Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

, * ! iurn • \ ■ri ?r •r Hk I A VOL. VI. THE COCK AND THE PEARL. A rooster once pursued a worm That lingered not to brave him; To see his wretched victim squirm A pleasant thrill it gave him. He summoned all his kith and kin; They hastened up by legions, With quaint, expressive gurgles in Their oesophageal regions, M f Just then a kind of glimmering Attracting his attention, The worm became too small a thing i For more than of hungry passing hens mention; and rude The throng 1 He skilfully evaded. Said he: “I’ faith, if this be food, I saw the prize ere they did.” It was a large and costly pearl, belonging in a necklace, And dropped by some neglectful girl— Some people are so reckless! forlorn, The cock assumed an air , And cried: “It’s really cruel, ' I-thought it grain of was a corn; Itte nothing but a jewel.” m: * % r 1331 &—i * , to £3 Ji. 7*\ m c> - PAUL PASTNOR. M By w ! 7K . 111 s, UT from the stygian k* shadows of the fjffrv llJlIfV-ib f flooded through which forest I V ^ LL ™ || had aud been carrying pushing mv my 9 wheel ever since ■ the early night de 9 ~! k scended,something , Suddenly loomed, dark and high, before me. Sp-siiently and unexpectedly did the huge, black bulk confront me,, like koine.iton’ster stretched across the. road, that I stopped involuntarily, my heart heat¬ ing thick and fast; Then, ,ag I strained my eyes to make out the na •tare of the object In my path, its black •outlines gradually resolved themselves into the shape of a covered bridge, raised high above the road on its stone piers. With an exclamation of joy, I dragged my wheel up the’ sharp pitch of the roadbed and out of the icy water, into the welcome dryness and shelter of that refuge in a flooded wilderness. For two days the rain had been pouring heavily and steadily down up¬ on that deep valley iu the backwoods of Maine, through wlych by the route which I had chosen for my bicycle tour. Thinking that the storm would soon wear- itself out, I had keptonmy way, penetrating deeper and deeper into the wilderness. The road, m spite of increasing mud, had proved fair for wheeling, and not until the afternoon of the second day of rain did I encounter sufficient standing water to make it necessary for me to dismount, and wade. I hadnotpassed a hopse since early in the morning, but kept hoping 1 should yet chance upon some isolated backwoods farm ere the night fell. The valley kept sinking in level, however, and I soon realized that I must be approaching it ‘a lowest point, where there would be little likelihood of finding a habita¬ tion. One always shrinks from turn¬ ing back, however, while there is a possibility of going forward, so I kept on until I came to the bridge. There was, at least:, solid satisfaction in hay¬ ing a roof over my head and dry boards under my feet, though the doors of my house stood somewhat too widely open to the chill flight air for perfect comfort. However, I was disposed to make the best of a situation which might, ■Surely, be worse, and leaning my wheel against one of the stringers of the bridge, I sat down and proceeded, first of all, to remove my soaked shoes and stockings and replace the latter with a dry pair from my luggage bag. "When I had changed my shirt also, . ana ’wrung about a quart of water from my coat, I felt so much hettqj that I began to whistle. “Every pickle,” said I to myself, “has the elements of adventure in it; and a bi¬ cycle trip lacks its chief charm if not spiced with adventure. ” Fortunately, I had the remnants of a lunch in my bag, and having de¬ voured the cold bread and meat and lit my pipe, I was still further disposed ’ to take a philosophical view of the situa¬ tion. I was, at least, sheltered for the and might he able to snatch sleep by lying close to the string of the bridge, at its center, where would be comparatively out of the As soon as daylight came, I could review the situation and make up my mind whether to go forward or turn back. When my pipe was smoked out, I took a walk the whole length of the bridge, using matches to light my way. The structure proved to be only about fifty feet long: an old fashioned cheap¬ ly constructed affair, such as one al¬ most always finds in sparsely populated sections, when it has become neces¬ sary to bridge a stream of any size. The river, now overflowing its banks so widely, was evidently, in ordinary weather, quite narrow; though, drain ing so large a section as it did, it was doubtless deep and carried a large _ volume of water. As I lay down to sleep, with my head resting against one of the trans verse stringers, I heard the rain still beating fiercely against the side of the bridge; and, during' my fitful slum hers, this was ahvays the sound that “To thine own n self be trus.aad it will follow, as night the day, thou cans't not then be false to any man.” LINCOLNTON, GA.. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1898 He turned again to where his clan, In one astonding tangle. In eager haste together ran ] To slay the helpless angle, size! And should sighod: have “He used was discretion. of massive I Too late! Around the toothsome prizo A bargain sale’s in season!” The worm’s remarks upon his plight Have never been recorded, But any oho will know how slight Diversion it afforded, For worms and human beings are Unanimous that, when pecked, To he the prey of men they far Prefer to being hen-pecked. The Moral: When your dinner comes Don’t leave it for your neighbors Because you hear the sound of drums And see the glenip of sabres; Or. like the cook, you’ll And too late That ornaments external Do not for certain indicate A bona fide kernel. —Harper’s Bazar. greeted my ears on rousing to con¬ sciousness. At about 3 o’clock in the morning I became so chilly I coukl sleep no longer, and so got up and beat my arms until the blood began to circulate more freely. Then I went to the end of the bridge to see if the water had risen any higher. I was amazed and startled to find that it was nearly on a level with the floor of the bridge, and was surging by with a dis¬ tinct gurgling and lapping sound, that showed there was considerable force to the current. It was, I knew, only a question of time before the bridge must yield to the undermining power of the flood, and yet I dared not leave it, for I realized by this time the water on the flat must be over my head. Returning to my wheel, as if for silent companionship, I sat down; lighted another pipeful of tobacco, and waited. It might have been half an hour later—my ’pipe’ was not yet burned out—when I heard a sound like heavy breathing from-the end of the bridge I had lately visited, and then a distinct splashing, over and above the gurgle'and lap of the water. Presently, as my eyes were fixed on the jppt whence the sounds seemed to come, I saw what looked like two dim¬ ly burning caudles, set close together, : rise over the edge of the floor and slowly enter the bridge. At the un¬ canny sight I felt as if a stream of. ice cold water were running down toy back; my hands involuntarily clutched my knees, and there was a strange, prickling sensation all over my body. It was positively a relief when I heard a scratching sound on the floor of the bridge, and knew then, at all events, there was nothing ghostly about my mysterious visitor. Evident¬ ly, it was some wild creature of the woods seeking shelter and safety, like myself, in the bridge, I could hear it rustling cautiously about, aud occa¬ sionally uttering a slight wheezing or coughing sound, as if to free its throat and nostrils from water. By and by the‘(animal, whatever it was, began to sniff suspiciously, and I knew that its quick sense of smell had detected my presence. Then, for the first time, I experienced a feeling of genuine alarm. I could see the eyes of tho beast glaring through the dark¬ ness; and the size of the phosphor¬ escent eye-balls, and,the distance be¬ tween them, showed that the animal was one of considerable size. I was unarmed, save for a light 22-caliber revolver that would prove about as effective against a boar, wolf or cata¬ mount as a boy’s popgun. Suppose the beast should be hungry enough to crave even a meal of soaked and gristly bicycler? Shut up in that cage of a bridge, what could I do to balk him of his purpose, should he decide to eat me? While I was debating one side of this question, and my unseen visitor ivas, doubtless, debating the other side, something occurred that was cal¬ culated to divert the thoughts of each from the other, for the time being. Without the slightest preliminary jar or lurch, one end of the bridge floated off its pier and swung down stream. Then followed a grinding noise,as the other end was dragged from its bed of | masonry, and with a rolling and toss¬ ing motion our uu wieldly craft got un der way down stream! i I had sprung to my feet, as I felt the water rushing up through the cracks iu the floor. There was an in sane idea in my mind that I must make a rush for the free end of the bridge and leap into the water, to save myself from going to the bottom with my leaky craft. Then I reflected that, from the time of Noah’s ark un til the present, all wooden structures tossed upon floods—no matter how leaky—have invariably floated until they found some resting place on dry land again. Undoubtedly, comfortable I was safer, and -would be more where I was than anywhere else in that flooded wilderness—provided my fellow passenger would keep his dis¬ tance. So I sat down again, unmind¬ ful of the cold water swirling about my feet, and listened. I could hear nothing of the un known animal whose company I so much desired to part with. But, I located his blazing eyes j way up the side of the bridge, j perceived that the beast, w%en i water rushed into the bridge, had on one of the slanting beams, and was now crouching there, in more unreasoning terror, doubtless, than mine. I thanked fortune then for the floating off of the bridge and the inrush of water, which would, proba¬ bly, act as au effectual barrier be¬ tween what I now realized must be a catamount or wildcat and myself. Shiveringly, I waited for the dawn. The bridge floated smoothly enough, save when it whirled in the current and struck some tree on the rive! bank. Then it would tremble alt through its timbers, but soon swing free and start upon its course again. The floor was about two feet under water all the time, and I soon con¬ cluded to follow the example of my brute companion and climb up on on? of the beams. Here I ensconced myself as best I could, and spent a miserable two hours, until the first gray light of morning began to steql into my prison. As objects gradually became more distinct I made out at last the tawny body of a panther, stretched, head downward, along a beam opposite me,. still •The fierce, fixed eyes were turned toward me, and although the body of the beast was perfectly still, a constant vibration and slight lashr ing of the tail betokened its intense alertness. ’ Never once did it turn its blazing eyes away from mine, but for over an hour watched me as a oat watches some bird that it is intent to catch. Then there came 4 sudden tremen^ dous shock to the bridge, aud one end of it shot ftp several feet in the air,, submerging the other end where thej jmnther was clinging, until the water: surged over the head and shoulders shrink Of i the startled beast. I saw it backward quarters up the blocked beam, by but the its frame-1 hind-j i were work of the roof ere its head got abo ref water. Then it launched from the. beam with * a mad plunge, and swam heavily past me, till it reached the shallowing water at the other drowned, end o| the bridge, and climbed, half up into the morning light. At that instant, when its head anc shoulders hung over the threshold o: the bridge, a rifle shot rang out and sharp. The great cat convulsively and then sprang and disappeared. I slipped down from vAr.perch, and ■ plunged through the wateA climbed up where the cat had lain. Below me yawned a gulf forty fee% deep, into which the flood thundered! in a yellow, yeasty mass. The bridge had struck a dam, and the forward end, sliding up over its slimy verge, hung suspended in mid-air. At this point banks of the river were steep and high, with huge boulders scat¬ tered over them. On one hank, clinging to it like a swallow’s nest, was a sawmill. The greater part of it was under water, but a man stood at one of the upper windows, with a smok¬ ing rifle iu his hand. He saw the look of intense inquiry on my face, though he could not hear the shout I raised, amid the thunder of the waters. In re}jly he pointed to the swirling, foaming gulf beneath me. Then I understood how the wounded panther had leaped to his death.—Detroit Free Press. Farm Work For Imbeciles. The State of Ohio has decided to inaugurate a new experiment iu the treatment of imbeciles. Hitherto these weakminded unfortunates have been housed in great asylums, where under the constant care of trained attendants they have received elementary class¬ room instruction. While this system developed the intellectual resources of the imbecile, weak and wavering as they were, there was no opportunity to build up the physical energies. Gymnasium exercises failed to meet the requirements. The State Legislature has recently appropriated §150,000 for the purchase of a farm and the establishment of an imbecile village iu connection with it. Instead of a great asylum there will be a great number of cottages, each in charge of a competent attendant. It is proposed to develop the minds of the members of the colony by class¬ room work and their bodies by out¬ door exercise in practical farming. They will thus have the same mental stimulus as before and will also have advantage of pure air, physical ex ercise, and the healthful incentive of sustained work along practical 'lines. The result of the experiment will be watched with interest.—Pathfinder. The Knot. A knot is the nautical synonym for the geographical mile. The geograph¬ ical mile is one-sixtieth of a mean of a meridian on the earth, and is, therefore, one-sixtieth of 69.09 English statute miles, or, what is the same thing, the length of the geo¬ graphical mile, or knot, or nautical mile as it is also called, is 6000 feet. Hence, w-hen a ship has gone one knot it has gone 1.1515 statute miles, or w-hat is nearly the same thing, a ship which is running thirteen knots an hopr is traveling at the same speed as a railway .train ^vhich is going fif¬ teen miles an hour. The name is derived from the knots tied on the appendages of a ship’s log line.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat. OUR BUDGET OF HUMOR. __ LAUGHTER-PROVOKING STORIES FOR LOVERS OF FUN. One Reason—Rough on Him—The Cause Removed—A Cause For Joy—Too Nar¬ row-Only an Oversight—Quite Acci¬ dental—A Mean Crawl—In Doubt, Etc, There is one of many reasons ’Tis Why summer is best of all— the pride of all the seasons, For it goeth before tv fall. The Cause Removed. “How is your insomnia?” “It’s ail right; the cornet player next door has got a job on a railway.” —Chicago Record. Rough on Him, 1 He (unreasonably)—“Were you ever in love before you met me?” since.”—Harper’s She (lightly)—“Oh, yes; but never Bazar. A Marriage Settlement. Tom—“Did your father-in-law set¬ tle anything on you at your marriage?” Benedict (dejectedly)—“Yes; him¬ self and his whole family!”—Puck. Running People Down. Laura—“I hid to give up the bi¬ cycle. I coul - not conquer my in¬ clination to„ ra : people down.” Flora—“Especially when their backs were turned, eh, dear?” Ill Donbt, Biggs—-“Where is your family go¬ ing to spend the summer?” Boggs—“I don’t know yet. My wife hasn’t found out which place is most expensive.”—Life, A Cause For Joy. T> ensmith (a callow bard)—“Mv pom is returned with the editor’s thanks. Huh! I don’t see what he ha to thank me for!” Grimsliaw—“For what you didn’t send him, probably. ”—Harper’s Bazar. Only aw Oversight. “See here, I only got-, one piece of meat in my order to-day. I ahvays get two.” j., cook mugt hav£) fol . gottcll t(J - cut he piece in'two!”— i --- The Mother Tongue, ■ Willie—“Papa, why do they call the ‘mother., tongue?’ ” Pft^a—“Because the fathers so sel fj&ai gpt a chance to use it. ” Willie will understand this when he •gets aflittle older.—Philadelphia Call. llis Insignificance. Askius—“That fellow, Small, is a person of very little importance, isn’t he?” Grimshaw—“Yes; he cuts about as much figure iu life as the middle part of a doughnut does in a square meal?” —Puck. Too Narrow. Funnicus—“Did you hear about Measleigh’s narrow escape?” Easymeet—“No. What happened?” Funicus—“It was a fire escape, and it was so narrow that the building in¬ spector made him take it down and put up a wider one.”—Facts. A Good Feature. “This paper, ” remarked Mrs. Mid kiff, “tells of a man arrested an hour after his wedding and sent to prison for ten years. Isn’t that awful?” “Oh, I don’t know,” answered Midkiff. “The law doesn’t compel him to take his wife with him.” All Happy Now. Mr. Chick—“Your father is such a passionate man, Mabel! Do you thiuk he will be violent if I approach him with regard to my intentions to your¬ self?” Mabel (wearily) soon!”—Tid —“No, buthe Bits. will j be if you don’t Increase the Supply. “Ugh!” groaned Mr. Fussbv dur¬ ing one of his sick spells, “I—I can’t breathe.” “Children,” said the agitated Mrs. F. to the two boys who where gazing curiously at their suffering parent, “stop breathing till pa 2 ia gets better.” —Judge. Quite Accidental. “Do you think it proper,” said the man who was trying to keep his tem¬ per, “to laugh at a man who slips on a banana jieel by accident?” “Well,” replied the spectator, apolo¬ getically, “I laughed by accident, too. I didn’t think of such a thing until I saw you.”—Detroit Free Press. Every-lJay History. Winkle—“I wonder what becomes of the hoys who leave the country and enter the great struggle of life iu the cit Y ’ Ivinkle—"Ihey make big fortunes, and then lie hack in their easy-chairs and advise country boys to stick to the farm. New York Weekly. A Shopping Trip. “Harry,” said Mrs. Tredway to her husband at the breakfast table, “I am quite out of money, and I want to “What do vou want sixty cents for’” ceat, far A Hard Problem. “Sticgiman has gone crazy at last.” ■ “YVhat threw- him off his trolley?” “He has been studying about mak¬ doughnuts and the holes iu thttn. first he thought it was cheaper to the holes larger. Then he con¬ that if he did it would take dough to go around them. Then went crazy.” A Mean Crawl, Mother—“Why, what grieves you, Willie—“I asked pa if he could spell Mother—“And what did he do?” Willie (sobbing)—“He thought hard minnit an’ then got mad an’ said he’d me, if I bothered him again when was readin’.”—Judge. How She Coaxed Johnnie. “I think,” said the pastor, who was making a call, “that it is easier to coax children than to drive them. Gentle words are more effective than harsh ones.’^ “I think so, too,” said the lady tenderly. And when the clergyman had gone she raised the window sud¬ denly and shouted: “Johnnie, if you don’t come in out of that .mud pud¬ dle, I’ll break your back for you, you young scamp.”.—Koxlrary Gazette. Mendacious Man. Mr. Sparkle—“What an admirer of you Joe Pumpling is. I never see him that he doesn’t congratulate me on having such a beautiful or such a young-looking wife.” Mrfe. Sparkle—“What a foolish fel¬ low Joe always was!” Mr. Sparkle—“By the way, I prom¬ ised to meet him at the club this evening, if you don’t object to my go¬ ing out.” Mrs. Sparkle—“Oh, not at all. I want to run over to the Johnstons anyway, and I know you wouldn’t en¬ joy it there.”—Chicago News. WORDS OF WISDOM,' Kighteousness is victory. True men are the diamonds of his tory. Some gnus kick; revenge is one of them. It is not cowardice to fear to do wrong. No abilities are independent of in tegrity. He is far from home that has none to go to. The sweetest flower of the gospel is charity. X little sin has as much death in it as a big one. If you can’t swim, never wade in un¬ known waters. Few w«ar their characters like their cloaks—outside. Potluck may be poor luck if taken with a stranger. A poor picture is not helped by be¬ ing put in a good .light. In religious controversy ferocity is not the only sign of fidelity. The man is usually iu the right who owns himself in the wrong. The confession of past folly may be only the profession of present wis¬ dom. The thing that makes pessimism is failure to find in men what angels pos¬ sess. He who always complains of the clouds receives little of life’s sunshine, and deserves less,—Ram’s Horn. Under Sealed Orders. The custom of having warships sail “under sealed orders” has arisen from the desire of maritime powers to pre¬ vent their plans from becoming known to the enemy. In the American Navy such orders come from the President, and are de¬ livered to a commander of a ship or squadron by a confidential messenger, who knows nothing of their contents. Sometimes they are in cipher, but they are alwaj s sealed with the official seal of the Navy Department, and the package cannot be opened until the time marked on it, which is usually several hours after the hour of leaving port. By this precaution the newspapers are prevented from disclosing prema¬ turely movements which may he of the greatest importance, and the spies of the enemy are rendered useless so far as their ability to discover the se¬ cret of such movements is concerned. Sailing under sealed orders is now the common naval practice in time of war. These instructions are found in the packet of “sealed orders,” -which is opened when well out to sea.—Chicago Times-Herald. corn Cob m a pi o Suijar. A farmer is accre dited with the dis covery of maple sugar substitute. In pjg endeavors to utilize corncobs for fodder> ]ie found that continued boil developed a sweetish taste in flavor similar to maple sugar, and by certain admixtures of other- foreign matters, ! ( e now produces a fictitious article in the following manner: Twelve clean cobs are put into a gallon of water and dark-brown sugar solution. This » Med . Httl. whd. to SSSfJPSSSMffa’Slt fine quality of sirup hardly dis be a tingnishable froth the maple product, —Atlanta Constitution. *3 LEARNING TO SWIM. Tits Chief Characteristic of a GboJ Sw?i is a Slow Stroke. “Just as soon as the warm weather wR sets in, many persons who, at the closa fill of few last summer, were able somewhat to swim tim- a! H pffl strokes, will again *8* orcusly enter the water,” writes Frank H. vizetelly in an article on “The S Simple Art of Swimming'” in the Wo man’s Home Companion. “The ma¬ jority will find this self-imposed task l f. far more difficult than is anticipated, I: is necessary to remind those who tlulge in short, hurried strokes that - one of the golden rules of swimming Those is move slowly and deliberately. who wish to become good thef lmis’, cultivate self-reliance, anil » shc.dd always beat- in min'd that .wate^ l itself has a sustaining power far .. greater than that of most liquids. of good' Th#.|, ‘i® slow stroke is the very essence swimming. It enables thq bathed ta i inflate the lungs and thus unconscious- !y turn them temporarily into life preservers. To move slowly is to get ' plenty of breathing time, and to get plenty of breathing time is to .get plen ty of strength to repeat the movements which propel tho body through the f water. Te second golden rule which * the beginner could school herself to t ,* remember is that the living human body is specifically consequently, lighter does than not water, Wjjk. and that, it essarily §tnk therein..Confidence in the sustaining secret to swimming., power of water i’he best is the way only to;.IS 1|| convince the’ no vice' of the buoyancy 1 of water is to let her wade out until ; the water comes up to her breast; butp I before doing this she should take Anmerso,, care, j jj S when in shallow water, to, her whole body, so as from to avoid which the rush '% j | . of blood to the head, many || bathers suffer through neglecting to g do this. With the water once on a ■ 1 level with the breast the bather should lie on liar back and extend her raised arms j j out beyond her head, but not • out of the water. This position makes j breathing easy and' counterbalances i the weight of the legs. The bather :-tk should lie restfully and avoid stiffen ing the nether limbs. The hips should JH be rigid, the feet close together, but not out of the water, for if they were they would overbalance the weight of the head and carry it beneath the sur- | face. wsuiyan. 'j In the island of Bmhadoes Targe quantities of a mineral Cave been •found which the natives call “inaujak.”' 1 It is of a bright black color sometimes and o ■■urs j j at a very slight depth, on the surface, in beds one to two feet j 1 thick. It generally appears under an j angle of about 40 degrees, and In the immediate vicinity of rock. It is pre- ! sumed t.o be solidified exuding petroleum, from which the J ] is often seen there earth or floating on the water. Iu Its i composition this mineral is similar to 1 1 the pitch of Trinidad, to the Gilsonite of Utah and the Canadian Albertite, ® but it is of a much better quality. The 1 | best varieties of “manjak” contained I £ per cent, of water, 70.85 per cent./of volatile organic substances, 20.07 per 1 cent, of ditto solid ones and .18 per * cent, of mineral parts. Trinidad pitch contains from 21 to 30 per cent, of wa- • ter, and about 38 per cent, of ashqs. j Hence the manjak mineral is mucM richer in natural bitumen. It is used, ; among other purposes, for the insula* • tion of electrical conduits, for varnish, bituminous concrete and for fuel, mix* ed with peat, etc. It may to some ex* tent supplant gutt.a percha as an in* sulating medium.—Savannah News- ^ HE .FIXED HIM. A somewhat reckless youth who had enlisted for the war and had spent his time in camp in writing home for A money, finally sent this telegram as “a clincher.” ■ i “Father: Leg shot off in sham battle. Send all funds you can. "*■ i To this the old man replied: “Son: Don’t know your number, but wooden leg goes to you by ex¬ press. If doesn’t fit, gat camp car¬ • penter to plane it. Bast love. All ■ < GEORGIA RAILROAD. IV X>~ Connections. • \. -- For Information as to Routes, Sched< —ules and Rates, Both— Passenger and Freight Write to either of the undersigned. r You will receive prompt reply and reliable information. . JOE. W. WHITE, A. G. JACKSOH, B. > T. P. A. G. A, . Augusta f Ga. S. W. WILKES, H. K. NICHOLSON, C. F. & P. A. G. A. Atlanta. Athens. W. W. HARDWICK, S. E. MAGII*,® 1 S. A. 0, F. A. Macon. Maooa. 7 M. R. HUDSON, F. W. COFFIN, S. F. A. S. F. & P. A. Milled ge vilie. Augusta^ .5