The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-06-05
BILL ARp,S SUNDAY CHAT.
His pensive 11edltations by the Mill Pond

/ His Pensive Meditations by the Mill Pond.
When young man comes to our town
on business, and has 10 go back on the
next train, and has little spare time,
and hires q gray horse and buggy, and
comes out to see us late in the evening
and can't stay to supper, its sign he is
friendly. Pm sorter dull on emotions:
They don't come quick to the surface and
gush like some folks, but was G lad to
see him, shore. Inever knew anything
but good of him in my life, He's got
discretion. If he likes anybody he shows
it; but if he don't like 'em they never
find it out. He attends strictly to busi-
ness, except that he will take time enough h
to show his respect for every pretty girl
within days journey. He cant help that
there's lump somewhere in his crani-
um that propels him, and its got more
power than all the steam in compress.
He is always doing something to please
em, and if it wasn't against the law would
marry half a dozen out of pure goodness
of heart My prediction is that he will
finally take poor young widow, who
has seen better days, just to be a father
to her orphan children. One time ne
went to see pretty girl way down in
Polk, and her pious old father had q
family rule that every child should re-
peat verse of Scripture at the breakfast
table in the place of grace, and lie ex-
pected his visitors to do the same, if they
could. My young friend was taken some
what by surprise, but he n!llied just in
time and said in his turn: "He that
fndeth a wife, fndeth a good thing from
the Lord" which was the only verse he
could think of, and come up from the
bottom of his heart like inspiration. l
wish he would make haste and conscli-
date with some one of EN-, for he'd make
her happy and work in the harness so
gentle.
You see my thoughts are running now
in that direction, for l am lonesome. Its
altogether possible for man to be lone
some, with s or 10 in the family, if the
bright particular star is gone. "Going
to stay another week." I'm afeard |
amt as populous with her as l thought l
was. Too much inertia about her, and
maybe it will be hard to get her back
home as it was to get her away from it.
/ reckon she's waiting for some love-let-
ters, and fresh string of promises, and
she'll get en-, for l never was stubborn
about thing of that sort. A long time
ago 1 tried poutin, and experimental
with her who could hold out the longest,
but in two days I came to the conclusion
wasent at home, or was of no conse-
quence, or was dead, and so let up on
poutin. The survival of the fittest was-
ent in circumstance compared with it.
Yesterday I went to mill. Its good
place to 60 to when your feelings are
disturbed-when your natural equilibri-
um is out of balance. The sound of the
falling water and the trembling hum of
the mill house will soothe you into q
calm serenity. Old men who lived here
with the Indians say they always carried
their luuatics to the falls and kept EN-
there until they got we'll. Maybe if the
white folks would build their asylums by
mill-dam, it might cure more folks of
craziness than the doctors. l never saw
a miller excited, or in anyways rambunc-
tious. They are calm and sareen, and
bother the world as little as possible.
Folks tell heap of tales about EN- TAX
ing loo much toll and their hogs being
always fat, but that's all slander. Its
like the talk about preachers sons, and
tailors' cabbage, and shoemakers' wives
going barefooted, and the grocer telling
his son to sand the sugar and come into
prayers. Human nature is obliged to
have story on everybody.
But don't think n miller's life is con
ductive to make great man Of him. 1t
will quiet man down and reconcile him
to misfortune and monotony, but it amt
calculated to rouse the lion, if there's
any in him. I never heard of one being
ANYTHING but a miller. Andy Johnson
was a tailor, and Henry Clay mill-boy,
and Joe Brown plowed man-cow, and
Judge Underwood broke hides and cur
ried leather, and Mr.. Burritt was q black
smith, and when my good mother used
to hear of these great men springln up
from such humble callings, she would re-
mind me that 1 rode the mail one of the
hardest winters that ever froze q boys
toes off, and maybe something would
come of it, but it dident.
used to go To mill, too, just like Henry
Clay, "the mill-boy of the slashes," as
they callsA him, and got good many
slashes myself for going in washing
and sometimes for getting back little
too soon. If some other boy dident go
with me I always found one to come
back with, and we would leave the grist
so as to run races all the way home and
git to go back next day. Then it was
such glorious frolic to 60 in washing,
and swim around, which my careful
mother dident approve of, and so she
used to sew my shirt together at the
collar; but then me and Bill Malthy
used to carry along q needle and thread,
rand after we came out would lie down
and let him sew up my collar, and then
l would sew up hisen, and we could come
mighty nigh making the stitches all the
same as they was. That's mighty bad
know, but you see we was boys.
That kind of fun is all over now, but
its still comfort when l am sad to hitch
up the little wagon and take two or three
of the BARNS to mill, and as they rise the
top of the hill that brings the big ole
wheel in sight, hear the little voices pipe
up and sing
Listen to the water mill
All the livc-long day."
There's been so much poetry written
about them and the big wheels, and The
water falling over the dam, they've go
to be almost as classic as an old we'll
bucket. Then there's the fishing privi
leges which arc sweet luxury to then
who likes EN-, and Daniel Webster sale
that but two classes of people did like
em-gcntlemen and vagabonds. The
middle class had no fancy for it, which
always satisfied me that did not belong
to that class. Fishin is, however, n very
deceivin business. A man expects more
from it and realizes less than any bust
ness upon earth, exceptin saw-mill.
do love to hear Dolph Ross tell how
many big ones he drew up to the top o