The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-12-19
ARP HAS THE GRIP,
BUT HE TALKS or HOW CHRISTMAS
SHOULD SPENT,
A Season When People should Give, II Moth
Ing Else, Their Smiles aud BenedictiOns.
Why His Book WAS Published North.

to women and children. The day Of fire.
crackers and fuss for boys, and dolls and
dainty things for the girls. The day when
everybody ought to smother their troubles
and try to make all around them happy.
Selfshness Is q sin at all times, especially
on Christmas, and so let Us all open our
hearts, and if we have nothing else to
give to others, let us give our smiles and
benedictionS. We all poor noWpoor
in purse, but love and good will cost moth
ing and there are many ways Of showing
it besides making presents that we cannot
afford to buy. l see my folks working over
their scraps OF silk and lace and StuftinE
home made dolls--making crayats and
hemstitching handkerchlefs, and doing
some other things on the SLY just for little
tokens and surprises, but will have no
Christmas tree this time. When l was in
my teens we had debating society, ana
one of the favorite questions was, is there
such a thing as disinterested benevoience?'
l was for the affirmative then and 1 am
for it yet. With many people l know that
it is more blessed to give than to receive,
and it is a comfort to me to believe that
l am one of them. Sometimes l wish that
L was rich just to have the pleasure and
the fun of helping the unfortunate. [ would
like to go about in disguise as King Rupert
did and look in upon the huts and haunts
Of poverty by night. and see their wants
and miSeries, and send round my charity
wagons next morning AMI make them
happy for a few days, if more. | would
at the doors and see the eager wondering
faces of the children as the good things
were handed out. I would have
something good to eat and good shoes
and stockings and blankets and quilts
and soap and towels and a few simple med
1clneS and some secondhand books with
pictures in them. l would raise the family
up tor week or any how and leave
my card, From friend who wishes you
well and bess you to look up and not
~ trIJn and flIn
and raise your children to be good and
happy Don't despair"
Yes l have at times had just such utopian
dreams as that, but I will never be rich,
and it is all right L know-best for me and
best for the children. Old Agur's prayer
was put III the good book for a good pur-
pose. Solomon was trusted with riches but
he came TO grief. We have scores of mil
Honaires in our day, but the Peter CooperS
and Peabodys are few and far between.
Most of them hold on with a selfish grip
until they die, and even Their they let go
unwillingly and would take their treasures
with them if they could. I knew a rich
man who would nayer make straight
out deed to a piece of land when he sold
it, but would only convey it by lease to
last :as long as trees grew and rivers ran"
He actually claimed a reversionary inter-
est in every acre that he sold. and seemed
to imagine that he would get it all back
some day. If the time ever comes when
there shall be a new heaven and a new
earth, I'm afraid he can't locate his boun-
daries.
We have got the grip at our house. The
worst thing about this new tangled disease
is its depressing influence upon emo
TONS l don't feel like doing anything or
saying anything or writing anything. l
feel blue and have lost my hilarty, and so
we have concluded to go to Florida for a
season. We will divide the family. -Four
OF us will go to Clearwater Harbor On the
h4 hp ha
and breathe the salt air, and we will fish
and eat oysters and oranges until get
well. Board is vary cheap there and will
raiiatc .1rou.&I - tae Jv.,utfrui little town
and mix with the yankees and sell my
talk for more than 1t is worth at home.
l have long wished that they knew us as
well as we did them and ] want fair
chance to tell them some things that they
do not know. l am calm and serene
and won't quarrel with anybody nor hurt
their feelings but it relief to man to
express his sentiments. I have recently
written little book--a history of Georgia,
and l was just obliged to give history
of the late war and who was to blame for
ft-nothing to extenuate or set down
aught in malice, but ] had Il time of it
with my publishers. CHM &, Co, are Bos-
ton men. They are Bunker Hill yankees
and love their fatherland with it's glorious
memories, which is all right, of course.
Patriotism is to be admired everywhere.
They engaged me to write a school history
OF Georgia and when they pc
rused my manuscript and got to
that part about the causes of the
war; they were surprised and shocked and
wrote to me to know where I got all that.
I had written that England never freed her
slaves until 18i3-only seventeen years be-
fore the late war, and / had to prove it
before they would go on with the book
l had written the Massachusetts carried
on the slave trade for years after their
own slaves were freed. and [ had to prove
that. They had never heard that General
Grant was a slave owner up to Lincoln's
proclamation They denied many things
and required proof; for, OF course, they felt
responsible for the book They even felt
a kind of reverence for Old John Brown,
for they are young men who have grown
lip since the and had never read but
one side, and that was their side. But /
had my way and my say, and established
what | asserted and l found them to be
reasonable and courteous gentlemen in all
of our correspondence. | had the advan-
tage in age and memory. good friend
said that / should have got q Georgia pub
Usher. OF course / would have preferred
that but no Georgia publisher would have
paid me as well for my work. No Georgia
publisher would have given away 1900
copies to editors and school boards No
Georgia house would have done such good
work for the retail price of 60 cents. Boston
can beat us IN book making and book-push-
ing, and our publishing houses had better
take lessons from them. I have tried both.
This reminds me of old Squire McC;innis,
Of our county,who, way before the war, rul-
ed "Greenleaf on Evidence out OF his court
because it was published in Boston. But !
the war is over and the Old squire is dead |
Let us eat their Goldfish and ship them
our oranges in peace, and when they visit |
us let us give them welcome and put III |
our missionary work with alaCrity and |
good will. BILL ARP.
TWO JAPANE SIC GIRLS OF vAssAR