The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-08-21
BILL ARp'S LETTER.
The Rich Say That Wealth Does Not
Bring Happiness.
atlanta Constitution.


Women have more grief and sorrow,
but when there is no great trouble IN
the house they are naturally more
cheerful than the men. l notice 1t
very frequently about temporal things
and can't see my way out and find
myself in fit of the blues, my wife
and daughters keep their spirits up
and other women come and go and
talk and laugh and say bright things:
That is all right. 1t would be awful
for the whole family to have the blues
at the same time. In fact, nobody
ought to have them and nobody is
obliged to have them. They creep
stealthily upon man sometimes, and
if he does not fight them off he is
very poor company. My wife says I
look like I dident have friend in the
world. The best remedy is to quit
thinking and go to work. Do some
thing-work in the garden, chop some
wood, fix the window curtains, tie up
the flowers, swing the grandchildren
do something to divert your mind
from yourself. It is better to read
story than to think and brood over
trouble that may never come. The
body is so mysteriously connected
with the mind that the blues impair
digestion and that causes loss Of ap-
petite and the first thing man knows
he is sick sure enough. It has been
supposed that the heart was the seat
of the affections and emotions, but
that is mistake. It is the stomach,
and if that is out of order the whole
bodyis sick. The Bible tells about
bowels Of mercy and bowels OF com
parison.
Another good way to drive off the
blues is to write letters to kindred and
friends and ventilate your troubles
and abuse somebody. Give your feel.
ings an explosion and you will find
relief. I had such letter from a
friend the other day and he wound up
by saying: "And row think l feel
better, plague take 'em." Sometimes
a view from the other side produces a
reaction. Consider the folks around
you who are worse off and yet keep
cheerful and thankful. 'Yonder
comes the old man with his wood. :.
said my wife. Yes, he is about as old
as am and is wearing my old hat and
coat that she gave him, and like the
"son of Alkhomoc, he never COM
plains" He lives six miles away.
he cuts load of wood one day and
hauls it to town the next day with
yoke of steers, and when he can't sell
it for Is cents he knows he can haul
it to my house and Mrs. Arp will take
it. "We are getting along fairly well
at my house-is your people all wellY.
He throws two or three chunks of
lightwood on top so as to keep the
cook in good humor. Oxen are an
awful slow motor in these lightning
times, but they are cheap and don t
die and nobody will steal them and
they suit an infrm old man better
than mules. They never run away or
kick or get out Of temper. A man can
drive oxen until he gets slow and
amiable and serene. He becomes
thankful for what little he has got and
he goes to meeting on Sundays and
cLews his tobacco and enjoys his re-
ligion. Poor folks ought to enjoy re-
ligion, for they don't have much else
to enjoy. Just think how msny
things the upper crust have to distract
their minds from the comforts of
religion. There are the shows and
theatres and sewing societies and the
parties and buggy rides and bicycles
and shopping and fashion magazines
and going to the springs and visiting
and receiving visits, besides the do
mestic affairs of putting up jelly and
jam and pickles and preserves. The
old wood hauler has mono of these
things, but he does have few texts
of scripture that are worth them all
and more, too. The meek shall inherit
the earth and the poor in spirit the
kingdom of heaven, and if there is
anything else to inherit don't know
it.
Poets, philosophers and rich men
have all testified to the vanity Of
riches, and yet every rascal of them
wants more than they have got. And
SO do I. Some of us are fools enough
to believe that we want money to do
good with and help other people.
There are few rich men Of that kind,
but they are rare. There are still left
here and there at lonely distances
Peter Cooper or Peabody or George
w. Scott, who do not wait until they
die to do good with their money.
Carnegie and Rockefeller give of
slice occasionally, but they hold fast
to the big end Of the rope and keep on
piling up. The New York World sent
out inquiries not long ago to all of the
millionaires to know whether or not
great riches brought happiness. Car
negie said: "Wealth brings happi-
ness only when the possessor feeds
the hungry, clothes the naked, endows
institutions of learning, founds hospi.
tails and does other countless good
works.
Rockefeller said: "Wealth does
not bring happiness, for no man thinks
himself wealthy. No man is so rich
but what there are others richer than
he is, and that fact makes him feel
poor. Practically, there is no such
thing as rich man. Money is like
strawberries and cream-nobody ever
gets enough. Don't you think you
have had enough, Ethel ? said her
aunt. L may think so, auntie, but |
don't feel SO, said Ethel. No, the
fact is that great wealth brings unhap-
pincss.
Russell Sage said: "Riches are all
vanity and vexation of spirit. Few
people have any idea of the trouble
and inconvenience that wealth brings.
The rich never ask such foolish
question as Does wealth bring happi-
ness p A rich man is constantly in
the public eye. Privacy is impossi-
bic for him. The public is curious
even to know how he opens his letters
and puts on his shoes and what he has
for breakfast. An incognito is impos-
siblc No, riches do not bring happl
ness nor contcntment.
Russell A. Algcr says: "Men are