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THE LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C., AUGUST <», 1896. 3 I AFTER THE WAR. All Qulot at tho “ Confluence tho Streama” of ■▼rr/thlnc Around Rorky Crork for tho Old FIar ond Freo Cotnogo—Ooly Two Mm Fighting ond Ono ■•Mliamed to Oeoth." In rp^ards 1o the prent nrxl prowlrff question of jK)Iitie« the wnr in mw almut over with everybody down In thl» pleasant atrip of country ex cept 1 n lller Scrofffflnn arid J u 1 r Nabora. l^verylxxly la fflnd but I’.lev and .Inle, which T they are mod— r a i e foam in. fiffhtin ni a d. I’.lev ahiit mnd with Jule, yoti untler- ntund, and neither Is Jule mad with Jllev. They nint mnd with anybody In particular, but they are mad with every body in general. as a right young: girl and clumsy and awkward as a short-handled dog at a log wnlkin. In durln of the dance that night the ether boys in the gsmg put in and worked on lluek till they got him in the notion to fall in with the general foot, shakin. Hack lowed he would dance if Miss (irnoie Winters would be his partner, and Miss Grucie she was willin. So tho music went on and the proc si ins proceeded, lluek Jenkins soo. got llmlKTcd out and was wnrm- In up to his work in flue- shajic. Fiut he had a pair of heavy red leather shoes SAGE OF-BARTOW. Hill Arp Discusses People’s Habits and Prejudices. The Former I.lve I-on" After the 1 Jitter Are Dead — Political Prejudices Stronger Than Religious Prejudice*. The Abundance of Ilta Mouth. Jule Nabors, aa you svll know, is one of these tangly-haired, wild-eyed thlrd- jxirty men and a livln epiaile of frm sliver at the rates of sixteen to one, whilst lllev Scroggins he ia a sereumim democrat and still maintain* flat-foote«l that fn"* silver Is somethin which you hear tell of so infernal frequent and seo so ‘nfernal never, "Well, when the cat hunched her feet this stlinmer It would seem like slie picket! a good, soft platv and landed In the middle of the big road. Hhe didn’t jump to Nnlnirs, and she didn’t Jump to Reroggina. As the pnme now stands every hotly in the llceky ('reek country is for the old Hog and free silver— everybody but Kiev anti Jule. Blev is inatl because the democrats made friends with the third party, ami .hile he is mad because the third party took ami made up with the democrats, "Pndblnmo it. your crowd has stole our thunder and our platform," says Jule to Kiev. "Vcs. but by gatlins, your crowd has stole all our vote*, and votes nrv the mainest thing,” says lllev to Jule. Ho there they are—Just two men and the onlyest two in the settlement—that want the fight, to go on after the war is over, and each one floeklii off in a lonesome little gang all by himself. I reckon no doubts they woukl light In and cins out the American republic from Keel foot bake to Ilnbbersliani if they thought they could do the subject justh'e. lllev and Jule they put me in mind right frequent of old man Lon Jlmfter. of Cyclone Rfreak, and Ills loiwl of i tpmpklns. I'nelf l#on, as we l>oys are urn wont to call him, used to lie a penndlo’i* bail man about cumin. If twery thing didint run smooth and prop- IT with old man Ixm lie would pitch In and cuss creation on* quicker than a pat could shot her eye. I’l|t 1 recollect opcst ujion a time w hen phi man l^ui got nilghty mad and dhln't do pny eussin tq speak of. That was filo’ig in the fall of the year, and lie had took his ov wagon and drlv down in fhe swamp new ground after p load of pupipkins. I’omehow it also ecm- to piirs that day that T had went to town, and pn iny return back home I overt«K>k the oh! man op toji of the hill on yonder Side of Murder creek, He had drlv tlw oven and wagon Up that long, steep hill, v. hioli Jest as they turned the brow of 11 the back gate of the wagon dropjied out in d here went hif loud of pumpkins l ack down to the foot of the hill. Old man Ixm had stayed thereon h's wagon and saw the hist pumpkin go rollln ami Itotmcin back to the sand bed at the foot of the hi’l. Alaiut that time I rid up and saw the general elremufereuer of the surround ins, and it did look tre niend'us strange and funny to me to see old man Ixm so silent and so still. "What’s the matter, Cnele Lon. and how comes it, that you ain’t eussin tilings out?" says T. “Out of the abundance of h's mouth a man Kpenketh,” says lie, "mid I never felt more like eussin a few stnnr.as in nil iny horn days. Hut to tell you the honest truth, Kufns. I Jest naturally don’t see how I could do tl>e subject Justice." on, and when lie got into "a wcavin way," ns the Ixjya called it, hanged If he didn’t look like he would shake down ♦ he house. Ily and by in ruttin some fancy figger with a high stroke lluek got his big feet ami them loud ,red leather «hoes nil tangled up there together and down he went In one fell pile as it were. He fell face foremost and then laid there like he was dead. The crowd broke out in a big laugh at first, but when lluek didn’t move everybody got sheered for fears he was killed. The boys called him, but he didn’t come. Then presently thej* tried to turn him over and he wouldn’t turn. Hut. by this tinm every body could »**e that he was still brenth- !n the breath of life. "Are you killed, Hnek?" says one of the boys. "No, I ain’t killed," says lluek, na he bnggvd the floor and hid his face. "Are you had hurt, lluek ?" they went on. bit ••Shsmeil to Oentli. Oh I.or Now as to me, 1 am always willin to gallop with the gang and holler for the winnin ticket and fight for the mainewt thing. Tor the good runic and honor nnd glory of piy country—for the sake of jX'iiee and good will In the net 11 emeu.t —f can fuse with anything from a lereamlii democrat to a blood-aud- thundcr third j»nrty man, and then with anything el.e you could think of from a big barbecue dinner to a plug of "white Ink” or "sjM rit.s-of-cnts-n-flght- In.” Tint some men are so proud nvd so wise in their on deeiets till they are shamed to stand up and take a l!ck*n if the oilier fellows is man enough to lay it on. Little Hunk Weatherford— which next to lllev Scroggins he Is the moat all-ovcrest. deniocint In tlw set tlement dors hnto to give up Ids gnu and quit t lie tight. "Takin things as they eonw* nnd gv>, I don’t pre no other chance bn* f.vriiN'to git on the Umd wagvm and follow fbe iiiusie," ruys little Hunk to me when lie found out that t he war w as ended, "but It w ill Is' like shrddineye teeth or pay- *li taxes." And from that time hence forwards little Ilunk has looked to me like a man about three parts sliamed of him self and one part, sorry for the human inee. He puls me in mind of a young fellow by the name of Jenkins—Hnek Jenkiivi I’uy lulled hint which I met vp witii at. a breakdown dance over in the Missis vipni river country years and years n<»-o. lluek was only about 17 years «<H. 1 tit monstrous well grown for h's y ats. He wav a great, tre mendous atrappin big fellow, us timid Hen Franklin said that man wnsn lutn- dlc of linbita. Somebody else said that lie was a bundle of prejudices. It is fair to say that his habits outlive his preju dices. Mine have, I know. My order of life, my daily routine, my food and clothing, my time to go to lied and to rise in the morning hold me faster than they did 30 years ago. Habit comes from the Ixttln word “hubeo,” to hold— to hold fast. I can’t hoc or chop left- handed. Unconsciously 1 dress and un dress the saute way every time and al ways put on ray left slim' first. When my good friend, Maj. Foute, lost his right arm in battle he was young and soon learned to write with his left hand, if 1 were to lose* mine now I do not Ite- lieve I would ever learn to use my left. I nm too old nnd the habit has held me too long. It is hard to tench an old dog new tricks. Unites are subject to ihe saute force. I had an old mare who con tracted a habit of lettiug the bars down to get into another field, and she would let them down to get out of a good pas ture into a poor one. Hut I feel Hint I have got over sonv* of - my prejudices. Daniel .Webster told ills ! "No, says lluek, I uint hurt a blame | people that they had conquered every- t, but shntned to death, oil. Lord. thing but their prejudices. Nothing but | They Kuoekml Hun Oat. Black Jack Wiggins driv by our house tine other day to tell ns the news touch- iti a Hcnndlous big mens which come to I'ukh over then' in Cyclone Streak one night lost week. It would seem from the general way In w hlch Black .luck gives out the news, that n gang of them bad boys ftbin the P;r«ii.k had went look there in the hills to see the W’ulder Harkins ucd lier girls, and whilst there they rounded | tip a little square dunce amongst them- i selves to make the time j ass si:u>oth and pleasant. Hut in llic main time ‘ two or three members of the pang ha-1 , got tangled up with some of the "firsT runnin* of the eotrn," and naturally, pf | oourae, things then went on from bad to worse ami still more of it. Then presently Kaz Lumpkins—which 1 reckon he hml got more than his share —pulled his gun ami proeo* ded to shoot wild nnd promise us. In the mighty eenttemtion which followtxl, all the llghtn got put out and the crowd left tlie house to dnrk ness ond to Kaz. After no long a time It would seem like Kaz conic to the conclusion that he had killed some nnd crippled some and run tlx* 1 vilance otT, which he then come forth ami got on his mule nm! rid off tor unlx hons*. Then finally at last when the crowd ••truck a light and reassembled thein- srlvea together oix'st more (ild Law rence was the onlyest tnirain mini. No- Itotly eouldn’t tell what had v en* wl*h (ikl—whether lie wan livin or dead, <>r Jest naturally abscatulatcd. I’ut t >- reefly they foutal his hat nnd one of Ira Imots in the chimney jam, ami then one of tho girls took the trail nnd found Hint Hid had started out, through the top of the chimney, lie went so far and no further, and then his cnlv chance was to back down and rut. Now anybody and everybody InCyclo'ic Strcuk will tell you that Hid Lawrence must of liecn wny back by Hi:' out side door when they handed round the brains, am] with the noise and enn- fiiMiontnent and the sn»ell of guii]x>Av- dor—by this Him* he had lo f what little sense he started out with. The l>oys called him and the girls railed him, lint he wouldn’t say nothin nnd he wouldn’t come forth. And what do you reckon that gang of boys, the YVidder Harkins nnd her girls nil then pitched in to do? Th< y struck n match and started a little Cre and proceeded to smoke Old Lawrence out. of the chimney like you would smoke n rabbit out of Ids hollow. Hid he sneezed and kicked ami scuffled, nnd -ruffled nnd sneezed nnd kicked hard and fart nnd furious. Hut they fetched Irm—oh. they fetched him. And when lie did turn loose ami come forth he come with n mighty crash ami ro..r. It then took the crowd two hours to bring him around on Ids feet in ids right mind onest more. Everything that goo* up must corue down. Leastwise that’s what they say in Cyclone Streak. And there is plenty of fun in America yet, Fruler False I’reten*lons. The wild ami feckless way in which the jmliticlans aftt now t.ryln to borm r.nopgle the niggers with the talk ubmit tree silver puts me In mind of the old song nnd dance* a iron t “40 acres and a mule." To bo certainly the colored brother is for "free silver," or "free lieker," or anything else that Is free. Ho is most In generally always out for the stuff in one way or another, and route of the candidates have now /rot him to thrnkln that if the country goes for free silver lie can Jest buck his cart down to the pile and load up and drive •nit. On gem-nil principles and In a general election lllev Scroggins is right —“the mnlnest thing Is the.votes." Hut it nhvrys did give ineaeomlii npjs'tite to go out in the Imek ynnl nnd spit when I we enndulutea for public offlee willin nrouml under false pretensions. They put me in mind of what the good Rook says alxiut the dmll and some of his tueiinnes-. Von reeolhs't. when Pntln took the bleswd Masti*r way un on top of a high mountain and told Idin *o look out on Hie broad nml'bonu- Hful worlil around liim. “Now,” rays the devil, “if you will »nly fall down nnd worship tm' I will give you e\cry thing in sight—land nnd water, < ni tli and .sk.\ ’’ i\ lien t ight then Hie infernal old scoundrel didn't own a .‘oot of land in th'' round created world. tM’lTH RAND1I18 —Amerieaii corned beef was ex|>orted •n’t year to the amount of 02,473^525 pour.ds, valued nt $3,55S,23Q. old ag«' and reflection will conquer 1 them. They are hard to give up, tor i most of them are born with us. Ottrre- i ligion ami sujH'rstition and jxrlit'eal i faith, as a general rule, are inherited. ; Like father like son, like mother like i daughter. If the old man shakes a piece of coin nt the new moon or makes a cross mark in the road when he turns to go hack, the son will do It, too. If the mother will not begin a garment on Fri day the daughter will not. And so it goes with our religion. I am a Presby terian because my parents were. I could have just as cnsHy been a Hap'ist if they bad l>ecn. Or I could have been a Methodist or an Episcopalian. It does not shook me to say so now, and I hope it does not shock anybody else, j Sectarianism abounds in prejudice in herited more Ilian acquired from rnti.m- al methods. One Christian faith is about as good as another if it suits the Christian. I would not proselyte «ny of them if I could. 1 uonld no! disturb the peace of a Methodist family by seek ing to draw away a single member of it to my church. I like iny church not be cause I believe Jt to Im* the best, but from long familiarity with its mode of wor ship. I feel more at home there. The Presbyterian habit has got bold of pie Just (ike Hie Methodist habit lias got hold of ( ather ^Vik|e. in fact, l believe a better service ppuld lx* jande up by i ailing out Hip Ixist. things In al( Hie churches. For instance, Hie Mothodist anil Epis copalian communion service is more sol emn and impressive than oms, and sols kneeling or bowing ill prayer. The Kplseopalinu church has too much > is- Ing up ami sitting down—the other chit relics have too little. I would like to see the Litany adopted in Ml tho eliurches and hour e\cry child join in the r< Sl'fipson, Hut of all prejudices the strong-et nnd most unreasonable are those of a jMiliHeal nature. Political intoh nir.ee Is not tciii|K'’red or toned down by Chris tian charity. Hitter isirtisans uuiy ap pear to lie friendly, but at heart tie y are eimmica. When a prominent one dies his jiolitleal foes thunk God for that much. Those who covet the ottiees will use all kinds of hypocrisy to get them. What makes the matter so ridiculous is the nl>soliite ignorance of the masses of these partisans concerning the ‘ ‘ s of their party. When David Hennett Hill straightened up an I said: "1 uni n democrat!’’ his utterance was echoed from a million throats all over tins broad land. What did he mean? I nin sure I do not. know. It has been nearly r*0 years since 1 east my first vote, and it was for a democrat. Hut there were no such issues thru. The great question was whether the federal government should make .appropria tions for internal improvements or not. Up to that time no rivers had been cleaned out and no pos.l offlccs or pub- lie buildings built in the interior cities. Hut now every muddy etcck and every two-horse town must have an pppru- printkm. Free trade was once an i««ue, but it is not now. Tariff reform and protecticfi have Ix'cn occasional lssii‘*s for 50 years and more, but sonietlnies the parties compromls" on incidental or accidental protection. The repub licans claim to in* for protection, and Mr, McKinley championed a bill through that did protect his party friends nnd left out those who were not. He took off the duty on mangniies" and ruined the lieat industry we had in this region. A company that hud invested $:HK).000 in this county in that busi ness and wo* paying out ?2,000 a week for Inlor. Everything in Carterville prmqicrrd and we could pay off our lit- tle debts with alacrity, and even pay our doctors’ hills nnd our preachers tlie*r salary. But Carnegie wasn’t happy and got the tariff taken off and then got all bis manganese from South America and the West India Islands. The collapse* came here, of coui^c, and thebudm'ss was abandoned. That’s the kind of pro tection we $ot. Rut what is a democrat now? Some times a consequential gentleman who hunkers after an office will swell tipprid exclaim: “I nm a Jeffersonian demo crat,” hnd the editors have n. nest-egg in Jeffersonian democracy nnd hatch it frequently. What i« that? Jlis bi ographer says the most material article in his political creed was that "the will of the majority must govern. This may sometimes err, but its errors are honest, solitary end short-lived." There is no special democracy in that. All parties indorse it. Jefferson said that a differ ence in politics was not a reason for the removal of competent nnd faithful officers, nnd he did not remove but very few while he was president, nnd those were for misconduct. But now the democratic doctrine is to turn the ras cals out, and every officeholder is pre sumed to be a rasaal. I have tried in vain to make these modern politienl garment* fit Thomas Jefferson, but they won’t do it. In his day there vvis no quarrel over gold and silver, nor slat * banks, nor income tax. He went into offlee in good circumstances and came out insolvent. Even his home nt Monti- cello wtw levied on nnd would have been wild but for the generosity of a few wealthy friends. After his second term v.os out. he was not suro of lieing al lowed to go home without arrest ami giving IkhhL On becoming a public man he resolved never to engage in any kind of enterprise to Improve his fortune. He kept this resolve faith fully for 50 years, which was as long ns he held office. He married n young nr<l beautiful widow and could play the violin exquisitely, lioth of which were democratic usages, and still are, though neither playing the fiddle nor shooting ducks are put in any modern platform. Hut the Issue now is concerning the currency, nn adstruse speculative ques tion about which the. average man knows so little that he ought to be ashamed to talk nnd thereby show his ignorance. And yet there are here and there good citizens who profess to It now ni! about it, and will talk about "sound money" and Jeffersonian democracy os gushingly as a professor of polificn.1 economy in a northern college. I wish we. could put the X rays upon this question nnd explore it. but ns we cannot and ns the great men of the na tion conscientiously differ on It I am going to pin iny faith to the purest nnd best man I know of in public life. He is ns pure in private life nnd ns poor ns Jefferson, nnd could have written the Declaration of Independence if'he had lived In that day, for Jefferson was then only 33 years old. My admira tion for William J. Hrynn is very great, nnd l shall bank on him with more re liance than on the platform. A repulv Lc.nn congress ran knock n democratic platform into (its, but they can’t move Air. Hrynn from his convictions nor hU integrity. When these gold standard papers assail him and make sport of him he can sny to them ns Job did to his three friends: "Nodoubt ye are the people nnd wisdom will die with you." —Hill Arp, in Atlanta ('oustitntion. PICNICS. Bam Jonos Goes to Ono Which H© , Thoroughly Enjoyod. Hat the Ginger Cuke and the l’«r- • Lmuimt lleer Were N»t the Kerne wa When lie Wm* a l.oj. THE VENICE OF TO-DAY. It In .Not at In Tlmea So lloantlful Gone lly. That which first strikes the observ ant stranger in Venice to-day is the fact (lint the Venetians hove absolutely and entirely lost their grip ujxm the beauti ful, Nothing on eartli eun lie fiimr than the art of it* glory; nothing la the world can I** viler ♦hui. the so-ealled art of its decadence. That the de scendants t ,f th«' men who decorated the palaees of 500 or 000 years ago could have conceived, or endured, th'* wall ixijx'i's. the stair<tirj>et«nnd the hat racks in the Venetian hotels of the present, is beyond belief. Whatever is old Is magnificent, from the fresco of St. Christopher by Titian in the chapel of the Doges, to the window of the Cicogna. jsilaoe on the I'ondamentn Hriati. Whatever is new is vgly, from the railway rtation nt one end of the grand canal to the gashouoe at tin' other. And the iron bridges nnd the steamboats and the bond stand In tho Square of St. Mark iire^he worst, of nil. When the Engllsh-Hjxxiklng nnd Enf»- lish-rending visitors to Venice, for whom this pnjier is written, overcome tlve feel ing that they arc predestined to fall in to one of the canals ix'fore they leave the city; when they grow accustomed to lieing driven about in.t hearse-shaped cne-manned rowboat; when they luive Ix'cn shown nil the traditional sights, have bought the regulation old brass nnd old glass, have learned to draw smoke out of the long, thin, blncjf, rat- tr.iled, straw-covered things the Yctv- tians call cigars—when they have wen and have done nil these, they will And themselves much more interested in the house. In which Byron lived, nnd in the perfectly restored palace in which Drowning died, than In the half-mined, wholly decayed mansions of nil the Ikigos who were ever lord mayor* of Venice. The. guide-books tell us when* Falieri plotted ami where Foe earl fell, where Dcsdemnna suffered nnd where Shylork trailed; but they give us no hint, ns to where Scott lodged or where Rogers breakfasted, or what was done here by the many English-siienklng men of le tters who have made Venice known to ns and projicrly understood. Upon thgsc chiefly it is mv purpose hero to dwell. The modern Venetian dealers In sec ondhand portraits and Hie venders of bric-a-brac of nil kinds seem to have li a rued their strict nnd universal econ omy of truth from the memorial tnb- lets over their shops. If} on are offered here an article of original, homemade, present-time antiquity for five lire, you may depend upon getting it for 2% lire, and you may lie sun* that it costs you, even then, nliout twice .is much a* It Is worth. If an inscription In old Ixitln or in choice Italian tells you that."Here lived’’ some particular Venetian hero of • word and pen, you may put down In your diary Hint, he probably visited next door, or that he died over th** way. —Tourcnc.'* Hutton, in Harper’s Mag:i- zlne. Trees amt I.lKhtnlng, Cedar and fig trees ore rarely struck by lightning. The beech, the lurch, the fir and Hie. chestnut also seem to be peculiarly obnoxious to the "liolLs of Jove.” There are trees, however, which appear to attract rather than to repel the lightning flash. The trees general ly enumerated In the category at those which tho lightning is most apt to strike are the ouk, the yew, the elm and the iFimhardy poplar. I spent the day in a beautiful grove with two lieautiful, clear, sparkling springs bubbling from under the cliff, with.the beautiful Etownr river rolling along near Hu* edge of the grove, picnicking wit h a number of neighbors Mid friends. I wn« frequently lit pic nics when I w as a boy, since 1 have beem * man, but this is the first old Georgia picnic I have enjoyed for 20 years. It whs h day of solid enjoyment, of so cial pleasure, and physical fulfillment. tor more than a score of years I havo crowded my days and weeks Into the Isl-ors and toils of the ovangelical- Istic work and the lecture platform. A* we get older wo get young again. We find our tastes and our appetites and our enjoyments in the things of ehildhood and youthhood. It makes us recall the days gone by. Since coming back home thN evening from the pic nic I have lx*en “ruminating,” as BUI Arp says, over the day and the mem ories which it brings up. When I was quit*' a lioy 1 livtd in the country. The old-fashioned ginger cake nnd per simmon lieer were the luxuries of the picnic occasion. I can remember the • ild black woman who hnd her large, basket full of old-fashioned ginger *akes, her jug of persimmon beer and fhe tin cups sitting around it. Five •cuts for a g*nger cake nliout eight ’itches long, four Inches wide nnd nn 'neh anil a quarter thick, ami a cup of persimmon lieer thrown in. My money generally gave out on occasions bke that liefore my capacity did. I then frequently felt that if ever I grew to lie a man my hlglvcst ambition would lx to have solid cash enough in my jxiek- et to fill up thoroughly on ginger cakes «nd persimmon lieer; but like St. Haul, mid: “When I became a man I seemed to do away with childish things.” It was a touching incident w hen the ‘*>11 of nn eastern lionie who had spent many years in tlx* west ennio buck to his old nioflx r’s home in the east nnd brought his wife and several children with him to enjoy the social days w ith the old mother nt horn*'. On one occa sion nt Hhe table lie said to her: “Moth er, can you bake some grrsl old ginger enkee like you used to bake when 1 was a boy?” She said: "Yes. son, I hare not forgotten how." Then hr said: "If it is not too much trouble bake them. I want to cat some more of your good old ginger rake* before I go Imek west.” The mother baked the cakes an*! when he. picked up one of them, after a bite or two of tlw enko he turned to his mother with a disap- jHilivted look upon hi* face and said: “Mother, these are not like the ginger onkca you used to make." “Oh. yee," she raid, “my son, they nr** the snme ginger cukes I used to make, but 1 haven’t got my same little Imy to eat them!" The ginger cakes an* tlw fame, but the boy has changed, llow tru*' this !.<*. not only with ginger cakes, but with everything else. When I remember the days wlwn I used to go Imthlng in the creeks, fishing In the jionda, rollicking in the fields, rabbit hunting by day ami ’possum hunting ni night, who, with me, would not like to go Imek and live those days again? Watermelons wen 1 >ettcr then than they are now; peachc* are not the same, lieenuse tho lioy has changed. Stick candy then was better than the finest fruits nnd candies now. 'Hie old-fashioned game of marbles, the t ame of hide switch, town ball—not lnwwl%ll. Oh, how these* thoughts with magic jiowtT take me back to rhildbood’s hour,with father and moth er as my guardians and protectors, the ones who loved me and fed me and clothed me and tqKWikcd me on the one side and aM (he fun and frolic 1 could get out of life on the other side. How kind In a good Providence to throw nrouml children the joys and pleasures which they fall heir to. nnd all the sterner, wearisome things are shut out from them. No creditors to dog them, no hardshijis to crush them, no heartaches to bereave them. Like the calve* and colt* of the pasture they rollick ami run almost as free from cares ae the colts themselves; but by and by they grow up to manhood and woman hood, in the natural order of tilings they marry, and then comes the lug of war, the battle of life. Shall 1 win it or «l*nll I lose it? Shall 1 Ik*swept w ith the current or ride on some of its waves to fortune? Children which come to the home come like angels to bless us. They bring only good to us ;liut wh *n sickness cornea to them and in after years folly and sin nnd wrong should come to them along with the other bat tles of life, we frequently feel that the burden is more than we can bear. God waits for us to get strong before lie loads us, and we all curry according lo our capacity. These thoughts are the aftermath of the pleasant day spent nt the picnic grounds, but an old-fashioned picnic under the shades of the broad spreading foliage of the lieech trees we spread out the tablecloth until the length grew and then the baskets being emptied up on the tablecloths, and then the table clotlis being emptied Into our capacity until nil the. grown people, childn n, servants and all were full nnd feasted. A thousand merry laughs, a thousand cheerful faces, a thousand cheerful looks. It seemed that every person left, every care and burden behind them anil came to enjoy the day w ithout reference to goldbugggcry or sib erdiggery, high nr low tariff, or the world, flesh nnd the devil, nnd while the fearful drought was j.laying havoc with the corn nnd cotton —-the harvest of lioth being cut off at least one-half—we forgot It all and seemed to remember only that It was a day of pleasure and enjoyment. When ever wo can bring such days into the busy life of men w c ought to do it. If the over-worked brain and imisHe of this country could see more days Lkc tins we would have less doctor’s bills toj piy, fewer coffins to buy, nnd less crape to wear. If every day Hint comes to man couid lie a day like this I see no rea son w hy a man should not live 009 years ns Methuselah d id. I sometimes wonder i f the old patriarchs who lived from 500 to 1,000 years could have lived vine- fourth or one-tenth of that time if they hnd lived amid the roar nnd rush and pull and dig as men do to-day. After all. I am content with my lot. Amid the work and worry of life I have a thousand pleasant hours to one day of insufferable cares. I want to live for ever, and I lielicve the way to live for ever is to live liest and happiest here, I am glad I went to the picnic. RAM P. JONES. : 1 ■ t THINGS LOOKED BRIGHTER. | A R.ired Man Comes Face to Fare with * Kit of Real Life and FeeU Getter. lie didn’t know why he should feel that way. And anybody else having a knowl edge of ids worldly condition would have marveled at the unconquerable feeling of despondency that had come over him. lie had money; the large order of flowers which were to grace a South side society function, and for which he hail paid cash, would attest to that. Ami he had friends; the mere fact of his ordering the flowers was evidence on that point. Besides, unimpaired health was his. In fact, take it all in all, he had alxiut ns much to lie thankful for ns anybody you could have met.on State, stre**t. And yet, tliere. was a vague feel ing of longing and unrest tugging at his heartstrings that could neither be accounted for nor driven away. He paused liefore the windows of a large retail store, and after hxiking abstractedly nt tho lieautiful array of artistically draped goods was alxiut to I mss on. when a hearty ship on the hnek arrested all physical ns well ns mental progress till the effect of Hie salute, should wear off. “How are you?” said the newcomer, transferring the grip of his brawny hand from the Ixircd gentleman’s back to his soft, white hand, and bringing to the aristocratic face a florid counte nance that glowed with humor and kindliness. The man who but a moment liefore had been gazing listlessly at the win dow full of finery looked with Interest at the young fellow before him, but, though it was a deckh'dly striking face, with hair and whiskers a little hit redder, nnd mouth nnd. nos*' a lit tle bit larger, and eyes a little bit bluer than any he had ever seen U'fore, he eouldn’t for the life of him tell where itx owner Ix'lopged, or where he had Been him. "I*ve lieen wanting to see you ever since that night,” the young man went on, still clasping the tender fingers with a grip that, would havo brought tears to the eyes of the well- to-do man hnd be not bi'en too busy just, then thinking of something be sides himself to notice the pressure that wan lieing brought to bear upon his four right, digits. “I've wanted to thank you for what you have done for us. Mv wife rays to me ever’ morn ing: ‘Now, John. If you happen to run across him to-day. tell him that I’ve never censed to think of him, nnd to nray that .some great good may conic to Vm ns a recompense for what he did for us.’ Pile’s rather religiously in- clincd.m v wife is,you see. Ard I tell you, sir. Hint was a wonderful th*ng to me, that, lift you gave me that night. Why, it raved the child's life, fdie’d ha.ve died before morning if I eouldn’t have got what the doctor ordered, nnd if I hadn't happened to strike you for Hie money 1 couldn’t have bon'Hit the tilings. We’re liv ; ii*d iwn on Went worth avenue now, and doin’ well. When the baby got. well I seemed to get. n new grip on life myself. I’m glad I saw you, sir. I hojx' you're well.” , He wrung the white band nt parting, rnd st.artixi down the street. Ily degrees tin* little side play in his life, in which the red-whiskered y^ung man had liecn the center figure, came back to tho Ixired man In detail. He had met tho man on the bridge one night long past midnight. “My baby Is dying. I have no money. For God’s sake help me,” the man had cried, nnd he. rather tho worse for wine, had given the suppli cant what money he had. He didn't know whether It was $20 or $50 or $100. Anyway, it did not. matter. And so the child lived, nnd he had don** good, after all. And a grateful woman prayed for him. too. It wait rot often such things come into m man’s life. He turned from the window with it* dainty drnpings, and passed on down the street. Somehow things looke<? brighter than they had done a few minutes before.—Chicago Tribune. Queer Family In Tcniiessee. "There is in Tennessee," rays a trav eler in the New Orleans Times-Demo crat, “u family of three sisters which presents some of tho strangest pe culiarities Imaginable. These three sisters, all of whom are old maids, live together on a farm, their sole means of subsistence, ond work early and late to earn a livelihood. Two of them work in Hi*' field, the third d**'s the cooking and other housework. There ls but one period .of the year when any mem ber of the trio ha* anything to say to any other memlier. All during the winter, spring and summer they go about, their business with the seal of silence on their lips. When fall comes and the crop Is harvested they break the silence, nnd then only quarrel over the division of the proceeds. When each has succeeded in getting all that she thinks possible, silence reigus again un til the next harvest time. The sister* luive made a name for themselves. They are known far nnd near r.x the ‘deaf nnd dumb triplets,’ although tliistitlo Is scarcely appropriate." —Of cotton other than sen island wo last year ex|H>rted 3.502,171,787 pounds, for which we received $202,118,351.