Conyers weekly. (Conyers, GA.) 1895-1901, October 12, 1895, Image 2

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THE WEEKLY. CON YE LIS, GEORGIA. It is proposed to utilize the cata¬ racts of the Nile for industrial pur¬ poses. _ The Iron Age predicts that the present high prices are bound to in¬ crease rather than fall off. The Atlanta Constitution says that the typewriter is ruining modern journalism, as it destroys all original¬ ity. Everything it composes has a mechanical turn. Money is so plentiful in New York that the other day $250,000 was loaned over night at the rate of three-fourths of one per cent per annum. The bank of America has cailed a meeting of its stockholders to vote upon a proposi¬ tion to cut its capital stock of $3,000, 000 in two because it finds it difficult to lend at a profit. There died recently iu Moscow, Ruo flia, a man who in the last twenty years gave $5,000,000 to charity. He was State Councilor Jormakoff, who carno from a poor family. His first public act which, excited general atten¬ tion was the purchase of the freedom of all the serfs living in his native •village. This cost him $120,000. Judge Milieu of the Law Division of the Post Office Department, has rendered a decision concerning the delivery of mail matter by jail officials to convicts; and the same ruling will apply to inmates of charitable insti¬ tutions. He holds that “state and county institutions for the confine¬ ment and punishment of parties con¬ victed of crimes have the right to prescribe rules and regulations as to communications from outside parties to convicts, While they have no right, without the consent of the con¬ victs, to open the letters addressed to thorn, yot they have the power to re¬ fuse to deliver or permit to bo de¬ liver to the convicts any letters addressed to them, unless they will consent that the letters be opened in the presence of some officer. Tho Now York Posts remarks: A considerable part of the deficiency in tho revenue of the general govern¬ ment has been caused by thedecrensed income of .the postoffico. Under our system tho post is regularly operated at a loss, aud during the last two years of bad business this loss became a very heavy one, amounting to about $9,000,000 during the year just closed. It is, therefore, very gratifying to see that the postal revenue is now mate¬ rially increasing. During the quarter ending with July the receipts of the twenty largest postoffiees rose to $6,- 794,000, gain of about $500,000 over last year, or more than 7 par cent. The next ten cities in point of receipts also make an excellent showing, so that the gain in theSe thirty cities amounts to about $550,000. As the expenses of the postal service do not increase in anything like the same ratio as the receipts, these returns show that tho Treasury is steadily working towards an easy condition. ' Probably few people who have read the countless stories of the savage shark, the “bandit of the sea,” as he has been called, know that he is a very useful creature for man. A writer in the Revue Scieutitique enumerates the uses to which the different parts of the shark are put as follows: The liver is found to contain an oil of a beautiful color, which never becomes turbid, and possesses medicinal qualities of a very valuable character; the skin; af¬ ter being dried, takes the polish and hardness of mother-of-pearl, and on being marbled bears a resemblance to fossil coral, so that it is employed by tho jewellers for the manufacture of fancy objects, by binders for making shagreen, aud by cabiuet makers for polishing wood; the fins, independent of use by some as an article of food, are superior for conversion into fish glue, competing iu this line with the well-known sturgeon glue prepared in Russia, and are used for clarifying liquids, also for the preparation "of English taffetas, and as reagents in chemistry, etc. ; the fi sh, too, despite its oily taste, is in some places eaten is food, and, along with the bones, is touverted into a fertilizer. Sea Song. With a hey and ho, and a fairy boat. And a rollicking summer breeze, With a heave and a roll to the East we go, O’er the dancing shimmering seas. Ion mast wifi stand us fast, I ween, In the arms of the laughing gale; And that strip of cloud, ere it melt away— Tear it down for our rosy sail. With a hey and a ho, and the sails are set, While the sea-maids laugh for glee ; And each wave as it curls breaks to frothy mirth O'er the green of the rolling sea. Up anchor now and away to the East, Where the sun-ball peeps anew; And the gray and the red and the opai lights Spread wide into watery biue. With a hey and a ho, and a fairy boat, And a rollicking summer wind, With a heave aud a roll to the East we go, With the wakening shore behind. —Angela Goetzi. WHITE MITTENS. BY JOHN ALBEE. The curtain rises—and there are only two actors on the narrow stage which is set with rustic scenery. There are a road, trees, and in the distance water. This latter looks as if intended for the sea. There walk along the road toward the sea a young man, tall and stalwart, and a young woman, also tall and of a very slight figure. Her eyes aud hair are dark, and her features are somewhat too sharp for a handsome face, Her name is Rebecca Champernown. She is the last descendant of a very ancient and famous family, whose pride is al¬ most her only mheritance. No one could have believed that she would fall in love with a fisherman least of all her mother. But so it lias hap¬ pened. She loves Reuben Gage, cap¬ tain of the fishing schooner Anna Sheafe, and they walk together and meet as often as they can find oppor¬ tunity. As Reuben and Rebeooa walk along the road they do not appear to talk much. She seems cold and distant, but in her heart is a fire of love that burns more fiercely the more she re¬ presses it. And she is obliged to re-, press it, for Reuben is shy, awkward and undemonstrative. Yet in some way, perhaps by her womanly intui¬ tions, she has discovered his great manly, affectionate nature, They have now been intimate a whole year, and every one supposes them lovers aud probably engaged, but in fact they have uever yet exchanged a word of love. Reuben has often been on the point of speaking, but the right words failed him and something arose in his throat that choked utterance. And Rebecca has waited, eager, a little impatient at times, and at others almost tempted to speak out herself. That, indeed, is just what is needed ; she is conscious of it, and yet—“How can I?” —she asks herself. Then she goes homo from her interviews with Reuben to her room and cries •until her eyes nre red aud swollen, and her mother’s rejiroaches follow, and make her life so wholly miserable that she wishes herself dead. She recovers herself in a day or two; looks for¬ ward with longing to their next meet¬ ing, which is always timed by his re¬ turn from his fishing trip, and thinks matters between them will surely be settled. She longs for something to happen that will decide the question. But she is not going to give up Reub¬ en ; no, her heart is unalterably fixed and if she dies an old maid her affec¬ tion cun never decline. Reuben is equally perplexed in his simple mind; he is sure of only one thing, that is the state of his own feel¬ ings, but he is not yet able to decide whether Rebecca loves him. He would like a sign, something, how¬ ever slight, that would show him where he stood. Men are always long¬ ing for this sign, some token, not words, but more certain, more signif¬ icant, something to treasure and re¬ member as long as they live. Of late he has been unlucky on his fishing trips in the Anna Sheafe, a small vessel which he commands and of which he owns one quarter, After the vessel’s expenses w’ere paid there has been little to divide among the owners. The winter was coming on and with if the hazardous and often unprofitable business of trawling. He met Rebecca less and less often. Somehow without money in his pocket he could not enjoy so much being w ith u©r, felt leas a man aud an inequality he could not explain. Then it was, however, that ha discovered the depth of his attachment. His compauions noticed it and rallied him about it, and behind his back expressed them¬ selves in the customary village slang and gossip. “There’s no more fish in the sea for Ileub,” they said, He is getting his liue on dry land, over at the Cham pernowns’; pretty dry it is. Small catch there; a big name and not enough cash to go with it. He is too good for her, anyway; but I hope he will get her if he wants her and come out of his dumps.” Reuben did not recover his usual spirits; his good old mother insisted that he was not well aud needed physic. Reuben took the medicine, being a good deal of a child under his moth¬ er’s roof, obeying and yielding to her in nearly all of her whimsies, which were leavened with much shrewdness and knowledge of human nature. “Mother,” said he, “it does me no good, but I will take it to please you. ” “Aly son, you just wait; you’ve been behindhand some time, and it will take a while to get you before¬ hand again. These herbs never failed in my experience and I’ve had a good deal in sickness of one sort or an¬ other.” “Herbs, mother, are good in their place. I like the smell of them, but the taste--” “That’s just it, my son; the smell is sweet, which shows the taste is good medicine. It’s just like being in love and marriage ; one you like and the other.you must take, because it is best for everybody and naturally fol¬ lows; and sometimes,” she added, with a sly look at Reuben, “it cures love.” “I’m not going to marry—never, so you are out of your reckoning there, mother. ” “Well, I don’t know. Your father before you said that; so did I—until I was asked. Nobody means what they say when in love, or rather they mean just the other way. I think now I know what it is the trouble with you, Reuben,” and she poured out the dose and gave it him, saying: “It will keep up your spirits at any rate, until Rebecca gives you some soothing syrup—ch, my boy? So cheer up.” Reuben grew thin and nervous in spite of the medicine, but he went about preparations for the winter cruising. Bad luck continued to fol¬ low him, small fares and falling prices discouraged him more and more. But the greater his depression the more his mind dwelt upon Rebecca. In some curious, involved way he had come to connect his ill luck with her. His brother fishermen, however, thought it was all ou account of his not wearing white mittens when ho sot and handled his trawl lines, it be ing in that region of fishing villages the universal belief of superstition that white mittens must be worn to insure good luck in winter trawling. But Reuben paid no attention to what he thought was a mere fancy. He felt rather that he was working with a half hearted energy, and all on account of his dubious relation with Rebecca. He determined to see her again and arranged to see her when her mother was absent. ‘ ‘I have come to see you once more, ” he said on meeting her; “but per¬ haps I had better not come again.” “Why?” said Rebecca; “are you not always welcome, Captain Gage?” “Yes, we never quarrel--and we never get any further along from one time to another.” This was more than he had ever been able to say before in regard to their personal relation, and he was frightened at himself. So he began again from what he thought was an¬ other point, yet, as out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh,,he could not help betraying his true feel¬ ings. “I’m not getting on very well now, no luck, no monJy, and the Anna Sheafe getting in debt. I thought I would tell you, though I do not know you will care. ” as • “Yes, I do care—very much, Cap tain Gage. I knew something was the matter and I heard from one of the village gossips it was because you j neglected or sneered at the custom of wearing white mittens as the other J fishermen do when setting their trawls. Do you think it is a silly supersti¬ tion?” “Yes, I do, in the main.” “So do I, when I reason, At other times I half believe in it. There is something at the botton of all com¬ mon customs and beliefs, which, when harmless, it is just as well tq accept. Our little village would be very dull and uninteresting without them.” “I have no particular objection to white mittens, Reuben replied, “only I did not happen to have any.” I thought as much. You would wear them if yon had them?” “Why, yes, I should. ” Rebecca disappeared for a moment, aud returned holdiqg out a pair of snow-white mittens. “There, I made them for you. I had to guess at the size, most girls wouldn’t, who have—brothers,”—she said, archly, “Let me try them on,” and she pulled one over Reuben’s hand, but before she could adjust the other his hands in some manner had become inextricably entwined about her waist. Then they sat down and completed the trying on again and again. They fitted, but Reuben never wore them afterward. He hung them up as a sacred trophy over the little mir¬ ror in the cabin of his vessel. And he had thereafter good luck enough.— New York Advertiser. An Up-to-Datc Serpent. John Gadsdeu, colored, killed a rattle-snake near Poor Robin, Ga., on the Savannah river, last week, that had twenty-nine rattles and a button. And speaking of snakes—the strange looking serpent that was seen by a party of deer hunters over in “the fork” of Brier creek and Savannah river last winter, has been seen again. On account of the description given of it at first it is known as the silver serpent. Its scales were white and glistened in the sun like shining sil ver. It is said to be anywhere from fifteen to twenty feet long and is generally seen iu trees, The two fishermen who last saw it say that its body has grown darker, but they de¬ clare that its head was so dazzling as hurt the eye. Its neck was arched over the limb of a tree, and as the rays of the morning sun fell upon it they counted sixteen shining silver scales upon its head, and to make it stranger and more gorgeous still, right in the centre of these they saw a single scale of a yellow cast that shone and glittered like burnished gold.—Atlanta Constitution. A Sunflower Wonder. The largest sunflower, possibly ever seen in Atlanta is being displayed to¬ day by Mr. S. A. Johnson, the grocery maD, who resides at 112 West Pine street. The flower measures thirteen inches across, and is filled with seed much larger than an ordinary flower, it was raised in Air. Johnson’s garden where he cultivated it with his vege¬ tables. After the flower had matured aud the seeds had ripened Air. Johnson pulled it aud is showing it to his friends. He will put it on exhibition at the agricultural department, he says. He thinks that it would pay for people to devote some time t© the cultivation of this flower, as the seed make fine feed for fowls and animals. After the seed has been compressed the oil from them makes the best grade of labricaing oil. — Atlanta Journal. Bad Luck. Airs. Gadders—Your daughter was miraculously rescued from drowning yesterday. Airs. Matchmaker—Yes Dolly, has awful luck. Airs. Gadders—Awful luck ! Airs. Matchmaker—Why, the man who rescued her is married!—Puck. The Youngest Grandmother. A eiaiment for the honor of being the youngest grandmother in America is Airs. John W. Pierce, of Boston, whose age is twenty-eight. She was married at the age of fourteen years and her daugnter became a wife when only twelve years old. A German marble cutter, S. Kiaber, has given to the New York Society of Ethical Culture, in memory of his .son, a bronze tablet beautifully framed in marble, containing Abrnham Liucc u’s Gettysburg address. PEARLS OF THOUGHtTI He who is racked b J can never find peace of miucL Conquer descendants a vice today and yoil I your untold misery. Small and steady gains l)ri kind of riches that n do not take and fly away. An evil deed will run a thon miles; a good action does not out of the door. Humility is a virtue all p r j none practice, and yet ev eryboJ content to hear praised. Good people shine fr om afar, snowy mountains; had people ar 5 seen, like arrows shot by night j Principle is a great thing an a convenient excuse for some avoiding something they ought t< As it is characteristic of great to say much in few words, eo it small wits to talk much and sa v ing. While we are here, J e t U3 earnestly of the few brief ch ances maining to U3, they grow fe wer e’ hour. As the bee collects nectar and parts without injuring the fl owe! its color or scent, so let a saga A in the village. Absence lessons small passions increases great ones—as the win tinguishes a taper and kindles burning dwelling. Times may be as good now as ever were, but it is a waste of tin argue the point with a' man win an empty stomach. Let a man overcome aimer bv let him overcome evil by good, him overcome the greedy by lib ity, the liar by truth! A smooth sea never made a sk: mariner, neither do uninterru prosperity and success qualify usefulness and happiness. We are the arbiters of our own] and that fact is the most impo! one of our lives. Our will is tively unfettered, it is a rudder freely into our hands and with, it can steer wherever we choose. Love is the torment of one,' felicity of two, the strife and emnit three, a charm that draws logo two beings and unites them by s pathy, happiness to be with i other, but misery to he apart. Words are wondrous things; ' are sometimes potent lor weal or i they are winged incarnations thoughts and have controlled the tinies of empires and dynasties, well said: “They possess an endj undefinable, tantalizing charm; ' paint humanity, its thoughts, li ings, struggles and failures pd them upon a canvas of breath in cd of life.” Cranberry Culture. The cranberry is an acquatic p and require’s wet land and ocoas overflowing by water, The soil be black, decaying vegetable mi commonly called swamp) muci. i the land must be level and sapu with banks and ditches, so that at] right season the plants may be cov with water. The surface, kowevs the swamp must he coverall ocean sand, wholly free from old' soil, so that grass and other i will not grow in it. Then the p are set out in rows twelve to eigl inches apart and a foot apart rows. As the plant roots by i’ii very easily, and rooted pi 83 '’ easily moved, it is usual to ? r0 the cuttings or roots of aarse; who make a business of H them, They are sold by the ban the usual price of three dohars. whole cost of the preparing the completely and planting it is : $300 per acre, The plantation the second year, and the e ulture profitable that the money sp eI fitting the laud is sometimes rep* first year. There are se veral 1 enemies that prey on this P lant precautions against these are o n the special cares of the grower. York Times. Swiss newspapers report tha American tourists vis number of this summer • is one that country sanrt i al -g e r than it was at the last yerx.