The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-09-27
Hrp On 7'rOUbl88.
Tells of Some Letters he has Recently Received One
From an Unhappy Man.

How small Of all that human hearts en-
! durp,
That part wich kings or laws can cause
cure"
DR.. Johnson never wrote q sadder
truth than that. | comes home to every
man and woman and family. Neither
kings nor presidents nor laws can give us
peace of mind, good health or happiness
at home, nor can they prevent it. They can
not bring the rain or the drought or the
pestilence nor stop it when it comes.
There are some things in this life SO
much bigger than presidents and COVER
nors and laws that we cease to regard
all human oppression. When a family
is broken up by discord or sin or shame
it is a greater calamity to them than
war is to 4 nation.
"How very sad and weary is the room
Where love-domestic Yove-no longer
nestles;
But smitten by the cruel stroke of
doom
Its corpse lies on the trestles.''
What an awful picture is that The
corpse of love shrouded and cofiinel in
the family room, but never buried nor
removed. | was ruminating about this
because / have Il letter from 4 GiscOn-
solate man who upbraids me for telling
the girls not to marry until they gre
sure of a good husband. He says: why
not extend your caution 10 the young
men, for my sad experience is that the
girls are more capriciOus and uncertain
than the boys? | thought hat ] had
made a happy choice, but my wife has
gone away and left me and tho children
that she bore to me and our home IS
deSOlatc.'
Well. that is bad and sad. bHt It is one
case among Il thousand. In fact. it is
the only one [ ever heard Of The CON
trast to it is another letter from Il dis
treSsed mother who begs me TO help her
find her boy-her darling noy--Who en-
listed in company Il, Twelfth United
States infantry. and was sent to Santiago
and she has heard nothing from him
since the 9th Of July, when he was
lying sick in the hospital. She has writ
ten him often since then, bug never
line nor 4 message from niln. lie -,
always good to write to mo - Sh, says.
''and loves me dearly, ana now an al-
most hcartbr0len. I SrW IN the papers
that his regiment had beel >Hn. to Camp
Wikoff, but where is my hoy2'
| wonder how many of those cases
there are and who is responsible for it.
The darling boy is dead. | reckon, but !
have written to a fri2nl in New York
to visit the camp and to learn what he
can. There is nothing left for these
bereaycd mothers now but to weep and
wat-wait for death and the rcsurrcc-
ton. The glad reunion Of mothcr and
child in heaven is enough to make any
body get religion
There is trouble at our house. too.
lust nova trouble that man did no.
cause. and we fear that man canni>J
cure | do not like to write sad let
ter. but trouble loves sympathy, aud most
everybody loves to give it. Sympathy
costs nothing, and is worth more than
money to those whose hearts are ach-
ing For four long, anxious weeks our
little orphan girl has been wasting and
burning with fever that scnms i'm
possible to break. and the dear little pa
tient child grows weaker every day,
and never complains. For thee winters
we nurscd her in Florida. an1 she WAS
getting strong and growing In stature and
in cirlsh bcauty-the JOY AMI comfort
of her widowed mother-thc light Of our
house. and all who know hcr love hcr.
What can we do but prav and pina1 and
hope? Already we are try.ng II see the
silver lining to this cloud-the welcome
that she will give us when we cross the
river if she should die and join the an
gels.
But enough of this. Now what lessons
shall we learn from all the horrors OF
this four months war? One occurs to
me: whenever soldier is sick in the hos
pital the officer in charge should be re
qured to acquaint his family by letter
,,I I L, Il .,,1G
if he dies, to make known tho manner
and place of his burial. Every hospital
should keep a register of the name and
residence and nearest of kin of every
soldier received. Why should this mother
have to hunt in helpless ignorance for her
son? If he is too sick to write. why
should not somebody be detailed % write
for him? | am not now arraisnin@ those
who virtually murdered hundreds of cur
boys, but there should he some rev
army regulations for the next war. or
else the volunteer system of which the
nation has boasted Will nave to be aban-
doned. No man who was at Camp rhom-
as will ever volunteer again [ hope.
l hope that Col Howell will accept the
presidents appointment and take 4 part IN
the investigation; no hitter selection
could have been made. He knows from
experience what war IS and NhIt camps
and hospitals should be. He is fair
man. conservative and fearle !s. | have
known him intimately from carry man
hood and am bold to say he would make
competent and reliable juror u any
case and would render a just verdict
without fear or favor. If any white
washing is to be done, he Will expose
it and the nation will hear Of it.
We see that some Of the New York
papers are very funny over that negro
wench kissing business that Was peIpe-
trated in Virginia by Northern ops n
passing through. One paper says they
took the colored wenches by surprise ana
kissed and hugged them ad llbltHm, and
if seemed be mutually agreeable. They
did the same thing here at Cartersville
but the number of wencnes near the