Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-03-30
BILL NYEs sPARTACUs.

BILL N n > SfAhIACOSs
Ye call me chief, and ye do well
to call him chief who for twelve
long years has met. in the arens
every shape of man Or beast thai
the broad empire of Rome could
furnish and yet has never lowered
his arm. I do not say this to brag
however. but simply to show that
/ am the star thumper of the en.
tire outfit.
If there be one among you who
can say that ever in public fight OF
~rivate brawl my actions did belle
words, let him stand forth and
say it and will spread him around
over the arena till the coroner will
have to gather him up with blot
ting paper. If there be three in
all your company dare face me on
the bloody sands let them come,
and I will construct upon their
!. physiognomy such cupolas and
royal cornices and Corinthian cap
~itals and entablatures, that their
own mothers would pass them by
in the broad light of high noon
unrecognized.
And yet was not always thus, a
hired butcher-the savage chief of
still more savage men.
My ancestors came from old
Sparta; the county-seat of Marcus
Aurelius county, and settled among
the vine-clad hills and cotton
groves Of Sarsaparilla. My early
life ran quiet as a clear brook by
which I sported. My boyhood was
one long happy summer day. We
stole the Roman muskmellon
and put split sticks on the tail of
the Roman dog, and life was one
continuous hallelujah.
When at noon I led the sheep
beneath the shade and played
"sweet Bye and Bye" on my
shepherds flute, their was another
Spartan youth, The son of neigh
Dor to join me in the pastime. We
led our flocks to the same pasture,
and together picked the large red
nuts out of our indestrnetihlA
-sandwlches.
One evening, after the sheep had
been driven into the corral and
we were all seated beneath the
persimmon tree that shaded our
humble cottage, my grandsire, an
old man, was telling OF Marathon
and Leuctra and George Francis
Train and DR.. Mary Walker and
other great men, and how q little
band of spartans, under General
Howard, had withstood the regular
army. I did hot then know what
war was, but my cheeks burned, /
know not why, and I thought what
a glorious thing it would be to
leave the reservation and go on the
warpath.
But my mother kissed my throb-
bing temples and bade me go soak
my head and think no more OF
those old tales and savage wars.
That very night the Romans land
ed on our coasts. They pillaged
the whole country, burned the
agency buildings, demolished the
ranch, rode off the stock, tore
down the smoke house, and rode
their war horses over our cucum-
Der vines.
To-day I killed a man in the
arena, and when broke his patent
clasps and looked upon him, be-
hold! he was my friend.
He knew me, smiled some more,
said eta, ta," and ascended the
golden stair. I begged of the
Prator that 1 might be allowed to
bear away the body and have it
packed in ice.
Ay, upon my bended knees,
amidst the dust and blood of the
arena, begged thispoor boon, and
the Prator answered "Let the car
rion rot. There are no noble men
but Romans and Ohio men. Let
the show 60 on. Bring in the bob
tail lion from Abyssinia." And
the assembled maids and matrons
and the rabble shouted in deri-
sion.
And so must you, fellow gladia-
tors, and so must I, die like dogs.
Tomorrow we are billed to ap-
pear at the Coliseum at Rome, and
reserved seats are being sold at the
corner Of Third and Corso streets
for our moral and instructive per-