The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-07-31
FATHER METhuSELAH.
Who stood OF Father Time for
Ten Centuries.

comp Riley responses to 'the Old
Man" at the annual dinner of the Indi-
Gnapohs Literary Club, and his refer
ence to Methuselah has awakened in
my mind many recolleetions and rem
lniscences of that grand old man.
We first meet Methuselah in the capa-
city of a son. For three hundred years
Enoch and Methuselah logged along to-
gether in the capacity of father and son.
Then Enoch was suddenly cut down.
Ii was at this time that little Methuselah
first realized what it was to be an
orphan. He could not at first realize
that his father was dead. He could not
understand why Enoch, with no in
herited disease, should be shuffled out
at the age of three hundred and sixty
five years. But the doctor said to
Methuselah: "My son, you are indeed
fatherless. have done all could, but
it is useless l had told Enoch many
time that if he went swimming in be-
fore the ice was out of the creek, it
would finally down him, but he thought
he knew better than | did. He was q
headstrong man, Enoch was. He
sneered at me and alluded to me as a
fresh young gosling, because he was
three hundred years older than | was.
He has received the reward of the will
full, and verify the doom of the smart
Aleck is his. ~
Methuselah now cast about him for
some occupation which would take up
his attention and assuage his wild, pas
sionate grief over the loss of his father.
He entered into the walks of men and
learned their ways 1t was at this time
that he learned the pernicious habit of
using tobacco, We can not wonder at
it when we remember that he was now
fatherless. He was at the mercy OF the
coarse, rough world. Possibly he
learned to use tobacco when he went
away to attend business college after the
death of his father. Be that as it may,
the noxious weeds certainly fastened his
death, for six hundred years after this
we find him corpse!
Death is ever a surprise, even at the
end of a long illness and after ripe old
age. To those who are near it seems
abrupt; so to his grandchildren, some of
whom survived him, his children having
died of old age, the death of Methuse-
came like thunderbolt from clear
sky.
Methuselah succeeded in cording up
more of a record, such as it was, than
any other man of whom history informs
us. Time, the tomb-bulder and anna
teur mower, came and leaned over the
front yard and looked at Methuselah,
and ran his thumb over the jagged edge
of his scythe, and went away whistling
q low refrain. 49,
He kept up this refrain business for
nearly ten centuries, while Methuselah
continued to stand out amid the general
wreck of men and nations.
Even as the young, strong mower, go
ing forth with his mower for to NOW,
spareth the tall and dignitied drab hor-
nets nest and passeth by on the other
side, so Time, with his famous hour
glass and his overworked hay KIN fe over
his shoulder, and his long Mormon
whiskers and his high, slick dome of
thought, with its gray lambrequin of
hair around the base of it, moved all
around Methuselah and then passed on.
Methuselah decorated the graves of
those who persisted in dozen different
wars He did not enlist himself for
over nine hundred years of his life he
was exempt. He would 90 to the en-
listing place and offer his services, and
the officer would tell him to 90 home
and encouraged his grandchildren tC
g, Then Methuselah would sit around
Noah front steps, and smoke and crit
icise the conduct of the war, also the
conduct of the enemy.
1t is said of Methuselah that he never
was the same man after his son Lamech
died. He was greatly attached to Lam,
ech, and when he woke up one night tC
find his son purple in the face with
membraneons Group, he could hardly
realize that he might lose him. The
idea of losing boy who had JUS
rounded the glorious morn of his 777tt
year. had never occurred to him. Blu
death loves Il shining mark, and he
garncred little Lammie and left Methu
selah to moan and mourn on for {
couple more centuries without him.
Methuselah finally got so far that hi
could not sleep any after four o clock il
the morning, and he didn see how an,
one else could The older he got ant
the less valuable his time became, tn,
earlier he would rise, so that he coult
get an early start. AS the centurie
filed slowly by, and Methuselah 90
where all he had to do was to shutil
into his loose-fttng clothes and rest hi
gums On the top of Ia large sleek-heade,
cane and muttcr up the chimney, an,
then groan and eXtricate himself iron
his clothes again and retire. He ros
earlier and earlier in the morning, an
muttered more and more about tn
young folks sleeping away the best G
the day, and said he had no doubt bu
that sleeping and snoring till breakfas
time helped to carry Off Lam. But on
day old Father Time came along with
new scythe, and he drew his whet-ston
across it few times, and rolled tn
sleeves of his red flannel undergarment
up over his warty elbows, and UT. Me