davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
A WORD Personal.

It being still rumored in some sections that the
Editor of The Progressive Farmer and Cotton
Plant IS to resign his present position in order to
become one of the editors of a New York maya
zine, it may be well for us to assure our readers
that we purpose staying at our present post. A
position offering twice the writer's salary as Edi-
tor last year was not easy to put aside; but we be-
lieye that there is a great future for this paper
the effort to make it the one great farm and home
weekly of the South. Toward this end we shall
bend all our energies, and we hope that every
member of The Progressive Farmer Family will
understand that he can help by renewing his own
subscription promptly and by putting the paper
into new homes in his neighborhood. We ought
to double our present circulation this ear-and
will, if every subscriber will join us in the resolu-
ton to do it. VIII you help?
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
nd clearly. Don't forget State Agent Parker,s

and clearly. Don't forget State Agent Parker's
letter next week.
There's only one thing wrong with our Home
Circle age-and that is that we failed to get in
the usual quantity of humor. It is a high tribute
to the soundness of American literary taste that
the twenty best selling books are of such merit as
those here mentioned. Omitting "Romola,"
"Thelma," and "The First Violin" all are really
great books. We wish to emphasize the Garden
Magazines suggestion in regard to replanting
trees and shrubs from the woods. There's many a
city man who would cheerfully give a hundred
dollars for the average farmers beauty oppor-
tunities in this one particular. And a whole vol
ume of fact and advice is boiled down in our
half column article on "The Main Facts About
Consumption" Read it.
Our other departments contain the usual array
of helpful features this week. "Our Social Chat
grows better with age. The Teachers Reading
Course if of great educational value and Mr..
Audrey is only one of many general readers who
are enjoying it. In the Sunshine Department this
week Mrs. Ransier describes in very vivid fashion
a visit to a great South Carolina cotton mill.
Whether or not you are in the habit of reading
Sunshine, you will want to read this letter.
There are some other good articles, but we think
that these alone will give. the reader his two
cents worth. And the paper, by the year, really
costs a little less than two cents a week.
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
How the South May Gain Her Lost Prestige.

Before the War Between the States, Southern
statesmen directed the policies of the nation and
filed the largest place in the eye of the people.
They wrote few books, but their speeches illuml-
mated every subject which they touched and set
the fashion of political thought. In this day it
is not too much to say that what any Southern
man thinks of political questions or governmental
duty carries no weight in their final settlement.
There must be a cause underlying this fact. What
is it? How shall it be remedied? Until 1865 the
Southern States, while in form a democratic
government, were in fact, an aristocracy and out
of this aristocracy they chose,-as aristocrats ever
do,-their best men for public service. The
wisest, the strongest, the most learned were ever
to the front-they were the natural leaders of a
brave and generous people who followed their
leadership with pride and pleasure. With the
close of the war the democracy arose and each
man became a factor in the government of his
country. Leadership was not so able or cultured.
More blunders were committed and more unwise
views rropagated and believed in. Aristocracy
was always trained. Democracy, If it is to be eff
fective, must likewise be trained. Universal edu-
cation is, therefore,, the imperative and only rem
edy for our loss of power in the nation.-Gov.
Charles B. Aycock at Southern Educational Asso-
citation.
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
TAKE ARE OF THE COTTON.

We are glad to see the announcement of the
Southeastern Cotton Buyers Association Gas
given on page IL that all damaged cotton will
command less in the markets than cotton which
has been properly cared for. It is a shame that
so little attention is usually given to this matter.
As Charity and Children say, "a great many grow
es take no more care of a bale of cotton than
if it were a grindstone." AS a result of so much
being held this season, however, buyers are likely
to give cotton more careful scrutiny than ever
before, and those who keep their bales off the
ground and out of the weather will find that it
means money In their pockets.
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
THIS WEEKS PAPER-soME RANDOM COM
MENT.
MENT.

Right here before the New Year gets well start
ed we wish to commend to all our readers Capt
Petty's advice, on page /, "Give the Girls a
Chance" What he says about the possibilities of
earning pin money by caring for poultry, bees or
COWS, ought to be taken to heart in every family.
Give the boys a chance, too. Give each a field or
can, and put him on his mettle to make the most
possible out of his opportunity.
Capt. W. E. Audrey is one of those wide-awake
synonym for progress, and we are glad to have
his cordial endorsement. His review of our last
number makes very interesting reading.
Prof. H. Ell. Williams letters are always short,
Juicy, practical. The Editor wishes to thank
both him and Capt. Audrey for their kind personal
references.
Z Our other agricultural features this week are
well up to the standard. Mr.. Miller makes some
helpful suggestions on commercial fertilizers, and
we shall print more fertilizer matter from this
time on. The time has come when this subject
tnmg else. Last week Ut. burkett dlscusseu the
feeding and fertilizing values of cottonseed, and
nexe week he will write on Applying Manure to
the Land"
The discussion of terracing is growing very in
teresting and the end is not yet. Besides Mr.. Nc
DowelPs excellent letter, we have two other ter
racing articles left over for next week.
Name your farm-this is one of The Progress
sive Farmers hobbies, and the clipping from the
Danbury Reporter is only another cline upon
line" etc.
d. LIS "Winter on the Farm is one of this
weeks features you can't afford to miss, and and
we would especially commend the concluding sug-
gestion that the older people share with the
younger some of the great literary treasures now
at their disposal. To read a great masterpiece of
fiction or some great serious work will give you
pleasant memories of this winter for a long time
to come.
Our olive Stock and Dairy Page contains three
strong articles-one on Feeding Horses" one for
bee-keepers, and one for dairymen or cattle own
ers. The silo ought to have had a place in the
New Year resolutions of a great many farmers,
and Mr.. Moore's suggestions will be found helpful
to all that intend to build.
In ga Business Talk" we have tried to give
some honest, straightforward business advice as
to the best places to buy improved implements,
machinery, seeds, fertilizers, etc., etc. This is a
matter that concerns your pocket-book, and we
hope that every reader will take our advice, send
for the catalogs of our advertisers, compare the
merits of different goods, and purchase the best
and cheapest. Don't lay this number aside until
you read "a Business Talk"
Cotton growers everywhere wish to know the
results of the New Orleans Cotton Convention,
and on page 6 all the main facts are given fully
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK.

Inestimable is he to whom we can say what we
cannot say to ourselves. Others are involuntarlly
hurtful to US, and bereave us of the power or
thought, impound and imprison US. AS when
there is sympathy, there needs but one wise man
in a company, and all are wise-so a blockhead
makes a blockhead of his companion. Wonderful
power to benumb possesses this brother-trom
Emerson's Considerations by the Way.
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31

employees Is continued the expense will he between
$4,000 and $4,000 more than in 1903. And the
Statesville Landmark is not alone in its curiosity
as to what 20 "laborers" can find to do in one
small assembly hall. The secret of the whole mat
ter is given away by Col. F. A. Olds in this para
graph: These positions are secured by members
generally; one sharp member is found to have
four of his friends In positions. The situation
IS quite embarrassing. Of course most of these
positions are given as rewards for work for the
party here and there, promises having been made
long before hand"
The so-called Lacy relief bill furnished the most
sensational feature of last weeks sessions. 1t will
be remembered that Clerk Martin, under State
Treasurer Worth, stole $4,000, and Worth had
to sacrifice all his property to repay the State
the theft not being discovered, however, until
about a month after Lacy succeeded WORT. In
the meantime Martin-retained to train Lacy's
new clerk-had stolen 1874 more, which Lacy had
to pay. This amount Lacy now asks the State to
refund to him, claiming that his case is different
from Worth's in that he was not responsible for
Martins appointment. The bill for this purpose
passed both Houses last week, but the House re-
considered the matter next day and rescinded its
action. The Senate has made the repeal the
special order for Wednesday.
We are sorry to see a movement for repeating |
the ~anti-free pass law as it relates to editors. If
editors are allowed to accept favors from rail
roads without giving value received, what right
will they have to protest if judges and Legislators
and Governors do the same thing2 The writer
was one of those in the last State Press Associa-
ton who forced the withdrawal of a resolution
calling for a repeal of the present law. The As
ISOLATION very clearly refused to endorse the pass
scheme, and it ought not to succeed.
The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-31
Constitutional Amendments and Salaries.

Already several
have been proposed, but these are not meeting
with much favor. The House last week tabled
two-one for repeating the homestead law, and one
for changing the time of meeting of the Legisla-
ture from January to April. Judge Winborne's
amendment which would allow the Legislature to
give as much or as little as it pleased to negro
schools, and also allow each race to tax its own
members for schools, seriously threatens to pass.
We still believe that this agitation is unworthy of
our people, that it would stir up bitterness and
drive labor from our State, and that our educa-
tional authorities have ample power to divide the
funds properly. AS it is, they give each white
child $1.S9 against $1.14 for each negro child. We
repeat, Let us have peace.
The bill to increase the salaries of all judges to
So, 500 a year has passed the Senate by one major
ity, and now goes to the House. The salaries of
our Supreme Court judges should certainly be
raised, and there should probably be some increase
in salaries of Superior Court judges, but the pres
ent financial depression makes this an inoppor-
tune time for pressing the matter. The PROPOSE
ton to increase the Governors salary, it will be
remembered, was withdrawn early in the session at
at the request of Governor-elect Glenn Senator
Scales created something of a sensation last week
by declaring that the bill was really formulated
and pushed by Governor Glenn's friends and that
his telegram was sent only upon its becoming ap-
parent that the bill could not possibly pass.
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12

BY HON. GEORGE w. PECK

Every colored man picked a tree and
the hounds kept coming, finally show
ing up jumping the fence and entering
the woods, and the planter cut club
to beat off the dogs. Pa looked as in-
nocent as John Wanamaker's picture
addressing a Sunday school, the giant
saw the dogs and started for tall
tree, and the fat lady said she couldn't
find any hole big enough to hide in.
and the idea" If there were not men
enough to protect lady.
Well. / never expect to see anything
so fine as the way those hounds run
with their noses to the ground, scat
tered i'm three packs, one pack on the
trail of each Of the three whose shoes
| had doctored. When they got near
us they broke up and went around
everywhere that pa and the giant and
the fat lady had walked, and fell over
each other. but finally one pack went
TO the tall tree where the giant had
climbed to the first limb, and stood on
their hind legs and barked salute to
him. He tremblcd so / was afraid
he would fall off but he wound his
arms and legs around the tree and
began to cry. The planter told him
whatever crime he had committed 1t
was all up with him.
IeIleu 10 IH' Nl99SI
The part of the pack that was on
pa's trail began to close in on pa and
I said:
pa. if you don't want to be dog
meat it is up to you to climb and
YOU better get a move one, or | shall
be an orphan mighty quick, cause the
dogs are starving"
Pa made a couple of quick jumps
and grabbed a limb of a hickory tree,
and was pulling himself up and re-
peating prayers, when the leading dog
reached up his nose and smelled pas
shoes when the intelligent animal gave
a bark and yell to the other dogs, as
much as to say:
"Thats the identical cuss. Eat him
alive"
He grabbed about a double handful
of the cloth of pas clothes right below
where his suspenders button on and
held on. and shook pa real hard, but
the cloth was tough and didn't tear.
Pa suddenly seemed to be endowed
with superhuman strength, for ne
drew himself up on the limb and
raised the dog from the ground, and
all the pack came around the tree and
set up a howl that scared pa so the
perspiration rolled off him, and he had
a chill so he shook like the ague.
Pa yelled to the planter, who was
holding up the fat lady, and said:
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12
anv Traits of Character Are Revealed i'm Ones HandWifi

quently blotted his page as he wrote,
probably sign of nervousness.
The handwriting expert calls the
hand of Lord Macaulay a disgracefully
bad one An admirer of Macaulay, re-
membeying the polished style of the
great essayist. will be surprised at this
manuscript. The writing is not only
irregular, but careless in the extreme.
The formation of the letters is full
of whimsicalities. 1t shows, however,
that Macaulay was a very rapid writer
and that he could write much better
when he cared to. 1t is interesting to
note the number of corrections he made
even in so short page. The ink is
badly blotted and the interpretations
are not properly made. especially since
the sheet was intended for the printer,
while it is inconceivable that the great
master of style was unfamiliar with
such simple rules for the preparation
of copy.
Another interesting example is the
Bede.' In some respects her hand
writing resembles that of Dickens. 1t
too is a typical rapid running English
hand, paying little attention to the
exact forms of letters Many of her
letters are irregular and badly formed,
yet the effect is satisfactory to the
printer. Among the group of writers
mentioned above George Eliot is the
only one who wrote with steel pen.
George Eliot wrote what is termed a
light hand, whereas Dickens wrote
heavy one.
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12

had told me he should dsown me
from that moment | said | was willing
to run any gantlet, so they all cut
switches and formed in two lines ana
let me run down between them.
/ thought it would be fun, but when
I started and every last man gave me
cut across the end of my back with
a hickory switch 1 yelled murder and
run between the giants legs and tack
led him like football. ] toppled him
over against the next man and that
man hit the giant In the stomach, and
everybody began to fight, and the fes-
tivities broke up.
L went to the house with the boy and
the dogs, and we set the dogs on a mess
of cats and treed everything alive on
the plantation. Finally the whole
crowd came back to the house and
had another lunch with mint julep and
champagne and then everybody was
hugging some one and crying on each
others neck and swearing that the war
was over and that the north and the
south were one and inseparable, and
the two together could whip the whole
world.
Pa somehow saw double. I was
standing alone. smarting from the
switching l got when pa came up to
me and said: II want you two boys
to understand that / don't want any
more experiments played on me. 1 can
take a joke as well as anybody, but
when you set a hundred dogs on my
trail I am no gentleman see? Now we
will so back to the show"
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12

Here, Mr.. Confederate. I am not
lock your dogs jaws and free me,
cause ] can't hold up a 90-pound dog
by my suspenders much longer. If this
is southern hospitality 1 don't want to
be entertained no more"
The planter leaned the fat lady
against tree and went to pas tree
and took the dog by the hind legs and
pulled him Off
The planter yelled to the negroes to
come down and help handle the dogs,
but Just then the boy who started the
dogs on the trail at my request came
up whistling with a dog whip In his
hand and all the dogs surrounded him
and he made them lay down and roll
over. All of the scared people came
down from their perches in the trees
and the dogs painted and lolled as
though they had been having a nice
run for their money.
The old planter asked the boy how
the dogs had happened to get loose,
and that fool boy told the whole thing,
how / had asked him to let the pack
run and how l had put anise seed in
the shoes of pa, the giant and the fat
lady. Then you ought to have seen
what they did to me.
The planter said they usually had
lynching when the dogs made a run.
but that was impossible in this case.
so he suggested that they make me
run the gantlet. l didn't know what
running the gantlet was, but after pa
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12
Sans Great Collection of Trophy Guns

their boats destroyed. The American
loss was two killed and wounded.
The privateer was sunk to prevent its
falling into the hands of the enemy,
and this gun was many years after
wards presented to the United States
by the Portuguese government"
At the entrance to the navy yard
are two magnificent bronze guns cap
tured at Tripoll by Dectur' They are
inscribed:
ION the 31st day of August, 1904,
Captain stephen Decatur in command
of an American gunboat off Tripoli
boarded and. captured in succession
two Tripolitan gunboats armed with
this and the adjacent gun
Arranged in a circle near the sea
wall of the navy yard are score
of heavy guns captured by Federal
guns saw bloody service on the Albe-
marie, the Arkansas, the Florida and
at Port Hudson and other defences
along the Mississippi river
A handsome bronze gun taken by
the Constellation from the French
frigate LInsurgent, February 3, ll99'
stands at one entrance of the navy de-
partment.
AT the north front of the Navy De-
partment building there is gun PARK
| where are mounted trophies of tho
Revolution, Mexican, Civil and Spanish
wars. Among them are two bronle
! guns called the San Mateo and the
San Marco, captured In Mexico, a
6-pounder taken from Cornwallis
at Yorktown, 42-pounder columbiad
used in the defense of Fort Sump-
| ter, cast-iron howitzer used by the
| Republic of Texas against the Mexi-
can forces of Santa Ana, bronze
11-pounder captured at the battle OF
| Saratoga 1777. and a score of guns
from Cuba and the Philippines.
Two 1O-inch rifles and several
smaller guns are mounted at Arlington
close to the Spanish-American monu-
| ment
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12
Ex.Governnr OF Misconsln).

ture into the woods and began knock
ing nuts off the trees. All through
the woods there were signs mo tres
passing" and Beware of the dogs"
but the planter said to never mind
the signs. | told the boy to let the
dogs loose on the trail in about half
an hour, and went along with the
folks, and I told pa | had seen pack
of boodhounds that would eat people
alive, and If he heard hounds barking
to- run like a whitehead and climb a
tree.
With the Giant
got with the giant, who is a cow
ard i'm his own right and told him
the only trouble about these great
plantations i'm the south was the wild
dogs that inhabited the mountains
that would not hesitate to attack u
man if they got good and hungry,
hut there was no danger to him. be-
cause he was a good sprinter and
could outrun a jackrabbit. The giant
wanted to go back to the house, cause
he said he didn't want to run no foot
race with hounds and he had seen the
sign to beware of the dogs.
never ought to have done it, cause
the fat woman looks as though she
was built a purpose for apoplexy,
but | told ner, as trlenu, not 10
load herself down with nuts, but to
travel light. so if the wild dogs came
down to raid the plantation she could
crawl in a hole out of sight till the
dogs had eaten some of the men. She
came near, fainting right there, before
the dogs got busy
There were about twenty negroes
throwing clubs at the nuts, and every
body was having a big time. The tra-
peze performers were squirreling up
among the limbs, when suddenly, in
the distance. came the bay of the pack
of bloodhounds, and every negro
turned pale and got ready to climb a
tree The planter stopped to listen,
and when one of the managers of the
show asked him what was the matter
he said:
You can search me, sab. If that is
my pack OF hounds a crime has been
committed and the sheriff has start
ed the pack on the trail of the Grim
inal, sab, because the dogs are never
turned loose except for business"
Planter Took the Lead
Then the planter yelled to the mig
gers and said
IF any of you all are guilty of crime.
you hest get scarce or pick out your
tree and get up it mighty sudden,
cause the hounds haven't been fed
lately"
Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12

and after breakfast we rode out in the
country to his plantation in carriages
and express wagons and began to do
the plantation. The fat lady and the
midgets rode out together in a load of
cotton and when they got to the house
they had to be picked, like ducks and
they looked as though they had been
tarred and featherd.
Fine Luncheon
The planter gave us a fine luncheon
of fried chicken and corn pone, and
cider, and pa acted as the boss of the
circus folks while the planter and his
family, with about 100 negroes, passed
things around. They all seemed to be
interested in seeing how much stuff
the fat lady and the giant could hold
without putting up sideboards to keep
the food from falling off. If pa hadn t
told the negroes not to feed the fat
lady and the giant any more, there
would have been two circus funerals
the next day
1 got acquainted with a boy that was
the planters son, and while the rest