The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-02-09

came the property to Mr. Gadsden
and the Hen was acquired by the dea-
con. The legend is that subsequently
the Hen was assimilated into the dea-
conial system in the guise Of pie. The
Gander, however, survived the gener-
al political wreckage of last Novem-
ber. There was scandal to the eff
feet that he had devoured the several
blades Of grass on Deacon Hemphlll 5
lawn in Charleston, and that bill
for this devastation to the amount OF
$14.82 having been levied on his head,
he was held by Mr.. Gadsden acting
rather as receiver than trustee.
However that may be, the Gander
appeared at the Taft banquet. From
that moment hilarity ceased. The
circumstances and the suspicion at
tending the transaction in him were
too fresh and painful to permit jo
costly or further wine bibbing.
His wings clamored forth, thous-
and dumb but heart-piercing tongues,
drowning all the sound Of merriment.
sternly banishing all light or humor-
Gus thought. And new and distract
ing doubt developed. The Associated
Press dispatches, presumably dictated
by Deacon Hemphill, spoke Of the
bird as a goose. Deacon Hemphill is
supposed to know his once cherished
charge more intimately than any liv-
ing man. He is supposed to know
also that a gander is a gander and a
goose is a goose. Furthermore, Judge
Taft in his speech spoke Of the his
toric "goo:e,' and he had ba:.i il
company with Deacon Hemphill and
presumably was informed by him.
Has a new scandal developed atop
the horrid heap Of scandal already
so high accumulated? Has the Hong
Kong Gander inadvertently repudiat-
ed his supposed sex by the laying Of
an egg and by misguided endeavors to
set on it and perofrm maternal fune-
tions? Or is the bird now present IN
or around Charleston changeling, a
substitution, procured by some dark
plot of town bred conspirators to
whose inexperience gander is
goose and any goose a gander?
This matter may not be fobbed off.
It is vain to attempt to dispose of it
by hypocritical suggestion that the
bird may be most appropriately pres
ented to the war ship North Carolina
because Of its supposed derivation,
along with Andrew Jackson and the
Mccklenburg Declaration, from the
State of that name. The plain pee
pul will demand to know what devious
methods the living gift intended to
initiate the Bryan campaign is sent to
follow in the train of Taft, on his
way to Manila. Suppose the rotun-
dity and weight of Taft should be IN
creased by meal based on Our Peer
less Leaders country, and especially
Of the Carohnas, tamely endure such
miscarriage, such perversion, of Elder
Caldwell's patriotic purpose?
If the bird now OF recently at Char
lesion is the original Hong Kong
Gander, we demand to know why and
by whose authority it is now insulted
in theAssociated Press dispatches as
goose. This question of gander
should be cleared first of all, although
the name Macduff may be adopted
safely, because if it really is a goose,
the admonition to lay on will be ap-
propriate, while if investigation prov
es conditions to be otherwise, the OBJ
vious mission of vengeance will justi-
fy it. But the question IS, wheth-
er the real bird was given the North
Carolina as mascot; and if so, un-
der what conditions; and the deeper,
darker question is, if this is not the
real Hong Kong Gander, what the
fate and final destination Of that
Gander was?