The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-11-20
Bill Arp's lLeGc;c>2
Arp Says He Tries to be Good to Republicans
Meets Them Wit a Smile,

The scriptures tell US 10 rejoice with
those who rejoice and weep with those
who weep. | am trying 10 DO il. but il Is
awful STRAIN. When | meet a Mckinley
man l try to smile. but ii is only sickiy
grin and is only skin deep. They ara
pretty Ghick around here now since the
election. and so between mourning With
the Bryan men and rejoicing with the
Republicans my countenance has lost is
normal and natural condition and il is
lard 20 tell whether / am crying or
smiling. We did not know that there
were more than dozen respectable Nc
Kinleyites in the community. but il turns
out that lhere were scores OF them
Nearly all of the plutocrats voted that
way on the sound money pla form. They
lend money and want il paid back il
gold \ good many farmers who have
some cotton on hand were led TO believe
that il would 80 up again TO 10 or II
cents if Mckinley was elected. but il
dropped i points the day after election
But i is all over now. and the wheels
keep rolling on Let them roll The mil
lionaires and plutocrats can't cat their
money or wear il out. 1t is obliged to
60 back to the toilers the people In
some way. The Standard oil Company
declared a dividend yesterday Of ~ Ter
Utul, bNt iNcN NktAFIltI uiIIi HboiH IL i3'
sives away big slice TO education ana
utilizos the rest
After all il is not money that
brings happiness. a good living
competency honestly earned. brings
far more happiness than riches.
This kind Of talk is 1000 years old tut
the people don't believe ii yet; every
body wants money, a big pile Of money;
I would like it myself; l want some for
q rainy day and some to give away, but
we not in distress, and never have
been, though for some years of the war
and just after it we were on the ragged
edge. Talk about prosperity, | saw it
! last week over in South Carolina. There
is 4 nice liltle town over there called
| Prosperity, but I didn't see it. l went
| TO the old town Of Darlington. | was
| there eighteen years ago 1t was q good
| old town then but it has removed its
| youth and taken new life, and /
| hardly knew the place Cotton mills and
| Oil mills and good farming have done it.
! The cotton crop of that county is 10000
| bales and the tobacco crop was G,00o00O
| pounds and it brought half as much
money as the cotton crop. Fifteen years
| agc there was not q pound for sale raised
| in the county They didn't know it wouil
| grow there Now there are three large
| warehouses where il is auctoned off
! every day | attended the auctions and
| it was a revelation 10 me. The farmers
| wagons were unloading all around and
| their tobacco was piled UP neatly in long
| rows ana their name and the number
| CT pounds written on a card and stuck
| in the split end Of a little white pine
| stick and that was stuck in the center
| Of the pile For an hour or two before
| the auction begins the buyers from Rich
| mOnd and Winston and Durham and 1-lv-
| erpco and other markets went all 81 Ound
| and examined the quality OF every pile
| ard took notes. The auctioneer talked
| so fast / could not understand him bur
| the buyers did. / reckon there We're two
| or three hundred piles in each warehouse.
| ard the auctioneer and the crowd went
| from pile to pile and sold each one where
| it was | heard some knocked d0Wn as
low as cents and some as high as -
| cents There is one curious rule about
| tobacco auctions that does not apply to
any other auction. The farmer can re-
| iect tie highest bid and keep his tobacco.
If he and his boys have resolved that their
| crop Shall bring % cents a pound ana il
| brings only -. he turns the card down
| and takes his tobacco home or maybe
| haus it around to another warehouse,
| where the same BUYERS find il next day
| and maybe hid over % cents for II. THIS
| IS one Of the tricks Of the trade. The
difference between the grades was hNlly
| perceptible to nlE eyes. but the buyers
know it. Ii was all a bright yellow but
| some was brittle and worm eaten and
| sCme was soft ard plant IS kil Glove.
This was bought for wrappers. This cro-
lution has come within ten years, ard is
| increasing every year 3or ar acrn oi
good tobacco will bring sto0 an3 il costs
| only SO to cultivate il. My friend NJ
| Williamson the banker, told mo h had
| tEirtv-fve acres planted this y"ar an j
| netted him 81 Ier acre. There is 9n0t HC l
| evolution in Darlington county Ten
| years ago no wheat was grown there
| Nov every farmer sows wheat anl q larIa
| -four mill has recently henn built II
was the same way in middle Georgia
| Until about five years ago all that region
was under the ban. and the farmers did
not pretend 10 row whea-. Nov tAcy
! make more wheat to he acr7. al around
Griffin and Barnesylle. than we car
! make in north Georgia. And 50 evolution
and revolution are going on, but they
cant give Mckinley credit Cor it in Soutf
Carolina. It is amusing to hear them tel
about the prosperous negroes over there
| Between cotton and tobacco they pocket
J Tile Of mon r. and spend nearly every
| dollar before they leave town. Cue mar
sold them thirty-seven Rock Hill trggic:
in one week. and Mr.. Williamson toic
me of a darky who drew 81 and sDen
S., Of ii that dey for fine gun ard :
pointer dog He viii be begging his land
lord fer an advance before Christmas.
had a delightful time al Darlington an
} | Bennettsville and Bishopville and last a
Peck Hill. Bishopville ought 10 be name
the plain" l found old friends and &C
alaintances at every place ana was hon
ored far beyond my deserving Ny wifi
hasn't got me back into the traces yet
r Near Rishopvilie l found an old tim
} friend, Mrs. Reid. the sister Of m
schoolmates, Ned Goulding and John, am