The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-09-11

Among the Seminole Indians there is a
strange tradition regarding the white mans
origin and superiority. They say that when
tie Great Spirit made the earth he also
made three men, all of whom were fair
compleXloned, and that after making them
he led them to a margin of a small lake and
babe them leap in and wash. One obeyed
and came out purer and fairer than before;
the second hesitatcd a moment, during
which time the water, agitated by the first.
had become muddled. and when he bathed
be came up copper colored, the third did
not leap in until the water became black
with mud, and be came out dark in color.
Then the Great Spirit laid before them
three packages, and out of pity for his
misfortune in color gave the black man the
first choice. He took hold of each of the
packages, and, having felt the weight.
chose the heaviest; the copper-coIored man
chose the next heaviest, leaving the white
man the lightest. When the packages were
opened the first was found to contain spades.
hoes, and all the implements of labor: the
second e%nwrapped hunting, fishing and
warlike apparatus: the third gave the white
man pens, ink aud paper, the engine of the
mlnd, the means of mutual mental improve
ment, the foundation Of the white mans
superiority.
General Joe Lane, the silver-haired vet
eran who SO gallantly lost his breath run
nlng after greencoats and greasers a third
OF a century age, caught it long enough to
make a speech up on the Puget Sound one
day last week. He said: My head has
been whitened by the frosts of MANY wiz
tiers, and my form bent by the weight of
accumulated years; my voice has grown
feeble and weak from the service of three
quarters of a century, and | soon expect to
be called upon to answer the final r~oll-cal!.
| am fully prepared, friends. to obey the
summons cheerfullv. Two wears 400
looked over the old Army Register, and l
found there only five Of the seventeen
American generals who entered the Mexican
war, surviving. OF the seventeen who en-
tered that struggle fourteen were Younger
than myself. One by one these brave men
have wer to the last roll-call. Since
| last looked at the Rregister Pillow has
been called away, Cadwalader and Cushing
followed, and On the 1st of the present
month Shields answered the luminous and
passed over the dark river across the valley
and shadow of death.
\ man employed on the farm of William
Potter, IN Sassafras Nick, Cecil county.
Md, was dislodgcd from his position on
the platform of Il steam thrcsher by a wagon
being driven close alongside. Another
workman was standing near him holdino
a three-pronged fork with the prongs up-
ward. Workman No. l was forced either to
fall upon the belt Of the thresher, in which
case he would nave been thrown into the
machine, or upon the fork in the hands of
his fellow-workman. He chose the latter
course. One prong Of the fork struck him
the chin, and glancing from the
bone, ran through the lower and upper lips
and out about the check bone. With some
effort upon the part of both men the fork
was drawn out, when the wounded man
sank to the ground. He discontinued work
tor the remainder of the day, but was at his
post the next morning.