The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-08-01
A LETTER FROM ARP
AUTHOR or A POEM STARTS A Dis
CUSSlON.

Sage of Barlow Eliminates Over Many Things
That Are and Others That
Might Be.
The last letter | had about the poem
was anonymous. OF course it was, for
it read
MAN wants but little here below,
SO Young and Goldsmith say;
But woman wants it all. you know,
And wants it right away"
Mrs. Arp was sewing on some infant.le
garment rs | quietly laid the missive on
her lap. She neither smiled nor frown-
ed nor stopped the play of her needle
as she remarked. Maybe they do, but
they don't get it nor expect"
II reckon" said |, that some stingy
old benedict wrote that; some fellow
who would spend more money on his
horse than on his Wife
mo said Mrs. Arp, sit was some old
bachelor whose rejected addresses have
made him cynical and like Byron he
vents his revenge in doggerel When
y0u go down town | wish you would see
Mr.. Hicks about that dining room chair.
Maybe he can put new cane bottom
to it. We need it sometimes when we
have company. and that old sideboard
ought to be revarn. shed and have new
knobs. Do you know how old that side
board is|
YES" said I, Jim Sumter made il
in 1852. He was one of the best men
and best workmen I ever knew. I paid
him $50 for the sideboard. He was q
well-read. well-bred man. good neigh
Dor and good citizen. and | have res
pect for the sideboard. 1t is like al
epitaph on his tombstone and seems tC
read Sacred to the memory Of Yes
| will see Mr.. Hicks about the sideboard
Is there anything else in his line that
you want?
mo" said she, "but you know we
are obliged to have another extension
table. We gave ours to Jessie when she
was married and have been using one
that was left here three years ago and
now the owner has settled down. and
wants it. You had better attend to this
right away"
Fright away, right away" l unused.
"But woman wants it all you know,
And wants it right away"
Mrs. Arp looked at me and remark
ed. II want these things for you and the
children. It's precious little that | want
for myself now"
I don't think she admirss the song or
the sentiment.
T l-Y,rxz- 1nar - G0iI
I. "There was time when you wanted
a good deal for yourself and it pleased
me to crafty your every wish and more
than you asked for Nothing was too
good for you when | had the money.
Silks and sables, lawns and muslins, a
carriage and horses. Wilton carpets and
damask curtains, and so forth. and so
on ct cetera. pluribus unum. But ammo
domini kept rolling on and the war came
and / discovered that you were gradual
" losing your concern for yourself, and
all your care was for your children. | was
Eliminating about this while you were
stitching away so earnestly upon that
little garment, for now your love and
care have Tapped over to another genera
ton. The little grandchildren have come
in for share of your maternal love, and
your personal wants have come down
to a minimum. Of course you must be
clothed as becomes the maternal head
of numerous and lovely offspring, for If
you are not a queen you have reigned in
our home nearly as long as Queen Vie
toria has in England and"
"Well, that will do now" said my
wife. You had better go to town, Aunt
4ha MI 10 Mt and tho "
feed too"
81 was Illuminating" said /, chow for
tunate it was that your ambition sur
rendered about the time my money did,
You ceased to crave as fine things as
/ used to get you. You adapted your
wants to our misfOrtunes. Why, forty
years ago / would not have let you go
about in that grizzly gray muslin. | had
contempt for cheap things. especially
for you; didn't I, my dear?"
"You certainly did," she said with
kind of sad, reminiscent smile in her
tone of voice, 'but this muslin is good
enough now. But you had better go to
town. There are four little grandchildren
here to dinner, and Aunt Ann wants
the rice right away"
Sometimes l think that men don't I'M
derstand nor appreciate woman's nature.
She was created with love for the beau
tiful, for ornament, for flowers and
gems and jewels and gold and silverware
and damask and fine linen. She can't
help her nature, and this very nature
proves that she is nearer heaven than we
are What do / care for diamonds :?
Not a cent. i wouldn't give dollar for
a bushel Of them. An old-fashioned tin
waiter with flowers painted on it is as
good as a silver one to me. / wouldn't
wash the window glass more than once
a year, and a washpan suits me as well
as a china basin. But I recognize the
fact that | am a man with an un1efned
nature. The twelve gates of the new
Jerusalem that are made of precious
stones are no attra elton to me; neither
are the gold-paved streets that ST. John
saw in his vision. But still I have hope
of getting there and becoming more re-
fined, for l do love flowers and pretty
birds and orange trees and luscious fruits
and beautiful scenery and mountains
and the great waters of the mighty sea.
My wife and my daughters can spend
half a day in looking at the: beautiful
things in the show windows in Atlanta,
but never stop to gaze or to admire,
except, perhaps, to look at the photogra-
piers display or the hfe-like models OF
lovely women that seem smiling at my
three-score and ten. Reading and obser-
vation teach me that all good man have
reverence for womankind and are con-
scious of her better nature, her better
morals and emotions. Shakespeare and
Scott write of women as ministering an