Thursday, February 28, 1901
February 22, last Friday, was “bee day.” The beekeeper, in order to have luck with bees, must require all his family to stay at home that day and they must sweep around the hives and otherwise care for them. Another superstition about bees is that only honest people can succeed with them.
GOOD GOVERNMENT
A wave of virtue seems to be sweeping across this here broad land of ourn. Whether Mrs. Carrie Nation is the cause or effect of the crusade against vice is the question. We think she is an abortive product of the spasms of virtue. She may mean well but she substitutes a worse form of law breaking in an effort to put down vice. She represents mob violence, a thing that American people seem prone to resort to.
The endeavor to drive vice underground and out of sight is to be seen in almost every section and the nation is calling for a division of the people on this subject.
The most notable raid of a joint was that in New York the other day when the gambling house known as the Parole Club was raided. Among the gang rounded up as witnesses was Marice F. Holshan, President of the Board of Public Improvements. He was discovered as one of the frequenters of the house.
He was carried off his feet at first but soon recovered himself and said, with a sad and dignified manner, that he was searching for a poor misguided nephew who had taken to gambling and who he thought might be in that particular house…
CAHILL’S ELEPHANT
James Cahill, the farmer near Martins Ferry, has an elephant which he works on this farm about which so much has been written in the West Virginia press. He finds the beast invaluable. Last week, Mr. Cahill was away from home attending court and Mrs. Cahill was left at home with her younger children.
The day was dry and windy, and the kitchen roof took fire from a spark. The Cahill homestead was in great danger of being burned to the ground and the property was uninsured. As usual in such emergencies, the ladder could not be found.
Suddenly Jumbo trumpeted and came towards the house with long swinging strides. A horse trough stood near, filled with water. The elephant filled his trunk with water and deftly squirted it on the fire and repeated the performance until the flames were subdued and the house saved. Having satisfied himself that the danger was over, the intelligent animal returned to a straw rick and resumed his feeding.
WANLESS
Good weather, but hay is scarce.
I notice that the Durbin correspondent informs us that Justice Arbogast has purified the town of Durbin by closing the saloons. We wish he were omnipresent so the North Avenue of Cass might get some of the same.
Aunt Margaret Wanless, relict of the late Andrew Wanless, departed this life on the 12th of February. She lived to be 80 years old and had been a member of the M. E. Church for a number of years. She has gone, we trust, to the rest that remaineth for the people of God.
STAMPING CREEK
Good morning, Mr. Editor. How is your liver?
We certainly commend the action of our Prosecuting Attorney in breaking up the illicit sale of intoxicating liquors. Let the work go on, Summers, you will find all the better class of citizens at hour back.
Say Summers, couldn’t you break up this speakeasy at the mouth of Beaver Creek? Our boys come home on Saturday evening with their faces flushed and their breath tainted with mean liquor.
Mr. Editor, your correspondent from Stamping Creek last week tried to make the impression on the reading public that Mrs. R. A. Grimes had a dance at her house. We desire to say that she does not have dances at her house, neither does she have such characters as –––– about her house.
DIED
At his home near Huntersville, February 23, 1901, Montgomery A. Friel, aged about 60 years. In youth, Mr. Friel was a Confederate soldier and went out as one of the Pocahontas Rescues as captain. He was a good citizen and is worthy of remembrance for the exemplary Christian life he lived. He was an enthusiast on sacred music, an intelligent reader of the papers and a thoughtful observer of current events. His home is known far and near for genial and liberal hospitality. His bereaved wife, Mrs. Rachel Friel, is a daughter of the late James E. Moore, near Millpoint, an eminent local preacher…
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Mrs. Elva Reed, near Huntersville, was so broken down and prostrated by her self-sacrificing attention to her lamented father, Montgomery A. Friel, that she is now critically ill in a similar manner.
