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About The Pickens County herald. (Jasper, Ga.) 1887-???? | View Entire Issue (May 28, 1891)
PICKENS COUNTY HERALD VOL. IV. Night. Come with thine unveiled worlds,'O truth of night, Come with thy calm. Adowu the shallow day, Whose splendors hid the vaster world away, I wandered on this little plot of light, A dreamer among dreamers. Veiled or bright, Whether the gold shower roofed me or the gray, I strove and fretted at life’s feverish play, And dreamed until the dream seemed in¬ finite. But now the gateway of the all unbars; The passions and the cares that beat so shrill, The giants of this petty world, disba i On t he. great threshold of the night I stand, Once more a soul self-cognizant and still, Among the wheeling multitude of stars. —[Archibald Lampman,in Scribner TRAILED BY INDIANS, AN OLD IIUNTEll’S STORY. “It was in ’48, and I’d been out trading ’monget the Flatheads and the Nez Perces for nearly two years off and on, when one day I caught on to a scheme the Flatheads had got up to raid tho little settlement near to where Cnaton, Nev., now stands. There were iliree families living there, and the plan was to wait until the men went to Carson City for provisions, when the women and children were to he killed and the cattle run off by one party, while another waylaid the men on the way back and murdered them. I was up about .Winuemucca when I got hold of this, and I set off' for Can¬ ton as hard as I could go, but the men were gone by the time I reached the settlement, which was called Ridley’s Camp. I had reason to fear the Indi¬ ans were only a few hours behind me, and we had to move quickly. Our only chance was to hide in the moun¬ tains till they left tho neighborhood or work our way as best we could by night to Carson City. It was useless to think of saving the men, so I just kept that part of tho business to myself. There were in all thirteen of us, two women and their seven children, and three little chaps whose mother had died the week be¬ fore, and me. The first thing I did was to stampede the cattle and horses to keep the Indians from getting them, then, as wc started, I shut up the houses to keep the redskins as long as possible there before they found out the people had run away. We made tho little creek called Snake River by daylight, aud, after reconnoitering, I made the whole party wade out to an island in the middle, which was about 20 by SO feet, and covered with flags and rushes aud some stunted willows. Here we lay all day, for the most part down on our stomachs under the brush. Of course we could build no lire nor move about, so we ate tho cold victuals the women had brought along, and I dipped up water in my cap. Twice parties of Indians stopped not a hundred yards below where wo were to water their horses, but, judging from their ac¬ tions, I knew they did not suspect any one was near them, hut were proba¬ bly on their way to Ridley’s. They did not linger, but rode on at once, much to my relief, for all the time they were within hearing I am sure I-did not draw a breath a minute for fear one of the children would cry out, when we would hav~ all been massacred; but the poor little things, with the exception of a child a few weeks old, were too badly scared to slir or speak unless bidden; and as for the women, they put any man I ever 6aw to shame with their calmness aud courage. When night came we struck out for a line of hills lying about five miles away, and where I counted on finding a cave, or at least a hiding-place. Of Course I and the women and the larger children could have made it without difficulty; but being obliged to wait on the little ones and to carry them evrey half mile or so, we were nearly all night getting to the nearest hill. We’d gone about a mile, when low down on the horizon I saw a dull glow, and knew the Indians were burning the camp and that they’d be on our trail in a little while. When we got to the hill I could see nothing like a cave, and, while it was pretty heavily wooded, there was no place to hide where the Indians would not spy ns directly. I was looking about me when I caught glimpse of a black bear “We Seek the Reward of Honest Labor.” JASPER, PICKENS COUNTY, GA„ THURSDAY. MAY 28, (894. running round a rocky spur about half way up the hill. I followed just in time to see her go tumbling or climbing down a sort of gasli jn tho earth, aud which I knew must bo her den. Without stop¬ ping I jumped at her and found myself in a little cave, about ten by ten foot, hut with another larger one leading away toward the center of the hill. Tho bear began to growl when she saw mo, and 1 saw, when my eyes got accustomed to the dim light, that sho had two cubs in tho den with her, which she was going to defend. So, aiming as carefully ns I could, I fired at her, breaking her skull, after which I killed the two cubs and transferred my party to the cave. The last of the cold meat and bread were then eaten, and the women and children, creeping into the larger division, which was, however, only about four feet in height, went to rest. But I was too anxious to sleep, tired as I was, so hoisted myself out of the cavern and climbed to the top of tho hills to see if 1 could see aught of tho Indians. Several times it seemed to me that I saw a band moving along tho lino of tho horizon, and, while the speck might have been cattle, I thought it best to stay where wo were all that day, that night and the next.day. Our great trouble was water, which had to be brought from a spring on the other side of the hill, and as only a small quantity could be brought at a time— my cap being the only vessel we had— the children especially suffered a good deal. At last one of tho women dis¬ covered a flint rock with a hollow dip in the middle, which would hold about two quarts or so, and I kept this filled as a cistern. I ventured that night to roast a piece of the bear in a hole in the ground, which change of diet wa s a welcome one. I never passed such a time since I was born, for I dare not sleep an hour for fear of a surprise, and the weight of responsibility I felt, with those poor, helpless creatures on my hands, was simply awful. Late on ths second day, when I climbed tho hill for a last look, I saw a small band of Indians not more than an eighth of a mile away. They did not number more than seven,but wero armed and in full war dress, aud were heading straight for the hill. Drop, ping on my all fours I ran as fast as I could for the mouth of the cavern, and scrambling down soon had tho women and children crouched up in the far end of the larger division, where no shot fired into the smaller one could reach them, though I hoped the Indians would either pass by al- togetleer or fail to find us if they halted. Silence then was absolutely necessary, and the women impressed this on the children. I then went back, and by clinging to one of the bushes swinging across the entrance to the cave peered out to seo what the redskins meant to do. I could sec they had struck our trail and suspect¬ ed wc were somewhere about, for they dismounted, and scattering, they began to search about tho woods. As they drew near our hiding place 1 dropped down into it and cocked the guns the women had brought and my own trusty rifle. I suppose my fre¬ quent goings in and comings out had left some trace, for they seemed to notice the entrance at once, and pres¬ ently I saw a head peeping over. The dim light of the cave might have pre¬ vented the owner from seeing me, but, as ill-luck would have it, the infant child I spoke of wailed out just at this particular moment. The cry was stifled in an instant, but it bad been heard, and the head craned over further, while another and another popped over. I was crouching down as close as I could, but, hearing the click of the trigger, I knew conceal¬ ment was no longer possible, and blazed away. Two screams told me that a couple of heads had been hit, and the third disappeared. I heard a voice shouting for the others to come up, and could distinguish the tones of a colloquy being held, though without hearing what was said. Presently a lighted torch was flung into the cave, but I had retreated into the further one, and. nothing being visible, the Indians were nonplussd, and I heard one cry out that there was nothing there. Another retorted an¬ grily that some one had killed Blue Water and Leaping Turtle. This was followed by a patter o f shots on the floor of tho cave, one of which, re- bounding, struck out) of the children on tho breast, but, though the bullet embedded itself in his skin, the plucky little fellow did not utter a sound. As their firing still produced no elVoct, the Indians did not know how to ac¬ count for matters, and presently one of thorn was imprudent enough to stick his head over the edge, but 1 made no move, and they hold anothci council. It was evident that they feared to enter the cave, not knowing how many lay concealed within it, and at last they hit on the very plan I had been dreading. A lighted torch was thrown over, and a quantity of leaves and moss was pushed after it, but their amiable in¬ tention of smoking us out failed, ow¬ ing to the dampness of tho leaves fu moss and my having deluged tho earthen floor of the cave with the water wo had on hand. Seeing this fail, they summoned up courage to enter the cavern, and as we saw the five forms leap over, the women and I opened on them. I killed my mail in¬ stantly, and so did Mrs. Ridley, who immediately let a dusky fiend, who, screaming, rushed upon her, have the full contents of the other barrel in his breast. The other woman missed her aim, and the next moment was in tho grasp of one of the Indians, but before I could come to her rescue, her son, a boy of 12, had flung his arms around tho redskin’s nock, and, hanging on his back kept him from striking, when the woman, picking up a tomahawk, struck him a tremendous blow on the forehead. He dropped like a log, crushing the boy beneath him. The remaining Indiau, seeing his compan¬ ions fall, made a break for the en¬ trance, and was just climbing out when I caught him, and, firing, brought him down with a broken arm and a ball in his side. Seeing him helpless, and thinking him dying, I did not shoot again, but went back to the women, whom .1 found shrieking with excitement. I quieted them, and congratulated them on their courage, which, however, was entirely gone as soon as the call for it was over. I rolled tho Indian off tho boy, who was considerably bruised by tho weight of the dead body, . but otherwise not hurt. Tho wounded Indian I found to be an old acquain¬ tance of mine, and seeing he was dy¬ ing rapidly I did not disturb him. lie told me that finding Itidiey's Camp deserted, the main party had gon$ back home, but that siispecting me of having warned them, sotno of the young hot bloods had followed us to be avenged on me. They were pretty certain that I was the only man in the party, but did not know but what others had Joined ns. Well, wo took possession of tho ponies, and we were able to travel much more rapidly, though had it not been nearly desperate to think of walk¬ ing in our exhausted condition, I would not have risked riding them, for a man on foot has twenty chances on the plains to one the mounted fel¬ low has. Wo reached Carson City without further adventure, though starvation and thirst and fatigue were our constant companions, and there found the women’s husbands and the other man, who wore just starting home. I had to get a doctor to give mo something to quiet .my nerves, for, for eight days and nights, I had not slept more than thirty minutes out of every twenty-four hours, and even after all were safe I could not quit listening for noises.— [Globe-Demo¬ crat. The Message Was Accepted. An oldtimo telegrapher was telling an oldtime story of his craft the other day in an afternoon resort. Back in the forties or fifties he was an opera¬ tor at the terminus of tho Erie Rail¬ road in Jersey City. The road worked its tclegi aph lino practically for its own convenience, and only accepted messages from the public where mat¬ ters of life or death were concerned. It happened that a New York sport wanted to communicato with a com- rade in Corning, aud let the latter know that he was coming up to go shooting. It puzzled him to circum¬ vent tbe telegraph regulations of the railroad company, but he finally evolved the following: “Aunt Jemima is dead. Am coming by this afternoon’s train. Bring the dogs down and we will go hunting.” The message was accepted and transmitted. —[New York Continent. GOLD AND SILVER. Instructive Facts in the History of Their Coinage. Work of the U. S. Mints Since Their Organization. The United States mints, says Dr.E. D. Miller,were organized in 1793. Be- twoon that year and tho year 180.’) tho Wgest number of silver dollars coinod in any one year was 423,515, and the total number coined during the first ten years of the mint’s history was 1,- 437,517 dollars. Frqm 1805 to 1835, a period of thirty years, there were no silver dollars coined. In 1836 there were only 1000 silver dollars coined. There were none coined in 1887, and in 1838 and 1839 there were only 300 coined. From 1835 to 1843 only 585,- 023 silver dollurs were coined. From 1844 to 1873 about 6,007,798 silver dollars were coined. From tho organi¬ zation of the mint to 1873 only about 8,032,318 silver dollars were coinod. Tho largest amount of silver coined in any one year previous to 1873 was in 1872, when 1,118,600 dollars wore coined. The largest amount of gold coined in any one year previous to 1873 was in 1860, when $83,395,538 were coined. In 1850 62,614,490 dollars in gold were coined. Previous to 1873 silver and gold cojns were on an equality at the mints. In 1873 silver was demonetized. In 1872, although tho coinage of silver was as free as that of gold, only 296,- G00 silver dollars were coined, while in tho same year our mints coined $57,022,747 of gold. For four years after 1873 there were no standard silver dollars coined. In 1872 Congress authorized tho is¬ sue of the trade dollar, which con¬ tained 420 grains of silver, nine-tenths fine, while the standard dollar con¬ tained only 412 1-2 grains. Tho ob¬ ject of the issue of tho trade dollar was to promole our trade with China, Japan and India, which have the silver standard. From 1872 to 1878 over 34,000,000 trade dollars were coined. In the year 1873 Congress passed a compulsory coinage act, and the very first year of its operation our mints turned out 22,495,500 silver dollars, showing that in one year, under com¬ pulsory coinage, tho people received more than three silver dollars to each one dollar given thorn in oighty years under free coinage. Under free coinage in 1872 only 296,000 silver dollars wero coined, while there were $57,022,743 in gold coined. Yet in 1890, under compul¬ sory coinage, we have had 35,923,816 silver dollars coined, and only $22,- 021,748 of gold coined. During the last eight years, under compulsory coinage, there have 'been about 49,- 636,775 more silver dollars coined than have been coined of gold. The largest amount of gold ever coined in one year was iu 1880, when $96,850,890 wero coined. Since tha year the coinage of gold has been de¬ creasing until in 1889 there were only $21,413,931 coined, while, under com¬ pulsory coinage, silver, which began in 1877 with $22,495,550, has grad¬ ually increased in coinage up to 1890, when its coinage amounted, as above stated, to $35,923,816. Pets of the Poor. “You will notice,” said the young poet, “that there are two sorts of people who show a marked taste for flowers—the very rich and the very poor. The rich have them in profu¬ sion in conservatories. The poor have one little pot perched iuside or outside a window according to the season. And the loving and personal attention which this ofttimes sickly flower will get from toil-hardened hands is one of the curious things you are always run¬ ning across in human nature. Another way in which the poor try to bring into their houses tho breath of the country is by keeping birds in cages— canaries generally. A poor woman who lias a canary and a geranium counts herself happy indeed. Sho has the perfume and the voice of the coun¬ try.”— [New York Sun. Forlorn. “Why lias Miss Merriweather never married? Did she find her lover uu- worthy?” “No, poor thing. Sho never ever bad that luck.” The Funeral of the Fntnre. ‘-The time is coming,” said an un¬ dertaker of this city tho other day, “when people will ccaso to go to fnucrals in troops, and when the friends of tho deceased will tako fare* well of his remains at ids home, in¬ stead of following him to tho grave as they do now. This will bo a decided change for tho better. Funerals as now conducted arc foolish and mean¬ ingless performances. They bring dis¬ comfort to nil who attend them, and in many cases they do positive injury. Think of tho thousands of people who catch their deaths of cold from stand¬ ing shivering around an open gravo ; and from sitting for hours in cirringei traveling at a snail’s paco for miles into the country. Of course the time is not far distant when burials will bo largely superseded by cremation. “On the whole, I am disposed to re¬ gard cremation as a blessing. Fooplo arc opposod to it now because they think that it is unnatural and horrible. It is simply an. assistance to nature’s work; it doo; neatly and quickly wlmt nature accomplishes after a long tiino and in avory unpleasant fashion. I wonder if people will ever realize that when a human boing dies tho body which ho leaves behind him Is not himself. There is no more relation be¬ tween a man when lie is dead than there is between any living thing and a piece of clay. But wo have not reached that 6tnge of civilization when the popular mind can grasp this fact. When wo do, there will be very differ¬ ent funeral ceremonies from those now in vogue, and other methods of dis¬ posing of the dead will change mated- ally.—[Now York Telegram. Great Crevasses of Mount St. Elias. Crossing tbe great snow field form ing tho floor Of the amphitheater were hundreds of yawning chasms, many of them twenty to forty feet in breadth and half a mile in length. These we had to cross by narrow snow bridges or follow for long distances before being able to pass around their ends. A view into the blue depths of one of those great crevasses is a sight never to be forgotten. Their lips are of while snow, festooned and ovor arching in a thousand fantastic forms; below, tho color changes by impercep¬ tible gradations to tho deepest blue. Their extreme depths are as dark in color as tho unfathomable sea. Many timeB their bottoms arc beyond tho jeach of vision; again they are level- floored and form a fairy-liko valley with walls of sculptured crystal; iu other instances they arc partly filled with wafer of tho deepest indigo, iu which every detail of the fretted walla abovo is reflected. Some of tho larger crevasses are crossed by snow arches, thrown directly from bank to bank, and resembling in their grand propor¬ tions the Natural Bridge of Virginia. Our way luy for miles across this beautiful but treacherous pavement along the brink of dizzy precipices, and across narrow bridges with bottom¬ less gulfs on each hand. Although wc had been living on the glaciers for weeks and had become familiar with many of their wonders, the grea 4 crevasses iu the upper snow regions were so magnificent in their propor¬ tions and so wonderful in color that they called forth exclamations of ad¬ miration from every member of our party.— [Century. Lifting Bridges by Electricity. The case with which electricity can now be applied to the moving of heavy weights has led to its employ¬ ment for that purpose in many opera¬ tions where steam or hydraulic or other power was formerly used. Among these may be mentioned the fffting of bridges, for which the elec¬ tric motor is peculiarly fitted. It is stated that in the city of Rochester, all the bridges that cross the Erie canal are to be operated electrically. Of the fifteen bridges for which it is proposed to provide power, it is as¬ sumed that at least four will at times be lifted simultaneously, and that a period of fifteen seconds will be oc¬ cupied for each lift; furthermore, that each bridge will be lifted at least eight times per hour during a period of ten consecutive hours of the day of greatest canal traffic.—[New York Commercial Advertiser, -•-- Statistician G. E. llavenstein esti- mates that the earth could hold a total imputation of about 5,990,000,000. NO. 30. Doubting Hearts, HI. Within the shadow a drooping face, Crowned by a wealth of flowers and lace, Dark brown eyes under white lids pressed, And Ungers that love to be caressed. A throat that glistens, ‘neath priceless pearls Hose In the rosebud garden of girls. 1 dream of her nightly, gay coquette, And wonder if I’ve half won her yetT Or if Bhe would look as sweet and fair To some other man who by chauce was there SKI. Within tho shadow, the lights turned down, Far from the noise of the reHtless town, While eyes of the boldest, deepest blue Seem to be looking me through and through; A strong hand clasping about my own With a touch that straight to my heart has flown; Do I love him? Yes and always will; My heart responds to his own heart’s thrill, But he looks as tenderly, I suppose, In the eyes of every girl he knows. — [F. H. Curtiss, in New York Sun. HUMOROUS. The little follow Is none the loss a strapping fellow. Necessity is a doubtful virtue be¬ cause it knows no law. It seems to bo tho burglaries and not the burglars that are committed now¬ adays. The carpenter, liko tho country schoolteacher, is accustomed to board, ing around. “I understand they have discovered tho original man through whoso whiskers tho wind blew.” “Who wa» it?” “Bluebeard.” Gosiin—If Miss Scadds’ faco is her fortune she doesn’t rate very high. Dollcy—Her pa value is much above her faco valuable. “Docs your wife sit up for yon when you como homo late from ths club?’' “No, hut sho often sits dowi on mo after I got in.” Miss Vanitas—Do you know tho se¬ cret of my beauty? Miss Tartly—I think you can assure yourself, dear, that no one has discovered it. Tom—Yes, I always laugh at John¬ son’s funny sayings. I am under cer¬ tain obligations to him, you know. Jack—Why, what a coincidence. I owe him money, too. Sho—Will you always love me, dear, just the same as you do now? He— Always. She—You wretched thing I Why didn’t you protest that every year you would love me more ? Tommy—Ma, you must got me a new pair of shoes. I’ve got a hole in one of my shoes. Mother—Is it a big Hole? Well, I lost my stocking through it this morning going to school. Tho bewhiskered superintendent beamed upon tho class boys. “Now, boys,” said lie, “what shall I talk about?” “Talk about a minute,” ex¬ claimed the bad boy of the class. Dash way—Just look at Miss Jasper. She lias a dress for every day iu tha week. Cleverton—How tho mischief can her father afford it? Dashaway— Easy enough. It’s the samo dress. Irate Parent (catching his clerk kissing his daughter)—Now, now, young man. I don’t pay you for that kind of work. Clerk—N-uo, sir. And I don’t propose to charge any extra for it. Young Housekeeper (to butcher)— You may send up that bag of ham, aud—er—how is your liver this morn- big? Butcher—Fust rate, mum. 1 been takin’ Saratogy Wichy for a month. Fair lady (with large conversational aperture)—Cau’t you make the mouth a little smaller? Photographer— Great Scott I do you want a picture without any mouth at ull? I’ve pared it down three inches already. Pompous Author (to veteran edi¬ tor) :—What would you advise a man to do whose ideas are in advance of the times? Veteran Editor (prompt¬ ly) :—I would advise him to sit quiet¬ ly down and wait for the times to catch up. St. Helena Becoming Deserted. For twenty years St. Helena has been going to the dogs, and has now very nearly arrived there. It is the Suez Canal that has killed it, as it has ruined many other ports of call. A final blow was given when quite re¬ cently the French Government decided to withdraw the garrison of Imperial troops. Last year this order began to come into effect, and St. Helena is rapidlv drifting into a position of a deserted island.—[Philadelphia Reo ord. —.
