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THE CUCKOO.
Curious Superstitions That Are Con¬
nected With the Bird.
There is a popular belief that what¬
ever one is doing when first one hears
the cuckoo that will be what one will
most frequently do during the year.
In many parts of Scotland and in the
northern counties of England people
turn their money in their pockets on
hearing the first call of the cuckoo, as
this, they say, insures a lucky year. In
the counties bordering in Wales not
only do they do this, but they also
have a wish at the same time, this
wish being kept secret, of course. To
have a gold coin in one's pocket when
the cuckoo's call is first heard insures
good luck for the rest (*f the year.
The German peasants declare that aft¬
er St. John’s day the bird changes into
a sparrow hawk.
The Danes have a curious legend re¬
garding this bird. When the village
girls hear its first call they kiss their
hands and repeat, “Cuckoo, cuckoo,
when shall I be married?" As many
times as the bird calls '‘cuckoo” in an¬
swer, so many years will the maiden
have to wait. The old folk, bent and
bowed with rheumatism and age, ask
instead, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, when shall
I be released from this world’s cares?”
and the answer comes in ihe same
way. So occupied is the poor bird in
answering these questions, say the
Danes, that she never has time to build
her nest, so is forced to lay her eggs
in the nest of another bird.—Danet.
The Lace Curtain.
Just why there must be lace curtains
even where there is no piano or rubber
plant or gilt chair has never been ex¬
plained to the entire satisfaction of
man. He only knows that there must
and lets it go at that. It often seems
to him that if he could have his way,
which is out of the question, of course,
there wouldn’t be lace curtains, at
least above the cellar floor. They are
in the way when windows are to be
lowered or raised; they are apt to blow
into tlie gas and burn down the house,
and alarm is constantly sounded for
fear the man will soil or tear them.
They do not serve to keep out tho
light when there is too much of it, and
the dog can’t toast himself in the sun
without getting tangled In them.
Still, there are lace curtains every¬
where, and that is all there is to it.—
'‘rovldence Tribune.
The Lark’s Song.
A writer on “The Wonders of the
Spring" says that the volume of sound
produced by the skylark is most won¬
derful. “The lark ascends until it ap¬
pears no larger than a midge and can
with difficulty be seen by the unaided
eye, and yet every note of its song
will be clearly audible to persons who
are fully half a mile from the nest
over which the bird utters its song.
Moreover, it never ceases to sing for
a monlent, a feat which seems won¬
derful to us human beings, who find
that a song of six or seven minutes in
length, though interspersed with rests
and pauses, is more than trying. Vet
this bird will pour out a continuous
song of nearly twenty minutes in
length and all the time has to support
itself in the air by the constant use of
its wings.”
*2
I >2 New Racket Store
«
| New spring and summer goods are here,
I Have added several new lines.
COME AND SEE THEM.
| Same big cash values as we have al
| ways given you. Remember new goods
| of the season arriving every few days
ands marked at the lowest spot eash
| prices Yours truly,
1 J. I. Guinn, Govigtrion, jjj
i >2
I 1 Georgia,
Vfl *if V V V V ‘i* ti* V 'i* V • • v *;< £<• «£• •£« «£•
I NICE FRESH GROCERIES
You will always find at my store as nice and fresh Gro¬
ceries as can be found in the city, and when you purchase
them from me I make it a point to get them to your home
just as quick as it is possible for me to do it.
FRESH MEATS
I also have in connection with my store a first class Meat
Market and can furnish you with the choice kind of Meats
you like so well. Giveme an order. I will appreciate it and
will try to please you.
Cigars aud Tobacco, Cash Paid for Hides.
R. F. Wright,
Covington, Georgia.
NATION OF SAVERS.
Frenchmen Are Thrifty and Invest In
Government Bonds.
If you were a Frenchman with a
very small surplus to invest, if even
that surplus were but a modest franc,
you might become the holder of a
French government bond. From the
cradle to the grave the French sub¬
ject is taught to save and to turn his
earnings into safe income producing
account, says Charles Speare in the
Review of He views.
The state pays a premium on thrift.
It rewards its school children for vari¬
ous good performances with a tluy
bank deposit which invariably will
have grown into goodly size when the
recipient has reached maturity. Hav¬
ing nursed its people through the early
stages of economy, it directs their
steps in the choice of investments and
even assumes paternal power in arbi¬
trarily transforming the savings bank
account into government bonds or
rentes. Thrift is a national charac¬
teristic. France is a nation of little
savers, of little incomes and of little
farms.
Collectively these exercise a tremen¬
dous power on the affairs of Europe.
The holder of the one or two franc
bond and the possessor of the bank
account, so small that bankers of oth¬
er countries would scorn it, have built
up a monetary power that commands
the respect of the world ancf indeed
regulates the finances and politics of
much more presumptuous nations.
Bonds of states and governments, of
railroads with a government guaran¬
tee, bonds of cities and towns, of mort¬
gage companies, are the Frenchman's
choice. It is safe to say that in Baris
coupons are cut from the bonds of
nearly every government under the
sun.
A GREWSOME BEQUEST.
Extraordinary Legacy by the Father
of Lord Audley.
Probably the most grewsome be¬
quest ever named in a will was that
made by Philip .Thicknesse, a dissipat¬
'd Englishman, who died in 1702. Some
years before bis death he had quarrel¬
ed bitterly with his son. Lord Audley.
and to spite him had placed on the
Dutside of the family mansion a hoard
bearing this inscription in large black
letters;
“Boots and shoes mended, carpets
beat, etc., etc., by P. Thicknesse, fa¬
ther of Lord Audley.”
Finding he was about to die, he sent
for bis lawyer and drew up a will con¬
taining the following extraordinary
clause; “I leave my right hand, to be
cut off after my death, to my sou, Lord
Audley. I desire it may be sent to him
in hopes that such a sight may remind
him of his duty to God after having
so long abandoned the duty he owed
to a father who once so affectionately
loved him.”
The dead man’s wishes were scrupu¬
lously carried out, and his severed
hand, inclosed in a hermetically sealed
leaden casket, was forwarded to his
sou. There As no record as to how
Lord Audley received his unwelcome
legacy or how he disposed of it.—New
York Press.
THE COVINGTON NEWS
ESAW WOOD
And the Story of the Saw Esaw Saw
. Saw Wood.
Esaw Wood sawed Wood.
Esaw Wood would saw wood!
All the wood Esaw Wood saw Esaw
Wood would saw. in other words, all
the wood Esaw saw to saw Esaw
sought to saw.
Oil, the wood Wood would saw! And
oh, the wood saw with which Wood
would saw wood.
But one day Wood’s wood saw would
saw no wood, and thus tho wood Wood
sawed was not the wood Wood would
saw if Wood's wood saw would saw
wood.
Now, AVood would saw wood with a
wood saw that would saw wood, so
Esaw sought a saw that would saw
wood.
One day Esaw saw a saw saw wood
as no other wood saw Wood saw would
saw- wood.
In fact, of all the wood saws Wood
ever saw saw wood Wood never saw
a wood saw that would saw wood as
the wood saw AVood saw saw wood
would saw wood, and I never saw a
wood saw that would saw as the wood
saw AVood saw would saw until I saw
Esaw AVood saw wood with the wood
saw AVood saw saw wood.
Now AVood saws wood with the wood
saw AVood saw saw wood.
Oh, the wood the wood saw Wood
saw would saw-!
Oh, the wood AVood’s woodshed
would shed when Wood would saw
wood with the wood saw Wood saw
saw wood!
Finally, no man may ever know how
much wood the wood saw* Wood saw’
would saw if the wood saw AVood saw
would saw all the wood the wood saw
Wood saw would saw.—Woman’s Home
Companion.
A PLUCKY LAWYER.
The Way Stewart Returned a Des¬
perado's Threat.
“The late Senator Stewart believed
in muscular Christianity, and many a
rough and tumble tight did he have in
the old days in California and Nevada,”
said a California congressman.
“He was not quarrelsome, but be
was never known to run away from an
encounter, and as he was a powerful
man piiysically there were not many
who were keen to tackle him. On .one
occasion a noted desperado -was inter¬
ested in a mining suit and sent word
to Stewart, who was attorney for the
other side, that if he appeared to argue
the ease he might count on being
killed. The fellow had slain half a
dozen men, but his threat in nowise
intimidated the plucky young lawyer.
The desperado had a well known sys¬
tem of hiding a pistol in his coat pock¬
et and shooting his man without open¬
ly drawing the weapon. This, Stewart
knew, and so when he walked into the
courtroom the first thing he did was to
lay down a bowie knife about a foot
and a half long and a six shooter as big
as a young cannon on the table direct¬
ly in front of him. Then, sternly eying
the bad man, he said: ‘I hear you
mean to kill me if I argue this case.
That’s a game two can play at. That
pistol you have in your coat isn’t
worth a cent against this layout. The
minute you put your right hand in
your pocket I’ll send a bullet into you,
and if that doesn’t finish you this knife
will.’
“An old miner who was present and
told me the story said the fellow turn¬
ed white as a sheet and slunk out of
the courtroom to appear no more.”—
Baltimore American.
To Improve Flight.
During a big Presbyterian conven¬
tion in 18(35 a rhetorical Scotchman
from Ohio got the floor. His speech
w’as replete with mingled humor and
sarcasm. In the course of it, says the
Rev. Galusha Anderson in a book en¬
titled “A Border City During the Civil
AA'ar,” he made this remark about his
own eloquence:
“The speech of the brother from this
city brought to my mind an experience
of my school days. I wrote an ora¬
tion and handed it to my teacher.
“AVhen he had examined it he called
me to him and said:
“ ‘Taylor, if you would only pluck a
few feathers from the wings of your
imagination and stick them Into the
tail of your judgment you would write
a good deal better.’ ”
The Best Part of the Speech.
Young James had never heard his
papa speak in public, and it was
thought time to take him to hear his
father deliver a lecture. During the
evening a stray dog which ventured
upon the platform was disposed of as
gracefully as possible. On the way
home James was asked how he liked
his father’s lecture and gave the an¬
swer, “It was all right, papa, but I
liked the part where you put the dog
out the best.”—Delineator.
When Real Knowledge Comes.
“Mamma,” asked a little girl, “how
long did you know papa before you
married hiift?”
“My dear,” replied the mother, “I
was acquainted with your father for
several years, but I really didn’t know
him until after we were married!”
The Boy and the Professor,
“I was mimicking Professor Bore
yesterday, and he caught me.”
“AVhat did he say?”
“Told me to stop making a fool of
myself.”
Hope.
“Hope,” said Uncle Eben, “is a bless
in’ when you’s willin’ to back it wif a ,
little hard work, ’stid o’ lettin’ it play
itself out on a policy ticket.”—Wash¬
ington Star.
Enjoyment stops where Indolence
begins.—Pollock.
PROFITS CUT ALL
TO PIECES ON
PIANOS
J - ..« .« if
L .__
■ratf
li Ml ft } i : T Jw >•
t ' • J 3 *
Ten or Fifteen Different Makes.
$10 Profit HA'IMll.l on Factory iilAWllilAii Prices. iiiii.M
: I
lllft See This Line Before You Make
■f K Jk :.,ippn U, -MGI ilil*
Your Purchase.
*
It Means Money To you.
%
■c; f|s H3-1IL V • * ;
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■ •: ‘i. »' l." : < HARWELL,
C. A.
■
J'iliHiijy Leader In
f I
Furniture and Undertaking O
i in t *
U: j
Covington, Ga. '*
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4 - A f. it »j v m
Straws AND
Panamas. «» i
Cali around and look at
our new Lids.
Straws==they’re here ga=
lore. Yatch and Milans
$1.00 to $3.50.
• Hi*; <•
All the best shapes in
Panamas==
$5.00 to $10.00
Try a B. V. 1). Union Suit.
LEE BROTHERS.