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'THE SUNNY SOUTH
MARCH 18, I90S.
&/>e SUNNY SOUTH
Published Weekly by
Sunny South Publifhing Co
Buslne/s Office
THE CONSTITUTION BUILDING
ATLANTA. GEORGIA
Subfcription Terms:
To those who subscribe
to Sunny South only
Six Months,. 25c ^ One Year, 50c
LCSS THAN A PENNY A V7EEII
Catered at the poetefflee Atlanta, Ga.,ae ■econd-claea mall matter
March 13, ltMll
. . A/
hr Sunny South la tha oldest wmakty paper of Literature,
Romance, Fa ft and Flfllon In the South & It la nom re*
Jlored to the original shape and wilt be published as for*
tnerly every week & Founded In 1874 It grew until 1899,
when, as a monthly, its form was changed as an expert•
meat & It now returns to its original formation as a
meekly with renewed vigor and the Intention of ecllps*
ihg Its most promising period In the peut.
Premises for War (Si Peace
Speculation
SORT of pathetic bravado distin
guishes the anti-peace, attitude of
Russia both at St. Petersburg and
Washington, and vve are reminded
that the phrase, “great nations are
imposing even in adversity,” is
often reversed where the original
alleged greatness of the nation in
question has been exposed as "mere
clumsy bulk. It is impossible,
moreover, to accept as more than
the mechanical overflow of dazed
minds the assertion that a new
army will be mobilized .and the
war prosecuted to the bitted end.
Much more credible are the reports that the czar
and his counsellors, having barely roused to the
stupendous blow dealt Russian prospects at Muk
den, have set on foot fugitive peace negotiations
and in the meantime ordered the return of Rojest-
vensky’s fleet. • Such action would be infinitely
more in consonance with the extreme crisis which
it is generally believed afflicts Russia in several
directions. No outsider, however, may venture on
a hard-and-fast opinion so far as concerns Russian
officialdom. The latter contains so much that is
obscure, so many conflicting elements are present
and the status of the revenues of the kingdom is
so vague, that liberal allowance must be made for
either peaceable or belligerent expressions directly
from the government or accredited to it bv more
or less responsible representatives.
This much is certain, however—the internal sit
uation of the empire is in such a turbulent condi
tion that revolution may be expected at almost any
hour. Only the sternest repression has succeeded
thus far in forestalling drastic outbreaks and, es
pecially in unhappy Poland, outbreaks of a de
cisive nature are. imminent. It is said that the
spirit of disaffection is one having an industrial
source, and that the attempt to make it political
is the malign work of irresponsible socialists and
agitators. However this may be, it is rumored that
the feeling of unrest and protest is extending to
the Russian rural districts, and if ever the peasant
stubble takes fire here—God help the autocracy!
The state of affairs in Japan does not seem to
justify Russia’s boast that she can bankrupt the
island kingdom into submission, if she cannot de
feat her soldiers. Only three months ago a domes
tic bond issue of $60,000,000 was eagerly absorbed
by the Tokio bankers, and there is reason to be
lieve that the government could have disposed of
twice that amount of bonds had it seen fit to do so.
It is believed, also, that the Japanese could nego
tiate another considerable loan in the United
States. The prestige of the mikado has appre
ciated considerably during the last six months,
the present war prepared to maintain it for several
years. He^ declares that the nation as a whole
realizes it is struggling right now for its future,
and that herculean sacrifices will be made to pre
vent anything like failure.
These are only a few of the premises on which
peace and war talk may be based. W ill the blow
at Mukden prove irreparable, or will Russia’s in
ternal situation force her to capitulate? Will she,
on the other hand, prolong the war for years and
eventually exhaust the mikado’s resources? It is
a difficult task, ev*n for the expert prophet, to say
nothing of one whose knowledge is, necessarily, of
the most casual nature.
Kindness One of World’s
Motive Powers
OU know how little while we have to
stay and, once departed, may return
no more.” Thus sang old Omar
Khayyam, the philosopher-pessi
mist tent-maker of Persia, and al
though he used this argument as a
plausible excuse for such indul
gence as would drown the thought
of our transient lease on this
world’s joys and sorrows, we feel
more like applying it to a plea for
the universal necessity of kindness.
As Elbert Hubbard' remarked in a
recent number of his virile little
pamphlet, “We are. in .this world
too short a time to indulge fierce- or gnaw
ing hatreds.” That’s just it! “So little
while to stay”—then why - hot make that
while amiable and enjoyable for those with whom
we are thrown. We wonder how many crimes
are committed in the name of congeniality! It
is the pretext for more downright boorishness,
more snobbery and snubbing than the social book
keeper can record. “I am not congenial with so-
and-so and never can be,” exclaims some impulsive
specimen, and immediately gives up all attempts
even to be decent to so-and-so, who, after all, may
be a very decent sort of person when you arrive
at a better knowledge of his eccentricities. If we
gave more thought to kindness and less to con
geniality, the world and ourselves would, in the
long run, be the gainer.
There are many individuals of a sardonic or
bilious or imperious turn of mind who regard
those less fortunately fixed than themselves as in
habitants of a lower world, and they certainlv com
port themselves as if this were the case. If they
utter a kind word, no one ever hears it; if thev are
lenient with a moral debtor, it is not recorded in
the annals of human memory; if they overlook
mundane weakness occassionallv, for the sake of
our common frailty, they manage to conceal such
digression under an ominously starched front.
Happily, however, such cast-iron folk are in the
minority. At least, we wish to believe this and in
our optimistic moods we need no testimony toward
this end.
Certain it is that kindness is just as real .aggres
sive a force as steam or electricity. Perhaps it is
not as blatant or noisy in its manifestation, but it is
there just the same. If you doubt this, speak a
kind word ,to some person whose face or clothes
or friends or manner tell of misfortune or silent
suffering. Don’t be satisfied with the one applica
tion of the remedy, but repeat it on several occa
sions, and then watch the result. If you do not see
a banishment of that morose, hopeless apathy, be
sure you have to deal with a condition which is
beyond human aid.
A story is told of a strange girl in one of the
great American cities. She had gone there with an
invalid mother under the hallucination that a living
for herself and medical treatment for the sick one
might be more easily acquired in a huge commer
cial center. She went to work with a number of
other girls of her own age, though perhaps a trifle
her inferiors regarding birth and breeding. The
Leaves from an Old
Scrap Book
By A GEORGIA COLONEL
FIND nothing- in the old
war scrapbook more sadly
interesting than the fol
lowing two letters, the last,
of many between Lee and
Grant:
‘•April 7. — Lieutenant
General Grant, Command
ing United States Army.—
General: I have received
your note of this date.
Though not entirely of the
opinion you express rela
tive to the hopelessness of
further resistance on the part of the
army of northern Virginia, I reciprocate
your desire to avert the useless effusion
of blood, and, therefore, before consid
ering your proposition, I ask the terms
you will offer on condition of Its sur-
j render? R. e. LEE, General.
“Appomattox Church, April 9.—In ac-
Along' tHe Highway
By FRANK L. STANTON
SWEETEST HONEY.
I.
Bless you, sweetes’ honey—
Honey soon en late!
W’en it comes ter money
Worth yo’ rosy weight!
II.
Bless you, sweetes' honey—
Sweetes’ in de lan’!
Ter de mawnin’ sunny
Kiss yo’ li’l’ han’!
III.
From de light ter even’
Dimples run a race;
Des «o sweet dat heaven
Shinin’ in yo’ face!
“TEACHING POETRY."
“We teach the art of poetry,” is the
way a literarv firm advertises. To
cordance with my letter to you of the ; the saif | “fi rm ” we commend the
8th, i propose the following terms, to-1 words of the late Richard Henry Stod-
wit: Rolls of all officers and men to be
made in duplicate, one copy to be retain
ed by an officer designated by me. and
the other to be retained by such officers
as you may designate; the officers to
give their individual paroles not to take
up arms against the government of the
United States until properly exchanged;
and each company or regiment command
er to sign a parole for the men of their
commands; the arms, artillery and pub-
dard:
“Let no poet, great or small.
Say that he will sing a song,
For song cometh—if at all—
Not because we woo it long.”
LOG CABIN SAYINGS.
Wisdom didn’t die wid Solomon,
but it’s been recoverin’ mighty slow
since his day.
It may be Poverty’s a blessing, but
E»e Busy World
Following the disastrous defeat of ths
Russians at Mukden, the only important
news of the week is the report that Ku-
repatkin has, apparently, succeded in re-
oragnizing the shattered remnants of h,«
army at Tie pass. The broad flanking
and enveloping movement of the Japan,
esc would thus seem defeated, unless
unexpected developments occur. Indeed. It
is rported that Oyama has relinquished
the attempt at surrounding, and will,
instead, subject the strong Russian posi
tion at the pass to a stubborn invest
ment.
It is definitely stated that the czar,
dilspairing of Kuropatkin’s offensive abil
ity, will recall him and place Grand I>uk«
Nichoiaevitch in command of the Man-
, ■ churian army. The latter is 78 year..
There is very little talk now of thei^ js marriedj a nd has six children,
proposed convention of southern au- g *
ot a citizen is Garland—novelist, poet,
historian, lecturer and farmer, and it
has been said of him that the stars
themselves couldn’t match him at as
tronomy!
THE HAPPY HEART.
I.
Cease your solemn sighing
In a world so bright;
When one star is dying
Another blooms with light!
Love to Life replying:
“Sorrow stays not long;
Evermore a-sighing,
With all the world a song!’
thors. And we’re real sorry about it..
What a gathering it would be!
JOY ON THE HILLTOP.
When Joy’s on the hilltop
And Sorrow appears,
He makes the light shine
Through the rain of her tears!
THE EDITOR’S INVITATION.
“The editor invites you to call at
his office at once.”
“Glorious news!” exclaimed the au
thor. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Yes; he said he wanted to see you
Ho is the oldest of the grand dukes,
and is reported to be remarkably sturdy
for his age and a brilliant strategist.
I ELD MARSH AT.
OYAMA, whose bril
liant strategy has
electrified the mill
tary world, has been
the brain of Japan’s
fighting arms for
lie property to be stacked or parked and j want the preacher to dismiss the ag couldn’t believe a man existed
turned over to tin officer designated by ' congregation when we see it coin
to secure them. This will not embrace
tlie side arms of officers, or private
horses or baggage. This done, each offi
cer and man will be allowed to return
to their homes, not to be disturbed by
the United States authorities so long as
they observe their parole and the laws
in force where they may reside. Very
respectfully, IT. S. GRANT,
“Lieutenant General.”
GORDON A GEORGIAN.
On June 7. 1864. The Savannah Repub
lican nublislied the following about Gen
eral John B. Gordon:
“We notice that a correspondent of an
Alabama paper claims the distinguished
Gordon as the property of Alabama. To
tin’s claim, as a Georgian, I respectfully
demur.
“General Gordon was born, in 1832.
near the line of Jones and Monroe coun
ties. Georgia. His father was an emi
nent minister of the Baptist church, a
successful planter, and a maa of fine
education and refinement. He was known
all over the soulh as the proprietor of
the celebrated Gordon Springs, In Whit
field county.
“General Gordon graduated at the
Athens college in sharing ti*- first
honor in his class. Ills graduating speech
| attracted universal attention at the time,
, evineing a high order of talent and con-
summate skill In the art of declamation.
| He was admitted to the bar in La-
i Grange in 1853, and married Miss Fannie
j Haralson, third daughter of the Hon.
j Hugh A. Haralson, an accomplished
j >'< ung lady of rare he-iuty. They now
| have two children living.
! In 1854 and 1855 General Gordon prac-
]ticed law in Atlanta, with his two broth-
| ers in law. Hon. B. H. Overby and Lo
gan V. Blakely, but. being the junior
| partner of the firm, and devoting his time
j more to the study of literature and his-
i fory than to practical duties of a
lawyer, he did not succeed well; and
ing.
Happiness is so close to home-folks
they needn't go any further than the
garden palins to find it.
who could write
poor story-”
such a wretchedly
ENTERPRISING LANDLORD.
THE LATER REST.
I.
Who shall tell us Life is best
„ . . , . When, above the dreamless breast,
The enterprising landlord of a rural ! Handg are folded—still in rest?
hotel displays this sign over his j
door: j n
“Five cents for a shot at the liv° j All the sorrows and the sighs—
alligator, and if you hit him three: All the tears that dimmed the eyes
times hand-runnin’,
greens for dinner!”
you get extra I Vanished—’neath the tranquil skies!
ALL-ROUND CITIZEN.
Hamlin Garland has a fine poem in
The Open Road Magazine. All sorts
III.
Though the heart no more shall beat—
After labor rest is sweet,
Daisies at the head and feet!
How Old Southern Homes
Were Illuminated
By HELEN HARCOURT.
VfTiltcn for C/»e Sunny South
ELL you young folks about
tho queer tinder boxes and
lights -that we old folks
had to use when wc were
young ourselves? That is
bc-low. and set it to smouldering. The
sparks never made a blaze. My father
had a tinder box that looked like a
flint-lock pistol, but nothing even “went
off’ in it but the tinder. The lock snap
ped down on the flint, and made sparks
fall on the tinder. Both of these boxes
had places for matches, too.
The way my mother fixed the tinder for
the story you must have j the boxes was this. She took a piece
tonight, is it, you trouble-! of cotton or cotton cloth, and lighted it
some chfidrrn,” said : in the fireplace. There it smouldered on
grandma, with her cheery \ the hearth of a sort of char. Then this
laugh. “So be it, then, j bit of char was put carefully away In
the tinder box. ready for use. But neith
er the tinder box nor the flint and steel
were of any use without the match. But
that was not the kind of match that you
young folks are familiar with, by any
means. To make these matches we took
many years.
For i
and indeed I am nothing
loath, for I think It is
well that you of the new
south should know how
we of the old south had to live and con-
ti-ie In the dajs that are gone. We will pieces of thin wood. 4 or 5 inches
)0gm with the smouldering tale of tlie i ons , our own yellow pine, mostly, or
cypress or red cedar. It did not matter
which, only so that the wood could be
These pieces
of wood were spit up into as many thin
tinder box.
There are very few of you young people !
giving up the law. he went to northwest j the 1 ^ see " e,tl * e t r ! Bplit up fine a ' 1(1 straight
Georgia and took charge of his father’s ! "bl-iashioned t.nder box or the old
. . ; fashioned match. They are as rare and | pieces as possible, and then they were
i burious now as they were common, and [ tied together in bundles. Everybody in
matters of course m my young days. | those days *kept a small iron skillet on
j estate, which included
| mine on Uje line between Alabama and
Georgia. He had built a temporary cab-
; In Just over the line In Alabama. In or-
j der to be convenient to his mines. But
j his family, property, education and mar- •
riage are all Georgian.
“On the breaking out of the war he i
raised a company in Tackson county ! ^
Alabama, a great portion of it being men } i 8 32. and"I was a little girl but I
who were in his employ, known as *Rac-
coon Roughs,’ and brought it to this
city. On his arrival, he made a speech
| There Is the same kind of difference be- j purpose for melting brimstone or sul-
; tween them, and tlie dazzling electric j phur. as it is called now. and into this | Europe. For
long time prior to
the Chino-Japane: a
war he had bei-u
minister of marii.o
and war. He made
all the plans In
Con Oyama that quick, decisie
struggle, both military and naval, at i
when the first moment came took too
field in person, captured Port Arth r
and Wel-hai-Wei, and ended the w it
in short order. As chief of the general
staff at Tokio since that time he a, o
made all the plans for the present war,
and in July last, after the forces of n -
roki, Oku, Nodzu and Nogl had tak n
respective positions, he again took t ie
field as commander in chief. He w s
In personal command when Kuropatkln
was beaten at Liao-Yang, stopped |h it
genera] at the Sha river, when the Rus
sians attempted an offensive movemu:
for the relief of Port Arthur, and lias
now crowned a wonderful campaign by
the decisive victory of Mukden. wh-M
ivuropatkin’s huge army seems to be oil
but annihilated. Marshal Oyama is 60
years old.
HIEF ENGINEER
JOHN F. WAL
LACE, who v.!
probably be the ac
tual working h< i
of the Panama
nal commission t:.
der the proposed
organization of th
body, and who *
likely to be the r-
builder of the ca-
under the prosid' r’j
determination to
John F Wallace trust that WoiaL
the ablest man the country can
duce, is one of the best known civil
gineers in this country, and so well
known abroad and so highly estee: -1
that he has been elected to members .->
in many of the most scientific bodies t
light of the present, that there is b
tweer the sunlight an d the darkness of
a cavo.
We had queer 11( tie lamps in those days.
It was along In the early thirties, about
member it all very well. The lamps were
little tin things that held only about half
a pint of oil, whale oil it was. and every
I at the car shed, which enthused the | on^who'has'use^whllVoil'ToVJn'spra/-
j whole company and ail Ills hearers, with 1 J
! great excitement.
“He took his company to Montgom-
while that of the bear has diminished. The belief j own personal appearance. Dav by day her clothes
bulk of what she could earn from pitiful overwork i ory ’ thtn brought them back to this city, ! which has hardly anv smell
. 1 . , in me cp-irnli frw
went to pay the doctors to keep life in her motner s
feeble frame, and she was compelled to neglect her
is growng that after the battle of Mukden, Russia
will find the process of recuperation protracted
and arduous, and that when she is again in a con
dition to face Oyama’s troops, the latter will be
again in immeasurably superior fettle.
in his search for the seat of war. His
company was finally attached to an Ala
bama regiment, but he soon went up as
major, coolnel, - and. consequently, for
gallant daring at Sharpsburg, where he
received five severe wounds, he w-as
| made a. brigadier general, and placed
ing trees, knows that it don't have
very sweet perfume. The oil was not
like the white 'terosene of these days,
at all. And
1 must tell you. too. that our little tin
lamps had noitlmr chimneys nor shades,
and tho weak flame blew about when-
horrible smelling stuff that nearly choked
us, the ends of the bundle of matches
were dipped, both ends, understand.
There is an old saying that you can't
burn a candle at both ends, but these old
matches could be as well as not.
Well, when we wanted a light, the tin
der box was opened and a gun-fline was
struck very hard against a piece of steel.
That made a few sparks, and they fell
into tlie tinder and made it glow just
enough to make the end -of the brim
stone match flare up. This done, the
cover of the box was shut down as
quickly as possible so as to smother out
the glow and save the tinder for the
next time. If the air had been left to
ever a window or door was opened, and feed it the tinder would all smoulder
often blew out entirely Of course what away. It never got into a blaze, though,
made the oil im ike and smell werse than j For the same reason the match was
ever. But the whale oil was the best | put out as soon as a lamp could he
grew more shabby, and her expression more de-
| jected. And with these changes came the never-
1 ending, nagging ridicule of her coworkers. Thev i „ a , 5’ 0 J, ,... bri f ade ; His ^cent ex- j we could get or knew" "a bout, and "we ! bib ted? so° as "to leave enough ^ of* the
j despised her because she did not wear the gaudy
finery with which they decked themselves, and
One significant factor must not he lost sight of 1 their coarse criticisms finally grew so cruel that
and that is the fact that the finances of Japan are
bolstered by revenues from the United States. For
the last ten years several million dollars in savings
have been sent hack home by Japs in this country,
and in the aggregate these constitute a consider
able sum. Moreover, there is the assertion of the
she abandoned her position. Unable to supplv her
| mother with medical treatment she decided there
was only one way out of the dilemma—suicide.
| And she adopted it.
Here is the lack of kindness shown in an irrefut
able manner. That it is only a small specimen of
Japanese cabinet member that his country entered ! similar cases cannot be doubted.
Moore Donates His Revolutionary Snil-Inoculation
Discovery to Farmers
R. GEORGE T. MOOR I
R. GEORGE T. MOORE, of
Washington, secured in
Starch of last year a pat
ent on methods he had
discovered of making cul
tures of nitrogen fixing
bacteria, of increasing
their nitrogen fixing pow
er ’and of dryinlg them so
that fliey may be sent all
over the world, while at
the same time tlheir ac
tivity Is indefinitely <pre-
served..
The department of agriculture has Just
tesued bulletin No. 71, in Which it makes
known that these patented processes
have been deeded by Dr. Moore to the
department, to be held dn trust for the
use of the general public. The Ameri
can Agriculturist of this week says that.
Dr. .Moore could undoubtedly have made
a very great fortune if he had formed a
company and exploited the patent. But
he chose to make a gift of it to tho
farmers of America.
The bulletin tells how the soil may be
enriched by introducing into ithern ascer
tain kind of bacteria which have the
had to be answered before the discov
ery could be of large practical utility.
Professor Nobbe, of Germany, thought
ho had solved the problem. He found
tUiat .by taking ithe nodules or tubercles
containing the bacteria which develop on
the roots of the legumes he could Inoc
ulate other legumes on wlhich the bac
teria did not develop without inocula
tion.
EXPERIMENTED IN GERMANY.
Then he found that he could isolate the
bacteria and breed them in large colo
nies. He made a great sensation among
German farmers when he advertised his
discoveries and there was a large de
mand for his bacteria, which he sold in
bottles at SI each.
But his bottled bacteria did not prove
satisfactory. Tlhe microscopic animals
died and ithe farmers who expected won
derful results were disappointed.
Our department of agriculture sent an
agont to Germany to report on these ex
periments. He found that they were
not successful, but the department still
licped that some method might be per
fected of utilizing the discovery.
Tlie services of Dr. Moore were at last
secured and he gave his tab ole intention
power of fixing in tlie soil nitrogen from ] fo the investigation. “He has eucceed-
tlie air so that it is available for plant od.” says the bulletin, “in .perfecting the
The next step was to discover jpome
simple means by which these bacteria
might be distributed far and wide with
out deterioration. He found at last that
be could dry them and ’later revive them
in a liquid medium and that they re
tained their TlTgh activity. He soaked
small bits of coTton in his cultures and
discovered that when dried out they re
tained millions of bacteria Hhat could be
sent to any part of the world..
HAS ALREADY BEEN TESTED.
As a result of this work it is now pos
sible to inoculate at very small expense
the seed of all leguminous plants. Last
spring the department began the distri
bution of bacteria to a very large num
ber of applicants living in nearly every
part of this country and in many foreign
countries.
The results obtained have been ex
tremely satisfactory. The pamphlet
prints some hundreds of letters showing
that the crops of alfalfa, red clover, cow
peas, garden peas, beans, soy beans,
crimson clovfer, filcld peas, sweet peas,
velvet .beans, 'peanuts and other legumes
were greatly increased by the use of the
culture, and the result upon succeeding
crops is beneficial.
Thus investigation in this country have
led to a practical method of introducing
atmospheric nitrogen into the soil in a
Ploits are familiar to every reader of the
press.
“General Gordon is about 6 feet high,
is well formed, has a graceful bearing,
round, clear, deep blue eyes, fine teeth,
smooth complexion, brown hair, light
brown beard, is very handsome, and pre- j sort "of
possessing in his manners, and has fine
conversational powers, tie is polite In
his manners, modest to a fault, and Is a.
pious, praying, Christian gentleman.
“When excited, his whole countenance
beams with ardent enthusiasm. It is that
bent of his characier wnich is winning
all his fame. He is actuated by princi
ple, and is, indeed, correct. His soul is
in his work, hence his success, and the
Influence he has over his men.
“Vve wish to claim nothing that be
longs to Alabama, but can’t begin to
give John .b. Gordon up. He is, all over,
a Georgian.”
food. Nitrogen is one of the ‘principal
plant foods, and it forme over three-
•ourth* or dfoe weight of the air. Tlie
Ann told about a year ago how It had
ibeen discovered that The bacteria living J in Froessor Nobbe’s methods and be-
forrn in which it may be utilized for
pure culture method of multiplying and j pi^t food.
distributing the bacteria even beyond | "
our “xpectations.”
Dr. .M'oore discovered the weak points
in the Toots of leguminous plants change I gan a long scries of experiments. W'ith-
atmoepherlc nitrogen info soluble form j out following tlie-'minutiae of hie work,
for plant food so that plants may get ! it is enough to say that he originated
from the air the nitrogen they need. j a new method of feeding by which he
But how could these nitrogen ilxin'g i developed a -type of bacteria possessing
bacteria be artificially multiplied and i from five to ten times as much power to
distributed to farmers so that they i fix free nitrogen as ithe original colonies
might enrlafa th* wBl Tbl* question had possessed*
SHAME.
Aunt Julia—“I was awfully disappointed
today.”
Pretty Niece—“That’s too bad, aunty.
How did it happen?”
Aunt Julia—“I started to read what I
thought was going to be a perfectly love
ly patent medicine advertisement and it
turned out to be only a commonplace
love storjf."
1
PATRIOTIC OFFER.
A soldier of the Army of the Shenan
doah proposes, through The Richmond
Sentinel, that the soldiers of that army
“donate their tobacco rations, during the
war, for the benefit of tfcMr former com
rades who are now In northern prisons.”
The Sentinel, in reply, says:
“The above is, Indeed, a most generous
and touching offer, and is made in a spirit
of noble self-sacrifice that could have
come only from one of our incomparable
soldiers. God bless them! We hope the
proposition may reach our captives in
their prison houses, that they may know
how tenderly they are remembered by
their brave comrades at home. We can
not consent, however, that our soldiers
shall make such a sacrifice of their few
camp cosiforts. It must not and will
not be necessary. Under the arrange
ment which has been made by which the
government may supply our soldiers in
captiv.ty, rations or tobacco, will, of
course, be forwarded to them. The solic
itude felt by our correspondent for their
comfort in this particular will be grati
fied without the generous sacrifice which
he is so ready to incur.”
One-Man Trust.
Gyer—“My friend Catchem writes me
that he has a lead-pipe cinch in an Ari
zona won.”
Myer—“He’s a plumber, eh?”
Gyer—“No; he’s the only doctor, drug
gist and undertaker in the place.”
Both Were Shy.
Tom—“Well, if you think so much of
her, why don’t you get married?”
Jack—“Because we are both shy.”
Tom—“How’s that?”
Jack—“I’m shy of her because she Is
shy of cash.**
"’ere thankful for that much light on the
dark ways of the night.
PETTICOAT LAMPS.
Those tin lamps often had two tubes
for (he wicks, but they gave a no-ac
count light even then. The lamps were
shape, or like the common
stone jugs that are so common now,
and some of them had a little tin part
that was like a dress ‘kirt. Tt was
really a stand to set the lamp on to make
it higher, and those lamps w-ere called
fetticoat lamrs. There were ether lamps
that had no petticoat, but had soldered
on the bottom a hollow pipe like a boy’s
bean blower. This pipe was made to
put a stick into it, and the lamp was
called a peg lamp. Of course the stick
bad to he stuck into something to make
the lamp stard up at all. Sometimes it
was a bottle, and soirotin-.es an apple or
potato sliced flat so that it would stan I
steady. But often these bag lamps
seemed .to get tipsy, and nothing could
induce them to stay straight. Many were
the scares they tave us for fear of fire,
and many were 'he dollars worth of fine
clothing they ruined. There was just
enough of the flame in them to set fire to
things when they upset, but not much
more. It was a “woo ’en light” to read
by. Often I’ve seen my mother sitting j
by the table with the Bible spread opm
1 efore her. and holding one < f the tiny
tin lamps In her hand, and putting her
eyes out trying to read by ithe flickering
flame.
About the tinder box? Yes, I’m coming
to that right now. That was how wo
used !o light our lamps—with a tinder
box and a flint and steel, and a home
made match at the end of all the bother.
It w r as not like the quick stroke of a
nice, snappy match, touched to a big
round wick in a big glass lamp, with a
big kerosene light at the end of this
easy performance. No, indeed, there was
a lot of fuss and feathers to get the
poor little lamp lighted at all. Mother
used to say that it .was “much ado
about nothing.” It wasn’t quite that to
be sure, but it was next door to it.
The tinder box itself was just a D ; a in
tin box. It might be a round fiat one,
like the shoe blacking boxes of today or
r might be a square one. But it was
never very big, was always shallow and
always had a tight lid, to act as a damp
er when wanted. Some folks that sot
up for more style than others, had their
tinder boxes fancy-1,ke. i remember one
that looked just like a little wheelbarrow
upskle down. The wheel was the size of
a .tlvei dollar. it W as set spinning
around with a string, something in t o
way that the boys s pin their t f n
the cover was lifted off the box
flint held against the wheel The W c
tion caused sharks fo fall into £**££
stick for lighting at the unused end. If
a fire was to be made in the kitchen
stove or in a fireplace paper or pine
knots lighted at the lamp flame did th»
work.
It was not only a great bother to
get our lights this way, but it was not
everybody that could use the flint and
steel and tinder. More than half of our
hundred slaves were perfectly helpless
when it came to striking their own
lights and they were always coming to
the cook to beg for some live coals to
start their fires in the quarters. And it
wasn’t only the colored folks either.
Lots of the white folks were just as bad.
It was hard work when the weather was
damp or your fingers were cold on win
ter mornings. And if a body happened
to be cross or nervous it was almost
a sure thing that the flint and steel
would not work at all. Many a time
have I seen the “good wife” from the
neighbors’ houses, after we moved into a
village, come running across the street
with a shovel or a tin bucket to beg a
shovelful of live coals, when the smoke
from our chimney showed that we had a
good fire going.
KEEPING THE FIRE BURNING.
It was only careless folks or unlucky
ones that let their fires go out entirely.
At night the head of tlie house, whether
man or woman, took every precaution
to keep tlie fire from going out without
permission. An hour or more before
bed time a heavy back log was put on
the firedogrs and when It was well alight
with a nice bed of live coals under it’
shovelful after shovelful of ashes were
h UP ° Ver 11 t0 keep the fire from
burning out. The next morning, when
the ashes were raked off, plenty of hot
coals were found to start that and other
th«% ,1" ° Ur famiIy and in others where
the folks were forehanded and careful
the fires were kept alight this way the
whole year through, so that it was hard
y eyer necessar y to resort to tit
troublesome tinder box. Ule
th! hey J Were S ° very bothersome these
three disgraces to human intellect that
the people at last began tn ’ lnat
something better. The outcrv f ° r
Inventive genius to wank anVthe S -’ e
stantaneous light box” An ln '
bo “'I 3 meditaUons ’ 11 was a smalTth 1
box ln which was a bottle nf ", J. U **
acid, with enough fibrous asbestos* 11 * 0
ID the neiU .. SDeStoS to
soak up the acid and keen it V
ing ent (I ... eep u from spill
mg out. In the “Instantaneous
box” was also a S m, Dlv 3 ’j; sht
These were small splints of wood" 1 ^ 01163 '
inches long. One end of them d about 2
with a chemical mSure It w WaS C<>ated
of potash, powdered'loaf ^ ata
L^i^The mixture was7cJo£
many years h - was con
nected with the Illinois Central rail
road. working up through all the grades
to the office of general manager, a post
he held at the time he was selected s i
months ago by the canal commission fir
the office of chief engineer
NITED STATES
SENATOR WIL
LIAM B. BATE, of
Tennessee, veteran
of the Mexican war
and a major gem-ral
in the confeder e
army, i 3 dead. Th»
end came while In
was in harness ia
Washington, and d-
though not exa !y
unexpected, was a
decided shock to >s
Senator Bate friends. He was
born in Tennessee in 1826, and sta a
life unostentatiously as a river ste .-
boat clerk, to leave this occupation f r
that of a private soldier in the Mex an
war. He attained distinction in this
S . tr !! SS i e .’ and retur ning to Tenni: s
studied law an dentered politics. He Lad
1 nm? ,77 governor of the state anl
united btates senator since 1887.
Walter Hume Long, who has been
chosen chief secretary for Ireland, hit
been president of the local government
board since 1900. H is father was Rich
ard Penruddocks Long, and he was bon,
JUly ,3 - l854 - Bred at Harrow and a#
Christ church, Oxford, he married in
It seems to be taken for granted in
Si. Petersburg that Kuropatkin will b«
recalled and General Sakharoff, the min*
- S 7 af war ’ J* Picked as the man
most likely to take his place ?s head
of the army ln Manchuria. Genenil
.. haroff is 64 years old, a veteran
of the Turkish war, and was chief of staff
Of the army in Turkestan when he wa.
.7 l ° St ’ Petersburg to succeed Kuro*
Patkin as minister of war a year a**
His younger brother is Kuropatkin’s ch‘A
of staff in Manchuria.
^CONTINUED
at his MERCY.
lumber^'The water i a rushing in vour
k tchen by the gallon, sir. n, men d th.
Pipes for $10.”
Wr. Marks—“Ten dollars? Why yea
make my head swim.”
Plumber W ell, if you don’t agree t®
Pay it your kitchen will swim.”
SURE.
(From Life.)
youve any doubts about racing mi*
chines,
Old Tennyson’s lines you’ll recall:
better, you know, to ha?e mangled
and killed
Than to never have motored at all.
NO ROOM FOR DOUBT.
Scribbine—“Why do yo „ think Funnlr
an rl 7 S bat Utt, « of humor?”
lbbles— Because he reads all hi*
11 Jokes to hi* wif> ••