Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-09-28
The Old Folks.

Most everybody is dead That is, al,
the old folks. There are mighty few
left of the old stock that used to move
around so lively and take the lead in
business and public affairs. Some of us
are getting lonesome now. The ranks
keep filing up, but we don't know the
new recruits. Old Father Time is q
conscript officer, and he won't take any
substitute nor give anybody a bomb
proof place. There are no quarter.
masters nor commissaries Eor potash
getterS in this war, but it is fight, fight,
fight all the time. Sooner or later all
of us have got to go. We can't desert,
nor dodge, nor play sick, nor shoot
finger off, and there are no furloughs
and no pensions and no discharge.
There is not even a promotion for good
conduct or noble daring. There is
nothing but to do and die. Well, it's
all right, know, or it wouldn't have
been so, but it grieves me to hear the
bell tolling all about and to see the old
stock passing away. Thirty-two years
ago / moved to Rome, and it was right
smart town of three thousand people.
They are not there now. What are left
l can count on my fingers, hardly a
dozen of the old settlers, and they move
about very slow. Old Mother White
died the other day. The oldest of them
all. She was always going about doing
good or trying to. She outlived her
old maun," the Scotchman, and
she outlived her children, but
she never surrendered to grief OF
trouble. These old Scotch people have
habits and principles like cast-iron.
They never change. The old ''maun,"
rs we called him, was always merry,
and always at work making harness,
and he died in harness. He had his
time to eat, and to sleep, and to pray,
and to sing, and to read the Bible, and
his time to work, and he never neglect
ed the regular programme. Old maun
White couldn't sing, but he thought he
could, and he considered it as much
duty as to pray. HI was heavy man,
but he waddled up the hill to the meet
ing-house with alacrity, and took his
seat like he meant business, and he did
mean business, He said amen and
amen all through the preachers prayer,
and then he opened his hymn-book with
eagerness and stood up in front of the
choir and sang from away down. He
tried to follow, but was sure to get
little ahead, for he enjoyed it and want
ed to do more than his share. The choir
did their best to smother him, but they
couldn't. His bellows was strong and
blew loud. His kind of singing wouldn't
have been tolerated from any other
man, for he was always a little up or
little down, and he tapered off. His
voice was a good deal below bass, and
came up like there was a cog-wheel in
his throat. But everybody that knew
the old man enjoyed his singing, for il
seemed to do him so much good, and at
times when the words were very
tender, the old man would say
amen at the end of the stanza. !
remember that one time when Henry
Gartrell and George Stovall were lead
ing music, the old man turned two
leaves in his hymn-book and got from
long into short meter, and the words
didn't fit the music. There wasn't
enough of them, and the old maun
shook his head and gave a grunt and
filled out with couple of amens. He
heard litter behind him, and, looking
round, muttered audibly: "Thar's sum-
thin wrong about here" We ioked
him about it next day, and he laughed
as he said: "Ah, well, you know that
David said sing unto the Lord new
song, and 1 deed it. Yes, ] deed il"
l wonder how many children old Moth
er White has taught in Sunday-school.
She has had class of little ones ever
since knew her, and she taught them
all the same thing, to love God and tell
the truth and do right. 1 don't think
she ever improved on that. She didn't
know anything about the science of re-
ligion or the evidences of Christianity,
and she didn't want to know. 1t was
enough for her that she loved her
Maker and loved everybody, and her
Maker loved her. Her faith was iron
clad; she lived in it and died in it. fl
could trade in chances for Heaven
would be willing to trade for hers. She
is there, reckon, and some of the chill
dren she taught are there, too, and they
gave the old lady welcome that was
Heaven enough for her.-''BiU Arp," in
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