The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-12-25
THE POLITICAL ZODIAC.
Bill Arp Thinks the Signs arc Hopeful.
atlanta Constitution.

,, atlanta Constitution.
The signs of the political zodiac al
. hopeful. For twenty years the
, have been in the head aud neck of th
f republican party. Aries the ram an
, Taurus the bull have been butting aroun
generally. The bull tossed us up an
J when We struck the ground and tried t
rise again to perpendicular, the oil
ram took us from behind and We neve
had any chance to get up at all. But "
have got up at last and whipped the fight
and the signs are now in the republical
knees. Capricornus, the goat, is dow
on his marrow bones. He wags >hi
beard and shakes his horns, but that's all
And now the stars are moving sereuel.
in the heavenly belt, and the signs ar
working up the heart and the breast
The lion will soon rule the roost, noble
beast-the king of beasts-aud there vii
be peace in the land. The signs art
working up, know, for to day Mrs. ArE
received letter from union soldier ir
Pennsylvania, telling her that he had bel
album that was taken from our house
twenty years ago. and carried away as 6
trophy, and he wants to return it. Tha,
is good sign. The spirit of restitution
is at work, and before long maybe all oul
valuables will be sent home with interest
and back pay. Ammo Domlni and dem.
ocratic principles will tell. When Mrs
Arp read the letter she looked away of
dreamily and said, "Well, he writes like
a gentleman. It is pretty letter and !
reckon he must be a gentleman" and
then, after pause, she continued "But
what made him keep it so long| That
album was her maiden treasure, for ii
had sweet words from her schoolmates.
and sweeter ones from her lovers, and she
has often wondered what anybody wanted
with it. We vacated our home in the
night, away in the night, at the time
when deep sleep falleth upon man and
all of Mrs. Arp's literary treasures were
hastily bundled together for transporta.
ton and were left-left in the drawer OF
her beautiful sewing table. There were
all the letters from loved ones dead, and
loved ones living. and some promising
ones from me, for I promised her every
thing before got her. All the men do
that reckon, but how many keep them
nobody knows but the recording angel.
Then there were all the letters | wrote
her from the army-letters that | wrote
with thoughtful care-for they were 10
refresh memory in coming years. They
were notes of battles and marches and
retreats, and of the killed and wounded
whom our people knew and loved-notes
Of winter life in camp and night alarms
and daily trials aud surprises. l had
hoped to compile from them something
that would do to print in after years, but
they too are gone. The album will be
welcome when it comes, and we will
thank the gentleman for his kindness.
Our boys kept some things too that they
captured-some trophies from the dead
that would be dear to the living if we
knew them. War is an awful thing, and
whenever I feel like complaining of bad
luck or unexpected trouble it is always q
comfort to remember that it is not 80 bad
as war. 1t will be a glorious era when
the sword is really put upon the anvil
and made into plowshare.
had letter yesterday, another letter
that gives sign, q token of good will.
1t came from Boston and from stranger,
who says he reads the Constitution weekly,
and tries to keep posted on national pol
itics, and quote from his letter, verba-
tim, as follows: "I think your letter of
the 18th was too hard on US. You should
have drawn it milder, for we are not mad,
not bit mad, and it grieved me that you
had such an opinion of us. I am mer.
chant, and meet daily many friends, and
with us all, most all here in Boston, the
pleasant test thought is the changed po.
litical aspects in relation to the people
of the South. We are sincerely glad
that you all like it and cannot help re-
joicing with you. I have talked with no
one who does not appreciate your good
feelings over your recent vctory-l feel
SO sure Notwithstanding have been a
republican all my life. In the late con-
test had to look beyond the candidate
and for the sake of the 6. o. p. l took
the pill aud voted for Blaine. He is the
style of man to wave the bloody shirt.
He is one of the politicians and does not
belong to our rank and file in Boston.
Now let us all try to quench the flames
of passion and live in peace. Last sum-
mer I visited Virginia and North Caro-
lima, and saw your hordes of negroes,
and pitied you that this ignorant race
had been forced upon you as voters: l
did not at all like the new generation,
but the old graybearded ones were polite
and we'll maunered and / liked them.
One evening while at Raleigh looked
in upon the darkeys at festival and
was entertained, amused and instructed.
l 20 to New Orleans thia winter, and
shall stop awhile in Atlanta so as to learn
more of the South and her people. /
found nothing more marked on my for
mer visit than the hospitality aud cour-
tesy of your people, and We all hope that
the new order of things will bring US all
nearer together"
Well that is good letter. Such talk
as that will capture the Southern heart:
I Just feel like l want to hug him and
his wife and his children. Such as him
may come down here and live and die
and be buried in our graveyards. We
will let their children marry our children,
and raise up breed that will harmonize
the sections. They will furnish the
money and we will furnish the "don't
care" for a dowry, and it will make q
splendid cross. Nevertheless, / couldent
help thinking that the sympathy for us
about the negroes voting was little late
"a little too late, perhaps. We used to
be sorry, but we ain't now. 1t looks like
a pity that we couldent all be sorry at
the same time. Their votes don't trouble
us now. They don't vote as much as
they used to. Our country darkeys have
almost quit, for both sides have quit pay
ing them. They sold their registration
tickets, the other day, in Caroline, to Johr
Robinson's circus for leave to go in tt
his show. They had rather see the ele
phant now than to vote, but they used tt
want to vote every day two or three
times.
But the signs are hopeful. Boston il