people will
be i l thousand years hence, and where
the ! will all get food and clothing.
Sodae big thing is bound to happen af
ter' awhile if not sooner.
J THE CROPS.
? 5rops are not doing much good in
thi j region. The early planting of corn
ant 1 cotton looks puny and chilled, and
alr< ;ady I hear Of various insects and
vei min foraging around. Last spring
tb( : flies dident come about until June,
bu ; they are very numerous and disa
gr ?eable now, and can light oftener on
a i nan's head where the hair-is parted
in he middle than I ever knew 'em,
esf ecially when he wants to take a little
evAniug nap on the parlor sofa. Snakes
arB slipping and sliding around The
m link s bave been stealing our chickens,
ant so we set the children to find their
den, and they found it in a hole in the
silfl of the stable and got four young
es out and the old ones dodged all
out, but the dogs couldn't catch 'em,
d they never stayed anywhere long
ough to get a shot at 'em, and so we
>t a steel trap and set it, but we
ven't caught 'em as yet, and I think
y have moved their quarters. The
eking birds and humming birds have
e, but I haven't heard a whipoor
chap
new
and
ch
or
stop
t.. ?s yet, and that's a sign, they say,
ifcfat more cool weather is still ahead.
Nevertheless, we are all hopeful and
wjili have spring lamb and^gfeen^ Peas
f?r to-morrow. 5
'Tis easier te^build two chimneys
tJban to keep ooe in. fuel. \
I
A Reminiscence of the War.
DariDg the civil war there was,
rightly or wrongly, a lamentable preju
dice entertained against brevet rank and
brigadier-generals. Lincoln's estimate
of the comparative value of the mules
and brigadiers gobbled up by a Confed
erate raider?the army mule was affec
tionately known as a 4brevet horse'?
is known to most readers ; but there is
another story, scarcely lees complimen
tary, and much less familiar. Accor
ding to the anonymous libeller, during
an aotive engagement, a colonel, while
bravely leading on his men, received
terrible blow in the bead from the frag
ment of a shell, which completely ex
posed the brain. He was carried to the
rear, and intrusted to the care of a sur
geon, who at once resolved upon heroic
treatment, and removed the bruin bodi
ly to repair the lacerations. While he
was absorbed in this delicate operation,
an aide-de-camp, unconscious of the
severity of the officer's wound, rode up
with a message that Colonel Blank was
wanted immidiately at head-quarters.
Mechanically, like the brainless pigeon
in the interesting surgical experiment,
the gallant officer clambered into the
saddle and rode away ; and when the
surgeon, having completed^ the re-ar
rangement of the wounded organ, re
turned to place it in position, he was
astonished to find the patient missing.
At that moment his attention was at
tracted by the sound of galloping" hoofs,
and looking round, bis surprise was in
tensified on beholding the colonel riding
to the front as gayly as if nothing had
happened.
'Hi, colonel ! ho, colonel !' shouted
the surgeon, pursuing him. 'Stop.
You're forgetting about your brains !'
'Never mind about them,' roared the
hero, clapping spurs to his horse. 'I
ion't want them?I've jnst been brevet
ted brigadier-general.'?Harper's Mag
izin?.
mm t I -;?
How Prize Fighters Die.
Ben Hogan, the reformed pugilist,
lately told a Chicago Newt reporter that
'prize fighters die'prematurely of weak
ness and disease brought on by their
injuries. In fact, they die at or before
the time when, if they bad not been
prize fighters, tbey would have been at
the prime of life. Charley Gallagher
lied at the age o? 30, of consumption,
caused by an injury receivedlu his fight
with Davis. Davis fell on him, plant
ing his knee in his upper left breast
Brandy bears the blame of killing Tom
S?g^^byfcffl, mv np?n?nn be died of the
injuries inflicted by ? Jolm^&r^fi^0^0/
Beenan jumped off the traiv and nTT
iiimself, and some lay the h^me of pr?
nature death on that accident, but be
lied of consumption, pro4nced, in my
)pinion,'by over-training and by the
punishment he got in His fights with
Sayers and King. Jphri Morrissey's
leath is laid on bright's disease, but he
itood beating enough &o kill ten men,
md I believe that is what killed him.
Eankee Sullivan is sfiid to have been
silled by a vigilant8 committee, but
be truth is that he/went crazy from the
njuries to his aea'd he had received,
ind eommitted suteic.e by opening an
?*?ry. Patsy liiordan, one of the
?randestTtfr? ^h/ysi jaliy that ever lived,
lied at 36' years of age>-a_ .complete
physical and mental wreck. Bob"T?i<r
lle died the same way, the very flesh
Iropping off his fingers. Joe Womble
iied in a Montreal insane asylum. And
so they go?all of them dying at what
3Ught .to be the prime of life/'
Stopped His Paper.
Nowadays, when a subscriber gets
so mad because an editor diners with
bim on some trivial question that he dis
continues his subscription and 'stops
bis paper,' we remind him of a good
anecdote of the late Horace (3-reely,
the well known editor of the New York
Tribune. Passing down Newspaper
F.ow, in New York City, one morning
be met one of his readers, who exclaim
ed:
'Mr. Greeley, after the article you
published this morning, I intend to
stop your paper!'
Ob, no,' said Mr. Greely, don't do
that.'
'Yes, sir, my mind is made up. I
shall stop the paper.'
But the angry subscriber was not to
be appeased, and they Separated. Late*
in the afternoon the two met again,
when Mr.-Greeley remarked :
Mr. Thompson, lam very glad you
iid not carry out your threat this
morning.'
'What do you mean !'
'Wby, you said you were going to
stop my paper.'
'And so I did ; I went to the office
and had my paper stopped.'
'You are surely mistaken ; I have
just come from there, and the press
was running and business was boom
ing.'
'Sir,' said Thompson, very pompous
ly, -I meant I intended to stop my sub
scription to your paper.'
'Oh! thunder!' rejoined Greeley;
I thought you were going to stop the
running of my paper, and knock pie
out of a living. My friend, let me tell
you something : One man is just one
drop of water in the ocean. You didn't
set the machinery of this world in mo
tion, and you can't stop it; and when
you are underneath the ground things
upon the surface will wag on the same
Give neither counsel nor salt until
you are asked for it.
Those men who destroy a healthful
constitution of body by intemperance
and irregular life, do as manifestly kill
themselves as those who hang or drown
themselves.
There is nothing like settling down,
said the retired merchant confidentially
to his neighbor. 'When I gave up busi
ness I settled down and found I bad
quite a comfortable fortune. If I had
settled up I should not bave had a cent.'
The following will bear reprinting:
A man who bad been drinking very
freely at the bar, in goiug out into the
street fell into the gutter. A wag see
ing him, ran into the . public bouse
and said to the saloon keeper 'Sir your
sign has fallen down. He went out,
and to his astonishment, beheld only
the poor drunkard.
W?y tue Parson Leit Jten
tucky.
-A good maoy years ago, when a cer
tain place in Texas was a very small
town, qnite a number of prominent citi
zens went ont on a hunting expedition.
One night, when they were all gathered
aronnd the camp-fire, one of the party
suggested that each man should give
the time and reason for leaving his na
tive State and coming to Texas, where
upon each man in turn told bis experi
ence. Judge Bank had killed a man
in self-defence, and Arkansaw General
Soandso, had forged another man's sig
nature to a check, while another came
to Texas on account of having two wives' j
The only man who did not make any
disclosures wss a sanctimonious looking
man, who, although a professional gam
bler, was usually called "Parson."
"Well, Parson, why did you leave
Kentucky?"
"I don't care to say anything about
it. Besides, it was only a trifle. None of j
you would believe me anyhow."
"Out with it ! Did you shoot any
body?"
"No, gentlemen, . I did not/ Since
you want to know so bad, I'll, tell you.
I left Kentucky because I did not build
a church.?^. .
Deep silence fell on the group. No
such excuse for coming to Texas ever
had been heard of before. There was.
evidently an unexplained mystery at
the bottom of it. The "Parson", was
called on to furnish more light.
"Well, gentlemen, you see a congre
gation raised $3,000 and turned it over
to me to build the chnrch, and I didn't
build the church. . That's all."
Brought into Prominence.
Deacon^ Comstock, of Hartford,
Conn., is well known as being provided
with an enormous handle tojiis counte
nance, in the shape of a huge nose, in
fact it is remarkable, for its great
length. On a late occasion, when taking
up a collection in the church to which
the deacon belongs, as he passed
through the congregation every person
to whom he presented the bag seemed
to be possessed by a sodden and uncon
trolable desire to laugh. The deacon
did not know what to make of it. He
bad often passed around before, but no
such effects as these had he ever before
witnessed. The secret, however, leak
ed out. He had been afflicted for a
day o~r two with a sore on his nasal ap
pendage, and bad placed a small piece
of sticking plaster over it. During the
morning of the day in question the plas
ter had dropped off, and the deacon see
ing it, as he supposed, on the floor,
"p??fefidjtup and stuck it on again. Bat
alas formeTkWbo sometimes make great
mistakes, he nickedup instead one of j
those pieces of^^teC^wttCfl tbo^jpanu*
facturera of spool cotton paste on th?
end of every spool and which reads :
"Warranted to hold out 200 yards."
Such a sign on,such a nose was enough
to upset the gravity of even a puritan
congregation.
Liquid Manure.
" 'It simply docs wonders,' said a gar
dener to us, many years ago: That
expression well describes^the effects of
liquid manure judiciously used. Be
cause a little is beneficial, it, will not do ]
to concludej^iat there can not be too
much of a jgood . thtnl^fft^wke the
soil sodden) with it. The soil retires
to have th? air permeate it,, and if ms.de
wetteren Jwi*h rich liquid manure, tnVj
plants willf surier. It is well to have a
tight cask I of some kind, sunk in. the
ground, Koto which the soapy&wash,
water and]the chamber slops may go ;
these of themselves will be excellent
fertilizers.! The fertilizing quality may
be increased by the addition of cow
manure, manure from the ben house,
sheep droppings, etc, . The chief care
to be ta kin is not to have the liquid too
strong, at is better to err in the di
rection of (weakness. Twice a week is
often enonfgh to apply it, and then only
to plants that are growing. In the ab
sence of other manures, Perviau guano,
at the rat? of an ounce to a gallon of
water, is Sthe best substitute. Nothing
else will do increase the productiveness
of a small! garden as the proper use of
liquid fertilizers.?American Agricul
turistfor^ May.
Wast e of Land in Fences.
; 1
. If a fai-ni of 160 acres is divided by
fences ioto, fields of ten acres each,
there are] five miles of fence If each
fence now is one rod wide, no less than
ten acres lof land are occupied by them.
This is ejq?sl to six and one fourth per
cent, of the farm, and the loss of the
use of trie land is exactly equal to a
charge cjfsix and one fourth per cent, on
the whoije value ?f the farm. But near
ly every] fence row in the coontry is
made a nursery for weeds which stock
the whbfc farm, sod make an immense
amount If labor necessary to keep them
from snlthering the crops. m Much dam
age always results to the crops from
these waeds, and if these expenses are
added tj the first one, the whole will^
easily sum up to twenty per cent., or a
tax of oiae fifth of the value of the farm.
To remedy this we wonld have fewer
fences, or we would clean and sow down
the fenc|e rows to grass or clover, and
mow them twice a year. Ten acres of
clover dr timothy would at least supply
a farm jwkh seed and a few tons of hay
every yjear.; We would, in short, con
sider the fence rows a valuable part of
the far.ia. and use them as such.?Ex.
'Coa^e heah, George Washington,
you black ape!' exclaimed Rev. Abina
dab Bled8oe, of the Austin Blue-light
Taberlacle, to a Sunday-school scholar,
who had just removed a big wad of
something from his mouth. The boy's
tremblj'ing limbs carried him into the
immediate presence of the irate shep
herd, I
You was chawin' terbacker in de
house ob de Lawd.'
'I owns right up, parson. I was
cbawiu' terbacker, but I won't do so
no mckh.' -
'G&rge Washington, chawin, ter
backf' am bad enough, Lawd knows ;
but Wien y er has got so shameless yer
don't try to lie out of it, bit am time to
take you in band, so yer won't grow up
an' disgrace de fadder ob his country.
Leani ober dat knee, George
JNews ana uossip.
.? <>
An excursion train o? the Pennsyl
vania l&Uroad ran 81J miles in 83|
minutes.
The Chinese have, in the past twen- '
ty-five years, exported $340,-000,000
from California.
The army wor^gofc as far air Boston "'
when a miss with eye-glasses called it'
by its real name. It immediately laid* ?
down and died. ^.
An exchange says that if the whole -"
crop of cotton seed was worked through
the oil mills it would add over $6,000,
000 to the value of the crop.
Fire partridges flew against the side
of a house in Greenville the other day
with such force that it killed them*
Clear case of suicide.
A swimmer becomes strong to stem
the tide only by frequency breasting
the big waves. If you practice always' :
in shallow water your heart will as
suredly fail in the hour of high flood.
An exodus of Jews from all parts of
Russia commenced on May 2. - As the
foreign corn trade was almost entirely
in Jewish hands the utmost confusion
now prevails in that industry.
The oleomargarine factories of New.
York have a producing capacity of H]6?.- ?
000,000 founds ;anuttany^
production of dairy butter in the "State""
is only 111,000,000.. - :
Too well-dressed ladies were examli^p-'
ing a statue of Andromeda, l?be^^f
Executed iu terra cotta.' Says *W$0?
'Where is that? Jl am sure, I don't '
know,' replied the other, ?but I pitjr^
the poor girl, wherever it was.' ;
A California salmon, weighing eleven
pounds; was recently caught in Jthe^:
jPrencb Broad river of North Carols.
He emigrated about three years ago,
when very small fry, nude*1 the auspices
of the United States Fish Commission,
In a recent law case the ex-Empress
of France was alluded teas 'Mme. Mari?
Eugenie de G us man, widow of Mr. .
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, hav
ing no profession, and residing at Cbis
elhurst, England/
The Cour 1er-Journal doubt 3 wbethef
the North can justly criticise Southern
women for dipping snuff, while North
ern young women walk- the streets
leading puppy dogs by strings. FoHjr |?
is confined to no section of the world.
Appearances indicate that ex-At tor* *
ney General Wayne - McVeagh' :will :
henceforth affiliate witlriae i)euieetalic
party. He is the son-in-law of .?m^G. -
Cameron, but they have been at logger- :;
heads politically for some time* I .. . ' V ' ;
Surveys have been made for an aqee
duct"225 mires ~loug, to supply New
York city and towns along the Hudson,
with* water from Lake George. * The?.- I
estimated cost is nearly ^50,000?XM)0#.' /
"^stjiework woujd^ccupy about three ' - T
Professor Silliman, in an sdvan^Q^^s
port upon sorghum culture, instead^oT^^
sugarcane, shows how the Unfted^States ||?
can be made the greatest sugar-produc*
ing country in the . world. He also?^
sliows that any - State that can :gK>w>.
corn can grow sorghum, and that there,
is no .reason why Louisiana'should '^M
monopolize:the sugar, industry ;.~
tnien. ., " g g
Spring is the time-for sowing. Is tb* -
city women sew skirts at forty-five cent*,>.^
per dozen.. Iu the city, also the wick* .
ed sow tares and reap tears. And every
where in the. spring4;ime meii^$<^^\^^
wind and reap the <wbirlwind^; :vSpr^gndr
-W^cc^^-much sung about byr poets.^$
It is a.season ^^-^v^ people?respe*.
cially about the. first of May... Jt is the ?r?
season for raising things: The ta* r .
generally raised in the -spring is^th?^S?
rent. After that comes spring radishes *
and greens. . ;,
A Special dispatch from;Columbia to
the Neves and Courier, under date of
the 3d, says ?^-- -
'The body of-Miss Mattie Henry,
who was killed by-the explosion of 4h?^^;
Marion on last Friday, was foxind * :to^ A"^'
dayj about one hundred yard* ftomv ^
where the explosion occurred. Itissaid r
that her brains were blown out byt the |
force of the explosion , and her death -
must have been instantaneous. A tele
gram received at half past 4 o'clock
this evening reported Miss Lizrie Henry- 0
as sinking fast and no hope for her re
covery. ; : V '
Since 1879 an enormous amount of
Northern capital, estimated at $200,
000,000, has been invested in Southern
land. Southern orangeries, Southern ^
fertilizer manufactories, Southern cob*
ton factories and Southern railroads,
which, earn their dividends in transport
ing the products of the. country. --Toe '
railroads alooe, if has been calculated,
have absorbed $125,000,000 of money,
drawn from Pennsylvania, New York . -
and Massachusetts. Other millions of
dollars are being put'ji xoads: now '
building in Virginia, in the cotton
States, in Texas, and, iu fact, through
out the Southwest.
A gentleman living in Baltimore, '.
where Judge Bond resides also, writes. .
to the Day as follows : 'Let the people
1 be told the truth as to this modern Jef
freys, so that he may not by his subtle
speech, and through the medium of hit'
club and other social advantages, be
able to deceive well-meaning and hon
est citizens of both parties. If the peo
ple were not blinded by the so^isma^of ...
! a partisan press, they would demand .
that-he and all others of a like charae- |
-ter be removed from the positions they /
have so much abused. Before condemn- .v
ing the tyranny of the courts and rulers -;
in other countries, let the American
people raise a protest against judicial :. .
corruption at home.'
Mrs. Henrieta Saitzman, of S,fcJo
seph, Mo., has filed a singular|Hfel
against the State of Missouri for^Ufin-.
ages in the sum of $2,000 to her^ouse,
1,318 Lafayette street, the scene of the |
Jesse James tragedy. Mrs. Saitzman is *
a widow, and she represents that her ||
house would be worth $3,000 but for, |
the State, which by its agents, killed
Jesse James therein ; that the said
Jesse James being a notorious person,
morbid curiosity seekers, in the desire to ; i
secure mementoes of him, have wrecked \~
and carried off the greater part of her
house so that to-day she could not sell . r
the place for more t>,an $1,000. Be--^|
ing damaged by th? ac?Sof the State*?
agents, she comes to the Sfe^efcr Teim-;;^
bursement. ^j^j^^