The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-09-21
Their Lost Blue Boards.

nlnG lelSurcly prOmcnaulnS Win
French gentleman the Champs Elysee,
in Paris. My friend too& me to one of
those little theatres, generally hidden
by trees. which are as charming as they
are odd The piece saw was "Hlue-
beard" But it was q travcsty on the
travesty, and have never seen the same
version presented again.
When the curtains rose man came
on the stage dressed as a mcnial, with
out vestige Of hair either OIL his head
or face-in fact, even without eyebrows.
In one hand he carried pail Of water,
and in the other he held scrubbing
brush Divcsting himself Of those in
cumbranccs, he naturally took the audi
cace into his secret, which was SUBJ
stantially rs follows:
81 am Bluebcard," The said, although
have neither beard nor even hair. ~
year ago was fcudal lord and had Il
castle, troops, retainers, and in fact was
rich and prosperous potentatc. My
chief amusement was to marry a hand
some young girl and try her curiosity
and blind obedience. When l found
that she would go into the secret cham
Der. which particularly forbid her to
do. cut her head off and married anOth-
or. This went on happily for a number
of years and | became quite famous.
Standing in nocd Of a wife, unhappilY
met Fatima. very handsome young
woman. who. however, brought with
her all appcndase in the shape Of an old
woman whom she called her nurse. But
have every reason to believe that old
woman was sorccrcSs or a witch. Be
fore had Time to lay my new historical
iniunctionS on my wife the old witch
gave my wife DO tn IL poIaatum and
advice. Fatima applied the p"matum on
my face. and my blue beard came off as
if by magic. Now, the moment lost
my blue beard lost nll-couragr. pres
ti:c, even manhoud, all WAS lost. My
wife and her old witch then made Il
mcnial Of me. and behold my plight |
have tc scrub the floor and do all sorts
Of mcnial work. But am secretly in
search Of a fairy witch or devil who may
Ivy some magic power restore my hiuc
heard, and then shall hc in power
again aud have vengcanct.'
Twenty-Five years have now passed
since saw this curious hurlcsque, bus
l have often thought Of ii. AS fan-
cicd at the time, there was a moral in
the story. Empcrors, Kings, Princes,
statesmen. Generals, financierS, stock
gamblers, merchants, &c, all have at a
time a blue beard. which, when they
lose it, they lose all. And invariably
they run about in the world in search Of
= fairy. witch, or devil to restore to them
the lost blue beard. The latest exam
pie Of the kind is the loss Of their blue
boards ny Mr.. Blaine and Mr. Samuel j.
Randall and their frantic search for the
lost appentlages.
Mr. Blaine lost his blue beard when
he lost his election, and Mr.. Randall lost
his whcH he was put hors lie c0mbat
by Mr.. Carlisle for the Speakership.
Both these gentlemen imagine that the
tai ly,sswitch, or devil who can restore
to them the SO much regretted blue
beard is Protection, and they r.aturallp
invoke this magic power, which, like all
ficnds, is playing them false.
Now. sincerely regret that Mr. Blaine
should in his own State have the CHEST
nut bclP rung on him when he was
trying to get his lost blue beard back
by upholding protection. regret it
because | am spelling for good fight to
show clearly the folly, wrong, and wick
cdncss Of the protection robbery system.
And it may naturally follow when
show, FOR instance. that during 10 years.
say from 1870 to 1880, the productive
capacity Of the cotton mills has incrcas-
cd 40 per cent, while the wages during
the 10 years have fallen or h"crrascd As
per-, and the average price Of daily labor
in Fall River is about 621i% cents day
that might have the chestnut bell''
runS on me also, as | have shown up
such and many more robbcries like them
for the last 20 years. Yet l am consolcd.
because the difference Of the chestnut
bell between tariff reformers and tariff
upholders is this ): The people being
tired Of hearing the virtues Of a protec-