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and feed stables,
Offer} thipu'i' I'ljfimt in s .u i -
ances and moat polite and courteous drivers
The best stock of horses and mules oi< .■‘.de co
stantly.
V F HANSON. NORRIS N. SMITH. 2
BINSON SUPPLY CO. J
nbing and Tinning. 5
rs’ and machinists' ?
. Stoves, rangesand ®
. Gas and electric fix- c
NSURANCE gasoline S
Water meters. 3
ad st. Phone 32. •
000000 JQ©UQ©OQ©©©©C
- ■ I
To Musical Peple of Koine
It is with pleasure that we introduce to our readers the pri(
of a new and complete stock of
JIBS, KUB
AND
Small Musical Instrumen ■
n the new Moseley building, 327 Broad street
where we would be pleased to have you call and
examine our goods.
The stock consists of some of the best mikes
n|t pianos and organs on the market today. We
keep a full line of everything pertaining to a first
class music store —Something Rome has needed foi
a long time. Give us a call and you will find a
music store that Romans may be proud of
We are determined to close 0
- BICYCLES
the earliest possible date.
£. SLWiILB-EsD
327 Broad Street.
S. P. Davis, Manager.
-XX X X.X X X XX X X X.x XX XX X XX X XXX X x
We keep on ha n d at all times a full stock of
Sheet Music‘
Conwwfen
Como. Wis., H y an ? is ’
Jan. 10,1898. Jan ' 2 ’ 1898 ’
I would not be -
without PISO’S 2nEwmKi ß^ C tlw
CURE for CON- ALItISEFAUS. S ' U <IS
SUMPTION for any
thing. For a bad cine on the market.
Cough or Cold it is ■ having used it for
beyond all others. y ears<
Mrs C. REYNOLDS. J> AWESTOVER
“The Best Cough Medicine.” ~
AJVE HAVE NO AGENTS
*** 1' ' ■_ __ j.J" but have gold direct to the con- I —. i
Miner for 25 years at whole- ,k
i\ 11a aale pricw, saving him the .A' '*
V T - ' n dealer's profits. Ship any- Jk
7 1 TH { where for examination.
•71 nP®* Everything warranted.
\ l\ 118 atvlca <»f Vehicles, I.
I(1 t n will 55 Bt y lea cf Harass I I r
I\V //\)W Top Buggies, |36 to «7O ' X /\LaZ>! wSz
*> 1 )) // llw Surreys, SSU to i 125. Carria- \ '\/
» jQi P' lfte t ons ’ Traps, Wagon-
»»■«. 1.rr.,1„v„ Prt 5 ..Jit00. ’v»K->w’ r ’sendfor iMg/ftw So f«l “for'wSi
loud as sells Cer |25. Catalogue of all our styles, shade, apron uuiirfendsrs, »60. c
ILKHART I’AIUMAUK AND HAUNKHH MJKW. CO. W. B. PKATT, EUiHAKT. IND.
TQM ID HIS” g
4 gqmdowble home, a!
After the Johnstown flood a
colored man, who was one of its
victims, was identified by a
woman as Thomas Wiggius, and
was buried as such. That the
writer spent the day with Thom
as Wiggins a few weeks ago is
proof that the inscription on the
Pennsylvania tombstone is sin
gularly incorrect.
The name Thomas Wiggins,
means nothing to the majority
of readers, but “Thomas Wig
gins is “Blind Tom,” a name
familiar to hundreds of tnou
sands in this country and abroad
who have heard the piano play
ed by this wonderful negro. The
impression that he is dead is a
pretty general one. As a matter
of fact, Blind lorn has never
been ill a day in his life, and is
now enjoying an existence more
full of comforts and happiness
than falls to the lot of most
mortals.
On ?he banks of the Shrews
bury river, in a domain of over
200 acres of woodland, stands a
picturesqe two and a half story
wooden house with a broad ve
randa. Here Blind Tom is at
home.
The day the writer called the
negro pianist was expectin g a
tuner who could correct a faulty
Ain his concert grand. When
I reached the house and pressed
the annunciator button the door
was Hung open by Blind Tom
himself.
For a moment he stood there,
a big, burley fellow of nearly
50, his black broadcloth trousers
braced up high on his capacious
girth over a white outing shirt
with a narrow pink stripe. His
head raised, his large dark
eyes uplifted, he waited till I
announced myself as a visitor
who had an appointment with
Mr. A. J. Lerche, his guardian.
My voice told him that I was
not the tuner. With a childlike
droop of disappointment he shut
the door in my face. He will
always be a child, and his ac
tions are sometimes saved from
rudeness only by his simplicity.
While playing he moves his
body very little ; his head is at
an angle of 45 degrees, the eyes
upturned, the heavy lower lip
pendulous, and there is a sense
of utter absorption in the music.
He has an odd way of bringing
this lower lip up and letting it
fall at short intervals, as a fish
works its mouth while breathing
He uses only one foot in pedaling
—his right—and nearly al wavs
it was the loud pedal that he
pressed. When the passage call
ed for no pedal he stuck the
front of his foot under the ped
al. This was invariable. After
finishing bis piece he stood up
and his right hand habitually
went up to his face.
Tom played one of his own
compositions next, “something
that the birds and wind told
him.” It was a simple, fresh,
melodious thing, with a good
dash of the sprightliness which
colored people are so fond of in
music.
“When did you compose
that?” asked Mr. Lerche.
“That, sir, I composed when
I was 7 years of age,” replied
Tom with the same impressive
gravity.
“Do you play anything of
Rubinstein’s?” I inquired.
“I play Rubinstein’s melody
in F,” he replied, and then, as
usual, began at once’ to play it.
I His technique, expression and
correctness were perfect, but
in nothing that he played was
there evidence of any interpreta
tion of his own of the piece.
But it was marvelous enough
without that. One need not ex
aggerate the wonders of this j
simple negro’s mastery of the!
piano. They are miraculous |
enough in a weak minded man]
who knows theoretically nothing
of bis art.
. Tom never drinks, swears, nor
shows any vicious inclinations.
He is scrupulously neat and
most regular and methodical in
his habits. He rises at 7. has
breakfast at 9, dinner at half
past 1, and supper at 6. He goes
to bed at a little after 9.
He has an attendant who
looks after him at meal time, as |
he has to have his meat cut for!
him. He find his napkin and ,
tucks that in around his neck
himself. He has a good appetite,
although by no means is he a
heavy eater. He is fond of fruit
—watermelons preferred—likes
all kinds of pie except mince,
and is very fond of sugar. lie
never drinks coffee. He is sensi
tive to cold. Sometimes when
he feels a strong breeze blowing
on him he will say : “Tom’s in
draught. He may catch cold and
die. Wouldn’t that be terrible?”
He has this artles* fear of death,
yet he has composed a funeral
march for himself, in which
there is one movement so cheer
fully brignt as to be almost
pathetic. This march was played
at the funeral of his master,
John G. Bethune, was killed in
a railway accident in 1883.
When I rose to go he shook ■
hands and bade me goodbye and I
as the carriage bore me off I j
heard him again at his belovod !■’
piano, the unwearying solace of ,
his life. The soft music from the t
weak minded negro escaped *
through the shades of the room , *
and the breath of the honey- '
suckle was wafted in upon the $
blind child of nature as he sat j
there in the dim apartment |
alone, yet companionied as few
mortals are. g
The strongest impression I bore |
away was that o f ths sweet, con - I
tented life the poor, blind negro is
leading. There was pathos m it. I i
had expected to find a wonder at ;
the piano, and 1 did. for his un—,
taught mastery of the instrument *
is marvelous and admits of no ex- 1 |
planation. It is a gift of nature’, i
pure and simple. From the time
when the Bethune family left the -
dinner table to se« who could be
playing on the pianc, and dis
covered the sightless pickanniny
of 4 years perched on the stool, (
his little hands plucking uncanny ’
melody from the keyboard—from
that time until now he has had an
unwavering devotion to the in- ’
strument whose music is his life.
He has made fortunes, first for
Colonel Bethune, who bought his
mother, Charity Wiggins, when
the blind baby was “thrown in”,
then for John S. Bethune, and
lastly for the widow of John Beth
une, who is now the wife of the
lawyer, Albert J. Lerche, at whose
residence I saw the wondertui ne
gro
Blind Tom has all that he wants
Os how few of us can as much be
said? There is even dignity, pathos
and sweetness aboutthisbig fleshy
negro, now in his forty-eighth ■
year. His old mother is still aliv-'.!’
a wilhered wrinkled “mammy," •
85 years old. —Lady’s Home
Journal. 1
Successful Physicians.
We heartily recommend Dr. Hathaway & tlx I
of 22>4 8 Broad St., Atlanta, Ga.. as bain,? j er
fectly reliable and remarkably successful in Clio
treatment of chronic diseasesof men and women..
They euro when others fail. Our readers if iir
need of medical help should certainly w pite
these eminent doctors and you will receive a fi’ee
and expert opinion of your case by return mau. |
without ctjet.
’PUBLIC |
«« I 1 ,zi ' ll 'j ') H
11) JJ Jj mMI |
I We will Sell New j
I Books wholesale I
I PRICES.' I
<<« o
FOR CASH. Second Hand |
Books cheaper uhan the B
|| cheapest. Give me a call,
t ' H. A. SMITH, |
THF OLD RELIABLE BOOK STORE. ||
• H, P. WOOTEN & BRO.,
-c* Successors to
-5 ROME PHARMACY.
M 309 Broad st. —New Clark Building, >
We have bought the entire stock of the Rome
Pharmacy and are prepared to supply your wants in
the drug, piescription and patent medicine line. Our
stock is complete and of the very highest grade.
We solicit a part of your patronage and shall eii-
Aeavor to the best of our ability to please you at a •C.
times. We should be pleased to have you call on u
Full line of druggist’s sundries, toilet articles a
such things as are usually carried in a first-class dr
store. Cigars and tobacco.
Come to see us.
■ '■ ■' "" ~ -
*
hS
J
i S. M. Stark, g
xo
K LIDIEJ Ml! GENTLEM's tM S
y Ki
S 3 Dougherty Bldg, 2nd Ave « •
‘ HL?
AiHiaiHHiiHHHHHiHHOftW
$i.3 5 and $i s« Negligee shirts for »t
J. A. GAMMON & COMPANY
ARE
. for everyone in Rome to come
in and see the magnificent stock
f Jk on raon s an d b °y’ s clothing,
F r V* A bicycle and golf suits, is what
___ IfSAa we are doing, but we are hus-
fcjS tling while we wait. We will
yshow you the finest stock o
IO clothing, made from the newest
styles and patterns in fabricks,
perfect fitting and haudsome, to
be found in Georgia, and they
are above competition in values
forjthe price.
-
The greatest line of negligee 1/
ever shown in Rome.
J, A. GAHMON&CO