Newspaper Page Text
311 ul tile f§e®rgia . .
F, SMITH, Publisher.
VOLUME IX.
evrnribr.
* T ball wins low.
With mutaams low, npon th river’s brink,
The restless, aimless waters idly beat;
Tha grazing cattle droop their heads to drink,
The ripples flowing gently o’er their feet;
The hazy stillness and the summer air
ilsko life a tender dream, devoid of care.
All changed and cheerless in the wintry wind
That sweeps from shore to shore in sullen mood
The river rests, In ghostly shroud Confined,
And blustering breezes sing a requiem rude.
The slow herds shivering In the fallen snow,
Scatter its powdered paleness as they go.
And thus In life, a winter cold and drear
Fast follows on the summer’s joyous bloom;
Aad while we wait, and idly wander here,
Time’s tocsin sounds some dreaded day of doom;
And starting up, with pleasure-laden mind,
We see the smiling summer far behind 1
—Good Covipany.
A WILD HIDE.
We had been living in Ireland for
about two years, and overy day I regret
ted she time more and more when my
husband had decided to leave England
and come over to manago his property*
which was situated in ono of the most
lawless and disaffected counties.
Fenianism was rife, and heartily I
wished we were away and over the water
again, at least until these troubled days
had given place to better and more
peaceful times, and now t2iat the long,
dark winter afternoons and evenings
had set in again, I used to sit and watch
anxiously for my husband’s return;
when Lionel would come in looking
moody and uneasy, and kept his revolv
er always loaded, though he never told
me ho suspected danger, and tried to
mako light of it for my sake.
Oh! it was a wretched, miserable
time, and I can never forget it.
I remember so well how the crash
camo at last, and how the volcano
burse forth that had been smouldering
ao long.
Wo wero sitting at breakfast one
morning when the letters were brought
in. and after handing them the bearer
Btood fidgeting about.
Lionel looked up.
“That will do, Delaney, and tell John
to bring the dog-cart around in half-an
hour. ”
“Lionel, I don’t like that man,” I
said, after ho had left the room. “ lam
sure ho is a spy. I wish you would get
rid of him.”
“Oh, tho fellow is right enough. It is
bis brother, you know, that lam going*
oror to tho court about to-day,”
“ What is it?” I exclaimed, as Lionel
got up suddenly, looked vexed and an
noyed, and threw a letter into the fire.
“Lionel, is it another of thoso dreadful
letters? ”
“Yes, warning mo against giving evi
dence against Delaney to-day. What is
the country coming to ? But there ; I
ought not to have told you—it will
frighten you into fits.”
“ Lionel, you must not go to-day—in
deed, indeed, you must stay at homo;
they may mean what they say. Oh,
promise me you won’t go.”
‘ ‘ Nonsense absurdity; Winifred,
don't be so foolish. Why, dear, these
are all empty threats. But once show
the white feather aud they will bo ten
times worse. You foolish little wife,”
he added, tenderly, “and so yon worry
and fret yourself when I am away, ex
pecting me home ou a shutter, I sup
pose. Well, don’t sit up for me to-night*
for after the trial is over I am going to
dine at Col. Arbutlinot’s, and shan’t be
home till late. Now I must be off.”
A few more loving words, and then I
stood watching him driving down the
avenue, turning now and then to wave a
farewell.
I was only half satisfied, and was wish*
ing he had not gone.
After lunch I went out to take some
*ine to the lodge-keeper’s child, who
was ill.
It was rather late when I started, and
sun was setting behind the mount
ain, shedding a flood of crimson light
oVtr the golden glories of the fading
rear.
I stayed there till it was quite dark,
"hen 1 started home.
Suddenly hearing footsteps, I paused;
Dearer and nearer they came, and then
trough the darkness I could see two
meu slowI 7 approaching, talking in low,
tones.
Sick with terror, I drew back behind
* iarge tree, for one of the men was
Delaney.
At first they spoke in low, cautious
tones, but, by degrees, their voices were
and at last Delaney, raising his
hand, exclaimed, with a vehemence that
made me shudder:
*’ l yot, if it’s done at all, it must
he done to-night. What’s the use of
diking, man? It’s acts, not words, we
He passes th§ gross- to
Devottd to Industrial Inter st. the lliffu-iiin ol Truth, the Establishment of Jnstiee, and the Presentation of a Peoplo’s fiovernment
night, coming home from the Colonel’s,
a mile beyond, by the common and tho
chalk-pit. It’s a lonely spot—there’s
onr place. Be there when the moon is
np, and mind, no mistake this time.”
And he laughed, actually laughed, as
he planned and plotted the cruel and
deliberate murder of my husband, who
had been a kind and good master to
him.
At last they parted, Delaney hurrying
back in tho direction of the house with
a last injunction to his accomplice not
to fail; and, after waiting along time, to
make sure that ho was gone, I went
■lowly home, and reached my room un
observed.
There I matured and laid my plans de
liberately and carefully, for it was life if
I succeeded, .and oh! far worse than death
if I failed.
So I dressed for dinner as usual, and,
though every scrap of color had left my
face, and I knew that I could not sub
due all expression of tho horror that I
felt, I preserved an outward calmness,
and went on down to the dining-room as
though the man that stood behind my
chair had not, only two short hours ago,
planned to take my husband’s life.
How I got through I know not, but
the meal was over at last.
Still I could do nothing till Delaney
left the house and started on his deadly
errand.
My plan was this.
When he had gone I intended to go
down to tho stable, get the horse, aud
ride to Col. Arbuthnot’s, trying to reach
it before Lionel had started on his way
home.
It was a daring step, but the only
chance; lonely and isolated, we wero
miles from any town, and no help was
possible.
I should have to ride hard, and, to
avoid being discovered aud stopped, I
must make a long round, which would
take me many miles out of my way.
At last the time to act had arrived.
Delaney must have started long ere
this, and tho servants would be at sup
per.
The clock was just striking 9 as I left
the room.
Going up-stairs quickly, I put on my
habit and stepped out.
It was a clear, bright night, with the
pale moon rising over the dark tree
tops, and shining coldly on the glossy
green evergreens, casting ghostly, weird
shadows across the path. I reached the
yard, and saw. to my alarm, a light in
the harness-room. Without taking time
to hesitate or think, I advanced softly,
and, peeping in, saw, to my great relief,
that it was only the stable-boy busily
engaged rubbing up the harness. Open
ing the door, I stood before the aston
ished lad. who gazed with wide-open
eyes as though I had been an appari
tion.
“ Christie, ” I said, “ saddle Rifleman
as quickly as possible. I want him.”
“Sure, ma’am, you’re never going
out to-night ? ”
“ Yes, I am. Quick —don’t stand
talking there, but do as I tell you.”
Burning with impatience, I watched
him getting out Rifleman, and then,
ns I was about to mount, catching sight
of the wonder and surprise on Christie’s
face, •an idea seized me, and, sending
him back into the stable on some pre
text, I locked the door and took the key.
No one knew where I was; it would be
long before ho could make himself heard,
no matter how loudly lie called, for the
yard was a long way from the house. In
another minute I was out of the gate
and cantering swiftly down the avenue
and out on the open road. “ Rifle
man,” I said, stroking his glossy neck,
* ‘ it rests with you to save your master.
You must do your best for the time is
short.”
Away we went, keeping well in tli6
shadow of the trees which skirted the
road; the soft grass muffled the sound
of the horse’s hoofs, and faster, yet fast
er, I urged Rifleman to his topmost
speed, for what if I were already too
late? The moon was nearly high in
the heavens, and I knew the hour was
rapidly approaching. It was a ride for
life, and on we flew with fearful rapidity.
What if Lionel were on his way al
ready. Oh for strength to keep up a
little longer 1
The entrance gates at Col. Arbuth
not’s stood wide open, and, with hope in
my heart, I galloped up to the house.
The door was opened by the Colonel
himself, who hurried out in great alarm.
“My husband—ishehere?” I gasped.
No ;he has just left—not more than
ten minutes ago, I think; but what has
happened?"
“ Too late! too late!” I cried.
“ They have killed him ! Oh, Lionel,
INDIAN SPRINGS, GEORGIA.
Lionel 1”
They tried to stop me, but I broke
away ; thero might be time yet, if I rode
hard and fast. My horse might die in
the attempt—what mattered it ? It was
life or death, now; and away again,
thundering down the avenue I went,
heedless of cries and entreaties to come
back.
Stopping one moment to listen, I
heard, far ahead, the rumbling sound of
wheels; it seemed to endow me with
new life and strength to keep up, to
struggle a little longer; but poor Rifle
man was almost done for. Breathing
hand, he still labored on, answering whip
and rein to the last.
Gathering up all my energies for a
last bffort, I urged Rifleman once more
to a gallop, aud, sweeping round a cor
ner, saw, with a wild gleam of joy and
hope, my husband’s dog-cart slowly as
cending a long steep hill, right in front,
the foot of wliioh on the other side was
the spot where the murderers were in
waiting. Every yard of ground was of
value now.
I tried to call out, but only a feeble
cry escaped my lips; and, still running
with a kind of strength and determi
nation born of despair, I pushed on,
till suddenly all grew dim and indistinct.
I was conscious only of a great and
terrible darkness rising and hiding my
husband from my sight; struggling on
blindly with outstretched hands I stag
gered a few steps, and then, with a last
wild wail of “Lionel—Lionel!” fell
senseless upon the earth—my last
thought, my last desire being to save
him. Was it all in vain ?
*****
"When I opened my eyes I found my
self in a cottage, in the bright glare of
a turf fire, with a crowd of eager aud
frightened sympathizers around, and
Lionel bending, white and anxious, over
me. It was enough to know that he
was safe—to cling tightly to him and
feel his strong, protecting arms around
me—and, weak, tired and exhausted, I
fainted again.
It had been a very narrow escape after
all. Lionel had just reached the top of
the long hill when he heard my cry,
and, driving hastily back, had found
me, to his great astonishment, lying in
sensible, and Rifleman standing beside
mo. Presently, Col. Arbuthnot, who
had followed in hot haste, had come up,
and they had carried mo into tho cot
tage, wondering greatly what it meant.
And I told my story.
Had I been a minute later, in all hu
man probability I should never in this
world have heard his voice again.
Delaney waited in vain that night,
and whether he guessed or suspected
that his plot had been discovered was
never known, for ere morning dawned
ho had fled and succeeded in making
his escape from the country. Lionel
and Col. Arbutlmot did all they could to
have him brought to justice, but in vain
—he was never heard of.
Wo left Ireland before Christmas, for
I bear to stay there after all I
had gone through, and I never wish to
see it again. As for Rifleman, I will
never part with him ; the good horse
that carried me so well that memorable
night shall have a happy home and end
his days in peace ; but for him I should
never have won that terrible race.
The movement for Canadian inde
pendence is much more widespread and
formidable than the Tories are willing to
admit. Asa sample of what is going
on among the native Canucks to become
emancipated from British control, a re
cent dispatch from Montreal says:
“The Club National, of this city,
composed of young Canadians, and affil
iated with the Liberal party of the Do
minion, has unanimously passed a series
of resolutions declaring for full and
complete independence for Canada.
They say the colonial regime has no
farther raison d'etre on the American
continent; that our commercial rela
tions demand an absolute right to make
our own commercial treaties; that the
protectorate of the mother country is a
source of weakness instead of security,
and a standing threat against peace and
tranquillity; that independence will
open anew horizon to the activity and
ambition of Canadian citizens, who
should no longer remain in dependence,
inferiority and vassalage. The resolu
tions conclude by calling on the Liberal
party to make independence the chief
plank in their platform.”
A Cincinnati woman who found a
baby in a basket on her door-step, took
the infant to the station house, bat
saved the basket to carry home her mar
keting.
A NICE QUESTION.
A question has arisen in regard to tha
right or propriety of a professor of an
agricultural college, and consequently
an employe of the public, acquiring a
personal property in any discovery or
invention lie may happen to make in
such employment. The facts are as fol
low’s ;
Two of the professors of the Illinois
Industrial University were employed in
making experiments in producing sugar
from sorghum. These experiments were
so successful that the professors have
patented the processes used in their own
names and as their own property. As
the question of the propriety of this
course has arisen, the Principal of the
university, under his own signature, has
publicly defended it. But in the de
fense he makes use of the following ex
traordinary words in regard to the dis
covery becoming public property:
“‘Becoming public property’ sounds
well; is a fine sentiment; but as a sen
timent it would be just as nice to say
the * dear public ’ should own, as a pub
lie, all the property in the State.’’
Principal Scott uses an illustration
which completely takes the ground from
under his own feet; for the dear public
do really and in fact own all the prop
erty in the State, the apparent owners
being simply occupiers, subject to the
eminent domain and rights of the State.
The State can, by due process of law,
take possession of any person’s farm or
house and put it to public uses, and in
every grant of land to an individual this
precedent right is reserved. Moreover,
the State can take a person’s property
and his person and use them for its own
service when it is thought necessary by
the State Government. The question is
a narrow one. Must the farmers of Ill
inois and of other States be compelled
to pay a tax to persons who, in the
course of their employment in a public
capacity and while under public pay,
discover any 1 methods for processes
which they are employed to discover ?
These gentlemen were certainly em
ployed to experiment in making sugar.
The cost of making the experiment was
paid out of the university funds, which
are public moneys. To whom, then, do
the results of these experiments belong?
Is the public to be satisfied with a long
table of figures showing the results,
while the methods of producing these
results are kept secret and are reserved
as the private property of the experi
menters, for which those persons for
whom the experiments were made—the
farmers—must pay if they desire to use
them ?—Country Gentleman.
NOT A CRANK.
A young fellow in England was re
cently invited to visit an old gentle
man who had a “mania” for ped
igree or genealogy. As he had also
a reputation for his dinners and his
wines, the young man stood a good dea
of talk about his host’s ancestors for
the sake of the other things ; but when
the old gentlemen took him through his
picture gallery, and, showing him a por
trait of an old fellow painted 200 years
before—the time of James ll.—and said
that it was a portrait of his father-in
law ; and another H his brother-in-law,
who, at the age of 18, fought at Edge
hill in 1642 (being born in 1624); and a
third of his nephew, who at the time of
his death was ninety-two years older
than his uncle, the guest got out of that
house at the earliest possible moment.
He was dealing with a “crank.” As it
turned out, however, the old gentleman
was correct. For his “brother-in-law,’,
at the age of 78, married, in 1703, a
young girl of 17. Her father was at
thst time a young man, but he, too,
married when very old and had children,
his youngest being bom in 1739. In
1816, when she was 77 years old, the old
gentleman who owned the picture gal
lery married her, he being 19 at the
time. So that the old gentleman’s
father-in-law was, as he said, alive in
the time of James IL But as this
father-in-law had a son-in-law many
years older than he was, this gave the
old gentlemen a brother-in-law who
would have been 257 years old if he had
lived until 1881. As this brother-in-law
died soon after his marriage, his young
widow married again, and had a son
who was born ninety-one years before
his uncle (by marriage) was bom, so
that old gentleman was not a lunatic,
unless it was when at the age of 19 he
married a woman nearly 60 years older
than he was.
George L Seney, President of the
Metropolitan National Bank of New
York, who recently presented the Brook
lyn library with $60,000, has given tc
religious, charitable and educational in
stitutions no less than sl,4Bo a ooo<
THEY NEVER GET OVER IT.
“Do you know, my dear,” she sud
denly said as she looked up from her
pieco-work—“ do you know that next
week will be the twentieth anniversary
of our wedding ?”
“Is that so? By George ! how time
flies ! Why, I had no idea of it. ”
“Yes, we have been married almost
twenty long years,” she continued, with
something of a sigh, “You have been
a good husband to me, darling.”
“And you have been a blessed little
wife to me, Susan. Come here till I kiss
you. There!”
“I was thinking to-day—l was think
ing of—of—”
“Of that sickly-faced baboon who
used to go homo with you from prayer
meeting before I knew you ?” he inter
rupted.
“ Who do you mean ?”
“ Why, that Brace fellow, of course.”
“Why, George, he wasn’t such a bad
fellow.”
“ Wasn’t, eh ? Well, I’d like to know
of a worse one. He didn’t know enough
to chew putty, and there you were as
good as engaged to him.”
“ Yes, George, but you know you were
keeping company at that same time
with that Helen Perkins. ”
“ That Helen Perkins ? Wasn’t Miss
Perkins one of the loveliest and prettiest
young ladies in the whole country ?”
“ No, she wasn’t 1 She had teeth like
a horse?”
“ She did, eh? How about that stoop
shouldered, white-headed Brace ?”
“And such big feet as she had ! Why,
George, she was the laughing-stock of
the town.”
“Not much she wasn’t! She was a
young lady who would have made a
model wife.”
“ Then why didn’t you marry her and
all her moles and warts and mushroom
eyes ?”
“Don’t talk that way to me! Her
eyes were as nice as yours !”
“ They wan’t.”
“ They was ! I Believe you are sorry
because you didn’t marry Brace !”
“And I know you are sorry because
you didn’t marry that beautiful and ac
complished Miss Perkins 1”
“I am, eh ? I thought you said I had
been a good husband to you ?”
“ And didn’t you call me your blessed
little wife ?”
Then he plumped down and began to
read the mortgage sales and advertise
ments in the paper, and she picked up
her sewing and gave the cat a gentle
kick. These old things will come up
now and then, and somehow neither side
ever gets entirely over them.
“How is this for cheek?” inquired J.
R. Davis, one of Barnum’s representa
tives, Girard House, Philadelphia, to a
reporter, as he grabbed a handful of the
skin on the left side of John Hoffmier’s
face and pulled it out five or six inches,
like so much India-rubber. The repor
ter was struck dumb by Mr. Davis’
cheeky behavior, but he was still more
astonished to see Hoffmier smile as
though he enjoyed the maltreatment.
Then Mr. Davis explained that Hoffmier
is the wonderful “India-rubber man’’
who lias puzzled German and French
savant3 for several years. Although
the rara avis with the elastic cu
ticle does not speak or understand
English, he smiled approvingly when
Mr. Davis ceased speaking, and then, as
if to sustain his reputation, pulled a
handful of skin on the back part of his
head around to his mouth and bit it,
covered his entire face with the folds of
skin which he drew up from his throat
and neck, and pulled the skin on his
arms and legs thirteen inches away from
the flesh. The most remarkable thing
is that as soon as the skin is released it
instantly contracts to its original place,
and as far as appearance is concerned
does not differ from the epidermis of
any healthy white person. The skin is
very fair and its texture is remarkably
fine—so fine, indeed, that it feels more
like an infant’s than an adult’s.
“ Mother,” remarked a Duluth girl,
“ I think Harry must be going to pro
pose to me.” “Why, so, my daugh
ter ?” queried the old lady, laying down
her spectacles, while her face beamed
like a moon in its fourteenth night
“ Well, he asked me this evening if I
wasn’t tired living with such a menag
erie as you and dad.”
Ax autograph letter of George Wash
ington’s, taking strong ground against
slavery in this country, and expressing
a fervent hope that it would soon be
blotted out, is said to have been found
among the papers of the late E. W.
Stoughton. With it were other original
and unpublished letters of Washington.
SUBSCRIPTION-$1.60.
NUMBER 30.
PLEASANTRIES.
There is something high-toned in
churoh bells.
When a bank “ goes up,” it generally
fails to “come down.”
Tellers of exaggerated stories are
known as yarn merchants.
What five letters form a sentence of
forgiveness ? Ixqq u.
“When sorrow has left its traoes,”
what has become of the rest of the
harness?
An editor without a backbone don’t
amount to much. It’s his principal
column you know.
Mr. Budd asked her, “ Rose,, wilt
thou be mine? ” Rose answered, “I am
sorry—but a rose cannot be turned into
a bud.”
Boiling hair in a solution of tea will
darken it, says au exchange; but some
folks don’t like to have their tea dark
ened in that way.
A youthful Pennsylvania Granger,
about to be chastised by his father,
called upon his grandfather to protect
him from the middle man.
“Now, then, what’s your papa’s
name, Freddy?” “Dunno.” “Don’t
know your papa’s name 1 Why, what
does you mamma call him ?” “ Brute!”
A barber offered a reward for instantly
removing superfluous hair. Among the
answers was; “Undertake to kiss a
woman against her will. ”
A 6- year-old was enveloped in a shirt
much too big for him. After strutting
about for some time he burst out; “Oh,
ma! I feel awful lonely in this big
shirt.”
“What is the greatest charge on
iccord 1 ” asked the professor of history.
Aud he absent-miuded student an
swered; “Seventeen dollars for hack
hire for self and girl for two hours.”
“ You never saw my hands as dirty as
that 1” said a petulant mother to her
little girl. “No, but perhaps your ma
did 1” was the sharp, if not respectful,
reply.
Physicians say it is not healthy to
sleep iu the daytime. That is why the
baby which is taken to church never
goes to sleep. It knows what is good
f or its health.
An old citizen in a country village,
being asked for a subscription toward re
pairing the fence of the graveyard, de
clined, saying, “I subscribed toward
improvin’ that buryin’ ground nigh onto
forty years ago, and my family hain’t
had no benefit from it yet.”
“ Give tho young man a chance,” say*
a writer. Ye3, give him a chance at a
church festival in a raffle for a blue-eyed
doll in poke-bonnet, and a “just too love
ly for anything.” Give him a chance—
to go out and kick himself full of holes
because he went .to the festival.
Christian at Work.
A young man living in Leadville
shipped to his little brother in St. Louis
a choice donkey of the diminutive spe
cies known as the Mexican burro. The
agent, in making out his manifest, con
cluded that “burro” meant “bureau,”
and reported accordingly to his superior,
“one bureau missing and one jackass
over.”
HOW THE “DIGGER” KEEPS WARM,
Over in the Big meadows, any day, a
fine illustration of chilly comfort may
be seen in the plan adopted by the In
dians to catch fish and keep warm at the
same time. Follow the river, and occa
sionally you come across a noble red
man, muffled up in all the old coats and
blankets he possesses, sitting in his ca
noe, which is loaded with firewood.
Three or four feet of the center of the
canoe is covered with sand to the depth
of two or three inches, and on this he
keeps a bright fire blazing, and, with
his back to the flame, pursues his duties
of taking in the speckled beauties. The
smoke might prove troublesome to a
white man, but the Digger is in no dan
ger of having his complexion injured,
and, as he paddles along from one good
riffle to another, he looks as independ
ent as a lord, and throws a glance of
pity at the poor devil of a white man,
who takes his chances from the snowy
bank, and has to knock under in the fish
ing race at the rate of about five to one,
—Plumas (Cal.) National.
The Marquis of Hurtly, who is just
now sadly wanted by his money-lender,
has ruined himself on the turf. At his
majority he came into an estate of 85,-
000 acres, with a rent-roll of SIOO,OOO.
He married the daoghter of a wealthy
banker; yet at only 34 years of age he
is in the sore distress of poverty.
Discontent is the want of self-reli
ance.