The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-01-18
BILL ARP DISCUSSES TYNE.
THE STRANGE FIGURES 1000 !"

Tho Georgia Philosopher Tackles the
II Century Question-He Thinks 1t is
About Settled.
II u man can dodge around the 10Th
century question IT 10 lifting time for
him to consider the shrinkage Of time
since he was boy, and to ponder upon
the reason why the years grow shorter
and shorter as he grows older and wiser,
and how the period is surely coming
when there will be no years or months
and time will be no more: According
to scripture this thing called time is a
perishable, elastic and compre. 8 5lo
creation adapted to man in his state of
probation and not at all necessary to
the Creator who said "hefore the Orld
was made am" God always speaks Of
himself in tho present tense IL am"
He Ia one eternal now without begin
ming of ye.c or end OF days. We can
not con- prehend this, but as we near
the goal we can almost catch a glimpse
of its possibility. That time is com
pressible and elastic all Of US have ex-
perienced for sometimes the hours
seem very long and some times very
| short. In our dreams we sometimes
| condense hours and days OF events In u
few delirious moments. / never shalt
forget the anxiety and agony Of long
effort to keep my brother from fighting
u duel and how l helped to write all
| the correspondence between him ana
his adversary and how at the last the
duel could not be avoided anC how |
carefully selected and loaded his pistol
and measured Off the distance and then
made another effort TO paclfy and I'D
just and prevent the duel, but all in
vain, and he stood to the mark
and fired and fell. The report VI
a gun that was fred at the back Of our
house at q squirrel awaked me and it
was this report that condensed all the
long traiu Of thought and events into q
nom nt's space. My wife was sitting
by my bedside with her hand upon my
feverish brow and de clared | had not
been asleep more than a minute-and
yet remembered every line and word
| Of that correspondence, and when | re-
| covered from my fever could repeat it.
| The time OF hours was condensed into
moments. just so those who were
thought to be drow ned and we're resus
citated tell us that panorama OF their
whole life came before them as they
lost consciousness. Every word and
thought and deed anG every scene they
had witnessed from their childhood
was as vivid and real II it were just
| transpiring. There can be no doubt
| about this experience OF many persons.
1t is we'll confirmed.
| We are just on the verge of know
ing wonderful things aud my faith is
! that we will know when we put off this
mortal coil and our souls are released
and free. We have Implanted with
| in US a spark Of divinity, bat only
spark.
| But alas how little we do know and
how utterly helpless we are. We know
| not whence we come, nor whittier we
are going. We cannot make one hair
white or black. We cannot tell by what
mysterious power we raise our hands
| or move our feet or wink our eyelashes.
| We cannot add day or'an hour to our
! livea, nor foreeee the accidents that
may befall us rs we move to aud fro ON
the land or sea, We cannot escape the
pestilepce that walketh at MONDAY nor
make ourselves secure against fire aud
| flood and famine. What pitiful crea-
lures we are, aud yet we sec every.
where around us young men who are
conceited and proud OF their manhood
o. their money and we see young girls
who are vain OF their beauty or their
dress when they played no part in the
formation Of the one or the earning Of
the other. A beautiful woman is close
kin to the angels and che should be
thankful that God made her so, but
she has no excuse in the world for
being vain. Humility is her loveliest
ornament. AS for these conceited and
naughty young men who strut around
in fine clothes that they never earned
or that they got by short cuts and dis
honorable means. they excite only pity
we can but exclaim with David, Lord
| what Is man that thou art mindful OF
him?' Young men, why don't you hum
BILE yourselves under the mighty hand
OF God who made you, you have not the
remotest idea who you are today and
you don't care II you haven't. You
have travelled 300, 900, 900 OF miles since
place you started from. You travel
80 900 miles an hour and everyday
turn summersauit rs 900 miles round
and don't know 1T, and you don't care
If you don't. Che Creator Ia your en-
/ gineer an runs your train without q
run.off or O collision and you never
think OF Him or thank Him. You seem
to think that you are doing 1t.
Ireckon the 10th century problem is
about settled. 1t is an old problem and
perplexed mankind away back In the
ages. The question used to be whether
the year prior to the birth OF Christ
was /, B. G., or 0 B. c., and the mathc-
maticians and astronomers settled It
down at B. c., and begun the new
era with l, a. D., and it remained 1, A.
D. for 365 days. But aside from this
the problem Is purely mathematical
one, for If it takes 100 years to make q
century it will take 1900 years to make
10 centuries, and they will not have
passed until next January comes.
What world Of confusion those Old
popes and monks and kings got our
chronology into. With come OF them
the year began with 25th Of March,
with others lst Of January, ard Christ
mas and Easter. One time the year
was set back three months and at
another time IL days. The year WAS
divided into 8 months and 10 months
and IL months and at the last into II
months. They treated old father Tim
according to their whims. Julius C;r
sar stuck In month to crafty his
vanity and he called 1t July. This
made Augustus Caesar jealous ard nc
stuck in another month and called 1t