The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-02-09
BILL ARP AS A NURSE.
The Children are Romping Around
Him and the Family Left Him to
Look After Them.

aEO 1toAhpthB hHOuuo
Him and the Family Left Him to
Look After Them.
/ consider myself an injured person
wife gone to the missionary meeting,
my two daughters gone visiting and
here | am alone with three grandchil-
dren-got to watch them till somebody
comes. I've never g en one of the
stock that wasn't full Of mischief and
frolic. Thought l would take a little
nap or the sofa while they played
around, but 1t was no use. They got
all the chairs in o ROY and played rail
road and locomotive awhile. Then
they played soldier, and fired guns and
killed n another and fell dead. Then
they played horse and run round the
centre table. l thought the little girls
would get tired after a while and settle
down to their dolls and make play
hou'e, but the boy didn't like that and
so the racket continued. They turned
tho chairs upside down and slid down
the backs headforemost and rolled over
and turned sommersaults, and then
jumped off the table and lounge and
shook the floor and made the windows
rattle like an earthq quake. Will they
never get tired ? thought |. No, lever
But by and by, when my wife came
hceaN Sbo oSpShSo boWh tuo DIdH-
ed club fist and trimbletoe with them
and l had peace.
My folks have got an idea that it
suits me to take care of the children,
and the children have an idea that they
are to do as they please when there's
nobody about but me, and 80 l suffer
myself imposed on and feel like an in
jurod person. l believe / will go to the
missionary society myself mex time.
But after all, there is no use in pos
ing as q domestic martyr or O patri-
archal packhorse about these things,
for l do like to have the little chaps
Children are a blessing to tho house
hold. They take away our selfshness
and purify feelings. Their Joy
and glce and sportive happiness u
ries tho old people back to their early
life, when the days were all sunshine.
1t is a sad sympathy we feel when we
see them so happy now and foresee
the troubles that await them. Poor
Tom Hood. How sad he was when he
penned those touching lines
81 remember, l remember
The fir trees dark and high;
Were close against the sky.
1t was a childish ignorance,
But now tbs little JOY
To know Pm farther off from heaven
Than when | was a boy"
There is no happiness like a child's.
II [ could [ would exchange all that
have realized since | was sixteen years
old for that had before. Those six,
teen years are about one-third of the
average life and the memories OF them
are more precious than all the rest. II
Il child is blessed with loving, indul.
CONT parents those years are an un.
broken season of unalloyed enjoyment,
Sometimes | see my wife looking sud
and dreamily into the glowing embers
children or her childhood and recall
ing the joys Of her youth when she had
a mother and could lay her head upon
her lap and feel the soft caresses o.
her gentle hand. What a weight O
care and anxiety presses continually
upon the heart of a mother. How
often do her prayers ascend to HEAVIER
in the dark watches OF the night
prayers for their health, their welfare
their good conduct, their salvation.
But with all the cares, anxieties anC
forcboding, children are our greatest
blessing and the family the gre ates'
bulwark of good society and good gov
eminent. 1t Is the law of our being
tttt-b AIoh t5Ae oiie cLloulu q ahl
marry and rear children, and there il
no substitute for the marriage relation
| hardly knew the value OF a child
until q few weeks z u dear little
g~randchild got sick-very sick, and fol
days and nights was very neal the
gate OF heaven. She suffered and We
watched and suffered with her. Hel
little lips and throat were swollen ant
infiamed with diptharetic sores. Hel
lungs ratified with pneumonia. How
she pleaded with us for help-for re
lief-pleaded with eyes and hands, ant
we could do nothing hut caress hei
and weep. | would have given q mil
lion dOllars-yes, ten million, if l ha(
had ito relieve that child and saw,
her from suffering. Prayers or medi
cine or good nursing or something saw
ed her, and we are all grateful. VIVA
is the value Of q child, anyhow? If on,
was up at auction what would the
mother give? How insignificant il
property or gold or silver when com
pared with it. What are we all work
ing for but children, their happiness
and prosperity. Daniel Webster, the
greatest man this country has eve
produced, said GA good father viii
shrink from no toll, no sacrifice t.
raise his children to a better condition
tIdh hlo o"hs IL L was q JuuSo ilu
father was brought before me for steal
ing or even for robbing, | would scel
to know the hidden motives tina
prompted him to the crime. Many q
man steals or cheats TO get something
for tho children, and the world is out
ragged and calls him thief and the
law sends him to the c%haingang.
But after all, it is the mother wht
screens them, protects them and wrap.
them in her bosom. | thought my
wife was tired and would like to res
in her old age, but the maternal in
stiEct etill possesses her, and oh,
seems as much concerned about the
grandchildren as she ever did about
her own In fact, she is less exacting,
and moro indulgont. The little bO,
wo have with us is o young cyclone
and keeps the homo in an uproar
When | get outraged with his tumul,
tuous racket and threaten him with
punishment my wife takes his part
and ssys he is nothing but g. baby.
Yes, q f~our-year.o.d baby who >slamf
the door like an athlete forty times an
hour aud dOn't raind any body and
could regulate him in an -FOUR IL | had
my way. My wife never allowed such
liberties from her " They were
afraid Of q spanking or Of being SHUT
mp in tho parlor when they got too
b~oiste"Oua. And now she pleads for
this boy and says he is nothing but a
baby. But I'll get him some OF these
days chen she gOes to tho missionary
meeting-sco Ii | don't. I've promised
him a licking every day for two
months and he rCtpcnta IA hon md