TIIE MUSIC OF MONEY
BY NEWT NEWKIRK.
,{Copyright, 1P00, by The* Shortstorv Pub
lishing Company. All rights* reserved.)
BaptisteLaCroix was weazened,
withered, little and old when he
came alone from France to New
Orleans, Me died there, but that
■was in 1 SO 1, so his story lias been
lost to the world in the years lhat
have passed. Rapt isle LaCroix
bad a god Baptiste Lat'roix
loved but one kind of music—his
god was money and his music was
the chink of <he shining metal.
Often, its he walked, llaptiste
thrust his hands into his pockets
and ran his trembling fingers
among a few coins that lie always
carried, so that they would clink
together. Then his eyes would di
late, his step would quicken and
over his seared fare would creep a
smile, but it was a smile that
chilled—tin* smile of a miser. He
never did this within the hearing
of anyone but himself. Baptisfe
was selfish of his music, and be
sides he feigned to be poor—so
poor that the covering was worn
off the Imt tons on his coat and the
cloth upon his elbows thin and pol
ished with long service—so poor
that lie scarcely bought food sulli
cienl to sustain him, and therefore
lie sometimes went hungry, lie
was often called a beggar and was
as often pleased, for if the world
believed him poor the world would
not rob him. Poor Baptiste!
lie brought with him from over
the sea two chests which were
bourn! iu iron, and stout. They
were small, but they were heavy.
In the old French Quarter of New
< Irlenns the miser bought a house.
The reason he bought il was be
cause the house was put up at sale
to satisfy a creditor and went for
a song. The building was not large
-—certainly not beautiful—but it
was strong, the walls were thick,
and that sufficed. Into this house
the miser moved the two chests
and within it he lived, its sole ten
ant. When the nights were dark
lie would close the shutters, bolt
the door, and, by flu* light of a
sputtering candle, unlock the
chests and filter through his trem
bling fingers the gold and silver
coins that tilled them, until his
heart would pound in unwonted
rhythm to their music. Baptiste
would then relock the chests, push
them under his bed, tie the keys
about bis neck, blow out the can
dle* and creep to bed. where* the
blended echoes ed‘ gold and silver
would lull him to sle*e*p. When
tImre w as a moon, emough light til
tere*d through the windows to
make t lie1 candle* an exjiensive lux
tirv. Moonlight cost him nothing.
Baptiste began to look about
bim for soiuo means whereby lie
might add to his store of wealth;
the more money, the merrier mu
sic. There were pro til s to be made
in the tratVie of slaves. He investi
gated and learned that men about
him had heroine rich in that busi
ness; they had made money that
might as well have been his. But
tin* buying and selling of slaves
had a risk that terrilied him.
These blacks were ill treated and
ill-fed ; many of them were old and
oik* or more might die on his
hands. The loss of their lives was
nothing but- the loss of profit si
He wished lit* could have bought
and sold their souls, for he had
heard somewhere that souls never
die.
The conditions, however, wen*
before* him and lie must risk if lit*
would win. He bought with tin*
marvelous eye of a miser, in a
small way at first, hut, as he
learned the tricks of the trade,
more extensively. Baptiste was a
modest middleman. lie knew
•where* to put his hands on such
slaves its his patrons wanted, lb*
dealt in fathers, mothers, sons and
daughters as if they had been so
many sheep or cattle. lie bought
low; he sold high, and pros]**red.
but in such a quiet way that few
seemed to know who he was or
where In* lived.
Baptiste, in his best years, had
never accumulated money so rap
idly. He saved it, all but the trifle
on which he lived, and in time tilled
a third chest. The music grew the
sweeter and the moro mollow sis
liis hoard increased and as ltis
creeping age enfeebled him. The
time came when it required all his
strength to drag the smallest
eliest from under the bed so that
lie might gift the coins and hear
them ring. The exertion spent his
strength and he often wished .'t
were possible to sit idly by and yet
hear the clinking of the coins. As
he pondered over the idea of the
money making its own music a
plan enfolded itself and Baptiste
resolved to adopt it straightway,
even if it should cost somet hing.
The next day and for many days
thereafter, workmen were busy in
the miser’s home. Baptiste fol
lowed them about and directed.
When they hod finished, the result
of their labors stood in the center
of the room where he ate and slept.
It was massively built, stone upon
stone, from the ground beneath
the floor to the height of nine foot.
Its other dimensions were three
feet each way. making its horizon
tal section square. Its walls were
six inches thick, leaving an interi
or two and one half feet square in
which a man might stand erect and
t urn about. The inside was metal
lined. There w as a solitary barred
window, a few inches square, in
one wall of the structure, within
arm’s reach from the inside, that
admitted a shaft of light. There
was also a heavy, swinging panel
door that locked with a great key
through which a man might
squeeze within the walls. Above
and with its apex hanging down
ward on the inside, was a metal
hopper as large as the top of the
st rud are. The slots in t he apex of
this structure was the thickness
and width of a current gold or sil
ver coin. Baptiste’s triumph
might ha ve passed for a huge stone
chimney, but it was a money music
box. and. at t he same t ime, a vault.
The miser had only to carry
his coin in small loads up the lad
der against the outside, empty
them into the hopper, release the
mechanism at the slot, which
would drop the pieces at whatever
pace* desired, and listen in idle ec
stasy to their music as they
dripjied within the vault, rolling
and ringing in sweetest symphony.
There was something almost pa
thetic in the childish way poor old
Baptiste would unlock the vault
door at night, carry a few gold and
silver burdens aloft to the hopper,
release the slide at the slol and
then si1 crouched outside the
walls, listening to t he money’s mu
sic.
The miser had been blessed with
a most profitable week in his slave
traffic, lb* counted bis earnings
with excited fingers on Sabbath
morning and promised himself a
concert, the like of which he had
never hoard, on that very day. do
ing np and down tin* ladder was
toilsome work for a feeble old man
like I .apt isle, but the promised
music seemed to lend unusual
strength to his tottering legs and
palsied hands. How many times
lie crept aloft burdened with coin
he knew not, but at last his wealth
lay gleaming in the hopjt*r and the
vault was empty.
Then Baptiste set tin* slot at a
measured pace, went down the lad
der for the last time and, sliding
through the open panel door,
pulled it slowly to and locked it on
the inside. He even removed the
key and placed it on the ledge of
the single window which lighted
the interior, as if it were safer
there. The miser's grand concert
was under way. The coins fell at
his feet and rolled about with
ringing accepts. 15api istecrouched
in the corner and 1 d his eyes,
so that vision m' a •■*
with hearing. Ttie tin >.;ed,
then soothed, his tired faculties,
and at iengtli his white head nod
ded and Baptiste slept.
When the miser opened his eyes
he knew not for the instant where
he was, until his ear caught the
sound of the coins which were yet
falling, lit* was chilled and ach
ing with the sensation of a great
weight bearing him down. He
tried to rise from his cramped pos
ture, but his stiffened limbs re
sponded weakly and it was with
difficulty that he shook off the
weight and struggled to liis feet.
Then he reeled and would have
fallen had not the close walls of
the vault supported him. He was
seized with a choking sensation,
and in nervous haste stretched his
thin hand upward toward the kev
which ltty on the w indow ledge.
IIis trembling lingers touched it
—pushed it through the bars—
where it hung balancing an in
stant. and then fell on the ontside.
As the key struck tin* floor it
rang with a clink that seemed to
mock t In* clink of t lie falling coins
within.
As the full significance of the
miser's situation forced itself
upon him, his knees gave way and
lie sank in a limp and motionless
heap—a prisoner with his wealth,
ilia eyes were cloned uud his head
rested sidewise on his knees, di
rectly under the slot. Each fall
ing coin struck him on the temple
and glanced against the metal lin
ing of the vault with a ring, i’.ap
tiste was yet conscious, but wi! li
mit power to move. The coins
smote him with pendulum like reg
ularity, until each one pained like
a knife-trust and then jingled
merrily to rest among its fid
lows. At lengt h t he money's mu
sic came to him indistinctly, as if
it were a great way off, and he felt
the pain no longer. Baptiste was
drifting—drifting in a golden ship
over a golden sea. The shimmer
ing waters reeled him gently,
while the waves overed him witli
their glittering spray. Then Bap
tiste fell into a sleep—a sleep
wherein the heart slops and the
flickering light of life goes out.
The coins coni inued to fall in
measured accents, chanting a
weird requiem and wasting their
music within that prison sepul
cher.
FOUND ON MISSOURI FARM
Old ‘‘Fusees” Buried During the
Civil War Recently Brought
to Light.
W. I). Short, who lives near Rut
ledge, has recently dug up on his
form (14 old muskets which have
been buried since the spring of
1 SP>.‘{, reports the Salisbury (Mo.)
Press-Spectator. The farm where
Mr. Short lives was once owned by
his father in the time of tin* civil
war, and tin* story of the guns is an
interesting one.
Col. Glover, with a force of
union soldiers, had camjied near
the Short homestead and was pre
paring supper when a troop of con
federate cavalry dashed upon
them and captured the company.
Col. (Hover's soldiers were
equipped with “fuse” guns, an
army musket superseded through
out the army by more modern
weapons long before ihe war
closed. The confederate troopers
took the guns, but finding they had
no ammunition for the old style
weapons left them on the farm of
Mr. Short.
The possession of so formidable
a display of arms at that ]»eriod,
when even it squirrel t itle was on
the prohibited list, very much
alarmed Mr. Short and his family.
:: 1 that night a trench was dug,
l guns piled in and covered over.
T! re the weapons have rested un
li! one day recently, when \V. 1).
Sin t by accident found the rest
ing dace of the old firelocks and
br« ght them to light.
r ■ stocks are all rotted off and
tin on barrels, rods and bayonets
ea i with rust, but they show
I I; ’i 1 y the style of the gun. and
lo s and bands are all intact.
Sii e his tind has become known
Mr. Short has been besieged by
r ■ h'' a rs for lhe old guns and
he u them out toallappli
• :• 1 s .mvenirs until all but
two or three of the guns are gone.
FAMILIAR MISQUOTATIONS.
Some That Are Irrard Almost Daily
and the Originators of
Them.
“ ‘When (Ireek meets Oreek.
then comes the I in: of " said
a .yonnj: man, according: to an ex
change.
“Von are wroiiir in that quota
tion,’’ his companion objected.
“Tha t is one of a number of famous
savings that are misquoted al
ways. It is from Nathaniel Lee,
and its right ran ding i"s t,,MI
Greeks joined Greeks, then was
f lie tug of Avar/
“Another misquotation is: ‘H s
an ill wind that blows nobody any ;
good.' This is from Thomas Tas-j
ser, a sixteenth century worthy,
and it should run: '1 t’san ill wind
that turns none to good.’
“ ‘Out of sight, out of mind,’ is
from Brooke, but it was: ‘Out ol
mind as soon as out of sight, as
Lord Brooke wrote it.
“ ‘First in war. first in peace,
and first in the hearts of his coun
trymen.'should run: ‘First in war,
first in peace, and first in the
hearts of his fellow citi/ens.’ rl his
famous sentence is from a resolu
tion laid before the house of repre
sentatives in 17!)!) by < Jen. Richard
Lee.”
Motors for Runaways.
A London tradesman advertises
thus: “Elopement by motor is
now fashionable. Loving couples
who would dodge stern parents by
running away to be married can be
supplied here at any hour of any
day with a smart motor and reli
able driver, on the weekly pay
ment system.”
SCIENTIFIC USE OF KITES.
Successfully Used in Meteorological
Observations and Life-Sav
ing Service.
As in tin* days of Bon Franklin,
the kite lias lately been success
fully (Milployed for meteorological
observations at high altitudes. A
still more recent application of
the kite principle is as a life sav
ing apparatus to be carried on
shipboard, its particular duty be
ing to establish cominunicat iou be
tween a stranded vessel and the
adjacent shore. It stands to rea
son that a ship in this position
generally has the assistance of
the wind in carrying anything
shoreward, and it would be far
easier to launch a kite under such
conditions than it would be to fire
a rocket in the reverse direction.
The kite carries a guide rope
and contains in a pocket a set of
signals and instructions. It is
also furnished with apparatus for
telephonic communication be
tween the crew and their would
be rescuers.
This life saving kite is the in
vention of Fount Brossard, who is
to be regarded as an amateur
rather than a professional man of
science. Critics of his quaint ap
pliance. while admitting its gener
al utility. have questioned
whether telephonic communica
tion would be possible in a howl
ing tempest. The kite is said,
however, to have been recently
tested with complete success at
London and at Brest.
HINT FOR HEALTH SEEKERS
You Should Take Plenty of Exercise
in the Open Air If You Are
an Indoor Worker.
It is a truism that health can
not be maintained without a cer
tain amount of fresh air and exer
cise.
“It is a good rule,” advised a
medical man, “to take regularly!
once a week a spell of more pro-j
longed exercise up to four or live
hours. Those who live in town
ought to spend this time, if pos
sible in the country for the sake
of the purer air and the change of
scene.
“ 1 he benefit is increased if only!
a very small (|unntity of food is!
taken during the walk—a sand-1
wich, a few biscuits, and an tipple!
or orange. One of the notable ef i
lects of a walk under such eondi
tions is that the body loses tin ap
preciable amount of weight.
'1 his loss consists mainly of wa
ter and stilts exuded through the
skin, lungs, and Ihekidneys. The
result is that the tissue, thus re-1
Iteved of waste matter, is able to
lake up new material. The body is
enormously benefited, and the
weight lost is soon repaired.”
Eoot Temperature.
1 he roots ol plants tire found to
lone a higher temperature than!
the soil, but only while growing.
—Science.
CUBES
XOMAGI
■^r.;r ' ' v
•rmr, body pets its ijfs ^Tr“?
Tu?'jrvViy
Healthy digestion means pure
blood for the body, but "tona*
troubles arise from carelessness
Ktinpaod «u**A
upset the entire system. *mPr. J
eriy masticated focal sours on the
stomach, causing distressmg
rams, belching and nausea.
When over-eatmg is .
.aisrJrssiSsS
^edfVrdTBlack^W
cures dyspepsia. t f>"
stomach-and bowels of congested
matter and gives tbertonmdi
new life. The stomach is quickly
invigorated and the natural
stimulation results m a good
appetite, with the power to thor
oughly digest food.
You can build up your stomach
with this mild and natural
remedy. Try Thedford's Black
Draught today. ou can buy a
package from your dealer for
25c. If he does not keep it, send
the money to 1 he Chattanooga
Medicine Co., Chattanooga*
Tenn.. and a package will be
mailed you.
THEDFORD’S
B1ACK-DMUGHTJ
ML Sa
MAP. K?
■!£ Means:
u
\
ualety guaranteed
rtsurpassed fit
bsolute satisfaction
eading
sty?es
nestimable worth
T
estifying values
\ car aiier year ^ brings cheer
To millions c' homes afar and rear,
Big and !ifi!e folks sing ihe praise
Of ’fcS'k' 50 wr■-•dcrfulfy made
.BY
*
ST. LCSUIC.
we 8e« "k 3 kc. a®*.
Men and We^n Miitg for their
Meases wf-a, buy ftea.
Fred. D. Whiting.
GEORGE P. GROSSER,
Notary Public, anti
Dealer In Real Estate.
Ail kinds of blank deeds, trustor
warranty, kept on hand, prepared and
icknowled^menfs attested. Deposi
tions taken. Pension work a specialty,
tv Office in Pest Office Building.
J. C. LEWIS,
Contractor and Builder,
Plans, Specifications and Estimates
Cheerfully Furnished.
Job work of all kinds neatly and
promptly done. Satisfaction guaran
teed. Saw tiling a specialty.
Shop South of Journal Office.
J. \V. HODGES,
Physician anil Surgeon,
Otliee at Sturdivant's Drug Store.
Residence Phone \ro. <'*}.
CALLS A NSW Kill; i) FROM LILY.
V I Ptiscoe
Phone No. I» Phone No. 24
PASCOE & POE
Physicians and Surgeons
Office in Ktiney Building, on South
Front Street, l’hone No. IT.
Office hours 8 to 12 a. m., and 1 to ■> p. nu