The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-04-08
THE RISING GENERATION.
The Difference Between Town and Coun-
try Lads.
dtIG,ltG Constitution,

| concern the welfare OF mankind. C0un-
try boys are older than town boys. They
run up to thirty and forty years old,
according to frolic and garnishes and are
generally ready to turn out to anything
that is lively and social whether it be
hunting or seining, or quilting, or a
constructing, or debating society, and
so we call them "the boys" This gener-
alton of country boys have not had fair
chance, for the war broke up the schools
and cut of their education and when the
war was over they had to work like beav-
ers to get bread and meat and clothing,
and so there arc lots of these boys who
can read but little and write less. They
are educating their children, though at
the naboring schools and there is many a
family where the children read to the
parents and tell them of the wonders Of
the great big world and how to calculate
"intrust" and do sums and so on. The
children of this present generation are
going to be smart in books and the per-
centage of illiteracy in our State is being
rapidly reduced. But still books do not
always make thinkers. With all their
advantages books have one drawback !;
they take away mans self-reliance.
He too readily yields his own powers and
let's others do his thinking. The back.
woodsman of the South thirty and forty
years ago were rude and rugh, but they
were thinkers and were the shiftiest and
most self-reliant people upon earth.
They feared no foe and Stunned no hard
ship and had sense "like horse" They
never brooded over trouble or had any
suicides. Not one in ten could read, but
all could think, and they did think.
They had to think and resson, and their
reasoning was most always sound. They
compared things with one another and
made common stock of their experience
and observation. They were hard to
fool and had intelligent opinions upon
politics and religion as vel! as upon
horse trading and a shooting match.
Willis Warren could write his name and
that was all, but many time have l
sought his opinion and his advice when
lived in Floyd County. He could reason
better than could with all my "book
larnin," and nine times out of ten tell
the verdict of jury before they made it.
The boys l said had organized debat-
ing society and their first question vas
(which was the greatest evil, war or
whisky" The whisky side made out war
to be right good thing ordained Of God
and highly necessary to keep the world
from overhowing with people. If there
had never been war where would the
folks find standing room now? War
only lasted year or two at a time but
whisky went on and on with its curse.
The war side said that wars came right
straight from the devil, for there was
once war in Heaven and the old devil
got whipped out and had 10 leave those
parts and he had been kicking up the
devil ever since and made the people
fight. But that whisky was corn juice
and was made by man for good purpose
in the old times when it was pure. Old
Noah drank grape juice and got drunk
but he went to Heaven all the same,
according to the scripture, and lots of
good people drank wine in the olden
times. Then the whisky men came back
at the war men and said that if old father
Noah hadent have got drunk he wouldn't
have cursed Ham till Ham turned black
and became negro and there wouldn't
have been any niggers and then the
North and the South wouldn't have had
anything to fight about and there would
have been no war and we wouldn't have
had so many widows and orphans and
wouldn't be taxed to pay the pension of
them fellers up yonder. 1t was the
brandy that old Noah drank that caused
il all, and he spoke very disrespecttully
of old Noah and the niggers he sent
upon US.
Of course the whisky men gained the
case but both sides are firm in their con-
viction. I've noticed that man can
argue on one side until he believes i'll it.
When was youth we had up the ques-
tion (Which gives US the greatest pleasure,
the pursuit or the possession of an
object" was then pursuing maiden
with great alacrity and pleasing prospects
aud was intensely happy in that particu-
lar business, and as I had been assigned
to that side of the question l spread my
self like green bay tree to sustain my
case. | dwelt upon the eager and fasci-
mating pleasure with which man pur-
sued fame and fortune and how vain and
empty he found them when once in his
possession. 1 quoted Shakespeare and
recited Cardinal Woolsey's soiloquy, "If
1 had served my God as faithfully as l
have served my king" etc., and I sat
down with modest content, for the eyes
of the maiden were upon me and | had
won her smiles. Just then one of these
rolcking boys who never prepared him
self but just opened his mouth and let
her talk rose forward and said: "well,
now suppose Mr.. President that Brother
Arp were pursuin q pretty girl that he
were in love with just as hard as he could
and were l,nging for her and dying to
get her would he druther keep on pursuin
and pursuin' and follcrin and follerin' to
the little eend of time or would he druth.
er catch up with her aud hold her in his
arms and exclaim, she's mine, I've got
her at last and bless the Lord Im gwine
to keep her forever and ever, amen. |
say Brother Arp upon honor now which