The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-19

Quaint FI.urei-rAIs which Have Inter
esting HIs;orics-Iiov some Of Them
Were Handled During the pr4fs EIotA.
a Fe-.tmIstte Ola Salt.
a battered LOOKING oil fellow. wearing
an antiquatel chin beard thA. was the
color Of picked oakum. stood an South
street yesterday, rlzsu., AZ one af the tas
clipper ships tia: was loading rroqara-
tory to 4 trip around the Horn 10 san
Francisco. Ills caze was somhcr lie
seemed in some way d.-conteute1 with
affairs rs tncy stoo1 Evidently he Was
not pleased with lie immediate sur
roundIugs.
Handsome ship, that" remarked q
bystander 10 the veteran.
''Hunph," sucrted re Of the oaken
beard. 'Mebbe You're : 5edge O ships"
We'll no. bat 1 th9ught"--
"OE, You cid" ret5rts the veteran.
We'll, thort you did. Wen, that air
clipper she air we'll enough for her. !
amt sayin' she amt 4 hit handsome 10
look at, but I've seen a heap better. Thar
wuz the Davy Crockett. She wuz q snip
Us was hansum an as did hansum. An
there wuz-but what's the use2 Times
IS changed an ships Is changed an South
street is changed. There's more wrecks
along here than anything else.
What dye think I seen along here
a while ago? Wen. l went in one Of
them junk shops where they keeps all
sorts of things that they picks up from
old ships, an shivcr me 81 thar in that
shop wuzr T the 1igurehead Of Z ship !
sailed in thirty wears ago. 'Twuz all
battered an broke, but knew it At once
Well, bought it, an I'm goin' 10 take
it up to Cnettykut, where | live, an
keep it there. An | amt go,n' voyagin
through South street any more. Il
makes me feel Ike . castaway hulk my
self" With this the ancient one re
laDsed into a silence which he would not
break.
THE OLD STYLE FIGURFIEAD.
In one respect the Old salt l7as right
enough. South street can show an
abundance of queer relics of wrecks and
relics Of brave men who have gone down
to the sea in ships within the last thirty
wears or more. There are q number OF
shops that keep all sorts Of queer things
on hand. They pick these things up in
a variety of ways, and there is IL consid
cradle sale for them.
There are fgureheads, for instance.
In the oiden time every ship Of any pre-
tensions had 4 tigurehcad. OSners of
vessels We'd in their efforts to secure fine
designs, and the enterprising gentlemen
who modelled the representations Of fair
maids, sea nymphs, Of trim midshipmrE
OF Of admirals in uniform did 4 right
pretty business. 4 simple sort Of scroll
work has taken the place Of the dashing
f7r,rres of the past.
OF cgf1raa there are exceptions. The
big Enxl;ss, four nle-tter, the Falkland,
has an exceIiei.t:g ,no1ele,, representa-
ton Of the Fair Maid OF !t'erth al,c>-e her
cltwater. The clipper ship Sczt.tt;Gie
has Seminole brave in full war pant.
and there are others. IN the main. how
ever, th,. Old tiDle dgnrehead has fallen
into desUctude.
Just of South street, before 4 sfop III
which nautical instruments are sold,
there IS the figure Of q sailor that has
evidently seen many and many 4 storm.
He looks rs tncngh he had been crimped
and shanghaied times bey0Rd number
Part of his nose is gone, some one has
made q pot shot at one Of his eyes, but
there is a jauntv, wicked leer upon his
| face and an expression that says:
..TTT4res 3 salt as has sailed, an be
blowed to ye.
EFF1GT OF GEN. BOIIVAG-
There are couple Of old tigureheads
! to be seen on South street that have had
very hard Experiences on land IS wei! as
on sea. One Of j1scse is an effigy OF Gen
Bolivar. and was the GgGreGe2d Of the
| ship Of that name.
Originally the efigy was 50 painted as
to appear dressed in full naval uniform,
| cooked hat and all. At the time Of the
| draft riots the rioters, having nothing
| else to Go at one time, stood acToss the
| street and fred bullets at him. He re
! ceived full many g wound that day, but
he stands il his place still, stiff and
| erect.
Another fgurehcad Jared even worse
] at the same hands. 1t was intended tc
| represent Samuel Kimball, Of Kennebec
| Ne. but it left the sea some forty year.
| ago. 1t was then placed where 1t no"
stands to call attention TO store. The
| draft rioters had rare sport with it one
| day They tied a rope around its neck
dragged 1t here and there in wild glee
Then they made it the central figure o1
bonfire Just as it was being consumed
the police came down ard rescued 1t
1t was rePainted, and today, irnpassiv'
and disrifed, it passes lis time studyin:
human nature as it IS On South street.
But there are other curios TO be fount
in this locality besides fGFlreheads
There is one shop where more or les
| rarljle articles can be found. Their
YOU can see ugly weapons taken fron
| Chinese aud Malay pirates: YOU can tn'
| queer looking weapons taken from na
tives On the African coast or Snc wa
clubs cf the Patagonians-at least yo
will be told they aIe.-NeT York MAJ
! and Express.
Ii is not alone the composition whic
determines the quality OF o@I; yer
much depends upon its shape. More
| Il-- n rGl n