The Butts County progress. (Jackson, Ga.) 18??-1915, January 23, 1908, Image 6

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RED BRADBURY'S END. i "! 0G - o1( 1 man maundered, as he layhis length in the bf and, ■ 100, God bless you, my son. but your dad sno better than ueaa, , J-.b, lin a powerful sinner, and 1 thank the l,onl tor the same, I tint. Joe. I’m dying, 1 tell you! Joe, Joe, and 1 can't die game. “Aye. old man,’’ said the son, "die game Or die like a rat;^ If you please to sneak into heaven I-see no harm in that. "But the parson, Joe. for pity!” The son leaned forth from his chair, And the old man shrank and whimpered ami shuddered away irOm ins eta.a It was night and the wind blew loud, and the rain swept ovhKjhe-moor, ; And one< and again a branch tap-tapped-like a hand at the door; i The fire' leaped, Dickered, and tell, to rid a -candle guttered and winked, J And the old man peered at the light till his eyelids reddened and blinked. “Joe,” he quavered again. “ 'twas cunning, eh, my son? We stopped the mouths of the rogues, and we fought the law and we won. But I tell you here as I he, 1 can see those, corpses stand, Witli a tongue in every wound, all bloody at God's right hand. “I can’t die yet! I can’t! Oh, mercy! 11l tell! i’ll tell! Quick fetch me a parson, Joe, and save tny soul out of hell!” The old man stopped, tor his breath came short, and light crew dim; , Cut he shicked, "i'm going to God, and I must get right with ,Him!” i • ,i4 ’ 4 i "Dad,” said the son, "lie still; die easy; let bygones be. Now your own no<-k’s tree of the noos-- you shall tell no talcs on me. We’ve kept our counsel together; get with Gcal if you will; God tells no tales, but parsons may, undTf f?ay, lie still!” Then the whole pent rage and Remorse of the old man burst In a cry, And he hounded up in the heel and he Dung up tils arms on high; His clenched lists beating the air; then he doubled and fell on the bed. And his eyt-B were a fear to see; they lived, but the man was dead —Arthur Hymens, in The Han Francisco Argonaut. WOLF-MATES. BY JOHN BIRD I'URN HAM. The wolves In the arctic prey upon the barren ground caribou, and arc born and grow up on the flanks-of the wandering herds. The gaunt moth er wolves single out and pull down suckling calves that their own baby wolves may grow big and strong, and capture for thernselveS and their, off spring other calves in the years to come. From ages of this kind of liv ing the wolves have grown to regard t!*v caribou as belonging to them, in summer they follow the herds, north through the barren grounds' to the shores of the polar ocean, at;d in win-t ter (hoy retreat with the caribou to. the shelter of the pine and spruce for ests just below the arctic circle. Orice in a while a few wolves be-’ come separated, through’- sickness Or Injury, from the particular herd,,.that has been their inheritance, and some of these recover health and' strength 1 ; but their lot Is a hard one, '-especially , In seasons when rabbits are scarce. Such wolves, desperate from hunger, rush Into Indian camps, and carry off dogs from under their, masters’ r very,, eyes. Sometimes they fall tiff oh ihS Indians thoni&hlvcs, -so that it is'by no means safe for children or unarmed persons to wander alpne, ih the,forest.. Donald Mckercher and. I had an ex perience with a pair of these 'stray ■wolves last winter, whilo cahvperl' pn the Yukon, just below the mouth of the Pelly. We had selected a cabin site in a thick spruce growth at one extremity'of a little arena-like (hit, and were engaged in sledding supplies form our boats, which lay wrecked qn a bar in the ice-locked channel of the river between two Islands a little more than quarter of a mile away. At the time we were living in a tent on the Island nearest the boats. The day we began our work Mac, on his return from a short reconuoitering trip, said to me: “Down at yon point there's an old efcoop camp, and the place is all trod den up with wolves and wild crea tures. They’ve been digging in the snow and rooting out bones. We'd bet ter put out some poison for the beasts." As we were greatly in need of furs for bedding and storm clothing, and had some strychnin with us, I assent ed to Mac’s proposition. He groped deep In his clothing sack, and present ly drew forth a roll of red flannel, from the center of which he produced a tiny bottle, containing the strychnin. “Mon, hut’s dangerous stuff to han dle!” he said. "It’s death in a mustard seed, as you might say. I’m going over to the next island to mix it. It would not be safe to have it so near where we cook ami cat." Half an hour later he returned, hold ing at arm's length a tin lard can cov er. on which were a dozen or more cubes of poisoned grease about the, si/e of caramels. The gloom of the sunless day was already deepening in to night, but we could not afford to lose time in the matter, and so we started down the river to put the poison out for the wolves. At the old sheep camp the place was so tracked up by wolf trails that it would be next to impossible io single out and follow the trail of any parti cular animal taking cur poison. “We can’t do anything here tonight.” said Mac, ruefully. "We will take the poison out on the river, away from this tangle, and hide it, and tomorrow we can come back and select gcod places and put out the baits.” We dug a hole in the snow in the center of the channel between the mainland and an island, and buried the poison where the ravens could not find and devour it. The following morning we were con siderably surprised to find the evenly punctuated footprints cf a walking wolf paralleling ours of the previous afternoon, and leading directly to the poison. There the wolf had pawed away the snow, and the tin lid and Its contents were lying on the surface, exposed plainly to view. We could not be cure .that the wolf had eaten any of the bait, as we had neglected to count the number of pieces. But the trail made by the wolf on leaving the spot was significant. It was evi dent that he- had been galloping tow-’ ard a little column of vapor. “That’s the steam from open water,’’ said Mac. “Poisoned animals make for write* the first thing, arid I'm thinking we’ll be sleeping on a wolf robe be fore ,a great while.” v We followed the train, "which became "•eveWtually ah uncertain ’’zigzag; and •presently we saw some .ravens fly up from the sloping river bank into the trees above. They were, cloaking, hoarsely. Below them lay a’ groat' gaunt'white wolf: Here’ and there the. snow, was,flecked with blood, A fresh scar in his side showed that the rav ens had already begun their work. ‘ There was a certain - appearance of benignity about the dead beast hat did not at all accord, with our pre conceived opinion of wolves. The head* was ret on" aM pqWriiful neck and erriwped.with an almost leonine ruff of thiefc. coarge hair. 'The wolf was well, on ill’years. fliS teeth*were blunted, ho wait blind in one Aye, and two great tushes projected from his mouth at the side. ‘ Half a porcupine quills were sticking in his-' hose, mute evidence of the straits 'to \vhij-h. hunger had re duced thq old .monarch. Mac raised the \Volf on my should ders, rum talcing furns, we managed to carry him (o.ehnip. Soon Mac went up the river three miles to, a cache of supplies, and I re sumed niy laslp of sledding our outfit to the 'cabin-site. * At . the spot where the dead wolf had fallen, we had hid den the poison under the river bank, forgetting in the'* excitement of the capture to put out any more. After Mac had gone, 1 determined to go down and distribute it in suitable places before the end of the afternoon. But something happened which changed my plans. On my third trip, as I was plodding along, dragging the heavily loaded sled by a rope over one shoulder, I saw the imprint of a wolf’s claws in the trail directly over my own foot marks of a few minutes before. It was evident that a wolf had been dog ging my steps. I was totally unpre pared for defence. I left the sled where it was, and hurrying to the tent, secured a rifle. With that in my hands, I hoped to see the beast. Why had the wolf been following me on the open river? If it was seek ing a chance to attack me, the most natural course would have been to lie in wait in the spruce grove through which I passed to the cabin site. I continued my trip through this piece of woodland without molestation, and no sound broke the stillness. It was not until I had gone back to the boats, taken on another load, and was returning on the sinuous path that I saw new “sign”—a fresh wolf trail branching at right angles from the sled track and heading down riv er in the direction of the sheep camp. It was evident that the wolf had been traveling on the path toward me, and had only turned aside at the last mo ment. when a meeting was otherwise inevitable. I ran to a place where 1 could see beyond the island, and, sure enough, there was the wolf in plain sight, at that moment climbing the river bank at the identical spot where the first wolf had died. 1 threw the rifle to my face, but a great leap carried the beast out of sight in the snow-laden forest; and as It did not come into view again, 1 lowered the gun and stood waiting and watching. Some ravens flew up from the ground into a tree nearer my posi tion than the place where the wolf had disappeared. Then a red squirrel, at a point still closer, began chatter ing. I heard a crackling in the brush that, grew at the river's edge directly opposite; but st aiu iu.v eyes as I would, I could see nothing at which to aim. The sounds ceased, and I became aKvare that my feet were, very cold and niy body fast growing numb. I could wait no longer; but before returning to the sled', I ran across to the main land, and made ; sure from the evi dence of the snow that it was the wolf I had "heard returning under cover of the timber. I. saw nothing further of the wolf that day. After, unloading my sled at the cache among the spruce, I made my way to the tent, for it was fast growing dark and time to knock off work. It struck me ap odd that the wolf had touched none of our pro visions. It had passed close to the cache several times, and must have scented the pork and bacon, which should have been tempting to such a hungry beast. Near the tent I saw no wolf tracTks,'and'T rftentioned this to Mac when recounting the incidents of the afternoon. Before we turned in that night .it began snowing. The fall was' less than an inch, but it was sufficient to blot out the old tracks, and leave the land and frozen river a fresh white • page. Mac was the first to lenve the .tent in the morning. ' He was back again almost immediately, and fram ing his head in the flaps of the tent, said: .“ .“Your wolf’s been after her mate, mon. She came last, night to within 30 feet of us, where he hangs on the fall en tree. I surmised when you were telling her actions that •it was not you, after all, she was seeking.” A light broke in upon me, and I began to realize the meaning of what had appeared, on the part of the ani mal, such a contradictory mixture of daring and timidity. “She smelled the scent of him on your clothes,” continued Mac, “and she feared the worst; but she would •riot lea,ve the place till .she was con vinced. It’s usual,” he added, “for wolves, when they find there’s poison 0ut,.t.0, -disappear as if by magic. This one’s no common beast.” . “I believe you are right, Mac,” I re plied. “Now that she knows the truth, do you' think she will leave for good and- all?” '; -. ‘“N.q doubt about it. She’ll go clean out of the country.” T But Mac’s judgment was at fault for Once. The trail from the tent led di rectly down the river, and anxious to know more of the wolf’s movements, we followed. She had gone as the crow flies, straight across one of the telands to the spot where the first wolf died. Mac, who was leading, paused -.when he reached this place, and as I' came to his side, he pointed to a hole in the snow and the over turned tin which contained our for gotten poison. “She’s eaten nearly all of it,” he announced, in a solemn, awestruck .tone. “Who would have thought it in; a beast.” A little farther on we found the wolf’s dead body, still warm. One paw jested on a dead raven, which she had apparently killed in her last agony; and warned by their companion’s fate, the other ravens had not ventured to approach. This, wolf was smaller and darker than the first, and was in better con dition. Her fur was deep and rich, and even in death the implied grace and mobility of action made her. a beautiful creature. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and the ex pression was that of some great, affec tionate dog, rather than the cunning of a wild creature. We stood a moment in silence, looking ing at the dead creature, and then Mac expressed what was in my mind. “She could not stand it to lose her mate.” he said, simply. “When she found he was dead, she could not bear to live herself. She knew well what had killed him and where it was to be had. She felt the grief of a person. It's well, mon, the poor beast had no soul to lose.”—From Youth’s Compan ion. Prisoner Judges His Own Case. Hamilton Murray, a wealthy farmer, was arrested yesterday for intoxica tion, and was taken before Judge Gass for trial todal. The judge recognized Murray as an old offender, and asked him what he thought ought to be done with a man who would get drunk so often. Mur ray replied that he hardly knew what he would do, and the court replied that believing him to be an honest man he would appoint him judge to try his own case. Murray made a short speech in which he said that some leniency should be shown on account of the in fluence of long habit and because his was never a case of willful violation of the law. “Nevertheless,” he con tinued. “for repeated failure to heed the warnings of this court I fine you the sum of 510.” Taking out his pocketbook he hand ed the clerk 510 and walked out of the court room.—Muncie (Ind.) Dispatch to the New' York Sun. His Views. Hewitt —Are you in favor of capital punishment? Jewett —I thipk capitalists should be punished.—Judge. Georgia Briefs Items of State Interest Culled From Random Sources. Must First Organize Distrjct. In answer to a question from the comptroller general as to the period for which a school district may collect taxes, Attorney General Hart has held that a district in order to collect taxes for the year within which it is created must be organized prior to the date fixed by law for the return of taxes * * * Slow Demand for Fertilizers. Trade In fertilizers this year indi cates a falling off of about 16 to 25 per cent, as compared with last year, according to information received at the state department of agriculture. Last year the sales of fertilizers in Georgia were something more than 700,-. 000 tons. Present indications point to the fact that this year’s sales are like ly to fall below 600,000 tons for all purposes. . . , Prisonerse Cremated in Jail. The ' county jail at Statesville was destroyed by fire, believed.to he of in cendiary origin, one nigHt the past week, and two negro.prisoners burned to death. One. of the prisoners was charged with shooting a man named Westberry in a recent riot between negro employees of Perkins Brothers, a sawmill firm, and white citizens and of ficers, and it is believed that the fire was an aftermath of this affair. There has been much ill feeling, between two factions in the county. Medicines Subject to Liquor Tax: John G. Capers of the internal rev nue department in Washington has submitted, to the revenue agents in Georgia a list of 54 inedicinal prepa rations, any one of which if handled by a Georgia druggist, will require pay ment of the internal revenue tax or li cense. The list shows under analysis, a sufficient amount of alcohol to re-, quire payment of this license tax. Now anew question has arisen with druggists. How many of these prepara tions would fall under the ban of the 6tate prohibition law? One druggist appeals to Attorney General Hart for instructions. Electric Road. Seeks Franchise. Austyn Granville of New York, who is engaged in gold mining two miles from Ac worth, has petitioned the Ac worth city council .for a franchise to run an electric railway through the streets of Acworth; Mr. Granville and his associates, all New York capitalists, propose to run the ' electric railway from Ac worth to Kennesaw, Lena, Noonday, Elizabeth, thence to Mariet . ta, and north to connect with Allatoo ' na, Bartow, Hugo, Emerson to Car tersviile. A part of the track has already been laid and a large amount of the machinery ordered. Work will be pushed forward at once. * * * Patterson Again Heads Embalmers. The annual meeting of the Georgia board of embalmers was held in Macon the past week. The principal business of the meeting consisted in admitting seven applicants as licensed embalm ers. H. M. Patterson of Atlanta was again elected president of the board, and L. H. Burghard of Macon was made secretary and treasurer. The applicants who were admitted as embalmers Were H. E. Strong of At lanta, Holt Waterhouse of Macon, E. D. Newsome of Augusta, W. A. Curry of Valdosta, H. F. McCoy, Robert Harri son and Sarah Watson. Teachers to Meet in Augusta. Preparations are being made for the annual meeting of the Georgia Educa tional Association which is to be held at Augusta next April 30, continuing through May 2. Over 1,000 teachers from every quarter of the state are ex pected to be present. Lawton B. Evans of Augusta, presi dent of the organization, is now arrang ing a program and flooding every coun ty with invitations, and is being assist ed in his efforts to make the meeting a success by Vice President C. B. Chapman of Macon, Secretary R. B. Daniel of Valdosta, Treasurer J. C. Wardlaw of Milledgeville and by State School Commissioner J. M. Pound. Com missioner Pound is particularly eager to see a large attendance at the con vention. * * • County Clashes With Government. The read overseers of Catoosa coun ty, on the Tennessee state line, and the federal authorities are now in a tangle over the right of the state of- STOP AT THE ZETTLER HOUSE. The best SI.OO a day house in the c:ty. £53 FOURTH ST., MACON, GA„ Mrs. A. L. Zettier, Proprietress. ficer to make employees of the gov ernment do road work. Some weks ago the Catoosa county road man notified a number of team sters and other hands working on the government reservation to appear with pick and shovel to do a part, in work on county roads in that section. The men failed to appear and the road com missioners caused their arrest and im prisonment. The matter was brought to the at tention of the , federal authorities in Washington and communication was opened with the district attorney in At lanta. Colonel Hen-ley of the district attorney’s forces went to . Catoosa county and appearing before Judge Fite of that circuit secured the release of the men upon a nominal,bond. The case will be taken up before Judge Fite at Cartersville shortly. C,otton School Work Endorsed. The 103 farmers attending the Uni versity Cottori' School adopted resolu tions in which they stress the import ance of education and the good work being done by the --University -.Cotton School. The resolutions conclude as follows: : “Inasmuch . as' the income of the State is’ -approximately $5,000,000 {a year, it is certainly not asking too mqch ■ that one-hundredth part' of ; [this revenue be set aside for the maiute riane of agricultural education, which is the backbone of the state.” Hon. J. J. Connor, president of the Georgia Agricultural Society, chairman of the board of trustees of the agricul tural college connected with the uni versity, and also author of the bill which authorized the appropriation of SIOO,-000 for the foundation of that col lege, states that the great success of the cotton school during its initial ses sion will undoubtedly result in an ex tension of the time for the next term. The interest in the school is growing by leaps and bounds all over the state. Seed Crushers to Aid Dairymen. Secretary C. L., of the Georgia Dairy and.Live Stock Associa *•'.**; ;.*. * .* tion has sent out announcements from his home at Experiment Station, stating that the funds of the 'organization are so low as to cause its ab an don mei> t ■ un - less more funds-- are secured whereby to continue this important associa tion. He states that those expected to con tribute most largely to its support, the faririers, have failed to do so. One of these circulars. ,w' en t to Pres ident Harper of the Cotton Seed Crush ers Association of Georgia and another •to Secretary Wallace at his home in Augusta. These officers have, at once, taken up the work of rescuing the dairymen’s association by having the members of the Cotton Seed Crushers Association in Georgia take out itrem bership and contribute to its support. Should the Georgia Dairy and Live Stock Association have to disorganize for lack of support, it would be noth ing short of a calamity, to not only the farmers who are feeding and rais ing cattle, but to those who manufac ture products that are extensively used in connection therewith, for it is well known that cotton seed meals and hulls are the best and cheapest stock food on the market. HUSBAND CANNOT HIRE WIFE. Decision in Novel Case Rendered by Fed eral Judge Erawley. According to an interesting decision filed in the federal court at Columbia, S. C., by Judge Brawley, a wife is not entitled to any compensation for services rendered to her husband, re gardless of any contract between the two to that effect, although she Is entitled to recovery for such services rendered to another. The case is that of J. L. Scruggs, a bankrupt merchant of Fountain Inn, Greenville county. Mrs. Scruggs put in a claim for 5554 for services as clerk in her husband s store. TORPEDO FLOTILLA JOINS FLEET. Little Fighting Boats Finally Come Up With Big Battleships. The American battleship fleet was joined Friday in the harbor at Rio Ja neiro, Brazil, by the torpedo boat flo tilla. The flotilla left Pernambuco, od January 13th, and met with good weath er on the voyage.