davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29
Old Plantation Days.
BY ARCHIBALD RuTLEDGE.
1. SAVING THE RICE CROP.

l. SAVING THE RICE CROP.
Hampton plantation, or which it
was my fortune to be born, is sit
uated on the lower Santee River in
South Carolina. There l spent the
first twenty years of my life, years
crowded with happy memories, with
incidents and adventures, tragic, pa
thetic, and humorous. Here I wish to
preserve only the best of those hap
penings, and by telling as simply as
| can what befell my brother Tom,
the negro boy Prince and myself, to
give a clear picture of those days
and Of our life on the plantation.
One Of the most characteristic of
our adventures was our battle with
the rice-birds during the year of the
great flood.
Every summer, during the month
of August, father used to leave the
work on the plantation in charge Of
his overseer, an intelligent negro
named Henry Snyder, and 60 to the
mountains Of North Carolina. He
would return in time for the harvest
in September During his absence
he could depend upon Henry to look
after the crop satisfactorily.
In summer the plantation was not
healthful, and we left it to live in a
cottage on the s%eacoast, ten miles
away. When father was gone, Tom
and / usually drove up to the planta-
ton four or five times a week, not
because we were needed there, but be-
cause we loved it.
There were ~alligators and wood
ducks to shoot in the river and in
the pine-wood ponds; there was good
fishing for perch and black bass in
the rice-field canals; and there were
delightful rambles through the thick.
cts in search Of blueberries, fox.
grapes, and big, thick-skinned musca.
dimes.
We also liked to 60 to the planta.
ton in summer because Of the din.
ners that Martha used to prepare
Martha was the wife of Will, the
hostler, and had been our cook fol
twenty years. She always gave III
a chicken, and heaped dishes o.
snowy, smoking rice, sweet potatoes
with the sugar oozing out on thei1
jackets, boiled okra, and sweet corn
and an abundance Of rich milk from
cows that had been p~asturing on thu
lush grasses along the river. Fol
dessert, we usually had a watermelo1
that one of the hands on the plac,
had brought from the field early il
the morning, and put in a barrel O
water to cool.
! After dinner we would read unit
the heat Of the afternoon had passed
or talk with some of the negroes un
der the trees. An hour before sun
set one of the men would hitch Vi
) the buggy, and we would start O.
7 our homeward drive through tn
! scented woods. ! shall never forge
those drives under the pines an
( ! through the dusky, fragrant water
Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29

veloped separate engagements below
Bauche on the west, at TERRA Blanca
on the front, and opposite Belin and
Yselda, Texas, to the east. More than
10, 900 rebel and Federal troops en-
gagged in the three battles. Americans
in Juarez were ordered out by Col.
Juan N. Medina, rebel commander.
Renewed private protection requests
followed by Charge O'Shaughnessy's
Mexico City rumors of contemplated
American marine landing at Vera
Cruz, cablegram caused Secretary of
the Navy Daniels to instruct Rear-Ad-
miral Fletcher to personally .investi-
gate the Tampico and Tuxpan situa-
lions.
Washington emphatically denied the
issuance of a marine landing order.
The Colombian, South America, Sen
ate, unanimously adopted a resolution
protesting against any approval mani
festation of the Panama despoliation
publicly admitted by its author, ex-
President Roosevelt.
Mexican refugees to America report
semi-official Mexican rumors of a Por.
firio Diaz financed living Felix Diaz
political party, headquartered in Ha.
vana and supported by both Mexican
Federals and rebels.
Intelligent Mexican rumors predict
the dissolution of the Mexican Con.
gress as illegal, and the holding Of an.
other election, directed by a commits.
sion, consisting of a United States
member, a Great Britain member and
a South American member, represent
ing probably Brazil or Argentina.
Refugees report a Mexico City cpl
demic of Brill's disease, smallpox and
scarlet fever.
The Breslau, Prussia, Germany, Mu
nicipal Council has appropriated Sc,
100000 for the establishment of a mu
nicipal department 20 lend money on
first mortgages.
County Judge Owens decided that
women can serve if they will as cleo
tion officials in every Chicago precinct
during next springs aldermanic cleo
lions.
The English Premier Asquith has
invited the Admiralty, the War Office
and the Board of Trade to consider the
construction of an English Channel
tunnel and prepare full reports to be
submitted. to the Imperial defense com
! mittee for a decision as to it's practic
atty.
Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29

courses where the myrtle berries
cleaned and the white-bay flowers
glimmered in the twilight Of the
thickets. The road was level, and
carpeted with p%ine-needles; and the
little creaking song Of the singletree,
as our roam racked along, is to me a
pleasant memory.
Thus we passed the summers Of
many happy years, until that event.
full summer when father, before go
ing to the mountains, told us that
we were to help Henry in managing
the plantation. Little did he dream
how great a help We should have a
chance to render.
The rice-planter has three dread
enemies: tornadoes, freshets, and
rice-birds. There is no adequate pro-
lection against a tornado. High banks
along the river, however, usually
control the freshets, caused by ex-
cessive rains up-country; and there
are various agencies for holding in
check the rice-birds that stop over
on their southwark migration to feast
in the ripenlng golden fields. Some
times negro children patrol the banks,
or negro "bird-minders' go down into
the rice and shoot into the largest
f1ocks. Sometimes it may be best to
give up a poorly headed corner to
the birds. AS a rule, after they have
been harried for four or five weeks,
rice-birds will change their feeding
ground, and take themselves to the
fields of some planter less energetic
than his neighbors.
Tom and / had seer a tornado, and
every year we saw che birds; once
we had ever seen a tornado and the
birds together, but until that summer
we had never had the rice-birds and
a freshet together on the eve of har-
vesting.
How we'll. | remember that cool
August morning! After turning the
roam horse loose in the plantation pas
ture, we were preparing for a deer
drive. We had cleaned our guns,
which we had not used since Febru-
airy; we had looked in the old har-
ness-room to see what we could find
in the way Of buckshot shells, and
we had called up the hounds.
But we were not destined to carry
out our plans. Before we were ready
to start, Henry Snyder appeared, and
told us that there was a rise in the
river, and that from the color OF the
water, he looked for a big freshet
He seemed troubled, and we were
glad to have him come to us for help,
81 heard the Birds fShis morning;
too" he said, in an anxious tone
"When / came across the Manifold
bank, they were lighting on the mar.
gins"
"Is there any danger from thu
freshet?" asked Tom.
"That Manifold bank" Henry ans
wered, with some pride, for he had
superintendent the building of it, "is
good for a twelve-foot water, but ]
can't tell what's coming down thu
river"
"How about the .birds?" | asked
"Is there plenty Of powder and shot
for them?"
Henry told us that the river steamer
had brought six bags of Number II
shot and a key Of black powder thu
week before. We consequently CAV
up the deer-hunt, to the keen disap
pointment Of the hounds. We wen
first to the river, only a hundred yard'
behind the house, and saw its yellow
water trimming from bank to bank
splotched with sedge and trash. I
} had lost its usual dangerous appear
Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29
CHARTER.
United States of America, State Of
Louisiana, Parish Of Orleans.
City Of New Orleans,
ACT OF INCORPORATION
Of the
RURRWOOD MERCANTILE COM
PANY. LIMITED.

All VT OIsTAAAON
Of the
BURRWOOD MERCANTILE COM
PANY, LIMITED.
October %, 1918.
On this the twenty-third day OF
| October, in the year of u Lord:
| One Thousand, Nine Hundred and
| Thirteen, and Of the independence OF
| the United States of America, the
| One Hundred and Thirty-eighth.
Before me, ARTHUR JOHN Pc
TIERS, a Notary Public, duly commits
stoned and qualified, in and for the
Parish of Orleans, City Of New Or
leans, State Of Louisiana, therein re-
l siding, personally appeared the per-
/ sons whose names are hereunto SUBJ
| sscribed, who declared, that availing
| themselves Of the provisions Of the
aaws of the State Of Louisiana, rela~
tive to the organization OF corpora
ton, they have covenanted and agreed,
Land that they do covenant and agree,
and by these presents, bind, form
and constitute themselves, as well
as such other persons as may here.
after join them or become associated
with them, into a corporation and
body polite in laws for the objects
and purposes following, to-wit:
ARTICLE /.
The name and style Of this cor
~poration shall be-: "BURRWOOD
MERCANTILE COMPANY, LIMIT
ED" and under that name it shall
have and enjoy all the rights, advar"
tages and privileges granted by law
to corporations; it shall exist Tor g
period of N~inety-nine years; it sinai
have the power to contract, sue ano
" CONTINUED on Page Four
Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29

ance, and now flowed swiftly and
silently, as if intent on some serious
business.
We were convinced that there was
trouble ahead, and went with Henry
to the storehouse, where we got shot
and powder with which to begin the
defense against the birds.
Down at the Manifold, a rich tract
redeemed from the river-marshes and
transformed into a rice-growing area
by means of clearing and draining,
we found a few scattered 1ocks of
birds. We noticed also that the fresh
ct water was climbing into the dew
berry vines lining the edges Of the
great bank that separated the field
from the river. I wondered at the
tremendous force that was behind that
creeping water, and thought how help
less we should be if it ever rose a
fraction of an inch above the bank.
The birds were newcomers, and con-
sequently shy; they preferred to 60
hungry rather than to risk being
shot.
There was little we could do that
day except watch the water as it rose,
threatening the observation-disclosures
rice-crop. We counted the new flocks
of birds as they came from the north
east, and planned to lombard them
the following day, until they crossed
the river to other ~rice-felds, or were
forced to forage on the waste lands of
the delta, or on the grass-felds Of
the uplands.
When we got to the plantation,
shortly after sunrise the next morn
ing, Henry met us with a frightened
face.
Waters way up, sir" he said.
Give got Primus and Lisbon throw
ing up a cap on the bank, but she's
gone over MI. Bellows. l hear the
Bellefield banks are gone, too. All
last night / lay awake, listening to
the water rolling over a break on
Rommey. As for the birds, l never
saw the like Of them. They darker
the sky, and they just keep on COM
ing from every SIDE"
l am afraid we were not sorry to
hear Of the great numbers OF rice
birds, for that meant rare sport fol
us. But the danger to the bank was
another matter. When we reached
the field, the vast yellow flood swept
on to riverward, as far as we could
see, unbroken except by a few
strengthening, half drowned trees
and the rocking tops Of submerged
canebrakes. It seemed to have en-.
quilted all the world to the east Of
us, and its swollen surface was only
a foot from the top Of our bank. The
temporary cap that the two negro
boys were frantically throwing W
from the rice-feld looked worthless
to me. The mud was soft, and o.
a sandy or "crawfsh" variety.
If ever the freshet topped the
bank, the rice would be doomed; fol
it was then in head, and to be sunk
under heavy muddy water for sew
eral days would reduce it to a sticky
tangled mass, not only worthless, bu'
an encumbrance to the land. Still
the bank might be nigh enough ant
strong enough to keep the water out
We were sufficiently familiar witt
the plantations on both sides Of tn
river to know that our Hainfield banl
; would stand if any bank would.
During the second day of the fresh
ct Tom and /, each with a single-bar
relied breecn-loading gun, guarded op
! posite sides of the big field. From tim
to time we shot a few birds. AT las
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

where any amount Of water can
be obtained. The Culver farm
lies three and half miles north
of Parowan. Immediately adj
joining this land on the north
east is G. w. Decker's farm on
which he has two 4a-inch wells
flowing $50 gollons per minute
and two 2-inch wells. w. T.
Morris & Sons land joins the
Decker farm on which they have
one 4a-inch and several Pinch
wells. Continuing north and
joining the Morris property i:
the land owned by William Rob-
erts. a thrifty. enterprising man
of Minersville. He has recently
sunk two Al inch wells with a
flow of $50 gallons. West of this
is the Myers and Jas. Miller land
on which Mr.. Myers has one g.
inch and Miller three 3-inch and
two 2-inch wells. Joining Mr..
Roberts on the northeast is
President l.. N. Marsden's farm
of 200 acres with two 4h-inch
wells flowing $50 gallons and one
8 inch well. Continuing north
east is j. X. Paramore's farm
with one Al and one 3-inch well
with a flow of $50 gallons. o. M.
Lyman's 160-acre farm lies 80
miles north of town. He has
two AZ inch and two 2 inch wells
flowing 500 gallons per minute.
From this water the past sea-
sons yield was 1900 bushels of
grain and 25 bushels of lucerne
seed. East of Lyman's farm Is
80 acres belonging to J. Clayton
on which he has one AZ
inch well and three Pinch wells,
400 gallons. On this
farm 900 bushels of grain and
30 tons OF hay were harvested
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19
OUR CHRISTMAS EDITION

This has been a strenuous
week in The Record office. The
fore part of the week was princi-
pally devoted to printing of the
Student, which the management
was anxious to have issue before
the students of the B. A. G had
returned to their homes, and we
went a little too far in trying to
accommodate them, at the cost
of our Christmas number of The
Record. The plan we had
drawn for it included a number
more special articles. part of
which have been written and
will appear in subsequent issues
of The Record one or two of
which are already in type but
could not be handled for a lack
of time, and part of which are
still in the embryonic stage, but
will take definite form later and
make their appearance in due
time. 1t would have required a
paper of more that 20 pages to
have accommodated all the mat
ter we had planned for. but it
has been impossible to handle
the work with the help avail
able. Could we even have given
one week exclusively to the holt
day number. we could have
satisfied ourselves much better.
To make room for the special
writeups published, we have had
to sacrifice local happenings al
most entirely. Plenty of good
items have become known to the
editor, but which have been alb
solutely unable to accommodate
them. Another year We will
have the situation better in
hand, and promise our readers
that a much more complete re-
sumo of the. years progress will
be given.
However, VIC feel that the
issue is coed as far as it goes,
and we have some excellent con-
tributioEs from our able writer's,
which are richly worthy OF
perusal. THE EDITOR.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

DR.. McGregor reports 10
pound son at the home of Mr..
and Mrs. George Bettridge. All
doing we'll.
The opera house is being fitted
up for practice by the district
School basket ball team. They
expect to play with the Cedar
team the 10th inst. and with
the Beaver boys at the begin
ming of the new year.
The 9Th grade department is
larger than for three years past,
Quite a number of older students
retained from last year are in
attendance.
Miss Eva Mortensen has been
employed as instructor in music
in the school. She is a lady Of
ability and we feel sure will be
successful in this position.
Practically all the 7th and 9Th
grade students are taking
Current Events" a splendid
weekly paper published in the
East and containing important
happenings throughout the
world. There is a question box
department wherein is answered
any question submitted by the
subscribers. The girls and boys
are now prepared to give news
items in mutual preliminary pro-
grams or elsewhere.
The girls of the 9Th grade are
organizing a basket ball team
and will begin practicing soon.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

this season. Four miles north
Of town is the Day farm of 440
acres and considered one of the
best in the valley. Edward
Mortensen has the largest well
in the valley the flow being $50
gallons per mintue. His land
lies along the slough line end is
better adapted for meadow and
pasture than farming. Mavor
Lowder has a 400-acre farm
north of town on which he has
IL wells with combined flow
of zoo gallons. 200 acres of his
farm is sown to alfalfa. The
best farming. land in the valley
lies Immediately north and West
Of the city. above the water belt
where artesian water flows. This
land will be brought under Guilt
walton by the use Of pumps Of
which there are three now in
use in the valley. belonging to
Mr.. Day, John T. Mitchell and
s. A. Halterman. These pumps
are now run by gasoline en-
gines but will in time be re-
placed with electricity. One of
the greatest advantages Of the
artesian flow is the possibility of
conserving the water under
ground by means of closing
valves when water is not in use.
The wealth of advantages
offered us through the reclama-
tion of the vast acreage of land
in our valley By means above
mentioned will be an achieve
ment of which our community
might well be proud. However
the future holds for us just what
we as citizens develop, the op-
portunities are before us, even
at our doors. let US improve
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

presented Dec. 23rd by the
Primary children. Much credit
is due the officers and teachers
for their untiring efforts in pre-
pairing the childrens' parts.
Henry Bentley and Roy Myers
have just returned from Los
Vegas in southern Nevada.
They are well pleased with the
country and the advantages it
offers for laboring men. They
expect to return with their fami-
lies and locate there.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

tremely interesting. Do not
fail to get started off with the
first installment, which we pub
fish this week. The story will
be continued from week to week
until its completion.
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

of the family who are teachin,
and attending school there thi
winter.
A Christmas tree and program
will be given by the SUNDAY
school on the evening of Dec
Oath. One teacher from eaci
department are acting as com.
mittee in charge. The children
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

are looking forward to the affair
with a great deal of enthusi-
asm.
On operetta entitled the EN-
chanted Christmas Tree" will be
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

In this issue of The Record
will be found the first chapter
of splendid serial story entitled
Initials Only" 1t is one of the
popular pieces Of fiction OF the
day, and will be found to be ex-
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

them. and always be found boost
ing for Parowan.
James Ollerton and daughters
Fay and Sadie leave for Provo
Friday morning to spend the
Christmas vacation with Mrs.
Ollerton and the other members
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

l.. Culver is the largest land
owner in the valley and also
owns the greatest number of
artesian wells, something over
40 in number. Two 4A-inch.
fourteen 3-inch and the remain
der Pinch wells. The entire flow
is about 1000 gallons per
minute. The yield on this farm
the past season was $500 bushels
of grain and $50 tons of alfalfa
hay. Mr.. Culver intends in the
future to put down 6-inch pipe
on his land lying in the belt
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19
Bank Report

Made to the Bank Commissioner Of the state
Of Utah, of the condition Of the Bank Of Irou
County, located at Parowan, In the County Of
Iron, State of Utah. at the close OF business on
the 2ist day Of November, 1918.
RESOURCES
Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1913-12-19

County OF Iron
r. l.. Clark, being first duly sworn according
to law, deposcs and says that he Is president
Of the above named bank. that the above and
foregoing report contains full, true and cor
rect abatement OF the condition Of said bank
at the close of business on the 2ist day Of
November. 1918.
X. l.. CLARK.
Subscribed and sworn To- before me this 18th
day Of November, 1918.
(seaU J.CIAY1 ON MITCHELL,
Notary Public.
My commission expires Nov S, 1915.
Correct, Attest;
WIN. ADAMS,
l.. N. MARSDEN
JOHN T. MITCHELL.
STATE OF UTAH
Once of Bank Commissioner.
I, c. A. GrAzIER, Bank Commissioner of
the State Of Utah, do hereby certify that the fore
goiug Is full true and correct copy of the
settlement of the above named company. 6ied in
my Office this 9th day of December, 1918.
c. A. GLAZIER,
Bank Commissioners