The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-02-24
t2dntG Constitution.
Chow many miles to Milybright?


it..
Longfellow lived to be seventy fve.
When he was seventy he wrote his
friend Childs: 1T is like climbing the
Alps; you reach snow-crowned sum-
NIT and see behind you the deep val
ley stretching miles and miles away,
and before you other SUBMITS, higher
and whittier, which you may have
have strength to climb or you may
not. Then you sit down and mediate
and wonder which it will be. This is
the whole story
DR.. Holmes saw so much fun in ev-
erything that he couldn't help making
funny rhymes about an old man:
but now his nose is thin,
And it rests upon his chin
Like staff;
And crook is in his back
And melancholy crack
Is in his laugh"
Then he was sorry that he wrote it,
for he says:
II know it is sin
For me to sit and grin
At him here"
The doctor didn't expect to live to
be eighty-fve, for long ago he said:
"Our brains are seventy-ye clocks;
the angel of life winds them up once
for all, then closes the case and gives
the key to the angel Of the resurrcc-
ton"
But an old man is not obliged to
have a crook in his back nor crack
in his laugh. We see many aged men
who are straight as an Indian and have
not lost the musical etone of their
voice. Habit and pride of person
have much to do with this. l know
an aged woman, neighbor of ours,
who, when she !: sitting, hardly touch
es the back Of chair, and yet she is
not stiff or awkward-always graceful,
always beautiful. She is kind and
gentle in her age, and has warm well
come wherever she visits. If she can
not hear all that is said she is not
embarrassed; for she says what she
lacks in hearing she makes up in see
ing and reading and is thankful for
the faculties that are still left her. l
never saw her with a troubled look,
though know she has trouble and
deep grief. Now, contrast such a wo-
man with one who is always complain
ing of her hard lot, or saying some
thing disparaging about her neighbors!
But the old-time mothers had some
excuse for bent shoulders, for it was
the fashion to sleep on pillow and boil
ster, and it was the fashion to lean to
| the child while it was nursing. Hab-
it's begun in childhood and continued
| in motherhood will never be broken in
the decline of life. I believe that the
habits Of the girls in this generation
are an Improvement on those Of the
past. They do not lace like they used
| to, and they carry themselves more
gracefully. They have better fitting
shoes and corsets. They have more
comfortable seats at school and are
not allowed to lean forward to their
books or slate or writing pad. The
life insurance companies have at last
| discovered that women live as long as
men, if not longer, and policies are is
sued to them on equal terms. The
longevity OF 10Th sexes are increasing,
slowly but surely, and the only draw
back is intcmperance-whisky and
opium. We're it not for these, the
three score -and-ten limit would be ad-
vanced to four-score, and also give US
stronger and handsomer race Of peo-
pie.
Shakespeare gave us some types of
old age that seem to have fitted the
times in which he lived, but they are
very rare in ours. Prince Hal said to
Falstaff "Have you not all the char
acters of age-a moist eye, dry hand,
a yellow cheek, a white beard, a de.
crcasing leg, an increasing corporosity? :?
Is not your voice broken, your wind
short, your chin double, your wit sin,
gle and every part about you bloated
with antiquity?'
I deny the picture. AS somebody
said, deny the allegation and deny
the alligator. There is some of it that
does not fit me, | know. These poets
are too fond Of poking fun at old
men. The she bears ought to come
along. The Scripture says that old
age is honorable and that the. young
men shall rise up when the old men
come in at the gate. The old men are
the balance wheels Of all the machin-
cry of government. If it we're not for
them the boys would run away wit h
the wagon. There must be wheel
horses with brecching on to hold bake
when going down hill. What are we
here for? We can't climb tree or
Jump ten rail fence any more, nor
kick a college ball nor ride bicycle,
but these things are non-essentials,
and don't have to be done. We can
look after the grandchildren and point
moral and tell them tale and teach
the young idea how to shoot without
carrying pistol in a hip pocket. Sol:
onion says that the glory of an old
man is his children children, and he
might have said that the children who
have no grand parents did not have
their share of happiness in this world.
But old age has its vriumphs and
consultations. 1t has passed all selfish
ness and vain ambitions and takes
comfort in memories and philosophic
meditation. 1t realizes the wonder
ful progress uf art and invention, for