Newspaper Page Text
NORTH PJ
GEORGIA % f / 4
Wm. 0, MARTIN, Editor.
Reaction,
O, Mrd of mine, with drooping whig,
'Whence all these notes of sorrow!
Thy song but yesterday was glad,
And ’twill bo gay to-morrow.
Know’st thou not that woe and bliss
Hold each alike attraction!
That souls as well as matter bow
To one law of reaction?
One needs must grieve, nor knows the while,
That every note of sadness
Has hidden in its being’s depth
Its counterpart of gladness.
O, human soul, in darkness now,
All hope and comfort scorning,
But wait, and !o! within thy sight,
The golden bars of morning.
THE BANANA THIEF
BY HENRY NEWPORT.
The “Feuilieton,” which has so long
been a feature of the newspapers of Paris,
is rapidly being engrafted upon the strong
stock of American journalism, and now
the daily story is looked for by many
readers as eagerly as are the stock reports
by others. Because of this fact, 1 put
the following matter in the form of a
story, instead of the stereotyped style of
a newspaper letter, and in genuine story
fashion open with a few words of talk
from the lips of one of the characters.
In this case, she is “Mary,” the well
known Choctaw peddler of roots and
herbs, whose station is near the down¬
town entranco of the famous French
Market, in New Orleans. Hear her:
“Eh, lien, gentymans 1 it is true. I
am no banan this morning—not a one.
He is stole, that banan. Two bunch
banan stole, and the thief—the thief—
he is snake.”
Seeing the doubtful look upon our
faces, Mary pointed a copper-colored
fore finger toward her stock in trade
spread out upon the pavement around
her,
“Eh, Men, gentymansl” she said in
in her unmodulated voice. “It is ±rue.
See, I am no banan this morning.” '
Sure enough, tho noble bunch of ba¬
nanas, which had been her pride and
principal source of revenue, as well as
the envy of every other Choctaw vender
Dha mtr&C’i; : f<tr fc ishtay. 3a.jy»
was conspicuous by its absence, and
Mary’s stock—like that of her compat¬
riots—was made up solely of somo piti¬
ful bark canoes, beaded moccasins,
bunches of dried herbs and roots, and
about two quarts of swamp blackberries.
“And tiio thief?” asked my compan¬
ion, Gustave—a member of the New Or¬
leans police force—after taking three
lazy pulls at his cigarette and ejecting
the smoke in slender streams from his
nostrils. “Is he here? Was he one of
your neighbors?”
“He is not here; no. Ho is not man
—he. He is snake.”
Like all other Indians, the Choctnw
berry vonders, who gather in a little
group each morning at one end of tho
French market in New Orleans, are not
voluble. “How much?” you will ask,
pointing at a square piece of clean bark
upon which a handful of berries is piled,
and the Iudian will hold up two fingers
—indicating cents—or three, or four, as
the case may be. Sometimes he will
put the price into words; but his con¬
versation is, in general, reserved for his
own people in the privacy of his native
swamps. The enterprise which had in¬
duced Mary to add a bunch of bananas
to her home-gathered root3 and herbs
had led to her acquiring a more extend¬
ed vocabulary than that of any of her
relatives, and the excitement consequent
upon her great loss made her use it
more freely, this morning, than ever be¬
fore in the presence of white men.
“Ycu are not believe that thief is
snake?”
She pushed her coarse black hair be¬
hind her ears and scowled at us from
beneath her wiry eyebrows. Then she
belted the loose calico wrapper which
she wore with her outs'retched fingers,
and jerked her head toward the circum¬
ference of her waist thus indicated.
“That snake is big through like I am.
His head is little like my two fists, and
he is king— eh, Men ! he is long like a
ship. that Tchoupitoulas road?
“You know
Yes. I am live there. Two mile from
there, where the river bends in and
comes near my wigwam. I am hang
my banan in that live-oak tree, where
the wind can keep him fresh, and when
I am come up from the river, before
yester night, with water for boil in the
pot, that snake is come down out of the
live-oak. He is black, and he I® crawl,
and crawl, and c-r-a-w-1!”
She imitated the serpent’s slow, glid¬
ing motion with her skinny arm and
hand.
“And then, when I am stiff with
’fraid, he jumps”—
Her hand “jumped” and clutched a
bunch, of wild ginger.
“And snap goes my banan-stem, and
he is gone. Eh, bien, gentrymans! Be
SPRINT PLACE. GEORGIA. THURSD AY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1886. Vol. VI. New Series.
iagoae off In the swamp with my b&nau.
That is one. I buy me some more
banan. That snake is gone in the
swamp. I hang ray banan in the live
oak, and that other night—the last
night—he is here again, and this morn¬
ing I am no banan.”
She waived her hand with a tragic
gesture above the meagcrly spread pave¬
ment, as though saying, “Here is
of my words—there is no bananna
‘T believe her,” remarked Gustave,
oracularly. He threw his head back
upon his shoulders and sent thirteen
fect rings of smoko, one after another,
from between his lips. “We will go
there this evening and scotch that
what do you say?”
“But a snake can have no possible
for bananas. Serpents are frugivorous.
“I don’t caro what they are.
has no reason for lying to us, and I
lieve her story. ‘The Crescent and
Orient Circus and Menagerie’ is
down there in the bend on a
fitting up for a run across the Gulf
Central America. Tho chances are
the serpent has escaped from it, and
this is the case, and we kill it, it
make an item for you; eh, ray boy?”
Thus it was that at five o’clock that
afternoon Gustave and myself, with
bunch of fresh bananas, were
among the branches of tho live-oak
which sheltered the rough bark hut
which Mary lived. The bananas were
hanging from tho lowest limb of
tree, about six feet above the
grass, and I was lying immediately
them in a nest of Spanish moss which
fectually cushioned the branch on
I rested, and at the same time
me from observation from below.
tavo occupied a similar position on
opposite sido of the massive trunk,
with a repeating rifle beside us and
edged knives with curving blades—such
knives as the field-hands use for
sugar cane—we awaited the approach
twilight and tho serpent.
The upper part of the trees had
thoroughly explored in the bright
light of the afternoon, and we were
fident that nothing larger than a
ufid lmhwi'h. Its giwjmtss. „ .>:*
The hut was built on a hammock
solid ground rising out of tho
swamp, above the surface of which all
around us were thrust the sharp-pointed
leaves of the palmetto and various scar¬
let flowers, as well as tho ragged trunks
of the cypress. Imagination peopled the
slimy ooze with all manner of of foul
things, shaped after tho general image
of the water moccasins which moved
about in plain sight until twilight hid
them.
I was wiping the mist from my eye¬
glasses with a soft linen handkerchief
when something touched mo on the
shoulder and made 'me start so violently
that the glasses slipped from my hands
and fell into a clump of wild roses grow¬
ing about the roots of the tree.
“Nevermind them,” hissed Gustave
in an intense whisper, “look toward the
river.”
But without the glasses I was almost
blind and could not see more than ten
feet before me. I heard the crashing of
twigs, however, as though some large
body was moving toward us, along the
road over which wo had come, and then
Gustave swung himself into my nest.
“It is coming,” he whispered, “and
from the commotion along the cotton¬
woods it must be as big around as a
horse. You fire at the head. I will
aim at the spine, and if the rifles do not
stop it give it the knife at close quar¬
ters.”
We heard the cracking continue, and
presently—half blind as I was—I saw the
tops of the young cotton-woods grow¬
ing in a thicket about the base of tho
hammock tremble violently, as though a
party of horsemen were passing through
it. Instead of coming directly toward
us, the agitation passed through the
thicket to the opposite side of the live
oak, where we had no outlook.
While I was shifting my position and
peering through the semi-darkness in
the direction which the agitation had
taken, a slimy, black shape slid about
the trunk of the tree, passed across the
limited field of my vision and grasped
the bananas. At the widest point visi¬
ble it was as large around as a man’s
body, and in the indistinct view which
I caught it seemed to tapor rapidly to a
head no larger than an orange,
I whipped tho rifle to my shoulder
and pulied the trigger, just as Gustave
knocked up the barrel of my gun with
his own. There was a pause of a sec¬
ond's duration, and then the shape
came sliding up to our nest, and before
Gustavus could uso his knife it had
grasped him about the middle and lifted
him from the perch. I heard it for some
seconds after crunching the dry twigs
that floored the roadway, as it moved
with its prey toward the river.
I was afraid to risk a shot in the di¬
rection of tho noise for fear of wounding
Gustave, and at once swung myself to
the ground, whenoe I took up my glasses
and set off at a sharp run down tha
road.
It was almost dark now, but after
passing out of the thicket about the hut
I heard the voices of men, and my name
was shouted with all the strength of
Gustave’s strong lungs.
“I told you Mary was right,” said
Gustave, coolly, when I stopped beside
him in the road a few seconds later. My
fright and the sharp run made me pant
like a tired dog; but he was cool and se
reo«. The end of his freshly-lighted
cigarette burned red in the darkness.
“She told us the truth as she under
stood it. She thought it was a serpent
that carried off her bananas, and so do
yon.
“You remember when I knocked up
your rifle barrel just a6 you were about
to shoot? Well, I saw that the thing
was no snake, but the trunk of an ele¬
phant. I Knew it could be nothing but
a tamo elephant belonging to the cir¬
cus, and it would not do for us to kill it.
But I must confess I did not expect him
to seize me. He scared me so for a min¬
ute I could not evon cry out; but he did
not hurt me in the least, and down hero
in the road we met the circus men com¬
ing in pursuit of him, and he put mo
down.”
“And tho bananas?”
“Oh, the circus company will make it
all right with Mary, or I will jug tho
whole lot.”
I am iuclinoA^co believe that the circus
company made it all right with Gustave,
also, in consideration of liis services iu
saving their elephant from my rifle bullet,
as he was playing an unusually high
hand when I met him off duty the
night in a Royal street gambling hall.—
Cincinnati Enquirer.
n Queer Justice.
I related a story of a Hungarian justice,
doubtless of oriental origin, says
Hon. B. 8. Oox in the Now York Sun,
describing a conversation in Turkey.
the interior of that country a
n<*ent was tent to buy cavalrv horses
n c ruit for the then probable war with
Bulgaria and Greece. While there
agent desired that the proprietor of the
village with whom he was contracting
should show him a specimen of tho Hun¬
garian mode of proceeding.
“Wait a few moments,” said the pro¬
prietor, who was also a magistrate,
“and I will see who is in the town
jail.”
Calling his constable he was informed
by tiiat officer that a goose thief had
apprehended during the night and
was iu confinement. lie sent for tho
criminal.
“Aro there any witnesses,” asked the
“Two,” was the answer; “tho man
owned the gooso and a man who
the theft. ”
After hearing the evidence the judge,
his fierce and harsh Hungarian (Fin¬
tongue, called up the cul¬
and said: “You have been found
and I fine you ten kreutzers and
days’ imprisonment for stealing tho
Thereupon ho summoned the owner of
bird and said : “I fine you ten kreut¬
and teu days’ imprisonment for al¬
your goose to bo stolen.”
To the witness he said: “Sirrah, I fine
ten kreutzers and ten days’ impris¬
for not minding your own busi¬
Hilma Effendi then remarked that al¬
an odd a case recently came before
of the courts of Stamboul. A credi¬
came to the judge to have a note
It was for 1500 piasters, and duo
years hence. The judge ordered
suit, but condemned tlie creditor to
for three years, “For,” said
honor, “how do I know where you
be three years lienee, so as to pay
over your piasters, unless I hold you!”
Had Been In The Preserves Too.
A certain widow lady owned a parrot,
being absent from homo ono day,
said parrot got into her jar of pre¬
and ate them all up. The widow
coming home, discovered the mischief,
was so indignant at the “Pretty
that she caught up^a kettle of hot
and threw it upon it. The opera¬
robbed it of its bright plumage, and
it in a state of nudity. •
It went skulking around for several
quite despondent and ashamed,
presently the widow’s beau—an old
who like “Poor old Uncle
had no hair on the top of his
came to see her.
The parrot’s spirits brightened np im¬
on Being the old gentleman’s
pate: and in a tone of joy it ex¬
:
“Eh, you’ve been in the preserves,
?”—Bouton Post,
DIPHTHERIA.
I
Sonpa Important Faots About
’•bis Terrible Disease.
Precautions that Should Be Taken
Agalm Its Spread,
■
Diphtheria is a terrible disease, and
^ family , where breaks there o utm are a several school, children, or in a
unlesj the very best precautions are ob
sorve£ disoa|o It is likely to spread, for it is
that may bo communicated from
^ to another. It is contagious.
Regjp, ployed •ling to the different measures em*
prevent the spread of this dis¬
ease, burniig fwe very greatly prefer tho fumes of
sulphur. Wo regard sulphur as
the niost effective disinfectant wo can
use for the purpose of preventing tho
spread of diphtheria in schools and in
families, where several children are ex
posed, and it has a salutary effect upon
those already suffering from the disease.
We have had the caro of scores of diph¬
theria patients, and we can refer to quite
a number of familios of children where
the df^s^-j was limitod to one child, and
we verily believe that the fumes of burn
ing sulphur were instrumental in pro¬
venting the spread of the disease in theso
eases;
In all cases where diphtheria broaks
out in a school, no children should bs
permuted to go to the school from houses
where-the disease exists. After school
hours, in the evening, tho school rooms
should be thoroughly fumigated with
sulphur. This should be done daily,
but the house should bo free from tho
sulpflair fumes during school hours, for
the. ertighing and sneezing that might
result from tho sulphur fume? would cre¬
ate / rest annoyanco and confusion.
Whew diphtheria prevails in a family,
the patient or patients, if there arc two
or three attacked at the same time, should
bo isolated, confined to one room, and
all tlie children not affected should be
ke P t f Q some romote P art ot the house,
or re llove< ^ horn the bouse entirely if
pract cable. In either case, whether any
°f tHi children are removed from the
house 'or not, every room, including the
one occupied by tho patient, should be
fumigated with sulphur two or three
times daily.
The most convenient method of fumi
gating is to drop a small pinch of sul¬
phur upon a hot stove, if there is ono in
the room; if there bo no stove in the
room, a few coals on a sbovel or other
convenient utensil may be carried into
the room, and the sulphur may bo
dropped on the coals. A littlo experi¬
ence will soon enable any ono to deter¬
mine how much sulphur to burn in each
room. It is not necessary to fill the room
so full of these sulphur fumes as to suffo¬
cate us, and if we happen to burn a littlo
too much sulphur in any given case, and
the fumes become offensive, tho doors
and windows oan be opened for a minute
or two.
Other disinfectants may be employed,
but these sulphur-fumes will peraMto
every crcvico in the house; they are
breathed by us, our clothes are saturated
with them, and, withal, we regard this
as the most practical and effectual meth¬
od of disinfection against the spread of
diphtheria that can be adopted. And
where diphtheria prevails in a neighbor¬
hood, and families fear its outbreak
among their children, they should resort
to sulphur fumigation daily, whether
diphtheria has appeared in the house or
not; this may prevent its outbreak in
families that might otherwise suffer from
it. At least this precaution does not
cost much, and can do no harm. These
sulphur fumes will do us no injury.—
American Medical Journal.
Women in Restaurants.
“It takes the women to order a good
dinner,” said the proprietor of a lestau
rant. “They like good eating and they
know what goes with what better than
the men. Why, a man had just as soon
order cranberry sauce with mutton as
not 1” He shuddered at the thought of
it. “Besides,” he continued in a dis¬
gusted tone, “half of the men don’t
know mutton from veal, anyway.”
“Are the women more exacting than
the men?”
“Not a bit of it. Then, you see, they
understand enough about tho matter to
appreciate a dish. A man will gulp
down the most elaborately-prepared
meal aud never think whether it’s taken
four or five hours or fifteen minutes to
prepare it. The women like to cat din¬
ner leisurely, in courses. They are par¬
ticular about their desserts, too. Why,
$1.25 is quite an ordinary sum for them
to spend on a meal. Men seldom go
over 76 cents—I mean of course for their
rveryday noon repast.— Chicago Tribune.
“Tm cutting a great-figure,’’ said the
editor, as he softly slid his scissois
through a big paper bill,
A Fountain of Pore OH.
A party cf oxplorers have been travel
mg through the Gras Ventre valley, and
one of them teUs tlie Ohsycnne (Wyom
ing) Leader what they saw: On the
mountain peaks are found fossilizations
of every variety. Shellfish of a past age,
skeletons of curious birds, and bones of
gigantic and long extinct animals strew
tho valleys and appear upon tho moun¬
tains., On the broad surface of the ta
ble-like rocks are curious carvings of
glyphics strange animals and birds, with hiero¬
as strange as the subjects they
apparently explain.
Entering through a q|$pbce explorers between
two gigantic rocks, the found
themselves in a circular ijJasin 300 feet in
circumference and lofty in height. The
floor of this basin was as regularly paved
with broad -flagging as if done by th8
hand of man. Prom three parts of the
basin arose a thin bluish vapor, spread¬
ing through tho underground chamber a
close oil-like smell. On investigation
this vapor was found to rise from deep
seams in the rocky floor. One of the
party produced a long cord and attach¬
ing to it a small stone, attempted to
gauge tho depth of these seams. No
bottom could be reached, however. On
tho stone being withdrawn it was in ev¬
ery instance found to be oovered with
yellow sticky matter of glue-Uko consis¬
tency, strongly impregnated with a pe¬
troleum odor.
One of the party stumbled on a second
opening, and this led into a third and
smaller chamber in the center of which
was a working, bubbling oil fountain.
This was the pure article itsolf, as clear
as if fresh from the best oil refine
ly- In fact it was the product
of a natural refinery, and the most po¬
tent forces were engaged in its manu¬
al®. Prom deep down in tho bowels of
the earth came a sound as of steady
churning, and tho oil mass heaved and
Bhook at intervals as the continued prod¬
uct of tho natural rcfiuing process wag
poured in.
New York’s Leisure Clnss.
A New York letter to the Ban Francis¬
co Argonaut says: London has many
fnorhjug • concerts;
horticultural exhibitions, private views,
the everlasting Zoo, and an endless array
of amusements of a mild and taking
character, calculated to assist tho leisure
class of tho English metropolis in killing
time. New York, which ape; London
in its amusements, is showing a tendency
in the same direction. We are now forin
ing a leisure class here. It goes slow,
but it goes. Just now it consists largely
of gamblers, with a sprinkling of night
editors, younger sons, ruined finan¬
ciers, club men who cannot afford
to play Wall street, actors, col¬
lege boys home for vacation,
government employes and round¬
ers. The younger sons form a pictures¬
que element. They seem to bo useful to
tho ladies and they wear very good
clothes, so that tho gamblers and round¬
ers do not object to them particularly.
That this leisure class will iu time grow
large is evident. Tho numbor of youuger
sons and society men who have nothing
to do but amuso themselves incroases
every day. There is now a very con¬
siderable number of thorn who have no
more arduous aim in life thaD that of
killing time. Tlie women who have
leisure are, of course limitless ns to num¬
bers. They are the strongest factors in
promoting morning entertainments. Tho
lectures, readings and concerts given in
the middle of tho day arc 100 per cent,
greater than five years ago.
The Language of the Train.
To sit on one seat and put your feet on
another signifies, “I am not accustomed
to upholstered furniture at home.” To
occupy four seets on ono ticket means,
“lam a hog.” To lean half way out of
the window in order to see the country
means, “There are no glazed windows in
my house,” To turn a front seat and
ride backward, staring the whole car ia
the face, means, “I may not be pretty,
but I think lam.” To expectorate on
the car floor means, “I have no carpets at
at home.” To say of the station that
yon “can not see tho town for the
houses,” signifies, “I have never been
any-where before.” To drink all the
water in tho tank and go to sleep at 8
o’clock in the morning means, “I was
out with the boys Inst night.” To be
bounced off tho train means, “Tm dead
broke. ”— Burdette.
Her Bad Habits.
Bagley — There goes that charming
Mrs. Cheater.
Mrs. B.—Charming, indeed 1 I don’t
know of a woman whom [ detest more.
“Susan, you surprise mo. What is
your objection to her ? She certainly
has no bad habits-”
“That shows what you know, Mr.
Bagley. Why, tiie woman hasn't a do
cent fitting dress to her name,”—Call.
N'T. 33.
In the Sooth#
A little gray swallow,
I fled to the Tales
Of the nightingales,
And the woods of Apollo.
Behind me lie the sheer white, cliffs, the hoi
ioiv
Grean waves that break at home, the
northern gales,
Tho misty skies, the homesteads in thedale
For oil my home is far and oannot follow.
O nightingale voioas,
O lemons in flower,
O branches of laurel!
You are all here; but, ah, not here my
choice is!
Fain would I pluck one pink-veined bloom of
sorrel,
Or hear the wrens build in a hazel bower.
—Magazine of Art.
HUMOROUS.
A wide-awake hat is one without a
nap.
Organ-grinders’ motto: Turn abrmt is
fair play.
An essay contest can be very properly
called a skull race.
A man may have no ear for music, yet
have a mind to play,
Pain will frequently transfer a child
into a groan person.
An unavoidable breach of the piece:
The stock of a gun.
The heart’s true love molts to tender
librations of ice cream.
“I mean no reflection,” as tho head¬
light said when it went out.
Superior Court—Going it sweet on one
of the dear creatures worth $100,000.
“Mamma,” cried a five-year old girl,
“I started to make my doll a bonnet, and
it’s come out a pair of pants.”
People open their hearts and expand
when they marry. At a wedding they
should not be called the contracting
parties.
“Look here, Judge,” said the burglar,
“I ain’t so bad as you think I am. Only
give me time and I’ll refer;.: ” And the
Judge gave him fifteen years.
A mathematical calculation has shown
that if the muscles of a man were tal¬
ntively as strong as those of a flea he
could throw a book agent two miles.
“Wc want a circus and we want it
bad,” sighs a Western paper. Wo would
suggest that tho editor call the owner of
the opposition sheet a horse-thief.
“Mercy!” exclaimed Mrs. Homespun,
when slio read in the paper that Jay
Gould made ten cents every time tha
clock ticked; “I should think he’d be
worried to death for fear the clock would
run down.”
A lady remained too long on a train
to kiss a friend, and, trying to get off
after it was started, was thrown vio¬
lently on her face. “If over I kiss any¬
body again!” said sho vengefully, as she
arose; “any woman, at least,” she
thoughtfully added.
A problem blind, to the young man’s mind,
Is to know the reason why
He has his cane when he’s out in the rain,
His umbrella when it’s dry.
Indian Fishing Spears.
Tho fishing spears used by the Piute
Indians are of peculiar construction.
Into the end of a polo or shaft from
twelve to fifteen feet in length is insert¬
ed a piece of iron or steel wire about as
thick as an ordinary lead pencil and
about ten inches long; the end of this
wire is mado quito sharp. Another piece
of wire about two inches long forms the
barb. One end of this short
piece of wire is made very
sharp. It is then laid upon the point of
the long wire and tightly lashed with a
pioce of pitched twine. In the centre of
the piece of short wire is fastened a
string over a foot in length, which is
made fast to the shaft of the spear.
When a fish is struck the point of the
spear passes entirely through its body.
In withdrawing it the short wire or barb
pulls of, and, turning crosswise, the fish
is securely fastened and hangs dangling
to the handle of the spear.
Protection Agniust Lightning
Mass Birdie McGinnis and Miss Esmer¬
alda Longcoffln are rival belles of Austin.
They aro continually saying mean things
to each other in the most plasant man¬
ner imaginable. Both of them happened
to be at a picnic at Bee Springs near Aus¬
tin, and Miss Birdie wore very large dia¬
monds, the genuineness of which was
very much doubted by some of her
friends.
A thunder storm came up and the pic¬
nickers were obliged to take refuge under
somo trees.
“Birdie,” said Miss Esmeralda anx¬
iously.
“What is it, Esmerald ?” asked Birdie.
“I wish you would come over here
where I am. I would feel safe.”
“Why so, Esmeralda, dear ?”
“Because I read in a paper the other
day that it is only real diamonds that at¬
tract lighting.”— Siftings.