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AURELIA’S UNFORTUNATE
YOUNG M.iN.
The facts in the following
come to me by letter from a young
lady who lives in the beautiful city*
of San Jose ; she is»?ei’fectly unknown
to me, and simply signs
‘Aurelia Maria,’ which may, possibly,
be a fictions name. But no matter.
The poor girl is almost heart broken
by the misfortunes she has undergone,
and so confused by the conflicting
counsels of misguided friends and
enemies, that she does not know what
course to pursue in order to extricate
herself from the web of difficulties in
which she seems almost hopelessly
involved. Jn this dilemma, she turns
to me for help, and supplicates for
my guidance and instruction with a
moving eloquence that would touch
the heart of a statue. Hear her sad
story :
blie says, that when she was six¬
teen years old. she met, and loved,
with all the devotion of a passionate
nature, a young man from New Jer¬
sey, named Williamson Breckenridge
Caruthers, who was some six years
her senior. They were engaged, with
the free consent of her friends and
relatives ; and for a time, it seemed
as if their career was destined to be
characterized by an immunity from
sorrow beyond the usual lot of hu¬
manity. But at last the tide of for tuns
changed. Young Caruthers became
infected with small-pox of the most
virulent type ; and when he recovered
from his dines?, his face was pitted
lik 3 a waffle; mould, and his comeli¬
ness gone forever Aurelia thought
to break off the engagement at first;
but pity for her unfortunate lover
caused her to postpone the marriage
day for a season, and give him anoth¬
er trial.
The very day before the wo filing
wa, to have taken place, Breckenridge.
while al*s< r >ed in watching the flig it
of a balloon, walked into a well, imo
fractured one of his legs; and it had
to fie taken off above the knee, ' gain
Aurelia was moved to break the
engagement ; but again true love
triumphed ; and she set the day for¬
ward, and gave him another chance to
reform.
And again misfortune overtook the
unhappy youth. He lost one arm by
the premature discharge of a fourth
of July cannon, and, within three
months, he got the other pulled out
by a carding machine. Aurelia's
heart was almost crushed by these
calamities. She could not but be
deeply grieved to see her love passing
from Ler by piecemeal, feeling as she
did, that he could not last forever
under this disastrous process of re¬
duction yet knowing of no way to
stop its dreadful career, and, in her
tearful despair, she almost regretted,
like brokers who hold on and lose,
that she had not taken him at first,
before he had suffered such an alarm¬
ing depreciation. Still her brave soul
bore her up, and she resolved to bear
with her friend’s unnatural disposi¬
tion vet a little longer.
Again the wedding day approach¬
ed, and again disappointment over-
phadowed it. Caruthers fell ill with
erysipelas, and lost, the use of one o!
his eves entirely. The friends and
relatives of the bride, considering
that she had already put up with more
than could reasonably be expected oi
her, now eamc forward, and insisted
that the match be broken off. But.,
after wavering a while. Aurelia, with
a generous spirit which did her credit
said she had reflected calmly upon
the matter, and could not discover
that Breckenridge was to blame.
So she extended the time once
more, and he broke his other leg
It was a sad day for the poor girl,
when she saw the surgeons reverently
bearing away the sac k whose uses she
ha l learned by previous expeneuce.
and her heart tol l her the bitter truth
that some more ofher lover wasgone
She felt that the field of her affections
wns"rowing mor^circuinscribed every
day : but once more she frowned d iwa
her relatives, and renewed her
betrothal.
Shortly before trie time set for
nuptials, another disaster oorurr d
There was but on« man scalped bv
the Owens River In lians last year,
That man was \V. B. Caruthers. of
New jersey. He waa hurrying 1 ome
with happiness iu hi* heart when he
lost his hair forever; and in that hour
of bitUm#»« he almost carted the
TOCCOA NEWS
By fdw SCHEAFER- }•
VOL, IX.
mistaken mjrcy that had spared his
head.
At last Aurelia is in serious per-
plexity as to what site ought to do.
She still loves her breckenridge, she
writes, with true womanly feeling—
she still loves what is left of him.
But her parents arc bitterly opposed
to the match, because lie , has no
property, and is disabled from
ing and she has no sufficient means
to support comfortably. ‘Now, what
should she do?’ she r, 3 ks with painful
and anxious solicitude
It is a delicate question ; it is one
which involves the life long happiness
of a woman and that of nearly two-
thirds of a man, and I feel that it
would be assuming too great a
responsibility to do more than make
a mere suggestion in the case. How,
would it do to build to him? If
Aurelia can afford the expense, let
her furnish her mutilated lover with
wooden arms and wooden legs, and a
wig, and give him another show; give
him ninety days, without grace, and
ifhe docs not break his neck in the
mean time, marry him and take the
chances. It docs not soetn to me
that there is much risk anyway,
Aurelia, because, if he sticks to lus
infernal propensity for damaging
himself e ery time he sees a goo l
opportunity, his next experiment is
bound to finish him, and then you are
all right,you know married or single
If married, the wooden limbs and
4
su di other valuables as he may pos¬
sess, revert to the widow, and you see
you sustain no actual loss, save the
cherished fragment of a noble but
most unfortunate husband, who
hon stly strove to do right, but whose
extraordinary instincts were against
him. 1 ry it, Maria ! I have though
the matter over carefully* and well,
and it is the only chance I see fo
you. It would have been a happy
conceit on the part of Caruthers, if
he had started with his neck and
broken that first; but since he has
seen fit to choose a different policy,
and string himself out as long as
possible, I do not think we ought to
upbraid him for L if he has enjoyed
it \\ c must do the best we can
under the circumstances, and try not
to feel exasperate l at liim.-=-M.
Twain
SUICIDE OF AN EX-NOBLEMAN
AT BIRMINGHAM.
Birmingham (Ala.) Age. 14th
Yesterday morning about nine
o’clock the guddeu report of a pistol
m the bar and restaurant of v\. B.
Jones, oj Second avenue, near Twen¬
ty first street, attracted the attention
of passers by, and investigation
revealed the faot tiiat Prof. F. A.
PlatLnsldaeger had committed sui
cide. For some time past the
dec aaed bad seemed to appear de¬
pressed in spirit, and had oft-times
been sjco under the influence of
strong drink- A friend of the gentle¬
man gives us the following account
of the sad affair, the substance of
which was in evidence before the cor¬
oner s jury, lie says that on unday
morning about seven o'clock deceased
met him and, complaining of being
troubled exhibited a derringer pis¬
tol, remarking that in a short time
lie would take his life. This friend
gays that, although he vlid not be
heve Mr. P. was in earnest, he made
every effort to get the deadly wcap-
on away from him whioh he sue-
needed in doing, and placed it in the
fluids of the barkeeper. Then he
b came more quiet, did not seem so
much exoited, and seamed to give up
ail thought of doing violence to b m*
self.
Yesterday morning (Monday) be-
tween 7 and 8 o'clock deceased went
to our informant perfectly cool an
sober, a .d said : Friend, ail i was
saying yesterday was foolishness. I
was out of my mind, and I knew not
whatl was doing, i shall do no such
thing as that I was talking about
Devoted to News> Politics* Agricu **re and ^en/^al prrgiess-
TOCCOA, GA., APRIL 1. 1882.
yesterday. And now let the man give
roc me pistol back.’ Perfectly sure
of his candidness, and seeing that ho
was entirely quiet, our informant
returned to him bis property. All
this took place at Jones’ restaurant,
Having received his pistol, Mr. P. sat
at the table with this gentleman and
had a conversation for one hour. It
was nearly 9 o'clock when our in-
formant got up and went across the
room, and spoke to Mr. Jones, the
proprietor of the place, saying, ‘I do
not believe P. is going to commit any
such thing, he is speaking too much
of it'—and in that moment they heard
a report. Mr. Jones called out, ‘Sure
enough, be has done it’ and when
they ran to him he was dead, having
shot himself through the right temple.
about one inch above the ear. De¬
ceased did not fall out of his seat,
although he died instantly. His head
fell over and rested on his shoulder
until he was removed to the rear
room.
Prof. Plaffenshlager was about
sixty odd years of ag‘, but had been
a resident of Birmingham not longer
than two years. Since he came here
he has been engaged in teaching
music, in which art he stood excel¬
lency well.
A very intimate friend of the de¬
ceased tells us that the real name of
the gentleman is Loyd Secau—»aid he
was banished from Austria after the
revolution ip 1S48, when the Empe-
ror out of consideration lor the
family, and for lie long and great
services that family had given to the
house of i apsburg, had changed the
sentence of death to that of perpetual
banishment and loss of title. The
present incumbent of the estates and
of t he title is Fransicus Adolphus
Lord Secau, at Sceau, in Upper
Austria, the son of the departed gen¬
tleman—hereditary member of the
douse of Lords, and the seventh
Lord of that name. Before being
elevated to the Feership, the Seeaus
were Baronets in Austria, and gave
immense services to the crown.
After coming to this country, Prof.
P. learned the printer’s trade in New
York, and served on the Herald for
a number of years then came South.
He married a widow' lady, a Mrs,
Stone, of Pickens county, this State,
several years ago, and she is the
only one of his family on this side
of the water.
AN OPIUM K »TER
BURGLARIZES A HOUSE TO PROCURE
SOME OF TIIK DRUG.
A ease of peculiar interest was
tried before Judge Holt of the county
court yesterday morning. It is one
of those instances where a man ad¬
dicted to the use of opium will resort
to any means, fair or foul, tq get
possession of the terrible stuff.
One Parr was arrested for forcing
the ch>or of a small house on the prem¬
ises of Mr. T. K. Youngblood, and
stealing therefrom a number of car¬
penters’ tools belonging to Mr. W.
S. Y)ungbl«od. After stoaling the
tools he sold a brace and several bits
to Mr. Hightowerat h)His factory for
two dollars, and a saw lie soaked
with P. S Hannon on Fourth street
for thirty cents. The case was a
clear one, admitting of but one fact—
that he stole them. Indeed, he vol¬
untarily confessed to Lt. Wood, who
arrested him, that he had taken the
tools for the purpose of buying
laudanum,
r Dessau, counsel for the defense.
get US> the plea that the defendant
cam- out of the late war with a case
of chronic D arrfloea, for which he was
obliged to take morphine. The habit
thu<> grew upqri him, and ever since
he has taken great quantities of the
drug. When deprived ol it, and
when suffering from a desire to get
that which he lia 1 no funds to pay
! for las agony was fearful, and
every
conscieut.ous scruple was overcome,
Dr. J. Emmett Jblaeksheer testified
that a man in the coi d t ion of Parr
whom he knew, could not well deter-
mine between right and wrong, an-
that he would resort to any m-aus t-
get the drug. This, too, was corrob-
orated by Parr’s brother-in-law, who
said that Parr had stolen from him in
order to get money to buy the opium :
that his condition was, when lu
wanted laudanum and oouldn t get i!»
simply terrible.
Judge bolt saw but one disposi¬
tion to make of the case, having satis¬
fied himself that Parr was really a
confirmed opium cater and hardly
responsible for his acts when suffer
ing from a want of it, and his verdict
was that Parr was guilty of the
laroeny, but suspended sentence,
Solicitor Hardeman offered to do all
in bis power to carry out the lenient
disposition of the court. He was
taken back to jail, but will be carried
to the hospital this morning, where
Dr. Wright will endeavor to cure him
of the habit.
While in court Parr trembled like
one shivering with a cold; and the
peculiar expression of his face aryl
eyes, plainly told of the agony the
poor man had endured from a habit
that is the most fearful a human
being can contract.—Macon Tele¬
graph.
JEB STUART’S LAST FIGHT,
irow THE DASHING TROOPER MKT Ills
DEATH FROM SHERIDAN'S MEN AT
VKI-LOW TAVERN.
[J. Esten Cooke in Phila. Times ]
The battle had evidently reached
the turning point, and Stewart saw
the desperate character of his situa¬
tion. It was difficult to use his
artillery in auoh a melee of friend and
foe, and his left wing was soon in
utter disorder. The Federal attack
had at last succeeded in breaking it
to pieces ; the men were scattering in
every direction, and seeing Major
Breathed near him, Stuart shouted :
‘Breathed! take command of all
the mounted men in the road, and
hold it against whatever comes. If
thjs road is lost we are gone !’
Such an order was precisely suited
to the tastes of such a man like
Breathed. I Was intimately acquaint¬
ed with him and never knew a human
being who took such sincere delight
in desperate fighting, At Stuart’s
order Breathed saluted, and shouting
to the men to follow him, charged the
Federal column, apparently careless
whether he was followed or not. He
was immediately surrounded and a
hot sabre fight took place between
himself and his swarm of enemies. A
sabre blow nearly cut him out of the
saddle and he received a pistol shot
in his side, but he cut down one
Federal qffjcer, killed another with
his revolver, and made his way out,
his face streaming with blood. At
this moment the artillery opened, but
a determined charge w^s made on the
guns and all the pieces were captured
but one. The driver of this piece
lashed the horses and rushed the gun
off towards the Chiqkahominy, fol
lowed by the ccnnonecrs, cursing and
shouting: ‘For God’s sake, boys, lets
go back; they’ve got Breathed!’ It
would have been better for the gun to
have been captured. As it was whirl¬
ing on at wild speed it broke through
the cavalry, throwing them intq
disorder, and before the line was
reformed the enemy struck it. and
the ba.tle was ended. Both the
Southern wings were driven, and
there was no hope of continuing the
contest. JStflart wgs nearly in despair,
and was seen galloping about, shout-
m g and waving his sabre in a desper-
ate attempt to rally his men, but
was impossible. The field was a
scene of the wildest disorder. Fcderals
a „d Confederates were darting in
every direction, and one of the
e r as he darted by Stuart, fired at
him and shot him through the body,
The bullet entered his side, and
i TERMS- $1 60 A TEAR.
NO.
passing through the stomach, inflicted
a mortal wound. In its passage *it
just grazed a small‘Bible which he
always carried, the gift of his mother.
He reeled in the saddle and was
caught by Captain Dorsey, of
First Virginia, and as he closed his
eyes lie seemed about to expire on the
field. His immense vitality, however,
sustained him, and, endeavoring to
rise erect again in his saddle, he
exclaimed to those around him : *Go
l.ack ami do yonr duty as 1 have
done mine, and our country will be
safe!’
LOST IN THE FOG.
Burlington Hawkeye.
Erasmus T. Ruggleson, a young
man of Saxon lineage, worked on a
farm out here in Yellow Springs
township. He was not rich, but he
was industrious and just too pretty
for anything. So was the daughter
of the farmer for whom he worked.
She was wealthier than Erasmus, but
she was not proud. When the chores
were done in the winter evenings, she
went with him to the singing school
and she walked by his side to church.
She loved him : she had rather sit at
her casement in the gloaming, and
hear him holler ‘po-qo-ey !’ in long-
drawn, measured cadences, at the
hour of the feeding of the swine, than
hearCampanini sing ‘Macaroni del
Vermicelli’ from ‘Handorgzhanni in
Venezuela.’ And he—lie was clean
gone on her. Mashed past all surgery.
When they foolishly' let the old man
into their plana for each other’s
happiness and half the farm, the
wrathful agriculturist said if he heard
one more word of such nonsense, just
another word, he would lay that farm
waste with physical havoc, ami blight
its winter wheat with the salt tears
of his only child, and that was the
kind of a father in law he was inclined
to be.
Naturally the young people determ
ined to fly. Their plans were laid;
the night was set. So was the ladder.
At its foot waited the ardent Eras
mu3 Ruggleson, gazing at the window
for the appearance of his love.
Presently the window opened softly,
and a face be loved appeared.
‘Rasmus !’
‘Florence !’
‘Yes, dearest. Shall I drop my
things right down?’
•Yes love; I will catch them. Let
the bundle fall/
The glittering starlight in the clear
March night fell on Erasmus’ glad
and upturned face. Fo did a trunk,
four feet high, four feet wide, and
about eight feet long. It weighed
about 2J00 pounds It contained a
few ‘things’ that no woman could be
expected to travel without, and
Florence spent three weeks packing
that trunk for her elopement.
Erasmus Ruggleson did not screara*
He did not, moan. He couldn’t. He
had no show. Florence came down
the lad ler, having first, with a maid
enly sense of propriety, requested her
lover to turn his back and look at the
barn. was busily engaged in
looking at the bottom of that trunk,
and thinking how like all creation he
would yell if he ever got hi» mouth
outdoors again.
Florence reached the bottom of the
ladder. ‘Did you get my trunk,
Erasmus?’ she said, locking around
for him.
‘Oh, yes,’ said a horse mooking
voice at her elbow. ‘Oh, yes, he got
jt. Got it bad, too/
She turned, knew her papa, shrieked
once, twice, again and once more for
the boys, and fainted away,
T never worried about it %.minute,’
the heartless, old man told his neigh
the next day, ‘though I
well enough what was going on all
the time. I’ve been married twice,
an’I’ve married off four daughters
and two sons, an’ if I don’t know
what baggage a woman carries when
she travels, by this time, I'm too old
to learn/
And Erasmu* Ruggleson! The
Jury brought in a verdict that he
came to his death by habitual drunk
enness, and the temperance papers
didn't talk about anything else for the
next six weeks.
WHOM NOT TO MARRY.
Women who love their husbands
are happy and at rest. Those who
do not are disturbed and restless,
They are always seeking for some
means of killing time. They are
rea d v to flirt at any moment. Their
ohik j ren arc> accor ding to their means,
either hidden in nurseries undsr the
care of French ‘bonnes,’ or handed
over to Sallie, the slatternly nurse, to
shake, and slap, and stuff with sugar,
as her wisdom dictates, while society
and amusements of all sorts occupy
their mother's time. Homo is not
always happy to the poor woman,
hccau60 she hll5 chosen her roatc
foolishly— because she trusted to that
dove after marriage’ which mercenary
old people promise those who make
what they call a sensible match. Sad,
as a neglcoted wife, who love* her
husband well, must be, I believe she
is happier than this poor restless
creature, though she be worshipped.
The love of one who does not love
becomes simply a bore, especially in
the close intercourse of home life;
and she who docs not give her heart
to her husband is not likely to care
much for her children, Sa, girls, if
you do not love your lover, .don’t
marry' him, Remoraber that mar*
riage is a serious step, and that when
you give him your hand that he may
encircle it with a wedding ring, you
seal the happiness or misery of your
natural life. Don’t marry unless you
arc sure of your love for him, and his
for you.
KILLING ALLIGATORS.
A Detroiter who had just returned
from Florida after spi absence of
several months, was asked the other
day if he had any fun with the alliga¬
tors down there.
‘Yes, sir—dead loads of fun,* he
replied. *
‘Kill many?*
* JFell, I should say so '/
‘How many clid you ever krill in a
davT
Three hundred/
•No! you don’t mean 300 alligator*
in one day?’
‘Yes, I do-’
‘You must have struck a rich spat.
Three hundred in one day ! Wlxcw !
UTiat time did you begin !*
•Oh, about 10 o’clock in the morn -
ing/
’And how long did it take you?*
‘About an hour/
There was a pause, during which
astonishment, incredulity and wone
were visible on the faces of the crowd.
Finally one man stepped forward
aid said:
‘Did you use artillery?’
‘No, sir.’
‘A saw mil£
'No. sir/
‘Dynamite?
‘Ao, sir/
‘Maybe you 11 tell us how you did
it?*
«Ves, sir—/ talked ’em to death,
Please call at my office for pamphleU
of Florida—its resources, fruits,
cereals, alligators, people and hotel
charges. 7’ra-la! —Free Press,
OLD JERRY’S PHILOSOPHY.
B’hat de white folk* call humor and
pithos is not dc result ob eddycation,
Ter laugh and ter cry comes natural
to a child.
Nature can get down ter mighty
fiue work. Look at de saws on de
hind legs ob a grasshopper.
Congress ain’t passed no law yet
dat kin take de kidney outen a nig^
ger 8 foot,
Ef de descendants ob da rooster
what crowed atReter was ter make a
noise cbery time a lie is told dar would
be such a noise in de world dat ysr
couldn’t heah de hens cackle.
‘Mary says you can’t come to sec
her auy more, sati a l »
sister s admirer. ‘\Yhynot.
y° u c° mc to sc€ ter cv ® r - v ere ° in S.
» nd hovr could J’ ou cowe an v mor *'
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