The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-10-08
THINGS AS VIEWED
BY RILL ARP THE GEORGIA HUMORISI
AND PHILOSOPHER.

BY KILL ARP lHE GEORGlA HUMORIS
AND PHILOSOPHER.
he Talks About Politics and Othe
Matters-Takes q Hopeful View o
Things as He Sees Them-Does No
Believe the World Is CROWN,
Worse-There is rluch In This Worl,
to Comfort and Encourage, if We bu
Make the Most of Our Opportunities
Outside Of revelation, there is surel,
sufficient proc of original sin ane
moral turpl,ure in human kind. If
man could be lifted up in balloon
high enough to see the earth roll unde
him aud could keep his position unit
1t had turned time or two upon III
axis. the scene that would pass his Wis
ion would he proof enough. What q
horrible revelation OF war and blood,
and suffering WOULD pass beaealh hin
in almost every part of the earth We
boast of modern civilization, but has
every advance to be baptized in blood:
Suppose man could see at one time
all the present misery Of the world
and all the crime that caused it, could
he endure the awful picture? Would
it not paralyze his soul and obllterate
his power Of vision and make him a
maniac? Every day we read Of these
horrors and shudder, but they are afar
off and we have become almost har-
dened to them by their daily repeti-
ton. If familiarity with danger breeds
contempt, for it SO does, daily recur-
renee Of crime and suffering and grief
breeds Indifference. Unless we see it
with our own eyes we are not greatly
affected.
The weeping prophet exclaimed:
"Oh, that my head were waters and
mine eyes fountain of ,ears." but
there is no prophet to weep nowadays.
We have no time to weep. The poet
says:
Mans inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn, 8"
and if we could actually see every bat
tie field and all the blood and agony,
and into all the prisons and chain
gangs and into every howell AID garrett
and dark alley where the poor do con-
gregate, and into the hearts of all the
mourners at all the funerals, we would
never smile again. The memory of
them would haunt us and we would be
more than willing to quit this horrible
world and take our chances in another.
But we will let the preachers talk
about this. We must look on the
brighter side. There is no comfort in
pondering and lamenting what is going
on in Turkey and Abyssnnia and
Cuba, or over The long continued quar-
rels of the politicians or the daily
crimes and murders and suicides and
lynchings that fill the newspapers.
Even the beasts of the field and the
fowls in the yard are happy, and every
created thing save man seems 10 re-
joice in the goodness Of the Creator.
What is the matter with man, anyhow?
Woman is not SO, nor are the little
children who play and sport around US.
The poet says:
Every prospect pleases,
Only man is vile.'
But after all, there is comfort in
knowing that there are some good
men. Yes, lots Of them. You can
pick them out in town and city and
country; and great traveller who has
been all over the world and mingled
with Gen,iles and Jews and Arabs and
Hol,en,ots, and the heathen Chinee,
says he found good, kind hearted peo-
pie of every tribe and nation and re-
ligion on the globe. He SAID that a
traveller could never be sec;arian or
be intoleran:, like many of our Sc call
ed Christians are.
Last Sunday | went out in the Coun-
try with a friend To visit an old lady
who is on her last bed. She has lived
eighty three years and reckon never
had an evil though. IN !irr LIE. She
was pleased |" s"e Us and tie Ecarness
of death give hcr no alarm. ~ ihe
sake Of my-grand children, sne SAID,
al would like to live a lttle longer TO
help them and guide them in the right
way" Her Bible was printed away
before the war and had been patched
and pasted and mended until i, would
hardly hold together, bu. she knew a
good deal by heart and told Us what
portions of it were her greatest com
fort. These old fashioned mothers are
the best people on earth and when they
have passed through all lht lcrIls "i
motherhood they seem 10 out live the
men. There are three times as many
old women in this town as old men
and they are most all OF them widows.
| had rather insure the life Of woman
OF forty-fve than that OF man II
thirty. would get the premiums
longer. The old-fashoned men lived
longer than they do now. They had
simple habits and limited desires.
mean the well-to-do men who lived in
comfort The old presidents, leaving
ou, Washington, whose death was no,
from old age, ou,liyed the more
modern ones. John Adams lived &c
ninety one and his son to eighty one
Jefferson was eighty-,hree, Madison
was eighty-five, Monroe was seventy
three and Jackson seventy-eight. Thi
makes an average Of eighty-two years
which is very common.
The average Of all the presidents j
only six,y-eight years. In looking ove
their reco, ds was surprised to hne
that three of them died on the 4,h o
July and that Adams and Jefferson ex
pressed desire TO die on that day
Whether Monroe did o. not the bIog
raphy does not say. | have no doub
that he did, for ,ha. day was very dea
o., xba .~.ty,o,c ~ that lime and he