The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-03-22
BILL ARP AS INSTRUCTOR.
ANSWERS QUESTIONS SENT HIM.
The Mail Brings Them From All
Quartecs-A Lady Wants TO Know
About "Nccdlc's Eye

A lady writes to mo and asks what Is
really meant by the needles eye" in
the parable OF the rich man. / romem-
ber reading somewhere that it was the
smallest gate that gave entrance to the
walled city Of Jerusalem, and that q
loaded camel had to be stripped OF it's
burden and bend it's knces to squeeze
through. And SO rich man had to
give up his riches and come to his knees
before he could cnter Heaven. But
| do not lind that in any commentary.
1t was just one OF tho thousand pro.
verbs that adorned the moral teachings
OF the Jcws and the eastern nations.
The writings OF job and Solomon and
Confucius and Mahomet abound in
them. In the Koran is found this pro-
verb: "The impOus man will ind the
gates Of Heaven shut and ho can no
moro enter than camel can pass
through needles eye" There is an
other in the Koran which says: "You
will never see Is palm tree Of gold nor
an elephant pass through a needles
eye." These proverbs simply meant
that 1T was impossib e. Strange to say,
the world has long since quit m&ki1g
proverbs All proverbs have come down
to us, even such as " a rolling stOur
gathGrS-"no moss" Poor Richard
lett US few, such ~ ~ penny saved
is two ponce gained
A young man eager for knowledge
writes to know why It is that wncn you
reverse Il number ana subtract the less
from the greater the difference is al
ways nino or SOmC multiple OF nine,
and nine will divide without rcinain-
der. He wants to know the reason
why. This Is rather complex, but tho
reason IS plain when YOU see it. by
reversing 3 number you change the
numerical value Of every figure in it
units become tens or hundl eds or thou
sands, and vice versa; and hence, If
you subtract unit from s ten it leaves
nine. Then ten, for instance, and re.
verse it, and it Is OF twas ten boforc
and it is | now, and tho difference is
Obliged TO be nine. Take 81 aud re-
verse it and you change 9 tens to .
units, and ! unit to ten; gaining 81
and losing 8, which makes ~, Il multi
pie Of .. No" il you adj instead Of sub.
tract tho sum will be II on somo mul.
tiple Of II. 10 and .Ol II; l3 and 81
make Al Is and Gl make II; n and H.
make G6; all multip!es Of II. Tue com
plcxiticS and results OF figures are
many and very wonderful. They train
the mind and strain the miud. know
they did mine when WAS struggling
through trigOnOmCtry and calculus.
Al Doy C"h JhtSc ana SinNEEiG alDnS
through Latin aud Greek with the help
OF translatlons but he can't fool the
professor On the blackboard.
Another cnQuiring mind wishes to
know why it is thai the irst day Of
May and the following Christmas nj
ways come on the same day OF the
week. Well, it cant help il, that's all,
for thcrc are thirty-four even weeks
from one to tho other. But Christmas
day and the first day Of the next May
don't lit. February comes in and
knocks the even into odd.
a Florida girl writes that hor alma
nae Is oil wrong, for it gives February
only twenty eight days, potwithstand.
ing this Is IS leap year. Yes, Miss, this
Is leap year, but it don't leap. The
last year in every century has to be-
skipped rs leap year, for old Father
Time gains day in every hundred
years, and the clock has to be set back
twenty-four hours.
And here is good, humble, sensible
letter from q Louisiana negro who
says he has great respect for the wbitc
people, and loves to lean upon them,
Tor they know best and they have
treated him kindly all his life. lie
wants 10 KNOW where the word negro
comes from, and what it means, He
says: 81 read all your letters, and
you give Us some awful blows, but you
cant blow the monkey out OF us"
We'll, tho word negro is Spanish and
Portugee for black. The French is nj
gre. The Latin Is niger, and the Eng
llsh corrupted 1T into niggcr. The Cen
tury dictionary says that niggcr is
moro English than negro; and was used
without opprObrinus intent and can
be found in writings of Tom Hood and
Praed and Trcvelyn. The Irish call
them nagers. But as tho Latin Is the
foundation Of all these languages |
would say that nigor is really the ori-
gin and the most proper namo for tho
race.
was on the train once when good
old Sanford Bell was very much per-
picked about a miserable, cadavcrOus-
looking foreigner who took 8 seat in
the negro's car, and Il negro preacher
made fuss about it. So Sanford asked
him whether he was "a negro or q white
man. He shrugged his shoulders and
grinned as he replied Mine fader
vas Portugee, and mine muddcr vas
q nagur.' Sanford looked at the prca.
cher and said "What shall do with
him ?" Let him stay or pitch him
out the window" he replied. Sanford
said to me, "I think he is a cross be.
tween baboOn and an csquimo."
l like such negroes as the one who
wrote mo that respectful and sensible
letter. In fact know OF many negroes
who have not only my regard, but q
share OF my affections How willing
they are to obl!go you. Whom + an
afar from homo and want information
about tho trains or the town or the
time always ask d negro, for he will
tell mo more willingly than IL white
man. Yos, more willingly than some
depot officials havo met.
good negro died hero the other
day-a negro whose conduct and indus.
try.and polteness have been for years
without q spot. ellis Patterson dc.
serves monument for he did tho worry
best he could. Ho had no children, but
adopted two orphan girls and raised
them. He WAS manly in his deport-
mont always respectful to the white
people, and did not mingle in politics
and worked in his blacksmith shop
carly and late and was always honest
in oil his dealings. What more need
be said OF any citi2on, whether his
skin DO white or black. Tho negroes
OF North Georgia deserve cOmmonda-
tiOn for their good cOn0uct. They ara