The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1894-11-01
ARP ON HAPPINESS.
Whes Not Worrying About the Little
Arps He Is About the Country.

tOOSe We WOulu nave q resi- ana our re-
naming days would all be calm and Sc
rene. But these grandchildren keep
coming on, and every new one that comes
has to have silver cupor a silver spoon
or something by way OF remembrance.
1t used to he cups, but it has got down
10 spoons now, and / reckon will get
down to safety pins after awhile. My
wife is a maternal ancestor and is proud
OF her grandchildren and these little
mementoes have got to come, money or
no money. And there are the birthdays
that keep on multiplying, and she
knows every one and wants something
for them. "Just little something"
she whispers as she follows me to the
door. 1t is these little something's that
keep me on strain, but I'm going to
keep on that line as long as can. She
has been telling me for month that l
ought to have new suit of clothes,
especially as there was wedding to
come of in the family very sooR and /
would have to escort the bride adown
the long drawn aisle in the presence of
a multitude. And so | tried the cloth
ing stores in Atlanta for suit with the
tariff off, but | didn't find it. That
kind hasn't come yet, and so | shall
brush up my old ones for the occasion.
Nobody is going to look at me nohow,
for there are to be ten beautiful brides
maids and as many groomsmen and a
church full of witnesses and the we'd
| ding march is to be played, and l could
just drop out Of it and never be missed.
But did buy my wife silk wedding
dress and she is as proud as she was at
sweet sixteen, when she stood up by me
with her Augusta clothes on. She didn't
have but one bridesmaid, either, and
there wasn't much fuss made over it.
There were no presents at all, but few
days after we went to housekeeping
seven likely darkies came tramping up
to the house and sat down on the front
steps until | came from the store. My
pretty young wife was sitting at the
window pretending to sew. She had a
mischievous smile on her face as |
stopped in front of the smiling darkies.
"What are you all doing here" said |.
"What have you come after, Tip-you
and Mary and all?" And Tip said: ."Old
maste sont US up here to Miss Octavy
and she tole us to sot down here twe,l
you come. Old master toe us we ell
b'long to you and Miss Octavy now"
Well, ! never felt as helpless in my
life What to do with them didn't
know. l had no plantation and no re-
gro houses, and it never occurred to me
that l could hire them out. So after
cons tation me and my wife or my wife
and sent them all back except Tip and
Mary and begged the old gentleman to
keep them until later. He enjoyed the
joke and said he only wanted to make
delivery OF them, for they had long de-
clared that when Miss Octavy got mar
ried they were ''gwine wild her."
No, we didn't have our share Of we'd
ding. My wife cost me just S11. $3.50
to old Brother Patterson, the preacher,
and dollar and half for the license.
Cheap, l tell you. A good wife is the
cheapest thing in the world, for she
has done been raised and clothed and
schooled when you get her Old Jacob
had to work fourteen years for the girl
he loved, but he got some of that back
by cheating old man Labon in the cattle
trade. But nowadays Il wedding costs
as much as a funeral-costs old folks
mean. From the way things are going
on at my house it looks like the whole
family are to be married, even down to
the little granddaugh ters, who are to
be dressed up as cherubs and mingle
with the angels. 1t takes dry goods
and lace amazing. And the kinfolks
are coming and some dear friends, and 1
all have to como in bridal array, and the |
cake baking business has begun and old |
Aunt Ann 10 as much excited as If she |
was to be married. too, and declares
that 'nobody's cake amt gwine ter
beat" her cake. The house has been
swept and garnished- a cobweb or
speck in it The rooms in the cabin
have been cleaned and carpeted, and
for while one of them was assigned to
me, but / am ruled out now and will
have to hang up somewhere or sleep on
the hay in the barn. 1t is mighty big
thing, l tell you, for our baby girl is
going to step of and leave us-going off
after young man who is no kin to her
and never did anything for her but give
her ring and book and some French
candy now and then. But 1t is all right
and according to nature and we can die
more happily if the girls are happily
married before we go. But our time
will come yet II we live four years
longer. We will have a golden we'd
ding-no silver in ours. We are for the
gold standard right now in advance.
Just a gold dollar from each of our
friends will do, for we are goldolaters
now in anticipation. We don't want to
break nobody. These silver wedding
presents from tho generous donors are
mighty nice.and highly appreciated by
the happy. donees, but they give the
old folks 6ts--I mean the paternal an.
cestors who have to foot the bills. II
an old man has a popular son or daugh-
ter who has to play bridesmaid or
-groomsman to somebody three or four
times q wear it's as agprayatinr as town |