The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-07-02
BILL ARp,s LETTER.
He Describes Storm in the Country.

BILL AhF|S LEIlEhs
He Describes Storm in the Country.
The weather is little cyclonish. Just
enough for US to enjoy its solemn grand.
eur. Broad fields are in front of us, and
the blue hills just beyond encircling the
valley South and West, and through this
valley runs Pettits creek. When the
black clouds begin to loom up from
behind the hills and the low rumbling
thunder is heard we look and watch and
listen. Will the storm 60 round us or
will it come. By and by the western
sky is all darkened. The sun is hidden,
and we catch the roar of wind and watch
for the first sight Of rain on the crest of
the pine covered ridges. If it crosses
the mountain it will most surely come
and water the valley in front of us, and
it most always comes with wind. We
look and wonder and admire as long as
we can, forit is 8 grand display of natures
power, but soon it treaches our very doors,
and then we have to leave the piazza
and take in the chairs and close the door
and let down the windows and wall its
pleasure and its perils. The treetops
wave and bend furiously about, the tall
corn is bowed low, the grape leaves are
turned wrong side outwards, the driving
storm has obscured all the valley and the
mountains beyond, the lightning flashes
incessantly and the thunder shakes the
ground and jars the windows. There is
q solemn stiffness in the family room.
"Don't sit so near the sewing machine,
Jessie; keep away from the hearth, Carl"
says Mrs. Arp. The driving rain dashes
against the window glass, and creaps in
at every crack. There is leak over the
piano-a leak that 1 have promised Mrs.
Arp dozen times to fix, but can't fix
it in such storm as this, and when the
storm is over I put it off for more con-
venient season. 1t is so easy to put of q
thing, especially thing that requires q
man to get on top of house. 1 don't
like elevators nor elevations now.too
old and stiff. Ihave passed the meridian
I have just seen my sixtieth birthday
and was Kissed all round, and had good
wishes and kind words from Mrs. Arp
and the children, and the spring chickens
were sacrificed, and there was cherry pie
without the seed and raspberries and
various good things all raised at home.
A storm in the country is worth some
thing to see. We can look out and afar
off and we can see the lightning fash
and zigzag and corruscate, and have no
fear-it is grand, but not fearful-not
alarming. The trees are all around US
and have never been struck. They are
our lightning rods, our insulators.
Lightning will strike one lonely tree, but
it rarely strikes in grove or forest. 1t
has struck twice in our cotton field and
killed the cotton, but these trees all
around us scatter it and keep it from con.
centrating. Nabor Freeman says that
lightning has liking for wagon with
one steer, for he passed one on the road
day before yesterday while there was a
storm on hand and the lightning struck
the little one steer wagon and tore it all
to pieces, and the steer just went on with
nothing but one shaft hitched to him.
There was no driver, for the steer had
Just been turned loose to go home by
himself. Cobe says he never did under.
stand this thunder and lightning bust
ness, nohow, "for," says he, "some folks
say it's the lightnin' that strikes, and
some say it's the thunder, but he has
noticed one thing, and that is that when
ever anything is struck they both come
right smack together and it looks like it
takes 'em both to do the work"
We have had q good deal of country
life of late and have no idea of chang.
ing base. I had rather live poor in the
country than rich in town. We have
been harvesting wheat and oats and rye.
We went to see millpond drawn off,
and had big time wading in and grab
bing the fish under the moss and in the
hollow stumps, and trying to hold the
slickery eels. l go with the children
after mulberries and dewberries and
huckleberries. I've hived six swarms OF
bees and got stung only twice. The
children have pulled out the peacocks'
tails for fybrushes. The peacock is a
dude. used to think the peahen ought
to have the fine clothes, but don't now,
for it would most kill her to give them
up. The beautiful feathers we've intend
ed for the use of man, and it is all right
to strip the vain bird of his ornaments
and let him feel like common stock.
There is right good fishing in our big
spring branch, and every spring some
nice trout run up from the creek and
feed on minnows. We have been watch.
ing them and trying to catch them, but
they wouldn't notice our earth-worm
bait, and so the other day 1 set out
minnow and got over the fence and
watched the pole, ard sure enough big
fat fellow grabbed it and hung himself,
aud was cavorting and splashing around,
and had to go over six plank fence,
and I couldn't do it in the old time way,
and just fell over on my hands and feet
and I galloped on allfours to the pole
Just in time to pull him out and save
him, for he fell off the hook on the grass
and had liked to have hirted back in the
water. Mrs. Arp had fish for supper
that evening. She is fond of fsh--aris-
tocratic fish, and when we get trout it
is always for her. They say that fish is
brain food and gives folks sense, and l
reckon the finer the fish the finer the
brain, and that is the reason folks who
feed on trout have so much judgment.
Then, again, trout are game fish and that
is the reason why folks who eat them
are so game. / wish had some trout.
Nav be I wouldn't be as meek and hum
BILE as am.
BILL ARP.