Newspaper Page Text
11
ut. -- — jSS^L'urn - " >«>> - ""
<Wi »/L ■r<«»"i‘. n'wr-l";is=
BY MRS. WILLIAM KING.
(All letter. to this department and Ihe Young Folks’ column must bo addressed to Mn
william King. RO Courtland avenue. Ga.j
The Little Armchair.
Nobody siis in the little armchair;
It stands in .a corner dim.
But a white hwireil mot iter gazing there
And yearningly thinking of him
Sees th’roifgh the dusk of lite long ago
The bloom of her boy’s sweet face
As he rocks so merrily to ;ii4 fro
With a laugh that cheers the place.
Sometimes lie holds a book in his hand.
Sometimes a pencil nn<l slate
And tile lesson»ls hard to understand,
And the figures hard to mate.
But she sees the nod of his father's head.
So proud of the little son.
An.’. she bears the word so often said,
“No fear for our little one.”
They were wonderful days, the dear, sweet
days.
When a child with sunny hair
Was hers to scold, to kiss and to praise
At her knee in the little fluff.
She lost Kim back, in the busy years
When the groat world caught the man.
Anil he strode away past hopes and fears
To his place in the battle’s van.
Bnt now and then in a wistful dream.
Like a picture out of date.
She sees a head witli a golden gleam
Bent over a pencil and slate.
And she lives again the happy day.
The day of her young life’s spring.
When the small armchair stood just in the
way.
The center of everything.
•-Margaret E. Sangster In Harper's Bazar.
Doing What Wo Ct»n, or Helping.
T once heard a missonary from China,
who was very much interested in his work,
lecture, and he related a little incident
which impressed me very much, not alone
In connection with missionary work, but
also as to our individual efforts in doing
what we can, or helping each other day
by day. This is the incident. lie said:
“One day while in Japan, I was passing
t Buddhist temple in course of erection,
and I noticed two tons of large cable on
the floor, asking what it was, I was told
it was a cable made from the hair of 6tT.‘-
0)0 women, who had made this sacrifice
and had their hair hair cut that this cable
could be made to help in lifting heavy
beams into place in the temple.” The lec
turer commented on what a lesson it was
to Christian people, and asked, “what sac
rifice do we make to lift the cross of Christ
high enough for our ignorant people at
home, and the heathen over the sea, to
see. and fall down and worship, as these
Buddha people did their god.” It is les
son not only in large things but in every
day life; these 60,000 women gladly sac
rificed their hair—a woman's glory—for
their temple’s sake, to lift up beams that
could not otherwise have been gotten into
jlace. Wo can every day we live make some
sacrifice that will lift a burden from some
weary pilgrim along o:u-i'>’~ ’•Hwu:
self-denying act or some km>t voru, or
pleasant glance, has fallen like sunshine
or eased an aching heart.
No act that is intended to help another
is too small for the Master’s notice. e
too often think small acts count for naught,
but this is not the case; and we wonder
often why our efforts are so unsuccessful
and think we have failed, because we do
not see the fruits for them, but the sin
cere. earnest effort is to the Master she
has done what she could, and the reward
the same as if the success had been visible-
There should not be a day in our lives
that did not record some one act of kind
ness. some help held out to the needy. If
at the close of each day we took a retro
spective view we would be shocked to find
how many days we have passed as useless,
for when at the close of the day we look
back and find no heart has been eased by
our ministrations, or sunshine brought
to some isad place, nor one a< t of self
denial made glad some other soul, we may
well count that day as worse than lost.
■When absorbed in an interesting book, it
is a great sacrifice to put it down, or
while interested in some pleasant work we
are so anxious to finish, it requires a great
amount of self-denial to lay it aside and
yet there comes to ail of "s times when
even a little child comes to us with a
broken toy or a tale of woe that we can
listen to and cheer ami comfort. To lay
aside book or work, for even so little a
cause, is an act the recording angel is ready
to note down to our credit.
With how weary, discouraged a heart
have i often responded to the pleading
of my little pet—“tell me a tale*”—it seem
ed as if it were impossible to gather to
gether the wandering thoughts and shape
them into words, yet the pleading eyes
would make me feel ashamed of my selfish
ness and I would put away my own anx
ieties and tell the often-told tale to
my little listener, and long ere its close,
would be rewarded for the sacrifice by the
bright glow of happiness on the little face
pressed close to mine, and so in making
another happy, peace had come into my
own heart. We will always find it only
too true that,
“If we sit down at set of sun.
And count the things that we have done,
And counting find
One self-denying act. one word
That eased the Iwart of him who heard;
One glance most kind.
That fell like sunshine where it went.
Then we may count that day well spout.
“But if, through all the livelong d:yf.
We’ve eased no heart by yea or nay;
If through it all
We've done no thing that we can trace,
That brought the sunshine to a face;
No act most small.
That helped some soul, and nothing cost.
Then count'that day as worse than lost.”
—Unidentified.
CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE KINGDOM
A Gogsipv Exchange of Views Among the
Ladies for Themselves.
Note—Letters written on both sides of the paper
sannot be printed.
The correspondents of this department will
please address their letters to 4SO Courtlaud
Avenue, Atlanta, Ga.
We cannot advertise In this department
Several letters have been received this week
offering articles and mentioning a fixed price;
we leave out all such letters; do not object to
simple exchanges, but other offers will be lot,
out.
Mrs. C. E. Kerr, 12 Parsons Street, At
lanta, Ga.—Will you kindly give the address
of the little girl who had her back injured
when an infant and who was trying to com
plete a collection of a million canceled stamps'
I have lost her address. I have a collection
of stamps to send her and also the address
of a firm that will pay her more than twice
what she says she is offered for hers, which
address I will send her if she will write me
a private letter. Dear sisters, let us all help
her raise the million. She has over 71X1.000.
I hope Eilna will see this and write me. —
Address is Edne Brower, Harrisburg, Ark.
Mrs. E. Bray, Fort Mill. S. <’. —How many
of the sisters have tried running an incuba
tor? How 1 would like to hear front every
one of you that have had any experience In
this line. I want to tell you about one 1 have
had at work for almost a year; and every
time I get a hatch 1 am more and more de
lighted with it and the more 1 learn about
the business the more I am pleased with it.
1 have never failed to get 75 per cent of all
fertile eggs placed in it. It only cost and
I can put in 150 eggs at one setting. I have
two incubators at work now and in a few
<bys I will have all my fall chickens hatched
out. So nun it has been said about raising
poultry, and we al! have had experience
enough io know something of the failures
and disappointments connected with it when
trying to raise chickens the old way, but if
any of you want to engage in and make the
business of poultry raising a success, just
get a good reliable incubator and go to work.
It is enough to make any lover of chicken
raising go wild to see the little fellows pop
ping out of the eggs at hatching time at the
rate of ten or twenty a minute. I ant suc
ceeding nicely in raising my chicks, but have
had some trouble with hard eraw when the
little fellows get about two weeks old. Can
any of the sisters give me a curt* for this
trouble? Sometimes I have thought this was
caused by overfeeding. I have been feeding
with chopped onions and wheat the last
hatch and they seem t > be thriving nicely.
If this letter escapes the waste basket I will
write again and toll the sisters some more
about my hatchers.
Emma A. Ennis. McNair, Miss.—D<’ar Read
ers of the Woman's Kingdom: Why do you
sit with idle pen while so few contribute to
our corner? We read, we enjoy, but we do
not comment. Better criticise than main
tain this stubborn, seemingly indifferent, si
lence. Let us write, and by so doing let the
interest wo feel in our page be felt by others.
There is so much to say—write according to
your mood. Complain when really necessary,
condole whenever possible; amuse, instruct,
cheer. God gives us reason, and to many
the gift of writing, so lot us be up and doing
and not. let the young aye, the little folks’
corner —stay so far ahead of ours.
I am all by myself this morning and there
are two things puzzling me, the world and
the weather. Everything is all right around
the house, my conscience is at peace, and my
body is resting. All things have combined to
make mo content, and yet, like my first
grandmother, I am curious to know some
things I do not. Now. there's the world. She
puts her prizes beyond the reach of the hum
ble and just, ami crowns with laurels the
proud and unholy. If genius bo wrapped In
poverty, she dampens his glowing lights: If
a hero be clothed in rags, she calls him a
beggar and puts in “The Chronicle” the tale
of the mighty efforts of the dude, who “really
covered his hands with the vile clay to re
claim the Indy’s poodle from the muddy
~i.., l; ,u ,’s*'.»vn( ,,! /ti' v worm ’ to-’ifii'i's ,• tii.ci.
It«“<-;<les" its world’s fair, its forests. Its
streams its everlasting hills, its wonders of
nature and art: but why. oh. why. does his
saianie majesty put bis cloven foot first m
all things? Am T complaining when not realty
necessary? Well, listen to my thanksgiving,
which mav sound like the Pharisee's, though
"■enuino jn our rustic bower we have not
7he refined devil. When be appears lie Is
dressed in his own garment, bis claws plainly
visible and we rout him from every side tin
there is little left of him but his tall. Perhaps
our country air Is too healthy f.or the fntb<T
of death: the prayers and chm-che,. too thick
for the father of sin. It can’t be tts some sug
gest. that the noonday August sun has scoren
ed him till he has retired In disgust, but it
mav be that he has been unnb-e to regulate
his’temperature during the changeful weather
we are having.
-At morn it growls in far off thunder tones;
At noon its glistening teardrops Imo the
And midst' the sobbing comes the thunder’s
moans,
And hurls its echoes after waning day.
All day Sol hid his face beneath a frowning
cloud.
All day refused to beam at nature s wiles;
But through the cloud, though kissed by
thounders loud, „
And just as ho declines he smiles.
exchange list.
N. AV. Tharpe. Elkin. N. C., has Enter
prise Machine Company's double, breach
loading gun and a 22 caliber Remington
rille, to exchange for second-hand bicycle.
Write for particulars.
F A. .Tones. Evergreen, Ala., has full
blooded shepard dog to exchange for a
pair of hogs, four or six months old. Dog
twelve months old. Write first.
SELECTED RECEIPTS.
Raisin Puffs.
Take a cup of sugar, two eggs, one-fourth
cup of butter, one-fourth eup sweet milk,
a teaspoonful baking powder and flour to
make a rather thick batter, a cup of rais
ins and flavoring to taste. Grease as
many coffee cups as you desire puffs and
til] each half full. Place in a steamer over
boiling water. Serve with sweetened
cream.
Stuffed Tomato Salad.
Carefully scald twelve peach tomatoes
ami remove skin. Cut slice from stem end
and carefully remove seeds. < ut cress
tine, add a little chopped chives (these grow
wild in almost every' Sodl. lut into a
bowl a teaspoonful of salt, dash of cayenne
and six tablespoonlnls of olive oil. mix and
add gradually sufficient vinegar to make
a creamy whitish dressing. I* ill the toma
toes with the cress and chives, pour over
the dressing, place on lettuce leaves and
serve.
Hominy F'ourendinc.
Line a deep pie dish with a good short,
paste, cover the bottom with washed cur
rants or “sultanas.” Beat two eggs with
out separating, add quarter cup of sugar.
To one eup hot boiled hominy- grits add
two tablespoon fills butter, then add eggs
and half pint milk. Flavor with teaspoon
ful vanilla, pour in pie dish and bake in a
quick oven thirty minutes.
PhiriketM.
Cream, half pound butter, add gradually
half pound granulated sugar. Separate
six eggs. Beat whites until stiff, beat youlks,
add them to whites, then to butter and
sugar. Sift together six ounces corn starch,
two ounces corn flour, one teaspoonful
baking powder, add gradually to the other
mixture, add one teaspoonful vanilla. Bake
in patty pans fifteen minutes.
Charlotte.
Chop line a quarter pound dates, same
quantity of figs, same of candied pineap
ple and two ounces of angelica. If you
use wine, cover this mixture with a gill
and stand aside to soak for a night. If
wine is not used, substitute orange juice.
In morning cover half a box gelatine with
half cup cold water, soak half hour, whip
one quart of cream, turn it into a basin,
stand basin in pan of cracked ice. Sprinkle
over one cup powdered sugar and one tea
spoonful vanilla sugar, add to gelatine a
gill of cream, stand over teakettle to melt,
then strain into cream. Stir carefully but
continually from sides and bottom of pan
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA. GA., TUESDAY. AUGUST 29. 1893.
until mixture begins to thicken, then turn
part into a fancy mold, fill center quickly
with soaked fruit, and then put in re
mainder of cream. Serve cold with sweet
ened whipped cream heaped around.
Little Cheese Dishes.
From The New York Tribune.
There are many savory little dishes to
which a touch of Parmesan cheese may l>e
added with excellent effect- A siinfte
dainty with which we are not especially
famillinr in this country is “creme iu
Parmesan.” To make this, prepare a paste
as for cheese straws. Mix three heaping
tahlespoonfuls of pastry flour with three
of Parmesan cheese. Add a half sail
spoonful of salt, a pinch of while pepper
and as much cayenne as you < Bb pick
up on the tip end of a small blade of a
penknife. Mix these ingredients together
witli the yolk of an egg, a tablespoonful
of milk and a tablespoonful of softened
butter. Roll this paste out as thin as a
wafer (on a marble slab ifeonvenient)
witli a porcelain rolling pin. Cut the paste
into little cakes about two inches across.
Prick them well so that they will not rise
up in flakes, and hake them till crisp in the
oven. Then take them out and let. them
cool- Whip about a cup of cream to a stiff
froth, add two tablespoonfuls of Parmesan
and a very little red pepper. Heap up tin*
eream on cacti of the TTTtie cakes and serve
them as a “cold savory” for luncheon.
Sardines with Parmesan are not a fa
miliar savory in this country. Take a
small box of nice sardines. Wipe them
well and lay each one on a strip of bread
(about the size of a linger) which lias been
fried a delicate brown. Set them in the
oven and let tliem be thoroughly- heated
through. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan
cheese and a mere touch of fine red pep
per over them if you like a “hot” season
ing. Serve tliem for ten or luncheon.
A cheese omelet is easily- made and is
really- a very excellent dish, served as it
should be with the crispest ami lightest tea
biscuit. Make an omelet of the yolks of
four eggs as usual. Add a tablespoonful
of cream if you fancy, remembering to beat
the eggs only enough to mix them. PoVr
tin* omelet into a very hot pan in which ft
tablespoonful of butter lias been melted;
ami in three minutes, when it is ready
to fold, sprinkle over it two tahlespoonfuls
of Parmesan cheese, and fold and servl.
Mixtures of Silk and Wool.
From Good Housekeeping.
Poplins, which have recently- been espe
cially successful under flu* mime of benga
line, are among the most elegant and popu
lar silk and wool goods known. By the
process of manufacture, the silk is thrown
on the surface and the wool is used as a
filling, so that the same strain does not
come uqually upon both materials. This
is a far better way to mix silk and wool,
than where wool is the weft and silk the
woof. It must be stated as strongly as
possible, however, that mixtures are never
as desirable as cloth woven of one mate
rial. A dress of linen is better than one
of wool and cotton, and a dress of pure
wool is better than one of silk and wool.
Try, Try Again.
From Good Housekeeping.
86. Equal parts of ammonia and turpen
tine for removing paint, then washing in
suds.
87. A tallow candle, cut in pieces and
wrapped in brown paper, to keep moths
from sum.
88. Blotting paper, steeped several times
in a solution of oxalic acid, apply to fresh
blots on paper.
89. Cleaning oil paintings with a sponge
dipped in beer (warmed), and when dry,
washing with a solution of gum dragon
in pure water.
90. Camphor for carpet bugs, or chloro
form, or bisulphide or carbon, naptha
line.
91 An oily cloth for dusting the furni
ture.
For a Fancy Bazar.
“If you are getting up a fancy bazaar,”
says a woman, “go to some manufacturer
and beg for ends of ribbons. Someth' -*s
•if IX »_• **-- »•.. y «'WM AZ’> .r —<■
in no end of ways, made up into bows reauy
for hats, into sets of rosettes for finehues
and the like, into book marks, needle-books,
powder-puff bags, the narrow strips sewed
together for lampshades, and so on. 1
know of no more valuable find in working
for a fair than a lot of these ribbon ends.”
THE WOMAN IN BLACK.
She I« a Prominent Feature in Summer
Life.
The girl in white has long been a delight
fuTspot in the life of the summer horizon,
but this season presents the woman in
black as a creation that strikes those who
see her with an irresistible fascination.
The black gown is a prime factor in the
wardrobe of the 1893 belle, and the frabrics
that constitute it are as numerous as the
women who wear them. Diaphanous ma
terials are the greatest features. Os these
grenadine and chiffon are first in popular
ity and after them is dotted net ami lace.
Surah and china silk are, as usual, stand
by goods tiiat live from season to season
regardless of the prevailing modes.
Tlie woman in black, if she so desires
it. can relieve the sobriety of the ensemble
by adding touches of gold and silver in the
matter of trimming. A charming gown
that exemplifies this mode of trimming was
a black chiffon with giant sleeves of black
silk brocaded in gold bowknots. Jet does
not seem to be as much used for the trim
ming of black dresses as it once was. I his
probably is accounted for by the fact that
it is very heavy ami weighs down the
wearer with a weight of woe that even
pride does not assist in carrying.
Blondes have long known how becoming
black evening gowns are to their particu
lar style of beauty, ami now even brunettes
are forced) to acknowledge that either in
black or white they look their best . A
black net costume made for a young matron
had an underlining petticoat ot lustrous
black satin trimmed with seven narrow
flounces of net. This plain skirt falling
over this fluffy trimming gave a very charm
ing effect with plain draperies, and, in
order to emphasize this even more, a long,
slender gold buckle caught up the skirt in
front. The bodice was a French one. hav
ing a berth of deep net into which were
set narrow bands of gold run through the
openings of the material.
Hardly any heavy silks are worn, these
being relegated to the old ladies and sub
urban brides. A jaunty little silk, of
quality fine, but not heavy enuogh to be
warm,' had a nine-gored skirt trimmed with
narrow double ruchings of black and white
I net. The jacket opened over a loose blouse,
trimmed with black net set over white,
and a black belt with a jet buckle made a
pretty finish to the waist.
After all the extraordinary hues that
one meets with here and there, it is a
I positive relief and pleasure to mn across
I these quiet gowns that rest, the eye as well
I as please the artistic sense.
NOTES ABOUT WOMEN.
“A group of women in China,” says The
Louisville Courier-Journal, “got hold of a
fashion magazine from the United States.
After examining it carefully for some mo
ments, one of the number said to a mission
ary who had been talking to them against
'foot-binding.' 'China woman pinch foot. You
say China woman velly bad. Melican woman
not pinch foot. Melican woman pinch here,’
laving her hand on her waist. 'Life here, life
not in foot. Melican woman velly much more
! bad than China woman.’ ”
Lieutenant Peary’s wif-* Is not the first
woman to brave the perils amt hardships of
Arctie exploration. About thirty years ago
i .1. W. Taylor, of London, was placed in
■ charge of an expedition sent out from London
' to colonize the east coast of Greenland, and
I was accompanied by his wlf*. an accomplish
ed young woman, who lived with him two
years In an isolated settlement on Cobwin's
island. She was the only European woman in
>i colony of thirty inmi. most of whom were
whalers. Mis. Taylor's health failed at the
end of two years and she returned to Eng
land, her husband remaining a year longer.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have lived in Boston
for twelve years, and are nt present visiting
Cambridge. Mrs. Taylor was very desirous
of seeing Mrs. Peary before she started north
and of wishing her success in person, but was
prevented by circumstances from doing so.
M. M. Mauels, wall paper, pafnts, shadea,
picture frames. Samples sent. Atlanta.
SWEETEST OF SONGS
Alin THOSE ONE HEARS FROM THE
DARKIES ON THE SAVANNAH
While Boating on the River-How a Pretty
Old Custom Has Been Kept up Since
Colonial Days of the Fast.
The great iron chain with a loud dank
falls back upon the floor of the boat; there
is a splashing of the ponderous oars in
the clear, cool river; a chorus shout from
the darkies as they swing to their task;
a cry of “steady, boys, steady!” from the
cautious pilot, and the long, slender grey
hound of a bout wheels a graceful reverse
out into midriver, and glides like a south
erly breeze from the plantation landing
upon the bosom of the old Savannah on
towards the city of Augusta, forty or fiftJ
miles below.
The regaling swish-swash of the oars,
like the responsive songs of the katy-dids,
echoing from side to side, grow faint and
low far down the bending river, and the
bugle's sad, yet merry blast itself wanders
febly up ami down the murmuring stream
and tlie boat is completely hidden in the
foggy distance with a wreath of white
foam from the oar-paddles when lustily
there comes back from the fast departing
river wanderer a loud, mournful croon
from one of the darkies:
“Goodby, ole Ca’ll-ny-y-y-y!
Ole Georgy, goodby!”
It all biings back the days gone by, so
vividiv and so pleasingly that you throw
yourself full length on the bed of clover
blossoms at your feet there by the river
and in the shadow of the big cotton tree
and its rival, the big sycamore, close your
eyes in a gentle day dream and lose your
self in many reveries.
Boating on the Savannah!
How it stands today, as it stood in the
olden times, the only system of transpor
tation between the groat cotton plantations
along the South Carolina and Georgia
banks and the cities below. What quaint
ness and charm there is about it. How
simple and how strange!
Ever since the days when cotton was
unknown as the market crop of this fair
and delectable region of the south, when
tobacco culture was caught from the wild
Indians and became the pursuit of our
forefathers, with no railroads to carry the
products of the undeveloped farms off to
market, these rude boats have been plying
the Savannah to and from Augusta. What
an interesting bit of Georgia history
comes to your mind as yon lie there under
the great sycamore and dream of the days
gone by and dead!
You can fairly smell the fragrant to
bacco when fancy brings now and then one
of these slender polo boats down the river
from Petersburg, the dead old town that
once prospered in the fork of the two rivers
just above the very spot where you now lie
dreaming.
Dear, dead old town of Petersburg! Not
a single house left now to tell the story
of its rise and fall- And yet many an old
citizen can remember when it was a
thriving prosperous little city, with brick
stores, tobacco warehouses, ferry boats
connecting with that other thriving town
across the river, Vienna, which also has
crumbled beneath the touch of time and
is now numbered among “the dreams of
things that wore.” You think about it all.
you wonder how those cities could have died
so soon, being then the principal townships
of the northern part of the Georgia col
ony; you think how uncertain are human
calculations when you contemplate the
budding hopes of the men who built those
cities, dreaming that they would be the
highest point, of navigation on the Savan
nah. and hence would some day be great
cities with steamboats plying in and out,
a great tobacco market, forsooth, where
the farmers for miles and miles would
come to trade and thus build the cities
!mw * baCK ' uoVsT “vifei iW 8 ..
tiie tinkle of the sheep Bells ns the flocks
graze over the dreary meadow lands where
those cities once stood sounds in your ears.
It, is hard to think that these same mead
ow lands were once well graded streets;
that where the sheep bells now tinkle tlie
busy hum of industry once resounded.
But, while this strange and sad bit of
Georgia history is troubling your mind,
you have forgotten the boat, and its crew
until far down the river—so far that you
cannot even hear on the echo of the waters
the splash of the oars—there comes once
more that darky’s mournful croon:
"Goodby, ole Un'll-ny-y-y-y,
Ole Georgy, goodby!"
and suddenly the scenes are shifted, and
you are face to face with the dear old
days of slavery- There is a plaintive mel
lowness in that darky’s dirge of a song
that makes the dream all the more com
plete, and a hundred slaves seem to join
m the chorus before the strains have died
away upon the soft silent bosom of the
Savannah. You look back upon the wide
stretching bottom lands all rustling with
the breeze-tossed cornfields, and farther
out to where the great cotton fields dress
ed out in their summer garments of white
and red blossoms glimmer in the morning
sunlight, and you think about the days
when the lords of the turf marshaled out
their armies of slaves at the rise of she
sun and sent them out over the rich and
smiling lands.
The songs of slavery days come back
you with that fragment of a song the negro
boatman keeps crooning, for it really is
some remnant of an old half-forgotten song
transmitted to him through the heritage of
his enslaved father, no doubt, and the
plantation seems alive now with the har
mony of the field hand chorus you heard
so often when a boy. Yon can hear them
in the widespr aiding fields of cotton: you
can hear them wandering aimlessly about
the plantation at night: you can hear them
in the cabins down in the quarter, and you
can hear them on the boats up and down
the river just as you heard them then. You
can hear
“Git along home. Miss Cindy.”
as they used to blow it on their “quills
and sing it and dance it in some white place
in the road where the moon shone bright
est, and you can fairly see their dusky fig
ure as you run over in your memory the
lines of the chorus:
I wish I was a sparrow,
A-scratchin’ in de san’;
I’d scratch my way termorrow
Tor see Miss Julie Ann.
O, git along home, Miss Cindy.
And, then yen recall that other song you
used to hear them sing at their “hot-sup
pers,” or balls in the cabins, when the
dancing was fine and shoe leather was
given free by their masters, and hence
was no consequence—the song which to
your mind always carried more .of the gen
uine darky of slavery days with it than
any other:
Raccoon up de ’siminon tree,
'Possum on de groun’.
Raccoon shake do ’slimnons down,
'Possum pass ’em ’roun'.
Shoo, ladies, shoo! etc.
The Old Songs Live to This Day.
Down there in the valley of the Savannah
the old songs of slavery days seem to have
lived longer than they have in most regions
of tlie south. . .
The fact is this one delightful strip of
southern country seems to preserve the
spirit and traditions of the old south more
satelv than anv other section anyhow.
Think of such a fertile region of country
a< is the Savannah valley having no rail
road. Think of having these simple and
rude pole-boats as the only system of trans
portation for all the cotton and other mar
ket crops that grow so abundantly in that
smiling country of farm lands.
The boats are just about the same as
were used in the dead and gone days xxhen
tobacco was the crop and towns now to
tally obliterated wore market centers. They
are long, slender canoe shaped boats capa
ble of carrying from thirty to forty bales
of cotton to market, and are manned by
a crew of about fifteen big burly negroes.
The trip down stream is easily made, the
negroes having to pull at their great oars
two abreast. When, the river is at high
water mark, this even is not necessary,
for the swift, current of the stream sends
the boat along at a rapid speed to the
landings and cities down the Savannah.
The trips up stream are somewhat dif
ficult to make. The negro boatmen line-up
on each side of the boat with long poles
spiked at one end, and placing the other
end to their shoulders push with all their
strength against the current, tramping along
-the floor of the boat as it drives from un
der their feet under the pressure. M hen
the motion of the boat Frings the pushers
to the other end, they cease pushing and
picking up their poles drag them along the
water as they walk back to the front end
of the 'boat and begin to push and tramp
again back to the other end. Intis it is
seen they do not really walk down the boat,
but allow it to move under their feet as
they lift them in the appearance of walk-
UI AII day long this is kept tip,, and some
times at. night if the moon is bright enough
for them to safely steer through the shoals
and rocks in the river. Dark, rainy nights,
however, they tie up to a/’’ ce ’‘ lon h„ ;
banks and camp for the night. They have
a rough life of it. a kind of lowm Bohe
mian life, which is as weird am strap ,
to the outsider as it seems faseinatin„ t
them. It is in their camps that they s< m
to find the highest pleasure of hfe on t s
earth, for then it is they get out >T d
soiled sheep skin banjos and play ”
the songs that died with the daun > <- •
cipation in every other land sa e
land of the Savannah river valley.
Those songs, simple, meaningless,
ive in their melody and sweet withal, s l. -
ing out from the dense canebreak at tt<
dead of night with the murmur of '' If ’
far out to the P'*'’ntatl<>n home vheie th<
landlords with their families sit lh ' ■
on the stretching verandas, smoking the i
rich Havana cigars, or swingiib, 1 n
hammocks underneath the great t _■ _
chirp the katydids-those songs. 1 ow^ 1<
charm one's very soul and make hie seem
more a dream than truth.
Talk about your gay pWsures dr ft n„
along the moonlit waters of N <ri< tan
dimes in dainty gondolas; tell with s •- .
•ind bliss of the sights so splendid and so
‘rand: relate the old. old story of he
"Bridge of Signs,” and toll of Gm f ' l| a , ' n th'
sweet strains of "Trovatore had f ' ,r > 1
there played by the niusu-uins nb >v J
the pictun»qne balconies; paint n gloving
words the enchantment of it al, »u .
to the vallev of the Savannah and han
Low aimless is your story when he
darkies on the boats in soft blending
chorus are singing with all the infinite
fervor of their sad souls, as though it were
the song of the stars, the simple little
dll ' ge ”Good-byo ? __oie_2^: n .-l}L^ ! ”
SOME GEORGIA STORIES.
Here is an original snake story which
comes from Rome. Mr. Hughes bought a
small sized rat trap with an opening ’’ t
no exit. It was tightly closed, and could
hold only a few of tlie rodents. The first
night he caught a good many; the next
night he woke up. hearing a great commo
tion in the trap. He supposed he had one
or maybe two large sized murines, and
without striking a light made his way to
the trap and picked it. up. He could feel
what he thought was a rat, and tenderly let
his hand lie against it.
When lie made a light lie still felt the
moving body, and glanced toward it. As
he (till so he dropped the trap. Whether
he yelled or Jumped out the window will
ever remain a secret buried deep in his
bosom.
To put it gently, he was surprised.
What he had so tenderly allowed to rub
hifn was a ground rattlesnake. With great
courage and the reptile in a cage he suc
ceeded in ending its existence. His snake
ship had evidently followed tlie rats inside
and had swallowed three. It was over three
feet long.
In the wilds of Rabun county there is a
still—a “moonlight distillery”—which is said
to be managed by two beautiful women.
So much for that.
It is not given out officially, but, never
fo. tlie few. that no revenue
A man who has traveled over that section
extensively says that he halted in the vicinity
of this still a few nights since, and so lively
a reception 'lid lie receive at the hands of
tht fair manipulators thereof, tlrit he is loth
to return, and will not do so at any future
time.
They led him out. he says, Into a dense
wood,’ and there threatened him with death
if he ever came spying around again. It was
In vain that lie expostulated; they wonld haxe
It tiiat he was a detective, and drummed him
out of the county.
“On second thought, however,” says the
man in question, “1 believe I would retuiu if
I could once again get a glimpse of those
beautiful black eyes.”
Texas valley, in Floyd county, is fraught
with Incidents.
The latest, is that a man residing there,
who had not seen his only brother in ten
years, was awakened suddenly one night by
Masonic raps on the head-board of his bed.
McClures Magazf
a For (i \
few
.lOOTWg'N'ANt)'WOMEN FAMOUS’IN ’ LITER-
ATURE AND ACHIEVEMENT will be represented
Jn McClure’s Magazine, either as authors ot
leMaMM ides or as participants in dialogues and .Inter
views', or j)f articles.) 'I T
'UX ? Ro6ert’l>uisAtevenson
Jk turc. prepared an autobiographical article cf rare tatereat on ho*. \ \
Tremor©
V ' 2!1 William
K ' peclatly for youthful reader.), and. In addition, will contribute uuo et Ike * ’“MN
(dlalojuea. which am ao famous a feature ot tho Maiixinc./ ' '
<-« ,4. besides contributing an artklotelic -
Frank IK. Stockton Ing how ho began to write, will
atntaln oae aide «f a dialogue for the IVUgulce, aud wli! also write ehort -gjgga
atoriaa.'
Alphonse DaiideC Emile Zola, Pierre Ev/J
Loti and Jules Verne in the Magazine In fully Hias-
Crated artfctal* three ofjrhich arc Autobiographical Interview*.; /
jCaaou# fldd* * - "
/Otber ißtervtcwa as thb faadQ&UDg ldndl aTU teU. ta eutobiojreptte •
♦ IcaJ.fonn, th© careers at/ .P«<eer
.Louts Paataur/ jTtomaa'A.
John J. Inga!!* Henry Georjn ,/V
Edward Bellamy, Edward Everett Hal* nJ/
Camille Flammcrton Gaston 'ilssandier
and.acorea_«fothar. world famous peraonallUee.j
■r. Haim.) _
** wn - HOWELLS.’BUDYARO KIPLINJ. Lr
aOnOIT atones CONAN dovle. Walter besant, N X
THOHAS HARDY, CLARK RUSSELL, OCTAVE THANET. BRET. WY
HARTE, JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
HARRIET. PRBSCOTI_SPOFHORD . and . other-../ nuei.r
ißeal; Conversations’; r
I unique In tin’s Magazine- | ■ \ c-Sn.
Bttaarck' | f-
t Portraits of Distinguished People
at different age© of their Ilves is a striking feature of th© Macazlne. and ?
during th© next year fully fifty of the most famous living celebrities will
be .howa from childhood op, aomettaiea.a.doxea pkUroejol a_ stojla
.peraoa being given.
Professor Henry Drummond
per. of extraordinary laurejt which will appear la the Maguine during, \
'the year.
T” The Edge of the•Rifure'S ,t jr3£S2!ts
gives the latent and most intoreatlng knowledge In all field, of activltlea.' vip-lni
F’’fl ReaUAdventures
/I JwfW Magazine. *
ASjW.Ctarles’A. DaittUSSSnSSft«£»
7 21 'ADAM wtu <tso cootrlhute to the Mag.ztno.
Craaa Doyle Do BWwtfi
His brother was a Mason, and tlie thought
came to him tiiat the raps were those of the
relative he had not seen in all that dreary
lapse of time.
He arose anti, walking to the garden gate,
saw bis brother standing there, with his
hand upon tlie latch.
He reached forward to xvelcome him, but
in an instant the spectre vanished.
He returned to the bouse and retire!
The i.exr n oruir.g he received a telegram
to ihe effe< t that, at the v**rv hour v. iim
he heard tlie strange Masonic raps, his brother
had passed away.
There are queer tilings hippet.lng in tins
world of ours every day.
A man, who is said to be well-known in
Dade county, was missing from n,,:we <i few
weeks ago.
His wife and all the neighbors were alarm
ed. and a searching party was formed.
When found lie had on a striped suit, which
closely resembled that of a convict.
Being questioned, lie stated that ho was
knocked down and robbed “by a strange
man on the road.”
The citizens are now wondering who the
strange man was—whether lie was an escaped
convict or not; and why the prominent citi
zen was “walking so late.”
Here is a snake story from The Marietta
Journal:
“Mrs. Frank Watson tins a hen tiiat had
a large brood of young chichons. F.>r some
time those cickrns have been disappearing
every day until only throe or four were left,
and what became of them was a mystery
One day last week Mrs. Greer, who wag
visiting her, heard a chicken crying as if
in distress near the house ami ran out to
see xxhat was the matier. To tier surprise
she found a large snake of the highland
moccasin species, with the chicken in its
mouth, proceeding to make a meal of it.
Mrs. Greer seized an ax lying neap and
chopped the snake iu three pieces.”
11 you have mi employment, pj- are being
poorly paid for the work you are doinZ
then write l<> B. I’. Johnson A Co., of Ridi
inond. \’a., ami they will show you how to
transform Miss-fortunes into Madame-for
tune. Try it.
■ fc'- << t-.'
! B s
ii ’il i’ . ' •
!i, ■
|!i "
’ / '
THE CHILDREN’S DELiGhT.
Ths ‘‘Brownie 5 Childs’ Set.
The “ Brownies ” or Fairies, made so well-known
to the children of America by the celebrated artist,
Balmer Cox, have been represented in a very hand
some silver-plated childs' set which will tickle the
little ones every time they come to the table. Hy
special arrangement with the manufacturers we
are enabled to deliver this in a neat box to our sub
scribers bymaii for the low price of 65 cents.
Between now and Christmas we would lik<* to
send one to every subscribers’ family. The de
mand on the manufacturers will be very large near
Christmas time, and prompt buyers will stand a
very much better chance of getting one. The
design is patented.
Sent by guaranteed mail for 65 cents in Postal Mota
or Money Order.
Address the CON ST ITT’TI ON.
Atlanta, Ga,