The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-09-05
BILL ARP ON OLD FRIENDS
He Receives IL tiers From Old Men
and Tries to Answer Them All.

| Hccill 10 multiply rs tho Years roll on
my contemporaries, | mean. rccciy,
more letters from Old men than | eve,
dld, and they write well and Give lon,
eplstles. When man gets along il,
The seventies he feels lonesome. NOT
WlthstaLhing the near presence OF
chltdrcn and grandchildren. The com.
pahlohs ol his youth are gone, and SO
some OF these old men unbOsom ,hcu.
selves to me for sympathy. like such
lcltcrs ami try TO answer them all, but
rheumatism in my arm and hand
cramps my replies. One old gentleman
from Alabama Says he feels better after
nc has written, for he is native Gcor-
gan and loves her people and her old
icu hl!IS ana The sweet memories OF
Emory college and his visits to Athens,
where his Uncle Elizar Newton lived,
ana how he met me there in the lorlics.
and John Grant and Dan Hughes and
Jack Brown and Billy Williams. who
married my friends cousin and took
charge of the blind asylunl-and how
nc heard Or. Church preach and was
charmed with the music of the choir,
where Miss Ann Waddcll AND Rosa
frin9lc and other pretty girls sang,
ana now tall, long, high man, with a
blS hooie ed nose and Il huge " pumum
Adamusn on his throat, SAM base. and
how he was Il roommate Of Tom Nor.
wood at Emory and il cla>smatc of
Bishop Key and Judge a. B. Louy-
street, the author Of "Gcorgia Sccncs,n
was the president; and how Inc removed
to Alabama in 1919 and married and
mas seven daughters and no sons and
has ten orphan grandchildren, and has
10 work early ana late to support and
educate them, bat never sees and larcly
hears from any friend of his Youth and
is at times sad and depressed and longs
Tor sympathy. Poor old man, | wish
that he lived near me, for | would visi,
nm and cheer him up, and tell him
and antidOtcS, and we Woulu |
talk ovcl the Old times and swap col |
lego stories and brag about The good |
Old days when there were no tclcuraphs !
or telephones or bicycles, and We did |
not want any; 10 sewing machines or |
store clothes, and we didn't need any;
no football or baseball or haZlnm or
suicides or appendicitis. And in those
days came Toombs and Stephens and
Judge Douyhcrty and Howell Cobb
ana waiter C"iQulLI and spakc TO the
people lace to face, and such clouucat
men as George pcarcc and Bishop
Capcrs and Jesse Mercer and DR.. IIoyl
and Gouldiilg and lnglcs preached to
them. Yes, we would talk about the
days OF our boyhood, when there was
no gas or Kerosene or friction matches
nothing but candles to give us light,
and no Promctheus 10 steal fire from
heaven to light :. them with. Shake
spcarc knew how it was for he wrote:
How far, that little candle throws its
So shines a good deed in naughty
If Shakespeare wrote by candle
light, why shouldn't we? And he, too,
used the llnL and steel TO make a spai *
to light them. Pick your il,nt and
keep your powder dry'' was General
Jackson's order at New Orleans. When
was young merchant gun-Illnts
were as common as marbles, and sold
them at the same pricC--lO cents Il
dOzun. y Ondcrful, wonderful arc the
cha ngcs, AMI we old people fail in with
them and adapt them to our use an(
our comfort. | wouldn't he set back
to the good Old times, if | could, but
would enjoy seeing this generation all
set back about seventy years, just for
about a week. My Alabama friend
and other veterans would be ticklcd to
death TO sec the universal dismay-no
railroads or telegraph, no mai but once
Il wcck.-and 2j cents for single let
ter. No daily newspapers in the State
and only four wccklics, with no scnsa-
tiohs, no suicides or lynchings. There
would be no cooking stoves, no coal,
no steel pens or envelopes, or cigarettes.
No milllOnaircs or free niWgcrS.
remember when cotton was packed in
round bales with Il crowbar. The long
bag was made first and was suspended
from Il hole III the gin house floor and
Uncle Jack got down in it and packed
the cotton hand rs it WAS thrown to
him. lie packed two bales a day and
they weighed 400 pounds each. Two
of them filed the bed Of the big wagon
and live more were crossed on ton and
fastened down with long pole. All
the little spaces were filled with corn
and fodder, the big cover put ON and
with a four or siX-horsc team We were
I off for Augusta. 1t was tcn-days'
trip and we boys were happy to 20
! along and camp out all night and listen
to The niSScr drivers tell about ghosts
! and Jack Lanterns and witches and
raw head and bloody bones. 1t was
great fun. We brought back sugar
and mo!asscH III great hogshcads. 1t
was brown sugar, for white suga,
wasn't invented, except a kind called
loaf sugar, which was put up in five
pound cones and covered with blue
paper. That kind was for rich folks
and was very precious. 1t was crys-
talllzcd like these little square Jumps
| that are common now. When oul
mother would unwrap the loaf she
would let us children lick the sweet
white tissue paper that was next to the
sugar. II was good. Most anything
was good then. a stick OF striped
candy was Il rare treat. SO WAS hall an
/ orange, or Il bunch Of "rccSins," as the
| rolInI tbpp, N,Sj 1nNlhiuu