Newspaper Page Text
Cincoln Hi me Journal.
YOL. X.
JACK SPRAT ©
By Edith Wyatt,
I N Lake View there once lived as
neighbors two children, a little
boy named Milo Cox Atkinson,
but called Butter, and a little girl,
named and called Pe^irl Porter.
To this little girl her grandfather,
Major Porter, showed an affection so
devoted as to be popularly supposed
almost ruinous. “He just spoils that
child,” Mrs. Atkinson would say, as
she looked out of her window and
saw Pearl fastening up the Major’s
mustaches with hairpins; and she
would turn away with a sigh. It was,
perhaps, this devotion, but more prob¬
ably a native Impulse of the heart,
that made Pearl an unusually vain
child.
She was a pretty little thing, with a
floating mist of hair and large, brown
eyes, always beautifully dressed, in
little, stiff, white embroidered clothes.
She was born with a sense of carriage;
and she could not help knowing when
ladies said in loud whispers, “Isn't
she sweet?”
Her reputation as a Proudy-cat
among the children of Lake View had,
however, been founded less by her
personality than by an incident of her
early youth. .
When she was only four years old
.
she had been given a little blue silk
parasol with an ivory handle. With
this at church, she had been left in
the pew by her aunt when that lady
went up to the communion rail. IVhen
Mrs. Burden had reached it and turned,
that those returning might pass her,
's? hat was the amusement of the con
graga.tion and her own astonishment
on seeing.Pearl tripping lightly up the
aisle, with her new blue parasol opened
and held gracefully above her head.
The aunt herself was a very dressy
lady, and she more thoroughly than
any other member of the family sym¬
pathized with Pearl in her taste for
making calls, for wearing kid gloves,
and for carrying a small cardcuse with
a rose folded in it.
This aunt, Major Porter’s daughter,
was a large woman, with long red
cheeks, tilted blue eyes and an over¬
whelming, tightly busked figure. At
the top of her small forehead, long
face and towering bulk she always
wore a glittering little bonnet. She
lived in Washington, and she was able
to pet and indulge her niece only on
occasional visits.
On these visits Mrs. Atkinson used
to watch with longing these two op¬
posite and fashionable types walking
out to the carriage together.
She loved Butter, but she had al¬
ways dreamed of having just such a
child as Pearl.
Butter’s tastes were different from
Pearl’s. He had no imagination for the
world of graceful convention. His
companions were other grubby, freck¬
led little boys, most of them disre
gardfully dressed in trousers bagging
about two inches below the knee. But¬
ter numbered among bis acquaint¬
ances a boy who had run away from
home, a boy who had a whip tatooed
on his arm and a man supposed by
Butter’s circle to be a murderer. But¬
ter cut the man’s grass, and when the
man gave him fifteen cents—the mar¬
ket price is ten—Butter handed him
back the unnecessary five, and said,
“No blood money for me.” The man
had laughed in a puzzled way. Of
course, if he had done any thing else,
it would have given him away.
Butter also knew a boy who had a
printing press; and in partnership with
him he had conducted successfully an
enterprise of printing pink and green
highly glazed calling cards for the
ladies of the neighborhood. Besides
the cash capital they derived from
this source, they realized every sum¬
mer a large income of pins and news¬
papers from circuses in the barn.
Major Porter sometimes attended
these circuses with Pearl and sat in a
box for ten newspapers, and though
lie was so enchanted with Pearl, he
used to watch with a pang of envy
Butter’s lithe wiry frame turning hand¬
springs in the backyard. For though
he had never had golden curls nor
carried a parasol, he bad once tumbled
on the grass and chased fire engines
in a dusty and happy oblivion of the
customs of the world.
Once a year a circus came to one of
•To thino own self be true,and it will follow, as night the day, thou cans’t not then be false to any man.”
LINCOLNTON, GA , THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18. 1902.
the empty lots of Lake View, west of
the Porters. It stayed for one day;
and then pursued its glorious march
in honor of more Western cities. This
day was one long haze of delight for
Butter Atkinson. Its ecstacy began
in the morning when he went with his
friends over to the lot to see the tent
pitched, and it lasted through the con¬
cert and at the end of the circus.
Mr. Atkinson always took Butter
had never thought of not taking him,
until one miserable day, when an uu
considering Vice-President-elect and
his thoughtless wife spent twenty-four
hours of being entertained in the neigh¬
borhood when the circus was enter¬
taining.
A large afternoon reception was
given for Mrs. Kendricks at the Por¬
ters’ home. He was an old friend of
the Major. Mrs. Atkinson assisted in
receiving; Butter was invited by Mrs.
Burden to open the door. She believed
this to have been a piece of kindest
consideration. Mrs. Atkinson, too.
said that Butter would be glad to re¬
member it when lie was an old man;
and she could not understand why he
looked so morosely at the clean clothes
she had with such pleasure put out on
bis bed.
He walked out to the woodshed after
lunch, kicking his heels sullenly and
listlessly against each other, and
when lie came out his eyes were red.
The thought of the white elephant
had been too much for him. His fath
er’s suggestion that it had been white¬
washed was not alleviating. Is a
whitewashed elephant an ever-day
sight?
He had visions of running*away.
But he knew he should not run away;
he would stay scrawling his fingers in
uncomfortable gloves and opening Por¬
ter’s door for dressed-up and worthless
ladies, perfectly * healthy and able to
do it for themselves, while, amid the
sawdust, the opening procession was
shining and glittering past unseen,
never to be seen by his longing eyes.
He observed, in the open window,
Pearl and Major Porter, at their daily
after-dinner game of “Old Maid.”
Major Porter was not a kindergart
ner, and he was almost invariably “Old
Maid”—each time with ringing shouts
of glee from his victorious grandchild,
elegantly the windowsill. '
poised on
But to-day her poise seemed less airy
in its light ease. Butter heard no
shouts, and when she turned and
waved her hand to him he saw that
her eyes, too, were red.
Major Porter was smiting his head
with despair and chagrin at being a
third time doomed to a single life, and
eliciting from his opponent only a very
faint smile.
Was Pearl, too. not going to the cir¬
cus?
Far from it. For clays her grand¬
father had been bringing home hand¬
bills and posters; for days he had dis¬
cussed with Pearl what they both
should wear: what time they should
start; liow many glasses of lemonade
they should have: whether they should
look at the animals before or after the
performance, and now all this was to
be on the day of the reception. There
were to be only ladies at the reception.
There was no reason why Major Por¬
ter should remain home for it, and his
enthusiasm for the circus had shown
no change nor abatement.
In the presence of his mistaken devo¬
tion Pearl could not endure to confess,
even to her mother, that her heart was
torn at the thought of her new fringed
sash, the gift of her aunt, and how
now she could not wear it at the re¬
ception, nor walk around with the la¬
dies. She had the dignified delicacy of
many honorable little girls, and she
felt that it would be disloyalty to her
grandfather to acknowledge that she
was no longer Interested in the circus.
Her aunt said she cried because the
heat made her nervous.
“She doesn’t look to me able to go
tooting off to that hot circus, father,”
she said, coming up to the window.
“I’m afraid so,” said Mr. Porter, fol¬
lowing her. “Do you care so much
about it, darling?”
Pearl’s eyes filled again at this.
“Oh, Snooks ’ll be all right for the
circus,” said Major Porter, with hasty,
blind consolation, as Pearl’s mother
TElJEQ
started into the house with her to
bathe her eyes. It was his fixed belief
that the circus was the most ecstatic
pleasure of every child, and any alter¬
native an outrageous disappointment.
“Never mind if you aren’t all right,
pet.” said Mrs. Burden, with inspired
dullness. ’’Here’s Butter. He isn’t
going and i doesn „u. t want to go. ^ u» He
wants to see Mrs. Kendricks. And,
Butter, Mrs. Kendricks has some little
boys of her own—such nice, polite lit¬
tle boys — I wish you could know
them.”
Butter looked submissively as Mrs.
Burden’s benevolent, unperceiving eyes
impressively fixed upon him.
“Why isn’t Butter going to the cir
cus?” inquired Major Porter. Butter
made no reply. guesllfcpursuca
“Father too busy, I
the Major. “That it? ’ 1 tv
“Butter is going to see MrsAKeu
dricks this afternoon,” replied JJrs.
Burden. “He is going to open the door
for the ladies.”
Major Porter whistled. He looked
suspiciously at Butter’s red eyelids.
“Well, how would it be to have But
ter come along with the circus party
this afternoon and let Mrs. Ken¬
dricks open the door for the ladies her¬
self?” He gave Butter a nudge under
the table at this last abominably weak
jest.
Butter could not refrain from a smile
of hope.
“We’ll get ready right away,” con¬
tinued the Major. “You can get your
hat, I can black my shoes. Sam can
hitch up the horses. Pearl can have a
B. and S. or something, and then we’ll
go.”
“Father,” murmured Mrs. Burden in
important haste, “Mrs. Atkinson got a
new suit for liitai, si -especially for this.
Don’t think—”
“Well, Butter, I guess I’ll have to go
over and get your mother to let you
open the door a: the evening reception.
That’s the way we’ll fix it out with
her.” y®
Meanwhile Mr.S|P rter had hj in
Ration divv..*d mt^v< of.
daughter’s distress. iSbe came back as
the Major was startong off.
with * thl “k tather T' a yl would said better I really stay
us, sue
1 Taingoiim around*
ino heeraekeri” - to let her mss pass mound
It would seem that providence had
arranged for a variety of tastes in the
world.
For on that afternoon Pearl floated
airily and elegantly among groups of
gloved ladies; under the bulging, bil¬
lowing tent, amid the odors of sawdust
and the cries of lemonade-men, sat
Butter, between Major Porter and
Sam. throwing peanut shells betw T een
the open board benches, his happy
eyes absorbed in the passing giraffes
and ponies.
Major Porter was not looking at the
ponies and giraffes, hut he, too, was
very happy; he was watching Butter.—
New York Sun.
WITH FOUR TRICCERS.
New Weapon Which Carries Sixteen
Charges.
A most successful test has , , been
given to a repeating revolver winch
pronuses to become one of the most
commonly used weapons of its kmd in
any part of the world, says the New
Orleans Times-Democrat. The pistol
fires sixteen shots without, leloacing,
and is accurate in every particular. It
1ms but three working parts, is light
in weight, cannot possibly get out of
order, and should any of the cartridges
fail to fire, all that is necessary is to
press the trigger again to bring another
cartridge into position and fire it.
An explanation of the weapon’s op
eration is quickly and easily given.
The handle of the pistol is the naga
zine, and contains a chain of sixteen
cartridges. This chain is moved with
each pressure of the trigger, tile same
pressure firing one cartridge and push
ing the next into position. The pistol
is so constructed that a trigger is al
ways ready to be pressed, and, there
fore, the weapon can be fired as rap
idly as the operator can press the trig
ger. There are four triggers, all of
one piece of metal, and revolving so
that while one of the triggers is ready
for the pressure of the finger another
is moving the hammer into position
and a third is ready to fall into place
within the trigger guard.
The three working parts of the pis¬
tol are trigger, the hammer and a spi¬
ral cone, and they are so arranged that
to miss fire with this pistol is almost
an impossibility thd Standard cartridges
are used in pistol. The weapon
was invented by W, J. Turnbull. ______
Good Deed Impressed Dickens.
Charles Dickens was very much de¬
lighted with a story which Mr. Toole,
the actor, once told him of a circum¬
stance on the stage of the Adelphi
during the run .n . , London , of .
the “Christmas Caro One of he
children employed, who played Tiny
^ wag found tQ have anything but
a tiny appetite and night after night
the food bestowed on this child’s plate
was observed to disappear with mar¬
velous rapidity. Real goose and real
plum pudding were supplied for the
lining scene during the run of the
p j ece . A cloae W atch was kept on the
c iiiia proved the fact that she—a lit
tle girl p i aye( j the part—had taken
advantage of a practicable fireplace to
pass through it the portion alotted to
iier which in its turn found its way
to the hungry children of one of the
“supers” in the theatre, who thus
nightly enjoyed a high treat from the
self-denying action of their dear little
friend. Dickens’ comment when Mr.
Toote told him the story was simply,
“Oh, Toole, you should have given her
a p the goose!”
m
tf,'. iljjjgj A/! 11 s
K BBp
mm Ws &
m /.
■r.
R. G. TARVER, Manager
Our One Dollar Brogan is better. Our One Dollar and Twenty-fire
Ceuta JWao b^ato Hie world.
Our 0 ne j)oliar atl( j fifty Cents Shoes are simply thtr superb, Dollar and 4,
Our Two Dollar Vici Kid Shoes a big value, Two
p iftv (jents Hand-sewed Shoes are the best on the market,
fy e can g j ve vou Ladies Shoes at 75c, but the Shoes we want to sell
fon are ^ $1.00 a net J $1.25 Ladies every ,5 day Shoes and our $1.25 and $1.50
EC ho They are llE HOT BARGAINS and don’t you
forget it. Now our $2.00 Ladies Shoes are as good as anybody’s $3.00
Shoes. this
We never forget the Children and Babies and this line of Shoes
ieason is better than ever before.
HATS! HATS! HATS!
Our prices in Hats are simply Tornado Swept. Me give you Boy»
Hats 10c, a veal good Hat 25c. Hen’s Felt Hats 65c, Men’s Extra Good
Felt Hats $ 1 . 00 , and so on to the end. within mile of this in
We don’t expect any one to come a us season
Price and Quality. When in the city be sure to Call and Examine and be
Con Wnced.
GREAT EASTERN SHOE CO ■)
907 Broad Street, Augusta, Ga.
Birds and the Insect Pests.
response ^ to a general demand for
on along thls line . the de
J of agriculture at Washing
hag durIng the past few years,
thousands of birds’ stomachs
^ a] , thg avaUable data respecting
fodd tbey con t a ined brought to
^ ^ The practica i va i ue of birds
cpntrol!ing insoct pes ts should be
more nerally recognized and appre
cjate{] by the farmer s. It would be
no matter t0 kill out all the
bjfd£ . jn an orcha rd or grain field and
in the garden, but to exterminate the
insect pests w hich would afterward
have j-,,,] j.jght 0 f way to everything
wou]d be uo e asy matter. The de
stnict ; cn 0 f noxious weed seeds by
sparrows and ether birds of that
o]ass is bu t nttle appreciated, yet
weed seef i s form one of the most im
porta nt items of food to these birds
dur j ng the fall and winter months, and
jt is almost impossible to estimate
the j mm ense number of noxious weed
seeds which are thus annually destroy
ed- —New York Sun.
Our world, geographically consider¬
ed, is a dying one, and the energy of
its internal heat is nearly spent; but
it is not quite dead, and now and then
it gives evidence of still great forces
pent up within it by spasmodic and
violent outbursts of volcanic and
seismic outbursts, such as that which
overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculane¬
um long years ago and St. Pierre re¬
cently. *
ISO. LG.
“No Parting There.”
“Uncle Joe" Cannon sat in the rear
seat of an F street car this morning
looking happily at the world and sing¬
ing softly to himself the old hymn,
“There Will Be No Parting There.”'
Representative Mann sat beside him,
reading a paper.
“Hello, Joe," said Mann. “What’s 1
this—a conference at the White
House last night on tariff revision?"
“There will be no parting there,"
sang “Uncle Joe” melodiously.
“What do you think of that?” askedj
Mann.
“There will be no parting there,”
warbled “Uncle Joe." Then he said,'
suddenly:
“Conundrum: If it takes six months
to pass a Cuban reciprocity bill, how;
long will it take to revise the tariff?
There will be no parting there,” con-j
tinued “Uncle Joe," full and strong 1
and sweet.
“There will be no parting there," 1
mumbled Representative Mann, with
his big bass voice, and then they both'
lapsed into silence.—Washington Cor¬
respondence of the New York World.;
-IN
Boots, Slices &
CA-2 ■
Hotter Bargains and Better
Shoes than ever was
Before,
BACTERIA AS FERTILIZER.
Agricultural Department Solves a Se¬
rious Problem.
How to do away with the use of ar¬
tificial fertilizers, compounded from
the nitrates of Peru and other dry
countries, and thus anticipate the ni¬
trate famine predicted by many scien¬
tists, is a problem which the United
States agricultural department thinks
it has succeeded in solving.
If its ideas and methods stand the
test of use, as there is every reason
to believe that they will, the farmer
of the future, instead of spending time
and money for expensive fertilizers
brought from the ends of the earth,
will merely empty the contents of a
test tube into a barrel of water, let it
stand over night, soak his seeds in it,
and then plant them. The result will
be even better, says Crittenden Mar¬
riott in the National, than that ob¬
tained from the older and more costly_
methoas now in vogue.”
Chicago packers are about to send
a herd of cattle to the northern part
of Florida, where the experiment will
be tried of feeding the cattle on ca*
vassa root, which grows luxuriantly
in that part of the country. If this
scheme proves successful it will place
some considerable value on large
tracts of land which have heretofore
been regarded as almost worthless.
The root has already been used with
success for this purpose in a small
way. •- M