The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, November 30, 1887, Supplement to the Abbeville Press and Banner, Image 1
Supplement to the Abbeville Press and Banner, November 30, 188T.
STORY OF A NEWSPAPER.
HOW IT AWAKENED THE LATENT AMBI
TION OF A LITTLE GIRL.
Her Happy l*f nrrinjfo? Her Knno
bllnir Hntl Elevating lnfluont,<
Over Her HuNbund?Tlieir Chll
(lrcn RIhc to Pronilnoncc?Tlirj
Hleiw the Iftny (hut llroiijcht #?
their Door* a SI ray -2 C'opy of i
Newapnpcr.
This story which was written bj
Miss N. Jane Barmore, of this county
was put in competition for the prize
offered by the Press and Banner las
summer, and was awarded the seoom
premium.
Believing that there are hundreds o
boya and girls in Abbeville count/)
whose natural abilities entitle them t<
higher places in society than they now
occupy, and that, if they were encour
aged to make the effort, might read
distinction in the future, the Press ana
Banner has determined to publish this
story in an extra sheet and send ii
abroad in the hope that by reading ii
the latent ambition may be awakeuec
in the breast of at least some such bo}
or girl to break the fetters of ignor
ance in which tbey are bound by th(
thoughtlessness and indifference of theii
parents, in the matter of providing
for them entertaining and instructive
Via frtrtn o rrnflfl nfiwsna
itmuiug iu i#uu iv/**" v* & ??i
per.
Extra copies of this sheet may b<
had on application to the office of th<
Press and Banner.
I.
THE TIME WHEN OUR PEOPLE DII
NOT SUBSCRIBE FOR NEWSPA
PER8?THEIR LIMITED EDUCA
TION.
Forty odd years ago it was the custorn
with a majority of the well to dc
farmers in the upper portion of Soutl:
Carolina to educate only their physi
cally delicate sons, but those of theii
boys who gave promise of musculai
vigor, after acquiring at the best old
field schools the art of writing a tolera
bly legible hand, and being sufficiently
advanced in figures to be able to solvt
the most of the problems in Fowler's
or Smilie'o Arithmetic; and could reac
a little better than their mothers oi
grown up sister3, in the New York
Reader, were considered as fully equip
I ped for the struggles of life, at loasl
in an educational point of view.
Then with joyous hearts would they
enter upon the settled avocation oi
their lives and when fairly at home between
the plo ffhandles, or when felling
the native forests, were seldom if evei
troubled with the thought that they
might, if they only desired it, improve
their education by reading.
Aud as for the girls?the idea oJ
sending them to college was too utterly
preposterous to be thought of.
They were considered as sufficiently
&g\ J1 orJ isKan \r ?-? nur n ! ? a i^nUi
VUUVMUVU nu^u bUCJf UUO W LUC illUlU'
plication table and could, by spelling
out the "hard words," make out to read
a little in a simple reader. Of course
sv tfcey must know the multiplication
table, in order that they might be
able to calculate, correctly, the number
of threads necessary for the warp of a
web of cloth, and it ?was important
that they know how to read their
Bibles?anything beyond this was
considered as altogether superfluous.
All general rules, however, admit oi
exceptions, and John Wells and his
wife were the exceptions in the community
then familiarly termed, by the
more enlightened portion of the county,
"The Nation," a name which still
clings to that portion of Abbeville
county where lived the principal personages
mentioned in this story.
Julia Holland's father was post master
of the postoffice in that, then, be.
nighted locality. One cold dreary
day in the winter of 1840 the Greenville
Mountaianecr reached that obscure
office. It was addressed to the
post master who was requested to act
as agent in obtaining subscribers.
"Ha, ha, ha," laughed the post
master after casually perusing its contents.
"My neighbors would call me a fool
were I to ask them to subscribe for a
newspaper/'
"No, no, Mr. Editor, we have nc
time to read newspapers over here."
Then with a yawn and a stretch oi
his limbs, he threw the paper oo the
table, saying:
"I must go and see how the
hands are getting on with their clearing
in the new ground."
II.
1118 IJTTL.E DAUGHTER TAKE8 UP
TIIE PAPER AND BECOMES INTERESTED
IN IT.
When the old man had left the
. house, Julia took up the paper,
K prompted more by curiosity than
otherwise, and soon became deeply in*
terosted in its varied contents?so
4 uitfcb so that iu the course of a week
she bad read and re-read over and
over again everything in it. The mar^
riages, the deaths?even the advertiset
ments?were all carefully spelled and
j' read over and over until every word
was indellibly impressed upon her
? mind.
Oh, bow she did enjoy it. She
} would be up by times every morning
and hurry cheerfully through her day's
task at the spinning wheel, jn order that
j aim uuigub iiuvu u jhw mumeuia to
r into the Mountaineer before it was
dark, for she knew that as soon as the
t supper was over with, and the dishes
t washed, there was that bundle of sewI
ing with which she must help her
mother, and therefore, there could be
7
no time for reading after supper, how^
ever much she might desire to do.
But if she could not both read and
r
sew at the same time, she could at
r 7
' least do the next best thing?talk
about what she had read. So when
the children had been tucked away in
their trundle beds and her father had
made himself comfortable, reclining
on two chairs, as was his custom, in
front of a orankincr Inor firf* h1ip? would
relate to her mother all that she had
read that day in the newspaper, while
each plied industriously her needle.
) She was so charmed with the con*
tents of this paper that she made up
her mind to try to get her father to
take it, although she had very
. grave doubts as to the success of the
> undertaking. Therefore it was with
i great hesitancy she approached him
. one day, just after he had eaten his
r dinner?(she was wise enough to know
r- that it was not prudent to ask a favor
. of a hungry man though that man be
. a father)?with the . request that he
r subscribe for the Mountaineer.
\ Had she wished a new dress, a new
j bonnet or anything like that, there
I would have been no hesitancy. i
"But," mused she, "who ever heard
: of a woman taking a newspaper ? Why
. Parson Graves and Dr. Hunter are
t the only persons who take papers at
this office; and I reckon their women
r folks don't read them for I never hear
f them tell anything they have read in
. the papers."
r But to her great surprise her father's
consent was easily obtained. Net
however because he considered that
i his daughter or any of his family
would be benefited by reason thereof,
f either mentally or morally, but simply
. because it was the request of a dutiful,
, loving daughter whose wish he, an indulgent
father, knew not how to deny.
I t r r
ill.
! HAPPY MARRIAGE?THE ONLY NEWSl
PAPER PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHi
RORHOOD.
s Iq the autumn of the same year
' Miss Julia became the happy Mrs. i
John Wells. In addition to her colored
maid, her loom, and her wheel
' and cards?the usual marriage portion
s in those days?she took to her new
home her Bible the Greenville
f Mountaineer, which, together with
> John's Bible, made up the library of
- that happy home on the hill. It was
not long uutil John (who was by the
way a mau of line natural ability
t though of limited education,) became
> as fond of reading as was his wife ;
still, work on the farm was never neglected
and household duties were faith
fully performed.
Thrift and prosperity was indicated
p by all their surrounding. System was
' so strictly maintained that work in all
* the departments of both farm and
> household was always fully up with,
' and a few hours of leisure gained
every week which was pleasantly and
. profitably spent in the perusal of their
' weekly visitor.
The fondness for reading so grew on
them that one paper didn't suffice very
' long.
There being no county paper then,
> the next best thing that they could do
was to buy books, which they did with
' great care and judgment, buying none
i except the productions of the best au?
thors. But books being expensive in
' those days and their means limited, of
* course they could not afford to buy
many. One day, a short while after
. ' ' I
... is.
It was not the first time that that domestic
hint had been plied to no purpose.
With his contracted ideas of things,
a newspaper was a useless expenditure.
Nothing of good could be seen
by him in all the newspapers published
in all the land.
"But, husbaud, you kuow that it is
uatural for us to waut to go to tho post
office to enquire for letters. I have
enquired so often to no purpose that I
am ashamed to send to the post master
for the few letters that we do get.
You know that there is in every one a
feeling of mortification on being told
that we have no mail?that nnhnnv
John had made his first purchase of
reading matter in the shape of books,
as he called at the office for his mail,
the Post Master handed him the Mountaineer
with an additional paper, saying
:
"There, John, as you and Julia are
the only newspaper folks we have in
these parts, they have sent you another,
opeu it and let us see what it is."
It proved to be an issue of his denominational
paper. He had but recently
joined the church. His wife
had united with the people of God
when a girl. He thought of the money
ho had so lately spent for books,
and for a moment regretted the expenditure.
It was only a transient regret,
however, as is evident from the
soliloquy held tho next moment, which
ran somewhat thus:
"I don't see how we could do without
them, as when night comes on and
all are well and the children asleep,
wife sits down with baby in her arms
and after throwing a piece of lightwood
in the fire, she looks up at the
shelf and says, not with so many words,
but out of the corner of her eyes :
"John, get one of those books and
read to me as I am so tired, I don't
feel like reading mvself."
"No ; I'm glad I bought those books,
but I must have this paper too. We
can't afford to be ignorant of the affairs
of our own church."
Then with the air of one about to
perform a pleasing task, he thrust his
hand into his pocket, drew out the
neccssary amount, and handed it to the
postmaster, saying:
"Order the paper for me," while he
thought, almost aloud, "whatis money
in comparison with the valuable information
one can get from a good
newspaper?"
IV.
RISING IN THE WORLD-?HIGH PLACES
IN THE CHURCH AND IN HIS
COMMUNITY.
Mr. and Mrs. Wells were fast developing
into what the world calls intelligent
neonle?not that t.hpv wprn nn
O t X J "
turally more sensible than many of their
neighbors, but they were better informed,
having read so much they had ao
quired a readiness of suitable language
which enabled them to express their
opinions in matters of converse with
the greatest ease, often with surprising
eloquence. Hence the expression of a
young preacher, in describing Mrs.
Wells to his mother,
"She talks like a book."
Mr. Wells's judgment, politically,
from the fact that he seemed always
informed upon all current events, had
long been regarded by his neighbors
the best in the community.
It was not long after he united with
the church until he evinced a surprising
knowledge of all the enterprises of
a benevolent nature undertaken by the
various branches of the church at
large and especially of his own church.
Said a certain church member to his
wife aa they were returning home from
church conference where Mr. Wells
had advocated very forcibly a certain
enterprise, which was new to the most
of the members present:
'When John Wells and I were at
school, boys together,} I didn't think
him any more than common?in fact,
I used to help him with his 6ums, but
now he seems to know everything."
"Yes," responded the wife, "'while
the other men have been carousing at
musters and all such places, John
Wells has spent bis leisure time in
reading newspapers and books. Why,
old man, its real nice to spend a day
at their house. While his farm hands
and horses are resting after dinner, he
will get a paper and read something to
Julia and me that I never heard in
my life before. That's the way they
know so much. They read the newspaper
; they do?yes, they do. I just
believe if we would take the paper,
we'd know as much about things as
they do, and our children would talk
smart too; if they had papers to
read."
These remarks, he thought, were
a little too pointed, especially that portion
about carousing at musters, as he
had dntlA ft 1!U1a nf flint. Iiimaolf Aa
? W. ..? # WMWW M?U4tA/?4l WVJ
with an impatient jerk of the lines, he
said to his trusty old sorrel:
nn .1 -r
vjro long, jerry ; newspapers wont
put corn in the crib, will it ?"
Jerry gave his head a knowing toss,
quickened his gait into a lazy trot,
which said in unmistakable horse
language:
"What do I care for newspapers, so
the oorn is in tha trough."^
* ' . H * ' ' ' *t * ^
/ . , * V v\
has written to us, and that we have
not even a newspaper in the post office.
Why, I tell you, the postmaster almost
laughed at me the last time I enquired
for mail. He never got up from his
seat to look for letters or papers. But,
before i could fairly ask, he said,
'Nothing today, ma'am,' and just
kept on reading his old book. We
ought to take a newspaper. Our children
often ask why we do not take
papers like neighbor Jones, and I feel
that we are as able and ambitious to
advance our children as he is. Y"ou
Oil nrhfr f A kotrA oaam * K o * ?v*? ~
vu^uv tw iiuvu oct/u uiai oauic puai/uittater
jump up and hand Mrs. Jones her
paper."
When his wife appealed to his van*
ity and pride he could no longer resist
and so he subscribed for a newspaper,
but for which he never cared himself,
yet he had a commendable ambition
for the intelligence and respectability
of his children and ever after rejoiced
at the thought of giving them the
benefits of a newspaper, while he reall7Af1
miinU nlaocinra in n^?
MWV* |ilVMCUAV AM OUU1U"
thing from the post office every time
lie went or sent for mail matter.
V.
JOnN WELLS'S INFLUENCE IN ESTABLISHING
SCHOOLS?HIS NEIGHBORS
HAD SO LITTLE EDUCATION
THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW
HOW IGNORANT THEY WERE.
It was through John Wells's influence,
accompanied by a heavy iift from
his pocket book, that the community
could boast of the best Bchool house
in twenty miles of their county seat.
But he could not always succeed in
haviDg his choice of teachers. When
the time came to elect that important
personage, John Wells and his neighbora
were generally at variance.
With his neighbors it was not "who
shall we get, as best suited, to teach
the young idea how to shoot," but the
question with them was, "who can we
get to teach our children for the least
money ?" It was not that they were
l 4 r* r? - ?
indigent; rar irom it. They were all,
with few exceptions, prosperous farmers.
Neither did they possess an inordinate
love of the "filthy lucre."
For any purchases they wished to
make, money was never lacking.
The simple fact was, they were ignorant
and could not appreciate the
advantages or pleasures of an education.
They did'nt have education enough to
know how isrnorant thev wer?. Th?v
O J " ? ? *"VJ
never read the newspapers themselves,
and they were not aware of their immense
value to their children. They
never thought of the fact that much
of the little which their children learned
at one school term was forgotton
before the beginning of the next
school year for the simple reason that
they had little or no opportunity to
practice reading or to aoquire a fondness
for intellectual exercise. It is
true that there were in the house a
few old books that few would read,
and as for the pretty book which the
book-agent left, and for which was
_ 1 i
paia enougn 10 gel a good newspaper
for two years, the children were forbidden
to touch it under the severest penalties.
The idea that a child might actual*
ly advance his education during vacation
by reading the newsyapers was
never dreamed of by these good but
ignorant people.
But Mr. Wells contended that money
would not compensate for the ruin of
their children's education, but they
could not see it in that light. However
he quietly accepted the situation,
doihg all he could to stimulate in
the minds of his own. children, a fond
J: u_ i :? L!_ i
uooo ivi loumug ujr neopiug uis uome
well supplied, to the full extent of his
ability, with the best books and periodicala
of the day.
One evening after they bad held an
election for teacher, and not being at
all pleased with the result, he said to
hi* wife :
j
"In oue more year Lucy will be oM
i enough to be sent off to school and I
am determined to send ber where she
can learn at least the rudiments of an
education. Something she will never
learn from such teachers as we have
here. She shall not groiu up an ignoramus,
if I can help it, and I know
that all she needs is an opportunity."
"Yes," replied the wife, "the dear
cliild will appreciate the opportunity
and will make the most of it. She'll
soon be able to instruct such teachers
as we have here. She can almost do
it now." <
Sure enough the following year
Lucy was sent to the Female
Seminary and Mary Taylor, whose
opportunities in the old-field school
had been the same as those of Lucy,
accompanied her, and they were placed
in the same class.
They applied themselves with equal
dilligence, but by no means with equal
results. Mary was an ambitious girl i
and did her utmost to improve the i
privileges aftorde<l her ; but never <
having had the opportunity to read the i
newspapers, she had not acquired a ?
fondness for literature Her mind was 1
untrained, and she was actuated more I
by the promptings of an ambition i
to appear as smart as Lucy
Wells, that impelled her to study her 1
text books, thau from any desire for I
an education, or thought of the satis- faction
or advantage to be derived I
from the same. s
With Lucy's superior fondness for I
books and reading generally, it was a <
constant unfoldincr of nnw and 1
ive beauties. The one rejoiced when her I
school days were over?the other i
sighed and wished for still deeper
draughts of the Pierian Fount. i
While at school, when a doubt lin- i
gered ii the mind of any fellow stu- i
dent as to the correctness of any quo- I
tation which she wished to make in <
her composition, such girl would in- I
variable repair to Lucy's room in i
search of the desired information.
Not only her school mates but her 1
teachers also soon discoverd that Bhe 1
possessed a head well stored with use- *
r..i i i-j? 1
aui nuutvieugu. 1
"Oh" ! said the lady principal of
the institution, "Lucy Wells is a remarkable
girl. Slie never comes with 1
an imperfect recitation, and yet she
finds time to read one leading secular
and two religious periodicals every
week." t
"She can converse with ease and in? f
telligence upon any of the current i
subjects of tne day." c
"We are proud of her. Yes, we are ?
proud of Lucy Wells." 1
We shall not stop to follow Lucy's c
brother and her three sisters through
college; suffice it to say they all bore
oft* from their Alma Maters laurels
worthy the children of faithful parents.
VJ.
A TRAVELER'S MI8TAKE ? JOHN
WELLS'S LIBRARY LEADS HIM TO
BELIVE THAT HE IS PREACHER
OR LAWYER.
"You are a preacher, I presume,"
remarked a traveller to Mr. Wells^
with whom he by chance was spending
the night.
"Oh, no," he replied with much
surnriao.
I MT
"A retired lawyer, then ?" queried
the gentleman.
The inquisitiveness of the traveller 1
called forth from Mr. Wells an enquiring
look, accompanied with the exclamation:
t
"Sir ; I don't understand you ; I am r
simply a plain farmer. You muBt he c
mistaken in your man." t
"I beg your pardon, sir; but that s
extensive library," pointing, aa he t
spoke at the heavily laden shelves '
looming up to the joice, "produced the t
impression on my mind that my host e
must be a professional man of some
sort."
"That library," responded Mr. Wells *
with a pleased expression, "is the most
appreciated property I possess. When
the accumulations of many years of
hard labor was swept away by the late
war I 'ooked up at my library with
overwhelming emotions of gratitude I
that an investment of a few hundred li
dollars in aotual money, but an iiyrest- ti
ment of inestimable value to me, was tl
still left. I have added to it since p
then?may add still more, for I will h
buy books." m
"Do you know, sir, that when I b
married I couid scarcely read ?" b
"Indeed"! ejaculated the stranger, ^
while he mentally surveyed what he g
\
regarded as a prodigy. *'A man,"
thought he, "with scarcely any education
until fully grown possessing such
Jeep aud broad intellectual views ;
juch rare aud sensible ideas; such a
refiued and cultured taste?one whose
whole demeauor bespoke the cultured,
Uhristiau gentleman?it was indeed a
mystery too deep for him to fathom.
"Yes, sir," Mr. Wells went on to
say, "and it is to the newspapers .that
l am indebted for much, if not all, of
Lhe fondness for reading, and consequently
the education that I have."
Sir, I am a great believer in the newspapers
as an educator"?his countenance
lighting up as he remembered the
great pleasure and benefit he had derived
from them. "That library is a
select one. JNo trash there, I cun assure
you. When I say trash I don't
mean that there are no works of fictiou
as I do ?ot regard all fiction as
trash. There are many novels that
might be read by our young people,
and old people as well, with salutary
effect. I could name a score or more
authors whose productions arc wholesome
literary food for any one. You |
will find on those shelves nothing but
the productions of the best authors of
aucient and modern literature.
"You no doubt wonder how a man
who never had a brush at college could
be able to select such a fine library.
Here again I must remind you that I
have been for almost fifty years a con
3taut reader ot the beat newspapers of
the land. They have kept me inforra3d
of the authors, and the standard
works, &c., /&c? and in this way I
bave been kept posted as to the latest
md most approved literature."
"The school teacher may carefully
instruct his pupil in the rudiments of
in education but he has only laid the
foundation. That pupil, if he wouH
be learned, must add to his information
by reading, not simply books, but
first class newspapers and other period- >.
icals.
Thus was this accidental guest led
;o regard the power for good wrapped
in in iKa fnlrla r\4- o "
>u >uu iuiuo ui it guuu ucnopajici in
i light never before dreamed of by
iim.
VII.
VHAT BECAME OF THE FAMILY
WHOSE FORTUNE WA8 MADE BY
READING THE NEWSPAPERS. I (
For the benefit of those who wish HM
,o know what became of "the cultured
amily," we will state that Lucy mar- j^H
-ied an intelligent farmer and settled
lown to be a model housewife. Kitty
lud Jennie both married preachers.
rlettie married au editor of a first
:las8 magazine, and it is whispered
hat few are the editorials that come
>ut of that sauctum without havintr
irst received a finishing touch from
Nettie's pen.
And Harry, that bright and erudite
roung man is a lawyer, of course?
indeed heia no such thing, but instead,
s a farmer?a scientific farmer, nnd a
uccessful one at that. He also finds
ime to edit an agricultural journal.
3e theorizes for the farmers of his wj
state and demonstrates his theories fry 1
)ractical application. He has family V
)rayer around his hearthstone, super
utends a Sunday School, is deacon in |
lis courcn and, altogether, a most use
ill man in his community. I
VIII. I
tEADERH OF GOOD N E W8PA r ER8 I
NEVER GROW OLD. fl
And now let me whisper, a secret to
he young people, and it is this?that ""
eaders of good newspapers never grow
>ld, simply for the reason that they
>ecome so interested in current events,
o absorbed in the great question of
he day, until they are oblivious of the
act that time is swiftly gliding by and \
hat they are day by day growiDg old- \
r aod still older.
W
IX.
IU. AND MRS. WELLS?THEIR HAP?
PY OLD AGE?BLESSINO TUB
DAY WHEN A STRAY COPY OP
THE "MOUNTAINEER" PELL IN*
TO THEIR HANDS.
The happy and cheerful old couple,
dr. Wells and his wife Julia, are still
iving and have the solace of knowing
hat they have reared for God and
heir country one noble son and four
raiseworthy daughters. And now,
aving approached the evening of life
lith that satisfaction whioh is to
e derived only from the rememrance
of a well-spent life, and ^
fith a competency of this world'*
oods, and with no hurry and worry