The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-02-16
BILL ARP AS A TEACHER,
The Cost OF Good Dinner-How
knowledge is Acquired and Dis
SeIniuated,


Knowledge is Acquired and Dis
seminated.
There Is no column In a newspaper
that is so attractive and Instructive az
that d. oted to questions and answers
Indeed, II any whole page wcro Lei
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 not
got them and can not buy them. Cy-
clopedias are expensive, but almost
every successful newspaper Is we'll
equipped with such works and can
r. &dlly refer to them and answer the
questions correctly.
l was Illuminating about this because
O. the eagerness with which my own
family peruse all the questions in The
Constitution and The Home and Farm
and then make research to answer
them. l once had quite a valuable
library, but about thirty-three years
ago some vandals calling themselves
soldiers did feloniouely take, steal and
carry 1T away, and have not been able
e1nco to supply it's place nevertheless,
We have more books than the average
family and fnd great comfort in them.
The Evening Constitution promises
| y
csl questions every week-and while
the people are seeking tho answers
thoy unavoidhbiy come across much
Interesting and valuable Information
| My 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 a good method
of diffnsing knowledge, aud it is graft
lying to noto how many responses arc
made by the young people. Ii is q
pleasant mode Of teaching without
constraint or discipline. Tho reward
Is small, but the a@Gniaition of knowl-
edge is profitable and enduring. Then
there ls a dare. banter, q competition
about 1t that makes it inviting.
Nothing nAtters an old mans 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, historian,
q scholar.
Solomon says: "Get wisdom; get
u,n1derstanding:" Lord Bacon says
Knowledge is power" and Shake
speare says acknowledge is the wing
with which we fly to heaven" Most
OF us get our knowledge from books
from the brain Of other people who
have gone before; but that obtained
from thoughtful observation and expn-
rience 10 the better kind. Long, long
ago L knew an old man who had no
books and could hardly write his name,
yet his know ledge Of things around
him-of the changes Of the moon and
the forcbodings Of the weather; the
growth of plants; the habits OF fowls
| and fishes, and the structure of ami
mails was remarkable. ] was glad to
be pupil under such a master
Inc other day | thought to show off
little OF my learning at the dinner
table. 1t was not an extraordinary
| dinner, end [ asked what did it cost.
| They figured 1t out to be about Is cents
Then remarked that the capital in
vested in procuring this unpretending
meal was not less than five hundred
millions 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, 10000 miles
away. 1t grow On little vine about
| eight feet high and not less than five
years Old. 1t was green when gather
ed, and WAS then dried in tho sun until
1t turned black. The white pepper is
made by taking the black she'll off
before 1T Is ground. The vine is said
to be very beautiful and the natives
usc the root for beverage that intoxi-
Gates them just like tho Mexicans use
the magyar plant or the Americans
their rye and corn. So you see that
since the day Of Noah tho people of
every nation have found something to
exhilerate or mako them drunk. Well,
IL took ship and 900 miles Of rail
road TO bring tais pepper here. Then
here is the tea that is brought all the
way from China aid the coffee from
South America and Mexico. The cod
fish we had for breakfast came from
of the coast OF Maine. This piece OF
boiicd ham came from Kansas City.
Ibis bread was made from -four that
was ground from Dakota wheat. This
salt came from the Indian reservation
in New York State. This Worcester
sauce came from London. These can
| ned peaches camo from California
The spices that are in this cake, the
cinnamon and mace and nutmeg came
from tho MoiuccAs or Spice islands in
the Indian Archipelago. And the
cloves that you use came from over
there. Gloves, you must know, are
the little short black hobnails that the
cobb!ers drive in the heels OF peasants
shoes and the spice resembles them sc
much that it took their name. Cloves
are not the fruit nor tho seed OF the
tree, butts the bloom plucked aud drieG
bafore it has quite opened. A great
naturalist says that the Glove tree /.
the most beautiful, the most elegant
and tho most precious OF all knowr
trees. 1t Is about forty feet high ant
lives to be 100 years old. Woudn'
you like to have ono in tho front yard
And there is another fragrant fruit
the citron OF commerce that you ust
in your fruit cake. 1t takes big shiI
. to bring that here from Italy and tn,
macaroni has to come along with 1t
Now hero are the potatoes and ric,
and sugar and cheese that come from
!, abroad. Please tell mo what we hav,
that Is home made or homo grow
within the limits OF Bartow county :?
Corn bread and butter and buttor
milk" was the reply.
Well, We could live on that" sal,
L. Suppose We try it for year an,
see how 1t works. 1t looks like sham
+ to have e500,000,0 900 and five million
men employed to get us a dinner"
Suppose we wait till next week ?
said my wife. We are going to hav
l company tomorrow. BY the way, yo
8 didn't mention this linen dam ask table
0 cloth that came from Belfast. no
q these knivos that Rogers mado /
: England and tho ivory handles thu
Q came from the jungles OF India. A
l OF these dishes came from somewher
j. up North, aud 80 did this extonsio
| fAhla that oils Hno