Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1910-12-02
BY F. A. M.lITcHE,

\ q. III
Copyright. 1910. BY American Press
{ Association. 81. ~
a On the South Carolina coast stands
one of those Imposing colonial edifices
for which that stare Is famous. !, 1t
was built during the times when the
southern settlers, requiring laborers to
work on their tobacco plantations. were
importing large cargoes Of African. me-
groes, who were held as slaves. It lis
Of brick, with large pillars in front
and. considering Its age is in "a, re-
markablea state Of preservation. This
is because a recent owner has put it
Id repair. 's + } $ ,+@, g 3-si - :.
8 Like other houses Of its kind dating
back to the Seventeenth century, 1t
was built out Of the proceeds Of he
groes. captured III Africa and sold as
slaves in America. But the slave trade
and its twin brother. piracy. were
not in that day deprecated as they
are or rather would be, today. He
who built the house referred to be-
came one Of the most prominent men
Of his time. Richard Granville was
not his name. but in bringing out the
antecedents of his descendants ii is q
far safer name to use than his own.
he began life as sailor. visiting ev-
cry country where there was trading
to be done, and q few of his older
slaves. who were house servants and
thus enabled the more readily to be-
come conversant' with his secrets.
handed down a tradition that their
master started bis fortune In piracy.
Be this as 1t may. up to the middle
OF the last century his descendants
did not deny that much Of his money
had been made In the slave trade. In
his old age his conscience troubled
him. and those who were nearest him
said that he desired to make some
reparation for his misdeeds. He had
q statue Of himself made Of bronze
and set It up on. a pedestal in a bay
window Of his library. The, left hand
rests on an anchor, and the right holds
q sextant-not a mock sextant;. real
one. though not of BRASS. but Of the
same material as the statue. He left
orders that no headsfone should mark
his grave. and 1T was supposed that
he intended the statue as substitute
for one. At any rate, no one now
knows where he is buried. &-;5
Different generations of his descend
ants discussed the statue and won
dered at the within which led their
progenitor to erect it. One: thing
about 1t excited special attention.
Every morning, the sun, shining in
upon it. strikes the eyepiece Of the
sextant and. passing through the tube,
casts assolar image on the opposite
wall. The; track Of this round spot of
light changes with the season, travers,
ing slightly different path each day.
There is another thing that, puzzled
the owners of the Granville estate.
The only. inscription on the statue, or.
rather, its pedestal, Is the date Of
Richard Granville's birth. And not
only IS the date given. but the; hour
and minute. Al n 5 ss4.s =. s'l :
& OF all topics connected with the
statue, probably the giving OF this
minute information was most discuss
ed. No one who saw it could remem-
Der having seen any memorial giving
either the hour and minute Of a birth
or the hour and minute Of a death
But one generation after another pass
ed away. and no plausible reason for
either the statue or >its singular In
scription was suggested. !. .a,s
4 During the civn war Elwood Gran
vile. the owner OF the estate at that
time, fought for the maintenance. Of
the ! system In the Introduction Of
which his progenitor took SO, impor-
Etant a part. Colonel Granville was a
religious man and one of those who
traced authority for slavery from the
Bible. After the war he. returned to
his plantation and began to RIM 1t
anew under the system that had been
born during the struggle E .=sss.ss e
IS "a few papers that had belonged to
the original Granville were handed
down through bis descendants They
had been preserved time and again by
different persons. but appeared TO con-
tain nofhing TO throw any light on the
puzzles connected with the writer or
receiver. One day Colonel Granville,
while amusing himself !. with these
documents, read letter from the
founder OF his house to q clergyman In
which the former said that he would
like to leave at his death d fund for the
benefit of the negro race Ia America.
but the time would not come Tor, per.
hags one OF two centuries when snch
a bequest could be utilized.
ls RELIABLY the statement had been
read d hundred times bys Richard Gran.
svilie'a descend ants wit ont. making any
marked impressio But Colonel Gran.
vile read it at ID time when the negro
slave had been just eInaneipated and
called ID aalf sthes ignorance induced by
his condit ion, citizenship The
meaning OF the Stat ement Ishe time
would not come FOR perhaps one 81
two centuries was plain to him
More than one centtlr had passed
NNh TT =