Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-04-15
Life IN Mississippi.
How SOCIAL. CALLS ARE NADIA HORSE
THIEF SAVES HIMSELF BY \ PRAYER THE
CHISHOLM TRAGEDY.

THIEF SAVES HIMSELF By \ PRAYER-THE
CHISHOLM TRAGEDY.
Special Cor. New York Tribune.l
When Won wish to call Mt the residence
of neighbor in Mississippi you do not
90 to the door and knock or ring the bell,
as is usual i'll most places III the North.
That would not be Il safe or comfortabie
undertaking here. Iou proceed, usually
on horseback, to the yard fence III
front of the house and shont "Halloo
You are answered at once by chorus OF
dogs, winch come leapng down the yard
toward YOU like wild beasts hungry for
their prey. As You contemplate their
enormous size, their number and evident
ferocity, you congratulate yourself on
being on horseback. About the time
when Won begin to wonder whether you
will long be safe even III that position,
the man of the house comes to the door
and calls ont. 'Good morning Won't
We 'Hght?" You mentally answer, mot
lust vet, and your host walks down the
path toward You, making remarks about
the weather or some such 1amlllar topic
"a he comes on. When he reaches the
gate he says, imperatively, "Well, light
As the dogs are by tins time slowly re-
tiring, looking disappointed but resigned
las if saving to themselves "Better luck
some time, We shall eat hlm yet }, you
now ali cht, and you were not expected to
do so at any earlier stage OF the proceed
inGs.
The host now says Come in = and You
walk slowly up the path together, con-
yerslng us YOU gu. Arrived nj The porch,
or "rallery' as it is called here, the Host
saws again Come i'll - but You do not
90 in. Ii would be ill-bred to enter at
once. So YOU linger on the gallery. still
conyersing for Il minute or two, and your
friend says, imperatively this time,
..WeU. come in !" and then You 60 in
s.In the old times, as people say here,
to have gone at once to n planter door,
without calling from the outside of the
ward and receiving an invitation from
within the house, would have been re-
garded as evidence of unlawful or hos
tile intentions. especially in the evening.
and would have exposed the visitor 10
! the chance of Il greeting from shot gun.
At present the dogs are usually, sup
nose, the chief source of danger.
SALVATION BY PRAYER.
In Copiah county, Miss, | was shown
the place where Il man was not hanged,
who. nevertheless, seems to have come
very near experiencing that fate. He was
n noted horse thief, and was at last cap
| tured bv company Of indignant farmers
who had found some of their own horses
| tied up in the woods, and had remained
| in ambush near hy until the thief came
back to dispose of his booty. The whole
countryside was soon Informed of the
arrest. and the men assembled with rifles
| and shot guns to see the prisoner and de-
eide or learn what was to be done with
! him. Ii was determined after due de-
! liberation. that he should be hanged then
and there. 4 rope was accordingly pro-
cured, one end was fastened to conven-
tent limb. and the other made into
moose, which was adjusted around the
| prisoners neck. He was mounted upon
n mule. md n man was selected who was
| to act as cxccutionor, by leading the AM
nal away from the tree thus leaving the
culprt dangling III the air. Apparently
his last moment had come, and he had
! too much good sense To ask for his life.
Bnt his captors were nearlyall religious
men. members of the Christian churches
Of the neighborhood, and at this luncture
| one Of the leaders suggested that 1t was
very solemn thing to send human soul
into eternity, especially If in an unpre-
| pared condition, as was most likely the
case in this instance he thought they
ought to engage i'll prayer before hanging
the man. To this all assented, and the
man who had proposed devotional exer-
cises was appointed to lead III prayer. He
| did so. and made n most feeling and fer
ven. plea for divine mercy for the sinner
who was ah, Il. to appear Ill the presence
of the most high with all his crimes upon
his head. The company was deeply I'M
pressed many were even moved to tears.
! But the PRAYER came TO an end, the tear
bedewed eyes were dried. md ''the exer-
J cises of the occasion" were about to he
| completed according to the programme,
when the man who had held the mule by
the bride declared that he did not feel
willing to discharge the duty which had
been assigned to him. Somebody else
do it dent want to have nothiu to do
with hangin' him, said he, and his feel
ing was found to be the unanimous senti-
ment of the assembly The result was
that the prisoner was delivered to the
sheriff, and was soon afterward sentenced
to long term III the penitentlary. l
think he must have been ever afterward
an earnest believer i'll the efficacy of
prayer.
1t was suggested by some persons not
present at the time that the motion for Il
PRAYER was intended as a means of rescu-
| ing the prisoner, but dined few days
ago mt his own house with the man who
made the prayer ; We talked very freely,
and came to the conclusion that, on the
occasion described, his course had been
simple and natural, and that he had not
foreseen its effect, either upon his own
feelings or upon those of his neighbors.
THE CHISHOLM TEBGEDY.
Twas in Kemper county, Mississippi, n
few days ago, ana talked with several
persons about 'the Chisholm tragedy"
One was n minister of the Methodist
Episcopal church South. All said about
the same things So much has been
printed in regard to this affair that do
not think it necessary for me, at this late
date, to say much about it. Everybody
expresses much regret that ''the girl was
killed ''Shc was mighty brave girl; )"
"She Ind pluck, | tell yon." were COM
mon expressions. The minister SAID ::
Both men" (Judge Chisholm and his an
tagonist Gully WAS designin' men. D."
This term, "a designing man" means
here treacherous man, II plotter, one
who will deliberately plan the death of
an opponent, and this is what people i'll
that region now say of both these men.
Its wrong To do such things" the min
lister said, and sit WIS Il pity it happened,
but it has been benefit to this part of
the country that both Of EN- was killed.
There wouldn't have ever been any peace
with EN- Both of 'em was dC dCsIgnin'
men.
There was evidently kind Of ''blood-
madness" i'll some parts of the South for
some time ftcr the war rage for kill
ing. OF course it did not affect every
body in this region, but it was an import
ant psychological phenomenon, marked
and frequent enough to affect society
here, and to exert some influence on ma
tional life and thought.
Informal mtroductions are best, es-
pecially when formal ones are not forth
coming.) Ponsonby de Tomkyns Ito
, Mrs T. dc T., who is artfully protrud-
, ing IL tiny foot What's the good His
all serenity + ms blind ms bat He'll only
, tread ON it - Mrs. ronsonby de Tom
, kyns 81 mean him to- ronsonbv de-
Tomkyns What for" Mrs. Ponsonby
, de Tomkyns Why he'll have to apollo
gize, you goose, and then but there,
l leave it all to me, there's n darling ~
r The august foreigner falls into the prct-
ty title trap, and success crowns Mrs. T.
lo 7. endeavors. LondOH ranch.
: A two foot rule WIS given to II laborei
in Clyde boat yard To measure an iron
plntc The lnhorer not hcin9 well mp Ia
the use of the rule after spending con
siderable time, returned it. "Noo. Mick.
asked the platter, ''whnt size is stheplate? =
t well, replied Mick, with grin of salts
= faction, ITS the length of your rule nn,