Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Stye tUotcljmon ono j5outl)ron, >-., ~~ ? --------------- - TBS SUMTER WATCHMAN, Established April,.is 50. "Be Just and Fear not-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy God's and Truth's." THE TRUE SOUTHRON. Established jone. 1366 Consolidated Aug. 2,1881 Published Every Wednesday, JM. Gr. Osteen, SUMTER, S. C. TERMS : Two Dollars per annum-in advance. ADVERTISEMENT: One Square first insertion.SI 00 Every subsequent insertion ?,. 50 Contracts for three months, or longer will be made at reduced rates. Al! communications which subserve private interests will becharged for as advertisements. Obituaries and tributes of respect will be charged for. CHAPTER IL THE STATEMENT OF THE CASE. k Miss Morstan entered the room with ? finn step and an outward composure of manner. She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved', and dressed in the most perfect taste. There was, however, a plainess and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. The dress was a somber gray? ish beige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relieved only by a sus? picion of white feather in the side. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion, but her ex? pression was sweet and amiable, and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. In an ex? perience of women which extends over many nations and three separate con? tinents, I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her, her lip trembled, her hand quiv? ered, and she showed every sign of in? tense inward agitation. "I have come to you, Mr. Holmes," she said, "because you once enabled my employer, Mrs. Cecil Forrester, to "YOU WILL, I AM SUBE, EXCUSE ME." unravel a little domestic complication. She was much impressed by your kind? ness and skill.'" "Mrs. Cecil Forrester," he repeated, thoughtfully. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her. The case, however, as I remember it, was a very simple one.'* "She did not think so. But at least you canaot say t^e same S? mine- I can "Hardly imagine anything more . strange, more utterly inexplicable, than the situation in which I find my? self." Holmes rubbed his hands, and his eyes glistened. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraor? dinary concentration upon his clear? cut, hawk-like features. "State your case," said he, in brisk, business tones. I felt that my position was an em? barrassing one. "You will, I am sure, excuse me," I said, rising from my chair. To my surprise the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me. "If your friend," she said, "would be good enough to stop, he might be of inestim? able service t*? me." I relapsed into my chair. "Briefly," she continued, "the facts are these: My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child. My mother was dead, and I had no relative in Eng? land. I was placed, however, in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh, and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. In thc year ISIS my father, who was senior captain of his regiment, obtained twelve months' leave and came home. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe, and di? rected me to come down at once, giving the Langham hotel as his address. His message, as I remember, was full of kindness and Tove. On reaching Lon? don I drove to the Langham, and was informed that Capt. Morstan was stay? ing there, but that he had gone out the night before and had not returned. I waited all day without news of him. That night, on the advice of the man? ager of the hotel, I communicated with the police, and next morning we adver? tised in all the papers. Our inquiries led to no result: and from that day to ! this no word has ever been heard of . >y unfortunate father. Ile came home \vith his heart full of hope, to find some peace, some comfort, and in? stead-*' She put her hand to her throat, and a choking sob cut short the sentence.. '"The date?" asked Holmes, open his notebook. "He disappeared upon the 3d of '. ceraber, 1S78-nearly ten years ago/ "His luggage?" "Remained at the hotel. There T nothing in it to suggest a clew-so books, and a considerable number curiosities from the Andaman islan He had been one of the officers charge of the convict guard there." "Had he any friends in town?" "Only one that we know of-M Sholto, of his own regiment, the Tl ty-fourth Bombay infantry. The E jor had retired some little time befo and lived at Upper Norwood. We cc municated with? him, of course, but did not even know that his brother ticer was in England." 'A singular case," remarked Holm "I have not yet described to you t most singular part. About six ye; ago-to be exact, upon the 4th of M: 18S3-an advertisement appeared in t Times asking for the address of M Marj- Morstan, and stating that would be to her advantage to come f< ward. There was no name or addr< appended. I had at that time just c tered the family of Mrs. Cecil Forresl in the capacity of governess. By h advice I published my address in t advertisement column. The same d there arrived through the post a sm; cardboard box addressed to me, whi I found to contain a very large and h trous pearl. No word of writing w inclosed. Since then, every year, up< the same date, there has always a peared a similar box, containing a sii ilar pearl, without any clew as to t. sender. They have been pronounci by an expert to be of a rare variety aj of considerable value. You can see f yourselves that tbey are very han some." She opened a flat box as si spoke, and showed me six of the fine pearls that I had ever seen. "Your statement is most interei ing," said Sherlock Holmes. "Has an thing else occurred to you "Yes, and no later than to-day. Th? is why I have come to you. This mor: ing I received this letter, which ye will perhaps read for yourself." "Thank you," said Holmes. "Tl envelope, too, please. Postmark, Loi don, S. W.; date, July 7. Hum! Mac thumbmark on corner-probably pos man. Best quality paper. Envelop? at sixpence a packet. Particular ma in his stationery. No address. 'Be ? the third pillar from the left outsic the Lyceum theater to-night at seve o'clock. If you are distrustful, brin two friends. You are a wronged won an, and shall have justice. Do nc bring police. If you do, all will be i vain. Your unknown friend-' Wei really, this is & very pretty^ little my: tery." What do you intend to do, M3? Morstan?" "That is exactly what I want to as you." "Then we shall most certainly gc You and I and-yes, why, Dr. "Watso is the very man. Your corresponden says two friends. He and I hav worked together before." "But would he come?" she askec with something appealing in her voie and expression. "I should be proud and happ\-, said I, fervently, "if I can be of an; service." "You are both very kind," she an swered. "I have led a retired life, an< have co friends whom I could appea to. If I am here at six it will do, I sup pose?" "You must not te later," sai( Holmes. ''There is one other point Is this handwriting the same as tha' upon the pearl-box addresses?" "I have them here," she answered producing half a dozen pieces of paper "You are certainly a model client You have the correct intuition. Lei us see, now." He spread out the papei upon the table, and gave little darting glances from one to the other. "Thej are disguised hands, except the letter,' he said, presently, "but there can be nc question as to the authorship. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out, and see the twirl on the final s. They are undoubtedly by the same per? son. I should not like to suggest false hopes. Miss Morstan, but is there any resemblance between this hand ind that of your father?" "Nothing could be more unlike." "1 expected to hear you say so. We shall look out for you, then, at six. Pray allow me to keep the papers. I may look into the matter before then. It is only half-past three. Au revoir, then." "Au revoir," said our visitor, and. with a bright, kindly glance from one to the other of us, she replaced her pearl box in her bosom and hurried away. Standing at the window, I watched her walking briskly down the street, until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the somber crowd. "What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed, turning to my companion. He had lit his pipe again, and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. "Is ?be?"* he said, languidly. "I did not observe." '"You really are an automaton-a cal? culating machine!" I cried. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times." He smiled gently. "It is of the first importance." he said, "not to allow your judgment to be biased by per? sonal qualities. Ac?ient i> t<> mea mere unit--a factor in a problem. The erno tiona! qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little chil? dren for their insurance money, and the most repellent man of my acquaint? ance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London p< >or." "In tiiis case, however-" "X never make exceptions.. An ex- i ception disproves the nile. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?" "It is legible and regular," I an? swered. "A man of business habits and some force of character." Holmes shook his head. "Look at his long letters," he said. "They hard? ly rise above the common herd. That d might be an a, and that 1 an e. Men of character always differentiate their long letters, however illegibly they may write. There is vacillation in his k's and self-esteem in his capitals. I am going out now. "I have some few refer? ences to make. Let me recommend this book-one of the most remarkable ever penned. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom of Man.' I shall be back in an hour." I sat in the window with the volume in my hand, but my thoughts were far I SAT IN THE WINDOW, VOLUME IN HAND. rrcrr. ^ baring speculations of the writer. My mind ran upon our late visitor-her smiles, the de^p rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung her life. If she were seven? teen at the time of her father's disap : pearance she must be seven-and-twenty now-a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. So I sat and mused, until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. What was I, an army sur j geo,n with a weak leg and a weaker banking account, that I should dare to ! think of such things? She was a unit, i a factor, nothing more. If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to bright i en it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination. t. cHAFTzr. m IN QUEST OF A SOLUTION. ? -It was half-past five before Holmes returned. He was bright, eager and in excellent spirits-a mood which in his case alternated with fits of the blackest depression. "There is no great mystery in this matter," he said, taking the cup of teri, which I had poured out. for him. "The facts appear to admit of only one ex? planation." "What! you have solved it airead}-?'' "Well", that will be too much to say. I have discovered a suggestive fact, that is all. It is, however, very sug? gestive. Thc details are still to be add? ed. I have just found, on consulting the back files of the Times, that Maj. Sholto, of Upper Norwood, late of the Thirty-fourth Bombay infantry, died upon the 28th of April, 1832." "I may be very obtuse, Holmes, but I fail to see what this suggests." "No? You surprise me. Look at Lt in this way, then. Capt. Morstan dis? appears. The only person in London whom he could have visited is Maj. Sholto. Maj. Sholto denies having heard that he was in London. Four years later Sholto dies. Within a week of his death Capt. Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present, which is re? peated from year to year, and now cul? minates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death, unless it is that Sholto's heir knows something of the mystery, and desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative theory which will meet the facts?" "But what a strange compensation! And how strangely madel Why, too, should he write a letter DOW, rather than six years ago? Again, the le'a. speaks of giving her justice. What justice can she have? It is too much to suppose that her father is still alive. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of." "There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties." said Sherlock Holmes, pensively. "But our expedi? tion of to-right will solve them all. Ah. here is a four-wheeler, and Miss Morstan is inside. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down, for it is a little past the hour." ? picked up my hat and my heaviest stick, but 1 observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket* It was clear i that he thought that our niyht's work j might be a serious one. Miss Morstan was muf?led in a dark : clonk, and her sensitive face was com? posed, hut pale. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel ? some uneasiness at the strange enter- 1 prise upon which wc were embarking, yet her self-control was perfect, and j she readily answered thc few addition? al questions which Sherlock riolmes put to her. "Maj. Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's," she said "His let? ters were full of allusions to the major. : He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman islands, so they were thrown a great deal together. By ; the way, a curious paper was found papa's desk which no one could und stand. I don't suppose that it is of slightest importance, but T thou; you might care to see it, so ? brou; it with me. It is here." D?lmes unfolded the paper carci ly and smoothed it out upon his kn He then very methodically examii it all over with his double lens. "It is paper of native Indian ma: facture," he remarked. "It has at so time been pinned to a board. The d gram upon it appears to be a plan part of a large building with nurn ous halls, corridors, and passages, one point is a small cross done in i ink, and above it is '3.37 from left,1 faded pencil-writing. In the left-ha corner is a curious hieroglyphic li four crosses in a line with their ar touching. Beside it is written, in ve rough and coarse characters. 'The si of the four.-Jonathan Small, Mahon Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akba No, I confess that I do not see h< this bears upon the matter. Yet it evidently a document of importan It has been kept carefully in a pock book; for the one side is as clean as t other." "It was in his pocketbook that i found it." "Preserve it carefully, then, M' Morstan, for it may prove to be of n to us. I begin to suspect that this mi ter may turn out to be much deep and more subtle than I at first su posed. I must reconsider my ideas He leaned back in the cab, and I cou see by his drawn brow and his vaca: eye that he was thinking intentl Miss Morstan and I chatted in an u dertone about our present expedite and its possible outcome, but our co: panion maintained his impenetrable r serve until the end of our journey. It was a September evening, and n yet seven o'clock, but the day had be( a dreary one, and a dense drizzling f< lay low upon the great city. Mu colored clouds drooped sadly over tl muddy streets. Down the Strand tl lamps were but misty splotches of di fused light which threw a feeble ci cular gjimmer_ upon the slimy pav ment The yellow glare from the sho; windows streamed out into the steam; vaporous air. and threw a murk; shifting radiance across the crowde thoroughfare. There was to my min something eerie and ghost-like in tl endless _procession of faces which flitte ac?^5 xn?se h?rrow"t>ars 'of lig?it-sa faces and glad, haggard and merr Like aU human kind, they flitted froi the gloom into the light, and so bac into the gloom one more. I am nc subject to impress!? but the dui heavy evening, with the strange bus ness "upon which we were engag?e combined to make me nervous and d< pressed. I could see from Miss Mo: stan's manner that she was suffcrin from the same feeling. Holmes alon could rise superior to petty influence: He held his open notebook upon h; knee, and from time to time he jotte down figures and memoranda in th light of his pocket lantern. At the Lyceum theater the crowd were already thick at the side er trances. In front a continuous strear of hansoms and four-wheelers wer rattling up, discharging their cargoc of shirt-fronted men and beshawled bediamonded women. We had hardl; reached the third pillar, which was ou rendezvous, before a small, dark, brisl man in the dress of a coachman ac costed us. "Are you the parties who come witl Miss Morstan?" he asked. "I am Miss Morstan. and these tw< gentlemen are my friends," said she. He bent a pair vonderfully pene trating and qut .rig eyes upon us "You will excuse me. miss," he said with a certain dogged manner, "but 1 was to ask you to give me your wore that neither of your companions is ? police officer." "I give you my word on that," she answered. lie gave a shrill whistle, on which a street Arab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door. The man whe had addressed us mounted to the box, while we took our places inside. We had hardly done so be*fore the driver whipped up his horse, and we plungred away ata furious pace through the foggy streets. The situation was a curious one. We were driving to an unknown place, on an unknown errand. Yet our invita? tion was either a complete hoax which was an inconceivable hypothesis -or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon oar journey. Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever. I endeavored to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in Afghanistan; but.. to tell the truth, I was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to our destination that my stories were slightly involved. To this day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to how a mus? ket looked into my tent at thc dead of night, and how I fired a double-bar? relled tiger cub at it. At first I had some idea as to the direction in which wc were driving; but soon, what with our pace, the fog. an<l my own limited knowledge of London. I lost my bear? ings, and knew nothing, save that we seemed to be going a very long way. ? herlock Holmes was never at fault. .vcr. and he muttered the names ns the cab rattled through squares and in aral out by tortuous by-streets. "Rochester row." said he. "Now Vincent square. Now wc come out on thc Vauxhall Bridge road. We arc making for thc Surrey side apparently. Yes. I thought so. Now we arc, on the bridge You can catch glimpses of the river." We did indeed get a fleeting view of j a stretch of th Thames with tho lamps : shining upon the broad, silent water; but our cab dashed on, and was soon involved i:i a labyrinth bf slreets upon the other side. "Wordsworth road." said my com? panion. "Priory road. Lark Hall lane Stockwell place Rob< rt street. Cold Harbor lane. Our quest dc not appear to take us to very fa<v able regions." We had. indeed, reached a question? able and forbidding neighborhood. Long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner. Then came two rows of two-storied villas, each with a fronting of miniature garden, and then again in? terminable lines of new staring brick buildings-the monster tentacles which the giant city was throwing out into the country. At last the cab drew up at the third house in a new terrace. Xone of the other houses were inhab? ited, and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbors, save for a sin? gle glimmer in the kitchen window. "THE SAHIB A WITS YOU." Cn our knocking, however, the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban, white, loose-fitting clothes, and a yellow sash.' There was something strangely incon? gruous in this oriental figure framed in thfe commonplace doorway of a third rate suburban dwelling house. "The sahib awaits you," said he, and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room "Show them in to me, khitmutgar," it cried. "Show them straight in to me." TO BE CONTINUED. Necessity of Rotation. Experiments have shown that it is bad policy to grow corn successively on the same land. Smut and other forms of rot are known to prevail more in corn thus raised than elsewhere. The writer has seen 15 per cent, of a crop lost by "dry rot" where it had been grown successively for three years on same ground. The spores of these diseases propagate in the soil until it becomes dangerously infected, and in that case the evident remedy is to starve out these germs by planting crops 'that will not afford them sus? tenance. With a few exceptions no crop should be planted twice on the same ground without some other crop intervening.-Farm and Ranch. H ERE AND TH ER E. -The average age of a horse is usual? ly put down at twenty years; the great? est age on record is believed to be sixty- two. -A farm well tilled and fertilized will always be productive, and if tho products of such a farm can be fed to good stock, it can readily be made profitable. -The highest welfare of all kinds of domestic animals requires that their food be not only wholesome and nour? ishing, but nust be in an available form for digestion and assimilation. -The quality of the fleece may be greatly improved by taking particular pains to care for the sheep in such a way as to best protect their wool and cause it to grow in the most healthy condition. -Ic is not always the richest food that is best for stock and especially so j for growing animals. This is shown j by the rapid gains that can be readily secured where the animals have jjood pasturage during the sun.mer. with all stock the cost as well :t>. the results must always bc procured. Winter Dairying:. Winter dairying is a neglected in? dustry in the south. At the very time when butter is in good demand and good prices prevail, is the time when the farmer and dairyman in the south slackens his efforts and impoverishes his purse. Why is this? Simply be? cause he has not prepared for that part of his business. He lets his cows come in whenever it suits their sense of pro? priety, and he has not provided the necessary comforts and sustenance to keep up the flow of milk. And in some eases, it may be that he does not know the whys and wherefores of winter dairying. Some of our dairymen, it is true, have learned this secret -of suc? cess, and are pushing it. But they are j merely an influential minority.-Farm ! ?nd Ranch. siu- Hadn't. Darley-Did you go through my ! trousers-poeket last night? Mr.s. Harley (indignantly)-No. sir! i : ?arie v-Well, there's a hole in it.- : Judire. '_ Highest of all in Leavening Po^\ ABS01UJ? SOME SIMPLE SUGGESTIONS As .Remedial Agents in the Present Season of Agricultural Depression. The great depression in agriculture will naturally force farmers to saek a swift and practical remedy, for a change in some way must be made and made right now, and it must be one for the better. At this stage of the proceedings plenty of advice is at hand from all sides as to what is best to be done, but on sober reflection it will be seen that no inflexible rule can be given that will bring relief. Judgement and common sense must come to the relief of the farmers in ad jusing this matter. It is a problem he must solve himself from circum? stances and surrounding conditions. No two farms in the United States will admit of the same ?(management, and success depends on the adjusting market conditions, individual circum? stances, and the cultivation of such crops as the farm favors in production. While home supplies should be the watch word, judgment and common sense must limit them to a practical point. Where the farm favors its production, corn should be first on the list, as plenty of corn cfives plenty of bread, meat, lard, chickens, eggs, milk, but? ter, seven of the very necessities of life. Yet a farm may favor the growth of potatoes to such an extent as to make it wise to adopt this crop instead of corn to supply, to the praoi-ical limit, the same necessities. This is likely to be the condition in many cases. A farm may favor the culture of vegetables to the highest -degree, and if the market does not, to raise any above a bountiful home supply would be a failure, and so the market -might favor vegetables, and if the farm does not, to raise them would be a waste o? time. Chickens, eggs, vegetables, and such things will be a failure without a market. Again, the farm aud market might favor one special crop to the exclusion 1 of all others. A single row of vegeta? bles in some places will pay more than an}* acre of wheat, and an acre of wheat in some places will pa}r more than an acre of vegetables. With this same condition running j throughout even* department of agri ! culture, who can give the relief remedy but the farmer himself? No one knows his circumstances, his natural farm ad? vantages, market conditions, and how can they advise him in the change he is bound to make right now or be ruined? In the light of these facts no inflexible rule of relief can be given, unless the advisor is familiar with the conditions that makes his plans necessary. Every farmer must have a money crop, and every farm is suited to the fullest extent to one m< pey crop. Sleep hillsides twentymiU-s raia market are protitable for grape"5 v/hea made into wine, because it is non-perishable and the cost of market!::;; is small. Also dried pepper, dried green peas, sage, navy beans, white beans and onions can be hauled a long distance. Each would be a paying money crop, and the de? mand for them is good enough to make it safe to raise them. Chickens and eggs get higher every year, although the United States pro? duces 8200,000.000 worth of them an? nually. Butter is as high as it was when cotton was ten cents, and is al? ways in demand. Broom-corn and pop? corn prices are always good. Castor beans pay a fine profit. With these facts before us. let every farmer weigh every advantage that markets and farm conditions afford him and adjust his plans from them. A little brains put on the market now will bring a handsome price, for the time has come when brains only will make farming pay. As stated above, every farm in the United States is suitable for one pay? ing, profitable money crop: suitable from the fact that the market is favor? able as well as the farm, if it can only be located, and every farm is suitable for tile raising of the home supplies to ! a large extent. Let farmers take cour j age. The remedy is in their own i hands. When paying crops are raised ! every year why not raise sonic of i them ? j Cotton conventionsand organizations ! make matters worse. They never can. j bring relief, as time and experience has J proven. Brains at the head and the farmer has a paying money crop and crops to supply "home consumption. These mat? ters he must arrange himself if success ever crowns his labors.-Cor. Texas Farm and Ranch. Cffng to Their Xatne*. People have remarkable attachment to their own names, and it is net often ! that any one excepting the most hard? ened criminals makes a change. This is why s<> few people take advantage of the law allowing" them to change their names whenever they sec tit. Even when they do take a new name the af? fection felt for the old one is apt to have a bearing on the new. If a crimi? nal Ls named George Edwards, for in? stance, it is apples to dollars that he will change Iiis name to Edward George. They hate to lose sight of their old identity even in the matter of their names. Louisville Commercial. .cr.-Latest U.S.Gov't Report Baking Powder ELY PURE