North Georgia times. (Spring Place, Ga.) 1879-1891, January 01, 1891, Image 1
NORTH GEORGIA TIMES.
X. K'W*. (l'ro|) riotor
a a CARTER.
Ascertain Your Weight.
tn public places nowadays there stands a
handsome scale,
Without proprietor or clerk to tell Us simple
v . tale;
But passers-by may read the words engraved
upon a plate,
To “Drop a nickel in the slot and ascertain
your weight."
A moral's here, good people, if you’ll take a
moment’s thought,
A lesson for life's guidance 'tis and most
succinctly taught;
Co* if it be the part of man to have a bout
with fate,
(t surely is the thing to do to “ascertain
your weight.’’
So, if you think that politica affords yon r
widest scope,
If to puli the w tres deftly is your purpose
and your hope.
If you fancy that your destiny's to glorify
the state.
Just drop a nickel in the slot and ascertain
your weight.
If you dream that you’re an actor, and Im¬
agine you're endowed
With graces and will) gifts to win the plau¬
dits of the crowd,
If sock and buskin visions fill yoursoul with
jOy ciste.
Just drop a nickel in the slot and ascertain
your weight.
If you feel that you’re a poet, and hy right
divine belong
To those whose wings have borne them to
Parnassian heights of song,
If ballades, rondeaus, triolets, you long to
incubate,
Just drop a nickel in the slot and ascertain
your weight.
If you deem your forte the story, and you
only ask the chance
To run a tilt with Haggard in the regions of
romance.
If another Robert Elsmere you are eager to
create.
Just drop a nickel in the slot and ascertain
yW weight.
If you sec yourself a lawyer, or a doctor, or
a beau,
If you think that as a lover you couid make
a touching show,
If you deem society the field you ought to
cultivate, W.
Just drop a nickel the slot and ascertain
your weight.' '
In abort whnt'pr the path to which ambition
points tin* way.
Repeat this legend to yourself ere yet you
make essay,
For it is well that modesty, before it is too
late, 1
Should drop a nickel In / la slot and ascertain
its Weight.
—[William L. Kcese.
Mrs, Raymond’s Economy.
BY ANNA RAVENDALE.
Drifting—drif ing away into the
quiet land of dreams—dialf uncertain
whether lie was awake or asleep, with
a p'casant semi-consciousness the
while, of the clear lire glimmering on
the wall, nnd of the gray kitten pur¬
ring dtowsily on the hearth-rug,
George Rasinond had a very narrow
escape from a sound nap, when his
wife came in, with fluttering dress
and elastic step.
“George, dear!” said she.
“Well Cis.” , He was wide awake
in a moment, and ready to make an
affidavit that he hadn't had the least
idea of going to sleep. “What is ir,
little busybody?” ho asked, lazily
stretchiug out his hand to play with
lier wutclucliain, as she came toward
him.
“Can yon spare me ten dollars this
evening?”
“Of course I can—what is it for? ’
he asked, leisurely opening bis purse
and handing tier (he money.
“Tho milliner’s bill; she will be
here early to-morrow morning. Thank
yon, dear.”
Mrs Raymond sat down on a
hassock, close (o the sofa, when she
had put the money in her purse, so
that the firelight played genially on
her delicate face with its shadowy
masses of dark hair, and large, violet
gray eyes.
“Wed, Pussy, what are you think¬
ing about?” said lier husband, after a
momentls unbroken silence.
“To tell the truth, George,” said
Mrs. Raymond, looking up smilingly,
“I was wishing that, in-tead of com¬
ing to you for everything 1 want, I
had a regular allowance of my own.”
A regular allowance of your own?”
he repeated, “Really, that is compli¬
mentary to my generosit I”
“1 knew you wotilld laugh at me,
George; yet indeed I do wish it very
much indeed.”
“And pray, why? Don’t J give you
every thing you ask for?”
“J kiiow you do, my love; yet t
ehoitld feel richer, somehow more in¬
dependent, if I had my own resources
-—if you would allow me just such an
•mount evurv mouth.”
SPRING PLACE. GA.. THURSDAY. JANUARY ], 1891.
“How much would satisfy you, little
miser?”
“Well, I think I could do very well
on forty dollars n month.”
“Do you happen to know that I
have handed over to you just one
third more than the sum you specify
during (he last four weeks? It strikes
me you would not be much of a gain¬
er, pecuniarily speaking, by this new
system of finances.”
“But. I believe I should, Geor«j,
for it would teach me to calculate and
economize, and-”
“In short, you want to try the ex¬
periment?” said iier husband.
“That's just it,” said she, coax in g
iy.
“My dear, this is all nonsense,”
said lie. “Believe me, I understand
the care of money better than you do.’
“Then you aro not going to indulge
me?” said Airs, Raymond, and there
was such a plaintive accent in her
voice, that her husband checked him¬
self in the midst of a tremendous
yawn, to look full into the aggrieved
lit lie face.
“My dear,” he said, laugh'ngly, “I
have never refused you anything yon
chose to ask. atul it isn’t likely I shall
begin to assert my independence at
this late hour. Take your forty dol¬
lars a month—take what yon please—
bi t I'm considerably mistaken if you
don’t come to me, teasing mo for *just
a little more money’ before the four
weeks have expired."
“Now you shall see!” said the de¬
lighted little wi.’o, “What shall I
render in payment of your docility,
Mr. Prophet?”
HA"'kiss,” replied Iter husband.
and “AYrI jjow finish bo off'about your business,
lertne my nap.”
How often, during the next twelve
mouths, George Raymond rallied his
wife within an inch of the “crying
degree” about iter financial schemes—
how often lie alluded mischievously to
the probably exhausted state of her
purse, aud his entire willingness to
hand over any amount of money the
moment she would confess herself to
bo wrong, and him to bo right, until
she was nearly tempted to abandon her
cause in ijespair. D<it she persevered
so bravely that after a while he de¬
clared that ho believed his littlo wife
could do vory well with a smaller
sum thau he had previously had auy
idea of.
“But I know you arc denying your¬
self scores of feminine fol-de-rals,
Cis,” said lie. “Say the word, my
dear, and I’ll make it fifty dollars a
month, instead of forty.”
“No, indeed,” said Cicely, decisive¬
ly. “Didn’t I toll you that forty would
be enough? And it is.”
Nearly live years had passed away.
It was a stormy night in March; the
clouds were flying before a strong
gale, and the air was chill and raw
with occasional gusts of snow. Mrs.
Raymond sat in lier cheerful parlor,
stitching away at a little frock for her
sleeping baby, and singing her lialf
forgotteu melody to herself as she
worked.
“I wonder what makes Geoige so
laic,” she murmured, as a stronger
blast than usual shook the windows
and roared down the chimney. “I
ho; e it isn’t any difficulty in his busi¬
ness matters. He lias looked very
grave lately.”
The words had scarcely passed
through ber mind wlion tho door open¬
ed, and Mr. Raymond entered. He
did not speak to his wife as usual.
“George, ate you ill, dearest?
What is the matter?”
He made no reply. She rose and
cirao to his side, reiterating her in¬
quiries.
“Ask me no questions, Cicely,” he
said at length, in a lone so strange and
altered that she started at its sound.
“You will learn evil tidings soon
enough.”
Tell me, my husband. Aro not my
joys yours, your soriows mine? Surely
we have not ceased to be one?”
“Cicely,” he said, rising, “I did not
intend to cloud your happy brow with
my griefs, but it is too late longer to
dissemble. I had hoped, dearest, to
outride this storm of disaster, which
has wrecked so many of Our wealthiest
morhliiftts in its whirlpool of failure.
Tomorrow!,djowdvor, f a bcaVjhpiyitfcnt A# receiving
falls duo. jiid rclfcd
debts which would fuuy ljdnid|te the
amount; instead of wliicb, I have
heard today of the failure Of the fi rm
on which 1 Ita l so wlioi y depended.”
“But can the amount be raised in no
other way, George?”
“By borrowing here and there—by
straining my credit to the utmost, an.l
scraping together every dollar of
available funds, I can raise the sum,
all except one thousand dollars. But
it might as well bo one hundred thou¬
sand. Unless the whole amount is
met, I am a ruined, disgraced man.
To think that my wholo fuluro lifo
should be darkened for want of one
thousand dollars!”
“Aud is that all you lack,” asked li'ts
wife.
“All!” he replied. “But what is
the use of dwelling further upon it. I
appreciate your syuipa.lty, Cicely, but
it is vain.”
He sank back on the sofa, clasping
his hands on his closed eyes. lie
must have lain there motionless for
five or six minutes, when Cicely, who
had left the room, returned, and laid
her soft hand on his forehead.
“Dearest, look up a moment. Do
von remember our childhood's fable
of the lion who was released from the
net by a little mouse’s tiny endeav¬
ors?”
“What of it?” lie asked, with a
vague apprehension that Cicely’s wits
lmd been a little unsettled by the sud¬
den news of their impending misfor¬
tune.
“Well, I am the little mouse—you
are the snared lion. Here is the sum
you want. Take it, and may it prove
useful in your time of need.”
lie sat suddenly upright, staring al¬
ternately at Iter and the roll of neatly
folded greenbacks.
“Rut, Cissy, how—when
“Dear George, I saved it from my
allowance,” she replied. “I thought
perhaps the day might conio when it
would be welcome. Believe mol, niy
husband, it gives tie ten thousand¬
fold more pleasure to place it in your
hands than to have expended it in
waste, or on anything 1 did uot abso¬
lutely require.” k j{, ,
“My darling wvnorfaliercd George
Raymond, “you mWave preserved
from ruin. T1 ■W - * 8 ' 8 onco passeu, P
can bid defiance io misfortune.”
At that moniout Cicely seemed to
him to wear the lovely guise of an
angel of rescue. Later in tho even
iug, as she sat hy his side, she could
not forbear whispering, with a touch
of loving mischief in her voice,
“George, who was right about my
financial abilities, you or J?”
“You little tease!” said he, laugh¬
ing, “I never realized before wlmt a
blessing it is to have an economical
wife.”—[New York Weekly.
Prompt Iy Excused.
The Rev. Myron lteed recited an
amusing incident of his military career
at tiie Loyal Legion banquet tho other
night. Ilis regiment got into Nash¬
ville one morning, and the following
morning lie was told to go and relievo
the guard at the Capitol. He took up
his company, and was told the first
business was to put tho prisoners to
work to clean out tlio place. He set
them to work with mops, pails and
brooms, and just as they were fairly
at work a person came up and wanted
to know what he was doing making
such a noise.
“ 'Hero, I don’t want anything of
that,’ ” said Mr. Reed; “ <Jnst get your
broom and help these men. > ?>
it t Do you know who I am?’ ”
“ ‘No, I don’t know,’ nnd I told
him again to get his broom anil pail
and fall in quick. Then he introduced
himself—Andrew Jackson, military
Governor of the Stale of Tennessee,
and I excused him.”—[Denver Re¬
publican.
Skin-Grafting on a Foot.
Tlie delicate operation of skin-graft¬
ing was performed in St. Mary’s Hos¬
pital at Astoria a few days ago. Tlie
patient was Ole Anderson, who had his
left foot badly crushed at the jetty
about two months ago. Tlie skin
from the ankle down tlie side of the
foot for the space of four or five inches
square was torn off and the flesh left
exposed. From the leg of Anderson
sevoral strips were taken, but not
enough to cover the space necessary,
Another patient offered to lend Andor
son a little section of lus cuticle. The
offer #as accepted and W»s from tho pa*
tint's ’t'fta enough taken to coin
$oW the tjiporatum, and four out of this
six tiew tf«es are growing nicoy, and
in a short time Anderson will have a
.-kin all over his iujurud foot.—[Ports
land Oregonian.
SHELL MONEY.
Conchological Currency Circu¬
lates Even Now.
Cowry, Clam and Abalone Shells
Largely Employed.
Shell fish lwvo from time immemor¬
ial contributed enormously to the
wealth of the world. Not merely have
they given up to man pearls of price,
as w.'ll as the material of their own
dwellings for ornamental purposes,
but they have supplied him for centur¬
ies with till the money he needed to
spend.
Be Tore gold, silver and copper camo
into n.so as a medium of exchange
shell money was used for tho same
j urpo-cs alt over the World. To this
day it is employed ns cash to an enor¬
mous extent in southern Asia, the
islands of the India t aud South Pacific
oceans and in many parts of Africa.
In these regions tho “cowry shell”
is tlte one chiefly employed, for the
reason that it is of convenient size and
the tin!urn! supply of it is limited, so
that no one cowry shell may bo con¬
sidered to represent a definite amount
of'hthor in the process of finding, and
(hire is no material chance of a sudden
inflation of the currency by the dis¬
covery of a great deposit of cowries.
One hundred cowries aro worth two
cent*, and strings of them arc receiva¬
ble where they are current for trier,
chandise, labor or anything purchasa¬
ble. One can build a house for
instance, wortli $2000 and discharge
the expense with 10,000,000 cowries.
For purposes of trade in tho Itulo
P- eiiic and Africa vast quantities of
cowries aro imported to England,
whence they are carried by merchants
for use in barter. On tho west coast
ot Africa a young wife can he bought
for 60.01)0 cowries, equal to $12,
while an ordinary wife not guaranteed
* US J H , y 0iu i, nmv q>e had for 20,000
r c() , vl .j es j,i tho Soudan there is no
oilier currency in nso. Tho late firm
of Goileffruy & Co., Hamburg, was
accustomed to send each year fourteen
vessels to Zanzibar for cargoes of cow
r ; es w ;which cargoes of palm oil
an j other products were purchased on
lho west coagt of Af.ica. Cowries
were formerly largely used in tho pur¬
chase of slaves. The main source of
supply of this species of shell is the
Maidive and Laccadive Islands, in the
Arabian sea.
Before llw s ((lenient of America
by the whites, and for a long time
after, shells were exclusively used for
money by tho Indians, mostly under
the name of “wampum,” which con
sisie.i of disks and pieces in other
shapes cut out of shells of various
kinds. One of the shells ,most com¬
monly used for this purpose was the
common round or “qua' aug” clam.
About half fin inch of the inside of
the shell is of a purple color, and this
the Indians used to break oft’ and con¬
vert into beads. Cash in the early
days of this country’s settlement was
chiefly, apart from the sited money
employed in trade with the natives,
beaver skins, heads and musket balls.
The island of Conanicut in Navra
gansett bay was oiinitially sold to the
whites for one hundred pounds of
wampum. Wampum was originally
worth $2.50 a fathom, strung on or¬
dinary I wine, but enterprising mer
cants in New York, then New Am.
sicidam, set to work to make it by
machinery, the result being a great
depreciation in this sort of currency.
The California Indians were ac
cus ottied io ma tufacture large quanti¬
ties of wampum, to lake the place of
the constant was'ngo caused by their
custom of burying big sums of shell
j money with every one ofimportance
tvho died. In their country $100
worth of shell money would buy two
very desirable wives. Periwinkles
were largely used for monoy by the
Indians.
The sort of greatest value, however,
was the abalone of the Pacific coast,
j which was worth as much as $10 and
gq .5 a shell. Out of the flat part of
tho shell were takou round $1 pieces,
md where tlio curve was 6jjarper,
twenty,five-cont pieces. The beauty
of these shells is much appreciated at
this day, and in those times jjkne one
wa » considered a fair equivalent for a
horse.—[Washington Post.
Grain is now stored iu steel tanks.
Vol. X. New Series. NO. 48-
The Paper Frnit Basket.
Tho li.tie villugo of Charlestown,
Md., has tlio distinction of containing
a manufactory whoso counterpart does
not exist in the world, This is the
factory for the making of paper fruit
baskets, which is tho only one of the
tlte kind in existence. The plant was
built and is owned by tho American
Slrawbonrd Company who manufac¬
ture a basket from straw-boards, with
a wooden top-hoop and a wooden in¬
side bottom-hoop, the article being
lundsoinc in shape, st ong and welj
ventilated, of tho standard 6ize of
fruit and produce baskets.
The main building is 156 feet long
and 50 feet wide,two stories,with iron
roof and sides. A building 50 hy 100
feet is devoted to the water-proofing
process, while a third, 20 by 50 feet,
also of iron and brick, is a chemical
slock-ioom. An additional building,
200 by 50 feet, will probably he erect¬
ed at au early day for storage pur¬
poses. All the work is dono by ma¬
chinery, which lias been adapted to tho
requirements, and patented, much in¬
genuity having been exercised in per¬
fecting tlte various devices.
The first story of tho main building
receives the straw-board and witnesses
tho earlier processes, such as the cut¬
ting and crimping of bottoms, the
stamping out and perforating of the
bodies, tho cutting of paper hoops,
which are of three sizes, and tlte raw¬
ing, steaming, pointing and shaping
of the wooden hoops for top and hot
loin. The second slory is tilled with
light machines, adjusted to a nicely,
which aro run by boys, where tho
baskets are sewn together, tlte hoops,
bottoms and forms being fastened,
when the mill is at full capacity, at
the r to of more than 1,000 an hour.
The water-proofing is tho lust process,
and so perfectly dono that the basket
will stand immersion for 24 hours
without damage, being stronger after
ten minutes’ exposure to the all thau
it was before.—[Paper World.
Travel in China.
Travel in Northern China is accom¬
plished in a cart, a mule litter, or the
saddle. The first method is the most
uncomfortable but the most rapid, the
second the most comfortable but the
slowest, the third tho most independ¬
ent hut the most uncertain.
The cart used in Northern China
has two heavy w’hccls, with wooden
axle, no springs, and a body about
four feet long and three broad, over
wltich is a light frame-work top cov¬
ered with blue cotton. The mules
driven tandem by a carter sealed on
Hie left shaft (tike it along at a rato of
about three miles an hour, and one
can make In it an averago of thirty
live miles a day, even over the rough¬
est country. It will carry about three
hundred pounds of goods, and one or
even two passengers; and lhc lighter
one is squeezed in the more comfort¬
able it will p.ove, for that, and that
alone, will be a protection from the
terrible jolting over the rough country
roads.
It is told in some old books of travel
in the narrative of the mission of
Lord Amherst to tho court of Peking,
if 1 remember rightly, that one of his
attendants died from the effects of the
jolting he received during a short jour¬
ney in one of these carts. But this
mode of travel being the most rapid, l
adopted it. Several years of exper¬
ience of cart travel in China had made
he bold, so that I did not fear the fato
of t. e Amherst mission man. Com
f rtably wrapped in my wadded
Chinese clothes, I squeezed myself in¬
to my cart feeling like a delicate piece
of china ware packed in cotton, and
after a hearty fatcwell to tho friends
with whom I was s.taving at Pek¬
ing, the carters cracked their whips,
and with a slnut to the mules we
were off.—[Century.
Removes Ink from the Fingers.
It is not generally known that ink
stains can readily be removed
the fingers with the head of a parlor
match. A book-keeper in a Wall
Street banking house is said to
made tho discovery. Moisten
stained spot and rtib it gently with
head of tlio match, keeping tiie skin
wet 60 that it will not bo purned.
stain rapidly not disappears. The match
should be used Where there-is
a cut. Violet ink stains' can <S>’ften
removed by rubbing them with a
woolen cloth. A coat si -eve answers
vory well.—[New York Times.
Love's Opportunity.
Two lovers by the oKl tract gate,
So young and all alone 1
The village clock tolls: Late! Lutel latte I
Twelve times in so’ernn tone,
“No! No!”
A deep voice says aloud,
“Sweetheart, don’t go
Till the moon goes under a cloud."
The Queen of Night rules high in spaoo
Serenely briitUt and fair.
Iler kis.-es gild the young swain's fica.
The uiatde "s glossy hair.
’Tis late.
And all their vows are vowed;
Why wait, and wait,
Til! the moon goes under a cloud?
The fair girl's lips repeat:
“Good night is not good-by.”
But love tn youth is very sweet,
Ami village maids are shv.
Dear one.
With head so sweetly bowed—
Don’t run, don't run.
Til! the moon goes under a cloud.
— [George llorton, in Chicago Herald.
HUMOROUS.
A rustic player—The village hamlet.
A stoic is a man who never had the
toothache.
Tlte faster a man runs in debt the
less he is apt to get ahead.
A counter-irritant—Tho shopper
who doesn’t buy anything.
Some of tho ocean razors make a
pretty close shave in crossing.
The waiter in a bustling restaurant
always “sots tho table” in a roar.
Fame is a glorious thing io achieve,
but a small salary is more negotiable.
A thunder storm is said to “como
up.” Other rain usually comes down.
“Does your ladyship take in table
boarders?” “Yes; she took mein.’
“Why don’t you take something for
your cold?” “Thanks; don’t care if
1 do.”
A man of a flighty disposition
should never bo made tho cashier of a
bank.
Merritt —l wonder wlmt makes your
grandmother like to rock so much?
Little Johnnie—’Causo the i hair creaks
so.
“Don’t you know, prisoner, that it’s
very wrong to steal a pig?” “I don’t
know, your Honor. They make such
a row.”
A man nltvays feels a great deal
sicker when the doctor lias called bis
disease by a high-sounding aud unfa¬
miliar Latin name.
“Did you do any good deed to-day,
my son?” “Yes, mother; I gave up
my seat in tlie car to an old lady—
when I got out at my station.”
Boss Builder (shouting np to brick¬
layers on scaffold)—How many of
yez is up there? Bricklayers (iu
chorus) —Throe. Boss—Sure that's
too many; half of yoz como down at
once. *
“My papa is having the family jew¬
elry cleansed,” said one little neighbor
girl through the knothole in the fence.
“Is lie?” responded the other little
girl. “Yes; ma says he has it in soak
now.”
Airs. Blossom (to her husband who
has come home iviili a black eye) —
That’s what yon get for riding a bicy¬
cle. Air. Biossoin (mournfully)—No,
my dear, it’s what I get for not being
able to ride one.
“Well,” remarked an Eastern man,
as the train robber covered him with
a rovolver, “l’vo pawned almost all
my possessions at various times, bnt
this is the first timo I’ve been obliged
to put up my hands.”
At a public contest lately held the
following was the prize conundrum:
What is the diff renco between a ten¬
ant and the son of a widow? r ihe
tenant has to pay rents, but the son of
a widow has not two parents.
Resta rant Keeper—“John, what
kind of meat did you order to-day?”
Steward—“Veal, sir.” “Only veal?”
“Yes, sir.” Then lie sat down and
wrote on tlie bill of fare: “Chicken
polpie, chicken salad, roast'veal, beef
a la mode, veal potpic.”
The Problem Solve!.
Wife (looking up from a book)—
This writer soys that half the miseries
of married life como from the fact
that wives do not have a certain, ro.u*
larsurn per week to spend as they
plcaso. tfa»b$ftdW»Truo;
ap^ the ot{ier hall
of the misery comes from the fact that
btisbands do not have a certain, regular
1 sum per week to s|hsiu1 as they please,
, York Weekly.