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‘•Pone Gono Dead!”
On tho Catawba rive, in tie moun
tains went ot Salisbuiy, N 0., I came
one tni< 4 !ofecon to a hamlet of seven
■ eight hun.\H. ivo or tbiso mules
"fi'o hitched in front of theaters, but
the nly person iu sight was a g rl of
eleven or twelve y< ars, ecateJ on the
door step, with elbow on her knees,
and her chin in her bands.
I saluted her with good morning’
Mutin’, she raid without raisiag her
bead. Anything wrong? I She
pointed toward the house and choked
back a sob, Somehoy sick? I asked.
Dad’s orful. lit Ml be wine befo'
night.
At that moment a woman appeared
at the door of that bouse, and beckon
ed me over. She had been weeping,
but she choked back her tears aad
said:
“I am glad you has cnm. The 010
man argwine to leave uo. Cutn right
in.”
The country doctor had coma and
gone, and seven or eight people had
gathered in the ono big room to be
v/ith the dying until tbo last. On a
bed in the corner lay an oil man. lie
had the frame of a giant, and bad
stood up under old age like an oak
tree, lie was a rpccimen mountain
eer, born and uared among those
mighty hills, and without education
ana polish. He bad M v ed out his days
without knowing the world around
him. He was propped up in bed,
with pillow and chair behind him,
and as be shook bands with me he
said: “I’m glad, stranger, mighty
glad. I reckouad the folks down be
low might kasj| on to yer till toolata.”
He’ll read the Bible to you Jim,
raid the blacksmith, with relief.
“After a bit, Jim. I want to talk a
leetle iu6t. And say, Jim, if yo hev
got a mewl to be shod, or any other
work to do, go an’ do it. Its mighty
good of ye to cam in, bnt yo can’t
help me any.”
Jim went and the other man went,
hut the women remained. Three had
their knitting and one was making a
hickory shirt. The wife was
most of the time at the other end ot
the room, and after a bit ths girl,
whoso name was NanGy, came in and
sat down on tha floor bseide my chair.
The old man was given a brandy
sling, propped up anew, aud then he
said to me, “They say I’m dyin’, and
I reckon they’us is right. I (eel wo
manish, and that shows me I’m dun
f >r. Thay’uns hire hov bin telling
me to get ieady.”
Yes, it would bo well, I replied.
“I’ve beam about this yero Heaven
an' ’tother place, and 1 reskon I orter
hov paid mo’ ’teushun to what folks
said. It’s purty late now to begin,
hut I’d like to ax a few qusshous. Its
all straight ’bout that ar heaven, haiu't
it?" '
“I believe it it is.“
“Its writ down in the Bible that
all we'uns orter to be good, hain't it?“
Yes.
“And all of we'uns is done told that
if we is bad we‘ll go to that t’other
placed*
Yes.
“Wall, Tve beam it often 'miff,
but I never gin arty heed, it was so
much easier to he oaery that I kinder
drifted that way. I kinder depended
on my livin' to boa hundred years
old, you know, and yore Tin tooken
away at eightyone. Its kinder snd
dn—like meetin’ a b‘ar as veu turn a
corner, snd bain ! t got no gun."
Ido sot think you have been so
! very wioked, I said, as his bony fingers
1 worked Dammsly on the quilt.
“Wall, rnebbo not —nrebbe not. I
haift't never shot anybody, nor leau a
tobber, no mt fire to a xneetin 1 house,
like some. Dow the Lord cal! it a sin
to get tbo host of a feller m a mow!
trad*
Probably not.
“I traded a dog for a gun once and
that dog, he'un died in two days. 1
geo now that 1 orlerreturned thst gnu,
but in ihem days 1 wan s'iff-necktd.
Hev 1 got to answer for tba ?”
“1 took up a stray bog onco, and
didn't say a word about. it, and attor
Ward killed him fur bacon. It was
onery. as 1 k : n see now, and *he Lod's
gwine to bring it up agin nr;. Wnat
shall 1 aay stranger? 1 fit with Tom
Wheclor ones. 1 begun tbo quariel,
and I was to blaroo. l‘m a thickin'
the Lo'd has got that down. And say,
1 haven't ailus dun right by the old
woman -1 ' ■
Jim, eh, Jiu>! don't serious nuthin'
‘bout me said the old woman, as she
came to the bed with a tin plat in one
hand and a wiping towel in the other.
“But, mammy, Tva been shackless
and entry. We could hev had roo if
I'd worked and taok kaer of things. I
kin sea whar l‘ve dun wiong. The
Lo'd’s got it all down agin ms, and
he's gwine ter make me holler for it.
Stranger, ye kin read, 1 reckon? Then
tead me a leetl#euten the Bible. Lucy
git it lur him. We hain't none of us,
much on the read. Don't remember
that 1 ever looked into that book, but
1 never used the leaves for gun wad
din' like seme Tre hearn the c’rcuit
rider talk about. Dan'l in the lion's
den, Moses and the sarpiut, the chil
dren of Israel and sich, but 1. never
tuk to it much. Thought it might
hev bin writ by a city chip, who
wanted to show oIT his smartness.
D'ye think it was all true?’*
Every word of it.
“Then the Lo'd's gwine ter judge
me fur it. Bead to me, siravger."
1 t >ok the Holy Book and read to
him the 17th chapter cf Luke,, and
such passages from other chapters as
1 thought might cora ort him. The
women gathered about, crying very
softly, and whan 1 closed the book the
old man opened his eyes and said,
“That's sorter soothin' and jit it
makes me see jist how onery 1 hev
bin. Tui gwine ter hev a scrapin'
time with the Lo‘d up thar stranger.
He'n will hev a heap ot things laid
up agin me, that l‘ve dun gone forgot
ten long ago, and when 1 cam to be
jedged, Ue'un will say, ‘Look yere,
old Jim, what did y 9 do this and that
fur? Didn't 1 command ye, and didn't
ye walk off by your own trail aud do
as ye liked?* That'e hew He'n will
talk, and old Jim will stand thar with
his head dpwu, aleelin' guilt/ all over.
I've been thinkin' it all over. 1 know
1 hain't atten. aud Tm not gwine ter
deny that Tm cuery, but l m
up to the Lo'd and aay, ‘Oh, Lo'd, ole
Jim cums vcie ter own up ter all Ye
hev got agin him; but jist reuember
that bo can't read nor write, and that
he's lived wnss than a b'arall his days.
He hain't had no mo' chmco than a
mewl, and lie's been wicked through
his ignorance. (J in the ole feliar a lit
tle show lur hissedf and see if be don’t
cum out on top ‘ That's what ole
Jim is gwine ter say. Me’ibe He nu
will low (hat ole Jim is worth savin::
It was a long afternoon now and
as the old man seemed to fall ioio a
sleep, 1 went out for a short walk As
returned to the gate his wi a mot me,
crying and wiping her eyes in h r
apron She said the ole man is Done
Gosc Dead.
About £ar Kir.es,
There is a custom, a relic of savage
life, by which tbe women ef to*day
seek to and attraction o their beauty;
tbo piercing of the lobe of the tar am
weaiing in tho hole some, form of < m
menf—an ear ring. This operation it
performed as a rale, as soon as tbe lit
tle mies has arrived at tbe ago of ac
countability, and it is relegated to lb
hands of artisans—jewelers. A picc
of flesh is flinched out of tbe loba so
tbit a small caDal remains; a piece of
siring, a straw, or anything conven
ient that will go through, covered per
haps by grease or vasaline, is pushed
into tie bole. The little girl way go
around for a week or two with a dirty
string or straw in ler ear, tbe lobe is
swollen and looks ugly, but never
mind, it will add to her beauty in the
end. Tito wound may become very
much inflamed, so that on abcess of
the lobe may take place, and when
this is cured tbo ear may be disfigured
for life. The lobe may be shrunk* and
in consequence, or the bolo may be too
large, ibis, perhaps, does not happen
very frequently, bnt it nevertheless
happens, and the work has to be re
paired if possible, by tho surgeon. It
is a pity that this operation can not
be relegated to surgery. Surgeons op
erate daily for cosmetic effects; wby
may they not do this? It would be
prqpbylexis rather than cure.
Some women will insist upon wear-
ing heavy pendant ear rings. These,
by their weight, will # enlarge the hole
and make the lolro unsightly. The
surgeon’s knife has also been required
to remedy this evil. Thee# pendant
ear rings are very apt to catch in dra
pery. Iu this way the lobs may be
tom tlnough, and such accidents have
been known to happen. It is gratifying
to know that pendant ear rings are
loss frequently worn now than former
ly. xhe concensus of opinion seems
to be in farqr of those that lie close
to the ear—that do not hang down. A
silver leaf or a diamond drop eet into
the pink of a well shaped lobe is a
“thing of beauty aad jsy forever.”—
[Medical Classits.
The gunboat, Y o rktown, built
for the United States Navy, by
William Cramp & Sons. Philadel
phia, Pa , is complete, and is wait
ing for the government t© give her
the trial before she con be accept
ed. She is the first ot a group of
three, all similar in design. She
is 226 feet long, her maximum
speed is calculated at 1G knots per
hour, but it is thought she will do
better than that, her crew will
consist of 100 men. The main bat
tery is composed of six 6 inph
breech-lcading rilles, two in the
forecastle, two in the poop and one
on each side. The secondary bat
tery consists of eight rapid fire
guns, and revolving canon; she has
also eight torpedo guns fixed in
the stem and stern, and three train
ing tubes on each side; she has al
so two Hotchkiss guns. If we
should get into difficulty with Ger
many about Samoa, this addition
to our navy will be of great bene
fit to us,
The game of hare and hounds
has been revived at Yale arid
Princeton. It is successful.
The total immigration for the
past seven years reaches 3,819,167.
The proper time to correct what
is a fault, is before any evil results
have been felt.
Hardman & Gomp’y,
'dealers in
HardwarES. CutlcrY.
Our Line of Stoves, Tinware, Agricultural Implements, B 0., cau a v. b?
found in hotter Quality and Durability, elsewhere. We also keep a good 1 > n't*,
of guns for tbe Fall trade. Call and examine our stock and pries. Id.
Consult your Interests by Buying your
DRUGs AND MEDICINES
from
Wade And Sledge,
ATHENS, GEORGIA.
We sell at the lowest possible price, and gnrantee every article to be abso
lutely Pure, Orders by Mail will receive prompt attention, IE mem tier tbo
name and place.—WADE & SLEDGE, Druggists and Pharmacists.
Between Hodgson Bros., and Talmadge Bros,, Clayton Street. 1G
W. A= Quinlan So Go,
(*■*-
HARMONY' GROVE,
DEALERS IS
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
And Plantation s upplies-
Oar stock of Dry Goods, Clothing, Hats, Boots an! Shoes can cot be sur
passed in Durability and Law Prices. We keen in Shock all that the farmer
needs. Our Line of staple groceries are complete. We keep a full line ot
Fancy groceries, DOtions, etc. Also Bagging, lies and Country
Piodacej taken in exchange for goods. Call and examine onr aoods. 19
Athens Musis House,
4
114 Clayton Street, Next Dcor to Pcstoflice, Athens, Georgia
Haselton & Dozier, Proprietors.
Keeps always cu hand the oest makes of
.... ' * o
A 1 ' 1 ' 0
.< • •
J VIOLINS AND BANJOS-
And all kinds of Masical Instruments at the very lowest prices for Crsh,
or on tbe Installment plan.
Written guarantee on a 1 ! ins rumcD-fi sold. Special reduced rates to church
es and Sunday schools. Pictures and Pic nre Frames a specialty. All sises
and styles of Frames marie to order ots short nr>’ice. Boy from us ai:d sav#
\ accntsy commiss oas. IG.