The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-23
SARGE .PLUNKET'T
Among the Scotch People on Anniversary
of Burns's Birthday.
atlanta Consultation.

TWILL dIOot0 49, ~A ~
sa;eed with the softness Of pathos o,
thrilled with the fire Of adventure to
me f~ulIness of our hearts content.
We knew there could be no bette,
rl.,e to see the one hundred and
,bjrty.ninth birthday Of Robbie Burns
celebrated than among his own coun-
rvncn at the grsnite quarries of the
,ower part Of DeKaIb. Going there
for this purpose and listening to the
songs Of the poet as sung in his own
tourue. we sruly felt as if strolling
along the blanks and braes of benny
Boon or listening to the murmur of
.Aftan's Sweet Waters We could &c
more describe the sweetness of this
occasion than We could picture the
merits of the hardy men and. bonnie
l~assies who have been drawn into this
section by che granite industry every
where so abundant. We we're carried
10 the grave Of the first Scotchman
who came here for this purpose, and
the first man to cut a block Of stone
now 50 common upon streets. He is
rcnlcm bercd most affectionately by his
country people, and they have decora-
ted his grave in the cemetery of Lith-
oaia in a most artistic and appropriate
manner. This nan was James Il.
Wilson, Aberdeen. Scotland. The
Gate City Bank, Of Atlanta, once paid
this man So, 100000 much in cashipg
a check. which he discovered after
arriving at Lithonia. He at once
telcgraphed the bank to save them
worry, and the next day carried the
money back. The bank official re-
ceivcd it without ever thanking VIII
son or paying his a fare or telegraph
expense, whereupon he only remarked
that they should do the travelling if
the thing ever occurred again.
At Stone Mountain We had a look
at the crown head Of the Confederate
monument to be erected at Chicka-
manga battlefield. This monument
will truly be a wonderful piece of
work. and was performed by a Scotch
mana MIR. Potter, MIR. Beacon and
another gentleman whose name l have
forgotten. The base of the monu-
ment is constructed Of Solid granite
then IN four pillars six feet in
diameter then the crown head with
a horses head from each side aud end
it being square then another tier
"f smaller pillars sa55 1Vvn these viii
appear a bronze statue of a Confeder-
ate soldier. The statue. when placed
ia position, will measure eighty feet
high.
Before leaving Stone Mountain, FOR
the sake of diversion, I will give the
story Of a strange old man who pays
frequent visits to these granite fields,
and whose belief il the efficacy OF
prayer would be an ornament in many
others far more cultured than he.
Long, long ago, before the hammer
Of the Scotchman was ever dreamed of
and before these rocks ever had a
scar, this strange old man owned lands
and lived a little northeast Of the
steep side Of Stone Mountain. He
had raised a family here perfectly
beautiful in their innocence and happy
Pn their backwoods scclnsion. The
0ld man himself was rated an inidel,
bat his family we're strict membere of
little log Church which had seen
organized near the foot Of the noun
tain. The family had long since dea-
paired of ever getting the old fellow
70 attend Church: and nothing was
thought Of it when upon every Sab
bath morning, he filed his bow-baskee
With corn, got a small sack Of salt
ready and went to the woods to find
lie hogs aud salt mis- cattie-snis mad
been his custom for years upon the
pabbath day, and he scoffed the idea
Ff there being any good in religion OF.
IN Churches. a
SO things were moving when a man
Py the name Of. Cloud-Aaron Cloud
hsited the, section, bought Stone
aountain for littlo Of nothing aud an
bounced that he was going to build a
Inc hotel and tower on the mountain
and make it a great summer resort for
P%ieasure seekers. This all transpired,
md our strange old man soon saw his
fhlldren departing from the back
FOODS simplicity and taking on the
frs Of the fashionable people who
issembled atthe hotel on the noun
f'n. His girls were no longer con-
fnt with plain homespun goods, and
ts boys failed 70 see Why they should
1ork so hard, and that under the
Aund, OF string bands from the dance
Nils mr. hrcao,S houd, e