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'M Fort Gaines ■ Sentinel.
FORT GAINES, GEORGIA.
r—..... — s
Fai -in iirii,: alit:«i . are becoming
so scarce that ;ji i< s liil.lv of breed-
ipg th<-m is being, Ibciissed. it is
Conceded thst Siicii wo ni l be the
desirable place for tile establish¬ 0
most
ment <>f farms f >r tin purpose.
Ii appears td i> a common practice,
ftbout both New Yolk aod Boston, not
to have school on raniv da vs. No
cocot the obp" i hi in that the chil¬
dren catch cold s ttirig in dump
clothes, explains Harper’s Weekly.
Th<‘ Charleston News and Courier
calls for tn • protection and persevu-
tiou ot the tor -t-in North and South
Carolin If action is not speedily I
taken, it Hays, the streams will drv up
and the industrial and agricultural in¬ I
terests of the two states will be seri-
ously menaced.
The Ameer of Afghanistan is a re¬
former. He lias given orders for the
introduction of calf vaccination in
Cabul, iu order to stem the annual
ravages of small pox, which destroys j
no less than one-fifth of the infant 1
popul.ition t-v.-ry time it appears, At
a rece ut public cememonythe Ameer ,
made a speech calling upon the people I
to aid him in enforcing the universal
j
vaccination of children.
Mrs. Alice Stone Blackwell points J
to the result of the last election m I
Idaho as an encouraging victory for j
the cause of woman suffrage. It ap¬ |
pears that the constitutional amend- !
meat received extending the franchise to worn- j
en more than two-thirds of 1
all the idles that were cast, thus plac- '
iug Idaho beside Wyoming, Utah and 1
Coloi-ndo ns a state in which women
onjm equal political rights with moil, j
After c ireful inquiry, it is said that
the English professional man heads
the list as tile tallest of .adult males,
reaching an average height of live
feet nine inches, and a fraction over.
The next tallest lileu lire Americans,
only a tiny fraction less tall than tto-ir
English brother-. 1 lie majority of
tlus European nations average five feet
six inches for the adult male, but Ibe
Portu ii h , Austrians and Spaniards
aro a little short of 1 his.
Certain streets in the city of Bus-
ton hive been in a dread I ally con¬
gested condition, owing to the great
nil iu ter o! sired cars which have been
oblig d to pan t Ii roll ,n them. Prob¬
ably half of tlie cars niaiit) their way
throu 'll i'rdii >h; street itu.1 lit • other
half through Washington si root. The
windings aud twistings and the nar¬
rowness of tho crooked streets often
stopp d traffic, and tin- cars would bo
blocked for 'several miles through
these two crowded thoroughfares. A
subway is now being built by means
of which a large portion of the street¬
car traffic will be accommodated aud
relieve the streets. The cars will en¬
ter tin- subway at the Public Garden
and leave it iu the extreme northern
part ot the city. Tin- cost "ill be,
probiibiy, about $7,0.10,60;), includ¬
ing $1.5 )0,001) for laud damages.
It is claimed m the New Orleans
Picayune “that tile once famous
Henry Ciiiv Dean was the original
Reuben who had hay seed iii Ins hair.
Dean went to lows m tho early days of
that st ite and settled ou a small farm.
The first year he raised a considerable
quantity of oats utnl assisted iu cutting
and placing them in his barn. Alter
the oats had been disposed of Dean
Started ti> dig a well, a task that occu¬
pied t vo or three weeks, owing to its
caving in before he completed if,
nearly bury iug the orator, Some
tune after the well was finished he
complained of headache, a trouble bo
seldom had. In a week or two after
the headaches started they became so
severe that be called upon a physiciau
and was given medicine which did no
good. Another visit resulted, amt the
doctor concluded to examine the head
and see where th>< trouble lay. ’3Ir.
Deuu, go au t have it mowed,’ was his
comment. The dirt from the well had
fulleu upon oats, aud the result was a
good crop starting iu tho unkempt
liuir of the preacher. Ho had the
hair cut, the only time, it is said, that
be allowed such au operation after h#
wa-* grown.”
disputants to arbitrate, altogether
transcends iu importance the question
of the Guiana boundary. It is a for¬
mal recognition of the homegeny of
flu- United States on the American
continent and gives the President a
position in the now world which the
mediaeval po^ps and emperors tried
vainly to claim in Europe.”
In contemplation of tho introduc¬
tion of the free-.supply system in tho
public schools of Milwaukee, the
School Board of that city obtained
from other cities where the system is
in use expressions of opiniou ns to its
operation aiul cost. Iu each case the
system is said to work well and to have
resulted iu a large saving of expense
to the parents. For books alone 3Iil-
waukeo pupils now pay on an average
$1.35 yearly,aud to this must be added
something for paper, pens, pencils,
etc. Under the free-supplv system
the cu.-t per pupil in Omaha is 63
cents, in Philadepbia $1.05, in Pitts¬
burg 00 cents, iu Detroit 45 cents, in
Baltimore til cents in the primary
department, §1.40 iu the grammar
grade, aud $1.95 iu the high school,
and in Providence $1.19. Against
this showing, the argument that free
school supplies is a step towards
socialism, to be followed logically by
free shoes aud free lunches, is not
likely to avail in Milwaukee, predicts
the New York Post.
Ono enthusiastic Loudon writer
bids the anti-English cabals iu Euro¬
pean chancelleries to tremble now that
England and America are friends.
These European chancellories certain¬
ly are showing alarm at England's as¬
sent to what they regard as a United
States' suzerainty over South Amer¬
ica. The Paris Temps declares that
Europe eanuot accept as a precedent
such a serious derogation of the right
of South American nations. The
Cologne Gazette aud the North Ger¬
man Gazette, voicing, it is thought,
the views of the German Foreign
Office, remind the United States that
Germany has large commercial inter¬
ests iu Ceutiai America and Venezuela,
and regard the German settlement in
Brazil as au El Dorado for the sur¬
plus German population. “We wish,”
says the semi-official organ, “to take
the first opportunity to declare that
the precedent is at most an English
and in no way a European precedent
Germany will never tolerate the inter¬
vention of a foreign state in the pro¬
tection of her interests in South and
Ceutral America.”
The cat may yet joiD the horse oil
the r< ad to oblivion. A French in*
vt.-ntor proposes to scare away rats
and mice i v the judicious placing of
terra cotta c its with phosphorescent
eyes.
A schoolmaster in Cleveland, Ohio,
°fi'fed a prize of one dollar to the
pupil who produced the best aphor¬
ism. Here is tn« w's- advice that won
the prize : “if you have a good tern-
per, tiuug on to it; and if you have a
)j aii oat . f t ion’ t lose it.”
Every one who is so unfortunate ns
to be conscious of Lis nervous system
will feel a glow of gratitude to Dr. J.
II. Girdncr, who has lifted his profes¬
sional voice against the unnecessary
noises which make life in New York
city a misery to patient thousands,
observes the Journal.
Lord Wolseley, the Commander-in-
chief of the British forces, continues
to make himself unpopular in Eng¬
land. At the last Guildhall banquet
in London, he referred to the British
navy, which, he said, “hus not fought
a battle iu sixty-nine years, while the
army has done.much.”
The lalest Russian mammoth pro-
jeet—that of establishing a waterway
between Si. Petersburg and India, via
the Caspian sea—was one of the jdans
of Peter the Great, who sent a com¬
mission to investigate the matter. Its
members were, however, captured by
the ruler of Khiva and beheaded.
The St. James Gazette, one of the
most important of London newspapers,
publishes a leading article, entitled:
“An-Historic Moment ” in the course
of which it says: “Lord Salisbury’s
great admission of the principle that
the United States have the right to in-
terveno iu frontier disputes of the
American powers aud to compel the
■m 4 M •9 V
!
r -*<
and myself, walked over to the target.
“ ‘Great Scott!”exclaimed old 3101-
tram, ‘why, there ain’t a single bullet
within five feet of that box lid. You
ain’t got no show at all agin Crocky,
an’ if I was you I’d own up and apolo¬
gize.’
“ ‘I thank yon for yonr advice,’ I
replied. ‘I believe I have more chance
than you fancy, but if I had none, this
affair would have to go on, unless,
indeted, your man should beg my par¬
don for throwing bis glass in my
face. ’
( < 6 There ain’t much chance of that,
I fear. He’s dead set on shooting yer,
sir, but I wish there was some way of
stoppin’ this affair. It seems onrea-
sonable that you should meet a mau
sich a tremenjous lot better ner your¬
self when your life will most likely
hev to pay the stake.’
“Crockford soon arrived at the
store, bringing bis rifle with him, and
of course a whisper or two from his
friends made him. acquainted with
the results of my target practice. Dal¬
ziel made a last attempt to preveut a
meeting aud addressed Crockford upon
the evil .of carrying this affair to a ter¬
mination, which must almost inevit¬
ably result iu murder, on account of
my poor target practice.
Crockford said:
“ ‘There ain’t no particular reason
for fighting, if he will appolergize fer
strikin’ that blow, but he’s got ter do
it, and got ter do it humble, too, or
else let him git bold of his rifle. I
won’t say no more.’
“I impatiently waived to Dalziel to
desist aud signed to 3Iottram to pro¬
ceed with the necessary preliminaries.
Taking the two rifles from our hands
he pressed, one by one.into the maga¬
zines of each of them seven cartridges.
t i i Now,’said he,when this was done,
‘you, Crockford, are well posted as to
how these affairs are managed here,
but for fear that you’—turning to me
— ‘may not be so well acquainted with
them I will tell yer the conditions.
These two rifles will be laid down on
the middle of the road, where it goes
over the plain in a straight line, they
will be placed over two hundred yards
apart, and you will stand each beside
his gun. We, that is, Dalziel and
myself, will stand between you and to
one side. When I throw my hat up
you are each at liberty to get your
gun and make the best use of it again
one another. Yon may stand and fy-e,
or lay down and fire as you please.
You kin run in ou one another, or if
either of you chooses, he kin
run back. There’s plenty of road,
too jeacii ofyou has about fifty miles of
straight travelin’ behind him if be
don’t like the looks of things iu front;
but neither ofyou must leave the road,
and the seven shots iu each of guns
must decide the affair, hit or miss.
3Iiud, if these conditions are broken
by either man, me and Dalziel here
are to see fair play, and we have guns,
and will use them, too. Without
another word we all left the store,
and the seconds, placing the rifles on
the road beside Crockford and my¬
self, retired to the little hillock to
give the signal.
“As I before told you, I, had laid
down my method of proceeding, and,
the basis of it was to remain on the
defensive, for I felt sure that Crock¬
ford, despising my abilities with the
Winchester, would advance upon me,
nor was I at all mistaken; directly the
signal was given he seized his rifle
and almost instantly discharging a
shot, which passed within a foot of
me, he started on a zigzag run toward
me. 3Ieanwhile I had gone down flat
on the road, bringing my rifle to bear
upon him, and getting sight after he
had ruu iu perhaps fifty yards, I fired
my first shot.
“I shot primarily to stop him, of
course, if I could, but also with the
intention of throwing a thin cloud of
smoke immediately in front of me,
beneath which I could again take
sight. The day was still, bright and
warm, and far away along the road be¬
hind Crockford a little white puff of dust
told me that I had missed my man.
Jerking the lever of the rifle forward
A CLEVER RUSE.
Wells Compton was telling the story.
It was about a duel to the death in
which he had engaged while in Ari"
zona, and we all listened attentively.
He had tdld about the cause of the
combat. Bill Crockford, the bully of
the camp,had thrown a glass of whisky
in his face beem e le did not like a
remark tiiat bad oeen made by the
tenderfoot, and Compton had retali¬
ated by striking him a hard blow on
the cheek. Crockford was for using
his six-shooter right away, but the
crowd made him desist and insisted
upon fair play,
“I knew the man was likely to kill
mo before I left the groggery,” said
Compton, “so I said:
( ( ‘I will fightivou, and fight you
now, but mark you, we will fight ou
something like equal terms, With re¬
volvers I should be nothing but a vic¬
tim to your skill, so as I am entitled
to the choice of weapons, wo will use
Winchesters, for, ailhough I never
fired one in my life, I can use the rifle
better than the revolver.’
“A dead quiet fell on the group as
Crockford nodded his head in token
of assent. I had, as I knew, chosen
the deadliest stylo of duelling iu force
out there.
“Old Mottram broke the silence by
saving: ‘It seem% boys,that this affair
must go on. Crockford, hev ye yer
weapon here?’
< i ( No, but I will soon bring it, was
the response as he turned autl walked
out-
“1 now bad about an hour at my
disposal, and taking Dalziel aside I
asked bun to be my second, which he
acceded to. I gave him all the money
I had on me, somo $600, and told
him that if I should be killed he was
to bury mu decently and that he
might keep any balance left over.
Then on a sheet of note paper 1
wrote a brief will, disposing of my
interests in certain coucerns.
‘‘I did not waste any time in think¬
ing of my poor mother, my sisters, or
any dearer one at all. The fact was
that 1 hadn’t any sweetheart or rela¬
tions of any kind save and excepit my
dear old dad, and well I knew that he,
a major under the flag of old England,
would rather have helped to bury me
with bis own hands than that his sou
should turn tail in such a case.
Neither was I disturbed in my mind
about what some would call the awful
responsibility which must rest upon
me if I killed this man. No, sir! I
just meant to drill as many and as
deadly holes iu his rascally carcass as
good fortune and my skill could to¬
gether effect. Brutal, uo doubt you
will say. Perhaps it was, but I was
going to shoot to kill for all that, for
if ever a man meant bloodshed iu this
world, Bill Crockford meant it when
he went out of that saloon.
“What I did thiuk of, however,was
how to increase my chances of success,
as I certainly did not want to be killed,
or even wounded, so I mentally laid
down a plan of campaign, or method
of operation as it were.
“There was still about half an hour
before my adversary could get back,
so Dalziel proposed my having a few
shots to get used to the Winchester
which I was to use. About 200 yards
away stood au old shanty, empty and
tumbled down; on this Dalziel stuck
the white lid of a box, offeriug a plain
mark of perhaps twelve inches square.
I took the rifle and after firing two
shots for direction aDd elevatiou I
walked over to see how I had got ou,
then came back and resumed firing.
When I got through three aud twenty
cartridges, we all, that is, the rest of
the men in the store—with Dalziel
and back to its place again, I had my
second shot ready for delivery." Tnig
time I waited, judging that when he
came to a stop, either to lie down, or
stand, I should have the best chance I
wus likely to get, but still my rifla
muzzle followed bis every movement.
On he came, till less than one hundred
yards separated us; dropping on his
hands and knees, he was just reach-
iug the prone position, when once more
my rifle rang out. This time I did
not see the puff of dust, betokening a
miss, for I bad no time to speculate
results, but hugging the grouud
closely, I jerked the empty cartridge
out and got another into its place.
“Zip came a bullet not three inches
from my cheek, and again, as I
brought my gun up, another struck
the road almost straight in front of
me and tore its way through the cloth
of my coat on the arm. This shot
nearly blinded me and rendered it im¬
possible for me to return the fire ef¬
fectively for the dust, and so I might
say for the next two, as both being in
front and fortunately a little to one
side I absolutely could not see even
the end of my own rifle. In a few
seconds the dust was cleared sufficient¬
ly to allow me dimly to sight my op¬
ponent. My finger had almost pressed
the trigger when somehow or other I
seemed to feel that I need not shoot.
There was no motion about my adver¬
sary, nor was his face visible, and
even at that distance I could see that
his rifle was not in position, but was
grasped in his right hand wide out
from his body. I kept my rifle on
him. hesitating what to do.
He still had two shots in his
magazine, and I had a right to fire
on him and make certain; but still, as
Isay, I hesitated. As I did so Mot-
tram waved me to hold my fire, and
leaving their position on the hill the
two seconds ran hastily to the silent
figure in front of me. A wave of the
hand released me from suspense and
informed me that the duel was over.
Oji reaching Crockford I found him
insensible from pain and loss of blood.
My second shot had struck him fair on
the left shoulder, shattering the bone
at the joint in a terrible manner and
flooding the road with blood.
then the man had, before insensibility
set in, managed,goodness knows how,
to send those four bullets in rapid
succession, any one of which, had it
been three inches truer, would have
killed or badly wounded me. We got
him to the store and Dalziel, who
possessed somo sitrgieal skill, man¬
aged to stanch the flowing blood, and
in a day or two he was pronounced
out of any absolute danger of his life.
Recover he did, although it was three
months before he could leave his berth.
As the ranch had passed into my hands
during that time 1 saw that he was
properly attended to, but when lie
was able to travel I directed that, he
be paid up all wages and given an ex¬
tra $50, but ordered that be be dis¬
charged from the employ. You see,
my life felt very unsafe while he was
within fifty miles. I heard that he
ultimately recovered the use of his
arm, but it was a long time before it
wus anything like sound.
“Little more remains to be told,
excepting that I gave D dziel a hun¬
dred dollars for that Winchester as a
souvenir of the affair.”
“But, Mr. Crompton,” said I,“how
on earth did yon manage to make
such a good shot at your man ou your
second attempt when, as yon pointed
out, you shot so badly at the box lid.
Was it simply a fluke?”
Compton looked at me rather curi¬
ously and said:
“I notice that you sometimes play
at whist, but I don’t perceive that you
let the adversaries see your hand. It
is true that I was never within five
feet of the box lid, but then yon see
I never shot at that lid at all. I aimed
at a dozen different parts of the
shanty, kuots, blotches on the wood,
etc., but never at the lid. Ivuowing
what I wns shooting at,I was satisfied,
because ail my shots were within six
to ten inches of where I aimed them,
and of course, the others thought 1
was blazing away at the lid all the
time, though, mind, I never said so,
and Crockford naturally got the im-
pressiou that I was a very bad shot
from what the others told him. 1
rather expected the result would be
that way, and it was unlucky foi
Crockford.”—San Francisco Exam¬
iner.