The Spanish American. [volume], May 04, 1912, Image 3

About The Spanish American. [volume] (Roy, Mora Co., N.M.) 19??-19??

Image provided by: University of New Mexico

                
LIXE ENOCH ARDEN
HE WOULD NOT
STAY DEAD
How P. JJhomson, Wanderer Ex
traordinary, Returned to Sa
vannah After Forty-seven
Years to Find His Wife With
New Husband and New Chil
drenWants Only to Die
Where He Was Born.
TORN from the arms of his young
wife and baby daughter by the
for unes of war, eilled from
Savannah by the order of
General Sherman, whose army
had Juet completed In famoui march
through Georgia to the Sea, P. J.
Thompson, recently of Kentucky, wan
derer extraordinary, has returned to
hit native state for the first time in
47 years, only to find his wife hap
pily married to another man and the
mother of many children; bis daugh
ter, whom he left an Infant, grown
to womanhood and nursing babies of
her own, and bis sister scarcely able
to recognise nlra.
With the lines of the years scarred
deeply into bis weather-beaten face,
and his back bent with the burden
of many days, the heart of the old
man cried for the red old hills tha he
had wandered over aa a barefoot boy,
and for news of the little family from
whom be had parted In his youth. He
wished to rest bis bones In the ground
that nourished him, and to feel for
the last time the breezes that the
"Gulf Stream, that wandering summer
of the tea," brings to Georgia's shoes.
And so he turned bis footsteps back
toward the land of hit nativity, and aa
a consequence involves his wife in a
matrimonial tangle not yet unrav
eled. For after having spent the better
Tears of a long life at the wife of an
other man and the mother of hit chil
dren, the old woman It Inclined to
look askance at this husband ot her
early youth, whom she can now re
member only dimly, and whom the
has to long believed to be lying In an
unknown soldier's grave upon one of
the many battlefields with which the
bosom of the south was reddened. She
It at thy aa a girl In the presence of
her former husband, but she continues
to Uve v with her tecond husband.
A Man Without a Home.
. Berty Jones, kindly eyed, white
whiskered, who wooed and won the
fount Mrs. Thompson, after the had
given up her husband for dead, la not
Inclined to part at thlt late date with
hit life companion. He looks upon
the advent of Thompson as a rather
humorous Incident that will break the
monotony of exlttence for his women
folks a little while, and then be for
gotten. He cannot conceive that there
may be a real interruption in the es
tablished order of things, and as to
his wife's leaving blm he accepts the
suggestion with a laugh. These two
together have been the architects of
too many human lives to allow a dead
man come to life to break the placid
ity yof their conugal relatione. Enoch
Ardent are supposed to look through
windows upon happy firesides and
then to disappear again.
The ttory of the adventure! of
Thompson it of Intense Interest
Through all the years he hat been a
man without a home, a wanderer, seek
ing alwayt after the wlll-o'-the-wisp of
ft fortune that forever eluded him.
The one discordant note In the har
mony Is that he never made an at
tempt to return to his wife and home
after having been tent nortb by the
federal soldiers.
Thompson's Early Life.
When the war broke out Thompson,
not yet of age, enlisted for six months.
On the expiration ot that period he
went Into t cavalry troop and taw
much service In Virginia and Tennes
see. The beginning of the last year of
the war found him In ft hospital In
Savannah. Becoming convalescent,
he obtained leave to visit his family
in Pembroke, where be learned for the
first time that he waa a father, and
for a brief and only period of bis life
held his baby In bis arms. While he
iu ttlll at Pembroke Sherman and
ma legions awupt across the state.
Bidding his wife ft hasty goodby. the
Confederate soldier took refuge In the
swamps. That wat the last that Mra.
Thompson now alto Mrs. Jonet and
the wife of two men, ever taw of her
husband.
Driven from his hiding place by hun
ger, Thompson made his way across
the Ogeechee river bridge and fell into
the hands of a federal outpost, by
whom he was promptly dispatched into
Savannah, a prisoner of war. He waa
detained' there and furnished with ra
tions for ft time, but an order finally
oame that no more provisions were
to be served, and this, together with
an offer of transportation nortb, left
Thompson and others In similar pre
dicament no alternative but to go Into
the land of the enemy as hostages of
war. He was sent by a boat to New
York, where he remained until the
war closed.
Escaped Dssth In Cyclone.
After the war Thompson wandered
Into the welt. Why ht chote the west
Instead of the south and home hat
never been satisfactorily explained.
He lived for a time In Cincinnati, but
driven by the unrest that was In blm.
he continued hit wanderings over the
great oart ot the western country,
stopping for a time like any bird of I
passage wherever chance placed blm.
He peddled goods for a livelihood,
worked on farms, cut timber in the
forests did anything that came bis
way that offered bread for hit hungry
mouth. He never wrote to find out
what had become of his wife and
child.
After a brief time he found himself
the proprietor of a cross-roads store
near Mound City, Kan. Here, be says,
he cherished the hope of some day
achieving a competency and of return
ing to Qeorga with means to searcn
for his people. But at night a cyclone
swept over the land while he cowered
In a cellar and In the mornlug he
found his store distributed over a num
ber ot counties and blmself again
homeless and penniless. Nothing re
mained of hit possessions but an old
tub, which alone had withstood the
storm and remalnded to mock him In
hit loss. He again became a wander
er, setting his back steadily upon wife
and home and child.
He moved Into Kentucky and again
began to build up hit shattered for
tunes. He became tbe proprietor of a
general atore and again began to
dream dreams of a competence. But
disastrous fire visited him, and he
watched all his earthly goods go up in
smoke. After the fire be peddled
fruit trees In the mountains, and
watched the distillation of the yellow
corn that had waved He golden ban
nereta over Kentucky a aun-klssed
bills. He walked with tbe feudists In
the Kentucky hills for a number of
yean, braving flood and storm In the
pursuit of hit several peddling occu
pations. Worked His Way Home.
Recently he decided to carry out his
long cherished Intention of returning
to Georgia. Old age was now coming
upon him fast, and with the coming
of age his mind turned upon the past
He worked his way across the Inter
venlng states and came at last again
to Pembroke. But all the friends of
his youth had disappeared. Many of
tbe old families were broken up. The
little slabs In the churchyard told him
where moat of the people he knew
had gone. The gravea of hla father
and mother he found there. No trace
ot hla wife and child could he find. A
chance acquaintance told him that hla
alater had married and waa living In
Savannah.
He found hit sister, Mrs. Jessie
Davis, after some search, and con
vinced her, with some trouble, of his
Identity. From her he learned that
his wife, after giving blm up for dead,
had married again, and with their
daughter, who was alao now married.
lived in BUtchton. He offered no rea
eon for having abandoned hit family
to long, and hit titter did not prets
him upon the point
Msy Woe His Wife Agsln.
Thompson went on to BUtchton to
see the wife of bis early manhood and
his middle aged daughter, whom he
remembered as a littler child. He spent
a day at the home of L. A. Schuman.
the husband of his daughter, whom he
saw mothering sturdy men and worn-
hora she had brought into tbe
world In the years that had trans
formed her father from a veteran of
twenty-one to a bent and broken wan
derer of sixty-eight With the as
sistance of ft picture taken before he
went away, and by recalling intimate
Instances of her baby days, he suc
ceeded in convincing his daughter
that he wat her father.
Meane to 8tay In Savannah.
Thompson has announced that be
will epend the rest of his days In
Savannah. Precisely what are his In
tentions regarding his wife are not
known. He hat given no Indication
of what procedure be will adopt In
this respect It Is generally believed
that he will not make any endeavor
to Interfere with present arrange
menta. Jonea will certainly fight for
hit wife, although he bat exhibited
every Indication of being friendly to
Thompson unless the latter putt up
a fight Mra. Thompson Jones will un
doubtedly prefer to remain with the
latter. She mourned Thompson lor
dead many years ago, and she cannot
recognise he father ot her daughter
In the sued visitor.
But ber politlón la delicate aa well
aa humiliating. She hat two living
hutbanda, which la ft little beyond the
oal of the law. However Innocent
she may have been, she Is now living
In a state of polygamy. To desert ber
last husband after all these yeara and
go to a perfect Btranger la a little
more than could be expected of her,
and yet her position as the wife of
Jones Is a trying one. Nobody blames
her, but those who know the ctrcum
stancea are wondering what tbe out
come of the tangle will be. Her nu
merous offspring by her last husband
would not consent to her leaving the
root of their father even If she wlBhed
to do so.
Not Sure He le Her Brother.
It Mrs. Thompson had gone Into
court and had her husband pro
nounced legally dead before she mar
rled the second time all would have
been well. But so certain was she
that he was dead that she did not
take this precaution. Possibly some
technicality of the law will come to
her rescue. The matter haa not been
Inquired Into. With her the matter
Is simply that here are two men. both
living, whom she has recognized as hus
band, and both of whom are the fa
thers ot her children.
Thompson it back in Savannah, at
the home of hit titter. She declares
that while the has accepted him, she
Is not at all sure that he la really her
brother. She does not believe that
real flesh and blood brother could
drop suddenly from nowhere In par
tlcular after an absence ot 47 yeara.
Everybody la afraid to take the mat
ter Into court for fear of further com
plicating the situation and bringing
out trying points heretofore over
looked. The consensus of opinion
seems to he that Thompson ought to
disappear again and remain dead. Or,
better still, he ought to have remain
ed In the west, and not come back
to trouble bis wife at all.
Jones Is apparently waiting for the
other man to make the first move In
the case. ' He holds the trump cards
In that he Is In possession ot the dis
puted wife. "And possession is nine
points of the law, you know," he
says with a laugh. Ha Is not letting
the situation worrit him much, either.
It la probable that aa long as Thomp
son does not move be will allow the
matter to drop. And Thompson ap
pears Inclined to be quiescent He
will remsln with his sister tor tbe
present There Is plenty of time to
make his plana for the future.
Has Fund of Strange Tales,
This Is the basis upon which the
mattér stands at present Thomp
son's ambition seems solely to be
among hla own people to make a lit
tle niche aomewhere where he can
apend the remainder ot hla daya and
earn five feet of ground In tbe end
In which his bones may rest along
side those of his father and mother.
Why Thompson did not tramp to
ward Georgia Instead of continually
away from It Is a secret that remains
locked In his own bosom. On this
point he has been consistently silent.
He talka of hla adventurea pleasant'
ly and of the affairs of bis family hu
morously, but any questions leading
up to his reasons for remaining away
so long Invsrlably silences blm.
Thompson shows bis age more than
his wife. His face Is finely lined and
wrinkled. His shoulders are a little
bent, but they are of great breadth, and
would Indicate that he was a man of
great physical strength In his young
er days. Hla teeth are white and fine,
and his smile Is pleaaant and Infec
tious. He haa at his tongue's end the
"blarney" that comes to all who put
their feet upon the road. He has
fund of strange tales always ready to
tell, and he apparently takes delight In
relating them. He it a pleaaant com
oanlon, and there is much crude wis
dom burled beneath his experiences.
All Georgia and the south Is Inter
ested In the strange case. Everybody
has a solution ot the difficulty; to of
fer. The theories advanced are
thick at dust In vacant houses. But
It is not theories that are troubling
these old people. It is hard facts
facts that drive thought home aa with
the Impact of a hammer. What It to
be done! Suppose Thompson de
mands his wife at the hands of Jones?
What will the consequence be? Mrs.
Jones cannot deny that she Is the wife
of Thompson under the law. Then
what will the consequences be to tbe
children who have been born to her
in the Intervening yeara since Thomp
ton disappeared?
STATE TAKES HAND IN FIGHT
New Jersey Leads In Advanced Legis
lation Designed to Cheok Speed
of Tuberculosis.
What it designed by the National
Association for the Study and Preven
tion ot Tuberculosis as the moat ad
vanced legislation In the campaign
against tuberculosis that baa been
enacted by any state In the United
States, If not by any country In the
world, la found In a bill recently
passed by the New Jersey legislature
and signed by Governor Wilson. The
new law provldea that tuberculosis
patients who refuse to obey the regu
lation! laid down by tbe state board
of health concerning the prevention of
their dlBease, and thus become a men
ace to the health of those with whom
they associate, shall be compulsorlly
segregated by order of the courts, In
Institutions provided for this purpose.
If tuch a patient retimes to obey the
rules and regulations of the institu
tion In which he is placed, he may "be
Isolated or separated from other per
sons and restrained from leaving the
institution." The law further pro
vides that all counties In tbe state
of New Jersey shall within six months
from April 1st make provision In spe
cial Institutions for the care of all
persons having tuberculosis In these I
counties. The state treasury will sub
sidize each county to the extent of
$3 a week for each person maintained
In these institutions, except those
who are able to pay for the coBt of
maintenance.
BABY'S TERRIBLE SUFFERING
"When my baby waa six months old,
his body was completely covered with
large sores that seemed to Itch and
burn, and cause terrible suffering.
The eruption began In pimples which
would open and run, making large
sores. His hair came out and finger
nails fell off, and the sores were over
the entire body, causing little or no
sleep for baby or myself. Great scabs
would come oft when I removed his
shirt.
"We tried ft great many remedies,
but nothing would help him, till a
friend Induced me to try the Cutlcura
Soap and Ointment I used tbe Cutl
cura Soap and Ointment but ft ahort
time before I could tee that he waa
Improving, and In tlx weeks' time he
waa entirely cured. He had Buffered
about six weeks before we tried the
Cutlcura Soap and Ointment, although
we had tried several other things, and
doctors, too. I think the Cutlcura Rem
edlea will do all that Is claimed for
them, and ft great deal more."
(Signed) Mrs. Noble Tubman, Dodaon,
Mont, Jan. 8, 1911. Although Cutl
cura Soap and Ointment are sold by
druggists and dealers everywhere, a
(ample of each, with 32-page book,
will be mailed free on application to
'Cutlcura," Dept L, Boston.
The Ruling Passion.
Little Willie was an embryo elec
trician. Anything relating to his
favorite study possessed absorbing in
terest for him. One day his mother
appeared In a new gray gown, the
jacket of which was trimmed In flat
black buttons showing an outer circle
of the light dress material. Willie
studied the gown critically for a mo
ment, then the light of strong ap
proval dawned In his eyes.
'Oh, mamma," he cried, "what a
pretty new dreBs! It's all trimmed In
push buttons." Judge.
in the Dark.
Has that boy of yours who gradu
ated from college last year found a
Job that suits him yet?"
"Nope. He's still looking for one."
"Where's he looking?"
"Well, I don't Just know. He seems
tú do moBt of his looking nights."
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When a bachelor Is landed by a leap
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Mrs. Wtnelow'a Soothing Syrup for Children
teething, eoftena the gums, reduces Inflamma
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A gin a kisses are like pickles In a
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the rest come easy.
Be hannv. Uae Red fro Rar
Blue:
much better than liquid blue. E
the laundresa. All rocen.
flights
A good night's steep la one of the
few things people like that la good
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THE SECRET OF LONG LIFE.
Do not sap the springs of life by neglect 0Í the human fnechtnlatn, try atlowtnl
the accumulation ol poiaons In the ayatem. An imitation of Nature's method of
rcitorinf waste of tiiiue and impov riabment of the blood and oervoua strength ia
to take an alterative glyceric extract (without alcohol) of Golden Seal and Orefon
I rape root, blood root, Stone and Mandrake root with Cherrybark. Orer 40 years
arto Di. Pierce gave to the publio thie remedy, whioh be called Dr. Pierce's Golden
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Boy'i Idea.
Willie was looking at the plcturei In
a magazine when suddenly he turned
to bis father and asked: "Pa, do co
coa nuts really grow on trees?"
"Of course! Where did you think
they Brew?"
"Why, pa, I always thought the
monkeys laid 'era." BoBton Tran
script Tbe Paxton Toilet Co. of Boston,
Mass., will send a large trial box of
Paxtlne Antiseptic, a delightful cleans
ing and germicidal toilet preparation,
to any woman, free, upon request
A man Is no sooner elected to office
that he begins to kick because it Isn't
more remunerative. t
The lyMem takes kindly to nature'! laxa
tive, Girttald Tea, which la mild in action
and alwayi effective.
It's wonderful what large catalogues
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J Uf -e" ny using BIVHNS LigUIU Dl8Tr.Mi'r.K CUKE. QIt qb
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