Newspaper Page Text
WHAT ISjVOBSE?
Mrs, Henry Ward Beecher and
Robert Ingersoll Reply to
This Question.
What is worse than death?
Is death the most horrible and!
instinctively dreaded of human!
calamities?
Before I consulted with a half
dozen or so of New York's eminent
people I considered the giving up i
of this life the most undesirable,
thing on earth, and now, really, I
think so still.
Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll was!
the first person to whom I put the
query: ‘What is worse than
de»th?”
I had to wait a long time down i
at his law office at -10 \\ all street,
but he came at length, lie looked
at me, and I looked at him.
“What do you think worse than
death?” sa d I.
“Oh, a great many things,” he
answered, “Wait and I’ll write |
them down.”
After he had finished he handed j
ino the paper and I read: “What;
is worse than death? To bo dis-1
honored. To be worthless. To;
feel that you are a failure. To be;
insane. To be c distantly afraid i
of the future. To lose the ones
you love.”
“Does that suit you?” he asked.
“Certainly, if you mean what ,
you have written. You know I
there is still hope so long as there
is life —”
“And when death comes there is
no hope r.t all?” he inquired.
“I certainly do, yes. I should
hate to die,” ho said, frankly. “It
is better to live and be happy—l
and every one is bound to be happy
in this world. No one can be truly
miserable for any great length of
time. Life is the sweetest thing
on earth, after a’l. It is sweeter
than most people realize, and
death—oh, we’re an awful long
time dead !”
Mrs. IL nry Ward Beecher was
the next person I called upon.
“Death to me,” she said, “would
be a blessing. I am waiting for
the Lord to call mo home, for I am
prepared to go. 1 have nothing to
live for now, for I am of no earthly
use.”
“Don't say that,” I interrupted,
but she did not heed me, and went
on as if talking to horself.
“My dear husband and nearly all
my children have gone before me.
and I war tto join them. lam an
old, old lady. I have lived my I
life, and now I await death eager-|
ly.” She folded her hands and
was silent. Thon, as if recalling j
my presence, she added :
“When you become old like me |
you will then welcome death as 1 ,
do as a sweet haven of rest. I
Blindness to me is the worst thing |
that can befal 1 a human being. I
Not to be able to see the ones we
love, nor the birds and the trees |
and bright flowers. Ah, my dear,
blindness is dreadful.” And she I
covered her almost sightless eyes
with one faded hand.
Albert Chevalier, when I asked ]
him the same staggering question,
stuttered for several seconds.
“Well, er—l er —never thought
much about such things.” He
folded his arms, cocked one eye
and blinked at the ceiling. Finally,
he said: “Why, death isn’t so ter
rible, is it?”
‘ I’m sure I don't know.” I ans
wered, quickly. "I’ve never tried
it.”
“Then you think you wouldn't
at all mind dying. You wouldn’t
in the least mind giving up this i
life and all the beautiful things in
it and renounce all your successes
and good times and be laid away
in the cold earth and not be at all
sure what would happen mx‘?”
Chevalier shifted his position;
and smoothed his hair just as he
does on the stage. Then he said:
“Yes, when one comes to think of
it in the light that you d?, there;
is nothing very animating about
it. As long as one has one’s health
and good success tile is very pleas
ant.”
“But,” I said, “suppose you were
face to face with it right now.”
I stopped suddenly. Chevalier;
was gaziug at me with his mouth ;
wide open, and there was an ex
pression upon bis face that he
never brings into plsy upon the
stage.
“You are right,” he said. “Life
is the greatest thing on earth.”
Then I went to see Lillian Rus
sell- It was a warm night, hut she
looked cool and fresh as a big
peach. Somehow I hated to men
tion any thing about death to her—
what has this splendid creature to
do with death? Probably in all
her life she had never thought of
the p •s-ibilities of dying. So 1
hesitated and “he said: “Well,
what can I d > for you?”
What doyou consider worse than
(h ath? ’ I asked, without any pre
liminaries whatsoever.
Slowly she turned her yellow
head, and the light from the lus
trous eyes fell in unfeigned sur
l prise upon me.
Then sho laughed. “Why, I
! have never thought about it at all,
I but certainly there are countless
I things worse than to die.”
I was surprised. I had thought
■ this queen of the stage would con
i sider death the most to be dreaded
I of al! things.
“Why,” I gasped in surprise,
; “you surely don’t want to die?”
“('h, no, I don’t want to die, ex
actly. Life isn't thrown up very
easily. Just as lam now, I could
live forever. I’m not perfectly
satisfied, but life is a pleasure. I
would rather die a thousand times
than be poor.”
“Or be the homeliest person in
tne world,” 1 added.
“Yes,” sho laughed, “or be the
homeliest person in the world.”
“ Then, according to your theory,
an extremely homely person or one
devoid of wealth is to be pitied be
yond all else?”
“Oh, I don’t know anything
about poor people or ugly ones.
Though I dare say they do manage
to have good times, as such things
go with them. But they don’t
know what real life is. 1 should
prefer to die rather than descend
to poverty."
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, lam very sure. Os course
I am sure,” sho added, half to her
self.
Thon I went to Mrs.E. M. Whit
temore’s home, at 728 Park avenue,
and when I put the question to
her she laughed outright.
“Why, what a question. 1 d >n’t
consider death terrible at all.
There are lots and lots of things
! worse. What? Why, not to be
I prepared to die is a thousand times
; worse. Death itself is very sweet,
lif only one is sure of heaven. Do
i you think any one would prefer
I this'earth to heaven? You don’t
J fear death, do you, my child.”
“Well, I don’t want to die. Do
I you?” I asked.
“Why, my dear, yes. lan® ready
and willing to go at the L- rd’s
! command. I shall welcome
I death.”
“But why?” I asked in surprise.
“Surely you are not unhappy?
Life is very pleasant to you, is it
;not?”
“When you have seen all the
-dreadful sorrow, sin and suffering
I have witnessed,” she answered
“then you will be only too glad to
: get awav from it all and rest in a
■ life of perfect peace, purity and
! happiness. If I were not sure of
i everlasting life, I should fear death.
Every one should feel that way.
■They should ever be looking be
looking beyond and be ready to
1 hail death as sweet when it comes.”
i “And then you think to those
who are not sure of heaven death is
the most dreadful thing that
; could happen?"
“Yes. d cidedly.”
—New York Journal.
It is said that one of the jurors
in the Z figler case asked Judge
Twiggs what hi thought of their
verdict. “I think everyone of you
perjured yourselves,” was the
; prompt reply.
LJC'OD’S >ai saparilla has over and
■ • over again proved by its ernes,
when all other preparations failed, that
it is the One True BLOOD Purifier.
•sseusnotnq i-jno ss[nqrj, strrd/a
•jeAi[ pid-iot aana soinqux BUUd.QI
•uotivibjsuoa mim supiqvj. suy-Int
TWO ON A STRING,
A Story Tote Ly a Xnr Vork Drctauiev
‘Ono April I was down in Mexi
co, “raid a New York traveling sales
man to a reporter, “cn a business
trip, and or.o night my partner and
I had to remain over in a small place
about 50 miles cut of Mexico City.
It wasn't such a tad place, either,
but the landlord of the hotel tcld us
that thieves were plenty, and it they
were cornered they might stick their
knives into people. Our room in
tho little tavern was a hind of
f-ummer house affair, out in the
•yard, with a door cn each of two
sides, and was only a few feet up
from the ground on a kind cf plat
form veranda. We had several hun
dred dollars which we had collected,
and the safest place wo could put
it was in our satchels in our room.
' ‘For a wonder the doors had locks
on them, but the upper part of the
deer was made in Venetian shutter
stylo and a man with a long arm
could by stretching probably reach
the lock. We weren't very much
afraid, and merely locked the doors
without noticing the shutter part at
all. Besides, it was dark when we
went to bed, as wo didn’t want a
light to attract tho insects. We
elept without disturbance until the
first gray streaks of dawn, and then
we were awakened by a queer noise
at tho doors.
“Wo suspected thieves at once,
and, as quiet as mice, wo slipped out
of bed and began to .reconnoiter.
When I got to my door, it kind of
gave me the creeps to see a dirty
yellow hand thrust through the
shutter and stretching itself down
ward toward the lock, and I was
tempted to yell and scare the ma
rauder away. However, I kept my
nerve, and in a second or two it was
strangely fascinating to watch the
efforts of that hand to reach the
lock. My partner was having the
same kind of an experience, and the
thieves were evidently intending to
tako us ‘a-comin an a-gwine. ’
“We stood irresolute for a minute,
and then my partner made a sign to
me to hand him an old lariat hang
ing on the wall. This in a second he
had looped at each end and I saw
tho trick. Tho next minute wo had
a band apiece looped at each end of
the rope and had pulled it tight in
side. Everything had been perfectly
still up to this time and now it was
stiller than ever. I do not know
what the thieves thought had hap
pened to them, but they were caught,
and as scon as we got the rope
knotted, we let go and they discov
ered that they were tied together
and there wasn’t any way for them
to get away unless one of them pull
ed the other through the knothole,
so to speak.
“Then it became funny, and we
sat there nearly splitting, but never
making a sound. In a minute or
two more we could see another hand
coming through with a long, ugly
knife in it, trying to cut the rope
holding the first hand, but we had
drawn them far through, and the
other hand could not reach. Os
course, wo expected now to hear a
yell and have some kicking and other
disturbances, but tho.stoicism of the
Indian was in them, and they never
made -a sound until the landlord
himself spoke to them w hen he came
to wake us up.
“That was two hours or more later,
and we had in the meantime gone
back to bed to finish our morning
nap, trusting to luck that they
wouldn't get away. The landlord
when he discovered them made more
noise in a minute than all four of us
had made since the act began, and
when we got up it was to find our
garden house surrounded by half
the population of t«e town and the
two thieves sticking to our doors as
if they had been nailed there anc
nobody able to get them loose.”—
Washington Star.
Excited Eds Indignation.
When rhe colonel came into the
drug store for a little bromo seltzer,
he was feeling rather sociable and
tried to start a conversation with
the busy prescription clerk.
“Don’t talk to the clerk while he
is compounding a prescription,
please,’’said the proprietor to the
colonel.
“Don’t talk to the prescription
clerk, do you say, sah!” roared the
colonel. “I talk to the bahkeepah,
sah, when he is making a mint
julep; talk to-him to the full extent
of my couvuhsational ability, sah,
and if you think youah little pills
and powdahsaro cf mo’ impohtance
than that nectah of tho gods, sak,
you are getting too big fo’ youah
business, sab!”—lndianapolis Jour
nal.
He Was Posted.
“Do you go to school, little boy?”
“Oh, yes, sir. I love to go to
school. ”
“What do you study—reading,
writing and arithmetic?”
“All c.f those, sir. ’’
“Ai d are you familiar with punc
tuation.-”
“Oh, yes, indeed, sir. Teacher
] unctuated her tire las' week, an 1
inendi d it f- r Irer in less 'n tea min
utes. Yes, indeed, sir.' —Cleveland
Plain Dc-A. r.
Tooting One’s Own Horn,
The following from Texas. Sift
ings, while intended to be humor
ous, contains a world of truth nev
ertheless, and is reproduced here
for that reason:
To be a success in these times
we must own a and toot it
continually. To get a front seat
we n.ust walk in, push our way
past slower mon, and take the seat;
and we mast look as if we not only
owned it, but had. a mortgage on
all the private boxes, and could
occupy any one of them if we so
desired.
The man who wants to succeed
must struggle for a front seat, even
if he has to jostle the real owner
and put his umbrella down on his
soft corn. Once in av. hile he may
be set back where he belongs, but
he will get in front oftener than if
he should wait to bo invited for
ward.
The world has not time to ana
iiz ■ character, weigh merit and to
decide as to the relative ability of
men. This is a fast, hurrying,
rushing world of ours, and it is
very much-influenced by the value
that a man puts on himself. If he
says: ‘I am a great orator, or a no
ted scientist, the world is apt to
take it for granted that he is, rath
r than go to she trouble of hold
ing a civil service examination of
his merits. If he says: “I am but
a poor, weak worm of the dust,”
l lie world v ill say :“ You look like
it; get out of the way.”
Wo have taken a practical,
worldly view of the matter, and the
amount of moral ethics in this ar
ticle may seem to you limited,
but there is truth enough in it to
bulge out at the edges and split
np the seams.
A Matter of Good Luck.
The Memphis Commercial Ap
peal is of the opinion that it is
more a matter of good luck than
good management that this coun
try doesn’t have a mighty sight
harder time than it does. It says:
“So long as this country had a
patrimony of lands and mineral
wealth which it.could sell to for
eign capitalists money was no ob
ject. When railroads all over the
country were receiving the custo
mary sixteen sections of land to
the mile the bonds went abroad
and the money received for them
was spent here in reckless profu
sion. No such conditions exist to
day. The magnificent patrimony
has been dissipated, the lands have
been exhausted, there is nothing
left that the nation or any state
,:an sell or mortgage, and the in
terest on the old mortgages is fall
ing due with inconvenient celerity.
The ‘flush times’ are no longer
here, and people must make up
their minds to do as other people
ire doing. Economies, great and
small, must be practiced. Thrift
and enterprise must be encouraged
flie day of small things must not
be despised. Public salaries and
fees must be subjected to the prun
ing knife, and the appropriations
>f public moneys held within
bounds, in keeping with the neces
sary retrenchment in private ex
penses. A less gorgeous and pro
digal method must be pursued
from top to bottom. This country
is the greatest on earth because it
is, relatively, sparsely settled and
we have had much natural wealth
to dispose of in the past. People
it as Belgium and there would be
more poverty, starvation and suf
fering than there is in India today
Blood and Skin Diseases
Always R R R
Cured. 888 -
BOTANIC BLOOD BALTI never fails
to cure all manner of Blood and Skin dis
eases. It is the great Southern building up
and purifying Rem'-dy, and cures all manner
of skin and blood diseases. As a building
up tonic it is without a rival, and absolutely
beyond comparison with any other similar
remedy ever offered to the public. It is a
panacea for all ills resulting from impure
blood, or t.n impoverished condition of the
human system. A single bottle will demon
strate its paramount virtues.
J3?“Send for free book of Wonderful Cures.
Price, SI.OO per large bottle; $5.00 for six
bottles.
For sale by druggists.: if not send to us,
and medicine will be sent freight prepaid on
1 receipt of price. Address
BLOOD BALM CO., Atlanta, Ga.
in the unhappy Valley of the'
Ganges. We do nt t know hew to
live in moderation, but we must!
learn and that soon. The country
is filling up and the struggle for
existence is becoming fiercer each
ye*r. Economy in all things
should be the watchword.”
flu Important Giiangs.
Beginning January 1, 1897, the pres
ent Weekly Edition of The DETROIT
FREE PRESS will be changed to a
TWiCE-A-WEEK.
The price will remain the same,
SLOO Per Year.
The usual lit rary and humorous fea
tures will be continued, and it will con
tain all tho news, making it an up-to
date newspaper. We have just made
an arrangement with the publishers of
this World Famous Paper whereby we
can offer you an excellent bargain.
WE WILL SEND
The Summerville News
AND
The Detroit Free Press
Both One Year for only -fl 50.
186 ?^ EES SI.OO.
Less than 1 cent Per Copy.
Sample Copies Sent Free.
Address,
THE NEWS,
Summerville, Ga.
wHir
Western & Atlantic R. R.
(BATTLEFIELDS LINE)
AND- »
Nashville, Chattanooga & St.
Louis Railway
f . . TO . . Y
CHATTANOOGA,
NASHVILLE,
CINCINNATI,
CHICAGO,
MEMPHIS and
ST. LOUIS.
PULLMAN PALACE BUFFET SLEEPING CARS
JACKSONVILLE and ATLANTA
. . TO . .
NASHVILLE and ST. LOUIS.
THROUGH WITHOUT CHANGE.
Local Sleepers between Atlanta and Chat
tanooga.
Cheap Emigrant Rates to Arkansas and
Texas.
Excursion Tickets to California and Col
crado Resorts.
For Maps, Folders, Sleeping Car Reservation end
any inforsnaticn about Rates, Schedules, etc.,
write or apply to
C. B. WALKER, J. A. THOMAS,
Ticket Agent, I icfcet Agent.
Union Deoot, No. 8 Kimball iiortc
' ATLANTA, GA.
C. K. AYER, J. L. EDMONDSON, T. P. A.,
Ticket Agent, Chattonucga,
Rome, Ga. Tenn.
JOS. M. BROW”, CHAS. E. IJAKMAN,
Traffic iVar.as -, Ger. Pass. Agt.,
A;LANTA, GA.
LOCAL SCHEDULE.
= CHATTANOOGA, ROME & COLUMBUS RAILROAD =
EUGENE E. JONES, Receiver.
Passenger Schedule in Effect Nov. 15,1896.
SOUTHBOUND RM 1 MlflWß NORTHBOUND
Sunday only. Daily No. 2. Daily No. 1. Sunday only.
P.M. A. M. P.M. A.M. /-
4 10 8 10 Chattanooga 6 19 955... ..
4 15 8 15 Shops 635 9 50. /
.......4 ;:t‘, 837 Battleliield OU 9 27^x........
/ 4 45 8 44 Chickamauga 6 07 9 IK
5 13 9 12 LaFayette ...5 39 t 16
\ / 5 50 9 48 Summerville 5 03 8 03....
: 0 00 9 58 R accoon 4 53 7 53 ..
’.......60S .1006 8yer1y.............. 4 45 747
. 700 1100 Rome... 350 6 4->
745 . 11 41 Cedartown 3 07 600
’’ ~.12 27 Buchanan 2 24
’ 1 10 Carrolton 140
Connections arc made at Chattanooga, Rome, Cedartown, Bremen and <. ar
“olton wit h other lines at these points. Fcr further information apply to
C. B.'Wilburn, Traffic Manager, Odell, Agent,
Rome, Ga. Summ erville, Ga.
Jk piedmont
STO3K FARM.
IT W Grean. Bush, Ga.
’^ ' : ~
i JAGKS AND JENNETS.
A large assortment on h: rd. Prices leasriilde. Sl<ik t
enu 1 -. ° >■'- ers filled for any class—from six months to six o.i.is < id.
M. It. rtORNE., Prop.
PROFESSIONAL.
DRJ. T. KOAN.
Office in Hollis & Hinton Block.
SUMMERVILLE G-A.
I am'prepared to treat Ruptiircl
Hemorrhoids, Fistula in Ano, without
ligai tire or knife or drawing blood.
My operations are quite painless.
Consultation free.
AmMURPHY
Jeweler.
MENLO, GEORGIA
Repairing a specialty. All work
neatly and cheaply executed and satis
faction guaranteed. Give inc a call.
11. J. Arnold *
!&635333 ' Dentist,
La Fayette, - - Ga
Does first class Dental work of all
kinds. Will visit Trion once a month
WESLEY SHROPSHIBE,
Attorney-at-Law
Summerville, - - Ga
W. H. EjSNIS. J. W. STAKJJ>'<b . ■
ENNIS & STARLING
Attoi ueys-at-Law.
MASONIC TEMTI.E.
ROME, - - - GA.
Will practice in all the courts of
north Georgia.
, ...iSiS-.
T. J. lUfifiis,
LAWYER,
Summerville, Ga.
T. S. Brown,
Dentist.
Office over Hollis & Hinton’s store
Suumerville, Ga. All Dental opera
tions neatly performed and work guar
anteed. ’ Prices reasonable.
C. L. ODEEL
Attorney at Law.
Strict attention gbTen to all business
Xitrusted to my can?.
l We ' *
■ E m
Young ;;
en
~ to distribute •
our advertise'
X meats in pait payment for a high grado Acme
I bicycle, which we send them ou approval. No :
♦ work done until the bicycle arrives and proves
J satisfactory.
| Young Ladies same terms. |
t If boys or -Is apply they must be well recom-
| mended. Y, j ;£e for particulars
j ACME CYCLE COHPANV, !
I ELKHART, IND. /