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The Douglas Weekly Breeze. FOR OUR COUNTRY AND HER PEOPLE, FIRST AND ALL THE TIME VOL 15, No. 46 Is it Weil With The Lad. The guardian angel, before start ing to earth, looked in the father’s face and asked : “Will my stay on earth be long?” And the answer came : “Until my will shall have been fulfilled in this new life.” And the angel left the starry world above and came to the earth and, in a little room, where lay a pale mother pressing a young babe to her bosom, took up his day and night vigil. The angel saw that in the babe’s eye that made him won der, for the innocence and purity of heaven was there. Many, many times it had been his duty to be the guardain angel for the sons and daughters of men, but this son had that about him that made the celes tial watcher say : “The Father has great work, mighty deeds and perhaps much suffering in store for thee, my little one.” And the child grew and waxed strong and the angel saw him as he saw other children except there was no waywardness. His merry laugh rang out at play with other Children, but when the day was over the an gel shown, no wilfulness exhibited and he said : “The child will live long and point many to the Master’s path.” At school and college the boy ex celled, but never with arrogance or false pride. He helped the weaker and took the blame of failures not his own. His mind turned towards the deep things of life and nature. And the angel spoke again : “He will search out the hidden things and bring light into dark places.” Then she who gave him birth ceased from her labors and as the angel saw the lad weeping, he wished so much he could tell him to dry his tears, for no mortal eye hath ever seen or ear heard the fullness of the glories that were now his mother’s. But the boy ceased his weeping, tho’ he was never quite so happy again. Life had more of duty in it than before and the angel smiled and said : “He knows mere than I had be lieved. He does not think her dead. He knows she w'atches by him yet.” The ease of riches was not for the lad and patiently and uncom plainingly he took up the burden, and the joy of endeavor made it easy and the yoke of duty rested lightly upon him—the angel watch ed and saw him gather triends from every walk of life—the poor loved him and the rich honored him, little children were wont to come to him with their childish troubles and old men would lean upon him. “He will win thousands by hi modest worth and heavenly kind ness,” said the angel. And the lad saw the sins of life around him, but touched them not —the impure acts and words of others pained him, but rever sul lied his mind or body. Then the angel learned that the mother would often wander near the Gate and look down toe shin ing way that led earthward. And he wondered, for well he knew n*> desire was ungranted There. Di<! she long for lad’s coming? Tbi, could not be, for had the Father not said. “Untill my will be ful filled!” It cannot be that the possibilities in store for the life are to terminate ! “My stay on earth with him is for many years,” thought the an gel. And then the lad was stricken —there was no warning, no time to prepare—the pains of disease came upon him as thev come to few in this world—no rest no sleep or surcease—not one moment’s ease from the racking pain and those who loved him and knew ids gen tleness wondered how the Father cou'd afflict him thus. But no word of impatience came from the sufferer, only a look sometimes of surprise that he still lived in of bodily anguish. And the snow and sleet ■ >vered the face of the earth—the un re fused to shine and the darkening days seemingly merged into the blackness of night Day after day pass thus and once he said : “When the sun comes out again I shall be better and the horror of this pain will flee away.” And one morning as tl'v angle watched he saw streaks oi gray in lad’s hair and the facq was all drawn and pinch d and file breath was coming feebly. And shortly the pulse fluttered slightly, the eyes closed and then from the east came the golden glory oi the sun flooded the room where he lay. Was it well with die lad: The sun had come, but the lips were cold and, oh! so white ;nd still! Was he better? The angel’s task A:- o\ r, but before taking his leave of earth he looked about and heard the bereav ed ones speak of the dead. One said : “A few weeks sir.ee are 1 could not have borne tin blow , but his suffering have almost made me content. Another said : “He is with his mother. Could she have been lonely there.?” And one of his young compan ions said: *T never heard him say an unchaste word.” A man in the hard struggle al most ready to yield to the tempter, took courage from the steadfast ness of the lad’s life and resisted evil. A child hearing that the suf ferings were ended smiled and s aid to his mother : “I’m so gltd. Heaven is so much pretier than tlii- world.” The angel looked once more at the pallid face and said : “The Will has been fulnlted. I do not quite understan, but I do not doubt.” Then the angel winged hi- way back to the Celestial City and was shown the Book wherein were kept the deeds of men. He looked w here the lad s name appeared and the page where the good done is inscribed was full. Little things they were, but there was no vacant space. Little kindness done, pleas ant words spoken and honest en deavor shown. Here his heart had been wounded deeply, but ro effort at revenge. There he had been wronged and misjudge, but the record shown no bitterness return ed. And the angel looked to the page where the evil that men do is shown and beheld the lad’s name in gold at its top and below : One glittering page of white ness— Then the angel understood. See Hoke Davis for Seed Irish Potatoes and Garden Seed. Douglas, Ga., March 18th, 1905. THE GEORGIA STATE FAIR. Something About the Prizes That Have Been Offered- The State Fair offers $22,000 in prizes this year. This is the larg est sum ever put up by a State Fair in Georgia. President Hughes, of the State Agricultural Society, and his fair committee at first made the prize $1,500 for the best county agricul tural exhibit- This was the same as last year. But this did not satisfy Atlanta. She wanted to beat anything ever offered before, and begged the fair committee to raise the first prize at least to $1,600. The committee thought that $1,500 was enough, but finally agreed to encrease it to $1,600, as Atlanta was so anxious. The prize for the second best county exhibit will be $1,200; third, $800; fourth, $600; fifth, S4OO. The next five best county exhi bits will get S3OO apiece, and then the next five will receive S2OO apiece. Tlrs makes fifteen county prizes, but still Atlanta is not much satisfied, and she offers SIOO apiece to every single one of the other 122 counties in Georgia if they make good exhibit. As the railroads haul the county exhibits free to Atlanta and as each county is sure of getting at least SIOO, there is no reason why every county should not make a display. All the hay, cotton, grain and vegetables can be sold in At lanta after the fair, at good prices. The best individual agricultural exhibit will receive $400; second best. $300; third, $200; fourth, SIOO. For the best one-horse farm ex hibit the fair will pay $300; second, $200; third, $150; fourth SSO. There will be a prize of SSO for the largest yield of upland cotton from one acre, and the same amount for the largest yield of sea island cotton and corn from one acre. Liberal prize are offered for nearly everything grown on a farm. Copies of the premium list will be mailed free by the general man ager, Frank Weldon, Atlanta, Ga. The Same in Coffee County, Savannah Press. “Thejproblem in Ware county is that of the whole of South Georgia. There is plenty of good land waiting cultivation which is nnoccupied. The county d< es not raise as much as it can consume. In truck dairy products and other things there is a deficit; that is, ;he home supply is not met. Ware county wants to invite set tlers and immigrants, Northen set tiers and foregn immigrants. Thousands of people in the North and abroard want land and are will ing to cultivate it and Wvre coun ty wants men. The great problem is to get them together. Wavcross is in the ri ich of good market— Savannah, Jacksonville, Mont gomery and Atlanta. The experi mental farms in Ware county have yielded well, and the government station is proving a great aid to farmers in that section. Special attention is being paid to cain. Landiseheap, the climate good, and Waycross is destiued to be come a driving center. Dr. Johnson’s new residence near the Methodist church is near ing completion. Getting Ready for the Fair The people of Coffee county are in earnest about the county fair, and men, women and children are getting ready to have a hand in the exhibits. We have heard of some of our famers who intend to compete for the premiums for farm products, but have not decided yet what they propose to do and cannot do so un til the premium lists appear, which will be soon, however, and then the lively work of competition will begin. The premium lists, we sup pose, will appear in the county pa pers and perhaps also in pamphlet form. Some ladies in Douglas are al ready preparing: fancy needle-work for that department, and the roll of contestants may be long. We know that the proper authoritie’s will offer handsome prizes for the handy work cf the ladies, for any thing gotten up without the help of the ladies will not be worth much. In addition to the above we learn that the contract for getting out the posts for the fence, about 500 of them to be eight feet high and about the same •..umber to be five feet high has already been given out. There is a great deal of work to be done before the accomplishment of a successful fair is assured, how ever, and no time to be lost. To do the most good the widest publicity must be given the enter prise. Talk about it to your friends, write about it and have it printed on your stationery. The Coffee County Fair has not been formed for selfish purposes. It is for the benefit of every man in the county, and every true man and citizen will take an interest in its success. This is true. Now, because this will be the first fair ever held in the county, and be cause no fairs were here by your father and grandfather when the county was a forest and inhabited by Indians do not think there is no necessity for any such. There are people in Coffee county who will say : “Well, thar was no sich do ins in my day, nor in my dady’s day, and we got along all right. Had plenty to eat and wear and that’s all we’ll git now ” That is a case of where ignorance was bliss. They did get along all right, but it was a bad get along. There were no railroads, no schools and churches, of any consequence, no society, no attempt to settle the country and no desire to make it better. They had no newspapers to give them the news and if they had them could not read them, and some of them are in the same con dition now. In darkness and will ing to remain there. Since we have lived in Coffee county we have seen a white man go to the polls to vote and as he could not read had to get a cold black negro to select and fill out his ballot. This is one of the specimens that say “Never had any fairs in my dady’s day and don’t need ’em now.” He would rather take a negro as his political guide and keep his own neck under a black heel. But this is only one kind and they are dying out fast. The most of the people see and know we need a county fair. Watt Harley Holmes Co., have the Buggies. Come to see us. Watt Harley Holmes Co. SI.OO per Anrum SCHOOL FOR CHILD WIVES. Many Girls Found in Chicago finder 14- Years Old Are Wives. A dispatch from Chicago has this to say : A school, or at least a special room, for child wives may be established by the boad of edu cation as a result of an investiga tion completed todav by the com pulsory education department. The search for wives ot com pulsory school age was made by Superintendent Bodine, and it is stated, has been more fruitful than even the school of ficials expected. More than a score of wives un der the age of 14 years are said to be found in one Italian tenement district alone. The investigation also is said to have proved the existence or a traf fic in child wives between this country and Europe. A majority of the school trustees hold that un married school girls should not be put in the same classes with the so-called child wives. Douglas Board of Trade. The regular mothly meeting of the Directors of ttie Douglas Board of Trade was held at the Secretary office last Tuesday evening 141 h inst., and quite an amount of busi ness came beiore them for disposal. The Committee on better tele graphic facilities reported progress. The western union and postal union are to be petitioned for a central office in Douglas. The Committee on Cornet Bond made a favorable report, twelve members having been secured. More time was given. The Committee on newspapers made a favorable and very encour aging report, was also continued The Committee on Ornamental Fence for court-house square re ported that they had taken the matter up with the County Com missioner’s Committee but no de finite action had been taken. Com mittee was continued to # urge the matter. Committee on Public/ Park was also continued. It was resolved that the. Southern Express Co., be petitioned»jfor a central office in Douglas, titql Sec retary was instructed to sif r ’iw up such a petition and have sign ed by citizens. A meeting of the entire nietnber ship was called for the first Tues day in April next, when it is hoped every member will be present. i Seed Corn, Eastern Grown, fresh and sound, white and yellow. Comes early, at Peoples’ Pharmacy. The indications now are that the A. &B. railway will be extended to Atlanta as well as Birmingham. A company has been formed and petition for incorporation is being published in the county papers through which the line will run. Independent of the line from Brun swick to Montezuma, the road will cover some 260 miles in Georgia and Alabama. We spoke to a Coffee county land owner some days ago about truck farming when he hooted the idea and tried to make fun of us, because, he said, “he could get more turpentine money out of one acre of pine land than he could out of ten acre in vegtables and melons,” That may be so, to-day, but did you ever think that the land will soon begin to quit the turpentine business. Truck farm ing will never run out.