The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-07-19
The Propress of the AGE.
BY Bill Arp, of Ga.


the good old days of fifty years ago
and comparing the one with tn,
other, and my respect for the ole
times increases with my age. w,
didn't have as many comforts then
but we were content without 'em
and we had heap more time to dc
what we had TO do; we didn't live
in such hurry; everybody is in q
hurry now; they walk faster, and
ride faster, and work faster, and
think faster than we used to. Folks
used to have time to stop and talk
a while when they met on the
street. The men used to have time
to go visiting with their wives and
take dinner with a nabor, but they
don't now. The women do all the
visiting, but the men keep pegging
away at their business like the dew
il was after EN-. My good old ia
ther was a merchant and used to
go from Georgia to New York twice
year to buy goods, and he trav-
eIed all the way in stage coach,
and was gone five or six weeks, and
had plenty of time. I remember
when he took my mother and two
of us little boys with him on one
trip, and we went from Savannah to
Boston in a sail vessel and were
out at sea for thirty days, and he
bought a carriage and horses in
Boston, and we came all the way
back by land, and never crossed a
railroad track, for there were none
to cross. 1t took US about two
months, but we had plenty of time,
and we saw everything on the way
that was to be seen, and we saw it
good. Can't see anything good
now as we travel; haven got time
can't even count the telegraph
poles; they are gone by before we
get to 'em-can't hardly tell a COW
from a mule-can't enjoy any seen
ery-can't stop and exclaim 'Ah,
how beautiful, how lovely-can't
pick chinkapins nor wild grapes,
nor buckle berries On the way
can't stop to draw a bucket Of wa
ter from a roadside well. But
here you go a whizzing and rat
Ting along like a streak Of light
ming, and if the train stops few
seconds for wood and water the
passengers get restless and begin to
look ont and wonder what it stop
ped for. If folks are on the way
to heaven reckon it's all right to
go as fast as they can, and the
scriptures say whatever thy hand
findest to do, do with might, but
I'm afraid that we are not on that
road, and we incident be in such
hurry about getting to our journeys
end. The first railroad l ever aw
was between Charleston and Au-
gusta, and it was built upon trestle
all the way, so as to let the wagons
go under it, for the legislature said
it mustn't be allowed to interfere
with the wagons. The trains
didn't run at night, but stopped at
a tavern, and the passengers got
out and stayed all night. The
cars were made of slaves like q bar
rel, and were round, and had hoops
on 'em, and the ends were much
smaller than the middle, for they
said that the smaller the ends the
easier they would go through the
atmosphere. They have got one of
these same old cars in Charleston
now, and they keep it ag curiosi-
ty. After g few years they got
leave from the legislature to let
this hifalutin railroad down on the
ground, and to travel by night, and
they got. new cars sand didn't have
the two long seats like an omnibus,
and they found that the atmos-
phere wasn't as thick as they
thought it Woss I remember when
there wasn't any kind of a sleeping
car on any Of the roads, and the
passengers had to set up all night
and nod and bump around against
against one another. There have
been wonderful improvements since
then, and we feel like we have been
cheated out Ola heap of comfort in
the travelling business. remember
when there were no cooking stoves
in this country, and VIC had to cook
in the fire place, with big heavy
rough made ovens and pots and
sEillets, and we had an iron crane
in the chimney that swung out on
a hinge, and the dinner pot was
suspended out over the fire, and we
had to put Ere under the oven and
Goals Oh top ofthe lid, and we boys
had to hunt bark and chips to cook
with. 1t was hot work to cook
then, and hard work, but folks
didn mind it. There was no So
da or baking powders, but the bis
cults were beat with a little maui,
and they were good biscuit too,
and healthy. We had forks with
two prongs, and when one broke it
didn't have-but one prong, but we
kept on using it all the same, for
we eat mainly with the knife, and
wasn't ashamed to put it in onr
mouths either, and we drank coffee
out of the saucer instead of the cup.
We had tallow candles for light at
supper table, and if they give out
we had darkey to hold us torch,
which was the same rs a thousand
dollar chandelier, for the darkies
would have sold for that much on
an average. Those tallow candles
were dipped at home, and was a
big frolic for us children. We boys
were allowed half candle night !
to read and study by, and when
that burnt down VIC had to 90 to
bed, sleepy or not sleepy. | re-
member when there wasn't a fric-
tion match in the world, and most |
every family had finder box, and |
struck fire with a flint and steel. |
Folks didn't let the fire die out
hardly ever, winter or Summer, and |
when il did, Pve seen 'em 90 half a |
mile to a neighbors after chunk.
When matches first came folks were
sorter afraid of 'em, for they were
called Lucifer matches, and it was
believed that the devil had some
thing to do with them. / remem-
bar when there was not a staal non