The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-05-28
BILL ARP TALKS.
He GIVES HIS EXPERIENCES ON A
CERTAIN DOMESTIC OCCASION.

Atlanta c, n>Ii,uti,n.
l thought it WAS Sherman. No,
didn either. but somehow itreininded
me of Sherman. We had company |
for dinner--children and gr&na-chil-
dren and other kinfolAs, and were
winding up the general repast with |
strawberries and cream when sud
denly there was Il clap OF thunder
that shook the elements and brought
q storm OF wind and ram and hail so
swiftly that It stopped the feminine
conversation. Mrs Arp looked al.
me aud l looked at her for 4 mo-
ment. There was 4 Wild racket and
q rafting overhead and against the
windows, and IN the back hall. like
thousand guns had opened fire upon
our devo5ea household. The long
back haii was open to TIC wind and
tie hai2-sronas rolled and bounced
froiously: through i and into the
front ha;l and covered the floor.
Most OF them we're i:f;y, marbles, bat
nlss1y Were rs large H. w&ln@ts, and
such q f.,ll of ;:2:l 2as lot been seen
IN these parts for yc.rs and years.
The wind blew Ike aEoung cyclone,
and took al hands to close tho win
dows and slam tie doors. Mrs. An,
looked out and exclaimed: "Oh the
pit. Just see the hail crashing
through the glass" The lcrse and
the cow were grazing in thcfronS lot,
and suddenly walked up to the sltua-
ton, an;l set out Oh run, ana gal
loped round and round, but founeino
place OF refuge. The peacock scroan-
ed, and made for the house, but his
beautiful tail WAS IL his way. he
had TOO much rudder for his ship,
and soon found himself away down
N the grove. Too much tail is bad
dressing for anything IN a storm.
Old Edo, our superannuated dog,
gave an Indignant bark, and slowly
trotted to the piazza. The LEAVES
and twigs froM the forest trees III
the lawn filed the air and travelled
with the storm. The ground was
white with hail, and it banked up
against the house and fence several
inches deep. Iwould like to beup IL the
clouds and see now that thmgis done.
The children screamed with delight
and wonder, for they had never seen
anything like it before, but twas no
delight to me. for I knew that it car
rieo destruction IL its pathway. |
thought of the farmers cotton that
had just made a narrow escape from
the frost. I thought Of my garden
and greenhouse, and all the pretty
flowers and plants that I had toiled
so faithfully over to please Mrs Arp.
I could see them bend and shrink
before the icy blast that stripped
them of their leaves and flowers.
More work; more work for me, ru-
minated. And sure enough my
beautiful squash vines that We're
Just beginning to bloom are torn all
to pieces, and so are my butter beans
that were just reaching their young
tendrils to the poles.
said I thought of Sherman-l al
ways think of him in May when the
: strawberries CONC Just twenty-slS
years ago we had a strawberry feast
one night at our home-strawbe.ry
and cream for supper and a little
later on old Sherman began TO scat
ter his unfeeling shells right over the
house, and we all walked up to the
~hasses~ef- situation and found,
that General Johnston had ordered
another fall back, and that Rome was
being abandoned to her fate. [ had
partaken too much of strawberries
and cream and they were holding q
secession meeting within my corpo-
rate limits. but all suffering and bent
up as WAS we had to get up and de-
part those coasts prematurely, ID the
darkness of foggy night, and mean
der away to parts unknown with Wig
lance and alacrity. All night long
we hustled from the foul invader and
left our beautiful home to his mercy
and our strawberries and COW to his
appetite. And that's why thought
of Sherman when the hall-storm
broke up oGu feast.
But it is all right. I can plant
more beans and more squashes. [
: have already planted my garden twice
this spring, and [ can plant it again.
It IS not near so bad as war, and,
thanks to the good Lord for his mer-
cies, we are not running from Sher-
man now with ono-horse rocllaway
tull of infantry and the materntal an
cestor looking back every few minutes
to see if the yankees were coming to
take them from her. But now every
thing is calm and serene. There are
some little disturbance in the political
horizon, but they will soon pass
away. Just before an election there
are so many fellows ''sidewipln
around huntin' for the orthography
of an Office" as Cabe says, that the
people do get excited a little, but it
will soon pass away. Them what's
in want to stay in just one more
term, they say, so as to wind up their
business, but it's always one more
term. IL S Ike GOluOiiON lI1l
never comes. TheseAliance men are
going to wake up the old veteran
politicians for one time I Ireckon. but
they lad better watch their lead
horses, for some Of them won't pull a
pound except they are in the lead,
and they are not worth cent to hold
back when the wagon is on the down
grade. Watch your lead horses, I
say. 8 long time ago there was a
how-nothing party that called them
selves the American party, and their
motto was, Put none but Americans
on guard tonight" TWAS party of
good principles and good patriotism
ona Good intentions. but ambi-