The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-10-05
THE RESULT OF EDUCATION.



THE ART OF LETTER. WRITING.
Boys and Girls Nowadays Seek Know
ledge OF Others-Birt Arp Takes
Pleasure in Writing Letters.
1t is q hopeful sign that so many OF
the young girls and boys have o thirst
for knowledge. The youths depart
mont In the newspapers and magazines
Ia growing into importance and their
letters to the editors betokens studious
inouiring minds. The art of letter
writing is itself not only an accom-
piishment, but good part OF a polished
education. Letters indicate character
and good letters require thought. The
letters Of notable. meu aud women are
They are an index to the heart, the
emotions, the dispositions Time was
when but few could write st all, and
the opening Of mail in u country town
was a small affair. l know from. eX-
perience, for when | was In my teens
my father was the postmaster aud
had the work to do. There are now at
least ten letters per capita to where
there was one in those days. One
great drawb back on letter writing then
was the cost OF postage. A letter
to place within the State W 12i
cents and the postage had to be paid
was poor letter he felt like he was
cheated. Many q letter was handed
back to me with such q remark as
"Well, I,reckon it's from Dick Jones,
over in Arkansaw, and | hain't got the
quarter. Just put II back ontil l come
ag'in."
1t keeps me busy nova. days to an
swer al the letters l receive. My
wife and daughters help to keep up
the correspondence with the far-aw9y
boys and the other kindred, but good
friends who write kind letters to me
must be answered in person. Such
letters,are q pleasure and a comfort.
Then, there are many letters asking
for charity or little help p for church
that only remind me how poor l am.
But these letters from inquiring
minds who are in pursuit OF knowledge
and perplexed about the mysteries of
nature always interest me, and | have
to pretend to be wise man whether
am or not. -.,..- ...
Now, here is one from q pretty school
girl in her teens. l know that she is
pretty, because she writes q pretty
letter and there is not a blot or eras-
ureor "A misspelled word. She wants
to know where tho day begins and
why. and where the navigators first
find q change. OF course that Is worth
knowing, and l suppose that very few
outside Of colleges and the continental
travellers and the sea-faring mon un-
=: derstand it, :; x. 4't' -
. Well, my dear girl, the day begins
just whore man begun--in the
garden of Ellen. If the Creator had
chosen New York or Charleston, for
that garden, the day would have begun
over here on this continent and ex-
teHued westward to California, as the
people multiplied and carried it there.
OF course the day kept It's, name and
its date around, and east of Palestine
as far as the sea, but westward the
tide of empire takes its way" and 80
did the tide Of time. Columbus brought
the day with him to this cortinent.
From our eastern coast the people took
it to California, and from. there: the
missionaries took it to the Sandwich
islands, and it continued to follow the
sun until the navigators got around
to Bombay and Hong Kong and Cairo
and found that they had lost day and
it was Monday instead of Sunday, And
tk0se who sailed eastWard>a travelled
against the sun found they had gained
day and it was Saturday instead of
Sunday. /.
But is not 30 now, for there ia an
international line in midocean-a mon
dean that has been established by the
great powers and accepted by, the
n.vigators OF ell nations as the change
of date line. This :.linp Is. 1S0 degrees
west of Greenwich and runs from Now
Zealand north to Boring straits and
goes not far from Samoa. 1t is just
half way around the world from Lon
don and Is called the AntipOde Of
Greenwich. 1t is 300 miles west, OF
Hawaii and 3, 600 west of San Francisco.
This line is check. marked on the up.
to-date map and Sunday is printed on
the vest side and Monday on the east.
Navigators tell by their log books and
compass when they have reached it,
and the captain or the mate announces
with great ceremony: "Set the day
clock back twenty-four hours. We
have crossed the line" = +"
For many years our American rail
ways, as they pressed their way from
the. Atlantic to the Pacific, found the
iquestion OF time very confusing, and
hence by consent Of action they estab.
lished four divisions Of railway time
and marked longitudinal lines 1000
miles apart to ind tcate them. When
the train CROSSES one OF these lines
It'ni passengers set their watches back
or forw ward just one. hour, for the sun