The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-05-13
4 FATHERS LETTER.
some Pntcrnnl Counsel Given ia a Very Orisi
nal Manner.

(Bill Nye in The Graphic Ncws.)
My DEAR SON-Your letter of last
week found your mother and me fairly
well, though l can see that | amt the
same man / used to DC by any means.
Every Spring L have trouble with my
lungs. One Of my lungs is entirely
gone, and the other one is hcpntizcd, So
the doctor tells me. I've tried most
everything i'll the way of medicine for to
renew my lungs, but they get worse and
worse all the time. But still cat II good
hearty meal of victuals. You refer,
casually, i'll your letter, to ulisspcllcd
word IN my lust communication You
speak OF grammar also in rcproachablc
way, which is annoying to a man like
me. am not great on the spell, [ adj
mt, Henry, for when | ought to been
learning for to spell at the spelling
schools and great photographed rctorts
OF our section Of country, / was licking
the smart Alccks from town that seemed
to be smarter than their parents.
No, Henry, | never got u mcddlc for
spelling long hard words with great
llucncy, but I've tried to be II wcll-bc-
havcd parent. In my poor weak way
I've aimed to be Il good father to YOU.
Henry, aIii SO has your mother. think
may SaT, with pardonablc pride, that [
have been more successful in that line
than she has.
We have both tried, in season and out
OF season, to so live that we would not
bring your gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave. |, for one, have tried to shun the
demon rum for your sake. I have come
home carly nights, So that You could
know where | was, AMI | have ALWAYS
been willing that You should smell of nv
breath II you felt - disposed. ! have
never filled Il drunkard's grave or
brought rcproach upon you.
Spelling is not always my best holt.
but ! aim TO please rs Il parent ] have
tried not to bring the blush Of shame 70
your fuzzy check, and wish YOU would
try TO do as much for me sometime.
When | was Il boy, they didn't sugar
coat cdJucatiOn and make it one long
drawn hallcl0oGcr to go to school as they
now do. On the contrary, the straggling
Ideas Of the roOdimcnts which ] now
have, was sockcd into me bv main
strength and awkwarlncss. To Get the
~, '','~ ''''o'' W. la" 10
mail ,.,,,,,,t, ''''' ''oi
When | see the student to-day with q
big picture book done mp in II shaw
strap, wearing one OF those little cirar
cites IN his ,nnut, on,l m;1;mr' a'N '6Ii m'.
hind end of a Ln.. .ar t,n.n,,l', w., w. t! ,,''
rcd fnmoIr en,nin.rr nfta,, u,;,,. 'ls
ibc dovs whom r lii , Io,.,, ,,.,,.t' 'i''A VI
breakfast and then walked two miles in
order to be ready to get licked when thr
old cast iron cuss that presided over our
school felt like it.
He was noble brute. He tm1oht om
school, / reckon, because he hadn't cdi
cation enough to engage in other manual
pursuits.
lie is now dead. [ do not 90 over TO
the cemetery every Spring to decorate
his grave. Spring is II very busy season
with me. If he had died in the Winter,
about forty years earlier than he did, /
would have gone ont of my way to dec
crate his grave. 1t would have been Il
pleasure to me.
When he died, your mother asked me
II ! wa" gong to the funeral.
no, says !, speaking up in that
droll way OF nInc-''No, says |, / shant
go to the funeral, but, as the fcllcr says
| approve OF It," That's the way / am
about everything. speak my mind
rl&ht ont and nobody ever knew me to
hesitate about saying what | Thought of
il man, even If he was dead.
With better cGincntionol odv,ntoo,, 7
always Thought our schoo]mostrr ynnLI
have made good pirate: hut his nornnte
was poor and so he had TO hustln for
himself. He had an earnest desire to
advance in his profession h,,t no diI MOT
succeed III carving his name on the
heights of fame. He ycancd for glory
and grub. | remember that he used TO
teach school Winters and work out Sum-
m'rS on farm In this way he kept up
MS muscle all the time; and though he