Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-04-21
The Ant
.RY 1asH RuHINas.


BIT JOSH BILLINGS.
The ant is menny footed insekt
They live about one thousand i've nun
dred and fifty of them (more or less, ~
the same hole in the ground, and hold
their property in common.
They have no holy days, no eight.hour
system, nor never strike for emmy higher
wages asa
They, are very cheerful little toilers,
and have no malice, nor back door TO their
heartA as
There il no sedentary loafers among
them, and yu never see one out ov job.
They git up arly, 60 tew bed late, work
all the time, and eat on the run.
Yu never see two ants argueing sum
phoolish question that neither of them
didn't understand: they didn't kare
whether the moon IL inhabited or not; nor
whether fish weighing two pounds, put
into q pail ov water ALREADY phuil, Will
make the pail slop over or weigh more.
They amt hunting after the philoso-
piers stone, nor Citing crazy over the
cause of the sudden earthquakes. -.
They don't care whether Jupiter is thirty
or thirty millions of miles up in the
air, nor whether the earth hobs around on
its axes or not 20 long aa II didn't bob
over their korn krlb and spill their barley.
They are simple, little bizzy ants, full ov
hith, working hard, living prudently,
committing no sin, prazeing God by mind
ing their own bizzness, and dieing when
their time comes, tew make room for the
next crop ov ants. rn d.
They are o reproach tew the lazy, an
encouragement tew the industrious, re-
buke tew the vicious, and study tew the
Christian.
If you want tew take lesson in arkitek-
ture, 90 and set down bi the side ov their
hole in the ground, and wonder how 80
menny kan live 80 thick.
If your pashunes needs consolashun,
watch the aunts and be strengthened.
If man had added tew his capacity the
pashunes and grit ov theze atoms ov ami
mated natur, every mountain on the buzz
yum ov the earth would, before this, have
bin leveled, and every inch OF surface
would scream with fruitfulness, and
countless lots ov human critters would
have bin added tew the inhabitants ov the
universe, and bin fed on corn and other
Sass
have sot by the hour and a half down
near an ant-hill, and marveled have Won
dered at their instinkts, and hav thought
how big must be the jackass who was sat-
isfied to believe that even an ant, the least
ov the bugs, could hav bin created, made
bizzy and sot to work by chance.
Oh, how do pity the individual who
behaves that all things here are the work
ov an acksident! He robs himself ov all
pleasure on earth and all right in heaven.
l had rather be an ant (even a humbly
handy legged, profane, swearing anti,
than look upon the things ov this world
az I would upon the throw Of the dice.
Ants are older than Adam.
Man (for very wize reasons) warn't
built until all other things were finished
and pronounced good.
If man had been made fust, he would
hev insisted upon bossing the rest OF the
job. S,
He probably would hav objekted to
having any little, bizzy ants at all. and
various other objekshuns would hev been
offered, equally green. .
! am glad that man wuz the last thing
made.
If man hadn't hav been made at all,
you never would hav heard me find emmy
fault with it.
haven't much faith in man, not be-
kause he kant do well, but bekauzc he
wont.
Ants hav bye laws. and constitushun,
and they mean sumthing.
Their laws amt like our laws, made
with hole in them, 30 that a man kan
steal boss and ride through them on q
walk.
They don't hav any whisky ring, that
IL virtewous, simply bekause it hooks bi
the millyun, and then legalizes its own
ackts.
They don't hav emmy legislators that yu
kan buy, nor emmy Judges, laying around
on the half shell, redy to be swallered.
rather like the ants, and think now
shall sell out mi money and real estate
and iine them.
had rather jine them than the bulls
or bears like their morals better.
The bulls and the bears handle more
money, it is true, and make a crate deal
more noizc in Wall street, one ov them
sticking his horn into flabby piece OF
Erie, and tossing it up into the ar, and
the other ketching il when II comes down
and trampling 1t under hiz paws.
This may be plum for the bulls and the
bears, but 1t IL wuss than the cholera
morbust for poor Erie.
ANITA never disturb Erie yu couldn't sell
ne eny Erie emmy more than you could
sell one skrip on the Goldfish banks of Nu-
foundland.
Ants are honest, hard tugging little
people, but whether they marry and live
in marriage, IL beyond mi strength but if
they don't they are no wuss oph than
they are out West (near the city OF Chi.
cago,) where they marry to day, and are
reddy the next day to fitc it out agin on
some other line.
Wedlock out West (near the crate grain
mart, Chicago,) liz one ov them kind oy
locks that almost emmy body kan pick
Neao York WssHy. p s1NtA afN3 's's
EARLY AND LATE PLANTING.--Peas
may be sown very early, even If the soil
is quite cold, as considerable frost or cool
nights will not injnre them. Beans will
rot If the soil is cold and wet-therefore