The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-01-20
Don't Take the Paper. "

Suppose that Cicero, or Aristotle, OIL
Socrates or any other of the philosopher:
who lived and died before the age ofprin
ting, could be reused from tho grave and
handed q modern newspaper in his own
language. How he would gloat over the
treasure, especially when he glanced over
the telegraphic dispatches and recalled
the slow progress of news in his day or
when he looked at the advertisements and
discovered how conveniently he could pur.
chase his groceries and dry goods by re-
ferring to them. What u smile of graft
tude would beam over his countenance,
as he examined the terms of subscription,
and the knowledge dawned upon his mind
that fresh copy could be procured every
week, or every day, for SO triaing sum
The conception would be too vast to be
grasped at once-it would require time.
But when he had gotten clear percep-
tion of the fact, would not his first thought
be that theliving generation of men must
be the wisest Of all generations?
Then suppose that just at this time,
some economical" old gentleman should
step up and ask him the price of cotton,
assigning as reason that he "don't take
no papers," We really believe that Solo
mon himself, under these circumstances,
with all his knowledge of human folly,
would be so staggered by the information
as to fall back into his grave instanter.
The idea that any human being could be
content to live in ignorance of so many
things which concern his every-day-life,
when he could be informed of them ut 80
little cost, would be too much for any
philosopher that ever lived. And yet
there are thousands in this age of cheap
printing, who "don't take q paper" They
care nothing for what is going on in this
restless world, outside of their immedi-
ate neighborhood.
Now, there are some unerring marks,
by which man who don't read the pa
pers may be known, and we will mention
q few of them for the benefit of our rea-
ders. Whenever o man is chock-full of
ncighborhood gossip, and is forever both
ering his friends to know what Congress
or tho Legislature is doing; when he
spends all his spare time at preaching,
outside of the house, in asking about the
probability of confiscation, famine, pesti-
lence, war, or some other great disaster,
he don't read the papers. When he de-
pends upon the same source for bis knowl-
edge of the marriages, deaths, sales, ae-
cidents or murders in his county, he don't
take has county p1per: for If he did, he
could save great deal of breath in ask
ing about such things, when the news is
old to his neighbors. When man don't
know the prices of his farm productions,
or have any idea what they ought to be;
and when he don't believe in the big
crops or the improved implements of
other localities and feels confident there
is some humbug about them, he don't take
the papers. But the surest mark Of one
who don't take any papers, in his sublime
confidence in what little he does know.
He can't be humbugged-not he. He
never gets less than the top of the mar
ket for his cotton-never. And what's
more, you can't toll him anything about
a grab.plow, or mud chimney, or land
pike hog Yorkvilte Enquirer.