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?i'??i7on AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. "&IZ2?'
Vol. ATIX. IV3v Ulooiiifiold, Tn,., Tuesday, rny 27, 1873. TVo. SI.
: . . - . ,
it
IS PUBLISHED EVERT TUESDAY MORNING, BY
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For The llloomnold Tlmon.
"CONSIDER THE LILIES."
BY SIIORTFELLOW
" O, the chilly vernal season 1
O, the slow returning summer !"
Sighed the " Epigaa repens,"
Peeping forth to see if Flora
Had not come to wake her children
From the sleep of dreary winter.
But the rosy ". Epigjca"
Shuddered as the chilly breezes
Rudely swept the perfume from her.
Waiting for the voice of Flora,
Boon she heard the Goddess calling,
Where the earth was bare and windy,
Calling for her breeze-born danghtor,
" Anomosa nemorosa ;"
Heard "Thalictrum," a frail cousin
Of the Wind-flower " Anemone,"
Answering the regal goddess
From the conch of " Anemore."
Scarce had Flora crossed the brooklet
Where the " Caltha" was abathlng
When the ever-peevish " Crowfoot,"
Burning with her own harsh nature,
Railed because the gentle Flora
Had so long delayed to wake her :
Said the flowers had all been sleeping
Longer than it was their habit f
That the " Symploearpus" never
Had been known to be so tardy ;
That the " Alder" next door neighbor,
Still had been an early riser.
" Softly,' said the gentle Flora,
" Add not to thy fiery nature
Acrimonious words for others, '
Lest they too resort to railing."
" Go," said Flora to the " Crowfoot,"
" Go where many smiling daughters
Spread their beauty o'er the landscape,
Scenting all the air with sweetness i
Learn from them that, late orearlf,
Every blossom has its mission. w
Be thoo, like the " Erythrouium,"
Ever meek an8 unassuming ;
Or like " Viola" sweet and lowly,
Constant when the tempest gathers.
Be not vain because the day-god
Clothed thee in his golden mantle ;
Beauty shnns the brazen brightness,
Kneeltng where tbe softer blushes
Of the mild " Claytonla" greet her.
8bort enough It your existence
For accomplishing your mission i
Waste It not in Idle murmurs
At tbe season or the weather.
Even now thy mates are passing
To the earth, their common mother.
List I there comes a plaintive wailing
Trembling on the moaning zephyr.
'Tls tbe voice of lamentation
For tbe lost and lovely Primrose.
So they pass but still their sweetness
Lives la grateful recollection.
The Sailor's Story.
ONE evening, not long since, a number
of old ship-masters chanced to meet
at social supper, and after the cloth was
removed we went in for yarn spinning,
And among our number was Captain Rich-
ard Nutter, and a finer man or better sailor
never trod a deck. At length it came bis
turn to tell a story, or, what we preferred
and what the rest of us had done re
late some incident of experience in his own
life.
" Well, boys," he said, as he rejected the
wine, which was at that moment passed to
him for the first time, " I will give you a
bit of the early part of my ocean life, and
It is a very important bit, too, for upon it I
have built tbe whole of my subsequent
manhood."
We prepared to listen to Captain Nutter
with tbe moat profouod attention, for be
was not only an old seaman, but one of tbe
mout successful commanders In our mer
cantile marine. We listened, and bis story
was as follows :
. " I was very young when I first entered
on shipboard, and at the sge of fourteen I
considered myself quite a sailor. When I
was eighteen I was shipped on board an
East ludiuoMM for a Ions voyage. There
were six of us on board of about the same
age, and we had about the same duties to
perform. The" ship the old Lady Dunlap
was a large ono, and our crew was large
in proportion, there being fifty-two, all
told. We ' boys,' as wo were called, mess
ed together, and in all other respects were
separate from the rest of the crew, just as
much as the officers were. Our captain
was a noble-hearted, honorable man, kind
and generous, but yet very strict. Of course
we youngsters found plenty of occasions to
find fault with him, and very often were
his decisions arraigned before our mesa and
decidedly condemned. In fact, we should
have reversed many of his judgments if we
had the power; but as he was commander,
and we only foremast bands and boys at
that he bad his own way, and the lumi
nous decisions we came to were consequent
ly of no avail, and lost to the woVld.
1 Now, we boys bad learned, in the
course of our travels, to drink our grog as
well as any sailors. We could toss off a
glass of rum and water with as much grace
as any one, and we claimed the right so to
do, not only as a piivilcge, but as an honor
to which a life upon the ocean entitled us.
But even in this respect our captain pre
tended to differ from us. When we could
get on shore, we would invariably indulge
in our cups, and not unfrequently would
we come off, or be brought off, in a state
anything but sober. I said ' we,' but
there was one of our number who could
not be induced to touch a drop of anything
intoxicating. His name was John Small,
and he belonged in one of the back towns
of New Jersey.
"Now, Jack Small not only refrained
entirely from drinking himself, but he used .
sometimes to ask us to let the stuff alone.
He gave that job up, however, for wo made
such sport of him that he was glad to leave
us alone. But our captain had sharp eyes,
and it was not long before he began to
show Jack small favors which he did not
show to us. Ho would often take Jack on
shore with him to spend tbe night, and
such things as that, while we were kept on
the ship. Of course this created a sort of
envy on our part, and it ended in a decided
ill-will toward poor Jack.
" Now, in truth, Jack was one of the
best fellows in the world. He was kind,
obliging, honest, always willing to lend a
helping hand in case of distress, and as
true a friend as ever lived only ho would
not drink with us, that was all. No that
wasn't all; he learned faster than we d id
he was a better sailor, and learned more of
navigation. But this we tried to lay to the
captain's paying him the most attention,
though we knew better at the time, for we
had the privilege of learning just as much
as we had a mind to. The truth of the mat
ter was, we five loved the idea of being
old salts' bettor than we did anything else
and we spent more time in watching for
opportunities to have a sproe than we did
in learning to perfect ourselves in the pro
fession we had chosen.
" It even got so, at length, that Jack
Small was called upon to take the deck
sometimes, when the officers were busy,
and he used to work out the reckonings at
noon as regularly as did tbe captain. Yet
Jack was in our mess, and be was a perfect
eyesore. We saw that be was reaching
rapidly ahead of us in every useful particu
lar, and yet we wouldn't open our eyes.
We were envious of his good fortune, as we
called it, and used to seize every opportunl
ty to tease and run him; but be never got
angry in return. He sometimes would
laugh at us, and at others he would so feel
ingly chide us that we would remain silent
for awhile.
" At length tho idea entered our heads
that Jack should drink with us. We talk'
ed the matter over in tbe mess while Jock
was absent, and we mutually pledged each
other that we would make him drink at the
first opportunity. After this determination
was taken, we treated Jack more kindly,
and be was happier than be had been for
some time. Once more we laughed and
joked with him in the mess, and he in
return helped us in our navigation. We
were on our homeward bound passage, by
the way of Brazil, and our ship stopped at
Rio Janeiro, where we remained a week or
so. One pleasant morning we six young.
sters received permission to go on shore
and spend the whole day; and accordingly
we rigged up in our best togs and were
carried to the landing.
"Now was our chance, and we put our
heads together to see how it should be
done. Jack's veiy first desire, as soon as
he got ashore, was to go np and examine
the various things of interest 1n the city.
II wanted to visit the churches and such
like pluees, and, to ptoane trim, we agreed
to go with him if he would go and take
dinner with us. He agreed to this at once,
and we thought we had him sure. We
planned that after dinner was eaten, we
would have some light sweet wine brought
on, and that we would contrive to get rum
enough into what he drank to upset him,
for nothing on earth could please us more
than to get Jack Small drunk, and carry
him on board in that shape, for then we
fancied that the captain's favoritism would
be at an end, and that he would no longer
look upon our rival with preference over
ourselves. We bad tho matter all arranged
and in the meantime we paid Jack all the
attention in our power so much so that
he at length signified a willingness to go
anywhere to please us, provided we would
not go into any bad) place.
" Dinner time came, and a most capital
dinner we had: We had selected one of
the best hotels, for the prices were no high
er there than at places of lower repute,
and, in fact, not so high, for these low
places fleece us sailors most unmercifully.
Tho eatables were despatched with be
coming gusto, and then tho wine was
brought on.
"Ah I what have you here ?" asked Jack
betraying some uneasiness at the appear
ance of the glasses and bottles.
" Only a little new wine," I replied, as
carelessly as I could. " Mere juice of the
grape."
" But it is wine, nevertheless," pursued
ho.
" It isn't wine," cried Sam Pratt, who
was one of the hardest nuts old Ncptnne
ever cracked.
"No," chimed in Tim Black, another of
about the same stamp. " It's only a littlo
simple juice. Come, boys, fill up."
' The glasses were accordingly filled,
Sam Pratt performing that duty, and ho
took good care that Jack's glass had a
good quantity of sweetened rum in it.
" No," said Jack, as the glass was mov
ed toward him. " If you are going to com
mence thus, I will keep your company with
water while you remain orderly, but I will
not touch wine."
This was spoken very mildly, and with
a kind smile, but yet it was spoken firmly
and we could see that our plan was about
being knocked in the head. We urged
him to drink with us only one glass, if no
more. We told him how innocent it was,
and how happy bis social glass would make
us, but we could not move him.
"Then let him go 1" cried Tim, who had
already drank some. In fact, all of us but
Jack had drank more or less during the
forenoon! "Let him go we don't want
the mean follow with us."
" That's it," added Sam, with a "bitter
off he goes.' "If he's too good to drink
with his shipmates, we don't want him."
"You misunderstand me," said Jack, in
a tone of pain. I am not too good to drink
with you, in the sense in which you would
take it, but I do not wish to drink at all."
" Too stingy that's all," said I, deter
mined to make him drink if I could. But
Jack looked at me so reproachfully as I
said this, that I wished I had not spoken
as I did.
" If you wish to enjoy your wine, mess
mates," said Small, at the same time rising
from his chair, " you can do so, but I beg
you will excuse me. I will pay my share
of the expense for the dinner.
" And for yotir share of the wine," said
Tim, " for we ordered it for you."
" No," returned Jack; I can not pay for
any of the wine "
" Mean " cried two or three at a breath.
" No, no, messmates not mean. I will
pay for the whole of the dinner for every
article you and I have had in the house,
save the wine."
" And as be spoke he rang the bell. He
asked the waiter who entered what the
bill was for tbe company, without the
wine, and after the amount bad been stated
be took out his purse to pay it, when Sam
Pratt, who was our acknowledged leader,
caught his arm.
- " 'No not so,' sard Sam. 'You shall
not pay for it, for we will not eat at
the expense of one who will sneak out of s
scrape in this way. We want nothing
more to do with you unless you take a
glass of wine with us "
" Very well,' said Jack; and as he
spoke I could see that bis lip quivered, and
that be dared not speak more.
" He turned toward the door then, but
before he could reach it Tim Bluke ran and
caught him; at the same time exclaiming
"' May I be blessed if you go off so, any
way. You've commenced, ajid now you've
got to stick to it.'
' " 1 This was the signal for us to com
mence again, and once more we tried and
urged Jack to drink the wine ; and when
we found that the urging would not do, we
commenced to abuse and scoff. We ac
cused him of trying to step over us on
board the ship, and of all other bad things
of which we could think. For awhile the
poor fellow seemed inclined to let his anger
get the upper hand ; but at length he
calmed himself, and, stepping back to his
chair, be said :
" 'Shipmates, will you listen to me for a
moment?"
" Silence gave consent, aud in a moment
more he resumed :
" ' Since matters have come to this pass,
I have resolved to tell you what I had
meant to keep locked up in my bosom."
' We had always thought, from Jack's
manner, that there was something peculiar
connected with his early lifo, and we were
all attention in a moment.
" ' My story is but a very short one,' he
continued, ' and I can tell it an a veiy few
words. From the time of my earliest child
hood I never knew what it was to have a
happy homo. My father, was a drunkard I
Once he had been a good man aud a good
husband, but rum ruined all bis manhood,
and made a brute of him. I can romembor
how cold and cheerless was the first winter
of my lifo to which my memory leads my
mind. We . had no fire, no food, no
clothes, no joy, no nothing, nothing but
misery and woe I My poor mother used to
clasp me to her bosom to keep me warm ;
and once once, I remember, when her
very tears froze on my cheek I ' Oh I how
my mother prayed to God for her husband;
and I, who could but just prattle, learned
to pray, too. And I used to see that hus
band and father return to his home, and I
remember how my poor motiier cried and
trembled.
" ' When 1 grew older I had to go out
and beg for bread. All cold and shivering,
I waded through the deep snow, with my
clothes in tatters and freezing feet almost
bare ; and I saw other children dressed
warm and comfortable, and I knew they
were happy, for they laughed and sang as
they bounded along toward school. Those
boys bad sober fathers. I knew that their
fathers were no better than mine had been
once, for my mother had told me how
noble my own father could be if the ac
cursed demon, rum, were not in his way.
But the fatal power was upon him, and
though he often promised and though he
often tried, he could not escape.
J 'Time passed on, and I was eight years
old, and those eight, years had been years
of such horror and suffering as I pray God
I may never see another experience. At
length one cold morning in the dead of
winter, my father was not at home. He
had not been at borne through the night.
My mother sent me to tbe tavern to see if
I could find bim. I had gone half the way
when I saw something in the snow, by the
side of the road. I stopped, and a shudder
ran through me, for it looked like a human
form. I went up and turned the head
over, aud brushed the snow from the face.
It was my father, and be was stiff and cold !
I laid my hand on bis pale brow, and it
was like solid marble. He was dead 1"
" Poor Jack stopped a moment and wiped
his eyes. Not one of us spoke, for we had
become too deeply moved. But he soon
went on :
" ' I went to the tavern and told the
people there what I had found, and the
landlord sent two of his men to carry the
frozen body of my father home. O ship
mates I I cannot tell you how mother wept
and groaned. She sank down on her knees
and clasped tbe icy corpse to hor bosom
as though she would have given it life from
the warmth of her own breast. She loved
her husband through all his errors, and
her love was all-powerful now. The two
men went away and left the body still on
the floor. My mother wished me to come
and kneel by her side. I did so. " My
child," she said to me, and the big tears
were rolling down her cheeks, " you know
what lias caused all this. This man was
once as noble, and happy, and true, as man
can be ; but oh I see how he has been
stricken down t Promise me, my child,
oh I promise here, before God and your
dead father, and your broken-hearted
mother, that you will never, never, touch a
single drop of the fatal poison that has
wrought for us all this misery."
" 0 shipmates 1 1 did promise, then and
there, all that my mother asked, and God
knows that to this moment that promise
has never been broken. My father was
buried, and some good, kind neighbors
helped us through the winter. When the
next spring came I could work, aud I earn
ed something for my mother. At length
I founed a chance to ship, and I did so ;
and every time I go home I have somo
money for my mother. Not for the wealth
of the whole world would I break the pledge
I gave my mother and my God on that
dark, cold morning. And even had I made
no such pledgo, I would not touch that fa
tal eup, for I know that I have a fond, do
ting mother, who would be made miserable
by my dishonor, and I would rather dio
than bring more sorrow upon her head.
Perhaps you have no mothers ; and if you
have, perhaps they do not look to you for
support, for I know you tSo well to believe
that either of you would ever bring down a
loving mother's gray hairs in sorrow to tho
grave. That is all shipmates. Let me go
now, and you may enjoy yourselves alone,
for I do not believe that you will again
urge the wine-cup upon me.'
"As Jack thus Bpoko, he turned toward
the door, but Tim Black stopped him.
" 'Hold on, Jack !' cried Tim, wiping his
eyes and starting up from his chair. ' You
shan't go alone. I have got a mother,' and
I love her as well as you love yours, and
your mother shall not be happior than
mine ; for, by the love I bear her, I here
swear that she shall never have a drunken
son. I will driuk no more.'
" 'Give ub your hand,' cried Sam Pratt ;
i ll go witu you. v
" I waited no more, but quickly starting
from my chair, I joined the two, and ore
l.i f Iwi nlwila Aira rf ,,a ininul ntUl, T . 1-
Small in his noble life-plan. We called
for pen, ink, and paper, aud made Jack '
draw up a pledge. He signed it first, aud
we followed him ; and when the deed was
done, I knew we were far happier than we
had been before for years. The wine upon
the table was untouched, and the liquor wo
had drank during the forenoon was now
all gone in its effect.
" Toward evening we returned to the ship.
There was a frown upon the captain's brow
as we camo over the side, for he had never
known us to come off from a day's liberty
sober. But when we had all come over
the side and reported ourselves to him, his
countenance changed. lie could hardly
give credit to the evidence of his own
senses.
" 'Look here, boys,' he said, after he had
examined us thoroughly ; 'what does this
mean?"
" 'Show him the paper," whispered I.
"Jack had our pledgo, and, without
speaking, be handed it to the captain.
He took it and read it, and his face changed
its expression several times. At length I
saw a tear start to his eye.
" 'Boys,' he said, as bo folded tip the
paper, 'lot me keep this ; and if you stick
to your noble resolution, you shall never
want a friend while I live.'
' " We let the captain keep the paper ;
and .when he had put it in his pocket, ho
came aud took us each in turn by the hand.
He was much affected, and I knew the cir
cumstance made him happy. From that
day our prospects brigbtoned. Jack Small
no longer bad our envy, for he took hold
and taught us navigation, and wo were
proud of him. On the next voyage we all
six were rated as able seamen, and received
full wages, and we left not that uoble
bearted captain until we loft to become offi
cers on board other ships.
" Jack Small is now one of tbe best mas
ters in tbe world, and I beliove the rest of
our party are living, honored and respected
men. Three years ago we all met the
whole six of us at the Astor House in
New York, aud not one of us had broken
the pledge which we made in tbe hotel at
Rio. Four of us were then commanders
of good ships, one was a merchant in New
York, and the other was just going out as
American Consul to one of the Italian
oities in the Mediterranean.
"You know why I do not drink wine
with you, and of course you will not urgo
it upon me, nor take my refusal as a mar k
of coldness or disrespect."
Fiddling for a Dancing Bridge.
Tbe Franklin Institute Journal says ;
Wheu the bridge at Colobrook Dale (the
first iron bridge in the world) was build
ing, a fiddler came aloug and said to be
workmen that he could fiddle their bridge
down. Tbe fiddlers thought this boast a
fiddle-de-dee, and invited the itinerant mu
sician to fiddle away to bis heart's content.
One note after another was struck upon
the strings until one was found with which
the bridge was in sympathy. When the
bridge began to shake violently the inored
ulous workmen were alarmed at the unex
pected result, and ordered the fiddlor to
top, .