The age-herald., 1898-03-16
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Which Are Best?
Old Times. or New?

There is certainly no more positive, un- controvertible indication of approaching old age than the inclination to refer affec- tionately and longngly to the good old times" in contradiction to the "eVl new times"
 Perhaps there has never lived an anxi- ous father who did not talk to his boys of those better years when life was young and the rising sun was just gliding for him the hilltops of hope. The average, the uni versal father-for the exception can scarce ly be found-has a comfortable way of for getting all youthful follies and indiscretions and of remembering only his virtuous, ex- emplary conduct.
 The father may be truthful to degree, and yet he places himself unconsciously upon a pedestal, and poses as the model by which his sons should mould their lives.
 A man does not intentionally sin in this, since he has only forgotten everything that could reflect upon his boysh repu- tation, for faultless demeanor. Parentage and advancing years are responsible for this idiosyncracy.
 Mothers have the self-same tendency to- wards a comparison of the "old times'' with the new times, until one wonders if there can be anything in the laws of her edity anw from what source do the sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters receive their inclination towards the harm less follies of life, well as their apti- tude for little weaknesses and human frail- ties? Did they, Topsy-like, just grow" without any connection with the unsullid past? Do children only inherit virtues from their parents, while sins come to them from choice, disconnected with relation ship like one selects a hat or a garment?
 Either progenitors with convenient mem- ories are right and the best informed far thest advanced medical men of the century are previously wrong or this forgetful- ness is a pretty, soothing little trick of nature, which merely is indicative of the passing of years, and the coming of old age.
 That the past had undeniable advantages over the present, in many matters pertain ing to modes of living, every one admits, especially every one familiar with the Luxurious environment of the majority of well-bred southerners The struggles for the necessities of life, brought about by the altered financial conditions of this sec tion, excuse the incident memory of bright CT and better times, "before the war" But these very economies and limitations have brought to the south many wholesome changes in Its social regulations.
 No man can now be an idler or a daw- dler, no matter how removed from money ed anxieties, without mourning the con- tempt of his acquaintances and associates.
 No woman can afford to be merely hu- man butterfly, with other object than to gather the sweet-scented flowers which blossom along life's pathway. without find- tng herself as useless and as unnecessary IS her prototype which filters hither and thither for a day, and dies at set of sun, and is soon forgot.
 Among the admirable social regulations to the credit of the present time is the passing of hte old-fashoned habit of young girls to tax the hospitality of their friends and their parents friends with long, lnterminable visits, lasting for weeks, and frequently lengthening into months. Such visitations are out of date, except to very near and intimate relatives, and the Eng fish custom of inviting a guest for a spec flied period, is rapidly being adopted in every part of the country
 When one comes to think seriously about the matter, there are many good things about this ''out-of-joint present time to recommend it, even to the firmest believer an a wonderful past. It is safe to conclude that no century or part of century can claim all the virtues. They have been about evenly distributed among the ages since the creation