Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About North Georgia times. (Spring Place, Ga.) 1879-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1890)
■j pg iU-, p®* 1 M RTH GEORGIA TIMES. • C N K5 I BropvMor ,» The Beet We Can. When things don’t go to suit a» Why should we fold onr han<" And say, “No nse in trying, Tate baffles all onr plans.’’ let not yonr courage falter, Keep faith in (Sod and man. And to this thought be steadfast-* •TU do the best I can.” If clouds blot out the sunshine Along the way you tread, Don’t grieve in hopeless fashion And sigh for brightness fled. Beyond the clouds the sunlight . Shines in the Sternal Plan; Trust that the way will brighten, And do thi best you can. Away with vahl repinings; Eing songs Of hope and cheer, Till many'a weary comrade Grows strong of heart to hear. He who sings over trouble Is aye the wisest man. He can’t help what has happened, But—does the best he can. So, if thihgs won’t go to suit us, Let s never fame and fret, For finding fault with fortune Ne’er mended matters yet. Make the best of whate’er happens; Bear failure like a man; And in good or evil fortune Do just the best you can. . —Ebtn E. Retford, in Saturday Eight. THE STORY OF BIP. “Bip’s siory is well known in the Cumberland valley, where he lived for ■aany years, and died not long ago,” said Samuel Logan of Franklin county, Pena., “and it is one of the most ro¬ markable narratives of slavery times ever related. I have heard the old man .tell the story with tears in his eyes many and many a time, and no one who ever knew him could hnve the slightest doubt of its truth. Bip was born in ithe Africa, where, as he believed, he was son of a king or a chief, for ho re¬ membered that his father and mother lived in a bark hut surrounded by smaller ones, which were occupied by many women and children, his father’s hot always being approached by others to a most deferential manner, Ilis mother wore immense gold or brass Hoops in her ears and bands of metal on her arms. His father wore a big yellow ring in his nose. When Bip-was about 5 yeafs old, as he afterward cal¬ culated, his father’s household and many of the tribe were overpowered by a horde of strange blacks and taken captive. They were bound together and driven for days until they came to the seashore. There they wore por¬ tioned among a number of whito men, the first Bip had ever seen. The cap¬ tives were taken away in boats. Bip never saw his father again. He and Ins mother were packed with hundreds of others on board a vessel, and they were many days on the water. Tho vessel at last landed and the n^f«pes that were ■till alive w«ra take r .shore, and Bip and his mother were selected from the lot by a white man and taken away. It was not until after years that Bip knew and appreciated tho fact that ho and his parents and their tribj had fallen victims to the African slave trad ers, and that ho and his mothor had been sold into slavery to a Cuban planter. “At tho age of 35 Bip, which name had been given him by liis Cuban owner, was sold, with a lot of other young negroes of both sexes, to a slave trader. Btp’s mother was at work in the sugar field wiion he was sold and taken away. He never saw or heard of her again. The herd of young negroes was taken to New Orleans, where Bip wss sold on the auction block. He was put to work in the sugar fields, but when he was 20 years old he became the property of an Arkansas cotton planter. He was taken to the Arkansas tion, which was not far from Lit¬ tle Rock. His new master proved to be • kind one, bet Bip felt that he was not born to be a slave, and he was de¬ termined to escape from bondage, even et the risk of his life. Late one night in the fall of 1821 he made a break for liberty. He never knew exactly the route he took, but he turned his face as near northward as he could calculate and blindly followed that course. He traveled all night, swimming rivers end floundering through swamps. In the daytime he hid among the dense brakes, and satisfied his hnngsr by digging turtles from the mud and eating their raw meat. He travelled in that way for three nights* and just before daybreak on the morn¬ ing of the third he came suddenly upon a clearing. He saw at once that it was the home of a “face camper.” In those days that part of Arkansas was *Ud and sparsely inhabited, and settlers SPRING PLACE. GA.. THURSDAY. APRIL 17, 1890. from other states end other portions of Arkansas ware taking . up. land and gradually clearing the country into plantations. The settlers usually lived during the first years of their occupancy in what was known as face camps, their first crop enabling them to put up bet¬ ter dwellings. The face cetnp was a rude board hut or shanty enclosed on but three sides. The side facing the south was left open, the climate, even in winter, being mild enough to keep as airy a habitation as a face camp en¬ tirely comfortable. The shanty was roofed with boards, and, as ths -whole was built with slight frame 'walls, it was not the most secure dwelling in the world. The interior of one of these face camps was severely simple. It con¬ tained the settler’s bed, a table and a bench or two, and a loft for storing various articles of houiehold use. The bed was a rude board bunk in one cor¬ ner, made fast to the side on one end of the shanty. The loft was a similar bunk, built three or four feet above the bed. “The face camper, during his first year as a settler, depended, in a great measure, on game for the sustenauce of himself and family. The woods were filled with deer, bears and other wild animals. When a deer or other animal was killed the dressed carcass was suspended on a pole in front of the open end of the camp, the pole being supported by long forked sticks driven in the ground. The face campers rarely owned slaves while they were making their clearings, but they always looked forward to the day when they would become masters. As a rule they were hard, ignorant people, and their reputation as slave-holders was such that even the slaves of the cotton planters on .the lowlands pitied the negroes of a face camper. So, natur¬ ally, when Bip came suddenly at tho home of one of this class he was greatly alarmed, and made up his mind to get away from that locality os soon as possible. The moon was shining full and bright in the shanty, and Bip could sec tho bunk and the outlines of its sleeping inmates, and the loft above it. As he stood peering out of the thicket, taking a hurried view of the curious scene, an u^jly and ominous growl came from the shanty. Suppose ing that his presence had been discov¬ ered by tho camper’s dogs, Bip was drawing back hurriedly to escape from the spot, when he discovered that it was something else that had aroused the dogs. Out of tho shadows on the op¬ posite side of the opening came two dark objects towards the doer, and two huge beata were revealed in the moon - light. They did nbt stop, but slouched impudently along to secure the object of their visit, the deer's carcass. Bip could not overcome his curiosity to watch and see what tho result of this invasion would be. As the bears shuf¬ fled up to the spot where the deer hung, two dogs rushed out of the open camp. With furious barking and loud yelping they sprang upon the bears. “The noise awoke the owner of the camp, and Bip saw him spring from the bunk. At the same time the wife and the faces of three wild and startled-looking children rose up in the bunk. The worn in and the children began to scream and cry. As the set¬ tler jumped out the bears made a rush for the dogs which retreated to the shanty. They almost ran over the man as he approached. He ran back and helped his wife and children from the bed to the bunk overhead. The next mo¬ ment man, dogs, and bears were closed to¬ gether in one indiscriminate struggle. Feeling that whatever the result might be his own safety lay in escaping from the scene without delay, Bip hastened into the forest. He had not gone far when it occurred to him that a fellow man’s life was undoubtedly in peril, and that it was his duty to aid him in preserving it, no matter what the consequences might be to himself. Without an instant’s further hesitation he turned and dashed back through the thicket. He cleared tho opening at a bound, and the next second had joined the settler and his dogs in their contest with the bears. The settler was being pressed by the bears against the board wail at the foot of the bunks, and the frail shanty was shaking and swaying threateningly. The man’s wife and chil¬ dren were shrieking frantically in the loft One' dog had been kilted and the other disabled. “Bip closed with one of the bears at once. His knife was a keen, long bladed dirk, with two edges. He thrust it to the hilt in the bear's breast as the' animal lunged up against him. The blood followed the blade in a stream. The bear staggered back. Before it rallied Bip turned to the other one. It had knocked the settler to the ground, where he lay stunned. In a second more the bear would have torn the man’s throat to strings. With one slash of his effective weapon Bip sev¬ ered the big arteries in the bear’s neck, and laid the windpipe open. The bear raised up erect on its feet and fell over backward with its whole weight against the side of the camp. The shook was more than the structure could stand, and the shanty came down with a crash, bury¬ ing bears and all beneath a pile of boards and scantling. The noxt that. Bip knew it was broad daylight. He was lying on the ground on a deoiskin. He was sore and lame but managed to got'to his feet. A big-whiskered man, a pale, weeping woman, and two frightened-looking children were grouped near him. By the side of a ragged pile of boards that had beon the face camp, lay the carcasses of two huge bears. The big -whiskered man came forward, grasped Bip’s hand, and told him he had saved his life. The man, his wife, and two of the children had es¬ caped from the wreck of the shanty with but slight injuries, strange as it seemed, but the other child had been killed. Bip felt that he would be safe with these people, and he told them his story. He then learned that the lace camper was Israel Vawn, a noted re¬ ligious enthusiast, who had settled in the wilderness to form the nucleus of a colony of his followers. Bip helped rebuild Yawn’s camp, and when it was done Vawn made him promise that he would remain at the camp until the set tier made a business trip to Little Rock and returned. When Vawn came back he placed in Bip’s hands a bill of sale for himself from his master. Vawn had purchased the young negro and given him his freedom. The over¬ joyed Bip remained in Vawn's service, and was given the name of Solomon Vawn. Israel Vawn died about the time the war of the rebellion began. Bip, or Solomon Vawn, came North and settled in the Cumberland valley, where he worked as a farm hand until he died some months ago, nearly 90 years old. He is buried near Mont Alto, and his grave is on land, I be ieve, formerly owned by Thaddeus Stevens.”—JV. 7. Sun. A Czar’s Cura for Obesity. Peter the Great was once traveling incognito in a part of Finland, just conquered, where he was executing some naval works. He met an over-fat man who told him he was going to St. Petersburg. “What for?” said the Czar. “To consult a doctor about my fat, which has become very oppressive.” “Do you know any doc¬ tor there?” “No.” “Then I will give you a word to my friend, Prince Menschikoff, and he will introduce you to one of the Emperor’s physicians.” The traveler went to the Prince’s house with a noee. The answer was not de¬ layed. The next day, tied hands and feet, the poor man was dragged off on a cart to the mines. Two years after, Peter the Great was visiting the mines; he had forgotten the adventure of the over-fat man, when suddenly a miner threw down his pick, rushed up to him, and fell at his feet crying: “Grace, grace I what is it I have done?” Peter looked at him astonished, until he re¬ membered the story, and said: “Oh, so that is you? I hope you are pleased with me. Stand up. How thin and slight you have become 1 You are quit* delivered of your over-fat; it is a first rate cure. Go, and remember that work is the best antidote against your complaint!” Well Matched. There are now living in Washington a married couple, Paul and Albina Helimuth, who were born at Baden, Germany, within four miles of each other. Even through their childhood, playing in the streets of the same town, they were strangers to each other. In the course of events they came across the ocean to the land of promise; and at different times and by different paths they drifted to Washington, where they met and loved and wedded. Upon’ comparing notes to take out their mar¬ riage license they discovered, to their mutual surprise and gratification, that they were not only natives of the same place, but rejoiced in exactly the same ages to a day. NATIVES OF ALASKA I Facts About the People of the Big Territory. Not Handsome, But Possessed of Good Qualities. In appearance the natives of the in¬ terior of Alaska are generally very dark complexion ad, with largo cheek bones, large mouths and a sharp chiu. “This,” w^s Lieutenant Cantwell in his notes obtained while exploring the Kowak River, ‘Ogives the face a very triangnlar appearance, very different from the round face of tho Esquimau. Their hair is black, and the hair is worn long, except in front, where it is trimmed across the forehead on a line with the eyebrows. They are quick in their movements, active and strong in youth, but grow aged*looking rapidly.” Very few men of middle age were observed. The faces of the women are more oval than the men’s, and their color is lighter. Their hair is parted in the middle and worn in two braids hanging in front of the ears. Tho in¬ terior natives are referred to as better morally and in points of honesty and sobriety than the people of the coast. They have no laws except to do by others as they. would have others do to them. They were universally kind to the aged and helpless, very hospitable, curious to a degree, but never intrusive. In the interior the people did not fol¬ low methods of the Esquimau coast tribes in choosing an omailik, or chief trader and general business agent In all discussions regarding the welfare of the community, the women and the older ones in particular, joined, and the men received their opinions with re¬ spect. They wore generally guided by a kind of moral code, as Lieutenant Cantwell says, in all matters regarding one another’s welfare. No punishment WM.retogaired for> the commission of crime, but on tho other hand there was seldom Any committed. As to diseases, the Lieutenant found pulmonary complaints and rheumatism very common among the natives, as well as weak and inflamed eyes. Epi¬ demic diseases very rarely occur, though smallpox sometimes reaches these peo¬ ple through the natives living on the Koyukuk river. Beyond the simple herbs known and used by the “shaman, ” or medicine-man, in his cantations, but little is known of the art ot healing. No formal funeral ceremonies are per¬ formed by the inland tribes over their dead. The body is generally taken to some secluded spot, usually on a bluff overlooking a river, and laid on the ground. A conical shaped structure of spruce logs is built over the remains and a tree hear by is stripped of branches and a small piece of cloth tied to it marks the spot, near which are left the sled, household utensils and some of the weapons of the de¬ ceased. No one ever visits the spot thereafter. It is tabooed. The natives partake eagerly of such articles as flour, tea, rice, condensed milk and other dishes, but they despise salt pork and would rather starve tli-'^ touch it. In addition to the reindeer meat, they eat the flesh of the bear, fox, wolf, muskrat, beaver and mountain sheep. In the summer salmon is al¬ most the sole food. The flesh of the seal and white whale is eaten by the summer sojourners at the coast, Wild currants are found in abundance and the onion, celery and parsnip grows wild in abundance, as well as a species of wild rhubarb. The tender roots of the willow were also cooked in oil when the natives were much in need of food. The upper waters of the Kowak abound in wild duok, geese and swans, and cranes also could be found, The birds are boiled after being skinned, and astonishing to. note, the head, feet and intestines were considered the choice morsels. The Lieutenant says thlse tidbits were laid before him on one occasion. All the tribes dress very much alike. Their attire consists of an outer and inner coat or “parka” of deerskin, tight fitting trousers of hair sealskin and boots supplied with deerskin leg. gins, the soles being of walrus or white whale skin. The inner garments are worn with the fur next to the body and tho outer one with the fur outside. Hsts or caps are not worn by either sex, but the outer garment has a hood, which can be drawn over the head. A piece of some long haired fur is sewed around the edges of the hood to protect Vol. X, New Series. NO. 11. the eyes from flying particles of snow. A belt is worn by the women to confine their outer garments or “ parkas ” around the waist, and this enables the native mother to carry her offspring underneath the folds of her “parka.” Socks made of soft tanned skins are worn, and mittens of reindeer skins, with the hair turned in, are worn winter and summer. Thread is made of deer sinew, and the women, in addition to their other arduous duties, make all the clothing and keep it in order. A Born Musician. A day or two ago a natural-born mu¬ sician came in on the Georgia road. He had with him a hand-made xylophone, as rough and crazy an instrument as a musician ever tried to play, but the mu¬ sic was wonderful. The bars, except two, were made of common yellow pop lar, whittled into proper dimensions with a pocket knife. Two bars were of walnut. All the bare were connected by a cotton string. The base of the in strument was a coarse, pine plank, and between this board and the bars, form ing a cushion for the bars was au inch thick padding of jute, Isioian or old ropes threaded out. The used tVo mallets—little balls of poplar on ban dies of convenient length. Around each ball was a band of flannel cloth, to soften the note. He made the xylo phone himself, and said he had made four others and sold them. The addi tion of the walnut bars was a very re cent improvement, and he seemed to he particularly proud of that part. The musician, dressed like a cowboy with bead-strung sombrero and big yellow boots, looked as little a musician as his instruments a xylophone. He plays altogether by air. He whittles out his bars without any rule, whatever, judg ing entirely by the sound. “Ihe tone,” he says, 1 •‘depends on the kind of wood, on the length and on the thickness. The,width has very 4BUA tndomith.it Paplarfcs* * .^ meUow sound and goes through neatly he whole scale. Then another thing that change, the note is the way the gram runs in the bar.’ He played “Dixie,” “Climbing Up the Golden Stairs,” and a number of other familiar tunes. He is wonderful ly apt at catching anew tune, and can follow one’s whistling almost faultlessly. Not only that, but he whistles beauti fully. He has a knack of whistling like three or four men at once, carrying the air and bass all at once, or warbling like a room full of mocking birds. He kept a crowded car well entertained be tween Covington and Atlanta, and gathered in a liberal lot of dimes and quarters when the hat was passed around .—Atlanta Constitution. A Magician’s Story. “While in India,” said the magician Keller recently, “I saw many things done by the native masters of legerde¬ main that completely ‘stumped’ me and some scientific gentlemen that were with me. The most wonderful performances were in hypnotism. “Framjee Cowasjeo Jeejeebhoy, a millionaire Parsee merchant, son of Framjee Cowasjeo, the founder of the Bombay Institute of Physical Inquiry bearing his name, gave me his word for this remarkable story: “In the north of India was a famous hypnotist who possessed the power of hypnotizing himself. His wife, who knew his secret, was accustomed to re¬ vive him whenever he exercised his ex¬ ceptional power. He killed a man and was sentenced to execution. Several days before the time for the execution he hypnotized himself, passing into a condition which, to all appearance, was death. So perfect was the semblance that the English Government physicians who were called in officially certified that he was dead and ordered his body cremated. But at this point his wife appeared. She was stricken with grief, moaned and wept until the hearts of the authorities were touched. She was permitted to take away the body for private cremation. Then she revived her husbani, and together they es> caped,”— Chioago Tribune. Strictly Btuinesi, Isaacs—Vere have you been for %* bast veekf ; •j,,,", Jacobs—I vas in Boston. Isaacs—Did you go there for pish ness or only Measure? Jacobs—I went dera to get married, bases—So it vaah a piahness trip, after all. - From Night to Light /riend, yon are sad, yon say? Yonr grief once in the past. All shall be clear to you; The sorrow shall not last, But then be dear to you Some coming day. So consolation find; Yield not thus to despair; Believe joy waits for you, And, in the future, there Opens her gates for you. Be then resigned! —Ornrge Birth HUMOROUS. Mept any city can look well if it has a good site. If experience is so great a teacher, why do we speak of a “green" old age? The only way to be happy on five hundred a year, is to livo on four hun fired and ninety-nine, First Little Girl—Is your doll a French doll? Second Little Girl—I don’t know, she can’t talk, The most disagreeably obstinate per gon on eart h is the coal dealer when he i nslf ts 0 n having his own weigh, — . , . . ’T ‘ ^ v\ V “ r9 ^ teaChi “* ** y ° Ung idea . h °" , t0 8h0ot The P lumW elecutes hk ™ y a finely 88 a rula Whett you et hi ’ * « * bil1 ’ you feel “ if you would 1Ut ® to execut * the P lumber - Old Gentleman (to little girl)—Sissy, ^rhat makes your eyes so bright? Sissy (after a little thought)—I guess it’s cause they’re kinder new. Some men will get up out of bed at night in the coldest of weather to go te a fire who cannot be induced to get up - at 7 to start one iu the stove, The two most exciting periods in a woman’s life are when she is listening to her first proposal and bidding on a basket of broken crockery at an auc tion. A n<rw ! vaHety »f Afcm W Wdi*. covered . M u „ t#nderer than the old 8tyle of clam> it will not be W for cbowd but wiU be worked into chewing gum. Mrs " Bloodgood-Whatl not an open ^P 1806 nor 8 9tove in the house * How does your father warm his 8li PP era . Willie? ^Me (ruefully)—Warms ’em 011 me * ma am ' “A man may smile and smile and be * villiau.” This probably accounts for t? 18 existence of so many villainous pictures of persons who have been told to 1°°^ pleasant, The nuisance of the hotel was in the parlor warbling, “Oh, would I were a bird.’’ “Well, here’s a beginning for you,” said the landlord. And he handed him his bill. A delinquent walks into the prison carrying his head high and with a cer¬ tain patronizing air. Pointing to the constable who is leading him by the arm, he says:— “Allow him to pass; he is with me.” “That is not more than half the com¬ position,” she said, as she turned on the piano stool. “Shall I play the rest?” “Yes,” he replied, abstracted¬ ly, “play the rest by all means; play all the rests you ean find.” “Miss N-, how could yon think that I had ever said in company that yon were stupid; quite the contrary, whenever your name was mentioned I was always the only one who didn’t say so.” An agricultural journal advises: “Grind your own bones.” When amen is in such a condition that he he has no further use for his bones, he is alto gether too exhausted to grind them. He sometimes “grinds his teeth,” but there he draws the line in the matter of self-bone grinding. Wit That wss Appreciated. Tompkins—Pshaw! Brown’s no wit. There must be an element of surprise in what a man says to make it wit. Don’t you agree with me? Wilson—Perfectly. That wss a dev. er witticism you got off the other day. Tompkins—I forget. What did ] say? Wilson—You said, “Here's that fivs I borrowed from j.u.” Jforptr. Bator. u Ik. _. iMmUl •n»po« m -ik, r a r , 1 k« f
