The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-10-19
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE AT
1ANTA EXPOSITION.
The Conytcts OF the State Attsses
williams Attention.

pageant is ovcr. I Itook the little girl by the hand
and followed our party through The tnocs'
ands Who througed the sidewalks. sometlMes
re we're lost but som got fourd arc e1ter
struggling over hot hal!-roi.e Te found hos,
pitsole veralds away up On Feachtces aa1
csn1ped upon it,
But we we're ahead OF the music and here nos
81 hour re waited the coming OF the grsao
procession. Even this far out there Hs| 20
dim.nution of the CT wds that packed tie slos-
walks, We had tried to flank them, but gaTe
it Up in despair. The world is getting sWful
iull OF people. As Cabe says, they sre getting
moro thick T, moro denser. wiped the PSF.
soiratcn from NV bald head and frr-oEec
brow and lei my tired legs hang down over tne
edge Of the vcranda floor and gazed snd rImI-
asted upon the living kaleidoscope before NJ.
By and By we heard the strains OF music II tns
air. The little girl reused up from her Tearl-
ne and SAID, "Grandpa. ! hear IT; tho oS,n Is Is
coming" b. and by We heard the echo OF
shoara and cheers away down the line, and BY
and By the mounted vanguard appeared. 1he1
followed the band, and the air Tas sTeeteneo
with cnarmin. music AMI thousands OF chill
drea were maze happy.
Tramp tramp tramp, tho boys came maIon-
ing-the boys from tie barracks-ths regulars
Of Uncle Sans army How clean they looked
with their TShlte hets and whito pans and blue
Sc * coats. How straight their lines how uni
form their step, how s)iliely they carried tnem'
selves and their arms This vas great IToI.o
fer th N, all episode il th"!r r1opctonous ne.
4 professional soldier does not live much !iEe
IL time of peacc Ee becomes machine, sha
every day is a!ise 20 him. :,
I5en ca,lo tie Washington Artillery band
with its handsome a.un major keeping E!Ele
with his t,atoa, AID then the artillery with
guns and caissoEs a:!l fifth wheel 10 every
wagon. SIany ;iT!c We saw that famous CON-
pany drrin. lie II ! and r4Te:emctd them!
Gcn't know WHY j. w.. tN. they were colS:c-
cred the ranking command IN that arm Or tIe
s,lT.ce. they w>rc kc old 5 o!le"al! MN
in time OF baltic NO der hos III my Of the
old heroes are left low our confederate Te:-
erans would have liked to take them by the
hand and ,Yith mo stencil eyes say: 'Conrade,
wes with Won III CD Viryina.' Then came
more IDfaltry AID l:!u!c mus AMI more act!!-
!er" and some ''Ic$s cavalry as Cabe cal 5
them, ana thry Kept OIL coming, and at eC q
while the lines Of carriages with all ne ncsao!es
IL the sta. Gan 10 l,lSs an we all ehtered the
worl, n, both pcw AID old. and th":E paid us
BAL, in smiles. all; thai was enough. BY this
tin.a T W tired au,l Y!;4 Of MY feet fell asleep
and the lirile gi. wai :ired, so we all TOOK car
for ii: fair ground. "e ened 10 the !onS
speeches f5- awl.:ie, hu: !. was awful hot up IN
the galicrr, anl 50 wc walEel about seeing he
sights and waitin, To- Mr. C:ere and to touch
tia. button anl r:it tie wheels u molten.
That is most wonderful thing TO III. i IS
awEul-.by which n?caT it IS fall of awe. The
idea OF a man Thousand mil awlv touching
little but Oh and in an instant the great iron
wheel b gins to move and hundreds OF smaller
ones spin round like tops and ol ! Grover never
stopped talking nor ock the cigar out OF MS
ulouEh. can't comprehend it. As DaTl sad
T n,,t N alll
and natural way for Id Gr0T to start that
Zig wheel was to come Oil; here and take his
cat If AMI get down ehind /: and give a
erunt and h. ave aud say: "Hurrah, boy,
LEI her CO." C, I'D understand thar. That )
| he way that big. strong Ike Dunkel, Of The
| Rome Light Guard. used TO lift our army va
gons out of the mire When tlIe team got stalled.
By and by the speaking way over and the
button was pressed and the big cannon rockets
! were fired to the b. avrns and cheers went up
| from t9u thousand throa's and the little girl
| clune close to me and t:embled. ! was t. o
much for her six-year.olG soul Twilight soon
came an then the electric lights and the grand
| iilum nation. II was beWi!dering. enchanting,
! inspiring / felt ike the old woman, who for
tie first time went to the circus, and when the
| gr nd procession of beautiful horses and star
spangled riders came in her old man said:
Sally, s lly. what d. you think O. it?' She
Struggled for Il terance and whispered: ''Jrhn,
| it's more like the kingdom Of heaven than any.
| thing ever expected t. SEE in this world"
| But time and tide val for no nsn, neither
do the cars, and I had promised my wife to
come home at 10 o'clock and did. s. kissed
the little sirl soolbv and boarded the train fer
home It had been long but happy dag
| Thousands were happy and / never raw
! drunken man nor heard baby cry.
had lighted my cgar AMI settled down IN
| the smoker to runina:e on peace ard good will
when suddenly heard tbs tramp OF men and
the canking Of chains. Looking backward
| saw row Of colored conTcts With their hard
! iron bracelets on and the long chain tnat
lornd them all together and the man N
! charge. There wc.e nine of them, all stout
! an6 strong, and all black but one--he was
coed looking copper .co!ored negro. Thought
at first that they we're e gang OF rloterS who
! haC been convicted il a bunch, but Alr. Pear
| son. the fne, snl;d-lonk.ng man in charge, sali
"No. ckcd tn N up separately They Il
| for d fferent crimes, but only one fer man
slaughter The Others are for larceny or bur-
glarT anil all are for long terms. Iha' large
negro ever there is preacher and goes up iol
| burglary in he nighttime" In answer to mi
! inquiries Mr. Pearson told Ire that crime
4 :ong the negroes was on The increase and b:
was kept on the 20 most Of the time in gather
"g the conrictS and taking them to the camps
! There are now 2, 100 besides those IN the count!
! chaingan IS. And he took five last week and
| two of them were BOYS under fourteen y"ars o.
nSo. ''Oh, my countrr:," thought l; where l!
this thing 10 stop and when and how? Is thert
| 10 remedyy"
! Mr.. Pearson is thoughtful, humane gentle
! man. and has opinions. "The state must have
4 reformatnry,' be said ct is sin aga n5t
heaven to pen up these boys with these lard
and o offenders" .
What about the lease system2" inquired
"When it rms out" said be- s'the state
III ruld buy q few thousand acr>s OF land some
where and build penitentary walls in the
| middle of it and work half or more Of them
| at different trades and the rest Oil tho farm
50 as TO raise nei& own provisions. II Jicl
Smith can make money IF their farm wo:H
! The state can ut Least nIaEG tlcli; earn sup
| port. II their trade work III the walls does
| como in competition with free labor. let it
:cme--v,e can't help il. It is hard prob
| len. but there must he some change in tho
lease system. The state should change 1t II
| it r:stS million dollars There l2 no reform
| in it.
We'll. it i; awful aud yc;: npre So cye.y
year There Are Mt less than 1000 now
working out their sentences. The average CT
their terms is five wears aud this runs ~ ID
CG0 wears Of labor. Just think ii it. What
.locs make these Gcyro"s 10 SC? Will they
never learn that crime is followed by pun
ishmcnt and the loss Of that freedom that
The race boasts Of? Can't their own prca"h-
ers Do something to stop il? II the conT!c-
tions 90 on at the present rate there will be
t:r Thousand in twenty years. What then!
Ny opinion is that half the negroes II the
ch2lngapgs would have been reformed at the
whipping post and we will have to como to
that yet.-BIL1 ARP in atlanta Constitution.