The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, March 04, 1897, Image 3
THE LEDGER: GAFF#ET, S. C.,%#feCH 7 4, 1897.
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5
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OLD ROCKY.
1 Keep a Weathor Eyo on tho "Boft
k Sottin-Dowm Plitcoa”
One Man 'Who i!
n>I<uln;-liu v
Crouuu—T
!-• <T«f '-‘avla-l'p-for-
ii'ir.'i> • »)) Into the
1». <>>:t Time
Life at
and short
tho
id
very l>est is vain
Jiectin, but every
man ought to
manage .^o as
to sa\e up a
stalio and feather
u uo«t for Lim-
s e 1 f a^in a
rainy day. It
ji wight be that
the rainy day
never will come,
and then maybe it
will. Hut you
can’t make no ti<u lius big mistake
by keepin your w e. r eye open on the
future time to . And then, if you
don’t die young, id age is comin swift
and certain by nil by, and some of
these days you v. ill i‘- i your rusty self
in need of a soft
rest.
Some men gut ■
young, and soin n
around and stay •
old. But they w .1
to a stoppill
the line. When t Ik
and the race, is
when tho gold <.i
Uin down place to
v. iiilst yet they are
.ain over and tarry
; ng when they an?
lii have to eome uj>
soincwheres down
day’s w ork is done
nuidin to a finish—
, in merits the dusk
of night—and 1 cn: tired f«H*lins are
crawlin up and d n and all around,
you will f(T-l Id ■ 1 • pin yourself down
somewheres tu> i Then if you can
manage so irs t<i ; a\ c- a good soft place
ready and v aii n, , i can hleAu your
stars, and laugii t .1 world, and shake
your fist at fat . Kufe Kainlers
was plum right as usual.
•
A Good Scb<>i<I-MHrm.
This thing wliid; - ui.<- folks call fate,
and some cal! predi ti .at ion, is a power- !
ful gocxl school-!!i .. aecordin to my
doxology. You 111 •: - rstnnd I have,
been one of lu r ><'• -lars for Jo these
many years, and sli<- has learnt me
some lessons w 'ii< !l J. never can live
long enough to.! . :ucnd>er. Icouldn’t
forget them if I w i .’ t<d to and tried my
level bkimd< A. She l.ns likewise also
give me some terrible hard knocks and
mode me wear the dunce cup many and
many's the time. But as yet I never
have spelt up heud, and I oint quit
school neither.
In my bummlu ■ od bruisln around
promiscus thivugh ti.i-; vain and lleetin
world below I 1;:.\ r.ln ady learnt that
a man can niight^v . on run tim suvin-
U p-for-a-r a i n }-< I a y business into the
ground if he wuinls to. lie can starve
and stint and 1 1 e and sera5x1 and
worry and wear hi life outliefore the
rr.iny day oom- r <.r the first frostof old
age conies.
Some men wai t to get rich too all-
fired snddei l lii traddle a fortune
at one jump, as A were, and then live
high and riotoi , in their old remainin
days. But if you w il only watch a man
like that you will 1.1 ' that lie most in
generally alw.- y ; . , old quick and
lives hard and <iii , i,efom Ills jmrjs’r
time. He may make Its and cords
of money and put it out where the
dimes will turn to dollars every oncst
and occasionally, bm yet ;it tiic- sunn;
time feel poor and ’he |*oor and jnu-*s
out ahead of f':; •. .. •• ,rdin to Andy
Lucas and tlu Se 1 ip’m money makes
the mare go. lim it. makegood,
solid grub go and wh« 11 a, man's
general m:u liii 11.s bou n and the bot
tom drops < it c? h -bn id basket.
So when you ci ... :o count up all the
costs I would a v i.oli lot. ruther let
everything g<- nr f • as it eonu a and
take my chain i ai ' tlm set tin down
]>la< , e, tlian to w ar r ysclf out ami liave
to take out and q it before, I ever find
time to stop and r< Mortal man,
born of fern le w oi, in, “breaks" and
“spurts" a mo t too much anyhow. He,
runs too high npor. it her too low down.
If he would but o:dy strike a level, and
make a. good :n r; 'e. and let well
enough alone, bo 00 :d Imld lus Hjxnsl
better and stand the pace longer.
Jim Weatherford tlie Quitter.
Little Jim Wt 1 berford — a lialf
brother to old man Hu ok—was what you
mought call u tjuiUer. lie most in
generally went in for lt’3 whole hog
or none, and got none at last. He scared
a good start and got away with a fine
burst of sjH'id, but lie broke all to pieces
before he got on. the homestretch and
then went homo and quit.
The maim st trouble with little Jim
was that he was too infernal nervloua
like and smart. He must of been born
in a hurry, and 1 kn< w for my own in
dividually self that he, lived and died
at about the same ruU . He was a. mover
and a hustler from breakfast all the
way. He didn't have a bleased thing to
start on but bO acres of land and one
mule, but his 1 end was svt on makin
money, and he made it. He t4»ok the
lead row hiim-clf, and tne.rytiling and
everyboily on ti.< place had to follow
and keepup. He. lived at liotne all alone
by liimself—lived as (.lost us the. baric
on a dogwood ti<< and waenaoincver
he got a dollar ho belt on, to it till the
eagle screamed, and another one
turnwl up to keep it eompany.
Little Jim )i;ui been homed and brung
up in the midst of poor folks and hard
times, and when he <*>me to lie a man
lie give it out that bo was gofai to put
plenty of money in his thinks ami then
take out and quit and liave a high-heel
good time. He was as good me ills word
to some caUmiI, and at 30 years old lie
had three plantations and twenty-odd
head of mules and was pnyln taxee on
nbout $7,000 worth of stutf. And yet
I never saw him in in', life when he
want hard run and bended straight for
the pix>r hotii , t > In ar him tell it. lie
inado mom y on lop of money, aed got
rich, but lie in 1* could see it in that
w ay. With him tin’, t akin out time and
S settin down place never did come,
raked uml luv »»cn.ptsl, ami htf
ted and saved up for a rainy .day,
but long before it coma he was out
and gone the common w ay of all flesh,
lie was only a little turned 30 when be
died, and the doctors gave it out that
there want anything tine matter witli
him in particular—jest a gonend givin
aw ay and anal; around herilumiirix. He
was too infernal dost and stingy to
git married, and coL- 'pientiajly ids
money went by lor " d: vision to tbc law
yers and his poor i clat ions.
Little Jim pitclioil his tune too biame
high, and naturally of course it didn’t
take him very long to sing the t»ng
out.
The Good Averutre Way,
But now there was old man Jerry
Scroggins, which took the good overage
way and kept It to the end. Jle want
to say very sjieedy, but he licit his own
and kept his feet under him an 1 stood
the pace through a long' heat. He
started out jioor and never got rich, but
at 40 he was right tolerable well fixed,
and every time he took a step forwards
he would drivi-down afxgso he couldn’t
slip back. He was slow but steady.
Gradually by degrees he bought a good
farm and stocked it, and built a nice
home, and planted out a fine orchard
and raised a big family. He took his
own time and went a good, safe gait,
savin his strength as well as his money,
and was fresh and sprightly and active
as a cat at CO. Ho never got in any tre-
mendius big hurry, but he hit a rvgl ir.
steady lick seein how it would take him
through by and by. He took things ns
they come—ea«y and natural—and
made home happy and life, pleasant. He
lived long enou gh to see nil of his grand
children grown up and married off and
settled down, and then when he got old
and poor and weary with the storms of
life he had him a warm, soft settin
down place to rest.
But old man Jerry made one break In
his old age which y ou never would of
counted on from a safe and prudent
n an like him. He let his foot slip
oncst. and if he hadn’t caught the step
mighty quick he would <>f lost his nest
and went forth into the cold world
alone. You ought to have a nest, and
hit well feathered, when you get old
and feeble, and then you ought to stay
wuth it and stick to it till the sun goes
down and the cows come home and
the even in stars sing together.
The OIU Mun V. a * C rowded.
When Jerry Bcroggins was 90 years
old and a goin, with his good w ife dead
and buried and all the, children mar
ried off, he got lonesome and wanted his
youngest son, Blev, to move in with his
family and run the place, mid keep him
company. Of eo.n •• Blev and his wife
they jun.jM*d at the chance- w hich you
understand t he old man waa now comin
across w ith hi: hu t Joa ! of pohs, and
lie had the Ix'st farm and the most love
liest home anywheres in the Kocky
Creek regions.
So they moved in and treated him so
kind and gentle 1 nd lovin till the next
news the rest of tin children got, tho
old man hud mod • over the home place
and all h< hail in the w ay of thh world’s
goods to hi;, son Hie , and his son Blev’s
wife, and tie ir children after them
benceforwurds and forever.
“I am now old and In Iph 1 . i?\d wink
and tired, Blevins,” i-aM old man Jerry,
“and all i want in th : vain and flee tin
world is a pi; x- to rt ‘ 1 easy i ml die In
[icncf. You can run th*- lann ami your
wife can keep the hou.w. L>-t me have
my old ehai- iw, e in t h<“ corner, and uwe
my tobacco, and eat at t he table so long
as I live, and the old place is yours.”
So then he made out, tin paper givin
everything to Blev, wife -.in-
took the jrapi*r and put it away under
loi’k and key. Now it want so very long
after that Indore tiny look to crewdin
the old mun eonsldi l ahlc and prcseiitly
it seems as if they would soon crowd
him and his old chair out of the corner,
and crowd him out of doors, and n ow d
him into the grave. j'hVs wifi she
fussed and fumed and ding-donged at
him and crowded him terrible 1 c;i r e
he would use his tobaix-o, and lie
couldn’t always 1 pit right exactly
where lie was look in. He had sln-d his
third set of teeth and lost his stn ngt li
so till he couldn’t ruley spit much p u t
his nose, whereon it follows that he w as
bound to make a right smart mess
around the fireplace every day. And
Hlev’s wife Jawed and nagged at him
day in and day out about spit tin on her
floor, and messin up her house, t il! bless
gracious tho old man got sick and tired
of it.
One suninii r day when the sky was
culm and ch nr, and p> uce wins broodin
like a gentle spirit ov« r the whole en
tire family, old man Jerry happened to
remember that he had l<*ft somethin out
when he w asfixin the paps-rs and makin
the place over to Blev. Ho he called
Blev’s w ife by one of her jx t names and
1 told her to please bring him the paper
and let him put in. everything right. She
went and brung it out like she w as told,
and quick tut a flash that old man laid
it. over behind the back log in the big
fireplace,
“Now, there, young woman,” says he,
“this house mid this farm and every
thing on the place belongs to Jeremiah
Scroggins in ids own name. You and
my son Blevins can now shell out and
IniKtlo for yourself till I git ready to
move. In tho main time, I will use as
much tobacco art I want to and spit where
I durn please. I can have all the room
I :ie*Hland take my rest and not lx? in the
w r ay. 1 bought this place and built t his
house and planted out t he orchard with
my own hands, and I’ll lx- dn/lbumed if
you and Blevins can crowd me out in
my old age.”
With that the old mun went to thobig
family chest, got out a fresh plug of to
bacco, pulled ids chair mound in front
of the fireplace, put his feet on the
chimney jamb and let tlio juice of the
weed fly free and jnomiseus, ri^ht and
left.
Then Blev and Ida fMk.s they bad to
rnovo out, and whin the old man died
It coon turned out that In* had wontniid
made a will loavin his property to lie
divided amongst all the children fair
«tPd equal, cxeeptin i his non Blev and hbf
i on Ulev’a wife.
A Wide Open Weather Eye.
You will please take notice that I aint
rich, and maybe I aint smart nor very
foodlookin, but I w ill bet the best pair
of mules in the settlement that I never
will git turned out in the cold world
for the want of a softsr’tin down place.
1 will have a little nest of my ow n to
start with, and if in ca.M that slides out
from under me I have already j. it three
or four places picked out, where I can
go and flop down and rest when I git old
and tired.
There is James Saunders Scruggins,
whidh didn’t have no ma when he
turned up at our house, and never did
have any pa so fur anybody knows of.
But I toted fair with him and give him
a white boy’s chance. He Ikis got a
grxxl house now, and plenty to go on,
and I nm os welcome at his tabic us his
own dear daddy, if not more so.
Ami then there is Will Tom Pickens.
He wouldn't have a pretty home and
a good, smart wife and four promisln
children to-day if I hadn’t fixed up a
little scheme and worked it out so he
could marry Mamie Lou Galloway. I
was for Will Tom and Mamie Lou,
right or wrong, when their own homo
folks was tryin their level durndestto
bust up the match, and eon-sequentially
there is a warm place in their house for
me. whenever I may call and need it.
I got a letter from Will Tom the other
dny, and this is the w ay it reads:
To Hon. R. Sanders, Rocky Creek.
You dear delightful old Dlekunce:
You would come to see us Christmas or
New Year, but we have still got plenty of
somethin good to eat and drink savin up
agin you can git oft and come down. I
have got four more hogs to kill, whilst
Mamie Lou left the biggest turkey and put
away a basket of egga and also a large
bottlo of vegetable mutter to go with them.
Como as soon as you can and stay as long
as you golnatlon please. We will look till
we see you comin,
Yours through thick and thin.
WILL TOM PICKENS.
Moreover, also, Mi.ce.s Josephine Crit
tenden—little Jo Itunnels as she use
to be—she is married now, li\ in down in
the Flat Woods and doin well. She
always did think a great pile of me,
and if it ever comes to jiass that I
mought run out of soft .settin down
places I know -she w ill have a pleasant
comer somewhere around the iiou.se
whore she can tuck me in and keep me
warm.
It ain’t much probable that I will
ever git big rich or run for congress,
but}'on can IxM 30ur Sunday Ixxita and
your side whiskers that if I ever git old
and broke down ami genrally in the
w’«3', I will manage to find me a soft
place, where I can flop down and curl
up and go to sleep as neat and snug as
a meader mouse under a fodder stack,.
RITES SANDERS.
BATTLE WITH A COUGAR.
Thrilling Experionco of an Engineer
and His Fireman.
ARP SUSTAINS REED.
The Bartow Man Writes of Dr.
Thomas Holley Chi vers Again.
riie Itenst, in T.enplna to the Cab
Window, Fell Ilenentli the Wheel*
nnd Was Killed—Derailment
Seemed Certain.
To battle with a huge mountain lion,
»even feet in length and 253 pounds in:
weight, on a trestle at night, is the
thrilling experience that has just be
fallen Edward C. Depew, on engineer
on the Great Northern railroad. The
great beast leaped at the engine, and
narrowly escaped crashing through the
window of the c:ib. Altogether, the
episode was one of the most exciting
that a railroad man has ever experi
enced. Mr. Depew was prevailed upon
to write for the Cincinnati Enquirer
an account of his adventure, believing
that additional Interest would be lent
b3 r the fact of the stor3 - coming from
his own pen. Mr. Depew’s statement
is as follows:
“I was the engineer in charge of En
gine No. 219 of the Great Northern,
which was attacked by a monster
cougar, or mountain lion. At the time
of the adventure I was pulling the over
land passenger train going east, and as
we were a few minutes late we were try
ing to make up a little time. After we-
had left Lowell, Wash., and almost two
miles east of there, about half wn3'
across a long trestle, m3' fireman,
George Lawrence, jumped down off his
box seat and come quickh' to m3' side of
the engine. I noticed a startled look in
his face, and turning quiok^' asked
what was the matter. All he could do
was to glare through the window of the
cab and point ahead.
“A cold perspiration broke outon m3'
brow, I looked ahead and saw, through
the darkness, some black-looking ob
ject on the track. M3' first thought waa
of some obstruction on the track. For
a second the thought of Jumping
flashed through 1x13' mind, but I banislhed
it. This takes quite awhile to tell, but
it could 011I3’ have been a few seconds ut
the most, in winch it all happened.
“As soon ns I saw the obstruction on
the track i felt that a possible accident
Letter from Mr. .1. P. Grnvrr—Phll-
osopber \ovr Certain That Ihlear
Allan Poe Wrote "The Ra
ven”—Poet* Dlncanaed.
CHICAGO’S
Ills Ofllcera
HEAVY
COPPERS,
tbe Street
on Guard at
CroaMliijfa.
The arithmetics of the future will
perhaps contain a proposition like this
for the youth to puzzle over:
“If a crossing policeman weighs 240
pounds and his Ixdt is 32 inches in diam
eter, how far ahead of.him will a thief
keep who has a start of 2 < rods, 12 feet
pjid 3 inches?
The answer will l>e varied, accord
ing to tlic experionco of the student.
If he knows a lot of things about the
Chicago crossing coppers he will say
about a mile. When the civil service
commission is examining a man for
police force material for the days that
ore to lx*, it would do well, perhaps,
to pick out a few w ho can do 100 yards
under three minutes. They are not
on the force now. It may be that it
takes a man w eighing over 200 pound.-:
to hold down a job on the detail, but
whatever the reason it is evident to the
observer that the squad runs more to
obesity than anything else. It seldom
runs at all, for that matter, since vio
lent exercise is not pnE of the duties
of a crossing cop.
The Broadway squad in New York
city is <0 npoeed of ihc plr!< of the 10-
lice force, xdeeb-d for intelligence, m at-
nevs. polish and g« ncrnl appearance—
not for height and oinlujxjis solely.
Tlx* oiy.-i-r* an- the fi; i-st-lo filing Ixxty
cf |ioliec in the world without doubt.
The Chestnut street squad of Phila
delphia is composed of tall men, but
they are all finely built and an orna
ment to tire force. In Chicago the
man on the corner seems to lx*, strong
on girth and little else.
To be sure, the crossing copper does
not have to travel a beat nnd ids duties
are largety confined to waving a club
at obstinate drivers and helping ladies
to cross the street. But should a thief
be seen rush lag through tho stn*et with
a tray full of rings or a pickpocket
jump from a street esir and run, how-
many crossing cojx-rs In Chicago could
do anything exccjit throw adubathim?
Not one In a dozen. It is a grievous fact
that the onl\’ claim to pminenee Chi
cago can make for its downtown police
Is that they outweigh any equal number
of officers in the world.—ChicagoChron-
icle.
From uh Fnem> of Ton-.utoe*.
The chicken heart in human beings
is not iiiiftnowu, but the “tomatoheart”
seems new. A western Pennsylvania
savant inform*, the world that toma
toes, whether raw or cooked, are unfit
for human consumption, and that near
ly everybody who eats tomatoes suf
fers from lyeoperaieum curdiopathia,
or tomato heart. “Their effect,” ho
says, “even upon tho most robust is
invariably injurious.” The first symp
tom Is difficult breathing, which evi
dences “an arrest of vital activity.”
It seems that tho secret of the baneful
effects of eating tomabxw was revealed
to the professor in the discover)' of
the fact that the inmates of the Pitts
burgh almshouse, who jiartakc largdy
of canned tomatoes, are also ulllicted
with “general depression.”
Mie Didn’t See It ’that Way.
Mother—Why, Johnnie, what on
eartli have you been doing?
Johnnie—FiglitV! And you owe me
50 cents on it. You know that tooth
you was going to pa)’ a dentist to draw?
“Yes.”
"Well, Billy Differ knocked it out. 1 *—•
Odds and Ends. ,
THE ATTACK.
was at iwind. Nothing could be done.
Wc were too close to the danger, and the
fright had the same effect on me that it
hud on Lawrence, it took awa)' my
power of sjH’eeh instinctively 1
crawled out of t he cab on to the side of
the engine. The train dashed on, and
an instant after 1 had discerned the
form I sa w t lie monster’s C)'es flashing
through the darkness, green and yel
low b) r turiis. Lawrence was still in tilic
cab, speechless, with fixed eves and
finger outfit retched toward the animal.
His expression was frightful to look
upon. The whole scene was so horrl-
fv ing that it was photographed on in)'
brain so elearl)' as to make me able to
deserilx* every detail that occurred in
those few short seconds.
“As the train approached the lion I
could sex* it prepare to spring, and final-
13' when the leap was made tbe situation
was so dramatic t»s to lie almost theat
rical in effect. The headlight of the en
gine threw its ravs on the crouching
animal, and when it plunged into the
flood of light it looked as if its mission
of death would sure!)* ixv successful.
The force of the jump was astonishing,
ami as the body of the beast cnwlied
into t!i<* edge of the engine front tbb
sound echoed through the wilenee again
and again. To jump then was certain
death, for we were right in the center orf
the trestle, and )'et, ns the lion made its
(leap, I could almost feel its hot breath
on m)' throat. When the engine
crashed into the beast, or it crashed
into the engine, whichever wav' )'oti
wish to put it, the lion fell Inick on to
the trestle writhing as if In frightful
agony, and Mien, for the first time. I
realized that the danger was over.
“I learned afterward tiftit the cougar,
after we >hnd struck it, lodged on the
cross-ties of the trestle. It was found
there by the train crew of Engine No.
498, who picked it up and brought it to
Skykomlsh. There it was skinned.
The claws were taken by some of the
other firemen and engineers, who had
watch charms made of them, vvliloh are
very attractive. The beast was still
alive vVhen tho men of No, 498 discov
ered it, but its hind leg* were cut off,
nnd when the men got down to investi
gate, they kept at a safe distance until
it was known to be dead. In fact, Fore-
man John C. Wright would not go near
it until ho had emptied a couple of
chambers of ids revolver into it. Then
tIvey fastened it to the cow-catcher and
took it to Hkykomlsh.’*
A Coiiiity'* Criminal llccoril.
Mingo county, W. Vn., has a remark
able record. It is a young county, and
but few terms of court have been held.
There are not quite 1,W!0 votes in the
county, bill there are over 1,000 criminal
cases to be fried, most of them on in
dictments returned by tho last two
grayd juric*.
If m)’ good friend Wallace. Reed had
not come forward as Poe’s defender, I
should have refrained from further
mention of Dr. Thomas Holley Oliv
ers. It seemed to me that enough had
been written b)’ outside parties to pro
voke a clearer expose from bis kindred
or more intimate friends..
There is still u shadow over his relar
tiona to Edgar A. Poe. That the)' were
personal friends 1« proven, but as to
who preceded in that peculiar style
of l)'ric poetry is not proven.
I have on interesting let’er from a
cultured old gentleman of College Park,
Mr. James P. Graves, father of John
Temple Graves, who says that while a
college boy on Ids return home to Wash
ington, Wilkes county, he visited Dr.
Chivers and had a conversation with
him. Hesa)'s:
“This conversation awakened in me
the liveliest, interest. He spoke of an
essav' or criticism he had just written
for the Southern Literar)' Messenger, of
Richmond, Instituting a comparison of
the literar)- merits of the poets Byron
nnd Shelle)'. The impression made on
me was that it was a masterful produc
tion. He spoke of his‘Lost Pleiads’and
other poems; said he had just received
a letter from Poe, and I think he read
it to me, and he mentioned correspond
ence with other distinguished men of
the north.
“The picture given of him in tho
Constitution is most accurate. His
complexion was dark, esixxuall)’ so un
der the e)'es.
“The idea that Dr. Chivers inspired
‘The Raven’ or in an)' wa)' aided in its
production was not in that da)' enter
tained b)' an)'oae eo far as I knew.
“Dr, Chivers’ style of talking was very
ornate, and he appeared familiar with
the arts and sciences and to be a ver)'
erudite scholar. I used to wonder why
he was not more recognized by the
learned of both sexes, but suppose it
was because he was something of a
recluse, and preferred to revel in hie
own dream)’ and poetical thoughts.
There was no show of wealth about him,
nor did he seem to core for any. Long
after that ho removed to Decatur,
where he died and was buried. Mrs.
Chivers was a cultured and most es
timable lad)'. For further information
I refer you to Dr. F. T. Willis, of Rich
mond, Va., who was a half brother to
the late Samuel Barnett, of Washing
ton, Ga., and also to Judge William
Beece and Rev. F. T. Simpson, of Wash
ington.”
So it seems that if Dr. Olivers did
not himself bring charges of plagiar
ism against Poe.but remained his friend
and correspondent, the bill should be
“nol prossed.” More especially is this
so since Mr. Graves, liimself then a
young man of classical culture and a
contemporary, never heard of such a
charge, and Poe's biographer in Apple-
ton makes mention of a life of Poe yet
to be published that was written by
Dr. Chivers.
When 1 last wrote on this subject it
was my impression that Dr. Chivers was
Mr. Poe’s senior not only in years, but
in poetical work, and os they were
bosom friends in New York, that Poe
drew his inspiration from the doctor;
but more mature reflection satisfies me
that Wallace Reed is right.
My wife says lie is. She has but little
patience with people who seek to rob
the dead, or wlio destroy the idols of
her youth. Ever since siie used to re
cite “William Tell,” the hero of the
lakes, as her Friday evening speech at
school she has lx.*e:i mad with the man
who first discovered that then* was no
nnch hero, or if there was he never shot
an apple from off his hoy’s head.
Poe was certainly a gifted genius,
for his prose is us marvelous as his
poetry. Both are artistic, ingenious,
dreamy and of the bonlers of fairy
land. But they live in the admiration
more than in t lie heart. For jioems that
charm our human nature iuid linger
in t he soul of memory I would rather
read Goldsmith, Gray, Cowper, Cole
ridge, Burns and Tom Hood than any
others. Byron’s are grand and stately
In their beauty, but do not melt down
within us and make us Ixitter, kinder
and more loving.
The most lieautiful lyric poem ever
written is, I think, Coleridge’s “Gene
vieve.” When I was a young man I
read it with supremo delight nnd It
lias not yet lost its charm. My sym
pathy for love and lovers is still alive
and glowing and my soul Is thrilled
with ecstasy when 1 read how lie won
his “bright and Ix-auteous bride.” That
poem ami Goldsmith’s “Hermit” I com
mitted to memory more than half a
century ago and I dearly love to recall
them.
For solemn, serious meditation on the
vanity of earthly tilings there 1b no
poem equal to Gray’s “Elegy.”
For home and heart Burn* lead* all
in tenderness.
For exquisite pathos that appeals to
our charity and our pity there is noth
ing in the English language so affecting
as Hood’s “Song of the Shirt,”
On this side of the water we have
some few poets whose works have stood
nnd will continue to stand the test of
time. Marco Bozzaris is sublimity
itself. In thought and execution as n
single poem it stumbi alone and un
rivaled. I would rather have composed
it than to have been Wellington at
Waterloo.
fiomehow I have no taste for poetry
that has to strain for language or that
has to hunt the dictionary for unusual
or uncommon words, such as aidep,
gloaming, sheen, etc. Nor for poetry
that has to strain for rhymes. It re
mind* me of the freshman's first effort:
“DadJy built a well sweep,
Tbe wind blew it down-sheep.”
The rhyme should be as natu ral as the,
sentiment.
All of our best hymns have beenj
handed down to us from famous Eng
lish authors. With but a few exceptions
there have been none written wPhin'
the century. Did these old authors ex-':
haust the field or has the spirit of
sacred poetry departed? Who writes
a hymn now? But ewen some of these (
old popular English hymns are quite
faulty or unfortunate in expression. 1
When I waa a boy I used to hear “Come,
thouFountof every blessing” sung very
often in our church and I got the idea
into my head that angels' tongues were 1
made of fire, for the hymn says: “Sang
by flaming tongues above.” I did not
like that nor do I like it yet. That kind
of music Is a little too hot for mortals
to appreciate and adds nothing to the
attractiveness of Heaven.
I reckon I nm hypercritical about
such things, but I can’t help it. When
the similes in verse are unnatural they
distress me. As much as I admire Long
fellow I have never been reconciled t<r
the lines:
"As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight."
There is nothing like the falling of
darkness in that to me. It is a strain of
thought; might as well have said:
“From a buzzard in hi.: flight,” and that
would have been horrid. The coming
of darkness is a big thing and shrouds
the earth from horizon to horizon, but
the falling of a stray feather from a
bird is a ver)* little thing—too little for
a eomporison. But I reckon it i« mean
to find fault with a poet who wrote so
many beautiful poems. I was only
ruminating. Sometimes a change of ex
pression brings us down suddenly from
the sublime to the ridiculous. Web
ster’s last words were whispered: “I
still live,” but a young man I knew un
dertook to repeat them and said:
“Boys, I’m not dead yet,” and all the
solemnity disappeared.—Bill Arp, in
Atlanta Constitution.
THE WHITE HOUSE.
Arrangement* of tbe Official Quar
ter* of tbe Kxeeutlve.
At ten o’clock a hardly discernible
sign against the gloss of the barrier an
nounces to the citizen who has arrived
under the grand portal that the execu
tive mansion is “open” to visitors; at
two o'clock tbe sign is changed to
“closed.” The doorkeepers swing the
doors open to everybody. Within the
large vestibule nothing is seen which
indicates the arrangement and purposes
of the different parts of the mansion.
It was not always so, for originally the
now concealed corridor, or middle ball,
with the staircase on the right, was a
part of the entrance hall; now the
spaces between the middle columns'are
closed with colored-glass partitions, and
the vestibule is simply a large square
room pleasant to get out of. No way
appears to open to the state apartments
in the center, or to the west wing, which
is devoted to tlie private apartments;
yet glass doors are there, though as
Imperceptiblotothe st ranger as a swing
ing panel. To the left there is a door
which is always open. It admits to a
small hall across which a similar door
in the side entrance to the great east
room. About this splendid room, com
prising the whole east end of the man
sion, the visitor may wander at will be
fore the portraits, or enjoy from the
windows the beauty of Mie treasury
building to the east or the impressive
landscape to th© south, including the
towering shaft of the Washington
monument, and, beyond, the ever-
charming Potomac spreading with en
larging curves toward Mount Vernon;
and in the private garden under the
windows he may chance to see a merry
band of little ones, two of them the
president’s older daughters, with a few
playmates belonging to a kindergarten
class.
From the small hall between tbe ves
tibule and the east room a stairway as
cends toward the medial line of the
building to a wide middle hall, on each
side of which are the offices of tho
president. The arrangement is simple,
nnd in the floor-plan covers the space
occupied below by the east room and
the green room, tbe latter being the
counterpart of the small hull with tho
public stairway, just mentioned. At
the head of these stairs, over the green,
room, is the cabinet room, which is the
first apartment in the south side of tbe
hall; a jog of two steps, at the private
door into the president’s room, mark
ing the raised ceiling of the east room
below. The president reaches his of
fice through the cabinet room, entering
t he latter from the library, which corre
sponds on the second floor with the
blue room of the state apartments. Pres
ident Arthur, indeed, used the library
as his office and th© cabinet chamtJcr
for an anteroom, while his private sec
retary was domiciled in the traditional
office of the president. During his first
term Mr. Cleveland preserved the same
arrangement; but Gen. Harrison went
bock to the office hallowed by Lincoln’s
occupancy, and Mr. Cleveland, on his re
turn, found the arrangement so satis-
foctory that he continued it,—Century.
Employment of Wet Nurse*.
It is said that if a mother is com
pelled to allow another to nurse her
child, if the nurse does not remain be
yond the first year and the mother is
closely associated with and devoted
to the child, it* love la not appreciably
affected. But if the nurse is allowed to
practically take the mother’s place, it
will reflect her manners, ideas and in
dividuality, and may even become indif
ferent to tho mother. Mental and phy-
*ical ailments may be asquired from
a nurse, hence she should bo selected
with great care. She should be healthy
and near the same age and complexion
as tho mother and be fed liberally
with food best suited to her needs and
the development of the child. ‘•The
strength of a nation is in the care of
it* children.”
So Joy in Hi* Cap.
Wyld—The paper says Easter will bo
pleasant.
Mack—Not for me. I refused to boy
my wife a new bonnet.—Bay City Chat.