The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-02-17
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
Arp Takes Five Hundred Million Dollars
to Provie his Dinner.
Atlanta Constitution.

that devoted TO queStlOnS anu answers
Indeed, if any whole page were Sc
apart to this mode of diffusing knowl
edge, it would all be read.
There are books enough, of course
but the masses of the people have no
got them and cannot buy them. Cyclic
pedias are expensive, but almost eve
ry successful newspaper is we'll sup
piled with such works, and can readi
| ly refer to them and answer the 1ues
tions correctly.
I was Illuminating about this because
Of the eagerness with which my OWL
family peruse all the questions in the
papers and then make research to an
swer them. I once had quite valua
BILE library, but about thirty-three
years ago some vandals calling them
selves soldiers did feloniously take
steal and carry it away, and | have not
been able since to supply its place
nevertheless, we have more books than
the average family and find great com
fort in them.
The Eveniny Constitution promises
it's readers symposium of ten histor.
ical questions every week-and while
the people are seeking the answers,
they unavoidably come across much
interesting and valuable information
NV folks had to read the biographies
of all the presidents, from Washing,
ton to Jackson, before they found out
which Of them was married twice to
the same lady. This is good method
of difusing knowledge, and it is graf
flying to note how many responses are
made by the young people. 1t is a
pleasant mode of teaching without
constraint or discipline. The reward
is small, but the acquisition Of knowl-
edge is profitable and enduring. Then
there is dare, a banter, competi-
tion about it that makes it inviting.
Nothing Aatters an old man vanity
more than to be appealed to for infor-
nation concerning such things. He
is proud to have the young people look
up to him as philosopher, histo-
rian, a scholar. Solomon says: "Get
wisdom-get understanding" Lord
Bacon says: 'Knowledge is power, "
and Shakespeare says: knowledge
is the wing with which we fly to heav-
en-" Most of us get our knowledge
from books-from the brain of osher
people who have gone before; but
that obtained from thoughtful obser-
vation and experience is the better
kind. Long, long ago I knew an old
man who had no books and could hard
ly write his name, yet his knowledge
Of things around him-of the changes
of the moon and the forebodings Of
the weather, the growth Of plants, the
habits of fowls and fishes, and the
structure of animals was remarkable.
1 was glad to be pupil under such a
master.
The other day I thought to show off
little of my learning at the dinner
table. It was not an extraordinary
dinner, and I asked what did it cost.
They figured it out to be about 75c.
Then I remarked that the capital in
vested in procuring this unpretending
meal was not less than FIVE hundred
million of dollars. and gave employ
ment to five million men, for it takes
many ships and many railroads.
The pepper in this little box was
grown in the East Indies, $1,000 miles
away. It grew on little vine about
eight feet high and not less than five
years DID,. It was green when it was
gathered, and was then dried in the
| sun until it turned black. The white
pepper is made by taking the black
shell off before it is ground. The
vine is said to be very beautiful, and
the natives use the root for beverage
that intoxicates them, just like the
Mexicans use the magyar plant or the
Americans their rye and corn. SO
you see that since the day of Noah
the people of every nation have found
something to exhilerate or make them
drunk. We'll, it took ship and l 1000
miles of railroad to bring this pepper
here. Then here is the tea that is
brought all the way from China, and
the coffee from South America and
Mexico. The Goldfish we had for
breakfast came from off the coast of
Maine. This piece of boiled ham came
from Kansas City. This bread was
made from flour that was ground from
Dakota wheat. This salt came from
the Indian reservation in New York
State. This Worcester sauce came
from London. These canned peaches
came from California. The spices
that are in this cake, the cinnamon
and mace and nutmeg came from the
Moluccas or Spice islands in the In
dian Archipelago. And the cloves
that you use came from over there.
Cloves, you must know, are little,
short hobnails that the cobblers drive
in the heels of peasants shoes, and
the spice resembles them so much that
it took their name. Cloves are not
the fruit nor the seed of the tree, but
it is the bloom plucked and dried be-
fore it has quite opened. A great nat
uralist says that the Glove tree is the
most beautiful, the most elegant and
the most precious of all known trees.
1t is about forty feet high, and lives
to be 100 years old. Wouldn't you
like to have one in the front yard ?
And there is another fragrant fruit
the citron of commerce that you use
in your fruit cake. 1t takes big
ship to bring that here from Italy, and
the macaroni has to come along with
it. Now, here are the potatoes and
rice and sugar and cheese that come
from abroad. Please tell me what we
have that is homemade or home
grown within the limits of Barlow
County
"Corn bread and butter and butter
milk" was the reply.
"Wcll, VIC could live on that, said
l. Suppose We try it for a year and
sec how it works. 1t looks like a
shame to have $500, 900, 900 and five
~illion men employed to get US a
ulnner. y
Suppose we wait until next week 2
said my wife eve are going to have
company tomorrow. BY the way, you