The record-union., 1891-08-22

with whom l had some business to trans
| act. There were several children, the
Oldest being young lady who had just
returned from a long university course
she was very nice, indeed. She was sc
sweet that one felt like smearing her on
his hot cakes instead of honey, sugar or
molasses. She talked well. too She had
mastered something in Greek, and some
thing else in Latin, and something else in
German. She just monopolized the con-
Versatlon, and told all about the distin-
gulshed people she had been associating
with for the last year or two. Then hel
mother came in and asked her to go into
the kitchen and ''look after the biscuits
And as she went hither and thither
through the culinary department like a
vision of beauty afoat on midsummer
fog, heard her sweet lips murmur:
Damn them biscuits, anyhow 20
And when them buScuits'' were
brought to the table, the blighting effects
OF that curse were apparent to all. was
tempted to say, like the young man in
the story of old:
Its good enough, what there is of it,
and there is plenty of it, such as it isl
But | didn't, which was just as well,
perhaps. Sometimes my silence is aw-
fully golden.
Another species of snob are the men
and women who think their own chill
dren and their own relatives are all poor,
miserable creatures, while the children
and relatives of other people are living
gems. Such people make me tired.
would rather be like the old man in
North Carolina, who thanked the Lord
because he had given him "a right smart
family, with only two FOOLS"
The man who thinks the children of
other people better than his own is not SO
scarce as one would think. I have met
him often, and each, time we met | liked
him less, because [ knew he was not cor
rect IN his opinion, nor honest, nor any
thing else but a silly fool. He was always
trying too hard to praise the other and
lessen the value of his own, when, to
save my soul, [ couldn't see why he
should do so. But then some folks think
they cannot only grind an ak, but also
grind all their other tools, by bit Of flat
terry; and maybe they can.
The snob who has been reared in the
lap of luxury is excusable, in measure,
Tor his snObbishness. He has had no
hard, practical experience with the world.
After being cradled in the lap of luxury
one should be spanked on the knee of
adYerslty, and the manliness, if there is
any of it in him, will come out. Very
few men who have fought their way up
from poverty to affluence are snobs.
They have learned too much of the suf-
fering and sorrows of humanity not to
have taken unto themselves share of
the milk of human kindness. But
poor, poverty stricken snob is a snob for
ever, and ever, and ever.
L once heard preacher say that he was
SO sanctitied that it was utterly impossi-
BILE for him to commit sin. And that
man, a minister ofthe Gospel, was snob,
because he thought himself better than
anybody else.
Well! when 1 began writing to-day
intended to tell you something more
about that man who ate my beans and
dunderfunk and socki on the banks of
the American River, but forgot it en-
tirely, and it is too late to do it now. But
he is in the yard below me with a shot
gun and bulldog, and as soon as sign
my name to this thing 1 am going down
to see what the internal snob wants.
A. V. HOFFMAN,
Fillmore, Ventura County, August il,
1891