St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-03-30
ARP AND THE BIRDS.
The Eagle an Aristocrat-The Bur
zard q Democrat.

The Eagle an Aristocrat-The Bu2-
zard q Democrat
The Mocking Bird Beats Them All. for
Whllc Being Sweet singers They Arc
Game-How Two OF Them Whipped
. Screech Owi-I.ife In Florida.
There seems to be an aristocracy In
oil things, animate and inanimate. and
the human face is no exception to this
law Of nature. The cre&tor made some
things for honor and some for dishonor.
He made some creatures to rank other
creatures; some people to rank other
people, and nobody has any right to
make Q fuss about it. The word aris-
tocracy comes from the Greek word
aristos, the best, and should not be con-
founded with plutocracy. the goldbugs.
who rank money above brains and vir-
tue. Gold and silver are useful metals
and have always been honored above
other metals. Moses tells US in the
first chapter of Genesis that the gold OF
that land was good. The Creator put
some gold in paradise and it has ranked
all metals since. Iron and lead and
copper arc far more useful, but gold
ranks them. just SO do diamonds and
pearls rank marble and granite. In
vegetable nature VIC find that mahogany
and rosewood and ebony and tho royal
palm rank the woods that are more use
full, such as the oak, the hickory and
the ash. The orange and tho apple rank
other fruits. The rose ranks the flow
ers and Marechal Mel ranks all the
roses. In animal life the horse stands
at tho head of the list ''1e smelleth
the battle from afar and mocketh 1T
fear" Among the fowls OF the air we
see the eaglc towering in his pride. He
is Of no account to mankind, and yet we
sing
..Great bird Of the wilderness. lonely and proud.
| With an eye never dimmed and u neck never
bowed"
And we stamp his image on our money
and claim him as the great American
eagle. The chief difference between
| him and the buzzari is . matter OF
taste--one likes live meat, the other
prefers that that is dead. But the eagle
| is an aristocrat and the buzzard Is q
democrat. Coming. however, down We
find the mocking bird ranking the birds
of the air. He is a charming singer.
and, best of all, he is game-he will
fight. 1 was Illuminating on this line.
because just at twilight saw pair OF
them attack a screech owl on the front
yard. and. after much-ado, they whipped
him and drove him away, and then one
Of them sang US an evening song. They
are building near the house, and 30 are
the squirrels, and have seen the birds
drive the squirrels to their hiding
places. Game chickens rank the COM
mon barnyard fowl-neighbOr Freeman
| says they are better to eat, and have q
| finer flavor. Ho had said this so often
that his wife thought she would see II
it was so. She had one OF his hne
shawlnecks killed while he was away
and had it nicely cooked. and, as he wal
enjoying it, she said: Now. do you
really believe that game chicken il
any better than this one?' why, my
dear" said he, there is no comparison
This chicken tastes like all the common
chickens, but it hasn't got the flavor mol
the delicate juices OF game chicken.
Sho told it on him, and he hasn't men
toned the subject since. Nevertheless
it is fact that game fish are better than
the stupid submissive kinds. Trout
rank all the fish east Of the ALLIE
ghanies-trout and Spanish mackerel
are the gamest fish down here, and they
are the best for the table. But l will
not write any more about fish, for feal
Of losing my reputation for truth ane
veracity. l only intended to illustrate
fact which is. that courage Is the bes
mark of aristocracy in animal life. Cour
age Of convictions, courage in duty
marks the best type Of manhood, NO
only in war, but in peace. Calico ant
Luther had it as strong as did Lee ant
jackson. 1t is force CT character ant
wlll-power that marks tho true aristo
crat Webster and Clay and Calhoun
were typical aristocrats. They hat
convictions, and dared to maintain then
regardless Of personal peril. We have
no doubt, q few statesmen now OF equa
brain power, but they are lacking il
moral courage-they deem it safer 4
follow the people than to lead them
There Is not statesman in the natiOl
who stands up pre-eminent for his polit
ical wisdom, his moral courage, his un
selfishness and his patriotism. Their
is no Moses to lead us out Of the wilder
ness-party is bigger thing than coun
try. If it were not so. congress woult
agree on commission from both parties
to frame o tariff bill and silver bill
, that would give tho nation peace, ant
take these great national questions GU
Of partisan politics. As it is now, ON
party says to the other, we will oppos
anything you advocate. The rejecting
conservative people everywhere are no
only tired, but despaising. They woul
welcome tho disruption OF the old pal
ties. II never expect to vote again"
common remark.
But there's life in the old land YET
The South is getting along very well
considering the panic. The people hav
. got used to hard times, and are adaptin
themselves to continuation Of the ger
. eral depression. The Southss blesse
. land. have before me letter from
man in northern Ohio. who says: ''Tel
your people who arc discouraged owe
the losses by the freeze to be thankfu
they are not up here in tho North, wher
We have been buying feed for our stoc
, for six months on account Of last sun
mer's drouth, and many are sufferin
for the commOnest necess: ties Of lif'
Our charitable institutions arc all take
to their utmost to relieve them; snow
, now from Is to 90 inches deep, and th
mercury 20 degrees below zero, and th
; icy wind blowing . gale How y
would rejoice to spend the rest Of u
. winter in sunny Florida"
My friend Robert McCay says he sper
several years in Europe, and mirzle
i t. hat 4