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Show A MIOKISU TREE.' A 3TllA(lt; rllENOSIESON THAT CAUSES DISMAY AMONG THE NLGKOBS. Xvwtou, a vigorous mountain town, tt of Cbarlotte, ". C. has a curiosity that beats by a large nisjotity tliu rain tree which gained suUi notoriety in Cbarlotte In 1SSC. It Is a smoking tree, and baflles all t-UorLi at explanation. It is n liilo mulberry tree, and stands on tbe sidewalk in front of tbe residence of I.evl Yodtr. It was brought from Illinois a year or U u 3K0, and is now about twelve feet liisb, with n busby top and many lateral branclier. Iast Bun-day Bun-day one of tho family noticed a pull of tmuke proceed from one of the limits and by watching it closely pulls identical in appearance to cigarette smoke were seen starting evtrycowand then from all over tbe tree, sometimes from the leaves, nomrtimes from the bloom, seme-time? seme-time? from the bark of the limbs or trunk of tbe tree. The pulls are at irregular interval; sometime, two or three at once from various (arts of the tree, and sometimes they are several seconds or half a minute apart. They just seem to come at haphazard from any part of the tree, and as they ascend in the air look exactly like the smoke from a cigarette. biuce Tuesday, when the curiosity curios-ity fin-t became generally town, laige croud?, belli of townaudcouu-tr townaudcouu-tr people, can bo seen there at any time in the day. All doubting Thomases are soon convinced on tbe fin-t visit that the tree "do smoke." Among the white people it is only looked uponasacurio-ity, and mauy.vf co'irsc make explanations explan-ations ef tiie phenomenon, which, Perhats. are plausible cnouch to their author, but which carry very little In convirtbin to tbe minds of others. Hut tbe negroes don't like tho thing at all. One negro woman; alter intently watching the pull's a few minutes, started oil" in a run, sa.Ung: "I wouldn't lib dar fur iiothm'; jicoplu better go to doiu' bitttr 'bout dis town." A nero man said: "I'm gwinc stay 'way from dat thing. 1 can smell de brimstone clear down to dellbery stable.'" Hichtnond Ttmet. |