The Placer herald., 1866-03-17
A LETTER TO BILL ARP"

and it gives proof that even amid the suffer
ings OF the South, that recuperative power
which extracts humor from human wrongs
will yet assert its ascendancy, and rise above
the accidents and chances of war.-EDs. N
Y. DAY BooK]
ATLANTRR, Ga. Dec. 25, 1865.
DEER BILL:-Betsy ses your name amt
Willum. but plain Bill, an so addresses
you cordinly. She ses she knows, kase she
wur with Misses Arp an seed you named,
which wur dun immegiately. Howsumever,
pasler sed, the day be filled his last appint
ment here, thar warnt nuthin in name, an
that a rose would smell as sweet by emmy
uther-thinks to myself, so would nigger
L alters wur under the impreshion that Bill
wur short fur Willum-tbat the short one
wur intended fur familier concourse, an the
to'her fur grematicle wrtin; but Betsey ses
different an what she ses ar so.
I'd like the best in the world to see you,
Bill. I've got heap to say. In fact, I'm
chock full, an | want to find sumbody
aint o'feerd to talk to. thaut wunce I'd
gst quit thinkin, but its no use tryn' to do
that. The old m-rsheen wiU run, an putin
On the brakes don't seem to do no good. To
keep my biler from Dustin, I'm obeeged to
talk, but dod drot it, half the time I'm
afeerd to raise my safety valve, least sumthin
mought jump out what badn', orter; an then
agin, when l do spress my sin:imints, I'm
skeerd half to deth, leas: mought be doin
it to the rong man.
l tell you what, Bill, times ar either very
much alterd', or else my thinkin mersheen ar
very much out o. order. Sposin it might be
the latter, I've bin overbauln it an tryn'
to Reconstruct it. Its got SO it don't grind
out no dees that's popIer nor orthadocks
Afore the war, could alters relic upon it
for opinions an konklusions knowd wur
korrect, but now the burned ole things al
Iers a. fooIin of me. For instance, used to
hno~ niger wur nigger-now I'm con-
ferdent he's only white man slightly ku-
Ierd-an' smells toIible sweet. Agin, al
lers labored under the idee that it wur rong
to lie an STEEL an that no honest man would
ingage in emmy sich kneefarious bisness; but
durin the last year I've know'd the honest
est sort O men to do both at wunst. Fur
thermore, gist know'd wunce that Massv'
chusts wur separit. destinck'd an individ
ual person, that she wur born akordin to the
usual laws O Iaber, an as soon as she got big
enuf went 10 work an made mummy; that
she then went into bolesail grocery, pro-
duce an kermishion bizness with Messrs. S.
& N Carliner & Co., on kondlton that ef
she, or emmy the rest o. the consurn, should
git dissatisfied an want to retire to private
life or set up for herself, she could do SO
whenever she seed fit. But you see wur
rong thar too. I've bin kunvnced O. this
m istake ever sense Mr.. Wilson KUN to
Macon.
Talk about State rites! I gosh she amt
got no rites but to stay whar she ar, pay in
fernal revinew taxes an behave herself Ef
she dus these, she kin be treated like one O.
the family boiler booraw for the Younion,
an have big eagle to perfect her. BY the
way, Bill, don't like the way that ar eagle
roos's. She gifts on pole up yander atout
Washinton, turns he'd t'other way, an that,
you see, put US rite mmegiately under her
t'o,her eend I'd like fur Misur Jonson TO
alter her persitou, fur I've heern it sed that
habit ar seckon natur, an I'm Altered she'll
cit so she wont want 70 be turned round at
all. They say variety are the spice O life,
but as fur as l am konsurn'd, Id ree,ber not
have mine spiced 10 emmy such way.
Well, Bill, the war boss have ceesed to
paw an snort, the smoak of battle have bin
blow'd away by the winds of heving, an the
passin breeze are no longer tainted with the
odor Of burnin saltpelre an birthstone
We've made up, shuck hands, and we orter
now to try to be friendly and naherly. But
thar ant no harm in lookn back kanly and
sareenly and revewen the kauses that fust
got US to quarreln and then set US to fight
in. In the fust place. thar newspapers told
lies about the way we managed our nlggers,
and sed they wur agwine to make us set 'em
free; secundly. sum O. thar preachers, instid
o preechn peece all over the country and
good will to us. preeched nigger sutterins,
what didn't exist; Sbarp's rifles, what, unfor.
tunately, did exist; and eternal Aberlsbion,
wi at, I'm sorr, to say, ar exis'in now; and
thirdly and lastly, thar politis'ioners, bein
aspirin and amhlshious, and seein "Unlvarssl
Fr4edum" already brIdIed and saddled, they
gis, Jumped rite asradde o. him, popped
ihe spurs TO the Greet ur, and rode right into
uffis. These feIIers all acted in konsurt, and
they told so menny tails about the poor suf'
fern niggers, and depicted SO menny harti
rendip seems. that they got all the wimmins'
simpalhes excited, put 'em all to cryin, and
set 'em all agin us. They gist knowed then
they had the thing ded, fur havin konverted
all the feemail sex. Il mean the northern
ones) the be ones, which are the ones that
10 the votin, would foller gst as natural as
pig tracks gwine to 'simmon tree. Thar
kards wur now stocked gist as they wanted
'em, so they staked thar last red on the Pres
ident, and 1 gosh they raked down the pile.
Well, they'd dun swors they wur ag"'ne to
take our niggers from us as soon as they wur
able-,hey wur able now-so what else
could we do but gist pack up our duds. move
out from the konsurn, and 20 to housekeepln
on our own hook. We'd pade good mummy
fur our uiggsrs, and they wur mighty koo'
veniep. things to have on plantasblon.-,