Marshall County Independent, Volume 1, Number 26, Plymouth, Marshall County, 12 April 1895 — Page 6

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AN EASTER OFFERING.

HE little church was crowded ; At the Joyful Easter uue The golden rays of morning sun Streamed thro the window wide; The bricht cross J!. !jfsOAnd threw it back v -vvi again. 3ti cd anthem Thro the echoing arches came. -The church was clothed in beauty; There were flowers everywhere, On organ, pillar and archway On altar, chancel, and stair. In the moment of holy silence, When the opening hymn was o'er, A little rustling sound Was heard from the open door. There stood a baby girl Ehe was not over four And her apron was full of flowers, 80 fall it could hold no more, Bhe looked so sweet as she stood there, The sunlight in each fair curl, And a blue sash trailing behind her. Dear, brown-eyed little girl I We bring some flowers for Jesus, The baby yuietly said; Then dropped them on the floor And looked around in dread. There were so many people 6he had never seen before, And she guessed she wanted Mamma. Bo she ran from the open door. The sunlight kissed the flowers God's flowers" the child had brought, And they lay there and preached a sermon. The text a genuine thought, From the baby through all the people, The spirit of giving spread. And the gifts that day wero largi By the child's offering led. The Home. SUNLIGHV was in the sky, upon the streets, over all things. The sound of church bells rose above the feolse of voices and of footfalls on tho sidewalk. What light, charming costumes the women wore, and the men how carefully dressed and how expressive f admiration and a desire to be especially amiable. One tall man, who looked prematurely grave for thirty years, walked alone. Few passers-by noticed hi face. Of those few some wondered that such melancholy was abroad upon this morning of mornings, this most radiant of Kastor days. A lithe, fair girl came down the steps of a brownstone house and walked off briskly. Sho wore a close gown of gray and a hat adorned with email, artificial spring flowers. Eighteen years of life, a fresh, handsome face, great gray eyes, a prayer book and n parasol in one of her small rioted hands, what a fitting picture for the day I And. to complete it, in the'i ether hand a white lily, perhaps thoughtlessly plucked from its stem. The solitary man was walking several feet behind her. He happened to look up from whero his cane at each stop mot the pavement. Ha saw the lily over the girl's boulder. The man sighed. "That flower and that sjirl bring them back to me 6till more Ylvidly," ho mused; "that other Easter day, that other Kastor lily and her!" The girl in front turned to cross the street. Tho man recogni7cd her and raised his hat in response to her bow. She hesitated, dropped her eyes, stopped and waited for an approaching cab to pass. When the man came up she faced him with a smile. He was vaguely conscious f a heightened color in her cheeks and ef a delicate fragrance environing her. "Good morning, Monsieur Melancholy!" she said, in greeting. "You see, 1 haven't forgotten my Shakespeare." "Like the sweet girl graduate that you are," he replied, carelessly, as he started forward by her side. "But why do you bring your Shakespearean knowledge to bear on me in that way? Am I melancholy?" "Doleful! And on such a morning! It's wicked to be sad in Eunshine like this." "And In such company it's impossible. That is to say, it would bo if you didn't remind me, you and that flower in your hand but pardon me, what am I saying?" The girl glanced up at her companion tn some surprise. Then she became thoughtful. Mechanically she looked at the lily in her hand. Presently she spoke la a low tone. "As you were saying, what are you aaying? Or, rather, what were you going tn HELD OUT THE f LOWE It IN HEU HAND to say? I remind you, I and my flower -of what?" He spoke without seeing her shy, side look, an they passed on among the crowds church-goers. "Of another woman and another flower ke that, on another day like this. You bring back a story that began on such a ay when such a woman lightly gave

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such a flower to to the hero of the story. "Yourself, of course." This was spoken with a sharpness that might have aroused his curiosity had he not been ia a reflective mood. "Yes," he nswered. "And the story was a love story? "Naturally." "How interesting! And it ended In In what?" "In a grave in Greenwood, eight months afterward," he replied, softly. "Oh!" she said, gently. They walked on in silence for a time. Then he added: "She died of pneumonia a month before the time fixed for our marriage. That was six years ago. It seems yesterday." "But the story is finished." "Oh, yes," he said, with a slightly bitter smile. "That story is. And now you know why I was not all smiles when you met me, notwithstanding the morning." They had come to the church. He stopped on the outskirts of the converging crowd at the front of the wide stone steps before the great entrance. "Are you not going in?" 6he asked, with some astonishment, as she also stopped. He Fmiled. "Xo, I didn't intend to. I'm not a church-goer. I'm out of practice." "Then experience a novelty. I can't invite you into our pew, for Aunt Agnes and my cousins have already left only room enough for me. But you might enjoy standing in tho gallery. Don't you like Kaster music?" "Yes. Ferhaps I may drop in by and by." He stood still, waiting for her to leave him and enter the church. But she did not move. lie must have been strangely unobservant not to have noted the look of tenderness that suddenly burst all repressive bonds, instinctive and conscious, and glowed eloquently in her eyes, not to have penetrated to the deliberate design hidden under the surfaco of her next speech. "And, that story being finished, has It had many any sequels, with the same hero?" "None," he answered. "None in six years." "It began with a lily?" "A lily that Btill stands In a Grecian vase beside my mirror." "Somewhat faded?" "Yes, poor flower." "But, the old story being finished," sho said, speaking with increasing haste and very low, "and the hero still young, what's to prevent beginning another Etory with another lily?" She held out the flower in her hand. The man, surprised at her manner and her action, and not immediately awake to their significance, did not move or speak. The girl, appalled by his hesitation, hastily drew back tho proffered lily. Her face became crimson, and she turned and hurried confusedly from him, passing with tho throng up the steps and Into tho church. In the vast nrched interior her senses met subdued light after the sunshine, tho hum of discreet conversation, tho soft footfalls of worshipers going to their seats, tho rustle of women's gowns, tho odor of flowers, the colored rays that fell obliquely from the stained glass window. The man remained standing outside bewildered. After a few seconds the girl's meaning dawned upon him. Thereupon ho began to twirl his mustache rapidly.

II E RE5IAXXED IXSKNMIHLE TO TUE XOTLS OF THE OliGAN. in accordance with Lis custom when in deep thought. Some ouo touched him on the shoulder. "Hello, old man! Going in?" "Yes, yes, certainly!" ho said quickly, and ran up the steps without turning to look at the speaker. He pushed his way up the stairs and forward to a place on the front row of seats in the gallery, a feat ditlicult because of the Easter crowd, but to him easy by reason of his abstraction, which made him indifferent to tho elbows, shoulders, attiro and toes of others. Already the deep notes of the organ were quivering on the air. A summary scan of the congregation failed to discriminate the girl of the lily from the hundreds of women whose bright head gear gave the congregation the aspect of an indoor flower garden. His eyes rested upon the chancel, held by the general effect of the grouped white Resurrection lilies, callas, acacias, palms and yellow azaleas. A cross of lilies surmounted the floral pyramid. To him this morning, all the world was Easter lilies. The clear voices of the choristers rose from beneath him, in harmony with the organ, as the white robed boys moved up the aisle. But the splendid anthem, "He is ltisen," seemed to him as coming from afar. He was meditating. She was in love with him this lily-like girl! Her offer of the flower might have passed for a jest, but her almost angry withdrawal of it had told the truth, as In a flash. Why had he not already seen? Clinging to the old love had kept him blind. He reviewed their acquaintance, from the first meeting at the house of her aunt four months before. Her shy look, her alternate moods of cordiality and coolness, her studied avoidance of him, her sudden appearance before him during his calls at the house, all, with much else, should have warned him. lie remembered that night at the theater when chance had placed him beside her. The play was "As You Like It." He had not before asked himself why that night had remained so sweet in his memory. She, too, had not forgotten it. Her greeting this morning, tho title of Monsieur Melancholy," applied by Orlaudo to Jacques, was a souvenir of that evening,

"Christ our passover la sacrificed fof us; therefore let us keep the feast." The anthem, with him, fell upon heedless ears. Yes, this girl, at the sight of whom he had taken some pleasure, whom he had always viewed as a child just from school, was sufficiently a woman to have fallen in lovo with him. There was but one thing to do. ne must go away, that she might forget himj for his love was with the dead. More glad Easter music rose to his ears. The church seemed to thrill with the Te Deuni festival. He remained insensible to the notes of the organ and the great composite voice of the choir. Since he must betake himself from the possibility of meeting her again, where should he go? Meditating upon this, he sat indifferent alike to tho collect, the epistle, tho gospel, the sermon. But all the while,

vii. :.w HOW n.EASAXT ... TO SIT I5KSIDE IIEI7. half involuntarily, ho was searching the congregation below with his eyes for a glimpse of a certain maid bearing a lily. It would be a sacrifice for him to leave town now. It occurred to him that life had been pleasant to him of late amid his present surroundings in the city. For the first time in five years, existence had recently begun to have some pinuaucy for him. He had not sought the cause. Assuredly, he was showing rare consideration for this girl in deciding to leave the city In order that she might be spared tho pain of a hopeless love. There wero few others, if any, for whom he would so readily disturb the routine of his life. lie would like, however, to see her face once more before putting it forever into his past. It was such a charming face. Now that ho camo to think of it, was there ever a moro charming face but one? Why could he not single her out In the gently swaying surface of flower trimmed bonnets stretched out before his gaze? Why had he not ascertained the location of her aunt's pew? He found her at hist, far to the front and to the left. He knew her by the lily in her hand. She sat perfectly still, in a ray of light from a high window, bhe seemed wrapt in contemplation. How pleasant it would be to sit beside her! And when at last the "Gloria in Eicolsis" was swelling up to the vaulted roof ho had begun to ask himself whether it were necessary to leave town, after all. lie found himself unwontcdly eager to reach the front of the crowd as it made its way to the doors after the service. He pushed his way down the stairs, out from the place of subdued lisht and llowers and fragrance, into the sunlight. How long the time seemed as he waited while the multitude poured out and separated into hundreds of groups upon the sidewalk! He watched the lines of faces as they appeared at the head of the steps, coming from the comparative shade within. At last! She still held her lily. Sho cast a quick glance around as she stood on the topmost step. Then she descended, followed by her aunt and two cousins. His heart beat rapidly as he elbowed his way through the throng that he might appear at her side as if brought there by chance. He raised his hat to her aunt and cousins. Sho herself dropped her eyes and bowed rather stiilly when sho saw him. lie adroitly managed to keep by her side as the group moved up the sidewalk. Tho aunt and the cousins fell behind. Yet he could lind little to say upon the homeward walk. She. was inclined to be flippant and inattentive in her share of the conversation. When they reached her house, sho allowed her aunt and cousins to precede her up the steps. Then she tarried for a second. "(iood by,' she said, standing upon tho second step. "tlood by," ho answered, "but first I should like " "Well?" "May I have the lily and begin the new story?" She looked into his eyes a moment; then hastily thrust the lily into his outstretched hand and tripped up the steps. Within the doorway, turned and kissed her hand to him. In the evening, when church bells again were ringing and tho hum of people walking came up from the street below, he stood before the mirror in his chamber and contemplated a long dead lily, a mere mummy of a lily in the Grecian vase beside it. Presently he took the shriveled flower from the vase and placed it in tho furthest corner of a dressing cat'e drawer. Ami thus an old love was changed nto a memory and he uttered a sigh. But a moment later he hummed a tune as he put in the vase, in place of the old dead flower, an Easter lily that was still white and fresh. ltobcrt N. Stephens. The Only Case of tho Kind. Dr. Thau, of Elizabeth, and Dr. Hatfield, of Leachtown, Pa., performed a successful, though very unusual and difficult, eurg!cil operation lately Miss Myra Simmons, of Standing Stone, a handsome young; woman, with long, luxuriant hair, had boon In tho habit of twisting her tresses so tightly In a knot at the back of her head that the pressure bad loosened the scalp from the skull. The scalp was taken off and coagulated matter that had gathered under it removed, the scalp stitched on again, hair anil all, and tho young woman will recover. It Is said to be tho only case of the Lin 1 known In medical science. Ha to Talk Throush It, Flapjack Glibley U quite a talker. Isn't he? Treacle Yes, but his hat will get down over hh mouth. Springfield (Mass.) Union.

REUNION AT SHILOH.

GREAT GATHERING OF VETERANS ON THE HISTORIC FIELD. famous Rattle Ground Now Turned Into a Fine Park Some. Account of a Memorable and Bloody Conflict Gen. Johnston's Dcuth. Stcry of the Fight. The recent reunion of the survivors of the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Lunding, on that historic field, was the largest gathering of veterans held in the South since the war. The reunion was under the auspices of the Shiloh Battlefield Association, which was organized three years ago 'to purchase and turn into a park the historic ground where the great conflict took place. Col. E. T. Lee, of Monticello, 111., is founder of the association ami has worked most successfully in its behalf. Tho recent gathering was for the purpose of marking the positions of the various commands during the fight. The account of the battle of Shiloh is one of the most exciting pages of the civil war. It was not intended to fight a battle there, but Col. Albert Sidney Johnston determined to surprise the Federal troops, encamped on the spot, and so precipitated the struggle. Gen. Grant was eating breakfast at Savannah, seven miles away, in the Cherry mansion, when he heard the first cannon that opened the battle. Mrs. W. II. Cherry was in the act of handing him a cup of coffee at the time. He immediately arose, saying: "We must go to the

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GH AVE OF THE DRUMMER BOY OF SIIILOI1.

front, the ball has opened." Gen. Johnston had made his order of battle, and had formed his army in three long parallel lines. The Confederate army moved forward In solid column under the personal command of (Sen. Albert Sidney Johnston, striking Gen. Sherman's division at the Shiloh Church. He struck Sherman like a cyclone, rushing his line of battle right on to the batteries and throwing many of tho new troops who had never been in battle into great confusion, capturing several pieces of artillery and the camps of the Union army, with all their provisions. The tide of battle rolled on. striking Prentiss and McClernand and driving them OEXKRAL DON t'AÜLOS Ut'KI.L. back to the line of battle formed by Gen. Hurlbut at Poach Orchard and Hornets' Xest. About 10 a. in. there was a concentration of the Union foreesunder the direction of Gen. Grant, who arrived on the battlefield about 1) a. m.. and the further progress of the Confederates was stopped. Death of Gen. Johnson. A terrible struggle took place later on the crest of a hill at the Hornets' Xest For five hours brigade after brigade was ia vain led against the Union forces sta-

SHILOH SPRING NO. 2. This I one of the Shiloh Springs near where the battle opened and whore wounded from both armies gathered in large numbers for water.

tioned here. When Gen. Johnston came up and saw the situation, ho said: "They are offering stubborn resistance here. I 6hall have to put the liyonet to them." He sent Gov. Harris, of his staff, to lead the Forty-fifth Tennessee Regimeit. Gen. Johnston rode out in front and slowly down the line. His hat was off. His presence was inspiring as he sat on his thoroughbred bay. His voice was persuasive. His words were few. He said, "Men, they are stubborn. We must use the bayonet." When he readied the center of the line he turned and said: T will lead you," and moved toward the Federal lines.

With a mighty shout the line moTcd forward with a charge. A sheet of flame and a mighty uproar burst from the Federal stronghold. The Confederate line withered, but there was not an instant's pause. The crest was gained, and Gen. Johnston had his horse shot in four places. His clothing was pierced with bullets and his boot soles cut by minie balls. The Federal soldiers kept up a continuous fire as they fell back on their reserves and delivered volley after volley as they suddenly retired. A minie ball from one of these did Its fatal work. As he sat there after his wound. Gov. Ilurris returned and finding him very pale asked him, "General, are you wounded?" Ho answered in a very deliberate and emphatic tone, "Yes, and I fear seriously." Thes-e were hi3 last words. . All next day the roll of artillery and infantry was heard all along the lines, and every foot of ground was being contested, as the Confederates were being pressed back from the battlefield. The losses had, been fearful on both sides. The Confederates were driven from every position until they reached the old Shiloh Church where the battle had commenced on Sunday morning. They tili held the ridge which had been charged and recharged time and time again. Gen. Grant came up and, seeing the situation, he selected Yeatche's brigade of Gen. Hurlbut's division, with other regiments, and formed them in line fr the final charge. "Well do we remember," writes Col. Lee, "when they took off th-ir hats and gave three cheers for the Union and the old flag. Then sweeping up the slope and over the ridge .they disappeared down the decline, carrying everything before them and

driving the Confederate army from the field. Cheer after che r went up as tho last shot died away ia the distance and Shiloh was won." Gen. Beauregard, in his report made after the battle, p'aees the Confederate loss at lo.rJ;). Fnjin later facts derived from the regimental, brigade and division commanders, it has been ascertained to have been much larger. Gen. Grant placed the Union loss at l.'UHT. which in the judgment of many is far below the actual loss. There are buried in the National Cemetery at Pittsburg Landing, Term., almost 4,000 Union dead, besides the great number that were taken north by their friends and buried i:i the cemeteries at home or who died at the various hospitals and were buried in the National cemeteries in the North. The correct figures will show a loss of killed, and wounded r.nd died of wounds of not less than JiO.oOO. TWO FATAL WRECKS. Four Persons Killed by r.n Accident, ut S-.iKiincriield, Ohio. Four persons were killed outright and a fifth fatally injured in a wreck on tho Bellaire, Zanesville and Cincinnati narrow gauge at a trestle live miles west of Summerfield, Ohio. A coach jumped the track as the train was approaching the trestle, which is situated on a curve. The coach ran on the ties half way across, and then the engint also left the rails, carrying down live bents of the trestle to tha ravine fifty feet below. A fearful wreck occurred at Wood river bridge, on the Chicago and Alton cut-off. about half a mile north of Alton. 111. A long, heavy freight train was coining down the grade when the middle of the train bulged out. and fifteen cars were piled on top of ea h other. Four men were killed outright and two fatally injured. Noll of them were known, but are supposed to be tramps who wore stealing a ride. The wie k was caused by the train being to" heavily loaded be-, hind, and when the biakes were put on the front cars the weight behind was thrown on to a llat car in the middle of the train, r zs- S'Ä"'. . crushing it to atoms and wrecking the other cars. This European interference in Central and South American affairs is becoming a nuisance. It's time for Uncle Sam to stop all debate and convince the lesser powers that they can't ploy ia his back yard. Miss Adele M. Fielde would have only ns many Chinamen come here as there nre America us going to China. The. shippers of Southern California aro doing a fine business now la Belling carloads of "Florida oranges."

THE SURPRISED TRAMP.

7 I -vi : This drunken tramp sees ilc- cg, but not the chicken, and he exclaims: "Ah, there, my Easter egg!"' - I"-- V' 3 I r - t His next remark is as follows to wltl Mished it, b'gosh." Then, on second thought, lie says: "Oh, thah all right. It can't get away now." At this stage of th? performance hi simply observes: "Steady now, ol' lxy." 5 His concluding words are: "Wow! My birdie; you didn't git out zat shell a min uto too soon for your own good." An Kastor Thought. Beneath the winter's mounded snow The frozen world insensate lay; It knew not of the winds that blow, Of gathering nipht or dawning day. The giant trees with branches bare. Moved in the wind with moaning sighs) No bird-solids tlwated on the air. And rose in triumph to the skies. But see, what miracle is this? Again the prisoned waters tlow. The green earth throbs with conscious bliss, Again the sr.mth winds softly blow. From lands afar the birds come back To woo-Mand 1:00k or sheltered grove. Through fields of air without a track, Each to the nest it learned to love. And lie whose hand reives each Cower, Who hides the birds from Winter' breath. Who gives to Spring, life as her dower. Can lie not save a sonl from leath? O mark how leaf and bloßem wave Where lately all was bare and pray. And doubt not, risen from the grave, Our Lord and Saviour lives to-day. Leisure Hours. Tho Christian Believer. Each morning is to him a reminder that he has risen with Christ, and that the day before him must be a day of aspiration after higher things. To him th Fpring-iide of the year cannot sot in unn asocial od with the great fact of his faith and the chief force of his spiritual life. As he sees "the motions of the spring" are movements upward, outward, onward. The milder tky, the more benignant brecz the flower bursting out of its hard bii'h and its cold bed, tho returning bird w'v.li pong exultant after silence, an'd tho hüls! -.V daily growing more umbrageous, are sivr.s, for him. of life, and of lite a ! : r death. The resurrection of his Lord n-:s r:ore to him, amid the splendid p.v:::b-..!. of the spring time, than it did as a I ope cherished, without the symbo .it.d. a it were, ngaast Lope, amid the st r.).i ies of winter. Hateful Thine. Miss Single wun What a hateful ;!:;:.- I.yddy Will to Is! .Miss Thingummy Why, what has boon saying now? Single wuu I Just happened to :-,y si el rover see. 43 again and she :U): -Not when I look at you." Boa-; ion Transcript. An Ingenious Scotchman. An ingenious Scotchman ha. devised 1 i::;-.: l ;i:iniiijr apparatus that Is ojv :: ! by two trained mice, lu driving M.c i:;;!e mill with their paws th anl:i:tN !:;i!y perform work equivalent to : : g a d'stanco of ten and a half --Kxehar.jre. An Explanation at Last. Insomnia Is a frequent forerunner of .11 canity. This explains why eo few ."'I'.ocrncn become Insane. Tcxaa Sift-

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