The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-04-22
Bill Arlp'S Letter.
The Philosopher Loves the Children And
Thinks it May Mean That He is Grow
ing Old.
ing Old

That pony and dog show is the
best entertainment for children | ever
saw. / reckon that Professor Gentry
runs It for the money that is IN 1t,
but nevertheless he should be com
mended and honored for the pleasure
that he has given to thousands ana
thousands of children all over the
land. The poet said that Abou ben
Adhem was admitted to haven by u.
Peter because he loved his fellow men
and maybe the professor Will get III
because he worked so hard to please
the children. Children are big thing
in heaven. ''Suffer little children TO
come unto Me, for of such is the KING
dom of heaven is the sweetest verse
in the Bible to mothers and it utterly
paralvZes the dogma of infant damn
ation / know there is plenty OF scrip
ture to establish the doctrine OF cleo
ton, but / have never believed that 1t
applied to little children. The mater
nal instinct abhors it.
But this pony and dog show was a
most beautiful street pageant and was
free to the hundreds who were too
poor to pay for the tent performance.
They ought to thank the professor
for that. / am poor myself, but J
strained my pocketbook and took an
our little folks in. They are stu
talking about it. The monkey who
PLAYED doctor and the pony who laid
down and groaned and played sick
and the monkey who cured him-and
tney tell it all over again and again
and how they rode on the ponies and
the tricks of the beautiful dogs ana
so on. How wonderfully fond the
children are of little things, little
dolls and puppies and kittens. niue
horses and colts and calves, little tlnA
babies and little chickens. Old folks
like little children and it is a sure
sign that a man is nearing his second
childhood and that his hold upon the
world is weakening when he loves the
company of innocent children. NOW
l am not so dreadfully stuck on the
average boys. When they are good
they are very good indeed, but when
they are bad they are horrid. One Gay
a grand-child behaved SO bad at the
table that | told him he shouldn't
come any more, but should wait or
eat i'm the kitchen. When / got up
and left he said: Gamma, papa get
tim mighty old, amt he?" YES. she
said. Gamma, he'll die some time,
won't he?" But l do love the little
girls.
/ am now in Florida again, for the
good people kept calling me and the
spring has come and everything down
here is so calm and serene that ! am
glad I accepted their invitations. The
loyal Daughters of the Confederacy
are very strong in Florida and asked
for little help and so | am here in
their behalf / had two hours in Sa-
vannah, but had to leave at o'clock
i'm the morning and SO did not see my
friends, for nobody gets up in Sayan-
nah until dinner time and some few
lie abed till next day. That's what
Evan Howell told me. / travelled with
him all the way and enjoyed his com
pany, for he is always the same good
talker and he gave me n graphic ac-
count of his recent havana trip. He
likes the Cubans, especially the Cas-
titan classes, who. he says, are
heightened, generous and honorable
people. He feared that our occupa
ton of Cuba was going to be preju-
dical to Florida but he stopped long
enough down here to do away with
such apprehensions. Florida cannot
the loveliest State in the Union-fhe
natural sanitarium for our invaiids
and the garden of the South. An old
Georgia friend who has been here for
some months told me today that this
State never was in SO prosperous con
ditiOn as it is today and that there is
more money here per capita than
there is in Georgia. Every branch of
business industry is prospering and
the people generally are cOntented
and happy. Howell says the worst
drawback upon the rural population
is the lack of good, cool refreshing
water. He told about an old friend
of his who came down here for the
first time to visit an old acquaintance.
He got off the train at Waldo, where
his friend met him, and drove out to
his little farm two or three miles
away. The day was hot and the old
man was tired and thirsty and longed
for the cool spring he left at home.
His Florida friend pulled down the
pole and the basket went down into
a hole i'm the ground a few feet deep
and drew it up full Oh brackish, tepid
water and said: 'Now. Jim. just help
yourself; drink right out of the buck
ct in the old:fashioned way" and he
enough and he said:
I've got enough, Tom: drink the
rest yourself, and when you come to
my house I'll heat some for you"
1t is beautiful prospect to look
from the trains at this country now.
Every mile or two you see the truck
farm in a strut of vegetation, and the
strawberries especially attracted my
attention. / dearly love to see them
by the acre and look upon the pink
and carnation colors that mingle so
prettily with the green leaves. AT al
most every station the crates of ber-
ries are piled up waiting for the eN-
press trains to speed them to market
They are now bringing 81 a crate at
the producers station, and there is
money in the business. Children,
white and black. are seen picking |
them. Little girls get three cents a |
quart and little boys two and a half |
cents, for the girls handle them more |
carefIlly and don't steal avarv hio |