The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-07-05
BILL ARP'S LETTER
Worry Shortens Life" Says the
Philosopher of Barlow,
We HAVE RATHER TOO MUCH OF IT
Compared with Some Other Nations of
Earth We Are More Than Blessed
With Comforts.


deviseth iniquity.
Trust in the Lord and do coed.
Wait on the Lord.
These are good sermons and there
are others like them in David and
Solomon. A man can shorten his life
and wear himself out by borrowing
trouble, and fretting and worrying about
the iniquity of other people. There
is a sight of devilment going on
more than ever before, 1 reckon
more war, famine, pestilence, unrest
and discomfort all over the world, and
here in our own blessed land crime is
on the increase in our cities, and what
with the negro and the corruption Of
politics and the strikes as sideshows
there is enough to run worrying
man crazy.
OF course we should feel concerned
about crime and do what we can to
prevent it, but worrying does not ac
complish anything. Let us preach
and practice and be happy still.
"Carre diem," enjoy the day, saith
the poet Horace. Why can't every
body in this country be as contented
and law-abiding as our people here in
north Georgia. There are no murders,
no outrages, no lynchings, no fights
here in Barlow county. There are no
divorces nor burglaries, and no steal
ing of any consequence. A good OLD
ante-bellum darkey did come to see me
the other day to get me to sign his
sons bond and get him out of Jail;
'fWhat is he in there for?' said /.
"Well, boss, you see de mans corn
was missin' and he find de basket at
Jim's house, but he didn't find no
corn. But Jim amt 'cused of stealin'
de basket" 1.-THE basket is to be the
witness, I reckon" said I. 'Jes' so,
boss-dat's all-and de basket can't
talk and tell how it got dar. ="
/ was eliminating how easy it is for
any well man to make fair living in
this region. During harvest a good
worker, white or black, gets one dol
lar q day, and at other times Is cents
a day, and there is demand for labor.
Uncle Sam is very old, but he gets Is
cents every day for working around in
the gardens. His four girls cook and
wash and each makes about two dol
lars a week. There is about So a
week earned by that family and they
are always happy and don't give them
selves any concern about politics or
social equality or Bishop Turner or
Booker Washington. 1t is the high,
strung, lazy negroes who are making
all the fuss. Now, just contrast the
condition of laborers here and in other
countries. In India they are starving
by the million. In the PHILIPPINES
and South Africa they are fighting and
dying il battle or from disease and
pestilence.
In Germany peasant is rich if he
has two or three acres of land, and his
wife and daughters carry heavy loads
of vegetables on their backs to market,
while the sons are serving in the
army In Italy the poor work in ma
larial swamps or beg in Naples. In
Mexico the poems get 373 cents day
in Mexican silver, which is worth
about half as much as ours. In Eng
land the poor are kept alive by charity
and in Ireland the peasantry lose a
crop about every third year and the
little children go hungry and i'll rags.
What is the matter with our people?
Why don't they quit fussing-quit
envying the rich? Why not lift up
their voices and thank the Lord for
his mercy and goodness unto us? A
diligent man or woman can live for
i've or six months from good garden
and besides the garden the country
abounds in fruit. Peaches, apples,
grapes, black berries, dewberries and
huckleberries. L never saw the like.
From our own garden we can have
eight different vegetables every day
besides berries for dessert. 1t makes
me proud to gather them and show
them round to the family before break
fast, for it is my garden. [ dressed it
like old Father Adam did Eden. I'm
still the boy am the man with the
hoe and ] don't esteem it any hardship
either. Mr.. Markham needn't preach
his foolishness to me, nor do I like the
tone of that picture-a pitiful man
leaning on his hoe and bemoaning his
hard lot. Work, labor, toll, sweat, is
the common lot and they are the hap
piest who do it. Solomon said the
sleep of the laboring man is sweet. 1
love to work with the hoe. love to
get all over in a sweat of perspiration.
1t opens the pores and saves medicine.
l love the smiles of approval when
find new blown rose and bring it
to Mrs. Arp and hear her say, isn't
it beautiful" She reproached me
gently yesterday for cutting down her
poke stock down by the garden fence.
She said she liked to look at it when
the berries were ripe, for it reminded
her of the home of her happy child
hood, when she and her little brothers
used to pick the berries and make red
! paint from them and paint dogs and
cats and monkeys on the smokehouse
and dairy. Well, there is another one
coming and 1 will let that grow for her
sake. I want to see her painting dogs
on our smokehouse. They remind me