The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-25
Qhe Sggerala AMI 1Uew5.
AkON STRIKES.
Bill Says Let Everybody Quit Work for a
While-ASitators Order Walk Outs Be-
cause they Have to do Something
to Keep the Boys Interested.
Atlanta Constitution. |

over the tariff bill and the red-hot
strife of candidates for office, our weak
minds are kept on continual strain.
Every trade or occupation has got a
union now, even to the BARRIERS and the
new5boys, and if these unions don't
strike or boycott something occasion
ally the boys get lukewarn and quit
paying their dues and that cuts off the
salaries Of the officers, and 50 they
must get up q carousement to fire up
the boys again.
1t is like the great rrouarchies of
Europe. When their people get rest
less and discontented and threaten the
government the monarch gets up lit
tie war with some other patton and
that unites the people AID kills off the
surplus. Suppose we all strike for a
little while and swear off from any kind
of work unless we can get more for it.
Let the newspapers strike against the
newsboys and quit publishing papers.
Let the railroads stop running. Let the
merchants quit buying and selling. Let
all the manufactories close upfor awhile.
Let US all wear our old clothes and live
of our gardens. Capital is just as good
as labor and brains are better than
both. It takes all three to keep the
world going and if they cannot get
along in peace let US dissolve the part
nership awhile and everybody and
everything get on a strike. But that
wouldent do. Just think of the poor;
not the farmers nor the laborers on the
railroads aid in the workshops, but the
poor women and children who toll in
the cotton mills or at the needle in
some miserable garret-the sewing Wo-
men in the great cities who make our
garments for mere trif1e and who still
sing 1.-The Song of the Shirt" Who is
striking for them? Nobody. 1t is not
the very poor who are raising all this
racket. It is the able-bodied men who
have employment at living wages. I
heard a farmer say yesterday that they
could get along if laoor was not so
high, and DO doubt his laborers are
growing because wages are not higher,
and so it goes. The farmer grum bles
because wheat is down TO so cents a
busheI and the laoorer would reduce it
to 50.cents if ne could. And yet all
classes who are not rich enough to live
without work sympathize with the
strike, and in its last analysis the prime
cause is envy and selGshness. How
rich will a uian be allowed to get and
still have the good will OF his poorer
neighbors? How poor must man get
before be will have the help and pity of
the rich?
But every day the press ventilates the
whole business and everybody knows
all about it.
It was relief when Mrs. Arp told
me this morning she wanted that big
red oak that stood near the corner of
the garden cut down. I've been hint
ing about that long time, but she is
opposed to cutting down shade trees.
and so never argued the case at ali. l
never do. Some years ago I proposed
to thin out the trees in the front yard,
but she objected. While she was off to
Rome on visit got the boys and we
cut down three Of them level with the
ground and didn't leave sign of
stump, and We hauled away every
chip and scrap and covered the places
with grass and she never found it out
for two months, and wouldn't have
then, but one of the mischievous girls
remarked one day that we dident use
to see the hills as plain as we do now,
and my wife caught on to the business
right away. She always does. But she
suggested this morning that that oak
would have to come down and it would
give US more garden. AS woman some
times changes her mind, I went at it
like killing snakes. The trunk of the
tree was perpendicular. I know it was,
for I planted it. I tied pair OF big
scissors to string and stood off and
sighted and was sure it would fall up
the hill where I wanted it. If it went
down the hill it would fall across nay
own fence and across the narrow lane
and onto the widows fence and smash
sup the fruit trees in her lot. So to oe
sure I climbed the ladder and sawed off
some big limbs on that side. and |
knew that the limbs on the other side
would pull it that way. I sharpened
the ak and then I and Uncle Sam went
to work. When it was most down the
good widow, who is our nearest neigh
Dor and lives alone in her cottage, came
along and looked anxiously at what we
were doing. I assured her the tree was
bound to fall up the hill on my side,
and so she went on to spend the day at
a friends, and we chopped on little
more. The wind was blowing quite
breeze, and l got my plumb and sighted
again. Then I sighted the top in lire
with another tree, and told Uncle Sam
to chop some more. By and by saw
it was moving a little up the hill and
all right. ats going all right, Uncle
Sam," said I. LET Der go-give an
other lick or two on the lower corner"
Just then the wind got almost a gale,
and before we could say Jack Robinson,
it sent that tree crashing down onto
fences and orchards and into my corn
patch and just tore things all to pieces
generally. "Dar now," said Uncle
Sam, and "there now" was echoed
from the back door, where my wife and
the girls were watching. ut was the
wind" said I. 81 reckon it was gravi-
ty," said my wife They guyed me
almost as bad as the small boys guy
baseball team from neighboring town,
and had to walk into the garden to
let my collar down. I dident care any
thing about my fence nor the corn
patch, but there was the tree top in the
poor widows orchard. My wife and the
girls came out to comfort me, but l
wouldent be comforted. How long
would the widow be gone ruminated,
and how long would it take to clean up
things and repair the damage az far rs
possible? But We never stopped nain-
ute. There were three Of US now, all
good hands, including myself. I never
worked as hard in my life. dragged
off brush as fast as they could trim up
the brusby top. I got tLs step ladder
and sawed off the broken limbs of the
apple trees and unloosed those that
were fastened down. We cut up every
part Of the tree that was on the widows
side and cleaned up the fragments and
then put new post in the ground and
brought plank and built up the fence
again and replaced the baTbed wire.
Every little while / looked down the
lane to see if the widow was coming,
but she dident come. Then we cut up
that part that was in the lane and we
carried or rolled every piece to my
woodpile, and by o'clock you could
hardly tell thata tree had fallen there
at all. was hot and tired and my