Newspaper Page Text
LAURENS S. C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1899. VOL. XV. NO. 13. kCVAL powder ^ Absolutely pure Mokes tho food more delicious and wholesome _ BOYAl (1AKIHO POtVOFR CO., KFW ?/ORK._ SANTA CLAUS AT GR? RANCH A STORY FOli Oll MST MAS. "A thousand pardons, hut could Iho Sonor tho change give for two gold pieces i r $20?" .limn Wells jerked his newly-urged horses ion staudstill and glared his an oo)'aucc at ihe heavily boarded Mex ican who, wilh (hdVed sombrero, h ad suddenly confronted him at a point where the Mi llimlvillo road extricated Itself from ihe scattered jacals of Mc Kavelt nnd headed out for the opou prairie. It was early morning of tho 24th of December, 1895. Wells had freshly risen from an unappetizing and indigestible breakfast of grease-sodden tortillas aud rancid bacon; had quarrel ed wilh the hotel keeper over his ex tortionate charges for the last night's lodging: was hungry; anurv with the sharp sleet that came drifting against Iii* fact Irom tho northeast; angry wilh the "infernal luck" that doomed turn to wander ovei tho wild prairies ol southwestern Texas whilo the iest of mankind were happily preparing for the holiday festivities; angry at the abominablo cnbboge-loaf ocigar which tofused to yield him solace from Iiis woes-, angry with tho world at large and?just at that momenl?with the disreputable looking l*(j!reasor" before him in particular. "T\\ i gold pieces of 820," lie growl ed. "Where are Ihn)? Are they counterfeit? How did you come by them?" The Mexican gravely hold lliem forth in Iiis dirty palm for inspection. "They are gold, SOU or. They were given mo by tho Aioorican, Sonor lilack ?who sends the meal of goats across the seas in cans. The money is the price of 40 goats that 1 drove from the Uio Couch ." Wells regarded Iho Mexican with a searching gaze of suspicion. "1 know Col. Hill lllnck, and Iiis gold is good. But I think I know you, too. You were in the hotel just now when I paid my bill, and 1 think I saw you inst night uL the store where 1 bought those cursed cignr?. 1 believe you want to learn if I have money, so you can relieve nie of it farther out on tiie plains." The object of Wells' distrust threw lib arms aloft in humble deprecation. "The Sacred Mother knows?!" "Never mind that nousense," ex claimed Wells, roughly, "I'm no baby, and I'll take chances on you and all the Greasers in McKavett. I'll give you silver for your gold; and here in this sack is more money-s-white and yellow ?that you may have for the taking. Don't be afraid of the guns?ihey are never loaded?but sail in as soon as you can raise your crowd and overtake inc." The Mexican made no reply to this bland hit of encouragement, but his snaky oves glemed evilly from their covert 01 steel-gray brows, as they rest ed upon iho plump buckskin pouch nes tled between the butts of a heavy shot gun and a Winchester rifle. He was profuse in his llianks for the Anicr-| lean's kindness, but Wells' only re sponse w is a short grur.'. as he once more drew tho blankets closely .-omul him and chirruped to Jiia not over willing team. It was a long driv. to Mcnardvillc, and a longer one to the nearest railway station, the poit.t for which Wells was now heading. Ever since the middle of November ho had been driving here and there among the scattered ranches, on a collecting trip for his employers, a prominent firm of San Antonio mer chants; and ho was more than anxious to get hack to civiKztion again. lie was successful on his mission and hud remitted several largo sums by express; but his collections had been heavy dur ing the last few days, and at least 83, ()(J(J, in hills and coin, were stowed away in his pockets and in the buck skin bag at his feet. It was a largo sum of money and he naturally felt the icsponsibility its possession invovl cd. John Wells was by no means a coward, but he was perfoclly acquaint ed ?villi the country and its people, and knew'that iho chance ol acquiring one tenth tho amount he carried would be sulUoicut to prompt many of the latter to murder. Ho had been particularly sttuck with the villainous face and sus picions demeanor of the goat-herder, and the uneasiness aroused by the little incident of the morning hung over him during the entire dav. Without making nis usual noonday tic'.t, In; drove steadily on, occasionally glancing back over the dim trail, ill motnouiary expccliou of finding him seit pursued. However, evening came without aoylhiug having transpired to increase his alarm, and an hour before darkness closed down upon the blc.ik plains he drew rein before the door of a lone ranch and, without the useless preliminary of applying for accommo dations, began divesting Iiis tired horses of the harness. As he unhooked the lugs of the off horse, a -.owhcudcd urchin of eight or nine years came enroling up from tho near-hy corral, crept into the buggy seal and drew tiie blankets over his head until only his boyish face and sparkling eyes were visible. "What's your name, mister?" he asked, will, childlike directness. ??,]net- W?lls. What's yours?" "Hunk Grimm. I'm only Little Hunk. Old Hank is my g.'an' paw, and he owns tins ranch. The Mexicans call this 11 >os Holas Hauch,' cause gran' paw gives iho two hoot brand. Say, mister, do you know who 1 thought you mought he when you driv' up?" ?'Couldn't guess." "I thought nicbby it was Santa' Clous, but then I allow ho's got raoro whiftkers'n you have. Still, he mought have shaved." W?lls admitted that Santa Claua might, by way of change, conclude to make his annual trip with a bcrrd of three weeks growth, or even a smoothly shaven face. Further than that ho eouldeii't under the circumstances, blame Little Hank for looking upon all strangers with an eye of suspicion; hut lie thought the chanccB of popping his gaze on Santa Claus by dayligh were extremely small. Several millions of hoys, in different parts of the wo'ld, i.a-l been keeping their eyes open for \ears without avail, and there had come to be a popular belief that the jolly fellow wilh the reindeers traveled principally in the dark. "That's tho way ho hit ill is ranch last Christmas, and I reckon he left it till about the last ranch on his rounds,'' remarked the hoy. "lie didn't leave, me a thing that I wanted?nulhin' hut a little tin wagon and a pound of candy. >ay, mister, d'ye reckon Santa Claus ever hand! !8 windcheaters?" The appearance of the elder Hank Grimm spared Wells the iccessity Of answering this difficult qiu,.y. The owner of the "Two Hoot ranch" was m man well advanced in years, and pos sessed ol* a sturdy, erect ligure, squaro CUt features and sky-blue eyes, that told at once of German ancestry and of past sei vice in the armies of the old I world or the new. He welcomed Iho traveler heartily, directed him how to ' dispose of Iiis horses foi the night, and then abruptly turned away and entered the house. Little Hank remained be llied and, in Iiis quaint, boyish way, superintended Wells' every movement. A covey of quail that had been for aging in the vicinity of the crib flushed at their approach and settled in the prairie tfra*s a short distance away. Little Hank clamored to have one of them killed fo; his Christmas breakfast, and to please him, on their return to the. buggy, Wells slipped a couple of bird loads in his l'arker, and, when the covey rose again, grassed three plump beauties witii a hasty double shot. The boy was in perfect ecstasies over bis I ?UCCCSS. "Thai's bettci-'n you could do with n windcheater," he remarked, in a lone denoting that ho considered this the height of possible praise, "Grun'paw says a shotgun is no good; but I reckon it depends a heap on who shoots it. I never seed but one before, and it wasn't WUlh shucks. It belonged to a man from Arkansaw, and he couldn't hit the broadside of a mule." The traveler's effects were soon transferred to the living room of the ranch, where he was introduced to the ranchman's aged wife, and found that the only occupants of the place were themselves and their precocious grand son. Grimm was a Germon of the old school, with true Teutonic ideas of comfort, and it seemed that unusual preparations for the evening meal had been made in honor of his visitors. All in the way of food that the ranch could offer was on the table, and, surmount ing the array of snowy biscuit?, ham aud eggs, juicy steak and canned fruit, stood a group of ancient glass decanters, their contents shining in a gradation of colors from deep red to straw yellow. Little Hank seemed to look upon his share of the feaet as an especial treat, and alter it was disposed of his tongue ran mote glibly than ever. At lenglh his grandaire suspended for a moment a morsel of beef raised to his mouth, and uttered a word of reproof. "Henry, my hoy, it is not right that the childten should talk and the grown ones listen. Remember,you should be very good to-night, They say that Santa Glaus to bad boys is not kind." "But sec," retorted the lad cpiickly. "I was good before and what did he bring mc? Nothing. I wanted a wind cheater aud he brought mc a tin wag on." "The child would be a man before his time," put in his grandmother. "He talks of nothing but guns; and if he had them he would kill us all, and him self in tho bargain," "I would be a brave soldier?like my father," ?aid the boy, Ins eyes tilling with tears. "And be killed by the Indians, as was he," responded the old ranchman. "My child, the.Urimms hare been sol diers since the earliest days. I have fought, in my time, with brave men to lead me on to battle, and I tell you there is nothing in soldiering?nothing I but hard work and slavery and blood shed and death. It is a dosg' life: nothing more." Later in the night, when Wells nnd Little Hank were snugiy stowed away in the hitter's bed, the question of Santa Claus and the "wind mester" came up again, but no lengthy ^discus sion followed. It must have been sometime after midnight when Wells was partially aroused by the knowledge that some one was moving in the room, and called out to know who it might bo. "Nobody but me?Hank Grimm. Notgran'paw, hut the little one You know?" But that was quite enough for tho somnolent gentleman from San Antonio. If the sentenco was finished he failed to hear ils conclusion. Sometime afterwards, however, be was aroused again-, and this time so thoroughly that he heard and under stood the words thatnwoke him. They ovidently came from the "living room" into which his apartment opened, and were uttered at the top of Little Hank's childish treble. ?'Thar now, Santa Claus. I've got you this time, and either that wind cheater cornea or I downs your meat house. No tin wagons for mc this Christmas." There waa a fierce curse grittingly muttered; tho aharp crack of a pistol; and then?boom I boom;?two thundcr | ous reports almost as ono, shaking the adobo walla of tho ranch to their found ations. A denso volume of smoke roll ed into tho sleeping room, but Wclla charged through it with ready rifle, reaching the outer apartment jualas old (Jrimni entered from another door light in hand. Little Hank lay beneath the huge (able, groaning dismally ami rubbing hit shouhh r. Otherwise the room was unoccupied; hut a window near the door was open, and on the bard dirt Qoor lay a freshly discharged pistol and a Mexican sombrero. "It i? rob* hers that have been here," exclaimed the ranchman. "It is Mexican robbers, I and they have shot my boy!" I >Voll8 dived beneath the table, brought forth the injured lad and placed him tenderly in a chair; but he at0DC6 Struggled to his feet. "Turn loose the dog, ernn'puw, or he will git away. It's Santa Claus, and I'm blam ed it' he didn't miss me with his pistol right slap in my face. I never knowed afore that Santa Cluus was an Arkail? saw man." W?lls turned from the excited boj and approached the open window. He low it, and directly to the right, the whitewashed walls were tern and dis figured wilh shot , and there were great Splotches and dark, trickling Streams of something like red paint sli niug in the light of the lamp. He tut tied to Hie old German: his features pule but colleetecl. '?You will not need tho ?log," mid he. ??Tlio man who tumbled through that window is lying where lie fell? and I tIiink I wiH recognize him when I see him." Well* was right m both his surmises. In "layiu' lor Santa Claus" Little Hunk had taken a step that no midnight mar auder could have foreseen. In forcing an entry to Grimm's ranch, the Mex ican goat-herder, who had trailed W?lls all the way from McKavett, had gone directly to his death. He lay outside the window, as he had fallen when the buik of two loads of buckshot had struck him, and when Little Hank gazed into his dead face, its pallor more ghastly still in the lamplight, he scream ed aud staggered back, covering his eyes with trembling hands. "I don't waul to bo a soldier," he sobbed. "I never want to kill another man us long as 1 live." But Iiis sturdy old granddam?descended, DO doubt, from a long line of warlike Teutons? took him in her strong arms consohngy. "But this man was a robber, my dear. Killing was his desens, for he came to murder us all in our sleep. You saved our lives, and now would VOU turn COVard and make us asham ed?" "It was not a brave deed," growled old Giinim. "The boy thought to Bhoot Santa Claus and killed a lazy thief of a Mexican instead. It was a bull's-eye on the wrong target and no honoris woo. Still, I gm alad it has happened, for it luay frighten his boyish mind from this folly about soldier-life and guns." And so Kris Kringlo did not visit the ranch thai night, and Little Hank had to wait for his rille?but not, as it chanced, so very long, after all. Ar riving without farther incident at his destination, Wells first care was to visit the different gunsiores of San Antonio upon an errand the nature of which can bo easily guessed. On New Year's Eve the McKavctt stage halted at Grimm's ranch to deliver a package, and a few minutes later the heart of the younger Hank was heating high with elation. Snugly packed in a neat box lay two guns?a tiny Winchester and a light breech-loading shotgun. It wn? a present fit for a king, and a costlier one than Jack Wells' slim nurse could have stood unaided; but his employers had been told how their thousands were saved and graciously donated two per cent, of the entire amount towards rewarding the princi pal actor in that. Christmas Eve trag edy at the "Two Hoot ranch." TlIB PAttTMDOK.?There are many odd and interesting things to be said of the quail, which is known throughout a large scope of the country as (he par tridge. One is that it has the power, wheu badly frightened, of withholding its scent. A covey, quickly flushed, will scalier, and he so close, the best dog in the world will overrun them, making no sign of point till the bird llul ers up right under foot. A nother is that it has the faculty ol simulating death, if taken winged, in hand, and of coming quickly to life, the minute the grasp is relaxed in the neighborhood of good cover. Further tho birds have a sort of barometric sense. A woods man, making the direction in which they feed, can almost certainly foretell the day's weather. If they choose Stubhle or corn Heids, it will bo mild and moist, if they go to the open woods he looks for wind and sun; if they scurry for thickets of briar and aedtre. then he known bitter cold is imminent.. Unless forced to migrate by hick of food, a covey always sleeps within a hundred yards of the nest it was hatch ed in? and this, although it may have fed all day several miles away. The sleeping is done in a huddled ring, tails in, heads out, all round, and so closely bunched that a good sized nap kin will cover it. Instinct possibly lies back of the ring making. Thus the shy creatures hopo to escape surprise from crecpiug vermin, minks, weasels, and foxes, which steal upon them in the night. Maiwatchin, on the borders of Rus sia, is tho only town in the world ex clusively iulmhited by men. The Chill* esc women are not allowed lo live in this territory, nnd arc even forbidden to pnss the great wall of Knlkan nnd to enter Mongolia. AH the Chinese of this border 'own aro tradors, Tho small island of Japan according | to Consul General Gowey, yields the immense crop this year of 216,000,000 bushels of rlco. This is even oleven per cent smaller than tho crop of last year. The Japan086, however, are rapidly I becoming a raco of meat catora. Some information is furnished by a well-known scientist in regard to lite ages of tree*. lie assigns to the pine tree 500 to 700 years na a maximum, 425 years to the silver fir and 170 to the ash. OAWTOniA. Btenthe /9 "* M You Hare Always Bouglil One New Year's Eve. The swish of a blue dress, a faint breath of violets, as in passing, and lie felt rather than saw Marie Summer Held go by. Standing a little apart from the knots of merry young people thronging the pleasant rooms, he was conscious of a thread of pain running through llic last night of the old year, touching only Miss Sumtnei liehl and himself. Hy he, 1 mean Leigh Key bum, the owner of the old fashioned, low-roomed grange beneath whose roof iho youug people of Gladbrook had gathered to keep a merry walchnight. With music and laughter and gay repartee they meant to dance a welcome to the joyous New Year without much thought for the staid old twelve-month which had served them so faitbfullv. But Leigh moved uneasily, Bending imploring glances after the blue grown, all to UO purpose. Mnrie was absorbed with the fascinating company of Mau rice Davenport, and was smiling her sweeiest?and Mario could smile di vinely - and entertaining him adinita bly. ltcyburn was thinking hard, ami, it must be confessed, uncharitably. Had he worshiped aud petted and lived for Miss Summorileld these two blessed sunlit years, to have hope and happi ness go into tho gaave of the frail old year leaving nothing hut memories? What was that M nie was siuging to the sweet toned guitar she held BO dain tily, strapped in place with a blue rib and? "Hing out the old, ring in the new; The year is dying, let it go; Hing in the now; ring in the new.'' Her voice seemed to falter a little on the repent as it fell to a soft cadence. Was it possible she was thinking of llie old so tenderly?the eld love, for in stance? Ah! well, he did not know. ?????* * Tho yule log hud burned out a week ago, hut he had not the heart to take U|) the silvery ashes from the old, red brick hearth as yet. Ever since that other uighc he had kept his vow and closed his doors to all merriment for two long years. But somehow the lads and lassies of Gladbrook had lain their sympathies on his door-stone and work ed themselves into his good graces once tnoie, and before he realized what he was doing he hail given up the silent rooms again to a Christmas party. Hut no more New Year frolics under his roof, he said; not until?well, maybe? He stopped short in his musings: still the remnant of the mistletoe hung in I he bracket woik of the old chandelier and he remembered now, as he looked at it, how pure and fair Alicia Merrill looked when II.'i man Moni rose kissed her beneath its potent spell a week ago. She put him in mind, O, so much, of her. Covering his eyes for a moment with trembling hand, he went to the window and looked out. White and glistening as an angel's wing lay the snow on the intervening fields. Over there was her house, but she had been a\,ay now for a long time studying inusie, and he had heard, for she did uot write to him, that her voice was simply divine, and as a musician she was wonderful. Nevertheless, it was a night like this, nodding toward the Hooding moon ' light outside, that they?he and she? had their misunderstanding. A spasm of pain crossed his line face and he caught his breath a little. He could not tell just how it came about, never clearly undetstanding, but that night so much like this, and New Year's Eve, too, marked the beginning of their diverging paths. And he had heard of diverging paths which came togeth er again after awhile! To-morrow was the glad New Year again. Would its happy greetings he ?nly mockery to him? Suddenly a thought, which bad smouldered in his mind for days, Unsh ed up like a glenm of heavenly light, radiating his whole being. She was coming home to-night on the late train; and ho was so hungry to too her; only (iod knew how famished ot heart he was! lie would take the down train, get ofT at RockUnd where she changed cars for Cjladhrook. No one could prevent him from riding home in the same coach with her; and even th it would be a blessed comfort. Then, maybe, something would come of it. SVho knew" In 15 minutes he was inside his great coat aud locking the hall door, wilh a nervous, glad excitement stealing ove .' him, like the coming of a new day. A ten-minutes' walk brought him to the station. "Going away for the New Year?" queried lue agent, pleasantly, handing Keyburn the required pasteboard. "O, ft little nay," he replied, absent ly, pulling on his gloves. Scnrely had lift settled himself in the outward-bound train than Joe Antrim thumped him on the shoulder nnd snug ?ut: "Hullol going away on a blow out, I supporo? Well, so am 1. Some are going away, and some are coming home." In the awkward silence which fol lowed Joe's voluble Introduction, he soomed to read lteyburn's thoughts, for, without looking further for reply, he begun: "Miss .Summerficld is coming to-night, they say, nnd they any, too, that sho is bringing her bout fellow with her. Ulndbrook looks for a wedding at tho Suinincrfleld|bome to morrow. Hut, of course, I don't know; it is only gossip, niaybo." I laving thus delivered himself, .loo Antrim, without waiting for reply, be took himself to the smoker, leaving Hoyburn in just the slato of mind in tended, half-way between insanity aud desperate intent. But by and by Heyburn's mind clear ed lo Joe's laatsentence. Only gossip. Ofcoureethai was all; but Joe was Mean to hash it over, to him of nil I pcraons, and in such an insinuating manner, too. Well, he would goon to Rockland now if he met her com plete bridal party; he Would ace for himself, and if it was all Hue, why, he would not go homo that night, nnd per haps Lilndbtook would never ace him again. At Hockland ho had only a few min utes to wait botweon trains, and already the home-bound ono was waiting on a side-track. Purchasing his ticket, he 1 ?nsconeed himself where ho could plainly sec the passengers leave the cross train. "Now for the bridal party, at least the bride and groom," ho said, trying to be jocular with himself although his face was very white aud Iiis mouth twitched nervously. At the cry "train, train." everybody began to bustle about. Friends,bag gage and good lives were mixed Up 111" ulscrimluntely, but Leigh was very still. He could hear his anxious heart beat out itb suspense in great suffocating leaps, as the fateful liaiu thundered in. Sure enough, there was MissSujn merfleld; and the Quo-looking young man who helped her alight alsu took charge of her baggage. Heaven have meres! Were gossip and Joe Antrim right, after ail? Hut pshaw 1 auy chivalrous fellow traveler would have, done as much. Notwithstanding this plausible thought, Leigh slipped into the home bound coach like a lliicf, taking the corner .sent in the rear end of the car. When Miss Sumraerilelo came in, the terrible grooin-to-bo, to whom the bridui party bad dwindled, OVOU he wo? not in attendance. Mario carried her own "imp." The rUntl felt n tremor of hope quiver all over him, something like an olcclrio ourront. she took the third seat, from the door and leaned he:-head on her hand wearily. A strange air for a bride, thought the man in thueoruer lie could uol see her face, hut some way he loll that this New Year's Eve was not what she wished. 0, was she in trouble, too? He had half a mind to go to her; the seat directly behind her was providentially empty; lie could whisper "Marij" over j the back of her seat when Iiis courage J warranted it. At the next stop he took advantage of the stir of the passengers and slip ped into the coveted groove. Messed ptivilege! He had not boon near, so near her tor years, and his heart was on lire. When lie could wail no longor, he whispered over the banier: "Marie!" "She looked up, surprised and startled. After the confusion had left her lovely face, she gave him her hand gingerly and asked in strained tones: flow came you here, Mr. Heyburn?" "I could not help it," he confessed, (lushing hut looking straight at her. "1 wanted to he near you once more. You don't know how miserable I am without you." There was a world of emotion in the undertone, hut he kept bravely on: "I came down to Kocklnnd for nothing else than that I might get a glimpes of you. 1 felt it would com fort me to ride home in the same coach ?to-night of all nights." lie stopped and looked at her in such a pitiful, hun^ry-hearled way. It was all out now, this confession of his. lie meant to make it at the risk of every thing before his heart failed him?aud he had done so. Of course she could do what she; pleased with it, and him, too, he had staked mid would win, or lose, all. Put ting his elbow on the harrier and lean ing a little toward her, he wailed for her to speak. And her face was a study. Presently she gasped out: "Then you aren't to be married to night?" Tho interrogation snapped the last thread holding heigh Ucy burn's gieat love in reserve. . "Marie, darling ! Could you?did you think??, Heaven I as if 1 could love anyone hu: you ! O, Made I" The whiteness of his face was terri ble to sec ; but it all dawned upon her at once. "I ?I?O, Leigh !"?she put out both her hands, nnd two great tears stole down her cheeks to llni*-h the sen tence more eloquently than words. When the train stopped at (i'ail brook, a very happy couple alighted. And out across the moonlit snow, from the belfry bars of the gray stone church came the moriy chime of bells: "King out the old, ring in Hie new ; The year is dying ; let it go." "Hing in the new," said Leigh, draw ing her arm through his. "The years of misunderstanding are dead ?, let them go, dearest." "Wo will," she answered, softly and happily. And Joe Antrim laughed in his sleeve, and said to the bright New Year morning: "I am glad I act those two simpletons right hj a bit of' strategy. A little prevarication, ahem ! Hut all is fair in love and war." AN OBJECT LESSON FOR I FARMERS. Tho Omaha World-Herald saya that last spring a Nebraska farmer, having some wheat in Iiis bins mal needing some barbwire to fence in a pasture, went to a hard War 0 dealer in his mar ket town and said : "I want to get 000 pounds of barbed wire, but have no ready cask. How ever, 1 have some wheat, which is worili f)U cents per bushel. Hew many bushels of wheat must I bring to town to sell for enough to pay you cash for for the wire ? "Hardwire is worth 8'2..10 per hun dred. If you wont to trade wheat for that much -tire you haul in twcrry sovon and six-tenths bushels of wheat." Circumstances over which lie had no control prevented the farmer from hauling out the wire at that time. Jtnt j last week the same farmer went to the same hardware dealer and said : "I could't get around to that deal last spring, hut I'm ready for it now. I'll haul in twenty-seven and six-tenths bushels of wheat tomorrow and gel thai 600 pounds of wiro." "Ah, but you'll have to haul in more wheat than that," replied the hard* 1 ware dealer. "Why ? " queried the farmer. "Wheat is worth just as much now as it was last spring." "Very true," replied tho dealer, "hut tho wire is worth inoro. It has gone from $2.60 per hundred to 811.70 "Wire has gone up find wheat ic maincd down ?" asked the farmer. "Tho wire trust." Tho farmer walked out in a thought ful mood. lie was thinking how pros perous he was when what ho aclls re mains stationary or dccrcnscs in price, while tho prices of what ho must buy I keep going up. TILE COST OF LIAISING COTTON. A rceon , issue of The Ttxrboro Southerner bad iliis itom : 'M utton docs' not cost 10 cents a pound lo raise, nor ?'> t ents, for that matter. Farming with cotton at .". cents a pound, or even a little less, is a most profitable investment. We have in our mind H farm in this eouuh ?of 000 to 800 acres, valued lor taxation at $C,000~-Which la-l year netted in round nuiubura $3,000. This is no 08 liiunlQ; it is the sum which tho two conducting th? farm divided ;ts piollts. They will UO heller tlii* venr. The Statt sriih Landmarkcopies the above nud comments upon ii ilui" : '?There is no Borl of question, al though the tact is frequently disputed, that collou can bo raised at a prollt OVCtl WllOU Bold at a veiy low price. It all depends upon the men ami their method bf doing business. Some farmers, doubtless, would raise cotton at a loss it il Sold for 15 cents per pound, while others will m ike a pr< lit I even when il sells for ."> cents. Our readers will recall that a year ago there was much discussion anout the statement of Mr. E. W Urawley, I of this county, that he raised bis cr< n I oi cotton thai ycni nl n cost ol 2 cents per pound. That Mr. Utawley did ilns no one who knows him will tor an in stant doubt, h it no one will assert thai all cotton can bo raised for 2 rents a pound, ovon if nti effort is made." Our contemporaries had heiter have a tare. The Observev had a good deal to say, about a year ago, al> ut the ox poricuco of Mr. Brawley, referred to above, in the raising of cotton, gave details of his method in fanning and a statement of the expense! of his crop ?all tliis as an encouragement to oih ers and t;> .show the possibilities in COt ton-raUiug in North Carolina. For our pains we had it said that Mr. B raw ley did not do anything of the kind that ho professed, and that if the Observer were not an enemy of the farmers it would not he printing such Stuff, which was done, it was said, to make out that the farmers were get ting too rieh and lo give the specula tors an excuse for reducing prices.? Observer, Charlotte, W. G. All of which goes to show that grow ing cotton is just like growing other crops. The man who is content to go along in the ruts of his grandfather and plain cot Ion year after year on the same furrows his grandfather planted it in when the soil was fresh, and who now finds that it takes four acres or more to grow what his grandfather got from one acre, and what men like Mr. B raw ley got from less than nn acre, cannot see how cotton can be grown for less than <i to 8 cents per pound. There arc men all over the South who are so ignorant of the laws of trade that thoy imagine thai if it was ffen Ot'ally known that it does not cost an improving I armor 5 cents per pound to grow cotton, that right away the. spec ulators would put the price down still lower. We ndmit that '.here is loo much gambling in futures in all of our fi'nn crops. Hut the movements of the buyers of futures are prelty well indicative, of the probable demand for the staple. They are merely specula ting on demand and supply, and the laws of supply and demand govern the price of cotton as well as of wheat and corn. It is only when some, meal combine like the American Tobacco Company gels the entire control of a product that the laws of supply and de mand do not govern the price of the product. Bui. what we want to get at, and what the extracts we have quoted show, is that good fanning will) cotton pays as well as good farming with oth ercrops of the farm, and that even during the era of low-juiced cotton there are men all over ttie cotton lall who have made money in glowing cot ton. As lately remarked in these col umns the South needs good farming more than visionary schemes to force a reduction of eollon acreage. The acreage should be reduced, but it will never he done by conventions and agreements. It will only be done when men Had thai they can grow more cot ton on one-third the area by good farm* injg and can at the Mime lime grow oilier crops enough to pay all the ex penses of the farm and more and leave the eollon a real money crop, no mat ter what the market price may he.? Practical Farmer. An apple tree 125 years old is the pride of North Haven, Me. TUere Is to day u crying need of a ref pruiatiou 5u the treatment of tlie body, The basis of thU reformation is to be found ist the thesis of Dr. R. V. Pierce : " Dis eases which originate in 1 lie stomach must be cured through the stomach." Iu the tliitty odd years of Dr. I'ierce'a ?xperience hs chief consulting' physician to the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute in lluffalo, N. Y., he has treated more than half a million people, with a record of ninety* , eis;ht cures in every I hundred, The theot v . .. J held hy Dr. Pierce that the stomach i?A# the chief breeding^ place of disease, Isj abundantly borne out by the success of his t re ii t m e n t which is addressed primarily to the stomach and other no,; in- of digestion and nutrition. No other medicine acts so powerfully and as perfectly on the stomach and other organs of di gestion and nut tit ion, as I >i. Plerce'a Golden Medical Discovery. Men and women af dieted with shortness of breath, heart dis ease, suffocation, dizziness, spots before the eyes, "liver pnitia," and similar ailments have been promptly and perfectly cured by the use of ''Golden Medical Discovery." best*-*3 in roe ' , MUM At II >MUST BE UffiROUOH J?^WWI1 Thomas a. Sw.'iits, of sui) station C. Colum bus, Ohio, lk%< tox, writes: " I was taken very sick with severe headache, then cminps In the StOtllSCh, and my food would not dined, then kidney and liver trouble, It lid my back got SO weak I could scarcely get around. At Ins) I had ? II these at once, and I ?rtve money to the doc tors whenever I thought they would do nie any jfo<>d, imt the more i doctored the worse i got, until six years passed. I hud become SO poorly I could only walk in the house by the Hid of a chair, nnd l x<>t so thin I had given up /?> ttit. thinking that i could noi becured. Then i saw on* of my neighbors, who said, 1 Tako my nd vlcs, atnl use Dr. Tierce's ('.olden Medical Dis covery ami make n new man out of yourself.1 The llrst bottle helped ir.e and aftei I had taken ?riK111 I was weighed and found t had gained J7 pounds. 1 have done mo;e hard work in the poit eleven months than I did in two years be fore, and I mil henlthv today and do not feel aiiythlne like dying, I cannot give Dr. Flcrce's Golden Medical Discovery loo much praise." I PROLIFICACY VERSUS L'RODUC TI YEN ESS. Correspondence Cotton Plant. Although the terms, prolific und productive, have both been dellned u? mcnuing fruitful, it by no means fol lows that they are to be regarded a> 8ynouymous, nu-nning ono and ihi sann' thing, or that ihoy arc Inter, chnngoable, the one with the other. In I he case of vegetal i<>n in geiiornl. a plant may be exceedingly prohtlc. without being what may bo justh teimcd productive while on the otht' hand, a plant may he enormously pro ducive without being exceptionally prolific. l ins difference is plainly exempli (led in the ease of popcorn and the so. cilled seven-ear corn, which may b< legurded as being exceedingly prolilic. hut not u-icossnrily productive; or a least not so much ?o us other ami lar ger varieties ; while euch varieties as wulboru's Conscience, Kentucky Mapimolh, Chester County Mammoth and man y other equally Inruo varieties, nro enormously productive, \ei could hardly be termed prolilic. Tue same is equally true of the clus ter cottons, which are as u rule, ex ceedingly prolilic, but not nece-?ari.y productive, while the big boll varieties are usually enormously productive hut likewise without being exceptionally prolilic. Prolificacy seems ll:cn lo deal more especially with ihc number of fruits while productiveness 1 as more direcl reference to their size, while neither let in has any referouce whatever is lo the quality of the product. It is very Important, in fact highly csseutial, ii not absolutely Indispensable tor the soil ttll< r, in whatever special branch ol agriculture he may be engaged, to keep in mind the difference in the ac tual meaning of the above named tcims. Prolliicacy does not always mean productiveness, neither does product iveness necessarily imply or include prolillencv. Sonic of our farming brethren may possibly Uiiuk that tins Isa distinction without a difference, and that wo arc unnecessarily precise in our definition; tint if llioy were engaged, as we are, in striving to obtain maximum yields per aero of each ami every crop planted as well as in obtaining extra line speci mens of each, in fact mr.klng not only the laud, but also each individual plant do its very level best, thereby find out the capabilities of, not only each spe cies of vegetation, but also of (he land itself and each individual acre of it, they would then find out the impera tive necessity of bearing above dis tinction constantly in mind. We hear of seedless raisins, seedless melons, peaches, oranges, etc., etc.; in some instances these are productive, but in no sense could they possibly be termed prolific, while the so-called lintlcss eollon is, on the other hand, exceedingly prolific, hut is far from be ing productive, in the usual sense of productiveness, i. e. in lint. The veiy best of good seed is osseulinl It] order to the production of large yields per acre. Almost without exception, oxtromo y early varieties arc also extremely ?m?h an I iusignilicant varieties ; earli no88 and not productiveness being the mam and leading object of the produ cer in Iiis choice of varieties ; medium early varieties are in variably more pro ductive than are cither extremely cnrlj or extremely late varieties. As an ex perimental farmer, experimenting solely for our own satisfaction, and hi order to gain positive, practical valua ble information at first band, ami with all mere idle theory eliminated ; to en uole us to silt the chaff from the pure golden grain ; on questions pertaining to fottilizers, to varieties, to soils, and to culture, with the probable effects, possible effects and positive effects of each, when intelligently and judicious ly employed ; we have found it deeid iy advantageous t;> study closely the peculiar characteristics of each and every ag< lit en ployed, or that could bej employed. IN Tili: IMtODL'CTION OK MAXIMUM Yll.l.ps. Fertilizing for prolillcncy .'tn<i ferlih ?lng for productiveness*. Is it possible to so fertilize as to increase prolilicucy at the expense of productiveness, or u> innrnsco productiveness at tlic ex pense of prolificacy ? To a limited extent, yes. If wo hud not believed it possiqlo, we would never have called the reader's attention to it by propounding the query. Wind* ever oilier functions mnj he attributed to phosphoric acid, it undoubtedly in creases prolillcncy ; but this very pro lilicucy is sometimes an actual draw back, a disadvantage, for the reason that the quality of the fruit is so de cidedly inferior that productiveness is actually decreased thereby. Potash and nitrogen <>n ihc other hand, exert but little influence toward Increasing prolificacy' hut seem to ex ert their entire iullnciH o in increasing the size und improving the ? utility of the fruit ; and this, even at the ex pense of its prolillcncy, and this is is more especially tlUO of potash. A multiplication of the nutnher of fruits at the expense of >i/.e and qual ity would posilbly he advantageous in the case of linllcsn cotton ami possibly of some few other agricultural pro ducts ; but with the generality of farm products, quantity and quality both lake precedence of oxecssivo fecundity or prolillcncy ; It is size, a incarance. general superiority that everybody dc? hires, every where ; hence, it fa thai ex cessive fecundity or excessive piolill cacy is relegated loa hack seal, ami b comes of hut secondary importance; hence it is, also, that low grade forllll Zers which, for the sake of cheapness, arc composed almost exclusively of phosphates, and are invariably defi cient iu potash, and oftentimes of niliogou- produce so liltlo appreciable benefit to the. crop to Which they are applied, and give so little satisfaction and profit to those, who, from ig ior ance or a inislak W economy use them. The ordinary low (trade fertilizer is made up by mixing 1100 pounds of acid phosphate, 700 pounds of COlton seed meal and '200 pounds of kainit, this will analyze about 8, 2-2, or H per cent, of phosphoric acid, 2 per cent, of nitrogen, ami '2 per Cent. Oi potash. A far move satisfactory, as well as NO crop can grow with* I v5T out Potash. fs{j?+\ Every blade of ^^-- Jwj^j Grass, every grain ?/J<fI? of Corn, all Fruits m \J ? and Vegetables H must have it. If ?-^J^li,^, I enough is supplied ,C?J^ you can count on a full crop? if too little, the growth will be " scrubby." Send for our books telling nil about composition ul fertilizers best adapted for all >.iops. They cost you nothing. OERMAN KALI WORKS, aj Nassau St., New York, profitable coiubiutilion for tho general farmer, the horticulturist <>i truck Igrower would bo moo pounds of acid phosphate, 000 pounds of cotton seed meal and 400 pounds of muriate of poiash. Tin' former combination would tend to increase prolincacy and by so doing would at the same lime tend to inere isu productiveness admit* ; while tin- latter combination would tend Inrgoly toward increasing pioductivcncss J whether prolillcncy was increased or not. L'hos ph nie acid is good in its place, but it cannot be made to take the place ol cither potash or nitrogen : prolificacy is not everything ; quantity and qual ity rank ahead of it. G. II. TUKXKlt. Uurqeas, Miss. fe&iCj -* ? - A LIEST AU It ANT lfOU?l)IllDS. "1 intend driving out to see Uncle Otto to-day," said Mr. Mnrcy, at the breakfast-table. "Who would liko to take n sioigh-rido with me'/"and ho looked straight into Kitty's oyca. "Oh, 1 would like to papa !" said Kitty, quickly. "May IV "If mamma thinks best," Mr. Many answered, and as mamma was willing, Kitty was soon putting on wann wraps and preparing for her live-mile drive. Undo Ulto lived upon the Stale ox porimcntnl farm, where lie studied the birds and insects, and then told the fanners about them, and how to got rid of those that destroyed the crops ; and a visit to him was always lull of Mit? reit to Kitty. Indeed, she thought 'here never could be another um le quite so nice as Uncle Otto. Kitty lived in Minnesota, where they sometimes have a great d< snow in the winter, and this \ r I here had been an unusuai amount. The sleighing was line, and ihe t untrj seemed so clean and pretty thai U:tt\ could not help exclaiming as iho\ ped along, for 111 the city the SHOW was dirty, and here, everything, was white as snow ought (0 be. The drifts were piled high on cither side of the somewhat narrow road, and when they lUOt a team, papa had to turn out very carefully ill order to avoid upsetting the sleigh. Hut Kitty thought it all great fun, and helped lean over when necessary to keep the sleigh balanced. ??I wonder what Uncle Otto will have new to show tile ibis lime," said Kilty, as they caught the llrst -i-lit of the large buildings which told her that I hoy were nearly at iho end of their tide, ''He always has something different from what anybody else would have," she added, "and 1 learn some thing every time I come out hero." "I wonder too.'* answered papa. And then he drove tip to the house and Undo Otto himself came out and brollLht With him n large covered bas ket, and he wont out toward the great grove of oak-trees which extended for miles hack of his house. Presently he slopped beneath a tree from a branch of which was hanging a his basket and look cut uomething white and round like a ball. '-Whnt isthat, Uncle Otto?" asked Kit iv. l< t hat is mutton stiel,'* ho answered. Then he uncoiled the who, placed the suet on the brauch and bound ii se curely With the wire. ??Now," ho added, turning to Kitty, ?'one table is spread for dinner.'" ??Oh," saiil Kitty, suddenly, ??you do it for Iho birds ?*' "Yes, indeed." Uncle OtlO let urn ed . "Vow see (here uro lots of cold* vrcalhci' birds who do not h ave us through the long winter, and when the snow gels very deep they have a hard time to lind enough to eat ; llifl sides, when it is very cold Indeed us . has been lately, they need some kind of food which wi!l produce In al in ihcir little bodies, and the mutton ruci docs just that. So when I begun to think how deep the fault of their trail ing and so do llOl blame them so :i.tieh. At any rato, I would not want even the naughty ones io go hungry." "Ulli how do they know so soon that their dinner is ready Kilty asked. "I have come 'o believe," answered Uncle <)tio, "that some of them watch for me, nr.d when they sco me I bey soon notify the. others that dinner is ready by calling, for only a fow days afiei 1 began putting out the buoI for them, I noticed the noise, and that they all gathered very mickly after 1 went away. So 1 have eoine to the Conclusion that they look for me. and know that I am manager of their res* lauranf." Kilty laughed heartily, "What a funny idea I" she said. And then alter a moment she added, "I hollOVO I'll start a restaurant on a small scale at home. I like to see the birds around, and it would be such fun 10 watch them, Hut. do you know," she added, "I never thought before about the deep snow making il bard for thom to lind enough to eat. If I Cannot have a restaurant I Will have a lunch coun ter." ?Senator L'nd?av has Introduced a bill to Increase- the pension of M xl can war veterans from $8 to &H) a month.