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ESTABLISHED IN 1 878.
IIILLSBORO, N. C. SATURDAY JULY 14, 1894.
NEW SERIES-VOL. XIII. NO. 35
I.ITTI-K nnOWM HANDS.
ThT triv hoa tlm :ows 'rem thi. psstnfl
Vp tl-.r-j i'fi t h Ion;:,, shaiy lan,
Vin-r" V- i ' i U whi)?!9 lou J In !hj wheit
foil.
K'.' .v-Utt with ripning grain.'
Thv fin 1 in fh" thick, wnvin;? graa
Wj r th-'- sirM -lipped raw'errr
srr'w , i
Thy ufhT th- earliest snow lrop
An 1 th fir!t Tirnson buds of the ros?.
Thy to" th" ):ry ih thi rfcea low.
Th-y githr th" :Mr blooms wiot
'P:y 'Sti'l whTf th" dusky grapes purple
In On of-tint ! nuMjtnn light. -
Thoy K"w whr" the ar.pUs hang ripest,
Al'J or" nwttr th.in Italy wlma .'
1 ! now wher" the fruit Is the thickest
(Hi th" n;, thorny blackberry lan.
'll.-y irnUr the delicate Ben wmH,
A n J liijl'l tiny fast loft of sand .
Thy f.ick up the beautiful sea shells
Fairy bnrks that have drifted to laud.
Thvy bmvc from th tall, rocking' tree tops,
w'"'r" ' 'Tiobj'.s ha'nmock nt swings,
An.l at night time are folded In slu nh;r
,.My a kjuk that a"foji 1 mother sing.
Tliov who toil bravely ,ire strongest ,
1 h" humble an I pobr bome great .
And fr'.:ii those brown-handed hildrea
Shall grow mighty rulers of stat.
The p"n of the author and statesman,
The noble nn 1 wiso of our land ,
The word and t!i -hh"l and palett"
bhall be held in tho littl- brown hand.
- Pittsburg Jmlletlu.
THE GOLD CAVES.
UV LKON 'EDWAHDS.
' t( T was good many
-Vil years ago, but if
I should live tc
be a old an Adam,
the incident I ana
about to narrate
Mill be as clear
i
15 memory asjf they
happened yester
day.
There were three
of us, Ned ('on ley. an old Rocky
Mountain hunter, who, when gam
got source or furs unprofitable,
took mi the dually hazardous
calling of jold Heekirifj; Frank
I'idertou, a hfrnilsomc -younp; Ken
tiK'kian, who had ronie nut to wiu n
budd n fortune, ami inyfielf, who had
made ne fortune in the gold field,
lo-t it, Htktl was now out to get an
otli' r. and with the firm determina
tion t' hanjj on t it, if I struck luck
Across the Sierra' Madrc Mountain
in tlie San .liian region was a might j
dreary,' lom-lv country in those day h,
with thf water riowinpj down out of
Mht in the bottoms of the eanyons,
an ! the nrurcst white settlement three
hundred rm'es away in Eastern
t'olwrado. -
N.d Coplcv had hunted all through
t)ns country with Kit ('arson, and he
believrd it was rich in old, and that
if we kpt our purpose to ourselves
we "would make our everlastin' for
tunes," to us1 his own words.
W o had enough money to buy an
o it'lt of f t for three months and n
to ciitry it ; as for the tools fot
j r not mi; and the rifle and pistols
i'esry f frsrae, or to protect our-r-'lves
from prowdi,na: Indians and
Mi' ahm whiter, we were well pro
vided.
We ft I'anv ui the early spring and
whib all the nirelinjr mountain?
were covered low down with now,
looking like glisteninc marble walU
supporting a f-ky so clear and blue and
cloudless, that it looked as if it was.
hewn out of a oit of turquoise
Hut anxiety to sc.' the yellow ' old
flashing at the" bottom. of the clesi
streams in the San Juan, blinded u to
the glories of ihe landscape and the
uu'irpa;se 1 natural splendir skit
tered sv lavishly on every hand
I think "I should savin all honesty
t ' th'e bra-re fellow, that Frank Edgcr
tou was an exception !o thia. To be
pure he wanted gold. It was to get
this that he left his oil Kentucky home
and irove an ox team across the ster
ile, .blistering plains, .o child's work
m the tiays when the Indians and buf
falo were plentiful and the saorticgof
the iron bore had not vet ftirred to
new life the echoes -f the giant Rock
ies. Frank E Igerton had a nobler mo
tive than his two partner. We were
out to find gold t r tL sake of the
powtr and the comforts it would give,
and it may be-with' thoughtH of the
def erence that would be paid us by the
less fortunate when we were rich men ;
but our handaome yon"ngr companion
was moved to face the hardships and
brave the dangers of the expedition by
nc such mercenary purpose.
He was not more than fire and twen
ty, with curly brown hair and eyes,
and a nilky znnstaphe and beard of th-j
aame hue, and a mouth full of even
white teeth, anil his fine face seeme 1
ever the home of kojI nature an
laughter. No matter how Ion? thf
march or aJeep the trail, no matter th
long miles between the springs, or the
indications of Indians in the neighbor
hood, Frank was always cheery and
happy, and his laughter and hi son;;,
for he had an excellent voice, liqht
ened many a Ion? march, and dispelled
the gloom from many a lonely cam)
in the heart of the canyons.
We had not been many days out be
fore Frank Edgerton opened his heart
and gave us the secret of his constant
happiness. He was in love, not "dead
in love," but living in love, the glori
ous passion possessed lm. ft bubbled
from his lips in laughter and song, and
glared from his eyes in exultation.
"Who is she, boys?" lie said one
day in answer to my question, for I,
an old, loveless and perhaps unlovable
bachelor, half envisd h'nuhis posses
sion. "She ain't no ordinary girl,
Susie Burns ain't. Heaven cut her out
for a first-class angel, and never changed
the original plan. Here'r; her picture,
and let me skv, vou two are the only
strangers that ever looked inside the
lids p;nce sue fastened it round my
neck." and told me, as she kissed me,
that so long as I wore it next my heart
I'd remain true to her just as if. I
could ever dream of being false to
Susie."
By the camp fire he opened his coat
and hunting shirt, and brought to
light a slender gold chain that hang
about his neck, and at the end of
which there was a flat golden me
dallion. He opened it, kissed the
picture with the adoration of a pagan
for his idol, and then let ns look at
the face of a beautiful, blue-eyed girl
of nineteen or twenty, who seemed bo
life-like that it looked more like the
reflection in a rntrror than a oolored
ivorytype.
"Susie Burns ain't rich, for Heaven
couldn't give her all the blessings
without being unfair," continued
Frank, as he restored the picture to
his breast, "but she'll be Tich some
day, if there's gold to be found in
these mountains. Meanwhile, while
I'm out here prospecting, Susie's a
teaching school down by the banks ot
the Cumberland, and vou can bet, if
she has auy time to spare from her
work, she puts it in a-praying for me.
That's why I feel ' so sure, boys, that
we are going to win. I tell you an
outfit can't fail that has an angel like
that a-praying for it. "
Frank filled 'ns with his enthusiasm,
and Ned Copley and myself felt that
we, too, were interested in the girl,
as we were very sure she would have
been in us. had she known the circum-
stapees.
I don't know the name of the
tream, for it was in the days before
names were given to every strip of
wet ground in the West, but it rose io
the-avalanches of the Sierra Madre
and came down by our camp ic cold,
and as it brought fleeks of yellow gold
with it, we decided to stop there and
go to panning out the gravel.
We did fairlv well. What we got
would have been big wages anywhere
else, but to compensate for what we
suffered and the dangers we faced, we
naturally wanted more.
A huadre I dollars a day between
three wasn t so ban, but we were in a
mood when a thousand dollars a day
would not have satisfied us.
Mr. how hard an I cheerfully Frank
did work i Why, he got so deeply in
terested in that unknown girl, away
on the banks of the Cumberland in
.dd Kentucky, that he sol into the
- . m T j
habit of saying every morning, as we
ate breakfat by the light of the camp
tire: "Another dav's work for Sosie,
bors! '
Although the strongest of the three.
Frisk was not used to this sort
rough life. nd 1 so u si- it bgan to
tell on him. and I W4nt?i him to let
up. but the brave fellow, stuck to it.
working in the ice cold water till he
was taken down with chills, followed
) bv a burning ftver.
We had some quinine and a few
simple remedies for cuts and brusiaes
along, and with thee and the skill
that carrie of idilg years in the wilds,
we did th best we codld fof our
partner.
Now come the remarkable part of
mv story. I ve seen men down with
the fever, when thy got so wild they
had to be tied, but while Frank was
clear out of his head, he kept just as
peaceful as ever, only that he insisted
that up the creek were great caves full
of gold, and that the specks we had
been picking ont of the gulch came
from there.
He wanted us to start up there, say
ing we could get all the gold in a, day
we wanted for a lifetime.
Of course, Ned Copley and 1
humored Frank, and told him we'd go
if he'd hurry up and get well, but he
swore that instead of being sick he
was as strong as a giant.
The third night after Frank was
tAken down, he seemed to be resting
quietly, bo Ned and 1, who had been
taking tarns watching, thought it
would be safe to drop aff to sleep a
kind of lightly and wo did so.
When we woke up in the early morn
ing, and saw that Frank Edgerton's
cot was empty, and his clothes and
pick and revolver gone, you may try
to imagine, but you can never realize
just how we felt. )
We cooked a hasty breakfast, then
picking up enough provisions . froax
our little store to last three days, we
hid the rest, left the mule hid in a lit
tle valley where there was lots of grass.
and then started rff to find our insane
friend.
Remembering his ravings about "the
gold caves" up near the snow line, w
determine 1 to follow the creek. We
ould read a trail as well as an Indian,
but the rocks were too hard to retain
the impression of a human foot ; yet,
now and then we sa-ar signs to encour
age us.
The creek branched into a dozen
streams further up, and it was only
after long consultations that we de
cided which to take, and then for no
reason that would not have applied
quite as well to the- other stream.
It was a rough, hard road, and now
and then as we went on, we stopped to
shout Frank's name, or to discharge
our rifles, but only the echoes came
back for reply.
That night, thoroughly fagged out,
we halted close to the snow line; in
deed, there were white patches all
iiooni us. and not a sitrn oi a snruo io
m-ike a fire. With a -little alcohol
r
lamp we made .coffeej and lay down
under our blankets, spoon fashion, to
keen warm.
We wer i up by daylight, and started
offagaiu, this time wituout coffee, for
we had only about a gill of alcohol for
the lamp, and we reasoned that poor
Frank would want something warm,
if we fouud bim alive.
Another terrible day and another
awful night, and still no sign of Frank
Edgerton. We gave him up, .and with
sad hearts were returning, when Ned,
who had eyes like telescopes, said he
saw something moving near the snow
line across the valler.
There had been an immense snow
slide down the va'ler, not an hour be
fore, but we got across, and there
under a ledge of rocks, with a great
pile of loose, glittering stones about
him. lay Frank Edgerton, looking like
a dead man.
While Ned made some coffee, I
rubbed Frank with snow till his skin
felt warm, then we forced coSfee be
t-ween his teeth, ani wrapping one
blanket about him. we made a stretcher
out of the other anl our twe rides, so
as to carry him down to camp, no easy
job, I can fell you.
Just a-s we were about to st-t ofT,
Ned noticed the pil?s of stones
Frank's pockets were full of them
and those lying about had evidently
been brought there by him. Bjt they
were fully ore-half olii gold.
Frank Edgerton hal discovered the
caves of his fevere i dream.
We got him bad- to cimp. aa 1 w
took turns nursing him and carrying
dou the gold so mysteriously found
with him under that lei;, atii the
source of whi"h hai been cancelled
by the snow slide.
"To make a long story short,' as we
used to s.ay when I was a bay, Frank
got well. Whets he was abl t travel
we tartJ back to Tat, carrying with
us about one hundred and thirty
ponnda of solid gold. '
We made a second and a third trip
to find "the gold caves, of which
Frank remembered nothing, and others
hve often tried it since bat they
were lost quite as myaUriously as they
were found.
Frank Edgerton hal, however, for
his share, enough money to return to
Kentucky and marry the fair Susie
Burns. That they are as happy as the
flay is long I can vouch for, for I vis
ited them less than a year ago, and I
was highly flattered to find that his
oldest son was named after me.
v FUJI.
Men who preach by the yard gener
ally practice by the inch.
C letting rattled That tin affair of
the baby's. Boston Courier.
It i always surprising how mnch
doeper a hole is after one gets into it.
Pack.
The things that go without saying
must have escaped feminine atten
tion. -aPnck".
It is doubtful if culture will ever be
Able to make a man stop snoring in
his sleep. Ram's Horn.
Jasper "I--l'e c come after y
your daughter, sir" Father "You
have! Let ite see your coupons!"
-Cleveland Plain Dealer.
A long-haired man is more apt to
have admirers among women than a
short-haired woman will find among
the men. Atchison Globe.
In many parts of Germany the
hardest out-door work falls to the
women. Well, is not the same true in
America? Who doei the shopping
here? Boston Transcript.
Judge (to prisoner) "We are now
going to read the list of your former
convictions." Prisoner "In that
case, perhaps, your worship will allow
me to sit down." Le Baillage.
A Birmingham school girl wrote, in
the course of an examination in
geography, that "the interior of
Africa is principally used for purposes
of exploration." New York Sun.
"What is this money to be used for
that the church is raising?" Howler
It'sto send the minister away and
give the congregation a much-needed
vacation." Chicago Inter-Ocean.
"Timmins never has anything more
to say about that girl of his, I notice."
"No. he has either fallen out with her
or failed in love, with her, I don't
know whicu." Indianapolis Journal.
Millionaire Philanthropist "How
can I make sure that none but th
very poor will receive the money I in
tend to distribute?" Rhymeter
"Buy poetry with it.". New York
Herald.
Humane Officer- "Wh'do yem pile
all your load on the front of the
cars ?" Lazy Man 4 So th' hosf won't
have so far t' pull it uv course. Think
I ain't got no feelin'?" Cleveland
PJLain Dealer.
Journslltm's Avartcs.
The first Americau newspaper was
published in 190, and in 1830 tho
total number of periodical publica
tions in Canada and the United States
was nearly 18,000. with a combined
annual issue of nearly three and a
half billion4;. This wonderful advance
shows that the American people ara
readers. A computation shows that
the combined circulation of all publi
cations will give three yearly subscrip
tions to every family of five persons ;
that the combined circulations
monthly publications will give nearly
twelve numbers a year to each family ;
that weekly publications are sufficient
to give two papers regularly to each
family, and that the daily issues would
provid3 mjre than one-half of the
families with a daily newspaper. This
ia wonderful strideTand an indica
tion of the growth tl the future.--Press
and Printer.
. The American Preu.
According to ihe American News
piper Directory for 1891 there are
now 20,169 newspapers and periodi
cals published in the United States
and the Cicidun proTires. Of this
number 19,32 arc ifcsuci in this
country aud 867 in the provinces.
The UniteU States hts 1853 dailie, 29
tri-weeklie, tomi-weeklies, 14,077
weeklies, C2 bi-weckiic 290 semi
monthlies, 2501 rsonthlie, 70 bi
nioathiie an 1 1 21 quarterlies. The
Canadian provide" hte M dallied
iSC- trceUit nd Vi Uioathhe
SOFT SHELL CRABS.
MOST TOOTH SOMB OF SUMMER
TABLE DAINTIES.
The Chief Fishery Is at CrtsfleM on
Chesapeake Hay How They
Are Caught and Sent to
the 3Iarket.
THE
HE soft thell crab is distinctly
an Eastern product and one
pnrely Eastern consump
tion; because the crab is so
delicate that it is Jmpoasible to ship
him with safety any great distance. It
is a chief article of diet in all Eastern
cities, however, and particularly at
the summer resort",, and one of which
Western visitors carry pleasant mem
ories to their homes.
The sofj crab occurs on the Atlantic
coast all the way from Massachusetts
to Mexico and is abundant also in
Chesapeake Bay and as farv uj the
tributary streams as the salt water
reaches. The chief crab dishery is at
Crisfield on Chesapeake Bay, just op
posite the mouth of the Potomac River.
Here more than 100 ) men are engaged
in fishing for tho crabs from May to
October their total cateh being ni re
than -5,000,000 crabs. The value o.
the industry to the fishermen is more
than $100,000 in a s-ason. There are
other crab fisheries in the u"mt
Chesapeake, in Indian River, Delaware,
and in the Shrewsbury an I other
rivers in New Jersey. But no one of
these at all compares in importance
.with the Crisfield fishery. In fact,
all of them put together are of far less
value.
Although the oyster is of more in
terest in the winh r thin the soft crab,
the crabbing industry would b valu
able the year round if the crabs could
be had. But from October to May
the crab retires to the deeper waters,
where he remains half buried iu the
muduntil the return of warmer weathei
draws him to the bhoal waters near th
shore.
The soft crab i.s not always a sofl
rab. Technically he is thr blii'. or
edible crab, and still more techni
cally he ii iv ri'liue 'tes histitt'iH
Ordway. The soft er.ib is a soft er.ib
only when he she Is his shell. When
he is very young he f-heds it fre
quently. As he grows oi b-r he .sheds
only once ortwioj in a year. As h
is' of commercial value only when he
is soft, it is oT some importance to the
fisherman that he be capture! nt a
time when he has just shed his shell,
or is preparing to do so. When the
erab is preparing to moult and his
shell is loosening, he is known t the
fisherman of Crisfield as a "comer,"'
a "long comer," or a ".short eom-r."
When his shell has begun to crack, he
is' called a "peeler," "shedd-r" oi
"buster," according to the faucy of
the fishermen. The "peeler" is known
in oiner locauies, iku in-i - e j:nrtr is
known by that title only to Cristield.
Unless the crab is taken in hand
immediately after moulting h? be
comes a hard crab, and the hird crab
has not the market value of his soft
brother. The extierie.'iccd fisherman
will quickly tell what stage of devel
opment the crab is in. As fast as the
crabs are brought in from the fishery
they are placed iu floats and there
they remain until they pbd their
fhell. The hest tim'ecfor catohin?
the crabs is just after daybreak. AH
of the fishing is done iu small boats
of an average vriue of perhaps $1 J.
TJsnally the boatcarncs but one per
son, but sometinle it l large enough
to have a crew of two or thre-j. Th
boat chiefly in use i a small sailboat,
known in the venacular of the Chesa
peake region as a "kuntjer"---th'5 lo
cal corruption of "canoe." The in
dustry is carried on by individuals or
their own aecuast. Most of the f:h
ermen use a dredge or scrape, which
resemble somewhat the oystr dredge.
It is lighter, however, and is pro
vided w-ith a pocket of netting. Soa
few of the boat ue dip net. The
dredges are attached to the si ies of
the boats by long roie H a sti
breeze is blowing th- boat is broazht j
well nn to the wmd or vi. nndr I
1 i
reefed sails asi th dreig is tarowa
overboard and allow c ! t drag along
he bottom. At "interval the boat :.
brought to, when thi dre Ie irawj
ap and emptied on board. Then the
crab are etrAt 1 bv ban I froui th
mass of mad and jrraas which hascomt
ip with them. here tat dip net is
ased the fishermen pole through ths
shoal water and dip up the crabs one
at a time a they are ?n.
Each of the small boats will average:
seventv-Sve to a hundred crab in
day. These are sold for cash to h
shippers whose shed line the sdion.
As the crabs are brought in th def
ers count them, Mparatuig the soft
"crabs, the "short comers" and th
"long comerf," and paying f-r then
according to the market value. Th
prtcc received by the tihermen vane
from 1 cents tu two cents for each
eifeb.
The soft cralw arc senaraU I fr u
those which have yet t shed, an I r.ro
picparcd for immediate shipment. Tiu
hed lers" ar. carre. m t!o-t. Thttr
floats are mode of hht plank, ait
t'ueir sides sre lattice. Each d thou
holds about ;tH or 4. oral'. The
floats are visited tbr.-c or four times u
day and the crabs tha iiav.- shed art
taken out for shipment. 1 he orates m
which they are packed- for market ar
provided with trays. Iu thcs tho
crahs at,? placed biw eon livers id
crushed ieand seaweed. The capacity
of each cr.ato i about one hundred
crabs. The soft vrus cat, b? packed
very closely, becau-o when their le4
have been folded and their bodies
placed obliquely, that the uioitdur
does not run from their mouths they
f-how little disposition t- mow.- hi
these crates the crab.i :vre sent as fat
north .as Boston.
A very important element in esti
mating tho value ol soft crabs and their
market price is the mortality among
them. They ir very delicate and
e:wly injured in handling. IV'de?.
the sheddingproceas is sever- and klU
many of them. Therefor.' the pur
chase of the crabs, by tho dealer at
Crisfield is something of a lottery.
There is a record of a day, oin yean
ago, when out of a total purcham of
3200 crabs taken by one firrr., :W
died before they could b packed' fot
shipping. This mortality is excessive.
As a rule, the death rate is less than
twenty-five per cent. But cveu that
represents more than $2.,0d0 loss in
each season. This falls indirectly on
the fishermen, for the shijl)er takes it.
into account when making a bid for
the fisherman's catch. Comparatively
few of the cra die on the way to the
market.
EveJrv effort has been mada
to lcssenttie mortality among ihe
crabs, Kut without success. The prico
received by the dealer for tho crab
ranges from thirty-five cnts to itty -cents
a doztn. Washington Star. .
Defeated by a Condor.
"The enormous strength of th eon'
dor is only equalled by his voracity
and boldness," said George A: Dout
vau, of Lima, Peru, who strolled into"
the corridor of th4Liudcll Hotel tho
.-ther night when a St. Louis fi lobe
Democrat reporter was pre,ent. "I
nave seen a great many f these bird
while traveling in the A tide, and, be
ing something of a naturalist, took m
great deal of interest in watching their
habits.
This immense bird often pounce4
upon living animal, but from th
shape and bluntness of it clawji he in
unable to carry off his prey. Ylo con
tents himself with fifing it against th?
ground with on of its claw, tvhtl
with the other and its powerful beak
he rends it to pioce. Gorged with
food, he becomes incapable of flight,
an t a man may then approach him ;
but should the rnn attempt to wzt
the bird, he is met with a dprto
probably be a long one, a the bird
enjoys an extraordinary tenacity of
life." - '
"I once approached a large condor
just after be had finished a hearty
banquet on a young sheep. In kC
dfavoring to capture the bird I f
struck ivera! tins w;th hit.' hujri
clw- At Uugth, t ra sa l blee lmg:
fro:a several wound. I left th Sd I
of Ixattle and went t my camp, sev
eral miles distant, to get help, mm
to rapture the bird ahve. if possible.
In aboit two hour I rturs4 with
thre cosipaa;on. We found the bird
m the cim pic. ataadmg ere?! an4
itir:sg its win? trvtag t f.r awar.
5 -
We tried for som ttm to ;ire it,
bit it mad auch a Scree fttrtiggle that
on ..of the men finally killtf it by
j blow on the head with a hatchet.'
The firat war veef captnr-' by a n
I American hip wa the Edward, takta
i I.- V, T T.r, ..- kr.Til 17 1777.
t