The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, January 01, 1904, Image 1

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?,-v' y.-y .* -isur??u aurr in the town of union ^pi tt mi %X T m t "* *" /n S^4 1* oot?ip%ojthe ci*v f sssian I h It I VI'Hly TIM IfQ ^zxrs^r^. cams, Female Seminary, Five I II 111 I II III II I IE W/ I II I i iu&' FA***ott9 Mineral Springe, Graded Schools, Water Works and | II I A I > 1 | \| I' i^l I' . | J V I I X k 1L Taxable value in and ouiofiiwm Blectrlc Lights, Population 7,ooo. -* ^ -i- * X^r2,* -L ? JX 'If X JLJ fK^/1 $3,000,000. . X' "M7v IT VOL. LIV. NO. 1. , UNION, SOUTH OAROLIlMr, F^B)AY, JANUARY 1. 1904. ???? li ftt.rY nf ' ' " " " Wm. A. Nich BAN Wis* MERRY CHRISTriA! YEAR, ANipySOLIC FOR 1904. do" V \ | DONALD' | w\ww< Copyright, KOC, by Charles \V. Ilooko ' ' 1' CHAPTER I. TUB PBOB1.EM. IHAVB known Donald Donaldso*. Jr.. ever since he was boru; Indeed, 1 may say, much longer. There Is an entry nbout him In i tny diary under date of March 10. 18T7, and iliat is about four years before h? aw the light and yearly two years before I first heard <of cither of his parous or they of 'each other. In plain words, he was an Ideal of mine, a subject of spcculntion'nnd study, n dweller in iny brain before he had an netunl ilstcnce, so that he might be a tenant 'of |py heart Ii- Is singular that two romances, many mysteries and a very startling tragedy should hang upon so small and commonplace a peg as tills which I shall show yod. Twenty odd years ago 1 made an appointment with Stephen llackett, then my partner und since deceased, to meet him in u New York ^ bookstore, choosing the phtoo simply *" because Itwas convenient. 1 was aheau j or Iiltn ana or the hour, tnueeu, ami while waiting I took up a volume entitled "Psychic Marvels," by an English writer whom I now perceive to have been l>oth credulous and mendacious, a man to believe a good lie and improve it in thb telling. In those days, however, I had read little, and the book appealed to me as a scientlflc presentation of a subject of great interest and Importance too often shunned by practical men and left to be the sport of impostors. When Haekett arrived, I was sitting on top of a small steplnddcr on rollers, a device common in bookshops, while two polite clerks were vainly endeavoring to gnln my attention for the purpose of telling nio that the business of 1 lie establishment was suffering for lack of that ladder. 1 bought "Psychic Marvels," and we devoted the evening to it, Haekett and J, in the library of my bouse lij Tunhridge, N. .J. Now, If you please, that was the cnuse of Donald Donaldson, Jr. If I bad not suggested the bookstore as a place of meeting, if that particular volume bad not caught my eye, perhaps even if the stepladder had not been placed handily for me to sit upon, there would he no story for me to tell. But some one built the store, and some one wrote the book, and some one else was the father of the author, and another was his grandfather, and so on back to the monkey who was the ancestor of them all, not to go further. Tracing causes Is a famous old amusement of our race, though we know already that the whole past of the universe Is the cause of every blade of grass, even as that blade Itself is an essential prop of the whole future. It la n worthy effort, however, to see oa much of this vast skein as we can, and be Is wisest who sees most, provided that he does not fancy that lit sees all which exists even in the small nortton that Is under his eve. To resume my story. Ifnckett and I pent n studhms evening with "Pay cblc Marvels," silting up so late thai neither of us was tit for business 01 the following day, and we were led t< rend many other books and to engag< at Inst in a practical, common sens( Investigation of an Interesting subject The firm of Hnckett & Ilnrringtoi manufactured carpets?still does so. li fact?and keeps the name, though m; partner long since closed his enrthl; account and went to meet a not he which could uot have been one t . shame him. I hope my own uiny b as good, for It must soon be closet] Tunbrldgo people began to call tu "old" .Fobn Harrington a matter of te years ago. However, In the days o which I am now writing I was a youn man of forty-two, and Ilnckett was nc much older. Wo hml made a good hi of money in our business, and both c as bad-been fortunate In outside Ii vestments, so that we felt very secur ffee time hAd coo* when tttg <k to be seen going Into that piece of woods with a gun. It took Hackett and me about a jneaf to discover that genuine psychics art not found In the edge of the woods be- J side the beaten path; that tt Is hart^Mn And tliem even when one knows wMefl they are, for they lie low, and, like,tk# j rabbits, they imitate the natnfal -eotc* J of the surroundings. ? Yon may accept th)s as a.imKl}' rule: When your fellow man by the button of your cogt and "l fe^dfcf you Into a corner to tail you of a pto*' phetlc dream or a mysterious psyfhfc message, he does not bell eve the story himself. Perhaps he may be trying to believe It, but no one has to try to belleve In a real experience of that kind after he bna had It. He knows. And the chances ore good tlint be will not talk of It to his closest Intimate. It la ever the element of donbt that leads to talklug. Our hobby gave to Hackett and me an excuse for study, an aim In travel and an opportunity of meeting cultivated men and women. As It was an elected bobby and not the result of congenital mental distortion, we rods it calmly and w^re never mistaken for cranks except by cranks. It is true that some of our earlier experiences were more or less absurd, but we were saved from serious error by the business man's faculty of turning from the Impracticable to the practical. When we encountered an Impostor, we -- - -? ' ii tfj V lolson & Son, KERS, i you a 5 AND A HAPPY NEW IT YOUR BUSINESS " r elnj a True RrccrJ ar.J Explanation of the Sevfti 1 Itystcrfcs Now Associate With fits Name In the Psbfc NRnd. and of an eighth. VMikh Is the Key of the Seven >0N. JR. > By HOWARD FIELDING nfiord to relax the pressure under which we had labored since boyhood and to tnko more ease and pleasure tn the world. But the opportunity to enJoy is one thing and the power is another. I had little appetite for amusements, and Hnekett had none. Wo were uneducated men, with narrow social Interests, and, to be brief about it, we really did not know what to do with ourselves. Unlike muuy others in the same situation, however, we knew what was the matter with us?we needad mental exercise. This decision we had reached before the Englishman's book fell into our hand6 and offered an acceptable suggestion. If we had not chosen to investigate psychic phenomena, the hidden wonders of the human mind, we should have followed some other line, with a less definite result perhaps. It would be singular if two trained business men. with thoroughly practi ?1 accomplish anything In such an undertaking. We approached the subject without prejudice. When we discussed j the matter In the light of the blazing . logs in my library. Ilackett would be 1 the skeptic on a Tuesday evening and I 1 on a Wednesday. We never agreed ! in those early statics except upon a statement of the Qrst essential of the I investigation. As to that, we never differed. We decided to base our work upon the wisdom of the old proverb ! which says, "First catch your rabbit, j and then cook him." There is no doubt whatever that nearly all mankind have I tried to cook this particular rabbit be- , fore catching him. ' Suppose wo take the psychic problem in its simplest form, which used to be ' called clairvoyance, and I still think that that is the best term for it. Is there upon record one single genuine case of it. proved beyond doubt? Ilnck! ett and I read fifty hooks and failed to find an Instance based upon such evl dence us we would accept In our business. Vet where thefe Is so much smoke there must be a little fire, and, i using this crystal of popular wisdom j as a touchstone in the matter, I would | be willing to assert that one teni millionth of the labor wasted in basei less discussion of doubtful facts would j hnve sufficed to give the world enough i genuine facts to satisfy all candid minds. Have patience with me; I am getting the philosophy of the subject out of the way as fast as I can. The essential point is that Ilaekett and I went out to catch a real rabbit?in other words, a human lielng who had had a genuine "supernatural" message. We did not care where It came from , or what It was about or how It was transmitted so long as It could be proved that It came and that no known , organ of this mortal body could have I : enabled the Individual to receive It. When I was a boy, I used to hunt I I rabbits In a piece of woods which was supposed to be a particularly good place for them. All youthful hunters j went there, and as a result (visible to } nie in these mature years) all sane | rabbits bad gone over Into another 0 1 county. One day, when the snow bad ' come and the rnbbitB bad put on their ^ winter coats, some Jester set up the corpse of n white cat in the edge of the woods in an absurdly conspicuous ^ position. I saw it and blazed away, ? though my common sense should have told me that it could not t>e a rabbit because such a preposterously reckless I rabbit would have been shot long ago. 0 Yet I wasted my powder, and. having done so, I set tlie crenture up again In f the same place, and every mother's son that came that way exercised bis marksmanship so long as there was ! anything to shoot at And next day, in . a different spot, bnt eqnally consplcu' ous. the Joker played the game once 1 more. 1 remember that for a long time r ? afterward aU the boys jrere ashamed a * r/ " 1 , , promptly charged him up to "profit and lose" and passed on to the next item. It was while engaged In a fruitless though not uninteresting Investigation In Boston that we came quite by accident upon the most important information. We made the acquaintance of a young physician named Harold Whiting, who was then and is today one of the most honest minded men in the world. I believe that Whiting would not lie even to himself, and there are few of whom so much can T>e said. He was amusing himself with experiments in the matter of peculiar capacities and knowledge exhibited by persons in the hypnotic state, but confessed that he had found no facts upon which conclusions of any Importance could be based. Wc discovered that his thought had been turned* into this channel by a remarkable occurrence which he bad witnessed, but we had considerable difficulty in persuading him to say anything more upon^t^e subject "There Is a friend of mine, now ?in New York," said be, "who received a psj*chlc messoge frqjn his brother, who was then upon the other side of the world. -This thing happened under clr- j eumstances which make doubt 1 tripos- | sible. 1 was present when the mepsncre , was received. I know tho story in all | its details, but I cannot give you the 1 facts nor tell you the man's name be- ^ cause I gave blm my word that I would ( not disclose them." Perceiving our disappointment, he expressed sincere regret, and by way of atonement he gave us the name of a young woman In New Haven whom it . might be worth our while to see. "I received a letter about her some i time ago from an Instructor In psychol- j ogy at Yale, an old friend of mine," j said he. "My friend and several other members of the faculty are Investigating the case, and they regard It as gen- , uine and Important. The girl's name is Dorothy Vaughn. She Is an orphan j and lives with her aunt, Mrs. Eustls,1 who has had certain occult experiences herself, as I am told." He gave us the address of Mrs. Eustls and the name of his friend. Ills reference to the fact that unnsual powers appeared both in the aunt and the niece led to a general discussion of the restriction of such powers and their persistence in families. No one who has given the subject any study can ( doubt that these traits are handed i down from generation to generation. | Often a vague family tradition leads back to the true psychic whose powers, weakened by admixture with a com-: mon strain, reappear to flicker uncertainly In the present duy. Hackett seemed to And much matej rial for thought in this conversation. ITa /1M nAt AAnMhnin lorcrolv tA it liA. i lug a man of a slow mind and of few words, but some days Inter, while we i were on the way to New Hnven, he suddenly emerged from a reverie to say: "I wonder wbnt would happen If two of them should marry?" When I had found out what he was talking about, 1 agreed with him thnt the'experiment would bo very Interesting If there were any way of making it. Ilnckett suggested thnt we should go forward Into the smoking car, and when we were there and he had smoked a part of a long cigar he said: "I don't see why there Isn't." I replied with the argument thnt two persons of opposite sexes, possessing nowers now eommonlv cnlleil occult. must bo naturally antipathetic, so that a marriage between them could not be brought about, for, If this were not so, the whole human race would Imve become "psychics" long ago. The clairvoyant power, not to go further in the matter, is nn obvious and great advantage and would certainly hare been utilized by evolution to the extent of crowding from the earth all other klucU| ( ,-v; qj^Ken unless nature bad set up somo barrier, nnd where should ire took for it except 111 the realm of thnt M^pQtlon which we call lore? 'UM w were running Into the station F Haven, Haekctt remarked that -light he something in what 1 SJIVit sorry, too," he ndded, "for it j?<4Mied to uio as If I had nu idea." T matter of fact this Idea had %pQ|ex?cn In my mind, and at Intervals the space of nearly two.years r^l lid jotted down notes In my diary WJTOfilng an imaginary child whose par}*Kt? should both he psychics, but I tfcal never discussed the subject with Haekctt. His idea or this experiment | In heredity was therefore entitled to the cifaHt of an independent discovery. ? -j CHAF3U$R U, ( rrrow TUF. ncmi EH*a SIDE. MR. BURNHAM, the instructor to whom Dr. Whiting had referred us, proved to be'a nlonannf ?1,1 * ,?iciiun, nei 1 won meeting, but we bad no sooner made known our errand than he became much disturbed. "A most unfortunate thing has happened," he said. "Since the date of my letter to Dr. Whiting Mrs. Bustis has died. Miss Vaughn is in deep grief and in a very trying position, too, poor child. Her aunt left nothing but debts, and?well, some of us are trying to see what we can do for her. She hasn't a penny or near relative in the world, and nobody seems to be comft tian an ordinary cabinet photograph ing forward to help her except us, and we're men, yon see, and it s very embarrassing. She isn't the sort of girl iu liiivv nt'ip i rum any one, ami a looks ns if it might end by her taking lip some confounded occupation that she isn't fit for. We are all very blue iibout It." I have no mystic power to read the mind or the heart of another, but 1 perceived clearly enough that Mr. Rurnhnm was in love with Miss Vaughn and that she did not tind herself able to respond. To settle this point I ventured to say that I had' heard she was quite pretty. "Pretty!" echoed Burnhani. "Well, that's hardly the word, i?l happen to huve a portrait of her." And he prutended to forget which pocket It was In. It was an ordinary cabinet photograph, but it showed a most extraordinary face, a dainty composite of womnnly and childish qualities. I would not have been able to decide from this picture whether Miss Vaughn was 11 fteen years old or twenty-live, and after my lirst glance I looked up at Burnlium and asked, "How old Ik she?" He laughed. "You'd bo p8 much puzzled If you saw the original," he said, and this proved to be no exaggeration. "The youth, I think, is In the lower part of the face. What a pretty mouth and chin! l)ld you ever see such a pretty, mouth and chin? There's all the dimpled sweetuess, all the quick sensitiveness of girlhood, and yet no weakness. But there's a calmness in the forehead and eyes?the eyes a bit long, as you notice, with very delicately marked brows. The eyes are deep blue and all ! the coloring exquisite. Her hair is j liko the gold of Ophir. It may seeiu bad taste for mo to run on like this," he added suddenly, "bat Miss Vaughn's beauty is such a simple and natural tiring that one feels no hesitation in speaking of it. Why, even in her presence I sometimes find myself?however, that's neither here nor there. You asked bow old she was. She'll be eighteen next week." "If the young lady's peculinr powers are of interest to sclenco," said I, "it ^vould Room ns if 801110 flnnnclnl or* pnngoment might be mad? whereby"? "We've suggested thnt. but she won't listen to It." be interrupted. "The queer part of it In thnt Miss Vaughn insists thnt she tins no powers which arc not shnred by all our species. She bus, though." We bad reached Burnham's lodgings by this time, and there we conversed for an hour or more upon tho subject of the experiments which had been mudo In the case of Miss Vaughn. WEI (TO . 6 OUR resources are not fab [on earth, nor <lo wo d BUT we are here among tli ample means for all enough to take* care ol WE COME, backed up by a good r made irreproachable 1 WE ARE here to stay and we s< accommodation consu Interest Paid on rierchants and Plan A They seemed to me to pobsoss the vague and unsatisfactory character which I had learned to associate with common fraudulent practice?. The young lady answered questions concerning matters cf which she was sup!K>sed to have no knowledge, peculiarities of persons wlioiu she had not seen. Incidents in the lives pf the.questioners or of their frletidjj. It was nptniile that she passed into no state of trance ??r mesmeric sleyp/^Sh^Ybmnihed entirely normal, not evyn exhibiting the excessive fatigue'' whfbli usually follows such manifestations; She did show repugnance, however, and was always more pleased when she failed titan when she suctyedrd. After a so- i ries of failures she would langli nlmostJ liysterieallv mill ?l!?tU,?*- ?? *>.i!~?. ? - " * I'"'.' ? V lIIMIinll IV lief and delight. ilor. mieccsaco.. depressed Iter. The hCW t>T them. so far ns I could learn. were not conclusive, but there wore some that worn hard to in u|kiii any natural hypothesis, atnl they must hmv>: lirni extremely startling to*lhe Inquirers. Ah Rtirnhnm roll tinned to speak 1 became Icsm. hopeful of Miss Vaughn ns u possible subject of invest Vation, less interested In her ns a psychic, but fnr more Interested In her as n woman. Somehow the words of this llerj* hut hopeless lover, this poor little thin, dark, ugly faced fellow, who had no right to crave n beautiful woman?except that he couldn't liAlp It?built up before iny mind's eye a very charming personality. ; I liUfd thq manor nrpg with Harlfr. out ^ffcjiso. Her situutlou \vu* certainly moat lamentable and Involved no farlit of lier own. Having heard of this case, we could hardly "pass by on the other side," ns Ilackelt expressed it. The fact Is that my partner had been playing the role of the good Samaritan in many towns that we had visited, and mostly to the undeserving, I am afraid. We decided that I should call upon Miss Vaughn, and so I asked Buruham to secure her permission; but he told me very promptly that he did not care to undertake the errand. "I couldn't He to her," said he. "She'd have to know the object of your visit here, and then she wouldn't see you." Incidentally I learned during this conversation that Miss Vaughn was rtn Intellectnal prodigy, having been the youngest girl ever graduated from Smith college. Indeed, she would probably not have been .admitted to that institution If her age had been correctly stated, but her aunt had misrepresented the matter to the authorities. Her record had been exemplary, both for scholarship and conduct. "She might teach." said Burnham, "but I really don't sec how she's going to live till we can find her a position." After leaving Burnhnm's room I went at once nlonc to the Eustls residence, whlchv ust have been considered quite a granu, Suse In its day. A despondent old woman nnswered my ring and admitted me Into a chilling, gloomy atmosphere and eventually Into a small room at the rear ot' the lmll. It had the look of neglect, as if it had not been used in some weeks. My eye was attracted by a small table unlike' the other furniture and awkwardly placed near n window. It was littered with loose sheets of writing paper, which were dusty, and some of them were <?nvor?il with K^rntvls In nr>nr?il na If a child had played with them. 1 thought that I knew why this table wna there. Clearly Miss Vaughn's psychic messages were written with a pencil. I was displeased. This scrawling hand looked like tho usual counterfeit. And yet I would have given my bond upon the honesty of the face In the j photograph. Well, we may all be deceived by a face. I began to regret having sought an Interview with Miss ! Vaughn, and my mind was deflected from her to the unknown mau whom Dr. Whltipg had mentioned. A strong ! inward conviction that that man was j the two psychic, worth a thousand | porothy Vaughns to tho cause of science. aroso to prominence in my con{ sclousness, and I was striving to think of some means by which 1 could learn uio uaiuo tt uvu a* TCij yiv?MUV T poke my own. 1 turned and raw a slight. girlish figure, all tn black. There was the puzallug, childish, womanly (ace that the I picture had shown, the perfectly open I innocence quaintly combined with a se| rane wisdom such as { udght faisgln< in an angel. Yet this serenity wai whylly Intellectual 1 could #oe that Vfe S v ': 1 -tf i#vv a imiv: .?3 ii>ar it STAY.) . ^ . a. ^ i i ulous, we haven't the largest bank o all the business of the country. t ie goo<l people of the county with reasonable demands, with capital F all your wants. ecora, that began years ago; a record jy fair business methods, jllcifc your patronage, offering every itentwith good banking. Time Deposits. iters National, Bank. , r * . ? .M. * . ? ^ k ? the poor girl's body was racked with | nervousness and apprehension. LoeeI llncss in this old, decaying house, from which she could see no way out Into the' brighter world, had told upon her. I cannot remember that my sympathy ever went out so suddenly and -so strongly toward any other human being. She had seen that I was looking curiously at the tabic, and 1 observed that mm ft: ^ ' p^?T? |raw ^ _ )uk&3EIbSBU Mflr sue sliuddeJa at the sight of it. T?ft^.. as if the tliihff exerted some sort of fascination, 4he poor girl advanced directly townw it, and J heard the pencils click inj her nervous lingers as she gathered theui 'up. . r<J "Miss Vaughn," said I, "It is in my mind to offer you employment. I have ^ heard that you need It. With this purpose In view, will you permit me to ask ' 1 you a few questions?" She sat down in the chair by the table as if she lacked the strength to stand. In the few seconds that elapsed before she answered me her nervousness increased. She began to mark upon the sheets of paper with one of the pencils, though I am sure she had no consciousness of doing so. "What Is the nature of this employnrk*xtt+ 0" oil A ft oL-a/1 There was a longer pause than be* fore. I could see clearly enough what the poor little girl expected. Burnhaui and others had suggested her peculiar powers as a means of earning her living, and she felt thnt 1 had come upon the same errand. Seeing how she shrank from that theme, I had not tha heart to take It up. "You have heard about me," aha said. "You think I am some phenomenally gifted monstrosity. Iteally I am nothing of the sort. I am just Ilka anj other girl. 1 can guess things. So can every woman. My aunt was Interested In?In thnt subject, and so I did It. 1 am not interested and shall never do It again." .It was a pitiful protest, and It carried the day with me. "I think you mistake my errand,** said I as gently as possible. "Have you ever had any experience in teaching?" She dropped the pencil and stared at me. "We are pianuing to open an evening Bcnooi in me icwn wnore l live," I continued. "A great part of the popu> lation consists of people who work la my fnctory, the Ilnckett & Harrington carpet mills. Sotne of these people? and I nm thinking now of the young women cspcclully?have lacked educe* tionn) training In their childhood. We are going to give them n chance to re* cover the lost ground. They are obliged to work in the daytime, hut many ef them will welcome the opportunity te study nnd to acquire some simple so* qompllshinents in the evening. Weave not slave drivers. Our people do eel hare to drop exhausted into their beds as soon ns they have eaten their sup- \ pers." I I TO BE CONTINUED.] TlionshtfnV Two men had fallen ont of the sf*tyfifth story. As they proceeded downward one of thein yelled. "Why do yon yell?" naked his cot?1 wanlon. A "In order that people may catch m with their cameras." soplied lbs otbwv | ?Detroit Free Press. i 'k ' *irik*