The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-10-07
ARP,S LETTER.

ARP'S LETTER.
ais Visit to Towns in East Tennessee.
atlanta Constitution.
When a man goes meanderiDg around
through another State, it becomes him to
see the bright side and the best side OF
everything. He is no welcome visitor
who comes along with flaw picking face
and boilers School butter" and is always
telling and Dragging how they do things
where he lives. When there is just Gauss
to praise, praise should be given quite
lavishly, for it makes the people not only
content but proud of their homes and
country. By invitation l visited East
Tennessee the other day, and sojourned
at Sweetwater, thriving railroad town
that takes its sugary name FROM that
beautiful valley and the stream that runs
through it. The valley is about twenty
miles long and half as wide, and literal.
ly flows with milk and honey and other
products of q generous, well-preserved
soil. There is more butter and nicer
butter shipped from that station than
any other along the line. The platform
was crowded With cans that contained
from twelve to twenty pounds each, and
as I looked. over the labels I saw that
their destination was Atlanta and Rome
and Birmingham and Chattanooga and
other towns along those lines. Wire
coops were crowded with chickens and box.
es packed with eggs. There were barrels
of sweet potatoes, and there were scores
of barrels and sacks of flour which came
from mill near by that ground 1000
bushels of wheat every day. a pound OF
-four is the daily ration for one man, and
here is a single mill that feeds eighty
thousand people, and yet it is q mere
cipher in this great business of feeding
the millions. Will this thing never stop?
Will the people never get enough? Can't
the nation fast few days and get rich.
The statistics say that it takes twenty
million dollars to feed the nation day.
Let us all quit for awhile. Tanner quit,
and now there is another fellei who is
beating Tanners record. He has taken
no food for forty days and still keeps
strong and lively But they say he has
the elixir of life in two ounce vial.
There was fair going on at Sweet.
water-a lively little County fair-and
they had fine cattle and good stock of all
kinds, and big potatoes and turnips, and
beets and pumpkins, and immense ears
of corn. l measured one that was six-
teen inches long and large in proportion.
There was great variety of handiwork
of the ladies, and lots Of preserves and
iellies and beautiful butter. There was
negro there from Knoxville with his
fine stock of horses, and the committee
had to tie the blue ribbon on them
whether they wanted to or not. There
was girl baby show for all ages over six
months, and as the committee were young
men they tied the blue ribbon on baby
about sixteen years old and gave her a
kiss as the premium. Bob and ALI were
all the talk everywhere, and the people
didn't seem to have much choice between
them. The brothers were there the other
day, aud when the Democrats began to
shout for Bob he went round among the
boys and said in whisper, "Boys, don't
make such fuss over me. Alf is over
there and I'm afraid you will hurt his
feelings. Alf is my brother you know"
This brotherly politics is having good
harmonizing influence over the people
and the two great parties feel kinder to
each other than they have since the war.
What pretty names they have for the
towns of East Tennessee. There is
Cleveland, Charleston, AtheGs, Philadel-
phia, Sweetwater and Messy Creek all in
q row. I stopped at Cleveland, where l
had never stopped before, and found a
lovely town, with more beautiful homes
than any other town of its size. Rich
people live in Cleveland, and there is q
Methodist female college that cost over a
hundred thousand dollars. 1t is chock
full of girls, as sweet and pretty as an
old mans eyes ever looked upon. You
can find college for girls most every.
where you 60. But most of the boys
have to put up with a high school and
then go to work. This generation OF
girls will be smarter than the boys. The
consequence will be that in few years
the women will lake the lead and be
running the machine. Idon't mean that
they will be holding Office, but they will
vote and they will control the moral leg.
islations of this country. l don't care If
they do. l am perfectly willing for the
experiment to be made. Let them vote.
III bet they choose good men for office.
One thing is certain, they would improve
the manners of mankind, and would
improve their morals, too. If l wanted
to insure the election of temperance
man for president, I would do it by a
flank movement. would first organize
party on female suffrage and make that
the issue. Just let the women have a
chance at whiskey and they will knock it
out of sight. The still.houses would
tumble like an earthquake had struck
them.
They are having some little embarrass'
ment at Chattnanooga with one of their
schools. The situation reminds me OF
Judge Tourgee's experience in the Fools
Errand. Those good people up North
who believed everything they read In
Uncle Toms Cabin, and still believe
every bad thing that papers and politi'
clans tells on US, are very liberal to the
poor negro, and keep on sending money
down here to educate him. Itseems that
the Freedman's Aid Society sent a hum
dred and fifty thousand dollars to the
Conference Of the Northern Methodist
Episcopal church at Chattanooga, to be
used for the Christian education of the
negroes. So the Conference decided to
plant University there and connect
with it a theological department.. They
further decided to let the white folks
come in and get little education, too,
so as to give a high social tone to the
concern and let the two races progress
together in fllial relations. But when
they got everything about ready for busi'
ness and had elected their faculty it was
suddenly discovered that the white folks
were not coming. They wouldn't mix
worth a cent, and so after much tribula.
tion and prayer the local board decided
that the white folks needed Christian
education more than the negro and so
they made right about face and left the
poor darkey out in the cold: They
opened the doors last week and began
with 13O pupils. While they were
arranging the classes there was a knock
at the door and two very respectable
colored young gentlemen applied for