The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-01-06
SARGE PLUNKETT
A War for Cuba Seems AImest Certain
If Spain Wants TO Get Angry.
atlanta Constitution.

eye, as much as to say: DO you see
anything green," whenever he hears
anything about how easy we could set
tie the whole business, and remarks
privately that he thinks he had heard
such talk before. He was so badly
fooled in small matter in 1861 that
it is impossible to get him enthused
for Cuba. But I am for Cuba, for it
is nothing more than I have expected
for a good while that a war should
come, and / am almost persuaded that
wars are a necessity. I do not know
if it is tariff or silver or over produc-
tion or too many people, but anyhow,
the people invite a change-anything
to relieve the pressure of hard times,
and I am afraid there is too little Of
the patriotic feeling in the thing.
We have been reading up on wars
and the causessof wars, and in this
connection we found the history Of the
crusades of much interest. After
mature deliberation, we have decided
that it would be a pretty hard job to
find anything better than revival Of
the old crusades, if Too many people
is what is the matter with the world.
Millions went upon these crusades in
the olden times, and but few that went
ever returned. 1t was thus that the
population Of Europe was trimmed out
time after time, and I expect that
they would have kept on with them
had not America been discovered and
furnished a place to receive the sur
plus of Europe. At last America can
stand no more, and some plan must be
hit upon for the relief needed. A
war with Spain over Cuba might be a
very small affair in itself, but it might
lead to something big enough to sat
isfy US all and have the effect of re-
moving the pressure without reviVing
the crusades.
Brown and [ disagree on many
things, but I always give him chance
10 eypress himself, He sWears that
England can always be depended upon
in taking care Of her own. He tells
me that he has been watching through
a long life and that somehow England
gets up some sort of devilment every
time there is any meddling with the
tariff, and that he has never seen a
prospect Of changing the channel of
trade from the way they want it but
what something would happen to
divert from such movement. He
points to instances to strengthen this
argument. Some years ago the town
of Brunswick, Ca, took squirt, and
it looked as if commerce was going to
be revolutionized through that port.
Just as Brunswick got at it's best an
epidemic of yellow fever struck the
port and Brunswick has cut no figure
from that day to this in the commerce
of the world or on the question Of
direct trade. I do not believe that
any people would SOW the seeds Of an
epidemic to carry point or to avert
something that they might consider
against their interest, but they might
raise war to such an end andsthere
might be people in this country who
would help.
But I am with the great majority
let US have war. I am glad to have
something to abuse it is necessary to
have something, and Spain will do for
4 little while. It had begun to get SO
that we had nothing to abuse. We
had cussed the yankees and the north
until we had exhausted the subject +;
long ago we had quit spelling negro
with two "g's;;' the Chinese, the
dago and everything else had outgrown
all our abuse and we just have 20 jump
on something. So let 'er roll, but [
can warn che young generation that
there is mighty few soft places in
a war that is war. I know a fellow
that tried every branch of the Confed-
crate service for "soft" place and
died in disgust at himself for being
fool. When the war first started he
joined the cavalry and pranced around
through Tennessee drinking butter:
milk until he got so big and fat that
it was a misery for him to ride, and
so he got transfer to the heavy ar
tillery at Savannah. At Savannah he
lay around and ate oysters until he
got bigger than ever and lazier than
ever. He had but little to do, but he
grumbled about having to throw up
breastworks and handle heavy guns,
and decided that he had made mis-
take in leaving the cavalry. One day
after he had lifted at big cannon for
a few minutes he decided that he
would get transfer to the flying ar
tillery, and according he did, and went
to Virginia in great glec over getting
away from the heavy guns of Savan-
nah. About one week with the army
of Virginia convinced this man that
he was the biggest fool that ever lived
on earth. He pulled his own hair,
gritted his teeth and jumped up and
down in his frenzy. When the seven
days fight at Richmond had ended he
went out on a log to himself and spent
ten hours just in'cussing himself, but
the fool went right to work for anoth-
CT change. This time he got a trans
fer to the infantry, and when he had
tried this a few hours he shut his