The Forrest City times. [volume], January 28, 1898, Image 1

About The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919

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VOL- XXV II._FORREST CITY, AUK.. FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 2S.189& NO. 17. ^
A ballade of storms.
Biting winds and driving rain.
Ink/ clouds across the sky,
dinging sleet against the pane,
Frighened birds that homeward fly
With weary wing and feeble cry—
But In the cabin hearts are warm.
Good cheer and love the blasts defy;
The doors of home shut out the storm.
Fierce the race for power and gain,
Business brings us all a sigh
For promise broken and hoping vain—
The phantom wealth is wondTous shy;
Then, oh, with throbbing feet and brain,
To leave the countless cares that swarm
And gentle peace once more obtain
Where doois of home shut out the storm!
Towering castles, built "In Spain,”
Before our eager visions lie;
Their Joyous portals to obtain
Would every longing satisfy—
And when we see, with tear-fllled eye.
The fading of the cherished form.
To one blest thought our heart doth hie:
That doors of home shut out the storrr.
ENVOY.
Prince, grant that when our end is nigh.
And Kate her duty must perform,
Upon this trust our souls rely:
The doors of Home shut out the storm!
—Charles Moreau Harger, In Chicago
Tlmes-Herald.
Surprising Act of a Bear.
A SIRREMAHOWIRG MAWS TALE OF
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
^ TF MY remarkable father, Reuben
| Pettibone, had lived tobelOOyears
old," said the man from over Sin
nemahoning way, “you never could
have induced him to judge a man on
circumstantial evidence, after what he
saw up along the headwaters once.
And that’s what makes me shy of cir
cumstantial evidence myself. I didn’t
see this thing that my remarkable fa
ther saw, the principal reason being. I
suppose, that it happened some years
before I was born, and—”
" Tears to me as if a little thing like
that hadn’t ought to make no differ
ence to yon, Sinnemahone, said the
man in the red, blue, pink, purple, yel
low and green Mackinaw jacket. “ 'I’ears
to me that it ought to be jest as easy
for you to set here an'remember things
that never happened before you was
born as it is for you to set here the way
you do an’ remember things that never
happened senee you was born. 'Pears
to me so, Sinnemahone.”
“Perhaps you're right, Mackinaw,”
said the man from over Sinnemahoning
way, blandly. “Rut have you no regard
for my remarkable father, Reuben Pet
tibone? If I should set my extraor
dinary memory to work recalling ante
natal happenings, what use w ould there
have been of Reuben Pettibone's living?
Have you considered what a hole would
be punched in the past history of the
storied Sinnemahone if Reuben Petti
bone had not lived and breathed, and
seen and done things, there and there
abouts? I thank you for extolling my
memory, Mackinaw, but remember, I
beg of you! remember Reuben Petti
bone!
“No; I didn't see this thing to which
1 refer, lmt Reuben Pettibone did. and
the incidents of this one of his many re
markable experiences he handed down
to me early in life to point a moral and
adorn a tale.
^ou may get ketehed on the jury
some day, Praxiteles,’ he said, ‘so re
member this and play shy on circum
stantial evidence. It’ll never do to
liang a man on.’
And so I have always been shy of cir
cumstantial evidence, because of this
thing that my remarkable father saw
t‘|> along the headwaters and told me
about. 1 here had been long prowling
in that part of the Sinnemahone a bear
of enormous size and acuteness. He
tad outwitted every hunter and trap
l»“i " ho had pitted himself against him,
UI1<1 a man down in the West Branch
tountry had had for ten years a stand
ing otTer of $100 for that invincible
bear’s hide.
"iiy.’ my remarkable father used
n saj. there had been tons of ammuni
1011 "lls,<‘d on the astounding beast.
a'ul ''ti.it in the world he ever did with
8 ,he traps he carried away, year aft
*‘r .'‘Mr. was one of the mysteries of
e " 't(t wood. They would have made
s> i .ip heap that a foundry could have
”s,'tf on for months.’
^h" ""nters were all more than
a8,rt to lay this great beur low. as
"in a ,tS f°r the satisfaction and fame
1 u‘"g it as for the $100 in the coin of
11 realm the West Branch man was
h *! .' i° t,Ut "t* ^or the wise old fellow’s
"■uben Pettibone at last evinced
personal interest in the bear. and.
■ '"ig ,, few days to spare one winter,
sauntered up the headwaters for
PurP"se of fetching the coveted sn
hr f ' home with him. There would
gI1 In c're’umventing a tricky beast
in ' t-S 'hat' Beuben mused, but more
fill't* t*'e °hagrin of the unsuccess
'vt-iilUn,ers an<J trappers. I may as
didn't*3' ln^ remarkable father
But 1 f"rtt bear, lie was foiled.
..... e 1 amed a life-long lesson.
lie*i 11 "as n hunter native to the
Juff"'v;< rS "h°se name was Samson
h;s ’ :‘!‘l80n was a man of such
liietii V * .J*e and questionable I
"o M s *n the "00<Is that nobody i
pitif ,,hunt or Mnip with him. He wa»
though'KUUn-P°.,,Ular’ Mackinn"’ :li'
Bvtrv .K’ Jack*t had only one color, j
"•iters'“ler. hunter on that spread of j
rin,nnt ".‘ls ‘n a perpetual state of wor- ■
. 1>r B'ar that Samson Jutf
autue day strike the untold luck i
°‘ gathering in Slippery Abner, that be
ing the name the supernaturnlly clever
liear had come to be known by. No
matter who else might happen to be
the fortunate man to capture the great
prize, his success would he rejoiced j„
but if Samson JutT should happen to
be the man there would be universal
disgust and grinding of teeth, and such
cursing as might stop the run of sap in
every tree along the Sinnemahone.
Samson .luff had a cabin two
or three miles from where Ileu
ben I'ettibone put up his camp that
winter. Ileuben became acquainted
right away with a number of c.ther
hunters, and when they learned wluihe
was their chins fell.
“ ‘Ileuben I’ettibone!’ my remarkabb*
father frequently overheard their, say
to one another. ‘Slippery Abner's sand’s
o’ life is runnin’ their last grains out
now, boys! We most as well pull up
an’ quit!’
Hut they didn't, and they told un
remarkable father something more'
about the bear and the quest for him.
There was etiquette among the hunt
ers in regard to Slippery Abner.
Eager as they all were to bring him
down, if one hunter got on the trail of
the bear, no other hunter inter
fered with him, or joined in the chase
unless requested to by the original dis
coverer of the trail, the idea being that
llis one w ho started first should have all
the honor and profit of bagging Slip
pery Abner if he could. This was a
well understood and sacred rule with
the hunters of the Sinnemahone head
waters, and none of them would have
thought of breaking it any sooner than
he would have thought of burning a
tellow hunter’s cabin.
“ ’Unless it mow t be Samson .Tuff!’
the hunter told lieuben Pettibone.
’Samson ’d do it in a minute!’
“Well, my remarkable father invited
all the hunters to go with him after
Slippery Abner, and a gladder set of
men never slugged a deer.
‘ ‘They were happy, Praxiteles.’ my
remarkable father used to say, ‘and
that made me happy. "The hunters
won’t be chagrined after all to see me
gather that bear in,” I thought to my
self. ‘‘it'll really make them happy to
have the privilege.” ’•
“So one day my remarkable father
and some of the hunters went out. Ueu
ben I’ettibone looked the lay of the
land all over, and ihen said:
‘•‘Come this way, boys. We’ll strike
Slippery Abner's track beyond that
clump of trees yonder.'
“There was a four-inch fall of fresh
snow. My father led the rest over be
yond tlie clump of trees, and there,
fresh in the snow, leading away from
the trees, was the track of a bear, the
immense size of which left no doubt in
nay mind that it was the footprints of
Slippery Abner. They followed the
trail two miles, and just as it led into a
thicket one of the party looked back
and saw Samson .Tuff come out of the
thicket not 50 yards away, lie hadn’t
seen the bear nor its trail.
“’Hullo!’ he shouted. ‘What have
you struck?’
’•‘Slippery Abner!’one of the hunt
ers shouted. ‘And we’ve got the lead
on it too!’
“Samson grumbled out rometi.ing
and disappeared in the woods. My re
makable father led the chase an hour or
more, but they never got as much as a
sight of the bear. The track kept on
going, and by and by it led into open
country toward Samson Juff’s cabin.
This made the hunters uneasy, and
even lieu lien Pettibone had misgivings
that he might be foiled, remarkable as
he was, and when the trail took them
within three feet of Samson’s door, and
the bear tracks went no further, the
hunters kicked the snow until it flew
about as if in the face of a gale, and
they how led and cursed and swore ven
geance against Samson Juff. The bear
tracks went no further than the cabin,
but from the cabin the footprints of
two men, walking side by side, led away
toward the settlement, three miles
away.
“’That infernal Samson Juff has
gobbled Slippery Abner!’ the hunters
howled. 'He went an’ cut back to his
cabin after seein’ us. an’ the bear hap
penin' to come along this way, he's
pinged it, an' him an’ his brother Joe
is luggin' him into the settlement! We
mow t jest as well quit!’
“And every man of ’em swore he’d
shoot that miserable'cur Samson Juff
the minute lie set eyes on him. I hey
were still vowing loud and bloody ven
geance, when who should come on the
scene but Samson himself. Instantly
half a dozen guns were covering him.
and if my remarkable father hadn’t
been there that would have been the
end of Samson Jntf.
"‘Hold!’ cried lleuben Pettibone.
‘Let the man speak!’
“l$ut they wouldn’t give him a chance
to speak.
“‘You can't fool us, Samson Juff!'
they shouted. ’You’ve killed our bear,
an’ it'll be the last one you’ll ever kill ou
the Sinnemahotie.’
“All this time Samson had been ex
amining the tracks that !ed away from
his cabin, and then he suddenly made a
dash into the cabin and as suddenly
dashed out again.
“ ‘both pair is gone, by the Great
Horn Spoon!’ he yelled. ‘An’ they cost
me $10!’
“Then lie started away on the trail of
the two men.
“‘Toller him.' shouted the hunter.
‘Don’t 'et him fool us an'git away!’
“lleubeu Pettibone himself thought
Samson was acting a trifle mystcrlens
and suspicious, and he led the way on
his trail. The trail the two men had
made circled round tow ard a big sw amp
that lay over on the right about two
miles, and Samson tore along it like
mad, with Reuben l’ettibone, now cer
tain of Samson’s guilt, and the huntera
dashing wildly after him. Just as the
procession reached the edge of the
swamp the report of a rifle came from
it, not far ahead, quickly followed by
another one. Then there rose the wild
est kind of shouts in the swamp, and as
the hunters went on in they saw two
other hunters dancing and yelling
around the carcass of an immense bear
that lay in the snow. The two hunters
discovered the others.
“‘We've got him!’ they shouted.
'We've gathered in Slippery Abner at
last!’
“Reuben Pettibone and the huntera
hurried in, still behind Samson Juff.
“‘There they be!’ Satnson yelled.
'I knowed it! There they be!’
“With that Samson dropped down in
the snow by the side of the bear and
made a grab for one of his feet.
“ ‘Then,’ Reuben Pettibone used to
say, 'we discovered that the bear had
a boot on each one of his four feet!
What did it mean? Praxiteles, I don’t
mind telling you that Slippery Abner,
wise, sagacious, cunning brute that he
was, had discovered early in the day
that I was on his Trail. He knew that
now something' out of the ordinary had
to be done by him if he escaped that
day, and he was equal to the occasion.
As he passed along by Samson Juff's
cabin he saw the door was ajar. He
jumped inside. When he came out again
lie made bear tracks no more, for he had
put on Samson’s two pairs of hunting
boots, and, marching on, had left the
trails of two hunters in the snow instead
of his own! Thai threw us clear off.
Even me. Praxiteles! Even me! And
if Samson Juff hadn’t come along just
as he did; and if the hunters hadn’t
happened to be in the swamp where
Slippery Abner went in with the boots
on his feet, nothing could ever have
convinced me or the Sinnemahone
headwaters hunters that Samson
hadn’t violated sacred etiquette
and killed the bear he knew we
were after, and they'd have shot
him, sure as that bear knew I was
on his trail that day. Praxiteles! Be
ware of circumstantial evidence, my
son!' said Keuben Pettibone. ‘Beware
and trust it not!’
“So that is why my remarkable father
could never have been induced to judge
a man on circumstantial evidence,
even if he had lived a hundred years.
And that is why I am shy of circum
stantial evidence myself. And I be
lieve. Mackinaw, that you would pause,
after having heard this, and ponder
long before you would hang a man on
circumstantial evidence. I don’t be
lieve, now, that you would even hang
me on it, Mackinaw.”
“No, Sinnemahone,” said the man in
the red, blue, pink, green, purple and
yellow Mackinaw jacket. “It wouldn’t
need much of any evidence at all to
hang you. consarn you!”—X. Y. Sun.
Kendy Made I'nimlna.
It is sometimes convenient to have
icing on hand for cakes. This can be
done by preparing a simple foudatit
icing of a pound of sugar, boiled to
"the ball,” with a cup of water. Cook
the sirup in a bright granite-ware
saucepan. When a drop roiled between
the linger and tho thumb becomes a
creamy ball, remove the saucepan from
the tire. When the sirup lias cooled
enough to bear one’r finger in it, be
gin to stir it, and after it has become
smooth and white, and of the consist
ency of lard, begin to knead. When it
lias been well kneaded press it into an
earthen jar; cover it with well-oiled pa
per and set it away. It will keep about
a month, but after that time it soon be
comes too stale for use. Wihen this icing
is needed for cake, set a little iu a bowl
in boiling water, and when it is melted
pour it over the cake and quickly spread
it on smoothly and evenly. It will
harden rapidly.—X. Y. Tribune.
Miitldy 1 in b re I la»».
It often happens that umbrella* gef j
splashed with mud s.pots; even occa
sionally they fall into a puddle and
present a forlorn appearance. It is
best not to touch this mud until it has
quite dried, for to rub it when wet only
insures its permanency in the fibers of
the fabric. The mud should be allowed
to dry first, with the umbrella wide
open, then the dust should be rubbed
off with a piece of coarse flannel, and
the spots sponged with strong black
tea, or Scrubb’s ammonia and water.
I’mbrella silk should never be brushed !
while wet, for it is liable to stretch j
cut of shape. When an umbrella is dry i
always wind it up, for that precaution
preserves the shape better.—Chicago
Times-IIerahl.
Perhaps Pa Warn Itiitht.
Miss C'akebread was entertaining
some ladies at a select little five o’clock
tea, and Bobby, w ho had been excep
tionally well behaved, was in high
feather.
“Ma,” he said, as cake was being
handed around, “may I have some
tongue, please?"
“There isn’t any tongue, Bobby.”
"That's funny,” commented Bobby.
“I heard pa say there would be lots of
it.”—Odds and Ends.
Suitors* of Sm Currents.
The polar currents coutuin less salt
than those from the equator.
BIMETALLIC MONEY.
T%« Kind of Money the Free Silver
Adtomlra Want.
When equally used for monetary pur- ;
poses the value of the two met,nls, gold
and silver, is their relation to each
other. For more than 200 years prior
to 1873 the world's money was made
from these metals and for this reason
they were called “the precious metals.”
When so used they were practically of
the same value commercially and for I
monetary purposes in the different
countries on the ratios upon which they
were coined,and any change which took
place in their relation to each other was
r.ot caused by any change in their an- :
nual production, but was wholly due to
changes in the mint regulations of the
different countries using them. These 1
changes were very slight and did not
interfere with their uninterrupted in
flow into the world's money stock for
more than 300 years.
In 1875 France, by a royal edict, adopt
ed the ratio of fifteen to one,and in 1803
her mint was opened to the unrestricted
coinage of boih metals upon that ratio,
and this became the prevailing ratio in
Europe. During the first half of this
century the annual production of the
metals was upon the ratio, about three
of silver to one of gold. For about ten
yenrs after 1940, their annual produc
tion was nearly four of gold to one of
silver, but (luring this entire period
down to 1873 there was no practical
change in the relations of the metals to
each other. The ratio did not rise to
10 for about two years owing to po
litical convulsions in France, and never
fell as low as 13.
Fiffeen and one-half pounds of silver
would exchange for one pound of gold
in all the markets of the world. Ac
counts between England and India were
uniformly reckoned upon the basis of
the equivalency of ten rules silver and
one pound sterling gold, and this was
the established par of exchange be
tween gold and silver using countries
during the whole of that time. So Eng
land, a gold using country, and India,
a silver using country, enjoyed the full
benefits of bimetallic money.
During this period an increase in the
yield of either of the metals simply had
the effect of enlarging the volume of the
world’s stock without in any practical
degree disturbing their relative value.
When used equally for monetary pur
poses the facility with whicli the coins
stiuck from one of the metals take the
place of the coins struck from the other
metal in making payments causes them
to rise to a common level, just as fluids
in two different vessels with a connect
ing pipe between them will rise to a
common level without regard to
whether one or both of them receive the
supply.
William II. Crawford, secretary of the
treasury under President Monroe, said
in his report February 12, 1820: “Like
fluids the precious metals as long as
they are employed as the general meas
ure of value will constantly tend to
preserve a common level. Every varia
tion from it will be promptly corrected
without the intervention of law.”
Bimetallic money is a single money,
ns the fluid from the common outflow of
the two vessels having a connecting
pipe between them is a single fluid,
though in the inflow the color of one
may have been white and that of the
other yellow.
Having destroyed this connecting
pipe by the act of 1873 by depriving sil
ver of the legal tender function and re
ducing to the situation of merchan
dise, because it has with merchandise
fallen as compared with gold, the advo
cates of the single gold standard point
derisively to its low value as compared
with gold as the reason, and the only
reason, why the connecting pipe should
net be replaced and silver restored to
full monetary use; and they have tlie
effrontery to claim that to do this would
be dishonest; that It would degrade our
standard of value by reducing the pur
chasing power or value of money; thut
it would injure the credit of our govern
ment and bring upon us the animad
version of all gold standard countries.
They insist that all property, including
wages, shall be degraded by falling
prices, but that money given in ex
change lor property shall constantly
rise in value; that the only standard of
the nation’s honor and integrity is a
money standard that is continually ris
ing in purchasing power and which sub
jects the people to a constantly increas
ing sacrifice to obtain money with
which to pay their debts and taxes, and
this they call honest money.
The advocates for the restoration of
silver are simply pleading for an en
largement of the value of our circula
tion by readopting the money scale of
valuation as it existed prior to 1873,
when it was clandestinely and without
exciting observation changed. Their
entire claim and the reason for making
it are clearly stated by Hamilton in his
mint report of 1792, w here he says: “It
is most advisable not to attach the unit
exclusively to either metal, for this can
not be doue effectually without depriv
ing one of them of the character and
office of money, and reducing it to the
situation of mere merchandise. To an
nul the use of either of the metals as
money is to abridge the quantity of the j
circulating medium, and is liable to all
objections which rise from a compari
son of the benefits of a full with the
evils of a scanty circulation.” And Jef
ferson wrote tc Hamilton in February,
1792. saying: “I return you your mint
report, which I have read with a great
4««J of satisfaction. I concur with you <
in thinking that the nnst must stand
upon both metals.”
The advocates of silver coinage would
place the dollar or unit of valuation
upon both metals instead of confining
it exclusively to one of them, in ortler
that the country may enjoy the benefits
of a full and not be subjected to the evils
of a scanty circulation. For this they
are denounced by the advocntes of t he
single gold standard ns anarchists, re
pudintionists and enemies of their coun
try. They invoke ns their shield the re
vered names of Hamilton and Jefferson,
and nlso that of George Washington,
who signed the bill which gave to the
people of this country almost the first
breath of their national life, the silver
dollar. Clad in this armor, the shafts
whose source is ignorance and unholy
greed will fall harmless at their feet.
It will be observed that Thomas Jef
ferson, the founder of the democratic
party, insisted that the unit should
stand upon both metals. Grover Cleve
land, who rails himself a democrat and
proclaims his own love for the trndi
tioas of that party, insists thnt the unit
must stand upon gold alone. This was
the declared doctrine of his pnrtv in
1890; and the sole and only purpose of
that organization was to defeat the can
didate of the democratic party for the
presidency by electing n republican.
HENRY G. MILLER.
THE ONLY ISSUE.
All Interest Centers ( pun the Money
Question.
With the announcement of the gold
clique’s plan of monetary “reform.” as
expressed in the report of the self-ap
pointed monetary commission, comes
stirring words from both republican
and democratic bimetallists.
Former Senator .Toe Blackburn ex
pressed the sentiments of the demo
crats when he asserted that the great
question before the people is not that
of tariff nor of social problems, but
that of the currency.
Emphasizing this proposition. Black
burn say*: “The mass of American peo
ple cannot be turned from their pur
pose. They are convinced that the ills
that afflict this nation cannot be cured
by the single gold standard, and they
have made up their minds to try the
remedy that so many millions of our
countrymen upheld in last year's cam
paign.
“That they will succeed next time I
have no doubt. The majority sentiment
has always ruled this country, and it
always will, if the coinage of silver dol
lars is a fallacious idea, which, if car
ried out, will lead to disaster, which I
deny, why not settle the matter
once for all by a trial? This is what is
going to be done in 1900.”
Blackburn’s words will find a re
sponsive echo, not only in the hearts of
the 6,500.000 men who voted for William
J. Bryan at the last presidential elec
tion. but also in the hearts of innumer
able republicans who were deceived by
the false promises and the hypocritical
pretenses of the spellbinders.
Silver republicans are becoming alive
to the situation and their voices are
raised in protest. Wolcott and Chandler
have spoken, and Charles E. Tow tie dis
sects the monetary commission's report
with a keen-edged scalpel.
Deferring to this matter, he says:
“But we who are fighting for the
cause of bimetallism, in the interest of
the producers and the masses of our cit
izenship, are much gratified at the ap
pearance of this report. It aids in clear
ing the deck for action. It strips off
more of the cowardly disguise in which
the gold standard has so long mas
queraded and in which it has so vilely
deceived the people. It assists in more
shapes defining the great issue before
the country."
Thus the forces of bimetallism re
spond to the assaults of the enemy.
The battle is to be in the open, and
shorn of the protection of an ambuscade
the enemy will be defeated.—Chicago
Dispatch.
COMMENTS OF THE PRESS.
-Bail as Forakerism is and has
been in Ohio politics, it is saintly in its
integrity compared with Ilannai&m.—
Columbus (O.) Press.
•-Postal robberieB must hereafter
be classed among the safest of crimes.
In a single day recently President Mc
Kinley pardoned five convicts who had
robbed post offices or mail carriers.—
Collier’s Weekly.
-Oh, no; there are no factions in
the republican party. Of course,
Speaker lleed is working right into the
hands of McKinley, Wolcott and Cage
ure David and Jonathan, Mason and the
president are together on Cuba, Hanna
und Foraker are like two kittens in one
basket.—Peoria Herald.
-Senator Chandler’s discovery
that the gold standard is responsible
for the reduction of wages in New king
land is a little late, but encourages the
hope that when McKinley is beaten for
reelection the New Hampshire states
man will understand that McKinley
was committed to the gold standard.—
St. I.ouis Ilepublic.
--Senator Chandler warns MeKin- ]
ley that he must < ither stand by the
people or join the plutocrats. Rlondin
in his famous rope trip across Ni
agara's roaring rapids never balanced
himself so picturesquely or so unique
ly as will our president when he per
forms the dazzling trip of standing by
the people and at the same time by tlie
plutocrats, pools, syndicates, civil ser
vice reform and ail sorts of trusts and
monopolies.—Indianapolis Sentinel. * |
AN OLD SLAVE MARKET.
Tkouiamli of Slaves Ones Sold 1m
Louisville, Oeorifla.
There stands in the center of the
principal street of the quaint old town
of Louisville, Ga., a queer structure. It
was built so long ago th»t those who
have grown old and gray in this former
capital of the state cannot tell of its
?arly history. Somewhere in the early
Jays before the "Yazoo speculation”
tGis old “slave market” was erected,
and, although built of wood, it has
stood the storms of time, and the hewn
post oak beams and pillars are as
sound now as on that day when the
wrought-iron nails were first driven
into them, and the bell, which now
hangs cracked and toneless as a curi
osity, pealed forth its brazen tones,
calling the dealer to bid at the "nigger
sale.”
A very few people know that Louis
ville was ever the capital of Georgia.
The star of empire taking its way west
ward came first to Savannah, then Au
gusta, and on the lGth day of May, 179.";,
the seat of government was changed
from Augusta to this little island vil
lage, and here remained until 1804—
after which Milledgeville was selected,
and, at a cost of $115,000, a capitol was
erected.
It was at Louisville that tthe papers
and documents connected with that
giant swindle, the “Yazoo frauds,” were
burned by Gen. James Jackson.
The story of the Yazoo frauds Is a
long and intricate history. It is stated
that more than H duels were fought
about it. The pith of the story is about
as follows:
During the first years subsequent to
the revolution a few wealthy and un
scrupulous men under oath of secrecy
forrned what was known as the Com
bined society.
1 heir scheme was to bribe theGeorgia
legislature and to buy from the stute
35,000,000 acres of land in western
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and
the price for all ubis territory was only
to be $500,000.
This purchase would have taken in
what is now the best part of three pop
ulous states. These old-1ime swindlers
only wanted a part of the earth. This
would have been u deed to all Atlanta.
Chattanooga, Memphis, to say nothing
of 10,000 smaller towns. The arch
s" tt'dler w as one 'i homas Washington,
alias Walsh, a man of wonderful parts.
History tells of 'how the giant specu
lator failed principally through the
courageous efforts of Cien. James Jack
son. The conspirators actually car
ried their bill through both houses of
the legislature and the governor’s sig
nature was attached.
On January 2“. 1790. the general as
sembly met and rescinded the action of
the former body. Gen. Jackson, for
merly United States senator, resigned
his seat in the senate, came home and
was elected a member of this legisla
ture from Chatthain county, lie en
gineered the rescinded hill through.
On the day following, by the order of
both houses, a fire was kindled in the
square and all the records and docu
ments were publicly burned.
1 lie clerk of the house was required
to cry in a loud voice: "God save the
state and long preserve her rights, and
may every attempt to Injure her per
ish as these wicked and corrupt acts
now do.”
This occurred in tfhe year of our Lord
1799. Ninety-eight years ago. Vet
there can he seen in the courthouse
yard, under the spreading shades, the
shallow excavation in the ground into
which the papers were piled.
The old go>ernor’s mansion was only
torn away lust year, the capitol disap
peared many years ago, and the old
slave market whl'-h inspires this sketch
will soon, too. give way before tthe
march of nineteenth century push. A
water tower will probnbly take the
place of this hoary sentinel of time.
An old gentleman whom I met on the
siieets of Louisville, and whose grey
hair and tottering form 1 could not help
comparing to the ancient landmark,
said:
“I know I’ve seen a thousand niggers
bid off here. The bell which hangs in
side you will notice bears the French
coat of arms and is stamped 1772. I
have heard that this bell was captured
in colonial days from the deck of a
French privateer. It has only been
cracked since a few years before the
war.”
The strangest part of the story is the
wonderful preservation of the timbers
in the old structure. They are all hewn
oak. put together with wrought-iron
nails, and the wood is so hard that I
don’t believe it would be possible to
drive a nineteenth century nail into it
with an n\.
Louisville of to-day Is e!ill unpreten
tious. It is the county sent of Jeffer
son-named from that great father of
democracy and declarations.
Louisville has a one-gallus railroad,
which blows a long blow 17 minutes be
fore the train starts back to the Central
railroad connection at Wadley. (la.
The old town has many beautiful
homes aud quiet, aristocratic families,
who trace their lineage back toeolonial
times.—Atlanta Journal.
I* re |tu rill if for tttni.
Office I»•»>' — llial insurance uian who
has been here so often w ant* to see you
again.
Plunking foil—Tell hint to come again,
and that before I see him I ntn going to
get my life iuiured in another company.
-Puck.