davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
BUTLER TURNS REPUBLICAN AT
LAST.

We do not suppose Marion Butler
calls himself any thing but a republi-
can now that he has organized and
been elected president OF the North
Carolina republican club I'm Washing
ton City. He has been q republican
in everything but name f6r d long time.
We AXE this action On his part to be
an open avowal Of complete utilization
with that party. He is o openly
where he has been at heart for a long
time. His idea, we suppose, is TO be-
come the leader of that party in this
state, purposing thereby to advance his
political fortunes in national affairs.
If he can make Mr.. Roosevelt and the
leaders of the party believe that he is
able to WELD influence with a large
number of the people of this state who
formerly followed hin into the popu-
list party he may be able t make
something for himself out OF the re-
p~ublicans.
1uCIC Sdu UC IItIlC uOuDI tHdt lit 10
anxious to get back into politics and
the only way he can do this is through
the republican party. The populist
party no longer exists and there would
be no chance to carry out his ambitious
and selfish schemes were he to come
back to the democrats. The latter
know him too we'll to give him politi-
cal preferment. SO his only hope is
through the republicans; and while
they understand him as thoroughly as
do the democrats they have more use
for him than have the latter. They
think hat he may draw off some
strength from their political foes, but
they need not expect him to aid them
any further than is necessary to adj
vance his own political interests. They
honors upon him in order to be sure
Of his carrying out his part Of the bar
gain; but we do not believe Mr.. Butler
will ever again be as prominent in the
affairs of his state Or of the nation as
he was as at the time of the coalition Of
his party with that of the republicans
which made him master Of the political
affairs of the state for a while and put
him in the United States senate for n
term. His republican friends will find
that it will be harder for Mr.. Butler
to deliver the goods than it was in 1894
and 1896, We do not believe he can
add much strength to the republican
party in this state, and the old line re-
publicans will soon get tired Of his
bossism and attempted control of pa
trOnaSe.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
A PURE
No Italians Killed on the South and
Western Railway Construction Force.
Pushing Work on That Road.

The m widely circulated that
seven Italians had been killed at a
railroad camp in Mcdowell county Dy
some man, Is a fabrication. One day
last week a Mitchell county man at
camp No. l In that county had a fight
with a squad OF Italians and hurt some
OF them badly, but no one was killei.
| presume this Is what gave rise TO
the rumor that a number were killed.
The construction work on the South
and Western railroad in this
Is being prosecuted with much vigor
A large number Of hands are engaged
in grading the road bed from the Nit
chell county line TO about six miles
south Of Marion. Recently a change
has been made In the line south of
Marion The line as at first located
made a detour to the southwest from
Marion Much work had been done on
the line, but all the force has been
called In and put to work on the newly
adopted line. which will be near, and
parallel with the three C's railroad, by
way Of Thermal City direct 10 Ruther-
fordton. b object Of which, / un-
derstand Is to make a connection with
the Seaboard Air Line at Rutherford
ton--Marton Special TO Asheville Ca
zette-News.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
Bought Seat in Car.

1t sometimes takes the southerner
who comes to live north a good while
to get used to northern ways. This is
especially true in connection with his
casual relations to the negro. Most
southerners have a strong liking for
the negro who conducts himself be-
comingly. and the liking is recipro-
Gated; but old customs still hold
good down south, and. as everybody
knows, the black man is held to be
vastly inferior to the white, no mat
ter how low in the social scale the
white man may be. and northern Gus
toms are sometimes obnoxious.
A six-foot-two Viriginian, accom-
panied by a oma got on a Market
street a There was no seat and no
offer of one. Nearby was a colored
man, whose right to his e was az
incontestable as that Of his white
brothers. But the Virginian seemed
annoyed. He shifted his big frame
from one foot to another and looked
meaningly at the offender; but the
colored man did not seem &c notice.
Then the Virginian had a happy
thought. He took a dime from his
pocket. proffered 1t to the negro, and
said simply, in a matter-of-fact way:
Here, I want our seat for this lady
The colored man rose to the &C.
casion without a ord. Whether he
would have done the same for a
northern man. even If the northern
man had known how to go about it
is another question. - Philadelphia
Telegraph.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
They Lost Each Other.

els this the place where you inquire
about lost persons in the city," ask
ed an excited young man who rushed
into the Tenth and Thompson streets
station. Sergent Acker informed him
that he was correct.
"Are you lost or have you lost some
body?" queried the police official.
i've lost my wife," replied the young
man, who said he was Edwin Simpler
of Shelbyville, Del. isn't it awful?
We were only married last week and
came to Philadelphia to spend our
honeymoon. l missed my wife Is min
utes ago. We were on Broad street.
and as we passed Paramount avenue
l turned around to say something to
Mrs. Simpler, and found that she was
gone"
Acker took a description of the WON
an and Simpler was seated in the SER
geant's room to wait word of his miss.
ing bride.
Scarcely Is minutes elapse before a
woman entered and told Sergeant
Acker h had lost her husband.
His name is Simpler, is it not"
asked the sergeant.
well Of all things" the woman
said, "if you Philadelphia police aren't
the slickest. l have a cousin who is
a constable and he told me the police
here was smart, but l had no idea
that you were all mind readers, too"
The couple were united, and as they
left the station house, arm in arm,
they solemnly vowed that they would
never again get separated.-Baltimore
American.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
HIS STRANGE PETITIONS
The Rev. Joseph Penniman Shocked
His Congregation.

The early records Of the town of
Bedford, Mass. show that in the revo-
lutionary period there dWelt there a
person, the Rev. Joseph Penniman.
who was a constant our of joy and
anxiety because of his idiosyncrasies,
and especially because Of his prayers.
At the funeral service of a townsman
who was killed in the fight at Concord,
Mr.. Penniman prayed: 1--WE pray
Thee, o Lord, to sen the British SOL
diers where they will do some good,
for Thou knOWest that we have no use
for them here"
Later he paid a visit to a public
school, and, according to the custom
Of the day, was asked to pray. 1--WE
pray Thee, o Lord" he said. that
these children may be we'll trained at
home, for if they are no they will act
like sarpints when they are abroad"
In a season of drouth the good man
was asked to pray for rain, and de-
livered this i~nvocation: 90 Lord, Thou
knowest it is very dry in these parts.
The grass is all dried up, and we pray
heaven and pou is out a copious
rain" The rain came the next week,
and in such quantities that crops were
ruined, so the following Sunday the
parson prayed: 20 Lord. we did pray
to have the bottles of heaven unstop-
ped. but we did not ask Inee TO throw
the corks away Half the hay on the
river meadows has f1oated down
stream and the rest is so water soaked
that the cattle will never eat it."
This prayer was too much for the
good brethren, and they held a hearing
to demonstrate with the pastor. They
decided to give him another trial, and
as a proof Of their forgiveness asked
him to close the hearing with prayer.
Then the parson forgot all his good
resolutions to deliver only dignified in
vocations. and prayed, 20 Lord, we
pray thee that we all, pastor and peo-
pie. may jog along together in harmo-
ny through this vale Of tears. n af-
terward be permitted to hitch our
horses together in the horsesheds Of
salvation on high"
In spite of his eccentricities the Rev.
Joseph Penniman was a cultured, edu-
Gated man and was graduated from
Harvard College in 1865.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Tuesday Is the day for the joint
Wheeler memorial exercises. A great
many acceptances of Invitations are
being received. There will be in atten-
dance prominent men from every sec
ton of the country. 1t will be truly
a joint tribute to the memory of me
distinguished man who fought under
both the Stars and Bars and the Stars
and Stripes. The national officers of
the United Confederate Veterans and
of the Grand Army Of the Republic
will take part in the exercises. After
the memorial exercises there will be
a reunion of the blue and the gray.
No doubt it will be a big time for
those veterans who attend. Then after
it is over both sides will be on the
lockout for accounts in the papers of
some uneharitable remarks that were
made or some unseemly act done. The
joint memorial services may be all
right, as General Wheeler was both j
confederate and federal officer and died
bearing the rank of brfgadier general
in the army of the United States.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

We did not think Greensboro was
sucn d slow town. What is the matter
with your street a line officials,
Brother Reese?
Why is it that because of a rail bros-
en- 1.-The other day" trolley cars now
cannot cross the ~street?" Send that
broken rail down to one of Whining
tens machine shops and have it
mended, so the patrons of your street
car line will no longer be put t such
great inconvenience.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
"THRIRTEEN CLUBS BANQUET


Many of the secret societies of the
University of Virginia have rituals as
secret as The mental proeess Of ihe
periwinkie, but Ii REMAINED for re
Thirteen Club, on the 18th dag Of
March to hold a banquet. whose scheme
vas enough to make the cold chiils
run down the back of the boldest-
The Thirteen club defies superstition.
laughs at the omen OF i'll luck and has
chosen a cenotaph in token of their
contempt for the vanes that urn il
either TO the breath OF superstition
On the evening the 18th the thir-
teen entered their mess hall single hie,
passing beneath a ladder that each
might absorb his quota OF the evil 10
befall. AT the door every member
drew a paper, numbered up TO IS. The
man drawing the highest number was
to take upon himself whatever luck,
good or bad. that would accrue for the
defiance Of the phantoms who inhabit
the unknown.
Upon the table for a c~enterpiece was
a grave sever feet long of newly dug
earth. Upon the tombstone was in
scribed the name of the man drawing
the thirteenth number and this in
ScrlpLlOQ. D1eQ between MaTcQ Ip,
1906 and March Is, 1907. Superstitio
in amino Inscli Solum Habitat"
The thirteenth man sat facing the
tombstone. Around the table were
raised IL umbrellas and a man sat be-
meath the threatening shadow Of each.
AS each member drew his chair up 20
the banquet board he broke a small
mirror and turned over a salt stand.
The dinner cards were in the shape
of a coffin lid. and each had a quota
ton regarding superstition. Ices were
served in tiny collins: in front Of the
plates a single pin was laid pointing
toward the diner. The napkins were
white with black borders and the rings
were human vertebrae. Thirteen in
ver.ed horse shoes ornamented the ia
BILE. At the head of tn board vas 4
human skull. a snake and a dagger
and the number Is. During the han
quet a bird was loOsed in the room
and f1uttered on the window.
The old members of the club ar
G. S. Brent, T. P. Bryan, j. D. Pasco.
J.. w. Burke, E. NJ. Daniel and r. P.
Bell. The initiates were W. W. Gaunt.
w. G. Kollock, S. G.. Christian, B. H
Brown, G. l.. Clark, NJ. T. Cook, S.
w. Aldrich.0Charlottesville Dispatch
to Baltimore Sun.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
Vanderbilt ut Monte Carlo.

William X. Vanderbilt, Jr., was twice
refused entrance to the Casino during
his present visit here. On the day OF
his arrival here he presented hiInslf
at the gambling oom door. One OF
the half dozen polite ~Frenchemen who
guard the entrance raised a hand and
said:
Monsieur cannot enter"
Why" exclaimed Mr.. Vanderbilt.
The Frenchman pointed to the young
m~illionaire's collar. 1t was not white,
but had the faint colored pattern on
it that his shirt had.
mo n can enter here unless he
wears a white collar" said the guard.
Young Vanderbilt protested, but was
bowed aside. He went TO the bureau,
being nettled, and made complaint.
Il regret 10 say that the objection
against you Is quite In order" said
the chief. The rule is inexorable."
So Vanderbilt went to his hotel and
put on q white collar. Then he walk
ed past the ushers.
The whole thing was ridiculous"
said young Mr.. Vanderbilt. But what
mortified me beyond words was the
~patronizing air Of approval with which
the doorkeeper said when / returned:l
All! Monsieur's costume now Ia
quite proper."
Again having been for q walk in The
rain. Vanderbilt went Z the same
door. Another usher said:
Pardon. Monsieur cannot enter.
Monsieur's rousers are turned up."
Young Vanderbilt looked down. His
trousers were turned up. What the
deuce Is the ~difference?" he inquired.
Monsieur must know that coins
sometimes fall from the tables" OBJ
served the doorkeeper, and they
might get caught in the turned-up end
Of Monsieur's pantaloons."
So Vanderbilt submissively turned
down his trouser ends.-Monte Carlo
Dispatch TO New York Times.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

The News and Observer very peril
taxes on the ten million dollars he
swears he is worth; that as he also
swears he is a citizen of North Carolina
the commissioners of Durham, his
home county should give him a re-
aliZing sense of what citizenship in
North Carolina is worth by putting his
property ON the tax list" If so
many Of our people Of mean would
not turn tax dodgers we would not
hear any more complaint about high
taxes.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
WILKES COUNTY WOMAN AR.
RESTED FOR COUNTERFEIT
ING.

What has got the matter with the
North Carolina women? Only he
Gently the public has been twice star
tied by announcement of women in
postofices being arrested for taking
letters or otherwise tampering with
the mails. Now comes news from
Greensboro that a woman from Wilkes
county has been arrested in Green's
boro on the charge of counterfeiting.
Her ostensible business was collecting
contributions for building a church in
Wilkes county. A special dispatch
from Greensboro to The News and Oh
server gives this account of the woman
and of her arrest:
On complaint of Secret Service
Agent Thomas. United States Commits
sioner Wolf issued a warrant tonight
for h arrest of Mrs. Alice Smoot, of
Wilkes county, charged with counter
feiting.
She was arrested at Clegg's hotel
and on an examination of her baggage
fifty silver counterfeit dollars and some
counterfeit nVe OOIlar gold pieces were
found. Other money found she claim
ed was a contribution for building a
church, and a list of contributors she
had showed that she was soliciting
funds for building a church in Wilkes
The detective has been shadowing
the woman some time. Today he got
a counterfeit five dollar gold piece she
had passed in Winston and arrested
her soon after her arrival.
In default of bond awaiting trial
Saturday. the oma was placed in
the custody of Jailer Busick.
She is handsome. intelligent and had
with her a suit a of fashionable
clothing. The detective thinks he has
spotted a nest OF counterfeiters operat-
ing in east Tennessee and western
North Carolina.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

One would think the Laxative idea
in a cough syrup should have been adj
vanced long before it was. It seems
the only rational remedy for Coughs
and Colds would be to move the bow
OF the throat and lungs at the same
time. Kennedy's Laxative Honey and
Tar does this. 1t is the Original Lax
alive Cough Syrup, the best known
remedy for Coughs. Colds, Group.
Whooping Cough, etc. Tastes good
and harmless. Sold by r. r. BeIlamy.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
TUESDAY, MARCH 81, 1906.
THE CHATTANOOGA LYNCHING.

That lynching in Chattanooga is
likely TO prove a very serious affair for
some people. 1t seems probable that
the supreme court of the United States
will take the matter up and issue pro-
cess for contempt against the sheriff
and other officers who had the negro
in charge. The alleged contempt lies
in the failure of the sheriff to keep
the prisoner in custody until the SUI
preme court has taken final action on
his appeal to that court.
The president has interested himself
in the matter and has instructed the
department of justice to aid the Ten
nessee authorities in ferreting out the
c~ulprits and bringing them to justice.
Secret service men are said to be on
the scene for the purpose of working
up the case.
With the federal supreme court af-
ter the sheriff and other officers with
contempt proceedings for allowing the
mob to secure their prisoner and the
department of justice backed by the
president at work to discover who
were the lynchers and to punish them,
it looks as if this is one lynchjng
which will result in somebody being
punished.
The lynchers and their friends are
pursuing the wrong course in sending
threatening letters to the district at
torney, warning him against making
an investigation into the lynching.
Such conduct will spur the government
on to greater efforts to apprehend and
punish the guilty parties. These lynch
ers will find that having all the ma
chinery of the department of justice
and of the federal supreme court put
into operation for the purpose of Sc
curing their detection and punishment
is a very different matter from the
usual pro forma investigation by Il
%coroner's jury composed for the most
part of their sympathizers and friends.
We look for somebody to go to Jail
before this matter is ended.
This affair was an unfortunate one
in more respects than one. 1t oes
seem that in as large a city as Chat
tanooga a mob of the size which lynch
ed that negro could have been prevent
ed from breaking into the Jail and
committing the crime had any deter
mined effort been made by the officers
to prevent it. 1t looks like connivauce,
neglect of duty or incompetency on the
part of the officers.
Already the lynching has brought on
serious antagonism between the two
races in that city and a bloody conflict
was narrowly averted. If the officers
are imprisoned or any of the lynchers
secured and punished by the federal
government the negroes will consider it
a victory for them and there will be
danger OF their presuming on this to
such an extent that their conduct will
become unbearable to the whites and
serious race trouble will be the conse-
Quence.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
OPERATOR BEGGED RELIEF
Would Not Get it and Fearful Wreck
Followed.

1t is reported that F. Lively, the op-
orator whose nap is said to have been
responsible for the wreck on the Dem
yer and Rio Grande, asked three times
before the wreck that he be relieved.
He felt the strain of long hours. The
dispatcher, it is said, told him TO wait
for the regular operator to relieve him.
The coroner's jury at Canyon City re-
ported that he could not return a YER
dict until Lively and Operator Van
duszen are heard from. Neither can
be CONDITIONER Dispatch.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Down in Georgia they are making
strenuous efforts to defeat Hoke Smith,
first by naming a cigar for him and by
the free circulation of reports that he
changed his name in early life from
Mike" to "Hoke.'-Raleigh Times.
If he is half as good as a man as
was his Tar Heel relative Mike Hoke
he is good enough to be the governor
of Georgia or any ether state.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

1t is reported that Cyrus B. Watson
is a candidate for the congressional
nomination in the fifth district. If this
be so be and Mr.. Kitchin will have a
warm time of it before the nominal
Kitchin's position on the fast fail ap-
preparation may hurt him some.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Mayor McNinch, of Charlotte, brings
out D. A. Tompkins, of that city, for
democratic candidate for president in
1908; says he is the man to fit the
Parker idea. We are now waiting to
hear from Greensboro. She must not
let Charlotte get that for ahead Of
her.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

You feel the life giving current the
minute you take 1t a gentle soothing
warmth. fills the nerves and blood with
life. It's a real pleasure to take Hol-
listers Rocky Mountain Tea 35 cents,
Tea or Tablets.-R. r. Bellamy.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

The Durham Herald says hat "if
Mr.. Hearst gets he nomination we will
be sorry for you fellows who feel that
you have to vote for him" Many will
vote for him, taking pleasure in the
knowledge that the vote is being
thrown away.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27
Reauisition for Chinaman Refused.

Atlanta. Ga. March Ex-Governor
Ferrall today declined to grant the
requisition of Governor Blanchard OF
Louisiana for the extradition of Lum
Woo. a Chinese who was wanted in
New Orleans for alleged completely in
a murder committed there nearly II
wears ago.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Among modern institutions which
Tokyo will not adopt. is the sky-scrap-
er. In a country where they rock the
babies to sleep by can OF an earth
quake, q Eorty-story building would
hardly be NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Hives are a terrible torment to he
little folks, and to ome older ones.
Easily cured. Doan's Ointment never
fails. Instant relief. permanent cure.
At any drug store. so cents.
The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-03-27

Say. Dick. what Is this new fad
they call phonetic spelling?" Its the
kind, Jim. they used to fog you and
me at school for using."-Baltimore
American.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-10-10
HIGHLAND CROFTERS.
How They Lived In the Middle of tn.
Last Century.


Last Century.
In the middle of the last century
the croftcrs In the west highlands
seldom saw mouey aud never needed
ii. They erected for themselves huts
mostly built Of turf, foored with clay
aud rooted with heather They kept
a few cattle goats and sheep, which
graZed at VIII ON the open hillside
and provided them with milk and
wool. They lived truly simple life,
and their needs were few. They grew
oats for their own food and potatoes,
which formed their other chief article
OF diet Tea was an unknown lux
ury. 1t was by no means uncommon
to lind persons who had never tasted
1t. Wheaton bread had never been
seen IN those parts. Their clothes
were made from the hceces of their
own sheep, spun and woven by the
good wives during the long winter
nights and dyed from the simple dyes
made from the lichcns which grew ON
the stems of trees or on the powders
of rock in the ncighhorhood The
whisky they drank came from secret
stills ON the hillside and had never
paid excise The nearest parish
church was often many miles away.
No school was there for the children.
Very few OF them, indeed, could read
ar write. Still fewer had ever heard
a word Of English spoken. Their spir.
itual needs, however, We're not neg
lected, for they received constant Wis
It's from the men," MS they were call
ed, who had constituted themselves the
spiritual guides of their neighborhood.
Blaebwood's Magazine.